> Hero name: Princess Midnight
>  by King Ice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Enter Princess Midnight (edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle was a unicorn, a single mare, living alone in an apartment of the big city of Manehattan. Well, she wasn’t an ordinary unicorn. When she was young, during the night she was hit by a light coming from the stars. She felt a pain unimaginable and fell unconscious. Her parents got her in the hospital, and when she woke up, she realized she could transform, take a new form. When transforming, she become a tall alicorn, with a flowing mane and tail, but her mane and coat didn’t change colors. She decided to keep it secret and never use that form, why would she need it? However, when a friend of hers, Moondancer, was killed by a crook three years after her transformation, she couldn’t help herself but turn into an alicorn and rush to find the criminal. She stopped him and decided to stop every other criminal, so that nopony will suffer like she did. She decided to be a hero, a hero that she named: Princess Midnight. Of course, nopony knew that Princess Midnight and Twilight Sparkle were the same pony.

Twilight sat at the table, drinking coffee. She had to hurry though, she overslept and had to open her library in twenty minutes. She was lucky that her library was just in front of the building where she lived.

“I wonder what the news is today?” she asked herself before turning on the TV. When she saw the news, she quickly spat the coffee she was drinking. “Oh no! Octomare is attacking Trixie Labs! I should have known she would do that!” she yelled before standing up.

Hmmm, why did Twilight know this, you ask? Octomare is a red unicorn and was a famous former scientist. However, due to her being too much exposed to radioactivity, her horn stopped ‘’working’’. Her horn was one of the greatest assets she had, but when she couldn’t use magic anymore, everypony mocked her for not being able to build new machines. She decided to build something that would help her, six long tentacle like bionic arms attached inside her back, arms she could control because they were linked to her brain. However, once again, the other scientists mocked her, and something snapped. She became completely mad and decided to show everypony the genius she was by taking revenge. It all happened last year, and it seemed she finally came back.

This would be the first time that Twilight fought her. Twilight chased only small fries of criminals, this was the first time she’d fight against somepony who had super abilities like her. Of course, because she only chased some random crooks, only a few ponies knew her, and they were more interested in other heroes who were fighting big-league villains.

Twilight charged magic in her horn and was suddenly covered in purple magic. The magic stopped covering her quickly and revealed a tall, lavender alicorn, who had a purple flowing mane. She wore a purple leather hero costume with a big ‘’M’’ in her chest, the costume hiding her cutie mark. And finally, she wore a black mask covering only her eyes. Well, where her eyes were, since there were two holes for her to see.

Princess Midnight teleported herself onto the rooftop of her building and flew in the direction of Trixie Labs. While flying, she saw some ponies running and pegasi flying in the opposite direction. Well, she definitely knew where Octomare was.

She finally arrived in front of Trixie Labs. It was a very large building, and inside many scientists were working on who knows how many machines. Some were useful and others were useless. Of course, the leader was a mare named Trixie Lulamoon. She was selling every machine she could, well, the least dangerous. Princess Midnight landed and saw two police cars with four police ponies hiding behind their cars while Octomare’s lackeys shot at them. Speaking of the devil, Octomare was currently tearing apart the doors with her metal arms.

“Do you have anypony injured here?” Princess Midnight asked one of the police ponies. He looked at her and deduced she was a hero.

“No, but we can’t come closer. We are only four and there are ten of them. They don’t stop shooting at us, and we are lucky they don’t have pegasus with them, only unicorns and earth ponies,” the police pony explained. Midnight nodded. “And who are you?”

“The end of your worries,” she simply answered before flying off. She passed the cars and landed in front of the lackeys.

They shot at her, but she dodged every bullet and fired a purple magic beam at the three unicorns and hit the other ponies left with her hooves, knocking them all out. Octomare noticed there was no shooting anymore and turned around to see that her lackeys were knocked out.

“Don’t worry, I held back my power, they’ll be fine,” Princess Midnight said while pointing at the fallen lackeys.

“Who are you?!” Octomare shouted while she used her metal arms to maintain herself in the air by planting them in the ground.

“Princess Midnight. As for you, you’ll go in prison!” Princess Midnight yelled as she shot a magic beam, easily blocked by one of the metal arms. Midnight spread her eyes in surprise. Her beam was blocked and didn’t do any damage! Octomare chuckled.

“You are a fool! My bionic arms are made of antimatium! A metal with many mysterious properties but known to be the hardest metal in the world, it can absorb magic. Even if you are an alicorn, your magic isn’t strong enough!” Octomare yelled as she tried to catch Midnight with two of her arms.

Midnight dodged the first and punched the second one with her hoof. She flew as fast as she could to try to directly hit Octomare, but the other arms stopped her by catching her forelegs.

“Ponies always try to hit my main body, but they always forget that my arms are my body too, they protect me!” she shouted as bionic arm hit Midnight in the chest, sending her to the ground.

Midnight coughed blood but quickly got up. She dodged three bionic arms but was caught by surprise by one arm behind her, which grabbed her by the tail and threw her in a police car, breaking it. The two police ponies behind the car yelled in surprise and fear while the two remaining rushed to Octomare and began shooting at her. However, she either dodged the bullets or stopped them with her metal arms.

“Are you trying to stop me with these little toys?” she asked while chuckling. She caught the two fools who tried to stop her and threw them high in the skies. “Now, we’ll see how you’ll look when you hit the ground!”

The police ponies cried in fear as they saw the ground getting closer, however, they were saved just in time by Midnight who caught them with her magic. She put them on their hooves and they thanked her as they ran away.

“I won’t let you hurt anypony, or steal anything here. There are ponies who are working here as we speak, you’re dangerous,” Midnight said. Octomare rolled her eyes.

“You don’t understand, do you? No matter how tall you are compared to me, no matter if you are an alicorn and how powerful you are at using magic, I’ll be stronger! I’ll beat you every time, because I have the strongest weapon ever, my brain!” Octomare explained as she blocked a magic beam with a metal arm. “You are stupid, you try to hit me with magic again?!”

Midnight ignored her and shot magic beams while running around her. Octomare didn’t even flinch as she stopped them all with ease. Midnight decided to change her plans and began flying.

“Even if you fly, this won’t change anything!” Octomare shouted as she approached a police car. She used two of her metal arms to raise it. She looked at Midnight and threw the car.

Midnight was too surprised to react in time, she wasn’t expecting flying a car to come hurtling towards her. The car hit her! Midnight began falling as she coughed blood, however, she used her wings to land safely. She was panting and bleeding while Octomare smiled. Midnight didn’t give up though, she still had some tricks. Her horn glowed when she suddenly disappeared. Octomare yawned.

Midnight appeared behind Octomare and was ready to shoot her with a magic beam, however, one metal arm grabbed her in her throat and hammered her into the ground. Again she coughed blood and panted, slowly opening her eyes and glaring at Octomare. She gritted her teeth.

“How?”

“Please, I am a genius. Of course I prevented anypony trying to sneak on me, by putting movement captors on these arms. They are linked to my brain, in short, as long as I have them I don’t have any blind spot,” she explained as she walked to the building of Trixie Labs, still holding Midnight with her metal arm. “My destination is the fifth floor, maybe you would like to accompany me?” she asked rhetorically.

Octomare climbed with the help of her metal arms hammering themselves on the wall, and at the same time, she was hitting Midnight on the wall with all her might. After some time, she stopped.

“Well, it seems we’re here. As for you,” Octomare said as she looked at Midnight, whose face was covered in blood. She was barely keeping her eyes open and couldn’t move her body. “You fall, hero.” She dropped Midnight, and the hero crashed into the ground, in a small crater unable to move. Octomare smiled, broke the wall, scaring everypony in the process, and entered in the building.

***

Princess Midnight stepped inside her apartment and covered herself in magic, returning to her normal form, Twilight Sparkle. She laid on the couch, exhausted. She couldn’t believe it, she lost, she was utterly defeated. She was still bleeding, but that didn’t matter. Her healing abilities were improved, she could heal those wounds, but it would take some time. She was more worried for the ponies who worked in Trixie Labs. She was lucky that there weren’t any injured and that she was still conscious; if she wasn’t, she would have turned back to her normal form, and everypony would have seen who she really was. She got up and sighed, then took some bandages and put them on her face and on some parts of her body. It’d be better to cover those wounds. Then she remembered the day had just begun, and she still had to go to work at her library. She groaned in exasperation. She loved working there… except when she lost a fight and was wounded.

Suddenly, she heard the doorbell. It seemed somepony was here. She moved slowly to the door and unlocked it. When she opened it, she saw at her great surprise… her parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light.

“Mom! Dad! What are you doing here!?” she asked with joy as she hugged them.

“Well, we wanted to surprise you by visiting you! Since you moved out of the house, we don’t see each other as much as we did before,” Velvet explained with a smile. Night Light was about to ask her why she wasn’t in the library, since that was the first place where they thought they’ll find her, but he quickly saw the problem: she had bandages all over her body.

“Sweetie, are you alright? What happened to you?” he asked with a worried look.

“Oh my! How did you get hurt so badly?!” Velvet exclaimed. Twilight lost herself in her thoughts, trying to find an excuse.

“It was just a bad fall in the stairs, nothing to worry about, I’m fine,” she answered. Velvet and her husband looked at each other.

“Well, if you say so,” Night Light said.

“Come in, sit at the table! I’ll prepare some coffee!” Twilight said as her parents came in, and closed the door.

***

“You’re doing great, Twilight!” Velvet said as she took a sip of coffee. “At first, I didn’t believe you could live by working this library of yours, mainly because you work alone!”

“Well, I don’t really need somepony to help me. I have my magic, after all!”

“Excuse me, Twilight,” Night Light said interrupting the two mares. “Where is the bathroom?”

“First door on the right,” Twilight answered as her father stood up and moved to the bathroom, velvet smiled.

“Now that we’re alone, you can tell me Twilight. Did you meet your special somepony?” Velvet asked ecstatically. Twilight laughed.

“No, I haven’t even thought about that. I have… other matters right now, and I doubt I’ll marry somepony in the future. I’m far too busy,” Twilight said with a sigh. Velvet gave her a sad smile.

“Don’t worry. If you don’t find somepony, then somepony will find you!” Velvet said, Twilight smiled.

“Mom… I have something I wanted to ask you… I failed at doing something, like failed really bad, I don’t have any motivation anymore. The challenge was too hard for me and I fear the next ones will be even worse! You always gave me good advice mom, what should I do? I don’t feel like I can continue,” Twilight confessed. Velvet looked at her and patted her head.

“You failed, so what? I mean, it’s normal to fail at something at least one time. Failure helps you improve yourself, they show you what you did wrong and what you mustn’t do again. When you fail, you get stronger, you’re better prepared for the next challenges because you won’t make the same mistakes!” Velvet explained. Twilight smiled. “It doesn’t matter how or at what you failed at, because you’ll always find a way to not fail again.”

“Thanks mom,” Twilight said as she hugged her. “I… I have to go!” she added, running to her door.

“Wait, Twilight, where are you going!?” Velvet shouted, but it was too late, Twilight had already closed the door behind her. Velvet sighed. “Well, back to the coffee.”

***

Johnson was walking down the street like any normal day. He smiled as he thought of his next job when suddenly purple magic covered him. He didn’t have time to react before he was pulled in the air, onto the roof of a building, in front of Princess Midnight.

“AH! I… I… I didn’t do anything wrong since the day I left prison! I swear!” he shouted while trying to escape from her magic.

“Where is Octomare?” Midnight asked.

“Octowho? I’m sorry, I don’t know who that is. Can you release me now?” he asked politely. Midnight smiled.

“You want me to release you? I don’t mind if it’s what you want, but you should be careful,” she answered, the crook looked below him and saw that the ground was far from his hooves. Oh right, Midnight was on a roof!

“Well, now that you mention it, I might know that name. She’s in one of her abandoned labs on 13th avenue,” he said in a scared tone. Princess Midnight dropped him safely on the roof and flew away.

***

Princess Midnight, aka Twilight Sparkle, arrived at the top of a building on 13th avenue and looked around. It was almost night, so there weren’t many ponies. She looked carefully and saw somepony sneaking suspiciously into a small building. She narrowed her eyes.

***

At Octomare’s former lab, the villainous mare looked triumphantly at what she had built. It was a machine that could enhance her strength, speed, and agility to new levels. With this associated with her bionic arms, she’d be invincible, she’d rule this city and everypony would see the genius she is!

“Now, my minions, be ready to see what true power is! Soon, we’ll be respected and feared!” she shouted as her lackeys acclaimed her. Suddenly, the wall exploded, revealing Princess Midnight. “You again?! You still haven’t learned your lesson yet!?” Octomare exclaimed. “Kill her!” she shouted to her minions.

They began shooting at Princess Midnight, but she dodged every bullet and hit the lackeys who fell one by one. Midnight avoided the hit of a pegasus and used her magic to throw him at another. One of the unicorns used her magic to levitate some chemical components, seemingly acid. She threw them at the heroine, however, Midnight dodged and hit her with her foreleg, knocking her out.

“You idiots!” Octomare groaned when she saw that there was only one lackey left. She began walking to Midnight. “Out of my way!” she said in annoyance as she threw her last lackey at the wall. “Princess Midnight, you lost the previous time, what makes you think you’ll win now?”

“Because now I won’t make the same mistakes,” she answered as she flew to Octomare.

The villain used two bionic arms to try to hit Midnight, but the heroine hit them, pushing them aside, continuing to fly in Octomare’s direction. Octomare, who was still maintained in the air by two arms planted on the ground, didn’t have other choice than to protect herself with the two remaining arms. She crossed them to use them as a shield. However, Midnight didn’t attack the main body, she attacked one of the arms planted on the ground, pushing it back. It surprised Octomare so much that she lost her equilibrium and fell on her hooves. She groaned as the two first arms she used came back.

She tried to attack Midnight again with two arms, but the heroine grabbed four iron bars she found on the ground in her magic and used them to attach the two arms together. Octomare tried to break the iron, but it was harder than she thought, and she’d need to use two other arms. Midnight saw the two arms trying to detach the attached one and flew to Octomare. The villain groaned and tried to hit Midnight with her last arms. However, Midnight hammered the first one into the ground with her hindleg and grabbed the last one with her forelegs. She still had one weapon. Her horn glowed and Octomare gasped, seeing she didn’t have any shield now.

“Wait!” she shouted as Midnight shot a magic beam right on her chest. Octomare coughed blood and fell on the ground. Midnight dropped the inanimate arm.

“When I fought you the first time, I was too focused on attacking your body that I forgot those arms of yours. I thought of them as guns, and bullets never touched me. This was my mistake, but now I won because I understood they were my real enemies. I had to get rid of them first to stop you,” Midnight explained even as she knew that Octomare was already unconscious. Midnight turned around and shot a magic beam at Octomare’s machine, destroying it for good. “I’ll call the police, they’ll know what to do with you.”

***

“Twilight! You came back! Where were you!? It’s night!” Night Light exclaimed to Twilight, who entered in the apartment. “Are you alright? You seem a little exhausted.” Twilight smiled and looked at Velvet, who smiled back.

“I’m fine. I had to fix one of my mistakes, and I think I’ll continue to accept any challenge, without stopping.”
> The birth of Princess Midnight (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s been three days since Octomare’s defeat and Twilight continued arresting criminals, one by one. Very quickly, of course, she wasn’t the only hero in the city, but that was another matter. What we want to know is, how did she become “Princess Midnight”? How did she earn her powers? Well, it all started when she was 11.


***


At Twilight’s parents home, Twilight’s room.

Twilight was in her room, reading a book. She smiled and looked around her room. She loved doing this, because on every wall, there was a poster of the heroine: Princess Celestia. She always admired her, well, firstly because they were both girls and because she was so good at magic that she could levitate an entire building without breaking a sweat, but the best part of all was that she was the one to raise and lower the sun. Twilight must be her fan number one for sure! She giggled as she imagined herself meeting Princess Celestia, only to talk to her, not try to become her sidekick or something, like so many did, she wasn’t interested in being a superhero, there were already many superheroes, the society didn’t need more of them, I mean what could happen?

Suddenly, Twilight heard her stomach grumbling. She stood up and came out of her room, then ran to the kitchen where she saw her dad eating a sandwich.

“Where’s mom?” Twilight asked. Night Light swallowed a part of the sandwich and looked at her.

“It’s midnight and as you know we can see the stars from our house; your mom is on the terrace, looking at them like always,” he answered as he took another bite of his sandwich.

Well, Twilight could ask her dad to make her food, but she definitely prefered mom’s food. Twilight ran to the terrace and saw her mom sitting, looking at the sky. Twilight approached her slowly and sat beside her.

“Hey mom, I…”

“Look, Twilight. Don’t you think it’s magnificent?” Velvet said, interrupting Twilight. The young filly looked above her and saw the night sky, and it was for sure the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, aside from Princess Celestia of course.

“So, that must be why you always stargaze. This is so beautiful,” Twilight said as her mother giggled.

“Tell me Twilight, do you know what you want to do when you grow up? Many ponies know what they want to do by looking at their cutie mark.”

“Well, I don’t know, something involving books I guess.”

“Don’t you want to learn new spells? Learn to improve your magic abilities?”

“No, I don’t see why that would be important. I love magic, but I don’t know why I would need to learn new spells. I’m fine with what I have.”

“Twilight, your cutie mark is magic. Magic connects everything, magic allows this world to exist,” Velvet said enigmatically. Twilight looked at her for a second, not understanding. “I’ll come back, Twilight. Stay here, I’ll be fast,” Velvet said as she stood up and went inside of the house. Twilight looked at her and went back to stargazing.

These stars, this sky, she couldn’t bring herself to not look at it until she saw something strange. There was a big light; it looked like a star, but that light was way too big to be one. Twilight noticed it was getting larger, wait, no! it wasn’t getting larger, it was coming closer! Twilight stood up in fear, but she didn’t have enough time to run as the light engulfed her. She howled in pain. She had never suffered like that! The pain was unbearable! She felt like somepony was trying to tear her apart from the inside! After what seemed to be an eternity, she fell on the ground, unconscious.


***


“How is she, doctor?” Night Light asked to the doctor.

He and his wife were in front of Twilight’s hospital room. They heard her howl, and as soon as they heard her they rushed to see how she was. They’d never been so afraid before! Twilight really seemed to be in pain, she was even unconscious!

Meanwhile in Twilight’s hospital room

Twilight was laying on the bed, covered by sheets, connected to an electrocardiograph. She began shaking and sweating, and after some seconds, she opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a white room surrounded by medical equipment, she thought. She got out of the bed and saw a mirror, then approached it and saw her reflection. She looked so pale, what happened? Suddenly, she felt it again, the pain. She gritted her teeth, trying not to cry as her horn glowed. She widened her eyes as she saw her magic engulf her, and closed her eyes in fear. Then, the pain stopped. Twilight opened her eyes with hesitation and saw a new pony in the mirror, a tall alicorn with flowing mane and tail and a long horn.

“W… What is this?” she asked herself as she looked at her hooves. “I… somehow look like Princess Celestia! Change my colors, give me a hero costume and I’ll be her twin!” She touched her face, what did that mean? Did that light do this to her? She even felt stronger, what did it want? Well, it didn’t matter that much when she thought about it. It didn’t change her plans for the future. She still wanted to do something where she’d need to be smart, or something like that. She didn’t need all that power, what could she do with that?

Suddenly, she felt pain again as she was covered in magic, but this time, she couldn’t keep herself from yelling in pain. She returned to her normal form as she collapsed on the ground, still conscious. Her parents and the doctor ran into the room when they heard the cry, and saw in shock that Twilight was on the ground.

“Oh, my poor little filly,” Velvet said as she put her in bed with her magic.

“It… it hurts,” Twilight murmured.

“I don’t understand, what is wrong with her?” Night Light asked to the doctor.

“I don’t see anything wrong, sir. I mean, we did so many tests and we didn’t detect any anomalies, so she should be perfectly healthy,” the doctor explained, confused.

Suddenly, they heard somepony open the door. It was a filly of Twilight’s age, a unicorn with a yellow coat and a red mane with purple strands.

“I’m with my parents, the nurse told us we could visit. Is that okay?” she asked shyly. The doctor looked at Twilight’s parents as they nodded.

“Yes, come in. You’re Twilight’s friend, Moondancer?” Velvet said. Moondancer nodded and ran to Twilight’s side.

“Moondancer, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked happily.

“Well, did you forget we’re neighbors? My parents saw an ambulance come to your house, so when we were ready we came here as fast as we could! I wanted to make sure you were doing fine!” Moondancer exclaimed, happy that Twilight was okay.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Moondancer,” Twilight said with a sincere smile. Since Twilight kept studying for school and didn’t take time to make friends, Moondancer was the only pony she knew as a friend.


***


Three years later, Twilight is 14.

Twilight was sleeping nicely in her bed. Why was everything was perfect in her life? Well, first of all, she was the best in school, all the teachers praised her, and that was good if she wanted to have a formidable work she loved in the future. She had good relationships with her friends, well, with her only friend Moondancer. Now, for some reason, she remembered what happened years ago, that beam of light which hit her. She hadn’t used that form again, but she had a bad feeling about it. She knew that things like these happened for a reason, a purpose. She opened her eyes. She looked around her. She was in her room. She looked through the window and saw red and blue lights, but most of all, she heard sirens. She got off her bed and ran down the stairs out of her room until she arrived at the entrance of her house where she saw her parents talking with a police officer.

Twilight came closer and looked outside. The police cars were in front of Moondancer’s house, and she could hear the police officer talking.

“I’m really sorry to tell you this. The maniac’s name is John Kassady. He was running away, so I think he came to steal a car. Looks like he did it, but stay calm; there are officers in pursuit as we speak,” the police officer explained to Twilight’s parents as Velvet cried.

“How can we stay calm!? That maniac killed everypony in that house! Even a filly!” Night Light shouted, pointing at Moondancer’s house. He hugged his wife, who was crying like she never had before.

Twilight was shocked. She opened her mouth as she felt tears coming down. No, that’s impossible! It couldn’t be happening! Velvet turned around. Twilight gasped as she saw her mother’s face deformed by sadness and tears.

“I… I’m… sorry Twilight… but your friend Moondancer…” Velvet started with a trembling voice as Twilight shook. “Is… oh… oh my god.” She tried to not cry.

Then Twilight felt something snap. She stopped crying and kept her face blocked in an expression of shock and sadness. Her parents were telling her something, but she couldn’t hear them. It was as if the entire world was muted. Then she felt something new… hate. Suddenly, she ran to her room. Night Light was ready to stop her, but Velvet grabbed him by the tail. He looked at her as she shook her head.

Twilight entered in her room and closed the door as she focused her mind on one specific thing: revenge. Suddenly, she was covered by purple magic and transformed into her alicorn form. She used her magic to break the window of her room and flew through it too fast for the normal pony eye to see.

She gritted her teeth as she looked below her. It was night but there were many ponies outside, and she didn’t care. She was searching only one pony, and his name was John Kassady!

Suddenly, she heard police sirens! She looked below her and saw three police cars chasing somepony who was driving Moondancer’s parents’ car! They were driving really fast, so fast that the police could barely drive properly.

John Kassady smiled as he saw a police car behind him hit another. He did it, he took out two of those idiots. However, there was still one left! The police car came closer, worrying Kassady. Suddenly the police car bumped into him, making the two of them crash. The police car crashed in a Chinese restaurant, knocking the driver out as Kassady’s car crashed into a civilian’s car. Kassady came out of the car. He saw the ponies around running and yelling in fear. They didn’t want to be caught in a police chase!

Kassady saw a dark alley and smiled with a hopeful look on his face. He ran as fast he could with a bloody knife attached to his torso by a string. He wished he wasn’t an earth pony; if he had been a pegasus, this would have been much easier! He looked behind him. He didn’t see anything, and it was pretty dark here. He must have lost them. This was his lucky day! However, he heard a can fall on the ground and looked ahead of him.

Then, from the darkness, a tall alicorn emerged before him. She came closer without saying anything, and Kassady stepped back.

“Who’re you?!” he asked. Twilight didn’t respond as she came closer. Kassady gritted his teeth, took his knife, and tried to stab her, but was stopped from moving. Twilight used her magic to levitate the knife beside her.

“Is that what you used?” she asked as she gritted her teeth. She was so angry that her veins were visible on her forehead, and suddenly the knife disintegrated in front of him. Kassady gasped; his knife was turned to dust!

“W… wait! I don’t know…” he started, but Twilight used her magic to throw him to the wall. He yelled in pain as the wall cracked. He noticed he was free from her magic and started running, however he received a purple lightning bolt to his back. He cried again as his body shook with painful spasms.

“You will pay for everything you’ve done,” Twilight said as she shot another bolt at him, holding back her strength of course. She wanted to make him suffer as much as possible. Kassady groaned again and drooled, his saliva mixing with his blood. “You, monster, tell me, how many ponies have suffered?” she added as she shot another bolt.

“W… Wha… what… are you… AAAAAAAH!” he shouted as he felt his body tearing apart. Twilight shot another lighting bolt, then punched him in the face, without letting him rest, she kicked him on the stomach, he was throw away in another wall, he coughed blood and received a lightning bolt, he was having so much pain spasms that he couldn’t think of something else anymore.

“Did you enjoy everything you’ve done? Do you understand how it feels to lose somepony you love? DO YOU!?” Twilight shouted as she shot a bigger lightning bolt at him. Kassady cried in pain as he widened his eyes more than before. Twilight approached him and put a hoof on his chest to make him stay in place on the ground, and her horn started glowing.

“Now that you’ve felt my pain, I’ll make you feel Moondancer’s and her family’s,” Twilight murmured with crazy look on her face. However, she looked at Kassady’s face deformed in pain and fear, and gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as her horn stopped glowing. “I… I won’t be a killer and if I kill you, then I won’t be any better than the monsters of your kind. You will be judged in a court, like everypony else,” Twilight said. As she heard sirens approaching, she looked down at Kassady and flew on top of a building.

She looked at the city and heard some ponies screaming while somepony else was laughing, having a good time.

“I was wrong. I was foolish. For all these years I thought that this society we’re in was safe. That heroes were everywhere, protecting everypony. That was my biggest mistake. This pain, this suffering, is unbearable, and now I see why ponies need heroes more than anything. Because there is no hope. They are scared and they crawl into darkness to fill themselves with sorrow. I think I know why I got these powers. It is to make them dream again. I must be a hero that ponies can look up to and hope again. This my duty.”
> Friends, foes and monsters(edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was on a chair behind the counter of her library, smiling as she read a book. She looked at a newspaper on the counter from the “The Pony Times”, the newspaper where her father was working. On the first page was a picture of her fighting Octomare in front of Trixie Labs, with the title “Princess Midnight, a New Hero?” She was happy that the director of this journal, Johnny Mercado, published something about her. Maybe villains would hesitate more before doing a crime now that there was a new hero in town.

“Hi, Miss Twilight,” a female voice said. Twilight looked up and saw one of her favorite visitors, Twinkle Shine, a young unicorn a few years younger than Twilight. Her coat was light goldish-grey and her mane pale cerise.

“Twinkle Shine! What can I do for you today?” Twilight asked, smiling as she put her book on the counter.

“Well, I need a book on chemistry for my classes.”

“Oh, then stop worrying, you know that my library has at least one book on everything!” Twilight exclaimed. “But, if you need help on that I could help you myself.”

“Really!? I didn’t know you were good at that!” Twinkle shine exclaimed with sparkles in her eyes.

“Well, I was very good at science... before I… quit school,” Twilight said, murmuring the last part as she looked down. She had to quit school if she wanted to have more time to save people, she must have had to give up on her dream of working on something that has to do with science and be a hero instead.

“Well, I’d be glad if you’d help me!” Twinkle exclaimed ignoring what Twilight said.


***


Meanwhile, in an apartment far from Twilight’s library.

“F*ck that! I don’t know what to do anymore!” Moonlight Bouncer yelled as he threw another beer on the ground, he was on his couch in front of his TV. There were empty beers all around him. This was Moonlight Bouncer, an earth pony who was completely yellow. “Since that accident in Trixie Labs two years ago, my life got so much worse! I was only a worker, I had no idea of what they were working on, and because of a simple mistake, I’ve been electrocuted, giving me electric powers! And they dared to fire me! As much as I tried to get the attention of the public, they simply didn’t care, now my life is horrible!” He shouted as he shot lightning bolts from his hooves on his TV, exploding it. “But at least, I still have Star Eyes with me.” He added as he smiled, yes, Star Eyes has been a very good friend since high school, and she’s also his wife, she’s been with him in the hardest moments, and have never given up on him.

“That’s it! I can’t take this anymore Moonlight!” He heard a voice shout, he turned around and saw Star Eyes, her belongings were all packed up!

“What are you doing honey?” He asked fearfully

“Don’t you see? We don’t have any money, we can’t pay the rent, my life has been ruined! We can’t live like that! This is why I’m going back to my parents’ house! They’ll treat me better than you!” She shouted as she opened the door, to leave Moonlight’s life forever.

“Wait! Please! I… I can find a work I swear! And I’ll get us money! I just need more time!” He yelled as he followed her.

“No! You had your chance! I’m sorry but I can’t live like that anymore!”

“But, what about me? Don’t you love me?” He asked hopefully

“For two years, my love for you was fading away, you’re not normal anymore!”

“What!? Just because I have electric powers!? I’m like a unicorn, it’s just that I am an earth pony!”

“Please, you know that unicorn’s magic doesn’t work like that, you can use electricity from every part of your body! But enough talking, I’m out of here!” She said as she took her bags and exited of the house, Moonlight saw her close the door as he desperately tried to say something, he couldn’t believe it! Suddenly, he felt rage.

“ENOUGH! I can’t accept this anymore! Trixie Lulamoon ruined my life! And for that, she’ll pay with her life!” He shouted as he left his anger escape, he started shooting lightning all round him, breaking everything and setting fire to his house. “Beware, because The Sparkler is born!”


***


Meanwhile at The Pony Time building.

Night Light arrived happily at his workplace, he saw everypony hard working, he saluted them all of course, then he arrived to his boss’ office, Johnny Mercado, a great pony, but a bit too strict sometimes. Night Light breathed out and knocked at the door, he opened it when he heard somepony telling him to. He closed the door behind him saw Johnny Mercado, it was a pegasus, he had a brown coat and a black mane and tail.

“Night Light! My best journalist and photographer!” Johnny exclaimed as he approached Night Light to pat him on the back. “You’re here just in time! I loved what you did with that new super hero! She has a great potential for good stories! She’s way better than Rocket Pony or Vampony, it’s always so hard to find something great to say about them, ponies don’t see much of them, and I prefer not to talk about the others, here we have an alicorn! Do you know how much money we could get if we find some exciting stories about her!?”

“Hum, yes, but I was thinking you could give me an assignment very specific, you see, I think I’m on a track to find the identity of the Crime Master, the crime overlord of our city!” Night Light exclaimed excitedly. Many ponies know that somepony is directing criminals’ operations, he was called the Crime Master, none of his smaller lackeys knew his identity, and the police didn’t find his most trusted henchmen, if he has, but Night Light was finally on a lead.

“Nah, the Crime Master has been here for years now, ponies don’t care about him anymore, what they want is more action! Try to find Princess Midnight, follow her to see her actions of heroism, and you know what, if you can find her secret identity, I’ll give you a pay raise!” Johnny exclaimed, Night Light didn’t have enough time to protest that Johnny got him out of his office.

Night Light sighed.

“He refused, didn’t he?” Jane, Johnny’s secretary, asked Night Light. She was a unicorn, she had a blue mane and a blue tail as well as white coat. Night Light sighed.

“Yes, if only he could listen, I mean, I know that this new heroin will get us more sales, but there’s already many other heroes, while the Crime Master is really somepony dangerous, we have an occasion to stop him! I could try to discover his identity anyway, but without some proofs I’ll never do it! The newspaper is my only chance!” He exclaimed angrily

“Well, you could try to contact a hero that’ll help you to solve this case, you definitely can’t be in danger with a hero by your side, and he’ll help you to find some proofs.” Jane suggested, Night Light smiled.

“You’re right. I’ll ask the director if he can put a little note on the front page, asking metal Pony to meet me! He’s been doing these heroes thing for years now, I’m sure he’ll be experimented enough to help me!” Night Light said ecstatically as he ran to his boss’ office.


***


In front of Trixie Labs, two guards were standing in front of the door while some workers were repairing the damaged wall during Princess Midnight and Octomare’s fight. It was like any other day and they were happy this way, they didn’t want another crazy pony dressed like a buffoon.

“Hey, want to grab a milkshake at the lunch pause?” One of them asked

“Why not, I won’t do much anyway.” He responded, but then, he saw a cloaked figure approaching. “Oh, I think we have another lunatic.” He whispered to himself

“If you’re working here, show us your ID card please, if you don’t, then get out of here.” His partner said to the cloaked figure.

The figure laughed evilly as he removed the cloak, it was Moonlight…no, The Sparkler! He was dressed in a yellow tight bodysuit and was wearing a yellow mask which had the form of a lightning bolt.


***


At Twilight’s library

“So, it’s decided then! You can come to my apartment tomorrow, since it’s Sunday, we should both be free.” Twilight said as she gave her address to Twinkle shine.

“Yes, and thank you again, miss Twilight!” Twinkle shine exclaimed happily.

Twinkle shine smiled, said goodbye to Twilight and turned her back to leave the library, but all of a sudden, she saw police cars go by at full speed.

“It seems there’s trouble miss Twilight.” Twinkle said turning around, however, Twilight wasn’t behind the counter anymore. “Miss Twilight? Where did you go?” She asked


***


Princess Midnight followed the police cars by flying above them, seeing that’ll take too much time to arrive wherever they were going, she decided to fly closer to them and ask where is, what she assumed to be a villain.

“Excuse me, can you tell me where you are going?” Midnight asked calmly.

“Princess Midnight?! I saw you in the newspaper! Oh, it’s at Trixie Labs, somepony is attacking it.” He answered, Midnight rolled her eyes, somepony is attacking that place, again!?

She flew higher and accelerated, soon she arrived at Trixie Labs and saw two burned ponies, she gasped as she saw they were still fuming, she gritted her teeth and entered, she looked around and saw many terrorized ponies who left they’re computers, it seemed that this floor wasn’t where they were making their experiments neither building some new machines. Then, she saw him, the super villain was interrogating one employee beside another one burned to the bones.

“Tell me where Trixie is! If you do so, I may spare your life!” The Sparkler shouted to the employee he was holding by the collar.

“She’s… she’s not here! She’s… she’s… she’s on a… business trip!” The employee responded, The Sparkler was about to say something when he was interrupted.

“It’s Princess Midnight! She is a hero! She came to save us!” One of the employee shouted with hope.

“Well, she didn’t really save us last time She was utterly defeated.”

Princess Midnight ignored them and approached The Sparkler slowly.

“I don’t know who you are, but you’ll release him or…” Princess Midnight started menacingly.

“Or what? I’m sorry, but The Sparkler gets what he wants!” He groaned as he electrocuted the employee, he started yelling some gibberish as he was electrocuted.

“NO!!” Midnight shouted as she saw the corpse fall. It was even set in fire because of the heat. The Sparkler laughed.

“This is what I’ll do to Trixie Lulamoon and everypony who dared to mock…” The Sparkler didn’t have the time to finish his sentence that he was sent flying on the wall, he hurt his back and fell on the ground. He got up, groaning as he was rubbing his cheek, Midnight had punched him in the face! “You’re going to pay for that, you trash!”

“You killed innocents, so I prefer to warn you. You’ll get hurt. Badly.” Midnight said as she shot a magic beam at The Sparkler.

He dodged it easily by jumping on the side, then he shot lightning bolts, Midnight jumped above them, the bolts continued their way and hit a desk, setting it on fire, the remaining employees escaped as the fire-fighting system activated, there was no fire anymore and water was covering the ground.

The Sparkle groaned as he took another punch on the face, however, this was an opportunity, Princess Midnight was too close to him to dodge, he smiled as he shot lightning on her, Midnight groaned in pain and jumped back.

“Okay, you’re pretty strong, you’re lucky I didn’t train myself to use my powers in combat.” The Sparkler said as he smiled, then he put his hooves on the water. “Bye, idiot!” He shouted as he used electricity on the water.

Midnight gasped, but it was too late to dodge, she was electrocuted, she started yelling as she felt the pain, but The Sparkle didn’t stop, and continued with a smile on his face, however, Princess Midnight gritted her teeth and teleported herself, The Sparkler widened his eyes and stop electrocuting the water, suddenly, Midnight appeared behind him and shot him with a big magic beam, right on the back, the super villain gasped in pain as he was laying in a small crater.

“It’s over, I’m getting you to the police.” Midnight said as she was panting.

“I can’t win against that, there’s no way! If only I had some stallions to back me up!” The Sparkler thought as he gritted his teeth. “You won’t get me!” He shouted, Princess Midnight was ready to knock him out, but The Sparkler looked around and saw a big metal door, he hurried and shot a lightning bolt at it, Midnight looked confused.

“I don’t know what you were trying to do but it didn’t work.” She said preparing to shoot a magic beam.

“Well, I suggest you hurry and blast this door. I was a worker here. This door is connected to the machines that are in this floor. My lightning hit the door and soon the machines will be too. It will surely short circuit them and everything will explode!”

“You think you can trick me?”

“Then, maybe you can make a bet. And if you lose, everypony in this building will die! Except for; I’ll be able to escape with my powers. Are you sure you want to take that risk? Hurry, there’s still approximately thirty seconds.” He said with a smile, Midnight gritted her teeth and flew as fast she could and punched the door with all her might, but it didn’t even move, Midnight tried using her magic too, but nothing was working. The Sparkle smiled and stood up, then he ran without turning back.

“This… Door is made of antimatium! I can’t destroy it and it seems that I need an ID card.” Princess Midnight said panting. But then she gritted her teeth. “Nothing happened! The Sparkler tricked me, How can I be such an idiot!” She shouted as she flew outside of Trixie labs and started searching for The Sparkler.


***


Princess Midnight sighed and landed on top of her library, she turned back into Twilight Sparkle and teleported herself in front the library, the sun was setting, and she didn’t find The Sparkler, and on top of that, she didn’t even close the library when she went to fight him, well, it’s not like somepony would steal books anyway. She opened the door and entered, she still had a few minutes before the closing hour. When she entered in the library, with no surprise she saw nopony, no, wait. There was a pony, a mare with a dark orchid coat and a red mane and tail, but what Twilight noticed the most was that she was a unicorn… with a broken horn. The mysterious unicorn was reading a book happily.

“Hello, do you want to borrow this book? You seem to like it.” Twilight said as she smiled, the unicorn turned around, startled by the sudden arrival of the lavender unicorn. “Oops, sorry if I startled you.”

The mysterious unicorn breathed out and smiled.

“No, it’s nothing, I was only surprised, are you the librarian?” The unicorn asked as Twilight nodded in agreement. “Then, I’ll happily borrow this book, he’s very interesting! I love fantasy worlds!” She exclaimed as Twilight moved behind the counter to register the book.

“Oh, I love fantasy books too! What’s your favorite?” Twilight asked to start a conversation as she was writing in a book where were noted all the borrowed books.

“” The fallen alicorn” is one of my favorite one!”

“Me too! But my favorite is definitely…”

“Lord of Shadows!” They both said at the same time, they looked at each other and laughed.

“I didn’t know I’ll meet somepony who has good tastes, today.” The mysterious unicorn said.

“Please, this isn’t so surprising, these two books are in the top ten of the most popular fantasy stories.” Twilight responded.

“Yes, this is true.” The unicorn said as she smiled.

“Do you have a card member?” Twilight asked as the unicorn shook her head. “Do you want one? It’ll allow you to borrow four different books at a time.”

“With pleasure.” The unicorn said. “My name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist.” She added

“Okay, I’ll make you a card member tomorrow.” Twilight said as she gave the book to Fizzlepop. “And my name is Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you.” Twilight said as they shook their hooves.


***


Meanwhile, in a deserted park, Night Light was walking around with a camera around his neck, he seemed pretty nervous.

“Where is he? It’s getting dark.” He mumbled

“Right here.” A voice answered, Night Light turned around and saw a pony land on the ground, in front of him.

It was an earth pony covered by a blue metal armor.

“Mister Metal Pony, I’m glad you’ve accepted to come!” Night Light exclaimed happily.

“Of course! I’ll do anything to stop these filthy criminals!”

“Good! So, I might know where we should go, you see, I have a disguise, and I infiltrated some bars where many unfriendly ponies meet up. And I’ve discovered, hardly, that they’re bosses, the biggest criminals in town are gathering for a meeting, a meeting organized by a certain Richard Kirk, they didn’t tell me more, so I’ve decided to use my contacts to find that Richard, and without surprise, this pony wasn’t recorded anywhere until three months ago, he bought a manor, this is where the biggest criminals in town and their henchmen will meet, and there’s only two possibilities: one, they’re making an alliance to take out the overlord of crime, the Crime master, or two, Crime Master himself called them to join him, and if it’s the second one, well, we’re screwed, the whole city will be in danger!” Night Light exclaimed as he started walking, showing the way to the manor to Metal Pony.

“Don’t worry, this is why, we, heroes are here.

“So, I’ve seen some pictures of this manor on the website he was sold, and there’s some sort of ballroom, it’s the biggest room in the manor so there’s a possibility they’ll meet there, and it happens that there’s an opening on the roof, well more of a window, if we can get there, and open it, I’ll record everything! When I’ll have enough proof, you’ll jump in and beat them all!” Night Light exclaimed.

“Don’t worry about it fella, know that my suit is completely bullet proof, and I have a propulsor on my back that allow me to fly, I’ve been a hero for twelve years now, I don’t see anything they could do to stop me.” Metal Pony explained.


***


Meanwhile, at a bank, not far from Twilight’s library.

The Sparkler breathed in and breathed out, he needed money, to live, but also to recruit some goons that’ll help him, he could become an overlord of crime, he smiled at the thought, he’ll be rich and adored, his life will definitely be better.

He entered in the bank as the ponies looked at him weirdly, why was he dressed like a clown? They asked themselves, however, the two guards on duty didn’t feel anything good coming from this costumed goon, every time a costumed idiot is seen in town, he causes trouble.

“May we help you sir?” One of the guards asked as he slowly moved his hoof on his gun.

The Sparkler smiled and quickly electrocuted them, they yelled in pain as they fell on the ground in front of the astonished witnesses.

“Now, you don’t see any problem if I ask you to give me all the money?” The Sparkler said as he approached the bankers, they shook in fear and started putting the money in a bag that The Sparkler gave them. “Hurry!” He shouted

“You stop right now!” A voice yelled startling The Sparkler, he turned around and gasped.

“You!”


***


Back with Night Light and Metal Pony

They were on the roof of a big manor and had opened a window to look at the ballroom, many ponies were entering, ten meters below them!

“Oh my god, I was right! There’s the Killing Joe! Harry The Butcher! Brenda The Harpy Queen etc...!” Night Light murmured in awe as he named them. “There are all here, the most influents criminals in town.” He said as he prepared his camera, good, he was recording now, beside him, Metal pony was narrowing his eyes, it seems he’ll have a good catch tonight.

The criminals stood in front of a platform, they all had serious looks on their face, because many of them will encounter the Crime Master for the first time. There were curtains, so they couldn’t see what was behind it, but they heard some noises, then, somepony came out, it was a stallion, a pegasus, he had a black coat and brown mane and tail. He had a brown fancy suit.

“I welcome you, I am The Counselor.” He said introducing himself.

“The what?! Where is Crime Master?! He’s the one we are here to meet!” Somebody shouted, The Counselor chuckled.

“But, he is here.” He responded.

A new figure emerged from the curtains, it was a stallion wearing a black fancy suit, he had a blond tail and was wearing a black mask with red eyes painted on it, they assumed his coat was white due to the white horn coming out of the hole on the mask.

“I am happy, to finally meet you, ladies and gentlecoats, I’ve invited you here because it is time to join our forces, to be a new force in this town, a force that nopony will stop! Not the police, not the government, not even the superheroes, think about it, if we assemble all our forces, we will be unstoppable! You all saw it, didn’t you? The superheroes are getting bigger in number! If we don’t do something now, we are all lost!”


***


Princess Midnight stood before The Sparkle who groaned.

“Why!? Why are trying to stop me again!? I didn’t attack your precious friend, neither her building this time!” The Sparkler shouted annoyed.

“I have nothing to do with Trixie Labs, I am only here to protect the city and its innocents, surrender now!” Princess Twilight warned him.

The Sparkler shot lightning from his hooves, Midnight dodged it easily and flew in his direction, The Sparkler shot again, but Midnight teleported herself, however, the super villain smiled, turned around and electrocuted violently Midnight, she groaned in pain and jumped back as the ponies around started to run away.

“I fell for that teleportation trick one time, I won’t fall for it again!” The Sparkler chuckled, however, Midnight smiled, this was weird, she was supposed to be worried or something like that.

“Are you sure of that?” She asked him as she teleported herself again, The Sparkler sighed and turned around electrocuting… nothing? “Behind you.” The Sparkled was startled and turned around only to receive a punch from Princess Midnight, it sent him flying across the bank, right on the wall.

“You… b…” He started but was interrupted by a magic bolt hitting him, he gritted his teeth trying to contain his pain.

“No swearing.” Midnight said as she started to hit him, he groaned at every punch he received in the face, he even started coughing blood, Midnight seemed angry, maybe because he killed too many. “Take THIS!” She shouted as she punched him one last time hammering him on the wall, he was knocked out. She looked at him and saw that he was bleeding pretty badly from her punches. “I should hold back more, I could have killed him.” She murmured to herself.

“Thanks for stopping him Princess Midnight!” A police officer exclaimed as he arrived with hoofcufs, other police ponies were accompanying him.

“This is nothing officer, take good care of him.” Princess Midnight said as she flew out of the bank.


***


Back with Night Light and Metal Pony

“Ponies are scared, because just like super heroes, super villains are multiplying! They’re losing hope! They don’t try anything to change this except one thing, they believe in heroes, they think they might be able to protect them, but we’ll crush these hopes, these dreams, everything they love, and we’ll take over this city, then all Equestria, and then THE WORLD!” Crime Master said, the criminals looked at each other with confidents smiles.

“Did you record everything?” Metal Pony murmured, Night Light nodded in agreement. “Then I’ll go kick their asses and unmask the Crime Master.”

Metal pony stood up and jumped inside the manor, he activated his propulsor and flew around the room as he kicked some crooks.

“It’s Metal Pony! Shoot him down!” A crook shouted as they all started to shoot at him, however the super hero continued to take one at a time without any problem, the bullets were bouncing on his armor!

“Stop shooting, you idiot! Don’t you see that bullets bounce on him!? They’re flying back at us!” The Killing Joe shouted.

“You’re right fella, but you still don’t have anything to fight me, so I think I’ll get you to the police.” Metal Pony said as he kicked a crook in the face, his hits were dangerous, he was covered in metal after all.

Metal Pony smiled arrogantly and didn’t see what was coming, coming from nowhere something big punched him in the face, Metal Pony gasped as he was threw in the wall, he fell on the ground and cough. He looked at what punched him and recognized nothing that looked like a pony. It was a bipedal creature, made of black rock, and it was as big as The Smasher maybe even bigger! At least 3 meters tall! It had a mouth and blank eyes, so it seemed to be a living being, but Metal pony had serious doubts about it.

“This is Rockhead!” Crime master exclaimed as Rockhead rushed to Metal Pony, the guests stepped back as the two fought. “He is the incarnation of brute force!” Crime Master continued as Metal Pony flew above Rockhead and tried to hit him, however, his punch didn’t even make him budge, he gritted his teeth as Rockhead punched him on the ground, Metal Pony stood up and started punching him without stopping. “He is very enduring too! Like a mountain!” Crime Master added as Rockhead looked at Metal Pony tiring himself, he moved his hand and tapped on Metal Pony’s shoulder, it was enough to send him fly to another wall.

“I can’t believe it, he’s destroying Metal Pony, like nothing!” A crook exclaimed in awe.

Rockhead slowly approached Metal Pony who hardly stood up, he was ready to fly at his head, however, Rockhead caught him easily, Metal Pony’s fore body was now in Rockhead’s hand, he started squeezing, Metal Pony groaned as he was intensively moving his hindlegs, he couldn’t cry because of the villain’s hand.

“Metal Pony!” Night Light gasped in horror as Rockhead suddenly pressed on the hero, Metal Pony exploded in his hand, the other criminals closed their eyes as blood splashed everywhere, Metal Pony stopped moving and Rockhead dropped his corpse on the ground.

There was only blood, metal and bones remaining on the ground, it was only a pile of flesh now! This Rockhead must have an amazing strength to do something like this.

“This, my friends, is the beginning of a new era.” Crime Master finished.

Night Light gulped, and started running, he didn’t care if he was on the roof, he jumped without any hesitation and caught a branch, he went down on the ground and started running as fast as he could, he must go to the police, now! If he gives them this camera, they’ll see everything he recorded and come here, even if those criminals escape before they arrive, they still could investigate the manor.

Back in the manor, they all seemed amazed by what they saw, The Counselor smiled.

“Wait a minute! You said you want to take over the city, didn’t you? Who’s gonna rule it?” One of the crime lord asked.

“Why, me, of course.” Crime Master responded, Harry The Butcher gritted his teeth.

“I receive orders from nopony! You think we’ll obey you?! Then, you can go die!” He shouted to Crime Master.

“Oh, but I didn’t invite you all to convince you.” Crime Master chuckled as Rockhead, surprising everybody, squashed Harry The Butcher on the ground like a mosquito, blood splashed everywhere again, and Rockhead pull his hand out of the crushed pony. “I think you don’t have much of a choice.”


***


Night Light was running like he never did in his life, he ran past the cars that stop to not hit him, he looked around and saw ponies having fun, smiling like everything was fine, then, he saw it, the police station! He smiled with hope in his eyes and entered, he pushed away the other civilians and approached a police officer, sitting behind the counter.

“Thank goodness, I’m finally here! I need help!” Night Light shouted

“Yes, I know, this is why most ponies come here.”

Night Light ignored his comment and put it on the counter.

“In this camera, I recorded a meeting between the lords of crime and the Crime Master! You must see this video, I know it seems unreal, but hurry up! You must stop them!” Night Light shouted, the police pony looked horrified, no, that was impossible, he was thinking.

“I… Thank you, we’ll take care of that, you must have saved many lives with this recording, I’ll go inform my colleagues right away!” The police pony said as he stood up.

“Oh, and one last thing, could you give me my recording back after that, I want to put some pictures of it in the newspaper.” Night Light added

“We’re sorry, but we’d prefer to keep it until we arrest Crime Master, not to cause a panic.”

“Oh… I understand.” Night light said as he started to leave the police station.

The police pony looked at him go, then at the camera, he dropped it on the ground and smashed it with his forehoof, he smiled in relief.

“Boss will be so happy he might congratulate me.” He said


***


At another place

“Madam, somepony attacked your laboratory again.” A voice said

“These super villains are a pain in the ass, but the superheroes will be too, when they’ll learn about what I plan, I think it’s time to get rid of them.”
> He's still at large (edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The night is young,” a voice said. It belonged to an unknown shadow. A shadow that was standing at the top of a small building, at its edge. The shadow was barely visible in the darkness of the night, but the moonlight showed what looked like a pony with bat-like wings. The rest of his body and his clothes were hidden by darkness. “When the darkness falls, the world is mine, and it is time for me to judge those criminals who dare to break the law during my time.” The shadow looked below the building and saw two earth ponies harassing a young mare unicorn. The shadow narrowed its eyes and jumped.

“You sure you don’t want to come with us?” asked one of the stalkers. The young unicorn backed away in fear and shook her head. “That’s too bad, we just wanted to play. I guess we’ll have to force you.” His friend smiled.

“Please…” the unicorn murmured; however, the stalker smiled and came closer.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure fell on him hard enough to knock him out. His friend backed off in surprise.

“H… hey! Who’re you?!” he yelled, staring at the shadow. The young unicorn, seeing this, took the opportunity and ran away. The stalker groaned, turned around, and tried to follow her, but a bunch of bats flew in front of him and turned into the same figure which was behind him. “Wait! I… I know you! You are Vampony!” he shouted as he received a well-deserved hoof in the face, sending him flying into a bunch of trash cans.

“Your place is with those of your kind: the trash, and the prison,” Vampony said as he stood below a lamp post, revealing his appearance. He had a white coat, a black mane, and was wearing a black cape with a black mask. He was a unicorn with two long fangs and bat wings. “I feel I’ll have much work to do tonight,” he said to himself.

He looked at the two stalkers and lifted his horn; soon, they were attached together to the floor lamp by a magic rope. He nodded and flew away. He looked below him as he was flying. Judging from there, it seemed that the streets were calm, that innocents were safe, but he knew this was but a lie. There was always something happening out there. Something that could cost lives of innocents, and he would not accept that. During night’s reign, criminals must pay for their crimes. Suddenly, he saw it; an abandoned warehouse. If his information was true, then this must be the place. He slowed down and landed safely on top of it. He looked around and saw a window.

“Perfect,” he told himself

Inside the warehouse; three ponies were loading some guns in wooden boxes. Two of them were earth ponies and the last one was a pegasus.

“Okay, we’re almost done, the second team should come here tomorrow,” one of the earth ponies said as he dropped a gun in a box. Suddenly, the pegasus beside him cried in pain and stopped flying. He looked at his wings and saw bats biting them. He yelled in surprise as bats covered him with bites. The earth ponies looked terrified.

“CRAP! I know who this is! Quick! Grab a gun!” he shouted frantically. His companion took a gun and shot at the bats, but they easily dodged the bullets and formed Vampony’s body. Vampony took the crook that shot at him out in only one hit and flew straight to the last one.

“GET AWAY!” he shouted, shooting at Vampony, who easily avoided getting hit. He kicked the crook’s hoof, making him drop his gun, and pushed him against the wall by the throat.

“Now, you will tell me what I want to know!” Vampony shouted. “Who are you working for?”

“I… I don’t know… I mean… for nopony… I…” The crook tried to find an explanation, but Vampony pushed on his throat harder.

“Don’t try to fool me. I caught you last week, doing the same damn thing! And I don’t think somepony like you would be able to break out. Now, tell me! Who is your leader! He must have some power to ‘convince’ the police to let you out!” Vampony shouted as the criminal gulped.

“I don’t really know who’s the big boss, but I know who gave me these orders. His name’s The Counselor! That’s all I know, I swear!”

“The Counselor? I’ve heard this nickname before,” Vampony said, trying to remember where he heard it. “Do you know where he is?” Vampony asked as he pushed on his throat. The crook groaned.

“I… I don’t know, okay!?” he shouted, but Vampony simply glared at him. “But… there’s this guy who’s in contact with him. There’s a china shop at the fifth avenue, but that’s only a façade. It’s an underground bar and he’s usually there. His name is Jackson Light.” Vampony narrowed his eyes, ready to knock out this criminal, when he suddenly heard something beeping. He looked at the crook, then at his hoof. He removed his hoof from the crook’s throat, and saw a small red light flashing inside it.

“What’s that?!” Vampony shouted as he let the criminal go.

“I… I don’t know!” he responded, confused and scared. Suddenly, the light stopped beeping. Vampony widened his eyes in realization, and suddenly, the crook exploded in flames. The explosion was big enough to burn the wooden boxes; anypony else would have been dead in this situation, but not Vampony.

He suddenly burst out of the warehouse, holding the pegasus half bitten to death. The only damage that Vampony received was that his cape was a little burned. He turned around and saw the warehouse burning.

“Crap, I only saved one of them.” Vampony groaned as he looked at the pegasus. Even if this pegasus was a crook, he couldn’t let him die, just like the other one who’s burning right now. Vampony sighed as a part of his neck darkened, becoming all black. Suddenly, a bat came out of it, and Vampony looked at it. “Bring the police here, I’ll go find this Jackson Light. I think we’ll have a serious discussion.” He flew in fifth avenue’s direction. This may be a harder case than the previous ones, since there weren’t many ponies capable of putting a small bomb inside their lackeys. Without the bomb, he couldn’t see how it exploded, but by the way it did, it must have been when that crook gave him the information he wanted. The bomb must have responded to the crook’s brain when he talked about that Jackson Light, under pressure or stress.

He looked around. He was still far from that store the criminal had talked about. He sighed as he saw the night getting brighter.

“It seems that I started my work too late. The sun is rising, and I don’t have another choice than to work during the day,” he said to himself as he flew faster.


***


20 minutes later, Twilight’s apartment

Twilight Sparkle smiled as she put her plate in the dishwasher. She awoke one hour ago, very early, and it’d been several days that there weren’t any big villain attacks, meaning she finally had some time to herself. She usually read some books, or even did some experiments on her own, with the material she had of course, and the best of all was that she could work in her library.

She needed money, and the only job she had was in the library. Her salary wasn’t too bad, she had most popular library in town, but the problem was that she couldn’t work here entire days. She had to stop every criminal she saw, and patrol at night. She even quit school for it, but lately, there were less villains, or super-villains, for an unknown reason. Maybe stopping them with the help of other super-heroes scared the ones who weren’t arrested yet.

Twilight smiled as she went to the street in front of her apartment, right where her library was. Without surprise, she saw somepony standing in front of it. It was Fizzlepop, a mare that she met last week. She was a customer, but Twilight was sure to see that they were getting closer to each other, and they may become friends one day. Twilight approached her and saw her smile.

“Hi, Fizzlepop! You are early as always,” Twilight said, smiling. “Not that it annoys me or anything, I’m just happy to see that my library interests somepony so much,” Twilight added as she took her keys to unlock the front door of her library.

“Well, you have so many interesting books in here, and I’m happy that I found somepony I can share my interests with!” Fizzlepop responded with joy.

Twilight smiled at her and opened the library. The two mares came in happily, one of them happier than the other one. Twilight sat behind the counter as Fizzlepop stood in front of it. She looked at the saddlebag she had and grabbed several books inside, putting them on the counter.

“You already finished those? You really are fast!” Twilight exclaimed, surprised. Fizzlepop giggled.

“Yes, I was very excited. My job doesn’t require much of my time, so I used all of the free time I had to read these books I borrowed. This library is quite big, it’ll take me some time if I want to find a book that really interest me, so, do you have any suggestions?”

Twilight put a hoof on her chin, thinking of what she had read lately. She smiled as she found, in her mind, a delightful book to read.

“Do you know Daring Do?” Twilight asked excitedly. Fizzlepop thought about it for a second, then shook her head.

“No, I’ve never heard of it before.”

“I’m surprised, it’s a well-known novel after all. I have all the volumes somewhere in the library. I’ll go get them if you want to give it a try,” Twilight said as she pointed to all the books behind her. Fizzlepop always wondered how Twilight could find anything in this big place.

“I’d be glad to!” Fizzlepop exclaimed happily. Twilight smiled and was about to go, but Fizzlepop stopped her. “Wait, I was wondering…” Fizzlepop started looking down.

“Yes?” Twilight said as she turned around to look at Fizzlepop.

“Well, I was wondering if you want to… hang out with me this afternoon, since the library will be closed, at a café or something,” Fizzlepop murmured loud enough for Twilight to hear it.

“I can’t. I give courses to a young mare Saturday afternoons, but tomorrow is Sunday, so I should be free. I’d be happy to hang out with you tomorrow morning!” Twilight was indeed more than happy. It’d been such a long time since the last time she hung out with somepony. Her only friend had been Moondancer and nopony else, and since her death, she felt alone, even more so after she moved out from her parents’ home. She was always so lonely, and it felt good to have some company.


***



Back with Vampony



Vampony flew as fast as he could, but paid very close attention to the buildings. He was flying high enough to not be seen, unless somebody looked at the sky of course. He had to find that china shop quickly, as finding this Jackson Light would allow him to find The Counselor, and maybe after that, he’d have an opportunity to “talk” with the big boss. He must be very influential if he’s able to free criminals at will.

He looked down and finally found what he was searching for, the china shop. It was small, but he knew this was only fake. These criminals only knew how to hide, to operate in darkness. They were nothing more than cowards, crawling in shadows, hoping that they’d be safe.

“But what they still don’t understand is that shadows are my domain,” he said as he gritted his teeth. “And I won’t let scum live in my realm.”

Vampony landed in front of the shop, ignoring the sound of cars, ignoring civilians passing by and wondering what he was doing here on Sunday.

“I advise you to step back. Things could become dangerous, and call the police,” Vampony said to the citizens. The ponies looked at each other and obeyed. When a hero was here, villains were too.

In the China shop, the owner, a white pegasus, sitting behind the counter, frowned as he saw Vampony coming closer to the door. The owner put down the magazine he was reading, stood up, and put one hoof inside the counter, where he kept a gun.

“Great, another loony in costume. They always come here because an idiot sells us out, but they never find anything because they see no entrance to the underground bar and because they’re too afraid to punch a civilian. Go back to where you came from, hero,” he thought with a malicious smile.

Vampony approached the counter, looked around, and finally turned to the owner.

“I’m sure you know why I’m here. Show me the secret entrance, now!”

“I don’t see what you’re talking abou., I am only a small shop owner,” he responded, putting on an innocent smile. Vampony frowned.

“Do not trick me. Scum like you cannot hide its maliciousness,” Vampony said, starting to charge black magic in his horn.

The owner gulped and quickly took the gun, pointing it at Vampony; however, the hero shot a black magic beam right at the owner’s hoof. He yelled in pain as he dropped his gun. Vampony ignored his cry and flew at him. He punched the owner several times before throwing him at the counter. Vampony jumped on the criminal and put a hoof on his chest, keeping him from moving.

“Now, you tell me where the entrance is!”

The criminal/owner looked terrified and slowly nodded, then turned his head towards a wall where there was nothing. All the walls of the shop were hidden by shelves, except this one. Vampony sighed at the stupidity of criminals. He looked at the wall. It was made of wood, so it’d be easy to break.

Suddenly, the owner was surrounded by black magic. Vampony was using his magic to levitate him. The owner stared at him in confusion, but Vampony didn’t pay any attention to that as he threw the owner right at the wall, breaking it in the process. The owner, if he wasn’t knocked out by that, sure was when he fell down the stairs. Yes, there were stairs, surely leading to the underground bar.


***



Underground bar, two minutes earlier



Many stallions were gathered, some drinking beer, others playing pool, and there was one unicorn, at the corner of the room, who was sticking a syringe into his veins. He was smiling happily..

As they were laughing and drinking, they heard a sound of something breaking. After several seconds, the door broke as the owner fell on the ground. They all looked at him, stopping what they were doing, then suddenly took guns out of their belts, pointing them at the broken door, waiting for someone to come down the stairs. They were all doing this except one pony that was still drinking a beer calmly. It was an orange earth pony with a brown mane, his gun still at his belt, who seemed rather confident.

After several seconds, nothing happened, and the criminals lowered their weapons, but at this moment, Vampony flew inside. He punched the nearest criminals to him as the others started shooting. He easily dodged every bullet, as he turned himself into a bunch of bats, only to transform back into his normal form. This way of fighting, along with his powers, made it easier for him to dodge attacks and attack swiftly.

Even the drug addict took a gun, and with a massive smile on his face, started shooting randomly, not paying attention to his surroundings, even hitting some of his “friends”. Vampony, seeing this, took out the crook in front of him and shot a black magic beam at the drug addict. The beam hit the target and soon turned into a black magic rope that tied around him. He continued knocking out the thugs, as he dodged their bullets, and used black magic ropes to tie the ones who were too far from him.

It took him only several minutes to take them out, but there was still one, who hadn’t budged since the beginning of the fight. He was perfectly calm, and as Vampony approached him, suddenly the pony turned around and shot at him. Vampony barely dodged the bullet as it cut his left cheek. The mysterious pony used his left hindleg to hit Vampony in the face, repelling him. Vampony groaned as he felt the pain.

“You dodged that bullet pretty well, I’m surprised. It seems that you have a good reaction time!”

“Are you Jackson Light?”

“That would be me. Too bad you won’t live to tell anypony!” Jackson yelled as he shot three more times.

Vampony easily dodged the bullets and charged his magic. Jackson saw this coming, jumped to his right side, and raised a table, using it as a shield. At the same time Vampony shot his magic, but the ropes only tied the table. Jackson jumped above it and shot at Vampony at the same time. The hero dodged the bullets again and turned himself into a group of bats, which flew towards Jackson, who continued to shoot at them, missing every bat. Vampony reformed and punched the gun away. He was ready to hit Jackson with his right foreleg, but to his surprise, Jackson stopped it with a foreleg of his own. Jackson smiled and used his forelegs to throw Vampony at a table, breaking it.

The hero stood up quickly and blocked the other punches coming from Jackson, the two of them exchanging several hits. Jackson caught Vampony’s foreleg again and punched him in the face. However, Jackson was very surprised to see that Vampony’s head turned into a group of bats while the body was still there. Jackson, still surprised, couldn’t counter Vampony’s attack, as his body turned around and used his right hindleg to hit Jackson on the chin. Jackson’s head flew backward as he growled in pain. He tried to punch Vampony again in the stomach, but he only punched a bat as Vampony turned part of his chest into bats. Jackson didn’t have time to register what happened as the bats bit his foreleg, locking it in Vampony’s body. The hero’s head returned to its place as he started punching Jackson, who was unable to fight back.

After several minutes, Vampony punched him one last time. He changed his body into bats again to let Jackson fall on the ground.

“It looks like you win, bastard,” Jackson said as he coughed blood with a scowl.

“Now, the police will soon arrive, so I suggest you talk, and fast. If you do so I may let you go, or maybe you’d prefer to stay with your little friends?” Vampony pointed at the other defeated criminals around the room.

“Okay, okay, I’ll talk.”

“Good choice. Now tell me, who is The Counselor? Who is he working for?”

“Woah, slow down, buddy, I don’t know who The Counselor is. I’ve already seen his face, but I’ve never tried to do any research on his identity. I don’t care about him, just about the job,” Jackson said. Vampony hardened his look,and  Jackson gulped. “B… But I know where we’re supposed to meet. I meet him, he gives me orders, and I execute them! I’m supposed to meet him tomorrow, at 10PM, at the abandoned train station on the edge of the city,” Jackson explained as Vampony nodded, satisfied with the answer. “As for your second question, he… he’s working for Crime Master.”

Vampony widened his eyes. Crime Master?! It seemed he was on a bigger case than he thought. “With so much evidence here even Crime Master won’t be able to get me out of prison. Now… now let me go, I hear the sirens!” Vampony didn’t even reply as he used black magic ropes to attach Jackson. “Hey! We had a deal!”

“Scum like yourself are always selfish fools. Freedom? I will never let somepony as filthy as you be free. You cause too much pain, and you don’t deserve what we ponies call ‘freedom’,” Vampony said as he turned into a group of bats and flew outside of the bar.

However, as he took off, he didn’t notice the barpony, hiding behind the counter, sending an urgent message by phone.



***



At Twilight’s several hours later


“Thank you, Miss Twilight,” Twinkle Shine said as she was about to leave the apartment. Twilight had helped her study, improved her grades, and she was happy to know someone so intelligent. Twilight was an immense help.

“You’re welcome, Twinkle Shine. I hope this will get you to pass your exams!” Twilight exclaimed as Twinkle Shine exited. Twilight smiled and closed the door.

She turned around and looked at her apartment. It was sunset, almost night, and Twilight should go patrolling, but she didn’t feel herself doing it. There were no major problems in weeks. Maybe she could sleep sooner tonight. She smiled as she turned off the lights, ready to go to bed, when she suddenly remembered something important. She turned around and went to her bathroom.

She thought about Fizzlepop, and Twinkle Shine. It was great having some company sometimes, it felt… right. She’d been alone, for many years. She was living alone in this apartment, she quit school, and she didn’t talk to many ponies at the library.

She entered in her bathroom, opened the cupboard with her magic and took a small container, the word “ANTIDEPRESSANT” written on it. She took some pills with water, swallowed them, and finally put the container back in the cupboard. Then,she  teleported herself in front of her bed. She laid on it, covering herself with a blanket, closed her eyes, and fell asleep as she smiled.



***



The next day


Twilight woke up, later than usual, because she didn’t have to run the library today. However, she still had to meet up Fizzlepop at 10AM at a café called Sugarcube Corner. Twilight did some research on the web. It was a rather strange building, and it looked like it was made of sweets. However, Twilight didn’t pay much attention to that. She was just happy to hang out with someone. Twilight brushed her teeth and immediately went to the place, skipping breakfast because she was thinking of getting something to eat at Sugarcube Corner.

After several minutes, Twilight arrived at the café and saw Fizzlepop through a bay window. Twilight rushed over, thinking she was late.

“I… I’m not late, I hope?” Twilight asked as she sat down in front of Fizzlepop, panting.

“No, it’s alright, you’re just in time. I’m happy to see you, Twilight.”

As they started talking about their interests, another pony came rushing to them, a pink earth pony.

“HI! I’M PINKIE PIE, NICE TO MEET YOU!” she shouted excitedly. Twilight was surprised, and confused. Who was that?

“Hum, Hi… I’m Twilight Sparkle and this is…”

“Oh, I already know who this is, it’s Fizzlepop!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, smiling.

“You know her?” Twilight murmured to Fizzlepop, who smiled and nodded.

“Well… she works here actually, and since I often come here, she knows me pretty well,” Fizzlepop answered.

“So, what do you want?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“As usual, I would like coffee, and two cupcakes,” Fizzlepop ordered. Pinkie Pie nodded, then turned to Twilight.

“I guess I’ll take the same as her,” Twilight said, but then when heard her stomach growling, she blushed. “Well, you should add two cupcakes to that.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie exclaimed as she ran to the counter.

“What a strange mare,” Twilight thought aloud.

“Yes, she is, but she is also wonderful. I’ve never seen somepony as happy as her.”

“So, Fizzlepop, you didn’t tell me what you think about Daring Do,” Twilight said, changing the subject. “We started reading it together yesterday morning, did you read more?”

“Yes actually, you were right. It’s so interesting and well done, the characters of the writer, A.K. Yearling was it, seemed so real, and even how she described the events, it’s… it’s like it really happened!”

“I’m glad you like it, I’m a huge fan of her work.”

“You know, Twilight, I… I’m thankful that you accepted my invitation, and that you shared your interests with me. I don’t have many friends, and I don’t have a lot to talk about with them. Whenever I’m with you, I feel like you can understand me,” Fizzlepop said shyly.

Twilight widened her eyes, surprised by what Fizzlepop said. It felt… nice. She’d been so lonely that she forgot what it was like to speak with somepony so freely, and to express your true feelings.

“Would you like to be my friend?” Fizzlepop asked.

“Of course, I’d love to, Fizzlepop!” Twilight exclaimed happily.

“Here’s what you ordered!” Pinkie Pie said as she gave Twilight and her new friend their food.

“Thanks,” Fizzlepop said as the pink mare left.

The two mares started eating their cupcakes and drinking their coffees, but that didn’t stop them from talking about Daring Do and of all allegories that she put in her books.

However, Twilight suddenly changed the subject. She had been intrigued by Fizzlepop’s horn since she met her, but she never dared ask her because it might be something she didn’t want to talk about.

“Fizzlepop,” Twilight started, making Fizzlepop stop what she was doing, “I was wondering… what happened to your horn?”

Fizzlepop’s look saddened. She looked down and sighed.

“B… But if you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. I was just curious… I’m sorry,” Twilight said, backpedaling when she saw how Fizzlepop looked.

“No… it’s fine. Besides, I think I can tell you. I moved on, and this incident doesn’t sadden me much anymore,” Fizzlepop started. She closed her eyes, remembering what happened that fateful day. “I remember it like it was yesterday. I was… 6. My parents and I were going to the supermarket. It was my birthday, and they wanted to buy me a gift. I still remember our car, as white as snow. My father was always careful, paying attention to his surroundings, but… it came out of nowhere… it was a huge black truck. I don’t know who was driving it, but he hit our car so hard that it rolled on the ground. I was unconscious, but when I woke up, I was at the hospital, my horn was broken and… and my parents passed away.” As Fizzlepop told Twilight, she felt tears coming out of her eyes, but wiped them as fast as she could.

“Oh… I’m sorry… I-”

“No… You don’t have to worry about that, Twilight, it’s… it’s good to talk about it sometimes.”

“Then… if you don’t mind me asking… what were your parents like?”

“Hmm… I don’t remember much, but… I know that my father was always so… kind, and generous. He loved helping others, it was like a second nature for him. Whenever he saw somepony in trouble, he wanted to help them. He also loved smoking, even though my mother always told him to stop, that it was unhealthy. She was very caring. Taking care of us was something she loved doing. She was always saying that a family is important, that it needed to be protected, because the role of a family is to be by your side, even if you’re wrong. When I was young, I thought she was so wise, but… now, I think it’s a little idealistic,” Fizzlepop finished. She was smiling as she thought about her parents. If only they had lived longer… “What about your parents, Twilight?

“Well… I think that my mother is the wisest in the family. Whenever I need some answers to my problems, she knows the solution, she knows what to say to comfort me… She loves looking at the stars, at midnight they’re so beautiful. Even though unlike her I don’t look much at them, I understand why she does. As for my father; he’s enthusiastic, a bit paranoid, and I must say, he didn’t have much authority when I still lived with them.”

They continued talking about their families, and for the first time of her life, Fizzlepop was actually smiling as she talked about her deceased parents. She thought that whenever she thought about them she’d only feel despair and sorrow. However, now she felt joy, proud to be their daughter.

As for Twilight, she was happy to finally find someone to talk to this long. This was the longest conversation she had in years, beside those with her parents.



***



At The Pony Times building



Night Light groaned in anger. It’d been weeks since he gave his camera to the police, but nothing had happened since then. He knew they didn’t want to scare the citizens of Manehattan, but he was sure the cops didn’t intervene! Something wasn’t right. Night Light wasn’t the paranoid type, but Crime Master was the most influent criminal in town. He must have had henchponies in the police quarters.

Night Light gritted his teeth. He was supposed to get an assignment from the boss, but he couldn’t accept that now! He was so close to finding out who Crime Master really was. He couldn’t let someone as dangerous as him live freely in this city. He had to find a way to arrest him, but he had to do it slowly, carefully.

“Wait! Now that I think about it, there was this pegasus, The Counselor! He wasn’t hiding his face. I didn’t recognize him, but he must be in our archives!” Night Light thought. He looked around.

There were many ponies here, some working on computers, some talking to someone else, but Night Light ignored them. He was searching for a precise pony: Shining Star.

“There he is!” Night Light ran to his friend.

Shining Star was a white pegasus with a red mane, and one of the best investigators of the newspaper. He was also a close friend to Night Light.

“Night! What can I do for you?”

“It’s something urgent! I need your computer to see the archives.” Shining Star nodded, as he didn’t see any reasons to refuse this request. “And… I’d really appreciate if you could take the assignment the boss wanted to give me.”

“You want me to take one of your assignment? That’s unlike you, Night. You must be onto something big,” Shining Star said, grinning. “Okay, I’ll accept that. I didn’t have anything important to do anyway. Good luck with whatever you’re doing!”

Shining Star smiled and went to the boss’ office. Night Light sat on the chair and started typing on the keyboard, using his magic to do so. He entered the archives. They were full of ponies, and even though there were pictures, finding someone without knowing his name would take hours. However, Night Light was lucky that they improved this system, since there were now various categories. Night Light clicked on the category “Pegasi”, then he clicked on “20-40”. By his appearance, this Counselor looked like he was still young.

After searching for at least 2 hours, Night Light sighed. He hadn’t found anything. It was like this Counselor never existed! He didn’t have much of a choice, he needed to find another way. And he might, already, have found a way. A pegasus was arrested yesterday; he was stopped by Vampony, but the police released him because the evidence was all burned to the ground. This pegasus may have nothing to do with The Counselor, but it was his only lead. All the most influential criminals allied themselves with Crime Master after all, maybe that pegasus worked for one of them.

The only problem was where that pegasus lived. Night Light reread his address and gasped. It’d be hard; the pegasus lived in the lower part of Manehattan. Besides being small, it was also the poorest neighborhood of the city. And this neighborhood was, unfortunately, full of racists; they hated unicorns, one of the reasons that few unicorns lived here.

Well… he didn’t have much of a choice if he wanted to find out who Crime Master was.



***



One hour later, lower part of Manehattan



Night Light parked his car and sighed. The streets were dirty and there weren’t many ponies passing by. That pegasus didn’t live too far from there, but he couldn’t use his car to continue. He’d always repeat to himself that he wasn’t the paranoid type, but he was scared that something might happen to his belongings. Even though he was already in the neighborhood he should be fine because he still wasn’t at the center of it.

He got out of his car and locked it. He took a piece of paper out of one of his saddlebags and glanced at it. The address of the pegasus he wanted to see was written on it. He nodded and began walking.

However, after several minutes, he was stopped by an earth pony and two pegasi standing beside him. They were in front of Night Light and didn’t look like they wanted to let him pass.

“What do we have here?” the earth pony said, grinning. He seemed to be the leader of the group.

“It’s a dickface!”

“What’re ya doing here? Dickfaces aren’t authorized!”

Night Light gulped, but tried to remain calm. He couldn’t fight! e didn’t even know how to throw a punch! He’d try to convince them to let him pass. They’re all civilized ponies after all.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, good sirs, but I…”

“Ha! ‘Good sirs’ he says! Trying to play a smartass?! Ya buckin’ dickface!” the leader yelled mockingly as he pushed Night Light. The journalist gasped as he tried to stay calm, though it was hard because he had his camera hanging around his neck and was afraid to lose it.

“You unicorns think you’re so high and mighty. I hate that!”

“Maybe we should give that dickface a lesson, don’t you think, guys?” one of the pegasi suggested. It’d been a long time since the last time they beat up a unicorn.

“I… I’m sorry, but I didn’t do anything wrong! I… I just want to pass. To pay a visit to somepony. I would be very grateful if you could leave me alone, gentlecolts,” Night Light stuttered, trying to resonate with them. They looked at each other, but… they seemed angrier than before. Did Night Light say something wrong?

“What did ya call us?” the earth pony shouted as he pushed Night Light again.

“What does ‘gentlecoats’ buckin’ mean?! Did ya insult us!? You, dickface!”

“Yeah, you think we’re stupid or somethin’?!”

The three ponies started coming closer as Night Light stepped back in fear. He wasn’t even at the pegasus’ house, and he already had problems! How could he be so unlucky?

“Hey! You three, stop!” a voice shouted. Night Light and the three attackers turned around and saw a white unicorn stallion dressed as police officer getting out of a police car.

“Oh, come on. It’s officer dickface again…” the leader murmured as he glared at the police officer.

“I already arrested you last week, doing the same damn thing! This is the last warning I’ll give you: either get the buck out of here and leave this guy alone, or I take you down to the station! Is that understood!?” the police officer shouted menacingly. The attackers nodded and quickly left.

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome, but I suggest you be more careful. There are guys worse than them here.”

Night Light nodded and left the police officer. This time, he decided to walk a little faster than before. Not that he was scared or something. He just wanted to be more careful like the police officer said.

It took only several minutes for Night Light to arrive to his destination, but he was there in front of the pegasus’ door house. Speaking of his house, it was a little dilapidated. It was still better than some other houses he saw though.

He breathed in and out, preparing himself to knock on the door. That pegasus may be dangerous, but it was his duty as a citizen of this city to see him and ask him a few questions. Night Light knocked at the door.

“Who’s that?” a voice asked from behind the door.

“Hello, mister Storm! I’m Night Light. I work for The Pony Times. I have a few questions for you.”

The voice didn’t respond at first. Maybe because he was thinking of an answer or because he was… scared?

“I… Get away! I have nothing to say!”

Night Light lowered his head. He couldn’t give up now! He was so close!

“I promise you that I’m not with the police! I’m not a superhero and I’m not here to hurt you, if you think that I’m here for that. Please, let me in! I promise that I won’t tell anypony that you’re the one who gave me this information!” Night Light exclaimed desperately.

He didn’t hear anything after that; the pegasus was quiet. Night Light lowered his head, ready to go back to his home and cry in his wife’s hooves because he failed to save the city. However, he heard the sound of the door being unlocked. He turned around to look at the door which was now open; the pegasus staring at him.

“Fine. Come in,” he said sadly, but Night Light smiled. There was still hope.

Night Light entered in the house. It wasn’t very homely and there wasn’t much light. Night glanced at the pegasus, who was closing the door, and noticed that his wings were covered by bandages. Night Light deduced that he received these wounds in his fight against Vampony.

“First off, why are you here alone? I could kill you easily if I wanted to,” the pegasus asked, suspicious. He must have thought that it was a trap of some sort, and he was pretty direct.

“I know that it’s a bad idea to do something like that. I didn’t even tell anypony that I came here; I assure you. So, you could kill me now, if you want to,” Night Light started. Needless to say that confused Storm. Was he a fool? “However, I think you’re not who ponies think you are. I believe that everypony deserves a second chance. I’m sure that not every criminal is doing something evil just because he’s evil! Even though there are no good reasons to commit crimes, I think that there are no bad reasons either. Well, that they aren’t all bad. When somepony really needs money and can’t find a job, and loses everything he has, he might turn to the only solution he sees. But please, you must help me. I can see that you’re not a bad pony! There are ponies, like Crime Master, that doesn’t cherish anything but money and power. Even though I believe they deserve a second chance, we can’t let them be free! Until they’re completely redeemed, that is. Do you really want to hurt others? I think it’s time you change, now. Help me, and I promise you that I’ll help you later on. Maybe I could convince my boss to give you a job; pegasi are efficient when we need them to take pictures without being noticed,” Night Light said, pouring his soul into his words.

Storm glanced at the ground, thinking of Night Light’s words. Maybe he could change and have an actual job. Maybe… his life would get better.

“Okay… What do you want to know?” Storm said, finally yielding to Night’s words.

“Do you work for The Counselor?” Night Light asked as Storm nodded. “And do you know his real name?”

“He… he doesn’t have a real name actually… What I mean is… He never gave us his name. I’m a guy that worked for Crime Master, before he allied himself with the other criminals. And since my first day, nopony mentioned The Counselor’s name or Crime Master’s. I think only the highest ranked ponies in the organization know their real identities,” Storm explained.

Night Light nodded and wrote everything on a notebook.

“Where could I find him?”

“I don’t have their address, I’m only a lackey. However, The Counselor sent me an ‘invitation’ to the abandoned train station on the edge of the city. I must go today at 10 P.M. and get a gun. He didn’t tell me why though. I… I think I won’t go. So, I hope that you’ll find a way to arrest him and Crime Master with the information I gave you. If you don’t succeed… they’ll kill me.”

Night Light nodded. This was the biggest opportunity of his life. He’d stop Crime Master and bring at least a little more peace to this city.



***



Back with Twilight



Twilight enjoyed every minute of her day. Why? Because, after enjoying her breakfast at Sugarcube Corner with Fizzlepop, she spent the day with her. They wanted to get to know each other. Besides, friends were supposed to spend their time together, weren’t they? Fizzlepop had proposed to go to an amusement park. Twilight accepted of course. It was the first time that she went to an amusement park with a friend! Now it was sunset, and Fizzlepop wanted to accompany Twilight home. The hero was surprised but accepted. She knew she could defend herself, but Fizzlepop didn’t. Her being a hero was still a secret and she was going to keep it that way.

“Well, we’re here,” Twilight said while looking at the door of the building with her apartment. “Thank you for keeping me company, Fizzlepop.”

“You’re welcome, Twi.”

“What was that?” Twilight asked, surprised by this nickname.

“Oh, I… I thought friends gave each other nicknames, so… I… I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize. I was just surprised. I like that nickname,” Twilight said, and it seemed that her words were enough to reassure Fizzlepop. “Thank you, Berry.”

Fizzlepop widened her eyes in surprise. Twi and Berry looked at each other and chuckled.

“I think that I like this nickname, too.”

“Then I’ll be going. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Twilight said as she opened the door of her building. She said one last time goodbye and entered.

Fizzlepop smiled to herself. She felt that this would be a tremendous change in her life. Since the first day she saw Twilight, she knew she’d never want to leave her. Because now she understood what the word “friend” meant.



***



Two hours later, on Twilight’s roof



There stood Princess Midnight, watching the rising moon. It was time for her nightly patrol. She skipped the last one, and just like she expected, nothing happened. However, she couldn’t keep doing this. It was a one-time thing. Now she had to get back to chasing criminals.

Even though there were less criminals, she still worked. She changed her costume. She had golden colored boots, a tight, dark purple suit with black stripes, and a black eye mask.

Midnight spread her wings and took off. She looked around, inspecting every corner of the city. However, she stopped suddenly when she saw another hero: Vampony. It looked like he was on a case. Midnight decided to go directly ask him. Maybe he needed help.

“Vampony!”

Vampony stopped in his tracks and turned around to see who was calling him. He looked carefully at who was flying towards him and quickly recognized Midnight. He remembered that the news was talking a lot about her lately, but he never paid attention to that.

“What do you want?” he asked impatiently as she arrived in front of him. He didn’t have time to waste.

“I saw you flying and I thought you needed some help. We’re both heroes, so we should help each other. Did you find something?”

Vampony sighed.

“I work alone. And as for your question, it’s none of your business. I’m on the trail of somepony and I don’t need help,” Vampony said. Midnight was about to reply but didn’t get the chance as Vampony flew away.



***



30 minutes later, 10 P.M.



At the abandoned train station




The Counselor was standing in front of his car, smiling. He knew this was going to be a good night. He was waiting for a special pony. Originally, he came here to give orders, but now he was here for another matter.

“Where is he?” he thought aloud.

“Your lackey won’t come,” Vampony responded as he landed slowly in front of The Counselor.

“Oh, but I was talking about you,” The Counselor laughed. “You see, I knew you’d come.”

As he finished his sentence a dozen of ponies, who were hidden in the shadows, surrounded Vampony. They all had guns in their hooves. Vampony sighed.

“Do you really think they can do something against me?” Vampony asked as The Counselor kept smiling. “Besides, I could have called the police. You might be surrounded by now.”

“Please, we know a lot about you. You work alone. And even if the police really are here, they won’t do anything, and neither will you, because our monster is protecting me.”

Vampony narrowed his eyes and looked around him. None of the ponies surrounding him were shooting, which was strange.

Not far from Vampony, Night Light was hiding behind a scrap of metal, taking pictures of the scene. As soon as he came he called the police, of course. They should be here soon. He thought it’d be harder than that; he was lucky that a hero had found out about this meeting. Now Vampony would arrest The Counselor and they’d be able to find Crime Master and stop his business. As he was taking pictures, he noticed something moving towards Vampony. The hero saw it too because of the loud sound it was making with each of its steps. It… It was…

Rockhead slammed his fist where Vampony was, strong enough to shake the ground. He pulled back his hand but saw no corpse on the ground.

Vampony had dodged easily as he saw the monster coming at him. He gritted his teeth, concentrating all his magic in his horn. He’d need it if he wanted to stop Rockhead. He shot his magic ropes, but this time they were much bigger and stronger. Rockhead didn’t even try to dodge as he was completely tied. He groaned and fell on his knees.

Vampony landed in front of him.

“That monster was supposed to protect you?” Vampony asked. However, he thought he’d see desperation in the eyes of these criminals, but they were all smiling. “What?”

Suddenly, Rockhead tore the ropes apart like they were nothing. Vampony didn’t even have time to react as Rockhead punched him. The monster’s fist was bigger than Vampony’s entire body! The punch sent him flying through a brick wall; fortunately, or unfortunately, Vampony was stopped by a big scrap of metal. He fell on the ground and coughed blood.

“I… I was hit by a train before… but that punch was something else!” Vampony groaned and tried to stand up; however, the pain stopped him. He coughed even more blood. “Damn it. He… broke one of my ribs.”

“This is Rockhead. I forgot to warn you, but he’s not very good when it comes to greeting ponies. I hope you’ll forgive his behavior,” The Counselor chuckled.

Vampony gritted his teeth and got back to his legs, trying to ignore the pain. Rockhead started walking towards the wounded hero. However, the monster was stopped when an object, flying like a rocket, hit him. The ground cracked, and the dirt was raised, making a smoke screen. When they could finally see what happened, they saw Princess Midnight slamming into Rockhead’s face with her hoof. She started hitting harder, and each time the ground shook.

Usually she held back. However, this Rockhead was more enduring than her previous enemies. She’d need to use all her strength. She smiled as she thought that the monster was stunned. However, Rockhead caught her left hindleg and started hitting her on the ground like she was a simple doll!

After some time, he threw her in the sky. Midnight shook her head and came back to her senses. She decided to land beside Vampony.

“He’s stronger than I thought. He didn’t budge, but I think my punches hurt him,” Midnight stated.

“What are you doing here?!” Vampony shouted in anger.

“I followed you, but now is not the time to argue. They’re going to shoot at us. Can you dodge?”

Vampony nodded and quickly turned into a group of bats, which allowed him to dodge the bullets easily. As for Midnight, she flew out of the way and started shooting magic beams at the attackers. Not ordinary magic beams though. She shot at the crooks’ guns. When her magic hit them, they turned into bright magic vines, which tied the criminals, a new spell she created specifically for weapons.

Vampony, even if he was injured, was taking out his enemies with his usual flair. Problem was that both Midnight and Vampony had to dodge Rockhead’s punches; that beast was too strong, and Vampony was weaker due to his condition. If he wasn’t careful enough, his broken rib could pierce his lung.

After some time, the small fries were all knocked out. The only one left was Rockhead.

“Rockhead gonna squash big bird lady!” the monster shouted at Midnight.

“Oh, look. He gave me a nickname. I’m flattered,” Midnight said as she flew in Rockhead’s direction. The monster raised his hands, ready to crush the hero. However, Midnight was too fast, and dodged his attack by flying between his legs. Rockhead slammed his hands in the ground, missing the hero.

Vampony took the opportunity to tie Rockhead’s hands to his feet with his shadow magic. He knew the monster would break his ties, but it’d hopefully leave enough time for Princess Midnight to attack.

Midnight flew above Rockhead and slammed her forelegs into his head, hammering it into the ground. She started charging magic into her horn and released it on the monster, creating a small explosion in the process.

Dust covered the area. Midnight felt relief as she didn’t hear Rockhead moving. He must’ve been knocked out. However, she was wrong. Midnight didn’t even know what happened. In less than a second, she was suddenly lying on the ground. Beside her was Vampony, who was shaking her. She looked around but couldn’t see clearly; her vision was blurred. She coughed blood. Vampony was moving his lips but she couldn’t hear anything. What… What happened?

“Stop… hurting Rockhead!” Rockhead shouted while raising his hands. He started punching the ground. It looked like he was starting to go crazy.

“M… Midnight! Get back to your senses!” Vampony shouted. He coughed blood, more than before. He was more wounded than he thought.

“W… What… happened?” Midnight asked as she looked around, still dizzy.

“He punched you in the face. You bounced on the ground until landing at my side. His punches are strong… so, your brain surely received a shock from this,” Vampony explained.

Midnight stood up. Her legs were still shaking. This must be why she didn’t remembering receiving the punch. Rockhead’s strength must be gigantic to do something like that. She was still feeling the effects!

“W… Wait…” she started. Now that she thought about it… Every time she hit Rockhead, she hit him on the head and he seemed a little stunned afterwards. And now he was going crazy. He was a mass of endurance and brute force, but his head was still the most vulnerable part of his body! “Vampony, we need to attack him again. On the head.”

Vampony nodded. Midnight tried to focus her attention on Rockhead now. It’d be hard with her brain still shaken. Rockhead glared at the two heroes and started run at them. He let a loud roar escape his throat as he charged. Midnight started charging her magic; she’d need a more powerful beam. Meanwhile, Vampony was flying in Rockhead’s direction. Rockhead roared and tried to punch him, but Vampony turned into a group of bats and dodged it.

The bats started flying around Rockhead, and mostly… well… his head. The monster tried to punch, only to miss his target and punch his head instead. He roared again as he felt pain.

“STOP HURTING ROCKHEAD!” he shouted in anger. He raised his fists; though, he felt dizzy. But he didn’t care. He was going to destroy the land below him to stop these two heroes.

“NOW, VAMPONY!” Midnight shouted as she released her magic.

Vampony flew away from Rockhead and turned into his pony self as the monster received an enormous amount of magic to his head. There was a big explosion, covering the entire area with light.

“Bird lady… stop…” Rockhead murmured and fell, his face directed to the ground.

Midnight and Vampony were panting and beaten up. But they did it.

“We beat that thing. W… Where is The Counselor?” Midnight asked as she looked around. The lackies were still tied up, but The Counselor wasn’t here anymore.

“Damn it! He must have escaped! That damn pegasus!” Vampony shouted. However, he quickly calmed down when he felt the immense pain at his left side, where his rib was broken. “I’ll have to go to the hospital. Although, I’ll have to make sure that they don’t take off my mask,” Vampony said as he heard police sirens coming closer. “And you? How is your head?”

“I think it’ll be okay. I’m a quick healer, and he didn’t put all his strength in that punch since I stunned him,” Midnight explained, Vampony nodded.

After that, the police came as well as the media. Midnight even saw her father; he was the one who called the police—of course, he didn’t know that Princess Midnight was in reality Twilight Sparkle. They arrested the criminals and Rockhead. Rockhead’s body was surrounded by an armored cylinder and was transported in an armored lorry to make sure he didn’t escape.



***



One hour later, unknown location



The Counselor opened the door. He was still tired from his flight, but he tried not to pant. He was in Crime Master’s office, and the crime overlord wasn’t wearing his mask. However, his face was still hidden in shadows; though, The Counselor already knew what he looked like.

“I… I came back,” The Counselor stuttered. Crime Master sighed.

“I’m disappointed.”

“I… I’m… sorry… I-I I thought I’ll stop them!”

“You misused my Rockhead. My trump card! FOOL! You lost my weapon!” Crime Master shouted. The Counselor winced. Crime Master was always calm, but now…

“We… We can break him out! I… I’ll do everything I can to get him out of prison!”

“Do you think I’m stupid? I saw the news. THEY’RE TAKING HIM INTO TARTARUS! The most impenetrable prison in all of Equestria!” Crime Master shouted. The anger was rising, he could feel it.

“I-I I won’t fail you again!”

“No… No, you won’t,” Crime Master said in agreement, calmer than earlier. Then, two guards entered in the room. The Counselor glanced at them. Suddenly they put their forelegs around his neck, ready to take him out. “I hate failure… You lost my weapon. Now, you must pay.”

“W… WAIT! PLEASE!” The Counselor shouted, totally panicked. He knew what was going to happen to him. Crime Master didn’t listen as his two guards took the fool out of his office.

Crime Master pushed a button on his desk andnd several seconds later, his door opened again. A blue unicorn entered in the room, a stallion with a purple mane.

“You called for me?” he asked as Crime Master nodded in response.

“Yes. Who are you?”

“I’m The Counselor.”

“Good.”
> SK-0(edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Madam Trixie. It is ready,” the secretary said to her employer.

Trixie Lulamoon wasn’t looking at her. She was turned toward the window, admiring the city. She could see so much from atop of her building. She could see what would be hers. This city. She was intelligent. Therefore, she succeeded where her father failed. She built an empire of technology, but it wasn’t enough.

What more could she want? Her company was already at the top. She had money. She had glory.

She needed power. Not the kind of power that allows one to wield incredible magic capable of destroying anything. She thought of the power someone had when they’re respected by all, and when nothing was refused to them. Her father always told her that this was how the world worked. He wanted to be above everyone, to prove how great he was. However, he failed. Trixie would always remember him as a failure, a weak fool, somepony that couldn’t succeed in this world. He died without accomplishing anything.

Trixie would show how much different she was from her father. Even if he was a fool, he taught her well. When someone was at the top of the world, he succeeded.

Even though Trixie wasn’t at this point. She still accomplished many things. Now, villains and heroes were in her way. She would show everyone how great she was. Her plan was still a secret, even among her company.

She turned around, now facing her secretary. A grinned appeared on her face.

“It is?” she asked almost excitedly.

Her secretary nodded. Trixie stood up and followed her employee. They both used the elevator to go down to the first floor. When they arrived, they ignored the working employees and stopped in front of an antimatium door.

Trixie glanced at a black glass plate beside the door. She used her magic on it and a few seconds later, the door opened. Trixie and her secretary entered as the door closed behind them. They passed by several scientists and engineers working on… weapons! These weapons looked quite dangerous, some of them even bigger than an average pony. However, there weren’t only weapons. It looked like there were other machines, but their role was unknown to Trixie. She didn’t play a big role in their construction, the scientists built some of them based on her needs and they called her to see them only when they were finished.

Trixie finally stopped. The scientists, seeing her, stepped back to let her admire their work.

It was a machine; a robot with a humanoid form. It was connected to several wires and wasn’t moving. Trixie looked at it, inspecting every part of its body. Its hands were big, big enough to strangle a pony. The scientists gave it a “muscular” form. Surely to add a better look, because it was made of metal; a robot didn’t need muscles. It had a mouth, as Trixie wanted it to be more realistic. She didn’t want to speak to something that didn’t move its lips. She looked at one of the scientists and nodded, signaling him to turn it on. The scientist turned around and clicked several buttons on his console. Now, it was powered up. The robot moved one of its fingers, then its entire hand. Its black eyes started glowing and turned red. Trixie smiled as she saw it looking around.

“Welcome to this world, SK-0,” Trixie said while grinning. The robot looked at her, then took off the wires connected to it. Now it could move freely.

“What is my mission, mistress?” SK-0 asked in a robotic voice as he bowed to his creator.

“Hmm, this A.I. isn’t bad. It knows how to show respect,” Trixie said to the scientists. They smiled, proud of their work. “You are the first model of my ‘Superpony Killers’. You already know what your mission is.”

SK-0 didn’t say anything, its eyes simply started flashing. After a few seconds, they stopped. SK-0 stood up and started walking toward the opened antimatium door.

“My mission is to kill super heroes and super villains. Starting with the superhero: Princess Midnight,” it said as it jumped out of the building, scaring some employees.

SK-0 was gone. However, Trixie wasn’t worried. This robot had propulsors on his feet and his back, allowing him to fly. He’d find Midnight quickly. The super hero came here twice, and Trixie had taken advantage of those moments to take some strands of her mane, strands that fell while she was fighting. SK-0 had her DNA registered in its database, by using its captors it’ll find her easily.

“Madam. I am sorry to ask this, but why did you want this machine to have this form?” her secretary asked.

“Because this form is better when it comes to fighting. Besides, I’m sure you heard about this legend that mentions these strange creatures called ‘humans’. I heard they are powerful monsters capable of mass destruction. I thought their form would be the most appropriate for my first Superpony Killer.”


***


“Are you sure you’re okay?” Fizzlepop asked as she glanced at Twilight’s head.

“I’m fine. Like I said, I just fell down the stairs,” Twilight answered. Her head was partially covered with bandages because of her fight with Rockhead. Of course, she couldn’t tell Berry that she got that in a fight. Nopony knew that she was a hero. “I won’t be able to work at the library though. Thank you for coming here, Berry.”

“I couldn’t abandon a friend in need. When I saw that the library was closed, my first reaction was to see if everything was alright with you. Now that I know how badly you’re hurt… I’ll stay with you today.”

“You don’t have to… I…”

“Twi, please. I just want you to be safe.”

“Ugh… Fine.”

Fizzlepop smiled happily. They were both in Twilight’s apartment.The two of them have gotten closer quite quickly. They both showed the same interests: literature, movies, science, and magic. Fizzlepop was good at magic before her accident. She loved practicing; even though, she couldn’t continue experimenting because of her broken horn. She still found it fascinating. So being with Twilight, one of the best unicorns she’d ever seen, was pleasant.

As for Twilight, it was one of the best relationships she ever had, though Fizzlepop was only, at most, the second friend she had had in her life. She hadn’t even had this much in common with Moondancer! Twilight didn’t have anyone to talk to about science, as her parents weren’t interested in it in the slightest.


***


SK-0 flew above the city while turning on its scanner. As Trixie said, it had Princess Midnight’s DNA registered in its database. If it put the data on its scanner, finding her would be easy. It stopped flying and looked around. To track her down, it needed to detect her DNA first and only that would be the hard part of the mission. There were millions of people in the city, so tracking her would take approximately…

“10 minutes,” the robot said emotionlessly. It started scanning the area it was in and found nothing important. However, before it could fly away it heard an explosion below.

SK-0 looked at the streets and saw a grey stallion fighting with the police. He was pretty much killing them because he had special powers. It looked like he could control concrete.

“Analyzing the situation…” SK-0 said as its eyes flashed. “Supervillain attack.” It concluded after several seconds.

It knew what had to be done. Its mission was to kill the heroine Princess Midnight. However, Trixie’s main objective was to get rid of ponies that had superpowers. She wasn’t doing this for the greater good, of course, but because she was sure they were a problem for her. Her plans would never succeed because unlike them, she didn’t have special powers that placed her above anyone else. SK-0 didn’t care if its mistress was good or bad because its sole purpose was to obey.

As it descended on the ground, shaking it because of its landing, it surprised everyone in the area. The police stopped shooting at the villain and looked at the machine, not sure what to think of it. However, they hoped it was reinforcements.

The supervillain created a wall of concrete between him and the police, then turned around to look at the strange robot. He noticed it had a form similar to a young dragon’s.

“Who the hell are you?” the villain asked, not sounding afraid.

SK-0 didn’t respond and started scanning the villain in front of it.

“Villain: The Cementer. Real name: Falling Star,” SK-0 said as it finished searching its database. It directed its fists in the villain’s direction. “Surrender and you will not suffer.”

“You must be an idiot if you think I’ll do that!” The Cementer shouted as he put his hooves on the ground.

Suddenly machine guns came out of SK-0’s arms and it started shooting. Cementer smirked as a concrete wall came out of the ground, blocking the bullets.

“Looks like it’s on our side,” a police officer shouted.

As they were all ready to surround The Cementer, the villain jumped on one of their cars and started spinning. Before they could react, large spikes of concrete came out under them, impaling everyone.

Cementer started running out of the area. He could take out the police easily, but he didn’t want to lose his time with a giant tin can. As he was running, he noticed there were still several citizens escaping the scene. However, they were looking at the sky. Cementer stopped in his track and looked too. He widened his eyes and barely jumped out of the way as the robot from before punched the ground, creating a small crater.

“That was a close one,” he breathed.

SK-0 jumped towards the villain’s direction and tried to punch him with all its strength as Cementer created a concrete wall. Although, it didn’t stop the robot from punching through it. Cementer used this as a distraction to try to escape again.

The villain knew that his opponent was going to catch up soon. So, he decided to use the easy way. He jumped on a random car, used his concrete powers to rip the door off, and took out the mare inside.

“No! Don’t hurt me!” she shouted, terrified. Meanwhile, the other ponies got out of their cars. Cementer ignored her and took her by the neck, then used her as a shield as SK-0 came.

“I’m sure you know the usual speech. You let me go and I won’t hurt this lady,” Cementer said as he smirked. SK-0 didn’t respond and stretched its arms towards the villain. “Wait… Are you serious!?” he shouted as machine guns came out of the robot’s arms. Cementer threw the hostage in front of him and jumped behind a car as SK-0 started shooting. “Isn’t he supposed to be the good guy?! You’re insane!” he shouted as his previous hostage was shot down. Even some ponies that were hidden in their cars were shot dead.

Cementer breathed in and out, then jumped on top of a car and created a large spike of concrete that pushed back SK-0. Then, he created two walls to crush the robot while it was unbalanced, but it escaped by flying in the sky.

Cementer focused all his attention on the robot to be sure to dodge or block its next attack.

“Use of stronger weapons needed,” SK-0 said as other weapons came out of its back and pointed at Cementer.

“Uh oh,” the villain muttered as he recognized what they were.

The robot shot several missiles, creating several explosions that covered the big street.


***


“What’s all that noise?” Fizzlepop muttered as Twilight lay on her bed. “Sounds like explosions.”

Twilight widened her eyes in panic and stood up.

“I’m sorry! I… uh… I have to go to the bathroom. You wait here, ok?” Twilight said before running to her bathroom.

Fizzlepop raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s weird behavior but shrugged it off several seconds later, thinking it was due to her being under stress of not being able to attend to her duties as a librarian.

Meanwhile, Twilight locked the bathroom door and transformed in Princess Midnight. She lifted her horn and teleported on the rooftop.

“Okay… Where’s the problem?” she muttered to herself as she looked around. Suddenly she noticed a large cloud of smoke far from her apartment. She narrowed her eyes and flew in that direction.


***


Cementer coughed because of the smoke. He didn’t take too much damage because he reacted in time and shielded himself with his power. However, the smoke created by the blasts entered his lungs and made it hard for him to breathe. He couldn’t fight like that. He stood up and looked around. The cars were wrecked and burning while the ground was in a disastrous state. The buildings were barely hit, but the inhabitants were panicking anyway. They were getting out as fast as they could.

“No wonder. That dude is crazy,” he muttered under his breath. He didn’t want to be heard. Maybe the robot would think he’s dead and leave him alone. “Okay… Time to go.”

As he was about to run off in the crowd of ponies escaping, SK-0 suddenly landed beside him and punched him in the face, sending him flying in a building. SK-0 didn’t hesitate to shoot more missiles, even if there was a possibility that there were still innocents inside.

“NO!” Cementer shouted, not knowing what to do. The punch was strong enough to disorient him, so he couldn’t use concrete to protect himself.

The missiles connected and created more explosions. SK-0 stood in front of the building as it collapsed on itself. The machine approached the pile of rubbles and started scanning it.

“No signs of life detected. Threat eliminated,” it said in a monotone voice.

“I don’t think so.”

SK-0 turned around and looked above the ground. Cementer was unconscious, held under an alicorn’s hoof while four civilians were held in her magic. SK-0 started scanning the alicorn.

“Hero name: Princess Midnight. Real Name: Unknown. No matching DNA with inhabitant of this city,” it concluded.  While it was scanning the entire city, it didn’t find anyone that had a DNA matching Midnight’s. That should have meant she wasn’t here, however, she came out of nowhere.

Midnight narrowed her eyes. She released the civilians. They ran away after thanking her while she chained Cementer with magic. He was still a criminal she wasn’t going to let escape. SK-0 looked at the scene, then stretched its left arm towards Midnight.

“Surrender and you…” SK-0 started only to be interrupted by Midnight that impaled his left arm with her horn, tearing it off the robot’s body. She flew past it with the arm still on her horn.

“Damage received. Missing arm. She is stronger than planned,” SK-0 said as its body sparkled where its arm was missing. Midnight threw the arm on the ground and glared at the emotionless robot.

“You are only a machine. So, there is no reason for me to hold back and not destroy you. You will pay for what you did!” she shouted

SK-0 ignored her. It locked her in its vision and more missile launchers came out of its back. However, it didn’t even have time to shoot because the heroine shot them with magic bolts, causing them to explode on the robot’s back. SK-0 fell on its knees as its back was torn apart. Its eyes flashed, trying to scan all the damage received.

“Cri…tical da…mage,” it stuttered as it stood up. “You must die!” it yelled, prepared to launch another attack.

However, Midnight skewered it with her horn. She put her hooves on the ground, then shot a large magic beam that completely tore apart her opponent. SK-0’s head fell on the ground.

“Must… send data… to Mist…”

Midnight stepped on its head, crushing it to pieces. She didn’t care about what it was going to say. It was the first time she could release her wrath on something. That robot killed with no hesitation. Moreover, it shortened her time with Berry.



***


Fizzlepop looked around the apartment. She was asking herself what Twilight was doing. She’d been in the bathroom for quite some time now.

“I hope she’s okay,” she muttered before going in front of the bathroom. She knocked on the door. “Twilight? Need any help?” she asked but received no responses. She looked worried and started charging magic in her horn, creating sparkles. She knew it might be dangerous but…

“I’m fine!” Twilight’s voice called out, stopping Fizzlepop in her action. “I… ehhh… I didn’t hear you! I’m sorry! Don’t worry about me!”

“Okay. I’ll wait for you,” Fizzlepop responded before going back beside Twilight’s bed. She giggled, feeling silly. “I shouldn’t worry that much. Twilight is pretty much safe here.”