It was a Tuesday morning, and business at the First Manehattan General Bank was going about as per usual. In one of its largest rooms, imaginatively coloured grey, assorted employees were writing down unknown information on important looking documents, whilst customers were queuing up to withdraw money and sort out details with their accounts. Somewhere in the back of the building, an important meeting was going on between the ponies whom were higher up in the bank’s hierarchy. All in all, it was a perfectly normal Tuesday.
At least, it was until the supervillain burst in to rob the place dry.
She made her entrance dramatically – smashing through a glass skylight and sliding down on a rope. It was a miracle that as the glass shattered and fell to the ground in shards that nopony was hurt by it.
As she slid down the rope and everypony looked to see what was happening, she barked out orders. “Everypony up against the wall, now! This bank is officially being robbed by the one and only DJ P0N-3!” The supervillain wore a tight black costume, which in addition to hiding her cutie mark, covered her mouth and nose. She wore large purple glasses to obscure her eyes, and around the belt of her costume was a series of miniaturised vinyl records, strangely enough.
From what could be seen of the mare that wasn’t covered by costume, it seemed that she was a unicorn with white fur and a spiky blue mane. None of the civilians in the bank took notice of these minor details though. Even assuming that there was only one pony in all of Manehattan with those features, it would have been impossible to find such a pony in such a large city. No, what was needed to identify this mare was a cutie mark, which was naturally impossible thanks to her costume.
By the time the mare had finished sliding down the rope, not much had changed, to her disappointment. A few of the more weak-willed ponies had taken a step or two towards the nearest wall, but for the most part the individuals had simply stopped doing whatever they had been doing to see what DJ P0N-3 would do next.
“Ah crap,” DJ P0N-3 muttered to herself, “I didn’t expect this to happen.” She adjusted her glasses, which had fallen askew, and then levitated the miniature vinyl records from her belt. “I’m serious! Everypony up against the wall now, or you’ll all regret it!” she shouted.
When that still didn’t provoke a reaction, outside of one or two ponies giggling slightly, she made good on her threat. As hard and as fast as she could, DJ P0N-3 used her telekinesis to throw the vinyl discs with alarming speed in the general direction of a group of ponies. Although each disc missed, the speed and power at which they had spun alarmed many of the innocent bystanders, eliciting more than one gasp. Seeing that DJ P0N-3 was more than just a raving lunatic, the ponies wasted no time in making their various ways to whichever wall was nearest. The bank employees followed suit.
So… what do I do now? DJ P0N-3 wondered to herself awkwardly. I don’t want to have to hurt anypony, but I’m not going to rob the bank by being nice to everypony… Making up her mind, DJ P0N-3 headed over to the nearest employee of the bank, who like the rest of the ponies in the building, was lined up against a wall. “You there!” she said, her voice booming in an attempt to intimidate the banker, “I want you to get me as many bits as I can carry!”
The grey-coated banker was wearing glasses, and he adjusted them slightly as he nervously replied, “Um… but Miss P0N-3… I - I can’t.” He was a unicorn, and he was sweating slightly as he spoke.
“Can’t… or won’t?” DJ P0N-3 asked, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses. Not that the banker could see behind the lenses.
“I – I can’t,” he repeated. He’d been facing the wall, but as he spoke, he took one or two glances at DJ P0N-3. Upon realising that it was apparently okay to do so, he turned around so that he was facing her. “You see, we – we don’t have any money kept up here. All of our money is in the vault, three levels down.” He adjusted his glasses again.
DJ P0N-3 froze. She hadn’t expected this at all. Crap! Crap crap crap crap! she thought to herself. I didn’t even think about them not keeping money up here! Shit shit shit. I’m out of my depth here. They’re going to call the guard ponies – or worse, she’ll come – and then they’ll cart me off to jail – unmask me and – no! Think! That’s not going to happen! You can deal with this!
DJ P0N-3 took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She hoped that the banker hadn’t noticed her momentary panic. “Okay then – I guess you’ll just have to take me down to the vault,” she said, trying to act as though nothing was amiss.
“I – what?”
“You heard me,” the supervillain replied. “Or do you have some… objections?” As she spoke, P0N-3 levitated one of her miniature vinyl records from her belt, and stroked it against the banker’s face, letting him feel how sharp the edge was. He winced as she did so.
“O- okay,” he said nervously, stepping away from the wall and leading P0N-3 to a locked door at the back of the room. “You- you sure you don’t just want me to go down there by myself, Miss P0N-3?” he asked as he unlocked the door.
“Ha! And let you run off?” DJ P0N-3 snorted. “You wish, buddy. Lead the way.” As the banker went through the door, DJ P0N-3 turned around to the room full of innocent ponies. “Don’t any of you ponies try anything,” she said to them. “My accomplice is secretly watching this room, and if anypony tries anything, he’ll blow this bank sky-high.” DJ P0N-3 gave everypony another glare which nopony could see thanks to her glasses, then followed the banker down to the vault.
Phew, she thought to herself once she was out of sight of the ponies. That could have gone better! DJ P0N-3 was trying to make the best of a bad situation, making up her plan as she went along. So far, everything seemed to be going well – as long as she didn’t panic, she should be able to find a way out of this. At the moment, the nameless banker was leading her down several stairwells, as she had “persuaded” him to do.
I suppose I could have just let this banker down to the vault to get me the money, DJ P0N-3 mused to herself, but who knows what could have gone wrong there? He might have run off, he might have activated an alarm from somewhere in the building… no, it’s much better that I go with him. Even if those ponies back in the bank call my bluff, I can probably get away somewhere down in the lower levels, or disguise myself as a banker… yeah… yeah, everything will be fine. As long as she doesn’t show up…
==============
Back in the main room of the bank, DJ P0N-3’s victims were getting restless.
“What’s going to happen to us?” a panicky pegasus asked.
“Ssh! Don’t talk!” was the response she got. “We don’t want DJ P0N-3’s accomplice blowing us all up!”
“What makes you so sure that she’s got an accomplice?” an Earth pony asked from the other side of the room. He had an orange coat, and his pose was more relaxed than the rest of the ponies. “I say she’s bluffing.”
There was a moment of hesitation amongst the ponies. Then… “What makes you think that?”
“In case you didn’t notice, I was standing right next to the banker who was taking her down to the vault,” the Earth pony replied. “She froze right up when he said that the money was down in the vault. I reckon that she’s bluffing about her accomplice being here.” Some ponies were starting to relax a little now.
“Her being nervous isn’t a guarantee,” another banker pointed out. “She said that her accomplice was watching us – I think that it’s pretty obvious that he or she is one of us. As a matter of fact, it could be you, for all I know.”
“And it could be you!” the orange Earth pony retorted. “Except that it’s not, because I reckon she’s lying!”
“I’d like to point something out,” a new speaker interrupted. She was a white-coated pegasus with a black mane. “If the accomplice is amongst us, then they seem to be pretty fine with letting us talk as we are.”
“Well, obviously they’re just doing that to lull us into a sense of false security,” the banker from before argued. “I’ve read enough books to know how this goes – P0N-3’s set it up so that it looks like a bluff, and once we start getting conceited, the accomplice blows us all up. All we can do now is wait.” Silence fell amongst the group, most ponies silently seeing the logic of his argument.
==============
Back in the lower levels of the bank, the banker had almost finished leading DJ P0N-3 to the vault. At the moment, the two ponies were heading down a corridor. Although there had been some guards on patrol, P0N-3 had simply knocked them out with the assistance of the element of surprise.
The banker had been shaking the entire way, and P0N-3 found herself enjoying the fear she was eliciting in him. I’m doing pretty well for my first heist, she thought to herself. Obviously I’m not going to keep on robbing banks once the plan is finished, but for now, this is sorta fun!
“We- we’re here,” the banker announced, his voice cracking as he said so. At the end of the corridor was a large steel door, with several crystals embedded to the sides of it.
DJ P0N-3 walked closer to the door and examined it. There was no handle or visible way of opening it. “How does it open?” she asked the banker, whose legs were still knocking somewhat.
“You have to use a spell on each crystal at the same time,” the banker said. “I- I’ll open it for you.” He took a step closer to the door, and closed his eyes, concentrating. A light green aura appeared around both his horn and the crystals. There was a moment of silence in which nothing happened, and then the crystals all turned a light blue. A loud clicking noise echoed, and the vault door swung open silently.
==============
Up in the main area of the bank, the ponies were all remaining still and quiet, still fearful of what could happen should DJ P0N-3’s accomplice turn out to be hidden amongst them. At least, they had been until now.
“Screw this,” the orange-coated Earth pony said. He had been sitting on the ground, but he stood up now. “I’m getting the guards.” A round of gasps and shouting sounded around the room.
“Are you crazy?”
“Someone stop him!”
“What are you doing, you idiot?!”
“Exactly what I said I would,” the pony replied to the last comment. “I’m getting the guards, so that they can stop DJ P0N-3 and we can all go home. Or at the very least continue our banking. There’s a building just around the corner, it should only take a few minutes. ” He started heading towards the exit.
“Wait!” The banker who had been arguing with him called after him. Angrily, he spun around. “Okay, maybe I was a little rude to you before. And maybe you did have a point. But still, there’s no reason to risk all of our lives whilst we’re not sure about the identity of the accomplice!”
The Earth pony snorted. “Right on all accounts, except for one – I’m not risking anypony’s life, because there’s no risk.”
“But how can you be sure?!” the banker asked.
“Does it look like the so-called accomplice was reacting to my leaving the building?” the Earth pony asked. There was silence across the room.
“…Maybe you’re right about it being a bluff,” the banker admitted.
==============
“You’re being very helpful,” DJ P0N-3 pointed out to the banker as she walked into the vault. “I like that in a pony.”
The banker’s voice shook as he answered, “I just don’t want to – I mean, my family –I mean, am I going to be fine? You’ll let me go free after you’ve taken all the money you need?”
“Of course I will,” DJ P0N-3 answered, being genuinely honest. Not that she was going to let the banker know it, but she didn’t want to hurt anypony if possible – as a matter of fact, she was only robbing the bank because she had to.
The vault was full of piles upon piles of bits. DJ P0N-3 unfolded a saddlebag she’d kept hidden somewhere hidden in her costume, and levitated it into the air. “Now, time to grab what I came here for!” she announced dramatically as she started filling the saddlebag with bits.
The nervous banker stood nearby, not sure whether he should be helping her or standing guard. Although he was tempted to run away, his fear of what P0N-3 would do to him if he did overrode his desire to escape.
Yes! DJ P0N-3 thought as she levitated pile upon pile of bits into the bag. I just need to fill this bag up and I’m done here! I can do this! I can pull off this heist! Within a few minutes, the bag was filled to the top, and DJ P0N-3 exited the vault alongside the nervous banker.
“Um… Miss P0N-3… mind if I ask you a question?” the banker asked as he and DJ P0N-3 headed down the corridor, passing by the bodies of several unconscious guards.
“What?” DJ P0N-3 asked irritably. She’d been thinking about whether or not to add a cape to her costume, and didn’t like having her thoughts interrupted like this.
“Is there… a particular reason why you’re robbing the bank?”
DJ P0N-3 stopped walking for a moment and sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration as she tried to think of what to say. Good question, she thought to herself. “Look, I know it’s not easy to believe,” she finally said, “but I’m doing it for a good reason. Okay?”
The banker swallowed. “What- what reason is that?” he asked, his voice still shaking.
DJ P0N-3 continued walking as she answered. Although the banker couldn’t see it behind her mask, she started grinning. “That’s for me to know and you to find out!” she said confidently. The two ponies started walking up the stairs leading to the upper levels of the bank.
Now… what to do when we get up here? DJ P0N-3 wondered. It sounds kinda quiet up there, so hopefully that means that nothing’s happened with the civilians… maybe I should try and find a back way out of the bank, just to be sure… She shook the thought away as she and the banker ascended another level. No! I’ve made it this far, and I can damn well pull this heist off! All I need to do is get out, and then I’ve succeeded!
“We- we’re here,” the nervous banker said out loud as he and DJ P0N-3 reached the ground floor of the bank. “C-can I go now, or -?”
“…Yeah,” P0N-3 said, weighing up the pros and cons. “I’m nearly done here, and – and -” Her voice faltered as she and the banker entered the room where she had made her dramatic entrance. The room was exactly the same as before – only all of the civilians were missing. DJ P0N-3 felt a lump rise in her throat as her heart started beating faster.
Oh shit! Shit shit shit! They must have called my bluff! she thought, starting to panic. That means that they’ve probably got guards outside, and they’ll capture me, and – shit! Shit, think! How can I get out of this? The rope? No, I can’t climb up that with all of this money! Wait a minute… if I just-
Without warning, DJ P0N-3 levitated one of her miniature vinyl records from the floor, where she had thrown it earlier when making threats. She placed it to the nervous banker’s throat – he had started to sneak away as he saw her take in the scene. “Not so fast!” P0N-3 said, her voice shaking. “You’re my ticket out of here!”
“But- but you said that I could go,” the banker stammered, his voice cracking. “You said that if I helped you, I –”
“Shut it!” P0N-3 said quickly. She was panicking now, and trying to stay in control of the situation. “Just follow me, and do as I say…”
DJ P0N-3 led the banker to the front of the bank, her record at his throat and a hoof placed threateningly on his neck. As they exited the front door, they found, as DJ P0N-3 had suspected, a small group of guards in white armour surrounding the entrance in a semicircle. The races of the guards varied, but most were pegasi. Each of them was wielding a large pike, either levitating it with magic or holding it in their mouths. The streets had been cleared of civilians in light of the fight which could potentially outbreak.
“There you are, DJ P0N-3!” one of the guards declared as she came into view with the banker. “Surrender now, or we’ll be forced to use lethal force!”
“Don’t- don’t try anything!” P0N-3 replied, her voice shaking. What do I do? How can I get past these guys? If I jumped over that guy, and the I – no, he’s a pegasus! Buck!
“You have until the count of three to release the banker,” a guard who was presumably the captain warned P0N-3. In response, she looked around, still trying to find an escape route.
“One…” DJ P0N-3 gripped the neck of the banker a little tighter, still thinking frantically. “Two…” DJ P0N-3 felt a drop of sweat run down her forehead.
“Three! Okay, we warned you!” Behind her glasses, one of DJ P0N-3’s eyes twitched. A moment later, the guards started slowly advancing, their pikes pointing straight for DJ P0N-3. It was the last straw for her.
“Aargh!” The stress of the situation getting to her, P0N-3 threw the innocent banker to the ground. The record she had been levitating to his throat flew through the air and into the nearest guard. Although his armour absorbed most of the damage, it still cut deeply enough into his flesh to draw blood, and cause him to stagger.
Operating on an adrenaline rush, DJ P0N-3 leapt to the nearest guard, spun around, and bucked him right in the face. She moved quickly enough that by the time she was finished, he had only just started to swing the pike he was holding in his mouth at her. DJ P0N-3 took advantage of that, and used her telekinesis to pull his pike out of his mouth and slam it into another two guards, putting them off balance enough for her to gain an opening in which to buck them.
Reacting rather than thinking, DJ P0N-3 threw more of her miniature vinyl records at another pair of guards. A moment later, she drew them out with her telekinesis, causing the guards to wince as blood started leaking from their newly acquired wounds. She took advantage of their pain to slam the two into each other with her inherent unicorn magic.
Taking a moment to stop and think, DJ P0N-3 looked around for her next opponent, only to realise that it was the captain of the guard. The only foe left to defeat. I can do this! DJ P0N-3 thought giddily. If I can just take this guy out, then I’ve pulled off my heist!
Having taken note of the brutal way DJ P0N-3 had gotten rid of his subordinates, the captain stared at the supervillain, weighing her up. In turn, the unicorn tried to calculate the best way to approach the captain. A split second later, she leapt at him, hoping that the sudden attack would put him off. But the captain had been expecting this – he leapt back slightly, and the wings which marked him as a pegasus burst open, levitating him just high enough that DJ P0N-3 wouldn’t hit him. DJ P0N-3 crashed into the ground, grazing a good portion of her upper body.
The captain wasn’t finished yet. From the air, he allowed himself to drop to the ground, and then slammed a hoof onto DJ P0N-3’s head, forcing it further into the ground. DJ P0N-3 groaned, raising her head to look at the captain.
“You really think you could just get away with this?” he asked sternly, the pike he had been holding in his mouth dropping to the ground as he spoke. “That you could rob a bank in my city – just around the corner from my station – and canter off home? Think again, foal! We’ve got a place for characters like you!”
Gritting her teeth beneath her mask, DJ P0N-3 slowly pulled herself to her hooves. The captain scoffed in response. “Trying to get up? Don’t even think about it. You’re not even in my league.”
“Oh yeah?” P0N-3 asked, hoping that in the strong daylight the captain wouldn’t notice the blue aura appearing around her horn. “There’s something you seem to have forgotten about me.”
Once more, the captain scoffed. “Not likely. But enlighten me – what puts you in the same league as me?” A moment later he got his answer as the pike he had been wielding a minute ago swung into him and hit his head from behind, courtesy of DJ P0N-3’s telekinesis. Although his helmet protected him from some of the blow, a second swing was enough to knock him out for good.
“You forget – I’m a unicorn, motherbucker,” DJ P0N-3 swore. She looked around, her head aching from the fight. Surrounding her were unconscious guards, some bleeding from small wounds she had inflicted upon them.
Oh man, she thought, her head starting to clear now that the chaos was over. What have I done? I didn’t want to hurt anypony in this heist – I just needed to grab the money and go. As she remembered the money she had acquired, a smile spread on DJ P0N-3’s face, below her mask. Well, I did get the money in the end. Ha! I did manage to pull off this heist!
Happy in spite of her guilt, she punched a hoof into the air. “You hear that, fillies?!” she asked rhetorically to nopony in particular. “I pulled off the heist! They said it couldn’t be done – but I did it!”
“Did what?” a voice from somewhere behind DJ P0N-3 asked smugly. A shiver went down her spine as she realised that she might not be in the clear yet. Could it be… her? DJ P0N-3 wondered for a moment. No! It can’t be! It’s got to be anypony but her! DJ P0N-3 slowly turned around, her heart starting to beat faster once more.
Standing on the roof of a small building behind her was a dark Earth pony wearing a dark blue mask. She had a dark blue jacket of sorts on, and in a sheath on her side was a bow – like the sort a cellist would use. “As far as I see it, this heist is just about to end,” the mystery mare declared.
“Symphonia,” DJ P0N-3 whispered, recognising the superhero pony from a newspaper report she had read a few days ago. It was the last thing she had wanted to happen – she was going to have to fight Symphonia, the scourge of criminals everywhere. Well, everywhere in Manehattan, at least.
Symphonia leapt from the roof of the building and to the ground with dramatic flair. It was presumably her inherent toughness and durability as an Earth pony that prevented her from injuring herself as she landed. “So!” she said dramatically. “You’re the villain whom I’ve been hearing reports about from all around the city!”
DJ P0N-3 took a moment to answer, stunned as she was by Symphonia’s presence. How… how is she so confident? I just took out that entire group of guards, and she’s facing me like a mare without fear! “Y-yeah, what of it?”P0N-3 answered, not sure what else to say.
“Well then, it looks like I’ll just have to stop you!” Symphonia said. To P0N-3’s surprise, she drew her bow from its sheath, and stood up onto her back hooves. Ponies rarely stood on their back hooves, and when they did, it was rare that they could keep themselves balanced for more than a few seconds. Symphonia, on the other hoof, was keeping her balance perfectly. Whomever she was, she knew what she was doing.
Rather than waiting for Symphonia to do something and get the upper hoof, DJ P0N-3 levitated a few of her vinyl records from her belt, and sent them flying towards Symphonia. She’s just an Earth pony, right? she thought to herself. It’s not like she’ll be able to stop me… will she?
Symphonia stood still for a moment, her bow raised dramatically. Then, as each record reached her in succession, she swung the bow like a sword, not only blocking each one, but slicing through them all with little effort. Following through on this, she took a few steps forwards – still balanced on her back hooves – and hit DJ P0N-3 whilst the villain was still too surprised to react.
DJ P0N-3 stumbled backwards, and in her awkwardness ended up tripping over and landing on her back. She winced as she got to her hooves. How- how did she cut through my records like that? And what’s with her strength? Knowing now that her records wouldn’t be able to stop Symphonia, DJ P0N-3 frantically looked around the street for another idea.
“Come on then,” Symphonia said, taking another step forwards to her opponent. “Don’t tell me that that’s all you’ve got. I was expecting a bit more from the mare who managed to hold up the entire First Manehattan General Bank.”
DJ P0N-3 growled, a primal and guttural instinct that nevertheless made her feel just a tiny bit better. She spotted a pike on the ground, dropped by one of the guards whom she had taken out. “Shut up!” she replied to Symphonia as she levitated it into the air. She swung the pike at Symphonia, certain that this time she would be able to disable the hero long enough to make a getaway… but once more, Symphonia used her bow to somehow slice the pike in two, gracefully side-stepping to avoid the blow.
“Really now?” Symphonia asked. DJ P0N-3 was sure that below her mask, the mystery mare was raising an eyebrow. “That’s your best attempt? These guards must have been exceptionally unskilled for somepony such as you to defeat them.”
“Sh-shut up!” DJ P0N-3 repeated, starting to feel the stress of the situation, which wasn’t helped by Symphonia’s mocking. “It’s because you’ve got that stupid bow! If you didn’t have it, I’d be winning!” A second later, the obvious occurred to her- why not just remove the bow? Using her telekinesis, one of the simplest spells that unicorns knew, DJ P0N-3 strained for a second against Symphonia’s grip before managing to yank the bow out of Symphonia’s hoof, throwing it aside.
“There!” she said confidently, levitating her last few vinyl records from her belt. “Now I’ve got you!”
“Oh really?” smirked Symphonia, falling to all fours as she spoke.
DJ P0N-3 hesitated upon seeing Symphonia’s still-confident attitude. Did the mare have another trick up her sleeve? Surely she must have, to act so confident in this situation…
Unfortunately for DJ P0N-3, her hesitation was exactly what Symphonia had been planning for, and she took advantage of it. Symphonia took a few steps closer to DJ P0N-3 to get within striking distance, and then spun around on her front hooves and bucked her, exactly as DJ P0N-3 had done to the guards a few minutes ago.
DJ P0N-3 went flying through the air, landing on her side and sliding along the ground for a short distance. A sharp jolt went through her side as she landed, and the supervillain suspected that she may have gotten more than just a nasty graze where the pain had occurred.
Once more, DJ P0N-3 got to her hooves, trying desperately to think of what her options were. She’d dropped her last few records when she had been bucked, and even if she still had them, Symphonia would simply cut through them again with her bow, which she had retrieved whilst DJ P0N-3 had been flying through the air. Throwing other objects at the hero would yield the same result, and DJ P0N-3 wasn’t daring enough to fight Symphonia in hoof-to-hoof combat.
DJ P0N-3 finally realised what her only viable option was: galloping away in defeat. Dammit! I hate having to do this! she thought as Symphonia once more stood upon her back hooves and drew her bow, but there’s no way I can defeat her! Not yet, anyway…
“Giving up so soon?” Symphonia asked, smiling smugly.
Although the Earth pony couldn’t see it, DJ P0N-3 smirked beneath her mask. “Yep,” she answered, a split second before turning around and galloping as fast away as she could.
Not expecting this, Symphonia dropped to all four hooves as she watched the unicorn put each hoof in front of the other as fast as she could. “Well…” she said to herself as she slid her bow back into its sheath, “I can’t say that that was expected.” A second later, she was chasing after the villain with all of her might.
Just keep galloping! Just put one hoof in front of the other, and you’ll be out of her sight in no time! For what felt like the millionth time that day, DJ P0N-3 was starting to panic from the stress of the situation, although for once she felt as though she was actually getting things under control. After all, there was no way she could have beaten Symphonia in her current state, and by running she would at least have a chance to escape with her loot, still all there in her saddlebag.
DJ P0N-3 turned a street corner and then ducked down a side alley, hoping that she had moved quickly enough to lose Symphonia. Fortunately there still weren’t any civilians around who could have spotted her. DJ P0N-3 crouched behind a large skip and ducked her head, waiting for the moment in which Symphonia would hopefully pass by the alley.
Several minutes passed in which nothing happened. P0N-3’s heart rate started slowing down as she got the first chance to catch her breath since she had left the bank. Finally, having not hearing the sound of hoofsteps in all of this time, she stepped out from behind the skip… and right into Symphonia.
“Ah ha! I thought you might be here,” the mystery mare said, “but I wasn’t quite sure. Good to see that my intuition is as good as ever!” She took a step closer to DJ P0N-3, who was simply standing still in shock. “Now,” she asked, her tone much more serious, “are you going to surrender and come quietly, or shall I demonstrate once more why I am the scourge of Manehattan’s underworld and you are but a petty criminal?”
P0N-3 gritted her teeth beneath her mask, agonising as she started to seriously consider the options available to her. If I do surrender now… they might be a bit more lenient on me compared to if I’m captured… but if I surrender, then there’s no way that I can continue the plan! She took a step backwards, feeling pressured by Symphonia’s presence and the small alley the two were still in.
“Well?” Symphonia asked. “You can’t stall forever, you know.”
“Epic bin manoeuvre!” DJ P0N-3 shouted in the spur of the moment as she surrounded the skip she had been hiding behind, and which Symphonia was standing right next to, with one of her magical fields. Symphonia only turned her head to look at the skip for a moment - but that moment was long enough for DJ P0N-3 to lift the skip into the air and throw it towards Symphonia.
Not looking to see the result of her attack, DJ P0N-3 spun around and galloped off once more. If that doesn’t stop her, then nothing will! she thought desperately. Once more, the unicorn galloped as far and as fast as she could, hoping with all of her might that she had stopped the superhero.
In the alley, all was quiet. The silence was broken a moment later by a grunting noise followed by the sound of the skip, which was now lying on top of Symphonia, being lifted up and thrown aside with quite a bit of effort. Symphonia slowly got to her hooves, feeling over her body for any major injuries. As it was, she was quite sore and battered from the skip – if DJ P0N-3 had been given more space to accelerate the skip, Symphonia could have suffered far worse injuries. Not for the first time in her crime-fighting career, Symphonia silently thanked Celestia that as an Earth pony, she was a bit more resistant to injury and blunt force than other pony races.
“Well-played, DJ P0N-3,” Symphonia said out loud, realising straight away that the unicorn had gotten away after all. Symphonia considered searching the streets for the supervillain, futile as it would probably be, but changed her mind as she took a step forwards and a jolt of pain shot up her leg. The pain wasn’t exactly unbearable, but it hurt enough that Symphonia wouldn’t want to walk on it for too long.
“Well then,” Symphonia mused to herself, “I suppose I may as well head on back to university.”
==============
Half an hour later, a dark figure jumped and landed on the roof of a small building. Unnoticed by the few ponies walking around on the ground, the figure trotted over to one end of the building, and after a quick glance to make sure that they were still unnoticed by anypony, the figure swung down from the roof and climbed through an open window. As the figure climbed through, they landed on the floor with a loud thump!
“Ah, it’s good to be back home on university campus!” the figure said out loud to herself, whom in the light was revealed to be Symphonia. The room she was standing in was a small bedroom, mostly filled with books and a few piles of paper upon which some lecture notes were scrawled. In one corner was a cello.
“Octavia,” a voice from outside the small room called out, “what was that noise I just heard?”
“N-nothing, Colgate!” Symphonia replied a little too hastily. She quickly removed her mask and jacket and threw them underneath her bed. She wasn’t a moment too soon – the door opened a second later and into the room stepped a light-blue unicorn with a streaked blue mane.
“Really?” the visitor asked suspiciously.
“Yes, it really was nothing,” Symphonia’s alter ego replied. “I was, um, lying on my bed studying, and I got very excited about a musical theory I read about, and I, um, fell off.” She smiled awkwardly to complement the explanation.
The unicorn stared at her suspiciously for a moment or two before brightening up. “Okay!” she said chirpily. “Just wanted to make sure that everything was okay in here! Wouldn’t want my housemate to hurt herself of anything!”
Octavia chuckled slightly. “I can assure you, I am in tip-top condition,” she lied.
“Good to know!” The unicorn, Colgate, left the room, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll start making dinner in about half an hour!”
“Sure thing!” Octavia called after her. Once she was sure that Colgate wasn’t coming back, she retrieved her coat and mask from underneath the bed and placed them at the back of her cupboard, behind some other clothing items. She placed her bow by her cello, naturally – sitting there inconspicuously, who would suspect that it contained an enchantment allowing it to cut through nearly any material?
With her day of crime-fighting finished, Octavia picked up a book and tried to relax. But no matter how hard she tried to get into the latest Daring Do novel, she just couldn’t. She only had one thing on her mind at the moment.
“DJ P0N-3,” Octavia said out loud a few minutes later, putting the book down and giving up on reading for the moment. “You’re the first pony to ever escape Symphonia’s brand of justice.” She looked out the window to the sun as it slowly set. “Who are you, and where are you right now…?”
==============
Several hours later, a white unicorn with a messy blue mane grabbed a cider from a small fridge, kicked back on a couch, and started to drink. She was wearing an oversized pair of purple glasses. From somewhere else in the building, loud music could be heard playing.
“Vinyl Scratch,” a stallion said out loud as he entered the room, “are you ready to play your set next?” He was holding a checklist in one hoof.
“Course I am, Neon,” the mare replied cockily, a wide grin on her face. “When am I ever not ready?” She took another swig of cider.
“Well now, somepony’s in a good mood tonight,” the stallion said, coming a bit closer to Vinyl. “Any particular reason?”
“Heh. Well, you could say that today I achieved something I wouldn’t have thought possible. It’s kinda put me in a great mood,” she answered.
“Really? Now you’ve got me interested,” Neon replied. “Care to share?”
“Nope,” Vinyl replied bluntly. “If I did that, you’d have to call the guards on me and arrest me.” She broadened her grin as she spoke.
“Fine then,” Neon said, pretending to be annoyed, “be that way. Now, get the hell out there and show that club who the premiere party pony is!”
As she started heading to the stage of the club, Vinyl went over the day’s events in her head briefly. Gotta say, today was pretty awesome! In the end, nopony found out my secret identity, and I managed to escape Symphonia with all of my loot! It’s safe to say that the plan is off to a good start!
Vinyl headed up to a mixing deck and grabbed a record from nearby. As she put it on to play, she leaned forwards and spoke into a conveniently placed microphone. “Alright, everypony get to the dance floor, now! This club is officially being rocked by the one and only Vinyl Scratch!”
Author's Note
New fic, everyone! I'll happily admit that the first half of this is a bit clunky, but I'm fairly pleased with how the rest of the fic goes after Vinyl leaves the bank.
Just to clarify something - even though it's pretty obvious from the costumes who's who, I'm making it that when Vinyl and Octavia are in costume, nopony can recognise them (it's sort of justified in-story). Why? Because firstly, designing costumes to cover a pony's entire body is hard and odds are it'll turn out bad, and secondly, because I like their looks like this. So there's that anyway.
Anyway, hope everyone's enjoyed the first chapter! I'm not quite sure at this point how big I'll end up making this, but I've got quite a few ideas so hopefully it'll go for a while!
Chapter Two: University Days
BEEDLY-BEEP! BEEDLY-BEEP! BEEDLY-BEEP! BEED-CRUNCH!
Hitting her alarm clock with enough force to shut it up, Octavia followed through on this action by rolling over in bed and trying to force her head deeper into her pillow. However, just as she started to drift back to sleep, there was a knock on the door.
“Octavia? Are you awake? You should probably get up soon, you have a lecture in half an hour!”
Blearily, Octavia reluctantly lifted her head from the pillow and looked at her alarm clock to confirm. Yep, it was eight-thirty already. She slowly dragged herself out of bed, and, after putting on a bow tie and giving herself a quick brush of her mane, she opened the door.
“Oh good! You are awake!” Colgate said cheerfully. “I’d hate to think what would happen if you missed your lecture!”
“Urgh… Colgate, what are you doing up so early?” Octavia asked, yawning as she did so. “I thought that you didn’t have class until ten o’clock on Monday.”
“I do! But today’s not Monday – today’s Wednesday!” Colgate reminded Octavia.
“It is?” Octavia replied, now rubbing her eyes with a hoof. Note to self: stop staying up so late looking for crime in Manehattan. Walking past Colgate and to the small kitchen the two mares shared, Octavia started making herself breakfast. A moment later, Colgate came in and followed suit.
“So where were you last night?” Colgate eventually asked, breaking the silence.
“What?” Octavia asked, still somewhat half-asleep.
“Last night. After dinner you went to your room to study, but when I knocked on your door to ask if I could borrow one of your books you didn’t answer.” The unicorn pony’s tone wasn’t accusatory, merely curious. It was one of the things that Octavia liked about living with Colgate; the other mare never pried too deeply into Octavia’s affairs.
What was I doing last night again? Octavia wondered. Oh, yes, that’s right: I went into the city as Symphonia to try and find more information on that DJ P0N-3 character, but ended up getting into a fight with my old foe, Shrouded Mask. I wonder how he broke out of jail after I put him in there last time. Octavia slowly chewed her muesli to stall as she tried to think of a good answer to Colgate’s question.
“I suppose that I, uh, fell asleep whilst studying,” Octavia finally answered, choosing the simplest response. “So I didn’t hear you when you knocked on the door.”
“Okay!” Colgate replied cheerfully, accepting Octavia’s explanation at face value. It wasn’t that she was naïve; she just trusted her friend not to lie to her. “Hope I didn’t make too much noise knocking on your door then!”
“No, not at all,” Octavia said. “Believe me when I say that I didn’t hear a thing you said or did last night.” Changing the topic, she said, “It’s a pity that I did fall asleep; exams are coming up soon. How goes your own study?”
“Urgh, horrible!” Colgate said. “You have no idea how hard the study of dentistry can get! You miss one class and all of a sudden everypony’s talking about plaque and halitosis and you have no idea about the science behind it all!”
“That does sound fairly complex,” Octavia agreed. She finished off her last spoonful of muesli, and continued to speak as she got up and started rinsing out her bowl. “But I’m sure you’ll do fine, Colgate. You’re one of the smartest ponies I know! Remember when we first met and agreed to move onto campus together, and you were telling me all of those interesting facts about teeth? Just remember all of those and you shall excel at the exam!”
“Thanks, Octavia,” Colgate said, feeling a little more confident. Octavia came and sat back down at the table to keep her friend company whilst she finished off her breakfast. “Speaking of when we first moved in here, do you think that you’ll stay here on campus next semester? I remember you mentioned the other week how you were a bit annoyed with how expensive it was.”
Octavia grimaced. “I still haven’t fully decided,” she admitted. “It is expensive… but at the same time, it is also very convenient in terms of location. I shall have to think on it further. I suppose that you’re going to stay here regardless?”
“Yep!” Colgate said cheerfully. “I love it here on uni campus! There’s always something going on, and it’s great being able to get home just five or so minutes after class finishes! I’d hate having to come in all that way from the city every day, like what some ponies have to do!”
“I suppose that that is certainly true,” Octavia agreed, smiling. She glanced at a clock on the wall. “Speaking of getting to class, I had best start getting ready for my lecture. I’d like to arrive a few minutes early so that I can ask my lecturer about several things I didn’t quite understand last week.”
“Sure thing!” Colgate said, finishing off her own breakfast after she finished speaking. “I’d better get ready soon, too.” Octavia left the room and grabbed some books for class, stopping only to brush her teeth, lest Colgate lecture her on the importance of dental hygiene, as she had in one of the first weeks the two had been living together.
“Okay Colgate, I’m off to class!” Octavia called out a few minutes later. “My last class is at one o’clock, so I should be home before you finish your classes.”
“Sure! See you when I get back from class!” Colgate called back. A moment later, Octavia left the house and headed to class.
==============
Meanwhile, in a cheap, one-pony apartment in downtown Manehattan, a certain unicorn pony was just waking up. She started to slowly open her eyes, before clenching them closed as hard as she could. A hoof of hers fumbled around on a small bedside table before finding a pair of oversized purple glasses. Only when they were covering her eyes did the unicorn open her eyes fully. Naturally, it was Vinyl Scratch.
Slowly crawling out of bed, as if in great pain, Vinyl dragged herself down the hall of her small apartment and to the bathroom. If anypony had been staying over or listening in on Vinyl, they would have heard the sound of her throwing up a moment later. This sick affair went on for about a minute, before Vinyl emerged from the bathroom, wobbling slightly.
Urgh – how much did I drink after the show last night? she wondered. Gotta stop doing that- I always forget that the hangover hurts like all buck. As Vinyl made her way into the kitchen in search of a glass of water, she spotted a note on the small card table which doubled as a kitchen table. Curious, she picked it up with a hoof, feeling too queasy to levitate the note at the moment.
Hey Vinyl, it read, Neon Lights here, in case you couldn’t tell.
To save time, I’ll just answer the questions you’re gonna ask me next time we meet now: yes, no, no, yes, yes, it was a massive hit and everypony still loves you, yes, a little bit, five shots of vodka and three bottles of cider.
As you can tell, I got you home last night after you nearly passed out. Good thing I did too, there were some stallions that were hitting on you and I don’t think they would’ve taken to rejection too well. I doubt that you can remember, though.
Hope that you’re feeling okay – it’s been a while since you’ve gotten that drunk. Try not to vomit in your bed again; last time was a real bitch to clean up.
Neon.
P.S. Oh yeah, and I asked you this last night, but I should probably ask now that you’re sober and more likely to remember – interested in coming to a party in a few weeks with me? It’s a bit out of the way, but one of my friends has told me about it and it sounds pretty badass. Downside is that it’s technically an after-party so we’d have to sit around bored for a few hours beforehoof, but other than that it sounds like it’ll be a seriously awesome party. You sounded pretty interested last night when I gave more details, but I thought I should double check.
Vinyl’s grumpy grimace slowly changed to a small smile as she read through the note. Good old Neon, she thought, he’s always got my back. She read over the postscript again, trying to work out what details she could from the little Neon Lights had given. Hmm, this party sounds alright, she thought, but I guess I’d better check with Gadget before I can confirm going. He might have another job for me to do.
As Vinyl poured herself a glass of water and took a sip, her train of thought continued. Come to think of it… wasn’t I going to visit Gadget today? Especially after my success the other day? Vinyl slowly drank the rest of her water, closing her eyes behind her glasses in a vain attempt to dull the headache which had been plaguing her since she woke up. As she finished her water, her eyes snapped open.
Well, buck it – I might as well go visit him now, if he’s in. I finished my latest song the other day, and I’ve got nothing else to do for the rest of the day. Vinyl placed her glass in her (very messy) sink and then took a few steps into the hallway and towards the door leading out of her apartment. Then she stopped walking as a sharp pain stabbed into her head, and she got the urge to throw up once more.
“Urgh- maybe I’ll wait a little while before I visit Gadget,” Vinyl said out loud to herself, slowly walking over to her bed and collapsing on top of it.
==============
Back at Manehattan University, Octavia was attending a lecture. One of the great things about lectures was that they would teach students all sorts of critical information they would need to use throughout their years of university and in their chosen careers – unless the name of the student attending the lecture was Octavia. In her case, it was much more likely that she would spend her lecture sleeping, as she was now.
“Psst! Octavia!” one of Octavia’s neighbours whispered to her as the lecturer started walking up the aisle, looking for a student to pick on with a sample question. Octavia, who was sleeping with her head on her hooves, merely yawned and twitched an ear slightly. “Octavia!” The lecturer was getting closer.
“Young lady!” the lecture spouted as he passed Octavia’s seat, which was unfortunately right next to the aisle. “Are you sleeping?!” He was wearing a monocle and had a greying mane which would have originally been blonde. From the expression on his face as he looked at Octavia, it was clear that he was only teaching at university for the money, and had little to no respect for students whatsoever.
Octavia yawned and lifted her head slightly, roused at last by the lecturer’s sharp tone. Is the lecture over alrea- Oh. “…Yes?” she asked, trying not to sound meek.
“As you were so clearly paying attention, perhaps you would like to explain to the rest of the class what a deceptive cadence is?” The lecturer stared down at Octavia, as though daring her to get the answer correct.
“Oh, um, a deceptive cadence is…” Octavia began, thinking as hard as she could. I’m certain I was reading something about it the other day! she thought. “… It is… something to do with the timing of a musical piece?” she half-guessed, half-remembered.
The lecturer’s eyebrows raised even higher than they already were. Then, instead of replying to Octavia, he spun around and started heading back to the front of the lecture theatre. “As you all heard from the young lady there, a deceptive cadence is ‘something to do with the timing of a musical piece.’ To be precise, it is…”
Octavia returned her head to her hooves, allowing the lecturer’s voice to drift off into the distance and fade into white noise. Bother, she thought as she allowed her heavy eyelids to close, I really do need to cut down on the crime-fighting and concentrate on getting more sleep… and studying more. I’m smart enough that I am still scraping by in the majority of my units, but I really should concentrate on my studies more.
Octavia’s thoughts were interrupted a moment later as the lecturer’s voice managed to pierce the veil surrounding her brain. “… with that, the lecture is over. Remember to do the revision, all of you – exams are coming up soon!” Yes! Feeling much more awake now that the lecturer’s voice wasn’t lulling her to sleep, Octavia got out of her seat and exited the lecture theatre.
Outside, the Manehattan University campus was swarming with other students around Octavia’s age, whom, like her, had just escaped from the dreary hell that was the university lecture. Looking for a place to eat her lunch, Octavia spotted a nice-looking patch of grass in the sunshine, which she was soon laying upon. Before Octavia could start eating her delicious lunch (a daffodil sandwich and an apple) though, a white-furred figure detached itself from the crowd of students heading to their next classes and approached her.
“…Octavia, right?” the pony asked as she approached the grey mare.
“Yes, that’s me!” Octavia confirmed, smiling. “What would you like, Double Bass?” Octavia recognised the pegasus whom had approached her as the head of the university’s orchestral band.
“Just spotted you there and I thought I should confirm – you’re still good to play at the end-of-semester ball, right?” Double Bass asked.
“Naturally,” Octavia said. “I have been practicing for weeks, and I’ve learned almost all of The Wrapping Up of Winter on my cello – I just need to –”
“The Wrapping Up of Winter?” Double Bass repeated. “Didn’t you hear? The main song we’re playing has been changed – it’s now The Gala Theme.”
Octavia cringed. “The Gala Theme?! But that’s… that’s… that’s the Grand Galloping Gala theme! How are myself and the rest of the university’s band supposed to learn something on that sort of level? Or are you suggesting that I am somehow skilled enough to play at the Grand Galloping Gala?”
“It was all explained at last night’s band meeting,” Double Bass explained, frowning slightly. “As a matter of fact, it was explained at the last three meetings. You have been attending, haven’t you?"
Octavia’s mind flashed back to what she had been doing each night of the meetings – fighting crime as Symphonia, naturally. “Um… I was… ill?” she suggested weakly. In response, Double Bass facehoofed.
“Urgh! Whatever! Look, the important thing is that you know now – you’d just better make sure that you can play The Gala Theme by the time of the ball!” Double Bass started flapping her wings to gain height, from which she could pass over the crowds easier. “Don’t screw this up, Octavia – I’m counting on you!” With that, the dark-maned pegasus took off, heading to wherever her next class was.
Octavia watched the pegasus until she was out of sight. Only then did she perform a facehoof of her own. “Oh great!” she muttered to herself. “Now I shall have to spend every night for at least the next week learning the damn Gala Theme when I should be studying and catching up on what I’ve missed in class due to going out as – Symphonia! Damn! I’ll also have to fit in time to fight crime – but I still have to study and learn the Gala Theme, and also-”
Octavia stopped herself and took a deep breath, realising that she was rambling. Then she took another breath to help clear her mind. “Why must life be so complicated?” she sighed. “I’ll bet that DJ P0N-3 does not have to worry about any of this damn time-management-identity-balancing-multitasking-losing-sleep-business!”
==============
As Vinyl Scratch prepared to leave her apartment, feeling completely sober by the late afternoon, she debated wearing her DJ P0N-3 costume, complete with the change of glasses. In the end, however, she resigned herself to sticking to her casual attire – there was no need to go around flamboyantly parading her alter ego, after all. Before leaving the apartment to visit her mysterious acquaintance Gadget, Vinyl did, however, grab a saddlebag. As she levitated it, something within jingled quietly.
I kinda hope that Gadget does have another job or two for me, Vinyl thought nonchalantly, as she exited her apartment building and started heading down the busy Manehattan street. Robbing that bank was kinda fun, but at the same time it’d just be stupid to commit crimes that aren’t related to Gadget’s plan.
To the ponies she passed by, Vinyl appeared to be nothing more than another of Manehattan’s citizens, with nopony even suspecting that she was the supervillain whom had terrorised the First Manehattan General Bank the other week. She took pleasure in this, satisfied that she could walk amongst the ponies without fear of being arrested. After all, it’s not like I’m going to be a criminal all of my life, Vinyl thought. I just need to carry out jobs for Gadget from time to time, and then once he’s finished doing what he needs to do, I can return to just being a DJ!
Vinyl’s path through the busy streets of Manehattan had led her to a small alleyway by now. Double-checking to make sure that nopony was spying on her, she levitated the cover of a manhole to the side and then entered it.
“Urgh! Gotta remind Gadget to get himself a better hideout sometime!” Vinyl exclaimed, wrinkling her nose. The manhole had, of course, led to the sewage system of Manehattan. Currently, Vinyl was standing high above a system of dirty, fast-flowing water, which led to who knows where.
“Now, lemme see… I think Gadget’s base was the fourth path on the right,” Vinyl said out loud, following the small pathway she was standing on. After a few minutes, she had reached the aforementioned path, which she followed through until she reached a small room, occupied by nothing but a few pipes. Although the room seemed to be empty, Vinyl turned a small valve on one of the pipes, causing an entire wall to swing to one side like a door. Casually, Vinyl walked through this entrance as though everypony knew about it.
Vinyl found herself in a large room filled with all manner of devices and tools lying around. There were several blackboards around the room, upon which a large variety of equations and sums were written. Overall, the place looked like the home of some sort of eccentric inventor who could afford to spend their entire life indoors.
“Man, this place always gives me the shivers,” Vinyl said out loud, picking up a pile of what appeared to be oversized nails, examining them, and then placing them back down on the table.
“Hey Vinyl,” a voice came from another room. Vinyl turned around to see the owner of the voice entering the room. Like her, he was a white-furred unicorn. He had a soft lilac mane, and his cutie mark was of a gear and a spanner. “What’s up?”
Vinyl’s mouth broadened into a grin as she levitated the saddlebag she had brought with her over to the other unicorn. “I’ve got that money I stole for you,” she said. “What’s next?”
Author's Note
Hey everypony! I realise that this chapter is a lot less action-oriented than the last one, which I've (obviously) done on purpose. I'd like for this fic to be as much about Vinyl and Octavia in their personal lives as it is about them in costume - after all, if every chapter was simply the two meeting in costume and fighting, it'd get boring quickly. Hopefully everyone still likes this chapter!
(Also after writing this chapter I've decided that I need to read more Colgate fics 
)
