Equestrian City - Episode 1 'Pilot'

Rarity shot up from bed, grasping in front of her, and gasping for air. As the nightmare washed itself away, she became more and more aware of just where she was and what was going on. The darkness of her room was only broken by the night glow from the city outside, the beams of light scattered by her decorative window panes.

She reached to the nightstand next to her, pushing aside various knicknacks and prescriptions to grab a small unfinished glass of scotch. Sitting on the edge of the bed she wiped her brow and noticed the translucent gown she’d been wearing now clinging to her with sweat. She downed the glass unceremoniously and picked up an expensive watch to check the time.

She sighed and put her head in her hands and her lavender hair, which was usually well kept, but now crept over her shoulders. She sniffled once before bringing her head back and grabbing her cigarette case.

"Four years of therapy and I still have issues. Wonderful...” The filter moved as she mumbled to herself. "I'd be better off burning the money." A puff of white smoke followed her brief inhale as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes. Staring up at the ceiling, she watched as the smoke trailed up into the custom etched plating. The rest of the room was similarly lavish as well.. All part of a way to compensate for loss, at least that's what her therapist had repeatedly told her. She wasn't sure what to make of it herself.

After all there's nothing wrong with having classy things. She'd always enjoyed making dresses and material, that's why she was so successful. In fact, many a Saturday she'd spend making and creating new fashion and ideas, sometimes even Sweetie Bell would—

She halted her thoughts as she stared up at the smoke disappearing from sight. She closed her eyes again as a small set of tears streamed down her cheeks.

She cursed and stands up, walking to a small cabinet, the plush carpet curling around her white toned skin and bare feet. She stopped and pulled out a bottle of high end scotch. She filled half of the glass, then poured a little more before setting down the bottle and returning to the bed with her prize.

Reaching over to the nightstand she fumbled for the remote and turned on her flat screen. The nightly news filtered in, audio first followed by an image of a well dressed, but distinctly tired sounding news anchor appeared.

“Authorities are still unsure what to make of the recent increase in armed robberies in the Industrial Sector. Citing an ongoing investigation, no details have been released on what goods were or were not stolen” The middle aged man clears his throat as he moves his gaze to a new camera.  “Three suspects are in custody this evening after turning themselves into ECPD officers on break at a local diner. Police say the suspects were practically beating the door down to be arrested. Confessing to a nearby armed assault and a number of other petty crimes, all three seemed to have suffered massive blunt force trauma as well as first and second degree burns.”

Rarity took a sip of her scotch, barely registering the news, the dull whine in the back of her mind getting softer with each drink. Standing up and walking in front of the bed she took off her gown and opened her wardrobe, eyeing up similar, but still subtly different gowns.

“When questioned on their sudden change of heart, one suspect claimed that a female vigilante who most gangs of the area have been calling The Flame or Lady Blaze,” the anchor said giving a small chuckle. “I guess she's been putting in some overtime recently. Authorities indicate this is the ninth time a group has begged to be arrested this week.”

Rarity slipped on a light green gown and closes the wardrobe behind her, never once letting go of her drink. She made her way back to bed and hopped in, crossing her legs and taking a drag from her burning cigarette.

“There's someone who's making a difference,” she mumbled, her eyes droopy. “She doesn't have to worry about whatever Coco wants signed or what Spoons wants to talk about. She's got it right.” She slumped forward a bit and sighed. The television droned on as time slipped away in her state of semi-consciousness until something the anchor had said snapped her out of it.

“This Friday marks ten years since the catastrophe of Canterlot. It seems it was only yesterday we welcomed the survivors of the suburbs into Equestrian City. Investigators ruled the cause of the massive explosion was a ruptured gas main that failed under the main high school. Tragically  the explosion took place during an evening of celebration by students and parents alike in the form of a musical competition.”

Rarity stared at the screen as pictures that haunted her flashed across. The devastation, the burning buildings, the sinkholes, the emergency workers and the cadaver dogs.  

She choked a moment and took another sip of her drink to make the world dim again.

“Hundreds dead or injured, the explosion will be marked by moments of silence for those students and parents lost, you can see coverage of that with us later today. In the world of business, Tiara Technologies lost a bid to acquire a majority shareholding in—”

Rarity turned the TV off and sat in silence, only the occasional car horn from the streets far below breaking her trance. She stared at the ash of her cigarette as it grew slowly. Finally she came to her senses and knocked it into an ashtray and turned off her night lamp.

There with her two coping mechanisms, as they'd been called, she sat and went through several stages of whimpering and anger. Finally, she finished her smoke and downed the entire last half of her glass. Satisfied and half-buzzed, she slipped back into slumber as the covers and her pillow engulfed her slender body, the dreams would stay away this time after such a barrage of vices.

Or so she hoped.

***

Sunset Shimmer landed on the roof of her apartment building stealthily, but far from grace. She'd cut the flames she used to jump a few blocks back and using only her acrobatic skills had scaled the wall and made her way to it the hard way. Part of her needed to be secretive about her life at night. No one could know who she really was. She'd been hiding everything about herself and didn't want these ten years to go to waste.

Getting back on her feet, she grunted and held her left side, taking off her wrist length glove to probe at the pain, she winced again and gritted her teeth. She hissed a second more but moved to enter her apartment window, thankfully on the top floor facing a brick wall. Closing the blinds behind her, she threw off her safety glasses that hid her true eye color and pulled off her other glove. Tossing them aside and pulling her yellow belt out of its loops she grunted again.

“Must have been that pipe hit...” she whispered as she took off her small jacket with greater difficulty as it aggravated the area more. Leaving herself in her two piece body suit with the stitched flames she sat down on her bed carefully and began to pull her boots off. Growling as the one side was harder to remove than the other Sunset gritted her teeth and finally unbuttoned her body suit at the crotch, pulling it off was by far the worst as pain shot through her spine and up her left shoulders. She cursed and bit her lip as the left side peeled away roughly indicating to her that she was or had been bleeding.

Finally, after a small amount of work she was barefoot and wearing just her spandex bottoms which had a similar flame pattern on them. A moment of silence passed as she stretched and more pain followed. Sunset gave a frustrated grunt and as she walked to the small bathroom the cool green tiles were a relief to her rugged night.

Using the small mirror, she turned left and pulled off her sports bra carefully as it agitated further what was now apparent. Running along her amber skin was a diagonal cut. Sighing in annoyance, she opened the cabinet and pulled out various items. Among them was hydrogen peroxide, and a small sewing kit. She went out quickly and turned on the television to hide the unpleasant sounds coming soon. Closing the door she began to examine the size of the gash as the news resumed.

“—shareholding in Diamond Labs this week. Both companies have been trying to receive city grants to supply the ECPD with technology upgrades to their meta human crime unit, J.U.S.T.I.C.E., which was formed just three years ago in an effort to battle the rise of so called super powered crime. Commander Spitfire of the unit was quoted as saying ‘I don't really care who wins, because if we don't start getting our people on par with the enhanced criminals, we all lose.”

A series of groans came from the bathroom, but thankfully the television was covering most of it up as Sunset mended her cuts and abrasions.

“Diamond Tiara, CEO of Tiara Technologies, was unavailable for comment but Rare Innovations Spokesperson, Coco Pommel, released a statement condemning the underhanded tactic to simply buy out her competition, citing ‘money can't make all your problems go away’ and they would not be intimidated. CEO Rarity Belle was not reachable for comment as she was said to be away on a business related outing at the time of this broadcast.”

Sunset came back into the main room and turned the TV down. Opening a pack of over the counter pain relievers she shook her head at the broadcast. “Now there's someone who's got it good. Never having to worry about where your next rent is coming from. That girl’s got the perfect life..” She pulled out a can of of hair dye and sprayed it on her red and yellow patterned hair, a second later the can was empty as she tossed it into a trash can full of the same bottles.

“I should invest in this stuff...buy enough of it.” She smirked and held her hands above her head for a moment, concentrating her hands burst into a controlled flame and the color of her hair turned brunette. She shook her hands to extinguish them and walked back to a half open closet and pulled out a small waitress uniform.

Working out of the rest of her “hero” outfit she began dressing for work. A combination of pink and white she adjusted her hair in the mirror and put on a pair of sensible shoes. Finally grabbing her purse and picking up a name tag she pinned it to her chest and straightened it out. The letters on it spelled ‘Becky’.

She checked her now dark hair and was satisfied no one would recognize her as either Lady Blaze or Sunset Shimmer, she turned and exited the small apartment, locking the door as the TV turned off on a timer.

***

Twilight hurriedly walked along the castle grounds, a set of books hovering behind her as one nearly obscured her vision in front. She brushed several ponies and apologized quickly before finally making it to the main throne room. She stopped and quickly took notice, despite her deep concentration on her work, that the doors hung loosely open and there were no guards.

Carefully, she set her books down and peered into the room, gasping as the room’s darkness came into focus. Along the once majestic pillars were bodies of fallen guards, each in a state of decay that would indicate they’d been there for years. The stained glass windows were all destroyed save the one in the back, the one that depicted the mirror that had originally brought her to the human world.

Galloping in, she dodged the debris and the carnage best she could, finally coming to the center of the room, where five cloaked ponies circled something. A casket sat open, the occupant was hard to determine, but she moved her way in to get a better look only to startle herself again. The hooded ponies were all her friends!

“Pinkie Pie?!” she said, taken back by her friends state. Her once cheery demeanor gone, her hair had gone flat, and her cheeks were sunken in as if she’d not eaten in weeks. Her stare remained on the casket, and behind the casket, what was left of the mirror, cracked and falling apart.

“What’s going on here? Applejack? Rarity?!” Twilight desperately tried to shake her friends for response, only to get nothing but a cold stare of emptiness. Finally she turned to look at the casket, and moved closer to see past the flowers, past the frilly coverings, and into the actual coffin.

Twilight’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

Princess Celestia lay in the silk coffin, her crown next to her. Twilight couldn’t even begin to make any words come out as she tried desperately to scream in denial of the situation. Shaking her head slowly, the purple alicorn backed up once, only to be pushed back by her wall of silent friends. She turned back to the casket and cried out, as Celestia was simply standing there, the casket was gone, and a stern look on her face as the rest of the world seemed to fade away.

“Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick about you,” Celestia asked sternly.

“I..I’m trapped, the… the portal… ten years ago...” Twilight stammered, reality starting to sink in.

“You’ve had five years? My prized pupil couldn’t reconstruct a portal in five whole years!?” Celestia scowled at Twilight, circling her slowly.

“She didn’t even use that time wisely…” Applejack suddenly popped up from the side, making a wider circle around her.

“She tried for a little while sure, but like most assume, she gave up after a year… A YEAR!” Pinkie Pie joined in.

“Then she went and felt sorry for herself, and simply started over, she forgot about us.” Rainbow Dash flew in and hovered.

“No… no that's not true...Spike and I both worked hard..” Twilight tried to turn herself into a small ball as the world felt like it was closing in on her.

“My poor Spikey, if it weren’t for you, he’d be alive now! When he changed into a dog you didn’t even THINK to consider his lifespan would change too! Admit it! You failed him! YOU FAILED EVERYPONY!” Rarity screamed at her, the circle growing bigger.

“She’s just forgotten about all of us, we could be dead for all she knows. She doesn't care, she’s got her new world to explore!” Fluttershy came in, completing the circle.

“I… no… that’s not right. I didn’t…” Twilight began to cry as she covered herself up with her wings, the acquisitions of her friends and mentor growing louder and louder, finally she looked up and saw her location had changed… She was in a cemetery! “Where…?”

The voices vanished, and she stared up at the gravestone as a clap of thunder filled her ears. The name read Spike. Stumbling back, she let out a terrifying gasp as the ground opened up and what remained of her dog dug its way out, and began to speak.

“I was always there for you… Why didn’t you help me. Why didn’t you think? You let me die!” Spike croaked, his vocal cords in a state of decay.

Twilight shook her head and turned to run, only to bounce into the wall of her friends, hard enough to shove her backwards and onto her side. Opening her eyes, she realized quickly she was in a coffin herself!

“Since she’s given up on her friends, mentor and home world, we hereby declare Twilight Sparkle … dead!” Celestia’s voice boomed like thunder, a massive clump of dirt falling on the top of the coifin. Pounding on the casket and screaming for help she cried out for anyone, her hands and nails bloody from scratching at the lid, she—

—wait..fingers?

Twilight grunted as she rolled off a small cot in the lab, waking her up with a thud. Hair frazzled and her senses still returning to her. She sat up and dusted herself off, lab coat in a disarray from sleeping in it.

“Well, that's not going in my dream journal…” she said softly and ran her hands over her face, heart still racing from her dream.  

Twilight stood up completely and stretched her sleep stiffness away. The lab was filled with the delicate hum of various computers running programs. The screens all were flickering away as computations ran and scrolled by at a quick pace. She'd left her projects to cook for a while as she began work on another one, once she'd fallen asleep. The mess of papers around the cot was clue enough she obviously hadn't slept enough lately but she silently knelt down and picked them up. Rearranging them as she walked back to the main console she passed a sign that read “Diamond Labs: Research & Development” in a very stylish font.

Pulling up a small office chair to the main console, she set her papers aside and logged back into the system screen, a keyboard awkwardly sat angled to her preference. Three main screens popped on above her and three different project names showed states of progress.

Turning to the left, she saw ‘Propulsion’ and a sixty-seven percent complete report. Below it were several commands that were waiting to be used. The computers were configured to do the menial work and stop when the project hit the end of a stage. The input needed was the vital parameters for simulations to run and compare to safety numbers to prevent explosion or death. Few keystrokes, and the screen popped up a wire mesh of mixtures jet engines she'd been working on. Two major flaws had been corrected this round and they were ready for final simulations.

Twilight squinted a bit as she read over the equations and examined the blueprints, finally after another check of things she was satisfied to move to the near final stages as she clicked ‘compile’ and switched to the right screen. The progress read eighty-one percent complete. The title flashed across “Polymer Armor” and seemed to have passed all stress tests. Her hand rolled across a track ball and examined the formula from all sides before double clicking on an approval button. The machine processed a moment and then she was prompted again.

‘Begin crafting prototype?’

She pursed her lips and nodded slightly as she approved and a wire frame of a loose set of combat armor appeared on screen before she approved it.

Sighing and rubbing her eyes at the bridge of her nose, she leaned back and beneath her the sound of heavy equipment kicking into gear could be felt through the floor. Fabrication tools and chemical injections filled her ears. Scrunching her nose, she pulled out a pair of large headphones and turned towards the center screen. The world went silent to her as she typed a login password and a voice pattern loaded up.

“Hi, Twilight.” The sound came across her headphones as the pattern played. She adjusted a few digital sliders and the pitch changed as she played it again.

“Almost...” she said out loud as she fumbled a bit more, having no real audio sample she'd had to do this all by ear. It had taken weeks but she was nearly done.

“Hi, Twilight!” the voice repeated at a much too high pitch that made her shake her head. She worked with delicate movements as the factory center below sounded in a synchronized pattern.

“Hi… Twilight…” the voice garbled as she set it to repeat now and took the track ball in hand to fine tune the voice. The program accepted all the commands as the night wore on, the main program that listed was a program she'd made in her spare time called Strategic Predictional Interactive Kernel, or S.P.I.K.E. for short.


***

Night had fallen on the burrow of Southside Equestrian City and few cars were left on the streets. Two shadowed figures approached the back of the laundromat. Paying little attention to the noise, one set of hands went to work on the back doors lock with a crowbar.

The second was the fact that after The Canterlot Disaster this was the first place where so called super crime began to poke its head up, during which law enforcement nearly collapsed. The quick intervention by Commissioner Luna in creating a super crime task force was half of what turned the tide.

The members of the newly formed Judicial Specialized Tactical Intervention City Enforcers or J.U.S.T.I.C.E., were aided by select citizens who didn't want to enlist but wanted to make a difference in defending their home or neighborhoods from the growing wave of crime. As crime spread, so did the appearance of the “heroes”, from all over the city. Glad for the help the police tolerated the vigilantes, after all with all the sudden work, they could use the help.

Needless to say, the burrow of Southside was dangerous and seldom patrolled at night.

“Bless the city for its fear,” A large barrel chested man said under his breath. He grunted as he leveled the crowbar onto the lock, slowly working his way in. The other, a slender and taller man, was the more nervous of the two played lookout, darting his head back and forth.

“Hurry up would ya, Louie, I'm nervous...they say that—” he started to say as his nerves jittered.

“Ain't no way that ho is gunna bother with a laundromat job,” Louie said cracking the wood slowly at the lock. “News has been all aflutter about those industrial robberies, way more important than some quarters, Swirl.”

Coffee Swirl swallowed and checked the roofs again, unconvinced. “She's everywhere they say. They say she can't be shot. They say she—”

“I bet she drinks blood and eats her prey, yeah yeah...hogwash...” he wrestled with the lock and then popped it finally the entire fixture falling as he did. “There we go. Let's go buddy…”

The back of the laundromat smelled like hot air and fabric softener as they both crept in. Spread out were clothes and shipments for the entire burrow ready for tomorrow's delivery. The books didn't interest Louie as he scanned around the room. Finally, he smiled under his ski mask and pointed towards a safe under the desk with his crowbar.

“Say, how we gunna break that open?” Swirl asked curiously only to get a crowbar to the stomach. He held his chest and looked at his partner.

“We won't need to. I gots the combination.” he smiled and pulled his mask up revealing a human like skin tone of peach and beard stubble. “We just open her up and she's all ours for the night.”

Suddenly, the entire facility lost power and only one emergency light in the distance was visible.

“That's no way to treat a lady, boys.” A voice said from darkness. They both gave a start and Louie reached for his snub nose revolver, pulling it from his back holster.

“I… I think it's her Louie!” Swirl panicked immediately and tried to turn only to stumble over bags of linen and towels.

“Shut up, no names and no panicking.” He pulled his mask down as his partner tried to regain his composure and cooked the hammer on his pistol. “No witnesses.” He aimed at the last place he heard a voice and fired once hitting a wall.

“Ha. You aim like a blind man,” the girl said, her voice slightly raspy but still had a youthful zeal about it. “Tell ya what, give up now and you and your boyfriend will still be able to eat solid food when I'm done. Promise.”

“Louie and I ain't—” Swirl started to say as he pulled out his own revolver but shook while holding it only to get hit in the head again.

“Shut up, Swirly!” Louie growled firing at another location and hitting a dryer.

“Hey, you said no names!” Swirly coughed back at his partner.

“Shut up. LISTEN,” Louie said and the soft sound of movement behind them triggered both them and their pistols to open fire.

“Got ‘er!” Louie said pulling out a small stick light and shining it at a smoking pile of cushions.

“Congratulations!” A female voice said behind them followed by a set of hard hits from a metal staff in her hands. “You’ve killed a sofa,” she finished as both thugs held their hands having been disarmed by the strikes.

The secondary power kicked on and the room lit up blinding both men temporarily though it had little effect on the woman.

Swirl pointed at her. “It’s… it's the… she’s… it's her!” he stammered and backed up. The girl was dressed in a seemingly one piece outfit made of a high performance sport material. The designs on her reflected lightning bolts over a two tone base of black and deep purple. Hair tied behind her head, a mask concealed her face and eyes which were covered by opaque yellow glass under the mask itself. She smirked and her white teeth contrasted her blue hued skin as she twirled her metal staff and set into a defensive position.

“Shadow Strike.” Louie said pulling out a knife.

“Now are ya going to come peacefully or are we doing this the fun way?” she smiled at them both as they split up trying to get an advantage on her. “Guess I shouldn't even ask.”

Shadow Strike knew her honed senses were more than a match for these amateurs; but her special gifts from “The Event”, which put her so far above them that she almost felt bad about facing off, almost.

Louie was the first to move as he took an over generous step towards her; the thrust he used meant to open her up in the abdomen. It never connected as Shadow Strike stepped back and spun the back end of her staff down and hard to impact his gloved hand. The firm smack of metal to bone evident of the technique working as she hears the sound of metal hitting the concrete and Louie growling and cursing. Louie held his hand in agony as the pain radiated through it and motioned for Swirl to go after her.

Swirl’s technique as well as his body language telegraphed the horizontal slice that hit nothing but air. Strike disarms him just as quickly and waits for them to realize what she does already: they're outmatched.

Focusing back on the brains of the two, Strike tapped the concrete near the first knife and sent it flying into the window of the office. The glass shattered as she brings the snub end of her elbow to knock the large man out as it connects to the back of his neck, effective but not lethal. Louie felt nothing as the lights went out for him.

With terror in his eyes, the slender one threw his knife at her in desperation. The silver blade flipped end over end as flicks of light shine off it during its journey to the side of Strike’s head. Seemingly as if out of instinct, she grabbed the blade in mid-flight and turned her head towards Swirl as his eyes went wide in disbelief. He immediately broke for the back door.

Sirens blared as Strike walked to the back door,  hopping over a pile of laundry Strike picked up a roll of laundry tokens about six inches long and flipped it to test its weight a few times as she walked after Swirl. Not a word was spoken as she throws it with pinpoint accuracy and knocked the terrified robber out. Two police cars screeched to a halt in front of him as he sprawled out on the pavement.

The police officers quickly dispersed and drew their weapons on the suspect as well as Shadow Strike. A quick back and forth glance and they realize she's gone.

Watching from a rooftop, Rainbow Dash, or Shadow Strike as she'd become to be known, was able to see everything. The Canterlot Disaster taken her sight, but at the same time bestowed a radar like ability to see everything around her. Similar to sonar and echolocation technology, she watched each time as a ping sent back images of both criminals being handcuffed and drug out of the cleaners. Both men were awake by the time they got to the squad cars, both cursing the name of Shadow Strike as they were caught red-handed at the scene of the crime.

Rainbow Dash spun her staff once and its ends retracted into it as she turned and walked from the ledge of the roof. Watching everything as people nearby open their windows or doors to see what the commotion was about her senses ping the scene as backup arrived and she calmly left them to process the criminals she'd stop.

‘Another one bites the dust,’ she thought as she clipped the hand sized compacted staff to her slim belt, her hair blowing in the wind that picks up. It was time to go home.

A sharp striking noise made her head tilt as she listened to the world around her that she cannot see but still registered. Another identical sound followed by wood cracking again, the distinct sound of another break in.

‘Maybe one more won't hurt,’ she thought with a smile and picked up pace across the rooftops towards a small pay day loan company two blocks away.

***

Sirens screeched as a pair of ECPD squad cars barely made a right turn in the Central Sector of Equestrian City. Pursuing a pair of armored trucks, they took another right and followed them towards the next exit and on the way towards the Industrial Sector. Finally, the squad cars began to make up for distance as their engines roared on the straightaway.

“Cops are gaining, what are we gunna do to lose em!?” a high pitched man asked frantically into his headset mic. “We’re gunna run out of road fast here!” he finished, steering and trying to compensate for the amount of weight he was driving.

A slightly annoyed female voice answered back into his earpiece, startling him. “SILENCE. Trixie needs time to do the next part, just make sure you keep driving to the drop off point.” The radio cut abruptly.

Both officers grit their teeth as another turn nearly caused them to go sailing into Horseshoe Bay. Recovering quickly, they gained on the rear of the second truck. Lights flashed and sirens blared as the squad cars were just about on the truck's bumper when a small window on the back door of it opened and a gloved hand tossed out an oval shaped object. The orb hit the windshield of the police cruiser and cracked open instantly giving of a blinding flash that disoriented the lead car and sent it flying into a large mess of shipping crates on the right.

“EC 27 is down, 29 still in pursuit!” the officer in the second squad car give a concerned look to the wreck of a car but maintain speed to stop their prey. Taking a hard right, the tires on all vehicles squealed in protest but didn't give out. “Requesting back up!”

“Backup en route Officer Snips, ETA 20 minutes. Maintain visual.” the radio blared back at him.

“I don't think I have that long, dispatch. This one's got tricks up their sleeve!” Snips answered narrowly missing a massive stack of barrels.

Before another word was uttered, the doors to the second van opened suddenly. A shadowed cloaked figure whipped out three orbs and slammed the doors shut. As they connected to the ground a massive smoke screen suddenly manifested and Snips lost his sight on the truck. He missed a turn and ended up flipping his car, his safety harness locking him in place as the car rattles and comes to a halt.

“EC 29, report status.” the radio chirped to an now Officer Snips, as several cuts and abrasions start to slowly bleed.

***

Trixie Lulamoon slammed the doors shut again and picked up a small hand sized radio from her belt.

“How far?” she asked calmly. A short burst of static sounded then the radio chirped back.

“We're in position for the transfer. Be sure you are alone.” A stern yet sultry female voice responded.

“Trixie knows how to keep them distracted. Be ready.” She clipped the radio to her belt and adjusted her coat, thick form fitting leather with a hint of blue to match her azure skin tone. Complete with a set of thick leather gloves and a side satchel for her homemade bombs,Trixie didn't have any particular powers, but was eager to try and get them regardless. In the meantime this would have to do.

‘For now, anyway,’ she said aloud watching as a flicker in the distance started to gain on the truck.

***


Pinkie Pie let out a small sigh of relief as she closed the back doors of her van, the words ‘Pinkie's Parties and Promotions’ displaying proper as the doors closed.

“Whew, another job done, another satisfied customer. Good thing too, cuz I'm bush—” she stopped as a small squeal in her van caught her attention. Leaning in, she listened as a police band scanner reported a pursuit across the docks. A lazy smile came across her face as her pink hue shifts in place for a moment, freeing her head from the front window and letting her slide open the side of her van.

“Oh well. All in a day’s work for a superhero!” she said to herself as the door slid shut and a split second later opened again. Emerging from the van Split-Second, as she was known as in costume, stretched her tired limbs. A full bodysuit made of a friction resistant material and colored a light grey covered her body. A pair of matching calf high flat boots and wrist length gloves match in color. The material flexed as she looked left and right to ensure no one saw her.

Across the entire outfit was a medium yellow lightning pattern, one she chose herself after much deliberation, the color matching the frame of her wrap around goggles.  The suit terminated just past her chin with the goggles anchoring it in place to cover her ears and sides of her head. Puffy pink hair still flowed behind her, her hair oddly ignoring drag when she ran.

“Docks here I come!” Split-Second adjusted her goggles and bolted, leaving a zigzag pink bolt behind her, faster than the eye could process.

Just as quickly, she returned and pulled out a small key fob. Clicking the top button, the van chirped as its alarm armed and off like a shot she went again.

***

Trixie pulled open her side satchel and counted her remaining bombs. Half a dozen and one extra in her chest pouch. Next to it was a large gem about the size of her hand, its red color reflecting her own blue tone skin as it seemed to flicker on its own. The mesmerizing effect took ahold of her, only the abrupt rattle of the truck as it turned knocked her free of its hold.

Her radio chirped again to her disdain and she grabbed the side and clicked the side. “What is it! Trixie is busy!” she said abruptly into the mic.

“Almost at the fork boss!” the man radioed back.

Trixie smiled and opened a small window slit and noticed the flicker from before was closer. “And she's almost here..” Trixie said, abruptly closing the slit.

***

Split-Second zipped past the cars in her way speeding towards the docks. Hearing basic sounds of awe as people noticed her quickly fading behind her. The world for her was slowed to almost a crawl as her superspeed powers surge through her body. She noticed a squad car and a lone officer inside barely conscious.

Snails didn't know what hit him as a pink and grey blur pulled him from his car and safely to a bench a few blocks back. Split-Second smiled, returning to the chase, zigging and zagging as she maneuvered the docks. Leaping over fallen crates and debris along the way, she saw another cruiser, this one was smoking and clearly a danger. Examining it, she noticed another lone officer, but his door was half open and the hinges were bent.

“Not a problem...” she thought to herself as she quickly began to rock it back and forth with such speed, friction and wear took its toll fast and the door simply fell off as smoke began to overcome the inside. Unhooking Officer Snips from his harness, she applied the same technique in on the last buckle when the sound of the ignition of fuel caught her ear.

‘Not much time left…’ she thought as she turned and pulled the officer with her as the car exploded behind her, sending both of them flying from the blast. Catching the officer sirens begin to close in on her location as she drug him to a safe location and in a flash of pink entered pursuit again.

“My head hurts...” Snips’ slurred speech was the last she heard before the next corner put too much distance and obstacles between them. A glance to her right gave her a glimpse of a taillight just moving out of her vision behind a warehouse along the piers. Kicking up her speed, the pink hued girl took a corner with a sharp left, using a light poke to rebound off of and another to change direction with a sharp left.

“Ah ha.” She smiled silently to herself as the truck came into her sights. “Just a few more steps.”

***

Trixie tightened her jacket and pulled up a mask concealing her lower face. An old style wizard hat completed the outfit as she pulled a smaller radio from her back and flicked the switch.

“Trixie is ready.” she said calmly and banged on the front of the truck's walls as a signal for the eight drivers to it to self drive off a pier. “Get clear. Trixie no longer requires you.”

The masked driver fixed the wheel and accelerator before bailing out. Trixie pulled three silver orbs from her pack and kicked open the back door, hurling them down to the ground. Each one cracks open and a violent mixture of chemicals generated a massive smoke screen, concealing her from view.

Pulling a large grey looking chunk of clay from her pack, Trixie slapped it hard to the inside ceiling of the truck and jumped with a hand on her hat, tucking and rolling into a pile of wood pallets with a mattress on them, letting out a grunt. Recovering quickly, she ducked into one of the seemingly endlessly silent warehouses, its door opening with a key she quickly threw into a trash can.

Slamming it closed behind her, Trixie pulled her mask down and walked to the lone occupant who sat in a single chair under a light, their back to them. A hypnotic humming came from behind the chair.

“Trixie is late.” The humming stopped as the figure spoke. The occupant stood up and walked into the shadows. “Do you have the item? “

“Trixie has her end. Do you have what she asked for?” Trixie pulled out the large gem and kept it close waiting for a response.

A long silence hung in the air.

***

Split-Second coughed loudly as the next turn sent her right into a smoke cloud. Disoriented, Split-Second quickly lost her place and tripped over something, sending her flying into a stack of metal crates. Pain shot through her body as she landed face up with a half flip. Recovery was quick for her as her powers accelerated her healing as well.

She stood up and chased the truck, only to watch as both entered a dead-end pier. Running at breakneck speed she caught up to the back one and opened the driver's side only to find it empty.  

‘They must have jumped.’ she concluded. A second later, she heard the ignition of a detonator in the back of the truck and checked both vehicles before racing off to reach a safe distance. She didn't make it as the explosion knocks her off her feet and into another pile of crates.

“What is it with all these crates? Doesn't anyone store things on this dock!?” she said out loud as she dusted herself off. The approach of sirens snapped her out of her focus and quickly scanned the area, finding the two drivers.

Before either could understand what had happened, they found themselves restrained, tied around the midsection to each other and inside an elaborately constructed chain-link fence cell of Split-Seconds own making.

“Sorry boys, but there's a law against explosions after ten...” Split-Second said stopping a moment and smiling. “When they take your picture, don't forget to smile!”

A blur of pink and gold sped off as several ECPD squad cars arrived on site, the two drivers grumbled vainly trying to break free.

***

Trixie looked at the figure, the silence making her rather suspicious. Making sure she had a spare grenade handy she contemplated using it until the figure opened a box on the nearby table. It's contents relaxed her azure colored body as she gazes on it.

“Of course. The bracelet of Swirlena is what you desired, I'm sure you'll see it in the box.” the woman said, an eerie calm about her tone.

Trixie grinned in anticipation, and reaching for the twin pair of golden wristbands she tosses the gem to the women. She caught it easily and the glint from the overhead light caused it to glimmer for a moment. The almost lullaby quality of her humming drilled into Trixie subconscious but she shook it off and reached to the first bracelet.

“Our business is concluded. Enjoy your just deserts, Trixie.” Her final words hung in the air as seemingly vanishing into the shadows, her tune slowly faded until it was gone.

Trixie watched as she vanished, giving her little care as she turns back to gaze again. The color drained from her face as the bracelets were now a pair of starfish legs wrapped in twine.

“W-what!?” she yelled in outrage, breaking the silence. “Trixie...has been had!” she clenched her eyes and fists.

“There you are!” A perky voice proclaimed from behind her.

“Split-Second!” Trixie said under her breath in a moment of panic.

“That's me! I knew I had counted more in the truck. Now then, shall we do this easy or hard, Trixie?”

“Trixie is anything but easy!” She shouted, slamming down the remainder of her pack, a smoke cloud gather fast around her.

Split-Second knew this trick and quickly countered it with a burst of speed, circling around her opponent and creating a funnel for the smoke to release into. Quickly her speed overcame the smoke only to find the center empty and Trixie gone.

“What?!” the pink speedster exclaimed as she heard the unmistakable sound of a body thumping to the floor followed by several trashcan clattering to the floor. Amused that Trixie never learned how to make a delicate exit, she speed towards the dastardly magician turned thief, a wake of dust kicked up as she did so.

Trixie cursed and pulled out the last bomb from the inside of her satchel and tossed it to the floor only to gasp in dismay as it exploded in a puff of glitter. “Trixie has to get a labeling system!” she said turning to run right into Split-Seconds’’ elbow, jabbing a hard blow to the front of her forehead and then to the back of her neck, sending her to the floor in a heap as consciousness left her.

“Plenty of time to work on cataloging in jail, Trixie.” She smiled and grabbed a nearby firehose, speedily wrapping her up and tying a big knot in the back and leaving her for gravity to take hold of.

As Trixie’s body tumbled the doors to the warehouse kick open and several flashlight beams shot Split-Second in the chest where her stylized S was.

“Freeze, ECPD!” A loud male voice said, Split-Second followed the voice to the center of the mass of police officers. A younger looking grey toned officer with orange hair had a pistol and flashlight aiming at her chest. “Split-Second?”

“Yup, now please stop aiming anything at my chest,” she said lowering her voice a bit. “One diamond thief ready to go. Left you two injured men out of harm's way, I think Trixie got ‘em with smoke.”

The officer lowered his gun and light, the rest of his backup following suit. Holstering them both, he motioned for them to get Trixie secured and walked slowly to the pink haired hero. “Don't suppose you'd come down and make a statement?”

Split-Second raised an eyebrow and adjusted her goggles with a smile. “Nah, you've got enough, what with the other evidence. Thanks though officer Nightwatch!” she winked at him and a rush of air made him stumble as she sped off out of sight, leaving a faint neon zigzag in her wake.

“Didn't think so. Ok, come on let's get the great and powerful to a holding cell.” He motioned to his fellow officers. “Least our troubles are over.”  He turned and walked back to his car and picked up the radio from inside as he called in a status update.

***
A blend of computer tones filled the air of a large room, the lighting low and mostly coming from the monitors on its walls. A fireplace crackled behind a taller obsidian chair, its occupant leaned over obscuring his figure. In front of him laid a chessboard of the layout of Equestrian City, various prices sitting in groups near the edges.

A set of steel doors opened at the far end of the room, the sound reverberating off the marble floor, punctuated by the soft clicking of boot heels.

A slender purple toned girl walked with a small sack in her hand, a satisfied smirk on her face. A single ponytail kept her purple and teal hair out of the way. Dressed in a darker purple and black tones her top exposed a small red gem, not on a necklace but seemingly implanted in her chest.

“Welcome back, dear…” A smooth tone escaped the occupant of the chair. He leaned back and looked over the board more. “How was the magician?” he picked up a small figure on the board, blue with a small wizard hat on it.

“She got exactly what she deserved,” Aria responded, her purple and teal hair flowing fluidly as she comes to a stop and opens the sack. “But she delivered.” The smile on her face got wider, each of her arms had three leather straps on them, an almost Gothic like texture and not overly eye catching were it not for the series of massive scars under them, long and short scratches in random directions.

The man’s leather gloved hand placed the figure on the outskirts of the city, a tiny island with a set of prison bars drawn on it. “She's more than motivated for her next stage then. Our speedy friend?”

“She took her down as anticipated and no one knows who Trixie was meeting, not even her, thanks to my song.” Aria answered handing him a small circular device on a necklace, his gloved hand holding it for a moment and setting it on the chessboard. “Now what is that for? A present for a lovely voiced siren? Last of her kind? I’d have preferred the gem Trixie gave me instead of what it traded for..””

He chuckled. “Hardly. As talented of a ...mouth that you have, this isn't for you, my dear.” He picked up another figure and placed it on the western border of the map, along with the gem. “Not just a delightful bauble, this is a key element to my plans for this world. It was a device used by a brilliant researcher once, though her own curiosity got the better of her.”  He opened the device and the inside glowed softly. “It’s not tuned for this dimension, but once I get the proper help, it’ll be the edge we need to move onto Phase 2.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Aria smiled down at him, his arm wrapping around her waist as she stood next to him. “It's all coming together isn't it?” she ruffled his short dark hair.

“Soon enough,” he answered as he leaned back to get a much greater view of the board, his eyes beginning to glow a bright purple. “We still need to contact the good King Sombra, but suffice to say, Equestrian City’s troubles are just beginning.”

***

End of episode