[Time: 11:27am, Location: Fillydelphia]
The day was like any other. The city roared with car horns and ponies talking. Everyone having fun, enjoying the day. There’s no doubt that downtown was the same as any other day. Walking down the side walk among the large crowd of ponies, was a white mare. The way she walked had many stallions stop and stare when she walked by. Her curly purple mane, her luscious curves, her crystal blue eyes, there’s no doubt that she just oozes confidence everywhere she went.
This mare, sporting a light blue blouse with a purple skirt, was Rarity. Rarity was one of Equestria’s biggest fashionistas, but since the economy fell out and the crime rate rose, there hasn’t really been a huge market for anything clothes related in years. But she does still make outfits in her spare time.
“Ugh Goodness Gracious,” she said sitting on a bench near the fountain. “I really forgot how exhausting shopping could be.”
She fanned her face as little beads of sweat fell down her face. She let out a sigh, finally relaxing. Rarity has been out since around 7, but to her she felt like she had been out since sunrise. She closed her eyes, letting the sun’s warmth become a blanket, slowly nodding off.
Then her phone rang. The loud ringtone startled her awake, almost so that she almost fell off the bench. Clutching her heart and trying her best to regain the large amount of oxygen she lost, she reached for her phone with a look of anger slowly growing on her face getting ready to give whoever was calling her a piece of her mind. Looking at the ID it was Pinkie Pie calling.
“Hey Rarity! Whatcha doin’?” Pinkie said cheerfully.
“Well I was enjoying a nice nap until you called.” Rarity replied with some passive aggression to her tone. But knowing Pinkie, she wouldn’t get the slightest hint of anything in anyone’s voice even if she tried.
“Oh that sounds fun! I haven’t had a nap in like FOREVER! Actually I don’t think I’ve slept in the past few days only because I’ve been out going places and also helping some ponies in the region trying to...” Rarity stopped paying attention at this point.
She face palmed her blood slowly starting to boil. Once Pinkie starts rambling, it would take more than the kitchen sink to make her stop.
“PINKIE PIE!” Rarity finally yelled. But as fast as she lost her temper, she quickly regretted it looking around to see some ponies staring at her with confused looks. A blush formed on her face as she sunk down a bit on the bench in embarrassment. “W-What did you call for dear?” She said letting out a sigh to calm herself, a little shake in her voice.
“Oh that’s right! We’re meeting at the cafe in a few minutes, you coming?” Rarity mentally face palmed. With all the shopping and walking around she’d done, she completely forgot about the meet up.
“Oh yes, I nearly forgot about that. I’ll be there in about...five minutes,” Rarity said.
“Okie dokie! I’ll let the others know. See you then!” Pinkie hung up with a cheerful goodbye. Rarity putting her phone away, sighed. Even though it had been a couple weeks since they last saw each other, it would be great to see them again. She smiled and started heading towards the cafe.
[Time: 11:52am, Location: Fillydelphia Train station]
“Now arriving at Fillydelphia!” The conductor yelled over the intercom as the train came to a stop.
As the doors opened, crowds of ponies going on and off, meeting friends, family, or waiting around. But out of the sea of ponies at the train station, one particular pony stood out. From the train ride to now, he’s been getting a lot of stares from ponies. Well maybe because this pony wasn’t a pony...it was a human. He was tall, possibly past 6 feet, dreaded Brown hair with some slight muscle tone to him. He walked towards the gate where there was a pretty long line forming.
“Who’s that?” a pony next to him whispered to her friend some fear shown in her eyes.
“That’s the first and only human in Equestria,” her friend responded, “nobody knows his name, because he hasn’t been in the public for years. In fact a lot of ponies even forgot he existed at one point.”
They both stared at him, a little bit of fear in their gaze. Noticing their stares, the human turned his head to meet their eyes. His tired gaze, the lack of care in his brown eyes, he looked unpredictable. The longer they looked in his eyes, the more and more fear they started to gain.
“Is there a problem?” He finally said, his deep almost raspy voice cutting through the long silence.
The mares snapped out of their stares and shook their heads, as they started to shrink back in their rising fear. Without a word, he scoffed, turned and walked forward. As he walked, the two mares behind him still looked at him with fearful eyes as he approached the front.
“ID?” the gate worker said. He handed the worker his ID without a word. “Hmm, Myles huh?” The worker said no looking up. “You that human ain’t ya?”
“Yeah, why is that important?” Myles asked.
“It’s not,” The worker said handing his ID back, “just that ain’t no one seen you in years.”
“Your point is?” Myles asked losing some patience, he began to walk past the old stallion worker. Then the worker grabbed his arm before he could walk through.
“Just make sure you don’t cause no trouble here, I won’t hesitate to call the guard to take you down,” He whispered harshly in his ear.
Myles snatched his arm away from the old worker, still keeping his tired look and walked away. It wasn’t the first time he’s been greeted like this from other ponies. Myles has lived in Equestria since he was fourteen, and was taken in by Princess Celestia. Once he lived in the castle for a couple years, he joined the royal guard. It was a questionable move, but one that many seemed to tolerate. But other than appearing at events, Myles never really went in public that much. He did face the disapproving stares, and occasional gossip from the nobles; but he didn’t seem to mind. Living with the Princesses will do that.
Other than Canterlot he lived in two cities his whole life; Appleloosa, and Seaddle. He doesn’t like to talk about his experiences, since they were all the same. The human moves in, everypony is scared of him, some try to pick a fight. He eventually moves out without a word. Some sympathized for Myles, and would try to help him, but he would never accept it. After leaving Canterlot, he didn’t care about what other ponies thought of him, but they did always wonder why he would leave as suddenly as he appeared.
Myles stood in front of the station looking at his phone with his earbuds in. He looked around, not wondering where to go.
“Well this is just great, they didn't even tell me where the building is,” he thought to himself. Just as he finished his thought, his stomach growled. “Sheesh when was the last time I ate? Wonder if there’s any food places around here?” He thought walking away, “Well I won't find out by standing around here.”
[Time: 12:20pm, Location: Fillydelphia- Starswirl Cafe]
“THERE SHE IS!” Pinkie yelled from the table pointing at Rarity, who had just walked through the door. Rarity waved and headed to the table. There sat her friends Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and of course Pinkie Pie; all smiling and waving.
“Hey girls, you cannot believe the day I’ve had,” Rarity said sitting down.
“Please can’t be any worse than you other days,” Applejack said with a smirk. She was wearing a flannel shirt with jeans, and her signature hat. “Unless y’all encountered a bank robbery on the way here, with all that sweat,” Her comment making the girls laugh. Rarity scowled at AJ, making her take a sip of her drink nervously.
“Well I assure you Applejack, that it is VERY hot out today. I couldn’t find shade for even a second,” Rarity said fanning herself.
“I wonder why it’s been so hot lately? Maybe theres some unexpected weather patterns popping up,” Twilight wondered, sporting a light lavender long sleeve shirt.
“Ooooh no, there’s nothing wrong with the weather,” Rainbow spoke up, with her feet on the table. “If there was anything surprising with the weather, I would know about it,” she said confidently sipping the water in front of her, “Nothing gets past me.”
“Just like how you let Cloud Chaser get past you in that race?” Applejack’s comment made Rainbow spit out her drink, causing the table to erupt in laughter. Dash almost falling out her chair, punched Applejack in the shoulder.
“It was one race AJ!” Dash said with a small blush on her face, “She cheated anyway, I should’ve won.”
“Whatever you say Dash, you could’ve won that race against me if ya crotch wasn’t iching,” another eruption of laughter from the table, caused Rainbow to almost sink completely under the table in embarrassment.
“YOU KNOW AS WELL AS ME THAT YOU PUT ITCHING POWDER IN MY SHORTS!!!” she shouted as the laughter started to die down.
“Anyway, what you all have planned to tomorrow?” Applejack said wiping a tear from her face.
“W-Well I’m probably just going to stay inside tomorrow,” Fluttershy said, taking a small bite from her pastry.
“Eh just more training,” Dash sighed stretching her arms, "gotta stay in shape for the next race soon."
“I’m going to a party!” Pinkie Pie enthusiastically said almost knocking over her chair.
“What about you Rarity?” Twilight turned to her.
“Well-” Before Rarity could finish, an explosion rocked the building. Almost instantly, ponies start fleeing the area. “What the hell was that?” Dash yells looking out the window. Looking at each other, the girls zip from the table and head outside. Once they were outside, what they saw in the distance made their hearts sink. A giant cloud of smoke from a giant raging fire of a building, and a sea of ponies rushing the opposite direction. Among the smoke and fire, a figure emerged from it. An earth pony stallion with torn and burnt cloth and a mask, in his hand...two long and jagged knifes.
“Why run ponies?” The stallion said with the most wicked laugh, “The fun’s just getting started!”
“Who the hell is that?” Applejack screamed through the continuous roar of screams from other ponies.
“Hollow Shade,” Twilight said, “He’s one of the biggest low life criminals in Equestria.” Twilight’s description gave a massive chill over them.
“Look!” Rainbow yelled, snapping the girls out of their frozen trance. They all moved their heads to where she was pointing. “There are injured ponies in there!” The sight they saw would make any individual pony sick to their stomachs. Ponies stuck under walls, one pony impaled, it looked like something out of a horror movie. Horrified the girls didn’t know what to do. They were just frozen.
“Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie!” Rarity yelled, getting their attention from the horrifying sight. “Help get the injured ponies somewhere safe! Me, Rainbow, and Applejack will try to subdue Hollow Shade.”
They glanced at each other wordlessly. Rarity still focused on Hollow, could feel their uncertainty.
“If we don’t move now, more innocent ponies will possibly be killed. We have to move now!” She said. Taking another glance at each other, the girls nodded and sprung into action.
“I guess Fillydelphia does have the best donuts,” Myles said walking out of a bakery, “I need to find a place to stay before it gets too dark,” he thought, “The food here may be good, but I need to focus on why I’m here. But this is definitely a place to visit when I get the chance.”
He walked down the sidewalk eating the delicious donut he bought, but it wasn’t met with a few stares. He didn’t care about the ponies staring at him, hell it was a surprise to everyone if they seen him back out in public.
“Hey!” A male voice called out. “Hey you!” Thinking it was someone trying to get their friends attention, Myles kept walking. Then someone grabbed his shoulder. “Hey human!” Myles was startled by this.
“What do you want?” he said shaking the pony's hand off his shoulder.
“Wow, it really is you! The first human in Equestria in person!” This took Myles off guard, he was never met with a genuine smile from anypony since he lived in he lived in Appleloosa. Though he never liked how the ponies in that town smiled seemingly 24/7.
“Yeah, that’s me,” Myles said with a tone of annoyance, "if that's all you wanted to say, move. I'm not giving autographs." His statement catching the pony off guard, but not deterring his persistence to bombard the human with questions. They were walking for only a minute, Myles ignoring the ponies questions. He stopped paying attention to him after his first three questions, and started to zone out; aimlessly weaving throughout the crowded sidewalk with nowhere to go. Myles stopped and sighed, knowing he wasn't going to shake the enthusiastic pony by just ignoring him.
“Hey weren’t you apart of Celestia’s guard?” The pony asked, the question cutting through Myles’ thoughts causing his stomach to drop. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Myles said his back still turned to the stallion.
“Come on you were the Princess’s personal guard and then out of nowhere you just disappear, what happened?” Myles felt his frustration rise at the question, but he tried his best to not explode at the pony.
“I don’t want to talk about it, maybe another time” he said calmly starting to walk away. Just as he was walking away, the stallion grabbed his arm to get Myles to stop. “Sir there had to be a reason to wh-” In almost a flash, Myles shook his arm away and pinned the pony against the wall. Anger shined in his eyes.
“I SAID I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!” He shouted, causing the stallion to shrink in fear. But as this was going on, he didn’t notice that everyone around him was running away. Once his anger calmed a bit, he finally noticed the situation. Letting go of the terrified stallion, he started heading towards what they were running from. Confusion and curiosity running through his mind.
He could tell he was getting close as he began to see smoke fill the sky. And not only that he began hearing sounds of gun fire. With everypony running away, he couldn’t get a good view of what was going on.
Myles jumps on a table near a now abandoned café, to assess the current situation. And in the distance there indeed was a fight going on.
“NOW RD!” Applejack called. Rainbow Dash tried to shock Hollow with lightning, but he was quick enough to dodge the attack. “Shit! How is he that fast?” Rainbow said to herself.
In an instant, Hollow knocked AJ to the floor. Before she could comprehend what happened, she felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder. Applejack grimes in agony, holding her shoulder.
“Applejack!” Rarity screamed. And as she did that, Hollow zipped behind her, and sliced her back. Rarity screamed in pain falling face first.
"Rare...I can't move!" Applejack yelled, seemingly frozen on the ground in the same position. Hearing this, Rarity had a look of surprise and confusion. And to her horror she found that she as well could not move.
"Neither can I!" She yelled back, also struggling to stand to her feet. Hearing all of this from a far, a look of nervousness starts to form on Myles' face, as he starts to feel every muscle in his body start to tense up seemingly locking him into place.
“What the fuck?” Myles thought to himself in shock, “If he keeps this up then more ponies are definitely going to die.” He looks around to see the two mares still on the ground, and Rainbow zipping around in the air, still trying to shoot at him. “Soon she’s gonna run out of bullets, and then he'll have a perfect window to strike,” He wanted to move, but his conscious prevented him to do so. “I can't just leave then to deal with this...but what can I do? I don’t have magic, wings, or a fucking gun,” He thought. Myles knew that he couldn’t do anything, with his mind was telling him to run away to safety with everypony else. But even with his brain screaming at him to run, he jumps off the table and sprints towards the fight.
Stopping in front of the mayhem, Myles starts to go over his possible options. “I can’t stand here or I’ll either become his next victim...or hit in the crossfire. She’s firing at a wild rate, I could get hit by a stray,” While mulling over his options, Myles spots the debris from the explosion and manages make his way there without being seen, “I could use a steel rod to try to hold him off until she gets a clear shot, or I could use this chair to try to knock him out.” Debating on what situations could be possible for stopping him, a light bulb went off in his head.
“Hahaha wow for a pegasus you are a very shit shot,” Hollow says still effortlessly dodging the shots.
“NGH SHUT UP!” Rainbow shouts still firing off rounds and missing every shot. Then the bullets stop raining. “Huh?” Rainbow confused continued to try to fire off a shot, no luck.
“Aww looks like you’re out of ammo there sweetie,” Hollow said, “Look that was fun and all, but you’re making me bored with all this running around, so let’s hurry this up and-OW!” Hollow grabbed his head and looked around. There on the ground in front of him was a rock. “Who the hell threw a rock at me?!”
“Over here bitch!” Myles yelled seemingly answering the psycho’s question. Rainbow and Hollow looked over confused.
“Who the hell are you?” Hollow yelled.
“Don’t worry about it!” Myles replied, juggling a second rock in his hand.
“Look dude, I don’t know what you’re doing but I’m in the middle of a-OW!” Hollow was cut off when Myles hit him again with another rock. “You’re starting to get on my nerves kid.” Hollow said gritting his teeth, his blood starting to boil.
“Don’t care!” Myles said. He glanced up at Rainbow Dash, who was still confused on the event unfolding in front of her.
“Kid you are interrupting a fun game I was playing, and now its ruined becau-OW! STOP THROWING ROCKS!!” Hollow shouted.
“Do something about it!” Myles taunted. Hollows eye turned red, he leaped in front of Myles in a blink of an eye. It looked like he didn’t even take a step, and he was already in Myles’ face. Then in one lightning quick motion, Hollow raised swiped his knife at Myles, and missed.
“What the-”, Hollow looked confused and shocked, looking around to see where Myles could've went.
“Yo! Over here a slowpoke!” Myles called out behind him. Did he just dodge the attack? There was no way, we saw how quick Hollow moves against gunfire and melee combat.
“UGH THAT’S IT KID!” He screamed slashing his knife at Myles once again...another miss, “HOW THE HELL?”
“Damn for a killer who could move that fast, you’re pretty damn slow!” Myles yelled at him again. He was...at his left? How was he doing this?
“NGH I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!” Hollow screamed and lunged to attack. Hollow and Myles looked like they were moving at light speed. Hollow attacking every millisecond, and Myles still somehow dodging them.
“How is doing that?” Applejack asked still on the ground holding her shoulder, "It's like he's just as fast as Hollow himself." Rainbow was stunned at this. She stood there staring at the unbelievable sight.
“He’s not that fast,” Rainbow said.
“What?” Applejack asked.
“It’s not that he’s as fast as him, he’s timing his attacks perfectly. Hollow has to be attacking every millisecond, with every time he swings, he’s moving his body to avoid the attack. So to us he’s moving at light speed, but in reality he’s moving at normal speed,” Rainbow Dash explained. Rarity and Applejack looked mesmerized. Somepony with these reflexes should be a unicorn or a pegasus, but seeing a creature like him making someone as fast and quick as Rainbow Dash seem slow, is unbelievable.
“HOW. ARE. YOU. STILL. ALIVE!” Hollow yelled with every swing, still trying to land a hit on Myles.
“Your attacks are reckless, it makes it easy to predict,” Myles said not losing his focus on the attacking villan.
“UGH THAT’S IT!!” Hollow screamed. He jumped once again for an attack, and again Myles avoided his attack, Hollow tossed one of his knives back, slicing Myles’ cheek. Myles falls to his knees holding his face. The girls gasp in shock. Myles tries to get back up, but finds that he can’t move.
“What the hell? Why can’t I move,” Myles thought as he falls to his face. He continuously tries to move to no avail , as Hollow picks up his discarded weapon and walks towards him.
“Well...you definitely were faster than I expected, I’m...impressed...really,” Hollow said through pants. “But now that I got you right here.” Hollow walks up to Myles licking the blood off his knife. “I think it’s time we stop this little game.” Hollow kicks Myles on his back, his action getting a groan of agony from the fallen human. As Myles looks up at , his eyes still red with anger. “It’s a shame too, you had to die on such a beautiful day.” He says while lifting his knife for one final attack, “Say goodbye kid.” He swings the knife down, getting ready to plunge the sharp and jagged weapon into Myles' chest. But just before the tip manages to graze him, Myles with a painful breath shouts one word.
"NOW!!”
A giant flash of lightning blinds the area, obscuring the view from everyone. As the light dies down, Myles opens his eyes to see Hollow's smoking body starting to falling on top of him. Myles groans in pain as the burnt body falls on his chest. Slowly he starts to regain control of his muscles, and starts to lift Hollow off of his chest. Rarity and Applejack rush over to Myles to help him up. Myles stands to his feet, dusting himself off from the ground. His arms and legs are screaming in pain, but he manages to set aside the pain for the moment to stay on his feet.
“My goodness sir, are you okay?” Rarity asked in shock.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Myles said wiping his arm.
"How did you know Rainbow would be there?" Rarity asked, helping him dust himself off.
"I didn't," he started, "I just gave her a look and hoped she understood." The look they shared from earlier. When he glanced at Rainbow while he was talking to Hollow, it was a way of him saying 'be ready for the signal'. And while Myles had Hollow distracted, Rainbow managed to grab the cloud she used earlier to shock him And made sure to stand by, out of sight, for Myles' word.
“Well, thems was some reflexes you have mister,” Applejack said sweeping a piece of glass off his shoulder.
“It was nothing really,” Myles said.
“Nothing? Are you kidding me, that was SO COOL!” Rainbow said quickly flying up to him, “The way you kept dodging those attacks, it was so badass! Where’d you learn those moves?”
“Hol’ on there RD,” Applejack said pulling Rainbow away from him by her tail, “Give em some space.”
“But I just have to know," Rarity started taking a step towards Myles, "Why did you put yourself in danger like that?” she asked. Myles stood there in thought, trying to rack his brain for an answer.
“Well, I didn’t really think...I just went for it,” he shrugged, “I saw your pegasus friend there being reckless. So I looked at my surroundings and just thought of a plan on the spot,” Myles explained wiping his brow slightly.
"HEY!" Rainbow shouted, puffing out her cheeks in embarrassment. Her outburst getting a little giggle out of Rarity and Applejack.
“Well you got a good brain on ya partner. That was impressive what ya did there,” Applejack said putting her hand on his shoulder, “Thanks for helping us out back there.”
Myles scoffed and rolled his eyes at the compliment , “Like I said, I was nothing.” Myles looked back to the group to see Rarity starring at him. She looked like she was examining him, the stare was starting to make him uncomfortable.
“Oh Darling look at your cheek!” Rarity exclaimed. On his right cheek was a gash right under his eye from here Hollow had hit him. It was bleeding quite a bit, covering his entire right cheek in blood.
“It’ll be fi-”
“No, we can’t have that!” Rarity cutting him off, “You will come with us at once to get this sorted out.”
“I’m fine, I don't need your help!” Myles shouted, turning to try to walk away. But the moment he tried to take his first step, he immediately doubled over in pain, his legs shaking as they scream pain. Applejack and Rarity rush over before he tried to take another step.
“Woah there partner! You’re in no shape to go anywhere right now,” Applejack said taking his right arm over her shoulder.
“Applejack is right, you’re not going anywhere until we help you heal,” Rarity added taking his left arm over her shoulder
"I said I'm-"
"No butts darling." She said cutting him off once again, “Is there any chance you have a place to stay tonight?”
“No,” Myles said gritting his teeth, trying his hardest to stay on his feet.
“Then it’s settled!” Rarity said a twinkle in her eye, “You’ll be staying with us while you heal.”
“What?! I didn't agree to-,”
“Nonsense! It’s the least we can do after helping us out today,” Rarity said cutting him off yet again.
Myles scowled in annoyance, knowing she wasn't going to stop being persistent in her offer. With a huff in defeat he had no choice but to take her offer, “fine.”
Rarity smiled as they slowly started walking, “Rainbow Dash, could you call the others and tell them to meet us at the ship?” She asked.
“Sure thing Rare,” Rainbow said as she flies above them.
“Did she just say a ship?” Myles thought to himself. Every step he took was agony, but it was a good thing Rarity and Applejack were there for support. As much as he hated having people help him, this was something that Myles hadn’t experienced since his time in Appleloosa. Ponies who were actually willing to help him out without any fear. He didn’t pay attention to the three mares talking around him, he was too overwhelmed with pain and exhaustion. But the one thing he could feel, was a sliver of gratefulness, and a small unnoticeable smile creeped onto his face. Letting out a small chuckle he knew that it didn't matter what he said, they were going to be so annoyingly persistent in helping him. And even though it was something he hated, he had no choice but to come to terms with it.
[TIME: 4:45pm, LOCATION: Unknown]
“Heart rate is stable, blood pressure seems to be normal,” Fluttershy said to herself, looking at the heart monitor next to Myles’ bed. She’d been keeping a watch on him for a couple of hours now. “Oh! It looks like I need to replace the bandage on his cheek. Now where did I put them?” She asked herself, opening the drawers across the room. Meanwhile, Myles was just waking up. He groaned in pain as he opened his eyes to a blinding light.
“Ugh it feels like an elephant is sitting on me,” Myles thought as he slowly started to sit up. He looked down to see wires and bandages around his chest connected to the heart monitor. Confused he took one of the wires on his chest and stared at it, thinking how he ended up like this. Then memories from earlier that day started to replay in his mind. Every event up until the blinding light from Rainbow's lightning attack playing seemingly frame by frame, until he was knocked out of his trance like state by a soft and surprised voice.
“Oh! Y-You’re awake! I-I didn’t mean to wake you,” Fluttershy said rushing over to Myles, “Try not to move you’re still hurt.” Myles looked up at the yellow pony. The look in his eyes, the same tired and empty look that the mares at the train station saw, made Fluttershy shrink in fear. “O-Or d-don’t. Y-You don’t have i-if you don’t want to.” she stuttered unknowingly backing away.
Myles flopped back on the bed with a sigh not having the mental or physical energy to move. Fluttershy calming down a little bit started to walk back to the heart monitor. “Where am I?” Myles asked with a raspy voice, rubbing his eyes.
“You’re in the infirmary, you blacked out a little while after you stepped on the ship.” Fluttershy said not looking away from the monitor.
“Wait...a ship?” Myles questioned sitting up.
“Y-Yes,” Fluttershy said, “Didn’t Rarity tell you?”
“Who?” He asked a slight confused look on his face.
“Oh dear, did you get a concussion too? I-I didn’t think you had one when you got on!” Fluttershy panicked.
“N-No! My head is fine. I just don’t know who you’re talking about,” Myles said trying to calm down the flustered mare, “Is she the white unicorn with the purple mane?”
“O-Oh, yes she is,” she sighed in relief, “She’s the ‘captain’ over all of us.” Myles nodded. A small awkward silence filled the room for a while, Fluttershy looking down at the ground.
“I...never got your name.” Myles said breaking the silence. The room fell silent for just a few seconds. The continuous lack of any words were starting to make Myles irritated, until he hears the same soft voice start to speak again.
“I-It’s Fluttershy”, she said quietly, hiding behind her hair.
“What was that?” he responded.
“It’s Fluttershy...” She said even quieter. Myles rolled his eyes and sat up on the edge of the bed.
“Look, I know I’m a stranger to you and all, but I promise you that I’m not gonna hurt you.” Fluttershy still looked unsure and continued to avoid eye contact with him. When she glanced back at him, she saw he was smiling. Though it was a small forced smile, maybe even a smirk; it gave her at least a little bit of promise. She took a deep breathe.
“My name is Fluttershy!” she yelled a quiet yell. Myles chuckled at the adorable sight. “Ok Fluttershy, I’m Myles. It’s nice to finally meet your acquaintance.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen anypony like you before, a-are you from Equestria? I-If you don’t mind me asking.” She asked, moving a little closer to him.
“Well, not really per say. I mean I lived in Equestria for most of my life, but I’m not really from this world.” He said removing the wires from his chest causing the heart monitor to flatline.
“That’s really fascinating! Where did you live before you came here to Fillydelphia?” She asked sitting beside him.
“Seaddle, but I don’t really talk about that.” Myles said slowly standing up.
“W-Wait! You’re still hurt, you shouldn’t be walking around!” Fluttershy said rushing to him.
“I’ve been hurt worse than this, I’ll be fine,” Myles said walking slowly towards the door. “My legs are still a little sore, but I can manage.” He thought to himself.
“A-Are you sure?” she asked.
“Don’t worry so much,” Myles said with his hand on the doorknob. “This girl really needs to relax.” He thought. Before he opened the door, he looked down realizing he’s still shirtless. Mentally facepalming himself, he turned to Fluttershy. “Hey do you know where my shirt is?” Fluttershy looked at him confused for a second, but then looked down with a look of shock slowly forming on her face.
“O-Oh g-goodness! I-I completely f-forgot that you were...oh my...” She stuttered, her face completely red. She tried to talk, but ended up getting flustered.
“If she keeps this up shes gonna have mental break down” Myles thought facepalming, “Look it’s okay I-”
“I’m so s-sorry! I wasn’t thinking any naughty thoughts or anything I-”
“FLUTTERSHY!” Myles yelled. Fluttershy fell silent. Myles shook his head and sighed. He walked over to Fluttershy and put his hand on her shoulder.
“It’s fine. Just don’t have a mental breakdown, it’s not that big a deal.” He said his tired eyes looking into hers. Fluttershy’s eyes widened slightly. She felt like he was looking right into her soul. She was frozen, she wanted to look away, but she couldn’t.
“O-Okay” she said the blush on her face slowly fading. Myles gave a half smile, and headed to the door. “W-Wait!” she said getting his attention, “You can use my sweater.”
Myles chuckled. “It’s fine Fluttershy I don’t mind-” he turned to see Fluttershy halfway through taking off her sweater. Myles panicked slightly, not knowing what to say. She was actually going to give him her sweater which would leave her just in her bra. “STOP!” he yelled, startling her. “Y-You don’t have to that really.” She released the hold on her sweater causing it to fall back into place.
“I don’t mind being shirtless, I’ll just buy another one later on. Take care, Shy,” He said walking out of the room. Once the door closed Fluttershy snapped back to reality.
“Oh Luna that was too close, I almost lost it when he walked towards me!” she said covering her face in embarrassment. “Why did he have to be shirtless and muscley!”
Myles stood outside the infirmary door, shaking his head. “That girl needs some chill time, badly” he thought letting out a sigh. As he turned to walk away, Rarity stood right behind him causing him to jump in surprise.
“Terribly sorry dear, didn’t mean to scare you,” Rarity said with a small giggle.
“It’s fine uhh, Rarity right?”
“Oh! That’s right! With all that has happened I haven’t formally introduced myself,” She said with a chuckle, “As a matter of fact, that’s why I came looking for you,” Rarity said tugging on Myles’ arm slightly. Myles looked at her confused not moving.
“Why were you looking for me exactly?” He asked.
“To meet the rest of my friends,” She said practically pulling on him. He rolled his eyes and followed Rarity.
“I see you’ve met Fluttershy,” she said walking in front of him.
“Well it took awhile for her to tell me her name,” Myles said scratching his head.
“Well she does get very shy around new ponies she meets. Which is why we don’t bring her on missions as much, but don’t let it fool you; she can be very assertive when it matters.” Rarity said, stopping in front of a door.
“Well I guess she does live up to her name a little bit.” Myles thought coming to a stop.
“Alright, so this is the kitchen where Pinkie Pie likes to be,” Rarity said pointing to the door, “She was a baker before everything happened, so she spends a lot of the day in here.” Rarity grasped the door handle. “Now I have to warn you she likes to keep it...rather toasty in here.” she warned before opening the door.
“Well that shouldn’t be much of a prob-” he was cut off when something knocked him to the floor. For a second he almost blacked out again, but quickly regained consciousness. “Welp if I didn’t have a concussion, I definitely have one now,” he thought with blurred vision. He tried to move, but something slightly heavy was hindering his movement. Myles opened his eyes to see a pair of large pink breast in an apron squished against his chest. Instantly, Myles starts to freak out.
“OOOH IS THIS THE NEW GUY RARITY?” Pinkie screamed, “HE LOOKS SO CUTE AND UNCONSCIOUS!”
“For Luna’s sake Pinkie, how many times have I told you not to do that when greeting someone,” Rarity said shaking her head.
“Awe but why Rarity, I just wanted to say hi.” Pinkie said with a whined tone. “Anyway, Hi I’m Pinkie Pie! De-Facto head chef of the Rogue Diamond, and residential super awesome party pony!” She said all in one breathe.
“Does she ever breathe?” Myles thought. “Well, nice to meet you Pinkie Pie, my names Myles. I’d shake you hand, but...you know.” he said in a slight daze. Pinkie laughed, getting closer to Myles’ face.
“Silly, here in Pinkie’s Place we don’t shake hands, we do open tongue kisses.” Myles eyes widened. Just before Pinkie went in for a kiss, Rarity pulled her off with her magic. Pinkie slightly squirmed trying to get back to the human, but to no avail.
“Awe come on Rarity” she whined.
“No, we’re not going to have a repeat of what happened with Spike,” Rarity said still holding Pinkie in the air.
“Spike...that name sounds familiar.” Myles thought.
“But spike was so tastyyyy” Pinkie pleaded.
“No buts,” Rarity said putting Pinkie on the ground, “plus I still have to introduce him to everypony else.” She helped Myles to his feet, Myles shaking his head.
“Well headaches gone, visions cleared...and making a note to stay away from this door at all cost.” He thought dusting himself off.
“Awe fine,” Pinkie pouted crossing her arms, “Catcha later Myles!” she said almost bouncing back into the kitchen. But before she closed the door, Myles noticed something strange about Pinkie.
“Is she...IS SHE NOT WEARING CLOTHES?!” He thought to himself a slight blush forming on his face. Rarity seemed to notice this and giggled closing the door. She motioned for him to follow her, snapping him back to reality.
“Was Pinkie not wearing clothes under that apron?” He asked catching up to Rarity.
“No, she doesn’t like to wear clothes under her apron. Even though I keep telling her to put on some sort of clothing, she’ll refuse and make her case on how her apron ‘is technically a piece of clothing’,” she sighs, “It’s a long argument I don’t ever want to be apart of again.” Myles chuckles, thinking about how that argument could’ve went. However he couldn’t shake what Pinkie said earlier.
“Pinkie said this was ‘The Rogue Diamond’,” He said, “Is that what this ship is called?” Rarity slowed down slightly allowing Myles to catch up to her side.
“Well...yes and no,” she started, “the Rogue Diamond is the name of our crew.” Myles raised his eyebrow slightly.
“So the other two who helped me earlier are also apart of it?” He asked.
“Why yes, they’re not only crew members, but they’re my best friends. I’ve known them for years, and then when the planet first flooded, we formed this crew to do some dangerous jobs.” She explained.
“How dangerous?” Myles asked raising an eyebrow.
“Well let’s just say there’s been more than one times where we’ve almost lost our lives,” Rarity said gritting her teeth a little bit, “More or less because of Rainbow Dash.”
“That’s the cyan pegasus correct?” Myles asked, Rarity nodded.
“She can be a bit of a hot head, but she’s a good pony once you get to know her,” Rarity said in a slightly nervous tone.
“I’ve met a lot of hot headed ponies in my life. Plus, I can be a little hot headed sometimes, so I doubt she’ll get to me,” Myles laughed. Rarity looked at him with a smug grin, a look that said ‘are you sure about that?’
“Pinkie also asked if I was the new guy...” Myles said clearing his throat, “does that also mean-”
“Why yes!” Rarity said, “You will be joining the Rogue Diamond crew, effective immediately. "
Now Myles was very confused. “But why? I don’t have any magic or wings...in fact I’m not even a pony to begin with.” He said. Rarity wasn’t fazed from his explanation, she kept walking with a slight smile on her face.
“Well even though that is true, and you basically rushed in with in with no plan. You showed that you have not only brains, but also confidence. Plus, one doesn't see race as an issue darling,” She said, “And let’s both be honest here...you weren’t sure about the plan you executed were you?” Myles stopped in his tracks. How did she know?
“She’s right. Even though it’s been years since I used any of my guard training, I wasn’t sure in the plan actually working.” He thought looking at the ground, his hands balled into fist. He was snapped out of his thought to a hand cupping his face. He looked up to see rarity with a smile on her face.
“Don’t worry dear, even if you were unsure about it, you were focused on helping us. And that’s all that matters,” She said. She did have a point. He was hesitant on putting the plan to action, but in the end, he just didn’t want to see anymore ponies get hurt.
“Come along now darling, there’s somepony who wants to meet with you.” Rarity said walking away. Myles followed confused.
“Who?” he asked scratching his head.
“Our communications officer!” she said coming to a stop next to another door. She opened the door to a set of stairs leading below the deck. They headed down the stairs, a low sound of talking slowly becoming clearer.
“I’m just sayin’ Dash, maybe next time don’t start a fight at the club over a stallion.” Applejack said to Rainbow, who was chugging a mug of cider.
“Hey, it’s not my fault that slutty ass mare was trying to get at Soarin!” Rainbow said tossing the crushed mug across the room.
“Maybe next time you should aim for the trash Rainbow.” Twilight said sitting on the couch in front of Rainbow.
“And maybe next time you should join me and AJ next time we go back to the club Twi.” Twilight blushed and fumbled with the laptop in her hand, catching it before it hit the floor.
“A-And like I said I’m perfectly fine right where I am.” Rainbow shrugged giving up on the subject entirely.
“We’re here ladies!” Rarity said walking down the final steps. The three mares turned to see Rarity, but no myles.
“Uhh, where’s the newbie?” Rainbow asked. Rarity looked confused, she turned back to see he wasn’t behind her.
“Well that’s odd, he was behind me when I-” she quickly cut off her statement when she looked up to Myles slowly walking down the steps. She giggled and walked back up to help him.
“Sorry, my legs are still sore.” He said holding on to Rarity’s arm. He walked down the steps and saw the other three mares smiling at him.
“Well look who finally woke up from his beauty rest,” Dash said flying up to him, “Did ya sleep well, sleeping beauty?”
Myles rolled his eyes, “Felt like I jumped into the fountain of youth. You should try it sometime, grumpy.”
Dash’s smirk quickly went away at his sarcastic tone, “Don’t think we’re friends newbie, I’m not gonna take anything easy on you.” She said crossing her arms.
“Don’t expect you to.” he responded vaguely.
“Dash, quit hounding the new guy.” Applejack said pulling Rainbow away by her tail. Myles shook his head. Twilight got up and made her way to Myles with a warm welcoming smile.
“You must be Myles! I’m Twilight Sparkle, I run the communications here.” she said holding her hand out. Myles face almost scrunched up from an apparent awful smell hitting his nostrils.
“N-Nice to meet you, Twilight.” He said faking a smile and shaking her hand.
“Now if you could please take a seat over there.” Twilight said walking back to the couch. The second she turned her back Myles let go of the breathe he didn’t know he was holding.
“Has she ever showered?” Myles whispered to Rarity as she was walking past him.
“Rarely, trust me you should see her room,” she whispered back with a slight giggle. Rarity patted his back and made her way to the couch next to Twilight. Myles headed to the recliner chair, in from of the couch. The second he sat down, he felt like he could fall asleep in it for hours.
“Now tell us a little about yourself Myles,” Twilight said, snapping Myles back to reality. Myles slouched in the seat and cleared his throat.
“Hm...I really don't know where to start.” he started.
“Well, start by telling us when you first showed up in Equestria.” Twilight said. Myles looked around the room once more, a look of uncertainty still in his eyes. Adjusting in his seat, he cleared his throat a second time.
“Well, I came to Equestria when I was 14, by god knows what force. Grew up generally in Canterlot under Celestia-,” Twilight seemed to flinch at the name. Her face switched from focused to slight anger, almost at a snap of a finger. Rarity, quickly noticing her friends mood change, put a hand on Twilight’s lap to calm her down. Feeling her friend's calming touch she took a deep breath, and zoned back in to what Myles was saying. “Then when I turned 16, I served on the royal guard-”
“Woah, woah, woah!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “You were apart of Princess Celestia’s royal guard?!” The others were also surprised at his statement as well.
“Yeah, when I turned 17 she promoted me to her honor guard,” He said sitting back.
“NO WAY! SO THAT’S WHERE YOU LEARNED THOSE BADASS DODGING MOVES?!” Myles was taken aback by Rainbows sudden excitement.
“Heal Dash, Heal!” Applejack said pulling her away from Myles again. Myles regaining some of his composure continued.
“I did learn a lot of my current hand to hand combat skills from honor guard training,” Myles explained moving a dread from his face.
“Now I remember,” Rarity said, “every time we saw the princess on TV you were always right by her side.”
“Fluttershy did say that he looked familiar when we got back,” Applejack said. Myles meanwhile was blocking out what everyone was saying, as he looked down at the ground with a blank expression. Slowly the sounds around him start to fade away, as a low ringing starts to invade his ears. Flashbacks of his time as a guard start to flood back one by one.
His first day of training. The announcement of his promotion. Every excruciating memory returning to him like a massive tidal wave.
“Yeah...that was me." He started, his voice low with an unnoticeable shake, "But I only served for two years until I was 19,” that statement gained the others attention as the room fell silent again, “I...decided to leave Canterlot and...go out on my own.”
“Why did you leave? If you don’t mind me asking, you said you were living under Celestia. Why choose to leave all of that behind?” Rarity asked. After hearing the question, Myles had fell silent.
“I don’t...I don’t like to talk about it.” He said looking away, feeling tears begin to form in the corners of his eyes.
The girls looked at each other, Rainbow shrugged. The room fell silent once more, so silent you could hear the sound of the hum of the lights above them.
“W-Well, I want to talk to you about the fight with Hollow. We’ve been trying to find data on him for the past couple years and hopefully you can give us a little bit more insight on him.” Twilight said breaking the aching silence. “Rarity and Applejack told me that once they were stabbed they couldn’t move.”
Myles sat up, thinking. “Actually come to think of it,” Twilight looked up at the statement, “Even though I was sliced in the face, I couldn’t move a muscle.” Twilight with a focused look, pacing the floor trying to come up with an explanation. "I do have a feeling it's because of a spell he uses, but again it's just speculation at this point. I don't really know much about him either."
“But I’m still confused on something,” Applejack spoke up, “This is the 2nd time that a low life criminal has shown up.”
“Applejack’s right. The increased attacks from hiding criminals has grown immensely the past few weeks.” Twilight said. Rarity crossed her legs, looking up at the ceiling.
For the past 8 years, crime in Equestria has grown rapidly. Ever since Princess Luna’s disappearance, it seemed like more and more attacks have been happening across the country. Every year has been a new record for crimes committed, and more and more criminals in jail. And during those years the Rogue Diamond has been working day and night to try to figure out how criminals keep coming from the shadows.
Suddenly an alarm sounded. Surprised they all looked to see what was going on.
“There's word that a Changeling attack is happening downtown,” Twilight said rapidly typing on her laptop. A hologram map appeared in from of them, pinpointing the location of said attack.
“Any injuries reported?” Rarity asked jumping to her feet. Rainbow Dash and Applejack already rushing out of the room.
“One injured pony reported so far,” Twilight said, “Fluttershy may have to come along too.” Just as Rarity was rushing out of the room, she turned to Twilight.
“Twilight can you keep an eye on Myles while we’re gone?”
“What!?” Myles exclaimed jumping out of his seat.
“Sorry darling, but this just seems a little too dangerous right now in your current state. Just stay here and try to get some rest, we’ll talk once we get back,” she said running out and closing the door. Myles walked back to his seat and flopped down. A look of stress visible on his face as he faced the screen broadcasting the ongoing attack.
“They’ll be fine Myles, we’ve faced the Changelings before,” Twilight said not looking away from her monitor.
“I don't need to be babied. I'm not that hurt damnit, I can still fight.” He said getting up from his seat.
“The Changelings are a next level criminal organization Myles,” she said turning to the large screen, “What you faced may have been some basic level criminal. But if you were to go and face the Changelings now in your state of health, you would surely get killed.”
“You don’t understand, I-”
“No, YOU don’t understand!” Twilight said cutting off Myles, “You don’t understand how powerful these guys are Myles. We’ve been facing them for years, and not once have we been close to even slow them down! The only thing you can do is trust that they know what they’re doing.”
Myles scoffed in defeat. There was no arguing with Twilight. As much as he didn’t like sitting around watching innocent ponies get hurt, the only thing he could do was sit back and watch.
[TIME: 6:00pm, LOCATION: Downtown Fillydelphia]
“What’s the situation over there Dash,” Applejack called through her earpiece while hiding behind a knocked over table. Dash flew to the roof of a building, making sure she wasn’t seen.
“Not looking good, looks like they managed to get some hostages.” Rainbow said scanning the area.
Rarity gritted her teeth, “Then we can’t go in reckless.”
“Hey, I’m willing to go in gun blazing if you say the word,” Rainbow said.
“No! We can’t risk adding to the injuries,” Rarity said, still trying to come up with a plan.
“Well what’s the move Rarity? We stall anymore, then more ponies are gonna get hurt.” Applejack explained waiting for any notion from Rarity.
Rarity peaked from behind the alley she was hiding in, looks like there were only two changelings. They were guarding the hostages, not moving from that one spot. One of the changelings turned his head to the alley where Rarity was hiding. She quickly ducked back around the corner, hoping that he didn’t see her. The changeling smirked and walked away from his group.
“What’re you doing Lox?” The other changeling called out to him, “We’re supposed to be waiting for the guards to come.” Lox ignored him and stopped a couple yards away from the alley.
“I know you back there” he yelled into the alley, his raspy voice echoing from wall to wall in the tight alley, “You should just come out now and join the rest of them...” he raised his arm, a powerful blast charging from his hand. “Because it’ll be a shame if we had to have our first casualty.” Rarity, in as many situations they have been in throughout the years, was admittedly scared. His voice seemingly causing her to freeze in fear. Lox took slow steps towards the alley, each step causing Rarity to wince harder in fear, so much so that she nearly vomited. He took one more step stopping mere feet from Rarity. “Well I warned ya.”
Just before he attacked, Rainbow zipped down from her spot on the roof and landed in front of Lox.
“Not another step!” She yelled. Lox was a little startled, but regained his smirk.
“Heh, it was about time someone showed up,” He said.
“How else were you expecting?” Rainbow asked.
“Well I was expecting those weak ass guards ponies to come here, but hey...” Lox said taking a step back, “I guess I can make an exception. Maybe things can get a little more interesting.” He put his hand in his pocket, but before he could move any further, Rainbow pointed her gun at his face.
“Don’t even think about making a move bub, the only thing I find interesting right now is putting a bullet in your head!” she yelled. Lox smirked.
“Oh yea? With what gun?” He asked. Rainbow looked confused. She looked at her hand, to find that her gun wasn’t in her hand. She pulled her arm back and looked at her hand in absolute shock.
“You shouldn’t of blinked,” Lox said. Rainbow looked at him to find her gun was now in the palm of his hand. “It made it too easy to snatch this from you.”
“What the hell? How was he quick enough to take my gun?” Rainbow thought.
Lox chuckled slightly. “This is nice one, I just might keep it.” he said examining the gun. Rainbow gritted her teeth. “Well now that’s out the way, let’s get this over with.” He said tossing the gun behind him. In a blink of an eye, Lox fired an attack towards Rainbow; leaving a good hole in the building. As the smoke cleared, Rainbow was no longer there. Lox satisfied began walking back, until he was hit in the head.
“OW! WHO THE HEL-” He cut himself of in surprise, seeing Rainbow standing without a scratch.
“You may have taken my gun, but you forgot that I’m the fastest pony alive!” she yelled, a look of intense anger on her face. Lox stood surprised that someone was able to avoid his attack so easily.
“Well, I surely wasn’t expecting that,” he said rubbing his head, “well since you’re not going to hold back..” he changes his stance, a blue-green fire flowing from his hands, “I guess I shouldn’t either.”
“Bring it on!” Rainbow rushes at Lox full of anger.
“Dash No!” Applejack yells coming from behind her hiding spot.
“Well then, I guess we can add another hostage to bring back,” the second changeling said.
“Sorry to soil your fun partner, but I don’t go down easy,” without saying a word the changeling fired a net from his gun. Applejack was ready to dodge the net, but as she tried to move out of the way, she found that she couldn’t move. She looked down to see her feet stuck in a green goo. As the net got closer she flinched bracing for the final moment. But the net never came. She opened her eyes to see the net hovering in mid air. Both Applejack and the Changeling look in shock and surprise as the net fell lifelessly to the ground. Applejack looked to her right to see Rarity out of breathe, sparks of magic flying from her horn.
“Good one, Rarity!” Applejack said. Rarity nods with a smile. The changeling however pulls out his gun and takes his aim at Applejack. Seeing this, Rarity’s smile quickly goes away.
“Applejack, Look out!” she yells, Applejack turns to hear the gun fire. Thankfully, she dodges just in time. Anger starting to surge through her veins, her head quickly snaps towards the gunman.
“Alright then, you wanna play like that huh?” Applejack said with a twitch in her eye. As she turns her body towards him, she starts cracking her knuckles with a menacing chuckle. Slowly, Applejack starts to walk towards him, her hat covering her eyes. Stopping a few feet in front of the changeling, she tips up her hat to reveal a crooked expression. One fueled with anger and rage. With a glow in her eyes and a jagged smile, two stern words were enough to make her intentions known, “lets dance.”
Back at the ship, Twilight monitors their fight on the screen; Myles watching restlessly, pacing back and forth. Twilight trying her best to focus on the situation, becomes annoyed with Myles’ pacing.
“Myles, is there something on your mind?” she asked not looking away from the screen.
“Why do you think I'm pacing.” he replies stopping in his tracks. Twilight didn’t reply to his sarcasm, only because she was glad that he finally stopped moving around.
“If you had a problem with me moving around, you should’ve just said so,” Myles said walking towards her.
“Well I didn’t want to be rude Myles, but the pacing was getting kind of distracting” Twilight said with a nervous smile.
As Myles approached the screen, he watched the other three fight the two changelings, and they did seem to be handling things quite well. Fluttershy was taking care of the injured pony away from the site, and Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash seemed to be holding their own. The anxious feeling in his stomach started to die down, and slowly he started to relax a little bit. He started to back away from the screen, when something quickly rushed within the shadows of the alleys. Myles catching it, stiffened up.
“What was that?” he thought walking back to the screen. He scanned the area once more, and noticed another shadow wandering a different alley. “There’s no way-” his thought was cut off after seeing a figure stand in the alley near Applejack and Rarity. Even though the picture was unclear, there was no doubt that someone was sneaking around.
Adrenaline flowed through his blood, as his mind stuck on one option and one option only...finding whoever that figure is, but he couldn’t do that with Twilight supposedly watching over him. He backed away and looked at Twilight. She looked focused, calling out movements to the others over her mic. Making sure Twilight couldn't hear him, Myles quickly rushed out the door, making sure Twilight didn’t hear him. In a single motion, he hopped off the deck, and made his way downtown. He didn’t care if he wasn’t supposed to be out, he had his own mission.
The battle was reaching a close. With the one changeling being knocked unconscious, and now their attention was on Lox. Rainbow was injured from her intense battle. Her hand and wrist slightly burned, claw like wounds on her shoulders and legs, and a few bruises here and there. She was beaten up, but she could stand, and she made it very clear that she wasn’t going down anytime soon. Lox on the other hand looked as if he’d barely broke a sweat. A few bruises and some blood drawn, but he was still holding strong.
“Well, I must say you ladies are stronger than I thought,” he said, “especially you rainbow girl, you don’t go down easy.”
“Heh, took you awhile to notice,” Rainbow managed to get out in between breaths.
“But now you’re finished,” Applejack said pointing her gun at him. Lox just laughed and shook his head.
“Ending it so soon? Fine. But I just have to ask something,” he said.
The girls looked at each other confused. “Word on the street is, you got a new recruit...Myles I think his name is.” A feeling of shock washed over the group, as they looked at one another with wide eyes.
“W-What do want with him?” Applejack said walking forward, gun still pointed at him.
“Well, boss did give some intel on him. He sounds like a cool guy, maybe he should be apart of the Changelings.” Lox said, walking forward with a smirk unfazed at the weapon pointed at his head.
“You’re not going to do anything with him!” Rarity yelled. Lox once again laughed.
“Well, something tells me he’s around here, maybe I go should find him,” Lox said walking away. Rainbow quickly tossed a rock in his direction, hitting him in head. Lox with a low chuckle turned around rubbing his head.
“Okay, I guess we’re not done here,” He said cracking his knuckles with a growl.
Meanwhile, Myles quickly made his way down the alleys, the sounds of gunshots and magic filling the air. He went through multiple twist and turns, trying to find the mysterious figure he seen just moments ago. With no luck in his search, he stopped and looked around out of breath thinking of where the figure could've gone. Then he feels a rush of air to his left. His head snaps to see a shadow duck down the alleyway, and with no hesitation he quickly rushed after it. After another minute of chasing the anonymous thing, he stopped in the middle looking around confused.
“I swear I saw something go down here.” he thought. Almost immediately, his thought was cut off by a green light and fog growing closer behind him. The feeling of the air starting to get heavy caught him by surprise, as he coughed the feeling becoming more and more difficult to breathe the air around him. In a slight daze, he turned to see a figure starting to emerge from the fog. Myles took stance immediately, just in case he needs to fight. With every second that past, the figure became more and more clearer. A tall, curvy mare with a black dress emerged, her hair a gross moss blue, and a crooked horn.
“Chrysalis.” Myles said a stern voice.
“My my, if it isn’t the former honor guard himself,” she said, “hm, it's weird. You’re a lot taller the last time I saw you. But then again it has been a couple years.” she walked up to him almost face to face, if not an inch lower.
“The hell are you sneaking around for?” Myles asked, with no indication of letting his guard down, “Unless you're here for a fight.”
Chrysalis chuckled, “To see the fireworks of course. Seems like these two morons have some work to do.” she stepped closer to him with a seductive smile. “Buuut, maybe you can help them, I’ve seen how you fought against Hollow Shade. Maybe you could...” she gently touching his cheek, “teach me some moves.”
Myles smacked her hand away, giving her a hard stare, “You can forget it, I told you before, I’m not joining your nasty bug squad.”
Chrysalis didn’t lose her smile from his words, “Oooh she WAS right, you are a feisty one.” In a blink of an eye, she felt a puff of air fly past her left cheek. She looked to see a small knife near her face, her brow furred, eyes wide.
“And I won’t hesitate to kick your ass,” Myles said not losing the calm venom in his voice.
They stared at each other for a moment, Myles more intense than Chrysalis. She chuckled and turned her back.
“Hm, fine. I have to get these two morons out of here anyway,” she said walking away. “It’s a shame that you joined the... Ugh diamonds, you still would’ve made a great guard if you would’ve stayed.”
“You know damn well why I left, I’m not going back to that life!” Myles shouted at her.
“Suit yourself,” Chrysalis said looking over her shoulder in a sultry tone, “I’ll be sure to tell her you said hi though.”
“Go to hell!” Myles spat angrily. Chrysalis, with one last evil smile, snapped of her finger and disappeared in black smoke. Myles started to shake with anger from recalling her words. How she mocked him about his past, and bringing up...her. The feeling of rage starting to overflow, until suddenly he snapped kicking and punch a nearby garbage can. He blacked out with every hit he connected, as the same memories from his past replayed over...and over...and over. Until finally...he snapped back to reality. He stared at the heavily dented trash can, covered with blood where the hits were landed. With heavy breath he looked at his hands, his knuckles gashed open from the cut metal as blood covered almost his entire hand. As blood dripped off his hands, Myles tried to process what he did. He looked over at the giant black smoke cloud Chrysalis escaped from. Thoughts running through his head of what could happen in the next few moments. Maybe another changeling could pop out of there and try to kill him, who knows. What he did know, was that he couldn't stay there any minute longer. With a final deep breath, Myles stood to his feet and began to make his way back to the ship.
Lox and the girls looked at the smoke that flowed from the top of the building behind them. Lox, with a smile turned to them. “Welp it’s been fun, but it’s time for me to go now. See ya.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow yelled rushing him, but she wasn’t able to get him in time, as he disappeared in the same black smoke.
“Ngh, Where’d he go?” Rainbow said with gritted teeth. She was preparing to fly off to find Lox, but before she was able to do so, Applejack grabbed her tail.
“He’s gone RD, from the looks of it so is his friend.” she said. Looking over, she was right. The other changeling that was knocked out had also disappeared.
“I wasn’t done with him yet!” Rainbow exclaimed, pacing around in irritation.
“Let it go Rainbow, don’t go doin’ something dumb now,” Applejack said still trying to calm her down. Seeing that it was now close to impossible to calm Rainbow down, she turned to Rarity, who seemed to be standing there with wide eyes, almost as if she were deep in thought.
“Everything alright Rarity?” Applejack asked. Rarity snapped out of her trance.
“Oh uh y-yes. I was just thinking about something,” She replied, a little flustered.
“Well, seems like the Changelings are long gone now, we should head back to the ship. We really need to talk about whatever the hell just happened today.” Applejack said. Rarity looked to the sky. Particles of the smoke were still lingering. To her it didn’t make sense on how he knew to retreat. She blinked a couple times before she answered.
“Y-Yes we should head back.”
