"Are you smarter than a bunch of ponies?"
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Nobody did anything which could possibly tick off the robbers, thereby putting their life in danger.
The robbers wore non-descript clothing along with their ski masks, so aside from the knowledge that the lead one was male due to his voice, there wasn’t any way of identifying them.
While his cohorts patrolled the lines of innocent-turned-hostages he held one of the bankers at gunpoint and forced them to show him where the money was kept. The banker complied and led him into a backroom, keeping his hands up and still all the while.
Twilight waited until the nearest robber had passed by she and her friends before peeking from behind her hooves. Seeing that the coast was clear, she whispered to her friends.
“Are you girls okay?” she asked. “Keeping calm?”
“Yes,” Rarity replied, also in a hushed whisper. “Afraid for my life, but technically alright nonetheless.”
“You know, that’s something I don’t get,” Rainbow replied, also keeping her voice low. “Are we in actual danger in here? Can we actually die in this comic book?”
“Don’t be so silly, Jenny,” Pinkie giggled softly. “We took all kinds of beating back in Maretropolis, and we came out of that comic without a scratch.”
“If that’s the case then why are we cowering like a bunch of wimps?” Rainbow argued. “Why don’t we pummel these guys into next week if we aren’t in any real danger?”
Twilight couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that. Sometimes, Rainbow Dash, sometimes . . .
The lavender alicorn waited for the next robber to pass before answering her cyan friend. “Because, Jenny, we need to keep up our disguises of normal, everyday humans. Besides, even if we’re immune to injury, all these humans definitely aren’t, and as such we’ll be putting them in danger if we try to take these guys down.”
Twilight thought she heard a raspberry sound coming from underneath Rainbow’s hooves before she replied back with, “So? It’s not like they’re real, so why should we be concerned for their safety?”
Twilight found herself blanking on a response to the question. Really, Rainbow had a point. The humans of the Enchanted Comic’s world weren’t real, at least not in the traditional sense so there really wasn’t any reason to worry about them on moral grounds.
Why am I worried for their safety? Twilight thought.
The sound of footsteps brought her back to reality, and a peek from behind her hooves revealed sight of the lead robber, a giant bulging burlap sack slung over his shoulder, returning to his cohorts. The banker wasn’t with him, but since no gunshots were heard she assumed he was alright.
“Alright, we’re good to go,” he said to the other three. The other three nodded and the four of them began making way toward the entrance.
Suddenly, the sounds of at least a dozen sirens began ringing through the air, gradually getting louder with each passing second. The robbers stopped in their tracks, and instinctively backed up a few paces as red and blue lights reflected in the front door’s glass panes. Looking outside through her eye's corner, Twilight saw what she recognized as several cop cars stop in front of the building so that they effectively sealed off the road, thereby cutting off the robbers' potential escape. Immediately the officers driving them exited their vehicle and brandished their weapons, keeping them pointed at the bank’s entrance.
“Damn it,” one of the robbers said, a female judging from the voice, “now what?”
The lead robber paced for a bit, looking down while his cohorts watched and waited for orders. Twilight could see the look of panic and fear in his eyes as he let his gaze wander around the room, almost as if the answer to their predicament lay just under his nose . . .
“Hey,” he said upon noticing Twilight was staring at him, “did I say you could move, miss?”
Instinctively, Twilight shook her head and ducked behind her hooves again.
”This is the police!” boomed a masculine voice from outside, clearly using a megaphone. ”Exit the building with your hands on top of your head and no one will get hurt!”
The lead robber resumed pacing, clearly more nervous than before. All the while he paced and his cohorts followed him with their gazes the police’s sirens wailed outside the building non-stop.
“We need to do something, Twila,” Rainbow Dash muttered just loud enough for Twilight to hear.
“For the last time, Jenny,” Twilight replied, a hint of anger in her tone, “if we do anything provocative, we’ll put everyone here in danger.”
“Again, why do you care so much about these humans?” Rainbow seethed.
“Well, excuse me for having a little compassion for my creations,” Twilight seethed back.
“Well, your creations are keeping us from getting out of here.”
Twilight sighed in exasperation. “Look, just give me a moment to think.”
“Better make it fast . . .”
Twilight ignored her friend and chanced another glance from behind her hooves to observe things. She saw the lead robber still pacing around while the others looked around the building nervously, as if searching for some miracle escape route. All the other humans were still laid upon the ground with their heads down to the floor.
. . . Wait a minute.
“Jenny,” Twilight whispered to Rainbow, drawing her attention, “pass this along to Maria and Candy: we’re gonna become hostages.”
Rainbow’s mind blanked in response. “Come again?” she eventually asked, dumbly.
Twilight sighed in exasperation again. “Here’s what we’re gonna do . . .”
The chief tensed as he waited for some sign of activity within the building. Knowing there were at least a couple dozen innocents being held hostage inside was bad enough on its own, but on top of that the robbers’ bomb threat added an extra layer of uncertainty to things. Was the threat genuine, or a ruse to put everyone off guard? And if it was a real threat, what would set the robbers off enough to use it? These questions and more swam through his mind as he lifted the megaphone up to his lips again.
”Again, calmly exit the building with your hands up and no one will get hurt!” he commanded.
All the officers waited for something to happen once again, and this time they only had to wait a few moments before a couple of figures stepped up to the doorway behind the glass. The officers all took aim at the door and stood stock still, anticipating a shootout. The door opened, and the chief groaned internally at what he saw.
“Hold your fire!” he commanded his fellow officers, to which they complied with no hesitation.
The lead robber exited the building with a young girl in tow, hands tied behind her back and held out in front of him like a shield, while he had a burlap sack slung over his shoulder. He held his pistol to the girl’s head whose face was stuck in a furrowed expression, though still clearly fearful to an extent. They were soon followed by three more robbers, each one holding a subdued young girl at gunpoint.
Every officer watched with angry expressions as the four robbers sidestepped in front of the building, all while exposing as little of their bodies as possible from behind the girls, as they made way into the alley next to the bank where their black-painted getaway van was.
“Throw them in the back!” the lead robber commanded to his cohorts.
Nodding in understanding, they followed him around to the van’s back. Opening the doors, the girls were forced in at gunpoint, which they did without any hesitation whatsoever.
“You’re a bunch of brave little ladies,” the lead robber said, smirking. “Foolish all the same, but at least it’s the courageous kind of foolish.”
He then closed the doors, to which a locking sound was heard a moment later.
The four girls breathed a collective sigh of relief. “What do we do now, Twila darling?” Rarity asked, a slight hint of fear in her tone.
The sound of the four robbers entering the van up front accompanied Twilight’s answer. “Now we wait for our chance to strike back.”
The van lurched forward as it sped out of the alley, and the ponies found themselves sliding across the van’s floor when the driver made a sharp turn out onto the street, nicking the edge of the police car barricade. The van quickly accelerated to full speed and rocketed down the street, swerving every few seconds every time a car or pedestrian got in the way.
It didn't take long before the sounds of police sirens began emanating from behind the van’s back door, accompanied by the faint reflection of red and blue lights in the van’s back windows.
“Damn it, man!” the driver shouted, voice clearly that of a male, as he looked in the side view mirror. “Who could’a tipped the cops off?”
“It doesn't matter, dude,” one of the others said, whose voice indicated they were also male. “Let’s just lose ‘em and get home before we’re screwed.”
“Easier said than done,” the female robber said, looking in the other side view mirror. “They aren't letting up, and it’s only a matter of time before they've got copters on us.”
“Relax, guys,” the lead robber admonished as he clutched the bag of money to his chest. “Panicking isn't going to get us away Scot free. Just keep cool and head for the highway.”
“Right, man,” the driver replied, clutching the steering wheel firmly in his hands. “I got this.”
“I got this,” Applejack said to Fluttershy and Spike. “Y’all take a moment ta rest, ya hear?”
The two of them said nothing in response and instead laid on the platform, panting heavily in exhaustion. The farm mare walked up to the ticket counter of Ponyville Station, where the stallion in charge was doing his best not to doze off. He perked up slightly as she approached and plopped the bag of bits she was carrying down in front of him.
“Three for the next train ta Canterlot, please,” she said kindly.
The stallion nodded and procured three tickets as he took the bit bag behind the counter. “Train leaves in five minutes,” he said, slightly drowsy. “You came just in time.”
“Well, we’ve got business to take care of in Canterlot,” Applejack replied as she took the tickets. “Urgent business.”
“I don’t doubt it if you’re going so late,” he replied back with a sleepy frown as Applejack returned to her friends.
“C’mon y’all,” she said to the exhausted pegasus and dragon, giving them their tickets, “let’s get this show rolling!”
“Yay,” Fluttershy weakly cheered, while Spike just gave a thumbs up.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Rarity whined, her cheeks turning visibly green. “Now I’m thankful cars don’t exist in the real world.”
The robbers had made it out onto the nearest highway and were heading south, at least a dozen police cars following them on the ground and one helicopter in the air shining a spotlight down upon them, making the van clear as day to see despite it being nighttime.
“It’s okay, Maria,” Twilight replied in her best soothing tone of voice. “Everything will be okay.”
The alabaster unicorn turned to the princess with a solemn expression. “Are we really going to do this?” she asked.
Twilight sighed. “Yes, but only because there isn't a better way,” she replied before turning to the robbers with a resolute expression. “Alright, here we go.”
Twilight quickly untied the ropes binding them all with her magic. The four then proceeded to sneak up behind the robber quartet who were too focused on the road ahead of them to notice the four mares as they approached.
“Now,” Twilight whispered.
The four robbers had no time to react as the ponies slammed their hooves down on their heads, instantly knocking all of them out and causing them to slump forward. With the steering wheel unattended the van swerved left and right of its own accord, but thankfully that section of highway was otherwise empty for the moment.
Twilight quickly used her magic to stabilize the steering wheel while Rainbow and Pinkie began moving the unconscious bodies of the robbers out of the front seats. Rarity crawled under the seat and pressed her hoof down hard on the accelerator to keep the van moving.
“Okay, we've got control of their car,” Rainbow said as she used her hooves to hoist the female robber up and over the seat, straining a bit from how heavy she was. “Now what do we do?”
Twilight fixed her gaze on the road ahead. “Now we lose the cops,” she replied with a smirk.
“How do we do that?” Pinkie asked as she worked to bring the lead robber over the seat, which was made additionally hard by his unconscious body’s refusal to part with the money sack.
Twilight didn't answer right away and instead surveyed the land parallel to the highway as she continued using her magic to drive. Through the harsh light of the helicopter’s spotlight and the nighttime sky beyond, Twilight noticed the faint outline of trees approaching on the right side.
“Hold on tight to something, everypony!” she shouted.
Before her friends could think to ask why, Twilight swerved the van off the highway and toward the trees. With the transition from even concrete to rocky dirt came a rougher ride, and the rickety movements of the van only further nauseated Rarity.
“Unnngh,” she groaned, feeling on the verge of throwing up, but keeping her hoof against the accelerator all the same.
“Hang in there Rare!” Twilight shouted.
The helicopter stayed on the van even as it crossed the treeline while the cops on the ground pulled over and exited their cars, watching the van as it disappeared completely from view within the trees.
Twilight did her best to safely maneuver the van around all the trees, squinting hard to see them coming through the nighttime air. The trees were a double-edged sword, however, for their presence allowed the van some cover from the helicopter’s spotlight. Slowly but surely, the light faded from view as Twilight drove the van deeper into the forest until, eventually, the helicopter lost sight of them entirely.
“Okay, Rarity,” Twilight said to her friend, “you can let go now.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” the unicorn replied, breathing a sigh of relief as she lifted her hoof off the accelerator, causing the van to come to a gradual stop. “I was afraid my hoof was going to chip if I kept it pressed down any longer.”
Twilight could only roll her eyes in response.
“So,” Rainbow said as she inspected the unconscious forms of the four robbers now laying side by side in the van’s back, “now what?”
Twilight let out a breath she didn't realize she’d been holding in and replied with, “Well, now that we have a mode of transportation we can reach Warren. All we have to do is figure out what to do with them.” She gestured toward the robbers.
“Isn't it obvious?” Rainbow asked with an obvious hint of sarcasm. “We leave them outside and get away before anybody sees us.”
Twilight pursed her lips. “Well . . . I was thinking we should see to their arrest before leaving.”
Rainbow furrowed her gaze. “Why does that matter?” she asked, clearly frustrated. “They’re gonna get what they deserve one way or another, so why should we stick around to see it?”
“I agree with Rainbow,” Rarity said. “We have a mode of transportation now, and sticking around will only increase our chances of being exposed.”
“Yeah, what they said,” Pinkie said in a rarely neutral tone.
Twilight turned away from them and sheepishly scuffed her hoof across the van’s floor. “I’m just worried for their safety is all.” She looked outside the nearest window. “I mean, it’s dark and cold outside, and there could be dangerous creatures lurking around.”
Silence greeted her for a few moments, during which Twilight could feel the deadpanned stares of her friends boring through her as she continued scuffing a hoof across the floor. A loud groan broke the uncomfortable silence, and all the ponies turned to see the female robber coming to.
“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow shouted. She quickly smashed a front hoof against the woman’s head, instantly knocking her out yet again. Rainbow’s strike also had the unintended effect of making the woman roll across the floor of the van, and in doing so revealed a floor compartment which had previously escaped the ponies’ notice and was hidden underneath the robber’s body.
“Wonder what’s in there?” Pinkie queried.
“Well, let’s see,” Twilight eagerly said, happy to shift the focus of everyone’s attention away from her onto something else. She used her magic to open the compartment and peered inside, only to recoil in surprise at what she saw. “Wow, they weren't kidding.”
Confused, her friends peered into the compartment themselves, and reacted much the same way as Twilight upon seeing the white plastic explosive stashed inside.
“Goodness gracious!” Rarity exclaimed.
“Why didn't they bring that thing into the bank with them?” Rainbow asked.
“That doesn't matter,” Twilight replied. She carefully lifted the explosive out of the compartment with her magic and encased it in a magic barrier. “What does matter is that we dispose of this thing immediately.”
Rainbow and Rarity nodded in agreement. Pinkie, however, appeared to be spaced out. Rolling her eyes, Twilight was about to climb over the seats to exit through the front doors when the bubbly mare suddenly spoke up.
“The octopus is outta my head, girls!”
Confused stares were all she got in response. “I have an idea!” she clarified.
Leaves rustled and twigs snapped under their feet as the line of officers trekked across the forest floor, guns in one hand and flashlights in the other which they swiped across the trees in search of the fugitive’s van. The sight of several bent saplings indicated they were heading in the right direction, and the officers kept their guard up in case a shootout suddenly occurred.
The chief was the only one without a flashlight, and in its place he held his radio to keep in contact with the helicopter above.
He brought it up to his mouth. “Do you still have a visual on the fugitives?” he asked the pilot. “Over.”
”Negative, sir,” the pilot replied. ”Too much tree cover. Over.”
The chief sighed in exasperation, and was about to reply when a loud explosion ripped through the air, startling him into dropping the radio while the other officers fixed their attention in the direction the sound came from.
The pilot's muffled voice came from the speaker-down radio as the chief reached for it. He brought it to his mouth and asked, “Could you repeat that? Over.”
”I just saw an explosion about fifty meters ahead of your current position,” the pilot replied. ”I don’t see anybody down there, though, I can’t imagine it’s anyone other than the fugitives. Over.”
“Copy that, we’ll check it out,” the chief replied back. “Over and out.” He turned to everyone around him. “Alright, move forward and keep your eyes peeled!”
His fellow officers all nodded and the line began hurrying forward toward the explosion. As to what the explosion could’ve been, most of everybody guessed the robbers had set off their bomb, though they were puzzled as to why they’d set it off in the middle of a forest. The thought on the forefront of their minds, however, was whether or not the hostages were safe.
Stepping over a fallen tree, the chief noticed something up ahead and shouted, “Halt!”
Everyone did so, keeping their eyes focused ahead and guns drawn. The chief exchanged the radio for his own flashlight and turned it on, shining it upon what he saw only for everyone, himself included, to stare blankly at what they saw.
Bound to a tree with rope, their ski masks removed, were the unconscious bodies of the robbers, one of them holding a burlap sack in his arms like it was a baby. Looking closer, the officers saw that their faces were doodled on with a black marker, giving them a rather comical appearance. Shining his light downwards a bit, the lead officer noticed a charred patch of ground a little ways in front of the robbers, presumably where their bomb had gone off. And yet, despite being so close to the blast, none of the robbers showed any signs of injury.
All the officers found themselves at a loss for words as to the absurdity of the scene before them, but while none of them could speak verbally their minds were abuzz with the same question
What in God’s name happened here?
Back at the highway, the nighttime air perfectly masked the van from the sight of passing motorists as it emerged from the forest at a farther point up the road from where it entered. Flashing red and blue lights, as well as the helicopter, could be seen in the distance behind it, oblivious to the van’s current location.
Taking great care to avoid being spotted, it slowly crept across the bumpy ground and came to a stop on the road’s shoulder when no other cars were passing. The ponies inside breathed a collective sigh of relief when Twilight put on the brake.
“Glad that’s over,” Rainbow said. She turned to Pinkie. “Great idea by the way, Pinkie.”
“I wholeheartedly concur,” Rarity added. “Using the bomb to lure the cops toward those ruffians was nothing short of brilliance.”
“Aw, thanks girls,” Pinkie replied with a grin, “but it wouldn't have worked if Twilight didn't protect them from getting blasted with that timed barrier spell.”
The three of them turned as one to said alicorn, who sat on her haunches behind the front seat with her back to them.
“Yeah, sure thing,” she said dryly, rustling her wings a little bit in agitation.
“What’s wrong now, Twilight?” Rainbow asked exasperatedly. “We got them arrested, didn't we?”
“We didn't have to defame their faces with marker,” Twilight ground out, finally turning to face them, specifically Pinkie. “Where did you even get that thing anyway, Pinkie?”
“What, this?” Pinkie replied, pulling out a black marker from her mane. “I had it with me when we came into the comic.” She leaned forward and whispered, “For marker emergencies.”
“I don’t care why you have it!” Twilight practically screamed, causing her friends to reflexively step back. “And even so, defaming people’s faces isn't an emergency in any way, shape, or form.”
“Aw, lighten up, Twi,” Rainbow replied condescendingly. “Why does it matter if we’re doing it to the bad guys? They definitely deserve it.”
“It’s the principle that matters!”
Her friends watched her with apprehension as Twilight began panting heavily in agitation after her outburst, a mean look in her eyes and mouth in a scowl. Seeing their friend all worked up over what amounted to nothing was nothing new for Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow, but there was something different about her behavior this time around. Rather than merely being frustrated, to them it really seemed as if Twilight was genuinely angry at them, and it made them slightly fearful of the alicorn princess.
Eventually, Twilight regained her composure and continued with, “Okay, here’s a new rule: unless I give you explicit permission to do so, there’s to be no interaction with any humans whatsoever. Am I clear?”
Her friends all nodded slowly in response.
“Good.” Twilight lit up her horn and cast a camouflaging enchantment on the van so that people would see it as green instead of black. “Let’s get a move on. Rarity, if you’d please?”
“Actually, Twilight dear,” the fashionista replied with a wry smile, “I’d prefer not to have my hooves chipped. So, how about if somepony else takes on accelerating duties in my stead?”
Twilight shrugged. “Fine by me.” She turned toward Pinkie and Rainbow. “So . . .”
“I’ll do it!” Pinkie exclaimed, and rushed under the seat.
Rarity and Rainbow made themselves comfortable in the back while Twilight re-engaged the steering wheel with her magic and released the brake with a hoof.
“Alright,” she said with a smile, “hit it, Pinkie!”
Pinkie applied pressure to the accelerator, to which the van quickly sped up. Twilight glanced in the side-view mirror and, seeing no incoming cars, steered into the rightmost lane.
“Cary, here we come!” Twilight shouted happily.
“Road trip!” Rainbow and Pinkie exclaimed in unison.
“Goodie,” Rarity groaned sarcastically.
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I think they might have underestimate human technology...
They think their immune to damage, I hope they get seriously injured, that would give them little taste of reality.
She stopped plastic explosives....you have earned a dislike.
4473308 So, she should've just let the robbers die then?
4473365 No, maybe she should've thrown the explosives away instead of you making her overpowered.
4473608 How is having her protect a few humans from one explosion making her OP? If anything, it's just following what she's shown to be capable of doing in the show. Be thankful I'm not having her go all super kaiju on anyone or something to that effect.
4473965 Go look up C4. Try to tell me she's not overpowered after seeing the explosive force it gives out.
4475402 Okay then, I'll make sure she lets the humans die from now on.
4475801 She could of thrown the explosives somewhere AWAY from the criminals.....
4476083 Yes, and had she known the cops were moving in a horizontal line through the forest she would have, but she didn't know that.
4476116 Alright. I guess I can't convince you otherwise.
does anybody get this image from Pinkie drawing on faces with a marker?
i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn86/earwig_12/polkamanz/Jigglypuff_Marker.png
4342628 I read the comments and dude: you did your best, that's what counts, raz.
if i was there i be like All payday 2 style