"Think before you act and act on what you believe."
- Bo Bennett
Fluttershy was standing before a mirror, her reflection staring back at her. There was nothing else to look at, for everything around her was darkness. Suddenly, the eyes of her reflection narrowed.
"You really think calling yourself a hero is going to change anything?" the mirror Fluttershy asked.
The actual Fluttershy gulped. "I…I could…"
"You can't run away from who you are." The reflection's eyes turned red. "Who you truly are."
The reflection grew, until it became the monster. Its roar echoed throughout the void.
"No!" Fluttershy cried, turning around and breaking into a run.
She had no idea where she was going. She couldn't see. But she could hear the loud footsteps of the monster behind her. Fluttershy's own eyes shut as tears welled up within them.
Then she collided into something. Something soft. Before Fluttershy had the chance to open her eyes, she was pulled into a tight but tender embrace.
"It's alright," whispered a male's voice. "I've got you."
The voice was low and sounded elderly, but its tone was caring. Caring enough that Fluttershy trusted it, so she clung to the stallion's fur and allowed herself to cry into it.
"Shhh," the voice said. "Don't cry, my darling." Fluttershy flinched but did not move as she felt something comb through her mane. "I'm here. I'll protect you."
She had no idea who was holding her, but she believed him. His fur was not only soft, but warm and comforting, and she could hear a rapid heartbeat beneath it. His hoof was tender as it stroked her, soothing her into a feeling of safety.
Then he spoke into her ear. "I'll be out soon, my darling." The hoof moved down to her back, and Fluttershy shivered at how cold it was. "Then we can be together at last."
Fluttershy's eyes opened when she realized something. The hoof running down her back didn't feel like a hoof at all. It had…fingers.
Suddenly everything felt cold and Fluttershy looked at the furry body she'd been embracing. Only it wasn't furry, it was a pillar of stone. Looking up, she could not see the head of the statue, but saw a light pulse within its chest.
"You will be greatly rewarded," the voice said.
Fluttershy gasped as a stone claw that resembled that of an eagle's moved beside her.
"If you set me free."
She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Then, out of the darkness came a new voice.
"Power Ponies, help!"
The dream was shattered as Fluttershy sat up in bed, startling Angel Bunny, who had been curled up at her hooves. Her ear was crackling loudly.
"Twilight?" said Spike's voice. "Twilight, what's going on? Twilight!"
"Spike, what's happenin'?" asked Mistress Mare-velous, who was on her nightly patrol.
Fluttershy could hear Rainbow groaning sleepily. "Remind me to remove this thing from my ear before bed."
"Twilight! Twilight!" Spike continued calling.
"Was that Twilight calling for help?" asked Rarity, who was also coming out of sleep.
"Girls, something's wrong!" Spike exclaimed. "Twilight's commlink is offline! I can't get ahold of her!"
"Oh goodness!" Fluttershy said. "Is she in trouble?"
"Has she been kidnapped by the Moscowvian mob?!" Pinkie asked. "Did they catch her snooping around their warehouse where they keep illegally smuggled nesting dolls?!"
There were several sighs.
"This might be worse than any mob!" Spike said. "We're gonna have to meet up at headquarters!"
Fluttershy heard a yawn which she quickly concluded was from Rainbow. "Five more minutes?"
"ZAPP!" Mare-velous hollered.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!"
"Don't be late! That means you too, Fili!"
"Hey, why pick on me?" Pinkie demanded. "Zapp is the one who doesn't wanna wear her commlink to sleep!"
"Because it's downright stupid to be wearing these all the time!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I don't need you guys yammering in my ear all day and all night! Especially when like, I don't know, Matter-Horn is contacting Mare-velous and doesn't need to talk to me! Isn't there a way we can just talk to each other without hearing other ponies' conversations?!"
"There's no time for this!" Spike shouted. "This is an emergency!"
"But these earbuds…"
"Tower! Now!"
Once every pony was at headquarters, Humdrum caught the girls up on what he knew about Sombra.
"So you mean to tell us," Mare-velous said, "that this Dr. Sargon guy turned himself into a living shadow?!"
"Yup," Humdrum said with a nod.
"On purpose?!"
"Yup."
"But he did it to help his true love!" Radiance said with a sigh. "Oh, how romantic!"
"True love or not," Zapp said, "that guy has a few screws loose."
"Yeah," Fili-Second said, "I mean what was he thinking injecting himself with some icky shadow-making serum? He really should take the time to think before doing something so reckless!" Mare-velous glared at her. "What?"
Shaking her head, Mare-velous turned back to Humdrum. "Can't ya track Twilight's commlink?"
"Already tried," Humdrum said, pointing to the monitor. "But something's jammed the signal. According to the computer, her commlink went offline while she was at Dr. Sargon's old apartment. She said if he was alive, he was sure to contact his roommate, so Twilight went over to ask Dr. Hope some questions."
"I reckon Dr. Sargon didn't like that," Mare-velous said, crossing her hooves. "So he decided to silence her."
Saddle Rager gasped. "You don't suppose Twilight's…?"
"No," Humdrum said. "I asked Fili-Second to stop by the apartment on the way here."
"No pony home," Fili-Second said. "No sign of a struggle. In fact, that Dr. Hope keeps the place pretty tidy."
"And even if Twilight were…" Humdrum bit his lip. "Her commlink would still be giving off a signal. But the computer's not registering it. It's almost as if she disappeared off the face of the earth."
"So if we can't contact Twilight," Radiance said, tapping her chin, "and we can't track her commlink, how in the world are we supposed to find her?"
"We gotta think like her kidnapper," Mare-velous said as she began pacing. "Think. What do we know about this Dr. Sargon? Where would he go for safety?"
"Well, we already know he's not at his apartment," Zapp said.
"I'll pull up his profile from the Sparkle Labs' employee database," Humdrum said, typing commands into the computer.
"What about his old lab?" Saddle Rager asked.
"I doubt he'd go back there so soon," Mare-velous said. "Spike and Twilight saw him there. It'd be too risky."
"Here we go," Humdrum said as a window popped up onscreen bearing Sombra's picture and some text which Humdrum began skimming. "Let's see…Dr. Sombra Sargon, PhD. Born in the Crystal Empire, was found abandoned as a young foal, taken in at the Crystal Heart Foal Center, graduated from the Crystal University of Science and Magic…"
"You don't think he's taken Twilight to the Crystal Empire, do you?" Saddle Rager asked.
"Ooh, ooh!" Radiance said, raising her hoof. "I certainly wouldn't mind checking out the Crystal Empire!"
"Uh-uh," Mare-velous said, shaking her head. "If Dr. Sargon's molecules are out of whack or whatever, then he wouldn't have the energy to travel so far. What else ya got, Humdrum?"
Humdrum rolled his eyes. "We really need to come up with a better sidekick name for me!" He scrolled down Sombra's profile page. "Okay, how 'bout this? A few years before his roommate's accident, he and she would volunteer down at the homeless shelter."
Zapp huffed. "There's no way he'd be stupid enough to take her there! There'd be all those homeless ponies sleeping about!"
"Yes, but this was at the old homeless shelter." Humdrum brought up a webpage showing an old, broken-down building. "That place had to be shut down after an accident involving a hydra and a giant banana." The mares looked at him strangely. "Don't ask. Anyway, the shelter was moved to a much larger building which Twilight had commissioned herself. The realtors couldn't get the old property sold, so the old shelter's just sitting there, abandoned."
"You think Dr. Sargon might have chosen that old shelter as his hiding place?" Radiance asked.
"It's not far from his apartment," Mare-velous said, rubbing her chin in thought, "it has a personal connection with him, and it's abandoned, so no pony'd be usin' it. Not to mention the electricity'd probably be out, so he can use the darkness to his advantage. It's worth a gander."
"I'll go scout ahead!" Fili-Second exclaimed, her legs moving rapidly in preparation.
"No!" Mare-velous said, lassoing her before she could run off. "We don't know what we're up against! We gotta be cautious!"
Zapp snorted. "Cautious is my middle name! Rainbow Cautious Dash!"
Mare-velous rolled her eyes. "We'll go together." She eyed Fili-Second. "And we'll go quietly. Humdrum, you stay here and see if you can get Twilight's commlink back online."
"On it!" Humdrum said, saluting before turning back to the computer.
"Rest of y'all, follow me!"
Fili-Second cried out as Demeter's Lasso whirled off her body, causing her to spin. Zapp stopped her with her hooves. They both pouted as Mare-velous led Saddle Rager and Radiance out.
"Who put her in charge?" Zapp whispered to Fili-Second.
The latter shrugged. "First come, first serve?"
At the abandoned homeless shelter, Sombra had Radiant Hope turn the old kitchen into a laboratory. The test tubes containing the serum were in place of the spice rack. Twilight was tied up in a chair in the corner. The shocking ordeal of being encased in darkness had left her unconscious. Her horn was speckled with dark crystals, a result of an enchantment Sombra had placed to block her magic.
As Hope was dusting the kitchen counter, Sombra returned from his outing and carefully lowered beakers, safety goggles, Bunsen burners and other lab equipment onto the counter.
"Is that all we need?" Hope asked in a tired voice.
"We might need specific ingredients," Sombra said, glancing at Twilight. "Perhaps she can help us come up with them."
Hope bit her lip. "S-Sombra? Once we…permanently stabilize your molecules…w-what then?"
Sombra chuckled. "Why, then you can take the serum and not have to worry about any side effects, and you'll be able to move around again."
"Yes, yes, but then what? Do you think any hospitals will have a…a shadow work for them?"
He huffed. "Who needs hospitals? With the freedom we'll have, we won't need any jobs. We can just take what we want. And who would be able to catch us? No pony can catch a shadow!" His eyes gleamed maliciously. "We can even make sure those naysayers who denied you the life you deserve get what's coming to them."
"Sombra," Hope said steadily, "please, this is getting out of hoof. This…." She glanced at Twilight's unconscious form. "I never asked for any of this!"
"I doing all this for you, Hope," Sombra said, cupping her chin. "I only have your best interests at heart."
She narrowed her eyes as she pulled her face away. "That's exactly what the ponies at the hospital said when I asked to come back to work."
Sombra's glowing grin disappeared.
"You say you're doing this for me," Hope said, refusing to make eye contact with him. "Maybe it was for me at first, but…all this talk of…stealing and…and murder? How is any of that for me?" She raised her gaze. "Face it, Sombra. Being in this freeform state has gone to your head. Yes, it would be a miracle if I could walk again, but Sombra…nothing is worth all this! Not even me." Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked him over. "Look at you. Look at what you've become…for me."
Sombra stared at Hope for the longest time. Then he heard a moan from behind him. Twilight was slowly coming to. He glared at Hope.
"Fine," he said. "Don't take the serum. But you will help me! No matter what you think of me, you will not let me die!"
Hope hung her head in defeat. "No. I will not."
They both jumped at the sound of a door breaking down.
"Twilight!" a voice called. "Twilight, ya in here?"
Sombra grinned toothily. "It seems we have visitors." He floated over to the kitchen door. "Let's give them a warm welcome, shall we?"
Hope gulped, but did not try to stop him. He was too far gone to be stopped.
The five Power Ponies were in the old cafeteria. The tables were covered in dust and several chairs had been knocked over.
"Oh m-m-my," Saddle Rager said with a shiver. "It's…r-r-really dark in here!"
"Admittedly," Zapp said, squinting, "a flashlight would've been nice."
"I can ignite my horn," Radiance offered.
"Not yet," Mare-velous said, holding up her hoof. "We need to use the darkness to our advantage. Be best if Dr. Sargon couldn't see us yet."
Suddenly, a deep laugh echoed throughout the room. Saddle Rager squeaked and hid behind Mistress Mare-velous.
"You really think the darkness is going to save you?" Sombra asked. "Foolish mares…"
Radiance shrieked as she felt a cold chill above her head. The voice spoke again. This time, it sounded as if he were whispering in all their ears.
"I am darkness."
"Radiance, we need light!" Mare-velous shouted.
Wincing, Radiance attempted to ignite her horn, but nothing happened. She raised her hoof to the tip and yelped.
"It's…it's all lumpy!" Radiance exclaimed. "I…I can't light it! He did something to my horn!"
"Power Ponies," Sombra said. "I should have figured you would come after me eventually."
"What have ya done with Twilight Sparkle?!" Mare-velous demanded.
"She is alive, I assure you." He chuckled. "For now."
Zapp growled. "You better not hurt her, or I'll…"
"Zapp, restrain yourself!" Mare-velous said before addressing the darkness again. "Dr. Sargon, if you don't stop this madness…"
"I'm not Dr. Sargon anymore," Sombra said.
He then made himself known. His eyes and mouth opened before the heroes, giving off an eerie glow on them all. They all recoiled in fright, Saddle Rager fainting.
"I'm the Shadow King!" he said with a hiss.
"King, huh?" Mare-velous said. "Well, if you're royalty now…"
She summoned her lasso, which glowed as it swung about.
"…you must be really tied up with all those royal duties!"
The rope snapped forward, but the loop fell right through the shadowy face. Sombra laughed in amusement while Mare-velous' eye widened.
"I don't have a solid form anymore," Sombra said. "Your rope is useless."
He then opened his jaw so wide that it was larger than the height of a pony. The jaw swept towards the mares who shrieked and dispersed as the jaw closed down on them.
With the glow of the teeth gone, Zapp stopped and glanced around at the infinite blackness.
"Girls?" she called. "You still there?"
"Zapp?" said Radiance's voice. "Is that you? I can't see anything and my horn's still not working!"
"Where's Saddle Rager?" shouted Mare-velous' voice, which sounded frantic. "Saddle Rager! Are you alright?!"
"Mare-velous, your rope!" Zapp called. "It'll give us some light!"
There was a golden glow in the middle of the room as Demeter's Lasso started to rise. Then there was a growl and a scream, and the rope's light went out as it dropped.
"Mare-velous?" Zapp said, raising her hoof above her eyes as she looked to where she thought she'd seen the rope.
"What happened, darling?" Radiance said. "Don't worry. I can get my bracelets to glow and we'll be able to—AH!"
Radiance was suddenly silenced as well.
"Radiance?" Zapp said. "Mare-velous? Saddle Rager?"
She gasped as Sombra's smoking eyes appeared before her. His jaw opened and he charged for her. He was just inches away when something attacked Zapp's middle and she was whisked away. Sombra growled in fury.
When Zapp and her savior finally stopped, they seemed to be in a different room. The faint light from the boarded up windows illuminated a row of old cots, suggesting that this had been a sleeping area for the homeless ponies.
"What the…?" Zapp said, slightly disoriented.
"It's me, Zapp!" a high-pitched voice said.
An assuring hoof squeezed Zapp's.
"Fili?" Zapp said. "How…?"
"Fastest thing alive, remember?" Fili-Second said with a snort. "It was easy to get away from him. But the others…" She trailed off. "I couldn't see them, Zapp! I couldn't get to them in time! I was only able to find you because you kept shouting…" She shook Zapp in panic. "Zapp, are they dead?!"
"Hang on," Zapp said as she pressed down on her commlink. "Power Ponies, do you read me?"
There was nothing but static.
"Strange. We should at least be able to contact Spike. The Shadow King's shadowy stuff must be interfering with our commlinks somehow."
"What do we do?!" Fili-Second exclaimed. "We can't run from him forever! I mean I probably could but what about the others?! It's too dark to see and we can't punch the guy cuz he's not solid and we still don't know where Twilight is and…"
"Shush!"
Zapp swiftly placed her hoof over her comrade's mouth. The pegasus' ear twitched as she heard heavy breathing that didn't belong to either of them.
"He's close," Zapp whispered. "Look, obviously just punching him in the face is not gonna work. Remember what Matter-Horn and Mare-velous said. We need to take time to think of a plan to stop him."
"How?" Fili-Second asked, tugging her mouth away so she could speak softly. "It's hard to think when I'm worried he's gonna jump out at any moment! I'm fast, but I need to be able to listen for him to know when he's gonna strike!"
"But there are two of us here." She wrapped both forelegs around the earth mare's neck and hoisted herself onto her back. "I'll try to think of something. You just concentrate on keeping us both away from Shadow Breath."
Just as she said this, she felt a cold breath on the back of her neck.
"Fili, run!" Zapp shouted.
Fili-Second yelped as she zipped out of the sleeping quarters.
"Let's see," Zapp said in thought. "He's not solid, so we can't hit him. We have to find a way to contain him, but he's a shadow. Err…can you put shadows in a jar?"
"Can you not think so loud?!" Fili-Second exclaimed as she dodged Sombra's jaws. "It's hard to hear Shadow Breath!"
"Sorry," Zapp whispered.
She wracked her brain for ideas, but it was difficult with Fili-Second jolting her to and fro as she narrowly escaped the Shadow King's attacks. Zapp tried her best to keep quiet so her partner could concentrate, biting down on her lip whenever she had the urge to cry out.
Come on, come on, Zapp thought. The dude's gotta have a weakness. If he's not solid, what can we—DANG, that was close! He's just a shadow, so what—YIPES, he almost got my tail! There's gotta be something he's afraid of that we can use against him.
Then she remembered something Daring Do had once told her: To pinpoint your opponent's weakness, you have to watch them carefully. Eventually they will betray themselves.
Well, it was hard to watch her opponent when he was cloaked in darkness. Even when he showed himself, Fili-Second would move too fast for her to get a good look at him. Zapp concluded that she would have to use her other senses.
Everything she knew about the Shadow King, she had learned from the briefing earlier and from their current encounter. She replayed the events leading up to this moment in her mind. Despite having the advantage of the darkness, Sombra had chosen not to kill them right away. Instead, he had introduced himself. Clearly, he had a bit of an ego.
But he had done something else too. Radiance had attempted to ignite her horn, only to find it "lumpy." Somehow, Sombra had blocked her magic. But why?
Zapp then remembered what had happened right before Mare-velous had disappeared. She had been getting her rope to glow. And Radiance was going to attempt to use her bracelets, which had the ability to glow too. Sombra had silenced them before they could.
For the same reason he had blocked Radiance's magic.
"Light!" Zapp exclaimed.
"Where?" Fili-Second asked, spinning around like a dog chasing her tail.
"No! The Shadow King's a shadow! Made of darkness! He's afraid of light!" She slapped herself in the forehead. "Duh!"
"So what do we do? Find a light switch?"
"Power's out, remember? That's why he chose this place."
"Then how we gonna get some light in here?
"Uh…light the world's biggest candle?"
Fili-Second gasped suddenly. "Or the world's biggest lightning storm!"
Zapp frowned. "What?"
"Your lightning!" Fili-Second said, turning her head to face her. "We're gonna need it! We're gonna need a whole lot of it!"
"B-B-But…" Zapp stammered. "Lightning only flashes! And I've never made a storm of that size that could…even if it did distract him, how we gonna be able to hold him?!"
"Maybe if we were in a really, really, really tight space, he wouldn't be able to escape the lightning so easily! I think I passed by a broom closet a few miles back."
"A broom closet?! Fili, do you have any idea how dangerous it would be to start a storm in a broom closet?! It's reckless!"
"I know it's reckless, but if it means stopping that bad guy and finding our friends, isn't it worth the risk?"
Zapp was reminded of her last phone call to Daring Do.
"Okay. Take me to the broom closet. But you can't be around once I get the storm started. Lightning can't hurt me, but it might hurt you."
"Okie dokie lokie!"
She zipped off and brought them both into a broom closet, colliding into a pile of cleaning supplies.
"Ugh," Zapp said as she popped her head out of a bucket. "I'll need a little time to concentrate on the storm. Think you can distract old Shadow Breath for a while?"
Although she couldn't see it, Zapp could imagine Fili-Second saluting as she said, "You got it!"
She felt the breeze from her friend's run and heard the door slam, leaving Zapp in complete darkness. Touching her pendant, she looked down at it unsurely.
She could barely get a regular-sized storm going without screwing up. How was she going to summon a mega-storm with enough lightning to stop Sombra in his tracks? Not to mention being in a dark enclosed space was making her slightly claustrophobic.
Mare-velous never has problems with her rope, she thought. She would know what to do.
As bossy and stubborn as Mistress Mare-velous was, Zapp couldn't help but admire how she always kept her cool in desperate situations. When the two of them first met, it was Mare-velous who had helped her gain control over the storm. She could just imagine Mare-velous' voice lecturing her:
You're thinkin' too much. Clear yerr mind, channel yerr emotions. Yerr fear is makin' this storm worse. Just calm yourself, and the storm'll follow. As ya breathe in, let all yerr thoughts and fears come together.
Zapp took a deep breath in.
Now, as ya let yerr breath out, let all yerr thoughts and fears go with it.
As she released her breath, the lightning bolt started to glow.
Don't fight the storm. Feel it. Become one with it. You are the storm, the storm is you. Its will is yours.
She had seen Mare-velous talk with her rope a lot, as if it were a living being. Zapp wondered if she should do the same with her source of power.
"Um…hi?" she said unsurely to the pendant. "Look, I know this is a tall order, but…I'm really gonna need your help in making this storm."
She heard a thump from outside and decided she should continue her conversation in her head.
Okay, Zeus, she prayed, holding the glowing pendant close to her chest. I, um, haven't really been much for praying before, but…if you can hear me, I wouldn't mind a little helping hoof.
The pendant seemed to glow brighter.
Alright, Zapp, she thought as she attempted to stand. You can do this. She took another deep breath. You are the storm, and the storm is you. You are the storm, and the storm is you.
As she repeated the phrase over and over again in her head, a dark cloud began forming over her head and thunder rumbled. Outside, Fili-Second heard the thunder and took that as her cue.
"Hey, Shadow Breath!" she hollered to the darkness. "Betcha can't catch me!"
As she ran towards the closet, she heard the angry growl coming up behind her.
Meanwhile, Zapp's storm cloud had grown to fill the upper half of the closet. She heard the door pop open and Fili-Second cry, "In here, Shadow Breath!"
"Enough of this!" Sombra shouted as he charged for Fili-Second.
But she whizzed past him and shut the closet door on him before he could catch her. He glanced around the closet in confusion.
"What? What is…?"
"Now, Zapp!" Fili-Second called from outside.
Almighty Zeus, Zapp prayed again, King of the Olympian Gods, Chief Overseer of the Heavens, give me strength, and help me defeat this jerk!
When she opened her eyes, they were glowing white, making Sombra recoil. Then, with a might crash, lightning struck overhead, flooding the room with light. Sombra wailed in agony, but calmed down once the light subsided. However, Zapp did not allow him a lot of time to recover, for lightning flashed again a split-second afterwards, striking a metal bucket.
Sparks were dancing around Zapp's body and mane, not allowing Sombra a single moment to move. He writhed and twisted in the air, trying to get away from the light trap. He tried disappearing through the door, but the lightning kept coming.
"Please!" he cried out. "You'll…destroy…me…if…you…keep…"
Suddenly, the door swung open and a streak of blue shot at the shadow bundle. Sombra screamed as he was encased in a blue sphere. Zapp shook her head in confusion. When her eyes opened again, they were back to normal, and the storm calmed.
She and Fili-Second watched in amazement as a glowing blue chain wrapped around the sphere entrapping Sombra. It was then sealed with an enormous blue padlock. Zapp peered around to see who their savior was.
Hope sat there in her chair, her eyes narrowed as her magic concentrated on the sphere.
"Dr. Hope, I presume?" Fili-Second said.
"Your friends are fine," Hope said. "He merely used his darkness to disorient them into unconsciousness." She winced in pain. "I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold him."
"You won't have to for long," Twilight said as she stepped out of the darkness. Her horn had been returned to normal, thanks to Hope, so she used her magic to assist the other unicorn with the containment. "I have just the place for him."
Zapp and Fili-Second waited until their comrades had awoken before joining Twilight back at Sparkle Labs. When they got there, Sombra was inside a large, magical pink box, hovering inside in a shadowy mass. Twilight and Hope were looking up at him solemnly.
"That spell you used to contain him was very powerful," Twilight said to Hope. "It's stabilized his molecules, for now." She turned to her. "The shield should be able to hold him until we can find a cure."
Hope nodded. "You'll do everything you can?"
Twilight smiled softly. "Of course. Perhaps you can help us. You seem to know quite a lot about healing magic which so far has been useful. Would you consider coming to work here? We don't discriminate on disabilities. Instead, we focus on what our employees are able to do, and you're clearly able to do a lot. Besides," she said, tilting her head towards Sombra, "it would allow you plenty of time to visit."
Hope looked at Twilight and grinned slightly. "I…I'd like that very much."
"Then I'll see you Monday." They shook hooves. "Oh! I nearly forgot. Those test tubes Sombra brought to the shelter. That was all the serum he made, right?"
Hope was silent for a moment. "Yes. That was all of it." She turned back to Sombra. "Could you give us a minute?"
"Of course."
Twilight backed away to where the Power Ponies were standing. Hope rolled her chair up to the magical force field. Sombra's glowing, sad eyes were focused on her.
"Hope," he said, his voice sounding broken. "I…I'm so sorry."
She raised her hoof up to touch the force field. "I know."
Twilight turned to her comrades. "Good work, girls. Hopefully, my scientists can take it from here."
"S-Sorry we were out for most of it," Saddle Rager murmured.
"That's alright," Twilight said, looking to Fili-Second and Zapp. "It certainly gave you two a chance to really prove yourselves."
Zapp blushed. "Aw, shucks. It was nothing."
She cried out as Mare-velous slapped her on the back. For a moment, she thought the earth mare was going to shout at her, until Mare-velous wrapped her hoof around her neck.
"It was something, alright!" she said. "You really stepped up tonight! Both of y'all!" She sighed. "Sorry I doubted y'all. When the situation was tough, your reckless behavior came in handy."
"Yeah, well," Zapp said as she wriggled out of Mare-velous' hold, "we wouldn't have gotten out of there had we not taken the time to think like you said." She circled her hoof in the floor. "You…you may be a bit of a…"
"Bossy boots!" Fili-Second piped.
"Err…yeah, but…all that stuff you'd told me about…keeping calm and…thinking and not thinking when it was necessary…it really helped me…us, through all that. Being impulsive can save your life, but sometimes," she looked to Fili-Second, "you need to slow down a moment to think things through. And I wouldn't've been able to do that had it not been for Fili's reflexes."
"Fastest pony alive!" Fili-Second said proudly.
Mare-velous smirked. "I was wrong about y'all." She hooked her hooves around both of them. "Ya really do have the makings of heroes."
"Oh!" Fili-Second said, grabbing Mare-velous. "That reminds me! Can I talk to you for once second?"
Before Mare-velous could answer, Fili-Second whizzed her out of the lab and the next thing she knew, they were in Mare-velous' apartment.
"What…?" Mare-velous started to say.
Fili-Second sighed. "I'll cut to the chase. I want to stop being late to every mission, despite being the fastest mare alive. However, I can't do that if I'm going to continue living and working at the rock farm where my parents are going to be breathing down my neck all the time. So, I've decided I'm moving to Maretropolis, but I'm gonna need a job first."
She looked up at her comrade. "Fluttershy told me you plan to open a bakery someday."
Mare-velous nodded. "Yeah, once I have the money."
"If it's money you want…"
She zipped off and then returned a second later with a large sack and dumped it out. Mare-velous' jaw dropped as golden bits piled up in front of her.
"Are my whole life savings enough?" Fili-Second asked. "Turns out when you're the only family in the rock business for miles around, you get a lot of business!" She snorted. "Ain't monopolies great?"
"I…" Mare-velous said, shaking her head. "I can't accept this. Nothing personal. Twilight offered to donate money too, but I can't accept charity. It won't feel right if I hadn't worked for it."
"Oh, I'm not just giving you the money. Not that I hate you, Mare-velous. In fact, after today, I like you a lot more than I did before, but I wouldn't just dump my life savings on one friend just like that!" She huffed. "I'm not stupid! This isn't a donation. It's an investment. I'm offering to be your partner. Not like a partner in the hero-biz like we already are, but partner in the baking-biz."
Mare-velous raised an eyebrow skeptically. "How do I know you can bake?"
Fili-Second smirked before zooming into the kitchen. Mare-velous watched as she rapidly opened and closed cabinets and dropped ingredients into a mixing bowl. When she finally stopped, there was a cake pan in the oven.
"Of course," Fili-Second said, "I can't rush the oven. I tried that once and I do not want to cause another nuclear explosion!" She looked at Mare-velous seriously. "I know I can be reckless sometimes, but I am a hard worker, especially when it's something I'm passionate about. And, you know, if we had our own business, we could open and close the place whenever we wanted to and not have to worry about getting in trouble with the boss for skipping work to fight bad guys because we'd be the bosses. So whaddya think?"
Mare-velous glanced at the cake in the oven, then back at her. "We'll see how the cake tastes first."
Fili-Second squealed as she threw her hooves around the other mare. "This is gonna be great, partner!"
Mare-velous flinched slightly at the physical contact, but she slowly smiled as she patted her new friend on the back. "Yeah. Partner."
It was nearly morning when Hope returned to her apartment, and she was about ready to collapse onto the couch. Before she did, however, she glanced around the room, checked that the blinds were closed and rolled over to Sombra's bedroom.
She magically opened the top drawer to his dresser and peered inside. Taking out all the bundles of socks, she found a tiny, corked vial containing purple liquid. Using her magic, she levitated it up to her face.
"I'll fix you, Sombra," she said, her eyes narrowing in determination. "No matter what it takes."