Kamen Rider Scarab

“Are you feeling okay, Sea?” Jasper asked as she looked at her old friend. The Unicorn mare was staring out the window of their room in the Communal House. “I mean, you’ve got a lot of reasons to not be okay… but… yeah.”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Sea admitted as she looked back at Jasper. “I never knew you could fight like that. I felt like I was standing still compared to you and I’m the one with super speed.”

“I’ve been training for years,” Jasper told her. “I didn’t actually think I’d be a Kamen Rider mind you. I always kind of hoped, but when you got Khepri I guess I could hope.”

“Did someone say my name? My ears would be burning if they were real,” Khepri commented as he came into the bedroom. “Tch, am I interrupting another make out session between you two?”

“Definitely not,” Sea snorted a little as she turned back to look outside. She noticed Scootaloo was talking to Spada down the road but she just sighed and looked up at the sky. “...And anyways, if we were planning on it, the mood’s definitely killed now.”

“Tch, you’re no fun,” Khepri retorted as he stretched out a little bit, plopping himself on the bed, and adjusting the pillow. “...No fun at all.”

Yeah,“Why are you even bothering? You don’t stay in your pony form when you’re recharging,” Sea said with a roll of her eyes.

“Maybe but you two only need one bed and your bedside table is uncomfortable,” Khepri said. “Besides, maybe I’m adjusting. Trying to fit in a little.”

“Yeah, and maybe Chrysalis will step down, turn all the ponies back to their old selves, and dedicate the rest of her life to charity,” Jasper said sarcastically.

“You never know,” Khepri laughed. “You two need to drop all the pretense already though. I’m pretty sure you two could feed the whole hive for years if they wanted to use you. Would certainly solve the food problem.”

“I’ve heard that be mentioned a few times,” Sea said. “What is up with that? I mean, there’s a lot of Changelings sure but…”

“Yes, well that’s exactly the problem,” Khepri retorted. “The only Hives that don’t need to worry about it are Elusive and Crab Apple’s. The number of Changelings in the remaining Hives are kept regulated by Chrysalis to keep the food from being spread too thin. Though, last I heard they were trying to solve that problem too.”

“And we all know what will happen if they succeed at that,” Jasper groaned. “That explains a few things actually.”

“Really? It doesn’t explain anything to me,” Sea commented.

“The number of conversions have been going down lately,” Jasper explained. “In fact, Lime was the last successful one I had heard about in months. I mean yeah they tried to grab us, but I haven’t heard of many others. So, yes this does actually explain a lot. Also makes not killing them oddly practical.”

“Glad to hear you admire our ways!” Khepri commented. “We’ll make a changeling out of you yet!”

“Hey, I’d rather not go buggy thank you very much,” Jasper retorted.

Khepri, at this smiled and strode towards Jasper, placing a hoof under her chin. “Oh, you sad pathetic fool… How little you do know. You can’t fight your fate.”

“I don’t believe in fate,” Jasper said as she narrowed her eyes. “Beings heap the tragedies and events of their lives and create a monster they call fate.”

Khepri chuckled darkly, directing a glance towards Sea. “Tch, we’ll see. But say this, say hypothetically one of you does go ‘buggy’ as you so nicely coined it. What would you do then? Would you leave your friend behind to us… or would you stay with them till the bitter end?”

“You don’t have to repeat what Scarlet said in Appletown,” Sea told him. “We know the dangers of it. But, I know one thing, if Jasper became a Changeling I would still stand by her for as long as I could. And I know that she would do the same for me. Friendship is a stronger bond than any Hive.”

“Interesting… very interesting…” Khepri thought to himself. “And yet she doesn’t even know the full truth of what she’s becoming. Now, should I tell her…? Or let her figure it out herself. Bah, I know my place is to advise a Princess, but SHE is not a Princess… is she?”

Sea glanced at him for a moment. The Shifter thought for a moment that maybe she had heard that, but their telepathic connection didn’t show anything like that. She shook her head and headed over to her bed with Jasper.

“You know me, Khepri,” she said simply. “You know me better than most ponies. But I also know something about you. You say you’re here to study us, but I’m sure there’s some deeper reason behind it. I think you like spending time around us, and don’t want to admit it.”

“Tch, in your dreams, pony,” Khepri retorted.

“Yes, who knows, maybe we’ll all be eating ice cream pops together later,” Jasper laughed.

“Ice cream?” Khepri asked confused. “My records say nothing about this, ice cream.”

“Ugh… Never mind…” Jasper muttered facehoofing. “Try to tell a joke to you, and it just flies right over your damn head…”

Thunder rumbled overhead and a sharp crack of lightning flashed outside, temporarily illuminating the street white. “Storm’s rolling in… Going to be one of those nights…” Sea muttered.

“If you want, you can cuddle me…” Khepri asked. “I’ll protect you, milady…”

“Ugh, no. In so many ways, just no.” Sea said in disgust shoving him away.

“But isn’t the origin of the phrase ‘cuddle bug’ related to bugs?” Khepri asked quizzically.

Sea nearly wanted to scream by this point. “...do you even have an off button?” she asked slamming her head into the pillow. “Because I am seriously considering pressing it…”

“Yeah, don’t you need to recharge or something?” Jasper asked as she wrapped her wings gently around Sea.

“Well, when you two start making out… leave me out of it okay?” Khepri asked. “Pony affection. Bleagh!”

“You were made by a species that feeds on pony love, so shut up,” Sea pointed out. “You should be… wait, we’re not in love so you wouldn’t be able to feed on us anyway!”

“Tch, just keep telling yourself that,” Khepri said with a laugh. “You two are the ones cuddling every night you know.”

“Shut up!” Both mares said in unison as he just laughed and turned back into his Scarab form.

“You know they’re never going to let up on that, right?” Sea asked as she snuggled up against Jasper. “And that this isn’t helping either.”

“I know, but we both know that it’s better for you,” Jasper said as she wrapped her wings around Sea. “Shh… just calm down and enjoy the moment. Good night Sea.”

“Good night Jasper,” Sea replied as the two mares drifted off to sleep in a warm embrace.

Or they would have, had a sharp cackle not split the night.

“Great, now they’re ruining our evenings too,” Jasper groaned as the two of them got up. Sea headed over to the window to see if she could tell what had happened.

What she saw… was not what she expected. A figure in sharp silver, possibly white armor striding up the path, with sharp angles and twin yellow katakana forming the ‘visor’. A spinning particle accelerator formed the chestplate. But the most noticeable feature was the adornment on the top of the helmet, two clock ‘hands’ with a star above them.

“That’s not normal…” She muttered as she looked back at Khepri and Jasper. “Jasper, get your Rider Gear. Khepri, you’re with me.”

“What’s going on?” Jasper asked as she grabbed her Guardian Driver and the Lux Stone while Sea grabbed her Driver and Khepri landed on her head. “Is it the Another Riders again?”

“I don’t know,” Sea admitted. “But I want to be safe regardless. With everything that’s been going on, it’s better safe than sorry at this point.”

Jasper nodded as the two of them headed out of the room together and down towards the front door.

00000

“The strongest Evol with power unleashed! Evol Black Hole!” the armor proclaimed as it’s user stepped forwards, cracks in the ground forming beneath. “Fuhahahahahahahaha!”

“Okay, that sounds incredibly ominous,” Jasper commented as she and Sea stepped out onto the street. “Who is that?”

“I… think that’s Neutron,” Sea said as she took a step forward. “Neutron, what happened to you? What’s with the crazy armor?”

If there was any reasoning with the -currently, at least- Dark Rider, now clearly was not the time as he waved his hoof. A black hole appeared behind them, beginning to suck the mares in.

“OKAY, I DON’T THINK THAT’S NORMAL!” Jasper shouted as they struggled against the sucking power. She struggled to reach for the Lux Stone to use it.

Then, Dusk darted in out of nowhere, firing a blast of magic at the Dark Rider to knock him off balance and disrupt his concentration.

“Both of you, this isn’t the time to stand around gawking!” Dusk said as she levitated up her own Driver. An energy blast knocked the Dark Rider back, and both Pharynx and Spada ran up, morphers at the ready.

“...The hive stands united, right?” Pharynx muttered. “Hell of a time for it to come to pass though.”

“Yes indeed,” Dusk said as her Mantis Shifter jumped up onto her hoof. “Let’s do this then. Seems that Neutron needs to have some sense knocked into him, are you four ready?”

“Ready,” Sea said as Khepri flew into position and Jasper nodded with the Lux stone in her hoof.

Pharynx and Spada pulled out their Kyutamas, slamming them into their changers and morphed with shouts of: “Star Change!”

“...Well, here we go again, right?” Spada asked turning to his King who could only nod grimmly.

“Henshin!” Sea, Jasper, and Dusk said in unison as they slid their Shifters and stone into the Drivers.

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

“THE HIVE STANDS UNITED!”

“SHINE! LIGHT OF THE MORNING STAR!”

As the rider armor formed around the threesome, Neutron snarled, teleporting away on top of a house and flicking his hoof. “Objection!” he shouted before his horn sparked and a black hole formed above the three Riders and the two Rangers, beginning to drop steel girders around them like spears.

“Really? That’s all you can do?” Dusk asked with a smirk as she held her hooves out and a powerful wind spun around the three Riders, throwing them aside. She swung her scythe around and nodded to the other two Riders. “I was expecting something so much more.”

Neutron’s eyes flashed, before energy balls like meteors began to rain down, Pharynx quickly slamming an auxurily kyutama into his morpher. An energy shield formed above the group, the energy balls beginning to crack through it little by little. “Don’t… Don’t know how much longer I can-”

“You don’t have to!” Spada shouted slamming another Kyutama into his morpher, and firing of all things, a set of chalk and a ruler beaning Neutron on the head. The power of the Norma constellation.

“A giant ruler and chalk?” Jasper asked. “Who designed that one, a grouchy old schoolteacher?”

“Well, she’s close…” Pharynx thought with a smirk. “Only Stripped…”

“Hey, if it works, it works,” Sea said as she gripped her tonfas. “Alright, I’m the fastest so you all cover me. I’ll see if I can get in close enough to knock him out or something.”

“Noted.” Spada said slamming the Pavo Kyutama into his morpher and manifesting a peacock’s tails, shooting the feathers at Neutron.

“Fine,” Dusk said as she detached the two parts of her scythe and it glowed.

“Transform: Mantis Scythe Bow!” The Change Driver said as the Scythe transformed into a fancy compound bow that she pulled back on the string of and fired several arrows at Neutron.

Neutron saw both attacks coming, and created another black hole absorbing the shots, before creating another firing them back out at their original users. Pharynx reacted, again on instinct protecting both the former Princess and his subject, creating a shield once again with the Scutum Kyutama’s powers.

Sea glanced at the others and then dug her hooves into the ground before taking off as fast as she could.

“She’s going to need backup…” Pharynx murmured before glancing at Spada. “Here, catch! Protect them!”

He then tossed the Scutum Kyutama while exchanging it for the Pegasus one, gaining silver winged armor and flying up like a rocket. “We can’t have this battle, not here!” Pharynx shouted at Sea. “Not with the town below!”

“Do you have any suggestions on how to lure him away?” Sea asked. “Because I don’t think he’ll do it if we ask nicely!”

Pharynx nodded before rocketing right at Neutron, slashing into his armor. “Hey, you want someone to take your frustrations out on, take it out on me!”

Neutron looked up at him, eyes flashing. Pharynx continued to speak. “Look, I get it. This world’s a shitshow to you, a nightmare. Your best friend is one of those Another Rider things. You just need an outlet, or something or whatever. Well… here’s a punching bag live and ready for you. You just gotta catch it first!”

“Well, that’s one way to do it I guess,” Sea said as she opened the wings on her back and looked back at the others. “We need a plan B in case this won’t work! See if you can figure something out!”

“Oh, there’s already one in the making,” Pharynx lied, knowing that there really weren’t many options here besides killing the stallion. And even then, it’d take a miracle to just knock him unconscious. “But for now, we fly!”

They rocketed over the landscape, Pharynx pointed directly at a mountain. He looked back to see Scarab, and then a series of magical flashes. Neutron, in hot pursuit. “Yes, that’s right… Get a little closer…”

Sea was still getting the hang of actually flying. But as she moved through the sky it almost felt, right. She didn’t have time to think on that however as she glanced back at Neutron for a moment, weaving back and forth as best she could. The magical flashes continued, Neutron now in front of her, before Pharynx appeared from above and knocked him through a series of trees with a powerful kick. The trees toppled like dominos, before they were sucked into a black hole and then spat back out again like lances.

“Ciao~!” Neutron singsonged.

Pharynx’s eyes widened. “By the Hivemother…”

“Okay, that’s not good…” Sea commented.

“Spin!” Khepri’s voice echoed in her mind.

“What?” She asked.

“By the Queen, spin!” Khepri said, he was practically screaming by this point. “You have speed, remember? Give it a good spin and it’ll create a whirlwind!”

And so she did, spinning like a drill and creating a howling whirlwind that sent the trees flying. Neutron’s eyes widened, and Sea caught a glimpse of his shattered helmet -probably from the kick- revealing a now bone-white mane. And then he was sent flying even further, this time into a nearby mountain by powerful blasts of flame. Sea looked up, and her own eyes widened. A dragon? Then she recognized the colors, a dark military green with tinges of silver and crimson red.

“Pharynx…”

Pharynx, as he began to slip into unconsciousness from the sheer power even required to maintain the transformation for a few seconds watched the mountain began to cave inwards. And then the ground rushed up to greet him…

00000

“So, is this what you call everything being completely under control?” Natsumi said with a pointed glare towards Tsukasa. “Half of the pressure you put that stallion under drove him mad, and forced him to ask for the power of goddamn Evolt!”

With that, she went straight for the laughing pressure point, and caused Tsukasa to to break down into uncontrollable laughter. “You absolute moron! We’ll be lucky if the Time-Space Administrative Bureau isn’t going to be after us for the stupidity you just pulled. They’re already annoyed about the damage Oma Zi-O caused to the timeline as it is!”

“Clearly… Clearly I have made a mistake Natsumikan,” Tsukasa agreed finally swallowing his pride.

“Clearly,” Natsumi scowled. “You sent this world into an Ōmagatoki of sorts, just as one of your little ‘tests of faith’ as you put it. And quit it with the nickname, okay? You don’t get to call me that, not right now.”

She rubbed her temples and muttered something rather unkind under her breath. Honestly, at times Tsukasa seemed quite intent on driving her up the wall. There was a reason she staged regular interventions and had him sleep on the couch for a month whenever he pulled something remarkably stupid. The incident with him losing his powers to Schwarz was a particular standout. This didn’t actually top it, but it got pretty close, driving adorable little ponies mad and handing out AnotherWatches just to see if a world was worth saving.

She remembered what had happened just a few months prior, when the very aptly named Time-Space Administrative Bureau had come to call.

“Lightning Flash! Plasma Zanber!”

A golden flash lit up the area, an explosion following as Tsukasa jumped out of the smoke going into his Complete form, slamming the K-Touch onto his belt. “Tch, is that even age appropriate?” he asked of his opponent, remarking on her attire which resembled a swimsuit with a skirt and cape attached. “And never knew a little girl who went around holding a massive scythe.”

“So you’re the one they call the Destroyer of Worlds, hmm?” the girl asked. “By the authority invested in me by the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, I’m bringing you in for questioning. If you are willing to cooperate, then disarm yourself.”

“What, no ‘damn you Decade!’ to go along with that?” Tsukasa drawled. “And I was unaware that you bringing me in for questioning required you to attack me. Oh well, might as well finish this up, and maybe then we can talk civilly. I hate hitting little girls, but it can’t be helped I suppose.”

“Final KamenRide: F-F-F-Faiz!”

With that, he summoned a manifestation of Faiz in his Blaster Form, both firing off streams of red photon particles at the girl, who reacted in kind.

“Multi-Defenser.” her scythe stated in this english accent before creating a string of golden shields to block the shots. The girl was thrown back, but for the most part seemed unharmed. Then from out of two dimensional walls came two figures, both ones both fighters recognized.

“Fate!/Tsukasa!” Natsumi and Nanoha shouted, hands on hips.

“Yep… definitely in the doghouse tonight…” the two former combatants thought in unison sweat dropping.

That was an incident she preferred to actually forget about. The paperwork she’d had to go through was an absolute nightmare. Still, at least she made a new friend in that adorable little girl in the white armor. It had to be illegal for superheroes to be that adorable, right?

“So, what are you going to do?” Natsumi asked. “You’re not going to walk into that world again are you?”

“Yes, and no,” Tsukasa said. “I’m not going to directly interfere but-”

“Even if by all rights you should?” Natsumi asked.

“Possibly yes, but I don’t want to risk the fabric of that world becoming undone by staying there any longer than I have to,” Tsukasa said. “So I’m going to do something a little different.”

“Kamen Ride: Zi-O!”

Transforming into Zi-O, Tsukasa held out a blank ridewatch he had… acquired at some point or the other and pressed down on it. He smiled at his handiwork.

“So, who are you going to give that to?” Natsumi inquired.

“Someone… deserving, someone who needs a bone thrown to them. Metaphorically speaking, anyways,” he replied. “Now, if I’m right, the same way that a certain stallion became a Rider should also be a viable option for creating him a partner of sorts. I can only hope that the candidate I have in mind can be saved.”

“...Oh, so we’re creating Riders now?” Natsumi asked. “Well, why not? We’ve already committed enough trouble as it is…” she deadpanned.

Tsukasa rolled his eyes and created a dimensional wall, the air in front of him shimmering. How he exactly used this power to time travel was a bit confusing. He could be using Zi-O or Den-O’s powers, or there was an alternate or more complex solution. What he could have been doing was going to a dimension where the past or the future was happening in his present time. “See you, Natsumikan.” Tsukasa said, giving a little wave before vanishing through the dimensional wall.

“...I said you don’t get to call me that right now.” Natsumi grumbled.

00000

“Mio Dio!” Spada muttered as Pharynx found himself back in the waking world inside a medical tent. He blinked and quickly tried to shut his eyes, shielding them from the sunlight. “Oh Pharynx… I have half a mind to have a word with you about your hero ploys! Tipo, sei un dannato idiota!”

“He’s going to be alright, isn’t he?” Sea asked, canceling out her transformation. Casting a glance upwards towards the mountain, it became evident she was not talking about Pharynx.

“Oh, yes… yes. He’s going to be fine,” Spada said, the yellow changeling’s wings buzzing in agitation. “He just overexerted himself, that’s all. See, there’s a problem with Changelings, an inherent problem. It’s all about the conservation of energy, see? You can get a hell of a lot of extra power by changing into something big and scary, like a dragon. But converting energy to mass has some serious drawbacks, meaning the bigger you are…”

“The harder it is to maintain the transformation…” Sea nodded along. “But what about…?” She trailed off her gaze going back up to the mountain.

“Neutron?” Spada asked. “Yeah, it’ll take a bit before he can claw himself out of that mess. And that’s only if he wasn’t knocked unconscious, and given the power behind that blast of flame he probably was.”

Then he whirled on Dusk. “And you, we shall have words! I have a suspicion that you’re behind half of this as it is! Don’t think me so stupid I can’t recognize you for what you are, and your exact relation to Neutron!”

With that, he stormed off swearing in his native language. “...Well, that was a thing. Yeah, that was definitely a thing.” Sea muttered. “I’ll… I’ll go after him.”

Running after the changeling, she sighed. “She’s Neutron’s mother, isn’t she? Or a… version of her at any rate, right?”

“Well, I can’t confirm it but yeah… Given their interactions, I’d say it’s a safe bet. My best guess is, well… seeing his mother as a changeling was probably the final straw for him. I don’t know what his Equestria’s like -because he can’t possibly come from here, can he?- but I’m willing to bet it’s a damn sight better than this.” Spada muttered to himself.

“Probably…” Sea agreed. “I mean… well, let’s face it, anything is a bit of a step up from this isn’t it?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say anything…” Spada sighed rubbing his temples. “You clearly haven’t met my Equestria, have you?”

“I’ve heard bits and pieces, it froze over right?” Sea asked.

“Yeah, we’re just wandering the stars now, trying to find ourselves a new home,” Spada sighed. “I mean, I never even saw what my Equestria was like, back in it’s golden age. I was born inside an underground vault with a bunch of other changelings just starving for scraps. It… it wasn’t a good life.” he whispered.

“I… I see…” Sea said a wave of sympathy washing over her for the kind bug. “I hope you find what you’re looking for…”

“Well, one can only hope, right?” Spada asked. “Now, our main worry is Neutron. My best guess? Only about an hour or two before he claws his way out of that mountain. We need to find his friend, Skye was it?”

“Yeahhhhh, problem,” Sea said. “She’s one of the Another Riders. I overheard one of the drones mention it.”

“Mio Dio...” Spada sighed again. “Anyone got a plan?”

Then came the buzzing of wings and the sound of four hooves hitting the ground from nearby. “Simple,” Dusk said. “We make her come to us.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“I am clearly a prime target, am I not?” Dusk asked. “So I offer myself up as ‘live bait’. May I borrow the one you designate as Jasper, just in case?”

“Oh, you are so not doing that, not in a million years!” Sea snapped.

“It is either this, or we let ourselves be killed by Neutron and his new armor,” Dusk stated. “I presume you don’t want that to happen?”

“...Point taken,” Sea muttered. “But I’m still not comfortable with this, understand?”

“I do,” Dusk said. “But rest assured, I am not going to indoctrinate Jasper into the hive just yet. It is simply too big of a risk right now.”

“Actually, I have a better idea,” Spada said. “You may not even have to put yourself in the line of fire actually…”

“Clever…” Dusk smiled. “You really would make such a good changeling for the Hive…”

“I… I think I’ll pass on that, actually…” Spada muttered.

“Remember those days when you were just a simple cooking mare?” Sea thought looking at Spada. “I’d like to go back to those…”

So, it was with a nervous smile upon her face that Dusk found herself out in the Everfree. Strange things chittered in the undergrowth, and the bushes ruffled.

Then, from out of the shadows leapt two Another Scarabs and Another Orga, and ‘Dusk’ reacted drawing a Kyuchanger and firing three consecutive blasts. The first two downed the Scarabs, and the third knocked Another Orga through a large boulder. “Surprise!” ‘Dusk’ said as the illusion dropped to reveal Spada.

“Well, this is… mildly disappointing…” Another Orga said as she picked herself up off the forest floor, Another Dark Drive joining her. “I was expecting Dusk. Not you.”

“Well, merciful me, I love to surprise. Speaking of…” Spada smiled as Jasper already covered in armor leaped out of the brush and rider kicked Another Dark Drive, ripping through armor to reveal a black carapace underneath.

Spada meanwhile quickly morphed, and equipped the Monoceros Drill slamming it hard into Another Orga’s armor, ripping it open to reveal blue feathers and fur. The armor quickly regenerated, and Skye was back to being an Another Rider. “Well, now that we know your identity…” Spada said holding her at bay with his rapier.

Nearby, Jasper as Lux dueled Another Dark Drive, catching a glimpse of a rainbow hue from a shattered helmet. “So, Prism?”

“Got that right,” the now revealed to be Prism smiled before firing off purple shuriken. “You’re not Princess Dusk, but you’ll do.”

“What’s your game here?” Jasper demanded, rolling to the left to avoid the shurikens before leaping behind her opponent, and grabbing her by the hind legs. She tossed her into a tree, making it topple over like it was a domino. “Just rage randomly, until you attract Princess Dusk?”

“Well, possibly,” Prism said lunging forwards, only for Jasper to catch her again and toss her through a boulder. “She owes me, I was supposed to have the Scarab Shifter, not that brat!”

Fighting back the anger at hearing his best friend called a brat, Jasper snarled: “She had nothing to do with it. It’s not Prism’s fault that you lost your chance to become a Rider!”

“...Wait, why am I reasoning with Prism?” Jasper asked herself. “It’s not like these Another Riders ever think rationally…”

Meanwhile, Spada had equipped the pegasus armor and had grabbed Skye/Another Orga and tossed her into a cave, a very familiar cave. Long ancient crystal roots were scattered about, and Spada was dodging and weaving between them to avoid Another Orga’s sword strikes. He then rocketed upwards, and drop kicked Another Orga sending her watch flying into a wall. Spada quickly smashed it with his hoof.

“And that… is the end of that…”

As Skye’s armor faded away, Spada let out a sigh of relief to see the blue griffon hen underneath. “Skye, right?”

“Y-Yes… but who are you? And where’s Neutron?”

“I’m a friend,” Spada said helping her up. “And as for Neutron… well, we need your help.”

Outside, Jasper had damaged Another Dark Drive’s armor enough to send her into a retreat. “Another day, another day!” she snarled. “Besides, I have bigger fish to fry anyways.” Prism said before vanishing with a flap of her wings.

Spada had explained the situation as best as he could, Skye taking it all in with her eyes widening in horror with each passing moment. She knew what had happened. Neutron had always wanted to get out from under his mother, become his own stallion. And now in a way, he’d gained the power to do exactly that, along with the power to tear down this nightmare and create a new sense of order. To be able to safeguard Harmony once again.

“...Trouble is, if I’m going to even get near Neutron, I’m going to need…”

“Help?” a male voice said from somewhere in the darkness, as a Ridewatch was tossed in to her paws. “Well, just take it from a passing through Kamen Rider. You’ll find a way.”

Something in the air shimmered, before Skye caught the briefest glimpse of a figure in the darkness before he vanished once more. “So how do I…?” Skye asked holding the Ridewatch in her paw before she realized exactly where she was.

“I see now…” Skye smiled as a warm energy wrapped itself around her waist and the powers of a time since lost filled her. “Don’t worry Neutron, I’m coming to help you. Just stay put.”

00000

Sea took a deep breath as they neared the mountain where Neutron was trapped. Right now they needed to hope that he would be held long enough for them to get through to Skye. She glanced at the others and took a deep breath as Khepri rested on her head.

“You are an odd one,” Dusk commented as she eyed Sea. “You’re not exactly what I expected from a resistance soldier. Especially not with your, hesitance to kill.”

“I would rather not kill,” Sea told her. “And I’d rather not have to fight the Changelings at all. You’re the one who put us in this position.”

“We’re trying to make Equestria a better place, Harmony is our end goal not war,” Dusk snorted. “But we have more reasons not to take you right now than anything else. Though I’m sure if Prism was here, she would disagree.”

“We just wanted to get out of there, I didn’t exactly set out to steal from her you know,” Sea pointed out. “But look, we’re working together now. I’m just as eager to see this done as you are.”

“And after which, it’s right back to business, are we clear?” Dusk stated.

“Agreed,” Sea said. “Now… I think… No, I know this can work out…”

Her voice betrayed her emotions.

“Now, enough of that!” a chirpy voice came as a blue griffon hit the ground. “And did I give you two permission to bitch, when a friend of mine needs saving?”

“I’m… I’m guessing you’re Skye?” Dusk said. “You don’t look like… much.”

“Got it in one!” Skye said giving her a finger gun gesture with a claw. “And trust me, I’m worth a hell of a lot more to you than I seem, given being turned into Another Rider was the partial cause of this mess. You getting your fangs into my friend was the other, Fake Twilight.”

“Hey!”

“Now shut it, and let me work, okay?” Skye replied snappishly even as the mountain began to be devoured by a black hole. “Speaking of, look lively now!”

She watched as a figure began to slowly lower himself to the ground. “S-Skye?” Neutron asked with a small stammer sounding close to tears. “Is that…”

“Yes, it’s me… I’m here now…” Skye whispered before choking back a laugh. “Oh look at you, getting into trouble again.”

“But you’re with…” Neutron said his voice hardening. “Very well then, I’ll have to knock some-”

“Sense into me?” Skye replied as she dodged the coming ball of energy rocketing upwards to do so, clapping her wings together. “Funny, looks like I’ll have to be doing the same.”

She then pulled out a very familiar type of belt and watch.

“ZIKU DRIVER!”

“ZAMONAS!”

“Henshin.” Skye whispered, just barely loud enough to hear.

“The Hallowed Hour! Lost Rider Time!”

Blue and red armor rapidly covered Skye, as gold shoulder pads resembling clockwork gears -one with a mantle attached to it- formed on her shoulder pads. Finally, two flaming yellow katakana landed themselves on her helmet. “Kamen Rider… ZAMONAS!”

“Rejoice…” Skye whispered as she rocketed towards Neutron, and caught his punch with her paw, and did the same with his second punch. The two grappled briefly before Skye whispered an apology and headbutted her friend.

Neutron stumbled back, and Skye briefly reached for her driver but thought against it. No, she could win this without resorting to needless violence.

Then she saw Neutron’s cracked helmet, revealing his bleached white mane. Skye reached for the helmet and pulled off what was left, before her own retracted. And then she kissed Neutron, his eyes widening in shock briefly before he relaxed into the kiss wrapping his arms around his henfriend, his transformation canceling out. Skye’s own was soon to follow. His mane returned to it’s usual rose shade and the Black Hole Ridewatch fell to the ground forgotten.

“Well, since your actual mom isn't here, I will stand in for her. I do not approve of your choice of partners and this will end badly for you.”

“Oh shut up…” Neutron muttered flicking a pebble at her with his magic.

“Ah, mother son bonding…” Sea said with a laugh. “Alright you two, no more making out before it starts giving anyone ideas about teasing me and Jasper again.”

“Funny, I was just about to do that…” Neutron said, his tail entertwined with Skye’s own. “Like seriously, I was.”

Skye lightly slapped him upside the head.

“In my experience, two beings that are being teased about being together are likely to be interested in one another,” Dusk pointed out. “I’ve studied it a lot among ponies and Changelings.”

“Well, it’s not always the case!” Sea protested.

“You’d be the poster child for that, then…” Neutron commented. “Denial isn’t just a river in Neighypt.”

“...So glad to see I haven’t missed much…” Skye said flatly. “I suppose a proper introduction is in order. Name’s Skye.” she said sticking out her paw. She severely hoped a ‘Sparkle’ would be added to that shortly.

“I’m Sea Spray, Kamen Rider Scarab, and this is of course Princess Dusk Shadow,” Sea said as she shook her paw. “She’s… do you even have a name yet?”

“She’s False Twilight, we’ll call her that,” Skye said. “Also that manipulative bitch. That works as well.”

Neutron raised a hoof in protest, but then decided against it and muttered: “Yeah, that works…”

“There is hardly any point in names or designations such as that,” Dusk retorted. “But I suppose if you must call it anything, simply Mantis will do.”

“...So unimaginative…” a voice came. “But I guess that’s you, eh Duskie?”

Everyone turned to see Prism/Another Dark Drive standing with a veritable hive of Another Scarabs. “Oh, I’m sorry, did you forget about little old me? I guess the gang’s all here then!”

“So, you’re the last one left?” Neutron asked going for his Ridewatch, Skye following. “You and your little… army? I hesitate to call it even that! I’d call it one last desperate grab for revenge by a madmare I think. Oh, I’m so going to enjoy this. HENSHIN!”

“So glad we’re on the same page for once…” Sea agreed as Jasper ran up, nearly panting by now. “Henshin!”

“RIDER TIME! KAMEN RIDER GUARDIAN! ARMOR TIME! KUUGA AMAZING MIGHTY!”

“The Hallowed Hour! Lost Rider Time! Kamen Rider… ZAMONAS!”

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

“THE HIVE STANDS UNITED!”

“SHINE! LIGHT OF THE MORNING STAR!”

As their transformations finished, Neutron smiled. “You know, I took over for you once,” he said to Skye. “Mind if I do it again? Rejoice, for now there are two Riders guarding Harmony! Two hearts working as one! The Prince, and his Herald! No... words no longer do it justice. We must simply bask in this moment! Together, they should surely create the new world as it as written! El Salvatore has come! Now, the five Riders stand united, to strike down the false copy!”

“You know, now what Neutron said earlier makes perfect sense…” Jasper commented quietly to Sea as she raised her revolver and pointed it at the Another Riders.

“Yeah,” Sea commented as she gripped her tonfas in her hooves. “Let’s do this then, what’s the plan?”

“I dunno,” Skye said drawing a crossbow of some sort. “I was going to go for just hit them till they break.”

“Yes, that fills me with such confidence,” Jasper commented as she gave her revolver a spin and aimed it forward.

“Split up,” Dusk said. “Skye, Neutron? You and I will take the hoards, thin them out a bit and clear a path. Jasper? Sea? Prism’s all yours.”

“Got it,” Sea said as she and Jasper looked forward at where Prism is. “You ready, Jasper?”

“Ready, let’s do this,” Jasper said as the Riders prepared to fight the Another Rider horde. Neutron leaped skywards, before coming back down, his hoof glowing with golden energy. Dust and smoke was thrown in the air as Another Scarabs were sent flying, the ground cracking on impact, golden electricity sparking.

“Take my hoof, I’ll get us there,” Sea said as Jasper took her hoof and they ran towards Prism together.

Prism’s eyes narrowed, before letting out a growl of: “I don’t think so!” and firing flaming shurikens at the twosome. “You lovebirds want to get to me, you’re going to have to fight your way to me! No exceptions.”

“Then here! I’ll just let them have you for free!” Neutron said teleporting behind her, and roundhouse kicking the Another Rider towards Sea. He then used the Titan Saber to cut down several more Another Scarabs. “Grandmother said this! If the odds are against you… cheat.”

“So, it looks like you’re going to be easier to get to than you thought,” Jasper said with a laugh as she fired several shots at Prism.

“...Well, that sounds like her alright,” Neutron said, grabbing an Another Scarab and tossing it through some boulders.. “More bluster than you can shake a stick at. Grandmother said this! The ones who bark the loudest usually have no fight in them at all!”

“...Why do I get the feeling over half of those sayings he made up himself?” Dusk asked, looking to Skye.

“...Yeah, he probably did, but you want to tell him that?” Skye said kicking a hoard through some trees, making them fall over like dominos. “I mean, you want to go ahead and spoil his fun?”

Prism adjusted herself as she faced down against the two normal Riders. She dug her hooves into the ground for a moment as a wave of energy went out around her, catching the two of them in the same gravity effect as before. “Pressure’s a bit heavy, isn’t it?” Prism said before drawing back her hoof and punching Sea directly in the face. “Now give me back my Driver!”

“I… don’t think so!” Sea said as she swung her hoof up at normal speed only to have it be caught by Prism’s. “The Shifter chose me, not you! You can’t take it away! And even if you could, it wouldn’t work for you!”

“Tch, just try to reason with the crazy Princess, good plan,” Khepri’s voice snarked in her head. “Maybe you should focus on getting the gravity effect stopped? Just a crazy idea.”

“You claim to be fast, right?” Prism said. “How fast have you really gone? That Driver, it was built for me and me alone, to show off my natural speeds. Enhance them! But I don’t need it to beat you, you worthless half-rate.”

With that, she disengaged the gravity surge, and spread her wings before blitzing Sea over and over again, hitting her with the force of a bullet train. Each time, bits of armor were chopped away. When she finally reappeared again, she roundhouse kicked Sea into Jasper. “...Yeah, just as I thought. You’ve got a lot to learn.”

“Sea… are you okay?” Jasper asked as the two Riders got up again, steadying themselves a bit as they faced down Prism again.

“Yeah… I’m fine,” Sea replied as Jasper raised her hoof and a shield made of hard light appeared on it. “Any ideas on how we should deal with this?”

“She’s fast, but I’ll get you can be faster,” Jasper said with a chuckle. “Sea, you need to not hold back here. Run, Sea, run.”

Sea nodded a little as she ran forward right at Prism again with the tonfas in her forehooves. She picked up speed again, running faster than she had before as she swung her tonfas at where Prism was standing.

Only to have the Changeling Princess move out of the way just as she was about to connect. “Ha! Too slow!” She taunted, even as her body began to cover itself in spikes, before these spikes were fired like flaming bullets. “Don’t you get it yet? With all of this power…”

Then Neutron appeared from out of a warp hole in Dangerous Zombie armor slicing her across the chest with a chainsaw blade. “...with all of this power, you need a reality check!”

He changed back to Zero One armor and used her shock to deal several slices with the Attache Calibur. Skye rolled into view and fired her crossbow knocking Prism back. “What he said, bitch.”

Prism then waved her hoof, and caught them both in a gravity surge smirking. She was then rammed by Sea, having gone full force.

“Now who’s too slow?” She said as she connected the tonfas together as they changed into her rifle as she raised it to her shoulder and fired several shots into Prism before running forward again and slamming her hoof into her hard. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt anyone. I don’t care if you’re a Changeling or an Another Rider. I’m taking you down NOW!”

“Try it… Kid,” Prism said before taking to the sky in a flash of light. She was then behind Sea. “You haven’t got the gu-URK!”

Sea, having seen the roundhouse kick coming, caught Prism by the leg and slammed her into the ground. “You’re getting predictable!” she singsonged.

Prism growled as she jumped back and threw several shuriken at Sea. She barely managed to dodge them as she ran forward right at Prism again, but this time she dodged it again, apparently she had gotten faster at this point as she laughed loudly.

“Still too slow!” She laughed. “Guess I’m going to have to go all out too! If you think you’re going to be fast enough to catch me, then you’ve got another thing coming!”

Sea ran at her again as she raised her rifle to fire several more shots at her but only to find Prism out of the way again. The Another Rider laughed again as she turd to see that she had grabbed Jasper from behind, the gravity effect still on her.

“Your marefriend here is quite a fighter,” Prism commented as she stared Sea down. “She’s quite the little spitfire too, reminds me a bit of her grandmother. Perhaps I’ll take her back with me, she’ll make a fine new Soldier for my army.”

And with that something just snapped in Sea’s mind. She wasn’t going to let this monster take away Jasper and make her into one of her soldier drones. She felt a surge in her body as she started running again, this time faster than she had ever run before. Prism was shocked as she realized that Sea was going faster than she expected and automatically dropped Jasper to try and get out of the way.

It didn’t do her any good as Sea’s armored hoof impacted Prism’s chest which sent her flying through the air as she hit a nearby tree, splintering it. She struggled to get to her hooves, only to get hit again by Sea as she did, knocking her back onto the ground as Sea slammed her hind hoof down, holding her to the ground.

“Kill me… you know you want to… you know deep down that you’re a killer…” Prism coughed out. “You killed before… and you’ll do it again…”

“No… I’m not going to kill you, that would be the easy way out, but I will free you, and let you live with the humiliation of defeat,” Sea said as she opened her wings and flew back. She stared down at Prism for a moment before flying down hard, energy gathering in her hoof as it impacted the Another Rider. “RIDER KICK!”

The armor shattered, and the Anotherwatch went flying into Dusk’s hoof, before she stomped on it.

“You… can’t do that forever…” Prism said as she laid there on the ground. Her wild rainbow mane fell around her as she looked into the sky. “You’re no different than the rest of us. Don’t you think for a moment that you’re any different.”

She struggled to get to her hooves as Dusk galloped over and steadied her. “Prism, you’ll be okay, I’ll get you to camp,” Dusk said as she looked at Sea. “Our truce will hold for another day, Prism is going to need to be placed in a healing cocoon here. Once we leave the Safe Zone however, all bets are off.”

“I understand,” Sea replied as she gave her a nod. “Thank you for your help.”

“Don’t think this means we’re friends or anything,” Dusk snorted. “Like I told you, this is a one time thing. Now, don’t you have a horde of evil versions of yourself to deal with?”

“Guess that means inviting her over for a sleepover is out,” Jasper commented as Dusk teleported Prism back to the camp.

“Are you okay, Jasper? I mean, she had you pretty good,” Sea commented as the two of them headed back towards where the Another Scarabs were being fought.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jasper replied as she rubbed her shoulder a little where she had been held by Prism. “I didn’t think you could run that fast though.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Sea replied.

“Tch, your gear is magic based,” Khepri pointed out. “Your marefriend was in danger so you got an adrenaline rush that increased your magical power. That made you just fast enough to do the job.”

“She’s not my… never mind,” Sea groaned out.

“Time to finish this,” Skye said pressing down on her Ridewatch. “Agreed?”

“Quite.” Neutron said pressing down on his own before they leapt forwards, their boots glowing with the katakana for ‘kick’.

“FINISH TIME! VIOLENT TIME EXPLOSION!/HARMONIC TIME BREAK!”

A sea of explosions lit up the battlefield.

“Well, that’s certainly one way to do the job, where do we learn a trick like that?” Jasper asked with a chuckle. She raised her revolver and fired several shots into the nearest drone as Sea split her rifle back into her tonfas again. “Are you ready for this?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Sea replied as she ran forward, hitting several of the drones as they let out an unnatural cry of pain.

One of the Another Scarab Drones turned her attention to her. Energy flowed around it and formed into two tonfas, but instead of the blunt weapons that Sea used they had nasty looking curved blades. It let out an unnatural laugh as it aimed its weapons right at Sea.

“Okay, that’s just not fair,” Sea groaned as she then heard a voice.

“Here, catch!” Neutron said tossing her the Attache Calibur.

Sea caught it and examined it for a moment. “Well, not exactly what I’m used to but it’s worth a shot, alright let’s do this!” She said as she held it and pointed it at the Another Rider. “You’re nothing like me, I’m this place’s hope…”

She glanced back at Jasper who gave her a nod as she fired several more shots into another Drone.

“We all are, we’re here to stop the likes of you before you overrun this world!” Sea said as she swung the weapon around. “And I’m going to show you just how powerful that hope really is.”

“Then… show me… Rider…” The Another Scarab said as it ran forward at her, swinging its bladed tonfas around to try and hit Sea only to have the sound of metal on metal ring out as she caught them with the Attache Calibur. Then another sword implanted itself next to the Rider, the Titan Saber. Sea rolled to the left, before grabbing that as well and finishing off the Another Rider with twin downward slashes.

The Another Scarab cried out as the blades cut through it. Finally the armor on it shattered as it fell back, the remaining Another Scarab drones shattering with it as Sea fell back onto her flanks, breathing heavily.

“Wow…”

00000

“Well, I guess this is it…” Neutron said, a shimmering dimensional wall behind him and Skye. Inside it was a very visible Ponyville, Twilight’s old castle gleaming in the sun. Pharynx and Spada had already left to their respective world. “You sure you don’t want to come along? Just leave these Changelings to… this?”

Sea paused a moment and looked back at her Ponyville for a moment. She shook her head a little and smiled as she turned back to Neutron.

“It’s just like I told the Another Scarab,” she replied. “I’m these ponies’ hope. We need to fight to take back our world from the Changelings instead of running away from it. I appreciate the offer, and I’m sure there are ponies who would take you up on it, but I can’t leave this world.”

“I understand, but if you ever need help…” Neutron said tossing the phone Ridewatch to her. “Don’t ever hesitate to drop a line okay? I’ll come running…” he then looked at Skye and corrected himself. “No… We’ll come running.”

“Good luck you two,” Jasper said with a smile as she gave them a nod. “And I’m sure we’ll give you a call if needed. As soon as we figure out how to actually do that.”

Neutron smiled and stepped through the wall, with Skye following before it closed up behind them.

“Well, the Changelings are heading back to Canterlot,” Jasper said as they started back down the path towards the town. “The last of the Another Riders is gone and everything is back to what passes for normal here. What do we do now?”

“Well, I think we’ve both got a lot to think about,” Sea replied. “We’re both Riders now and we have to fight the Changelings. Hopefully, we’ll find more to help us as well, for now I think I’ve got a gig to play.”

Jasper nodded as they headed back to Sugarcube corner. The rest of Sea’s band were already setting things up as Sea tuned her guitar. As time passed and ponies filed in, she sat on a stool and gently strummed at her guitar as she prepared to play her first song.

“Come gather ‘round ponies
From wherever you roam.
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown.
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone,
For the times they are a changin’.”

As she kept singing nopony noticed as one pony pushed the door leading outside. He made his way quietly through the streets of Ponyville and out of it onto a hill overlooking the town where three others were waiting.

“Well Black, what do you make of it?” One of the ponies, a Unicorn mare asked as the stallion lit a cigarette and looked back down at the town. “You’re the one who wanted to see what’s going on in this town, it had better have been worth it.”

“Oy, I know what I’m doing,” Black commented as he took a drag on his cigarette. He spoke with a thick accent as he eyed the other three ponies for a moment. “And I gotta say, it was more than worth it. Seems the so called hero has a soft spot for those bugs, that isn’t gonna fly in the coming war.”

“So why don’t we just go show her what it really takes,” a lean unicorn suggested as he adjusted his hat a little. “This isn’t the time to be playing nice after all.”

“You know as well as I do that she’s under Old Mare Scootaloo’s protection,” Black reminded them as he took another drag on his cigarette. “You tick ‘er off, you’ll get half the Safe Zone coming down on you. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think the town could survive that.”

“So, what’s the plan then boss?” The fourth one, a burly earth pony stallion asked.

“We’ll see what she’s got cooking up for now,” Black replied. “And then, when the time is right, we'll make sure they all see there’s only one way to deal with the Changelings. Our way.”

00000

"Well, that wasn't a complete disaster at least," Natsumi commented as she and Tsukasa prepared to leave the world once more. "I'd say they've more than passed your test."

"Yes, well I still don't particularly like this world, its a bit insane," Tsukasa commented. "Make a note that we're not coming back here until after they hopefully finish things."

"Oh I don't know, I rather like the whole multi-colored ponies thing," Natsumi chuckled. "So, you're not going to destroy this world then?"

"Of course not, at least as long as they stay on this path," Tsukasa replied as she shot him a look and began to raise her finger. "Oh fine, I won't do it at all."

"Good, so, where are we off to next?"

"Well, I'd say we have somewhere else we should be a bit closer to home," Tsukasa commented as he picked up a piece of paper and a card. The card featured an image of a Kamen Rider with a black helmet and red eyes with two antennae sticking out of it and green armor with golden shoulder pads. "It seems to me like we have a wedding to attend."