//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Return of the Temper // Story: Ponies Meet New York // by Caddy Finz //------------------------------// "What, you's gonna tell me yah didn't see dat?!" The unfortunate cab driver said as he argued with the cop on the side of the road. We seemed to be in the clear. I was set back on the ground before any more motorists could spot us and most importantly, we remained undetected by an authority figure who had the means and ability to harm us. As I peeked through the foliage on the opposite side of the highway we came from, I became more relieved while I watched the conversation unfold. We had escaped by the skin on our asses if you ask me. "Look buddy, all I know and give a shit about right now is that you slammed inta da back of my cruiser!" The cop retorted. "And what the hell are yah even talkin' about? See what?" "There was a bunch of flyin' freakin' horses!" The cab driver answered, followed by a long pause from the irritated officer. "Flyin' horses eh? Arlight, lemme ask yah this, mac...whatcha been smokin'?" "What?! Nuttin'!" "Your mouth says nuttin' but your eyes are lookin' kinda glazed, toughguy." "Hey flat foot, why don't yah get your mind off doughnuts for a second and earn my friggin' tax dollars!" "Dat's it, prick, you're goin' down!" Yup, this is New York alright! Don't get me wrong, it's not typical for an average citizen to pick a fight with one of New York's finest but I digress. As much as I'd love to grab some popcorn and watch these two morons duke it out, we've got shit to do and places to go. What we don't have is time to waste. "Follow me everypony!" I ordered. "We're heading to Central Park! Let's move on out!" It wasn't like me to act like a drill sergeant but bit also wasn't like every day normality to get tossed into one of the biggest, toughest cities in the world in the form of a mint colored equine. Sure, ponies exist in this world but not ones with wings, horns and colors other than tan or brown or other boring ones like that. Even with normal colors, it was unusual to see unleashed animals walking down a busy city street. If we weren't careful, we were gonna draw a lot of attention that we didn't want. Hell, even if we are careful, I don't see much of a way to avoid it. This is gonna suck. "So what do we do now?" Rainbow Dash asked as we trotted towards a less busy side street. "I kinda wanted to see which one of those guys was gonna win." "The guy wearing blue." I replied. "Always." "Ehh, I dunno, Vinnie. That guy with the yellow car looked a little bit bigge-" Pow! Pow! "Alright! Alright, you win! I give up, officer!" The voice of the cab driver could be heard in the distance after two gun shots. "You were saying?" I said smugly to Rainbow Dash. "Okay, I'm just gonna quit acting like I know everything about some place I've never been to before." "Oh please do, Rainbow." Rarity pleaded as she rubbed her temples. "Twilight and I are still in a lot of pain from what happened. That portal seems to have interfered with our horns." "I'm starting to understand why they never had a princess participate in the water transport before." Said Twilight. "I should have seen that coming." "Hey, don't beat yourself up over it, Sparks." I reassured my discouraged friend. "Nopony could have predicted that. Shit happens." "Thanks, Vinnie. I gotta say though, it's been a while since you swore this frequently. I think it's safe to assume that your're stressed out?" "Heheheh. You have no idea, kid." Our journey had begun. We were now on our way to our destination which was in Manhattan. Now that we were off Bruckner Boulevard, we would head west. As we trotted further, I paused for a moment when we reached the Intersection of Aldus Street and Hoe Avenue just to get a good look at the place I once called home. As an adult I lived in Manhattan but as a kid, I lived with my Ma here in The Bronx. I knew this area all too well but still, there was something different bout it. It's hard to describe, really. "What a shithole!" I said as I looked around the city. "I don't remember there being so many cars propped up on cinder blocks! This used to be a nice neighborhood!" "It's certainly much different from what you told us about it, dear." Rarity said as she looked with a grimace at the filthy streets. "Don't they have laws against littering here?" "Yeah but it looks like the cops have bigger things to worry about lately. Check out what's happening over there." I then pointed my hoof to a spot across the street where some shady shit was going down. The girls watched in shock as we saw a street hoodlum bust a car window open, grab what looked like a nice gps unit and take off. The punk was clearly a professional as it was less than three seconds from the time he smashed the window to the time he was out of sight. "Vincenzo, darling?" Rarity said. "Does that happen often?" "Not in this part of town." I replied. "At least it didn't used to. C'mon, let's keep moving. The longer we stand still, the more people are gonna start wondering why there's a bunch of ponies loose in the streets. Animal control is really strict here." We resumed our trot down the street at a swift but reasonable pace. If I was nervous before, now I was about to lose my mind. We must have been seen buy hundreds of people we passed by at this point and it was only a matter of time before one or more of them would be somebody we really didn't want seeing us. It would be sooner than we thought that the inevitable would happen and we would find ourselves in some deep shit. "I don't care if there are bigger problems, just get an officer here." Said a middle aged woman parked in a minivan at the curb talking on her cell phone. "Don't make me have you put your supervisor on. I won't hesitate to make a complaint about you personally. These horses are on Westchester Avenue and they look mutated or something." "Oh shit, soccer moms!" I said as I quickened my pace. "Girls, we gotta move! Now! C'mon, let's go-" "Who're you callin' mutated?!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she hovered up at eye level with the woman as she frantically rolled her window up. "Hey! I'm talkin' to you!" I love Rainbow like close family but she reminded me a lot of my self and the way I was back in my younger days. I often found my hot temper getting me into trouble and just when I thought my heart couldn't sink any lower, she did the unthinkable. "You'd better..." Smash! "Watch how you're..." Slam! "Talking about..." Thump! "Me and my friends!" Pffsssss! Rainbow made quick work of the minivan that the busybody with nothing better to do was sitting in. It all just happened so fast and in ten seconds flat, the vehicle was covered in dents, busted glass and a couple of shredded tires for good measure. As much as I would have loved to be able to knock someone down a peg, it was anything but a rational decision on Cloud's part. If we were in trouble before, we were royally screwed now. My Girl Dashie isn't dumb by any means but being half my age and being a lot like I was back then, she's bound to let her inexperience get the best of her. Being the eldest in the group, it's up to me to keep track of her and the rest of the girls. However, I can't do this all on my own. At fifty years old, all the life experience I have still couldn't prepare me for the shit storm we were about to endure. At this point, I'm about to have a nervous breakdown and I needed help. "Rainbow Dash! Get over here let's book it!" Twilight shouted, taking charge as she noticed my oncoming anxiety attack. "C'mon Vinnie, lead the way and we can find somewhere to hide!" Just what I need. A co-leader to step up when things get rough. Here I was still processing the mere fact that we were tossed back into the biggest toughest city in America and here comes my buddy sparks to snap me out of my shock. I swear, that kid was born to lead. Rainbow soon re-joined the group and after I came back to my senses and we were galloping further down Westchester Avenue as fast as our legs could carry us. We needed to find a place to hide and quickly. We screeched to a halt in front of a dark alley way and it was either this one or nothing. It was then when a worthy adversary in the form of an NYPD cruiser came careening towards us that would end up expediting our decision. It's time to get the hell outta here. "Ruuun!" I screamed, as I bolted down the ally, the girls following suit. "Find a spot to lie low! If we get cornered, then fight back! There's no other way!" We all galloped down the alley into the dark in desperate search of something to use as cover. Be it a manhole, a bunch of trashcans or even a dumpster, we needed something. The alley ended up being a dead end and the dumpster full of smelly garbage that sat before us was starting to look like our only hope as the flash from the cops' flashlights and the sound of their shoes tapping against the ground was getting closer. Wasting no time, myself along with Twilight, Rarity and Applejack jumped into the dumpster and closed the lid while Pinkie and Rainbow Dash each took a garbage can of their own. That only left was... "The yellow one!" One of the cops yelled. "There it is!" Fluttershy couldn't find a hiding spot in time and was quickly spotted by the two men chasing us. Like a deer in headlights, Fluttershy could do nothing but stand there in the corner and await what was to come next. We may not have much of a choice but to fight them and outnumbering them two to seven, we would at least have somewhat of an advantage...but they had guns. That's going to be a problem. One of the officers was a tall, lanky guy with glasses who looked to be in his late twenties and the other was a somewhat shorter, slightly heavier guy around his mid thirties with a goatee. They both had their lights pointed directly at Fluttershy's face as they stood about fifteen feet away, their pistols un-holstered as well. "Put it away, Ed." The more experienced officer said as he holstered his own weapon. "We don't need to kill it, there's no reason for that." Well, that was a relief to hear. "Alright, Glen." The rookie replied. "So what're we gonna do?" "I'll wait here while you go get the the car so we don't gotta carry it all the way back. I'll try to knock it out. Now get to it!" "I'm on it." The younger officer then turned around to retrieve their vehicle as we watched Fluttershy become all the more petrified. She lie on the ground trembling with her forelegs covering her head. It was when the cop pulled his taser off his belt that I really started to get scared for her. "She's got a weak heart!" Rainbow whispered over to me. "She can't get zapped by that thing! It'll kill her!" The officer then knelt down and placed his hand on the back of Fluttershy's neck as his handheld electric chair crackled away. Our cover is worth blowing if it saves one of our lives. This guy needed to be dealt with no matter any other cost. "This ends here and now." Rainbow Dash muttered as she prepared to jump out of her hiding place. "And I'm the one who's going to end it." I replied as I beat her to it and quietly trotted up behind the guy. My Flutterbaby is a delicate one and a police stun gun would surely stop her heart. I'm sure as hell not letting that happen. Just as the device was about to come in contact with her coat, I gently tapped the cop on the shoulder. "Hey tough guy!" The officer then switched off his device and turned around to face me. The look on his face was a mixture of confusion and horror that topped any expression I have ever seen before. To be completely honest, the way I was feeling, I loved every second of it. Too bad I had to wipe it right off his face. "Mettere le mani cazzo di dosso!" I yelled in my old language before I bashed my hoof over Officer Glen's face. I didn't even think about it. It just happened. He was about to do serious harm to a delicate mare I had always been so protective over and I just hit him. I never had any kids or foals but over time I had developed somewhat of a fatherly instinct when it came to the safety of these girls. "Fluttershy! Let's go!" Twilight shouted as she and the rest of the girls jumped out of their trash cans. "C'mon, we gotta find another place to lay low!" The downed cop was lying on his stomach as he watched each and every one of us gallop out of the alley with his eye that my hoof didn't pound. His nose was bloody and obviously broken but it had to be done. I once made a pledge to renounce violence and live by the rules of peace and amnesty but in a situation like this, I say screw those rules. Just as I bolted away, I turned around to give him my last two bits before I took off, our eyes locked onto each other's. "By the way. That's Italian for 'get your fuckin' hands off her'!"