Despite the set back with Scootaloo, Two Face's goons were making significant progress in their take over of Ponyville. The destruction and violence escalated, as the fighting stretched from the train station to the market square, where many frightened vendors fled for their lives.
With the royal guard pinned down, the citizens of Ponyville were unable to keep Two Face's minions at bay. With only an occasional threat from The Everfree Forest to worry about, Ponyville had never had a use for an army of any sort. And now, that was coming back to bite it hard in the rear.
From her office in town hall, Mayor Mare looked out at the destruction and chaos that was unfolding before her very eyes, and frowned. "What am I suppose to do? I've failed my little ponies, and at this rate I'll be lucky if I live long enough to have them vote me out of office in the next election. Where did it all go so wrong?"
Just then, Mayor Mare's assistant (and close friend) Time Turner, came rushing in. He was out of breath, but seemed more dirty than hurt, which was a miracle considering the state of much of Ponyville at this point.
"What do you have to report Time Turner? And what are you even doing back here?" Mayor Mare asked "Aren't you going to flee with the others?"
"I'm not leaving your side, ma'am! I'll stand by you until the bitter end!" Time Turner replied seriously "I come with urgent news from the attackers. They say their boss wishes to speak to you."
"What does he want with me?" Mayor Mare asked crossly.
"He's saying, that if you don't surrender to him within the next twenty four hours, Ponyville will be trapped in an eternal winter." Time Turner explained.
"Eternal winter?" Mayor Mare asked.
Time Turner nodded "He says it'll be even worse than the winter of the windigos from the olden times. What are we going to do, ma'am?!"
Mayor Mare just sighed, and a look of defience came into her eyes "You can tell Two Face to take his plan, and shove it where Celestia's sun don't shine! I'll be damned if I cave into the demands of a crime boss!" she said angrily, pounding her desk with a hoof.
"He won't be happy when he hears the news." Time Turner warned.
"I DON'T CARE! I will maintain this position to the end, no matter what happens!" Mayor Mare shouted.
When Two Face heard the news of Mayor Mare's defience, he was anything but happy. "Burn that damn town to the ground if you have to!" he told his hench ponies "This act of defience will NOT be tolerated! If Mayor Mare wants to play with fire, then I'll see to it that she is burned! Show no mercy to anyone who gets in your way! I don't care who they are, or what they offer! If it tries to fight back, kill it! But leave the royal guard for Miss. Freeze! Let them see the hopelessness of the situation!"
With their new orders, Two Face's goons set to work on making Ponyville suffer as much as possible. Any citizen that dared make any attempt or effort to fight back was killed on sight. It wasn't long before most of Ponyville realized the hopelessness of the situation, and its citizens began to pack up and flee in droves.
In the midist of all this chaos, Sweetie Belle was looking for the one pony she always looked to for guidance in times of crisis. That pony was none other than her big sister, Rarity.
Against the wishes of her parents, Sweetie Belle ran half way across town to Carousel Boutique. "I have to find her before those creeps do! Rarity has to know what we can do to save our town!"
Rarity was in the midist of packing up her things, when Sweetie Belle came running up to her shouting "Rarity! Rarity!"
"Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here?! You must leave, it isn't safe for you to stay here!" Rarity said, and tried to shoo Sweetie Belle away.
"But Rarity, we can't just leave. Ponyville is our home!" Sweetie Belle protested.
"I know that Sweetie Belle, but there's nothing we can do! We must leave if we are to survive." Rarity told her little sister.
"Rarity, I can't believe you're saying this!" Sweetie Belle said crossly, and refused to move "You've always told me to never give up when things look bleak! How can you go against your own advice here and now?!"
"Sweetie Belle, this situation is different from any other." Rarity replied.
"I don't see why that this." Sweetie Belle huffed.
Rarity sighed, and explained. "Two Face's goons are not like anything we've ever had to deal with before. They are viscious, savage, and work without mercy. They will not stop until Ponyville is firmly under Two Face's control, of that I am incredibly certain. Trying to go up against them would be suicidal, and would only delay the inevitable."
"Oh Miss. Rarity, you don't know how right you are." one of Two Face's goons replied, and he and two more goons quickly appeared. They were all unicorns, and each of them had coats an alternating shade of red. Two of them had black manes and tails styled short, while the third goon wore sunglasses and had a bright blonde mane and tail styled into a mohawk.
Before Rarity and Sweetie Belle had a chance to react, the goons grabbed them and used their magic to hold them down. "Make any sudden movements, and I'll put a bullet in your brain!" the mohawk haired goon threatened, pointing his automatic machine gun at the two unicorns.
"Now, what should we do with 'em, sir?" the lighter shaded red coated stallion asked.
"Should we kill 'em?" the darker shaded red coated stallion asked.
"Not just yet, unless they try to attack." the mohawk goon replied. It quickly became obvious to both Sweetie Belle and Rarity, that this particular stallion was the pack leader.
"So then, what are we gonna do with 'em?" the other stallions asked.
"Let me think." the mohawk goon told them, and began to brainstorm possible ways to torment his prisoners while still keeping them alive. He thought of all the usual torture methods, including the more sadistic and cruel ones. But he brushed them all off. "Those would all be too easy to do." he thought to himself "I really need to make an example out of 'em."
The mohawk goon looked up at the sun, which was shining down brightly. "It must take an awful lot of magic to be able to move that giant gas ball." he thought to himself "I'll bet that any non alicorn pony that tried to wield some of that magic would feel pain on a level no one's ever felt before." And with a sadistic smile, an idea came to him. "Okay guys, here's what we're gonna do." he said to his partners.
"We're all ears." the stallions replied.
"Bring me the filly first. She's the more dangerous one of the two." the goon leader instructed.
"Yes sir." the darker shaded red coated stallion obeyed, and used his magic to roughly pick Sweetie Belle up. "Get up!" he ordered "Our leader wishes to make an example out of you!"
"Rarity, help me!" Sweetie Belle pleaded, as she felt herself being pushed towards the goon leader.
Rarity, for her part, was horrified and frantic. "No! Leave her alone! Take me instead, but don't hurt my sister, you ruffians!"
"Shut up, lady!" the lighter shaded read coated stallion said crossly, and smacked Rarity with the hoof that wasn't holding his tommy gun.
"Stop hurting my big sister!" Sweetie Belle protested, as she was brought before the goon leader and made to stand.
The goon leader looked at Sweetie Belle, and flashed the filly the sadistic smile that had formed on his face a short time ago. "Have you wondered how Princess Celestia raises the sun?" he asked her.
Sweetie Belle gulped "N-not really." she replied.
"Well, too bad, cause you're about to find out!" the goon leader said to Sweetie Belle, and with a flash of his horn, he began to pump Sweetie Belle full of solar magic. "Princess Celestia was a fool for not locking up the books on how to use solar magic." he thought fiendishly to himself.
Sweetie Belle groaned, and screamed in agony as the intense magic surged through her body. Even in her most crazy attempts at trying to boost her magical power, she had never attempted anything like this.
Rarity continued to shout protestes, as all she could do was watch her sister continue to be pumped full of solar magic. "Leave her alone! She's just a filly!" she shouted, but her words fell on deaf ears as the goons only laughed.
"I... can't.... take... anymore... of... this... pain!" Sweetie Belle gasped, as the magic surging through her body threatned to overwhelm and destroy her from the inside!
"That's too bad! I always thought unicorns were tougher than this." the goon leader scoffed "Oh well, I guess I gave them too much credit, even if I am one of them!"
"Just... please... I beg of you... make it stop!" Sweetie Belle pleaded.
The goon leader smiled his sadistic smile once again. "Oh, you wanna stop do ya? Well why didn't you just say so?" he teased, and lit up his horn even further. "In just a few seconds, this will all be over!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sweetie Belle cried, as the solar magic in her body rose to critical levels. But instead of killing her, as the goon leaders had hoped, it transformed her. A bright yellow ball encased Sweetie Belle, and with a blinding flash her newly obtained solar powers rose to the surface.
Rarity was speechless, the goons mouths hung open in shock. This was not what was suppose to happen, and yet it had happened anyway.
"Sweetie Belle? Are you okay?" Rarity asked nervously, when she saw that her sister had several golden markings on her head, chest, legs, and body.
"Intruders must be punished!" Sweetie Belle replied, her voice echoing as a result of her newly obtained powers. With her eyes glowing brightly yellowish in color, she rose into the air. And with a cry of fury, she shot down two balls of solar magic.
The two red coated stallions with short black manes and tails were able to dodge a direct attack, but the mohawk goon was not so lucky. As soon as the solar magic ball made contact with his body, he was burned to a crisp. Nothing but ash remained of him.
As for the other two, they were badly burned and they ran off screaming at the top of their lungs. In the process, they threw down their guns, but at this point they only cared about surviving.
The glow from Sweetie Belle's eyes faded once the goons had left, but the solar magic inside of her did not go away. When she eyed the pile of ash, she turned to Rarity and asked nervously "Did I do that? Did I kill him?"
"I'm... afraid you did." Rarity replied reluctantly, figuring that it was no use trying to lie to her sister.
"I... I didn't mean to. It was an accident, really." Sweetie Belle said, tears forming in her eyes "I mean, yeah he was a jerk and all, but I didn't intend to kill him. I just, felt a great burning anger welling up inside me, and I had to let it out somehow."
"Do not weap, young Sweetie Belle, for your powers could not have come at a better time." an unfamiliar voice spoke up. And in a blinding flash of white light, a figure who's face was obscured by a purple cloak and matching hood appeared. The figure's voice sounding considerably different, but also somewhat similar to the voice that Sweetie Belle had taken on when harnessing her solar magic.
"Who are you?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"And what do you want with my sister?" Rarity added nervously.
"This is not the first time today that I have been asked questions about my identity, and I do not believe it will be the last." the figure replied "But rest assured, that I am a friend who has come to help you."
"But, how can you help me after what I did? I'm a monster!" Sweetie Belle said sadly.
"You are not a monster, Sweetie Belle." the mysterious figure reassured the filly "You have been given an unusual yet incredible gift. You have the ability to harness a power that only Princesss Celestia herself has been known to use. You must learn not to hide it away out of fear, but to embrace and control it."
"Control the solar magic within me? Is that even possible?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Indeed it is." the mysterious figure told Sweetie Belle "And I can help you learn how to use it."
"You can?" Rarity and Sweetie Belle asked.
The mysterious figured nodded "Come with me, Sweetie Belle. And you can make Equestria a better place for all."
"Sweetie Belle, you don't have to do this you know." Rarity said to Sweetie Belle.
"Rarity, for the first time in my life, I have the chance to do something for the good of all." Sweetie Belle said in reply "What makes you think I'm going to just ignore it and walk away?"
"I know it is no use trying to convince you to stay." Rarity said sadly, a tear forming in her eye "I see now what your destiny will bring, and I couldn't be happier. But I will always miss seeing you. Even if I haven't always shown it, you have brought me much joy in life."
Sweetie Belle gave her big sister one last hug. "I'll miss you too, big sister." she said honestly "But I'll try to come back and visit you, when I get the chance." And just before she and the mysterious figure left in another blinding flash of white light, Sweetie Belle added "Good bye, Rarity."
On the outskirts of Ponyville, Flash Sentry was trying in vain to hold his own against Two Face's goons. He had been hurt badly, and several of his comrades lay on the ground, too badly injured to continue fighting.
Flash Sentry himself had several cuts to his hooves, and a black eye on the left side of his face. His helmet was dented and riddled with bullet holes, and his entire coat was covered in dirt and blood. But at this point, all he could care about was trying to protect others.
"So, this is it." he thought to himself, as he felt himself collapse onto the ground. His trademark spear falling out of his grasp and landing beside him. "I die only delaying the inevitable. Some royal guard I turned out to be."
"Well, this was a complete waste of my time." one of Two Face's goons hissed angrily. His suit had been ripped in several places, and his black coat was stained with several bright red cut marks. "Oh well, at least I'll have the satisfaction of taking out Captain Shining Armor's right hoof stallion! Maybe I should send your helmet back to him as a present."
"Hey you, with the ugly face!" a smug and confident voice taunted.
"Who said that?" the goon asked, and turned around. What he saw, shocked him and his fellow goons to no end.
Standing in the distance were three fillies that were unlike anything anypony had ever seen before. The one on the far left wore an alternating black and purple vest with white gloves, the one in the center seemed half pony/half machine, and the one on the far right had a light blue dress that did not cover up the glowing yellow marks that appeared all over her.
"We did." the filly on the far left replied.
"And if you wanna kill that royal guard, you will have to defeat us first." the filly on the far right added.
"So, what's it gonna be?" the filly in the middle taunted.
The goons said nothing for a moment, they just took in the strange sight that lay before them. At last, they burst into fits of laughter. "You fillies really think you can defeat us with those pathetic Nightmare Night costumes?" the goon from before asked.
"Have it your way if that's what ya really want." the filly on the far left replied "But don't say we didn't warn you!"
"We'll carve those words into your tombstones!" the goon said angrily, and he and his fellow gang members charged at the three fillies.
The three fillies weren't worried at all. They just turned to each other, placed their front right hooves on top of one another, and shouted "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SUPER HEROES, YAY!!!"
The goons quickly realized that the filies weren't to be taken lightly at all, as one by one each of the fillies revealed that they had actual super powers and put them to use beating up the bad guys.
The filly in the alternating black and purple vest transformed into a buffalo, and began to plow through any goons that got in her way. Then she transformed into a whale, and crushed some of the goons with her massive weight. And then she transformed into a gryphon, and swiped at the goons with her sharp talons. "You mess with me, you get the talons!" the filly threatened.
The filly that was half pony/half machine, used her technology to blast the goons away. First, with laser beams fired from her eyes, and then with a massive energy cannon fired from her right front hoof. "Booyah!" she cheered, as the goons fell like dominoes.
And the filly in the light blue dress and golden body marks, rose into the air with her eyes glowing a bright yellow. "Prepare to get your daily dose of Vitamin D!" she shouted, and fired off golden balls of solar magic. The goons dodged the direct hits, but the intense heat was enough to burn them and send them crying to their mothers.
In a matter of minutes, all of Two Face's goons in Ponyville had either been repelled or had retreated. The three fillies had worked a miracle, and saved Ponyville.
"Are you alright, Mr. Flash Sentry sir?" the half pony/half machine filly asked, as she helped Flash Sentry to his knees.
"I'll live." Flash Sentry said weakly "And so will the rest of my sqaudron. We are forever in your debt little fillies."
"Think nothin' of it, sir." the filly in the alternating black and purple vest replied "Is there anythin' else we can do to help?"
"Well, there is one thing." Flash Sentry spoke up "Some of our other units went into The Everfree Forest in pursuit of the criminals responsible for the explosion there, and they haven't reported back. I think they might have fallen into the same trap that almost claimed the lives of my men and I."
"Say no more, sir. We're on it." the filly in the light blue dress said with a nod, and the three fillies took off for The Everfree Forest.