//------------------------------// // The Saddle Row Review // Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S6 // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// It was another beautiful day in Ponyville, calm and peaceful...this is, except a certain storm on the horizon. The mane seven, minus Rarity, and the twins were running through the town as fast as they could, Rainbow leading the pack. "Come on!" She told the others. "If we hurry, we can get there before the paper's even delivered to Rarity's house!" "Maybe she won't read the article," Pinkie added in a surprising timid voice for her. "Ah'm pretty sure Rarity's gonna read any review of her new boutique in Manehattan," Applejack responded back. "Augh! I still can't believe we all just blabbed everything that happened to that reporter!" Rainbow yelled while rubbing the sides of her head. "What were we thinking?!" Fluttershy did a long gulp at this, "I just hope it doesn't end up being an article about how her friends almost ruined the opening." "At least you were there to help," Flash added. "It's not like it was your fault," Soul commented. "Yeah! I mean, we managed to catch the bad guy!" Heart pointed out as they reached the shop. "Though I doubt Rarity will care about that if the review's bad." Twilight was the first to reach the shop, stopping at the door before turning to give everypony a sympathetic look. "I think you're all overreacting. Rarity's our friend. If anypony is gonna understand, it'll be her." She then knocked on the door, only for it to open and reveal a grim faced Rarity. "I was wondering when all of you were going to show up." Everypony gasped, only to then see a giant grin appear on Rarity's face as she held up a newspaper. "Now we can all read the review together!" She zipped inside as the others tried to follow, Flash spotting Lightning in the corner. "How bad is it?" He asked the unicorn. "Beats me." Lightning shrugged, "She hasn't put that thing down since it arrived. Too excited to see what it says about her store." "We're dead," Heart gulped as Rainbow flew over to Rarity. "Um, I have an idea....how 'bout we don't read it?" The fashion mare raised an eyebrow as Twilight spoke up. "What she means is," She grabbed the paper in her own magic, pulling it away, "Before you read it, we should probably tell you about-" "No, no, darling." Rarity yanked the paper back, "Please, no spoilers," she opened it up as Fluttershy spoke up. "But-" "NO SPOILERS!" She screamed, making the others backpedal in fear as she grabbed her glasses off a table. "Now, is everypony ready to hear what I'm sure is a stellar review that describes in stunning detail exactly how each of you contributed to the successful opening of Rarity For You?" "You know," Flash and Heart backpedaled, "I think I hear Springer calling for some assistance. Maybe another timberwolf attack." But as they spun around, two magic auras covered their tails, yanking both back. "You're not getting out of this that easily," Twilight whispered, Soul nodding in agreement before they all smiled back at Rarity. Rarity then cleared her throat as she began to read the paper aloud, "Many a pony has tried their hoof at joining the ranks of the elite fashion trendsetters currently ensconced in the boutiques of Manehattan's famed Saddle Row." She let out a giggle at this. "Some might say it's the ultimate achievement in Equestrian fashion, and never before has a reporter been granted such unfettered behind-the-scenes access until now!" Fluttershy took this second to shrink down to her mouse size, flying over to a nearby dress rack, the miniaturized pony hiding herself in one of the dress's pockets before poking her head out. "I wish it was more fettered." Rarity continued to focus on the paper for several seconds, skimming through the rest of the intro before exclaiming, "Ah! Here we go...I sat down with..." She let out another girly giggle, "Rarity and her friends after the opening to get the inside scoop, and what a scoop it was!" The night of the opening... It had been a crazy day, but Rarity's third store was open for business. The grand opening had been a...well, it wouldn't be classed as a smashing success. Currently, Rarity was sitting in a diner with a news stallion that went by the name of Buried Lede. "Okay, kid," He told her while taking out a notepad. "Ya successfully opened a shop in Manehattan, and that's no mean feat! Most ponies might wonder what it feels like." Rarity opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted, "Here's how it's gonna be: I'm gonna interview you and your friends so I can paint a picture of how it all came together. A word picture, mind you, not an actual picture. Any questions?" "Well, I was wondering-" "Let's get started!" He interrupted again, "Miss Rarity, you've got shops all over Equestria, but this was your first time trying to make it in the big city. What made ya think you could tackle it on your own?" "Well, I wouldn't say all over Equestria. I just have two other boutiques: One in my hometown of Ponyville, and one in Canterlot. Uh, still, when I decided to open this one, I was nothing but confident." --- Fast forwarding, Twilight now replaced Rarity in the seat, taking a sip of coffee. Once she was done, she gave Buried Lede a shaky smile. "Let's just say that if I could choose, I probably wouldn't do it that way again. Heh." --- Fast forwarding again, Pinkie was now in the booth. "Well, it wasn't the funnest party ever..." --- "It was a plum-puckered, pig-pushin' disaster!" Applejack announced in her interview. --- "I was told it wasn't the smoothest set up," Flash commented during his interview. "But hey, we've met with tougher challenges." --- Rainbow laughed as she leaned back in her seat. "After a lifetime of awesome, I think everypony's allowed to mess up every now and then, right?" She glanced back at the reporter, seeing him scribbling something on his notepad. "Wait, are you writing this down?" --- "Manehatten's a tough place," Lightning added, "It's known to throw challenge after challenge at anypony trying to make it here. The only way to make it is to be tough and unyielding." --- "Um..." Fluttershy muttered as she twiddled her hooves, "It didn't go exactly how I thought it would, but it, um, started out all right." Even earlier that day... Rarity was leading their group of ten through the street toward her new store. "Welcome to Saddle Row!" She announced as the rest glanced around, seeing ponies wearing differing styles of clothing as they strode down the road. "An entire street lined with the most fashionable boutiques in all of Equestria!" Applejack raised her eyebrow at this, "If it's supposed to be the most fashionable block of shops, where's Stinky Bottom's Discount Hat Emporium?" Rarity strained to hold back a frown. "I...suppose it didn't make the cut." She then gasped in joy, "Here it is!" She pointed to an apartment building with the store the unicorn had purchased situated at the bottom. "Rarity For You!" "Huh..." Lightning commented, "This building looks familiar." "It's really pretty," Soul whispered before looking away, "Especially compared to the rest of this city. This place is just so big." She felt herself shrinking, "It's kinda too much." "Doesn't seem all that different from Canterlot," Heart added. "Maybe..." Soul muttered, "But that place wasn't as...lively as this city." "You get used to it," Flash chimed in before turning to the door of the shop, "But maybe you should stay inside until then." Soul nodded as Rarity opened the door, the filly walking in first before suddenly coughing at the dust that covered the area inside. The rest followed inside, now seeing a total mess inside with cobwebs covering every section of the place, shelves that barely hung onto the walls, and even a mouse or two. "Great..." Lightning coughed, "A dust bunny paradise." Rarity rolled her eyes while Twilight turned to her, "Rarity, it's...lovely, but are you sure you'll be ready to open tonight?" At that moment, Pinkie walked over to a dusty crate, accidently breathing some dust in. She then sneezed, blowing more dust all over the place...and covering everypony. "No need to fret over a mere moderate amount of preparation," Rarity told them as all but Fluttershy shook the dirt off of themselves. "My clothes will arrive soon, my sales associate after that, and with a little...dusting, we'll be ready for the grand opening tonight." She grabbed a few brooms and passed them over to her friends, only to hear a voice call out her name in a Russian accent. "Rarity!" They all turned to see a pair of ponies step inside, this one being Rarity's landlord. "So good to see you! Your store, it's going to be a very good place, I think!" He commented while letting out a laugh. "Mr. Stripes owns the building," Rarity told Buried Lede. "He's a very pleasant landlord, although he can be pushy at times." The reporter raised an eyebrow, "Okay, all the time." "You've met my daughter?" He asked while a younger female earth pony walked up to them, "The apple of my ear, the hay in my hoof? You will let her work with you?" Rarity blinked at this, only to quickly mask herself with a nervous chuckle. "Well, I would like to but, I'm dreadfully busy preparing for tonight's grand opening, as you can see." She gestured to the rest of the store. "Yeah," Lightning trotted past while sweeping up, "She doesn't really have time to train somepony from scratch right now." Mr. Stripes glared at the Rarity, "There are only two things I love more than being pushy." He pulled the mare, Plaid Stripes, over to him. "One is my daughter." He then held up a hoof, showing Rarity a range of teeny tiny chairs and stools. "The other is miniature doll furniture. And I would sell my entire mini-furniture collection to make my daughter happy." He put a hoof around Rarity's neck, "You understand?" Rarity stared at him for a minute, then glanced over at Plaid as she smiled back with ditsy ignorance. "I'm sorry but...I just don't think it's going to be possible." Mr. Stripes let out a snort, "Let me say another way." He slammed his nose into hers, "Hire her or I raise rent until you no can afford!" "Oh...well..." "Hey! That's blackmail!" The Knight of Friendship yelled. "No," Mr. Stripes shook his head, "That is business." The two began to glare at one another, Rarity fearing he might do something that could get her kicked out. "Welcome...aboard," she told her new employee. Plaid smiled back before gesturing her to move closer, "First idea!" She yelled into Rarity's ear, almost deafening the poor mare. "Instead of clothes, we sell glow-in-the-dark teeth! Like this." She made several biting motions, "But they glow in the dark!" Everypony watched as Rarity's eye twitched. "Golly, what a...splendid idea!" "Glow-in-the-dark teeth!" Rarity exclaimed to the reporter. "What was she thinking?!" "Sounds like quite a conundrum," the reporter replied, "But with your friends there, I'm sure everything would be fine." "Yes..." Rarity sighed before taking a sip of her coffee. "Unfortunately, a situation would mean I'd have two less friends." --- "As a Royal Knight, sometimes I find myself pulled into situations beyond my control." Flash added while crossing his hooves, "And today was no exception." The ponies continued cleaning, only for there to be a knock at the door. "Ooh!" Rarity giggled while trotting to the door, "That must be my stock from Ponyville." But when she opened it, her eyes went wide at the pony outside, "Hola, mi amigos!" Tidal Wave cheered as he trotted inside, "It's great to see you all!" "It's great to see you too, Tidal." Rarity replied while the others gathered around. "I thought you wouldn't be here until later. After all, I invited you for tonight's opening." "I know." Tidal sighed, "Alas senorita, I am not here for your grand opening. I've come requesting help from Flash." "Me?" The pegasus replied, blinking, "What's up?" "We've been having a lot of bank robberies in Manehatten lately, all at the same time on the same day of the week. Today at three o'clock." "Isn't that something the police should handle?" Lightning asked. "They are," Tidal nodded. "But there's a lot of banks, and not enough officers to cover them all. That's why they've called in my assistance." He turned to Flash, "Mind lending a hoof?" Flash was silent, unable to find words to reply. But as he did this, Rarity put a hoof on his shoulder. Turning to his friend, he saw her and the others nod, "You sure?" "Of course darling," she replied, "This is important, and it's your job." "Alright...but I promise I'll be back for the grand opening." "That's all I ask," Rarity finished as Flash turned back to Tidal. The two knights shared a nod before heading out, only for Heart to jump on his back. "I'm coming too!" he exclaimed as Flash almost lost his balance. "Ah, is this the new squire I've heard about?" Tidal asked, getting a slow nod from Flash. "Well I'm sure he could be of valuable help to us." "I don't know..." Flash responded as he turned back to Rarity as Heart got off his teacher. But before Flash could say anything else, Soul accidently brushed some dust into Heart's face. "Hey!" He cried, only to sneeze...along with an accidental burst of fire that hit the floor. Rarity gasped as Applejack was quick to stomp it out, shooting Heart a glare as the colt shrunk back, "Yeah..." Flash grabbed his apprentice by the tail, "Maybe it's best he comes with us." As he dragged him out of the store, Rarity turned back to the others, "Alright, now that that's settled." She walked into another room, only to let out a scream, "Fluttershy, your assistance is required in the stock room, posthaste!" Fluttershy ran into the room, Lightning staring at this before sighing, "I swear I've been in this building before." He slammed his broom into his head, "Augh! This is gonna drive me nuts if I don't remember!" The others frowned at this, only to see Rarity and Fluttershy return from the stock room, Rarity looking even more frazzled. "No, no, no!" She shook her head, "I can't have a family of rubbish-scented raccoons living in my boutique!" It was then that they heard an odd beating noise and a muffled melody that caused the ceiling to pulse and the chandelier to shake. "Uh...did you hear that?" This made Lightning snap his hooves, "That's it! Now I know why I remember this place!" "Heh," Rarity added in an irritated tone, "Turns out there's a Club Pony Party Palace upstairs." --- "Turns out there's a Club Pony Party Palace upstairs!" Pinkie screamed as confetti flew out of her mane. Meanwhile... Flash, Tidal and Heart had arrived at their intended destination, Heart asking, "I thought we were trying to stop a bank robber." They all walked out onto a roof of a nearby building. "Why are we up here?" Tidal laughed as he showed Heart the edge of the roof, "The bank is down there," he pointed to the building in question. "But the thief isn't going to show themselves if we're there watching out for them." "So we're on a stakeout?" Flash and Tidal nodded as the Ocean Soul handed them some binoculars before taking out a thermos. "The thief's strike time is in forty-five minutes, but he may show up earlier to get into position." He began to look through the binoculars, "We must keep an eye out for anypony suspicious." The two nodded and stared down at the building, ready to find anything and everything. Back at the store... Twilight and the others were still sweeping the floor, Fluttershy and Soul were using their smaller sizes to get into the harder to reach areas while the others were all sweeping to the beat of the music booming down from upstairs. Lightning was the only one not sweeping to that beat, instead using his own music to drown out the muffled sounds from above. But this came to a stop as Rarity walked back into the store, "Apparently, DJ Pon-3 has a residency at the Party Palace upstairs, but security won't let me speak to her." Before anypony could reply to that, a loud honking sound filled the room, making Rarity cry out, "What in the name of Celestia was that?!" They turned to the doorway and saw that Plaid Stripes had stuck a large car horn to the wall next to the door, now making that everytime she tried to push it shut, it was squeezed down the horn and made a noise. "What do you think? Beats a dinky little bell any day." "Aren't they supposed to make a noise when you open the door?" Soul pointed out. Rarity's face scrunched up, Lightning seeing this and walking in front of her, "Err...kid?" Plaid turned to her. "I don't think you've thought this one entirely through." "What do you mean?" She asked while pushing the door on the horn again. "How are you supposed to close the door?" He asked, making Plaid raise an eyebrow. She then tried to close the door, but it bounced off the horn everytime. "Huh. It might need a little fine tuning." "Ya think?" Lightning deadpanned as Rarity watched Plaid begin to remove the horn. "Oh, thank goodness," she sighed. "That's one disaster dealt with," she turned to her boyfriend as he gave her a salute. "Now all I need to do is think of a way to quiet down that music...right after I finish designing the window display!" As she said that, a loud crashing sound rang out, making them turn to the door and see a delivery pony dump a bunch of boxes on the floor. "What's that?" Lightning asked as Pinkie flew up next to him, using her tail as a hovercraft rotor. "Cookies?" She guessed while Rarity opened the boxes. "Wait..." she looked inside and gasped, "Is this my merchandise shipment from Ponyville?!" She turned to the delivery pony, "It's completely disorganized!" The pony shrugged before leaving, causing Rarity to let out some unintelligent moans while staring into the boxes. As she did, she suddenly heard a loud sneeze, "Gesundheit!" She responded while looking up, now seeing who had sneezed, "Oh, Miss Pommel!" The pony in question was a cream colored mare with a mane and tail of two differing shades of blue while wearing a shirt collar and ascot. "I'm so glad to see you!" "Who is she?" Soul asked Twilight. "That's Coco Pommel. We met her on one of our first trips to Manehatten," Twilight replied, "She's the one who gave Rarity her key to help open the chest I told you about." "The one that made the castle?" Twilight nodded. "Huh. Our world is weird." "Now, as the sole sales associate at Rarity For You, I hate to add to your already overflowing plate of responsibilities, but it looks as though we have just a tad more to do before tonight than I thought." Rarity said as she patted Coco's shoulder. "Actually, I-" Coco couldn't finish that sentence as she let out a sneeze, "I can't work tonight." "Oh?" Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Why not?" The others then saw the runny red nose and deep red blush that the pony was now wearing on her face. "Maybe she should go home," Soul suggested. "I doubt her infecting all your clothes and getting your customers sick will be good for business." The others nodded in agreement, Rarity slightly flinching at the words before Coco accidently sneezed into her face. "Feel better, my sweet." She used a handkerchief to clean her face. "We'll manage without you." Coco nodded and walked away as Rarity turned back to her friends. "Somehow." Gazing around the room, she was reminded of all the problems that had to be fixed before the opening tonight. "And we'll manage glowing teeth and disorganized clothes and dance music!" She fell to her flank while holding her head, "Am I forgetting anything?" It was at that moment the raccoons raced past her, making her eye twitch. Outside the store, everypony passing by suddenly yelped as they heard a loud sobbing scream coming from the store. "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!" Back to the knights and apprentice... Flash, Heart and Tidal were staring at the streets below, Heart letting out a moan, "Augh!" his face slumped over the top of the wall, "Why isn't anything happening?!" "Patience, mi hijo," Tidal chimed in, "Sometimes the perfect wind comes when you least expect it. That is why you must be ever ready to shift your sails, even if it appears like nothing will happen." "What?" "He means stop complaining and keep an eye out," Flash responded, "We're one of thirty possible targets. There's a good chance it won't even be this bank that gets robbed." "But we must still be ready in case this is the one targeted," Tidal continued, "And we must not let anything distract us. Not even these annoying bugs." The two turned to Tidal and saw a single fly buzzing around him, Tidal doing everything to ignore it while focusing his gaze through the binoculars. "A knight's greatest duty is to the common pony. That is why nothing can be allowed to-OW!" He tried to swat the fly that had landed on his neck and bit him, but it flew away before he could hit it. "You okay?" Flash asked as Tidal rubbed the area that was bitten. "I'm fine," he replied, Flash nodding before looking back through the binoculars. "Wait..." his eyes squinted as he leaned forward, now focusing a well dressed stallion making his way toward the bank. He was a slim unicorn, with red fur and a yellow mane and tail. The pony also had a blonde beard, and glasses over his eyes. "That can't be...could it?" "Who?" Tidal asked as he relooked through his binoculars. "What?" Heart added. "Red unicorn, blonde hair, beard and glasses." "What about him?" Heart asked, "Doesn't look any different from the others ponies around him." "I don't want to jump to conclusions, but..." "But you recognize him," Tidal chimed, Flash nodding back. "He was the first criminal I ever caught on my own. Shake Shocker." "Are you sure?" Tidal asked. "He didn't have a beard last time, and he's a lot better dressed, but I'm sure of it." Flash let out a long sigh, "He must of escaped jail." He turned to Tidal, "How were the other banks robbed?" "The ponies investigating aren't really sure. The witnesses said something struck them, and the next thing they knew, they were on the ground with everything blurry and their eardrums blown out. The police believed the cause to be a concussion bomb, but couldn't find any debris of the device." "That's because it wasn't a bomb," Flash responded, "It was Shake Shocker. His magic allows him to unleash blasts of condensed sound. Not fun." "You make a compelling case," Tidal told him. "But this is all circumstantial evidence. What if we attack him and he's not the real Shake Shocker?" "Say sorry?" Heart chimed in. "I don't think that would be enough," Tidal chuckled, "We need to prove he's Shake Shocker before we do anything." Flash hummed as he watched the pony he had been focusing on enter the bank, then checked the time and saw they only had a few more minutes before the robbery was set to begin. As he did this, a light bulb went off in his head. "I think I have an idea." "And what idea would that be?" Buried Lede asked as Flash took a sip of his drink. The knight his cup down. "I don't really think this has anything to do with Rarity's opening." "A good journalist is always on the lookout for a good story. I might be focusing on Lady Rarity's store, but that doesn't mean I can't sniff out another scoop while I'm at it. Heck, I can give these notes off to another journalist to write. And maybe I should talk to the colt that was there, the filly too. Where are they?" "At our hotel. Asleep." "Guess that makes sense. Now, about this idea..." Flash sighed. "Alright. Well, I remembered that Shake Shocker was pretty vain and hated when I made fun of him in our last fight. It's how I managed to beat him. So, I used that against him again." Flash, Heart and Tidal walked into the bank, catching the attention of the many patrons that were going about their business in the building. Everypony in Manehatten knew Tidal, and Flash was known by about ninety percent of Equestria, making the bank owners gasp, "Sir Tidal, and Sir Flash as well. This is an honor." Tidal shined a small smile and waved his hoof, "Please, don't go thinking of us as anything special." "May I ask why you are here?" The bank owner asked, "Maybe to open an account?" "I'm afraid not," Tidal replied while Flash turned to see a certain pony in line. "There's been a lot of bank robberies lately, and we're just here to make sure there isn't anything out of the ordinary." "Oh, thank you sir," the owner replied, "You honor us by showing such concern for our humble little business." The three started moving around the room, acting like they had no idea a possible suspect was there. "You know," Flash chuckled as he turned to his student, talking loud enough for others to hear, "This reminds me of one of my first big assignments." "Really?" Heart asked, "What was it?" "Taking down a crook named Shake Shocker," Flash made sure to look away from the pony in line, "I gotta say, it was a hilarious experience." "Huh." Heart played along, "I thought catching a criminal was supposed to be serious." Those around them nodded, Flash sitting down on a nearby bench, "So did I, but I can't help thinking back on that time and not laugh about it. The guy was just so stupidly funny. Mainly it was the way he talked." The pony in question started shaking. "I mean, not even ponies from Appaloosa talk like that." He let out a cough before speaking again, doing a cartoony version of Shake Shocker's accent. "I really thought I'd ended you colt, but I see that you got more lives then a bag of cats." The whole bank started laughing, all except the pony in line. "He didn't really talk like that," Heart asked through his laughter. "Did he?" "Oh, he talked like that alright." He coughed again, "I do admire your spunk son." Everypony laughed again, "It really ain't wise to make a dangerous pony look foolish." The laughter got louder, the shaking pony in line now going red-eyed in anger. "Don't you mock me colt!" "ENOUGH!" The pony snapped, turning to the defender before unleashing a green wave of energy, making the ponies around gasp as the blast struck Flash and Heart. Back at the store again... Lightning was carrying a trash-bag full of garbage out to the dumpster. Once his load was lifted, he walked around to the front of the store, now seeing Rainbow with a trio of ponies. "Rarity For You is only hiring the best of the best. And to me, that means the fastest. Now uh, before we begin, um..." She turned away from them, "Am I doing this right? What would Rarity want?" She then glanced back at the three, "New plan!" She suddenly zipped off, leaving Lightning and the three potential sales-ponies alone. "So...have much experience working in boutiques?" Lightning chimed in, the ponies about to reply, only for Rainbow to suddenly appear while holding a purple stripe of cloth. "Who can be the first one to tell me what fabric this is?" A blue earth pony mare stared at the cloth, "That's organza." "Are you sure?" Rainbow questioned before Lightning whispered into her ear. "Are you?" "It's a thin, plain weave," the earth pony continued, "Sheer fabric traditionally made from silk, so..." She shot them both a smile, "Yeah." Rainbow and Lightning shared a glance, both unable to reply. "I don't know the first thing about clothes," Rainbow told Buried Lede. "Pretty much all I can do is look at something and tell you if it's clothes or not." She pointed at the couch she was sitting on. "This chair? Not clothes." --- "I've spent most of my life living in Canterlot," Lightning added, "I know a thing or two about fine clothing, but not to the level Rarity or those ponies knew. I had no idea there was so much to learn about it." Inside the store, Soul was continuing to sweep up while the others tried to fix the issues the store had. Rarity had begun work on the window display while Twilight was busy organizing the merchandise. Applejack was keeping Plaid Stripes from trying out too many ideas as Fluttershy was getting rid of the raccoons and Pinkie was dealing with the loud music upstairs. "See if you can keep up with me here." She heard Plaid tell Applejack in the corner, "What are all clothes made of?" "Uh, fabric?" Applejack asked, getting a nod from the mare. "Bingo!" She then shook her head, "But not in this store. Uh-uh. Not anymore." "Oh?" Plaid put her hoof around Applejack's neck, "Two words for you: Spoon clothes." Applejack and Soul raised an eyebrow at this, "All our clothes will be made of spoons!" "I'm not really sure the ponies of Manehatten would like that," Soul said loud enough so only she heard it. "That's just asking for Rarity to go out of business." She watched as Applejack let out a sigh, "What would Rarity want?" She turned back to Plaid Stripes. "You know," She patted the mare on the shoulder. "I like you Plaid Stripes. If it were up to me, we'd have a spoon clothes store right next to Stinky Bottom's Discount Hat Emporium." She then took off her hat and frowned. "But it ain't up to me, so the answer is no." This made Plaid begin to tear up while Soul turned to Twilight. The princess was busy placing the dresses on hangers and hanging them on racks, all appearing to have a spectrum style of organization. It went from green to yellow to orange to red and so on. "There," she commented while looking at her work. "Perfect. Although, what would Rarity want? Maybe she wouldn't like it done by color. Guess I have to start over!" "Why don't you just ask Rarity?" Soul tried to say, but Twilight had already pulled the clothes off the racks, "Nevermind." She then turned around, now seeing Pinkie and Lightning walked into the store, Pinkie showing a big frown, "You okay?" "I just violated every rule of the party planner's union!" she whimpered as a new sound blasted from the ceiling. This was a much more mellow beat, one that you could barely be able to notice if you didn't know there was music playing. "It feels so wrong!" "It was all for a good cause," Lightning commented before pointing at the place, "Besides, we've still got a hundred other things to do before we're ready." Rainbow flew into the store with the three sales ponies, the pegasus holding a large bunch of clothes. "I don't know which one of you to hire! Just," she threw the clothes at them, "keep guessing fabrics!" "Daddy," they turned to Applejack, the mare now being hounded by Mr. Stripes and Plaid, backpedaling as they glared at her. "Rarity's friend doesn't like my ideas!" "Listen, spoon clothes is good idea...but not with this store." Applejack tried to reply just as the music above them changed, causing Pinkie to cry out. "Oh no!" She faceplanted into the floor, "Not a shopping music mashup!" As she said this, Fluttershy ran past them while being chased by some raccoons. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She screamed, drawing Twilight's attention away from the pile of clothes. This allowed her to see the mayhem that was going on, her eyes widening as she turned back to the door Rarity was behind. And when she saw the handle glow blue and turn, she gasped and leapt over everypony. They turned to her, only to then hear Rarity's voice. "How's it-" Twilight body slammed the door, pushing her back inside, "Oof!" Fluttershy did a slow gulp as she looked away from Buried Lede. "When you write the story, could you maybe skip over the part where we locked Rarity in the window display?" Twilight quickly grabbed a chair and stuffed it under the door, preventing Rarity from escaping. "Hello?" The fashionista called out. "The door appears to be stuck!" "Yep," Twilight yelled back, "We're working on it!" "Well can't Lightning just teleport in and get me out?" The others went wide-eyed at this, Lightning opening his mouth to reply, only for Soul to put a hoof in his mouth. "He's...not here right now. He had to...go get more trash-bags." "Oh, alright. Well I guess I shouldn't let this time go to waste." Everypony sighed in relief, Twilight turning to Soul. "Good thinking." Soul fell to the floor in response, "This is awful. I wonder if Heart's having better luck than we are." Meanwhile again... Shocker stared at the dust cloud caused by his attack, the ponies around him running off in a screaming panic. But as the bank began to empty, the fog cleared to reveal Flash and Heart looking absolutely fine. Flash had armorized, and around him and his apprentice was an orange energy field that was in the shape of an alicorn head. "I knew it was you," he laughed at Shocker. "And I knew talking slag about you would make you break your cover." "Very smart," the unicorn removed his glasses, yanking off his fake beard. "But it'll take more than some fancy armor and sparkly tricks to take me down colt." "Oh, I don't need this stuff to beat you." Flash replied while gesturing to his guardian form, "I could beat you with three hooves tide behind my back, but I've got a party to get to later, and I really don't wanna waste any more time then I need to here." Shocker let out a long hiss, "Yah sure like getting folks angry at yah, don't yah bub?!" He began firing a sonic blast at the two, but it bounced off the avatar head, not making the magical construct even wobble. "Okay, this may be harder than ah first thought!" "And it'll soon get harder!" Tidal yelled as he ran up, now able to join the battle since the building had been evacuated. Shocker spun around and fired a blast, but Tidal easy slid under the green shockwave, safely reaching the criminal. He then thrust his trident at the unicorn, Shocker dodging the blow as Flash lowered his shield. The defender charged in next, unsheathing his sword as Heart's body ignited. "You know Shocker, you used to have class. But robbing banks? Talk about cliché." "Nothing wrong with a good bank heist!" Shocker leapt back as Heart charged in and unleashed a stream of fire, "Especially when it gives me the chance to right a few wrongs!" He unleashed a blast of sound, striking Heart's fire attack. "Whoa!" Heart yelped as the sound knocked him back. "Tidal Shot!" A trio of water bullets fired out of Tidal's weapon, Shocker turning to he water as he tried to counter it with a sound shockwave. It collided with the first water bullet, but the other two flew past it, hitting their target. "AUGH!" He cried as he was thrown back, slamming into a back brick wall. The thief let out a groan, opening his eyes to see Flash and Tidal still charging at him, "You two insects are really starting ta bug me." "Buzz buzz," Flash replied as Shocker unleashed another sound blast. He quickly threw his hooves up, making a wall of magic that blocked the attack as Tidal tried to move around the defensive to get another shot. Shocker saw this coming, firing another shockwave at Tidal. Tidal leapt to the side, dodging as he began to cast a Tidal Force attack, Shocker taking a quick breath as he prepared to attack the Ocean's Soul again. But as he did this, Flash dropped the shield and moved his legs away, revealing the glowing crystal on his chest armor. "Surprise!" He exclaimed as a magic laser shot out, Shocker hopping away just as beam struck the back wall and broke right through it. "Tidal Force!" Tidal unleashed a blast of water right at Shocker, knocking him through the hole Flash had made. As that happened, Flash ran over to Heart as he began to come around. "You okay?" Heart let out a groan, "Did I get him?" Flash chuckled as he helped him up, "Sure did kid. Now get up, we're not done yet." Twilight was staring at the disaster zone that was Rarity's shop, slowing turning to the others. "How did this happen?!" "I shut down the party," Pinkie chimed in first. "I told Plaid Stripes no," Applejack added. "I asked the raccoons to leave," Fluttershy quivered. "I asked a lot of fabric questions," Rainbow stated before the four spoke in unison. "JUST LIKE I THOUGHT RARITY WOULD WANT!" "I'm not sure this is how Rarity would have handled it," Lightning deadpanned. "You think we still have enough time to fix all of this?" Soul asked, only for a raccoon to leap onto a nearby shelf and cause it to give, crashing it into some boxes below. "Maybe if we leave now, we can get new identities and be in another city before Rarity finds out what happened." "We don't need to run," Twilight replied before staring at the filly, "And we need to work on your pessimistic imagination later." She turned to the others, "We just need to start doing things the right way. Rarity asked us to help her with everything because she knows all of us so well." She focused on Fluttershy, "She knows how much you care for animals. She'd trust you to solve the problem your way." She turned to the others, "And maybe we should all do the same. Doing this our way is what Rarity wants." The others all blined at this before nodding in agreement, "It's not too late. Let's all dig in and we can fix this." Her ears then picked up the sound of the chaos going on in the store, looking back to see the sales ponies arguing, Plaid crying, a large pile of unorganized clothes and raccoons swinging from the chandelier. "And let's do it before Rarity finds out how bad we messed up." Lightning let out a long sigh, "I hope Sentry's having better luck then we are with whatever he's doing." Back at the bank yet again... The trio slowly walked up to the hole Shocker had been throw through, poking their heads in to see no sign of the robber. "Where'd he go?" Heart asked as they trotted inside, now see it was a room that lead to the bank's vault, complete with the stereotypical round door. "I'm right here!" Shocker roared as he a sonic blast from their left, the pegasi leaping away while Tidal teleported. As the knight reappeared in front of the vault door, a bulb went off in his head, "That could work." He turned back to the duo, "Keep him busy!" "No problem!" Flash yelled as he and Heart flew around the room, Shocker unloading blast after blast at them. "Flash Cutter!" He swung his blade through the air, Shock hopping away, only to come to a stop as Heart swung his tail around, unleashing a wave of fire. Shocker fired another shockwave, cutting the flames in half, only to see Flash to fly right up to him, slashing wildly at the criminal, "Ha!" Shocker laughed as he began to dodge the blade, "Ah would have thought ya'd have grown by now. But yer still the snot nose kid yah were the first time we tangoed." Flash smirked as he leapt back, "And remind me how that dance ended again. I have the vague memory of you dropping a building on your head." Shocker growled as Heart leapt in, trying to giving him a flaming body slam. But as he did this, Shocker grabbed the colt in his magic, tossing him away before firing another blast at Flash. However, the armored pegasus suddenly vanished at this, only to reappear behind thief. "And for the record!" Flash grabbed him around the middle, pinning his front legs to his side, "I have grown, in both strength and mind." As he said that, Tidal opened the vault door. "Over here!" Flash flipped Shocker over, flinging him upward. He began to fly up to take him into the vault, only for Shocker to fire a blast right at the defender. "Oof!" Flash yelped as Shocker began to fall back down. But as he landed, Tidal teleported behind him. "Tidal Force!" Shocker was instantly struck by the burst of water, sending him into the vault. And as he hit the back wall, Heart flew over to the door and swung it shut, Tidal teleporting over to spin the locking wheel, sealing the vault. "Gotcha!" "But won't he just blast his way out?" Heart asked, "Or what if he can teleport?" "Relajarse!" Tidal ruffled his hair, "That vault was built to withstand an earthquake. And even if he can teleport, which I doubt, this vault was designed with anti-magic runes in order to prevent magical theft." "So he's stuck?" Heart replied as Flash walked up, wiping some blood off his nose. "Yup," Flash nodded. "And when the police get here, we can arrest him." "But won't he just blast us the moment we open the door?" "Before his magic can be restored, we'll slap a magic suppression ring on him along with some handcuffs," Tidal assured him. "We've won." "Nice...but what do we do now?" His answer came with the sound of magic sirens, making the three turn to see a bunch of police ponies run in with unicorn horns glowing red and blue. "Sir Tidal!" One of the officers yelled as he rushed over to them, "We came as soon as we got the call in." His eyes darted around, "Did the criminal escape?" "No oficial," Tidal chuckled before patting the vault door, "He's right in there. Be ready to place a suppression ring on his horn as soon as these doors open. His magic is tricky to deal with." "Yes sir," the police pony nodded. "Though if he's awake, he may attempt to resist before we can get it on." Tidal hummed until Flash spoke up. "Don't these vault have a way to shut off ventilation?" The officers nodded, "I'm sure he'll be a little more cooperative if we tell him that." "We can't do that to him," Tidal told Flash. "That goes beyond police brutality!" "Who said anything about actually doing it?" Flash responded while chuckling, "I just said we tell him that it would be a shame to have to do it." He then winked at them, everypony nodding with a smile. Not five minutes later, Flash, Heart and Tidal were leading a cuffed up and de-powered Shake Shocker over to the police wagon, multiple ponies watching and some even taking pictures. "Not a bad day's work if I say so myself," Flash commented as he put his hooves behind his head, "Caught the bad guy, saved a lot of ponies' money and even got to sign a few autographs." "I'm guessing you headed to the store as soon as it was over?" Flash shook his head. "Nope. Heart, Tidal and I still had to fill out a report. Heart sure didn't enjoy that, but it's what had to be done, and he got a behind the scenes look at a police station. No, we actually didn't get to leave until much later. In fact, we were worried we'd miss the grand opening. Luckily, Tidal knows this city like the back of his hoof. Including a few short cuts." By the time the three reached the store's block, the sun was almost completely set. Turning to the street, they spotted a long line of ponies standing outside. "Welp, here's the moment of truth." Flash gulped as they walked up to the building, right as the door opened. "Flash!" Twilight exclaimed when she saw him, "You're back!" "Just in time by the looks of things," he replied while trotting up to her. "How's everything in there?" "Take a look for yourself," she responded before stepping aside, allowing the three inside. But with the lack of sunlight, the place was bathed in darkness. "I can't see anything," Flash commented, "Did ya not think to put up some lights?" "Working on it," he turned to see Lightning messing with some plugs and wires. "That goes there, and this goes here...alright," he grabbed two cables in his magic, "Here goes nothing." He stuck the two together, the room suddenly illuminating by the light fittings that filled the room, allowing them to see the changes. The two knights and squire were amazed at the sight, the once dusty and drab building now transformed into a beautifully decorated room with freshly painted walls, racks of clothes and manikins placed on pedestals for all to see. Twilight gave Buried Lede a smug expression. "The whole place organized by style, cross-referenced by size, and reverse-indexed by fabric. She'll be able to find anything in three seconds flat!" She showed a dreamy-eyed expression at the memory of her accomplishment. "It was some of my best work." --- "I have to admit, the place looked awesome." Flash took another sip of his drink, "I should have known Twilight knew an instant decoration spell. And Lightning has shown himself skilled with almost anything electrical." "Wow..." Heart gasped, "This place is awesome!" "Hermosa," Tidal nodded, "Truly divine." "Let's hope Rarity feels the same way," Twilight gulped as she walked over to the doorway and removed the chair. Flash, Heart and Tidal raised an eyebrow at this as Twilight used her magic to open the door. As soon as she did, Rarity fell out and faceplanted the floor. Twilight flinched at this, only to help Rarity up, "Wow...looks like we fixed that door just in time!" It was here that Rarity began to look around, gasping at the transformation. "Oh!" Stars appeared in her eyes, "What's all this?!" Her eyes darted around, trying to give a closer inspection as the others stepped into the room. "Oh!" She then hugged Twilight, "Oh, I knew I could count on you!" She then turned to the store's clock, gulping before walking to the main door, "Alright...I suppose this is the moment of truth." The others nodded to her as she trotted over to the door, slowing opening it up. Doing so caused a bell to jingle, making her smile back at Applejack before calling out into the street of Manehatten. "Rarity For You is now open! It was at that moment she turned to see the large line outside her store, then moved back to allow them entrance. "Wow..." Lightning commented as the store started to fill up, "That's a lot of ponies." "Oh dear," Rarity gulped as she began to backpedal at the amount, "I wasn't quite prepared for such a crowd. How will I handle them all?" In that moment, one of the sales ponies stepped up to a stallion, "My name's Blue Bobbin," she stated. "I'll be your personal shopping assistant this evening." Rainbow smirked before pointing behind her, Rarity seeing the two other ponies Rainbow had interviewed. "Right this way everypony! One of our talented sales ponies can help you out!" Rarity smiled at this, soon walking through the store to help anypony that needed it. It was then that the lights dimmed, a bunch of spotlights shining down on the floor, making Rarity now see mist fill the room. She then saw Vinyl Scratch at the back of the room, beginning to play a sick song that wasn't too loud. She blinked at the sight, only to see three dancing ponies to appear in the mist. Terror tried to appear on her face, but it quickly faded to as she saw nopony had any issue with this, all enjoying shopping to the melody. Pinkie slid up next, waving her legs around while Heart and Soul leapt onto the dance floor and joined the three dancers with their own style of rocking out. "The way I see it, Rarity designs fashion, DJ Pon-3 designs beats. What better combination than a boutique dance club?" Pinkie giggle until the waitress arrived with the bill, Pinkie looking up at the huge stack of plates she had amassed with all the food she had eaten. She laughed before slyly moving the sheet of paper over to the journalist. --- Lightning shined a big smirk at Buried Lede. "You'd be surprised how much you learn while working as an assistance in Applewood. You think it's just getting coffee, but it's also helping out anypony that needs help. That includes the lighting and special effects team." Rarity and Lightning walked side by side, happy everypony was enjoying themselves. But as she did this, the mare saw something that made her double-take. It was a raccoon dressed in a waiter's uniform that was carrying a tray of soups. She turned to Lightning, who gave her a shrug as the raccoon offered the soup to a stallion. Fluttershy and her new animal friends all smiled as she pushed a pie in front of them. "After a quick bath, they were more than willing to help!" The raccoons began to devour the pie, turning into a cartoon dust cloud with how fast they were eating. "Though uh...I warned Rarity that she may have to feed them quite a bit for later services." The stallion stared at the soup, a smile appearing on his face, "Ah, a blue corn reduction with shallot confit!" He then rubbed his chin in thought, "But how can I possibly enjoy it without a-" "Spoon?" He turned to the voice, seeing Plaid dressed in clothing that was covered in spoons. She even had a hoof band that had a trio of the metal utensils strapped to it. "Heh!" Applejack laughed, "Told ya spoon clothes ain't such a bad idea!" "I think this is going well," Lightning told Rarity as the stallion took a sip of his soup. "Mmm!" He licked his lips, "Exquisite!" He turned to the rest of the room, "This is the most whimsical and wonderfully fashionable boutique I've ever seen!" The other customers cheered and applauded, Rarity unable to keep a smile off her face while turning to the friends that helped her make it possible. Tears filled her eyes, knowing she couldn't wait to read the review of this event. Present day... "In the end, Rarity's grand opening was a smashing success!" Everypony smiled at this as Rarity continued to read. "True, it got off to a rocky start, but somehow this rag-tag group of ne'er-do-wells...Oh, heavens." She looked up from the paper, "I think he means you." They laughed as she continued reading. "...came together and created the perfect boutique. A vision of Rarity combined with the expertise of her friends! This reporter, for one, is a believer." As she finished, Flash let out a sigh. "That was not as bad as I thought it would be." Rarity shot the group a questioning look. "Why didn't you tell me there were so many problems?" "We all figured you had enough on your mind," Twilight replied as they moved around the table to her. "And we didn't want you to think that the opening wasn't perfect," Applejack added. Rarity let out a giggle, "Ne'er-do-wells or not, I know I can always count on all of you." She held out her arms, "And nothing could be more perfect than that." Everypony, even Lightning, went in for a hug as everything seemed to end on a perfect note. Flash then pulled away, "I'm just sorry I couldn't be of more help." "Me too," Heart added. "Oh, nonsense dearies," Rarity said with a wave, "My opening might have been important, but so was catching Shake Shocker. You saved a lot of ponies from getting hurt and getting robbed. Besides, you may have also done me a favor." The others raised an eyebrow as Rarity flipped to the front page. It showed Flash, Heart and Tidal leading Shake Shocker off to jail, only to shift to the page with the actual story, which Twilight sped read through. "Flash Sentry and his squire were in Manehatten to attend the opening of the latest Rarity Boutique. See page fifty four for more details." Rarity chuckled at this, "I knew they'd make a link to my boutique there. Lots of ponies will be reading about his arrest, and a good few of them will be curious about my store. If anything, you helped bolster my boutique's brand." Flash and Heart smiled at this while the colt reached out to get another look at his image on the front page. "I hope they got my best side." "Do you even have a best side?" Soul asked before they all laughed, Heart growling at her as Soul playfully stuck her tongue out. Yes, their journey to Manehatten had been a lively one, but one that none of them would ever forget. And hopefully, Rarity For You would continue to grow more and more popular as time went on.