//------------------------------// // Suspension // Story: Stallion of Tomorrow // by Jade Dawn //------------------------------// A “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” Fanfiction Written by Jade Dawn “Gooood morning, Manehattan! The sun is up and we’re back for another round of Manehattan News Now, the Big Apple’s premier news radio program! As always, I’m your host Open Mic. This morning the business world is still discussing the sudden news from LexCorp Industries’ publicity department yesterday, when they revealed that the launch of the tech company’s newly announced “LexCore” reactor would be delayed to a yet-to-be-determined date. This announcement comes hot off the heels of the blackout that knocked out the city’s power grid two days ago now, and spurring on recently circulating speculation that LexCorp was responsible for the power outage in some way, either accidentally or, more maliciously, on purpose. What? Yeah, yeah, I’ll say it, keep your hat on. Now, uh, all that being said, MNN would like to remind its listeners that these claims are as yet unsubstantiated, and due to the rigorous standards of journalistic ethics we strive to uphold, we mention them in our report purely for the sake of completion and without any sponsor–I mean, personal biases in mind. Uh, and speaking of the blackout, the surprise hero of that day has been in the news nonstop as well. Although Supermane himself still has not been seen in the flesh since the day of the blackout, the whole city has been absolutely buzzing with excitement over his now keenly felt presence. These past two nights have seen dozens of ponies turning out on rooftops or in the streets looking for a glimpse of him as he passes, albeit with little luck. We’re getting word that there’s been a run on binoculars, telescopes, and other long-distance viewing equipment at various outlets across the city, to the point that there’s actually a reported shortage! And now that the Pony of Steel has made the jump from urban myth to reality, more and more ponies are coming out with stories of encounters or rescues by the enigmatic hero. And while there’s been no immediate response from either the Royal Guard or Princess Twilight Sparkle on Supermane’s presence and activities, there are whispers that at least three of the Elements of Harmony are in the city searching for the red-caped hero on behalf of the Princess, further adding to the mystery and scope of Supermane’s impact…” “It was just one second. One second I turned my back, and then the next thing I heard was my little filly scream and I turn around and she’s not on the balcony anymore. But then before I could do anything else there was this…I don’t know, something swooshed upwards and suddenly she was back. She was dazed and shocked, all three of us were. We didn’t know what it was back then, but now…it was him, I know it was.” “He, uh, helps ponies…and he flies…and…he helps ponies.” “Well, um, yes, he does do that…” “He’s a vigilante. Plain and simple. I don’t know how he can do all that stuff with the powers, but he’s got no license, no authority, no right to be taking the law into his own hands and doing whatever he wants. The stuff he does, that’s a job for the professionals; the police or the Guard or somepony like that.” “…are you for real? Do I really need to remind you of the dozens of lives he saved on that tram? Or in other would-be-accidents where the authorities couldn’t have stepped in in time?? He doesn’t just round up crooks you know, and it’s not like he goes after ponies who don’t deserve it or anything!” “W-well, yes, I know that, but–” “But what?” “Uh, Miss Lead, let’s maybe not start a fight here…” “He’s an alien, I tells ya! He’s the first of ‘em, some kinda scout, and then they’re gonna come down in their flyin’ saucers and suck us up to put their eggs in us with these big probes right up our–“ “Ooooookay, I think we get the idea, 'bud...” “…kids and I were backed up against the wall, they were swinging their crowbars at us and calling us deceivers and infiltrators…and then suddenly this red and blue blur drops down from above, and then next thing we know the three of them were knocked out and the crowbars melted together. I remember we were afraid, we didn’t know what he’d do. But he just asked if we were alright. He took a look at Anther’s leg and told us it wasn’t broken. And maybe it was the terror of the moment, but I asked him why he’d go out of his way to protect a family of changelings like us after everything that we…well, you know. And he just looked at me and said…he said, ‘I don’t care. You haven’t done anything to deserve this’. It…even after Thorax took the throne, it hasn’t been easy for us changelings trying to live in Equestria. Every once in a while you’ll come across somepony who doesn’t care if you’re trying to be better. But him? He…he just saw we were in trouble and helped because he could. I can’t say I know who Supermane is, but…he’s got our support, and I think the other changelings around here will be with me on that.” “Of course I know he seems to mean well, but…well, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t spook me just a bit. They say he can read minds and move faster than light…I shudder to think what a less moral pony could do with all that, and the fact that he’s just so secretive doesn’t help much. I know he hasn’t really done anything bad, but still…” “Afraid of him? What do I got to be afraid of him for? He’s a nice guy who saves ponies from getting hurt or stops ‘em from hurting others. And all the weird powers? Like, I’ve heard a few complaints, but c’mon, how different is that from magic? The princesses are crazy powerful too and nopony I know’s afraid of them. Heck, I think I’d feel safer with Supermane than I would with the princesses!” “Wait…holy cow, you’re Rainbow Dash! Sweet Celestia, Rainbow Dash is looking for Supermane! Hey, is it true that he’s as fast as you are?” “Hey hey hey, I’m the one asking the questions here, bub.” “Did you see where he went after that?” “Ah, afraid not. It was dark out and he moved so fast that I lost sight of him almost the second he jumped up. I’m sorry, ma’am, but…” “…I’m afraid I just…” “‘…don’t know where he could have gone’,” Rainbow grumbled as she leaned her head against the wall of the hotel room. Her five compatriots, new and old, were gathered with her, taking time to settle down after another day of fruitless searching and questioning. “Two days!” Rainbow moaned. “We’ve been at this for two days and nothing! Zilch! Nada!” “Nopony ever said that this was going to be easy,” Rarity reminded her. “Or that we’d just happen to stumble across him right away.” “He’s probably trying more than ever to hide himself now,” Fluttershy added. “If he didn’t want to be seen in public before, I can’t imagine how desperate he must be to stay hidden with everypony in the city looking for him…especially us.” “Believe me, Rainbow,” added Lucky. “I totally get it. Heck, look at me; I’ve been looking for him for months and I still haven’t come up with much beyond what we already know.” “Did you have to put up with some yahoo blabbing about how he’s a space alien?” Rainbow asked. “Oh please,” Lucky scoffed. “Today I had to listen to some idiot go on and on about how he shouldn’t be out there because ‘d’oh, he doesn’t have a license!’.” She rolled her eyes and chuckled dryly. “Like…for crying out loud, the guy’s out there saving lives and that’s what ponies are concerned about?” “I, uh, I wouldn’t let it bother me,” Dawning said. “You’re always gonna get that one pony who’s…well, okay, maybe a couple. A-anyway, you…you know what I’m getting at, right?” “Yeah, yeah, I know,” Lucky sighed. “And…y’know, you’re right.” Dawning shrugged. “Just, um, calling it as I see it.” Lucky gave him a little smile. “Do the world a favor and never stop being so humble, okay, mister?” Dawning shuffled a little and returned the smile. “I’ll, uh, see what I can do.” “Well anyway,” Quicksnap said as he looked over the photos he’d taken that day. “I just hope we can find some pointers to him somewhere. The sooner I can get a good picture of him for the Planet…right now all my shots are looking like a travel pamphlet…oh wait, I think I got him!” He held one of his pictures up and out for the others to see. “Look, look! Up there in the top right, that blur! You see it?!” Fluttershy leaned in and took a look. “That’s a bird, Quicksnap.” “…oh.” The young hippogriff’s face slowly fell as he put the photo back into his little pile, his feathers and ears drooping sheepishly. “Uh, heh, s-sorry…” “Apology accepted, kiddo,” Lucky replied. “Well, uh, if nopony objects,” Dawning started as he went to the door. “I think I’m gonna move around a little bit, uh, stretch my hooves, all that. I-if you need me I’ll be up on the roof.” “No objections from me,” Lucky said. “But if you see Supermane come by you come down here and tell us as fast as you know how, you got it?” “Uh, yeah,” Dawning said with a little chuckle. “I’ll, um, I’ll do that.” With that he left and shut the door. Rainbow shook her head and chuckled as she sat down on one of the beds. “Imagine thinking Supermane is a space alien…of all the dumb comic-bookey…” The top of the Manefair Hotel had a kind of open-roofed terrace for guests to come up to and look out on the cityscape if they so wished. This late at night, though, the terrace was empty. As Dawning Hope stepped out into the open area and walked past the tables, lounge chairs, and the little hot tub off to the side, he could see that he was alone up here. Fine by me. I could use the solace for a while. Dawning slowly walked up to the edge of the terrace, resting his forelegs on the rails and leaning his head down on them as he looked out at the world beyond. Night had fallen once again, and Manehattan’s towers gleamed like pillars of jewels against the dark. Instead of admiring the city, though, Dawning turned his gaze upwards to the night sky above. Despite the light pollution of the city, he could see the stars shining bright like distant, tiny diamonds, and could vividly make out the cratered white-and-gray surface of the Moon. As he looked up at the Moon for a moment, he remembered the days of his youth when the Mare in the Moon still stood etched into its surface, when Princess Luna–former Princess Luna, he reminded himself–was still bound in exile within the great celestial sphere. He remembered seeing the huge gray image disappear one night, and hearing the news of Nightmare Moon’s escape, subsequent defeat, and Luna’s return by the hooves of the newly revealed Elements of Harmony, and how he’d marveled over the tales of their heroism and courage in the face of danger. He’d still been a teen then, and in that period of adolescence, he’d found the stories of the Element Bearers' adventures to be nothing short of inspiring. Something to learn from and take note of. Especially with all he’d discovered he had. Life had been a lot more simple then. Now he cast his gaze out past the great satellite, looking out into the dark void of space beyond. He let his eyes soak in the field of stars sprinkled across the night sky, picking out all their different colors; red, yellow, blue, white…and as he watched them he found himself wondering the same question he’d asked himself countless times before. Which one’s mine? If nothing else, it seemed that he’d at least have more time to figure that out. As worried as he’d been since the Elements’ arrival, and even with the added pressure and publicity from his unintentional reveal to the world two days ago, the fact was that they’d accomplished very little in actually finding out who Supermane truly was. All they’d done was simply put themselves in the same rut as everypony else. And as long as they didn’t find anything that might clue them into connecting the Pony of Steel with mild-mannered Dawning Hope, and as long as he could keep up the act, he felt he had a good chance of remaining hidden. And he had experience, of course. Acting like one of them–No, not “one of them”, that’s too arrogant sounding, he thought–like everypony else in Equestria was rather easy for the most part when he knew what to do. He knew which parts of his personality and mannerisms to emphasize and put forward, and which parts to downplay and keep hidden. Sometimes there was the occasional slip or near-slip, but for the most part he’d been successful in living a persona that nopony, or at least very few, would think to connect with Supermane. Then again…living that way had been all he’d ever known and remembered. He put up his facade of normalcy every day, but he still had yet to know what that facade was actually hiding. Dawning Hope was a mask that sought the face that wore him. Just as long as other ponies could be reasonably convinced that the mask was really him, he thought he could stay in the clear. But what if they do begin to think it’s me? He began to wonder. What do I do then? Do I go out of my way to throw them off the trail? Do I try to steer them in the wrong direction? Do…do I lie? He shook his head in agitation. No, who are you kidding? You’re lying to everypony every time you put on the glasses and pretend to be a bumbling stammering dork. But…that’s not the same as the other thing…how deceitful do I have to get? Ugh, sweet Celestia, this feels wrong… His ears perked up at the sounds of somepony trotting up the stairs and opening the doors to the terrace, heard seconds before a normal pony would have heard it. Still on edge from his musings, Dawning spun to face the door…only to see Fluttershy quietly stepping out onto the open roof, halting in her tracks when she saw Dawning turn to face her. Dawning relaxed when he saw her. “Oh, s-sorry Miss–I mean, Fluttershy. Just, um, wasn’t expecting anypony else up here…” Fluttershy shook her head apologetically. “No no no, the fault’s mine. I didn’t mean to startle you. I-if you’d rather be alone…” For a moment, Dawning briefly considered telling her that he really would have liked to be alone, but realized that he really couldn’t bring himself to justify it. “No, it’s fine…not my roof anyway.” “Oh…well, alright. Thank you.” She trotted up to the railing, Dawning moving over to the side a bit to give her room to stand next to him. “I just thought I’d come out and get some air myself.” “All good,” Dawning replied. “It, uh…it is a nice night.” The two sank into silence for a while, quietly looking out over the lit towers of Manehattan, feeling the cool night air against their fur and the occasional breeze in their manes. Eventually the silence was broken by a sigh from Fluttershy. “You know…as nice as it is to visit every once in a while, I don’t think I’d like to live here.” “Why’s that?” asked Dawning. “Not judging, just curious.” Fluttershy shrugged. “It’s just…a bit too hectic for my liking, I guess. Not really a fan of all the hustle and bustle. I’m more comfortable in a smaller town like Ponyville all things considered. And even then I live on the outskirts in my cottage.” Dawning nodded. “Yeah, I get that. If, um…if it’s any consolation, I kind of had a bit of a rough time adjusting to living here myself.” “You were born in a small town, right?” Fluttershy asked. “Uh…Smallville, was it?” “Yeah, that’s it. Little farming community southwest of the east coast cities. I didn’t come here right away, though. Kinda wandered around freelancing for a while before I decided to settle down here and joined the Planet. It was…kind of a big transition, putting down roots in a big city like this.” “I’ll bet. What helped you get comfortable?” “Time. And meeting the right ponies.” “Like who? Miss Lead?” “Actually yeah. She…she really made sure I found a place to fit in when I started working. Stuck her neck out for me with the early hazing, got me introduced to sources, just…just generally tried to be there for me.” He stopped for a moment. “You know, I know she probably seems a bit…well…a bit overeager at times. A bit zealous maybe. But you know, she’s really a good mare deep down. She…she really does care about making the world better where she can. It’s, uh, it’s why she harps on ponies like Lex so much.” “And why she admires Supermane?” “…y-yeah, him too. She looks at...at him and I guess she sees some mysterious hero knight fighting for the right thing.” Pity that’s not what you are, isn’t it? “Do…do you think he’s not?” A little jolt of worry went through Dawning’s mind. Had he made a slip somewhere? Had he let something show? “Uh…what makes you think that?” “I don’t know, just…just something about how you say it–“ Suddenly there was a flash of light in the distance that made the two’s heads snap up to look. A second later, a loud boom echoed across the city. As they looked they saw a large cloud of dark smoke beginning to rise into the air over the skyline, lit from beneath by flickering red light. All of a sudden, Dawning and Fluttershy completely forgot where their conversation had been going. Fluttershy stared, her mouth agape in shock. “…w-what happened?!” she suddenly cried, her voice filled with terror. “What is it?!” “I-I can’t tell,” Dawning stammered as he leaned over the railing, peering out into the distance trying to see the source of the explosion. “There’s too much smoke, I can’t see…oh sweet Celestia, that’s the Bronclyn Bridge!” “Oh gosh…w-what do we–“ But Dawning was already running back to the exit of the terrace, talking very fast as he passed by her. “Go down and get Lucky and your friends, tell them what happened…I’ll meet you there!” “Dawning, wait!” Fluttershy called as she ran after him. But Dawning had a good head start, and by the time she’d passed through the doors and descended downstairs back to the upper hallways, he had disappeared from her view. But she couldn’t wonder where he’d gone now. Bridge. Explosion. Danger…she ran the whole thing over and over again in her mind. It all had started so fast, but now the fear of what was happening seemed to consume her as she bolted down the floors of the hotel, skidding to a halt in front of the door to the Elements’ room and frantically throwing it open. The others were already up and looking out the window, and when Fluttershy came in they turned to her and began to hail her with questions. “Just heard a bang…” “…were up on the roof, did you see it?” “What the heck’s going on??” Lucky Lead asked, “Where’s Dawning?” As with the blackout before it, a great deal of Manehattan’s denizens heard the sound of the explosion. Residents peeked out their windows and pedestrians ran desperately to try and get a better view of where it had come from. Very few ponies noted the pony-like shaping darting across the sky towards a certain little apartment building in the Hooflyn district. Dawning flew fast, almost frantically, his tie flapping in the breeze, keeping one hoof tightly on his glasses to prevent them from flying off of his face. He tried his best to slow down as he streaked towards his apartment, but was going fast enough that he couldn’t help slamming into the side of the building just next to his window when he came in, although he fortunately managed to slow his approach to not crack the masonry too hard as he did. He quickly reached for the window and forced it open, snapping the lock in the process–I’ll put it back together later–and stumbled into his apartment. Within moments he’d bolted to his bedroom and threw open the closet, digging through clothes and boxes to get to the chest that contained his costume. And all the while he cursed himself for it. Stupid, stupid, stupid…why are you going back for the stupid costume, just get out there already! And yet in spite of his self-berating he hurriedly unlocked the one chest and squirmed into his shirt and cloak in seconds. As soon as he was finished, Dawning ran back out into the living room and shot himself right out the window, darting over the city at breakneck speed. He felt the sudden rush of wind knock back his hood, and with one hoof he pulled it back up and held it in place. He wasn’t going to risk a second exposure. Not even at night, when he was usually most comfortable with going out as Supermane. In less than a minute Dawning had cleared the distance between his apartment and the Bronclyn Bridge, slowing to a hover high above the huge suspension bridge. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but regardless of expectations he could see that it was bad. Very bad. Whatever had exploded had done severe damage to one of the two support towers rising up from the river that kept the bridge up, the one closest to the city’s side of the river. Part of the tower had collapsed, and the piles of rubble and debris that spread across one half of the now sagging bridge were burning in a hellish inferno, spending black clouds of smoke up into the air and painting the once placid night sky a nightmarish red. Dawning scanned the bridge, staring through all manner of light spectrums and beyond. The bridge had been packed with hoof traffic when the explosion had gone off, and he saw the heat and light of at least a dozen ponies buried beneath the rubble. Others not wounded or shocked enough to keep moving were trying to get past the flames and digging through the fallen stone where they could, but without much luck. From what he could see there had been no fatalities. Not yet. And he didn’t plan on watching anypony die tonight. Dawning swooped down towards the burning section of the bridge. As he did he opened his mouth and began to take deep breaths, flooding his lungs with as much air as he could take. Which was a great deal more than a normal pony could breath in. Another of the gifts of being…whatever he was. Supermane flew down right over the flames, and just as he did he released all the stored-up air with a loud whoosh as a near gale-force burst of air exploded from his mouth across the flames. The ponies below on the bridge flinched and shut their eyes in the, their manes blowing in the sudden gust. And as the inferno was struck, the hellish flames suddenly billowed and winked out of existence, leaving nothing but smoke and charred ashes blowing away in the residual breeze. Dawning shot through the cloud of smoke before turning around and looping back towards the bridge, landing amidst the crowds of survivors. He pushed past them and ignored their stunned stares as he ran to the largest piece of the fallen tower, shoving his hooves beneath it and beginning to lift it up. He felt the immense weight of the stone pressing down on him, about as much as or perhaps even more so than the monorail, but still he pushed upwards, maneuvering himself further beneath it the more he lifted. Finally he reached the point where he felt confident in actually lifting it off the ground, slowly willing himself up into the air and heaving the massive chunk of stone up above him. It tilted and swayed a bit in his hooves as he balanced out its center of gravity, but he kept a firm grip on it, feeling flecks of debris and dust patter down on him. Dawning looked down. He was now well above the bridge, high enough to look down and get a good look at the survivors that he’d unearthed from beneath the rubble. They looked battered and dirty, but fortunately were still alive, looking up at their rescuer with wide, disbelieving eyes as he held the great piece of the bridge over his head. He turned his head and looked down to the remaining crowd. “Get them out of here and get off the bridge!” he shouted. “Now!” Nopony stopped to gawk. There was no time for pointing and crying “It’s Supermane!” now. Instead, almost as one, the remaining ponies on the bridge rushed forward, picking up the survivors and digging out any who hadn’t been immediately exposed already. They carried them off to safety as they themselves began to flee across to the now-opened road back to the city, where swarms of police, firefighters, and medical teams awaited them. Dawning, meanwhile, continued to heave up the massive stone chunk through the air, waiting until he had gotten a safe enough distance from the bridge before tilting his hooves forward and letting it slide away, watching as it fell into the river with a great splash and whoosh of spray and foam. He wouldn’t have been able to piece the damaged portion of the bridge back together, not the way it was. He couldn’t just repair it good as new at super-speed, and he certainly didn’t have some “wall-repairing vision” like he’d seen in one of his foalhood superhero comics. Sweet Celestia, that one was dumb… Dawning allowed himself a moment to take a breath, rubbing his foreleg muscles a little as he did. He’d just begun to listen in on the crowds of emergency responders when he found himself faintly hearing a strange, rhythmic, and vaguely electronic sounding noise. He mentally tuned his hearing to hone in on the sound, and realized that it was coming from within the structure of the bridge itself… Beep…beep…beep… Dawning’s blood ran cold, and his heart skipped a beat. The explosion suddenly made sense now, or at least partially. He didn’t need to think twice about what that sound could be. Where is it? Dawning darted back towards the bridge, swooping back and forth along its length and scanning through it with his x-ray vision, trying desperately to find the second bomb. He saw the steel supports of the bridge’s structure, little tools and equipment that had been used for renovations, piping for electrical wires…but no bomb. And yet still he heard it beeping, growing steadily faster as it went. Beep, beep, beep, beep… Dawning felt himself beginning to panic. Where is it?! Come on, find it!…he hovered over right next to the bridge and swept his x-ray gaze over it once more, looking for something, anything that looked like a bomb. He was right on top of it, he knew it, but where was it? Then he looked through the bridge at the electrical conduits within again, and he suddenly realized that he couldn’t see through them. They must have been lead-lined. And as soon as he realized that he suddenly knew… With another tuning of his ears he’d pinned it down. It was in the lead conduits. Near the center of the bridge. He’d just willed himself forward through the air when the second bomb went off in a flash of incandescence and a deafening roar. Dawning’s super vision flared blinding white as his eyes were bombarded with light, and his ears, tuned to focus on the normally imperceptible, were flooded and drowned in the loud boom of the bomb’s detonation. It took only moments for his sight and hearing to clear, but it felt to him like a short forever. But he found no relief in what he saw when it did. The explosion had split the center of the bridge in two, and the ends were now beginning to sag down into the river below. The ponies that had not yet gotten off, either to one side or the other, began to slide back towards the edges… No! Supermane dove down under the two severed halves of the bridge, putting his hooves against the lower edge of one and beginning to push it back up. He reached out with one foreleg towards the opposite section, stretching the limb out as far as he could until he felt his hoof make contact, and beginning to lift it up as well. Come on, come on…please don’t slip, please don’t slip… Slowly–painfully slowly–Dawning was able to lift both halves of the bridge back up to something at least close to level with each other, holding them up and together as best he could. He x-rayed through the bridge, watching the remaining stranded ponies hastily flee off the stricken structure. Okay, good…but just to give them some extra stability to work with… Dawning willed intense heat into his eyes, casting shimmering red rays at the enormous crack between the two halves of the bridge. Concrete and steel melted and turned molten, blending together and reconnecting the bridge. Then Dawning cut the heat off and took another deep breath, releasing the cooled air in little puffs across the length of the glowing, molten line. Can’t cool it down all at once…it’d turn brittle and then I’d have just made it worse… At last the heated materials hardened and cooled, fusing together enough that Dawning felt confident in releasing the structure. It wouldn’t hold forever; probably not even the whole night, and he certainly couldn’t just repair the whole thing at super-speed or something. But it would at least provide the remaining ponies that had been trapped on the bridge with enough stability to escape. Sure enough, as he gazed through the bridge’s structure he could see the last few ponies making their way off. Beep…beep…beep…beepbeepbeep… There just had to be a third one to round it all out, didn’t there? Dawning flew up over the bridge again, sweeping his vision all over the structure and listening as hard as he could as he tried to pin it down. Come on, where is it?… But fortune had decided to give him a little smirk. After a few seconds of searching he finally spotted it, nestled within the still-standing support tower on the farther end of the bridge. A quick guess deduced that it was meant to do the same thing as the first bomb that had gone off. Buck that. Dawning shot forward, smashing through the stone masonry of the tower and grabbing the bomb in both hooves before ramming out the other side, all within the span of a second. He’d left a rather big pony-sized hole in the tower…but it was small fry compared to what it would have looked like had he left the bomb in there, much less next to what the bridge had already suffered. Dawning turned upward, taking himself and the bomb high up into the night sky. Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep… Dawning looked down at the bomb, a large, metallic sphere shape, almost featureless save for a few numerals on the casing and a port that he assumed was for accessing the machinery inside. More than anything he wanted to get a better look at it; maybe it would give him a clue as to who planted it, something Supermane could anonymously turn in to the police. But if the last bomb was any indication, he didn’t have much time left before it detonated. Not enough time to properly disarm it, much less examine it properly. No, there was only one thing he could do with it in the paltry few moments remaining. With both hooves, Dawning hefted the bomb up and hurled it into the air. He watched it zoom up and away from him for a fraction of a second before it vanished and was replaced with the bright flash and cracking boom of an explosion. He shut his eyes out of pure instinct, and felt little bits of shrapnel hit his face and cloaked body an instant later. It was done. Dawning looked down at the scene far below. Whatever fires remained from the explosions were being dealt with by firefighters, either on the Manehattan side of the bridge or from boats on the river. Crowds were beginning to gather near the bridge as the police tried to form a perimeter. He also saw Lucky, Quicksnap, and the Elements pushing their way through the crowd, no doubt looking for him in addition to investigating the scene for themselves. Dawning turned away and began flying back towards his apartment to retrieve his civilian clothing. His shirt and cloak were dirtied by soot and dust, and his mane and fur equally so. He wouldn’t have time to properly clean up, and he began thinking of how he could explain himself. The five felt a markedly different atmosphere from the scene of the rescued train compared to what they saw now. While that past incident had been superseded by the thrill and awe of Supermane’s revealed existence, there was a more distinct feeling of shock and bewilderment here. All around them they saw tired-looking ponies sitting on sidewalks, some wrapped in blankets or drinking offered beverages, being consoled by friendly relief workers or fellow pedestrians. The more wounded of the survivors were being escorted to ambulance carriages, some on stretchers, many bruised and bloodied and wrapped in bandages by medical teams. The police officers forming the perimeter would occasionally cast worried looks over their shoulders at the half-ruined bridge behind them. The acrid scent of smoke and dead flames hung over all, and black wisps blotted out the stars above. Fluttershy’s heart ached. Rainbow Dash and Rarity took the scene in quietly. Quicksnap solemnly took a few pictures of the scene, making a point to keep the flash off on his camera to avoid causing discomfort. Even Lucky Lead seemed to be taken aback by it all. “Holy Celestia…” Lucky murmured as she looked around. None of the excitement she’d shown back at the monorail was present in either face or voice. “This…this could have been…” “Worse,” Rarity finished. “A lot worse. Thank Celestia nopony seems to have been killed, but…” “W-where’s Dawning?” Quicksnap asked. “You…oh geez, you think he could have–“ “I’m sure he’s fine,” Fluttershy tried to assure him. “At least, I hope he is…Rainbow, can you see him?” Rainbow was hovering a few feet above the ground, looking this way and that through the shifting crowd. “Nah, I can’t. Too many ponies. Geez, the dark doesn’t help much either…” “Perhaps we should ask somepony?” Rarity suggested. Lucky was ahead of her though, worming her way through the shifting crowd to the police barricade, where she approached a tall older-looking stallion dressed in the garb of a police captain. “Officer? Hi, Lucky Lead, Daily Planet, can I–“ “Ma’am, if you’d please,” the officer said irritably. “We’ve got a lot on our plate right now, you can come back for interviews later.” “No no, that’s not what I’m looking for…for once…a-anyway, I just wanted to know if you happened to have come across from another guy from the Planet? Tan stallion, black mane, kinda on the tall side, wears glasses…” But the captain was looking past Lucky now. “You mean like him?” Lucky and the others turned to see Dawning Hope stepping through the crowd to meet them, his mane looking like he’d been through a high wind and covered with a light coating of dust. Lucky turned away from the officer and bolted up to him. “Oh, Celestia, Dawning! You look a mess, are you okay? Are you hurt?” “Oh no, no, I’m fine,” Dawning assured her, wiping a bit of dust from his brow and adjusting his glasses. “J-just took a lot out of me getting here and then when I did the next explosion went off and, well…” “But you’re okay,” At Dawning’s reaffirming nod, Lucky let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. “Okay. Okay, good. Just heard about the explosion and that you’d run off ahead and got worried…” “Did you get to see Supermane?” Quicksnap inquired. “Was he out again?” “Did you see what caused the explosions?” Fluttershy asked, concern in her voice. He shook his head. “N-not really, sorry…” But deep down a part of him wanted to tell them the truth. A bomb. Actually three bombs. This wasn’t an accident like the monorail; somepony planned this. But of course he wouldn’t be able to prove it without outing exactly how he knew all that. And then there were his worries of who might have planted them for whatever reason. For just a moment, Dawning’s eyes flicked up to the towering, glowing skyline of the city, shining against the now smoke-blotted sky. Amidst the towers he could just make out the top of the LexCorp building, and he felt sick inside. The news of the latest disaster and Supermane’s heroism therein spread throughout the city. All over Manehattan, ponies did whatever they could to catch a glimpse of the scene from however distant they were from it. Some looked at the smoke in dread. Others cast their eyes upwards to the night sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of Supermane flying by this time. Only one looked at the distant scene with shame. His name was Girder. A stocky, dull orange earth pony stallion, and a construction worker by trade. He watched the scene of the burning bridge from the confines of a coast-side alleyway, doing his best to stay hidden amongst the shadows. Girder had been one of the ponies working on the bridge renovations. How else could he have put the bombs in at where they needed to be? Whomever his…his “benefactor” was, he’d clearly wanted somepony who knew where best to put them. The worst part was that Girder knew it was wrong. That ponies could be hurt. That ponies could have even died. And yet…he’d done it. He tried to justify it to himself. Played back every possible reason in his mind why he’d taken the offer, every word that his benefactor had told him. But no matter what he tried to think, that feeling of guilt weighed in his chest like a stone. What have I done? Eventually it became too much, and Girder couldn’t take the sight of his handiwork anymore. Hanging his head in remorse, he turned away and began to slowly walk back down the alley. All he wanted to do was go back to his family in their run-down apartment they called “home”, slip under the covers of his and his wife’s bed and try to forget the awful, terrible thing he had helped do. But he didn’t get too far down the alley before he bumped into something blocking his way. Girder leapt back in startled fright, and found himself staring up at two stallions, one an earth pony, the other a unicorn, both dressed in dark suits and sunglasses, staring down at him emotionlessly. Girder shuddered. He knew who these two had to be working for. Had he done something wrong? Was he going to disappear tonight on top of everything else? The unicorn lit up his horn and pulled out a small radio-like device from his breast pocket, clicking a button on the side and holding it in front of Girder’s face. “He wants to talk to you.” Still trembling, poor Girder took the radio in his hooves and, voice hoarse and quivering, spoke into it. “H-hello?” “Mr. Girder?” said a sickeningly pleasant voice from somewhere on the other side. “Ah, so good to hear from you again.” “It’s…” Girder felt like he was choking the sentence out. “It’s done, sir.” “Yes, I can see it from here. Well done, Mr. Girder. You’ve done me a great service tonight, and I shan’t forget it.” “So…the money…” “Already being forwarded to your bank account as we speak. I believe that should be more than enough to keep your family going for another few years. Just don’t spend too much of it at once; you wouldn’t want your wife to ask questions, now would you?” Girder swallowed nervously before asking his next question. “A-and…and the treatments?” “Yes yes, my contacts in Manehattan General will be receiving the treatment plan and instructions shortly. You needn’t give your little colt another thought, Mr. Girder. Thanks to you he’s just netted himself a long, happy, and very much leukemia-free life.” Another pang of guilt stabbed through Girder’s chest. “T-thank you, sir…” “Oh please, think nothing of it…” “…the pleasure’s all mine,” Tech Lexicon said, unable to keep a little smirk off his face. “Now go home and relax; you deserve this, remember?” With that final, almost mocking word of encouragement, Lex clicked off the bedside intercom and rolled onto his back in his penthouse bed, sighing contentedly. Merciful Grace was once more beside him, looking at him with a smile of her own. From outside the penthouse suite’s gigantic windows, they could easily see the dimming glow of the bridge’s flames melding with the usual shining lights of the city. “A most useful find, Mercy,” he told her. “My compliments.” “There were a lot like him, actually,” Mercy replied. “Plenty I could have gotten to do it. There's a lot of ponies eager for a cash boost after getting booted for the Plaza’s construction.” Lex smirked. “Well…I do love a good bit of amusing irony now and then. You just keep an eye on him, though…make sure he doesn’t decide to squeal.” Mercy nodded. “I’ll have my teams watching him, don’t worry.” “Good mare.” Lex rolled over and clicked on the intercom again. “Dr. Vale.” “Y-yes, sir?” “How did our drones do? Any sign that he might have seen them?” “No sir. They were far enough away and the stealth devices seem to have kept them hidden. I don’t think he saw them.” “And the scanning? How did that go?” “Uh, distance from the bridge and his speed made it a bit difficult, but we got some good scans of him to work with.” “Good. Compile what you have and prepare a report for me. I want to see you first thing tomorrow morning about what we’ve just learned about him.” “Y-yes, sir, Mr. Lexicon.” Lex thought for a moment. “Oh, and…bring up whatever information you’ve managed to decrypt from the ship so far. Flight plans, star charts, anything you have along those lines. It might prove useful in determining what sort of environment he came from.” “Yes sir. I’ll…I’ll get it together tonight and have it ready by morning.” Lex didn’t bother responding anymore, instead shutting off the intercom and rolling back into the bed again. “Almost a pity it got cooled down so fast,” Mercy said, watching the bridge from out the windows. “Would’ve made a nice fireside scene.” Lex chuckled. “It would have, wouldn’t it? Some nice atmosphere for the evening…but I’ve got what I want. My first move. First pieces of real information about him. I know myself, now I just need to know my enemy…and how to win.” “Of course, sir.” Lex’s voice dropped to a more serious tone. “And he won’t win. You hear me, Mercy? I won’t let him win against me.” “I know you won’t,” Mercy replied calmly. She reached out with a white-feathered wing and wrapped it around him. “Why don’t you forget about him for a few hours? Put him out of your mind, get some peace for the night…” “Is that your professional suggestion?” Mercy gave a little shrug and smirked as she wrapped her wing around him just a bit tighter. “Something like that.” Lex sighed. He loved her wings. All of her, really, but the wings especially. So soft…in stark contrast to the kind of mare they belonged to. “Well…maybe for a little while.” Lex rolled toward her, but not before taking one last, loving look at his city and what he had cast upon it.