Power Ponies: The Shadows of Power Collection

The sounds of rumbles flooded the bank, which began to shake and knock ponies off their feet.  Thunderstep and Madam Encre marched confidently into the center of the building escorted by a force of pony shaped ink constructs.   Ponies began to panic, and worry and screams filled the bank.  A few reached for phones to call the police, but a loud shriek coming from the front door caused the various devices to spark and short circuit.  Siren Silence strutted in with her head held high to join her friends who each split up with their own inklings and began to bind and gag the civilians.  Madam Encre approached the pony the group believed to be Saddle Rager.  The pony fiddled with a bracelet that was hung loosely on her arm before holding her hooves up in defeat.

“Terror” Encre coldly called over her communicator.

“Aye” the voice on the other end acknowledged.  “She did something with her bracelet, and Star Horizon has eyes on the Power Ponies.  They’re inbound.”

Madam smiled with satisfaction.  She then turned around and pretended not to know what the mare had done.

“They will stop you.”  Saddle Rager proclaimed.

“Who?”  Encre feigned.

“You know who.”  The hostage persisted.

“The Power Ponies?”  Madam Encre teased.  “We’ll see.”  Madam Encre slammed her hoof onto the floor, and the ink construct approached Saddle Rager.  It melted down into a messy black puddle before wrapping itself around the mare’s legs and mouth.

“Saddle Rager won’t risk transforming in the middle of the bank where people can see her.”  Terror Two-Hoof explained to his team.  “But I have no doubt that the other ponies will prioritize rescuing her.  We can’t let them regroup with her.  Madam Encre-”

“What’s up?”  She responded.

“Their rescue attempt will most likely involve Fili-Second.  I need you to coat the back entrance in an oil slick, and coat a small area around the VIP while we’re at it.”

“Sounds like a plan.”  Encre acknowledged as she headed off.

“Thunderstep, Siren, when this tactic fails the ponies will most likely try one of two things.  Zapp will use her powers to try and force us out, or Radiance will create something to air lift her out.  Depending on which strategy they use you two need to be ready to counteract it.”

“Roger Two-Hoof” Thunderstep buzzed.

“You got it!”  Siren added.

“Terror” Star Horizon interrupted.  “Camera A outside, you should have eyes on the Power Ponies.”

“I do” acknowledged Terror.  He looked the team over then grinned manically.  “And they’re one pony short.”

~~~

The power ponies convened across the street from the bank.  “I can’t believe those creeps would choose today of all days to attack this place” grumbled Zapp as she fiddled around with her lightning bolt necklace.

“I can’t believe they knew what bank Saddle Rager would be at.”  Masked Matter-horn fretted.  Concern for her friend was oozing out of the tone of her voice.

“We don’t know for sure that they knew.”  Mistress Marevelous pointed out.  “Her distress signal is still going off which means those creeps still haven’t found it.”

“Maybe they don’t even know who she is!” Hum-Drum suggested.

“Or maybe this is some kind of trap!” Zapp notioned.

“We can’t risk a direct confrontation for too long.”  Matterhorn noted.  “Once the police arrive we’ll engage them as a distraction.”  She turned to her young red-capped assistant.  “Hum-Drum, when we engage the enemy you’ll need to lead the cops in an attempt to rescue the hostages.”

Hum-Drum pointed to himself in disbelief with his hoof.  “W-why me, why do I have to do it?”  He whined.

“Well we usually have Saddle Rager do it.”  Zapp barked.

Masked Matter-horn held up a hoof to silence her.  “Usually yes…however this time Saddle Rager IS a hostage.

Hum-Drum sighed.  He was concerned for the outcome of their strategy, but acknowledged that there was no alternative.  All of them would be needed if a fight broke out.  Helping the cops’ free hostages was the least he could do.

~~~

The Shadows of Power team waited patiently for the Power Ponies to make their first move, but as far as they could tell the group of heroes was content to just sit and wait.

“Terror what gives?”  Thunderstep blurted with annoyance in his voice.

“I don’t know” Two-Hoof admitted.  “They should have sent Fili-Second in by now…or done something.”

“They probably want us to make the first move.”  Thunder growled.

“That’s not it.”  Terror assured.  “There are numerous times where it’s better to give your opponent the first move, but a hostage situation is NOT one of them.”

“All the more reason for us to do so” Thunder pointed out.

Terror-Two Hoof shook his head as he looked over the camera feeds.  “Remember, they think we’re robbing the bank, they don’t know we’re here for them.  They’ll inevitably have to act given the situation they think they’re in.

“Gang! We got a problem!”  Star Horizon suddenly cut in.

“What’s up?”  Questioned Terror.

“My police radio’s buzzing like domesticated honey bees.”

“Meaning what exactly?” Muttered Thunderstep in response to Star’s similie.

“Meaning in about ten minutes you’re gonna have a swarm of police ponies on your flanks, and things are about to get sticky.”

“Leave that to me” announced the shrouded voice of their leader.  “Beta, make your move.”

~~~

“I can’t believe this!”  Gasped the Masked Matter-horn as she took her hoof off her com-link.

“What’s going on?” Inquired Marevalous.

“The Maretropolis Police Force just got pulled away to the opposite side of the city.  Apparently riots have begun to break out!”

The six ponies exchanged glances with one another in response to this new turn of events.

“So we’re on our own then?”  Groaned a disapproving Zapp.

“We will get some help eventually.”  Matterhorn disclosed.  “But for now we’re gonna have to do this without any.”  She turned to her friend Fili-Second who was eagerly jogging in place.

“Fili-Second:  Can you get Saddle Rager out from the back while we go in the front and distract them?”

“You got it!”  Fili saluted Matterhorn and zipped away all in one motion.

Matterhorn motioned for Hum-Drum to go around back as well without saying a word.  Hum-Drum snuck off unbeknownst to the bank’s cameras.

“The rest of us, it’s time to power pony up!”

“Zero hour” Terror warned his team.  “Get ready guys.”

Zapp flew up to the top of the bank and pointed her necklace straight up.  Grey storm clouds began to form as various bolts of lightning struck the building’s roof.  Like battering rams to a wall.

Thunderstep made a mad dash for the roof, and upon arriving ascended to the sky with the help of his clockwork wings.  His suit glowed with activity, and various beats and sounds emitted from it causing the storm to intensify.

A constructed police force equipped with gem encrusted combat gear marched on the front entrance, and were quickly engaged by a small army of ink knights rapidly drawn out by Encre.

Masked Matter-horn attempted to cull the ink army with a powerful horn blast, but a song from Siren Silence caused her horn to fizzle out.

The sounds of grunting, steel, and punches rang out as though a war had broken out in the streets.  An ink knight cut down a gem soldier only to be beheaded by another.  Terror Two-Hoof was watching the mad orchestra of discord play out over various screens when the sounds of a slipping pony followed by a loud thud broke his concentration.

Fili-Second had dashed in through the back door when she was sure enough commotion had been caused out front, but as she entered her feet trailed off after contact with Encre’s Oil Slick, and the zippy filly found herself skidding along the floor and into a nearby wall.  Hum-Drum snuck in behind her taking extra care not to slip, and the two of them soon found themselves face to face with none other than the friend they had come to save.

“Saddle Rager!”  Cheered Fili happily.  How did you escape?

“Everyone else is doing such a good job distracting those villains; I had just enough time to sneak away from everything that was happening.”

“Well let’s get back to the others!”  Fili-Second chimed.  “Now that I’ve gotten you out we can focus on freeing the rest of the hostages.”

“My thoughts exactly” the mare eagerly responded.

Fili-Second zipped back to the front lines, and Saddle Rager soon joined her.  Both Matter-horn who had recovered from Sirens attack, and Marevelous were both delighted to see her.

“This will get a lot easier now that Saddle is back!”  Marevelous praised.

“Yeah but, where’s Hum-Drum?”  Pondered Matterhorn.

The group looked around, but the little filly sidekick was nowhere to be seen.

Hum-Drum had actually stayed behind in the bank, something didn't seem quite right to him.  As quietly as he could he made his way to the center area of the bank where the majority of the fight was taking place.  There he took note of several hostages.  One of which was a bound and heavily guarded Saddle Rager.

“Oh no!”  Hum-Drum cried.  “It’s a trick! I gotta go warn-”

It was too late.  The “Saddle Rager” outside had transformed into a massive menacing red dragon.  Terror Two-Hoof’s trap had successfully been sprung.