Kamen Rider Scarab

“Do you know why your grandmothers wanted to see us?” Sea asked as they opened up the secret door to the Resistance base in Golden Oaks Library.

“I honestly don’t know, it sounds like they’ve been preparing for something pretty important for a couple of weeks now,” Jasper answered with a slight frown. “Whatever it is, they’re keeping it pretty close to the vest so most of the Cell isn’t even aware of it.”

“Yeah… maybe we’ll finally find out what that’s about,” Sea said as they started down the stairs with the door shutting behind them. “Whatever it is I’m sure it’s important though.”

“Yeah, let’s see what’s going on I guess,” Jasper said as they stepped out into the base. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were talking with Apple Bloom and a technician. “Grandma Scootaloo, Grandma Sweetie Belle, what’s going on?”

“Well, we need the two of you for an important mission,” Sweetie said as she looked at her wife and friend for a moment. “Apple Bloom, you’re the one who’s been in charge of setting it up, would you like to do the honors?”

“Sure thing,” Apple Bloom answered as she turned to the two younger ponies. “Yah see ever since things started with Sea Spray gettin’ tha Change Driver, Ah’ve been workin’ on gettin’ together what Ah’m callin’ tha Equestria’s Future Summit. Ah know it ain’t that much of a name, but Ah’ve been doin’ what Ah can ta keep it all hush hush.”

“What exactly is it?” Sea asked, a bit confused. “And what do we have to do with it?”

“Tha Safe Zone ain’t exactly got a proper government as ya’ll may have noticed,” Apple Bloom answered. “Tha point of tha Summit is ta get tha settlements around tha Safe Zone ta form a proper government, or at least start ta. If we’re gonna survive against tha Changelings, we’re gonna need ta actually work properly together.”

“Which is where the two of you come in,” Scootaloo said. “Word is spreading about your activities. Ponies are taking notice, and it’s starting to spread hope. We want you both to be there to help convince the other settlements that this is the best chance we have at survival. I know it’s not going to be an easy thing, but we’ve decided that you’re our best chance to do this.”

“We’ll help as best we can,” Sea said and Jasper nodded in agreement. “Is there anything we should know about the other… what’s the word, representatives? Delegates?”

“Delegates, and yes unfortunately that’s where we get our biggest problem,” Sweetie replied as she nodded to the technician. “Rose, tell them about the delegation from New Manechester.”

“Oh boy… yeah… here we go,” Jasper said as she groaned a little.

“New Manechester? I thought they didn’t have any leadership after the Mayor and his staff got taken a few years ago,” Sea commented confused. “What’s the story here?”

“Officially yes there is no leadership, but that’s mostly because they’re isolated,” Scootaloo answered as she shook her head a little. “Rose, please pull up the file on Black Water and his gang.”

Rose nodded as she pulled up a set of files. The first one had a picture of a black Unicorn stallion with a short purple mane and a cigarette between his lips.

“Black Water, he’s the more or less leader of New Manechester and he’s coming to the summit personally,” Rose said. “He used to be Resistance, part of the intelligence division actually. Then about ten years ago he and the others were captured by the Changelings. They managed to escape, but the experience left them in bad shape mentally. Black Water became more extreme in his methods and broke his Cell off from the rest of the Resistance. He’s the reason why New Manechester cracks down so hard on Changelings and searches anypony going into it”

“And now he’s got a whole town full of of ponies and his beck and call,” Jasper said.

“Whatever happened to him in Changeling custody changed him,” Scootaloo said. “He wasn’t always like this, but he’s potentially not the most dangerous member of the gang. Show them the next file, Rose.”

Rose nodded and changed it again. The file now showed an Earth Pony with grey fur and a light blue mane. He had a hat pulled down over his features slightly and had a grin plastered on his face as if he knew something that others didn’t.

“He looks familiar somehow…” Jasper commented.

“He should, his name is Hat Trick, unlike his boss he was never in the Resistance, instead he was a traveling magician for a while,” Rose said. “He visited Ponyville many times when you were young. Intel says that he had a daughter who was captured with him but didn’t escape with him and the others.”

“Do you think she was converted?” Sea asked.

“Unknown, she was either converted or sent to one of the Farms,” Rose answered. “Regardless it seems that was when he gave up traveling magic and joined up with Black Water. That hat of his is the real problem though, it seems to be some sort of fragment of chaos magic, and he can use it to great effect in combat.”

“Hopefully we’re not going to need to fight him right now,” Jasper said.

“This is Storm Gear, he’s the muscle of the group,” Rose continued as she showed a picture of a bulky Earth Pony stallion. He had a rough look and several scars on his face and visible body. “Another former Resistance member, he was a soldier. Not exactly the smartest guy around, but he’s probably the strongest member of the gang in terms of pure physical ability. Beyond that there’s not much notable about him at least… and that brings us to the last member of the main gang.”

And a new image was brought up of a mare, but she looked different. She looked almost like a normal pony, but her eyes were different and she had sight fangs. Sea looked at her confused for a moment, she looked strangely a bit like a mix of a pony and a Changeling.

“And who’s she?” Sea asked.

“Her name is Mirage, so the story goes, she was in the middle of conversion when the others saved her, it’s left some effects on her body obviously,” Scootaloo said. “Unfortunately this had an effect on her mind as well. We don’t exactly know the extent of her abilities as a result of the interrupted transformation process, but she’s definitely shown considerable magical ability as a result.”

“Great, let’s hope we don’t have to get into a fight with them,” Sea commented.

“They’re going to be our biggest obstacle in convincing the others to work together like we’re supposed to,” Sweetie said.

“Ah don’t like it either, we still have ta deal with them and tha others somehow,” Apple Bloom commented. “Most of tha ponies yah have ta deal with are on tha fence between our two sides. Tha mayor has already picked our delegate, so ya’ll aren’t gonna need ta be involved in most things there.”

“Well, that’s something at least, I’d rather not deal with diplomats,” Jasper said.

“What’s our best chance of convincing the other delegates?” Sea asked.

“Appletown’s Delegate should be easy to convince already,” Rose answered. “As for the others, you’re going to need to win them over. Your best chance of convincing them is likely to convince Tailspin.”

Sea glanced at Jasper who flinched a little at the mention of the pony. She was about to say something when Scootaloo explained.

“Tailspin is the son of a member of the Wonderbolts who escaped the Changeling takeover,” she said. “He was visiting family near what is now Gateway when the takeover happened. These days he runs the militia out of Free Haven that protects most of the settlements including Ponyville.”

“And he’s also Jasper’s grandfather,” Sweetie Belle added.

“That should help convince him… right?” Sea asked as she looked between them. They shifted uncomfortably for a moment before Scootaloo shook her head and answered.

“He never quite forgave us for the disappearance of his son and Sparky. He trains our soldiers and helped train Jasper, but other than that he wants nothing to do with us outside of professional courtesy.”

“So convincing him won’t be easy,” Sweetie Belle agreed. “We’re trying to keep this under wraps but there’s always a chance that the Changelings have gotten wind of this somehow. So I want you both on guard, okay? This isn’t the time to let your guard down and get into trouble.”

“We’ll be careful,” Sea agreed. “Is there anything else?”

“No, you leave for the summit tomorrow, be careful, both of you,” Scootaloo said and the two nodded before heading out again.

00000

In the decades that had passed since the Changeling takeover, Las Pegasus was probably the city that had changed the least. While there was still Changeling architecture, the purpose of the city had remained the same, only focusing on entertainment for the Changelings of all the Hives as they came to visit.

Overlooking it was Princess Joy Buzzer, the Changeling Princess that was assigned to keeping up morale in the Hive. She was in her throne room in the Luna’s Palace Casino. She yawned a little as she leaned on her hoof, despite being surrounded by lights and joy she was so bored right now.

“Hello Joy,” a voice said and she jumped up, surprised to see Dusk standing there flanked by her guard. “You’re looking well.”

“Dusk!” Joy said as she jumped up and hugged her fellow Princess. “I didn’t know you were coming! What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to give you a mission from the Queen herself,” Dusk answered as she gave a half-hearted hug back. “She wants you to go and disrupt the Ponies’ latest efforts to fight against us.”

“Oh those party poopers, what are they doing this time?” Joy asked with a pout. “They never let us have any fun.”

“Yes, and now they’re trying to become more of a unified front against them, the Queen believes that this will only make things harder,” Dusk continued. “So after some deliberation, we agreed that this was the best chance to test out another part of the Project.”

“Oh?” Joy asked, bouncing a little in anticipation. “Does this mean I’m finally getting one of those cool Driver thingies?”

“Uh yes, of course,” Dusk said as she nodded to one of the guards. He trotted over and levitated up a box over to Dusk who opened it up. “You simply have to make a connection with the Shifter and answer it’s request. When the bond is formed, you will be able to become a Kamen Rider.”

“Cool!” Joy said as she looked down into the box. The familiar black design of the Driver shone in the light as she levitated it up along with the featureless insectoid shifter. “Aww, it’s so boring looking.”

“You have to connect with it,” Dusk groaned. She had given all of them the basic idea of how these things worked when she first proposed the project to them, apparently Joy hadn’t been paying attention again. “You should know how this works.”

“Oh right!” Joy said as she reached out and connected with the Shifter. “Hi Mr. Bug thingy!”

“Princess Joy Buzzer, what is it you wish for?” The shifter’s voice echoed in her mind with a monotone. “If it is within my power, you shall receive it.”

“Well, let’s see, what do I want…” Joy replied as she tilted her head for a moment in thought. “So many fun things I could wish for… do you know you sound like my sister Maud? Anyway… let’s see, I wish I could show ponies how much fun it can be to be in the Hive! Like fireworks, every day! So we can all be one happy family!”

“Your wish is my command,” the Shifter replied as energy flowed around it and it took on its new form. Joy smiled as she held it up and gave it a nod.

“You and I are gonna have so much fun together!” She said with a giggle as she turned back to Dusk. “So, what now?”

“Well, I think we don’t have a lot of preparation to do, find a pony to replace and I’ll have Prism send soldier Drones to back you up,” Dusk replied. “I know this isn’t exactly going to be a walk in the park, I suspect they will be sending both Scarab and Lux to the summit as well.”

“Shouldn’t you or Elusive join me then?” Joy asked with a tilt of her head. “I mean, if they’re going to have two Riders, shouldn’t we have more than one?”

“We have other matters to attend to, and your Rider suit should be more than enough to handle two Riders,” Dusk answered with a fanged smile. “Scarab is only a Drone form after all, you are stronger right now. You know the drill, disrupt the talks, deal with the Riders if you have a chance. Our priority however is to keep them from uniting.”

“You can count on me, Dusky!” Joy said as she did a salute. “Those ponies won’t know what hit them! And I’ve got a new toy that I want to take for a test run anyway, this‘ll be the perfect chance!”

Dusk groaned a little as Joy bounced away happily. She didn’t want to put this in the hooves of an unpredictable Changeling like Joy, but all the other Princesses were busy. Prism was looking for Wind Whisper, who had gone missing, not something that was exactly new, the shy Princess often left for extended periods of time but now they were worried and Prism wasn’t ready with another combat form.

So now they just had to hope that Joy really would be enough.

00000

The summit was being held at Unity, a small settlement to the north of Ponyville that was often used for when the settlements wanted a meeting. Given the gathering was larger than usual, a few temporary buildings and tents had been set up as ponies came into the settlement.

Sea and Jasper arrived with the rest of the delegation from Ponyville. The Assistant Mayor had been sent as the head delegate for the town along with several members of her staff and the guard.

Sea took a deep breath as she looked around the town for a moment, there were a few ponies she recognized from the occasional visits to Ponyville. She and Jasper headed towards one of the temporary buildings that they were assigned to stay in together.

“Hey Sea, Jasper, how are you two?” A voice called out to them and they were surprised to see Sapphire and Bell Ring setting up a lavish tent next to it. Sapphire waved to the mares and smiled as she and Bell finished tying down part of the tent. “I didn’t expect to see the two of you here.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, we’re here as part of the Ponyville delegation,” Sea said as she looked at Jasper for a moment. They had something of a cover story, at least until the announcement was made. “Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle wanted us to go in order to make sure that everything goes okay, you know? For the orphanages I mean, they were worried about changes to it, and stuff.”

“Great job, you really sold that…” Jasper muttered as she rolled her eyes at her friend before speaking up. “So, you two are here to represent the Rich Estate?”

“Of course, Lady Sapphire is the best choice to represent the Estate,” Bell said with a smile.

“Thank you Bell, but yeah I’m here to represent the Estate, I was a bit surprised to receive the invitation,” Sapphire said. “This isn’t exactly the first time this kind of thing has been tried but it’s never worked before. The Changelings are probably going to disrupt things you know.”

“Yeah, we know, but maybe this time will be different,” Jasper said. “Grandma Sweetie seemed pretty confident that the Kamen Riders have changed things around here a little… at least I hope she’s right about that.”

“Yeah, well I’m sure they’re helping out as much as they can, I wonder if they’re here,” Sapphire said thoughtfully. “This is the kind of thing they should be here for, but nopony even knows who they are.”

“Yeah…” Sea said, thinking about the Driver in her bag. Khepri had said that he was going to go ahead to their temporary quarters, so at least they didn’t have to worry about that. “You have to wonder I guess.”

“Lady Sapphire, we should finish up here and go to the main hall,” Bell said as she bowed slightly to the three of them. “If there is nothing else of course.”

“No, we need to get settled in anyway,” Jasper replied as she adjusted her bags a moment. “It was nice seeing you both again. Take care, okay?”

“Of course,” Sapphire said with a smile as Sea and Jasper headed into their home. It was a small living space with just a living room and two living quarters that were attached to it. Khepri was resting on a table and flew up when they entered before returning to his pony form.

“Tch, it’s about time you two showed up,” Khepri commented as he shook his head a little. “What took you two so long?”

“We were scouting out the town, maybe you should’ve been doing the same,” Sea said with a roll of her eyes as she took a seat. “If the Changelings decide to attack the summit…”

“Tch,if?” Khepri asked. “This is the kind of thing they love to disrupt.”

“Fair enough, but that’s why we’re here,” Sea said as she looked at Jasper. “Did you see anything suspicious?”

“Oh, pretty much the usual, honestly nothing too suspicious,” Jasper replied with a shrug. “I didn’t really see anything that screamed Changeling however. What about you, you’re the one who can hear them, did you hear anything?”

“No, can’t say that I did,” Sea replied as she shook her head a little. “Either they’ve figured out a way around that or there’s none here at the moment. I don’t like this though, it feels like we’re just waiting for something to happen…”

“Yeah, well at least we don’t have to be actually in the Summit,” Jasper commented with a yawn at the thought of it. “It sounds kinda boring really. Let’s just hope that everything will be okay, you know?”

“Tch, I’m sure everything will be fine, there’s nothing you two can’t handle,” Khepri retorted.

“Yeah, I hope you’re right,” Sea said as she adjusted herself a little. For a moment she could’ve sworn she felt a bit of buzzing at the back of her mind as if there was something coming. She turned to look at Jasper and Khepri and was about to say something when there was a knock at the door.

“Uh, were you expecting anypony to visit?” Sea asked confused.

“No,” Jasper replied and glanced at Khepri who just shrugged. Jasper and Sea reached for their Drivers as Sea slowly opened the door.

Standing outside was a nervous skinny looking Blue Earth pony stallion. He was looking around as if expecting somepony to catch her at any time. Sea cleared her throat, making the stallion jump in surprise. “Uh, hi, are you Sea Spray?”

“Yes, who are you?” Sea asked, a bit confused at the stallion. She didn’t recognize him from Ponyville or any of the other settlements, so she wasn’t sure how he knew her. Then again maybe there was a reason that she just hadn’t thought of.

“I’m, uh, Crystal Hoof, one of the Delegates from… uh… Gateway sent me to talk with the two of you, if that’s okay,” he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “May I come inside?”

Sea blinked at him for a moment, there was a strange feeling to this stallion that she couldn’t put her hoof on. She glanced back at Jasper and Khepri who nodded a little as they prepared for a fight if it came to that. Sea didn’t feel a Hive connection from him, but she still felt uneasy about him, as did Khepri.

“Alright, slowly come in,” Sea said as she pushed the door all the way open and Crystal Hoof walked in slowly. He was still looking nervous as he gulped a little at the sight of Khepri, though he didn’t seem to mind Jasper being there. “Uh… can we talk in private? Just me, you, and Jasper I mean.”

“Khepri can listen to anything you have to say,” Sea replied as she narrowed her eyes a little at the stallion. “How about you tell me what’s going on here?”

“Look, uh… I might as well try not to hide it…” He said with a groan. After a moment he transformed into a male Changeling Drone who lowered his head a little. “My name is…”

“Thorax? What are you doing here?” Jasper asked as she lowered her Driver.

“Wait, you know him?” Sea asked confused. “Who is this guy?”

“He’s our chief contact within the Shadow Hive, I’m not sure why he’s here though,” Jasper replied. “Is everything okay, Thorax?”

“I’m afraid not,” Thorax said nervously. “I’m privy to some of the goings-on around the Hives you see. And in particular with the progress of the Rider project. It, uh won’t surprise you, I’m guessing that they’re sending a Changeling to disrupt this summit.”

“Of course not, it’s what they do,” Sea replied.

“Well, uh, they’re not just sending a Changeling,” Thorax said nervously. “They’re sending one of the Princesses with a recently completed set of Rider Gear. She’s replaced one of the delegates, but I can’t tell you which one.”

“So, any one of them could be a Princess lying in wait,” Sea commented as she looked outside for a moment. “Sounds like our job just got a whole lot more difficult.”

00000

Sea and Jasper had finished talking to Thorax but he didn’t have much more information on the infiltrator. That night there was going to be a party for the delegates, so that was at least a good place to start looking. Sea took a deep breath as she, Jasper, and Khepri stepped into the hall where everything was being held.

“Well, here we are,” Sea said as she looked at Jasper for a moment. “Is it weird that I feel nervous about this? I’ve sung in front of crowds this big before, but actually mingling with ponies this important…”

“Yeah, I understand,” Jasper agreed as they started to walk into the crowd. “My grandfather should be around here somewhere… I’m not looking forward to that to say the least.”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” Sea said as they made their way over to the table where the food and drinks were being served. She poured herself a drink and sniffed it a moment before taking a swig. “I guess we just need to keep an eye out for trouble.”

“Tch, I imagine that it won’t take that long to find with you two, you’re trouble magnets,” Khepri commented.

“You get used to it after a while,” Jasper commented as she adjusted her tie a little. She smiled as she glanced over at Sea and the dress she was wearing. The two were dressed in their finest clothing, even if they weren’t officially part of the delegation. “Even before all this happened we were getting into trouble.”

“No, you were getting into trouble and I was trying to drag you out of it,” Sea pointed out as she levitated a drink to her lips and took a long drink. “Actually come to think of it, a lot of things are making sense now.”

“Haha, very funny,” Jasper said.

“Well, you two seem to be making yourselves at home,” a voice said from in front of them. They both looked up to see a Pegasus stallion with a dark blue coat and a steel gray mane. He was dressed in an old Equestrian military Dress Uniform as he eyed the two of them, taking a drink from his glass. “Jasper.”

“Grandfather,” Jasper said, frowning a little as she turned serious all of a sudden. “I wasn’t expecting to run into you at the party. I thought this wasn’t your kind of thing.”

“Normally I’m not one for gatherings like this, but the pony running things insisted, and my troops are providing security,” Tailwind commented as he took another drink. He turned his attention to Sea at this point, his cold steely glance causing the Unicorn to shiver a little. “And you must be sea Spray, one of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s orphans, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Sea replied with a slight gulp. “Is that a problem?”

“Not really, just not sure why the two of you were sent,” Tailwind replied with a derisive snort. “Your cover story is weak at best, so those two are up to something. Maybe you should tell me what that would be.”

“No idea, the story you all know is the only story we were told,” Sea answered with a shrug. “I would tell you if I knew.”

“Hmph, well at least you’re better than those ruffians from New Manechester,” Tailwind said with a snort as he glanced back over towards where the aforementioned ponies were. “I don’t know why they were invited at all.”

“Probably because the ponies in charge wanted all the settlements involved,” Sea commented. “I’m sure it’ll be okay.”

“Tch, that’s optimistic,” Khepri snorted. “I’m just here for the laughs until this whole thing falls apart.”

“And I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” Tailwind commented as he stared down Khepri. “Who’s your friend?”

“Khepri, this is my Grandfather, please try not to anger him,” Jasper muttered to Khepri. “We need him on our side, remember?”

“Tch, whatever,” Khepri retorted as he walked off. “Like I said, I’m just here for the laughs.”

"Well, he's a bundle of fun," Tailwind commented. "Is he part of your delegation or did he just show up out of nowhere drunk?"

"No, he's... it's complicated," Sea answered. She really didn't like having to hide the truth from ponies, but the time would soon come, or at least she hoped it would. "He doesn't really drink either..."

"Or eat..." Jasper muttered to herself.

“So yeah, I don’t think he’s drunk, just very, weird,” Sea finished. “Is there anything from your troops? Any trouble from around town?”

“No, not yet at least, but we’re on guard nonetheless,” Tailwind replied. “I don’t like having this many important ponies in one place.”

“Yeah, the Changelings could attack, but who knows maybe they sent the Kamen Riders to…” Sea started to say only to get a derisive snort from Tailwind. “What?”

“The Kamen Riders are a poor substitute for proper fighters,” Tailwind commented. “If they exist at all. With everything that’s going on, sounds more like a myth to give false hope to me.”

Sea and Jasper exchanged a look for a moment as Sea tried to suppress a chuckle. Oh if only he knew who he was talking to right now. Jasper had a harder time suppressing her laughter, but just gave her grandfather a slight nod.

"You never know though, and besides a little hope might be good for ponies," Jasper pointed out. "We've lived under the hoof of the Changelings for so long we could probably stand to have a little bit of hope."

"Maybe, but I still don't like it, especially if they're untrained," Tailwind snorted. "I wouldn't put much faith in rumors however. Enjoy the party you two, I have other things to deal with."

And with that he walked off. Sea and Jasper exchanged a brief look before breaking down laughing at that exchange. Jasper just shook her head after a moment as she placed her hoof on Sea's shoulder, still chuckling.

"Yeah, we'll just not put faith in the rumors, sure thing grandpa," she said in a sarcastic tone. "I guess the two of us are just legends then, Sea and everything that's happened is just in our heads."

"Heh, yeah, if only..." Sea said with a weak smile as she looked back at the crowd. "Let's just hope that if something does happen we'll be able to deal with it."

"Yeah," Jasper said with a shrug.

"So I see you take more after your mother's side of the family," Sea commented with a chuckle. "Are you sure you're related to him?"

"Yeah unfortunately I am," Jasper replied with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry you had to meet him like that. He's a bit stuck up, especially when it comes to the defense of the Safe Zone. The way he talks you'd think the militia is the only thing standing between Ponykind and total absorption into the Hive."

Sea paused a moment at that. It was true that the militia had always been their primary defense against the Changelings, but she knew now that there was a lot more going on under the surface than just that. Now here she was, doing what she could to protect ponies just like the Militia, only with more anonymity.

So, what was she going to do when Tailwind found out? Was he even going to accept this? That was the big question that plagued her mind right now.

"How do you think he's going to take it?" Sea asked as she looked at Jasper. "I mean, his attitude seems more towards the lack of training, but you're trained, right?"

"Right, though I don't think he ever felt my training was complete enough," Jasper replied with a shrug. "Honestly I don't know how he's going to react."

"Yeah, me neither," Sea said as she took a long drink. "Maybe we should find Khepri and do another check of the..."

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A voice with a thick and very noticeable accent comment. They looked up to see Black Water walking up towards them with the rest of his gang hanging back. "A couple of small fish in a big pond. Scootaloo must be getting desperate if she's sending you on these missions."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sea said as she took a drink. "We're here representing..."

"Oy, don't give me that load of bollocks, I know why you're really here," Black Water said with a sneer. "You're here because they want to show off their fancy new toys. Yeah, I know who you really are, saw you get into that little scuffle with Princess Prism not too long ago."

"Then you should really know not to tick us off," Jasper commented as she shot him a look. "You and your goons are lucky that you were invited here at all. I guess they lowered their standards to let trash like you into this place."

"Why you little... I'm not going to stand here and be insulted by some flightless..." Black Water started to say, his horn glowing as he was interrupted by Jasper.

"I don't need to fly to kick your..." Jasper started to say as she stormed her way over to Black Water, only to be caught in Sea's telekinetic grip. "Sea, what are you doing?"

"Jasper, calm down, he wants to rile you up, and you're letting him," Sea said as she pulled her friend back towards her and stared Black Water down. She knew that was a sore spot for Jasper, and she had to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. "So settle down, please?"

"Fine, whatever, he's not worth it anyway," Jasper said with a growl as she turned away, muttering something.

"Your friend has a big mouth on her," Black Water grinned. "You'd better hope she doesn't let it get her into some trouble, bug-girl."

"Jasper could kick your flank without breaking a sweat, I wouldn't provoke her or me if I was you," Sea said as she turned back to the punch bowl. "You're not worth our time anyway. When this summit is over, your days will be numbered anyway."

"Heh, yeah right," Black Water said as he crossed his arms. "You'll see mate, the Safe Zone will be begging to adapt our methods by the time this sham of a summit is over. I guarantee it, it's the only way we're going to survive as a species."

"We're not so willing to sacrifice our equinity for security," Jasper growled. "How many ponies have you killed in the name of security? How many have to die before we're safe?"

"Shut up, that's none of your business," Black Water said as he took out a cigarette and started to light it. "We get results, which is more than I can say about the way you run things. We haven't lost a pony to the Changelings since I took over."

“Yeah, yeah whatever, come on Sea we’re not going to put up with this crap anymore,” Jasper said as she pulled Sea away from the table. “Let’s go find Khepri, I think I’ve had enough partying for tonight.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Sea said as she closed her eyes. She wasn't surprised that they had encountered either Tailwind or Black Water, but she still didn’t like the interactions. “This is going to be a long Summit, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, seems like it,” Jasper agreed as she draped her wing gently over Sea and gave her a reassuring smile. “It’ll be okay, Sea. We’ll get through this, we just need to make sure that everything will be okay. Let’s head back to…”

She was cut off when there was a sudden sound of crashing. A large window had been broken as several changelings in combat forms entered. There was a sudden loud giggling as Joy Buzzer flew into the room after them.

“Hello everyone, we’re this evening’s entertainment,” Joy said with a giggle as the gathered ponies nearest to her took steps back. “I heard a nasty little rumor that the Kamen Riders are here, how about you step forward and we’ll make this quick so you ponies can go back to your little lives?”

“What should we do?” Sea muttered to Jasper as she started looking for Khepri. She couldn’t hide the Driver in her dress so she had given it to him to take care of.

“They’ll be more interested in you than me, get Khepri while I distract them,” Jasper whispered back as she levitated her driver out of her pocket and wrapped it around her barrel. “Be careful, okay?”

“You too, Jasper,” Sea said as she walked off quickly to find Khepri.

Jasper took a deep breath as she pushed through the crowd. Tailwind had already gathered several of his soldiers who were pointing rifles at the Changelings. Tailwind was hanging back as he eyed Joy Buzzer with a scowl on his face.

“This is a diplomatic gathering, the Kamen Riders aren’t on the guest list,” Tailwind said as he eyed the militia soldiers for a moment. “You’re wasting your time here. Leave or I will order my soldiers to open fire.”

“I highly doubt that,” Joy giggled. “This high profile a gathering? They’re going to be here, so come out come out wherever you are little Riders.”

“Fire a warning shot,” Tailwind muttered to the nearest militia soldier. They nodded and fired a shot over the Princess’ head. “This is your last chance to back off before we open fire. I am telling you, there are no…”

“General, I’m sorry to interrupt but it looks like you could use a hoof,” Jasper said as she came up behind Tailwind. She whispered quietly to him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to find out this way…”

“Find out what?” He demanded as he trained his eyes on Joy Buzzer again. “This is Militia Business, I would back up if I were you, Jasper. I would rather you not get hurt in the fight.”

“Trust me, I can handle myself,” Jasper said as she glared at Joy. “You asked for me, let these ponies go. They don’t mean anything to you, just let them go and we can fight one on one!”

“You’re strangely alone, where’s your friend?” Joy demanded without looking at Tailwind. “This party isn’t gonna be fun without her! Oh well, let’s get this over with then, I’ll find her later.”

“Oh, she was busy with something else so I’m afraid you’re going to have to deal with me alone,” Jasper said as she took a step next to Tailwind. “Those are advanced combat forms, your guns aren’t going to do much good against them.”

“I think I’m a better judge of what we can handle than you are,” Tailwind said as he shot her a look. “You may have training, but you’re not even armed.”

"Really? We'll see about that," Jasper said with a chuckle as she moved onto her hind legs and took out the Lux stone. She shot a grin at Tailwind for a moment as she placed her hoof on the Driver around her barrel. "So, you know what you were saying about Kamen Riders being a myth?"

"Oh you have got to be kidding me..." Tailwind muttered as she slid it into her Driver.

"Henshin!" Jasper said as her Driver closed around the gemstone and the magical energy flowed around her.

"SHINE! LIGHT OF THE MORNING STAR!" The Driver said as the light fell around her, the armor forming over her body as the revolved appeared in her hoof.

"Well, well, you're looking pretty good," Joy Buzzer said with a giggle. "I have to say, I was hoping at least one of you would show up tonight. A shame it isn't Scarab, Prism would love to get her hooves back on that Driver and Shifter."

She laughed crazily as she levitated up her own Change Driver. Jasper's eyes narrowed from behind her visor, she wasn't that surprised, but she had hoped that it wasn't going to be the case. "General, start evacuating the hall, I've got this," she said as she turned to look at Tailwind for a moment. "You and the militia are in way over your heads right now."

"We'll be back to back you up," Tailwind replied as he nodded to his soldiers as a new Shifter flew onto Joy's hoof. It resembled a firefly with a glowing thorax and was colored red with golden markings on it. "You'd better know what you're doing, Jasper."

"I know exactly what I'm doing," Jasper said as she fired several energy bullets at Joy only to have them hit an orange energy shield out of the Shifter. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me..."

"What, did you really think it was going to be that easy? Dusky knows how to be prepared," Joy laughed as she slid the Shifter into her Driver. "Henshin!"

"THE HIVE STANDS UNITED!" The Driver said as energy flowed out out of the Shifter and armor formed over her. The armor was red with golden markings covering it and two large golden eyes with short antennae. Her hooves glowed with golden energy as a ball of light formed in one of them and she tossed it up and down.

"I'm Kamen Rider Firefly, and I'm gonna show you just how strong this new suit is!" She giggled. “Let’s start the fireworks!”

And with that she threw the ball of light at Jasper. The Pegasus instinctively threw up her arm as a shield appeared on it and the ball impacted it. However it exploded against the shield, throwing Jasper back onto the ground. She groaned as she pushed herself back up onto her hind legs as she stared Joy down.

“Explosives, well I can’t say that you Changelings don’t have some tricks up your sleeve,” Jasper said as she raised her revolved and formed another shield on her arm. She fired several shots into the Princess’ direction, but she just giggled and leapt out of the way of each shot, firing several more explosive balls at her. “Stand still!”

“Come on Jasper, you’re militia trained and a Kamen Rider to boot!” Joy giggled as she landed behind Jasper and grabbed her from behind. “I can see why Prism is so interested in you and your little marefriend. Such a shame that it’s all going to waste here.”

“What I’m doing here will never be a waste,” Jasper said as she gripped her hoof. “Protecting ponies isn’t a waste.”

She slammed her hoof down hard on Joy’s hoof causing her to let go as Jasper jumped out of the way and raised her revolver again. She fired several more shots into the chest of the Princess who fell back a little.

“You’re no fun, you know that right?” Joy pouted. “Why do you Riders have to be such party poopers? Guess I’ll have to make my own fun!”

She laughed madly as she formed several more balls and threw them around her in a circle, causing more explosions as the soldier Drones avoided them. Jasper just barely managed to cover herself with her shield as she did before running forward, slamming hard into Joy with the shield as she kicked at her legs.

“Your idea of fun differs from mine,” Jasper snorted. “And I’m taking you down, hard!”

Joy groaned as she struggled to get to her hooves. She gripped her hooves and a pair of swords appeared in them as she spun them around. She grinned as her back opened up and a pair of wings emerged as she flew at Jasper, swinging her swords at her only to have them glance off the shield again.

“Not bad, but I’m not going to just let you win that easily,” Jasper said as she raised her revolver and fired into her chest point blank. She kicked at Joy hard, knocking her to the ground before pulling back on her revolver as an energy blast charged up. “SHINING BULLET!”

She fired the shot straight into the chest of Joy and she went flying back into the wall, her armor shattering as her Shifter flew off.

“Ugh…” Joy said as she struggled to get to her hooves as the Soldier Drones gathered around her. “This isn’t over.”

And with that she took off and flew out the window just as Sea ran up to Jasper. The two of them ran out of the hall together after Joy, and stopped in mid-step. Once they were outside, there was no sign of the Changelings, not even of them fleeing. And there was a lot of ponies gathered around the area.

“Where did they go?” Sea asked as Jasper powered down and fell back onto all fours.

“I don’t know,” Jasper admitted as she looked at Sea. “But they could be anypony in town now.”

00000

“I’m guessing by the looks on your faces things didn’t go well at the Hall,” Thorax commented with a frown as Sea and Jasper came back into the house. “What happened?”

“Joy Buzzer showed up with her own Change Driver and Shifter,” Jasper said with a groan as she took a seat. “She nearly blew the whole place up with those explosives. I managed to fight her off at least, but we don’t know where she went.”

“She’s still somewhere in town, we know that much,” Sea added as Khepri turned into his pony form. “It’s not a lot of information, but it’s more than we had before at least. We know what we’re dealing with at least.”

“Just not where she’s hiding,” Thorax sighed. “I’m sorry, I wish I could’ve told you more.”

“It’s okay, you told us more than enough,” Sea replied as she took a deep breath. “Thorax… listen, maybe you should get out of here. If they find out you’re here, you’ll be in trouble, you know that right?”

“Yeah, I know,” Thorax said with a sigh as he reached into a bag. “And I’ll be in even more trouble if they find out I have this.”

The two mares exchanged confused glances before he pulled out the item from his bags. It looked like the Lux Stone only it was light green and had dancing dark green and other similar lights dancing in it. Sea’s eyes went wide at the sight of the stone as she looked at Jasper.

“Is that…” She started to say.

“Most of them vanished years ago, how did you get it?” Jasper asked as she reached into her bags and took out the Lux Stone.

“They were stolen by the Changelings when they took the scientist studying Rider technology,” Thorax answered. “This one was in the possession of Princess Dusk, I found it a while back and brought it with me. I didn’t even realize its significance until you were able to use the Lux Stone.”

“That’s the Camo Stone,” Jasper commented as she gently picked it up. “I read about these things from Tinker’s files. This was… uh, which one was it… Generosity I think.”

“Yeah… as far as I can tell she was never able to actually use it for anything,” Thorax commented. “But if this could be used for a new Rider…”

“Then they’re definitely going to be mad at you,” Sea finished as she examined it for a long moment. “So, what are we going to do with it? We could always use another Rider on our side, especially with Joy becoming Kamen Rider Firefly.”

“They really need to come up with more original names,” Jasper commented.

“Said the mare who’s Rider name is the Zebra word for Light,” Thorax commented as Sea chuckled a little. “But I agree, this could be of use. We just have to, uh, actually find a pony who can use it.”

“I’ll send a message to Tinker, she’s been working on a second Guardian Driver,” Jasper said.

"Yeah, I guess," Thorax said as he looked at the stone for a long moment. "I'm not sure I can go back at this point. If I try they'll figure out that I betrayed them. The Shadow Hive will still endure, but I'm afraid that my absence may put them at risk as well. I may have put the whole summit in more danger than it was already in."

"We were always in danger, don't worry about it," Sea said as she brushed her mane back a little. She was about to say something when she realized the looks she was getting from Jasper and Thorax. "What?"

"Uh, Sea, you've got a little something..." Jasper said as she pointed at her teeth. "Right here."

"That can't be normal... what's going on?" Thorax asked.

Sea blinked in confusion before looking at herself in a small mirror that had been set up to help wash yourself. Sticking out from her mouth were a pair of fangs, just like Changelings had. She quickly stumbled backwards, even if she had known this was going to happen she hadn't expected it to start happening so soon.

"The physical transformation has started," Khepri commented. "Tch, it was bound to happen eventually, but it's going to be hard to hide it from the ponies around here. Especially with Black Water and his goons hanging around."

"Physical transformation? What is he talking about?" Thorax asked as he looked between the three of them confused. "What kind of physical transformation?"

"The Rider System is turning me into a Changeling," Sea replied with a sigh as she looked down at her hooves. "I found out about it two weeks ago. I guess deep down I had hoped that I would have some more time before this actually started, but here we are."

"Understood, but this is going to make things harder for you," Thorax told her. "You know that the Changelings seek out any of their own not in the Hive, right? If they find out that you're..."

"They already know," Jasper told him. "They found out during the last attack on Ponyville. Trust me, we're worried about this too. And if the physical transformations are starting then it's too late to go back, but Sea..."

"I decided that I'm going to keep fighting anyway," Sea finished. "It doesn't matter if I'm a Changeling or a Pony. What's important to me is that I keep fighting to protect others. That's why I'm here, and nothing is going to change that, I will tell you that right now."

"Alright, that's understandable," Thorax replied. "I can connect you to the Shadow Hive when the time comes. That should at least give you a way to avoid the real thing. It may still be a bit uncomfortable, but it's better than the alternative, right?"

"Right," Sea answered as she looked at Khepri and Jasper. "We should get to bed."

“Yeah, uh, where’s Thorax going to sleep?” Jasper asked as Khepri returned to his insectoid form. “We can’t just leave him to sleep on the floor you know.”

“I’ll be fine, I can take any form remember?” Thorax reminded them as he turned into a small black cat and leapt up onto the chair where he curled up.

“Well, that was easy enough, let’s get to bed,” Sea said as they headed to their respective small rooms off of the sides of the room. Sea paused a moment as she looked back at Jasper who caught her eye. “Jasper… uh… can you… uh… please… you know...”

Jasper smiled a little as she turned back around and walked over to where Sea was. She looked at the bed, it was pretty small, but it would fit the two of them. “Sure Sea, anything for my best friend.”

Sea smiled softly as the two mares laid in bed together. Jasper wrapped her wings gently around Sea and pulled her in close as she did. The two drifted off to sleep, Sea smiling a little in her friend’s warm embrace.

She sighed happily as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

00000

“Well, that didn’t go according to plan at all,” Joy commented as she flopped down on the chair in the building she and her drones were hiding out in. “The Queen isn’t going to be happy with us at all.”

“What are your orders, Princess Joy?” One of the Drones asked.

“We’re already in place to disrupt the talks,” Joy hissed as the Firefly Shifter poked out of her bags. “These ponies think they’re going to actually succeed at this little experiment in self governance.”

“Be on your guard, Joy,” Dusk told her through the Hive. “If Lux is here, Scarab can’t be too far behind. She’s going to be a threat to you and your Drones, you don’t want to show your hoof too early. They’re going to be on edge after your little move there, so don’t make another move, at least not yet.”

“And what if they find out who I am?” Joy asked.

“Then do as much damage as you can, they’ll be so paranoid the talks will likely fall apart,” Dusk answered. “We need them to think we have more Changelings in Unity than we have. Right now this is our best chance at disrupting their plans, hopefully it will succeed.”

“Indeed, I will not disappoint you or the Queen, Dusky!” Joy answered with a crazy grin. “We’ll make sure that they’re so paranoid that they’ll be at each other’s throats!”

“Good, just don’t let everything fall apart, right now that’s the last thing we need,” Dusk answered. “We have enough things to worry about without a unified Safe Zone.”

“Well, it’ll only be a matter of time,” Joy giggled. “We’ll show them the truth once we’ve got everything together. Ponykind will learn the true joy of the Hive, that’s the only future that awaits them.”

“Of course, now do your job,” Dusk said as her voice vanished.

“Well, we have a mission to carry out,” Joy said with a laugh. “I want all of you to move into place. We’re going to make sure this whole thing falls apart, big time!”

She laughed madly as the Changelings went to move into place.

00000

“I wasn’t expecting you to find another stone,” Sweetie commented as she and Scootaloo met with Sea and Jasper in a small room. They had been gathered for the beginning of the summit and Sweetie was getting everything ready. They had also brought the new Guardian Driver. “You have good timing, Tinker finished it last night.”

“Yeah, which means we have to actually find a pony who can use it,” Sea commented as she looked at the Guardian Driver and the Camo Stone. “What do we do now? The Summit is starting and the Changelings are somewhere here. They could’ve even replaced some of the delegates for all we know.”

“Yes, that is a possibility, which is why we’ve decided it’s time to go public,” Scootaloo said as she looked between the two of them for a moment. “We’re going to start the Summit with the two of you coming out as the Kamen Riders. With that we should have an advantage given a lot of ponies have already heard stories of your exploits.”

“Yeah, I just have to hope they don’t notice I have fangs,” Sea commented as she placed her hoof over her mouth for a moment. “I hate to think about what I’m going to do when the changes become more obvious.”

“Here, I’ll put a small illusion spell on them, but they’re hardly noticeable anyway,” Sweetie told her as her horn glowed and the fangs vanished. “Just wait until we give the signal, you’ll know it when we say it.”

Sea and Jasper nodded as the two older mares headed out into the main hall where the summit was being held. The ponies were already gathered together there talking as Sweetie cleared her throat.

“I know this is a meeting that hasn’t been called in a long time, and that I’m not normally the pony who would be running things, but here we are,” she said as she looked between the gathered ponies. “We’re all here because we know that there’s only one chance at surviving the Changelings, if we all work together. I know that we’ve always had problems in the past, but the time has come to start working together. And we have a chance to build that future, together with help. But to build this future, we had to look to the past”

Her horn glowed as images of monstrous creatures appeared and danced across the room. Some resembled animals while others looked more like strange objects.

“Years ago, in the Sengallop era, Neighpon was under attack by terrifying beings, some called them Demons, others called them Goblins, but they all came to be known as one name, the Yokai,” she said as the creatures bore their fangs at the gathered ponies. “They were terrifying creatures that plagued the countryside under the leadership of a warlord. They attacked farms and towns and struck fear into the hearts of the ponies of Neighpon. The local Daimyo, Storm Watch sent his troops to fight, but to no avail.”

New images danced around of warriors fighting the monsters. However as the fight progressed the warriors were cut down one by one, each vanishing into thin air as they did. The images played along through the air as they finished.

“A lovely display, Mrs. Belle, but is there a point to this?” Black Water asked as he looked at Sweetie Belle. “Your show and history lesson isn’t exactly going to do more than annoy us. So how about you get to the bloody point already?”

“The Yokai were finally defeated by the first Kamen Riders,” Sweetie continued, removing the illusions at least. “Moon Blossom, the first of the Riders, upon retirement said this, ‘When an era comes that Equestria needs them, Kamen Riders will return.’ So years ago we started a program to create new Riders to protect Ponykind from the Changelings. This is our chance to build a better future, not only to build a government, but to build a government that can protect ponies. And for that we need hope, so we’re going to give the ponies of the Safe Zone that hope. If we’re going to build a future, then we’re going to need their help. So I give you our Riders, and the protectors of that hope.”

“Well, that’s our cue,” Jasper muttered to Sea. “Are you ready for this? I’ve never felt more nervous in my life.”

“We’ll be fine, I hope,” Sea said as Khepri flew onto her head and she gave Jasper a nod. “Besides some of them already saw you. It’s just like going up on stage to me really, I’ve dealt with worse.”

“Good point, still, getting a bit of stage fright, but let’s get going,” Jasper said as they headed out of the room together. They stepped out into view, and just felt more awkward as the ponies looked at them. “And now everypony is staring at us… I don’t know how you do this when you’re up on stage…”

“Imagine them in their underwear,” Sea suggested.

“We don’t wear clothes,” Jasper hissed. “What underwear?”

“Right, good point…” Sea muttered. “Come on, let’s get this over with. Are you ready for this?”

“Yeah, as ready as I’ll ever be,” Jasper said as she spoke up finally. “Uh, hi, I’m sure some of you saw me last night. I’m Jasper, Kamen Rider Lux, this is Sea Spray, Kamen Rider Scarab. I guess we’re here to, uh…”

“Yeah… this is totally like playing music…” Sea muttered as she looked up at Khepri. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Sea and Jasper have been doing what they can to protect ponies,” Sweetie said as she looked between the delegates. “Some of you have seen them in action already. They’re here because the time has come for them to come out and say it. This is our best chance to come together and make this world better.”

“Sea, Jasper, show them,” Scootaloo said.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Sea said as she and Jasper got onto their hind legs as Khepri flew into her hoof as Jasper took out the Lux Stone.

“Henshin!” The two said in unison.

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

“SHINE! LIGHT OF THE MORNING STAR!”

A few of the delegates looked at them in awe as they transformed into their Rider forms. Sea looked at Jasper for a moment and noticed that she was looking nervous still. She reached over and put her hoof on Jasper’s, giving her a slight nod.

“It’s okay, Jasper…” She said softly. “We’re going to be just fine.”

“Well, I feel so much better, we’ve got a knight in shining armor and a bloody bug to protect us,” Black Water said sarcastically as he lit up a cigarette. “You two are a joke, you know that right? Two ponies think they can actually protect all of Equestria. I’d rather turn it over to the blokes at the Militia.”

“As much as I hate to agree with the thug, he has a point,” Tailwind commented as he shot a look at Black Water. “You may have shown some skills by now, you can’t possibly protect everypony. If you’re going to do what Sweetie is promising, you’re going to have to do more to prove yourself than just fight a few Changelings.”

“Well… uh…” Sweetie said as she looked at Scootaloo. “That doesn’t change the fact that we need to reach an agreement about this. The Changelings have kept us separate for decades. We need to set aside our differences and make sure that we and our foals actually have a future. Equestria is…”

"Equestria is gone, the Princesses are gone, and we're on our own," a third delegate said. "We need to start building our own government, that much is true. That being said, what are we actually going to do with the government?"

"We need to have strong leadership if we're going to survive against the Changelings," Black Water said. "If we're going to survive, then we need to do more than just sit and cower. We need to make sure that we take more precautions, crack down on suspected Changeling infiltrators. This is the only way we can survive this. If the Changelings need us to feed on, then they're going to starve."

"Great... he's not exactly going to be easy to convince," Sea muttered as she reached down to her Driver and deactivated it as she looked at Jasper. "What should we do now?"

"There's not a lot we can do," Jasper answered as she powered down too. "We're not delegates, we're just here for security."

"Yeah..." Sea replied as she leaned against the wall for a moment. "Jasper, are we doing the right thing? What if they're right about this, we can't protect..."

"Hang on, you shouldn't talk like that at all," Jasper interrupted her. "The fact of the matter is that they are right, we can't protect everypony. But that's not the point, we're not supposed to protect everypony, we're supposed to protect who we can and inspire others to do the same."

"She's right, Sea," Sweetie said as she walked over to the two. "The point of this is to be able to inspire hope in others. The Changelings have been taking hope for way too long, so we're going to give it back to ponies. This isn't about two Riders, this is about Ponies fighting the Changelings to make sure that we have a future. You two aren't the only ones who are going to fight, you're just the first ones."

"And how do I know that we're even making a change?" Sea asked.

"Well, maybe you should take a chance to listen to what some of them are saying," Scootaloo said with a slight smile as she nodded to the table. "You never know what kind of change you can inspire."

"If we do that kind of thing, we're just going to be giving into fear," Limeade said as he leaned on the table a little. "The Changelings are trying to make us afraid because if we're afraid, we're weaker and easier to target. But we can't let fear rule our lives. Yeah, Sea and Jasper aren't going to be able to protect us all, but we do know one thing. We're going to have to work together in order to build Equestria back up again. As long as we don't give into that fear, we're going to be able to make the Safe Zone better. So I'm asking all of you, let's set these things aside and make sure that we have a future together."

Sea smiled softly as she nodded to Jasper. "We should leave them alone for now, I think we should go and patrol the town, what do you think?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Jasper agreed and the two headed out together.

"Do you really think that everything is going to be okay?" Scootaloo asked as she looked over at her wife.

"I don't know," Sweetie admitted. "But I do know that we're all going to have to work together. Hopefully we'll be able to convince them, somehow."

"We will, I know it," Scootaloo said. "Because the alternative is worse and all of them know it."