Canterlot:
It was a quiet night in the city of Canterlot. Cold as well, with so few people out and about willing to brave Maine’s harsh winters. A light wind blew through the trees, making them whistle in the wind, as gentle flurries of snow fell down on the ground.
For the most part, all was quiet. Very few cars were on the street that lonesome night, except for the occasional driver going home for the night in his or her sedan or pickup. Nothing really noteworthy, for the most part.
For the most part.
“Little bitty pretty one
Come on and talk to me
Lovey dovey, lovely one
Come sit down on my knee
“I'll tell you a story
Happened long time ago
Little bitty pretty one
I've been watchin' you grow…”
A car’s radio sang softly in the night. A soft revving of an engine was heard as an almost pure white form turned the corner of a street. Almost pure white, with crimson red detailing on the hood, and small dark purple highlights on the doors and bumper. Silver rims accompanied that, as if to top things all off.
The engine revved a few times more, as if the driver was just showing off his car’s power. Which, given the make and model of the car -A 2001 Lamborghini Diablo to be exact- was probably entirely expected. After all, you had a high powered Supercar, you didn’t just have it sit in the garage all day now did you? No, you took it out for a drive and showed it and your money off.
Course, this did come with it’s cons, as anything did in life. It also gained you derision as a huge show-off and possibly a playboy with money to burn and not much sense.
As was the thoughts running through the head of one Indigo Zap as she walked down a silent street past a shop. A dark blue haired girl, with arctic blue streaks running through her hair and goggles hanging around her neck, she was dressed in a maroon bomber jacket to protect her from the cold.
She rolled her eyes at the sight of the car, and shook her head.
“Honestly,” she thought to herself. “Could you get any more ostentatious than that in a car? ...Well, suppose if you were driving a Bugatti maybe. One in chrome gold, perhaps. That would be even worse.”
She chuckled, she’d heard on the news a while back some rich rapper had bought exactly that. She idly wondered for a brief moment if this Lambo passing by was owned by the same dude, until she remembered said rapper didn’t live anywhere near Maine. California, possibly. Probably in Los Angeles or somewhere like that. Sunset Boulevard, and the Hollywood Hills. That and Las Pegasus were the place for cars like that.
“Least it’s not blaring the music loudly, that’s a relief,” Indigo remarked before admitting privately to herself: “Actually, it’s not that terrible. Kinda catchy, really… Swear I’ve heard this in some movie somewhere at one of Lemon’s movie nights.”
Another gust of wind blew, and she shivered and brought her arms closer to herself. “Damn weather, can’t believe I had to be out this late, and all just to see a movie… A bad one at that! ...Seriously, can’t really see what everyone sees in these Superhero flicks. Gotta agree with Sugarcoat on this one, just a lot of special effects and other eye-catching things with very little plot. ...Honestly, Martha? What kind of stupid plotline was that?” she mentally ranted to no one in particular. She swore she was going to kill Lemon for recommending that film, slowly and painfully. “...Least that car/tank in the film was cool, and you could clearly tell the actor for the main villain was having fun with his character.” Indigo thought to herself as she shivered once again. Suddenly, she noticed something, a certain sound had gone eerily quiet.
She took a look back behind her, and saw that the car was gone. Must have turned down another street corner, she surmised.
Of course, when she looked in front of her, Indigo found her eyes widening in shock. There it was, the Lamborghini right in front of her. She let out a soft yelp of surprise, not able to figure out exactly how that car had vanished and then reappeared in front of her so fast. Indigo’s arm found itself forcing its way up to shield her eyes from the headlights.
“Woah, dude!” Indigo shouted in annoyance. “Dim those lights of yours, man!”
Her eyes couldn’t see through the front window of the car to see who exactly was driving. Whether they were tinted, or it was just due to the dark of the night, she couldn’t tell. On the hood, there lay a purple detail of some mean looking robotic face, purple in color with sharp angles.
Then she heard a very distinctive roar, the sound of the Lamborghini’s engine revving up and her eyes widened in shock and horror as she realized what the driver was planning on doing.
“You… You gotta be freaking kidding me!” Indigo whispered.
Indigo’s feet started moving, fast as they could. As she ran, she heard the distinctive roar of the Lambo’s engine behind her, and tires squealing as it chased after her down a back alleyway. A garbage can was hit, and sent flying. Some of its contents hit Indigo, but she was too focused on running for her life to care about that.
Indigo found herself on Main Street, past the local KO Burger joint she worked at in her off-time to make a buck or two. Meaningless job, but right now she wished she was doing the monotonous task of flipping patties and dealing with grumpy customers and whiny kids instead of this.
She turned to look behind her as she rounded another corner, and saw the mysterious Diablo was still in hot pursuit like a car out of the Fast and Furious series. In the back of her mind, she remembered what it’s name stood for.
Devil.
“Great, going to die by a mad driver before I even hit twenty…” Indigo deadpanned, at least trying to make some humor before her demise.
Of course, for every devil or demon… There was an angel. In this case, it came in the form of yet another car ironically enough.
Red and blue lights were in the corner of Indigo’s eyes, and police sirens filled her ears. A black and white car came out of nowhere and slammed the mysterious Lamborghini in the side, sending it smacking into the wall of a building. Tires squealed, and smoke rose up as it took its leave, with the police car taking chase after it.
Indigo fell to her knees, and let out a little sob of relief, as sweat trailed down her face. Suddenly she wasn’t so cold anymore. As she picked herself up off the sidewalk, and started her long walk home, she would later realize one crucial detail about her savior.
It was an old Nissan Fairlady Z, something everyone knew wasn’t used as a police car in America...
Crystal Prep Academy:
Crystal Prep’s cafeteria was quite lively today. Many of the tables on the ground floor had students occupying each seat, with only a handful of open spaces left. Every table on the mezzanine was completely taken, with students chattering among themselves as they dug into some of the high-quality food. The place itself was relatively tidy, with not a single wrapper, piece of food, or cutlery piece thrown to the ground.
The food counters to the right were also being handled in an orderly fashion. There was a much wider variety of foods on offer, with some dishes other schools would only dream of serving. Every student by the counters pointed out what they wanted, with the lunch staff almost immediately procuring it for them. Once they made it to the end, they whipped out their cash and credit cards and swiftly paid the cashier before voyaging out to the tables.
There was a large skylight above the room with a chandelier hanging from it. The fixture in question was gold with a few streaks of purple, so as to represent the school’s headlining sports team; the Shadowbolts. Despite the rain pattering down on the glass above, the place was still breathtaking and made all of the students feel tiny in comparison.
Nearby, a girl with dark pink colored skin dressed in a red sweater was banging her head loudly to rock music blared through her headphones. Her hair was a distinct lime green, identifying her as one Lemon Zest. ...That is if the headphones and her singing loudly hadn’t given that away already.
“After all is said and done, you've never walked, you've never run
You're a winner!
Got the moves, you know the street. Break the rules, take the heat!
You're nobody's fool!
“You're at your best, when the going gets rough!
You've been put to the test, but it's never enough!
You got the touch, you got the power!
When all hell's breakin' loose, you'll be right in the eye of the storm!
“You got the heart, you got the motion!
You know that when things get too tough, you got the Touch!” Lemon sang, throwing up the peace sign as she continued banging her head before mimicking an air guitar. Nearby, a head thudded against a table. That head belonged to a bluish gray-skinned girl, with her opal hair tied in twin pigtails.
“Really Lemon?” Sugarcoat asked, taking off her glasses and rubbing her temples in annoyance. A classic quirk of hers when faced with situations like this. Unsurprisingly, a few involved Lemon’s… energetic personality. “Not all of us want to hear your music, or your singing.”
“Hey, not like there’s some woman with a stick up her ass that’ll come bearing down on my any second like the Batman to tell me off anymore.” Lemon deadpanned, and Sugarcoat smirked a little at that.
She had to admit, ever since Cinch got the sack, everything at Crystal Prep had gotten better, Cadence was much more free-spirited really, and allowed the students to loosen up more. In fact, she encouraged it. Up to a point anyways. Sugarcoat smirked, as she still remembered the day Cinch got tossed out on her ass…
“You’re doing what?!” Cinch bellowed, slamming a hand on her desk in anger. The little globe on it rattled from the force of the strike.,
“Forget any talk of worming your way out of this one, Abacus,” Superintendent Faust said as she lowered her brows and crossed her arms. “The evidence here is proof positive that you’ve been abusing your power to suit your own ideals.” she slung a dossier across Cinch’s desk, which opened up to reveal notes and letters that had been written by her own students. Twilight’s one, unsurprisingly, was at the bottom of the folder.
In the back of the room, seemingly blending in with the shadows was a dark-skinned woman in a nice suit—Government issued, it looked like—with long, dark blue hair, opal eyeshadow and dark green eyes that seemed to stare right into your very soul. Her name was (Very) Special Agent Chrysalis, -At least that’s what she’d like everyone to call her- direct from the FBI.
“And,” Chrysalis continued, holding up a video camera—Borrowed from one of the students who wished to go unnamed—“Must we forget this?”
She played the video recorded on the camera, depicting Midnight Sparkle, as some had started to call her, opening up gates to another reality, and facing off against an angelic girl with flaming red hair.
“Can’t exactly ignore something like that happening under your watch, can we?” Chrysalis sneered.
“You have no right to intrude on matters that aren’t your own!” Cinch threw her arm behind her. “I demand to speak with my lawyer!”
“He’s not coming!” Faust shouted in Cinch’s face, knocking her back into the chair. “The point is, YOU did this, Abacus. You single-handedly risked the fate of the world over a silly little sporting event and even had your students push a teenage girl into using a power she didn’t understand,” she said. “Do you know how… insane that is?”
“Not the word I’d use…” Chrysalis muttered to herself quietly as Faust took a few calming breaths.
“And to think, you then wanted our help to put Canterlot High in a negative light. That alone warrants you being kicked from the board itself, and blacklisted from the educational system…” Faust wasn’t always this angry, but something inside of her had snapped. Child endangerment was always something that really pissed her off. “If you have any last words before you’re thrown out, say them. Otherwise, I would ask that you leave this school immediately, so that we may welcome our new principal.”
Cinch growled, and spat in Faust’s face. “Go to hell. And another thing, what’s the government got to do with just a simple school matter?”
“Blackmail is a serious offense, Abacus, I asked Chrysalis to come here personally so she could deal with you,” Faust said before she stepped back and let Chrysalis walk forward. “Who knows what your sentence will be?”
“Honestly, my insides are screaming at me to just poison your water or food, as considering half of what you pulled…” Chrysalis trailed off. “I’m not above doing some very unsavory things, haven’t always been an FBI agent. Worked with wetworks before, so I’ve done so things that would make even the darkest of people wake up screaming,” she said in a low tone, and Cinch nervously swallowed. “But considering that part of me isn’t needed here, I think simply firing you and blacklisting you from any school should suffice, don’t you think?” Chrysalis asked, turning back to her old friend, and looking her dead in the eye. It was a warning look, for Faust to tone things down and start acting in a more professional manner.
A few minutes later, Cinch was seen by everyone in the school, teachers and students alike peeking out of their classrooms, as she walked from her office in shame -Head hung low- and out towards the parking lot towards her car.
Nearby, a student with cyan skin and purple hair that had been cut short, wearing Crystal Prep’s uniform was sobbing quietly to herself. She’d heard everything from outside the office door and had fled the scene as soon as she heard what was going to happen to her mom. Faust put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her kindly as she helped her up off the floor.
“...Did, did we really have to do that? I… I mean, she was my mom and all and. What she did was horrid I admit, but getting her blacklisted?” Sunny asked.
“Sunny, if we let her get into another place of education, it would only repeat. She would do it again, and we can't allow that, can we?” Faust replied, giving the poor girl a look of sympathy. “I know this is hard for you to understand, but you did the right thing." she sighed to herself.
“Did I really?” Sunny asked, not believing that for a moment.
“You admit that what she did was wrong, and you disagreed with it. You stood up to her," Faust nodded. "You realized that what she was doing was hurting people, and you stopped her. Yes, that was a good thing.”
"What if what she’s learned from this enough? What is this is too extreme?" Sunny mumbled "It's just as wrong for her punishment to be unfair. Do you think this fair?"
“Perhaps not,” Faust admitted as she pulled her into a hug. “Perhaps maybe I was too harsh, I don’t know. It’s never easy, these things.”
“I… I didn’t mean for her to get fired! Honestly, I didn’t!” Sunny sniffled as she sobbed into Faust’s shoulder. “I… I just wanted her to face charges for what she did! Reel her in, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah… But you must understand, what your mother did was wrong, and she needed to face punishment for this. Child endangerment, blackmail…” Faust trailed off.
“Yeah, I suppose…” Sunny sniffled.
“Now stand up tall, that’s how a Crystal Prep student’s supposed to be right? Standing tall and proud? Eyes forward, never looking back and striving to better themselves?” Faust asked and Sunny nodded.
As the young student walked off, Chrysalis returned, and watched Sunny’s retreating form with a look of worry.
“She going to be alright?” the Special Agent asked in concern.
“Honestly, I don’t know…” Faust admitted. “We did just fire her mom, after all. Kept her from working in any school system ever again. And what if Cinch finds out who provided the footage?” she asked worriedly, and Chrysalis put a hand on her shoulder.
“She won’t, at least I hope not,” the FBI agent replied. “And if that does happen, we’ll worry about it then.”
“Yeah…” Faust replied, still looking upon the young girl with worry. She reminded her far too much of a younger Chrysalis for her own liking… Maybe that wasn’t such a terrible thing at times, but it was still a cause for concern…
“Hey, you still worrying?” Chrysalis asked, snapping her friend back to reality.
“N-No, I’m fine.” Faust replied.
“Really?” Chrysalis asked, looking at her friend with a raised eyebrow. “Come on, I’ll buy you some drinks, maybe that’ll loosen your nerves.”
Faust actually laughed at that. Always trying to get a woman into bed with her, Chrysalis was.
“At this hour?” Faust teased. “You really are desperate aren’t you?”
“...Well, you know how it is,” her friend replied, a slight blush gracing her features. “Hard to find a good date half the time. Harder still to find one that can… keep up shall we say.”
Faust just rolled her eyes.
“Hey, something wrong?” Sugarcoat asked, as she took note of the look on Indigo’s face, one of worry and fear. “Seem distracted, Lemon’s music didn’t even get to you, and you always, and I mean always pay attention to her music no matter what it is…”
Inwardly, she suspected Indigo may have had a crush on Lemon, but she needed more evidence to confirm her theory.
“Yeah man, have to agree with Sugarcoat here, you seem like something’s bugging away at you,” Lemon put in. “Haven’t seen you this worried or distracted since the last big game.”
“Sorry, it’s just…” Indigo began, not sure where to start.
“Hey, take your time. We’re all friends here, and we’re patient.” Lemon reassured, patting her friend on the shoulder as she sat down next to her, pulling up a chair.
“Last night… had an encounter.” Indigo began shakily, and her friends all shared nervous looks. Sugarcoat sucked in a breath.
“Was it with a man… Did he try and…?” Sugarcoat asked, not wanting to finish the sentence. All conversation at the table stopped right then and there.
“Wasn’t like that,” Indigo reassured her friends, and a few sighs of relief were heard. “Although it could have been a man, or a woman. Couldn’t see.”
“Couldn’t see what?” Sugarcoat pressed.
“The driver of the car who tried to run me down,” Indigo replied, and more gasps came from her friends.
“Dude, are you kidding?” Lemon asked, her voice nearly a shout before it lowered and became one of concern. “Seriously, tell me you’re kidding us.”
“Wish I was. Think I saw my life flash before my eyes once or twice...” Indigo muttered. “Didn’t get the license plate number, sadly. Too scared out of my mind to look.”
“Wonderful…” Lemon muttered in response. “Did you at least get the make and model of the car so we can at least try and sue their asses off?”
“Early 2000s Lamborghini Diablo, heavily customized from the look of it. White, with red and purple detailings and silver rims,” Indigo explained. “Never seen one around here, now that I think of it.”
“Well, if it’s a new guy, or girl in town with this kind of car, should be easy enough to track down. Not like many of these cars exist really…” Sugarcoat muttered. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, and this is where it gets really odd… Right before he or she could run me down, this old Nissan in police livery rammed it in the side door,” Indigo said. “Like really old, classic car.”
“Okay, a classic Nissan in police deco?” Sugarcoat asked, and Indigo nodded before a thought came to her.
“...Actually, now that I think of it, I didn’t see the driver of the Nissan either…”
Right then and there, Sugarcoat whipped out her phone.
“Who you calling?” Lemon asked.
“Old alumni of ours… Transferred over to CHS, you might know her.” Sugarcoat replied as she looked through her contacts list.
“Wait, you don’t mean…?” Lemon trailed off, eyes widened.
“Yeah, Twilight Sparkle. If anyone knows anything about technology of this level, it’s her.”