A month has passed since the meeting with Rich and the final product of Flutterfly's new suit should be ready soon. Sky, Fluttershy, and Rarity were all waiting at the Boutique waiting for him. The three of them were sitting by the entrance, a sign saying CLOSED hanging outside the door.
No word has been exchanged for the past 4 minutes between the trio. Sky decided to kick things off.
"So, um... how long have you been... working?" He asked Flutterfly.
"Around 4 months." She answered, swinging her legs back and forth.
"You ever use guns?" Sky asked again.
"Once or twice, only in self-defense." Flutterfly answered again, avoiding answering what's really on Sky's mind.
Silence struck once again. Rarity decided to get up and do something, intentionally leaving the two alone.
"So, um... how did things go with your mother?" Flutterfly asked.
Sky chuckled.
"Cinch and I ended things on a dull note." Sky answered.
Flutterfly noticed how he answered.
"What do you mean by--"
A knock on the door stopped her question. Rarity stopped what she was doing and answered the door. Filthy Rich stood on the other side, holding a large suitcase.
"I think you're special package is here." Sky said to Flutterfly.
"Trust me, it is special. The suit was a trick, but I managed to pull it off." Rich set the case down and opened it using a code.
The suit was a sleek, chromium purple. The suit itself shone in the light.
"The armor is a thin D3O under a thicker kevlar tri-weave. The gloves have an electromagnetic pulse, which can hold up to 500 pounds. We were able to manage the flexibility problem-- I thought you'd like that. The helmet is ceramic plating, the hat sewn and welded into it. I also added a stealth prototype, which camouflages the suit into your environment, but for now, that's battery-charged." Rich stated.
Flutterfly was astounded by the suit, as was Rarity and Sky.
"Try it on, I assume the place has a fitting room?" Rich asked.
"Of course. Come, Fluttershy, let's get you suited." The two of them were off, leaving Sky and Rich alone.
"So, how long have you known Fluttershy?" Rich asked.
"Since I was a kid, before Mom was a principal. I went to Cloudsdale with Fluttershy, and I think Rainbow was there..."
Their conversation was cut off when Fluttershy came in in her new armor.
"Whoa..." Sky said in awe.
"Yes, I think it will work nicely." Flutterfly said as she tried to move around in it.
Flutterfly then decided to try out her flexibility; she did a handstand, a cartwheel, and a backflip.
"Now I know this will work. Thanks, Mr. Rich... I feel safer already." Flutterfly said.
The four of them spent a few moments admiring Flutterfly's suit until Shining Armor ran through the door.
"Flutterfly... they're at your parent's house."
That was all she needed to hear as she put on her mask and activated the voice modulator.
"Get in the car." Her voice was amplified and deepened.
They all got in the car and drove to Flutterfly's parents' house.
"Wait, why's Sky here?" Rich asked.
"Because he can fight. Here, wear this." Shining said as he held out a ski mask to Sky.
"No, I know where this goes. Once I start with this stuff, you'll want me back."
"It's not like that, we just don't want them seeing your face. This is a big gang, Flutterfly, we've been tracking them for months."
"Who are they?" She asked.
"They have military training, our guess is that a few of them were veterans. Back in the day, they were standard drug operators, dealing in metric tons. Now they're interested in all of the magical occurrences lately." Shining said, still holding the ski mask.
Sky finally took it and put it on.
"Who's in charge?" Sky asked.
"We don't know, all we know is their commander, she practically leads them already in every way but name. Her name is-“
"We're here, pull over." Mare-Do-Well said.
Rich pulled over and Mare-Do-Well, Sky, and Shining left the car. Rich was about to also leave the car when Shining stopped him.
"No, you leave us. If we need back-up, I got a SWAT ready to move in." Shining said.
"You got it." Rich drove off and the three moved in.
Shining handed a gun to Sky.
"Take this."
"No, I'm not killing anyone today." Sky said.
"You never know." Shining said as he waved the gun.
Sky took it and put it in his pocket.
"I'll move in through the roof, let's see how Rich's stealth technology holds up..." Mare-Do-Well said as she turned on her camouflage.
You couldn't see her unless you looked hard enough, which helped her. She started to run, which caused her to become more visible.
"Uh, Mare-Do-Well? I don't think his camo's gonna work if you move." Shining said.
She looked at herself and realized that if she moved, the illusion would be ruined.
"Well, he did say it was a prototype." She said as she deactivated her camo.
"Good luck, Mare-Do-Well." Sky said.
"You got it..." She tried to think of a name.
"Don't bother. As soon as this is over, I'm done." Sky said.
Mare-Do-Well nodded and jumped to the roof and jumped into the chimney.
"How about us?" Sky asked Shining.
"We got the boring job." Shining answered as he knocked on the door.
"CSPD, open up!" Shining said in a booming voice Sky never thought he had.
"Screw off, pig!" A familiar voice said inside.
"Hoops..."
"Wait... Damn, we gotta get in there!" Shining said as he kicked the door in.
The two ran in with their guns drawn and safeties off.
"You ever shoot, kid?" Shining asked.
"I used to shoot at a range once every week when I lost my eye. I never missed when I hit the second month." Sky smiled.
"Cool." Shining said as they went room to room.
They then heard a scream coming from the living room.
"Come on, let's go!"
The two made a run for it and saw Hoops and Dumb-Bell holding Flutterfly's family at gunpoint. Her father, her mother, and her brother all had the same face of terror.
"Hoops and Dumb-Bell, you can both walk away from this. Just drop your guns, and put your hands above your head." Sky said.
"Step any closer, and they die!" Hoops said, wearing a similar face of Flutterfly's family.
"You look scared, someone must've sent you here. We can help you out, just drop the guns, and--"
Hoops pulled the trigger, grazing Flutterfly's brother. Mare-Do-Well dropped from the ceiling onto Dumb-Bell, beating him repeatedly as Hoops pulls the gun on Sky. Then he pulled Flutterfly's mom to his side, holding the gun at her head.
"You make a move and I kill her!"
"Get away from her, you damn MONST--"
Fluttershy coughed, loudly and violently. She took off her helmet and blood shoots out her mouth as her voice box gets torn apart.
"Flutterfly!"
Hoops pulled the gun on Flutterfly, but Sky pulled the trigger, hitting Hoops right in the stomach, causing him to fall. Sky freezes as he drops the gun. His shock only stopped when he remembered about Flutterfly and runs to her, who stopped coughing.
"Flutterfly, you okay?" He asked.
Flutterfly tried to say "yes", but nothing left her voice, not even a whisper. She realized what happened and started to cry. She tried to scream but not a sound left her. Sky knew what this meant and held her, and begun to cry also.
Shining held a dying Hoops to the ground as he grabbed Dumb-Bell -who is struggling to breathe- and put them side-by-side.
"Who sent you? Who's responsible for this?!" He demands.
"T... Tempest. She sent us..."
Hoops lets out his last breath and Dumb-Bell does the same.
Flutterfly couldn't speak as she cries into Sky's arms. Zeypher Breeze woke up and saw the entire scene. He ran to his sister and joined the embrace, shortly followed by her parents.
"We gotta take her to the hospital..." Sky finally said.