//------------------------------// // A Flashy Cold Opening // Story: Equestria X Zone // by MetalJrock //------------------------------// "Bring it on, girls!" A man wearing blue-tinted goggles and a parka of the same color held out his strangely designed gun and pulled the trigger, releasing a frosty blue beam that generated ice and covered whatever he was aiming at into frost and snow. He gritted his teeth, trying to scare the ones he was trying to stop, keeping his other hand on the bag filled with money and gold tightly gripped. "Really, Rainbow?" Sunset muttered, recalling that her friend tried to attack him. "What? He had a gun!" the cyan girl asked. Applejack grunted, throwing a rock in the man's way, but he froze it, causing it to fall on the concrete. "But we could'a had the element of surprise on 'em at least!" The girls dived to the sides, dodging the beam momentarily. Sunset groaned, "Can any of you reach him before he hurts someone?" she asked one of her friends. On their way home from school, the girls spotted a strangely dressed figure walking into the bank with that gun. Obviously, he was trying to rob it and here they were, making sure he doesn't freeze them or anyone else outside now that he left, having waited to take action until everyone else was gone. "Who even are you?" asked Rainbow Dash. The man smirked, "Captain Cold. I'm just here to make some cash. None of you need to get involved." "Yeah. We do." Rainbow boasted. Captain Cold nearly shot Sunset, but she rolled again, avoiding the beam once again. "This ain't gonna last long, lady. What do you have against me?" he asked. Sunset narrowed her eyes, "You threatened a bank teller with your gun and stole their money. That's all." "I'm just doin' what I do best, miss." Cold snarked. He pulled the trigger on his ice gun again and shot another beam. "Just make an exit and nobody gets hurt." Suddenly, a yellow blur of lightning revealed itself, speeding past the girls in seconds, dragging wind with it. The blur began to surround Captain Cold, a smirk seen on his features, "Well, well... About time you showed up, my old friend." he joked. Before Captain Cold could shoot his gun, a fist uppercutted his face and was knocked on his back, falling onto the concrete floor. Standing before him was another man, thin in stature and wearing a red suit with a cowl that covered his face. Yellow trail lines were seen on the sides of his suit and there was a lightning bolt insignia on the chest of his costume. He had his arms on his hips and gave Cold a pretty confident grin before grabbing his gun again. "Who is that?" Fluttershy asked. Rarity put a hand on her chin and observed the stranger, "I don't know, but I must say, I rather like the design of the suit." The red-clad figure folded his hands, "Are we really doing this dance again, Snart? I thought we moved on from this?" he asked. Captain Cold gritted his teeth, "I'm just doing the old cat and mouse chase, Flash. Gotta fill the status quo somehow." The Flash shrugged, "I guess so. I'll take--" "Hey!" Sunset Shimmer called out, "How do any of you know each other? What is even happening right now?" Turning around, the Flash held up Cold by his thick hood and restrained him, "Sorry about that. I'm the Flash... And this does not look like Central City." "What was your first clue, genius?" Snart quipped. "For the Fastest Man Alive, you're rather slow on picking things up." The Flash raised a brow, "Can any of you girls fill me in on what he's doing here? Who are you anyways?" Once introductions were out of the way: Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset formally said their names, Pinkie Pie inhaled, "Well, we were on our way to Sugarcube Corner from school, but we found him with his strange cold gun out and he was robbing the bank. Luckily, nobody got hurt we faced him for a bit and then you randomly showed up!" she explained in a single breath, refusing to pause in between sentences. Dropping the cold gun, the Flash looked around, "How we even got here is a better question. One minute I was in the Speed Lab, trying to improve myself, then suddenly I found myself running around here. Gotta say, rather surprised to see Snart here of all people." "Had the same reaction as you, hero." Cold admitted,"Thought you weren't here and decided to perform a quick heist. Guess I was wrong in that regard." Rainbow Dash raised her hands, "Hold on. Did you say you were the Fastest Man Alive?" Applejack gave the cyan girl a blank stare, "That's all ya took from this, Rainbow?" "...I think I am anyway. I'm the Flash back in Central City." Flash replied to Rainbow. "And I have no idea where we're at." Twilight Sparkle nudged the boastful girl's shoulder, "C-Can that wait, Rainbow?" "Why?" asked Dash. Fluttershy pointed to the sky, "Because of that!" With everyone looking upwards, all of them shielding the sun with their hands, they saw something bizarre in the sky. A purple and red vortex opened up and sent crackles of lightning around the center. Suddenly, it opened up and strange objects began to fall from it, beginning their descent onto the streets below. The figures were otherworldly in appearance. They were black and red with spiky protrusions on their shoulders. Once they landed, they practically tore apart the surface their feet were on, from solid concrete to the hoods of empty cars. "Do you know what these are too?" Sunset secretly hoped. The Flash shook his head, "I've never seen them before in my life. They look like edgy aliens." "Ditto." Cold added. A car accidentally found itself in the course of the aliens and the creature swung his arm backwards, causing the vehicle to be sent flying. In a panic, the Flash released Captain Cold and chased after it, but found it caught frozen in a strange aura. Turning his head, the Flash saw that Sunset extended her palm, it glowing the same color. "Um... Is that normal for you all?" he asked. "My magic? Unicorn magic?" Sunset whispered. Trying to focus, she gently dropped the car back on the floor, allowing the driver to escape, a quick thanks heard as they retreated. Captain Cold pursed his lips, "Excuse me. Did you just say unicorn magic?" "Yeah. She comes from a world of ponies, and was a unicorn!" Pinkie explained. "Ever since she showed up magic was found within each of us standing here!" "...Right. And I'm a time-traveller." Snart joked. The Flash ran back, "Can anyone else do that? We may need the extra hands in stopping these things. In fact..." he zipped off and handed Cold his Ice Gun. "What do you say, Snart? Think about it, if these aliens reach our world, then there'd be nothing left for you to do." he warned. "Why'd you give him back his gun?" Twilight asked in disbelief. The Flash narrowed his eyes at Captain Cold, "Because I know that deep down, there is some good in him." he admitted. "And if he does anything funny, I'll knock him out and put him in a personal cell in STAR Labs." a smirk formed on Cold's face as he held up his gun. But instead of shooting the Flash like the girls initially thought, he blasted an alien, knocking them back with a beam of frosty blue. "For now, Flash. But we're settling the score once this is all said and done." decided Captain Cold, "Rather help you than be dead by aliens." "See?" Flash said. Sunset looked to her friends, "All right. We need to figure this out. Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight. Head to Canterlot High and grab my journal! We need to see if Princess Twilight has any idea why this is happening! The rest of us will hold off these aliens." "U-Uh... Okay!" Fluttershy squeaked. "Do be careful all of you!" Rarity warned. "J-Just come back safe, please." Twilight could be heard. The three of them were out of sight, leaving the remaining heroes to fend against the surprise visitors. Sunset narrowed her eyes, "Alright, girls. Focus your magic." she said. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and Applejack closed their eyes for a moment. Wuddenly pony ears began to form on their heads and their hair began to grow longer, reaching below their back. Auras surrounded their bodies and they crouched slightly, ready to attack. The Flash was the first to move, unprepared for a rainbow blur to trail next to him, circling an alien. Rainbow gave the Flash a smug grin, the superhero finding wings on her back. "Nice surprise. Reminds me of a friend of mine." he said, referring to Hawkgirl. "Thanks. Gotta show you real speed somehow." Rainbow boasted. Applejack uppercutted one of the aliens, using her inner strength to knock them back. Pinkie giggled using her confetti abilities to surprise the creature, distracting him from the Flash, who kneed it in the face as hard as he could, making them fall backwards with the power of the Speed-Force enhancing his punch temporarily. Sunset used her unicorn magic, still getting used to having it again and made a levitation spell to hold up one of the aliens, keeping it still and throwing it aside. By holding it back, she allowed any civilians to escape. Once the area was evacuated, Captain Cold snarled and charged his gun, blasting the creature with an ice beam, shooting them and freezing them. "Some magic you got there." snarked Captain Cold, lowering his weapon for a moment. "Haven't used it in years," the former pony admitted, raising her hands. Debris began to levitate and the magic user began to toss them in the aliens' direction. Captain Cold smirked and used the end of his gun to smack one of the alien mooks once he neared them, making their head snap back. As another tried to attack him, he ducked and shot them with an ice beam, creating a kinetic ice blast that knocked them unconscious. The Flash ran and swerved his body, dodging the laser one of the goons had. Applejack got closer to them and her knee collided with the alien's torso, making them stumble backwards. Rainbow flew above them and dove down, driving her fists into the backs, pushing them forwards, bringing their face to the floor. What they didn't realize though were that more aliens were beginning to arm themselves with lasers and brgan to shoot at the small group. Captain Cold and Sunset tried to hold them back as much as possible and Pinkie even attempted to combust their weapons, but it seemed that more showed up each passing second. Applejack landed a punch to one, "Is there anyway we can stop 'em before they wreck the whole darn city?" The Flash groaned, trappin an alien in a cyclone if lightning, making them dizzy. Once he was done, he threw his lightning forward and hit a few, shocking them and making them pass out. "Okay. That was only good once. I think I'm running out of space." he muttered, seeing the aliens circle them closer and closer. "That was cool! I gotta learn how to do that!" Rainbow admitted, taking to the skies. She descended and knocked back a few aliens with ell-timed ounches and kicks, but it did nothing to dwindle their numbers and did very little. Captain Cold growled and shot at them, freezing a few. "I don't think we can keep this up." Applejack gulped. Snart gritted his teeth, "God damn it, I'll try!" Sunset exhaled, "Even I'm starting to feel drained. I'm not used to having this much magic again." "Well, we can't give up!" Rainbow shouted, covering her enemies in a rainbow blur, making them spin around in a cartoony manner. She kicked them down with ease after that, but then took a blast to the back, making her fall down and scream in pain. Luckily the Flash caught her and gently placed her on her feet. "You alright?" the Scarlet Speedster asked. Rainbow held her back and rubbed it, "Y-Yeah, just stinging a little." she lied. "Ow..." Pinkie folded her arms, "That wasn't very nice, aliens!" they shot back in response, prompting Cold and Sunset to shoot back as a result to defend themselves. "I don't think they were trying to!" Snart yelled. However, before any of them could respond, a strange blue blur surrounded them and circled them, knocking the aliens back a little and distracting them. While they weren't focused on the heroes, Sunset, the Flash, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and Cold took the rest of the aliens out, seeing that they were disarmed thanks to the mysterious blue blur. Once they were done, they panted, clearly worn out from the battle. "Who... did... that?" Sunset huffed and panted. "That was a pretty snazzy performance there!" yelled a cocky voice. Hearing the voice, the ragtag group looked up to the top of a nearby building. Standing on the roof was a tall, blue spiky creature with large cartoony gloves and red shoes. A confident smirk was seen on his muzzle as he turned to the group. "Not bad fight out there. Now, can any of you tell me where I'm at? I've travelled the world and I've never seen a place like this before." he questioned, raising his voice so that he could be heard. "Who are you?" The spiky stranger wagged a finger, "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!"