//------------------------------// // Strike 4- Can we keep it? // Story: When lightning strikes... // by FrostTheWolf //------------------------------// When Lightning Strikes- Can we keep it? Location: Solaria’s Living Quarters         It had been some time since Lance had left the Power Ponies headquarters and Sunset Shimmer (AKA, Solaria) was beginning to worry for her student. He had only been gone for half an hour, but to the unicorn, it felt like half a day. She promised the Masked Matterhorn to mentor the Adept and keep an eye on him, but he had not come back with Detective Whooves in a while. As she turned towards the TV, a new report came on the news that made her feel sick to the stomach.         It was the case about the murder in Downtown.         “We warn you that the following story is graphic, so viewers discretion is advised… Earlier this afternoon, Detectives of MPD’s Powers Division and Royal Officers discovered the body of a young mare that was attacked and eaten alive. With assistance from “The Azure Striker”, Officers have identified the Victim as Milano Mash; A young and caring mother who was trotting back to her carriage with her son when the attack commenced.”         ‘Oh dear Celestia,’ She cursed. The images of the scene were brutal and very disturbing. Sunset felt sorry for the young foal. Despite not seeing any images of him.         “The attacker is described to have a white mane, mismatched eyes of one green & one red and wore a black dress. Officers advise that if you see this creature, call authorities right away-.”         Sunset then turned off the TV, not wanting to see the rest of the report and the interviews that followed. This was crazy. First, there was Lance, but now we have a cannibal pony? This is insane!         That was when the door to the living quarters opened up and Lance walked in. He was holding a couple of suitcases and to Sunset’s surprise, a young colt was now trotting into the living room.         “Uh… Hello?”         “Oh um… Hi…” The youngling said, a little scared/nervous expression forming on his face.         Lance himself, set down the suitcases as he looked back at Solaria. “Solaria, this is Button Mash. Detective Whooves is letting me keep an eye on him for a few nights until he could find his relatives.” The Adept apologized for it being last minute and forgetting to notify her in advance given the pending situation. “Lumen, can you take Button to the room across the hallway to the left and help get him situated?”         “Sure thing. Come on, Button!” The Breezie cheerfully said as the two of them moved out of the living room. Sunset herself was now curious, There was something she didn’t know about the current situation that Lance was not saying. Probably because of Button’s presence. But now that he wasn’t in the room, they could talk.         “Alright, care to inform me on a few things?”         “What do you need informing on?” Lance asked.         “First, why are you letting a colt in here?”         “He needed a place to stay, Sunset. I couldn’t just leave him out there all alone.”         “Why not?”         “His mother was murdered right in front of him and he’s scared that the monster that killed her would come for him next.”         "Holy crap. That was the victim’s son!?”         Lance nodded his head, answering his mentors question for her. “Not to mention that what killed her wasn’t a pony. It was another Displaced like myself.”         “Whoa, hang on a second… What do you mean by that?”         “The attacker was Displaced as a Ghoul from a TV show I know of back home. Ghouls are carnivorous and feast on only humans and other ghouls.” The Azure Striked began his explanation, making sure not to be too loud so Button couldn’t hear their conversation. “The attacker was in pain and starvation; which drove her crazy and caused her to not think straight.”         “I don’t think the little one will believe that, but I see what you mean.” Solaria nodded as she turned back towards the fridge. “You could’ve at least called me so I wouldn’t have to worry about you.”         “Uh…” Lance stuttered a little. “I think you’re forgetting the fact that I don’t have anything to serve as a communication device.”         “Really now?”         “Hey, my phone from my world got trashed moments after I got attacked by Mane-iac! All I have left is the storage card that hold all my data on it.” To show what he meant, Lance took out the SD card that he kept in his wallet for safe keeping so he wouldn’t lose it. There were many things that he kept on his phone. Some he wouldn’t want to lose because they were important to the teen.         Solaria sighed. “You’re killing me, Lance. But I believe that I have something that might do the trick.”         The Unicorn asked for Lance to give her the card as well as his left glove so she could make some “Modifications” to it. Trusting his mentor, Lance complied. Though he was confused on what exactly she would be doing to it. When she came back, Lance found that the armguard on his glove now could pull up a small holo screen and have access to local info databanks and also call anypony if needed in a hurry. In a way, it reminded him of Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story anytime he tried to report to Star Command.         “Normally, this would be called a Com-band that some of the Power Ponies would use to keep in contact with one another. I just modified your glove to have similar properties.”         “Wow, Thanks!! I never expected you to have such great technical skills.”         “Well, before I became a Power Pony, I was one who meddled a lot with science and gadgets. Always coming up with new things that could be useful.” Solaria told him.         “Well, thank you very much.” Lance complimented his teacher. “I’m going to go walk around the building. I need a breather. Can you help Lumen keep an eye on Button Mash?” Solaria herself nodded her head as the Adept walked out of the room and into the nearby hallway. He continued down the hall for a little bit and turned the corner to continue looking around.         But soon, something else caught his attention. Something that sounded like running down a hallway. He turned around to see something very unexpected.         A young dog running away from Zapp and Saddle Rager.         “Hey Geeves!! A little help here please!!!”         Lance mentally face palmed himself. In Azure Striker Gunvolt, one of the characters named Zeno always called Gunvolt “Geeves” as a personal nickname, despite him not liking it. Now Zapp was reminding him of the same thing.         “What the heck is going on?!”         “Saddle Rager found this dog on the streets and brought it in to take care of it. But when I mentioned the possibility of taking it to the local shelter, it bolted out the door.”         The little dog was about the size of a Boston Terrier. Black and white fur with big ears and was very fast on it’s paws. However, something made Lance think that this pup was not like any ordinary dog. In fact, it reminded Lance of Iggy, the Boston Terrier in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure that had control of the Stand called “The Fool”. The Adept tried grabbing it, only for it to hop over his head and make him crash down into the floor as it ran off.         “Oww… That hurt.”         “Oh walk it off, Geeves.” Zapp told him as she helped him up to his feet. “That little rascal couldn’t have gotten far. Hey, I heard that you had a chance to go to a crime scene with Detective Whooves. How did that go?”         Lance cringed a little. “Alright I guess. I don’t want to talk about it though.”         “Oh, why not? Isn’t it one of those mugging crimes or-.”         “It wasn’t like that.” The Adept retorted. “It was a murder.”         Their eyes widen a little as he explained what happened, the victim, who did it and everything else. The mentioning of Milano though was what caught the two of them off guard the most.         “Oh…… Dear. Not Milano…” Saddle Rager squeaked a little.         “You knew her?”         “Not personally… But her son is close friends with Radiance’s little sister. The two of them would be shocked to find out about her passing.”         Oh great. There is going to be a long conversation ahead and he knew it. Better get the tissues ready. “Should I tell her-?”         “No Lance. I think it’ll be best if she hears this from her friends.”         Ah, of course. The trust issue. Lance understood what the pegasus meant immediately. They did technically only meet each other like a few hours ago so it would be hard to explain how your friend died the first day on the job. “Well, how about I go find the dog you two were looking for while you go talk to her?”         “You sure?” Saddle Rager asked.         “Of course. I had a dog just like that back home. This should be a piece of cake.”         “Okay.” She replied before trotting away. Zapp though, had one more question. “Hey, do you happen to know about her son, Button?”         Lance nodded his head, telling her that he was in Solaria’s living quarters and how Detective Hooves was letting him stay with the Adept until they could find the foal’s relatives.         “Okay, thanks Gunvolt. See you around.”         ‘Wow… talk about being professional. Lumen wasn’t kidding when she said that they only call you by their name if they trust you.’         The Azure Striker spent the next twenty minutes looking for the small dog that was racing through the halls of HQ earlier. Looking High and Low, in the mess hall, the Library and the lounge; he did not get any success whatsoever. There was still one other place that he had to check as he walked towards the gymnasium. But something didn’t feel quite right as he heard the tearing of bags and what sounded like grains of rice spilling to the floor.         When he entered the room, he found the Boston terrier going to work on annihilating a pair of sandbags that Ponies would use for hoof to hoof combat training. The sand grains scattered all over the floor as the dog tore at the fabric with his teeth. By the time it was done, the canine then noticed Lance’s presence as the door behind him closed. It growled a little as Lance put his hands in the air to the sides.         “Uhh… Nice doggy?”         ‘Pfft, Like I would believe that from a twoleg.’         Now that caused the Adept to raise an eyebrow. “D-did you just… Talk?”         ‘Of course. If you consider talking mentally… well talking.’ The Boston Terrier barked. ‘And I know why you’re here. I’m not going to some filthy shelter and have you lock me away!! Especially since I don’t know where the fluff I am or what is going on!’         “No, it’s not like that-. Wait… what do you mean by not knowing where you are?”         The Boston Terrier didn’t respond this time. Instead, the sand began to swirl around the dog as it took form into a form that Lance recognized. It looked mechanical and almost resembled ancient Aztec Culture with the feathers along it’s headdress. There was no denying what he was seeing and the one though the was on his mind right now as he tried to cover his eyes.         This dog was actually a Displaced. A Displaced with control over a Stand. A Spiritual Avatar or Guardian that has control over certain powers. Stands could take the form of anything, including objects and simple items from a puddle of Water to a cursed sword. And the Stand he saw in front of him was no acception.                  It was The Fool. A stand that controlled Sand.         “Holy Sh*t.” Lance cursed as the beast took form.         ‘If you want to take me to the pound, you’re going to have to do it over MY DEAD BODY!!!’ The dog barked again, making the first move. Forming into a wave of sand as it charged at Lance.         The Azure Striker dodged the attack by boosting himself into the air. But one thing he remembered about the Fool was that the Stand could fly. Something he forgot as the teen turned around to see the mechanical hybrid try to grab him midair. Quickly, Lance pulled out his weapon and fired two shots with his Cerberus Clip and used Flashfield to protect himself and hopefully deal some damage. But, the one thing he forgot was that the stand was pure sand as he saw the bolts go through the being and not hurt it.         ‘Like that would work, Lightning Boy!’          The Fool’s abilities allowed it to shape shift into anything using sand. Not to mention the fact that it’s also very strong as well. Lance needed to find a way to gain the upper hand and quickly.         Then he remembered something. The Fool was controlling loose grains of sand that flowed freely like the sandbenders in Avatar: The Last Airbender. If Lance were to have any chance at getting the upper hand in this fight, he would have to stop the flow of sand. And the Adept had just the way of doing it.         He dodged rolled to the right as the Teen switched Clips. This time to Dullahan. This bolt clip was a special one because it didn’t exactly fire bolts. In game, Dullahan was a secret weapon clip that you obtain from completing all the Gauntlet Challenges. Once complete, you get a weapon clip that’s a classic throwback to the old MegaMan games. One that shoots energy pulses that you could charge up just like a Mega Buster.         ‘Give up now! There’s no way you can harm me with that toy of yours, Twoleg!!’         “Oh really? And who said I was going to be shooting you?”         That’s when Lance fired his weapon. Not at the Dog, but at the nearby drinking fountain. Contact between the projectile and the appliance caused it to burst and have water gush everywhere. Soaking the dog’s sand and hardening it.         ‘W-what!? You dirty trickster-!!’         “I’m not a trickster. I’m an opportunist. Plus, I believe that we have something in common.”         ‘Really? What’s that?’         “Do you see any other humans walking around here? No? That’s because you and I got here under similar circumstance.” Lance told the dog as he used his lightning to bend the broken pipes from the water pipe closed. “Did you happen to encounter a guy in a hood that was selling stuff?”         ‘Yeah, in a parking lot as he was packing his car. I was looking for food and thought he had some. But the only thing I got from him was this collar on my neck. Next thing you know, I end up in an alleyway and found by a talking pony with a superhero garb on. Back home, I’m a stray and anytime I go into a shelter, I hated it because it felt like what you twolegs called “Prison”.’         Now that explained why the dog ran. Lance looked around the dog’s neck, seeing a black collar and a tag that said “Iggy Pop” on it. It served as an explanation for how come the dog could control his own Stand.         ‘I just want a place to finally call home.’ He heard “Iggy” speak again mentally. ‘All my previous owners have neglected me to no avail and anytime I go to a new place, the same thing happens.’ The Boston Terrier was now moaning as it laid in Lance’s lap. The teen could not even begin to think about what the pup had been through. He wanted someone to care for him properly this time.         And Lance had an idea for Iggy to be happy.         “Hey, Iggy right?”         ‘I guess. That’s what my tag says after all.’         “I have a question for you. How good are you with kids?” Next Morning…         “Lance. Detective Whooves just called. Button’s father is here.”         The Foal, who was by his suitcase, heard Lumen the next morning as he woke up. Lance had spent the night sleeping on the floor and let Button sleep on the bed. He wanted the foal to be comfortable, especially after what he went through. The young foal began to rub his eyes as he trotted over to the living room, where his father Joystick was waiting for him.         “D-daddy…” Button said. The foal immediately hugged his father and Joystick did the same, trying to comfort his son. Soon, Lance was up and walking over to him.         “You must be the Azure Striker.” Joystick said upon noticing the Adept. Lance nodded his head. “Thank you… for helping my son.”         “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Mash.” Soon, the two earth ponies turned to leave, only for the Adept to stop them for a moment. “Button, before you go, I have something… well, two things for you.”         “F-for me?”         Lance turned for a moment and pulled out a replica of his hairpin. What he used as a summoning token. “You’re very brave, Button. Don’t forget that. Keep this on you for if you need help. Also, I have one last thing.”         The back of the Adepts coat ruffled a little and soon, Iggy’s head bursted from underneath the cover as he licked the surprised youngling. Button giggled a little, shocked by the surprise.         “I-i didn’t know you were taking care of a dog.”         “Actually, it’s not my dog… It’s yours. That is, if you don’t have anything against it, Mr. Mash.”         That surprised both Button Mash and Joystick.         “His name is Iggy and he is very special. He’s been through some tough times just like you have right now and I believe that you can both help each other in that regard.”         “I-i don’t know what to say.” Joystick said. At that moment, Iggy and Button looked like they were having fun with each other, changing the foals mood from the depressed moan of him that he was earlier. “T-thank you. I think he’ll fit in perfectly with my son.”         As he watched the father and son leave with their newfound companion and guardian, Lance excused himself from eating anything and took the elevator up to the top floor roof. He needed a personal breather after everything he went through.         But upon the doors opening to the roof, he found something rather… odd… on the top floor. It looked like an ordinary kitchen knife. But this was made out of a black metal that he couldn’t recognize, a red wooden handle and the edge tinted in a blood colored red. There were odd symbols on the sides of the blades, one on each side. Possibly an unknown language. Taking a moment to use his newfound gadget, it scanned the object for a few seconds and then began to translate the runes. Few seconds later, no success. Calm and Curious now, Lance picked up the object.         Thats when… he heard a voice inside his head. A Feminine voice.         “To those that have found my weapon. I ask of you to help me in my quest. Call me, let me come to your world and find my sister, let me warn her and my previous tormentor of what my world brought me. Let me help them and prevent disaster. To those of you who let me do such, I offer you my help. Be it a threat from an unimaginable evil, or a simple need to talk, I would love to help. Call me, Blood Cleaver, and I will appear."         “Blood… Cleaver?”         “That’s my name!” A sudden voice said from behind his back. “Don’t wear it out.”         Lance jumped a little and immediately turned around, not knowing what to expect. In front of him stood a woman clad all in black. Her hair seemingly perfectly brushed and silk smooth running down the sides of her body, only stopping at the knees. Her hair was both a black and pink color, black from the top of her head down to the shoulders where it changed into a pink color. She had light blue eyes and a big smile on her face.         “Thank you for finding my token, never thought I’d get out of that place!”         “You’re… Blood Cleaver?” The Adept asked. Despite the appearance, a name like that would sound like the name of a serial killer. This woman though looked nothing like that… At first.         “Didn’t we already establish that?” She asked, taking on a thoughtful look.         “Y-yeah. I’m just a bit new to this. My name is Lance. But most of the Power Ponies call me Gunvolt.” The teen introduced himself, going to the extent of bowing a little to properly greet a lady in royal attire such as the one in front of her.         Blood Cleaver giggled at that. “No need to be so formal. We’re all mortal here… well I am at least. However, I have a question, is this world’s inhabitants ponies, humans or anthropomorphic?”         “You can say ponies. However, it’s not exactly what I thought it was at first. Ever heard of Maretropolis?”         “Yeah, that’s where we are now?” Blood Cleaver asked looking around for a bit. “This place is far better than Tartarus.”         “Tartar-what?” Lance asked. Unfamiliar with the place she was talking about.         Blood Cleaver noticed this. “Oh, right you’re new to this. I guess it’s the equivalent to what you know as hell. I got locked up there in another version of Equestria, I didn’t deserve it mind you.”         “So they lock you up as a criminal, but you’re innocent?”         “Let’s say the prisoners revolted and I tried to stop them, didn’t turn out so well for me.”         “Right… Well, I’ve been through worse. Had a Maniac with extra long hair try to strangle me with it, an Alicorn offering me a chance to become a member of the power ponies by proving myself to them, my “Mentor” throwing wrenches at me to test reflexes, and to top it off, there's two other Displaced in this city and one of them happened to be a ghoul that ate the mother of a young foal alive with her son watching.”         Blood gasped and covered her mouth in horror. “That’s horrible. I wish I could help somehow, but I don’t think you’d like me to use the “Aether”.”         “Not to mention the other Displaced being a dog-. Wait, what’s an Aether?”         “Aether is an ability of mine. It’s rather gruesome but the simple gist of thing is that I can revive someone who’s already died. But it requires a sacrifice of equal worth. I don’t recommend it. But if it was required I could use it.” Blood explained.         Lance wasn’t one for the idea. He had to spend the week to prove himself, not exchange a life for a life. It just reminded him of the Anita Blake series with being an Animator that could raise the dead… However, this did leave him with one idea. “Blood, can I ask you something?”         “Sure, I guess. Ask away.”         “I’m not up for a resurrection. But is there a way to possibly talk to the dead?”         “I have to say no. I’m not familiar with the system in this universe, It could work back in my Equestria as the afterlife is actually a place, but here I can’t do anything unless I know where the soul is.” Blood said.         This got Lance thinking. He remembered the location of the Parking lot where the attack took place. If he took Blood Cleaver there, then maybe she might find the soul she needed. “Follow me for a moment. I think I know a place to look.”         “Ok, lead the way Geeves.” Blood Cleaver said.         “Great… first Zapp and now you? That’s getting old fast.”         It didn’t take the two of them long in order to make it to the location, but getting in was another thing. The Royal officers had the building still closed off with guards patrolling the front of the lot where the entrance was. Using stealth, Lance and Blood Cleaver sneaked around the backside of the place and headed straight towards the sight. They soon came across the location of the murder as Lance found a darkened stain, where the victim was.         Blood Cleaver got down on one knee and inspected the stain herself. “It won’t be too much trouble if I disturb the crime scene?” She asked Lance, turning to look at him.         “Probably not. Looks like CSI and the detectives had a massive cleanup after yesterday, so you’re good to go. Let’s just hope not to get caught.”         “Well, I can always cloak us.” Blood suggested. Lance liked the idea and nodded his head in approval.         Blood Cleaver stood up and took out an identical knife to the one Lance had found and quickly cut her own hand on it. Before Lance could ask what she was doing, he noticed the blood that spilled from the wound didn’t stick to the pavement. Instead it immediately started moving and created a circle around them and the scene they were on.         “That’ll keep us invisible as long as the circle isn’t disturbed. However, we can still be heard.”         “Got it. Now, according to the reports, Milano Mash was killed right here by the ghoul that attacked her. Further note, the ghoul is a Displaced herself. Ghouls only feast on flesh; plus, one meal can last them three months. The attacker was in a craze and attacked in a blind rage, wanting food. But something tells me that the attacker never asked for this to happen.”         “Yeah, becoming a Displaced can sometimes be the biggest of curses. I met someone who lost the ability to speak and sleep. Had to rely on my knowledge of finger gestures. Didn’t help; he didn’t know them.”         “Yes, but sometimes the most weirdest of things can get Displaced.” The Adept said, recalling his encounter with Iggy only a day ago. “Now, should we get started?”         “Yes, of course. I’ll have to determine if this will work with a few spells first.” Blood said as she took a relaxing stance and closed her eyes, calming her breathing and stood there unmoving for a while. But soon she opened her eyes and stretched out an arm and said: “History!” Making the stain on the ground shine and revert back to liquid blood.         After this she once again got back to standing on one knee and dipped a finger in the now fresh pool of blood. Inspecting the blood she mumbled something to herself and and let the drop of blood on her finger fall back into the pool. Leaving her finger completely clean.         “I have some good news and some bad news.” She said, turning towards Lance.         “What’s the Bad news?”         “An attempt to contact the lost soul could in the worst case scenario summon the Displaced that did this, and we’d lose this chance.”         “And the Good news?” The Adept asked, looking around him and being aware of his surroundings.         “The good news are that it is both unlikely and that if the Displaced isn’t summoned, then I will instead have summoned the soul of Milano. The reason behind this is because it’s far easier to summon a living being than there is to summon a lost soul.”         “Then by all means, go for it.” Lance said, drawing his weapon. “If anything goes wrong, I got your back.”         “It’s not me I’m worried about, it’s the other Displaced. But none the less, here we go.” Blood said as the pool of blood started shining with a crimson color and started moving, creating circles and runes that seemed impossibly thin considering surface tension. After a while when the circles and runes stopped moving Blood released a breath. “It’s done, the soul should appear shortly. Fortunately it’s not the Displaced, they would have already appeared if that was the case.” Blood said with a weak smile, the fact that she was strained evident on her face.         “W-what?” The Soul of Milano spoke softly as it looked at the two of them. Soon, she recognized Lance. After all, her son was talking about him most of yesterday. “Y-you’re that thing my son was talking about!”         “Easy there, Ms. Milano. I just want to talk.”         “Please… Is he safe? Is Button safe?”         “He is.” Lance nodded his head in confirmation. “In fact, your son is with your husband Joystick.” The mare was overjoyed to hear that and wanted to hug him, but the ghost just faded through the Adept like the transparent self that she was.         “I-i guess… I’m dead, right?”         “To put it the hard way, yes.” Lance said. “I’m trying to find the one who attacked you that fateful night. Do you happen to remember anything from your encounter?” The mare nodded, explaining everything from her encounter. It was basically almost everything that he saw from when he saw Button’s vision the night before. But one thing was different.         “As I saw her run away…… Something else followed her.”         Lance now turned to Blood, a shock of confusion on his face. “Something…… Else?”         “Y-yes. Two things actually. A pony in a purple full body suit and hat and an individual almost like yourself. Except he had a white hood on and armor of the same color.”         The last statement made Lance’s blood freeze. He recognized the details as Milano explained. Thick armor around the chest and upper legs, a plus sign on both sides of a white hood, white hair and lastly, held a weapon that resembled something like his, but with a rotating barrel.         “I-is something wrong?”         “No, it’s just that I’m concerned on what the intentions of the second individual would be.” Lance said. Milano’s soul began to shimmer a little as Lance looked at Blood. Her weakened state must’ve meant that she couldn’t keep a soul in the world of the living for long.         “H-heh, could you guys hurry up? It’s hard to keep this thing going the longer the soul has been dead. Besides, I haven’t had a decent meal for a while, I’m running on fumes.” Blood said, straining a bit more, but stabilizing the projection again. “I can hold it for only a few more minutes.”         “Okay, Ms. Milano. One last question. Did you see where your attacker ran off too?”         She nodded, pointing at an empty hotel room that was closed off to the public due to the possibility of it collapsing. Lastly, before the mare disappeared, she thanked the Azure Striker and Blood for everything they had done to help her son and help her. The soul faded away as Lance tried to help Blood Cleaver up to her feet and give her a granola bar that he had found in his coat.         “Not a full course meal, but could this help?” He asked.         “Thanks, but I got it covered.” She said before taking out a pouch out of nowhere and opened it up to reveal what looked like beans. She took one and ate it. Suddenly able to stand on her own and apparently full of energy.         “Should have done that earlier.” She turned towards Lance and held forth the pouch. “Senzu bean?” She asked with a smile.         “Don’t mind if I do.” Lance said. Taking two, he ate one and kept the other one in his pocket for if he needed it later. “Hey, I gotta hurry back to HQ. I have another lesson with my mentor and I don’t want to make her worry.”         The girl in black clothes offered to help out. “You know, I could probably help you find these figures. I can feel power levels and I know how to distinguish Displaced from ponies.” She told him.         Lance took the thought into consideration. If he knew where the Ghoul and this other figure Milano mentioned, then he would know where to search by this afternoon. “Try it then. It can help me when looking for them later today.”         Blood nodded and closed her eyes for a second. As she opened her eyes she looked at Lance and told him what she found. “I found another three Displaced not counting us. Two seem to be female and close to human in nature, and the last one seems to be the dog you mentioned. Also, before I forget. The masked pony Milano mentioned might be a pony known as Mare do Well, however I doubt that as she only ever appeared close to a town named Ponyville and then disappeared after a while. I think this one might be somepony that decided to “Pick up the cape” so to speak.” Blood told Lance.         “Could be. Possibly a Vigilante… In order to achieve something, one must become someone else. They must become something else.” The Adept responded, reciting a saying her heard when watching “Arrow” back home.         “Yeah, that sounds about right. But before you leave me to go to another universe I have a question. As one of the Displaced of this universe, could you give me permission to find a certain pony by the name of Pinkie Pie? Or wait, you mentioned the power ponies? I think I’d like to speak to a pony by the name of Filli-Second if possible. Is that alright?” She asked Lance.         “Yeah… I believe she’s in her personal quarters back at HQ. You can go on ahead and talk to her if you want.”         “Thanks, but before I leave you should have this.” Blood said before handing Lance a map of the city. “I already marked the position of where the Displaced were, they haven’t moved from their locations yet, but I’d recommend that you don’t take to long.” Blood said, confounding Lance as he hadn’t been able to see her marking anything on the map, and he had been speaking to her all this time.         “Alright. I was going to do that afterwards. No need in spooking them now.” Lance told Blood as he began to walk out of the lot.         “Alright, see ya at HQ I guess?” Blood said as she suddenly began to float and then flew away. The circle of blood that had kept them out of sight dissipating into nothing. Though, unknown to Lance at the time, someone was watching him as he left the building.         “Well now, guess I won’t need to worry about searching this whole forsaken city when the Azure Striker will lead me right to my target. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.” End Strike 4