DIO arrived at the cottage with the rest of them, panting as he had moved as quickly as possible in stopped time—with all four of them and himself in tow, nonetheless. Even for a vampire as strong as he, to stop time and carry that many creatures at once was very draining.
"Time. . .resumes. . ." he panted, as the passage of time continued, allowing the others to safely resume movement. After realizing they were no longer in danger, they relaxed themselves and rested.
"That was a helluva distance to travel in stopped time," Dash commented, "you look like you just ran a 10k."
"Thanks, Dio," Jonathan said with a smile, "you saved everybody."
DIO waved his hand dismissively, still catching his breath. He cleared his throat before sitting down in a chair and taking a final, deep breath to return to normal. One issue, however, was that DIO was now thirsty. He hadn't thought much about it, having not had the Thirst for ten years with his so-called "immaculate and heavenly" body. It was a rather inconvenient time for such a thing, and he wasn't sure what to do about it.
"I thirst," DIO said quietly. Fluttershy got up to fix him some tea before realizing what he meant. Yet, knowing his kindness, she instead stepped up to him.
"I can help you. . .a bit but. . .not much," she said shyly, "it's not all that painful."
"No!" DIO quickly said with a stern voice, causing Fluttershy to momentarily step back in a bit of a shock, "I will not put anyone here in harm's way for my sake, I'd rather pick someone from the street!"
As he spoke, he felt a bit of weakness. Pushing his timestop to a full two minutes so suddenly while using so much strength was far too much for even him to handle. He needed rejuvenation, he knew, but he absolutely refused to do so with Fluttershy, or any of them for that matter.
"Dio. . ." his brother said quietly, in a sorrowful admiration of DIO's newfound compassion. It was good to see him care so much, but to see him suffer as well was painful enough. After pondering, he came up with a plan.
"Yes, Jonathan?" DIO said, looking up at his brother. Jonathan sighed.
"You can drink my blood," Jonathan said, "the Hamon will keep you from drinking too much by accident, and I can keep it from killing you."
'From killing you.'
Those words rung in DIO's head as he remembered, suddenly, all of his efforts to kill the Joestar bloodline. For a second, as well, a thought entered his mind. A cruel, harsh thought—almost heartbreaking. Simply, DIO wondered, just for a moment, if Jonathan would take this opportunity to kill him. DIO knew that, if he were his old self, he surely would have, but while he knew Jonathan would not behave in such a matter, DIO was still uneasy in thinking about it. That's when it hit him—this was a test of companionship he never had the opportunity to experience. Knowing Jonathan could still be holding a raging grudge for all the treacherous things DIO did—as he had the right to; knowing that, as a mortal, Jonathan was capable of killing DIO right there; knowing the unpredictability of any human, no matter how honorable. . .
"I trust you," DIO said. Jonathan was taken aback by the words, but stepped forward anyway. DIO drove his hand into Jonathan's shoulder, draining the blood from him as Jonathan didn't do so much as wince from pain. DIO knew his brother was strong, and he realized what he had missed out on so long ago.
A good brother.
Manehattan, even in the state Equestria was in now, was still a booming and beautiful place. The large city was incomparable to Appleloosa or Ponyville with their small produce and family-owned businesses. Even the majestic appearance of Canterlot and the Crystal Empire paled in comparison to the economic state of Manehattan with it's great businesses and infrastructure. While there was still crime, many of Manehattan's citizens lived peacefully with a willful ignorance to the state of the nation. Phoenix knew that, in order to subjugate it, a more complex scenario would have to be devised than brute force. However, they were not subjugating it—not yet. They wanted to see what DIO could do, what Jonathan could do, what all of them could do.
Of course, Phoenix was laying upon a bed, comfortable, having a soothing tea with a nice dessert. Sombra had ordered her to rest, and while she wished to continue working, she knew not only that she needed the leisure, but that she wouldn't disobey Sombra—even if she was ordered to rest. On her journey to Sombra's prison, she had many doubts that tore away at her head. Doubts that, if unchecked, would have kept all of this from happening. "Are you sure this is going to work?", "Why not use the arrow on yourself?", "He might kill you too!".
Now, all of that was gone. She knew one thing for certain, and that was the fact that Sombra appreciated her. Whether it was genuine, or just from a point of strategy and usefulness, it was all she wanted. She laid back, taking another sip of tea and placing it onto the bedside table. In her mind, there was no more doubt. Only opportunity.
In the meantime, Sombra had already gathered a small task force. While he wasn't going for an invasion, he did want to have enough force to challenge his oppressors so that he might be able to properly gauge their threat level. While he felt confident, he still approached with caution as, so far, it had worked out much better than last time thanks to Phoenix's meticulous planning and absolute servitude. It would have been unwise to take any other approach.
"Stalker 54, your task is to invade the Manehattan stock exchange," Sombra spoke sternly to the five creatures he had assembled, "Terminate their records and crash their localized economy. While we are not yet prepared to conquer this sub-national region, we can weaken them with minimum required force. I'd recommend harming no citizens in the process, unless they are of immediate lethal threat."
"We have rules of engagement, huh?" one asked. His voice was raspy and a bit higher in pitch, but he looked proper crazy. A changeling recruited from the ranks of Chrysalis' hive after her defeat at the Canterlot wedding. Just so happened to be waltzing around Fillydelphia when Sombra arrived, and was among the first three to help subjugate the region. A self-prescribed specialist in infiltration, he went by the alias Cicada. "Very interesting. . ."
"Very hopeful, actually," a dragon said. Red scales with a yellow belly, and female. Breathes fire, really strong, all the typical dragon stuff. Though, for her immense capability for brute force, she was surely articulate, and her name was Fury. "King, if I may ask, what has caused you to alter your strategy from the last time?"
"Your commander, the mare that released me from my imprisonment," Sombra replied, "she is quite a remarkable strategist, very skilled and well-studied."
"There are many equines like that," a unicorn said. With a grey coat, and a black mane, he wasn't so open about his real name and simply went by the name "Clarity". Skilled in numbers and in executing a plan, while adapting to the circumstance, Clarity was the leader of the group. "The Great Withdrawal allowed the true nature of equines to come forth, and thus they have greater potential."
"That I have noticed," Sombra replied once more, "There is much potential for this nation under a proper leadership."
"Which would be you, King Sombra~" a pegasus said, placing herself into the conversation with a naturally-seductive tone. Her name was Nightlight, and her mane was a vibrant crimson color with a gentle pink coat. Among the most beautiful of Equestria's citizens, she was just visiting Fillydelphia, as the other four were, but to seek out some new use of her manipulative skill apart from being a model in Manehattan. Sombra simply scoffed at her remark, earning from her a pouting face before the four of the task force looked back at the final member.
"Hey, this guy doesn't talk much, does he?" Cicada said with a grunt, "don't tell me we're gonna have one of those guys, they always end up being the big plot twist!"
"Stop being silly," Clarity said with a stern tone, causing Cicada to hold his tongue, "I found that equine trapped in some terrible magic curse that was driving him into the ground and fixed it. He explained to me that we should come here, and it's because of him that we all are here."
"Is that so?" Fury asked with skepticism. Sombra nodded, as they all looked forward to him with the exception of the fifth.
"Yes, I can confirm that," Sombra said, "he calls himself 'Saint'. He knows a bit more about our enemies, as he has explained to me. He has a similar power."
"Well lets see it!" Cicada said, before Saint turned to him.
"No." He said, calmly. Cicada felt a sense of fear when the pony spoke. Just an earth pony, but if he had a "similar power" to DIO and Sombra, then he was surely a force to be reckoned with. Saint didn't say another word after that, but it was worthy to note that a strand of oddly-curled blonde mane was poking out from a hood. The rest of him was concealed for some reason, as if he did not wish to be recognized.
"I believe you have your full briefing, take this portal into the heart of Manehattan and begin your task," Sombra said, "and expect bizarre company."
DIO sat quietly, thinking to himself after hours had passed. He was much stronger now, with Joestar blood he felt completely reinvigorated. Though the Hamon energy was like a fully-body heartburn, it was merely an annoyance rather than an apprehension, just as Jonathan had reassured. Before he could ponder it too much, Spike hit his chest a bit before a blaze of fire came from his mouth, revealing a letter marked with the Manehattan Royal Sector's wax seal.
"Well, that doesn't look good," Dash pointed out as Spike opened the letter. After reading it for a moment, he looked up at DIO.
"A team of five creatures are currently attacking the. . .stock exchange in Manehattan?" Spike seemed confused, "What's that supposed to do?"
"They're targeting the economy," DIO said, "a way to kill two birds with one stone. Not only do they weaken one of Equestria's strongest cities, they also draw our attention so that they might gauge our strength."
"So if we go help, we're playing into their hands," Jonathan pointed out, "but if we don't help, then. . ."
". . .then we're sitting ducks," Spike said, bringing his fists together, "and I don't see anyone here who looks all that much like a duck so we'll just have to show them what strength we have instead."
"Hold on," DIO said, placing a hand on Spike's shoulder, "we have to be calculated about it, but we will make them know we are not to be toyed with."
"What are we going to do?" Dash asked. DIO pondered for a moment. Without the elements, the equines would be unable to defend themselves, let alone the fact that both Dash and Fluttershy were Pegasi and had no ability to use or counter magic. On the other hand, DIO knew for a fact that the two would go with them regardless of whether or not the two pegasi were able to fight. He sighed.
"We will discuss that upon our arrival," DIO said, "for now, we should arrive by portal if possible, that way we can avert detection and keep from leading the enemy back here."
"That would be bad. . ." Fluttershy said quietly, before DIO petted her mane gently.
"If necessary, not a single one of them will remain standing," he said in a grim tone, looking at Jonathan, who nodded back, "let's go and see what they're doing, and let's stop it."