“Are you down and out? Looking for a purpose? Just need some fast bits to help make ends meet this month?”
The rain came down in soft sheets, perfectly and precisely controlled by the expert pegasus weather teams. The voice came from a techomagical ad board near a monorail stop. It was the year 1035 of Celestia’s Calendar, 35 years from the anniversary of the return of Her High Princess Luna, Warden of The Night from the grip of the Nightmare by the Elements of Harmony.
“Come by Sparkle Labs! Sign up for a long term or short term contract as a test subject. Short term subjects are paid well depending on test, and our long term test employees get plenty of help: Plenty of allowance a week to cover any extra food or medical needs as well as general entertainment! We also offer food services and well equipped rooms for those who need somewhere to stay while in our employ!”
Since Luna’s return, the Elements accomplished many things, most notable was that of Personal Student to The Diarchs, Arch Magus of Equestria, and Element of Magic. Her study of magic as well as its application expanded into Arcanotech. Currently one of the leading minds, her influence helped the small town of Ponyville turn into the city ofPonyville, the leading young city for Arcanotech and Technomagical research and application. Thankfully, Ponyville kept most of its sleepy town charm, never turning dingy as the town slowly grew, the architecture built as needed, and always well planned thanks to the local jokingly titled Master of Organization.
“Come down to Sparkle Labs to sign up today, and help us move Equstria ever forward to the future, as guided by our founder, Twilight Sparkle, and the needs of the Equestrian races!”
The ad played on a nearby sign board as the stallion sighed, walking past it. Another ad for a local orange farm played as he stalked down the raining Ponyville City streets. Garnet Brave trudged along the street with no obvious destination in mind. A blankflank edging on full adulthood, he was on the edge of giving up on ever finding his talent. Staring up at another ad for Sparkle Labs, he considered what had brought him to this point of such self loathing. Born to the Brave line, his family was mainly made up of guardsponies and officers of the law. His brother, Gasper, showed talent early on for cuffing, coming up with his own 'hoof cuff fu' to best capture faster ponies.
Garnet, on the other hand, had tried everything he could involving police work...or even general guarding. He found himself unable to do most police work, often falling asleep while standing guard. He knew his family wasn't disappointed, but it still hurt all the same. Garnet believed in the system his family worked for, but couldn't find his place in it. Which brought him here, the day after his eighteenth birthday. He had told his family he would be going out for a while, but Garnet didn't know where he wanted to go. The depressed earth pony soon found himself looking straight at Sparkle Labs. 'You know what...why not? Maybe during one of those tests they seem so fond of they'll figure out what my purpose is,' he thought as he walked through the double doors, shaking himself of lightly on the welcoming mat.
The welcome room was well lit, with a few comfy looking couches spread over it. A unicorn mare sitting at the desk, currently doing some filing it looked like. The room itself was a calming mixture of blue and purple shades, the couches white in as a nice compliment and contrast to the darker tones on the walls. Stepping up to the counter, he raised his hoof to ring the bell, when the mare turned on him suddenly, smiling widely. It wasn't a plastered on smile either, full of life and happiness, and none of it medicated. “Welcome to Sparkle Laboratories! My name is Gem Light, and I'm the lead hostess and general nurse of our location!!” she said, her tone bouncy the whole time. “What might I be able to do for you on this rainy day?” she asked, looking about rapidly, as if to make sure all of her forms were in the right places.
Garnet looked up with a bit of a sigh. “I was looking for something to give me purpose. You have any experiments in that?” he asked with a tinge of sarcasm. The hostess frowned a little, looking a little lost in thought. He turned away. “I thought so,” he murmured, looking more downcast then he already was. Gem perked up a little, a smile returning to her face.
“I think I have just the thing. Let me make a call...I might have a group that needs someone who's still...looking for their way,” she said, picking up a magi-phone and dialing. The dejected-looking earth pony moved over to a couch to lay down. His day long wandering finally caught up to him as he nodded off to Gem's soft talking, not really catching what was going on. The only thing he really heard was, “I think we found a perfect subject for it, Professor Sparkle!”
Garnet started awake, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. He was still in the waiting room, but it was dark now. 'How long was I asleep?' he asked himself, stretching out. That was when he heard it again; the thing that woke him up. A scream deeper into the building. Bolting up, he dashed for the door, noticing how it was torn from its hinges. His mind seemed to stop, his body following as Garnet realized how large and powerful such a creature could be. It was then that his heart kicked in, screaming about how it didn't matter: A Brave was a pony of protection and honor, and there was no way he could let a helpless pony be assaulted by a monster! Dashing forward, despite what his mind told him, that it was foolish, that he should go get real help, Garnet sped towards the newest scream. 'That sounded like Gem Light!' he thought hurriedly. Sliding into a turn and galloping faster, he finally saw what was happening.
The poor unicorn was trapped in a corner, a small swarm of what looked to be...mutated diamond dogs surrounding her. Gritting his teeth, he galloped at the nearest one, trying to knock it away so she could have an opening. The dog grunted, but didn't move far, turning to fling Garnet against a wall. Hitting with a sharp crack, he slid to the floor with a groan. Garnet struggled back up to his feet while Gem watched, the dogs moving to their new, now wounded target. Looking around, she saw what she was looking for: what looked like a hoof bracelet and a large belt buckle of some kind. The earth pony was finally back on his feet when he heard “Catch!”
Looking up, he saw the bracelet and the buckle fly towards him. Jumping up, he caught them, the bracelet practically slipping itself on in mid-flight as he tumbled to the floor on the other side of the diamond dog-like creatures. Blinking a little, he looked at Gem. “W..what do I do?” he half mumbled, holding the buckle in his mouth. The mare sighed loudly, grabbing the larger metal piece from him and pushing it against his stomach quickly, the buckle shooting a snug belt around his waist.
“DesDriver, registered assistant Gem Light giving temporary usage permissions to current wearer....er...” she looked up, flushing a little, even while the buckle gave a nice-sounding 'ping'. “I never got your name...” she said, facehoofing. “Ah well, I'll get it after. DesDriver should be fine to go for now. Just say the phrase 'Henshin', swipe the band over the front of it, and the DesDriver will give you the power to stop these monsters!” Garnet gave her a weird look, shrugging.
“Whatever you say,” he said, rearing up on his hindlegs, deciding to be silly and striking a pose, banded hoof over his head. “HENSHIN!” he cried, bringing his hoof down across the buckle. The band glowing as the belt started to glow as well.
“DesDriver Online,” the belt stated calmly. A ring of energy expanded from around it, enveloping the stallion and lifting him up slightly. He could feel power pulse through him, electrifying his senses and coat. The monsters were pushed away as space seemed to distort around him, his forelegs stretching out to the sides, his rear legs spreading a little. Around him, a suit flashed. Once, twice, three times. It soon covered his body snugly, as boots flashed as well, fitting around his hooves. Soon after, shoulder pads and a chest guard flashed on, as well as a helmet, shielding his head and face from sight. A visor dropped down in front of the large lenses, but did not block his sight. Outside, the eyes of the armor pulsed, light shooting out through the visor as he dropped back to the ground.
Looking down, he could see the armor plates that had formed were mostly a dull silver, while his suit was a dark forest green. He could see small bits of information on the visor over his eyes, small things like speed, identification markers for friends and foes, but nothing too complex. He saw the diamond dog mutants outlined in red, while Gem was in green. “Well, that's helpful,” he murmured, running at the creatures in front of him. The first unlucky one caught a foreleg to the face, toppling him over. The others came at him, the stallion ducking and weaving, a lucky strike causing him to wobble and stagger back.
Backing up some more to regain what little balance he normally had on two legs, Garnet pushed forward again, flipping to his forehooves to deliver a resounding buck to one foe, the monster staggering back and falling over, lighting on fire and turning to ash. The last three redoubled their attack, causing the hero to back off farther. 'I need a shield. There's no way I can take on these odds much longer without one,' he thought, looking at his driver. 'Might as well try it.' he thought, swiping the band again. “Knight's Guard!” he cried out on a whim, the command practically coming to mind, as if from the device itself...or maybe the magic running it, moving to throw his left foreleg forward to meet a triple attack by the creatures. The Driver flashed, an energy shield matching a style typically used by the royal guard stretching out from his wrist, catching the three attacks. He felt himself being pushed down and back from the weight of the attack. the Driver pushing strength into his legs to launch them back.
The diamond dogs hit the far wall, staggered and dazed. Garnet could feel the power continuing to pour into his legs. Looking at the dazed enemies, he swiped the band again, launching himself high into the air. “Destrider's...” he started, his leg and hoof starting to glow with energy, pinpointing in his horseshoe, “LANCER!” he finished yelling. His body started to spin rapidly, the energy starting to form a cone around his hoof before he was launched by the power at the enemies. The point of the 'lance' caught the middle enemy dead center on the chest, the sides of the cone clipped the other two hard enough to launch them to the sides as he drilled into the main one. The mutant exploded, the pony sliding as he landed, the last two turning to ash due to the explosion. Standing up, he looks over at Gem, the suit glowing brightly before shattering gently, turning to magic as he dropped back to all fours.
Gem smiled, clapping her hooves together. “Brilliant! That was great! I have to assume you had at LEAST a ninety percent sync rate!” she declared, bouncing up and down happily. “I'm so glad I suggested you to Dr. Sparkle for the DesDriver Program!” she said, giggling lightly. Stopping for a second, she looked back at him. “Oh! About your name...” she mentioned, blushing a little.
He smiled back a little. “It's Garnet. Garnet Brave.” he told her, taking a seat on the floor, catching his breath. “That was a rush, Gem....what IS that thing?” he asked, pointing a hoof at the belt on his hips. It was currently turned off, looking almost like a normal belt and buckle. She smiled, taking a seat with him.
“Well, Mister Brave, that is, as I told you, the DesDriver unit. It was created to help defend again...well...” she said, motioning to the ash piles on the ground. “We weren't expecting them to attack as they did. I'll be honest when I say you were in the best place at the best time tonight. I think it would have turned out badly otherwise,” she told him, smiling again. “Garnet, I'd like you to participate in our DesDriver Program, as our...test driver, or pilot as it were. The pay isn't bad, and we've been looking for one for quite a while.”
He nodded, looking thoughtful. This was clearly his chance, he thought. He clearly did well in the fight, and from what it sounded like from that little burst of excitement from the aide, he matched what they needed quite well. “I think I will, if only for a bit. At worst, you all put me on a different project after all,” he said, smiling again. “Sign me up, then. I do hope this works out for everyone,” he notes, getting up and following her back to the front desk. “Things are definitely looking up either way.”
Author's Note
I'd like to thank in advance thedarkprep for volunteering to preread this with no idea of what Kamen Rider is, and for Lysander from #CanterlotCentral IRC for editing.
We start my first foray into pony based fanfiction with something I've been thinking up for a while. I do hope everyone enjoys the ride, and I hope that I can get this one to the finish.
