Riki and Liz's Grand Adventure!

We’re not the same!

The girls watch the mangled corpse of their human friend fall from the sky. The body lands with a Thud, charred and missing limbs. Riki is almost unrecognizable. Rarity and Fluttershy are the first ones to react. Both let out a blood curdling scream, “Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!”

Pinkie’s hair immediately went flat, “No, no, no, this can’t be real.”

“WHAT’S WRONG, LAUGHTER?” Taboo taunted, pointing at Pinkie, “WHERE THAT SMILE!”

Rainbow Dash falls to the ground next to Applejack, who is too scared to move. Twilight just stopped. What is she going to say to the Princesses? What is she going to say to Liz? Twilight stares at Riki’s corpse, “…Riki…?” Twilight starts to hyperventilate as tears begin to flow, “W-why!? Why did you kill him!”

“MOTIVATION,” Taboo said, looking at the sky.

“Motivation!?” Rainbow shouted, “You just killed our friend!”

“THAT’S A STRONG WORD, FRIEND. HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN THIS HUMAN?” Taboo asked, staring down at the ponies, “THE BOY HAS BEEN HERE FOR LESS THEN A WEEK, AND HE'S A FRIEND?” He takes a step forward, and the girls step back. Taboo grins, “WHAT’S WRONG, ELEMENTS? YOU WERE READY TO FIGHT ME! THEN WHEN THE HUMAN GETS TURNED INTO A DIRTY FIREWORK, YOU’RE READY TO RUN WITH YOUR TAIL BETWEEN YOUR LEGS, HAHAHAAA!” The monster’s laugh echoes throughout the forest. “OR? YOU NEVER CARE ABOUT HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE. IF SO, YOU SHOULD THANK ME!”

What Taboo said really hit a nerve. A chill ran down Taboo’s back, watching the Elements start to glow.

“OH, WHAT’S THIS I’M FEELING?” Taboo asked, looking at the now angry ponies. A twisted smile is slapped on his face, “WOW, WOW, WOW! SUCH ANGER! SUCH HATRED! SUCH MALICE! THE LAST TIME I FELT THAT MUCH ILL WILL, I WAS BEING SEALED!”

“Get ready to get sealed in a stony prison!” Twilight shouted with all the anger she could muster.

“Yeah!” the others yelled with the same energy.

“SHOW ME THE POWER ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! SHOW ME WHY I SHOULD FEAR YOU!” Taboo roared in excitement, slamming his hand on the ground, “DEATHBOUND!"

The ground under the ponies turns pitch black, and a few dozen black arms spring up from the darkness. Twilight quickly pulls up a shield around them. The black claws start to slash and punch Twilight’s shield. “FIGHT LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT, BECAUSE IT DOES!”

“Fuck, my head,”

“Wrathy, the human is up!” La-la says joyfully, skipping around the tied up man.

Riki is alive! He has never left the abandoned hotel room. He struggles to sit up, but La-la pushes him back down.

“That was some beating you took.” Wrath said, leaning back in his chair. “I’m surprised you even woke up.”

“Oi, dog, where that psychopathic monster at?” Riki demanded.

“Why would you like to know?”

“So, I can kick his ass!”

Wrath rolls his eyes, and La-la gets in Riki’s face, “Did Taboo hit you so hard you forgot what happened, dumb human?” La-la starts to poke his face repeatedly, but Riki ignores her. “Are you some type of masochist?”

“Do you have a death wish or something?” Wrath asked, getting out of the chair. “Because you talk like a fool!”

La-la continues to poke Riki, “Taboo is handling The Elements of Harmony right now. So give up, you dumb human. You lost!” La-la goes for another poke, but Riki bit her. “Owwww! Wrathy, the human bit me!”

“I was taught to keep fighting… Long as I’m breathing...” Riki muttered as he sat up. “I’m not giving up.”

“The one who told you that must be a bigger fool than you!” Wrath spat.

“…Shut up, you dumb mutt,”

“What was that!?”

Riki stops and thinks for a while, then smirks, “You heard me, dumb mutt!”

“Shut it before I rip out your eyes!” Wrath roared, claws inches from Riki’s eyes.

“So, I don’t have to watch you chase your tail, Pooch. Go ahead!”

Wrath grits his teeth and starts to breathe heavily. Riki can feel the dog’s heated breath on his face. A deep growl fills the room. “Wrath, calm down!” La-la pleaded, stepping in front of him. “He’s trying to get under your fur. Just go back to the table and cool off, for me… Please.”

The growling slowly stops and is replaced with calm deep breaths. Wrath looks at Riki, then La-la, “…Fine.”

As Wrath begins to walk away. Riki opens his mouth again, “Why are you leaving? Going to go lick your balls!?”

Dead silence.

La-la’s jaw drops, and her eyes widen. She couldn’t believe Riki said that. She knows exactly what’s going to happen next. La-la looks at the Diamond Dog, “…Wrathy?”

Wrath’s blood starts to boil. He bared his fangs, yelling in pure anger, “I’ll kill you!” Running through La-la like she wasn’t even there. Wrath lunges at the human, ready to rip him to shreds.

But everything is going as planned. Riki quickly turns, so Wrath slashes through the paper ropes. The now freed human springs into the air in joy, “You really live up to your name. Wrath, the dumb dog!”

“Stop antagonizing him!” La-la yelled at Riki. “Wrathy, calm down! Listen to me, deep breaths, count to ten!” But her words fall on deaf ears. Wrath is too angry to talk. Only barks and snarls escape his mouth. Blinded by rage, he lashed out, hitting Riki and La-la away.

“Okay, not really part of the plan here,” Riki said, getting up from the floor.

Wrath rashes at Riki like a wild animal, ready to rip him to shreds. Riki dodges and then punches Wrath across the face. But being filled with so much rage, the attack did even faze him. Riki jumps back to get some space, but Wrath immediately closes the distance.

Rampaging like a beast, Wrath flailing around, trying to hit his target. Riki easily reads Wrath’s movements, attacking when he sees the opening. Dodges Wrath’s overhand double hammer fist, smashing the table instead. Riki’s foot hits something, looking down to see the pot that Taboo came out of. Using his fast thinking, Riki kicks the jar right into Wrath’s face. The jar bounces off, and Riki then catches it to block an incoming attack. “Wow, what is this jar made of?” Riki said, blocking another attack with it. Riki then hit Wrath across the face a few times with the jar, but it still looks like it was doing nothing.

“This is all your fault!” La-la shouted at Riki. She digs inside her cloak pulling out all her paper. La-la counts how many sheets of paper she has left after making Taboo the giant paper eagle, two parrots, the fake Riki, and being burned up by that pony guard. To tell it how it is, La-la is running low. She thinks about what to do next. Go after Riki or calm down Wrath? “Wrathy, you owe me big time!”

Riki slams the bottom jar on Wrath’s face, pushing him back slightly. La-la runs up behind Riki, “Fuck, I don’t have time for you!” He then swings the jar at La-la, only for her to dodge out of the way.

“Well, I don’t have time for you too!” La-la spat as they both dodged Wrath’s incoming attack. “After calming down, Wrath. I’m breaking your legs!”

“Fun,” Riki said sarcastically, “But I have to take a rain check.” He dodges another attack, jumping up to an exposed rafter. Hanging on the rather with one hand, Riki throws the jar, hitting Wrath square in the face.

La-la runs in front of Wrath, “Here goes nothing, Quick Fold-Butterfly waltz!” Using the rest of her paper, a couple of dozen paper butterfly flies out from La-la’s cloak.

The paper butterflies swarm around Wrath. He swats away some of the butterflies but slowly stops, looking more relaxed. Wrath rubs his forehead a few seconds later, “Shit, what happened?”

“Wrathy, you’re okay!” La-la said lovingly, hugging and nuzzling him. “You were going through one of your blinded rages.”

“Get off me,” Wrath tiredly said, pulling La-la off him. She tries to hug him again, but Wrath just holds her away. “Where’s the human?” La-la just points up.

“Shit, that’s not good,” Riki said worriedly, still hanging on the rafter. He was hoping they didn’t see him. Riki starts to hear cracking sounds, looking up to see the wood is breaking. Then, an idea hits him, “This will probably kill me.” La-la uses her magic on the remaining paper butterflies Wrath didn’t destroy, turning them into arrows. Not a moment to spare, Riki pulls on the cracking rather with all this might. Causing the entire roof to cave in.

“What!?” La-la yelled, grabbing Wrath’s leg.

“He’s crazy!” yelled Wrath.

The roof crashes down on all of them. The floor gave way, collapsing into the room beneath. This keeps happening until all the rubble crashes into the lobby.

The sunlight shines through the holes in the roof and floor, hitting Riki in the face. Slowly opens his eyes to see that he’s hanging over the first floor room. Lucky for him, the hood of his hoodie got stuck on the second floor broken floorboards. Wrath and La-la weren’t so fortunate. The two are trapped underneath all that rubble in the lobby. Riki carefully gets his hood unstuck and lowers himself to the lobby, landing hard on his back.

“Okay, not my best plan. And I think I broke my wrist,” Riki said tiredly, rolling off the rubble. His body hits something. Looking over, it’s the jar. “Jesus, what is that thing made of?” Riki gets up with the jar, then looks at the big pile of rubble. “That should hold them for a while. Time to head back to the castle. I hope everyone is okay.” Riki runs out of the lobby heading straight towards the castle.

As Riki leaves the abandoned hotel, the rubble moves a bit.

Running through the streets of Canterlot, I jump over a group of ponies. “Sorry, coming through!” I yelled. Damn, everything hurts. So hungry, so sleepy. But I don’t have time for all that, focus Riki! I think there’s a short-

“Riki! I finally found you!” exclaimed a red furry object, tackling me.

Looking at the furry object, I’m surprised to see it’s, “Pony lady?” I said, coming to a complete stop. “Look, I really don’t have the time to talk.”

“It’s Razzle Snap,” she corrected me, “I need that interview. Like need need that interview with you!”

I placed her down, “Take that up with the Princesses,” I would run off, but Razzle stepped in the way.

“I’m going to be straight with you. Since you got here, you’ve been the big story. And all the journalists have been going crazy! An interview with you can really boost a pony’s reputation.” Razzle said, rubbing her hooves together. “I heard around the workplace that the Princesses have turned down journalists the past few days. So, I was wondering….”

“Look, I’m not a big fan of journalists,” I said, walking away.

As I leave Razzle there, she starts yelling, “Riki, please, my job is on the line! My boss was about to let me go, but I managed to get another chance. He told me to get an interview with you. If I can’t, he’ll fire me!” My run slowly turns into a walk as she continues, “You wouldn’t let this mare get fired because of you, would you?” Razzle sniffled, eyes tearing up. “That’s a shame. I thought you were nicer.”

I stop in my tracks. I can hear small groups of ponies talking. “Is that thing really going to get her fired?” said a pony.

“I hope not,” said another pony.

“I don’t know, just look at it.”

“That’s a shame,”

“Is that how it kind treats mares?”

Clench my fists and start to walk back to her. I bent down and gently pulled her ear, “Listen to me, you’re not going to lose your job… You can have your interview with me later. There some bad stuff going on right now, okay?”

Razzle smiles on her face, wiping away her crocodile tears. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! This made me the happiest pony in Canterlot. You won’t regret it!”

“I hope not,” I mumbled, running off to the castle.

After getting lost for a bit, I finally reached the castle entrance. As I run up the steps, I see two familiar faces, “Oak, Angel!”

“Riki!” Oak said with surprise.

“What are you doing here?” asked Angel, “All of us were told you were captured.”

“I escaped. Now follow me!” I said, running inside the castle.

As they caught up to me on the stairs, Oak asked, “Why are we following?”

“Yeah, yeah!” said Angel, “And what’s with the jar?”

“Just listen! Oak, tell Shining to gather some guards and head to the abandoned buildings. La-la and Wrath are there. If he leaves now, there’s a chance they’ll still be there.” Oak was about to say something, but I cut him off. “I don’t have time for your horse shit. Just go!” Oak rolls his eyes and runs off to Shining.

“What do you want me to do?” asked Angel.

“Feathers and Specs, where are they?”

“The both of them are in the infirmary,”

“Good, go tell them I’m okay.”

Angel nods, flying the infirmary. She stops to ask me something, “What are you going to do?”

“Going to get ready for my rematch!” I yelled in pure determination, running straight to the throne room.

Inside the throne room, Luna has a few stacks of books next to her, reading through them to find anything on Taboo. Her progress… Nothing. Celestia keeps an eye on Liz, ensuring she doesn’t get those headaches again.

“Liz, how are you feeling?” Celestia asked.

She rubs Louie’s head, “I feel like my heart is coming out of my mouth.”

“Liz, go rest in my bedchamber,” Celestia said concernedly, “Or maybe get something to eat?”

“No, I’m staying here!” Liz said, slightly raising her voice. “I am not going anywhere until I see Riki. How would you act if you were in my position, Princess Celestia?”

Celestia looks over at Luna, sees her tossing a book out, and picks up another. “I’ll act just like you, my apologies.”

“It’s okay. You’re just worried about me. And your right, I should rest.” Liz said, running her fingers on Louie’s ear. “…I remember the day I moved in with Riki. Those first few weeks there, I wasn’t really the best sister. After Dad died and Mom… I was just at my lowest point.”

“How did Riki pull you up from your darkest day?” Luna asked, looking up from her book.

“Yes, I would like to know too,” said Celestia.

Liz gets a small smile on her face. It was annoying at first when he tried to cheer me up. Even when she yelled at him, that hardheaded fool didn't give up. Liz thought back to the day Riki dragged her out of her room to Central Park. Later that day, pushing a drunk Riki in a stolen shopping cart full of day old donuts. And it was one of the best days Liz ever had. “He took me to the park, and we had donuts, that’s all.”

“Really?” Luna asked, raising a brow.

“Yeah,”

Louie’s head and ears perk up. He lets out a few meows and jumps off Liz’s lap. Liz gets up and walks over to Louie, and picks him up. The cat does a few more meows, “Louie, what’s wrong?”

Suddenly the throne room doors get kicked open, followed by a loud, “Oooooiiiiii!”

Liz’s eyes widened as she gently dropped Louie. Riki, standing only a few feet in front of her. He’s surprised to see her here in Canterlot. Before Riki can say something, Liz tackles him to the ground. “…Riki…Riki, you’re okay. I was so worried!” Liz cried into her brother's chest. “You need to stop scaring me like this. I thought you would never come back!” Louie comes over and rubs his head on Riki’s face.

Riki is happy to see both of them. He would love to keep this going, but Taboo. Riki took in the hug for a few more seconds despite the pain. He moves Liz off him and stands up, “Liz, I’m fine. And stop crying on my hoodie, it’s already been through enough.”

“No,” Liz said, pulling him into another hug.

Riki rolls his eyes, “Anyways, where’s Twilight and the others? Is it true Taboo is fighting them?”

“What do you mean?” Liz questions, pulling away from Riki.

“When I was still captured by La-la Lu and Wrath, I was told Taboo is after the Elements.”

Celestia gets up and walks to Riki, “Wait, Taboo didn’t take you to Everfree?” Riki shook his head, “That’s not good.”

“That filthy lying rat!” Luna shouted. Her horn starts to glow. Luna is trying to find Twilight and her friends. “Buck, I can’t locate them!”

“It’s probably Taboo,” Riki chimed in, “When I first met him… His body felt weird like he was touching me without touching me. Taboo's presence probably smothering Twilights in the others.”

Celestia agrees, “Using his magic to hide his presents and the others.”

Riki was going to say something about Taboo using magic, but Liz spoke up.

“How did you escape?” wondered Liz.

“I dropped the entire roof on them, so they’re stuck there for a while. Shiny and a group of guards are heading to them, should make it there before they get out.” Riki then shows them the jar, “I also have this.” Celestial and Luna look closely at the jar. A weird pattern of creatures they have never seen before. “Taboo was imprisoned in this jar, and this fuckin’ jar is indestructible as shit.”

“Your plan is to get Taboo back in there, am I right?” asked Luna.

“You just took the words right out of my mouth,” Riki said, putting the jar under his arm.

“But Taboo isn’t just going to hop in there.” Liz pointed out, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“I know that, so I thought maybe Twilight and the others can do it.” Riki thought back to when Twilight told him about turning Discord to stone. “Celeste, is it possible The Elements of Harmony can be used to reseal Taboo back in the jar?”

Celestia took her time to think, “…It's possible,”

Riki smiles, “Good, now can I ask a favor, can you heal me? My wrist is broken, and maybe I have other broken bones. I really don’t know. I’m surprised I can still stand, hahaha!”

Celestia places her glowing horn mere inches away from Riki’s forehead. His body is slowly covered in a golden aura. Immediately, the feeling of pins and needles courses through Riki’s body. The few bruises on his body fade away, and the cuts slowly close. Soon after the golden aura leaves Riki’s body, he does a sigh of relief as the good majority of his pain goes away.

“Riki, how do you feel?” Celestia asked with a worried look, “That magic resistance of yours really limits how much I can heal. So, I focused on your major injuries.”

Riki does a few small stretches, “I feel better than before. A little stiff in shoulders and back, but I’ll live.”

“Do you need anything else?”

“Yeah, can I get a teleport back to my house?” Riki asked seriously. “You said that Taboo is in Everfree Forest, and I need to stop by my house for a few things.”

They are all caught off by what Riki said. Luna shakes her head, “Wait, you’re not going to confront Taboo, are you?”

“Riki, I advise you should stay here and rest,” Celestia said calmly but forcefully. “Let Luna and I deal with Taboo.”

“I got a score to settle with that asshole!” Liz keeps quiet as she gently grabs Riki’s wrist. Riki bows his head, “Please, let me go help Twilight and her friends! I lost against him the first time. But this time will be different, please Celestia, Luna.”

Celestia and Luna look down at Riki. They can feel the determination coming from his body. “Ricochet Phillips, do you know what you are getting into?”

“Taboo might kill you this time,” Luna added, hoping he would reconsider.

Riki looks at the Princesses with no fear, “I want to do this. I’m not running away. So, you two pretty ponies just stay here.”

Liz’s grip tightens around his wrist, “Wait,” she said, but it was too quiet to hear.

“Very well, Luna and I will do as you asked,” Celestia said as she and Luna got ready to use their magic. “Liz, will you be joining him?”

“She will,” Riki answered for her. Louie climbs up Riki’s back and lays on his shoulder, “And the cat.”

Celestia and Luna start to concentrate, they don’t want to accidentally teleport half of Riki and Liz’s bodies. Locating the house is easy since they did it before when the two of them first arrived. In a blink of an eye…POP… Riki, Liz, and Louie are gone.

...POP...

Riki, Louie, and I come crashing down in the middle of our living room. “I thought having magic resistance would be cool,” Riki huffed as I rolled off him. “Now it’s just a pain in the ass.”

“Riki, can we talk?” I asked, getting off the ground.

Riki gets up and hands me the jar. He heads to the stairs, “Sure, but I need to get ready.” Riki runs to his room, “Oi, have you seen my fighting gloves!”

“Riki, I don’t want you-”

“Never mind, I don’t need them.” Riki yelled from his room, “Have you seen my… Never mind, I found my tonfas!”

“Riki, can you please listen,”

Riki is coming down the steps. He is wearing a new set of clothes, except he still has on the beaten up hoodie. In one hand is his tonfas, and the other a backpack. Riki rushes past me into the kitchen and places everything on the dining table.

“I need water bottles and food….” Riki said to himself, digging in the cabinets and fridge kitchen. “Liz, can I take your rice cakes?”

“Riki!” I shouted, “We need to talk now!”

Riki shoves water bottles and snacks in his backpack. “Liz, we can talk-”

“I’m not going,” I said as I placed the jar on the stove. “And I don’t want you to go too.”

“What?” Riki said, giving me his full attention. “Liz, we need to go help them.”

“No, let Twilight and them handle that thing. This isn’t their first time! Riki, you’re not playing a game. This is real!” I snapped, getting in his face, “You’re not some hero from a comic book or a manga protagonist! You. Are. A. Human.”

“Taboo-”

“Why the hell do you want to fight that monster!” I can feel tears falling from my eyes, “That thing kicked your ass. That thing could have killed you, and you want to fight it again. This isn’t earth, Taboo isn’t some thug on the streets of New York!”

“Liz, I’m not- I want to do this,” Riki said, keeping his cool. “Liz, you’re supposed to have my back. I’m relying on you to help me and our friends to beat Taboo.”

I give him no time to say anything else. I need to get this off my chest. “Riki, are you a fuckin’ idiot!” I yelled at him so loud that Louie hid under the table. “I’m 16! I can’t fly like Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy. I can’t use magic like Twilight or Rarity. I’m not strong like Applejack or Pinkie Pie. And I’m definitely not like you! I’m terrified here! I want to go home! I’m not brave like you. No matter how hard I try, I will never be like you. We’re not the same!”

“I am scared. I have been scared since I got here,” Riki said, zipping up his backpack and putting it on. “People show fear in different ways, Liz.”

“If you are so scared, why are you going?”

“I’m terrified of Taboo. I’m terrified of what he can do. What if he wins? What would happen to this place, the ponies, and the other creatures here? This is their home.” Riki then gets a somber smile, “Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and the other friends I made here. I’m scared of losing them to Taboo. I don’t care if they got this or not. I’m helping them. They give us food and a place to stay. The day we arrived here, they greeted us with open arms.” Slipping his tonfas behind his back, Riki heads to the door. “They’re our friends. What will Dad think if I just didn’t help.”

“Don’t you dare bring up Dad!” I yelled, following Riki to the door, “I don’t think Dad was talking about fighting a fuckin’ demon!” I pull on Riki, trying to stop him. But he won’t stop, “Riki, don’t you go! You will die!”

“So will they,” I let go of Riki after he said that. He opens the door, “If you don’t want to come, stay here.” And like that, he runs into Everfree forest.

Liz's crying gets quieter the deeper Riki runs into the forest. It’s hard for him not to turn back, but he can’t. After a while, he realizes that he doesn’t know where to go.

Riki slowly closes his eyes. He needs to clear his mind. Too much is going on. Riki’s breathing slows down. He begins to ignore the noise around him. The sound of chirping birds, the wind blowing through the trees, and flowing water a few miles ahead. Riki keeps doing this until he hears nothing except his heartbeat. But something was off. Riki hears and feels a weak second heartbeat. He remembers this feeling, saving Razzle, fighting La-la, his dream, and meeting Taboo. Before Riki can dig any deeper, he immediately opens his eyes. A small glow of orange on his right shoulder appears and then disappears.

Taboo is...

“That way!” Riki shouted, running deeper into the woods with blazing speed. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but he doesn’t care. “Guys, just hold on a bit longer. I’m coming!”