//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Stormclouds and Snipers // Story: Hero factory; Equestrian Breakout // by SidwaysStraxus //------------------------------// "No the Clouds have to go here for the storm!!” Shouted a familiar, rainbow maned Pegasus. “You’re putting them way too low! They have to go higher” a fiery orange Pegasus snapped back “If they’re too high the heat will evaporate the water feather brain!” Rainbow Dash snapped back, pushing the cloud lower “If they’re too low, then the wind that’s coming through will push them away balsa wings!” The other Pegasus shouted as she shoved the cloud back up “The clouds are thick enough that they won’t move hot wings!” She shouts, shoving the cloud back “Then the clouds will be twice as hard to push back when the wind blows them away Rainbow Crash!” The Pegasus yelled, bucking the cloud back into place “Take that back radiator breath!” “Not a chance technicolor!” On the ground below, Applejack was pulling a cart of apples while Twilight told her about a letter she received from the princess. “So what y’all is saying is that one of them stars up in the night sky is gonna go super… what was it called again?” “supernova” the lavender unicorn replied. “it means that-” “look, spare the fancy science talk, it means it gonna explode right?” “yes, but-” “Look Twi, you got the point across when you said it’s gonna explode, that’s all I need to know.” Twilight sparkle sighed. “Twitchy tail!” Twilight looked over at the voice. Pinkie pie was standing on the other side of the market square by sugarcube corner. Twilight knew what that meant, her eyes quickly surveying the skies above, before noticing Rainbow dash and another Pegasus shoving a cloud back and forth. She looked down at Applejack who was passing under them completely unaware of the danger. Without wasting time Twilight rushed forward “Applejack!” Applejack turned to her friend“Twi I told you I get the poi-” Before she could finish her sentence Twilight sparkle tackled her out of the way just as the lightning cloud struck. *KA-THOOM* The lighting struck the cart Applejack was pulling just as Twilight tackled her away. Wood splinters and chunks of apples flew everywhere,and above it all was Rainbow dash and the other Pegasus shocked at what just happened. “Look what you did featherbrain!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We now look Into another universe, one quite different from the peaceful world of Equestria… it is filled with crime, the criminals here are the most destructive and menacing of all villains, but wherever the is villainy, a hero is there to stop it. However, our first character we meet will not be a hero, but a villain, whose deeds were stopped by these heroes. Thunder was grumbling to himself. The tall brutish silver armored bot hated the heat wave that had come over Makuhero city. The brutish villain was currently on community service duty after a roster had been put up on the holopads in the villain containment area. He had lept at the chance. The darkness of the cells was unbearable and the hum of the laser security system was slowly driving him crazy. But now he was thinking about his choice, would he rather have gone slowly mad in his cell, or would he have rather dealt with the noise for the air conditioned cell? “Well” he grumbled “too late to think about that now…” the service time he had signed up for was a construction job, several roads in the city were torn up from the rampage of a certain villain. “I swear” he silently thought to himself “if I ever get the chance, I will punch Core hunter in the face so hard, the only thing he’ll ever be hunting for is new optics” he continued his job, ripping up the old road, so a new one could be paved. “Break time!” a call sounded from behind him. He just grumbled, he wasn’t allowed to take breaks per se, but it did mean he could slack off a bit. He looked over his shoulder. With Thunder being outside the villain containment center, he had a hero assigned to watch him so that he wouldn’t try anything. Nex was chatting with the workers on break, the rookie hero not taking his assignment seriously. But Thunder wasn’t an idiot, he knew that if he even twitched so much in a direction away from the worksite, the rookies probes would alert him, besides he didn’t even want to try running away, he was surprisingly close to being released for “good behavior” (the guards didn’t notice the sucker punch he threw at Drilldozer after he kept him up all night complaining about having his drill taken away) and he wasn’t about to throw a chance like that away. “all citizens be advised” Thunder turned his attention to the radio that the workers were huddled around. “The villain known as Vapour has been spotted on the skyline of Makuhero city, if you have any knowledge to his current whereabouts, please contact hero factory immediately” Almost as if on cue he felt as if he was being watched. He glanced upward, not turning his head spotting the black and blue sniper on top of a building across the street. “great.” Thunder thought sarcastically “he’s trying to help me escape… idiot” he thought about how he could raise the alarm without letting Vapour know what he was doing. Apparently he didn’t have to think as Nex had noticed he had stopped working. “shouldn’t you be working?” the orange hero questioned. Thunder looked at him. He could barely see it, but the orange color of Vapour’s laser sight could be noticed on Nex’s shoulder. “does it feel like we’re being watched?” Thunder asked the hero. Nex just then noticed the sight on his shoulder. “SNIPER!” he shouted, quickly firing at the rooftop Vapour was perched on. The black and blue bot was startled, jumping out of the way revealing his presence to a lot more than Nex and the workers below. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a hero with gunmetal and orange armor flying towards him with a shoulder mounted rocket launcher. “Scrap” the irate sniper muttered. He was unaware of what Thunder pulled off, and he was very annoyed. “Are you going to give up peacefully? Or are we going to do this the hard way?” the hero shouted as he landed on the rooftop. “Well Bulk…” he said “why don’t you tell me” he threw a pale blue sphere filled with liquid in it towards the hero. Bulk had barely enough time to get away. The sphere hit the ground he was standing on moments ago and the roof they were standing on slowly began to rust. “oxidium grenades?” the hero shouted, jumping back to avoid falling through the roof. “liquid oxidium grenades my dumb brutish friend”, the villain sneered “they allow for a much more… controlled disintegration” Bulk figured he had to take out the villain before he could do any more damage to the building, or him. “first off” he started “I’m not your friend” he shot a rocket hitting the sniper square in the chest. The villain got back up quickly before bulk could act. “and second” he took aim at Vapour again “I’m not dumb” he fired the rocket, only for Vapour to sidestep the projectile. “That missed shot says othe-AUGH” the villain cried out and fell over, hit in the back with an ice blast shot, freezing him in place. Bulk quickly cuffed the villain and looked over the edge of the building to see that the rocket had exploded as it hit far below. He activated his commlink to report the news. “This is Dunkan Bulk, I have captured Vapour, and I am requesting a medical transport now, we may have possible civilian injuries.” He watched as the smoke cleared to see Thunder struggling to get up after the rocket had hit him dead on. “Scrap, that won’t be good for publicity” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I am deeply disappointed in both of you!” the mayor’s voice boomed Twilight sparkle was waiting outside the mayor’s office. Inside was Rainbow dash and the fiery orange pegasus, both of whom were being chewed out by mayor mare for their carelessness with the storm clouds had covered the market square with applesauce and splintered wood. Waiting with her were Pinkie pie, Applejack and Rarity. “I’m surprised to see the mayor in such a bad mood” Rarity finally broke the awkward silence “she’s usually so cheerful.” “Well if someone wound up making a mess of your house, you’d be mighty ticked as well.” Applejack mumbled. “But they didn’t mess up her house silly!” Pinkie pie butted in “That’s not the point Pinkie, they made a mess of the town, and she’s the pony in charge.” Applejack exclaimed. “A very delicious mess! There was applesauce everywhere!” “Please don’t remind me” Rarity mumbled. The applesauce had splattered as far as her boutique, just as she stepped outside to get some fresh air. A voice from outside town hall got their attention. “Common Frostbite, you’re not really that mad at Inferno are you?” a voice of a stallion sounded “Of course I am. We were both requested to assist with the rainstorm coming in and when I return from breakfast, the whole market is in a mess! I have told her many times to control her temper, and she never heeds my advice.” “Probably because she hates your guts bro.” “She ‘Hates your guts’ a lot more than mine Sparker-” A tall sky blue pegasus stallion with a black mask covering his face boomed as he opened the door , revealing himself and a yellow unicorn stallion behind him. “-and for the record, you are not my brother.” The unicorn grumbled as he entered the town hall “it’s a figure of speech.” The pegasus stallion turned his attention to the mares standing by the door to the mayor’s office. “Excuse me, is Mayor Mare in?” Twilight Sparkle looked at the stallion. He stood as tall as Big Macintosh, His snow white mane stuck out from his mask, his feathers appeared sharp and jagged, and an icicle cutie mark adorned his flank. As if to answer his question, the mayor once again raised her voice to the pegasi inside. Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes as she answered the stallion’s obvious question. “Gee, do you think?” Before the Pegasus could respond, the unicorn stallion interrupted him. “She means yes, Frostbite” the pegasus simply nodded, and sat down by the door. The unicorn stallion turned to twilight. “He doesn’t understand sarcasm… or idioms… or any sort of metaphor.” “I see…” the lavender mare replied. She looked back at the pegasus who stared intently at the door to the office. Pinkie pie bounced over and tried to question him as she questioned all new ponies, however the stallion simply stared at the door with stoicism that would make even the royal guard jealous. “The mayor isn’t really in a good mood is she?” Twilight sparkle turned back to the unicorn stallion. He stood the same height as her, he had a yellow coat similar to fluttershy’s, a darker yellow mane, bright green eyes, a caution sign yellow miner’s helmet and a solid yellow thunderbolt cutie mark. “Not at all” She began “a friend of mine got in an argument with another pegasus over the positioning of some storm clouds, and wound up causing lightning to strike a cart of apples.” “Let me guess, bright orange coat, fiery red mane, and a fire cutie mark? Sounds like Inferno to me” the stallion questioned. Twilight blinked “how did you-” “She’s my sister…” he grumbled “she’s stubborn, prideful, and has a hairpin trigger temper, but she only wants to help.” He looked like he was going to continue, but was interrupted by a sudden outburst from Pinkie pie. “Ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch!” Sparker turned towards the pink earth pony. “Is there something wro-”He was promptly cut off by the door swinging open in his face as the pegasus named Inferno stormed out angrily. Pinkie Pie began to bounce after her, presumably to ask the same questions she tried to ask of Frostbite. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I-” “I’m busy” The pegasus snapped at her before charging out the front door and taking flight. Pinkie, blissfully unaware of the cold reception from the fiery pegasi, just smiled and waved as she flew away “okay! I’ll talk to you later!” Rarity and Applejack were helping poor Sparker up from the unexpected blow to his face. “Such horrid manners! It’s just disgraceful!” “Disrespectful!” continued Frostbite, who had watched the scene unfold. “dis- uh… dis… aw heck with it, just plain wrong!” Applejack ended bluntly. This earned her a look from Rarity. Frostbite then walked into the mayor’s office. “Miss mayor, I believe you sent for me?” he kindly asked. “Ah yes, Frostbite please take a seat.” She gestured to a chair next to the one Rainbow Dash sat in. The Stallion complied and gave a nod to Rainbow Dash, as if to say “hello”. “Now as you are aware of by now, both Rainbow Dash and your sister Inferno-” “She’s not my sister” he interrupted. “She and I are not related by bloodline.” The Mayor nodded. “Well the point is they don’t get along well at all, and Inferno needs to learn how our weather team works, so I want you to take Rainbow dash and bring the town some rainclouds from the north, where the weather is cooler.” “But I was supposed to help bring in the storm front in Tonight!” Rainbow Dash complained. “With the delay you two caused with those rainclouds, you should be back on time.” The mayor replied, a hint of anger in her voice. Rainbow Dash quickly shied away, embarrassed of her mistake. Frostbite then spoke up. “Mayor Mare, Inferno is a rather… sensitive mare, and she hardly learns from mistakes… and while I’m not around to keep an eye on her I believe she will need a mentor to help her control her temper and carelessness.” The mayor sighed. “all of the pegasi are helping to put the storm together; the only one available is Fluttershy…” “But she’ll be terrified of her!” Rainbow protested “She’ll be fine.” Frostbite replied sternly “Inferno may be irate, but she would never lash out at a mare, especially one she doesn’t know.” “It’s settled then” the Mayor decreed. “Now, I want you two back by tomorrow with those rainclouds from Stable town, Otherwise there will be consequences.” “Yes ma’am” the two pegasi replied, before turning and leaving the town hall. “Twilight Sparkle, Sparker.” The mayor called. The two unicorns glanced inside the office. “Send for Fluttershy and Inferno please, I wish to speak to them.” “Yes mayor mare” Twilight replied, however Sparker just groaned and went off to find his sister. The mayor looked outside the office as the grumbling stallion and the element bearers left the town hall. “hopefully that will be all the trouble for today…” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bulk and Nex walked back into the command center of hero factory after locking up Vapour and returning Thunder to his cell. “I’m just saying…” Nex continued “there’s just something wrong about that staff.” The staff in question was the black hole staff of Von Nebula, which was used against him to seal him inside the staff itself utilizing its mysterious powers. “and the way the villains look at it, it’s just eerie.” Bulk sighed. He wasn’t very fond of the fast talking enthusiastic hero. Of the three rookies he commonly worked with, Nex wasn’t his favorite. If he had to have a partner, he would take another experienced hero, or at least Evo. But the rookie had a point. There was just something wrong about that staff. He looked around the command center. No heroes were bustling about, and the mission commanders were focused at their terminals. He walked over to Zib, one of the mission commanders he worked frequently. “Where is everyone Zib?” Zib looked up “There’s been a large amount of crime sprees in the farther reaches of the galaxy, almost everyone has been dispatched to take care of it.” he stated “The only ones who are not on mission detail are Furno, Evo, Stringer, Stormer, Breez, Surge, and you two. Rocka just finished capturing Voltix as well. Oh and how well did the new armor work out for you Bulk? It’s still only in the prototype stage, and we have very high hopes for it.” Bulk rolled his eyes. Talking with mission controllers was never a good experience for him. “It worked perfectly fine, other than the ache in my shoulders it’s giving…” “It was for protection from Vapour’s high powered sniper rounds, one shot to your neck, and you would have been deactivated in an instant!” Zib snapped back. “But I’m still glad the armor worked out, soon it will be ready for all the heroes.” “Yeah, where’s Stringer? We were gonna play a round of robo-ball.” An incredibly loud guitar riff coming from research development answered his question, several of the mission commanders covering their ears. Zib turned back to Bulk. “He’s been working on a new weapon after Core hunter ruined his sonic cannon… but knowing his taste in weaponry it sounds like it will work just fine.” Nex grumbled. “I still can’t believe that core hunter got away.” The door then opened up, Rocka walking into the room with the villain Voltix in tow, and Furno following close behind. Bulk couldn’t help but feel that the villain was smirking at something as the two heroes led him away.