”Mglrp?” Ditzy asked the pavement.
Wait, pavement? Where did the pavement come from? Weren’t they just sitting in Twilight’s castle? She opened her eyes and looked around.
Skyscrapers, indigo sky, and a small herd of ponies had amassed across the street. Most of them looked worried, a few even dragged their foals away. Others looked at her and her friends suspiciously or angrily, but none dared to come any closer.
”Uuh… w-what was that?” Filthy’s voice came from behind her. She heard him stagger up to his hooves. ”And whoever was responsible for that landing did a poor job.”
”Don’t look at Trixie! She never liked this plan in the first place,” Trixie’s cutting reply followed in short order.
Ditzy looked over her shoulder, and immediately took a few steps back. Were they really Trixie and Filthy? She knew those outfits well, but to see them for real like this…
”Well, now that this is established, Trixie demands to know where her hat is,” Trixie glared at Filthy and Ditzy, as if they had stolen and hid it. ”That great and powerful hat is very important to me. Now hoof it back, wherever you put it!”
”But… why me?” Ditzy peeped, ignoring Trixie’s demand. Now that she had, to some degree, caught up with the situation her melancholy returned. Why had Flim or Flam, whichever of them it was, done that? Had he really switched places with her? How could he do that? The brothers were the best thieves in The Circus, and she was the worst. This must increase the risk of failure with… infinity percent, at least.
”I have not seen your hat,” Filthy bit off Trixie impatiently. ”It must have become part of your new outfit somehow.”
Trixie gave Filthy a suspicious glare, but stopped arguing. Instead, she looked over her new costume. ”Hmm, Trixie might consider this ensemble adequate enough. Now, Ditzy, the Great and Powerful Trixie wants an explanation.”
Ditzy looked up at her friends. They both looked back at her in turn. ”What?” she asked with a small voice.
”Well, certainly you know this world better than Trixie and I combined,” Filthy pointed out matter-of-factly. ”Last time I read these comics I was a teenager, and I don’t know all these new characters.”
”Well… I know who we are, I guess?” Ditzy admitted tentatively.
”Trixie also hopes you might know where we are going. Else she dare say we are lost,” Trixie chimed in, catching up on why Flim had sent Ditzy here. Now that she thought more carefully about it, she realized that Flim basically had avoided a catastrophe. Without Ditzy, they would not have a clue about where to go or what to do. Ditzy had written the comic, she knew it better than any other. Besides, she needed a confidence boost. This was the perfect opportunity for that.
”The Maretropolis Museum,” Ditzy answered, a little clearer. ”We are going to the museum.”
”Well then,” Trixie said confidently. ”Since you obviously know this place the best, Trixie thinks maybe you could be the one who leads the way to this… museum.”
”What!? NO!” Ditzy screamed, horrified. ”I’m not a leader, I don’t know the first thing to do, I will muck it up again, I know it!”
”I dare say, you still know more than Trixie and me,” Filthy said. ”And you don’t think we would leave everything to you, do you? We are still here to help.”
”But… but…” Ditzy looked pleadingly between Filthy and Trixie.
”Look, Ditzy,” Trixie said impatiently. ”You are the only one here who knows what we might be up against and why we are wearing these costumes. Kindly tell us that, at least.”
”It is natural that you take command this time,” Filthy said, considerably more compassionate than Trixie. ”This is important. Do you think Flim and Flam would have sent you here if they thought you were not the best pony for the job?”
”N-no.” Ditzy answered. She was sure of that; they both wanted this to succeed just as much as she did. But then that must also mean that they thought she was the pony for the job. A small smile broke out in Ditzy’s face. Maybe she actually could be a leader this time. Maybe she could do this, With a little help. ”Thanks everypony. Thank you all…”
”Anytime,” Filthy answered, evidently relieved that Ditzy’s doubts were gone for now. ”Now then, mind telling us who we are? Are we some characters in this world, or what?”
”Mmmhm,” Ditzy said with an energetic nod. ”We have become characters in the comic. The villains, actually.”
”Good, everypony knows the villains are always the most interesting,” Trixie said with a coy voice. ”So, who is Trixie? What can she do? Shoot lasers from her eyes, unravel time and space? Do a quadruple backflip?”
Ditzy looked at Trixie, and recognized her favorite villain’s iconic clothing. Her outfit was a red and black jester costume with extra flaps of fabric between the legs, similar to a wingsuit. Pockets and the signs of diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades adorned the suit, with each pocket covered by a red or black motley patch with a small bell at the tip. To complete her look, she wore a matching hat with bells at each tip and a red and black mask to hide her identity. The suit jingled happily when Trixie moved.
”You are Four-Leaf Clover. Criminal genius and gambler,” Ditzy explained happily. ”No superpowers, but you use a lot of gambling equipment as weapons. Playing cards, dices, ratatouille, that sort of thing.”
Trixie and Filthy looked at her with uncomprehending glances.
”Perhaps you mean Roulette?” Filthy suggested.
”Yes, that!” Ditzy confirmed, giddy as ever. ”A spinning table with a ball. Ratatouille!”
”Roulette,” Filthy corrected.
”Ratatouille,” Ditzy corrected him.
”Whatever,” Trixie grumbled indignantly. ”How come the Great and Powerful Trixie does not get any superpowers?”
”A godlike being would make this a boring comic,” Filthy answered quickly, to some degree appeasing Trixie.
”Oh, but you are much more powerful than she now,” Ditzy said happily, earning her one Trixie’s trademarked death-glares.
”Well, Trixie will believe that when she sees it,” Trixie said coldly and put her chin in the air with a huff.
”Okay… so what can we do then?” Filthy asked with a wary look at his unicorn companion. He did not think it was healthy to be more powerful than her. ”Based on my clothing doesn’t seem like much.” Filthy wore a dark blue cape. Aside from that, only his usual tie and a neutral, black mask.
Ditzy giggled happily. ”You are Neighvar Kreuger now, Captain of Cash, the Capital King and Monetary Monarch. You are so rich that everything involving money obeys your every command. And you have so much money it never run out, ever!”
”Captain of Cash, huh? I think I like that title,” Filthy said smugly, ignoring Trixie’s humph. ”Let’s try it out.” He closed his eyes, and a host of gleaming bits appeared from underneath his cape. The golden cloud swept in under his hooves, lifted him from the ground and up into the sky. He reached out a hoof in front of him and a stream of bits shot from it before his odd surfboard went in a loop and brought Filthy down on the street again. ”Huh, this reminds me of that odd dream… I like it.”
Ditzy looked into a window at the side of the street. Her mirror image was not very clear, but she knew her character well. She wore a skintight black bodysuit with two triangular ears on top. Her mane, tail and wings were completely hidden inside the bodysuit, leaving only a long slim tail in place. She got her last piece of evidence when she looked down at her hooves and spotted the retractable, razor-sharp claws. All in all, she looked like a large cat, aside from her veering eyes. ”I am the pony who prowls in the night. The one who crosses your street and heralds a future of dropped muffins. I. Am. Catmare, bringer of bad luck!”
At the end of her statement, a flowerpot fell down from a nearby building and hit a passerby in the head.
The three ponies were silent for a moment. ”Well, it is evident that Trixie still is the greatest one here,” Trixie remarked defiantly. ”Come on. Let’s get that orb and leave this one-horse town.” Trixie decisively began to march down the street.
”That’s not the right way!” Ditzy called after her.
Trixie spun around quickly. ”Trixie knows that!” she growled. ”She just wanted to see if you did too!”
”We know,” Filthy said soothingly. ”Ditzy, can you take us there? Trixie’s brilliant mind needs its rest.”
”Yay!” Ditzy practically beamed and took of. This time she was the leader. They followed her. For the first time in her life, her friends truly trusted her to lead the entire operation. They didn’t care that she had caused this mess. ”I won’t let you down. I promise, I won’t botch this up,” she thought as they raced through the streets, towards Maretropolis museum.
*****
”I’m bored,” Twilight stated flatly. ”This has got to be the most boring comic ever written.”
”NJAAAH!” Rainbow Dash screamed indigently and flew up a few ponylengths in the air. ”Where is the Neighvar guy?! I need to do something!”
”But we are doing something,” Pinkie reminded, happy as ever. ”We are waiting. Isn’t waiting fun? Then you have plenty of time to think about what you are waiting for. Like, maybe I’m waiting for a super-tasty cupcake. Which flavor did I order? Which color will the frosting be? Was it baked with vanilla sugar, or maybe-” Rainbow groaned, and Pinkie’s tirade somehow faded into the background.
”Spike, are you sure this is where they will strike?” Twilight asked.
”It’s called the Museum Momentum,” Spike said. ”I don’t know any more than you do.”
Twilight sighed and continued spy down on the street by the museum entrance, just like she had for the last thirty minutes.
”Twilight,” Spike mumbled, suddenly wary. He pointed to a corner of the museum. ”That corner, I think I saw somepony.”
”Who? Could you see?”
”No, but if the comic title mean anything then it was Neighvar Kreuger.” The tone suggested that whoever that was would be a problem, but unfortunately it meant absolutely nothing to Twilight.
”And who is Neighvar Kreuger?” Rainbow asked from overhead.
”A villain,” Spike answered. ”We should-”
”Come’ere you creeper!” Rainbow growled and went into a steep dive, straight down the building towards the corner with Pinkie right at her tail.
”Not again,” Twilight groaned. She picked up Spike with her wing and followed.
She found Rainbow looking at a pretty average stallion. Black mane and tan coat with a long cape around his neck and a black mask. In fact, Twilight felt like she had seen this pony before, even if she could not immediately place him.
”Is that him, Spike?” Rainbow asked. She already had her lightning bolt unholstered and ready.
”Yea, that’s Neighvar alright,” Spike nodded.
”That’s me, yes,” Neighvar replied with a courteous voice. ”Now kindly step out of my way. I have three business meetings to close, money to embezzle, two shoplifts and a museum to empty before lunch. After that, I have dreams to crush, corporations to ravage and investors to raid.”
”In your dreams!” Rainbow bit back and activated her lightning bolt. A rumble sounded from the sky, and less than a moment after, a lightning bolt fell down on Neighvar. Twilight averted her eyes from the bright light.
When she looked up again, she saw a large paper hovering over a completely unhurt Neighvar. ”I regret to inform you that I am fully insured against lightning strikes,” he said formally. ”And contracts are made to be followed.” He heightened his hoof. ”Alms perhaps?” He asked and a gush of gleaming gold shot from underneath his cape and hit Rainbow in the face.
The pegasus staggered backwards with a surprised squeak. ”Freeze ray!” Twilight shouted and fired. Another insurance contract appeared in front of the beam and froze solid.
The bits returned from Rainbow and lifted Neighvar up in the air.
”I’ll get him!” Rainbow shouted back to her friends and took off after him. She promptly got her face full of golden coins, spiraled out of course and nearly collided with the neighboring skyscraper.
”I believe you are to slow on the doge, miss Dash,” Neighvar pointed out. ”Give me a moment to lose your trail, and I will be back soon!”
”Pinkie, you help Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said thoughtfully. There was something fishy about this. How could Neighvar know Rainbow’s real name? Last time they were here The Mane-iac referred to them as ”Power Ponies,” so why didn’t Neighvar?
The only explanation seemed to be that Neighvar also came from outside. But then who was he? Either way, Twilight knew that Pinkie and Rainbow both were needed to bring him down, leaving her and Spike to guard the museum. They turned around to go back to the museum entrance.
Behind them stood a mare dressed in the most flamboyant costume possible. She stuck out her tongue at Twilight just before Spike jumped from at the new pony and, with a heroic battle cry kicked her in the chest. The tiny dragon phased right through the mare and landed with a yelp on the asphalt as the illusion dissipated.
”TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” A deafening call sounded from the roof of a nearby building. Twilight looked up and saw the silhouette of a pony staring down. ”THE GREA- I mean FouR-LEAF CLOVER HAS COME TO STEAL THE ELECRO ORB, AND SHE IS POSITIVE THAT YOU CANNOT STOP HER!”
”Trixie,” Twilight mumbled. Nothing betrayed the confusion and uneasiness she felt. Now she understood; Neighvar Kreuger was Filthy Rich. Two members of The Circus were here. It could not be a coincidence. She suddenly wished she had not sent both Pinkie and Rainbow after Filthy. She had to stop Trixie from stealing the orb, and that left the museum unguarded, save for Spike. ”I’ll take care of her, Spike. You get the Electro Orb, and hide it someplace safe.”
She caught Spike’s nod and flapped her wings hard to get up to her opponent. She looked around on the street in the off chance she could spot anypony else. She had seen eight ponies in the last Circus heist, but Blueblood was still under constant watch since the trial. That left as many as five more who could lie in waiting, watching her right now. This would have to be quick. She landed on a neighboring roof and glared at her opponent.
”So you dare to face The Great and Powerful Four-Leaf Clover, Twilight?” Trixie shouted smugly. ”Well, you can be certain she will enjoy this.” From one of her many pockets, Trixie took out and threw a disk of some kind. ”Roulette Discus!”
Twilight flapped her wings and leaped over it. ”Freeze ray!”
Trixie fiddled with one of her other pockets and got out a small mirror. The beam hit it and bounced away. ”Roulette Ricochet!” Trixie called and made a sharp move with her head. The swishing sound warned Twilight in the last possible second. She lit up her horn and teleported, narrowly dodging the roulette table coming back from behindher. Trixie caught it easily, and threw it back at her in the air. Twilight did not doge this time, but instead hovered and caught the disk.
”Freeze ray!” she called. Trixie ducked, yanked again with her head and threw one of her ”boxbombs,” as Ditzy had called them.
Twilight instinctively dropped the discus when she felt it tug against her grip. It returned to Trixie’s waiting grasp, but Twilight did not care. She looked instead at the cartoon-esque bomb that Trixie had thrown, but quickly deduced that it was wildly off target. ”Stun Ray!” Twilight called. Trixie yelped and hopped backwards, dodging narrowly. Twilight swiftly aimed and fired another freeze ray without giving Trixie any respite.
The ray hit Trixie’s hat, causing icicles to grow from the tips. Panicked, Trixie threw it off, and Twilight readied herself to get into close quarters when she felt a hard knock on her right wing, sending her spinning. A red boxing glove was extended on a mechanical arm from the bomb Trixie had thrown before.
Trixie saw her chance and threw the discus again, followed by another boxbomb. Twilight narrowly dodged the discus and instead flew after the bomb. She could see the fuse running low when she caught it. With an artistic turn she flew over Trixie and dropped the bomb on her face.
Trixie squeaked, mostly in surprise, when the bomb opened and whacked her on the horn. ”Stun Ray!” Twilight called.
Trixie fought down the throbbing that always followed a hit on the horn. Luckily she had not been using magic. She leaped blindly to the side to avoid the incoming attack and threw the discus away. She heard the beam hit the roof and concluded she was safe. Trixie scanned her situation for a few moments and twitched again with her head, causing her discus to loop around towards Twilight’s back, but Twilight was ready this time.
She caught the disk between her hooves, careful not to touch the many small needles on the rim. And this time she did not let go when Trixie tried to get it back.
”Fine, you can have Trixie’s disk, it’s not like she needs it to defeat you anyway!” Trixie shouted defiantly. She galloped towards the building edge. Twilight ignored her, and instead took the opportunity to inspect the disk more closely.
It was shaped and painted like a roulette table, but in between the many needles there was a nook that split the disk in two; the disk was not really disk, it was two disks glued together. When Twilight saw the whisky thread she understood how Trixie had made it return. It was not a discus, it was a large yo-yo. Twilight grabbed the string in her mouth and held on to it; might be it would come in handy.
She dove after Trixie, who was gliding about the skyscrapers with her wingsuit-like clothing. Twilight had an involuntary flashback of when she chased Trixie through Ponyville during the Canterlot Caper. She had gotten away back then, but not this time. Now she would take the initiative. ”Freeze Ray!” Twilight screamed loudly, but she did not shoot.
As expected, Trixie rolled, and once she had stabilized, Twilight shot for real at the same time she threw the disk.
Trixie must have heard the disk, for she tucked her legs close to her body and fell a distance. Both the disk and the beam passed over her. Twilight pulled the string, and the disk obediently returned. Trixie flipped over on her back. Twilight balked for a moment; she had never seen a pony fly a wingsuit like that. Something about Trixie’s position made Twilight think of an otter, laying on its back and gliding through the water.
”Now, time for the cardsharp’s sharp cards!” Trixie called with glee and picked out a deck of playing cards. ”Royal Pain Straight Flush!” she called and flung five cards in Twilight’s direction.
Twilight gasped and made a little dignified flip in the air to avoid the first few of them. If those cards were indeed sharp, then that was a deadly move Trixie had just pulled. Did Trixie truly seek to kill her? Had she fallen so low? Had The Circus? She was so lost in her shock that she did not see Trixie fling another card, right at her face.
It hit her face with a ”splat”, but nothing more. The cards were not sharpened. However, in her hurry to dodge them and the shock that followed, Twilight had stopped flying forward, and Trixie had gained quite some distance. Twilight berated herself for a moment before setting off again. Thankfully she could fly faster than Trixie, who could only glide.
Twilight flew as fast as she could forwards and upwards. So far all weapons Trixie had used were thrown, something that was already hard to do with a wing suit. Throwing anything upwards would be impossible, even if Trixie was gliding on her back, keeping her eyes on Twilight.
Twilight smirked as an idea crossed her mind. If Trixie kept her eyes on her, then that meant she did not look someplace else. She sped up and caught Trixie glaring at her, still on her back. ”Freeze ray!” Twilight shouted and aimed well away from Trixie.
”Oops, lousy aim?” Trixie called back. Twilight did her best to hide her smirk and fired again, still without trying to hit. As long as she held Trixie’s attention, she would be fine. Twilight risked a quick look forward, at the skyscraper wall they were heading straight at.
Trixie saw Twilight looking away and followed her eyes. She found herself just a few ponylengths from the glass panes of the skyscraper. Her yelp ended in a loud ”clonk” as she flew face first into the wall and started falling straight down. Twilight dove after her.
Trixie tumbled down and tried desperately to make sense of the spinning world. Through the splitting pain in her head she heard her heart beating loudly, and in front of her eyes flashed colorful lights. Instinctively she spread both front and back legs as far as possible. The powerful thrust when she stabilized did not help her dizziness, but at least it stopped her fall. ”Freeze ray!” She heard Twilight call from somewhere, and immediately after she felt a biting cold at her side.
”I’ve got to get down on the ground,” Trixie thought. She was disoriented, and she could not stop to collect herself, not when gliding. She brought her legs closer to her body again and shut her eyes.
She wanted to throw up at the blind flying, but she needed to at least figure out which way was down. Once gravity grabbed her, she opened her eyes again to land. The ground rushed at her much faster than she expected, so she stumbled down hard with jolts of pain blazing up both her front legs.
Trixie stood still for a moment, panting and berating herself. Stupid Trixie, stupid Trixie! How could she walk into a trap like that; flying into a wall? That must be some new low. The world still spun slightly. She really just wanted to lay down and close her eyes for a while.
”Freeze Ray!” Twilight called slightly behind her, and before she had a chance to react, her hind hooves were frozen to the ground. ”Okay, Trixie, now I want to know. Why you are here? How did you get here? Who came with you and where are they now?”
”Trixie surrenders,” Trixie mumbled, trying to bite back her urge to throw up at those words. She forced the immediate anger away; she still had an ace up her sleeve. Carefully Trixie reached into one of her many pockets and pulled a loose thread.
Again, Ditzy had not explained very closely what this attack was, only that this was her last resort, and that she should try not to use it when standing still. But she was out of options now. One instant later, both she and Twilight was wrapped in a thick, pink cloud, much like the smoke bombs Trixie used in Equestria. Both she and Twilight gasped; none of them had expected this.
The pain in Trixie’s head dulled instantly, but the colorful flashes in her vision became even more vivid. A dazzling feeling of euphoria washed over her, and she suddenly felt wonderfully relaxed, like she just left the spa after a forty eight hours long deluxe treatment. She looked back and saw her hooves encased in ice and giggled softly. The ice flashed in lovely colors, like one of her own magic shows. The ice did not matter to her, she was The Great and Powerful Trixie; that ice she could break in just a moment. She collected her power and then jumped. Trixie flew off the ground, off Equestria and past the moon, the wind playing in her hair. She landed on a star and heard Twilight giggle nearby. The alicorn jumped between stars until she found a cloud to rest on. Twilight flopped onto her back and indolently moved her hooves around in complex patterns.
”Luna being nighty again,” Twilight mumbled. Trixie could only agree. Luna was nighty. Speaking of which, she should get a knight in shining armor some time. Shining Armor was knighty too. That was pretty funny, that both Luna and Shining Armor were knighty, Luna did not look like a knight. More like a night.
”Trske powerful?” Trixie asked Twilight as a blazing light engulfed her vision. It was pretty.
*****
”Ooh, this is fun!” Pinkie squeed happily as she hopped and skipped after Neighvar while dodging flying bits and oncoming traffic. Neighvar had flown off and apparently did not know his way around Maretropolis. Pinkie and Rainbow had followed him down onto a highway. Rainbow Dash was flying almost fifty ponylengths behind them both, slightly above the carriages. She got peppered with gold the moment she got any closer. Only Pinkie was fast enough to dodge both the carriages and flying bits. Neighvar was flying backwards, dishing out his attacks whenever he saw Pinkie peek out between the carriages.
”Just… stand still…” Neighvar hissed and let loose another flurry of bits. Pinkie seemed to disappear as they neared. She reappeared just beside him, bouncing from carriage roof to carriage roof.
”But where is the fun in standing still?” Pinkie asked earnestly. ”I would much rather bounce. Bouncing is just so super-duper fun, and I love having fun! Don’t you? Of course you do, everypony does.” Neighvar sent another stream of bits in Pinkie’s direction without any real hope of hitting. As expected, Pinkie dodged and instead Rainbow got another mouthful of gold in the face.
The pegasus was getting annoyed. She knew she could bring him down, but she had no chance of getting close enough. She had the speed, of course, but the moment she got any closer dodging became awkward. And when in the middle of the highway she did not want to unleash a tornado, not with so many innocent nearby. She was supposed to be the hero of the story, after all.
She needed Pinkie’s help with this. ”Pinkie, wait up!”
”Oki-doki-loki!” Pinkie called back and stopped as if glued to the street. Rainbow had just enough time to get a puzzled look on her face before she flew straight into her. Thankfully the cotton candy tail dampened the impact, but it still sent them both tumbling forward. Neighvar left them both behind and flew away on his odd surf board. Rainbow had yet to catch up to the situation when she felt Pinkie’s tail twitch strangely under her.
”Pinkie Sense!” Pinkie gasped and scooped up Rainbow. They jumped out of the way and landed on the sidewalk just before a carriage barreled over where they had just been standing.
”What was that?” Rainbow said when she had managed to disentangle herself from Pinkie. ”I didn’t say ’let him get away,’ I asked you wait for me!”
”And I waited,” Pinkie said happily. ”Come on, I can catch up to him again in a moment.” She tilted her head in the direction Neighvar had flown off to.
”Alright, then do that, and bring me with you this time.” Rainbow said.
”Hop on,” Pinkie said with a grin. Rainbow grimaced and fixed a grip around Pinkie’s barrel. Pinkie set off.
Rainbow was unprepared for just how fast Pinkie was as Filli Second. It felt just like when she was about to break into Rainboom speed. A sudden twist made Rainbow feel like she was about throw up. Pinkie had somehow preformed a ninety degree turn without slowing down noticeably, and not even Rainbow could turn very well at near-rainboom speed.
”Hang on tight now,” Pinkie said chirpily. Before Rainbow had any chance of responding, she found herself running up the glass face of a building. For one confused moment she even forgot the nasty feeling of having her body flipped about at breakneck speed; she was literally running up a wall. ”There he is!” Pinkie said and pointed, again without slowing down. Neighvar was indeed flying in front of them, up along the wall. ”Now what?”
”Now stop pestering me! Don't you know who I am!?” Neighvar screamed, went into a loop and fell down against them with his hoof lifted up to fire.
”Of course I know, silly,” Pinkie said with a smile and moved half a ponylength to the left. The stream of bits missed at the expense of yet another pang of queasiness for Rainbow. Neighvar flew past them and left only a streak of gold in his wake. Rainbow Dash whimpered meekly as Pinkie turned around completely and began to run down the face of the building.
”P-Pinkie, throw me at him,” Rainbow mumbled. She had a hard time keeping her last meal down through Pinkie’s many turns, and she was quite unsure how long she could keep it under control. Besides, Pinkie Pie did not seem to be in any hurry to bring Neighvar down.
”You sure?” Pinkie asked. ”We are going pretty fast now, you know.”
”Just throw me already,” Rainbow pleaded with a croaking cough.
”Absotutely!” Pinkie said, reached back and took Rainbow’s front hooves in hers. She flipped herself about, spun Rainbow around once and then all but launched her downwards.
With the sound of a thunderclap and a million breaking windows, the air exploded in colors. Rainbow felt a rush of freedom when she gained control of her own flight again. She closed in on Neighvar over the course of a few moments. The flying earth pony tried to turn at the loud explosion, but only got halfway before Rainbow Dash hit him square in the side at supersonic speed. Apparently he had not signed the insurance for that.
Rainbow smirked for less than a second before she realized her situation. She had not performed her Sonic Rainboom flying upwards, or at a high altitude. She had just enough time to realize that before the street rose up and hit both her and the earth pony in front of her.
The world darkened.
Rainbow groaned and looked up, dazed and confused. The earth pony laid still below her with a hoofprint stamped into his chest. She looked around for a moment. She sat in a hole. To her left a broken pipe sprayed cold water over her and a carriage had fallen down and bashed itself to splinters. She seemed to have struck up a crater a few ponylegnths deep in the middle of the road. A unicorn mare looked out of the crashed carriage with uncomprehending and scared eyes. Rainbow saw Pinkie standing at the edge of the crater, along with a host of other ponies, no doubt from the surrounding carriages and houses whose windows Rainbow just had broken.
”Wh… is he…?” Pinkie asked with a silent voice and looked at Neighvar.
Time seemed to slow down when Rainbow realized what had just happened. She had slammed somepony down into the ground at rainboom-speed. There was no way in Equestria any pony could survive something like that.
”I… I have…?” Rainbow mumbled.
”Ouch,” The earth pony moaned twitched a little. Rainbow’s, and everypony else’s, jaw fell on the ground. Neighvar sat up and put a hoof to his temple. ”I’m not gonna lie, that hurt. That hurt a lot.”
Everypony was quiet for one more second before Tartarus broke loose.
”Neighvar! RUN FOR IT, HE IS HERE!”
In just a few seconds, Pinkie, Rainbow and Neighvar were alone.
”Tell you what,” Neighvar said with a matter-of-factly voice. ”I give in. I’m not in the mood for anymore punches like that.”
Rainbow stood dumbfounded. Pinkie broke out in a smile. ”Aw, but it was so fun chasing you, Filthy. I don’t even think I could have brought you down without Dashie.”
”Mr. Rich,” Neighvar corrected instinctively. His eyes widened when he realized what he had said.
”Wait, you are Filthy Rich?” Rainbow asked with a look of resignation. She had been blindsided time and again this past minute, so she decided to give up on understanding.
”Yep,” Filthy admitted. He had already said as much, so there was no point in hiding it.
”But… but how did you get here?” Rainbow asked lamely.
”Aw, he probably just wanted to have fun with us too, riiiiiiight?” Pinkie asked Filthy with a large grin.
”Yea, let’s go with that,” Filthy said quickly. ”Ehm… you have obviously caught me, so… you should walk me to the police station.”
”Okay!” Pinkie said before Rainbow could open her mouth. ”Do you think I could be the villain next time?”
”Sure, whatever,” Filthy mumbled as they started to walk.
”Hey, wait!” Rainbow yelled. ”Can anypony explain! How can any of us even walk!? Shouldn’t we be dead from that impact?” Rainbow looked around with pleading eyes. Maybe one of the background characters could explain.
”Isn’t it obvious,” Pinkie said with a, for her, haughty voice. ”This is The Power Ponies. Of course nopony dies, I mean, duh! That would be a bad comic.”
Rainbow shook her head and followed Pinkie and Filthy Rich lamely. A sharp light made her look up.