Inside the Friendship Express, six ponies sat on the comfortable chairs, waiting to arrive at their destination. Rainbow Dash groaned impatiently, raising her hooves in aggravation. "Oh come on! I would've flown there and back to Ponyville by now if I weren't stuck sitting here!"
"Not all of us have your speed... or, in Applejack's, Rarity's, and Pinkie's case, wings for that matter, Dash." Twilight countered, with Applejack nodding in agreement.
"But we've been sitting here for hours!" Rainbow grunted, crossing her hooves as she sat back down. Fluttershy glanced over to the blue pegasus. "Forget this, I'm just gonna meet you guys over." Dash declared, unfurling her wings and ready to jump out the window to begin her speedy flight.
"Um, Rainbow Dash... I think it would be better if we stay together. We're not even sure why Princess Luna called for us there anyway..." the meek pegasus reminded Rainbow Dash.
"That and we've only been in this train for ten minutes," Rarity added, "If you go on ahead you're only making yourself wait for us anyhow. Would you really want that?"
Despite her curiousity, Rainbow slouched back next to Fluttershy and crossed her hooves with a pout. "Alright..." the rainbow-maned pegasus sighed, not wanting to worry her childhood friend. She hunched back to her seat, her hooves crossed and a pout on her face, celary bored.
"Why did Luna call us to Manehattan anyway?" Applejack wondered, adjusting her hat. "She never calls us down fer anything unless either Celestia can't know about it or..."
"Perhaps that this is a problem that only occurs when she raises the moon," Rarity suggested, the unicorn pondered the exact same thing as the earth pony. "Obviously, she needed all of us together for a reason." she added.
"Ooh! I hope its for a special party thanking us for defeating Tirek!" Pinkie shouted, the pink pony bouncing in her seat. Rainbow Dash and Twilight insisted for the pink pony to calm down, but it took them two and Fluttershy to hold her still until she was calm enough to sit in the same spot.
Rarity smiled at her friend's enthusiasm. "No, I do not believe that is the reason, Pinkie. But I do hope to see what the princess called us for. Hopefully it's nothing too bad..."
Applejack shrugged. "We'll see when we get there, Rarity." the earth pony assured.
The city of Manehattan may have been busy during the day, but night is when the ponies began to settle, though sometimes it remains nearly as busy as earlier. A dark-blue pony with wings and a horn with a flowing mane to match the night sky awaited on the roof of a building, where she told the ponies to meet her for a private discussion about something bugging her for the past few nights that she noticed.
"You wanted to see us, Princess Luna?" Twilight asked. The alicorn nodded.
"Indeed, Princess Twilight," Luna answered as quickly as she could, "Thou has sensed a dark presence roaming around Manehattan at the darkest hours of my night. I called you all here to investigate." the princess revealed, turning around the face the six she called upon for help.
"No offense Princess Luna, but couldn't you find whatever causing all that trouble on your own?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "I mean you're the Princess of the Night! Besides me, or Celestia, shouldn't whatever be bugging you be gone now?"
Luna nodded, "Yes, Rainbow Dash. I have tried to find them, but they always manage to evade me. Almost as though the night was their element. I can't keep doing this and attend to my priorities back in Canterlot. I will alert Celestia of this as well once we have this sorted out, though." she said.
"What can possible evade you?" Applejack wondered.
The Princess of the Night shook her head, "I'm not too sure myself, Applejack. But it must be something dangerous if it could hide from me or possibly my sister."
Fluttershy quietly squeaked at the thought of a powerful evil threatening their world and even being able to hide from Luna's sight, but Rainbow Dash managed to comfort her. "We'll stop it no problem!" she assured Fluttershy. "I mean, this is nothing new for us anyhow, we just gotta do a cool stakeout!"
"What did you sense?" Rarity asked.
Luna closed her eyes. "A sinister force... Something beyond our world. I did not want my sister to find out about this before we could see what it is."
Pinkie managed to smile despite the revelation. "Maybe we can throw them a welcoming party to tell them that they can show themselves!" the pink pony suggested.
"I don't think that whatever this is would want a party, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash responded blankly. "Plus, we want to catch them by surprise!" she continued with confidence.
Applejack nodded. "Yep. Ah bet that if we wait long enough they'd come to us... Whether by accident or on purpose. We'll find them ourselves if we have to."
Luna answered to the best of her ability, "Yes. There have been reports of strange creatures moving around across the city, perhaps we can start by searching. If needed, I shall warn my sister of this."
Fluttershy hid her face beind her long pink mane. "Look, Fluttershy. We'll kick their butts into next week. I promise." Rainbow reassured her timid friend, who gulped and smiled.
"Then it's settled, we're staying in Manehattan until we figure out what's going on here." Twilight reasoned.
The next day had come and gone for the former Elements of Harmony. Rarity had decided to go shopping, the white unicorn bringing along Fluttershy, for materials to bring back to her boutique back in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash decided to scout from the skies for most of the day, only taking a break to eat or rest her wings.
Applejack, Twilight and Pinkie remained in their small apartment, only going out to get food for their friends. Night fell on the city once more, and with the night sky came another night of recon for these supposed blurs. The streets were a lot more quiet than usual, giving the six thr advantage in tracking down the figures before they could do any damage.
The six stood on a rooftop, hoping to get a better view of the large city. So far, the six saw nothing too out of the ordinary for the city of Manehattan. Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves growing bored, "Ugh. Will these guys ever show up?" she groaned, hovering in her spot in boredom.
"We don't even know what exactly we're lookin' for Rainbow, just be patient." Applejack reminded the pegasus. Twilight shushed them.
"Remember, we don't want whatever these things are to notice us..."
"Um... Twilight..." Fluttershy began before being interrupted.
Rarity decided to speak up after yawning and rubbing her tired eyes. "I have to agree with Rainbow Dash's impatience for once. I'm clearly missing my beauty sleep for this."
"Um... Guys..." the shy pegasus spoke up once more but was ignored. Instead she continued to hear the ongoing bickering between her friends.
"Well sorry, Rarity!" Applejack responded sarcastically. "Ah see that whatever this is can wait just because you need to sleep. It's not like we're doin' Princess Luna a favor here!"
"Girls, knock it off!" Twilight warned in a loud tone wanting to use her magic to hold them back before things got too rough. "We're not gonna get anything done by arguing!" she yelled, annoyed by the constant arguing.
Fluttershy tapped the alicorn's shoulder. "Twilight..."
Twilight turned around the face Fluttershy. "Yeah?"
The pegasus quietly pointed slightly above them. On the rooftops surrounding the six were strange bipedal creatures covered in black and holding swords in their hands. Each of their swords were drawn out, ready to attack. They each wore black masks with bug-eyes that seemed to never move. The six ponies looked at them in awe and confusion, wondering just what theymwere, since they were clearly not ponies.
"I hope their friendly!" Pinkie cheered. Rainbow Dash responded with four simple words. Four words that she had been waiting almost all night to say.
"Let's take 'em down!"