The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #1: Hunter in the Night

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It was a dark and ominous night in the city of Manehattan as the carriage of Shady Deal slowly rolled into the harbor. 'Then again, when was the night not ominous in this city?' The dark brown earth pony stallion thought to himself with a scoff. He wasn't sure why was he feeling this way. He finally got the opportunity he was waiting for ever since he left the farm he grew up on to make a name for himself in the big city. It wasn't often that a 'country bumbkin' earth pony was put in charge of one of Caramel Falcon's most important operations. It was a huge opportunity for him to prove his worth, even if he knew that the choice of his boss fell on him more due to a lack of any other guys rather than his faith in his competence. He didn't seem particularly thrilled when he had to assign him to this operation, though he hardly seemed thrilled about anything these days.

Shady only heard rumors about it, but more and more of his operations were going up in flames recently. Ever since his biggest rival in the underworld of the city, Silver Martini was put away, everypony believed that Falcon would easily take over every aspect of the underworld, but it seemed whatever misfortune did Martini in, has not gone away. Instead, it changed it's target from him to the other powerful mob boss in the city. And Shady was feeling it too. Despite his determination and optimism, he couldn't shake off a sense of foreboding. He couldn't explain it, but he had the feeling that something was going to go seriously wrong tonight. He shook his head in an attempt to chase these thoughts away. It was probably just the overall gloomy atmosphere of the other guys in the organization lately.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a tapping on the window of his carriage's door. He looked out to see a light yellow pegasus stallion standing outside. Slightly embarrassed by having been caught stuck in his thoughts, the earth pony readjusted the tie on his suit and got out of the carriage.

"Are you Yellow Mist?" The pegasus scoffed and spread his wings wide while motioning across his body.

"What gave it away?" He asked. Shady rolled his eyes before walking past the other stallion.

"Let's just get this over with." Yellow Mist followed him, his expression showing amusement at the earth pony's apparent discomfort.

"Nervous?"

"Of course not!" Shady Deal snapped back at him. "I just don't want to spend more time freezing out here than necessary."

"Sure." Yellow Mist mused, before walking ahead of Shady and opening up the warehouse he was heading for. "I'm sure the rest of the boys will be just as enthusiastic as you are."

“If they want their money, they're gonna have to work for it.” Shady retorted as he made his way inside. Yellow Mist just chuckled, before following him. “How's the cargo anyway?”

“Perfect shape and condition.” Yellow Mist replied. “For now anyway.” Shady raised an eyebrow at him.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Haven't you heard?” It was Yellow Mist's turn to raise an eyebrow. “This is the fourth shipment this month and none of them made it out of the harbors.”

“Of course I've heard. But that won't happen under my management.” Shady boasted. Yellow Mist rolled his eyes.

“Whatever you say, boss pony.” He then turned to the workers in the warehouse. “Alright, boys! Look alive! The new boss has arrived!” The workers, who were mostly lazing around until now looked up and gathered around the middle of the room to listen to what the new stallion in charge would have to say.

“Right.” Shady began. “As you all know, the boss has been on the edge lately. So let's go and make him happy. By sunrise, we're gonna have to make it look like these canisters were never here. Am I understood?” Nopony in the room said anything, but a few of them nodded and that was all the confirmation Shady needed. “Good, now let's get to work. Load them onto my carriage.”

The workers all grabbed a barrel and put them on their trollies before they started carrying them out of the warehouse. Shady Deal walked to the side to supervise their work. The work was going quite smoothly so far, but Shady couldn't help but notice that some of his workers looked rather agitated. It didn't bother him much until one of the workers accidentally knocked over one of the barrels, which sent most of the others into a fright. One of them even attempted to run straight out the door, until Shady stood in front of his path and sent him back to work.

“What's wrong with them?” He asked Yellow Mist who was standing next to him. “Since when did Caramel Falcon hire ponies who got spooked by their own shadows?”

“Lot of those boys were reassigned here from the previous operations that were burned to the ground this month.” The pegasus answered. Shady Deal was not one to be easily surprised, but this caught him off guard. A strange sense of morbid curiosity wormed it's way into his mind.

“Really?” He wondered out loud. “So... uh... do they actually know... what happened at those warehouses?” Yellow Mist shrugged.

“No idea. They never said anything to me. Why don't you try asking them yourself?” Shady glanced at a fidgeting worker who was just coming back from outside for another barrel and stopped him.

“So... you were there at one of the previous warehouses this month?” The worker's eyes widened in fright as he remembered that terrifying experience. He gulped nervously before nodding. ”What exactly happened there?” The worker seemed reluctant to answer.

“Uh... sorry, boss, the big stallion said we are not supposed to talk about it.”

“Oh, come on! Everypony is talking about it. Everypony heard how those warehouses were destroyed and some even know how. Even those who weren't there. Tell me!”

“Well...” The worker looked around nervously as if to see if anypony was listening in on the conversation. “I didn't see much of it. I was outside when the fire started, but I could hear some fighting from inside.”

“Wasn't much of a fight.” Another passing worker who also happened to be there added. “The guys in there were thrashed without even a hint of who was it that hit them.” This worker seemed to handle what he saw that night much better than his coworker, but Shady saw it in his expression that the next part unnerved even him. “And as we dragged them out, we saw the boss. Beaten to a pulp and hanging from a lamppost by his ankle.” Shady's eyes widened at the picture they painted for him. The last pony in charge of this operation was a massive unicorn stallion well known for his expert use of magic. Who could have possibly gotten to him like that? Or what? “And then the entire place blew up. With the whole shipment still inside.”

“Just like that?” Shady wondered, starting to become a little nervous himself. The worker nodded in affirmative.

“Just like that.” The worker affirmed. “We didn't even get a glimpse at what could have caused it. Some of the other guys who were there during the previous night did see something though. They say right before it burst through a window and started beating everypony up, they swore that they saw a...” But before he could finish, he was interrupted by yet another worker.

“Aw, don't give us this horseapple again about 'The Bat'! We're getting really tired of it.” Shady raised an eyebrow. This conversation was beginning to intrigue him more and more.

“Bat? What Bat?” Before the second worker could answer, the third one beat him to it.

“Don't listen to them, boss. Just a little spooky story made up by some of the more superstitious guys among us.”

“The fact that a bat-shaped boomerang was tied to the end of the rope the old boss was hanging from isn't made up!” The second worker turned to snap at him. “Nor was one of our arrested guys nearly jumping out the window of the prison hospital when he thought he saw a bat passing the window.” The third rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Are you done scaring the new boss with campfire stories? I need to load the next barrel onto the carriage!" With that, he pushed the barrel past the other two workers and left the warehouse.

The worker pushed his trolley towards the carriage while grumbling under his breath, frustrated with the nonsense of his coworkers.

"Bloody idiots. A bat hunting criminals in the night. What's next? Santa Hooves and the Tooth Fairy waging a gang war?" During his complaints, he proceeded toward Shady Deal's carriage to unload his cargo, when he heard a sudden rumbling sound coming from around the corner of the warehouse.

"Who's there?!" He spun around, reaching into his west to pull out his gun and pointing it in the direction where the sound came from. After a few seconds of nothing happening, the worker calmed down slightly and put his weapon away.

"This place gives me the creeps." He said, before resuming his way toward the carriage. "Hey, Salty, here's another one for the carriage!" To his surprise, no response arrived to his call. "Come on, Salty. Stop screwing around! I don't wanna spend a second more than I have to here!" But his cries were once again met with silence. "Where in Tartarus is that idiot?!"

Suddenly, he noticed from the corner of his eyes that the door of the carriage was open. He found that odd as the passenger part wasn't where they were supposed to load the canisters. Abandoning his cargo for a short time, he walked up to the open door to see what was up with it. When he peeked inside, his eyes widened in shock. Inside the carriage, was lying the pony he was looking for. Salty Air, the large black earth pony stallion was on his side unconscious. Somepony did quite a number on him and then dumped his body inside the carriage, which - considering the stallion's massive size - was quite a feat.

He jumped away from the carriage in fright and turned to run back to the warehouse and warn the others. But he didn't make it far. The last thing he saw before everything went dark, was a black leather mask giving him the most terrifying glare he's ever seen.

Back inside the warehouse, the workers continued their rounds under Shady's supervision. So far, things have been going smoothly. But as time passed, the same ominous feeling that Shady felt when he first entered the docks returned. He has almost forgotten about it, but now it was even stronger than before. It was now less of a foreboding and more of dread slowly creeping up his spine. Dread of an unavoidable disaster that was getting closer and closer. And it may have been just paranoia, but he thought he was starting to notice that the number of workers inside was dwindling by the minute.

The sudden sound of hoofsteps made him jump in fright. He turned to his left and saw that it was only his pegasus assistant, Yellow Mist walking away towards the exit. He was embarrassed about how jumpy he was acting, but that didn't stop him from calling out to the pegasus.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Yellow Mist turned to look at Shady over his shoulder with an expressionless look.

"My shift is over. I was only supposed to let you and your guys into the warehouse. The rest is up to you." Shady was about to argue and hold him back, but the bad feeling he felt in his stomach was so strong that he didn't even feel the strength to do that. And the parting words of Yellow Mist certainly didn't make it any easier. "Good night and good luck."

Shady went back to supervise his workers and tried to ignore the sense of dread in his stomach. For a minute or two, he felt like he managed to do it. Until he suddenly heard a huge clanging sound coming from the side of the room. And Shady could tell his workers heard it too as they all jumped in horror and turned their heads in the direction of the sound as one. Shady couldn't explain why, but this was the moment he knew disaster was about to strike and there was now nothing he could do to avoid it. He followed the gaze of his workers and saw a ventilation grill lying on the floor. Shady forgot about his dread and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What in Equestria is going on here?" Most of his workers shared his confusion. But one of them had a different reaction. His face contorted with terror as he started galloping towards the exit.

"No! Not this! Not again!" He was about to open the door and head out, but Shady finally found the strength to overcome his worries and stood in his way, trying to push him away from the door.

"Hey! What in Tartarus is your problem?!" He demanded angrily, intimidatingly towering over him. However, Shady could see that it was not him that the panicked stallion was terrified of.

"I've been through this already, man! It's here! It broke one of my legs and three of my ribs! I'm not doing it again! I have to get out of here!" Shady looked down at him in confusion.

"What the hay are you talking about?! What's here?!"

"THE BAT!"

Shady was still confused about all of this, but before he could ask any more questions, he heard another rattling coming from the top of the crates in corner of the warehouse. This made the worker even more panicked.

"Okay, that's it! I'm out of here!" He tried to run past Shady, but the other stallion pushed him back once again.

"Oh, no, you won't!" Shady growled before reaching into his vest, pulling out a gun, and pointing it at the worker. "Do you have any idea what the big stallion will do to you if you bail out?!" The worker however looked undeterred.

"Screw it! Falcon will have me killed, but this thing? It makes you wish you were dead! If you want to shoot me, then do it, but I'm not staying!" He challenged before running past the other stallion. Shady was so stunned by the stallion's defiance that he just allowed him to pass. He actually wasn't going to do it, but he thought the sight of a gun would be enough to change the mind of his underling. Before he could snap out of his shock, he heard a loud, metallic clang coming from right in front of him and jumped in surprise. He looked down and his surprise grew when he saw that his weapon was no longer in his hoof. It was lying on the floor in front of him, broken and among the pieces was a sharp metallic object. Shady lowered his head to inspect it and saw that it was some kind of throwing weapon shaped like a...

"Bat." Now Shady was becoming quite nervous himself. Along with the rest of his workforce. Most of the remaining stallions bolted out of the warehouse. The braver ones among them formed a circle around the middle of the room and pulled out weapons of their own. They then started scanning around the room, looking for the intruder.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of glass shattering and noticed part of the warehouse had gone dark. One of the stallions widened his eyes in startled realization.

"It's... It's taking out the lights." His statement was followed by another lamp breaking and before they could react, the entire warehouse was covered in darkness.
The crooks pulled out flashlights and lit them up to continue scanning around the room. Shady Deal isolated himself from the rest of the group to hide in the darkness, but he still watched the others' flashlights circling around the room to catch a glimpse of what they were up against.

One of the stallions then felt something wrapping around his ankle. The other five jumped in shock when they heard their cohort scream as he was yanked up into the air. They raised their flashlights to see what happened, but they never got a chance. Another of the crooks was yanked up into the air. Then another. And another. Before Shady knew it, all of his remaining workers have disappeared into the darkness. The only thing he saw was the now still light of the dropped flashlights.

One of the flashlights had rolled over to Shady's hoof and he hesitantly reached for it in an attempt to see what was going on. When he picked it up and pointed it forward, he saw all six of his remaining workers dangling from the ceiling from wires attached to their ankles and knocked out cold. Shady was now positively panicking and turned to leave the warehouse, but when he tried to move, he bumped into something. He looked up to see what it was and his heart nearly stopped.

Standing right in front of him was an equine figure wearing a pitch-black mask with no mouth, tall, pointy ears, pupilless, white glowing eyes, and a long cape flowing down on its back. It was wearing a grey outfit with a yellow belt around its waist and black leather shoes on all four of its hooves, but the most noticeable thing about it was the huge bat symbol on its chest. Shady gulped. He had just met the infamous bat creature his workers were raving about.

Before Shady could do anything, the figure raised one of its legs and pressed it against the stallion's throat, pushing him against the wall. Shady then felt his legs no longer touching the ground as the figures pushed him upwards along the wall and lifted him off of the floor. The figure then reached for Shady's vest, but the stallion regained enough composure to finally put up resistance. He raised his hind legs and kicked the figure in the chest. This had the desired effect of making the figure let him go. He then quickly located the exit with his flashlight and bolted towards it as fast as he could. Once was outside, he locked the warehouse door and headed back toward his carriage.

His feeling of relief and safety when he reached his transport was short-lived when he looked inside. Two more of his knocked-out workers were laying inside, including the massive stallion in charge of loading the canisters onto the carriage, Salty Air. Cursing under his breath, Shady turned away from his carriage and looked for another way of escape. His eyes landed on the ship that brought the delivery of canisters into the city, still resting in the docks. That was his best shot.

He started running towards the ship with all his energy when he heard glass breaking behind him. He looked back and saw the figure bursting through the upper window of the warehouse and spreading its cape to form bat wings with it, before gliding to the ground right behind Shady and resuming the chase. Shady picked up the pace even more and he finally managed to reach the ramp that lead up to the ship's deck. The crew was pretty surprised to see the panicked stallion picking the ramp up and pushing it down to the ground.

"What's going on?" Asked a light green unicorn sailor. "Something wrong with the delivery?" Shady didn't respond, he just ran towards the door that lead down to the lower decks of the ship.

"Just keep it away from me!" He screamed in a frenzy before shutting the door and locking it. The crew's confusion did not lessen.

"What's gotten into him?" Asked a blue earth pony. The unicorn who first addressed Shady just shrugged.

"Probably snuffed too much of the stuff we just brought in." Another earth pony laughed.

"Maybe one of the rats from the cargo found its way to the crates when we loaded it off to the warehouse. That's what spooked him." His crewmates laughed, but it came to an abrupt halt when they heard a loud, metallic clang on the side of the ship. Their confusion only grew when they then heard a strange winching sound that was becoming louder by the second. One of the crewponies went to investigate but found himself punched back on the deck when the bat figure that was chasing Shady launched itself over the railing into the air. The crew was terrified upon witnessing the figure spreading its cape to form bat wings, covering the moon above them in the sky, and gliding on the deck. They did not hesitate to attack.

One of the crewponies picked up a metal pipe lying nearby and took a swing at the figure, but it jumped back with surprising swiftness and dodged effortlessly. It then grabbed the pipe and yanked it out of the stallion's grasp, before bashing him in the face with it, knocking him out. The stallion the figure knocked over when it came onboard got up and rushed at it for some payback. The figure hurled the pipe in its grasp back and then threw it at the charging pony's legs, hitting him in the knees and tripping him.

Two other crew ponies teamed up to tackle the figure together. It stood motionlessly as they approached it and right before they reached it, it jumped over them and did a perfect somersault in the air before landing right behind his attackers. The two stunned stallions couldn't stop themselves in time to avoid toppling over the railing and falling into the water below with loud splashes.

The light green unicorn used his magic to lift some empty crates lying nearby and threw them at the figure. The figure jumped and rolled out of the way before reaching into its belt and throwing another bat-shaped projectile at the unicorn. Seeing as he was busy lifting the crates, he couldn't use his magic to intercept it and it hit him in the face. The unicorn stumbled back and buried his face into his hooves in pain. The figure took this chance and leaped into the air, grabbed one of the crates still mid-air, and brought it crashing down on top of the unicorn.

With the upper deck cleared, the figure went to resume its chase of Shady Deal. The door leading down to the lower decks was locked so it had to find another way in. It looked to the side of the ship where it just grappled its way up to the deck and it got an idea. Reaching for its grappling gun once more, the figure attached the hook to the railing and lowered itself down on the side of the ship before pushing itself away with its back legs and crashing through one of the portholes. Its noisy entrance didn't go unnoticed.

"There it is!" Yelled one of the crewponies who just arrived at the site with a group of his comrades all carrying machine guns. The sailors aimed their weapons at the figure, but they didn't get the chance to fire. The figure reached for its belt and pulled out a small, cylinder-shaped object which he then threw at the heavily armed group. As the object hit the floor, it exploded with a blinding flash and caused all of the sailors to drop their weapons and cover their eyes. The figure took this opportunity and knocked all of the sailors out before the flash even evaporated.

The figure was about to continue its pursuit of Shady Deal when suddenly a door in front of him opened and the stallion in question walked through it.

"Have you taken care of it alre... Oh, ponyfeathers!" Shady cursed when he found himself face-to-face with his hunter. He ran back through the door and was about to slam it shut, but the figure was quicker. It burst through the door before the stallion could shut it and ran after him. Shady ran past another group of sailors who also carried machine guns with them. They aimed their weapons at the figure, forcing it to halt.

The figure looked around. They were in the boiler room. It pulled out a few more bat-shaped projectiles and threw them against the pipes around the room, causing steam to cover everything. The blinded sailors began firing everywhere in panic but the figure remained still. It knew they won't hit it and its mask gave its eyes perfect protection from the steam. It began slowly advancing through the steam and swiftly disposed of the sailors before locating the exit and running out. It had prey to catch up with.

The corridor the figure entered led to a staircase that took the figure back to the upper deck at the other end of the ship. There was nopony around, but still, the figure could hear a metallic sound that appeared to be moving. And it was getting louder. The figure spun around just in time to avoid the hook of the ship's crane slamming into it. It jumped and latched itself onto the chains that lead up towards the crane itself, before starting to climb up on it.

Shady Deal looked down at the deck from the crane's cabin in search of the body of his pursuer. In the darkness of the night, he couldn't see it making its way toward him on the top of the device. Shady breathed nervously as he scanned the deck from above, looking for it when the window of the cabin was smashed to pieces and he found himself being lifted out of the cabin by his collar. Shady screamed in terror as the figure dangled him upside down several feet up in the air by his ankle. He looked up at it and saw it reaching inside his vest and pulling out the papers Falcon gave him regarding tonight's shipment. Once it put the paper away into its belt, the figure gave shady one last menacing glare and let him go.

Shady saw the deck getting closer and closer as he fell. He closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate, but then he felt something wrapping around his ankle that stopped his fall. Whatever it was, it let go of him as quickly as it caught him and dropped him harmlessly on the deck before he even had the time to look up. Once he did, he only saw the top of the crane blocking out the moon. His pursuer was nowhere to be seen. As he was no longer in danger, Shady Deal finally allowed the terror and exhaustion to catch up with him and he passed out. He wasn't even awoken by the huge explosion that eradicated the warehouse he escaped from the face of Equus.

The figure landed on the top of a building just outside the docks. It reached into its belt and pulled out the papers it took from Shady Deal and quickly went through them. Upon finishing, the figure let out an irritated growl and crumpled the papers before throwing them away. Useless. Once again, it featured one of Caramel Flacon's many aliases, making sure there was nothing incriminating against him in them. At the very least, it managed to shut down another one of his drug smuggling operations, making sure fewer ponies in Manehattan will be exposed to them and less money will be on his account. So at least the night wasn't a total waste. And there still were a few more hours until dawn to work. To do some good.

'Not like anypony else will. Not in this city.' The figure thought as it pulled out its grapple gun and pulled its way up to a larger building.

'Sometimes I feel like there's some invisible evil force looming over this city that just brings out the worst in everypony.'

The figure prowled its way across the rooftops deeper into the city, before coming to a halt at the top of the lower building amongst the tall apartment houses. Judging from the glaring neon sign attached to the side of the building, it was probably a nightclub of some sort. The figure was about to take a moment to rest, but its hopes were extinguished by a scream coming from the alleyway behind the club. It ran to the edge of the building and peeked down at a mare lying on the ground as five stallions approached her menacingly. The figure narrowed its eyes beneath the mask.

'I'm not sure what makes me madder. The fact that ponies would commit such atrocities in this city, or the fact that they can.'

As one of the stallions in the group approached the helpless mare, he felt something grab his ankle. He was then yanked up into the air by a wire, much to the confusion of the other four, before being thrown at the top of one of the others with enough force to knock them both out. The remaining three looked up to see a bat-shaped figure descending on them. It landed on the top of a third one, knocking him out, and then glared at the other two. Three already down, this will be easy.

A fourth one launched himself at the figure and tried to throw a punch at it, but it raised one of its forelegs and blocked it effortlessly. It then twisted the stallion's leg before launching a merciless barrage of punches on his head and knocking him to the ground. It then delivered a few more punches to his head for good measure to make sure he won't get up. Upon seeing how easily the figure dispatched of his cohorts, the last member of the group tried to make a run for it, but the figure was not in a merciful mood. It reached for his grapple gun and fired it at the stallion, catching him with it and pulling him back, and crashing him against the wall. The figure then shot one last look at the mare on the ground to make sure she was alright and then grappled its way away before the terrified pony could express her gratitude.

The figure continued its patrol of the city until it reached a building that overlooked a large park with a beautiful round-shaped white building towering in the center of it. For the first time that night, its expression softened. That building was Manehattan's largest library. It stood as a reminder of what it was fighting for. That reminder caused its face to turn determined once more.

'I made a promise on the grave of my beloved that I would rid this city of the evil that took his life.'

With renewed purpose, the figure continued it's way into the night.

'I am vengeance. I am the night. I. Am. Batmare!'

The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #2: The Legend of the Batmare

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The first rays of the morning sunshine have illuminated the library building in the middle of the park. Spike the young dragon groaned as the cheeky sunrays pierced through his window and pierced his skin, signaling his peaceful night's sleep was over. Quickly realizing that trying to resist them and falling back asleep would be a losing battle, the dragon grumbled in frustration and got out of bed to get ready for his day.

He made his bed, washed up in the bathroom, made himself a small breakfast before making another one of it for Twilight, and headed towards her bedroom with the tray. He made a small detour to the entrance of the library to also get the morning newspaper, but as he reached down for it, he noticed something curious. Next to the newspaper, was also an envelope. Spike raised an eyebrow. It was barely the middle of the month so they couldn't have been bills and they barely knew anypony out of town who would send them a letter. Spike quickly deduced just who could have sent them that letter and if his theory was correct, then he had no high hopes regarding the fate of the delivery. Regardless, he added it to the newspaper on the tray and continued his way to Twilight's bedroom.

Once he reached the door he knocked, but after a few seconds, he received no answer. Anypony would probably assume that Twilight was still asleep, but Spike knew better. He entered the room and saw Twilight's bed entirely the way it was last night. Well made and perfectly tucked. Like it wasn't slept in at all last night. Spike sighed and walked over to the bedside chest, putting the tray down on it. He pulled out the top drawer and retrieved a book from it. He opened it, revealing a small key lying between the pages which he then inserted into the middle drawer and pulled open. Inside the drawer was another key that Spike inserted into a keyhole in the side of the inside of the chest which directly connected to Twilight's bed. Once he rotated the key, he heard a small mechanism around the bed starting to work and the end of the bed lifted into the air, revealing a hidden staircase. Spike then locked the drawers, picked up the tray, and descended the staircase as the bed lowered back into its place.

As Spike made his way down the staircase, he saw the light at the bottom and already heard the now all-too-familiar sound of bats screeching. Once he reached the bottom, he entered a large room surrounded by a humongous underground tunnel that looked like it had seen better days. In the middle of the room were a bunch of computer screens in front of a rotating chair that was occupied by the pony Spike was looking for. As he approached her, he caught a glimpse of a large glass cabinet from the side of his eye that contained a ponyquinn in the suit Twilight was wearing for her nightly escapades. Even if nopony was actually wearing it, the glare of its white eyes was still an intimidating sight to behold. So much so that it made Spike shudder.

The dragon then made his way to the desk Twilight was sitting at and put down the tray on it.

"Good morning." Spike greeted her before pouring her a cup of coffee. Twilight slightly jumped. She was so caught up in her work that she didn't even hear Spike come in.

"Spike! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?" She chided the young dragon, but then her eyes widened in realization. "Is it morning already?" Spike handed her her coffee.

"Time flies when you spend the whole night outside, beating criminals to a pulp, I suppose." Spike replied casually.

"I never said I was out the whole night." Twilight cut back. Spike rolled his eyes.

"You didn't have to." Twilight knew Spike didn't approve of her nightly escapades. He had made it clear during those several times when he fixed up her injuries after one of her hunts. And he never bothered hiding his feelings about it. The dragon rolled the newspaper out for Twilight and put it down in front of her. Twilight's eyes immediately caught the headline. 'Bat vigilante burns up another warehouse in the docks.'

"I take it last night has been productive." Spike enquired. Twilight frowned from both the bitterness of the coffee and the frustration the question brought out of her.

"Just partly. Another alias. Nothing incriminating against Caramel Falcon himself." She complained, returning her gaze to the computer screens that displayed several maps of the city, news reports, and criminal profiles.

"They do say that a wise pony learns from the mistakes of others." Spike said. "It appears Mr. Falcon was wiser than we gave him credit for and learned from how you brought down his rival." It was true. Silver Martini was too arrogant to disguise his operations like that when Batmare first showed up in the city.

"It's only a matter of time, Spike." Twilight told him with her voice burning with determination. "He is becoming desperate. Sooner or later, he will make a mistake. And when he does, I will be there." Twilight was about to reach for her sandwich when she noticed the envelope on the side of the platter.

"What's this?" She picked up the letter and checked it to see who it came from, though she already had a hunch. Which was confirmed when she checked the back of the envelope. "Another letter from Shining Armor." She said, staring at the letter with an unreadable expression. Spike looked up at Twilight's face with anticipation. Every time Twilight got a letter from her brother, a tiny bit of him would hope that this would be the moment when she would finally come around. The time when she finally let go of her grudge and open her heart for forgiveness. But much like every other time, he ended up disappointed when Twilight merely put the letter into a shredder next to her desk. Spike groaned.

"Twilight, how much longer do you want to keep this up?" He asked in frustration. Twilight narrowed her eyes down at him.

"Well, I'm glad you would be able to just get over something that ruined your life and destroyed everything you worked for just like that, Spike, but I can't." Twilight snarled on the brink of tears. Spike backed away and looked down in guilt. He knew he had just cut where he really shouldn't have, but Twilight's inability to let go of the past really irritated him sometimes.

"I... I'm sorry, Twi. I didn't mean to..." But Twilight merely turned away from him and leaned back in her chair. It was too late. The memories have been triggered.

2 years ago

The Castle of Canterlot was buzzing with life. Maids were cleaning like there was no tomorrow, the cooks were sweating their coats off in the kitchen and members of the Royal Guard have been practically knocking each other over to get to their posts. Princess Celestia was expecting a very important guest today. And as her personal student, Twilight Sparkle was also very excited about this event.

Their guest today was a very important member of the Canterlot aristocracy. Crystal Glint was the matriarch of an important family that has maintained a less than favorable relationship with the princess in the past few years. They have been ruthlessly and aggressively expanding their influence and power across Canterlot and eventually, Celestia had to renounce some of their rights and positions in the city to make sure it doesn't spread too far. That generation of the family has never forgiven her for that, but ever since Crystal Glint came to power within the family, she had been working tirelessly to improve their relationship with the princess. Today, they would finally bury the hatchet and start anew.

Twilight was standing beside Celestia at the entrance of the castle as they were waiting for Crystal Glint's carriage to arrive. While Twilight was disappointed that she wouldn't be learning any new magic today, watching the princess work in her court was just as exciting for her. Well, almost. She couldn't imagine anything more exciting than learning new magic, but when she learned that she would be the first of Celestia's students to attend one of her diplomatic meetings, she was over the moon.

Soon enough, the carriage of the matriarch arrived, but the moment she stepped out of it, Twilight could tell that something was off. Crystal Glint was a pure white unicorn with a white mane to accompany it with blue streaks in it. When she got out of the carriage, she gave Celestia a look of jovial greeting, but somehow the whole mare just felt fake. Twilight couldn't quite put her hoof on it, it was just some weird instinct that kept pestering her about it.

Crystal approached the two mares and bowed respectfully. "Your Highness. It is a great honor for me to be welcome in your castle after so many generations of bad blood between the royal family and mine." Celestia returned the bow.

"The honor is mine, Lady Glint. I do hope we will be able to put all those centuries of hostiles behind us and restore harmony between our families."

"My thoughts precisely, your highness" Crystal Glint replied with an ominous spark in her eye that only Twilight seemed to notice. "And as a token of my goodwill, I have brought you the finest gift I could find." She clapped with her forelegs and two of her servants carried out a unicorn figurine made of pure jade. The figurine itself was simple. A lurched-over unicorn with an agonized expression on his face. "The finest treasure of my family." Crystal Glint told them. "It will no doubt be a fine addition to the royal treasury." The figurine looked very familiar to Twilight as if she had seen it before, but Celestia didn't find anything suspicious about it.

"Thank you very much, Lady Glint." She then turned to her pupil. "Twilight, would you please take it to the treasury while I escort Lady Glint to my office?" Twilight was about to object, but before she could, Crystal Glint did it for her.

"No offense, your highness, but are you certain this young unicorn is the best pick for this task?"

"Twilight is my most faithful and capable student. I would trust her with my life." Celestia responded before turning back to Twilight. "Would you, my student?" Twilight was unsure whether or not she should, but she couldn't turn down Celestia.

"Of course, Princess."

Twilight did as she was asked and once she secured the figurine in the treasury, she headed straight to the library. She just knew she had seen it before, which could have only meant that she read about it somewhere. After a few hours of research, she finally found the book she was looking for.

Her instincts have been right. The figure was called The Anguished Unicorn and according to legends, it had the ability to strap a pony of their magic. While this sounded far-fetched, Twilight knew that all legends had some basis in reality. And if this was true, then Princess Celestia was in serious danger. She had to warn her.

As she was about to dash out of the library, the door was opened and she saw none other than her brother, Shining Armor.

"Oh, hey, Twily. The princess asked me to get you for her. She needs you in her office for the negotiations."

"I was about to go there anyway. There's something she must know." This caught Shining's attention.

"About what?" Twilight wasn't sure if she should include her brother in this, but since he was the captain of the Royal Guard, he might be able to help her.

"Have you seen that statue Lady Glint brought her as a gift?" Shining nodded.

"Yeah. It's really creepy, isn't it?"

"You have no idea!" Twilight then showed him just what she found out about it in the book. His eyes became wider and wider in worry as he read it.

"Strap a pony of their magic? Is that possible?"

"I'm not sure, but even if it isn't, Lady Glint might believe so." Twilight answered. "I have a bad feeling about her, big brother. I think she's up to no good."

"Don't you think that's going a little far, Twilight?" Shining replied skeptically. The last thing he wanted was a scandal. "She might not even know the statue can do that. And besides, she was willing to give up on it for Princess Celestia. Isn't that proof enough of her good intention?"

"I don't know." Twilight sighed. "I just can't help but feel it."

"Well, even if Lady Glint would have any sinister intention with that artifact, it is currently locked away in the treasury, which cannot be accessed without my say-so." Shining said in an attempt to reassure his sister. And apparently, it worked, because Twilight's troubled expression immediately brightened.

"Oh, big brother, that's fantastic!" Twilight squealed as she hugged him. "Please, promise me that no matter what happens, you won't let them remove it from there while Lady Glint is here." Shining looked reluctant. He didn't want to make a promise he wouldn't be able to keep, but Twilight badly needed reassurance right now.

"Twilight, I..."

"Promise me!" Twilight insisted forcefully, making Shining jump. He had never seen his sister so agitated before. Eventually, he gave in.

"I promise." Twilight smiled at him softly.

"Thank you. Now then, back to the princess."

Twilight made her way back to Celestia's office, finally reassured that whatever sinister plot Crystal Glint cooked up won't come to fruition. When she entered the room, she saw the princess and the matriarch sitting at the table, still deep in conversation.

"Ah, Twilight! Just in time!" Celestia greeted happily, while Crystal Glint merely shot her a narrow-eyed stare that made Twilight gulp.

"What can I do for you, princess?" She asked as calmly as she could under the matriarch's intense stare.

"Not for me actually. It was Lady Glint that requested your assistance." The princess replied. Twilight's smile immediately fell. And Crystal Glint's ominous smirk she was sending her way definitely didn't help.

"He... Her?" Twilight asked nervously. Crystal Glint nodded at her.

"Yes. Some matters have arisen in my absence that needs some immediate attending to. Princess Celestia has the utmost faith in you, so I asked her if I could enlist your services for the rest of the day." Crystal Glint purred with a fake smile. Twilight had to use every bit of her mental strength not to glare at her.

"Uh... Princess, are you sure this is a good idea?" Twilight asked nervously. The alicorn frowned with a sigh.

"Twilight, I know you have your suspicions about Lady Glint's intentions, but remember what I taught you. 'Forgiveness is an important part of friendship.' I am willing to put aside old grudges for the sake of friendship. My protégé helping the family of my old enemy will be an excellent symbol of forgiveness and renewal for both of us."

Twilight felt something that she never felt before. She felt a sudden surge of anger at her mentor. Was this all she was to her? Some political chess piece in the pursuit of her goals? Regardless, she will have to say yes.

"I will... do as you ask, princess." Twilight finally said reluctantly.

"Thank you, Twilight." Celestia replied with an appreciative look. "I greatly appreciate it."

"And so do I." Crystal Glint replied, never once dropping her smile. She then clapped her forelegs and two of her personal guards entered the room. This did nothing to diminish Twilight's worries.

"Guards, please escort Miss Sparkle to my residence."

Twilight eyed the two stallions with suspicion, but there wasn't much she could do. She already agreed to go with them. With a sigh, she left the room and the two guards soon followed her. No sooner than the door behind them closed, Twilight felt a piece of rug with a nauseating smell being shoved into her muzzle. Before she could activate her magic to respond, she felt the whole world go dark.

When Twilight regained consciousness, she felt that she was being held by two strong hooves with a piece of metal pressed against her throat.

"Wha... What's happening?" She asked groggily as her surroundings cleared.

"TWILIGHT!" A familiar male voice shouted to her, which she instantly recognized as Shining Armor.

"Big Brother?!" Twilight was about to turn to him but had trouble doing so because when she tried to lift her head, she felt the piece of metal pressing sharply into her neck.

"Now, now, captain." One of the stallions holding Twilight taunted as he pressed the knife harder against Twilight's neck. "You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to your baby sister because you can't play nice, would you?"

"We won't ask again, captain." The other one added. "Open the treasury!" Twilight immediately understood the situation.

"Shining, don't! They're gonna use the Anguished Unicorn! Don't let them!" Shining Armor looked hesitant. But he couldn't just stand by while these bastards killed his baby sister. With a shaking hoof, he reached for the treasury's door.

"Shining, you promised!"

His hoof came to a halt as he looked back at Twilight with a desperate look. The stallion holding Twilight pressed the knife deeper against her flesh warningly.

"You promised!" Shining shut his eyes to hold back his tears.

"I'm sorry." He then opened the door.

"NO!"

Twilight tried to use her magic before things get out of hoof, but she found that she couldn't. His captors must have put a magic suppressor on her horn. Once the treasury was open, the two stallions blasted Shining with their magic and sent him to the ground before doing the same to Twilight.

The next time Twilight regained consciousness, her brother was still lying next to her on the floor beside the open treasury door. This could have meant only one thing. And it chilled Twilight to the core. Gathering all of her remaining strength, she got up and took off in the direction of Princess Celestia's office.

When she burst inside, the worst was already about to happen. Her mentor was in her chair, surrounded by yellow magical energy coming from the Anguished Unicorn statue as Crystal Glint watched on with a triumphant grin. But there was still to act.

Twilight ran up to the treacherous mare from behind and without her magic managed to punch her in the face with enough strength to knock her out before turning her attention toward the artifact. Twilight reached up to her horn and used her might to pull the suppressor off and then used her magic to stop the process before it was too late.

But it was more powerful than she had expected. The artifact was used to take an alicorn's powers. An ordinary unicorn was nothing to it. Twilight managed to break the draining process but at a grave cost. The light from the artifact surrounded Twilight's horn and she felt the worst headache possible which only increased, but Twilight had no energy left to scream. With an explosion of magical energy, she lost consciousness once again.

This time, she didn't awaken for a long time. When she did, she saw Princess Celestia and her brother standing at the end of her hospital bed with grim looks on their faces. Twilight felt the bandage on her head and reached up to see how bad the damage was. When her hoof reached a specific part of her head, her blood ran cold. It was the part where her horn should have been but wasn't. There was nothing.

The world ceased to exist around Twilight. Her horn, her magic, her special talent, everything she worked for so hard in her entire life was gone. Celestia and Shining watched her reaction with painful anticipation. They didn't know exactly what kind of reaction they should expect, but it wasn't the blank, empty expression Twilight was showing now. Eventually, Celestia decided to break the silence.

"Twilight..." But she was quickly interrupted.

"Get... out..."

It was a sharp whisper that stabbed Celestia deeper than any blade could. Knowing there was nothing else she could say or do, she complied, leaving the two siblings alone.

"Twily..."

"That goes double for you. Out." Shining was hesitant at first, he was hoping he could get through to her somehow, but Twilight was having none of it. "NOW!" She screamed, finally getting her point across and making her brother leave the room. With nopony around her left, she could finally weep.

Three years have passed since, but Twilight still remembered every second of that day. Crystal Glint was arrested and had her horn surgically removed before being thrown into a dungeon in Canterlot Castle to rot for the rest of her life. The rest of her family was banished from Canterlot forever. Justice may have been served, but to Twilight, it made no difference. Nothing would bring back what she had lost.

Twilight felt Spike grabbing her shoulder comfortingly. It was the only thing that prevented the tears from escaping. But the sorrow was still the same.

"They ruined my life, Spike. Celestia shoved me over to the Timberwolves like I was nothing and Shining broke his promise to me. I begged him not to. I would have gladly given my life for Equestria, but he was a coward."

"You have a right to be angry, Twilight. But do you want to spend your whole life being angry at them?" Spike asked. "Don't you remember what Celestia taught you? Forgiveness is an important part of friendship." Twilight remained silent. "Couldn't you find it in your heart to forgive? Go back to your family and start a new life?"

"I have a new life here, Spike." Twilight replied before turning to a framed picture on her desk. Spike followed her gaze and saw the photo of Twilight and a male unicorn in a loving embrace and giving happy smiles at the camera. Twilight picked up a golden ring lying in front of the picture and pressed it against her chest. Perhaps it was a desperate attempt to block out some even more painful memories, but it was futile. Once again she found herself taking another agonizing trip down memory lane.

When Twilight was released from the hospital a week later, she didn't even bother to talk to Celestia or her brother. She didn't bother to talk to anypony. She gathered all of her things along with Spike and boarded the first train out of Canterlot. It didn't matter to her where she was going as long as it was away from there. As it turned out, the first train out of Canterlot was going to Manehettan.

Twilight still remembered how nervous she was when she first arrived. Spending her whole life in Canterlot, she was used to city life, but Manehettan was different. While Canterlot was the home of the nobility of Equestria, Manehettan was more of a middle-class city. Granted there were also wealthy families of traditional noble origins, but even they were more modern than the ones in Canterlot. Not only that, but the city was also more modern than the capital, filled with technological advancements that she was not at all familiar with.

And there was also the question of her livelihood. Being as well-educated as she was, she probably wouldn't have trouble finding a well-paying job that paid well under normal circumstances. But since she lost her horn and therefore her magic, she wasn't exactly under normal circumstances. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be again.

But apparently, somepony above was watching over her. It didn't take her more than a few days to find a job offer that was just to her liking. One of the biggest and most exclusive libraries in the city was looking for a new librarian. Being the bookworm she was, she immediately jumped at this opportunity with the utmost confidence. She didn't know at the time, but that job interview would have her meet the pony who would completely define her new, post-Canterlot life. But not in the way she was hoping for.

Twilight was slowly making her way toward the beautiful circular white building in the middle of the park, full of hope for her job interview. As she walked through the park, she felt a feeling of peace and serenity wash over her that she didn't feel in a long time. One that almost managed to make her forget about those tragic events back in Canterlot and set her mind at peace. Almost.

Twilight shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind and focus back on her upcoming interview. Whoever set their library up in such a peaceful and natural place must have held a tremendous love for books. She even noticed a few outside reading areas. A smile formed on her face as she remembered just how much she loved reading outside back in the castle. She was so caught up in the peace that she almost bumped into the library door. She caught herself just in time.

Twilight scoffed under her breath. 'Pull yourself together, Twilight. Is this the first impression you want to make on your new boss? A bumbling mess? Even if you are sometimes.' Twilight rubbed the back of her head sheepishly before clearing her throat, adapting a professional pose, and knocking on the door. To her horror, her knock was answered by a huge crash from the other side. Her eyes widened in shock and she instinctively burst through the door to see what just happened.

Next to one of the shelves inside the library, was lying a huge pile of books that looked like they just fell off from above. A ladder was lying on top of them and Twilight could make out one single pony leg sticking out from beneath the pile, waving back and forth, almost as if trying to attract attention. Twilight gasped in horror as she ran up to the book pile and removed them from the top of the trapped pony. In an organized, orderly manner of course. Even in her panicked state, she could not allow herself to misplace books.

"Are you alright?" She asked the poor pony once he was freed. Once she got a good look at him, she saw that he was a unicorn with a light brown coat, messy black mane, and a cutie mark that showed a quill writing in a book. The stallion groaned and placed his hoof against his head in an attempt to ease the pain.

"Would you believe me if I told you this isn't the first time this happened?" He chuckled. "I'll be fine, just need to sit down for a moment. I was just putting away some new books that came in today. Before a knock on the door disturbed and made me drop them." Twilight nearly facehoofed.

'Way to go, Twilight. What a first impression to make! Getting your potential employer to fall off a ladder and nearly crushed by a pile of books. I really am cursed, aren't I?'

"I'm so sorry. I..." But the stallion just held up a hoof to silence her.

"It's alright, you couldn't have known. But if you would help me find my glasses, I would deeply appreciate it." Twilight immediately went to go look for the spectacles. In the process, she picked up several of the books and placed them next to the other ones, once again, not without the proper categorization. She eventually did find the stallion's missing glasses and placed them on his muzzle.

"Here you go, I found them." The stallion opened his eyes and Twilight found herself lost in those shiny green orbs.

"Thank you." His words snapped Twilight out of her daze and she backed away in embarrassment.

"N... No problem." The stallion then looked over the neatly reorganized pile of books beside Twilight. The mare noticed a surprised look growing on his face. "Is there something wrong?"

"You... You managed to sort them out this quickly? After they fell over? It took me almost two hours!" He exclaimed in shock. Twilight smiled proudly.

"Well, not to brag, but books are my greatest passion and I have a thing about organization as well." She suddenly remembered all those times when she reshelved the Canterlot library with Spike, much to the young dragon's chagrin. She chuckled at the memory. "Just ask Spike." The stallion tilted his head in confusion.

"Who?" Twilight shook her head. She suddenly got an idea of how she could turn this little debacle around in her favor.

"Never mind. So, are you saying that you were trying to put them away? I could sort it out for you." She offered. The stallion gave her an appreciative look but shook his head.

"Oh, you don't need to do that." He said as he picked up the ladder and placed it back against the shelf.

"Well, actually, it would be part of what I'm here to do." Twilight replied. "I'm here to apply for the librarian job."

"Are you the Twilight Sparkle I was gonna interview today?" The stallion wondered. Twilight nodded before trotting off toward the book pile.

"The one and only. I know I didn't exactly make the best first impression, but allow me to fix that." She then scanned through the books before picking up a few of them and making her way up the ladder. "Let's see, 'The Life and Reign of Princess Platinum', The Conquests of Commander Hurricane', 'Diplomatic Breakfasts at Chancellor Puddinghead's', these are pre-unification pony history. 'In Search of the Crystal Empire', that's non-equestrian history and... Hey, who put this 'The Basics of Alchemy' book here? This belongs in the science section!"

The library owner watched in awe as Twilight sorted all of the new books and also reorganized the entire shelf in less than five minutes. It was an even more astounding feat now that she no longer had magic. He had magic and he's been doing this for hours much less efficiently. Once Twilight was finished and slid down the ladder next to the stallion, the stunned pony could only say one thing.

"When can you start?" Twilight chuckled.

"Well, seeing as you will be my boss, I would say, anytime you want." The stallion grinned so widely as if he just won the lottery.

"Well then, Twilight, let us kick this working relationship off properly. My name is High Culture and this is the Atheneigh Library. I'm glad to have you here." High Culture greeted, offering his hoof, which Twilight gladly shook.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Culture. And an even greater pleasure to be working in this sanctuary of knowledge." He really must have been highly cultured to name his library after the goddess of knowledge from the ancient nimbusian pegasi. High looked like he wanted to say something else, but was having trouble finding the words.

"Say, uh, Twilight." He stuttered nervously. "Would you mind discussing the details of your employment next to a cup of coffee this evening?"

Twilight didn't mind in the slightest. Her working relationship with High quickly evolved into something more. High Culture was not only a pony of... well, high culture, but he was also one of the kindest souls she had ever met who was very easy to fall in love with. The fact that his dedicated work in the library and very cleverly executed expansions and investments also made him quite wealthy was also nothing to frown at either. Of course, that was the last thing Twilight cared about.

The following year was perhaps the happiest in Twilight's life. She had a well-paying job, a place to stay within the best library in the city, and the stallion of her dreams whom she was deeply in love with. The cherry on the top came eight months later when High proposed to her and she said yes with no hesitation. Thankfully, even Spike immediately approved of their union. Though, he still reminded him that if he ever hurt Twilight, he would find out just how painful it was to heal from dragon fire burns. For the first time, Twilight finally felt like she would be able to move on from the tragedy she suffered back in Canterlot and was fully ready to start her new life with her soon-to-be husband. She even felt like she would be able to let go of her anger and invite her brother to the wedding. Maybe even Celestia if she still cared for her as deeply as she used to. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for her.

In retrospect, she probably should have seen the signs. When High came home badly bruised with a black eye and a bleeding nose, she probably should have been able to tell that there was trouble in paradise. High Culture was one of Manehettan's biggest benefactors. He had donated quite a bit of money for the city's betterment, including several donations that angered some of the more powerful ponies in the city. Such was the donation finally have the old Ace Chemicals building shut down and renovated into something else. High was thinking of a museum. Unfortunately, everypony in the city knew that the Ace Chemicals building was still unofficially working under the hooves of Caramel Falcon. Nopony dared to speak it, but they all knew that was the place where he was running his drug operations from. These were only rumors of course. But Twilight was about to find out just how true these rumors were.

Twilight and High Culture were taking an evening stroll in the park around their library. It was a thing they often did. Twilight was never really into romance before meeting High, but she had to admit their eventing strolls were very relaxing. But when she looked up at her fiance, she saw that he was in an oddly grim mood. He's been like this for a while now. Ever since he came home all battered and bruised. He never said anything about it though. Twilight knew he didn't want to worry her, but by not telling her anything, he was having the opposite effect. They were about to get married. They shouldn't keep secrets from each other.

"What are you thinking about?" Twilight asked, trying not to ask directly. She knew she wouldn't get anything out of him that way. High looked down at her and smiled, but Twilight saw that it was forced.

"I'm just thinking about our wedding, love." He replied, trying to sound happy. Twilight wasn't buying it.

"Is that why you're in such a bad mood?" High's face fell.

"Twilight, I..." Twilight already knew what he was about to say, so she finished it for him.

"You don't want to worry me with it. I know. But I'm already worried about you. Please, talk to me, High. If you don't want me to worry." High looked like he was finally about to give in, but before he could speak, again, another voice beat him to it.

"Yes, High. Talk to your pretty little bride. This might be your last chance." High and Twilight jumped and looked to their side to see an unknown earth pony wearing a black suit and fedora walking out of the bushes, grinning menacingly up at the couple. High stood in front of Twilight protectingly.

"What do you want? Were you sent by Falcon?" Instead of answering, the stallion merely pulled out a gun and pressed it into High's chest.

"Should have kept your muzzle in your books, buddy." By the time High gathered enough composure to react, it was too late.

BANG

Twilight's eyes widened in horror at what she just witnessed. High Culture, her fiance, and her new life have just been murdered in front of her. She fell over the stallion's body. She was too stunned to even cry. She just stared down at him, frozen solid. Everything around her went dark. Nothing else existed right now except for the dead body of her beloved. She didn't even hear when the murderer cocked his gun again and put the barrel against her head.

"Sorry, lady. The boss said no witnesses." He was about to finish the job, but then he was startled by a loud screech from nearby. It was loud enough to even snap Twilight out of his stupor. The murderer immediately turned his gun in the direction where the sound came from, which turned out to be a nearby cave entrance.

"Who's there?!"

The only response he got was a huge swarm of bats that have been spooked by the gunshot flying out of the cave, straight at the murderer. The onslaught of the animals made him completely freak out as he thrashed around to shoo them away. During his wild thrashing, he crashed into Twilight who was watching helplessly what was happening. The mare was pushed down into the cavern and slid down into the darkness where she soon passed out. The last thing she saw before darkness consumed her was the bats circling above her vision toward the exit of the cave.

When Twilight came to a few hours later, she was still inside the cavern. She looked around, but in the darkness, she couldn't see anything. And without her horn, she couldn't use magic to illuminate her surroundings. Twilight laid back on the ground in defeat. She didn't see any way she could get out, but even if she could, the murderer would probably still be waiting for her to finish what he started. She lost the will to go on.

She finally managed to get herself back together. She was ready to start anew, only for things to come crashing down around her again. It looked like no matter how what, Twilight Sparkle was cursed to always lose what she had built up for herself. Just like in Canterlot. She might as well just give up. She closed her eyes and waited for death to claim her.

But the longer she laid there, the more she found that outcome unacceptable. No. This time, she was not going to let everything around her go to Tartarus and do nothing. As Twilight replayed the events in her life that lead up to this point, she felt a fire starting up in her chest. Her defeated look soon hardened into a look of determination and her eyes snapped open with fury. No. This time, she will fight!

Twilight got back on her hooves and despite there not being much light, she managed to find her way through the cavern. She found out that the caverns lead to an old, abandoned network of tunnels that used to be a subway network for the city. And since these tunnels were pretty close to the cave she just fell into, she figured that part of these tunnels ran under the park the library was built in.

Through these tunnels, she eventually managed to find her way back to the surface. Once she did, she made her way straight back to the library. She paid no attention to the citizens giving her curious and concerned looks as she passed them or the police investigation going on in the park when she returned to the library. She slammed its doors open, greatly startling Spike who was pacing around, waiting for the police to finally deliver him news about Twilight. He looked up to see none other than his caretaker enter the building and a huge wave of relief washed over him when he saw that she was alive.

"TWILIGHT!" He screamed in joy as he ran to hug her, but when he got close, he saw the look on her face. Hard as steel and full of burning anger. Spike also felt something inside her. He felt the fever, the rage. It scared him. "Twilight, what... what happened to you?" He whimpered as he stepped back. Twilight didn't respond. She marched straight to her room. Spike thought she was gonna get into bed to finally get some rest, but rest was the last thing on Twilight's mind. She wanted to get started as soon as she could.

High Culture was buried at the end of the month. Twilight was shocked to learn that despite his young age, he's left a will in which he left everything to her. The library, his money, his possessions, everything. And Twilight would make good use of it. In the following days, she started moving several things down to the tunnel she found beneath the library and started excavating a tunnel that led up to the library. Specifically, her bedroom. She was doing it upwards from the tunnel to make sure nopony notices any of it.

Spike was there to help her all throughout the process. But she was still worried about her. She hasn't spoken a word ever since she returned from the caverns. And Spike noticed some strange items she was gathering at her new secret hideout. Among these were computers, the most advanced ones there were, training dummies, and books about martial arts. She also started working out like crazy and on several occasions Spike caught her thrashing the dummies when he entered the tunnel, beating them until they shattered. This went on for the next few months, but the most unnerving thing was still yet to come.

Spike walked down the stairs to bring down Twilight's dinner to her. She's barely eaten ever since she started her vigorous training. Usually, when he entered around this time, he would find Twilight mercilessly beating one of the training dummies, but tonight, she was doing something else. She was putting on the finishing touches on a suit that Spike had never seen before but would come to be very familiar with. When Twilight finished with the suit, she wasted no time in putting it on. Spike placed the tray on Twilight's desk where the computers were standing and turned towards the purple pony, but when he saw her, he jumped in fright.

Twilight was looking like she just stepped out of one of Spike's comic books. Like an equine bat. The pitch-black mask completely covered her head, the dark cape flowing down her back gave her the appearance of sporting huge wings, the bat symbol on her chest looked menacing and proud, but the most frightening part about her new appearance was her eyes. Those glowing, white, glaring eyes. Spike was unsure what to do or say, but eventually, he found his voice.

"Uh... Twilight. What are you going to do?" He asked nervously. Twilight remained quiet for a while. Spike thought she would once again ignore his question, but for the first time since she returned, she spoke.

"Get. Justice." She then reached beneath her cape and threw something at the wall. Spike turned to see a bat-shaped throwing weapon pieced onto the wall, impaling a picture of a pony he instantly recognized as High Culture's killer. Spike really didn't like that implication.

"Twilight, please tell me you're not about to do what I think you'll do." Twilight didn't respond, she just started making her way toward the exit of the tunnel. "Twilight, that's not justice! That's vengeance! If you do that you'll be no better than them!" Spike called out after her. Twilight briefly stopped, as if his words finally got to her. He looked back at Spike over her shoulder. "Please, don't throw yourself away. It wouldn't be what High would want for you. And it's not what I want for you either." Twilight kept looking at him for a few moments before continuing her way out.

A scream echoed through the dark alleyways of Manehettan. Rising Star, a pegasus mare, the well-known singer at The Blue Feather was currently being held at gunpoint by the very same pony who murdered the library owner, High Culture.

"Please, don't do this!" The mare begged, but the hitpony just scoffed.

"Sorry, lady. The big boss paid quite a bit of money for me to stop you from chirping for good." He said as he cocked his gun.

"How was I supposed to know what they were doing in the backroom? It's my workplace! I had to go back there!"

"Not my problem! Just shut up and don't make this any harder for me, would you?" He was about to pull the trigger, but before he could, the alleyways were filled with different kinds of screams. His own. The stallion collapsed on the ground as something pierced into his hoof and made him drop the gun. Rising Star took advantage of the situation and flew off.

The hitpony pulled the thing out of his hoof, but before he could examine it, something hit him with incredible strength. His attacker didn't hold back. By the time they were done with him, he was coughing up blood and having trouble breathing through his shattered ribs. The assault went on for almost a full minute before the stallion found himself laying on his back with a dark figure towering over him, holding the very same throwing weapon it first attacked him with, shimmering with his blood, and was about to bring it down on him, but then something stopped it.

"That's not justice, that's vengeance."

Twilight thought it would be easy. This piece of filth with no respect for the sanctity of life took away her beloved purely out of greed. He deserved everything she was about to do to him. So why couldn't she do it?

"Don't throw yourself away!"

And then she realized it. This scum had nothing to fight for but himself. That's what made it so easy for him to take another life. But she has others to fight for. Spike, the ponies of Manehettan like that mare she just rescued and the memory of her beloved.

"It wouldn't be what High would want for you. And it's not what I want for you either."

In the end, Twilight just punched the bastard across the face and knocked him out cold. She managed to dig up enough dirt on him to get him put away for life anyway. She managed to bring him to justice. That night, The Batmare claimed its first victim. The first of many.

Twilight leaned back in her chair as she recalled that memory. She really wanted to kill him. She almost did. She would have if it wasn't for Spike. He reminded her of what she was. More importantly, what she didn't want to become. She turned back towards the young dragon.

"Thank you, Spike." She smiled softly, to the dragon's confusion.

"For what exactly? The breakfast? I mean, it's good, but not better than what I usually make." Twilight chuckled.

"Well, that too. But more importantly, for looking out for me and making sure I didn't lose myself that night." Spike now understood.

"I really thought you were going to kill him."

"For a moment, so did I." Twilight lamented. "If it weren't for you, I would have." She still entertained the idea from time to time even though she knew she shouldn't. That bastard was currently serving his life sentence after Twilight recorded her assassination attempt on Rising Star and anonymously sent evidence to the police that connected him to High Culture's murder. He wasn't worth any further thought.

"But I didn't. Thanks to you, the Batmare had not become a murderer, but a symbol of hope for the ponies of this city."

"In more ways than one." Spike added. "In more ways than she should have been." Twilight looked back at him.

"Spike are you referring to..." She couldn't bring herself to finish, but she didn't have to.

"You know I do, Twilight. The Batmare had set a dangerous precedent." Twilight sighed. Spike's words brought forward another memory. One of a rather peculiar nature.

The first month of Batmare's activities in Manehettan has been highly successful. She already managed to shut down many of the city's greatest crime lord, Silver Martini's operations. Not to mention stopping a laundry list of smaller crimes. So Twilight should have been satisfied. She was making great progress in a short amount of time. Yet for some reason, it didn't feel enough. Beating up street thugs and blowing up warehouses full of drugs did not bring her the satisfaction she was hoping for. And of all the ponies she saved, many still saw her as just another street menace. She needed to do something big. Something that actually made a difference. Something that the ordinary ponies of Manehettan would never be able to do on their own. And apparently, the force from above that has been watching over her for the past two years still didn't leave her - she laughed bitterly as she thought that maybe it was Celestia watching over her from afar - because once again, it was almost like the universe answered her plea. The radio built inside the "ears" of her mask picked up a police broadcast.

"To any available units, an alarm has been received from corner of Princess Cross and 48th Street. I repeat! Scarecrow is at the corner of Princess Cross and 48th Street!"

Twilight's eyes widened under her mask. The Scarecrow. Reports have been coming in about a mysterious unicorn dressed as a Scarecrow with a hideously grotesque face robbing stores all over the city. According to reports, he was a skilled illusionist, using smoke, creepy puppets, and unicorn mental magic to frighten his victims and rob their stores without intervention. Even the police weren't immune to his mind games. This was it. Her chance to finally give Batmare the debut she rightfully deserved. Without a second of hesitation, she pulled out her grapple gun and took off into the corner mentioned in the broadcast.

The Pearly Gate. A cleverly named jewelry store on the corner of Princess Cross and 48th Street. In fact, it was one of the fanciest of its sort in the city. And as such, its owners didn't neglect its security. It was equipped with the best alarm system and safes money could buy, a direct connection to the police, and even had a contract with a private security company that provided the store with imposing guard stallions that no sane pony would want to mess with. However, at the moment, even these massive stallions were nothing more than quivering colts on the ground along with the shopkeepers and any customer who was unfortunate enough to visit the store that evening, as the smoke overwhelmed the shop and monstrous figures ran rampant inside, tearing the place apart and terrifying everypony.

Amid the smoke, a lone figure approached the glass cabinet that contained the jewels put out for display. Dressed in rags, a grotesque sack covering a gas mask, and a straw hat, the sinister Scarecrow pulled a sickle out from beneath its cloak and pierced it into the glass before drawing a circle into it. Removing the cut-out glass, the Scarecrow removed the jewels and placed them in a bag. He then proceeded to enter the back room of the store where the more valuable pieces were being kept. The shopkeeper was so frightened of his puppets that he didn't even notice when he snatched them. Opening safe after safe, the scrawny figure filled his bags with as many precious jewels as they could carry, before making his way toward the exit.

But before he could reach the front door of the store, he bumped into something he didn't quite notice in the intense smoke around him. The door was opened, but somepony was blocking his way. He looked up to see a shadowy figure with glowing white eyes and tall, pointy ears glaring down at him. But being quite an expert in the field of theatrics and intimidation himself, he was not frightened. Instead, he summoned his nightmarish puppet copies of himself to surround the newcomer. But Twilight would not be fooled by it. Being an expert on all things magical, he knew all about unicorn illusions. Only one of these was the real Scarecrow. The question was which one?

Twilight counted seven of the figures in front of her. All she needed to do was attack all of them simultaneously to make the real one reveal himself. She reached into her belt and threw seven of her trusty batarangs at all seven of them. Neither of the figures moved, but Twilight knew the real one would react defensively. He couldn't keep up the spell around the puppets and deter the batarang at the same time. But to Twilight's shock, all seven of the projectiles struck their targets and the only reaction they emitted were wooden thumps. It took Twilight all of her mental strength not to facehoof herself as she realized what happened. Scarecrow sneaked off concealed by the smoke and replaced himself with another of his puppets.

She was snapped out of her shock by the sound of a door locking behind her. She turned around to see Scarecrow through the window of the store locking her inside. He dangled the keys mockingly in front of the window before throwing them away and waving to the Batmare before making good on his escape. And as if the villain escaping wasn't bad enough, the ponies inside the store were beginning to violently cough and suffocate. With the door closed, there was now no way for the smoke to get out. Twilight will have to do something and quick!

Normally, breaking through the window would work just fine. But given what kind of a store this was, this window was completely unbreakable. But not unmovable. Twilight quickly pulled a vial of explosive chemicals from her belt and poured its content at the four corners of the window before detonating it. That did the trick. The glass remained undamaged but the force of the blast pushed it out of its place, leaving a huge square-shaped hole in the window. The Batmare jumped through it and continued its pursuit of the criminal.

She looked in the direction Scarecrow had taken off into, but he was nowhere to be seen. Twilight pulled out her grapple gun, hooked the top of the tallest building she could find, and launched herself into the air with as much velocity as she could muster. Once in the air, she spread out her cape and glided across the whole neighborhood, scanning every street she could see. The lens in her mask gave her perfect vision in the night and she managed to locate her prey soon enough, trying to make a run for it towards an alleyway.

Gliding towards the same alleyway, Twilight landed on the top of a building next to it and ran to the side to see Scarecrow making his way through it. Twilight pulled out her grapple gun again and aimed at the running criminal below before firing and snatching his ankle. The startled stallion fell forward and Twilight easily pulled him up to the same roof, throwing him behind herself. The Scarecrow groaned in pain, but he wasn't finished quite yet.

He slowly got back on his hooves and pulled his cloak apart, releasing a swarm of crows from beneath it that flew straight at Twilight with savage fierceness. The vigilante was so shocked by this move that she barely had time to react in time and defend herself. Scarecrow took advantage of this and pulled out his sickle, revealing the long rope it was attached to. He then started swinging it around himself and brought it down towards the spot where Twilight was still struggling with the crows. The only way she could escape was backward, so she jumped off the roof and fired her grapple gun back at its edge as she fell. She then started pulling herself back up just as Scarecrow looked down and she managed to sock him right in the muzzle.

Scarecrow tumbled back and fell on his flank. He motioned for his crows to attack again, but this time Twilight was prepared. She pulled out one of her batarangs and as the birds got close, she pressed a button on it, making it release a loud, beeping noise that completely deteriorated the senses of birds. Eventually, they couldn't take it anymore and flew away. The Scarecrow growled and threw his sickle at the Batmare in anger, but she sidestepped and caught the rope in her hoof, before cutting it with her batarang. She then ran straight at Scarecrow to finally take him down, but the criminal had one more weapon in his arsenal.

Before Batmare could reach him, he pulled out a scythe from his cloak. A double-ended scythe with one blade at each end. He began twirling it in his hooves and Batmare was forced to back away to avoid it. She was forced on the defensive as Scarecrow kept closing in on her, twirling the scythe in his grasp. Batmare couldn't attack without getting hit but she had one last batatang she didn't use and she knew just how she could utilize it. She threw the projectile, but not at Scarecrow. Instead, she threw it around him and it twirled back, hitting the criminal in the head and making him drop the scythe and stumble towards Batmare. The hero turned around and bucked his lights out cold.

By the time the police got to The Pearly Gates, they found Scarecrow tied up atop a pile of his puppets and ready for them to take in.

Despite herself, Twilight couldn't help but smile when she recalled that fight. It was her greatest triumph as Batmare yet. A triumph that finally brought her the satisfaction she sought from being the city's defender and convinced her that what she did actually made a difference. She asked Spike to run a little research on Scarecrow after his arrest and was quite surprised to find out that he was ironically a stallion named Sweet Dreams, a psychology student who dropped out of the university. There were whispers that he was expelled at the pressure of the mob when his father refused to pay them protection money for his bar. And Spike found out that every store he robbed had connections with supposed organized criminals. So his primary motive appeared to be revenge over financial gain.

This unnerved Twilight. Scarecrow's reign of terror begin not long after she began her caped crusade against organized crime. Could it have been that she unwittingly inspired another form of crime to rise as the mob was slowly but surely pushed back? She shook her head. Such a thing was preposterous to even imagine. Perhaps Spike was right. The lack of sleep was finally getting to her. She finally decided to call it a night. Or day. She could barely tell anymore. With a sigh, she shut down the computers and spun around in her chair to head toward the exit.

"Come on, Spike. Let's open up for the day." Spike nodded before picking up the now empty tray and following her.

"I suppose with your nocturnal activities, I will have to fill the role of librarian today as well." Twilight rolled her eyes. As she was now the owner of the library, she didn't actually have to work in it, just manage it. And she was doing quite a fine job at it. So most of the actual work was handled by Spike. 'Some things never change', she often heard the young dragon complain.

"You mean you'll have to do the job that I am paying you for? What an outrage." Twilight replied sarcastically. "Besides, I still have some work to do outside the library." From the corner of her eyes, she saw Spike raising his eyebrow. "Before you ask, it has to do with the library. The new delivery of books just came in. I have to pick it up."

"Why didn't you just have them deliver it here?" He asked. Twilight sighed. She knew Spike didn't like to let her out of his sight.

"Aww, come on Spike. I'll just pick those books up and be right back. Then I promise I'll get some sleep. I won't do anything crazy."

"I never said I thought you would do something crazy." Spike replied, almost offended. Twilight rolled her eyes.

"You didn't have to."

The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #3: An Ace In The Hole

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As Twilight was making her way back to the Atheneigh library with a carriage of new books attached to her hips, she couldn't help but marvel at how calm and quiet the neighborhood around her was. Normally, one wouldn't be able to make their way through the city without running into some hoodlums looking for trouble, drug dealers trying to pass Caramel Falcon's stuff off or some of his enforcers trying to squeeze yet another poor shopowner dry. But the only thing Twilight currently saw were foals playing in the streets, shopkeepers sweeping at the entrance of their stores while whistling merrily and some cheerful couples laughing to each other as they embraced. The city looked peaceful. Even, dare she say, safe.

Twilight smiled to herself as she took in the picture. Mere months ago, this would have been inconceivable. The crime lords of the city held it so firmly under their hooves that even during the daylight, they wouldn't leave the good citizens of Manehettan in peace. But ever since the Batmare put more of them and their thugs away, the city felt completely different. And this delighted Twilight. Especially since it was thanks to her.

She found herself sharing Spike's worries on several occasions. Especially after her encounter with Scarecrow. She wondered if her activities as Batmare actually had a positive impact on the city or if she was just wasting High Culture's inheritance to quell her own petty need for vengeance. But looking at the city now, it was hard to argue that what she did was actually making a difference. And she couldn't have been happier about this.

As Twilight made her way further into the city, she noticed how the streets were becoming more empty, yet not quieter. She could hear the rumbling of a crowd coming from the distance and since the streets were so empty now, she couldn't help but look. She saw several ponies gathered around in a circle not too far away from her. Twilight raised an eyebrow. Whatever could entice a whole street of ponies to gather around like that must have been worthy of her attention as well. Making her way up to the crowd, she saw a small, makeshift stage in the middle of the circle of ponies, but strangely enough, the stage was empty.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked, wondering just why would these ponies find an empty stage so interesting.

"Just wait." A stallion standing next to Twilight said. Twilight did as she was told and in a couple of seconds, she saw a huge puff of red smoke exploding from the ground that made her cover her eyes. When the smoke disappeared, she opened her eyes and saw that the stage was no longer empty. It was occupied by a unicorn mare with a brilliant azure coat and pale blue mane and tail wearing a blue magician hat and cape decorated with stars.

"Behold, Manehettan, The Great and Powerful Trixie!" The unicorn announced as she released a few blasts from her horn and exploded into fireworks all around the stage, much to the crowd's amazement. Except to Twilight's. Since she used to be the most talented magic user of her generation before the... accident, cheap magic tricks didn't impress her. And while she may have lost her own magic, she was still interested in it and therefore wanted to see what this unicorn can do.

"Prepare to see wonders you have never seen before!" Trixie boasted, poofing a table and a huge red box into existence on the stage. "Starting with the unfathomable sight of a pony sawing herself in half!"

Trixie got into the box and used her magic to lock it tight and levitate a huge hoofsaw into the air. Twilight could see the several ponies around her cringing at the sight of the saw reaching the box and slicing its way down through it until it reached the part where Trixie was lying. But to the crowd's amazement, the unicorn in the box merely smirked confidently as the saw passed her. The box then split into two parts. One contained Trixie's still smirking head and the other her kicking legs.

"Ta-da!" Trixie announced proudly after her trick. The crowd gasped in amazement before applauding her performance. They were truly in awe at the trick, but Twilight knew better.

'I've heard of this trick. A portal connects the two boxes allowing the body to separate. Not impressed.'

Trixie quickly reassembled her body and exited the box, then pulled off her hat and showed its insides to the audience.

"As you can see, my hat is empty." Trixie then reached into her hat and pulled out a rope. "Or is it?" She then kept pulling the rope until at least ten meters of it was lying on the stage. The crowd once again clapped in amazement, but Twilight just rolled her eyes.

'Any unicorn could have summoned that rope into that hat with a teleportation spell. Or open a small portal to have another pony push the rope into it from the other side. These ponies do know there is real magic in Equestria, right? Then again, I suppose in a modern city like Manehettan where they use it less, more advanced forms of it are a rare sight.'

Trixie then clapped her forehooves, making another puff of smoke appear on the stage. Once the smoke cleared, the crowd gasped again, but this time, it was of terror. In the middle of the stage, was a huge bear, growling menacingly at Trixie, who looked completely unfazed.

"A huge thanks to the Manehettan Zoo for their generous contribution to today's performance." Trixie announced before waving the lasso over her head and throwing it at the bear. The vicious predator leaped at the unicorn, but as the lasso wrapped around its neck, it seemed to have been completely pacified and stood down. Trixie then jumped onto the animal's back and started riding it around the stage. This trick calmed the terrified crowd and they started cheering as Trixie rode the animal. Once again, the only one who did not appreciate the performance was Twilight.

'Since when does taming animals count as magic? With tricks like that she should be performing in a circus, not a magic show.'

Twilight was almost offended. Since she lost her magic, it upset her even more how this mare was wasting hers on this prestidigitation. Completely losing her interest in Trixie's display, Twilight realized that she probably should be going. Spike was most likely already worried that she went back on her word to just pick up the new delivery of books and ventured out on another Batmare adventure.

By the time she turned to leave, Trixie already poofed the bear back to where it came from and noticed one of her audience trotting out of the crowd, which naturally did not sit well with the magician. Using one of her smoke bombs, she poofed away from the stage and materialized right in front of Twilight just as she was about to reattach her carriage to her hips.

"Are you not entertained?" She asked challengingly, almost as if daring Twilight to reply negatively. Twilight became nervous as the entire audience's gaze fell on her, waiting for her answer. Ironic, she thought, she could face armed criminals in the night without an issue, but her stage fright had apparently still not left her. Perhaps if she had her mask, she would feel better.

"Well..." Twilight started, unsure of just what she should say. "It's not like your performance is bad, it's just... I'm used to... real magic." She finished but was uncertain that she picked her words carefully. Trixie's lips widened into a cocky smile.

"Oh, so we have a real magical expert amongst ourselves, don't we?" She taunted. This comment actually got to Twilight.

"I am!" She declared loudly, completely forgetting about the audience watching her. When she remembered, she immediately shrunk back. "Or at least... I was before... before..." Her eyes became misty as she remembered. She reached up to her mane and pulled it apart for Trixie to the place of her broken horn. The other unicorn gasped upon seeing it and her look turned pitiful as she looked back down into Twilight's eyes. But then she got an idea and her smile returned, but this time, it actually looked genuine. She grabbed Twilight's hoof and started to slowly and invitingly lead her toward the stage.

"Then why don't you help me with my next trick?" She asked. "With your expertise and my skills, I'm sure we'd make a great pair!" Trixie actually felt sorry for this unicorn and wanted to do something nice for her. She felt like including her in a magic show would at least let her relive her memories about her magic. But Twilight didn't look enthusiastic about the offer. She looked back at the crowd still looking at her and her old friend, stage fright returned with full force. She blocked down so much that she was powerless against Trixie dragging her onto the stage.

"Big round of applause for my new assistant everypony!" Trixie cheered, making the audience clap for Twilight who nervously waved back. Trixie then turned to Twilight. "For my next trick, I will show you just how great and powerful Trixie is, by bringing out the magic that was left in you! Without your horn." The audience gasped in wonder but Twilight already knew whatever's gonna happen next will be nothing more than mere tricks and illusions.

Trixie poofed another magic box onto the stage before stopping into it. "Watch and awe as my assistant makes me disappear!" She then winked at Twilight and closed the box's door. Twilight was unsure what to do. In the end, she merely nudged the box with her head and opened the door to reveal that Trixie had indeed disappeared. The crow applauded again, impressed with the new trick, but Twilight was familiar with this trick as well. Now came the part where she closed the door, repeated what she just did and Trixie would reappear in the box through the secret door in the back of the box. And that was exactly what happened, much to the crowd's further amazement.

"Ta-da!" Trixie exclaimed, grabbing Twilight's shoulder and posing with her for the crowd. Twilight tried to smile for them too, but it was extremely forced. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. But from the corner of her eyes, Twilight could swear that she could see that the bombastic showmare was giving their audience a slightly less fake, but still rather forced smile. She knew all about this kind of smile. It was what she put up to the ponies who came to the library every day to convince them that all was right in the world.

But Trixie's smile while similar also felt different. It was as if she wasn't just sending this message to everypony around her, but also convincing herself of it. She had trouble keeping it up, from close up, Twilight could see her lips and the muscles in her face fidgeting. Before she could make further observations, Trixie pushed her away to announce her next trick.

"And now..." Trixie pulled off her hat again and summoned a deck of cards out of her hat and started rotating them around the stage before setting them on her hoof. Twilight mentally groaned in annoyance.

'Card tricks? You have reached the bottom of the barrel.'

"...witness the awesome mental abilities of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie used her magic to make the cards rotate around Twilight in the air, while she pulled her hat over her eyes. "My assistant will pick a card and I will be able to tell which one simply with the power of my mind!" Twilight half-heartedly pulled a card out of the deck floating around her and looked at it. Trixie made a humming sound for a few seconds before blurting out. "You picked... Diamond 7!" The crowd set their sights from Trixie to Twilight, waiting for the affirmative response, but that wasn't what they got.

"Actually... I didn't." Twilight wasn't even trying to hide the annoyance from her voice anymore. Trixie's eyes widened in alarm under the hat, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Oops! Silly me, I used the same magical channel I use with other ponies with magic." Trixie chuckled nervously. "OK. I entered through a different channel, now I see much clearer. You picked... Club 3!"

"Once again, no I didn't." Twilight deadpanned with a groan. She was getting really tired of this. Trixie was quickly becoming panicked but was still desperate to save face.

"Uhh... The Ace of Spades?" Trixie tried in a last desperate attempt. Twilight just about had enough of this. She walked up to Trixie, pulled her hat off of her head, and shoved the card in her hoof.

"If you're gonna waste your magical talent on childish tricks and illusions, at least do it right." She told her before leaving the stage and taking off with her cart of books. Trixie remained on the stage, nervously smiling down at her disappointed audience, cursing herself for not shuffling her deck correctly. But the show must go on.

"Uhh... And for my next trick..." But the crowd had enough. They booed Trixie for her failed performance and all headed off. Even worse for Trixie, they left before the end of her show, which was when she got paid for her performance. Left without an audience and a single bit for the day, the only thing the defeated Trixie could do was take a look at the card Twilight Sparkle picked and she failed to identify. It was the joker.

The rest of Trixie's day has been, to put it plainly, really bad. Apparently, word had gotten around fast about her failed performance with Twilight Sparkle because wherever she went, ponies have been laughing at her dismissing all of her performances as a joke. Her blood still boiled when she thought about it. All she wanted to do was cheer up that broken-horned unicorn and let her feel a little magical again. Well, this day taught Trixie that no good deed goes unpunished. Especially in this city.

With no successful performances today, Trixie earned no income today, which was quite unfortunate in her case as she was in a rather pressing financial situation at the moment. As if being able to only rent a shoddy apartment in one of the seediest parts of the city wasn't enough, she was also in deep with the wrong ponies. In a neighborhood like hers, your business won't last long without paying for the ponies who run the place. And she's been getting late with her payments as of late. And the fact that the ponies she owed to were working for the top dog of the city, Caramel Falcon himself did not make things easier.

Trixie sighed to herself as she reached her apartment door. She was already dreading the next day. She's gonna have to get money somehow, but considering the blow her reputation suffered today, it was gonna be even harder than before. She could try relocating her performances to another part of the city, but then she'd spend the whole day traveling and would get home even later at night when the streets were even more dangerous. Especially with that bat creature running around.

The criminals of Manehettan were already unhinged enough before it showed up, but now they were panicking which made them all the more dangerous. Caramel Falcon's thugs were ready to fire at anything that moved in the night lately. The streets may have been cleaner throughout the day, but that was only because the bat put away so many criminals that the police were able to somewhat reclaim control in most parts of the city by the day, leaving most of the remaining criminals to reschedule their activities to nighttime. Which lead to even more violence as they fought for territory and control with each other, making life particularly more difficult for ponies who got home late. Such as Trixie.

Lately, Trixie has been getting the feeling that the whole world has become nothing more than a badly written comedy, made solely around her misery. And today was the ultimate proof of that. She had become nothing more than a punchline in the eyes of the ponies she was supposed to impress and now she probably lost her livelihood. She had no idea what to do. The only positive thing about this day would be that it will finally be over and she could at the very least get some rest before she had to start worrying about everything tomorrow.

But unfortunately, fate had once again stacked the deck against her favor.

When Trixie flicked up the lights in her apartment and entered the living room, she was surprised to see two stallions sitting there waiting for her, but she became downright frightened when she recognized them. One of them was the dark brown earth pony stallion with a black mane who just happened to be the latest failed enforcer Caramel Falcon out in charge of his drug smuggling operations, Shady Deal. The other was the yellow pegasus Yellow Mist, Caramel Falcon's favorite executive. Trixie gulped as the two stallions looked up to meet her gaze. Whatever they were here for, couldn't have been good for her.

"Ah, Trixie!" Yellow Mist greeted rather jovially. "We have been waiting for you. Please have a sit." Slowly and dreadfully, Trixie complied and sat down between them. Shady Deal eyed her with a hard expression. Obviously, he was still bitter about his latest failure, and his boss gave him a hard time because of it. Yellow Mist on the other hoof retained his friendly mood as he spilled a drink for all three of them.

"Now, Trixie." Yellow Mist began after taking a sip of his drink. "I understand you're not in an easy situation with the big stallion. And Shady here can relate. After he lost the boss his latest shipment, he's got quite a dept to pay back as well." Shady Deal's narrowed-eyed look changed its target to the yellow pegasus.

"Well, maybe if you haven't bailed on me just before it happened..." Yellow Mist silenced him with a raised hoof.

"Wouldn't have changed a thing. Unlike most of you, I'm somepony that the boss actually hired for my brain. I'm not a fighter, though considering how easily you and your boys went down, Shady, perhaps it's too flattering to assume that you're one either." Shady sat back down and groaned.

"Now then, as I was saying, Trixie, you got quite a lot of money you owe Mr. Falcon. But this is your lucky day. I like you, Trix, I really do. So when a new job came up that would get some ponies off the hook who were in deep with the big stallion, I immediately thought of you. Well, you and this dummy." Yellow Mist motioned towards Shady with his head, much to the earth pony's annoyance. Trixie's eyes widened. Could it be that her worst day ever would be the one when her luck finally turns? But then she remembered something that still made her worried.

"Um... What kind of job exactly?" She stammered nervously. Yellow Mist just waved his hoof dismissively.

"Don't worry. It's a simple job." He replied reassuringly, but Trixie still had her doubts. A "simple" job probably wouldn't get anypony off the hook with Caramel Falcon. Then as if to confirm her suspicions, Yellow Mist's expression turned very serious. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, Trix, we're in deep manure here. With the... "bat" taking out more and more of the boss' operations, he's been losing some serious money. That means his empire is getting closer to crumbling every day. Since he's no longer able to employ as many as he used to, some ponies have stopped coming out when they got caught doing something they shouldn't be. And turns out there were some squealers among them. Someponies ratted on the boss' main base of operations for shorter sentences." Trixie's eyes widened as she heard that.

"The Ace Chemicals building?!" She asked in shock. Falcon really was losing his grip on the city if ponies dared to even point the cops in the direction of that place. Yellow Mist nodded.

"Precisely. Now, the boss has been able to cover his tracks about the gigs down the docks with his fake names and aliases. But his main office in that place has some pretty important documents hidden in a safe that will incriminate him for sure. The badges will start investigating the place tomorrow and if they find those documents, the big stallion will join his old playmate, Silver Martini in the slammer. That's where we come in. All we have to do is stage a little B&E at the plant and steal those documents. It's as simple as that." Yellow Mist explained. "So are you in?"

Trixie was hesitant. She wasn't a criminal and she honestly wanted as little to do with Falcon's criminal activities as possible. But if she did this, she would be free of her debt and the thugs who kept milking her every time she got her hooves on some money. Despite the dangers, she felt like she really had to do this. The way Yellow Mist put it, it really sounded simple and after the horrible day she just had, this opportunity came at just the right time. Not seeing any other way to get out of the mess she was in, she eventually gave in.

"Do I really have a choice?" She asked reluctantly. Yellow Mist shrugged.

"You could always say no, but then you would give up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get back on your hooves. Something ponies in this town would kill for. And then I wouldn't be able to guarantee your safety if you get my meaning." Trixie got it all too well.

"OK, Mist. I'm in." Yellow Mist smiled in satisfaction.

"Splendid. Now then, meet us at the main entrance of the compound of Ace Chemicals at 11 pm. And don't be late. Is that clear?" Trixie nodded half-heartedly, which didn't go unnoticed by Yellow Mist. "No hard feelings, okay, Trix? It's nothing personal, just business." Yellow Mist added as he and Shady got up to leave. "And Trixie?" Yellow Mist added after trotting out the door. "Lighten up a little. No need to be so serious all the time. Terrible for your health."

By the time Twilight got back to the library, she had completely forgotten about her encounter with the street magician. She didn't even mention it to Spike, who thankfully didn't question why she was out longer than she should have been.

The rest of the day has been fairly uneventful. As Twilight promised, she took her required daily sleep once she brought back the new books and Spike went about his duties around the library. Of which he had plenty of to attend to. Twilight had really done a splendid job at running the library once she inherited it from the High Culture. The number of ponies attending by the day was now measured in hundreds. He was glad some things didn't change about Twilight. Her organizational skills were just as great as they were back in Canterlot.

Spike's face fell when he remembered those days. Although, not because he didn't remember them fondly. On the contrary, he missed them terribly. Celestia, Shining Armor, Twilight Velvet and Night Light. Pony Joe's donut shop, Twilight's old friends, even if she didn't spend as much time with them due to her studies, Spike was the bridge over the gap between her and them. Speaking of which, Spike was still worried whether or not Twilight knew that he was the one who gave their new address to Shining Armor and the princess. She might not be able to forgive him for that considering she still hasn't let go of what happened.

Spike desperately hoped that they would be able to make amends one day. That is why Twilight would go home and they could all live together as a family. Even if things would never be the same again. But with each passing day, the chances of that happening decreased dramatically. At first, Spike didn't mind their new life. When Twilight met and fell in love with High Culture, Spike thought that maybe she would be able to move and start a new life, but when the stallion was murdered, that's when things started going even more downhill for her.

The mare that returned to the library from the tunnels that day was somepony completely new. One that Spike didn't recognize and who terrified him immensely. The fires that burned in her eyes every time she donned that costume were something he's never seen before. At that moment, Spike knew that Twilight found her drug, an obsession so hard that she may not be able to quit it. And just like most obsessions, it was harmful to her. Faust only knew how many times Twilight came back badly beaten and bruised after a night out. And Spike was worried that one day night, she might not come back at all. He understood why Twilight did it, he always did. And he respected it in a way, but his concern for Twilight's health, both physical and mental outweighed that.

Spike looked at the clock. The last visitor had just left and with Twlight still sleeping, it was up for him to lock up for the night. Though Spike had his doubts about the sleeping part, he would see for himself soon as it was time to deliver Twilight her dinner. He was certain that when he entered her room, he would see an empty bed again and he would have to bring her dinner down to that accursed tunnel. But when he entered, he nearly dropped the plate in surprise. Twilight was sitting in her bed, leaning against the below beneath the covers and reading a book, just like the Twilight Spike remembered. It was slightly unsettling.

"Um... Twilight, are you ok?" Spike asked as he approached the bed.

"Of course!" Twilight nodded as she put down the book and took the tray. "I've had some time to think, Spike. I realize that I've been neglecting you for quite some time. So I was thinking... after I finish my dinner, would you like to reshelve the library with me?" Spike's eyes lit up like a Heartswarming tree. Reshelving was hardly amongst his favorite activities, but given how little quality time he's been able to spend with Twilight lately, he was not gonna pass on it.

"I would love to!"

The two of them have been at it for hours until it was dark. It was the most fun Spike had in months. By the time they were done, the library had been completely reshelved. Though the atmosphere between them was still a bit tense. Spike couldn't help but feel like Twilight wanted to ask him something and was just looking for an opportunity to do it. When they were finished and sat down for a cup of hot chocolate in Twilight's room, Spike's suspicions were confirmed.

"Spike." Twilight began. "When I picked up the new books, I saw something interesting at the post office." Spike already knew where this was going. "According to my records there, I sent two letters to Canterlot a few months ago. More specifically, to Captain Shining Armor and Princess Celestia. But I don't remember sending those letters. Do you know something about this?" Spike groaned. If only he still had his ability to send letters with his dragon fire. But since Twilight was no longer Celestia's student, that was no longer an option. Spike decided to own it up.

"Yes. Twilight. It was me! Even if you're gonna be as angry with me as you are at them, I will admit it! Ever since we arrived here at Manehettan, I've been trying to fix the gap between you and them. And you know why? Because what you're doing isn't healthy! I understand you're angry at them for what happened. But completely shutting them out of your life won't change anything!" Twilight remained calm and unfazed.

"I am not angry at you, Spike. But I know you better than anyone. There's more to it than that. There is desperation in your voice. Like you're afraid of something. Tell me, Spike. Why are you so afraid?"

Spike was unsure what to answer to this. He was always afraid for Twilight when she went out at night. But Twilight already knew that. Was there really something more to it? Spike searched his feelings and eventually found an answer.

"I'm afraid, Twilight." He sniffed. "Afraid of losing you."

"Spike, we talked about this. I..."

"No! It's not just that! I'm afraid of losing you to the Batmare!" Upon seeing Twilight's confused face, he continued. "Is Twilight Sparkle still here, or is it just the Batmare left? You barely spend any time with me anymore. We barely do all those fun things we used to do back in Canterlot. Twilight, with your family miles away, you're all I have left from my old life. But you're becoming something I don't even recognize anymore! I was hoping maybe reconnecting with the princess or Shining would be able to snap you out of it." Twilight finally understood. She finished her drink and put down the cup before grabbing Spike by the shoulders.

"Spike, things change. But no matter what, some things always stay the same. And one of those things is my love for you. You will never lose me. Do you understand?" Spike looked Twilight dead in the eyes. He looked more serious than ever before.

"Then quit!" Spike blurted out suddenly.

"What?"

"This whole thing! Batmare! Your fight with the mob! You already put so many of them away! Surely the police will be able to handle what is left!" Twilight couldn't believe he was asking this of her.

"Spike, I..." Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a beeping voice coming from Twilight's drawer. Twilight got up and pulled a beeper out of the drawer.

"What's that?" Spike asked.

"This beeper is connected to the batcomputer. Every time there's a report on a subject I'm tracking, it beeps." Twilight said, making her way to the other side of her bed where a small radio was sitting down at the bedside table. She turned it on.

"All available units! We have a report of a break-in at the Ace Chemicals building! I repeat, break-in at Ace Chemicals!" The dispatcher reported. Twilight's eyes widened.

"Ace Chemicals?! This is it! Falcon's main base of operations! He must be trying to make evidence against him disappear! If I catch them, I'll have them for sure!" Twilight shouted as she went to open the entrance to her cave. Spike looked down.

"So, I guess you'll be going then?" He asked. And he raised his hopes that maybe Twilight would listen to him this time.

"We'll continue this talk when I come back! I promise!" Twilight told him before running down the stairs.

"If you come back." Spike whispered sadly.

Ten minutes earlier...

Trixie was standing at the spot where she was supposed to meet Yellow Mist and Shady Deal for their staged heist at Ace Chemicals. It was a dark and gloomy night, perfectly fitting in tone for what they were about to do. And yet, the moonlight did manage to shine through the clouds, illuminating and blinding Trixie at the same time. She scoffed. It was like the world was reminding her of her status as the main character of the messed-up comedy performance that was her life. She was in the spotlight for everyone to see and laugh at. When she decided that she wanted to be an entertainer, this was hardly what she had in mind. But before she could once again start pondering the sad state of her existence, a voice dragged her back into reality.

"Ah, you're here! Excellent!" Yellow Mist called out to her as he and Shady Deal stepped out of the darkness. "I suppose you're both ready to begin." Shady gave a nod, but Trixie just looked down nervously.

"Let's just get this over with." She mumbled.

"That's the spirit." Yellow Mist said sarcastically before pulling out two maps and giving them to Shady and Trixie. "Now listen, the papers we need are in the boss' office on the third floor. These maps will lead you straight there. I will open the main gate for you, but you'll have to get in by force and then break the safe open."

"Hang on!" Trixie interrupted. "Enter by force? Break the safe? What about the alarm system?"

"Yeah. That's the ugly part of it." Yellow Mist replied haltingly, knowing that Trixie won't like what he'll say next. "The alarm system will have to go off to make this look like a convincing break-in." Trixie's eyes widened.

"What?! Are you trying to get us arrested?!"

"You'll be fine." Yellow Mist reassured like it was no big deal. "Well, as long as you get out in ten minutes that is. That's probably how much it will take the badges to get here. But that's what the map is for. I marked the best escape path to get out and I'll be waiting for you there. Then we'll get the hay out of here. It'll be simple."

Simple was hardly the way Trixie would have put it. She looked at the map. The path Yellow Mist gave her was marked with red arrows that showed her the way to the main office and then the escape route. If it was possible she hated this plan even more now. This had 'set up' and 'failure' written all over it. But at least if she goes to prison, she won't have to worry about her debts anymore. She folded her map as Yellow Mist opened the main gate for them and she was about to enter, but then the pegasus stopped her.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He pulled out two pieces of clothing and gave them to the other two ponies. "You've got to wear these." Trixie examined the clothing. It was a red helmet that looked like a bucket with a red cape coming out of it. Trixie shot an incredulous state at Yellow Mist. "It's not my design so don't give me that look. We ran out of ski masks." He motioned at Shady Deal who was already wearing one such mask. "Besides, with all the crazy costumed loons running around this town lately, it seemed appropriate." The pegasus chuckled. "Now get to work!" With a heavy sigh, Trixie put on the helmet and entered the courtyard.

Twilight made her way through the tunnels beneath Manehettan as fast as she could. Given that she was in peak physical condition, it was an easy feat, but she still felt like she was wasting precious minutes. She really needed to come up with a more effective way of transportation. But she'll figure that out once she gets back. Right now, she had the opportunity she's been waiting for for the last two years. If she caught those burglars red-hoofed, there's no doubt she'd be able to put Falcon away for good. But she had to hurry.

By now, Twilight knew these tunnels like the back of her hoof. And she knew just where she needed to exit to get as close to Ace Chemicals as she should. These old tunnels were all connected to currently servicing subway stations. But that was never an issue for her. Not only was she a master of stealth by now, but these subways were barely used by anypony this late. Before she knew it, she was already back on the surface and grappled the tallest building she saw. Launching herself up into the air, she already saw the building and the blare of the alarms was loud enough to hear even from this distance. Spreading her cape, Twilight glided right toward it and reached it within seconds.

Bursting through the skylights, she raced straight towards the main office. While she's never actually been inside this place before, Spike was able to get her the complete blueprint of the building and she studied it carefully in case she ever needed it. Her thoroughness was about to be paid in full.

Twilight reached the corridor leading to the office and she found that the door was already forced open. She prayed that she wasn't too late. But then, even through the alarm system, she was able to make out two voices arguing. The burglars were still there.

"You said we'd have time before the cops got here!" A female voice snapped.

"And you said you'd be able to get this open in seconds!" A gruff male voice replied that Twilight found pretty familiar "Keep working! I'll deal with this!" The owner of the voice stepped out of the office to meet their interloper. He was wearing a ski mask so Twilight didn't recognize him, but she guessed they met before because he jumped in fright the moment he saw her. Twilight learned from experience to always take advantage of her opponent's mistakes and the stallion just made one by jumping back. It gave Twilight the chance to jump forward and use his own strength against him. She tackled him to the ground and knocked him out.

She then ran inside the office to confront the other pony in there. The helmeted mare just finished cracking the safe open and putting away the incriminating documents, but her way out was now blocked by the Batmare. Fortunately for her, the office had a back door, the only problem was that instead of the exit, it lead up to the upper floor. Not seeing any other way out, the figure escaped through the backdoor with Batmare hot on her trail.

Trixie hurried through the incredibly narrow platforms that ran over huge vats of chemicals down below in the hopes of outmaneuvering the figure and running back down as fast as she could. But Batmare was smarter than that. She saw Trixie making a sharp turn around a corner and threw a batarang into the wall in front of her. The impact spooked Trixie enough to jump and make her throw away the papers she was carrying. Twilight grappled her way across the gap between the platforms and landed in front of Trixie.

Trixie was now terrified beyond reason. The key to her freedom was lying in front of her, but even if she got it, she had to get her way through the Batmare to get away with it. A pony who beat muscular stallions into a pulp with her bare hooves. What hope had she against her? In a desperate move, Trixie grabbed an empty canister she found nearby and rolled it toward Batmare. The vigilante jumped over it effortlessly, but by doing so, she gave Trixie the chance to run through under her and pick the documents up from the floor. And now she had a clear run to the way back downstairs.

Batmare grabbed her grappling gun and fired at the canister still rolling in front of Trixie. She pulled it back and managed to trip Trixie with it, making her drop the documents again. Trixie quickly got up and picked up the canister, bashing the unsuspecting Batmare in the head with it as she was about to pick up the documents. She was then about to bring down the canister again, but before she could, Twilight pulled out a batarang and threw it at Trixie's helmet.

It burst through the red helmet like paper, shattering it into pieces, but it didn't stop there. Trixie screamed in pain as she felt the projectile pierce through the sides of her mouth, making its way deep inside. Twilight's eyes widened in terror as the other mare stumbled back and fell over the railing of the platform. Right towards the vat of green chemical liquid below.

Completely forgetting about the documents, Twilight jumped forward and grabbed Trixie by the cape of her helmet. She managed to catch her, but she could feel her hold slipping away. She pulled on the cape with all her might, trying to pull Trixie back over the railing, but then she heard the fabric ripping and in a few seconds, it completely gave away. Trixie plummeted down into the vat with a scream and as she fell, Twilight briefly caught a glimpse of her face. She was completely stunned when she recognized her as the street magician earlier from today.

Trixie crashed into the liquid with a huge splash and Twilight saw her shape disappear beneath the surface with the bubbles that signaled her breathing stopping shortly after. Twilight panted in shock. During her year of operating as Batmare, this was the first time she failed to save somepony. But even more horrifying was the realization that it may have been somepony that she pushed to crime. She didn't have much time to dwell on that as she heard the main door of the plant smash open and looked down to see the cops swarming in.

Twilight's mind swiftly turned back to the incriminating documents Trixie was trying to steal. She turned to pick them up, only to find that they were no longer there. Twilight looked all around the platform for them but they were nowhere to be seen. She was unable to contain her anger and slammed the railing in fury. This did not go unnoticed by the police ponies. They looked up only to find a dark shape grappling its way out of the building through the skylight.

Yellow Mist was standing next to a pool of chemical waste in the backyard of the plant, waiting for Trixie and Shady Deal to show up. He was becoming worried. The cops were already here and his companions were nowhere to be seen. He then heard the backdoor of the plant opening up and jumped in surprise, turning around. He was afraid that the game was up, only to sigh in relief when he only saw Shady Deal, carrying the documents they were after in his hoof.

"Took you long enough." He then noticed the lack of one unicorn mare. "Where's Trixie?"

"She was caught." Shady replied casually, apparently not really concerned about her. Yellow Mist's eyes widened.

"What do you mean captured?! The badges only just got here! They couldn't have gotten to her already!" Shady Deal shook his head.

"Not by the cops. The bat." Yellow Mist scoffed. He wasn't even surprised anymore that the bat showed up.

"That's pretty much the same. The bat always delivers the guys it catches to the badges."

"Well, if that's the case, she will be fine. And I'm sure she's smart enough not to squeal. Now, let's get the hay outta here." Yellow Mist nodded. The two stallions ran over to the brick wall and the pegasus flew up, grabbing the earth pony and carrying him over the wall, the darkness concealing them from prying eyes.

If they left a few moments later, they would have seen a dark shape falling out of the plant's dispersal chute and landing in the chemical waste below. As the seconds passed, bubbles began to appear on the surface of the pool of waste. Suddenly a hoof breached through the surface and grabbed onto the edge of the pool. The owner of the hoof pulled herself out of the chemical waste, taking a huge breath of air as she crawled out. She was lying on her back, coughing heavily and regaining her strength. She then slowly got up and turned around to stand up, and when she did, she saw her reflection. The chemical was dirty green but its surface still shone brightly in the moonlight, giving her just enough light to see it.

Her brilliant azure blue coat was now white as fresh snow, her mane was dyed green and large black circles were visible around her eyes, but it was her lips that most caught her attention. From the sides of her mouth, two huge scars were visible curving upwards. The blood from the injury, mixed with the chemical bath she just took painted the scars bright red, giving her the look of a huge, deformed grin.

Shocked at her new appearance, the figure could only stare blankly at her reflection. This was it. She always felt like her life was a bad comedy for others to laugh at, but this was the ultimate punchline. She was the biggest clown in the circus of life and now she also bore the looks of it. It was tragic. Tragic beyond all belief. And yet, for some reason, she couldn't help but find it funny.

"Heh..."

And the more she thought about it, the funnier it seemed. She finally understood. It was all a joke. She finally got the punchline. And it was hilarious. She loved it. In fact, she loved it so much that she took a vow. From now on, she would dedicate her entire life to making everypony understand it. Why should she be the only one to be let in on this hilarious joke?

"Ha... Ha ha... Hahaha hahaha!"

The figure threw her head back and laughed hysterically. Oh, what glorious fun she's going to have! This entire city was laughing. Laughing at her. And she is not going to disappoint. She's gonna keep going until the whole city laughed even harder. Until they've all laughed themselves to death. It was gonna be a killing joke.

"HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #4: The Killing Joke

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It was well past midnight but Spike still paced around the library in agitation. He could never bring himself to turn in for the night while Twilight was still out there. He never knew if she was gonna need any kind of help when she came back. Medical or otherwise. Even a pep talk could mean the world to Twilight after a particularly nasty night. And no one could give a pep talk to her like the creature who knew her the most.

Of course, even he couldn't always get the result he was hoping for out of these talks. Twilight just ran out on him during the middle of one of them just hours ago and he didn't get any closer to convince her of his point. When she asked him to reshelf the library with her, he felt like maybe the time has come to reach out to the old Twilight. But once again she was yanked away from him by the call of the night.

Spike sighed. Sometimes he wondered if it was already too late for things to ever go back to normal. As he paced about, he looked up to see that he was right in front of Twilight's bedroom door. While he knew very well that when Twilight went out to patrol, she never came back anytime before 3am, he still sometimes checked her room just to change the scenery of his agitated pacing.

He opened the door, fully expecting to find only the empty bed once again, but he was in for the surprise of his life when he saw Twilight lying in it, still wearing her Batmare suit with the exception of her mask. She was lying on her back and looking up at the ceiling. When Spike approached her, he saw her expression of utter defeat and helplessness. He never saw Twilight so defeated. No even when she lost her horn. And that really scared him.

"Twilight? What happened?" Spike was almost too afraid to ask, but he had to. He knew that Twilight needed him now more than ever. She didn't answer straight away. She just melt staring up at the ceiling in silence. When Spike was about to ask again, she finally replied.

"I... failed, Spike." She muttered, on the verge of tears.

"Failed?" Spike asked in confusion. He had a feeling that if Twilight merely talked about failing to get the evidence he needed against Caramel Falcon, she wouldn't be so depressed over that. Frustrated, sure, but not depressed. "Failed how?"

"On my way home this afternoon, I met a unicorn performing magic tricks on the street for a living. She asked me to perform with her, but I was so apathetic about the whole thing that I ruined her whole show. The crowd left without giving her a single bit." Twilight explained while Spike sat down on the bed to listen.

"What does that have to do with anything?" He wondered.

"One of the thieves at the chemical plant I caught. It... It was her." Spike's eyes widened at this revelation. "If... If I didn't ruin it, Spike... If I didn't cost her her income for the day, she probably never would have done that!" Twilight was openly sobbing now. "And then... When j tried to catch her, she fell into a vat full of chemical liquid. I tried to save her but I wasn't strong enough!" Spike couldn't bring himself to say anything. The Batmare never let anypony die before. He couldn't even imagine what a severe blow this must have been for Twilight. In the end, he did the only thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around Twilight and pulled her into an embrace. Twilight returned it and cried into Spike's shoulder.

"And I couldn't even get those documents!" She cried. "By the time I looked up they were gone! Everything I've done so far, Spike, everything has been for nothing!" Twilight eventually cried herself out and let go of him. With hesitant and shaking hooves, she reached for the Batmare mask lying on the bed. She picked it up and looked at it with a hard, crushed expression.

"You were right, Spike. You were right about everything! Some hero I turned out to be!" Her expression turned furious as she glared at the mask like it was her worst enemy. She then let out a scream and threw it across the room. "If I can't even save one pony, then what's the point?" She looked back at Spike with tears in her eyes and for once, her dragon companion didn't have an answer. Twilight sighed before walking over to her bedside chest and went through the usual routine of opening the entrance to her hideout and went down the hidden stairway. Spike followed, but not before picking up her discarded mask.

When he got down, he saw Twilight placing her suit on the ponyquin next to her computer. She then saw Spike approaching her with the mask in his claws and took it from him before placing it on the head of the ponyquin. She closed the cabinet around the ponyquin and it slowly descended down into the floor with two stone lids sealing it down. Twilight then walked over to her computer and shut it down, leaving the whole tunnel in darkness, the only source of light being the lights of Twilight's bedroom on the top of the stairway.

"Twilight..." Spike began hesitantly as the two made their way back up. "Does this mean what I think it does?" Twilight stopped and looked down, seemingly unable to believe what she was about to say herself, but eventually looked back up and nodded.

"The Batmare is no more." Spike's eyes widened.

"Really? That's it? You're just giving up?" Spike asked in disbelief. "After everything you've accomplished. For one mistake?"

"Isn't this what you always wanted?" Twilight asked almost cynically once they got back up to her room. Spike stopped to think that over. He did. He really did. But his main reason was to get Twilight back to her former self. What he saw in front of him was nowhere near that. If it was possible, she looked like even more of a shell of her former self. In that moment, Spike knew he failed to drag Twilight back. Batmare had become a far bigger part of her than he could have expected. Seeing her lose it was like seeing her when she lost her magic those years ago. And that was the last thing he wanted to see.

"I don't know what I want anymore." Spike admitted sadly. Twilight looked out the window at the city she used to defend and let out a heavy sigh.

"Nor do I, Spike. Nor do I."

Yellow Mist hummed to himself as he made his way over to Shady Deal's place. It had been two days since their successful heist at Ace Chemicals and the big stallion was very satisfied with them. Too bad Trixie wasn't there to share in their success. He still found it odd that the mare was nowhere to be found after two days. Shady Deal told him that she was caught by the bat. If that was the case, she should have been hoofed over to the badges, but they apparently never heard of her. Yellow Mist sniffed around all the prisons in the city but he couldn't find a trace of her. If he had to guess, he would say she managed to slip away and went into hiding. She would turn up eventually. Nopony stays hidden for long in this city.

But right now, he had other things to take care of. He entered the apartment complex where Shady lived near the Falcon family mansion. Caramel was a generous employer for the most part and allowed his ponies to live near the area in apartments he owned. And he was about to present further proof of his generosity to Shady. When he reached Shady's door, he was surprised to find it unlocked. Most of Falcon's higher ranking employees almost always locked their doors. In their line of work, one can never be too careful. Regardless, he entered the apartment in high spirits.

"Hey, Shady! Good news! The boss is very satisfied with how our heist at Ace went and he decided to gift you with a little bonus!" He announced cheerfully while dangling an envelope. "And I also managed to score you an invitation for his little son's birthday party next weekend! Good food, good company and an excellent opportunity to make some new friends and good connections!" The pagasus looked around the apartment in search of Shady, but he was nowhere to be seen. He searched through the living room, the bedroom, the kitchen and even knocked on the bathroom door, before making his way to the last possible place, Shady's workroom. The last option ended up being the winner. When Yellow Mist entered, he saw the earth pony sitting in a chair behind his desk. The chair was turned away so Yellow Mist only saw his foreleg hanging down from the side.

"Hey, Shady! You asleep?" The pegasus slowly approached the chair and spun it around. What he saw, made him back away in horror. Shady Deal wasn't asleep, he was dead. The very thought of one of Caramel Falcon's ponies being murdered in his own apartment near the mansion would have been absurd enough, but what they did to his body was downright frightening. His eyelids were cut out of their places and his mouth was spread wide open with two hooks attached to his lips, giving his face the look of a huge twisted grin.

Yellow Mist backed away from the desk in such a hurry that he fell back into the living room on his back. He was about to get up and leave as fast as he could, but then he heard the door being locked. He looked up to see a shadowy pony standing in front of the door, pulling out the key and putting it away.

"He was always so serious." The figure spoke with a mare's voice. "Never laughing, always brooding. But in the end, he went out like we all should. With a nice, big SMILE!" She giggled like a cheeky filly who just pulled off a prank on somepony. Yellow Mist crawled away from her, not having the courage to stand up just yet. He was about to ask who this mare was, but then he realised the voice was extremely familiar to him.

"T... Tri... Trixie?" He stammered in disbelief. "Shady told me the Bat got you."

"Oh, it did! And then it let go!" Trixie replied cheerfully. "It was a wonderful experience! Did you ever wish that you could just flush all your worries down the toilet and swim without a care? Something similar happened to me! And I feel like a brand new mare! Completely reborn!" Yellow Mist just kept staring at her shadowy frame in fear.

"What have you done to Shady?" Trixie chuckled darkly once again.

"Didn't you listen? I put a nice, big smile on his face! And I must say he looks much happier with it, wouldn't you agree?" Yellow Mist started to realise that he was in danger. This mare had obviously gone off her meds and was probably crazy enough to do anything if the state of Shady Deal's body was any indication.

"Trixie, look." Yellow Mist started nervously. "I know we've had a rough patch, but now that we pulled off that heist we're all cool. You're debt is paid. Just let me out of here and we can forget this ever happened. Hay, I'll even help you get rid of Shady's body and forget all about it. I never liked him that much anyway." But Trixie's reply was once again a dark laugh.

"Do you think I put all this effort into this smile just to hide it? To never have the world see it? Oh no, Yellow Mist. I intend my pieces of artwork to be seen all across the city. Including both Shady..." She motioned towards the lifeless body of the stallion in the chair. "...and myself!" Yellow Mist backed away all the way to Shady's desk behind him, but his fear and confusion still refused to let him stand up.

"Yourself?" He asked, dumbfounded. "What do you mean yourself? You're not making any sense, Trixie!" Even in the darkness of the room, he could make out Trixie's grin widening.

"Trixie? Trixie's dead, my friend. You can call me..." The mare finally stepped into the light, revealing her new appearance to Yellow Mist. The pegasus let out a silent scream as he looked up at her. Trixie's coat was now completely white, she was wearing a purple vest over her upper body, her mane - now dark green - was combed back completely smooth, but the most unnerving were her lips. Those blood red lips that covered the huge scars curving upwards from her mouth, giving her the same, albeit smaller grin he gave Shady Deal. "...Joker! And as you can see, I have taken your advice. I lightened up. And you were right! It's great for my health! Now I'm a lot happier!"

Yellow Mist finally regained enough composure to stand up, but Trixie pulled out two cards from the pocket of her vest, both of them jokers, and threw them at the pegasus. The edge of the cards were razor sharp and pierced through his hooves easily, pinning them to the wooden desk behind him. Yellow Mist screamed in pain as he struggled to get himself free, but all of his struggled were in vain.

Suddenly he heard a series of clicking sounds from all over the room. But even more worrying was the fact that they seemed to be getting closer. Yellow Mist looked around and saw a bunch of those wind up teeth toys clammering on the floor as they made their way towards him. As they got closer. Yellow Mist noticed in akarm that these were no ordinary toys. Instead of the harmless plastic, these teeth were razor sharp and made of metal. Yellow Mist began trashing around in panic as a useless attempt to escape.

"Trixie! Trixie, don't... AAAAAGH!!!" He screamed as the first of the mechanical torture devices reached him and bit into his flesh.

"No hard feelings, right, Yellow Mist?" Trixie cooed mockingly. "Nothing personal. just... business. Ha ha... Hehehehe... AH HA HA HA HA!" Trixie laughed maniacally as the tormented pegasus continued to writhe and scream on the floor. By the time the clicking of the wind up teeth stopped, Yellow Mist already bled out with several chunks of flesh missing from the parts of his body they attacked. Trixie then removed the cards she pierced his hooves to the desk with and moved his body into a chair in front of Shady's body on the other end of the desk, before giving his body the exact same facial treatment. Trixie then noticed the envelope that Yellow Mist dropped when he fell over. She picked it up and pulled out the invitation to the Falcon colt's birthday party. Trixie grinned menacingly and looked out the window at the towering mansion of the crime family.

"You think the bat was bad?" Trixie chuckled darkly as her grin grew even more sinister. "Wait 'till you get a load of me."

Captain Jam Garden, a unicorn stallion with mint green coat and brown mane took a sniff from his cigar as he fixed his glasses to examine the crime scene. This was the third in the last two weeks. The third homicide in a chemical plant that was somehow connected to the Falcon family, where the victims have been ponies with a criminal record who were connected to the same family. And there was one more similarity. One that shocked the investigating police ponies to the core.

"The same?" Garden asked from one of the CSI ponies, a pegasus mare with dark yellow coat and red mane while standing in front of three bodies covered in sheets. The CSI pony nodded, before grabbing the sheet and pulling it off to reveal what Garden had been dreading to see. The dead pony lying in front of him had two huge scars carved onto his face, curling upwards from the two sides of his mouth towards his ears and his eyelids have been removed to give the head the apparition of a big, twisted grin. Garden raised a foreleg to his muzzle.

"You know, there was a time where I would have given one of my legs to have Falcon's operations going up in flames like this, but this..." He sneered in disgust as he looked back at the body and instructed the CSI to pull the sheet back up. "What kind of sick, twisted animal could do this to another pony?" As the two ponies kept discussing the crime, Garden's partner, Detective Hardy Bulldog, a huge, bulky, brown earth pony stallion with black hair approached them.

"I just talked to Falcon's attorney. He says he denies knowing anything about what happened here." Garden rolled his eyes.

"Of course he does." He muttered. "Just like with the previous two. Who does he think he's fooling at this point? Only an idiot can't see the connection here! Somepony is targeting his drug operations."

"What does he have to protect at this point?" Hardy scoffed. "Most of his drug labs have already been wiped out in the city." He then put his hoof to his chin in thought. "You think it was the bat again?" Garden shook his head.

"Don't think so. The bat hasn't been spotted in the last two weeks. And the way this freak took out those poor bastards..." he said, motioning at the three sheet covered bodies. "...that's not the bat's style. We never found anypony dead at the places it struck." Hardy shrugged.

"You never know with these freaks." he replied. "A pattern would apply sanity. Anypony who dresses up like a bat and jumps across the city's roofs is clearly nuttier than a fruitcake." Before Garden could respond, he was interrupted by the CSI pony.

"I'm afraid it gets worse." She told them, motioning for the two police ponies to follow her. The three ponies made their way to the loading area of the building. Captain Garden immediately noticed the oddness of the gate where the carriages came in to unload their cargo being wide open. The ponies working for Caramel Falcon weren't know for neglecting their security.

"They just left the gate open like that?"

"They wouldn't do that." The CSI pony replied. "The perpetrator left through that gate. They were either in a hurry or just didn't care if they left the scene unturned and full of evidence." Detective Bulldog scoffed.

"I'm guessing the latter. Freak must have been proud of what they did and wanted to brag about it to us."

"Take it easy, Hardy." Garden said in an attempt to calm his partner. "That's not all, is it?" The CSI pony shook his head.

"No. The worst part is this." She then gave the captain a piece of paper, which contained the list of chemicals that were brought in to the plant that night. "Several canisters of chemicals from that list are missing from here."

"The perpetrator took them." Captain Garden concluded, before turning to Hardy. "Do you think it was a rival dealer gang?"

"Not a chance." The detective replied. "Ever since Martini was put away, Falcon owns the drug operations all over the city. Nopony would be dumb enough to cross him like this unless they have a death wish."

"But who else would have done this?" Garden wondered. "What use would they have of those chemicals?"

"My guess is we have another one of those customed nutjobs on the loose." Hardy replied. "Like we needed any more." The captain was skeptical about this theory, but he himself couldn't come up with a better one.

"What can be manufactured from the chemicals that have been taken?" He asked the CSI pony.

"That's not my field, Captain." She replied, shaking her head. "You should ask the toxicology guys back at the MPD."

That was the last thing Captain Garden wanted to hear. Going through the bureaucratic crap of the department was going to take at least a week. And time was a luxury he couldn't afford. Somepony committed a horrendous crime against the most powerful pony in the city whom many considered untouchable. And on top of that, the night before his son's birthday. Not only that, but several canisters of dangerous chemicals were now unaccounted for. His gut told him that all of these things were connected. Whoever this pony was obviously had a bone to pick with Falcon. Something big was about to go down. And he had a bad feeling about it.

Caramel Falcon looked at himself in the mirror as his wife, Cherry Falcon, a navy blue earth pony mare adjusted his suit for what it felt like the twentieth time that day.

"Would you stop fidgeting?" Caramel found himself having difficulty to adjust to his wife's request. But it was really time for him to finally leave his office and join the party in the mansion's massive garden, but even if it was the birthday of his only son who just turned seven, in all honesty, he wasn't feeling festive. He did not like what was looking back at him. He looked 20 years older than he actually was. While he barely reached fourty recently, his black mane already had gray streaks in it, the wrinkles were becoming visible beneath his grey coat and the scar running under his left eye was more noticeable than ever. Frankly, he looked bad. And the events of the past few months definitely played a role in that.

"I'm sorry, dear. It's just the events of recent days..." His wife immediately cut him off.

"There won't be any of it, do you hear me? It is the birthday of our son and you won't ruin it with your dirty little business affairy." Caramel tried to ease his mind, but it was impossible.

First it was the bat. It showed up a few months ago and started taking out warehouses and drug operations all over the city. Mainly the docks. At first, it mainly went after his biggest rival in the underworld, Silver Martini. It was useful to him even as he took that smug bastard down and gave him the opportunity to take over his part of Manehattan. But he knew it won't stop there. It will come after him and he was prepared for it. That doesn't mean it wasn't texting on him though. He was running out of aliases to use for his illegal operations down the docks. But more importantly, he was running out hiding places and ponies willing to work for him.

And now there was another freak out there with a grudge against him. One who did not simply settle on beating the tar out of his employees. He knew he had made many enemies during his time as a crime lord, but he never thought any of them could be this crazy. And to top it off, his most trusted executive, Yellow Mist was also missing. But no matter what would happen, nothing can ruin this day. The day of his son.

He walked up to the window and looked down at the celebrating crowd below. When his face fell on his own son, the little creamy white earthy pony colt with dark brown mane, laughing merrily and playing with his friends, his hard features softened into a smile. He briefly wondered what it would be like to leave it all behind and start living the life of a normal family life. Surely he's already earned enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life and have enough to leave for his family. And he would never admit it, but he felt like he was getting too old for this job.

And that was exactly what kept him from throwing in the towel. His pride. That was what always kept him from stopping. After this day was done, he would go right back to what he was always doing: getting the city back under his control.

"Are you ready to finally head downstairs?" Cherry asked as she adjusted his suit one more time, before the two headed out the door. But when they stepped out the door, one of Caramel's guards was waiting for them, looking rather agitated.

"Boss, there's something here you have to see!" He insisted in panic, but the other stallion dismissed him.

"Whatever it is, it will have to wait. Today is all about our son." He replied, but before the pair reached the stairs, the guard said something that made them stop dead in their tracks.

"But boss, it is about your son!" Falcon's eyes widened.

"What?!" Cherry exclaimed in horror. Caramel was just as shocked but there was also visible rage on his face. "What is it?" The guard pulled out an envelope from his suit and reached into it with shaking hooves, pulling out three pieces of paper. He gave them to his boss who began to read.

Dear Mr. Falcon!

I am terribly sorry, but Shady Deal won't be able to attend your son's birthday. He has come down with a very bad case of death. However, I am delighted to announce that I will be able to make it in his place and I will deliver the birthday present of a lifetime! It will be to die for! See you soon! Along with your darling colt! And remember, no matter what happens, always put on a happy face! :)

Falcon threw away the letter and looked at the other two papers. They were two photos and the parents' eyes widened in horror upon seeing them. One of them was of Shady Deal and Yellow Mist, sitting in two chairs across a desk and sporting wide grins but their eyes were empty as glass. They were obviously dead, Shady had a huge gash across his throat and Yellow Mist's body had several chunks of flesh missing from all over it.

But it was when the Falcons saw the other photo that their blood froze. It was a photo of their son, Alabaster Falcon. His eyes had holes poked into them and there was a wide, red grin drawn onto his face. No. This wasn't possible. There couldn't have possibly been anypony stupid enough to threaten their son. This must have been a joke. But if it was, it was of very poor taste. And one that they won't tolerate.

"Where did this come from?!" Cherry demanded, grasping the guard's shoulders. "The mail had come in earlier today and this wasn't among them!" The trembling guard pointed at the window behind them. They all turned around and could not believe their eyes. Behind the open window, was the body of the mailpony that delivered their mail that day, hanging from a tree behind the mansion with his lips hooked up into a twisted grin and envelopes sticking out of his mouth.

It did not take long for the Falcons to put the guards around their mansion on high alert after the discovery of the threatening letter. Of course, they tried to handle the matter with the utmost discretion. They did not need to create mass panic among the guests on such an important day.

Every single entrance to the mansion was now patrolled by guards. Two of them had the unfortunate task of being assigned to a gate near the west wing. There was nothing there except an old, unused shed that Falcon never bothered to renovate or tear down. And the gate and the fence have long since been overgrown by vegetation.

"What the hay are we doing here?" One of them, a blue pegasus with yellow mane complained complained. "I thought everypony forgot about this part of the mansion. This damn gate hasn't been used in years."

"Shut up, will you?" His partner, a grey unicorn with white mane snapped back. "You know the boss doesn't like it when he's questioned. If he says we're guarding this gate, then we're guarding this gate." His partner rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." His partner grumbled. "I still hate it. Makes me feel unimportant."

"You should be glad, if you ask me." The unicorn replied. "Nothing ever happens around this part of the mansion. We should have an easy time here." Before the pegasus could reply, they heard a series of loud bangs on the gate, which made them jump in surprise.

"What the hay?" The pegasus asked in wonder.

"Hey, you said you wanted something to happen. Now here it is." The unicorn replied as he went to open the gate. What they saw only increased their shock. Standing right in front of them, was a unicorn mare with white coat wearing a beret, a black and white striped shirt and clown makeup. The mare threw up her forelegs and gestured at herself, as if presenting herself to the two stallions, who exchanged a confused look.

"What's this supposed to be?" Asked the pegasus. The unicorn shrugged.

"Hay if I know." He then turned to the mime. "The boss didn't order no clown for this party. Especially not one of those creepy silent types. Now beat it!" The mime pulled one of her hooves down in front of her face and her expression changed from cheerful to sad. She then pulled it back up and once again became cheerful before pulling out a flower bouquet from her sleeve.

"I thought mimes were mute, not deaf." The unicorn complained.

"Didn't you hear him?" The pegasus demanded more forcefully. "He told you to hit the road!" The mime pulled out in single flower from the bouquet and sniffed it. She pretended to sigh blissfully from it's scent and offered it to the unicorn to sniff it. He was not amused.

"Last chance, clown!" He snapped at her. "If you don't want your makeup smeared with your blood, then I suggest you..."

Suddenly, the mime squeezed the flower and a bright yellow liquid came out of it, hitting the unicorn in the face. The stallion screamed in agony as the acidic substance started burning his face with a sizzling sound and fell on the ground, grasping his muzzle. The pegasus stepped back in horror, watching helplessly as his partner stopped squirming on the ground and eventually stopped moving altogether. His hooves fell to his sides, revealing his horribly disfigured and melted face.

The pegasus glared back at the mime and raised his hoof to punch her, but the mime stepped back, raised her own hoof and caught the punch. The pegasus then felt huge waves of electricity course through his body from the mime's hoof. He tried to pull away but couldn't. As the electricity became more and more intense, his body began to smoke and darken with burn marks. The mime eventually let go and the lifeless body of the pegasus collapsed right next to his partner. She then pulled off her beret and wiped the mime paint off, revealing Trixie Lullamoon. A. K. A., The Joker.

She grinned demomically, before turning to wave over two other mimes who were waiting nearby with a carriage full of gas cylinders. The two mimes pulled up the carriage right in front of the gate, while Trixie went to open the old shed. She pulled out another flower from her bouquet and sprinkled another wave of acid into the lock, melting it inside and opening the door. Her two goons then pulled the bodies inside the shed to hide them while Trixie picked up one of the cylinders and carried it into the shed.

"It's time for the real party to begin." She chuckled darkly as she pulled out a pack of balloons and attaching on to the end of the cylinder before opening the valve and filling the balloon with gas. Tying the balloon's end together with a string, she peaked out the door and looked towards the partying crowd between the mansion's main doors and the main gate of the compound. "Happy birthday!" She whispered, blowing the balloon into the crowd's direction.

Despite his family background, Alabaster Falcon lived the ordinary, carefree life of the average seven year old colt. He went to school - just started his first year actually - had a lot of friends - all of whom attended this party - and never knew anything about his family's questionable affairs. He was way too young to be included on that yet, even if Caramel wanted him to take over the business one day. But for now, he was quite content with him simply being a foal.

And while he greatly enjoyed the company of his friends, there was one pony he dearly missed from this party, his father. He knew he was a very busy stallion and he often buried himself in his work, but he promised he would join his party today and he always kept his promises he made to his family. So why wasn't he here? It's been hours since the party began.

As he scanned the crowd to locate his father, his gaze found his mother, Cherry Falcon nervously pacing among the guests and looking around cautiously every five seconds like she was expecting an attack to hit her from somewhere. He excused himself from his friends and ran up to the mare.

"Mom, why isn't dad here yet?" He asked the blue earth pony mare. "Is everything ok?" Cherry immediately realised that her son must have noticed her agitated behaviour and leaned down to his eye level.

"Of course, dear. Daddy will soon join us. He's just making sure that nopony will ruin your special day." Alabaster was about to say something else, but then something else caught his attention.

"Mom, look!" He pointed behind the mare. Cherry turned around to see a rather bizzare sight. The old shed they haven't used in years was wide open, but more shockingly, a whole bunch of colorful balloons were floating out it's door, slowly making their way towards the crowd.

"Cherry, dear, was that your husband's idea?" One of her mare friends asked. "What a lovely surprise!" But Cherry did not share her enthusiasm. Something about this situation felt horribly, horribly wrong. First it was that letter and now this unannounced surprise.

Alabaster also shared her mother's unease and slowly backed away from the advancing balloons. He then bumped into something behind him and turned around to see a tall stallion dressed as a mime staring down at him. The stallion placed purple box wrapped up with green ribbons down in front of the colt and then headed off. The whole crowd was so fixated on the balloons that they didn't even notice him.

Alabaster stared at the box in confusion. It looked no different than the other presents he received today. He slowly unwrapped the the ribbons and opened the box to see something he definitely did not expect to get today, a gas mask with a note attached to it. He picked it up to see what it says.

Put this on right now!

Cherry Falcon narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the balloons. One of them started descending down towards her, almost as if targeting her. The blue balloon floated in front of Cherry's face and slowly turned around and Cherry saw that there was something written on it.

Slaughter is the best medicine.

And then all Tartarus broke loose.

POP

The balloon popped into Cherry's face, making her and the entire crowd jump in surprise. But even more surprising was the green gas that was revealed to be inside it. Cherry Falcon backed away, but it was already too late. She inhaled some of the gas and fell on the ground in a fit of violent coughs.

"Mom!" Alabaster cried as he ran up to her side to check on her. His worry turned into confusion when he heard her coughs turning into laughter. It was silent cackling at first, but then she looked up and Alabaster backed away in horror. His mother's face was contorted into a wide twisted grin as she laughed hysterically, but her eyes clearly showed that she was in pain. The laughter continued until there was no more air left in Cherry's lungs as her laughter died down and she stopped moving and breathing altogether.

Alabaster didn't even have time to cry out for his mother as he heard a loud series of popping sounds from all around him. The other balloons all popped apart, releasing the deadly laughing gas they contained. The ponies in the garden were defenseless against it's spreading. The mares and the stallions, even the foals from Alabaster's school all ended up inhaling it and soon the garden was filled with their horrible laughter that left them helpless on the ground until they all literally laughed themselves to death.

Alabaster looked around the nightmarish scene with tears in his eyes, but he suddenly remembered the gas mask he was given just a minute ago. He quickly pulled it on and was about to run inside the mansion, but his way was blocked by the laughing ponies and the bodies of the ones who already died. Looking around for an escape route, the only clear path he saw was the trotway leading to the main gate. Running as fast as he could, he managed to get out of the compound and escape the range of the spreading gas, but the sound of the laughing ponies in the garden still haunted him.

He looked around in search of help, but the only pony in sight was a white mare wearing a purple vest whose face was obscured by a red balloon. The balloon in front of her face slowly moved upwards and Alabaster saw the mare sending a frightening glare in his way. The glare eventually turned into a demonic grin, horrifying enough to make Alabaster lose all of his remaining mental strength and passed out.

Absolute horror. That was the only way Captain Garden could describe the crime scene in front of him. The garden of the Falcon mansion was not only locked down with the usual police line tapes, but was also a biohazard arena due to the poison gas attack that occurred here. More than a day passed since the attack, but they still couldn't remove all the bodies from the scene. Many of them still laid there covered in white sheet and the captain and his partner, Detective Bulldog were unfortunate enough to get a glimpse at some of them who were still uncovered. Those horrible grins on their lifeless bodies will haunt them for the rest of their lives. There were foals among them. Foals! Even for the hardened and cynical Bulldog, it was too much.

"What do we know so far?" He asked the CSI ponies when he finally regained enough mental strength.

"We've managed to obtain a sample of the gas and sent it for analysis." One of them replied.

"Does Falcon still refuse to say anything?" He knew it was a stupid question, but he needed to ask it nevertheless.

"Of course he does!" Bulldog snapped back at him. "His whole family has been massacred and his colt is missing! I hate that bastard as much as you but still, I wouldn't have wished this on him!"

"We did find something though." The CSI pony said as he gave Garden several photos. "One of Falcon's security cameras recorded a pony of interest."

Garden looked at the photos and saw a white unicorn mare with green mane sneaking around the mansion while dangling a red balloon. Apparently, she knew where the cameras were as several of the photos showed her waving up at them with a wide grin. Garden narrowed his eyes. The mare on the photo somehow looked familiar. He somehow knew that he saw her photo not too long ago regarding another case. He'll have to look deeper into it once he got back to the station. He didn't know how, but he knew this mare was connected to this case.

While the police ponies in the garden did their job, the stallion of the house, Caramel Falcon was sitting in his office with several empty bottles and glasses around him, no matter how much he drank, he couldn't numb the pain. He had lost everything. All of his family was gone. The ponies he worked for throughout his life. His criminal empire, all of his fortune, it was no longer worth anything.

He knew that his lifestyle would come back to bite him someday, but he never expected his whole family to pay for it and especially not in such a way. Now there was only one thing he was hoping to do. Find the bastard who was responsible for this and make them pay. Everypony who worked for him, every petty thug who roamed this city would be on this case. He would give everything he owned to whoever brought the pony who did this to him.

It's been a while since he finished his last bottle of beverage. He knew he was starting to sober up because he saw something that eluded his attention before. In the darkness of his room, he could see a white envelope lying in front of the door of his office. He didn't understand how it got there as he had two of his guards standing in front of the door. He stood up and stormed over to the door to chew his guards out for their carelessness, but when he opened the door, he found both of them lying on the floor, dead. One of them had a joker card sticking out his throat, while the other had a pole with a flag saying "BANG!" sticking out of his eye. Whoever did this was sneaky enough to elude the police ponies working in the garden.

After getting over his shock, Falcon slammed the door shut and picked up the envelope. Opening it, he found two more photos inside. One of them was a building down the docks whom he recognised as Warehouses 47. The largest warehouse in the docks, formerly owned by Sliver Martini, but abandoned since his arrest. He had no idea what it was supposed to mean though. The other photo however caught his attention. It was his son. Tied to a chair and wearing clown makeup with the words "Ha! Ha! Ha!" painted into the wall behind him several times over. Falcon turned the photo around. There was a message on the other side.

Will daddy come out to play?

Falcon narrowed his eyes. The freak wanted to play? He walked over to his desk and pulled out one of his drawers, revealing a gun inside. It was a sick and twisted game, but given no choice In the matter, he might as well win it.

The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #5: The Dark Knight Rises

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The police ponies have long since finished for the day when Caramel Falcon left for the warehouse where his son was supposedly being kept. Normally, he would have brought an entire squad of his henchponies along with him, but the letter made it clear that if he didn't come alone, his son would immediately be killed. He had to exit his carriage three blocks away from the docks and then sent the ponies who brought him here home.

And so here he was, in front of Warehouse 47, formerly owned by his rival, Silver Martini. That wasn't anything peculiar. Many ponies of the underworld owned warehouses down the docks. In fact, the idea that this whole game was the revenge of some of Martini's more loyal and fanatical followers had crossed his mind. But in the end, it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that his son was here. And he was gonna get him back.

He was walking around the warehouse, trying to find the best place of entry, when something caught his eye. One of the side doors of the building was decorated with flowers and balloons and as he approached it, he could make out something being written on the door. The words, "Welcome Mr. Falcon!" with a smiley drawn into the middle of the os became clearly visible as he reached the door. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

'How amusing.'

The stallion opened the door and entered the warehouse. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to find in there, but it wasn't the sight that met his eyes. On the ground floor, he saw dozens of gas cylinders standing everywhere near the walls and in the middle of the room, three huge white curtains were hanging from the ceiling circularly, concealing something behind them. If that wasn't strange enough, he looked down on the floor to see a huge yellow arrow pointing to his right. He looked into that direction and saw a set of stairs leading up into the warehouse office. Falcon narrowed his eyes and readied his gun as he made his way towards the stairs.

He cautiously made his way up and as he got closer to the office, he started to hear the grunts of a familiar voice, which he immediately recognised as his son's. Forgetting about being cautious, his fraternal instincts took over and he rushed up the stairs. The door was open and he saw Alabaster tied to the same chair and wearing the same clown makeup he saw in the photo. Losing all sense of his surroundings, he ran over to the chair to untie him. He didn't even notice the door closing and the sinister grinning white unicorn coming out from behind it, carrying a crowbar in her hooves.

Alabaster noticed her and began to moan louder and struggling to warn him, but it was useless. Trixie bashed the earth pony in the back of the head with the crowbar, making him fall on the ground. When he tried to get up, Trixie raised the crowbar again and bashed him in the face. Laughing maniacally, Trixie then kicked the defenseless stallion towards the door until he was stumbling down the stairs, back to the ground floor.

After a few moments, he managed to get over the pain, although he was still a little woozy. He slowly managed to get back on his hooves by holding onto the railing and turned around to see a group of stallions standing before him and looking him over menacingly. All of them were dressed as mimes with white painted muzzles, wearing striped shirts and berets. Caramel Falcon was not a stallion easily intimidated, but in his current situation, he could do nothing else but back away. Or at least, he would have if he had strength left to go up the stairs again.

"Just as I promised you, boys!" Trixie announced from the top of the stairs cheerfully. "One mob boss, in gift wrapping, with a bow on the top." She then slid down on the railing with childlike 'Wheee!' and kicked the stumbling Falcon back on the ground as she crashed into him.

"Fancy a little reunion, Caramel?" Trixie asked ominously as she danced over to one of the stallions. "Each and every pony here is an old friend of yours. He used to be successful shop owner until you had his store shut down for not paying you protection money." She then motioned to another one. "He was a professional heavyweight boxer until you had him forced out of the league for not accepting your bribes." She then skipped over to Falcon and leaend down to this ear. "But by far my favorite..." She whispered, motioning to a large unicorn with a demented look on his face. "...is this guy. Wouldn't you know it, he was gonna testify against you in court, until he was declared mentally ill by some psychiatrist with close ties to you financially and admitted to a high security mental hospital where he... get this... actually went mental! HA! HA!"

Falcon looked up the stairs and saw two other stallions carrying his son down who was still tied to the chair. He tried to get up in a vague attempt to help him, but Trixie knocked him back down with the crowbar.

"Play with him as you like boys, but remember, I want him alive. He and his boy are gonna watch the show from the front row!" She was about to head back up to the office, but Falcon called out to her.

"What... are you gonna do with my son?" He asked weakly, barely able to talk from the pain. Trixie grinned and skipped over to him.

"Oh, the same thing I'm gonna do to you and everypony else in this stinking, lousy cesspool of a city. You are all so grim, so hopeless, so sad. I'm gonna put big smiles on all of your faces." She said, putting her hooves into Falcon's mouth and pulling his lips up into a smile. "Until then... enjoy your stay." Trixie watched as the stallions dragged Falcon and his son behind one of the curtains. Her expression then turned serious as looking up at them made her remember just what she was working on.

"How much longer until we have enough gas?" She asked one of her goons.

"At the current production rate, we should be ready by tomorrow night." He replied. Trixie smiled again, satisfied with this report.

"Good. Well then, get to it boys! If you need me, I'll be in my office." She then turned away to walk up the stairs, but turned back to glare at her employees over her shoulder. "P. S.: Don't need me."

It had been two weeks since the Ace Chemicals incident. The incident that marked the first failure of the Batmare. When she failed not only to wrap up the criminals she went after and obtain the necessary evidence to finally put Caramel Falcon away for good, but also her first failure to save somepony. Even worse, it was somepony she may have been responsible for pushing down this path. The street magician she humiliated that day. Trixie. She knew how her rudeness cost Trixie her day's income, but she never would have expected that the magician was in such a desperate situation to be pushed into a heist.

The events took their toll on Twilight. For a week, she was in such a traumatic state that she didn't even left her room. Spike was grateful that Twilight would neglect her nightly escapades for a while. At least he could keep his eyes on her and wouldn't have to stay up late worrying about how badly injured she would come home or whether she would come home at all. But he also knew that this was a reminder of her life's greatest failure. The night that started all of this.

It never happened before. The Batmare's first priority was always taking down the greatest crime families of Manehattan. But of course, being a hero in the night meant that she would always save those in need. Taking an occasional detour from chasing the Falcon family's hired hooves to save somepony being assaulted on the streets was a common occurrence with her. And nopony ever died on her. Until now that is.

When the second week rolled around, it seemed like Twilight had gotten a little better. She finally left her room and actually resumed doing her job managing the library. During that week, Spike felt like everything was like it was supposed to be. But somehow, it didn't feel right. Twilight felt like she was, for the lack of a better word, on autopilot. There was barely any emotion behind her words and actions. It was like working with a robot.

And Spike knew that it was more than just the trauma taking it's toll. Twilight literally having a withdrawal. The Batmare suit had become like a second skin to her. It wasn't just some misplaced sense of duty to the city or the memory of High Culture. She relished in it. It was like an addiction. And just like with any addiction, walking away from it was not easy.

Spike was certain that Twilight wouldn't last long. Especially when the papers started writing around strange murders in the chemical plants owned by Caramel Falcon. Spike didn't have to be the detective Twilight was to quickly realise that somepony had picked up where the Batmare left off.

But the Batmare wasn't a killer. Spike believed that Twilight would see this as a personal attack against her. Against the Batmare. And despite her vow, she would feel an irresistible call to jump back into action. But nothing of the sort has happened. Twilight just went on her daily routine as if nothing had happened. And despite barely showing her emotions anymore, Spike could feel that she was feeling more miserable than ever.

And he knew why. After all this time, Spike has finally understood. It was the helplessness. The powerlessness. They ate away at both of them like a disease. Twilight was putting up with them far longer than he had. Ever since the murder of her fiancé. But he himself had only recently got a taste of them. And the fact that he couldn't do anything about it drove him absolutely insane.

And then that day came. The day when the entire Falcon crime family - minus Caramel himself and his son - along with several other ponies were murdered in a chemical attack on their mansion during the birthday party of the youngest member of the family, who was the only one of the crowd whose body wasn't found, so the police officially considered him missing instead of dead.

Spike was horrified when he learned about it in the newspaper. Especially when he learned that several foals fell victim to it. He knew that this would be the day Twilight would finally snap out of her self pity and finally get back out there. There was no way in Tartarus that she will be able to sit idly when she heard about this horrendous crime. That's what he was wholeheartedly expecting when he brought Twilight the morning paper along with her breakfast.

As he expected, Twilight was quite shocked when learned of what happened. For a moment, Spike thought he saw that familiar look of determination growing on her face. That look she always had when she disregarded all of Spike's warnings and requests that she should spend a night inside and finally get a good night's sleep. The look when she was about to head out and deliver some swift and severe justice to the criminals of this city. But he was in for a big shock.

"This is horrible!" Twilight exclaimed with passion that raised a feeling of hope and a familiar set of annoyance that this time was joined with a sense of amusement inside Spike, only for it to die down as Twilight slumped back on her bed. "The police must catch whoever did this and fast!" Spike's eyes widened.

"The police?!" He shouted in disbelief. "Don't you think there's somepony else who could wrap this up much quicker than them?!" Twilight sighed.

"I told you, Spike. I was done with her." She said half-heartedly. Spike narrowed his eyes.

"I won't believe that, Twilight! You're far too stubborn to just quit! I'm surprised you lasted this long!" Twilight merely shrugged in response.

"You can believe whatever you wish."

"There was a time you couldn't manage to wait for nightfall to go out." Spike said sharply, unwilling to back down.

"That was before I destroyed the life of an innocent mare, drove her to crime and then let her die a horrible death. The Batmare does more harm to this city than good. All I managed to accomplish was escalate crime and cause more suffering. That was not why I started this. The Batmare is no more. Case closed." Spike put a claw to his forehead.

"I can't believe you, Twilight. If anything, Trixie's death should only motivate you further. Another pony you failed to save means another pony who needs to be avanged." Spike was walking on thin ice. Twilight knew where he was getting at. He wanted to remind her of the pony whom she was fighting for. But she won't have it.

"Spike, as I recall, you've been disapproving of this whole thing from the start. When I headed out to that chemical plant, you even asked me to quit! So what changed?" Spike didn't hesitate to answer. Because he knew exactly what changed.

"I realised I was wrong, Twilight! The Batmare has accomplished more against organised crime in a year than the police had in a whole decade! Crime rate hasn't been this low in generations! And all those ponies you saved? Think about them! They're counting on you to be their protector! You shouldn't give up for one single failure." But Twilight was steadfast in her opinion.

"No, Spike. You were exactly right. I'm no superhero. I never should have believed that I will be able to make a difference. All those ponies I saved? All those criminals I put away? All of it became negated when I let somepony fall to their death." She then turned back to her newspaper." The police should be able to handle this. Look, they already have a suspect. They shared her picture in the..." Twilight froze and dropped her sandwich the moment she saw that picture. She would have recognised that face grinning into the security camera anywhere. Despite the hideous scars and the change of color in her coat, there was no mistaking it.

"No... It can't be. No!" Twilight flipped the tray of breakfast off her bed and jumped over to her bedside chest. She quickly went through the process of unlocking the hidden staircase down to her hideout as fast as she could with Spike close behind her.

"What's wrong? What happened, Twilight?" The dragon asked in concern.

"I have to be sure!" Was all Twilight said as she made her way to her computer and activated it. She quickly scanned the picture in the paper and compared it to the Trixie's from the mare's ID card in the Equestrian Administration Archives. "It's... It's a match." Twilight whispered before burying her face in her hooves in despair. Spike looked up at her in concern before setting his sight on the screen.

"Does this mean what I think it does?" He asked. After a few seconds of silence, Twilight nodded.

"I'm afraid so. She's alive. And she's the one behind this." Spike honestly didn't know how he should react to this.

"So what does this mean?" Twilight laid back in her chair, staring at the screen stoically. Spike kept watching her. Seconds passed without any change, but eventually, he saw it. That same fiery determination she always wore when she was about to put on the suit finally returned. And while this always gave Spike a sense of apprehension, this time that was replaced by satisfaction.

"It means that my mistake created a monster, Spike." She finally replied. "And as such, it is my responsibility to stop it. I need to find her."

"But how?" Spike asked. "She could be anywhere in the city. Or even beyond." Twilight realised that this was indeed a challenging task. But while she didn't want to blow her own trumpet, she was quite brilliant and quickly came up with a solution.

"I've got an idea!" Twilight announced, pressing a button on her computer. Spike immediately jumped out of the way as the floor opened up beneath him and the Batmare suit raised out of the hole. "I need to head to the police station. They're holding the bodies of the victims there for autopsy. Such a potent gas must have left some parts of it still lingering on them. I might be able to analyse it and use it to track her down." Spike's eyes widened upon hearing that.

"Hold on a second! You're heading out in broad daylight!"

"I have to Spike. If she became crazy enough to pull something like this..." She held the article about the gassing of the Falcon mansion out in front of his face. "...then I can't waste a minute in stopping her."

"Twilight millions of ponies are out there during daylight. I don't want want to rain on your parade, but a black clad bat-creature parading around the rooftops during daytime is kinda hard to miss. You will be spotted." But Twilight merely flashed a cocky smirk in response.

"Who said anything about the rooftops?"

The abandoned tunnel system running beneath Manehattan proved invaluable once more. Though since it was daytime, it would be pretty much impossible to get out of the tunnels through the subway stations without being seen. Fortunately, there were other exit points and Twilight knew exactly which one to use. Though she couldn't exactly say she was looking forward to it.

Turning left at one of the branchings, Twilight walked over to a collapsed tunnel entrance and after a while, she managed to squeeze her way through the rubble. She made her way further down the tunnel and as the stench entered her nostrils, she knew she was heading in right direction.

She was leaving the abandoned subway tunnels and entering Manehattan's similarly abandoned, but very much functioning sewer system. Through the sewers, she should be able to access the police building undetected relatively easily. She studied it's blueprint thoroughly and found a sewer hole opening into one very rarely used alleyway, from which she could slip inside. The rest will be easy.

Twilight carefully made her way through the sewers. Spike specifically asked her not to get too much sewage on her suit. It was him who had to clean it after all. But as she got closer to the exit point she needed to use, she did manage to step into something. Something warm. Twilight cringed under the mask. She could already hear Spike complaining about this.

She lifted her leg to wipe her shoe clean, but when she noticed what it was, her eyes widened. Stuck on her shoe was not sewage or some some other unspeakable substance, but blood. Fresh blood. Twilight looked down into the water and saw the severed head of a rat floating among what Twilight could have sworn were scales. Similar to those of Spike's, only in different color. Twilight always found the rumors of a carnivorous dragon living in the sewers silly, but maybe, just to be safe, she should look into this a bit more thoroughly later. But for now, she has a psychopathic clown to stop.

Twilight finally arrived at the sewer opening she was looking for. She climbed up the ladder and slowly removed the sewer plate and peaked outside to see if anypony was around. Not seeing anypony she climbed out and looked around. She was directly behind the station, surrounded by garbage containers. This was the area where they take out the trash from the station and as such, it would have a back door. Twilight quickly located it and approached it with a lock picking kit, but as she was about to get to work, she heard the unmistakable sound of a key turning in it's lock.

Cursing under her breath, she quickly dashed behind one of the containers and peaked out to see one of the janitors pushing out another container of trash. And in his carelessness, left the door open. Twilight smirked beneath her mask. She loved it when they made her work easier unwittingly. She picked up an empty bottle and tossed it into a wall across the alley. The shattering sound of the glass did the trick. The janitor immediately turned over.

"Who's there?" He immediately went to investigate, giving Twilight the chance to run past him into the building.

Twilight was extremely lucky so far. Through the backdoor, she quickly got to a staircase leading down into the basement where the morgue was supposed to be and ironically, breaking into the police station during daytime would also make her job easier since most of the force was out patrolling and the basement was almost completely empty. But just to be safe, she pressed a button on her belt, which activated a jammer that shut down electricity in the basement completely. With her mask, she'll be able to see perfectly, unlike any potential interlopers.

Having studied the map of the station, it wasn't long before she managed to locate the morgue and since she shut down electricity, getting in there wasn't a problem either. She looked around, looking for any potential victims of Trixie's gas attack that might still be there and she didn't have to look hard, as one of them was already lying on the dissection table. Twilight winced when she looked at the body. Even through her night vision, the huge grin on the pony's dead face was haunting to say the least.

She activated the scanner in her mask and started scanning the body. It wasn't long until she managed to find the trace of the gas she was looking for and isolate it for study. However, the sample was too small to give her the full picture. As much as her stomach disagreed with her, she'll have to scan more bodies. The task was not one she did happily. Epically when she found that one of the bodies belonged to a colt, no older than six. Her hooves shaked with rage. No wonder Spike was so riled up about this case. This madmare needed to be stopped. With newfound determination, she continued her work.

As she kept scanning, she found one body that wasn't killed by the gas. But more interestingly, he passed very recently. Only hours ago. Twilight managed to analyse that he was one of the inmates being held in the prison building next to the station and he died of a heart attack. While that wasn't anything unusual, Twilight still got a sense of foreboding at it. But she couldn't let that hold her back. She went back to scanning.

Eventually, she managed to get enough sample to make out the full chemical structure of the gas. But she'll have to do that back home. For now, it was time to get out of there. Making her way out the door, she jumped in surprise when she saw a black blur flying past her vision. It was so brief that for a moment, she almost thought it was just a glitch in her night vision, however, she knew for certain that glitches didn't caw.

She turned her head to see a black bird turning left at the end of the corridor. Twilight ran after it and followed it until it flew through a barred window in one of the doors. Twilight slowly approached the door which had 'Solitary Confinement' written on it with large black letters. She peaked through the bars, looking into the small cell with only a bed, a toilet and a white unicorn stallion with well combed black hair sitting on the floor. The crow Twilight was tailing was sitting on his shoulder, holding a newspaper in it's beak and dropped it into the hooves of the stallion. It then looked up and when it spotted Twilight looking through the bars, it cawed at her, drawing the attention of it's master at her. While in the darkness, the stallion only saw two glaring lenses, it didn't take much brainpower to deduce who they belonged to.

"Batmare." Sweet Dreams said with amusement. "When the lights went out down here, I knew something wicked this way came. It appears my hunch was correct. Did the good officers invite you in an attempt to intimidate me into behaving in my cell and make sure I won't put more of my fellow inmates through my therapy sessions?" Twilight had no idea what he was raving on about, but then she remembered. The body of the inmate in the morgue. The one who died of heart attack...

"So you saw him, didn't you?" Sweet Dreams mused. "Do you know what his biggest fear was? You will not believe it. It was bats. Apparently, when he was a foal, his parents used to lock him in the attic as punishment, where bats frequented. From then on, it didn't take long to break his mind with imitations of bat sounds and silhouettes in our shared cell. He wasn't the first one to break, but he was the first one whose heart couldn't take it. Poor cardiac conditions, I suppose." Twilight regained his composure and glared at him. Even while he was locked up where he belonged, it didn't stop him from wreaking misery and fear.

"Oh, don't weep for him." Sweet Dreams said dismissively with a wave of his hoof. "He was here for a reason, you know. He was one of them. One of Falcon's hired thugs. It was most enjoyable watching him squirm. Out there, they believe they are the kings of the street. Untouchable, dreaded. But once they get in here, their bravado breaks down so easily. Especially when one knows how to get to them. Somepony like me. I used to be a psychology student, you know." He then unfolded the newspaper and summoned a small light on the top of his horn, which was peculiar considering the magic suppressor ring on it. As if sensing her confusion, he spoke again.

"Their magic suppressors are far from being top notch. They prevent larger spells from being performed, but small ones like luminance are still very much performable. And my little friends make sure I'm not bored." He said, petting the crow on his shoulder. "You may have scared them away during our last meeting, but I trained them well. They found their way back easily. However, I'm more interested in why are you down here?" He stood up and walked up to the door until the two of them were face to face.

"The bat out in the day. Interesting. More often then not, actions we would not usually perform are motivated by our fears. Just what could be bad enough to frighten the big, bad bat." He then looked back at the newspaper, the headline being the gas attack on the Falcon mansion. Sweet Dreams chuckled. "Yes, I suppose this is concerning. Does she scare you, Batmare? Does it scare you what she is up to? What she's going to do to this city? Or are you simply afraid that she is going to take away your spot at the top of the city's food chain? Or that she's going to take the glory of wiping the mob out from you?" Twilight didn't know why was she even wasting her time listening to this scum. She shot her one last dirty look before leaving.

"The patient is largely unresponsive. I will need more time to get through to her." The crow on his shoulder cawed, as if to comment on what he just said. "No worries. We shall continue our therapy session soon enough."

Twilight's journey back home through the tunnels was largely uneventful, so she had time to think. While she knew she probably shouldn't, she couldn't help but ponder on the words of Sweet Dreams. He was partially right. Of course the mare Trixie became scared her. Any sane pony would be scared of her. But what scared Twilight the most was something that he couldn't possibly speculate. It was failing to stop her. Failing to fix her mistake that created this monster and failing to save the city from it.

These thoughts continued to plague her mind even as she was sitting in front of her computer back at her home base. Spike had to snap her out of it several times. It had been hours since they've been down in her hideout, analysing the samples Twilight brought back from the police station.

"Twilight. TWILIGHT!"

"Wha... What? What is it?" Twilight asked in a frenzy as she flew back down to reality.

"You've been daydreaming again." Spike sighed in frustration. "You told me to snap you out it if that happens."

"Yeah. Right." Twilight rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "So what did you want to tell me?" Spike rolled his eyes and pointed at the screen.

"The analysis on the gas is complete." Twilight leaned closer and from the way her eyes widened, Spike could tell that what she found was very concerning.

"Spike, this is bad. This is an extremely potent laughing gas that forces continuous, uncontrollable laughter so hard that the victim doesn't even have the chance to breath." Spike's stomach fell.

"They literally laugh themselves to death." He summarised in fright. Twilight nodded.

"It's also mixed with some neural agent that attacks the nerves in the muzzle. It forces them to curve the ends of the mouth up the highest they can possibly go. Not a pleasant way to go."

"Why would she do that?" Spike wondered. Twilight replied with a deadpan look.

"Ponies who lose it this bad don't need a reason, Spike. They're just doing things for the sake of it." She then turned back to the screen. "I've got to find her before she strikes again."

"So now you've got your analysis of the gas she's using. But how will that help you find her?" Spike asked. Twilight turned around in her chair and looked over to their crafting area.

"I think it's time to test the drones. Get them for me, will you?" Spike walked over to the corner where several unfinished and untested gadgets were lying and soon returned with eight mechanical bats. "I'll program them to scan for the area where this gas is found in the largest concentration. She has to be there." She turned back to her computer and typed in the needed data before the bat drones levitated into the air and took off with small jet engines pushing them out of the tunnel. A few minutes later, they found the nearest exit and were already patrolling the skies over the city.

"Wow! Look at them go!" Spike marveled at the speed of the drones, appearing as black dots zooming around the city map on the screen. "We did good work on them. They're fast!" Twilight nodded.

"And effective. One is already picking up a trail of the chemical we're looking for." Twilight followed the drone on the map as it followed the trail right into the docks. "And it goes into..." Twilight frowned in confusion when she saw where the trail ended. "Warehouse 47?"

"Wasn't that place owned by Silver Martini before he was arrested?" Spike asked.

"And it's been abandoned ever since." Twilight realised after a little brainstorming. "A perfect hiding place for a wannabe supervillain." Twilight went back to scanning the area around the warehouse. After more thorough scans, Twilight's eyes widened in horror. "Faust almighty." She gasped in horror. "Spike, there's an enormous amount of this gas inside that warehouse. With this much of it, she can gas the entire city." Spike almost jumped.

"Is... Is she crazy enough to do that?" Twilight gave him a deadpan look, causing Spike to look down in embarrassment. "Right. Never mind. You have to stop her!"

"I intend to!" Twilight spun around in her chair and jumped out of it. But before she could reach for her mask, Spike stopped her.

"Wait!" Twilight looked at her dragon assistant and could see that he was having trouble saying what he wanted to say, but eventually, he found his voice. "I want to help." Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Help? You... want to become my... sidekick? Like... Batdrake? I'm sorry, Spike, but I don't think I have enough time to properly train you before she strikes again." Spike shook his head.

"Not like that. I could help you from here. Feed you information from the computer and guide you through a communication link." Twilight considered what Spike just said.

"That's... actually not a bad idea. But let me ask you something, Spike. You never wanted to help me before. You never even approved of this whole thing. Why the change of heart?" Spike looked down in shame.

"I know I haven't been supportive of this, Twilight, but now I realise that not only does this city need Batmare, but so do you. I think I just needed time to accept that the old times aren't coming back and you have become a new mare." He smiled proudly up at her, before his expression changed to an annoyed frown. "Also, at least I'd get to keep an eye on you out there and make sure you don't get yourself killed." Twilight smiled down at him in gratidute, before pulling him into a hug.

"Thanks, Spike. You have no idea how much this means to me." She whispered in his ear, almost choking on her tears of joy before pulling away. "Now could you please get me my mask?" Spike's face lit up with a bright smile.

"Actually, Twilight, to seal our new partnership, I took the liberty of making a few... upgrades while you were away." This caught Twilight by surprise.

"Upgrades?" She asked in amazement. "This should be good. Show me!" Spike lead Twilight into their crafting corner and picked up a brand new mask in his claws.

"Watch this!" He then placed the mask on the table and breathed fire on it. To Twilight's astonishment, the mask was completely unharmed. "Vulcanised rubber." Spike announced proudly with his arms folded. "Completely bullet and heat resilient. It won't break or catch on fire, although it probably won't keep the insides of your head from boiling. But as long as you don't walk into a furnace, you should be fine. And that's not everything. Stay still for a few moments." Twilight did as she was told and felt Spike placing something on her back.

"I took one of the bat drones and modified it a little. This should be able to give your cape a boost in the air. No more gliding. You'll actually be able to fly now!" Twilight was almost giddy when she heard this. Flight was a luxury only allowed to the pegasi and she was hesitant to admit it, but she was always curious about how it felt. However, she knew that if something was too good to be true, it probably was.

"What's the catch?" She asked suspiciously. Spike smiled nervously.

"Well... it probably won't be able to carry your weight by itself. It will probably also need a boost. Your grappling gun should do the trick if you activate the drone right when you reach the object your grappling." Twilight wasn't sure about this.

"Spike, I don't think the cable in my grappling gun is long enough for that." But Spike had the answer to that as well.

"Way ahead of you, Twi." He replied as he picked up a much bigger grappling gun from the table. "Behold your new and improved grappling gun. Not only is the cable much longer, but watch this!" He pulled out a part of the cable from the gun and bit down on it. "Dragon's teeth are able to gut gems, but this..." He tugged on the cable again to show that it suffered no damage. "...cannot be cut and will never snap." He smiled before putting the cable back into the gun and giving it to Twilight.

"Well, that's all for now. But I'm sure we'll be able to come up with some more later. Together." He added that last part hesitantly, unsure if Twilight will agree, but the affectionate smile on her face let him know that he didn't need to worry.

"Thanks, partner." Twilight said before pulling on the new mask and placing the new grappling gun on her belt.

"Well, if I can't stop you from going back out there I figured I might as well do everything I can to make sure you'll actually come back." Spike said jokingly before sitting down into the chair in front of Twilight's computer. "Now get out there and catch that psycho! In the meantime, I'll find out everything I can about that warehouse. Might find something useful. Also, I think I'll give an anonymous tip to the police on where they can find her. You never know when you can use some backup." Twilight gave her an approving nod before heading down into the tunnels. She knew just the best place to approach that warehouse.

Captain Jam Garden has seen a lot of things during his career. Including some real messed up things and some really peculiar cases. A serial killer who drew a mark on himself for each of his kills, a bank robber who tried to blame his crimes on a ventriloquist dummy, hay, he even had an unfortunate and of course, unofficial encounter with the infamous Manehattan Sewer Dragon. A whole squad of the Police Special Forces weren't able to bring that monster down and it managed to seriously injure many officers before escaping deeper into the sewers.

But never before had he seen such a heinous crime as the one committed against the Falcon family just two days ago. He couldn't imagine anypony crazy enough to have anything to do with such an atrocity. That's why he found it strange when he received an anonymous tip about the whereabouts of the perpetrator. He had no idea who could have possibly find out anything about this monster so quickly that the police couldn't.

At first, he thought it was a joke. Although, he couldn't imagine anypony sick enough to joke about something this horrible. Then again, two days ago, he couldn't imagine anypony sick enough to pull such a twisted crime. On the other hoof, he despised the slow bureaucratic process of the force. The ponies in the toxicology lab still didn't manage to analyse the gas that was used in the attack. And even if they did, it will still be quite a lot of time until they actually did something about finding where it came from. So despite his instincts, he decided to check it out.

It was about seven pm when he arrived at Warehouse 47 along with his partner, Detective Bulldog and two more officers. He knew warehouse well enough. Even before Silver Martini was arrested, it was obvious to everypony that this place was used by him to run his illegal operations. But ever since he was put away, nopony came even close to the place. Even he had long since forgotten about it.

"Are you sure about this?" Bulldog asked his partner as he loaded his service gun.

"What can we lose if we check out this place?" Garden asked. "Worst case scenario is we find nothing."

"I respectfully disagree, sir." One of the younger officers, a green pegasus stallion with orange mane said. "I'm not worried about what we might not found. I'm more worried if we actually do find her."

"Don't be a dummy, Nightstick!" The other, a light blue earth pony mare with black mane snapped at him. "There won't be anything here. I've lost count how many fake 'anonymous tips' I received over the years." Garden looked back at the mare.

"At ease, Corporal Blue Light." He chastised the short tempered officer. "As police ponies, it is our duty to investigate any potential clue. Including anonymous tips. Now, remember, me and Detective Bulldog will head inside and check for clues, you and Inspector Nightstick will stay outside and keep guard. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" The officers replied. Garden nodded. He and Bulldog entered the door with their weapons ready at hoof. If he wanted to be honest, even Garden was skeptical that they'd find anything. Which was the reason the three giant curtains hanging from the ceiling surprised them so much.

"What the hay?" Bulldog asked dumbfounded. "Isn't this place supposed to be abandoned?" Garden was equally as confused as his partner. He was about to pull the curtain aside to get a better look at it, but he was interrupted when he heard a crash from behind himself and his partner grunt in pain. He turned around and widened his eyes in alarm when he saw a group of stallions dressed as mimes holding Bulldog and the other two officers down.

"Looks like we caught ourselves a couple of nosy badges here, boys." One of them chuckled darkly.

"Just in time too. He was about to spoil the surprise for tonight's party." Another one added. "Take them outside and show them how we deal with uninvited visitors down here."

Garden was no slouch in a fight, but he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against so many well built stallions. He had no choice but to let them drag him back outside along with his colleagues. The situation of the police ponies did not look bright. Fortunately for them, an unlikely savior just happened to be prowling nearby.

Twilight Sparkle in her new and improved Batmare costume was only a few blocks away from the warehouse when she suddenly heard the communication device in her ear start beeping. She put her hoof to it.

"Twilight, can you hear me?" Spike spoke on the other end of the line.

"Loud and clear, Spike. Did you find something or are you just testing the line?"

"Actually, it's a little bit both." Spike responded. "I did find something. I'm not sure if it's connected to Trixie, but if it is, it could be interesting."

"I'm listening." Twilight said as she grappled up to the top of another building.

"Well, you did say that warehouse was abandoned. But I found that recently three deliveries have been made to the address from out of town. And all three of them were... blimps." Twilight raised an eyebrow beneath the mask.

"Blimps? What's she gonna do with... Oh no." Twilight's body and heart both stopped as she put it together. The gas, the warehouse, the blimps. It all made sense now. "Spike remember when I said she had enough gas to poison the whole city?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"I think that's exactly what she's preparing to do!" There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line as Spike processed what Twilight told him.

"That's... That's... Insane..." Was all he could say.

"Well, I don't know if you noticed, but our friend Trixie is hardly a model of sanity anymore." Twilight snarked as she finally arrived at the warehouse. From the top of a lamppost, she could see the troubled police ponies surrounded by Trixie's goons. "Spike, looks like the police patrol you tipped off arrived earlier than expected."

"How are they doing?" Twilight looked down to see Captain Garden punched to the ground by one of the goons. She narrowed her eyes.

"Not well." She replied.

"Well, perhaps an interruption on your part would improve their situation."

"My thoughts exactly."

Twilight glided down on the ground and quickly ran up to two two of the goons and knocked their heads together, bringing them down. The remaining goons jumped in surprise and this allowed the captured officers to break free and join the fight. With the element of surprise and the Batmare on their side, the fight was over quickly.

The cops stated up in wonder at the costumed figure. They heard rumors about it, actually seeing it for themselves was completely different. Captain Garden was the first one of the group to realise what happened.

"It was you. You sent that anonymous tip, weren't you." Twilight didn't know what to say. She never spoke before during while she was out as the Batmare, hence her mask not having a whole for the mouth. She'll have to make some sort of voice modulator for future occasions like this, but for now, she'll have improvise.

"She's here." She said, trying to make her voice as deep and gruff as she could. "She's gonna gas the entire city from the air." The cops widened their eyes.

"How?" Blue Light asked on a shaky voice.

"Blimps." Was Twilight's simple reply.

"So those are behind those curtains." Captain Garden deduced. Twilight nodded.

"Have to be. They must be prevented from taking off."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Bulldog cried out, taking his weapon back from the goons. "Let's get in there and take her down!"

Twilight scanned the inside of the building. The goons left inside were few enough for her to take out, especially with the cops by her side, but she had to be sure they won't run into any nasty surprises. While she didn't spot any potential traps, she did find something concerning in the cabin of one of the blimps.

"Wait!" She called out to the officers who were about to storm the building. "I see two hostages. On the blimp at the end of the row." The officers stopped in their tracks, with the exception of Detective Bulldog.

"That's a collateral damage I can live with. Let's go take down that bitch!" But Captain Garden pulled him back.

"That's not how we do things, Hardy." He then turned to the vigilante. "I'll probably get chewed out for this, but we can handle the hostages and that one blimp. And judging by what we've just seen and your reputation, you can handle those bastards inside." Twilight simply nodded. "Very well. Let's do this!" Twilight pulled off two smoke grenades of her belt.

"Head to that blimp as silent as you can. Once you're inside, it's my turn."

The cops did as they were instructed and once they all disappeared behind the curtain, Twilight tossed the smoke grenades inside. The erupting smoke should give her the edge she needed over those thugs. When she heard their confused shouting, she leaped inside and headed straight at the smoke cloud and got to work.

At the blimp that held the two hostages, the officers managed to force open the door of the cabin and headed inside. What they found shocked them. Inside the cabin, were dozens, possibly even a hundred gas cylinders. And in the middle of them, were Caramel Falcon and his son, Alabaster, tied to chairs, gagged and wearing explosive vests.

"Well, look what we have here." Detective Bulldog mused, greatly enjoying the sight of the mob boss in this predicament.

"I don't suppose you've changed your mind about the hostages, Captain." Blue Light wondered almost hopefully. Garden gave them a hard look.

"Criminals or not, we have a duty to these ponies. We have to get those explosives off of them. Can anypony do that?" Nightstick raised a hoof.

"I used to be on the bomb squad, sir. I believe I can do it." Garden nodded.

"Then get on it, son." While Nightstick tried to defuse the bombs, the other officers looked around the cabin.

"Look at all these cylinders!" Blue Light exclaimed, having trouble to move between them. "How the hay are they gonna fly this thing when they can barely move around in here?"

"I think I know." Bulldog replied, pointing up at a transmitter antenna on the wall. "She must be controlling them remotely. She can't be crazy enough to fly one of these things with all this gas on them."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Garden commented on his partner's remark. "If that's the case, we must find a way to block the signal to prevent this blimp from taking off. Any ideas?"

"I may have one." The other officers widened their eyes in surprise as Blue Light grabbed her nightstick and smashed the transmitter into pieces. "There you have it." Nightstick rolled his eyes.

"Tactful as ever, corporal." He then went back to the bombs. Defusing them wasn't the issue, they were simple enough in structure. But there were so many of them that he was afraid he might miss one. He groaned. "This isn't gonna do it! So many smaller explosives must have something to connect them together. If only I could find it..."

But it wasn't easy with so many wires. However, after defusing some more of them, he realised that there was one specific wire that ran through all of them. Following that one wire, he eventually reached one bomb that it connected the rest of them to. It was on one that he easily would have missed. The bombs on their vests were connected to one on the floor between the two chairs.

"Gotcha!" Nightstick called in triumph as he defused the main bomb and cut the wire connecting it to the others. "OK, Captain, it's safe now!" The cops removed the vests from the two hostages and carried them to the exit of the cabin. Garden peeked out the door and saw that the goons inside were still occupied by Batmare.

"It's clear. Let's get the hay out of here!"

Meanwhile, Twilight was doing her best to fight her way through to Trixie. Her scans of the warehouse showed that the mare was in the office atop the stairs, but her henchponies really made her work for it. One of the goons slipped away while the others were busy with the hero and ran up to the office.

"Boss, we've got trouble!" Trixie saw everything from her office that overlooked the whole warehouse. She was greatly enjoying the show and even the rescue of the Falcons didn't upset her as much as one would think. Caramel and his family were just the preliminary anyway. The main event was just about to begin.

"You don't say." Trixie chuckled to herself. She would have gladly kept watching her goons getting thrashed, but then she remembered that the Batmare no doubt was here to foil her plan. So if she didn't want her party ruined, she needed to act. "Oh, very well." she sighed. "I'm afraid we have no choice but to launch our plan early."

Trixie slowly made her way down the stairs where the remaining members of her gang were waiting for her. With the exception of the few who were still struggling with Batmare in the background and probably were about to lose very soon.

"Change of plans, boys! We're taking off ahead of schedule! Get in!" With that Trixie ran inside the curtain that hid the blimp at the end of the row with her goons in tow. Twilight just finished wasting the last of her opponents before giving chase. She opened the curtain to follow the criminals, but found herself pushed back by a sudden blow to her face which turned out to be a huge extendable boxing glove.

"Sorry, Bats! No more tickets for this flight!" Trixie yelled from the door of the blimp's cabin. She then pulled out a detonator and pressed it, shaking the whole warehouse as the explosion brought the roof down. "Got a party in the sky to catch! Ciao!"

The blimp Trixie was on slowly ascended into the air followed by the second one, but Trixie and her goons were similarly confused to see the third one remain on the ground.

"Damn! The badges must have found the transmitter on that one." One of them complained. Trixie was annoyed, but nevertheless laughed.

"No matter. We still have enough gas to pack a punch. Onward!" She cheered, shutting the door of the blimp's cabin.

Twilight slowly regained her consciousness and stood back up. She saw the remaining blimp among the rubble, noting in satisfaction that the officers did their job well. But the other two were getting away quickly and she had now way to catch up with them. Unless...

'Well, Spike, time to test out your upgrades.' She pulled out her grappling gun and fired it at the second blimp. With the elongated cable Spike gave her, maybe she'll be able to reach it. She almost cheered when she felt the cable tighten in her grasp, signaling that it managed to contact it's target. Twilight quickly pulled herself up into the air and as she got closer to the blimp, she readied her cape and the drone on her back. When she reached the end of the line, she activated the drone and it shot her forward in the air and the spread out cape managed to keep her up. Twilight felt like she could explode with adrenaline.

'It's... It's working. I'm actually flying!' She grinned beneath her mask like an idiot, until she remembered her mission and turned herself around. She flew straight into the blimp and punched a hole into it before coming out on the other side of the balloon. She then fired her grappling gun into descending blimp and began pulling it towards the bay. It was heavy, but the air remaining in the blimp combined with the force of the drone on her back was enough to slowly alter it's course towards the water.

Once Twilight managed to sink the blimp, she turned around in the air and flew towards the last one that had Trixie and her crew on board. The criminals in the cabin of the blimp saw Twilight heading towards them.

"Boss! She's got the second blimp and she's heading straight at us!" One of the goons panicked. Trixie narrowed her eyes in frustration.

"That bat is really starting to get in my belfry." Trixie growled as she looked out the window, before turning to one of her goons. "Why don't you go and try to slow her down?"

"Slow her down?" The stallion asked in confusion. "How?" Trixie just grinned and pushed the unfortunate pony out the window of the cabin. Twilight noticed this from the air and reacted immediately. She fired her grappling gun at him and managed to catch him, but by saving him, she knew she won't be able to bring this blimp down the same way as the other. She burst through the door of the cabin and tied the cable holding the stallion to the edge, before turning to the crew.

The resulting brawl didn't last long. Twilight sidestepped the charge of the first stallion, making him run into the wall and knocking him out with a kick to the back of his head. She walked up to another one and headbutted him in the muzzle, before shoving him on the floor and punching his lights out. A third one charged at her while she was still down, but she simply kicked out his legs from beneath him and delivered a swift punch to his head to make sure he'll stay down. There were only two remaining goons at Trixie's side, but the sight of how easily the others were taken out crushed their resolve.

"Screw this, let's get out of here!" The stallions quickly grabbed two parachutes and jumped out the window of the cabin, leaving only the Batmare and the Joker on board.

"Hmm..." Trixie pondered, putting a hoof to her chin. "Did I tell them that I replaced those parachutes with explosives to increase the damage the blimp will do once it crashes?" Trixie's question was quickly answered by the sound of two explosions from below. "I guess I didn't. Bahahahaha!" She then turned to Twilight.

"So... are you here to finish what you started at the plant?" She asked before presenting herself to her. "Well, go ahead! Here I am!" Twilight narrowed her eyes at her. It was obvious that Trixie was so far gone that there was no point in trying to reason with her.

"No, Trixie. I'm not a killer like you." Trixie's grin widened.

"You aren't? Really? I'm not sure about that. You did kill somepony, remember? You did kill Trixie Lullamoon! Now there is only the Joker! So what's one more? Go ahead! Give it to me!"

"I did not kill you, Trixie, nor will I now! I will take you to the police where you will face justice!" This made Trixie laugh even harder.

"Justice?! Oh, sweetheart, you're even crazier than I am. And that's saying something. There is no justice in this city. Only when you take it into your own hooves. Now I'm giving you a chance to do just that. So, will you take it?"

"No, Trixie! I will not kill you!" Twilight stated for the last time. Trixie actually looked pretty disappointed at that. But then her grin returned.

"Then I will do it for you!" She then pulled out a gun and punted it at the gas cylinders. "Did you know that Joker gas is highly flammable?" Twilight's eyes widened beneath the mask. If that was true, even one gunshot would be enough to...

Twilight quickly threw a batarang at the gun Trixie's hoof and knocked it out of it. Trixie gasped in shock, before jumping back and retrieving her weapon but, Twilight ran into her and pushed her out the window of the cabin before jumping after her. Trixie did however manage to fire before she fell out and that gunshot was enough to set off the chain reaction that destroyed the blimp in a huge explosion.

The two ponies fell towards the ground several hundred hooves beneath them with Trixie laughing hysterically all the way. That was until Twilight pushed herself down towards her and manage to catch her in her hooves. Trixie pointed the gun she was still holding in her hoof and pointed it at Twilight's head before pulling the trigger. Thanks to Spike bulletproofing the mask, it caused no harm, but it still hurt like Tartarus and was enough push her away from Trixie.

Twilight quickly regained her composure and launched herself after Trixie once again. Catching her for the second time, she knocked the gun out of her hoof, but before she could use her cape to break their fall, Trixie pulled out a knife and tried to stab Twilight with it. Twilight managed to block it and knocked the knife out of her hoof as well, before headbutting her as hard as she could.

She saw Trixie's eyes closing and supposed she finally managed to knock her out, but when she tried to spread her cape again, Trixie suddenly lunged forward and screamed into her face before sprinkling a load of acid into her face from the flower on her vest. But just like the gunshot before, the acid was ineffective on the upgraded mask. Trixie was finally showing her surprise.

"Wow! Who's your tailor?" Twilight's only response was a series of hard punches onto her head that finally sent Trixie into unconsciousness allowed Twilight to spread her cape, break their fall and glide harmlessly on the ground right in front of the ruined warehouse where they took off from.

Twilight dropped Trixie on the ground before landing and collapsing from exhaustion. She looked up into the sky and saw the cloud of flames and gas the explosion created still very much visible, but with the fire neutralising most of the gas, whatever remained was now harmless. It was over. She had done it. She won the hardest battle of her vigilante career. She felt like she was about to pass out when she once again heard that beeping in her ear.

"Twilight?!" Spike panicked on the other end. "Twilight?! What happened?! Are you OK?!" Slowly, Twilight raised her hoof to her ear and activated the comm link.

"Ne... Never... better." She panted. She could hear Spike sigh with relief.

"Thank, Faust! What happened?! Was that explosion your doing?!"

"You... saw that?"

"Are you kidding? The whole city saw it! Everypony's on the alert! Fire department, police! Even some Royal Guards came down from the nearby barracks!"

"It's... It's OK." Twilight reassured her assistant. "It's done. I destroyed Trixie's gas."

"With a little help." Twilight looked up to see Captain Garden standing over her, smoking a cigar. "Sorry to interrupt your call, kid. I just figured you could use some help yourself." He then offered Twilight his hoof, which he accepted after a few moments of hesitation. The captain pulled her to her hooves before they glanced over to the unconscious body of Trixie.

"She's all yours, Captain." Twilight said as she started to leave. The captain raised an eyebrow.

"And what about you?" Twilight looked back at him over her shoulder.

"What about me?" She asked.

"I know this is gonna be crushing, but you're a wanted pony as well." He told her, blowing his cigar again. "Vigilanism is not exactly supported in this city, or Equestria as a whole for that matter. I'm not saying you don't have fans on the force, though. Some of us see the good you're trying to do. Others however believe you're making us look bad in comparison."

"And where do you stand on the issue?" Twilight asked. Garden looked back at Trixie and walked over to her body, pulling out a pair of hoofcuffs and a magic suppressor.

"Where I stand doesn't matter, kid." He replied as he restrained the psychotic clown. "You saved our flanks and got us this maniac. I appreciate that. But I can't just..." When he turned back around with another pair of hoofcuffs in his hoof, he was stunned to see that the costumed crime fighter was now nowhere to be seen. "Well, I suppose maybe I can." He sighed. "Perhaps the chief will be happy with one costumed menace for one night."

Spike started his day the same way he always did. He made his bed, washed up, had a quick breakfast before making another for Twilight and taking it to her room while making a quick detour to pick up the morning paper at the main door. When he entered Twilight's room, he found it like he hasn't seen it in over two weeks. Well made and completely tucked.

A small, knowing smile crossed his face as he walked towards the bed and set the tray down. He quickly went through the motion of unlocking the staircase down to Twilight's hideout before retrieving the tray and heading down.

When Spike got down, it was just as he expected. Twilight was sitting at the Batcomputer which was buzzing with activity. Spike walked over to her and set the tray next to her.

„Even bats eat, Twillight.” he said, looking up at her. Twilight looked down at her little dragon assistant and smiled gratefully.

„Thanks, Spike. I really could use a bite.” she replied as she picked up her sandwich and began eating. Spike looked up at the screens.

„So, what are you investigating?” Twilight swallowed the bite before she began explaining.

"I found some traces that the Manehattan Sewer Dragon actually might be real while I went to investigate Trixie's gas at the police station. And Captain Garden gave me some intel on the case as well." Now that surprised Spike.

"Really? When did the police make an alliance with you?"

"They didn't. But I believe the captain realised just what an invaluable ally I can be. He had an encounter with this... 'Killer Croc' already and realises he'll need all the help he can get to take it down." Spike raised an eyebrow at the strange name.

"Killer Croc? I thought it was a dragon."

"According to some reports, it has a long, elongated snout like a crocodile." Twilight explained. "Even after they found out it was a dragon, the name kinda stuck. In fact, for a while, they thought it was living proof of that old myth of flushing crocodiles down the toilet."

"Well, I hope you catch it soon." Spike said with an angry look. "That freak is a disgrace to all dragonkind!" Twilight was surprised by her assistant's outburst, but eventually gave him a warm smile.

"Don't worry. With the help of my number one assistant, I'm sure I'll crack this case in no time." Spike smiled back at her.

"How did my upgrades work?" He asked hopefully.

"They were marvelous, Spike? I couldn't have succeeded without them." She beamed down at him. "I'm looking forward to working with you in the future, partner." Spike couldn't hold himself back and threw himself into Twilight's embrace. This was perhaps the first time they hugged like that since they came to Manehettan and also the first time Spike felt like from now on, everything will be alright.

Trixie sat in her cell in the psychiatric ward of the Manehattan Penitentiary. Her trial was short. Her crimes were heinous, but everypony already knew knew what the sentence was gonna be: Not guilty by reason of insanity. Her guards still rolled their eyes when they heard the sentence.

"Insanity." One of the guards scoffed mockingly. "They just had to pull that one didn't they?" The other guard looked at her in confusion.

"I don't think it takes a degree in psychology to tell that this mare is clearly off her marbles." He told his colleague.

"Yeah. But you know what would have happened if she's declared guilty?"

"She gets the death penalty."

"Exactly! And the city would be rid of her. Instead, we're wasting taxpayer money on housing her, feeding her and even paying a doctor for her!"

Trixie didn't even hear their argument. She didn't notice anything around her. There was only one thing she could think about. The one thing she kept thinking about ever since she woke up. The Batmare.

Trixie took pride in understanding this cesspool of a world with all of it's rotten aspects. But the Batmare. No matter how hard she thought about her, she just couldn't figure her out. She almost killed her back at the chemical plant. And then she tried to save her. She then killed a lot of ponies and planned to kill a whole lot more, but then she refused to kill her and saved her again.

And her blabbering about justice? What a joke. Everypony knew there was no justice in this city. That's why so many ponies took it on themselves to carry out their will through crime. Ponies like Caramel Falcon and the lowlives they hired. Even the ponies on the police force didn't bat an eye when one of them gunned down a mob pony. Because that would be the only way for him to face real justice, since the corrupt judges and lawyers won't do it themselves. That kind of lawlessness was what made Manehattan so funny.

But the Batmare. She was the only one who didn't seem to get the joke. For some reason that Trixie was unable to comprehend, she still believed in the old fashioned justice system. Either she was too stupid to get the joke, or she just refused to. What a sourpuss! It must be so dull living like this. Always taking life so seriously. Never loosening up, never cracking a smile. Trixie will be more than happy to help her get the joke. To make her understand. Oh, what glorious, fun times they are going to have!

"Hey, freak!" One of the guards outside snapped at her. "What's so funny?" Trixie was so lost in her thoughts about her new playmate that she didn't even notice she was laughing.

"Oh, I'm just thinking of a joke." She told him innocently before chuckling some more. The guard raised an eyebrow.

"You wanna tell it to me?" Trixie's smile faded into a pensive look as she returned to her thoughts.

"You wouldn't get it."

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #1: A God To Them

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"You'll never reach this, Cheese Sandwich!" An earth pony colt with light amber coat and tangelo mane yelled as he kicked the ball as hard as he could.

"You just watch me, Caramel!" Another one with light gamboge coat and dark brown mane yelled as he ran after the ball. He jumped into the air just as the ball was about to fall on the ground and managed to head it towards the goal, but to his frustration, the massive red colt in the goal saved the shot effortlessly. Caramel and Cheese Sandwich groaned in disappointment.

"No fair!" Caramel whined. "Why does Big Mac always get to be the goalie? It's impossible to score against him?" The colt raised a hoof in defense.

"Hey, don't hate me because I'm big! It runs in the Apple family!" He told them teasingly. The other two rolled their eyes.

"Whatever." Cheese Sandwich replied, but his attitude quickly changed back to his usual cheerful demeanor. "Hey, you guys are coming to my birthday party next Thursday? I'm organising it!" The other colts raised their eyebrows.

"You're organising your own birthday party?" Big Mac asked. Cheese Sandwich nodded enthusiastically.

"Uh-huh! I'm practicing for my future as a party planner! Did I ever tell you that's what I want to be when I grow up?" Caramel rolled his eyes.

"Only about eighty times already." Big Mac elbowed his friend in the side for his rudeness.

"I'd love to go, Cheese, but... you know..." Big Mac replied, hanging his head in disappointment. Cheese Sandwich nodded in understanding.

"It's OK, Mac. I understand your work on the farm is important to your family." Caramel was a bit less understanding.

"But they can't even let you off for a single day? Really?"

"Don't get me wrong. Farming is my life, just like for my Ma and Pa and I love it, but sometimes... It just gets so... lonely at the farm with only the three of us. I can rarely get away to meet with you guys. I just wish I'd have somepony else at home to play with." The red colt said with loneliness and sadness. His friends understood his pain, but before they could offer some comfort, their playtime was interrupted by a voice.

"Big Macintosh? Where are you? It's time to go home!" The three colts turned to see Big Mac's father, Bright Mac near the school playground and looking for his son. Big Mac sighed.

"Well, that's my cue. See you on Monday, guys." He bid farewell to his friends and ran up to his father. "Hi, dad." Bright Mac smiled down at his son and ruffled his mane.

"There you are, son" He chuckled as the colt pulled his head away from his hoof. "Where have you been? I know your classes ended over an hour ago." Big Mac looked down in embarrassment.

"Sorry, dad. I was playing with my friends and we lost our track of time." His father smiled understandingly as they started making their way home.

"It's OK. You knew we don't mind you seeing them as long as it doesn't get in the way of work." Big Mac nodded.

"Yeah, I do." Big Mac replied half-heartedly. A tone Bright Mac caught immediately.

"What's wrong, bucko?" He asked, lifting his son's chin to meet his eyes.

"Nothing." Big Max tried to shrug it off, but his father saw right through it.

"You know what your mother and I think about lying." Big Mac sighed.

"I love working on the farm, but sometimes I wish I just had a little more... company." Bright Mac raised an eyebrow with a look of mock hurt.

"Are you saying that we are bad company?" He teased, causing the colt's eyes to widen.

"No! Of course not! I just..." But his father cut him off wtth a laugh.

"Relax, kid! I'm just teasing you! I know exactly what you mean. I know it can't be easy having all those big acres all to yourself with nopony around your age. Believe me, I felt the same when I was your age." Now that caught Big Mac by surprise.

"Really?"

"Of course! I used to be a young colt too, you know." Bright Mac chuckled. Big Mac rolled his eyes. His father's teasing could really get under his skin sometimes.

"And how did you deal with being so lonely?" He inquired.

"I kept remembering that one day, I'm going to have foals of my own and my work will help me provide for them. I didn't have many friends myself and I also didn't see them very often, just like you. It wasn't easy but the thought of family helped me through it." Big Mac wasn't so sure he could do the same. Starting his own family still felt like ages away.

"I wish I could feel the same way as you." He said with a sad sigh. His father just kept smiling. He was still too young to understand, but he will soon enough.

"You will, son. You are an Apple like the rest of us. And to us, family is everything."

After another exhausting day of bucking apples, Big Macintosh decided to take a relaxing walk around Sweet Apple Acres. The sun had already set and it was a chilly late fall evening, so the air was in perfect condition to cool him off.

Just as he thought, his father and he have been at it for hours ever since they got home. They had a quick bite to eat and then it was out to the fields. Of course, it was easier to make it through a hard day of work after one of his mother's meals. Not to mention, Big Mac was bigger and stronger than most colts his age, so he could bear more work.

But that also means that more was expected of him. And while Granny Smith's apple pie waiting for him at the end of the day was as good an inspiration as any. But in the end, he was once again stuck out there in the middle of the orchard alone and lonely. He tried to power through with the same thoughts as his father did, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't shake his sadness off.

With a heavy sigh, he let himself fall on his back onto the grass. He looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful night with clear skies decorated with millions of stars. Not once did Big Mac find himself wondering just what was going on beyond them. His imagination was the only thing to offer some color to the monotony of his life. He wanted something to finally shake that monotony up. He wanted some excitement in his life. Something different from the norm.

He had no idea at the time, but he was about to get just that.

The next time Big Mac opened his eyes, he saw a streak of light crossing the sky. His eyes widened. He had never seen a shooting star before, but he heard of the tradition of making a wish when it happened. He wasn't sure if he believed in it, but in a world where magic was commonplace, was it really that much of a stretch that shooting stars can grant wishes? It would cost him nothing if he tried. He closed his eyes and focused as hard as he could on the thing he wanted the most.

'I wish...' He wasn't sure what he wanted to wish for. Or to be more precise, he knew what he wanted, he just didn't know how to wish for it. He wanted to end his loneliness on the farm. He thought about it for a few moments before finally making his decision. 'I wish I had a little brother or sister...'

He reopened his eyes to see if anything happened and, to his surprise, it did! Big Mac narrowed his eyes to get a better look at the star as it became brighter and bigger. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. Was this what happened when a shooting star granted the wish it's observer made? Big Mac sat up in the grass to get a somewhat closer look and his eyes widened again, but this time, it was with horror as he realised that the star wasn't getting bigger. It was getting closer!

As it got closer and closer, it turned into a huge fireball that descended towards the ground. Big Mac couldn't even imagine the destruction it would cause if it landed anywhere near the farm, but fortunately, it looked like it would avoid their home and land next to the Everfree Forest. A few moments later, that was exactly what happened and Big Mac laid down on the ground and covered his ears to protect them from the sound of the impact. But it was still pretty loud.

Big Mac got up and saw smoke rising up from the spot where the star or whatever it was must have hit the ground. His curiosity overwhelmed his fear and he slowly got up to make his way towards the crater. Crawling cautiously over the hill, he saw a huge trail of ash and burnt ground leading towards the edge of the forest. Following the trail, Big Mac eventually reached a large black round object that looked like one of those wrecking balls construction workers used to tear down buildings sitting in the ground.

He started to inspect it, but didn't notice anything peculiar about it. It didn't look dangerous, but considering it just entered the planet's atmosphere, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to touch it. Regardless, Big Mac eventually gathered the courage to go nearer and as he got close to it, he finally noticed a curious distinguishing feature about it. At the bottom of the object, he saw a symbol that looked like an S inside a diamond silhouette. Big Mac wasn't an engineer, but in that moment he realised that whatever this thing was, it wasn't a star. This was manually made.

As a further proof of that theory, Big Mac suddenly heard a loud hissing sound coming from the object that made him jump back. For a moment, he was afraid that the darn thing would grow tentacles, grow to several stories high and go on to destroy the farm and the nearby town of Ponyville with laser beams like in one of those cheesy sci-fi films his friends always begged him to watch with them. But before he could run away, he saw that instead of any of that, it was merely the top of it that opened up into two separate parts. This wasn't much more reassuring. Big Mac was uncertain if he wanted to see what kind of alien abomination was inside it, ready to eat him and/or take over the world. But after a few moments of trepidation, nothing happened.

Big Mac eventually gathered his courage back together and slowly went closer to the object to peek into it. What he saw was definitely not what he expected. Laying in the object was a tiny orange filly with blonde mane tucked in and sleeping soundly. Apparently, even the violent landing of her transport wasn't enough to wake her up. Big Mac stared at her for a few more moments before she started to squirm and whimper beneath her covers. She was waking up. The filly opened her eyes and looked at Big Macintosh with curious orange eyes.

"Huh?" The red colt tilted his head in confusion. An action the filly mimicked.

"Huh?" Big Mac wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, but almost as if the universe was guiding the unfolding events, the filly answered that for him. She reached out her tiny hooves towards the colt and started whimpering again, wanting to be picked up. Guided by an unknown instinct, the colt wrapped the tiny pony up in her covers and lifted her out of the object. The filly sighed in contentment at the sensation as Big Mac held her in one of his curled forelegs and was about to go back to sleep when a loud voice pierced through the air, breaking the harmony of the scene.

"Big Mac, get away from there!" It was his father, Bright Mac, running towards him alongside his mother, Pear Butter. The loud yell startled the filly and she began to cry, but the two adults were so busy with investigating whatever crashed near their farm that they didn't even notice at first. Big Mac started rocking her in his foreleg, which eventually did manage to sooth her as she buried her face into Big Mac's chest and whimpered.

"What in Faust's name is this thing?" Bright Mac wondered. His wife, Pear Butter, looked down at their son and finally noticed the filly in his hoof.

"I'm more interested in where it came from. Along with her." She said, pointing at the baby Big Mac was holding.

"She was inside that." He replied, pointing at the object that fell out of the sky. The two adults looked back at the strange thing with uncertainty. Was their son seriously implying that the little filly he was holding was an alien? Bright Mac peeked inside the object and saw a small makeshift bed just big enough for the filly, surrounded by strange technical devices far too advanced for the ponies of Equus to understand. Or at least for the average country pony folk like him. And in the middle of all that tech stuff was what looked like a map of several stars and planets. Bright Mac's jaw fell. Suddenly, the idea didn't look that unbelievable.

Meanwhile, Pear Butter took a look at the filly. Her face was still buried in her son's chest and her cries were reduced to small whimpers. Pear Butter reached up to her face and slowly caressed it, causing her to turn around and look at her. The filly cooed as her eyes met the mare's and when she felt the warm motherly radiation pouring from it, she giggled and reached out to her. Pear's cautious expression melted into a smile as she took her into her hoof.

"Well, hello there little one. Where did you come from?" She asked, taking her into her hooves. The filly merely giggled in response as she played with the mare's curls.

"Honey, taking a look at this thing, I don't think it's quite so unthinkable that she indeed came from up there." Bright Mac told her. She went up to her husband to see what he meant and indeed, the insides of the - for the lack of a better word - space pod was indeed quite otherworldly, but before she could comment on it, she felt a tug at her mane. She looked down to see the filly sucking on it, causing her to chuckle.

"Aww, looks like somepony is hungry. No wonder after such a long journey from up there. Come, I'll take you inside and give you something to eat." She then turned to her son. "Big Mac, come help me with the little one. Your father will handle this thing." She said, motioning to the space pod. Bright Mac looked quite disheartened at having to carry this thing all the way back to the house, but before he could object, his wife and son have already left.

"Granny, we're home!" Big Macintosh called out to his grandmother as he barged into the house. The elderly mare looked relieved, but nevertheless gave her grandson a stern look.

"Well I say it's about time, youngin'." She chastised her grandson. "It's bad enough that the sky is fallin' down on our heads without havin' to worry about you also bein' out there." Before Big Mac could defend himself, his mother did it for him.

"Withdraw your claws, Granny. Big Macintosh had a very good reason for being out there during this chaos." Granny Smith raised an eyebrow.

"An' pray tell what that reason might be?" Pear Butter just showed her the mewling infant in her hoof, causing her mother-in-law quite a surprise. "Just where did this little one come from, Pear?"

"She was out there. And Big Mac found her. Inside the thing that fell out of the sky." Pear told her quite bluntly. Granny Smith was pretty old and she had seen quite a lot of things, but truth be told, Pear wasn't sure if she would take that story at face value just like that. She saw sadness grow on the old mare's face as she looked at the filly.

"The nerve of some ponies. Launchin' a defenseless little thing out into space like that. Why, she's probably not even a day ol'." The orange filly sensed the old mare's sympathy and gave her a warm smile, which was all she needed to win her heart. "Well, aren' ya just sweet as an apple pie?" She cooed, tickling the filly's stomach, making her giggle. While Pear was glad to see Granny accepting the new arrival so quickly, she didn't forget about why she came in.

"The poor thing must be terribly hungry. Could you warm up a bit of your famous apple sauce for her?" The old mare left to do that immediately while Pear turned to her son. "Honey, could you go down to the basement and bring up your old highchair?" The colt nodded eagerly and left to do as he was told. On his way down to the basement, he ran into his father who had just finished carrying the space pod down to the basement.

"Dad, are you sure it's safe to put it down here?" He asked as he nervously approached the object.

"Well, quite frankly, I don't know where else to put it. We still don't know what it is, but as long as we leave it alone, it probably won't explode." Bright Mac reassured his son. Big Mac gave it one last glance before heading to pick up the highchair his mother sent him for.

"I reckon that's for our guests," Bright Mac said. His son nodded.

"Mom sent me for it. She doesn't have the heart to leave the baby out there alone and hungry." While Bright Mac was uncertain about the infant in their kitchen, he had to admit that neither did he.

"Well, let nopony say the Apples aren't hospitable folk." He said with a small smile as the two made their way back up. By the time they got back to the kitchen, Granny Smith's apple sauce was already ready. Bright Mac quickly set up the highchair and placed the filly in it. Apparently, Pear Butter's intuition about the filly being hungry was correct. As soon as she saw the spoonful of applesauce being offered to her, she immediately tried to swallow it. Pear pulled the wooden spoon away just in time.

"Not so fast, sweetheart." She chuckled. "It's fresh off the stove. It's still boiling hot. I'll have to blow it a little." The mare put the spoon in front of her mouth and did just that. "See? Now you try it." The filly seemed to understand what Pear wanted her to do, so she took a deep breath and blew at the spoon. What happened next made everypony in the room jump back in shock, just in time to avoid the table's fate which was now covered in a deep layer of ice.

"What in tarnation?" The four of them exclaimed in unison. Everypony in the kitchen just stared in stunned silence, with the exception of the filly from the stars, who just giggled and clapped her hooves in amusement. Big Mac was the first one to get over his shock and went to free the bowl of applesauce from the ice.

"Well, she did manage to cool it by blowing." He chuckled, picking up the spoon and attempting to feed the filly again, while the rest of the family went to free the table from the hold of the ice. This time the filly eagerly consumed the food offered to her, but perhaps a little too eagerly. When Big Mac tried to dip the spoon back into the ball, she noticed it's head was no longer there. He looked up at the filly who was making a weird face before spitting the applesauce still in the head of the spoon on the table.

"Blegh!" The filly made a disgusted face while shaking her head. This did not sit well with Granny Smith.

"Now that's just rude! Ain' nopony ever reacted that way to my applesauce."

"It's not the applesauce, Granny." Big Mac defended the filly. "She bit off the end of the spoon. Must have been old and rotten." Big Mac left and returned with a metal spoon to attempt feeding once again, only to get the same result as with the wooden one. Even Big Mac couldn't hide his surprise at the strength of the filly's mouth anymore.

The filly wasn't happy. She was hungry but she was being fed yucky wood and metal instead of actual food and the look on her face combined with the quivering of her lower lip quickly made the Apple family realise what was coming. Fortunately, Big Mac acted quickly. He ran off and returned with a bottle before pouring the applesauce into it and putting a nipple on it and stuffing it into the filly's mouth just as she opened it to cry. She was surprised at first but as soon as she sucked the first drops of applesauce out of the bottle, she immediately calmed down.

Big Mac picked her up and laid her on her back in his hoof to make her feeding easier. The applesauce was gone in seconds and the filly giggled happily as Big Mac pulled the bottle out of her mouth before yawning. Big Mac started rocking her in her hoof and she quickly fell asleep. This came as a huge relief to his parents, who were worried about just what else this strong little filly might do when she was awake and unhappy. In a few minutes, they finally managed to remove the ice off the table.

"So what do you think?" Pear Butter asked her husband once they finished.

"I'm not sure what to think. You saw what that filly did. Who knows what else she's capable of!" Pear nodded.

"She really is something." She admitted as she looked at their son rocking the filly from the stars.

"Granny Smith? Could you set up my old crib upstairs?" He asked his grandmother, who happily complied.

"Your crib?" Pear Butter asked in amusement. "Are you planning on her staying with us?" Big Mac looked up at his parents in confusion.

"Well, she has to." His parents chuckled.

"Oh, does she?" Bright Mac raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Because I think I'm the reason she's here. When I saw her space pod, I thought it was a shooting star. You know how lonely I get all alone on the farm, so I wished for a little sister or brother." He explained. "That means she's family now. And just earlier today, dad said to us Apples, family is everything." Pear Butter chuckled.

"Did he now?" She mused, kissing the stallion on the cheek. "Well, nice work, dear. You are such a good role model." Bright Mac smiled weakly, realising that his own words were being used against him. He had no choice but to concede.

"Well, then, let's take your little sister upstairs. Looks like she's really worn out from all that traveling." Big Mac's face lit up and she ran upstairs with the filly still in his hoof. "Not so fast, son. You'll wake her up." He called out after him. "We already saw what she does when she's hungry. Let's let's not find out what she does when her sleep is disturbed." He chuckled. His wife elbowed him in the side lightly.

"Dear, behave yourself." She chided before following her son. When they got upstairs, the filly was already asleep in the crib with Big Mac and Granny Smith gazing affectionately down at her. Pear Butter saw that her husband still had reservations about the whole thing, so she decided to try and butter him up. "You know, if she's gonna stay with us, she's gonna need a name. I named Big Macintosh after you, Bright. Now it's your turn." Bright Mac was surprised by the proposal but nevertheless touched.

"Well, I always reckoned if I ever had a daughter, I would name her... Applejack."

"Applejack..." His wife pondered it over. "I like it. Strong and fitting for an apple farmer." She smiled, happy that she managed to soften him up.

"Hey, what's that around her neck?" Big Mac asked. The parents looked down and saw that there was indeed something hanging from a string around the filly's neck which became visible once she wriggled her way out of her covers. Bright Mac reached down and gently removed it. It was a small, long metal rod shaped like an icicle. On the top of it was a symbol that the males immediately recognised.

"I've seen that before!" Big Mac said.

"So have I. It was on her space pod." His father added.

"What do you think it means?" Pear Butter asked.

"I don't know, but if they tied it around her neck, it must be important." Granny Smith scoffed.

"Phooey. They shot their own filly out into space. Anythin' important lost it's meanin' with that. Wherever and whoever she came from, she's ours now. Throw it away. She won' need it here." Bright Mac shook his head.

"No, mom. For whatever reason, they sent her down to us. Whether she wants to learn what that reason was or not is entirely up to her. I will put it away with her pod. I will tell her about this and let her decide when she's ready. When she's older. But for now, let her sleep. She had one heck of a journey." The rest of the family nodded in agreement. Big Mac leaned into the crib and kissed the filly on the cheek.

"Sweet dreams, little sis." The four of them left the room now belonging to the youngest member of the Apple family. Pear Butter shot one last loving look at the sleeping filly and whispered one last thing before closing the door.

"Welcome to the Apple family, Applejack Apple."

The next day, Caramel and Cheese Sandwich resumed their ball game from yesterday in the playground next to their school. But they really missed the third member of their little group.

"Man, it really sucks how Mac's family won't let him play with us even on a weekend." Caramel complained. Cheese Sandwich shrugged.

"Yeah, I know. The more the merrier. That being said, they also say three's a crowd. What's with that?" He pondered.

"Well, I'd certainly take three over two of us. It's not fun playing ball just the two of us. You never save and you never score against me either. I almost miss him saving all my shots." He complained as he readied himself for another shot. But when he actually took it, a red blur appeared out of nowhere and pushed the ball away before it entered the net.

"Be careful what you wish for, Caramel!" Big Macintosh told him with a smug smile. The two colts were surprised to see him off the farm so early in the day, but Caramel eventually snapped out of it.

"What happened, Mac? Your folks let you out of the yoke for a change?" He teased.

"There's a different kind of work for us today." Big Mac announced happily. Caramel rolled his eyes.

"Only you would be happy about more work. If you're here to drag us into it, forget it. Just because your family are workaholics doesn't mean all of us have to be."

"Actually, I'm here to invite you over to the farm to meet my little sister."

"Sister?!" The two colts yelled in surprise.

"You didn't even tell us your mom was having a foal!" Caramel exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"She wasn't. We found her inside a star that fell out of the sky last night." Caramel and Cheese Sandwich looked at each other. Obviously, they had reservations about believing this story.

"Big Mac, did you have too many apples falling on your head while bucking again?" Big Mac rolled his eyes.

"Just follow me, okay? You'll see soon enough." His friends were still skeptical, but decided to play along. This they had to see. When they got to Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac led them to the porch where Pear Butter was feeding little Applejack with a bottle of applesauce while rocking her in her forelegs. She looked up to see her son leading his friends towards her excitedly.

"See? I told you so!" Big Mac told them, proudly showing off his new sister. His friends were indeed surprised, but Caramel eventually rolled his eyes.

"This proves you do have a sister, but where is the 'star' you found her in?" He challenged. While the two argued in the background, Cheese Sandwhich walked over to the filly.

"Well, hello there, little star filly. I'm Cheese Sandwhich and I'm very happy to meet you! We're gonna have a lot of fun and party a lot together!" He then pulled out a cupcake. "Here you go! A 'Welcome to Equus' cupcake!" Applejack gasped in wonder and took the cupcake, but Pear Butter snatched it from her.

"Cheese Sandwich, don't give her that! She's just a day old. She can't eat a cupcake yet. Besides, she just ate." The colt smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry. It's not a real cupcake." He whispered. "It's just a squeaky toy with a bit of sneezing powder in it. A harmless little prank perfect for a baby.

"Oh, that's alright then." Pear sighed in relief. A relief that was short-lived as she remembered just what happened to their dinner table last night. But before she could save the little colt, it was already too late.

"ACHOO!"

The next thing Pear knew, she saw Cheese Sandwich flying through the air at breakneck speed and crashing into one of the apple trees, causing all the apples to fall off of it, right on top of him. Big Mac and Caramel were snapped out of their argument and ran to check on their friend.

"Cheese, are you ok?" Caramel asked, digging him out of the apple pile. The colt was shaken, but apart from a few bruises, he was fine. It didn't take long for his smile to reappear.

"Wow! That's some sneezing powder!" He cheered. "Can I do it again?" Pear laughed nervously.

"Uhh... I have a better idea. Big Mac, why don't you go play with your friends while I check on how your father is doing on the field?"

"Finally!" Caramel sighed. "I'll set up the goal! I'm not going to drop this until I beat you!" He said to Big Mac before leading Cheese Sandwhich away. Pear was about to leave too, but Applejack started to wriggle in her hoof, reaching for Big Mac and whimpering.

"Well, I suppose she wants to play with her brother and his friends." She smiled. "Can you watch her?"

"Sure, mom." Big Mac replied as he took her into his foreleg.

"Also, I couldn't help but overhear your argument with Caramel earlier, Big Macintosh. I'm going to have to ask you keep your new sister's true origin a secret, would you?" Big Mac raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" Pear sighed.

"We don't need all of Equestria coming down here and turning our farm into a tourist attraction if they find out we're raising an alien filly, Big Mac!" She told her son sharply, her tone quickly doing the job of making Big Mac seeing things her way.

"Yes, mom." He said, looking down in embarrassment. "Don't worry. I don't think they believed it anyway."

"Good. Make sure it stays that way." Pear said, hoofing the infant to him, who immediately relaxed in her brother's hold. Big Mac set her down in her basket while he and his friends resumed their ball game. Applejack watched them with fascination and decided she wants to join the fun. She got out of her basket and started crawling towards her brother.

"You wanna play too, Applejack?" Big Mac asked with a smile. "Here! This is how you do it!" The colt gently kicked the ball towards her and, just like last night, she seemed to understand exactly what was asked of her. She tried to stand up on her hind legs and after some clumsy tumbling around, she raised her right hind leg and kicked the ball.

The colts watched in stunned disbelief as their ball flew towards the sky so fast they only saw a black and white blur. An unfortunate pegasus just happened to fly that way and the ball hit him right in the head, knocking him out of the sky. Thankfully, he managed to recover before he hit the ground and soon he was floating in front of the three colts with an angry look on his face.

"Is this yours?" He asked, holding the ball in front of them. Big Mac glanced back at his sister, who just sat on the ground giggling and clapping. It was at that moment when he realised that having a little sister around the farm will not at all be like he imagined.

The next two years have fortunately passed without any further incidents. Applejack was not only incredibly strong but also exceptionally smart. By the time she turned two, she was already speaking immaculately and possessing most basic knowledges that most fillies only learn when they go to school. Even her adoptive parents were surprised how quickly she developed. Even Big Mac didn't speak this quickly when he was at her age.

Applejack quickly developed a taste for the same apple-based foods as the rest of her family. Her Bright and Pear even joked that their apples are so good that even aliens loved them and how they should open an interstellar market. She also had the stomach of an apple. At two years old, she ate as much as a full-grown stallion.

And besides the stomach, she also had the heart of one. Bright and Pear did a good job in raising her. Despite her young age, she was already very helpful and eager to work, so Pear Butter had her help her around the house. Applejack was always eager to help, but hanging out clothes to dry and washing dishes didn't feel enough. Pear knew that a filly of her abilities would be wasted away on their farm, but she wanted to make sure she was ready before heading out.

"Ma, I want to go out to the field and buck apples like Pa and Big Mac!" She complained as she wiped the dishes her mother had just washed. Pear Butter smiled.

"Patience, my little apple seed. You need to become big and strong before you can go out there and buck apples." She assured her daughter.

"But I'm already strong!" She complained, running over to the dinner table and picking it up. "See?"

"Applejack! You put the table down! This instant!" Pear never thought she would ever have to say such a thing to any of her children. The filly complied.

"I'm sorry." She looked down in shame. "But I just feel so useless. I'm sitting here with all this strength! I should be out there helping ponies and helping Pa and Mac in the field would do that! They're working all day to feed the ponies of Equestria!" Pear knew exactly how to lift her daughter's spirits.

"And do you think they would be able to do that if they didn't have us washing their clothes and cooking their meals?" Applejack wasn't sure how to respond to this. "Everypony needs somepony doing these kind of things for them and you are helping them just as much by helping me in here." Applejack smiled at the encouragement, which in turn made Pear smile, happy that she was able to cheer her daughter up. "Now, come on! Those dishes aren't going to clean themselves."

Once the dishes were clean, Applejack helped her mother put them away. Pear was extra careful in placing them in the old cupboard as it was in rather poor condition and looked like it could fall off any minute. She had just finished placing the last dish inside and was about to close the cupboard, when she suddenly slipped on a puddle of water that spilled out of the kitchen sink. Instinctively, she reached to grab the first thing she could to stop herself from falling. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the still open cupboard door and she tore the old thing off of the wall. While she managed to break her fall, the cupboard was now falling towards Applejack in front of her.

The mare had no time to stop the old thing from crashing down on top of the filly. Pear could only stare in horror, unable to imagine how Applejack's small body would be able to survive such an impact, but her horror turned to astonishment when she saw that Applejack's body didn't break. It was the falling cupboard that broke apart on her body! The filly was completely unharmed. Applejack looked around herself, staring at the broken pieces of wood and marple around her, before looking up at Pear in tears.

"I'm sorry, Ma! I didn't mean to break it! It was an accident!" Seeing her daughter in tears immediately made Pear get over her shock and scooped up the young filly into an embrace.

"It's okay! It's okay! It's not your fault! I've been asking your father to fix that cupboard for months! But what about you?! Are you alright?!" Applejack nodded.

"Yeah. I didn't even feel it." She told her. Pear couldn't believe it. A normal filly would have been badly hurt and cut at best. She knew Applejack wasn't exactly normal, but she wouldn't have expected this. Looks like they still didn't see everything she was capable of. She didn't know what else to expect, but she did know one thing: Bright Macintosh is going to get it when he comes back from the fields.

Three more years have passed. Applejack was now five years old and ready to start helping with the bucking. She was excited, but her parents were more nervous. Applejack no doubt possessed the physical strength to work on the field. More than that to be exact. It wasn't Applejack they were worried about, it was the trees.

Applejack's super strength, combined with the revelation three years ago that she cannot be hurt by physical means meant that they will have to teach her to control her strength unless they wanted to end up with many of their trees exploding in billions of splinters.

"Where are we going, Pa?" Applejack asked as Bright Mac led her through an abandoned part of the orchard.

"Well, sweetie, I'm sure you have noticed in the past that you are... slightly stronger than other foals your age." Applejack crossed her forelegs.

"You don't have to remind me. Big Mac will never let me forget how I kicked his stupid ball out of town. I don't know how many times I said I'm sorry." Bright Mac chuckled.

"Then you understand why we will have to find a way to help you control your strength. If you want to be an apple farmer, we can't have the same things happening to our trees. Do you understand, honey?" Applejack nodded.

"Yes, daddy. What do I have to do?"

"Follow me!" Bright Mac beckoned. The two made their way to an old, abandoned part of the orchard where Applejack saw several hug rocks standing in rows.

"What are these rocks doing here, pa?" Applejack asked. Her father winced as he remembered how he carried them all the way over here.

"I set them up for you to practice on them. My back still hurts from hauling them. But I think they're perfect for what we're about to do." He then stopped in front of the first rock in the row. "Now look here. I'm sure you know that rocks are much harder than trees. If I try to buck them like our trees..." He spun around and kicked the rock as he would a tree. Applejack saw the stallion wince in pain. Obviously, he was used to bucking less solid objects.

"...all that happens is I get hurt. But if you try it..." Applejack walked up to the rock and mimicked his father's actions and as soon as her legs connected with the rock, it shattered into a million tiny pebbles.

"Now do you see?" Bright Mac asked. "I used just enough strength as I use when I buck a tree. You'll have to find that same amount of strength to not destroy the tree when you buck it."

Applejack walked up to the next rock and bucked it with as little strength as possible. The rock remained as one and it fell back on the ground. Applejack smiled in satisfaction. It didn't break. That was good. But she felt like she could use a little more. She went to the next rock and bucked a little harder than before. The rock didn't break this time either, but there were noticeable cracks in it. This time, she used a little too much strength. She went at it for the next several minutes, but she didn't feel like she managed to get it right. Not knowing what else to do, she turned to her father.

"How am I doing?" Bright Mac assessed the work she did on the rocks.

"Well, none of them broke. I'd say that's progress." He smiled before turning back to her. "How do you feel you're doing?" Applejack shrugged.

"I don't know. I feel like my buck is either too weak or too strong. I can't find the middle road." Bright Mac patted her head with a smile.

"I have an idea! Why don't you focus on the same strength you used when you used to give me and your Ma hugs? Remember that? You would never used your strength to hurt any of us, right?" Applejack shook her head furiously.

"Of course not!"

"Good! Then use that same strength on the next rock as you used on us!" Applejack did as she was told. She walked up to the last rock and closed her eyes, imagining her parents smiling down at her proudly, her granny offering her another spoonful of her delicious applesauce and her brother ruffling her mane playfully. Applejack smiled in bliss as she let the feeling of love overflow her, then turned around and bucked while remembering the strength she used while hugging her family members.

When her legs connected the rock, she didn't feel it break. Or even crack. The solid rock surface was still there just as it was before she kicked it. Applejack slowly opened her eyes and dared herself to look behind herself. When she saw that the rock remained in perfect condition, just like when her father bucked it, she screamed in joy.

"Woohoo!" She yelled as she jumped in ecstasy. She apparently forgot about controlling her strength as she launched herself several meters up into the air before falling back down. "Did you see that, Pa? I did it!" Bright Mac grinned and pulled her into an embrace.

"You sure did! Good job, Applejack! I'm so proud of you! But the real rest is still ahead of you." Applejack pulled out of the embrace and looked up at her father in confusion.

"What test?"

"You are going to have to try it on a real tree." Bright Mac told her. Applejack was uncertain. Ever since she could remember, she wanted to buck apples like her parents. But now that the time actually came for her to try, she felt nervous. Sure, she managed to control her strength, but would it work the same on a tree as well? This question kept bugging her until Bright Mac led her back to the fields with one of the fertile apple trees standing proudly.

"Here it is, honey. Your time to prove you can control yourself and buck a tree without destroying it. You can do it!"

Applejack sighed. She closed her eyes and recalled those same feelings she felt when she bucked the last rock. She let out a breath she had no idea she's been holding before spinning around and pulling her hindlegs back for a kick. The next thing she felt was a bunch of apples poking her in the flank as they fell on the ground. She was too scared to open her eyes.

"Did I do it, dad?"

"Why don't you see it yourself?"

She finally gathered the courage to look at what she had done and felt a huge sense of relief wash over her when she saw that the tree was completely unharmed. She had done it. Her very first apple bucking. She smiled wider than she ever had before as she looked up at her father, who had tears in his eyes.

"Good work, Applejack. I'm so proud of you." He then leaned down and picked up one of the apples. "The very first one that hit the ground. Your very first one. Here, enjoy it!" Applejack was about to swallow the apple, but suddenly she stopped with a look of concern, which her father noticed.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. Applejack gave the apple a sad look.

"Pa, if it's okay with you, I would rather take it home to Ma." Bright Mac looked surprised by this, but just shrugged.

"Sure. It you wanna. But your Ma can have all the apples she wants. In any way, since she has your granny with her at home, who can bake an apple into any dish."

"I know, but I just wanna do something nice for Ma. I'm a little worried about her." Bright Mac raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you noticed? There is something growing inside her belly. It's very small but it's there. And lately I've been hearing something like a... I know it sounds weird, but like a second heartbeat coming from her." Bright Mac didn't know what he should be more surprised about. The fact that Applejack could see things inside another pony's body and hear something coming out of it, or the implication he suddenly got from his daughter's story. Eventually, he decided not to be surprised at anymore of his daughter's newly discovered abilities. The other thing, however, he found much more exciting.

"Don't worry, honey. Your Ma will be just fine. Now run along and play. I have a feeling just what might be happening to her. And if my hunch ends up being right, you and your brother will be the first ones to know."

Two more years have passed. Applejack was now seven and currently in her second year at Ponyville Elementary School. Overall, she was very happy. She finally was able to control her enormous strength enough to join her family in the farm work, her mother gave life to a beautiful little filly named Apple Bloom and they also had a new dog around the farm whom she loved dearly. She was also a very good student and had a lot of friends at school.

And yet somehow, she still wasn't fully content. She felt like somepony with abilities like hers should be doing a lot more. She was happy when she could finally start bucking apples. Feeding the ponies of Equestria was a great way of helping them, but it didn't feel enough.

Applejack never bothered to ask her parents why she had these abilities and never brought the subject up either. She was an Apple and that was more than enough for them. And while Applejack was grateful for that, but lately the question has been on her mind lately. She decided that she will bring it up later today after school.

As she made her way there from the farm in the morning, she heard the loud, distant whistle of a train. Applejack grinned cheekily.

"Back for more, aren't you?" She glanced towards the train tracks and saw the approaching locomotive turn around the bend. She got into position. "Alright then, three, two, one..."

As soon as she saw the engine pass her at full speed, she also sped up. It had become a daily morning routine for her to race the engine from the farm to school. When she discovered that her speed was also far above a normal foal's, she decided she might as well have fun with it. It was also great exercise.

She looked to the right and saw that the train was still keeping up with her. It must have been a new, faster model. She took that as a personal challenge. She sped up even more and saw her surroundings becoming blurred. This frightened her a little as it had never happened before. She had no idea she was capable of running so fast.

Despite the blurred background, she managed to make out the school building. She stopped running and slammed her hooves into the ground and came to a screeching halt, leaving long, deep tracks behind her. When she stopped, her momentum made her fall forward and her muzzle crashed into the ground. While it didn't hurt her, it would have been awkward if somepony saw it.

"Which naturally means that everypony saw it, right?" Applejack asked herself half-heartedly before looking up. Sure enough, all the colts and fillies on the school playground were staring at her dumbfounded. She grinned nervously at them.

"Uh, I tripped..." She muttered before running off. She hid behind the school building and peeked out from behind it to see that everypony had forgotten about her and went back to talking and playing with each other. She sighed in relief, wiping her forehead. Her relief soon became pride when she heard the whistle of the train as it entered the station. She had won again.

Applejack decided to wait there until the first class started to avoid more embarrassment, until she heard a scream.

"Let go of it, you brute!"

"Huh?"

Applejack turned around to see a white unicorn filly being restrained by two larger colts, - a red earth pony with a black mane and a blue unicorn with a green mane - while a yellow unicorn with a red mane levitated a piece of clothing in front of him.

"Aww! The wittle pwincess is afwaid I'll tear her pwetty dwess?" He mocked.

"I put days of work into it!" The filly cried. "Why are you doing this?" Applejack narrowed her eyes at the scene and marched to confront the bullies.

"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?!" The bullies turned to see Applejack approaching them angrily. Since she never displayed any of her powers at school, they had no idea who they were dealing with.

"Oh, looks like we have a wannabe hero here, boys." The unicorn colt who Applejack assumed was the leader of the group said. "Why don't we show her how much we appreciate heroics around here?"

Applejack wasn't afraid. At least not for herself. She knew there was no way they will be able to do harm to her. It was then she was afraid for. If she wasn't careful, she might do serious harm to them. But she couldn't just let them antagonise this unicorn filly.

"Let her go, now! And give that back to her!" She ordered, motioning to the piece of cloth. The unicorn bully stood his ground.

"Make me." Applejack needed no further encouragement. She went to tear it out of the magical grip of the unicorn, but when she reached for it, she felt all of her strength leaving her. As if the magical energy was somehow draining her. She never felt anything like this before, so the feeling was quite startling to her. She backed away in shock as the unicorn bully laughed.

"Ha! You just wanted to take it out of my magic?! How stupid are you?" Applejack then felt a pair of legs wrapping around her. It was the red earth pony who went to restrain her, but she barely paid attention to it. She was still under the effect of what just happened. "I'll deal with you later. Right now, let's get back to you." He turned back to the white unicorn filly and pulled out a pair of scissors. The filly's eyes widened in horror.

"NO! You fiend! Don't you dare!"

Applejack narrowed her eyes further. She was disgusted by the vileness of these colts. That filly had done nothing to them and they were about to destroy her creation. She had never felt this angry before. She saw red. Literally, as unbeknownst to her, her eyes started glowing with red light as she stared at the colt holding the scissors. But before he could cut into it, he cried out in pain as he felt the scissors heating up in his hooves to an unbearable degree.

"OW! What the..." The colt cried, rubbing his hoof to ease the pain. His confusion turned to anger as he formulated a theory about what happened. "You!" He snapped at the white filly. "This must have been your trick!" Her eyes widened.

"What? No, I wasn't! I don't even know any magic like that!"

"Well, I don't see any other unicorn around here!" He then motioned for the pegasus colt to carry the filly over to him. "I guess I will have to teach you a lesson too!" He growled, cracking his hooves.

At that moment, something inside Applejack snapped. She easily pushed the red earth pony off of herself, before picking him up and hurling him towards the pegasus in the air like a ragdoll. The two colts crashed into the ground as Applejack marched over to the stunned unicorn and shoved him against the wall.

"You filthy, no good varmint!" She screamed at the terrified colt with her eyes still glowing red. "I oughta..."

"Applejack, stop!" Applejack turned her head to see her brother, Big Macintosh staring into her eyes pleadingly. "Please! Don't sink down to their level! You can't afford to lose control!" His words got through to her as she remembered her own strength and realised just what she was about to do. She dropped the bully and backed away, staring at her own hooves in horror.

"Big Mac... I... I..." Her brother wrapped her in a hug.

"Shh... It's okay. It's okay. You snapped out of it. You're okay now." Applejack cried into her brother's shoulder for almost a minute, before she finally had the strength to pull away, she saw Mac's friends, Caramel and Cheese Sandwich staring in shock at the scene and, what frightened her even more, her teacher giving her a stern look.

Applejack gulped. She was in for it now.

Applejack sat in front of the principal's office with her head hung low in shame. Her father had been called in. This has never happened before. The punishment she'd receive wasn't even what worried her the most. It was her father's inevitable disappointment. He taught her how to control her powers in public on a weekly basis, especially when she first started school. She never felt so bad in her life.

She didn't know what to expect. Would she be expelled? Would she have to go to another school? Or would she remain at the farm for all time now? She couldn't decide which one was worse. As she worried about her fate, she looked up to see the white unicorn filly she was trying to help shyly peeking around the corner and staring at her. When she noticed that Applejack spotted her, she briefly looked away before gathering her courage and walking up to her. The two fillies stared at each other for a while in silence, but sure what to say, before finally, Rarity broke the silence.

"Hi." She spoke quietly.

"Hi." Applejack replied with just as much uncertainty.

"I... I just wanted to thank you for helping me back there." She eventually managed to say. Applejack just nodded.

"No problem."

"That Bright Mane is such an awful, awful pony. No one ever stood up to him. Why did you?" Applejack shrugged.

"I didn't want to hurt him. I only wanted to do what was right. And that was helping you." She replied. The unicorn nodded appreciatively.

"You were simply wonderful out there!" She said enthusiastically. "How did you get so strong?" Applejack rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"Well, it's an earth pony thing. We're just strong by nature. Also, I work out a lot, eat healthy and buck trees with my family."

"Oh, that sounds exhausting!" The unicorn replied with a groan. "Still, I think I should start working out more. I want to become as strong as you." Applejack chuckled.

"You might wanna lower your expectations a little bit, sugarcube. My strength is... unique." The unicorn was undeterred.

"Then I will just settle for becoming as strong as I can be! I will not allow myself to be terrorised by the likes of them anymore!" She declared with dedication.

"That's more like it." Applejack said. "How's your clothing, by the way."

"You managed to save it!" The unicorn replied happily. "I sew it for the school play next week. It took ages! I want to be a fashion designer, you know." Applejack had a hard time imagining how you could become a fashion designer in a world where the inhabitants don't usually wear clothes, but she smiled regardless.

"That's great! I hope you succeed!"

"I know I will!" The unicorn smiled back. "I... I have to go now. Class is about to start." Applejack nodded.

"Yeah, right. Well, see you around then. My name is Applejack by the way."

"I'm Rarity!" The unicorn replied. "Thank you again, Applejack! You are my hero!" She told her before taking her leave. Applejack was surprised by that declaration, but it felt good. Her shame about her actions disappeared and was replaced by satisfaction. She was no longer afraid of what punishment she would receive. She had done good and that knowledge was all she needed.

As soon as she finished that thought, the door of the principal's office opened and her father walked through it, looking down at her with a hard, unreadable expression which was enough to bring Applejack's shame back.

"Am I... expelled?" She asked in dread.

"Not yet, but you have been suspended for the rest of the week." He replied. "Words cannot express how disappointed I am in you, Applejack. We have talked about this before. You can't lose control like that!" Applejack hung her head.

"I know. But what was I supposed to do? Just let them beat that innocent unicorn filly to a pulp?" Bright Mac sighed.

"Applejack, listen!" He started as he knelt down to her eye level. "I also heard some pretty nasty things about that Bright Mane and his gang. They sound like nasty pieces of work who definitely need a lesson. And I know you can give it to them. You can punch them so hard they fly out into space, you can freeze them with your breath, you can blow them away. You can. But just because you can, doesn't give you the right." He gave her enough time to process what he just told her before continuing.

"Applejack, I want you to promise me something. Promise me that what happened today won't happen again. No matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, no matter how much ponies bring out the worst in you, promise me that you will never use your powers to hurt others."

"I promise." Applejack vowed solemnly. Bright Mac looked into her eyes and knew that Applejack meant what she said. And for the first time since he arrived at school, he smiled.

"Good girl. Now let's go home. But don't think that means you're off the hook. You will be spending a lot of time helping me on the field today. And tomorrow as well."

"I understand." Applejack replied as the two made their way back to Sweet Apple Acres.

That day, Applejack swore that she would never lose control again. She would be better than that. She was not going to let her anger get the better of her again. Her conversation with Rarity opened her eyes. There were other ways to help ponies. Better ways. And one of them was to inspire them to become better themselves. And from that day on, that's what she was going to do. She was going to make a difference. She was going to help and inspire ponies to become better. But most of all, she would make her family proud.

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #2: A Symbol of Hope

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"Applejack, it's time to wake up!"

Applejack's eyes snapped open from hearing Granny Smith's raspy voice. With a yawn and a stretch, she quickly hopped out of bed and went through her morning routine. She made her bed, washed up, tied her mane and as a finishing touch, she put on a stetson hat that became her signature headwear over the years.

As she admired herself in the mirror, her ears suddenly sprang up as she heard the tapping of hooves approaching her door. Applejack smiled knowingly. Her morning routine wouldn't be complete without her little sister's morning surprise. But with her heightened senses, it was easy to detect when to expect it. She looked at the door and through the wooden material, she saw a little yellow filly sneaking up to her door and giggling. Applejack rolled her eyes in amusement as she walked to the door.

"Three, two, one..." She opened the door just as she saw the little filly reach for the handle and she ended up falling forward into the room with a surprised yelp. Applejack chuckled before rolling the filly on her back. "Good morning, Apple Bloom." She smiled down at her. Apple Bloom wasn't amused.

"Shucks, sis! You always know when I'm coming! How do you do it?"

"I can see you through the door." Applejack told her bluntly, causing the filly to frown.

"Very funny." Apple Bloom said as she got up and dusted herself off. Applejack laughed heartily. Not because she was so humored by what she just said, but because she knew it was true. Of course, Apple Bloom had no way of knowing that. She never shared her abilities with everypony other than the ones who knew about them since day one. Her brother, Big Macintosh, her Granny Smith, and her parents.

Applejack sighed as she remembered them. While it has been years since her parents were no longer among them, it hurt just as much as the day she found they died on their way home from an apple delivery to Canterlot. They never took the train, even when they visited such a hardly approachable place as the capital. They always delivered on hoof and carriages. Bright Mac said they wouldn't have traded the time they spent on the road with their loved ones for anything.

When Applejack heard that they were ambushed and killed by highway ponies on their way home, well, let's just say it took a lot of restraint not to head out and burn the entire area where they were supposedly hiding down with her heat vision, but then she remembered her father's words.

'Just because you can, doesn't give you the right.'

It has been thirteen years since that day when she saved that unicorn filly, Rarity from a trio of bullies. And also almost revealed her abilities in front of the school as a result. Her father's words that he said to her that day still echoed inside her head every day and she's been doing her best to live by them. She couldn't afford to lose control again.

Still, her sense of justice never made that easy for her. Especially after what Rarity told her that day. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she felt like her words stroked her ego. It felt good to be so inspirational to somepony. But they also served as a revelation. She didn't need to use her hooves to make a difference. She could do it by bringing out the best in others. And the most important pony she ever had to do that for was her little sister. Come to think of it, she was the only pony she ever did that for.

When Apple Bloom was born, the whole family was joyous. A new arrival to the family was always a blessing, but for Bright Mac and Pear Butter, this also presented a great new opportunity to satisfy Applejack's need for helping and inspiring others. Who would be better to do that for than a little sister? And that was exactly what happened. Applejack immediately took the new arrival under her wings and began teaching her everything she knew. Well, everything an ordinary filly was capable of that is.

At one point, Applejack even tried giving a copy of her signature stetson hat to Apple Bloom so that they could be even more similar as sisters, but to her surprise, Apple Bloom rejected it. While she loved Applejack dearly and held her in the highest regard, she also didn't want to live in her shadow and have ponies look at her as just a copy of her sister. She wanted to forge her own identity. While Applejack was slightly disappointed, she respected her wish.

"I hope you two are out of bed by now!" Granny Smith yelled from downstairs. "I ain't gonna keep your breakfast warm for you any longer! Get your keisters down here and eat! You'll need all the energy for today's work!" The sisters chuckled.

"Let's go, sugarcube. You know it's not smart to keep Granny waiting." Apple Bloom shivered.

"You don't have to tell me twice. My hooves are still sore from scrubbing all those dishes when I got home late two weeks ago." The yellow filly winced as she rubbed her hoof. The two of them headed towards the stairs when Apple Bloom suddenly cut in front of her sister.

"Race downstairs?" Applejack found the challenge amusing. Her speed was greater than Apple Bloom ever knew. If she wanted, she could have been downstairs by the time Apple Bloom uttered those two words. But she wouldn't do that to her little sister.

"You're on." The two raced all the way to the kitchen. Applejack didn't use her super speed and strength. Over the years, she managed to learn how to limit her energy to just as much as the average pony needed. Of course, she still didn't want to make it too easy for the younger apple, so the race ended with a narrow win for Applejack. Apple Bloom groaned in disappointment.

"Aww, shucks! One of these days I'm gonna beat you!" Applejack chuckled and ruffled her sister's mane.

"Keep practicing, sis. You're getting better with each day." They then sat down at the table where Granny Smith was already waiting for them with their breakfast.

"About time you made it. Good thing you already came running 'cause my patience was running out." The sisters winked at each other as Granny turned away. She wouldn't have approved of racing through the house, but she just assumed they ran because they feared angering her. As they started to eat, Granny Smith got a plate for herself and joined them.

"Is Big Mac already working?" Apple Bloom asked as they ate. Granny Smith nodded.

"But don't worry, missy. He'll make sure there's enough work left for you two." Any other filly Apple Bloom's age would have been surprised to see her merely smile about this.

"Good. I wanna make sure my bucking gets the best as soon as it can. How do you think I'm doing, sis?"

"You still have a lot to learn, but don't worry. You're learning from me and I learned from the best." Applejack smiled fondly at the memory of learning bucking from her father. "So learning from the second best is nothing to frown about I reckon." Apple Bloom feigned a thinking look.

"Well, technically speaking, sis, Pa must have also learned it from somepony, so that would only make you the third best." Apple Bloom teased. "In fact, they must have also learned it from somepony, so I'd say that knocks you back by a few places." Applejack gave her a warning look.

"Watch it, tyke. I can have you buck a few of the sturdier trees around here today." Granny Smith smiled as she watched the two interact. While she rarely voiced this thought to Bright and Pear, she always had her worries about how Applejack would settle in with the family and the rest of ponykind considering her origin. She was happy that she was constantly proven wrong.

Despite their recent struggles, the little family was happy together. If Granny Smith wanted to be honest with herself, she would have been perfectly content keeping things hidden from her adopted granddaughter forever. But still, she couldn't get rid of a feeling inside her that one day, Applejack was going to start wondering about her origin.

She didn't know it yet, but that day was just around the corner.

After breakfast, the two sisters headed out the door to finally go about their daily work. The noise of activity that suddenly hit their ear made their cheerful mood go away as they remembered that this was not the place where they grew up. After the passing of their parents, they were unable to keep Sweet Apple Acres and were forced to sell their farm and move away to relatives in the nearby town of Appleoosa. While they welcomed them with open hooves, it still didn't feel like home. Applejack looked down at her little sister to see that her expression mirrored her exact feelings, so she decided to put on her mask of cheer for her.

"Hey, why don't you go and find your brother? He'll need help with all of that work." Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Aren't you coming?"

"I have a few things to sort out with your cousin, Braeburn. You know how I'm the only one whose opinion he listens to when it comes to running things around here." Apple Bloom nodded.

"Yup, he's stubborn as an Apple alright. So if he's willing to take your advice, you must be better at it than the rest of us average dumb farmers. Okay then, smarty pants. I'll leave you to your business meeting with our cousin." She added that last part mockingly. Applejack leaned down used her snout and gave her little sister a push on her flank. The strength of the push greatly surprised the younger filly.

"Less sassing, more bucking, bucko." She retorted. "Now go! I'll be with you in a while." Applejack watched her sister walk down the road for a while when she saw her stop and peek over her shoulder. "I'm watching you, Bloom! No more slacking off and napping in the bushes, you hear?!" Apple Bloom spun around.

"That happened only once!"

"And you better keep it that way! Now get your flank on the fields before I'll drag you there by your ears!" Once her sister walked off in the direction of the fields and she could no longer see her, she finally headed off to find Braeburn. She didn't have to look for long. In a few minutes, she was able to locate her cousin walking back from the town entrance.

"Howdy, Applejack?" He greeted on his usual cheerful tone. "How are you doing this fine morning?" Applejack smiled. Her cousin's enthusiasm was always able to make her forget her troubles and brighten her mood.

"Everything's dandy, Brae. Back from another successful negotiation?" The stallion nodded.

"Eyup. Another load of apples sold off to one of them big ponies up there in the big city. From what I understood, they're gonna hold some big fancy party for which they need all the treats they can gather. And what better treats there are than our apples?" He winked. Applejack winked back.

"You can say that again. I reckon they paid nicely for them apples."

"Let's just say if we keep our production rate up and strike a few more deals like that, we won't have any trouble getting through the winter months this year." Applejack grinned brightly. While there was no shortage of work around this town, the Apple family was never one to shy away from hard labor. They made considerable living around here. Yet despite all that, Applejack was not completely happy and Braeburn could see that her smile was forced.

"You okay, AJ?" The mare's smile fell but she tried to save face.

"Why, I'm as peachy as a pig in the sty, Brae. Why do you ask?" Braeburn saw right through her.

"You're a terrible liar, AJ." He said with a frown. "I can always tell when you lie. Your brother taught me how to look for the telltale signs. Please, tell me what's wrong?" Applejack deeply wanted avoid another 'You're homesick, aren't you?' conversation, so she decided on a counterattack.

"That's funny coming from you, Brae. For the past few months, I've been asking you the same question and just like with me, the answer was always obvious." Braeburn looked away. For months, no matter how well the farm went, no matter how much money they made, Applejack could tell there was something bothering him. When she asked about it, he said it was nothing, but his heartbeat immediately told Applejack that it was a lie. And she didn't have to guess for long to find out why.

Ever since the foundation of Appleoosa, the residents have been having trouble with the buffalo tribes living nearby. The behemoths were concerned about the pony folk invading their territory and taking their land. They often broke into the town and made a big mess, causing serious property damage and many ponies to get hurt. And Braeburn was worried that one day, it will be somepony he knows and cares about.

"And judging from your expression, I'd say you're thinking about it again. It's the buffaloes again, isn't it?" Braeburn rubbed the back of his head. While they didn't raid the town in weeks, the sheriff sent out some scouts and they reported that they are up to something. But just like Applejack, he didn't want to bother anypony else with his worries. Both out of pride and concern for others. Eventually, his smile returned but Applejack could immediately tell that he was just putting on a brave face.

"Don't worry about it." Braeburn said, putting a hoof on her shoulder reassuringly. "Everything will be fine." Applejack did not seem reassured by his bravado and Braeburn noticed this right away, so he decided on a different approach.

"Tell you what! How about we go and ease our worries over a few cups of cider?" The mention of cider quickly made Applejack forget about her worries, but she still had an excuse against it.

"Cider? This early? I promised Mac and Bloom to join them at the field soon. It would be irresponsible to ditch work." Braeburn just waved her concerns off.

"Let them work. I already made a good deal today that'll bring us more than enough money for the next few weeks. One or two hours of you not working won't do any harm. Besides, your little sister needs all the work she can get, wouldn't you say?" Applejack chuckled.

"That much is true. She's always going on about how she wants to be like me. Both in strength and working spirit. Well, who am I to stand in her way. And I've never been one to refuse a mug of cider. Lead the way, partner!"

Ten minutes later, the two were sitting in a local bar, chugging down cider while laughing and chatting their problems away. Braeburn was right. Applejack had almost completely forgotten about her issues from this morning. She only wished she could do the same for Braeburn. But deep down she knew that his issues were not just sentimental longing for his old life, but a very serious matter that could endanger not only his family, but possibly the whole town.

Despite this, Applejack tried her best to take his worries away and she could see that it was working. She only hoped the cider won't be too much. For some reason, no matter how much she drank, she never recalled herself ever getting drunk. But she didn't know what was the limit of the stallion. But it looked like they weren't very high. They were only at the second mug, but Braeburn already looked like he was losing his grip. Applejack could barely stop him from falling off his stool a minute ago.

Applejack almost believed that Braeburn was trying to drink his problems away but she quickly chased those thoughts away, chastising herself for even having them in the first place. Braeburn was a responsible pony who never would have ignored the problem if it was affecting others. And bless his heart, even in his tipsy and worrying state, he was still trying to make Applejack feel better.

"You see, Applejack?" Braeburn asked with an already slurred voice. "The buffalo problem is not going away anytime soon. And as long as it's going on, I'll always worry about the town, about the farm, about my family and mostly, about you. I get you're feeling homesick, but that's not going to kill anypony. This problem might."

"Much appreciated, Brae." Applejack chuckled. "But we have a much better chance at tackling this problem together. If you just share it with us. I don't like seeing you bottling up your emotions. None of us do." Braeburn took another sip before continuing.

"I also don't like seeing you closing off from me, AJ." He replied. "I know you miss your old farm, but you're making me feel like you don't like it here in Appleoosa. You don't like it with me."

"I do like!" Applejack protested. "It's just... It's hard to tell. It's not something I talk about happily."

"Well then you understand how I feel about the buffaloes!" Braeburn said. "Here's the deal! I won't bring Sweet Apple Acres again if you won't bring the buffaloes up again. Deal?" He raised another mug in front of her. "Come on! Let's drink on it!" Applejack slammed her mug into his and chugged it's content down. Braeburn looked like he won't last much longer before passing out so she decided it was time to end their drinking session.

"Okay, partner, I think you've had enough. Come on, I'll take you home." Applejack put one of his forelegs around her shoulder and started carrying him out the door.

"Hey, come on! I know when I had enough!" The stallion complained, before suddenly falling silent. "Then again, you may be right. I'm starting to see strange things. Like that cart bouncing towards us with no driver."

Applejack followed the stallion's gaze and noticed just in time that was Braeburn was seeing was not an alcohol induced hallucination, but in fact very much real! A cart with no driver was approaching them at great speed. Applejack had no time to react. All she could do was shield Braeburn with her body as the cart crashed into her and shattered into pieces. Braeburn's eyes widened.

"Okay, now I know you're right. I just saw you smashing that cart into pieces. Crazy, huh?"

Applejack ignored his remark. He searched for the source of the runaway cart and sure enough, her fears have been confirmed. It was another buffalo raid. She saw several of those beasts running and rampaging through the streets of the town. The ponies were desperately trying to get inside or into any cover they could find but it wasn't easy. One wrong move and they could have been stomped to death.

Applejack knew she had to do something. She remembered her father's words about restraining her powers, but she couldn't just ignore this terrible situation. But first she had to take Braeburn to safety. Fortunately, they were still not far from the bar. She dashed back inside and put him down.

"Stay here!" She introduced before running back outside.

"Stay where the cider is?" He replied with a smile, completely oblivious to what was happening around him. "No problem!"

"NO MORE CIDER FOR YOU!" Applejack yelled from outside. She then looked around for anypony who might be needing help. One unfortunate mare was heading towards an alleyway, but one of the buffaloes noticed her and was about to run her down. Using her speed, Applejack was able to get her out of the way in time, dashing into the alley with her.

"Are you alright?" The mare nodded. "Stay down! It'll over soon." She instructed before running back out onto the streets. Another buffalo quickly noticed her and ran at her, but Applejack just stood there and deflected the attack without doing anything. The buffalo just bounced off of her.

Lifting one of her ears, Applejack tried to use her enhanced hearing to find anypony else in trouble. She heard struggling from the other side of the building she was in front of. She quickly dashed around it and saw a stallion trapped beneath a broken carriage. With another buffalo just inches away from him.

For anypony, it would have been too late, but not for her. Applejack dashed into the brutish animal with her super speed and punched it away before freeing the trapped pony and carrying him into the same alleyway.

"Have you seen anypony else out there?" He never got the chance to answer as he was interrupted by another scream for help. Her blood froze when she recognized that voice. It was her little sister, Apple Bloom.

"HELP!" The young pony ran for her life with three buffaloes hot on her trail. Applejack peeked out from the alley and saw that they were closing in on her. Her eyes narrowed.

"Not my sister, fuzzballs!" She quickly ran towards her sister and got between her and her attackers. She then inhaled deeply and literally blew the buffaloes several meters away. She turned to check on Apple Bloom.

"Are you okay, sugarcube?" Apple Bloom only screamed in response as she pointed behind Applejack, completely paralysed with fear. The older sister turned around and saw the water tower collapsing right on top of them. The buffaloes must have gotten to it while she was saving other ponies.

She could have just picked Apple Bloom up and run. She would have made it easily. But the building behind them would have been completely destroyed and Applejack could see that there were ponies hiding inside. Applejack closed her eyes and sighed. There was only one thing she could do.

She stood upright and raised her forelegs. She felt the wooden surface colliding with her hooves and coming to a stop. Behind her, Apple Bloom was completely and utterly stunned. She thought her sister was mad for a moment, but when she saw what she just did, her fear became absolute disbelief. What her sister was doing was impossible! There was no way what she was seeing was actually happening. And yet, it was.

Applejack held the tower in place for a while before lowering it safely on the ground. She turned around to look at the flabbergasted filly who was looking up at her with a mix of confusion, amazement and fear. And from the corner of her eyes, Applejack could see several other ponies sharing her sister's sentiments, but for now, only her sister existed to her.

"Are you okay?" She asked, reaching for her, but Apple Bloom just jumped to her hooves and ran away. She cast one last, unbelieving and terrified look at Applejack before disappearing behind the building. Applejack didn't even look at the other ponies who also witnessed the same thing as Apple Bloom and giving her similar looks. But their gaze could never come close to hurting as much as her sisters.

Applejack looked back at the watertown on the ground before turning her eyes at her forelegs. She always knew what she was capable of, but it never made her think anything less of herself. But now, for the first time, she found herself asking the same thing Apple Bloom and all those other ponies were thinking.

Just what was she?

It has been a week since the buffalo raid on Appleoosa. Most of the ponies quickly recovered from the shock. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, but it could have easily been worse if Applejack didn't intervene.

Only a few ponies saw how she repelled those buffaloes but even after all this time, it was still the talk of the town. Fortunately, it was beginning to die down after almost nopony believed the outlandish claims about Applejack blowing buffaloes away with her breath or catching the water tower they knocked over. The few ponies who did see it kept their distance from Applejack in the days that followed and kept sending strange looks her way when they saw them on the street. Applejack tried not to show it, but it did sting.

Though none of the town folk's alienation hurt as bad as her little sister's. Of course, Apple Bloom was grateful that she saved her life, but the shock upon witnessing what her sister did far outweighed that. When she didn't come sneaking up on Applejack's bedroom door the next morning, she knew things were serious.

Granny Smith and Big Mac tried to smooth things over but with less than more success. Apple Bloom still avoided contact with her older sister, usually eating her breakfast far before she woke up and heading out with Big Mac to the fields early. They told Applejack not to worry as the Apple Bloom probably just needed time to process what she had seen. She just saw Applejack perform feats that she thought were equinely impossible. She's gonna take time to stomach that.

And for the first time in many years, Applejack found herself wondering why. Why she was so different from other ponies? Why did she have all of these abilities? What was she? She never had that talk with her father about her powers like she planned to that day when she saved Rarity from those bullies. She decided it wouldn't be the best time after she caused so much trouble with them and then she just forgot about it.

But she finally wanted answers. And she would have to get them from the only ponies who knew about her abilities, her brother and grandmother. Ironically, Big Mac was for more talkative about this issue. Granny just reassured Applejack that no matter what, she was an Apple and always will be. But Big Mac didn't seem satisfied with this answer. And Applejack found out why one evening when she overheard a conversation between the two.

"Granny, don't you think it's time we told her?" Big Mac's unmistakable voice asked from behind the door of Granny Smith's bedroom as Applejack passed by it. While her parents taught her that eavesdropping was impolite, Applejack knew that she was the subject of their discussion and her curiosity got the better of her.

"And what difference would that make?" Granny Smith argued. "Knowing the truth won't make her anymore of an ordinary pony. No matter where she came from, she's family all the same. Ain't no point in upsetting her with it."

"She is upset already." Big Mac retorted. "She's wondering, Granny. She always was curious about why she's different than the rest of us. She told me so many times. But after what happened last week, she's more curious than ever. She wants to know the truth!"

"Sometimes our needs come before our wants, Big Macintosh." Granny told him dismissively. "I reckoned you learned that years back when we had to leave Sweet Apple Acres behind." Big Mac was quick to counter.

"You don't get to decide what she needs, Granny. She's no longer a foal. Just like Pa said when we found her, whether she wants to know the truth or not is up to her."

"Mighty low of you to bring up my son against me, Macintosh." Granny Smith sighed sadly.

"Bringing up Sweet Apple Acres wasn't exactly high and mighty from you either, Granny." Big Mac replied gruffly. "Applejack is not the only one who misses that place."

Applejack's head was spinning upon the things she heard. Have they always known the truth about her and just decided to keep it a secret? But the betrayal over that was quickly overtaken by shock when she heard her brother mention the word 'found'. She was found? Why was she needed to be found? She was quite certain her parents would never lose her in the fields when she was a foal. But that could only mean...

Granny Smith and Big Macintosh both jumped in shock as the door slammed open, revealing a very shocked and very upset Applejack. The two immediately realized that this means they were overheard. Granny Smith looked so worried as if the grim reaper just appeared in front of her, but strangely Big Macintosh looked calm. Almost relieved. He knew their granny won't be able to talk her way out of this one. The truth will come out tonight.

Applejack was panting from the shock of the revelation, her eyed wide open in disbelief as she stared at her grandmother. Or should she even call her that?

"Found?! What are you talking about?!" The two ponies in front of her shared a nervous glance but neither of them answered. Their silence was only making Applejack angrier. She raised a hoof and pointed at the elderly mare.

"You... are going to tell me everything. Now!" She whispered sharply. Granny Smith gulped. She looked down in uncertainty. She never wanted the truth to come out, but it looks like that ship has sailed. Nevertheless, she would try to save face.

"Now, Applejack, what's the point in..."

"NOW!" Applejack demanded, making the two jump again. It was clear that she wouldn't take no for an answer. Granny Smith looked Big Mac for help, but the stallion firmly stood his ground. The truth had to come out. Finally, Granny Smith gave in with a sigh.

"Very well. Come with me to the basement, youngin'. I'll explain everything." She then turned to the stallion. "Big Mac, go get Apple Bloom, will ya? This is something that concerns the whole family. And it will probably help her come to terms with what she saw." Big Mac nodded and left the room while Granny Smith motioned for Applejack to follow her.

Tbe member of the Apple family gathered in the basement. Apple Bloom was hiding nervously behind Big Mac, still refusing to take a look at her older sister. The stallion tried to reassure her with comforting pats on the head, but the young pony just shied away from it. Applejack tried to ignore it, telling herself that she should be used to it by now, but she couldn't hide how much it still hurt her. She shook her head. There was a more pressing matter at hoof right now.

They were standing in front of an object covered with a huge white sheet. Applejack didn't recall ever seeing what was that before. They didn't take many things from Sweet Apple Acres with them when they moved away and she saw Big Mac putting this thing on their carriage. She also saw it a few times when she's been down in their basement back there but she never questioned what it was.

She didn't understand why it suddenly became so important, but apparently it had something to do with her origin as if lead her down here to it. Applejack gave her grandmother a questioning look. The elderly mare looked back at her sadly before looking down with a sigh and beginning her story.

"Applejack, I know this is gonna come as a huge shock to you. Which is one of the reasons I never wanted to tell you, but the truth is..." She stopped for a moment to gather her strength for what she was about to say. "...my son and his wife only had two foals." Applejack was stunned. She wasn't really her parents' foal. Her whole life has been a lie. She saw from the corner of her eye that even Apple Bloom was shocked about this and she finally looked up at her sister with wide eyes, but Applejack was too caught up in her own surprise to react.

"So... it is true?" She stuttered after getting over her shock. "I'm a found foal? I'm... I'm not really an Apple?" She asked as tears welled up in her eyes. Her grandmother fixed her a sharp look.

"You're as much as Apple as any of us, Applejack! Don't you ever doubt that, do you hear?!" Her grandmother's encouragement felt good, but right now, she just couldn't bring herself to be thankful for it.

"But what about my abilities? That still doesn't explain them? Just where did you find me?" Granny Smith looked over at Big Mac and nodded. The stallion walked over to the white sheet and yanked it off of the object it was concealing. It was a large black orb. Applejack didn't understand what it had to do with anything, but when Big Mac went over to it and opened it up, an outlandish idea was conceived in her mind.

"We were not about to leave this behind for that vulture who claimed our farm to find." Granny Smith said bitterly. "We found you in this. Big Macintosh found it to be precise. It fell out of the sky."

Applejack walked closer to observe the object. The advanced technology on it's inside and the map of starts only further fueled the insane theory inside her head. After getting a good look at it's insides, she looked at it from the outside and saw the symbol on it. The S inside the diamond silhouette. She caressed the symbol with her hoof. She felt like she should be able to recognize it but she couldn't put her hoof on it. Her train of thoughts was interrupted by her brother.

"And that's not all." He said before pulling out the metal rod he found tied around her neck during the first night. "This was hanging around your neck when we found you. We had no idea what it is. Maybe you can make something of it."

Applejack took it and inspected it thoroughly. At the thicker end of it, she saw the very same symbol she saw on the spacepod. Driven by an inner instinct she didn't know she had, she could instantly tell that this thing had something to do with the object.

Applejack walked back to the spacepod and peeked inside again. Among the computers, she noticed a small diamond shaped hole in the panel. Glancing back at the rod, it didn't take long for her to make the connection. She inserted the rod into the hole and upon seeing that it fit perfectly, she pushed it down.

The family of four jumped in surprise as the machine came to life and the computer panel lit up with different colored lights. Granny Smith, Big Mac and Apple Bloom backed away, only Applejack remained near the object as a holographic projection materialised in the middle of the basement, over the space pod. The projection slowly took the form of a pony. An orange stallion with a white mane, wearing a long black robe with a white symbol in it's collar. The same symbol from Applejack's spacepod.

Applejack looked up at the strange stallion in shock. While she never saw him before, she felt an inexplicable connection to him. The stallion's gaze was sorrowful as he looked Applejack in the eye and she knew he was directly addressing her.

"Greetings, my daughter." The stallion spoke on a deep, fatherly voice. Applejack was too stunned to speak, but she had more questions than she ever did in her life. "If you ever see this recording, then my hopes have been realized. I just hope you are mature and emotionally prepared for what I am about to tell you." The other three Apple family members came forward to listen to what was about to be said. Applejack walked forward and slowly raised her hoof, pushing it through the hologram. She was surprised to see how it passed through the stallion. Applejack finally looked at the stallion in the eye.

"You... You are my father?" She asked somberly.

"A digital reflection of his consciousness to be precise. My name... Or the name of the stallion I used to be is Pom-El. Pom-El of Krypton." The recording answered. He then noticed the other three ponies in the basement. "I assume you are the family who has been sheltering my daughter all these years." Granny Smith was the first one to get over her shock.

"And I reckon you're the one who shot her out into space all those years ago?" She replied. Pom-El nodded sadly.

"I sense your judgement, ma'am, but have we not sent her away, she would have shared the fate of our world and ourselves."

"And what was that?"

"Destruction." The four ponies were reduced to stunned silence.

"Destruction?" Apple Bloom muttered in disbelief. "A whole world... just like that?" Pom-El nodded once again.

"Indeed, young one. Our world, was old. Older than our civilization. The planet's core was destabilising at an alarming rate. By the time we realized it, it was too late. I wouldn't have been able to warn them even if they believed me, which I was uncertain they would. There was only one way for me to save my people." He then returned his gaze at his daughter. "I have put all of my hopes, the hopes of my people into my daughter, App-El." Applejack smiled upon hearing that name.

"App-El? That sounds almost exactly like Apple. The same family that took me in." Granny Smith and Big Mac walked up to her side supportingly as they smiled. Apple Bloom was still uncertain so she kept her distance. The recording of Pom-El smiled.

"That sounds like a wholesome coincidence." But his expression quickly turned back to sour. "It pains me to have to place this huge burden upon you, but it was our only option. The future of our people live in you." Applejack frowned.

"But how? How am I supposed to keep the memory of an entire alien civilization on my own."

"You are not on your own, App." Her father replied. "You are now as much of a child of Equus as you were of Krypton. You embody the best in both worlds. Your mere existence is already a testimony of our legacy. It will live on in the creatures of Equus." Applejack was more confused than ever.

"How?"

"Sadly, I cannot give you the answers you seek right here. But I can guide you to a place where you will find them." He then motioned to the map screen on the computer panel in the spacepod. "Before we sent you on your way, we sent out another pod. It landed a few miles north from the location your pod was supposed to land. It is a place only you can enter using the same key you activated this message inside your pod. It will carry my consciousness there and there I will tell you all you need to know. As well as provide you with some additional items of great importance."

"However, it is up to you whether you wish to seek out those answers or not. Our first and foremost task was to ensure your survival. But if you decide to choose your new world and bury the remains and the memories of Krypton forever, that is a decision you will have to make. No matter what you decide, we will be content with knowing that among the stars, you live. Goodbye for now, my daughter. I hope we will see each other again. May Rao guide you on whatever path you choose." And with that, the projection faded away.

Once he was gone, the computer panel of the space pod ejected the key with a hissing sound and Applejack went to retrieve it. She looked at it in contemplating. There were so many things on her mind. Not only did she just learn that the Apples were her adopted family, but the ghost of her real father revealed that she was the last surviving member of an alien civilization sent to this planet to keep alive the memory of her race. Or maybe she shouldn't? Pom-El did tell her that it was up to her. If she so desired, she could just ignore everything she learned and carry on with her life as a simple apple farmer.

But surprisingly, Applejack found that the decision was very easy to make. Her parents, her real parents saved her from the destruction of her homeworld. They risked everything to ensure her survival. Out of a sense of duty, she felt like she had a responsibility to carry out what she was sent here to do. She looked back at her family who were awaiting her decision with trepidation.

"I'm going."

The next morning, Applejack was in her room, preparing herself for the journey ahead of her. She was so busy gathering things in her saddlebag that even with her super hearing, she didn't even hear the tapping of small hooves reaching her door. Which is part of the reason the knocking surprised her so much. Applejack went to open the door and saw her little sister standing outside. The moment they made eye contact, Apple Bloom looked down, but Applejack could see that it was not out of the fear that haunted her for the past week, but shame.

"Can I... Can I come in?" She started nervously. Applejack stood back and pulled the door wide open as a sign of invitation, but went right back to packing as her sister entered. Apple Bloom rubbed her foreleg. She wasn't sure where to begin.

"Are you ok?" Was the first thing that came to her mind. "Your head must be spinning after everything you learned yesterday."

"Well, I can't say it wasn't a shock, but given all the things I can do, it actually kinda helps put things into perspective."

"Don't you feel... worried about this whole trip?" Apple Bloom asked, her confidence slowly returning. "Worried about what you may find out?" Applejack shook her head.

"If anything, I'm excited. I've been asking myself questions my whole life but nopony had the answers. Now I finally know where to find them." She said as she placed her saddlebag on her back. "You wanted something, AB?"

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for the way I acted." The younger pony replied, casting her head down once more. "I was just scared. I always thought you were just a normal pony like the rest of us. Turns out, you're anything but. But I want you to know that no matter what you really are, no matter where you came from or who birthed you, you will always be my sister!" Applejack had to restrain herself from crying. She just scooped her sister up and hugged her gently.

"I love you too, Bloom. You have no idea how much this means to me." For the first time that morning, Apple Bloom smiled and returned her sister's embrace. The two of them headed down the stairs where Granny Smith and Big Mac were already waiting for them. The elderly mare looked much less enthusiastic about Applejack's departure as the stallion.

"I don't suppose I can say or do anything that will change your mind." Granny Smith asked. Applejack shook her head.

"Sorry, Granny. My mind is made up. I may not become the last hope for a long lost alien civilization, but I will finally find out who I am." The grandmother saw the determination and finally accepted that her son was right. If Applejack wanted to learn the truth, there was nothing she could do to stop her. She sighed in defeat, but did force a small smile on her face.

"Well one thing's for sure. You got that stubbornness from our family. No matter where you came from, you're an Apple. Always will be." She then gave her a bag of apple treats. "Just a little something to remind you of home if you ever get hungry." Applejack took the food with a grateful smile and gave her granny a hug.

"So what are you planning on doing?" Big Mac asked.

"I'll take a train to the northest city of Equestria I can get to. I'll continue from there on hoof." Applejack replied as she loaded the food into her saddlebag. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow.

"All the way to the Frozen North on hoof? Wouldn't it be easier to hire an airship or something?" Applejack shook her head.

"No. Nopony can see where I'm about to go or what I'm about to do. Besides, I can take it. A little cold won't stop me." She looked at the clock on the wall. "I should go. My train will arrive soon."

"When will you come back?" Big Mac asked. She shrugged.

"A couple weeks I reckon. Don't worry. I'll be back before the harvest for the winter months. Your lazy butt won't have to do all the work."

"Goodbye, Applejack!" Apple Bloom waved. "Take care of yourself and come back soon!"

"You betcha, Bloom! And you make sure you do your chores while I'm away! You're working for two now!" She laughed at that. Her little sister may be enthusiastic about working like her sister, but she's really curious if her tone will be the same when she comes back.

Applejack made her way towards the train station, but she suddenly realized there was one more pony in town she needed to say goodbye to. The problem will be finding him before her train left. Braeburn was always doing different jobs around the town for the family. She could only hope that she would bump into him on her way to the station. She hasn't even talked to him since the last buffalo raid.

Luck seemed to be on her side today though as just as she approached the station building, Braeburn just came out of it, carrying an empty crate. She smiled upon seeing Applejack.

"Howdy, AJ! How's it hanging?" Applejack returned his smile.

"Hey, there Brae! I'm not complaining." She then noticed the crate. "Another cargo of apples shipped out?" Braeburn nodded enthusiastically.

"Eyup! Just finished loading up the last of 'em onto the train! What about you?"

"Well, it's a good thing you showed up. I've been wanting to see you before I leave." Braeburn tilted his head in confusion, before noticing the saddlebag on her back.

"Leaving? Where ya going?" A look of realization dawned on his face. "Oh! Another business trip?" Applejack shook her head.

"No. This trip is a bit more... personal."

"Oh." Braeburn said, feeling a little awkward. "It... It has nothing to do with the things folks been whispering about you, right?"

"No. Don't worry." Applejack replied, quickly chasing those thoughts away. "I wouldn't bother myself with that. Let's just say I have a few things to work out in my head and I'm going to a place that's gonna help me with that." While Braeburn didn't fully understand what she was talking about, he nodded.

"It's okay. Whatever is on your mind, it's clearly tough for you to talk about. I'm not gonna push it. If you feel you need to go, then I fully stand behind you. I'm gonna miss you though. Who's gonna drag my drunk flank home during a buffalo raid?" He said jokingly. Applejack chuckled.

"That's kinda why I wanted to see you before I go. I haven't seen you since that day. How are you doing?" Braeburn shrugged.

"Just like you, I'm not complaining. Only thing that's been hurt that day is my pride."

"Well, shucks, Brae! You and I both know that for an Apple, that's the worst kinda hurt." Applejack smiled teasingly. Braeburn laughed.

"Still, I'll manage. It'll be tough without you around, not gonna lie." Applejack patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Cheer up, Brae! I'll be back before you know it!"

"One glass of cider with me before the trip?" The stallion asked hopefully. Applejack shook her head.

"I'd love to but my train's arriving soon. I better get going. See you in a few weeks!" She was about to enter the station, but Braeburn called after her one last time.

"Hey, before you go, let me give you something to remember me by." He then reached inside his vest and pulled out something. Something that Applejack didn't see in such a long time that it took her a while to recognize it. But when she did she gasped.

"Is that... my mom's pendant. You're giving it back to me?" Braeburn smugly grinned.

"I'm not giving it back to you. I won it fair and square, remember?"

"The hay you did!" Applejack yelled accusingly, pointing a hoof at her. "It was my first time using the lasso! You knew I wasn't gonna get that bull on my first try!" Her first attempt at lassoing critters wasn't exactly among her fondest memories. She may have been able to contain the raging beast with her super strength, but the bet was specifically about the lasso. Something Applejack was still a novice at back then.

"That's the exact opposite of what you said back then as I recall!" Braeburn retorted. Applejack opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came to her mind. Braeburn chuckled.

"Here's the deal! It's still mine, but I'm gonna let you have it while you're gone." He then stood behind Applejack and tied the pendant around her neck. "And now for the best part." He then grabbed the pendant and opened it, showing Applejack a picture inside it about the two of them with their forelegs wrapped around each other and smiling brightly. "Think of it as taking a part of me with you. Wherever you go."

Applejack's eyes watered with tears. She sniffed them back before pulling Braeburn into a hug. Braeburn was surprised at first, especially with how strong Applejack's embrace was, but once he recovered from his shock, he gladly returned it.

"Thank you so much!" Was all she could say. Applejack would have been content to stay in that embrace for much longer, but the whistle of the train made her snap out of it. "I should hurry! Goodbye, Brae! And thank you!" The stallion waved at her.

"So long, AJ! Come back soon!"

"You know it!" Applejack shouted back before heading inside the station where her train was already waiting for her. Once aboard, Applejack found herself a cozy little cabin with no other occupants. Appleoosa was a small town, not many ponies were traveling to our from it. She wouldn't be surprised if she didn't have to share this cabin with anypony on the ride. Which was good because right now she needed to be alone with her thoughts.

While what she told Apple Bloom about her being excited about this trip was completely true. It wasn't until now that she actually started thinking about what would happen if she learned something at the end of her journey that she didn't like. The fact that she was not of this planet was already a bigger shock than anypony could handle. Then she learned that the planet she was from no longer existed. What other world shattering revelations could she have once she reached her destination?

Applejack shooed these thoughts away. She wouldn't know that until she got there so there was no point in worrying about it. But she found that she was already missing Braeburn. He was able to calm her and cheer her up even in her worst mood. She then remembered the pendant. She opened it and the bright smiling face that greeted her immediately eased her worries. Just like she was looking at the real deal.

With her mind at ease, Applejack looked out the window and just watched the landscape running by as the train picked up speed. She felt herself getting drowsy. She was so excited about this trip that she barely had any sleep last night and it finally caught up with her. Before she knew it, the rocking of the train cabin already lulled her to sleep.

When the whistle of the train woke Applejack up, it was already past noon. She looked out the window and saw that the train had come to a stop and looking around, she could tell that it had arrived to it's final destination. She was surprised that she managed to sleep through the whole journey, but just a moment later, she was already facing a new issue.

The loud rumbling of her stomach reminded her that she was so eager to go on this journey that she didn't even have breakfast. Good thing Granny Smith packed enough for her to eat for the trip. Applejack smiled. Even while she was miles away, her dear old granny was still taking care of her. She quickly got off the train to find herself a warm, cozy place to have lunch. Or breakfast in her case.

Applejack wandered around the town for a bit. This place was even smaller than Appleoosa. The only ponies she saw were the ones who were working here but otherwise she saw very few houses suitable families. Granted, a town this close to the frozen north was probably not the most suitable environment to raise a family. The only reason Applejack could see somepony settling down out here is to disappear from the world.

After a few minutes, she did come across a quiet little bar. There weren't that many ponies inside. Apart from the bartender a group of stallions were drinking around a round table and another one was sitting at the counter chatting with the barmaid. She sat down at the counter and pulled out a few sandwiches and an apple strudel Granny Smith gave her and started eating quietly. She was gonna try and keep a low profile while she was here.

"Can I get you anything, Miss?" Applejack looked up to see the bartender looking straight at her.

"A glass of warm cider would be nice, thank you." The bartender chuckled as he went to get her order.

"You came just in time. We're quick to run out cider during the day. Folks who work around here need something to keep them warm. I barely had enough left for one more glass." He said, giving Applejack her drink. "Say, I don't recall ever seeing you around."

"I'm just passing by." Applejack replied after swallowing a bit of her strudel and taking a sip of her glass. "I have some business to take care of from a bit of north to here."

"Only place more north than this are the frozen mountains." The bartender replied as he went back to washing glasses. "There's only one kind of business one can usually take care of there, but if you were about to do that you probably wouldn't be having such a nice lunch with a warm glass of cider. Are you another of those treasure hunter types?" Now that caught Applejack's attention.

"Uh... no, I'm not. My business here is personal." The bartender didn't find this answer less peculiar than the treasure hunter tale, but before he could ask Applejack about it, she beat him to it. "What kind of treasures could anypony be looking for up there?"

"Now that is a very good question." One of the stallions sitting around the round table replied. Applejack turned to look at them. They were a group of earth ponies along with a unicorn. "A couple of those unicorn scholars showed up here a few days ago. They said they were researching some of those big holes they recently discovered in the ice. What do they call them again?"

"Craters." The bartender replied.

"Yeah, those." Applejack became a little concerned. If those craters were what she believed them to be, then someponies could be close to discovering her secret before she herself did. Even if Pom-El said that the place she was looking for was only accessible to her, she didn't want to take that chance.

"Did they say why they were looking for them?" The stallion at the table shrugged.

"Beats me? You know those unicorns. They're all nuts when it comes to those mysterious artifact things." He then turned to the only unicorn in their group who looked rather offended. "Except for you, you're good." He said, much to his satisfaction.

Applejack became a little worried. If those unicorns were indeed trying to find what she was here for out in the Frozen North, they could be in great danger. Who knows what kind of deadly alien trap is guarding the place. Assuming they even get that far in the freezing cold. Her journey to that place just became a lot more urgent.

She quickly finished her meal and paid for her drink and was about to head for the door, when she heard a disturbance from behind her.

"Come on, sweetheart! You'll like it, I promise." Applejack turned around and saw thetstallion sitting at the counter coming onto the barmaid, who looked less than pleased by his advances.

"I told you before! Not. Interested." She hissed and was about to walk away, but the stallion reached after her.

"You're saying that now. But you'll change your tone once you'll get a taste of me." He said as he pulled the struggling mare towards himself. Applejack looked around and was horrified to see that nopony in the room was about interrupt. Even the bartender was just ignorantly kept washing the glasses. She knew she should keep a low profile, but she can't just stand idly by while a mare was harassed like that.

"Hey!" She shouted at the stallion, making him look at her. "The lady said she's not interested. Back off." The barmaid was able to take advantage of the stallion's distraction and yanked her hoof away from him before storming off. The other stallions in the bar all turned towards the scene. The interrupted stallion was not happy with Applejack's interruption, but before he could do anything, another pony spoke up.

"Hey, flankhole! We're trying to enjoy our drinks in peace here! If you're gonna be a prick, do it somewhere else!" One of the stallions at the table said.

"I think you've had enough for today, pal." The bartender joined in, pointing at the door. "Go home and sober up!" The drunk stallion saw that he was outnumbered and all he could do was give Applejack a dirty look before stumbling out the door. The bartender turned to Applejack.

"Thanks for taking care of that." Applejack raised an eyebrow at him.

"You didn't look practically eager to throw him out." The bartender just smiled.

"The lass can take care of herself. Wouldn't be the first time she did that herself. And my business doesn't need that kind of trouble. But once you stepped up, I had to do something. Besides, he's mostly harmless anyway. Just gets a little carried away when he drinks too much. He'll sober up in an hour or two."

"Still, I appreciate the help." The barmaid said to Applejack before giving her another glass of cider. "Here, from my personal stock. As a token of thanks." Applejack didn't want to take a reward for doing what's right, but she was not going to turn down cider. Once she finished the drink, the bartender also had something to give to her.

"Look, I don't know what kind of 'personal business' you can possibly have up in that frozen wasteland, but you're gonna need some warm clothing if you wanna come back." He then gave her a thick, hooded coat. "Take this. You can keep it."

Applejack didn't really need protection against the cold. She never even got sick as a foal. Probably the result of her alien biology. Maybe she was immune to the germs and diseases of Equus. But she couldn't refuse it without raising suspicion and the gesture felt very good. With a grateful smile she accepted the offer and exited the bar.

She felt very satisfied. If what took place inside was any indication, she finally knew that she doesn't need her powers to inspire other ponies. All she needed to do was do the right thing and others would follow. She finally understood what her father wanted to teach her all those years ago. If only he could see her now.

But as she turned towards the outskirts of the town where her destination laid within the frozen wastelands, her smile faded. There were ponies out there that didn't need inspiration, they needed saving. And that probably won't be as easy as standing up to some drunkard in a bar. She bad no time to waste. With hasty trots, she made her way into the Frozen North.

It's been almost an hour since she began her trek through the icy fields and mountains but so far she found no signs of the expedition the townsfolk mentioned or a crater hiding a hidden alien fortress. She probably should have asked if those unicorns said anything about the location of that crater, but it was too late to turn back. She needed to keep going.

But to a pony making her way through the Frozen North, it's maddening vastness could look infinite. And while Applejack knew that this wasn't the case, but right now, she would probably make the same assumption. Everywhere she turned there was nothing but ice, snow and mountains. It's not that she minded the cold, but she needed to find those unicorn explorers before anything happened to them. Or before they discovered something they shouldn't.

But no matter how much she quickened her pace, she still felt like she was never going to get out of the middle of nowhere nor did she have any idea where to go next. The more she looked, the more the whiteness of her surroundings were driving her crazy. Not to mention the howling of the wind in her ears which was especially annoying with her super senses.

Applejack's eyes widened in realization. She slapped her forehead for not realizing this earlier. She had super senses! All she had to do was listen and she will surely hear if there's anything unusual out there. So she lifted one of her ears and tried to pick up something, but the wind was so loud that it was hard to make out anything. She needed to do something about it.

An idea suddenly came to her mind. She remembered using this trick once to get an apple off a tree before she learned to buck properly. And since she was now grown up, she was sure she will be able to use this even more effectively. She gathered as much strength as she could into her hind legs and pushed herself away from the ground.

Even Applejack was surprised by the jump she just pulled off. She was so high up in the air that she was glad nopony was around for several miles because somepony would have definitely spotted her. Nevertheless, her plan worked. The howling of the wind now beneath her, she was able to listen to her surroundings. And she did hear something interesting.

"Help!"

"Who do you think is gonna hear you?! We're all alone in the middle of nowhere! You'll have to get us out of here!"

The voices came from her northwest. But she could tell they were several more miles away. How would she be able to get there in time? As her hooves reached the ground again with a crash, she got an idea. Well, it was time to put her strength to full use.

Applejack kicked herself off of the ground, but this time not straight into the air, but into the direction of the voices. When she landed, she was stunned. She must have leaped at least several hundred meters forward. If the situation wasn't so dire, she would have cheered. This was fantastic! With a determined look, she turned back to where the voices were coming from and kept leaping.

She heard that she was getting closer. Even though they were no longer calling for help, the sounds of their struggles were unmistakable. Following it, Applejack reached the opening of a large crater in the ground. Looks like she found what she was looking for. But before she could enter, there were ponies she needed to help. Jumping down the crater, she landed in an ice cavern and saw a unicorn trying in vain to remove the result of an obvious cave in.

With her super vision, he could see that there were three more unicorns trapped on the other side of the pile of ice. Even their combined magic wasn't enough to move ice out of the way. Good thing Applejack would have been far more effective at it. But she needed to find a way to do it inconspicuously. But before she could find a way, the unicorn in front of her suddenly turned around and spotted her.

"Please help!" He shouted to Applejack in panic "They are trapped on the other side of the ice. They will die if we don't get them out!"

Applejack ran over to the rubble and began inspecting it. There had to be a spot where she could help the trapped ponies squeeze themselves through. She notice a small hole beneath one of the thick ice formations that fell to the ground. She motioned for the unicorn to lift it with his magic. He managed to lift it enough for Applejack to get under it and use her super strength to raise it further.

"Okay, everypony! Out! Now!" Once the three unicorns made their way through the gap, Applejack and the fourth unicorn dropped the ice and went to check on them. "Everypony okay?" They nodded.

"How did you do that?" Asked the fourth unicorn who helped her with the ice.

"I'm an earth pony, sugarcube." Applejack smiled. "A little ice ain't gonna stop me." The unicorn didn't look convinced.

"Even for an earth pony, that was..." But one of his companions interrupted him.

"Who cares?! We're out of her and that's the only thing that matters!" He then stood up and headed towards the exit of the cavern. "Now let's get out of here before the damn place explodes!" Another one of them jumped up and ran after him.

"Are you crazy?! We finally found what we were looking for! There's definitely something down this crater!"

"I don't care! There's nothing down there worth dying for! You're free to stay here and freeze to death trying to get all these out of the way!" He yelled, motioning towards the ice blocking the path. "But I'm heading straight for the airship!"

And with that, he walked straight out. His disappointed colleagues still would have liked to know what was down that cavern, but eventually decided to follow him. Applejack decided to escort them back to their airship just in case, but fortunately no further accidents occurred along the way.

"We'll take you back too." They offered her once they were all aboard. "It's the least we can do after you saved our flanks."

"I appreciate it, but I still have some business to take care of out here." Applejack replied.

"Out here?!" One of them scoffed. "Like I said, there's nothing out here that's worth dying for! Hop aboard!"

"Don't worry your smart little heads about me." Applejack assured them with a smile. "I'll be fine." The four of them looked at her like she was insane.

"Have it your way." The unicorn shrugged. "It's your funeral. Given they'll ever recover your frozen body for it.) "

Applejack waited until their airship was far enough before heading back to the crater . The collapsed ice in her way quickly gave way to her heat vision and she was free to make her way down the cavern until she reached a large black round shaped object buried in the ice. It looked exactly like her spacepod, but much bigger and when Applejack saw the S symbol printed on it, she knew she found what she was looking for.

Applejack spotted a small hole in the object and pulled out the key from her saddlebag, placing it into the hole. Immediately, it released a loud hissing sound and opened up, allowing Applejack to step inside before the entrance behind her sealed shut.

The sight greeting her left her amazed. Crystal formations around the room were standing proud and tall. Upon gazing into them, she could see images flashing inside them, showing her places and events she never saw before, but for some reason, they still felt familiar. She then heard a mechanical engine sound from behind her and turned around to see several floating objects around the room. They seemed to be observing her but she could tell they meant her no harm.

"Fascinating creations, aren't they?" Applejack jumped and saw the image of her birth father, Pom-El standing next to her. "We sent a few of them down here in the pod that blocked the entrance. While you were growing up, they would shape this place in here. Concealed from the eyes of ponies." The drones went about their and gave the two of them some much needed privacy. Applejack didn't seem to know where to begin, so Pom-El started for her. "I'm happy you decided to come. I assume you have a lot of questions." Applejack nodded.

"That's putting it mildly. You said you sent me here because our planet was gonna be destroyed?"

"Indeed." Pom-El summoned one of the drones in front of them which began displaying images of kryptonian society. "We hail from the world of Krypton. A planet much older and more advanced than Equus." Applejack marveled at the display. The kryptonian society looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. She saw tall and high tech buildings, flying transport vehicles, weapons that would annihilate the Royal Guard in seconds. It was equal part frightening and amazing.

"But much like all old things, the time of it's passing has come." Pom-El continued, accompanied by the image of the entire planet exploding. Applejack's eyes widened in horror. To see an entire civilization, an entire planet full of life vanishing like that in a flash was unimaginable to her.

"So... they're all gone? Every bit of it?"

"I am afraid so." Pom-El replied. "Krypton was advanced enough to have colonies on other planets but we have lost connection with them long before the planet's destruction. The universe is a treacherous place with many conquerors or destroyers. I fear they have also met grisly fates." Pom-El could see the look of hopelessness coming across his daughter's face so he continued.

"But what is destroyed can also be rebuilt." He assured her. "That is why we sent you here. You are the only hope for our people's survival."

"How?!" Applejack asked skeptically. "How am I supposed to rebuild a whole civilization all by myself?!"

"I can teach you." Pom-El replied calmly. "I can teach you everything about our world, our people, our ways. And in turn, you can teach them." Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"Them?" Pom-El replied by summoning another image with the drone. This time of the planet Equus.

"The ponies of this world. And not just the ponies. Equus has a much more varied population than Krypton had. But that also means they are more divided. More prone to conflict. They are going to need somepony to guide them. To give them hope. Hope for unity and peace. That is what this symbol means." He said, pointing to the S in his collar. "The symbol of the House of El means hope, App. Hope that in every creature there lives the potential to become a force for good. That is what you can give them. That is what our ways can give them." He then motioned for Applejack to follow her and the two made their way down a corridor.

"You have learned how to surpass your abilities in order to fit in with the denizens of this world. I can teach you how to unlock their full potential. I can teach you about our people so you can carry their legacy among them. I can teach you to become the symbol of hope we wanted you to become. But whether you want to or not is entirety up to you."

They stopped in front of a glass cabinet that contained something that looked like an equine being, but Applejack couldn't see it until light was switched on inside. It was a ponyquin in a blue outfit with a golden belt, red shoes on it's hooves with golden lining, a red cape and a golden emblem on it's chest. The golden S. No, not S, the kryptonian symbol of hope.

Applejack stared at the outfit, unsure of what to say. Her whole life, she wanted to help ponies. With or without her powers. Now she was given a chance to help not just ponies she came across, but creatures all over the world. But she learned from her adoptive father, Bright Macintosh that her powers could be dangerous and she should help ponies without them. Inspire them to help themselves. Applejack felt a duty to carry on her father's will.

And yet, as the last daughter of krypton, she also had a duty to her birth parents and her birth world. She would learn full mastery of her powers and she would inspire ponies with them. She would become the absolute best that ponykind had to offer. An ideal for them to strive towards. But not because she was faster than a speeding bullet. Not because she was more powerful than a locomotive. And not because she could probably leap over Canterlot Castle in a single bound. It would be because she wouldn't.

To have all these powers and not using them for herself but for others. To put them in the service of the creatures of this planet instead. That would be their inspiration. To have such an almighty being showing restraint and humility, but above all else equnity. Being one of them. Applejack made her decision.

"Teach me!"

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #3: Mare of Tomorrow, Stallion of Yesterday

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During her first week spent inside her father's fortress in solitude, Applejack learned the kryptonian language and history. She was a little nervous at first since she believed she would struggle with it, but to her surprise, she took to them like a fish to water. All of it felt so natural. Her father explained to her that while she was travelling to Equus in her spacepod, there was a program put into it that imprinted the basics of their culture into her mind. All they needed to do was give her a quick overview of it and it would trigger everything. By the end of the week, she was able to converse with Pom-El in their native tongue and she even translated several Equestrian books to it and uploaded them onto the computer of the fortress so that he could read them.

She also learned everything there was to know about their history. She witnessed things like their evolution, their technological advancements, their first trek into space. She wandered if Equestria will ever take their first steps into space like that. She also saw some of Krypton's greatest events, including the creation of their prison dimension known as the Phantom Zone, the military coup of one General Dri-Zod and the beginning of their colonisation program. She also witnessed many of said colonies being wiped out by horrors she never could have imagined seeing in her worst nightmares.

Once she learned everything there was to know about their culture, she finally went on to her training. The first and most important thing was mastering her super senses. She had to learn how to shut out the things she didn't need and focus on those she did. Pom-El had a particularly frustrating way of teaching her that. It was one of those games she saw some of those conartists run poor ponies on the streets. She was standing in front of a table that had a three cups on it, one of them was hiding a bell. And since the cups were made of lead, - a matter she couldn't see through as her father explained - she had to found it based on the ringing sound it made. Which was further hardened by the fact that two of the kryptonian drones were floating next to her and making loud static noises.

She already got it wrong so many times she lost count. She was half tempted to just wreck those stupid machines. But then she remembered what Bright Macintosh has taught her. Her anger and frustration would only make it harder to control her abilities, so she needed to learn how to let go of them. How to keep them under control. Applejack closed her eyes and let out a sigh she had no idea she's been holding. She had to calm down. Let go of the negativity. It was hard. She was never good with her emotions. She was a pony of action. But eventually, she managed to calm herself enough to clear her head. As she felt the drwutrqt) frustration wash away, the sounds also became clearer. And then she heard it.

Ring

Applejack quickly removed the cup she heard the ringing under and punched the air in triumph when the bell was right there. Pom-El of course needed reassurance that it was not mere luck and he had her repeat the process several more times, but was satisfied to see all further attempts ending with the same result. Applejack has truly mastered her senses.

The next part of her training was her heat vision and super breath. While she already knew how to use these, Pom-El revealed to her that she had been only scratching the surface of these abilities. Her breath was not only strong enough to blow objects and ponies away, but when used correctly it even had the ability to freeze. It required more strength than a typical exhale, but fortunately Applejack's lungs were no exception to the super strength of her body. In a day, she mastered this ability to the point of creating ice blocks out of nothing with a single blow.

Her heat vision was a tad more challenging. She was able to boil things no problem, but what Pom-El wanted to see were energy beams shooting out of her eyes. This was easily the hardest part of her training so far. After several unsuccessful events, she tried to remember what triggered her heat vision in the first place. She remembered the day when that bully was going to cut up poor Rarity's clothing with a pair of scissors and how she made him drop it by heating it up with her gaze.

She tried to channel all of her fury into her head and while that did make her vision more powerful, melting several pieces of ice around the fortress, she still weren't able to summon the heat rays. Pom-El explained to her how she needed more than just blind rage. She needed to feel her righteous anger calling her to battle to be able to heat her vision to the required level. She needed to think of something that not only triggered her rage but her protective instincts.

Applejack didn't have to remember for long to find a memory like that. Just a few weeks ago, she saw how her little sister was almost trampled by those raiding buffaloes and how she ran faster to save her and summoned more strength than ever before to stop that water tower. That did the trick. Applejack's hot, red heat rays were soon able to tear throw the thickest of ice in the fortress. Pom-El was particularly pleased about the exact replica of the symbol of his house carved into the walls at one point.

Then came her physical training. She didn't want to admit it but this part worried her the most. If she was able to hold a falling water tower with two hooves, she was afraid to think about what she could do with her full strength. She voiced her worries to your father, but she assured her that her it wouldn't be her strength that showed who she was but what she used it for.

In the next few days, Applejack put herself through excruciating physical training. It wasn't too bad for her since she was - as far as the creatures of this planet went at least - an earth pony, so she was already the peak of physical strength even without her kryptonitan abilities. After she reached her peak, she spent the next few days pushing her limits further and further.

The first day, she went out of the fortress for the first time in weeks. Unless those unicorns she saved the day she got here spread the word about this place, which she doubted, she shouldn't have to be worried about anypony seeing her. For the lack of a better exercise, she started breaking ice. A thicker layer everyday. But that quickly became monotonous.

The next day, she leaped into the air over a huge mountain of ice before plummeting down and shattering the entire mountain into billions of ice shards. The day after that, she got an even more outrageous idea. She found another ice formation and started drilling a tunnel under it with her bare hooves. When she was directly under it, she raised it out of the ground and used all of her immense strength to throw the several tons heavy piece of ice into the air before leaping after it and shattering it with a single strike of her hoof. With that impressive feat, she also considered her physical training complete.

There was only one thing left to learn, but Pom-El warned her that this would be the most difficult of them all. But when Applejack heard just what she would be able to accomplish, she became a little giddy. It was no secret to her that she could leap great distances, but once she fully utilise her powers, she would also be able to defy gravity itself. Flight was a luxury only allowed to the pegasi. She couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when they saw a pony without wings flying past them in the air.

But every time she leaped into the air, she failed to maintain her airborne position for more than a few seconds. She didn't understand why it wasn't working. She followed all of Pom-El's instructions. She pushed herself away from the ground and and put herself into a horizontal pose, but no matter how hard she tried, she failed to give herself the push needed to achieve flight.

Facing failure for the first time in her training, Applejack fell on her back in defeat. She stared up at the clear sky, trying to soak in as much radiation as she could. Her father explained to her that her powers came from the sun of Equus, which was much younger and stronger than the sun of Krypton. Her cells practically drank it's rays. It was a process called photonucleic effect from what she recalled. Maybe it was the cold weather? The wind and the fog prevented her from soaking in the necessary amount of sunlight?

She then remembered her family. Faust, did she miss them. It's been weeks since her arrived at the fortress and began her training. Every time she was having trouble with something, she would just remember her time bucking apples with her Big Mac, drinking cider with Braeburn, spoiling her sister's sneaky little morning surprise before racing her downstairs for breakfast or baking apple pie with Granny Smith. She wondered how they were doing without her.

Apple Bloom was sitting at the dinner table, having lunch with her family. Well, most of her family. It had been over a month since Applejack left on her trip to the Frozen North to find the place where her alien father sent her to. She was dearly hoping she was alright, but then she remembered that her sister was practically invulnerable. She should be worried about those her sister met and wanted to do her harm. She knew she had no reason to worry, but that didn't mean she didn't miss her terribly.

"I miss Applejack." Apple Bloom said before putting a piece of salad in her mouth. Big Macintosh patted her head.

"We all do, kiddo. But don't worry., she said she'll be back in a few weeks." He comforted the filly.

"But it's been over a month now." Apple Bloom complained. "What if her real pa convinced her to leave the planet and go live among the stars now?"

"That's phooey and you know it, Bloom." Granny Smith added. "No matter where Applejack came from, she's an Apple first and foremost. She'd never abandon us. Besides, you heard that stallion say her planet was long gone. She wouldn't have anywhere to go up there."

"Granny's right, AB. And you know your sister never goes back on her word." Big Mac replied, turning his tone and expression serious. "If she said a few weeks, then she will come home soon." The stallion saw that his sister was not satisfied with this answer so he tried to lighten the mood again. "Cheer up, little sis. When she comes home, you can show her how much your bucking improved over the past few weeks." During the first few days, this would have gotten an enthusiastic response out of Apple Bloom. But at this point, she only gave an exasperated sigh.

"Okay, let's go." She said half-heartedly after finishing her meal and made her way towards the door. Big Mac also let out a sigh. She understood where Apple Bloom was coming from. When Applejack was still here, the two of them were thick as thieves. But now that the older sister was gone to dig up her roots and he was busy working on the fileds most of the time, she was lonely. Something Big Mac was all top familiar with.

He couldn't help but hope Applejack will come back as soon as possible. He knew it was selfish of him. He always insisted that Applejack learns the truth, whatever she did with the truth she a had a right to know and if she wanted to leave he had no right to stop her. But just like Apple Bloom, he missed her terribly.

The two siblings made their way out of the house where their cousin Braeburn was waiting for them. He had agreed to help them with their daily farm work while Applejack was away. He greeted them with his usual cheerful smile.

"Well, howdy there, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom! Ready for another fine day of apple bucking?" Big Mac smiled. His cousin's enthusiasm was admirable. Apple Bloom on the other hoof just couldn't find it in herself to share it, which didn't go unnoticed by Braeburn. "Hey, Bloom, why the long face? Is it still because of AJ?" Apple Bloom gave him an expression that said 'What do you think?'

"You don't seem to be missing her all that much, Brae!" She replied. "I'm surprised. You two have been awfully close ever since we moved here." Braeburn just kept smiling.

"And even now that she ran off to Faust knows where, I'm still close to her." He said, remembering the pendant he gave her with the picture inside it. The siblings didn't quite understand what he was talking about, but before they could ask, Braeburn beat them to it. "Anyway, are we gonna get to bucking or what?"

They have been at it for a while when one of the apples Apple Bloom bucked off the tree rolled away much further than she anticipated. She went to retrieve it and before she knew it, she found herself on the outskirts of town. She picked up the apple in her mouth and was about to head back to the others when suddenly she saw movement in the bushes in front of her.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she moved closer to check it out. As she got closer to the bush, she could make out the outlines of a creature she was sure didn't belong there. As recognition hit her, panic overflooded her mind as she was sure the creature was seeing her too. She turned to run.

"Oh, horseapples. BIG MAC! BRAEBURN!"

Applejack laid on the ice, wondering what she should do when idea sudeenly sprung into her mind. Maybe she could use her now completely mastered super hearing to listen in on what they were doing. Even from this distance, she should be able to hear something. It would be a good way of further testing her abilities. So she raised her ear and tried to locate Appleoosa.

The voices were many. Hundreds of thousands. Perhaps even millions. But Applejack had long since learned to shut out the voices she doesn't need and she knew her family's voice better than any other. It was only a matter of time before she found them. And then she heard it.

"Help!"

It was Apple Bloom! There was no mistaking it. She was panicked. In trouble. Applejack heard the loud thuds of her hooves against the ground as she ran. And then several others. They were running. From what, Applejack could only guess. But then she heard the thuds of other kinds of hooves. They were thinner than an earth pony's but more muscular. It didn't take her long to connect the dots. Another buffalo raid was going on. And her family was in the middle of it. Without her. In an instant, she dashed back into the fortress.

"Father! Where are you?" Pom-El's image materialised in front of her at the call.

"I am here, App." He then noticed his daughter's distressed state. "What is wrong?"

"My family! My family from this planet!" She panted. "They're in trouble! I can hear it! I have to go back!" Pom-El's eyes widened at the news. He knew his daughter could do it. For an ordinary pony, taking miles in minutes would have been impossible. Even the fastest pegasi would have struggled with it. But Applejack was no ordinary pony. She could certainly make it in time. But he was concerned about whether or not she was ready.

"But how would you make her way back to them in time? You still haven't mastered your flight?" He asked in compassion.

"I can do it! My family is in trouble and they need me! That's all the motivation I need!" Pom-El saw that his daughter's eyes were blazing with determination and quickly realised there was no holding her back. He smiled in understanding.

"I know you can. But if you ever need guidance, a place to hide or just somepony to talk to, you are always welcome here. Remember, only you can access this place." Applejack nodded.

"I know. And thank you, for everything. I promise I won't let you down. Or any of Krypton down."

"I know you won't. Farewell, my daughter. My Rao guide you on your path." Pom-El said before his projection faded away. Applejack was about to rush to the exit but then she remembered something.

She was going to save her family, make no mistake about that. But would Applejack Apple be enough to carry the weight of what would follow next? She remembered how the ponies reacted when she caught that water tower during the last buffalo raid. She didn't want them to think of her as anymore of a freak than they already have.

But perhaps if it wasn't the Applejack they knew who would carry out these mighty deeds but an unknown, mysterious figure with no identity, then they would not see her as a freaky outsider but as a symbol. A symbol of hope she was desperately trying to become. Applejack narrowed her eyes. She knew what she had to do.

A few minutes later, the door blocking the entrance of the fortress opened up and a figure emerged from behind it. An orange earth pony in a blue costume, a red cape being thrown around by the wind, red horseshoes with golden lining and the golden S on her chest. She would carry the meaning of that S among the ponies of Equestria and every other creature. From now on, when ponies looked up at the sky and saw her flying across it with that symbol on her chest, they'd knew they were not without a saviour. Not without hope.

Applejack closed her eyes and knelt down on the ground and collected all of her strength into her legs. Pebbles and small ice crystals around her slowly lifted into the air, rotating around her. The air began to to vibrate around her as she prepared to unleash her energy. Her eyes suddenly snapped open and she leaped into the air with a deafening sonic explosion, leaving a small crater behind herself.

Applejack felt like she was gonna burst with adrenaline. She did it! She was flying! At speed that even the Wonderbolts would be jealous of. The world around her sped by her so fast she barely saw where she was going. But as she got closer and closer to her destination, her surroundings became more and more familiar. She couldn't believe it. She would get from the Frozen North to Appleoosa in a matter of seconds.

Before she knew it, she was already floating above the familiar houses, even recognising her family's below her. And she also saw the ponies fleeing in panic from the rampaging buffaloes. She narrowed her eyes and made a solemn oath that this would be the last day this would happen.

The few ponies who weren't fortunate enough to find shelter in one of the houses found themselves with no other option than to keep running. But it was of little use. The buffaloes behind them were quickly catching up. Apple Bloom felt like her hooves were finally giving up. Her energy was leaving her. The closest buffaloes horns were just inches away from her and she felt like she was ready to accept her fate.

"Apple Bloom!" Braeburn cried when he saw his little cousin about to get ran over. He ran back and pushed the filly out of the way, but this left him in their path. It was too late to run. He raised his hooves in front of himself, though he knew it wouldn't make much difference and waited for the impact. But it never came.

Braeburn suddenly felt himself flying and when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was indeed in the air. He felt two strong hooves holding him and looked up to see a flying earth pony mare carrying him. For a moment, he thought that he was actually dead and this mare was taking him into heaven. She looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile. Braeburn was speechless.

"Are you an angel?" Applejack chuckled.

"I guess you can say that." She replied before putting Braeburn down on the roof of a building. She saw his confused expression and it caused her to chuckle even more. "Sorry to disappoint, but you're not going up there just yet. You're still alive. But now if you excuse me, I'll have to go and make sure it stays that way for everypony down there." And with that, she flew off. Braeburn could only stare after her in amazement, before he smiled.

"I may not be dead. But I'm sure I still saw a piece of heaven.

Applejack quickly caught up with the buffaloes and brought them to a halt by drawing a line into the ground in front of them with her heat vision. At first, Applejack wanted to tell them to leave, but realised that wouldn't be a permanent solution. They would just come back later. She inhaled and released her freeze breath upon the heard, trapping them inside ice. That should hold them until she had a chat with their leader. But before that, she had to make sure nopony was hurt.

"Is everypony alright?" She asked as she turned to the pony crowd behind her. Her eyes quickly found Apple Bloom and Big Mac who stared up at her in awe before recognition came across their faces. Applejack gave them a small nod which they quickly returned before backing away into the crowd.

The other ponies just looked at her in either wonder or fear. Which was understandable given the fact that you don't see an flying earth pony freeze a herd of buffaloes with her breath everyday. But they quickly realized that this pony meant no harm. If she did, she wouldn't have stopped the stampede.

"We... We are. Thank you." A mare replied. Applejack floated to the ground among the crowd who gathered around her to get a better look at her, while some others began inspecting the buffaloes.

"Are they... you know?" A concerned stallion asked.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine." Applejack assured him. "They should thaw out by the time I'm finished talking to their boss." The crowd gasped upon hearing this.

"Chief Thunderhooves?!" The same mare from earlier exclaimed. "Nopony ever saw or talked to him in person! Not even Sheriff Silverstar!" Applejack gave her a look.

"I think he'll find time for me. I promise you, this was the last buffalo raid that plagued your town. Tell Sheriff Silverstar to be at the town gate in ten minutes and I will solve all of his problems." With that, Applejack took off into the air and flew off to find the bufallo cheif himself.

Sheriff Silverstar has been in charge of this town for a while now and during his time, he's heard quite a bit of interesting stories. But when he heard that an earth pony mare from the sky stopped a bufallo stampede by freezing the buffaloes with her breath, he was half tempted to put the pony who brought him the news into a starghtjacket and throw on in one of his cells. But when that pony showed him the frozen herd in the middle of the streets, he became a little less sceptical.

The ponies told him to wait at the town gate where the mare said would be in a few minutes with a solution to the bufallo problem, so that's where he went. He's been standing there for a few minutes but nopony showed up. He was about to give up and leave when he heard a sonic explosion in the distance. He looked up to see a figure in the air getting closer and closer, carrying something that struggled to get away.

As the figure got closer, the sheriff could see that it was indeed a flying earthy pony, but when he saw what she was carrying, his surprise grew even greater. It was none other than the bufallo tribe leader, Chief Thunderhooves dangling in her forelegs. The mare approached the ground and threw the chief on the ground before landing in front of the sheriff.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, sheriff." Applejack told him as the bufallo got back on his hooves.

"You pony fiend! You have no right to hold me prisoner in your town!" The chief fumed.

"Oh, I don't plant to keep you prisoner." Applejack replied casually. "Word is, you've been refusing all attempts to negotiate a peaceful end to these little raids your bufalloes have been running on this town. I'm here to speed up the negotiation process."

"I have nothing to say to you and your invasive species!" The Chief roared. "You built this town on the place of our annual running! We have been stampeding these grounds for generations! We will not be chased away!"

"And you considered vandalising our town on a regular basis the appropriate response?" The sheriff countered. "Do you know how many ponies got injured during your raids, you violent savages! There's no negotiating with his kind."

"The one thing we agree on!" The chief replied.

As an Apple, Applejack was a traditionalist to the core, so she had great sympathy to the chief, but she had her family to think about, as well as the rest of the citizens of Appeloosa. This matter had to be settled. For once and for all.

"Well, that's too bad." Applejack said before she turned around, lifted off the ground and began floating around the chief and the sheriff while using her freeze breath to create an ice dome around the three of them. "Because the two of you won't be going anywhere until we have this issue sorted out." The two creatures in front of her jumped in shock. They attempted to break free by bucking and ramming into the ice respectively, but to no avail.

"This is an outrage!" Sheriff Silverstar shouted. "You can't do this to us! You have no right!" Applejack glared at him.

"And what about you? Do you have the right to keep off the buffaloes of their ancient running grounds?" The sheriff backed away. He had no answer to that. "And you?" Applejack continued, turning to the chief. "What right do you have to destroy this town and put it's residents into harm's way?" Once again, she received no response. "I only see only one solution here. You two will have to fight to the death."

"What?!" They answered in shock. Applejack shrugged.

"Well you both seem unwilling to compromise. It's clear you're not going to reach an agreement. There's no other way." The sheriff and the chief looked at each other, unable to believe what the mare was telling them to do. Applejack watched them while leaning against the ice with her forelegs folded, waiting for them to make the first move. "Well?"

"But... But we don't want to fight each other." The sheriff admitted.

"Why would we?" The chief added. "Our problems are not with each other."

"Well then why are you forcing others to do it for you?" Applejack asked. "Sheriff, would it really be so hard to allow the bufalloes to run through the town every now and then. It could even be an attraction to for the citizens." The sheriff thought it over.

"Well... I suppose not."

"See, chief? You will be able to hold your annual stampedes without putting anypony in harm's way and even get a neighbouring community to help your tribe prosper in the future. Isn't that better?"

"I do see your point, pony." The bufallo admitted after a little thinking. "We would be thankful for it, sheriff."

"Great!" The sheriff cheered. "Now that we've come to an agreement, are we allowed to leave?" Applejack flew up and lifted the ice dome into the air before hurling it up into the sky and shattering it with her heat vision.

"I'm glad we could reach an agreement. Now let's go share the good news with your people."

By the evening, all of Appleoosa came together to witness the bufallo stampede through the town, including the Apple family. Apple Bloom was watching them from her sister's back while Big Mac and Braeburn made bets on which bufallo would be the first to cross the town and Granny Smith was making fresh pie and cider to the exhausted buffaloes.

"Applejack, that was amazing!" Apple Bloom cheered as the small family made their way back to their house. "Flying, lasers and ice breath! Is there anything you can't do?!"

"Sheesh, Apple Bloom! Why don't you scream it louder? There might still be somepony in town who doesn't know it was me." She chastised her sister. Apple Bloom's eyes widened. She realised that she did get a little carried away.

"Sorry, sis. But how can I not be excited about this? The things you can do... They're just... Mind blowing!" Applejack chuckled.

"I admit, flying is really something. Especially flying so fast. Now I understand why the pegasi are such adrenaline junkies."

"That was some stunt you pulled there, AJ!" Big Mac added once they were inside their home and away from any possible prying ears. "I never thought I'd see the day anypony will make peace with the buffaloes. Figures it would take somepony as exceptional as you."

"If those kryptonians wanted somepony to be their symbol of hope to carry on their legacy here, I can't imagine anypony else more suitable than you, sis!" Apple Bloom said, giving her sister a hug. Applejack picked her sister up and ruffled her mane.

"Thanks, little sis. This means a lot."

"Okay now, that is enough. " Granny Smith interrupted them. "Your sister had one heck of a day. She needs a little rest and a nice dinner. Give her some space." The two quickly obeyed and left to get ready for dinner, leaving Granny and Applejack together.

"Your parents and I always knew you were meant for greatness. Ever since we found you that night." She said proudly, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "They are proud of you, Applejack. As am I. Now get ready for dinner. You deserve an extra special meal after what you've done today."

Following dinner, Applejack didn't find it in herself to call it a night just yet. She decided to put on her suit and fly around the town a little more to make sure everypony and every buffalo was alright. She gazed down at the town of Appleoosa in satisfaction. She never saw the little town as peaceful as it was now. And it was because of her. She was already well on her way to become the figure of peace and unity for this planet her parents intended.

This day was more than just a huge triumph for friendship and harmony. Applejack finally felt like she found her place in the world. The one she was always looking for. She was a protector, a guardian angel for all of Equus and it's creatures. And this is what she's always gonna be.

She flew up to the setting sun and basked in it's glow, the rays rejuvenating her body. It felt like the warm gaze of proud parents. The embrace of a loving sibling. The loving kiss of a special somepony. She already felt refreshed. She was ready to spread her legacy all over Equus. All she needed was another opportunity. And that's when she heard it. Her super hearing picked up a terrified scream followed by the cocking of a gun from faraway. Without a second thought, she sped off into it's direction.

Dr. Quick Scan liked to think of himself as a pony who was able to adapt to and overcome any situation. He wouldn't have been able to complete his studies of advanced physics at the University of Canterlot if he wasn't of an adaptive mind. But as looked at the screens of his security cameras in horror, he found his mind's adaptive abilities failing him for the first time in a very long while.

It happened so quickly. Armed ponies wearing armors he didn't recognise burst into the main hall of his research facility and gunned down the security guards. They never stood a chance. The doctor instantly knew what they were after and he would would everything within his power to make sure they won't get it.

He quickly sent out a message to his fellow researchers and everypony else in the building to get to the underground laboratories. He would follow them and seal them off from down there. But he would have to get to the elevators first. Which happened to be on the other side of the floor he was on.

He peeked out of his office. There was nopony around. As quickly as he could, he made his way to the elevator, only to see that it was occupied. He cursed under his breath. They were already on his way up. He hid behind the wall next to the elevator door until the familiar ding let him know that they arrived.

The ponies walked out of the elevator, pointing their weapons in every direction as they searched for him. The apparent leader of the unit motioned for two of his ponies to stay behind guarding the elevator. Quick Scan growled. The elevator was a no go. He had to use the stairs.

He managed to make his way to the staircase without detection, but was horrified to see another group of them making their way up. There was no way down to the labs now. No way to go but up. So much for the labs. The only option now was getting to the top floor and leaving via the roof. Good thing he was a pegasus.

Galloping up the stairs as quickly as he could, he could only hope his pursuers did not bring any pegasi with them. But when he reached the door that lead to the roof, he found his hopes immediately diminished as he ran straight into a whole squad them pointing their guns at him. There was no escape now. Two of the pegasi grabbed him from the side and tied his wings together before cuffing him and carrying him inside.

"Dr. Scan." One of the pegasi addressed him through the mechanical voice of his helmet. "I suppose you know why we're here."

"Yes. I have a pretty good guess." He replied with deadpan voice. "And I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told the pony I'm pretty sure sent you. I deeply resent your work ethics and I will never do business with you."

"Don't be so quick to assume we have nothing to bargain with." The mercenary retorted. "For example, we have the lives of your coworkers. Surely you wouldn't endanger their lives with your uncooperativeness."

"Nice bluff but it won't work. I sent all of them to the underground laboratories. You'll never get in there."

"And what about the ones who didn't make it down there in time?" Quick Scan remained stoic, trying to reassure himself that he was bluffing again, but this time he wasn't sure. The elevator door then dinged and two more mercenaries walked out, holding two other researchers at gun point.

"Does that look like a bluff to you?" The mercenary leader asked. He then looked at the ID card hanging in the professor's neck and reached for it. "Let me guess. This serves as an entrance key to your laboratories." Quick Scan shrugged.

"I'm sure you can figure that out yourself. You seem like a smart enough fellow." The mercenary could tell that he was taunting him but he just smirked under his mask.

"Quite so." He then tore the card from his neck. "Would the good doctor kindly show us the way to the laboratories?" To emphasise their point, the mercenaries then cocked their guns behind the heads of the hostages. Quick Scan sighed in defeat. He was out of options.

He lead the unit to the entrance to his laboratories which was sealed behind a thick, several inches wide steel door at the end of a long corridor in the underground areas. Next to the door was a computer panel with a card shaped hole in it.

"Well, I may not have a degree in advanced physics," The mercenary leader said as they approached the door. "but even I'm a smart enough fellow to recognise that this..." He held up the doctor's keycard. "...goes in here." He inserted the card into the panel which then lit up. On the panel there was a numpad under a screen that read 'access code'. He turned back to Quick Scan.

"Professor, would you do the honors?" He asked on a tauntingly sweet voice.

"By all means." Quick Scan replied on an equally sarcastic tone. He walked over to the panel and entered the code. The door slowly opened revealing all of the professor's frightened coworkers who became downright terrified when they saw the armed ponies behind their boss.

"Thank you kindly." The mercenary leader said as he was about to walk inside. "Now then, where is that famous..."

But Quick Scan wasn't done yet. He put in another code into the panel which made a series of holes open up in the ceiling, revealing a set of heavy machine guns. The mercenaries jumped back in shock before running back and taking cover behind the wall, allowing the professor to run inside and seal the door behind him, locking the mercs out. The mercenary leader could barely avoid the machine gun fire and received quite a few scratches before he made to the other side of the wall.

"Son of a broodmare!" He cursed once he was back with his colleagues. "No more Mr. Nice Guy. When I get my hooves on him I'll shove one of those guns down his throat. Deploy the EMPs!" The mercenaries threw several grenades around the wall which released several bursts of electric energy, swiftly shutting down the machine guns, allowing the mercs to approach the door again and examine it.

"Report!" The leader ordered.

"Sir, this is door is stainless steel about twelve inches thick. It can resist even a rocket launcher. We don't have the firepower to get through it." One of the mercs reported. The leader just gave a sinister smirk in response.

"He does." The other mercenaries all paled. They knew exactly whom 'he' was referring to. They all turned their head in sync as the elevator behind them dinged again. The doors slowly opened and a massive brown unicorn stallion walked out of it wearing an armored chest plate similar to the Royal Guard, expect this one was painted over with black, green and white spots in the style of tactical camouflage. On both of his sides he was carrying a large saddlebag and the top half of his head was covered by a green bandana.

The mercenaries all stepped aside as the stallion walked past them with slow and heavy steps and entered the corridor, before turning his attention to the door. His horn lit up and his saddlebag opened, revealing several pieces of various firearms which flew out of the bags and assembled themselves into a gun with a long, narrow barrel. The stallion then aimed the gun at the door, which released a laser beam that slowly burned it's way through the steel as it's heat increased.

The agonized scream on the other side of the door signaled that the laser managed to get through. The stallion then cut through the entirety of the door before reassembling his gun into a cannon and unleashing a massive energy blast into the door, finally knocking it down.

The mercenaries quickly swarmed into the laboratories where the researchers were still tending for their wounded coworker and were now completely defenseless against them. Quick Scan quickly summoned two more machine guns on the inside. As the stallion entered their range, they turned towards him and started rolling again. But before they could fire, he turned his gun into a massive cannon. With one blast, he obliterated both of the reaming machine guns.

The mercenary leader marched straight up to Quick Scan and shoved him on the ground. "Now then, Professor, where were we?" He snarled before bashing him in the muzzle with the barrel of his weapon, nearly shattering his jaw in the process. "You look like a smart enough fellow, so you'll probably understand this." He then pointed at the stallion who sliced open the door.

"Do you see that stallion? You're a professor of physics, well think of him as a professor of firearms. He constructed his first firearm at the mere age of three. There's nothing you can throw at us he doesn't have a gun for. Do you understand?" Quick Scan hissed in pain, but eventually managed to nod.

"Good. Then let us forget the previous little incident and please show us to what we came for!" He roared into his face before pulling him on his legs and shoving him depper into the labs. He then turned to his unit.

"Guard this door just in case. He may be smart but I still don't think he understands just who he's dealing with. I don't want him trying to set a giant robot or something on us."

"Copy that, sir." One of the mercs replied. "Don't worry. With frigging Rapid DoBad on our side, there's nothing that can stop us."

"Use his codename, dammit!" Another one snapped. "You know how much he hates his birth name. They say he took out an Ursa Minor once and has it's stuffed head in his home. Do you want him on our bad side?"

"Okay, geez." The first merc rolled his eyes under his helmet. "Bloodsport. How the hay did he get an Ursa Minor's head into his home?"

"Why don't you go and ask him?"

"I blasted open the wall." The two mercs jumped and turned to see the subject of their discussion behind them. "And then rebuilt it myself. I don't know if you noticed but there are three things I enjoy most. Fighting, blasting and putting things together." He then narrowed his eyes at them ominously. "Or back together in case it's something I blasted apart." The two mercs shrunk back.

"C-Copy that, sir." They replied nervously. Bloodsport smirked.

"Good. Then get to work! You know how the stallion we're working for hates screwing around!" The mercs rushed back to their posts while Bloodsport went inside the labs to join the others.

The researchers and other workers who haven't made to the labs were rounded in the building's main hall. Seven ponies were laying on the ground waiting for their fates to be decided by their captors. One of the mercs was communicating with their leader through a transceiver in his helmet while the others were guarding the hostages.

"Understood, sir. Over and out." He ended the transmission and turned back to his unit. "They reached the labs. They needed to use the 'big gun' but they're in. They should be coming with the device anytime now. Go and bring the carts around!" Two mercs nodded and left the building.

"What about the hostages, sir?" Another one asked.

"No need for unnecessary bloodshed. If they don't try anything funny, we don't do anything funny either."

Unfortunately, a mare among the hostages didn't hear that and saw the door the mercs walked out on being left open slightly. She tried to crawl her way to it without being seen, but the sound of a shot made her stop and cower on the ground.

"Just where do you think you're going, lady!" A merc roared at her as he stood over her and clocked his gun right in her face. The mare screamed as she put her forelegs up in a futile effort to protect herself. Even if the mercenary was going to shoot her, he never got the chance as everypony in the room was interrupted by the sound of a sonic boom outside. The mercenaries raised their guns in alarm and aimed it towards the door...

...only to be pushed back by a huge wave of air as an earth pony mare dressed in a blue outfit and a red cape burst through the door so fast that the mercs didn't even see her move.

"Who the hay is she?!"

"What does it matter?! Just shoot her!"

The whole squad of mercs opened fire at Applejack, who didn't even bother to move. She have long since learned that bullets have no effect on her. The mercs continued to fire at her, either uncaring or oblivious to the fact that their bullets just kept bouncing off of the mare. Eventually they all ran out of bullets as signaled by the clicking sounds coming from their weapons. Before they had time to relaod, Applejack leaped into action.

In the blink of an eye, she already took out one merc by punching him into the wall across the hall. Another of them threw his weapon at her in a desperate move. Applejack simply caught it and threw it back him with enough force to knock him out. Another merc came at Applejack with a knife, an attempt that the mare almost found insulting. If bullets weren't hurting her, did he honestly think a knife would? As expected, the knife broke apart upon contact and Applejack properly took out the merc with a headbutt.

"Switch to stun!" The leader ordered, realising that they needed to change tactics. They switched their weapons to shoot electric charges and fired again. Applejack stumbled back as the charges hit her and she felt her muscles becoming numb. Something the mercs noticed.

"It's working, keep it up!"

Applejack had to think of something. She used her breath to create a large ice block in front of her and use it as a shield. The ice absorbed the charges, but Applejack was still a little numb from the electricity so she couldn't use her super speed to quickly finish them off.

She peeked out from behind the ice and used her heat vision on the guns. The weapons became so hot that the mercs were forced to drop them. Applejack then picked up her icy shield and threw it across the room, straight at the mercs. Once all of them were incapacitated, she went to check on the hostages.

"Is everypony alright?"

The ponies were so stunned from what they've seen this mare do that they couldn't even move to get up. They just stared at her with eyes and mouths wide open. While Applejack understood their shock, it was starting to make her uncomfortable. Not to mention there were probably more ponies in the building that needed rescuing.

"Didn't any of your parents teach you that it's impolite to stare?" She asked flatly, causing all of the ponies to look down in embarrassment.

"S-Sorry." One of them muttered as they all finally got up.

"Is there anypony else in the building?"

"They're in the underground labs." A hostage told her. "But there will be more of these guys too. What they came for is down there."

"Didn't you see how she took these guys out?!" Another one asked him in excitement. "She'll take care of all of them, no problem!"

"I don't doubt that!" The first one cut back. "But everypony who isn't here is down there with them! Who knows what they'll do to them when she shows up?" Applejack placed a hoof on her shoulder in reassurance.

"Don't worry." She smiled at her warmly. "I promise you, none of them will be hurt. Now get out of here and call the police."

After the ponies left, Applejack used her X-ray vision to scan through the building. She quickly managed to locate the ponies in the underground labs. She still felt numb from the electric charges so she couldn't fly at full speed. Forcing the elevator doors open, she slowly descended down the shaft. She saw the elevator blocking her way but the second elevator door next to it was unoccupied.

Applejack burst through the doors, startling the mercs guarding the lab's entrance with a bound Quick Scan between them. They quickly recovered and started firing at her with predictable results. Applejack was fairly tired of it by now so she didn't complicate things. She simply dashed over to the two mercs and knocked them out. Applejack then went over to Quick Scan and simply ripped off his bounds.

"Go! Hide!" The stallion didn't need to be told twice and headed out the corridor.

"What the hay is going on out here?"

Applejack turned to see the massive stallion known as Bloodsport exiting the labs, followed by a few more mercs pushing a machine on a trolley. The two of them stared at each other intensely. Applejack couldn't quite explain why, but for some reason, she felt like the stallion standing in front of her was a far larger threat to her than the other ponies she faced so far. Then again, that wasn't saying much so she wasn't worried.

Bloodsport quickly put together a gun with his magic and shot Applejack, but just like every other bullet fired at her that day, it bounced right off of her. Bloodsport raised an eyebrow. This was a first. He turned his gun into a shotgun and fired again, only to get the same result. Finally, he upgraded it into a grenade launcher and fired an explosive round at the mare. When the smoke cleared, Applejack still floated where she was with her forelegs crossed and looking at Bloodsport dismissively.

"Are you finished?"

"Not quite yet."

Bloodsport deconstructed his weapon back into a simple gun and loaded one single bullet into it. He had to deal with bulletproof targets before. That Ursa Minor didn't go down in one simple shot either. He fired. Applejack made no effort to get out of the way. She deflected countless bullets that day already. What was one more? But this time when the bullet reached her chest the result was different.

Applejack stumbled back as the bullet pierced through her skin. For the first time in her life, physical pain entered her being as the bullet stopped near her heart. She felt a strange tingling feeling in her chest that began to spread throughout her body and make her weaker. There was only one possible explanation. The bullet was encased with magic.

"Weak against magic." Bloodsport smirked. "That's useful." He walked over to the downed mare and raised his gun in her face to finish her off, but she was saved by the ding of the elevator. Another squad of mercenaries stepped out of it.

"The carts are ready. But we have to hurry. The hostages got away and called the cops on us. Let's go!" Bloodsport looked down at the weakened Supermare and reluctantly put his gun away. The mercs loaded the device onto the elevator and Bloodsport was about to follow them when something touched his leg. It was one of the wounded mercs that Applejack knocked out. He was conscious but barely while the other was still out cold.

"He... Help me." The stallion looked at the mercs gathered in the elevator and motioned for them to go. He then knelt down and raised the two wounded ponies onto his back before heading towards the staircase, leaving Applejack behind.

Applejack struggled to get back on her hooves but her injury combined with the effects of the magical bullet proved too much. She began to lose consciousness, but the before she blacked out, she saw the familiar face of the professor she just rescued kneeling over her with concern.

The mercs have finished loading the machine onto their cart, along with their injured comrades that Applejack took out. The only one who hasn't arrived yet was Bloodsport, but a few moments later he also returned carrying two injured mercs on his back.

"Where's the doc?" The leader of the mercs asked.

"He got away. We have no time to find him. The cops are almost here." Bloodsport replied as he got on the cart.

"The Boss won't be happy. He said to get both the doc and his machine." Bloodsport shrugged.

"The doc was always a secondary objective. I doubt he'll mind as long as we bring him his device." The mercenary leader obviously wasn't happy about it, but he sighed in acceptance.

"Fine." He then looked at the two mercs Bloodsport brought up. The medic of the unit was already tending to them. "Thank you for bringing them out." Bloodsport narrowed his eyes.

"I only did it to leave no one for the police to interrogate." He replied coldly. The mercenary leader looked at him in contemplation. He could tell he was lying. He could have just shoot them and silence them for good, but he chose to carry them out on his back. Still, he didn't want to push this any further.

"Whatever you say."

No more words were exchanged between them. The rest of the journey was spent in silence. Bloodsport knew the merc knew he was lying but it mattered little. His days as a royal guard may have been behind him and his time there certainly did little to improve his sense of camaraderie, but he also saw the worst of what apathy can do.

He pulled out a photo form his pocket. It showed two young stallions with their forelegs around each other's shoulders and grinning brightly towards the camera. It was made just a few days before he left for the Royal Guard. A few days he left behind his parents. And his little brother. The one who always looked up to him and wanted to follow in his hoofsteps by also joining up.

And that was when everything went to Tartarus. While he never intended to, Bloodsport did indirectly inspire his brother's career choice. It was an uplifting thought at the start. The two brothers both joining the Royal Guard, defending Equestria together. But some things are just too good to be true.

He then shook his head. He did not like to dwell on the past while was on a mission. It was distracting. The sooner he wrapped this assignment up the better. Jobs like these really annoyed him. He was not an errand boy, he was a warrior. That's why he became a mercenary following his resignation from the Guard. That's why he picked up the codename Bloodsport. Because he enjoyed the thrill of battle. Because he always sought the most dangerous opponent.

His encounter with the mare with the golden S on her chest was underwhelming. She could take a grenade and yet all it took was a simple magical bullet to take her out. Well, she was no Ursa Minor that's for sure. Oh, well. Given the pony be was working for, he was sure he'll have many more opportunities to meet more challenging prey.

Everything Filthy Rich ever did was for the sake of ponykind. So what was wrong with also getting... well, filthy rich in the process? His business started relatively small in the town of Ponyville. But as he became more successful, more wealthy and more influential, he decided to broaden his horizons. Nowadays, his formerly little business was everywhere in Equestria and it was a major player in every field. Science, medicine, electronics, astronomy and even weaponry. Barnyard Bargains quickly became an obsolete name for the company and it now proudly wore the name RichCorp.

Many ponies wondered why Filthy himself was still residing in his relatively modest Ponyville Mansion when he now owned penthouses and skyscrapers in every major city of the country. The answer to that was simple. It was the nearest place he owned to his biggest acquisition, Sweet Apple Acres. When ponies heard how much he paid the still living members of the Apple Family for that piece of land where nothing but apples grew, many believed he lost his mind. But Filthy knew better.

He never admitted this to anypony, but he was always fascinated by what laid beyond the confines of this tiny planet. Back when his wealth was but a fragment of what it is now, he spent much of it on it's study. His secret dream was that one day, he would be the one to start the equestrian space program. But that was still a long way off. However, one fateful night, he was the distant witness of something that showed him that ponies didn't need to go to space, space was sending gifts to them.

One fateful night twenty years ago, something landed on that insignificant little apple farm. Most ponies who saw it probably wrote it off as a meteor, but he knew better. His devices were able to scan that object even from miles away and showed that it was not a rock formation. It was metallic. Whatever it was, it was manually made. And it came from outer space. He quickly put two and two together. It was the chance to make the biggest discovery in the history of ponykind. To discover an actual alien craft. Technology from a civilisation form another planet. Those simple minded apple farmers probably had no clue about the marvel they were sitting on.

He made countless attempts to find out just what it was. He visited that place more than once, asking questions of the Apple family. They quickly dismissed all of his claims and asked him to leave - not always politely - but Filthy wouldn't have made it this far in business if he wasn't good at reading ponies. They knew something. They always got nervous, began stuttering and quickly turned their gazes away when he asked them about the object.

Filthy knew that he needed to get that thing at any cost. He offered the family to buy their land several times, for far more money than it was worth. Two times it's market value. Three times, five times. Ten was his last attempt and he even promised them that he'd keep up the apple production once he obtained the place, but the answer was always no. He was only able to finally persuade them into selling it to him after the unfortunate accident that befell Bright Macintosh and Pear Butter. Granny Smith and her grandfoals weren't able to keep it up for long and in the end they had no choice but to accept his offer.

But even years after he became the owner of the land, he failed to find what he was looking for. And not for lack of trying. He probably put more time and resources into this than into any of his other projects. But he simply didn't have the technology to find it. Other ponies did however.

Professor Quick Scan was one of the biggest names in advanced physics in Equestria. His latest project was a technology that would be able to scan any surface and locate even the smallest amount of substances inside it no matter how deep it was. Quite a useful little invention. It would be able to find rare minerals in the ground that could be mined for resources or be removed before they cause erosion, ponies bodies could also be scanned for cancerous cells and other harmful things and even they could even locate litter in the oceans before it caused too much damage.

Filthy had tried on several occasions to do business with the professor, but he was less than successful. Quick Scan was wary of Filthy Rich and his questionable business tactics and firmly refused to have anything to do with him or any of RichCorp. It was frustrating to say the least, but Filthy Rich was not a quitter. If business negotiations weren't gonna work, there were other ways to get what he needed. It was just good old business.

His thoughts were interrupted by a female voice next to his ear.

"Filthy, dear?" Filthy Rich snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see his wife, Spoiled Rich standing next to him. "Your benefactors have arrived."

Filthy rolled his eyes. Benefactors was hardly the word he would use. His obsession with the secret of Sweet Apple Acres took away many of his resources. Eventually, he had to pull out of the researches if he didn't want to suffer serious losses in profits and stock value but he never gave up on unearthing what those acres hid. All he had to do was find some ponies who were willing to support it.

These ponies did not believe in any alien technology being buried there, but Filthy knew how to get their attention. He knew the secret of good fertility those grounds always had, not to mention some dark secrets that could turn up from the neighbouring Everfree Forest would grab somepony's attention. But as time went by and the researches turned up nothing, the benefactors began to lose their patience. Quick Scan's invention was his last hope of saving his passion project.

"Well, then." Flithy signed in reluctance. "Let's get this over with." Spoiled quickly got out her husband's best suit and helped him put it on before straightening his tie in front of a mirror. "How do I look?" He asked.

"Like a million bits." Spoiled answered with a confident smile which Filthy returned.

"Good. That's probably what it's gonna take to convince them not to back out." He then rushed into his office where his three business partners were already waiting for him.

"Gentlecolts!" Filthy spoke with a the most natural looking smile he could force. "A pleasure to see you again!" The three ponies did not look amused.

"Please skip the pleasantries, Filthy." Replied a blue unicorn with a black mane. "We're gonna be brief. It's been months since we've began funding your digging of Sweet Apple Acres and you have nothing to show for it. We want our money's worth." It took all of Filthy's mental strength to keep his smile from faltering.

"Rising Stocks, please, I know my progress at the Acres has been less than satisfactory so far, but..."

"Not but, Filthy." A blue earth pony with blonde mane interrupted. "And. As in, and if you fail to turn up anything profitable by the end of the month, we're gonna stop giving you money for it. As well as demand back what we've donated you so far." Filthy took a calming breath. All of his ongoing projects required constant funding. If he had to pay them back all that at once, it would prove disastrous for his company. He had only one card left to play and he had to play it carefully.

"Gentlecolts, please calm down and let me finish. I believe you are all familiar with the work of Professor Quick Scan?"

"The ground scanner?" Asked Rising Stocks. "We are, but what does it have to do with anything?"

"Well, I'll have you know that me and Professor Scan are very close to reach an agreement about him joining my research on Sweet Apple Acres with his device. It has been my conviction for quite some time that the ground in those lands hides precious secrets from us and if anypony can help me unearth them, it's gonna be him." The ponies in front of him shared a look. They still looked unconvinced but their sour disposition lessened somewhat.

"Well, I really hope he is, Filthy, because he is your last hope. Our decision is final, you have until the end of the month to give us something." And with that, the three ponies stood up and left the office with a bitter "Good day." Once they exited, Filthy rubbed his face in exasperation while his wife, who was in the office the entire time walked up to him.

"Filthy, correct me if I'm wrong but the last time you tried to negotiate with the professor, he practically told you to shove your offer where it would be anatomically impossible to. Am I missing something?" Filthy Rich put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

"Honey, please let me to concern myself with business matters. I have everything under control." Spoiled looked skeptical but before she could speak again, they were interrupted by Filthy's assistant, Office Colt entered the room.

"Mr. Rich, your..." When he noticed Spoiled was also present, he quickly cut himself off. "...deliverers have arrived with the package. They are waiting for you downstairs."

"Excellent!" Filthy grinned. "Well then, let us not delay."

"Package?" Spoiled asked with a raised eyebrow. "Flithy, what is going on?" Filthy just waved her concerns off.

"Business matters, darling. Never you mind. By the evening, all of our problems will be solved." He replied before leaving the room alongside his assistant, leaving a not at all reassured Spoiled Rich behind.

When Flithy arrived to the underground area of the building, his ponies were already in the middle of unloading their cargo under the supervision of their commander. He was satisfied to see they have succeeded, but what he was less satisfied with was the condition he saw many of them in. Several members of the unit had to be carried off the carts on the back of their comrades and they looked like somepony really did a number on them.

"Ran into trouble?" He asked Bloodsport when the unicorn walked up to him.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." He replied casually. Filthy raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?" He asked before motioning for the other stallion to follow him.

The two of them walked into a room full of computer screens which played recordings of their unit's raid on Quick Scan's laboratories from the cameras on their armor. Including the intervention of Supermare.

"I wouldn't exactly call that something you can handle." Bloodsport watched the footage of the amazing abilities the mare displayed. What he saw made him even more amazed that she went down from a single magical bullet. "Who is that?" Bloodsport was snapped out of his awe by the voice of his boss.

"She is nopony now. Have you seen the part of the show where I take her out in one shot?" Filthy Rich was not amused.

"I saw everything. Including the part where you did not finish her off and failed to bring me the professor."

"You said the machine was enough." Bloodsport replied dismissively. Filthy sighed.

"The machine AND the professor would have been better."

"Especially since it's gonna look very suspicious that his lab was just raided and Mr. Rich is about to use the same machine that was stolen from him in one of his projects." Office Colt added.

"My boy, do you honestly believe me so careless that I would make such an oversight." Filthy chastised his assistant. "His laboratory was completely demolished along with a copy of his invention. Only a decoy but with the damage the place suffered, they won't be able to tell. They won't have anything on me." He then turned back to Bloodsport.

"That said, I'm not used to you being so sloppy, Rapid. The police got involved, the professor slipped away and if you honestly believe that mare was left for dead in one of Equestria's most advanced science facilities including several highly trained medical professionals... well , it shows I don't hire my ponies for their brains." Bloodsport growled.

"If you have a problem with the way I do things, I can always quit. Good luck finding somepony better to lead these punks for you." Filthy Rich smirked smugly in return before motioning for his assistant to leave..

"I suppose you could, Rapid. But do you think you would be able to find another boss willing to pay for the support of that legless brother of yours?" Bloodsport's face went stiff, which did not go unnoticed by Filthy. He knew he had him hooked.

"Ah, yes. What a tragic story. Little Magic DoBad wanting to be just like his big brother and joining the Royal Guard but facing constant harassment and abuse from his peers." Filthy taunted. "And then his superior sends him on a fake assignment into the forest as his idea of a joke, but it turns out he unwittingly sent him into an enemy ambush. Magic performed admirably though, he defeated the enemy but he suffered such serious injuries that all four of his legs had to be amputated and was honorably discharged with a few medals and that pittance the Guard calls pension." Bloodsport's expression told Filthy that if it was anypony else talking to him about this so casually, they would have already had more holes in them than a target on a rifle range.

"As I recall, this tragedy affected you so badly that you also resigned, didn't you?" He continued. "But that's not the most interesting part. I know you are an avid hunter, Rapid. That stuffed Ursa head in your cabin is impressive but you know what I find more interesting? Those seventeen royal guard helmets on your wall. Former members of the Guard who served alongside your brother and his former superior among others if I'm right."

Bloodsport briefly smiled. If those bastards thought they'd get off with being dishonorably discharged after their mistreatment of his brother was revealed, they had another thing coming. He started with those eight little punks from his unit and their leader. All nine of them in the dark woods, hunted like animals, feeling the same terror they always put his brother through.

It was a wonderful night. The way the bullet burst through the helmet of the first one. The barbed wire piercing through the second one's helmet as well as his throat. The axe splitting the head of the commander in half through his helmet. He had no idea the head of a pony could split so vertically.

He took every helmet as a memento. And his hatred for the Guard ran deep enough to keep up the hunting after he was done with them. That being said, he would be in big trouble if word of this got out to say the least. And Filthy still wasn't done.

"And all those shady assignments you have done for me. Thefts, foalnappings and even an assassination. Who do you think would hire you if those became public?" The mercenary narrowed his eyes.

"You wanted the Apples gone, Filthy." Filthy's smirk didn't fade.

"And can you prove it?" Bloodsport remained silent. He knew he was beaten. "That's what I thought. Now then, Rapid. Do I have your word that you will be more careful in the future? Repeat after me, 'I won't make such a mistake again, Mr. Rich." Bloodsport swallowed his pride
He just wanted to get this over with.

"I won't make such a mistake again." But Filthy wasn't satisfied with this.

"I won't make such a mistake again..." Bloodsport's hoof was itching to reach for his gun.

"Mr. Rich." The earth pony's smirk widened.

"Good boy." He said, patting the unicorn's cheek. "Now off you go. I have a project to oversee." Bloodsport stormed off. Filthy assumed he was going to blast his frustration off on a target with his face painted on it. He wasn't bothered though. He did not do this to make friends. It was all just good business.

Still, Bloodsport was becoming a liability. If this mysterious superpowered mare ever came knocking on Filthy's door - or any other entry of her choice - he had serious doubts that the mercenary will be able to protect him. He's gonna have to consider other solutions, but he could see none. How was he supposed to prepare for an enemy he knew nothing about and who was seemingly unstoppable? For the first time in his life, Filthy Rich didn't know what to do. And he didn't like it.

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #4: Born On A Monday

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The first thing that reached Applejack's senses before she regained consciousness was a series of jumbled voices. She didn't recognise them but she knew she never heard them before. The second thing she noticed was that she was no longer lying on the cold floor but on a bed. Not the comfiest of beds but it was definitely softer than the surface she passed out on. The third and most noticeable thing was that the stabbing pain in her chest from Bloodsport's magical bullet was no longer there.

As her eyes slowly opened, the first thing she saw was the ceiling of what looked like a hospital room. It was dark with the only source of light being the first rays of the morning sun peering through the shutter of the window. Applejack's eyes widened. It was morning already? When she flew here to stop the robbery it was already last sunset. Just how long was she out? Her family must be worried sick.

Applejack moaned as she pushed herself into a sitting position on the bed. A decision she immediately regretted as the pain returned to the wound she received from the mercenary's magical bullet. She turned to look at it and saw that it was bandaged but through her x-ray vision she could see that it still wasn't fully healed. No wonder, they probably had no means to do anything about her impenetrable alien physiology.

Once she got over her pain from her encounter with the mercenary, she started to regain her super senses enough to make out what the voices outside were saying. She could immediately tell that she was the subject of their discussion. Her and the break in she tried to stop. And from what she heard, the speakers were none too happy.

"Professor, you are the third pony this month to tell me that a bulletproof earth pony mare with superpowers saved you. And only two of them were from today. What makes you think I'll believe you any more than I did the previous two?" Applejack assumed that the speaker was a police officer. At least she hoped it was. She didn't know if the hostages she saved managed to get to the police in time.

"I do not understand it myself, officer." Replied a voice Applejack believed to be one of the researchers who worked there. "But that's exactly what happened."

"Is that so?" The voice of the officer replied, not sounding any less sceptical. "And where is this 'Supermare' right now?"

"She's in the infirmary, sir." The researcher replied. It was clear he was trying to sound neutral about the whole thing, but the disbelief in his voice was still palpable.

"But you said she was bulletproof. So how was she injured." The police pony asked. There was a few moments of silence. The researcher was probably trying to come up with a believable explanation, but it was obvious he had none.

"My best guess is the mercenary used a special kind of bullet to injure her. It had very powerful magic around it. Right after we removed it from the wound, it exploded into several fragments. We barely got to it in time." Applejack involuntarily reached for her wound when she heard that. Just the thought of the bullet's fragments spreading through her body, into her heart was shocking to imagine. If this was true, she owed her life to this pony and his colleagues. The professor continued.

"Look, I realise this whole thing sounds unbelievable. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it myself. But I did. I understand it any more than you do and I just don't have an explanation for you."

"Clearly." The officer replied and though Applejack couldn't see it, she just knew he said that with a roll of his eyes. "Professor, clearly you are in no condition to be of any assistance to us. We will continue our investigation downstairs. I suggest you go help the wounded."

"Yes. I believe that would be for the best." The professor agreed, ending the conversation.

Applejack then heard hoofsteps approaching the door, quickly realising that the professor was on his way to see her. The door opened and she found herself face to face with the last pony she saw before she passed out, who looked rather surprised to see that she was up. He was looking at her with an inquisitive gaze. Applejack would have assumed him to be a bit startled by the display she put up when she burst in here and was probably at a loss of words in her presence. He was clearly waiting for her to break the ice, so she did exactly that.

"Um... Professor? It's rude to stare." The stallion snapped out of his stupor and shook his head.

"Oh, of course, I apologise. It's just... I wasn't expecting you to awaken so soon." He replied sheepishly. Applejack's gaze turned back on towards the window.

"Seems to be that it's been quite a while actually. The sun is already up. What time it is anyway?"

"9:37 am." The professor replied. "You slept through the whole night. Of course that is expected after the taxing surgical process your body went through."

"Yeah, I've heard." Applejack said, remembering what he said about the bullet. "You got it out of me before it could do some serious damage. Thank you, Professor. I owe you my life." She smiled at him gratefully.

"Don't mention it, my dear." The professor waved dismissively. "I put my life on helping ponies through science, though I'm not exactly a medical doctor. I'm a physicist, you see, but I have several coworkers highly trained in medical science. If anything, it's them you should thank. Besides, after everything you've done for us, it was the least we could do." Applejack smiled. She kept bringing the best out in ponies just like her father wanted. The professor then pulled out a clipboard.

"Anyway, We removed the bullet but there was little we could do about the wound itself. Your skin was impossible to sew together as our needles proved useless against it. Though, after the way you deflected those bullets, this probably shouldn't be a surprise." A look of confusion then crossed his features. "Just how exactly that bullet ended up getting through is beyond me though. Pardon my curiosity but you have any ideas?" Applejack thought for a while.

"Did you say the bullet was magical?" The processor nodded.

"Yes. Encased with the very same energy as a unicorn's horn produces. It caused the bullet to explode shortly after we removed it." Applejack remembered the time when she saved Rarity from those bullies when they were fillies. One of them was a unicorn who held her cloth in his magical aura and she became completely powerless when she attempted to remove it. Back then, she thought maybe it was just a sudden surge in her powers that happened on occasions, but it was becoming painstakingly apparent that it was magic that caused the problem. Looks like she wasn't so invincible after all.

"That might explain it. I have had some bad experiences with magic." She told the professor after a few moments of thinking.

"Hmm, interesting." He replied, ribbing his chin. "Any idea why magic affects you this way?" Applejack was uncertain how to answer that question.

"Well truth be told, I'm still figuring out how I work." She said, looking down. "All I know is I need..." She suddenly stopped with a grunt and grabbed her bandaged injury as the pain returned to her wound with a vengeance. She needed sunlight to fasten the healing process. She tried to get up and get to the window, but the professor rushed to her side to push her back.

"Easy now! Your wound isn't healed yet. You shouldn't get out of bed!"

"Professor, please, I need sunlight. Help me get to the window!" Applejack pleaded, but Quick Scan just shook his head.

"I really don't think your intake of vitamin d should be your main concern right now."

"Please!" Applejack looked up pleasingly at him and Quick Scan had no heart to refuse her. He put one of Applejack's forelegs around his shoulder and supported her to the window where Applejack sat down on a chair.

"The shutter." She pleaded. Quick Scan quickly pulled it up, basking the room in sunlight and Applejack let out a sigh of relief as her body absorbed the warmth. She reached for her bandages and tried to rip them oped, much to the professor's alarm.

"What are you doing?!" But his alarm was replaced by fascination when he saw what happened next. As soon as the rays fell upon the wound, it began healing miraculously fast. Applejack laid back in the chair and allowed the soothing sun to do it's pleasantly rejuvenating work. Before Quick Scan knew it, the wound was completely healed, not even leaving a visible scar behind. Applejack smiled in amusement at his befuddled look.

"I told you. A little sunlight is all I need." She said. Quick Scan still needed a few minutes to find his voice.

"This is incredible." Was the only thing he could say. "Actual photonucleic effect!" Applejack chuckled.

"Is all it takes for me to get back in shape." Applejack replied before her expression turned serious. "I'm more concerned about the hostages. How are they?"

"Some of them were a little roughed up but they should be fine with a little rest." The professor replied before looking down in sorrow. "The only casualties were our security guards. They weren't prepared for the firepower those mercenaries possessed." Applejack shared the professor's sentiments, but her face quickly hardened. Such senseless taking of life infuriated her.

"One more thing those varmints are gonna answer for when I find them." She growled, the flames of determination burning bright inside her to bring those ponies to justice. "What did they take? Was it important?" Quick Scan frowned.

"Only my life's work. I finally managed to create a scanner that would be able to locate even the scarcest of materials beneath any surface. Oil, gold, reamins or ancient civilizations or creatures, you name it. But of course with every great invention, you have somepony trying to exploit it for his own use." He finished bitterly. Applejack immediately caught the knowing glint in his eye.

"Is there anypony you suspect?" She asked, earning a nod from the stallion.

"I don't suspect anypony. I know exactly who sent those dogs after me. Ever heard of Filthy Rich?"

Applejack knew that name all too well. While she was never interested in the world of business in the slightest, Filthy Rich was closely associated with her family. He bought half the zap apple jam they harvested and made every year and his daughter went to school with her little sister. She was a nasty piece of work and Apple Bloom was her favourite target for bullying.

And despite how much their parents tried to hide it from them, she was also well aware how many times he tried to buy their land. Her super hearing picked up on their arguments more than once. She couldn't imagine why he was so interested in an apple farm, her best guess was he just wanted to get his hooves on one more profitable business. But now that she discovered just what kind of a secret her family has been hiding in their farmhouse, she started to see a picture she wasn't so sure she liked.

"Why are you so certain that Mr. Rich is the one behind this attack?"

"That bastard has been trying to buy my invention for years." Quick Scan replied with a sneer. His disdain for the business pony was obvious. "I made it quite clear to him what I think of him and where should he put his 'generous offers', but he isn't a pony who takes no for an answer and there's nothing he won't stop at to achieve his ends." Even Applejack was taken back by his anger.

"What do you mean?"

"That attack dog who shot you? His name is Bloodsport. One of the most wanted mercenaries in Equestria. Everypony knows that he's the leader of the security forces of RichCorp. Unofficialy of course. They do Rich's dirty work when negotiations fail. They were responsible for several similar 'isolated cases' like this theft all-over Equestria. The most infamous one being the assassination of Bright Macintosh and Pear Butter."

Applejack's eyes never widened as much as they did in that moment. She knew how badly Filthy wanted their land, but she never would would have thought he'd resort to such a heinous act to get it. She also knew her parents were murdered but not in her wildest dreams could she ever imagine that Fitlhy Rich had them assassinated.

Several different feelings rushed through her at a faster speed than she was capable of. The first was disbelief. She knew Flithy wasn't the pinnacle of morality, but she never saw him as a criminal. The second was horror. Horror at the revelation of what possibly could have happened to them.

Then came anger. Anger at the possibility of the stallion commiting this sin against her and her family. They lost their home, Apple Bloom had to grow up without parents and Equestria lost one of it's most well renowned food suppliers. All of it just so he could satisfy his own selfish greed?

Finally came the calming reality of doubt. She realised that she cannot just believe something she heard for the very first time in her life from a pony she knew for less than an hour. She regained her serenity before speaking again.

"But the Apples were killed by a group of bandits on their way home from a delivery." She told Quick Scan, trying to sound as sceptical as she could in order to not give away how the idea he planted into her head turned her world upside down. The professor scoffed.

"Well, that was the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story. Filthy Rich is legally untouchable. But his mercs are always there whenever something like this happens."

"I wouldn't give too much credit to these rumors, Professor." Applejack countered. "Ponies will say all kinds of nasty things about anypony they don't like."

"Be that as it may, I have seen what that stallion is capable of. I have next to no doubt that he is the one behind this plot. And if you intend to bring the ones who orchestrated it to justice as you have claimed, then I suggest you continue your investigation on Sweet Apple Acres. There is something on that land that he really wants to find."

Applejack looked down on the floor deep in thought. She didn't want to make the mistake of jumping into conclusions, but there were so many signs pointing towards Filthy Rich. And if wbat the Professor saying was true - although that was a huge if - then Filthy Rich was guilty not only of this attack and the death of her parents, but several other atrocities as well.

"Well, I reckon that's as good a place to start as any." Applejack said before standing up and walking to the window. "Don't worry professor, I will get your device back and find the ones behind this scheme. You have my word."

"You might wanna be careful on your way out." Quick Scan suggested. "The police are still conducting their investigation. I think that a character in such a colorful outfit as yours would be highly suspicious to them." He then heard the sound of something taking off into the air and turned to see nothing but the open window and the curtains being thrown around by the wind. "Oh. I suppose that works too."

Applejack was making her way back to her family's residence in Appleoosa at a much slower pace than she was used to. She realised that she will have to give a lengthy explanation about where she was during the previous night. But she will also expect an explanation from her grandmother. The answer she will give could either help her investigation or throw her right back to square one.

She immediately recognised the fields of Appleoosa and started to descend towards the ground between the trees. She should be able to make it to her family's house on hoof from here without attracting anypony's attention. Soon enough, their house came into view and she even saw the backdoor that lead into the kitchen wide open. Looking around to make sure nopony was looking, she ran inside.

Right as she entered, she felt the smell of her usual breakfast. She didn't know if she also had super smell, but she didn't need it to follow the smell to the table to find the meal on a plate waiting for her. Along with Granny Smith sitting on the table's opposing end. Applejack knew she was waiting for her.

"How... How did you..." The old mare knew what she was going to say.

"Grandmother's know, Applejack. Call it our own superpower." She told her on a motherly tone. "We also know when there is some trouble." She added, looking straight at the hole in her suit. "Do you have something to say about that?"

"There has been some trouble." Applejack started hesitantly. "But I put an stop to it." She then sat down and started eating. "Where's Mac and Bloom?"

"They're already working on the field." She replied before her expression hardened. "Though it's hard when they've barely been able to get any sleep last night. Worrying about why you weren't coming home and all that." Applejack looked down in a bit of shame but tried to save face.

"They really should know better by know. There's nothing on this planet that can hurt me." She lied, but Granny Smith caught on immediately.

"Well lying is certainly not one of your superpowers, lassie. Never was, come to think of it. That hole in your suit tells a different story." Applejack gave her a dry look.

"Well your age sure doesn't seem to be taking it's toll on your sight, Granny." She sighed.

"Now listen, Applejack. I know you can take a lot more punishment than an ordinary pony, but I'm afraid you're getting a little too confident. I know you're still learning about yourself and your abilities, so you don't know if there's actually anything in our world that can hurt you. I already put two of my closest family into the ground. I don't want to to it again before my time comes." Granny Smith said, her voice full of worry and concern. This ended up reminding Applejack of the topic she wanted to discuss with her grandmother.

"Actually, Granny, I've been meaning to talk to you about that." Granny Smith's expression narrowed into a frown.

"Now, Applejack, what's the point in tearing open old wounds?"

"I know you don't like to talk about this topic so I'm just gonna cut to the chase." Applejack said leaning forward on the table. "Was Filthy Rich the one who bought Sweet Apple Acres?" Granny Smith's eyes widened in shock.

"What... What gives you that idea?"

"Answer the question, Granny." Applejack said with a face hard as stone. Granny Smith's gaze started wandering around, clearly trying to think of an explanation.

"I... I don't know. We never met the buyer in person, he talked to us through an agent. He was some kind of city bigshot who couldn't be bothered to make time for us in person." Applejack quickly want buying it. She heard Granny Smith's heart rate which clearly showed that she was lying.

"Now who's bad at lying?" The elderly mare looked down, knowing she was caught.

"What difference does that make, Applejack? What's done is done. We couldn't keep up the farm and he had the money to buy it. We know how much it hurt you so we tried to hide anything about the sale from you. Do you have any reason to bring this up now and torment an old mare some more with it?" Applejack's face fell for the first time. Did she really want to stress her grandmother by revealing what she just learned? In the end, she supposed it had to be done. She had the right to know.

"The ponies I helped last night, they had something stolen from them. They believe that our old friend, Filthy Rich was behind the theft and he stole what was stolen because he needs it to find something in Sweet Apple Acres. Something buried there. Does that sound familiar?"

"I'm actually not surprised." Granny Smith scoffed. "Filthy was never exactly popular. His business methods were not always the cleanest, so to speak. But even if it's he's just wasting his time. This is exactly why we took your pod with us when we moved."

"Still, if he was behind that theft, he needs to be brought to justice." Applejack replied with determination.

"And you're planning to do that?" Granny Smith asked cautiously.

"Who else would?" Applejack countered. Her grandmother looked down with a sigh. This time with sadness.

"This is exactly why I never wanted to tell you the truth, Applejack." She said, her sound close to breaking. "I know you're supposed to help all ponykind everywhere, but please try not to forget that you're an Apple first and foremost while you're doing it. Your place and duty will always lie here with us." Applejack narrowed her eyes.

"Believe it or not, this is more for this family than you know." She said, remembering what Quick Scan told her about the possibility of Filthy being the one to order the attack on her parents. But she decided to keep quiet about that for now. Until she was certain, there was no need to upset her grandmother with idle gossip.

"What do you mean?" Granny Smith asked curiously.

"Never mind. I'm gonna go upstairs and change. Can I ask you something, Granny?" Granny Smith waited patiently for her granddaughter's request. "Could you go down to the train station and find out when's the next train to Ponyville?" Her grandmother raised an eyebrow.

"You're not flying?" Applejack shook her head.

"When I met them, they got the better of me and I'm afraid when we meet again they will be ready for me." She replied heading for the stairs. "I need to go undercover."

Filthy Rich took a deep, calming breath of the clear country air of Sweet Apple Acres as he stepped out of his carriage. It was a welcome change from the crowded cities where he usually had to spend time at due to his business. Even if that was exactly what he was here for. More business. He ordered his ponies to unload the cargo they were carrying, flinching when one of the mercs tripped and dropped the machine.

"Careful! That thing is worth more than you're ever gonna make!" The crew eventually did manage to set it up with Flithy's instructions and soon the machine was standing in the middle of the orchard with it's scanners drilled deep into the ground and connected to computers in a mobile reaserch center nearby.

"All scanners are operational, Mr. Rich." One of the researchers reported. "We're ready to begin."

"Excellent." The stallion mused. "Now then, let's see what you're hiding."

Even with Quick Scan's device, the process took hours. Many of the researchers were bored out of their minds and about to fall asleep, but Filthy himself was the exact opposite of that. He has been waiting for this moment for twenty years. Whatever secret Sweet Apple Acres was hiding, it was soon going to be his. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the computer screens. Not even for a moment. Even the complete fruitlessness of the first few hours wasn't enough to discourage him.

The few researchers who were still awake were about to give up, until they were snapped out of their boredom by a sudden loud beeping sound eminating from the machine. They couldn't believe it. It actually did find something and they knew it had to something peculiar. The scanner was programmed to ignore everything normally found in the soil of a farmland. Whatever it picked up, it clearly wasn't supposed to be there.

"There you are!" Filthy cried out. "Bring the excavators!"

The scans lead the excavation team to spot to some older apple trees that looked like they didn't bear fruit in a long time. Between the trees was a barren circular piece of ground in the grass. The strangeness of this didn't escape the researchers.

"Why is this the only spot on this entire farm where nothing grows?" One of them asked.

"Looks like we find our X that marks the spot, gentlecolts." Filthy said with a chuckle. "Start digging!" As the excavation team began to work, one of the researchers noticed a strange pattern to the trees.

"These trees feel so out of place here." He said. "They're too close to each other to be harvested properly. And so circularly placed around this barren spot. Almost like they were planted in an attempt to hide it from prying eyes."

"Maybe the Apples knew about what was here and tried to cover it up." Another one suggested, causing Filthy to roll his eyes.

"Oh, please! You're giving those simpletons way too much credit." He dismissed coldly. The excavator lifted a big chunk of dirt out of the ground and lowered it in front of the researchers to scan it.

"Sir, the scans are unmistakable. There are parts of what we're looking for in it. But they're so little that it would be like finding a needle in a haystack to unearth it." Filthy Rich raised a hoof to his chin in thought. He called for his crew to collect the dirt inside a glass container and carry it back to the research station.

Once it got there, they began hosing the piece of dirt with several rays of water until most of it was reduced to mud. The mud was then filtered out of the container through the bottom. The holes they used for this were so small that anything bigger than a raindrop wouldn't make it through.

Once all of the mud was out of the container, Filthy removed his protective glasses and looked inside the container. What was left in it was very small but it was still noticeable. He poured it's content into a cup and lifted a magnifying glass to see it closer. Want he was seeing was several pieces of glowing green stones.

"This is it?" One of the researchers scoffed. "Some green stones? What a letdown!"

"Don't be so quick too judge, my friend." Filthy told him as he placed the stones inside a computer. "Initiate scanning!" He ordered the machine. After a few seconds of scanning, the result that came in shocked them all.

"No match?" Filthy read in astonishment.

"But that would mean whatever this thing is isn't part of the periodic table!" A researcher exclaimed.

"Which in turn would mean..." Another one started, but Filthy finished it for him.

"...that it is not from this planet." He smirked. "Actual alien material from another planet. Not bad for a day's work if I say so myself." The researchers around the station cheered.

"We owe you an apology, Mr. Rich." One said. "We all thought this whole research was just a waste of money and time. But this... this is biggest discovery in the history of ponykind. Filthy nodded. Every bit he poured into this place was about to pay off at last. But before he could savor his triumph, one of the researchers interrupted him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Rich. There is something else." He told his boss, pointing at the computer screen.

"What else?" Filthy looked at the screen with irritation.

"I don't know what it is, but it's big. Much bigger than those stones. And it's not on the orchard. This scanning device really is good. What we picked up is in the..." Once he managed to pinpoint the exact location of his scans, he gulped nervously. "The Everefree Forest." Every researcher inside the station collectively copied him. They all knew the reputation that place had and none of them liked the idea of retrieving anything from there. Filthy sighed, instantly realising what this meant.

"And I suppose that means you will be less than willing to investigate it." He asked in annoyance. Nopony replied. "Very well." He turned to Bloodsport and a couple of other mercenaries standing behind him. "Go with them. Just in case."

While still reluctant, the extra firepower on their side was enough to convince some of the researchers to follow the scans into the ominous woods. They've been searching for about fifteen minutes between the trees and much to their relief, they didn't encounter anything threatening so far. But for some reason, they all had a sense of imminent danger looming over their heads. Even the hardened mercenaries.

"Does anypony else have a bad feeling about this place?" One of the mercenaries asked.

"A bad feeling about the Everfree Forest? What a shock!" A researcher retorted.

"No! I mean, this place in general. Like, the very place we are heading to." Everypony looked around. They all got that very same feeling but they didn't understand why. The trees around them were becoming fewer and fewer and even less creepy as they went. But a thick layer of fog was beginning to rise around them and the ground was becoming less and less dry. They had to stop every ten seconds to wipe the mud off their hooves.

"What's with all this damn mud?" A mercenary complained. "Feels like more of a swamp than a forest." The mercenary who spoke first widened his eyes.

"A swamp? Now I remember! This is the place where they hung and buried Golden Citrus!" The other ponies pondered about what he said for a few seconds but then they all realised what he was referring to.

"Golden Citrus? Don't tell me you believe in that foal story!" Another merc groaned.

"I never said I did!" The first one snapped back. "It's just... that would explain why this place feels so... wrong." Bloodsport who was at the front of the group didn't much care about this discussion. He never believed in stories like Golden Citrus. And the researcher walking next to him with the scanner apparently didn't even hear it.

"What's a Golden Citrus?" He asked the mercenary casually. Bloodsport sighed.

"It's a stupid old scary story. Golden Citrus was a gangster running his gang from Ponyville. The Royal Guard caught them but Citrus escaped into the Everfree. The citizens chased him down, hanged him and buried him beneath the same tree. Just another scary story to keep foals out of the forest." He scoffed dismissively.

"Are you sure about that?" A mercenary called out as he came up next to the two, aiming his flashlight up at a tree. Everypony turned to look at the direction the flashlight was pointing at and they all gasped in shock when they saw a piece of rope tied in a noose hanging from one of the branches of the tree in front of them. Bloodsport scoffed.

"This doesn't mean anything."

"But this does!" The researcher carrying the scanner shouted. "Whatever we're looking for, it's beneath this tree!" The researchers and the mercs all gathered around the tree, unsure of what to do until Bloodsport gave the order.

"Well, I'm afraid we cannot bring an excavator out here so we'll have to do it the old fashioned way." He said, tossing them each a shovel. "Start digging!"

As the ponies got to it, Bloodsport looked around a little more. He knew the Everfee Forest was a strange place but this particular spot somehow stood out. While he didn't show it as much as the others did, even he felt that this place was not the regular Everfee Forest spooky. This place resembled more of lifeless swamp than a forest. Even the few trees that he did see looked like they rotted away ages ago. He had no idea how they were still standing.

As he kept walking around, he felt his hoof hitting something on the ground. He looked down to see a dead badger lying by his hooves. He thought nothing of it at first and was about to walk away, but before he did, he saw the body of the animal moving ever so slightly on it's own.

This caused even the hardened mercenary to drop his jaw in shock and back away. The badger corpse slowly picked itself up and turned to growl menacingly at the unicorn. Bloodsport quickly realised it was about to attack and pulled out his gun for a preemptive strike.

One shot was all it took to blast the body of the animal away, but to Bloodsport's astonishment, it got up and was about to leap at him again. He then transformed his gun into a shotgun and kept shooting at the badger until there was nothing left of it but a pile of bloody flesh. And even then, it's parts wouldn't stop twitching. Before he even had the chance to try and find an explanation to what just happened, he was interrupted by the cry of one of the researchers.

"Boss, we're stuck! Our shovels won't go any further!" Bloodsport turned away from the remains of the badger and went to rejoin the group. One of the researchers still stubbornly tried to force his shovel into the ground. His annoyed colleagues were about to tell him to cut it out, but then, something pulled the tool into the ground.

Every researcher quickly retreated from the dig site while the mercenaries raised their weapons, ready to take on whatever emerged from the ground. But there was nothing that would have prepared them for what they witnessed next. The shovel was tossed back in front of their hooves in pieces before a large gray hoof burst out of the ground.

With the exception of Bloodsport all of the mercenaries stumbled back in shock as a huge gray earth pony stallion with white mane who looked like a corpse that had been rotting for several decades pulled itself out of the ground. The corpse shook it's head and opened it's black lifeless eyes to look at the group of ponies in front of him and that was all it took for Tartarus to break loose.

"Open fire!" A mercenary yelled. All of them did so without hesitation. Once again, Bloodsport was the only one who just stood motionless. Somehow in the back of his mind, he knew that using his weapon would have no effect at all.

Sure enough, the creature received several hits from the mercenaries' weapons, but it did not seem hurt at all. It's rotten flesh soaked up all the bullets. All they managed to do was make it angry. The creature grabbed the tree it emerged from beneath and tore it out of the ground, hurling it at the ponies firing at it.

This finally snapped Bloodsport out of his shock. He quickly assembled himself an energy cannon and blasted the tree in half mid-air. He then turned his firepower on the creature which let out an enraged roar and began charging at him. While bullets had no effect, his energy blasts did the trick. While the creature was unhurt, it was knocked back several meters and looked rather dazed.

Bloodsport took this opportunity and released several more energy blasts at the creature until it was knocked back against one of the rotten trees in the background. The unicorn released one more blast which was enough to send the creature crashing through the tree and knock it out.

With the creature no longer posing a threat, the mercenaries and researchers slowly gathered their courage to approach it.

"What... What are we going to do with it?" One of them nervously asked.

"I think that should be obvious." Bloodsport replied without looking at him. "This is what Mr. Rich sent us out to retrieve for him. So we'll do exactly that."

Filthy Rich honestly didn't know what to expect when he sent his ponies off into the Everfree Forest to find whatever their scanner picked up. But when they returned pushing the body of a huge rotting stallion chained down on a cart, even he became more than a little surprised.

"Would you mind explaining this?" He asked Bloodsport once the cart was rolled inside the research station.

"You wanted us to bring you what the scanners picked up." Bloodsport replied casually. "There you have it." Filthy looked very sceptical.

"The scanner picked up a dead body? I mean, looking at his size, he must have been an impressive specimen, but a corpse cannot be the only thing that was out there."

"Well, this dead body still moves and is strong enough to tear a tree out of the ground. My ponies can vouch for it."

Filthy was not amused and was about to ask the unicorn just what kind of a fool did he take him for, when suddenly the body on the cart twitched, making everypony jump. A few of the mercenaries who were out with Bloodsport and saw what it could do covered behind his back for protection, earning an annoyed glare from their leader. Filthy Rich was not a pony who was easily surprised, but even he couldn't watch this with a straight face.

Bloodsport shot his employer a look that clearly challenged him to give whatever angry reception he was gonna give, which Filthy decided to ignore. Instead, he approached the creature still lying on the cart. He was struggling to break free of his chains but he was still dazed from Bloodsport's energy blasts. His gaze met Filthy's and saw the earth pony surveying him inquisitively.

"Does it talk?"

"If he does, he wasted no words on us." Bloodsport answered. "I think he prefers to roar and throw things around." But Filthy knew better. As he made eye contact with the creature, he could somehow tell that this creature had some level of intelligence.

"Do you understand me?" The creature looked at him unresponsively for a few seconds before slowly nodding. "What's your name?"

"Name?" The creature moaned on a deep and gruff voice. "I... I was born on a Monday." Filthy and Bloodsport shared a confused look.

"That's not quite what I was asking." Filthy replied.

"Born on a Monday?" One of the researchers behind Filthy smiled to himself. "That sounds like that old nursery rhyme about that guy. What was his name?"

"Solomon Grundy." Another one replied. Everypony in the room gave him a confused look. Even the creature himself. "You know, Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday..."

"Oh, yeah!" The first researcher replied. "Now I remember! Crystaled on a stark and stormy Tuesday, Married on a grey and grisly Wednesday, Took ill on a mild and mellow Thursday, Grew worse on a bright and breezy Friday, Died on a grey and glorious Saturday, Buried on a baking, blistering Sunday. That was the end of Solomon Grundy."

"Solomon Grundy..." The creature repeated in amusement, seemingly adopting the name himself. Filthy smiled when he heard it.

"Did you hear that everypony? Looks like this is the beginning of Solomon Grundy." He then turned to his researchers. "I want to know everything there is to know about our new friend."

A few of the researchers approached the hulking creature with needle and test tubes, but when they tried to pierce it with them, he became enraged and finally managed to summon the strength to break free of his chains.

The researchers quickly jumped back as the newly named Solomon Grundy picked up the cart he was lying on and began to use it as a flyswatter on anypony who tried to approach him. The mercenaries knew that their weapons were useless against him so they all turned to Bloodsport. The unicorn sighed and assembled his cannon, but Filthy Rich stopped him.

"Don't. I want to see what he's capable of."

The researchers all sprinted out of the building and Grundy hurled the cart after them. Fortunately for the scientists, they managed to make it out the door before it crashed into the wall, braking apart on it.

"Fascinating." Filthy mused. Grundy then turned to the mercenaries cowering behind Bloodsport and charged at them with a roar. Bloodsport raised his cannon at him but Filthy once again pushed it down. "I said don't!" The unicorn just glared in response.

"I won't let that thing tear apart ponies under my command!" He snarled, tearing his cannon away from Filthy and firing several blasts at Grundy. They knocked the enraged zombie back but only temporarily. He just kept coming.

"His resistance is also remarkable." Filthy commented, completely forgetting about Bloodsport's insubordination. Those energy blasts packed quite a punch. They would have been lethal against an ordinary pony. He wondered if Grundy could also take a hit from...

Grundy swiftly recovered from the latest attack and was about to charge again. Filthy was disappointed about it's lack of intelligence. Apparently he couldn't learn not to keep throwing the same ineffective attack against a brick wall. He had enough of seeing that. Before Grundy could attack, the earth pony quickly stood in his way holding a hoof up.

"Stop." He said calmly. All the mercenaries looked at him like he was insane, but as they saw it in a few moments, he knew exactly what he was doing. Grundy came to an abrupt halt in front of Filthy and looked down at him curiously.

"Stand down." Filthy told Bloodsport without turning his attention away from the zombie. The unicorn was reluctant to say the least but eventually obeyed and deconstructed his weapon. "See? I can protect you from them. I am your friend." He told Grundy reassuringly.

"Friend?" Grundy asked, tilting his head.

"Yes. Friend." Filthy replied on a soothing tone. "You can trust me. I will keep you safe. Just calm down. I will be your friend. Will you be mine?" Grundy looked like he was pondering Filthy's offer, which must have been an arduous task with his limited intelligence. But eventually his face softened as he backed down.

"Friend." Grundy said softly. Filthy let out s laugh in disbelief. He didn't think this would actually work.

"Well, what do know? I guess friendship really is magic." He then turned to the mercenaries. "For your own safety, I suggest you leave now." They didn't need to be told twice. The mercs all dashed out of the building as quickly as they could, only Bloodsport walked at a steady pace, shooting Filthy and Grundy a dirty look as he passed. But before he reached the exit, Filthy blocked his way with his foreleg. "Except for you. I have a few words for you."

Filthy Rich and Bloodsport were standing in front of a bunch of computer screens. Once again, the business pony was reviewing the footage his mercenaries' cameras have recorded for him. Similarly to Supermare, he was very impressed with the display of strength and durability he was witnessing. The only difference was that this time, the source of the display was on his side. More specifically, he was currently sitting in the corner, drawing a picture with a few crayons and pieces of paper Filthy gave him.

"Look at him." Filthy marveled as he observed the footage. "Marvelous, isn't he? How do you suppose he came to be?" Bloodsport had his theory. He remembered the zombie badger he blasted to smithereens in the forest. That place probably had something in it that brought things back like this But seeing Flithy's callousness he showed in these last few days, he had serious reservations about sharing this information with him. Who knew what he would do with it?

"I can't imagine what could make such an abomination like this." He told him. Grundy apparently heard him and looked up from his drawing to let out an angry growl at Bloodsport. The mercenary just narrowed his eyes at him in return. "Personally, I think the interest you show in him is unhealthy. I never took you for a zombie fan, boss."

"I pay you enough to spare me your opinion, Bloodsport." Filthy replied in annoyance. "But in mine, I'm starting to have doubts about your capability to lead my security forces."

"Really now?" Bloodsport mused. "And who do you want to replace me with? Your new pet zombie?"

"I'm not planning to replace you. Not yet, at least. But I don't like how you've been disregarding my orders recently." He chided the unicorn. But Bloodsport stood his ground.

"You told me to get you the scanning device from the professor. I did it. You told me to dig him up for you and bring him here. I did. I get you results. What else matters?"

"Do you really?" Filthy countered with a raised eyebrow. "Do you remember our bulletproof friend from the laboratory? It is highly unlikely we have seen the last of her. And as we saw, our conversational means are not enough to deal with her. She will follow your trail, Bloodsport. And when she tracks it down to here, he may be my only protection." He finished, pointing at Grundy. Bloodsport was starting to lose his temper.

"Even if she did survive, I already told you magic is her weakness!" He seethed.

"Exactly." Filthy replied. "Our friend here seems perfectly magical enough to qualify for that." Bloodsport's patience has ran out. He slammed his forelegs down on the table between him and Filthy and was now right in the business pony's face.

"I took her down with a magical bullet, I can do it again." Filthy wasn't impressed by his blasting and merely shook his head.

"Such a limited mind, Bloodsport." He said condescendingly. "Weapons and bullets. Are those your only solution to everything?"

"They never failed me before." Bloodsport retorted confidently.

"Except when you failed to kill our pursuer." Filthy cut back casually.

"If she shows up again, she's mine!" Bloodsport growled in fury, before making his way towards the exit. Filthy watched him go with little interest. Temperamental workers and their tirades was nothing new to her and he got used to handling them a long time ago.

"Idiot." Was the only thing he could say after the mercenary left. He then turned back to to Grundy who was still busy drawing in the corner. He picked up a drawing and showed it to Filthy. It depicted extremely crude stick figures of the two of them, as a sign of their newfound friendship.

While Filthy appreciated it, he had something else in mind. He picked up a crayon himself and made a drawing of the S symbol he saw on Supermare's chest in the recordings of her, before holding it up for the zombie to see and slowly tearing it in half.

In his eagerness to study the creature, he failed to notice that a few bits of the green stones they dug up earlier that day was missing from the glass container in the lab.

It was a slow day at the Golden Horseshoe Hotel in Ponyville. The receptionist, a light green earth pony mare with red mane and glasses was sitting behind the counter and her only concern was filing her hoof. The few guest they did have were quiet and tended to keep to themselves. They either locked themselves inside their rooms or spent the whole day out. They basically only used this hotel for sleeping.

The mare was so used to the silence and lack of activity that when the bell above the door rung, she was so startled that she dropped the hoof filer and had to awkwardly straighten herself out and brush the pieces of her hoof she filed off off the table. Once she was presentable, she looked up to greet the new guest.

"Greetings, madam." She said when she saw that she was dealing with a fellow earth pony mare with an orange coat and blonde mane. "Welcome to the Golden Horseshoe. How may I help you?"

"I would like a room, please." The other mare replied.

"Naturally." The receptionist chuckled. "Business or pleasure?" She asked, but judging from the her clothes, she had a good feeling it was the former. The mare in front of her was wearing a sharp suit that covered even her cutie marks along with a fedora hat and a pair of square glasses.

"Business. The name's Lark Cent, investigative journalist."

Author's Notes:

First and foremost, I would like to wish everyone reading Happy Holidays! I know it's a little late and I apologise. I made a blog entry about this which apparently nobody read so I'll put the link in here. It will give you the full picture.

https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1004357/happy-holidays

Anyway, there's only one issue left of this volume! But won't promise that I'll try to get it done before the end of the year anymore. All I'll say is I'll try to get it out as soon as I'm sure it's the best I can make it.

Next time, Supermare will have to go through both the cunning mercenary, Bloodsport and the seemingly invulnerable zombie, Solomon Grundy to get to the pony who ruined her and her family's life and make him answer for his crimes. How will she fare? Find out in...

Issue #5:

Homecoming

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #5: Homecoming

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The first rays of the morning sunlight illuminated the sleepy town of Ponyville long after Applejack was already up and about. As a framer, she was well used to getting up early, but this time, it was an entirely different work she was eager to get started.

She didn't want to just foolishly burst into Sweet Apple Acres for two reasons. First of all, she learned her lesson from what happened in the research facility. Granny Smith was right, she really was getting overconfident and she almost paid the ultimate price for it back there. That can't happen again. She couldn't just run headfirst into danger anymore. She needed to be careful this time.

The other reason was that since she had no proof that Filthy Rich was actually the pony she was looking for, she would make herself look pretty bad in the eyes of Equestria if she broke onto an innocent stallion's properly and tear it up for no reason while looking for the stolen machine. She needed proof that Filthy really was the stallion she was looking for.

It took her a while to figure out what would be the perfect disguise for this investigation, but when this journalist thing came to her mind, she knew right away it was perfect. If she posed as an investigative journalist, she could wander around the town and ask questions without raising suspicion. Not to mention that her ability to detect ponies' heartbeats with her hearing will let her know when somepony is lying. And with her other abilities, she will be able to go places where other journalists couldn't. And now all she needed to do was head outside and get to work.

She washed herself and got dressed but as she was about to make it to the door, a loud knocking interrupted her.

"Uh... Who is it?" Applejack asked. She definitely wasn't expecting company.

"Room service!" A male voice called from outside. "Delivering your breakfast, madam!" After making sure with her x-ray vision that it was indeed a hotel worker, Applejack opened the door.

"I don't mean to sound rude but I'm sure I didn't order anything." She told the unicorn stallion as he pushed small table with several trays on it inside.

"You paid for the full package, madam." He replied cheerfully. "And that includes breakfast in bed."

"Really now?" Applejack wondered. "Guess that explains why the room was so expensive." She quickly caught the smell of the food. It was rather appetising actually. Applejack learned form Pom-El that she actually didn't need food. The rays of the sun fueled her body so much that she needed no other nourishment. Kind of like a plant, she joked when she first learned about this. But she still wasn't gonna refuse a nice meal.

"Trust me, the food is gonna worth the cost." The stallion assured with a smile. Applejack shrugged, if she accidentally paid for everything this hotel had to offer, she might as well enjoy it. "Besides, you're gonna need all the energy you can get for the whole day of investigating you have ahead of yourself." Applejack chucked.

'Trust me, sugarcube, I have more energy in me than you can possibly imagine.' She thought as she reached for her fork," only to drop it when a realisation hit her. "Wait, how do you know about that?!" The stallion chuckled nervously.

"Well, you see, our receptionist is kind of a gossipmonger. She couldn't keep a secret to save her life. I expect everypony in the hotel knows why you are here by now." Applejack became worried that maybe her mission was ruined before it even started, but then she realised she could use it to her advantage.

"Is that so?" She asked in amusement. "Well then, how about you make up for it and make my job easier and tell me a few things while I enjoy my breakfast?" The stallion actually contemplated her offer.

"Well, our other guests have already been served, so there's nothing preventing me to spend my morning with a pretty mare." Applejack smiled and waved him off.

"Flatterer. Well, here's the thing. I've been hearing some nasty things about a famous business pony living in this town named Filthy Rich and I thought it would make for an interesting story." The reaction she got was not what she expected. The stallion's eyes widened and his pupils shrunk into the back of his head the moment he heard Filthy Rich's name. Applejack was rather confused when she saw the stallion becoming nervous and backing away towards the door.

"Uhh... You know what? I just remembered that I had some urgent business down at the lobby." He stammered nervously. "See... See you later. Enjoy your breakfast." He said before dashing out the door.

Applejack wasn't sure what she should make of this situation. She wasn't an actual journalist, but even she could tell this was a suspicious behaviour. Looks like she didn't have to search for long to find somepony who knew something that could help her investigation. Any inter journalist would have major trouble with getting that stallion to talk, but not her.

She used her x-ray vision to follow the stallion's movement down into the lobby where the receptionist was waiting for him. Applejack lifted her right ear and listened to their ensuing conversation. Mastering her super hearing made this job extremely comfortable for her. She could possibly get all the information she needed without moving a muscle. And during a luxurious breakfast no less.

"So how is our newest guest?" Asked the receptionist. "Did you find out what kind of story she's writing?" Her excitement became confusion and concern when she saw her coworker's expression. "What's wrong?" The stallion looked around as if to make sure they weren't being overheard

"You're not gonna believe this! She's another one going after you know who." The mare gasped, lifting her hooves in front of her mouth.

"Did... Did you tell her what happened to the last ones who were foolish enough to try that?" The stallion looked down in shame.

"I... I don't really want to get involved. You know how dangerous that guy is." The receptionist mare gave him an angry look.

"All the more reason to convince her to stop this whole thing!" She cut back.

"Well, as long as she stays away from Sweet Apple Acres, she should be fine, right? He's there like 24/7 and he seems blind to everything else going on in the outside world. And it's not like she has any clue to look for him there." The receptionist nodded.

"That's true. The least we can do is make sure she stays away from there. Ponies have been shot at for even looking at that land for too long. What is Filthy's obsession with that place?"

"See? I think she'll ask around for a bit and eventually just give up when she finds nothing. It's not like anypony would tell her where to find Filthy. No one wants trouble with him.

Applejack found out way more than she needed to. She stopped listening to the conversation and went back to her breakfast. Inadvertently, somepony did let her know where to find Filthy. And if everything she just learned about him was true, then there was one pony who very much wanted trouble with him. And she would be more trouble than he could handle.

Applejack left the hotel with a full stomach and a plan in mind. Even the ominous warning of the receptionist wasn't enough to deter her. She was now more than certain Filthy Rich was in fact guilty of at least some illegal activities. Whether those included the theft of Professor Quick Scan's device or the assassination of her parents for their land she still couldn't say. But he still had done things he needed to answer for. And with her investigative journalist guise, she will also be able to get proof against him.

She also knew where she was supposed to go to find it. A place she hasn't seen in over a decade but no day passed without her longing to see it again. Her family's old farm. She wasn't sure how to feel about this homecoming. One the one hoof, she was looking forward to it more with each passing second. One the other hoof, she knew the place would no longer be what it once was. Filthy probably had most of the apple trees removed by now and replaced them with mechinarey he may or may not have stolen to find whatever it was he was looking for.

And while it was a silly notion, she knew that what he was looking for was connected to her. Even if Granny Smith and Big Mac hauled her spacepod all the way to Appleoosa to make sure nopony can find it, there was a chance that something else they didn't find might still be there. And if that was the case, then that belonged to her and therefore she was going to have to take it back.

After a while, the road she was walking on was starting to look familiar. She would have recognised these trails from within a million. She was well on her way to Sweet Apple Acres. It was kind of eerie. From what she heard, Filthy spent almost all of his time on this farm. And even as she got closer to the property, she couldn't see a single soul. She expected the place to be crawling with Filthy's mercenaries. How could Filthy leave a place that was so important to him unguarded.

She got her answer when a jolt of electricity rushed through her body. She groaned before jumping back. While she was invulnerable to normal damage, she learned from her previous encounter with with Filthy's thugs that electricity still had a numbing effect on her. She looked around in confusion, trying to locate the source of the shock.

Using her x-ray vision, she could see an electrical trap system running beneath the ground. Normally, she would just fly over it, but she didn't want to risk blowing her cover in case somepony was watching. She got a better idea. If only she could locate the power source of the device, she could shut it down easily. After a few moments, she did manage to locate the generator powering the trap and with a smirk, she used her heat vision to fry it.

With the trap taken care of, she was free to make her way further down the track. Though she kept her x-ray vision active to avoid anymore surprises. While they wouldn't have harmed her, if she ran into something bigger than this electrical floor trap, that might attract unwanted attention. And she didn't want that yet.

Getting closer towards the actual farm, her hearing actually started picking up chatter, hoofstepes and heartbeats. It was obvious that she was getting closer to where the actual activity was taking place. And that meant she'll have to stay out of sight.

Fortunately, many apple trees were still around. Applejack even recognised some of them. She bucked several of them more than once. And then there was the one that threw Big Mac's ball back into his face with it's branch when she accidentally kicked it too hard. She smiled. Those were better days.

She was so caught up in her daydreaming that she almost didn't notice a pair of patrolling mercenaries coming her way, but she snapped out of it in time to hide between some of the trees until they passed. She quickly scolded herself in her head for getting distracted like that before telling herself to focus. She had a job to do.

She was here to find evidence that Filthy was behind the theft of Professor Quick Scan's device. If he was behind it, that is. And that meant that was what she was supposed to find. And finding it on this enormous farmland is going to be quite the challenge.

Using her x-ray vision to look through her surroundings, she saw several ponies around the place but nothing that reminded her of the device. She was gonna have to get to another position. She looked around again to make sure the coast was clear then spotted another group of trees she can hide behind before making a bolt for it.

BOOM!

Applejack felt a sudden force blowing past her from beneath. She looked down to see that her clothes were tattered and her camera was destroyed. She scoffed. So much for potentially gathering evidence against Filthy, but more alarmingly, her cover was now blown! She could already hear several ponies approaching her location.

Applejack cursed under her breath. She was so caught up in using her x-ray vision to find the device that she forgot to look out for traps. If these mercenaries were the same she encountered in Quick Scan's lab, they knew about her weakness to magic and they could use it against her. She probably could dash away from the orchard before they found her with enough speed to avoid being seen. She was about to do just that, but then she heard the mercenaries speaking.

"What was that?!"

"One of the mines detonated!"

"Must have been an animal from the woods. Nopony can get past the electric ground trap."

"We're not gonna take that chance! Call Bloodsport!"

Applejack froze. Bloodsport. That was one of the mercenaries at the lab. The one that shot her with a magical bullet. So these definitely were the same mercs from that heist. And if that was the case, then Quick Scan's device was also here. These animals had a lot to answer for. Applejack forgot about running. It was time for action. She tore off the remains of her clothes to reveal her kryptonian suit underneath it with the sleeves pulled up. She unrolled the sleeves, put on her shoes and untied her mane. This looked like a job for Supermare!

The explosion was heard all throughout Sweet Apple Acres. Everypony heard it, even Bloodsport. But it wasn't until his panicked troops came running to him and asking him to check out what caused it. He sighed in frustration. Must he do everything around here?

Accompanied by a couple of mercs, he went to investigate the group of trees that have been blown to pieces. There was nothing to be seen except for the wooden remains and splattered apples lying around. And yet, Bloodsport felt it in his gut that something big was about to happen. Something big and bad.

"I'm still saying it was just an animal." One of the mercenaries said as they searched the area with their weapons.

"Then how do you explain this?" Bloodsport asked the group, spotting a pile of shredded clothes between the trees. All of the other mercs collectively gasped.

"What the hay?"

"Well, I guess that's that. Whoever it was, there's nothing left of them now." Bloodsport rolled his eyes.

"Come on! Even if the mine exploded right under them there must have been something left of them." He retorted.

"So what do you suggest happened? Did the explosion only shattered their clothes?" Bloodsport was about to roll his eyes again, but instead they widened. That explosion was so huge that there was no way that an ordinary pony could have survived. But somepony who could survive being shot with a magical bullet...

He looked on the ground around the clothes in search of hooftracks and sure enough, he noticed a trail of them leading towards the forest behind the orchard. The right corner of his mouth curled upwards.

"Back for more, huh?" He asked smugly, much to the other mercenaries' confusion.

"What?"

"Never mind. Keep searching around the orchard and make sure you don't step on one of those things. I want to check something out." Before the others could say anything, he ran off into the direction where the tracks lead him. If his hunch was correct and he was really dealing with who he thought, they would only get in the way.

The tracks didn't lead that deep into the forest. If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed that his target was also afraid of this place. But he knew that there was nothing here that could have hurt her. Only he will be able to do that.

He eventually reached the end of the tracks but there was nopony around. Considering her abilities, she could have gotten away in any number of ways, but if she wanted to get away, she wouldn't have lured him out here. She was obviously baiting him on. Very well, he will bite.

"You can come out now. It's just the two of us." He looked around to see the familiar figure in the blue suit and red cape emerge from between the trees, but all he saw was a large shadow appearing on the ground in front of him. He looked up to see the mare he was expecting floating in the air above him with her mane and cape being thrown around by the wind.

"Stylish entrance." Bloodsport clapped sarcastically. "I suppose the boss was right. It was naive to assume that magic bullet would be enough to put you down." Applejack narrowed her eyes.

"Too bad for you. And him." In response, Bloodsport merely put together his gun and fired another shot at her, but this time, Applejack wouldn't let her overconfidence get in the way. She flew out of the bullet's way and in the blink of an eye, she was already behind Bloodsport and grabbed him from behind.

"You didn't expect that to work again, did you?" Bloodsport shrugged.

"Can't blame a pony for trying."

"Let's not make this any more difficult. Tell me where your boss is along with the device you stole from Professor Quick Scan!" Applejack ordered. To her surprise, Bloodsport's response was just an unamused look.

"Seriously? You came all this way just for that? I'm actually disappointed. For a moment, I almost believed you came for me. I almost felt special."

"Make no mistake, Bloodsport. Once I'm done with your boss, you're going to prison too. You have a lot to answer for!" Applejack snarled at her, but the stallion merely grinned.

"Don't be so quick to count me out of the game, sweetheart. I may still have something up my sleeve." He then used his magic to lift something up from underneath his uniform. Applejack was ready to dash away before he tried anything else, but to her relief and confusion, it was only another bullet. It looked like it was carved from some green stone.

Applejack didn't think much of it at first, but suddenly, she started to feel nauseous. She suddenly felt all of her sfrenthg leaving her and the world starting to spin in her vision. Eventually, she was forced to let go of the mercenary and step back, grabbing her head. Bloodsport chuckled.

"Well, this is better than anything I dared to expect. When the boss dug up these stones he said they weren't made of anything found on this planet. That could have only meant one thing." He spoke casually as he walked around the struggling Applejack who was now on her knees and close to vomiting. "It means that it's not of this planet. And when I learned that, I had a thought. I have never seen anything quite like you. And I have seen quite a lot. So that leaves only one explanation." He knelt down in front of her and lifted the bullet near her head. "When I put two and two together, I figured that an alien material might work on an alien. And once again, my instincts didn't fail me."

The only action Applejack's body allowed her was to wonder what was happening to her. Her mind usually worked fast but probably due to the stone's effect, she could only slowly piece it together. Pom-El did explain to her that her abilities came from the sun of Equus. The only theory she could come up with was that these stones were carried away with her spacepod from her home planet all those years ago and they somehow nullified the effects of the sun. Her brainstorming was interrupted by the cocking of a gun near her head.

"I could use this to put you out of your misery, you know." Bloodsport taunted. "But I'm not just a killer. I'm a fighter. I enjoy the thrill of battle above all else against the most dangerous opponents. That's why I named myself Bloodsport. So if you're really as tough as the boss thinks you are, then surely you can overcome this and take me all the same. So come on!" Powers or not, Applejack was never one to back down from a challenge. She gathered all of her remaining strength and launched herself at the mercenary.

"Coming right up!" She roared as she leaped forward, only to be hit in the face by something hard enough to knock her back on the ground.

"Going back down." Bloodsport retorted. Applejack groaned in pain as she sat up and looked to see the stallion's front hooves glowing with the same green light as his bullet was. "Turns out, this makes fine hoof brasses too."

Bloodsport was done playing around. He launched himself forward and repeatedly attampted to punch Applejack again. Deprived of her abilities, the mare could only roll back on the ground before clumsily backing up on her hooves. She needed to think of something and fast, but the relentless barrage of attacks by the stallion did not make that easy.

Bloodsport moved faster than Applejack could have anticipated. He struck the mare in the chest repeatedly, not only causing her stinging pain but further weakening her. Applejack's only chance was to strike back, but despite being a unicorn, Bloodsport had two things Applejack didn't, experience and military training.

No matter where the mare attempted to strike, the unicorn managed to block every time. And he followed up every successful block with another strike, eventually forcing Applejack to retreat. She backed and almost tripped over something which turned out to be a rock. That gave her an idea.

She may not have been an actual earth pony, but her physiology was exactly the same. And that included the same level of physical strength. Even without her super strength, she should be able to move this rock. With no further thought, she picked it up and hurled it at Bloodsport. The unicorn wasn't fazed at all. He assembled his energy cannon and blasted the rock apart before it hit him.

"Nice try, but..." He never got to finish. Bloodsport made the mistake of letting his guard down and Applejack made full advantage of that. She jumped forward and tore the unicorn's cannon out of his grasp before breaking it to pieces. It was a mild inconvenience at worst. He could easily put it back together with magic, but that process needed time. Time Applejack didn't plan to give him.

She headbutted the stallion in the muzzle, making him stumble backwards. She then spun around and bucked him straight in the head, sending him crashing against a tree. Bloodsport groaned in pain. His weapon was lost and his senses were blurry but he could still make out the silhouette of the Mare of Steel approaching him.

He didn't have much choices left. He took off his hoof brasses and threw one of them in Applejack's direction. She saw it coming and managed to avoid it. Bloodsport held up the other one in front of her in a vain attempt to fend Applejack off, but the mare just picked up a piece of rock from the ground and threw it at him, knocking the stone out of his hoof. Bloodsport was now completely defenseless.

Applejack marched over to him before reaching down and picking him up by his collar and pressing him against a tree.

"Now listen here and listen good. And if your horn as much as sparkles, you can kiss it goodbye." She seethed through her teeth. "Tell me where your boss is." To Applejack's surprise, Bloodsport chuckled.

"You think you've won? You have no idea what that pony is capable of. What be has up his sleeve. He's been expecting you. And he has something that might be a little too much for you to handle." He taunted. Applejack's eyes narrowed.

"We'll see about that. Now talk!"

"Suit yourself." Bloodsport replied with a shrug. "But don't say I didn't warn you." He then pulled out a map from his vest and gave it to Applejack. "The map marks the location of all the traps the boss has set up. From what I've seen, you're gonna need that if you want to stay subtle. The device is in the main research station and most likely the boss too." Applejack observed the map for a few moments before folding it and putting it away. She then took off into the air and hung the mercenary on a tree branch by his vest.

"You're gonna stay here. When I'm done with your boss, I'll send the police for you." With that, the alien mare floated back on the ground and galloped off into the direction of the orchard.

Bloodsport looked down. The ground was rather far from him. A fall from this height might not be fatal, but he would more than likely break enough bones for his injuries to be. And the branch was thin enough that it would easily break if he fidgeted around too much. As he wondered what to do, he suddenly heard the flapping of wings from around him. He looked up to see two pegasi from Filthy's mercenary force appear next to him.

"Don't worry, sir. We'll get you down." The two ponies grabbed the unicorn and carried him to the ground.

"Did Filthy send you for me?" He asked as he dusted himself off. The mercenaries shook their heads with a scowl.

"Filthy can go to Tartarus. That bastard was ready to test that monstrosity's strength on us last night."

"But you stood up for us. Even back in the lab when we first met costumed freak you didn't leave us behind. From now on, we are your unit, sir." They replied with a salute. Bloodsport was rather shocked by this turn of events. He never expected to lead his own unit of mercs, but he couldn't say this was an unwelcome development. Eventually, he returned the salute.

"At ease, soldiers. We are moving out. Whatever happens on that orchard is Filthy's problem from now on. Our costumed friend will more than likely keep him and his new pet occupied. We'll go and gather the rest of our troops and leave town." The two pegasi saluted again before heading back to the orchard. Bloodsport reached into his vest again and pulled out the one piece of green rock he still had left. The one he carved into the shape of a bullet. He smirked at it. "I think I'll keep this. Just in case our paths cross again one day."

Subtlety was no longer an option. That explosion she triggered no doubt alerted all available mercenaries on the orchard. Not that they could have done much to prevent her from getting to Filthy. Still, it was weird that she saw nopony on the field as she surveyed it from above. She turned her x-ray vision towards the building that Bloodsport identified as the main research center and she only saw one earth pony inside that only could have been the stallion he was looking for. Not bothering with subtlety anymore and eager to confront the pony who possibly ruined her life, she elected to simply burst through the ceiling of the building and landed in the middle of the room.

In front of her was standing Filthy Rich with his back turned to her. He was observing several computer screens, all of which were playing footage of Applejack's recent activities as Supermare, including her fight against the mercenaries in Quick Scan's laboratories and to her surprise, even her fight with Bloodsport. Did he set up cameras all over the acres?

"I have been expecting you." The business pony said on a smooth voice. "I have seen what you are capable of. You are a fascinating creature. A perfect organism. A pity you are clouded by conscience, remorse and delusions of morality." He lamented as he observed the footage.

"I wouldn't call them delusions." Applejack replied with a glare. "The only delusional pony here is a greedy business stallion who thinks he can do anything he wants to everypony without consequences." Filthy sighed and shook his head.

"The body of a full grown mare with the powers of a demigod wasted on somepony with the naive mind of a foal. Sad." He retorted before turning around and looking at her for the first time. "Your foolish faith in the good of ponykind will just restrain you from reaching your full potential." With a dash, Applejack got right up in his face.

"Don't talk about me like you know me. You don't know anything about me or what could happen if I stopped restraining myself. And I suggest you don't push me into showing you either." She intended to intimidate, but Filthy's only response was a smug smirk.

"You won't. And I wouldn't say I don't know anything about you." He then motioned towards the computer screens. "I have been watching you and seen what you are capable of. And I've also seen that you are holding back. More than likely out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And that is why you will fail."

"I don't think so." Applejack scoffed. "You have taken something from somepony through violence and taking several innocent lives in the process. I'm here to take it back and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

"That may be true." Filthy agreed. "I don't have the power to stop you. But he does." Applejack didn't even have time to become confused at that because she felt a powerful tug on her cape that sent her crashing through the wall of the building and landing in the soil, carving a long ditch into the ground. She groaned in pain, holding her head as she tried to get herself together and slowly get back on her hooves.

Despite the fact that her father, Pom-El told her that the yellow sun radiation makes kryptonians unstoppable, Applejack came close to being stopped on several occasions. She looked up to see who her latest attacker was and she could barely believe what she saw. Emerging from the hole she just created in the wall, emerged a huge earth pony stallion that looked like his body was rotting away. The monstrosities looked at Applejack with a look of pure rage as he made his way towards her, making it clear just what was about to happen.

"Solomon... Grundy..." The huge stallion groaned as he made his way towards Applejack. "Born on a Monday..." The stunned mare completely forgot about her powers and just crawled back on the ground until she reached the end of the ditch. "Crystaled on Tuesday..." The stallion raised his forelegs and brought them down towards Applejack whom the sense of danger immediately reminded of her abilities and flew out of the ditch. "Married on Wednesday..." The stallion's hooves slammed into the ground, but they only met the dirt. Applejack was already floating up in the air, looking down at the monster in shock.

'Sweet Celestia! What on Krypton is that thing?!'

Grundy looked up at Applejack and tried to reach her in the air. The mare's shock immediately faded, replaced by amusement when she witnessed his feeble attempts to jump up to her.

'Strong, but dumb. Just the way I like 'em.'

Applejack decided to make short work of this guy. She took a deep breath and tried to blow him away, but to her surprise, Grundy just took it.

'What the? Okay, this is not normal!' Applejack was so stunned by Grundy's resilience, that she didn't even notice him tearing a tree out of the ground and hurling it at her. Before she could dodge, the tree knocked her out of the air.

'Still not at full strength...' Applejack groaned as she pushed the tree off of herself. 'Either Bloodsport's stones had more of an effect on me than I thought, or this guy has something about him.'

Applejack barely snapped out of her thoughts in time to avoid a huge rock being thrown in her direction. "Okay, ugly! Let's see how you like this!" Applejack heated up her vision and unleashed two heatrays at Grundy. The huge stallion stumbled, but still kept advancing towards her. Eventually, she realised it was useless and flew back before he could reach her.

'What's with this guy?! It's almost like he's...' Her eyes widened at the revelation. 'magical!' She smacked herself for not realising this earlier. The guy looked like he was dead because he was dead! Filthy was running all sorts of experiments at this place. She wouldn't be surprised if he messed around with zombies. That meant Grundy was dead already. And if he was dead, then she couldn't kill him. Which meant she didn't have to hold back. Applejack cracked her hooves and her neck.

"Alright, you undead freak! The kiddie horseshoes are off."

Applejack flew up and raised a foreleg before slamming into Grundy at full strength. She managed to punch him to the ground but he still got up easily. Applejack knocked him down again and used her heat vision for good measure.

Grundy was actually hurting at this point but he wasn't done yet. He raised a foreleg and managed to push it against Applejack's eyes, blocking her heatrays. The energy building up in the mare's eyes eventually exploded, sending her crashing back against another tree.

Grundy slowly got up and marched towards Applejack once more. Applejack got up and flew at Grundy again, but the zombie was prepared this time. He picked up another tree and used it as a bat to strike the hero, slamming her into the ground with it.

The zombie then lifted the tree back up and brought it down again repeatedly until it exploded into splinters. Applejack was about to immediately spring back up, but found that she couldn't. Once again, she felt all of her strength leaving her.

'Oh, not again! What is it this time?!' She got the answer very soon when she raised her head and saw more glowing green stones in the ground she was just pummeled into.

'Ugh... Great! More of this stuff.' Broken pieces of her homeworld wouldn't just randomly pop up in the ground. This must have been the spot where her spacepod hit the ground all those years ago. 'Ironic.' She scoffed with a bitter laugh. 'The spot where I entered this world is about to be where I leave it if I don't get back up quickly.'

But it was too late. Grundy brought his hoof down on Applejack's head and slammed it into the ground, right between the stones. The pain combined with their nauseating effect was too much for Applejack and she finally gave into the beckoning of sweet unconsciousness.

When Applejack opened her eyes again, she only saw the trees of the sorrunding acres. They slowly crawled backwards in her vision. She groaned in confusion. That wasn't right. Trees couldn't move, so she must have been moving. But she was lying on the ground, how could she be moving? As her senses slowly returned, she felt a hoof gripping her leg. So she was being dragged on the ground. Alright, that made more sense then moving trees. But where was she being dragged to?

She closed her eyes and passed out for several more minutes. The next time she came to, she was greeted by a green glow. As her eyes opened fully, she saw a huge formation of the green stones in front of her being held on a table. Her instinctive response was to back away from it, but she felt all of her four limbs were restrained. She looked around and saw that she was being held upright by metallic cuffs. She struggled to get free but it was of no use. With the stone in front of her draining her abilities, she was powerless.

"I clearly didn't give my friend, Grundy enough credit earlier." Spoke a voice that Applejack quickly recognised as Filthy Rich. The business pony walked into her field of vision with a scornful look. "Without him, I wouldn't have found out about your weakness to this matter. Good think I gathered a big supply of it." Applejack returned his glare.

"I guess you're not as smart as you like to think. Your pet, Bloodsport figured it out long before you did." Filthy was surprised, but he quickly overcame it.

"So that's where some of the stones disappeared to. It doesn't matter. The fact that you're here shows that he wasn't capable enough to finish the job. Nevertheless, I must thank you for coming here. I spent a large sum of my life and unimaginable resources to find what secret these lands hold. And what I find here surpasses all I could have imagined." He walked closer to Applejack and leaned right in her face.

"You call yourself a hero. You pretend to be generous and helpful by flying around and saving ponies in trouble. And yet you have been hiding among us, keeping us from the knowledge and secrets you have brought with yourself from wherever you came." He then finally got out of the mare's face and began to walk away. "But I will uncover them." Applejack felt this the right time to address something that has been on her mind for a long time. Ever since Professor Quick Scan mentioned it.

"Was it worth the life of the Apples?" Filthy stopped and looked back at the hero over his shoulder.

"Yes." He replied without even an ounce of hesitation. "Those simple minded farm ponies had no idea what lay right beneath their hooves. But I will give make the most of it."

Applejack couldn't believe it. This stallion he knew for almost all her life had just admitted to having her parents killed for their land! She was happy that she didn't have her powers at the moment because she wasn't sure if she could restrain herself if he could get her hooves on Filthy right now. The stallion then resumed his way out, pausing to turn towards Grundy who was standing next to the door.

"Grundy, please watch her. Just in case she tries anything. I'll be right back." He said before leaving the room. Applejack wasn't eager to see what kind of vivisection process Filthy had in mind for her. She looked around to find a way to escape.

She looked out the window and saw the trees of the acres outside. That meant she must have been inside one of those small research buildings she saw earlier. Breaking out of one of these shouldn't be too difficult, but without her powers she couldn't even break her cuffs. And with the stone being directly in front of her and that behemoth zombie watching her every move, her chances didn't look good.

Applejack looked up at Grundy. Without her powers, she wouldn't stand a chance against him even if she broke out of her cuffs. She needed sunlight. And to get that, she needed to get outside. Or maybe she didn't? An idea suddenly hit her. Grundy was strong, but dumb. She could use that to her advantage. And she already knew how. Applejack smirked.

'Oh, Filthy, the very thing you had guarding me is gonna be my ticket out of here.' She mused. Grundy may not have been very smart, but even he found it weird why Applejack was smiling in her current predicament.

"Why cape pony smile? Cape pony in trouble." He uttered. Applejack knew it was the perfect time to put her plan in action.

"Oh, not for long. The others are already on their way to save me?" Grundy tilted her head in confusion.

"What others?"

"Did you think I was the only one of my kind out there?" Applejack taunted. "Dozen others are coming. And they will be too much for you." Grundy growled as his expression hardened into a glare.

"No pony too much for Grundy. Grundy break them all." Applejack's smile widened. She had him right where she wanted him. She looked up at the ceiling with fake shock.

"No! Don't come down yet! He's still in here!" Applejack shouted to nopony, but her ruse had the desired effect. Grundy followed her gaze towards the ceiling and stood up on his hind legs to punch a hole into it. Applejack could feel the sunrays shining down on her through the newly created hole, but she needed to get the stone in front of her away to regain her powers.

"Careful! He has a big green stone in here that takes away our powers!" Grundy looked back at the stone in front of Applejack and snatched it away before marching outside with it. With the stone taken away and the reinvigorating rays of the sun recharging her body, Applejack slowly felt her strength returning. Her cuffs started to loosen around her hooves as she moved them around and soom freed all four of her limbs.

"Much better." Applejack sighed in relief. She then flew up through the hole in the ceiling and searched for Grundy. The zombie was looking around for the "others" that Applejack mentioned while holding the green stone in one hoof.

Applejack wanted to strike immediately but then remembered that he had to get rid of the stone first. She locked her vision on it and heated her eyes up, releasing a pair of heat rays which blasted the stone right out of his hoof. Grundy jumped in surprise before looking up at Applejack who slowly descended down before him.

"Round 2?"

Applejack dashed up to the zombie and punched him in the face repeatedly. Without the element of surprise, Grundy was at a disadvantage and Applejack quickly gained the upper hoof. She never even left Grundy any time to recover from her strikes and even when he did, she swiftly flew back before he could counterattack before resuming her attacks.

Eventually, Applejack managed to knock the zombie back inside the research station and down on it's floor. That was too much punishment for even an undead to take and Grundy was beginning to pass out, but Applejack wanted to make sure. As the zombie slowly got up, Applejack took the biggest breath of her entire life before releasing it. Grundy tried to leap forward and stop her but it was too late.

By the time the hero was done, Grundy was covered in a thick layer of ice and rendered completely motionless. Applejack floated back on the ground and took one last glance at the trapped zombie to make sure the ice will hold and only then she allowed herself a relaxing sigh.

After she was done with Grundy, she turned to look around the station. The mercenaries and the research staff have long since left. Apparently, Filthy wanted nopony to interrupt the crowning moment of his lifework. Fortunately the place was not too damaged from their fight. In the middle of the room, she noticed a familiar looking device. It was the professor's scanner!

She walked over to it and examined it with her x-ray vision. While she wasn't a mechanic, from what she could see, it seemed to be undamaged. She was about to grab it and fly off right back to it's rightful owner but then she remembered that Filthy was still at large. He needed to be brought to justice as well.

Still, even though she managed to retrieve the scanner, she had no proof against the corrupt business pony. Maybe she could find something in one of those computers lying around. The researchers left in such a haste that they didn't even shut them down so Applejack could access them easily. Sadly, she couldn't find anything incriminating, only research data.

"Trying to reclaim your secrets?" Applejack spun around to see Filthy Rich standing in the door with a tray of sergical devices behind him. "Everything you see in there I've uncovered through years of hard work. You may feel like they're rightfully yours but I'm going let you take my moment of triumph from me." He said menacingly as he approached the mare. Applejack returned her glare and walked up to meet him in the middle of the room.

"Oh, really? Your mercs have left you and your pet zombie is frozen solid. How do you intend to stop me?" Filthy smirked in reply.

"Do you know how I made it so far in life?" He asked cockyly. "By always having a backup plan."

Applejack suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest as Filthy moved with astonishing speed and slashed her chest with a dagger carved of the exact same green stone. The mare stumbled back and fell on the floor from both the shock and the pain. She looked down and saw blood leaking down on her chest from an open wound. All she could do was use her heat vision to cater the wound and try to crawl away from the stallion. But the stone was starting to take it's effect.

"You don't have to be alive for me to learn your secrets." Filthy said ominously as he approached the mare. Applejack crawled back under the hole in the ceiling to soak up more sunrays but the effect of the stone was very strong. She didn't know what to do.

The two ponies were so focused on each other that they didn't notice the ice holding Grundy beginning to crack. The zombie eventually broke out of it's confines and roared in rage, drawing the attention of both Filthy and Applejack. Grundy didn't even seem to mind that Filthy was also in the way, all he could see was Applejack and without thinking, he threw himself at the mare.

Applejack jumped back and Grundy ended up crashing into the computers. He also swept Filthy away, causing him to stumble back and accidentally stab his stone dagger into a computer panel. The damage was too much for the machines. The electric sparks flying out of them soon set the whole research station on fire. Applejack managed to escape the flames by flying out the hole in the ceiling, quickly grabbing Quick Scan's device to save it from the fire. She looked down at the burning building with her x-ray vision and saw that Filthy was very much alive and struggling to get free.

For a moment, Applejack felt like she was content to leave him to his well deserved fate. He not only had his parents assassinated and exploited their family out of their land but he also caused the death of several other ponies to fulfill his own selfish gains and also tried to kill her as well. She had every right to leave him for dead. Or at least that's what she thought. But deep down, she knew that she didn't.

With a sigh, she flew back down on the ground and put the scanner down safely before flying inside the burning building and beginning to put out the flames with her super breath. She then ran to check on Filthy. The stallion was trapped under the badly burned body of Grundy and he was still holding onto the dagger stuck into the computer panel struggling to get out from under the zombie and pull the dagger free.

Applejack could tell that he was no longer in danger so she was perfectly willing to to leave, but then her enchanced hearing picked up something. The computer his dagger was stuck into was making some ominous noises and beginning to shoot sparks at an even more alarming rate. Applejack's eyes widened as she realised what this meant and ran to stop it but it was too late.

The computer panel exploded with a blinding green light as Filthy's dagger was obliterated by the blast. Applejack once again felt the effect of the stone as she was sent crashing back into the wall. Fortunately, with the source destroyed, the effect was temporary this time. Applejack swiftly recovered and looked at the damage to see that Filthy was knocked unconscious by the blast. Checking his body with her x-ray vision, she saw that his vital signs were still very strong. He was an Earth Pony after all. Assuring herself that he will live, she headed out the building and picked up the scanner before taking off.

Professor Quick Scan was not having a very good day to say the least. Ever since the raid in his lab, he was constantly bothered by police officers asking him to give the same account he had given several time before. Both about the attack and his story about their mysterious savior, the so called "Supermare". The mercenaries took out the security cameras when they attacked so he had no proof of her presence.

And when he was finally allowed to get back to work, all he could do was attend to the ones who were still recovering and help the others fix the labs. Thankfully, they didn't damage it too bad and most of the damage that did happen was easy to fix, even there was a lot of it. It helped that he was the one who designed most of these machines. At the moment, he was currently working on one of them when he was interrupted by one of the researchers.

"Professor!" A brown earth pony mare with blonde mane wearing a lab coat ran in the door. "You have a... visitor."

"Tell them I'm busy." The professor replied in irritation, clearly struggling with the repairs.

"Uh... Professor." Quick Scan looked up at the mare and saw that she was rather agitated. "I think this is one visitor you definitely want to meet."

True to the mare's words, when Quick Scan followed her to the balcony of the building, he was greeted by an amazing sight. The flying Earth Pony mare in the colorful costume he operated on a few days ago was floating up above them, holding his scanning device above her head with her hooves and slowly descended down among them before placing it on the ground.

"I believe this belongs to you, professor." Applejack said, smiling proudly. The assembled onlookers were stunned, especially the police officers who were still in the building for the time of the investigation. Quick Scan walked past them casually with a smirk and went to look at his device. When he saw that it was in good condition, he turned to the hero.

"Thank you very much, my friend." He said while shaking her hoof. "You have truly honored your promise to me."

"Don't mention it." Applejack replied dismissively. "After you saved my life from that magical bullet, this was the least i could do."

*Um... Excuse me?" The two ponies turned to see the police officers on the scene approaching them with embarrassment clear on their faces. For Quick Scan, after days of mocking because of his stories about this mare, this was immensely satisfying.

"Yes, officers? Can I help you?" Applejack asked politely. It took one of them a few seconds to find his voices and even when he did, he sounded pretty meek.

"How... How did you find it?"

"I tracked down the mercenaries that stole it." She explained. "Based on the professor's hunch, I found them near Ponyville on Sweet Apple Acres. They were using the professor's scanner to find something deep in the ground."

"What about the culprit? Have you found him as well?" Asked the other one. Applejack nodded.

"The mercenaries were lead by a pony named Bloodsport. He was hired by Filthy Rich to steal this device." The two officers looked at each other in disbelief.

"Horseapples! Mr. Rich is an honorable business pony! He would never be complicit in something like this!"

"Yeah, right." Quick Scan muttered. Applejack was prepared for this however. She pulled out a few photos from her suit.

"Would these photographs change your mind, officer?" The photos showed several shots of the damaged Sweet Apple Acres and the research station, including one that had the scanner in it. "Quick Scan's device was found on a property owned by Filthy. What else would explain that?"

"Where are these from?" An officer asked as he and his colleague ran through the pictures.

"An investigative journalist who would prefer to remain anonymous gave them to me." Applejack replied. While her camera was destroyed when she stepped on a mine, what kind of self-respecting reporter walks around without a spare one? After she defeated Grundy and Filthy, she could go back to the acres and took the photos without anypony noticing.

"I'm afraid even if these photos are legitimate, they wouldn't stand." One of the officers replied. "Your journalist friend trespassed on Mr. Rich's property when they took them. Evidence obtained by illegal means cannot be used in a court of law." He then hoofed them back to Applejack. "Sorry." They told her as they walked away.

Applejack sighed in defeat. Looks like the bad guys with a lot of money and influence would get away again. No matter. The fact that she's been able to do some good was enough to fill her with satisfaction. Quick Scan saw her disappointment and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"Hey, those pictures may not be able to prosecute Filthy, but we may use them to give justice to some more ponies." He suggested. Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Can you arrange a meeting with your journalist friend?"

It has been a week since Applejack returned the professor's scanner and later met him as her journalist alterego, Lark Cent. The professor introduced her to the chief editor of a newspaper named the Daily Sun who jumped at any juicy story. Not only did they scoop up her pictures from Sweet Apple Acres, but they also congratulated Applejack on a job well done and offered her a job.

At first, she didn't want to accept it. After all, her job was with her family. But after thinking it over, she realised this was a great opportunity for her to keep doing good. She could use this job to go around Equestria and ask questions without raising suspicion. Help ponies and uncover the truth wherever she went. And given her super speed, she could deliver a juicy story by dinner and be at home bucking apples within an hour. In the end, she decided to accept it.

And her first story has already done some good for the most important ponied in her life, her family. After she revealed to Equestria what Filthy was doing at the Acres, he may not have been prosecuted for it, but even he could not sweep a scandal like this under the rug. Eventually, he was forced to put Sweet Apple Acres up for sale.

And that's where the Apple Family came in. It may have cost them almost all of their savings, but they were able to buy back the land and return to their rightful home. Filthy wasn't happy about it, but he quickly realised that selling the land back to the beloved family would be good publicity. Applejack also didn't like how they had to give their money to her parent's killer, but in the end it didn't matter. They were home. Now that they were all able to work on the field, keeping the place also won't be a problem.

"I can't believe it." Granny Smith said with tears in her eyes as she saw the familiar trees and breathed in the air. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"You can say that again, Granny!" Apple Bloom cheered as she bounced past her grandmother. "It's great to be home!"

"Eeyup!" Big Mac added. "I'll sure miss the old house though."

"Don't worry about that, Mac." Applejack replied, lightly tapping her brother on the shoulder. "We'll build a new one that's gonna be like an exact replica. It'll be like we've never left." She announced, flashing a blueprint of their new home to them. "A few cousins from Appleoosa are also coming over to land a hoof with it."

"But, AJ, I'm sure you could wind up a new house in the blink of an eye." Apple Bloom suggested in confusion. Applejack chuckled.

"That may be true, sis. But doing it with my kin is far more fun." Applejack replied, ruffling her sister's mane. Big Mac suddenly remembered something.

"Uh, speaking of kin, AJ, you might wanna let Braeburn in on your little secret when he gets here." Applejack tilted her head.

"Why?" Big Mac looked unsure if he should tell her, but eventually decided he must.

"Well, don't be weirded out, but we've been talking and ever since Supermare saved him from that stampede, he's been kinda... well... smitten with her..." Applejack's jaw nearly hit the ground upon hearing that. "Yeah, that's what I thought." Big Mac said. "So please sort this thing out with him." He then went to join the other two mares, leaving Applejack to think by herself.

Well, Applejack certainly didn't see that coming. Braeburn had a crush on Supermare? Who was actually his cousin? Well, not by blood, but it was still weird. Or at least it should have been. But was it really? Applejack suddenly became so confused. Just when she thought she would finally catch a break, she had a new problem on her hooves. One that was gonna be a whole lot more difficult to deal with.

Fitlhy Rich entered his new laboratory he set up beneath the main building of RichCorp in Canterlot. He immediately noticed the looks of his researchers. He has been getting that a lot lately. While the blast from the computer back at the research station didn't cause significant damage to him physically, the radiation that came from the exploding stone dagger had a peculiar side effect. It caused him to lose his whole mane. Permanently.

Still, he wasn't as upset about it as may expected him to be. Neither by the fact that he lost Sweet Apple Acres. The place that has been his personal obsession for years. But now, it no longer mattered. He got exactly what he wanted from that place. And more. At least selling it made him enough money to pay pack his "benefactors" and now he never had to see them again. That alone was a win.

"I gotta hoof it to you boss, you've been dealing with your defeat much better than I thought." His assistant, Office Colt told him. Filthy just smiled in response.

"There is no defeat to defeat to deal with, my boy." He replied confidently. "Sweet Apple Acres was just the beginning. It taught me much more than I ever could have expected."

"Such as?"

"You'll see soon enough." The two ponies stopped in the middle of the room and waited for the researchers to wheel in a large object covered by a white sheet. Filthy then pulled the sheet off of it to reveal the charred remains of Solomon Grundy. Office Colt backed away in shock.

"Wow! Is it the zombie the researchers have been talking about?" Filthy nodded.

"The very same."

"Is it dead?"

"It's been dead for a very long time. It cannot possibly die again. For the time, let's just say he is dormant." Filthy then set up several computers around the body. "Computer, SCAN the body for any signs of alien DNA." He instructed. The scanners immediately lit up. They may not be as advanced as Professor Quick Scan's but for this task they will be adequate.

And with that, the seeds of Filthy Rich's new obsession were planted.

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #1: To Overcome Great Fear

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Space Sector 1996 was unremarkable from many viewpoints. Few planets in it had sapient life and they were very unadvenced. None of them have discovered space travel yet. Only a few had encounters with lifeforms outside their confines and many were still completely oblivious to life existing in other planets.

The only remarkable planetoid in the entire sector was Equus, the home of Ponykind. Rarely anything happened in this sector that could have been considered a galactic threat and over 90 percent of those events worthy of attention inside the sector came from this planet and there was a reason for that.

Equus held the honor of being one of the most magical planets in the entire galaxy. Every single creature on the planet was somehow connected to it's magic somehow. The magic of the unicorns was just the tip of the iceberg. Even the celestial bodies of the planet were moved magically by the ruler of ponies. A feat that was unique in the galaxy.

So whenever something happened in this sector that was worthy of the attention of the Guardians of the Universe, it was a safe bet that it originated from this planet. Such was the thinking of an equine looking as he landed on the moon of Equus. He was dressed in a green outfit with black sleeves and white shoes on each of his four legs. He had bare, white skin, no hair at all and glowing red eyes. His name was Grinn'glo's and he was the Green Lantern of Sector 1996.

His duties required him to return to this sector so rarely that he almost forgot what it felt like to set his hooves on the familiar soil. He was a member of a race of equine creatures originating from this moon. He became the protector of this sector long before a wave of extinction hit the moon, causing his people to disappear. He only escaped this fate because he was away performing his Lantern duties. The moon he grew up on which was once full of life was now nothing more than a barren wasteland. Whether there were any survivors left he did not know, but that was not the reason he came here right now.

Several surges of mysterious yellow energy have been detected throughout the galaxy recently with one of the biggest coming from this very moon. The Green Lantern Corps had a good reason to be concerned about these surges as their power was completely useless against anything yellow. The Guardians had assumed that these surges were the preparation of an assault against the Corps, therefore any detected surges must have been investigated.

Grinn'glo was surprised to learn of a surge being detected in his sector. What kind of assault could have been prepared against the Corps from here? Still, he knew the Guardians were wouldn't have sent him here if they weren't certain it was important. It was time to get to work.

"Ring, run a scan on this moon for anything unusual." He spoke, raising the ring to his mouth.

"Affirmative." The green ring replied on a mechanic voice. Grinn'glo took off from the ground and began flying around the moon while his ring emanated green light across the surface. He's been at it for a few minutes but so far he hasn't detected anything too out of the ordinary.

Granted, he wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for either. His ring wouldn't be able to pick up any of the yellow energy surge due to it's weakness to the color, so there was a good chance his hunch will end up being correct and he's just wasting his time here.

Strange phenomenon on moons tended to manifest on their dark sides so that's where he scanned first, but he found nothing. He then moved to the side facing the planet and immediately noticed something peculiar. Carved into the moon's surface were several dark lines that clearly weren't there when he last visited his homemoon.

When was that again? If he recalled correctly, it was well over a millennium. His species was extremely long lived. Measured in standard Equusian years, they could reach well over a hundred thousand. He was merely twenty seven thousand years old. By the standards of his race, he was still a young adult.

And yet, it has been five thousand years since he began his service as a Green Lantern, an intergalactic police officer tasked with keeping order and enforcing the law in his space sector. And since his sector was relatively quiet, that meant when an other sector needed someone else as backup, he was high on that list, which left him little time to come home. Not that he'd have any reason to return with the passing of his kind.

Still, the memory of the Lunars were near eidetical, which meant when he was sure these markings weren't here when he last visited, then they really weren't. As he backed away from the moon, his eyes widened in disbelief as he made out the unmistakable silhouette of a unicorn head engraved onto the surface of the celestial body. It took him several seconds to get over his shock.

"Alright, this is definitely not a natural creation. Ring, begin scanning."

"Affirmative." The ring carried out the duty given to it by it's master before giving him the report on the results. "Green Lantern of Sector 1996, I am detecting an unknown energy sealed inside this moon. I am unable to determine it's point of origin, however, I can clarify with certainty that it is magical in nature."

Grinn'glo was quite surprised by this revelation. Not because of the presence of magic since he knew the magical proportions of the planet below were extremely powerful, but even then, what was their magic doing on their moon. Did they find a way to use their magic to space travel? No, that was preposterous. But then how did magic from their planet ended up all the way over here?

He floated down back on the surface and immediately as he did so, he was captured by a deep feeling of unease. He had no idea why, but he could feel that whatever power was being hidden inside the moon, it was sinister, powerful and very much a force to be feared.

Fear. He scoffed at the thought. Being a Green Lantern meant overcoming fear. He would not be worthy of his ring if he allowed some ominous foreboding to scare him away from finishing his mission. Putting his worries aside, he contemplated what action should he take. There was no telling if this magical energy was actually what he was looking for, but even if it was, what should he do about it? The magic of the ponies of Equus was elusive to the Guardians and the archives of the Corps.

The most logical course of action would be contacting the planet's most powerful magical ruler, a pony named Princess Celestia, but the Guardians had a strict no contact policy with species yet to discover alien life. They wouldn't want to interfere with the natural ascension of the species of the galaxy. He honestly had no idea how to proceed. Eventually, he raised his ring to his mouth again.

"Ring, contact Oa. I have to report to them and ask for further instructions." However, to Grinn'glo's confusion. The ring refused to obey.

"I cannot do that, Green Lantern of Sector 1996." The Lunar Lantern's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected answer.

"What do you mean you can't?!"

"By contacting Oa, I would distract you from the surge of yellow energy approaching this moon, hereby putting your life in great danger." If it was possible, Grinn'glo's eyes widened even further as he spun around, searching for the source of the energy his ring was referring to.

And then he saw it. It was distant and faint. So much so that at first he mistook it for just a star, but as it came closer, it became so bright that Grinn'glo had to cover his eyes. But even from behind his hoof he could make out the intense light consuming him as it approached the moon. Yellow light illuminated everything around him and all he could do was back away helplessly.

Only a few lanterns experienced these strange happenings in person. They all reported the same thing. A feeling of intense dread washing over them that was so powerful that even the supposedly fearless Green Lanterns became immobile and rendered powerless. While Grinn'glo just became one of these select few, he didn't feel honored for it.

Once he overcame the temporary sense of fear, he realised that this was his chance to act. His ring may have been useless against anything yellow, but he should still be able to scan the energy around him and present his findings to the Guardians. He turned away from the source of the light and raised his ring into the air, scanning the rays of yellow flying over his head.

"Ring, identify the energy from the surge." He ordered.

"Scanning." The ring did as his master I instructed, but once again, the conclusion it reached was not something it's bearer was prepared for. "I apologise Green Lantern of Sector 1996, the Guardian's protocol forbids me of revealing the nature of the yellow light."

The Lantern was flabbergasted by what his ring just said. That made no sense. If the Guardians themselves forbid the ring from revealing anything about the yellow energy, that meant they knew something about it. But if that was the case, why would they have him and several other Lanterns investigating it all over the galaxy?

He was never one to question their orders, but he never did experience them sending Lanterns to risk their lives on assignments that were seemingly pointless either. And that was something he would not stand for. He would go back to Oa and question them about it. Or at least, that was his intention until he heard a loud crack from behind him.

Turning around in apprehension, he noticed the surface of the moon opening up slight and a menacing mist emerging from the darkness. It was mostly black, but Grinn'glo could notice streaks of purple in it and what frightened him even more, streaks of yellow were beginning to accompany the mist as it began to float towards him at an increasing speed.

In a panicked state, he quickly used his ring to raise a wall in front of himself. The wall held the mist at bay long enough for him to fly back and put distance between it and himself, but the yellow energy that was merging with the mist quickly broke it apart and started pursuing him again.

Grinn'glo cursed under his breath as he rerouted all of his willpower into his flying speed, but even at his fastest, the mist was quickly catching up. The yellow energy almost overtaken all of it, so his ring wouldn't be effective against it. All he could do was flee. Grinn'glo noticed a large rock in front of him and grabbed it with his ring, hurling it back at the mist. Upon impact, it exploded into a cloud of colors, buying Grinn'glo some more time.

But he knew he won't be able to keep this up forever. He already spent a great deal of his ring's energy on the trip from Oa all the way to here. As well as a few law infringements he noticed along the way, including pirates raiding a freighter or stellar poachers hunting space dolphins. He would have to recharge his ring to make it back home but with the mist on his tail, that was gonna be tricky.

"Ring, what's your current power level?"

"Currently operating below 5% power capacity."

"Damn." He fumed. "Locate your power battery and lead me to it!" The ring once again lead Grinn'glo to a revelation he did not like. The lantern shaped power battery he used to recharge his ring was left at a spot that the mist was already starting to surround. It was like it knew he was going to need it and now it wanted to separate him from it. He needed to come up with something quick.

He then got an idea. His ring's constructs may not be able to affect the mist, but it could affect his surroundings into doing so. He created a giant fan in front of himself and it's rotation created enough force to disperse the mist around his battery. Once he made himself enough space to retrieve it, he quickly dove down and snatched it before the mist could close in around it again.

Grinn'glo was about grab the battery and smash his ring into it, but when he inadvertently began to lose altitude, he realised that it's power level was no longer enough to keep him above the ground. He quickly had to make a choice, grab the battery or fly to safety. It was an impossible choice. If he reached for the battery, he'd lose break his flight and fall into the mist. If he flew away, he'd lose the battery and it would be impossible for him to retrieve it. In the end, he opted for the former.

As he began falling into the mist, he tried desperately to get the ring close enough to the battery. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it close enough. And the mist was reaching for him from the ground as well. Eventually, Grinn'glo realised that his efforts were in vain. The battery was soon engulfed by the black, purple and yellow cloud and a few seconds later, he shared it's fate.

When he made contact with the mist, he felt several things at once. First came a surge of unbridled terror. He felt more fear than he even thought possible. Everything he was ever afraid of manifested in his mind and started gnawing at his sanity. The next thing was his strength and the energy of the ring leaving him. As if the mist was draining it out of him. This only increased his fear as he realised that this could cause irreversible damage to his ring if even the last few drops of energy would be drained from it. And finally, he felt all hope leaving him as he realised he will not make it out of this one alive and there was only one thing he could do to prevent the light of his ring from being snuffed out forever.

"Ring, scan my vital signs." He ordered dejectedly.

"Your vital signs are dropping rapidly, Green Lantern. At this rate, they will cease to function within the next five minutes." The ring replied on it's usual monotone voice.

"Good. That means I still have time to do what needs to be done." Grinn'glo said dully as almost all life left him. He closed his eyes and uttered his last order to his weapon. "Initiate succession protocol. Find someone who is worthy."

"Affirmative." The ring replied and for the first time since Grinn'glo could remember, he could actually feel the spark of an emotion in it's voice. A hint of sorrow as it seemed to realise that it's wielder was leaving it after five millenia. Or maybe it was just a trick played on him by his dying mind. In the end it mattered little.

The ring was almost completely out of energy, but it would still have enough left in it for this task. Grinn'glo felt his body slowly rising form the moon's surface and heading back into the coldness of space. The mist tried to follow him, but the ring eventually managed to put him beyond it's reach. As the dying lantern flew further away, the mist retreated into the cracks it had created as if whatever dark force unleashed it was calling it back. For what purpose, Grinn'glo couldn't imagine. Nor did he want to.

As he turned his gaze towards the planet he was flying towards, his final thoughts ventured to the subject of just what kind of creature would it be that would succeed him. He didn't know much about the population of Equus, but he sincerely hoped that planet was home to a strong and courageous hero who laughed into the face of fear and danger. For only a creature like that could ever hope to be worthy of becoming the Green Lantern of Sector 1996.

"Um... Excuse me, but... If it isn't too much trouble... Would you mind giving that back?"

A young yellow pegasus mare with pink mane and three butterflies for a cutie mark named Fluttershy was not having a great day to put it mildly. Her favourite rabbit friend, Angel once again refused to have breakfast until it was just the way he wanted it. Unfortunately, she ran out of ingredients and had to take a trip to the local market. But the stand that sold the ingredients wouldn't open until 8 am, so she had to wait over half an hour. As if that wasn't inconvenient enough, it just so happened to be a chilly autumn day and she had to sacrafice her scarf and cap to craft a makeshift nest for an injured bird mother and her still featherless chicks recently and with all her veterinarian expenses, she had no money to buy new ones yet.

And when she was finally about to get what she wanted from the market, a magpie decided that it liked the shiny bit she was about to pay for them so much that it must had it. So it swept down from above and took the bit out of her hold before she could pay and since she only brought as much money as she needed, she had to get it back in order to get the ingredients.

Even with her ability to talk to animals, she had trouble getting the more mischievous ones to behave. Or those whose natural instincts tended to get the better of them, such as magpies and their obsession with shiny things. And she was far too shy to stand up more forcefully so all she could do was ask nice and hope it would be enough. This time, it looked like it wouldn't be.

"It's shiny, I want it, it's mine." The magpie chattered back at her. Fluttershy sighed in defeat.

"Please, Mr. Magpie. I need that bit to buy food for my bunny friend. I promise I will give you something nice and shiny in return for it." But the magpie just firmly shook it's head.

"No. I want this shiny. It's mine." The magpie spread his wing to fly away. Fluttershy was about to follow suit, but in her hast, she didn't notice that the magpie grabbed the branch it was sitting on, bending it backwards as it flew away and letting go of it as Fluttershy got near. The branch slapped the poor mare right in the muzzle and forced her to crash back to the ground.

Fluttershy moaned in pain before slowly sitting up. She rubbed her muzzle sore muzzle with eyes closed from both pain and embarrassment. She desperately hoped thagznopony was around to see what just happened, but apparently the universe wasn't done rubbing it's hooves into her just yet for the day. As Fluttershy opened her eyes, she saw a shadow looming over her and looked up to see her friend and roommate, Paw Tamer, a pink earth pony mare with green mane and a shiny dog collar for a cutie mark looking down at her. She must have quickly deduced what have happened because she sighed in frustration and raised a hoof to her face.

"Again, Shy?" The meek pegasus could only look down in shame. "What happened this time? Wait, let me guess. Angel was being a little demon again. He forced you to come out for something and you ended up robbed." Fluttershy was reluctant to reveal the truth, but her timidness made even lying difficult.

"Well, if you wanna call a magpie a robber, then yes, I suppose." Paw Tamer gave her a very unamused look.

"You have got to be kidding me. Shy, that's a new low even for you! When are you finally going to put your hoof down ant discipline that little monster?" Upon hearing that somepony was badmouthing Angel Bunny, Fluttershy felt a sudden surge of courage in her that even her friend rarely got to see. She sprung up from the ground and flew right into her face with a firece stare.

"Don't talk about him like that! Angel is the sweetest, friendliest, most loving bunny in the world! He just has a hard time showing it. He had a rough outside but a heart of gold." Paw Tamer was taken back by this sudden burst of anger, but she had the perfect counter attack.

"Wow, where was this attitude when our former landlord exploited you out of our veterinary clinic fund?" At the mention of her life's greatest failure, the pegasus immediately shrunk back down on the ground, casting her gaze down in shame. Realising that she may have gone too far, Paw Tamer sighed and took a breath to calm herself and put a comforting hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.

"Look, I never blamed you for that. But you have to grow a spine and become more confident if we ever want to start our own clinic." She said,trying to sound both comforting and encouraging. Fluttershy could only nod in acknowledgement but she was still too ashamed to say anything. Paw Tamer's hoof wandered from Fluttershy's shoulder to her chin and she slowly lifted her head up to meet her softened gaze. "Now come on, let's get back to town. I'll loan you that missing bit so you can buy what that little angel wants." Fluttershy wanted to protest. Paw Tamer has already helped her out with more money than she could repay, but she had no time because the earth pony took her by the hoof and started dragging her back towards Ponyville.

At the market, the vendor, a brown earth pony stallion with black mane and a wide black moustache was impatiently waiting with the ingredients Fluttershy wanted to buy and he wasn't happy. He had other customers to attend to. When he spotted the mare coming back to his stand, he wanted to give her a piece of his mind.

"About time! I had half a mind to give these away to another customer! Do you have my money?" Fluttershy hung her head and stood behind Paw Tamer, too spooked by the outburst to respond, but luckily for her, her friend was not so easily intimidated.

"Charming. You must attract a lot of customers with that attitude." She retorted before placing a bit on his stand. "Here, now give those bags to us!"

Fluttershy was grateful to have a friend as confident as Paw Tamer. She was an excellent balance to her timid and shy nature. She was also a fellow animal lover so she was the perfect companion for her. And without her, she would never be able to start an own veterinary clinic, which was their shared dream. Her determination and courage was what got them ahead in life for the most part. She was grateful to have her.

As the two mares made their way back to the treehouse at the edge of the town that they shared with each other and their animal friends, Fluttershy could tell that that her friend was giving her a few disapproving stares even without looking. It made her feel bad. She knew she messed up badly in the past, several times, for the both of them, but Paw Tamer always remained supportive. She wanted her to be better. And she was becoming tired of her efforts being in vain.

"Paw, please talk to me." Fluttershy asked quietly. The silence was becoming unbearable. The earth pony sighed.

"Shy, you already heard everything I have to say at least a dozen times and it made no difference. It feels like I'm talking to a wall." Fluttershy could only cast her glance down once more.

"I'm sorry." Paw Tamer stomped the ground in irritation.

"That's just it, Shy! Don't be sorry! Be better! I keep telling you that you need to stand up for yourself more but it just goes in one ear and out the other!" Fluttershy's eyes widened as she immediately protested.

"No, it doesn't! I know I have to stand up for myself more, but it's just..." Fluttershy struggled to find the right words. She knew what she wanted to say, but had trouble admitting it even to herself. "I... I can't see anything in myself that's worth standing up for." Paw Tamer was baffled. How can anypony think so little of herself was beyond her comprehension.

"I don't know what to say, Shy. I already gave you every little speech in the book. But they don't seem to have any effect either. You don't have any self-worth. If you can't stand up for yourself, how will you stand up for anything else in life?"

Fluttershy wasn't sure how she should answer, but even if she knew, she wouldn't have gotten the chance. As they were approaching their home on the outskirts of the town, they noticed a blinding green light appear in the sky. They turned to see what it was and noticed a bright object falling out of the sky and heading towards the forest.

"What in Celestia's name?" Paw Tamer asked in astonishment, trying to cover her eyes. "What is that? A meteor?"

"Unlikely." Fluttershy answered. "Even during nighttime a meteor wouldn't be shining this bright. But what else could it be?" Paw Tamer narrowed her eyes further in an attempt to get a closer look at the object and as it got closer to the ground, she could determine it's trajectory.

"Whatever it is, it's heading towards the..."

"THE RABBIT BURROWS!!!"

Faster than a blink, Fluttershy shot out like a bullet into the direction of the forest where the object was crashing down towards. Paw Tamer could only sit and stare in awe as the pegasus got out of her sights at such a speed that even that flying earth pony mare would be impressed.

There was a clearing not far from the cottage Fluttershy and Paw Tamer lived at. It was full of tunnels inhabited by rabbit families. Fluttershy has visited that place on several occasions to help the bunnies loving there. It was one of her favourite spots in the forest. Even Angel Bunny had several friends there. So naturally, a large glowing green thing falling from the sky towards that location was enough to rile her up.

Fluttershy was no fool. She knew there was no way in Tartarus that she was gonna stop that thing, but there was one thing she could do. She had to get there first to warn the little things and make sure they all got to safety in time. One might think it was a fool's errand. There was no possible way for anypony to outfly that shooting star. Even Fluttershy had doubts that she would get there in time. But she was going to try. There was nothing she wouldn't do, or at least try for her animal friends. No matter how big the danger is. While many ponies would probably scoff at such foolishness, a select few would deem this as true courage. And unbeknownst to Fluttershy, she was about to encounter some of those select few.

At her full speed, Fluttershy had trouble navigating through the trees. She crashed through several branches and many others managed to cut her pretty deeply. She hissed from the pain but she didn't let it slow her down. She was almost at the clearing. But so was the descending green object. She had no time to waste. She couldn't slow down. She wouldn't.

She managed to get to the clearing just in time. She looked around to find one single rabbit out of the burrows that she could warn. They would be able to get the others in time. Hopefully. Fluttershy was lucky. The clearing was full of rabbits crawling around. Many of them carrying carrots and other vegetables into the burrows for their families. Fluttershy hated to break up family dinners between her friends, but this was an emergency.

"Bunnies! Please, listen to me! You're gonna have to to leave now! Something is gonna crash here from above! Quickly, get the other bunnies out!"

Every single rabbit stopped dead in their tracks and looked up at Fluttershy. The pegasus immediately blocked down being the target of so many pair of eyes, but fortunately she didn't need to say anything more. The bunnies all knew Fluttershy and they also know that if she freaked out like that, then things were serious. They all scattered into every direction away from the clearing while a few of them ran into the burrows to alert the others.

As the bunny evacuation was going on, Fluttershy turned away from the clearing to see just how far the object was. It was now alarmingly close and she was sure it would crash in a few seconds. She looked back at the clearing and let out a relieved sigh when she saw that the bunnies have all left by now. However, one baby bunny at the end of the line tripped and Fluttershy saw that it will not be able to get up in time before the object hit the ground. If she wouldn't interfere, the bunny was gonna die.

"NOOOOO!"

The next few seconds were a mix of deafening noise, deadly silence and blinding dust emerging from the ground. The bunnies that have made it to safety could only look in horrified anticipation as the dust settled to see if Fluttershy managed to save their fellow rabbit and just what kind of otherworldly threat struck their home.

Suddenly, the familiar shape of Fluttershy burst out of dust cloud, holding the terrified baby rabbit in her hooves as it buried it's tear stricken face into her chest. The bunnies have erupted into a series of cheers and applause as the pegasus descended between them and returned the frightened youngster to it's family. The rabbit family embraced their youngest member and beamed up at Fluttershy with ineffable gratitude.

"You're welcome, my little friends." She smiled back, happy that she was able to save her animals from a disaster. Now that the immediate threat was gone, Fluttershy turned to see just what she was dealing with. The dust has settled and the object left a long trail in the ground, so she easily managed to find it. To he astonishment, she saw that the crashed object wasn't at all an object. It was a creature.

A creature that Fluttershy has never seen before. It looked like a pony but it lacked any hair. It didn't even have any fur on it's milky white skin. From it's massive build, Fluttershy guessed it was a male. He was dressed in a green and black suit with the symbol of a green lantern on his chest and in his left hoof, he was holding an actual green lantern. A white domino mask was around his eyes and his four hooves were covered white shoes.

A sudden green flicker drew Fluttershy's attention to the creature's right foreleg and when she leaned closer to inspect it, the source of the flicker turned out to be a green ring. But before she could get a closer look, the creature's chest suddenly moved as he let out a series of heavy coughs. Fluttershy jumped back in shock. This creature just fell out of the sky in a green glow, crashed into the ground and survived? How was that possible, she didn't know, but if there was a way to help him, she wanted to try.

"Sir? Are you alright?" The creature opened his eyes and looked up at Fluttershy. His blood red eyes almost made her jump back in fright, but her instinct to help was stronger. The creature observed the pegasus thoroughly for a few seconds before finally speaking.

"It is you. My ring tells me it's you." He spoke on a deep but soft voice. Fluttershy was confused to say the least.

"Uh... Your ring, sir?" The creature raised his ringed hoof and showed Fluttershy the green ring bearing the same symbol visible on his chest.

"Quick, we do not have much time. My name is Grinn'glo. What is yours, child?"

"My name is Fluttershy and I'm going to need you to stand up. We have to get you to a hospital." She reached to help him up, but Grinn'glo held his hooves up in protest.

"No. No, it is too late for that." He doubted the medical equipment of this primitive planet would be sufficient in treating him anyway. "Take my ring. Use the lantern to charge it, speak the oath and take my place." If it was possible, Fluttershy became even more confused.

"Sir, at the moment I'm more interested in your life than your jewelry." Grinn'glo scoffed in amusement.

"This, child, is no mere jewelry. You have been chosen. Like I was before you. But my time is over. You need to..." He was interrupted by another fit of coughs. It became clear that he was dying. "Please... Take it..." Fluttershy didn't understand how could Grinn'glo be more concerned about his ring than his life, but his tone was so pleading, so desperate that she couldn't help but comply. Once the ring was off of Grinn'glo's hoof, Fluttershy was stunned to see his uniform dematerialising and revealing a purple suit underneath. Grinn'glo laid back on the ground and coughed some more.

"A great darkness is coming." He spoke, talking like he was in a trance. "Fear will consume all unless it is stopped. This planet's moon is the epicenter, I'm sure of it. The Guardians know the truth. Make them reveal the truth!" Fluttershy still didn't understand a single thing Grinn'glo was saying, but this time she didn't get the chance to ask, for after another fit of coughs, the creature breathed his last.

Fluttershy was left speechless. Never again had she seen another sapient being expire in front of her. Sure she had witnessed the passing of more than one of her animal friends, but that was completely different from another equine being die. She just sat there on the ground, staring at the poor creature's corpse until a voice from behind her snapped her out of it.

"Shy! Are you ok?!" Fluttershy turned around to see her friend, Paw Tamer running towards her. She put her hooves on her shoulders and looked her over to make sure she wasn't hurt. "Praise Faust, not a scratch." She sighed in relief before her expression turned angry. "What in Celestia's name were you thinking?! Are you out of your mind?!" Surprisingly to her, Fluttershy actually stood her ground.

"I had to do it! I couldn't just let the rabbit families living here be obliterated by that thing! Besides, you just said a few moments ago that I need to be more courageous, didn't you?!"

"Shy, there's a difference between courage and suicide! That thing could have squashed you just as easily!" Paw Tamer countered, but Fluttershy would not falter.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" She said simply. Paw Tamer sighed in irritation.

"Did you at least manage to save them?" Fluttershy's expression turned into a smile as she pointed at the trees behind Paw Tamer. The earth pony turned to see the dozens of bunnies slowly making their way back to the clearing. "OK, at least act of foolish courage paid off. So what was it? Meteor?" She didn't wait for an answer. She followed the trail in the ground and her eyes widened when she saw the dead alien. "Shy, what the... Who's that?"

"I have no idea." Fluttershy replied as she walked up next to her friend. "He said his name is... Green Glow or something like that, but the rest didn't make any sense. He went on about his ring and how it... chose me." Paw Tamer raised an eyebrow as she looked down at the ring Fluttershy was holding, then back at her.

"His ring... Chose you?" Fluttershy shrugged.

"I don't get it either."

"Did he say anything else?" Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin as she recalled Grinn'glo's last words.

"He mentioned a great darkness coming. Something about the moon and how the Guardians know the truth. I don't know what he meant by that." Paw Tamer looked down at the remains of Grinn'glo in pity.

"Sounds like the mad rambling of a dying creature to me. I wouldn't worry about it." She said dismissively. "Was he the green glow we saw in the sky?" Fluttershy nodded.

"Yes. I found him after it crashed here."

"Get out!" Paw Tamer said incredulously. "Are you telling me this guy fell out of the sky in a green blaze, crashed and somehow remained in one piece? And unburnt? Is he some kind of space jockey or something?" Fluttershy couldn't think of any other explanation.

"It seems like it. I'm just as baffled as you are." The two mares just stood there in awkward stunned silence for a few moments before Paw Tamer found her voice again.

"Well, there are worse ways to go, I guess." Was all she could say. "So what should we do now?" Fluttershy wasn't sure, but to just leave the poor soul lying out in the open like that felt wrong. She then got an idea.

"You can go home. I'll take care of him." Paw Tamer looked uncertain.

"Are you sure you want me to leave you alone out here after what just happened. What if something else falls out of the sky? I should probably stay to make sure you won't do anything stupid again." Fluttershy just shook her head.

"No. I need you back home. Angel Bunny still didn't have his breakfast." Paw Tamer gave her friend a very unamused look.

"No."

"Please?"

"No!

"Pretty please?"

"The physical appearance of the please makes no difference. I will not feed that little Tartarus spawn for you! Besides, I don't have any innocent pony souls to feed him anyway. Except for mine, but I'm still using that." Fluttershy rolled her eyes and decided on a different approach.

"OK, then. You can stay and help me bury him."

"Bury him?" Paw Tamer asked in surprise. "You're gonna bury him?" Fluttershy nodded.

"It only feels right. I don't think I could leave him out here for scavengers."

"Really?" Paw Tamer asked with a laugh. "I would have guessed you'd be okay with feeding all animals." Fluttershy gave her friend an angry look, sending her on the defensive. "Okay, that was a bad joke. Still, I don't think you should worry. Some top secret UFO agency will probably show up for him before scavengers can get to him."

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable leaving him to be dissected either." Fluttershy replied, shivering at the thought. "So what will it be? Feeding Angel or burying him?" Paw Tamer sighed in defeat.

Fine, you win. Just take care of yourself okay? I'll never be able to raise enough money for our clinic on my own."

"I'll be fine. I promise I won't do anything reckless again." Paw Tamer just nodded before heading off. Fluttershy may have been timid, but she was always true to her word. When she promised something, she kept it. The pegasus then turned to her rabbit friends. "Can you do something for me?"

It had been 20 minutes since Fluttershy buried Grinn'glo. With the help of the bunnies, digging a grave for him was far easier, although, some of them were not thrilled with the idea of doing it for the creature who almost ruined their home. Still, they owed it to Fluttershy for saving them so they didn't complain.

Fluttershy even set up a headstone for him made of wood. Hopefully if Paw Tamer was right and some UFO agency does come checking out what happened here, they won't find a grave out of the ordinary and leave it alone. With the deed done, she headed back home, carrying the lantern in her mouth and the ring on top of it.

She had no idea why she kept it. At first, she just wanted to bury it next to Grinn'glo's body, but he looked so desperate when he said he wanted her to take it. She decided to interpret it as the creature's last wish and took them home with her. Speaking of home, the treehouse she lived at with Paw Tamer just came into view.

She raised her hoof to open the door, but she before she could, it opened for her. Paw Tamer stood there, covered in vegetables and looking absolutely furious. Fluttershy leaned left to peak behind her and saw even more vegetables on the ground along with several pieces of broken plates and Angel Bunny eating out of another one, completely ignoring the angry mare.

"I despise that rabbit with a passion burning brighter than Celestia's sun." Paw Tamer fumed. Fluttershy put the lantern down.

"I'm sorry if she gave you so much trouble." She told her. "Did you get him to eat at least?"

"Third time was the charm." Paw Tamer replied as she cleaned herself from the leftovers of Angel's feeding.

"Good boy, Angel!" Fluttershy beamed, petting the rabbit's head once he finished his meal, making him tap thef ground happily. Paw Tamer just glared daggers at the rabbit, mocking Fluttershy's praising tone as she got to cleaning up the mess.

"What's with that lantern?" She asked when she noticed the green object at the door.

"It belonged to our space jockey friend, along with his ring." Fluttershy answered as she went to bring it in and close the door. "He seemed very eager for me to have them."

"Let me see it!" Paw Tamer went to inspect the lantern before picking up the ring. "Hmm. Not the fanciest piece I've ever seen, but could still be worth a few bits. Maybe more if we throw in the lantern." Fluttershy was taken aback by this.

"You want to sell it?" She asked.

"Well, it's not like our friend will need it anymore, Faust rest his soul. And since he gave it to you, you can do whatever you want with it. Besides, I know you were never one for jewelry. I have a jeweler friend up in Canterlot who could pass it on to somepony who will appreciate it." Fluttershy was uncertain about this.

"I... I'm not sure if we should do that, Paw. He said that this ring was no mere jewelry."

"Shy, the poor creature was dying. He was clearly delusional. You said it yourself that he rambled like a lunatic when you found him." She then placed the ring down and went to the lantern. "Where do you light this thing anyway?"

"I don't know." Fluttershy replied. "He said it was a charger. For the ring."

"Why would you need to charge a ring?" Paw Tamer asked. Fluttershy shrugged before picking up the ring.

"I don't know." She looked for any place on the lantern she might use for that purpose. Seeing none, she let a random hunch take the lead and she placed the ring near the center of the lantern.

In that exact moment, the cottage was lit up by a blinding green light that pushed everything in the room back except for Fluttershy. Paw Tamer flew back against the wall and slumped down on a chair. Fluttershy immediately went to check on her and saw that she was knocked out from the impact. The ring remained in the air in front of the lantern as it kept charging with it's energy. When it was fully recharged, it floated up into the air over Fluttershy who looked up at it in fear.

"What... What are you?!" She whimpered on the brink of tears. "What do you want from me?!" The ring just kept floating over the pegasus, almost as if surveying her, before it spoke on a mechanical female voice.

"Fluttershy of Equus, you have the ability to overcome great fear." Fluttershy didn't know what she expected to hear from the ring, but it wasn't this.

"Uh... I'm... I'm not so sure about that..." She began, but the ring didn't let her finish.

"Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps!"

With that, the ring flew onto the top bone in Fluttershy's left wing and inserted itself on it. Fluttershy's eyes glowed up with green light before the same uniform she saw on Grinn'glo materialised on her body. She felt another consciousness taking hold of her body as she started speaking words she had never heard before.

"In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power - Green Lantern's light!"

When Fluttershy finished speaking, a bubble of green energy formed around her body and started carrying her toward the door. As if there was an invisible force in the door, it opened and closed as Fluttershy floated out on it and the green energy bubble carried her off into the sky where she disappeared with a green glint.

Author's Notes:

Welcome back to the Justice League of Equestria! It's time for The Green Lantern of the story to take flight. Since being a Green Lantern is all about overcoming great fear, I guessed that out of the Mane 6, Fluttershy would be the most suitable pick for the role!

I picked the Space Sector's number after the year I was born in and the DC Wiki has nothing in a Space Sector 1996, so I assumed it's open to interpretation. I also had trouble deciding what kind of creature should the Lantern that Fluttershy inherits the ring from should be. In the end, I went with a race that I have planned to be this story's version of the Martians, except they will be called Lunars here.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Next time, we will see Fluttershy meet the Green Lanterns and go through her training to become the protector of Space Sector 1996 in...

Issue #2: Ring Slinging

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #2: Ring Slinging

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For a moment, Fluttershy felt like she died and was now going to Heaven. Not because she was feeling so good, but because she had no other way to describe what she was feeling. Only she never expected heaven to be so green. White, maybe? Perhaps blue like the sky or yellow like the sun. But green felt like such a random color for heaven.

Green. That was all she could see. Her body felt entirely weightless. It was like floating in an endless body of water except without the pressure. And then the green started to fade. Fluttershy regained awareness of her surroundings, and she still felt like she was floating towards heaven. She felt something dragging her upwards by her wing and when her vision cleared, she saw stars passing her by at great speed.

Then Fluttershy finally regained her senses as well. She felt that she was standing on a floor of solid energy. Her vision was now almost completely clear and she could see the green energy bubble that held her hostage around her. She looked down at he body in confusion and saw the uniform Grinn'glo was wearing before she removed his ring.

The ring! Fluttershy's attention snapped to the wing she felt tugging her and sure enough, she saw the exact same ring she took from the dying alien vibrating with green energy. It looked like it had a mind of it's own as it pulled her towards an unknown destination.

Fluttershy then looked around herself and saw something that almost gave her a heart attack. She realised that she wasn't dead and she wasn't floating towards heaven. She was very much alive and being carried through space. She was being abducted by aliens!

"Where... Where are you taking me?!" She asked the ring in panic, knowing that it was capable of answering. And it did.

"Destination: Oa. Headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps for purpose of training and mission assignment." Fluttershy was completely lost. Training? Training for what? And mission assignment? What mission was she being given? And what was the Green Lantern Corps?

Well, it looked like she was gonna get the answer to all of those questions very soon. The energy bubble she was traveling in was approaching a large planetoid radiating with green light. As Fluttershy got closer to it, she got a good look at the planet's surface. Her fear of her current predicament was replaced by awe as she looked over the futuristic looking city. She wasn't a sci-fi enthusiast, but that was exactly how she supposed it would look like in those kind of productions.

The most breathtaking sight however was the giant lantern in the center of the planet that looked exactly like the one she got from Grinn'glo. It didn't take a genius to make the connection between the two. Whatever this Green Lantern Corps was, this was where they got their power from.

The green energy was the brightest around that construct and probably the most powerful too. Fluttershy could feel a strange sense of courage and certainty wash over her as she got past it. As if the energy was flowing into her as well as the ring.

Her fear quickly returned however when she noticed that her ring was flying her towards the surface of a circular building in the ground. Fluttershy could see no entry points on it and the ring wasn't slowing down as they approached. Fluttershy's fear turned into panic as the building got closer.

"Stop... Stop!" She yelled frantically as she tried to flap her wings in a vain attempt to slow herself down. "You're going to make us crash!"

"Negative." The ring replied. "Our approach is safe and we're expected to make a smooth landing in three... Two... One..."

Fluttershy wasn't relieved by the ring's words. She closed her eyes, preparing herself to be smeared on the side of the building, but as the seconds passed and she still felt herself being in one piece, she slowly dared herself to open her eyes.

She was surprised to see herself inside a room surrounded by mirrored walls and the green lantern symbol on the floor. In one of the mirrors, she got a good look at herself. Since she was no longer trapped inside an energy bubble, she went closer to one of the mirrors. She observed the uniform now covering her body.

Her entire torso was covered in green with a lantern symbol on the meddle of her chest and on her flanks where her cutie marks were supposed to be. Her legs were covered in black spandex with white shoes on her hooves and the green domino mask was also present across her eyes. She was so used to not wearing clothes that the fabric felt really strange. She was so occupied with her new appearance that she didn't even hear another being enter the room.

"Welcome to Oa!" Fluttershy jumped before turning around to see a bipedal creature dressed in the same uniform as she was. The creature looked like a wingless bird walking on two legs with orange skin, two pointy ears, a beak and a large crest on the top of his head. Having never seen such a creature before combined with the fact that he towered over Fluttershy, the pegasus was easily intimidated by his arrival.

"Who are you?!" She asked as she cowered. "And... if you don't mind me asking... WHAT are you?!" If the creature was offended by the last question, he did not show it.

"My name is Tomar-Re." He replied politely. "And to answer your second question, I am a member of the xudarian race and the Green Lantern of Sector 2813. May I have your name in return?" The mention of the title of Green Lantern immediately grabbed Fluttershy's attention.

"Uh, my name is Fluttershy. And... did you say Green Lantern? The ring mentioned them as well." She spoke in realisation. "So... If you are one of them, can you please explain to me what is going on here?" Tomar nodded.

"Of course! That is why I came to you in the first place. I am in charge of greeting the new arrivals." He replied before motioning for Fluttershy to follow him. "This way please. I will show you everything."

Fluttershy had a hard time comprehending everything going on around her. The planet's surface looked even more futuristic and advanced from up close. She bad never seen anything like this before. She doubted anypony had. But not only did she feel amazed by her surroundings, she also felt very out of place. Which didn't go unnoticed by her guide.

"Forgive my bluntness, but I can't help but notice that you seem very taken back by all of this. Even more so than most." Fluttershy nodded as she cast down her head.

"You could say that. My world has nothing like this. We didn't even contact any alien species before." Tomar nodded in understanding.

"That certainly explains it. It is rare that a Green Lantern is chosen from an unascended society, but not unheard of." Fluttershy was tired of being confused by all this Green Lantern stuff. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

"So, what exactly is a 'Green Lantern'?" She asked, both eager and nervous to finally get an explanation.

"There was a time eons ago when the galaxy was a lawless, chaotic place." Tomar began. "Before a race known as the Guardians appeared." He used his ring to show Fluttershy a projection of a small, blue skinned figure with a large round head wearing a red robe. The figure was about as tall as Fluttershy, it was bald on the top of it's head but had white hair around it and was wearing a red robe. The mention of the Guardians immediately reminded Fluttershy of Grinn'glo's final words.

'The Guardians know the truth. Make them reveal the truth.' She still had no idea what he meant, but right now, there were other issues she wanted to focus on.

"Those are the Guardians?" Tomar nodded.

"Correct. They are believed to be the oldest sentient beings in the galaxy. They created a force known as the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum and harnessed the green energy of will to create the Central Power Battery here on the Planet Oa." He explained, pointing towards the large battery in the distance." They harnessed this power to create 3600 power rings and bestowed them upon one individual from each Space Sector they divided the galaxy into. The task of these individuals is to protect their respective Space Sectors from galactic threats and uphold law and order."

"Uphold law and order?" Fluttershy asked, a little spooked. Is this what was now expected of her? "Like... a galactic police officer?"

"Precisely." Tomar nodded with a smile, glad that she managed to understand. "Now then, since you're from an unascended society, I do not expect you to know which space sector you are from, so please tell me, what was the name of your predecessor?"

"Um... I didn't understand perfectly, but his name sounded like... Green Glow?" Tomar thought about this for a moment before realisation dawned upon him.

"Grinn'glo? Grinn'glo of Sector 1996?" His look turned sorrowful upon hearing the news. "Those are bad news indeed. He was a fine lantern. His passing shall be mourned." This statement only served to further increase Fluttershy's concerns. Did that mean there would be a lot expected of her as well?

"I wouldn't know. He only said a couple of things before he passed. I buried him in the clearing he crashed into." Tomar noticed her concern and knelt down to her eye level in an attempt to comfort her.

"That was a noble thing of you. All we can ask of you to honor his memory is to use his ring well." Sadly, his words had the opposing effect as Fluttershy's eyes widened and she gulped. Just as she feared, they were expecting her to fill in Grinn'glo's horseshoes.

"Uhm... Well... You see, I think there may have been a mistake." Fluttershy stammered. "I don't know if I will be able to do that. I can't be a galactic police officer. I'm just a simple veterinarian. I can't uphold order among my animals most of the time and I need my friend, Paw Tamer to get them in line for me. Maybe she could be the pony to take his place? I think she's more qualified than I am." She tried to ramble her way out of this while thing, but to her surprise, Tomar merely smiled knowingly at her.

"A feeling of inadequacy is perfectly natural at the start. You are not the first new recruit to feel this way and I assure you, you won't be the last either." He then stood up and motioned across himself. "Take me for example. I used to be a scientist before becoming a Green Lantern. Not a role you would typically associate with law enforcement, is it? Especially on a galactic scale." Fluttershy still wasn't convinced.

"I still think the ring made a mistake in choosing me." She muttered.

"There are no mistakes in the ring's judgement." Tomar said firmly. "If it deemed you worthy to overcome great fear and join the corps, then you are. And by the time your training is complete, you will be able to sling a ring like the best of us." Fluttershy was about to reply, but she never got the chance as she was interrupted by a deep, booming voice.

"Hey, Tomar! Is that the new meat you're talking to?" Fluttershy looked behind Tomar and her pupils shrunk at what she saw. Her ears deflated and she literally tugged her tail between her legs as she noticed a large, bulky creature that looked like a bodybuilder bulldog approaching her with heavy steps.

"Ah, right on cue." Tomar mused as he turned around. "Fluttershy, meet Kilowog. He is our best training officer and as such, he is responsible for training the new arrivals."

"And I'm damn good at it as well!" He boasted with a grin aimed at the poor pegasus mare before he turned to Tomar. "Leave us, Tomar. I'll take it from here." Tomar nodded and completely ignored Fluttershy's pleading look, asking him not to leave her alone with the large creature.

"Good luck, Fluttershy. Don't worry, you're in good hands." He said before leaving.

'That's exactly what I was afraid of.' Fluttershy thought as Kilowog stared her down with a look she really didn't like.

"Well, poozer, welcome to Kilowog's School of Ring Slinging 101. Or as I like to call it, the worst days of your miserable little life!"

The training ground of the Corps was nothing like Fluttershy expected. Instead of some high tech training facility that one would imagine they'd employ on a futuristic planet like this, she was taken to large, barren field of rocks with no sign of civilisation as far as she could see.

The one thing of worth she did see did nothing to ease her worries about the upcoming ordeal she was about to go through. It looked like an obstacle course with several incredibly dangerous looking objects set up including very heavy sandbags, hanging saw blades and even flame jets. Fluttershy gulped.

"I'll... I'll have to go through... that?" She whimpered in absolute terror.

"Nah. Those are for the advanced cadets who have already graduated my training camp. A sort of final exam, if you will. You won't have to go through it." Kilowog replied, trying to sound reassuring. Fluttershy let out a relieved sigh, which Kilowog immediately made sure to dissipate with just one word as his expression turned into a sadistic grin. "Yet." Fluttershy gulped as her pupils shrunk.

"Now then..." Kilowog continued. "...let's start with the basics. Lesson #1: Flying!"

"Oh, I can already fly!" Fluttershy said, trying to sound confident as she took off into the air a few centimeters above the ground and flapped her wings around a little. "See?"

"Oh, yeah! Thanks for reminding me!" Kilowog ignited his ring and Fluttershy felt something tying her wings down as she fell back on the ground. She looked behind herself and saw her wings being tied down by green chains.

"Uh... How am I supposed to fly like this?" She asked, both confused and nervous.

"Those little wings of yours are cute poozer, but they won't do you much good in the cold of space." Kilowog explained. "You're gonna have to learn how to fly Lantern style." Fluttershy's face lit up with awe as she watched Kilowog's body lit up with green glow and he floated several meters into the air with seemingly nothing to keep him up there.

"Now you try!"

"Umm... How?" Fluttershy asked, completely clueless on how to do it.

"You have to will it, poozer!" Kilowog instructed. "Our rings work through our will. If you will to fly, the ring will make it happen."

Fluttershy wasn't sure how she was going to do it, but it's not like she was having a choice in the matter. She immediately remembered her embarrassing and humiliating experience back in flight school. This was a lot like that, except here, there weren't any obnoxious bullies to harass her over her failures. But there also weren't any brave fillies like that blue rainbow maned pegasus to stand up to her.

Will it. She had to will to fly. Back in flight school, she remembered how badly she didn't want to be there. How badly she wanted to be anywhere but there. She remembered the cruel looks of her peers, their laughing, they're taunting.

'Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!'

Fluttershy recalled the harassment she went through back in those days and she allowed her mind to project those images around her as if they were happening then and there. And that gave her the will to fly away from her current spot. Except this time, just willing it would be enough to make it happen.

'Please, ring, take me away from here!'

"Not getting any younger up here, poozer!" Kilowog called from above, urging her to hurry. His words seemed to have done the trick as Fluttershy's form was immediately surrounded by the same green glow he used and the timid pegasus took off into the air.

The training officer was surprised. Few recruits managed to take off so quickly. This little pony must have been remarkably strong willed. Kilowog was about to congratulate her, but before he could, she ended up soaring past him and leaving him stunned in place. But the quickly managed to get over his shock and flew after his trainee to cool her down.

"Alright, poozer! That's enough! You've done it!" When his words seemingly didn't got through to her, the lantern summoned a brick wall in front of her. Fluttershy was still too caught up in her mental images to notice it and ended up crashing into it, receiving one heck of a wake up call.

"Ow!" She looked up to see the brick wall over her disappear as Kilowog flew up next to her.

"Got a little carried away there, poozer!" Fluttershy looked down sheepishly and rubbed her foreleg.

"Sorry. I guess my memory was too intense to hear you."

"A memory you say?" Kilowog asked. "Let me guess, a bad memory so hurtful that it just made you want to get away from here." Fluttershy nodded. "That's not unusual for new lanterns to try. It usually works, but you gotta keep your mind in the present. Mind your surroundings or else your enemies will catch you off guard." Fluttershy gulped nervously. She never considered having enemies before, but if she was gonna become a galactic police officer, that was to be expected.

"What... what should I do?"

"Remember the feeling from your memory but seperate it from your senses." Kilowog replied. "If that memory was really that bad, it should keep you going, but it cannot happen at the expense of your awareness. But you're still in the air, so I'd say you managed to get the grasp of it."

Fluttershy looked down and saw that she was indeed still floating without flapping her wings and covered in green light. She did it. She was flying via her ring. And strangely enough, the sensation felt much more natural to her than flying with her wings. It felt like she's been doing this her entire life!

"So does that mean I passed lesson #1?" She asked, almost enthusiastic about it. Kilowog had to admit that her excitement was a welcome change to her nervousness. He almost felt sorry he had to break her spirit down. Almost.

"Hmph. Not quite yet, poozer." He replied, causing Fluttershy to frown. "You managed to take off into the air, but staying up there? Now that's much trickier. We're gonna see how you fly in action."

Before Fluttershy even got the chance to ask how are they gonna do that, Kilowog raised his ring a conjured a green boulder that he hurled towards the pegasus. Fluttershy barely willed her ring in time to get her out of the way. This sudden violent move awakened a sense of anger in Fluttershy that she didn't know she could feel, but her teacher was bringing the worst out in her.

"Hey, you could have warned me first!" She yelled at him, but the only response she got was another green boulder flying her way, forcing her to keep flying.

"You think your enemies are going to warn you, poozer?!" Kilowog snapped as he kept firing at Fluttershy. "They are going to try and take every advantage to get the drop on you! You cannot expect to survive on the goodwill of your enemies! And in case you haven't noticed yet, I'm trying to teach you to survive!"

Kilowog kept bombarding his trainee with green energy projectiles, but fortunately for Fluttershy, her will to avoid them and stay alive was strong enough for her ring to avoid them just in time.

"Come on, poozer! 30 seconds in the air, at the least! And no cheating by using your wings! I'll be watching!"

"You're enjoying this, aren't, you?!" Fluttershy shouted down at her as she kept flying. Kilowog chuckled.

"What's wrong with enjoying your job?"

Fluttershy had no choice but to keep evading the heavy green objects flying her way. So far, she has been doing an adequate job at it, but she knew she won't be able to keep it up forever. She was getting tired and there were nothing near her she hide behind from the oncoming onslaught.

She was so caught up in what she was going that she completely lost her track of time. How many seconds were left? She couldn't recall. All she could do was watch where the next projectile was flying to and will herself out of it's way.

Kilowog saw what she was doing and decided to try catching his new pupil off guard by firing the next projectile in front of her trajectory. Fluttershy was so focused on the ones heading towards her that she didn't notice it and ended up colliding with it in the air, forcing her to crash back onto the ground. She landed right in front of her training officer and looked up to see him stare down at her with a smirk.

"You might be good at dodging what's coming at you poozer, but you still gotta watch where you're going." He lectured the newbie lantern. Fluttershy looked down.

"How many seconds did I need to reach your time limit?" She asked in embarrassment.

"Well, let's see! According to my calculations, you have... passed it by 15 seconds." Fluttershy's eyes widened. She passed?

"But... then why didn't you stop the exercise?" She asked. Kilowog shrugged.

"I wanted to see how long you'd last." He chuckled. Fluttershy was not amused. She still couldn't bring herself to be mad, but that didn't mean she was happy with Kilowog either.

"I... I dislike you with great intensity." Fluttershy panted. The response was not what she expected.

"Good. Find strength in that! That could help you through training. If nothing else, you'll want to complete it just to show me up." Kilowog told her before offering her his hand. Fluttershy reluctantly stated at it before finally taking it and letting him help her up.

"Good news is, you passed lesson #1 with flying colors! No pun intended." Fluttershy smiled with pride, but it quickly faded. "Bad news is, it'll only get harder from here. Much harder."

For the next training exercise, Kilowog had set up several training dummies in the distance. Given the nature of her previous training exercise, Fluttershy quickly figured out what she'd have to do. It was going to be her turn to create projectiles with her ring. When Kilowog was finished setting up the targets, he turned back to her.

"Now then, lesson #2: Lantern Constructs!" The instructor began. "Like I said, our rings are powered by our will. As long as we will something, the ring will make it happen. It's power is only limited by your imagination. Imagine it and will it into existence!"

Fluttershy spread out her right wing which the ring was latched onto. She saw what Kilowog was able to do with his ring during their previous lesson so she knew he was telling the truth. It clearly wasn't a dying creature's delusion when Grinn'glo said this ring was no mere jewelry.

So all she had to do was imagine it and will the ring to project it out. That didn't sound too hard. Being the animal lover she was, it didn't take her long to figure out what she wanted to create first. She focused all of her willpower into forming the image in her mind and then channeled that energy into her ring.

Kilowog watched as Fluttershy's ring projected the image of a dog in front of her, which then proceeded to run around and lick the face of the pegasus playfully. Fluttershy giggled at the sensation, but that was replaced by confusion when the construct disappeared. She opened her eyes and looked at Kilowog for an explanation.

"You need to focus to keep the construct up, poozer." He told her. "Don't let your mind wander off like it just did!" Fluttershy was slightly disappointed, but nevertheless complied. She would make sure her next constructs would not interact with her so distractingly.

For the next minute, Kilowog watched as Fluttershy formed Lantern constructs of various animals. First it was a giant eagle that flew across the training field, then the eagle landed and turned into a bear that let out a mighty roar and finally a giant snake that slid across the training ground and then back to her.

Fluttershy was almost giddy with excitement upon witnessing what the ring can create. And her enjoyment only made it easier to conjure up more constructs. Once Kilowog made sure that his trainee truly got the hang of it, he cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Sorry to spoil your fun, but there's another part of the exercise." He said as he pointed at the targets he set up. "I didn't put those things for decoration, you know. Knock 'em down!"

Fluttershy turned towards the dummies and pondered what would be the best construct to hit them with from the distance. Kilowog apparently noticed this uncertainty and was quick to comment on it.

"Don't think too much on your constructs! You won't have time to think in battle!"

Fluttershy was so spooked by the mention of a battle that she ended up just summoning the first construct that came to her mind, which ended up being a swarm of giant wasps. The glowing green insects proved more than sufficient in knocking down all the targets.

Fluttershy mastered her next lesson as well with minimal difficulty, however, animal constructs only scratched the tip of the iceberg and while Kilowog appreciated them, he knew that his new trainee had to widen her repertoire. And he was about to help her to do just that.

"Okay, looks like you've got the basics down. But forming your constructs is the easy part. Keeping them up is the real work." The alien sneakily raised his ring and formed a giant club which he brought down on top of Fluttershy. But this time, the pegasus was prepared.

CLANG

The descending club was blocked by a shield quickly constructed by Fluttershy. But that wasn't the end of it. Fluttershy flew up and sent the shield crashing down towards Kilowog who was so stunned by this that not only did his construct vanished, but he was also knocked down onto the ground by the shield being sent his way.

Kilowog swiftly recovered and got up to look at Fluttershy who was staring down at him with a confident smirk. After getting over his shock, the alien scoffed and returned the smirk.

"Ha! You're learning, poozer! There might just be hope for you after all!" Fluttershy was pleased by this compliment that she didn't notice Kilowog charging his ring for another strike. It was Fluttershy's turn to be caught off guard as a raging bull of green energy sent her flying backwards.

"Consider this another lesson!" Kilowog instructed. "Never let your guard down! Now, let's..." Kilowog never got to finish. Out of nowhere, Fluttershy sprung up and summoned a giant green steam engine speeding at the alien. Kilowog barely had time to get out of it's way in time before launching a counterattack.

Kilowog summoned a bumping post to stop the engine in place. Fluttershy's anger fueled her resolve to keep the construct charging against her training officer. It was enough for her to keep it going for several seconds, but eventually she started to feel both her will and the green locomotive of energy weakening until finally she couldn't keep it up anymore and ended up falling over in exhaustion.

Panting on the ground, Fluttershy looked up to see her instructor looking back with both concern and slight disapproval. She didn't understand. Had she done something wrong? Did she fail the exercise? She opened her mouth to ask, but once again Kilowog beat her to it.

"You let your anger get to you, poozer. Big mistake. Your anger weakens your will and that means your constructs will be weaker as well. In action, this could cost you your life." Fluttershy sighed. Even when she gets something right, she still manages to mess up. Kilowog didn't want to break her already fragile confidence even more, so he reached down to help her up. "Still, you managed to keep your construct up for long enough to pass this lesson as well. Congratulations!"

Fluttershy was surprised to hear this but nevertheless happy. She completed two Lantern lessons in a rapid succession and she started to feel like maybe she did have a place in the corps after all. Maybe this Green Lantern thing won't be so bad after all.

For the next exercise, Fluttershy found herself in a field surrounded by several metallic and rocky objects. The items looked perfectly unremarkable, they mostly looked like scrap metal to Fluttershy, though she was no familiar with alien technology, so who knew? Maybe they were highly advanced machines. But she quickly noticed a pattern among the ones that Kilowog gathered around himself, they were all yellow.

"OK, poozer! This next lesson is very important so listen carefully!" Kilowog said as he stood over the yellow items on the ground.

"The power ring is completely powerless against anything yellow. This is something even the weakest opponent can easily exploit against us, so every Lantern has to learn how to counter it." Fluttershy found it rather odd that such an almighty weapon could have such an easy weakness. It also seemed pretty random for that weakness to be a color of all things.

"Um... Why is that?"

"Because of the unique metal that charges our batteries." Kilowog answered, holding up his own power battery. "It has a yellow impurity in it that cannot be removed. Not without the battery losing it's power." Fluttershy didn't like the sound of that. If that was the case, she wouldn't be able to keep a canary at bay back home.

"There are a couple of ways to deal with this however." Kilowog said, raising her confidence back up. "First, you can use your ring to have another object do the job. Find something around you that you can use if I do this!"

"Do what?" Fluttershy got her answer when Kilowog picked up one of the metal blocks and hurled it at her. She could barely get out of the way in time.

"Quickly, poozer!" Kilowog yelled before picking up another one and sent it her way. "Use something!"

Now that Fluttershy knew what the exercise was about, she had an easier time dodging the yellow obstacles. Kilowog was strong enough to throw them at her with his bare hands, but not enough to throw them with great speed.

Still, she knew she won't be able to keep this up for long, so she quickly had to use one of those items Kilowog left for her but since the alien kept bombarding her with the yellow objects, she didn't even have time to use her ring to pick one up.

She then got an idea. Perhaps if she flew up higher into the air, Kilowog wouldn't be able to throw the obstacles far enough to reach her. This theory however was put to rest as Kilowog picked up another one of them and twirled around a couple times to give the piece of yellow metal a higher and it almost managed to reach the pegasus.

Fluttershy's plan still worked in her favor though, as Kilowog now had to put more time into gathering his strength for the throw and that finally gave Fluttershy enough to conjure up a construct. She was about to grab one of the large boulders lying around the field, but then she had another idea. Why grab just one when she could do so much more?

Her mind made up, Fluttershy summoned her next construct which turned out to be an octopus. The green cephalopod reached out with it's tentacles to pick up eight of boulders and hurled all of them at Kilowog. The alien barely had enough time to block one of the boulders heading his way by throwing the yellow object he was holding at it and summon a shield in front of himself before the rest could hit him.

Once the barrage of boulders was over, Kilowog lowered his shield to find Fluttershy, but the pegasus Lantern was nowhere to be seen. As he was looking around in search of her, he heard a low but sharp voice speaking right into his ear.

"Never let your guard down!" Before Kilowog could turn around, he felt something wrapping around him. Fluttershy managed to keep her octopus construct up for long enough to hide and ambush Kilowog from behind. After a few moments of struggling, she let the struggling alien go.

"Heh." Kilowog chuckled as he dusted himself off. "Turning my own words against me?" The alien mused. "I'm actually beginning to like you. Though if you ever tell this to anyone, I'll deny it violently." Fluttershy smiled, feeling both touched and satisfied at the praise.

"So, did I pass the lesson?" She asked hopefully, only to be shot down by Kilowog's smirk. She learned it by now that that never meant good for the cadets.

"Only the first half, poozer. I only showed you one way to deal with yellow stuff. There's another one." Fluttershy helped Kilowog gather the yellow blocks around himself again, but she kept her eye on the alien throughout the process. She didn't want another surprise lesson from her instructor. Fortunately, this time he had none. Once the training field was reassembled, Kilowog began the next part of the lesson.

"Alright, the other way to deal with yellow objects is to find a way to make them another color." He explained. "Can you guess how to do that?" Fluttershy looked right to glance at her ring.

"Umm... I can use my ring to paint it in a different color perhaps?" She guessed. Kilowog chuckled.

"Good guess, poozer, but I'm afraid that's not possible. Even our rings have limits. We can't conjure anything that's not green. No, once again, you have to use your environment to do that." He then put one of the yellow blocks in front of Fluttershy. "Here, try to find a way to turn this block into another color!"

Fluttershy looked around, helplessly trying to find a way to complete the exercise, but he couldn't find anything useful for the task. As she pondered, she started to wander around the training field until she felt her hoof sink into the dirt beneath it. She looked down to see that she stepped into a pile of mud.

Normally, this would have grossed her out, but this time it gave her an idea. Fluttershy quickly spun around and used her ring to create a giant hose. She aimed it at the ground and unleashed a large steam of green water. The water shot into the ground and created a fountain of mud that covered the yellow block in front of her and turned it completely brown.

Kilowog was satisfied to see her student succeed, but Fluttershy immediately knew what came next and this time she wanted to be a step ahead of him. Before Kilowog could sneakily throw one of the yellow blocks at her, she spun around and used the hose to use the same tactic she used on the first one and turned them all brown with mud. She then summoned her octopus construct again and used it to swipe all of them away with it's tentacles. Fluttershy then floated up in front of him with her ring ready at the end of her wing in case the alien wanted to try anything else. But Kilowog just smirked.

"Not bad, poozer! Not bad at all! I'd say we can consider this lesson completed as well! You're slowly but surely mastering your ring, but during our next exercise, we'll see just how crafty you are without it." He said with a sinister laugh. Fluttershy's eyes widened.

"With... Without it?" She became so confident in her ability to use the ring that she completely forgot about how helpless and meek she used to be before she got it. And now she was gonna have to complete a lesson without it? How would she be able to do that just by herself?

"Look, poozer! If you don't feel like you're enough without the ring, you will never be enough with it." Kilowog told her assertively. "Follow me! This lesson will be learned at another location."

Kilowog was true to his word. For the next exercise, Fluttershy was stripped of her ring and she was once again just the shy little veterinarian pegasus from Ponyville. She was standing in front of the entrance of what her trainer described as a arena. She couldn't imagine why was she here so she turned to Kilowog for an explanation. The alien saw the confusion on her face and began explaining the exercise.

"Even the finest lanterns can sometimes find themselves being seperated from their ring. Or having their ring run out of power at the worst possible time. This exercise will consist of two parts. Your ring is hidden inside this arena along with it's power battery. It has also been drained of it's energy, so you're gonna have to find your ring and then get it to the battery to charge it." He instructed. "Now, for this exercise you'll be allowed to take advantage of anything you have you you can use your wings. I'll be watching and evaluating your performance. Good luck!" And with that, he flew away, leaving Fluttershy to enter alone.

As expected, she was very nervous. This was the first training exercise she'd have to complete without her ring and she had no idea what to expect. She slowly entered the arena and saw a forest terrain with trees and several other alien flora she didn't recognise. The arena looked humongous and she had no idea where she should start the search for her ring.

Her nervousness only increased when she noticed a green light coming from behind her and she turned around to see three Green Lanterns floating behind her. One of them was the one who greeted her on Oa, Tomar-Re, the second one looked like a squirrel and third one was a bipedal creature that looked like he had a one eyed broccoli for a head.

"Kilowog asked us to assist in this exercise." Tomar explained. "While looking for your ring, you're going to have to evade us and make your way out of the arena once you've found it. We are giving you a one minute head start. Good luck, Fluttershy."

The pegasus needed no further encouragement and bolted off between the trees. She counted the seconds as she tried to put as much distance between him and the trio of Lanterns as possible. In the meantime, she tried to keep her eyes open and look around in a vain effort to find her ring.

After looking around for a minute with no result, she gave up flew between the leafage of one of the trees. She cowered on one of the tree's branches as she looked around, trying to spot the green lights that signaled her pursuers searching the arena for her.

She had no idea what to do. Ever since she began her training, she finally started to finally feel some confidence in herself. With that ring, she felt like she could do anything and stand up to anything. But without it, she was just the very same meek, timid pegasus she always was.

She buried her head between her forelegs to cry. Maybe if she just stayed here, Kilowog would just fail her and send her back home to pick another pony who was much more worthy of being a Green Lantern than her. But then she remembered Kilowog's words.

'If you don't feel like you're enough without the ring, you will never be enough with it.'

Fluttershy's expression hardened. No. She wouldn't break down again. She will complete this exercise, she will complete her training and she will become the Green Lantern of Sector 1996. Now she only had to find a way to do it.

She then had an idea. Hiding was always her first solution to everything, but maybe she could use that to her advantage. If she stayed hidden atop the trees and tracked one of the Lanterns, she could avoid them and survey the area to find her ring and her battery.

Luck also seemed to be on her side as Tomar-Re just floated past beneath her hiding spot. Fluttershy waited until he was at a safe distance and quickly leaped at another tree. The rustling of the leaves briefly attracted the attention of the Lantern, but he only gave the tree a few suspicious glances before carrying on.

Fluttershy swept her forehead and sighed in relief before continuing to track the Lantern. This idea worked out even better for her than she expected. The glow of Tomar's ring was an excellent light source for Fluttershy to see between the darkness of the trees. She looked at every tree and every corner but she couldn't find any trace of her ring.

Then suddenly from the corner of her eye, she noticed a hole in one of the trees that she never would have spotted had it not been for Tomar's ring. She carefully flew over to the tree and waited for Tomar to leave and snuck down to check out the hole and her face split into a huge grin when she saw her battery.

She took the handle of the battery into her mouth and hurried back to the top of the tree. That's one part of the exercise down, but she still had to find her ring. And that still begged the same question as finding her battery: how is she gonna do it?

One of the first thing Kilowog taught her was to make sure her ring was always charged. The way to do that was to place the ring against the battery, so with the battery, she should be able to find the ring easily. If she managed to evade the other Lanterns that is.

Fluttershy furrowed her eyebrows in thought. Where should she start looking for the ring? 'If I was Kilowog, where would I hide that ring?' She pondered. 'Think, Fluttershy, think!' A ring could be placed onto one of the tree branches. Maybe if she searched them with the battery she'd eventually find it.

But there were like a hundred trees in this arena. That would take forever. No, she needed to narrow the area of her search first. Kilowog surely told the other Lanterns where he hid that ring if their task was to keep her from it. Maybe if she'd stay out of their sight long enough, they would lead her to it. With her mind made up, she looked for one of the green light sources between the trees.

Eventually, she managed to track down the Lantern with the broccoli shaped head and stayed behind him as long as she could. She has been tailing the Lantern for so long that she lost her track of time, but apparently she managed to stay out of sight for long enough for her pursuers to suspect something because they decided to meet up in the middle of the arena.

"Did you find her, Medphyll?" Tomar asked the broccoli headed alien, which shook his head in reply.

"No. What about you, C'hp?" The squirrel also shook it's head with a series of chirps. Tomar frowned.

"She managed to evade us, but as long she doesn't retrieve her ring, she didn't complete the exercise."

"What if she managed to find them during our discussion?" The alien called Medphyll suggested.

"Unlikely, but we should nevertheless check it." Tomar replied. "Go check her battery!" He then turned to C'hp. "And you go check her ring! I will keep searching for her." On the top of a nearby tree, Fluttershy smirked.

'Gotcha!' She thought. She ended up trailing the squirrel creature for the following few minutes until she saw it stop before one of the trees. C'hp looked around to see if he was followed or not, but even with the light from his ring, Fluttershy was able to hide between the leafage.

C'hp looked around for a few seconds but couldn't see anything so he flew up to one of the tree branches to check something. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and saw that indeed, her ring was placed around the very same branch. Once C'hp was certain that the ring was still there, he looked around once again before floating off.

That was all Fluttershy needed. She flew over to the tree and quickly charged her ring with the battery before placing it back on her wing and transforming back into her Lantern uniform. Now all she needed to do was leave the arena, but surely that wouldn't be a problem anymore. The top of the arena was completely open, she should be able fly out with no issue.

And yet, for some reason, a gut feeling prevented Fluttershy from doing just that. She knew Kilowog well enough by this point and knew that he probably has some nasty surprise for her if she thought things were finally getting easy. She had to make sure.

She used her ring to conjure up that was big enough for her to see but small enough that her pursuers wouldn't see it, a bird. She sent it flying up into the sky until it crashed into an invisible green barrier and puffed out of existence. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. She knew it.

As she thought about what her next move should be, she came up with an idea that was very unlike her. Sometimes the best way to tackle a problem was head on. This, Fluttershy supposed, was one of those times.

She closed her eyes and gathered all of her willpower into her ring before summoning another bird construct onto the branches of the tree she was sitting on. She then proceeded to do the same with the branches of every single tree around her. Tomar-Re, Medphyll and C'hp all jumped in surprise when they saw the flock materialise out of nowhere before they all took off into the air.

Once the last of them took off, Fluttershy followed suit and followed them into the air. The green birds all crashed into the barrier and Fluttershy could see that they were weakening it. By the time the last of the birds crashed into the barrier, Fluttershy knew the time was right. She pushed her ring upwards and summoned a huge whale construct that crashed through the barrier like it was a piece of glass.

Fluttershy flew out of the arena triumphantly, only to crash into her training officer, Kilowog. And no matter how confident and courageous Fluttershy had become recently, the stoic gaze of the large alien always made her shrink back like a school filly. That was until Kilowog's expression changed into an approving smile.

"Not bad, poozer. Not bad at all. I think we can consider this training exercise completed as well."

Fluttershy broke into a huge smile and beamed with pride. She was almost there! Her training was almost complete and after this exercise, she felt Kilowog won't be able to throw anything at her that she won't be able to face...

She was wrong. She was horribly, horribly wrong. The next trial Kilowog was putting her up against was none other than the dreaded obstacle course she saw the very first time she came to the training field. As she looked at the deadly instruments swinging from left to right and slamming into the ground from above, her body completely froze.

"Ah, come on, poozer!" Kilowog groaned as he noticed her fear. "You have all but mastered how to use your ring. You'll make through this thing no problem!" Fluttershy gave the training officer a small, nervous smile before slowly approaching the starting line. She breathed heavily as she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself.

'Come on, Fluttershy! You can do it! Just use your ring and it will be a piece of cake, right? Right?'

She finally managed to convince herself that she will be able to do this and opened her eyes. The first obstacle in her path was the saw blades. Every time they swung from left to right then right to left, Fluttershy felt them chopping away more of her already slim courage.

She thought about what would be the best way to get past them and eventually she settled on conjuring up a giant log that stopped the blades. Fluttershy hopped onto the log and walked across it until she reached the end of the blades. Her steps were slow. She had to use every bit of focus she had to keep the log construct up.

After the saw blades, the falling sandbags came next. There were three of them in a row, one descending immediately after the other. Fluttershy tried to find the perfect time to run through them, but suddenly, she came up with a much simpler solution. She used her ring to create three springs under the sandbags and when they descended, the springs shot them back into the air long enough for Fluttershy to ran past them.

She ran so quickly that she nearly ran into the flame of the fire jets. She was only saved because her instincts kicked in in time to summon a hose and shoot water at the jet she was facing, but she still felt the hotness of the fire against her face. Managing to put out the flames long enough for her to get pest the first jet, she repeated the process with the next ones as well until she reached the end of the course. She didn't have time to sigh in relief though as she ended up crashing into Kilowog.

"Ha! Ha!" The alien beamed with pride. "Great job, poozer! Great job!" He bellowed joyfully as he smacked Fluttershy on the shoulder, making her fall over. "Now you're ready for the final exercise!" Fluttershy looked up in alarm.

"Final exercise?! Wasn't this the final exercise?!" Kilowog shook his head, causing Fluttershy to drop her head and groan. "What could possibly be worse than going through that?!" Kilowog's trademark sadistic grin returned.

"A sparring match against your instructor."

Before Fluttershy could scream "What?!", Kilowog created a hammer construct and brought it down on top of her. She saw that she won't be able to get out of it's way, so she created a shield above herself to block. She managed to keep up the shield until she could fly out from beneath the hammer and immediately turn to attack Kilowog herself.

She created a cannon over herself that fired at the alien, but he had just the thing for that. He created a bat and knocked the cannonball right back at the construct, destroying it in the process. But it turns out, this was exactly what Fluttershy was banking on.

The cannon distracted Kilowog long enough for Fluttershy to attack him from below. Kilowog felt a sharp pain in his legs as a green bear trap closed around them. She then tried to take advantage of that by taking away his ring, but Kilowog got over his stun quickly and knocked the rookie Lantern away, breaking her construct.

"Sneaky, poozer! But you're gonna need more than that!" He said before creating a bola and shooting it at Fluttershy. The pegasus quickly created a sword and cut the bola in half before charge at Kilowog. The alien created a shield of his own, stunning Fluttershy as she crashed into it. Kilowog then turned the shield into a club and started to bring it down, but Fluttershy jumped out of it's way in time.

Kilowog kept trying to hit Fluttershy with his club construct but to no avail. Fluttershy managed to evade it every time, but she knew she couldn't keep that up forever. When Kilowog tried to bring the club down again, Fluttershy created a squid and had it shoot the alien in the eye with ink.

This caused Kilowog to stumble back and covered his eyes and Fluttershy slammed the squid construct into him, knocking him to the ground. But when she saw the alien lying motionless on the ground, her usual, kind self came forward and she ran up to the training officer to check on him.

"Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry! I think I got a little carried away and..." She never got to finish as Kilowog sprung up from the ground and rammed into Fluttershy with a boxing glove construct, sending her flying several meters away.

"Are you crazy?!" Kilowog demanded. "Don't concern yourself with the welfare of your enemies! It'll let your guard down and they're gonna get the drop on you!" His anger grew to concern when he saw that Fluttershy was still lying on the ground, unmoving. "Hey, poozer! You hear me?!" He asked as he walked up to her. "You OK?"

Fluttershy still dint move but Kilowog jumped in surprise when he felt something wrap around him. A giant snake construct lifted Kilowog into the air and hissed at him before plunging itself down on top of him and slamming him into the ground.

When Kilowog finally recovered, he was about to jump back into action, but then he noticed something. He wasn't wearing his Lantern uniform. He then looked down at his hand and saw the reason why. His ring was gone.

"Looking for this?" He heard Fluttershy ask. He looked up at the pegasus and saw her levitating his ring inside a green energy bubble. "My trainer told me not to concern yourself with the welfare of my enemies! It'll let my guard down and they're gonna get the drop on me." Kilowog couldn't believe it. This rookie managed to turn his own words against him twice. Be couldn't recall anyone who managed to do that before.

"So?" Fluttershy asked almost teasingly. "Did I finally complete all your exercises?" Kilowog looked at his ring still inside Fluttershy's bubble until his sour expression eventually turned into a smile. But this wasn't his usual sadistic smile he donned when he was about to put his trainees through a particularly torturous exercise. This was something that Fluttershy could have sworn was pride. And that was confirmed a few moments ago when the alien finally spoke again.

"Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps!"

Author's Notes:

I am very, very, VERY sorry that this chapter took this long. I really struggled with this one. I found a new method of writing. Doing 900 words a day, 450 in the morning and 450 in the evening. And this worked for a while, but the past few days kinda threw me off.

This chapter was painful to write. I tried to fill it out with as much content as I could, but towards the end, I just wanted it to be over and I noticed that the last part of the chapter has really dragged a little. Tell me if you thing the same.

I'm very happy to be finally done with this chapter. Tomorrow's my birthday so I'll finally be able to rest a little before continuing. Next time, Fluttershy meets the Guardians and tries to get them to reveal the truth about these mysterious occurrences in the galaxy. Just what kind of things will be brought to the light? Find out next time in...

Issue #3: The Lantern War

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #3: The Lantern War

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Fluttershy was overjoyed upon finishing her training. She believed that it would be the end of it, but once again she found her hopes shattered. The next few days on Oa was spent with grueling physical exercises. According to Kilowog, a Lantern not only had to master their ring, but also had to be in top shape.

And Kilowog wasn't going to let her out of training camp until he was sure she was fit enough and could take care of herself. A rookie Lantern dying fresh out of training was rare but not unheard of. Kilowog always took their death the hardest, which was understandable considering he trained most of them and they formed strong bonds during their training.

Even Fluttershy managed to see through the sadistic facade the alien was putting on by now. Kilowog may be hard on the rookies - which was to be expected since the Green Lanterns were supposed to face the greatest threats in the galaxy and their training had to be tough if they wanted to survive - but he had a heart of gold. Once you were out of the academy, Kilowog was the guy you always wanted to have your back.

Of course, that didn't make the physical training any less excruciating for the pegasus. Push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups only scratched the cover of the surface, try trekking up a mountain with weights the size of concrete blocks tied to your back to get the idea. Kilowog also had her carrying the same weights in the air to strengthen her wings. Fluttershy still didn't know how she had the strength and the willpower to go through it, maybe that was one of the reasons the ring chose her.

"Come on, poozer!" Kilowog encouraged her from the ground. "One more round around the field and we'll call it a day." Fluttershy groaned but managed to power through the last round with gritted teeth. "That's it, poozer! Ok, you can come down." She didn't need to be told twice. She wanted to just drop down on the ground but she knew Kilowog would disapprove, so she used the last bit of her strength to carry the weights back to the ground before finally collapsing.

"I..." Fluttershy panted. "I can't feel my wings anymore."

"You will. And stronger than ever." Kilowog encouraged as he went and helped the pony up. "Look, kid! This'll be good for your confidence too. If you're stronger, you'll have better self-esteem." What Kilowog said made sense to her, but she was just too exhausted to care. When she finally had enough strength back to lift her head, she saw the familiar figure of the first Lantern she met, Tomar-Re approaching them.

"I apologise for interrupting, but I need you to accompany me."

"You're not interrupting, Tomar. We werea just done. Right, poozer?" Kilowog asked, smacking Fluttershy on the shoulder, making her stumble. The exhausted pegasus barely had the strength to nod.

"That's good." Tomar replied. "I hope you will regain your strength quickly, Fluttershy. The Guardians themselves requested an audience with you. We shouldn't keep them waiting."

"Whoa now!" Kilowog yelled in surprise. "Tomar, she's just a rookie barely out of the academy! What could the Guardians want with her so soon?"

"I am just as surprised as you are, Kilowog." Tomar replied. "But they specifically requested to see the new Lantern of Sector 1996. For what reason, only they know. You know the Guardians work in mysterious ways."

"Sometimes too mysterious, if you ask me." Kilowog scoffed.

"Um... excuse me?" The two Lanterns looked down at Fluttershy. "Is this good or bad news?"

"Depends on what they want, really." Kilowog answered with a shrug.

"We won't know until we get there." Tomar replied. "I'm sure they wouldn't object to you tagging along as well, my friend."

"Ha!" Kilowog laughed. "I think it's best if I do. The poozer will probably feel intimidated by them all by herself!" Fluttershy didn't even hear her training officer's remark. She was too deep in her thoughts.

She was finally gonna meet the famous Guardians of the Universe. The beings that founded the Green Lantern Corps and the beings that Grinn'glo warned her about. As the three Lanterns made their way towards the meeting, Kilowog looked back at the pegasus and saw the contemplation on her face.

"Penny for your thoughts, poozer?" Kilowog's booming voice managed to snap Fluttershy out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry?" She asked in confusion.

"It's an expression." The training officer said. "I'm just asking what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

"Oh, umm... I'm just nervous about meeting the Guardians, I guess." She replied.

"Yeah, I suppose meeting your new bosses for the first time can make you feel uneasy." Kilowog chuckled.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy." Tomar said reassuringly. "The Guardians may seem cold at first but they are benevolent beings who always hold the interests of other creatures above all else. They are wise creatures whose advise is always trustworthy."

"It didn't sound like that not from what Grinn'glo said to me before he died." Immediately after that sentence left Fluttershy's mouth, she realised that she probably shouldn't have said that. This realisation became even more probable when she saw the other two Lanterns turn to look directly at her with surprised looks.

"What was that, poozer?" Kilowog asked curiously. Fluttershy immediately shrunk back.

"Oh, nothing." She replied, trying to dismiss it. "I'm sure it's not important."

"On the contrary." Tomar said. "A Lantern mentioning the Guardians with their dying breath is not at all common. They know we will introduce them to newcomers once they arrive. And in a negative way, no less? What exactly did he say to you?" Fluttershy looked down uncertainly. She didn't know if she should tell them. The last thing she wanted was to create tension among her new comrades. Especially after she managed to fit in finally.

"Come on, poozer! This is important!" Kilowog pressured. "If Grinn'glo knew something about the Guardians that we should know as well, you have to tell us! It could save lives." Fluttershy sighed in defeat.

"Well... He didn't say anything specific. He told me that my planet's moon was the epicenter of... whatever he was looking for there. He said 'fear will consume us all' and how 'The Guardians know the truth' before telling me to 'make them reveal the truth'. That was the last thing he said before he died." Kilowog and Tomar looked at each other.

"The truth?!" Kilowog repeated, sounding rather angry. "The truth about what?!"

"Restrain yourself, Kilowog!" Tomar said, trying to calm his colleague. "If the Guardians opted to keep information from us, I'm sure they had a very good reason for it." Kilowog narrowed his eyes at the thinner alien.

"Good reason, eh?! Of course you would say that! But if I'm reading the picture correctly here, this 'very good reason' ended up killing one of my comrades! And it could end up killing more of them!" Fluttershy found herself being scared of Kilowog once more. She had never seen him so angry. Tomar however didn't even flinch in the face of his wrath. He was probably used to it.

"Every Lantern knows the risks of belonging to the Corps, Kilowog. I know you take pride in your job training them but even your training cannot protect them form everything all the time." Once Kilowog finally calmed himself a little, Tomar turned to Fluttershy. "Convincing the Guardians to reveal anything will not be easy, but if this was Grinn'glo's last wish, I'm sure they would consider it. Now let's go!"

The three Lanterns contained their way to meet the Guardians. No more words were exchanged between them until Fluttershy noticed Kilowog's particularly gloomy expression. Her kindness once again came forward and demanded her to try and console her fellow Lantern.

"I'm sorry about Grinn'glo." She told him. Kilowog tried to remain stoic but Fluttershy coild make out the ghost of a smile forming on his face.

"You don't have to be sorry, poozer. All I can ask of you is to use his ring well and honor his memory." He replied, trying his best to hide his hurt feelings and sound encouraging. An attempt Fluttershy appreciated.

"Sounds like you two were close." Fluttershy noted in sympathy. "Did you train him too?"

"Actually no." Kilowog replied, much to Fluttershy's surprise. "He became a Lantern before my time. You see, members of Grinn'glo's race were extremely long lived. He himself was already in his 10,000s."

"10,000s?!" Fluttershy exclaimed in shock before she realised something else. "Wait did you say they were? As in past tense?" She then noticed that Kilowog's expression dropped once again.

"Afraid so. From what he told us, his species were heading towards extinction. They never even found out why. And he probably only escaped this fate because his ring took him from that moon." Fluttershy was both awed and heartbroken. To learn that there was an entire civilisation of aliens living on their moon was astounding, but to learn that they were all gone was unfathomable to her.

"So... he was the last living member of his kind?"

"That is a fair assumption." Tomar answered. "But we cannot be certain. He hasn't visited his home in centuries."

"He also told us that the Lunars as he called them had very advanced shape-shifting ability. Some of them may have fled that moon before things got too bad and settled in other worlds and disguise themselves to blend in." Kilowog added. Fluttershy's curiosity was peaked by that last part.

"Do you think there could be some of them hiding on my planet as well?" Kilowog shrugged.

"There's always a possibility. It is the closest place to their moon they could go to. But if there are any of them down there, they obviously don't want to be found." Fluttershy found herself intrigued by that mystery, but before she could give it anymore thought, the trio reached their destination. She could immediately tell it from the giant green power battery in the background.

"Well, here we are." Tomar noted. "Follow me, Fluttershy! It is time."

The pegasus walked behind the veteran Lantern into a circular area that had the Green Lantern emblem engraved onto it's huge floor with Kilowog following behind. Fluttershy looked around, observing the huge stone columns towering over them. On the top of each one, one of the blue creatures Tomar showed her when she first arrived to Oa were standing.

Even from this distance, Fluttershy could feel their looks upon herself. She felt like they were somehow evaluating her before passing judgement on her. Wether she was worthy of being a Lantern or not. It felt really awkward and the moments of silence felt like an eternity. It was almost unbearable. When the silence was finally broken, it was like a huge weight was lifted from her chest.

"Welcome, Green Lantern of Sector 1996. Please step forward." One of the guardians spoke on a wise, mentorly tone. Fluttershy looked up at Tomar who just gave her an encouraging nod. The pegasus walked up to until she was right in the middle of the Lantern symbol on the ground. She looked up at the Guardians and gathered all of her courage to speak.

"Um... Greetings, Guardians." She spoke after trying to find the right words to address them. A simple hello would have felt inappropriate. "I am Fluttershy from the planet Equus."

"Yes." One of the Guardians replied. "A planet that for all of our knowledge, we still understand very little about. It's magical energy is certainly unique in the galaxy." Fluttershy didn't know how to respond to that.

"Well... I'm afraid I cannot be of much help with that. Unicorns are far more capable in using and explaining magic. Us, pegasi are mostly just use it for controlling the weather." She explained.

"The magical capabilities of the planet Equus is not the purpose of this meeting." Another Guardian replied. "A great crisis looms upon our Corps and we believe that during his last assignment, your predecessor discovered it's source." Fluttershy's eyes widened.

"You... You already know about that?"

"Indeed." Came the answer from a third Guardian. "We felt the energy of the power ring of Sector 1996 failing. As if being drained by the very same yellow energy other Lanterns detected across the galaxy."

"But in this case, it was different." Continued the first Guardian who was standing on the stone in the middle. "The yellow energy never affected the rings of any other Lanterns in the past. At least, not this strongly."

"There is no doubt about it now." The second Guardian took over. "The epicenter of the phenomenon originates from Sector 1996. And as the new Lantern of that sector, it is your responsibility to investigate and stop it."

Fluttershy completely froze. A week ago, her biggest concern was getting Angel Bunny to eat his breakfast. Now the safety of not only her own space sector, but potentially the entire galaxy fell on her shoulder? Her doubts began to resurface and turn into outright terror. She hadn't even seen anything out there that the Green Lanterns are supposed to face? What will happen when she comes face to face with one of them?

She shook her head. No. She would not give into her fear again. Not now. Not ever again. Kilowog taught her everything she needed to know to become a Lantern, but the most important thing she learned was how to keep her fear in check. Overcoming great fear was the very essence of becoming a Green Lantern. That ability was how the ring chose it's new owner. And the ring never made a mistake in that regard.

She looked back at Kilowog and Tomar. The bulky training officer gave her a firm, encouraging look. The message was clear. He knew what Fluttershy had to do and so did she. And Tomar, while initially hesitant about the idea, now also looked firmly in favour of Fluttershy presenting the issue to the Guardians. The encouragement of her comrades was all she needed. She returned their steely gaze and turned back to the Guardians.

"I am aware. And I believe I have something that can help with the investigation. Or more specifically, you do." Fluttershy sensed the Guardians' confusion and for a few moments, no one spoke. The blue aliens shared glances with each other before turning back to Fluttershy.

"Specify!" There was no anger of offense on their voice, just plain inquiry.

"Before he died, my predecessor, Grinn'glo revealed to me the findings of his investigation. While he didn't mention anything specific, he did say the phenomenon indeed centered around the moon of my home planet. And he also said that you know the truth about what is going on and asked me, with his dying breath to make you reveal the truth. I believe it will be vital to stopping this threat." Fluttershy had no idea she even knew such words. She never speaked so formally in her life, but if what Tomar said was true, then she should give the Guardians their due respect. The aliens once again shared troubled glances with each other, but this time, Fluttershy felt nervousness and uncertainty among them.

"You have no idea what you ask of us, Fluttershy." One of them finally replied. Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply, but she never got the chance.

"So it IS true!" Kilowog bellowed as he marched up next to Fluttershy and pointed up at the Guardians accusingly. "I don't care what kind of secrets you're hiding from the rest of the galaxy, but when it starts concerning the lives of my Lanterns, I won't stand for it!" The other two Lanterns were shocked by this outburst. They knew Kilowog was temperamental, but to see him blow up at the Guardians themselves like this was shocking.

"This matter goes far beyond the lives of our agents, Kilowog." A Guardian responded. Once again, he showed no anger or resentment at the harsh tone, but kept maintaining his neutrality. "The stability of our entire Corps could be jeopardised if this was revealed. Not to mention the safety of the entire galaxy." Fluttershy felt a surprising boldness rise inside her and knew this was the moment she had to step in.

"With all due respect, Guardians, the safety of the galaxy is already in turmoil. You said it yourselves. You hold the knowledge we need to stop it. If you don't reveal it to us, we will not be able to do it." Seeing the determination of his comrades gave Tomar the strength to step forward and voice his opinion on the matter.

"I believe they are speaking the truth. How are we supposed to battle something we do not understand. If that knowledge can help us save the galaxy, we will need to hear it." The Guardians shared another glance with each other in contemplation. This time Fluttershy felt conflict among them. They didn't mask their feelings very well. Some of them felt like they were in favor of the revelation but she didn't know if it will be enough so she decided to throw in her own two bits.

"You owe Grinn'glo's memory that much." She said to the Guardian in the middle. All other gaze fell upon him, anticipating his reply. His expression remained stoic and he didn't break eye contact with Fluttershy even for a second, but eventually he spoke.

"What we are about to tell you is out of absolute necessity and is to be treated with the utmost discretion. Once this crisis has been averted, we will hold a discussion on whether or not we should make it public knowledge." It was the three Lanterns' turn to share glances. It was evident from their looks that they weren't happy on being forced to keep the Guardians' dirty secrets to themselves but they were both eager to learn what it was and find out how they can use that knowledge to finally solve this crisis. They looked back up at the Guardians and nodded.

"As you are aware, creating the Green Lantern Corps was not our first attempt to bring order to the galaxy." The Guardians began their tale. Tomar nodded again.

"Yes. We are aware of the story behind the Manhunters."

"The poozer is not, Tomar!" Kilowog scoffed. Tomar looked down at Fluttershy and sure enough, her face showed confusion about what he just mentioned.

"Oh, I apologise. I forgot." Tomar said sheepishly. "You see, Fluttershy, before the Green Lanterns, the Guardians created the Manhunters. A force of law enforcing automatons with no emotions. Just pure logic." Fluttershy tilted her head.

"Auto... what?"

"Robots." Kilowog clarified. Fluttershy was in awe upon hearing that. She had never seen a robot before but she knew what they were. And to imagine an entire galactic police force of them was both marvelous and terrifying.

"So what happened? If they were replaced by us, obviously something went wrong." Tomar nodded.

"The Guardians did indeed realise that soulless machines were inadequate at carrying out justice. Though, the exact reason was never made public."

"You are correct, Tomar-Re." The Guardians continued. "But now, we shall. For you to understand the situation we are facing, it is vital we start with the reason the Manhunters were discarded." Fluttershy noticed that Tomar and Kilowog both put on curious expressions when they heard that. They must have been interested in that story for a long time.

"It is true that we believed that machines uncorrupted by emotions would be capable of making the best choices to keep up the law based on nothing but pure logic." Another Guardian continued before his expression turned grim. "But the Manhunters showed us in the most dire way possible that the logical choice is not alway the just choice."

"I don't like where this is going." Kilowog muttered and Fluttershy couldn't help but agree.

"The Manhunters were indeed operating with flawless logic and no emotion. And that meant they felt no remorse and no concern for the life of other creatures when they decided that the surest way to prevent crime is to make sure there were no living beings that can commit it." The three Lanterns on the ground all widened their eyes in horror. They all knew what that meant. And from the horror on their faces, the Guardians knew they understood. "Yes. The Manhunters decided to wipe out all living beings in the galaxy."

"We did everything we could to stop them." Another Guardian continued. "But by the time we succeeded, many have already paid the price for our greatest mistake." Fluttershy only wanted to know one thing.

"How many?" Another wave of unbearable silence descended upon the group. The Guardians' faces hardened. It was obvious that the next part is not one they talked about easily.

"The population of Sector 666 has been all but completely eradicated." Fluttershy heard her fellow Lanterns collectively gasping next to her. If it was possible, they looked even more horrified than before. She didn't know how many innocent beings that meant, but it was clear to her that there were many.

"All of an entire space sector? Just gone?" Kilowog stuttered. The fact that her formerly unflinching training officer lost all of his composure told Fluttershy all she needed to about just how serious this was.

"The Manhunters slayed billions of beings in their relentless crusade." The Guardians continued. "By the time we stopped them, only a handful of individuals remained." Fluttershy joined her colleagues in gasping. Billions of beings? Equestria where she lived was a haven of harmony and peace. She couldn't even recall a war bring thought in recent history on her planet, so a massacre on that level was unfathomable to her.

"It remains our biggest mistake to this date." Another Guardian took over. "It served as a cruel lesson that emotion was indispensable for galactic peacekeeping and law enforcement." Once the three Lanterns let this horrible story sink in, Kilowog was the first one to speak.

"But what does this have to do with our current crisis?" He asked.

"Everything." A Guardian replied. "One of the survivors of the massacre, a being named Atros, felt such unmitigated rage and hatred towards us for what happened that he dedicated his entire existence to have vengeance on us. After we have established the Green Lantern Corps, he managed to do what only we have accomplished before. He reached into the Emotional Spectrum and created a power battery for the red light of rage."

"He created another Lantern Corps?!" Tomar asked in utter disbelief.

"That was his aim." The Guardians confirmed. "However, we managed to prevent it from happening. The Green Lantern Corps was just established by then. Finding individuals with enough willpower was a time consuming task. But beings with rage and hate are far easier to find. While our numbers were still extremely limited, we had to turn all of our resources on stopping him. While we succeeded once more, many Green Lanterns fell against his madness."

"And what happened to Atros?" Fluttershy asked. Despite the horrors she just learned, she couldn't help but pity him. He lost everything to the Guardians' mistake. As much as she was against senseless violence and negative emotions like rage, she had to admit that his anger was justified.

"What happens to everyone apprehended by the Green Lantern Corps. He was imprisoned in one of our sciencells." Came the reply.

"I still don't see how this is relevant to out crisis." Kilowog complained.

"Patience, Kilowog!" The Guardians chided. "The story continues, for Atros was not the only one to create his own Power Battery. Despite our best efforts to cover up the incident, a group of engineers on the planet Qwaard learned about the truth. They quickly realised the potential in owning one themselves so they forged a battery and managed harness the yellow light of fear." The three Lantern's eyes suddenly lit up with understanding.

"Yellow light?!" Tomar exclaimed. "That is the yellow light we have been researching in the past months?"

"Yes." Came the blunt confirmation from the blue aliens. "Once we learned of the existence of the yellow power battery, we sent a squad of elite Lanterns to Qward to retrieve it and arrest it's creators. Once they completed their mission, we have sworn them to secrecy. We have learned our grave lesson from the war against Atros, the Red Lantern. If our enemies learned of this battery, they would no doubt use it against us as well. We had to keep it's existence a secret." Unlike the incident with the Manhunters, Fluttershy actually understood why the Guardians would want to keep this covered up. But given the recent events that were occurring in the galaxy, it seemed like they didn't do a good job this time.

"But I suppose it didn't take, did it?" Kilowog asked sarcastically. The Guardians' expressions once again turned sour.

"Our enemies remained none the wiser of the existence of the yellow power battery. But one of our own was not so ignorant." This struck all three of the Lanterns, but none were more struck than Kilowog.

"Hold on! Are you saying that the mess we are in right now is the doing of one of our own?!"

Betrayal in the Corps was extremely rare, but once again, not unheard of. It was the one thing the angered Kilowog beyond compare. He dedicated his life to his Lanterns. To make sure they were prepared for everything the galaxy had to throw at them. He would have died for his Lanterns and in return, he expected nothing less. Betrayal was unforgivable in his eyes. And he could only recall one Lantern who committed such atrocity against the core.

"It was him, wasn't he?" He asked as he looked up at the Guardians with a steely gaze.

"Your intuition is correct, Kilowog." They replied. "The yellow light of fear was discovered and utilised by Thaal Sinestro." Fluttershy could see Kilowog's fist balling up into a fist at the mention of that name.

"Um... Excuse me?" She interrupted, giving way to her usual shy demeanor. "Who is that?" Tomar knew this was a sour topic for Kilowog, so he gave the explanation to the pegasus.

"There was a time when Thaal Sinestro was considered to be the finest Green Lantern to ever wield a ring."

"Yeah, until we found out he was an arrogant, power hungry, traitorous prick!" Kilowog added with palpable disdain in his voice. "The bastard used his power to enslave his home planet, Korugar and then he tried to overthrow the Guardians." Fluttershy couldn't believe her ears. She couldn't imagine anyone on her home planet trying to do anything similar to Princess Celestia.

"Why?"

"According to him, the Guardians were too soft and passive in their actions against galactic threats." Kilowog answered. "Apparently the power he's attained while ruling his homeworld went to his head and decided he could do a better job at running the Corps." He then turned back to the Guardians. "Why are we even discussing this? I thought we agreed that traitors don't deserve to have their names spoken. Besides, he's dead anyway."

"No, Kilowog, he is not." Was the reply. This greatly confused Kilowog and Tomar. The Guardians always told them that Sinestro's takeover ended in his failure and his death. Unless...

"Oh, I get it." Kilowog growled. "Another of your little secrets?"

"Unfortunately, yes." The Guardians replied shamefully. "You see, Sinestro managed to do what Atrocitus couldn't before him. He actually managed to create his own Lantern Corps." The Guardians allowed the three Lanterns to recover from their shock before continuing.

"Sinestro managed to lure several of our Lanterns to his side and with them and several other fearsome recruits, he formed the Sinestro Corps, wielding the yellow energy of fear." Kilowog snorted.

"The Sinestro Corps. Leave it someone with his ego to name an entire Corps after himself." The Guardians ignored his remark and continued.

"With his new Corps at his side, Sinestro attempted to wage war against us and take our place as defenders of the universe. Once again, we enlisted the help of an elite task force of our finest Lanterns. Their experience and masterful willpower, they were more than a match for the ambitious youths and ill disciplined monsters of his Corps and managed to defeat the traitor and his followers. Most of them fell in the battle. And once again our surviving Lanterns were sworn to secrecy."

"Unfortunately, our sciencells would not have been sufficient to keep Sinestro prisoner. He used to be a Green Lantern. He knew everything about how they worked. He would have no doubt been able to break out. We needed to resolve to more drastic measures this time. The traitor was banished to the anti-matter universe." Another Guardian finished. Fluttershy gulped. She took history lessons as well throughout her training and knew that this wasn't a pleasant fate.

"We then attempted to seize every yellow power ring they have created. However, we have been unsuccessful. Some of them are still out there in the galaxy, looking for new recruits who have the ability to instill great fear."

And in that moment when the story was concluded, everything piece of the puzzle fell into it's place for the Lanterns. They finally understood what they were up against. The Sinestro Corps was making a comeback. And if that came to pass, it would spell disaster not only to the Green Lanterns, but all of the galaxy as well.

Fluttershy just stared in front of herself. Just when she finally came to terms with the whole Green Lantern, she was tasked with an assignment that was possibly the most important one a Lantern could face. She felt her nervousness slowly returning. The fact that the Guardians directly addressed her when they spoke next didn't help.

"Now that you know the truth, Fluttershy, you understand exactly what it is you have to look for. The surge of yellow energy is the strongest on your planet's moon. Are you aware of any beings connected to it that could be a worthy recruit of the Sinestro Corps?"

Fluttershy thought for a while. As far as she knew, there were no beings living on her moon. Let alone one that could instill great fear in others. But her train of thought came to a screeching halt when she realised something. That description was awfully similar to...

No. That wasn't possible. It was only a myth. But on the other hoof, she wasn't a strong believer of aliens either before she fell into a whole universe of them. So was it really such a huge stretch that the Mare in the Moon could be real as well?

"Well, Fluttershy? Have you come to a conclusion?" The Guardians asked upon seeing the realisation on her face. Fluttershy was uncertain if she should share this with them. After all, as far as she knew, it was still only s myth. And the last thing she wanted was to have the Lanterns chase false leads.

But at the same time, all the signs were there. There was something on her moon. Something that struck fear into the hearts of others. Fear so powerful that it managed to reach into the emotional spectrum and draw it's yellow light towards itself. And in that moment, Fluttershy somehow knew that her theory was correct. The Mare in the Moon was real and the yellow light of fear was calling out to her. And that was something they needed to prevent at all costs.

"Yes. I believe I have." She replied, finally making her mind up. She told the Guardians the legend she knew. About the two magical princesses who ruled Equestria until one became envious of the other's sun and bitter when she thought ponies weren't appreciating her nighttime. So she tried to overthrow the princess of the sun and throw her world into an eternal night, forcing her fellow princess to banish her to the moon. The Guardians and her fellow Lanterns listened to her story with varying levels of interest.

"Hmph. Sounds like a story to scare small children into not getting out after their bedtime to me." Kilowog scoffed.

"I used to think the same." Fluttershy replied. "But after everything I've seen since I've become a Green Lantern, it doesn't seem so unbelievable to me. Besides, can you imagine anything else on my moon that could potentially draw so much fear? At this point, I am more than convinced that the story is true and the being we're looking for is Nightmare Moon!"

"Very well, Fluttershy." The Guardians replied. "Sector 1996 is under your jurisdiction. If you believe this legend is worthy investigating, then we will trust your judgement." Fluttershy was relieved to hear that. The Guardians' trust meant so much to her that it quickly restored her confidence.

"Thank you, Guardians." She told them, bowing respectfully. "I won't let you down."

"We have faith in you, Green Lantern of Sector 1996." They replied. "Good luck."

"Well, that was quite unexpected, wouldn't you agree?" Tomar asked as the trio of Lanterns walked away from the meeting. Fluttershy didn't really know what to expect from this meeting, so she couldn't really tell. Kilowog didn't reply either. The two other Lanterns looked at him to see that he was deep in his thoughts with an unreadable expression, but it was clear he was very unhappy with the things he just learned.

"Very." He eventually replied with a bitter growl before he turned to Fluttershy. "Well, poozer, I belive congratulations are in order. Barely out of the academy and you already have your first major Lantern assignment. And not even a small one at that. If you come back alive, I will be extremely proud." Fluttershy knew that he was just teasing her, but she still became worried. Not because of Kilowog's words, but because of the training officer's face. It looked very glum and lacked any of his usual enthusiasm.

"Um... Will you be ok?" She asked in concern. Kilowog just waved dismissively.

"I'll be fine." He tried reassure, but he could see that the others weren't buying it. He sighed. "Look, poozer, I appreciate your concern, but right now, I just need a little space. No pun intended." He then turned to leave before looking back over his shoulder. "Don't forget to charge your ring before you go. Wouldn't want it to run out of juice in the cold of space now, would you?" Fluttershy and Tomar watched him leave but his reassurance did little to ease their concern.

"Is he gonna be ok, Tomar?" Fluttershy asked. "He seems to be taking what we just learned very hard." Tomar nodded sadly.

"I am not surprised. He and Sinestro were close friends. His betrayal affected him much more than the rest of us. To learn that he is still alive after all this time can't be easy for him." He then turned back to Fluttershy. "But I am more concerned about you. You are heading out on your first Lantern assignment. With high stakes as well. Are you nervous?" Fluttershy shook her head.

"Not anymore. Kilowog taught me everything I need to know in order to survive. I guess the fear of failure is still there, but who wouldn't be afraid of that?"

"Fear is not inherently a bad thing." Tomar said. "It is the perennial motivator. Pushing us far beyond our limits while also keeping us from acting irrationally. But we cannot allow anyone to take advantage of our fear. Especially with an opponent whose power is fueled by it. Kilowog has taught you everything it takes to be a Lantern. But controlling your emotions, including your fear is something you have to learn yourself." Fluttershy nodded.

"I understand, Tomar. Thank you for everything. And please tell Kilowog I thank him too."

"I shall." Tomar smiled. "Now go. Your sector needs you. As does the entire galaxy."

Fluttershy summoned her power battery and charged her ring for the long way back home. She still wasn't quite sure what to expect at the end of this journey, but she knew one thing. She will no longer take it as the scared, timid little pegasus she was before getting her ring. As her green glowing form ascended into the air and took off into space, she made another vow. She will learn to control her fear. She will never again succumb to her doubts. She will conquer her worries. For she was a Green Lantern. And that's what the very definition of being one. Almost as if sensing her determination, Tomar watched her leave with a proud smile, knowing that everything will be fine.

"Good luck. Green Lantern of Sector 1996."

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #4: Nightmare Moon's Might

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Unlike the last time she soared through the galaxy in an energy bubble, Fluttershy's vision wasn't blinded by green energy. This time, she actually got to witness the beauty of it. Countless stars flying past her, nebulas swirling around and the suns of several star systems shining brightly. If it wasn't so urgent for her to get back to her home planet, she would have stopped to marvel at the sights.

But she had no time to waste. If her theory was correct - and with each passing moment, she became more and more sure it was - then she had to get back home and begin her investigation as soon as possible. The greatest evil Equestria has ever seen was about awaken and she was the only one who could stop it. Not only Equestria's fate, but the fate of her entire planet was on the line. And if the Sinestro Corps really managed to get their hands on Nightmare Moon powered by one of their rings, then the entire Sector 1996 could be jeopardised as well. She didn't even dare to think what would happen if one of those rings really fell into the possession of that monster.

Before she knew it, she saw the glowing blue shape of her home planet appearing in front of her. Even though her training didn't take as long as she feared, Fluttershy still felt like she hasn't seen it in years. Before she entered the atmosphere, she actually took some time admiring it despite her earlier determination to ignore the beauties of the galaxy. She never even imagined seeing it from this view. She wondered if this was what those ponies who dream of discovering space travel always imagined it as. It was so gorgeous words couldn't do it justice.

Suddenly, another object caught her eye. In the distance between the stars, she saw the moon of her planet. The silhouette of the black pony trapped inside was all too clear and even though it was expressionless, Fluttershy could feel the malevolence radiating from the celestial body. It made her shudder before she quickly remembered Tomar's advice. She had to take control of her fear. Especially in the face of her foe. She had no idea if the Mare in the Moon would actually see it, but she narrowed her eyes at it, trying to put on a brave face before continuing her way towards the surface of the planet. What she failed to notice however, were the small sparks of yellow light flickering around the black mare's outline.

Fluttershy had to be very careful to land somewhere where she wouldn't attract any attention but she would be close enough to make it home without her Lantern uniform. She never would have thought that she would be grateful she lived next to the Everfree Forest. She knew that no pony in their right mind would ever go anywhere near that place. She just had to make sure she wouldn't land too deep inside the actual forest.

As she descended and came closer and closer to the ground, she quickly recognised the familiar town of Ponyville. She had to resist the urge to quote that old cliché of how she can see her house from up here. She flew past the cottage and headed a few meters into the Everfree before finally setting her hooves down on the familiar soil. She took in a deep breath and let out a content sigh. It was good to be home.

She looked around, happily acknowledging that she wasn't too deep. She visited this place several times before with her animal friends. She quickly dematerialized her Lantern uniform and changed back into her everyday cloth less form before starting to make her way back towards her cottage.

She only took a few trots before she heard the desperate cry of a familiar little creature. She ran into the direction where it came from and noticed a family of chipmunks cornered against a tree by a pair of timberwolves. The predators snarled viciously as they closed in on the defenseless creatures who could do nothing but embrace each other and close their eyes waiting for their end.

Fluttershy gasped. If she witnessed such an event in the past, she would have just attempted to snatch the critters and fly away as fast as she could. But she was now a Green Lantern. She didn't only have the courage to stand up against these monsters, but also the power. Her eyes narrowed with fiery determination, her wings spread out and the ring on the tip of the right one lit up with green light as her mind recited the familiar words.

'In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power - Green Lantern's light!'

The timberwolves were about to leap forward and devour the poor creatures, but they were interrupted when a blinding green light eminating from behind one of the trees. When the light died down, the predators backed away as a pegasus in a green and black uniform levitated out and landed protectively in front of the chipmunk family.

"If you want them, you will have to go through me." She announced as she glared at them. The timberwolves shared a glance before leaning back and launching themselves at Fluttershy. The pegasus knew exactly what to do. She summoned two boxing gloves out of her ring which sprang forward and knocked the creatures several meters away.

Having never witnessed such an attack before, the Timberwolves were obviously very surprised but they quickly got over their shock. They managed to land on their feet and immediately leaped to attack. Fluttershy managed to rescue the critters by surrounding them with an energy bubble and levitation them on top of a tree before continuing the fight.

She flew back just before the Timberwolves closed their jaws around her body. She created a giant hammer construct and smashed one of them to pieces before turning to do the same to the other one, but it saw what happened to it's packmate and jumped back in time to avoid it, giving just enough time for the smashed wolf to reassemble itself.

The two wolves then split up. One jumped to Fluttershy's left side and the other to her right. Fluttershy cursed under her breath. They tried to get her to divide her attention so if she focused it on one of them, the other could catch her off guard. She needed to tie this up quickly.

An idea suddenly hit her. It was a long shot at best but it could at least even the odds. She summoned a green silhouette version of herself and sent it to confront the wolf on her left. Two against two were much fairer. However, this still presented a problem. She would have to face the other wolf without her ring. No matter. At least those physical exercises for Oa won't be for nothing.

The green construct Fluttershy was handling her own Timberwolf just fine, but the real Fluttershy still had to find a way to take out her own opponent. No matter how strong she became, handling a full grown Timberwolf with her bare hooves was just not going to happen.

But it didn't need to. A plan was already formulating in Fluttershy's mind and all she needed to do was keep her distance from the Timberwolf until she eas ready to put into motion. That was easier said than done though. She couldn't use her ring to fly because she needed to keep up her construct clone to keep the other wolf occupied. She was back on Equus so she could use her wings but even with her extra training, they were still less effective than her willpower.

Still, she was able to keep herself away from the beast and she could see from the corner of her eyes that her construct clone was quite efficiently beating the other wolf into submission. The wolf was becoming tired and disoriented which let Fluttershy knew the time was near.

The construct clone delivered one last mighty punch into the wolf's maw, making the beast stumble back. Fluttershy quickly made it grab the wolf around it's neck and threw it hard towards her. She then quickly flew up just as her Timberwolf leaped forward and the two crashed into each other in the air, breaking apart into several wooden pieces, leaving Fluttershy free to check on the chipmunk family on the tree. She was in such a hurry that she didn't even notice the wooden pieces of the Timberwolves beginning to twitch again.

"Are you alright, my little friends?" The chipmunks looked relieved at first, but in a moment, they all cowered back as their expression changed to horror. Fluttershy slowly turned around and her eyes widened in fright when she saw one huge Timberwolf assembled from the parts of both of her vanquished foes.

She flew back, clearly intimidated, but the fearful cry of the chipmunks was the only thing her determination needed to return. As the Timberwolves leaped to attack again, Fluttershy summoned a green bull that charged straight at the monstrosity. Tbe two beings clashed but neither could push back the other. Fluttershy was starting to wear herself out so she was forced to retreat and find a new strategy.

She created a line of buzzsaws on the ground near the giant wolf's paws, but the creature easily jumped over it and leaped at Fluttershy. As the pegasus Lantern saw the oncoming jaws of the predator, she finally deduced a way to end this fight once and for all. She pushed her ring forward and created a woodchipper directly at the bottom of the monster's trajectory. The wolf didn't even have time to whimper in defeat as it realised what was about to happen. It landed right in the chute of the green woodchipper, leaving only sawdust as a proof that it ever existed coming out on the other side.

As Fluttershy the fact of her victory slowly dawned on Fluttershy, her shocked expression turned into a huge grin as she did a quick loop in the air in triumph. This was her first time saving a creature as a Green Lantern. It may not have been a galactic threat, but to her, saving her animal friends was just as much of an accomplished for her. If not more so. She heard cheering and clapping from the tree where the chipmunks were hiding on and turned to see them applauding her performance, making her blush a little.

"Oh... you don't have to applaud me. The fact that you are safe is all the reward I need." She spoke before flying up to them and scooping them up to take them back on the ground.

"Thank you so much, Fluttershy." One of the chipmunks squeaked. The Lantern's eyes widened in both surprise and nervousness. Back on Oa, they taught her that maintaining a secret identity might be preferable to some Lanterns. If these critters could tell it was her so easily, then surely the ponies who knew her would be able to as well. She wasn't sure how she should react and her shyness once again took over.

"I... Uh... I don't know... Uh... I mean... I'm not..." She stuttered, trying to find the right words and convince the critters that it wasn't her, but apparently it didn't really work because they didn't even wait for her to finish. If anything, she ended up giving herself away even more because this nervous, timid behaviour was exactly what the animals were used to from her.

"Oh, before we forget, Paw Tamer has been looking for you. She says you have been missing for over a week so we became very worried. But we're happy to see you are alright."

The mention of her roommate caused Fluttershy to completely give up on trying to cover up her identity from the chipmunks. A new worry took priority in her mind. If Paw Tamer was alone to care for all her animals including Angel Bunny, then she was probably very upset with her. And if it was possible, an angry Paw Tamer scared her even more than a Yellow Lantern Nightmare Moon. She wasted no time and bolted off towards Ponyville, not even bothering to make her Lantern suit disappear. The chipmunks watched her go with curious looks.

"Where do you think she got that ring?" One of them asked.

"I don't know, but I think it's cool. She sure showed those wolves what's what!" Another replied enthusiastically.

"I don't know." The third one said. "Personally, I think green isn't her colour." The chipmunks shared a glance and all shrugged before hopping away.

Fluttershy reached her cottage in record time with the help of her ring. She raised her hoof to open the door but then she noticed that she was still wearing her Lantern uniform. She quickly looked around and sighed in relief when she saw that nopony was seeing her. She quickly changed back to normal and knocked on the door. After a few moments, it opened and she was Paw Tamer whose eyes widened in shock when she saw her.

"Shy! Finally!" She cried before pulling the pegasus into an embrace. When they seperated, Fluttershy noticed several of her animal friends standing in the corner of the room and they all ran to greet her with Angel Bunny leading the charge.

"Oh, my pretties! I missed you so much!" She cried with joy as she embraced them all. It was a blessing to see them again after so long, but it didn't draw her attention away from the fact that she still had to calm her friend down.

"Where in Celestia's name have you been this whole time?!" Paw Tamer demanded once the animals scattered. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? What do you think ponies thought after I told them you disappeared from our cottage after a green explosion from a lantern that fell out of the sky?!"

Fluttershy was completely lost on how she should explain her absence to her friend. She had a feeling that telling her the truth would not exactly work in her favor. 'Well, Paw Tamer, it turns out that the dying alien who fell out of the sky last week was the member of an intergalactic police organisation and his ring which can summon anything that it's wielder imagines chose me as his successor. Oh, and also we believe that Nightmare Moon is about to make a return, armed with a similar ring powered by how much ponies fear her. But otherwise, everything is fine.'
Yeah, that probably would be a lot for her to take in at once.

"Umm... What exactly?" She asked with a nervous smile, trying to sound innocent. But she still knew that Paw Tamer would give her a piece of her mind. And the fact that her friend backed away from the embrace with a dark scowl made that all the more obvious.

"What exactly?!" She roared in anger, making the pegasus shrink back. "At best they thought I was nuts and at worst they assumed I actually had something to do with your disappearance! When I also mentioned that I was knocked out by the explosion, they all just assumed I hit my head and hallucinated everything! You just left me here for over a whole week to take care of everything! Including..." Her eyes then widened as she remembered something and Fluttershy knew the worst was about to come.

"...Including caring for that blasted rabbit of yours! Oh, you owe me big time! Do you have any idea how troublesome it was feeding the little pest without you?! I was very tempted to just give up and leave him to fend for himself!" Surprisingly, this last sentence actually calmed Fluttershy down and she gave her friend a knowing smile.

"You would never do that." She said with one hundred percent conviction, making Paw Tamer raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, wouldn't I? And what makes you think so?"

"Two things. One, when we entered the veterinary school together, you took an oath that you would always help every creature in need." Fluttershy reminded her. Paw Tamer groaned. This was something both Fluttershy and Angel loved taking advantage of.

"Doesn't mean you have to rub it in my face all the time."

"And two, you know that I would never forgive you if you did that. And that's something you couldn't live with."

"You presume a little too much." Paw Tamer replied leaning up muzzle to muzzle with Fluttershy. "In this situation, I think I'm the one who should do the forgiving after all the horseapples you made me go through last week by pissing off. And if you want me to do that, you have some explaining to do! You can start by telling me where you were!"

Fluttershy's mind turned into every possible direction in an attempt to find a good explanation for her friend. She backed away as her nervous smile returned and she lost all of her suddenly gained composure, but she still managed to piece together a cover story.

"Well... You see... After you were knocked out... I ran off to get help and I came across some animals in need of help. And you know how I can be. When I start helping my little friends I get a little carried away. When I was about to get back, I ran into some Timberwolves and I spent the last week hiding from them. I only just finally managed to evade them." Fluttershy finished, praying to the Princess that Paw Tamer would buy it. But judging from her unamused expression, that wasn't the case.

"You know, maybe I would have even bought that if it wasn't for the fact that I asked around in the forest among your animals and they all shook their heads when I asked them if they saw you." She replied angrily. Fluttershy gulped and looked down nervously. Paw Tamer saw how intimidated her friend was and realised she may have gone too far. She softened her expression and tried again.

"Look, Shy! This is not something you can just sweep under the rug! You disappeared for a week after the whole place exploded with green light! I... I was even beginning to think that maybe you were abducted by aliens!"

'Well... that's not completely inaccurate.' Fluttershy thought.

"And it all happened when you put on that ring!" Paw Tamer screamed as she jumped back when she noticed that Fluttershy still had the ring on her wing. "What are you still doing with it, Shy?! That thing is dangerous!"

"No! It's not!" Fluttershy yelled, flying forward and putting her hooves on her friend's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. She realised she won't be able to talk her way out of this one. She'll have to tell Paw Tamer the truth. The earth pony rarely saw her friend so confident, so when she became like this, that meant things were serious.

"Shy, I'm scared! Please tell me what's going on here!" She pleaded. Fluttershy sighed. So much for a secret identity.

"Fine. I'll tell you. But you'll have to promise me you won't tell anypony else!" She demanded.

"Shy, after all the things I've told everypony around town they all thought me kooky. I don't think they'd believe me even if I did." Fluttershy nodded.

"Fair enough." Fluttershy admitted before she turned to walk away towards the door.

"Uh, aren't you gonna tell me?" Paw Tamer asked with a raised eyebrow. Fluttershy turned back with a smile.

"I think it's better if I show you. Wait here, I just need to grab something real quick."

In a few minutes, Fluttershy returned, carrying the same lantern that triggered the green explosion before she disappeared. Obviously, this spooked Paw Tamer as she didn't want a repeat of that incident.

"Shy, what are you doing?!" Fluttershy quickly raised a hoof to silence her friend.

"Please, trust me. You will understand everything in a few minutes." While Paw Tamer still had reservations about it, she did trust Fluttershy so she put her worries aside. Fluttershy quickly charged her ring, Paw Tamer covered her eyes when it touched the lantern, expecting a green explosion again. When it didn't happen, she finally dared herself to open her eyes and saw Fluttershy standing in the middle of the room in her Green Lantern uniform.

"What the... How did you change so quickly?" She asked dumbfounded. Fluttershy just smiled sheepishly.

"Allow me to explain..."

"So let me get this straight." Paw Tamer said once the explanation was done. "That dead alien who fell out of the sky last week was a space cop with a ring that can create anything he imagined. He chose you as his successor and now your new bosses tasked you with stopping Nightmare Moon from awakening with a similar ring just in yellow. Is that everything or is there something I missed?" Fluttershy thought for a moment.

"No. I think that's pretty much it." She waited for Paw Tamer to let everything she just learned sink in.

"Well, I'll be danged. And here I thought our biggest problem this week will be getting the birds ready for the Summer Sun Celebration concert." Her causal reply caught Fluttershy off guard.

"That's it? You believe me?" She asked in surprise. "I thought I might have to at least give you a presentation of how the ring works." Paw Tamer held up a hoof in protest.

"No, thank you. I already saw more than I need to from what that thing can do. Though if you want to maintain an incognito, you might warn to upgrade your costume. That domino mask doesn't do much to hide your identity."

Fluttershy flew in front of a mirror. Paw Tamer was right. The only way ponies won't recognise her is if they didn't know her. Even her manestyle was the same
She's gonna have to come up with something for that.

Right the moment as she thought that, her mask shifted and changed into a helmet with the Green Lantern symbol on it and black lens that completely covered Fluttershy's eyes. Both her and Paw Tamer have been rather surprised by this occurrence.

"Wow!" Was all the earth pony could say in reaction. "That thing really does anything you will." Fluttershy then turned to her friend.

"Well?" She asked, waiting for her judgement, which came in the form of an approving nod.

"That'll do. And as for me believing you, honestly that's a more believable explanation for what happened than the one you first gave. And we have seen far more outlandish magical things here in Equestria. A ring like that is actually mundane in comparison."

"Point taken." Fluttershy admitted matter-of-factly before changing back to normal.

"So what's gonna happen now?" Paw Tamer asked.

"I'm gonna have to dig up everything there is to know about Nightmare Moon if I want to find any way to stop her." She replied. She looked surprisingly determined for her usual self which surprised her friend. She looked happy to see this more confident Fluttershy, but at the same time, she was also concerned.

"Are you sure about this, Shy? I mean, I'm sure that ring packs one hack of a punch, but you're... Well, you're just a veterinarian. No offense, but I have a hard time seeing you suddenly become a space cop. I'm just... Worried about you. That's all." Fluttershy showed no offense at her statement.

"I asked myself that same question several times throughout my training." She replied. "But I learned a lot. I improved myself. I unlocked my full potential as a Lantern and I realise now that the ring makes no mistake in it's choice. And I know why it chose me. It saw that I have the ability to overcome great fear. Yes, it is true. I had great fear in me my whole life. And I may not have been able to overcome it for myself but I've always been able to do it for the sake of others. Especially my friends and family. Now a great danger is threatening both. I have the power to prevent it and that means I can't back down." Paw Tamer saw the passion in Fluttershy's eyes and knew that she won't be able to hold her back. And if she wanted to be honest, she didn't want to.

"Well, I never thought it would take you something of this grand scale to grow a spine, but I'll take it. And I think I can help you with finding out more info on Nightmare Moon." This instantly peaked Fluttershy's interest.

"How?"

"One of my friends in Canterlot told me that there is an increasing interest in the Nightmare Moon story since apparently it's gonna be the 1000th anniversary of the incident this year. But the Royal Library is trying to hide and ban everyt book they have on the subject. The buried them deep in the Palace. They're really trying to cover this thing up. Ironically, they're only making things more suspicious, if you ask me." Fluttershy grew worried when she heard that.

"So then how am I going to find out more about it?" She asked.

"Before the ban took effect, there was on library that bought out a lot of books about the myths and legends of Equestria. Including Nightmare Moon." Fluttershy's eyes lit up with hope.

"What library? Where?"

"The Atheneigh Library in Manehettan."

If it was possible, Fluttershy was even more nervous when she stepped off the train at the Manehattan train station then she was when she first arrived on Oa. The things she heard about this city were not exactly pleasant to say the least. Everypony she talked to described this city as a crime infested cesspool and things only got worse recently.

Organised crime may not have been as prominent as it used to be, but a new class of criminal showed up in it's wake. Just a few weeks ago, a homicidal clown went on a killing spree and attempted to gas the entire city. Not to mention the fearmongering Scarecrow that used to rob jewellery shops and the pony eating sewer dragon.

Of course, she didn't forget that she had an energy ring that can summon into existence literally anything she can imagine, but somehow that still wasn't able to put her nerves at ease. If she were to encounter one of these villains, there were still so many things that could go wrong. Civilians could get hurt, her identity could accidentally get revealed to everypony around, or she could just lose.

She shook her head. No. She shouldn't be thinking like this. Tomar told her she had to take control of her fears if she wants to take on Nightmare Moon and that's exactly what she's gonna do. And if the reputation of this city was anything to go by, it's gonna be a perfect place to star preparing for that.

She took out the map Paw Tamer gave her. It was already marked for her to find the shortest way from the station to the library. She warned him not to take a taxi but go by hoof because, in her words, "even the cab drivers are scum in this city". She didn't like such prejudices but in this city, she was willing to make an exception.

From the station, she would have to find the movie theater. That was hard to miss. The giant board on the top of the building that advertised the premiere of a new movie called "Dread Castle" was visible form a mile away. Especially with the huge "delayed" sign over it.

The next stop would be an old casino called "The Molehill". Fluttershy wanted to get past this building as quickly as possible. It was owned by an infamous crime boss named Verko. From what she heard, he mostly ran his operations from outside of Equestria in a faraway town called Klugetown. So the chances of running into him were slim, but still, she didn't want to spend time around criminals.

When Fluttershy reached the casino, she wanted to just dash past it and get away from it as soon as possible, but something stopped her. Instead of "The Molehill", she saw another sign on the building that said "Closed due to change in management - Grand reopening soon!". This caught her by surprise. She was no business pony, but even she knew that this was probably a very profitable place. She doubted that a big shot crime boss would just sell it.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice two workers heading her way carrying a large crate. They were struggling with it so much that they also didn't notice her and ended up bumping into her and knocking her on the ground, causing her map to fly out of her hooves.

"Oh! Excuse me, ma'am!" One of the workers apologised. Fluttershy got back up and dusted herself off before looking around for the map, but she couldn't find it anywhere. She frowned. How was she supposed to find the library now?

"I should be the one apologising. I wasn't watching where I was going.." She muttered, but the workers just waved it off.

"No harm done." They were about to move on, but suddenly the crate they were carrying started to shake. The worker in the front quickly bucked the crate and Fluttershy could swear she could hear him mutter the phrase "Shut it!". The two earth ponies quickly carried the crate off and loaded it onto a carriage before they got into it and it rode away. Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion.

'Now, what was that about?' She thought. She knew one thing for sure. Crates are not supposed to move on their own. But something, or possibly somepony inside them can make them move. Given the reputation of this place, Fluttershy quickly theorised that those ponies were up to no good. The best case scenario was they were snuggling some animals inside them. And the worst case scenario made the hair on her back stand up.

With her map lost anyway, Fluttershy decided to briefly abandon her research. As the Green Lantern of Sector 1996, it was her responsibility to enforce the law in her sector including her planet. And if she stumbled upon something that could possibly endanger lives, she had to step in. As quickly as she could, she ran after the carriage before it got out of sight.

Fluttershy managed to track it until it rode into the docks where she also saw a few more of the worker ponies wearing the exact same uniform as the ones she was tailing. The dock the carriage rode into appeared to be abandoned safe for a few earth pony workers. She counted four of them. There was only a ruined warehouse building in the background that the carriage stopped in front of.

Fluttershy snuck between the ruins of the warehouse and there, observing the events from behind the remains of a crushed brick wall. The two ponies she saw back at the casino got out of the vehicle and picked up the crate once again before carrying it towards the pier.

"Let's get this over with." One of the workers complained impatiently. "Before anypony shows up."

"Relax!" His partner reassured. "Ever since the clown tore down this place nopony comes here. We'll be fine. Which is more that can be said for this guy." Fluttershy's eyes widened. Her worst fears were confirmed. There was a pony inside that crate.

"So who's this unlucky bastard?" Asked one of the other workers.

"Just another idiot who didn't know when to jump the sinking ship. He refused to ditch Verko. Gotta admire his loyalty but that won't get you far in this business."

The two thugs - as they turned out to be - put the crate down at the end of the pier and broke it open to reveal another earth pony stallion, badly beaten and bruised. They rolled the poor pony out on the pier and stood him up. He gave them a defiant glare.

"Do you... Ugh!" He tried to speak but he had trouble due to the pain. "Do you know what Verko is going to do to you? All of Klugetown will be coming down on you and your boss." He threatened, but to no avail. One of the thugs just slapped him in the face and he ended up falling on the ground.

"Your old boss won't be doing much of anything anymore. Nor will anyone in Klugetown. That shithole belongs to Penguin now." The downed stallion spat into his face.

"Go to Tartarus!"

"I'm afraid you're gonna beat me to that." The thug said as he pulled out a gun and aimed it at the hostage. "The boss tried to be generous with you. He gave you more chances than you deserve. But his patience has run out. You're the last remnant of an old system, buddy. And now we're putting out the old and bringing in the new." This was the moment Fluttershy knew she had to step in.

'Not on my watch, you won't.'

She quickly recited the Green Lantern oath and ignited her ring, changing into her uniform and flew forward as quickly as her willpower allowed her to. The gangsters fired their weapons, but they ended up colliding a green energy shield that this suddenly arrived mare in green put up between them and their would be victim. The beaten pony opened his eyes when he felt none of the shots penetrating his skin and got the surprise of his life when he saw his superpony protector.

"What the hay?!" One of the gangsters asked in shock.

"Did the bat change her costume and her gimmick or something?" Another one wondered, earning an eyeroll from the others.

"This is obviously isn't the bat, you moron!"

"I don't care who she is!" The first one snapped. "Let's show her what happens to those who stick their nose in Penguin's business!" The gangsters all pulled out their guns and emptied their clips on Fluttershy's energy shield until their weapons were only making empty clicks. Fluttershy finally felt it safe to lower her shield and glared at the criminals from behind her helmet.

"You have one chance to walk away." She told them on the most menacing voice she could muster. The gangsters - obviously not knowing who they were facing - did not look intimated.

"I don't think so, lady." One of them responded, stepping forward. "Penguin wants this guy dead. And what Penguin wants, Penguin gets." The gangster then threw a punch at the pegasus, but she easily blocked it. She didn't carry weights around on Oa to be taken out so easily.

"Then you leave me no choice."

Fluttershy summoned a boxing glove construct and punched the gangster away from herself, effectively knocking him out. The others jumped apart in time to avoid it and wasted no time in attacking back. Two more gangsters came rushing at her, attempting the same tactic as the timberwolves did the day before, but this time, she wouldn't allow that to happen. She simply constructed a bat and swiped both of her attackers out of the way, knocking them out.

This fight was going pretty well for her. Half of the enemies were already down, but the other half made a tactical retreat. Fluttershy tried to follow them, but was forced to a halt when she noticed one of them opening another crate and pulling out a rocket launcher.

"Let's see how your little light show measures up against this!" He challenged before pulling the trigger and unleashing a missile. But Fluttershy had just the thing.

"Ask and you shall receive!" She countered as she formed a U shaped pipe in front of herself which sent it straight back at the gangster. The unfortunate earth pony could barely jump out of the way in time but the explosion still knocked him pretty far away.

Once the smoke died down, Fluttershy could see one of the gangsters setting up a gatling gun on the ground. Before she could do anything about it, he started firing at her. Fluttershy managed to create another shield in time but she knew she won't be able to keep it up for long. She flew away to find cover and catch her breath.

When she heard the gunfire die down, she already had a plan to take the weapon out. She flew out and before the gangster could fire again, she constructed plugs which she then sent flying towards the holes of the gun and the plugged all of them. The gun kept rotating but since it was now unable to fire, this could only end one way. The weapon exploded with a small blast that ended up sending the gangster back against some rubble.

There was now only one enemy left in the area but as Fluttershy rotated around to find him, she could see no sign of him. For a moment, she started believing that maybe he gave up and ran off, but she ended up being wrong when she felt somepony grabbing her from behind. One of the gansters apparently figured out that the source of her powers was her ring and was now attempted pull it off her wing. Fluttershy tried to knock him out by bashing the back of her head against his muzzle, but no matter how strong she became on Oa, a pegasus knocking out an earth pony was just not going to happen.

But then she got a better idea. She remembered the weight carrying exercises Kilowog made her do and she thought maybe she wouldn't need her ring to take this guy out. She merely spread out her wings and took off into the air, carrying the gangster with her. It was even easier than she thought. The physical training on Oa was finally paying off. She flew over the water and once the struggling gangster could no longer hold on, he fell plummeting into it.

Fluttershy looked back down at the dock. All the knocked out gangsters were still lying there and the pony they were trying to murder was still sitting at the end of the pier. Apparently, his injuries were too severe for him to run. Fluttershy then looked up and he could see police officers and fireponies rushing towards the scene. Looks like the explosion from the ganster's rocket was enough to get their attention.

She flew a little lower to see if the arrests would be carried out without any issue, but not before surrounding herself with an orb made of green mirrors that reflected the light away from her so that they wouldn't spot her. When she saw that everything was going well, she flew off. This little distraction had brought her one minor gain. She was able to see the library from the air. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she floated towards the park where it was standing in and landed between a few trees where she was sure nopony can see her change back. She peaked out from behind the trees and when she made sure nopony was near, she came out and made her way towards the building.

The inside of Atheneigh Library was really stunning. Fluttershy had never seen a library so vast and well organised. Nor one with so many ponies occupying it at the same time. Almost every table for reading was taken. Fluttershy didn't even know where to start looking for the books she needed. It was ironic. She had witnessed the vastness of the galaxy just a week ago and yet this library made her feel completely lost.

"Excuse me?" Fluttershy turned to see a young purple dragon standing next to her with inquisitive eyes. "Can I help you?" Fluttershy was quite surprised to see a dragon working in a library, but that was unimportant right now.

"Um... Yes, please. I'm looking for books on the legends and myths of Equestria." The dragon nodded.

"Anything in particular?" Fluttershy was reluctant to clarify. She didn't want to seem like a superstitious nutjob, but eventually realised she had no choice.

"Nightmare Moon." The dragon did not seem to judge her and merely nodded again before motioning for her to follow him.

"This way please." As the two were making their way between the bookshelves, Fluttershy couldn't help but wonder how a creature this young was already working in a library.

"Pardon me, but you seem a little young to be running this library by yourself." The dragon just gave her a soft smile in return.

"I don't. I'm just a librarian. The place is owned by my caretaker actually, Twilight Sparkle. But she is... occupied right now." He then stopped and stared ahead of himself as if he just realised something. "Hmph. At times like this, I guess I do actually run the place. But it's not that bad. I have been Ms. Sparkle's assistant since I could walk and she was always a very studious mare. I lost count on how many times we reshelved the library in Canterlot with her. Oh, look, here we are!" The dragon stopped and pointed at a bookshelf to their right. He quickly climbed the ladder and quickly returned with a thick, dark purple book. "Here. This book contains everything there is to know about the legend of Nightmare Moon. That seems to be a very popular topic these days so I placed markers on those pages."

"Thank you." Fluttershy replied kindly before taking off to find an empty table.

"If you need anything else just come find me." The dragon told her. "My name is Spike." Fluttershy just nodded with a smile and sat down at the table. She opened the book right at the marked pages, pulled out a quill and a parchment from her saddlebag and began to copy the parts of the book that she found the most important.

While she never personally indulged much in the story of Nightmare Moon, she didn't really find anything she didn't already know. She was the former princess of the night who got corrupted by an evil spirit who took advantage by her jealousy and bitterness towards Princess Celestia, she was worshipped by a group of enigmatic night dwelling creatures called Thestrals and she had her own elite task force called the Shadowbolts.

Fluttershy groaned in frustration. None of this was getting her closer to her goal. Nightmare Moon was about to make a comeback and she had to find a way to prevent it. And she still had no idea how. She extended her research to everything related to Nightmare Moon. Aliconrs, Thestrals, the Shadowbolts, but none of them provided anything useful either.

By the time Fluttershy reread the story of Nightmare Moon and her uprising against Celestia for like the hundredth time, it was already beginning to get dark. She was afraid the library would close soon. Not to mention she was getting tired. Of course, her job was far too important to just fall asleep but if she was completely exhausted, she wouldn't be able to perform her duty properly.

She looked over the books still spread wide open in front of her across the table. She already went through all of them. She doubted she would find anything she missed if she did it again. She then took a look at her notes. Maybe if she went through those instead, it would be easier for her to find something useful. Though the notes didn't exactly contain anything new either.

Princess of the Night, Nightmare spirit, uprising, eternal night, Shadowbolts, Elements of Harmony, banishment to the moon, vow to return on the one thousandth anniversary of her defeat. The exhaustion suddenly jumped out of Fluttershy's eyes as she reread that last line. She remembered something Paw Tamer told her earlier that day.

'There is an increasing interest in the Nightmare Moon story since apparently it's gonna be the one thousandth anniversary of the incident this year.'

Panic spread throughout Fluttershy's entire being. It all made sense now. Nightmare Moon swore that she would return on the one thousandth anniversary of her defeat which was marked by the Summer Sun celebration next week. The Princess knew. And if anypony would fear that creature it would be her. The one who faced her before.

And of course, the fear of the mightiest creature in the land would be more than enough to attract a yellow power ring. Time was running out, but Fluttershy finally managed to figure out what she had to do. Princess Celestia. She is the only one who can help her. She had to talk to her as quickly as possible! She was about to get up and bolt out of the library when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me, miss? The library is closing." Fluttershy looked up to see a purple pony with matching purple mane looking down at her. She quickly gathered her noted and placed them inside her saddlebag.

"That's okay. I was just done anyway." She replied. As the two ponies made their way towards the exit, Fluttershy noticed a folded newspaper under the mare's belt. She narrowed her eyes to make out the headline which read: "Dread Castle killing spree continues! Third actor of remake found murdered! Police suspects actress of the original film!"

Fluttershy frowned. Dread Castle? Wasn't that the movie that was delayed according to that sign on the movie theater? Was this the reason it was delayed? Because the actors were getting murdered? That was horrible! She could only hope the killer would be caught soon. But she had more important things to worry about right now.

When the two reached the door, Spike the librarian dragon approached them.

"Twilight! Has your..." He then noticed Fluttershy still standing next to the library owner ans suddenly his tone became more cautious. "...research today been productive?"

"Fairly." Twilight replied before opening the door for Fluttershy. "Goodbye! Thank you for visiting the Atheneigh Library! Come back soon!" Her tone was nothing but warm and friendly, but for some reason, it still made Fluttershy feel like she had overstayed her welcome. No matter. She had a train to catch back to Canterlot anyway.

"Thank you. Goodnight!" She replied with the same smile before walking out into the night. She was in such a hurry that she didn't even hear the door being closed and locked behind her.

A few minutes earlier in Canterlot, Princess Celestia sighed for the umpteenth time that day. She had just finished her work for the day by signing the last document from the mountain of paperwork she was forced to deal with. Though after all the meetings with the petty and short-sighted nobels, the paperwork in the quiet solitude of her private chambers was almost a blessing.

Solitude. That was a word she knew all too well. For she had been experiencing it for almost a millenia. It will be the thousandth anniversary of the day since she defeated her sister and was forced to banish her to the moon. A thousand years since she had no companion as the immortal ruler of Equestria. For ponies, the anniversary of that event was a joyous festival they knew as the Summer Sun Celebration. But to her, there couldn't have been a more miserable day in the year.

No day passed without that event haunting her. Or without her missing her sister and trying to come up with a way to get her back. But that would be impossible without the Elements of Harmony. When she first met that talented little unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, she thought... no, she knew that she would be the one to be worthy to wield one of the elements and unite the other five to save her sister. And maybe that would have been the case, if Celestia didn't end up being an ignorant fool once more and throw her beloved student over to her enemies, forcing her to save her and losing her horn in the process.

That was perhaps the second most regretted day of her existence. When Twilight looked up at her with that scornful look and pretty much cut Celestia completely out of her life, blaming her for losing everything she had worked in her life - and rightfully so - Celestia felt like she wanted to join her sister in her exile on the moon. Once again she had lost the pony most important to her.

And even though Twilight completely cut ties with her, she couldn't bring herself to do the same. She has always known what was going on with her student. Mostly from Spike. How she moved to Manehattan and became a librarian, how she got engaged to a very sophisticated unicorn and how she lost him, and how she's been leading the Atheneigh Library by herself ever since. Well, not completely alone. Celestia would still support her once faithful student. She had sent several donations for that library. Anonimously of course. If Twilight knew who they came from, she never would have accepted them. At least this way, Celestia could still feel herself part of Twilight's life.

The princess placed her quill down on her desk and leaned back in her chair. There was nothing she wanted more than to give in to the tempting calls of her bed, but the work of a Princess was never done. Just when she put down her quill, there was a knock on her door and when she gave the knocker permission to enter, one of her guards came in and Celestia already knew what he wanted.

"Your highness, it is time to raise the moon." Celestia sighed again before nodding and following the guard to the balcony. Raising the moon was another painful reminder of her sister's absence as that was originally her task. And every time Celestia did it in her place, she was forced to endure the glare of her silhouette in the celestial body.

Only one thing kept Celestia going. The knowledge that it was soon time to reunite with her sister. Not under the most ideal circumstances, but still she would take it. With Twilight no longer being an option, only she would be capable enough to Wield the Elements of Harmony in an attempt to purify her sister. She knew it was unlikely to work, but if there was any chance that she could save her from the grasp of the spirit that corrupted her mind, even the slightest, she would take it.

'Soon, Luna.' She thought to herself. 'Soon we will meet again.'

Unbeknownst to Celestia, that soon was going to be even sooner than she expected.

On the surface of the moon, the silence of space was interrupted by loud crackling noises that echoed all throughout it's mountains and craters. An entity has finally awakened. An entity fueled by the fear of others and it's own ambitions. It finally had the strength to escape. Even sooner than it had expected. How? It had no idea, but it wasn't about to complain.

But she wasn't free just yet. It needed one final push to achieve the strength it needed to break free of it's shackles. And it already knew how to do it. Words were flowing in it's mind. Words it had never heard before but now made perfect sense to it. All it needed to do was recite them.

'In blackest day, in brightest night,
Beware your fears made into light!
Let those who try and stop what's right
Burn like my power - NIGHTMARE MOON'S MIGHT!'

Fluttershy looked up at the moon that was already high in the sky. The silhouette of the Mare in the Moon glared down at her just as menacingly as it had always done. She sighed and was about to turn away but then she noticed something. She looked back at the moon and her eyes widened when she noticed the dark shape of a pony's head completely glowing up with yellow light. Terror completely overtook Fluttershy's face as the light began to sparkle all around the moon and suddenly shot out of it in a yellow lightning, striking exactly at where Canterlot was supposed to be.

Scratch the train, she needed to get back to Canterlot as quickly as possible. And there was only one way for her to do that. Not even bothering to check if there was anypony around, Fluttershy ran forward and quickly transformed into her Lantern uniform and took off towards the capital at lightning speed.

Princess Celestia and her guards have all jumped in shock as lightning hit the balcony they were standing on. The princess was the first one who dared to open her eyes and when she caught a glimpse of what was standing in front of her, she couldn't believe them.

'No. No! It's not possible! It's too early! This cannot be!'

But it was true. In front of her was standing none other than Nightmare Moon herself, but she somehow looked different. Her jet black fur was exactly the same as it was a thousand years ago, but the purple armor she was wearing back then was now yellow and instead of the crescent moon on her chest, she was wearing a new symbol. A symbol bearing the same insignia as the ring that was now glowing around her horn.

The eyes of the princess of the night snapped open and they immediately met with the shocked, unbelieving gaze of her older sister. She flashed a wicked grin, displaying her razor sharp teeth and the mad bloodlust in her eyes.

"Hello, sister. Did you miss me?"

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #5: Green Lantern's Light

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"Hello, sister. Did you miss me?"

Celestia stared in wide eyed terror at the literal nightmare come true standing in front of her, her eyes alit with the same spite and malice they did a thousand years ago. And yet, there was something new in them as well. Something Celestia couldn't quite identify but could immediately tell that it was just as malevolent and dangerous as anything else this mare had to offer. If not more so. It was a sharp yellow light that emanated fear and danger from the dark alicorn's eyes. If Celestia wasn't an alicorn herself, she would have easily been intimidated into submission.

But she couldn't allow that to happen. She was Princess Celestia, ruler and defender of Equestria. She couldn't allow herself to show fear in the face of any danger threatening her little ponies. She faced this monster a thousand years ago, she will do it again if she had to. But she was at a disadvantage. She had prepared the Elements of Harmony and hidden them away, ready to use them once again against her fallen sister, but she didn't expect that occasion to take place prematurely. And now she had to get to them through her.

"How... How did you escape?" She stammered once she got over her shock. "It isn't time yet." Nightmare Moon's smirk only widened in response.

"Fear is an even more powerful weapon than I realised. It summoned me a little help from beyond the stars." She boasted as she lit up the ring around her horn. "Though I must admit, you have done well trying to cover up my story as a mere legend. It prevented ponies from fearing me as much as they should. But even legends are capable of sparking fear in the hearts of many. And with the help of this, I am more powerful than ever! Allow me to demonstrate!"

Nightmare Moon approached her sister with her ring shining bright, but before she could do anything, one of the guards jumped between the two alicorns with his spear aimed high, right into the Yellow Lantern's muzzle.

"Back off, beast! You will not hurt the princess!" Nightmare Moon actually backed away one step. She matched the guard's steely gaze with an unreasonable expression before it turned into an light smile.

"Impressive. To throw yourself between your princess and a legendary threat, a literal nightmare, ready to fight a hopeless fight. You truly are worthy of the Royal Guard. But let's see what happens when a big, strong stallion such as yourself is faced with his greatest fear!" Her horn then lit up as she narrowed her eyes at the stallion in concentration. When she was finished, her smile turned into an unimpressed look.

"Really? That is your greatest fear? Alright then. Let's see if you maintain your bravado in it's face as well as you do in mine!" The purple glow of her horn then ceased and it was followed by the yellow glow of the ring on it and everypony jumped back as a huge, yellow dragon suddenly materialised in front of them.

But none of them jumped higher than the bold guard who threatened Nightmare Moon. As the dragon glared down at him and let out a deafening roar, the poor stallion was forced to relive how one of these creatures torched his parents in front of his eyes when he was but a foal. That was a memory he never could let go of, however, he was done fearing it.

With courageous will worthy of a Green Lantern, the guard raised his spear and stabbed the construct dragon in the chest, making it explode into billions of yellow fragments before pointing his weapon back at Nightmare Moon, whose expression was surprised but once again impressed.

"I have clearly underestimated you, young stallion. A mistake I will not make twice." She was done playing games with this colt. She summoned a yellow dagger and aimed at the guard's heart. The stallion attempted to block, but the alicorn was too fast for him. He could only manage to scour the dagger construct, but it was enough to divert it and contact his armor instead. It didn't stab him but it was enough to knock him back on the floor. The other guards and Celestia could only stare in terror.

"What magic is this?" Celestia whispered in horrified disbelief, causing Nightmare Moon's smirk to return.

"This is the power of fear!" She bellowed before making a dash at Celestia, but once again, the princess' guards jumped between her and the attacker, making the dark alicorn stumble back.

"Go, your highness! We'll keep her occupied!" One of them cried out to her. At first, Celestia wanted to refuse. She didn't want to leave her guards fighting a battle they had no hope of winning. The very thought of throwing away their lives to save herself made her sick to her stomach, but then she remembered what was at stake. If she didn't get to the Elements of Harmony in time, Equestria will succumb to her fallen sister and to Eternal Night.

As much as she hated to admit it, these guards took an oath to protect her and Equestria even at the cost of their lives. As did she. And if her duty required her to leave them while they performed theirs, then with a heavy heart, she had to carry it out. She closed her eyes in painful resignation and turned to run. Nightmare Moon did not give chase. She knew exactly where she was going. To get the Elements of Harmony. She knew exactly where they were. She'll follow her after she was finished with these foals.

She lit up her horn again to scan the guards' minds for their greatest fears. Once she learned of them, it will be all too easy to make them submit to her. With a demonic smirk, she trapped one of the guards inside a yellow energy bubble that was quickly filling up with water. The guard quickly lost her composure as memories about nearly drowning as a colt came back, but he couldn't allow this to break him.

He reached for his spear to break out of the bubble but the water was already too high up. He couldn't summon enough force to do so. Fortunately for him, his comrades managed to break the construct together and free him, but he was now too exhausted to keep fighting. The three remaining guards had to carry on without him.

One of them became so enraged that he charged at Nightmare Moon without thinking, giving her the chance to focus all of her attention to him. A yellow tornado burst straight out of her ring heading towards the pegasus guard. Having already been caught in one of these before and getting almost crippled for life afterwards, he was intimidated enough to lose his focus and feed the alicorn enough fear to make her construct powerful enough to pick him up and throw him around the room.

The two remaining guards attacked the alicorn from both sides, forcing her to abandon her tornado construct and take off into the air. Only one of the remaining guards was a pegasus to follow her into the air so she could focus all of her attention on him. As he flew towards her, she summoned several yellow vines out of her ring that grabbed the guard around his limbs and his wings and the more he struggled, the tighter they became. The guard was suddenly reminded of the time he was caught up with the sentient vines of an evil sorcerer which almost tore off his wings. That memory fed enough fear to the alicorn to make her vines unbreakable and she slammed the struggling pegasus into the ground.

She then flew back onto the ground to face the last remaining guard. As the earth pony was about to charge at her with his spear, Nightmare Moon summoned a train construct, speeding towards the stallion. The memory of a train almost hitting his foals a few years ago was all it took to paralyse him with fear. When the train was only inches away from him, it dematerialise in front of him and reveal Nightmare Moon flying at him and knocking him out.

Victorious over the five guards, the dark alicorn made her way towards the corridor, leaving the defeated stallions moaning in pain on the floor. She had no intention to kill them. She had no intention to kill anypony. Why would she? Soon, they were all going to learn to worship her and her eternal night. Because they won't have a choice.

She flew as fast as her willpower allowed to. Even if she was Wonderbolts material, which she was not, she wouldn't have gotten there nearly as fast if she used her wings. But still, she felt like she wasn't fast enough. And by the time she reached Canterlot Castle, she saw that her feelings were correct.

The balcony that the Princess was standing on when she lowered the sun and raised the moon was in shambles and random bursts of yellow light were visible inside the castle. That erased the last shadow of doubt. Nightmare Moon had returned and she had become a Yellow Lantern. And if that was the case, Fluttershy was the only one who could stop her.

She felt the familiar taint of fear return. Nightmare Moon herself was the most terrifying creature she could imagine. If she had a power ring similar to hers... she shuddered to even think about it. But she couldn't let that slow her down. There were ponies inside that castle who needed her help. She couldn't let them down and that was all the encouragement she needed.

But before she was about to enter the castle, she looked down and saw something peculiar. Running down the stairs of the castle and into the city at top speed was Princess Celestia herself. She raised an eyebrow. Princess Celestia was the most powerful being in the land. She had faced Nightmare Moon before and triumphed. Why would she run away from her?

As much as she wanted to help the ponies inside, her mission was to seek out the princess and inform her of the imminent danger. Looks like tbat was no longer necessary. But still, if there was anypony who could help her against the Nightmare, it would be her. Making her choice, she flew down to follow the alicorn.

"Princess Celestia!" The Princess didn't want to stop or even slow down, but when she turned around and saw the pony who called out to her, she became completely dumbstruck and her entire body shut down.

The pony floating in front of her was emanating the same aura as her wicked sister had a few minutes before, only this was green instead of yellow and she was wearing a different symbol on her chest. She also immediately spotted the ring on her wing and having one of them used against her very recently, she understandably became alarmed.

"Back off, assassin!" Celestia shouted as she backed away, igniting her horn. Fluttershy flew back a little, raising her hoof in defense.

"No, wait! You misunderstand! I'm here to help!" The princess however wasn't convinced.

"I find that hard to believe! I was just attacked by a pony like you!" Fluttershy slowly floated down on the ground and deactivated her ring to demonstrate her lack of hostile intention.

"Please, your highness! I know all about Nightmare Moon's attack, but..." Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as it only served to increase Celestia's anger.

"How?! I didn't see you there! The only way you can know about it is directly from her!"

"No, Princess! Please, let me explain!" Fluttershy begged. Upon seeing the desperation on the face of the pegasus, Celestia's demeanor did soften somewhat, but she was still suspicious enough to keep her horn ignited and aimed at Fluttershy.

"Talk! But make it quick!" The princess demanded.

"I have been studying Nightmare Moon for a while. I had good reasons to believe that she was about to return. That ring she used against you is powered by the fear others have for her. Several of those have been sighted around the galaxy, searching for wielders and I knew it could only be her from this world!"

To Celestia, it sounded like this pegasus was completely mad. She was talking about rings powered by fear from over the galaxy? Ponies haven't even discovered space travel yet! How could this one little pony have seen what's out there? But then she remembered her sister mentioning how she got help from beyond the stars and the rest of her story seemed to be adding up with what she had seen. When the princess's horn stopped glowing, Fluttershy took it as a good sign to continue.

"I was on a mission to prevent Nightmare Moon's return. But I guess that ship has sailed. Now I will have to do everything within my power to stop her. You have done it once, Princess. I know you can do it again. But now that she is armed with a ring similar to mine, you're going to need my help!" Fluttershy insisted, praying that Celestia will listen to her. The Princess eyed here suspiciously. She still hasn't done anything to win her trust. But if what she said about those rings was true, than she was really going to need somepony who has experience with them. Reluctantly, she was forced to give in.

"I have no time to argue. Fine, you shall accompany me to retrieve what I need to put an end to this literal Nightmare. But I want to hear an explanation on these rings in the meantime." Fluttershy nodded.

"I will answer to the best of my knowledge, Princess."

"Then let us not delay. We have already wasted too much time with this conversation." She continued running and Fluttershy reignited her ring to join her.

"What about the ponies left in the castle?" She asked the princess in concern.

"I ordered all available guards to evacuate the castle and the city. There is nopony left there who needs help!" Fluttershy sighed in relief. That meant she could focus all of her attention on Nightmare Moon.

"Where exactly are we heading, Princess?" Fluttershy asked. Celestia just kept running and she was in such a hurry that she answered without even looking back.

"The Everfree Forest."

As she entered the castle, Nightmare Moon attempted to locate the place where her sister kept those accursed Elements that sealed her defeat a millenia ago. She eventually stumbled upon a pair of doors that looked majestic enough that they could have only concealed Celestia's bedchambers. As she stepped closer to it, she was surprised to see that the doors were still closed. She frowned in confusion. Her sister hasn't unlocked it already? Why wouldn't she? Unless...

Nightmare Moon blasted the doors open and marched inside. She spent the several minutes thrashing the room in search but was eventually forced to realise that the Elements were not there. An enraged scream burst out from her throat. That damnable sister of hers hid the Elements somewhere else, no doubt knowing she would turn the entire castle upside down to find them before her. No matter. She wouldn't be able to find them in time, but she had ponies who would.

She returned to the balcony and used her magic to summon a signal to the sky. A signal that looked exactly like her silhouette when she was still trapped inside the moon. This would serve two purpose. First, the ponies ignorant of her return would learn of it and start to panic, feeding her their sweet, delicious fear. Secondly, the ponies she wished to enlist would know it's meaning and rush to her side.

Nightmare Moon took flight and took off into the direction of the Everfree Forest. A place she knew what she was about to do would not be interrupted. A few minutes later when she landed between the trees, she was pleased to see that the ponies she summoned were already waiting for her. A group pegasi dressed in dark uniforms with yellow lightning bolts across them were lined up in front of her who all bowed upon the arrival of their mistress, much to her satisfaction.

"Greetings, my friends!" She called out to them as they stood up to heed her. "Ten generations ago, your ancestors aided me in removing my sister from her throne and bring about the glorious eternal night! I am pleased to see they kept their legacy going! Now you stand before me as they did a millenia ago. Ready to carry on where they left off. My Shadowbolts, fly out and bring me the Elements of Harmony! They were the key to my last time and if my sister recovers them, they could be once more. Find them! And if my sister has found them already, alert me immediately! Only I can stand against her. Now go!"

The Shadowbolts spread their wings in unison and took off into the night sky. Nightmare Moon watched them leave with a smirk. They were the fastest flyers of the night. If anypony can locate the Elements, it was them. After they departed, she turned around and headed deeper into the forest. She knew the perfect place to make preparations for her triumphant return.

"So if I understood you correctly, you are a member of an intergalactic police force whose members are equipped with a ring powered by their willpower that can create anything they can imagine. While Nightmare Moon has attracted a ring similar in nature that is powered by how much ponies fear her." Celestia summed up as she and Fluttershy made their way through the Everfree.

"In a nutshell." Fluttershy responded. The princess had taken that in far easier than she expected.

"You do realise how outlandish that sounds, don't you?" Celestia asked, still sounding rather sceptical.

"Does it sound anymore outlandish than a princess being selead inside the moon for a millenia by magical gemstones?" Fluttershy asked with uncharacteristic sass. Celestia had no retort to that comeback.

"Fair point, I suppose." The princess conceded to the argument.

"How much further?" Fluttershy asked. They have been traveling through the forest for quite some time and yet she still didn't see anyplace that would have made a suitable place to hide the Elements. Before Celestia could respond however, she abruptly stopped moving and signaled for Fluttershy to do the same.

"What's wrong?" Celestia didn't respond. She merely ran under one of the trees, pulling Fluttershy along with her. The two ponies then looked up at the sky and saw a huge group of pegasi flying past them. Celestia narrowed her eyes.

"Shadowbolts." She snarled, much to Fluttershy's surprise.

"Nightmare Moon's elite task force?! But how?! They operated a millenia ago with her!"

"They kept this bad tradition running in their families. Despite my best effort to eradicate them." Celestia explained. "No doubt they have been sent to look for the Elements. As I predicted, she never would have expected them to be hidden right here." They waited until the last of the Shadowbolts were out of sight before continuing their way.

Eventually, the pair found their path blocked by a heavy undergrowth. As they approached it, they were startled when the plants began to reach out for them, forcing them to jump back.

"Sentient overgrowth." Fluttershy sighed. "Only in the Everfree."

"We will have to get through this." Celestia stated. "It seems unlikely we will be able to do so without magic. But I need all of my magic to wield the Elements. They require great power to activate." Fluttershy smiled to herself. She finally had the perfect opportunity to show Princess the usefulness of her ring.

"Please, stand back, Princess!" She requested as she stepped forward. "You know what they say, where there's a will, there's a way." Fluttershy then created a chainsaw construct and began to mow down the undergrowth, creating a path where they could pass through safely.

"Remarkable." Celestia noted. Fluttershy merely smiled in response, happy that she finally managed to gain her approval. "Although I must say, it would have been unnecessary had I been able to use my magic." She quickly added, breaking down Fluttershy's enthusiasm.

The next obstacle in the duo's path was a chasm separating them from the other side, but for two ponies with wings, this was an easy obstacle to overcome. In the background, Fluttershy could make out the remains of a ruined castle. And when she saw Celestia making her way towards it with determined steps, she knew that was their destination.

"I suppose that is where we're going." She guessed, to which Celestia nodded.

"Correct. This is my old castle that I used to share with the Princess of the Night before her fall from grace." She spoke on a somber, painful tone as she looked at the ruins. "I supposed this would be the last place she would suspect I hid the Element. And judging from how the Shadowbolts all left this place, I was correct."

"But that probably also means that Nightmare Moon will be close by." Fluttershy figured. "Let's find the Elements and get out of here." Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Is that fear I'm sensing, Green Lantern?" She asked sarcastically. "I was under the impression that your ring chose you because you had the ability to overcome it." Fluttershy actually felt herself getting offended by that remark.

"You have to have fear to overcome it." She retorted. "Besides, that doesn't mean I won't prefer to avoid it when I have the chance to. If all goes well, you'll be able to retrieve the Elements and put an end to Nightmare Moon's scheme without a fight."

"I wouldn't count on that." Celestia said as the two made their way towards the ruins. "Even a thousand years ago, I could only unleash them at her after a heavy battle. I don't expect her to make things easy for me either."

No more words were exchanged between the two ponies as they reached the gates of the castle. Or what was left of them anyway. Fluttershy was almost reluctant to enter. She half expected the place to come crumbling down on them anytime before remembering that her ring would be able to protect them.

Once inside, Celestia ignited her horn to give them enough light to see where they were going. Fluttershy followed close behind, but the deeper they headed into the castle, the more she started to feel like they were being watched. She tried to chase those thoughts away. She knew the Shadowbolts were long gone and the only alternative was that Nightmare Moon managed to find them and she didn't want to imagine that.

Eventually the pair reached what Fluttershy supposed was the former throne room of the castle. The state of the throne mirrored the current state of what was once a glorious place. Fluttershy had to give the princess credit. If she wanted to hide the Elements of Harmony, this truly was the best place to do so. Nopony would venture this deep into the Everfree, let alone into these ruins.

Celestia walked over to the throne and used her magic to move the throne out of the way. Fluttershy walked up next to her and gasped in awe as she witnessed the six magical gemstones glittering in the floor. Even from this distance, Fluttershy could feel the power within them. She was snapped out of her trance when she heard Celestia sigh next to her.

"Well, here we are again. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use these again myself. But now I have no choice." Before Fluttershy could ask what the Princess meant, she leaned down to retrieve the items, but before she could, a swift shadow flew by in front of the two mares making them step back in surprise. When they looked down again, the Elements were gone.

"What the..." Fluttershy looked around in an attempt to find the stones and when she looked up, she saw several Shadowbolts hovering over them. "But... But how? You all left the forest!" The dark pegasi chuckled.

"Most of us did. We assumed the best way to find the Elements was to find Celestia and follow her to them. And it looks like we had the right idea." One of them gloated. "Thank you very much for leading us to them. Our Mistress will be pleased. Farewell!" And with that, they bolted out of the castle.

"They're getting away!" Celestia panicked. "I'm nowhere near as fast as them! I won't be able to get the Elements back!"

"Don't worry, your highness!" Fluttershy said as she activated her ring and flew up into the air. "Greena Lantern's got this!" She cried out before giving chase.

With the speed her ring gave her, Fluttershy quickly managed to catch up with the Shadowbolts. They almost made it out of the castle, but she knew exactly how to slow them down. She waited until they were at the gates and just as they were about to get out, she pushed her ring forward and created a giant "STOP" sign that covered the entire exit.

The Shadowbolts had no time to react. They all ended up crashing into the sign construct and sliding down on it to the ground. Fluttershy flew up to them to retrieve the Elements, but the stallions recovered far more quickly than she thought.

"Nice trick, kid! But you won't get them back without a fight!" They challenged. Fluttershy just narrowed her eyes and cracked her neck in response.

"If you insist."

Fluttershy quickly created a hose construct with her ring and sprayed the Shadowbolts with water. The dark pegasi did not expect this to be her first attack and she managed to catch them off guard, spraying every last one of them. They weren't hurt but with their wings all wet, they won't be able to fly away for a while and that was exactly what Fluttershy wanted to accomplish.

Before the Shadowbolts could recover, Fluttershy grabbed one of them with a lasso construct and hung him in the air before starting to shake him up and down. This eventually forced one of the Elements to fall out of his uniform, which Fluttershy caught and placed it into her own. One down five more to go.

The other Shadowbolts didn't wait for her to make the first move, two of them immediately threw themselves at her. Fluttershy jumped forward as well, but quickly dived before she made contact with them in the air and flew past under them. She then summoned a pair of hoofcuffs that tied together one of the stallion's right leg with the other's left one. The chain that held them together wrapped around a pole and caused the two Shadowbolts to crash into each other, knocking themselves out.

Fluttershy flew over to them to retrieve the Elements they held, but she left herself vulnerable to the ones that were still standing. One of them took advantage of that and tackled Fluttershy to the ground. He then tried to punch her, but she pulled her head away just in time to avoid it. She then pulled her wing up so her ring was directly under him and launched him into the air with a giant spring construct. She then flew up after him and slammed him back into the ground.

The remaining two Shadowbolts flew up and tried to knock Fluttershy out of the air. They did manage to make her lose control of her flight and the three ponies ended up crashing into the ground right in front of the castle. Fluttershy jumped up and was ready to jump back into the fight, but then she noticed something that frightened her to the core, she lost her ring. She looked around frantically to find and saw it rolling towards the chasm they crossed on the way here. She flew as fast as she could to retrieve it but she was too late. The ring fell into the chasm. Fluttershy looked down but she couldn't saw her ring anywhere. When she looked back up, she saw the two Shadowbolts approaching her menacingly.

"Well, well, well..." One of them taunted. "What are you going to do without your precious ring, little filly?" Fluttershy looked back down at the bottom of the chasm. It was a good question. What was she going to do now? She tried her best to recall Kilowog's training. He taught her how a Green Lantern can handle themselves if they ever lost her ring. She managed to do that once, she'll do it again.

As she looked again, she noticed several branches growing out from the walls of the chasm. That gave her an idea. She looked back at the Shadowbolts with a smug smirk and sprung up and stood upright, spreading out her wings. The Shadowbolts stopped in surprise and jumped back defensively, expecting an attack, but Fluttershy simply allowed her body to fall back into the chasm.

The Shadowbolts jumped after her but they immediately regretted it when they saw what Fluttershy was about to do. As she fell into the chasm, she grabbed two of the branches and pulled them back as far as they could go before letting go of them. The branches sprung back and slammed the two pegasi into the rock wall hard enough to render them unconscious.

Their bodies fell down into the chasm but Fluttershy flew after them and caught them before they hit the ground. After putting them down, she quickly took away the Element gems they were guarding before heading off to look for her ring.

That wasn't going to be easy. She couldn't see the tip of her nose down here. But she suddenly got an idea as she realised that she fortunately won't have to look for them by herself. She flew out of the chasm and put her hooves in front of her mouth before calling out.

"Fireflies, please come out! I need your help!" She didn't even finish the sentence when a huge swarm of small yellow glows gathered around her. The insects all floated around Fluttershy, awaiting her request and eager to help.

"Thank you so much for coming. I need your light to find something at the bottom of this chasm. Please, follow me!" Fluttershy lead the fireflies into the chasm and instructed them to cover the bottom in light. In the illumination of the insects, she quickly found her ring and reinserted it on her wing and flew back at the top of the cliff followed by the fireflies.

"Thank you so much, my little friends! You have been a huge help not only to me but to all of Equestria!" She thanked the fireflies, who just buzzed back at her in delight before scattering. Not wanting to waste anymore time than she already had with the fight, she turned back towards the castle and ran inside.

"Princess! I've got the Elements! We can..." Fluttershy never got to finish that sentence. Before she could retrieve the rest of the Elements from the other Shadowbolts, she was greeted by a horrific sight as she entered the hall of the castle. In front of her, Princess Celestia was being bound by heavy, metallic yellow restraints created by the yellow power ring of Nightmare Moon who was grinning at Fluttershy maniacally.

"Correction, my little pony." She mused tauntingly. "You have half of the Elements." She boasted as she held up the other three Elements in her magic aura before putting them away inside her uniform. "And if you want your beloved Princess to live through this night, you will surrender them to me." Fluttershy quickly overcame her horror and looked into Celestia's eyes. While she couldn't move a muscle, the look she gave the Lantern clearly told her not to comply the villain's demand. But if she didn't, there was no telling what she will do to the Princess. Fluttershy had no idea what to do.

She cast a glance at her ring which glistened in the yellow light the dark alicorn was making and she realised that there was a third option. She could mop the floor with this deranged lunatic! But would she be a match for her? She wasn't sure if her power ring gave her an advantage over an alicorn, but she knew it was lost by the fact that this alicorn also had one.

Fluttershy took a few calming breaths. If there was a time she had to cast away her doubts and control her fear, it was now. The words of both her mentors, Tomar and Kilowog rang through her mind. The former instructed her to keep her fear at bay and the latter showed her how to deal with her ring's universal weakness, the color yellow that Nightmare Moon now wore.

Fortunately, only half of her body was covered in the yellow armor and that gave Fluttershy more than enough space to work with. Her first order of business was to save the princess. She surmised that a surprise attack might force the dark alicorn to lose focus and break her construct. She noticed that her stomach was unprotected by her armor and that gave her an idea.

Fluttershy gave Nightmare Moon her response in the form of a giant green excavator construct right beneath her. The alicorn was distracted by the sound of the drill coming to life and just as Fluttershy predicted, she had to create a shield construct to block it from penetratimg her. Since the shield was yellow, Fluttershy's construct was powerless against it, but it did have the desired effect. Celestia was free, but instead of flying off or joining the fight, she collapsed powerlessly on the ground. Fluttershy assumed that she must have received quite a torture from the dark alicorn. She could only hope she still had enough strength to use the Elements when the time came.

"So you have made your choice." Nightmare Moon snarled once the constructs have disappeared. The alicorn took off into the air and ignited her horn. The pegasus followed suit and she prayed that bet ring had enough power to last through the fight. "Now..." Nightmare Moon mused. "...let's see what you are truly afraid of!" Fluttershy was confused at what she meant and just floated in the air until the alicorn finished scanning her. When the process was done, Nightmare Moon widened her eyes and let out a maniacal laugh which really unnerved Fluttershy.

"I see!" Nightmare Moon bellowed. "You are afraid of many things, but your biggest fear is failure! Failing your country, your princess and most of all, your corps! It seem I won't even need my newfound power to invoke your fear. All I have to do is sweep you away like the insignificant worm that you are!" Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at the the alicorn.

"You're right about one thing." She admitted, looking down shamefully. "I am afraid of a lot of things. Much more things than others. Some of them are small things that no other pony would find scary. Others, like yourself would reduce even the most hardened stallion into a nervous wreck. But you overlook one thing that will ensure your defeat. And that is my will is stronger than my fear. That is why this ring chose me." Nightmare Moon just laughed again.

"Silly little filly. You could have a hundred of those rings and you would never be able to match Nightmare Moon's might!" She yelled before sending out a manticore construct to pounce at Fluttershy, but the Green Lantern flew away just in time to avoid it.

'I don't have to match it. I just have to find a way to remove your ring. Celestia and the Elements will take care of the rest.' Fluttershy thought as she tried to avoid the vicious construct. She won't be able to keep this up for long. She looked around for anything she could use to get past Nightmare Moon's yellow armor and energy and saw a huge white sheet hanging over her on the wall.

Fluttershy summoned a crossbow with her ring and fired an arrow at the chains holding the sheet against the wall. It then fell on top of Nightmare Moon and she was forced to abandon her construct as she struggled to get the sheet off of herself. Reacting quickly, Fluttershy created a green rope and tied the ends of the sheet together and started looking for the alicorn's horn beneath. She eventually managed to find it and summoned a green dagger to cut it open and remove the yellow ring.

But she wasn't fast enough. As she reached for the ring, Nightmare Moon created a buzzsaw around her horn that not only made Fluttershy jump back but cut a big enough hole in the sheet for her to get out. The alicorn then launched a counterattack. She trapped Fluttershy in the exact same yellow restraints she used on Celestia earlier and slammed Fluttershy into the ground with it. The pegasus grunted in pain and when she opened her eyes again, she saw Nightmare Moon towering over her and reaching for her ring.

Fluttershy knew she won't be able to free herself with her ring but as she looked into the alicorn's deranged eyes, she got an idea. She used her ring to summon a lemon of all things right in front of Nightmare Moon's face. The alicorn was befuddled to say the least but when Fluttershy squeezed the lemon construct, it shot it's juice straight into her eyes. The fallen princess screamed in pain as she got off of Fluttershy, leaving the pegasus free to get up.

The alicorn was now infuriated and decided to stop playing around. She summoned a yellow sword and launched herself at Fluttershy with killing intent in her eyes. The Green Lantern could only retreat and she was so shocked by the sudden outburst that she could barely fly back in time to avoid the blade.

Fluttershy knew her ring would be useless against yellow so she had to find something else to fight back. But that wasn't going to be easy considering the blind fury Nightmare Moon was attacking her with. When she finally saw an opening, she used her ring to quickly snatch up the pole that held the sheet to the wall and held it up in front of herself to block the blade.

She managed to do it just in time, but the blade was so sharp that after a few seconds it started to cut through the pole as well. It was already beginning to give away but Fluttershy had to keep pushing back long enough to get the ring. She pushed the pole forward with her wings and reached forward with her hoof, but just before she could touch it, the pole finally snapped and she was forced to dodge sideways to avoid the blade.

Fluttershy flew back again and she found herself backed up against the remains of a brick wall which gave her another idea. She waited for Nightmare Moon to charge for another attack before flying up and allowing the alicorn to crash into the wall. She then created a wrecking ball and smashed it into the wall, bringing it down and covering her adversary in a pile of bricks.

"Let's see how you like this!" Fluttershy yelled as she wrapped the bricks with Nightmare Moon among them up in an energy bubble. The bricks completely covered the alicorn, preventing her from slipping through the bubble. As the bricks kept hitting her all around her body, she started feeling her injuries taking toll. She ached all over her body and she started feeling herself losing consciousness.

Once Fluttershy was certain she's had enough, she made the bubble disappear, allowing Nightmare Moon to fall on the ground and all the bricks falling on top of her, disorientating her further. The dark alicorn moaned in pain as she struggled to get up and that gave Fluttershy just enough time to fly over to her and remove the ring from her horn.

Nightmare Moon's Lantern uniform finally disappeared, causing her to lose the three Elements she had been holding. Fluttershy quickly scooped them up and added them to the others before turning to check on Celestia. The white alicorn finally regains consciousness and slowly got back on her hooves. She started walking into the direction of Fluttershy, but she only took a few steps before falling over with a grunt.

"Princess Celestia!" Fluttershy shouted in concern. She was about to fly next to the princess' side, but she suddenly felt something strike her in the side and push her hard against the wall. She groaned in pain before opening her eyes and seeing Nightmare Moon snarled towering and over her with blood leaking from many wounds all over her body and looking down at her with a look of absolute fury with no semblance of sanity.

"You..." She panted, seething with anger. "You think the fact that you managed to strip me of my ring makes any difference? I am Nightmare Moon! I am the terror of Equestria! I am fear incarnate!" She roared as she ignited her horn and surrounded Fluttershy with her dark purple magical aura. Fluttershy struggled to get three, but it was useless. There was no way she was gonna get out on her own strength.

But she didn't need to. Fluttershy closed her eyes and tried to completely empty her mind. She managed to bring herself to a state of complete serenity. Even as Nightmare Moon continued her evil tirade, she managed to completely block her words out. She didn't hear anything, she didn't see anything and for the first time perhaps in all her life, she was completely calm.

"I am everything you were ever afraid of! I am your worst nightmares come true! I am the ruler of the dreams! You are nothing compared to me! NOTHING!" She screamed as purple mist began to pour out of her horn and surround Fluttershy. But she didn't feel anything of it. She remained motionless in the dark alicorn's gaze as she began to softly speak.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight." She whispered to herself and her ring began to emit a green light that was slowly becoming brighter and brighter. Nightmare Moon either didn't notice it didn't care. All she cared about was completely breaking Fluttershy.

"I will drag you into a nightmare you will never awaken from! I will break your mind beyond your worst imaginations! Fear will consume you!" Fluttershy remained unresponsive and continued to recite the oath.

"Let those who worship evil's might..." The light of her ring kept increasing as the dark mist completely surrounded Fluttershy. Eventually, it became so bright that it managed to pierce through the mist. Nightmare Moon only noticed it when it was already too late for her.

The entire room was suddenly shaken by a huge explosion of green energy that completely obliterated Nightmare Moon's energy and sent her crashing back against the wall. When she looked up again, she saw Fluttershy floating in front of her covered in blinding green light that was so strong it illuminated the entire room. When Fluttershy's eyes snapped open, they were also glowing green, completely pupilless as she glared down at the alicorn.

"BEWARE MY POWER - GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!"

"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" Nightmare Moon cried in disbelief. She didn't even have time to get over her shock as Fluttershy summoned giant green claws from the ground that grabbed the alicorn and pinned her to the floor. She struggled to escape but even her magic wasn't strong enough to break through Fluttershy's constructs. "LET ME GO! I COMMAND YOU!" Fluttershy ignored her and turned back to Celestia who finally managed to get back up..

"Here, Princess!" She yelled as she threw the Elements over to her. Celestia caught them with her magic and flew up into the air. The Elements started glowing with her power as they slowly floated into a circular formation around her.

"It ends here." The princess spoke soberly. The Elements all shot out out different colored magical energy that collided in front of the princess and increased into a giant rainbow colored energy beam that targeted the dark alicorn on the ground. Nightmare Moon could only stare in horror as the beam started descending down on her, eventually striking her with enough power to eredicate Fluttershy's constructs that held her.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" She screamed as the magical energy exploded, forcing Fluttershy and Celestia to block their eyes. When the Green Lantern finally dared to open her eyes again, she looked back at the moon, expecting to see the silhouette of the Mare in the Moon that signaled Nightmare Moon had been returned to her place, but to her shock, it wasn't there. Worry began to overflow her. Did the Elements fail?

"Princess, look at the moon!" She cried in alarm. "Her silhouette isn't there. Does that mean the Elements didn't work?" Celestia didn't even look back at her. She just kept staring down at the ground where the dark alicorn laid just a few moments ago.

"Yes, they did." Celestia replied as her expression grew into a soft smile. Perhaps the first one Fluttershy saw on her that night. "For sending her back to the moon wasn't their purpose this time." Fluttershy didn't understand what she was talking about so she turned her head in the same direction the princess was looking at and saw something that stunned her.

In the place where Nightmare Moon was lying not even a minute ago was another alicorn with dark blue coat and starry, ethereal mane, but what caught Fluttershy's attention the most was her cutie mark. A crescent moon over a black cloud, the exact same as Nightmare Moon's. This mare was the same she just fought, but somehow Fluttershy could feel that she also wasn't. The dark and evil energy Nightmare Moon oozed out of every pore was gone. Fluttershy knew that this mare wasn't Nightmare Moon, but then who was she? Her question was answered when Celestia stepped forward and addressed her.

"Luna, can you hear me?" Fluttershy's jaw almost hit the ground. The dark blue mare slowly raised her head and opened her eyes with a sorrowful look but she refused to look up at Celestia.

"Yes, sister." She replied, on the brink of tears. Fluttershy's jaw almost hit the ground.

"SISTER?!" She screamed, but the alicorns paid her no mind. For Celestia, the only thing that existed right now was the pony in front of her.

"Not a single day has passed where I did not long to have you back, sister." She spoke. "The day where I had to send you away was the worst day of my whole existence. Luna, you are my sister, my only companion in immortality and most importantly, my best friend. Or at least, that was what you once were. Now I'm asking you, will you become my best friend again, sister? Will you accept my friendship?" Luna still refused to look up at Celestia.

"How?" She asked as she finally gave up on trying to hold back her tears. "How can thou forgive us so easily? We tried to murder thou, take over thy kingdom and destroy it just to appease our wounded ego! We wouldn't be surprised if thou hath just sent us back to the moon or thrown us into Tartarus to rot forever!" She sobbed. Celestia knelt down and hugged her with one of her wings.

"I have forgiven you the day after you left, sister. No matter what you did, I would never stop loving you. I would never be able to go through eternity without the possibility of ever having you by my side again. I know it is a weakness and I'm being selfish by not suppressing it, but after dedicating my entire existence to my kingdom and my little ponies, I think I have earned the right to be a little selfish for once." After a few moments of silence, Luna finally met Celestia's gaze.

"Maybe thou can forgive us. Maybe Equestria can as well, though we seriously doubt it, but we don't know if we ever will be able to forgive ourself." She sobbed. Celestia just kept embracing her sister and allowed her to let her sorrow out until she finally cried herself to sleep. Celestia moved her sister's body onto her back and stood up, slowly making her way towards the exit. As she passed Fluttershy, she briefly stopped and looked at her. Even though her eyes were covered by the lens of her helmet, Celestia could see the confusion in them.

"I suppose you have a lot of questions."

"Yes. About a few thousand." She admitted, making Celestia chuckle slightly.

"I will make a public announcement first thing tomorrow. I will clear up everything to all of Equestria. But for now, I just want to be with my sister. I've been missing her for a millennia. Please, understand that." Fluttershy only nodded in response.

"Of course, Princess." Celestia nodded back.

"Thank you, Green Lantern. You have made it possible for me to reunite with her and for that, you have my eternal gratitude. I wonder, is it too much of me to ask you to reveal just who am I owing it to?" She inquired.

"I'm sorry, Princess." Fluttershy shook her head. "I think it is best if I kept that hidden. A Green Lantern has many enemies and while I'm still a rookie, I will no doubt make many in the future."

"I understand." Celestia replied. "Still, if there is anything I can do for you in return, just ask and it will be granted to you as long as it is within my power to grant."

At first, Fluttershy wanted to decline the offer. After all, why should she expect a reward for doing her job? But then she remembered something. Back when she was young, Fluttershy made a huge mistake that cost not only her, but her friend, Paw Tamer her big dream about their own veterinary clinic. Paw Tamer never let her live it down. It was her chamc and to finally make it right. It was for her friend, after all. Well, maybe it was a little bit for herself as well. After all, she would be working there too and she could finally shut Paw Tamer up about it.

"Well, Princess, now that you mention it, there might be something...

The next day, Fluttershy and Paw Tamer entered the empty halls of a veterinary clinic on the outskirts of Trottingham that was now their very own. The doctor working there has retired a few weeks ago and he could never find anypony to take over his office. But when Princess Celestia introduced two fine young mares as aspiring veterinarians, that was all the reference they needed to get his approval.

"This is... perfect!" Paw Tamer exclaimed as she checked out their new workplace. "I still don't dare to believe this is now ours! How did you manage to get the Princess to help us get it?" She asked Fluttershy.

"A little thank you gift for Green Lantern's assistance." The pegasus replied causally. Paw Tamer raised an eyebrow.

"So you told her it was you?" Fluttershy shook her head.

"No. I just said I had some veterinarian friends that need help finding a job. I assured her that they were really good and when she saw our... I mean their academical records, she was more than convinced."

"Well, shucks!" Paw Tamer exclaimed. "I wish I could thank her without drawing suspicion to you. The place still needs a little renovation before we open though. So we better get to it!"

"Umm... Could you start without me?" Fluttershy asked on her usual nervous voice. "I have some things to take care of first." Paw Tamer looked at her in confusion before understanding dawned on her face.

"Oh, you gotta report to your superiors on... uh, what was it's name again?"

"Oa. And yes. They will want to hear about what happened during my first assignment. I promise I'll make it quick." Paw Tamer chuckled.

"Sure. It's just a few lightyears, right? Shouldn't take long." Fluttershy actually laughed as well.

"So... Can you?" She asked. Paw Tamer nodded.

"Sure thing, miss space cop. I mean, after you saved Equestria form eternal night, I think you deserve a day off."

"Thank you." Fluttershy said as she charged her ring and changed into her Lantern uniform. She was about to take off but she suddenly turned back.

"Oh, and Paw Tamer? Did I finally manage to make up for losing our veterinary clinic fund all those years ago?"

"Look around, Shy!" Paw Tamer said, gesturing around herself. "This clinic is better than the one we originally wanted! I think it more than makes up for it."

"Then could you finally stop bringing it up?" Fluttershy asked in exasperation. Paw Tamer feigned confusion.

"Bring what up?"

"What do you mean? The fact that I..." Fluttershy blurted out before realisation hit her. "Oh. Yeah, you're right. I don't remember either." She smiled before heading off.

As she floated towards the stratosphere, she briefly stopped to look back down at the city she was now apart of. A few days ago, she wouldn't have eben imagined that she would make it this far. Not only did she finally have her own clinic with her friend, but she became so much more than she ever dared to imagine. She was now the Green Lantern of Sector 1996. She earned it at last and nopony, no creature would take it away from her. She smiled before blasting off into the sky. Duty called her and she will never shy away from answering again.

Princess Luna was laying on a hospital bed in the infirmary of Canterlot Castle. Her sister had spent the entire night by her side, but eventually she was forced to leave her to attend to her duties for the day.

When Celestia first brought her in last night, everypony was confused to see another alicorn on her back. But when she told them she was her sister, they didn't even raise any questions and just dropped everything before running off to help her.

Luna scoffed. Many would probably feel special upon receiving such a treatment but she knew better. She was the sister of their beloved Celestia and the only reason they pampered her like that was to please her. Once again, the shadow of her sister consumed her.

But there were more important things to worry about. Luna had no idea what she was going to do once she's released from the infirmary. How was she going to regain the trust of her subjects? How was she going to earn their forgiveness? Their love? She was completely alone in a new age of Equestria where she hadn't known anypony. She felt completely lost.

"Excuse me?" Luna looked up to see a nurse standing at the door. "There is somepony who would like to see you, Luna... I mean, Princess Luna." She corrected herself nervously. Luna's ears fell. The nurse's demeanor only served as a reminded of what she would have to expect from the rest of Equestria.

"Who is it?" She asked. Not that it mattered. It was probably just somepony who wanted to yell at her and call her a monster.

"I don't know. He didn't introduce himself. All he said was he is a friend of yours and is concerned about your well-being." Now that caught Luna's attention. She had been banished to the moon for the past millennia. How could she have friends down here? That was not possible. Still, she was curious to see this pony.

"Send him in please." The nurse bowed and left. A few moments later, a brown earth pony stallion with red mane entered the room, gazing at Luna with a warm and affectionate smile that confused the alicorn. She had never seen this stallion before. Why was he claiming to be a friend of hers?

"Who art thou?" Luna asked.

'I'm your friend.' She heard inside her head. Luna jumped in surprise. The stallion just kept smiling at her and didn't even move his lips, but she knew the words came from him. As she kept staring at him in wonder, the stallion's eyes suddenly turned red for a brief second before they shifted back to a normal pony's. Luna was still confused but eventually she started putting things together in her head.

That voice. She knew it all too well. Back on the moon, that was the voice that kept her company. The voice that helped her hold onto whatever sanity she had left. The voice that tried to help her battle the Nightmare's influence. She started weeping tears of joy and let out a huge smile as she recognised her visitor. Maybe she won't be as alone as she thought after all.

"So that's how it happened." Fluttershy finished her report to the Guardians about her first Lantern assignment. The blue skinned aliens remained as stoic as they always were, but Fluttershy could tell that they were pleased.

"A fortunate outcome indeed." One of them said. "We are glad to hear that you have managed to restore stability to your sector, young one. You have done well." Fluttershy smiled at the praise.

"Thank you, Guardians." She bowed respectfully. "What about the other sectors? Did the surges of yellow energy cease?"

"We are afraid the Sinestro Corps' influence will keep lingering across the galaxy as long as there are beings that can instill fear in others." A Guardian replied. "Which is why we decided to reveal the truth about it to the members of our Corps. We have realised the truth behind Kilowog's and Tomar Re's words. Our agents are best suited to face this threat if they know the truth about it." Fluttershy was glad to hear that.

"While you managed to thwart one threat from rising in their name, we must ask you to stay vigilant. Another one can appear anytime." Another Guardian continued. "Did you manage to find and seize the ring that was used against you?" Fluttershy's face fell at that question.

"I looked for it but I was unable to locate it." She answered. "But I will keep my eyes open." This revelation worried the Guardians just as much as it did Fluttershy. As long as that ring was still out there, there was no telling what kind of sinister force may draw it to them. The question was not if it would happen. The question was when. And they could only hope the Green Lantern of Sector 1996 will be ready when that time came.

The tundra region north of Equestria, better known as the Frozen North was completely unremarkable to most ponies. The only ones who would seek it out were treasure hunters looking for ancient artifacts remaining from the legendary Crystal Empire.

There weren't many who believed in it's existence though and even fewer who believed that it was worth freezing to death in an attempt to find and recover any of those artifacts. Little did they know that soon, an artifact of more power than they could ever imagine was about to land there.

The shrieks of the wind and the endless snowfall was interrupted by a yellow light in the sky that burst through the stratosphere and crashed into the frozen wasteland at great speed. It's energy was so radiant that it managed to melt away the snow around, revealing a power battery of the exact same look as a Green Lantern used, only yellow.

The battery was followed by a yellow power ring slowly floating onto the top of it. The battery immediately started recharging the ring with yellow light, but that wasn't the only color that appeared as a result of the process. From beneath the battery, dark shadows started making their way towards the surface...

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #1: The Evil Within

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Long before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have ascended to the throne of Equestria and have been generally accepted as not only the rulers but the deities of Equestria - even if they frequently denied it themselves - ponies held all different kinds of religious beliefs. These were all universally different yet still held some similarities.

Some of them believed that all life on Equus was created by a giant volcano eruption and therefor built temples around volcanos and worshipped them. Others assumed visitors from beyond the stars build their civilisation and looked towards the sky with similar fanatism. And there was one religion that even worshipped a group of beings called the Lords of Chaos and viewed a being named Discord as their messiah. These believers continued to remain even after the princesses rose to power.

But one common trait these religions all shared was the belief of malevolent spirits whose sole purpose of existence was to spread harm and corrupt the inhabitants of this world into abandoning their morals and give in to evil. There were several names for those entities but one name they shared in almost every religion was demon.

As modern scholars kept researching their religions, they were fascinated to discover that there were seven demons that all of them depicted in some form. And even more peculiarly, in all of them, these seven entities all shared the same name, The Seven Deadly Sins.

The first one was Envy. A being who fed on a creature's anger and longing for the possessions and achievements of others and could possess them into committing heinous acts in an attempt to claim them for themselves.

The second one was Lust. This demon could force others to abandon all of their moral restraints and give in to the most basic instinct of any creature, the satiation of carnal desires.

The third one was Gluttony. This creature usually targeted rulers and nobels of societies, giving them insatiable appetites and making them bled their lands dry for all of their resources that can be made into food. Entire lands and kingdoms have fallen because this demon was just as hungry for victims as it made them.

The fourth one was Greed. Any creature could fall victim to the influence of this monster and once they did, no matter what was their most desired thing, the more of them they had, the more of it they wanted and they did not concern themselves on who they had to hurt or what atrocities they bad to commit to get it.

The fifth one was Pride. No creature was immune to this feeling but this demon could increase it to irrational levels inside them, making them do horrible things to those who wound their pride or commit even more horrible things to make sure their pride is unhurt.

The sixth one was Sloth. At first, one would believe that sloth in tself is a harmless quality. But try telling that to the ponies who died or lost everything because the ones they sought help from were too lazy to bother offering it to them.

And lastly, there was the demon that was perhaps the most malicious and most dangerous of them all, Wrath. It was the most destructive of it's brothers and everywhere it went and corrupted creatures, the destruction it left in it's wake was unimaginable. Hundreds of wars, revolutions and violent crimes have been sparked because of this demon's insatiable bloodlust.

The Seven Sins have ravaged the land since the dawn of time, bringing ruin to several civilisations, kingdoms and individual creatures as well, until one day, they suddenly vanished. And the fact that every single religion tells of them made their tale even more credible to many.

Dr. Caballeron was not among those. He has heard the several folk tales and legends that surrounded these entities and he himself also witnessed several outlandish and otherworldly happenings during his time as a treasure hunter. But even after all of that, he could never bring himself to give any credit to stories born of religions.

So why did he come out to the middle of nowhere to take part in the alleged discovery of the chamber where these alleged beings were allegedly prisonerd. To be completely honest, even he wasn't sure. Maybe he just wanted a break from being constantly beaten by that accursed Daring Do to every single archaeological discovery he tried to dig up himself. Much like himself, Daring never had much interest in religious artifacts and he knew she would never bother herself with a story like this, so he thought maybe he could escape the frustration that mare meant for him by coming here.

And who knew? Maybe he wouldn't find the prison of the most evil beings Equestria has ever seen, but he could find something of value down there that could make him rich and famous. He had nothing to lose from trying. Though he had to admit he was at the end of his patience by the guide of his crew.

The mare who lead them to the entrance of the cavern they were about to explore was none the wiser about their true intentions and believed them to be a group of priests who came to help them exorcise the demons from this place. While they were supposed to be imprisoned down there, their influence was still powerful enough to affect nearby settlements. In fact, that was how they managed to find the chamber in the first place. By tracking the demonic influence to it's source.

"Father Caballeron!" The aqua blue pegasus mare with matching mane greeted the earth pony stallion as he arrived at the entrance of the cave they were supposed to investigate. "We are so happy you could make it!" Caballeron feigned a warm smile.

"Of course, my child. Nothing can take priority over our fight against the forces of evil." He replied on a faux sweet voice. "Now would you please show us to the chamber?"

"Of course!" The mare replied with a smile. "This way please!"

The ponies entered the cave and descended down on a lengthy set of stairs. Since they didn't have a unicorn in their group, they had to use a torch to light their way. In the light of the flame, Caballeron could make out a few murals in the walls depicting the misdeeds of all the sins such as Gluttony consuming everything around it, Sloth lazing on the backs of several creatures and Pride standing on a pedestal, placing itself above every creature and looking down on them.

"I take it this cavern isn't a natural creation then." He asked their guide as they arrived at the bottom of the stairs.

"We were just as surprised." The mare replied. "We have no idea who built this chamber. On the inside there are even more murals but we have been unable to deduce their meanings. And to be honest, the statues are far more fascinating." This last bit caught Caballeron's interest. Statutes sounded like they could be of some value.

He shared an eager glance with his crew as they approached the entrance of the chamber. It was a rather large pair of stone gates with a lightning symbol on it. It was already slightly ajar which he found rather strange.

"Isn't it risky leaving the gates open like that? Somepony could sneak inside and take the statues before us." The mare gave him an odd look and he suddenly remembered that he broke character. "I mean... the evil energy could escape." He corrected himself nervously. Fortunately for him, the mare didn't become suspicious and merely smiled again.

"Yes, we know. But the gates have been sealed shut by very powerful magical energy when we discovered them. We needed the combined might of the best unicorn images in our village to pry them open. We didn't want to risk getting them shut again." Caballeron nodded in understanding as the ponies entered the chamber.

The inside of the place looked exactly like Caballeron expected. A dark, dusty room only illuminated by their torch and held up by old stone columns that had several pieces of them missing.

"I can't see a thing down here." Caballeron said. "Where exactly are these statues?"

"At the end of the chamber." The mare replied. "Follow me." As she lead the stallions to the other side of the room, Caballeron could see more murals on the wall. They depicted the Seven Sins surrounded by seven ponies who looked like they were wearing robes and had staffs in their hooves. They formed a circle around the Sins and pointed their staffs at them, realising lightning that engulfed the demons whose faces showed agony. Before he could give the drawing any thought, he bumped into the mare in front of him.

"There they are, Father." She said as she pointed at the wall in front of them. Caballeron looked up and in the torchlight, he finally saw them. Seven statues of demonic equine creatures were lined up in front of him. She asked the mare to pass over the torch and went closer to get a better look at them.

The first in the row was a demon that looked like a mare with a seductive look on her face and one hoof held out in a beckoning motion that only could have been Lust.

"Hmph. Not as hot as I hoped." One of his companions noted, earning a hard nudge into his side from his boss. Caballeron then went on to the next statue and saw a demon that held the world in it's hooves and was about to consume it. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was supposed to be Gluttony.

The statue next to it showed a pony sitting on the world with a bored expression. No doubt that was Sloth. The demon next to it was standing tall and haughty, looking down at Caballeron condescendingly. Even though it was just stone, he could feel the pride radiating from it's eyes.

But it was the last three statues that really had an effect on Caballeron. The demon holding a bag of treasures greedily against it's chest. He made eye contact with the statue and for a brief moment, he could have sworn that he saw it's eyes lit up with red glow.

'Greed.'

Caballeron jumped in surprise upon hearing the voice. He looked back at his two companions.

"What did you say?" He asked nervously. They looked back at him in confusion.

"Nothing, boss." They replied. Caballeron wasn't sure if he believed them. He was certain he heard a voice but it didn't sound like his two accomplices. But if it weren't them who spoke, who was it? Eventually he just shook his head and tried to forget about it.

The next demon statue was staring longingly at bag in the hold of the previous one. Caballeron quickly figured out which one this was, but before he could even think it in his head, he heard a voice again.

'Envy.'

This time he tried to act like he didn't hear it. The last thing he wanted was to look like a lunatic in the eyes of his hired hooves. They may get the idea that he would be easy to double cross so he decided to just ignore it.

He moved on to the final statue and as much as he didn't want to admit it, this one frightened him the most. The statue at the end of the row that looked down at Caballeron with a look of pure, hate and fury. He actually gulped as he looked into the statue's eyes. If looks could kill, he would be dead a hundred times over. He made eye contact with this statue as well and he heard a voice again.

'Wrath.'

He wasn't even surprised when he heard the third statue's name inside his head. It was like the statues were calling out to him. He knew that was impossible, but more importantly, he wondered why would it be only these three statues that had this effect on him.

Caballeron suddenly felt a hoof on his shoulder and he was so caught up in his thoughts that even this simple gesture startled him. He turned around to see the mare that guided them down here standing next to him.

"I'm sorry, father. I didn't mean to startle you." She apologised immediately. "I just wanted to ask you what are you going to do?" Caballeron cleared his head to come up with a credible story for her.

"Well, my child, I believe it would be the best course of action if we tried to remove these dreadful things from this place to end their evil influence on the land. We will carry out the exorcism elsewhere. In the meantime, would you mind leaving us for a while? We will need to prepare them for the trip." The mare nodded.

"Of course, Father. The less time I have to spend in this vile place the better. I will wait at the entrance." After she left, Caballeron turned to his cohorts.

"So what do you think? Are they a good enough find for you?" The other two earth pony stallion didn't look convinced.

"I don't know. How much do you think we'd get for these ugly things?" One of them asked.

"Well, you never know. These art collectors will buy all kinds of stuff." The other replied. "A few months ago, a previous boss of mine sold a pitchfork to one of them that a farmer once allegedly used to protect his family form a dragon."

"So we're in an agreement." Caballeron replied. "Let's see if we can remove them from their place." The three stallions went over to the statues and grabbed one of them in an attempt to remove it, but to their dismay, they found that it was attached to the platform it was standing on. Eventually, they had to give up.

"Great!" One of them grunted, hitting the statue in frustration. "Now what?!"

"What do you think, genius?" The other one retorted. "We're gonna have to blast them off of these platforms. Good thing we brought explosives." He was about to head back to the entrance, but Caballeron stopped him.

"Are you crazy?! With statues this old, the whole thing could be blown to pieces from the blast! Not to mention it could cause a cave in! This place already looks it's gonna fall apart. No, we're gonna have to do this the old fashioned way. Go back up and get the pickaxes!" The other two stallions groaned in irritation upon the hard work that was implied they'll have to do but they had no choice but to comply.

Once they left, Caballeron was left alone with the statues. He looked back at them for a while, but the more he watched them, the more uncomfortable he got. He couldn't take it for long and turned away. Suddenly he wasn't so sure that this expedition was a good idea anymore.

"What are you so nervous about? These are just statues for Celestia's sake! Lifeless pieces of stone!" He snapped at himself, slapping his own muzzle. "Just think about all the bits you'll be making from this! You have finally manged to make a big discovery that Daring Do couldn't!" That thought alone made him giddy.

That pesky pegasus explorer has been a thorn in his side since day one. When she denied him to become her partner on her journeys, he felt more wrath than he ever did in his life. He became a treasure hunter himself but unlike Daring he was motivated by his greed for financial gain and he was always envious over her successes. Wrath. Greed. Envy.

Caballeron sat down in front of the three statues that symbolised those three negative traits with his back turned to them as he couldn't stand their gazes anymore and so he couldn't see the red glow in their eyes intensifying, nor did he hear the low, otherworldly whispers that soon filled the room.

"Yes. This one is greedy alright." A demonic voice mused. "Greedy enough to become my new host."

"Be silent!" An angry voice commanded. "He may be greedy and wrathful but that's nothing compared to the envy I feel inside him! He is the most suitable host for you, brother!" A third demonic voice just chuckled in satisfaction while the first one made no sound of opposition. The Sins would never admit it, but even they feared the wrath of their brother.

"Your wisdom is unmatched, brother." The third voice replied in a flattering way. "In that case, I will not delay. I have been imprisoned here without blood and flesh far too long!"

The demon reached out towards Caballeron and true to his brother's words, the envy he felt inside him gave it enough strength to leave his stone prison and float towards the stallion in the form of a red mist. It made no sound so Caballeron didn't hear anything when the demon reached him and entered his body. He jumped up in shock as he felt the heat of the entity taking control of him and forcing itself into the deepest part of his consciousness.

Caballeron panted heavily as he raised one of his hooves to his chest. He suddenly felt his entire world turn red and scorching hot. He tried taking a few steps forward but he fell over and collapsed on his knees. A sudden urge came over him to vomit but for some reason, nothing came out. He simply gagged and struggled to breathe. His head suddenly sprung upwards so fast that for a moment he was afraid his neck was broken. His eyes snapped wide open and his pupil grew as large as his entire eye socket with demonic red light. Then suddenly, it all stopped.

"Hey, doc, we're back!" The two stallions called out to him as they reentered the chamber with their tools. "We can start removing the statues as soon as you give the order." One of them replied as he tossed a pickaxe in front of him.

Caballeron didn't answer just kept staring ahead of himself. But eventually, he did raise his gaze at them but they saw right that something was wrong. His eyes were glazed over and his pupils appeared to be redder than they remembered.

"You..." He spoke on a raunchy voice that made the two in front of him jump in fright. "You want to take them away from me, don't you? You want them for yourselves!" He roared before reaching for his pickaxe. "You can't have them! They're mine!" Caballeron then lunged forward and swung the pickaxe. He moved so quickly that his cohorts didn't even have time to react. Much quicker than it was equinely possible. They didn't even have time to scream. By the time Caballeron was done, they were lying in front of him in a pool of their own blood.

The possessed doctor finally snapped out of his berserk state and when he saw what he has done, he gasped in horror and threw the pickaxe away. He fell back on the ground and grabbed his head in despair. He may have been an amoral treasure hunter but he wasn't a killer. What could have possessed him to do this? As if on cue, the voice inside his head made itself known.

"Greetings, Dr. Caballeron." Envy greeted it's new host who was rather taken aback. "You want our statues to become rich and famous, but we can give you so much more. I can feel your envy for a certain pony. You want to take everything from her. Now I can also see who that is."

"What are you?!" Caballeron voiced his first thought that was quickly overshadowed by another. "How... How do you..."

"I am a part of you now, Dr. I know all you know, all of your thoughts and memories." Envy replied. "Your Envy of Daring Do made it possible for me to be free and if you help my brothers do the same by getting them new hosts as well, I can give you what you most desire."

"And that would be..." Caballeron asked, clearly interested in the offer. He could feel envy smile inside his head.

"Everything Daring Do has." The proposal was tempting, but understandably, Caballeron wasn't thrilled about the idea of becoming a demon's puppet so he still head reservations.

"And if I refuse?" To his surprise, the demon merely chuckled in response.

"I wouldn't recommend that." It replied on a taunting voice. "In that case, I would have to kill you and look for a new host." Caballeron gasped in shock and Envy could feel that he already made up his mind. The demon smiled.

"Good choice, Dr. Now then, here's what you'll have to do." Before Envy could give him his instructions, he was interrupted when the gates of the chamber creaked open again. Caballeron looked up and saw the guide mare enter the chamber slowly and nervously.

"Father, is everything alright? I've heard some commission form up there and..." She froze when she saw the scene in front of her. The two butchered ponies on the ground and Caballeron covered in their blood. The stallion felt envy consuming him once more. If this mare got our and alerted others of what happened, no doubt they were going to send powerful ponies to stop him. Ponies that Caballeron was not ready to take on by himself. They were gonna take the possible fruits of his discovery from him and that he couldn't allow. Summoning incredible speed again, he ran to grab his pickaxe again and picked it up to finish the job.

Hours have passed since the horrendous events have gone down in the chamber of the Seven Sins. Caballeron have long since left to carry out the instructions of the demon that took control of him, leaving only three bloody corpses left in there to rot. Without the torchlight, not even an ounce of light illuminated the chamber. Not even from the entrance above as Caballeron sealed it shut to prevent others from discovering the chamber.

But there was one entity from whose eyes nothing could be concealed. A light suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the chamber. At first, it was but a faint blue glow, then it began to increase in intensity. Eventually, it grew into a blue orb of light and the silhouette of a pony began to materialise in it's center.

As the pony became more and more visible, he was revealed to be a green stallion with white mane and pupilless white eyes, wearing a blue trenchcoat that covered his entire body and a matching blue fedora hat.

The light behind him subsided, but the stallion himself was luminescent enough to still emit a light blue light out of himself for the room to remain visible. He walked up to the three dead ponies and gave them a long, expressionless look.

"Lost souls." He spoke with a somber tone and an echoey voice. "Gone before their time. I can hear them calling out to me. Asking me to help them cross into the hereafter. Forgive me, but the Phantom Stranger can only guide, not steer." The entity now known as the Phantom Stranger turned towards the statues.

"If their souls are to find rest, their passing must be avenged. But that is beyond my power." His gaze then turned towards the mural depicting the defeat and the trapping of the Sins. "I was there that day. I saw the downfall of the Seven Deadly Sins. There is only one group of creatures who can defeat them once more." The Stranger then turned away from the wall and started walking into the direction of the closed gates. "If this crisis is to be averted before the worst comes to pass, I must visit them immediately. Let us hope time hasn't diminished their power." As he walked towards the gates, his body started fading away and when he reached them, he simply passed through them and disappeared altogether, leaving the chamber once again in darkness.

The Stranger entered an endless corridor of spiraling blue and white light. This ethereal passageway was his method of traveling between the realms. He could enter any known plane of existence from here. Space was a plaything for him. All around the passageway were doorways into any and all places imaginable, showing marvelous things that would have caused anypony to drop their jaws in amazement. But the Stranger was not anypony. He had existed since time immemorial and during this time had seen anything that can be seen. And he couldn't allow himself any detours. His destination was clear.

When he spotted the exit he was looking for, he made his way towards it with slow and steady steps and walked through it to enter another dark chamber, not unlike the one he just left. But this one also had noticabe differences in it. The chamber the Stranger just left oozed malevolence from every crack, but in this one, he felt good vibes. It was a welcome change.

The other difference was that when he looked up, instead of seven statues, he saw seven thrones at the end of the room, but he found it odd that only one of them was occupied by a cloaked, bearded black unicorn stallion. The last time he was here, a similar pony was sitting on all seven of them. Granted, the last time he was here was centuries ago.

The unicorn on the throne was deeply asleep and apparently, his slumber was so deep that even the stranger's arrival wasn't enough to disturb his sleep. At first, the Stranger was afraid that the old wizard had already passed away, but as he approached him, the old unicorn must have felt the magical energy coming from him as he was quickly stirred awake.

"What? Who is... Who is there?" The wizard mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Once he was fully conscious, he grabbed his staff and sprang up on his hooves, pointing it at the intruder furiously. "Who dares to enter the Rock of Eternity?! This place is supposed to be inaccessible to anypony without my consent!" He roared. But the Stranger was not intimidated at all. As even the strongest of magic was incapable of harming him, he had nothing to fear.

"No place is beyond reach for the Phantom Stranger!" The phantom boasted in reply. Upon realising who his visitor was, the wizard calmed down and lowered his staff. He looked at the Stranger with a face full of surprise. As if he was looking at somepony he never expected to see again.

"It is you." He said once the realisation finally sunk in. "I haven't seen you in... I've forgotten how long it has been."

"As an eternal being, time means little to me as well. But it seems like quite a lot of time had passed since my last visit considering your fellow wizards seem to have moved on." The Stranger replied. The wizard cast his eyes down in sorrow.

"They are... all gone." He told him, clearly struggling with his words. "We have been guarding Ponykind against magical threats for thousands of years. Tens of thousands. But as time passed on, it became obvious that the world no longer needed the Council of Wizards. After our last deed in the defense of ponies, we have disappeared into obscurity and our magic began to fade. Due to that, our longevity was also affected and they gave began to pass away one by one. I am the only one left." The Wizard finished his tale. While the Stranger mostly kept his expression stoic, this time he did allow the hint of an emotion to cross his face and the wizard saw that it clearly was a negative one.

"That is unfortunate. For the world needs the Council of Wizards now more than ever." The wizard scoffed.

"So I assumed correctly that this was not just a friendly visit. What happened?"

"The Sins are back." A long silence had descended upon the two as they just stood there, allowing the wizard to process what the Stranger just told him. When he finally did, he wasn't pleased. With a scowl, he slammed the end of his staff into the ground, making the ground shake and sparks of lightning jump out of the floor.

"Those fools!" He cursed with rage. "They just had to go and undo everything we have done for them with a flick of their hooves! Do they think sealing away the most evil entities to ever live was easy?! It required the strongest of magic we can summon and exhausted us beyond our limits! There were several moments we thought we wouldn't survive!" The Stranger just stood there and watched him pace up and down in fury. His rant lasted for almost a minute and when he saw that he was done, he spoke again.

"You know perfectly well that mortals are not aware of their existence. Or yours. You cannot fault them for that." He spoke just as calmly as he always did. He never let his emotions get the better of him. The wizard calmed down a little but his sour disposition didn't improve.

"It makes no difference. This time, I cannot help them. Even the seven of us together could barely summon enough magic to seal the Sins away. I cannot stand alone against the seven of them!"

"There has to be something you can do." The Stranger implored. The wizard turned back to him and looked like he was about to say something, but in the last moment he changed his mind and remained silent but it was too late. The Stranger had already seen that he was about to speak.

"So there is." The wizard furiously shook his head.

"No! I will not do that again! I was a fool to ever think it would work!"

"To think what would work?" The wizard looked unsure whether he should tell him and the Stranger saw the conflict in his eyes. "You realise I'm going to find out whether you tell me or not." The wizard knew he was right and let out a reluctant sigh.

"Ages ago when ponies first came to the land of Equestria, they immediately came into conflict with it's native creautres, the Thestrals." He started as he waved his staff around, making green, glowing silhouettes of several dozen ponies appear around them. The ponies began fighting among themselves until only a few Thestrals remained, cowering as they got surrounded by unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies who closed in on them. "They didn't stand a chance. The newcomers were going to massacre them all." He continued as the Stranger realised something.

"You weren't there to stop the massacre. I suppose that means by that time your were the only one left." The wizard nodded.

"Yes. I was left all alone, I was old and my power was but a fragment of what it once was. I myself couldn't put an end to this madness. But there was something I could do." He waved his staff again, making all the silhouettes merge together into one. The one silhouette left began to take the form of a Thestral stallion in a hood and a lightning bolt across his chest. But the most noticeable trait about him was that unlike the rest of his kin, he also had a horn on his head.

"I decided to give my power to a Thestral. A mighty warrior who could become their defender and end the injustices against his kind." The Thestral alicorn lifted up into the air and crossed his forelegs across his chest as he glared down at the Stranger with lightning sparkling in his eyes.

"I take it that did not end well?" He asked, looking back at the wizard whose expression fell.

"On the contrary. It ended too well." The silhouette of the alicorn lit up it's horn and fired lightning around himself, leaving ruins, death and destruction in it's wake. Even the Stranger was shocked as the bodies of ponies and ruined buildings began to appear all over the room.

"He brought justice to his own kind." The wizard continued. "Unfortunately, he had his own twisted sense of justice. He wanted to make the invaders pay for what they did to them. Severely. And in the end, the champion I believed could be my successor ended up being my downfall. I had just enough magic left to banish him into a hidden prison he will never be able to escape." He then made the image of a lightning bolt striking the alicorn from above and sending him into the ground, making all the images disappear, once again leaving the room in darkness. "But the process left me completely drained. At least for the time. I have recovered since, but like I said, I won't be able to stand against the Sins by myself." He finished his talk glumly. The Stranger contemplated his words for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"If you cannot do anything, then Ponykind is doomed." The wizard sighed.

"Then perhaps that is it's fate." But the Stranger wasn't going to accept that.

"If your power is restored, surely you can cast that spell again. Find another pony to become your new champion." The wizard looked at him incredulously.

"Weren't you listening? The last champion I chose was corrupted by the power I bestowed on him. And that was without the influence of the Sins. With them around, the next pony I chose would fall even faster."

"Then we will have to find an incorruptible soul. A pony who will not fall to their taints." The Stranger insisted. "A pony with a pure heart." The wizard just looked down and sadly shook his head.

"Pure heart? My idealism has long since faded, my friend. I do not believe there is anypony who possesses such a trait."

"Mine hasn't." The Stranger rebutted. "I will find one for you. I have been interacting with their kind a lot more than you have during the ages. I have seen the good inside them. There is still pureness among them." The wizard still looked unconvinced, but if there was the slightest chance that Ponykind could still be saved, he was not going to let it go to waste. Eventually, he gave in.

"Very well. I will wait here until you can find me a pony that you believe is strong enough to withstand the corruption of the Sins." He replied before turning away and sitting back on his throne. The Stranger turned away to leave, but before he could fade out of this plane, he the wizard calling out to him one last time. "But I still believe you are running a fool's errand." The Stranger stopped and briefly looked back at him but he didn't respond. He turned away and exited the Rock of Eternity through his ethereal passageway. He wondered just when did the Wizard turn so cynical. One failure with his former champion shouldn't have taken this much of a toll on him. But in the end, it didn't matter. Should he find a pure hearted pony, not only will he find the mean of salvation for all of Ponykind, but he could also restore the faith of his old friend.

He could only hope it wasn't too late. And wonder just what kind of a pony would his search lead him to...

In the small town of Ponyville, the windows of a small building's top floor just swung open and a pink mare with matching fluffy pink mane leaned out on it with the brightest and biggest smile one could imgaine.

"GOOD MORNING, PONYVILLE!" She screamed out the window with pure joy and enthusiasm. "What a wonderful new day to bring smiles to the faces of everypony and joy into their lives!" She took a deep breath from the fresh morning air and shut the windows, twirling back inside the house to start her day.

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #2: A Champion of Pure Heart

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Pinkie Pie hummed to herself happily as she bounced down the corridor towards the shop area of Sugarcube Corner where she worked at. She was already looking forward to spending another day selling sweet delicious treats to the residents of Ponyville to make their day sweeter.

'He. Sweeter.' She laughed in her head at her own joke. She also couldn't wait to try out some ideas for new recipes she had thought up. Maybe she could even ask the help of the twins of her employers to help her with the experiments. Those two were gonna take over the shop one day when their parents retired after all and as they got older Pinkie managed to plant the seed of love for baking in them, much to their parents' appreciation.

Not that she needed an excuse to spend time with the twins anyway. She absolutely loved it when all three them played and worked together and trying new recipes with them could prove not only fun but also educational. With her mind set, she made her way towards the room the Cake Twins shared and opened in with the same bright, cheery smile she started her day with.

"Good morning, you silly filly billies!" She greeted as she stuck her head in the door, only to be met with one of the twins' stuffed toys being hurled into her face. Pinkie shook her head and looked to see the pegasus colt and the unicorn filly once again fighting with each other over one of their toys.

"That's mine!" The colt, Pound Cake yelled at his sister furiously. "It you want to chew on something find your old sucker, you old sucker!" His sister, Pumpkin Cake picked up a building block with her magic and threw it at her brother who caught it effortlessly.

"You know I outgrew chewing on my toys when I was two, you dummy!" The pegasus shouted back. "And you haven't been playing with that for days! Why can't I have it?!"

"It doesn't matter! It's mine and you can't play with it!" He then threw the building block back at Pumpkin, but the unicorn dodged and the block ended up hitting Pinkie in the face. The two foals immediately stopped fighting and gasped in shock about what happened.

"Now, look what you've done!" Pumpkin yelled in panic before she ran to check on the earth pony. "Aunty Pinkie, are you okay?!"

Many ponies probably would have let anger get the better of them after what just happened. Pinkie had even seen their parents snapping at them for much less. But she wasn't like that. The fact that Pumpkin referred to her as Aunty and reminded her of the close bond she shared with the family without actually being related to them was all she needed to calm down.

"Of course I am, Pumpkin-Wumpkin!" She reassured the small filly, but she wasn't fooling them. She was still rubbing her muzzle to ease the small pain she still had from the block hitting her and they were mature enough to make the connection.

"Sorry for Pound being a big doofus and hurting you, Aunty." Pumpkin apologised while glaring at her brother who returned the gesture.

"Hey, you threw the block first! I was aiming at you and your ugly, stupid head! Not hers!" The pegasus snapped before realising how his words could me misinterpreted. "I mean... Not that you have an ugly, stupid head, Aunty Pinkie." He smiled nervously. Pinkie wasn't offended in the slightest. If anything, she just giggled at the twins' antics.

"Hey, I already told you, I'm okay!" Pinkie told them as she knelt down to their level and wrapped his forelegs around their necks. "But you know how much I hate it when you two fight. What do you say we head down to the bakery and try making some new, yummy treats I came up with together?" That did the trick. The twins immediately forgot what they were fighting over and jumped up together with a cheer. They loved spending time with Pinkie just as much as she did with her.

Satisfied that she managed to make the twins stop fighting, Pinkie bounced out of their room and made her way down towards the bakery. The twins followed close behind, imitating her way of movement, much to the pink mare's delight and the amusement of their parents once they saw them passing by.

"Well, look at that, Cup!" Their father said with a chuckle. "I thought we were raising ponies, not bunnies!" Their father's words immediately made the twins stop in embarrassment and they looked back at their parents with sheepish smiles and blushed faces. Cup Cake chuckled herself before jabbing her husband in the side.

"Come now, Carrot! They were having so much fun! Leave them be!" She chided him playfully before turning to Pinkie. "Thank you so much for getting them to calm down, Pinkie. We were going crazy because of their fighting." Pinkie just smiled.

"No problem, Mrs. Cake! We were just on our way to the bakery. I thought baking some new recipes I came up with would be fun for them and useful for the shop too." The two parents smiled back at Pinkie gratefully.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, dear! Thank you so much!" The mare replied. "We cannot begin to express how grateful we are for everything you do for us! Not only are you a wonderful foalsitter to Pound and Pumpkin but your cheerfulness and creativity have attracted us so many customers. I think it's safe to say that you have made Sugarcube Corner into what it is today!" Pinkie appreciated the praises but she was starting to become embarrassed.

"Come now, Mrs. Cake! It really is nothing." She said modestly.

"It most certainly is not! You should be proud of yourself!" Pinkie knew the older mare meant well, but the truth was, pride wasn't really her thing. She didn't want to feel proud for anything she did because she did it happily and helping others and making them laugh was the biggest reward she could get.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Cake." She replied before turning back to the foals. "Come on, you two! Baking time!" The twins cheered again. Either they completely forgot that their parents were still there or they just no longer cared if they saw them because they resumed bouncing behind Pinkie without a care in the world.

A few hours later, Pinkie was already serving customers in the bakery. She mostly served them the usual treats the shop had to offer and occasionally added a few of her self made experimental treats. From everypony she offered them to, she received nothing but praise.

"Pinkie, these new treats you made are wonderful!" One of the customers said after tasting it for almost a minute. "I especially love the frosting! How did you make them?!" Pinkie just waved at the compliments with a playful eyeroll.

"Well, I can't take all the credit. My little assistants in the kitchen did plenty of work too." She then leaned up right next to the customer's ear. "In fact, the frosting was one of their ideas!"

"Well, then, please tell them they have done a wonderful job! They have bright futures as bakers!" The customer replied with a giggle before he left. Pinkie just giggled back and waved him goodbye. She was quite happy to gain his approval for one of the twins. She was always happy at the successes of other ponies and would never envy them for it. Especially not a foal.

Pinkie then collected the plates and returned to the kitchen where the Cakes were busy baking more of their orders and the twins were doing the dishes. She joined the two foals next to the sink and placed the plates she brought back into it before beginning to wash them herself.

"Oh, Pinkie. There's no need for you to do that. Pound and Pumpkin will be taking care of it." Mrs. Cake said, but Pinkie just waved dismissively.

"It's OK, Mrs. C. I don't mind. I always enjoy helping out around the kitchen anyway I can. I'm not a lazy Robbie Rotten who just lays around doing nothing but eating cake." She replied before returning to the dishes. Mrs. Cake wasn't sure if she understood that but decided to let it go. It was better not to question things when it came to Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie and the twins have been washing the dishes for several minutes. Pinkie didn't mind the extra work, even humming another happy tune as she worked, but the twins were much less enthusiastic about the task. They wore heavy frowns as they finished with one and picked up another until eventually, Pound got tired of it.

"This stinks!" He complained as he dunked the dish he was holding back into the sink. "I think we've washed enough of these things. What do you say we call it a day?" He asked Pinkie and his sister. Pumpin looked very tempted to accept the offer, but Pinkie just looked at him with an uncharacteristic frown.

"Now, Pound! You know you cannot just go and skip your chores. I love having fun with you as much as you do, but that's no excuse for slacking off." The twins groaned in disappointment. This wasn't what they were used to from Pinkie Pie. But Pound wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"Come on, Aunty Pinkie! Give us a break! I have a secret supply of sweets in a hidden place beneath my bed. If you let us off, you can have it!" Pinkie just smiled down at Pound before petting him on the head and going back to the dishes, ignoring Pound's request who knew this meant he was beaten. "Then at least let me off?" He tried desperately, earning a glare from his sister, but the pink mare once again ignored his pleading. In a last ditch effort, pound leaned up to Pinkie's ear. "I even have a sampler platter up there." That actually tempted Pinkie. The sampler platter was her favorite treat, but she had to resist. She couldn't allow the craving of sweets to get in the way of her duty to the Cakes. It required iron will, but she eventually managed to defeat the temptation and continue to do the dishes, much to Pound's frustration, who eventually had no choice but to get back to work.

Once the dishes were done, the twins were finally given the rest of the day off and Pinkie went back to serving customers. One of them ordered a very specific treat. One half of a heart shaped chocolate cake. But the oddest thing about it was, Pinkie disntincly remembered that she already served one of these to him. Oh, well. Maybe he just liked it so much he wanted another one.

"Here, you go sir!" Pinkie smiled at the customer, a rather hoofsome light gray Earth Pony stallion with well combed black mane as she placed his order in front of him. "Enjoy it!" Pinkie saw that the stallion was all by himself, which was strange as this treat was usually ordered by couples but who was she to question a paying customer? She was about to head back to the kitchen, when the stallion called out to her.

"Actually, I was wondering if you would like to..." He reached under the table and picked up another plate with the previously delivered chocolate half heart on it and placed it next to the other one, much to Pinkie's confusion.

"Why do you still have that one? You didn't like it? But then why did you order another one?" She asked, but the stallion just chuckled.

"No, it's not that. I was wondering if you would like to enjoy this treat with me." He told her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. The light bulb in Pinkie's mind slowly clicked. She wasn't gonna lie, the stallion in front of her was rather attractive and she wouldn't mind getting closer to him on a more personal level.

But she wasn't like that. Being raised in such a conservative family meant that Pinkie was very virtuous mare. And even if she wasn't, her shift at Sugarcube Corner still wasn't over and that meant she wouldn't allow herself such distractions. No matter how pleasant they could have been.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't have time today. I still have several customers to serve and once I'm done I'll have a birthday party to set up for a lovely little colt." The stallion's smug expression quickly faded away and he leaned back in his seat in embarrassment.

"Hey, it's OK. I didn't mean to... I mean I understand..." Pinkie took pity on the poor stallion's stammering and decided to fix the problem. She looked around and saw a green unicorn mare sitting by herself, consuming an ice cream cone with a sad face. Pinkie had seen this enough to know that this usually meant the mare was lonely and this gave her the perfect idea. She snatched up one of the chocolate cakes from the table and bounced off unit the direction of the mare.

"Hello!" She greeted the green unicorn who looked up at her questioningly. "That stallion over there is sending you this and was wondering if you'd help him make it whole, if you get my meaning." She told her as she nudged her in the side. The mare looked hesitant. She just got over the end of her previous relationship and she wasn't sure if she was ready for a new one. But sharing a piece of cake with him surely couldn't do any harm. Before Pinkie returned to the kitchen, she looked back at the couple sharing the delicious treats and looking rather enamored with each other while doing so. A development the pink mare was more than happy with.

The rest of Pinkie's shift was uneventful. A few more customers she served a hundred times in the past and a few more treats she made a thousand times before and before she knew it, her workday was over. But that didn't mean she would now rest. Like she told that stallion earlier, she had a birthday party to set up. As she was gathering the supplies for said party, Mrs. Cake came up to her.

"Ah, Pinkie? Are you off to throw another party?" She wondered. Pinkie nodded.

"Yupperoni! You know how much I love to throw parties! Especially when somepony has a special day like this colt's birthday! But you know, I like to think that every single day is a special day worth celebrating!" She beamed.

"Wow! They must be paying you pretty well if you're willing to do it right after the end of your shift." Pinkie just tilted her head in confusion.

"Paying? Oh, no, Mrs. C! I would never be able to take money for making ponies happy! The money I make at Sugarcube Corner is more than enough for me." She told the older mare without the slightest hint of greed. If there was one thing she was greedy for, it was pony smiles. It brought a smile to Mrs. Cake's face.

"Pinkie, you are such a pure hearted bundle of joy! I couldn't think of anypony who could be a better role model for the twins!" Pinkie gave a touched smile of her own in response before pulling her into a warm hug.

"Thanks, Mrs. C! I couldn't have possibly asked for two more wonderful little ponies to see grow up and teach!" The two mares kept up the embrace for a few more seconds before Pinkie finally broke it. "I have to go now! The birthday colt and his friends are waiting!" She was about to bounce off with the cart full of supplies behind her, but Mrs. Cake stopped her.

"Pinkie, wait!" Pinkie stopped and saw Mrs. Cake pull out a small basket covered with a blanket. "Take these free samples and give them to the party guests! And make sure to give me their feedback!" Pinkie took the basket in her mouth and placed it on the cart.

"Thanks again, Mrs. C! I'm sure they'll love it and be very happy you sent it to them. Have a great day!" And with that, Pinkie hopped out the door, leaving the older mare smiling after her.

The Phantom Stranger still remembered the last thing the wizard told him before he left the rock of eternity. When he saw the look he gave him, he knew that he completely meant what he said about not believing the Stranger would find a pure hearted champion. The last time he met the old unicorn during the sealing of the Sins, he was still full of idealism and faith in the goodness of Ponykind. He had no he could lose it so badly over the centuries, but he was determined to prove him wrong.

But the longer he kept his search going, the he began to lose hope himself. His mastery over space allowed him to see tens of thousandsof ponies for himself within the few hours since he started his search. He believed that surely one of them would be able to match his description of a pure heart. But within every single one of them, he found something that made him vulnerable to the temptation of the Sins.

At first, he looked at strong stallions most commonly associated with the images of mythical heroes. He didn't have much luck there. Most of them were easily tempted by Lust and Greed. The former was the biggest temptation to any adult ponies and the increased strength and newfound powers the champion will be bestowed with also made anypony an easy target for the latter.

Things also didn't go well with the mares. As with the stallions, they easily succumbed to Lust. Mares could also be very envious of each other, mostly about their looks so he tried to look for an attractive mare who had nopony to be jealous of, but unfortunately their good looks also made them vain which served as an excellent feeding ground for Pride.

In desperation, the Stranger even extended his search to foals. He thought perhaps the pure heart of a child would be enough to withstand the temptation of the Sins, but once again, he was disappointed. Given their immaturity, foals were more impulsive than fully grown ponies and succumbed easily to Wrath. They were also more vulnerable to Gluttony and Sloth than adults.

He also took a look at some exceptional individuals. Ponies who could have already been considered champions in their own rights. Godlike beings from among the stars, warriors trained from birth to fight evil, guardians who fought for the safety of not only this world but for several others as well. He had to admit it, they were the closest to what he was searching for, but he also had reservations. These were already powerful and mighty beings or possessed weapons of great power. And the Stranger knew all too well that absolute power corrupts absolutely. No. He had to find an ordinary pony. For only one such pony can truly see the value of the power they were going to receive.

However, every single pony the Stranger examined showed less and less of pureness in their heart. And as more and more hours passed and the number of ponies he looked at started to reach a million, he felt like he was ready to give up. But he couldn't give up. The fate of Ponykind and possibly the whole world depended on his success. But on the other hoof what was this search if he was searching for something that possibly didn't exist?

He shook his head. No. He couldn't allow himself to feel this way. He insisted to the wizard that he was gonna find a pony with a pure heart and he can't start having second thoughts about it. He had to keep looking. But as he did, the lack of results only made his frustration grow. And also his concern. He knew time was on the essence. With each passing moment the Sins corruption spread throughout the land and he didn't know how much time he had left before the process became irreversible.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, the Stranger returned to the task at hoof. He has been at it for so long that he completely lost any sense of his surroundings and now he had no idea where he was. He looked around to find out but the only thing he could make out that he was now in a small town. He only saw a few ponies passing by on the streets but in the distance, he could make out the noises of several ponies and see a well decorated area where a large crowd of ponies was gathering.

Deciding that this was as good a place as any other to continue his search, the Stranger headed towards the celebration and mingled with the crowd. Of course it wasn't like they could see him, but he could see everypony perfectly. More importantly, he could see what was inside of them. And he wasn't pleased with what he saw. Even at a child's birthday party, the celebration of the life of the purest and most innocent creature possible, he still couldn't find anypony pure enough to withstand the Sins. He was about to give up and move on, when he heard a loud voice piercing through the air.

"HELLO, EVERYPONY! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

It was so loud that even the Stranger was caught off guard. He turned to see a pink mare with fluffy pink mane and three balloons for a cutie mark appearing on the top of a nearby hill and standing upright to let out the mighty scream he just heard. Everypony turned to her and they immediately brightened up upon seeing her.

"PINKIE PIE!"

The mare bounced down from the hill while pulling the cart of party supplies behind her, remarkably without dropping anything and she wasted no time in setting everything up. In the blink of an eye, the already well decorated area was even more festive than before. The balloons and flags have been tripled, party games like piñatas and donkey drawings to pin the tail on have been set up and in the middle of the party, a giant cake was towering over the celebrating ponies.

"Not too shabby, eh?" Pinkie asked before bouncing off to attend to the party ponies. The swiftness with how she put everything together was enough to impress even an ethereal being like the Phantom Stranger. He felt ready to leave but the appearance of this young mare changed things. He felt something in her. Something special. He didn't know what it was but he knew that it required a further look. It may not be a pure heart he felt, but whatever it was, this mare was definitely special.

The way she moved around the place, serving party guests and entertaining foals showed that she certainly wasn't lazy. When the time came to cut the cake, she gave one slice to every guest before saving the last on to herself. She was about to eat it when she heard crying and turned to see a filly who accidentally dropped her cake on the ground. Pinkie looked back at her piece of cake before smiling at the little foal and going up to her and offering it to her, much to her delight.

"That was so generous of you, Pinkie!" Pinkie turned to see a familiar stallion smiling at her.

"Oh, hey, Cheese Sandwich! What brings you here? Are any of those foals by any chance yours?" She asked teasingly, but the stallion rapidly shook his head.

"No. I'm still waiting for the right mare to give me one." He replied as he looked down shyly and Pinkie could swear that he saw his cheeks blushing. "I actually came to see the world's greatest party planner in action." Pinkie tapped him on the shoulder playfully.

"Flatterer. But there's no need to. You know you've always been the best. I'm very happy have gained your attention. That means I must be doing something right."

"Don't sell yourself short, Pinkie!" Cheese Sandwich replied. "I may be the best but you're doing a good job at catching up with me. You'll overthrow me within the year if you keep it up." He then looked around at the party. "Just look at this! Everypony is having a blast! And those foals..." They looked at the foals playing party games happily. "Pinkie, you are a blessing to everypony you encounter. You are everything I think a mother should be." Now it was Pinkie's turn to blush.

"Come on, Cheesel Weasel! You're embarrassing me!" Cheese wrapped a leg around Pinkie's neck.

"Hey, just stating facts." He then looked down and took a deep breath like he was preparing himself to say something. "I was wondering, once this party is over, maybe the two of us could..." Pinkie however didn't seem to get what he was trying to imply. All she managed to understand was Cheese implying that the party was going to be over and she was having such a good time that she didn't even want to think about it right now.

"OVER?! Cheesy, don't say that! I know it can't last forever but I'm having too much fun to cafe right now!" She cheered before bouncing off to continue partying, much to Cheese's disappointment.

"Wake up, Cheese!" The stallion sighed before walking off dejectedly. "As if you'd ever have a chance with such an amazing mare." The Stranger paid no attention to the stallion as he left the party. His attention was firmly on the mare who had passed two more tests by dismissing the praises and not abandoning her duty as the festival organiser for the company of a stallion.

She has already proven she can resist Lust, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, Pride and Greed. But he had yet to see her resist the most dangerous one of them all: Wrath. And sadly in this festive environment, he saw no means of testing her on that front.

But fate seemed to be on his side today. A few of the foals finally managed to break open one of the piñatas and were gleefully collecting the candy falling out of it. However, one of the biggest colts at the party decided he wanted it all to himself, so he merely pushed the smaller ones out of the way and took it away from them. This did not go unnoticed Pinkie Pie. Some hidden sense told her that a very mean thing was being committed nearby and she quickly managed to locate it.

The Stranger saw the look of anger that grew on the mare's face and waited in anticipation to see what was gonna happen. Pinkie marched up to the bully and lightly bumped her flank into him, knocking him on the ground and taking away all the candy he collected. Naturally, the large colt wasn't pleased by this.

"Hey! Why did you do that?!" He demanded.

"Because I'm bigger and stronger than you and that means I can." Pinkie replied as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"But that's not fair! You can't do this!"

"Then why are you doing it to other foals?" Pinkie asked, not sounding angry but genuinely curious. The colt was surprised by the unexpected question and he couldn't find a good answer. He stuttered for a bit in a vain search for one but eventually had to admit defeat and looked down at his hooves in shame.

"I'm... I'm sorry." Pinkie saw that he truly regretted his actions so she knew that he learned his lesson. She decided to divide the candy between all of the foals equally, including the former bully whom she even invited to join the party games. Soon they will all playing and laughing together like they've been friends their entire lives.

The Stranger was impressed. He didn't think he's ever seen a mare who could bring so much joy and peace between others. Or any pony for that matter. He started to raise his hopes that maybe he found the pony he was looking for, but there was still something else he needed to see. Having a pure heart wasn't enough in itself. The individual also had to possess the willingness to be a hero. To put herself at risk for the sake of others.

"HELP!!!"

It seemed the universe once again answered his call. The Stranger turned to see a small unicorn filly tangled in the strings of several balloons and floating towards sky, struggling in vain to escape. Everypony in the crowd gasped. The pegasi were about to act, but Pinkie was faster. She jumped up and pulled down a flag line from above before using it as a slingshot to shoot herself out into the air, grabbing the filly and pulling her back to the ground with her weight before untying her. She even managed to return the balloons to their original spots before calming down the frightened filly, which she did so efficiently, that in a few seconds she was back to partying as if nothing happened.

The Stranger didn't usually showed his emotions, but this time, she actually allowed a slight smile to cross his face. There was no doubt left, he found who he was looking for.

After the party was over, Pinkie stayed behind to help clean up the leftovers. Not that there were many leftovers to clean up. The cake and the candy was completely gone. Only a little punch was left in the bowl, but that was easy to take care of. As for the decorations, Pinkie carefully examined every last bit of it to make sure if they were worth reusing at another party. Thankfully, most of it was still intact so she'd be able to make some use of them.

All in all, this has been a great day for her. She tried some new recipes with the cakes, all of which turned out to be delicious according to the party guests, threw an amazing party where everyone had a blast and made several new friends.

Once she was done with the cleanup, she headed back towards Sugarcube Corner. She had so much fun at the party that she didn't even notice how much time had passed. It was already sunset and all of Ponyville was already basking in the yellow light of the descending sun.

She found it pretty odd how the streets appeared to be completely empty as she passed them. She knew it was getting late but some ponies were usually still out by this time. The other odd thing was she couldn't shake off a feeling that she was being watched. She couldn't imagine who could be watching her when she saw nopony around. It was as weird as it was eerie.

Things were so still silent around her that a bird flying in from above with a series of chirps was enough to make her jump. She turned around to see a bird with blue feathers and Black stripes in it's wing landing on her cart and giving her a curious look.

"Well, hello, Mr. Birdie!" Pinkie greeted, feeling intense relief finding out that she was only watched by a little critter. Of course, who else could be watching her in these empty streets. "Would you like some seeds?" She asked as she pulled some bird seeds out of her mane, but the bird had a different idea. It picked up one of the flag lines from Pinkie's cart and flew away with it towards the forest. Pinkie immediately gave chase.

"Hey, you bring that back! You can't just take my party supplies away! You have to book a party with me at least two months in advance!" She shouted as she ran after the bird, not even noticing when she entered the forest. No trees, bushes or even wildlife could stop Pinkie, though she noticed that just like the town, the forest appeared to be completely empty too.

After a few minutes, the bird flew inside a holey tree. Pinkie was about to follow it but something stopped her. At first, she dismissed it as confidence born of knowing the bird was cornered. But something about this situation just didn't feel right. The whole in the tree was abnormally large. Big enough for a grown pony to pass through it. And she couldn't sense the bird anywhere. Not just because it was pitch black inside the hole, but because she couldn't sense it anywhere inside. She didn't even hear a single chirp. But she did hear something else. Something that almost made her heart stop.

"Pinkie Pie!" She jumped at the booming voice calling her name from inside the tree. She was startled, but for some reason, she could feel the whoever was the owner of the voice, they meant her no harm. She felt perfectly safe. In fact, she felt safer than she did in a long time. "You are worthy." Pinkie just stared, unsure of what the voice meant, but nevertheless, she felt complimented.

"Uh... Thanks!" She smiled but her face showed confusion. "Worthy of what exactly?" She got no response from the voice. Instead, she saw a white light appearing inside the tree which became more and more bright. The light was accompanied by the sound of crackling electricity and Pinkie's sense of safety quickly evaporated. And yet, she couldn't back away. She felt herself falling in a trance as her hooves carried her inside the tree and the next time she came to her senses, she was no longer standing in a forest. She was in a dark room illuminated by several torches on the wall and wherever she looked, she saw nothing but black stone walls and floor.

"Hmph." Pinkie hummed as she looked around. "No wonder that bird took my flag line. This place needs some serious redecorating." As she looked in front of herself to head deeper into the room, she noticed that she was no longer alone. Standing in front of her was an earth pony stallion dressed like a private detective from those old black and white movies. The two stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before the stallion spoke.

"Welcome, Pinkie Pie, to the Rock of Eternity." He greeted. From the wave his voice echoed around the room, Pinkie could tell that this individual was not an ordinary pony.

"Who... What are you?" She wondered in awe. "And what do you want from me?"

"I have been called many names. But most know me as the Phantom Stranger." The stallion introduced himself. "I have been searching for a pony with a pure heart and the potential to become the campion of ponykind. A great crisis looms over our head, Pinkie Pie and you are only one who can help us stop it." Pinkie tilted her head in confusion.

"Us?" The Stranger nodded.

"Yes. Please follow me. I will introduce you to our host." He then turned around and started leading Pinkie towards the thrones at the end of the room. As they walked, Pinkie observed several statues and murals on the walls. They showed great heroes of pony mythology that she would often tell tales about to little foals during parties or hospital visits. Including the likes of Posey Dawn, the Goddess of the oceans holding her mighty trident and commanding sea life or the Mighty Thorn swinging his even mightier hammer at some weirdly shaped monstrosities and smashing them to pieces. Pinkie gasped silently. Did that means these gods actually existed? And they have passed through here before her? This was so unbelievable. She looked back at the Stranger walking in front of her. She's been so busy observing the statues that she stopped and she had to run and catch up with him.

"So..." Pinkie started in an attempt to break the ice. "You're saying you have been watching me? In secret?"

"Indeed." The Stranger replied. "I have spent my existence observing the supernatural threats that wish to do Ponykind harm. I have helped them defeat all of them. But now, such a great threat has emerged that I needed to call the aid of the most powerful wizard who ever lived in order to help us defeat it."

"Spying on all of Ponykind?" Pinkie asked, feeling a little weirded out. "For how long?"

"Since time immemorial." Came the immediate reply.

"Okay. That's just creepy." Pinkie noted, but if the Stranger was offended by this comment, he didn't show it.

"I have been protecting Ponykind from threats they did not know existed. And it is better this way so my involvement shall only be revealed to those whom it is necessary to."

"Doesn't make it any less creepy." Pinkie replied. The Stranger decided to drop the argument. He lead Pinkie to the seven thrones at the end of the room where he stopped. Pinkie followed his example and looked up to see a bearded unicorn in a cloak sitting on one of them and looking down at her in a measuring way. It made Pinkie feel slightly uncomfortable but she didn't have time to dwell on that as the Wizard spoke.

"Welcome back, my friend!" He greeted the Stranger. "You are back much sooner than I expected. Am I to understand that you have succeeded in your search within a matter of hours?" The Stranger nodded.

"Indeed, my friend." He replied as he raised his Hoof towards Pinkie. "I bring you, the most suitable pony to become your new champion. Her name is Pinkie Pie. And she is pure." The Wizard raised an eyebrow.

"We shall see." He murmured before standing up and walking up to Pinkie. She looked into the mare's eyes and Pinkie felt like he was looking into her soul. He then raised his staff and lifted it near Pinkie's head and she heard a deep, humming sound coming from it. After a few seconds, the Wizard's doubting gaze softened somewhat, but he still looked uncertain about this whole situation.

"She is... purer than most. Dare I say, the purest I felt in a long time. But given the events of the past, I still have my doubts."

"I would be surprised if you weren't." The Stranger said. "But given the dire circumstances we are facing, I would say this is our best option."

"Um... Excuse me?" The two magical stallions turned to see Pinkie looking at them in complete and utter confusion. "Would one of you mind explaining to me what is going on?" They looked back at each other, both feeling a little embarrassed that they forgot to tell her the details, but their time was running out and they needed to act as quickly as possible. Eventually, it was the Stranger who broke the silence.

"Pinkie Pie, Ponykind faces it's greatest threat since ages. It needs a champion. Somepony to save it. And you are the most suitable pony I could find." Pinkie's eyes widened.

"Me But... But I'm an entertainer, not a warrior! I think you've got the wrong pony! Maybe you should try one of the princesses. They are great at handling great threats. Or maybe there's that other mare! You know, the one who flies and shoots lasers out of her eyes! I heard she's pretty tough!"

"I have considered them as well, Pinkie." The Stranger replied. "But the most important thing is not how much magic one possesses or how strong one can punch. The most important thing is in here." He said as he placed a hoof on Pinkie's chest. "Your heart. Like I said, I have been watching you. You have shown signs of a pure heart that can resist the temptation of the Seven Deadly Sins." Pinkie raised an eyebrow.

"The Seven Deadly Sins?"

"Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, Envy, Greed and Wrath." The Wizard took over. "The embodiments of these Sins have been sealed away a long time ago. But now, they are back and we need a champion of pure heart to defeat them and withstand their corruption at the same time."

"But... But..." Pinkie stuttered, still not sure if she was up to this. "How could I defeat them? I'm just a simple earth pony. How could I fight something so evil and powerful?"

"That's where we come in." The Wizard said. "The other reason we chose you is because the Sins' corruption is not the only one you'll have to resist. But also the corruption of the power that will be bestowed upon you."

"Power? What Power?" Pinkie asked. The Wizard sighed and looked down with sorrow.

"The last time Ponykind needed a champion, I chose... irresponsibly. I sought the strongest pony I could find, but I was wrong. Power without restraint is nothing. And with such great power, only the purest of heart can find restraint. You're the purest heart we can possibly find right now and time is of the essence. We need you, Pinkie. Ponykind needs you."

"And don't I get a say in this?!" Pinkie asked, feeling a little upset that she wasn't asked in advance.

"You do, obviously." The Stranger answered. "But if what I have seen from you today is any indication, you will not turn us down."

"How do you know?"

"Besides your pure heart, you also possess a natural willingness to help others. No matter how big the trouble is. One such pony would take any chance to aid her fellow equines in a time of crisis."

Pinkie looked down in contemplation. It was true that it was in her nature to help others. Making ponies happy was her special talent after all. But the biggest issues she had to deal with until now were stolen party supplies and drunken guests who had to be forced to leave. Not corrupting demons that could destroy the world.

Pinkie hated to admit it, but she was scared. Not just for herself but for the rest of Ponykind if she turned out to be the wrong choice to wield this power after all. If the Sins consumed the world because she was too weak to stop them or because if she did fall to their corruption when she was picked exactly because she was expected not to?

But they were right about one thing. If she was given the chance to help others in anyway, she would never turn it down. And even though she never dreamed about becoming a superhero when she was a foal, she knew that if she ever could, she would be happy about how much more she could help everypony. After all, wasn't helping others in need no matter what was being a hero all about? She turned back to the two stallions, her expression hard with determination as she made up her mind.

"I accept."

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #3: The Word of Power

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Pinkie was standing in the middle of a gold circle with the Wizard in front of her. The Phantom Stranger was standing just outside the circle, observing the scene. He would admit to being a little curious as to how this process would take place. He never even heard of such magic that can transfer the power of gods to a mortal being existing. And there were few things he wasn't aware of.

His curiosity was nothing compared to Pinkie's however. Just this morning, setting up a birthday party was her biggest concern. Now, she was chosen by an ancient wizard to get the power of gods and stop the Seven Deadly Sins from consuming Ponykind. And she thought her life was dull.

"So..." Pinkie started, getting tired of the awkward silence. "How will this work exactly?" The Wizard raised his staff and slammed it into the middle of the circle.

"Grab my staff, Pinkie Pie!" He commanded. The mare complied and as her hoof made contact with it, she could already feel the power surging through it. The Wizard closed his eyes and spoke.

"I hereby bestow upon thee, the wisdom of Starswirl. The greatest mortal unicorn mage to ever live and the mentor of the Royal Princesses of Equestria!"

CRACK!

As soon as he finished that sentence, a lightning strike from out of nowhere hit the staff, startling Pinkie so much that she almost let go of it. As she looked around, she also saw how the gold circle was beginning to glow. The Wizard continued.

"I hereby bestow upon thee, the strength of Hoof Acres! The strongest earth pony to ever live whose hooves could shatter acres of land with one mighty blow!"

CRACK!

Another lightning strike hit the staff and the circle became even brighter.

"I hereby bestow upon thee, the stamina of Air Last! The pegasus mare who could tame storms and carry mountains with the flap of her wings!"

CRACK!

"I hereby bestow upon thee, the power of Zephyr Hooves! King of the gods and ruler of lightning!"

CRACK!

"I hereby bestow upon thee, the courage of Arrow Mass! The invincible warrior of ancient Nimbusia!"

CRACK!

"I hereby bestow upon thee, the speed of Merry Breeze! The fastest pegasus to ever live and messenger of the gods!"

CRACK!

The last lighting bolt that struck the staff created a flowing field of electricity on the lightning symbol on the top of it and the gold circle was now so bright that the light emanating from it now reached up to a pony's neckline. The Wizard opened his eyes to reveal that they were glowing white with power and crackling with lightning and looked at Pinkie.

"And now, Pinkie Pie, say my name! Say my name and this power shall flow into you!" He boomed. Pinkie was confused. She couldn't recall the wizard ever mentioning his name.

"Um... I don't think I caught your name, sir." She replied nervously.

"My name is..." The Wizard's voice became low and faint, barely above a whisper but Pinkie was still able to make it out. "Shazam." Pinkie would have chuckled at that unusual name, but the power glowing inside the Wizard's eyes quickly made her realize that this wouldn't have been wise. Instead, she tightened her grip on the staff and closed her eyes.

"Shazam." She spoke softly. It was probably the most quiet word that ever left her lips, but it would still have the biggest impact on her life.

CRACK!

Another lightning bolt struck, but this time, instead of the staff, it hit her. It didn't hurt but the shock still made Pinkie's eyes snap open.

"OW! Don't do that again!" She snapped at the Wizard, but to her surprise, she saw that the old unicorn was now significantly shorter. She had to look down to see him properly. "Um... How did you get so small?" Pinkie asked, but as the words left her mouth, she immediately clapped her hooves in front of it. The voice that came out definitely wasn't hers. It was much deeper, which considering Pinkie's unusually high tone of voice wasn't saying much, but it was still greatly surprising.

And the tone wasn't the only surprise. Not only did her voice sound deeper but - for the lack of a better word - more regal. It came out almost exactly as Princess Celestia spoke when Pinkie actually heard her talk. And she soon discovered the reason just why she sounded like that.

"I didn't." Shazam replied. "You are taller. Look at yourself!" Pinkie did so and was marveled at what she saw. Not only were here hooves significantly longer but they were also covered in a red suit with majestic gold shoes covering her hooves. She then looked at her chest and saw the lightning bolt symbol spreading across it with electricity flowing through it.

She was so dumbstruck by these changes that she raised her hoof to her head, but she couldn't touch it as she felt something poke it. Something long and sharp. She pulled her hoof across it until she reached the top of her head and she didn't need the wisdom of Starswirl to figure out what it was.

"I.... I have a horn?!" She exclaimed. She was so shocked that her entire body went stiff, along with her spread out wings. "Wait... I have wings too?!" She stared back at Shazam in shock. "I'M AN ALICORN?!" She screamed so loud that even the wizard was a little fazed. It took him a few moments to recover.

"Only in your transformed state." He explained. "But your normal self is still the same. You just have to speak the same word to turn back."

"You mean Shazam?"

CRACK!

Lightning struck Pinkie again and she was pleased to see that she was now back to her normal height. She quickly checked herself and saw that her horn and wings were also gone. She let out a relieved sigh.

"Phew. Okay. I get it. All I have to do is say Shazam."

CRACK!

Another lightning strike and Pinkie was back in her alicorn form. She looked down at the wizard and saw him looking up at her in an unamused way. She smiled sheepishly.

"Okay. Lesson number one, be careful when and where you say that word."

"Remarkable." The Stranger said as he entered the circle for the first time. "So what happens now?"

"I have given her the power she needs to defeat the Seven Deadly Sins." Shazam replied before turning back to Pinkie. "The rest is up to her. From this day on, she shall be known as Captain MareVel! The Mightiest Mare of Equus!"

Dr. Caballeron felt himself coming to an abrupt halt as he entered a bar in the town of Ponyville. And he didn't understand why. He had no intention of stopping but something inside of him suddenly made his entire being freeze. And he was well aware of what that something was.

'What is it?' He asked the demon possessing his body internally. He was instructed to stay low until all of it's brothers were found hosts for. And talking to himself about their quest would have been a good way to attract unwanted attention.

The demon didn't answer at first. A brief feeling of dread crossed it's being. It felt something. Something very familiar. It didn't know where or how, but that same magic that was used when it and it's brothers were sealed in their prison was cast again. And that thought terrified the creature, only increasing it's eagerness to succeed in the search.

'I have felt something. Something I haven't felt since...' Caballeron waited for the demon to finish the sentence, but it never did. 'Never mind! We have a job to do. I feel a being nearby who will be a perfect host for Wrath. Once we awaken him, our job will be significantly easier. But we must hurry!'

Caballeron heeded the demon's orders and sat down at the counter before looking around the bar. Though he wasnt quite sure who could be a suitable host for a rage demon in this place. Apart from him, there were only six other individuals here. The bartender who was a unicorn, an earth pony stallion sitting by himself, three pagasus stallions sitting around a round table and the last one wasn't even a pony. Sitting on the right side of the counter was a female griffin who had several empty mugs next to her.

"Give me another one." She grumbled to the bartender. The unicorn stallion saw that the griffin already consumed more beverage than an average pony could handle, but as long as he was paid for the drinks he served, he was more than happy to provide as much as his customers wanted. And who knew? Maybe griffins could take more than ponies so he gladly gave her another mug.

"The bird's drinking too much!" One of the pegasi growled as they turned towards them.

"Yeah. Leave some for us too!" The griffin just glared at them in response.

"Buck off!" She snarled before chugging down her drink. The pegasi narrowed their eyes at her.

"I'm surprised you serve the likes of her around here." The third pegasus said to the bartender who just shrugged.

"Racial discrimination is bad for business. Why should I turn away any paying customer?" The griffin finished her drink and slammed her mug on the counter.

"Listen, dweebs! I'm not having a good day, so don't push me! I flew my ass off all the way from Griffonstone to here to meet an old friend only to learn that she moved back to your stupid cloud city where only pegasi can enter! So the last thing I need is some douches trying to screw it up for me even more!" She seethed towards the ponies. The three pegasi finally had it with her and started walking over to the griffin but before anything could happen, the bartender spoke up.

"Hey, guys! If you're gonna do this, do it outside! Some ponies in here are trying to enjoy their drinks." He said as he gave Caballeron his order. The griffin just smirked in response.

"Gladly." She mused and before anypony could move a muscle, she gave flight, tackled one of the pegasi and pushed him out the door, onto the streets as the two other pegasi immediately flew after them. Caballeron looked on and he could feel the demon inside him smile in excitement.

'Yes! Such anger, such ferocity, such savagery! That griffin is perfect! Follow her! I want to see her in action!' Caballeron picked up his drink and followed the fighters outside. When he got out, the sight that greeted him left him horrified.

One of the three pegasi was already lying unconscious on the ground with several bruises and bleeding gashes across his body. He then saw the second one with similar wounds, but he was still conscious and trying to crawl away from any alley besides that bar. Caballeron walked into the alleyway and saw the griffin already putting on the same wounds on the third one. While the stallion was appalled, Envy was very pleased.

'That griffin is such a perfect host for my brother that I'm almost envious of it.' It chuckled. 'Get my him ready, doctor! This fight was over before it even began.' Caballeron reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a miniature version of Wrath's statue from the Sins' chamber and held it up towards the griffin.

'Took your damn time, brother.' Wrath fumed, but his anger was soon replaced by the eagerness to finally become one with a new host after ages. It didn't waste anymore time and flew out of the statue, heading straight at the griffin. She was about to deepen her claws into the stallion again when the demon's misty form reached her and enter her body. The process so was quick that the griffin didn't even have time to be shocked. She stopped her assault while the demon adjusted to her body.

'Why did you stop, Gilda?' The demon asked. 'This pony and his cohorts offended you. They brought their wrath upon themselves. Are you just gonna let that slide?' Gilda narrowed her eyes as her fury turned into cold hatred.

'Like Tartarus I will!' Wrath grinned inside her head.

'Then make them suffer it. All of them.'

Gilda suddenly felt her anger increase tenfold and the beating she subjugated the stallion to became a bloody massacre. Her claws went much deeper and not only drew blood but internals as well. A few moments later the stallion she just slaughtered was completely unrecognisable, lying in a pool of his own blood and guts. The griffin's feathers were red from all the blood, but by the time she was done with the stallion, she still wasn't satisfied. She wanted more.

She stormed out of the alley to find the other two pegasi she did a number on. The one that was awake and still trying to crawl away just reached the unconscious one lying on the ground. The griffin marched up to them and dragged both of them into the alley, probably to give them a similar treatment, but Caballeron didn't stick around to see that. The sounds he heard coming out of the alley were more than enough.

'He seems to have gotten a little carried away, but can you blame him?' Envy mused. 'That's the first time he felt whole since ages.'

'Can we please just get back to the task at hoof?' Caballeron groaned mentally, wanting to get as far away from this scene as possible. 'What's next?'

'Obviously, we keep searching for more hosts. Two down, five more to go.' The demon suddenly fell silent and Caballeron could feel that it sensed something. 'And we seem to be in luck. I sense another creature nearby who would make a fine host for one of my other siblings. Lust, if I'm not mistaken.' Caballeron wasn't sure if he liked the idea of looking for a pony engaging in an act of lust around him.

'Please don't tell me I'll have to drag somepony out of bed in the middle of it for your sibling.' He groaned. To his confusion, the demon actually chuckled at that remark.

'You mortals can be pretty amusing sometimes, I give you that.' Envy said. 'It doesn't take a creature who wants to mate to attract Lust. Even something as light as unrequited love is enough. And I feel an aching heart nearby. In the same bar where we just found that griffin no less. What a small world indeed.'

'How convenient.' Caballeron noted before re-entering the bar. The only two remaining ponies there were the bartender and the earth pony drinking at the left side of the counter.

"Turned down again, Cheese?" The bartender asked as he cleaned the mugs the griffin just emptied. The stallion called Cheese chugged down another mug and shook his head.

"Turned down? Even that would have been better than being completely looked through like I was. I don't think she even understood what I wanted from her. She's just up there in her little world. I don't know what to do anymore!" He moaned pathetically as he dropped his head on the counter in misery.

'Poor, sad creature.' Envy mocked with fake sympathy. 'You know the drill, doctor.' Sighing with reluctance, Caballeron reached back into his saddlebag.

Pinkie Pie didn't consider herself somepony who easily surprised. In fact, she liked to think of herself as the one doing the surprising most of the time. Therefore, she was rather unamused when she had to admit the wizard managed to surprise her when she found herself immediately cast out of the Rock of Eternity after he had crystaled her with her superhero name and pushed back into the forest around Ponyville.

Shazam and the Phantom Stranger were both gone, along with the thrones and statues that decorated the place. Instead, the only thing Pinkie saw were the surrounding trees and her abandoned cart full of party supplies. The wildlife seemed to have returned too as she heard the chirping of birds and the scattering of squirrels around the trees. All Pinkie could do was stare in disbelief at the holy tree in front of her.

"Um... Hello? Anypony still there?" She called out as she reached into the hole, trying to find the entrance, but this time, she only felt the inside of the tree.

"What?! That's it?!" She cried incredulously. "You just give me all these powers out of the blue and send me off to fight evil in the world with no further instructions?!" When she was done with her rant, Pinkie groaned in frustration and let herself fall on the ground. It was one thing to say you were gonna go fight evil in the world, but first, you'd have to actually find evil to fight.

As far as pinkie was concerned, she had never met evil that was worth fighting with phenomenal, cosmic powers. The occasional jerks and bullies she did encounter, she was always able to overcome with her kindness. And now, she was being shoved into a fight against demons. The literal embodiments of the seven deadly sins. Never before in her life did she feel so completely lost.

"Oh, why did I agree to this?" Pinkie whimpered, placing her hooves on her head. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"I believe stopping talking to yourself would be an excellent start." Another unexpected surprise. Pinkie jumped into the air in sturtlement upon hearing the voice but she quickly hopped back onto her hooves, spreading her wings and aiming her horn into the direction where it came from, only to notice that the one who spoke was merely the Phantom Stranger standing in front of her and looking at her curiously. Pinkie quickly dropped her defensive state.

"Um... Sorry. I didn't see you there. I thought you stayed back in the cave." She said as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"I apologise." The Stranger replied. "It took me longer to return to this plane of existence than it did for you." Pinkie then looked around, as if looking for something.

"Uh... Is the wizard coming?" The Stranger shook his head.

"Unfortunately his duties require him to remain at the Rock of Eternity and he was forced to stay behind." Pinkie's first thought was pitying the poor wizard. It must have been very lonely being stuck at that dark and gloomy place all by himself. But that thought was quickly replaced by worry when she realised that this meant she was supposed to figure everything out by herself.

"Fret not though." The Stranger spoke when he sensed her panic. "I shall act as your guide until you master your new skills." Pinkie's face lit up. Despite showing little enthusiasm about this whole superhero thing, she couldn't help but feel excited about trying her powers. But she quickly found a small problem in that plan, she didn't know what kind of powers she had. The old wizard couldn't even bother to tell her that.

"And... What abilities would those be exactly?" She asked, nervously fidgeting with her wings. The Stranger actually allowed a little confusion to show up on his face.

"Weren't you listening before? You have been bestowed the power of six gods and heroes. The wisdom of..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get that!" Pinkie interrupted. "The Wisdom of Starswirl, the Strength of Hoof Acres, etcetera. But what are there to these exactly? Obviously these two make me super smart and super strong and the speed of Merry Breeze make me super fast but those are just the half of it. What else is there?" The Stranger thought for a few moments, trying to find the best approach to Pinkie's training, before eventually deciding that the best approach would be letting the mare herself decide.

"Where exactly would you like to start?" Pinkie put her hoof to her chin. With the wisdom of Starswirl, it was easy to figure out the best place to start. She would have to understand all of her new powers perfectly in order to master them. And one of them still eluded her a little bit.

"What exactly does the power of Zephyr Hooves consist of?"

"As Shazam mentioned, Zephyr Hooves was the king of the gods and the ruler of lightning in the ancient nimbusian pantheon. This gives you absolute control over it as well. You are able to create lightning and bend it to your will." This blew Pinkie's mind. She could control lightning? Perhaps the wisdom of Starswirl required more maturity from her, but in that moment, she didn't care. There was only one way to describe this: it was flipping awesome!

"Wow!" Pinkie shouted as her face lit up as she started bouncing with excitement. "That's so cool! So, how do I do it? Do they come out of my hooves? Or do I shoot them out of my eyes?"

"I understand your excitement, Pinkie Pie, but please restrain yourself. I shall explain everything." The Stranger requested, remaining completely stoic. His calmness actually reminded Pinkie of the circumstances and she blushed with embarrassment, but the Stranger just ignored her antics and continued.

"To answer your question, they do not come out of either of those. Your horn serves that particular purpose. Seeing as you are not a natural alicorn, you are unable to cast unicorn magic, but the lightnings of Zephyr Hooves are at your disposal." Pinkie gazed up at her horn and suddenly she wasn't so confident anymore. She then looked back at the Stranger uncertainly, who was still patiently waiting for her to cast her first lightning. "Well?" He asked, after seeing her hesitation. Pinkie chuckled nervously.

"Well, don't you think we should find a more suitable place to train? The last thing we want is to level this forest." She was clearly making excuses, but the Stranger saw the truth in her words and attributed them to the wisdom of Starswirl.

"A wise choice indeed."

Pinkie and the Stranger relocated themselves to the bottom of a nearby mountain. The mare had spotted several boulders about the size of herself which she presumed would have made ideal practice dummies for a mare with super strength.

"I do not think those will make ideal targets for your lightnings." The Stranger remarked as Pinkie approached the boulders.

"Actually, I think I would rather test the strength of Hoof Acres first." Pinkie replied, still trying to weasel her way out of the lightning test. "To see just how much strength it gives me." Her nervousness evaporated when she saw that the Stranger once again bought her excuse.

"Very well then. Go ahead."

Pinkie went up to one of the boulders and examined it for a while. She then raised one of her hooves and gave it a light tap. While a normal pony - even an earth pony - would have just her hoof, she actually managed to make roll back a few inches. She smiled as her confidence returned. This was a good start.

In fact, her confidence became so strong that she pulled her hoof back and gave the boulder a mighty punch. But perhaps she became a little too confident. She expected the boulder to shatter into tiny pebbles, instead, it only flew back several meters. Pinkie's eyes widened when she saw how the boulder was about to land on some trees. She couldn't allow that to happen. Trees were living things as well and some of them could even have animals living on them.

With speed almost invisible to the naked eye, she bolted off towards the trees and caught the boulder between her forelegs, lifting it effortlessly above her head. Her speed managed to surprise even her. She knew she had super speed now, but even she didn't expect it to work so easily or to be so efficient. Experiencing the mix of her new strength and speed had her new alicorn body soaring with adrenaline. She looked back at the other boulders lined up at the bottom of the mountain and got a brand new idea for a training exercise.

She hurled the boulder she was holding back into the air before running over to another one, lifting it up and throwing it after the first one. The two boulders crashed into each other in the air and shattered into several smaller rocks. Pinkie then put her speed to the test and ran to to crush all of the falling rocks with a single strike before they hit the ground. To the Phantom Stranger who was observing from nearby, she moved so quickly that it looked like she was teleporting from one place to the other before hitting the rocks. By the time Pinkie was finished, a large collection of small pebbles were covering the ground.

"There!" Pinkie said in satisfaction as she dusted off her hooves. "I believe that covers the strength and speed training."

"Imdeed." The Stranger added. "Now then, do you feel ready to cast lightning?" Pinkie's newfound confidence quickly came crashing down, but she realised she won't be able to put this off any longer. She was running out of excuses.

"I... I suppose..." Pinkie replied nervously, rubbing one of her forelegs. The Stranger nodded for Pinkie to begin the process, but as the seconds passed, the mare just stood there and looked around frantically, not knowing what to do.

"You can begin whenever you wish, Pinkie." The Stranger encouraged, but his words seemed to have the opposing effect.

"I... I..." Pinkie stuttered and while she couldn't finish the sentence, the Stranger knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"You do not know how?" The Stranger asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, how should I know?!" Pinkie shouted, throwing her hooves in the air. "I never had a horn before! I... I don't even know how they work! I have no idea how the unicorns do it!" Pinkie ranted. The Stranger, to his credit did not even flinch at the tirade. He simply stood there and waited until Pinkie was done.

"You have to feel it inside yourself, Pinkie." He explained. "Inside your heart and then channel it to your horn to unleash it." Pinkie sighed. She had no idea how she should try that. All she could do was close her eyes and concentrate on igniting the lightning inside her chest. She focused so hard on creating it's image in her head that she felt like her furrowed brows will start bleeding anytime soon. Even when she did start feeling something inside herself, she had no clue how to channel it to her horn.

'Argh! How do the unicorns do this?' She groaned in her head before finally giving up. "It's not working!"

"The lightning has to be born out of vengeful anger." The Stranger said. "Out of your desire to protect others." This explanation didn't make Pinkie feel better.

"So what?! I have to wait for somepony to get into trouble so I can summon lightning?! How are we going to do that out here! There's nopony here but us!" The Stranger had to concede to that point.

"Some things have to be learned at the right time, I suppose." He admitted himself. "You are right. That is not something I can show you out here. But I give you my solemn vow, when the time comes, I will be there and help you any way I can." The Stranger saw that his words did little to ease Pinkie's mood about this as she cast her head down, but he knew something that maybe could.

"But for the time being, maybe we could try something simpler." Pinkie looked up at him.

"Oh, yeah? What?"

"Given that you were born an earth pony, i think it is safe to assume that you lack experience with flying either." Pinkie looked down at the two wings at her sides. While she did manage to spread them out before on two occasions, those were more of involuntary reactions born out of shock. On purpose, she never managed to move them.

"Yes. That's true." Pinkie replied. "I may not be able to move them, but I can still feel them. And it's so new. So..." She paused, trying to find the right words. "...strange. It feels like my sides are itching."

"Follow that sensation, Pinkie!" The Stranger instructed. "Follow them until you reach your wings and gain control of them!"

Pinkie followed the instructions and tried to welcome the unfamiliar sense of the wings at her sides into her body. As she extended her consciousness to them, it felt like her nerves merged together with the ones in the alien body parts and became one with her.

Pinkie's face lit up with joy and excitement when she finally managed to make them move according to her will. She spread them out and flapped them up and down a few time before increasing the flapping with the hopes of taking off, but when she looked back at the Stranger, she was disheartened to find that she was still standing on the ground in front of him.

"Um... I'm not flying." She stated in surprise.

"Of course you're not." The Stranger replied. "A newborn bird, or in your case alicorn is not born with the knowledge to fly. You have managed to gain control of your wings, but that is just the first step."

"So then what's the second?" Pinkie asked.

"I would lie if I said I was an expert on flying, given my own lack of wings, but perhaps I know a way to slowly get you to take flight." He then pointed at Pinkie's hind legs. "With your increased strength, you should be able to leap very high up into the air. Once you are up there, try flapping until you manage to get your wings to keep you up!"

Pinkie crouched down on the prepared herself for the leap, before pushing herself up. Her hind legs shot her up towards the sky like springs and she rocketed up into the air at breakneck speed. When she reached the top of the of her leap, she spread out her wings and flapped them as hard as she could.

She did manage to move forward a little in the air and at first, she believed that she managed to take flight already. But when she saw how she was slowly descending down towards the end ground, it made her realise that her wings were only carrying her forward, not upward.

One failed attempt wasn't gonna discourage her. After she landed, she immediately sprung back into the air and tried to take flight again, only to get the same result. She groaned in frustration.

'Argh! How do the pegasi do this?!' She asked herself while still flapping her wings. 'Don't give up, Pinkie! You managed to figure out how to control your wings! You'll figure this out too! Come on wisdom of Starswirl, give me an idea!'

Thinking about how she gained control of her wings eventually did give her one. She rembembered how she managed to move them by following the sensations they gave her body. Perhaps that will be the key to flight too. Obviously, flapping her wings around like an idiot won't do her much good. Maybe she should just feel what her wings felt again.

Pinkie prepared herself for another leap, but this time, she spread her wings before jumping, allowing them drink in the sensations around them. She was surprised how many things they felt. The wind, the heat, even the dust the air carried around. There were so many sensations that she didn't even know which one she should focus on. Starswirl's wisdom gave her a surprising advice. It told her to just follow the wind.

Deciding to heed the advice, Pinkie closed her eyes and launched herself into the air again and tried to find where the wind blew with her wings. She shut out all of her other senses, there was nothing but the wind against her skin. Her eyes snapped open when she finally felt the wind under her wing and with the hardest flap she performed so far, she finally took flight.

The sensation was beyond incredible. The winds bowed to her will and carried her on their back wherever she pleased. Pinkie flapped her wings again and they launched her even higher into the air. She grinned wider than ever before and laughed in excitement. She was flying! She was actually flying!

She suddenly launched herself into a nosedive and flew down between the trees. Just before reaching the ground, she flapped her wings again and broke her fall, putting herself into a horizontal flight again. The speed Merry Breeze slowed down the world around her and allowed her to maneuver between the trees easily. If a bird or a pegasus were passing by and looked down, all they would have seen was a living lightning bolt zigzagging beneath them. When she felt another current of wind under her wings, she flapped them again and rose up into the sky. She felt like she was soaring towards the heavens! She was having the time of her life.

"THIS IS AMAZING!" She shrieked pure joy. "I'M FLYING! I'M FLY..."

SPLAT!

Unfortunately, even the best flyers cannot neglect to look where they are going. Something Pinkie just learned the hard way. A literally very hard way as she crashed against the side of the mountain at full speed, spread out against it like a bug against a window. If it weren't for the stamina of Air Last, every single bone in her body would have broke. And even with it, it still hurt.

"Ow." That was the only thing Pinkie could say before rolling down from the mountainside like a piece of old wallpaper. She was so stunned by the crash that she couldn't even attempt to fly down safely. Instead, she just bounced down the mountain like a rubber ball.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Repeated Pinkie as she hit about a dozen rocks standing out from the mountainside until she reached the bottom. When she regained her senses, she grabbed her head in a vague attempt to ease the pain.

"Uhhh... I think that's enough training for today." She moaned. "And I also think I'll stick to walking, thank you very much. Shazam."

CRACK!

Lightning struck Pinkie, turning her back into her regular earth pony self as she slowly and shakily got back on her hooves. A decision she immediately regretted as she was hit with the worst headache she ever felt in her life.

"Ow... I don't feel like doing this again anytime soon."

"But you will have to." Pinkie jumped up with a yelp of surprise before she turned to see the Phantom Stranger standing next to her once more. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Is this going to be a regular thing with you?" She asked angrily. The Stranger remained stoic.

"I apologise but I felt the need to remind you that of your duty. You are to begin your search for the Seven Deadly Sins and defeat them. That the sole purpose for which you received your powers."

"And just where should I start looking for them?!" Pinkie demanded. "Do you have any idea how gigantic Equestria is?! They could be anywhere!"

"I will help you with that." The Stranger replied, not at all affected by the mare's outburst. "I can sense nearly all forms of magical energy and the darkness of the Sins is no exception. First, we will..." Pinkie waited for him to continue, but he never did. He simply looked up and for the first time in a long while, his face showed an actual emotion. It was worry.

"First we will do what?" Pinkie asked, raising a brow. The Stranger turned back to her.

"First, I believe you should turn around and look up." Pinkie did just that and when she looked up, her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and her pupils shrunk to the size of peas. The mountain she just crashed into was crumbling from the spot she hit and several pieces of rocks were coming tumbling down on it's side. But the most peculiar thing was that Pinkie was seeing water pouring out of the newly formed hole in the rock at an increased rate.

"Um... What is happening?" Pinkie asked meekly as she turned to the Stranger.

"I believe this is what happens when the strength of Hoof Acres collides with a mountain towering upon an underground river at full speed." The Phantom replied and this time he was unable to keep the increasing dread out of his voice. The water pouring down on the mountainside reached Pinkie's hooves and as the mountain crumbled, it's remains began rolling down towards her. She didn't need the wisdom of Starswirl to recognise the danger of the situation.

"I should probably get moving." She mumbled quietly, but the Stranger still managed to hear it.

"Yes. That would be wise." That was all the encouragement Pinkie needed. She turned and ran. The mountain behind her finally crumbled and the rocks fell into the water below, increasing it's lever to the point where it was high enough to burst out of the ground and cascade down the remaining rocks, right towards the escaping earth pony. Pinkie saw the shadow of the huge tidal wave in front of her and knew that she won't be able to outrun it. Fortunately, she didn't have to.

"SHAZAM!"

CRACK!

Pinkie lepaed into the air before the lightning even evaporated and with her wings and the speed Merry Breeze, she was easily able to get away from the wave. From the air, she could see the water still flowing from the crater she accidentally created at such an alarming rate that a terrifying thought was planted into Pinkie's mind. What if there were ponies living nearby? Ponyville was on the other side of the mountain, she had never been so far out of the town. There could always be other towns in close proximity!

She had no time to waste. It didn't take her long enough to catch up with the wave but she had to get ahead of it if she wanted to save any nearby settlements. If there were any that is. Maybe she'll get lucky and the area would end up being uninhabited. But when she suddenly several ponies collectively screaming from just a little further up ahead, she realised that she'd have no such luck.

Sure enough, as Pinkie flew forward, she saw a small town between the trees with the entire population fleeing from the incoming disaster. It was of no use. They will not be able to outrun the wave. Any Pinkie will not be able to evacuate all of them either. There was just not enough time. Pinkie groaned in frustration. She had all of these powers and she still won't be able to save those ponies from certain doom. A doom that her carelessness brought upon them.

"Some hero I turned out to be." Pinkie moaned, but her use of words suddenly gave her an idea. "Wait! TURN! That's it!" Pinkie flew back until she was only a few seconds away from having to wave crash into her. She quickly spun around, pressed her forelegs together and turned towards the ground.

"This will either be the most brilliant or the most moronic idea I've ever had." She winced before putting her plan in motion. She begin spinning around in the air at incredible speed until she resembled a giant drill machine and rocketed towards the ground, burying herself into it and creating a deep hole.

She then continued to spin in the ground and drilled her way towards the town, extending the hole into a canal. The longer the canal became the more water it began to absorb and the tidal wave became smaller and smaller. When Pinkie reached the town, she turned to the left and drew a circle in the ground that surrounded the entire town. The canal began to fill with water and the wave slowly began to die down. By the time it reached the town, it was only a harmless splash on the side of it's outskirts.

Pinkie climbed out of the river she made and at first, she didn't dare to open her eyes, afraid of the destruction she might see if her plan didn't work. But when she finally did, she let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that the town was still standing. She quickly looked around to see if anypony was seeing her and when she didn't see any prying eyes, she spoke the magic word.

"Shazam."

CRACK!

Pinkie looked at herself and noted with satisfaction that she was an earth pony once more. An alicorn superhero was very noticeable and she had no intention of drawing any attention to herself as she made her way out of the town. As she snuck between the houses, she noticed the townsponies gathering around and looking at the newly formed river around their home.

"What in the name of Celestia?" A black earth pony stallion marveled.

"I think this is definitely her doing." A creamy white pegasus mare replied. "There is no other explanation."

"Actually there is!" A blue unicorn stallion said. "Obviously there was an underground water source nearby that could no longer contain it's water and it broke to the surface."

"Oh, yeah? And how does that explain the new canals in the ground?" The mare challenged.

"Soil erosion." The unicorn replied. "The soil couldn't support the weight of the water and gave out beneath it."

"In a completely circular fashion around the whole town?" The earth pony asked, not sounding convinced. The unicorn shrugged.

"It's possible."

"Does it matter how it happened?" Asked a yellow earth pony mare. "We now have our own water source! We needed this badly! Ever since kidney infection epidemic, we were lacking it severely. Not to mention we can now start growing crops! No more starvation! There might just be hope for this town yet!"

"It's not a permanent water source though." The unicorn pointed out. "If we don't locate the underground source and somehow connect the canal to it, this will run out very fast."

"We'll worry about that later." The earth pony mare replied. "Right now, we'll need to get as much of this water to the infected as possible."

Pinkie smiled to herself. Looks like in the end, she managed to do good anyway. The tonwsponies were so busy gathering water that she had no problem leaving the town undetected. They would be able to handle things for themselves from now on. And it was a long way back to Ponyville from here. She briefly considered turning back into Captain MareVel and flying back home but she quickly dismissed the idea. She had done more than enough Shazaming for the day. And after all the sweets she consumed at the party earlier that day, she could use the exercise.

Unfortunately, the Phantom Stranger could not be there to witness Pinkie Pie's heroic achievement. Like he told her earlier, he had the ability to detect the Sins' dark energy and when he left Pinkie while she was fleeing from the tidal wave, he did just that. He tracked it back to the town of Ponyville and found himself outside local bar surrounded by police officers. The alleyway next to the bar was cordoned off and the CSI ponies were standing over three bodies covered by white blankets. As the Stranger approached the alley, he heard the nearby officers conversing.

"Have you seen them?" A grey earth pony stallion wearing a blue trenchcoat asked a white earth pony policemare.

"I wish I didn't. I've never seen bodies this badly mauled. It's like their killer was rabid or possessed." That last word caught the Stranger's attention. "We questioned the bartender. He said the victims got into a heated argument with a griffin, which they then continued outside."

"A griffin, huh?"

"Yes, sir. He gave us a description too. Female, white head and green body. We already put out the search for her." The Stranger had heard enough. If this griffin really was under the influence of what he suspected, these police ponies will not be able to stop her.

He phased through the cordons as if they weren't even there. The physics of the mortal world were no obstacles to him. He walked up to the three bodies. He didn't see who they were or how badly damaged they were, but he didn't have to. He could feel evil lurking all around this alleyway and that was all he needed. This was the Sins' doing, there was no doubt about that. And it didn't require peak detective skills to figure out which one's.

He had seen enough. The champion needed to be notified of this development immediately.

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #4: Corruption

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It was long past sunset by the time Caballeron's train arrived to Canterlot and the moon was already up by the time he reached his destination, the headquarters of RichCorp, company of Filthy Rich. It was late into the night but he was certain that the stallion himself way still in this building. Where else could all the pride and greed that Envy felt oozing around this place could be coming from?

'I can't even tell which one is stronger here. Pride or Greed.' The demon inside him pondered. 'I hope it gets figured out soon. My siblings are eager to finally inhabit a body after all these years. If things turn ugly, they might rip him in half.' It chuckled. Caballeron did not share the demon's amusement.

'Let's just get this over with.' He groaned. He was really getting tired of Envy's sadistic nature and careless attitude. 'How are we even supposed to get inside this late?'

'We didn't exactly bother with subtlety with the last hosts we found.' Envy chuckled. 'They're probably still mopping up what's left of those three pegasi. This time will be no exception. We will make our entrance the old fashioned way.'

That was exactly what Caballeron was afraid the demon would say. He walked up to the main entrance of the building, a pair of glass doors that opened straight into the lobby. The stallion placed a hoof against the door and pulled it across the material. Reinforced glass, the strongest that can be made. Completely bullet and even magic resilient. Even the princesses would have a hard time getting through here.

But they never met the power of the Sins. The literal embodiments of Ponykind's worst traits. As long as there is evil in the world, their power will never diminish. Caballeron raised his other leg and pressed his hooves against the glass doors. All the locks instantly gave out and he could pushed them open like they were unlocked. The stallion was greatly surprised by his increased strength which did not go unnoticed by Envy.

'That's just one of the perks of being the host of the Seven Deadly Sins, Doctor.' The demon chuckled. 'Now sit back, relax, let me take the wheel and enjoy the show!' Caballeron didn't even have time to comprehend what the demon was saying. His eyes suddenly widened and his pupils grew so wide that they filled out his entire sockets. When they returned to their normal size, they left the rest of his eyes glowing with demonic red light.

A series of deafening blares filled the room as Caballeron entered and the demon quickly figured that the unauthorised intrusion activated the alarms. No matter. As the possessed stallion walked further into the lobby, two hidden gatling guns emerged from the floor behind the counter. Caballeron was forced to jump back to avoid the bullets fired at him. Much like his strength, his speed was also increased tenfold and he found themselves standing back in the door. He looked at the two glass doors on his sides smirked as he got an idea.

He simply grabbed the handles of the doors and ripped them out of their hinges, before raising them in front of himself and using them as a shield against the bullets. While the unbreakable glass served it's purpose well, the force of the bullets crashing against it in rapid succession would have been able to push back any ordinary pony. But with it's strength, the demon effortlessly drove the stallion's body forward as the glass repelled the bullets.

When the stallion reached the counter, he pressed the doors against their barrels and managed to keep the bullets from escaping. Becoming unable to fire their projectiles left them being lined up inside the barrels until the weapons couldn't take it anymore. Sparks began to fly out of them as they finally shut down.

After dealing with the guns, Caballeron made his way towards the elevators. Breaking through another pair of doors, he entered a long corridor leading directly towards them. He was almost surprised to find that the building actually had security officers. Two rather shocked earth pony stallions were standing in front of him.

"What the hay?!" One of them exclaimed. "This place is supposed to be impenetrable!"

"That's what everypony says!" The other rolled his eyes. "Just to make themselves feel more safe about their buildings!" The two quickly managed to recover and raised their guns at him.

"Hold it right there!" But the demon inside Caballeron had no intention of following the order. In the blink of an eye, he tore their weapons out of their hooves and pressed them together in his own, crushing them in front of their bewildered eyes. And before they had the chance to react, he dashed again and grabbed one of them by the collar. The other one tried to make a run for it, but Caballeron noticed it and hurled the one he was holding after him. The two collided into a ball and rolled out the door onto the streets.

Free to make his way towards the elevators, Caballeron marched up to them and pressed the button. But instead of the green light that signaled it's arrival, he saw the panel requesting a code from him. Apparently, security was really tight that during the night. Caballeron simplified things a little. He bashed his hoof into the panel, smashing it, effectively bypassing the code.

The elevator arrived in a few seconds and the stallion entered, pressing the button of the top floor where Filthy Rich's office was located. But halfway through the ride, the elevator stopped so suddenly that Caballeron almost fell over. It took him a few moments to figure out what just happened. Filthy's security must have cut the power to stop him. Caballeron chuckled. It won't do them any good.

Caballeron gathered strength into his back legs and leaped up, bursting right through the ceiling of the elevator and started climbing up the cabel, reaching the top floor in no time. The demon's strength allowed him to tear the cabel in half and let the elevator plummer back to the ground floor before using the cabel to swing forward and burst through the elevator doors. Filthy's office was at the end of the corridor, guarded by another pair of security guards who looked much more well armed than the ones in the lobby.

"How did he get up here?! They cut the power!"

"Who cares?! Shoot him!" They never got the chance. Before they could even take aim, Caballeron picked up one of the elevator doors and threw it at them. The piece of metal slammed both of the security ponies against the wall, finally freeing his way towards the office. The door easily gave way to him and he found himself standing face to face with Filthy himself. The bald stallion was sitting behind his desk, looking up at Caballeron with a rather bemused expression.

"Doctor Caballeron." He spoke upon recognising his visitor. Caballeron raised an eyebrow.

"You know me?" Filthy put his hooves together in front of his face as he looked up at him.

"I know all ponies from the underworld. In case I ever required their services. But I can't recall asking for yours so I don't see the reason why are you here. Whatever archaeological finding you want to sell me, I'm not interested." Caballeron chuckled.

"Well, I guess that settles it. Pride is more suitable for you than Greed." He then reached into his saddlebag, pulled out the figure representing Pride and held it up towards him. The demon immediately flew out of it and before Flithy could react, the red mist already entered his body. The stallion was so shocked that he fell to the floor. He thrashed around and gagged as he adjusted to the entity trying to take over his body in a clear attempt to fight it.

'Stop struggling, Mr. Rich.' The demon tried to calm him down. 'I am an entity that can match your pride and help you live up to it. Why would you resist me?' Filthy eventually stopped writhing and caught up with his breath before slowly getting back on his legs. He raised one of his hooves against his head as he squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. Caballeron could see that he was struggling to resist the corruption much harder than the previous two creatures. Even Pride felt this stallion resisting much harder than any of his previous hosts.

'Whoever you are, whatever you are...' Filthy began. '...get out of my head!' The demon couldn't conceal his surprise. It was never denied by a potential host before. But it wasn't called Pride for nothing. The two minds continued to remain in a clash with each other for the one body and it wasn't clear which one would emerge as the victor.

'Come now, Filthy.' Pride continued to tempt. 'I feel you have goals that no ordinary pony could achieve on their own. The destruction of a godlike being, launching all of Ponykind into the new age. You're going to need all the help you can get.' But the stallion wasn't having any of it.

'Let me tell you something. I am not by any means an ordinary pony. I am Filthy Rich, founder and CEO of RichCorp, the wealthiest stallion alive and revolutioniser of Ponykind! If I'm going to achieve those goals, it will be on my own merits! And I'll be damned before I'll let some underworld abomination control my thoughts and my actions! Now begone, demon! And return to whatever pit of Tartarus you crawled out of!'

Pride couldn't believe what it was hearing. It was impossible, and yet, the evidence was right in front it. This stallion managed to do the unthinkable, he was too proud to allow Pride to take control of him. He was too proud for the embodiment of the emotion itself. He was prouder than it. The demon was speechless, possibly for the first time in it's existence. All it could do was retreat from Filthy's body and return to the figurine it escaped from. Envy felt what happened and was just as shocked as it's sibling.

'This cannot be!' It gasped. 'Pride would never retreat! He is too proud for that! Just what is this stallion?!' The demon never got the answer because Filthy pressed a button on his desk which made a huge weapon appear from out of the ceiling. Caballeron turned to see the weapon charge up with green light and saw a green energy beam heading towards him so fast that even his enhanced speed wasn't quick enough to react in time. The beam hit him hard enough to send him crashing through the window and plummet towards the ground below before he crashed right into the concrete, creating a huge crater around himself. Without the endurance the demon lended to him, he wouldn't have survived.

Caballeron slowly pulled himself together and stood up. The demon returned the control of his body to him but he could recall everything he just did. The adrenaline still ran through his veins as he recalled how fast and strong he moved through the building. How invincible he felt as he swept every obstacle in his path. It was quite an addictive feeling.

'Wow! What a rush!' He marveled at the experience.

'I'm glad you had fun, doctor, but we are not exactly closer to achieving our goal.' Envy scoffed. 'To meet a pony who's too proud to give in to the temptation of Pride itself. Never thought I'd see the day. If you are done, we should move!' The demon's words snapped Caballeron out of his thoughts and he was quite embarrassed over how giddy he became. He looked around to see if anypony was around and when he saw no one, he made his departure through a narrow street.

'So what do we do now?'

'We will simply have to find other hosts for my siblings. But I advise you hurry because they are growing more and more restless.' Caballeron gulped. If one demon could get so cranky, he did not want to think about what four more would be like.

'Any ideas where to start?' Envy sighed in frustration.

'We probably won't find another pony with half as much pride and greed as that Filthy Rich, but perhaps if I lower our standards a little, I could find another ideal host.' Caballeron felt the demon inside him suddenly pause and he learned it by now that it means it felt something. 'And what do you know? I think I already found two individuals that would be fine. They are close. In fact, I sense that they are coming our way. Be prepared, doctor.'

Caballeron looked around and the first two ponies he saw coming his way were two unicorn stallions who looked so similar that he immediately could tell that they were twins. They had olive colored coats and red manes with white streaks in them and they were wearing matching hats and white and blue striped shirts. The only distinguishing feature was that one of them had a moustache.

"Would you mind telling me why you dragged me back here, brother? And so late?" The one with no moustache asked. "Mr. Rich made it clear that he wants nothing to do with our new invention. Or us, for that matter."

"I will not let that stuck up snob discourage us from setting up what could be the best business idea we've ever had in this city." His brother replied. "We are going to do it. And we are going to do it in this city, I don't care what anypony says." The first brother rolled his eyes.

"Your pride is going to the death of us someday, you know." The second one looked back at him and narrowed his eyes.

"Need I remind you that it was your idea to take our business to this city in the first place? We could have went to Ponyville or Appleoosa, but no. You had to choose the capital because doing business with big shot tycoon ponies and aristocrats appealed to your greed. You always want the most in the least amount of time! So please be quiet and follow me! We are going to see this through now!"

Caballeron and Envy smirked as they thought the same thing in unison. 'Perfect.' Caballeron waited until the two unicorns passed by him before he turned to address them.

"Excuse me, gentlecolts?" They turned back to look at him and their bitterness instantly disappeared upon meeting what they must have seen as a potential new client.

"Well, good evening, my friend!" The one with the moustache greeted as he tipped his hat. "How could the world famous Flim Flam brothers be of service to you?"

"Actually..." Caballeron spoke as he reached into his saddlebag. "I think I'm going to be the one doing a service to you."

Pinkie Pie has been bouncing for at least two hours before the small town of Ponyville finally came into view. The pink mare had already tired herself out from her trip from the mountain she just destroyed, so the fact that she also had to carry her cart full of party supplies back to town did little to brighten her mood. In this situation, the stamina of Air Last would have been very useful. But Pinkie knew that no matter how tempting it was, she shouldn't waste the power she got on such trivial things. What was it they always said in comic books? With great power comes great responsibility and all that.

It was pretty late by now and since the party had ended a long time ago, the cakes were probably wondering where she was. It wasn't like her to stay out without telling them first so they must have been a little worried, which was one more reason why Pinkie wanted to get back to Sugarcube Corner as fast as possible. Another very major reason was that she was so beat from everything that happened today that the thing she wanted most right now was to jump into her bed and sleep until her shift started tomorrow.

By the time she reached Sugarcube Corner, she was so exhausted that when she took off the harness to the cart, she immediately collapsed in front of the building with her face buried into the ground. She had half a mind to just let sleep take her then and there - she had fallen asleep in stranger places and stranger situations - but before she could, she heard the familiar sound of the bell above door ringing which meant somepony was coming out to check on her.

"Pinkie!" The unmistakable voice of Mrs. Cake exclaimed. "My dear, that must have been quite a party." She chuckled as she went to help up the other mare and carry her inside. "Don't worry about the cart. Me and Carrot will take care of it."

Cup Cake carried the almost passed out mare up to her room where she laid her in her bed and tucked her in before leaving the room, gently shutting the door. A gentle smile grew on Pinkie's lips, both from the kindness of the elder mare and from finally feeling the softness of her bed.

"This has been one hay of a day!" She muttered to herself, too exhausted to even laugh at the rhyme. "And now it's time for me to hit the hay as well. Nighty night, Pinke." She was about to finally succumb to exhaustion before she heard something right next to her bed.

"I am afraid that will have to be put on hold." All of the exhaustion and sleep suddenly left Pinkie's body as she jumped several meters up from her bed with a shriek. She turned to her left to see none other than the Phantom Stranger standing next to her bed.

"Would you please stop doing that?!" She yelled at the apparition who once again remained completely unfazed at the outburst. But before he could reply, the door to Pinkie's room opened.

"Pinkie, are you alright?" Mrs. Cake asked with a concerned look on her face. Pinkie turned back to where the Stranger was standing, only to see that he was no longer there. Confused and a little frustrated, she turned back to Cup Cake with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, Mrs. C. Just a bad dream." She said, much to Cup's confusion.

"A bad dream? But you just got into bed. How could you..." She started before remembering who she was talking to. "Pinkie, you are so random, sometimes." Pinkie shrugged.

"Part of my charm. Goodnight!" She replied before pretending to get back under the covers. When Cup left, Pinkie turned to the Stranger once again standing there. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You have the most rotten timing, ever!" She scowled.

"I apologise but our duties cannot be delayed. I have detected the presence of the Sins in this town and it requires investigation at once." The mention of the Sins immediately evaporated all of Pinkie's anger towards the Stranger and turned it into concern.

"What do you mean?" The Stranger explained what he had seen and felt in the alley next to that barn where those three ponies were slain. Pinkie's eyes widened in horror. Never before had she heard about such a heinous crime being committed in Equestria, let alone in her peaceful little town. By the time the Stranger explained everything, she knew that the apparition was right. Such unprecedented vileness cannot be allowed to corrupt the land of Equestria. Her eyes narrowed in determination. The Sins had to be stopped and as the new champion of the Wizard, Shazam, this duty burdened her shoulders.

"You're right." Pinkie admitted. "How could I sleep in peace knowing that these abominations are out there, threatening ponies? No, I cannot do that until I have tracked down and sent the Sins back where they belong. And I know just the way to do that." The Stranger actually allowed himself a small smile. Now he was certain he had found the perfect pony to pick up the mantle of the wizard's champion. That was until Pinkie actually voiced her plan.

"I'LL THROW A PARTY!" She exclaimed cheerfully with a bright grin The Stranger's smile faded and his stoic expression returned, but instead of his usual indifference, this time it was with complete and utter confusion.

"I beg your pardon?"

"A party! And not just any party but the biggest, funnest, loudest party I can throw! I bet the Sins wouldn't miss an opportunity to wreck it! Evil creatures like that just can't resist ruining other's fun." This definitely wasn't what the Stranger expected her plan to be. But in the end, he figured that perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea after all. If Pinkie really threw such a huge party, then that could attract the Sins' attention, possibly with the intention of finding even more ponies to corrupt.

"Then I shall leave you to it. Good luck, Pinkie Pie!" The Stranger replied before fading away. Pinkie wanted to ask him if he wanted to attend to the party as well, but didn't get the chance. Little did she know, the Stranger did intend to attend that party. Pinkie and the guests wouldn't notice it of course, but he'd be keeping an eye on the unfolding events and notify her the moment something happened. Pinkie shrugged and got out of bed, before bouncing downstairs. As she went down the stairs, the cakes were quite surprised to see the mare they just tucked into bed already bouncing around like it was morning already.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" She sang as she passed them by. The couple exchanged a confused glance.

"Uh, Pinkie dear, are you alright? I just put you to bed and you looked ready to sleep through the whole day." Pinkie suddenly stopped as she realised she had to come up with an excuse for her employees.

"Uh, yes, I was! But then I remembered I had an appointment with another client for throwing a night party and I'm already late. Bye-bye!"

"A night party?!" Carrot Cake exclaimed. "So soon after your previous party? Pinkie, are you sure you're gonna be able to handle that? You look like you could pass out any moment!" Pinkie just waved off the stallion's concerns.

"Don't you worry about me, Mr. C! Partying is what I was born to do! Be it night or day!" She assured them as she bounced up to the door and exited. "But if it makes you feel better, I promise I'll sleep through all of tomorrow starting with the moment I get back! Good night! I promise I'll try not to be too loud!" She didn't even wait for them to respond and just slammed the door shut before bouncing off into the evening.

"Alright, Pinkie! Let's set up a huge impromptu party and draw out the Sins. It's not like you haven't done this before. I mean the party part, not the drawing out the Sins part." She wandered through the town, trying to find the ideal spot for her late night party, but even in such a small town as Ponyville, there were so many ideal places she could pick that she couldn't decide which would be the best.

Her first pick for a huge party would be Sugarcube Corner, but since it was a workday tomorrow and the whole family needed to sleep, that was out of the question. The town hall maybe? She knew that would attract pretty much everypony in town, including the ones the Sins possessed. But then she remembered she needed a prior permission to use that place for partying or she'll go to jail for trespassing and unauthorised use of city property. Again. Maybe that farm a few minutes away from the town? No. They still didn't finish completely rebuilding it after Supermare wrecked it while fighting that giant zombie RichCorp was experimenting with over there.

As she kept brainstorming, she failed to remember her earlier lesson about watching where she was going and ended up bumping into something that knocked a on her flank. She looked up to see the old Ponyville library by the name of Golden Oaks. It was currently unoccupied since the previous librarian who was also the owner retired and a new one was yet to be appointed. Pinkie put on a thinking face. It was big enough to host several ponies from the town and the walls were thick enough to conceal the sounds of loud music. Pinkie's lip curled up into a half smirk. She may have just found the ideal location for her super party.

Pinkie looked around the building to find a place of entry. The main doors were locked so she had to find another way. Since she didn't see any on ground level, she looked up at the branches of the tree house and jumped up on one of them to peek inside. The inside of the library was pretty unkept with dust and cobwebs all around, but the bookshelves have been covered with sheets to prevent the few books that been left there from gathering any dust. Not seeing any other entry point, she jumped up to a higher branch and found a hole in the tree that was just wide enough for her to squeeze herself through.

When she managed to get through, she was displeased to find that there was nothing on the other side she could stand on so she ended up falling all the way to the floor, swiping up a thick layer of dust and making her cough. Once the dust had settled, Pinkie looked around. The library's condition looked even worse from the inside. It would take a lot of time to set up a party here. Time that she wasn't sure she had with the Sins running around.

Fortunately for her, she now had the speed of Merry Breeze, fastest pegasus to ever live and the messenger of the gods. For her, it would only take seconds to set up the biggest party here that this town has ever seen. She was about to say the magic word when something stopped her. An inner voice that told her that maybe she shouldn't waste the divine gifts she had received on such trivial things as a party. Just like when she refused to transform to get home faster after saving that town in the woods from the flood.

But this time, it was different. This party was needed to lure the Sins out. And she didn't know how much time she had before they strike again. When that time came, she had to be there. Only she could stop the rampage of the Sins. That is the sole reason she was chosen. And she'll have to do anything within her power to achieve that. Her mind was made up as she realised what she'll have to do.

"Shazam!"

CRACK!

With a lightning strike, Pinkie was turned back into the alicorn superhero, Captain MareVel and she wasted no time in getting to work. First she flew around the library at super speed, gathering all the dust around the hole in the wall. She then clapped her hooves together and the shockwave blew all of the dust outside. Pinkie then used her super speed to clean up the room of debris and fix every piece of broken structure before she finally got to set the actual party up.

By the time she was finished, the place went from a run down library to looking like a miniature version of the Grand Galloping Gala. Flaglines and balloons were tied around every corner, party games like pin the tail and piñatas were set up, tables of food and drinks laid all over the place and she even set up a DJ booth connected to giant sound amplifiers. Pinkie smiled in satisfaction at her work. The super party was ready to go. Well, almost. She still needed her favourite part of every party she ever threw. The party guests.

As she went to announce her party to all of Ponyville, she stopped when she noticed a mirror in the corner of the room and for the first time, she saw herself in full superhero suit. The red spandex suit with the yellow lightning bolt she saw back at the cave was covering her entire body with holes for her wings and tail included. All four of her hooves were covered in yellow spandex shoes, a white and yellow belt was at her hip and on her back, she was wearing a yellow cape with a hood at the top of it. Pinkie tried in the hood. It was big enough to cover her horn and her lush pink mane, which was good because with her signature puffiness, it wouldn't take ponies long to make the connection between her and the alicorn superhero.

"Classy!" She commented as she admired her suit. "Alrighty then! Let's bet this party started!"

The lightning bolt that suddenly struck the derelict Golden Oaks Library took everypony by surprise. The loud noises coming from the inside shocked them even more. They knew the building was abandoned for a long time and they had no idea who could be using it. A few ponies were about to run off and call some Royal Guards in worry that there might be a crime being committed inside, but those worries were laid to rest when the main door was suddenly sprung open to reveal the resident party pony of the town, Pinkie Pie standing there. Behind her was a fully set party with everything one could imagine from a Pinkie Pie party, but on steroids!

"Hello, everypony! Are you ready for the greatest night party of your entire lives?!" She asked, full of enthusiasm. The townsponies shared confused glances.

"Night party? But... What are we celebrating?" Asked a brown earth pony mare. The question caught Pinkie off guard. Why didn't she think of that?

"Well... That's the best thing about parties! You don't really need a reason to have one! You just do!" She said, trying to make it sound like a convincing excuse, but when she saw it wasn't working, she came up with something else. "But if you really need a reason to celebrate, how about because Ponyville is the mostest, amazingest place to live in the world?!" She yelled with all the enthusiasm she could muster. The ponies in the crowd still looked suspicious and Pinkie began to sweat, nervous her plan wasn't going to work, but then suddenly, everypony cheered as enthusiastically as her and ran inside the building to start the party. Pinkie smiled in relief as she swept her forehead before following the others inside.

The party was just as huge as she had hoped. The music was blaring and ponies were dancing, playing and eating all around the library. Pinkie was tempted to join the fun but then she remembered she had a job to do. The Sins will not hesitate to try and wreck this party, she just knew it. And if they already had hosts in this town as the Stranger suggested, then anypony in the room could be one of them. She'll have to keep her eyes open and look out for any potential sinner who could be under their influence.

"I love what you have done with the place, Pinkie!" Exclaimed a yellow pegasus stallion as he walked up next to her. "I didn't think anypony would bother to clean up this ran down old library, even for a party. I certainly wouldn't have." Pinkie raised an eyebrow in suspicion. That sounded an awful lot like Sloth would talk out of somepony.

"And why is that?" Pinkie asked as she leaned up right into the stallion's face. "Are you saying that the library should be left to rot out of sheer sloth?" The pegasus backed away with a weirded out look.

"Uh... no. That's not what I meant." He replied as he backed away. "It's just I never thought it was worth it to put this old place back in shape, that's all." Pinkie looked up and down at him before giving him the 'I'm watching you' hoof gesture and leaving the confused and slightly scared stallion. She moved over to the snack table where she saw two ponies stuffing themselves with food, which awakened her suspicions.

"Hey, guys!" She greeted as she went up to them, trying to sound as normal as she could. "Careful with the snacks, okay? You wouldn't want to look..." Her expression turned accusing. "...gluttonous now, would you?" The two ponies stopped eating and shared concerned glances.

"Um... what?"

"I mean, careful! You might choke on your food!" Pinkie replied, cheerful once more after seeing they weren't corrupted. She put some food on a plate for herself and resumed her search for any suspicious activity. Walking through the party ponies, she looked to her left and saw two ponies, a unicorn mare and an earth pony stallion sneaking away towards a room in the back of the library. She knew right away what this meant and rushed to investigate.

"Don't go in there!" Pinkie yelled at them as she blocked the door with her body. "I haven't cleaned out these backrooms for the party. They are still messy and full of rubble and not fit for fooling around in." This would have no doubt triggered a violent reaction out of somepony under the influence of Lust, but the two in front of her just blushed and walked off in embarrassment, so Pinkie could go back to the party.

As she looked around, she found herself getting distracted by the DJ. A white earth pony mare who was quite talented at her craft. While she planned to do the DJ work herself, the booth was free for anypony to claim. As she kept playing music, Pinkie heard a voice speaking next to her.

"When will I get a chance to play?" Pinkie turned to see a gray pegasus mare watching the DJ Pony play with envy in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked, trying to sound empathic to hide her suspicions.

"I feel like I could be a good DJ too!" The mare complained. "I've been practicing a lot lately and I felt like I could finally show it at this party, but that mare has been occupying the booth the whole time!" Pinkie thought for a while as she tried to find the best approach to the issue. If the mare was possessed by Envy, surely she would care only about getting to play DJ herself without thinking about anypony else.

"Well, you gotta admit, she's pretty good at it!" Pinkie said but the mare just scoffed. "And look around! Everypony is having a blast listening to her music! I think you should just appreciate her music instead of envying her and just have fun." Pinkie observed the mare's reaction but when her scoff softened into an ashamed look, she knew that once again, she got the wrong pony.

"I guess you're right." The mare sighed before smiling at Pinkie. "Thanks, Pinkie! You always brighten the world. It's great to have a friend like you." The two mares then embraced.

"Hey, what are friends for? Enjoy the party!" She let go of the mare and continued her search on the dance floor. A slim, blue pegasus stallion was currently occupying it and impressing everypony with his moves. Pinkie watched him for a while and when he was done, she saw him flash a cocky smirk towards the crowd.

"What's wrong, ponies? None of you are going to give me a competition? Oh, that's right! None of you CAN give me a competition!" He boasted as he struck poses. Pinkie caught the pride in his voice and expression and she generally didn't like boastful ponies so she quickly intervened. She jumped on the stage and bumped into the stallion, shoving him aside.

"Nopony likes a showoff, buddy!" Pinkie retorted as she began dancing like the professional party pony she was. The stallion tried to keep up with her, but with Pinkie's limitless energy, he didn't stand a chance and eventually passed out on the dance floor. Pinkie hopped over to the panting stallion and offered him her hoof. Pride would have never accepted the help, but once again, Pinkie's hopes of finding a corrupted pony were crushed when the pegasus allowed himself to be pulled up.

"Okay, okay! I guess I should have known better than to challenge Ponyville's biggest party pony." He said modestly as he dusted himself off. "Nice moves, Pinkie!"

Pinkie was happy at the compliment, but once again, her search for the Sins yielded no results. She was starting to lose hope. Maybe this party wasn't such as a good idea as she thought. She found herself a secluded little bench in the corner of the library and sat down, burying her face into her hooves. The longer the party went on, the more clueless she was on what to do. Little did she knew, she had somepony watching over her who shared her goal in the discovery of the Sins.

Among the partying ponies, walked the Phantom Stranger, invisible to the crowd around him, but everything they did, he saw perfectly clearly. Including Pinkie Pie's failed attempts to find the corrupted ponies. Her efforts were commendable but her methods were flawed. Luckily for her, he knew the dark energy of the Sins well. And if one of them did show up at this energetic celebration, he would find it.

But as time passed and he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, he too was starting to give up. None of the ponies in the library felt like they were under the Sins' influence. The party wasn't tame by any means, but none of the activities he saw could be considered sinful. They looked like normal, everyday ponies having fun.

And then he saw him.

Despite the Stranger being as old as time and having met countless creatures, he immediately recognised his face. It wasn't hard since he had seen him earlier today. It was the same earth pony stallion that interacted with Pinkie Pie at the birthday celebration she organised, but this time, something was different about him. He kept staring directly towards Pinkie with a determined and longing look, completely unfazed by the loud music or the ponies dancing around him.

Suspicion has been stirred up in the Stranger and be used his ethereal eyes to look deep inside the stallion and what he saw frightened him to the core. Pinkie Pie was in great danger. He had to warn her. But even if she could easily beat the stallion into submission, she had no way of exorcising the demon from him. No, he had to consult with the wizard first. He shot one last look at the troubled mare sitting in the corner before fading away. He bad to do get back as quickly as he could.

"Hey, Pinkie!" Pinkie Pie looked up to see her good friend and fellow party pony, Cheese Sandwich looking down at her with a concerned look, no doubt wondering what happened to upset her so much. Seeing him instantly lifted her spirits and she jumped up from the bench with glee.

"Hi, Cheesel Weasel! What's going on? Do you enjoy the party I threw?"

"It is great!" The stallion replied with just as much enthusiasm. "But the party had been going on for a while now. I've been having maybe a little too much fun and now I'm all exhausted. And from the look of things, I'd say you feel the same. What do you say we go out and get some fresh air together?" Pinkie frowned. Getting exhausted from the party wasn't exactly the reason she was so distressed, but it's not like she could tell Cheese the real reason.

And she had to admit that he was right. She could use a break from her search for the Sins and the company of a pony she knew and always had so much fun with sounded like just what she needed right now.

"Sure! That sounds wonderful!" Cheese just smiled in response and grabbed Pinkie's right hoof, leading her towards the door, perhaps a bit too forcefully for Pinkie's comfort but she tried to ignore that. He was probably just very eager to get some alone time with her.

But even if Pinkie had any suspicions about Cheese, they completely evaporated by the time they got outside. Within a minute, they were walking and laughing together around the library without a care in the world. He managed to make Pinkie forgot about all of her worries for a minute and considering the huge worries she had right now, she greatly appreciated that. Eventually, the pare found a small bench in a quiet and secluded part of the town and sat down. It was a quiet night with nopony around. The only audible sound was the chirping of crickets.

"You know, I spend so much time around parties with loud music and cheering that I sometimes forget how nice a little quiet can be." Pinkie confessed. "It feels so good out here with just the two of us." Cheese turned towards her with a sly grin.

"I couldn't agree more." He mused as he leaned closer to the mare, but before their muzzles could collide, Pinkie turned back to him, smiling up at him, still completely unaware of the situation.

"Thank you so much for bringing me out here, Cheese! I feel so much better. You're a great friend." To Pinkie's surprise and confusion, Cheese narrowed his eyes at her in response.

"Well, I'm glad you think that way." He growled suddenly, causing Pinkie to back away in alarm. "But I want to be more than just your friend!" Pinkie's mouth fell open in shock.

"What?! Cheese, are you... are you serious?" She stammered, unable to comprehend what she was hearing. She had never thought of Cheese Sandwich as anything more than a friend. Perhaps if he took his to confess to her properly, they could eventually get there, but the way he was doing it right now was anything but proper. He pressed her down on the bench and crawled on top of her, looking into her eyes with an utterly crazed look. Pinkie's eyes widened in realisation. She found who she was looking for, but she never in a million years would have expected it to be Cheese Sandwich.

"Lust. It's inside you! It's controlling you!" The stallion backed away a little. It was his turn to be surprised.

"How do you know about..." Cheese's eyes suddenly went wide and his pupils increased in size with a demonic red glow. When they returned to normal, he glared down at Pinkie with such a hateful stare that the mare instantly knew that Cheese was no longer in charge. "How do you know about me?" The demon snarled through it's hosts mouth. "Speak, wench!" Pinkie tried to wrestle the stallion off of herself, but it was of no use. The increased strength he received from Lust was simply too much for her. At least, in her current form.

"Cheese, if you can hear me, please forgive me for what I'm about to do!" She said before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "SHAZAM!"

CRACK!

The lightning that struck Pinkie was so strong that it sent Cheese back several meters away from her. When the stallion recovered, neither him, not the demon controlling him could believe their eyes. Standing in front of them was not the humble earth pony mare they tried to force themselves upon just a minute ago, but a sparkling pink alicorn, vibrating with power. A power that was all too familiar to the demon.

"This power... I have felt it before..." It snarled and it didn't have to think long about where. "The power of the wizards! So the old fools can no longer stand against us by themselves and they sent a filly to do their dirty work!" The demon laughed on a chilling voice. "I'm sorry, Cheese Sandwich, but I think you won't be getting this mare after all. In order for our for our corruption to succeed, the wizards' power has to be eradicated. But don't worry, I will leave her body intact enough so you can still have some fun with her. If you're into that kind of thing, that is."

Pinkie couldn't listen to this anymore. She threw herself at the possessed stallion and threw a right hook straight at his muzzle. The sudden strike was enough to catch the demon off guard and the punch sent it's host crashing back against the treehosue. Lust quickly recovered and attacked back, throwing Cheese's forelegs up into the air and bringing them down on top of Pinkie's head. The magically enchanced mare raised one hoof over her head to block it, but it wasn't enough. He managed to break through her defense smashed Pinkie's head into the ground before lifting his hooves again.

"Sweet dreams, champion!" The demon snarled bitterly, but before he could brought his hooves down, Pinkie spun around with superequine speed and swiped Cheese's legs from under him. She then flew up and slammed down onto the stallion.

"Come on, Cheese!" Pinkie yelled, holding Cheese by his collar. "Snap out of it! This isn't you!" The demon inside him just chuckled darkly in response.

"You don't know anything. He's been longing after you for years. I wouldn't have been drawn to him otherwise. I merely give him strength to act on that feeling." The stallion then bashed his head into Pinkie's muzzle, throwing her off balance long enough for him to tackle her on the ground. Pinkie tried to get him off, but she was still too disoriented and the demon mercilessly took advantage of it. Cheese bashed Pinkie in the head several more times. Pinkie completely lost focus and the world started to spin around her, making everything a blurry mess. But she was still able to make out the demon's taunting words.

"I'm going to enjoy this." It mused, striking Pinkie again. "I'm going to beat every inch of life out of you. But don't think I'm going to grant you a quick death. First, I'm going to make this dear stallion friend of yours defile you in every way possible. And as you are taking your last pitiful breaths, the last thing you will see is how I turned this pony you care so much about into the very thing you tried to destroy."

But the demon's words were having the opposite effect than what it intended. Instead of losing the last remaining bits of her fortitude, they actually sparked a second wind inside her. Suddenly, the pain no longer mattered. All that mattered was that she had to save her friend from this abomination. The next time the demon tried to hit Pinkie again, she caught the hoof and held it in it's place effortlessly.

She glared up at Cheese with such fiery anger that she never felt before. The demon gasped in horror as it noticed the lightning symbol across Pinkie's chest slowly start sparkling with electricity. It tried to jump back but it was too late. Pinkie's hoof connected with the stallion's muzzle and sent him flying with a huge explosion of lightning.

The demon let out a shriek of agony as the lightning kept flickering around Cheese's face. It was the first time Pinkie managed to wound the entity inside the stallion and she quickly figured it out that the lightning she wielded was her only effective way to fight back. Lust completely lost it's remaining composure. Rage overtook it's entire being as it launched the body it was occupying forward to finish it's opponent for good.

"DIE!" It roared at the top of Cheese's lungs, but Pinkie had other plans. She flew at the demon with the speed of Merry Breeze, pressed the raging stallion against the ground with the strength of Hoof Acres and unleashed the lightnings of Zephyr Hooves on him. Cheese's body kept writhing as he screamed on the demon's voice until he went completely stiff and finally stopped.

Pinkie Pie panted heavily as she knelt over the stallion's body. As her mind finally cleared from the anger the Sin put inside her, she realised what she had done.

"No! Oh, no! Cheese, please wake up!" She grabbed his shoulders and tried to shake the stallion awake. Eventually, she managed to get him to open his eyes and look up at her weakly. He tried to say something, but only muffled grunts came out, much to Pinkie's panic.

"No! No! This wasn't supposed to happen! What am I going to do now?!"

"I think I may be of assistance." Pinkie spun around and she already knew what she was going to see. Or more specifically, who. It was the Phantom Stranger, looking down at the two ponies in front of him with inquisitive eyes.

"Oh, I'm actually glad to see you for once! You have to help me! My friend, Cheese Sandwich has been corrupted by one of the Sins and I think I accidentally fried him!" The Stranger was surprised to hear that.

"So you have figured out how to use the power of lightning after all!" He said to Pinkie, sounding rather impressed, before turning his gaze at the stallion in her hooves. "I believe congratulations will have to wait, though. I have spoken with the wizard. He says he may have found a way to track down the rest of the Sins and lock them away. We have to return to the Rock of Eternity. Bring your friend as well, only Shazam will be able to help him." Pinkie nodded before turning back to Cheese, giving him a reassuring look.

"Don't worry! Everything will be alright! I promise!" Cheese didn't seem to understand what the mare was saying to him. He just looked up at her with an empty expression before everything went black.

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #5: Divide and Conquer

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Shazam, the wizard was interrupted in his work by the crack of lightning coming from the throne room of the Rock of Eternity. He ran up a staircase to find his old friend, the Phantom Stranger, accompanied by his new champion, Captain MareVel who held a badly bruised and burned earth pony stallion in her hooves. Before he could speak, Pinkie immediately flew up in his face.

"Please, you have to help him! The Stranger said only you could! He has one of those evil, mean things inside him and it made him want to kill me! I had to stop it somehow and this was only way! I didn't want to hurt him!" Shazam was rather taken aback by his champion's rapid ramblings and it took him a while to find his words. When he did, he grabbed Pinkie's shoulders and looked deep into her eyes with a firm and focused stare that quickly silenced the frantic mare.

"Calm yourself, Pinkie Pie!" He told her in a calm and reassuring tone. "Our friend here speaks the truth. If this stallion here hosts one of the Sins, than I can indeed rid him of it's influence." He then cast his eyes at Cheese Sandwich, but only when he took a closer look at him did he see just how badly injured he was.

He was horribly burnt in several places, even beneath his fur, Shazam could see pitch black scorch marks. But the most worrying part was the blood leaking from Cheese's mouth, which instantly let the wizard know that he suffered significant internal damage. Pinkie was too busy looking at Cheese with sorrow and regret, but the Stranger quickly spotted the troubled look on Shazam's face.

"What is it?" Shazam sighed.

"Nothing eludes your attention, does it, old friend?" He replied before turning to Pinkie Pie. "I am afraid your friend is in a worse state than I originally imagined." Pinkie's eyes filled with tears as she recoiled in horror upon hearing these news.

"Is he gonna... die?" She was almost too afraid to ask, but she had to know.

"It is complicated." The old wizard replied. "I do not mean to frighten you or make you feel responsible for his condition, but currently, only his increased stamina from the demon's influence is keeping him alive." Pinkie sniffed and became unable to conceal her tears anymore. She was reduced to a sobbing wreck as she pulled Cheese's body to her chest and cried into his shoulder. The Stranger was forced to continue the discussion.

"What do we do now? You said you found a way to find the others." The wizard nodded.

"Indeed. But with the unfortunate state of our guest, it will not be as simple as I hoped." He then raised his staff and lifted it over the wounded stallion's chest, pulling it across his body as if scanning him.

"I can use Lust's demonic energy to track down the others, but without extracting the demon from the host's body, it will be a much more difficult process. And we cannot remove it yet. Not until it healed the host to the point where he can survive the extraction." Pinkie finally finished weeping and recovered enough focus to rejoin the conversation.

"Don't you know a spell to help him?" She asked, not sounding demanding but genuinely curious. "You are one of the greatest unicorn images who ever lived. You could turn me into this." She said as she motioned across her new alicorn body. "Surely fixing him up would be nothing to you." But the wizard's sad look was all the answer she needed.

"I wish it were that simple my child, but healing a damaged body, especially one as severely damaged as this is not as simple as transforming a fully operational one. While I do know magic that could help your friend, casting it requires great power and as much as I detest to admit it, I am old. My power is not what it once was."

"But you can do it, right?" Pinkie asked in desperation.

"I could try." The wizard said. "But there is no guarantee I would succeed. Giving you your power has already taken a lot out of me. And even if I was successful, I would hardly have any power left to locate the other Sins."

Pinkie looked down. The last thing she wanted right now was to hear a self righteous speech about the needs of many against the needs of a few. She knew that heroes needed to make sacrifices sometimes to make the right choices and save innocents and she was fine with that. But to have an innocent pony be a part of that sacrifice, a pony she knew and cherished so much, no less was something she would not stand for. She had to help Cheese. By any means necessary.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" The wizard clearly did not expect this question. Helping him was not her task and she needed every bit of strength she could gather for her confrontation with the Sins. She could not allow to waste any of it. Not even to save a cherished friend. However, there was one way she would be able to help and the wizard couldn't bring himself to keep it hidden from his champion.

"Actually, there is. He started. "You could share some of the power you possess with me to give me enough to heal your friend. But that would..."

"I'll do it!" Pinkie answered without even thinking it over. The wizard held up a hoof to calm her down.

"Please, let me finish! As I was saying, that would diminish your own power greatly and would leave you vulnerable to the Sins once you face them. Do you understand that?" Pinkie nodded.

"Yes, I do. I will do it." She replied without an ounce of hesitation. Shazam raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You will? Even after what I just told you?" The determination on the mare's face didn't falter.

If I cannot even save the ones closest to me, how could you expect me to save all of Equestria? I will do it and my decision is final! Now tell me how to do it!" While the wizard greatly disapproved of her recklessness, he saw it in her eyes that he won't be able to talk her out of this decision. And if he wanted to be honest, he was too old build up a convincing argument against the fiery energy of the youth. He resigned himself to the inevitable and slammed his staff into the ground between them.

"Grab my staff and speak the word!" He instructed. Pinkie did as she was told and wrapped her right hoof around the staff.

"Shazam."

CRACK!

The lightning bolt hit Pinkie, turning her back into an earth pony, but this time, the process didn't stop there. The lightning traveled from Pinkie into the staff and the lightning symbol on the top of it lit up with power. The power than traveled further, flowing into the sorcerer from the staff. The unicorn's eyes lit up with white light as electricity sparkled around his body before he placed his free hoof on Cheese's chest. The power flowed through the unicorn and into the earth pony.

Pinkie watched both with intrigue and trepidation as her friend laid motionlessly in front of her and his body absorbed the magical energy. At first, she almost panicked. Electricity shooting through a pony's body is hardly ever a good sign. But as she waited for the wizard to do his thing, he noticed that Cheese's wounds were slowly starting to heal. The black spots around his body began to fade and the rising and falling of his chest signaling his breathing was becoming more and more even and steady. In a few more seconds, the electricity died down and Cheese's body returned to a somewhat healthy looking state. The wizard on the other hoof stumbled slightly and nearly collapsed when the process was over. Pinkie immediately reached out to help him up.

"Are you alright?" She asked in concern. The wizard slowly managed to get back on his hooves with Pinkie's help and nodded.

"I will be fine, young one. It is just I cannot recall the last time I used such powerful magic. I am getting too old for all this excitement." Pinkie just waved dismissively.

"Oh, come on! You can't be that old." Shazam gave Pinkie an unamused look.

"I have been a member of the Council of Wizards for over four thousand years." The old unicorn replied. Pinkie was quite surprised by this, but then she remembered that the princesses were probably even older than that so it wasn't all that incredible. Still, her insensitive remark made her feel bad.

"Well, for what it's worth, you don't look a day older than twelve hundred." The wizard just kept looking at her stoically and Pinkie was worried she might have just worsened the situation, but then the old unicorn actually let out a chuckle.

"I have forgotten how refreshing the attitude of the youth can be. It really is a delight to have you around, especially during such dark times." Pinkie blushed and looked away. While she always appreciated kind words, she was getting them more and more recently and it was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. She wasn't used to so many compliments and she was getting worried that they might get to her ego. Pride was one of the Seven Sins after all.

"So..." Pinkie started, desperate to change the subject. "...is he gonna be ok?" The wizard's face turned serious once more.

"Physically, I managed to heal him to the point where he will be able to recover on his own. But that still leaves the issue of the Sin inside of him." At the mention the demon, Pinkie got worried again.

"You can remove it, right?" She asked nervously, but to her dismay, the wizard shook his head.

"Unfortunately no. At least not right now. For several reasons. First of all, the healing process took a lot out of me. I used up nearly all of my remaining magic to heal him as best as I could. The other reason is that after this ordeal, it is more than likely that his body wouldn't react well to the extraction process. It probably wouldn't be able to handle it." Pinkie's eyes widened.

"You mean... he could..." She didn't want to finish it, but thankfully, she didn't have to.

"Indeed." The wizard replied. "For now, our best option is to keep him under surveillance and await further development." Pinkie gave the unconscious stallion a somber look. To see him completely helpless and in the possession of such an evil being tore her to pieces. She was about to raise one of her hooves to caress Cheese's face, but the wizard's voice stopped her.

"In the meantime, please follow me. There is something I need to show you." With a heavy heart, Pinkie turned away from Cheese and followed the unicorn out of the room and they descended down the same set of stairs the wizard ran up earlier and they entered a room that Pinkie could only describe as the sorcerer's workshop.

Living in a world full of magical ponies, she was no stranger to magical artifacts, but what she saw in this room looked far too alien even to her. Some looked like weapons, some looked like magical artifacts and others looked like severed body parts of creatures that Pinkie couldn't even begin to imagine. The thing the wizard lead her to looked almost mundane compared everything else in the room. If it wasn't for it's unnerving appearance.

"Here you go, Pinkie Pie." The wizard said as he gave her an orb made of stone. Pinkie kept rotating it in her hooves as she looked at it. The orb had all seven of the Sins carved into it, each of them occupying the same amount of space around the object. Truth be told, Pinkie was pretty creeoed out by it and didn't know why the wizard had given it to her.

"Uh... Thanks, but I don't think I'll hang this on my wall."

"I sure hope not." The wizard replied flatly. "This artifact is the key to our victory over the Sins." Pinkie looked back at the orb, still confused about how it could help them.

"This orb made of rock?" She asked in disbelief. "Are we gonna throw a rock at the Sins?"

"This rock as you called it, is made of the same material as the prison that contained the Sins until now." The wizard explained. "The first time I sealed them away into seven different idols, I had my fellow wizards backing me up. But now, they are gone and I alone couldn't repeat that feat. This time we will only have enough magic to do it once. Right into this." He finished, poking the orb with his staff.

"That reminds me, sharing your power with me have taken a lot out of you. If you are to stand a chance against the Sins, we will have to restore your strength. Now follow me! I feel your encounter with the demons is more overdue than we believe!" The wizard turned away before Pinkie even had time to nod, so she started bouncing after him to catch up. Neither of them knew just how accurate the wizard's prediction actually was.

Despite being a seasoned adventurer - well, seasoned compared to an average pony - Caballeron couldn't stop himself from feeling nervous as he entered the Dragon Lands. Even the demon residing in him could barely give him enough courage to carry on. Few ponies dared to enter these lands and even fewer came back. Dragons weren't very fond of ponies. Envy didn't like the nervousness he felt inside his host. Quite frankly, it was making him disgusted. So he decided to get rid of it immediately.

'Doctor, could you ease up a little? I sense fear rising up inside you and it's nauseating me!'

'Of course I feel fear!' Caballeron snapped and for the first time, he didn't give a damn he was backtalking a powerful demon who could consume him from the inside. His fear of dragons were bigger. 'We are in the dragon lands?! Do you have any idea how dangerous they are?! And how much they hate ponies?!' Caballeron wasn't even surprised when he heard Envy chuckle inside his head. He had learned by now how demons were amused by the most horrific things.

'Actually, I do.' Envy replied. 'Back in the day, dragons were even mightier creatures than they are now. They actually respected the values we represent and were always easy to sway to our influence. Which is why I feel so confident about our trip here! We only need two more creatures to complete the awakening and Gluttony and Sloth shouldn't be difficult to find among dragons.' Unsurprisingly, Caballeron wasn't as enthusiastic as the demon.

'Well, I'll still be on the lookout for any dragon that might not like a pony wondering around their land.'

'Trust me, Doctor! They'll better be on the lookout for us! Did you get already forget our performance at the RichCorp building?' Caballeron didn't think he will ever forget that power trip, but he was uncertain if the same performance would be enough against a dragon. Or heaven forbid, a horde of them. But it's not like he had a choice in the matter. He just had to hope they would finish quickly.

As he made his way further into the land, he was surprised to see how lifeless it was. And not just in the desolate wasteland style that dragons were fond of but because he's been walking for almost half an hour now but he was yet to encounter one single dragon. Not that he complained. It looked like he would get lucky after all, but he knew this trip couldn't end without him dealing with a dragon. He could hear the musings of Envy inside him as they approached whoever it thought would be a suitable host for it's siblings.

When Caballeron reached the top of a hill in front of him, he did finally catch glimpse of a dragon, but the creature he was looking at was definitely not the first thing that would have crossed híd mind when he thought of one. It was a rather obese, yellow creature with pink scales on his head. He seemed pretty nervous as he walked, constantly looking around, as if to make sure no one was watching him before walking up to a pile of gems lying at the bottom of a cliff next to a lava pool and starting to eat them. It became evident to Caballeron that this dragon was not supposed to be here. This belief was further validated when another group of dragons appeared, much to the yellow one's fright.

'I smell trouble.' Caballeron thought, not liking the implications he was getting from the scene.

'Indeed.' Envy mused, once again with the opposite feeling from it's host's. 'Let's enjoy the show, shall we?' It said, watching in anticipation as the group of newcomers approached the lone dragon menacingly.

"Sludge." A tall and slim red dragon growled. "I thought we made it perfectly clear the last time that we don't want to see you around here again." The dragon named Sludge gulped before putting on a nervous smile.

"Why Garble, i thought that was just a friendly advice." The other dragons were not amused by this defense.

"Well, you should have taken that advice, fathead!" He then turned to his cohorts. "Teach this punk a lesson he won't ever forget!"

"What about you, Garble?" Asked one of the dragons. "You won't be joining us?" Garble shrugged.

"Nah." He replied as be walked into the lava pool and slumped down into it. "I'll just sit back and enjoy the sounds of his suffering. Have fun!" The other dragons rolled their eyes.

"Lazy bum." One of them muttered. "Okay, hold him down!" As the other dragons moved to hold Sludge down, Caballeron felt envy inside him growing restless.

'Things aren't looking good for our well fed friend!' The demon worried, much to Caballeron's surprise.

'Are you concerned for him?' He asked and though he couldn't see it, he knew the demon just rolled it's eyes.

'Hardly. But he is the best host I can feel for Gluttony within miles and I do not wish to travel so much in search of another. We need that dragon, Doctor! We will have to step in! Now!' Caballeron's eyes went wide as he heard that last sentences.

'Step in? Against so many dragons?' Envy could feel the fear rising inside it's host and groaned in frustration.

'To think I allowed such a mewling quim to become my host is an embarrassment! Fine, I'll do it myself!' In that moment, Caballeron's pupils widened and his eyes glowed red, signifying Envy overtaking his body. Then, before the dragons at the bottom could make their move against Sludge, he made his way down the hill.

"Stop!" The stallion growled in a demonic voice, making all the dragons turn to him. "That dragon belongs to me! Step away from him!" The dragons just stared at Caballeron in stunned silence before turning to each other and bursting out laughing.

"Well, what do you know, boys? A pony with some actual guts! I never thought I'd see the day!" Garble chuckled in the lava pool. "Too bad it won't do him any good around here. That pig of a dragon can wait. Show this little pony what we do to his kind around here!"

The dragon who was about to lay a smackdown on Sludge walked up to Caballeron and grabbed him by the throat. He was about to lift him off the ground, but he got the surprise of his life when the stallion simply bashed his muzzle into his face. The impact was much more powerful than the dragon dared to expect from a pony and it made him stumble back, barely able to prevent himself from falling over. As he held his face in pain, Caballeron ran up to him, spun around and bucked him into the lava pool.

The other dragons were understandably surprised by the pony's display of strength, but they were never ones to back down. Another dragon picked up a nearby rock and threw it at Caballeron, but the stallion dodged with impossible speed and with the same speed, he ran up to the dragon and rammed his head into his stomach, making him fall over. He then struck his hoof into his jaw before wrapping his forelegs around his neck, throwing him over his shoulder and slamming him into the ground.

The two dragons holding sludge shared a confounded gaze, unsure what they were supposed to do or if what they have seen was even real to begin with. Eventually they realised they had no choice but to let go of their captive who wasted no time and dashed towards the pile of gems to hide amongst them. Though even in a situation like this, he couldn't resist his gluttonous urges and gobbled up a few of them as he watched the rest of the events unfold.

The two dragons saw that physical strength alone won't cut it against the possessed stallion so they resorted to use their fire breaths on the intruder. Caballeron smiled as he just stood in one place and allowed the flames to consume his body. The dragons watched in satisfaction as the flames died down and the smoke cleared away but their smug joy was replaced by shock as Caballeron turned out to be completely unharmed by their fire. They looked at each other in horrified disbelief. If dragon fire wasn't going to hurt this pony, then what would?

"What are you?" One of them asked as they took a step back. Caballeron took full advantage of this by walking slowly towards them.

"I was forged by the very flames that created Tartarus itself! Your little singe is nothing to me!" The demon growled on the stallion's voice. "Now BEGONE!" He roared as he raised his forelegs and shoved the two dragons aside. "I have more important matters to attend to." He then turned towards the pile of gems where Sludge has been hiding. The obese dragon's eyes widened when he saw Caballeron making his way towards him and he crawled out from under the gems on his back.

"Come now, there's no need for that!" He pleaded with Caballeron as he kept backing away. "I ain't got no beef with ponies. I ain't like the rest of these dragons. Don't hurt me! I'm sure we can work something out!" Caballeron chuckled darkly.

"Oh, you bet your giant, greasy hide we can!" He growled before reaching into his saddlebag and pulled out the idol representing Gluttony. The demon inside the artifact quickly found it's target and since Sludge was such a perfect match for this sin, it easily managed to take control of him. Meanwhile, Garble who was still watching the events from the lava pool seemed unfazed by the stallion's display of strength and more focused on Sludge's cowardice.

"Groveling before a pony, Sludge?" He leered. "Just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower!" Sludge apparently didn't hear the comment. The possession of the demon immediately took effect, increasing his hunger to unimaginable levels. He gazed back at the pile of gems in front of him longingly before jumping up and beginning to devour it, taking huge chunks and shoving them into his mouth, not even chewing them, just swallowing. This made Garble finally lose his cool.

"Hey, what gives?!" He demanded as he finally summoned the willpower to get out of the pool. "Those gems are mine!" He was about to confront Sludge, but Caballeron stepped in the way.

"Oh, yes. I almost forgot about you." He spoke smoothly as he analysed the dragon's body and Garble suddenly felt like he could see into his very soul. "Hmm. I'm sure I could find a more suitable one than you, but for now you will do." Before Garble could decide what to make of that remark, Caballeron pulled out another idol that contained the last sin that needed a host, Sloth. For a moment, Envy had worries about whether or not it's sibling would accept the dragon, but his worries were laid to rest when red mist emerged from the idol and flew into the dragon. The demon smiled in satisfaction.

"It is done." It mused before giving Caballeron the control of his body back to him. The Earth Pony stumbled around a little before he regained full control. Despite the fact that he had just beaten a group of adult dragons into submission, he started feeling like this whole thing was worth it less and less.

'Well, now that all of your siblings have hosts, are we ready to begin?'

'Almost.' The demon replied. 'First we need to...' Envy suddenly went silent which really unnerved Caballeron.

'We need to what?' Envy didn't answer. It felt something and since he was it's host, Caballeron felt it too. It was the same demonic energy that he always felt radiating from the entity inhabiting his body, but it was also different. It was a distant, faint beckoning feeling calling them somewhere. And it came from far away. So far that to Caballeron, it felt like the place the call was coming from was not even in their own reality.

'Well, what do you know?' Envy mused as it finally got over the surprise of the call. 'Looks like one of my siblings beat me to it. Lust if I'm not mistaken. She is at...' The demon paused again as realisation dawned upon him. Caballeron didn't even dare to ask the demon to elaborate further this time. 'We must gather the other hosts at once!' Envy instructed it's host. 'It's time to pay a visit to some old friends.'

"Make haste, Pinkie Pie! We have no time to lose!" The wizard urged as he lead Pinkie through the Rock of Eternity. The mare panted as she struggled to keep up with the old unicorn.

"I'm... trying..." She responded before stopping briefly to catch her breath and wipe the sweat off her forehead. "By Celestia's mane, this place is bigger than it looks. I could sure use the stamina of Air Last right now."

As Pinkie Pie followed the wizard up a dark, torchlit staircase towards an old wooden door, she felt the flow of magic coming her way growing more and more powerful. Pinkie had felt quite a lot of magic in the past day. Very powerful magic. But what she felt behind this door was overwhelming even compared to that. It made her feel a little uneasy. The wizard raised his staff and pointed at the door with it.

"This is the top floor of the Rock of Eternity and the most important one of them all." He told Pinkie with more seriousness than the mare ever saw on his face. "What I'm about to reveal to you is extremely powerful and also extremely dangerous. And I expect you to treat it as such."

"Um... What's behind that door exactly?" She asked nervously, taking a step back. The wizard's horn lit up and the safety mechanisms around the door magically removed themselves. Locks flew off, wooden bars moved out of the way, chains came loose and the steel bars covering it moved up into the ceiling before the door itself finally opened slowly and heavily.

"Step inside and find out!" Shazam instructed before entering. Pinkie was hesitant for a moment. The courage of Arrow Mass also dissipated from her after her transformation. But then she shook her head and narrowed her eyes in determination.

"Pull yourself together, Pinkie!" She snapped before smacking herself. "If you can't go on without the courage of Arrow Mass, then you don't deserve it!" She then took a deep breath and entered the room. What she saw inside was kind of a letdown. The room was completely empty except for one very noticeable thing. The giant whole in the ground and the peak of a giant rock it was built around. The rock reached all the way to the ceiling and had an altar around it with a set of stairs on all four sides. Pinkie tilted her head and gave the wizard a confused look. "Really? All that fanfare for this?" The wizard raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any idea what this is?" Pinkie walked up the altar to the rock and knocked her hoof against it a few time.

"Uh... It's a rock."

"Not just any rock!" The wizard countered, harsher than he intended but he was starting to lose his patience with the mare's antics. "This is the top of the Rock of Eternity itself. It contains the most powerful magic in this place and therefore must always be locked down by the according measures. I opened it up for you so that it may restore your powers in time for your confirmation with the Sins."

Pinkie looked back at the rock. For a moment, it's ordinary appearance made her forget about the powerful magic she felt eminating from this room. She could still feel it but it was fainter than before. And also different somehow. While she was outside, it made her scared and nervous. But from up close in this room, it almost felt like the magic in the rock was calling out to her, inviting her to step closer. And suddenly, even without looking back at be wizard, she knew what she had to do.

"Shazam."

CRACK!

Changing back into Captain MareVel, Pinkie slowly raised one of her hooves and reached out towards the rock. As she made contact with it, bright sparks of electricity jumped out of the rock and flowed right into Pinkie Pie. But she wasn't frightened at all. Not only did the electricity not hurt, they felt invigorating. As if it was breathing new life into her. Her eyes glowed blue from the power and her expression lit up realisation, much to the wizard's satisfaction.

"I see you understand now." Pinkie removed her hoof from the rock and the sparks disappeared. She stepped back and raised her hoof in front of her face, looking at it in wonder, still seeing some of the sparks dancing around it.

"I do." She replied bluntly. "So, am I ready now?" The wizard frowned and shook his head.

"I'm afraid it is going to be a long process. What you just felt is but a fraction of the power you normally weild and an even smaller fraction of the Rock's power. Normally, you would take far longer to return to full strength on your own. But the Rock will be able to speed up the process a little." He explained before making his towards the door. "I suggest you meditate in the meantime. Clearing your mind may not fasten the regeneration process but should help you control your powers better. Good luck, my champion!" With that, he exited the room and Pinkie could hear the safety mechanisms sealing the door once more once he closed it.

But she did not panic upon being closed. In fact, she felt safer than ever. The magic of this place felt like so similar to the one she was tasked with wielding that she almost felt apart of it. So it was with the greatest comfort she placed both of her hooves on the Rock and began absorbing more of it's power. Pinkie closed her eyes and emptied her mind, a task easily said than done since her mind was usually full of... well, not even Celestia knows what Pinkie Pie's mind was full of, but right now, it was a place of complete serenity.

As the magic coursed through her body, she felt like it was being covered by a warm blanket. The strength, the courage, the durability, the speed and the most of all, the power of lightning returning into her. It was a welcome sensation. She felt like her body was drinking in the power like water. It almost surprised her how natural it felt. She blocked out everything around her and let the energy slowly fill her up.

Shazam returned to the throne room where he found the Phantom Stranger looking over Cheese Sandwich who was still lying unresponsively.

"How is our guest?" He asked the apparition.

"No change." Came the response. "How is our champion?"

"She is at the top floor, recovering." The Stranger was surprised by this answer.

"You took her to the top of the Rock? You were not willing to let even me in there. It is one of the few places I am unable to access."

"For good reason." The wizard replied. "It is not like I do not trust you, my friend, but the secrets Rock of Eternity are mine to guard. And now, hers as well. That is why she is allowed in there." The Stranger took no offense at that explanation and turned his gaze back towards the stallion.

"His body is recovering, albeit at a very slow rate but it is the demon inside him that worries me. It may have been incapacitated but it's presence is still very strong. Not only that, but I can feel the demonic influence radiating from his body. Very strongly. I suggest you take a look at it."

The wizard walked over to Cheese and raised his staff over his unresponsive body. The staff glowed white and eminated a low, humming voice from itself as it scanned the stallion. The wizard's expression shifted from concern to worry and eventually fear as he realised that the Stranger was right. The demon inside him was severely weakened but it still had enough strength to send out a signal, which Shazam could quickly decript as a call to it's siblings. The Stranger noticed his friend's expression and he didn't like it.

"What is it?" The wizard never got a chance to answer. Suddenly, a dark red flash appeared in the middle of the room, making both supernatural ponies jump in surprise. They turned to see a red orb of demonic energy appear out of nowhere and beginning to grow in size. Eventually, it grew bigger than the two of them and that's when they realised what it was supposed to be.

The silhouettes of six creatures appeared inside the orb and they stepped out of it, revealing three ponies, two dragons and a griffin. All of them had glowing, red eyes with their pupils impossibly wide, confirming the wizard's worst fear.

"We're too late! The awakening is complete!" The host of Envy, Doctor Caballeron grinned wickedly.

"I'm glad to see your perceptiveness didn't fade with age, old stallion." It's grin quickly disappeared though when it realised the wizard was alone. "Say, where are the rest of those damnable wizards? I would hate it if they missed the destruction of one of their own." Despite being outnumbered and severely weakened, Shazam wasn't intimated in the slightest. He gathered all of his remaining power into his staff and slammed it into the ground in front of himself.

"Do not defile the memories of my fellow wizards by speaking their names, you foul creature!" He roared as electricity shot up from the ground around him. The demon frowned in disappointment.

"So their age finally caught up with them. A pity. We were looking forward to slowly squeezing the life out of them. Oh, well. We'll just have to settle for you. And on the bright side, there will be no creature to stop us this time!"

'Don't count on that!' The wizard thought and attempted to take Envy by surprise by unleashing a blast of lightning at it's host. The sudden attack had the desired effect. Envy couldn't react in time and Caballeron's body flew back several meters. But before the wizard could continue his attack, he was tackled to the ground by the hosts of Wrath and Gluttony, Gilda and Sludge.

"Can I devour him?" Gluttony asked, making his dragon host lick his lips hungrily. "It's been ages since I've had a decent meal."

"Not yet, you fool!" Wrath snapped at him through Gilda. "First, he's going to witness how we corrupt his precious world that he and his peers gave everything to defend." The demon snarled before plunging the claws of it's host into the wizard's flesh, making him cry out in pain. "You think that hurt?" Wrath snarled. "Wait until I have grinded every bone in your body to dust. Then my brother here can have whatever is left of you." As they kept torturing the unfortunate unicorn, Envy got back on Caballeron's hooves and recovered the wizard's dropped staff.

"You see, old stallion? With the other wizards by your side, you may have been a match for us. But on your own, you are nothing!" It shouted before breaking the staff in two. The staff released one final burst of lightning as the magic faded from it, reducing it to an ordinary piece of wood.

Meanwhile, Pride and Greed in Flam and Flim's bodies went to check on Cheese Sandwich.

"This is the host of our sister?" Pride asked with disdain. "She really lowered her standards."

"I'll say." Greed added, clearly sharing it's brother's low opinions on the stallion. "But she is clearly not well. I can sense her inside this pathetic creature but she is faint and weak."

"This must be the wizard's scheme." Pride deduced, anger rising inside it's being. "He must have planned to hunt us down one by one."

"No creature can hurt my siblings but me." Wrath added before gashing some more wounds onto the unicorn's body. "You just prolonged your suffering, you old fool! Pick that stallion up and let's go!"

The Phantom Stranger could only watch in horror as the corrupted creatures tortured his friend. While he was in no danger of being discovered by them as he was only visible to the creature's he allowed to see him, the evil plot he just discovered still made him tremble. The wizard was now powerless against the demons raiding the cave.

There was only one creature who could stop these monsters now, but she was in a place that was unreachable even for him. He had only one hope. When Envy broke the wizard's staff, he saw it losing all of it's magic. Since the room at the top of the Rock was locked down by it, perhaps the magic guarding the room also faded away.

The Stranger didn't waste his time and immediately left the throne room throughout his ethereal gateway. He let out a sigh of relief escaped his mouth when he found that his theory was correct. With the destruction of the wizard's staff, he could break through the magical barrier guarding the room and entered it.

Inside, he saw Captain MareVel still leaning against the top of the rock and absorbing it's power. The Stranger didn't know if Pinkie absorbed enough power to fully restore her strength, but they had no more time. Whatever strength Pinkie regained from the Rock, it had to be enough.

"Pinkie Pie! You are needed in the throne room immediately!" Pinkie stopped working working the regeneration process and turned towards the phantom stallion.

"Why?!" She asked in alarm. "What's wrong?!"

"The Rock of Eternity is under siege!" The Stranger told her frantically. "The Sins have all awakened and captured Shazam! Only you can stop them now!" Pinkie recoiled in horror. The time has come. Her confrontation with the Seven Deadly Sins was finally at hoof. She wasn't quite sure if she was ready, but in that moment, she didn't care. The wizard, the stallion that trusted her with divine power and to take down the greatest threat ponykind had ever seen was in trouble and he needed her. Not to mention Cheese Sandwich who was still recovering from her attack on the demon inside him. There was no time for hesitation. Before the Stranger could do anything, Pinkie dashed past him, burst through the magically sealed door and sped down the stairs towards the throne room at speed that Merry Breeze himself would have been impressed by.

In the throne room, the Sins were about to make their exit back to the world of ponies with Garble and Sludge carrying the two unconscious ponies under their arms. But before they could summon the same portal that they used to enter, they were stopped by the most unlikely of interlopers. Captain MareVel sped into the room so fast that the movements of the corrupted creatures were playing in slow motion to her. The two dragons barely noticed their captives being snatched out of their grasp and by the time they noticed they were missing, the hero already placed them to safety around the Rock. Obviously, the Sins weren't amused.

"What the..." Sloth exclaimed as he noticed the host of Lust was gone. Gluttony was similarly displeased.

"My snack is gone!" The demon raged through Sludge. "When I catch the one responsible for this, I will eat them alive!"

"You and your bottomless pit of a stomach, you worthless moron!" Wrath snapped. "Can't you see we have bigger concerns right now?! We have been..." Before the demon could finish, it's griffin host was hit in the face by a red blur that ended up sending her crashing against the two dragons. The other three hosts looked up in surprise but didn't have time to react as they were also struck by the unseen assailant and before they realised what was going on, the six creatures found themselves in a pile on top of each other.

The demons groaned in pain as they recovered and got back up. They looked around in an attempt to find their attacker who didn't make them wait. In a flash of lightning, Captain MareVel herself stood in front of them in all of her glory, floating in the air with grace with electricity sparkling around her body and staring down at them with contempt. The Sins stared back in both anger and confusion.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Wrath demanded. "Who are you?!" Pinkie opened her mouth to answer, but she was beaten to it.

"She has the wizard's power!" Greed called out. "She's reeking with it!"

"I sense it too!" Pride said. "It's the same power he used to trap us but stronger! Much stronger! How did he manage to create this creature?"

"Who cares?!" Greed growled. "If her power really is that great, then I must have it!" The demon slowly made Flim's body crawl out of the pile and was about to pounce on the mare, but she quickly fired a lightning bolt at the unicorn's body, sending it crashing against a wall.

"Idiot!" Wrath snapped at it's impulsive brother. "This mare wields not just the power of one wizard but all of them! We will all have to unite if we want to defeat her!"

Pinkie fired another wave of lightning from both of her hooves and her horn, but she didn't have the element of surprise this time and Gluttony knew exactly what to do. The demon made it's dragon host open his mouth and literally devoured all the lightning, much to Pinkie's surprise. Sludge licked his lips and rubbed his belly.

"Delicious! If your divine power tastes so good, I can't wait to get a taste of you!" Sludge dashed up to Pinkie Pie at a speed that defied his weight and was about to sink his teeth into the alicorn who only managed to escape due to her own super speed.

'Well, so much for the power of Zephyr Hooves. Let's see if I fare better with the strength of Hoof Acres.' Pinkie thought as she slammed her hoof into the dragon's jaws. Sludge backed away from the impact and the demon inside him became so enraged that it made the dragon blindly spit fire at the mare. The fire did nothing to hurt her, so she managed to easily counter and knock the dragon back.

Before she could end the fight for good, she was tackled to the ground by Gilda. Her increased strength made it possible for her to penetrate her alicorn body but the stamina of Air Last made the pain bearable enough for her to grab the griffin's forelegs and electrocute her before headbutting her in the face with enough strength to send the griffin crashing against the wall. She was about to get up, but she never got the chance.

"Enjoying a good lay, eh?" Sloth spoke through Garble. "I can sure relate to that." He then threw himself on top of the pony and pinned her to the ground with his weight. Pinkie struggled to get the dragon off of herself until her hindlegs were grabbed by Flim while Flam grabbed her forelegs.

"Say goodbye to your powers, whelp!" Greed taunted, but before they could drain Pinkie's magic, the mare released lightning from her horn, blasting the unicorn away.

"I'd rather say goodbye to you!" She quipped before pointing her hoof at the other brother and giving him a taste of lightning as well. Finally, she put both her hooves on the dragon lying on her and electrocuted him as well until he lost enough grip for her to throw him off as well.

The Sins were still not quite done. They quickly recovered and regrouped, advancing on Pinkie menacingly. She didn't back down and summoned another wave lightning, firing it at the corrupted creatures. While it made them stumble back, they did not fall. They tried to make their way through the lightning and slowly but surely, they were getting closer to her.

Pinkie saw that she won't be able to keep this up for much longer. She looked around to find something to use against her opponents and saw one of the stone columns next to her. She quickly flew behind the column and placed her hooves on it.

'Let's hope this isn't the support beam of the entire room.' She thought before pushing it forward and slamming it onto the demon hosts. Meanwhile, Envy witnessed the thrashing it's brothers were receiving from this superpowered pony and was beginning to grow nervous.

'This mare is more formidable than we thought.' The demon observed. 'The beating she gave my siblings is something I certainly don't envy. I think it's best if we make a tactical retreat.' It then forced Caballeron's body to summon the portal they entered through and once it's siblings recovered again, it signaled them. "It's time to leave!"

"Forget it!" Pride bellowed back. "I'm not running away from a fight!"

"Swallow your pride or I will make Gluttony swallow it for you!" Wrath snapped at it's brother before motioning for the others to head for the portal. Pride was clearly not happy about it but even it didn't dare to defy Wrath so it obeyed.

"What about Lust?" Greed asked. "She's still trapped here. We cannot make our return complete without her."

"Once we regained our full strength, we will come back for her." Envy replied. "Now come! We are not ready to face a foe of this magnitude." The Sins made their way towards the portal and jumped through it before it closed as Pinkie watched in slight surprise.

"Um... did I win?" She wondered out loud, still not sure what just happened. She then heard a set of hooves slowly dragging itself through the dust of the cave's floor. Pinkie turned to see none other than the wizard, Shazam stumbling towards her. She quickly ran to his side.

"Are you alright?" She asked as she held him. The stallion coughed.

"Just... get me to my throne." He replied weakly. "That will... help me recover." Pinkie did as he asked and carried the old unicorn to his throne. The wizard let out a sigh as he was placed in the chair and felt the rejuvenating energy of the Rock of Eternity flow through him. As Pinkie watched, she heard a voice coming from her left.

"To answer your question, you did not win." Pinkie jumped and she wasn't at all surprised when she turned to see the Phantom Stranger standing next to her.

"Seriously, don't you ever get tired of this?!" She demanded. "Because I really am!"

"I apologise but we don not have time for pleasantries."

"He is right." The wizard added once he was strong enough to get off his throne. "You did not defeat the Sins. They were your equals in every way. And had they the seventh Sin by their side, they would have no doubt overwhelmed you."

"Speaking of which, where exactly did you hide your friend?" The Stranger wondered. In response, Pinkie sped off and returned with the still unconscious Cheese Sandwich on her back.

"Is he recovered enough to extract Lust from him now?" The wizard shared a worried glance with the Stranger before turning back to Pinkie.

"Unfortunately, I cannot tell. When the demon destroyed my staff, my connection to the Rock's magic was lost. I can no longer sense it inside him." Pinkie's face fell at the news, but what the wizard said next worried her even more.

"But I am afraid we can wait no longer. When the Sins attacked, I felt that they were not at their most powerful. They may have found new hosts but to regain their full power, they have to return to the place where we sealed them." Pinkie's eyes widened and the Stranger frowned.

"Then we have no time left." The phantom spoke before turning to the mare. "You will have to follow them, Pinkie. You are our only hope."

"First, she will have to extract the demon from him." The wizard said. "We cannot afford it getting loose and joining it's siblings in battle. The power of seven demons against the might of six godly heroes would not put the odds in our favor." Pinkie looked unsure about this.

"But... you said you can't tell if he's ready for that. So... If I do that, I could kill him." The wizard placed a hoof on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look.

"I know. But it is a chance we will have to make. We have to act as fast as we can." He then raised the orb he carved and gave it to her. "All of Ponykind's fate depends on this. You must not hesitate."

Pinkie looked at the orb in her hooves and then at Cheese. For a moment, she saw more in this one stallion than all of Ponykind combined. He was a good friend for a long time and as a fellow party planner - one of the best, in fact - he had always been a special friend to her. And since she learned that the stallion had harbored feelings for her, she has been wondering if he could be something more. So it was not an easy decision to make.

And yet, it was obvious to Pinkie what she had to do. Being a hero meant that you will have to make very hard decisions. Not for yourself, but for the sake of others. And if this risky move would help her prevent the darkness that was to come, then she would have to make it. And deep down she knew that as a fellow party pony, whose purpose in life was to ensure the happiness of others, Cheese would have wanted her to do this too.

With a heavy heart, she raised the orb between herself and Cheese and uttered the magic word.

"Shazam."

CRACK!

The lightning bolt that struck this time not only transformed Pinkie back to an Earth Pony, but also sent electricity into the orb which eventually found it's way into Cheese Sandwich's body as well. The sparks continued to dance around the two ponies for seconds before they died down. The electricity inside Cheese left his body and flew into the orb, making the carvings on it glow with blue light. When the light faded, only the carving that represented Lust remained glowing. The demon was now trapped inside the orb. With the task done, Pinkie went to check on her friend.

"How is he?" She asked the wizard who went to check the stallion's body for lifesigns.

"His vital signs are stable for now, but it is too early to tell if that will stay this way." The unicorn replied. "If he makes it through the night, he should be fine." Pinkie went over to Cheese and caressed his face with a soft, concerned look. But no matter how concerned she was for her friend, there were more pressing concerns to deal with.

"I suggest you change back and take your friend home and then head straight to the Sins' prison." The wizard said. "I will give you it's exact location, but sadly that is all I can do now."

"Are her powers restored?" The Stranger asked. The wizard shook his head with a frown.

"Not even close, but it will have to do. It saddens me to send you into battle so ill-prepared." The wizard told Pinkie as he put a hoof on her shoulder in comfort. But Pinkie wasn't distraught. She turned to smile at the two stallions, which greatly surprised them.

"Don't worry! I have a plan. Courage, strength, speed, power and stamina served me well until now. But there's one more ability that I haven't been using to it's fullest." Pinkie explained before she looked back at Cheese and her face hardened with determination. "This battle will be won by wisdom!"

In the cave that served as the prison of the Seven Deadly Sins, the six remaining demons were fuming. Pride felt itself wounded being forced to retreat from just one mare. Greed wanted to take the mare's divine powers for itself while Gluttony wanted to consume the mare herself and both felt robbed of the opportunity. Sloth felt tired of this whole thing and just wanted to lie down already.

But none of their anger could be compared to Wrath's. The demon truly lived up to it's name. Not only did it make it's griffin host pace around the room while shouting profanities at the at the top of her lung, it also made her punch and kick into the walls and columns while yelling about all the terrible things it will unleash upon this mare when it meets her again.

The only one who didn't seem distressed was Envy. In fact, the amused smirk on the face of it's host, Doctor Caballeron implied that it was actually enjoying it's brothers' tantrum. It would have even laughed at it if it didn't want to draw the fury of Wrath onto itself. Still, as entertaining as this sight was, it was time to get to work. There was one more step to be taken before their return would be complete.

"Now, now brother!" It tried to calm Wrath down as it's host approached the griffin and put a hoof on her shoulder. "I understand your anger about our adversary, but please do not let it draw your attention from our goal." He then motioned to the statues lined up at the end of the room.

"These statues that served as our prisons for millennia still hold most of our power. Once we regained them, we will be strong enough to destroy that mare and any other creature who stands in our way." Usually, Wrath always reacted with anger when touched or spoken to by one of it's siblings. But this time, despite it's aggressive mindset, it actually saw the truth in Envy's words. Pleased that it managed to appease it's brother, Envy stood in front of the other hosts.

"We have waited long enough for this moment. Let's not wait any longer! Once we are whole again, we won't need these puny creatures as hosts anymore! We will go back to the Rock of Eternity, destroy that weak, old worm of a wizard and that worthless little mare she chose as her champion, take the Rock's power for ourselves! We will be the most powerful creatures in the world!"

Envy's speech quickly dissipated the other demons' sour disposition. They approached the statues, placed their hooves and claws on the ones that represented them and began to drain the red demonic energy that the walls held from them. Envy was about to do the same, but he was interrupted by a loud banging sound coming from the gates that sealed the room.

"Who dares to interrupt our rejuvenation?!" Pride demanded.

"Whoever it is, they are about to meet a violent and painful end." Wrath replied. It was about to walk away from the statue and confront whoever was foolish enough to enter the Sins' chamber, but Envy stopped it.

"No, brother! You mustn't abandon your place by your prison once the process started! I will go and deal with the intruder." Wrath clearly didn't want to heed this command, but it eventually nodded and turned back to the statue while Envy went to the gate. Slamming the gate open, he saw a pink earth pony mare with puffy pink mane staring at it with a defiant look. While Envy had never seen her before, it immediately felt the familiar energy inside her. The same energy it felt inside the mare the Sins fought at the Rock of Eternity.

"It is you." Envy spoke. "The wizard's champion." The two ponies kept staring at each other for a few moments until Envy burst out in uncontrollable laughter. "If this is the best the pathetic old fool could find to put against us, this world is ours already!" But Pinkie wasn't phased by the demon's taunts. She merely smirked in response.

"And yet, I have something you envy." The demon just laughed even harder.

"You?! What could you possibly have to envy?!"

"The same thing I used to mop the floor with your friends back at the Rock." Pinkie replied. "The power of six gods!" Envy got tired of Pinkie's ramblings and began approaching her to put an end to it for good.

"Not for long, wench!" The demon snarled. As it got closer, Pinkie backed away until she drew Caballeron far enough that the gate closed behind him. "Soon our powers will be restored. And then we'll take yours as well. We will take over your sad, pathetic little world and corrupt everything you've ever known." Pinkie backed away until she reached the bottom of the staircase leading down from the cave's entrance.

"In fact..." Envy smirked. "I think I might delay the restoration of my own powers and take yours first. I will have to thank the wizard for choosing a champion who was stupid enough to confront me in her depowered state. With my power and those of six gods, it will be my brothers' turn to envy me." Pinkie had to restrain herself from smiling. She had the demon right where she wanted it.

When Envy placed Caballeron's hooves on Pinkie's shoulders, she quickly reached up and pulled the orb out of her mane. Envy looked at the orb and saw the carvings around it depicting it and it's brothers and how the carving the depicted Lust was glowing with blue light. The demon quickly realised what Pinkie was playing at, but it was too late. The mare turned it's own sin against it.

"Allow me to give you a taste. Savour it because it's all you'll ever get. SHAZAM!"

CRACK!

Envy screamed along with Caballeron as the lightning purged the body of it's host and trapped the entity inside the orb. Caballeron backed away and fell on the ground, panting heavily as he regained full control of his body and his mind cleared from the demon's influence. Pinkie, now standing tall as Captain MareVel held the orb in her hoof and smiled at it.

"I sure don't envy you now." She quipped before putting the orb away and running to check on Caballeron. "Are you okay?" She asked as she helped the stallion to his hooves. Caballeron didn't answer. He simply sighed and hanged his head in shame.

"No. No, I'm not." He replied, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. "I can't believe I fell for those things lies. It took advantage of my envy towards my rival just to gain me as a host for it's plans." Caballeron finally looked up at Pinkie and the utterly devastated look he gave her made her forget about all the evils he committed against her and her friends. All she saw was a broken pony regretting his actions.

"I have done terrible things for it." Pinkie put a hoof on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault. You weren't yourself." She consoled. "You are free now." Caballeron obviously didn't share her optimism.

I may be free from the demon itself but I'll never be free of what I've done. If you truly wish to free me from it's influence, then please, kill me!" Pinkie's eyes widened in shock at the request.

"That is not how I do things. There's always a better way. There has to be something you can do to redeem yourself." Caballeron's eyes suddenly widened in realisation as he remembered something.

"The explosives! Did you see a cart at the entrance of the cave?" He asked, finally raising his hopes.

"As a matter of fact, I have!" Pinkie answered. "Does it belong to you?" Caballeron nodded.

"We came for the statues that contained the Sins. We brought all kinds of equipment we could need for exploring a cave. Including explosives if we needed to blow our way in or out." He then looked at the gate of the Sins' chamber. "I was so narrow minded. All I cared about was my own personal gain when I looked for these artifacts. Daring Do was right. These things are dangerous. They need to be destroyed." Pinkie raised an eyebrow.

'Daring Do? Surely he doesn't mean...' But before she could finish that train of thought, Caballeron turned back to her.

"I want to help. I saw what you did back at the wizard's cave. If you can occupy the rest of the Sins, I can set up the explosives and blow this place to Tartarus."

"The wizard said the Sins' powers are still inside their prisons." Pinkie said. "That could work. But I don't think I should risk your life."

"My life is no longer worth saving." Caballeron lamented, looking down, but Pinkie was having none of it.

"Every life is worth saving!" Pinkie cut back. The stallion flinched but didn't back down.

"Please, allow me to make amends!" Before Pinkie could reply, the two heard a loud bang from beyond the gates. They both immediately realised what it was.

"The process is almost complete!" Pinkie exclaimed in horror. Caballeron narrowed his eyes.

"Then let's not waste anymore time by arguing! Get in there and interrupt it! I will get the explosives!" Before Pinkie could respond, he was already halfway up the staircase. And deep down, she knew he was right. They had to be stopped by any means.

She flew up into the air and launched herself at the gates, breaking through them and landing in middle of the chamber. The remaining five Sins turned around to see the alicorn superhero glaring up at them, but they didn't panic.

"You are late, champion!" Pride said, spitting the last word with sarcasm. "Our powers are nearly restored. Soon we will free our sister and overwhelm both you and your whole world!"

"I don't think so!" Pinkie replied, helding up the orb that now contained two of the Sins. "Your envious brother is now in here as well! And you will soon join them! Now it is the power of six against the power of five!"

"It matters not!" Greed cut back. "Our full power surpasses all of your gods'!" This boast gave Pinkie an opening to continue with her plan.

"Is that so?" She asked with fake curiosity. "Then why do I hear the longing in your voice for my power?" Greed looked down at Pinkie and the mare saw on Flim's features that she had him hooked. "Your greed is never satisfied, is it? Your own power would never be enough for you. So come on! Take mine!" She challenged. Flim started to move forward towards her but the demon in him still had some restraint. Pinkie then turned to Sludge who was eyeing her hungrily.

"What is it, Gluttony?" Pinkie asked teasingly. "Are you hungry, big boy? Do you think I look tasty? Well then come on and take a bite!" The hungry demon had much less restraint than it's brother and was about to leap at the mare, but a loud shout stopped it.

"STOP! Wrath screamed at it's brothers though Gilda. "DON'T YOU SEE WHAT SHE'S TRYING TO DO! IF YOU MOVE AWAY FROM YOUR STAUTES, THE DRAINING WILL BE STOPPED!" The two creatures immediately jumped back in their place at their brother's command. Pinkie saw that Wrath was clearly the dominant demon of the pack. It's siblings were all afraid of it and they weren't going to defy it. But tjat also made it the most ideal target for Pinkie's plan. If she managed to get the better of Wrath, the rest of the Sins would be thrown into disarray.

'Remove the head and the body becomes useless.' Pinkie thought to herself with a smirk.

"What's wrong, Wrath? Afraid your brothers are able to make decisions for themselves without you? That they do not need you?" The griffin that Wrath inhabited turned to glare at Pinkie, but the Earth Pony turned alicorn wasn't deterred. "Touched a nerve didn't I? Yes, you are just giving this tough guy act to keep your brothers in line because you are afraid they will realise they don't really need you? You are not a powerful world conquering demon! You are just a bully! A spineless coward!" The griffin remained still, but her expression showed that the demon was losing the battle to keep it's cool. Pinkie lit the fuse, the bomb was about to explode.

"MISERABLE WRETCH!" Wrath roared at Pinkie. "INSIGNIFICANT SPECK OF FECULENT SCUM! HOW DARE YOU?!"

That did the trick. Wrath flew straight at Pinkie and began blindly clawing and punching the mare's body, but Pinkie effortlessly managed block every strike at super speed. When she felt that Gilda's body was finally tiring out, she grabbed the griffin, flew up with her and slammed her into the ceiling. She then summoned a lightning bolt that smashed her hard into the ground, before dropping down on top of her and slamming her hindlegs onto her back.

"Was that an impressive display of power, demons?" She yelled at Greed and Gluttony. "Do you want a piece of it? Then come and take it!" The two demons could no longer contain themselves and with Wrath incapacitated, they no longer had to. They jumped straight at Pinkie with the intention of swallowing her whole and taking her power, but they would achieve none. At the last moment, Pinkie moved out of the way and the two hosts crashed into each other, landing on top of Gilda.

When she looked up at the two remaining Sins, she saw from the corner of her eyes there Caballeron was already inside the chamber and was setting up the explosives around the statues. Sloth and Pride were so focused on her that they didn't even notice him, but as long as they were there, he won't be able to get to theirs. They needed to be moved out of his way quickly.

Pinkie flew at the two creatures and slammed them into the wall by their throats. She then unleashed two waves of electricity into their bodies until she saw the connection between them and the statues severing. She then threw them on top of the pile of the other hosts and flew over them, holding the orb in her forelegs and raising it over her head.

"SHAZAM!"

CRACK!

The lighting that struck the orb, Pinkie and the corrupted creatures was the biggest one she ever summoned. It kept flowing through her body as well as the creatures beneath her for several seconds as it purified them and transported them into the orb where they would reside for the rest of eternity.

Meanwhile, Caballeron finally finished setting up the explosives around the statues. He just finished setting up the last one when he felt something hitting his head from above. Looking up, he saw that the magical lightning the pink alicorn summoned finally pushed the cave to it's limits. It was collapsing! Caballeron panicked as he reached for the detonator. The cave collapsing won't be enough. The statues had to be destroyed! He managed to snatch the detonator from under a falling rock just in time, but before he could press it, another rock fell right on his hindlegs.

Pinkie didn't need super senses to hear the blood curdling scream let out by Caballeron as the stallion became trapped under the piece of rock that fell on him. But it was only then that she realised what she caused. She looked up and saw another piece of the ceiling that was now descending towards her and the purified demon hosts and she instinctively cried out again.

"Shazam!"

CRACK!

Pinkie caught the falling rock and tossed it aside before putting Flim, Flam, Garble and Gilda on her back and grabbing Sludge between her forelegs. But Caballeron was still trapped. Pinkie turned towards the stallion and saw that he stopped struggling under the debris. He looked back at her and gave her a somber stare.

"Go!" He cried out to her, having clearly resigned himself to his fate. Pinkie was shocked. Abandoning a helpless stallion to his death didn't feel like a very heroic thing to do but with the other creatures she had to hold, she didn't see any way she could save him. Caballeron saw her hesitation so he cried out louder. "GO!" Pinkie still didn't want to leave him, but when another piece of the ceiling came down towards the stallion and he started reaching for the detonator in his hoof, she gave in and bolted out of the chamber.

The explosion behind her shook the entire cavern as she headed for the exit at the top of the stairs. She only hoped the falling rocks wouldn't end up hitting her. She could take it no problem but the creatures she was carrying couldn't and one death on her watch was already more than she liked to handle. But she managed to dodge all of the descending boulders until she finally reached safety, just in time before the entrance caved in as well.

She turned back and kept watching in both awe and terror as cracks began to form all around the mountain and more and more of it began to come crashing down into the ground. Once the entire mountain was reduced to a pile of rocks on top of each other, Pinkie saw a red cloud of demonic energy emerge from beneath the remains towards the sky before exploding and dissipating into nothingness. It was over. The Sins were defeated.

Back at the Rock of Eternity, the wizard, Shazam sat on his throne, absorbing the Rock's power to restore his health after the Sins' attack while the Phantom Stranger stood by, observing the process with concern and intrigue. They both anticipated the return of their champion, hoping for her victory, but still fearing for her life.

The complete silence of the cave was interrupted by a deafening lightning blast, drawing the attention of both stallions to the center of the room. Once the light faded, they saw Captain MareVel standing there, looking at them with an unreadable expression.

For a moment, they became worried about what she might say, but when she held up the orb the wizard made to trap the Sins in with blue light glowing all over it, they knew she was successful. The wizard slowly stood up as he was still rather weak, but he had the strength to walk over to Pinkie and take the orb from her.

"My sincerest congratulations to you, my champion! You have saved Ponykind from a fate worse than extinction!" The wizard told Pinkie before placing the orb on an altar next to the seven thrones. "Here, I can ensure that no mortal will ever awaken these monsters again." He said before turning back to the mare. "My friend had chosen wisely. You are indeed the perfect pony to wield this power and be Ponykind's defender." Pinkie beamed at the praises but what the Stranger asked next instantly made her face fell.

"What of the creatures corrupted by the Sins? Are they freed?" The mare frowned as he remembered Caballeron's sacrifice, not sure how they would take it.

"I delivered them to the nearest hospital. I don't know what they were more spooked by, two dragons or an alicorn carrying them there. I tried my best explaining what happened to them. They were a little skeptical about the whole demonic possession thing but thankfully, some unicorn doctors did confirm the presence of dark magic inside them so none of them will be legally prosecuted."

"Good news indeed." The wizard acknowledged. "But you only mentioned the two dragons. What of the other three?" Pinkie sighed.

"The two unicorns and the griffin will be fine, but the Earth Pony who hosted Envy..." Her head fell before she finished it. "He didn't make it." She then proceeded to tell them how Caballeron helped her to destroy the Sins' chamber and how he stayed behind to finish the job. The two stallions shared her sorrow over the news.

"That is unfortunate." The wizard admitted, hanging his head in respect for the fallen stallion. "But take solace in the fact that his death was not in vain."

"I just wish I could have a saved him as well." Pinkie said, wiping her eye.

"He made his choice, Pinkie Pie." The wizard consoled her. "You are not any less of a hero for it. You did everything you could."

"That leaves only one question." The Stranger said. "What of your friend who we treated here? Has he recovered?"

"Who? Cheese Sandwich? Why, he..." Pinkie started before her eyes went wide. "Oh, no! I forgot to check on him! SHAZAM!"

CRACK!

After Pinkie disappeared in a flash of lightning, the wizard and the Stranger shared an amused glance.

"Clearly, the Wisdom of Starswirl doesn't come with superequine memory." The Stranger quipped.

Though she was back to her earth pony form, Pinkie Pie was running through Ponyville so fast that one could assume she was Merry Breeze himself. And while she didn't have the stamina of Air Last at the moment, she refused to stop until she reached the house of Cheese Sandwich.

When she reached the door, she tried to open it but she found that it was locked. Pinkie smacked her head in embarrassment. How could she forget that the last time she was here, she flew in the window as Captain MareVel to place Cheese in her bed before heading off to the Sins' Chamber.

But she won't be able to transform now. There were too many ponies on the streets who could see her. Fortunately, she didn't need to. She had a little magic of her own. She ran off and came back with her party cannon, aiming the barrel at the open window before lightning the fuse and climbing into it while giggling. A concerned earth pony mare happened to pass by and gave her confused look.

"Do I want to know?" Pinkie gave her a bright smile.

"Just bringing Cheese Sandwich a surprise breakfast!" The mare just shrugged and walked off.

Pinkie's cannon shot her through the window and she landed right on Cheese's bed, on top off the stallion. All of Pinkie's worries about the stallion's well being evaporated when he sat straight up and looked looked straight into her eyes with a gasp.

"Good morning, Cheesel Weasel!" She cheered. "Your favourite pony in the world is here!" Cheese sighed as he got over his shock.

"You know, that's a sight I always wanted to see." He said, looking up at Pinkie sitting on top him in bed. Pinkie blushed, remembering the secret the demon shared with her during their fight.

"Why didn't you tell me before, Cheese?" She asked, sounding calmer and more serious than he ever heard her before.

"I tried to! Hundreds of times!" Cheese told her, releasing all of his pent up frustration over her cluelessness. "But you never seemed to get the hint! It was always either in one ear and out the other or you interrupting me before I could finish!" He looked down in shame as he finished. "But I guess it doesn't matter now. You probably want nothing to do with me after what I've done." Pinkie immediately wrapped her hooves around Cheese's neck and pulled him into an embrace. The stallion finally broke and began crying into the mare's shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault." Pinkie comforted him, rubbing his back. "If anything, it's mine. My cluelessness left you vulnerable to that demon. If I took the hint earlier, none of this would have happened." Cheese pulled out of the embrace to look at her.

"I don't want you to feel like you are obligated to be with me just for that!" Pinkie took Cheese's hooves into her own and smiled.

"I don't feel obligated to it, Cheese. I admit, I never thought of the two of us that way but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to give us a chance, so..." She paused as she teasingly rolled her eyes. "Would you like to join me for breakfast at Sugarcube Corner?"

Cheese's eyes widened at the question. His dream was finally becoming a reality and he was about to say yes but something inside him stopped him. His excited look faded away and he cast his gaze down making Pinkie frown.

"What's wrong?" Cheese looked back at her and sighed.

"Pinkie, I can't." Pinke raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"Pinkie, I just tried to kill you last night! I know you say it's not my fault and maybe one day I'll learn to see it this way too, but right now, I don't feel like I deserve to be with you!" Pinkie felt like she was punched in the gut. The rejection hurt her more than she expected.

"I... I..." She stammered, not sure what to say next, but she realised that there was nothing she could say. "I'm sorry, Cheese! It was too early. I let myself get carried away. Let's just forget this happened!" She said, backing away towards the door. She was about to leave, but Cheese stopped her.

"However..." Pinkie turned to look back at him. "I would love breakfast at Sugarcube Corner. I'm famished!" He told her on his usual joyful tone as be got out of . "Just because we're not dating, doesn't mean we can't enjoy a meal together! What do you say?" Pinkie stared at him blankly. His sudden cheerfulness surprised her, but not in a bad way. In the end, she realised he was right. They could still enjoy a nice breakfast as friends. And who knows? Maybe in due time, Cheese will be able to get past his possession and see himself as the great stallion Pinkie always knew he was. But for now, the whole day was ahead of them. Pinkie flashed him a happy smile.

"You betcha!" Cheese returned the smile and lead Pinkie downstairs.

"I'm buying! After you saved me and probably all of Equestria from demonic possession, it's the least I can do!"

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #1: The Scarlet Speedster

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"Windy! Slow down a little!" Bow Hothoof called out to his wife who was flying several meters ahead of him. Windy Whistles merely chuckled in response.

"Slow down? Honey, we don't know the meaning of that word." She replied, increasing her speed. They have often done this. At the end of a tiring day, they loved to go flying together. Just going with the wind. And sometimes it got a little competitive between them. But something had changed in the past few months. The past nine months to be precise.

"Honey! You're pregnant and the foal could arrive anytime! You shouldn't be pushing yourself!" Bow yelled, but once again his words fell on deaf ears.

"Nonsense, darling! I feel great and at least this way, our filly will be born with a winner's mentality! Ow!" Windy suddenly stopped mid-air as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach.

"Windy!" Bow yelled in panic, finally conjuring up the energy to catch up with his wife. "Are you alright?" He asked, gently placing his hooves on her belly. Windy just chuckled in response.

"I'm fine, Bow." She replied reassuringly. "It was just a kick. She's so fiesty already." She said, rubbing her swollen belly affectionately, but then she winced in pain again. Bow was not reassured in the slightest.

"That's it! We are going back down and that's final!" He didn't like to use such firm tone with his wife, but it wasn't just about her anymore. She had a daughter to think about too. But Windy still wasn't concerned.

"Oh, come on, Bow!" The mare pleaded. "I'll be fine! And she will be too! Honestly, you worry too much!" She waved off his concerns and kept flying.

"And you don't worry enough, dear!" Her husband replied as he caught up with her. At least Windy finally slowed down and the the two of them were back to just leisurely flying through the air, but Bow still had a very bad feeling in his stomach.

The weather teams had very clear instructions not to leave any clouds on the sky for the evening, but in the distance, he couldp still see a rather ominous looking dark one that seemed to be growing in size and even more alarmingly, heading towards the pair of soon to be parents.

"Windy, I really think we should start heading back. I don't like the look of that cloud." Windy rolled her eyes.

"Honey, what did I just say about worrying too much? It's gonna take more than just one ugly storm cloud to ruin our romantic evening flight." Bow tried to calm his mind but all he could think about was that cloud. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that it was following them.

His thoughts were interrupted by a booming sound coming from inside the cloud and he turned back to see bright yellow lights flickering inside it, as well as yellow sparks of electricity all around it. The stallion raised an eyebrow.

'Yellow lightning? How is that...'

"Bow, look out!" His wife's warning drew Bow's attention back to where he was flying just in time to avoid crashing into a tree. "Are you okay?" She asked as she went to check on him. Bow smiled gently.

"Now who's worrying too much, dear?" He asked teasingly, causing his wife's to roll her eyes.

"Well if you're too distracted to watch where you're going, I'm clearly worrying enough." She quipped before sighing. "I think we've really had enough flight for today. Let's go home!" Bow nodded in agreement and the two pegasi began to descend towards the ground. Just before they landed, Bow heard the storm cloud over them roar again with thunder, even louder this time. The stallion grew increasingly worried and just wanted to get his pregnant wife home before they were caught in an unscheduled storm. One thing was for certain, he will make a huge complaint to the leader of the weather patrol tomorrow. Little did he know at the time, but by tomorrow morning, the weather will be the least of his worries.

CRACK-BOOM!

A yellow lightning bolt hit the ground between the couple, forcing both of them on the ground. Bow was relatively unharmed. Apart from the shock, he didn't feel affected by the phenomenon at all. But the painful cries and moans of a female voice near him let him know that his wife was not doing so well.

"WINDY!" Bow immediately sprung up from the ground and flew to the mare's side. She was badly burned, her mane was standing up and she was grabbing her pregnant belly in pain. "No." Bow muttered in terror as he checked Windy's body for lifesigns, his worry growing tenfold when he barely found any. "No, no, NO! Windy, speak to me!"

"B... Bow..." Windy groaned slowly in agony. "I'm... sorry. You were... right. You were right... the whole time." She stuttered as tears began to flow from her eyes.

"Shh, it's alright!" Bow hushed his wife as he took her hooves in his. "Don't worry about any of that now. Save your strength, we'll have to get you to a hospital!"

"Our foal!" Windy cried out suddenly, leaning up into her husband's face. "Forget about me! Make sure to save our baby!"

"Don't talk like that!" Bow replied, caressing her muzzle. "I won't lose either of you! Now, hang on!" He got his wife onto his back and flew off into the direction of the hospital, faster than he ever flew in his entire life. He didn't even notice two yellow orbs of electricity in the storm cloud that eerily resembled a pair of eyes watching them go.

Bow Hothoof sat in the hospital waiting room, feeling more agitated than ever before. It had been hours since they have taken Windy to the operating room. Not only was the mare struggling for her own life, but also for the life of their little filly. And from what he heard, the trauma Windy suffered had induced the birth and within such dire consequences, there was an increased chance of a stillbirth.

Bow pressed his eyes shut as he buried his face into his hooves. But he couldn't bring himself to cry anymore. He had ran out of tears. If he lost both his wife and his foal, he wouldn't be able to survive that. He was snapped out of his despair by a cough and he looked up to see a nurse, a blue unicorn mare with black mane standing in front of him. And from the look on her face, he could already tell that she had bad news.

"Mr. Hothoof?" The nurse asked on a sad voice.

"Yes. That's me." The stallion replied, standing up.

"I am nurse First Aid. Your wife's operation and the delivery are finished." Dread took hold of Bow's heart as he prepared himself for the nurse's next words.

"How are they? Please, tell me they're not..." His voice cracked as the worst thought occurred to him. "Please... tell me they're not..." The nurse sighed.

"Your foal had been born with stable life signs and surprisingly good health, given the... unusual labor." Bow let out a sigh of in relief as a huge weight has been taken off his chest. But one more still remained.

"Your wife on the other hoof..." Bow's eyes snapped back open in fright.

"What about her?" The nurse's head dropped.

"I'm afraid her body just couldn't handle the labor combined with the damage she suffered." She told the stallion, unable to look him in the eye. "She is still in the ICU but in her current condition, she has no chance to make a recovery. I offer you my sincerest condolences, sir."

The whole world stopped around Bow. She praised Celestia for her daughter's survival but the realisation that his wife was on her deathbed caused him unbearable pain. He completely broke down and returned to his seat, somehow finding more tears to shed for the love of his life. The nurse's heart shattered along with the stallion's. Sharing devastating news with relatives was an occupational hazard in her line of work and she had done more than she cared to remember, but it never got any easier.

"She... She would like to see you, sir." The nurse added, causing Bow to look back at her. "She may... not have much time left. I suggest you go to her right now." Those words the only words Bow needed to hear. He left his seat so fast that the nurse didn't even see him move.

Bow easily found his way to the ICU. He has been in this hospital several times due to many unfortunate accidents of his own. Some of them have been pretty bad but none of them could have prepared him for what he was about to see. The usually happy mare so full of life was reduced to a broken and burned body lying in a bed and wired to a heart monitor. If it was possible, it broke Bow's heart even further. Even if the heart monitor indicated otherwise, Windy already looked like she was dead, but she still head enough strength to look up at her husband.

"Bow..." She moaned weakly. The stallion immediately ran to her side and grabbed her hooves.

"Shh..." He soothed her, putting a hoof to her mouth. "Save your strength! You have to make it through this! For our baby!" But the mare merely shook her head.

"No. It's too late for that." Windy said before letting out a fit of coughs. "I'm so sorry, honey. You were right. I wasn't careful enough. And our baby nearly died because of it."

"But she didn't." Bow told her, squeezing her hooves more tightly. "She's alright. And you will be too."

"No, Bow." Windy replied. "We both know that won't be the case. I'm sorry I have to leave you like this and I'm sorry I won't be able to be there for our filly." Tears welled up in Bow's eyes once more.

"Don't talk like that!" He said, unable to hold them back any longer. Even though he knew his wife was right, he wasn't ready to accept it.

"Bow, please promise me that you'll take good care of her! Love her like the last living part of me! I know it will be hard, but if anypony can do it, it's you." She pleaded, finding the strength to put on a small smile. "After all, our family are winners." Bow actually managed to smile back, even with the tears still flowing.

"That we are, darling. I promise you that I will be the best father I can possibly be."

"Thank you." Windy replied with her last strength, nuzzling into her husband's muzzle. Bow returned the gesture as sobs wrecked his body.

"We... We didn't even get to name her." He cried.

"Rainbow Dash." She replied so weakly that her husband barely heard her. Bow pulled away and looked down at her in surprise.

"What was it?" Windy looked back up at him with the same weak but gentle smile.

"Her name is Rainbow Dash. The moment I saw her, I just knew it. When you'll see her for the first time, you will too." Bow pondered on that name for a few seconds before smiling himself.

"Rainbow Dash. I like that." He said softly, but his momentary joy over the name of his daughter was broken by another pained moan from his wife. "Windy!" The mare lost the grip on his hoof and fell back on the bed. In that moment, Bow knew that she only had moments left.

"Please, take good care of her." She pleaded with her last breath. "And let her know her mother loves her. More than anything." Bow managed to fight his tears back and steel his face.

"I will. I promise." He vowed, kissing Windy one last time. With that promise, the mare smiled in content.

"Thank you... I... I love..." She never finished. Her body didn't allow her to. The beeps of the heart monitor stopped and Windy went limp before she stopped breathing altogether.

Bow gently carassed his wife's lifeless face. He was full of sorrow and pain, but he didn't want to cry anymore. There was something more important than his own pain. More important than anything. He stood up and saw the unicorn nurse standing in the door and watching them with tears streaking down her own cheeks as well. Bow managed to summon enough strength to over to her.

"Please..." He spoke, struggling to to find his voice. "Take me to my daughter." The nurse wiped away her tears and turned around.

"Follow me!" In a minute, the two ponies arrived to the nursery room. Bow looked inside and it didn't take him long until he spotted the little blue filly with the rainbow colored mane lying inside the incubator. His face lit up with pride as he took in her appearance.

"You were right, Windy." He spoke softly. "She really is Rainbow Dash. She really is her father's daughter." He then turned to the nurse.

"When can I take her home?"

"Given her..." She struggled to find the right words. "...troubled birth, we would like to keep her in for a few more days for observation. Just to make sure the lightning strike didn't cause any damage to her." Bow wasn't happy to hear that but he understood, so he reluctantly nodded.

"Of course." It didn't feel right to say those last two words. When will he be able to look into her baby girl's eyes? To hold her in his hooves? It took tremondous restrain not to break through this window and pick up the now half-orphan filly, squeeze her to his chest and tell her that everything will be alright.

Bow found himself an empty seat across the corridor and sat down. With the recent passing of his wife, his little filly remained his only solace and his only ray of hope. He will remain here by her side as long as he had to.

"Sir, I think you should go home. She will remain in isolation for days." The nurse insisted, but the stallion was having none of it.

"I'm not leaving her." He told her firmly.

"Are you sure?" The nurse asked in concern but Bow remained undeterred.

"I'm NOT leaving her." He reapated more forcefully. The nurse saw that she won't be able to change his mind and was forced to give in.

"Fine. I will bring you a pillow and a blanket." Bow quitely thanked her as she left before turning to look back at her daughter through the window.

"Don't worry, my little rainbow." He whispered. "Everything will be alright. Daddy will never leave you." Bow was so focused on the filly resting in the incubator that he didn't even notice when the nurse came back with the blanket and wrapped it around him. Nothing else existed for him but his baby. "I will never leave you" He repeated before he finally allowed his exhaustion to take him.

When Bow woke up the next morning, he could almost make himself believe that what happened the previous day was just a nightmare. If it wasn't for the pain still stinging so strongly. His heart still aching was a terrible reminder that everything he remembered was real. Windy was gone and now he only had his daughter. His daughter in the nursery. He got up to see her just as the nurse from yesterday arrived, pushing a cart full of baby supplies.

"Ah, good morning, Mr Hothoof." She greeted, grabbing a few bottles full of milk and placing nipples on top of them.

"Please, just call me Bow." The stallion responded before looking back at his daughter. "How is she doing?"

"She had slept through the whole night thankfully." She replied reassuringly. "There have been no complications so far. It's time for her first breakfast." Bow's fatherly instincts kicked in upon hearing that.

"Don't you think I should be the one feeding her? I'm her father and I will be doing it regularly in the future." The nurse smiled in understanding.

"I see your point, Bow, but this is hospital regulation. But I promise if she goes until the afternoon without any problems, I will arrange for you to spend some time with her." Bow returned the smile gratefully as he watched her push the cart inside the nursery.

Rainbow Dash was the first foal she approached. She was still asleep so she knew she had to be gentle.

"Hello there, sweetie!" She called out to her. Rainbow Dash yawned before opening her eyes and looking up at the unicorn. She observed her for a few moments before noticing the bottle in her hoof and reaching out towards it while whimpering. First Aid chuckled.

"Hungry, aren't you? Well, we can easily fix that." She picked the little filly up and placing the bottle in her mouth. Bow watched through the window as the nurse fed his baby girl. His face reflected pure bliss as he watched her feed with content, but it was soon replaced with stunned surprise when he saw the milk inside the bottle disappear into her mouth in less than a second. First Aid was similarly shocked by this, but shrugged it off as the bottle being half empty.

"What the... I thought I had this bottle full!" She cried out in disbelief. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I'll give you another one." She did just that but she made sure the next bottle was full before giving it to her. But the result was the same. The content of the bottle disappeared into the foal's mouth in less than a second before the baby released a healthy burp to signal she was full.

She took no notice of the nurse's dumbstruck expression and just gurgled happily in her leg before her gaze fell on the stallion peeking in through the window. She instantly felt a connection with him and reached out towards him with her forelegs, much to Bow's joy.

"I know, honey." First Aid sighed. "You want daddy, but I'm afraid we can't let you out of the incubator just yet. I'm sorry." She then placed Rainbow Dash back into the incubator before attending to the other babies. The rainbow maned filly looked very disappointed about the denial and kept reaching out towards her father longingly. The sight broke Bow's heart.

Rainbow then attempted to crawl out of the incubator, much to her father's alarm as it was pretty high up for a newborn, but thankfully, Nurse First Aid noticed what she was doing in time to stop her.

"Oh, no you won't, young filly!" She said as she went to pick Dash up and put her back into the incubator. "Like it or not, you are staying here for the next few days!" Rainbow Dash frowned in frustration. It was becoming clear that even at such a young age, she didn't like being told no.

After First Aid attended to all the foals, she headed towards the exit. As she was about to close the door, she felt a sudden gust of air brushing past her. Dismissing it as the wind, she closed the door and turned to leave but found herself stunned when she saw little Rainbow Dash standing in front of her and looking up at her cheekily before giving her her best impression of a raspberry and running to her father.

Bow was just as surprised as the nurse. He didn't even see his daughter move and now she was standing in front of him, looking up at him with adoring eyes. Despite his earlier eagerness to see his daughter, Bow was unsure what to do now. Driven by fatherly instinct, he reached down and picked her up. The filly immediately relaxed in her father's embrace and nuzzled into his chest before going back to sleep.

"How did she..." First Aid asked once she got over her shock enough to find her words. "Even the finest Wonderbolts can't move this fast and she is just an infant!"

"Well, the winner mentality runs in our family." Bow chuckled as he rocked his daughter. "But I don't think she needs the incubator anymore." First Aid wanted to argue but as she saw how happy the family looked, she didn't have the heart to. Bow sat back down in his chair and held his daughter close and Rainbow Dash snored happily in his hooves. Bow gently caressed her mane with a warm smile. He could already tell that his girl was destined for great things.

A few days later, Bow and Rainbow were finally allowed to leave the hospital. Bow felt simultaneously relieved and bitter about it. On the one hoof, he was eager to finally take his daughter home, on the other, this meant that he now had to start arranging his wife's funeral. Not a task many stallions looked forward to.

As Bow was flying towards his home in Cloudsdale, Rainbow was sitting in a foal pouch hanging from his father's chest. She was already in awe of everything around her. The clouds, the birds, the wind ruffling her tiny mane, she soaked in every new sight and experience with glee.

For Bow, it was a pleasant distraction from the depressing reality he was dealing with. His daughter was a real bundle of joy and ray of sunshine in these dark times. During their flight home, he found himself being sidetracked by the inquisitive filly demanding him to go check something out up close on more than one occasion.

They were almost at home when he once again heard Rainbow Dash squeal in excitement in her pouch. He rolled his eyes in amusement, knowing exactly what this meant.

"What are you seeing now, my little rainbow?" He looked down at his daughter to see her pointing with all of her hooves towards something while looking so enthusiastic Bow was afraid she might burst. He looked towards the place she was pointing at and smiled.

"Yeah, I had a feeling that might catch your eye." He chuckled. Rainbow Dash was pointing at a Wonderbolts training camp where a large group of ponies were gathered to witness the latest flight practice of the fastest pegasi in Equestria. Bow felt Rainbow's impatient tugs getting stronger and chuckled. "OK, OK, we'll go see them!"

Bow flew down and landed next to the crowd watching the performance. Rainbow Dash was in awe at the fast soaring pegasi and their breathtaking maneuvers. Nothing she saw so far even came close to comparing to this.

Once the ponies finished performing, they landed in front of the crowd to thunderous applause. But the show wasn't yet over. Bow felt his daughter squirm in her pouch as the Wonderbolts lined up on the ground for another friendly race. It was almost as if she wanted to join them. She started to whine and and tug at her father's mane while pointing at the racers.

"Yes, I see them, honey." Bow replied, but he thought Rainbow just wanted to know more about them. "They are the Wonderbolts. The fastest fliers in Equestria. Maybe one day, you can become one of them." He chuckled. Petting her daughter's head.

But Rainbow didn't want to wait. She wanted to become one of them now. She wanted to go to them and show them just what she was made of more than anything. And her body obeyed her will. She felt the things inside her body speed up so much that they were almost producing electricity. She wiggled inside her pouch and with the acceleration of her cells, she managed to phase through the fabric.

When she landed on the ground, she immediately bolted off into the direction of the racers just as the start signal was given. The pegasi took off at breakneck speed befitting their reputation. But unbeknownst to them, there was one more contestant among them. One who made all of them look like snails in comparison. And she wasn't even a week old yet. Rainbow ran so fast that the whole world seemed to be moving in slow motion around her. So fast that nopony saw her moving. By the time the racers reached the finish line, the filly ran dozens of laps around the track without anyone noticing.

Rainbow tried to expand her wings a few times, mimicking the older pegasi, but since she was just a filly, she couldn't take flight just yet. But even without them, she was much faster. She only came to a stop when she saw the other ponies do the same. The crowd erupted into deafening cheers as they celebrated the winner. Rainbow Dash didn't see who that was but she didn't care either. In her mind, these ponies were all cheering for her.

She ran back to her father in excitement and proudly jumped up to pull on his mane and gain his attention. Much like the other ponies in the crowd, Bow also didn't see his daughter flying around the track at the speed of light and merely assumed she somehow fell out of the pouch.

"Rainbow, are you OK?!" He yelled as he picked up his daughter and checked her for any injuries. When he didn't see any, he put the filly down and checked the pouch. "How did you fall out of it? I don't see any holes! But just to be safe, I'll better take you home in my hooves." He said before picking Dash up and taking off once the show was over. Rainbow Dash didn't hear her father's complaints. In her mind, he was also cheering for her and held her up both as a sign of his pride and to show off the real winner. Today, Rainbow Dash got her first taste of speed and victory.

And it was only the beginning.

Two weeks have passed since Rainbow's invisible triumph at the Wonderbolts training ground. Bow hated himself for it, but couldn't spend as much time with her as she needed. Since she was just a newborn, she required constant attention and since a funeral was a costly thing, he had no money to hire a foalsitter. So as he had to fly left and right to arrange the funeral, he had no choice but to take Rainbow with him wherever he went.

One day while Bow was trying to find the perfect coffin for his beloved Windy at a funeral home in Ponyville, little Rainbow was sitting in her foal carriage and playing with a Wonderbolt plushie. She had been fascinated by the stunt fliers ever since she first saw them on her way home form the hospital.

She was currently waving the plush pony around her head, imitating flight, until it accidentally slipped through her hooves and fell on the ground. The filly whined and groaned for her father to retrieve the toy, but he was too busy talking to the mortitian, so Rainbow had to get her toy back herself.

Eventually, she managed to wiggle her way out of the safety belt and crawled over to the plushie, but before she could grab it, a bird suddenly dropped down from above and snatched it from her before taking off towards the forest. An ordinary foal would have just sat there and cried her heart out about losing her favourite toy, but Rainbow Dash was far from an ordinary filly. She narrowed her eyes at the thieving bird and gave chase.

With her super speed, she easily caught up with the bird, but it was very high up and she couldn't reach it. She had to slow down enough to allow the bird to move with enough speed to stay ahead of her. She frowned. Even the thought of slowing down and allowing someone to stay ahead of her felt unbearable to her.

Finally, the bird stopped and landed on a tree branch over her where it's nest was located. It didn't seem to be aware of the filly's presence and Rainbow planned to take full advantage of that. She gathered all of her strength into her hind legs and sped up once again before pushing herself away from the ground. The bird didn't even realise what was happening. All it saw was that the plushie was no longer in it's beak, nor in it's nest.

Rainbow Dash was still in the air with the plushie in her hooves and sped off to make sure the bird won't be able to find her again. Unfortunately, she was so eager to get away from the bird that she didn't notice she was heading deeper into the woods. And she was so pleased with getting her toy back that she also forgot to watch where she was going.

Despite her super speed, she ended up tripping in one of the branches which broke her pace and sent her rolling on the ground and crashing into something. Said something was rather soft so she was glad at first, until she heard an angry growl from behind her. She looked up with a gasp and saw that she was lying under and grown adult bear that didn't look very happy about the uninvited guest.

Rainbow's survival instincts instantly kicked in and she attempted to flee, but her hooves and her wings were both injured in the tumble she took and she collapsed from the pain. As the bear prepared to strike, all Rainbow could do was shut her eyes, hold the plushie close to her face and cry as she prepared herself to the inevitable end to her short life.

But instead of the bear's claws or fangs, all she felt was a gust of wind brush past her that was so hard it almost completely lifted the filly off the ground. But even more strange was the feeling of electricity that accompanied it. The very same electricity that she felt within herself whenever she ran really fast. She then heard a loud thud coming from in front of herself where the bear was earlier and for a brief moment she believed she had been saved, so she dared hersef to open her eyes.

Only to wish she didn't. The bear lying in front of her was not only dead but it's demise came from an injury that would have made a veteran, battle hardened royal guard throw up. For a two week old filly, it was a nightmare come true. A huge hole was blown into the bear's chest, looking like a pony sized cannon bull burst through him. Blood and internal organs were lying all around the carcass and the bear's eyes, while devoid of life were still wide open from the shock.

Rainbow's attention was only drawn away from the bloodshed when she noticed a cloud of dark yellow energy flashing and vibrating over the bear's body with small electric sparks surging around it. But the most astounding thing was the figure moving around inside the cloud. A yellow clad body was moving inside with incredible speed, generating all of that energy.

Rainbow Dash was fascinated by the phenomenon, until she saw something that replaced her awe with terror: two yellow orbs filled with electricity that resembled eyes looked down at her and Rainbow could immediately feel the malice and animosity in them. Her fear was only increased when she saw a set of teeth appearing beneath the orbs and gave the filly a demented grin. This was too much for the filly. She finally lost all of her remaining composure and passed out.

The next time she came to, she was back in a place she knew all too well, for she spent the first half of her life so far, the hospital she was born in. As she came to, the last terrifying image she saw came back to her and scared the sleep out of her eyes. She turned to look left and right until she found her plush toy lying next to her. With a whimper, she reached for the toy and pulled it close in a vain attempt to calm herself down. Her small cries got the attention of another pony in the room.

"Rainbow Dash!” Bow Hothoof cried before scooping his daughter up into an embrace. "Thank Celestia you are alright! What were you thinking wondering off like that?! You should be grateful that whatever got that bear didn't kill you too!" He scolded before breaking out in tears. "I already lost your mother! I can't lose you too!"

Rainbow, being a young filly didn't understand the scolds. She was just happy to be inside her father's embrace where she felt safe. Even though she was wide awake, she still felt haunted by the pony inside the lightning. She knew she wasn't going to forgot that image anytime soon and it will return to haunt her in her dreams.

She wished she could tell her father about it. Maybe he would understand. Maybe he could offer some consolation. Maybe he could put her mind at ease. But all she could do right now was bury her face into Bow's neck and allow his familiar warmth to course through her. It was small comfort at best, but for the moment, it was all she had. And it was working. She sighed in contentment and was about about to fall back asleep...

...that was until she felt the familiar gust of wind coupled with electricity hit her again. Rainbow's eyes widened in fright as she looked around for the source. Bow noticed the filly's terror and became intensely concerned.

"Raibow?! What's wrong, sweetie?" Rainbow couldn't answer of course, but the terrified look on Rainbow's face aimed towards the corner of the room behind him was all the answer he needed. He turned around and his eyes widened when he saw something resembling a stormcloud growing out of nowhere in the corner. But the most shocking thing about it was the yellow lightning surging around it. It looked exactly the same as the one he saw the night Windy died. It's sight alone was enough to make Bow completely block down as the unpleasant memories returned and so he could not react when a yellow lightning bolt struck out of the cloud, straight at the stallion.

The resulting shockwave was big enough to knock Bow off his hooves and drop Rainbow Dash. The filly reached out toward her father and cried screamed. Bow looked back at her with sorrow and regret in his eyes as his body began to turn black and was eventually reduced to ashes in front of her eyes. Rainbow backed away in horror before she rached the wall. All she could do now was stare helplessly at the cloud as the same predatory grin it did in the forest before launching itself at the filly with incredible speed as everything went black.

"AAAGGGH!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she woke up in cold sweat. She looked around and saw that she was safe in her room. Sighing in relief, she fell back on her pillow and wept. It happened again. She had that very same nightmare that has been haunting her ever since that fateful night in the forest. No matter how hard she was trying to forget it, when a young filly sees something as disturbing as she did back then, it's going to traumatize her for life.

Her father has been trying his best to help her cope. Needless to say, he wasn't quite accepting of the idea about a “pony in the lightning” as his daughter constantly described the event and the nightmares it inspired once she learned to talk. It took quite a lot of time for Rainbow to sleep through a whole night without waking up screaming like she did just now. And she already knew what was gonna happen next. She heard her bedroom door opening and looked up to see her father standing there with worry in his eyes. One look at Rainbow immediately told him everything he needed to know. It wasn't the first time he saw her like this.

"Again, Rainbow?" He sighed. Rainbow looked donw in shame and nodded. Bow walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, don't be embarrassed. It's been your longest streak without one of these nightmares. I think this calls for another trophy." He smiled down at her happily. Rainbow wiped away a tear and chuckled.

"No, thanks. I think the trophy I'll get today for making it to my first day of school is enough." Bow smiled and ruffled the filly's mane.

"That's my little winner!" He cheered. "Now get ready for breakfast! You don't want to be late on you first day of school, do you?" Rainbow stuck out her chest and put on a brave face.

"A winner is never late!" She shouted full of enthusiasm. Bow nodded.

"You know it!" He replied before flying out the door. As soon as the door closed, she dropped her bravado. She didn't want to worry her father too much, but as she grew older and more mature, this recurring nightmare began to worry her more and more. She still remembered that day like it was only yesterday. And no matter how much Bow tried to convince her otherwise, she knew what she saw that day was real. And an ominous feeling in her stomach told her she hadn't seen the last of it.

Eventually, she managed to forgot about her dream and headed downstairs to have breakfast. Bow was already preparing pencakes for her. The breakfast of champions as they both called it. The pancakes were quickly devoured before the two ponies got to putting on the filly's school uniform.

"I hate these stupid uniforms!" Why do we even have to wear them? We don't even wear clothes most of the time!"

"I wish I could answer that, sweetie." Bow shrugged. "I guess it is just one of life's big mysteries." The uniform was fairly basic in design. A red vest with the school's logo on it over a white shirt and a red tie with a black skirt over her flank.

"It itches." Rainbow complained as she wiggled around to ease the irritating feeling.

"Rainbow, please behave yourself!" Bow reprimanded. "And don't tear your uniform! Nopony will see you as a winner in torn clothes."

"In these clothes, nopony will see me as a winner at all." Rainbow growled. When they stepped out the door, Bow didn't know that his daughter's uniform would suffer more than just a tear that day in the most fantastic way. Bow was still very much unaware of her daughter's abilities. The past five years have passed without any significant incidents. But today that was all going to change.

As they passed a nearby cloud house, they saw a pegasus mare encouraging a small orange filly with pink mane to take flight. She was flapping her wings rather clumsily and didn't look like she was having much luck taking off.

"Come on, Scootaloo! You can do it!" The mare cheered at the struggling youngster. Next to her, an earth pony mare was watching them from a small, two person air balloon. She didn't look so confident. The worry in her eyes was clear.

"I don't know, Lofty. Maybe this is a little high for her to take her first flight." The mane named Lofty just waved off her concerns.

"Nonsense, Holiday! Have a little more faith in our little niece!" But Lofty's faith ended up being misplaced. As the two mares argued about whether or not it was a good idea to let the filly fly so young, Scootaloo's tiny wing flaps managed to carry her over the edge of the cloud, but that was as far as her wings could carry her. When Lofty and Holiday turned back to the filly, their piercing screams flew through the air as they saw Scootaloo's wings give out and she began to fall towards the ground several hundred hooves below.

Bow and Rainbow also heard the screams and turned to see what was happening. The stallion's eyes widened at the sight, but the filly was falling too fast for him or anypony to catch. Except for one. For Rainbow Dash, once she caught sight of the falling filly, the whole world slowed down around her. She felt an instinct take over her mind as her body began to vibrate at incredible speed.

And then she moved, blasting off from where she was standing like a rocket. The fabric of her uniform shattered as she burst through it, spread her wings and dove after the filly. She caught up with her with no effort and what she saw astonished her. There was no fear or panic on her face, only pure determination. Even though she knew she was falling to her death, she refused to give up. She was still flapping her wings in a vain attempt to break her fall. If she was gonna go out, she was gonna go out fighting. In a way, Rainbow saw a little bit of herself in this filly. And she wouldn't have been happy if somepony helped her when she was determined to succeed at something on her own.

But no matter how impressed she was by her bravery, she knew she won't be able to fly on her own at this age. Especially with those slightly deformed looking wings of hers. And she couldn't allow her to fall down. She reached out and took the filly into her hooves before flying up, back towards the clouds. She felt the filly squirm in her hold and looked down to see her looking up at her. Her lips slowly curled upwards into a smile as their eyes connected. And she smiled back. Apparently, this little filly liked her too. She looked up at her admiringly like she was her hero or cool big sister. Rainbow really liked it.

But it was cut short when she saw that she reached the cloud where the two mares who watched over the filly were still standing with the exact same horrified screams on their faces. For them, not even a single second had passed since Rainbow entered her super speed mode. She dropped the filly by Holiday's hooves in the air balloon's basket and returned to her father's side before resetting her body to normal speed.

Holiday saw her niece sitting in front of her and gurgling happily. Naturally she was confused about how she managed to get back up so fast by herself, but it was quickly washed away by the immense relief she felt over her safety.

"SCOOTALOO!" Holiday screamed before picking her up and squeezing her against her chest. "Thank Celestia you're alright! Oh, it's a miracle!" She cried as she peppered the filly's face with kisses.

"But... how?" Lofty wondered, but before she could ponder on it any further, Holiday snapped at her.

"I don't care! All I care about is that she's back in my hooves safe and sound!" She yelled at the pegasus with a glare. "This was the last time I let you take her out flying up here! From now on, you'll move to Ponyville with me where I can keep my eyes on her!"

Bow didn't hear anything from the two mare's argument. He was looking down at Rainbow Dash who was standing over her torn school uniform with the speed energy still vibrating around her with complete and utter shock. He had seen everything. Or more precisely, he didn't because it happened so fast, but he could piece it together. All Rainbow Dash could do was smile up at him nervously. She knew had a lot of explaining to do.

In the following years that passed since Rainbow Dash saved Scootaloo from falling to her death and her father found out about her super speed, they spent all of their free time training her. It didn't take him long to connect the dots and realise that the same lightning that killed his wife was responsible for this uncanny ability. And since Bow had always felt responsible for the accident, he felt like it was his responsibility to help his daughter learn to control it.

Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult. Building obstacle courses out of clouds and creating weather phenomena to slow her down have been standard practice for a pegasus. Other than keeping Rainbow in shape, it also proved quite insightful about the limits of her powers.

Extreme cold and heat both proved effective against them. Cold slowed down her molecules, preventing them to reach their maximum speed while heat interfered with their movement, throwing them off course and taking away Rainbow's control over them.

The same could be said for lightning and electricity. While she also generated it when she was speeding, if it hit her from another source, it had the same effect as heat and messed up the flow of her molecules. It was especially dangerous while Rainbow was in super speed mode.

But perhaps the most dangerous obstacle of them all was the filly's ever growing ego. Bow always wanted her daughter to feel like a winner, but she was taking it to the extreme. Her speed may have been unparalleled but she still had a lot to learnt about humility. On more than one occasion he heard Rainbow boast about how she was ready to be given the Wonderbolts uniform and the Captain's office as it has been her dream to join Equestria's fastest fliers since she first saw them that day.

She still remembered that clearly despite being only a week old at the time. Her speed meant that her mind and brain were also developing at an increased rate. It took her only a month to learn a whole school years curriculum and it probably would have taken her even shorter if she was actually interested in it, but mastering her ability was all on her mind. At least Bow didn't have to worry about her education.

What he did worry about was her arrogance. Rainbow considered herself invincible. As she put it, you can't kill what you can't catch. But she was getting in over her head. She was ignoring the fact that with all kinds of magic existing in Equestria, somepony would have most certainly found a way to slow her down and they already proved to themselves that she had weaknesses to exploit.

Perhaps understandably, Bow didn't want her daughter's super speed to become public knowledge. At first, he was considering outright banning her from using it entirely. But he knew that was impossible. Not only was Rainbow Dash born with the natural instinct to help others, but she was raised to be a winner, always the best she can be. And she something to elevate her from the crowd. To lift her above other ponies. She would surely flaunt it all she could.

But Rainbow reached a compromise with her father. She would make sure nopony would know it was her. And she already had an idea how. She remembered the day she saved that orange filly and how her uniform was shredded when she switched to super speed. Ordinary clothes were not able to handle her speed energy, but there was something that might.

She spent a lot of her time studying everything there was to know about the Wonderbolts, including their uniform. They could reach speed that could turn them into flaming bolts in the sky so obviously they needed clothes made of special material that could prevent a pony's body from heating up. Rainbow figured that it would be the closets thing on this planet to handle it.

She was able to get her hooves on one during a show her father took her to on her eighteenth birthday. One retiring member gave her her old uniform which she even signed for her. A signed Wonderbolts outfit was a treasured prize for many, so it was with a heavy heart that Rainbow and Bow began to make alterations to it to make it fitting for Rainbow's body.

Rainbow's body was considerably narrower than the mare's body who previously owned it, so they had to remove a lot of material from it. Once it was just her size, they had enough material to make a mask that covered Rainbow's entire head and mane. Once her specialised suit was finished, all that was visible were Rainbow's eyes.

And finally, the day had come to field test it.

"Are you ready?" Bow asked his daughter while standing next to an oval race track made of cloud. Rainbow Dash places a pair of goggles over her eyes and spread her wings, ready for takeoff.

"Let's do this!" The blue mare replied before launching herself forward. She started off slower than usual to see if the suit holds up. Once she was sure it did, she became brave enough to speed up more. Soon, her father lost track of her. All he saw was a blue streak of blurred lightning spiraling around the track.

"How's the suit holding up?" Bow asked through a headset communicator after a minute of silence. He received no answer and he knew exactly what that meant. Rainbow was getting carried away again. And if she wasn't careful, that could have disastrous consequences.

"Rainbow, slow down a little!" He screamed into the communicator. His words had no effect. The spiral on the track was getting faster and faster and it was beginning to affect the wind. Bow felt himself and the clouds around him being sucked into the vortex.

He had to stop this and quickly. With all of his strength, he managed to gather all the clouds around him together and used his weather manipulation skills to summon snow. With so many clouds, it didn't take long until the snowfall turned into a blizzard that eventually covered the entire track and Rainbow Dash's body as well. The air eventually became cold enough to slow down the speed demon pegasus, who didn't seem particularly pleased about her father's interference.

"Hey, what gives?!" She demanded as she flew up in Bow's face. "I almost broke my course record!" Bow glared down at his daughter before pointing in the direction of the mayhem she caused. Rainbow's glare eventually weakened into a sheepish smile. "Right..." She said, rubbing her head. "Well, at least we know the suit holds up!" She cheered, presenting her modified Wonderbolts outfit that didn't even have a scratch on it. Bow however wasn't amused.

"Rainbow, this can't go on like that! You are far too reckless! You might the fastest mare alive, but you have to learn when to stop!" Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Ugh! I hate that word so much!" She complained as she looked away. "When you have so much energy inside you, the last thing you want to do is stop!" Bow rubbed his forehead in an effort calm himself before trying a different approach.

"You said your brain is also working at super speed. Did you ever stop to think about what you could cause with all your energy? I will not have my daughter be responsible for the destruction of Cloudsdale because she doesn't know the limits of her powers!"

"Well if I don't push them, I'll never know them!" Rainbow countered before her features softened. "I know what you're feeling, dad. I know you think you are responsible for what happened to mom because you didn't stop her from going up so fast that night. But that doesn't mean the same will happen to me." Bow looked down in sorrow and fought back some tears that were trying to escape.

"This isn't about that, sweetheart. Look around! Look at all this mess you caused! I know you can control your powers but you also need to control yourself!" Despite her frustration, Rainbow knew her father was right and eventually conceded with a sigh.

"I know." She said before grabbing one of his hooves with hers. "But with you by my side, I know I will be able to. We're in this together, dad. Until the end." Bow finally smiled back at her as he squeezed her hoof.

"Until the end." He repeated. "Speaking of ends, I believe we should call it a day for now and grab some lunch. You must be starving after all that running." The growling of Rainbow's stomach was all the answer he needed.

"You know it! But first, there's one more adjustment to this suit I'd like to make." Bow raised an eyebrow.

"And that is?"

"Well... I would like to make it look less like a Wonderbolts uniform. I'm not one of them yet, though we both know it's only a matter of time. And if I wanna stay incognito, we're gonna have to make sure i look unrecognisable and unaffiliated with anypony." Bow nodded.

"I see. Any specific ideas?" Rainbow smirked.

"I'm glad you asked."

A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash was standing in front of a mirror with her father spraying the content of a can of red paint onto her suit. By the time he was done, the former dark blue uniform was scarlet red with thin yellow streaks on it's legs. Rainbow admired herself in the mirror, quite satisfied with her new look.

"Well, is it to your liking?" Bow asked. Rainbow put a hoof to her chin in thought.

"One more thing." She pulled out a can of yellow paint before spraying a yellow circle across her chest and crossing it out with a yellow lightning bolt. She then raised the can to her head and drew the same lightning symbol on both sides. She smirked.

"Perfect! Or should I say, flashing!"

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #2: Old Friends, New Enemies

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Just like the entirety of Equestria, Baltimare was usually very calm and harmonious despite it's enormous size as one of the biggest cities. Even with the upcoming Wonderbolts show in the city's stadium that had everypony excited, the city was not more chaotic than usual.

If anything, it actually added to the order of the city. With the ponies being law-abiding and respectful of their authority figures for the most part, everypony was patiently waiting in line for their tickets at the offices before resuming to their productive everyday lives.

Therefore, it came as quite a shock when they heard the blaring police sirens as the law enforcement agents rushed into the center of the city. But to the ponies who were deeper in the city, their arrival was more than welcome. The civilians were fleeing in panic, clearing the way for the police ponies to approach a tall tower with large neon letters that spelled "S. T. A. R. S. Industries" on it.

In front of the building, the company's security staff were trying and failing to keep a huge, advancing earth pony at bay. Their firearms clearly hit him on, but their bullets had no effect. But even more astonishing than the stallion's bullet immunity, was the fact that the entire pony seemed to have been made of metal.

His steady advance towards building entrance was interrupted when he heard the police siren from behind him and he turned his metallic head to look at them. His eyes, appearing as yellow lights on a monitor scanned his opponents and quickly determined that their weaponry was inferior.

"This is the Baltimare Police Department! Cease and desist at once!" The leader of the police force, a brown unicorn stallion with blonde mane ordered through a megaphone. Perceiving them as no threat, the metal pony turned back towards the company building and resumed his advance.

"Alright, boys! We warned him, now we speak with our magic!" A group of police unicorns lined up and ignited their horns, encasing the criminal in their magic aura. This actually managed to slow him down a little and eventually brought him to a halt. A group of earth ponies approached him with a special containment device, but he had some surprises of his own.

The metal pony opened two small holes on his back and two antennas emerged out of them. The antennas began to flicker with electricity before releasing a giant shockwave that broke the magical hold on him and incapacitated his would be captors. The security staff took advantage of his momentary stun and retreated inside the building before activating the emergency lockdown system and shutting the gate from everypony. This greatly infuriated the attacker who decided to take his fury out on the colts in blue.

The metallic pony picked up one of the knocked out earth pony cops and hurled him back at his comrades. But the unicorns were able to catch him in their magic and lower him on the ground safely. After trying the same move one more time and getting the same result, he changed tactics and opened his chest piece to reveal a gatling gun, much to the cops' horror.

The metal pony opened fire, but with their combined might, the unicorns were able to to summon a shield strong enough to last until he ran out of bullets. When the assault was over over, they lowered their shield as one of them stepped forward, carrying a crate.

"Our turn." He declared as he opened the crate and pulled out a rocket launcher, which he proceeded to aim at the metal pony. "Eat this!" He pulled the trigger and fired the missile at the metal pony. They brought this weapon specifically for this encounter, but even that proved useless as it's target merely caught the missile in one of his front hooves and was able to hold it in one place despite it's burning exhaust still carrying it forward.

The metal pony cast a glance at the rocket before turning it around and releasing it towards the stunned police ponies. They wouldn't have the chance to raise a shield this time. The rocket would hit their cart behind them and they would no doubt be caught in the blast and severely hurt. Or probably worse. They didn't have the speed to react in time to do anything.

But somepony else did.

To the cops, it happened within the blink of an eye and all they saw was the rocket turning around in the air and crashing into the metal pony with enough force to make him stumble. When the smoke cleared away, he saw a mare dressed in a red suit with a yellow lightning bolt across her chest and yellow goggles over her eyes. But even through her dark lens, metal pony could clearly see her glare.

"Why don't you pick on somepony your own size, rust bucket?" She spat before dashing at the criminal so fast that even his visual scanners couldn't detect her movement.

Rainbow Dash wasn't happy. This Baltimare Wonderbolts show would have been her first performance with the team ever since she became an official member. It was a moment she's been anticipating her whole life and the fact that some wannabe supervillan chose this very same day to attack some nerdy science lab in the same city annoyed her to no end.

The metal pony was also not amused with the intrusion. When he regained his hoofing from the missile strike, he ran an analysis on the mare in front of him. He saw the incredible speed her molecules were moving at and quickly deduced her ability to do the same and developed his strategy.

"So..." Rainbow snarled as she walked closer to the cyborg. "...are you gonna come quietly or do I have to loosen a few of your screws." The metal giant didn't answer. Instead, he heated up his mechanical eyes and fired a laser beam at the mare.

Rainbow looked very unimpressed by this attack and with her super speed, she easily managed to dodge it by sidestepping. She then charged at her attacker while gathering as much energy into her right front leg as she could. Recently, she had discovered that if she sped up the movement of molecules in her hoof enough, she could pack a punch of such a great mass that even the strongest stallion could only dream of.

But little did she know that this was exactly what her opponent was anticipating. As soon as Rainbow's hoof made connection with the stallion's metal chest, she felt crushing pain in it while the metal pony remained completely unfazed. Even the huge strength Rainbow had amassed in her hoof wasn't enough to hurt him.

"OW!" Rainbow cried out in pain before collapsing, holding her hoof in the other. "Motherbucker... that hurt..."

The metal pony just reached down for Dash and picked her up effortlessly before smashing her headfirst into the ground and throwing her away. Rainbow crashed against the company building, creating a huge hole in the wall before bouncing back to the ground. She groaned in pain, but due to her super speed accelerating her healing process, she was quickly able to get back on her hooves.

She found that her hoof still wasn't quite recovered yet, as it hurt greatly when she tried to step on it. She focused all of her speed into the limb to speed the process up when she noticed that the metal pony was heading towards her with steady struts.

"Come on... heal, damn it!" Rainbow groaned. She saw the steel pony's eyes heating up, signaling another laser beam coming and she realised there was no more time for healing, she had to move. She got out of the way just in time to avoid the laser and began to run around her opponent in circles.

Her hoof was healed enough to keep her super speed up and she managed to run so fast that she created a small tornado around the metal pony. The stallion simply activated the magnetic plates in his hooves, securing himself on the ground before releasing the antennas from his back again and releasing another shockwave.

Rainbow felt the tingles inside her body caused by the electric outburst and instantly knew what was coming. The shockwave deterred the movement of her molecules and she lost her speed, falling forward and rolling on the ground until she crashed into a wall.

The metal pony had enough of this game and walked up to Rainbow as fast as he could. When he reached the mare, raised his right front leg, ready to bring it down and crush Rainbow's skull. Rainbow was still in great pain and the electricity still lingered in her body, preventing her from reaching super speed.

But there was one thing she could still do. She may not be able to turn up speed to the maximum, but it should be enough to pull this off. Rainbow spread her wings on the ground and started vibrating her body as fast as she could. Electricity began to vibrate around her body as well and just before the metal pony's hoof reached her body, she touched it and unleashed all of the generated energy into his body.

The electricity coursed through the metal pony's body, making it violently shake and twitch until it finally stopped and rendered his metallic body completely motionless before he fell to the ground and the digital lights in his eyes went out. Rainbow panted heavily as she slowly pushed herself up into a standing position. He then turned to the shut down metal pony and put one of her hooves on top of him in triumph.

"Back to the scrapyard with you!" She quipped before looking up and noticing the approaching police ponies. "He's all yours, officers!" She told them before walking off the scene. She would have normally just sped off but now she was completely worn out from the fight. She wasn't used to such heavyweight opponents.

She looked back at the cops putting the metal pony into a special containment device and was about to sit down to catch her breath when she heard the snapping of a camera. She turned to see an orange earth pony mare with blond mane, wearing a blue suit, a matching fedora hat and a pair of round glasses.

"Smile for the camera, Flash!" She grinned before taking another picture. "Well, aren't I lucky? I'll be the first pony to snap a picture of the 'Fastest Mare Alive'." She announced dramatically. "Great action shots too! This will be great for my article about this guy." The last line caught Rainbow's attention.

"That guy?" She asked, pointing at the metal pony being carried away by the police. "You're doing an article on him? And here I was thinking you were just a fan of mine." The earth just smiled in response.

"Sorry to disappoint. Name's Lark Cent. Investigative journalist for the Daily Sun." She said, offering her hoof.

"Nice to meet you." Rainbow replied, shaking it. "Now that you mention it, I think I've come across your name before. You have written quite a few articles about the super ponies that keep popping up all across Equestria."

"Sure did. The Sun eats up that kind of stuff. I've got them all. Green Lantern, Captain MareVel and now you." Lark said proudly. "The only one who keeps eluding me is that elusive bat in Manehattan."

"Yeah, but your Supermare articles are the most prevalent ones." Rainbow said. "It's impressive. Almost like you always know where she is." Lark chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah, well we're good friends. You might say that I'm her personal photographer." She said with a forced smile. Rainbow found it strange, but she decided not to push it.

"So, you actually know who the scrap metal was?" Lark nodded.

"Sure do. He is... or rather was Red Jets. A former royal guard whose body was badly damaged during a mission gone wrong. But instead of the higher ups giving him a hero's funeral, they decided to rebuild him into that. He was... less than appreciative about it. He's been hitting science labs all over the country and stealing high tech gear to upgrade himself. The tabloids call him Metallo." The journalist explained.

"How creative." Rainbow said sarcastically, making Lark chuckle.

"Hey, I didn't come up with it." She shrugged. "I've been tracking the guy for months but he's good at covering his tracks. I'm lucky he chose this day to hit Baltimare. The Sun actually sent me to write about the upcoming Wonderbolts show, but now I'll have something even better for them."

Upon the mention of the Wonderbolts show, Rainbow's eyes widened. During her fight with Metallo, she had completely forgotten about it. She was supposed to meet Spitfire and the others at the stadium for practice when she got word of the metal pony's rampage. It was the ultimate irony of her life. Despite being the fastest mare alive, she was still always late for her appointments. Spitfire will have her head for this.

"Right. Well, I'm happy I could help with the article. Just make sure to include a cool shot of me in it!" She said before turning away to speed off, but something Lark said stopped her in her tracks.

"Sure thing!" She replied as she walked off towards an alleyway. "Now make sure you're not late from the Wonderbolts practice!"

"You got i... Hey! How do you know I'm a Wonderbolt?!" She cried out to her, but she already disappeared around the corner. "Hey! Get back here!" She dashed to the alleyway, but to her surprise, the journalist was nowhere to be seen. "What the... Where did she go?" She looked around the alley in puzzlement but she saw no trace of the earth pony. Eventually, she gave up and turned to leave but before she sped off, she heard a loud boom from the distance and she could swear that she saw a red and blue blur disappear into the sky from the corner of her eye.

Even though the show was only scheduled for tomorrow, a massive crowded had already gathered in front of the Baltimare stadium, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite Wonderbolts. Even with hét super speed, Rainbow had difficulty finding a spot where he could slip through unnoticed. With a sigh, she ran away from the building and found a dark alleyway where she could change.

After stuffing her suit into her saddlebag, she ran back to the stadium entrance, this time at regular speed. Of course, this meant that she would have an even more difficult since the ponies could now see her. And with how fast she was even at regular speed and how daring during her performances, she was obviously one of the biggest favorites among the fans. Once they catch a glimpse of her, she won't get in the stadium anytime soon as she will be bombarded with her fan's requests for pictures and autographs.

Eventually, she spotted a group of ponies that were gathered around something next to an entrance. Their attention was focused completely on what they were looking at, so Rainbow thought she should be able to sneak past them. But just before she tried to enter the stadium, she glanced back at the crowd and noticed what they were looking at. Over their heads, she saw several wooden objects being thrown into the air and falling back down in a circle.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she joined the assembled ponies to take a look. Standing next to the wall was a pegasus stallion with light cray coat and blonde mane in a ridiculous manestyle juggling a bunch of boomerangs in his hooves. Alongside him was a red unicorn stallion who was levitating a few sacks around him with his magic.

The unicorn tossed one of the sacks into the air above the crowd and the pegasus managed to throw one of his boomerangs at it without breaking his juggling act. The boomerang cut the sack in half and showered the audience in candy, much to their delight. The boomerang turned around and flew back towards the pegasus and the unicorn tossed another sack in it's way. Once again, it cut the sack perfectly in half and the pegasus caught it before throwing it back up with the others.

The two stallions then repeated the same trick, but with two boomerangs and sacks, showering the crowd with even more treats and trinkets, earning huge cheers from them. When the performance was finished, the pegasus opened his blue trenchcoat and all of the boomerangs fell perfectly into the several inside pockets sewn into them. The crowd clapped as the two stallions bowed and accepted the generous donations being given to them.

While the onlookers looked pleased, Rainbow just rolled her eyes. Not only because cheap tricks like this didn't amuse her, but because she knew that pegasus very well. Better than she'd like. But she hasn't seen him in a while and this was the last place in Equestria she expected to bump into him. Once they've collected all the money and crowd split up, he noticed that Rainbow was still standing there and looking at him in annoyance.

"Zephyr Breeze." Rainbow said slowly with disdain. "What are you doing here?" The stallion known as Zephyr Breeze just smiled in response.

"Well, if it isn't Rainbow 'best flier' Dash!" He mused with his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I don't know what surprises me more. The fact that you honored me with your words or the fact that you could squeeze your massive, swollen head through the city's skyscrapers." Rainbow narrowed her eyes at him.

"At least I have something to be big headed about." She cut back. Zephyr shrugged.

"Well, can't argue with that. You always knew how to gather a crowd, Dash. I figured they wouldn't mind some sideshow entertainment while waiting for the show to begin tomorrow." He then looked down at the money he picked up. "And I was right."

"No offense, Zeph, but ponies are here for real entertainment and they don't need you to drag things down around here." She scoffed before turning away and heading towards the entrance. "See you tomorrow, if that pittance is enough for a ticket to the show." The smile from Zephyr's face didn't fade as she watched the mare leave and simply waved after her.

"Break a leg in there, Rainbow!" He cried after her. "Preferably literally, you prick." He muttered once she was out of earshot. He then turned to see his unicorn partner walk up to him.

"Wonderbolts. The fastest fliers in Equestria." Zephyr said to him. The unicorn smiled up at him sardonically.

"But not the fastest on the uptake." He laughed before holding up Rainbow's wallet in his hoof. The two stallions shared a laugh as they split the money inside it among themselves, but when Zephyr put away his cut, he looked down at the wallet his partner put away and saw a few bits still sticking out of it. He wasn't amused.

'Trying to double cross me, are you?' After the unicorn turned away to leave, Zephyr pulled out one of his boomerangs and threw it at him. The unicorn was hit in the back of his head and fell to the ground unconscious. The boomerang flew back into Zephyr's hoof perfectly and as he put it back into his coat, he walked up to his former partner and took the wallet away from him before leaving the scene with a sinister chuckle.

Rainbow ran through the halls of the stadium as fast as she could. Well, as fast as she could without her super speed that is. In a minute, she finally made it to the field where her Wonderbolts teammates were already hard at work, practicing for their show tomorrow. She looked around and when she saw nopony nearby, she changed into her uniform within the blink of an eye and ran out into the open to join them. With a little luck, maybe Spitfire wouldn't notice that she only just arrived to the practice. But unfortunately, luck didn't seem to be on her side today.

As she was about to start her rounds, she heard somepony clearing her throat behind her. She turned around with a nervous gulp but she already knew who she was gonna see. Sure enough, it was yellow pegasus mare, Captain Spitfire, the of the Wonderbolts and she did not seem happy. She glared at Rainbow with impatience and frustration while tapping the tip of her right front hoof on the ground. Rainbow chuckled nervously before giving her captain a salute.

"Private Rainbow Dash is reporting for duty ma'am." She said meekly, but Spitfire saw right through it.

"How is it that the fastest flier among my ponies who holds every single academy course record is always late from her assignments?" She asked, looking Rainbow in the eye with such a sharp look that would have made even Supermare sweat.

Rainbow didn't know what to say. She couldn't just tell Spitfire that she was secretly a speedy superhero who constantly had to abandon her duties to save innocents and stop bad guys. But she did have a point. Rainbow was late from all of her practice sessions and barely made it in time for the actual shows. And more often than not, this was due to the shenanigans of costumed rogues in the city the Wonderbolts were visiting.

In Fillydelphia, she had to stop a pegasus who called himself Rainbow Raider from robbing the show's spectators. The stallion actually managed create magical rainbows to fly on. Rainbow had to utilise all of her super speed to catch him. Then in Cloudsale, a unicorn named Kite Mare attempted to rob the Cloudsale bank during their performance. Her magically controlled kites allowed her to fly through the cloud city and steal all kinds of things, including money. But the most ridiculous of them all was the unicorn stallion that called himself Mr. Polka-Dot with a laughable spandex suit covered in various colored magical dots that he could take off and transform into various forms of weapons and portals raiding Ponyville. Just where did these lunatics keep popping up from?

"Well?!" Spitfire asked, snapping Rainbow out of her flashbacks. The blue mare was at a loss of words as she kept mumbling to herself in a desperate attempt to come up with an explanation, until Spitfire finally got tired of it. "You may be my best flier, Rainbow Dash, but don't think this means I will tolerate this insolence from you! If you keep this up, there will be consequences!" Rainbow really didn't like the way Spitfire said that.

"Wha... What consequences?" Spitfire sighed.

"Rainbow, I'm gonna be curt with you. There were many promising recruits graduating from the academy this year. Many of them are ready for the first team already and that means I'm gonna have to make room for them. Get the picture?" Rainbow's eyes widened. Spitfire was never happy with her for always being late but never before did she threaten her with actually kicking her off the team. She's gonna have to be really careful in the future.

"Yes, ma'am." She replied, unable to think of anything else to say. Spitfire's mood didn't improve but she finally got out of Rainbow's face.

"I sure hope so." She said before turning away. "Oh, before I forget, you have a guest waiting for you at the locker rooms." She told her as she walked off, before muttering one more thing under her breath. "As if you didn't waste enough time already." Rainbow still heard her last comment and she didn't pretend it didn't hurt her but she was in no position to argue with her. Instead, she dashed off into the direction of the locker room.

While she was in no mood to greet any visitors after her battle with Metallo and her lecture from Spitfire. One thing was certain, if it was another loony fan trying to beg for a souvenir, she was gonna buck them out of the stadium with a super charged kick. That was the one thing that could have made this day any worse. But when she arrived at the locker room door, a much better surprise was waiting her.

"Dad!" She cried out in joy when she saw her father, Bow Hothoof standing there as she ran up to hug him. She hasn't seen him in a while. Before she left for this tour with the Wonderbolts, she had a massive argument with the stallion after he found out about all dangerous stunts she had been pulling recently. Not the ones within the Wonderbolts, he was perfectly aware that she was able to handle those. But when he discovered her secret superhero activities, he was less than enthusiastic to say the least. And when Bow took very long to half-heartedly hug her back, she knew that he still hasn't let that go.

"I'm so glad you're here!" She exclaimed before pulling out of the embrace and looking up at him. "This is gonna be the biggest show of the tour and now that you're here, I'm sure I'll be motivated to do even better tomorrow than I was already going to!" Her father didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. He just stared down at her with an unreadable, stoic expression.

"Yes, I suppose with me being here, you'd actually be more focused on your performance in the stadium than outside of it." Rainbow raised a brow in confusion.

"What do you mean?" In response, Bow held up several newspapers and gave them to his daughter. They have all contained news articles about consumed super criminals being incapacitated by a mysterious streak of lightning that the denizens of Equestria have come to call The Flash. And curiously, these articles were all dated as the same day the Wonderbolts performed in the exact same city The Flash was sighted. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. Rainbow chuckled half-heartedly.

"Well, look at that! Somepony's been busy. I wonder who could that be..." She said, smiling up Bow uneasily. But the stallion wasn't amused.

"Rainbow, we've talked about this." Rainbow gave up trying to save face.

"Yes, we have. And I told you that I'm not going to waste my gift because of your fears. I'm 23, I can take care of myself." She said, shoving the newspapers against his chest and turning away.

"It's not just that, Rainbow." Bow replied as he ran in front of her. "You don't seem to understand what you're putting on the line."

"So why don't you tell me?!" She snapped. Bow sighed, rubbing his muzzle with a hoof.

"Look, Rainbow, if you keep this up, sooner or later, you're gonna make a mistake that will result in everypony finding out who you are! Do you know what will happen then?" Rainbow just stared at him inquisitively, slienlty asking him to continue. "Not only will every lunatic you have caught come after you in retribution - and possibly me as well - but how do you think your Wonderbolts superiors will take it that your ability was the reason you made your way into the team so quickly?" Rainbow Dash was appaled by her father's suggestion.

"I never used my power during the shows or the academy!" She yelled defensively. "Everything I've even done with the Bolts, I've done on my own! I've worked my flank off to be here just like everypony else!" It was true. Rainbow had more honor than that. She wanted to make it onto the Wonderbolts by herself and not by some natural born gift.

"I know that, Dash, but they don't!" Bow argued back. "And I don't think they would take your word for it!" His features eventually softened as he calmed down and he decided to change his tone. "All I'm asking of you is to be more careful from now on. Even the smallest slip up could ruin your life." Rainbow knew her father meant well, but her arrogance and pride got in the way of seeing that.

"I am NOT going to slip up!" She shouted. "The tabloids will never even catch a glimpse of me and those freaks can't kill what they can't catch! I'll be fine!" Bow shook his head in disapproval.

"I may have raised you to be a winner, Rainbow Dash, but I didn't raise you to be so full of yourself. But no matter how hard I tried, you could never learn humility." Rainbow couldn't stand that disappointed look on her father's face. She didn't see it often but when she did, it crushed her soul. Disappointment meant inadequacy and her fragile ego couldn't handle the very concept of her being inadequate at anything. Especially with the pony who was most important to him in the world. She didn't want to stay there with her father looking at her like this for a second longer.

"I don't want to talk about that, dad! I have to get back to training!" Rainbow said, finally deciding to end this pointless argument and head back to the field. "See you tomorrow!" Bow watched her leave and shook his head at his daughter's stubbornness.

"You may be good at running, Rainbow Dash. But that doesn't mean you should run from your problems."

The next day, the Baltimare stadium was full of ponies eagerly awaiting the start of the show. Rainbow Dash stood alongside her fellow Wonderbolts, waiting for the signal that would send them off towards the obstacle course that was set up on the field.

Apart from the things that you would find on any obstacle courses designed for pegasi, like rotating wheels with wooden clubs, wooden plates springing up from the ground at random times and cannons that fired rubber balls, there were also far deadlier instruments. Including freeze rays, flame jets, and even strategically placed mirrors that could trick the fliers into flying into the wrong direction.

Of course, these kind of obstacles were only set up for the best of the best. The ones that could not only escape these instruments of death, but do it while laughing at them. The ones like Rainbow Dash. The Wonderbolts had no fear while dealing with these traps. They were trained not to fear situations such as these. But in Rainbow's case, she was also glad these were included in the show. The extreme heat and cold they produced prevented her from reaching super speed and therefore she wouldn't have an unfair advantage over her teammates.

Her talk with her father the day before still rang in her ears. The very suggestion was outrageous, she would never abuse her abities like that. Bow raised her better than that and if she would have considered cheating even once, he would have made her to laps around Cloudsale until her wings fell off. She did hope that he managed to overcome his anger from their argument. She's been scanning the crowd for several minutes but she's been unable to locate him.

She was sure he was here. He wouldn't have traveled this far from Cloudsale just to lecture her and then miss the show. But she didn't have anymore time to look for him because Spitfire was next to her and she noticed that her gaze has been wondering away from the obstacle course. She nudged her in the side and nodded towards the track in front of them, silently ordering her to focus on the upcoming performance. Rainbow blushed in embarrassment before nodding at her superior.

The lights above the Wonderbolts began to lit up with red light until they reached the end of the row and the last one lit up green, giving them the sign to take off. Rainbow Dash flew right behind Spitfire and in front of another team veteran, Soarin. She had to stay focused on maintaining just enough speed to stay between them. The Wonderbolts shows weren't races, they had to stay in perfect formation to carry out the performance. And Rainbow Dash was flying behind Captain Spitfire, a pony she held in the highest regard and trusted completely. All she had to do was follow her and everything will be perfect.

The rotating wheels with the clubs was the first obstacle they approached. They were spinning at a high speed, but they trained with these things so much that every member knew their rotation cycles by heart at this point. Spitfire would go first and the next pegasus behind her would have to wait exactly 0.27 seconds before mimicking her movements. There were twenty wheels they had to get through, one on each side, so the Wonderbolts had to repeat this maneuver nine more times before they were in the clear.

Then came the springing wooden plates. Unlike the wheels, they did not have a pattern. They sprung up randomly, testing the Wonderbolts' reflexes and reaction time. When they did appear, the pegasus not only had to react in time and fly over it but push it back down so the others behind them could fly forward safely. Once again, with all their training this week, they had no trouble getting through the course.

The cannons with the rubber balls were already showering the field with their ammunition. Even though the balls were the size of cannon balls, the Wonderbolts once again got through them effortlessly. While their performance was going flawlessly so far, Rainbow could hear disappointed groans from all over the audience. Many ponies were expecting to see some crashes and injuries by now. Apparently they didn't know who the Wonderbolts were supposed to be.

Regardless, Rainbow decided to entertain them a little. Instead of simply dodging the projectiles like her teammates were doing, she punched them back towards the cannons and actually managed knock them over. The crowd cheered, much to Rainbow's satisfaction. These cheers for her only and she wasn't ashamed to admit that they felt good. She just did something her fellow Wonderbolts wouldn't even dream of doing and with the cheering crowd boosting her ego, she decided to do it again until eventually, all cannons on the field have been neutralised.

Rainbow caught up with Spitfire who shot an approving smirk towards her, which Rainbow gratefully returned. When the team reached the part of the course where the flame jets were waiting for them, the two ponies at the front shared a knowing glance and flew up towards them. They easily dodged the flames being shot at them and turned the instruments away from the course, allowing their teammates to fly through unharmed.

Rainbow was on such a roll that she didn't even wait for Spitfire to catch up before she reached the ice cannons. Even at regular speed, she was so fast that she managed to turn them towards each other and they ended up shooting at and freezing themselves. Spitfire came in right after her and shattered them into ice shards by slamming into them.

The other pegasi saw that the obstacle course was getting cleared for them but they didn't want to let the two mares ahead steal the whole show. Soarin signaled to the rest of the team to follow him and they dashed towards the center of the arena where a bunch of canisters were placed. The pegasi quickly snatched them and attached them to their backs before shooting up towards the sky.

They then pulled a rope attached to them and unleashed the gas inside them before splitting up in the air and spreading the gas lines of different colors in the air, each of them drawing a specific image. By the time they were done, the giant outline of a pegasus in a Wonderbolt uniform was visible above the stadium and the crowd erupted with cheers.

But when all things are going perfectly, something is also prone to go wrong. Usually at the worst possible time. And what was supposed to be a triumphant finale for the show would have easily ended in embarrassment and possibly, even tragedy.

Suddenly, a pegasus stallion noticed that the gas cylinder on his back was malfunctioning. When he tried to turn it off, the switch accidentally broke, increasing the pressure and sending him crashing towards the ground. He tried removing it from his back, but he couldn't move the harness past his spread wings. Before he reached the ground, he pulled up and began flying forward around the stadium, waiting for the cylinder to run out of gas.

What he didn't notice however, was that he was flying into one of the tricky mirrors set up by Soarin. To him, it looked like the path was clear and in his panicked state, he failed to spot the obstacle. But Soarin and Rainbow Dash noticed it in time and managed to move quick enough to reach the troubled pegasus a millisecond before tragedy. Soarin moved the mirror out of the way, clearing the path for stallion, while Rainbow caught up with him and untied the cylinder from his back, freeing him from the runaway cylinder. She had to throw in her super speed a little to reach him in time but she wasn't ashamed of it. She vowed to never use it during her performances, but this time, there was a life at stake.

Wether they believed this was all part of the show or if they just enjoyed the rescue they saw, the crowd cheered even louder than before. Rainbow hardly noticed though. She was too busy checking if her unfortunate teammate had any injuries. Only when she was sure he was alright did she look up to see the ponies around the stadium celebrating her. And when she finally spotted her father among the crowd, clapping for her enthusiastically, she forgot about all of her troubles. The rest of the Wonderbolts came up next to her and all gave her praising looks. There was no doubt, she was the hero of the day. And this time, she didn't even need her alter ego to earn recognition for it.

After the show, the Wonderbolts returned to the their locker rooms. The two strongest stallions carried Rainbow Dash on their shoulders and the rest of her teammates were walking around them and cheering for her.

"Way to go, Rainbow Dash!"

"You're the best flier I've seen in a long time!"

"I wish I always had somepony like you watching my back!"

But none of the praises could be compared to the words of Spitfire.

"You have done well, Rainbow Dash. I'm proud of you." These words were much less praising than the rest of her comrades', but from her captain, they meant so much more.

"Alright, Bolts! Hit the showers, pack up and for the rest of the day, you'll be free to celebrate our newest successful performance anyway you want!" As the team headed for the showers, Spitfire walked up to Soarin and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Except for you, Soarin. When you're done, please meet me at my private room at the hotel. I have something to discuss with you." Spitfire's message had a certain ominous tone to it, but Soarin was in such a high spirit after today's performance that he didn't even notice.

"Aya, aye, captain!" Soarin chuckled, making Spitfire roll her eyes.

In the shower and the dressing room, the other stallions kept teasing him about how the captain was expecting him for a 'special, private celebration' at the hotel and how he only held such a high position within the team due to their 'close' relationship, but he didn't let these remarks get to him. He knew better. He's earned his place among the Bolts and besides, even if he had such feelings for Spitfire, she was very serious about fraternisation. She would never indulge in such a thing.

Upon exiting the stadium, he flew up and headed straight for the hotel the team was staying at. The rest of them are no doubt partying somewhere in the city so they would have all the privacy they needed. He made a quick stop at his room to drop his bag before making his way to Spitfire's private room. After a series of knocks the mare gave him permission to enter and he walked in to see Spitfire sitting behind a desk and looking over several documents.

"You wanted to see me, captain?" Soarin asked. Spitfire looked up from her papers with a stoic expression.

"Yes, Soarin." She answered, pointing at another chair in front of the desk. "Please, have a seat."

"Well, don't mind if I do!" He replied before doing just that. "So what did you want to talk about?" Spitfire didn't seem to share Soarin's enthusiasm about their meeting, but the stallion was still too oblivious to notice.

"Well, as you know, there have been many promising graduates from the academy this year." Soarin nodded.

"Yeah, you've gotten pretty good at training them. I can't wait to fly alongside them in the future!" Spitfire cast her gaze down.

"Well, then this is going to be even more difficult for me to say. So I'll just get it out of the way." She said before taking a deep breath in preparation. "Soarin, you're off the team." Soarin's response was a blank expression as he was not exactly sure how to process this revelation. After a few seconds, he let out a series hearty laughs, much to Spitfire's confusion.

"Okay, that was a good one, captain! For a moment, I almost believed it." He laughed. "I had no idea you had such a good sense of humor." But when Soarin saw no change in his superior's cold expression, he was starting to realise that this situation was deadly serious. "Wait... You're... You're not joking, are you?" He stammered as panic overtook him.

"Think of it as a generation switch, Soarin." Spitfire explained. "I need to make room for the new recruits and quite frankly, our charts show that your popularity rate has dropped considerably with our fans. Case in point, your past time so it makes sense you'll be one of the first to let go." Soarin looked absolutely devastated. It took him quite a few seconds to find his voice again.

"But you can't do this to me!" He pleaded. "I've been in the Wonderbolts as long as you have! Hay, I've designed most of those obstacle courses we've been going through on this tour! The team wouldn't be where it is today without me!"

"And we appreciate it, Soarin. Our last performance on this tour in Trottingham will be dedicated to you to celebrate all the time you spent with us. But times change." The captain replied. "The team's interests outweigh those of any individuals. Even one who served with us as long as you have." Her offer did little to mend the stallion's broken heart.

"But... But... The Wonderbolts are my life! I dedicated everything the team! What am I supposed to do now?!" He asked frantically.

"A skilled pegasus such as yourself should have no trouble finding another job. Spitfire replied. "Look, Soarin, this is difficult for me too." Spitfire tried to reason, but the stallion interrupted her.

"The way you talk about it so callously sure as hay doesn't sound like you are!" He yelled at her as he sprung up from his chair and slammed his hooves on the desk. "You know what, Spitfire?! You can take your send-off performance and shove it! I'm leaving right now!" He spat before standing up and heading for the door. Spitfire shrugged.

"Fine with me. Saves me the trouble of paying your pension." Soarin turned back to give her a dirty look but didn't say anything. He just walked out and slammed the door behind him. He didn't even bother going back to his room to gather his belongings before leaving the hotel.

For the next several hours, he wondered the streets of Baltimare aimlessly, trying to figure out what to do next and fuming what Spitfire just did to her. The nerve of her! He gave everything he had to the Wonderbolts. To help them become better and bigger. He created those devices they were using during their shows. They would be nowhere without him.

And now she just kicked him out without a second thought. He was being replaced by a new generation and being thrown away like thrash. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Spitfire took away not only his job, but his entire life and all of his accomplishments. He was so upset that he couldn't even start to think about what he was gonna do with his life in the future. All he could think about was how much he wanted to make Spitfire regret this dearly. But how could he do that?

"Hey!" He was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice calling out to him. He turned to see another pegasus stallion with a blonde mane and wearing a blue trenchcoat who was sitting at a table in front of a bistro, holding a sandwich in his hoof. "You alright, partner? You've been standing there for like five minutes with this really cross look on your face." Soarin didn't know who this stallion was, but somehow he looked familiar.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" He asked. The stallion shrugged.

"It's not beyond the realm of possibility. There were many ponies I impressed with my boomerang tricks in front of the stadium today." And then it clicked.

"Oh, yeah! One of those street performers that Spitfire had thrown out by security." The other stallion's eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh, you're one of those fancy fliers, aren't you? Didn't recognise you without your uniform." He spoke with contempt before taking a bit of his sandwich. Soarin raised an eyebrow.

"I take it you're not a fan?" Soarin asked him.

"You could say that." He replied with his mouth full. Soarin sighed.

"Well, nor am I any longer. I just got kicked off the team." The blonde stallion almost choked on his food in surprise.

"You don't say!" He said after swallowing. Soarin just nodded sadly. "Well, perhaps I was a bit harsh with you. Come and take a seat with me!" He offered. Soarin was a bit hesitant at first. The last time somepony offered him a seat, they removed him from his dream job. On the other hoof, it wasn't like he had anything to lose anymore, so he accepted the invitation.

"Hey, angel face!" His new friend called out to the waitress. "Can I have another one for my friend over here?" He asked as he raised the sandwich in his hoof and then turned back to Soarin. "So, do you wanna pour your heart out to somepony?" He asked as the waitress placed Soarin's sandwich in front of him. "Thanks, doll!" He said, slipping her a few bits.

For the next few minutes, Soarin told this stallion - whose name was Zephyr Breeze as he learned - everything. He seemed to sympathise with him even more than he initially expected. But even more surprisingly, he also knew how to console him.

"I see. Being laid off by one of those stuck up, conceited bitches who think they're better than everyone just because they can perform a few airborne tricks. Trust me, I know how that feels." And then a dark smirk grew on his face. "I know it's small consolation, but one of those pricks is paying for this dinner too." He said as he tossed a wallet in front of Soarin. He picked it up and saw that it belonged to none other than the new star of the team, Rainbow Dash.

"Why are you showing me this?" He asked in confusion. "Aren't you afraid I might report it?" Zephyr just waved dismissively as he pulled out a boomerang from his coat.

"Do you see this?" Soarin nodded. "If I throw this correctly - and I usually do - you'll black out so hard you will be lucky if this will be the only thing you forget." Soarin's eyes widened. Normally, he would have freaked out by the threat and flew away on the spot, but for some reason, he didn't feel alarmed. "But I don't think you're gonna rat out your new pal. I see a lot of myself in you. You hate them now and you want to get back at them. And I think you and I could do that together. Get the picture?"

Soarin found himself actually considering Zephyr's offer. Just a few moments ago, he was trying to find a way to make Spitfire regret kicking him off the team and now, this stallion was offering him support in doing just that. This newfound friendship was boosting his confidence and slowly but surely, a plan was beginning to take shape in his mind. Zephyr saw a smirk growing out on his new friend's face and it caused him to smirk as well.

"Judging from your expression, I think you're starting to." He said.

"Zephyr, would you do your new pal a favor?" Zephyr nodded.

"Sure thing. What do you need?" Soarin pulled out a pen and a piece of paper before writing something down.

"Please, track down a few old associates of mine and let them know I want to meet them at this address." He told him as he gave him the paper. "Just make sure you don't mention my name."

"I take it they're not exactly friendly associates." Zephyr asked.

"Let's just say we didn't part ways under the best circumstances." Soarin answered. "Just get them to come. I will take care of everything else." With that promise, the two stallions finished their sandwiches and left to carry out their plan.

Soarin headed to the stadium. While the Wonderbolts have all left after their performance, the equipment they used during the show was still there and it was gonna be removed tomorrow. Not anymore. That equipment was all created by Soarin and since he was no longer part of the team, he would reclaim it for himself.

Fortunately, apart form Spitfire and himself, nopony knew he was off the team, so the security staff let him in without any trouble. He made his way to the storage room where he found everything he needed. He took one of the ice guns, one flame generator and a piece of the trick mirrors and placed them each into his saddlebag. He then took another flame generator, placed it in the middle of the room before setting it to overload. If he was no longer part of the Wonderbolts, then they had no right to use his tech.

Soon everything in the room was burning and Soarin left just before the security staff arrived and notified the fire department. By the time they got there, the equipment was far beyond salvaging and Soarin was long gone, flying towards the place where he would be meeting Zephyr Breeze. And a couple of old friends.

A few days later...

"How much further?!" Asked a short, red pegasus stallion with blonde mane as he followed Zephyr Breeze into a seedy suburban part of Manehattan. Well, even more seedy than the rest of the city. Zephyr chuckled.

"What's wrong, Shorty? Don't tell me you're afraid of the big bad bat!" The short pegasus growled at him.

"Of course not! And don't call me that! It's Short Fuse to you!" He snapped at him. Apparently, he wasn't named for his size only.

"This will better be worth it!" Complained a dark purple mare as she walked alongside them.

"Trust me, love! It's gonna be the best thing that ever happened to you." Zephyr responded.

After a few more minutes of walking, the three pegasi entered a small rundown hotel. The receptionist didn't even make an attempt to stop them as they headed upstairs. Three strange looking fellows together in Manehattan usually meant trouble. And that was before the super crazies began to show up.

Zephyr lead his two companions to Room 14 and made a series of coded knocks. In a few seconds, the door opened. They heard Zephyr exchange a few whispered words with somepony before he stepped aside and revealed them to whoever he was talking to. The pony inside opened the door wider and allowed their three guests to enter.

The room was pretty dark. The shutters were pulled down across the windows, letting very little moonlight through. They could make out the outline of a pony heading towards the lamp next to the only bed in the room. His silhouette was familiar, but they didn't recognise him until he turned on the lights.

"Rolling Thunder, Short Fuse. Welcome!" Soarin greeted them jovially. They were quite surprised to see who was standing in front of them. "Long time no see." They narrowed their eyes at him.

"Not long enough!" Short Fuse growled. "What the hay do you want?!"

"This better not be what you dragged me all the way over here for!" Rolling Thunder snapped as she turned to Zephyr.

"Guys, please!" Soarin pleaded. "I promise I will make it worth your while." They were quite skeptical but at least they became less hostile.

"How is it you grace us with your presence, flyboy?" Thunder asked.

"No longer a flyboy, I'm afraid." Soarin replied. "Do you think a fellow washout might warrant a little more sympathy?" Now that surprised them.

"So Captain Bitchfire booted you as well?" Short Fuse asked with a laugh. "If you're looking for sympathy, you came to the wrong ponies!" He said before heading to the door.

"Alright, no sympathy." Soarin noted. "Would a chance at revenge be more intriguing to you?" Short Fuse stopped in the middle of reaching for the doorknob.

"Alright, I'm listening." He said, turning back to him. "But this will better be good."

"I'm a little confused here." Thunder said before pointing at Zephyr. "That creep over there offered me a chance at making a lot of money if I came here, not revenge."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive." Soarin replied. He walked over to a closet on the other side of the room and opened it, revealing three outfits. Short Fuse and Thunder gasped in awe upon the sight as they walked up to them.

In front of the shorter stallion was a red and black spandex suit with a pair of fuel tanks on it's back and a flamethrower on it's belt. Rolling Thunder was standing before a yellow suit glimmering with light and she noticed that it was reflecting certain parts of the room. And between them was another suit that resembled a blue winter coat with a parka and a holster that held two white guns.

"The Wonderbolts will have no idea what hit them." Soarin smirked. "If you follow my lead, not only will we be set for life, but also ruin them as well. So, are you in?" These words finally won over the two pegasi as they turned to smirk at each other.

"How do we begin?"

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #3: Crime Wave

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The Federal Reserve Bank of Cloudsale was perhaps the most important financial institution of the pegasi. Not only was it safekeeping the money of some of their most prominent figures, but the most elite fliers of Equestria, the Wonderbolts were also keeping a large percentage of their budget here. As such, they took very serious precautions concerning their security. They hired the best muscle the pegasi had to offer and employed the most advanced magical safety measures there were. So when a new client entered the bank to do business, they could be perfectly reassured that their money would be in safe hooves.

Such were the thoughts of Wonder Flight, a pegasus stallion dressed in a sharp black suit and wearing a pair of sunglasses. He looked around the hall before making his way towards the reception counter where a mare was sitting, working on her computer. The stallion cleared his throat and the mare looked up at him inquisitively.

"Good day." She greeted. "How can I help you?" Wonder Flight smiled back.

"Would you be so kind and tell Mr. Stock that Mr. Wonder Flight is here for their mutual appointment?" He asked. The receptionist nodded.

"Of course, sir! One minute please!" As she contacted her superior through a phone on the counter, Wonder Flight looked over her shoulder into the direction of the hallway that lead towards the vault. He was well acquainted with this place, but there was no reason for his negotiation partners to know that. He then reached inside his suit and pulled out a pocket watch. Mr. Stock wasn't the only one of his partners he was waiting for in that bank. He only hoped his other associates managed to make it in time.

In a warehouse on the outskirts of Canterlot, the workers were just finishing loading up a big shipment of money that would go straight to the Cloudsale Federal Reserve Bank onto a flying carriage. While the shipment was an important one, the workers were not worried about any potential robbery attempts. It would take a fool to attempt such a thing with this bank. Not only was it one of the best defended in Equestria, but even this warehouse was full of well armed guards and an impenetrable wall was surrounding it's courtyard where they were currently working. But alas, in such safe circumstances, ponies tend to get complacent. And when ponies get complacent, they also get careless.

As one of the workers carried the last supply of moneybags towards the carriage, he couldn't help but notice that the temperature was beginning to grow to an unbearable level as he walked next to the wall. That perhaps wouldn't have surprised him that much as it was a rather hot day, but when he stopped for a moment to wipe his forehead, he noticed that parts of the wall began to melt away.

"What the..." He whispered in alarm as he leaned closer. As another molten piece of metal fell to the ground, he jumped back in fright. "Guards! There's something behind this wall!" This perhaps wouldn't have been such a cause for concern anywhere else, but with so much money in this building, any potential intruder would have alerted the guards.

Two pegasi guards immediately reacted and flew over the wall to see what was happening. They didn't know what to expect but it certainly wasn't a short pegasus stallion dressed in a red and black suit firing a flamethrower at the wall from the other side. Even more stunning was the fact that this wall was made from the strongest metal known to ponykind and had an insanely high melting point. The two guards couldn't begin imagine just how hot that flame was. For a moment, they were almost too afraid to intervene, but eventually, they managed to gather their courage.

"Hey! Stop right now!" One of them shouted to him, but the stallion paid them no mind. He just kept flaming the wall and was almost done melting it into butter.

"Are you deaf, buddy?" The other guard shouted, starting to lose his temper. "We said, knock it off!" When the stallion ignored them again, they had enough and went to take him into custody, but they didn't get the chance. A boomerang coming seemingly out of nowhere flew past them and hit them on the back of their heads, making them black out and fall on the ground.

"Well, I'd say that's more of knocking it out than off, but nevertheless, I hope it'll suffice." A voice laughed as two other pegasi walked out from between the bushes. The one who spoke reached out with his hoof and caught the boomerang as it came back before tucking it back inside his coat. "Let's grab their uniforms." He told the mare next to him. "We'll need them up there." As they pulled the guards aside and stripped them of their clothes, their partner finally finished melting off a huge chunk of the wall and creating a hole big enough for them to fit through. On the other side of the wall, the guards were already waiting for them, armed to the teeth.

"Halt!" The leader of the guards cried out. "Drop your weapons and surrender immediately!" The stallion holding the flamethrower didn't respond to the order. He just flicked a switch on his weapon and aimed at them, causing them to to aim their weapons directly at him. "Last warning! Drop your weapons or we'll open fire!" The guards shouted. The only mare of the group smirked.

"Good luck with that!" She said before spreading her wings and sending several glittering shards flying all over the courtyard. Before the guards could react, they found themselves surrounded by mirror images of the three ponies in front of them on all sides. As they were trying to figure out what to do next, the one with the flamethrower pulled the trigger on his weapon and unleashed a powerful blast of fire on the ground, right at the hooves of the guards. The resulting explosions sent a group of guards into the air, either knocking them out or injuring them enough to incapacitate them. He repeated this process a few more times until the whole courtyard had been cleared of guards.

"Nice work, Heat Wave!" The mare complimented. The stallion addressed as Heat Wave smirked back at her.

"Couldn't have done it without your distraction, Mirror Master."

As the two exchanged their appreciative glances, the third pony of the group noticed the workers still hiding behind the crates. When they saw they were spotted, they instantly fled towards the exit. If they got away and alerted the authorities, their whole plan will be ruined before they even began the execution.

The stallion reached into his coat and pulled out several boomerangs before throwing them at the workers. Each of the boomerangs found their targets and flawlessly hit them on the back of the head before making their way back to the hooves of their thrower.

"Nice throws, Captain Boomerang!" His partners complimented.

"Now then..." Captain Boomerang said as he put his weapons away. "...if there are no further interruptions, let's get started, shall we?" Heat Wave and Mirror Master quickly switched their clothes to the uniforms they took from the guards and got into the harness of the carriage while Boomerang got into the cargo hold and locked the door from the inside. He looked around in the cargo and grinned when he saw all the money bags.

"Well, hello there, beautiful!" He said smoothly as he picked one up. "I see the two of us having a beautiful future together!" The other two criminals heard him from outside and they banged on the carriage angrily.

"Knock it off, Boomer!" Mirror Master yelled as she and Heat Wave took off with the carriage. "You remember what the boss said! We're only taking money from the targets!" Boomerang heard them loud and clear but that didn't mean he would have to comply. After all, they weren't the boss himself, were they?

"Well, what the boss doesn't, know, won't hurt him." He laughed, slipping the bag inside his coat. "And it won't hurt me either."

Wonder Flight sat painterly in the lobby of the bank, waiting for Mr. Stock to show up. He kept checking his pocket watch and the receptionist began to suspect that her was running out of patience. She grew worried that he may eventually leave and losing a potential client was bad for all the bank and all of it's employees.

Little did she know, Wonder Flight had no intention of leaving. No matter how long he had to wait for the bank manager. There was an entirely different reason for his constant checking of the time. Her nervousness only faded when Mr. Stock finally did manage to show up. The brown unicorn stallion with dark red mane and a matching beard was hurriedly making his way through the crowd to reach the lobby and greet the promising new client personally. He was in such a rush that he bumped into several other ponies on the way. Wonder Flight smirked slightly when he saw him approaching. He put his pocket watch back into his suit and stood up to walk over to him.

"Welcome to our bank, Herr Wunder Flight! I am Developed Stock, ze manager, but please just call mich Dave!" He spoke with a very strong Germane accent as he shook hooves with him. "I'm terribly sorry ze delay, but I vas supposed to personally supervise a very big delivery of money to our bank today and it still hasn't arrived yet." Wonder Flight frowned.

"My, that is worrying indeed." He replied with worry. "I do hope nothing serious is delaying them." The other stallion merely waved off his concerns.

"Zere is no fear of zat. Nopony would be foolish enough to hijack one of our deliveries. Half of ze Royal Guard would be on them before zey alter ze supposed course." He explained before turning away and leading his client deeper into the bank. "So if I understand correctly, you are interested in a currency exchange." Wonder Flight nodded.

"That's right. I am considering several new business investments with strong Germane interests and I believe it would make things significantly easier if I used their currency from the start."

"Ah! Trying a new field of business?" Mr. Stock asked. The other stallion nodded.

"Yes. You could say that."

"I see. Vell, you see, ve are not a commercial bank in ze common sense. Ve primarily deal with private interests, such as safekeeping ze Wonderbolts budget." Upon the mention of the Wonderbolts, Wonder Flight's expression turned sour, but the manager either didn't notice or didn't care. "But ven I heard how much money you plan to invest in our institution I immediately realised ze great business opportunity." Their conversation was interrupted when one of the security guards approached them and whispered something in his ear. It must have been pleasant news because his face lit up with excitement.

"Ah, wunderbar!" He exclaimed. "Ze delivery has finally arrived from Canterlot! I apologise, Herr Wunder Flight, but I must attend zis matter at once. But perhaps you could accompany mich and ve could discuss ze details on ze way? Ze sooner ve tie zis business up, ze better!" He proposed. His client responded with a nod as he started following him towards the vault.

"I couldn't agree more."

The moment the guards noticed the money carriage arriving, they scurried to open the gates on the bottom of the cloud building that lead inside. They have been waiting for so long that they almost believed the carriage wouldn't be arriving today so they stopped waiting for it. It's sudden arrival sent them bolting to their posts.

The carriage flew inside and once the gates were closed, it landed and the two pegasi that carried it took off their harnesses. They looked around and noticed the several security cameras monitoring the room. The purple mare spread her wings, imitating a stretch and she sent small, almost invisible mirror shards towards them, covering their lens with their reflective matter, making sure that the ponies watching them only saw the one still image they were seeing now. She looked at her partner with a smirk and nodded at him, making him smirk.

"About time you showed up!" The guards' chief reprimanded them as he approached the carriage. "You know perfectly very well that everything can be late except money!" The mare saw that her partner was about to blow up on the chief, so she quickly intervened.

"Sorry, chief! We got a little held up. Best get to unloading the cargo at once to make up for the lost time, eh?" Despite his ire, the angry chief seemed to agree as he went behind the carriage to open the cargo hold. But when he did, his anger quickly changed to shock.

"What the..." He never got to finish as a boomerang collided with his forehead. The boomerang was followed by two others that flew around the room and incapacitated several more guards. Taking advantage of the commotion, the two pegasi who drew the carriage switched into their Mirror Master and Heat Wave costumes before joining the fight.

Captain Boomerang jumped out of the carriage and grabbed two of his boomerangs upon return and knocked out two other guards standing beside him before throwing one of them at another one, making room in his hoof to grab the third one and resume his assault.

A few guards managed to grab their weapons, but Heat Wave blasted them right out of their hooves with his flamethrower and the flames heated them us so much that they couldn't even pick them back up. Meanwhile, Mirror Master used to the same tactic as before and created several decoy targets of herself, confusing the guards long enough for Boomerang to finish the job.

"Nice work, Rogues!" Mirror Master cheered as the three ponies shared a three way hoofbump once all the guards were rendered unconscious.

"And now, to the vaults!" Heat Wave exclaimed as he prepared to ran off but the mare restrained him by putting a hoof on his shoulder.

"Slow down, Heat Wave! We won't be able to get inside without the key card of the manager." Heat Wave raised an eyebrow.

"And you only tell me this now?"

"No! We all told you several times during the planning stage. It's not out fault you didn't listen." Mirror Master deadpanned.

"No matter." Captain Boomerang said with a shrug. "The boss is getting that card as we speak. We just have to get to the entrance by the time he gets there." The three criminals approached the door leading inside vault and Boomerang turned to the shorter stallion. "Melt the alarm system! We don't need anymore unwanted attention."

Heat Wave nodded and aimed his weapon at the door, releasing a stream of fire that melted both the door's lock and it's connection to the bank's alarm system, cutting it away from the rest of the building and granting the three intruders entrance. They marveled at the sight of giant piles of money and gold in front of them.

"Welcome to the promised land." Boomerang mused with a smirk.

Developed Stock and Wonder Flight made their way to the entrance of the vault while discussing the details of the latter's transaction. But once they reached the huge armored door leading to the money the bank stored, the manager held out his hoof in front of his client.

"Please, forgive mich, Herr Wunder Flight, but it is bank regulation zat only staff members may enter ze vault during money transfer." He explained.

"Of course." Wonder Flight nodded in understanding. "I don't suppose you will be in there for very long."

"Don't vorry." Mr. Stocks answered before reaching into his vest and pulling out a card attached to a string around his neck. "I vill just open ze vault vit mein keycard to allow ze guards to get ze money inside. It vill not take more zan a minute. I vill be right back." He then opened the armored door and stepped inside, but the sight that greeted him was not what he was a expecting.

Instead of the guards and the piles of money they were supposed to carry inside, he saw three pegasi dressed in colorful costumes and holding strange looking weapons, while being surrounded by unconscious and badly bruised guards. They were giving the manager smug and pointed looks, more precisely, the item he was holding in his hoof, making it very clear what they were after.

The manager immediately turned around to bolt out of the vault and call for reinforcements, but he found his path blocked by none other than his future client, Wonder Flight. The stallion closed the armored door behind himself, trapping them with the would be robbers, much to the manager's confusion.

"But... But I thought zis vas a currency exchange." He stammered. One of the robbers stepped forward and tossed something to Wonder Flight, which turned out to be a white gun. He caught it without even diverting his gaze from the manager and smirked down at him.

"Oh, I think we'd go straight to the withdrawal." He said before aiming his weapon at him and pulling the trigger. A chilling cold swept through Mr. Stock's body as a beam of cold energy hit him and rendered him motionless inside a block of ice. But he was still aware of his surroundings and saw it when the other stallion pried the keycard out of his frozen hoof. "Danke, Dave."

Upon obtaining the card, Wonder Flight discarded his suit and sunglasses to reveal the Ex-Wonderbolts member, Soarin. He then put on a blue coat with a thick white parka and placed his weapon into a holster on it's hips before walking up to the security door and inserting the keycard into it.

With the last obstacle out of their way, the robbers made their way down a long corridor of safes, each of them marked for a specific client. But they paid them no attention. They were here for a very specific safe and it was located at the end of the corridor. As they approached the safe door, the name on it became visible. The Wonderbolts.

"Here we are." Soarin said with a smile. He got his weapon out and fired a blast of cold energy at the electronic lock, freezing it solid and destroying the mechanism inside it. The rest of the Rogues then opened the door, revealing the huge amount of money hidden inside.

"Whoa!" Captain Boomerang gasped at the sight. "I know you said the pricks were loaded, but I wasn't ready for this. That's a lot of cash!" Soarin nodded.

"All to be ours soon." He replied before pulling out three saddlebags and tossing them to his partners in crime. "Pack them full and carry them back to the carriage!" He ordered as he pulled out a bag for himself. The robbers filled their bags with as much money as they could and then took them back to the vehicle they arrived in, unloaded them and repeated the process until the Wonderbolts' safe was completely empty. With every security measure taken care of and all guards incapacitated, they were able to easily make their escape, taking their loot to a hiding place known only too themselves.

The Rogues have struck for the first time. But it wouldn't be the last.

Rainbow Dash was awakened by persistent knocking on the door of her hotel room but she slept so deep that she didn't even hear it at first. It took almost a minute for the loud bangs to reach her brain. She returned to the world of consciousness with a groan as she crawled her way out of the pile of pizza boxes she fell asleep between. She checked her clock. It was almost half past eight and despite her super speed, it took her a few moments to register what this meant.

"MOTHER OF CELESTIA! I'VE OVERSLEPT AGAIN!" She screamed at the top of her lungs before jumping out of bed and racing towards the door. She looked through the peephole, fully expecting to see a furious Spitfire standing there, ready to give her another piece of her mind, but she sighed in relief when she saw that it was only her father, Bow Hothoof. But her relief was short lived when she saw the troubled look on his face. It became evident to her that her father was not the bearer of good news.

"Finally!" Bow shouted when Rainbow finally opened the door. "I've been banging on this door for minutes! What took you so long?!" He raged as he walked in.

"Good morning to you too, dad." Rainbow replied groggily, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. Bow raised an eyebrow.

"You just woke up?" Rainbow shrugged before yawning.

"Yeah, super speed is awesome and all, but it has it's drawbacks. My body needs more rest than that of an average pony. And also burns calories much faster, meaning that I have to eat for like five ponies." She explained as she pointed at her bed littered with pizza boxes. Bow nodded.

"That I do know. Which is why I brought you breakfast." He said, holding up two large pizza boxes. Rainbow's eyes lit up before dashing to embrace her father.

"You're the best, dad!" She cried out. She flew to the kitchen table and instantly began devouring the first slice. "I guess there are upsides to it as well. I can eat as much junk food as I want without getting fat." She laughed. "So what's up?" Bow looked at his daughter like she just asked who the ruler of Equestria was.

"You really haven't heard it yet?" He asked.

"Heard what?" Rainbow replied, chowing down another pizza slice in seconds. Bow pulled out a newspaper and spread it out on the table, causing Rainbow to nearly choke on her pizza. "If this is about another costumed villain rampaging somewhere in Equestria, I had nothing to do with it! I haven't been Flashing around since the Baltimare show!" She swore, putting a hoof over her heart. "Scout's honor!"

"You never were a scout." Bow replied unamused. "But that's not why I'm here. Read the headline." Rainbow did as she was told and when she saw what the paper was writing about, she immediately understood her father's grim expression.

Bank heist in Cloudsale!
Costumed robbers empty the Wonderbolts' vault!
Annual tour in danger of cancellation?

"What... How... When did this happen?!" Rainbow stammered, unable to comprehend this.

"Earlier this week." Bow replied. "They took everything from the vault. Spitfire is afraid there isn't enough money left to set up the last performance of the tour. She called together the whole team to discuss the situation. In fact, she sent me to get you..." Before he could finish that sentence, Rainbow bolted out of the room so fast that she didn't even see her move. All be saw was a few remaining cracks of electricity and unfinished pizza slices.

"Well, I suppose I could use some breakfast too." He mused, picking one of the slices up. "It would be a shame to let it go waste."

With her super speed, Rainbow Dash made it to the Wonderbolts gathering within seconds and without anypony noticing. The last line of the headline article kept bouncing around in her head. The tour may be canceled? No. That was unimaginable! Unacceptable! The Wonderbolts were able to overcome any challenge. Would it be the biggest evil in the world to finally force them on their knees? Money?

Of course, she heard about some issues they have been having for the past few weeks. Ever since the fire that mysteriously started in the storage room of the Baltimare stadium and took out most of the equipment they used during the show, it was like they were plagued by bad luck. And now there was this robbery story as well. Rainbow already knew that Spitfire would be infuriated by these news. She gulped as she thought about how mad her captain will be when she gets in front of her being late once again.

By the time she reached the place of the meeting in the hotel's auditorium, it was already adjourned. Her fellow Wonderbolts were leaving and Spitfire was making her way down from the podium. Rainbow would have been nervous to talk to her after missing the meeting but the sad and dejected looks she saw from her teammates made her overcome her fear. She had to know what was going on here.

"Spitfire!" She yelled once all the other pegasi left the room. "What's going on here?!" To her surprise, Spitfire didn't even bother with a lecture, or even an angry or disappointed glare this time. Her expression remained sorrowful and hopeless.

"Well, look who decided to grace me with her presence at last." She spoke with no emotion in her voice. Normally, Dash would have been intimidated by that comment, but this time, she wasn't in the mood for her superior's sass.

"You just dismissed the meeting without me? Something is bothering everypony in the team and judging from how glum you all became, it's very serious!" Spitfire sighed.

"I told Fleetfoot to fill you in when she sees you. Apparently, she didn't." Rainbow was dumbstruck. If she couldn't even be bothered to be upset with her, then things were serious. "I guess your dad already told you about the bank heist." Rainbow nodded. "Well, you see, over half of our budget was in that bank. The last show of our tour in Maretropolis is already covered but with all our additional expenses this year, we're already in a financial decline. The city offered to cancel the show and refund the money, which would allow us to break even by the end of the year. That's what I've been discussing with the others."

Rainbow's eyes widened. A Wonderbolts show getting canceled? She had no recollection of such a thing ever happening. Certainly not during her time on the team.

"So they're just gonna let them get away with it or what?! Didn't the police tell you anything?" She asked frantically.

"They have no leads." Spitfire answered. "The guards were all knocked out and don't remember anything and the security cameras didn't get anything, they were all blocked with some reflective matter, making them only see one still image of the room. The only thing they have is the testimony of the bank manager. He was frozen solid in a block of ice and when they thawed him out, he rambled on about some costumed robbers and some client of his called 'Mr. Wonder Flight.' He was able to give descriptions but since they were in costumes, it's not much to go on."

"Is that it?" Rainbow asked. "There has to be something else!" Spitfire thought for a few moments.

"Well... Our vault was the only one they emptied. This may suggest they were targeting us specifically, but that's just a theory." This actually caused Rainbow to think.

"Like somepony with a grudge? But who would have anything against the Wonderbolts?" Spitfire scoffed at the question.

"All the Washouts who never made it onto the team? The ones we let off to make room for the new arrivals? A rival stunt team?" She suggested. "Come back from your fairytale land and join reality, Rainbow Dash! Nopony is perfect and we are no exception. We have made enemies, but none of them would be bold enough to plan something like this. I don't think this means anything."

'Now who's living in a fairytale land?' Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She never would have dared to say it to her face, but Spitfire tended to be almost as full of herself as she tended to be. As the leader of the Wonderbolts, she felt herself untouchable and believed that nopony would dare to cross her. It was frustrating, but if she wanted to get her cooperation, she had to use a gentler approach. Gentle was never her thing.

"Are you sure? Maybe it would be a good idea to tell them to increase security around our other vaults." She suggested, but once again, Spitfire scoffed.

"And have this insane conspiracy go public?! Do you have any idea how much negative press that would bring us?!" Spitfire countered. Before Rainbow Dash could make another argument, the yellow mare held up a hoof to stop her. "Look Rainbow Dash, no offense the last pony I'm going to take advice from on this matter is the one who never bothers to show up on time! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to think of an actual solution instead of arguing with you!" She snapped in frustration before she left, leaving Rainbow alone with her thoughts.

The colorful mare found herself growing more and more unhappy with her superior. She had serious doubts that she would be able to come up with a solution on her own. She was gonna need help, but apparently, her pride prevented her from asking for it. Fortunately for her, there was another proud individual who wouldn't take no for an answer. One who had far better opportunities to investigate this case than even the world's greatest detective.

This was a job for the Flash!

Bow Hothoof just finished consuming the remainder of the pizza he brought for her daughter, when the door of the hotel room was slammed open, making him jump in his seat. He looked up to see his daughter enter the kitchen, carrying a variety of food items which she then placed on the kitchen table. She wasted no time. She immediately sat down and began downing bite after bite at lightning speed, while Bow only stared in shock.

"I take it practice is gonna be especially hard today." Bow said once he found his voice again. Rainbow finished consuming a granola bar and gave her father a dry look.

"The way things look right now, there might not be practice for a very long time. Spitfire is thinking about canceling the last show of the tour." Bow's eyes widened.

"Are things that bad?" Rainbow nodded.

"Yes. Turns out, over half of the team's budget was in that vault. The police can't do anything and Spitfire seems like she's just gonna sulk about it without actually trying anything productive." Rainbow complained before opening a bag of hayburgers.

"Well, if there's no practice today, why do you need all this?" Bow asked referring to the pile of food on the table. Rainbow gulped down the last burger from the bag and answered.

"Just because there's no practice, doesn't mean there's no work for me." It took some time for Bow to understand what his daughter meant, but as Rainbow expected, he wasn't happy when he did.

"Rainbow, please don't tell me..." Rainbow just punched the table and sprung up from her seat.

"I am not letting the Wonderbolts go bankrupt!" She shouted, full of fiery passion. "You know being on this team was my lifelong dream, dad! Now somepony is targeting them and if nopony else can do anything about it, then I will!" Bow just stared at her in confusion.

"Targeting them? What are you talking about?" Rainbow picked up the newspaper and pointed at one very specific line.

"Thier vault was the only one they raided! Why would they leave all that other money behind? This was a targeted attack!" Bow didn't look convinced.

"You don't know that, Rainbow. The Wonderbolts' vault was still stacked. Perhaps that was all the money they wanted."

"That's a load of horseapples, dad and you know it!" Rainbow argued. "Somepony is out there trying to ruin the Wonderbolts. I'm going to find out who it is and I'm going to stop them!" She declared. The statement was absolute and Bow saw that she will not argue on this any further. He didn't like it but he had learned to accept that Rainbow is never going to listen to him a long time ago.

"Well, you never listened to me before. Why start now?" He said dejectedly. "And do you plan to start? Do you have a plan?"

"I had a plan before I went to buy all this food, dad." Rainbow replied as she tapped the side of her head proudly. "Another perk of super speed. These jerks out there are after the Wonderbolts' money, so no doubt their next target will be another bank hiding a Wonderbolts vault."

"That still presents a problem. Only Spitfire knows which banks those are and I hardly think she'll share that information with an ill-disciplined cadet." Rainbow's face fell a little.

"Yeah, she did mention that. But she doesn't have to tell me anything. I know where to find that information." Bow saw the implication his daughter was making and he really didn't like it.

"Wait a minute! Are you planning to break into the Spitfire's office now?" He asked incredulously. "You do realise that that's a crime right? Two wrongs don't make a right, Rainbow! That's not how I raised you!"

"Well, technically it's not breaking in when I'm not forcing the door open." Rainbow replied. "I can just phase through the walls and get the information I need before anypony can see me. They will never know I was there!" She saw that her dad was about to argue again, but this time, she didn't give him a chance.

"Look, dad, you already know my mind is made up and you won't be able to change it. If you feel like reporting this to Spitfire and the authorities is the right thing to do, then go ahead and do that! But I don't think you're going to. Because deep down, you know I'm right. You know what I'm about to do is the right thing to do."

Rainbow's voice was more determined than Bow had ever heard. Not only was she perfectly sure that this was what she had to do, but she was also so certain that it was right that she made even Bow doubt himself. She was right about one thing.

"I won't say a thing to Spitfire, or anypony else." He eventually conceded with a sigh. "But if this turns out badly and everything comes crashing down around you, I'm going to be there to say 'I told you so'." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"It's a deal." She said before running off to get her suit. A few seconds later, she was standing fully dressed at the window. She cast one last glance at Bow who just gave her an affirmative nod.

"Go. Just please, be careful." Rainbow smirked.

"Aren't I always?" She replied before disappearing in a flash of electricity, out the window.

"That was exactly what I feared you would say."

If one were to ask Rainbow Dash what she loved most about running and flying at super speed, her response would probably be the sight and feeling of the world passing her by. She left the City of Baltimare in seconds but even that was enough for her to marvel at all the famous landscapes and skyscrapers dashing past her vision.

Outside the city forests, plains and mountains followed. And then came her absolute favorite, a large lake in the middle of a forest. She didn't slow down, just kept running at the same superpowered pace and crossed the lake's surface as if it was dry land. She had to restrain herself from giggling like a schoolgirl. No matter how many times she did this, it never got any less cool.

At this point, she ran across Equestria so many times that she knew exactly when she would arrive at Cloudsale. When she was certain the pegasus city would be within viewing distance, she spread her wings and began flying up towards it. This required far more focus and concentration. Running at super speed was foal's play, but flying? That was a different matter entirely.

She kicked herself off the ground and flapped her wings until she was flying straight towards the city. She had to be careful with her the movements of her wings. Their rythm had to be consistent if she didn't want to break her trajectory and her speed. It was always hard, but she did manage keep up her focus long enough to reach the cloud. From there, she would find the Wonderbolts HQ with her eyes closed.

With most of the team on the tour, the base was all but abandoned at the time. Apart from a few security ponies and janitors, Rainbow didn't see anypony around and even without her super speed, they were easy to avoid. She knew exactly where to find Spitfire's office, she has been there several times, for better or for worse. Once she got there, she looked around and once she saw the coast was clear, she phased through the wall.

"Alright." Rainbow said as she looked around the office. "If I were Spitfire, where would I keep info about the Wonderbolts' finances?" The question answered itself when she saw Spitfire's computer on her desk. "Of course." Rainbow said, feeling a little sheepish for that not being her thirst thought.

She sat into Spitfire's chair and activated the computer, but much to her frustration, she found that it required a password. Rainbow put a hoof to her chin in thought, trying to deduce what could Spitfire use as a password. She typed in 'Wonderbolts' and pressed enter, only to get an 'incorrect password message. She then tried,' Cloudsale', 'Wing', 'Feather' and driven by a random thought 'Mayonnaise', only to get the same message. In frustration, she then typed 'Buck you!' and of course, that was incorrect as well.

Rainbow groaned before looking around the office, searching for anything that might indicate what the password may be. Perhaps a picture of Spitfire's family or a pet or maybe a potential mate, but she found nothing. Spitfire was truly a workaholic. As her gaze darted around, it fell back on the computer screen and she noticed something she hadn't before. A small caption was now visible that read 'Hint: What's the magic word?'

Rainbow's brow furrowed upon reading that. Spitfire apparently added that to remind her of the password in case she forgot, but the implication was just ridiculous. There was no possible way that the Captain of the Wonderbolts actually used that word as the password to her computer. But it's not like Rainbow had anything to lose so she took the bait and typed in 'Please'.

'Password accepted.'

"You have got to be kidding me!" Rainbow sighed, putting a hoof on her forehead. Of all the words she could have picked... She shook her head. She got in, that's all that mattered. She quickly began searching through the files for anything related to their finances until she found the transaction history.

"That should do it." She whispered before clicking on it. "Okay, according to this, we have transferred money to the accounts of three banks. One in Cloudsale, that's the one they robbed this week. The other's in Manehattan. Hmm... The Bat probably has that covered. Now where's the third one located..."

As soon as she found out the answer to that question, she smacked her forehead, cursing her own impulsiveness and impatience. If she had simply stayed on her flank and waited like her father advised her to, the problem she wanted to fix would have come to her. For the third bank she was looking for...

...it was in Baltimare.

On the road to Baltimare, an armored money transport carriage was making it's way towards the city's biggest bank. The crew of the carriage were understandably nervous. Ever since the heist in Cloudsale, security around the banks where the Wonderbolts keep their money has been tightened. But that would do little good to the transport vehicles passing between them. After all, the last heist was committed with a stolen transport vehicle as well and nopony was doing anything to increase their safety. And the robbers probably banked on that fact. Such were their worries and they were just about to find out how well founded they were.

When they approached the bank, their worries began to ease a little as nothing had happened since their departure from the small money institute in a backwater community that nopony cared about. They started believing that this delivery might go smoothly after all. The head of the security staff - a yellow pegasus stallion with light blue mane - approached their carriage with two heavily armed guards behind him.

"Papers!" He instructed. As the driver gave him the documents, the two guards went to the back of the carriage and opened the cargo with their weapons ready. They saw nothing but well stacked bags of money lying on top of each other. They closed the doors and nodded to their boss.

"All good!" They shouted to the pegasus. The chief nodded and returned the documents to the crew.

"Have an equally safe trip back, ponies!" He said before standing aside.

"We hope we will too, chief!" They replied and pulled the carriage inside the building. Once they reached the vault's entrance, they got out of the harness and began unloading the moneybags for the bank's crew to carry inside.

All of a sudden, one of the ponies noticed the carriage's rearview mirrors beginning to glow. Quickly growing suspicious, he approached the mirror that began to glow brighter by the moment. When he was mere inches from it, he narrowed his eyes as he thought he could see an equine shape inside the mirror that was increasing in size. Before he even knew what was happening, the very same equine shape burst out of the mirror and knocked the stallion unconscious. The mare that burst through the mirror was soon followed by three stallions and the commotion quickly attracted the attention of the other workers.

"Good day, gentlecolts!" The one with the parka and coat siad jovially. "Thank you for your assistance in getting us inside this institution, but I'm afraid your services are no longer required. Captain boomerang?" The addressed stallion pulled out two boomerangs and threw them away, knocking out the workers before they even had the chance to scream. "And they even left the vault open for us! How generous!" The leader of the group laughed before leading his cohorts inside.

"Those upgraded tricky mirrors of yours really work like a charm, Mirror Master!" Heatwave commented.

"They sure do! Any reflective matter can now serve as a gateway to our next score!" The mare boasted in reply.

"Speaking of which, the cameras, M&M!" Captain Cold instructed, causing the mare to frown at him.

"Don't call me M&M!" She growled but nevertheless complied. She spread her wings and waved them towards the cameras, sending her special reflective lenses towards them and concealing their presence from their gaze. Unfortunately for them, they were still visible to others.

"There they are!" The Rogues turned to two dozen of security guards swarm out of the vault and block their path. The guards all aimed their weapons at them, ready to fire. "Freeze!" Their leader shouted. The Rogues exchanged glances before their leader turned back to the guards with a smirk.

"You got it!" He said and then quickly drew his weapons form their holsters. Before any of the guards could pull their trigger, the whole group was frozen. "Now then, if there are no further interruptions, let us see that vault."

Rainbow Dash made it back to Baltimare in no time, but since the stadium was the only landscape she saw during the tour, it still took her a little time to find the Bank. She quickly found herself a place on the top of an opposing apartment building where she could get a good view of the building without getting spotted and returned her body to normal speed.

From where she stood, everything looked normal. She saw clients entering and exiting and security guards patrolling around the bank with no sign of alarm. That means the robbers didn't hit this one yet, however they will more than likely will in the future and with the Wonderbolts pressing financial issues, it wasn't likely they'll leave the city anytime soon. That means she will be here when they do.

She was about to call it a day and run back to her hotel room, but then she remembered something. The thieves she was after somehow managed to rob the bank in Cloudsale without gaining attention and even triggering the alarm system. For all she knew, they could be robbing this bank right now behind the closed gates and they wouldn't know until they opened the vault again.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. She won't let these bastards get away with another heist even if that meant she had to check this bank every single day. And there was only one way to be sure. She knew that what she was about to do was crazy beyond compare and was considered a crime, but she was certain she would be able to pull it off. And if she did, they would even celebrate her a hero if she caught the thieves while doing it. With her mind made up, she switched to super speed and headed towards the bank's garage.

Upon entering the underground area via phasing, she immediately saw that her hunch was correct. A money transport vehicle was standing there with it's crew rendered unconscious around it. She also noticed a group of security guards frozen in blocks of ice as she headed deeper inside the vault. At first, she wanted to break them out, but she was worried she might do some damage to their bodies. She will have to thaw them out once she rounded up the robbers.

Speaking of which, as she was about to enter the vault, she heard the sound of approaching hoofsteps. She looked up to see a familiar pony standing at the door. Her eyes widened in surprise.

'No way! What the hay are you doing here?!' She screamed inside her head as she recognised Zephyr Breeze. The stallion had large bags full of money hanging from her back and he also looked rather surprised to see the costumes crime fighter standing in front of him. The two stared at each other for a few seconds and eventually, it was Rainbow who found her voice first.

"Going somewhere with those?" She asked challengingly, almost daring the stallion to take another step. He didn't. Zephyr's only response was pulling a boomerang out of his coat and throwing it at the mare. Rainbow Dash was baffled by this move. Did he not know who he was facing? There was no way this silly little toy would ever have a chance at even scraping her tail. With her super speed, she easily dodged it and smirked back at Zephyr.

"Did you really think that this would work on me? Apparently, you don't read newspapers." But Zephyr didn't fret. He kept eye contact with the mare to not draw her attention to what was happening behind her. As the boomerang he threw turned back, it split into two and revealed a thick rope that tied them together. "Now what do you say we skip your hopeless struggle against me and give me those moneybags before you embarass your... Whoa!" She was cut off when the rope wrapped around her body, making her lose her balance and fall on the ground. Zephyr smirked down at her and before she could phase out of the ropes, he leaned over her head.

"Gotta think fast to be fast." He taunted before raising his hoof and stepping down on her head and knocking her out. "Lights out, flasher dasher."

"What the hay are you doing?" Zephyr turned around to his three companions standing behind him with stuffed moneybags of their own hanging from their backs. "These are the last bags from their vault." Captain Cold said. "Let's load them up and get out of here!" Zephyr just gave him a smile in response.

"Check this out, Cap! I caught a little meddlesome mare." He said, stepping aside and revealing the unconscious Flash to them, much to their shock.

"Hey, isn't this that speedy mare from the papers?" Heat Wave asked. "The one that beat Metallo?"

"The very same, Heat Wave." Captain Cold replied. "Apparently, she's been looking to add some more tally marks to her rogues gallery." Heat Wave glared down at her.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Put her on ice already!" He told his boss. Captain Cold looked down at the mare in contemplation. Of course the idea of freezing her and preventing her from following them had crossed her mind, but as he kept thinking, another plan began to formulate in his mind.

"No." He said finally, greatly surprising the others. "I have a much better idea." He then turned to Zephyr. "Untie her." The boomerang throwing theif's eyes widened at the order.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Just do it!" Cold ordered before turning to the other two. "Mirror Master, prepare the mirrors for our escape! Heat Wave, trigger the alarms. If this works out, not only will we be rid of her interference, but the police's as well."

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #4: Honor Among Theives

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The first thing Rainbow Dash sensed when she regained consciousness was the ringing in her ear. She found that odd. She didn't remember Zephyr Breeze being so strong that he could punch her hard enough to cause that. But as her senses became more clear, she realised that it wasn't her ears that were ringing. It was the alarm bells of the bank. Her eyes suddenly shot open as she remembered the bank robbery she came here to stop.

The realisation made her completely recover and she jumped back on her hooves, ready to give Zephyr and his cohorts what was coming to them, but by the time she stood up, the robbers were nowhere to be seen. All she saw was the still frozen security guards, the still unconscious workers and the piles of moneybags lying around her.

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. She definitely didn't remember all those moneybags being there when she arrived. Apparently, the robbers were in such a hurry to get away that they left some behind. Looks like they really did know who she was and knew they had to get away as fast as they could while she was still unconscious and they were in such a hurry that they didn't even kill her while they had the chance.

It wouldn't do them any good. She was the fastest mare alive and nopony could escape her. She would track them down in no time. She was about to speed off in pursuit before she remembered one small but significant problem. She didn't know where the robbers escaped to. She quickly stopped and rubbed her head sheepishly. Okay, perhaps it will take a little more time than she first thought.

She then heard the door of the garage opening and looked up to see another squad of security ponies running inside. Initially, she welcomed this development. Surely the authorities would be able to help her catch the robbers. But as they surrounded her and aimed their weapons at her with angry expressions, her hopes quickly faded.

"Don't move, freak!" One of them yelled aggressively. "Get down on the ground and put your hooves over your head!" Rainbow's faw fell in disbelief. It all made sense now. She didn't give the robbers enough credit. They didn't escape from her and they didn't kill her because they were so eager to get away. They were planning to frame her for the robbery. And judging from the furious expressions of the guards around her, they succeeded. Some of the remaining guards went to check on their comrades trapped in the ice blocks, which only served to increase their anger.

"What have you done to them?!" They demanded. Rainbow was still speechless. She couldn't get over the fact that they believed she was the bad guy. She had to get out of there and fast. Fortunately, fast was her specially. But the guards have done their research on her and when they saw the electricity that began to sparkle around her body, they immediately knew what she was about to do.

"She's getting away!" The leader of the guard yelled. "Open fire!" That was all the cue Rainbow Dash needed. She switched to super speed and ran off before the guards pulled the trigger. As she ran past them, she wiped her forehead in relief before looking back at the guards. She wished she didn't. With her body out of the way of the bullets, each one was now flying toward the guard on the other side of the circle they were forming.

"Ugh!" Rainbow groaned. "Curse my big heart!" She rushed back and stood behind one of the bullets as they flew through the air at the speed of a snail. She it and carried it forward until she was directly in front of the guard and his weapon. She placed the bullet directly in front of the weapon's barrel before doing the same to you every single one and once she was sure she didn't miss any, she ran to the exit and switched back to normal speed. The bullets entered the barrels and destroyed weapons, knocking the guards back on the ground as they shattered to pieces.

"Good." Rainbow nodded, happy that she was able to resolve this situation without anypony getting injured. "Now let's get out of here!" She ran up to the sealed garage door and phased through it, ready to speed back to her hotel room, but that plan was put to rest when she came face to face with another group of security guards.

"The Flash?" One of them exclaimed in surprise. "What is she doing here?!" Another one narrowed his eyes.

"Isn't it obvious?! She's the one robbing the place!" He accused. Rainbow finally managed to regain enough composure to deny the accusation.

"No, I didn't! It was the..." She tried, but the guards weren't in the mood to listen.

"Seize her!"

The guards attempted to lunge forward and take a hold of Rainbow, but she slowed down time around herself just in time dodge them. By the time they slammed into the garage door, Rainbow was already hundreds of meters away from the bank. She hoped that she will be able to make it back to her hotel room from here without any obstacles, but once again, fate seemed to have another thing in store for her.

Halfway through the city, she heard her stomach rumbling loudly and for somepony with super fast metabolism, this was always a bad sign.

"Oh, no!" Rainbow cried out. "No, no, no! Not now!" Her prayers went unanswered. She felt herself starting to lose speed as the world sped up around her. The only thing she could do now is find a secluded place and use the last remaining speed to remove her suit and then get lost in the crowd.

She eventually located a narrow alleyway and ran into it before hiding behind a dumpster. Once she made sure she wasn't being followed, she removed her suit and hid it under the dumpster. Now she was just plain old, awesome Rainbow Dash who might not have an easy time disappearing in the crowd as a famous Wonderbolt, but since nopony knew she was the Flash, she shouldn't worry about the law enforcement.

The rumbling of her stomach interrupted her thoughts. She was getting hungry and she knew from experienced that this meant that if she won't get any food anytime soon, she will run out of energy like a battery and pass out in the middle of the street. But after all the misfortune she suffered today, her luck seemed to be returning. As she peaked around the corner, she saw that the building she was hiding behind was a bistro. Just what she needed right now. She entered the building and slammed several bits onto the counter, greatly startling the cashier.

"Give me one of everything!"

The Rogues cheered as they jumped through the mirror portal the lead back to their headquarters, sharing hoofbumps and laughing in triumph before heading to the storage room and pouring the contents of their moneybags onto the already impressive pile of cash.

"Just one more, guys!" Mirror Master cried out. "One more and all of the Wonderbolts' money will be ours!"

"Get done admiring this pile quickly!" Captain Cold told his crew. "As soon as we have the third load, we're gonna pack up and open an account for each of our shares. Gonna look suspicious if we run around, throwing around so much cash."

"I'm more worried about how we're going to pull of that third robbery." Heat Wave said, tossing his emptied bag aside. "It is in Manehattan after all." Captain Boomerang and Mirror Master turned to him with teasing smirks.

"What's wrong, matchstick?" Boomerang said. "I thought you told me you aren't scared of the Bat." The short stallion narrowed his eyes at him.

"It's not the Bat I'm worried about!" Heat Wave protested rather unconvincingly. "But you know how that city is full of maniacs! They probably have the most well guarded bank in all of Equestria! That's all!"

"Sure!" The other two Rogues mused as they exchanged knowing glances. Cold decided to end this before the short tempered stallion went off.

"Cut it out!" He ordered them, making all of them look at him. "We took out the Flash. The Bat will be nothing." His expression then turned into a smug smirk. "And with the little set up we just pulled over the speedster, we might just get lucky and they'll take each other out." He remarked, earning a series of laughs from his cohorts.

"Still, if she does show up, we should probably be ready." Captain Boomerang suggested. "And I believe I have just the thing."

"Really?" Mirror Master asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do tell, Boomerang." The stallion pulled out a boomerang from his coat and the others could immediately tell that this was not and ordinary piece. It was far narrower than they usually saw him throw around, this made them suspect this was a more aerodynamic design. It was also painted yellow with two red streaks at each end and it had a small switch in the middle.

"Captain, may I have some targets for a demonstration?" His curiosity piqued, Cold nodded and set his cold gun on minimum intensity so it would produce several pony shaped ice sculptures that his boomerang would be able to cut through. Boomerang pressed the button on his weapon and the other Rogues noticed small electric sparks jumping out of it as it began to vibrate. He then threw it away and the other three found themselves stunned as the boomerang disappeared from their sight and reappeared in Boomerang's other hoof in less than a second as the heads of all the ice sculptures were sliced clean off. Boomerang smirked at his shocked companions. "Well, what do you think?" The group's leader, Captain Cold was the one who found his voice first.

"Super fast boomerangs?" Where on Equus did you get those from? "The slim stallion just smirked in reply.

"A guy's gotta have his secrets." He mused. "Now, I believe this will definitely give us the edge over Flasher. So if we form a great plan like the one for the last heist, neither she nor anypony else will be able to catch us." The Rogues cheered in agreement.

"For once, you actually said something smart, Boomerang!" Captain Cold laughed. "Alright then, let's get planning!" This order quickly evaporated their enthusiasm and earned disappointed groans.

"Come on, Cap!" Mirror Master complained. "We just pulled of a successful heist. Don't you think we've earned a little rest and celebration?" Cold just narrowed his eyer in response, making the three other criminals nervous and take a step back. They have never seen their leader so angry before.

"There will not be any rest until the Wonderbolts are ruined!" He growled, slamming his hooves on the table in front of him, making the others jump. "In case you have forgotten, those bastards ruined my life and took everything away from me! As well as you! We won't stop until we did the same to them!" Heat Wave and Mirror Master shared a worried glance. They have never seen him like this before. While Boomerang looked slightly amused. He may not have suffered any mistreatment from the Wonderbolts, but he did appreciate the show in front of him. Cold then turned to the mare of the group.

"Now, summon a surveillance mirror!" She looked uncertain but in Cold's current mood, she didn't dare to raise an objection. She set up four large mirrors in the middle of the room and wired it up to a computer. After a few adjustments, she managed to connect the mirrors to the security cameras of the Manehattan Bank, giving the Rogues a good view of it's interiors.

"I actually haven't been to this bank before, but with this, it won't matter. Now let's get planning!"

Rainbow Dash heard the loud and persistent knocking on her door once again. That could have only been her father and she already knew that he arrived with this morning's paper no doubt writing about the Flash at the bank. And if that was the case, he was not going to be happy.

"I'm comin... UGH!" The knocking stopped and Rainbow Dash didn't know if this was out of reassurance that she would soon open the door, surprise that she was actually awake this time, or concern about the sound she just made. The third was actually connected to the second as the reason she was awake so soon was because she made a huge mistake yesterday. Ordering 'one of everything' at the bistro she hid behind yesterday was not a smart move as so many different food being consumed so fast did not sit well with her stomach.

And now she was paying for it as everything she consumed yesterday came back with a vengeance and she was currently emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Once she was certain she was done, she wiped her mouth and flushed the toilet before heading to the door.

Once she unlocked the door, her father didn't even wait for her to fully open it. He slammed it open himself and stormed inside, nearly knocking his daughter over in the process without even saying anything to her.

"Good morning to you too, dad." Rainbow said sarcastically. But when Bow turned to her, she saw it in his eyes that he wasn't in the mood for his daughter's sharp tongue.

"Good morning? Is it really, Rainbow Dash?" He demanded angrily before tossing the newspaper he was holding to the table. Rainbow merely shot a glance at the headline that said 'The Flash robs a bank!' complete with a picture of a red and yellow blur dashing away from the Baltimare Bank. "It certainly wasn't when I saw this in the morning paper! Would you mind explaining this to me?!"

Rainbow didn't find her voice for several seconds. She just looked down in shame and tried her best to avoid her father's inquisitive gaze. What was she supposed to tell him? That she completely disregarded his warning to be careful and let her ego get the better of her, resulting in those robbers getting the better of her and making it look like she was the one who robbed that bank?

Well, it's not like she could tell him anything else for that was exactly what happened. Whether Rainbow Dash liked it or not, all throughout these years, she felt herself untouchable because of her super speed. She felt like if she ran fast enough, she would catch everypony and nopony would be able to catch her. And ironically, in the end it was her own arrogance that caught her. How foolish she had been!

"This is what you always wanted, isn't it?" She growled, greatly confusing Bow. "You wanted me to make a mistake. To mess up and finally have my own arrogance be my downfall so that you could tell me that you told me! Well go right ahead! Tell me!" Bow looked down at her with contemplation, trying to find the right words to use.

"It's true." He replied after a few moments of silence. "I did always want to tell you. But I just knew that when that day finally comes, that will be the day when I won't want to." He said before pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Since I know it wasn't you, tell me, how do you plan to get out of this mess?" And for the first time in her life, Rainbow Dash found herself speechless. For she had nothing to say. Eventually, there was only one thing she could think of.

"I don't know." It was Bow's turn to be speechless.

"You don't know?" He repeated incredulously. "Your brain is supposed to work faster than anypony else's and you don't know what to do?" Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"For my whole life, my hooves and my wings were both faster than my brain." She started, but Bow interrupted her.

"Don't forget your mouth." Rainbow was not amused.

"Yes. Thank you." She commented half-heartedly. "Anyway, yesterday I had a wake up call of sorts. I realised that super speed didn't make me invincible as I always thought. They removed me out of the way so easily that I didn't even notice it despite my hyper awareness. Not only that, but they even managed to make it look like I was the one who robbed that bank! Now I'm wanted, defeated and I have no idea what to do!" She finished, dropping her head on the table and burying it in her forelegs.

Bow was unsure of what to think as he watched his daughter's breakdown. He always wanted to see her finally get over her arrogance but as her father, seeing her so lost and hopeless was painful. And as her father, it was his responsibility to help her pull herself together. And he might just have the perfect idea how to do that.

"You have no idea how long I wanted to hear you utter those words." Rainbow looked up to see her father look down at her with a proud smile. "I raised you to be a winner but a winner is not only measured by their accomplishments, but also by their personalities. And quite frankly Rainbow Dash, your personality was that of an arrogant, obnoxious, loudmouthed, narcissistic jerk." Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"Is that your idea of a peptalk?" Bow held up a hoof.

"Let me finish. What makes a real winner, Rainbow Dash, is humility, respect for her abilities and those of others. But most of all, a winner gets up after every blow and gets back into the fray. A winner learns to take defeat with grace and views every loss as a learning opportunity. I never wanted you to always win. Because if you never lose, you never learn. If you truly want to be a winner, than you'll have to get back out there and find a way to overcome this defeat!" Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her father's words.

"Go back out there?!" She yelled in shock. "Since when are you so encouraging on my crime fighting carrer?! For my whole life you were afraid that it would be the end of me! Both figuratively and literally." Bow just smiled at her kindly.

"But I never saw you talk so humbly and responsibly before. The restlessness you always showed was bound to get you killed or ruined someday. But seeing you basically getting reborn in front of me, now I know you are ready. Ready to become a winner and..." Bow looked like he was really struggling to say the last word of that sentence. But deep down, he knew he had to, for he knew it was true. "... and a hero."

At first, Rainbow Dash thought she didn't hear that right. In a swift moment, the roles between her and Bow have changed. Now she was the one lacking faith in her hero capabilities and her father was enthusiastically supportive of her. It felt unusual, but also a very welcome change. While Rainbow found her spirits slightly lifted from her father's speech, she still felt uncertain. The lack of a plan prevented her from fully regaining her enthusiasm.

"I don't know, dad. As fast as I am, I'm still just one pony. If one of them could get rid of me so easily, I'm almost afraid to imagine what the whole gang will be capable of." She said, dropping her head back on the table. Bow just shook his head.

"I'm a little disappointed, Rainbow. You of all ponies should know better." Rainbow looked up questioningly, not really understanding what he meant.

"Understand what?"

"I see your performances with the other Wonderbolts and the way you are always so in sync with them. Always work so well together with them. You of all ponies should understand the value of teamwork." Bow said firmly. "It is obviously the main strength of these robbers. If you want to even the odds, you will have to get some help too."

"Help from who?" Rainbow asked dumbfounded. "I mean, my Wonderbolts teammates are great and all, but I don't see them joining in the fight against those bastards. Especially since now they all believe I was the one behind the robberies."

"I wasn't talking about the Wonderbolts." Bow replied mysteriously. He was obviously implying something, but Rainbow was too caught up in her emotions to get the clue.

"Well, who else is there?" Rainbow demanded, frustrated by her lack of options. "Who else would be able and willing to help me protect the bank in Manehattan?!" Bow didn't reply, but he didn't have to. As soon as the name of the city left her mouth, she finally understood.

"Manehattan! That's it!" She shouted as she jumped up from her seat and flew over to her father to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, dad! You're the best! Now I know what to do! I'll head to Manehattan as soon as my Wonderbolts duties are done for the day!" Rainbow's newfound enthusiasm faded the moment she saw her father's expression drop upon the mention of that.

"Uh, I'm sorry you have to find out from me, Rainbow, but you won't have any duties for today. Or the foreseeable future for that matter." Rainbow processed what he heard for a few moments with a blank expression before her expected reaction hit.

"WHAT?!" She screamed, making the whole room shake and Bow cover his ears. "Why not?!" Once Bow got over his shock at the outburst, he cleared his throat to answer.

"Well, you see, yesterday's robbery really broke Spitfire. The Wonderbolts lost so much money that they can't even afford to rent these hotel rooms anymore. So the tour is officially canceled and everypony is going home." Rainbow Dash was horrified by the news.

"Spitfire? Broken?" She asked in disbelief. This was almost incomprehensible to her, but Bow confirmed it with a nod.

"Yeah. Right after the meeting where she told everypony, which you once again failed to attend, I might add..." Rainbow looked down in shame upon hearing that. "...she instantly downed an entire bottle, wasting herself. I could barely make it out when she asked me to tell you the news as well."

Picturing that broke Rainbow's heart. Spitfire has always been her idol and she couldn't imagine anything that might break her. This was the point where she took a vow. No matter what would happen, she will take down the Rogues. For Spitfire and the Wonderbolts, this was now personal. Her face hardened with determination. She would not get a wink of sleep until she found these criminals and brought them to justice. She wiped her mouth and ran off into the bathroom to get ready and got back from there in her Flash suit, ready to head out and do battle, until...

...Rainbow Dash let out a huge yawn and realised that emptying her stomach earlier was finally catching up with her. With no food in her, her body was taking energy from elsewhere. She was extremely embarrassed with herself that she was about to break her vow already, but she knew what was about to happen.

"Oh, ponyfeathers..." She mumbled before passing out in the middle of the room. Bow watched the scene in sight amusement, shaking his head with a chuckle as he listened to Rainbow's loud snores. His daughter may have finally gained some humility, but she still had a lot to learn. Such as knowing her own limits. He got up and threw Rainbow on his back before carrying her back to her bed and tucking her in. He then made his way to the door and exited as quietly as he could. He had some shopping to do.

Rainbow Dash had slept through the entire day. By the time she woke up, it was already past 6 pm and the sun had long since set on the horizon. His father, bless his heart was waiting for her in the living room with quite a feast he had cooked up for her. As he put it, it's better to eat your own father's cooking than stuffing yourself full of junk food all the time. Something Rainbow couldn't agree more with.

Once she was full, she finally felt ready to head out and set her plan for Manehattan's defense in motion. The only thing she was worried about was possibly being late to stop the next robbery, but since the robbers waited a few days between the first and the second heist, she was optimistic that this would the case in this city as well.

Once she rented herself a hotel room, she got to work. Her father suggested that she got some help in dealing with the Rogues and that was just what she was going to do. She already know who would be the perfect pony to ask for help. The only problem would be actually getting in contact with them. But she had an idea.

She spent the evening running around the city in search of all the electric and hardware store she could find. She wasn't a skilled engineer by any means, but what she wanted to bulld was a simple device and with her super speed, she should be done with it in no time.

Once she had all the necessary parts, she delivered them up to the tallest building in Manehattan one by one. She assembled all the parts into a giant reflector and when it was finished, Rainbow reached into her suit and pulled out the last part. It was large metallic object carved into the shape of a bat which she then planted across the reflector before pulling the switch on it's side and activating the device.

The sky of Manehattan was lit up with a brilliant white light orb in the middle of it's starless blackness. It shone so bright that most ponies probably would have mistaken it for a second moon, if it weren't for the very noticeable difference of having a huge bat silhouette visible across it. Even Rainbow Dash was amazed by her creation. There was no way the pony she was trying to reach didn't see this. And if she was as dedicated about her profession as Rainbow herself was, she would no doubt show up. The only question was, how long would it take her.

As it turned out, not very long.

When Rainbow turned around after a few minutes of waiting, she found herself standing face to face with the pony she was looking for. It was none other than Manehattan's stoic protector, the city's Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader of justice, the Batmare. The two costumed crime fighters observed each other for a few moments, each of them waiting for the other to make the first move. Eventually, the black clad pony broke the silence.

"You wanted me? Here I am." Rainbow could barely manage to hold herself back from jumping in surprise, but she was glad she did. She didn't want to look like a fool in front of her fellow hero.

"I..." She struggled to say what she wanted to for hours now. Some of her remaining pride still made it hard for her to, but she managed to swallow it. "I need your help." She said finally before pulling out the newspaper detailing her failed attempt to stop the Rogues at Baltimare and painting her as the culprit. "The guys I was trying to stop here are going to come for your city next." Batmare took the newspaper and examined it for a few seconds before folding it putting it away.

"I know about you, Flash." She told the speedster. "It's obvious you're not really the one behind this robbery. But what makes you think they'll strike at Manehattan next?"

"They're after the Wonderbolts' cash!" Rainbow said with such conviction that she would have managed to convince Princess Celestia herself. "They're also the ones who hit the bank in Cloudsale and in both of those banks, they only took their money. Manehattan has the last bank with the Wonderbolts' money in it. They will come for it next, if they haven't already! They can get it done without anypony noticing! The only way we'll be able to stop them is if we stay alert around it day and night!"

Though her features were completely covered by her mask, Rainbow could still see the unconvinced look the other mare was giving her. She had to convince Batmare that she needed her help. But she knew exactly what she'd have to say. A few days ago, she also had the same arrogance in her that kept preventing her from realising she needed help.

"Look! These guys, they're a little tougher than the mobsters and psychos you're used to. They can do things you haven't seen before. I won't make the same mistake twice. I'm not saying we should take on them together, I'm asking you to help me track them down. If you have something of your bat gear that can pinpoint the location of their hideout, they'll have nowhere to run. I know I only have my word to give you as assurance, but I'm asking you to help me clear my name and catch these bastards. Will you help me?"

Batmare didn't answer at first. She said it herself that she didn't believe Rainbow was responsible for the robbery, but that was more out of factual rationality rather than trust. She spent a great deal of time studying the other costumed heroes that have been popping up all over Equestria recently and she saw several articles about the speedsters taking down many of the so called super-criminals and that showed nothing but dedication to justice.

But she also heard how she took down threats far bigger than she ever faced with her super speed, so she knew that if something was able to neutralise her, than that threat was not to be taken lightly. And if there were ponies who were better suited to take care of such threats, it was better to have them out there, risking their lives against them than the average law enforcers.

That being said, the Batmare was not one to trust anypony easily. Given her troubled past of being disappointed by other ponies had that effect on her. Manehattan was her city to protect and she made a promise that she would uphold that duty no matter what. But that 'no matter what' also included accepting help when needed and the Flash had proven herself as a competent crime fighter. She was in a dilemma to say the least. Before she could give her answer, she heard the door leading to the rooftop opening and turned to see two police officers rushing out of it.

"What the hay's going on here?!" One of them shouted in confusion. "Who set this thing up?!" They then turned to see the two vigilantes next to the reflector.

"Hey, isn't that the super fast bank robber from Baltimare?" Asked the other cop.

"She sure is!" His partner replied as they reached for their weapons. "Step aside, Batmare! We'll take it from here!" Batmare said nothing, she merely took one of Rainbow's hooves and twisted it behind her back.

"Hey, what gives?!" The colorful mare complained, but was ignored.

"Don't worry, officers! I have everything under control." She told them before leaning over to Rainbow's ear and whispering into it. "Play along and get moving!" She instructed. Rainbow was a little concerned but she complied. The two mares move past the cops and disappeared into the staircase leading down below. The cops then turned back to the reflector and shut it down.

"What do you think we should do with this?" The addressed pony pondered for a while before he got an idea.

"Call the chief! I think I know the perfect place for it!"

Rainbow Dash's prediction proved right. The Rogues didn't concern themselves with their targeted city being protected by the most feared vigilante in Equestria, it took them only a few days to find the best approach for robbing the Manehattan bank and unfortunately, the security staff would unwittingly play a big part in it.

As it turned out, the security employees of Manehattan's financial and other institutions have become complacent knowing that their Batmare was out there looking out for them. Whether it was a pyromaniac pegasus trying to burn down the city's museums or an earth pony hitting banks and jewelry shops on the years biggest holidays without anypony noticing, the Batmare always took care of them. Her mere presence in this city made the number of bank heists extremely low, so when the city's biggest bank locked up for the night, the security staff was more than certain nopony would be foolish enough to disturb their night.

They would be proven horribly wrong.

Keen Eyes, a pegasus nightwatchpony has been doing his nightly rounds for hours now. He was getting tired, both figuratively and literally. Looking around to see if anypony was watching him, he slumped down into the chair behind the receptionist table and pulled out a donut from his vest. He was about to eat it before something swooped past his face and he found himself biting into nothing but thin air.

"Hey, what the..." He looked behind himself and was quickly silenced as something wooden crashed into his muzzle and knocked him out cold, making his head fall down on the desk. The wooden object flew back into the hoof of it's thrower who happily removed the donut attached to it and consumed it himself.

"Remind me again why did we have to enter through the windows of the front entrance?" Mirror Master complained as the group of four made their way inside the lobby.

"We have to mix things up sometimes." Captain Cold replied before spotting two security guards approaching them and freezing them with two blasts from his weapon before they could draw theirs. "If we rob all the banks the same way, they're gonna link the robberies and be more wary of us."

"Eh." Captain Boomerang shrugged before dropping one of his weapons at two other guards which struck the weapons out of their hooves and knocked them out as it came back. "Whole Equestria is after Flasher now. They'd probably just assume she emptied this one too." He said, catching the weapon. Captain Cold didn't share his casualness.

"Flash or not, it won't be long before they are all after our flanks if we mess up."

"Yeah, well we're leaving witnesses all over the place." Heat Wave commented, shooting fire blasts everywhere, forcing the guards to flee from the heat. "I'm pretty sure that counts as a mess-up in the process of a robbery."

"Not to worry." Cold replied. "Once we're done here, we'll erase the camera footage and it's not like these guys know enough to put the cops on our trail. Speaking of, Mirror Master, are you seeing anypony heading for the alarm system? Alerting the police is something we should avoid if we want to stay hidden." The addressed mare raised her right front hoof and pressed a button on it, summoning several small mirrors all showing what the security cameras in the bank were seeing.

"Nope. I guess we made quite the ruckus for all of them to come here and try to take us out in person." Cold nodded in response.

"Good. Let's wrap this up then." The criminal quartet kept fighting the guards as Mirror Master enchanted one of the security cameras over them, making it's lense glow with bright blue light.

"Cover me!" She told her fellow Rogues as she flew up and disappeared into the mirror portal she created. The mare reappeared inside the vault of the bank which had been left unattended while the guards were dealing with her colleagues at the lobby. Just as they planned.

She was about to open the safe door, but a strange sensation inside her gut stopped her. She looked around the vault and even though there was nopony there, she couldn't help but feel like somepony was watching her. No. There was no way anypony could see her right now with the whole staff being occupied by her teammates. She shook her head and turned to open the safe door.

"Took you long enough." Boomerang complained before catching a boomerang that knocked out the last remaining guard in the bank. The mare gave him the stink eye but Captain Cold decided to break up a potential fight before it began.

"Easy now!" He yelled at them as he stood between them. "In case you have forgotten, we have a job to do." He reprimanded them as he tossed them their saddlebags. "Get inside the vault and get packing!" The two Rogues shared another annoyed glance with each other but eventually complied.

Captain Cold sighed in exasperation as he lead his group to the vault concealing the money of the Wonderbolts. Being the leader of a ragtag bunch of misfits was frustrating enough, but when said misfits were completely different from each other, it was like carrying a container of different explosive chemicals that could blow up anytime. Not particularly fortunate when one is attempting such risky business as bank robbery. He only hoped that they would be able to keep themselves from killing each other long enough to finish this job without screwing anything up.

Upon reaching the Wonderbolts' vault, he instructed Heat Wave to melt the electric lock, gaining access to the money inside. As the stallions began emptying the vault, Cold instructed Mirror Master to go back to the window they entered through and get it ready for their escape. When Boomerang and Heat Wave finished packing, they headed towards the exit while Cold loaded the last pile of money into his saddlebag. Before he put the last bit away, he felt a sudden rush of wind hit him in the back of his head. He pulled out his cold gun and spun around but he couldn't see anypony, just a few pieces of paper floating around in the air. He darted his eyes around in suspicion before finally putting his weapon away and continue to pack.

When he was done, he left to meet his fellow Rogues who were gathering around the window of the main entrance with their loot. As Mirror Master began enchanting the window to turn it into a portal for them to slip through, Captain Boomerang returned from the security room where he erased the footage of their fight with the guards while Heat Wave tied them all up.

"Everything's ready, Captain!" Boomerang said with a salute. "Operation: Ruin the Wonderbolts is officially complete. All we need to do now is go home!" Cold grinned smugly to himself. He was usually cautious about making such bold claims, but at the moment, he allowed himself a moment of satisfaction knowing that there plan was mere steps away from completion.

The robbers stepped through the mirror portals and in the safety of their hideout, they began to pile up all the money they had stolen. They shall wait a few weeks until the dust settles and then they will divide the loot and each of them will deposit their share in a different bank. But for now, it was time to celebrate. They all poured themselves a drink and clashed their glasses together in front of their pile of money.

"Well done, Rogues!" Cold praised his crew before chugging down his beverage. "Perhaps we should extend this partnership to future undertakings." The other three liked the idea, but before they could voice their approval, the celebration was interrupted by a fifth voice.

"The only thing you four will share is a prison cell!" The Rogues spat out their drinks in surprise before turning to see the Flash standing in front of them with a look that promised pain for the four criminals. She hasn't forgotten how they tried to frame her for the Baltimare heist and she was eager to get some payback, much to the robbers' fright.

"What the... How did you..." Rainbow gave them a cocky smile.

"A little bird told me where you four rats were hiding, or should I say..." She pressed a button on the sleeve of her suit and suddenly, the Rogues heard a sharp beeping sound coming form behind them from the money pile. Cold reached into it and pulled out a small tracking device shaped like a bat and suddenly everything became clear. "...a little bat." Cold growled in fury before throwing the device on the ground and stomping on it. He then reached for his cold gun, but to his surprise, all he felt in his holster was thin air.

"Looking for this?" Rainbow quipped, holding the weapons of Captain Cold and Heat Wave in her hooves. "Not this time, pricks!" She was about to switch to super speed and blow these jerks away, but Boomerang quickly threw one of his weapons at her. Rainbow scoffed at the idea and was about to easily step out of the boomerang's trajectory, but this time, she was in for a surprise of her own when she noticed that the boomerang did not slow down along with the rest of the world. The surprise was so great that she couldn't step aside in time and the boomerang pierced her chest.

Rainbow cried out in pain, dropping the weapons and pulling out the boomerang from the newly created wound. Taking advantage of the mare's disarray, Cold and Heat Wave quickly regained their weapons and wasted no time before attacking. Rainbow managed to remove the boomerang from her chest and saw the opportunity of disarming one of the two stallions with it. In the end, she picked Cold. She could flee from Heat Wave's flames even at regular speed, but she wouldn't go anywhere trapped in a block of ice.

She threw the boomerang at Cold and knocked the gun out of his hoof and up into the air before running up to him with the intention of taking it away for good. Heat Wave tracked her movements with his flamethrower for a while but when he got too close to his boss, he couldn't keep firing without injuring him as well. Which was exactly what Rainbow Dash banked on.

She punched Cold in the muzzle and reached for the weapon as it fell, but Cold still had enough composure left in him to pull out a cold grenade from his coat and plant it onto Rainbow's chest. The device made a few beeping sounds, gaining Dash's attention, but it was too late. She looked down but barely got a glimpse of the grenade before it went off, sending her back against the wall and covering her chest with a thick layer of ice.

Cold smirked before reaching up to grab his weapon and shooting an ice beam at Rainbow. With her chest already frozen, Rainbow couldn't speed her molecules up enough to access her super speed, she had to think of something else. Her right front leg was still unfrozen so she managed to use it fast enough to carve the ice off of her chest and hold it in front of herself.

As the ice absorbed the cold energy from the stallion's weapon, it became bigger and bigger until Rainbow couldn't hold it anymore. She pulled back one of her front hooves and collected as much energy into it as she could before punching the massive block of ice with enough mass to send it forward against the cold ray's push and knock Captain Cold off his hooves.

With Cold out of the way, Heat Wave was no longer afraid to interfere. He raised his flamethrower and released a massive burst off flame onto the floor, forcing Rainbow back into a corner. With the fire raging on in front of her, she was once again prevented to reach her super speed and her opponent planned to take full advantage of it.

"Burn, baby, burn!" Heat Wave chuckled before pulling out a grenade. But before he could pull the pin, Rainbow backed away into the corner as far from the flames as she could. She still couldn't switch to full super speed but she should have enough to pull of what she had in mind. She raised her front legs in front of herself and began to rotate them as fast as she could, making small whirlwinds shoot out of her hooves and blow away the fire. Heat Wave already threw the grenade so he had no time to react before Rainbow sped up and tackled him to the ground, wrestling the weapon away from him.

Captain Boomerang tried to take advantage of the struggle by throwing another of his weapons at the scarlet speedster from behind. He did manage to catch her off guard and hit her, giving Heat Wave the chance to recover and knock the mare off of himself. Rainbow reached behind her head to get the boomerang now stuck to her costume off, but Boomerang beat her to it. He pressed a button on the device on his front hoof and the boomerang let out a series of loud and high pitched screeching sounds, disorienting Rainbow and forcing her to cover her ears. Boomerang saw that the distraction was working, but knew it won't keep the speedster occupied for long.

"Well, this is fun, but I'm afraid this party is getting a little too hot! Forgive the pun." He joked, motioning to the flames left by Heat Wave's weapon still burning in the corner and slowly spreading. He then turned to Mirror Master. "Sweetheart, if you can get us out of here, now's the time!" The mare turned to the mirrors on the other end of the room and quickly flew over to them.

"I'm gonna need a specific destination!" She shouted as Cold and Heat Wave walked up to them.

"Anywhere that's not here!" Cold ordered before grabbing his saddlebag and packing as much money into it as he could. "Possibly somewhere far away!" As Mirror Master carried out the order, the other three Rogues also began loading their bags with the stolen cash.

Meanwhile, Rainbow finally puller herself together enough to remove the sonic boomerang from the back of her head and smash it onto the ground, breaking it to pieces and silencing it. The Rogues noticed the odd silence and turned to see the Flash standing up and looking at them with furious eyes. Captain Cold glanced at Mirror Master and nodded to her. The mare took the hint and spread her wings, sending several of her mirror shards flying around the room and surrounding their pursuer, making her see several dozen of the criminal quartet she was chasing.

"Oh, no, you won't!" Rainbow scoffed. This primitive trick won't fool her. She finally had the chance to turn up her speed to the max and she moved forward, darting between the trick mirrors and shattering them to pieces. The Rogues grabbed their saddlebags and jumped through the mirror portal Thunder created for them. The Mirror Master was the last to make a leap for it but she wasn't fast enough. Rainbow reached the mirror as she jumped through it and managed to break it, but she was in too much of a rush to notice that the other mare was only partly through the portal.

Once Rainbow broke the last remaining mirror, she turned around with a look of triumph, hoping that she managed to break the mirror portal before they made it to the other side. But that triumphant look was short lived as it was replaced with a look of sheer horror and shock. In the middle of the room where the Rogues were just a moment ago, was now lying the severed and bleeding hind leg of the purple mare who opened the portal.

On the other side, three costumed stallions were staring in similar horror at the mare of their group who was now lying on the floor with on of her legs missing and several shattered mirror pieces sticking out of her badly bleeding body.

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #5: The Battle of Maretropolis

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During his time in the Wonderbolts, Captain Cold, formerly known as Soarin had seen a lot of pretty bad injuries. Fortunately, fatal accidents were extremely rare and he also didn't remember many loss of limbs. In fact, there was only one occasion he could recall where a pegasus was forced to completely retire from his career in the stunt team.

But nothing could have prepared him for the horrifically mangled state he currently saw his fellow Rogue, Mirror Master in. She was lying on the floor, groaning in pain as blood continued to ooze from deep lacerations caused by the exploding mirror shards that buried themselves into her all over her body. But the most alarming part of her state was her missing right hind leg that has been severed and was bleeding very badly.

The three stallions were so horrified by the sight that they couldn't even find the find the strength to move. Even Captain Boomerang who was usually very nonchalant and unflinching just stood there, staring in shock. Eventually it was Cold who snapped out of his shock first and pulled out his weapon to freeze the open wound on the stump where her leg used to be, stopping the bleeding. He then turned to his comrades.

"Get her on your backs!" He ordered, trying to sound calm and collected, but Boomerang and Heat Wave could tell that he was just as nerve wrecked as they were. Not that they could blame him. They each grabbed one of Thunder's front legs and put them around their shoulders before helping her up and carrying her as they followed their leader.

Soarin looked around. Thunder had teleported them to an empty restroom somewhere. He saw a door and opened it to reveal an empty corridor. Not a pony in sight. Normally, this would have been fortunate. The less attention four criminal ponies popping out of some reflective matter with their attracted the better. But on this occasion, one of them needed immediate medical attention and he had no idea if they will be able to find it here.

But where was here exactly? He tried to find any indication but failed to do so. And if they didn't know where they were, they couldn't do anything to help their friend. But nor could they if they just stood around in one place, so with a sigh he motioned for the others to follow him with his cold gun in one hoof, just in case they met any unwanted attention.

As they roamed the corridors, Soarin eventually saw a map on the wall depicting a large stadium with seats and all other kind of service buildings. A quick glance was enough to let Soarin know what it was, the Maretropolis Arena. Which was, interestingly enough the last place of the tour he was on with the Wonderbolts before he was kicked off the team.

This gave him an idea. Since it was a stadium where potentially dangerous sports and performances were usually played, it must have a medical room and with the map, he was easily able to find the way to it.

When they got there, he froze the lock and broke the door open before entering and motioning the other two stallions to lay thunder onto the sick bed they found inside. Soarin was not a medical expert by any means but he witnessed several procedures back in the team and he would be damned if he would let his associate die on him without doing anything.

He quickly grabbed a pair of medical tweezers and a bottle of disinfectant and removed as many of the broken shards from the mare's body as he could before disinfecting the wounds. The mare hissed in pain everytime the liquid made contact with her skin, but it was nothing compared to the agony when Soarin tried to sew the wounds the best he could. Due to the severity of her injuries, he didn't even have time to administer anesthetics.

He fixed whatever damage he could and eventually, he even managed to stop the bleeding. But there was still the issue of not knowing how much she already lost. Even if they knew, what would they be able to do about it? They didn't know Thunder's blood type and even if they did, where would they get blood for a transplant?

Would they just foalnap random ponies from the street to check their blood and if it was a match, would they drain the unfortunate pony of it? No, they wouldn't do that. They were criminals, thiefs and robbers, but they were not killers. Would they just raid a blood bank? That wasn't certain. They had no idea if they would have of the blood she needed.

Soarin rubbed his face in frustration. He didn't feel this helpless since the day Spitfire kicked him out of the Wonderbolts. He hated it, but he knew he couldn't do anything but sit back and pray she'll pull through. For a brief moment, he even considered turning themselves in to the police if that meant Thunder would get the medical attention she needed but she quickly dismissed the thought. He hated himself for it, but his desire to ruin Spitfire and the Wonderbolts outweighed his concern for Thunder.

Zephyr and Short Fuse stood at the door, watching the whole procedure with intrigue and trepidation. They shared a worried glance and the shorter stallion was quite surprised to see Zephyr so concerned. He hasn't known him for long but he always presumed him as an indifferent and uncaring pony but apparently this was too much even for him.

As for him, he knew Rolling Thunder for long enough to sympathise with her being washed out of the Wonderbolts just like he was. For the first time in a long while, he found himself being overwhelmed by another feeling than his anger.

The only audible sound in the room was the labored breaths of the critically injured mare as she struggled with her wounds. Not a single word was uttered by the three stallions. They all hung their heads down and silently prayed for the well-being of their comrade.

But amidst their worries, dark thoughts began to arise as they remembered the pony responsible for this suffering. Their fear turned to anger as they recalled every single moment of their recent battle against the Flash. With each passing memory, their anger grew. They shared fiery glances among themselves as they made a silent wow. The Flash is going to pay for this.

This was not how Rainbow Dash imagined her moment of triumph over the Rogues. Instead of dragging the four miscreants to prison and returning the stolen money to the Wonderbolts by herself, she was forced to sit in the corner of their hideout as the police stormed the place, seized the piles of money left behind and set up a crime scene.

Her brief partnership with the Batmare had worked flawlessly. After the transmitter they used gave away the location of the Rogues' hideout, Rainbow immediately left to confront them while Batmare notified the police. They both knew the investigation is going to reveal that the money they found here is the money that was stolen from the Wonderbolts so the Flash's name is going to be cleared in no time, but Rainbow couldn't even find solace in that knowledge.

As the cops went around their business, the Batmare also arrived on the scene to assure herself that everything went smoothly. She saw the busy police ponies going about their business, which she took as a good sign, but she found it strange that the criminals responsible for the robberies were nowhere to be seen. As she scanned the room, she saw the Flash sitting in the corner and looking rather depressed. That was an unusual state for a triumphant crime fighter so she decided to investigate.

Rainbow was so broken down that she didn't even notice the approaching dark figure until she cast an ominous bat shaped silhouette onto the floor in front of her. When Rainbow looked up at her, she could already tell that something went horribly wrong during her confrontation with the Rogues. She looked sad and almost ashamed.

"What's wrong?" She asked, sounding both concerned and inquisitive. "What happened?" Rainbow hung her head in shame. She didn't have the guts to admit to the hero who made a sacred oath to never take a life during her fight against crime that she may have done just that. Even if it was by accident, she doubted that would make a difference to Batmare.

"I..." She tried to speak but couldn't find the right words. "I messed up." She finally managed to say with a sigh. Batmare raised an eyebrow beneath her mask.

"How so? You have gotten the stolen money back. Granted, the robbers have escaped but the one good thing about these ponies, it's that there's always another chance to take them down."

"One of them might not." Rainbow said, sniffing back a sob. Batmare sat down next to her and asked her to explain. "There was one of them. One who could hop through mirrors. She helped them escape through one of them. I tried to stop them by smashing the mirrors but she was still inside the mirror when I broke it. I... I basically cut off her leg." Rainbow completely lost her composure and broke down crying in front of Batmare. "I probably killed her!"

The Dark Knight didn't know what to say or do. Consolation wasn't exactly one of her strong suits. Even the ponies she saved usually fled from her in terror. She may have improved her relationship with the law enforcement of Manehattan, but her dark reputation as an urban legend still haunted the city's residents. She had no experience giving pep talks in her suit.

"I... I don't want to be the pony who murders others when they get out of line!" Rainbow cried. "I didn't mean for this to happen! Why did it happen?! Why?!"

Batmare let out a sigh of her own. As she listened to the wails of the super fast mare, she thought of the perfect thing to say to her. For she had went through the exact same thing very recently and she was able to bounce back from it. And if she could do it with her sour disposition, than the far more optimistic Flash should have no problem doing the same.

"A few months ago, I was about to stop a break in at a chemical plant." She started once Rainbow's sobs died down a little. "Two of the robbers got away. I was about to catch the third one but I..." She took a short pause. This was not a memory she remembered fondly. "I messed up as well. She ended up with a horrifically deformed face from one of my projectiles and falling into a tank of chemical waste." Rainbow's head sprung up when she heard that.

"Believe me, I know how you feel right now. I felt exactly the same. It almost made me retire completely. But then I learned that the robber I failed to save actually survived and returned as the most dangerous enemy I have ever faced. It is my biggest regret to this day." She then looked at Rainbow dead in the eye.

"Flash, we may be heroes, but we are still ponies. We make mistakes. Some graver than others. But just like everypony else, when we make mistakes, it is our duty to take responsibility for them and try to fix them. I have fixed mine when I stopped the Joker from gassing Manehattan. Now it is your turn. Find them. If nothing else, to try and save the pony you so gravely injured." Rainbow looked down dejectedly.

"She's probably dead already." She said emotionlessly.

"You don't know that." Batmare assured her. "And until you're sure of that, you will have something to keep you going. You will have hope."

"Faint hope." Rainbow replied with no more enthusiasm. Batmare nodded.

"But hope nonetheless. And sometimes that is all you need."

Soarin sat next to Rolling Thunder who was still lying on the sick bed, breathing heavily as she struggled for her life. He knew it was faint hope at best but he had to at least try and reassure her that everything was gonna be alright. Even if he didn't believe that himself. He held her hoof and gently stroked it, trying to soothe her heaving form as best as she could and try to make what he believed were her last moments as comfortable as possible.

Suddenly, thunder released a sharp gasp and her entire body stiffened, making Soarin jump in surprise. The mare's eyes widened and she turned her head towards Soarin leaned closer to her in an attempt to calm her down, but he quickly realised what was about to happen.

Thunder opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. She tried struggling to take a breath for several seconds until she used up all of her remaining strength. She finally gave up and fell back on the bed, going limp and she stopped moving altogether.

Soarin just stared at her in shock. Never before did he witness anypony die in front of him. It was pure indescribable horror. The way Thunder's eyes were still open, staring up at the ceiling as if she was still alive was nothing short of frightening. Soarin looked down at the floor with a gasp. He had to resist the urge to throw up as his breaths became rapid.

As he sat there staring ahead of himself, he had a multitude of emotions raging in his mind. The shock of seeing one of his Rogues die on him, the grief about her passing, the fear of having to break the news to his other teammates. They haven't been a team for a long time but their common grudges against the Wonderbolts and their shared criminal acts in recent weeks have forged a sort of camaraderie among them.

But each of these feelings paled in comparison of the anger that started surfacing in him when he remembered the pony who was responsible for this grievance. The Flash. His eyes narrowed in rage as she recalled her smug attitude when she barged into their hideout to bring them in. He bet she was laughing her flank off somewhere right now at how she managed to rid Equestria of one more "criminal scum".

His hooves began to shake as the anger in him grew more intense. He decided to take strength in that anger to finally overcome his shock about Thunder's death and for the first time since they popped out of that mirror in the Stadium's bathroom, he knew what he had to do. He gave Thunder's body one last look before raising his hoof to close her eyes.

"You've done well, Mirror Master." He whispered. "We'll take it from here."

Short Fuse and Zephyr Breeze were sitting outside the door of the medical room in the Maretropolis Arena. Not a single word was passed between them. They were to deeply buried in their concern for Rolling Thunder. It has been almost an hour since Soarin ushered them out of the room to give the injured mare some peace and space to rest and as the minutes passed by, they were becoming more and more frustrated.

"This is the worst part." Zephyr spoke for the first time since the arrived to the stadium. "The waiting." Short Fuse looked up at him, unsure of what he meant but he also didn't know if he wanted to ask. Zephyr wasn't talking to him but to himself. He saw him staring ahead of himself with a deep, pensive look on his face.

Whatever thoughts he was having, they were interrupted by the medical door's room slapping open and they turned to see Soarin walking out, looking at them so fiercely that it would have made a manticore stop dead in it's tracks. It was almost like the fires of Tartarus were blazing inside his eyes.

When they saw him, they immediately sprung up and walked up to him. They didn't need to say anything, Soarin already knew what they wanted to know but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Instead, he just hung his head and shook it sadly, making the answer more than clear.

None of the stallions spoke for the next few moments, but to them, it felt like hours of silence. What was there to say? One of their own was now dead and nothing they could say or do would change that. Eventually Heat Wave and Zephyr Breeze both felt the same fires they saw inside Soarin's eyes rising inside of them. And it was directed at the same pony.

"What are we gonna do now?" Zephyr asked when he finally found his voice. The answer was obvious to all of them, but the question of how they should do it still remained. Zephyr and Short Fuse looked at their leader, expecting him to tell them how they will avenge their fallen comrade and Soarin was already working on a plan before he even left the medical room.

And he knew exactly how they would do it. The money they left behind would no doubt be returned to the Wonderbolts' vaults across Equestria's banks and security would increased tenfold now that they knew the robbers were targeting them specifically. But that didn't matter. This was no longer about money.

Spitfire would waste no time of resuming the tour she had to cancel because of their money shortages. He spent most of his career as her second in command and he liked to believe he knew her better than anypony. And as an extraordinary coincidence - or perhaps the hoof of fate - that tour ended at the very stadium they were currently hiding in. Soarin had formed his plan and if they played their cards right, they could kill two pegasi with one stone and get revenge on both Spitfire and the Flash.

"How much money did you manage to get out from the hideout?" He asked with no emotion. The other two exchanged an unsure glance, not sure why he asked that but nevertheless they showed him the content of their saddlebags. It wasn't much, but combined with the bits in his and Thunder's saddlebags, they should have enough money to get the things they needed. "We're going shopping."

While the conversation she had with Batmare lifted her spirits a little, Rainbow Dash still hadn't fully recovered from her latest battle with the Rogues. After she packed her stuff and checked out of her Manehattan hotel, she couldn't even will herself to fly home at super speed like she usually did. Perhaps for the first time in her life. She just bought a train ticket to the closest city in Cloudsale and would hire rent an air balloon when she got there. She didn't even want to fly right now. She had a lot of thinking to do.

She still ruminated over what the black clad vigilante told her. Her hope in Mirror Master still being alive was the only thing she could cling onto to keep her going in the hopes that one day she will be able to correct her grave mistake that crippled a pony for life, even if she was a criminal. As the trees and buildings slowly passed by her vision as the engine lazily moved towards it's destination.

Rainbow held her head on her hoof as she stared out the window. She wondered if her father already got the newspaper that wrote about the Flash's latest battle. He seemed to have a pre-order for the newest release. She considered buying the latest one herself so that she might get the drop on her old stallion and show him what they actually wrote about her superhero alter-ego in outrage. Little did she know, she wouldn't get the chance.

When she got off the train, she purchased the latest edition of the newspaper like she planned and sure enough, the headline was about the Flash's fight with the Rogues. It mentioned how she has been cleared of the charges of bank robbery and the Baltimare Police Department even issued her a public apology. It felt good but she was surprised to see that they didn't say anything about the severed leg they found on the scene and only mentioned that she managed to get the money back. Nopony seemed to care about the potentially fatal injury somepony may have suffered. They would probably just feel like justice was served and one less criminal way roaming the world.

With a sigh, Rainbow folded the newspaper and put it into her saddlebag. She then turned to head towards the air balloon station, but as she walked through the crowd, she was surprised to see her father coming towards her. It was a small world after all. The father was no less surprised to see her there.

"Rainbow! I thought you were still in Manehattan." He said, dumbfounded. Rainbow cast her gaze down. She wasn't looking forward to telling her father what happened up there.

"Yeah. Thankfully, things went faster than expected. I just got off the train." Bow raised an eyebrow.

"Train? Why would you take the train? You never did that before."

"I didn't feel like running this time." Rainbow admitted with a shrug. "I just wanted to sit in one place and think for a while." Bow's eyes widened. If Rainbow didn't want to speed all the way home, then something very serious must have happened. He saw that she also wasn't in the best of moods and could really use some good news. Fortunately, he just happened to have on for her.

"Well, I hope you managed to get your head straight on the way home because Spitfire is holding a Wonderbolts meeting at the HQ tonight." Rainbow's head and ears perked up.

"She is? So does that mean she's doing better?" For the first time since her trip to Manehattan, she finally felt some joy rising inside her. Bow smiled in response.

"She looked pretty good when I last saw her. She couldn't find you anywhere so she came to my house and asked me to deliver this message to you. I was about to board a train to Manehattan but looks like that won't be necessary." A huge grin crossed Rainbow's face.

"Does that mean the Wonderbolts are back in action?" She asked giddily.

"Well, I don't know about that." Bow replied, rolling his eyes teasingly. "But I'd say there's a pretty good chance for it. So what do yo day we go home and get ready? You should probably return to the team in top shape, don't you think?" Bow didn't get a response. When he looked back at his daughter, she was nowhere to be seen. He looked around and saw that she already sped away and before he knew it, she was halfway between him and his home in Cloudsale.

The thought of returning to the Wonderbolts made Rainbow completely forget about showing her father what they wrote about her in the paper and they spent the remainder of the day practicing. While Rainbow never had any problem with her physical condition, the hardest thing about her performances was making sure her super speed doesn't accidentally kick in during the show. Keeping herself between her normal top speed and her super speed was what required most practice.

After a thoroughly exhausting training session, Rainbow shared a very big lunch with Bow and then spent the rest of the afternoon in bed. She actually set her alarm clock to wake her up an hour before the evening meeting and already had her uniform ready on a hanger near her bed. After the ringing woke her up, she quickly washed up, put on her uniform and headed statight for the Wonderbolts HQ after kissing her father on the cheek.

For once, not only did she want to be on time, but she also wanted to be the first one to arrive. She only hoped that this time she wouldn't be delayed by some wannabe supervillan with a ridiculous costume. They seemed to have a Flash sensor built in that told them when the worst time for Rainbow to quit her civilian life to stop them.

But fortunately this sensor seemed to be malfunction today as she didn't come across any of them so she was free to make her way to the meeting with no delay. As she planned, Spitfire was the only one there when she arrived and as she expected, she couldn't believe her eyes when Rainbow entered first.

"Well, I'll be... Rainbow Dash is actually on time for once? Isn't this one of the signs of the apocalypse?" Rainbow rolled her eyes in an amused way.

"Good to see you back on your hooves too, Captain." She replied with a salute. "So what's the big news?"

"Hey, don't think that just because you honored me with your punctuality for once you earn the privilege of an early announcement!" Spitfire told her sternly. "You made the others wait for you plenty of times. Now you wait for them!" Rainbow wasn't happy about this, but she had to concede her superior's point and sat down.

As she watched Spitfire move around the stage and the other members began to arrive, Rainbow noticed a framed portrait of the Flash hanging on the wall behind speaker stand. Normally, she would have been flattered by this, but seeing it in the HQ's debrief room was quite a shock.

"You a fan?" Spitfire looked confused about what Rainbow meant but then she pointed at the portrait hanging behind her. The captain laughed.

"Truth be told, I couldn't have cares less about her or others like her before, but after she saved us from bankruptcy, I thought she deserves some recognition." Rainbow raised and eyebrow.

"You know about that?" Spitfire froze and then sighed.

"Well looks like you got me to tell you before schedule after all." She groaned before going back to work. Rainbow winced. She didn't meant to upset her captain but looks like no matter what she did, she was cursed with annoying her. She decided to just sit down and shut up until the announcement began.

"Alright, everypony!" Spitfire began once all the members arrived and took their seats. "As you are aware, we have been having a bit of a financial crisis due to the rise of criminal activity as of late which caused us to have to cancel the last performance of our tour in Maretropolis." The group grumbled in disappointment but Spitfire quickly silenced them. "I know, I know. But thanks to the efforts of our friendly neighbourhood Scarlet Speedster, I am happy to announce that we got our money back and the Wonderbolts are back in action! So give it up for the pony who made it possible! The Flash!"

The room exploded with cheers. Despite Rainbow's enormous ego, she found it weird to applaud for herself, but she had to in order to avoid raising suspicion. She wouldn't lie, she always wanted to feel the admiration of Spitfire, a pony she looked up to during her whole life. And to feel that same admiration not only from her but the rest of her fellow Wonderbolts as well was a dream come true. But then she remembered what she did to Mirror Master and her shame returned when she thought about what they'd think if they also knew about that.

"As a result, we will be able to finish our tour as planned after all! So get packing filles and colts! We are heading to Maretropolis for the last show!" The room cheered even louder than the previous time. "And to celebrate our triumphant return, it's gonna be even bigger and spectacular than we originally planned! So I expect all of you at your absolute best! Is that clear?" The pegasi in the room all saluted. "That's what I like to see! Dismissed! Now go home and rest! You'll need because from tomorrow, we're gonna train harder than ever!"

The news about the return of the Wonderbolts spread like wildfire and soon there was nopony in Maretropolis who didn't know about it. As expected, the tickets sold out in record time and the show was the talk of every room. Including a dark, separated room inside a shack located in a junkyard near the outskirts of the city.

The day of the show came very soon and the whole city was buzzing with activity as the lucky ones who managed to get a ticket raced towards the stadium to get in early and avoid hours of waiting in the long lines. There were two pegasus stallions among them who were making their way against the crowd, away from the stadium.

One would assume that they were not interested in the show but that couldn't have been further from the truth. They were much more interested in it than the rest, albeit for entirety different reasons. And while they didn't even have tickets, they would get inside that stadium today.

They landed outside the aforementioned shack in the junkyard, carrying fully packed saddlebags over their backs and entered. Inside was a third one who was holding a welding torch and was hard at work putting together a device that looked like a white cylinder with several buttons on it. When the other two entered, he looked up from his work and put his tool down.

"Are they gathering already?" Soarin asked as he lifted his helmet over his head. Zephyr Breeze nodded.

"Yeah. Everypony's heading down to the stadium like it's the second coming of Celestia. We're gonna have a lot of bodies to throw into the ice grinder." The shorter stallion whacked him on the back of the head.

"Quit being a prick, Boomer!" Short Fuse scoffed. "The only body we'll be throwing into the grinder will be the Flash." Zephyr rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but they don't need to know that." He then turned back to Soarin. "Anyway, are you done with those ice bombs of yours?"

"I will be once you quit your yapping and give me those parts!" He fumed before taking their saddlebags. He was a lot more irritable than usual, but after a week of this extremely tedious process of putting together dozens of these things and the death of Rolling Thunder still stinging hard, he couldn't let go of his anger. Still, it was unfair of taking it out on his teammates. He just went back to working on the bombs.

In the meantime, the other two stallions were studying a map of the stadium that had several red Xs scribbled on it. They marked the places where they were gonna have to place the bombs around the edges of the building and around the field, Soarin scribbled several traps they were going to set for the Flash. They had to read it every day for the past week and now that everything was ready, they went through it for the last time before heading out.

After Soarin packed their saddlebags full with his ice bombs, the three stallions gathered their equipment and left for the stadium. They weren't flying. They wanted to be the absolute last ones to enter so they could afford to take their time. They also didn't need to worry about anypony recognising them. The Rogues were still never captured on camera footage and everypony they ever encountered in their costumes was too knocked out to give accurate descriptions of them. Only the Flash ever saw them from up close but she probably wouldn't risk a confrontation out in public. Nopony would oppose them until they started to carry out their plan.

Once they reached the Maretropolis Arena, almost everypony who had tickets had entered and the crowd of curious onlookers had already dispersed. Only a few more ponies were left in the line and once the last ones entered and only one last ticket collector was left standing outside. That was the moment they made their way towards the entrance and the ticket pony instantly noticed them.

"Tickets please!" He said, reaching his hoof out. Soarin smiled as he reached inside his coat.

"Of course! We have them right here!" He mused before pulling out his cold gun. The ticket pony was trapped in a block of ice before he even had a chance to react. Soarin walked past the poor stallion while his partners picked him up and carried him to somewhere he wouldn't be found.

Taking the ticket pony's keys, the three stallions were easily able to enter the stadium before splitting up to do their part. Zephyr headed into the basement and just as he exited the staircase, he immediately ran into some security guards casually chatting around a vending machine.

"Um, excuse me sir, civilians are not authorised to be here." One of them informed him. Zephyr smiled, feigning understanding.

"Oh, my bad. I'll just turn and..." He turned around and quickly pulled out one of his boomerangs before turning back to the guards and throwing it at them. It knocked one of them right out before coming back and doing the same to the other. "Actually that's it, I'll just turn." Zephyr chuckled as he caught the boomerang.

He walked past the two unconscious ponies and made his way to the guards room where the vast majority of the security staff was gathered. He knew he had to be swift to get through here. He turned around and bucked the door in with his hind legs before taking out one of his sonic boomerangs and throwing it inside before the startled security ponies could do anything.

The weapon impaled itself into the coffee table in the middle of the room and began screeching loudly, forcing all the guards to cover their ears. Zephyr then pulled out another ordinary boomerang and threw it around the room in a perfect circle, knocking all of the guards out.

Zephyr smirked in satisfaction as he reached his hoof out to catch the returning projectile. He then reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a few of Soarin's ice bombs and placed them under the table before leaving the room.

Next stop was the garage beneath the stadium. The guards have cleared mostly all of the vehicles that were parked here, only one very big carriage remained that seemed to belong to a luxurious couple who were standing next to it, impatiently waiting for the guards to go through every section of the humongous vehicle.

They seemed to be completely fixated on the task so Zephyr had no problem going around unnoticed. He just had to find places for the bombs where they wouldn't be discovered. After sneaking around for a while, he placed them under several already parked carriages before making good on his escape.

Meanwhile, Heat Wave was on his way to the generator room where the electric equipment of the stadium was powered from. Naturally, such an important room was well guarded so two bulky, armed earth ponies were stationed outside to deal with any potential intruders. The short stallion headed towards the door, seemingly completely unconcerned about the two guards towering over him.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" They demanded of the pegasus who just kept marching forward, completely ignoring them.

"Stop right there!" They yelled, drawing their weapons and pointing it at him but he still wasn't deterred in the slightest. The guards looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They were about to let out a warning shot, but they found that pulling the trigger did nothing.

They checked their weapons and their eyes widened when they saw that their barrels have started to melt. As Heat Wave got closer to them, they noticed that the air was also getting much hotter and they both began to sweat profusely. The heat became unbearable as the pegasus reached the door and they found themselves unable to do anything but fall over and crawl away in a desperate attempt to escape the heat.

Heat Wave paid them no mind. He raised his hoof to the doorknob and melted the lock, pushing the door open with no resistance. As he entered, he turned the heat waves radiating around his body off to avoid damaging the equipment inside. They will need the stadium's electronic systems intact for their plan. The staff probably expected that nopony would get past the two stallions outside as there were no other guards in the room. He placed some of the ice bombs in top of the machines before leaving.

He then made his way to the restrooms. Both the mares' and the stallions' room. He kicked in the door of each stall to see if anypony was there and when he saw they were empty, he placed one bomb on the floor of each one. Upon leaving, he used the keys they took from the guard they froze to lock the doors, preventing anypony from entering and finding the bombs too early.

Soarin entered the stadium's trophy room. They were mostly won the city's hoofball team but there were a few from individual athletes as well. Soaring placed an ice bomb into each and every one of the trophies. But when he got in front of one, he came to a halt. He immediately recognised this trophy. It had a photo lying before it which depicted him alongside several of his former Wonderbolt comrades, posing proudly and happily as they held the trophy they've won in a flying competition held in the stadium.

Soarin's expression softened a little as the memories overwhelmed him, but he quickly steeled himself and frowned when he remembered that he was no longer part of that group. He punched the picture, shattering the glass covering it before shoving it to the ground and placing another bomb into the trophy behind it.

Once he placed one into every open trophy he could find, he left for the dressing rooms. Most of the Wonderbolts have already left for the pitch so they were closed but since he had the key, that was no problem, he placed one bomb into each of the lockers and the left to rejoin his partners.

As the captain of the Wonderbolts, it was Spitfire's duty to check on everything before the start of a show. Not only she had to make sure her team was in top shape, but also check with the show's organisers to see if the environment was also perfect for their performance.

Currently, she was in the VIP lounge of the arena, waiting for the stadium manager to show up for one final check before the start of the show. While she waited, she was overlooking the pitch and observing her fellow Wonderbolts training with a proud smile. It always felt good to see the dedication and effort her team was putting into their performances. It reminded her that they were the best fliers in Equestria for a reason and reassured her that everything was gonna go as smoothly as possible.

She heard the door of the lounge open and turned to see the stadium manager - a blue unicorn with black mane - approach her. She let out a sigh of both relief and exasperation. She's been waiting for him for quite some time and she just wanted to get this over with and get back to practicing with her teammates. But her relief was short lived when she saw the troubled look on his face. It appeared something was wrong. This assumption was further confirmed by the head of security - a brown earth pony with blond mane - walking alongside the unicorn.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked in concern. The two stallions shared a concerned look before turning back to her.

"Captain Spitfire, we have lost contact with all of our security forces in the lower levels of the stadium. We can't enter the basement at any door either. We have good reasons to believe the stadium had been infiltrated." The head of security told her. Spitfire's eyes widened in horror.

"What do you mean infiltrated?!" She demanded frantically. She immediately thought of the safety of her Wonderbolts and was about to bolt down to the pitch to warn them, but the two ponies in front of her stopped her.

"Please calm down, captain! It's just a theory so far." The manager reassured. "But until we're sure, it would be safer if you stayed up here."

"Safer?!" Spitfire asked in outrage. "I'm a Wonderbolt! I don't do safe! Have you tried reaching the lower levels through the elevators?"

"We didn't want to risk it until we know what's the situation down there." The earth pony replied. Spitfire narrowed her eyes at him, making him shrink back.

"Well, I will! And you will come with me!" She ordered and even though she had no authority over him, he immediately agreed. The three ponies headed to the elevator, but when they pressed the button, they were surprised to find that it wasn't working. That was because the elevator was already in use and they saw on the panel that it was heading towards their level.

The doors in front of them opened and the three ponies backed away in shock. Instead of anypony from the security staff, they were facing a trio of costumed pegasus stallions, all holding weapons. The one in the middle smirked smugly at them.

"You seem a little warmed up, gentlecolts. Looks like you could use some cooling off." Captain Cold said before firing his weapon and trapping the two stallions in blocks of ice. She then turned to Spitfire. "Captain Spitfire! What an unexpected surprise to see you here! But a welcome one!" He then pointed his weapon at her and pushed her back against the window of the lounge. The parka hid the stallion's face well, but Spitfire quickly recognised the voice.

"Soarin? Is that you?" She asked in disbelief. The stallion raised an eyebrow under his cloak.

"Oh, you still remember me? I'm touched." He scoffed. Spitfire looked at the two frozen stallions and instantly drew the horrifying conclusion.

"You... You were the one behind this whole campaign against the Wonderbolts?" She cried in horror. "How could you?! You were one of the best of us!" Soarin glared hatefully and could barely restrain himself from slapping the mare.

"Well, you forgot that pretty easily when you kicked me out, Captain! Did you think I'll just take that lying down? You have taken my whole life's meaning from me so now I'll enjoy doing the same to you!" Spitfire couldn't believe it. She knew her former partner took being let go badly, but she never expected him to resort to this.

"Listen, Soarin! It's only me you have a problem with. My teammates and those innocent civilians have done nothing to you. Don't bring them into this!" She pleaded. Her duty included protecting her teammates in danger and she would do that even in such a dire situation. Soarin chuckled.

"How noble, but still very self centered of you, Captain. Not everything is about you, you know. There is another pony who I have a bone to pick with and your teammates and these innocent civilians will be the prefect leverage to get her to come to us." He then turned to Zephyr. "Do you have access to the stadium's electronic systems already?" Zephyr sat down in front of a keyboard and a monitor and hit a few keys before nodding.

"Maretropolis is ready to receive our message, boss." He smirked.

"Good." Soarin replied before taking a microphone from Heat Wave. "Watch her! If she tries anything, singe off a few of her feathers!" He then walked up to the window and turned on the microphone in his hoof.

"Fillies and gentlecolts!" His voice echoed through the loudspeakers. "We regret to inform you that there has been a change in the program! Please remain in your seats but feel free to panic!" He told the confused crowd before pulling out a detonator and pressing the button on it. The crowd's confusion turned to terror when they felt the whole stadium quake under them from a blast. The walls around the arena shattered as huge icy spikes broke through the concrete and reached towards the sky.

Soon, the entire stadium was reduced to a giant ice pit. The temperature was so cold that it prevented even the pegasi from leaving by simply flying out through the top. Spitfire could only watch in horror while the three Rogues smirked in satisfaction. The trap was set, now they just needed to lure in their pray.

"Send the message." Soarin ordered.

"Running late again! Damn it to Tartarus! Why can't I ever be on time?!" Rainbow Dash screamed to herself as she flew through the streets of Baltimare. She finally managed to gain some approval from Spitfire, the Maretropolis show was gonna be held after all and she finally managed to get over the depression she was suffering from after what happened in the Rogues' hideout.

Everything was looking up for her and she was ready to make her triumphant return with the rest of the Wonderbolts and her lousy timing had to pick this moment of all to kick in. She was always on time with all of her assignments during the week they've spent practicing in the city, but now she was gonna be late for the actual show itself. She had no doubt Spitfire was going to kill her. And then she'll finally make good on her threat and kick her off the team.

These troubling thoughts raced through the rainbow maned pegasus' mind as she raced towards the stadium in panic, but little did she know, her bad timing would actually save her this time. As she sped towards the Arena, she saw several other ponies fleeing from there with the same panic she was feeling. That was strange. She thought a Wonderbolts show in the city would have the opposite effect, but when she actually reached the stadium, she saw the reason for their fear.

The Maretropolis Arena was completely frozen over. All the walls and entrances have been sealed off by the ice and it was so cold that she probably wouldn't be able to approach the building from above. The police and the fireponies who surrounded the building tried desperately to break through the ice with pickaxes, drillers and even magic, but their efforts were efforts were in vain. It was simply too thick.

Rainbow didn't need to be the world's greatest detective to figure out that this was the doing of the Rogues. What were they doing here?! For a brief moment, the horrifying possibility that they may have learned her identify crossed her mind. If they decided to hit a Wonderbolts show of all things, they probably had a good reason for it. Her horror only grew when she remembered that her father also attended the show. He was probably inside of with the rest of the attendees. She had to find a way inside!

She flew up into the air and circled over the frozen building trying to find any opening she could use. As she flew around, her attention was suddenly drawn to the stadium's jumbotron that was still visible above the ice. Letters were flickering on the screen which slowly formed a sentence and Rainbow's eyes widened when that sentence was a message addressed directly to her.

FLASH, STOP US IF YOU CAN!

Rainbow glared at the screen as her hooves shook with fury. They took all of those innocent ponies inside as well as her fellow Wonderbolts hostage just to draw her out? This was despicable, even by criminal standards. When they were just robbing banks, they never actually went this far. She didn't know what could drive them to do this but she didn't care either. If they wanted her to stop them, she will be happy to deliver!

She descended on the ground and reached into her saddlebag, pulling several energy bars. She was careful not to consume so much food that would sustain her super speed before a performance, but this time, she was prepared. She unwrapped and consumed all of the bars before speeding back to her hotel room and returning to the stadium in her Flash suit. Time to get to work.

She approached the police and fireponies who were still trying and failing miserably to get through the ice. They smacked the frozen wall in frustration before turning away and jumping in surprise when they noticed the red clad superhero standing in front of them. They had no idea what to say at first, but eventually the police officer in charge stepped forward.

"You're the one they're after." Rainbow nodded.

"And they will have me. Give me one hour, I will give bring them to you and free the hostages." The officer looked uncertain but eventually sighed.

"Well, I feel like I'd be an idiot to refuse any assistance at this point. Fine. It's not like we could get inside anyway." He then turned to the ponies behind him. "Let's give her some room boys!" They obeyed the comment and walked past the costumed pony, some giving her looks of doubt, but others actually looked at her hopefully and encouragingly and one of them even told her to "go get them".

When they all left, Rainbow began to observe the ice formation that covered the stadium. She said she would get in, but she had no idea how. Phasing through the ice was out of the question. It was so cold it prevented her from speeding her molecules up to the necessary level. This also prevented breaking through the ice with a punch of infinite mass behind it. It seemed like no matter what she did, the ice was gonna stop her. She can't get around it, can't get over it...

...but what about getting under it?

Rainbow smirked as she finally found a way to get inside. She flew up and began to spin around at super speed before crashing down and drilling her way through the ground right under the ice and into the stadium. The ponies outside watched in amazement.

"Well, boys, looks like we finally have a way inside." The commanding police officer said. "But a deal's a deal. One hour. If we don't hear anything from inside after an hour, we're going in." He decided. But somehow, everypony on the scene knew that their assistance will not be necessary.

As Rainbow drilled through the ground beneath the stadium, she found that she was once again faster to act than to think and had no clue where she was actually going. When she first tried to approach the surface, she felt the cold radiating from the ice above her slowing her down, so she just kept drilling until she found a spot where she could come up without the cold interfering with her powers.

When Rainbow emerged from beneath the ground, she was almost nervous to peak out of the hole she made and look around. She was afraid that she may find herself in the middle of the Arena and instantly give herself away to her enemies. When she finally dared to look, she was happy to see that this was not the case as she found herself in an empty hallway with not a soul in sight.

She crawled out and began in inspect her environment. The place looked deserted and she was thankful for that. The coldness could be felt all around the stadium so she couldn't use her super speed to just zip through the stadium in search of the Rogues. She's gonna have to stay out of sight until she found them.

And it sounded like that time was closer than she thought as she heard the sound of approaching hoofsteps from the end of the hallway. She hid behind one of the walls and waited until the source of the sound was just around the corner before pouncing. She tackled a pony to the ground and riased her front hoof to beat the living daylight out of them, but she stopped just in time to notice it was somepony familiar.

"Rainbow?!" Bow Hothoof exclaimed as he recovered from the shock of being assaulted by his own daughter. Rainbow quickly realised what she was doing and got off her father.

"Are you alright?" She asked, checking him for any injuries. "How did you get away?"

"Luckily I wasn't at the stands when they attacked." Bow replied. "I was waiting for you at the entrance. They have no idea I'm here. I guess for once, you're lucky you're always late." He chuckled. Rainbow groaned.

"Not the time, dad!" She then grabbed him by the hoof and dragged him to the hole she just drilled. "Quick! This leads outside! Get out! I'll deal with these punks!"

"I'm not running away, Rainbow!" Bow replied firmly. "I may not have superpowers, but that doesn't mean I can't help!"

"You really want to do this NOW?!" Rainbow hissed. Bow did not back down.

"Rainbow, for your whole life, you complained that I was too afraid for you after what happened to your mother. Now you're making the same mistake I always did." The stallion argued. Rainbow put a hoof on her face in frustration. She didn't know how to respond to that but she didn't get the chance to.

During their argument, Rainbow didn't notice something flying over their heads. Said item was a stealth boomerang equipped with a camera. A certain stallion had launched several ones flying around every part of the stadium in an effort to locate the hero if she managed to get inside. The rest of the Rogues were watching from the VIP lounge on several TV scenes. Soarin smirked when he spotted their prey.

"I see her. Hallway 2-E." He spoke into a transmitter on his head. Captain Boomerang received the message loud and clear.

"I'm on my way, Captain!" He replied before heading off to the aforementioned hallway. Locating the Flash was easy as she was arguing with somepony quite loudly. He peaked around the corner and saw her talking to a stallion. He looked familiar, but he stood with his back to him so he couldn't tell who could it be. But one thing he knew was he had to remove this stallion from the way.

Bow Hothoof didn't get to speak another word to his daughter as he found himself tied up with a rope attached to two boomerangs that came out of nowhere. He fell on the ground and rolled up into a corner, groaning in pain. Rainbow could barely keep herself from screaming "DAD!" in panic, but she caught herself just in time. That would be a good way to give away her identity. She just turned towards the stallion who threw the boomerangs with a death glare and launched herself at him with a furious roar.

She couldn't access her super speed to the extreme cold in the stadium right now, but at the moment, she didn't care. Super speed or not, she was gonna give this jerk a thrashing of a lifetime. But Zephyr took full advantage of her inability to speed up. He flew back before dropping himself on the ground and using his hind legs to buck Rainbow in the stomach and kick her over his head, slamming her against a wall.

He then pulled out several explosive boomerangs of his coat and threw them at the mare. They impaled themselves into the wall around her and the intensifying beeping sound they emitted let Rainbow know what was about to happen. She barley had enough time to get away from the wall before it was blown to smithereens.

Despite her efforts, Rainbow was still caught in the blast and found herself being tumbling on the ground. Zephyr tried to deliver the finishing blow by grabbing two bladed boomerangs and throwing himself on top of the mare and trying to stab her repeatedly. Rainbow managed to dodge every attempt and once her head cleared from the effect of the recent explosion, she grabbed Zephyr by the coat and bashed her head into his muzzle several times as fast as her molecules could allow. Eventually, she headed Zephyr so hard that she knocked him off of her.

Rainbow sped her body up as much as the cold allowed her to and flew at Zephyr to finish the fight, but the stallion wasn't finished yet. He quickly pulled out one of the super fast boomerangs he used in their previous fight and that was enough to intercept the mare in her movement. Rainbow swore under her breath. She completely forgot about those.

'Seriously, where the buck did he get those?!' He had to have access to the speed energy she got from the lightning bolt that hit her mother when she was pregnant with her, but that was impossible. But she had no time to dwell on that as Zephyr relentlessly kept throwing them at her and she couldn't avoid them.

The cold from the ice prevented her from speeding up her molecules, but synthetic matter like Zephyr's boomerangs had no such issue. They managed to outpace the mare and inflict deep gashes and lacerations on her body and then one of them hit her on the head and knocked her back on the ground.

The blow to her head made Rainbow dizzy and she ended up falling on the ground. As she groaned in pain and grasped her head, Zephyr walked up to her and pulled out another bladed boomerang from his coat. He then stepped on Rainbow's back and pushed her down on the floor.

"Little bird, little bird, fly around." He sang as he knelt down and grabbed one of Rainbow's wings. "Up to the sky and on the ground." He pressed the boomerang's edge to the base of the wing. "Little bird, little bird, flap your wings. Open your beak and...

WHACK!

Zephyr didn't get to finish as he was hit on the back of his head by one of his own boomerangs and knocked out cold. With the assault over, Rainbow's vision had time to clear and she looked up to see her father standing over her, extending one of his hooves towards her.

"Still afraid for me?" He asked sarcastically. Rainbow looked down in embarrassment before taking her father's hoof and letting him pull her to her hooves.

"Not so much." She replied before snatching the rope that was just wrapped around Bow a minute ago and tying Zephyr up with it before locking him in a closet before returning to her father.

"I'm sorry, dad. I wouldn't be anything today without you. Superpowers or not, you made me into the mare I am today and I really should have more faith in you."

"The same goes for me." Bow replied with remorse. "I know I wasn't always the most supportive of you but now that I see this new and improved version of you, I realise that this is what you were born to do. I couldn't be any prouder of you, Rainbow Dash. And... I love you." He said with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes. Rainbow returned the expression and wrapped her front legs around his neck in an embrace. She would have given him a kiss on the cheek too if it weren't for the mask covering her muzzle. "Now go!" Bow said. "They need you."

"No." Rainbow shook her head. "They need us." She then turned back to the hole in the floor. "I'll get the other two, you go back to the stands and get out everypony you can through here." Bow nodded.

"They are in the VIP lounge. I saw them through it's windows earlier." He told her.

"Than that's where I'll be in a few seconds too." Rainbow replied before getting into position for take off.

"Good luck!" Bow told her before she sped off into the direction of the VIP lounge. One down, two to go.

As Rainbow sped towards her destination, she started feeling herself slowly losing speed. At first, she didn't find this important, but as she made her way towards the stairs, she saw the reason why. She could barely stop herself in time before running headfirst into a wall of flame burning around the corner. Thankfully, her suit was heat resilient, it had to be to withstand the super speed she was always running at, but these fires would have melted her inside it.

She turned back to run into the other direction, but she found her path blocked by Heat Wave. The short stallion pulled out a bomb and threw it behind him, setting the other end of the hallway on fire as well, trapping the two ponies between the flames.

"Last time, I was only trying to singe you a little..." He started as he pressed a switch on his flamethrower. "...but this time, the heat is going up to eleven." He growled menacingly as he raised his weapon towards Rainbow Dash and pulled the trigger.

Rainbow leaped into the air and flew over the oncoming ball of flame fired her way. A task that was more difficult then she anticipated as it almost covered the entire hallway. She had to squeeze herself tightly against the ceiling to avoid it.

She knew she was gonna have to be fast and careful about her next move or she's toast. She landed right behind Heat Wave, assuming that someone wearing such heavy equipment wouldn't be able to turn around fast enough to stop her. And she assumed correctly.

She grabbed him from behind and tried to wrestle his weapon away from him, but Heat Wave had a few tricks up his sleeve as well. In the midst of the struggle, he was able to press the switch on his suit that reactivated his heat aura. At first, it only made Rainbow sweat and her own suit was able to withstand much of the heat. But eventually, it became too much even for her and she was forced to let go of him.

Rainbow hissed in pain as she felt her hooves burning. The heat radiating from the stallion managed to scorch her even through her suit. She didn't even want to think about what would have happened if she wasn't wearing it, but she had bigger problems right now. Since she fell over from the pain, she gave Heat Wave an opening. When she looked up, she saw the stallion pointing his weapon at her. She tried to back away but the blazing wall of fire behind her trapped her.

"Do you want my opinion? You need to lighten up." He quipped before pulling the trigger. Rainbow jumped away from the flames on insticnt and once again, she couldn't do anything else but fly over the stallion and land behind her.

"You can't keep this up forever!" Heat Wave yelled before firing another wave of flames at Rainbow, forcing her to flee to the end of the hallway, right up to the other wall of flame that blocked her path.

'I don't have to. I'll just have to keep this up until I find a way to deal with you. Come on, brain! Start running as fast as me!'

Rainbow's super fast thinking was the one thing neither the cold, nor the heat could interfere with. She looked around, searching for anything she might use and saw a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. Quite fitting for her current predicament. She also saw a system of fire sprinklers on the ceiling. Heat Wave placed his fire traps so strategically that he managed to avoid triggering it, but if she could get him to shoot upwards, close enough to the sprinklers, they would no doubt turn on. But how?

She didn't have much time to think about it because she saw Heat Wave approaching her and ready to shoot again. No time left for thought, it was time for action. She picked up the fire extinguisher and threw it at the stallion. The metal case survived the blast of flame and slammed into Heat Wave and knocked the weapon out of his hooves. The extinguisher slammed into the stallion's muzzle and made him stumble backwards. Rainbow took advantage of that and tackled him on the ground before punching him repeatedly across the face until she knew he was out cold.

In the next moment, she felt drops of water hitting the back of her head as the fire sprinklers were finally activated by the misaimed shot from Heat Wave's weapon. But the fires were so massive that it still took several seconds to be completely extinguished. Rainbow then took the fuel tank off of the unconscious stallion's back and used it's harness to tie his hooves together, before breaking his flamethrower and tying up his wings with the cable connecting it to the tanks.

"You're not going anywhere now, except to prison. You'll have plenty of time to lighten up there." She snarled before heading to the stairs. "Now to deal with your leader."

Rainbow Dash was pleasantly surprised to find that she bumped into no further nasty surprises on his way up to the VIP lounge. Even the door wasn't closed. She opened it slowly and quietly to peak inside but she couldn't see anypony. She looked out the window and noticed a group of the audience clumsily making their way towards the exit where her father was no doubt leading them to the tunnel that lead outside. She sighed in relief upon seeing that they were well. Now she only needed to find Captain Cold to put an end to this madness.

Ask and you shall receive. Rainbow turned around and saw the hooded stallion floating above the door she just entered, holding a struggling Spitfire with his hoof covering her mouth. He aimed his weapon at Rainbow and pulled the trigger, but she noticed him just in time to avoid being frozen to the floor. She jumped back and was about to charge at him in the air, but he pressed his gun against Spitfire's neck.

"Stay there or she gets it!" He growled, his voice full of venom. Rainbow would usually have no doubt handling these kind of situations, but with so many slowing factors around her, she didn't want to take that chance.

"Let her go, you prick! This is between you and me!" Cold laughed bitterly.

"Just like Spitfire! You assume everything is about you! If seeing you dead was all I wanted, I would have killed you back in Baltimare! No, Spitfire is just as much of my enemy as you are!" Rainbow could only stare in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Cold sighed.

"You just don't get it, do you? Perhaps this will make you understand." He reached up with his free hoof and pulled his hood off to reveal the former second in command of the Wonderbolts, Soarin. Rainbow gasped in disbelief as she backed away.

"So... Soarin?!" She exclaimed. "What the... How?!" Spitfire told the rest of the team that the stallion was let go of the team, but she didn't elaborate on it. Rainbow never thought that he would take it badly, let alone resort to this. The stallion's lips curved up into a half smile.

"A fan, I take it? Touching." He scoffed sarcastically. "Well, I suppose now you understand. You may wonder why I revealed myself to you. Well, you see, I wanted Mirror Master's killer to see my face when I get even with her." Rainbow's eyes widened.

"Then she... She really did..." Soarin scoffed.

"Oh, don't act so surprised! You cut off one of her legs and impaled her with glass shards! What did you think was gonna happen?!" He demanded furiously. Rainbow was at a loss of words.

"I didn't... That wasn't... I had no idea what would happen! I just..." For a moment, the world stopped around her. The slight hope of Rolling Thunder being alive was now brought crashing down. She had blood on her hooves and this revelation was horrifying.

She briefly considered just running away and hanging her costume for good, but then she remembered what the Batmare told her. When she thought she had killed someone by accident, the only thing that dragged her out of retirement was knowing that she was responsible for stopping what she had created. And while Rolling Thunder really was dead unlike Trixie, her comrades took an oath to avenge her death and they were ready to harm innocent civilians in their quest for vengeance.

The ponies trapped in the stadium today were in danger because of her. And that gave her the same responsibility of stopping the Rogues as Batmare had when the Joker tried to destroy Manehattan. No, she wasn't going to run away. Not until there was one pony in Equestria who needed her help.

"So you didn't know she would die?" Soarin asked, snapping Rainbow out of her thoughts. "It makes no difference! You're still responsible and you're going to pay!"

"You're right." It was Soarin's turn to be stunned. This was the last thing he expected her to say. "I am responsible. And I'm responsible for all the ponies you hurt today and will hurt in the future. But that means I'm also responsible for stopping you and protecting them." She then looked up with Soarin with a face full of determination. "And since I see you obviously won't back down, I won't even bother asking you to do this the easy way."

Soarin was so surprised by this declaration that he couldn't even move and this gave Spitfire an opportunity. She bashed her head into Soarin's muzzle, forcing him to stumble back and let her go. She quickly fled out of the room and glanced back at Rainbow encouragingly. There were no more hostages to be caught in the crossfire.

"You bitch! I'm gonna..." Soarin didn't get to finish as Rainbow ran up to him and grabbed him from behind, trying to subdue him. But the leader of the Rogues wouldn't go down so easily. She planted a cold grenade on Rainbow's chest that quickly went off, covering the mare in a thick layer of frost and stunning her long enough for him to throw her off of himself.

Soarin had just about had enough. He was done playing games. Before Rainbow could break free, he pulled his cloak back over his head and also placed a protective mask around his muzzle. He put his cold guns back into their holsters and pressed a button on his belt. A dark blue light lit up on Soarin's as ice began to spread from it that soon covered his entire body. When Rainbow Dash looked back him, she gasped in horror. Soarin was completely covered in an ice armor resembling those of the warriors of ancient Neighpon. In his left hoof, he was holding an ice sword and his right, an ice shield. His spread wings had huge spikes sticking out of the ice spread across them and his visors over his eyes were glowing with demonic red light.

"Let's finish this!" He growled on a mechanical tone from beneath the ice. Rainbow narrowed her eyes and got into a fighting stance.

"I couldn't agree more."

Rainbow ran up to the stallion and punched him across the chest and muzzle repeatedly with super charged punches, but she was shocked to find that even they proved ineffective against him. Soarin just stood there, waiting for her to finish before raising his shield and bashing her across her muzzle, knocking her across the room.

He then walked up to the mare while she was still struggling to get up and placed one of his frozen hooves on her back. Rainbow screamed in agony as she felt the cold flow into her body and begin to freeze her inside to the very bones. She tried to struggle and break free, but the frozen stallion was just too heavy for her and she couldn't phase through him due to the cold.

She looked around in an attempt to find anything that could help her and when saw a bottle of wine lying in front of her an idea struck her. Maybe she could still speed up her front hooves enough to pull this off. She grabbed the bottle and began to rub her hooves over it as fast as she could. The movement of her molecules spread through the bottle and began to make the ones of the beverage inside speed up as well until they turned it boiling hot. She prayed that it would be enough.

She turned around as much as the stallion weighing him down and the spreading cold in her body allowed and threw the bottle at him. Her plan worked. She heard the panicked grunt Soarin let out as his icey armor began to melt and he finally got off of her. It was her turn.

She managed to melt a hole into his armor. She could see his coat through it. She charged at the stallion and charged up her hoof with speed energy to deliver a punch that would surely bring him down, but Soarin saw this coming. He quickly spun around, bringing his wings decorated with iced spikes towards the mare.

Rainbow noticed this too late. She managed to avoid the first one, but her momentum was too fast to completely pull back and the second one hit her, slashing her across the chest and the muzzle, damaging her suit. As she creamed in pain, Soarin raised his hind legs and bucked her across the room.

Rainbow landed crashing against the window overlooking the stadium. She was in great pain and bleeding from a lot of wounds, even coughing up some as she tried to get up. Soarin approached her with slow and steady steps as his ice armor clung against the floor. When he reached Rainbow, he raised his sword above his head.

"This is for Mirror Master!" He snarled ready to bring it down. Rainbow felt the glass beneath her and she came up with one last solution that could save her life. She could only pray to Faust she had enough energy left in her to pull it off.

She began to focus every bit of her remaining strength and energy into her right front leg. She felt it tingle and vibrate with speed but she had no way to tell if it would be enough. She closed her eyes and tapped the glass beneath her.

Her hoof went through the glass like liquid as the matter beneath her disintegrated into invisibly small shards. He eyes snapped open as she felt herself beginning to fall. Soarin's eyes also widened when he saw what the mare just did, but it was too late.

Rainbow spread her wings and flew out from beneath the stallion, but his frozen wings were rendered immobile. He could do nothing as he fell forward helplessly like a piece of rock and crashed into the pavement below. The few ponies who were still on the stands jumped in surprise when they heard the impact. Soarin had left a small crater in the ground and no matter how much he struggled, his armor was too heavy for him to get up. The ponies on the ground looked up and saw the red costumed superhero floating in the air before landing on the edge of the VIP lounge above them and looking down in triumph. It was over. The Battle of Maretropolis had finally concluded.

The one hour ultimatum they gave the Flash was up. The cops and the fireponies have resumed trying to break through the ice surrounding the Maretropolis Arena, but for several hours, their efforts have all ended in failure. They were just about to give up when they saw three shadows looming over the ground. They turned around and looked up to get the shock of their lives upon witnessing the three costumed wonders of Equestria, Supermare, Green Lantern and Captain MareVel floating over them.

"Hey, officers! You need some help?" The alicorn asked before dashing over to the block of ice and punching a hole through it effortlessly, creating an opening for them to get through. But before they could swarm inside, they saw the Flash exiting the stadium's main entrance, pulling the three criminals she recently captured tied up behind her on a trolley cart with the rest of the attendance still trapped inside walking behind her. She pulled the trolley over to the police pony in charge.

"They're all yours, officer." She told him before walking off. Everypony, including the superpowered ones who were present were quite surprised at her current disposition. The Flash was one of the most well documented hero in Equestria so they all knew that after a victorious battle, she would be very proud and boastful, but right now, she looked very tattered and depressed. She looked up at the ice formation still surrounding the stadium, unsure what to do or say. Supermare walked up to her an put a hoof on her shoulder.

"You've done well, Flash. We'll take it from here." She told her before flying up and using her heat vision to begin to melt the ice. Green Lantern joined her and made a dragon construct that began to breath fire at the ice while Captain MareVel used the same super fast spin move she did to get inside to drill through the ice.

'Copycat.' Rainbow thought to herself with a small smile as she watched the pink alicorn at work. Apparently, the cold didn't slow her down. As everypony watched the gods among ponies in awe, Rainbow slipped away unnoticed. She was completely exhausted and used up all of her remaining strength, so it came as no surprise when a yawn escaped her lips and she felt her eyes starting to shut.

Soon, her entire world went black as she passed out in the middle of the streets. Fortunately for her, her very own guardian angel was once again there to help her.

The next time Rainbow came to, she was lying in the bed of the hotel room she was renting while she was staying in Manehattan with the Wonderbolts. She heard sounds coming from the kitchen and she quickly got out of bed to investigate.

In the kitchen, she saw a well laid table and his father at the stove, preparing a champion's breakfast for her. The smell was already beginning to make her mouth water. Bow looked up and smiled when he saw her.

"Good morning, sweetie! Take a seat, breakfast is almost ready!" Rainbow furrowed her forehead in confusion.

"Breakfast? What time is it?" She looked at the clock hanging on the wall that showed it was almost ten in the morning, much to the mare's shock. "How long was I out?!" She asked frantically, but her father calmed her down.

"Don't worry. Most of the Wonderbolts are in the hospital after what happened yesterday so Spitfire gave everypony the rest of the month off. Though if you ask me, they won't be doing much of anything for the rest of the year. After the stunt Soarin pulled, it's gonna be quite a while before the team is reorganised."

Rainbow thought back to her fight with the Rogues as she sat down at the table. She still couldn't believe that Soarin would pull something like this even with Spitfire kicking him out of the team. She wouldn't know how she'd react if she had done the same to her, but she was certain she wouldn't become a supervillan and go on a crime spree.

"How is everypony else?" She asked.

"They'll be fine." Bow replied. "No major injuries. Soarin's gang have been all taken to a new maximum security prison established by the princess."

"Celestia?" Rainbow asked. She was bound to take intrigue in these costumed lunatics running around her country lately.

"No. Princess Luna." Bow replied, cracking an egg. "She took a keen interest in these super ponies ever since she returned from the moon and regained her position at Celestia's side." Rainbow was a little surprised by this. She couldn't imagine why Celestia seemed to be ignoring these superpowered individuals, but at least this other, recently returned Princess was willing to do something about it.

It seemed like finally all was well in Equestria. And yet, there was one thing, Rainbow still couldn't get over. She remembered her fights with Zephyr Breeze and how he managed to speed up his boomerangs to be able to catch up with her. She still had no idea how he manged to do that and she just knew she won't be able to rest until she got an answer to this. As much as it took away her appetite, she knew where she had to go after breakfast.

Two security guards lead Rainbow down a dark corridor leading to the visiting room of the newly established prison that Princess Luna raised for the superpowered criminals who have been plaguing Equestria recently. It did not look like a pleasant place to be. The most ominous one was it's logo that gave even her cold shivers as she passed by it painted on the wall next to her. A skeletal pony dressed in a black cloak holding the bars he was standing behind with the prison's name and slogan written underneath it. 'Belle Reeve. Till Death Do Us Part'.

The guards reached opened the door at the end of the corridor and lead Rainbow inside before instructing her to wait and leaving. She looked around. She was standing in front of a wall that split the room in two and had several windows on it with a row of chairs on each side. One for the prisoners and one for the visitors. A few minutes later, the door on the other side opened and two guards carried the stallion she was here to see inside.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes upon seeing him. He always disliked this lazy dirtbag, but after everything he'd done, it was taken up to a whole new level. She sat down into one of the chairs and waited for Zephyr to do the same. It was clear the stallion wasn't happy to see her either, but regardless he picked up the receiver after Rainbow picked up hers.

"Well, what do you know? A visit from the Flash herself! And so soon! Don't I feel special?" He said with his voice dripping with sarcasm. Rainbow just stared at him in disdain. She wasn't here for banter so she neglected a witty comeback and got straight to the point.

"Your speed boomerangs. Where did you get them?" She asked so coldly that Batmare herself would have been impressed. Zephyr just smirked.

"So forward. Shouldn't you wait until our third date to get so personal?" Rainbow snapped. She stood up and slammed the window while glaring at Zephyr.

"DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME!" She roared. She finally had enough of him. "I could reach through this wall and mess you up on a molecular lever so badly that you can't even imagine, so you better stop playing around and answer my damn question!" Zephyr wasn't phased in the slightest.

"A magician never reveals his secrets, love. But I will tell you this. You will found out the answer for yourself very soon."

"What are you talking about?!" Rainbow demanded.

"I may have had a little help with those speed boomerangs from somepony who seemed very interested in you." Zephyr admitted. "I'd wager they'll pay you a visit soon enough." He finished with an ominous smile before putting the receiver back in it's place and motioning for the guards to take him away, leaving Rainbow with a lot to think about.

In a dark room, a figure dressed in yellow was sitting at a desk, cutting out a picture of the Flash from a newspaper before clipping it onto a wall alongside several others. The latest picture was taken by a riporter after the Battle of Maretropolis as the incident was now known, the rest was taken by the figure themselves.

They then turned to several TV screens that displayed combat footage of the Scarlet Speedster going up against the Rogues and several other costumed criminals. The figure was less than impressed. Primitive tactics, unimaginative use of her powers, pathetic struggles against enemies she should have easily handled.

The figure smirked. No matter how many timelines they went through, Flash never seemed to improve. Oh, well. It just made her job a lot easier. It won't be long now until they meet again and judging from what they were seeing now, their next encounter won't end any differently than the previous ones. With one more dead speedster and one more messed up timeline.

And the best part was it wouldn't even be their doing, but hers. It always was. The Flash would be running to their doom again and when she did, they will be right there waiting for her.

Author's Notes:

Five volumes down! Two more to go from the first set of stories!

I know it took long and the reason for that is I had to start my mandatory internship for my university studies, but I hope I managed to make it worth the wait.

I still have two more weeks of internship to go through, and I work eight hours a day, so I don't know how often will I be able to write. Or have energy for it by the end of the day.

Anyway, next time on The Justice League of Equestria...

An ambitious fashionista and a spoiled prince came together for what they believed to be a pleasant date, only for it to turn to a nightmare when they are betrayed and left for dead on an deserted Island that may not be so deserted after all. Now, they must work together in order to survive, get home and gain back what's rightfully theirs. But most of all, they'll have to avoid killing each other.

See you next time in...

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #1: Royal Pain

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The black spandex suit tightened around the unicorn mare's body as her hind legs raised into the air and connected with the somepony's muzzle hard enough to send them flying and crashing into the ground. She then leaped into the air and jumped onto the back of another pony, grabbing their neck and doing a somersault forward and slamming them onto the ground. A third one sprung up behind her and she quickly ducked to the ground before extending one of her hind legs and spinning around, swiping the hooves out from under their body and making them fall down.

She looked forward and saw the silhouettes of three more ponies approaching her from the darkness. She jumped forward and grabbed one of them by the neck before slamming them into the another. She then took off her black leather jacket and threw it onto the last remaining pony's head before punching him across the face several times, then jumping back, wrapping her fishnet covered hindlegs around his neck and throwing him over her and slamming hin headfirst into the ground. She then rolled back and stood up gracefully as she threw her head back to whip her mane out of her face.

Suddenly, the darkness she stood in was illuminated by several bright reflectors and she heard thunderous applause coming her way from a crowd standing behind them. The stage she was standing on became fully illuminated as another mare - a beautiful white unicorn with perfect, curly purple mane - walked onto it, carefully dodging the wrecked remains of the dummies her model just destroyed and stood beside the other mare.

"Give it up for Pristine Parfait and her demonstration of the first piece my new collection!" Rarity exclaimed, earning even more cheers for the attendance as the model bowed. Once it died down, she continued. "My aim with this new collection is to show that looking stylish and tough at the same time is no longer for stallions only! Whether you're a stuntmare, an athlete or an aspiring actress looking to break male dominance in the action hero genre, you'll always look like a bonafide superheroine with Rarity's new Mightiest Mares of Equus collection! Now, I know our friend, Captain MareVel possesses that title, but it's not like she has it trademarked or anything!" She added that last part, earning a roar of laughter from the audience.

"Well, that concludes our presentation for today's show, my darlings! But be on the lookout for more super, world saving designs by yours truly! And don't forget, you don't need superpowers to be super fashionable!" She announced as she and Pristine waved to the crowd and the curtains descended.

"On, Rarity! I simply love these designs of yours!" Pristine gushed as they left the stage. "Not only are they a perfect fit for moi but they feel so smooth and comfortable that I feel like I'm not even wearing clothes!"

"Thank you so much, darling! And I've got to say, it's color just goes perfectly with your coat!" Rarity replied. Pristine was a dark navy blue pony with similarly colored long mane, very similar to Princess Luna herself. She was a perfect contrast to the white fashion designer. Some speculated that this was part of the reason they worked so well together.

"But could you please be more appreciative of the pieces I give you?" She said, using her magic to levitate the leather jacket Pristine threw away during the show back to her. "I knew I gave this to you, but that doesn't mean I will stand for it being treated so callously." Pristine chuckled as she took the jacket and put it back on.

"Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away. I really felt like a superhero in action up there."

"And you sweat like one too, darling." Rarity commented when she noticed the sweatdrops on her body in the lighting they passed under. "A shower would be in order after that presentation. It is very unladylike to parade around like that." Pristine's lip curled up into an amused half smirk.

"Why, Rarity, I will let you know that there are several stallions who enjoy when I sweat." When they first met, this comment would have made Rarity gasp in shock and blush in embarrassment. But after working with her for so long, she became so used to it from her that she merely rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I wager they enjoy it when you sweat from a slightly different sort of activities." She sighed. "You are such a pervert, Pristine! How many stallions have had the questionable pleasure of making you sweat during our stay in this city, I wonder. Or have you settled for mares as well at some point?" Pristine shrugged.

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it!" She chuckled before checking her watch. "Speaking of which, I have an... appointment to get to soon so I'll better take those showers you suggested. Wanna come? I'm sure I can get you some pleasant company for the evening as well, if you know what I mean." She winked.

"I appreciate the offer, darling, but I have an appointment of my own at the gymnasium. And then, I will be spending a lovely weekend in Canterlot with none other than Prince Blueblood himself." She replied, finishing with a dramy sigh. Pristine raised an eyebrow.

"Trying for another backer for your fashion career the old fashioned way?" She asked. That finally broke the dam.

"How dare you?!" She demanded, shoving her muzzle into hers with a glare. "I am not such a profligate pony as you are and a stallion of such nobility could only be a perfect gentlecolt!" She was so angry that she actually made her model shrink back.

"Hey, easy, Rare! I was only joking!" She defended as she cowered on the ground. Rarity realised she was going too far and actually backed off, but she didn't look too apologetic about it. In fact, she merely rubbed her muzzle in an attempt to ease her frustration.

"You are so frustrating sometimes. Few ponies can make me go off like that." She said before taking a few calming breaths. "But I suppose I should thank you. A little anger can keep me going during my workout."

"Yeah. A little." Pristine said sarcastically. Rarity turned to frown at her.

"Aren't you going to be late from your 'appointment'?" She asked with equally as much sarcasm.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I will be now." She told her reproachingly. "Well, I'll be off. Have fun working out!" She then stopped at the door. "But, if things don't work out with this charming prince of yours, put in a good word for me, would you?" She teased. Rarity picked up a piece of clothing and tossed it at her with her magic, hitting her in the muzzle before she left with a chuckle. She was normally against the abuse of any type of cloth but this mare brought the worst in her.

She gathered her belongings and made her way to the local gymnasium she bought a ticket for. Back when she was a filly, she never would have thought that she would ever exercise regularly. But the memory of that farm filly, Applejack saving her from those bullies all those years ago still lived vividly inside her mind.

When she saw her in action, how strong she was and how swift she moved as she took down Bright Mane and his gang all by herself, something was sparked inside her. Applejack was her hero that day and she wanted to become just like her one day. She told her as such, but Applejack actually told her that she should lower her expectations because her strength was unique. To this day, she had no idea what she meant.

And then a few years later, the superheroes began to appear. Rarity would never admit this to anypony but she became quite a fan of them. It may have been childish but it was very easy for anypony to be fascinated by these gods living among them and Rarity's secret fantasy was one day becoming their personal stylist. She knew it would never happen, of course, but every once in a while, she still found herself entertaining the thought.

'Who knows, maybe one of them will see my newest collection and recommend me to her colleagues.' She thought with a giggle. But until that day came, Rarity would be more than happy to train her own body to physical perfection in a vain effort to be worthy of her idols. And all the hoofsome stallions that turned their heads upon the sight of her hard, muscly flank weren't exactly a drawback either.

And her admiration of the titans of Equestria just fueled her motivations during her training exercises. When she hopped onto the treadmill, she closed her eyes and pictured herself running beside the Flash as the world slowed down around them and the speedster turned to give her a proud smile. When she lifted the weights, she pictured herself holding a rock next to Supermare, preventing it from crushing her sweet, innocent little sister, Sweetie Belle underneath it. As her body tingled with adrenaline when she increased the intensity of her exercise, she imagined the same electricity flowing through her as Captain MareVel. When she moved to the rings - her absolute favorite part of the gymnasium - and performed all those graceful spins and turns, she imagined flying next to Green Lantern and closed her eyes, picturing herself creating her very own constructs. All of them beautiful, graceful and completely fashionable, of course. And when she stopped by one of the sandbags, she played out a few self designed playfighting moves of her own that really made her feel like Batmare.

She's been at it for almost an hour and she got so carried away that she completely lost her track of time. When she looked at the clock, she gasped in horror upon realising that she was already running late from her appointment with Prince Blueblood. She quickly gathered her belongings and rushed out of the gymnasium. She was almost tempted to skip taking a shower to save time.

Almost. She highly doubted that such a sophisticated and noble stallion as Prince Blueblood would appreciate a mare sweating like a farmer stallion after a hard day's work. No offense to farmer stallions, of course. Sweet Celestia, she really should work on her manners. It would be very unfortunate if she made such an insensitive comment during her date with the prince. She was sure somepony of his status would go out of their way to avoid offending anypony.

She knew it was very unladylike, but she still couldn't help but feel giddy when she remembered how she's gonna spend the entire weekend with that dreamboat. She was already thinking of all the romantic, sweet and beautiful things that will happen between them and they will be saying to each other.

"Scarlet Feather! Get your worthless flank in here you imbecile peasant!"

The pegasus maid with the Dark red coat befitting her name and puffy blue mane sighed as her employer cried out to her for the umpteenth time that morning. She had lost count on how many times her services were called upon by the lazy, conceited twit of a stallion that morning and it wasn't even eight!

She had no idea what she did to offend Princess Celestia so she would punish her by assigning her to serving this arrogant swine. She would have even taken walking Cerberus over this. But it's not like she had a choice so she reluctantly got up and slowly flew towards the prince's bedchamber, trying to delay her newest and no doubt ridiculously petty task as much as she could. But her "sweet master" wouldn't even grant her that boon.

"Did your wings get cut off! I said get in here! Now!" The mare could only sigh again before closing the distance between the prince's room and herself.

"Yes, your highness?" She asked upon entering, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice which was the most difficult task she ever had to perform. But the white unicorn stallion in front of her still didn't look pleased.

"Would you care to explain THIS to me?!" He demanded as he held a brush in his hoof that had small pieces of his white fur in it.

"It's a coatbrush, your highness." The made replied, managing to keep a neutral face with titanic effort.

"I can see that!" Blueblood replied angrily. "What I want to know is why are there pieces of my fur in it when I specifically asked you to clean it out for today?! I am meeting a famous fashion designer today and I cannot stand in front of her so disheveled!"

"I think you should be more worried about something else not standing in front of her." Scarlet said under her breath, but the prince still caught it.

"Care to repeat that, Scarlet?" He challenged and the maid gulped, quickly realising her mistake.

"I said, I apologise, your highness! I will clean it out immediately!" She corrected herself in fright, remembering who she was talking to. The stallion in front of her may have been an insufferable prick, but he was still of nobility who could ruin any pony's life should he feel offended.

"That's what I thought." Blueblood replied before tossing her the coatbrush. "And while you're at it, here's my laundry basket as well." He said as he levitated a well sized pile of clothes onto the mare's back with his magic. "And don't you dare mix the colors again! Also when you're done with that, mop the floor in front of my bedroom door! One of those uncouth buffoon royal guards have gotten it muddy again. I'm starting to think they are doing it on purpose."

'I wonder why!' Scarlet thought, having learned her lesson about speaking out loud from hert previous outburst.

"Are you still here?!" Blueblood complained. "Get to it, you lowly servant! My aunts don't pay you for standing around like a statue!"

'They sure as hay don't pay me enough for this!' Scarlet thought as she made her way out of Blueblood's room. "I could have gone to dance school like the other fillies from my town." She complained to herself once she was far enough from the prince's door. "But no! I had to work at the palace! Why didn't I listen to my mother?!"

But what Scarlet Feather didn't know was that she only thought she was out of the Prince's earshot. Blueblood actually left the room right after his maid, only through a different exit. Canterlot Castle hid a lot more secrets than anypony could have imagined. And an entire network of secret entrances was only one of them.

And he heard everything the maid had said as he passed through the tunnel behind the wall. But he wasn't offended. Nor particularly surprised. Why would he be? He was aware of all the things the staff murmured behind his back. He's gotten used to it a long time ago. But what could he do? Everypony expected him to keep up the royal facade of being one of the standard noble Canterlot snobs all the time and this was the only way he could have some fun.

This was the main reason he was always looking forward to the annual Grand Galloping Gala. He still chuckled when he remembered how his latest wannabe gold digger date squealed when he "accidentally" pushed her into the chocolate fountain because she "offended" him by wanting to leave the ballroom for a walk in the gardens.

It wasn't always like this though. Blueblood's arrogant scowl was replaced by a soft smile as he remembered the first time he had discovered these tunnels. His parents were still alive and he was playing in the royal gardens with his mother when he accidentally ran onto a piece of ground that caved in under him. Fortunately for him, he was already adpet at using luminance spells so he easily managed to find his way out.

His parents remained none the wiser though. They assumed their colt just found a very good hiding place and waited until everypony was worried sick about him before coming out. They knew Blueblood was a cheeky foal. And that trait persisted even after the discovery of these tunnels.

He kept returning to them and explore where they lead to. Soon enough he had made a map of the entire system and could get around the entire palace without any detection. Nopony actually knew but this was how he actually got his cutie mark. He was indeed good at wayfinding as he had discovered.

The only pony who seemed to be suspecting anything was Celestia, but she never said anything about it. She just gave her nephew that knowing smirk she always did when she knew he was up to no good. Blueblood didn't even know if she knew about the tunnels beneath the castle, but it would have made sense considering how old she was. That mare was such an enigma.

Blueblood was snapped out of his train of thoughts when light suddenly his his eyes, forcing him to narrow his eyes. It wasn't light eminating from his horn that he used to navigate through the tunnel, it was the sunlight, which let him know he was close to his destination. At the end of the tunnel, he saw an opening covered by vines and branches.

He used his magic to get them out of the way and walked out into the castle gardens. A secret section of the gardens where he can do some things he actually enjoyed for a few hours before his royal day began. A secret section that only he knew about. Well, he and one more pony.

"Good morning, your highness!"

Blueblood smiled as he turned to see his foalhood friend, Golden Platter approach him. Golden Platter was a black earth pony stallion with elegant, smoothly combed white mane and green eyes. He and Blueblood grew up together. He was practically his brother and one of the only ponies he treated with common equine decency.

"Come now, my friend, we have talked about this." He greeted him. "You're about the only pony who can call me by my name." Golden chuckled as looked away sheepishly.

"Sorry, I always forget. And the way you talk to everypony else around the castle makes me a little nervous about it." He said, but Blueblood just waved off his concerns.

"You of all ponies should know that is a mere act. I'm giving everypony exactly the stuck up, spoiled prince they all expect."

"I know, but you do it so convincingly." Golden Platter replied. "It's scary, honestly. You would make a great actor!"

"Maybe." Blueblood shrugged. "But for the time being, I'd rather focus my attention on an activity I actually enjoy. Did you bring it?" Golden nodded.

"Of course! Right this way!" He motioned for Blueblood to follow him and the two stallions walked over to a table set up nearby. On the table, there was a large black suitcase. Inside it, was Blueblood's most prized possession.

Tbe stallion's eyes lit up when he opened it and saw the object it contained. It was a shiny golden bow with it's two halves carved into the shape of two alicorns - a mare and a stallion - reaching towards each other, while it's middle piece resembled the royal sun emblem of Equestria. The strong tightening between it's two ends was firmer than any of it's kind, having been magically enhanced to be unbreakable.

He used his magic to levitate it into his front hoof and affectionately caressed the firm metallic material that made it up as memories began to flow into his mind of his he obtained such a fine weapon. One day, Celestia held a military parade in the capitol and the guards issued a little challenge for the townsfolk. If anypony can best them at archery, they would be given a special prize. Blueblood immediately volunteered - in incognito, of course - and won the contest with ease.

Blueblood always had a hidden passion for archery. He inherited it from his father, it was the first thing he ever taught him. His mother used to joke that he learned to shoot a bow before using the toilet. Of course, he wasn't expected to have such passion for something that many ponies considered childish and even silly, so nopony ever found out about it. With the exception of his best friend, of course. And perhaps his aunt. He wasn't sure how, but that knowing gaze whenever she looked at him made him felt like she knew what he was thinking and doing before even he did. That mare confused Blueblood to no end.

"So, ready for some practice?" Golden asked.

"As long as my time allows me." Blueblood sighed, remembering that soon, he would have to return to his role as the number one royal prick. "So let's get to it while we still can.

"Okay!" Golden then walked onto the field. "Same rules as always. Three seconds to hit the target before it disappears. Let's see if you can beat your record!" Blueblood smirked. Now that might be a challenge. He did tend to set the bar high for himself with his previous scorelines.

"Bring it!" The unicorn declared with confidence once he pulled on his quiver full of arrows. Golden smiled before looking down at a row of switches at his hoof. After a few moments of pondering, he stepped onto one and a target suddenly sprung up from behind a bush. Blueblood quickly levitated an arrow out of the quiver, loaded it into his arrow and let go. Perfect bullseye.

"Come on, friend! Give me a challenge, will you?"

"Ask and you shall receive!" Golden smirked before pressing another switch. A small target sprung up inside a hole in the tree on Blueblood's right. His ear raised into the air as it picked up it's sound and he swiftly turned right and sent another arrow flying. It hit slightly above the center, but still pretty close.

This continued for the next few minutes. A target sprung up from behind the tree farthest to the north from Blueblood. Slightly above the bullseye. Another one dropped down from a treebranch on the other side. Bullseye. Golden Platter smirked.

"Not bad." He mused. "Now let's see how you deal with this." He then pushed two of his hooves down onto two different switches, summoning two targets at two different parts of the field. Blueblood was slightly surprised but quickly regained his composure and pulled two arrows out of his quiver. He loaded them into two different parts of his bow before letting go and hitting the two targets. Not anywhere near the center but since he had not time to aim, the fact that he hit them at all was rather impressive in itself.

"Is that the best you can do to surprise me, old friend?" Blueblood asked panting and trying to keep the shock out of his voice.

"Not even close." He smirked. He reached behind his back and pulled out another target that Blueblood had no idea he was hiding there and threw it at the prince. "Coming your way!"

Blueblood froze. All throughout his years practicing the fine art of archery, he never managed to hit a moving target. He didn't know what to do. His instincts told screamed at him to just take a hold of it with his magic but his pride prevented him to do so. This was an archery challenge and he would be damned if he backed out of it.

This inner struggle continued until the target was right in his face and by the time he noticed it, it was too late to do anything. The target hit him in the face and knocked him back on his flank. He groaned and held his muzzle in pain as Golden Platter gasped and ran to check on him.

"Oh, sweet Celestia, are you alright?!" He asked frantically. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..." Blueblood just held up his hoof to silence him. This tended to happen very often. Golden Platter was rather clumsy. On more than one occasion Blueblood got injured during their practice sessions because of a screwups like that.

One time, he accidentally dropped a target from a tree onto his back and left him bedridden for a month. Another time, he accidentally activated a target Blueblood was standing directly over and almost broke his leg. And how could he forget the time when he tossed him back one of arrows while he was turning back to him and almost poked his eye out in the process. It was a good thing he never showed any interest in archery as well because he probably would have seriously hurt somepony. Probably him or himself.

"Don't worry about it." Blueblood reassured him. "Just be more careful next time." He said with a sigh. He used that phrase so many times in the past that he lost count. "If you're really sorry, you can make it up to me by bringing me some water and a washcloth." He said as he pointed at his bleeding nose. "I have a date tonight, you know."

"Is that so?" Golden replied as he raised a teasing eyebrow. "Is Prince Blueblood finally giving up the bachelor lifestyle in the search of true love?" Blueblood rolled his eyes.

"Been there, done that. I don't think there are any mares in Equestria who don't become opportunitistic gold diggers when a prince approaches them with romantic interest. I've been disappointed way too many times."

"Oh." Golden replied in slight disappointment. "The usual then? Just do what needs to be done then broom her fast?"

"More than likely." The prince replied half-heartedly before letting out a chuckle. "Though I have to admit, she is quite looker. She is some rising fashion designer or something like that. One of the perks of being a prince that I actually enjoy. She would probably never settle for a commoner."

"What's her name anyway?" Golden asked as he returned with the wet washcloth and began to clean Blueblood's muzzle.

"Something like... Scarcity, or Uncommonality..." Blueblood answered as he struggled to remember the mare's name but eventually gave up and shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I won't see her again after tonight anyway." He then turned back to his friend. "By the way, thank you for lending me that yacht of yours for this date." Golden just smiled in response.

"Of course! I barely use it anyway. Might as well have somepony else make good use of it." Blueblood chuckled.

"I don't know what it is about mares and the sea. They get so much into romantic drivel like walks on the seashore and cruises." Golden shrugged.

"Stallions weren't meant to understand mares, my friend." He said as he finished cleaning Blueblood's muzzle. "They were meant to enjoy them."

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Blueblood laughed heartily. "Could you get me a mirror?" He asked, wishing to see how he looked.

"Way ahead of you!" Golden Platter said before pulling out a small hoofmirror. Blueblood examined himself in it as he put on his typical, scowly royal face. He then switched to his smolder face that he used to woo the mares. He still looked hoofsome, obviously, but nowhere near the royal perfection he usually radiated.

"Well I hope Scarlet Feather had finished cleaning out my brush." Blueblood said clearly unimpressed with what he saw. "I'll be needing it." Golden Platter chuckled.

"Don't you think you've put the poor mare through enough suffering for one day?" Blueblood just shook his head.

"After she put too much wax on my floor on purpose to make it almost impossible for me to leave my room last weekend without falling? No."

Author's Notes:

So I'm back! I'm done with my internship and I'm free to write again! For the time being.

And starting the next volume of this anthology focusing on Rarity and Prince Blueblood becoming this story's version of Black Canary and Green Arrow.

I'm ashamed to see that this will be the shortest chapter for this story so far, not even reaching 5k words. But honestly, setting up the characters for the next chapters was all I wanted to do here and I didn't want to feel like the chapter is dragging on.

As I keep struggling with writing this, I'm beginning to consider giving up the Issue 1-5 system so I could make shorter chapters and update more frequently. I'm really tempted to start Omnibus 2 this way. I don't know yet.

But that's for the future! For now enjoy this chapter! How will their date go? Find out next time in...

Issue #2: Assassination

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #2: Assassination

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Rarity was not panicking. It was very unfitting for a lady to panic. But as her train rolled closer to Canterlot by the minute, she found herself growing more and more nervous. She checked the clock on the wall of her train cart to make sure she wasn't running too late. She was gonna be late anyway, but as long as it's within reason, she could call it being fashionably late.

She used her magic to summon her trusty mirror for one last check up. She was happy to see that she looked just as perfect as ever. Her makeup and mascara was still spotless, her accessories decorated her as well as any noblemare of the Canterlot elite. She was wearing a dazzling golden tiara with a red ruby as a centrepiece, two emerald earrings and a navy blue dress with a white, gem shaped pattern on the bottom, similar to her cutie mark. Yes. She looked just as radiant as she should be for this date. A prince deserves nothing but the best.

When she poofed her mirror away, she noticed the other ponies who were occupying the passenger cart giving her strange looks, much to her annoyance.

"Haven't your parents taught any of you that it is impolite to stare?" She chastised them with as much class as she could muster. The ponies were instantly intimidated and turned away and Rarity smirked in satisfaction before turning back to the window. It won't be long before she arrives now.

Sure enough, after a few more minutes, the engine came to a halt and the conductor announced that they have indeed arrived at Canterlot. Rarity let out an exasperated sigh. She knew it was very unladylike to be impatient but she couldn't help herself. She was just so eager to finally meet Prince Blueblood whom she already pictured as the perfect stallion for her.

When she got off the train, she looked around, trying to find the hoofsome prince in the crowd. She had no doubt such a noble stallion would come to greet the lady he was taking out on a date personally. But no matter how much she looked, she couldn't find him. Instead, she saw a pegasus mare waving at her quite enthusiastically.

"Miss Rarity! Over here!" She called out. Rarity raised an eyebrow. She never saw this mare before. The best guess she could come up with was that she was a fan of hers and she really didn't feel like dealing with that kind of attention tonight. She was going to try and let her off as gently as she could.

"I'm terribly sorry, darling." Rarity said after she trotted over to her. "No autographs tonight. I'm meeting somepony."

"No. You don't understand." The pegasus replied, shaking her head. "I've been sent here to escort you to your meeting with Prince Blueblood. I am Scarlet Feather, his personal maid." Rarity was greatly surprised by this.

"You are ? My, that is rather..." She paused, looking for the right word. "...unusual." Scarlet rolled her eyes ever so slightly that Rarity didn't even notice.

"Well, you will find that Prince Blueblood is a rather unusual stallion himself." She told her. "This way please." She motioned for the unicorn to follow her. Rarity was just about to do so, when she noticed Scarlet walking behind her and beginning to put all her luggage onto her back.

"Oh, darling, that won't be necessary. I can carry my belongings myself." She said, igniting her horn. "I may not be the most skilled mage to ever live, but you won't survive in the fashion industry without that skill." She began to levitate her luggage off of her back, but she just smiled and waved her concern off.

"It is quite alright. The one positive thing I can say about working for Blueblood is that it made me extremely fit." She announced proudly as she finished packing the bags and began walking ahead of the unicorn. Rarity began to follow her and gave her a rather odd look upon hearing what she said about her employer.

"That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way of speaking about the pony who pays you, darling." She chastised on a disapproving tone. "Especially when they are of royalty." Scarlet just scoffed bitterly.

"I suppose you only know the prince from hearsay." Rarity was taken aback by the reply but she actually felt intrigued. If this mare was actually Prince Blueblood's personal maid, then she probably knew him very well. Surely she would be able to tell her more about him and give her some advice for this date.

"You could say that." Rarity replied after a brief pause. "But clearly you don't. So is there anything you could share with me about him?" She asked hopefully, batting her eyelashes at Scarlet kindly. The pegasus turned to her.

"You want advice, Miss Rarity?" She asked sarcastically. "I'll give you the best possible advice. Run! Run as fast as you can and don't even look back!" Rarity frowned in confusion. What on Equus did she mean by that?

"What are you implying?"

"I'm trying to save you!" Scarlet told her, lowering her voice when she noticed a few other ponies passing by. "Blueblood is as far from your typical Prince Charming as it gets! In fact, the only thing royal about him is that he's a royal pain!" Rarity's jaw fell upon hearing such accusations. Surely a pony of noble blood could not be like that.

"That's propestorous! I have seen public appearances of him and he was nothing but the prefect example of manners and sophistication!"

"Oh, yeah! That's the face he always shows in public!" Scarlet retorted. "But when he's in private with those he considers to be lesser than him, then he shows his true colors! You should hear all the things he tells the servants! Tells me! And even if you don't care about that, you would be sorely mistaken to believe he treats his dates any better! Being as well informed in celebrity gossip as you seem to be, I'm sure you heard of the chocolate fountain incident."

Rarity shrunk back as that topic was brought up. She had indeed heard about that. Truth be told, she had a hard time justifying such an outrageous and immature behaviour from a royal. The only thing that seemed to make sense to her was that it was an accident and Blueblood's date had provoked him into doing it. She had heard how insufferable mares from the Canterlot elite could be.

But in the end, she decided to give the prince a chance. For two main reasons. First of all, she didn't want to judge anypony before actually meeting and getting to know them. And second, she had a very tough week, attending several fashion shows in a very short amount of time and she needed a nice, relaxing weekend. One that she would no doubt get from him.

She steeled her expression and turned back to Scarlet. "Your concern is much appreciated, darling. But I would like to form my own opinion on the prince myself." Scarlet shrugged.

"Have it your way. But don't say I didn't warn you." The maid replied and no more words were exchanged between the two as they made their way to the castle.

If Prince Blueblood didn't know any better, he would have thought that tonight would be a completely uneventful night. As he stood at the entrance of Canterlot Castle, there was almost nopony else in sight with the exception of a few guards posted at the gates and his good friend, Golden Platter.

After fixing Blueblood up after their archery practice, the earth pony accompanied the prince to see him off at the start of his date and wish him luck. However, it was already dark and the questionably lucky mare her was taking out was nowhere to be seen. Blueblood was becoming more impatient with each passing minute.

"She should be here already!" He grumbled to himself quietly, but Golden Platter still managed hear him.

"Well she is a fashion designer from what I've heard." He chuckled. "I guess it's part of her nature to be..." Before he could finish, Blueblood held up a hoof to stop him.

"Please don't finish that joke. You're better than that." He kept looking at the distance and in a few seconds, he actually spotted the mare he was expecting alongside his maid, Scarlet Feather carrying her luggage. He let out a sigh. "Finally! You know, I had half a mind to cancel the whole thing and just retire for the night!" Golden chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose you do put far more effort into this date than expected for just one pleasurable night." Blueblood gave his friend a dirty look which quickly silenced him.

"Alright, time to put on our best appearance and behavior, Golden." The prince said, swiping his mane down and adjusting his navy blue suit with his magic. "At least for the time being."

"Indeed." Golden replied as he tightened his black bowtie around his neck. "Until her heart is in one piece. That said, you to tend to lose your temper rather easily. Perhaps I should accompany you on this fine evening. On a double date maybe. At least until the deed is done." Blueblood raised an eyebrow.

"Double date? Wouldn't we need a second mare for that?"

"Well, I do believe your maid is a rather lovely mare who could use some tender caring after the torture you regularly put her through. If you know what I mean." He smiled slyly, poking Blueblood's side with his elbow. Blueblood winced in disgust.

"Golden, for Celestia's sake! You're of a noble family just as I am! Why would you lower your standards to a commoner like her?" Golden shrugged.

"Commoner or not, you have to admit she's rather easy on the eyes. And you probably shouldn't say that when she's standing right in front of you." Blueblood's eyes widened as he turned to see the two mares standing there, giving him questioning looks.

Scarlet's expression turned into one of mild annoyance. She was used to comments like that from the pompous jerk she was cursed to call her boss. Rarity on the other hoof looked absolutely dumbstruck and unsure what to say to the outburst she just heard. She remembered Scarlet's warning and for the briefest of moments, she actually thought about giving it credence before remembering her promise that she would give the stallion a fair chance. She cleared her throat and stepped forward and extended her hoof towards him.

"From my experience, Miss Scarlet is a rather charming company whom anypony of any social circle would be delighted to spend time with." Once Blueblood managed to get over his embarrassment, he cleared his throat and put on his best smolder face.

"Come now, Lady Rarity! There is no need for that!" He said gallantly as he used his magic to levitate a bouquet of flowers in front of her. "This is not a business meeting after all but a night of leisurely fun and dating. Let's not get too formal." It took Rarity all of her mental strength not to squeal with delight. No stallion had ever greeted her with such charm and manners. But she remembered herself in time and accepted the bouquet.

"My sincerest gratitude, Prince Blueblood. They are beautiful." She said before taking a sniff of the flowers. To her surprise, she found that they were artificial flowers. She backed away in surprise, shocked that a prince wouldn't bother with real flowers for an actual date, but she thought it would be impolite to point that out, so she put on a smile. "And they smell divine as well." Blueblood smiled back but his expression hid a scowl.

'Wonderful. Another faker trying to flatter me for every single thing I do. Well, at least she won't be hard to convince on out first date.' He thought. He quickly changed the subject before his irritation could break his facade.

"Oh, where are my manners? This is my close friend and a longtime friend of my entire family, Golden Platter." Blueblood said as he motioned to the stallion next to him.

"Actually, that would be Count Pure Golden Full Platter IV." Golden corrected before shrugging. "Eh, but who's counting?" He chuckled. "A pleasure, Miss Rarity. I'm a longtime admirer of your work. Especially your latest fashion line. With quality craftsmareship like that, anypony can feel like a superhero, isn't that right?"

"That is precisely the idea, darling!" Rarity replied, enthusiastic that she found a supporter of such high standing. "Equestria's greatest defenders fascinate us all and I wished to allow ponies to feel a little closer to them this way."

"Well, maybe not all of us." Golden said sheepishly as he wrapped one of his hooves around Blueblood's neck. "You won't see our hoofsome prince cosplaying as them anytime soon, isn't that right, friend?" Blueblood only gave his friend a subtle glare in response and Golden immediately got the clue, removing his hoof from him. The prince adjusted his wrinkled suit before clearing his throat.

"You know where I stand on this issue, Golden. The only ponies who wear masks are the ones who have something to hide."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Golden joked. It was true. Blueblood himself constantly wore his mask of royal pompousness around everypony. And this made him feel like all these super ponies flying around Equestria in colorful costumes were the same. Masquerading as selfless saviors while their masks covered their true nature and intentions. Who knew what laid beneath? If they decided, they could burn all of Equestria down and there wouldn't be a damn thing they could do to stop them.

"I beg to differ, my friend." Golden objected. "I recall an old expression that says if you give somepony a mask, they will show you their true face." Blueblood raised an eyebrow. There was something really ominous about the way his friend said that. But before he could ask him about it, Rarity interrupted him.

"I must say, I agree with Count Golden here, darling." She told them and for the first time that night, Blueblood allowed a scoff to cross his face.

"Well, everypony is entitled to their opinions. I can see how the small ponies would be enamoured by such primitive heroics." He said very condescendingly. Rarity's eyes widened.

'Surely he didn't mean me, did he?' Golden Platter sensed the awkward atmosphere that was already beginning to rise and he decided it would be best to make his exit.

"Well then, I won't be disturbing you any longer." He said, walking towards the exit. "I wonder if Miss Scarlet might grace me with her company for the rest of the night?" He asked the pegasus maid kindly. But Scarlet wasn't amused by the stallion's advances. She knew that Golden was Blueblood's close friend and her boss' attitude left such a negative impact on her that she thought that nopony from his circle of friends could be any different. Her only reply was a bemused look.

"Thank you, but I think the only company I will grace tonight will be my bed's. After I load Miss Rarity's luggage onto the yacht. Now if you'll excuse me..." The mare then walked away with the bags on her back and didn't even look back. Golden Platter just smiled after her before turning back to Blueblood.

"She's playing hard to get. You know how I love that." Blueblood couldn't prevent himself from rolling his eyes.

"Weren't you about to leave?" He asked, subtly asking his friend to beat it. Golden got the message and bid the couple farewell before leaving.

"Please, excuse his behaviour." Blueblood said, turning back to Rarity. "He's a bit of a twit." He groaned as he glared after his friend. Rarity chuckled.

"It is quite alright, darling. I know all about dealing with troublesome friends." Rarity replied, remembering her conversation with Pristine Parfait earlier that day. She then remembered something else. "Pardon me, but did I hear correctly when Scarlet Feather said that she will be loading my luggage onto a yacht?" Blueblood nodded.

"Indeed. You will find that Prince Blueblood does not settle for anything on a royal date. You will be spending the night on a luxury cruise, having nothing but the best. Including me." He finished with a smirk.

Rarity felt the excitement rising in her chest. She never had a stallion take her out on such a luxurious affair before. She might have just found the perfect pony for herself that she always dreamed of. Even his recent outburst had been completely forgotten. And to think that Scarlet Feather had tried to discourage her from him! Of course, she still had the rest of the night to go through with him, but this was a pretty good start.

"Well then..." Blueblood began, extending his foreleg. "...will you honor me with your presence on a luxury cruise tonight?" Rarity giggled with a blush before reaching out and putting her hoof into his.

"I will."

As the two ponies made their way towards Golden Platter's luxury yacht, Blueblood's spirits began to rise. He knew that this was the part where he was going to start having fun with his date. Not the kind of fun he was looking forward to the most, but he would enjoy it nonetheless.

It started when they reached the royal harbors. Blueblood noticed a large puddle right in their path and a half smirk grew onto the side of his face that was away from Rarity. This was one of his favorite little tricks.

"Miss Rarity!" He exclaimed, holding out a front leg in front of her to stop her. "Look out! A puddle like that might cause somepony to slip." Rarity was awestruck by the gallantry of her date. She wouldn't have even noticed that puddle. "Have no fear. A piece of clothing from a generous soul will no doubt rectify the problem."

Rarity stepped aside to give room to the prince so he could take off his coat and lay it on the puddle for her to walk across. But what happened next instead was nothing less of a complete shock to her. The stallion peeled a piece of clothing off of her back, unceremoniously threw it onto the puddle and walked over it. He didn't even bother to wait for Rarity, leaving her completely stunned.

"Well, I never..." Rarity mumbled to herself before finally snapping out of her stupor enough to walk over the puddle herself. She did it with a heavy heart as stomping on a fine piece of clothing was a cardinal sin in her eyes and even after she crossed, she had no heart to leave it lying there. She used her magic to lift it up and dry it as best as she could before placing it back onto her back.

That behaviour was most unfitting for a prince. And as a fashion designer, Rarity should be doubly offended about his shameful treatment of her dress, especially since it was of her own design. But in the end, she realised that it wouldn't be fair to pass judgement on him so early.

Plus, that coat he was wearing also looked quite fabulous. Rarity should know, it wouldn't have looked out of place in one of her fashion lines. It would have been a waste to use that. And it wasn't like he ruined her entire dress, just a piece of it. Finally, Rarity decided to let it go. It was probably just a one time thing.

With her mind calmed, Rarity followed the prince onto the yacht. Blueblood looked delighted to see her. He was slightly worried that she might have left already. He had dates who have walked out on him for less. But now that she had boarded and they were about to leave the harbour, she wouldn't have that opportunity. Unless she was very skilled in teleportation spells, which he doubted.

"Come, Miss Rarity! I shall give you a tour!" He offered sweetly. Rarity smirked. That was more like it. The yacht was rather large. It featured a swimming pool at the back, plenty of room for the long dinner table that was currently being set by the servants they brought along with them. There was also a small stage set for a four-pony musician band.

Rarity was about to squeal. Dinner and music? That sounded almost too good to be true. And when she saw the servants setting the table looking as glum as if they have been dragged away to dig trenches on a battlefield, the alarm bells in her head began to ring. She was about to go up to them and ask them if something was wrong, but Blueblood quickly called her over to join him on the lower levels of the yacht.

The prince showed her the bathroom, complete with a shower, a basin and a mirror. Rarity also saw shampoos and various beauty products of all kinds and she thought she have reached the promised land.

The toilet was right next to it but Blueblood obviously wasn't willing to go into details about that. He then took her to her to their cabins. Rarity's luggage already laid in front of her luxurious bed that even gave the one she had in Carousel Boutique a run for it's money.

She felt a strong desire to just drop down on it and feel how comfortable it felt, but that wouldn't have felt very proper in the presence of a prince Plus, she would get the opportunity for that later. Right now, she still had a tour to finish and a dinner to have.

Upon finishing the tour, the two ponies headed back up to the deck. When they reached the door, Rarity expected Blueblood to open it for her as a gentlecolt was supposed to do, but of course, the prince had other ideas. When he saw Rarity stopping at the door and nodding towards it with her head, he immediately knew what she wanted. But instead of actually doing it, he was going to have some more fun with her.

He mirrored her head movements, giving her the signal that he wanted her to open the door for him. Rarity was completely aghast. She never would have imagined that any stallion would have the audacity to ask that of her. She repeated the motion herself, more firmly this time, only for Blueblood to turn his head away in an offended manner. The message was clear: 'Do you honestly expect me, a prince to open the door for you, peasant?' Rarity glared up at the stallion. She was very close to snapping but managed to restrain herself and gave in.

'What a nerve!' Rarity fumed in her head. 'Who taught him royal manners? A diamond dog?' She walked out and Blueblood followed her and was barely able to contain his laughter.

'She looked ready to burst an artery!' The prince chuckled to himself. 'And they call me entitled? If she reacts like that to me not opening the door for her, no wonder she couldn't find a rich husband yet.'

The two then made their way to the dinner table which fully set by now. The musicians were already on the small, makeshift stage with their instruments in their hooves and the other servants stood around the table in case their services were needed. At this point, Rarity didn't even expect the prince to pull her chair out for her so she did that herself and waited for Blueblood to do the same. But he just stood next to his seat without pulling it out with a vain scowl on his face.

He looked towards his servants with a questioning look and when he cleared his throat, they finally got the hint. A unicorn mare stepped forward and used her magic to pull out the chair for him. The prince then smiled in satisfaction before sitting down and Rarity couldn't help but share the other mare's annoyed expression.

'Was he actually too lazy to pull out his own chair?' Rarity wondered. 'Sweet Celestia, what on Equus did I get myself into?'

The smell of the food in front of her quickly brightened her mood and drew her attention away from the prince's awful behaviour. True to the royal court's reputation, even on a personal cruise like this, they served only the finest delicacies in all of Equestria.

The divine tastes, accompanied by the fine music their entertainers played put her entirely at ease and she was soon enjoying herself like she was completely alone. So obviously, this was the time Blueblood chose to remind her of his presence.

"Say, Miss Rarity, since a pleasant conversation is the perfect way to sweeten a good dinner, wouldn't you agree that this is the perfect time you told me a little about yourself?"

The prince's request shocked the mare. From what she's seen so far, he didn't exactly look like the type who would bother getting to know a mare better before doing the deed. And her assumption was right. Blueblood wasn't interested in her life in the slightest, but everything was preferable to the awkward silence that fell between them in the past few minutes.

And it was fine, since after the way she had been treated so far, she wasn't too interested in engaging in idle conversation with him either. No. Rarity had a different idea.

"Well, Prince Blueblood, I must say, I am not a very interesting pony. Merely an ambitious fashion designer from a small town near Canterlot you probably never heard of." The fashionista confessed humbly. "As a matter of fact, I would like to learn more about you." She said, batting her eyelashes at him.

For the first time that night, Blueblood found himself at a loss. He did not expect that. None of his previous dates ever asked him that. All of them have assumed that all they needed to know about him was that he was a prince and rich in order to claim him as their soulmate for life.

"Well... I... Uh... You see..." Blueblood stammered as he tried to come up with a story about his life. He had no intention of letting a complete stranger in on his past. No matter how beautiful they were. Rarity giggled. She had to admit, seeing him becoming so flustered and losing his proper royal mask was amusing and kind of cute.

"What's wrong, Prince Blueblood?" She teased. "Cat got your tongue?" Blueblood became completely stiff. He just sat there, motionless as a dummy as Rarity just kept smirking at him. But Blueblood put on a smug smirk of his own when he found the perfect response. He was gonna turn the exact same line of thinking he's experienced from the mares he dated before against her.

"Well, what else is there for you to know, Miss Rarity?" He asked. "I'm a prince of Canterlot. What more would you need?" He flashed Rarity another arrogant smirk and he was satisfied to see that he reached his goal. Rarity, once again convinced that he was nothing more than a conceited snob, dropped her smirk and went back to eating her food grumpily.

Blueblood sighed in relief. This mare was a lot more sly than she let on. If she got him to open up to her, his entire reputation would be down the drain. He would lose every bit of respect and authority he has garnered himself among the Canterlot elite. That would be an unimaginable scandal and a disaster for him. He had to be careful from now on.

It was funny. Just a few moments ago, he was ready to engage in idle chatter with this mare just to break the awkward silence. But now, silence was the only thing he wanted for the rest of the night.

As the awkward dinner on the deck proceeded, a red earth pony stallion was reading the charts with very specific instructions about where he was supposed to steer the yacht. Their journey was marked with a dark blue line that started at the harbor they left from and drew a large U shape across the sea surrounding Equestria before returning to the exact same spot.

It was simple enough, but for some reason, the navigator was puzzled. He just couldn't understand why would anypony want to cruise out to the middle of nowhere just to head back immediately. And so far from the shore no less. There were many ponies who took their dates and party guests out on luxury cruises, of course, but not this far. There were several small islands closer to dry land that provided excellent background for romantic dinners and parties, but out here, there was nothing but the empty open ocean. He had a bad feeling about this.

As he pondered about this, an old, grey unicorn stallion walked up onto the bridge. The yacht Blueblood rented belonged to his friend, Golden Platter, but the prince himself was rather inexperienced with seafaring, so he hired an old captain to guide the yacht through it's journey. And he was just as enthusiastic about this task and all the other servants on the boat.

"How goes the dinner down there?" The navigator asked. The unicorn scoffed.

"I gotta say, this little lady the prince is seeing has more in the head than the previous ones. She's not taking his pushing around lying down and actually tries to get under his skin as much as he does." He replied. "And that's good news for us. As long as they're focused on bothering each other, they'll leave us alone to do our jobs in peace. The sooner we get this over with the better." That reminded the navigator of his current problem.

"Speaking of doing our job..." He said as he turned back to the charts. "...I can't make sense of this map." The captain walked up to him to take a look at it himself.

They were so preoccupied with it that they didn't see two pairs of pegasus wings glide past the moon. When they left the light, they blended in perfectly with the starry night sky as their owners descended down onto the yacht from above and removed their dark, star decorated camouflage once they landed.

"Seems pretty simple to me." The captain said. "We go out, turn back and go home. What's not to understand?"

"Well, that's exactly it!" The navigator replied. "Why would anypony come all the way out here just to sail back? Doesn't make a lick of sense." The captain shrugged.

"What does with these nobles? You know they're all nuts." The navigator laughed.

"Yeah, I can't argue with that."

The navigator wouldn't get the chance to argue with anything for a while, as he felt two hooves grabbing his head from behind. The same thing happened to the captain and the two ponies felt their heads being pushed hard against each other, rendering them both unconscious. One of them then picked up the map and ripped it to shreds while the other smashed the boat's control mechanisms. He then reached to his ear.

"The boat is rendered immobile." He spoke into a transmitter. "You can board now."

The luxurious dinner was almost enough to make up for the prince's less than charming behaviour. Almost. At this point, the dessert was the only thing that had any chance of salvaging this poor excuse for a date. And when Rarity saw the servants pushing a large vanilla cake on a cart onto the deck, those chances swiftly skyrocketed. So naturally, Blueblood took it onto himself to ruin even that for her. When the pompous stallion took a bite of the cake, his eyes widened and he immediately spat it out.

"Excuse me!" Blueblood demanded, wiping his lips with a handkerchief. "What is this?!" The chef, a blue unicorn mare with light brown mane stepped forward.

"It's a vanilla cake, your highness." She replied dryly, much to Blueblood's anger.

"Don't get clever with me, mare!" Blueblood snarled at her. Rarity merely kept eating her cake. It may not have been the show she was expecting tonight, but it would no doubt be entertaining. "I want to know what kind of vanilla is it?!" The chef raised an eyebrow.

"Does it matter?" Blueblood gasped in outrage.

"Does it matter?! Do you expect me, a prince of Canterlot to settle for cheap vanilla from anywhere?! I only eat desserts made from quality ingredients imported by trusty royal merchants! I can't eat this... common swill!" He complained before shoving his plate away. "Miss Rarity, I apologise but our dinner has been effectively ruined by this... talentless hack." He then stood up and was about to retire for his cabin, but the offended mare wasn't about to let this insult slide.

"I've put my entire day into making that cake!" She snarled through her teeth, but Blueblood just shrugged.

"It's a pity then that it still turned out this edible."

That did it. The chef let out an angry scream before picking up his plate and hurling at the stallion. Blueblood just passed Rarity's chair and yanked her out of it to use her as a shield. Everypony on the deck gasped in shock as the half eaten dessert splashed across the mare's face.

When the plate slipped off of Rarity's face, it was redder than the Flash's costume. She turned around to face Blueblood with so much fury that even the prince became intimidated. Perhaps he had gone just a step too far.

"You..." Rarity snarled, dragging out the word as much as she could before exploding. "YOU UNCOUTH, MANNERLESS, ARROGANT, INCONSIDERATE, POMPOUS SWINE!" She roared at the top of her lungs. "I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt but now I see that Scarlet was indeed right. Your only royal quality is that you're a ROYAL PAIN! Agreeing to this date was the biggest mistake of my life! I will clean myself, gather my belongings and then I'm turning this boat right back!" She screamed into his face before storming off into the lower decks without another word.

Blueblood looked at her leave before turning back to the servants who just stared at him in bewilderment.

"What?" He snapped at them and they instantly snapped out of their stupor and started cleaning up the mess. Blueblood sighed, unsure of what he was supposed to do now. His date was officially over and the one thing he aimed to do tonight was more out of his reach than the throne of Equestria. Perhaps retiring for the night would be the best course of action for him as well, but for obvious reasons, he shared the same cabin as Rarity and he was certain she would throw him overboard the moment she saw him.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard something metallic clinging against the wooden deck. He looked down to see a small metal cylinder rolling in front of his hooves before coming to a stop and releasing a cloud of smoke with a loud hissing sound. Blueblood looked up and the last thing he saw was the servants across the deck panicking and trying to run away as more gas grenades were thrown across the deck.

Blueblood had trouble seeing through the smoke, but he could hear them cough and fall over once they passed out. Even though the smoke was becoming more and more thick, he could also see the silhouettes of ponies with weapons running onto the deck and rounding up the unconscious servants. He didn't need to be a genius to realise that he fell into the middle of a hostage situation. Fortunately, he was close to the door leading to the lower decks so he could slip away unnoticed. He didn't waste any time and headed to his cabin.

Once he got there, he noticed Rarity packing into one of her many suitcases. When she heard the door close, she turned around and glared at the stallion with such heat that even his aunts would be impressed.

"You have the audacity to show your face in my cabin after... mph..." She didn't get to finish as Blueblood jumped over to her and covered her mouth.

"Be quiet!" He whispered firmly before heading to the cupboard on the other side of the room. Rarity was about to demand an explanation, but when she saw the panic on the prince's face, she knew that there was something seriously wrong going on. Blueblood pulled out his own suitcase from the cupboard and threw it onto the bed.

"What in Equestria is your suitcase doing in my cabin?" She asked in angry confusion. The prince did not reply, merely kept digging through the suitcase, but Rarity quickly connected the dots herself. "Of course! You placed us both into the same cabin?! I should have known! From the start, you just wanted to..." Blueblood once again shut Rarity's mouth himself before finally finding what he was looking for. His golden bow.

"What do you want with that?" Rarity asked, becoming slightly nervous but also a little curious. For some reason, that bow looked really familiar to her. Her fear only grew when she heard heavy hoofsteps on the corridor, approaching their cabin. Blueblood grabbed the mare's hoof and pulled her next to the door just before it was opened and two earth pony stallions burst into the room, both carrying crossbows.

"He's gotta be here!" One of them said. "I've heard voices coming from this cabin." The two ponies walked over to the bed where they saw Blueblood's suitcase lying open and in doing so, they inadvertently gave their targets the opportunity to get the drop on them.

Blueblood snuck up to one of them and raised his bow over his target's head before pulling it against his throat. The stallion struggled in vain to break free but Blueblood managed to keep him in place until he passed out. He was about to do the same to the other one, but somepony beat him to it.

The prince could only watch in awe as Rarity leaped over the stallion's back and slammed his head into the open suitcase. She then landed gracefully on the other side of the bed and slammed the top of it down on his head repeatedly until he also passed out. Rarity then looked at Blueblood who still kept staring at her in disbelief. She scoffed.

"I would ask if you didn't know that staring is impolite, but given all you've done tonight, I think even that would be expecting too much from you." Blueblood looked down in embarrassment and went to check on the two stallions' weapons. He saw that they were both wearing quivers on their backs which gave Blueblood ammunition for his bow, but to his dismay, he noticed that that they were sporting crossbows. He shook his head.

"So uncivilised." He complained.

"You should know." Rarity muttered under her breath. "So who are these ruffians?"

"I don't know, but obviously they are after the only pony on this yacht who's worth anything." Blueblood replied as he finished putting one of the quivers onto his back and took all of the arrows. Rarity was aghast. Even in such a crisis, the stallion's thoughts could only revolve around his delusions of grandeur. "But if they think they will take Prince Blueblood easily, they have another thing coming."

Rarity was less than impressed by the prince's boasting, but then four other stallions burst into the cabin with crossbows in their hooves as well. The two ponies didn't even wait for them to order their surrender. Blueblood pulled out two arrows and shot them out before his targets had the chance to fire. The arrows went through the two stallion's shoulders and pierced them to the wall, giving Blueblood the chance to use his bow and slam their heads against the wall until they passed out.

Meanwhile, Rarity did a somersault forward, dodging two arrows that were fired her way. She kicked the crossbow out of the hooves of one attacker, before grabbing him and throwing him over her shoulder, knocking the last enemy in the room off of his hooves.

When the assailants were all down, Blueblood and Rarity looked at each other. It was obvious to both of them that they just witnessed a side of the other that they never thought they'd have. But before they could say anything, they heard a panicked scream coming from the upper deck.

They rushed up to see the servants being lined up and being interrogated by the attackers. The chef currently had a crossbow pressed against her throat by an angry pegasus mare, demanding the location of the Prince. Blueblood loaded his bow and got ready to announce his whereabouts in dramatic fashion.

"Announcing, Prince Blueblood of Equestria!" He shouted to gain the mare's attention before firing the arrow and knocking the weapon out of her hoof. Rarity then ran forward and delivered a spinning kick into the mare's muzzle, knocking her out.

Blueblood then turned around and saw three other ponies standing on the bridge and preparing their crossbows to fire at him. The prince quickly dashed over to the pool and jumped into the water which protected him from the barrage of arrows coming his way. He then burst out of the water and released a few arrows of his own, disarming the attackers and giving Rarity the chance to run up the stairs and take them out.

The fashionista then quickly found herself on the receiving end of another barrage of arrows as two pegasi began firing at her from the air. Blueblood noticed this and fired an arrow at one of them, cursing under his breath when he missed. He was never good at hitting moving targets.

But he did manage to take the heat off of Rarity long enough for the mare to pick up the weapon of one downed enemy and flung it at one of the pegasi, hitting him in the head and knocking him out of the air. This startled the other one enough that Blueblood could take a clear shot at him, piercing his wing and forcing him to the ground where Rarity took care of the rest.

Amidst the skirmish, the two ponies failed to notice one single unicorn stallion walking onto the deck with slow and heavy steps. Only when Blueblood and Rarity took care of the last of their opponents did they turn to see him standing there and sizing them up. His massive size and confident appearance was all they needed to tell that this unicorn was the leader of their attackers.

While they were both tired and panting heavily from all the fighting they've just done, they were both confident that they could take down one more opponent with little difficulty. They were quickly proven wrong.

The unicorn pulled a bola launcher out of nowhere and incapacitated Rarity with it. Blueblood then loaded his bow to take the assassin out, but to his astonishment, the stallion merely knocked the arrow away with his weapon. As he turned to him, Blueblood got a look at his face and recognised who he was.

"Bloodsport!"

The mercenary unicorn Rapid DoBad, also known by his codename, Bloodsport, had a reputation even amongst the Canterlot elite. Nopony would ever admit it, but he was a favoured employee among them whenever they needed some dishonest work done. And it looks like this time, that dishonest work included doing away with Blueblood.

'Well, it looks like Golden Platter was right. My behaviour in the court really would be the end of me.' The prince thought. But he wouldn't go down without a fight. He loaded another arrow while Bloodsport transformed his weapon into an energy blaster. Blueblood fired quicker and his arrow penetrated Bloodsport's weapon, causing it to malfunction and explode in it's user's hoof, blasting him back, right into the pool.

Blueblood and Rarity who had finally managed to wiggle her way out of the bola wrapped around her were also caught in the blast and unfortunately for them, since they happened to be standing at the edge of the yacht, they were blown overboard by the explosion.

Bloodsport crawled out of the pool and checked his ruined weapon. It was beyond repair but he wasn't concerned about it. He could make a new one from scrap metal if he tried. He was more worried about his quarry. He ran over to the edge of the yacht and looked down. The water was calm and the two ponies were nowhere to be seen. All he saw was the prince's golden arrow floating in the water

The mercenary growled before levitating the weapon with his magic and taking it in his hoof. No bodies meant no payment for him. And he had learned a long time ago that you should never assume your target was dead until you had their body stiff and bullet ridden in front of you. His job was not done yet. He had his methods of searching the seas and he was nothing if not thorough. His prey would not escape him. Not even into a watery grave.

"Sir?" Bloodsport turned to see another squad of his mercenaries raiding the deck, rounding up the hostages and helping up their knocked out comrades. The mare trooper in question looked up at him inquisitively, waiting for the next order.

"Send search parties out." He commanded. "Nopony rests until they are found. Dead or alive."

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #3: Survival

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Rarity's current situation was a complete mystery to her. Was she dead or alive? Was she dreaming or awake? Was she floating through the endless ocean or was it just her soul leaving her body to ascend to the heavens? She couldn't tell. She suddenly felt something take a hold of her right foreleg and pull her forward. At first, she assumed that this was either the angels yanking her into the hereafter or a predator of the seas taking a hold of her still living body to devour her and she would rot away in it's stomach, her body never to be found.

But then she felt the sensation of floating going away and the welcome feeling of dry land beneath her came back. She felt a pressure on her chest which was followed by a pair of lips touching her own in an attempt to breath life back into her. Their effort was rewarded. Rarity let out a series of coughs as she ejected the water from her lungs. This answered her first question. She was alive. By some miracle, somepony must have found her and pulled her out of the water to resuscitate her. Probably a passing boat. That meant they would take her back to shore and by tomorrow, this whole trip would seem like nothing but a bad dream.

But she began to question that possibility when she felt that she wasn't lying on the wooden floor of a boat but sand. She was never one to refuse a trip to the beach, but given her current circumstances, that was the last thing on her mind. A few minutes later, she finally found the strength to open her eyes. At first, she got second thoughts about her earlier reassurance about being alive as all she saw was darkness. But when she turned her head, she saw the waves washing the shoreline and the tall trees lining up in the background. The cold reality of the situation finally dawned upon her. She had become marooned on a desert island!

"No..." She muttered as panic began to overcome her mind. "No, no, no! This cannot be! This cannot possibly happen to me!" She screamed as she sat up. "Of all the things that could happen, this is the worst possible thing!"

"Ah, good. You're awake." The voice of a stallion said, snapping her out of her dramatic episode. Rarity turned around to see the rather charmless Prince Blueblood sitting a few meters from her next to a campfire and messing around with some sticks. The events that lead up to Rarity's current situation quickly flashed before her eyes and needless to say, she was not happy to see the pompous jerk again.

"You!" She shrieked before getting up and marching over to the stallion. Blueblood seemingly didn't concern himself with what was coming and kept focusing on his sticks. "This is all your fault! It's not bad enough you have gotten me out here to get abducted by those scoundrels, now you have gotten me stranded on this Celestia forsaken island as well! Worst of all, with you as my only company!" Blueblood paid her no mind. He just kept working on whatever he was doing and completely ignoring the mare, much to her frustration.

"Don't you dare ignore me!" Rarity shouted in outrage. "After everything you put me through tonight, the least you can do is listen to my tongue lashing and take it like a stallion! What could be so important that you ignore a lady like me for it?!"

Blueblood finally acknowledged Rarity by giving her an unamused look before pulling out an extremely crude makeshift bow and shooting out an arrow made of another stick. The arrow pierced through several fruits hanging from a tree nearby. He then yanked the arrows back by a string he tied to them and pulled the fruits down before catching them with his magic and levitating them back to the pair.

"Here." He offered her. "You used up all of your energy before you passed out in the water. You have to regain some."

Rarity was overwhelmed by embarrassment. After all the things that happened on the yacht, this kind, considerate behavior was the last thing she expected of him. Normally, she would have rejected anything offered by this stallion, but half due to her embarrassment and half due to knowing that he was right, she took the offered food and sat down next to the fire and began to eat.

Blueblood did the same. A few fruits would not even begin to make up for the calories she lost in the water, but it was a start. Blueblood quickly finished off his fruits and Rarity noticed that he gave her far more than he himself ate. Another gesture of unexpected kindness. But then again, maybe the prince just didn't want to eat any more of a meal he considered beneath himself than he needed. Yes, that must have been it.

"Do you know where we are?" Rarity asked once she calmed down a little. Blueblood sighed.

"It's hard to tell. I don't remember any islands being marked on any map this far out to sea." He then looked up at the sky. "Can't tell from the stars either since there aren't any visible. And since this place is as far from any civilisation as it gets, that can only mean it will rain soon." Rarity's eyes widened.

We should find shelter then!" She exclaimed. "I've put far too much work into my mane to have rain ruin it!" Blueblood rolled his eyes.

"Well, you got your priorities straight." He muttered, but not quietly enough.

"You're one to talk! I'm surprised you had the tremendous willpower to lower yourself to these fruits or didn't expect me to drag your worthless flank to dry land." She scoffed. Blueblood glared right back at her.

"In case you haven't noticed, we're stuck in the middle of the ocean away from anything or anypony and have no means of escaping! There is a time for royal taste and squeamishness and this is not one of them!" He yelled at her.

Rarity opened her mouth for a witty comeback that never came. As much as she hated to admit it, the prince was right so she couldn't do anything else but go back to eating her fruits. Suddenly, she heard a weak chirping sound coming from next to her. She looked down to see a small yellow bird, a canary from what she could tell standing next to her, looking up at her with hungry eyes.

The fashionista smiled softly and broke off a small piece of the last fruit she was eating before offering it to her guest. The bird jumped back at first, inspecting Rarity's hoof suspiciously, but when it saw that the approaching limb meant no harm and even offered it food, it jumped onto it and began to eat.

"Still, you're right about one thing." Blueblood continued as he finished carving more arrows for himself. "We're gonna have to find shelter. The only problem is, we don't know anything about this island. Exploring it during the middle of the night could be dangerous."

Before Rarity could say anything, loud and persistent chirps interrupted her. The bird she just fed flew up to the mare's head and began to chirp to her as if trying to tell her something. She didn't seem to understand so the canary started tugging on her mane.

"Ow! That is quite enough! What are you doing?!" She demanded, feeling rather silly when she remembered that a bird wouldn't be able to respond. It seemed to understand her however and flew a couple meters away before turning back to her and beginning to chirp again. Rarity's eyes widened in recognition.

"You want me to follow you?" She asked. The bird flew away again and Rarity got up to run after it while Blueblood watched in bemusement.

"Are we taking directions from birds now?" He asked, completely dumbfounded. "Well, I suppose it at least knows its way around the place." He shrugged before running off after the mare.

They made their way through a lush jungle, struggling to get across the mud, vines and clouds of insects. The bird made sure to stop every once in a while to let them catch up. Eventually, it lead the two ponies to an empty cave that looked just big enough to give them shelter. As expected, Blueblood was less than impressed by the implication.

"Well, that's what I get for following a bird." He groaned. "Not exactly the kind of accommodation fit for a prince." Rarity frowned.

"Maybe not now, but all it takes is a little creativity and a sense of style to make a home out of even the unlikeliest of environments." She said before looking around. She saw a fallen tree, a couple of bamboo plants and several palm leaves hanging from another tree.

With a smile, she ignited her horn and began working her magic, both figuratively and literally. Within a minute, a makeshift wooden bed with bamboo legs tied together with vines was lying inside the cave. Rarity then pulled a pair of scissors, a needle and a ball of string out of nowhere, greatly surprising Blueblood.

"Where did you get those?" He wondered.

"A self respecting fashion designer who cares anything about her reputation never goes anywhere without these." She answered. She then began sewing the palm leaves together into a blanket and levitated it onto the bed before looking down at her torn dress. She sighed sadly.

"I'm so sorry, darling. You deserved so much better but rest assured, your sacrifice will allow me to live." She said before raising the scissors and began cutting away at the dress. She then took the needle and turned the piece of fabric she just cut off into a pillowcase and filled it with leaves. She then cut off the rest of her dress and repeated the process to make a much bigger case full of leaves, this time for a mattress.

"And there you have it!" She announced in a sing-song voice. The stunned Blueblood could only watch in astonishment as Rarity slowly laid on the bed to try it.

"Well, it's not as comfortable as the one back at Carousel Boutique but it will suffice." She said. The canary that lead them to the cave flew into the headboard and chirped.

"Oh, of course, darling!" Rarity smiled at it. "I wouldn't forget to repay you for your kindness!" She used her magic to bring forth another bamboo construct that resembled a perch complete with a small bowl already full of some fruits for her new friend. The bird accepted it quite gratefully and appreciatively as it flew down on it and began to doze off.

Rarity followed its example by snuggling under her makeshift blanket. She took one last leaf and pierced it with her needle on both ends and tied some more string to its back to turn it into a crude sleeping mask which she then put on her head and laid down onto the pillow.

"Nighty night!" She said with a yawn before turning onto her side and falling asleep. Blueblood looked down at her, still in wonder about how quickly she set things up. But even more noticeable was that Rarity had completely ignored him during her little home improvement episode and he had nowhere to lie.

He understood it of course. It was her way of getting back at him for his treatment earlier tonight. Well, Blueblood could play that game too. He would head out and look for shelter on his own and see how Rarity handles herself on her own once she wakes up. He was just about to carry out that plan, but he was interrupted by the sound of a lightning strike that made him jump.

He looked out the cave and saw the rain already coming down heavily. With a sigh, Blueblood had little choice left but to use his magic to gather the leaves that remained from Rarity's work together into a pile he could lie on. And for the very first time that night, he found himself sharing the exact same sentiments as Rarity. They would need to find a way off this island as quickly as possible.

He was about to fall asleep, before a violent fit of coughs erupted from his throat. They were so loud that even Rarity and the canary were stirred up from their sleep.

"What is it?" She asked with far more concern than this jerk warranted. But Blueblood's pride was far greater than to reveal something weakening him to anypony.

"Nothing. Good ni..." Before he could finish, another fit of coughs interrupted him. Rarity got out of her bed and went over to the prince to check on him. When she tried to place a hoof on his forehead, he tried to slap it away, but he was too weak for it. When she touched him, she gasped.

"Nothing?! You're burning up! You must have gotten a cold from the sea water. With a fever like this, you won't make it through the night. Especially in this ghastly weather."

"I'll be fine." Blueblood groaned in both irritation and exhaustion. "Just leave me alone and go back to sleep." But Rarity was having none of it. Awful as the prince may have been, she was not about to let him die.

"We're gonna have to bring your fever down. Some herbal tea might do the trick but it's not like I can go shopping on this island." She then looked out the cave entrance and put a hoof to her chin in thought. "I wonder if I might find some herbal plants out there though." She then turned to the canary. "Do you think you can help?" To her surprise, the bird nodded and flew out into the night.

While it was away, Rarity went out and gathered some wood and stones to build another campfire inside the cave to keep Blueblood warm. She got inside just before the sound of thunder signaled the arrival of tropical rain.

After Rarity got the fire started, she took one last piece of wood and broke it to pieces before reconstructing it into a cup with her magic. She then levitated the cup outside the cave to fill it with rainwater.

The canary soon returned with several berries and plants carried in its beak and legs. Rarity inspected all of them, smelling the plants and tasting one berry. The plants smelled familiar. She smelled them everytime she entered her favourite spa in Ponyville. And the berry also tasted bitter enough to be medicinal.

Not wasting any time, she put them into the cup before mixing them together and boiling it over the fire. She then took the cup to the prince who was still rather adamant to refuse any help, but when he smelled the steaming beverage and he felt his nostrils becoming cleaner, he finally gave in.

He took the cup into his own telekinetic grasp and started taking slow sips of it. He winced after the first one as the drink tasted positively awful, but he said earlier that this was not a time to be picky and he had to stick to it.

When he finished the drink, he already felt it taking effect. He felt the fever beginning to go down as he started to fall asleep. When Rarity heard his snores, she moved him to the bed she made for herself and tucked him in. He needed all the warmth he could get and he should be fine by the morning. But now where is she going to sleep?

She looked back at the pile of leaves Blueblood gathered for himself and let out a defeated sigh. Lacking the energy to make any more adjustments to the cave, she simply laid down and prayed the warmth of the fire would help her fall asleep.

"Never let it be said that Lady Rarity is not generous." She muttered before closing her eyes.

The next morning, Blueblood awoke to a strange, tickling sensation rubbing his stomach. It was a brief feeling that repeated itself on a minutely basis and he probably wouldn't have bothered himself with it, but after the umpteenth time, it became too much for him to ignore.

He opened his eyes and saw the little Canary friend Rarity made last night fly up to him and snatch one of the leaves he was lying on away from under him and flew out the cave. He had no idea what was going on but when he looked around the cave, he saw that Rarity was nowhere to be seen.

All Blueblood knew was that he was feeling much better and completely revitalised, but he wasn't ready to get out of bed just yet. Wait, bed? Wasn't it Miss Rarity who had made a bed for herself last night while he was sleeping on a pile of leaves? She must have traded places with him to aid his recovery last night.

A pang of guilt and shame washed over the stallion. After everything he put her through last night, not only did she save his life with her herbal tea but she also gave up her considerably more comfortable resting place for him. He had to repay her somehow and he felt like doing everything he could to aid in their escape from the island would be a great start.

'And then, perhaps I could take her on a real date where I'm not just having fun with her..' He thought but then he shook his head. 'No. She will probably never want anything to do with me again.' He remembered sadly. 'A pity. Not only is she beautiful, but she turned out to be a generous soul too. I really ruined things this time.' He got out of the bed and went to search for the mare.

There was only one place where she could be and when Blueblood exited the cave and saw the giant cloud of smoke emerging towards the sky from the beach, his theory was proven correct. He rushed towards the beach where they washed up last night and saw the campfire spot he made blazing with huge flames.

"What in Celestia's name are you doing, mare?!" Blueblood shrieked as he ran up to Rarity. The mare merely glanced back at him with a blank expression.

"Good morning to you to, your lowness." She replied sarcastically. "I can't believe I'm saying it but it's a good thing you're here. The remainder of your vest could fuel the fire more and generate more smoke." She ignited her horn and was about to peel off the torn blue coat Blueblood was still wearing, but he interrupted her just in time.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Blueblood screamed as he cut off Rarity's magic with his own. "Stop this at once!" He then created a barrier around the fire to cut it off from the oxygen that supplied it.

"I should be asking you that!" Rarity shrieked, trying to stop the prince, but surprisingly, his magic proved stronger. "You are destroying our signal to any potential rescuers!"

"Rescuers?! I think you mean our potential killers!" Blueblood corrected her with just as much panic in his voice. "Have you forgotten that there are professional assassins out there hunting for us?! You might as well be painting targets onto our flanks!" Rarity stopped. She did not think about that, but she wasn't about to lose an argument against him.

"Onto your flank perhaps!" She retorted. "With your ghastly behavior, I am more than certain it is only you somepony would put a hit on!" She then smiled mischievously. "Why, if I would lead you to them, they might even share the bounty with me." Rarity managed to obliterate all goodwill that Blueblood amassed for her with that one sentence.

"Oh, here we are!" He snapped at her, turning to her with such fury in his eyes that for a brief moment, Rarity became genuinely terrified and even backed away a little. "Yes, I suppose that would be the easiest for you! Why bother with the money bag would be husband you can mooch from when you can hoof him over to assassins, right?!"

Now it was Rarity's turn to be angry. All throughout her life she did nothing but work hard for both her advancement on the social ladder and for the sake of others. Every single dress she made was made with nothing but love and care for those who Rarity knew would be wearing it and she wanted to be known and respected among the equestrian upper circle for them and not because she managed to get a rich husband.

The reason she was eager to date Blueblood was because she thought he would be a perfect fit for a sophisticated lady such as herself but clearly she was wrong. His money was never of any importance to her. He was insultingly presumptuous, but apparently Rarity herself also had a rather poor judge of character for ever believing he was the kind and sweet considerate stallion she envisioned for herself. If this was what the upper circle stallions were all like then she will go out of her way to avoid them for the rest of her life, but first, she was gonna give this jerk a piece of her mind.

"How dare you?!" Rarity countered with equal fury as she pushed her muzzle right up against Blueblood's. "I am not a gold digger! Every piece of money I've ever earned was through my own work! I've worked my hooves to the bone to get where I am in the fashion industry! To become a respected mare and be accepted into a higher social circle! My choice for a partner was motivated by nothing else than the search for true love!" Blueblood's response was a series of hysterical laughter as if Rarity just told her the best joke ever. It actually frightened the mare a little to the point of backing away with a nervous look.

"That is a good one, miss Rarity!" He yelled at her with a glare. "Do you have any idea how many times I've heard those exact same words?! From how many mares?! And as naive as I was when I was younger, I even believed it at the first few mares! You are all the same!" Rarity quickly overcame her momentary shock and glared back right into his eyes.

"We are all the same?! Let me tell you that you're no better than the other one track minded lowlifes who just wanted to take me to bed after only a few hours! You all want the same thing and then leave every mare heartbroken!"

"Don't talk to me about broken hearts!" Blueblood yelled. "I've shed far more tears than any mare deserves the first few times I was deceived!"

"Oh, you poor soul!" Rarity gasped with mock pity. "Let me play you a sad song on the world's smallest violin." She said as she sat down and rubbed the tips of her hooves together. This only increased Blueblood's anger.

"Why you... UNFEELING SHREW!"

"JUDGMENTAL OAF!"

"HYSTERICAL HARPY!"

"MISOGYNISTIC STALLIONCHILD!"

Blueblood opened his mouth for another comeback that will forever be left unsaid because the quarreling duo was interrupted by the snapping of a branch from between the trees. Blueblood and Rarity turned to see the bushes shake as a large black shape began to approach them with a low growling sound. The two ponies backed away with dread once they realised what they were looking at was a large black panther making its way towards them.

Blueblood became frozen on the spot as the predator began to size them up, but from the corner of his eye, he saw that Rarity was already beginning to back away and was about to make a run for it. He was very tempted to allow her to contribute to the circle of life while he made good his escape, but insufferable as the mare may have been, even she didn't deserve this fate. He reached out slowly and pulled her back by her tail.

"Never run from a big cat." He whispered to her. "You're basically inviting them to chase you."

"So what am I supposed to do?! Just let it tear me apart?!" She demanded in panic. The noise was beginning to entice the panther and Blueblood had to stand in front of Rarity before it could pounce.

"We're gonna have to look more intimidating to it." He said as he drew an arrow and loaded it into his bow. Rarity was surprised. The stallion she was ready to strangle just a minute ago just stood between her and a deadly predator to protect her. First, he pulled her out of the sea after they fell off the yacht and now this? Where was this 'Knight in shining armour' attitude during their date? If he didn't infuriate her so much with the way he treated her then, she would be so in love with him now. Rarity had to slap herself to abandon that line of thinking.

'No, Rarity. He is still a rude and pompous stallion. Just because his dashing looks hide the heart of a lion... No, bad Rarity! Bad!'

The metallic glint of the arrow did make the panther back away a little. It had never seen a weapon like this after all. But after Blueblood merely stood there for a few moments without firing, it began to regain its courage and advanced towards the duo.

"What are you waiting for?!" Rarity shrieked. "Shoot!" Blueblood didn't actually want to do it. He didn't have the heart to hurt the creature, so he only shot an arrow into the sand in front of it, hoping that it would be enough to scare it off. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work. The beast momentarily stopped, but when no further attack came, it simply swiped the stuck arrow away.

"Nice work." Rarity commented sarcastically. "All you've done is make it angrier."

"Yeah, that might have been a bad idea." Blueblood added before reaching for another arrow. But before he could even place it into his bow, the panther leapt forward and tackled him onto the ground.

Rarity screamed and covered her eyes as the panther's jaws came forward, but Blueblood pushed his bow forward and intercepted the deadly set of fangs. Not for long though, as the wood snapped under the pressure, but Blueblood still had enough composure to pick up one of the pieces and smack the panther in the face with it, forcing it to back off.

'Note to self, if I survive this, make the next bow from tougher material.' Blueblood thought before picking up the other half of the broken bow and tossing it to Rarity. The two began to swat the sticks at the panther in a desperate attempt to drive it off, but it was of no use.

The predator managed to snatch the sticks away, leaving them completely defenseless against its deadly jaws. As a last resort, Rarity yanked the quiver from the stallion's back and threw it at the beast. She managed to hit it but it dealt no visible damage to it. If anything, it made it even more eager to rip them apart. Rarity's eyes welled with tears as she resigned herself to her fate.

"Oh, please no." Blueblood remarked on a far more deadpan tone than their situation would have allowed.

"Oh, be quiet!" Rarity snapped at him, smacking his shoulder. "I'm about to die on this Celestia forsaken island in a horrible way, my body will never receive a proper funeral and will serve as food to this animal, but worst of all, I will die with you! I am allowed to cry if I want to and in my last moments, that's all I want to do!"

And cry she did. Rarity let out a series of wails so loud and piercing that it made Blueblood drop to the ground, flatten his ears against his head and cover them with his hooves. But even that did barely anything to protect them against the sonic attack they were receiving.

'It's like my eardrums are tearing themselves apart!' Blueblood thought as he rolled around on the ground helplessly. 'Merciful Celestia, please make her stop!' And apparently, Blueblood wasn't the only one with such sentiments. As soon as it heard the loud cries the mare was emitting, the panther immediately backed away. It kept observing its prey from afar for a few more seconds, waiting for the noise to die down and give it an opportunity to strike again, but it didn't look like the pitiful mare would cease her wailing anytime soon. Eventually, the predator let out a frustrated roar and retreated into the jungle before its hearing suffered permanent damage.

Even though his eyes were half shut, Blueblood still managed to see the whole thing and was unsurprisingly astonished. Never in his life did he ever think he would be glad to hear a mare cry, but it looks like his life was actually saved by it this time. Now if only she could stop screaming to the heavens.

He thought about tackling her to the ground to shut her up but he was so close to her that he was certain he would go deaf if he removed his hooves from his ears. In the end, he resorted to using his magic to shut her lips closed and silence her. Rarity turned to glare at him but her anger paled in comparison to the surprise she felt upon still being alive and the panther being nowhere to be seen.

"Where... Where did it go?" She wondered.

"It appears your crying just saved our lives, Miss Rarity." Blueblood complimented, unusually kindly. He tried to sound as appreciative as he could, but Rarity saw through it right away. The nervous smile on his face said it all. It clearly said 'I'll be good, just please don't do that again'. Oh, she was going to have some fun with him from now on.

"It did, didn't it?" Rarity mused. "Well, I suppose that makes us even for pulling me out of the sea."

"Of course, Miss Rarity. Whatever you say." The prince quickly agreed, but the point was quickly made moot when the two ponies heard a loud, buzzing sound coming from behind them. They turned to see a round, metallic object floating above them observing them from the air. Rarity was confused, but Blueblood quickly realised what was going on.

"Looks like I spoke too soon." The prince said, slapping his forehead. "I forgot about Bloodsport's mercenary group still being after us. That drone no doubt also sensed your scream of death." The drone quickly identified the two ponies as the targets its users were looking for. Blueblood reached behind his back to pull out an arrow and take it down before it could report to them, only to remember that he no longer had his bow and arrows.

"Cursed muscle memory." He groaned before the drone submerged into the water and disappeared from sight. "Now we're in for it."

"What are we gonna do?!" Rarity panicked, her previously gained confidence from driving off the panther instantly evaporated. But Blueblood managed to keep his cool.

"Well, the way I see it we have two choices. We can stay here, waiting for them to come and take us, or we can prepare for them." Rarity raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"How?"

"The last time, they had the element of surprise on their side. They ambushed us and we were unprepared for them. But this time they will not be so lucky. This time, we'll be ready." Blueblood said in determination, eager to get some payback on their attackers. "Our best option is to turn this island into - for lack of a better word - our home field."

"So what you're saying is, we should go and explore the island?" Rarity asked. Blueblood nodded.

"Exactly. That will give us the advantage we need." Rarity noticed a glint in the prince's eye. A glint of excitement, eagerness and vengeful desire. It was a bit frightening, but at the same time, strangely attractive. "Yes, they will be lost when they first arrive but we will know every twist and turn of this place. They will wander around aimlessly and lost, right into our traps. The hunters will become the hunted."

"You're awfully confident in your plan's success, Prince Blueblood." Rarity pointed out skeptically. "Despite the fact we are not at all acquainted with this island ourselves." Apparently, Blueblood was indeed awfully confident because he just smiled knowingly down at her.

"Miss Rarity, have you ever taken a look at my cutie mark?" That was a much more personal question then their current relationship warranted, but nevertheless, Rarity took a look at the compass decorating the stallion's flank.

"I have. What about it?"

"I'm a born explorer, Miss Rarity." He announced proudly. "Give me a few hours and I will know any environment like the back of my hoof." He then looked up towards the sky over the island. "Let us hope a few hours will be enough. I'd say we should make our way up there to get a good look at the island." Rarity turned around to see what the prince was looking at and the color drained from her face when she saw the towering volcano.

"All the way up there?!" She whined. Blueblood shrugged.

"Well, if you'd rather stay here for those mercenaries to find you, be my guest." He said before walking off into the jungle. Rarity heard the chirping of her canary friend from above who gave her an encouraging look and pulled at her mane slightly, as if telling her to follow the stallion. Rarity took a look at the open sea before deciding that Blueblood was right. They couldn't stay here.

"Wait for me!"

Bloodsport was becoming more and more impatient. But even worse, so was his employer. As he expected, the pony who hired them wasn't particularly pleased that they managed to lose the prince's body. At least until they managed to confirm his death. Once they were certain of that, they'd be more than content to toss it into the ocean. It wasn't like anypony would miss him.

The unicorn mercenary always forgot just how vast and unexplored the oceans were. His patrol ships, divers and underwater drones have been at it for almost a whole day and they've found nothing. Bloodsport was beginning to give up hope they'd ever find him and felt really tempted to just abandon the search, but the potential payment for this job was just too big. And he really needed the money to continue caring for Magic. Every bit he earned he sent home for the caretakers of his legless little brother and the money on his account was beginning to run out rapidly. No pun intended of course.

The mercenary was sitting in a room full of computer screens on the mothership of his mercenary unit and surveyed the camera footage of every underwater drone and diver who were currently searching the surrounding waters in search for the bodies of the two ponies that got away. He was about to doze off from sheer boredom when he heard a sharp beeping sound coming from one of the screens.

Bloodsport groaned in irritation when he realised he was getting a video call from his employer, no doubt requesting an update on how the mission was going. Pressing the answer button, Bloodsport was treated to the image of a shadowy stallion popping up on the biggest screen in front of him.

"Bloodsport, any luck with finding our friend and his latest conquest?" He asked with a distorted voice. Bloodsport had no idea what he was trying to hide but the stallion was very mysterious. This was how he contacted him when he first hired him and he never saw his face. Not that he cared, as long as he paid what did it matter who he was?

"We're still searching. I will let you know when we find anything." The mercenary replied, wanting to cut this talk as soon as possible.

"If you find them, you mean." The shadowy pony corrected. "I'm beginning to wonder if you were the right pony for this job. I heard that you were the best but I didn't think the best would allow Prince Blueblood of all ponies to get the better of them like that." Bloodsport's ire began to rise but he couldn't show it in front of his employer.

"It was an accident." He defended himself. "He caught me off guard. It won't happen again."

"It better not, Bloodsport. Don't underestimate him again. He may look like a helpless idiot but he's a crafty one. He survived falling into the underground caves beneath Canterlot Castle and he found his way out when he was just a foal. So imagine what he's capable of as an adult." Bloodsport was curious as to how his employer knew this, but before he could ask, the door was slammed open and one of his troops entered.

"Sir, we found them!" He reported to the surprise of the ponies at both ends of the screen.

"Well, that is joyous news indeed." The shadowy pony said. "I shall leave you to it then, Bloodsport. And this time, no foul ups." He emphasised before ending the call. Bloodsport didn't much like being bossed around like that, no matter how much his employer was paying, he was handling his assignments on his own terms, but he had more important concerns right now.

"Where are they?"

Author's Notes:

Rejoice, my faithful readers! For this is a big day! Today, this story turns 1 year old and what better way to celebrate that than with a new chapter?

Actually, I do know. I wanted to finish the entire first Omnibus that would have concluded with the first volume of Justice League, but my real life obligations and occasional laziness prevented that. I went from updating weekly to doing it biweekly. Kinda like Tell Your Tale. If I keep this up, I'll probably wrap this story up by the end of the year and then it will be onto Omnibus 2. But let's not bet ahead of ourselves. For now, enjoy this anniversary chapter!

Next time... Blueblood and Rarity began to bond as they open up to each other and take the fight to Bloodsport's mercenaries, but little do they know, a mysterious new player is about to enter this deadly game. Who will that be? Find out in...

Issue #4: Hunters Become Hunted

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #4: Hunters Become Hunted

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Blueblood and Rarity were making their way through the jungle, lead by the small bird whom they instructed to help them find a way to the top of the volcano. They had been trekking for almost an hour and they felt no closer to reaching their destination, which worried them immensely since they didn't know how much time they had before their pursuers caught up with them.

"How much further?" Rarity whined, much to Blueblood's annoyance.

"Just a moment, Miss Rarity. I ask our guide. Though I hope you have a bird to equestrian dictionary on your hooves." Rarity rolled her eyes.

"You know, darling, they do say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit."

"But the highest of intelligence." Blueblood countered. Rarity was about to say something, but she was interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach.

"Oh, dear. I shouldn't have skipped breakfast this morning." Blueblood chuckled.

"Be glad we weren't the ones becoming breakfast." But Rarity wasn't listening. She was staring up at a few fruits at the top of a tree.

"Those fruits sure look appetising right now."

"I'm sure they do." Blueblood agreed. "Too bad they're out of reach for our magic. If I still had my bow, I could snatch some for us. I could have even taken out that drone at the beach before it reported about us."

"I have to say, you are indeed a very skilled archer." Rarity complimented, hoping to ease the tension between them. "The way you reached for an arrow to take out the drone even though you lost them was almost like a reflex move." She then let out a chuckle. "One would even say you could use a bow before the toilet." Rarity froze when she heard the prince let out another series of laughs, but this time, it was genuine and joyous. "Did I say something funny?"

"No, it's not that." Blueblood shook his head. "It's just that... my mother said the exact same thing too." He finished with a soft smile. Rarity couldn't help herself. She had to coo at that adorable sentence.

"Oh, that's so sweet!" She squealed. "I never would have taken you for such a passionate archer with a sweet side." Blueblood completely forgot about himself and for the first time since his parents died, he began to speak completely openly with somepony who wasn't Golden Platter.

"It was the first thing my father taught me." He began. "When I was a foal, I always asked them to read the stories of Robin Hoof to me before bed. I wanted to be just like that when I grew up and my father saw it right away so he began to teach me."

"Robin Hoof, huh?" Rarity asked with a teasing look. She was familiar with those tales as well. "I can just imagine you running around the palace with a green hood and a toy bow. You know, I remember a pony once ordering a costume very similar to that from me. He wanted to dress like Robin Hoof during an archery contest in Canterlot. He actually ended up winning and won a golden bow as a..." She suddenly froze in place as her eyes widened in realisation. Blueblood did the same, only his eyes widened with worry.

"It was you..." She whispered. "That was the same bow you used against our attackers on the yacht." Blueblood didn't say anything. He just stood in one place, unsure of how to react. "But... But how? That unicorn was a perfect gentlecolt and a genuine model of sophistication and good manners, while you are..." She stopped for a few moments to find the right words, but all she could say was "...not." Blueblood sighed.

"I am a prince of Canterlot, Miss Rarity. Parading around with an arrow and making mares melt with smoldering smiles is not what is expected of me. I have a reputation to keep up. The reputation of both my family and the Canterlot elite." He explained.

"And what reputation is that?" Rarity demanded angrily. "Being insufferable jerks who look down on everypony else?" Blueblood shrugged.

"Pretty much. I don't like it anymore than you do, but at least you can walk away from it anytime you want. I have no choice but to live up to my family name." Rarity did not agree with him.

"Darling, you don't have to let your family's past decide who you are." She argued.

"It's not just my family, it's everypony else in Canterlot." Blueblood replied. "Kindness, generosity and compassion are seen as weaknesses by them. And they are like sharks. Once they smell an ounce of blood, they mercilessly strike." Rarity wanted to argue again, but this time when she opened her mouth only a fit of coughs came out, much to Blueblood's concern. "What's wrong?"

"My throat is a little dry." Rarity answered. "Not too surprising, it has been a while since I last drank. We should find some water suitable for equine consumption." Blueblood didn't know if they had the time, but he was feeling rather thirsty himself.

"Well, the island has wildlife and that means there must be freshwater somewhere." He said before looking up at the canary they were following. "Perhaps our little friend up there can help."

As if on cue, the canary chirped down at them before altering its course. Blueblood and Rarity followed its lead and they soon heard the sound of a waterfall nearby. The bird lead them over a hill and the two ponies found themselves standing alongside a small cove.

The crystal clear water cascading from the cliff above was enough to send Rarity running forward with reckless abandon and greedily lap up the water as it fell. Blueblood picked two palm leaves from a nearby tree and used his magic to roll them up into cones. He handed one over to Rarity, who took it with a sheepish smile before the two resumed their drinking in a much more sophisticated manner.

After they quenched their thirst, Rarity pulled out her needle and quickly turned the leaves into two watertight flasks which they filled and put away for later use.

"Ah, I feel refreshed already!" Rarity sighed in contentment. "I'm ready to continue our quest to the top of the mountain."

"It was surprisingly refreshing indeed." Blueblood agreed as they left the cove and resumed their walk towards the volcano. "And now that your throat has been dampened, Miss Rarity, it is your turn to open up for me."

"My life is an open book, darling." The fashionista replied. "What would you like to know?"

"Well, from what I have seen about your work, you have always been inspired by the heroes of Equestria. Pray tell, what is it that captivates you about them so much?"

"Apart from the obvious?" Rarity replied. "They are such powerful and mysterious figures and they have been doing everything within their power to be an inspiration for us. But I think where my inspiration began way before any of them have announced themselves to Equestria."

"Is that so?" Blueblood asked curiously. "How?" Rarity's expression melted into a soft smile. This was one of her fondest memories to recall.

"When I was a little filly, I was ambushed at school by a group of bullies. They stole the dress I'd been working on for a school play. And that's when she showed up."

"Who showed up?"

"Her name was Applejack. She was the daughter of a couple of farmers who lived near my hometown. She saved me from them and she was so..." Rarity struggled to find the right words. "It was indescribable. She moved so fast and she was so strong. Two of them grabbed one of each of her forelegs but she just threw them away like ragdolls! And then she was on their leader in a blink of an eye. She only stopped when her brother arrived and pried her off of them!"

"That sounds quite unbelievable." Blueblood commented before stopping and raising a hoof to his chin. "But then again, so does everything else we've seen and heard these titans perform. Do you think she might be one of them?"

"Well, I always believed the resemblance between her and Supermare is uncanny." Rarity admitted. "But I don't think so. I can't imagine a godly being such as her living the simple life of a nameless, faceless farmmare."

"I suppose you're right." Blueblood shrugged before walking on as Rarity continued her story.

"Anyway, ever since she saved me like one of those superheroes, I've been fascinated by them." She admitted before she let out a chuckle. "And my dream has been..." She suddenly stopped as she raised a hoof in front of her mouth. Blueblood looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Has been what?" Rarity let out a nervous laugh before waving off the prince's curiosity.

"Oh, never mind. Let's just carry on." She replied as she pranced in front of Blueblood.

"You raised my curiosity, Miss Rarity." Blueblood inquired with a teasing smirk, much to Rarity's further embarrassment.

"Please, Prince Blueblood. It's so silly." Rarity pleaded, but the prince was having none of it.

"Now, now, Miss Rarity. I have told you about my foalhood obsession with Robin Hoof. I think you owe me an embarrassing story about your own youth." Rarity sighed in defeat.

"Very well, just please don't laugh too hard." She pleaded. "You see, I know it's impossible, but... I've been dreaming about becoming their personal stylist." She finished, closing her eyes and waiting for the inevitable ridicule. But it didn't come. If anything, Blueblood was impressed.

"Wow! Now that's what I call an ambition!" Blueblood laughed in wonder. "Most fashion designers would settle on making clothes for nobles and royalty, but not you! No, you have your sight set on gods!" Rarity actually found herself laughing along with the prince. She never thought of it that way.

"You know, now that you've told me about the royal facade you have to put on in the court, I think I understand where your distrust of them comes from." Rarity deduced. "You also wear a mask to conceal your true nature." Blueblood nodded.

"You never know what lies beneath a mask. A pony like me who's vain, unpleasant and inconsiderate in public might actually be a decent, misunderstood soul."

"And a pony who is selfless, humble and generous in public might have ulterior motives." Rarity finished for him. "Pardon me, but I don't think you're right about them."

Blueblood was about to reply but he never got the chance. Out of nowhere, Rarity let out a piercing shriek and jumped up into the air. Blueblood was so surprised that he fell on his flank and Rarity fell right into his front hooves, looking like she'd just seen a ghost.

"What's wrong, Blueblood asked in concern. Rarity raised a shaking hoof and pointed forward.

"Sn... SNAKE!" Blueblood looked into the pointed direction and saw a large brown snake lying in their way, looking up at them and hissing. He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on! They are more afraid of us than we are of them."

"I find that hard to believe!" Rarity shouted. "MAKE IT GO AWAY!" Blueblood sighed and used his magic to pick up the snake and move it out of their way. He put it down behind them and it immediately slithered off into the undergrowth.

"There." The prince calmed her as he gently put her down. "Are we free to move on?" Rarity's chest was still thumping, but she tried to calm herself.

"I apologise if I lost my nerves a little." She chuckled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. "But, you just demonstrated far more gallantry and manners than you did back on the yacht. I know you don't like showing it, but for what it's worth, I like this Blueblood considerably better than the one from yesterday." Rarity told him genuinely and before Blueblood could respond, she planted a peck on his cheek, causing him to blush and stiffen as his eyes widened in surprise. "Thank you, Prince Blueblood." She said kindly before walking past the still stunned stallion who put a hoof on his cheek.

"You're..." He stuttered, unsure of what to say. "You're welcome, Miss Rarity."

Eventually, the two ponies finally reached an opening in the wall of the volcano. Blueblood ignited his horn and peeked inside. He saw rock formations on the other side that seemed like they'd be able to support their weights and there were enough of them that they'd be able to make their way up to the top by using them.

He squeezed himself through the opening and carefully pressed his hoof down on the rock. It didn't budge so Blueblood beckoned to Rarity to follow him. They slowly crawled up the rocks but as they progressed with no problem, they became careless and they almost paid the price for it.

Blueblood jumped onto the next rock which proved to be less stable than the rest and gave way under his weight. The prince's life was only saved by Rarity's quick reflexes who managed to grab onto his mane. This stopped the fall and gave Blueblood enough time to grab onto Rarity's hoof and the mare pulled him up into safety. Suffice to say, they were much more cautious for the rest of their way up to the top.

"My stars!" Rarity marveled as she got a glimpse of the view. From up here, she could see just how big the island was. The jungles, the tall mountains, the waterfall they just took a drink from. It was all breathtaking. "You know, under different circumstances, I'd say this would be a perfect place for an actual date." Blueblood raised an eyebrow.

"On an unexplored island, sleeping in a cave and being hunted by wild animals and assassins?" He asked drily.

"You know what I meant!" Blueblood rolled his eyes.

"Of course." He then surveyed the surrounding area himself. His mind was already working on ideas of how to make use of their environment against the mercenaries that were coming after them. In order to set up their ambushes, they should know which way their enemies were attacking from.

And for once, luck seemed to be on their side, because as he was looking around, he saw the mercenary fleet appearing on the horizon. Rarity got a little discouraged when she saw how many ships were heading their way.

"Their numbers seem to be greatly overwhelming." She said nervously. "Our chances don't seem very good. They will see our tracks. They will find us easily."

"Oh, I'm counting on it." Blueblood smirked. "They will walk right into our traps. Besides, we handled ourselves perfectly well on the yacht until Bloodsport showed up and this time we're ready for them. They don't stand a chance." He then looked at the mare who seemed very unsure. "Don't sell yourself short, Miss Rarity. I saw your moves back on the yacht. You're far more capable than any mare I've ever seen. Even some stallions. You'll be fine." Rarity appreciated the praise but she still looked uncertain.

"I don't know, darling. I have managed to handle myself against a few of those brutes, but it seems we're dealing with a small army this time."

"We don't have to face them all." Blueblood reassured her. "We're just gonna find a way onto one of their ships and commandeer it for our way back to Equestria. The jungle shall keep us concealed until we reach the shore and attack. If only I had my bow with me. This would be so much easier." Rarity heard the prince's wish and smiled.

"Well, as it happens, Prince Blueblood, I have a little surprise for you." She then pulled out the makeshift bow Blueblood fabricated for himself from behind her, much to the stallion's astonishment. "I wanted to thank you for your attempt to protect me from the panther at the shore, so I have collected the remains of your weapon and managed to fix it up."

Blueblood took the weapon into his hoof. Rarity had managed to string it together in the middle where the panther bit it in half. It was indeed completely fixed up except for one tiny detail. It didn't have a string. No worries though. That was an inadequacy Blueblood could easily rectify.

He used his magic to pull out a few pieces of hair from his tail and tied them around the top and bottom of the bow before giving them a firm pull to see if they would hold. To his satisfaction and Rarity's amazement, they did.

"That is quite resilient hair you have there, darling." She said, greatly impressed.

"The wonders of Canterlot mane and tail gel based on a secret recipe." Blueblood smirked. "Amazing craftsmareship, Miss Rarity, but I'm afraid without proper ammunition..." Rarity quickly silenced the prince by levitating his quiver full of makeshift arrows in front of him.

"You didn't think I'd forget about these, did you?" She smiled confidently.

"Never mind." Blueblood replied before taking the quiver and putting it on his back. He then glanced back towards the beach where the mercenary ships had already reached the shore. "Well then, Miss Rarity, would you be complicit in some payback?" Rarity just smirked and cracked the hooves on her front legs in response.

"I'm looking forward to it, your highness."

The first mercenary trooper had already set his hoof on the island's soil before the sun reached the top of the sky and immediately began searching for clues about the whereabouts of the two targets. He was followed by several more surveying the island they just found.

"Check it out!" An earth pony stallion said in awe. "How come this isn't on any of our maps?"

"We're pretty far from the mainland." Replied a pegasus mare. "The oceans are littered with undiscovered and unexplored islands. No pegasus would last flying so much and I guess no sailors dared to venture this far out."

"Makes sense." The stallion replied. "Look at those huge jungles! I suppose air reconnaissance is a no go."

"Affirmative." The pegasus nodded. "We wouldn't see a thing from up there beneath those trees. We're gonna have to proceed on hoof."

"Wonderful." The earth pony said sarcastically. "We can only hope they didn't make it too far into the jungle and we'll only have to identify the remains."

"No." The leader of the group, a unicorn stallion cut in. "Bloodsport said the prince is a capable explorer and survivor. We have no reason to assume he's dead." The earth pony shrugged.

"Yeah, right. The only thing those royal types are capable of is wasting the country's money. I don't know who's stupid enough to put out such a big hit on that waste of space, but he must have royally pissed him off." He said, chuckling at his own joke. The unicorn was about to reprimand his comrade for questioning their leader, but then something caught his eyes.

"Hey, look over there!" He pointed on the ground and his comrades looked to see two sets of hoofprints leading into the jungle. The earth pony let out a whistle.

"Now that's a sign if I've ever seen one. What did I tell you? Only one of those royal types would be dumb enough to leave tracks like that. Ten bits say they've gotten only a few minutes in before something tore them apart." The unicorn then called over a few more troops.

"Alright, ponies, get your weapons ready! I doubt we'll need them, but better safe than sorry." He ordered, prompting his troops to pull out various heavy weapons like assault rifles and shotguns. Before they headed into the jungle, a lanky unicorn turned back to the tracks and used his magic to whirl up enough sand to cover them up.

"There. I think we'll be enough to handle those two." The leader raised an eyebrow.

"Let me guess. Bloodsport offered a bonus for the ponies who bring the targets to him." The other unicorn shrugged.

"Maybe." He grinned. “If it makes you feel any better, the bonus is still pretty big after we divide it by eight. Get my meaning?” The leader chuckled.

“Sounds good to me. Alright, we track them down, ice them and share the bonus from the boss. Will that work for all of you?” The troops nodded and headed out into the jungle. It was rather easy to follow the hoof prints but it became increasingly hard to tranverse the jungle terrain. The undergrowth was becoming more lush with each step they took and the trees and vines were also becoming harder to get through.

They had been trekking for about twenty minutes before they finally gave in to their exhaustion and stopped to catch their breath. The leader of the group turned to address his troops, but he suddenly realised that there were now only six of them. He also quickly figured out that it was the lanky unicorn who was missing.

“Where is Bean Pole?” The others looked around but none of them could locate the unicorn in question. A short earth pony stallion shrugged.

“Probably just stopped to take a leak. Should be catching up with us soon.” The leader frowned.

“Well, if you think so, go and get him for us.” He then turned to a buff pegasus mare. “Go with him and don't come back without that idiot.” The mare growled in frustration but it wasn't like she could argue. She stood up and followed the little earth pony.

“Thanks for pissing him off, Short Stuff.” She complained after they were out of earshot, smacking the short stallion on the back of his head. “My hooves are almost falling off. Let's just find Bean and get back to the others.”

They began their search for their missing comrade but it soon became evident that it was not going to be as simple as Short Stuff predicted. They could not call out to him since that would alert their targets to their presence. But where the hay could he have gone without anypony noticing?

A loud thud grabbed their attention coming from a few meters away. They instinctively grabbed their weapons and turned around but there was nothing there. They carefully made their way towards the direction where the sound came from but they still saw nothing.

The mare suddenly felt something hard and metallic beneath her hoof. She looked down to see that she was standing on Bean Pole's weapon. The calm demeanor of the two mercenaries was now officially turning frantic as they stood back to back with each other. Something was toying with them.

They heard another thud coming from next to them. They jumped and looked down to see that this time it was a helmet, the same kind of helmet they were wearing. They shared a nervous glance before looking up and what they saw nearly caused them to drop their weapons.

The stallion they were looking for was hanging from the tree above them with his hoof attached to a rope dangling from the top. The mare snapped out of her terror first and picked up her weapon, pointing it around in an attempt to locate whatever it was that did this. She was interrupted by Short Stuff's increasingly heavy breathing, which she tried to ignore for a while, but eventually it became too distracting.

“What the hay is your problem?” She snapped, turning to him. The stallion said nothing, he just raised a shaking hoof and pointed up at something.

“There's... there's something in those trees...” His partner turned to look up at the trees he was pointing at. When she did see something move, she raised her weapon but she didn't get the chance to shoot. An arrow was fired at her out of nowhere, knocking the firearm out of her hooves and sending her tumbling onto the ground.

Short Stuff managed to pull himself together enough to try and help his comrade, but before he could do anything, something burst out from beneath the leaves and grabbed him by the shoulders. The mercenary couldn't even scream before his attacker locked her limbs around his neck and threw him over her shoulder, slamming him right onto the pegasus mare who was just about to recover and knocking them both out.

The assailant then picked up the bodies and dragged them away while the figure in the trees turned towards the small gathering of the five remaining mercenaries nearby. They didn't seem alerted by what just transpired so he needed to get their attention in another way. Five of them was a lot more than he can manage on his own and he didn't want to waste the element of surprise while he still had it. Fortunately, he already had a plan.

Using the branches, he was able to make his way to another tree directly above the rest of the mercenaries. He reached up to his face to touch the mask he was wearing and breathed out, releasing a strange clicking sound. That did the trick. The mercenaries all jumped up and looked around in an attempt to find the source but to no avail.

He then jumped back to the branch behind him while still making that clicking noise to make it sound like the source was moving away. His calculations worked as the leader sent out another two troops to check on what it was. All he had to do now was lure them into the trap and his partner would take care of the rest.

The two ponies below just kept following the noise, completely unaware as to what they were walking into. Once they got closer to the trap their hunters had set up, they were greeted by the same sight as their comrades before them: their unconscious bodies hanging from a tree above them.

One of them was a pegasus so he could fly up to them in an attempt to cut them down. The hunter frowned. This he could not allow. He reached behind himself and pulled out an arrow from his quiver and tied a hard rock onto its head before loading it into his bow. He let the arrow fly and hit the pegasus right in the wing, causing him to crash into the ground and fall right into a deep hole covered by leaves and branches.

His partner screamed in shock as he took a step back from the hole and he backed into another figure standing behind him. He slowly turned around just in time to see the figure spin and lift its hind legs to deliver a powerful kick and send the merc flying right into the hole. Five down, two more to go.

The two figures slowly and silently approached the remaining three mercenaries, determined to make short work of them. The archer pulled out three more arrows and aimed them at the mercenaries' weapons, managing to take out all three of them with a single shot. The mercenaries were so stunned by this that they had no time to react as the other, feminine figure burst out from between the trees, kicking the pegasus mare in the muzzle with enough force to put her to sleep.

Of course, being a unicorn meant that the leader was far from defenseless with the destruction of his weapon. He ignited his horn but he had another arrow coming his way from the archer that hit him in the flank, causing him to lose focus from the pain. He pulled the arrow out but the damage was already done. He found that his magic completely left him.

“Don't bother!” The archer exclaimed as he emerged from behind the tree, revealing himself to be Prince Blueblood wearing a hooded suit sewed together from leaves. “Anti-magic arrow. Its effect lasts for over twenty-four hours.” Blueblood distracted the unicorn for just enough time that his partner, the ever graceful Rarity, managed to tackle him and knock him out.

All that remained now was the large earth pony, but he would prove the most difficult opponent yet, especially now that he was aware of their presence. The stallion threw his busted weapon at the mare, hitting her in the head and knocking her to the ground. He then stood up and headed towards her before rearing up on his hindlegs to stomp down on her, but then he took an arrow to the knee from Blueblood, causing him to collapse.

“Hey, meathead! That's no way to treat a lady!”

“Oh, like you're one to talk!” Rarity retorted before literally sweeping the behemoth off of his hooves.

“Hey, I thought we agreed to let bygones be bygones!” The stallion yelled back to her as he fired an arrow at a loose tree branch hanging over the earth pony's head, severing it from the tree and making it fall on top of his head, finally ending the skirmish.

“Don't think you'll be getting off the hook that easily, mister!” Rarity scolded him, poking his chest. “You still have a lot of making up to do for me before I even consider forgiving you!” And with that, she took off into the direction of the beach. Their little bird who has been observing the battle from afar flew down and gave Blueblood an encouraging look before flying off after her, while all Blueblood could do was sigh and follow them.

They were about halfway there when they encountered another group of mercenaries, but thanks to their camouflage that Rarity made, they were able to hide between the trees before they spotted them. They counted about five of them and they were confident they would be able to sneak past them with no difficulty.

That was until they noticed a rather troublesome fact. Namely, the seeker drones floating above their heads. Even if their camouflage would be able to fool their normal vision, they probably could still detect their heat signatures and if Blueblood took them out from afar, they would immediately know where they were and the entire army would be onto them within a minute. They needed to get them out of the way. Luckily, the solution literally presented itself.

The canary flew at the drone closest to its friends and blocked its camera with its body. Two mercenaries below the drone heard the chirping and looked up to see the disturbing animal messing with their equipment. One of them aimed his weapon at it, but before he could fire, Rarity and Blueblood snuck up behind them and pulled them into the bushes where they were swiftly incapacitated.

The commotion did not go unnoticed by their comrades who went to check on them. When they reached the bushes, Rarity burst out of them, grabbing two of them before yanking off their helmets and smashing their heads together. Meanwhile, Blueblood shot two arrows tied together with a vine, tying up the last remaining mercenary and leaving him helpless, allowing Blueblood to knock him out cold.

The two shared an impressed glance with each other. They were getting used to how surprisingly skilled the other pony was, but no matter how many times they saw it, it never ceased to amaze them. They were sanpped out of their thoughts by a creaking noise coming from beneath them, which turned out to be one of the mercenaries' transmitters.

“HQ to Delta Leader, requesting status update!” A voice said on the other side. “A damn bird is obscuring the view of our drones in your sector and we've been hearing some disturbances from your side.” Blueblood and Rarity shared a nervous glance, unsure of what to do. If they won't get a response, they'll know something is up and send out more troops. But Blueblood soon realised what an invaluable opportunity just fell into their hooves. He turned on the transmitter and raised it to his mouth.

“This is Delta Leader, everything's clear here. Just a few animals rustling around in the undergrowth, but we've scared them off.” He said, trying to disguise his voice as much as he could and praying the deception would work.

“Understood.” The voice replied, much to their relief. “Continue your patrol. HQ out.” Blueblood smirked and put the transmitter away.

“What are you planning to do with that?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I just found a way to book a ticket to one of their ships far easier!” He announced proudly. “Let's get going!”

They retreated back into the cover of the vegetation – much to their displeasure. They realised it as a necessity, but as two ponies of their status, they still hated getting themselves dirty – and in a few minutes, they finally made their way to the beach. As they predicted, several mercenary ships have been docked near the coast, but getting onto one of them would prove a difficult task as the beach was full of dozens of mercenary troops. This was where the transmitter Blueblood took would come into play.

“This is Delta Leader!” The stallion spoke into the comm. “Targets located in our sector! I repeat, targets located! They are heading west! Requesting backup!” Their plan worked. In less than thirty seconds, most of the troops had left the shore towards the direction Blueblood had lead them to, leaving only a couple of them on the beach.

The two looked at the ship closest to them. They could no doubt fight their way over to the vessel, but they needed to be swift about it, if they wanted to avoid the remaining mercenaries and raise the alarm. They looked at each other in uncertainty, not sure if they should make a run for it, but eventually realised that they had no other option. It was now or never.

Blueblood and Rarity burst out of the bushes and ran at the patrolling mercenaries as fast as they could. Rarity tackled one of them on the ground and quickly knocked him out, before launching herself to a second one who rushed to his aid. She somersaulted forward, pulling his body along with her and threw it forward, knocking a third one off of his hooves.

One of the mercenaries pulled out his transmitter to ask for backup, but before he could open his mouth to speak, a speeding arrow knocked it right out of his hoof. He turned to see Blueblood running at him and smashed him across the muzzle with his bow before turning to two more mercs and firing two arrows into the barrels of their guns just as they were about to open fire. The firearms exploded in their hooves, knocking them back on the ground.

Blueblood then heard the clicking of another gun and turned to see another mercenary aiming his weapon at Rarity. 'Oh, no, you won't!' He fumed in his head before pulling out another arrow and shooting the weapon out of the soldier's grasp. Rarity then ran up to him and uppercutted him in the chin, sending him into the air. Blueblood then shot an arrow at him, piercing his armor and pulled the vine that was attached to the arrow.

"Get over here!" He yelled as he tugged at the vine with all his might, pulling the soldier towards the ground. The impact was enough to knock the living daylights out of him and clear the path between them and the ship. The ramp was still attached to the deck, which they could use to board the vessel and then pulled it up to prevent their enemies from following them.

"Up there!" Blueblood said, pointing at the bridge towering above them. "If we could get up there, I'm sure we could turn this ship around and hightail out of here!"

"And just how do you propose we do that?" Rarity questioned. In response, Blueblood simply pulled out another vine arrow and shot it at the radio antenna at the top of the bridge. He then tied the vine attached to it to the mast they were hiding behind and gave it a firm pull.

"Alright, it looks like it'll hold."

"Hold what?" Rarity asked nervously, not really liking the implication she was getting. Blueblood didn't answer, he just wrapped his front legs around the vine before doing the same with his hind legs and began to crawl up towards the bridge. Rarity stated in disbelief.

"You cannot be serious." Blueblood looked down at her.

"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears." He said before continuing to climb. Rarity sighed in defeat before following his example. They were about halfway up to the bridge when Blueblood heard the mare call out to him.

"Look down." Blueblood stopped for a second, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"That is a rather odd and might I add inadvisable suggestion in our current predicament."

"No, I'm serious. Look down!" Rarity hissed. Blueblood finally willed himself to do so and finally understood why Rarity was so adamant for him to look down. Below them, there were every single member of foalnapped staff who accompanied them on this ill-fated cruise, lying on their stomachs with their front legs over their heads as the mercenaries kept walking around them with their weapons.

"We have to help them!" Rarity insisted. "We are the reason they are here in the first place. Well, come to think of it..." Blueblood cut her off with an irritated groan.

"Mostly my fault! Yeah, I get it. Listen, all we have to do is take over the ship and then they'll be freed. So let's just keep moving and..." He was interrupted by a loud snapping sound that caused his eyes to widen.

"What's wrong?" Rarity asked in concern. Blueblood looked up and saw that the vine they were climbing was starting to give way and that could only mean one thing.

"You... might want to close your eyes." Was all he could say in a defeated tone before the vine completely snapped and the two ponies started falling. They managed to grab onto the vine in front of them and they found themselves falling towards the window of the ship's bridge. They crashed through the windows, knocking the two mercenaries stationed inside off of their hooves and they found themselves standing right in front of the ship's control panel.

"Wow." Blueblood said bluntly, unable to believe their luck. "I never would have thought I'd say this but... this couldn't have possibly failed any better."

"Couldn't it?" Blueblood and Rarity jumped and turned to see Bloodsport standing in the door with a huge blaster in his hooves.

"Oh, fiddlesticks!" Blueblood groaned in annoyance.

"My client told me you were a slippery one, Blueblood, but I didn't expect you to get past all of my troops like that." The mercenary leader said as he slowly walked over to the prince, pointing his weapon right at his face. "But at least I won't have to pay a bonus for any of them for bringing you to me. Now what do you say we skip the defiant hero speech and you just let me take you home to him?" Blueblood didn't respond. He was desperately trying to come up with a way out of this situation. But Rarity beat him to it.

The fashionista just about had enough. This thug interrupted her date - lousy as it may have been - chased her half across the ocean, hurt a lot of innocent ponies just to get to Blueblood and made her crawl across a dirty, filthy, muddy jungle. She let out a furious roar and ran at Bloodsport so fast that he didn't even have time to switch his aim at her and tackled the stallion with her full strength, which was enough to send the two falling out the window, right onto the deck.

The other mercenaries on board heard the commotion and quickly ran for the aid of their leader. Two of them helped Bloodsport up while the others aimed their weapons at Rarity. The situation just further grew Rarity's anger and despair. It made her want to... want to...

Rarity opened her mouth and let out the loudest wail she ever had in her life. The mercenaries immediately dropped their weapons and covered their ears, but Bloodsport had enough composure left to use his magic and make himself two ear covers that blocked out all noises out of the parts in his saddlebag.

He took aim at Rarity, but the scream won the mare enough time to run up to Bloodsport, wrestle the weapon away from him and throw it overboard.

"Now, let's see how you handle yourself without your fancy toys!" She snarled, throwing a punch at Bloodsport, but to her shock, the mercenary easily blocked it. He then pulled a knife out of his belt and slashed at the mare, but she managed to jump back just in time.

"I think you'll find I do it quite well." He replied, adopting a combat stance. "You think I would have become the most sought-after mercenary in Equestria if I wasn't also capable in hoof-to-hoof combat?" Bloodsport then launched a counter offensive with the knife, forcing Rarity on the defense as she backed away to avoid the slashes.

While Rarity was busy with Bloodsport, Blueblood searched around the bridge to find the way to launch the ship. To his frustration, he found that the control panel was locked and needed a key. He searched the bodies of the two knocked out mercenaries but to no avail.

"Damn!" He cursed, smacking his hooves down on the panel. "What to do now?" He looked around for anything useful and his eyes fell on a radio lying on one of the panels. That gave him an idea. If they couldn't escape, they could at the very least call for help. He picked up the radio's microphone and began dialing between the frequencies.

"Come on! Find it already!" The prince grumbled, trying to locate the right frequency. After a few seconds of dialing, the static sound finally cleared. "Yes!" He cheered in triumph and turned on the microphone. "Equestrian Coast Guard, please respond! This is an emergency broadcast, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, sir! What's the emergency?" Came the raunchy reply.

"We are under attack! We're on an unmapped island somewhere far out to sea! Can you pinpoint our coordinates?"

"Already have." Blueblood wiped his forehead in relief.

"Please send as many Royal Guards as you can! They have royal hostages!"

"Don't worry, sir. Help is on the way." Blueblood put the microphone down and was about to go and assist Rarity, but then he saw something on the horizon. Either the help he called for had arrived very early or he was seeing things because he could swear he was looking at a speedboat heading his way at breakneck speed.

But as the boat got closer, he realised that neither the coast guard, nor the Royal Guard would ever be able to afford that luxurious and fast piece of seafaring technology. As the boat got closer, he tried to look at its driver but all he saw was a pony dressed in a dark cloak.

Before Blueblood could get a better look at him, an arrow burst through the window, missing his head by mere inches before impaling itself in the metal wall of the bridge. By the time Blueblood looked back, the cloaked figure was winching his way up the rope attached to the arrow and jumped through the hole in the window, kicking Blueblood in the chin and making him fall over.

The prince groaned in pain as he rubbed his chin and slowly stood up. He was surprised to see that his attacker was wearing an almost exact replica of his Robin Hoof costume, only his was pitch black and a the hood was covering his eyes and the upper half of his face. But even more shockingly, he was holding Blueblood's golden bow. Before the prince could question that, the cloaked figure beat him to it.

"I knew that ape, Bloodsport won't be able to kill you." He groaned gruffly, loading another arrow into the bow. "As the old saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself." Blueblood managed to avoid the arrow by rolling out of the way. He loaded an arrow of his own, but his opponent quickly did the same, bringing the two to a deadlock.

"So you're the one who put that hit out on me." Blueblood said as the two began to circle around the room. "If you're such a skilled assassin yourself, why bother?" The Dark Archer scoffed.

"I have much better things to do than chasing you. No matter how badly I wanted to put an arrow between your eyes myself. But it looks like I'll get my chance anyway. And at least now I won't even have to pay these imbeciles." He fired his arrow at Blueblood but the prince managed to knock it away by shooting his own.

Before he could reload, Blueblood ran up to him to surprise him with a close range attack. At first, he managed to catch the Dark Archer off guard as he clearly didn't expect that, but he quickly recovered from his shock and easily knocked Blueblood back with a shoulder bash.

The prince fell on the ground with a hiss of pain. The Dark Archer was clearly a better hoof-to-hoof fighter than him it seemed so he needed to keep his distance. The Dark Archer loaded another arrow but Blueblood spun around as he got up and bashed him across the face with his bow, making him miss his shot.

Blueblood took advantage of the stallion's momentary loss of balance and snatched all the arrows from his opponent's quiver, sliding them into his own. The Dark Archer only noticed this after he recovered and reached for another arrow, finding it empty.

"You're out." Blueblood smirked cockily. He loaded another arrow before firing it, but the Dark Archer began to twirl his bow around in his hoof, knocking the arrow away. He then began to advance on Blueblood, forcing him to jump back and take cover behind the panels.

Back on the deck, Rarity was still doing her best to avoid Bloodsport's knife attacks. She did a backflip and kicked the knife out of the stallion's hooves and with the same momentum, she wrapped her hind legs around his neck and tried to throw him over herself.

But the stallion proved much heavier than she anticipated. She couldn't lift him and he grabbed her hind legs, immobilising her. The more Rarity struggled to free herself, the tighter he held onto her. In response, Rarity tightened the grip of her hind legs around the stallion's neck.

As the pressure became harder, the stallion began to choke and lose his balance. This finally gave Rarity the opportunity to force him onto the ground and she kept choking him until he passed out due to the lack of oxygen.

Once it was over, Rarity looked down at the ship's open cargo hatch where the hostages were being held. With all the mercenaries aboard incapacitated, they were now safe. She then ran up the stairs leading to the bridge, ready to chew Blueblood out on not helping her against Bloodsport, but when she got up there, she saw that the prince currently had his hooves full himself.

He was crouching on the ground behind one of the control panels with an arrow ready in his bow before jumping up and shooting it at a dark clad figure in the middle of the room, but the figure merely knocked the arrow away with his own bow.

"We can do this all day, Blueblood." The figure snarled. "You will run out eventually." Being the ever generous soul she was, Rarity decided to help the prince out. She charged at the Dark Archer and punched him in the face as he turned around.

Blueblood took full advantage of this and fired another arrow, but the Dark Archer recovered in time to avoid it. The arrow flew past his head but it was still close enough to scratch the side of his face, leaving a deep and highly visible wound. The Dark Archer screamed in pain as Rarity threw him over her shoulder and slammed him against the wall. The two ponies then cornered the downed stallion.

"Give up!" Blueblood yelled at him, loading another arrow and aiming it at him. "Your mercenary friends are beaten, you're out of arrows and it's now two against one! You've lost!" The Dark Archer looked up and saw that the rope he used to winch his way up to the ship was still there. He quickly formed his escape plan.

"Not quite yet." He replied as he reached behind his back and pulled out a smoke bomb. "This is merely the half time whistle." They saw what he was about to do but they had no time to react. He slammed the bomb down on the floor, filling the entire room in thick smoke. Blueblood and Rarity could only cough as their opponent made good his escape.

"Rest assured, we'll meet again soon." He said before using the golden bow to down the rope back to his speedboat. By the time Blueblood and Rarity recovered and looked out the window he left through, all they saw was his boat speeding off into the horizon.

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #5: Returnal

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By the time the equestrian ships showed up with a battalion of Royal Guards, Blueblood and Rarity have already rounded up all the mercenaries on the ship they boarded and the vast majority of the rest of them were still deep inside the jungle, running around on a wild goose chase. When they returned empty hoofed, they were horrified to see the welcoming party waiting for them. At first, they were ready and willing to fight them off, their weapons and equipment were far superior to the Guard's after all, but when they saw their leader captured and bound in their custody, they quickly lost their morale and decided to surrender.

Meanwhile, the members of the coast guard tended to the hostages. Rarity wanted to help them but Blueblood convinced her that she needed to rest and after everything she's done, she had more than earned it. The fashionista realised that the prince was right and allowed him to escort her to the coast guard's main ship that they would be travelling on the way home. On their way to the ship, they came across Bloodsport being escorted to the brigg by two guards. He gave them a dirty look.

"I probably won't be claiming the bounty on you anymore but don't think you've seen the last of me. I know who you are. Those costumes won't be hiding you from me or anypony else once I spread the word about who are wearing them." He told them smugly. Blueblood glared at him at first, but eventually smirked back at him.

"Oh, sure. Go ahead. Tell the whole world how you were beaten by the spoiled prince and an aspiring fashionista. I'm sure that will do wonders for the reputation of the stallion who shot Supermare." That was enough to effectively silence the mercenary as the guards dragged him away.

Blueblood lead Rarity to the captain's cabin who offered them to stay there for the journey. The mare was already half asleep by the time they got there so Blueblood helped her get in the bed before tucking her in. He then heard a familiar chirp and turned to see their little canary friend standing at the open cabin window, looking at them curiously. It flew over to Rarity's sleeping form before snuggling into the pillow next to her head and falling asleep itself.

Blueblood let out an amused chuckle. He was sure Rarity will be happy to see their avian companion accompanied them on their journey home. And he had to admit, the sight was very cute. He smiled softly as he raised a hoof and gently caressed Rarity's cheek to wipe some messy piece of her mane out of her face.

The prince then sat down into a chair in front of the captain's desk. He wouldn't be able to bring himself to sleep anyway. He had far too much to think about. He never thought much about the ponies he angered with his pompous royal act, but looks like he really crossed the wrong pony at some point if somepony was willing to go through all this trouble just to see him dead.

The question was, who could it be? Blueblood had enemies of course, in fact, that was almost like a requirement of being royal. Ponies who were envious of their wealth and fame were common. Hay, there were records of ponies killing a member of the royal court just for the infamy that came with it. So they would be remembered for something, even as horrible as regicide.

This Dark Archer however didn't appear so unhinged. He knew exactly what he wanted and that was killing him. Sadly, that didn't exactly narrow down the list of possible candidates. The key to solving the mystery was Bloodsport. The most wanted mercenary in Equestria wasn't exactly cheap to hire. So whoever he was, he had money.

He was also an excellent athlete, archer and fighter. Most ponies of the upper circle were lazy as a log. Few among them would bother to train their bodies to the physical peak this stallion had. Perhaps he could visit the more exclusive gymnasiums in Equestria and ask some questions about their guests.

The Dark Archer had a very luxurious and very expensive speedboat. That had to dock somewhere. Some of the ponies who worked around the harbors of the coastal cities had to know something. Unless the guy had a private docking bay somewhere, which was very likely given his obvious wealth.

Lastly, the most obvious giveaway sign would be that the Dark Archer had a very large scar on the side of his muzzle, courtesy of an arrow fired by Blueblood. He would have to see a doctor about that. The problem was, most doctors who treated patients of the upper circle were very discrete and wouldn't give away any information, not even to another pony of high standing.

Blueblood groaned I frustration. No matter what he came up with to identify and catch his assailant, there was always a flaw in it. After an hour or so of pondering, he finally started to feel his exhaustion from the day's events get to him. His eyes began to drop and before he knew it, his head fell on the desk as sleep took him.

Rarity didn't remember falling asleep in a bed. She was so tired that she would have been able to pass out even on the steel floor of the ship that would carry her home. She also didn't remember the little bird she befriended on the island being next to her head when she fell asleep. But both of them have been welcome surprises. The canary opened it's eyes as she got up and greeted her with a friendly chirp, making her chuckle.

"Good morning to you too, darling." She said, petting the bird's head. She looked around in the room. She was no sailor by any means, but judging from the equipment she saw, she must have been in the captain's cabin. She made a mental not for herself to thank him for allowing her to recuperate there before she got off the ship. That was very generous of him.

But what she saw when she got out of the bed was not such a pleasant sight. Prince Blueblood was also there, napping in a chair in front of the captain's desk. She initially frowned upon seeing him, but she also felt conflicted. It is true that he was the reason she got into this mess in the first place, but he did his part to make up for it on the island and now that she understood the reason behind his behaviour, she felt a little more connected to him.

She shook her head. 'No, Rarity! Don't think like that! Once you're off this ship, there will be nothing tying you together and you will be able to forget him and this ghastly trip forever.' She told herself. Still, he must have been the one to escort her to the cabin and make her comfortable in this bed so she supposed she should return the favor, so she used her magic to levitate the blanket over the prince's asleep form and wrap it around him.

She then got out of the bed and was about to leave the cabin when she saw something from the corner of his eyes. Blueblood had a bunch of papers in front of him and a quill nearby, indicating that he was working on something before dozing off. Rarity's curiosity got the better of her and went to see what it was.

Blueblood had a bunch of names written in front of him, many of whom Rarity recognised as members of the Canterlot elite. They have been gathered into four categories based on their wealth, their athleticism, possible docking places in Equestria and most peculiarly, any facial injuries they have suffered recently.

Rarity remembered how Blueblood injured the archer who attacked him on the mercenary ship and she quickly realised that he must have been searching for his identity. While she had to admit, she was a little curious about it herself, it wasn't like it was her business. That scoundrel only wanted Blueblood and once her way parted with his, that would longer be her problem. Eventually she just shrugged it off and left the cabin.

She made her way to the bridge to greet the captain who was an old unicorn stallion wearing the standard navy outfit behind the wheel. When he saw Rarity, he sent a friendly smile and a nod her way to greet her. A gesture which Rarity happily returned.

"Greetings, Captain. And thank you for allowing me for taking shelter in your cabin after that terrible island ordeal." She said as she stood next to him and looked out the window.

"No problem, lass. That fine stallion you were with is the one you should be thanking. He was quite adamant that that we put you there. He refused to leave your side even after you were resting peacefully." Rarity's eyes widened when she heard that. Was that the same stallion she escaped the island with?

"Is that so?" She asked in surprise. "Well, how gallant of him." The captain nodded.

"I tell you, you sure are lucky to have him by your side during this little misadventure. He really cares for you. It's been a while since I've seen such tenderness in a stallion towards a mare." Rarity decided change the subject.

"Will we return to Equestria soon?" The captain nodded again.

"You slept for quite a long time. Almost through the whole journey. We should be docking within the hour." Rarity sighed in relief at the joyous news.

"That is good to hear! Just because I'm good at surviving in harsh, jungle environments doesn't mean I do it happily. I can't wait to get home and take a long hot bath." She then took a sniff at her foreleg and winced in disgust. "Or two. Or ten."

True to the captain's words, the ship indeed made it back to Equestria within the next hour. By the time they docked, even Blueblood awakened from his slumber and accompanied Rarity as they once again set their hooves on equestrian soil.

The two turned to face each other but none of them could find the right words to say. The awkward silence between them lasted for almost a minute before the prince finally couldn't take it anymore and broke it.

"So... The Guards told me that they found Golden Platter's yacht with all of our belongings still on it. If you want to, you can come with me and we can pick them up." Rarity looked at Blueblood with no expression and it made the prince even more nervous. For the first time in his life, he had no idea what to say to a mare. "Or... Or I can bring them to your address myself." Rarity's expression, or lack thereof remained unchanged. "Or I can have them delivered to you by somepony if that's what you want. That's... that's fine too." Rarity finally couldn't take it anymore and sighed.

"Personally, what I want is to just go home and put this entire ordeal behind me as quickly as possible." She replied. "I am truly sorry, Prince Blueblood. I have seen your true face and I realise it was not the one that treated me the way you did that night." She then closed her eyes and sighed. "But the bad memories are just too much for me. I bid you farewell, Prince Blueblood. And I wish you nothing but the best." She said before turning away and walking off.

Blueblood watched her go with the saddest expression he ever allowed himself to wear in public. He felt terrible. Not only for misjudging this mare completely, but for realising just what he lost. Rarity was really something special. Generous, brave, kindhearted and strong. He could have had all that but due to his shortsighted prejudices against all mares, he ruined his chances. He was going to rue this for the rest of his life.

When the mare disappeared from sight, Blueblood turned away and headed back to Canterlot while struggling to keep his tears from slipping out. It may be too late to hide the mystery on his face at this point, but he absolutely refused to let the crowd see him cry.

Upon returning to the castle, he asked his personal coachpony to pick Rarity up and take her home or wherever she wanted to go, but without revealing to her that he sent him. He knew she would never accept the ride if she knew. But then, he had no Idea where to go next.

His aunts were no doubt busy with political matters and he did not wish to disturb them. They probably didn't even notice he was gone. As he kept pondering, he could think of only one solution. He would visit his good friend, Golden Platter. He was probably the only pony who was going to be more concerned about him than his yacht.

As he made his way towards his friend's room, he came across his maid, Scarlet Feather. The pegasus looked even grumpier than usual and Blueblood should know because he usually gave her quite a bit to be grumpy about but never before did he see her like this. She cast her eyes down, grumbling to herself and she was so caught up in it that she almost bumped into Blueblood. Of course, the prince's sight hardly did anything to improve her mood.

"Welcome back, your highness." She said casually before walking off without even bothering to bow. Blueblood would have usually snapped at her for this, but this time he wasn't in the mood. He opened his mouth and in a sudden surge of kindness, he was about to ask her what was wrong before remembering that he was back in the world of his royal facade. So he steeled his expression and adopted his commanding royal tone.

"Have you seen Golden Platter?" Scarlet scoffed.

"He's in his room. I just helped him patch up an injury he received on his face." Blueblood's blood froze when the maid's words reached his brain.

"What... What injury?" The prince's shaking voice caught Scarlet off guard. She had never heard him sound like that. It would have been almost satisfying if it wasn't for her sour mood.

"A large long scar on his left cheek. He said he received it while practicing archery. You know how much a klutz he is. He probably had the arrow facing the wrong way. And he tried to pick me up even during the time I was tending to his injury! Seriously, you think he'd have taken the hint by now!"

Scarlet suddenly remembered just who she was talking to and quickly corrected herself by adding "Your Highness" at the end of her sentence, but luckily for her, Blueblood didn't seem to notice or care about her disrespectful tone. He had far bigger concerns on his mind. He made a swift change of directions and headed to his room instead of Golden's so fast that the maid thought he just saw a ghost.

In his room, he opened the hidden door to the secret passageways he knew so well and made his way towards the closest exit he knew they had to Golden's room. Before he exited the tunnels, he used the eyeholes of a nearby painting to peek out and wait for the earth pony to leave his room.

'How I hate clichés such this.' He groaned to himself as he waited. He berated himself for even considering the possibility that his lifelong friend could be the very same assassin who tried to kill him not even a day ago. The very thought was absurd. Golden Platter was a meek, happy go lucky and harmless stallion who wouldn't hurt a fly. He couldn't even shoot an arrow straight, let alone fight like that dark archer back on the ship.

Or could he? For all his life, Blueblood has been playing the role. The role of the pompous, spoiled prince. So what prevented Golden Platter from doing the same? But even if that was the case, why would he do it? He was the one pony he was never rude to. They were foalhood friends almost like brothers and even their parents were close. It just didn't make sense to him.

The opening of Golden's door snapped him out of his thoughts. He saw Golden Platter exiting his room and sure enough, there was a patch covering his face exactly where Blueblood's arrow had struck him. The prince gasped behind the painting so loud that he had to cover his mouth. But it still wasn't enough as Golden jumped at the sudden noise and turned around to see who was there. When he saw nopony, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously but continued his way.

Once he was out of sight, Blueblood slid the painting out of it's frame and came out. His suspicions were raised but just because he had the same injury as the Dark Archer wasn't compelling proof. He needed irrefutable evidence and he was hoping he'd find it in Golden's room. Fortunately it wasn't locked so Blueblood gained access with no difficulty. Now he only had to hope he won't be interrupted.

He looked around the room but didn't see anything suspicious left in plain sight. Looks like Golden really wasn't as dumb as he looked. He started to search through the room, making sure to leave nothing out of place. He pulled out the drawers but found nothing. He peeked under the bed only to get the same result.

He was running out of ideas when he saw the door to Golden's closet. He opened it to take a look inside and befitting a member of nobility, it was quite spacious full of clothes. He could spend hours searching through the whole thing. Good thing he knew what he was looking for.

If Blueblood was a supervillain and wanted to hide his costume, he would probably bury it in the back of his closet so he started there. He saw several tuxedos, leisure clothes and sportswear, but not the dark cloak worn by the assassin. He's been at it for almost five minutes when he finally started giving up.

'This is ridiculous.' He thought, hanging the clothes back to their place. 'What am I even doing here? There's no way Golden Platter would and could ever...' He was in such a hurry to get out of there that he accidentally knocked down a box from the top shelf.

The box's contents fell in front of him and his eyes widened. He found what he was looking for. A dark cloaked black jumpsuit and the golden bow he lost during his battle with the mercenaries. So it was true. His oldest friend was the one who wanted him dead. And if that was the case...

Blueblood realised in horror that he would no longer be safe in Canterlot Castle. Golden Platter knew him better than anypony else. He knew his daily routine, his favorite places in the whole city and even the secret places he visited when he wanted to slip out of his royal facade. He could strike anywhere and he would be helpless against him. He proved himself as a superior fighter back on the island. He only won because of Rarity's assistance and...

Rarity! For the first time in his life, Blueblood found himself concerned about the life of another pony more than his own. Golden would no doubt know that Rarity was the other pony who fought him alongside the prince. He could even use her as bait to lure him out. He didn't doubt Rarity was capable of defending herself, she has proven that back on the island, but if Golden was the Dark Archer, he could be more than a match for her. He had to warn her.

He looked back at his bow. He wanted to reclaim it but then Golden would grow suspicious that he was onto him and right now, that was the only advantage he had over him. He softly caressed the weapon before putting it back into the box.

"I will come back for you. I promise." He whispered as he closed the box and put it back on the shelf. He was about to make his way out of the room but when he stepped out of the closet, he heard the door opening. He barely had time to back away into the closet before Golden entered.

He hid between some of the hanging clothes, trying to come up with a way to escape undetected. He used his magic to shake the clothes on the rack on the other side beneath the shelf the costume was on, hoping the rattle would catch Golden's attention.

When the earth pony entered the closet to investigate, Blueblood stopped and used his magic to knock the box off the shelf and it fell right onto Golden's head. The cloak cloak fell out of it and landed on Golden's head, obscuring his vision long enough for Blueblood to sneak out of the room.

He had no time to waste. He headed back to his room, pulled out a bag and began filling it with food and other necessities. The secret tunnels would no doubt help him slip out of the castle, but what would he do then? The only thing he knew is that he had to warn Miss Rarity, but he had no idea where she lived. No problem though. Being a famous fashion designer, she must have fans and friends who knew a lot about her, including her address.

He'll have to be sneaky about this too. Since he was a member of the Canterlot Elite, he would be recognised instantly wherever he went and Golden would no doubt be right after him. He will have to conceal his identity and he knew just the way to do that. He entered his own closet and pulled out a costume of his own. His old Robin Hoof costume. Nopony in their right mind would ever suspect a member of the royal family parading around in this.

After filling his bag, he took the wooden bow he made on the island and Rarity later fixed up. He still had a few arrows left but they won't be enough for much. He's gonna have to fill that up, but he'll worry about that later. Right now, he had a certain fashionista to track down.

Rarity had a lot of things on her mind when she exited the carriage that delivered her back home to her boutique in Ponyville. The first amongst them was where would she accommodate her little canary friend? She already had a pet and she was fairly certain her cat, Opalescence would make short work of the bird if it ever entered her sight. Fortunately, her feathered companion was more than happy to take up residence on the outskirts of her house. She already saw it chirping and flying around with several other birds on a nearby tree.

The second was the identity of her "mysterious benefactor" who sent her the carriage. She had not a shadow of a doubt in her mind that it was Blueblood. The pompous prince was more than likely trying to ease his conscience after the way he treated her during their date. Or maybe he was just trying to make sure she got home safe? Rarity shook her head.

"No! Don't do this, Rarity! Don't start thinking about him affectionately! It was nothing more than his guilty conscience! And even that's probably giving him way too much credit!" She put on an indifferent look for a few moments before her face softened and she let out a sigh.

"But then why would he try to hide that it was him who sent that carriage? Oh, I'm so confused!" The fashionista cried as she dropped herself on her bed. Her mind was a raging ocean of emotions right now. She needed to do something to occupy herself with so she turned to the one thing she always did when she wanted to do that. Her work.

Few ponies knew this, but when Rarity was stressed - which was often - then she usually buried herself into her work. It was actually the main reason she was such a productive designer. She even joked sometimes that if more ponies knew this, they would deliberately stress themselves out just to match her work rate.

And just what was she working on? Well, the truth of the matter was, she had no idea. All she knew was she had to work to keep her rampaging emotions down. She pierced a black piece of fabric with needles, cut some more with scissors, pulled another piece onto the legs of her ponyquin in front of her and before she knew it, she was staring at a modified version of the heroine costume Pristine Parfait wore during her last fashion show.

But this one was somehow different. The black domino mask across the eyes resembled the look of the little bird she befriended not too long ago. The collar and the zipper line of the jacket was decorated with sparkling diamonds. A black spiked skirt covered her cutie marks to avoid recognition from those she didn't want it. Four black boots decorated each hoof beneath a set fishnet stockings and small, sharp diamonds sticking out of it for both decorative and combat reasons.

Rarity surprised herself with her creation. Sure, she made several superheroine suits in the past, but this was something so much more personal. It felt like she made this solely for herself which really flew in the of her generous mature. She felt like putting in on, heading out into Equestria in an attempt to find the Dark Archer herself and bring him to justice. Just like a real superhero. She raised a shaking hoof and reached out to touch it, but then she shook her head with a laugh.

"Oh, Rarity. Ever the romantic dreamer!" She chuckled. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door which brought her back to reality. She looked up at the clock on the wall and was shocked to see that it was already past eight. She got so carried away with the making of that dress that she completely lost her track of time and forgot to close shop for the day.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm closed for the day." She told the stallion outside once she opened the door. "Come back to..." Before she could finish, her visitor dashed inside and slammed the door shut behind him. He then pushed Rarity up against the wall and pressed his foreleg against her mouth to silence her.

"Shhh..." He tried to calm her, but apparently not doing a very good job. The stallion then removed his hood to reveal none other than Prince Blueblood. "It's me." Rarity was gobsmacked.

"You! What are you..." She didn't get to finish as Blueblood pressed his hoof against her mouth again.

"Listen! You're a very nice mare and I like you a lot! But right now, shut up!" Before Rarity could voice her outrage over the prince's choice of words, he dashed to the windows and closed the shutters. He looked around and his eyes fell on a large closer which he then used his magic on to levitate it in front of the door. Rarity could only watch in absolute confusion as Blueblood pushed one of the shutters slightly aside and peeked out. He looked around for a few moments before letting out a sigh.

"Good, I don't think I was being followed."

"Followed? By who?" Rarity asked, staring at the prince in utter bewilderment. "What in the name of Princess Celestia and every other Princess who ever lived is going on here?!" She demanded.

"I couldn't stay in Canterlot!" Blueblood replied frantically. "I'm no longer safe there! He's after me!"

"Not precisely clearing up the situation." Rarity deadpanned. "Who is after you?"

"Golden Platter! It was him! He set Bloodsport and his crew on us! He's the one who tried to kill me!" Now that got Rarity's attention.

"What?! That cannot be! Golden Platter is the shining example of nobility in the Canterlot elite I've ever seen!" She cried in disbelief. "I cannot believe of a stallion of his station and upbringing could ever be..." Rarity stopped when she noticed that Blueblood was giving her the most unamused look she's ever seen. No doubt he was mentally reprimanding her for not learning her lesson about holding nobles and royals in too high regards after what happened between them. "Alright, point taken. Why are you so sure it's him?"

"I found his costume in his closet! And before you ask what was I doing there, my maid told me that she treated him with a wound on his cheek! Exactly where my arrow hit him! It has to be him!" Blueblood explained. "He knows everything about me! I shared every part of my daily schedule with him for years! He'll find me anywhere! But he doesn't know you! And you're the only pony in Equestria that I trust!" Rarity wasn't particularly moved by this plea."

"While I am flattered by this show of trust, darling, I will have to ask, how is this any concern of mine?" Blueblood was left speechless by this response.

"I... beg your pardon?"

"You heard me." Rarity replied with utter indifference in her voice. "It seems like this problem does not affect me. It is you that two faced snake wants dead." Rarity expected Blueblood to break down into a pathetic fit of begging to let him stay, but what happened next left her speechless.

"Miss Rarity, surely you remember that he wanted you dead as well as me! He might come after you to get to me and I am not about to let anything happen to you!" Blueblood replied full of determination. Rarity was not sure how to respond to that. On the one hoof, it was kind of charming to see her so ready to protect her despite her still apparent animosity towards him. On the other, she was a little irritated that he would believe she needed his protection.

"I assure you, I will be quite fine on my own, but your concern is much appreciated." She told him, still not dropping her hostile demeanor. This was the point where Blueblood decided to put his hoof down.

"I know you still don't like me, Miss Rarity, but I don't care at the moment. All I want is to keep you safe from him. If he was able to hire Bloodsport, then he's prepared to go any length to see me dead. And since you were with me on that island and evaded him as well, he will be after you too." He told her firmly, making it clear that he won't be leaving until this crisis was dealt with. Rarity's eyes widened when he realised Blueblood was completely right. Of course a ruthless maniac like that would be after her just for being associated with his target and escaping with him.

"Oh, goodness, that's true!" She shrieked, starting to panic and pace around the room. "What am I going to do?! A pony with his resources can get to me with no difficulty!" She stopped pacing and turned to the prince accusingly. "Argh! This is all your fault! Even after we escaped that island, you still continue to bring ill fortune to me!" Blueblood sighed and looked down sadly.

"I know. I cannot express my regret enough. I brought this menace on your head and now it is my responsibility to remove it. And I promise you, I will or die trying."

"Well, I feel safer already!" Rarity groaned sarcastically. "Why don't we take this matter to Princess Celestia? I am sure the word of her nephew would be enough to make her do something!"

"And you would be wrong." Blueblood answered dejectedly. "I have nothing concrete against him and you wouldn't believe the things royals and nobels have come up with in the past to accuse each other. I wanted to get proof from his room but he returned before I could find anything. I would probably find something there but I would need to distract him."

"And how would you plan to do that?" Blueblood started thinking of something, but he wasn't having much success with it, much to Rarity's frustration. "Come on! I'm sure you know him just as much as he does you! You must know some of his weaknesses!"

"Well, as it turns out, everything I knew about him was a lie, so I'm not sure if I do know him after all." Blueblood retorted, but then his eyes lit up with realisation. "But there IS something! Mares! Golden Platter would never be able to resist an attractive and seductive mare!" He remembered all the times he reprimanded him for hitting on mares beneath his station and how he always defended himself with how a pretty mare is a pretty mare, no matter her social standing.

"That settles it then!" Rarity exclaimed. "I'm going to ask him out on a date while you search through his room for evidence!"

"That is out of the question!" Blueblood objected. "Allow me to remind you that he will be out for you as well after what happened on the island! We're going to have to find somepony else! Do you happen to know any pretty mares would do anything with anypony and could help us?" It didn't take Rarity long to come up with the solution.

"Oh, yes!" She smirked. "I know just the mare for the job!”

The next day, the two ponies arranged a meeting with the mare Rarity had in mind for the task at hoof in a small cafeteria on the outskirts of Ponyville. They were both rather nervous about the whole thing, although for different reasons. Blueblood kept looking around and over his shoulders, trying to spot anypony who might be after them on Golden Platter’s behalf, while Rarity was more than a little embarrassed about going out in public with a Robin Hoof cosplayer.

The waiters mistaking them for a couple only added to Rarity’s discomfort and while Blueblood would have been more than delighted to play along with the assumption, he didn’t want to blow his cover. Eventually, the prince got bored of the waiting and checked the clock on the wall.

“Well, punctuality is certainly not one of your friends’ strong suits.” He complained, crossing his forelegs as he slumped back in his seat.

“She is only fashionably late, darling!” Rarity defended her. “Befitting her status as a fashion model.”

“There is a fine line being fashionably late and just being plain rude.” Blueblood grumbled, but Rarity had the perfect response to that.

“You would know all about that, wouldn’t you?” She retorted, causing Blueblood to look down in shame. After a few minutes, the mare they had been waiting for finally walked through the door.

“Rarity, darling!” The earth pony greeted her friend as they embraced and pecked each other’s cheek. “I was so worried about you! You disappear for days without saying a word to me?! Why, that prince of yours must have been quite a specimen if he was able to take you away for so long!” She teased as she playfully poked her in the shoulder.

“Yes.” Rarity replied dryly. “He was quite something. Anyway, I’m so happy you could make it, Pristine, darling! I need you help in a rather... delicate manner. It’s a little complicated. All I’m gonna say for now is that it has to do with the prince I’ve been with.” Pristine Parfait looked at Rarity in slight surprise, then she smirked suggestively.

“Why, Rarity, I never thought you would be into a threeway, but if this prince is really that good, I certainly wouldn’t mind…” She was quickly silenced when Rarity put a hoof over her mouth.

“It’s not that you gutter minded pervert!” She snapped as she blushed furiously and looked around to see if anypony was listening in on the conversation. “Seriously, can you think of anything else fore more than 10 seconds?!” Pristine shrugged.

“I don’t think about that all the time. Only when the opportunity is too good. Which is often when I have a body like this. Don’t blame me, blame my genes!” She chuckled.

“Can we please get back to the topic at hoof?” Rarity shook her head, trying to get the images Pristine put into them away. “Please have a seat.” Pristine did so and immediately noticed the hooded stallion seated in front of her. She raised an eyebrow.

“Rarity, I may let my lower parts do the thinking for me most of the time but I’m far from stupid. This mysterious loner wouldn’t happen to be your hoofsome prince, would he?”

“Shhhh!” Blueblood sprung up and put his own hoof over the mare’s lips. “Nopony can know who I am!”

“Why not?” Pristine asked in confusion before she got an idea that made her squeal. “Oh my gosh! You two are eloping, aren’t you?! That’s the delicate matter you need my help with!”

“Not exactly.” Rarity said as she fiddled with her forelegs, trying to find a way to let Pristine in on the situation. “This may sound outlandish, darling, but one of his friends seem to have it in for him and he wants him dead. And by association, me as well.” Rarity was about to elaborate the situation further, but to her surprise, Pristine stopped her with a wave of her hoof.

“Say no more, darling, what do you need me to do?” Rarity’s and Blueblood’s eyes widened.

“That’s it?!” Blueblood marveled. “You don’t find this weird? At all?”

“Honey, I’ve been there and done that several times.” Blueblood was naturally surprised by that, but as he examined Pristine, her appearance, her confidence and her personality, a wide grin formed on his face.

“Oh, Miss Rarity, you were right! She is absolutely perfect! Golden goes absolutely crazy for bimbos like her!” His eyes widened when he realized what he just said. “Uh, no offense.” He apologised sheepishly.

“None taken, honey.” Pristine said, waving her hoof again. “I've been called far worse.”

“I just hope she's capable enough to pull this off.” Rarity said with concern for her friend.

“I'll be fine, sweetheart.” Pristine reassured her putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Just a few months ago, I hooked up with a stallion who was being targeted by RichCorp hitponies for refusing to sell them one of his inventions.”

“Really?” Blueblood asked with intrigue. “What happened?”

“Well, I offered to go up to the hitponies’ hotel room…” She began, but Rarity cut her off.

“We don’t need the details!” She yelled, her cheeks reddening again. Pristine shrugged.

“Your loss. Let’s just say there was a hidden camera, a lot of alcohol, some incriminating photographs and a little blackmailing involved but in the end, we got him off. I assume this is gonna be something similar.”

“A little.” Blueblood admitted. “But we will handle evidence. All you have to do is keep our ‘friend’ occupied for the night.”

“I’m your mare!” Pristine announced proudly. “No stallion has ever been able to resist me. You’ll have all the time in the world. You two go find some dirt on your guy and I'll take care of the rest.” Blueblood and Rarity exchanged a look with each other. Looks like they were in for an interesting night.

Just as Pristine promised, the date between her and Golden Platter was arranged easily and rapidly. She was going to Canterlot the night after the day she planned everything with Rarity and Blueblood. Where they were going to be during this time, she didn't know, but it was better this way. She didn't want to say or do anything that might give them away.

Not that she was going to have difficulty with her task. Seduction and deception were right up her alley and if the stallion she was supposed to seduce proved to be any capable in bed, she was going to get something out of this herself. She still chuckled when she remembered Blueblood's face when she asked him to vouch for his abilities in that regard.

When she reached the gates of Canterlot Castle, her date for the night was already waiting for her. He definitely wasn't sore on the eyes and judging from the giant bouquet of flowers and heart shaped chocolate box he had in hoof, he also wasn't short on neither manners, nor money. Pristine was almost sorry the guy was supposedly an evil prick. He definitely looked like one for the keeps.

“Pristine Parfait!” He cheered when he noticed his date in the absolutely stunning nightblue gown she was wearing. “You look absolutely beautiful tonight. But expecting any less from one of Equestria’s top models would be foolish.” He praised as he bowed to her and handed her the gifts.

“Oh, Goldy, you shouldn’t have.” She told him appreciatively, taking the flowers and sniffing them. “Seriously, you shouldn't have. I don’t come this expensive, if you get my meaning.” She said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Golden stared at her for a while, surprised that she’d make that proclamation so openly, but it didn’t take long for that look to be replaced by a similarly suggestive expression “You don’t mind if I call you Goldy, do you?”

“A pretty thing like you can call me whatever she wants.” He replied, exchanging two pecks on the cheek with her before turning back to the guards standing at the gate. “Don’t wait for me tonight, boys. I have a feeling I’ll be out until morning.”

‘That’s the idea.’ Pristine thought to herself slyly before extending one of her forelegs to the stallion. “Well, then, shall we?”

“Oh, we shall!” Golden replied, taking her hoof. “Let’s not delay another second.” He mused, leading the mare away from the castle, towards the city. And while Pristine PArfait lead Golden Platter away with the promise of a good night, underneath the city, two costumed figures were moving through the forgotten underground caverns.

“Are you certain this is the way?” Rarity asked in disgust as she took in her surroundings. The tunnel they were currently in was absolutely filthy. There was a small stream pouring down on their hooves and she wasn't sure if all of it was water. The smell was unbearable and that's not even going into the rats, insects and all the other repulsive creatures she saw carling around along the way.

“Trust me.” Blueblood answered without looking back at her, due to having to illuminate their path with his horn. “I've been through these tunnels more times than I can count. I could probably lead you anywhere in the castle through them blindfolded.” Rarity wasn't exactly reassured and every time she took another step, she shivered as her hoof connected with the cold liquid again.

“Ugh, you owe me a deluxe emergency hooficure treatment after this.” She complained, earning a chuckle from the stallion.

“And I thought I was the squeamish one.” Rarity just rolled her eyes.

“About that, darling, why would you ever crawl through these disgusting tunnels?” She asked as he raised her hoof to shake something off of it. “You're a prince, surely you can come and go as you please.”

“With the expectations of one.” Blueblood replied half heartedly. “Sometimes when I don't want to be Prince Blueblood, these tunnels allow me to slip away unnoticed and just be… well, me.” Rarity understood where the prince was coming from but she couldn't say she related to it.

“I don't think I would ever want to be anypony other than myself.”

“That's because you aren't royalty.” Blueblood scoffed. “I know it's your dream to marry into royalty, but take it from me, you're not missing out on much. You can easily make the money to live luxuriously with your fashion work and you don't have to meet anypony’s expectations but your own.” Rarity was thankful the prince couldn't see it, but she actually blushed from the prince's compliment.

“Thank you, darling. You know, for what it's worth, I think you have grown into a much better stallion than you were at the start of our misadventures.” She said, wanting to return the gesture. Words couldn't express how much these words warmed Blueblood's heart. He didn't know how to respond and his loss of words was making him feel very awkward and he became so flustered that he didn't see that he was walking right into a wall.

“Ow!” He cried out, rubbing his nose. Rarity chuckled.

“What’s wrong, Prince Blueblood? I thought you knew these tunnels like the back of your hoof.” Blueblood gave her an annoyed look.

“Well I will let you know that I have just bumped into the exit we need to enter Golden’s room unnoticed.” The stallion pushed on a stone on the wall and the wall in front of them opened and they stepped through the hole, right into the halls of Canterlot Castle. Rarity looked around in awe. She had never actually been inside the castle itself and the sight made her nothing short of euphotic. Blueblood saw that she was about to squeal and quickly covered her mouth.

“Allow me to remind you that we are supposed to be undercover here.” Rarity quickly took the hint and blushed in embarrassment before nodding sheepishly. The two slowly made their way towards Golden Platter’s room. To their surprise, they found that it wasn’t locked. They stepped inside and looked around.

“Something about this doesn’t feel right.” Rarity said. “Where are the guards? Not that I would like to run into them dressed like this.” She pointed to her black leather outfit. “Not that I wouldn’t like to show off my newest work, but it would be suspicious under the current circumstances.”

“Yes, I understand.” Blueblood said in an attempt to cut off her ranting. “Now that your friend has Golden occupied, we’ll have time to search this room thoroughly. You search the closet, I’ll cover the room itself. Rarity nodded and headed to Golden’s closet. Being the fashionista she was, she was instantly enamored with how spacious it was. Even her own closet back at the boutique wasn’t this big. And the clothes were the finest pieces of fabrics her eyes ever landed on.

She felt giddy just looking at them before reminding herself that she was on a mission. “Focus, Rarity! You’re not here to gawk. No matter how fabulous these clothes are.” Her eyes filled with sparks as she looked at them over one more time. “And they are really fabulous.” She reached out to touch one of them before snapping out of her awe and shaking her head. “No! Bad Rarity! Eyes on the prize!”

Meanwhile, Blueblood was searching the room. He didn’t find anything the last time, but maybe he will be lucky and Golden had moved a few items around since he was last here.Or maybe he would stumble upon some hidden area in the room that would lead him to his false friend’s secret supervillain lair. Or maybe…

…or maybe Golden would be stupid enough to leave his journal wide open on his desk. Blueblood picked it up and began to read it. His eyes widened. He wrote in detail about how he set up the date between him and Rarity, Bloodsport’s ambush and how frustrated he was when the moron failed and the prince came back alive.

He just hit the jackpot. Surely this will be enough to expose Golden for the traitor he was. He slammed it shut and was about to go straight to his aunt’s room, when he was stopped by Rarity who exited the closet.

“There’s nothing in there!” She told him. “I found the box you were talking about, but it was empty. No costume.”

“I don’t understand.” Blueblood said as he put a hoof to his chin. “Why would he take it if he’s out on a date?”

“Did you find anything?” Rarity asked. Blueblood showed her the journal.

“Yeah, everything’s in here. Come on, let’s take it to my aunt.” But Rarity wasn’t so sure.

“There’s something suspicious here.” She said, pulling him back. “No guards, he leaves his journal out in the open, his costume is missing. It almost feels like this is a…”

“Trap?” Blueblood and Rarity jumped in surprise and turned to see Golden Platter standing at the door dressed in his Dark Archer costume complete with a quiver and Blueblood’s golden bow. At his hooves, was the tied, unmoving figure of Pristine Parfait. “You’re smarter than you look, miss Rarity. I don’t know why you settled for him.” He snarled, pointing at Blueblood. Rarity’s eyes widened upon seeing her friend’s body.

“Pristine! What have you done to her, you scoundrel?!”

“I must admit, the idea of spending the night with her was certainly tempting, but contrary to popular belief, I don’t always think with my nether region. I immediately recognised her as your top model and when I heard that Blueblood was missing, it didn’t take long to connect the dots. It was a good plan, but you could have sent somepony with no ties to you. Maybe I would have fallen for it.” Blueblood narrowed his eyes at the earth pony.

“It’s over, Golden.” He said, lifting his journal. “I have proof that you’re a two-faced backstabber. You’ll be lucky if you only get a life sentence.”

“Blueblood, weren’t you listening?” Golden retorted in amusement. “Then again, you were never too hot at listening to anypony other than yourself. This trap is for you, not me.” He then pulled out a rope and tossed it in front of them. “Now tie your little marefriend up.” He said, loading an arrow into the bow and aiming it at Pristine’s head. “Or she gets it.”

Blueblood and Rarity looked at each other before looking back at Pristine. They tried to think of a way to save her but couldn’t come up with any. Blueblood had no arrows to intercept Golden’s and he would fire immediately if he saw his horn glow. Rarity thought she could use her wail to incapacitate him, but what if the arrow he holds goes loose and hits Pristine? She couldn't risk it. In the end, they resigned themselves to Golden’s game.

Golden watched with a satisfied grin as his ‘friend’ picked up the rope with his magic and tied it around Rarity’s legs and body. Golden then reached into his suit and pulled out a magic repressor before tossing it to Blueblood who quickly got the hint and put it onto Rarity’s horn. Golden then pointed at the closet door with his bow and Blueblood carried Rarity inside before doing the same to Pristine. Golden then locked the closet door and turned to Blueblood.

“Let’s take a walk.” The two hooded stallions exited the room and walked down corridors towards the gardens. Golden was slightly behind Blueblood as he kept pointing his arrow at the prince’s flank and urging him to move on.

“Why, Golden?” Blueblood asked the question that’s on his mind ever since he found out Golden was trying to get him killed. “We grew up together. We were practically brothers.”

“Hardly.” Golden sneered. “Did it ever occur to you why your parents took me in after my family lost everything? My mother’s only wish was that they will look after me after they have taken away every bit of their fortune and lands! Your family destroyed mine, brother! All my life, I’ve been driven only by my desire to see you pay for the sins of your parents!”

Blueblood was shocked. Surely Golden was lying. He wanted to turn back to him and scream at him that he did not believe a single word he was saying. But he did know that Golden’s family lost everything and had to leave Canterlot, leaving Golden behind who was taken in by his parents when they saw how close they were. And he also knew that his parents didn’t exactly have the most honorable reputation among the Canterlot Elite. As much as he hated to admit it, the idea of them being the ones who ruined Golden’s family was not a far-fetched one.

When they arrived at the secret garden they used to practice their archery almost every day. Blueblood remembered all the time Golden was so clumsy with his arrows. Of course, now he wondered whether those were actually accidents at all.

“It seems I’m not the only one of us who can play a role well.” Blueblood remarked dryly. Golden chuckled.

“True enough. It wasn’t easy to practice my own fighting and archery skills without you noticing. It also wasn’t easy to restrain myself to put an arrow between your eyes earlier but I knew I had to wait for the right moment. I didn’t want to risk attracting any suspicion. And I also wanted to find an opportunity to beat you at your own game.” Blueblood raised a brow.

“You wanna challenge me to an archery contest?”

“That’s one way to put it.” Golden mused. “But there is a twist to it. There are only two targets in the arena.” He said as he walked directly in front of the prince. “You and me. And to make things more interesting, I have hidden several arrows in the garden. We're going to start without any ammunition. The better and more resourceful hunter wins.”

“And what if I won't play this twisted little game of yours?” Golden’s only answer was a diabolical grin.

“Then I'll kill your little crush.” The mention of any harm coming to Rarity instantly enraged Blueblood. He marched straight up to Golden and glared right into his face.

“If you so much as touch her with one hooftip…” He never got to finish his threat as Golden pushed him away with a hoof so hard he fell on his flank.

“Then what will you do, brother?” He snarled contemptuously. “Did you forget how easily I beat you back on the mercenary ship? If your marefriend didn't save you, I would have killed you then and there!” Blueblood groaned before getting up. He had to face it that his only way of getting himself and Rarity out of this was to play Golden’s game.

“Now that I have your attention…” Golden continued. “...let me tell you a fun fact. Do you remember all those Robin Hoof stories your mother always read to you? Do you know why they stopped making them? Well, the creators ran out of ideas and they decided to have the noble hero meet a heroic end by a nemesis they created for him. Do you know who that nemesis was?” Golden then pointed to his dark suit. “His name was Neighcoln Marelin, The Dark Archer. So since you loved those stories so much, I decided this would make a fitting end for you.” He then tossed Blueblood the golden bow before pulling out another one form his quiver. It was a similarly decorative bow of black and dark purple colors with Nightmare Moon’s figure serving as the handle and her two wings being the two end that held the string between them. “Are you ready?” Blueblood narrowed his eyes at him.

“You will be disappointed to find that our story will have a very different ending.” He snarled. hanging the bow onto his shoulder.

“I doubt it. Golden scoffed. “I’m gonna give you a one minute head start. I would use it wisely.” He then pulled out a smoke bomb and smashed it into the ground, disappearing in a huge cloud of smoke. Blueblood could barely jump back in time to avoid inhaling it in When he looked up, the Dark Archer was nowhere to be seen. “The hunt is on.” He heard his echoing voice that sounded like it was coming from every direction. “Run, little lamb.”

Rarity struggled with all her might, but she couldn’t break out of the ropes tying her hooves together. For all the things Bluelbood was lacking, tying knots just had to be one thing he excelled at. And with the magic repressor at her horn, she couldn't use her magic either. She felt completely helpless. None of her fighting skills, not even her wail would be able to get her out of this mess. Her only hope was that Blueblood would be able to handle Golden by himself and she didn't have particularly much faith on that front.

“Oh, what am I going to do?!” She moaned before hanging her head in defeat and dropped herself back on the ground. Unless some miracle happened, her fate looked rather bleak. Little did she know, that miracle was closer than she would have ever hoped.

“Well, you could start by quitting your moping and stay still while I undo that knot.” Rarity looked up to see Pristine Parfait standing over her, free of the ropes that restrained her.

“Pristine” She screamed in shock. “How did you…”

“Honey, this isn't the first time I had to escape from bondage and I assure you it won't be the last.” Pristine waved her surprise off as she freed Rarity and removed the magic reoressor form her horn. “Now we'll just have to get out of here.” Rarity smirked.

“I can handle that.” She said, motioning for Pristine to stand back. She then walked up to the door and pulled out a needle from a pocket on her jacket and picking the lock of the closet door open. “So many ponies sleep on the many practical uses of a needle.” Rarity noted as they ran out of the closet. “Now let's go!”

“I don't think so!” Rarity and Pristine jumped as they found themselves facing two royal guards. “You're not going anywhere, thieves!” A gray unicorn cried. “Lord Golden Platter told us you could try to escape, but not as long as we are here!”

“Pardon me, darling, but did you just say you are here on the behalf of Golden Platter?” Rarity asked in her usual ladylike tone.

“The pony you are just trying to rob? Who else would have put us here to guard you?” The guard yelled back. Rarity cracked her hooves and flashed them an evil grin that would have made the Joker blush.

“That’s all I needed to know.” She knew these guards were merely following their orders, but as long as they were Golden’s orders, they were his accomplices and as such they were perfect for her to take some of her frustration out on.

Rarity jumped forward, doing a somersault and kicking the stallion in the chin with her hind legs. She then swept the forelegs of the other stallion out from under him, making him fall forward and hitting his head on the floor. Rarity then sprung up and bashed his head into the floor again, knocking him out. Pristine watched the violent display in astonishment. She never knew Rarity had it in her.

“Wow. Remind me never to get on your bad side.” Rarity ignored the comment and looked around the room. Fortunately, Golden’s journal was still on his desk. He probably didn’t expect her to escape.

“Got it!” She exclaimed as she picked it up. “We have to get this to the princess!” She told Pristine, dragging herself out of the room with her. On the corridor, another nasty surprise awaited them as they ran into another group of guards, about a dozen of them who immediately surrounded them.

“Uh, I don’t suppose you can kung hoof your way out of this situation as well.” Pristine asked nervously.

“Perhaps I could but I’d rather not test that right now.” She replied before shoving the journal into the other mare’s hoof. “Cover your ears.” Pristine just stared at her in confusion.

“What?”

“I will help you get through them. Cover your ears and run as fast as you can!” Rarity didn’t wait for a confirmation that she understood or not. She took a deep breath and released a huge scream at the stallions surrounding her. The wail she released was so loud that it released sonic waves that knocked the guards back, shattered the glass and the vases around her and even turned a few smaller items over.

Pristine didn’t cover her ears as soon as Rarity warned her and she instantly regretted it. When she finally did, she took off running through the stallions who were busy protecting their eardrums as well as they could. The soundwaves Rarity created actually gave her a boost, pushing her down the corridor as she sprinted towards the princess’ quarters.

Rarity watched her go and once she was out of her sight, she stopped wailing. Happily so as she wasn't sure how much longer her throat and lungs could have lasted. She exhausted them but she wasn't done. The guards slowly recovered and judging from the looks on their faces, they weren't going to settle on detaining her this time around.

One of them pulled out a spear and charged at Rarity with a roar, but the mare jumped out of the way in time and using the guard's own momentum against him, she slammed him head first into the wall. She then picked up the spear and raised it in front of herself defensively.

The guards were not deterred though. Two of them threw themselves at her, believing they can easily overpower her, but that belief was quickly shattered when Rarity began twirling the spear around and bashing them in the muzzle repeatedly until they were out cold.

Suddenly, Rarity felt the spear beginning to fly out of her grasp and looked down to see it surrounded by a green magical aura. One of the unicorn guards was trying to take it from her with his magic and she quickly realized she was losing this fight.

“You want it? Be my guest!” She said, throwing the spear at the unicorn and managing to pierce him in the shoulder. Her moment of triumph was short lived though as an earth pony guard grabbed her from behind. She struggled to break free but the stallion was much stronger than her. She had only one choice. She pressed her hind legs together before raising them high in the air and flinging them back and hitting the stallion right in the family jewels. That did the trick. He let go of Rarity, leaving her free to knock his lights out.

“You would think they'd have protective armor down there too.” Rarity remarked before shrugging. “Oh, well.” Her casual attitude was swiftly swept aside when she saw an arrow fly past her head. She turned to see two more guards at the end of the corridor aiming crossbows at her. Rarity did her best to dodge them but even her reflexes weren't that fast. One of the arrows managed to chip off a lock of her mane and as Rarity watched the purple lock slowly fall onto the floor, something inside her snapped.

“My mane!” She screamed. “You fiends! Do you have any idea how expensive my manedresser is?!” This was it! No more Miss Nice Mare! Rarity ran behind the cover of a desk her wail knocked over earlier and picked it up with her magic. Using it as a shield, she ran at the firing guards, tackling both of them and pushing them against the wall. She then pulled the table back and slammed it against the two guards repeatedly until her rage abated.

“Who's next?!” The remaining guards looked at each other nervously before charging at her at the same time. They surrounded her, trying to intimidate her into submission but it was a futile attempt. Rarity saw one of them holding a spear which she pulled away from him before stabbing it into the floor and twirling around it, kicking all the guards in the muzzle with her hind legs and sending them to the ground.

“You owe me a trip to the best stylist in Canterlot after this.” She told the groaning ponies on the floor, flicking her mane stylishly.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” A loud, booming voice echoed through the corridor that could rival her own wail. Rarity turned to see the two princesses, Celestia and Luna standing at the end of the corridor with a very intimidated looking Pristine Parfait next to them with Golden’s journal still in her hooves.

The princesses examined the scene thoroughly, looking at the mess Rarity's wail has made, the injured guards moaning on the floor and finally the costumed mare in the middle of the hallway. They narrowed their eyes at her and Rarity found herself gulping nervously.

“Uh… Good evening… your hignesses…”

Blueblood was making his way through the lush vegetation of the huge gardens as quickly as he could, looking out for any arrows Golden might have hidden along the way. He found one sticking out of the dead body of a small yellow bird. He doubted it was the same bird Rarity befriended on the island they escaped from but it was probably symbolic of the canary motif the mare had.

Another one was stuck inside a used target that was left lying there. He had to be really careful not to break it as he pulled it out. A third one he found accidentally as he ran through a pile of leaves and was lucky enough to step on it.

As he ran, he stopped every five seconds to take a look around. He knew Golden gave him a minute head start, but he was so focused in looking around for arrows that he lost his track of time just seconds after the hunt began. He couldn't see him anywhere but that didn't do much to reassure him. In his dark suit, he blended in perfectly with the night. Even if he was there, he wouldn't be able to see him.

So instead, he kept searching for more arrows. While he couldn't find any, one did find him as he suddenly felt a burning pain in his shoulder and he collapsed to the ground with a scream. He looked to see an arrow sticking out of the wound, which thankfully wasn't too deep. His costume was thick enough to prevent the arrow from going deeper.

“Your one minute is up, brother!” Golden called out to him as he slowly emerged from the darkness. “And it seems that so is the rest of your time.” Blueblood just glared up at him as he tried to pull the arrow out of his shoulder.

“Non lethal shot. On purpose, I assume.” He snarled, finally managing to pull it out.

“Of course! Do you think I went through all this trouble just to put an arrow between your eyes and be done with it? No, I want to savour this moment!” Golden smirked maniacally. “So, get up, brother! Give me what I've been wanting all these years!”

“Coming right up, brother!” Blueblood yelled out before trying to surprise Golden by lunging at him and trying to stab him with the arrow, but Golden wasn't fooled. He spun around and kicked Blueblood right back to the ground.

“Going back down! You disappoint me.” The earth pony mused.

"Let's see how how much this disappoints you!” Blueblood groaned in pain as he loaded the arrow he was holding into his own bow and fired it at Golden. He managed to catch him off guard this time and hit him in the foreleg, making him fall down. By the time he removed the arrow and got up Blueblood was gone.

“Oh, no, brother!” Golden snarled. “Your head start is over. No more hide and seek.” He knew Blueblood was injured so all he had to do was follow the blood trail. But Golden got in over his head. Blueblood learned how to survive in the jungle on the island and he would use that to his advantage. Golden wasn't the hunter, he was the quarry. He just didn't know it yet.

Blueblood picked up some leaves from the ground to conceal the blood trail he left behind. He managed to buy himself enough time to get away unnoticed but most importantly, the tables have turned. He still had Golden in his sight and now it was his turn to strike.

But he won't do it just yet. Golden wants to beat him at his own game and Blueblood is not going to give him that satisfaction. The arrogant bastard already think he won and he was gonna let him keep believing that.

He looked up at the tree he was hiding behind and saw some vines hanging off of it. He tore them off and used them to tie two of his collected arrows together. He then loaded them into his bow and fired them at Golden, tying up the shocked earth pony and piercing him against a tree.

Golden struggled to get out of the trap, but Blueblood tied them well. Eventually, he realised they won't come lose so he used the sharp edges of his bow to cut himself loose. He then headed straight into the direction where the arrows came from, loading one of his own into his own bow. He looked around, trying to locate Blueblood but that was when he felt something tighten around one of his hindlegs.

Before he knew it, a rope trap made from the vines hanging from the tree lifted him upside down. He was so shocked that he dropped his bow to the ground, leaving him unarmed for the time being. Blueblood casually walked out of the bushes and picked it up with his magic before breaking it in too.

“Now who's the lamb?” He scoffed. But to his surprise, Golden only smirked.

“Still you, brother.” He then flung his upper body up and grabbed onto the vine before using it to climb up to the top of the tree, disappearing between the branches. Blueblood cursed under his breath and reached for his last remaining arrow, but before he could load it into his bow, he heard a loud snap from the top of the tree and the same vine he used to trap Golden flew towards him, wrapped itself around his bow and yanked it away from him.

The next thing he knew, Golden jumped down in front of him with another arrow pointed straight at him. Blueblood's eyes widened in fright as he used his magic to pick up the reamins of Golden’s bow and hurl it at the earth pony just in time to throw his aim off enough for the arrow to miss.

Blueblood bolted off again but Golden didn't bother chasing him at full speed. He was now both armless and helpless so he didn't have to hurry. He completely sealed the garden off. There was no escape for him. He would die in this place. And since he was still bleeding, he even had a trail to him. This couldn't have gone any better.

He followed the blood and eventually, he saw the outlines of Blueblood's costume hiding between two trees. The fool couldn't even find a good hiding spot. Deciding to finally end this little game, he aimed his bow and fired the arrow at a point he knew would cause slow and painful lethal bleeding. However, when the arrow stuck, all he heard was a wooden thump.

“What?!” He exclaimed as he ran over to his target, on to see that it was merely a small bush in the shape of a pony with Blueblood's costume put on it. But Golden didn't have to search for the real Blueblood for long. From the pile of leaves by his hooves, a figure burst out and kicked his bow out of his hooves before tackling him on the ground. He caught the bow as it fell and aimed the arrow straight at Golden’s throat, leaving him unable to move without damaging himself.

“Game over, brother.” He spat at him viciously. Golden merely shot him a glare in response.

“Not over! Not by a long shot!” He started thinking up possible ways to get himself free, before another voice interrupted him.

“Oh, but it is.” Blueblood looked up in surprise to see his aunts standing a few meters away with Rarity and Pristine Parfait next to them.

“Rarity!” The prince exclaimed before getting off the other stallion and running up to the mare to embrace her. Rarity was caught off guard by the gesture, but to her surprise, she welcomed it and nuzzled against the stallion's chest. “I'm so glad you're alright!”

“So am I, darling! I didn't doubt you for a single second.” She assured him. Blueblood chuckled.

“But you did, didn't you?”

“Yes, I did.” Rarity admitted her lie without a hint of shame. “I doubted you a whole lot.” Blueblood couldn't care less. As long as he had the mare of his dreams next to her.

“Heh. I don't blame you.” Pristine rolled her eyes.

“Get a room, you two!”

“Oh, like you're one to talk.” Rarity retorted playfully. Unknown to the trio, Golden watched the reunion from afar and picked up Blueblood's discarded bow that still had the arrow in it. He aimed at Rarity and let the arrow fly. If he couldn't kill Blueblood, he'd at settle for taking his love away from him. Blueblood turned just in time to see what was happening and jumped in front of Rarity, but fortunately, his sacrifice wouldn't be necessary tonight.

Just before reaching Blueblood, the arrow stopped mid-air, covered in a bright golden glow. Everypony turned to see Princess Celestia using her magic to stop the arrow before disintegrating it.

“I do not think so.” She spoke sternly before summoning a barrier around the defeated stallion. “Lord Golden Platter, consider yourself under arrest.” She said, full of authority as two of her guards came up to take Golden into custody. Celestia lowered the barrier, but before the guards could take him, Luna stepped forward.

“Leave this one to me instead, sister. I have the perfect place for him.” Celestia considered her sister's request for a few moments before nodding and lowering her barrier for Luna who summoned dark purple restraints around Golden’s hooves and led him away.

“And I believe this belongs to me.” Blueblood said as he went to pick up his golden bow. “Reunited at last, my precious.” He cooed as he nuzzled the bow before noticing the odd looks he was getting from the mares and stopping with a sheepish grin. Fortunately, before Rarity or Pristine could comment on it, Celestia cleared her throat.

“Are you alright, nephew?” She asked with her features softening considerably. Blueblood hung his head sadly.

“Physically? I'll be fine. But in spirit, I'm a wreck. I never thought Golden would do this to me. I thought I had at least one friend.” Celestia and Rarity looked at him sympathetically and nuzzled him in an effort to comfort him.

“I know it's small comfort, but with the evidence against him provided by these two lovely mares, you won't have to worry about him ever again.” The princess said. “I would say that means you've traded a false friend for two true ones. And that should be a cause for joy.” Blueblood was about to say that he hoped Rarity would be more than just his friend, but he stopped himself just in time. But Pristine spoke for him.

“Friends? I thought you two were…” Before she could finish, Rarity used her magic to shut her mouth.

“Anyway,” Celestia spoke. “I believe you all had a very exhausting day. Miss Rarity and Miss Parfait are more than welcome to reside in our guest rooms for the night.” The two mares could barely contain their joy upon hearing that. “As for you nephew, please follow me to my study before you retire for the night.” Blueblood nodded before quickly taking hold of Rarity's hoof and kissing it, bidding her goodnight before taking off after his aunt.

Celestia walked up to a huge hedge and used her magic to lower it, revealing one of the secret tunnels. Blueblood smiled knowingly.

“You knew, didn't you?” He mused. “You've been knowing all of this.” Celestia turned back to him with an innocent look on her face.

“I did not have a clue.” She answered before heading down the tunnel. Blueblood merely chuckled.

“Never change, aunt Tia.” Celestia's story about not knowing about the tunnels was further disproven as they exited a door that lead directly into her study. The alicorn took a seat behind her desk and Blueblood stood in front of it.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Celestia looked at him stoically for a few moments before smiling proudly.

“First of all, let me tell you how proud I am.” She said on a motherly tone. “You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this to happen.” Blueblood just stared at her blankly.

“You have been waiting for me to be the victim of an attempted assassination by my best friend?” Celestia laughed.

“Of course, not! But during these past few days, you have demonstrated more nobility than you ever have before!” She explained. “You helped those ponies the mercenaries kidnapped from your yacht, you aided Miss Rarity and you were ready to put yourself in mortal danger to protect her. You acted like a true prince ever since you met her. Dare I say, a true hero.”

“Aww, aunty, you make me blush.” Blueblood said sarcastically, feeling rather awkward from this conversation.

“Well, it’s true. She’s been having a most positive influence on you. She’s just the kind of mare you would need by your side.” Celestia told him suggestively. Blueblood rolled his eyes.

“Aunty, matchmaking is Cadence’s thing. And I really hope you kept me from my bed for more than just voicing your approval of my possible new relationship.” Celestia’s face hardened.

“Indeed. Since Golden Platter turned out to be a traitor of the highest kind, I’m going to need your testimony as well as everything else you can provide to aid his prosecution.” She answered as she pulled out a quill and a piece of paper. “It is an arduous process and I would rather get it done now than later.” Blueblood sighed. That was a grave matter indeed and despite just having made an attempt on his life and threatened the mare of his affections, he was still the pony he spent his entire foalhood with while growing up. Even if it was all a lie, he still didn’t want him to receive the harshest punishment.

“What will happen to him?”

“If you recall, my sister said that she had the perfect place for him. I may have an idea about what that entails, but I’m afraid I cannot reveal that to you. It is a state secret of the highest classification.” Blueblood didn’t know what could be so important about Golden’s punishment that it had to be classified a state secret, but at the moment, he didn’t really care either. He gave Celestia Golden’s journal and his testimony before heading towards the exit, but he stopped as an idea struck him.

“Is something wrong, nephew?” Celestia asked upon his sudden halt.

“No, it’s just… does Cadence still need a designer for her wedding dress?”

The next morning, Rarity woke up after a very long and very reinvigorating sleep. She’s had a very tough day and she needed the rest, but the luxurious room she slept in also helped a lot. She got out of the bed and made herself presentable. She was a guist in the royal palace of Canterlot, she couldn’t wear her Black Canary suit - a name she gave it in honor of her little bird friend - in public.

Fortunately, since no fashionista worth her salt goes anywhere without spare dresses and she quickly found one just right. It was a navy blue dress with a large turquoise skirt and matching glass slippers. A gown worthy of the Grand Galloping Gala itself if she said so herself. She then made her way to the corridor and bumped straight into Blueblood.

“Oh, my apologies, Miss Rarity.” The prince said, uncharacteristically politely. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

“It is quite alright.” Rarity replied. The awkward silence that descended upon them was quickly becoming unbearable and Rarity was the first one to break it. “Say, I was about to make my way to the royal gardens to bring a large flower bouquet to the hospital wing for the guards I had put there last night.” She said in embarrassment. “Would you like to accompany me?” Blueblood’s face immediately lit up.

“I would love to. And perhaps we could have breakfast together?” Rarity was uncertain if she shouéd accept. She wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea to give a romantic relationship another chance, but what could be the harm in a simple breakfast?

“That sound nice, darling. I accept.” Blueblood grinned brighter than he ever did in his life. He vowed to himself that he would not mess things up this time. As the two ponies made their way towards the garden, she came across none other than Princess Celestia who greeted them with a warm smile.

“Good morning, nephew. Miss Rarity.” Blueblood simply greeted her with a nod of his head but Rarity bowed down so deeply her nose touched the floor.

“Your royal highness!” She groveled, trying to prevent herself from squealing in excitement. “I am so humbled to be her and be graced by your presence.” Celestia just smiled at her words, but Blueblood rolled his eyes.

“Oh, cut it, Miss Rarity! Aunty Tia hates these formalities! Isn’t that right, aunty?” Rarity was aghast and embarrassed that Blueblood would talk like that to the Princess of the Sun, but Celestia merely chuckled.

“It is true. I do prefer the directness of my little ponies. Stand up, Miss Rarity. I have a question for you.” Rarity was quite surprised by this.

“Of course, Princess! Ask whatever you want.”

“My nephew tells me that you are the most talented dressmaker in Equestria.” Rarity looked at Blueblood who looked away, trying to look innocent. As flattering as it was, she didn’t want others to write checks she couldn’t cash.

“Well… I try…” She muttered humbly. “Do you perhaps need a new dress?”

“Not me, but my niece is getting married soon and she hasn’t found anypony to make her dress yet. So I was wondering if you could…” She was interrupted by a loud thud on the floor. Rarity had apparently fainted, much to the two royal ponies' concern. “Uh… Miss Rarity?”

“Me?!” Rarity squealed as she sprung up from the floor with stars in her eyes. “Design a dress for a royal wedding?! I… I…” Rarity couldn't form words. This was a dream job for any fashion designer.

“Well, if you accept that is.” Celestia replied. “I don’t want to burden you with anything you don’t want to…”

“Are you kidding?!” Rarity screamed, completely forgetting her manners. “Of course I accept!” She yelled as she began to bounce around happily not unlike a certain pink party pony in Ponyville. Blueblood was becoming a little embarrassed by it to be honest, but Celestia didn’t seem to mind.

“Splendid!” The princess cheered. “Well then, I won’t disturb your morning any longer. We can discuss the details later. Good day!” She said before walking off. Rarity kept bouncing around for a few more seconds before coming to a halt next to Blueblood and embracing him.

“THANK YOU!” She screamed before pulling the stallion in for a kiss. Blueblood’s eyes widened. It felt even better than he ever dared to imagine. He was uncertain if he should kiss back but before he could decide, Rarity came to her senses and pulled away.

“Hehe…” She chuckled nervously with a blush. “Anyway, shall we proceed to the garden?”

“Uh, sure…” Blueblood said, still under the spell of that kiss. “Let us go…”

As the two ponies walked down the corridor, they suddenly passed Blueblood’s maid, Scarlet Feather, who looked like she was having a very bad morning. Blueblood smiled as he pulled out an envelope from his vest.

“What is that?” Rarity asked curiously. “Another gift perhaps?” Blueblood chuckled at her excitement. It was honestly very cute.

“Yes, but this isn’t for you.” He then turned to the maid. “Scarlet! Could you come over here please?” Scarlet turned around and looked at the Prince in shock. Did Blueblood just ask her to come to him politely? And he said please to her? What planets had to align to make this happen?

“Yes, your highness?”

“You have been the best and most hard working maid I could have asked for, Scarlet.” Blueblood said, offering her the envelope. “I know I haven’t always been the easiest master and I made this job a lot more difficult for you than it should be. So I have something for you to show you my appreciation.”

Scarlet was uncertain, but she took the envelope anyway. It had to be a pretty big paycheck to make all the crap he made her go through worth it. But when she opened it, she found something even better.

“FULLY PAID LESSONS IN THE BEST DANCE SCHOOL IN CANTERLOT?!!” Her scream made both Rarity and Blueblood cover their ears, but they still rang a little when they opened them.

“Uh… yes.” Blueblood said after rubbing his ears for a few seconds. “I know how much you complain for missing out on dance school to come and work here in the palace, so I thought:” He didn’t get to finish as the maid pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

“Thank you!” She repeated over and over as she tightened her grip on him. It was rather painful and Blueblood was worried that Rarity might get the wrong idea. But when he looked at her and saw the loving look she gave him upon seeing his generosity, he felt like it was worth it.

And maybe, just maybe, the warm feeling in his chest fueled by the maid’s happiness and knowing that he was the cause of it also helped.

Golden Platter’s plan fell apart in the most spectacular way imaginable. It was supposed to be so simple. After that moron, Bloodsport failed to do the one thing he paid him for, he took it upon himself to finish the job. He was superior to Blueblood in every way. He was stronger, smarter, a better fighter and a better archer.

And yet, fortune favored the accursed prince yet again. His arrogance caused his downfall and Blueblood capitalised on it perfectly. Now he found himself sitting in a cell in Princess Luna's prison facility, stripped of his status, his money, his influence and his whole life. While the stallion whose family ruined his life continued to live the good life with the mare he loved and finally gaining Celestia's approval. It made Golden’s blood boil.

And to add insult to injury, he had a cellmate. None other than the incompetent mercenary who couldn't kill the pompous jerk her hired him to kill. Rapid DoBad sat on a bed on the other side of the cell staring at him mockingly. Everypony knew what he was in for, including him and he just had to get him as a cellmate. Golden knew that Princess Luna was having a laugh at his expense somewhere right now.

“So, Lord Golden,” The mercenary quipped. “I don't suppose you want a refund.”

“I would if I was still out.” He responded. “I thought you were the best, Bloodsport. Turns out, I was wrong. Should have went after my target myself.”

“Well from what I've heard, you didn't do much better yourself.” The unicorn laughed. “If you need fighting lessons, just let me know.” Golden didn't get a chance to respond as their cell door was suddenly opened. A group of guards entered carrying restraints and a leash.

“Prisoners 034 and 037. You are to report to a special evaluation process under Princess Luna's orders.”

The two stallions shared a confused look. What could the Princess of the Night possibly want with them? The guards led them to a room with nothing but a table in the middle and three seats around it. One of them was occupied by a white earth pony with gray mane wearing a tuxedo. When he saw the two prisoners being led to him, motioned for the guards to leave.

“Thank you. I will take it from here.”

“No can do, sir.” The leader of the guards shook his head. “Prison procedure says that guards must be present in the room during sessions with prisoners. These are dangerous individuals.” The earth pony just gave an unamused look in response.

“I believe Princess Luna's orders override any procedure in Equestria. What I am about to discuss with these prisoners is top secret. Now if you please…” The guard was obviously not pleased, but it wasn't like he could do much about it.

“Fine. Your funeral.” He said before leaving with his comrades. The two prisoners sat down in front of the earth pony who pulled out a pen and a clipboard.

“Good morning, gentlecolts. My name is Jean Jeans. I am Princess Luna's assistant and I am here to interview you for her highness’ Project X.”

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #1: Family Matters

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A white unicorn mare with black mane was making her way through the empty streets of the suburban area of Manehattan so fast as if her life depended on it. And from a certain point of view, it was.

The jig was up for Bass Coral and now she had no choice but to run. How did things get this far? She had completely lost her mind when she heard that they would remake "Dread Castle", her greatest hit and most renowned performance without her. She was at the end of her career, she would be completely forgotten forever and she just panicked. She had to stop that movie from getting made by any means necessary.

She visited Cherry Rose, the actress who was gonna replace her in the role of the leading mare. She didn't know what that was going to accomplish but she had to try something. She pleaded with her to quit the production but Cherry just laughed at her and mocked her. She called her a has-been and said her time was over.

And then, something inside of her her snapped. She picked up a vase that held some flowers sent to her by a fan and smashed her across the face with it. She then panicked and fled the scene and only learned from the news the next day that Cherry died, bleeding out from the wounds the shards caused her and production of the remake was delayed until the killer was brought to justice and a new actress was found.

At first, she was filled with dread. Surely the police would get to her in no time and she would spend the rest of her life in prison. But as the days passed and nopony came looking for her, she began to calm down. And that was when she was hit by a realisation. If she could get away with killing Cherry, truly she could get away with doing the same to the rest of the cast. And if she did that, the remake would surely be canceled.

But then she got careless. She left too many clues behind and they managed to identify her. More specifically, she managed to identify her. The one who was currently pursuing her. The Batmare was on her trail and nopony ever managed to elude her before. Better ponies have tried before.

But her fear refused to let her surrender. It was a funny thing like that. Even when your body can't go on any longer, even when your mind knows there is no hope, it still makes you go on. And Bass finally reached the point where she couldn't go on any longer. As in literally, because a shadowy figure landed in front of her and caused her to fall back when she bumped into it.

"It's over, Coral." The Batmare growled as she turned to face the other mare. "They have all the necessary evidence to convict you. You are a wanted mare. Your picture hangs at every train station and airship port. You can't get out of the city. Your only choice is to surrender to me."

But Bass wasn't ready to call it quits just yet. She backed away until she bumped into a full thrash can. She picked it up with her magic and threw it at the vigilante. She dodged it with ease, but in doing so, she lost sight of the other mare who managed to sneak away.

"You can't run forever, Coral!" She yelled as she reached to her ear to activate a sound sensor that was sensitive enough to pick up the mare's hoofsteps as she frantically tried to get away. She took off after her and tracked the murderer to an old, rundown warehouse. She was in such a hurry that she didn't even close the gate she entered through.

Batmare followed her inside and shut the gate to prevent her from escaping. She probably believed that she will be able to hide in the darkness but in reality, she just made herself an easier target. After all, bats were great at orienting in the dark.

The lens of her mask turned white as she activated her detective vision and looked around. It didn't take long to find the mare hiding among some barrels, shivering with fear with a heart rate of one hundred and forty that clearly showed she was terrified.

Batmare approach the barrels, but Bass heard her hoofsteps and used her magic to launch the barrels forward and knocking the hero back. To Batmare’s misfortune, these barrels were not empty. They wee filled with a clay like substance that quickly spread across her suit.

'Oh, great!' She groaned in her head. 'Spike will never let me hear the end of this.' Her young dragon assistant was the one who had to clean the suit and she still remembered the fit he threw when she returned from her last unsuccessful hunt for Killer Croc in the sewers two weeks ago. But that was a concern for a later time.

Bass Coral ran to the gate but she found that the vigilante had locked it. She was now trapped with her. Surely this was the end of the road. She had no place left to run and no place to hide. She cowered up against the locked gate as the hero slowly approached her.

"Leave me alone, Batmare!" She whimpered, on the verge of tears. "Please!"

"I can't do that." Batmare replied. "You have killed ponies, Coral. And you must answer for that." Bass still refused to accept that and picked up another barrel with her magic to throw at the vigilante, but this time, Batmare was ready for this.

She threw a batarang at the other mare that knocked her back against the wall. But her spell was already cast the and the knock caused it to go haywire. The barrel in the air was opened and the magic's effect spread onto the clay pouring out of it as it poured down onto Bass Coral.

Batmare could only watch in horror as the magically enhanced clay covered the mare. There was no telling what spell she accidentally cast on it and what effect it would have, but she got that answer soon when she saw Coral's body beginning to absorb the liquid.

Once the process was over, Bass looked at herself and her face contorted in horror when she noticed that parts of her body were beginning to drop off. She raised her hoof in front of her face and screamed as the color faded away from it and it dissolved into clay in front of her eyes.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" She screamed in terror. "No! No! This isn't right! Go back to normal!" She yelled at her hoof frantically as if merely wishing so would rearrange her body. And to her surprise, it did!

The more she desperately wished her body to go back to normal, the liquidated parts of her body flowed back into her and reshaped her into exactly how she was before. The two mares could only stare in utter disbelief at each other. Neither of them could believe what just happened. The magically altered clay had somehow altered Bass Coral into some sort of clay creature.

Bass was the first one to get over her shock and realised that if she could rearrange her body like that, surely she could mold it into something to help her escape. She willed her right hoof to turn into a large hammer and it did. Batmare recovered too late and she paid the price by getting hit in the face and sent flying back several meters.

She quickly got back up though and saw Bass banging on the locked gate with her enlarged appendage. The gate held so far but was beginning to give away so she needed to find a way to contain this newly created super criminal and fast.

She fired her grappling gun at the hammer shaped hoof bashing away at the gate and pulled with all her might. She managed to yank the criminal back from the gate but she quickly escaped by simply dissolving her hoof through the rope.

"This is going to take some time getting used to," Bass said as she stood up. "But I think I'm getting the hang of it." She then transformed her other hoof into an axe and swung it towards Batmare. The vigilante jumped back and threw some smoke bombs towards Bass.

They exploded and covered the mare in smoke who was forced to abandon her assault on Batmare and pull her hooves back to cover her face to prevent herself from inhaling it. Batmare took advantage of this and ran at the other mare, picking her up and before she could escape, she threw her into the same barrel she poured the clay that tranformed her out of. She then quickly sealed the airtight barrel to prevent her from escaping.

Batmare let out a sigh as she finally allowed herself to lie down and rest for a minute. But while her body may have finally been put at ease, her mind was far from it. Because now she'll not only have to explain to Spike how she got her suit so filthy, but she also had no idea how she'll explain to Captain Garden just how did a wanted murder turn into a clay monster who'll need special means of containing.

Spike paced back and forth in front of Twilight's bed as he eagerly awaited his caretaker's return. But this time, his anxiety came from more than his usual worries about the crimefighter making it home unharmed. Something unexpected happened tonight. Something that he felt Twilight won't be very happy about. And something that he should have prevented.

But at the same time, he didn't want to prevent it, because he knew that what was about to happen tonight should have happened a long time ago. He had been encouraging Twilight to make it happen in fact but that mare was stubborn as a mule.

While he's been eager for it to finally happen, he was a little worried about how Twilight is going to react. Okay, he was VERY worried about how she's going to react and with every passing moment his worries only grew. He wanted to finally get this thing over with just to get Twilight's reaction and the inevitable scolding out of the way.

He was about to look up at the clock again when he finally heard the bed covering the secret entrance to the Batcave move out of the way as the purple mare made her way up the staircase. She looked extremely tired which she further demonstrated by letting out a huge yawn.

"Sorry, Spike. I'm way too tired to share the details of my latest mission." She said as she closed the entrance. "All I'm gonna say is I caught the bad guy and she's where she should be right now. I promise I'll tell you everything tomorrow, but for now, I need to get into bed. Good night." She was about to crawl into bed, but when she saw that Spike was not moving, she grew concerned. "Is something wrong, Spike?" The young dragon looked down nervously, trying to find the best way to bring the subject up. After a few seconds of trying to form words, he finally spoke.

"Twilight, you have a visitor." Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"A visitor? What visitor would I have this late?" Spike finally overcame his nervousness and gave Twilight a firm look.

"One that you should have had a long time ago." He told her. Twilight just looked at him in confusion. She was too tired for riddles, but suddenly, her eyes snapped wide open as she finally made sense of it. She glared down at her assistant

"Spike... You didn't..." Spike didn't back away and countered her glare with equal fierceness.

"You know I'm right, Twilight. He's waiting for you outside." Twilight turned her head towards the door and was instantly overcome by a sense of trepidation. If what Spike said was true, then she is about to have an encounter that she wasn't sure she ever wanted to have. But no matter how much she didn't want it, deep down she knew Spike was right. She was going to have it sooner or later, might as well have it sooner and get it over with. With a heavy sigh, she got off the bed and headed to the door.

Upon opening it and entering the living area of her library, she was greeted by a face she hasn't seen in years, her brother, Shining Armor. The two ponies stood in front of each other in awkward silence for almost a minute, neither of them certain what they should say to the other. Eventually, it was the white stallion who broke the silence.

"Hi, Twily..." He began nervously. "How are you doing?" Twilight had a hard time looking her brother in the eye. She looked rather irritated about him being here. It was clear that he still harboured some hostility towards him over what happened two years ago. For a moment, Shining thought that she wouldn't even talk to him and he will have to leave without having achieved anything, but when she heard words beginning to form in his sister's mouth, his hopes started to raise.

"I'm... getting by." She replied before the awkward silence returned for several seconds. This time, it was Twilight who broke it. "What about you?" Shining recoiled in surprise, as if he didn't expect this question and now wasn't sure how to answer.

"Um... I'm fine, thank you. Well, more than fine actually." He said as his expression lit up with a happy smile. "I... I came because I wanted to tell you that... I'm getting married." For the first time since he arrived, Twilight actually looked straight at her brother. It was her turn to be surprised. She expected several possible reasons for his visit, but that wasn't one of them.

"Well... Congratulations, I guess." She replied. "I wish you the best. Thanks for dropping by." She said before turning around and heading towards her bedroom, but Shining stopped her.

"And... I thought it this might be a good excuse to get back in touch with you." The stallion confessed. "I want my little sister to be there by my side when I say 'I do' to the love of my life." He said, slowly approaching Twilight and raising a hoof to put it on shoulder. "I... I want her to be there in my life again."

When his hoof connected her shoulder, Twilight stiffened, pushed it away and jumped into a defensive position. When you're a secret vigilante in the night, sudden contact usually meant hostile intention and if you don't learn to react in time, you might pay with your life.

Shining Armor jumped back in surprise. That reflex move was worthy of a royal guard but he never would have expected it from his baby sister. Nevertheless, he tried to laugh it off.

"Well, I'll be... Where did you learn that?" He chuckled. Twilight finally realised what she was doing and looked down in embarrassment.

"Well," She began, trying to sound casual. "In this city, you need to know how to defend yourself." That comment made Shining lose his smile and his expression hardened.

"Yeah, I know. Manehattan isn't exactly one of the safest cities in Equestria. To be honest, I've been worried about you, Twily. I don't know why you settled here of all places." Twilight shrugged.

"After what happened back in Canterlot, I just wanted to get away. I didn't care where." And there it was. Shining knew it was only a matter of time before she brought it up but that didn't mean he was ready for it.

"I know nothing I can say or do will make up for that, Twily. I know it means almost nothing, but I'm sorry. Your life was in danger and my brotherly instincts overcame everything inside me. Even my duties as a royal guard. I never could have imagined the consequences." Tears began to well up in Twilight's eyes as she recalled those events.

"I lost my horn that day. I lost my magic. My whole life that I've been building up until that point was ruined." She lamented as the tears started to escape. She closed her eyes and began to sob until she felt her brother's hooves pulling her into an embrace.

At first, she wanted to fight it. She wanted to give in to her anger and bitterness towards him, but she was quickly overwhelmed by her need for comfort and a shoulder to cry on. In the end, she gave in and returned the hug, burying her face into his chest as she wept.

Shining rubbed her back as he let her cry, waiting for her to finish patiently. When her sobs finally subsided, she pulled away, looking up at Shining Armor with deep sorrow in her eyes.

"I lost everything, including the ponies closest to me. Until I met..." She choked before she could go on. Talking about her late fiance still wasn't easy for her. Shining nodded.

"Yes, I know. Imagine my surprise when I found out from the newspaper that my baby sister was about to get married. And my horror when I found out what happened to the stallion who managed to win her heart. He must have been somepony very special if he could swipe you off your hooves." Twilight's expression changed into a soft smile as she remembered the time she spent with High Culture.

"He was. I was so happy with him. When I fell in love with him, I felt like we would be spending the rest of my life with him, running this library. It may not have been as exciting as being Princess Celestia’s apprentice, but it felt the closest I would get to happiness after what happened."

"I was so scared for you when that murder happened." Shining Armor said. "We all were. Mom was ready to march all the way from Canterlot to Manehattan to drag you home whether you wanted it or not." Twilight actually chuckled upon hearing that.

"Yeah. That sounds like mom alright."

"And I still am scared." Shining continued as his expression hardened. "Now that the mob's gone, there are all of those costumed maniacs running loose. I don't want you to get hurt again. If I failed to protect you for a second time, I don't know how I could live with myself."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about them, Shining." Twilight said, waving dismissively. "The Batmare keeps them at bay." She tried to lighten the mood, but she found that her brother's expression did not change. If anything, he became even angrier.

"Are you kidding me? She is the worst of them all! She pretends to be the hero's saviour when she's just another thug!" Twilight was rather surprised by Shining's outburst. She did not know he resented her superheroine alter ego so much. Or at all.

"Many ponies in the city consider her a hero. Even the police trusts her and works with her from time to time."

"That just proves the law enforcement in this city isn't worth spit!" Shining replied with contempt. "The worst kind of criminal is the one who believes their crimes are justified! What gives her the right to go out there and take justice into her own hooves?!" Shining Armor realised that he was ranting and he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"But that's not the reason I'm here." He said, turning back to Twilight with softened expression. "I'm here because I want you to be at my wedding. I want my little sister to be a part of my life again. Twily, would you be my best mare?"

Twilight's eyes widened. Best mare? That was the most honorable position at a wedding after the bride and the groom. If Shining Armor was offering this to her, he must have been very serious about wanting her back in his life. But the tragedy she had suffered all those years ago was too big to overcome so easily. She didn't know how she should answer to this request.

"I... I don't know, Shining." She said after a few moments of contemplation. Shining recoiled in shock. Obviously he expected an instant approval, but apparently he still didn't break through the walls his sister built for herself. "Could you give me some time to think it over?" Shining let out a defeated sigh as he cast his eyes down.

"Of course. I will be in Manehattan for the rest of the week. But the wedding is next week so don't take too long." He said standing up and walking towards the exit. "It's been good to see you, sis. You too, Spike!"

"Same here, Shining!" The dragon waved back. "See you around!" Once Shining left the library, Spike turned back to Twilight to find her giving him a glare so fierce that he could have sworn it was the same look she used on the criminals she interrogated as Batmare.

"Just so you know, for this, you will be spending all day tomorrow cleaning my suit with your toothbrush." She snarled on her Batmare voice before retreating to her room and slamming the door shut. Spike stared at the door for a while before shrugging and heading off towards his own room.

"Joke's on you. I don't even brush my teeth."

When you're a superhero, even the most mundane looking task can turn into stopping a world ending threat. Especially when you're also one of the most powerful beings on the planet. This was something Applejack learned very early on in her career as Supermare. And while the threat she was currently facing wasn't world ending by any means, the day still started very ordinarily.

She was working on an assignment from her boss at the Daily Sun as her reporter alias, Lark Cent in Baltimare. The power supply to the city has been acting crazy for weeks. Electricity has been going out everywhere, traffic lights have shut down inexplicably, leading to traffic accidents and electric equipment around the city kept malfunctioning. Most alarmingly, in hospitals.

When Applejack heard about this, she immediately wanted to investigate. She brought it to the attention of the Sun's chief editor and managed to convince him to send her to check it out. And good thing too because if an ordinary reporter came here, they wouldn't have been able to handle the situation.

With some investigative work enhanced by her super senses, she was able to track the power surges back to their source at the city's power plant and found the cause of the disturbance. A unicorn mare made of electricity. It was the first encounter between Supermare and Livewire.

Powerful as Supermare was, it worth nothing when all of her attack simply phased through the electrical mare. Livewire had the advantage. While electricity did not hurt Supermare, it stunned her long enough for the unicorn to trap her by wrapping four chains around her limbs and tying her to the plant's main generator upside down. Every time she tried to break the chains, a huge torrent of electricity.

"Keep struggling, Supermare." Livewire chuckled. "Let's see how much electricity your kryptonian physiology can take." She taunted. Supermare glared up at her.

"This is your last warning, you electrical menace!" She warned her. "Stop this madness and surrender!" Livewire laughed again.

"I really don't think you're in any position to give me warnings, Losermare." She taunted as she stood on her front legs to line up with the tied up hero. "I think it's you who should be considering a surrender. If you keep this up, you'll be the second most electrocuted pony in the city after me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a city's power supply to drain." She said before turning away and leaving towards the exit.

"You won't get away with this!" Supermare shouted, causing Livewire to turn back.

"Oh, honey, I already have." She replied before blowing her a kiss and heading to the roof. Supermare looked around for a mean to escape. She saw the windows on the ceiling and got an idea.

She used her heat vision to shoot two laser beams with low intensity so that it wouldn't melt the glass and they reflected back from the windows. Supermare moved her, slowly to avoid triggering the electricity trap and directed the reflected beams onto the chains holding her.

"Come on! Melt!" She muttered, listening to the sizzling sound as the laser slowly cut through the chains. When she heard a snap, she knew that her plan worked. She then redirected the laser beams towards the other chains holding her, eventually melting through all three. She floated to the ground before breaking the shackles on her hooves and cracking her hooves.

She followed Livewire to the roof and saw that the electrical unicorn was busy draining the power of the power plant's towers. Not wasting any time, she flew towards her and used her freeze breath to encase her in ice.

Livewire turned around in shock, clearly not expecting that Supermare could escape, but she managed to recover in time to charge her horn up with enough electricity to blast her away and then break out of the ice she made on her body. With the element of surprise lost, Supermare had to come up with something else. She flew away and reappeared on the other side of the roof but this time Livewire noticed her quickly.

"Oh, no! You won't pull the same trick on me twice!" She snarled before charging herself up and charging at the kryptonian. She was only a few inches away from her and raised her hooves to touch and fry her...

...only for her hooves to crash into something unseen, followed by her entire body doing the same. Taking advantage of her momentary stun, Supermare flew away again and returned in the blink of an eye, slamming a large piece of glass into the ground next to Livewire in standing position.

She repeated this process a few more times until the electrical mare was trapped by glass walls on all sides. She then used her heat vision to fuse the glass walls together, creating an inescapable glass cell for her adversary. Livewire roared in fury as she punched the glass repeatedly, but to no avail. Even her electrical bolts had no effect.

"Good thing electricity has no effect on glass." Supermare chuckled as she tapped the glass. "Also a good thing these are unbreakable. Now to put you to your place."

Supermare picked the glass cube containing the mare up and dropped it off in front of the city's police station. She then dashed to a remote phone booth before taking a look around to make sure nopony was watching. She quickly entered the booth and exited not as Supermare, but Lark Cent, the mild mannered reporter of the Daily Sun.

She took one last picture of the police taking Livewire's glass cell away before picking up all the hidden cameras she set up to take pictures of their encounter and leaving the city without anypony noticing.

Applejack stood in the office of the Daily Sun's chief editor who was a middle aged earth pony stallion named Berry White. She stood in front of his desk as he examined the article she wrote about the fight between Supermare and Livewire. To say that Berry was a stallion hard to impress would be an understatement, but Applejack's articles always blew his mind away. Especially the photographs.

"Star Swirl's ghost, Cent! These are fantastic!" He marveled at the photos with his cigar almost falling out of his mouth. "How did you... No, never mind. I know you asked me to never ask about the sources of your photos, but still it's remarkable how you always show up at the exact same place at the exact same time as she does everytime a disaster strikes or a new villain shows up. And take photos like these." Applejack chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Well, chief, I guess I'm always at the right place at the right time." Berry just looked at her skeptically. He never said it but Applejack always thought he knew more about her reporter exploits than he let on. But he simply gave her a strange half-smile before calling in his assistant.

"Put these on the front page of tomorrow's paper! They'll be eating them up for sure!" He told him before turning back to Applejack. "Lark, my girl, ever since you and that Supermare character showed our paper's been selling better than ever.
I think you deserve a special reward for that and I have just the thing for you."

Applejack became quite excited upon hearing that. She was already making good money with the pictures and articles she was making of Supermare's exploits to support her family and the farm in it's rebuild ever since they got the land back, but if she got a bonus, they could be back in business even sooner than she thought. The editor reached into a drawer on his desk and pulled out an envelope.

"Do you know what this is, Cent?"

"A juicy bonus check?" Applejack guessed, nearly breaking character. Berry raised an eyebrow.

"Getting greedy, are we? Well, you might as well consider it that because if the pictures you take and the articles you write about where I'm sending you to are good enough, you'll make a bigger buck than you do with your Supermare stuff. This is a press pass to the Royal Wedding between Princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor for a reporter representing the Sun. And I'm picking you to do it." Applejack's enthusiasm immediately broke down. She had no interest in celebrity gossip and she couldn't think of a worse possible assignment she could be sent on.

"Argh, Berry!" She groaned. "You know how much I hate the tabloids! Can't you get Limbo to do it? Maybe that would get him to shut up a little about how sick he is of writing for the sports column!" The editor's eyes narrowed.

"There's no way I'm giving this opportunity to that jerk! This is something that has to be earned and nopony at my paper has done more to earn this more than you." He replied before slipping the envelope to her. "Or should I say, there's nopony at my paper I trust more to handle this assignment."

Applejack sighed and reluctantly took the envelope. This may not have been her cup of cider, but she also didn't want to jeopardize her position at the paper and ruin the good relationship she had with her boss. The money for this assignment will better be good though. As she made her way to the door, Berry said one last thing.

"And who knows? This wedding will be the most important event of the year. Some monster or villain will more than likely try to crash it at some point so Supermare will surely be needed there." Applejack's eyes widened.

"What are you implying, chief?" She asked nervously as she looked back.

"Well, I'm just saying, if she shows up, you'll have two stories on your hooves. The wedding and another Supermare appearance." Applejack sighed in relief.

"Oh, right! Yeah, that would really be something, chief! See you around!" She said quickly as she tumbled her way out of the office, almost knocking over a coat rack in the process. Once she left, Berry just let out a light chuckle as he leaned back in his chair and took another deep breath of his cigar.

The darkness of the room was filled with desperate cries for help from the several exotic birds that were trapped inside tiny cages. Their cries for a savior went unanswered however. The only response they got was the door opening and four ponies walking into the room. They were four pegasi, a stallion, a mare, a colt and a filly. They were all dressed in white jumpsuits with card markings on them and each of them was carrying one more cage with another bird thrashing inside it.

"Finally, we have them all!" The stallion laughed triumphantly.

"I can't wait to finally be rid of these pests." The mare groaned as she put the cage down next to the others. "They're so much noise and trouble. Why would anypony offer so much money for them is beyond me."

"Don't worry, honey." The stallion replied before pulling her into a loving embrace. "Once we sell them to the best buyer, I promise you we'll take a nice long family holiday wherever you want." The two foals were rather grossed by this display of affection.

"Cut it out, you two!" They groaned while the adults chuckled. But their joy was short lived when they heard a crash coming from the door and the room lit up with green light. They all turned to see a hole in the wall and a huge ball of green energy on the other side. The ball moved away from the wall before coming back again and completely breaking through the wall. Through the newly created hole, a glowing green mare floated through and the criminal family inside immediately knew what this meant for them. They have been tracked down by the Green Lantern!

For the past few weeks, a criminal group has been pulling heists in the city of Trottingham. They have been using card based motives and gadgets, calling themselves the Royal Flush Gang. Fluttershy decided to let the local law enforcement handle them until they started kidnapping exotic birds from pet owners, zoos and even her own group of animal friends. She couldn't allow that.

She discussed a plan with a few nice birds she met about them acting as bait for her to track the kidnappers down. And they fell for it without suspecting anything. All those weeks they went unopposed must have left them feeling overconfident. All Fluttershy had to do was follow them to their hideout and bring an end to their reign of terror. Which she had every intention of.

Before the stunned criminal family could do anything, the pegasus lantern used her ring to create a cage construct around the family of four that was tight enough to squeeze them all together.

"Not so fun when it happens to you, is it?" She growled at them. No deed disgusted her more than cruelty to animals. She then went to open the cages and release the birds, but the colt managed to pull out some cards and squeezed his hoof through the bars before throwing them at the hero.

She could have easily blocked them, but since she wasn't looking, she didn't see them coming and the razor edged cards impaled them into her body. Fluttershy yelled out in pain and was forced to break up her construct to tend to her injuries. This gave the family more than enough time to reorganize.

They all pulled out similar cards and threw an entire deck's worth at her, but with her attention fully focused on them at this point, it was very easy to deflect this attack. A giant sponge construct absorbed the cards easily. Once she lowered her construct however, she was dismayed to find that all the criminal pegasi have disappeared from sight.

She quickly summoned an energy bubble around herself to protect herself from the oncoming surprise attacks she expected. And her instincts once again served her well, as just after she activated her energy shield, all four of the criminals flew out of the darkness, riding on giant cards attached to their hooves and threw even more of their deadly decks at Fluttershy, but they merely bounced off her construct.

They realized that they needed to lower her shield in order to get to her and they quickly thought up the best way to do that. They directed their attacks at the bird cages to force her to shift her focus on protecting them instead of herself. It worked just as intended as Fluttershy quickly lowered her shield to create a net over the bird cages that stopped the cards.

In doing so however, she left herself vulnerable and the two youngsters of the gang took full advantage of that. The flew at her and pinned her on the ground before pulling out her right wing and trying to pry her ring off of it. Unfortunately for them, Fluttershy was always prepared for such an eventuality. Kilowog prepared her well in case some creature tried to take her ring.

They left her forelegs unoccupied and that was a big mistake on their part. She swiped the legs out from under them and then created a baseball bat construct to knock them both out. The fact that they were underage brought no remorse to her. She was royally pissed right now and she would make these ponies pay for what they have done to these innocent, defenseless creatures.

"MY BABIES!" The mother of the group cried out and flew at Fluttershy with barely contained rage. The Lantern wasn't fazed though and simply created a brick wall construct. The mare crashed into it at full speed and slid onto the floor unconsciously.

Only the stallion remained standing. Fluttershy created a giant snake and sent it after him to bite him and drag him onto the ground. But the stallion managed align the giant card he was standing on to stop the green jaws from closing in on him before flying away.

Fluttershy gave chase but even with her ring, she was not the fastest flyer Equestria has ever seen. She couldn't keep up with him. Her only chance was firing energy blasts at him from her ring, but the stallion effortlessly dodged them and threw back bladed and explosive cards at the lantern. It seemed like this encounter would go on forever at this rate.

That was until the stallion found his path blocked by a huge flock of birds who were angrily screeching at him before attacking him, biting and pecking him so hard that they tore his suit and began to draw blood from him. They eventually forced him onto the ground where he had no choice but to curl up into a ball in a desperate attempt to protect himself. Fluttershy slowly descended down from above and upon seeing her, all the birds ceased their attack and looked up at her.

"Stop it!" She ordered them gently, yet firmly. "Don't sink to his level." The birds backed away and looked down in shame while Fluttershy went and took the injured stallion into custody before bringing him back to the rest of his family and trapping them inside an energy bubble, ready to bring them to the police. But not before her animal friends flew all over her to celebrate her victory and thank her for saving them.

Fluttershy laughed merrily as the birds swarmed her body. If only more ponies understood that if you treated animals with love and respect instead of trying to force your will on them, they will become your friends and help you whenever you need them. Just like how she freed these birds before giving chase to the stallion, knowing full and well that they would help catch him.

"You are welcome, my friends. Now head back to my house. I will be along shortly." True to her word, Fluttershy delivered the criminal family to the police before returning to the house/clinic that she ran with her friend, Paw Tamer.

"Hey there, space cop." The earth pony mare greeted. "Now that you rounded up the Royal Flush Gang, are you finally ready to go get back to practicing?"

"Nice to see you too, Paw Tamer." Fluttershy replied sarcastically in annoyance. "I'm fine, thank you. And yes, all the kidnapped animals have been freed as well."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Flutters." Paw said on an unamused tone. "I had the utmost confidence that you would succeed and I had no worries for your safety. What I do have worries for however, is the bird choir performance you're supposed to be holding at the Royal Wedding next week. Because not only a ton of money, but our reputation depends on it. And so far, I haven't seen much practice from you or those exotic moneymakers.”

“Is that all you see my little friends as?!” Fluttershy asked furiously. “The animals we help to save everyday?! Moneymakers?!” Paw recoiled a little. She realized she may have crossed a line.

“Sorry, Shy.” She apologized, casting her eyes down. ”I may be crankier than usual, but keep in mind that while you will be conducting to your birds, I will have to look after all of your patients at the clinic along with mine.” Fluttershy’s glare softened a little. It was true that both if them have been working extremely hard to make their clinic successful in the past year and Paw often mentioned how she’d like to take a vacation, but with Fluttershy being asked to perform with her famous bird choir at the upcoming royal wedding, she was gonna have to work twice as hard next week.

“I know, Paw. It is hard to keep up such a hard work, but we have been doing great work so far and I’m sure you will be fine next week too.” Paw didn’t exactly look reassured, so Fluttershy added this. “And I promise I’ll take you on a week-long vacation to Las Pegasus after the wedding. My treat entirely.”

“Strength of Hoof Acres and stamina of Air Last, don’t fail me now!” Captain MareVel groaned to herself as she struggled to prevent the jaws of an ursa major from crushing her. Even for somepony possessing the powers of gods, these monsters could prove more than a match. Despite her enormous strength and resilience, the pink alicorn hero felt that the beast’s jaws were beginning to close in on her. She had no other choice. She opened her mouth and let out a scream.

“SHAZAM!”

CRACK!

An enormous lightning strike was called down from the heavens and struck the enormous animal in the head, forcing it to let out a pained roar and allowing the Captain to fly out of its mouth. She landed on the ground and panted in exhaustion. Her fight with the ursa was longer and harder than it should have been and that was because she didn’t want to seriously injure the creature. The atrocities it was currently committing were not its fault. Its mind was being controlled by some psycho earth pony stallion, appropriately calling himself Psycho Pirate.

The Captain would have tracked him down by now if she wasn’t so busy dealing with this raging monstrosity. The ursa was sent by the villain to destroy the town of Neighshville in order to find some ancient buried treasure under it. He was controlling the creature from somewhere afar and she had no idea where. But she had bigger things to worry about right now. Literally.

A deafening roar snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to see the gargantuan creature approach her. She wasn’t sure if she could keep on fighting - she’s been at it for several minutes now with little success - but she had to try. She flew at the ursa with electrically charged hooves, but this charge yielded the same result. The creature raised one of its enormous paw and swept the mighty hero aside as if she was nothing more than a fly.

The Captain crashed into a house which ended up collapsing on her. Thankfully, the surrounding buildings have been evacuated by the local law enforcement while she was fighting the creature, so there weren't anypony inside who could have been hurt. But this couldn't go on. Every punch and object the Captain threw at the creature, it shrugged off like it was nothing. She'll have to try something else.

She flew up again and gathered as much electricity into her hooves as she could muster up before shooting them at the giant bear. The beast's body was engulfed in electricity and for a moment, the Captain began to raise her hopes that maybe this would stop her, but those hopes were brought crashing down when the creature moved again, the torrent of lightning merely slowing it down.

It kept approaching the Captain who had no choice but to fly back but she also had to focus on keeping up the intensity of her lightning blasts which slowed her down. Eventually, the bear reached her and once again knocked her out of the air, right into the empty town hall. The bear walked up to the building and knocked down the wall to see where the heroic alicorn had landed, yet she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it saw something much more interesting.

Inside a large hole in the ground, the bear saw a huge chest that it immediately deduced to be the buried treasure it was sent to find. The bear let out a large cry into the distance and within a minute, an earth pony stallion came running towards the ruins of the building wearing a strange red and black costume with a golden mask. He chuckled sinisterly as he rubbed his forelegs together before opening the chest in the hopes of claiming the treasure inside it.

However, the only thing he received from inside the chest was a gust of wind and a punch hitting him in the face. When he got up, he felt that the mask was gone from his face. The stallion’s eyes widened in fright as he looked up at the bear he previously enslaved and saw in his eyes that his control was beginning to fade away and the beast slowly returned to its senses. It immediately turned its attention to the pony who took control of its mind and let out a furious roar at him, forcing him to flee.

The Captain watched as the criminal took off with the vengeful animal on his tail. She looked at the mask she took away from him. It was more than certainly magical in nature so she should probably make a quick stop at the Rock of Eternity to drop it off for the wizard to safekeep. And then she will head straight back to Ponyville to take a long nap. Sometimes, she really wished that Pinkie Pie would also have the stamina of Air Last so that she wouldn’t be so tuckered out after every superhero adventure she went on.

The Captain landed on the outskirts of Ponyville after taking Psycho Pirate’s mask to the Rock of Eternity. She looked around to see if the coast was clear before letting out a scream.

“SHAZAM!”

CRACK!

A lightning bolt struck the mighty alicorn and she was turned back into the humble earth pony party planner, Pinkie Pie. The usually energetic mare was so exhausted by her latest battle against evil that she didn’t even have enough strength left in her to bounce back to her residence in Sugarcube Corner. She just slowly walked back to the bakery with her head cast down, earning curious stares from everypony she met on the way, as they were not used to her being so tuckered out.

She finally made her way back to the building where she was living alongside her employees, the Cake family and their foals. As soon as she stepped inside, she was greeted by the bright smiles of Mrs. Cake and her friend, Cheese Sandwich. Pinkie barely had enough strength left in her to keep her eyes open, but she managed to return their smile.

“Pinkie, darling!” The elderly mare greeted. “Finally! I was worried that you might be late from your next party.” Pinkie raised an eyebrow.

“Next party?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot?” Mrs, Cake exclaimed in shock. “You were going to throw a Power Ponies themed party to Pipsqueak at the arcade!” Pinkie wasn’t sure if she remembered. She was so tired that she didn’t even remember what she had for breakfast. But eventually, her memories returned and her eyes widened as she finally remembered.

“You have?!” The elderly mare shouted. “Pinkie Pie, what is happening with you recently? You mix up orders, you miscount the money in the cash register and you keep forgetting and mixing up the parties you have scheduled! You were so precise and reliable in the past! What changed?”

‘Oh, I don’t know, Mrs. Cake. It could be the wizard I met in a dark cave who gave me the power of six gods and turned me into a superhero to fight monsters, demons, villains and other evil things, requiring all my energy, time and focus. Or it could be the hot chocolate I’ve been consuming for the past few months before realizing the powder had expired. It’s definitely one of those two.’ Pinkie thought. Of course, she couldn't say that so she had to come up with something else.

“Well, you know me, Mrs. C!” Pinkie shrugged. “I meet new ponies everyday. Some of them are sad, some angry and they all need somepony to cheer them up. So I throw many spontaneous parties and shows all the time everywhere and I get so caught up in them that I forgot a get a little silly-willy Pinkie.” She giggled, trying to sound like her usual innocent self, but deep down, she was hoping the older mare would buy it. Luckily, she seemed none the wiser.

“Oh, Pinkie…” She sighed, shaking her head. “You look like you can barely stand! How will you be able to host this party?” Pinkie didn’t know how to answer, but luckily, Cheese Sandwich answered for her.

“I can take over for you if you’d like!” He offered eagerly. Pinkie smiled. Ever since she freed Cheese from the influence of the Lust demon that possessed him a few months ago, he has been doing his best to redeem himself and become worthy of her romantic affections. Of course, Pinkie already found him more than worthy, but she would still patiently wait for him to start feeling the same.

“Thanks, Cheese! You’re a total lifesaver! I’ve been helping ponies all around so much recently that I feel like I could sleep for a week!” She was about to go upstairs to her room to do just that, but Mrs. Cake stopped her.

“Oh, Pinkie, wait!” She called out to her as she pulled out an envelope. “Before I forget, this came for you.” Pinkie took it before finally retreating to her room. She took a look at the envelope. She might have put it aside to take a nap before reading it if it wasn’t sealed with a royal sign. That meant it surely was important.

She opened it and when she ran through the letter it contained, she let out a deafening squeal. She actually ran through it several more times to make sure she understood it correctly. But there was no mistaking it. She had been asked to organize a party for the Canterlot wedding at a royal wedding next week. She could hardly believe it. Sleep has been forgotten. This would be the largest event she organized all year. Maybe her whole life. She needed to begin organizing right away.

Shining Armor was about to check out of his hotel room in Manehattan and return to Canterlot to prepare for his wedding to Princess Cadence next week. And to his sorrow, it looked like he would be returning without his sister.

He’s been waiting all weekend for Twilight’s answer to his proposal to become his best mare when he said I do to the mare of his dreams, but to no avail. He sighed sadly. He never blamed Twilight for how she felt about her and Celestia for what happened all those years ago. They both made huge mistakes and she paid the price for it. Shining hoped that he would be able to make amends and redeem himself, but it apparently, those hopes would not be fulfilled.

He gathered his suitcases and checked out of the hotel, leaving the building with a sad sigh. He took one last look in the direction of the park where the library Twilight ran was located. He was contemplating whether or not he should be visiting her for one last time. Because he felt like this would be the last time he ever saw her again.

But in the end, he decided against it. It was obvious that Twilight wanted to completely erase the memories of the past and if he kept bothering her, she wouldn't be able to do that. As much as it hurt him, if that was her sister’s decision, he would honor it. He picked his suitcases up and was about to head off towards the train station when his eyes fell on an unexpected sight.

“Twily?” He asked, not daring to believe his eyes. But indeed. Standing in front of him was none other than his little sister, looking up at him with an unreadable expression that Shining knew all too well. It was the only look she gave him the last time they spoke and he couldn't bear it any longer. Even her unlimited fury and anger would be more bearable than this. He wanted to see emotions on his baby sister’s face again. Anger, confusion, even sorrow would have been better than this blank stare. At least then, he would know where he stood with her.

But suddenly, he got his wish. An emotion started to form on Twilight’s face. One that Shining expected the least but wanted to see the most. It was a soft smile that she showed him when they were having a heartfelt moment and it brought back so many memories. He saw it when they shared the hardships of a difficult day, when they played as foals and soon it would be connected to another memory. The memory when her sister agreed to be his best mare at his wedding.

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #2: The Winds of Change

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Princess Luna sat behind her desk, looking over at the documents provided to her by her trusty assistant, Jean Jeans. Though if she wanted to be honest, she was having a difficult time processing what they contained. She had a rather difficult week behind her and she felt exhausted already. It was hard enough to convince her sister to invite the ponies her assistant wanted to assign to specific tasks at the Royal Wedding taking place this week, but if what Jean was telling her was true, this week is going to be even more tiring.

"Are you absolutely certain they will come?" She asked. The earth pony stallion in front of her nodded.

"Positive, your highness. I know most ponies better than they know themselves. I can always tell how best to convince somepony to come where we need them to. I was actually more worried about whether you will be able to convince your sister to invite them."

"True enough." Luna sighed. "But I can be rather persuasive myself when I want to be. Not to mention my sister will do almost anything for me ever since my return from the prison she sealed me into. I am not proud to take advantage of it, but needs must when the safety of Equestria is at stake."

"Indeed." Jean added. "And I will tell you, if there ever was a danger lurking over your beloved nation, it is now."

"You know you enjoy my utmost trust, my friend." Luna said with slight doubt in her voice. "But you do understand I need concrete facts when it comes to matters of national security. I need to know if the threat is real."

"Would I bother to assemble Equestria’s mightiest heroes if I wasn't one hundred percent certain?" Jean countered with a question of his own. "You should know me better by now." Luna sighed again before looking down.

"I am sorry. I know I should trust you more. It is just that I am nervous. The threat you have uncovered is greater than anything we've ever faced before. Are you sure we shouldn't alert the Royal Guard?" Jean firmly shook his head.

"We would only incite panic amongst your subjects. And no disrespect to your soldiers, but they are not prepared to face what is to come. Only these warriors are." Luna looked at the files once more.

"Are these four really the most suitable for the task of them all?" She asked. Narrowing the circle down to the heroes they should draw to Canterlot has been an arduous task as well. Supermare, Green Lantern, Flash and Captain MareVel may have been the most well known and well documented of the new phenomenon that was becoming known as "the Superhero", but they were far from the only ones.

Perhaps the aforementioned champions of justice were some sort of beacon for them to creep out of the shadows. After they showed up, ponies with special powers and abilities began to pop up all over the country. Cyclone, Atom Smasher, Red Tornado, Power Filly, Black Lightning, Damage, Fire and Ice, Sandmane, Catmane, Hourmane, Katana, Peacemaker. The list goes on and on.

And that was just one half of them. The half that decided to put their talents in the service of law and order. There was the other half that decided to use their abilities to pursue a life of crime and villainy. As much as Luna hated to admit it, without the help of their superheroes, they wouldn't have been able to round up half of them. No matter. There was a way to put those delinquents to good use as well, but that was a matter for another time.

"I am certain." Jean answered. "I have studied several of those heroes and they are the strongest and most dedicated ones of them all. They are powerful on their own, but united, they could become a force for good unlike any we've ever seen before." Luna was still uncertain about this whole thing. As an alicorn princess, she was not used things not being under her control. It made her feel helpless and that was worse than anything else. Feeling helpless reminded her on her imprisonment on the moon and that was not something she recalled fondly. There had to be something she could do.

"Is there anything I can assist with?" She asked, but Jean merely waved dismissively.

"We have already set things in motion. From now on, they will play out by themselves. And should they stray from the intended course, I shall be there to redirect them." He said before turning to leave the office. "You have done all I asked of you, my dear friend. From now on, I will take care of everything."

Luna still wasn't content. She cared for Jean immensely and trusted her with her life, but she hated being stuck behind the scenes. This was how her fall towards becoming Nightmare Moon began after all. Luna vowed to herself that no matter what happens, she will never be ignored or looked over again. She will be there in the middle of the events to keep an eye on everything that happened and the moment she found a way to turn things in her advantage, she would do it.

She may not be a superhero, but she was still quite powerful. In terms of magic, strength and influence as well. But there would be no point in doing anything hasty until she assessed the situation. Information was knowledge and knowledge was power. And as Luna learned a long time ago, knowledge was sometimes the most useful kind of power.

Jean was making his way down the corridors of Canterlot Castle amidst the crowd of servants who were already busy preparing everything for the great wedding that was to take place this week. Kitchen staff was busy carrying ingredients for all kinds of food, maids were running around with all sorts of clothing which they were bringing to their masters, bringing decorative items to the throne room where the ceremony would take place and performing various tasks.

But he paid them no mind and neither did they to him. It was like they weren’t even aware of his presence as he made his way towards his destination, for he had a specific place he wanted to get to, which was occupied by specific individuals whom he suspected will also play a key role in the struggle that was to come. Within a minute, he reached the room in question and raised his hoof to knock. The door was opened by a white unicorn stallion,

“Ah, Jean!” Prince Blueblood greeted with a smile when he saw his aunt’s assistant. “Can I help you?” Jean nodded.

“Indeed. my prince. Princess Luna requested me to check on how Lady Rarity is doing with Princess Cadence’s wedding dress.” Blueblood let out a hearty laugh.

“Very well, if I say so myself! Come see!” The prince pulled the door open wider to allow his guest a better view of what was going on inside. A white unicorn mare with curly purple mane was jumping around a ponyquin frantically that was wearing the most glamorous wedding dress that he had ever seen. But apparently, she was still not satisfied with it. She had several notes levitating around her in her magical aura along with a quill which she used to write into the notes every few seconds.

“No, no, no! This won’t do at all. There need to be more ruffles around there. And the veil is not long enough! I wonder if I have time to make a replica in a different color. And I still have the bridesmaids’ dresses! Argh! Somepony help me!” Jean was quite stoic most of the time, but this display unnerved even him. Blueblood on the other hoof just stared at the buzzing mare with an affectionate smile.

“She is so endearing when she’s working frantically like this. Not that she’s not endearing whenever she does anything, but I can’t help but admire her hard working nature.” He spoke amorously.

“Among some of her other qualities, I’m sure.” Jean added just loud enough for himself to hear before approaching the frantic mare. "Excuse me, Miss Rarity?" He asked, but the response was not what he expected.

"No! There is no excuse for me if this dress doesn't get made on time!" She yelled, turning to Jean with a near crazed look in her eyes. "This is the biggest and most important assignment I've ever worked on. It could make or break my career and it requires all of my time and attention, so if you'll excuse me, I am not allowed to take a break to have idle chat with you! Good day, sir!" She said before turning her attention back to the dress. Jean merely watched her work with a stunned look. It was clear he didn't expect such an outburst, but eventually his face returned to its expressionless state.

"Well, I was just about to ask you about that, but I can see you will need all the time you can get to get it done in time so I will just leave you to it." He said before turning back to Blueblood. "She is fortunate to have you as her benefactor and partner, my friend. Please stand by her in the future as well and you two shall make quite a team."

Blueblood knew it was meant to be supportive and encouraging and he tried react accordingly by giving the other stallion an appreciative smile, but it wasn't completely genuine. There was something about this guy that always seemed off to him. He couldn't quite put his hoof on it, but it felt to him like this guy could see into his mind. He wasn't a unicorn so it couldn't have been a mind reading spell, but his stare just felt so piercing and analytic that Blueblood felt like he didn't even need it.

Jean left the room, taking comfort in the knowledge that all was going well in the castle. But his work was far from over. If his calculations were correct, four other ponies were just arriving to the city. Four very special ponies. And he needed to make sure that the paths of those ponies cross each other. One way or another.

"What am I doing here?" Applejack sighed as she stepped off the train and made her way towards the hotel she will be staying at for the duration of this assignment. "This isn't what I signed up for." She complained to herself. The whole point of this Lark Cent alterego was to investigate suspicious activity around Equestria that might have been caused by villains or could have lead to natural disasters without any attention. Not to photograph a royal couple kiss at the altar. Sure, her family could use the money she will make of this job, but she could have easily made that much amount by writing three or four Supermare articles in a month.

Once she settled down in her hotel room, the first thing she did visit a restaurant. She was famished after her train ride and a quick bite always helped her work better. Both at the farm and at the paper. And in a city like Canterlot where all the noble ponies dined at fancy schmancy places, a humble little diner where they served nice apple treats shouldn't be very crowded. In fact, when she arrived at the aforementioned diner, there was only one other customer there. Applejack wasn't complaining. A nice, quiet lunch with nopony to bother her was just what she needed right now.

"Good day." She greeted the vendor, a slim unicorn stallion. "What do you got?"

"I'm afraid I only have this apple pie left." He replied as he put the pie on the counter. "That mare over there raided my entire stock." Applejack looked at the pony eating at one of the tables. She was a blue pegasus mare with rainbow coloured mane that she immediately recognised as Rainow Dash from the Wonderbolts.

"Say no more." She told the vendor before paying for the pie and heading for the table where the blue mare was feasting on all the apple treats like this was gonna be her last meal. Applejack sat down next to her and cut a slice out of her pie before looking at the other mare.

"Mind if I sit down?" She asked her. "A good meal is better with good company." The mare briefly paused eating to shrug and Applejack sat down next to her.

"You're enjoying the meal, I take it." She remarked. The pegasus swallowed the bite she was chewing on and turned to Applejack with a huge smile.

"You bet! Nothing beats the apple treats made of the Apple family's stuff!" She replied before going back to consuming. Applejack smiled softly. She didn't even know this place served food made of the apples provided by her family.

"You can say that again." She said before eating the slice. She wasn't kidding. The taste immediately reminded her of the pies Granny Smith made her when she was a filly. Not as warm and delicious of course, but it was nice to eat it again after so long and so far away from home. "So where are the rest of the Wonderbolts?" She asked, making the rainbow mare freeze.

"How do you know I'm a Wonderbolt?" Applejack chuckled.

"Sugarcube, humility doesn't suit you. Who wouldn't recognise Rainbow Dash, the fastest mare alive?" Upon hearing that nickname, Rainbow's eyes widened and she choked the bite she still had in her mouth. Applejack watched in amusement as her eyes darted left and right in the process of her mind trying to come up with a response.

"Um... I think you got the wrong mare... I mean... I AM Rainbow Dash, but I think the title of fastest mare alive goes to the Flash."

"Hmm, I wouldn't know about that." Applejack replied. "There's that Supermare character. I heard that she was faster than a speeding bullet." Rainbow merely scoffed. She clearly wasn't impressed in the least.

"That's nothing compared to moving at the speed of light!" She snapped at her. "I'd like to see that big blue girlscout race the true fastest mare alive!" Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"Rainbow Dash admits there is somepony faster than her?" She asked incredulously. "I'd never thought I'd see the day."

"Hey, I don't have illusions about myself!" Rainbow retorted. "I know I go on all the time about how I'm the fastest and the most awesome pegasus in the Wonderbolts, but that's just me stating facts. Even Captain Spitfire admitted that." Applejack just shrugged as she took another bite of her pie.

"So where are the others?" She asked.

"Still at practice." Rainbow replied casually as she ate. Applejack's eyes widened.

"You mean, all of this is for you? What kind of a bottomless pit are you?" She laughed in amusement, to which, Rainbow also let out a chuckle.

"Even the most well oiled machine needs fuel." She was about to resume her feast, but she suddenly stopped and her gaze snapped back at the spectacled mare sitting next to her, as if she recognised her. "Hey, I know you! You're Lark Cent! You write all those Supermare articles for the Daily Sun!"

"Yup. That's me alright." Applejack replied, taking another bite of her pie. "I occasionally write about other heroes too. Including the Flash. Matter of fact, I did one article about her fairly recently about her fight with Metallo in Baltimare. At the exact same time the Wonderbolts had their show there. Curious. With how fast she is, you might believe she was one of them." She said with a sly smirk as she continued chewing on her pie and watch the rainbow maned mare squirm uncomfortably as she tried to come up with a response. It was pretty entertaining.

"Well... I wouldn't know..." Rainbow stammered. "I never met her and none of the other Wonderbolts did for that matter." Rainbow got rather fed up with the reporter's nagging.

"And what about you? How come you're always at the scene whenever one of those heroes show up, heh?!" Rainbow tried to sound intimidating but Applejack wasn't phased in the slightest. She merely shrugged.

"Call it a reporter's intuition." She answered before finishing her pie.

"So that's what brought you to Canterlot?" Rainbow asked. "Your 'reporter's intuition tells you there might be trouble at the wedding that could require a superhero?" Applejack groaned.

"I wish." She sighed before showing Rainbow the press pass hanging around her neck. "I'm here to photograph and write about the wedding itself. My boss considers this a reward for my Supermare articles." Rainbow blankly looked at the disgruntled journalist for a few moments before sighing herself and leaning back in her seat with a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, I get what you mean. I'm here with the Bolts to perform at the aftershow. It's a big opportunity and all that but I just can't handle all the fuss that comes with this wedding. I'd prefer to just get the show done and go home."

For the first time since this conversation began, the two mares found themselves agreeing on something. Rainbow saw that the reporter was just as disinterested in this whole thing as she was. She looked back at Applejack and suddenly, an idea hit her.

"Hey! What do you say you come with me to the Bolts' practice session? I know it's not a superhero showdown, but it might be worth an article in your paper and the team could always more publicity!" Applejack's interest was quickly piqued by the suggestion. She saw that her pie and most of Rainbow's feast were already gone at this point so it wasn't like they had any more reasons to stick around. She gladly accepted the proposal.

"Lead the way, sugarcube."

Fluttershy peeked her head out the door of the train car she was about to leave. Being the capital of Equestria, Canterlot would be heavily crowded even at its train station. And Fluttershy was still not very comfortable with big crowds. But this time, it was even worse. Not only did she have all the common folk walking around the station, but since a big royal wedding was about to take place, the city was also being patrolled by almost every available royal guard on the force.

It was embarrassing, really. She was a space cop responsible to keep order and enforce the law in an entire galactic sector. She fought monsters and supervillans on an almost weekly basis and yet she felt intimidated by the stoney gazes of these stallions who wouldn't be able to even put a dent on her lantern constructs with their spears and crossbows. Unless they were yellow, of course.

Like their armor. Fluttershy gulped as she remembered that she would be powerless to stop an earth pony guard charging at her in that armor. Good thing they didn't know of her weakness to its color. Still, the thought was terrifying enough to make her frozen on the spot from their stare. A few ponies walking around were beginning to notice her standing there and shot her frustrated glances since they had to walk around her. This made her feel even more anxious but it finally gave her enough incentive to move.

She was so eager to get away from there that she didn't even watch she was going and when she turned around the corner of the station, she bumped into another mare who was hopping happily with her eyes closed while pulling a cart full of party supplies. They crashed into each other so hard that the pink mare was knocked back onto the top of her cart, greatly shocking Fluttershy.

"Oh, my goodness! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?!" The pink earth pony didn't seem particularly distressed by what just happened. She sprung up in the blink of an eye and jumped down in front Fluttershy.

"Wow! You're pretty strong for a pegasus!" She chuckled. Fluttershy smiled nervously as she shrunk back. Her physical strength was another result of her Green Lantern training. She had to avoid drawing any suspicions.

"Uh... Yeah, I work out a lot. I... I live in a bad neighbourhood." She explained. They other mare tilted her head.

"Really? Did you ever try throwing them a party? That brightens up even the grumpiest ponies. Trust me, I know."

"Um... I'm not much of a party pony. And besides, I work a lot. I'm a veterinarian. I don't have much free time."

"Oh, I could always throw one for them!" The pink pony exclaimed. "I'm a professional party planner! My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie! But everypony calls me Pinkie! Or my friends do at least. Which is pretty much everypony. Because everypony I know is my friend!"

Fluttershy actually found herself smiling fondly at Pinkie's antics. She was a very endearing mare and it wasn't hard to see how she managed to win over everypony she met if she even broke through the shell of such a reclusive pony as her with such ease.

"Nice to meet you, Pinkie." The pegasus replied, extending her hoof. "I'm Fluttershy." When she saw the extended hoof, Pinkie put her hooves to her face and let out a huge gasp that made Fluttershy recoil in shock. Did she do something wrong? But that notion was quickly forgotten when the earth pony pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"WE HAVE EXCHANGED NAMES! WE ARE OFFICIALLY NEW FRIENDS NOW!" The hug happened so quickly that Fluttershy had no time to process what happened, let alone react. Pinkie knocked the air out of her and she was already struggling to breath in the earth pony's grip. She was beginning to black out and even briefly considered activating her ring to escape the situation, when suddenly, somepony came to save him.

"Excuse me," Pinkie let go of Fluttershy who fell on the floor and took huge breaths, gathering large amount of air into her grateful lungs. She then looked up and saw that the pony addressed them was a white earth pony stallion with grey mane and wearing a tuxedo. "You must be Miss Pie and Miss Fluttershy. I am Jean Jeans, Princess Luna's assistant. Would you please follow me to the castle? We must make preparations for the wedding at once."

Pinkie Pie grinned brightly upon the invitation, but Fluttershy was slightly confused. How did this stallion know her? Pinkie was a well known party planner, but she was a mere veterinarian from half a country away. Even with her bird choir, she never performed at such big events that she would consider herself famous. But before she could give voice to her confusion, Pinkie Pie beat her to it.

"You see, Fluttershy?! We were invited to perform at the same party! That further proves that we're new friends!" She yelled enthusiastically before pulling the yellow pegasus to her hooves and dragging her along as she followed Jean.

"We are very glad you could make it." The stallion told them. "Your will make excellent additions to the wedding's program."

"I wouldn't have missed out on throwing a royal party for the world!" Pinkie cheered. "I hope I'll see you there too, Jeany-Genie!"

"As tempting as that offer is, Miss Pie, as the wedding's official organiser, I will have obligations around the castle during the entire event. No rest for the wicked as they say." He replied. He noticed from the corner of his eyes that Fluttershy was about to speak. He could also sense her suspicions about him but he knew the time for answers was not now, so he decided to speak first. "Miss Fluttershy, I assume your companions are already on their way." The mention of her little friends made the pegasus completely forget about her worries and she answered with a beaming smile.

"Oh, yes! They always travel by themselves. It makes them feel so happy flying through their natural habitat. It's so much better for them than sitting in those small cages and bumping around in those train carts." Jean slightly smiled to himself. Fluttershy was so happy to talk about her little bird friends that she completely forgot about her doubts and suspicions. For the rest of their way back to the castle, all he heard was the happy chattering of the two mares following him.

Twilight never thought she would ever return to this place. As the train approached the city of Canterlot, she could feel a sense of dread increasing inside her. The dread of the onslaught of bad memories that would no doubt come to her the moment she set her hoof inside the castle. She barely managed to convince herself to give Shining Armor another chance after days of deliberation. And Spike's constant nagging. She wasn't sure if she was ready for this.

Even the closeness of her older brother whom she finally beginning to loosen up around again and the companionship of her young dragon assistant did little to ease her mind. The stallion was sitting in front of him, looking out the window as the landscape passed them by. It was clear that he was both happy and relieved that his sister accepted his invitation to the wedding, but Twilight could tell he was still feeling awkward in her presence. And she couldn't say she blamed him for the feeling was mutual.

They didn't say a single word to each other during the whole ride and everytime their glances met, they quickly looked away. Spike watched them sadly. He knew the reconciliation process between them is not going to be fast or easy, but so far they made even less progress than he hoped. If he didn't bring the latest volume of the Power Ponies with him, he would have already left them to find another seat. The situation was becoming far too awkward for his taste.

He didn't know why these comics kept fascinating him so much. For the past year or so, his whole life has basically been a superhero comic. And not a fun one at that. If Spike knew what his life was gonna become when he was younger, he probably would have been excited. Well, like the old saying went, be careful what you wish for, because you might get it. All the nights he paced around the library in fear and worry about Twilight possibly not returning, the nights he spent mourning her late fiancée with her, but by far the worst part of his new life was having to witness how a year of fighting turned his caretaker into a nocturnal animal.

After what felt like an eternity, the train finally arrived at Canterlot station. Spike grabbed the bags and followed the two ponies as they made their way towards the castle. The city barely changed from what Spike could tell. Even his favourite old comic book store was at the same place as the last time he was here. He made a mental note to himself to pay a visit there later. He wondered if the owners were still the same. If so, they'll be happy to see their old number one customer.

On their way to the palace, they came across a pony sweeping the streets. A sudden gust of wind swept up an old newspaper and threw it in the stallion's face. He used his magic to remove it and Twilight saw how his face contorted in anger. She peeked over to see what made his so angry and saw an article about two local heroes called Green Arrow and Black Canary capturing a criminal names Slipknot. Shining incinerated the newspaper with a fire spell and blew the ashes away.

"Some heroes." He growled. "If it weren't for thess costumed maniacs running around, Equestria wouldn't have all those super criminals that the Royal Guard can't deal with. They were the ones who inspired them." Twilight was obviously feeling uncomfortable by her brother's blatant hatred to the costumed crusaders of Equestria, given that she was one of them herself. She wasn't sure what she should say to that.

"You really don't like them, do you?" She asked nervously and Shining turned to him with a steely expression.

"If it were up to me, I would lock them all up." He replied, before taking a deep breath and calming down. "Let's not talk about them anymore. We need to get to the castle and start preparing for the wedding."

He resumed his walk towards the castle, but Twilight and Spike just stood there, stunned by his outburst. Spike looked up at the mare who had a troubled look on her face as she watched her brother walk away. He grabbed her hoof softly and gave her a reassuring squeeze, causing her to look down at him. He offered her a comforting smile which she returned before taking off after Shining.

As Twilight predicted, as soon as she entered the castle, the memories came down on her like a pile of bricks. For a minute, she started to think that it was a mistake to accept Shining's invitation. She made herself believe that she burned every bridge connecting her to this place. That she would never come back here and never have to face her past again. But the moment she walked through the main gate, she instantly realised that this was because she was afraid. Afraid to face it again.

Things didn't get much better when they reached her old room. The one she lived in when she was still Celestia's student. That was another thing she wasn't looking forward to facing again. Princess Celestia, her old mentor whom she idolised as a foal and resented after blaming her for the event that cost her her horn. Her and her brother. But since she finally decided to give her brother another chance, shouldn't she give one to the Princess as well?

"Twily!" She never got the chance to make up her mind on that as her brother's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He was looking at her in confusion, more than likely wondering why she spaced out like that.

"Oh, sorry." She told him sheepishly. "What were you saying?"

“I was just checking if you were alright.” Shining replied. “Coming back here after everything that happened…” He stopped for a second, trying to find the right words. “Cannot be easy for you.”

‘Understatement of the decade.’ Twilight thought, but saying that out loud would have been rude. “I’ll be fine.” In the end, that was the only thing she could say. “I’ll just need some time to gather my thoughts, that’s all.” She saw that Shining wasn’t exactly convinced so she decided to change the subject. “So… I know that after I tried to cut you out of my life and didn’t even tell you that I was engaged I have no right to ask, but I have been really curious ever since you mentioned the wedding. Who’s the lucky mare?” Apparently, Twilight found the right question to ask, because her brother’s expression immediately brightened.

“Oh, I have a feeling that you are going to like her!” He answered with a grin. “In fact, she is somepony that you know very well. I can’t wait for you to meet her again.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t a very sociable pony and that didn’t really change after she moved away from Canterlot. Even after she took over the Atheneigh Library, she barely moved out and attracted a reputation as something of a recluse in Manehattan. She did occasionally attend charity events and fundraisers and even held many public events in her library, but her list of friends was still relatively small. In fact, there were only three ponies she considered to be her friends before the incident. Her brother, Princess Celestia and…

“Ah, here you are!” Twilight and Shining jumped in surprise when they heard the voice of a third party announcing themselves quite loudly. They turned to see a tall and slim pink alicorn mare with purple mane with white stripes in it enter the room. Twilight’s eyes widened as she let out a huge gasp when she saw her. It was none other than Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, better known around Equestria as Princess Cadance, the Princess of Love , Twilight’s old foalsitter and if she understood the situation correctly, Shining Armor’s bride. She shared a questioning glance with her brother who only nodded at her with a small smile, making everything clear.

Every negative thought Twilight had about coming here went straight out the window. Her sad smile evolved into a huge, bright smile as she remembered the wonderful times she spent with the princess as a filly. Cadance was the most wonderful pony in the world! Everywhere she went, she brought love and happiness to everypony around her. She remembered how she pacified an arguing couple next to them when they were passing through the city one day with a single spell, instantly ending the argument and saving their relationship. And she was going to be her sister-in-law!

“The guards told me you were here, escorting some other mare around!” Cadance snapped at the white stallion, completely ignoring Twilight next to him. “What are you doing frollicking around with somepony else when you’re supposed to be preparing for our wedding?!”

Twilight recoiled a little. That certainly wasn’t the Cadance she remembered, but Shining Armor didn’t seem particularly phased. The look on his face remained the same enamored, blissful face that all stallions should wear when they catch a glimpse of their brides.

“Sorry, love.” He apologised with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mare’s mood, but apparently not succeeding. “I had to go and get my best mare.” He said, motioning to Twilight. The purple mare grinned brightly at Cadance as their gazes met. Just like it happened to her, she expected the alicorn to have the exact same joyous recollection of the times they spent together when they were younger, but to her surprise and heartache when she didn’t see even the slightest hint of recognition in the princess’ eyes.

“Uh-huh.” She said, her tone containing nothing but indifference. “Well, now that she’s here, can we please get back to the important things?” Twilight and even Spike who has been busy unpacking the suitcases were shocked by what the princess just said. It seemed like she didn’t even know who she was, which was impossible.

“Cadance, don’t you recognize me?” Twilight asked in a wavering voice. The pink alicorn looked back at her in annoyance.

“That’s Princess Cadance to you!” She snapped at Twilight rather sharply, making her jump back. “And why should I?”

“Cadance, it’s me! Twilight! Don’t you remember?” Cadance only looked at her blankly. It was obvious that she didn’t know what the smaller mare was talking about. Twilight had something that would definitely trigger her memory, but she was very reluctant to do it. She wasn’t a little filly anymore, she was a grown mare, the owner of one of Equestria’s most well run libraries and a costumed vigilante who stalked criminals in the night while praying on their superstitions and cowardice. Still, she had to try her best for her brother’s wedding and getting on the good side of the mare he was about to marry would probably help with that. Sighing heavily, she began.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs, awake!” She chanted as she dropped down on the ground and covered her eyes with her hooves before lifting them up. She then stood up, turned around and began to shake flank. “Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Twilight looked up to see the princess’ reaction, only to see her looking down at her with a raised eyebrow and a rather weirded out expression.

“Umm… what are you doing?” Twilight was speechless? She forgot about the little dance they always did at least once a day? That was even more inconceivable than the fact that she forgot her. The situation was quickly becoming unbearably awkward, so Shining decided to intervene.

“Well, now that the reunion is done, what was it that you needed again?” As Cadance went over her issues about the upcoming wedding with her fiance - which were a lot - Twilight just stood there, her eyes still wide in disbelief. Cadance just went on about her rant without acknowledging her even with a glance and once she was done, she took a hold of Shining and stormed out of the room without even saying goodbye.

“Well that was… awkward.” Spike said once the two of them were alone.

“I’ll say.” Twilight added. “And rather… out of character on Cadance’s part. I can’t believe she had forgotten me like that.” Spike walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Well, it’s been a long time and she’s an alicorn after all. Maybe the time she spent with you is just a blink of an eye to her.” Twilight didn’t buy that. She knew for a fact that an alicorn’s memory is supposed to be near perfect. She must have remembered her. Maybe all these years, she didn’t know the real Cadance. Maybe she just foalsat her out of an obligation once her parents hired her and all the time they spent together had meant nothing to her. Whatever the case, she was very hurt.

Nevertheless, she promised her brother that she would be there by his side when he said “I do” to the mare he loved. And even if that meant working on putting the wedding together with the rudest princess she ever had the displeasure of meeting, than so be it. But one thing was for certain. She will definitely not be looking forward to any family reunions in the future with the mare she just encountered a minute ago.

Twilight’s first order of business was meeting with the wedding’s official organiser, a stallion named Jean Jeans and go over the parts of the wedding that still needed to be arranged with him. She was not particularly thrilled when she learned that Princess Cadance will also be accompanying them on this checkup, but at least she will have Spike with her to make this day a bit more bearable.

After a good night’s sleep, Spike delivered her breakfast to her bed to give the hard day she was about to go through a great start and to make sure she didn’t run into any familiar faces in the corridors. She still wasn’t ready for that. After they’ve both eaten, they went to meet Jean Jeans in the room of a pony that Twilight knew all too well. Prince Blueblood.

Spike also wasn’t looking forward to this meeting. They both knew Blueblood from their days living in the castle and it was another reunion they would rather avoid. The prince was always an entitled, pompous and arrogant prick and he even tried to get together with Twilight back then - solely for the bragging right of dating Princess Celestia’s student, of course. He didn’t take her rejection well and it took direct intervention from the sun princess for him to back down. The bossy princess was already a huge pain to deal with, she didn't need to suffer that idiot too today.

As they walked down the hallway, they were so busy worrying about the day they had ahead of themselves that they didn't even watch where they were going. It was still early in the morning so there weren't many ponies around, but they still managed to bump into the one who got up as early as them, knocking them back on their behinds and making them drop everything they were holding.

“Oh, I'm terribly sorry.” A male voice said. “Here, allow me to help you.” He offered as he knelt down to gather the dropped items.

“No, it's our fault. We should have watched where we were going.” Twilight replied as she joined him on the floor. “But thank you regardless.” Once the two finished picking everything up, they stood up and looked at each other. Upon making eye contact, both of them gasped in surprise.

“Twilight, is that you?!” Prince Blueblood exclaimed. The purple mare wasn't sure how she should respond. She was still getting over the shock of not only seeing Blueblood again, but the fact that he apologised to her and helped her gather her belongings.

“Um… yes.” She said meekly, taking her stuff back. “Nice to meet you again, Prince Blueblood. We were just on our way to your quarters to meet Jean Jeans and Princess Cadance for the wedding preparations.”

“Oh, that can only be about the dress.” The stallion groaned as they continued their way. “I'm starting to think I made a mistake when I offered Aunt Celestia that my dear Rarity would design her dress. She's been an absolute slave driver to her ever since she started.

“Rarity?!” Spike gasped in excitement. “The designer of the Everyday Heroes of Equestria lineup?!” Blueblood nodded.

“The one and the same.”

“I didn't know you were such a fashion fan, Spike.” Twilight teased with a smile.

“I'm really not, but she made some really amazing costumes!” Spike admitted. “If you didn't know any better, you would swear they were worn by real heroes! I kinda wish she would have designed some for a baby dragon like me.”

“Well, I could introduce you to her, Spike,” Blueblood offered. “but you might want to wait with that request until she finishes Cady’s dress. She's been running herself ragged and I really wish she would take a break.”

“Thanks! That is… unusually nice of you.” Spike said as his excitement was replaced by confusion. This really was Prince Blueblood? But the prince didnt't have time to say anything else as they finally reached his quarters where Jean and Cadance were already waiting for them.

“Good morning, Jean.” Blueblood greeted before turning to the other royal. “Cady…” The alicorn merely nodded at him on acknowledgement and once again, she completely ignored Twilight.

“Good morning, your hignesses. “Jean replied on his usual stoic voice before turning to Twilight. “And you must be the best mare Captain Armor was talking about. I am Jean Jeans. Princess Luna's assistant.”

Now that caught Twilight's attention. Princess Luna's assistant? The elusive Princess Luna who has been running the prison facility for supervillans ever since she returned from her banishment? The one she has been investigating ever since she had Huntress transferred there after the events of last Nightmare Night? She shared a glance with Spike and he instantly knew what she was thinking. She should keep an eye on this guy.

But when she looked back at Jean, she felt like Spike wasn't the only one who know what she was thinking. When their eyes met, Twilight felt like Jean was staring into her very being. Almost as if he knew her exact thoughts. It was rather uncomfortable, but in that moment, Twilight was convinced that she was not dealing with an ordinary stallion. Before she could snap out of the trance Jean was seemingly putting her under, Cadance broke it for her.

“Can we please get this over with?” She demanded impatiently. “I have a ton of other things to do today!” Jean nodded.

“Of course, your hignesses.” He then turned to Blueblood. “Shall we?” The small group entered the room where they saw Rarity and the wedding dress she designed. It was obvious that she put a ton of effort into it not only because it was the grandest dress Twilight has ever seen but because the white unicorn mare was barely able to stand. Despite panting heavily and looking like she was about to pass out, when she saw the royal mare approaching her, she quickly sprung up and bowed deeply.

“Greetings your hignesses! I am Rarity! Please allow me to express my gratitude for the opportunity to be part of this great event and contribute to it in the form of this dress!” Cadance didn't look particularly impressed with the groveling mare or her creation. She ignored the fashionista and walked up to the dress to inspect it. After a few moments, she turned away with a dismissive scowl.

“I was hoping for something with more beading and a longer train.” Twilight, Spike and surprisingly even Blueblood gasped in shock. The dress in front of them was so regal that it would have gained the approval of Princess Celestia herself and Cadance was dissatisfied with it? Even more surprisingly, Rarity just played along with it, not even offended in the slightest that Cadance just disrespected the dress she was working on tirelessly for the entirety of last week without barely even sleeping.

“Ah, yes! Of course!” She replied, gathering her notes and writing the princess’ suggestions into them.

“And I hope you haven't made the bridesmaids’ dresses in the same color.” Cadance said, making Rarity's eyes widen.

“Well…” Before she could think of something to say, Cadance interrupted her.

“Because they have to be in a different color than the bride's. So fix my dress and make sure they're not the same color. Do you understand?” She asked very rudely. But Rarity didn't seem to mind.

“Of course, your hignesses!” She added happily. “They'll be ready before the wedding!”

“Good.” Cadance said before leaving the room without even sparing a glance at anypony. Twilight checked her list and put a question mark next to the wedding dress on it before looking at Rarity.

“Is she gonna be alright?” She asked Blueblood.

“I think she's officially gone.” The prince replied in concern when he saw the mare of his affections begin to redesign the dress with a wide grin and even wider eyes staring off into nothingness. “She had snapped at me for even less during our first date. I don't care what Cady says, she is getting that dress and my darling Lady Rarity is done slaving for her!” He growled in determination before walking up to Rarity and carrying her off to his bed. The mare was so gone that she didn't even react to being moved and kept doodling away at nothing. “I got her. Go and make sure she won't fire anypony from the castle staff over something petty. Both figuratively and literally.”

“Thanks.” Twilight nodded at him in appreciation before leaving the room with Spike in tow. The dragon apparently shared her confusion on the events that just transpired.

“It's like we walked into some strange reverse world.” Her assistant told her.

“Tell me about it.” Twilight replied. “Did those two somehow swap personalities?” The prince she just met didn't remind her of the Blueblood she knew from years ago. But that was the least of her concerns right now. She had to check on the afterparty organised in the throne room by none other than…

“HI NEW FRIEND!” Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin when she reached the throne room and heard the impossibly high voice penetrate her eardrums. She lowered her list and saw a pink earth pony mare grinning at her, inches away from her face. “My name is…”

“Pinkie Pie, the famous party planner.” Twilight finished for her, quickly regaining her composure. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am here to check on the reception party you are setting up.”

“Oh, it is going great!” The party pony replied, jumping enthusiastically. “In fact, Princess Cadance was already here and said the reception party is perfect! For somepony’s fifth birthday! Can you imagine a nicer complaint from a princess?”

“Actually, I can.” Twilight said under her breath before walking around Pinkie to see the scene for herself. For the first time since she arrived to Canterlot, she couldn’t help but agree with Cadance on something. The reception party that was set up consisted of several party games including pin the tail on the donkey, twister and pinatas. She may have found a nicer way of breaking it to the pink mare, but she wasn’t too far off the mark.

Before she could say anything to Pinkie, a loud scream was heard coming from the gardens. Twilight, Spike and Pinkie ran out to see Princess Cadance being circled by several colourful birds, chirping at her angrily and pinching at her. Jean Jeans was standing next to her, seemingly completely uninterested by the situation and a yellow pegasus mare was floating above Cadance trying to calm the birds down.

“Please, stop! That is the princess whose wedding we are performing at!” She begged, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. The bird kept pinching at princess before she finally regained enough composure to summon a barrier around herself. The birds finally retreated but they kept glaring angrily at Cadance, much to Twilight’s amusement.

“So it is true. Animals can sense evil.” She said to herself. Cadance sent a death glare into the direction of Fluttershy and the birds, making the pegasus shrink back.

“GET THOSE PESTS OFF THE PREMISES AT ONCE!” She roared furiously before retreating into the castle. Upon hearing her friends being called pests, Fluttershy stiffened and narrowed her eyes at the retreating form of the princess. She extended one of her wings which shook in rage and for a brief moment, Twilight could see a green ring on the tip of her feather glisten in the sunlight.

“Miss Shy, please calm yourself!” Jean told Fluttershy as he walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I will smooth things over with the princess and your performance will still be held as planned. Rest assured, your presence is needed here.” The stallion’s words have accomplished their purpose and Fluttershy let out a calming sigh.

“Thank you, Mr. Jeans. I hope you won’t mind if we postpone practice until tomorrow after what just happened.” Jean nodded and Fluttershy walked off accompanied by Pinkie Pie who did her best to comfort her. Twilight watched them leave with a concerned expression before turning her gaze to the gate Cadance left through. Being stressed about your upcoming wedding was one thing, but Cadance was the Princess of Love! Kindness and tolerance should have been requirements in her behaviour, otherwise, she wouldn’t have ascended into alicornhood for them. There was something odd going on here and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

“Is something the matter, Miss Sparkle?” Jean asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned to her and saw a concerned look on his face.

“Is it just me, or Cadance really isn’t acting like herself?” She asked. Jean merely stared at her blankly before answering.

“I’m afraid the private life or royalty are beyond our concerns, Miss Sparkle.” He replied. “To investigate such concerns, one pony would have to be above the law. Untouchable by the confines of the everyday world. A symbol, not a mere pony.” Twilight looked at the stallion in surprise as he walked away. Why would he tell her such a thing? But she couldn’t deny that he had a point. Twilight Sparkle won’t be able to investigate this matter. The Batmare on the other hoof…

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #3: Descent

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Twilight had been pondering on the words of Jean Jeans for the remainder of the day. It was a very curious comment of him to make. She didn't think much of it back then, but the way he talked to her almost felt like he was trying to encourage her into doing exactly what he told her should be done by somepony who stands above the law. Or more precisely, the Batmare.

There was no way Jean could have possibly even suspected that she was the Batmare. They never even met before and she made sure to always track down and destroy any photographic or any kind of evidence taken of her during her outings as the Batmare. But then she remembered that Jean was the assistant of Princess Luna. The second most powerful figure in all of Equestria. She was exactly the kind of pony who had the means to acquire knowledge seemingly impossible to obtain. It seemed like she was gonna have to keep her eyes on the newly returned princess of the night even more closely than she first thought.

After an extremely tiring day of running around the castle, trying to cater to Princess Cadance's every petty and selfish little whim, Twilight and Spike were finally finished for the day and they wanted nothing more than to retire to their room and do nothing until morning. But as so many times in the past, fate once again didn't want to play out like they wanted. When they reached their room, they found Shining Armor waiting for them. The stallion looked almost as worn out as them from the whole day of running around. No doubt the groom's responsibilities were even more arduous than theirs. When he saw them, he smiled fondly and walked up to them.

"Hi, guys! Tiring day, huh?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Twilight said tiredly before letting out a yawn. "Do you need something? And please don't say yes because my hooves are about to drop off."

"Well, I know just the remedy for that! Why don't you two come and join me and the princesses for dinner?!" Twilight and Spike exchanged a glance. A royal dinner sounded heavenly right now, but having dinner with the princesses immediately made it lose its appeal.

"Thanks, but I think we've had enough of the princesses for one day." Twilight replied and walked around her brother to enter her room. Shining wasn't to be deterred though and followed them.

"Yeah, I get it. Cady has been extra demanding lately." He admitted. "Even I hardly recognise her lately. But if it makes you feel any better, she will not be joining us." That statement made Twilight stop in her tracks.

"Princess Cadance won't be joining the royal dinner?" She asked in disbelief. Shining shrugged.

"Oh, you know how brides are. They have so much to do that won't even eat a bite. She's busy all the time with the wedding preparations. I don't even see her at night." Twilight frowned.

"That's ... interesting indeed." There was probably something suspicious about that but Twilight was far too tired to care at the moment. The royal dinner suddenly seemed more inviting to her, but even without Cadance, Celestia would still be there. Was Twilight ready to face her again? She wasn't sure. On the other hoof, she could meet the mysterious Princess Luna. She was really curious about her. And Twilight was always prone to let her curiosity get the better of her. In the end, she let out a defeated sigh as she realised that it was going to happen again.

"Very well." She gave in, much to her brother's delight. "Lead the way." Shining was all too happy to oblige.

The dining room was already set for a royal feast and three of the royal family were waiting for the last of the participants to arrive. Along with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, their nephew, Prince Blueblood was also present. The royal stallion was rather famished by now and would have rudely demanded they start eating already if he was still his old self, but he grew out of that behaviour thanks to Rarity's influence. It was such a welcome change that Celestia strongly hoped that the relationship will be a stable one. And so did all of the castle stuff who were much happier with this new Blueblood.

Finally, Shining Armor arrived with his sister and her young dragon assistant in tow and the three took their seat around the table. As soon as her eyes fell on the lavender mare, the princess of the sun found herself completely overwhelmed by a sudden surge of emotions. She hadn't seen her in years and the immsens guilt she felt from the part she played in the loss of her horn still loomed heavily over her. She wanted to address her former student but no words came out of her mouth.

To add insult to injury, Twilight didn't even look at her as she gathered food to herself and began to eat. She seemed to be much more interested in her sister, taking quick and strangely suspicious glances at the princess of the night as she ate and she saw from the corner of her eyes that Luna returned them. This was rather odd. She had no recollection of her sister ever meeting her former student. She was about to address this before Twilight beat her to speaking.

"Prince Blueblood, won't Lady Rarity be joining us tonight?" She asked the royal stallion.

"I don't think she will be joining anything for a long time." Blueblood replied. "I finally got her to take some sleep and she's been slaving over that dress for so long that I think she's gonna be sleeping until the wedding is over." Shining Armor looked down in embarrassment. She knew that his bride's behaviour has been less than kind in the past few days and he did feel bad about it.

"For what it's worth, I think the dress she made for Cady is perfect." He told Blueblood in perhaps the friendliest way he ever spoke to him. But it did little to propitiate the other stallion.

"Try convincing your bride of that." He replied on a tone that would be very fitting for the old Blueblood. Shining cast his eyes down in shame as he knew that unlike all those previous times he faced this rudeness from Blueblood, this time it wasn't uncalled for. He went back to his food and kept eating in silence that quickly became unbearable. To everypony's surprise, it was the usually quiet Princess Luna who broke the ice.

"A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Miss Sparkle." She said. Celestia looked at her sister in shock. She didn't recall ever mentioning her to her. The pain, guilt and shame she felt from the past were still too big for her. For her part, Twilight wasn't caught off guard. She swallowed the bite she was chewing on before answering.

"Likewise, your hignesses. I have been following your activity around Equestria with great interest." Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Have you?" Twilight nodded.

"Yes. Your contributions to the prison system are indispensable for containing the more... colorful circle of criminals who have been showing in the country. In the name of all of my fellow Manehattan citizens, I would like to thank you for your effort to insure our safety." Though her words were nothing but polite, her expression mirrored a level of animosity and suspicion towards the princess of the night and Luna's own expression was the same.

"As the rulers of Equestria, the safety and the happiness of our little ponies are always of the utmost importance. But I suppose it isn't surprising that my work is more noticed and appreciated by the ponies of Manehattan. Given the exceptional infestation of super criminals and costumed vigilantes masquerading as heroes in that city." Luna made sure to put heavy emphasis on the last part of her sentence, which didn't go unnoticed by Twilight who narrowed her eyes even further at the alicorn.

"Indeed. Lately it has been like most of these criminal elements have just disappeared. As if somepony just threw them in a hole and threw away the hole." Luna just returned the sharp stare with equal intensity. Celestia, Shining and Blueblood stopped eating and just watched the scene in confusion. Meanwhile, concern could be seen on Spike's face. He was not only Twilight's number one assistant, but the Batmare's as well, so he knew everything she did about Princess Luna's underground operations around Equestria. He should have known that this dinner with the shady mare would not be such a good idea. He was hoping Twilight would be able to take a break from her double life during this wedding, but it seemed like that wasn't working out.

"Um... Could somepony pass the sauce?" He asked sheepishly, trying to lighten the mood, but he quickly regretted it as the looks he received from the five ponies made him really uncomfortable. Regardless, Shining complied with his request. They continue to dine in awkward silence until Celestia decided to break it.

"So, how go the wedding preparations." Twilight wasn't sure if the question was addressed to her. She struggled trying to bring herself to answer, but her brother saved her.

"Very well!" He replied, sharing a quick glance with his sister, seeing gratitude in her eyes. "Everything will be ready by Wednesday. I checked Twily's list before we came to dinner. The dress, the reception party and the bird choir among other things are all ready!" Twilight finally felt ready to speak and took over.

"Apart from a few minor details, the only thing that needs checking on tomorrow is how the Wonderbolts are doing preparing for their routine."

"The Wonderbolts are gonna perform?!" Spike asked in excitement. "Awesome!" This display of childlike enthusiasm made everypony around the table chuckle. Even Luna. But the good mood didn't last long as Blueblood couldn't help but make a bitter comment.

"Let's just hope their performance will be enough to meet the bride's unreachable standards." He snarked, earning a sigh from Shining Armor. "By the way, will she be finally honoring us with her presence at dinner tonight?"

"Don't start that again, Blueblood! You know how busy she is with the wedding preparations! It's very important to her that our big day will be perfect! Even during the night, she barely takes a break!" Shining replied angrily, but Blueblood just scoffed.

"She can't be that busy if she has time to meander around the mountainside behind the castle." He said causally before resuming eating. Shining raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" The Prince asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Last night, I wanted to take Lady Rarity on a stroll around the castle so she can finally relax a little and I saw Cady heading flying one of the mountains. Will there be any festivities there during the wedding?" He asked, turning to Celestia.

"Not to my knowledge." The sun princess answered. "Didn't you ask her what she was doing there?"

"With the way she's been behaving lately, I've been trying to limit my interactions with her as much as possible." Blueblood replied. "Why don't you ask her yourself tomorrow?"

The rest of the conversation went unheard by Twilight. What Blueblood said only increased her suspicions about Cadance's behavior. Being the studious mare she was, she's been thoroughly studying Canterlot's geography as well and she's never read anything about those mountains that was worth memorising. What could Cadance possibly be doing there?

She looked down at Spike who saw the inquisitive look on her face and merely shrugged. He was about to go back to his dinner when suddenly his eyes widened and he froze in shock. He knew that look on Twilight's face. That was the same look she wore when she began investigating a new crime in Manehattan. The look of determination to crack the case before anypony else would do it and apprehend the perpetrator who committed whatever crime the case involved.

But what scared Spike the most, was the fact that whenever Twilight wore that look, she would go into World's Greatest Detective mode and there was nothing he could do about it. Spike wanted to treat this wedding as a vacation for both of them. To get away from the insanity that seemed to haunt the city of Manehattan for a week. But he had a bad feeling that that insanity was about to catch up with them tonight. It looked like no matter where Twilight went, she could never escape the shadow of the Batmare. And neither could he.

After finishing her meal, Twilight excused herself and headed towards the exit of the room. Shining and Celestia shared a troubled glance. The princess didn't even get the chance to talk with her former student and it really pained her, while Shining who sat next to his sister saw that she bearly ate. She couldn't have gotten enough already.

"Is everything alright, Twiliy." The stallion asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Twilight replied over her shoulder. "I'm just much more tired than I thought." She said, faking a yawn. "Enjoy your meal. I'll be turning in early tonight." She resumed her walk until one last comment from Luna stopped.

"You look like you've been working nights too frequently, Miss Sparkle. Perhaps you should stop." Twilight stopped briefly and shot one last glare at the alicorn before finally leaving. Nopony in the room thought much of Luna's comment, but Spike felt fear rising inside his chest. Luna definitely knew something about her and she looked like the kind of pony who would take ruthless advantage any knowledge she obtained. Spike definitely hoped they wouldn't cross her in the future. His worry made him lose his appetite and he excused himself shortly after his caretaker.

He could only pray she wasn't about to do what he thought.

Twilight headed straight to her room and locked the door behind her. She then went to her bed and pulled out one of her briefcases without hesitation. She knew exactly what she had to do and she didn't want to waste any time.

She opened the briefcase and pulled out some pieces of clothing including a shirt, ski mask, four shoes and a bedsheet. At first, they would have looked completely ordinary to anypony but Twilight was far from an ordinary mare. No doubt Spike went through her luggage several times and made sure to remove everything that even remotely looked like a bat, but she had her ways.

She laid the clothes on her bed and pulled out a bottle from her saddlebag. She sprayed the clothes with the bottle's content and they slowly started to harden and change colour. Soon, they were the exact same colour as her batsuit and just as resilient too. She was about to put it on when she heard the door opening and turned to see Spike standing behind her, looking at her disapprovingly.

"Please, tell me you're not gonna go all bats." He pleaded as he locked the door. Twilight turned away and began to pull the shoes on.

"I have to. There is something strange going on here, Spike and I have to find out what it is." She told him before moving onto the shirt. It wasn't as hard as her armor but it will do as long as she won't meet encounter any crushing forces out there. At least it will allow her to move move faster.

"In Equestria’s capital during the biggest event of the year?!" Spike asked in disbelief. "And there is that Princess Luna too. I have no idea how, but I think she might be onto you and the last thing we need is validate her suspicions!"

"They are certainly more than just suspicions." Twilight replied as she attached the sheet that hardened into the same substance as her cape to the ski mask. "But we also have quite a bit of dirt on her. We can destroy her reputation and reveal all of her dirty little secrets with one swift movement and tomorrow, I'm gonna make sure she knows that. But now, I've got bigger things to worry about."

"Bigger than your identity possibly getting revealed?!" Spike exclaimed. Twilight ignored him and continued to put together her makeshift suit. "And what about your gadgets? You can't go out there without them."

Twilight reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a couple of black mane clips which she then unfolded into batarangs, a mane dryer which turned out to be a grappling gun, a box of bonbons which contained smoke bombs and a radio which she dismantled into two miniature walkie talkies. She used some string to tie one of them to the ear of the ski mask and tossed the other one to Spike. The last thing she pulled out was a miniature computer which she opened up and turned on before giving it to the drake.

"We'll stay in radio contact and you will see everything on that screen." She instructed him as she put two white lenses into the eye holes of the ski mask. Spike watched her in disbelief. The way she went from Twilight Sparkle, the simple librarian and guest at the Royal Wedding to the dedicated detective superhero about to launch herself into the night to uncover some sinister conspiracy was astounding. It was like a reflex to her. Everytime he saw it, it served as a frightening reminder that the mare he knew from his youth was gone and has been replaced by this bat creature.

"What do you expect to find out there?" He asked, still hoping he might have a chance to talk her out of it.

"If I knew I wouldn't have to go out there." She replied as she put on her suit. She walked over to the window and pulled out her grappling gun, aiming it at one of the castle's towers before turning back to Spike. "Don't give me that look. I know you wanted us to relax and enjoy this wedding without any of this. Trust me, I don't like it any more than you do, but if my suspicions end up being correct, there won't be a wedding and Faust knows how big of a threat might be facing instead. Is that what you want?"

"You have already decided." Spike sighed, sitting down on the bed and putting the computer on his lap. "I know you're right. It's just... so hard to see how easy this became for you. How naturally you slip into this role. It's like Twilight Sparkle is the real mask." Though Spike couldn't see it through the white lens, Twilight cast her gaze down. The dragon's words hit her deep.

"Sometimes I feel the exact same way." She replied. A long silence fell between the two as they both felt unsure what they should say next. Eventually, Twilight broke it first. "The past is in the past, Spike. There's no point in moping over it. We cannot change what happened. But we can change what will." She said before leaping out the window. The dragon watched her with a heavy heart.

"I guess High Culture wasn't the only one who died in the park that night."

Prince Blueblood headed back to his room after finishing the rather satiating royal dinner. He never really ate that much before, considering he didn't live a very active life, but all that changed when he started living the life of a costumed crimefighter. Now he needed every bit of energy he could get. He actually stayed after Luna and Shining both finished and Celestia was the last one in the dining room. Blueblood chuckled. No doubt she waited for everypony to leave so she could indulge in her guilty pleasure of stuffing herself full of cakes.

He reached his room and made sure to open the door very quietly. Rarity was probably still sleeping and the last thing he wanted was to disturb her. Indeed, the purple maned mare was still curled up in his bed under the covers with a blissful smile on her face. She really needed a good night's sleep after all the days she spent working tirelessly. Blueblood smiled fondly. He was tempted to plant a kiss on her cheek, but he wasn't sure if their relationship was quite there yet. So instead he just sat down next to his window.

The Canterlot night was always so beautiful. It paid off to have the Princess of the Night residing in your city. Luna sure put a lot of effort into her work. The sight of the night sky often helped him fall asleep, even back when he was a foal and way before Luna returned. But ever since she came back, it was even better. He found it quite hard to believe that ponies in the past appreciated it so little that his aunt became Nightmare Moon out of rage. He stargazed almost every night and probably knew every star above his window by now. Which is why the dark shape gliding across the sky caught his attention so much.

His eyes widened as he watched the giant bat shaped shadow glide in the starlight and land on one of the castle's towers before continuing its way towards the mountains surrounding the castle. Blueblood could barely snap himself out of his stupor. To his knowledge, no bats that lived around Canterlot grew to sizes that massive. Not to mention bats flew and not glided like the figure he just saw. First, it was Cadance retreating into those Faust forsaken mountains and now some giant bat creature? This was way too much weirdness to be coincidental.

He backed away from the window in horror, trying to figure out what to do now. His first idea was reporting this to the Royal Guard, but they probably wouldn't take this seriously and he had no proof of what he's seen. And he couldn't bother his aunts with this either. They've had way more important matters on their hooves. But it wasn't like he had to go to anypony for help. He was the archer vigilante of Canterlot. He could investigate this matter himself.

He headed to his closet to get his costume and his bow. As he gathered them from the shelf, he caught a glimpse Rarity's own costume. The mare has been his trusty partner ever since they defeated Golden Platter and decided to keep up this unorthodox lifestyle. He couldn't have asked for a better partner and he wouldn't trade what they had for anything, but given how exhausted Rarity has been lately, it would probably be best if she sat this one out. But apparently, fate had different plans..

"Blueblood, what are you doing?" He heard a groggy voice from behind him. His eyes widened as he turned around and saw Rarity standing at the closet's door, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. When she saw the equipment in the prince's hooves however, everything became clear. "You are going crimefighting without me?" The heartbroken look she gave him made Blueblood regret all of his life choices at once.

"No! Of course not, my lady!" The prince defended himself. "It's just a little patrol, nothing else! I saw something outside that I thought I should investigate! That's it!" His explanation however did little to console Rarity.

"Even then, didn't you think I should be by your side on a patrol? I thought we had something special!" The mare wailed. Blueblood knew she only had a few seconds to avoid a full blown canary cry.

"Beloved, you have been working yourself to death lately. I know you don't like it, but you need rest. You need to be completely recharged and fully rested out there. I couldn't bear to see you get hurt." Blueblood pleaded, taking a hold of one her hooves.

"Darling, while I am flattered that my safety is you biggest priority, I think I am able to make a decision about whether I am rested enough to join you out there." She told him defiantly. "For example, if I wasn't rested enough, would I be able to do this?" The fashionista ignited her horn and levitated her costume towards her and twirled around. When she turned back to face Blueblood, she was fully dressed and ready for action. The prince was stunned. Rarity's talent with clothes never ceased to amaze him. "Now then, are we going out to patrol or what?"

The Batmare grappled herself up to a cliff that overlooked the area beneath Canterlot Mountain. From up here, she will be able to see any movement on the ground. The distance shouldn't be a problem as her lenses also operated as binocular and even though the darkness of night has already fallen, she wasn't called the Batmare for nothing. She raised a hoof to the walkie talkie at her ear.

"Spike, activating echolocation mode now." She said before poking the side of her mask, making it let out a low frequency sound that was completely undetectable to pony ears and it quickly covered the entire valley before returning to the mask's ears. Back in Twilight's room, Spike saw the echolocation mode creating a 3d model of the valley on his computer screen and everything in it. Including the living things.

"It's working like a charm, Twi." The dragon said on the other end. "In fact, I'm already seeing two pony sized life forms heading your way." Spike quickly transferred the image to Twilight's lens and sure enough, she saw the two ponies closing in on her location. It was highly unlikely they would spot her on this cliff, especially during the night so she wasn't worried. She'll just gonna have to stay put and watch the events unfold.

Little did she know, the two ponies below the cliff were exactly looking for her. And they had just the way of locating her. The Batmare would probably never consider a little canary much of a threat to her, but the little canary currently watching her was special. It had two heroic friends who asked it to track the shadowy figure they were looking for. And when it spotted her, it immediately reported back to them.

While Rarity didn't have the ability to talk to animals like a certain yellow pegasus, she managed to gain an understanding of the little yellow bird's chirping and gestures by now. And she managed understand that the figure was sitting on a cliff above them, looking down at the trees beneath her exactly where they were, as if knowing they were there.

"Looks like it has spotted us." She told her partner, Prince Blueblood. The hooded archer next to her frowned.

"No point in sneaking around then." He replied, loading an arrow into his bow and taking aim before letting the arrow fly. The dark of the night concealed the flying arrow from the Batmare and she became so focused on her echolocation that she didn't see it coming until it was almost too late. She barely managed to lift her cape in time to shield herself from it before launched a counterattack.

She pulled out two batarangs and threw them at the spots where her echolocation was marking the two hostile ponies. She managed to knock the bow out of Blueblood's hooves and startle Rarity long enough for her to jump off the cliff and glide right in front of them before striking a defensive fighting stance. Blueblood was disarmed but Rarity didn't need a bow and she was ready to pounce on their opponent, until she saw who it actually was.

"Ba... Batmare?!" She gasped in shock as she came to a halt. The two other ponies shared her surprise.

"What?!" Blueblood exclaimed as he took a better look at the dark clad heroine. "It IS her! What are you doing here? Canterlot isn't your turf!" Batmare looked at the other two crimefighters and instantly recognised them as Green Arrow and Black Canary. Two of the more recently debuted vigilantes of Equestria.

"I wasn't aware I was restricted to my own city in investigating potential threats to Equestria." She spoke after a few seconds. The other two realised their mistake and Rarity quickly tried to safe face.

"I apologise. My partner here is simply surprised to see you here. As am I, I must confess. It is quite extraordinary to see you outside of Manehattan. There must be a pretty serious threat looming over our heads if came all the way to Canterlot to stop it!" She realised with worry. Twilight frowned beneath her mask. It wasn't like she could just tell them that she came to the wedding and only heard about a potential threat later. They'd immediately deduce she was one of the guests. But fortunately, she didn't have to say anything, as Blueblood did it for her.

"Is this about the wedding?" He asked as he retrieved his bow, sharing his partner's concern. "First Cadance and now the Batmare also shows up? Just what the heck is going on here?"

"I don't know." Batmare replied before being interrupted by the sound of a branch snapping somewhere between the trees, making all three costumed ponies jump. "But I intend to find out." She said as they all ran to hide.

"Alright, Bolts! That's enough for today!" Captain Spitfire called out to her fliers after a long and tiring day of training.

'Finally!' Rainbow Dash and Applejack moaned in their heads in unison. Rainbow loved being a Wonderbolt and she enjoyed every second of it, even the exhausting training sessions, but even she had her limits, both in terms of endurance and interest. As for Applejack, while she initially enjoyed the impromptu photo session with the Wonderbolts, Spitfire dragged the training session out so long that the moon was already up in the sky by the time they were finished. She used up quite a lot of film and was beginning worry about how much she had left for the wedding. After the team was finally dismissed, the two mares left the training field together.

"Sorry I dragged you into this, Lark." Rainbow apologised to the earth pony. "Our training sessions are usually not this arduous. But since it's a royal wedding and all, Spitfire sees it as out most important performance of the year. And she's also been one the edge ever since her old partner turned into a supervillan and tried to bankrupt the team a while ago. These are tough times."

"You can say that again." Applejack replied. Her life wasn't exactly mundane either. She felt bad for Spitfire. She herself has been through some tough times but she managed to keep her hope and optimism. Sometimes she wondered if Supermare's message about hope was actually working as she intended. "Well, I think I'll turn in for the night." She said as they walked back to the streets. "So long, Dash! Good luck with the show!"

"Thanks! Hope you'll snap some good pictures for your boss!" The pegasus replied as she left towards her own place. Applejack returned to her hotel room and began to look over the pictures she had taken. They were quite good. She should be able to make a good montage of them for a side article in the Sun next to the one about the wedding.

As she looked them over, something suddenly caught her eye. Something that would have escaped the attention of anypony without her super senses. In the background of one her photographs, she saw a pink shape flying towards the mountain in the background. She narrowed her eyes to get a closer look and saw that the pink shape had wings and a long flowing mane with a horn peaking out from beneath it.

Applejack's eyes widened. A pink alicorn? That could have only been Princess Cadance, the bride. What was she doing out here at such a late hour? She couldn't imagine why would she be out here. She looked back at the photograph until she managed to determine where the princess was flying to. She then quickly grabbed a spare camera and her costume just in case before heading out. She had a feeling she was gonna discover something big.

Batmare, Black Canary and Green Arrow were hiding between the trees as they waited for whoever was behind them to make their presence known. To their surprise, the pony emerging from the shadows was none other than Princess Cadance. The pink alicorn landed in front of them before looking around to make sure she wasn't being followed and heading towards the the the rock wall that Batmare was sitting the top on a minute ago.

"Cady?" Blueblood asked in surprise. "This is where she was sneaking out to?" He was quickly silenced when Batmare raised a hoof to his mouth. If Cadance was doing something out here she wasn't supposed to, she obviously didn't want to be seen.

At first, she became worried that Cadance heard Blueblood, because she stopped and looked around suspiciously. But after a few moments, she turned back towards the wall and simply passed through it. The three costumed ponies behind the tree could only stare in astonishment.

"Did you see that?" Rarity asked, baffled by what she'd just seen. Batmare had slowly approached the rock wall and the other two ponies, encouraged by her action, followed suit. The dark clad vigilante stared at the wall for a few moments. There was obviously an entrance concealed by some advanced illusion spell behind it. She used her echolocation to detect what could lie behind it and when the soundwave came back, she saw a hidden tunnel behind the wall with a staircase leading down the tunnel.

Batmare raised a hoof and reached out to touch the wall. As she expected, her hoof simply passed through it. Rarity and Blueblood once again mimicked her movements and the situation became clear for all three of them.

"This is an illusion." Blueblood said. "And I have the feeling she isn't organising a secret wedding afterparty in there."

"Down there." Batmare corrected. "There is a staircase leading down behind the wall. Watch your step." Before the two other ponies had the chance to ask how she knew this, she already passed through the wall. They looked at each other in slight uncertainty before steeling themselves and following her.

They pushed their heads through but they couldn't see anything at first, prompting them to use a luminance spell to light their way. They looked down and saw the staircase with Batmare already several steps ahead of them. Given her loss of horn, she couldn't light her way with magic, but her lens contained night vision mode so that wasn't a problem.

Once they reached the bottom, they found themselves standing on a circular wooden railway leading further down into the tunnel. Batmare looked down and used her echolocation to see how deep the tunnel went. She saw the bottom, but of Princess Cadance, there was no trace.

"What is this place?" Rarity asked as she looked around.

"Looks like an old, abandoned mine." Blueblood replied.

"A mine for what?" The mare scoffed. "I don't see anything worth mining."

"Obviously that's the reason it was abandoned." Batmare said, pulling out her grappling gun and firing the hook at the railway above them. Blueblood quickly realised what she was about to do and followed her example by doing the same with an arrow that had a rope tied to it. Batmare lowered herself into the hole and Blueblood threw down the end of the rope before turning to Rarity.

"May I?" He asked, extending his hoof, which Rarity took gratefully.

"How gallant." She said as Blueblood pulled her close. She grabbed onto him and the stallion grabbed the rope, sliding down on it after Batmare. Once at the bottom, Batmare used her echolocation to map out their surroundings. There were several tunnels surrounding them but they didn't know which one Cadance went down.

"Does anypony see any tracks?" She asked, failing to detect any through her night vision.

"I do, but these don't look like pony tracks to me." Blueblood replied, leaning down to analyse the tracks he found. The mares joined him and saw a set of hoofprints leading down a tunnel. At least, they looked like hoofprints. They were circular like a pony's hoof, but had a strange distinguishing feature. Namely, that they had holes them. Holes of varying sizes and placed randomly around on the hoof that made the impact.

"This case is getting more mysterious with every new development." Rarity commented. Batmare got up and began to follow the tracks. Rarity and Blueblood were hesitant to go after her, but the prince quickly remembered that a member of his family might be in trouble and if that was the case, she needed help. And while Rarity didn't know Cadance that well, and what she knew wasn't exactly pleasant either, but she realised that without the princess, there would be nopony to wear her dress at the wedding and all of her work would have been for nothing. With a sigh, she accepted she had no choice but to tag along.

The tunnel they walked down was very dark and very narrow. So narrow in fact that they had to get behind each other. Suddenly, they heard a strange buzzing sound coming from the distance that seemed to get louder the deeper they went the tunnel. Blueblood was beginning to grow nervous. This whole scenario reminded him of a movie he saw. He was praying they wouldn't encounter it any ponies cocooned to the wall with some freaky spider things wrapped around their faces.

Blueblood's prayer was heard as they came across no such thing, but they did find something just as alarming. If not more so. At the end of the tunnel, they saw a glowing light which illuminated their way enough that they didn't need their light spells and night vision anymore. But once they reached the source of the light, their eyes widened.

In front of them was a giant glowing crystal pod in the center of the chamber. Batmare slowly began to approach it, lifting one of her hooves and touching the pod. It was extremely hard but seemingly translucent as she could make out the silhouette of a pony inside. She leaned closer as the other two ponies walked up next to her so they could also see what was in it. The silhouette slowly floated forward, revealing the pod's occupant. The three ponies backed away with horrified gasps. It was none other than Princess Cadance.

"What in the name of Faust?!" Blueblood exclaimed, dropping his bow in shock. "What is Cadance doing in there?! Is she some sort of vampony and this mine is her lair?"

"But if that was the case, wouldn't she come to rest here at daytime?" Rarity questioned. Blueblood didn't have an answer to that. Batmare examined the pod. It was unlike anything she'd seen before. She tried to punch it to break the princess out, but to the pod proved to be much more solid than she anticipated and she ended up only hurting her hoof.

"Allow me, darling!" Rarity said as she stepped forward, raising her hoof to reveal the purple crystals on her boot. "These aren't just for show, you know." Indeed, the mare used the crystal to cut a circular hole into the crystal pod, big enough for the three heroes to pull the princess out.

"Is she alive?" Blueblood asked worriedly. Thankfully, Batmare was able to check her life signs with her lens.

"She is, but she's very malnourished and weak. We have to get her out of here." The two of them each grabbed one of Cadance's forelegs around their necks and pulled her onto their shoulders.

"But what about the Princess Cadance we saw entering the mine?" Rarity asked in confusion. "She was perfectly fine and healthy! This cannot be her!"

Before the other two could answer, they were interrupted by a loud, hissing noise from above them. They looked up but saw nothing but darkness. Twilight used her echolocation and the image that came back frightened her more than anything she ever encountered as Batmare.

She saw figures on the ceiling. Dozens of them. And the other two heroes soon saw them as well when they opened their red glowing eyes and glared down at them. The buzzing noise came back as the creatures flew down in front of them with insectoid wings and surrounded them, giving them a chance to get a good look at them.

The best they could describe them was pony shaped giant bugs with horns on the top of their heads, black cithin covered bodies, translucent insect wings and holes across their bodies. They stood back to back with each other with Cadance in the middle of the circle, adopting battle stances. Though they weren't sure if they stood a chance against such an overwhelming numerical superiority. They needed an escape plan. Fortunately, Batmare always had one.

"Close your eyes, count to three, open them, grab Cadance and follow my lead." She instructed the two behind her before pulling out several smoke bombs and throwing them around the chamber. They exploded, covering the room with thick smoke, concealing them from the creatures and giving them the opportunity to run.

Through her lens, Twilight saw where the exit was and managed to lead her colleagues toward it. She knocked two of the creatures in front of her out of the way easily as they were still coughing from the smoke and they could all slip through the gap. They ran down the tunnel they came through, but Rarity briefly stopped and turned back towards the opening.

She gathered as much air into her lungs as she could before letting out a deafening wail, making the rocks above them collapse, preventing the creatures from chasing them. They made their way back to the railway and Batmare fired her grappling gun up at an upper platform and took Cadance from the others.

"I can pull her up. You use that rope." Rarity and Blueblood nodded before running over to the same rope they used to climb down, but before they could start climbing, they once again heard the buzzing noise of the creatures' wings. Apparently, Rarity's idea only delayed them as they simply used the other tunnels to keep chasing the heroes. They flew out of the tunnels and swarmed the room, surrounding the heroes once again.

Two of them immediately flew at the unconscious princess on Blueblood and Rarity's shoulders, taking hold of her and flying away with her, out of the two unicorns' reach. Batmare pulled back her grappling hook and fired it at the creatures, managing to wrap it around one of their hind legs. She tried to pull them back but they were stronger than she assumed and ended up dragging her after them.

'Well, time for plan B.' Twilight thought. She grappled herself up to the creature the hook was attached to and crawled onto its back. She bashed the creature on the head, knocking it out and grabbed onto Cadance, trying to pull her away from the other one.

The creature fought desperately to keep its hold on the unconscious mare and it was much stronger than Twilight so she had to come up with something else. She pulled out a batarang and threw it at the creature's head, knocking it back against a wall.

She was about to put Cadance onto her back before two more of the creatures pounced on her and forced her on the ground. She struggled to break free but they were too strong. She reached for her belt and pressed a button which sent a shockwave throughout her suit, making the creatures let go of her and allowing her to incapacitate them.

She turned back to Cadance, only to see that she was gone, no doubt carried off by more of the creatures. With a heavy heart, she realised that there was no way for her to find her again in the middle of a battle and had to return to her two partners.

For their part, Rarity and Blueblood were holding their own admirably. One of the creatures jumped onto her back, but she managed to throw it off by launching her hind legs into the air, launching it right on top of another one. Three others launched themselves at her from all directions, but Rarity got onto her front legs before spreading her hind legs and spinning around, kicking them away at the same time.

Blueblood fired his arrows at them with pinpoint accuracy. Their chitin armor was tough enough to prevent them from getting penetrated, but he did manage to knock them back. But he quickly realised that he can't keep this up forever. He was running out of arrows and the number of the creatures was just too overwhelming.

"There's too many of them!" He yelled as he knocked back one more with an arrow. "We have to get out of here!"

"We can't get up to where we came in!" Rarity replied, jumping on her back and kicking a pouncing creature away with her hind legs, slamming it into another one. "They won't give us the chance!"

"They will!" Batmare exclaimed as she returned to them, firing her grappling gun into a creature and yanking them back, slamming it into another. "Once I'll give them a little distraction!"

"Distraction?!" Blueblood shouted, placing his bow around one of the creatures' head and throwing it back into the darkness. "What we need right now is a skilled mage to teleport us out of here! Or some serious backup!"

As the number of the creatures around them dwindled, they became more cautious in their attacks, but saw that the heroes were becoming more and more exhausted. They surrounded them once more and began to slowly advance on them with the clear intention of finishing them off.

With the sounds of battle dying down, Rarity and Blueblood could hear a strange chirping sound from distance that seemed to be getting louder and louder. Even some of the creatures seemed to take notice of it as they halted their advance and looked around in confusion.

"What's that?" Blueblood asked.

"Backup." Batmare replied casually as she took off a radio from her belt and threw it between the creatures. Just a second later, a huge swarm of bats burst into the chamber from all tunnels and every direction. The room exploded in a cacophony of screeching bats, the hostile creatures panicking and Rarity's shrieking as she jumped in fright and grabbed onto Blueblood.

Batmare took advantage of the situation by pulling out her grappling gun and firing it upwards once more. Blueblood followed suit by grabbing the rope, but before they could begin climbing, the entire room was shaken by an enormous thud that made the walls of the nine tremble so hard that Batmare’s hook and Blueblood's arrow fell down on the ground, once again ruining their escape plan.

The thud was soon followed by another even louder one that made all the creatures snap out of their panic. They all turned towards the opening of one of the tunnels where the sound came from before fleeing in terror, trampling over each other before taking flight down the other tunnels. Even the bats fled, flying up and escaping the mine altogether, leaving the three heroes alone with whatever was heading their way.

Batmare used her echolocation on the tunnel and the image that came back was worrying to say the least. The silhouette of a giant creature soon became visible for all three of them as it emerged from the tunnel, making them all back away. It was another of those pony bugs, except at least three times larger then the rest, sporting two enormous chelicheare in front of its mouth, a giant horn half as long as its body and two glowing dark purple eyes. But what caught the attention of the heroes the most was the enormous axe in its left foreleg.

Blueblood was the first one to get over his shock as the creature began to march towards them. He pulled out all of his remaining arrows and shot them all at the monstrosity. They pierced it's chitin armore, making it stumble a little, but it merely tightened its body, making its armor snap the arrows.

Rarity then tried to use her wail on it, but all she accomplished was slowing its advance down. Batmare then threw her remaining batarangs into the rocks above the creature's head before detonating them, making the rocks fall on its head. The creature lifted its axe and sliced the falling rocks in half before they even touched its body before resuming its advance.

There was nothing the three heroes could do to even phase this monster and as that knowledge slowly sunk in, they began to realise that these were probably their last moments on Faust's green earth. They raised their hooves in front of them in a vain attempt to protect themselves and waited for the inevitable impact. An impact that never came.

Instead of the axe piercing their flesh, they heard a very loud metallic knock from above them. When they summoned the courage to open their eyes again, they saw a flowing red cape in front of them with a giant golden S in the middle of it. The creature stared in shock as its axe connected with an earth pony mare's head right in the middle. But instead of cutting it in half like it should have, the mare's head stopped the axe like it was made of paper. The mare was floating in the air vertically in front of it as she folded her front legs across her chest and glared up at the giant with disdain.

"I don't think so." She said before inhaling and breathing on the weapon. Ice slowly began to form across the axe as the creature could only stare in disbelief. The mare tipped the frozen axe, shattering it to frozen dust before raising a leg and kicking the creature down the tunnel it emerged from. She then turned to the other three ponies. "Grab my hooves!"

They didn't need to be told twice. Batmare grabbed her left hoof, while Blueblood took her right with Rarity clinging onto him. They then began to slowly lift from the ground before their rescuer took off, carrying them to safety. While they survived, deep down they all knew that what they went through was only the beginning.

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #4: The Calm Before The Storm

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Despite the protection of her mask, Twilight's ears were still ringing from all the commotion she just experienced. And as she looked at the faces of her fellow crimefighters as they were carried through the air by their unlikely savior, she could tell that they felt the same.

Supermare burst through the illusionary wall that covered the mine entrance and carried the three other ponies to a safe distance from it before landing on a clearing between the trees. As her rescuees caught their breath, she used her x-ray vision to check their bodies for any injuries. Fortunately, she found nothing serious, but before she could tell them that they'll be fine, Blueblood spoke up.

"What in the name Celestia's sweet mother just happened down there?!" He screamed, still not quite over the previous events.

"Language, darling!" Rarity chastised him. "But regardless, I share your curiosity over our current predicament. Any idea what those... things were?"

"Trouble." Was Batmare’s curt reply. "Well, at least now we know the reason behind the absurdly sudden change of personality in Princess Cadance." Upon the mention of his cousin's name, Blueblood's eyes widened.

"Cady... I mean the princess!" He exclaimed, hoping he managed to fix his slip of tongue. "They still have her! We have to go back for her!"

"It would be foolish of us." Batmare replied. "We're severely outnumbered by these creatures, we're exhausted from our skirmish and the big one, which I'm gonna assume is their leader was clearly out of our league."

"What about her?" Blueblood asked pointing at the mare of steel. "She was able to fight him off like he was nothing! I'm sure she could rescue her!"

"Slow down, archer!" Supermare told him calmingly. "We don't know what else these critters have up their figurative sleeves. They obviously weren't expecting me, but I doubt they'll be so careless the next time and contrary to popular belief, I'm not invincible. They may have a way to nullify my powers."

"So what?! We're just gonna leave her down there with them?!" Blueblood demanded in outrage. "Who knows what they're doing to her?"

"If they wanted to kill her, they would have already." Batmare deduced. "Obviously they need her alive. But for what ends, I don't even dare to imagine." An eerie silence descended upon the group as they let Batmare’s last sentence sank in. She did raise a good point.

What could they possibly want Princess Cadance for? As an alicorn, she was a very powerful pony. Nowhere near as powerful as the princess of the sun and the moon of course, but still leagues above the most skilled unicorn. But she was the princess of love. What could such hostile creatures want her love magic for? This whole thing didn't make any sense.

"Do you think we should alert Princess Celestia?" Rarity asked, finally breaking the silence.

"With what?" Blueblood shrugged. "We have no proof of anything." Twilight cast her eyes beneath her mask. Her lens recorded the entire encounter and Spike no doubt saved the footage on the computer she gave him, but she had serious doubts about how much good warning her former mentor would do. That didn't exactly work out for her the last time. No, they will have to solve this issue on their own. Somehow.

"Listen!" She spoke, gaining the attention of the three other heroes. "For now, the only thing we can do is keep our eyes open and observe the fake Princess Cadance to make sure she won't start any trouble. Whoever we are during the day, I assume we are all here for the wedding so it shouldn't be too difficult. Let's meet again tomorrow night at this exact same spot and discuss what other options we have for rescuing the real Cadance. We're in no shape for another fight at the moment."

The others had no choice but to concede her point. They lost this battle and were lucky to escape with their lives. But if their bad feelings were any indication, the war had only just begun. And they're gonna have to retreat and reorganise if they were to have a chance at turning it around.

His chest ached like never before. No opponent ever managed to lay such a devastating blow at him. He and his soldiers have heard of Supermare of course. They would have been foolish not to study the greatest champion ponykind had offer before starting this operation, but they didn't expect her to show up. Or any of Equestria’s other heroes for that matter.

As the behemoth slowly got back to his hooves, he noticed his subordinates surrounding him, looking at him nervously. They didn't much take failure well in the Changeling Empire and probably all expected to be punished for letting the enemy infiltrate their hideout. But as long as they still possessed their number one priority in this conflict, there was no failure.

"Where is the princess?" He asked them on a deep booming voice. The changelings quickly scattered to make way for their leader as they lead him to the pod that contained the princess of love. They managed to fix it up and the pink alicorn was once again contained inside it.

Satisfied with this development, the creature walked away from the pod and went over to a huge iron chest nearby. He opened it and pulled out another battle axe, similar to the one Supermare just destroyed. This one had a little surprise hidden in it. The next time they meet, he will be ready. One of his soldiers approached him from behind and he turned to see him looking up at him nervously.

"What is it?" He asked, with barely contained irritation.

"The hive wants you to make contact with them, sir." The underling reported. The giant changeling growled in frustration before putting his axe back into the chest and marching up to the center of the chamber, passing several mechanical devices connected to the pod that contained the princess and blackboards with all sorts of equations written over them.

He stopped in front of a giant, amber colored crystal before placing his hoof on it, making it glow and release a black fog that floated up into the air. The fog eventually took the shape of another, much smaller changeling wearing a hooded cloak and staring down at the giant warrior with disdain. An emotion he mirrored as he addressed his caller.

"Pharynx." He growled with venom dripping from his voice, which the other changeling either didn't notice or didn't care about.

"General Scutellum." Pharynx replied with equal lack of enthusiasm. "The Queen demands an update on your progress." The mention of the queen made Scutellum's angry scowl turn into a worried frown. As much as he hated being bossed around by a lesser changeling, defying the Queen's orders was not recommended to any of them who wished to live.

"We are proceeding as planned. Tell the Queen that she will soon have what she seeks. I will deliver victory to her personally." It was obvious that Pharynx was less than impressed with the general's boasting. Instead, he began analysing his body when he noticed something peculiar on him.

"The mighty General Scutellum presents himself to me in a dented armor?" He asked mockingly, making Scutellum look down on his armor which still bore the impact of Supermare's kick. He groaned in fury. Of course the gloating bastard would notice that. "Perhaps the operation is not proceeding as smoothly as you say?"

"A minor inconvenience, nothing more." Scutellum replied, trying to contain his increasing rage at Pharynx's insolence. "We still hold the princess of love captive and a long as we have her, our victory is assured."

"They have discovered you!" Pharynx roared furiously, making all the nearby changelings flinch. Scutellum was the only one who remained calm. "They could be coming down on you any minute now! Your carelessness put the entire operation at risk! The Queen will be most displeased." He finished that last part with a taunting half smirk. Scutellum let out a calming breath before answering.

"There's nothing they could do to stop us." He replied as calmly as he could. "Ponies are weak. They always have been. And their heroes are few. Against our numbers, they will be helpless."

"I hope so, General." Pharynx replied ominously. "For your sake." The threat was clear. Much like all changelings of authority, the Queen did not tolerate failure. But as long as Scutellum delivered her the great prize she was after, the operation was going to be successful. He had never failed before. He was the Queen's best warrior and most devoted follower. He would come through for her like he always had.

"The Queen's will be done. None of Equestria’s protectors will be able to stand against us. Not the princesses. Not the heroes. They will fall. Like all the others." Pharynx clearly wasn't convinced, but he considered this conversation over on his part. His form receded back into the black fog it materialised from as he uttered one last line before disappearing.

"For Chrysalis!" Scutellum just watched the fog disappear back into the crystal and waited for the glow to cease before responding.

"For Chrysalis!" He repeated firmly before turning away from the crystal. As much as he hated to admit it, what Pharynx said troubled him. The heroes now knew he was there and they would no doubt launch further rescue operations to regain their princess. Despite his warmongering nature, he would have actually preferred to carry out this operation silently in the background. But it looked like that was no longer an option. There was only one thing he could do and that was taking the fight to the ponies before they took it to him. Which was now only a matter of time.

He looked up to see his soldiers fluttering around the chamber with their insectoid wings, waiting for the instructions of their commander. He steeled his expression as he turned to them. He must show no weakness and uncertainty when he addressed them. Such qualities were to be eliminated in the changeling society and he showed no sign of them when he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Head out and replace as many ponies as you can!" He ordered them. "We will use the old ways."

It was already past midnight by the time Twilight got back to her room at the castle. The royal guards were very easy to get past without notice which she acknowledged bitterly. No wonder the creatures were able to sneak Cadance out of the castle and replace her with a decoy without anypony noticing.

She glided through her open window and closed it before beginning to quickly remove her suit. Once she was done, she buried it at the bottom of her suitcase before sliding it under her bed. She wanted nothing more than to throw herself down on it and fall asleep after this crazy night, but she had one more thing to take care of before she could.

"You're not just gonna call it a night without telling me what just happened down there, are you?!" Spike demanded, voice full of worry and panic. Twilight looked down at him and saw the absolutely frantic look on his face. She couldn't blame him after having to see everything she just broadcasted him live, but panicking won't solve anything.

"Spike, we were in radio contact the whole time. That means you heard everything I just explained to the others. We can't go back down there right now." She explained tiredly.

"And I've also seen everything! If it weren't for Supermare, you would have been a goner!" He screamed. "This is way out of the Batmare's league, Twilight! We'll have to tell Celestia!"

"Would you keep it down?!" Twilight hissed, placing a hoof over Spike's lips. "Why don't you just hoof out t-shirts with 'Twilight Sparkle is Batmare!' written on them?!" Spike quickly realised his mistake as he backed away and slammed his claws over his mouth.

"Sorry." He apologised meekly. "But my point still stands! Twilight we have to go to Celestia! We have no other option!"

"After what happened the last time, I doubt she would be of much help, Spike." Twilight said sarcastically. "We're gonna have to come up with something else."

"Something else?" Spike asked, bewildered. "What could the two of us do against those things?!"

"Maybe the two of us can do nothing," Twilight admitted. "but with the help of the others, we will work something out."

"The others? You mean with the three heroes you met tonight? I can't believe you have more faith in them than the princess!" Spike countered in disbelief. Twilight shrugged.

"Well, I haven't lost any of my body parts when they had my back, so they have that going for them." She said angrily. Spike sighed.

"Twilight, when will you finally let that go? You could bring yourself to give another chance to Shining. Why not Celestia?"

"After some thorough consideration, I accepted that Shining had a good reason to act like he did." Twilight admitted sadly. "He was trying to protect me. But the princess said she will always trust my word and always have faith in my intuition. And when she didn't, I lost everything. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive her, Spike."

"So what then?!" Spike asked incredulously. "You're just gonna sit around and do nothing until tomorrow night?! Who knows what could happen to Cadance during that time?! And what if they come out of their hole to ruin the wedding?!" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? The wedding is what you're most concerned about?" She asked dryly, making the dragon blush in embarrassment.

"No! Of course not! But you know what I mean! They could come out any time to do whatever they want to us and I doubt the Royal Guard could put up much resistance!"

"If they wanted to invade, they would have done that already!" Twilight reasoned. "Clearly they only need Cadance so as long as we'll keep our eyes on the impostor, we'll be able to keep them in check. Which we'll start tomorrow morning. Fortunately, we are assigned next to her for the time of the wedding, so that shouldn't be a problem. And tomorrow night I'll meet with the other heroes to discuss our next move. Until then, there's nothing we can do."

Spike opened his mouth to argue, but he found that he couldn't. He finally realised that her plan was indeed the best one they had at the moment. He didn't like being confined to passivity and from the look on Twilight's face, he could tell that she didn't either. But for the moment, this was their only option.

"Yeah, you're right." He said with a sad sigh. "I just hate being so powerless to do anything." Twilight laid a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

"I know, Spike. I feel the same way. It is how I felt when High Culture died and it was the reason I became Batmare in the first place. But even I have to accept sometimes that the best course of action is to wait for the right opportunity to present itself. No matter how much it kills me. The best course of action now is getting some sleep for our task tomorrow." Spike nodded and was about to head off to his bed, but suddenly, he stopped. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked, concerned.

"Nothing." Spike replied as he slowly turned around, looking like he had trouble saying what he wanted. "It's just... when you meet the others tomorrow... could you... get me Supermare's autograph?"

The next morning, Twilight woke up to the sound of excessive knocking at her door. She groggily pushed herself out of the bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before looking up at the clock on her wall. Her eyes widened in fright when she saw that it was fourteen minutes past ten.

"SPIKE!!!" She roared at the top of her lungs as she glared daggers at the bed where her draconic assistant was supposed to be sleeping in, but found that he was not there. Instead, she heard his voice coming from outside.

"I'm out here, Twi!" He called to her. Twilight angrily marched up to the door and pulled it open. Spike was standing in front of her holding a tray with freshly baked breakfast for her. The divine smell of the food almost calmed Twilight down enough to forget about screaming Spike's head down for letting her oversleep. Almost.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!!" She yelled at him with flames burning in her eyes. But Spike wasn't intimidated in the slightest. He was used to it.

"Good morning to you too." He snarked as he entered the room and placed the tray on Twilight's bed.

"Morning?!" Twilight snapped. "It's not morning anymore! And that's the problem! Do you have any idea how much work I've missed out on by oversleeping?!"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Spike replied casually as he pulled out a list. "None. Because I took over your duties for the morning so you could catch sleep after last night." Twilight took the list in her hoof and read it over to see that most of the day's tasks for the wedding were already done. Her rage was quickly overtaken by guilt. Spike was only looking out for her and she repaid his kindness with hostility.

"I don't deserve you, Spike." She said, looking down in shame. But Spike merely smiled response.

"No, Twi, you don't." He replied, patting the side of the bed to invite the unicorn for her breakfast. Twilight said nothing for a while and just sat down to eat. Still, the most important question couldn't be ignored for long.

"Did you see... Cadance today?" Spike nodded.

"She's been with me the entire morning." He reassured her. "She hasn't been doing anything suspicious but she looked to be more on the edge than yesterday."

"No wonder." Twilight said, swallowing a bite. "After all, their entire operation was compromised after we stumbled upon them yesterday." Before they could discuss the matter any further, they were interrupted by another series of knocks. "Yes?" Twilight called out and the door opened to reveal Jean Jeans standing outside.

"Sorry to disturb your breakfast, Miss Sparkle, but you're scheduled for another meeting with Miss Shy and Miss Pie today. I know Sir Spike has agreed to oversee your duties for the day, but this meeting requires your presence exclusively." Twilight and Spike exchanged a glance before turning back to the stallion.

"Thank you for notifying me, Jean. I will finish my breakfast and be right there." Jean nodded in response and left, leaving Twilight to enjoy her breakfast in peace.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Spike asked nervously. It was clear he was still very afraid of the threat looming over their heads.

"We keep doing what we came here to do." Twilight replied as she continued to eat. "And prepare ourselves for our next move."

Following her breakfast, Twilight joined Jean and they made their way down to the throne room to meet Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. She gave Spike the rest of the day off but she had a feeling that he won't be getting much rest. He was far too worried about Cadance and the creatures that kidnapped her. She only hoped he didn't do anything too foolish.

But come to think of it, she didn't feel very comfortable this morning herself. But it wasn't the same unease that she felt after last night's battle. She felt like she was being watched by individuals with hostile intentions. You won't survive for long as a costumed vigilante in the night without developing this instinct. And when she looked at the stallion in front of her, she could see the exact same apprehension on his face, which only fueled her paranoia.

She kept looking around on the way, but she didn't see anypony other than a few guards patrolling the hallway. Strangely enough, she caught them staring at her as well, but they immediately turned their gazes away. She normally would have found this suspicious but given that she was Celestia's former student who always attracted attention around the castle, it wasn't all that unusual. Still, her bad feeling didn't stop bothering her until they reached the throne room and she found herself in the crushing embrace of Pinkie Pie.

"Hello again, Twilight!" The cheerful party pony greeted her. "It is so good to meet you again!" Twilight couldn't for the life of her understand why this mare she never saw before acted like they've been friends their entire lives, but despite its strength, the hug made her feel nice and warm on the inside. She had to restrain herself from returning it though. The ponies she allowed to get close to her in the past always got hurt and she didn't want to endanger anypony.

"Nice to see you too, Pinkie." It was a simple greeting but if still made the pink earth pony mare squeal with delight.

"Yay! I'm so happy you remember me! I can tell we're gonna be the best friends forever!" She shouted, pulling Twilight even further into her embrace. Twilight was beginning to feel as if she's currently going another round with the sewer dwelling dragon back in Manehattan. She was lucky she escaped without any broken bones after the last unsuccessful hunt for him, but she might not be so fortunate this time.

"Um... Pinkie, perhaps you should let go of her." Came the meek voice of Flutershy from next to them. "Remember, unicorns and pegasi aren't as physically resilient as earth ponies." Pinkie's eyes widened as she let go of Twilight, allowing her to regain her breath with a huge inhale.

"Sorry. I just get so excited when I meet a new friend! Or meet them again after I met them for the first time!" The pink mare babbled as she bounced up and down in excitement. Fluttershy chuckled.

"Yes, I know. But try to remember to control yourself around your friends. You might hurt them if you're not careful." Pinkie gasped in horror at the concept. "I know you would never do that on purpose, but you need to remember your own strength."

Pinkie's worries quickly flew away though. Fluttershy couldn't possibly know that she was talking to a mare who possessed the strength of the mighty Hoof Acres. The strongest earth pony who ever lived. Everytime she was out there as Captain MareVel, she was in constant danger of crushing the ponies she was trying to save. She quickly had to learn how to keep her strength in check. But in the form of Pinkie Pie, she didn't need to worry about that, but now that Fluttershy reminded her of how strong earth ponies were compared to the two pony kinds, she made a mental note to herself to keep her restraints on in both forms.

"I didn't know you two were so close." Twilight noted as she pulled out her list. Given the opportunity to talk about how she made a new friend, Pinkie's enthusiasm instantly returned as her eyes lit up with sparkles.

"Oh, yeah! We arrived on the same train and met at the station! Turns out we're both assigned to help with the wedding and Jeansy here introduced us to each other so we decided to work together!" Twilight gave the stallion a curious glance and he merely confirmed the pink mare's statement with a nod.

"We've been friends ever since! We don't really know each other that well yet but we are getting there! That's what friends do after all!" She shouted as she reached to pull Fluttershy into a crushing embrace this time, but she suddenly remembered the pegasus' warning from earlier, so she settled on simply putting a hoof on her shoulder and pulling her close. Twilight smiled at the touching scene in front of her, but she wasn't here for pleasantries. She was working after all.

"That's good. Now, how are you doing with your assignments?"

"Pretty good." Fluttershy answered on her usual timid tone. "I must confess though, my birds have been acting far more restless than usual recently. I thought with Princess Cadance no longer coming to check on us, they would be calmer, but they've been acting aggressively towards so many other ponies today. I just don't know what's gotten into them." Twilight became worried upon hearing that. She now knew the reason of those birds' hostile behavior towards 'Cadance', but if what Fluttershy said was true, than what could be the reason for their hostility towards those other ponies?

Little did Twilight and the other two know, that as they were talking, a group of ponies were gathering around them in the throne room with their eyes emitting a faint green glow.

Spike ran down the halls of Canterlot Castle as fast as his short legs allowed him to. He told Twilight that he would take the rest of the day off, but he just couldn't sit back and relax while the bride of the royal wedding, Princess Cadance was replaced by an impostor and an army of pony bugs sat beneath their hooves, ready to attack at anytime. He may not have been a master martial artist or a superpowered being but there was something he could do, he was going to keep his eyes on the impostor and as soon as he saw anything threatening, he would report it immediately to Twilight.

Or at least, that was the idea. But after a few moments of running around aimlessly, he was forced to admit that he had lost the princess' trail. Either his memory of these halls were foggier than he thought, or the fake Cadance knew she was being followed and shook him off on purpose. Spike eventually gave in to the demand of his aching legs and lungs and stopped to catch his breath. It was pretty obvious why Twilight was the detective and not him. He lost sight of the suspect, he had no other leads or any idea what to do next and he was already exhausted.

All he could do was sit down on the ground and try to come up with something else. He's been sitting there for several minutes without any ideas when he suddenly heard a voice.

"Do you need something, darling?" Spike turned to see a white mare with curly purple mane looking down at him. He quickly recognised her as Blueblood's marefriend and the seamstress who made Cadance's wedding dress. Rarity, if he recalled correctly.

"Have you seen Princess Cadance by any means?" Upon the mention of the princess, Rarity visibly winced, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Have I? Me and my prince have been with her all morning. I couldn't convince him to leave her side for a moment. Why he's with her as we speak. I could take you to him." Spike’s spirits were immediately lifted at the offer, but he found it strange at the same time. He's been also by Cadance's side all morning and he didn't see neither Rarity, nor Blueblood anywhere near her. Regardless, it wasn't like he had a better idea so he readily took the generous offer.

As they made their way down the hallway, Spike couldn't help but notice that Rarity looked much more refreshed and chipper than she did when he first met her. No doubt finally finishing the wedding dress finally allowed her to take some time off. But at the same time, she still looked very tense and on the edge. He learned to notice these things around Twilight whenever she was in detective mode. In fact, she was exactly like Twilight when she was in detective mode. He could almost swear that she was...

"Ah, there you are, darling!" Rarity called out when she noticed Blueblood, interrupting Spike's train of thought. The prince was standing around a corner, peeking out and staring at something intently. When he heard Rarity calling out to him, he jumped in surprise, but quickly calmed down when he saw who was approaching him.

"Not so loud, love!" He told the mare as he looked around nervously. "My 'dear cousin' is very busy at the moment and we don't want to draw her unwanted attention." His eyes quickly widened as he noticed Spike was also there and realised what he just said in front of him. "What I meant to say is, we don't want to draw her attention away from her duties. Unwantedly. Hehe." He chuckled in a forced manner. "Good morning, Spike. Nice to see you again."

Spike stared up at the prince suspiciously. He and Rarity were both acting very strange. He quickly returned the prince's greeting and looked around the corner to see what he was looking at. As he suspected, it was indeed Princess Cadance, once again belittling and scolding some of the castle staff for one minor thing or another.

"Well, darling. The princess is right there." Rarity told the dragon. "Didn't you have something to say to her?" Spike only had to keep her eyes on the fake princess, but of course he couldn't let the two ponies know that. And it seemed like they were doing a fine job at it themselves so he might as well leave them to it. But he didn't understand, why would these two ponies watch over the fake Cadance like a hawk. It was like they suspected something, but how could...

Spike's eyes widened in realisation. No way! It couldn't be! But it made perfect sense. His wide eyes gaze darted between the prince and the fashionista who stared back at him in confusion and worry, but before they could voice their concern, Spike beat them to it.

"Uh... No, I think she's good. I'll... I'll go back to Twilight and... help her with the... preparations and... stuff. See you around!" He stuttered before bolting down the hall. Blueblood and Rarity shared a confused glance before shrugging and resuming their observation of the false princess.

Spike on the other hoof had a change of plans. If his theory was correct, then the ponies currently watching the impostor were far more able to handle her if she did anything suspicious than he was. He had to find Twilight. She would surely be interested in what he had to say.

He ran so fast that his brain had no time process what he was seeing and as a result, he ended up bumping into the leg of one of the guards. Spike looked up to see a white unicorn staring down at him curiously.

"Are you alright?" Spike rubbed his aching nose as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I should have watched where I'm going." He apologised. "Can you help me? I'm looking for Twilight Sparkle. Do you know where he is?" The guard's expression turned into a friendly smile as he motioned for Spike to follow him.

"Of course, young friend. Please follow me. I will help you." Spike raised an eyebrow. There was something odd about this guard's behaviour. He couldn't put his finger on it but he seemed almost too eager to help him. It was pretty creepy. Nevertheless, he followed the stallion down the hallway but since he turned away, he couldn't notice the green glint in his eye. "I will help you indeed."

No matter how much Applejack tried to stay calm and keep herself focused on her current task of taking further pictures of the Wonderbolts' training session, after what happened last night, that was simply impossible.

Every time somepony passed her by, she expected them to turn into one of those weird pony shaped bugs and snatch an unsuspecting citizen. She used her super senses in an attempt to detect anything unusual around her, but there were so many ponies around her that she quickly became overwhelmed.

The wedding was going to be tomorrow and that meant almost every pony who was going to attend was already gathering in the city. Even the stands around her were already crowded with Wonderbolts fans who were eager to get a glimpse of even their training session. Who knows how many among them were just fakes posing as ponies?

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a huge gust of wind hitting her in the face and she quickly looked to snap a picture of the pegasi practicing above her, but she was frustrated to see that she took the shot too late and only photographed the empty air.

She tried to clear her head and readied her camera to make sure she wouldn't miss next time, but to her further frustration, she found that there wouldn't be a next time. The Wonderbolts landed and gathered in the middle of the stadium, signaling the end of the training session.

The crowd applauded the team before leaving and Applejack tried to sneak off without bumping into her newfound Wonderbolt friend, but she forgot that she was talking about Rainbow Dash, the Fastest Mare Alive. Before she even reached the end of her row of seats, the blue pegasus mare appeared right in front of her with a huge smile on her face.

"Well, how was it?" She asked, eager to hear her new friend's opinion. Applejack could only smile back nervously.

"Oh, it was just as great as yesterday, Dash! You and the others are gonna be fantastic tomorrow! But now, I gotta go." She said quickly, eager to get out of there, but Rainbow wasn't about to let her go.

"Show me your pictures!" She yelled, eagerly snatching Applejack's camera. "The ones you took yesterday were fantastic! Not to brag or anything, but it's difficult to get a good picture of me but you managed to to do it!" She flipped through the pictures but her smile quickly faded as she saw that Applejack barely managed to capture any images of her or any of her teammates. "But... But these are..." She cast a heartbroken look at Applejack who only sighed.

"Yeah, I know. They're not my best work. I'm sorry, Rainbow. I guess I'm just..." She frowned, trying to come up with a good explanation. "I'm just burned out from all the work we did yesterday." It was a flimsy excuse at best, but she was too stressed out to think up a better one. Fortunately, Rainbow seemed to buy it.

"Hey, it's okay! You took enough cool shots of me yesterday and I wouldn't want to wear you down for the wedding tomorrow." The pegasus replied reassuringly, handing Applejack back her camera. She could tell Rainbow was disappointed and it hurt her to be the cause of it, but right now she had bigger things to worry about. Still, she wanted to comfort the pegasus, but before she could, she was interrupted.

"Hey, Rainbow!" The two mares looked up to see Captain Spitfire and a few other Wonderbolts hovering over them. "Team meeting in the dressing room! Pronto!" She told her before flying off with the rest of the team. Rainbow looked back at Applejack.

"I better go. The captain gets really cranky if I'm late." She chuckled. "Trust me, I speak from experience." Applejack smiled in understanding.

"I can imagine." She replied teasingly. Rainbow stopped mid-air when she heard that, but when she turned back to the other mare to question her about her last remark, she found that she was gone. No matter how hard she scanned the crowd, she couldn't find her. Rainbow narrowed her eyes. This wasn't the first time that journalist made some hidden implication that she knew more about her than she let on. Only the first time, she was in her Flash suit during her fight with Metallo. Could it be that she...

"Dash! Move your flank!" Rainbow winced when she heard Spitfire calling out to her and urging her to join them. The possibility of facing her captain's anger scared her so much that she completely forgot about the nosy journalist and sped into the dressing room as fast as she could.

Despite her impatient calling earlier, Spitfire was in fairly good mood when the Wonderbolts finally gathered in the dressing room. Though she probably shouldn't be surprised. Their training sessions have been going better and better since they arrived to the city and today's was perhaps the best one yet. Still, with Soarin's betrayal and the Maretropolis incident still a sore topic among them, it was a rare occasion to see her smile.

"Alright, everypony! I know I've been pushing you far beyond your limits lately, but given the weight of the event we're performing at, I think you all understand. And seeing as how good we have been during our last sessions, it's safe to say our training paid off!" She announced happily, making her teammates cheer and share hoofbumps with each other.

"I am perfectly reassured that we are going to do great tomorrow after the wedding. And to reward you for your straining efforts, I am giving you the next twenty-four hours off!" This announcement earned another, even louder wave of cheers from the group. "But if you are late from tomorrow's show even by a minute, you'll be doing laps until your wings drop off!" She added ominously, making her subordinates gulp. They all knew that she will make good on that threat. "Dismissed!"

Rainbow began to take off her uniform and gather her belongings. Ironically, all of her teammates finished up and left before her. Only two more pegasi, Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser were left in the dressing room by the time she was finished. They finished packing up by the time Rainbow headed to the edit and came up to her.

"So what will you be doing during your day off, Dash?" Cloud Chaser asked as they walked down the hallways.

"Me?" Rainbow asked, not quite sure about that yet herself. But before she could answer, Thunderlane beat her to it.

"Knowing her, she's probably gonna stuff herself full of junk food again and pass out until the show tomorrow." He teased. Rainbow turned to glare at him.

"Even with all that food, I'm still faster than you, Thunderlane." She retorted, but the stallion didn't look offended.

"I wonder where it goes." He said. "With how much you eat, you should be fatter than my granny."

"Maybe it's because I'm actually practicing in my free time and moving more than just my mouth!" Cloud Chaser sighed. She forgot that these two always bickered and she really didn't feel like putting up with it on her day off. She was almost thankful when a stadium staff member came up to them and interrupted their banter.

"Excuse me. That exit is locked down due to construction work." A brown unicorn stallion with blond mane told them. Rainbow found this curious.

"It is? There wasn't any construction work done in the stadium yesterday." The unicorn shrugged.

"It came up suddenly. Just a few hours ago in fact. Here, I'll show you to another exit." He offered as he motioned for the pegasi to follow him. They did so but oddly enough, the unicorn lead them down a hallway that seemed to recall deeper into the stadium's basement.

As they made their way down the corridor, they each suddenly felt a pair of hooves grab them from behind and drag them into the boiler room. The three ponies didn't even have time to recover from the shock before the unicorn who's been escorting them locked the door.

When the pegasi looked up, they saw more ponies from the stadium staff standing over them, glaring down maliciously. As they looked around in confusion, they saw three bug shaped ponies come out from behind the boiler. Their confusion and shock only grew when they saw the bodies of bug creatures glow with green light as they changed their appearance into the three pegasi on the ground.

"What's going on?!" Cloud Chaser asked in fright. Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the attackers.

"Isn't it obvious? We're being abducted by evil shape-shifting bug creatures!" She growled. The doppelgangers moved towards the ponies on the ground to seize them. Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser shut their eyes and cowered on the ground as they awaited the inevitable, but Rainbow had other plans.

As her lookalike reached for her, she began to vibrate her body and before the creature could touch her, she bolted away in the blink of an eye. The impostors jumped in surprise but didn't have the chance to look for the disappeared mare as a red lighting bolt burst into the room through the door and knocked them out before they even realised what was happening. Once all of them have been incapacitated, Rainbow Dash appeared in the middle of the room, standing tall and proud in her Flash suit.

She went to check on her friends and was relieved to see that they were completely unharmed. They slowly opened their eyes when they felt nothing happening to them and finally felt the commotion around them come to an end. The sudden appearance of the Flash surprised them just as much as the ambush of the creatures.

"Fla... Flash?" Thunderlane stuttered. "Where did you come from?" Rainbow could only hope that her friends would be too frightened to notice her sudden disappearance and connect it to the Flash showing up.

"There's no time to explain! You need to get out of here! Now!" Fortunately, her hope seemed to be fulfilled as the two pegasi just fled the room without asking any questions. Rainbow was about to do the same, but then she heard one of the creatures groaning on the ground as it came to. Anger suddenly rose inside her as she marched over to it and pressed her front hooves into its chest, shoving it against the ground.

"Who are you?!" She demanded. "What do you want?!" The creature only glared up at her in response and unbeknownst to Rainbow, its horn began to glow with the same green energy as before. By the time Rainbow noticed it, it was too late.

"For Chrysalis." The creature snarled before blasting Rainbow off of itself and slamming her against the wall outside the boiler room. By the time the hero got up, the creature was nowhere to be seen.

Rainbow growled in frustration. If these things managed to infiltrate the stadium, then no doubt there were more of them in the city. And she just allowed one of them to get away and it would certainly warn the others that they were discovered. She couldn't waste any time. She activated her super speed and sped off towards the castle. She had to warn the princesses.

"YOU ALLOWED YOURSELF TO BE DISCOVERED?!" General Scutellum roared at the cowering changeling soldier in front of him.

"Si... Sir... I had no way of knowing the Flash would show up." The drone defended himself, but Scutellum would have none of it.

"You imbecile!" He screamed in fury as he slammed his axe into the ground, making his subordinate quake. "Didn't we conduct thorough research on all of Equestria’s so-called heroes?! Didn't we prepare you for all eventualities?!" He panted angrily before placing one of his holey hooves on his forehead. "Get out of my sight!" He snarled, waving dismissively. His underling didn't need to be told twice.

Scutellum began to circle around the room, groaning in frustration as he tried to think of what would be the best course of action. Thanks to a few careless minions, their entire operation was thrown in peril. There was only one thing they could do now. He only hoped enough of his drones managed to infiltrate the city to pull this off.

He exited the mines his soldiers were residing in - which was not an easy task given his remarkable size - and flew up to the top of the mountain. He then ignited his horn and infused his axe with green magical energy before raising it over his head and slamming it into the mountain, creating enormous cracks in it and making huge chunks of rock fly up.

The strike sent out an enormous green shockwave around the surrounding area. A special signal that was only detectable by changelings. His soldiers would receive the call and then they would strike. By the time he got to Canterlot, its gate would be torn open in front of him. He grinned savagely as he relished in his moment of triumph which was at hoof at last. The queen will be satisfied with him.

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #5: Unity

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Rainbow Dash made her way towards the castle as fast as she could. And with her super speed, that meant she was at the castle in the literal blink of an eye. Naturally the first place she assumed the princesses would be was the throne room, so that's where she started, but to her dismay, she only saw a few ponies in there among the colourful wedding decorations.

Twilight Sparkle, Jean Jeans, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were in the middle of the room, deep in conversation, while some guards have been gathering around them. Rainbow's super speed also extended to her awareness and observation skills and she quickly noticed how pointedly and intently the guards were staring at the four ponies in the center of the room.

Suddenly, all the guards' eyes widened as they all diverted their gazes away from the four ponies and just stared ahead of themselves. As if they were remote controlled machines that suddenly lost the signal moving them. It was pretty creepy. Rainbow's fear only grew when she saw that the guards' eyes suddenly lit up with green lights. The same green lights she saw around the creatures that tried to abduct her friends.

Twilight was in the middle of discussing further wedding preparations with the two organisers, when she suddenly noticed Pinkie Pie staring off into the distance with a surprised look.

"What's wrong, Pinkie?" She asked. Pinkie didn't say anything for a while, she slowly raised her hoof and pointed at something behind her.

"Is that... The Flash?" She wondered. The three other ponies turned to see that the scarlet speedster was indeed standing in the throne room and she looked quite alarmed. This in turn made them rather nervous too, with the exception of Pinkie Pie. "Do you think she's invited to the wedding too?" She asked enthusiastically. "Wouldn't that be awesome?!"

The pink mare never got an answer to that question, since before anypony could do anything, the hero moved with speed undetectable to the naked eye. She then came to a sudden halt right in front of them as the guards around the room all collapsed on the ground.

The three mares' jaws fell upon witnessing the Flash attacking Celestia's guards but strangely enough, the stallion remained unfazed. Their surprise only grew when the knocked out guards' bodies began to glow and they turned into pony shaped bugs. Twilight gasped when she recognised the creatures.

'Shapeshifters! That explains everything!' She thought, but she didn't get to form any more thoughts because the hero called out to them.

"Get out of here and hide somewhere! These are not ponies! The entire city is full of these shape-shifting bugs!"

Twilight's heart nearly stopped. The entire city? If this was the case, then things were far worse than she thought. The four ponies did exactly what Flash told them to and ran. When they exited the throne room, they split up and headed off into different directions, but none of them with the intention of hiding.

Pinkie Pie ran down the hallway and hid behind an empty suit of armor. She peeked out to see if anypony was around and when she was confident there wasn't, she closed her eyes and let out a yell.

"Shazam!"

CRACK!

Fluttershy reached the room she was residing in and locked the door to make sure nopony or any other creature would interrupt her. She ran to her bed and pulled out a green saddlebag which she placed on the bed before opening it and pulled out her power battery. She extended her right wing, revealing the green ring at the tip of her wing and pressing it against the battery's center.

"In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power - Green Lantern's light!"

Twilight ran into her room and pulled out the walkie-talkie she used to connect Spike whenever they were separated. Her heart nearly stopped when she received no repaonse when she called out to her draconic assistant, only static noise. If what the Flash said was true, those shapeshifters were everywhere and Spike could have easily fallen victim to them. The very idea filled her with dread and rage.

She saw the computer on Spike's bed that he used to monitor her descent to the mine last night. This was one of the things she was never proud of, but in case Spike would ever get into serious trouble - which was a serious possibility at the side of a costumed vigilante, she installed a small tracker device into the dragon's body.

She dreaded to think about how badly the young drake would flip if he ever found out about this, but it turns out, it was the right move on her part. Now she had a way of locating him. The computer already had the program she needed to locate the tracker installed, she just needed to type in its numbers and click.

Her pupils shrunk. The signal was coming from the exact same location she and her fellow heroes located Princess Cadance last night. The creatures have dragged Spike off into their lair. Her fear quickly turned into anger. Those things had no idea who they just crossed. She would make them dearly regret taking Spike.

She put the computer away and pulled her suit out from under her bed and suited up faster than she possibly ever had before and gathered a fresh supply of gadgets before bursting out her room. To her surprise, she immediately ran into two of the creatures in front of her door.

"Not even bothering with the disguises anymore, are you?" She snarled. The creatures looked no less surprised when saw her already in her suit and ready to fight, but they quickly got over it and prepared to attack.

They leaped at her, but Batmare jumped back and shut her door. She heard the creatures slamming against it before opening it and running off inside the castle, not even bothering to check if the creatures were knocked out or not. After all, she knew there were several more where they came from.

"Can we take a break already?" Rarity asked with a yawn. Fighting criminals in the night along with her partner, the Green Arrow was one thing. At least that was exciting. But tailing the impostor Princess Cadance with him all day was most certainly not. "I haven't eaten all day." She complained, which was further confirmed by her rumbling stomach.

"Neither have I, love, but I cannot relax until I have something concrete to prove to my aunt that this Cadance is a fake and Canterlot is in grave danger." Blueblood reasoned. "But you may rest if you wish."

"No." Rarity shook her head. "I wouldn't have the heart to leave you to do all the work yourself. We're partners remember?" She winked, causing the prince to blush.

"I will never get tired of hearing that." He smiled. That mare was always able to melt him on the inside. But he couldn't allow himself to lose focus. He quickly turned his attention back to the creature impersonating his cousin.

She was currently walking down the hallway accompanies by two maids until all three of them came to a sudden halt, as they were frozen. This was already unnerving enough for the two ponies spying on them, but their nervousness turned to downright terror when they saw them slowly turn around and send a spine chilling glare their way.

"Um... I think we have been spotted." Rarity uttered nervously as they backed away when the three mares ahead of them began to advance on them. Blueblood instinctively got in front of Rarity protectively before the reality of the situation dawned upon him.

"Wait a minute! Why would the maids be playing along with her?" He wondered.

"Because they're the same as her!" Blueblood and Rarity both jumped when they heard the familiar voice come out of nowhere. They turned to look behind them but before they could, a black object flew between their heads and flew towards the impostor Cadance, hitting her in the face.

She fell back on the ground, much to the shock of the other ponies in the hallway. But Blueblood and Rarity's shock grew even bigger when the impostor turned back into its original form.

"What in the name of Aunt Tia?!" Blueblood exclaimed, but he got to make no further comment as a black and gray shape dashed past him and threw itself at the two maids. Despite its fast movements, they were able to identify her as Batmare as she uppercut one of the maids in the jaw, sending her up in the air before grabbing her hoof and pulling her down right on top of the other one, knocking them both out, turning them back to their changeling forms as well.

Batmare turned to see Blueblood and Rarity staring at her in wonder. She didn't know if they were stunned by the discovery of the changelings or seeing her in action, but at the moment, that didn't matter. Despite her reservations about alerting Princess Celestia of the situation, she saw no other solution at the moment. Surely even she wouldn't be ignorant of these creatures overrunning the palace.

"Find Princess Celestia and warn her!" She ordered the two ponies. "These shapeshifters have infiltrated the entire palace and possibly the entire city as well!" Their eyes widened. The entire city? In that case, three vigilantes wouldn't be enough to stop them. Blueblood turned to Rarity.

"You go and find my aunts! I'll go and alert the Royal Guard!" He was about to take off but Batmare stopped him.

"No! The Guard had been infiltrated too! I have seen many of them turning into these things! We're gonna have to do this on our own!"

"On our own?!" Rarity exclaimed. "No offense, darling, I know that you are a capable fighter but if these creatures are invading the city, I think this may be more than you can handle."

"None taken." Batmare replied drily. "But the Princess is all we need. And I'm not alone. There are others like me out there." Rarity and Blueblood gasped in realisation.

"Supermare!" They cried out as they recalled their rescue by the Mare of Steel last night. "I'm sure she will be able to fight off this infestation singlehoofedly!" Rarity added. "We need to find her!"

"No!" Batmare shook her head. "You need to warn the Princess of this attack immediately. I will find Supermare. And any others that may be out there." The two white unicorns raised an eyebrow in unison.

"You will find them?" Blueblood wondered. "How?" Batmare only stared back at them through her mask for a few seconds, but for some reason, they could make out a knowing gaze behind it.

"I know things, your higness." Was her only reply. If they got her implication, she didn't stick around to find out and ran off to find the ponies she knew could help with the current crisis. Finally, the meaning of what she said dawned over Rarity.

"Do you think she knows?" She asked nervously, making the stallion scoff.

"I wouldn't be surprised. But that doesn't matter right now. Come, we need to warn my aunt."

Despite the upcoming joyous occasion, Princess Celestia was not in the best of moods. First her second biggest mistake after her sister's banishment came back to haunt her in the shape of her former student returning to Canterlot to help with her brother's wedding preparations.

At first, she thought this could be a good opportunity for her to make amends with her for the loss she had inadvertently caused her all those years ago. But she had no way of talking to her since her arrival and the one time they did end up in the same room together, Twilight clearly had no interest in speaking with her. Strangely enough, she was pretty talkative with her sister.

Speaking of her sister, Luna became the second issue for her as she had turned secretive on her once more. It was obvious that there was something troubling the princess of the moon, but anytime Celestia asked about it, she would just wave off her concerns and say there isn't anything wrong.

Luna should have known that Celestia wouldn't buy this excuse. The last time she did, her sister turned into a power hungry monster that she had to banish to the moon for a millennium. She didn't want to go through that again, but she didn't know how else she should approach the subject.

And then there was the wedding. Much like all of the castle staff, Celestia also noticed her niece's drastic change in behaviour, but at first, she just shrugged it off as wedding stress. But after a few days, as it got increasingly worse, she had no choice but to confront her fellow princess.

The results were catastrophic. Celestia had never seen Cadance act the way she did during that confrontation before. She was everything the Princess of Love shouldn't have been: spiteful, petty, entitled and selfish. It was so bad that for a moment, Celestia could have sworn that the Nightmare was trying to affect her niece this time.

She was only prevented form unleashing her magic against the pink alicorn by the interruption of the groom, Shining Armor. The captain of the guard came to his bride's protection and the alicorn easily wrapped her around her hoof to save face in front of her aunt.

Speaking of her future in law, Captain Shining Armor provided the next issue she needed to worry about. The stallion barged into her office this morning and reported something alarming to her. According to him, several of his guard units failed to report to him that morning. What was even stranger, he found them all at their posts later and they didn't even acknowledge him. That alone was stange enough. But Celestia suddenly remembered that her own staff also failed to turn up that morning and she could have sworn she saw them around the castle earlier that day.

One would probably assume they also suffered from the wedding stress, especially due to Cadance's appalling behavior, but even during the height of the preparations during the previous days, they never forgot that before. It was almost like everypony around the castle forgot about their duties to them.

"How many units are we talking about exactly, Captain?" Celestia asked anxiously.

"About a quarter of them." Shining replied with equal unease in his voice. "It's like they're under some sort of spell. They just pace around the place almost mechanically. There's something strange going on around here, Princess. And right the day before a royal wedding? I don't like the implications." Celestia couldn't agree more.

"I believe this issue requires a thorough investigation, Captain." She told him. "I realise you may not approve, but I believe under such strange circumstances, perhaps it would be best to postpone the wedding." Shining sighed. He was hoping that could be avoided, but deep down, even he believed that would be the right call.

"Good luck, trying to convince Cadance of that though." He muttered. It was Celestia's turn to sigh. Her captain was right. That was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

The discussion was suddenly interrupted the room's door slamming open quite loudly. The two ponies inside jumped in surprise before turning to see Rarity and Blueblood standing at the door, panting heavily as if they just ran a Trotathon. Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Nephew, it is quite unfitting for a royal pony to barge in like this. Especially on the Princess of Equestria. I believe you have a good reason for it."

"Aunt Tia..." Blueblood panted, struggling to catch his breath. "The castle..."

"...is full of shape-shifting pony bugs!" Rarity finished for him. Unsurprisingly, given her special ability, her lungs had a much higher capacity than the stallion's. "And possibly the entire city too!"

"Shape-shifting pony bugs?!" Shining Armor questioned incredulously. "What is this nonsense?!" Celestia however was more accepting of the possibility.

"Changelings. Shapeshifters that feed on other creatures' love." She explained to him, narrowing her eyes. "Have you seen them?" The two nodded.

"We saw them turn back!" Blueblood confirmed. "They impersonated the maids! And even Cady!"

"What?!" Shining exclaimed as he jumped up, his mind immediately overflowing with concern for his bride. "What happened to Cadance?!" Celestia put a hoof to her chin in thought.

"That would explain a lot." She concluded before turning to Shining. "Assemble the Guard immediately! Now that I know what I'm looking for, I will be able to detect any hidden Changelings among their rank easily!"

"No doubt you could." The four ponies in the room turned to see a squad of royal guards entering the room with menacing looks on their faces. "Too bad you won't get the chance." The front one spoke as he and his comrades all turned back to Changelings. Blueblood and Rarity backed away from them while Celestia and Shining stood up and went to confront the creatures.

"Your presence in my city is unwelcome, you monsters!" The princess spat. "Leave Canterlot and Equestria as a whole while you still can." But the Changelings were not intimidated in the least.

"I don't think so." The leader taunted as they used their magic to levitate the Celestia and Shining and throw them against the wall.. They then all opened their mouths and spat out a yellow substance towards the Princess and the Captain, pinning their hooves and their horn to the wall. The substance immediately solidified, sticking them to the wall. No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn't break free.

"Don't bother." The Changeling said. "We have drained the love energy of the Princess of Love herself! We are more powerful than you can imagine!"

"What did you do to my bride?!" Shining demanded in rage, but the Changeling just smirked.

"Don't worry. You'll be with her soon enough." He laughed before he and his comrades resumed to incase the two ponies in their amberish prison while Rarity and Blueblood could only watch in horror. The mare's horrified gasp was what finally brought the Changelings' attention to them.

"Ah, yes, we almost forgot about you!" He pointed at the two, instructing his comrades to seize them. They began to approach Blueblood and Rarity as they backed away. They were no slouches in a fight of course, but they didnt't know if they can take on so many enemies at the same time in such a small room. They both knew they only had one way out of this but they were uncertain if they should use it in front of Celestia.

They looked at the trapped princess but the substance holding her was so thick at this point that they couldn't see her anymore. They deduced that this meant she couldn't see them either so Rarity decided to do it.

She opened her mouth and let out the biggest wail she ever produced towards the Changelings. The insectoid equines were blasted away and slammed against the wall. The windows of the room were shattered but the coccoons that held Shining and Celestia remained intact, much to Rarity's surprise.

"We have to get out of here and suit up!" Blueblood shouted. He was about to run out of the room, but Rarity stopped him.

"What about them?!" She asked, pointing at the coccoons.

"It your wail couldn't crack them, what can we do?" The prince reasoned. "We'll have to find Supermare! She's our only hope!" Rarity looked at the cocoons one more time. With a heavy heart, she was forced to admit that her partner was right. There was nothing they could do for them at the moment. She also saw the Changeling group about to recover and she followed Blueblood out of the room.

She just hoped the Changelings didn't reach theirs yet.

For the past several minutes, the Flash has been running through the castle in search of more shape-shifters. He search was relatively slow as she was forced to stop everytime she saw somepony to make sure they were actually ponies. But after a while, she began to come across more of them undisguised. They probably realised they have been discovered. This made searching for them significantly easier, but she was a little worried that it might also make them more dangerous.

After clearing the castle as best as she could, she headed to the balcony to see what was happening around the city. What she saw, horrified her to her very core. It was much worse than she expected. Canterlot was completely overrun by the creatures. Ponies were attempting to flee them in terror, what little remained of the actual Royal Guard was putting up vain resistance, buildings were on fire and the sky was almost black from the Changeling swarm.

Rainbow had never felt so small before in her life. She may have been the fastest mare alive, but she had more than certain doubts that she was gonna be able to deal with this by herself. She may not be able to fight off the fight off the swarm by herself, but there was one thing she could do. She would go down there and save as many ponies as possible.

She was about to do just that, when she noticed some Changelings closing in on her location. They landed right in front of, blocking her path to the exit. Rainbow was about give them a taste of the speed force, but she didn't get the chance. From behind the Changelings, an explosion of both lightning and green light blasted the creatures away. It was so bright that Rainbow had to cover her eyes to protect them and jump back to avoid being blown away herself. When she opened them again, she saw Green Lantern and Captain MareVel floating in front of her.

"Need a hoof, Flash?" The alicorn hero asked as they landed in front of her.

"Always in the right place at the right time, Cap!" Flash cheered, sharing a hoofbump with her.

"Good to be actually part of the action this time!" MareVel cheered, but Lantern didn't look as confident.

"Speak for yourself." She muttered almost inaudibly before looking up. "What are we going to do about that?" She pointed at the swarm in the sky.

"I'm sure the three of us together could blow them out of the sky like you did just now." Flash encouraged them. "Let's go get them!"

The three winged heroes didn't get the chance to take off as more Changelings came down from the sky and pinned them to the ground. MareVel quickly blasted them off of herself with a wave of lighting from her horn before dashing over to Flash and punching them off of her as well, while Lantern conjured up a giant fly swatter for the same purpose.

The Changelings still kept coming but they wouldn't catch them off guard again. Three of the creatures combined a magical blast from their horn and directed it at Captain MareVel. The alicorn hero was quite surprised at how powerful the blast was, despite the Stamina of Air Last, it was able to knock her off her hooves.

'Tough little pesties.' She thought as she got back up. 'Let's see if they're fast too.' Using the speed of Merry Breeze, she got behind the changelings and the strength of Hoof Acres was all she needed to incapacitate them.

Green Lantern raised a barrier around herself but it threatened to give away under the relentless magic blasts of the Changelings. They saw this too and banded together to unleash one final blast that would surely do the trick.

'Think, Fluttershy, think!' She thought, trying to come up with a way to turn this situation around. And finally, she got it. She waited for the Changelings to unleash their attack and when they did, she let down her barrier and conjured up a giant mirror, which reflected the attacks and sent them back at the Changelings, knocking them out of the air.

The Flash's speed gave her the perfect advantage over the creatures. She flew around in the air, creating a whirlwind strong enough to draw many of them towards its center with such force that they were all knocked out upon crashing into each other.

Unfortunately for the speedster, the rest of the Changelings noticed what was happening and blasted magical rays of energy into the whirlwind. Flash was so preoccupied with keeping up her speed that she wasn't looking ahead and ended up flying straight into one of them.

Her entire body burned as she crashed into the ground. Fortunately, super speed also came with super fast regeneration so she should be fine again in a few seconds, but the Changelings weren't about to let that happen. Three of them dogpiled the wounded speedster and began to drain her of her energy.

"Hey, uglies!" The Changelings looked up, only for two of them to be hit in the face by two arrows with boxing gloves attached to them while the third one was uppercut into the air by a black hoof-boot. "That's no way to treat a lady!" Green Arrow snarked at the defeated creatures.

"You would know all about that, wouldn't you, darling?" Black Canary retorted as she helped the Flash up.

"Oh, come now, birdie! How much longer are you going to hold that over me?" The archer didn't get an answer because another wave of Changelings immediately surrounded the group.

"There's just too many of them!" Lantern exclaimed as she conjured up a raging bull that circled around the heroes and knocked the creatures away. "We can't keep this up forever!"

"We don't have to!" The five heroes turned to look for the source of the voice but they couldn't find it. Suddenly, a black bat shaped object flew out of nowhere, circling around the heroes as if it was an actual living creature. It hit the remaining Changelings in the head, knocking them all out before flying back inside.

The heroes followed it with their gaze and saw it being caught by a black booted hoof. Even the mighty Captain MareVel and Green Lantern stepped back in awe as they watched the Batmare walk out of the darkness of the room in full battle armor, the angry scowl of her mask enough to send chills down all of their backs.

"We'll just need a plan." Before any of the other heroes could say anything, another group of Changelings dropped down onto the balcony, ready to fight.

"This balcony is getting a little too crowded." Batmare said as she pulled out a few smoke bombs. She smashed them onto the ground, covering the room in smoke, blinding the Changelings and making them step back. When they regained their sight, they pounced forward to throw themselves at the heroes again, only to find them all gone.

"Who knew there were so many secret tunnels beneath Canterlot Castle?" Green Lantern wondered as she floated onward in the tunnel, lighting the way to the other heroes with her ring.

"I did. And I'm fairly certain the princesses do too." Green Arrow replied. "But thankfully, not many other ponies. That should give us an advantage over the Changelings."

"Changelings?" Batmare asked, raising an eyebrow beneath her mask.

"That's what the princess called them." Black Canary replied. "We tried to warn her of this invasion but the creatures captured both her and Captain Shining Armor." Batmare was glad she was wearing a mask right now, that way, the others couldn't see the panic that suddenly overtook her face. But she had to keep her calm.

"Did she..." She tried to ask on a wavering voice. "Did she say anything else?" Arrow and Canary thought for a moment.

"She said they fed on other ponies' love energy." The stallion told her. "And before they captured Celestia, they told her that they drained the Princess of Love herself which made them more powerful than ever." Batmare narrowed her eyes.

"So that's why they needed Cadance."

"So let me get this straight." Flash spoke up. "Those things took Princess Cadance, replaced her with a fake and have been draining her love energy to take over Canterlot and possibly all of Equestria?"

"That seems to be the case." Batmare replied dryly.

"Are you sure you're the fastest mare alive, Flash." Captain MareVel retorted, earning an annoyed glare from the speedster. "You seem kinda slow on the uptake. I think we've all pieced that together by now."

"So if the princess' love is what powers the Changelings, we should free her from their clutches and they'll be rendered powerless!" Canary theorised.

"Then we'll have to go back to their lair." Batmare decided. "Arrow, is there a tunnel that can take us to the mines?" The stallion shook his head.

"I don't think so, but I know an exit that will lead us close enough to the mountain it's under."

"What about the other ponies the Changelings took?" Lantern asked in concern. "We have to save them as well!"

"Don't worry. They'll be there too." Batmare replied, remembering the signal of Spike's tracker. "They took all of their hostages to the same place."

"And just how do you know that?" Flash asked in suspicion. Batmare stopped and looked back at the speedster.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me." The pegasus replied, walking up to the other hero until they were only inches apart. "How do you know they're all gonna be there? Is there something you're hiding form us?"

"Isn't there something we're all hiding from each other?" Lantern asked, pointing at her mask. "You know, secret identities and all that." The gaze of the other heroes quickly made the space cop shrink back, but Batmare knew that she was right.

This was perhaps the hardest decision she ever had to make, but Spike's life, as well as half of Canterlot's population was at stake. Not to mention all of Equestria’s sovereignty. If she couldn't gain the trust of the country's biggest heroes and forge them into a team, this battle was already lost.

She stepped back to make sure all the others had a good view of her and raised her right front leg to her mask. The rest of the group all gasped as the Batmare removed it from her head to reveal a purple unicorn with a broken horn beneath her mane. A unicorn which most of the group quickly recognised.

"Twilight?!" Blueblood yelled in disbelief, completely forgetting about being in character, but thankfully, the others were far too shocked to care. "You're the Batmare?!"

"I am." She replied. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. Years ago, I was the student of Princess Celestia until I lost my horn and moved away from Canterlot. I moved to Manehattan and fell in love with a stallion with whom I was engaged to marry. But when he was taken from me by the city's criminal elements, I dedicated my life to fight criminal elements of the city that took him from me. But now, my dearest friend and assistant was taken by the Changelings. He is held hostage at the same place as all the other ponies they took. And if we don't save him along with the others, who knows what will happen to them and the rest of Equestria?"

The other heroes just listened in silence. Flash immediately felt a surge of guilt wash over her. She could tell that every single thing Twilight said was perfectly genuine. This was not the hardened vigilante known as Batmare or an evil shape-shifting Changeling who wanted to lure them into a trap talking. This was a concerned pony who was worried what would become of her best friend if they failed to save him. And the Flash would be damned if she let somepony down by not saving them when she could.

"I hope that gains your trust." She told the speedster sarcastically with a dirty look, making her back down in embarrassment. She did feel bad for doubting her, but the comment also raised a little resentment in her.

'Way to rub it in, jerk.' She thought as Twilight put her mask back on.

"Now if we're done here, can we move on? We're wasting precious time." She snarked as turned around and kept walking. The others were about to follow her, but Green Lantern spoke up.

"Guys, since she revealed her identity to us, do you think we should do the same?" None of them knew how to answer, but unbeknownst to them, Batmare heard what the yellow pegasus said and did it for them.

"Oh, I already know your identities." She replied casually before continuing on, surprising the other heroes greatly. Flash suddenly reconsidered just how trustworthy this secretive vigilante really was.

After a few more moments of walking, Green Arrow finally lead the group to an exit that lead out of the castle near the woods surrounding the building. The trees should provide enough cover for them to avoid the patrolling Changeling units in the sky.

The screams of ponies around the city still rung in their ears as they left the city. It made them feel absolutely powerless and they hated it. But they know in order to stop this madness, they will have to free Princess Cadance first and cut off the Changeling's power supply.

Eventually, they reached the hidden entrance to the abandoned mines, which was trickier than they remembered as the rock wall that concealed it had no distinguishing features and blended in perfectly with the mountain.

"We should have marked where the entrance was." Arrow remarked as he kept tapping around on the rock to find the entrance. Batmare, as always, was one step ahead. She pressed a button on her belt and suddenly they all heard a series of beeps coming from nearby. The black clad hero knelt down and picked up a small bat shaped tracking device from the ground before putting it away.

"I have."

"Of course, you have." The archer muttered, rolling his eyes.

"I'm surprised you had the composure to put it there while Supermare was hauling us out of there last night." The other three heroes who weren't there widened their eyes.

"Supermare is in Canterlot?!" Flash exclaimed. "Why isn't she here?"

"I tried to find her but I had no luck." Batmare replied. "I would like to think taking her captive is beyond the Changelings' capabilities." The other five heroes all agreed. They didn't like their chances without the Mare of Steel by their side. Batmare pushed one of her hooves through the Illusionary wall and stepped inside.

"Let's go." She motioned to the others. "Canary, Arrow, you stay out here and keep guard." The two unicorns nodded while Flash, Lantern and MareVel followed the Batmare inside. Batmare easily recalled the trail they went last night to the chamber where Cadance was located so finding it was not an issue. But nothing could prepare the group for what they saw upon entering.

The Changelings have already hoarded dozens, perhaps even hundreds of ponies down here. They were all lying inside the same kind of pods as Cadance did, all of them perfectly still and unconscious. Flash recognised several of her fellow Wonderbolts, Lantern and MareVel saw many ponies from the castle staff who helped them with the wedding preparations inside the castle. Batmare also recognised several royals and nobles back from her day as Celestia's pupil, but she wasn't paying them much attention. Her mind revolved around only one individual.

And eventually, she found him. The scanners built into her lens have quickly identified Spike's draconic features inside one of the pods. His status was "unconscious" so Twilight could calm herself knowing that he was alright. She placed a hoof on the pod that contained her young assistant's body and caressed it affectionately. How could she have been so foolish? How could she have left Spike unsupervised even for a second? Of course he would attempt to spy on the Changelings for her. And of course the bugs would take advantage of it by abducting him and send a drone to replace him and try to get closer to her as well. This was all her fault. 'I will get you free, Spike.' She vowed. 'I promise.'

"We have to get them out of there!" Flash shouted, stating what all of them were thinking.

"But how?" Green Lantern asked. Before anypony could reply, they all jumped in surprise when they heard the sound of glass shattering. They quickly got into defensive stances in a circle with their backs to each other and waited for the imminent attack by the Changeling swarm.

But instead, they saw a very much equine figure floating down the groin from above, dressed in blue with a red cape and a familiar golden S on her chest. On her shoulders, she was carrying two unconscious ponies while carrying a third one in her front legs, placing him on the ground as she looked up at the stunned group of heroes with a cheeky smile.

"What took you guys so long?" Supermare asked before floating off to free more ponies. "Just give them a good whack! That should do the trick!" Captain MareVel didn't need to be told twice. With the strength of Hoof Acres and the speed of Merry Breeze, she quickly freed several ponies already. Green Lantern didn't have super strength, but with a giant sledgehammer conjured up by her ring, she did quite an efficient job herself. The Flash was able gather enough mass behind her punches to shatter the pods while Batmare merely pulled out a batarang and used it to cut the pod containing Spike open.

She carried the young dragon next to the unconscious ponies and laid him on the ground, trying her best to wake him up. Meanwhile, Supermare moved onto another pod and saw a pony in them that she knew all too well. 'Braeburn?! What are you doing here?!' She wondered in her head. She then remembered Granny Smith mentioning something about a big order of apple treats for the wedding but she had no idea that Braeburn was gonna be the one to deliver it. She swiftly released the stallion from the hold of the pod and as she carried him to the ground, she noticed that he started stirring awake.

The stallion opened his eyes and looked up to see the exact reenactment of the scene when Supermare saved him from the stampedeing buffalos in Appleoosa. She looked down at him with her long mane flowing in the air, holding him like a guardian angel. It was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen and despite his drained state, it gave him enough energy to form a small smile.

"We... We really got to stop meeting like this..." He chuckled weakly. "Some ponies might get the wrong idea." Supermare couldn't help but chuckle at that. She never gave him that talk Big Mac told her to so he was still none the wiser about her identity. With Braeburn's little crush on the Mare of Steel, she just felt very awkward about bringing up the topic. But what she really didn't know was why she just played along with his little fantasy by gently lowering him on the ground and take on of his hooves into hers.

"Don't worry, you're safe now." She told him softly. Far softer than she intended. "Everything's gonna be alright." The stallion squeezed her hoof tighter in return.

"I know. Now that you're here." He replied, causing Supermare's heart to melt. But the moment was interrupted when Braeburn winced in pain. Apparently, he squeezed her hoof too hard. "Wow, you really are the Mare of Steel." He joked, earning another chuckle from the superhero.

Meanwhile, Spike was slowly coming to as well. Twilight's eyes widened under her mask as the little dragon sprung up with a huge gasp.

"TWILIGHT!" He shouted out, jumping forward with wide eyes. Twilight quickly wrapped her hooves around him in an effort to calm him down.

"Shh... It's alright, Spike. I've got you." She said, rocking him back and forth like a baby who just woke up from a terrible nightmare. Which was basically what happened.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know those things infiltrated the castle and take the shape of ponies. They caught me by surprise." He cried. Twilight just rubbed circles around his back.

"I know, Spike. It wasn't your fault. We didn't know either." Spike was reassured by Twilight's words, but also a little confused.

"We?" He asked before looking around and seeing all the other heroes freeing the trapped ponies. He quickly slapped one of his clawed hands over his mouth. "Sorry, Twi... Uh, Batmare." He said in a hushed tone. "I didn't know they were here. I almost gave away your identity."

"It's alright, Spike." Twilight reassured. "They already know."

"They do?!" Spike asked, jumping up in shock. A decision he quickly regretted as a nausea came over him, no doubt a side effect of the stasis he just woke up from.

"It doesn't matter." Twilight replied, gently pushing him back on the ground. "Just calm down and rest. You need it." She then stood up and went to check on the other ponies who just began to wake up. She hated leaving Spike unattended, but she knew others needed her help just as much as he did.

There was one thing however that kept bothering her. She saw a lot of ponies in the crowd, but Princess Cadance was not among them. Come to think of it, she didn't see any Changelings guarding these tunnels either and yet last night the place was swarming with them. There was something suspicious about this whole thing.

"Flash, go and check if there are any pods left." She told the speedster. Flash did as she was told and she came back before Batmare could even blink.

"Nope." She reported. "No pods left." Batmare looked around one more time.

"So where's Princess Cadance?" That question got the attention of all the other heroes. They all searched through the awakening crowd but even they couldn't find the Princess of Love. Before anypony could say anything, they were interrupted by Green Arrow and Black Canary who barged into the chamber, looking quite concerned.

"What is it?" Batmare asked, worried that the Changelings might be back.

"Come out!" The stallion exclaimed, motioning for her to follow them. "There's something out there you should see!"

"Is it important?" Batmare asked, not wanting to leave the rescued ponies behind. The crimefighting couple shared a glance, not knowing if what they had to say would be enough to convince the Dark Knight.

"Interesting." Canary replied. Batmare sighed before taking off after the duo, followed by the other heroes whose interest were also peaked. Eventually they reached the entrance of the mine and upon stepping through the illusionary wall, their jaw fell.

Canterlot Castle, as well as the surrounding city was entirely surrounded by a giant green barrier, preventing anypony from getting in or out. They began to run until they reached the barrier's edge, pounding on the engergy wall mercilessly with everything they had. But it wasn't enough, it stood firm against their superpowered assault.

General Scutellum stood triumphantly in the throne room of Canterlot Castle as a group of his underlings carried Princess Cadance inside in their magical hold, still trapped inside her pod. They placed the unaware alicorn onto the throne in the middle, next to the other two where the trapped Princess Celestia and Shining Armor were placed.

Though the alicorn of the night was still unaccounted for, Scutellum wasn't worried. His plan worked like a charm. His forces managed to take Canterlot, it's defenses were irreversibly compromised and it's biggest defenders were trapped outside the city. He had everything he needed to complete this operation.

He walked out of the castle with heavy hoofsteps, carrying his mighty battle axe on his shoulder as he exited. His troops were lined up in front of the building with pony hostages lying in front of them on the ground, shaking in terror. Everything was going according to plan. It won't be long now until their final victory was at hoof.

Flash yelled at the top of her lungs as she crashed into the barrier at top speed, only to receive the same result as she did the first seven times. Excruciating pain as the force field knocked her back. The other heroes were beginning to tire of it by now.

"Will you cut that out?!" Supermare yelled at her frustration. "It's not working!" Flash only gave the Mare of Steel an irritated glare as she got back up.

"Like you have a better idea." She growled in pain as she slowly tried got up.

"Supermare's right. This won't achieve anything." Batmare said, helping the speedster back on her hooves. "We'll need a plan if we want to get past this thing." Flash just looked at her, unamused.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was your plan that lead us into this mess in the first place." The other heroes were beginning to get fed up with the speedster's attitude.

"And your 'plan' of getting splattered on the barrier doesn't exactly get us any closer to the solution, Flash! So shut up!" Green Arrow snapped at her.

"Calm down! Both of you!" Captain MareVel asked, standing between the two heroes. As she was able to resist Wrath, she didn't give into her frustration over the situation. Neither did Green Lantern, as possessing the willpower to resist rage was a requirement to being one.

"We need to keep our heads!" She told them, uncharacteristically confidently, earning the attention of all six of her fellow heroes. "Batmare is a better planner than any of us! I'm sure she is going to come up with something!"

The black clad vigilante in question suddenly found herself on the receiving end of six eager pair of eyes, lookin for guidance. It was a little overwhelming for her. She was but a mere, disabled unicorn in a costume and yet all these godly beings were looking at her, expecting her to lead them to victory against an enemy they barely knew anything about.

But still, she knew Green Lantern was right. She needed to take charge and organise these godly beings into a team if they were to have a chance at saving their home. And she was the most capable pony for the job. She walked up to the barrier and placed a hoof on it, looking at the green energy field it in contemplation as the cogs turned in her head. Her eyes then widened.

'Green energy?! That's it!' She thought before turning to Green Lantern. "Lantern, can your ring analyse this barrier? Track it to its source?" The space cop became a little embarrassed for not thinking of this herself and raised the ring on her wing to her mouth.

"Ring? Can you analyse the energy field in front of us please?" She asked timidly. The answer came in the form of a green energy beam bursting out of her ring and connecting with the barrier. After a few seconds, the beam disappeared and the ring glowed up.

"This type of magical energy is not recognised by the Green Lantern archives." The ring's wielder frowned.

"The Guardians did mention that their knowledge about the magic of our world is severely limited." She said, much to the others' chagrin.

"Can it at least locate the source?" Batmare asked. Lantern once again asked the ring to carry out the task.

"Energy source located." The ring reported.

"Show us where!" Batmare asked and the Lantern conjured up a map of the castle with the power source of the barrier flickering as bright spots. "There!" Batmare said, pointing at the lights. "Whatever is powering the barrier, it's on the castle's balcony."

"That's a great discovery, Bats." Flash said sarcastically. "But I don't think it gets us any closer to getting past this thing." The bat gave the speedster a long, contemplative stare that the pegasus could almost see even behind the mask. It made her very uncomfortably.

"Maybe it doesn't." Batmare said eventually. "But perhaps you could."

"I already tried." Flash replied flatly, but Batmare shook her head.

"Not like that. Try to vibrate your body fast enough to warp through the barrier." Flash only gave her another suspicious look in response.

"And just how do you know I can do that?" Before Batmare could answer, a groan from the other heroes interrupted them.

"Seriously?" Supermare asked in irritation. "You're still doing this?"

"Everypony in Equestria knows you can do that." Green Arrow told her and Black Canary nodded.

"Remember that one time where they caught you inside the bank after the Rogues got away from you?"

"Yeah, so please just shut up and play along!" MareVel ordered. Flash didn't like being bossed around, but seeing that all the other heroes were on Batmare's side, she had no choice but to suck it up.

"Fine, I'll do it." She conceded with an irritated groan. Batmare merely nodded in response before turning to Green Lantern and Captain MareVel.

"Lantern, MareVel, once the barrier is down, it's your turn. The Changelings will no doubt swarm out instantly to check on what happened. Keep them busy while the rest of us search the palace for Princess Cadance." She instructed.

"I should go with them too." Supermare offered but Batmare shook her head.

"No, we're gonna need you in case we run into the big guy from last night." She explained. "Not to mention you're the most capable of locating Princess Cadance in the palace. With your super senses, you can find anypony. I'm gonna assume the big one is their leader so the most likely possibility is that he's watching over her. Once we find her, you'll have to keep him busy while me, Canary and Arrow free Cadance. Everypony got that?" Batmare received six nods in return. "Then let's begin!"

"What about the ponies we just rescued?" Green Lantern asked as she pointed at the crowd that finally made its way out of the mines.

"I will handle them." Said a new voice from between the crowd, surprising not only them, but the heroes as well. The ponies parted to make way for none other than Jean Jeans, Princess Luna's assistant.

"Mr. Jeans?" Batmare said with a raised eyebrow. Funny, she doesn't remember seeing him among the rescuees.

"I know a safe way through the mountains towards the nearest settlement. I can lead these ponies there where they will be tended to." Batmare had no reason to trust this pony. He worked for Princess Luna who made it clear she didn't like her. He was secretive and she was sure he knew more than he let on, but she could also feel that he was benevolent and genuinely wanted to help.

"Thank you." She said. Jeans merely replied with a nod before motioning for the crowd to follow him as he made his way towards the mountain, leaving the heroes to began their preparations for the final battle.

"Whenever you're ready." Batmare told the Flash. The speedster noticed that the gazes of all of the other heroes fell onto her. It put a heavy pressure on her, but she was never one to break under pressure.

She stood before the barrier and looked at it as if it was the most hated enemy she ever faced. She began to vibrate her body harder than she ever did. The tingle she felt inside herself was very uncomfortable but when she remembered what was at stake, it was easy to ignore the pain.

When she felt like she couldn't vibrate any harder, she launched herself forward, straight at the barrier. But instead of being knocked back like the previous eight times, she finally felt herself getting through the energy field. It was a slow process but eventually, she managed to squeeze her whole body through it.

Once she was on the other side, she wanted to let out a cheer, but then she remembered she still had a job to do. She immediately flashed towards the castle's balcony and quickly noticed what was the source of the barrier. Or more precisely, who. Standing on the balcony with green energy beams shooting out of their horns and fueling the barrier in the sky were ten hooded Changeling mages standing in a circle, chanting in their strange, alien language.

Since they didn't see the pegasus coming, they had no way of defending themselves as she knocked one of them down from their hooves, which proved enough to break their spell that was fueling the barrier, making it disappear.

But not for long. Six of the remaining mages quickly put the barrier back up as the other three turned to deal with the hero. They created another barrier around the pegasus to trap her, but since this one was only sustained by three of them, it was nowhere near as powerful as the other one. Flash quickly broke through it and knocked down two of the mages, but the third one had enough time to fire a blast at her, smashing her back against the wall.

She became a little disoriented and the mage intended to take full advantage of that. He no longer bothered with the barrier as he now knew that wouldn't work. The Changeling began to drain the hero of her love energy, but he didn't know that Flash's super speed allowed her to regenerate all of her energies instantly. But this was a double edged sword, her quickly regenerating energies would make an all you can eat buffet for a Changeling, making him infinitely more powerful. She needed to stop this fast.

She got back on her hooves and threw herself forward at the mage, taking advantage of his surprise that she had energy left to attack. She tackled him on the ground, landing between the other mages and disturbing their barrier spell one more time. She knocked the mage under him out before turning to see two others charging their horns to blast her. With a smirk, she flashed away from between them and the two mages only blasted each other.

The remaining four mages finally abandoned the barrier and stood back to back with each other, raising another barrier around themselves for their protection. Flash's smirk widened. The fools only made her job easier. She began to fly around the barrier with enough speed to create a small whirlwind around it that was so powerful it began to break through the Changeling's magic and eventually, it managed to destroy the barrier and blow the Changelings away. With her job done, she flashed back to the other heroes.

"It's done! Let's go!" They needed no further invitation. Batmare, Supermare, Green Arrow and Black Canary headed to the secret tunnels that will take them back inside the castle, while Green Lantern, Captain MareVel and the Flash took off into the sky.

"I wonder if the Changelings have noticed that the barrier is down." The Lantern wondered.

"Well, if they didn't, they sure will now!" MareVel replied before flying over the castle and unleashing huge waves of lighting that spread across the sky, releasing a deafening boom that made even the two heroes cover their ears. That was a signal of they've ever heard one. As expected, only a few seconds later, the Changelings swarmed out from the castle and between the other buildings of the city, heading straight at the trio in the sky.

"That's it!" Flash said, cracking her hooves. "Come and get us, you damn insects!" She was so eager to finally get a crack at them that she didn't even wait for them to reach her. Activating her super speed, she launched herself forward, knocking dozens of Changelings out of the sky in seconds.

But even the Flash's speed had its limits. Since the Changeling invasion didn't give her a chance to eat enough to sustain her super speed for very long and her metabolism was already beginning to kick in. She didn't have enough fuel for this battle and that began to show at the worst possible time.

She was flying straight at the sharp, horned head of one of the creatures when she felt her speed level beginning to drop. Unfortunately, her momentum was so strong that she couldn't stop herself before colliding with it. The Changeling noticed this and charged at Flash at full speed, ready to impale her on his horn, but fortunately, Captain MareVel flew in and punched the creature away before they collided.

"Wow! Thanks!" Flash said as she caught her breath. "How did you do that?"

"You think you're the only one with super speed?" The alicorn hero grinned as she backhoofed a Changeling without even looking. "The M in Shaz..." She quickly got her hoof in front of her mouth to stop herself from accidentally turning back. She was ashamed to say it wouldn't have been the first time that happened. "The word of power stand for Merry Breeze." Flash's eyes widened in amazement.

"The messenger of the gods?!" She screamed in joy as she dodged an attacking Changeling by flying over him and pouncing on him, kicking him down from the air. "That's awesome! Once this is over, we're so going to have a race!"

"Girls! I'm sorry to interrupt the conversation, but we're kind of in the middle of something!" Green Lantern yelled to them. The space cop was currently using a ballista construct to fire an infinite wave of arrows at the Changelings. However, there was only one side she could cover at a time and she had to rapidly spin around to make sure the Changelings don't get her from behind.

"Don't worry! We've got your back!" MareVel yelled to her as she and Flash flew behind her. The alicorn unleashed a huge wave of lightning, zapping dozens of Changelings at once, while Flash - who may have lost the ability to reach her maximum speed - was still fast enough to easily dodge the Changelings leaping towards her and counter their attacks.

Once she managed to get a little pressure off of herself, Lantern spoke to her ring. "Ring, how much energy you have left?" She asked.

"Power level at 71%." The weapon replied. The Lantern sighed in relief. Thankfully, she's been using her ring sparingly since the start of this battle.

"I wonder how the others are doing." MareVel said as the trio prepared themselves to another wave of onslaught.

"I'm sure they'll give us a sign once they are done." Lantern replied. "In the meantime, stay sharp! Here comes the next wave." Indeed, another swarm of Changelings was already approaching them at great speed. The three heroes quickly got into battle stances and prepared themselves for the next round.

"Eek! I hate these filthy tunnels!" Black Canary cried, wiping a piece of gunk off her boot as the group made their way through the secret passageways beneath Canterlot Castle. "How much further is it?"

"Hard to tell." Supermare replied as she scanned every wall with her super senses. "There is so much movement and so many lifesigns in the castle. It's almost impossible to tell them apart."

She heard so much buzzing from above but most frighteningly, not all of them were Changelings. Through her x-ray vision, she could see several ponies, all of them chain bound and being herded into different parts of the castle like cattle. But Cadance was nowhere to be found.

"I don't get it!" Green Arrow growled. "If she's not here, where is she?!"

"She has to be here!" Supermare insisted. "I'll just need some time to locate her among all those Changelings and Ponies."

"Ponies?" Batmare asked as the three other halted in surprise. "There are ponies in here?"

"Of course there are!" The Archer growled. "Cadance probably isn't enough for those insects! They want to steal as much love as they can!"

"We'll have to help those poor little ponies!" Canary exclaimed in concern over the hostages.

"You're right." Batmare nodded. "Even if we free Cadance and cut the Changelings off from their main power supply, they'll still have several ponies to feed on in here."

"Really?" Canary asked with a raised eyebrow. "That is your biggest concern?"

"Would you keep it down?" Supermare interrupted them. "You're making it harder for me to focus!" With the others finally silenced, the Mare of Steel could once again turn her attention to scanning the castle. She finally managed to identify almost every single heartbeat and heat signartue from the building, save from a few coming from the center of the castle, the throne room.

Turning her attention to this particular room, a horrifying sight appeared in front of her eyes. She finally managed to locate Princess Cadance, that was the good news. But the bad news was, the Changeling leader was also present in the room, along with a group of Changeling mages who were standing around her in a circle and chanting in a strange language as they extracted something from the alicorn.

But what worried the kryptonian the most was that the lifesigns of the pink alicorn were dropping at an alarming rate. It was obvious the extraction process was taking a heavy toll on her. The others noticed her troubled expression and knew that whatever she saw was not good.

"What's wrong?" Batmare asked.

"The princess! I see her! She's in the throne room!" Supermare replied worriedly. "They're draining her far worse than the other ponies. I don't know how much longer she'll be able to take."

"Then let's not waste any more time!" Batmare said, turning to Canary and Arrow. "We'll head to the throne room and save the princess. You search through the castle and save as many ponies as you can while the others keep the majority of the Changelings busy out there." None of the heroes raised any objections to her orders.

"OK! I know an exit that is only a few turns from the throne room." The Archer told them, taking the lead. He lead them to the back of a huge painting hanging on the wall and used the eye holes to check of the coast was clear.

"It's clear!" He told them, pushing the painting out of the way to open the secret door. "Come on!" The mares followed him out before he sealed the exit shut again. "The throne rooms that way! Hurry, Cadance might not have much time left!"

After they parted, Canary and Arrow began to prowl the corridors in search of hostages. They kicked in every door, but so far they didn't come across anypony. They did however come across a group of Changelings escorting some of the chained ponies in quite a hurry.

Not even bothering with ordering them to stop, the Archer fired a few arrows into the chains, breaking them while Canary rushed forward and swiftly incapacitated two of the captors.

"Get behind us!" Canary cried to the hostages who immediately followed her instruction. Another Changeling rushed at Rarity, but she easily got the upper hoof by jumping on her back and kicking the attacker away with her hind legs.

Green Arrow fired an arrow at the Changeling that was tied to a rope and pulled him down on top of another, while Black Canary run up to the last one of the group and roundhouse kicked him in the muzzle.

"Where are the other hostages?" Green Arrow asked ocne the fight was over.

"They were herding us towards the ballroom!" Answered a blue unicorn stallion with puffy blue mane. "We managed to slip away but they caught us! I thought for sure they're gonna kill us!"

"Don't worry, darling!" Black Canary assured him. "They won't do that. They feed off of pony's love. They need them alive to drain them." The hostages and even Green Arrow just gave her an odd look in response.

"Not sure that's any better." Another hostage - a yellow pegasus mare with light blue mane - commented. Canary just chuckled sheepishly before clearing her throat.

"But don't worry! We will put a stop to that! Go and find someplace to hide! It will be over soon." The hostages ran off to do just that and the two heroes made their way to the ballroom. Just as the freed ponies described, all the ponies the Changelings rounded up in the city were being held here, cowering on the floor as armored Changeling soldiers kept patrolling the room.

"I only count a dozen." Green Arrow told his partner.

"It seems rather negligent of them to leave so few of them to guard the hostages." Canary noted. "There is an entire army of them out there."

"I don't know, birdie." The archer replied. "These bugs look like they pack one heck of a punch." But the female fighter wasn't convinced of that point.

"So do we, darling. So what do you say? Fifty-fifty or shall we make it a contest?" Arrow just smiled in response.

"Normally I don't mind a friendly competition, but I think efficiency should be our priority here." He said, loading an arrow into his bow. "You take the six on the right, I'll take the six on the left."

"Sounds good to me." Canary said, cracking her hooves and neck. "Just give the word." Arrow looked up at the huge chandelier hanging over the room just as two of the elite Changelings passed under it and smirked.

"You know what they say, beloved." He said, aiming at the chain that held chandelier. "Every party should start with a bang!" He then let go of the arrow and it hit the chain with perfect accuracy. The Changelings beneath it heard the sound and looked up only to see the chandelier falling down towards them. They didn't even have time to move." That should make things a little easier." The archer quipped. "Let's go!"

Both of the heroes charged into the room to ambush the surprised Changelings. Canary ran up to one of them attempted another roundhouse kick, only to get the worst pain imaginable in her hind legs, causing her to back down with a scream of agony. Green Arrow was right, these guys were in the tougher than the average Chanegelins. And the armor plates they were wearing probably also didn't help.

No matter. The bigger they are, the harder fall, after all. When one of them rose up to its hind legs to squash her, Canary jumped back and when the creature tried to stomp on her, she jumped up, grabbed its head and smashed it into floor with enough strength to knock it out.

Two more Changelings ran up to Rarity and each pulled out a massive broadsword. But the unicorn wasn't intimidated. In fact, this actually gave her an idea. She unleashed a wail that made both of the massive insectoids cover their ears and drop their weapons.

Canary snatched them up from the floor and began to twirl them around with such precision that even their original wielders would have been impressed if they weren't still recovering from the sonic blast. Canary used their swords to slice the straps holding their armor together, leaving their bodies vulnerable. She then proceeded to punch and kick them until they could no longer stand up.

Before she could savor her victory, another Changeling charged into her, knocking her off her hooves. The creature ran towards the wall with the stunned mare dangling from its shoulder, fully intent to crush her against it. However, Canary recovered fast enough to escape in the very last moment, causing the creature to run headfirst into the wall. She then kicked its head into the wall several times with her hind legs, making sure it was down.

There was only one Changeling left facing her and seeing his comrades failures against her, it decided on a different approach. A touch of magic. The creature ignited its horn and levitated the swords its comrades have dropped and sent them at Canary. But the quick reflexes of the herione made her rather difficult for the enchanted swords to hit her. When they did manage to, she just raised one of her boots in the weapon's way and the sharp diamond attached to it managed to block the strike.

But she knew she couldn't keep this up forever. She had to find a way to end this. She noticed all of the swords pulling back to strike at her at once and that gave her an opening. She jumped forward just before the blades struck together in the air and rushed at the Changeling. She performed a somersault, kicking the creature over the head with both of her hind legs. She then swpet both of its front legs out from beneath it, making it fall on the ground and stomped on its head for good measure. The Changeling's consciousness flickered out along with the glint of its horn.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow was dealing with his own bunch. He knew his arrows probably won't do much against the armored, elite Changelings but he had a few tricks up his quiver. Before the behemoths in front of him could do anything, he loaded four arrows into his bow and shot them at the straps holding their armors to their chest, leaving their chests exposed, before pulling out two more arrows and shooting them into them.

The projectiles pierced themselves into their chests but as they expected, it did nothing to them, except making them laugh. Until they heard the increasingly rapid beeping sound coming from the arrowheads and by that time, it was already too late. A huge explosion sent the two Changelings flying against the wall, taking care of them.

"Respect the bow now?" The archer quipped. But his smile quickly faded when he saw a massive broadsword flying his way. He barely had time to roll out of the way as he fired another arrow at his attacker. The Changeling easily cut the arrow in half. A move he instantly regretted as it exploded into a huge cloud of smoke, blurring the creature's vision and making it cough heavily. Eventually, the Changeling started feeling drowsy and passed out from the effect of the gas.

Learning from his mistake, he looked around to see if there was any imminent danger around and that proved to be a good move as he saw another sword being swung at him. He dodged it with a backflip and shot another arrow at the Changeling’s hoof that held the weapon. The creature pulled its hoof back just in time, but in doing so, he had to divert his attention from the archer and he used that to his advantage and jumped onto the Changeling’s back.

It began to thrash around in an attempt to shake the stallion off, but he got a good hold of the creature and stabbed an arrow into its back that had electric wires attached to it. As soon as it was deep enough, Arrow pressed a button on it and it sent a giant shockwave through the Changeling’s body, incapacitating it. The archer gracefully jumped off of its back and used his magic to retrieve his arrows, before beginning to search the room for the last enemy left standing.

He didn’t need to search for long. The final Changeling stood at the end of the room with a hostage’s neck beneath its sword. Arrow’s horror at the sight only increased when he recognised the hostage as Prince Blueblood’s personal maid, Scarlet Feather. His rage was fueled by the sight as he loaded in another arrow, but as he took aim, the creature pressed the sword harder against the pegasus’ neck.

“Put it down!” The Changeling demanded. “Or she’s gonna be a head shorter.” Green Arrow growled in anger. He was very tempted to make a pincushion of this monster but he couldn’t risk Scarlet’s life. Reluctantly, he dropped the bow to the floor. The Changeling smirked in satisfaction. “Now kick it over.” To the creature’s surprise, it was the archer’s turn to smile.

“Well, as a lazy tailor would say, suit yourself.” He replied before kicking the bow with his front leg, right at the Changeling’s hoof, knocking the sword out of its grasp. Scarlet felt the sword’s pressure leaving her neck and flew away from beneath the creature. It was about to take off after her, Green Arrow pulled out another arrow and threw it at the Changeling. The creature effortlessly caught it, but only a second later, it exploded in its grasp in a blinding flash. By the time its sight cleared, the stallion retrieved his bow and shot two arrows with a rope between them at the creature’s legs, tying them together and tripping it. With the battle over, the archer was about to take a relaxing breath, but he was interrupted by two hooves wrapping around his neck and pulling him into a crushing embrace.

“My hero!” Scarlet Feather squealed before planting a kiss onto the stallion’s cheek.

“I… uh…” Arrow stuttered, not sure how to react. Funny, in his alter ego as Prince Blueblood, he would have no trouble talking to a pretty mare, but as the archer vigilante, he just froze and blushed in embarrassment. Not to mention his beloved Black Canary was here as well. Who knew how she would react to this? Well, he found out pretty quickly when he heard the costumed mare clearing her throat from behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Canary giving the two an unamused stare.

“What is going on here?” The archer escaped the embrace of the pegasus and gave his partner a nervous grin.

“Nothing, my dearest. Just saving another grateful citizen.” He chuckled, but the heroine did not seem convinced. “Anyway, I believe it’s time to get these ponies to safety, wouldn’t you agree?” He said before leaving to free the hostages. Canary watched him go before turning to glare at the pegasus mare in front of her who only laughed sheepishly before flying out of the room. She may have been saved from the Changelings, but she felt like she still wasn’t safe right now.

General Scutellum stood in the throne room as the mages kept draining Princess Cadance. But instead of feeding on it, the energy they drew from her floated into the middle of the room, forming a bright orb of light. The orb kept increasing in size and brightness as the process went on, to the point that the general had to look away to prevent it from hurting his eyes. In the corner of the throne room, the projection of Pharynx floated over the Changelings, emanating from another green crystal placed nearby and observing the process.

“The queen’s patience is at an end, Scutellum!” The projection yelled at the massive Changeling. “If you do not finish your task by the end of the day, the consequences will be dire.” The general was starting to have enough of the insolent Changeling’s attitude.

“You can tell the queen…” He began, but Pharynx cut him off.

“No! YOU can tell the queen why you weren’t able to carry out your task when you return in shame! Her armies need a new leader anyway. A more efficient one.” Scutellum narrowed his eyes at the projection before beginning to approach it menacingly.

“When I return - triumphantly, I will chop your head off and put it on a pike in my trophy room.” He snarled. Pharynx just smirked.

“I find that unlikely.” Before Scutellum could reply, he heard crashing sounds from outside which gained both Changelings’ attention. “It appears you’re about to have company.” He mused. “I shall leave you to it then.” He said before his projection disappeared. Scutellum growled furiously as he turned to the mages.

“How much longer will it take?” He growled, growing rather impatient himself.

“The process is almost finished, sir.” The archmage replied. “It will take less than ten minutes now.” This finally improved the general’s sour disposition as his lips curled up into a smirk.

“Good.” He said as he walked up to the orb, observing it in awe. “Finally, after all these years, the source of ultimate power for a Changeling is almost within our grasp. Soon, nothing will be able to stand against us!”

“Think again, you overgrown flea!” Scutellum turned to see Supermare floating in the air behind him, holding one of his elite bodyguards in each hoof, smashing their heads together and tossing them aside. “I don’t know what you and the rest of these insects are up to and frankly, I don’t really care. But I’m ending it now!” But the Changeling wasn’t intimidated by the Mare of Steel.

“I do not think so.” Scutellum growled, echoing the mare’s words during their last encounter back at her as he pulled his new axe. Supermare just smirked. She remembered how easily she shattered the Changeling’s previous weapon and had not doubt that the result won’t be different this time. She paid a heavy price for her overconfidence.

Scutellum ignited his horn and summoned a wave of electricity around his weapon before swinging it at the kryptonian. Supermare suddenly felt her strength beginning to leave her as the axe came nearer her body and only her reflexes saved her life as she managed to jump back before it struck her body. However, it still managed to slice her a little, tearing at her suit and drawing some blood, making the hero hiss.

‘Magically charged axe.’ Supermare observed. ‘Should have seen this coming.’ It seems the Changeling wanted to make her work for her victory in their second round. Well then, she would be happy to comply.

She used her heat vision in an attempt to blast the axe out of the Changeling’s grasp, but the general blocked the heatwaves with his weapon and the magical energy around it absorbed their energy, becoming charged with it as a result. Scutellum then leaped forward to strike Supermare with his axe and while she managed to jump back in time, when the axe hit the ground, it released a magical shockwave that knocked the Mare of Steel back against a wall.

Scutellum left the mare no time to recover. He leaped forward again and raised his axe, aiming straight at the Supermare’s neck. But she flew up in the last second and the Changeling only hit the wall. Supermare took advantage of the momentary stun Scutellum found himself in as he became surrounded by a field of debris and a cloud of dust. She landed behind the Changeling and grabbed him from behind, throwing him up into the ceiling. But Scutellum managed to prevent himself crashing into it by slowing himself down with his wings.

Supermare flew up and pulled her hoof back to punch the creature, but Scutellum was ready to counter the attack as he flew down towards the mare with his axe raised high for a preemptive strike. They met each other midway and the two attacks colliding knocked both combatants back. Scutellum recovered first and flew down to slice Supermare in half, but the kryptonian dashed out of the way and punched the Changeling away towards the throne room’s entrance. She needed to get the behemoth as far away from the Princess as possible.

As the two battled it out, the mages kept draining Princess Cadance. They only hoped that their general will be able to keep Supermare off their backs until they were finished. But as it turned out, there was another individual they should have worried about. As they kept chanting, they didn’t notice that a shadowy figure was swinging toward them using a grappling gun. The figure crashed into one of the mages with its hind legs and kicked it into another one, causing the others to briefly stop the spell and turn to the figure which turned out to be the Batmare.

“Maintain the connection!” The archmage ordered. ”The spell must be completed!”

But the Batmare had other ideas. She punched one of the mages in the head, knocking him out, then turned to another one to do the same, but he reacted in time and raised a magical barrier in front of himself. He was soon backed by another mage who created several spears out of magical energy and launched them at the vigilante. She easily managed to dodge all of them, in fact, she even managed to trick the mage into hitting the other mage.

The attacking mage then changed tactics and summoned a barrier around the vigilante, trapping her. Batmare tried punching her way out of the energy field, but it was too strong. She had one more way of escaping. She only used this on ponies before so she had no way of knowing if it would work, but she saw no other way. She picked a small metallic device off her belt and pressed a button on it, making it beep loudly. The barrier slowly began to flicker until it faded out of existence, much to the mage’s shock.

“How is that possible?!” He exclaimed.

“Do you think you’re the first one who tried that?” Batmare taunted. “Unicorn thugs also have their own magic. I had to design a jammer that nullifies their energy.” She explained before knocking him out. He was still so shocked that he didn’t even have the chance to react. The other mages were still busy keeping up their spell on Princess Cadance’s pod.

She pulled out a batarang with a remote targeting system and marked all the mages on it as targets before throwing it away. The batarang hit all of them in the back of the head, rendering them unconscious and returning to its owner’s hoof. Only the archmage was standing between the Batmare and Princess Cadance and for all the magical powers he possessed, he had to admit that this mare was beginning to make him feel scared.

Batmare took one step closer to the Changeling and that was enough for his eyes to widen enormously and send him flying out of the throne room. Once the enemy was out of the way, she rushed over to the three pods placed onto the thrones and began to cut them open with a Batarang, freeing her brother and the two princesses. She checked their lifesigns and sighed in relief when she saw that all three of them were alive.

But she knew that the crisis was not yet over. The Changelings were still out there and she could do nothing but hope her new friends will be able to fight them off. But now that they have rescued Princess Cadance, they should be significantly weaker. The others should be fine at this point. She began to place the three weakened ponies onto the thrones and tended to them as best as she could. But in the process, she failed to notice that the bright orb which was floating in the center of the room has disappeared.

In the corridors, the battle between Supermare and Scutellum continued to rage on with unbroken ferocity. The kryptonian had been knocked through the wall of the library, crashing between several knocked over bookshelves. The general burst through the hole she’s been knocked through and raised his axe, bringing it down towards the mare who lifted one of the huge bookshelves and hit the Changeling with it, knocking him away.

‘I’ve got to do something about that axe!’ She thought. That weapon was the reason Scutellum could keep her at bay. The Changeling was well aware of this so he kept a firm grip on it. It won’t be easy to take it from him. The two fighters slowly got back on their hooves, panting in exhaustion. It was clear that both of them were beginning to run out of energy.

Scutellum grabbed his axe and charged it with everything he had, ready to make one finally attack at the Mare of Steel. He used his wings to float up over the mare and raised the axe to strike her down. Supermare stood still, as if she just resigned herself to being sliced up by the enormous Changeling’s weapon, only to raise an enormous wall of ice with her freeze breath. Scutellum noticed far too late what the mare was up to and couldn’t stop himself in time. His axe ended up buried and stuck between the ice formation. All of his attempts to pull it out were futile.

Supermare quickly flew behind the ice wall and raised her hoof to punch the Changeling who had no choice but to abandon his weapon. He pulled out a large round shield before charging it with the same magical energy he did with his axe. It was enough to withstand the mighty blows of the kryptonian, but now the Changeling was forced on the defensive.

When Supermare pulled back for another punch, Scutellum countered by charging at her, catching her so off-guard that he managed to knock her back with enough force to send her crashing through another wall. She crashed into one of the castle’s windows, making it crack before falling onto the floor. Before she could get up, the general burst through the wall and punched the mare again with his shield and sent her flying through the window. But he knew she was gonna be back soon so he needed to retrieve his weapon quickly. He was about head back to the library to do just that when he saw the Changeling archmage flying towards him.

"General! It is done! We have the artifact!" He reported, holding the bright orb of light in his hoof. Scutellum immediately took it from him, staring at it in wonder. He couldn't believe it. After all this time, he finally held the key to ultimate power in his hoof. But it was not the time to revel in his victory. They had what they came for, but they were clearly outmatched by these heroes. It was time to leave.

"Open the portal." He ordered the mage. "It's time to return home." They flew up to the top of the castle and the mage quickly summoned a portal back to the Changeling Kingdom while Scutellum lit up his horn and sent out a signal to his soldiers.

All over Canterlot, all the Changelings suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked into the direction of the recently opened gateway back to their home. They all abandoned what they were doing and took off towards it. Even the ones that have been rendered unconscious by the heroes have quickly awoken and joined the others on their way back to the portal and the ones who didn't were carried back by their comrades.

Flash, Green Lantern and Captain MareVel were quite surprised at first when they saw that the Changelings that still surrounded them just gave up and flew off. Their confusion was soon replaced with different emotions in each of them. Flash felt satisfaction as she was sure they were the ones to send the Changelings running. Lantern felt relief as she was certain her ring was running pretty low on energy. And MareVel felt slight concern. Through the wisdom of Starswirl, she deduced that there had to be something behind this unexpected move.

The retreating creatures swarmed towards the portal like locusts. Scutellum and the archmage observed their retreat to make sure none of them was captured by any of the heroes to be interrogated. Luckily for them, they seemed to be content with the fact that the Changelings were retreating and didn't intend chasing them. After all the Changelings entered the portal, the archmage followed suit, but before Scutellum did the same, he briefly turned around and looked down on the heroes who have gathered on the castle’s balcony, staring at the retreating creatures in contempt and triumph.

They thought they have won. Foolish ponies. If only they knew what was in store for them. They kept staring each other down for several more seconds before Scutellum gave them a menacing, dark grin. The battle may have been over, but a war far bigger than they even could have imagined was still ahead of them. The heroes frowned nervously as the Changeling grinned at them. It was so ominous that they half expected him to launch another attack on them, but eventually, the general finally followed his soldiers through the portal which swiftly closed behind him.

An eerie silence followed the Changelings' retreat. The ponies hiding in their homes and among the rubbles took it as a sign that the battle was finally over and slowly dared themselves to come out. The seven warriors who fought the Changelings off looked down from the balcony and saw the gathering crowd of ponies beneath the castle looking up at them. It made them feel a little awkward but that feeling quickly dissipated as the crowd erupted in applause and cheers.

They looked at each other, unsure of how to react to the scene, with the exception of Flash who was quite used to the love of the crowd as a Wonderbolt. She happily returned the waves so the others did the same, although a little more shyly at first as they weren't used to this much attention, but they quickly got into the spirit.

"You know, I could get used to this." Canary told the others as she blew kisses to their adoring fans.

"I don't know." Supermare replied jokingly. "I think I could go without fighting an invasion every week."

As they celebrated, they didn't even notice that one of them has slipped away.

"Here they are! In the throne room!" Twilight Sparkle cried out as she lead a group of guards to the Princesses. With the Changelings gone, they quickly managed to regroup and organise a search for survivors. Their biggest priority of course was the safety of the Princesses.

They burst into the throne room only to see that they weren't the first ones to come to their aid. Princess Luna was there already and awakened Celestia and Shining Armor, Cadance however was still unconscious. Luna quickly noticed them and called two guards over.

"Guards! Please escort my niece back to her room and summon the medical staff to her! She is not well!" Two pegasi immediately flew over and took the pink alicorn off to her room while the rest of them were dismissed to aid the rest of their comrades with the rescue operations outside. Twilight raised an eyebrow upon the sight of the Princess of the Night. She didn't see a sight of her during the invasion and now that it was repelled, she suddenly appears and takes charge? But before she could question her, she heard her brother's voice.

"Twily..." The Captain groaned when he noticed his sister. He slowly got up from the throne and tried to stumble over to the mare, but Luna stopped him.

"At ease, Captain." She told him soothingly. "You are severely weakened. You need to rest." Shining frowned. He didn't want to rest. The capital of the country he was supposed protect as Captain of the Royal Guard was just invaded and he couldn't do anything to stop it. The love of his life was foalnapped and he was powerless to stop it too. He felt like a failure. He wanted to immediately go out there and began to help as much as he could, but he had no energy to do anything. He quickly sunk back onto the throne.

"Luna..." Celestia groaned to her sister. "What happened?" Luna gently squeezed her sister's hoof with her own.

"It's alright, sister. The threat has been averted. The Changelings have been defeated. Our little ponies are safe."

"Defeated?" Shining asked. "How? Half of the Guard has been abducted." Luna didn't answer. She didn't need to because Shining quickly figured it out. "It were them, weren't they?" The Princess of the Night merely nodded in response. Shining sighed as he leaned back on the throne with a dark look on his face. Twilight wanted to ask him if he was alright, but Luna beat her to it.

"Thank you for your aid, Twilight Sparkle. I will take it from here. You may leave." She told her before returning to tend to her sister. Twilight didn't want to comply but when she looked at her brother who quickly looked away, she could tell that the stallion didn't want her to see him like this, so in the end, she reluctantly left.

She returned to her room and sat down on her bed. She felt like she should be happy. After all, they have defeated the Changelings and saved Equestria, but the victory was bittersweet. Cadance still hasn't awoken, the city was in ruins and Celestia and her brother are going to take a very long time to recover. She didn't even know how Spike was doing.

She fell back on the bed as she sunk into her thoughts about what was gonna happen now. It was safe to say the wedding was off. The most logical move for her would be to pack up and head back to Manehattan. She could still catch the last train if she hurried. Spike would find his way back to the library. He always had an emergency stash of bits on him.

But then she remembered that she revealed her identity to six heroes she fought alongside with. That was a risky move that she wouldn't have even thought about making under normal circumstances, but she had to gain their trust. Before she left the city, it would be best to speak with all of them to make sure where she stood with them. And the opportunity for that would present itself earlier than she expected.

As she laid on her bed, a shadow was suddenly cast on her from the window. She looked up to see an equine figure floating behind the glass. She didn't need to be the world's greatest detective to know it was one of her new colleagues out there, wanting to talk to her. She opened the window to see Green Lantern in the air in front of her. The Emerald Mare was smiling warmly at her, but she seemingly struggled to say what she wanted.

"Uh... Hey." She said after a few seconds. "If it's okay with you, we'd like to meet with you at Donut Joe's. We'll be in our civilian identities. We talked about it and we decided it's only fair we all got to know each other." Twilight frowned in uncertainty. She wasn't really in the mood for socialising after everything they've been through, but she remembered that she wanted to talk to the other heroes anyway and this was the perfect opportunity for that. In the end, she tried to return the space cop's smile as best as she could as she replied.

"Sounds good. I'll meet you there."

Since she spent her entire foalhood in this city, Twilight would have normally had no trouble finding her way to Donut Joe's shop. She still knew her way, but actually making her way past the ruined buildings and large crowds of ponies who were trying to locate their friends and families among the ruins made the trip significantly harder.

She did eventually found her way to the building, which survived the battle with relatively little damage. Upon entering, she saw only one pony sitting at one of the tables whom she immediately recognised. It was none other than Fluttershy, the civilian idently of the Green Lantern. The pegasus also quickly recognised her, having seen her at the Atheneigh Library when she was researching Nightmare Moon.

"I never thought I'd be having lunch with the Batmare." She said once she made sure that nopony was listening in.

"The same could be said about me and the Green Lantern." Twilight replied as she sat down. "Where are the others?"

"They'll be coming soon. We agreed that I would be the first to greet you. That way, they would know which table to sit at if other customers would show up." Twilight nodded and turned to watch the entrance in anticipation of the others. Only a couple of minutes later, a pink earth pony bounced into the shop, humming a merry tune.

"Pinkie Pie, aka, Captain MareVel." Twilight identified her.

"Yup, that's me!" She said as she bounced to the table. "It is so nice to meet you, Twily!" She cheered, pulling the unicorn into a crushing embrace.

"Um... Likewise..." Twilight replied as she struggled to breath. She was afraid she might pass out, but thankfully Pinkie finally let go of her. 'Sweet Faust! Does she have super strength in her earth pony form as well?'

"Pinkie, remember. Restraint." Fluttershy reminded her.

"Oh, right, sorry!" Pinkie apologised, reaching a hoof out and taking Twilight's into hers before shaking it gently. "See, I'm learning!" She chuckled before sitting down. Twilight barely recovered from the ordeal before the door opened again and a couple of white unicorns walked with the stallion holding the door open for the mare.

"Prince Blueblood and Rarity." Twilight named them as they approached the table. "I think it should be clear who they are." Flutetrshy nodded.

"Indeed." She said as she stood up and shook the duo's hooves. As did Pinkie who finally remembered to retrain herself. The next one who entered the shop was Rainbow Dash.

"Greetings, Flash fans!" She called out to the group at the table as she flew up to them and landed in a chair. "Sorry for being late. I had to make sure my fellow Wonderbolts were ok." She explained before picking up a menu card. "You guys ordered without me?"

"Ordered?" Rarity asked. "I don't know if you've noticed, darling, but the shop is empty. There's nopony to order from."

"Works for me." Dash said, dashing over to the counter and returning with a tray of goods. "After literally saving the city, I'd say we deserve some free food." She said, licking her lips and preparing to devour the food.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that counts as looting." Twilight replied. "I thought superheroes are supposed to fight crime, not commit it." Rainbow sighed.

"Fine. I'll drop some bits at the counter once we're done, but now if you'll excuse me, I need to recharge myself after our fight." She then began to wolf down the food rather messily, much to Rarity's disgust.

"Just because you're the fastest mare alive, doesn't mean you have to be the fastest eater as well!" She scolded her, but the pegasus just waved her off, swallowing her food before turning back to Twilight.

"So you're the Batmare? I must admit, you're a lot shorter out of your costume." Twilight was not sure how to react to that, but she didn't have to.

"Ah, I see you have already gathered!" The six ponies turned to see the seventh member of their group standing over their table. Rainbow nearly choked on her food when she saw her.

"Hey! You're that reporter mare who photoed the Wonderbolts practices!" Lark Cent nodded.

"Eeyup!" She replied simply, much to the pegasus' aggravation.

"So you knew I was the Flash all this time?!" The reporter nodded again, pointing at his eyes.

"X-ray vision, sugarcube. I saw through all of your masks when we met." That shocked all the ponies at the table.

"Wow!" Rarity gasped. "No wonder Lark Cent is the best reported of the Daily Sun!"

"Thanks a lot, Rarity, but I must say, that is not my real name." Lark said and then removed her glasses and her vest, revealing her cutie mark and put her trusty hat on. "My real name is Applejack. I am but a humble farmer's daughter from Ponyville. I just use the Lark Cent alter ego to investigate strange goings on in Equestria without raising suspicion. It earns me a few extra bits and Supermare can always be where she is needed." The eyes of the ponies at the table widened. Even Twilight wasn't aware of that.

"Yeah, I can understand that." Blueblood said once he got over his shock. "I knew all about the uses of putting on masks even before I became Green Arrow." Applejack nodded.

"Indeed. And speaking of masks, I wanted to speak to all of you about ours." She said, finally sitting down. "What happened today would have been far too much for any of us to handle on our own. But together, we managed to save not only Canterlot but possibly all of Equestria. And I believe if another situation like this ever arises again, we should do the same." The six ponies around her listened closely. "I believe that if we combined our forces, we could become a force for justice and good unlike anything Equestria has ever seen." The others processed her words carefully.

"So basically what you're saying is..." Twilight began. "...we should continue working as a team." Applejack nodded.

"Eeyup. That's exactly what I'm saying. I reckon we saved a lot more ponies today than we ever did before put together. And if we can do that as a team, then that team is worth keeping up." She then raised her right hoof and placed it on the middle of the table. "Are you in?"

The others looked at each other in my contemplation. This was a big decision, but they couldn't deny Applejack raised some good points. They were Equestria’s most powerful defender and together, they could be even stronger. Eventually, a yellow hoof slowly but certainly joined the orange one.

"I am." Fluttershy replied. She wasn't one to make the first move in a group, but she really liked Applejack's idea and she knew the others needed a boost to be convinced. "You are right. Our powers combined could protect Equestria and its ponies from anything." Applejack smiled at her in gratitude.

"Anypony else?" Rainbow Dash shrugged casually.

"Rainbow Dash always has time for her fans! You guys are no exception!" She said, joining hoof with the others.

"What a marvellous idea, darling!" Rarity commented, addig her own hoof. "But I do have a condition."

"And what would that be?" Applejack asked curiously and slightly concerned.

"I will become the team's official stylist and you'll let me take a look at your suits! Becoming the fashion designers of superheroes is my fillyhood dream ever since you saved me from those bullies all those years ago!" Applejack's smile returned as she recalled that day. It felt good to be making such an impression on other ponies.

"I suppose this means I'm in as well!" Blueblood said, placing his hoof on his marefriend's. "Wherever my beloved goes, I shall be there by her side!"

"Oh, lucky me!" Rarity said dryly, causing the others to chuckle.

"I'm always down for making new friends!" Pinkie squealed, joining hooves with the others. "Ooh! That sounds good! We could call ourselves The Super Friends!" The others merely gave the pink mare odd looks at the suggestion of that absurd name. "Or not." Pinkie chuckled nervously. "Don't worry, I'll come up with something cooler."

"I'm sure you will, sugarcube." Applejack assured her before turning to Twilight. "I know you're not exactly the most sociable type, Twi and I know you'll be the toughest to convince, but we need you the most. Without your leadership, I'm not sure we would have triumphed today."

Twilight looked down. She wasn't sure she should do this. She always preferred to work alone. It took a lot of time until she convinced herself to partner up with Captain Garden. Not to mention that these godly beings were all worth a million of her. Did she really want to get involved in their affairs?

But the she realised that Applejack was right. Today, she saw for herself just what kind of threats were lurking out there. If another menace like the Changelings ever struck again, what could she do by herself? She looked at the six joined hooves in front of her and made up her mind. She stood up and placed hers right on top of theirs, sealing the deal, much to Applejack's delight.

"Thank you!" She said as she sat down.
"All of you! Alright, i think I kept you away from the delicious treats this shop has to offer long enough. It's time to enjoy our well earned feast!"

"I couldn't agree more!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she grabbed more treats for herself. As the ponies around the table began to eat and share stories above their adventures, something caught Twilight's eye. She looked out the window and saw a familiar figure standing there.

Jean Jeans was looking her straight in eye through the glass and she immediately knew that he wanted to talk to her. She excused herself from the tablet and walked out to confront the observer. She immediately noticed how empty the streets surrounding them suddenly became. The guards probably escorted all the ponies around here to safety at this point.

"Congratulations, Miss Sparkle!" He said. "You and your colleagues have managed to live up to my every expectation." It was clear that they both knew what the other was at this point, so Twilight dropped the facade.

"You knew the whole time, didn't you?" She asked. "You knew about the Changelings. You knew about who we were. You orchestrated everything so that we would meet and be at the wedding exactly when they struck." Jean didn't even flinch at the accusations.

"Yes." He replied simply. "I have. I asked my mistress not to interfere and to let me set these events in motion. I knew the threat looming over our heads can only be defeated by a union of Equestria’s greatest defenders. We needed you together. Equestria needed you." Twilight narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Who are you?"

"I have gone by many names." Jean replied. "And taken many forms. I come from a world long since gone. Much like your kryptonian friend in there. I have made connection with Princess Luna while she was sealed inside the moon and came back with her upon her release." Twilight's eyes widened.

"You're an alien?" In response, Jean closed his eyes and his body began to glow with radiant light. Twilight had to protect his eyes but she could still see Jean's body changing. When the light faded, a pure white equine figure was standing in front of her with no hair on his body, blood red, pupilless eyes and wearing a long blue cape attached to his back by two belts that formed an X like shape on his body.

"I am the last of those who once inhabited the moon of your planet. My world is gone, but I have found a new home here at the side of my mistress. I have already lost one home and I'm not about to lose another. If you would allow me, I would very much like to join your congregation." It took Twilight to get over her shock, but she realised she shouldn't be so surprised at existence of another alien. She's seen stranger things after all.

"Well, we'll take all the help we can get so... welcome aboard, I guess." Jean nodded in gratitude.

"I knew I chose wisely when I elected your leadership to build the team around, Miss Sparkle. We couldn't have won the day without it. Your husband would be proud of you." Twilight's face fell at the mention of High Culture. She often wondered how he would feel about her career as Batmare. She didn't know why, but this stranger's words reassured her as she felt they were true.

"I hope so." Twilight whispered sadly. An awkward silence fell upon the two for a few seconds which Jean finally broke.

"Well, if you need me, you know where to find me." He said as he was about to turn away, but suddenly stopped. "Oh, and since your friends all have their crimefighting aliases, you can refer to me as the Lunar Hunter." He told her before vanishing in front of her eyes. Twilight wasn't even surprised at this point.

"Guess I'll see you around." She mused before turning to return to her new friends inside.

In a dark and bleak land far away from Equestria, a pitch black castle was towering over the rest of the crude buildings of the landscape that looked like it was made of chitin, surrounded by hundreds of Changelings both on the ground and in the air.

Genaral Scutellum landed in front of the stairs that lead up to the castle’s entrance looking up at the enormous gates in anticipation. He had the duty of reporting to his queen about the Battle of Canterlot and reporting to the Changeling queen could be a matter of life and death. Often the latter.

He looked around at the surrounding Changelings who have all fled in terror when their general's eyes fell on them before making his way up the stairs and inside the castle. He made his way to the throne room where as he expected, Pharynx was waiting for him with a taunting smirk on his face.

"Mighty Scutellum. Running home in defeat with his tail between his legs." He mocked, earning an angry growl from the much bigger Changeling. "The queen is expecting you. And I assume she's not going to be happy when she hears that her finest warrior failed to take Canterlot." Scutellum just stared down at Pharynx contemptuously before his lips curled up into a smug smirk of his own.

"But that was never the objective." Pharynx frowned in confusion as the general made his way past him and entered the throne room where the Queen of all Changelings was waiting for him on her throne, looking down at Scutellum stoically. Scutellum stood in front of her and fell down onto his knees.

"My queen, thy will is done." He reported as he pulled out the orb of light his mages extracted from Cadance. "The artifact is yours."

The queen ignited her horn and levitated the orb onto her hoof. Her lips curled up into an evil smirk as she stared at it, the outline of her face illuminated by its light. She was right to assume that the Princess of Love would hold what she needed deep inside her.

Love was what gave Changelings power and with this artifact, she could obtain the love of all creatures in existence. She almost didn't dare to believe it. After all these years, ultimate power was within a front leg's reach of her. The Anti-Love Equation was finally hers!

Author's Notes:

And thus concludes Omnibus 1 of the Justice League of Equestria! Phew! What a relief to finally wrap this chapter up. It was the longest by far, but as the conclusion of Omnibus 1, I believe it's fitting wouldn't you agree? Despite its length, I hope you will enjoy it!

Speaking of length, one of my readers suggested that I drop the five issue system and settle on traditional chapters instead for the next set of stories and honestly, I'm really tempted to go along with it. These issues have been a pain to write at some points and this way I wouldn't have to cram so much into one chapter which would mean not only would I be able to update more often, but also wouldn't exhaust myself with writing. On the other hand, I really liked the comic booky style this system gave to this story and I'm afraid the sequel would feel way too different if I changed it. So I'm asking you guys, what do you think? Would you like to see shorter chapters and faster updates? I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Either way, the next omnibus will contain the following seven stories:

The Lunar Hunter Vol. 1: Son of the Moon
The Batmare Vol. 2: The Bat and the Bird
The Alicorn Amazon Vol. 1: War and Love
The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 2: The Return of Black Adam
Titans Vol. 1: Legacy of Heroes
The Mare of Steel Vol. 2: Survivors
The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 2: The Crime Syndicate

Once again, thank you all very much for reading this story! I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you'll stick with me on the rest of this journey as well. For now, I'm concluding this first set of stories. See you all very soon!

MLDC: The Justice League of Equestria - Omnibus 1

by littleman001

The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #1: Hunter in the Night

The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #2: The Legend of the Batmare

The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #3: An Ace In The Hole

The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #4: The Killing Joke

The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #5: The Dark Knight Rises

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #1: A God To Them

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #2: A Symbol of Hope

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #3: Mare of Tomorrow, Stallion of Yesterday

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #4: Born On A Monday

The Mare of Steel Vol. 1: A Pony of Two Worlds: Issue #5: Homecoming

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #1: To Overcome Great Fear

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #2: Ring Slinging

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #3: The Lantern War

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #4: Nightmare Moon's Might

The Emerald Mare Vol. 1: Succession: Issue #5: Green Lantern's Light

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #1: The Evil Within

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #2: A Champion of Pure Heart

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #3: The Word of Power

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #4: Corruption

The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #5: Divide and Conquer

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #1: The Scarlet Speedster

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #2: Old Friends, New Enemies

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #3: Crime Wave

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #4: Honor Among Theives

The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #5: The Battle of Maretropolis

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #1: Royal Pain

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #2: Assassination

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #3: Survival

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #4: Hunters Become Hunted

Canary & Arrow Vol. 1: Battle Hardened: Issue #5: Returnal

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #1: Family Matters

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #2: The Winds of Change

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #3: Descent

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #4: The Calm Before The Storm

The Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1: Invasion: Issue #5: Unity