...was all we were able to get from the armored vigilante. Police attempted to chase the monster, but it quickly destroyed all police vehicles and escaped. Police are still looking for this strange creature and urge to be extremely careful and call nine-one-one if sighted. We'll bring you more news on this armored vigilante and this new monster as the situation develops. If you have any information about either, please contac-
Lyra turned off the TV and fell back into her beanbag chair, resting a hand on her forehead. “Ooooh this isn't good. The media's going to be crawling everywhere.” She paused for a second to look up at Vinyl, who was laying down next to her, staring at the ceiling. “Was that really the best you could come up with though?”
“Ugh, come on man. I was put on the spot! It was all I could think of! So sue me!”
Lyra let her head slump back and found herself staring at the wall behind her. “Ugh, I have no idea how to deal with this. From now on, if you need to leave some place, take the rooftops, not the front door. That's the only thing I can think of right now.”
Vinyl laid motionless, trying to think of some idea of how to evade or potentially silence the media. Nothing was coming to mind. Evading them was going to be difficult in it's own right and the only way she could think to silence them would be through violence, and she had no intention of taking that route. It wasn't long before Lyra finally broke the stream of nothing and got up. She went into her room and came out after a few minutes in a uniform Vinyl had seen before. “I gotta go to work Vinyl. You can stay if you want. I happen to have a spare key. I'll leave it on the kitchen table. Grab it if you're gonna leave and come back. I'll see you later.”
Vinyl simply raised a hand in acknowledgment for a few seconds and let it fall back to her side. She spent the next hour lazing about, and even turned the TV on for a short time. She still couldn't think of anything. It wasn't until a commercial came on for Barnyard Bargains that she suddenly remembered something.
“My name is Fancy Pants! I am forever indebted to you! I hope we can meet someday, face to face!”
Vinyl sat on the beanbag chair motionless for a few minutes. She was internally debating asking Fancy Pants if he would possibly be able to censor the media for her. It felt kind of wrong to simply ask a favor of him like that, but he did say he was in her debt, but asking would involve revealing herself to him. She put her thoughts on hold after she grew sick of thinking about the issue and looked up his address on the internet. She grabbed Lyra's spare key and left.
---
“OH MY GOSH! THAT'S SO AWESOME RAINBOW! YOU'R LIKE, TOTALLY A SUPER COOL AWESOME SUPER HERO NOW!”
Rainbow felt herself blush a little. “Yeah yeah, I know.” She disengaged her transformation. “Remember Scoots, you can't tell anyone about this okay?”
Scootaloo saluted. “No problem! I won't breathe a word to anyone!” Her hands slowly began to lower as her smile faded slightly. “But, you'll still be coming back here, right Rainbow? Does this mean your leaving?”
Rainbow knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. “Of course not. I wouldn't leave ya Scoots. Even when you finally find a family, I'll still come and visit ya. Got that? I just won't be around as much. But don't worry, I'll make time for you whenever I get the chance, alright?”
Scootaloo's smile returned. “Got it!”
“Atta girl. Now go finish your homework.”
Scootaloo saluted again. “Already did! Ms. Cheerilee said she'd take some of us to get ice cream today if we all finished our homework early! I can't wait!”
“Sounds like fun. Better be around when she calls for ya then. Don't wanna miss out on ice cream.”
“Alright! See you later Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo ran off as Dash watched.
Dash eventually made her way to a bus stop nearby where Gilda was already waiting. “Ready, G?”
“Yep. That thing is probably still somewhere around Upper Manehattan. All we have to do is look for people flippin' there shit and we'll find it in no time.”
---
Vinyl stopped in front of a large one-story house. She was surprised Fancy Pants didn't live in something bigger, like a mansion. She had to double check her GPS to make sure she was at the right place. She made her way to the door and took a deep breath before knocking on his door. The door was opened by Fancy Pants dressed in a fancy tuxedo, giving her a bit of a confused look before greeting her. “Good afternoon miss. Can I help you?”
“Yeah. My name is Vinyl Scratch, nice to meetcha. I know this might sound a little odd, but, mind if I come in for a bit and talk?”
Fancy Pants raised an eyebrow, which only made Vinyl feel more awkward. He shrugged shortly after and gestured her in. “I suppose so. Come on in.” She was surprised. She didn't think he would actually let her in so easily. She accepted his invitation and walked inside. “Can I offer you a drink? We can chat in the dining room if you'd like.”
“Uh, just water, thanks.” Vinyl tried to keep it simple in an attempt to be polite. She couldn't help but notice everything looked so underwhelming for the home of one of Manehattan's premiere millionaires. The most the house had going for it was that it was a little big for a one story house. She sat at his table as Fancy brought her a drink and sat down with a glass of sweet tea for himself.
“So, what brings you around Miss Scratch?”
She took a big gulp of her water before responding. “I have a bit of an odd question. About an incident that happened yesterday.”
“Ah yes. That monster that attacked at the Mare-iot yesterday, correct?”
“Yeah. If you don't mind me asking, what happened in there?”
Fancy took a small drink of his sweet tea. “Well, we were simply holding a charity auction. All the proceeds were to be donated to help improve schools in Lower Manehattan. I had high hopes for the events, and things were going smoothly. Then this man showed up in a cowboy outfit.”
“Man in a cowboy outfit?”
“Yes. He came in and made a bit of a scene. He said that all upper class citizens were scum in his eyes and that he was going to kill us all.”
“Really!? He just waltzed in and threatened everyone!?”
“Indeed. I was rather skeptical myself of course. That was, until he turned into a monster, if you can believe that. I suspect you're asking me about this event because you've seen the news, correct? Or are you perhaps, a reporter?”
Vinyl's arms shot up and she quickly waved the question off. “No no no! I promise you, I'm not with the media! I was just curious. I...I have a friend who was there and I'm just a little concerned about what went down in there, that's all.”
Fancy seemed to accept the answer, but Vinyl couldn't quite read his face very well. “I see. In any case, he transformed into a monster and made an attempt on my life, after making some...rather interesting comments. I was lucky to make it out alive. I owe my life to that strange, 'armored vigilante', as the news is currently referring to her. I do hope I can thank her in person some day.”
“What do you mean by, interesting comments?”
“From what he was saying, he seemed to really despise the wealthy, or at least certain wealthy people.” Fancy Pants sighed. “You see Miss Scratch, society's views on a person tend to change dramatically based on their status. If a person becomes famous or rich, society tends to turn and suddenly view them negatively. I've worked my way towards my current standing through hard work and smart investments. As I started accumulating a vast wealth, I began buying all the little things I had always wanted. Nice clothes, quite a lot of books to read, so on and so forth.” He took a small swig of his tea. “But in the end, I don't really need all the money I currently have and buying more and more for myself just isn't rewarding for me. I don't regret the things I've obtained, but money can only do so much for oneself. I discussed the situation with my wife and ever since, we've giving back to the community through charity events, generous donations, so and so forth. To put it very simply, it felt nice to give back to those less fortunate to have tripped over such wealth.”
“I guess that explains the house.” She chuckled a bit. “I was expecting something a lot more...expensive in here.”
“Bah, nonsense. I am a married man with no children as of yet, I don't need more than a simple house.” Fancy was quiet for a moment afterward. He took a few gulps of his tea and sighed. “Miss Scratch, I have a bit of a problem, if you wouldn't mind lending an ear.”
“O-oh, sure. What's up?”
“It's true, we have been practically throwing most of our money out into the world with good intentions, and it indeed made me feel nice, for lack of a more powerful word. But, lately, the feeling just isn't there anymore. I don't expect anything in return for what I do. Nothing has changed from before, I still have no particular need for the excess money I possess nor do I have any desire to hoard it. I've been pondering this situation for awhile and I just can't come to a conclusion as to why I've been feeling this way lately. It feels like I'm starting to expect something for the things I do, which just sounds plain selfish. What do you think Miss Scratch? Do you think that even through my generous acts, I've started to become selfish?”
She sat quiet for a minute. She brought her hand to her glass of water to take another drink, but felt slightly awkward when she realized she had finished with her last drink. “I dunno man. Maybe something's changed since then. Maybe you've just kind of grown numb the feeling? I guess that sounds kinda crappy, but I'unno, maybe that's a thing. I doubt it's because you're expecting something back though. You don't seem like that kinda guy to me. If I had more time to think about it, maybe I could think of something”
“I see. I apologize for asking you such a heavy question. In any case, is there anything else you'd like to ask me? I'm more than happy to assist in any way I can.”
“Uhh...I do have one question, but it's not really important.”
Fancy Pants grinned. “Surprise me.”
Vinyl slowly raised an eyebrow as her eye wandered down his clothes. “...why the fancy suit?”
Fancy couldn't help but laugh at the question. “Oho, it's rather simple. I just like formal clothing. I'm not going anywhere today. After yesterday, I'd rather prefer to stay here and read a good book in my study. I personally don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to wear nice clothes for no good reason. Clothes exist to be worn do they not? Why wait for some rare special occasion? I'm not particularly fond of the way society is nowadays. If people want to get together, they send a text message or post on their social media. Important and personal matters and information are also pushed through the same means. It feels like we're losing touch with the outside world, Miss Scratch. I prefer the older days. If you wanted to talk with someone, you'd call them up on your telephone or simply drop on by, as you did. If we had something important to share, we had no social media in which to brag to the world, we hunted our friends down and shared the news! I miss that kind of community we used to have. But I suppose I might just be losing touch with the world myself. Who knows.”
“Mmm.” Vinyl hung on his words for awhile and got up from her chair. “Thanks man. I think I'm gonna head out now. I got something I need to look into. Thanks for everything dude.”
“Not a problem. It's not everyday you get to indulge in conversation with a complete stranger in your own household.” He took their cups, deposited them in the kitchen sink and walked Vinyl to the door. “Have a nice day Miss Scratch.”
“Yeah...see ya.” She turned around and took a few steps before turning around. Luckily, Fancy Pants hadn't closed the door yet. “O-one more thing sir, sorry for holding you up. I...I don't suppose you have any way of uh...influencing the news...would you?”
He looked at Vinyl rather strangely. “Influence the media? That's a rather bold question. Care to elaborate?”
“Oh, um. It's because...uhhh...”
“I see. I had a feeling that might be the case. Miss Scratch.” Fancy closed the door behind him and approached Vinyl. “Might you be, that 'armored vigilante' who saved my life yesterday?”
Her head shot up to meet Fancy's eyes. “W-what!? N-no, of course not! I mean, maybe...kinda.”
“Haha, relax my dear. I saw the news today. You looked rather unenthusiastic about the whole affair. I assume you're attempting to ask me if I could persuade the media to leave you alone, correct?”
Vinyl's eyes were darting around, still attempting to think of a way to convince him now that he was wrong while a vast majority of her brain was telling her that the jig was up. “Uh...mmmaaaaaaybe?”
“Well then. First of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I had a feeling when I saw you at my door that might be her. I'm very glad you dropped by. As for your request, sadly, I cannot help you there. I have no way of telling the media what to do and what not to do. If you'd like, I could attempt to find some way to assist you in some way. Just let me know what I can do to help and I won't hesitate.”
Vinyl finally relaxed. “Oh. Well, honestly that was a huge reason why I came. Sorry about that. I'll definitely keep you in mind if I need help though. Thanks.” She finally left after another brief thank you from Fancy Pants. She began her drive home when her phone began vibrating. She made a quick check at a red light. She was getting a phone call from Trixie. She rejected the call since she was on the road. As the light turned green, her phone started vibrating again with another call from Trixie. She groaned and pulled into the nearest parking lot. “What dude? We've been over this, if I cock block your call it means I'm on the road. It's really hard to hold a conversation when all you can hear from my end is WSSSHHH.”
“Yeah whatever. I know you've been having a blast with your friend the last few days, but you'd better be home in the next few days. We have rent due this week and I need your half of the money alright? You can joy ride all you want again after.”
“I know, I know. Look, I'll be back tonight alright? Just chillax. I aint gonna forget. I'll talk to ya later.” Vinyl hung up and put her helmet back on. As she tried to get back on the road, her attention was caught by three police cars speeding down the road. Her grip on the handles tightened. “Uuuugh, stupid guilty conscience!” She got on the road and followed the police.
---
A small crowd was gathering outside of Town Hall in Upper Manehattan. Police had set up a barricade and were working to keep civilians out of the area as people were being evacuated from the building. Rainbow and Gilda were already among the crowd. Gilda was able to stop a man fleeing from the building. “Yo! What the hell's goin' on in there!?”
“Some crazy monster is in there! The Mayor and Diamond Tiara are trapped on the third floor! He's after them! He'll probably go for us next! I'm getting out of there!”
The man ran off immediately. Gilda grinned. “This couldn't be any more perfect.” She turned around. “Hey Dash.” Her grin slowly faded as her gaze was not met with rainbow hairdo. “Dash? DASH!?” She started looking around. She was able to spot Rainbow making her way through the swarm of fleeing civilians, completely unnoticed by the police. “Oh you have GOT to be fucking kidding me...Dash! DASH!” Gilda tried to follow her in but was quickly stopped by police.
---
Vinyl parked nearby and arrived on the scene. She was able to sneak in by crouching down and using the torrent of running people as cover. She was able to get the information she need from a few people as they ran by and quickly made her way to the third floor. She made it up the stairwell and found a cowboy in a hallway opening a door.
“There you are! Ah've been looking forward ta meeting with you again Miss Tiara.”
A young girl about Rainbow Dash's age was sitting down in a chair, arms and legs crossed as a woman was making a poor attempt to hide in the corner of the room. “So you're the one scaring everyone. Well then, you have my attention. Make it quick though, I'm a little busy at the moment.”
Braeburn scowled. “You spoiled little brat! You have no idea what ahm here for do you?”
Diamond rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah, revenge right? Still mad about yesterday? Psh, whatever. Like I said before.” She held a hand out in front of her, her pointer finger held upward. “When it comes to matters of investing money, I follow one unbreakable, diamond rule. If I can't make money off it, then I don't care. I could care less about your worthless little project. It won't rake in any cash for me. If you're so worried about getting sick, then that's your problem.”
“Cast Off!” Braeburn transformed into an humanoid armadillo monster and approached Diamond Tiara. She continued to stare up at him with a condescending look, not even bothering to move from her chair. “Let's see how long yer confidence lasts when yer bleeding and begging for yer life!”
“Step off buddy! If you want to kill them, you're gonna have to go through me!” Vinyl challenged the Changeling from just outside the door. “Cmon cowboy. Take your money problems up with me!”
The now extremely agitated Braeburn turned around to face the human before him. “Who the hell are you?”
“I'm...uh, well...I still ha-”
“I'm the one who's gonna take you down!”
Vinyl quickly spun around. A younger girl with rainbow colored hair was standing behind her. “Wh-what are you doing here kid? This isn't a place to play hero man, this monster can straight up kill you!”
Rainbow wagged her finger. “Not to worry. I admire the heroic effort, but you should bail. This is gonna get rough. I'll hold him off while you escape.
“Wh-what? I'll hold him off while you get out. Seriously, get out. This guy is not playing around!”
Braeburn yelled out in frustration. “Just shut up or I'll kill both of you!” The angry Changeling stomped towards the two. Both of them silently agreed to take their argument out of the room.”
“This isn't a game kid!” Vinyl called out as Braeburn wedged himself between the two in the hallway.
Rainbow dodged a few swipes aimed at her. “Don't give me that crap. I know exactly what I'm doing. Just leave this to the big leagues, okay!?”
Vinyl rolled off to the side, barely dodging a punch aimed at her. Braeburn's fist left a hole in the wall. Vinyl pointed at it as she maintained a somewhat safe distance from him. “See!? See that shit! That could be your face! Get outta here already!”
Braeburn growled in frustration as the two continued to dance around him. Rainbow groaned. “Ngh, fine then. You wanna play hero? I'll show you what a real hero looks like. You've earned it. But this is a secret between you and me now. You can't tell anyone about this!” She back flipped away from the angry Changeling, pulled out a pair of small red tinted goggles from her back pocket and placed them over her eyes. “Let's do this! Transform!” She crossed her arms and thrust them down, parting the wings on her belt and engaging her Driver. She held a hand up towards the ceiling as the now familiar light covered her.
Vinyl quickly realized what was happening. “ANOTHER ONE!?”
She grinned in her new armored form. “Armored Hero Blitz, on the scene!” She placed a hand around her goggles as she grinned at Vinyl. “This armor didn't cover my eyes. So I use them before I transform. Remember now, it's a secret.” She reached her hands back and pulled out two metallic feathers, running them between her under-arm and body to harden them. She flipped the swords around, stopping them both in her hands and taking a flashy stance. “I'm not holding back like I did with that one chick. Try and keep up.” She charged straight for Braeburn, crossing her swords and slashing them across his chest. He reeled back and began to fight back against his new opponent. Rainbow was having no trouble dodging his attacks and retaliating with a flurry of slashes.
Vinyl shook her head and ran off towards the stairwell. This Rider didn't seem to her like one of the Riders that seemed hell bent on attacking them. She closed the door to the stairwell and transformed. Unlike this other Rider, she had no intention of revealing her true identity.
Rainbow was slicing up the Changeling with ease. Braeburn wasn't fast enough to keep up, and Rainbow's constant mockery was only causing him more rage and clouding his judgment. The furious Changeling found an opportunity to back off and put some distance between them. Rainbow grinned, tapping one of the blades against her shoulder. “Thinking of escaping. Just try it.”
“Enough of this!” Braeburn curled up into his shell and began speeding towards her. “Beat this!” Rainbow leapt over the rolling monster using her wings to push her over. She rolled off the ground, immediately pulled out her blaster and fired multiple shots into him. The shots seemed to have no effect. Braeburn wasted no time spinning around and peeling out back in Rainbow's direction. She tried to attack head on with her feather blades but sent flying across the hall instead.
Vinyl re-entered the hallway only to be greeted by a blue figure sliding across the floor. She took a quick glance and turned to face the threat. Braeburn uncurled and laughed at the downed Rider. “Not so cocky now are ya, ya little runt! Have some more!” He curled up and charged straight for Rainbow. Vinyl quickly threw a few records in front of Rainbow, sidestepping the rolling Braeburn as he passed by.
She called out to Rainbow. “Don't move!” The records detonated at the Changeling nearly ran her over. The force of the small explosion was enough to shove him off course and send him down the corridor to Rainbow's right, grinding along the wall a short distance before he finally uncurled.
Rainbow quickly got up and gave a thumbs up. “Hey, thanks a lot.” She pointed a sword at Braeburn. “Now then, like you said, enough of this. Let's finish this!”
Braeburn growled back in defiance. “Talk all ya want ya cocky little runt. Ya can't win if ya can't hurt me!” Vinyl materialized her large blue and white record and tossed it down the corridor, knowing his was going to try rolling again. The record managed to land in his chest and embedded itself inside him as he curled up.
She allowed herself a quick victory arm pump for finally having landed that attack again. “Alright, I didn't exactly plan this, but I'm all for working together! Hope you can follow this up, Blitz, ball's in your court!” She pushed all the sliders on the mixing board on her right arm up to the max. “AUDIO OVERDRIVE!” The record inside Braeburn exploded in reaction to the sliders and forced him to uncurl mid roll, leaving him helpless on his back.
Rainbow ran towards the helpless Changeling at full speed. “Nice pitch. Time to score a home run!” She leapt as high as the ceiling would allow and used her wings to propel her even faster and down towards Braeburn. She crossed her swords and slashed deep into him, sliding across the ground behind him afterward. The monster behind her exploded. She got up and attached her feather blades to her back.
As the smoke subsided, a human cowboy was laying in pain. Vinyl approached him and knelt down. “M'sorry dude.” She took a deep breath and prepared for him to have a heart attack like the first one.
The cowboy looked up at her. “What...what happened...? Where am I...? This looks a lot like my dream?”
Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “You...you don't remember anything?”
“I had a weird dream...I was going a little crazy and...I think I was a monster or something...”
“...that wasn't a dream dude.”
The man looked extremely confused. “That...that actually happened? How...and...what's gonna happen to me now? I...I just wanted to help out my cousin. She was countin' on me to help fund her medical research...and not only did I fail her...but I became a monster... How can I face her now...?”
Vinyl sighed and shrugged. “M'not gonna lie dude. I have no idea, sorry. This is kinda new to me. Last two Changelings I dealt with kinda died on me.” He simply stared at her as the word, Changeling, was lost on him. “I dunno how to help with your other problem either. I guess, try looking at other ways to help her out with that? Look, this is out of my hands now. The police are probably gonna be in here soon. Just tell them what happened. With all the crazy crap going on so far, they'll most likely believe you and let you go.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I uh...also don't want to deal with the reporters out there so, I'll leave you here okay? Just, take it easy and just rest here alright?”
Rainbow interjected. “You're just gonna leave him there? Not cool dude. If you won't, then I will. Not exactly sure what you're talking about, but I'm getting the idea that it wasn't necessarily his fault. That's fine I guess. I'll vouch for him out there.” She picked up the cowboy. “Oh, by the way, nice work back there. You're not half bad.”
She made her way towards the stairwell when Vinyl called out to her. “Wait! You wanna talk later? We could team up. I have an idea of who's behind all thi-”
Rainbow quickly shook her head. “Nah. I'm not exactly the team type. I mean, I'm all up for helping each other out if we ever happen to meet again. But I prefer to stick it solo. Or with a certain friend of mine. Anyway, catch ya later maybe.” She made her way down the stairs, leaving Vinyl alone. She wanted to talk to this 'Blitz' some more, but she had a feeling she wasn't going to get anywhere now. She also wanted to leave the area as soon as possible. She opened a nearby window where the crowd wasn't paying any particular attention. She waited until she could hear some kind of commotion signaling that Blitz had made it outside and stolen the crowd's attention, and leapt out to a neighboring rooftop to find a secluded place to transform back to normal.
Rainbow carried Braeburn outside and handed her over to the police. She explained what she had gathered from the earlier conversation took a few minutes to speak with reporters before eventually taking to the sky. Twilight and Bolt watched the scene from the outside, away from the crowd. She was scanning the crowd intently while Bolt kept an eye on the building. “Well, we'll be seeing plenty of Flight tomorrow. She's hamming it up in broad daylight right now. Any sign of Noise yet?”
“No. She's either still inside or left through the back. What's your call? Keep watching or what?”
She shook her head. “Two more minutes. Noise got here before we did, but she should still be around. It's possible she might still be inside or found a way out and is hiding inside the crowd.”
“Alright. Just lemme know when we're done. I-Wait! There! Noise just left through the window!”
Twilight quickly looked towards Bolt's finger. “What!? Where!?”
“You just missed her. She's fast. I don't think we'll be able to chase her down right now.”
Twilight shook her head. “Don't worry, we just need to head in her general direction. If my theory is correct, we should find Vinyl Scratch wandering around. If so, then it means...it's...definitely...” Twilight slowed her speech to a halt as her eyes caught something she wasn't expecting. Exiting the crowd was Vinyl. She had manage to push her way out of the crowd and was now fiddling with her cell phone as she backed away. She finally turned around and started to leave towards an unknown destination as she put her phone to her ear, occasionally taking a few glances back towards the crowd and town hall. “It's her...that's Vinyl Scratch...”
Bolt stared at the girl. “Her? That's her? But that means that she can't be Noise.”
Twilight continued to stare at the girl until she was eventually out of sight. “Not only was my initial guess wrong... But Rewind was right. Now we're back to square one.”
“Let's figure this out somewhere else. We're not accomplish anything else out here.”
Twilight reluctantly followed Bolt.
---
Rainbow waited an empty park until an angry looking Gilda finally showed up, storming angrily towards her. “Sup G. You shoulda been there, there was this random chic-”
Gilda grabbed Rainbow by the collar. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT, DASH!?”
“Woah woah woah, chill out Gilda! What are you talking about!?”
“I THOUGHT WE HAD AN UNDERSTANDING HERE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO WAS BEING HELD HOSTAGE IN THERE!? DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING CLUE!?”
“What? What difference would that ma-”
Gilda shoved Rainbow back and let go of her collar. “DIAMOND TIARA WAS IN THE BUILDING! DIAMOND! FUCKING! TIARA! RICHEST GIRL IN ALL OF MANEHATTAN! IN ALL OF FUCKING EQUESTRIA! WE HAD A FUCKING GOLD MINE JUST SITTING IN OUR LAPS BEGGING US TO TAKE IT, AND YOU MANAGED TO FUCK IT UP AS HARD AS POSSIBLE!”
Rainbow was quickly getting angry. “What are you talking about Gilda!? What does she have to do with anything!?”
“Fucking ey, Dash! We having fucking super powers and what do you think I'm fucking talking about! I thought you understood what I fucking meant before all this!”
“Well obviously I don't, so why don't you explain it to me Gilda!”
She turned around a took a few small steps, throwing her hands up in frustration. “Holy fucking sh-” She quickly spun back towards Rainbow. “Money, Dash! We finally have a fucking chance to score some easy cash! Aren't you tired of living in the shitsville of Lower Manehattan while all these rich fat fucks in Upper Manehattan are dicking about living the good life!? I know I am! And here we have gold! FUCKING GOLD, DASH! All we had to do was demand her to pay us for saving her life! You know, when I saw you sneak in there, I had a small bit of hope in my heart that you would at least be able to handle that part on your own, but no surprise, you come out with some fucking nobody and to top it all off, you fucking yuck it up like some stupid ass hero of justice to the gawdamn paparazzi! What the fuck, Dash!? Just, what the fuck!? Like, just tell me, I wanna know! What the hell were you even thinking back there!?”
“I can't believe I'm hearing this from you Gilda! This was never about money! This was about saving lives and putting stop to crime in the city! What made you think I wanted anything more out of this!?”
Gilda slammed her palm into her fore head. “Oh my fuc- You have GOT to be kidding me! You think your some kind of stupid ass comic book super hero!? Oh my f- Wake up, Dash! I know you still like to pretend like everything's hunkey-fucking-dorey, but guess what Dash! Your dad's dead, his fucking baseball buddies aren't gonna keep babying your ass forever, and you're gonna be stuck in that fucking orphanage forever if you don't do something about it! Get fucking used to it and think about the future! You have a chance right here and now to finally make something of yourself! Think about that alright!? I know that requires using your brain for once in your fucking life, but just do it! When you're ready to start being smart, gimme call alright!? I'm going the fuck home! I need a cigarette to help me calm the fuck down!”
She stormed off, leaving a seething, silent Dash. As Gilda faded into the distance threw an arm into the air and screamed out. “DIAMOND-FUCKING-TIARA! SON OF A BITCH!”
Dash didn't bother to chase after her. She clenched her teeth and left without a word.
---
It took Vinyl an hour to get back to where she had initially parked her motorcycle. At some point during her long walk, she thought back to the cowboy's last words.
“I...I just wanted to help out my cousin. She was countin' on me to help fund her medical research...and not only did I fail her...but I became a monster... How can I face her now...?”
His heart was in the right place. She started to wonder if corrupting someone's emotions could really cause someone with good intentions to go berserk like that. She got on her motorcycle and put on her helmet. She sat for few minutes, still thinking, not quite ready to start it up yet. She pulled out her phone and placed a call.
“Hello? Vinyl? You better not be calling to tell me you won't be here to-”
“No, that's not it. I just want to ask you a quick question Trixie. Have you ever hated or gotten sick of doing your magic shows at any point?”
“...I'm sorry, what? What brought this on?”
“I'unno, just answer the question.”
“Um... no? I can't say I have?”
“Why not? Even after the few that you told me went bad. Why do you still do it?”
“Vinyl, what are y-”
“Look, I just wanna know something. I'm not really trying to grill you about your work or anything. Just humor me, alright?”
She could hear the sound of Trixie sighing heavily. “Well, same stupid reason you do what you do. You don't have to think too hard about it. Why do you keep doing it, hm? Even if something goes bad, the good outweighs that. Happy now? Now shut up and don't be showing at three in the morning or something.”
“Yeah I'll be back soon. Thanks though. See ya later.” She hung up her phone and sped off. She parked her motorcycle on the driveway and scrambled for the door, practically punching the door bell as soon as she was close enough. The door was opened by a familiar gentleman.
“Miss Scratch? What are you doing here again? Did you forget any-”
“I figured it out! This is gonna sound dumb so just listen up, alright! It doesn't feel as great anymore cuz your not seeing the people you're helping! I was thinking about it and someone said something to me and I started to realize, when it comes down to it, it's seeing the faces of others. When you let someone down, seeing that person sad, it hurts man. It really does. But when you make a lot of people happy and see them smiling and enjoying the moment? It feels amazing, and that feeling never gets old. Maybe sometime you should consider going out to see some of the people your money's going out to. I bet that'll give you that nice feeling back. It's not selfish man. You're just feeling off because you don't know if you're really helping or not cuz you can't see it! Go out and do that tomorrow or something. I guarantee you it'll give you that warm fuzzy feeling, twenty times over!” Vinyl was panting as she finally finished her rant to a now flabbergasted Fancy Pants. He took a minute to take in her words before responding.
“You know Miss Scratch, if that was all you came here to tell me, you could have just called me. I'm sure my number isn't hard to track down through the internet nowadays.”
“Yeah I know, but it's like you said earlier. When people really wanted to share something with a friend, they just went on over and told them in person. I just wanted to give it a shot. I feel like an idiot right now, but it does feel pretty nice I guess. Now that I've made an idiot of myself, I'm gonna leave now.”
“I don't think any of what you said ludicrous at all Miss Scratch. In fact, I really appreciate the advice. I think I'll do just that starting tomorrow. You have my sincerest thanks.”
Vinyl was starting to blush a little. Heart to heart moments weren't her strong suit. She started backing up as she prepare to leave. “N-no problem man. Thanks for the talk earlier. I'll be sure to let you know if I need help with anything. Later!” She quickly sped off back to her apartment, as still stood at his door with a smile on his face.
“Who was that?”
“Just a friend I met yesterday, dear. I'm making a slight change in my plans tomorrow. There's somewhere I'd like to go.”
---
“There you are queenie. So, was I right, or was I right?”
“I will admit, I am impressed. Though I am a little concerned with the side effects. It seems that defeating them simply destroys all of my essence within them, turning them back into normal humans.”
“A minor detail. You just need to find some better humans to convert. Find the right one and it'll take out the Riders no problem. Then you can go back to making the garden variety crap you love to keep pumping out.”
“I suppose a solution to the current problem should be the first priority. Now then my dear, that leaves me with issue of what do with you? You have provided me with a great deal of assistance. Tell me what you desire, and I shall acquire it for you.”
“That's easy. Make me a Changeling. The same way you did with that other guy.”
“Oh? Your the first human I've seen willing want to shed their humanity.”
“I have plans, and I can't pull them off with this weak body.”
“I see. Such ambition belies what I've seen on the surface. So be it.”
“Hold it. I want you to make one minor change with me. Don't just amplify my negative emotions like you did with him. Amplify all my emotions. Everything. Understand?”
“Hmhmhm, you're quite the interesting one, Sunset Shimmer. As you wish.”
“...Nggguhhh...”
“It will take a little bit of time for your body to adjust. Do not worry. You will be able to move in a few minutes. We shall keep in touch.”
“...I...can...feel it...so...good...so...much...