“I know who Anon-a-Miss is!” Rainbow Dash cried, leaping up out of her chair and sending her coffee flying.
The coffee cup flew off the table and landed on the floor, the contents dribbling all over the place.
“Who?” asked Sunset.
“It’s-” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5oazQh4DKA
“Bob the Builder!”
Can we build it?”
“Bob the Builder!”
“Yes, we can!”
“How can it possibly be Bob the Builder?” Pinkie Pie asked, confused.
Rainbow groaned. “Looks like somebody turned on the TV in the background.”
Applejack peered at the screen, confused. “That ain’t the Bob the Builder Ah remember.”
“It’s the new version,” Scootaloo told them. They all looked at her, perplexed. “What?” she asked. “Is it illegal to watch kid’s TV around here?”
“This sucks,” Apple Bloom groaned. “They missed a line out of the openin’ song!”
“And whatever happened to dear Robert?” Rarity exclaimed. “He looks so...awful!”
Suddenly, a line of dialogue left them utterly stunned. “You’re the best roller ever, Rolley!” said Dizzy, on the screen.
Sweetie Belle looked worried. “How come Dizzy has exactly the same voice as me?”
“I don’t understand why you all know children’s TV programs so well,” Fluttershy said.
“Because they rock!” Rainbow Dash smiled. “OK, maybe not that one. But I know Rarity still watches Hel-”
“RAINBOW DASH!” Rarity screamed.
“Can we get back on topic?” Sweetie Belle interrupted. “We still have a meanie to catch!”
“Yeah!” Scootaloo added. “And save Christmas while we’re at it!”
Applejack nodded. “We sure coulda done without this durin’ the holidays,” she admitted.
“Again, Applejack?” asked Sunset. “Why are you so afraid to call it Christmas?”
“Anyway,” Rainbow interrupted, “I know who Anon-a-Miss is. It’s the Sirens!”
There was a sharp intake of breath. “Not the Sirens!” the Crusaders chorused. Apple Bloom looked around. “Who are the Sirens?”
“You don’t remember?” Sunset asked. “Battle of the Bands?” The 3 younger girls shook their heads.
“Short version,” Pinkie cut in. “They tried to take the school over with their evil magic and caused us to fall out with each other because of Dash playing an egotistical song and that powered them up and caused them to turn into dragons which we then stopped with Sunset’s help and restored everything to how it should have been!”
“Remember they were being mind-controlled?” Rainbow added. “They won’t remember anything of those few days. But, we can now take our suspicions to the Police!”
“But before that,” Applejack said, “We have a slumber party ta go to.”
Rainbow facepalmed. “Ugh, you guys have such weird priorities.”
“It’s your house this time, Dash,” Fluttershy added.
“On one condition,” Dash said.
“What is that?” enquired Sunset.
“That these three get to attend. We’ve been leaving them out for too long.”
The others did agree, thankfully. It was a splendid occasion, although squeezing all 9 of them into Rainbow’s bedroom proved to be quite a challenge. In the end, most of the girls slept on the floor.
Most of them had a good night’s sleep, but I’m sorry to say that one girl didn’t.
Scootaloo screamed in agony as Misty broke another bone in her body.
“So pathetic,” Misty laughed. “You call yourself a sports star? You wouldn’t last 10 seconds out there.”
“Just let me go!” Scootaloo begged.
“You gotta suffer for your sins,” Misty laughed, producing an extremely sharp knife and cutting Scootaloo’s arm. Blood flowed down it like there was no tomorrow.
“DASH! HELP ME!” Scootaloo screamed.
“She’s not helping you,” Misty laughed, pulling forward a body. It was Rainbow. She was dead. Scootaloo recoiled in fright.
“Now you’re gonna join her,” Misty Fly laughed, and lunged for Scootaloo.
Scootaloo woke up screaming in the middle of the night. It woke almost everybody else up as well.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle pulled themselves out of their sleeping bags and rushed over to her, putting their arms around her. “It’s OK Scoots, we’re here for ya,” Apple Bloom told her in a reassuring voice.
Rainbow dropped down next to her. “What happened, Squirt?” she asked.
“I... I had a nightmare,” Scootaloo replied. “Misty Fly had killed you, and was about to do the same to me!”
“That’s not gonna happen,” Dash replied. “Are ya gonna be OK, or would you rather come up here?”
“I’ll go up next to you,” Scootaloo replied. “If that’s OK with you guys,” she said to her friends.
“Sure is!” Apple Bloom replied.
“Whatever makes you happy,” said Sweetie Belle.
A few days passed. It didn’t take a psychiatrist to spot that the incident had affected Scootaloo badly. She was constantly checking over her shoulder, and jumping at every conceivable noise, seemingly in constant fear of getting jumped.
One evening, Rainbow was over at Scootaloo’s house, as was normal when there was a ring at the door. Cheerilee went to get it.
On the other side of the door, was a man with brown hair in a military haircut, dressed in a grey shirt with blue jeans and brown boots. He looked to be in his 30s. “Hey, Cheers,” he said. “It’s good to be home.”
“Will!” Cheerilee cried, and pulled him into an embrace. They stayed that way until Will said, “Can I come in? I want to see my little superstar.”
It didn’t take him long, as Scootaloo tore down the corridor. “Dad!” She barrelled into him, nearly knocking him over.
“Hey, easy champ!” he laughed. “Man, you’ve grown so much since I last saw you.”
Rainbow walked into the corridor. “Hi, Mr Collins,” she said casually.
“We’re on first name terms here, Rainbow,” Will replied calmly. “You’re practically family. And I did make it home in time for Christmas.” He looked down. “So, what’s been going on whilst I’ve been away at Ramstein?”
Scootaloo’s face fell.
A good half-hour later, Scootaloo finished her story. Will nodded politely. “Great,” he sighed. “I leave one shitstorm just to end up in another.”
Cheerilee looked over. “Rather blunt, but puts it perfectly.”
Rainbow groaned. “And we’re no closer to catching the bastards!”
Cheerilee was about to chastise Dash for swearing, when there was another knock at the door. She went up to get it.
At the door was a tall, imposing man, dressed in a smart suit and trenchcoat. He had a wide-brimmed hat and wore glasses that made it impossible to see what he looked like. Even more unnerving was the pistol he had holstered on his belt.
“Is this the Collins household?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” Cheerilee replied.
“Excellent,” he said. “I wish to speak with you.”
“By all means, come in,” Cheerilee finished, and stepped back.
The stranger took off his coat and hat (in less than 7 seconds flat), and stepped into the living room. Scootaloo, Will and Rainbow looked over in surprise at their visitor. “Would you like somewhere to sit, Sir?” Scootaloo asked.
“Thank you, miss-?”
“Scootaloo. Scootaloo Collins.”
The man nodded. “Ah yes, I’ve heard your name before. You’re the girl who was in that article they ran in the Canterlot Times about that steam engine.”
“Me and my friends, yes,” Scootaloo answered. She got up and sat in another chair.
Cheerilee came back in with a tray. On it was a teapot, 5 mugs, and a plate of biscuits. “Would you like some tea, Sir?” she asked.
“Thank you,” he replied.
“I could always put out some of that Lebkuchen a friend of mine in the Luftwaffe gave me,” Will suggested.
“Luftwaffe?” asked the stranger.
Will felt he should give an explanation. “Captain William Collins, 86th Airlift Wing, 37th Squadron, US Air Force.”
“I see,” the stranger said.
“You wouldn’t mind explaining why you are here?” Cheerilee asked.
“Of course,” the stranger replied. “My name is Swift Order, I’m the Police Commissioner for Canterlot City Police Department.”
“Can I ask why you are visiting us?” Rainbow asked.
“It’s not to arrest any of you, if that’s what you're wondering,” Swift Order replied. “It’s connected to the Anon-a-Miss case.”
Nobody said a word.
“You may not be aware that the account is no longer bullying people. It’s started leaking personal information, and it’s efforts to imitate somebody else is turning this into a case of identity theft.”
“Is that where somebody uses somebody else’s identity to commit crime?” Scootaloo asked.
“That is correct. Identity theft is an extremely serious offence. I’m talking the 3 years in jail and $10,000 fine type of serious. I was told that one of you has a useful lead.”
Rainbow spoke up. “That was me. The three girls behind this are called Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. They used to be students of CHS, but were thrown out after the Battle of the Bands.”
“Was that the great blast of light I saw one night?” Swift Order asked. “Thank you for that information. Truth is, we already suspected them. The FBI gave me some useful tips in that regard. However, we need to get them red-handed.”
“And how do you intend to do that?” Cheerilee asked.
“A sting operation. We get somebody to agree to meet them, to exchange information for them to post, and then once the targets are confirmed, we swoop in and arrest them.”
He paused. “I was going to ask Scootaloo here if she would want to be the contact.”
“Me, sir?” Scootaloo asked, sounding surprised.
“Yes. You have a personal vendetta against Anon-a-Miss, so I thought that you would fit the bill rather nicely. Besides, you are in the right age range to be giving them secrets, so it would work.”
“Can we be on scene?” Cheerilee asked.
“I’d want you and Will with the cop cars,” Swift Order finished. “Dash will be needed as well, to give us crucial information on the targets.”
“I’ll do it,” Scootaloo answered. “They threatened not only me, but my family. I’ll get them back for this.”
One night later, Scootaloo stood in the cold in the middle of a railyard. She had arranged the information handover for 9PM, and shivered in her coat as she saw 3 individuals approach her. None of them dropped their hoods, but that wasn’t necessary.
Swift Order was in the command vehicle, now clad in SWAT gear. He switched his radio to communicate with his units. “Stryker 1, you copy, over?” he asked.
“Stryker 1, Ready for orders, over,” came the reply.
“Ghost 1, visual check,”
“Roger that, sir,” came the reply from a Sniper set up on a building. “Suspects are approaching the area now. Awaiting clearance to engage.”
“Hold fire for now. Only engage if things get nasty.”
“Roger, sir. Out.”
The 3 suspects walked over to Scootaloo. “You have what we want?” the first asked.
“Yes,” Scootaloo replied. “All the secrets you could possibly need.”
“Excellent,” said another. “I knew she wouldn’t let us down.”
“Confirm voice frequency,” Swift Order told one of his subordinates.
“Roger sir, checking voiceprints now." The voice matches came up on screen. “Confirming Adagio Dazzle and Sonata Dusk.”
“Awaiting confirmation on 3rd.” Swift Order changed channels. “Activating hidden camera.”
Little did anybody realise, but Scootaloo had a hidden camera on her coat. It gave a clear visual of their faces, confirming the third person.
“Sir, we have positive confirmation on Aria Blaze.”
Swift Order switched his radio to all units. “Stryker 1, move in!” he ordered.
The Dazzlings suddenly became aware of a large vehicle approaching them. “You sold us out!” roared Adagio.
“You’ll pay for that!” shouted Sonata, drawing a gun and firing it.
“Oh God, NO!” Dash screamed.
The bullet missed. By a country mile.
By this point, Stryker 1 had unloaded its squad, and they held the Dazzlings at gunpoint. “Halt!” called the squad commander. “We have a warrant for your arrest. Stand down, or you will be fired upon.”
“Screw that!” Aria replied. “Show them what we got!”
The three of them started singing a strange tune. This causes strange energies to coalesce, which formed together into a form most terrifying.
A humongous dragon.
Scootaloo ran for her life as it scorched the ground with its flames.
“What the fuck is that?!” shouted Swift Order. “All assets, you are cleared to engage, blow that Bastard to Kingdom Come!”
Stryker 1 opened fire on the target, the explosive shells from its autocannon impacting the target with furious detonations. Several squads formed up, and opened fire, but it simply seemed to annoy the creature.
“Warbird, are you on standby?”
“Copy, coming in with JDAMs.”
“Switch to Armour-Piercing.”
Swift Order changed orders again. “Warpig, where the hell are you?”
“Ready to roll,” came the reply.
“Engage target, switch to High Explosive.”
“Roger that. Time to open the butchers.”
The Abrams opened fire, the noise of its main guns deafening. The shells impacted the creature, fire and flames filling the skies. The monster roared in pain, as its scales were blown open, revealing soft flesh underneath.
“Lazing target!” shouted the squad leader, setting up a large box with a laser emitter.
Up in the skies, Warbird clearly saw the target. “Co-pilot, can you clearly see a Dragon down there?” he asked.
“Yes sir, cocktails sure are some weird shit.”
“Target co-ordinates received, prepare to release Payload.”
“Locked. Fox 1 and 2. Firing.”
Both sets of missiles dropped from the undersides of the Warthog’s wings, falling briefly before their rocket motors engaged. The flew forward, and then dropped down, flying faster and faster until they slammed into the dragon’s exposed flesh with the force of a thunderbolt.
The dragon was blown apart by the explosions, bits of it raining down on the railyard along with huge droplets of blood and gore.
Scootaloo had since retreated to the safety of the command vehicle. “You’re OK!” cried Cheerilee, hugging her daughter.
“Yeah, but those bastards got away,” Will added.
“We’re tracking them on the mainline. They stole a diesel locomotive and are currently making their way down the line towards Crystal City.”
“We have nothing that can catch them!” Scootaloo cried. “There’s nothing fast enough!”
Rainbow had been oddly silent up to this point. “There is a way,” she said cryptically.
Swift Order turned to her. “I’m listening,” he said.