Kamen Rider Scarab

“Well, I believe things are settled in enough,” Dusk commented as her drones finished getting the camp together. She glanced back at Neutron for a moment before speaking up again. “You seem to have a bizarre fascination with me. Now that we’re not fighting for our lives, do you mind explaining yourself?”

“...I… I… Well, let’s just say we have a connection where I come from, and leave it at that, okay?” Neutron whispered trying to be delicate. His mind was still reeling from the revelation that Skye had been turned into an Another Rider and all of this was a lot to process all at once.

“Your friend was that mechanical Another Rider, weren’t they?” Dusk asked calmly.

“...Yeah… Although I’m not sure any more if friend’s even the right word at times…” Neutron replied trying to stable himself with a hoof. “I mean, Hell, I’m not even sure what Skye is to me. Morality chain? My own personal hypehen? Subject?”

“Curious,” Dusk said as she tilted her head a little. “The way you’re acting suggests something more than merely a subject or, hypehen as you put it. Are you two dating or something?”

Neutron blushed. “...I-Is this really the time for this?” he stammered out. “I-I mean, don’t we have b-bigger concerns?”

“He definitely has a thing for her,” the Mantis shifter said to Dusk who let out a laugh.

“Yes, of course we do,” Dusk finally admitted as the Mantis rested on her withers. “This world must be a lot for you to take in.”

“...No fucking shit,” Neutron muttered. “Like, seriously. No shit. Of course this is a lot for me to take in! I’m still not convinced I’m not in a nightmare, and that when I wake up I’ll be back home in Ponyville…”

“We simply want to make this world better,” Dusk lamented. “The Hive exists to serve a purpose, it is harmony defined. Every Changeling serves a role, each one works in perfect sync with one another. There is no conflict in the Hive, no Chaos, simply harmony.”

“You going to start singing We all Lift Together next?” Neutron deadpanned. “Because all this sounds like one major propaganda piece.”

Dusk sighed a little. “If you were one of us you would understand.”

“And I suppose this is where you proposition me to be… converted?” Neutron asked his voice steadily growing angrier by the minute. “I like my own free will, thank you very much!”

“If I wanted you converted, you’d be a Changeling already,” Dusk said with a roll of her eyes. “But given we have a few problems to deal with at the moment, we’re not doing conversions right now. And, well, your Rider Gear fascinates me.”

“Forgive me if I sound cynical, but that basically sounds to me like you want to take it apart, and reverse engineer it.” Neutron said.

“I would be lying if I said the idea didn’t cross my mind,” Dusk chuckled. “My Hive developed the Change Driver and Shifters. I’ve studied accounts of the ancient Neighponese Riders from the Sengallop era. Your gear would be my first opportunity to study one of its kind. However, I get the impression that it would be more useful in your possession than lying in pieces on a workbench.”

“Quite honestly,” Neutron muttered. “If it wouldn’t put this world in peril, and make the Another Riders impossible to stop, I’d all too gladly let you take it apart. Honestly, I only grabbed this Driver for one reason and one reason alone. To protect my mother, - Goddess above, that makes me sound as if I have an Oedipus complex- and now that’s been accomplished…”

“Do you know why I developed the Change Drivers?” Dusk asked simply.

“To… Enforce your will?” Neutron asked with a wave of his hoof.

“Hardly,” Dusk snorted. “The Hive is under constant threat. It all began with the return of King Sombra and the Crystal Empire not long after we took over and other threats such as Tirek. There are forces outside of these lands that would gladly see us destroyed and the remaining ponies killed or enslaved. The Change Driver and the Hive Warriors, or Kamen Riders if you’d like, are to protect the Hive. And by protecting the Hive, we protect the ponies in the Safe Zone.”

“And yet you still feed upon them,” Neutron said. “Fine way of protecting them. Let me present to you a hypothetical situation. When did this all start? When were you… changed?”

“They survive, we survive, we need to feed like any other species,” Dusk said. She paused a moment at the question as she thought about it. “It was… a long time ago. Decades, I think… after, something happened. I… there was a wedding, and, after that, I think…”

Neutron frowned, he could guess the point of divergence easily enough. “Let me present to you a bit of a hypothetical scenario. Say you were never changed? What then? There were six mares in my world, or seven at times. They went on to change Equestria, never giving in or never backing down. King Sombra? Dead. Twice. No, that’s not right… Thrice! Tirek? In prison. And let’s not even get into Grogar. Now what do you think of all this?”

“You’re talking about alternate realities and hypotheticals, this is the one we live in,” Dusk pointed out.

“Timelines, really. Of what could have been,” Neutron corrected. “This was and is but one possible outcome of the events of the Canterlot Wedding.”

“Even if you were to convince me that things can change, it is outside of my power,” Dusk told him. “Only a Queen can reverse the Conversion process.”

“So, what’s stopping you from dethroning Chrysalis yourself?” Neutron asked. “Goodness knows even you can tell by now something’s wrong with your entire race.”

“It is not as simple as dethroning the Queen to become a Queen,” Dusk scoffed. “Even a Princess requires a catalyst of some sort. Chrysalis guards such things jealously. It is also built into the Hive itself, it would require breaking free from the Hive to be able to try and do it, and she would know, and she would be prepared for an attack.”

“...Wonderful,” Neutron muttered. “Well, I know who I’m betting on.”

“Things change, this world is different than the one you are from,” Dusk pointed out. “Perhaps some day there will be a way to change things. But wanting to change things and things changing are very different things. Chrysalis has a tight grip on Equestria right now. For now, this is the way of things.”

Neutron could only sigh.

“Alright Jasper, this is your chance to show us what you’ve got,” Scootaloo said as she, Sweetie Belle, and Sea stood off to the side. Jasper was in her Lux armor and twirled the revolver in her hoof. “We’ll give you the basic combat forms we’ve already encountered. Are you ready for this, Jasper?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Jasper said. They were in the training area in the Resistance base. Jasper glanced back at Sweetie Belle and gave her a slight nod. “Let’s do this Grandma Sweetie.”

Sweetie nodded a little as her horn glowed green. Several of the basic bipedal insect forms of the Changelings appeared around Jasper. She glanced at them for a moment and twirled the revolver around in her hoof before catching it and firing several energy bullets into the nearest illusion Changeling.

She dodged under a swipe from another Changeling’s odd tentacled arm. She swung her hoof around and slammed it hard into the monster that had tried to attack her. She quickly raised her revolver again and pressed it against its head and fired a shot right into its head, causing it to vanish as well.

“She’s doing well,” Sea commented as she watched her friend working.

“She’s always been good with guns,” Scootaloo replied. “She’s been training with them since she was old enough.”

Jasper ducked down and fired six bullets into one of the remaining Changelings while doing a flip.

“But, then again she has this tendency to be a bit of a show off,” Scootaloo flinched.

“Reminds me of a certain other Pegasus I know,” Sweetie chuckled as she continued manipulating the illusion Changelings. This made Sea laugh a little as Scootaloo’s face went red with embarrassment. Sweetie just laughed and leaned over and kissed her wife on the cheek. “Don’t worry Scoots, I love you for it.”

Sea smiled a little as she watched the two of them. Sometimes she wished that she could have somepony like that. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had been married for years since they had been in their 20s and had been deeply in love ever since. Sea had to admit that she would’ve loved to have a pony like that.

Maybe someday.

Sweetie went back to manipulating the illusions as Jasper leapt over two of the Changelings and came down hard on one of their backs with her hoof. The Changeling hissed loudly and swung around only to get a face full of bullets.

“Just because she’s a show off doesn’t mean she’s not good at what she does,” Sea smiled a little as she glanced up at Khepri. “What do you think, Khepri?”

“Tch, she’s fine, I suppose,” the mechanical insect replied. “Her gear is impressive though, I’ll give her that. Though, kind of a strange choice of motifs. I mean, bats? What’s up with that?”

“Well, we can’t all have insect motifs or we’d run out eventually,” Sea reminded him with a roll of her eyes as Jasper finished off the last of the Changelings. “Yeah, go Jasper!”

Jasper gave her a nod and a slight salute as she holstered her pistol again. She was about to reach down to deactivate her Driver when Scootaloo raised her hoof.

“Alright, you’re doing good, but I want one more test,” Scootaloo said as Sweetie nodded a little. “You can handle the footsoldiers fine, but you’re going to have to deal with enemy Riders too.”

“So, we need you two to spar,” Sweetie Belle added as the two Riders looked surprised. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Just hold back a little and try not to hurt one another, you’re going to be fine.”

“Are you okay with this?” Sea asked as she looked at Jasper. She was suddenly a bit nervous about this. Jasper was her best friend, and she wasn’t sure if she could do this. “I mean, we’re going to need Rider fighting training anyway…”

“Its okay, I trust you,” Jasper nodded as she struck a pose. “Let’s do this, okay?”

“Okay,” Sea said as she spun the Driver around her barrel and stood up on her hind legs. “You ready for this Khepri?”

“Always,” Khepri replied as he flew onto her hoof. “Let’s do this.”

“Henshin!” Sea said as she slid Khepri into the Driver.

“WHAT IS BORN IN THE DARK MUST COME TO THE LIGHT!” The Driver exclaimed as the armor formed over Sea’s body. She gripped her hooves a little as the tonfas appeared in then and gave Jasper a nod.

“I’m ready,” Sea said as she moved out into the middle of the testing area.

“Alright you two, this is a friendly sparring match, but I want you both to be careful,” Scootaloo said. “You’re still both using your abilities at full power after all. The last thing we need right now is for either of you to get hurt.”

“Yes Grandma Scootaloo,” Jasper answered as she twirled her revolver again and pointed it at Sea. “Are you ready for this, Sea?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Sea replied as she held her tonfas tightly.

“She’s got a ranged weapon, if you get in close she won’t be able to use it as effectively,” Khepri offered.

“Yeah, I highly doubt that’s going to work,” Sea muttered. She had seen how Jasper fought, she didn’t need her to be far away to be able to fight. “You were paying attention to her fighting style, right?”

“Tch, what was the point? I’m not even the one fighting her,” Khepri told her. “Just keep fighting her. You paid attention to her, not me. Just fight her already.”

“Great…” Sea muttered as she looked at Jasper for a moment. She ran forward as she swung her hooves around at Jasper. The Pegasus was smaller and faster as she ducked out of the way of the attack and swept at Sea’s hind legs, knocking her down. “Hey!”

“You’re not going to let it be that easy, are you?” Jasper asked as Sea got to her hooves again. “You’ve got Rider experience, but I’ve been trained in how to fight since I was a filly. So I don’t want you holding back, got it?”

“Got it,” Sea replied. She shouldn’t be that surprised, Jasper had likely been trained by the Resistance for a long time. Probably for as long as they had known each other even.

It occurred to her at this point just how little she actually knew about her best friend’s life. She gripped her tonfas again as Jasper twirled her revolver again, whistling a tune from behind her helmet. She laughed a little as she aimed her revolver at Sea this time.

“You’re going to have to do better than that if you’re going to deal with the Riders the Changelings have,” Jasper said as she fired an energy bullet at Sea who managed to dodge it quickly. The Pegasus raised her hoof as a shield appeared in it made out of hard light. “You’re going to have to do better than against those Soldier drones you fought if you want to win this. I’m not your friend here, I’m your opponent, remember that!”

“Right…” Sea said as she straightened herself out. She held the two tonfas in her hooves and gave Jasper a nod. It was hard to think of her old friend as an enemy or even an opponent, but she was going to have to manage.

“Tch, calm yourself,” Khepri’s voice echoed in her mind. “She likely has similar doubts going through her mind. I don’t see why you don’t…”

“Cut it out already!” Sea protested as she got blindsided by a bullet to the chest. “Hey! I wasn’t ready!”

“You won’t always be ready, stop listening to Khepri and fight me!” Jasper exclaimed as she fired several more shots at Sea. The Unicorn quickly dodged out of the way and ran forward, swinging her tonfas at Jasper only to have them connect with the Pegasus’ shield. “There’s the Sea Spray I know! Come on, I can take it.”

Sea nodded a little as she crouched down a little. That shield it reminded her a little too much of her fight with Elusive. Though she figured it made some sense at least, she was a light themed Rider after all.

She wasn’t going to let Jasper show her up either. She dug her hind hooves into the ground once more and ran at Jasper, dodging another shot from her revolver before throwing several punches at her. Jasper grinned from behind her visor as she blocked the blows with her light shield, the last one connecting with it and cracking it before it shattered.

“Not bad,” Jasper said as she dodged out of the way of one punch, but got caught across the chest by another one, knocking her back onto the ground from the force. “Ouch... “

“Like you said, you’re my opponent,” Sea said as she swung the tonfas around and stared the other Kamen Rider down. “And I’m not going to give you an easy fight.”

“I wouldn’t ask for anything else,” Jasper nodded as she gave her a grin. “Come on, show me what you’ve got Sea.”

Sea nodded and ran forward again, moving quickly behind her and kicking at Jasper’s legs. This caught the Pegasus Rider by surprise as she stumbled a little, falling onto her flank as she laughed loudly.

“Okay, that’s pretty good,” she said as she held a hoof up. “Help a friend up?”

Sea took her hoof, only to be pulled down to the ground as Jasper laughed a little. “See, I told you.”

Sea glared at her from behind her visor before chuckling a little as she dropped her tonfas. The two mares just sat there for the longest moment laughing a little as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle watched.

“Do you think they’re going to do okay?” Sweetie asked her wife.

“I think they’ll be just fine,” Scootaloo answered as she gave Sweetie a nod. “They just need a chance to blow off some steam right now. With everything that’s going on, I don’t really blame them.”

“Yeah…” Sweetie replied before adding quietly. “I’m a bit worried though. The Changelings now have two Riders and I’m sure they have equipment for the other four Princesses too. What are we going to do?”

“We still have the Camo Stone,” Scootaloo reminded her. “We’ll find somepony who can use it. The problem may be the others though.”

Sweetie nodded a little at that. They had only two of the stones that had been refined so long ago by members of the Pie family and a third was in a safe place. Nopony was actually sure what happened to the remaining three, they had vanished around the same time the pony that had been working on the original Drivers had been taken.

“Maybe we should get in contact with… him,” Sweetie suggested. “I mean, we can use the stones with the Guardian Drivers now. It may not be necessary to keep it hidden anymore.”

“Maybe, but we’ll need to be careful,” Scootaloo said. “We can’t risk exposing that part of the operation. At the very least we need to wait until these Another Riders are dealt with.”

“Agreed,” Sweetie said as Sea and Jasper got back to their hooves. “So, any ideas on what to do with these two now?”

“Oh, I think I have a few,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle as she leaned in and whispered into her wife’s ear with an evil grin on her face. The Unicorn nodded as her horn glowed green again and several Changelings in advanced combat forms appeared around Sea and Jasper.

“Oh come on, that’s not fair!” Sea protested as they got up again. “We weren’t ready?”

“Hey, the Changelings won’t wait until you’re ready either,” Scootaloo reminded her. “Now come on, you don’t want them to get you do you?”

“You two are pure evil, forget the Changelings we should be fighting you…” Jasper grumbled as the two older mares laughed before the Riders started fighting the new illusions.

“So, you think they’re ready?” Pharynx asked Scootaloo out in the hallway. “This is war, make no mistake about it. How old are they? How old?” he demanded.

“Sea is 24 and Jasper is 23,” Scootaloo sighed. “They know the stakes here. We all do, and we’re doing what we can to fight this war. I don’t like it either, especially putting Jasper in danger like this.”

“The next generation…” Pharynx whispered sounding so… tired. “You know, they should never have to know the mistakes of the past, and have to clean up after the adult’s messes.”

“You think we didn’t try? That we still haven't been trying?” Scootaloo snapped. “We’re faced off against an enemy that controls most of Equestria. We have allies on the outside but they can only do so much against the Changelings. We are stuck in a perpetual stalemate because we can’t attack them with our current forces and they can’t just overwhelm us without risking a major food shortage. Right now, the Riders are…”

She sighed a little, calming down a moment as she tried to look away, but Pharynx could see tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but… It’s just… The Riders are the only chance we have. This is a war, you’re right about that, but this is also an arms race. And right now, those two are the best chance we’ve got at seeing tomorrow…”

“Sometimes... the only way to heal our wounds is to make peace with the demons who created them,” Pharynx whispered. “Have you… have you considered that there is another alternative?”

“You say that like it’s so easy,” Scootaloo reminded him. “We’ve tried, back in the early days, Mayor Mare and the other leaders sent envoys. It changed nothing.”

“Times have changed, the changelings are starving correct?” Pharynx inquired. “They must be as desperate as you are, they probably want to see this war end just as much as you do. I apologize if I sound sympathetic to my own race, and on some level I probably am. Back in my universe, you must understand, I am their King. It is my duty to watch my subjects, protect them.”

“I mean, we have Changelings on our side, but it’s not nearly enough to turn the tide of the war that way,” Scootaloo sighed. “Maybe if we could get a Princess to defect…”

“Do you know what happened to Madam Pinkie or Madam Fluttershy?” Pharynx asked. “I would say Pinkie as the Element of Laughter would not be pleased on some level that nobody’s smiling anymore. And well, Fluttershy… she’s fairly self explanatory is she not?”

“Pinkie runs Las Pegasus and is more entertainment based while Fluttershy has the healers out of Neigh Orleans to the South,” Scootaloo replied. “We’d have to get operatives through enemy territory to get to either one. And we can’t risk our Changeling contacts or they might get exposed.”

“How many operatives do you have?” Spada’s voice asked as the yellow changeling walked up. “And of what species? I mean surely Equestria had allies that came to her aid in her darkest hour?”

“The Zebra Empire is our most immediate ally,” Scootaloo answered. “We’ve had communication with them for years. The Dragons and the Yaks are more… let’s say reluctant than the Zebras to get involved.”

“And the griffons I presume are not an option?” Pharynx asked knowing it was probably a stupid question. “...Given 100 years ago they were still squabbling for scraps. Goddamn it Chrysalis, you’ve stunted this world far too much…”

He laughed bitterly. He wasn’t even calling her his Queen anymore. How far things had come. “Did you… did you know that in my timeline, and presumably others as well Twilight managed to become a Princess, a proper one and eventually started an entire school to help other races learn friendship? My daughter… Ocellus, she was one of the first.”

Scootaloo frowned a little and closed her eyes as she lowered her head. “It’s been hardest on the three of us. Me, Sweetie, and Apple Bloom I mean. You know Rainbow actually tried to come for me recently, gods know why she took this long. Sea Spray saved me, she’s a good pony but…”

She frowned a little and tried not to cry again. “She’s… she’s… I don’t even know how to say it…”

Pharynx gave her a knowing sad smile. “I understand. Is it possible… No, I don’t want to get your hopes up here…” he said quickly cutting himself off.

“What?” Scootaloo asked.

“I’d… I’d like to theorize it, but I’m afraid if I’m wrong, I’ll just break your heart…” Pharynx sighed. “...But, would you like to hear my theory? You can say no.”

“At this point, possibly false hope is better than no hope,” Scootaloo said. “That’s why we have the Kamen Riders. They’re our hope.”

“Alright then, I’ll be honest with you,” Pharynx said his eyes glowing a faint orange. “I think that somewhere, deep down inside her subconscious the Rainbow you knew still exists… somewhere. That’s why she took so long to come for you three. I didn’t know my Rainbow well, but what I do remember was she loved you three deeply.”

“We all hope that there’s something left of our sisters in there,” Scootaloo said. “Everypony who’s lost a loved one hopes that. We just don’t even know how to break through to them. It’s not exactly a simple task.”

“I don’t suppose punch, punch, punch is an option?” Pharynx laughed.

Scootaloo chuckled a little at that before she shook her head. “No, not that simple I’m afraid. It would take breaking through the Hive’s influence, we’ve asked our Changeling allies about it already. Recently we crossed paths with a recent convert that had managed to avoid being completely absorbed, so it’s possible.”

“As long as hope exists…” Pharynx smiled before taking his leave. Spada gave Scootaloo a smile and a wave before following.

Scootaloo took a deep breath and smiled a little as Sweetie trotted up next to her. She nuzzled her wife gently and draped her wing over her.

“How’d that go?” Sweetie asked.

“Okay I guess, hopefully it gave us some hope at least,” Scootaloo said and gave her a nod. “Here’s hoping that it’ll be enough. We just need to figure out what we’re going to do next.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie said as the two walked off together.

“Ugh, I feel like I’m gonna be sore for a week,” Sea said as she and Jasper headed out of the Golden Oaks Library together. “Are your grandmothers always that sadistic when it comes to training?”

“No, I think we caught them on a good day,” Jasper chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll head back to the Communal House and relax, maybe get a bath or something.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Sea agreed with a yawn. “I probably could use more training though given how that went…”

“You did fine really,” Jasper reassured her. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Trust me, as it is… you’re pretty damn lucky,” Neutron commented leaning up against a wall. “Like, seriously. You may not know it right now, but you are.”

“Do we want to know what you mean by that?” Sea asked as she eyed the strange Unicorn.

“Hey, at least you’re getting actual training before you get tossed into the deep end,” Neutron remarked holding up his Ridewatch and tossing it up in the air. He then caught it with his magic before pocketing it. “Speaking from experience here, trust me if Jasper was it? If Jasper had been thrown into battle without any training her survival would be the luckiest outcome.”

“I was basically thrown into battle without proper training, but we’re changing that,” Sea shrugged. “Jasper here, how long have you been training anyway?”

“A while, since I was probably in my early to mid teens, though it feels like it’s been longer,” Jasper nodded.

“...And I only got the basics before becoming a Rider,” Neutron whispered. “I guess Mum wasn’t really expecting me to fight like she did, or she never wanted me to. Didn’t want her child to get involved in adult business. Might have been foolish, or maybe just hopeful. Who’s to say really?” he laughed.

“At least you have a mom,” Sea said sadly. “I got dumped at the orphanage when I was a little filly.”

Neutron elected against telling her that “at least you have a mom” was a bit of an understatement. “...I’m… I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Its fine, it’s not easy sometimes, but I got used to it,” Sea smiled sadly. “And Jasper’s grandmas, they became like my parents. They do that for all the foals.”

“Yeah, they’re great ponies, when they’re not putting you through the training from Tartarus,” Jasper agreed.

Neutron smiled sadly. “Hold tight to your family while you have it, for some day they may never be there for you.”

“Yeah…” Sea said as Jasper gently draped her wing over her. “We may not be blood relatives, but I’ve got a good family.”

“And we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Jasper said as she hugged Sea.

“...And about how long have you two been dating?” Neutron asked tilting his head.

“We’re not dating!” The two mares said in unison as they blushed deeply.

“We’re just good friends, I swear,” Sea quickly said. “I swear, the whole world is out to get us together. What’s next, is Princess Dusk Shadow going to comment on it?”

“She might,” Neutron said with a teasing smile wishing he still had a finger to wag. “I mean, as it is… it’s pretty damn obvious. I half expect one of you to get kidnapped just to get to the other.”

“Look we just…” Sea sighed. “We’re friends…”

“Really good friends,” Jasper added. “Bestest friends even!”

“Oh, like Lyra and Bon-Bon?” Neutron snarked. “Because I am pretty sure best friends is Canterlot slang for-”

“Yes... I mean no, we're not like them! Half the town knew they were secretly banging!” Jasper stammered.

“We’ve never wanted to be anything more than that,” Sea said. “And with us both being Kamen Riders fighting the Changelings, I don’t even know if we’re ready for that kind of thing right now.”

“It is worth a thought though,” Neutron commented. “Goodness knows you may never get that chance again…” he muttered in a tone that somewhat sounded like self-depreciation. “Just like with me and…”

“Your friend who was turned into that… what did you call it? A member of the Drive family?” Jasper asked sadly.

“Irony isn’t it?” Neutron asked. “The one time I figured out that I like her more than a friend is after she got turned into some Another Rider.”

“Yeah…” Sea said. She looked at Jasper for a long moment as the Pegasus looked back at her. “I’ll… think about it at least. Though I feel like that would also kind of validate all the ponies who have teased us over the years.”

Neutron just simply smiled. “Oh, how it’d go? Oh yes… “You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

“We’ll help you get your friend back so you can tell her yourself,” Sea promised. “It won’t be easy, but between the four of us counting the Princess, we should be able to pull it off.”

“Thank… Thank you…” Neutron whispered fighting back tears.

“Anything for a fellow Rider,” Jasper said. “I may be new to being one, but I’m still going to help you out as best I can.”

“This isn’t an easy job,” Sea said as she placed her hoof gently on Jasper’s. “But we have to do it, don’t we? The alternative is more often than not worse. It’s our duty to do this because we’re the only ones who can.”

“Hmm, yes. We are the ones who draw the line in the sand, and say: “This far, no further!” Neutron exclaimed. “It’s not easy, nor is it glamorous or rewarding but it is our job.”

“It’s a job I didn’t actually think I’d have,” Jasper commented. “I mean, I knew that they were working on the Rider Gear, but I didn’t actually think that I would become a Rider. This is going to take some getting used to, but I get to help Sea and other ponies more than I could before. Hopefully, I’ll be okay.”

“I wish I could offer you some reassurance,” Neutron said. “But… There’s not much I can do, I’m still new at this myself.”

“Yeah, same here,” Sea added. “Figures, we’re all in the same position. Where are all the veteran Riders when we need them? I assume they exist.”

“Dead?” Neutron shrugged. “You did let slip it’s been ages since the Riders were sighted right?”

“Yeah, but I mean, you’re from another universe so, that would mean there are other universes with Riders in them, right?” Sea pointed out. “Sorry, I mean I’m glad you’re here too… gah, this is awkward.”

“That would be nice, no?” Neutron asked. “But sadly, I just draw on powers from Riders from throughout Time and Space. Doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in my universe to begin with.”

“Yeah… though, I still have to wonder…” Sea commented as she looked thoughtful. “How did the Another Riders show up in this world to begin with?”

“There are small… cracks I guess you could say, in time and space,” Neutron said. “Blame me mum for making me so nerdy and knowledgeable about this. Sometimes things just… fall through. Life is weird like that.”

“We fight bugs that turn into monsters that look like something out of an entomologist's nightmares,” Sea groaned. “I think we’ve seen some weird stuff here too.”

“...Well, Eldritch Abominations are a thing…” Neutron muttered. “Nightmare Moon or the thing itself pretty much counted as one.”

“My Grandmas also told me about Discord,” Jasper said. “Apparently they were why he got freed or something.”

“Whatever happened to that guy anyway?” Sea asked.

“I dunno, probably still a statue,” Jasper shrugged.

“...Count your blessings, because when I arrived here I thought Discord was on an acid trip or something,” Neutron joked before his tone soured again. “Then I realized this was real and not a bad joke.”

“Well, its not, this is the world we live in,” Jasper said. “But it’s up to us to make it one worth living in. We’ll figure this out, somehow, all of us.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Sea nodded. “I know everything is crazy in this world, especially to you. Probably your world would be kind of strange to us if we went there too though.”

“Yeah, I suppose it would be,” Neutron laughed joyfully. “...I suppose it would be…”

“What’s your world like anyway?” Jasper asked. “You haven’t talked much about it.”

“Peaceful, for the most part,” Neutron said quietly. “Probably pretty close to what your world was like before… well, all this. Not without its troubles, the Another Riders are enough evidence of that.”

It sounded as if he was trying to dodge the subject really.

“We’re going to get you back to your world,” Sea said with a soft smile. “With your friend. Our world may be weird to you, but we’re good ponies. Or, we try to be at least.”

“Ōmagatoki…” Neutron muttered largely to himself as he looked out into the dark and cloudy horizons, strange creatures howling in the night. “...Reminds me of that.”

“Ōmagatoki?” Sea asked. “What’s…?”

“Sorry,” Neutron apologized. “Old Neighponiese thing, basically the time when ghosts and demons are about. Sometime around dusk really. Usually a time of great calamity and upheaval.”

“...You have a real way of creeping others out, don’t you know that?” Sea deadpanned.

Neutron smiled at her. “So I’ve been told.”

“We should probably get back to the Communal House,” Jasper commented as she looked up at the sky, a cold wind blowing through. “The others are going to start getting worried. Are you going back to the Changeling camp?”

“By all rights, I probably should…” Neutron said. “Just to keep an eye on mu-Sorry, Princess Dusk. Make sure she doesn’t pull anything.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow?” Sea asked as she smiled a little. She found that a bit weird, but she didn’t want to pry at the moment.

Neutron smiled and gave a nod before walking off back towards the Changeling Encampment. He sighed, if they only knew. Goodness knows what they’d think of him if… well, best not to think on that eh?

Sea and Jasper smiled and waved as they headed off towards the Communal House.

Dusk glanced up as Neutron returned to the camp. She had been working on some things and shook a vial that had some blood in it and frowned a little as she examined the sample for a moment before speaking up without glancing at Neutron. “You were in town for a while, I half expected you to stay overnight.”

“Put simply, I don’t trust you,” Neutron said. “I’d like very much to do that, and stay with them but I don’t want to keep my eyes off you. My case in point?” he continued gesturing to the blood vial.

“What about it?” Dusk asked as she dropped something into it. “It’s just some blood. I’m just doing some tests on it.”

“Just some blood and doing some tests doesn’t exactly reassure me,” Neutron said. “Those are two phrases that never mix well.”

“I’m a scientist, it’s in my nature to investigate things,” Dusk reminded him and narrowed her eyes a little as the blood turned slightly green. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“And I’m a Kamen Rider,” Neutron said. “Don’t know if you particularly care for that, but where I come from? That name means something I’d like to think. You’re just spitting on it.”

“You forget that I made the Rider Gear to protect the Hive,” Dusk pointed out, finally looking at him. “There are always two sides to the same story. To the Hive, we’re the heroes.”

“And to the ponies, you are their oppressors and their worst nightmare,” Neutron said. “In a way, yes, I guess you do still qualify as a Kamen Rider but only just. Only just.”

“Look, if you want to know, I’m looking into a bit of an oddity,” Dusk said as she put the vial down carefully. “You see, the Change Driver and shifters don’t work for ponies, they work on Changeling magic.”

“Interesting…” Neutron noted before it slowly clicked in his head as he realized what that could possibly mean. “So that means…. Unless… No, it couldn’t be… Oh dear Celestia in Heaven.”

“Yes, that’s what I was confirming, it means Sea Spray has Changeling magic and DNA,” Dusk finished as she rubbed her temples. “This is a problem.”

“Yes, for her…” Neutron said before laughing to himself. “Oh, isn’t that the way? Like, isn’t that just bloody glorious. You created the instrument of your own destruction, like isn’t that just rich eh mum?”

It didn’t register what exactly Neutron had just let slip out but when it did his eyes widened. “Oh fuck.”

“Yes, it certainly seems that way, and we…” Dusk started to say before her eyes went wide as what he said processed in her mind. “What did you call me?”

“Mum…” Neutron whispered before shouting. “Okay, I called you mum. As in mother! Pretty self explanatory isn’t it?”

Dusk just stood there for a long moment as if trying to figure out what to say. She groaned a little and sighed as she shook her head. “You shouldn’t have told me that…”

“...Well… Uh, it was bound to slip out eventually... “ Neutron stammered. “Er, sooner or later really…”

“No, I mean you just put a target on your head,” Dusk hissed. “I can only keep it from Chrysalis for so long. She’s going to want to take you. It’s why Sea is in danger, Hybrids or anypony that might be connected to us will be converted or held for other reasons. You’re in danger unless we can get you back to your world soon.”

“I’ve been in danger since the moment I got here,” Neutron said. “As I said, that little slip up was only a matter of time.”

He sighed as he sat down on a nearby rock, ears flattening. “...Funny isn’t it? I find my mother… or something resembling her at any rate again, and… and I can’t even…” he whispered sounding close to tears. “She can’t even…”

“I’m sorry, Neutron,” Dusk sighed as she closed her eyes. “I shouldn’t have found you or put you in this position. This isn’t your world, you don’t deserve this.”

“So you do have some semblance of motherly care…” Neutron whispered. “Guess my mum’s still in there after all… somewhere. Or maybe I’m just deluding myself, wishing and hoping.”

He flashed back to the final battle with the Nightmare.

“RIDER TIME, GUARDIAN! ARMOR TIME: KUUGA AMAZING MIGHTY!”

Darkness shrouded the land as a castle crumbled around him, blasts of magic flying. Neutron -now sporting black and gold armor complete with cape- waved his hoof throwing a magical energy wave towards the Nightmare Entity, now shrouded in smoke. A blue griffon, and a light blue changeling ran up and fired blasts of pure magic from the necklaces they bore. Loyalty and Kindness had returned.

A howl of rage, and the shroud charged at the two Element Bearers. Neutron roundhouse kicked it, golden energy enlaced with the strike. Two swords, the Titan Swords appeared out of portals before they flew right at the Nightmare pinning her to the wall.

“Strike now!” Gallus shouted.

A high pitched scream rang out through the room, and blood splattered the walls as lavender feathers fell to the ground. And a son’s cry.

“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!”

“...We freed her, but at a terrible cost…” Neutron whispered. “One last act of defiance, the Nightmare ripped mum’s wings off before she was banished to the netherworld. She’s… she’s a shadow of herself now. Only talks to me and Fizzlepop and even then it’s…”

“So, seeing me can’t be easy,” Dusk added. “Look, I’ll keep it from Chrysalis as long as possible. There’s not much else I can do.”

“Am I really that desperate for affection from my own mother that I’m actually graviting to you?” Neutron asked before chuckling. “Yeah, I definitely have some sort of complex here. Goddess I’m so fucked up.”

“Just don’t ask to meet your extended family in this world, that would be awkward,” Dusk chuckled a little.

“You wouldn’t want to know yours in mine…” Neutron laughed. “Like, you really don’t. It’d probably give you a conniption. Or something… My world’s like gay as fuck…”

“I should probably never visit your world, should I?” Dusk asked. “Not sure if it’s for your world’s safety or mine.”

Neutron actually fell over laughing at that before he sighed. “I’ll be alright mum,” he said to her. “Don’t you worry none. In all honesty, it’s you I worry about now… Who could you possibly have pissed off enough to get three Another Riders after you? The Drive one definitely seems to have a personal grudge against you in particular, considering she seems to be, by all reports, the Another Scarab hoard’s ‘Queen’ if you will.”

“If that one we encountered on the road was Prism… I honestly have no idea,” Dusk admitted. “But this doesn’t make sense, we don’t have access to alternate universes or whatever. There has to be a factor we haven’t accounted for.”

“...Yes, quite possibly…”

Atop a cliff, a pink… sorry, a magenta pony watched before chuckling and adjusting his camera strap. He waved his hoof before vanishing into the shimmering air.

“Scootaloo, maybe you should get to sleep,” Sweetie said as she turned over in their bed to look at her wife. “What’s on your mind?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Scootaloo answered. “I’m just thinking about Sea really. With everything that’s going on, I still don’t know how to tell her about… you know…”

“Yeah, I understand,” Sweetie sighed as she leaned over and gave her wife a gentle kiss on the cheek. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo admitted. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t know what she’s going to think if we tell her. The last blood test showed that the cells are increasing, so it’s going to be hard to not notice.”

“Understandable, but we’ll figure it out somehow,” Sweetie said as she placed a hoof on Scootaloo’s. “She deserves to know.”

“I know,” Scootaloo said as she closed her eyes. “I’m going out for a walk to clear my head.”

“Okay, just be careful, okay?” Sweetie asked. “I’ll have one of the guards keep an eye out for you.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said as she gave Sweetie one more kiss before heading out of the bedroom and down the stairs. She headed outside and took a deep breath of the night air and walked out into the street.

It was a quiet, almost peaceful night. There were only a few ponies out right now, that wasn’t that unusual really. She thought she saw a pony observing out of the corner of her eye but when she looked they were gone.

“Weird…” She muttered.

“I’d say you’re getting paranoid, piccola signorina,” Spada said as he walked up from behind her. “But I suspect paranoia is a good thing here, quite sadly.”

Scootaloo nearly jumped, but was relieved when it was just Spada. “Sorry, I’m a little on edge right now. But yes, it’s typically a good thing.”

“Sorry,” Spada said looking rather embarrassed with himself. “Probably should be lucky I didn’t get tossed into a wall or something…”

“Also, what did you call me?” Scootaloo asked. “Piccola Signorina?”

“Calabrese for little miss,” Spada said. “...Sorry, it’s become second nature for me by this point to lapse into my native language.”

“Oh, okay,” Scootaloo said. “Sorry, I’ve been a bit distracted lately. With everything that’s going on, you know? Sweetie is worried about me...”

“Can’t say I blame her,” Spada said his wings buzzing in agitation slightly. “All of this stress, can’t be good for your heart really.”

“Yeah, she says that a lot too,” Scootaloo sighed. “Ever since Sea got the Driver things have just been getting worse. Seems like now we’re in the middle of an Arms Race with the Changelings and Sea is…”

She paused a moment as she stopped herself. She couldn’t risk that kind of information getting out, it would hurt the resistance’s morale and make things worse.

Spada sighed before muttering a spell in the changeling language. “Okay, should black out all the noise around us, keep whatever you want to say from getting out. In other words, you can speak freely.”

“Sea is… it’s complicated,” Scootaloo said as she closed her eyes a moment. “The Change Drivers aren’t supposed to work on ponies because they work using Changeling magic. Apparently, that means she’s… she’s, uh… oh, how do I put this…”

“Going buggy?” Spada asked.

“Most likely, yes,” Scootaloo sighed. “She’s half Changeling based on the information we have, but it was dormant until she started using the Shifter.”

“Okay, yeah… I can see how that could be a problem…” Spada said sucking in a breath. “Imagine your savior being the very thing your resistance hates. Can’t imagine that’d go over well really...”

“Exactly why I can’t say it out loud,” Scootaloo said. “And there’s another problem too…”

“Well, I’m willing to lend a listening ear…”

“She doesn’t know,” Scootaloo admitted. “She’s not far enough along to know yet. I don’t know how to tell her either.”

“You’re going to have to eventually,” Spada said. “Unless of course, you want her to find out when her body suddenly starts to go… well, all insect like.”

“Yeah, I know,” Scootaloo said. “And I don’t even know how she’ll react. We need her help, but she might have a hard time doing it after that. I wouldn’t really blame her for that though. It’s possible if she stops, so would the transformation.”

“Oh Hivemother…” Spada muttered. “Pharynx is usually the one good at giving these sort of talks, not me. There’s a reason he’s up for consideration as ship’s counselor. So I’ll just be upfront with you, probably the best thing you can do for Sea is break it to her… gently.”

“That’s not going to be easy,” Scootaloo said.

“Never said it was going to be easy,” Spada replied. “I’m only saying you have to do this before she figures it out on her own or the changelings spell it out for her. Which of the three options do you like best hmm?”

“I would rather tell her myself,” Scootaloo agreed. “It’s just a matter of how.”

“Agh…” Spada muttered. “How long do you think she has before she goes full on changeling?”

“I honestly have no idea, but it probably won’t be for a while, it depends on how many times she has to transform,” Scootaloo answered.

“So basically given the current state of things… you have probably about a month at best. I’d suggest you tell her sooner rather than later,” Spada said. “Just some friendly advice really from bug to piccola signorina. I’d advise you get some rest, you’re going to need it. For some reason I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a really long day...”

“Yeah, I’ve got about the same feeling,” Scootaloo said as she looked back at her home. “Sweetie’s probably still awake and worried about me.”

“Oh, she is so very much my predecessor Element’s little sister. So melodramatic!” Spada laughed before flying off.

“...Wait, what?”

She sighed a little and headed back home. She’d figure that out later, but for now she just wanted to slip into bed and figure out what to do in the morning. She wrapped her wings gently around Sweetie Belle and drifted off to sleep.

“You’re being awfully dangerous with this Kadoya,” one Natsumi Hikari remarked. “I mean, playing with lives like this? Especially cute little pony ones?”

Tsukasa harrumphed crossing his arms. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

“You’d better, this world is already in a lot of trouble without drawing the attention of the Another Riders,” Natsumi commented. She held up a finger, and Tsukasa swallowed nervously as he knew what would come next. And sure enough it did, and after a few brief moments of uncontrollable laughter he finally managed to regain what little remained of his composure. Natsumi had been awfully interested in using the Pressure Point lately. Might have had something to do with how angry she was when she heard he had -if not temporarily- lost his powers and accidentally created Another Decade.

“...Still can’t believe there’s more of the Time Jackers out there,” Tsukasa grumbled. “And I’d thought we’d seen the last of them after the Oma Zi-O incident.”

He then muttered quite a few unkind words about arrogant idiots who knew nothing about the delicate fabrics of realities.

“That was your own fault for running off on your own,” Natsumi smirked. “Still, was having it spill over to this universe necessary?”

“I’m testing them,” Tsukasa said. “If they are worthy of survival, they will come together and overcome this little issue, and if not… Well…” he chuckled darkly.

“If you say so, I haven’t seen this much paranoia and tension since we found that world where the Cold War continued into the 21st century,” she reminded him. “And we both know how that one ended.”

Tsukasa shuddered. It had taken all of his power not to go all Destroyer of Worlds on that one. And a lot of Natsumi’s pleading. He chuckled at it all. He was the Destroyer of Worlds and whenever she burst out the puppy dog eyes…

“But something tells me they will pull through,” Natsumi continued. “They’ve already shown a willingness to work together against a common enemy. And the Riders seem, interesting from what I’ve seen. They may yet pass your test.”

Tsukasa chuckled. Interesting was one word for it.

“The wild cards are the Kyuranger’s counterparts and the griffon. They were not factored into my plan,” Tsukasa admitted. “However, I didn’t want the griffon to become an Another Rider. However, if it builds up the young Guardian by forging him through fire and steel, well who am I to complain?”

Natsumi rolled her eyes a little at that, this was far from the only time he had done something like this. Sometimes she wondered if she needed to stage an intervention. In any case, she pressed her finger to Decade making him burst out laughing. “A warning, there will be more where that comes from if this goes sour understood?”

Tsukasa nodded weakly. “If I have to, I will step in.” he said holding up a blank ridewatch that could easily be changed into a second Decade RideWatch if he so desired.

“Good,” Natsumi said with a smile. “This world is a bit screwed up I’ll admit. But I think if they are given the chance to pull itself out of this conflict they might be able to recover from it. They just need a chance to do it themselves.”

The storm that had been finally threatening to break over Ponyville came down like a torrent. Howling winds lashed the village, and torrential rains poured as lightning lit up the sky in jagged streaks.

One pony stood out in the rain, unsure of what exactly he should do. On one hand, he could help out his mother -or this universe’s incarnation of her at any rate- and protect her kingdom. On the other hand, it went against every bone in his body and his title of the Guardian of Harmony. This wasn’t harmonic at all, this was disrupting the natural order of things.

“But then again,” Neutron said to himself. “For all I know, the changelings swallowing up the ponies as they are is this world’s natural order. I… I don’t have to like it, but Mum technically has a point. The Riders… the Hive Riders, still technically fit the definition of Kamen Riders. They are still protecting the civilians, if only in this case the civilians being the changeling drones themselves.”

On the other hand, it was quite obvious they were oppressing the ponies and it was no longer a question of survival anymore. If that was the case, they wouldn’t have fed so hungrily. He quietly cursed Chrysalis, this universe’s at any rate. Her head was so far up her own arse she hadn’t realized that there was another way to feed her race. Or maybe she just didn’t care. Neutron in his rage fired a bolt of magic to the skies smashing through clouds letting out a howl as he did so.

“I want to tear down the old order…” he realized. “That’s what must be done, the old guard must be cast aside in order for a new more peaceful Equestria to take shape. I… I need the power to do it… I need that power!”

A streak of lightning came down and Neutron reacted tossing the previously blank Ridewatch up in the air to meet it. It landed in his hands, infused with a new power. He pressed down on it.

“Black Hole.” it said as the air was filled with a mad cackle.