Kamen Rider Scarab

Sea sighed a little as she laid back in the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It had been a few days since they had seen Neutron and the others off, and sometimes it felt like she had a hard time getting herself out of bed. With everything that had happened lately, she just wasn’t sure if it was completely worth it right now.

“Hey Sea, are you okay?” Jasper asked softly as she gently pushed the door open. “Grandma Sweetie is getting worried about you. You said you’d help at the orphanage today after we pick up the stuff from Sapphire, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Sea sighed as she shifted in bed slightly. “It’s just… it feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I don’t even know what to do right now…”

“Yeah, I understand,” Jasper said as she gently sat down on the bed next to her. “Do you want to talk to me about it?”

“Yeah… maybe,” Sea said softly as she rolled onto her side and looked at her friend. “Jasper, I’m afraid of what all of this is going to do to me. I’m not a fighter or anything else like you or the others. Am I even doing the right thing by holding back? I honestly don’t even know what to do right now…”

“Sea, you’re going to be okay,” Jasper said softly as she placed her hoof gently on Sea’s shoulder for a moment. “Jasper, you’re the best friend I have or will ever had. I know you’re going through a lot, but you know that you don’t have to go it alone, right? I’m going to be by your side when you need it.”

Sea sniffed a little as she placed her hoof gently on Jasper’s. She smiled a little as she exchanged a long look with her best friend. Jasper wrapped her wing gently around her as they sat together for the longest moment.

“Thank you…” She said softly as she rests her head on Jasper’s withers. “Do you really think I’m going to be okay?”

“I think you just need to make sure that you’re ready for this,” Jasper answered. “But you know you don’t have to do this alone anymore. You don’t have to carry the weight of the world anymore, I’m here to take some of that weight away from you.”

Sea smiled a little as she snuggled up against Jasper as they enjoyed the moment together. In that moment it felt like the weight was off her shoulders. She enjoyed the moment as she closed her eyes and sighed happily.

“We better be careful or ponies are going to start thinking we’re a couple,” Jasper added jokingly.

“Oh, they already think that,” Sea reminded her. “But… I admit that I sometimes wonder if… never mind. I really should go down to get the stuff from Sapphire.”

“Well, you’re in luck, she was late again this week so she’s still getting set up,” Jasper replied as she smiled a little. “How about we go talk to Cookie and get some food first? I’m sure you’re getting hungry sitting up here alone.”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me,” Sea said as the two mares got up together. Sea smiled softly as Khepri gave them a slight nod before they headed out together. “Thank you Jasper.”

“You’re welcome,” Jasper said as they started down the stairs of the Communal House. They entered the kitchen were a brown furred mare with spots on her coat and a long reddish-brown mane was working on cooking. “Hey Cookie, how’s it going?”

Cookie Cake, the pony who ran the Communal House and was the local cook smiled as she looked up. The Unicorn mare was working on making dinner at the moment, but looked up at the two mares with a sparkle in her golden eyes as she looked them over.

“Glad to see you out of bed, Sea,” Cookie said with a soft almost melodic tone. “How are you feeling today? Can I get you anything?”

“Uh, just a sandwich or a hayburger would be fine,” Sea answered as she shifted a little for a moment. “I guess I’m fine, I just have a lot on my mind right now with what’s going on.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Cookie agreed. “Especially with the Changelings showing up in town openly. A lot of ponies are scared that it was all a setup for something bigger, or an attempt to take away ponies. I don’t really blame them, but everything seems to be fine at least.”

“Yeah, I don’t think they’ll be trying anything,” Sea replied. “At least not in response to what happened before. Kamen Riders Scarab and Lux pretty much did what they could to stop the Another Riders. Really, I don’t think we’re going to worry about them doing something related to that.”

Though she didn’t want to admit that it didn’t eliminate the possibility of them attacking again. She had little doubt that Prism was still mad and would likely send another Soldier after her.

Cookie smiled a little as she went back to making the food. She finished what she was working on there and Sea and Jasper took a seat at the table in the middle of the kitchen. Cookie hummed a tune to herself as she worked, enjoying herself a little as she switched to work on Sea’s meal once she finished what she was working on.

“I kind of wish we could tell her the truth,” Sea said quietly to Jasper. “I mean, the Changelings already know who we both are. Why are we keeping it from the rest of the ponies?”

“My grandmothers said that they want to wait until the right time for it to be common knowledge,” Jasper shrugged. “I’m sure they have something planned though. We’ll see what they say.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sea said with a shrug. Honestly she hadn’t really thought about it that much until now. Maybe Jasper was right, but then again it was probably a good idea. “Yeah, probably a good idea unless she’s got a plan.”

Jasper nodded as the door to the kitchen opened and two stallions came in. They were dressed in simple clothing that looked like they were covered with grease and dirt. Sea groaned a little as they were talking between themselves.

“Maybe if we do…” One of them said quietly.

“No, that won’t work…” the other said with a shake of his head.

“Right, well we could try to replace the…”

“Are you two going to do something new that will get you in trouble with the Town Guard?” Sea asked with a groan, causing the stallions to jump.

“Square, Root, I’ve told you once I’ve told you a thousand times, no running your experiments in my house,” Cookie said as she placed the plate down in front of Sea. “And the Guard said to do that outside of town last time, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll do it,” Square said as he brushed her off. “We can’t really do anything until we get the stuff we ordered from the Rich Estate anyway.”

“This is the second time the shipment has been late too, I hope everything is okay,” Root commented as he shrugged a little.

“Yeah, but I’m sure she’s fine,” Sea commented as she took a bite of her sandwich. “Though, I do agree that it’s weird that she’s late again. Do we know where she came from before here?”

“I think New Manechester,” Jasper commented and Sea flinched a little at that. “Yeah, I know, that might explain why they’re late.”

New Manechester was one of the most notorious settlements in the Safe Zone. Some years back it’s leadership had been grabbed by the Changelings and plunged the settlement into chaos. The last Sea had heard it was basically run by gangs. Not a lot was actually known about what happened there lately, but it was not a good sign.

“Maybe we should ask her about it when we get there,” Jasper suggested with a shrug. “We need to bring the stuff to the Orphanage anyway.”

“Yeah,” Sea said as she finished eating. “I should also apologize to Sweetie and Scootaloo. Even if they were late, I should have been more on the ball.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll understand,” Jasper reassured her as the two mares headed out of the Communal House together.

00000

“Well, it seems you’re finally well enough to be back,” Moonbeam commented as Prism walked into the throne room in Cloudsdale. “I heard about what happened in the Safe Zone. You’re lucky that the Queen didn’t punish you for your rash actions against the Hive.”

“The Queen knows that I was acting against my will, I wouldn’t question her decisions,” Prism snorted as she sat on her throne. “Now, I believe that we still have some things to do. We need to deal with these Kamen Riders before they pose a further threat to the Hive.”

“Riders… threats… the Hive must prevail…” The voice of the hive echoed in their minds.

“Indeed, but after what happened, you’re in no position to go yourself,” Moonbeam reminded her. “You’ll need to send another Soldier Drone. I’m sure that you already have one in mind by now, do you not?”

“Yes, I do,” Prism agreed as she adjusted herself. She reached out through the Hive to touch the mind of the Drone she had in mind. “Sergeant Quartz, your Hive has need of you.”

“What is your will, my Princess?” The soldier Drone replied.

“I need you to take a team into Ponyville,” Prism told her. “Prepare a combat form and be ready to leave in the evening. Your target is the ponies known as Kamen Riders Scarab and Lux.”

She sent an image of Sea Spray and Jasper through the Hive connection that she had gotten from the memories of Dusk’s time in the Safe Zone. There was a moment of silence as the Drone studied it before responding.

“What do you want me to do with them?”

“Your objective is to get the Change Driver and Shifter back from Scarab right now,” Prism replied. “What you do with them is up to your discretion. We would prefer they both be converted, as they may yet be assets to the Hive. But if you fail at that, you are to remove them both as a threat.”

“It shall be done my Princess,” Quartz replied. “They shall join the Hive, I will make sure of it.”

The connection was severed as Quartz went to work on creating her combat form. Prism takes a deep breath and leans back on her throne and looked back at Moonbeam. “It is done. One of my finest soldiers will be dispatched to deal with them as the Queen orders. We shall have this dealt with soon enough.”

“You had better be right,” Moonbeam said with a hiss. “The Queen is not pleased with your efforts thus far. Our goals will be much harder if we have these, Kamen Riders constantly getting in our way.”

“And with this we may also crush the resistance,” Prism smirked. “This is our chance to bring the Ponies back into line as well.”

“You had better be right, this silent war we’ve been fighting with the resistance has cost us way too much already,” Moonbeam retorted. “I have other things to deal with now. So, you had better not fail the Queen again, understood?”

“I understand,” Prism said as Moonbeam trotted off.

Prism sighed a little as she slumped over on her throne. She didn’t want to admit it, but the experience with the Another Riders had shaken her. It had been the only time in decades she had been separated from the Hive. It had put a lot of things into perspective, but she knew that she had to do this now.

She had to serve the will of the Hive.

00000

“Alright everypony, we’re going to do this in a timely manner,” Sapphire said as she spoke to the gathered ponies around the wagon with the items brought to Ponyville. “Everypony is going to get what they ordered, just be patient.”

She sighed a little as she looked back at Bell Ring. The Earth Pony maid shrugged a little as Sapphire tried to hold everything together.

“You will be served, we know we’re late, just…” Sapphire started to say as the crowd refused to get into a neat line. “Everypony, please!”

“EVERYPONY SHUT UP!” Bell Ring shouted at the top of her voice which silenced the crowd of ponies. The usually demure mare smiled as she bowed her head slightly before pointing at a large earth pony stallion. “Please everypony make two lines. Anypony who needs to get their stuff now because they have something else they need to do please line up in front of Oak Heart over there. Everypony else please get in line by Xander Root. If there are any questions, please direct them at either myself or Lady Sapphire.”

The crowd finally listened as they split up into two lines as Sea Spray and Jasper joined the line behind Oak Heart pulling a wagon behind them. Sapphire let out a sigh of relief as she turned back to her maid who bowed politely.

“Thank you for that, I don’t know what I would ever do without you, Bell,” Sapphire told the maid who smiled a little. “Thanks, really…”

“You’re welcome Lady Sapphire,” Bell replied as she looked at the gathered ponies. “There is a good turn out today.”

“Yeah… well hopefully it’ll go better than New Manechester,” Sapphire sighed as Sea and Jasper came up to them pulling a wagon filled with things. “Hey you two, Sweetie Belle’s order for the orphanage? There aren’t any problems are there?”

“Yeah,” Sea replied. “Everything is fine, we just wanted to check on you is all. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine, they just insisted on checking through everything and everypony in New Manechester,” Sapphire replied as she checked some of the merchandise. “They’re just getting more and more paranoid by the day there. I don’t think the rumors flying around about Changelings coming after the Safe Zone because of that Kamen Rider pony.”

“Yeah… I’m not that surprised I guess,” Sea said softly as she looked over at Jasper. “We’ve seen them around really. But I don’t really know, It sounds to me like they’re here to help.”

“Yeah, I agree with you there,” Sapphire agreed. “But still, with everything that’s going on, I’m a bit nervous. Traveling between the settlements isn’t always easy, but it’s the only way to get these things out there. Plus, it’s nice to see the smiles on their faces when I come to Settlements like this.”

She smiled a little as she watched a mom and two foals getting some items from Xander Root. She smiled when the foals were each passed a small toy and some candy. Such things were fairly rare in Ponyville when they didn’t come from the Rich Estate. This wasn’t about just getting food and mechanical devices there, it was about giving hope to the ponies.

That was why Sapphire and Bell came along on the deliveries. It hadn’t been something that her parents or grandparents had ever done during their time running the Estate, but Sapphire loved doing that. The blue mare smiled a little as she reached into the wagon and gave something to Sea.

“Bring that to Sweetie for me, okay?” She said as she gave her a nod and whispered something to her. “It’s for Scootaloo, she ordered it special.”

Sea chuckled a little bit at that. She wasn’t that surprised, Sweetie Belle had occasionally ordered gifts for her wife. Usually this was to help her get through a particularly stressful period in her life. Sea nodded as she quietly added it to the wagon.

“We should get over to the Orphanage,” Jasper said as she gave the two of them a nod. “It was good seeing you again Sapphire, take care.”

Sapphire smiled and waved as the two of them walked off with the wagon behind her. She went back to working on getting everything together as Bell helped her out.

“Well, those two seem to be doing well,” Bell commented.

“Yeah, they do,” Sapphire said with a soft smile as she looked back at the wagon. The crowd was slowly dispersing with only the longer line being done at this point. “So, do we have everything to bring to the Library?”

“Yes Lady Sapphire,” Bell replied as she checked the manifest. “It may be a good idea to send word to them that we will be a little late.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan,” Sapphire said as she nodded to Bell. “Do you mind taking care of that for me? I’d rather finish things up here.”

“Yes Lady Sapphire,” Bell replied as she went off towards the Library.

Sapphire smiled as she went over to Xander Root and started working with him to get the ponies their stuff. She looked back towards the Orphanage and hoped that everything was going to be okay with Sea and Jasper. With the Kamen Riders around, she had to wonder if everything really was going to be okay here.

She took a deep breath and smiled as she turned to the next pony, a family with two young fillies. “Hey there, how can I help you today?”

00000

“Grandma Sweetie, everypony, we’re here!” Jasper said as she opened the door to the orphanage for Sea to walk in with the wagon behind her. “And we come bearing gifts!”

“Sea! Jasper!” The foals said as they ran over to the two mares just as Sea shut the door behind her.

Sea smiled a little as she levitated several of the packages out of her wagon and passed them to the foals. She looked up to see Sweetie Belle coming in as she passed the last package out save for one for a foal who hadn’t been there. This was fairly common at the Orphanage, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle would

“And one more thing for you,” Sea finished as she levitated the package that Sapphire had given to her. “Something special for the wife, huh?”

“Yeah, I saved up my ration bits for it,” Sweetie answered as she put away the package and smiled at her. She looked confused at the last package in the wagon on top of the food. “Didn’t everypony get their packages?”

“Yeah, uh…” Jasper said as she picked up the package and read the name on it. “Gusty Winds didn’t show up to pick up their package. Weird, that normally doesn’t happen.”

Sweetie was silent for a moment and sighed a little. “Yeah… Gusty is still pretty new here. His parents died a few months ago in an accident and he’s been shuffled between Orphanages around the Safe Zone.”

“He doesn’t have any family left?” Sea asked and Sweetie shook her head.

“I’m afraid not, he had an aunt but she was uh…” Sweetie said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. “The Changelings got her about 5 years ago from what I heard. He’s not a bad pony, just, kind of closed off.”

“Well, I’ll take the package to him,” Sea said as she levitated the package up onto her back. “Maybe I can talk to him at least. I don’t think I can really do anything, but I might as well try…”

“Okay, good luck,” Sweetie said as she pointed to where she had to go. She sighed a little and took the wagon towards the kitchen with Jasper. “How’s she doing?”

“She’s doing okay I guess,” Jasper said softly. “But she’s not in the best of shape mentally. I don’t really blame her for that, she was never trained for this kind of thing. Maybe now that I’ve got the Guardian Driver she should, you know… quit?”

“I think that’s up to her, but we should give her the option, I agree,” Sweetie said as they entered the kitchen. “Look, Jasper, there’s something you should know.”

“What is it?”

“Vira has been doing blood tests on Sea ever since she started using that Driver,” Sweetie said quietly. “She’s half-Changeling, it’s why she’s able to use that Driver to begin with. And, the Driver is having an effect on her body.”

“Wait… what are you saying?” Jasper hissed. “Grandma, what is happening to my best friend?”

“The interaction with her magic is slowly turning her into a Changeling,” Sweetie sighed as she looked down at her hooves. “We haven’t been able to tell her the truth yet. Though, Scootaloo is fairly certain that she’s going to have to tell her soon.”

“If you two don’t, I’m going to,” Jasper groaned. “But this is the last thing she needs right now. Is there any way to reverse it?”

“Only if she stops using the gear altogether,” Sweetie answered. “And at the end of the day, that is up to her. I’ll talk to Scootaloo and convince her to tell her sooner rather than later.”

“I hope that’s the right thing to do,” Jasper sighed. “I won’t tell her, at least not yet. She still deserves to know though. She needs to know what’s happening to her so she can make an actual choice about this.”

“I agree,” Sweetie said as she hugged her granddaughter. “I love you Jasper. I promise that we only want what’s best for Sea.”

“Thank you, I know,” Jasper replied as she sighed happily.

“She’s lucky she’s got a friend as good as you are,” Sweetie said with a soft smile.

“What, you’re not going to tease me about how I’m totally in love with her despite not being in love with her?” Jasper asked with a groan.

“Nope, it’s your choice, not ours,” Sweetie said with a shake of her head. “Besides, I got teased when I first fell in love with a pony too and it went okay.”

“Oh? What happened with them?”

“I married her,” Sweetie laughed.

00000

Quartz, a soldier Drone with a blue carapace and a short blue mane and tail was in her personal quarters as she got ready to go to Ponyville. She took a deep breath as she went over the details of the combat form in her mind. She was going to be ready for this, or at least she hoped so as she checked her equipment.

She nearly jumped when she heard a knock at the door. She hadn’t felt a Changeling approaching through the Hive. She looked through the peephole on the door and her eyes went wide, outside was a female Changeling with a yellow carapace and long yellow mane. She was looking a little nervous.

Quartz took a deep breath as she brushed her mane back a little. She wasn’t sure what was going on here, but she was going to at least approach this with tact. She opened the door as she looked at the yellow Drone. “Hello Swallowtail. What brings you to Cloudsdale and my doorstep?”

“That’s no way to greet an old friend,” Swallowtail said with a roll of her eyes. “Quartz, can I come inside? There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“Fine…” Quartz said as she allowed the yellow colored Drone in. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“I want to escort you into Ponyville, I heard from Princess Whisper that you were being sent there,” Swallowtail answered which got a strange look from Quartz.

“Okay, I admit I wasn’t expecting that…” Quartz said as she shut the door behind them. “Why do you want to go to Ponyville with me? You know that it’s not exactly going to be a walk in the park, right?”

“I know, but you could use a medic for your team just in case, you know, something happens,” Swallowtail suggested as she paused a moment. “And, uh, there’s another reason too. I recently got word that my nephew, from my old life, is at the Orphanage there.”

“And you want to bring him into the Hive?” Quartz asked as she looked at her. “Does Princess Whisper agree to this?”

“She has agreed to allow me to bring him back with me to Neigh Orleans,” Swallowtail answered. “Given the food shortage right now we aren’t allowed to bring in any new ponies right now. He doesn’t have any family left other than me, she agreed that this was the best course of action at least for now.”

“So, where do I come in?”

“She doesn’t want me to go in alone, and I was hoping that you could help me out given our past together,” Swallowtail said softly. “I know you have your own mission, but it would mean a lot to me if you would be my escort.”

“Well, I, uh… I guess,” Quartz said as she looked nervous for a moment. “Swallowtail, listen… we need to talk about what happened before.”

“What’s to talk about?” Swallowtail asked. “We were in a relationship, you decided that you weren’t ready to be in a relationship because of your duties. That’s the whole story, what else is there to say?”

“Yeah, but…” Quartz sighed. “I’ve been thinking about it lately. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision back then. I know that you don’t have to give me another chance, but…”

“But you think you might feel something for me after all?” Swallowtail asked and Quartz nodded slowly. “Quartz… I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel something for you after all these years. But I don’t know if I’m ready to do that, not if you’re going to hurt me again.”

“Okay… I understand,” Quartz replied. “I don’t want to make this awkward. I can see if another Soldier can escort you into the Safe Zone later…”

“No, I want you to do it, you’re the only Drone I trust to protect me,” Swallowtail replied. She placed her hoof gently on Quartz’s and gave her a soft smile. “I may not be sure about my feelings for you, but I know that much. Will you still do that for me?”

“I will, I promise,” Quartz said as she nodded a little. “I’m going to be with you the whole time.”

“Thank you, that means a lot to me,” Swallowtail answered as she hugged Quartz a little. “Just promise me that you’ll make it out of this, okay?”

“Okay, I promise,” Quartz replied. The two Changelings’ minds touched for a moment, a gentle brush between the two as they grew close. Quartz felt an emotional surge of joy from the connection, but let it go.

She wasn’t going to press the matter, not yet at least.

00000

Sea gently knocked on the door to Gusty Winds’ bedroom at the orphanage. She paused a moment as she waited for an answer before finally she heard a soft voice say “go away.”

“It’s Sea Spray, I’m here with something the heads of the orphanage ordered for you,” Sea answered. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk to me. I just wanted to check on you is all.”

There was a long pause before he finally said “Come in.” She gently opened the door to the colt’s room and slipped inside. Seated on the bed was a young pegasus colt with a light blue coat and short green mane. He looked up at Sea who gave him a reassuring smile as she levitated the package over to him.

“Hey Gusty,” she said softly as she set it down next to him. He just shrugged a little without looking up at her. “Okay, you don’t have to talk to me. But if you ever want to say something, that’s what I’m here for.”

She started walking back out the door when she heard him speak up, “Why’d they have to die?”

“I wish I could tell you kiddo,” Sea said as she turned back around. She saw that he was holding a framed photo as tears fell down onto it. “Would it be okay if I sat down with you?”

“You’re not gonna tell me how everything is gonna be okay even though you know it might not be, are you?” Gusty asked.

“No, I just want to talk to you,” Sea answered. She looked down at the picture, it was of Gusty with a mare and stallion that looked like they were about 10 years older than Sea. “All you have to do is talk and I’ll listen. Would you be okay with that?”

“Yeah… okay,” Gusty replied, but he didn’t want to make eye contact with Sea. “It’s just, I really miss them. You probably wouldn’t understand…”

“I guess not, but not for the reasons you think,” Sea sighed. “I never knew my parents at all. I was raised in this orphanage and the ponies here became my family. And between you and me, you couldn’t ask for a better one.”

“Yeah… maybe…” Gusty sighed as he shook his head a little. “How do you deal with it? I mean, you never knew your birth parents. You’ve probably lost ponies yourself…”

“Yeah, I’ve lost a few friends over the years,” Sea replied. “But honestly, I will admit that it’s never going to be easy. But you don’t have to spend the rest of your life in this room. You’ve got some amazing ponies out there who just want what’s best for you. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are amazing and are like all of our parents. With everything that’s been going on, maybe you should give them a chance.”

“Maybe…” He agreed softly as he picked up the package for a moment. “Sometimes I wish I could see my family again.”

“I don’t pretend to know anything about this kind of thing,” Sea admitted. “But I would like to think that someday you will get to see them again. But they also don’t want you to wallow in sadness like this. Promise me you’ll at least consider it?”

“I’ll think about it…” Gusty said softly as he sighed a little. “Thank you for listening to me at least. I know that you didn’t have to…”

“I didn’t, but it was the right thing to do,” Sea said as she patted him gently on the back. “Like I said, we’re all a family here. I don’t live here anymore, but that still makes you like my little brother. Family sticks together, okay?”

“Okay,” Gusty said as he smiled softly. He hugged Sea gently and Sea smiled a little as she hugged back. “Thank you again…”

“You’re welcome,” Sea replied as she patted him gently on the back. “If you ever need anyone to talk to, let me know, okay? I’ll be here for you or anypony else that needs it.”

Gusty nodded a little as Sea got up and started for the door as he unwrapped the package. She smiled a little as she glanced back to see him holding the toy train that had been made for him. She gave him a nod as she closed the door quietly behind her and headed downstairs towards the kitchen.

“How’d it go?” Sweetie asked as Sea walked in. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I think he has a long way to go honestly,” Sea admitted. “But he’s certainly on the right track now. At least, I hope so.”

“Well, if something else happens we’ll let you know,” Sweetie agreed as she gave Sea a nod. “How are you doing? I know talking to him couldn’t have been easy with everything you’re going through lately.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sea told her with a slight smile. “I know how it goes with foals like that. You and Scootaloo always helped us out when we needed it. I guess I want to try and do the same with foals, you know?”

“I know, and thank you both for your help today,” Sweetie said as she gave her granddaughter a smile.

“No problem, we’re glad to help you both out,” Jasper replied as she smiled back. She was still a bit unsure about how she was going to avoid telling Sea what she had learned. But she did know that her grandmothers would do what they felt was right. “Is there anything else we can do to help?”

“Not at the moment, no, but maybe come back later this evening to help with dinner,” Sweetie suggested as she started working again. “You two just enjoy yourselves. Try not to get into any trouble today, okay?”

“Yeah, we’ll get right on that,” Jasper chuckled as the two friends headed out and past Scootaloo as Khepri met up with them.

“Did we get everything in?” Scootaloo asked as she leaned in and kissed her wife on the cheek. “No problems, right?”

“Yeah, they were a bit late but everything got in without problem,” Sweetie answered. Scootaloo looked a bit unhappy at that and shook her head. “Is everything okay?”

“New Manechester is just getting worse and worse, and that’s going to be a problem in a couple of weeks,” Scootaloo reminded her. “Things are getting bad if we can’t even get the shipments on time. So, what are we going to do now?”

“Well, unless something else comes up I believe that we don’t have to worry about it until later,” Sweetie replied as she worked on getting the food ready. She then smiled and levitated up the package and gave it to her wife. “And, I got something special for you.”

Scootaloo grinned a little as she opened it up. Inside was a pair of perfectly crafted wing blades that had been made by blacksmiths in the Rich Estate. There were symbols and markings carved into it with the Wonderbolt symbol on it.

“I figured you could use it given everything that’s been going on,” Sweetie said as she nuzzled her wife gently.

“Thank you,” Scootaloo replied and took a deep breath. “So, is there anything else going on that I should be worried about?”

“Jasper knows about Sea,” Sweetie said which made Scootaloo pause a moment. “She had the right to know what is happening to her. I also believe that right now we don’t need to hide the truth from Sea anymore. She’s going through a lot and we both know that it won’t be a secret much longer.”

Scootaloo paused a moment. After what had happened with the Another Riders she had Vira run more blood tests on Sea. It was a matter of weeks at this point before her body started showing physical signs, faster if she had to fight more. And there was no telling if they were going to be attacked again anytime soon.

“You might be right,” Scootaloo admitted. “With everything that’s going on, she does deserve to know. I’ve been trying to figure out how to actually tell her, but I don’t know how she’s going to react.”

“Just tell her the truth, she’ll make the right decision one way or another,” Sweetie told her. “Promise me that you’ll tell her tonight when she comes over for dinner.”

Scootaloo sighed a little as she looked at her wife. She had a hard time saying no to the older Unicorn, even at her age Sweetie was still as beautiful and smart as she had been when they were young. She had a hard time turning down her wife, but she did ultimately know that she was right.

“Okay, I’ll tell her tonight,” Scootaloo finally agreed. “I just hope you’re right about this. I can only imagine exactly how she’s going to react to this. I know how I would if I were in her position, and it’s not going to be good.”

“Agreed, but it should be her choice,” Sweetie agreed as she went back to work. “I know she’ll make the right decision. Ultimately she wants to help ponies. But we shouldn’t influence her choice, if she wants to stop, then that’s her right.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Scootaloo replied as she hugged her wife gently. “What would I ever do without you, Sweetie?”

“Probably go crazy,” Sweetie laughed.

00000

“This isn’t going to work…” Quartz muttered. She was disguised as a light blue colored earth pony with a long silvery-blue mane. It was that evening and they were making their way through the town. “There’s no way they’re going to just let us in there.”

“It’s an orphanage, right? They have couples come in all the time to adopt foals,” Swallowtail reminded her. She was disguised as a yellow Unicorn mare with a long black mane with blue and purple spots lining it. “We’ll just tell them that we’re from another settlement. Remember the cover story, we’re a couple here looking to adopt a foal.”

“Yeah, yeah, I still feel like this isn’t going to work,” Quartz groaned as they approached the orphanage. “And how exactly are you going to explain this to him? He’s going to know you were taken, right?”

“My brother wasn’t the type to tell that kind of thing,” Swallowtail replied. “It’s more likely that he thinks that I left. At least I hope so, this won’t be easy to sell. I’ll have to sneak him out of the orphanage though, so you just need to distract them, okay?”

Quetzal nodded a little as Swallowtail knocked on the door. There was a moment of silence before finally the door opened and they found Scootaloo standing there. “Can I help you two?”

“Yes, my name is Stained Glass and this is my wife Crystal, we’re here from the settlement at Gateway,” Swallowtail answered with a smile. She levitated out a series of papers as she gave them to the older Pegasus. “We’re here in hopes of starting the adoption process. The head of the Gateway Orphanage said that you would have been informed.”

It was true, Swallowtail had a friend of her’s, a Changeling in Gateway to convince the head of the orphanage there to get all this together a while back. They had sent the message earlier that day, and she had little doubt that it had come in by now. She just had to hope that Scootaloo would believe her.

“Ah… yes,” Scootaloo replied as she put on her glasses and read the notes. “I wasn’t expecting you to get here so soon.”

“She’s not buying it…” Quartz said through the hive connection.

“Give it time, it’ll be fine,” Swallowtail replied.

“Yeah, but we’re both eager to get the process started,” Quartz replied. She “So we had her send out the papers ahead of us. I hope that wasn’t improper.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Scootaloo replied with a soft smile. “We rarely see couples come in like this. Are you looking for any ponies in particular?”

“We were hoping to adopt a Pegasus colt,” Swallowtail replied. “The head of the Gateway orphanage said there was one there a few weeks ago but he left recently and was brought here.”

“Right, I see…” Scootaloo commented as she looked at them for a moment. “Well, come on in for now. We’ll have to look over your papers and I will talk to my wife, for now that’s about all I can promise you.”

“Thank you, that would be fine,” Quartz replied as Scootaloo allowed the two of them into the orphanage.

“See? Nothing to worry about, they want the foals to go to good homes,” Swallowtail told her through the Hive mind. “I don’t know what you were afraid of.”

“I’ve seen memories of Scootaloo from Princess Prism, I advise we approach with caution,” Quartz told her.

Swallowtail nodded as they walked together. She asked where the bathroom was and was directed towards it as she walked away. When she was sure she was alone, she turned into a small unicorn filly with a reddish-brown coat and a short white mane with a flare on her nose as she headed for the bedroom that belonged to Gusty. When she opened the door, Gusty looked up at her confused.

“Uh, who are you?” He asked confused.

“Oh, right you don’t recognize me in this form,” she answered as she shut the door behind her. She turned into an older version of the filly, now a fully grown mare with a cutie mark of a wrench on her flank. “Hey Gusty.”

“Auntie Socket Wrench?” Gusty asked as he blinked in surprise. “What are you… Dad told me you died…”

“Yeah, well rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated,” Swallowtail replied as she took a seat next to him. “I was taken away by the Changelings, but I never forgot about you or your parents. I heard about what happened…”

Gusty looked down at his hooves for a moment and sighed. “Yeah… but if you’re a Changeling, why are you here now?”

“Because I want you to come back with me,” Swallowtail answered. “You’ll be back with myself, and we can create a new family for you back in Neigh Orleans. You don’t even have to become a Changeling, please?”

Gusty stared at her for a moment. He honestly wasn’t sure what to think about this. He had seen her transform right in front of his eyes, so he knew she was telling the truth about that.

So, what was he going to do now?

00000

“Grandmas, we’re here!” Jasper said as she headed into the orphanage with Sea and Khepri close behind her. “How is…”

They stopped when they saw her grandmothers talking with an earth pony mare that none of them knew. Khepri narrowed his eyes a little at the Earth Pony who glanced back at him.

“Oh, sorry, are we interrupting something?” Sea asked.

“No, no, she’s just here to possibly adopt a pony with her wife,” Sweetie replied before glancing back at Crystal. “Where is she anyway? She should have been back by now.”

“Oh, she probably just got lost, it wouldn’t be the first time,” Crystal replied. “I’m sure she’ll be back shortly. Anyway, I believe you were about to set up for dinner?”

“Yes, Sea could you do me a favor and go and get Gusty? It’s his night to help with dinner, maybe you can get him to help,” Sweetie told Sea who nodded and headed up the stairs with Khepri following behind her.

Sea stopped when she reached the door to Gusty’s room. There was the sound of talking inside, which confused her. Especially when she realized that one of them was the voice of an older mare.

“Get your Driver out,” a voice hissed behind her and she jumped before looking to see Khepri behind her. “Tch, are you that dense? There are Changelings in here, and one of them is in that room.”

Sea didn’t need any further prompting as she swung the Driver’s belt around her barrel. Khepri turned back into his insect form and flew onto her head as she threw the door open to see Gusty talking with an older mare that she didn’t recognize. Their eyes went wide at the unexpected arrival of the Unicorn.

“Who are you?” The mare demanded.

“Sea, calm down, it’s okay!” Gusty protested. “She’s my aunt, she’s just here to bring me back home!”

“You’re really his aunt then?” Sea asked as the Unicorn hissed a little but nodded her head. “Why didn’t you come help him already then?”

“Tch, hive politics probably kept her from doing so if she’s being truthful,” Khepri told her. There was the sound of hooves on the stairs as Jasper and Scootaloo came in, ready for a fight as the mare put herself between them and Gusty.

“He’s my nephew, my family, I’m not going to let you keep him away from his family!” The mare protested as she took on her Changeling form. She bore her fangs at them, but she knew she had no chance of fighting them off. “Let us go, I don’t want to hurt anypony.”

“Jasper…” Scootaloo nodded to Jasper as she nodded and ran forward, catching the yellow Changeling by surprise. She quickly grabbed her in a sleeper hold, knocking the drone out within seconds as she was released. “I’ll take care of things here, you two go after her “wife,” something tells me she’s not what she seems either.”

Sea and Jasper nodded as they flew down the stairs, Jasper grabbing her own Driver as she wrapped it around her barrel. The earth pony mare scowled as she looked up at them, realizing quickly that the gig was up.

“Well, this lasted longer than I honestly thought it would,” she hissed as she transformed too. She went bipedal and became a bronze armored insect form with two horns with prongs on the ends and long claws. “Now you two, if you don’t want to trash this place I suggest we take this outside. But I’m here for your Driver and Shifter, Scarab!”

“Fine,” Sea said as the three of them stepped out of the orphanage again. She exchanged a look with Jasper before giving her a nod. “Well, here we go again, huh?”

“Yeah…” Jasper said as she glanced at Sea uncomfortably for a moment. She hated having to hide the truth from Sea right now, but they had to do this. She took out the Lux stone while Khepri flew onto Sea’s hoof as they moved onto their hind legs. “Let’s do this.”

“Henshin!” The two mares said in unison as they slid the devices into their Drivers.

“WHAT IS BORN IN THE DARK MUST COME TO THE LIGHT!”

“SHINE! LIGHT OF THE MORNING STAR!”

The armor formed over the two of them as light fell down around them from the Guardian Driver. Jasper gave her revolver a spin as she aimed it at the head of the Changeling and fired several shots into her chest as she walked forward.

“Well, she’s just cutting to the chase I see,” Khepri commented as Sea dug her hooves into the ground and ran at Quartz as she swung her tonfas around and caught the Drone across the back as more energy bullets hit her.

Quartz scowled as she swung her long claw around and slashed Sea across the chest. Sea groaned a little as she took a step back, placing her hoof on her chest, the claws had hurt a little, but she was not going to let her get away. She ducked out of the way of another swipe of the claws and pummeled the Changeling in the chest a few times, but realized the armor was making it harder to hurt her.

“You really thought it was going to be that easy?” Quartz laughed as she kicked Sea away. “Little Kamen Riders, I am not known by the name Quartz for nothing. You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that!”

She ran forward again as Jasper leveled her gun at her, only to have her hoof get knocked aside as she got slashed across the chest. Jasper let out a cry as she fell back onto her flanks, firing several more shots into the Changeling as she tried to get to her hooves again.

“So, you two are the Kamen Riders? I expected so much more from you,” Quartz cackled as she held her claw up. The claws elongated and stretched out, wrapping around Sea as she struggled to escape. “I’ll just get you out of the way and go get Swallowtail back and we can all get out of here!”

“Over my dead body!” Jasper shouted as she jumped up. She gave her pistol a twirl as she swung her hoof around and caught Quartz in the back of the head, causing her to stumble back and her claws to loosen a bit.

“You’ll pay for that!” Quartz hissed as she turned around quickly and slashed hard at Jasper. But the Pegasus was ready this time and fired several more shots into Quartz’s armor. The Changeling stepped back a little, but seemed otherwise unphased by the attack as she advanced on Jasper.

“Stop!” Prism’s voice echoed in her mind.

“I can do this my Princess, just let me…” Quartz protested.

“You are outnumbered and they are stronger than you are,” Prism told her. “You need to fall back, now! They’re not going to let you get away easily, and we need to get back the medic Drone somehow.”

“Swallowtail was…” Quartz commented as a twinge of anger ran through her. “They will pay for this!”

She let out an animalistic cry as she charged right at Sea Spray and swung her appendages around quickly. Sea raised her tonfas to block them as best she could, but the angry Changeling got in more than a few good hits on her. She let out a cry when she once more felt the energy bullets hitting her from the lux revolver as Jasper leveled it at her.

“You can’t win,” Jasper said simply. “Give up and we’ll let you and your friend go back to the Hive in one piece. It’s what’s best for both of you right now.”

“Yeah, just like you let the first soldier go,” Quartz hissed as she raised her claws to strike at Sea again. She looked down at the mare and suddenly stopped in mid-swing. There was something odd about her that she couldn’t put her hoof on, a magical energy was coming from her that was familiar. “What in the name of the Queen are you?”

“What are you talking about?” Sea asked confused. “I’m just…”

Before Sea could finish that, Prism’s voice returned to Quartz’s mind, but for a moment Sea heard the voice. “GET OUT OF THERE NOW, SOLDIER! THAT IS AN ORDER!”

“Yes… my princess,” Quartz said as she turned into a bird and flew off.

“Sea, are you okay?” Jasper asked as Sea was holding her head as she tried to figure out what had just happened. “What happened?”

“I… I don’t know,” Sea said as she looked at her hooves. She deactivated her Driver and fell onto all fours while Khepri returned to his pony form. “For a moment I thought I heard something…”

Jasper and Khepri exchanged a look. They both knew the answer to that, even if they didn’t know the other knew. There was no hiding it now, so they just had to hope that Scootaloo was going to tell her the truth.

“Come on, let’s go to the holding facility,” Jasper said. “We need to get some answers out of the other Drone that showed up.”

“Yeah…” Sea said confused as they walked towards one of the houses on the far end of town.

00000

“So, now that you’re awake, how about you tell us what you’re really doing here,” Scootaloo said as she looked into the holding cell at Swallowtail. “Because I highly doubt you’re really here for your nephew. Why are you really here?”

“I’m telling the truth,” Swallowtail answered as she shifted a little uncomfortably. “Why would it be that unlikely that I would just want to help out my Nephew? You should know that we don’t lose ourselves completely by now.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Scootaloo groaned. “Look, Socket…”

“Swallowtail is my name now,” the Changeling snapped. “It is the name the Hive gave me, I would ask that you call me by it.”

“Fine, Swallowtail,” Scootaloo said. “Even if I believe that you were here in order to bring your nephew back with you, wouldn’t it be better for him to be here with his own kind? You said you weren’t going to convert him.”

“That was the truth, Princess Wind Whisper agreed to this,” Swallowtail said with a sigh. “But if you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do is there? But we both know that Quartz is going to do everything she can to find me.”

“And we’ll stop her,” Scootaloo replied and sighed a little. “This is getting nowhere, and I have other things to deal with.”

She turned around and headed back out of the holding area. Sea, Khepri, and Jasper were waiting outside with Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Vira. Vira and Sweetie glanced at Scootaloo and she sighed a little.

“I told you that you needed to tell her this already,” Vira commented as she shook her head.

“What are you talking about?” Sea asked. “I swear during the battle I felt… something. A voice in my head for no reason. What was going on?”

“Sea, you might want to sit down for this, this won’t be easy for you to take,” Scootaloo said. Sea looked scared for a moment before she slowly took a seat. “Are you aware of how the Drivers work?”

“Yeah, they work by tapping into the user’s personal magic,” Sea replied. “So? That just means that I use my magic to power it.”

“Yeah, but the Change Drivers don’t work on pony magic,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “They work on Changeling magic. Sea, the only reason you’re able to use the Change Driver is because you have Changeling magic.”

“Wait… what are you saying?” Sea asked as she looked between them. “Why do I have Changeling magic?”

“Because… you’re half Changeling,” Scootaloo said as she closed her eyes. “And the interaction with your magic is activating your Changeling side. It’s slowly turning you into a Changeling every time you use it.”