A young woman had just gotten off the bus and immediately took a seat at the bus stop to wait for another. It was a long ways from home, but she didn't mind making the long journey for her friend. She garnered a few odd looks from her rainbow streaked hair, but she had long since gotten to the point where she didn't even notice it anymore. Boredom set in almost instantly, despite it only having been five or so minutes. She got up to find any kind of fast food joint or gas station nearby to get a drink to hold her over at the bus stop. She knew it would be about a thirty minute wait for the next bus to arrive.
It was only a few days ago she had made a similar trip and made the same pit stop to get a drink. She had almost reached the corner of an intersection when she tripped over some kind of package. Recovering from her fall, she examined the package to see who it belonged to, finding no information on it at all. She quickly looked around to see if she could spot anyone who it might belong to. She managed to spot a woman whom she remembered seeing on the bus with her earlier. A courier of some sorts, now driving off in a taxi. She tried to chase after the taxi and stop it but she went unnoticed. She debated her options for a few minutes before deciding to just keep it for now since she had no way to find or contact the mail courier or the package's intended recipient.
She had her drink and had the back on the bus all to herself. She looked down at the large belt buckle she now wore. The buckle had a large insignia of a lightning bolt with a pair of wings coming out of the sides of the lightning bolt, standing upright. She examined the object again for a bit before shrugging it off and thinking of other things. She assumed it was some kind of replica of a show prop or something of that nature. She tried looking it up the day she found it, but couldn't find anything. She remembered when she first put the belt buckle against her stomach, to see how it would look on her. She was surprised to see the buckle send out a strap that wrapped around her stomach from both sides, connecting at the back. “Man, technology's gettin' cooler every day.”
Rainbow Dash had been living in an orphanage ever since her father, Blitz, died of respiratory failure in his sleep. She was a very athletic girl who loved parkour and baseball. She didn't want to be weighed down by a job, though she knew at some point that she would have to find one. The orphanage however was giving her a weekly allowance that allowed her to keep her carefree habits. She was on her way to the upper side of Manehattan to see a friend of hers. She made it to her stop and began her twenty minute walk to her destination, the Starry Brew in the Baltic Plaza. The AC was the most amazing thing in the world right now after baking in the summer heat for two hours.
She slumped into the first chair she could find and examined the counter area. It wasn't hard to spot Fluttershy. It was her third week working here and she was still incredibly nervous. Another employee with a long purple hairdo was currently speaking to her, though Rainbow wasn't really paying any attention to it at the moment. She stood up and approached the counter, wiping the sweat off her face along the way. “Sup Fluttershy.”
The nervous girl behind the counter lit up at the sight of her friend, any signs of anxiety fading from her instantly. “Rainbow! I haven't seen you in two weeks!” The woman next to Fluttershy was currently staring at Fluttershy, amazed that she was even capable of such displays of emotion and speaking at a volume higher than one. “Oh! Um, my break isn't until ten more minutes. Sorry, but you'll have to wait a little bit, sorry.”
The purple haired woman put a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. “It's okay dear, you've done a wonderful job and we're a little slow right now. You go ahead and catch up with your friend. I'll clock you out for break in ten minutes. Would you like anything to drink miss...”
Rainbow puffed out her chest with pride. “The name's Dash. Rainbow Dash. And naw, I'm good for now.”
“Very well then. If you change your mind, just keep in mind that I'll allow a free drink on me. Anything for a friend of Fluttershy's.” She bowed politely and resumed her duties behind the counter. Fluttershy was about to say something in response to being allowed an early break but her coworker had already walked off. She felt a little guilty getting an early break but didn't want to bother her coworker with her concerns. She walked with Rainbow to a table and sat down.
“Where have you been Rainbow? You've been gone for two whole weeks. I was getting worried.”
“Relax. I get a weekly allowance. I was just doing nothing for awhile so I could save up enough money for something. No big deal. More importantly, it's been like what? Three weeks since you've been here and you're still this nervous?”
“I'm sorry. But...” Fluttershy hesitated.
“But what? Come on Shy, I'm not gonna bite your head off.”
“Rainbow...Won't you please reconsider our offer.”
“Fluttershy not this again. I told you I'm not worried about any of that right now. Can we please not talk about this again?”
“Please Rainbow, I re-”
Fluttershy was cut off by her coworker walking to their table. “Would it be alright if I took a seat with you two?”
Rainbow nodded. “Knock yourself out.”
“Thank you.” She took a seat. “My name is Rarity. I'm a crew trainer here. I take it you are a friend of Fluttershy's, miss Dash?”
“Just Rainbow or Dash. None of that miss crap. And yeah, we go back. We used to live in the same neighborhood and all that jazz.”
“I see. If you don't mind me asking, where do you live now mi-, er... Dash? Are you employed anywhere at the moment?”
“Not important, and no I don't have a job.”
“I see. Would you like to work here? I could easily have you hired if you'd like.”
Rainbow casually waved Rarity off. “Naw. I don't feel like being tied down by any o' that right now.”
Rarity was a little disheartened by this. “I see. Well, I wouldn't want to impose. Do keep my offer in mind at least. It'd be nice to s-”
Fluttershy slammed the table as hard as she could, fists balled, her eyes slowly welling up. Rarity and Rainbow Dash were instantly silenced, their attention now focused solely on Fluttershy “Stop it Rainbow! Can't you see you're just running away!? I'm worried about you! I haven't stopped worrying!”
Rainbow quickly grew agitated. “Don't start this now Fluttershy!”
“You keep saying you're fine but you're not! You're just running away!”
“Fluttershy!”
“You won't let anyone help you, you avoid everyone, you wander around aimlessly every day! You've completely changed and you refuse to even talk ab-”
Rainbow stood up and pushed her chair aside. “SHUT UP FLUTTERSHY!”
Fluttershy stood up as well. “PLEASE JUST TALK TO ME RAINBOW! JUST SAY SOMETHING! ANYTHING! JUST LET M-”
“SO THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT ME WHEN I COME TO SEE YOU AT YOUR STUPID LITTLE JOB!? FINE THEN! HAVE A GREAT FUCKING DAY!” Rainbow shoved her chair off to the side and stormed out.
Fluttershy made an attempt to call out to her to no avail. Rarity started to look around, every customer now staring directly at them. She made a few gestures to the customers, silently telling them to be quiet and go back about their business. Having gotten the majority of the customers to comply, she moved to the weeping Fluttershy, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Sweetie, do you want to take the rest of the day off?” Fluttershy shook her head in response. “Alright. Let's at least get you in the back, you can take as much time as you need to in the break room.” Fluttershy nodded, wiping her eyes as she walked with Rarity to the back.
---
A furious Rainbow stormed down through the streets, her mind a beehive of thoughts and emotions. She considered blowing off some steam at an arcade or winding down with some food, but the idea of having to stand or sit still at the moment sounded agonizing. Various ideas swam through her head as she slowly started speeding up, from a power walk to a full sprint. She decided a good run through the area would be enough to cool herself off. She spent the next three hours blazing a trail through mid-upper Manehattan. The pouring rain that started during the last hour of her run did nothing to deter her. Noticing it was getting dark as well, Rainbow ducked into a nearby alley to sit down and catch her breath. Despite her three hour run, her confrontation with Fluttershy was still fresh in her head, along with some unsavory memories.
---
“Are you gonna be playing in the game today dad?”
“Not today sport. We'll be watching it together.”
“Awesome!”
“If you're not full on popcorn and snacks, we can get some ice cream after.”
“You're the best, dad!”
---
“Hey dad, I heard the Manehattan Wondercolts are going to be playing in an upcoming game next month. Are you gonna be playing too!?”
“Aw, I wanted to surprise you with that. I shoulda known that wouldn't have worked.”
“So you are!?”
“You betcha. I even have a front row seat reserved for you.”
“NO WAY! YOU'RE THE BEST EVER!”
“Hey now, save the praise for when we win.”
---
“Hey dad, your car's still in the garage. Are you still here? Your door was still closed and all so I just wanted to be sure.... Dad? ...Dad...? Dad, wake up, it's two in the afternoon already, don't you have to go to practice? ...Dad!? DAD WAKE UP ALREADY, YOU'RE SCARING ME! DAD!?”
---
“I'm sorry I have to say this. Your father passed away in his sleep. The cause of death was respiratory failure.”
“No! He can't be... N-no! He has a game to play next week! You're a doctor! You can help him! Help him please! Give him some medicine or something!”
“There's nothing we can do. I'm so sorry...”
“I HATE YOU! YOU'RE A DOCTOR! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK! JUST HELP HIM PLEASE! PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO!”
---
Rainbow was broken out of her trance by the sound of footsteps in the rain. She quickly wiped her eyes and nose and got to her feet. “Whattya want? I know it's raining and I don't care. Just leave me alone.”
A tall woman wearing a cheongsam dress was standing at the sidewalk. While her dress was soaked, her hair seemed unaffected by the rain. “What a rare sight. A child lost in the rain? What drives you little one?”
Rainbow was getting bad vibes from the woman. She took a few steps back to accentuate her discomfort. “I said piss off lady! I'm not in a good mood alright!”
“Mmmm, I see. You're devastated by the loss of someone you once held dear. You're trying desperately to escape from your problems. Trying to escape from the torment of reality.”
Rainbow's discomfort quickly grew to an intense fear. “F-FUCK OFF LADY! DON'T COME ANYWHERE NEAR ME! I-I HAVE A KNIFE!”
The woman laughed and began walking slowly towards Rainbow, causing Rainbow to back away in an effort to maintain the same distance. “Relax my child. I can take away those painful emotions away from you. I can finally set you free.”
“I SAID I HAVE A KNIFE! B-BACK OFF!”
The woman held out her hand as she advanced, the skin flaking off and revealing a black hand with sharp, pointed fingertips. “Just relax. You won't feel any pain, I promise you.”
Rainbow was backed against a wall. Realizing that she was most likely about to face death and any attempt at escape could potentially also result in her death, she decided that even a small chance at escape was better than giving up. She shot forward and slid past the woman, scrambled to her feet and sprinted out of the alley.
The woman turned and watched Rainbow escape. “Not so fast child. Your emotions. They're too good to just let go. You will not escape me.”
Rainbow ran as fast as she could. She took a few occasional glances back and saw no signs of anyone following her. She turned a corner and found a man holding a door open to a small convenience store. “Quickly! In here! The lights are off, they'll won't look for us in here!”
She came to a halt in front of him. “H-how'd you know I was being chased!? Who are you!?”
He gestured furiously for her to enter the building. “Quickly! Her subordinates could show up any second! I'll explain inside!” Rainbow mentally cursed herself as she ran inside, hiding behind a small stand with various candies and snacks.
The man closed the door and locked it, running behind the stand next to Rainbow. She peeked out from behind the stand to see if anyone or anything was passing by. She saw no movement for awhile. “Okay, what the heck is going on?” She asked quietly, keeping her vigil from behind the snack stand.
“Simple. I was ordered to lock you in here”
Rainbow quickly rolled away from the man behind her, and turned to face him. A black humanoid now stood before her, holes riddling his body and limbs. “Wh-what...the actual fuck!?”
“Very good, my little Changeling. It would have been a shame to lose such a perfect test subject.” Rainbow turned to face the voice coming from the back of the store. Standing at the back door was the woman from the alley. “Her emotions are so erratic. I'm dying to see what kind of Changeling she becomes. Now, restrain her.”
The black humanoid started advancing on Rainbow. She was backed against the wall, the humanoid almost upon her. Her eyes darted around for any possible escape routes. The front door was locked, the black humanoid advancing on her most likely wouldn't allow her the chance to run for very long, the woman was guarding the back and she wasn't able to spot anything at the moment that she could use to break the window open. She resorted to empty threats again. “B-BACK OFF! I HAVE KNIFE!”
The woman laughed. “Bark all you want. Such a pathetic weapon wouldn't be able to harm us. It will be much easier if you just relax. I'll take away all your pain in just a moment.”
Rainbow had one last resort. It was fight or flight. She had only one thing on her person that was even remotely usable as a weapon. Her hands quickly darted down to rip the belt buckle off her waist. As her hands thrust down on the buckle, she pushed down on the wings. The wings turned out to be held in place at the base, allowing them to be spread out to the sides. The wings locked into place and a heavenly white light emerged from the belt buckle and engulfed her body. When the light faded, her body was covered in a light blue armor with a large pair of wings on the back. She took a moment to look at her hands and down at her body. “...wh-wh-what the!?”
The woman frowned. “Another one? Quickly! Incapacitate her!”
She quickly looked up at the black humanoid in front of her. He already had a hand cocked, ready to knock her out. She reflexively moved a hand up to block the punch and with her back supported against the wall, kicked him in the stomach with all her might. The black humanoid reeled back from the force of the kick. Rainbow stepped away from the wall, looking down at herself again, a look of confidence quickly growing on her face. “So the rumors were true...there really are armored heroes running around! Omigosh omigosh omigosh!” Rainbow marveled at her new transformation for a few more seconds then took a fighting stance. “And I can start by taking you two out!” She closed the distance between her and the black humanoid and socked him right in the jaw. The creature attempted to recover and strike back, but was greeted with another fist in his face as soon as he brought his gaze back to her. Rainbow repeated this two more times, walking him into a wall and delivered a powerful kick to his stomach, causing him to fall to his knees clutching his stomach. She grabbed the large, sleek looking cyan pistol holstered to her side pointed it at the creature. She waited for the creature to look up at her before she fired six blasts into the creature. The creature couldn't take anymore and exploded, surprising Rainbow a little. She didn't bother to dwell on that and turned around, pointing her pistol towards the back where the woman was standing. The woman was no longer there. Rainbow grunted in frustration and ran towards the back room and out the back door, finding no one around. She had no intention of going on a wild goose chase now, she wanted to figure out everything about this new armored suit as quickly as possible.
She holstered her pistol and turned her head, noticing her flexible metal wings. She had full control over them. She gave them a few powerful flaps and found herself flying above the building. She was completely blown away by her new abilities. She decided to spend the rest of the night flying around and getting used to her new wings. Later during the night, she descended towards near ground level. She noticed a quick bright flash. Scanning down, she saw someone pointing a camera at her as she hovered in the air. She posed for one more picture and took off towards the sky. She knew full well what she wanted to do with this power. She flew through the sky, now intent on a particular destination. Fluttershy's house. She landed on the roof and pulled the wings on her belt buckle to an upright position. The armor broke off her body and vanished. With the rain having finally died down to a light trickle, she sat down, pulled her phone out and left a text for her friend.
I'm sorry about earlier. I'll be waiting at your place when you get off work. Give me a call when you're nearby. I need to show you something amazing.
She stretched her arms out and yawned as she full on her back. A wet shingle roof wasn't exactly comfortable, but it would suffice for a short nap.
She awoke only half an hour later to her phone ringing and vibrating in her pocket. She opened her phone up and answered the call. “Sup.”
“Rainbow, I'm...I'm sorry about earlier too. I'm waiting by the front door. Where are you?”
Rainbow stood up and carefully approached the edge of the roof. “Be there in a sec.” She hung her phone up, put it in her pocket and leapt down from the roof. Fluttershy nearly had a heart attack, letting out a short scream as her friend abruptly landed in front of her.
“D-d-don't d-do that! W-were you on my roof!?”
Rainbow shrugged casually. “Yeah. I'll explain in a bit. Let's just get inside already. I'm sick of being out in the rain.” Fluttershy opened the door and walked to her room quietly with Rainbow Dash in tow. The lights were off inside the house, signaling that her mother was asleep. She closed the door to her room and turned on the light. She gave Rainbow a pair of clothes to change into and sent her to the shower to get cleaned up. Rainbow sat down at Fluttershy's desk afterward. “Oh, mind if I use your laptop real quick? I got something I need to do.” Fluttershy nodded and grabbed some pajamas from her dresser and went to go take a shower.
Rainbow was grinning ear to ear as she set up a new account on Twitter with a fake email.
It's time to clean up the streets of Manehattan. The new defender of justice, Armored Hero Blitz, reporting in!
She made her first post and logged off. When Fluttershy finally returned from her shower, she told Fluttershy that she would explain everything in the morning, promising that it would be “so awesome”.
---
“I appreciate you letting me use the bed, Ditzy.”
“Not a problem, Twilight. A proper bed is much more comfy then sleeping on a mattress on the floor. It's the least I could do. I bet what ever new living arrangement the Doctor gets for you tomorrow will be really nice.”
“Here's hoping. By the way...the user of the Solar Driver. Bolt. What can you tell me about him? From what I gathered from the Doctor and the complete lack of inside information on him, he's some kind of special, off the record case.”
“Mmhm. He just kind of showed up on the day I was bringing the Solar and Trick Drivers to our little base here. I was attacked by a Changeling and he happened to be nearby. He tried to protect me. I still don't know why, but he just reached into my bag and pulled out the Solar Driver and used it to beat the Changeling. No one should have known anything at all about the Drivers or that I even had them.”
“Hmmm. Did he ever say anything concerning that?”
“He said some voice in his head told him to take it out of my bag and even told him how to use it. I still find it weird. When I told the Doctor about it, he told me to bring him in and he's been with us ever since.”
“It must have been the Driver's AI. I've read that they are able to speak telepathically with us humans. Though they are quite picky with whom they choose to communicate with.”
“I heard about those AI before. What are they anyway? How come only the Solar and Lunar Drivers have them?”
“The Solar and Lunar Drivers are special. They were experiments to create a new type of Driver. They are quite powerful and are meant to draw even more power from each other. From what I read before the information breach, one of the reasons for the AI is to allow it to communicate with it's user and instruct him or her on how to use it. The AI is able to help the user fully grasp the Driver's abilities and even help them in combat. I have actually been communicating with Luna a little since I got my hands on the Lunar Driver.”
“Luna?”
“Yes. The Lunar Driver's AI. She prefers to be referred to as 'Luna'. I hope I get to speak with Solar Driver's AI as well. I'm looking forward to meeting this Bolt. What's he like?”
“It's hard to say. He tends to just kind of wander about on his own most of the time. We gave him a bluetooth earpiece like we have so we can communicate with him and he does what we ask him to do. He doesn't talk much about himself though. I tried asking him a few times. He always says it's 'not important' and refuses to say anything else.”
“So he prefers to keep to himself?”
“Kind of. I mean, it's not hard to get him to talk about stuff. He's not anti-social or anything. He's a nice guy at heart. He just doesn't like talking about himself.”
“I see. I look forward to meeting him tomorrow and I hope we can get along. We're going to need to if we're going to be partners.”