Playing Hero

Chapters

Sunny Skies: The Woman from Croupton
The Amazing Spider Hawk
A Minty Fresh Adventurer
Super Acquaintances
The Man in the Iron Suit
Secret Wars
Worthy of the Legend
Mares of Steel
The Revengers Initiative

Sunny Skies: The Woman from Croupton

When one thinks of crimes, usually they are done under the cover of night. What better way to avoid being caught by the authorities when you've got the advantage of low visibility and everyone being asleep?

But that's just what the authorities WANT you to think- at least, that's what was going through a would-be thief's head as he tried picking the lock to the backdoor of Canterlot Gems and Jewels. All those delicious, valuable gems- and just one door between them and him. He was practically giddy with excitement at the brilliance of his plan.

What he wasn't expecting was the heavy "whumpf" of someone landing behind him, dropping his picks in surprise before whirling around.

"It's lights out for you," The pale woman who practically just appeared behind him said, decked in a pastel blue and red suit complete with domino mask. She reared back a single fist, and with a mighty "THOK!" slugged the attempted burglar out cold.

The headlines were abuzz the next day- "Vigilante 'Sunny Skies' Busts Bumbling Burglar". Sunset blinked once, putting the paper down as her six best friends looked at her.

"Well, that's..."

"Totally AWESOME, right?" Dash cried out, practically jumping in her seat, "I mean, people are becoming ACTUAL superheroes now! That's-"

"I was going to say extremely problematic," Sunset interrupted, looking over the headline picture of the would-be burglar dangling by his underwear from a lamp post.

"I mean, I'm all for proactive solutions- trust me, I am- but aren't there literal laws against this?" She said with a frown. Applejack shrugged.

"Come on now, Sunset- this Sunny Skies gal is doin' some good. 'Sides, with people like her around, there's less y'all have to worry about interfering with folks' troubles."

Sunset frowned more, humming, "Well... I guess you have a point there. It does get a little grating having to worry about thousands of people crying out for help and not having the time to do... well, anything."

She sighed- as much as she hated the moniker, being more or less a physical goddess was a lot harder than she ever expected it to be. Most of her time was devoted just to keeping the universe from collapsing in on itself- fixing all of that was going to take at least centuries of her time. And while part of her was still here on Earth to keep herself grounded and not become some distant concept, it still took a lot of concentration to maintain that sense of identity and keep the overwhelming responsibility of everything from crashing down on her.

"Still, I think I'd like to chat with this 'Sunny Skies' at some point- maybe give her the whole 'great power, great responsibility' speech."

Twilight frowned, "Oh, you mean- oh."

Sunset quirked an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'oh'?"

All eyes were on Twilight now, as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "Well, uh... I maybe kind of thought that... Sunny Skies was you?"

A beat passed.

"I mean, you're 'Sunset', and she's 'Sunny', and well you're always trying to do the right thing too- and I don't know exactly what the limits on your own abilities are or how many of you could be running around at one time and-"

Rainbow and Pinkie shared a snicker as Sunset sighed, placing a hand on Twilight's shoulder, "Sorry, Tiger- but you didn't hit the jackpot this time. I'm just mostly-omniscient and omnipresent. No secret superheroics here."

"Still, I have to wonder who it could possibly be," Rarity said, a finger to her chin as she thought, "There's been scant few pictures of her, and all blurry- ohh! Perhaps I could start designing a line of outfits for heroes in training!"

Rarity already had her sketchpad and pencil out before Sunset could get a word in about how encouraging this behavior couldn't possibly be good. Sunset sighed again, and Twilight leaned against her.

"You doing okay?"

Sunset looked at Twilight for a moment, her face softening before ruffling the other girl's hair a little, "Yeah. I'm just not going to enjoy the upcoming headache all this is going to cause."

Sunny Skies cracked an eye open, standing on top of the Crystal Empire State Building and letting the sun's rays soak into her skin.

"Three blocks south, a mugging." She thought, before cracking her neck. With a mighty leap, she practically flew through the air- an exhilarating rush usually reserved for those with a Pegasi aspect. Definitely out of the norm for someone who seemed to be just a simple Earth aspect.

The pavement crunched underneath her as she landed, and she took in the scene before her. A young woman, clutching her purse and a crook with a gun. This should be simple. The crook turned around, holding his gun shakily.

"H-hey! Stop right there! I'm warning ya-"

"Do you know who I am?" Sunny said, calmly stepping forward.

BANG!

Plink!

The crook nearly dropped his gun as the bullet ricocheted off Sunny's arm and into a brick wall. The smoking barrel was proof enough that it wasn't just firing blanks.

"See, if you knew who I was, you'd already know that was going to be useless."

Sunny glowered over the shaking crook, before grabbing the gun by the end and twisting hard. The crook was holding onto it with dear life- which was just good enough for Sunny as he spun around with it and landed on his back. The crook groaned, before Sunny whipped out a zip-tie and bound his wrists faster than you could ask "Is it a bird or a plane?"

Dusting off her hands, she stood up and looked at the shaking woman before her, still clutching her purse.

"You should call the police, make sure this one gets locked up." Sunny said, keeping a boot firmly planted on the crook's chest to keep him from getting up, "Don't want him trying to hurt anyone else."

The woman nodded, fumbling with her phone, before hesitating to glance at her savior.

"A-are... are you-"

"Sunny Skies?" A new voice called out from the alley way, and the hero in question turned her head to find a very familiar sight.

"Yes she is," Sunset Shimmer said, brushing off some residual magic from her shoulder as she walked closer, "And I think she and I should have a very serious conversation."

Sunny sighed, "I figured this would happen sooner or later," she looked back at the woman, "Are you going to be okay?"

She nodded, and Sunny smiled, "Good to hear. If you'll excuse me, I'm probably about to get my ear chewed off by god now."

"I'm not- you're totally just saying that to get on my nerves," Sunset said with a growl. Sunny walked past her.

"Meet up with me on top of that building over there- I'd prefer a little privacy for our talk." She said, crouching low and sailing through the air with a mighty jump once again. Sunset rolled her eyes, and a moment later appeared on the roof. Sunny landed just a second later.

"Okay, I've got to admit- I was mostly planning on just giving the old 'don't be an idiot, great power and responsibility' speech here, but seriously- what the hell, Principal Celestia?"

Sunny raised an eyebrow, before placing a hand on her hip, "And here I thought the domino mask was doing its job."

"I'm practically omniscient, and you thought you could hide who you were from me by covering up your cheekbones?" Sunset asked, incredulously. Sunny- or as it was revealed, Celestia- sighed, before removing her mask.

"Point taken."

Both of them stood on top of the building for a few moments in silence, before Celestia cleared her throat.

"So, wasn't there something you needed to say to me? Speeches on using my powers responsibly and all that?"

"Well, that was before I knew it was you," Sunset said, running a hand through her hair, "I mean, I could go on about how this is setting a dangerous example for the student body if you ever got found out, but... Honestly I couldn't think of a more capable person to take up the mantle of being a superhero."

Celestia smiled, and placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder, "Thank you- that means a lot more to me than you could think."

Sunset nodded, "Just promise you won't go all mad with power at some point, okay?"

They both had a small laugh, and Celestia nodded, "Don't worry, I'm not about to play into any of those old tropes- I just felt the color scheme fit with me being solar powered," she thought for a moment, tapping a finger to her mouth, "Although, Luna did suggest going more for a mythological, 'Knights of the Round Table' look."

"Of course she did," Sunset said, rolling her eyes, "Actually, could you do something for me?"

Celestia nodded, "Of course."

Sunset started pacing, "Well... I know that there's more than a few people out there with weird... quirks, unusual to their aspect," She looked over at Celestia for a moment, "And I know you're probably not the only one who'll think to use those gifts to start trying to be heroes."

"I can see that," Celestia said, a little hesitantly.

"And I'm already kind of incredibly busy making sure the universe doesn't collapse in on itself," Sunset continued, "So, if you find anyone else doing the whole vigilante thing, could you... try and guide them? Or something?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow, "What, like starting my own League of Justice?"

Sunset grimaced, "HOPEFULLY it doesn't come to that, but... basically?"

Thinking for a moment, Celestia nodded, "I think I can manage that-" She stopped suddenly, looking over the city with a squint.

"...Someone's holding up a store on Fifth and Stirrup Street," She said, and looked back towards Sunset. Smiling, Sunset nodded.

"Go ahead- far be it for me to stop Supermare from doing her job."

Celestia smiled in turn, placing her mask back on her face before leaping to the distance. Watching her quickly vanish towards the horizon, Sunset let out a breath.

"The girls would never believe this."

The Amazing Spider Hawk

"Finally, we're going to need some photographs of the paper's coverage for the Spring Fling," Diamond Tiara said, the rest of the school newspaper's staff listening intently. All except one.

"Featherweight, I'm going to need you-"

"Snrrr..."

Diamond Tiara blinked, glaring at the sleeping photographer- snoozing away for the third time this meeting. She tossed an eraser at his head, and Diamond Tiara sword he almost reacted before it hit him.

"Ah! I- nothing! Paying attention!" He scrambled, batting the eraser away as it harmlessly sailed at his forehead.

"Earth to Featherweight- I need you to pay attention during these meetings if we want to actually get anything done!" Diamond Tiara said, as the rest of the newspaper club nodded in agreement. Featherweight blushed slightly.

"Sorry, I uh- didn't get much sleep last night."

"Well, get yourself fixed up or whatever- you're on photo duty for the Spring Fling."

Featherweight nodded, patting his trusty camera, "You got it, boss."

"Good," Diamond Tiara nodded, and shuffled a few more papers, "Now, I think that about covers it for today's meeting. See you all next Wednesday."

Everyone went their separate ways, eager to head home for the day. As Featherweight walked down the halls, he could still make out the thrumming sound of music coming from one of the practice rooms. Rainbooms still had to keep their music skills sharp, it seemed.

His phone started buzzing, and Featherweight quickly whipped it out of his pocket.

Hold up on docks. 3 blocks SE from school. U done w/ news club?

Featherweight tapped out a response, going from a casual walk to a swift jog out the school's front doors.

Club's done, be there in a sec

Dashing to the side of the building, Featherweight crouched low as he hid behind one of the sports equipment sheds. Home would have to wait just a little bit longer, as he zipped off his jacket, revealing a familiar (and incredibly trademarked) outfit underneath.

"So glad it's close to Halloween, sewing this myself would've sucked," He whispered, stashing his normal clothes in his backpack and stuffing it behind the shed. Taking a running start, he clenched his fist and jabbed it forward in the air, as a small wire shot forward with a "thwip!" and dug itself into a taller clocktower. Featherweight's lightbow shimmered to life as he soared through the air, gliding from arc to arc as he swung downtown.

"Spider-Kid to base, I'm en route to the disturbance," He said, the radio built into his mask crackling to life.

"I read you Spider-Kid, authorities have not yet converged on the scene yet," A voice called back, similar to his own but older.

"Roger that, Wiz. Going silent."

With a click, both of Spider-Kid's "weblines" returned back to their gauntlets, and he lightly landed on top of the warehouse roof. Below him, he could clearly make out a group of thugs holding a team of dockworkers hostage, guns trained on them while one of them shouted over a cellphone.

"-And we don't want any funny business, capisce? You and your little boys in blue stay out of this, and nobody gets hurt- it's a win-win."

With a click, the man- probably the leader, as far as Spider-Kid knew- hung up the phone and trained his pistol back on the hostages. This was going to be fun.

Crawling over the roof, Spider-Kid found an open skylight and hung from it. Clenching his fist again, the pressurized webline dug itself into the ceiling, and Spider-Kid slowly descended above the group of armed individuals.

"Alright, you boys keep sitting here all quiet like, eh? The police ain't gonna help you- we're just going to take what belongs to us and if you all can just behave, nobody has to get hurt, alright?" The leader shouted. None of the dockworkers made a move.

"I guess that makes your name 'Nobody', huh?" Spider-Kid called out from just a few feet above him. The thug whipped his gun up, and Spider-Colt detached the webline and tackled him to the ground. Two punches, each followed up with a quick "zap!" quickly knocked him out.

Before the other three could get a solid bead on him, Spider-Kid's mind flashed- images of himself doing his best impression of swiss cheese- and he leaped backwards into the air, spinning once and landing feet-first onto the thug directly behind him. Using him as a jumping pad, he barreled right into the next with another venom blast- knocking the triggerman out cold. His mind flashed warnings again, and he whipped around, webline digging into the last thug's gun and yanking it out of his hand. He stumbled, and was about to eat fist before a pastel colored blur burst through the front door, tackling him to the ground. Spider-Kid stood there, surprised just for a moment as the blur made quick work of zip-tying the four thugs together.

Sunny Skies brushed a lock of pink hair from her face, before looking at Spider-Kid with a raised eyebrow.

"Good work, handling those four- but you might want to think about changing the look before Marevel comics sends you a Cease and Desist," She quipped. Spider-Kid blinked, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh- well, I mean- it was just on sale, you know? I'm not exactly great at sewing myself..."

The captive dockworkers stared in shock as the pair of heroes started trading quips, one of them standing up and dusting off his pants.

"Ey, uh- you two ain't after whatever those guys were, eh?"

Sunny and Spider-Kid both looked at the hostages they just freed, and the kid shrugged, "Not really- just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Kid, doing my civic duty."

"Oh, lord you're even using the name?"

Spider-Kid held a hand to his chest, "Well excuuuse me, I wasn't exactly gifted with the super power of imagination."

"Aren't you a little young to even be doing this?" Sunny questioned, frowning. Spidey rolled his eyes under the mask.

"Hey, I read the comics- if I don't use these powers for good, then who else will?" He cleared his throat, before scuffing a foot on the floor, "I mean, besides you. I just... it's the right thing to do. The responsible thing to do! If I weren't here, and you coming in as late as you did- someone could've gotten hurt, with you trying to take them all on at once!"

Sunny looked over Spider-Kid for a few long seconds, before sighing.

"Well, your heart's in the right place, at least." She nodded over towards the dockworkers, "You all inform the authorities that the situation's been handled. And you," She pointed back to Spider-Kid, "You need to come up with a more original name. I'd hate to see you taken out of action over something as simple as a copyright infringement."

Spider-Kid snapped a salute, before weblining out the skylight, "Yes, ma'am!"

As the door shut to Featherweight's house, he was immediately confronted by the sight of his older brother, Wiz Kid, grinning at him like the cat that ate the canary.

"Holy smokes, you got to work with SUNNY SKIES?!"

Featherweight shrugged, "I mean... yeah? Kinda? She's a lot taller than I thought she'd be- like, freakishly so."

Wiz Kid, still grinning, clapped a hand on Featherweight's shoulders, "Dude! That's unreal! Oh man, I've totally gotta put priority on the new suit now- we're working with the Big Leagues, kid!"

Featherweight dutifully followed Wiz up to his room, ducking under some low-hanging wire.

"What about getting actual webbing for the weblines?"

Wiz waved a hand at him, "The micro grappling hooks work fine as is- I mean, you heard her! We gotta be more original!" He booted up his laptop, half a dozen images of various spider-like insects popping on screen.

"What about 'The Tarantula'? Or maybe the 'Cazadore'- you do have those weird stinging punch things you do."

Featherweight sighed, climbing up the bunk bed to the top, "I don't know, man- can we talk about this later? I'm kinda beat."

Wiz turned his swivel-chair around, frowning up at his brother, "You okay?"

"Yeah- I'm just... I dunno, it was just weird? Actually seeing someone else doing what I do?" He said, fiddling with his camera, "Maybe she's got a point though, I'm just some scrappy kid- the danger sense isn't gonna save my butt every time..."

Wiz stood up from his desk, leaning his chin on Featherweight's bed.

"Come on, buddy- all the adults act like that! Thinking we're in over our heads about all this," he ruffled Featherweight's hair, "Besides- Sunset was 'just some kid' too. You've got your gifts, I've got mine- we gotta use them to do good, right?"

Featherweight thought for a moment, before nodding, "Yeah, you've got a point." He flipped over, peering over the edge of the bed to see his brother's computer better.

"So, what was that about Cazadores?"

Featherweight's head was already up before the ruler could even smack on his desk.

"Augh!"

Mr. Doodle glared at the young student, hands both gripping the yellow measuring stick.

"Featherweight, for the last time- sleeping is for home, not for school! Shape up, kid."

Featherweight barely muttered a "Yes, sir," before Mr. Doodle went back to his lesson. Featherweight wasn't the academic his brother was- his grades were already middle of the road before he started moonlighting as a kid superhero. He yawned, rubbing a little gunk out of his eyes.

"Man, if only so much crime didn't happen at night..."

The rest of English class passed in a blur, and as the bell rung Featherweight prepared for his favorite subject- lunch. The river of students flowed through the hallways, and Featherweight zombied his way with the rest of them.

"Featherweight! Could you step into my office for a moment!"

Looks like lunch would have to wait. Featherweight sighed, and stepped through the open door to Principal Celestia's office as she offered him a seat. The chair squeaked as Celestia sat across the desk from him.

"I've been getting a lot of reports of you falling asleep in class, Featherweight."

Well, at least she wasn't trying to mince words with it- Featherweight nodded.

"I'm sorry, Principal- I've just been having trouble sleeping the past week."

Celestia nodded, steepling her fingers, "I see- just trouble getting to sleep?"

Featherweight nodded, "Yup."

"No late-night troublemaking? Sneaking out?"

"I uh, don't see why I'd be doing anything like that..."

"Of course not," Celestia said, and opened up a drawer behind her desk, "While you may not be the best student, your record for behavior has been pretty sterling."

"Just... doing the right thing?" Featherweight said, frowning, "It's what anyone else would do."

"I should hope so," She replied, shutting the drawer. Featherweight gulped.

"Is there, uh, anything else you needed? I kinda don't wanna miss lunch..."

"Just one more thing," Celestia said, before affixing a very familiar domino mask to her face, "Have you at least thought up a more original name than 'Spider-Kid' yet?"

Featherweight's jaw dropped. Celestia grinned, "Sorry for intruding upon your identity like that- it is my job as principal to make sure my students are safe. Plus, it's hard not to overhear radio chatter with these ears."

He blinked once, before shaking his head, "Wait, so- you're not going make me stop?"

"I don't really see how I can," Celestia said, "You seem rather dedicated to the task- you and your brother work well as a team. I do have a few pointers, though."

"Does that mean what I think it means?"

Celestia grinned, "Just so long as you've actually taken my advice from yesterday."

Featherweight nodded, smiling, "Actually, I have- seeing as how I've got the wings too, I was thinking of going by 'The Amazing Spider-Hawk'."

Celestia chuckled, "Well, it's a good start."

A Minty Fresh Adventurer

"-And I was like 'Oh my god she really did that?' and Twinkleshine was like 'Totally, I saw it with my own eyes'-"

"Uhuh."

"-So I was like 'That's totally insane!' And Twinkleshine said 'I know, right?'-"

"Uhuh."

"-And then Lemon Hearts walks in and is like, 'Oh hey girls what's going on?' And then-"

"Minuette?"

Minuette stopped talking for a moment, raising an eye brow at Moondancer, "Yeah?"

"We're in the library."

Minuette snorted, "Well, duuuuh- what, you don't think I know what a book is?"

Moondancer sighed, shutting her textbook, "No- but I'm beginning to doubt your level of literacy," she said, glancing over towards one of the many 'Quiet in the Library' signs. Minuette frowned, but only for a moment before her bright and cheery smile returned to her face. Moondancer still couldn't believe her friend never needed braces, god damn genetic lottery winner that one.

"Okay, Miss Grumpy-pants, have it your way- hey, after school you wanna walk with me downtown? I gotta cash in my paycheck- normally I'd have done it yesterday on my way home, but you see I ran into Lyra- she's going to CHS now, did you know that? Oh, also she's apparently been a pony this whole time and-"

Moondancer shoved a finger into Minuette's face, quieting her before sighing, "If I go with you, will you please be quiet?"

Minuette nodded vigorously.

"Fine, then."

Moondancer sighed as she redid her hair-tie for the third time. This is why she didn't go out- nature was everywhere and it always messed up her hair. At least now in the air-conditioned environment of the bank, she wouldn't have to worry about constantly retying it out of her face. So annoying.

Looking around the lobby, it was fairly empty for a weekday. Aside from herself and Minuette, there were only a few tellers and two other small groups of people waiting to make withdrawals or apply for a loan or something. It didn't really matter to her.

"Alright, that was quick!" Minuette said as she walked over towards the bench Moondancer was waiting on. She got up and stretched a little as Minuette fingered through a couple of bills.

"Finally, can we go now? I've got a test to study for," She droned, and Minuette started to roll her eyes before fear flickered across her face for a brief moment. She tackled Moondancer to the ground, as the roar of of an engine suddenly plowed through the front of the building. Rubble rolled harmlessly off the top of an armored van, as a group dressed in rubber clown masks filed out the back.

"On the ground- everyone on the ground now!"

"Hands up, away from the counter!"

Moondancer groaned under Minuette's weight, peeking out from under her once-again loose bangs.

'Oh my god. Oh my god we're in a bank robbery oh god this is bad we're gonna die oh god-'

"Clock up."

Minuette hauled Moondancer to her feet, and she started to scream, "What the hell are you doing, they're gonna shoot us!"

Holding onto Moondancer's hand tightly, Minuette shook her head, "No they're not- they're don't have the time."

Moondancer gave Minuette a look like she had grown a second head, before she noticed how quiet everything was. The thieves stood frozen, dust hung still in the air. Nobody even looked like they were breathing.

"What did you do?"

"No time to explain," Minuette said, and dragged Moondancer with her as she rushed towards one of the masked men. It almost felt like a blur to Moondancer, the way Minuette whacked one thief in the face before yanking his gun out of his hand; shoving another two frozen ones in a slow-mo collision with each other; and even yanking one's mask 180 degrees to blind them. Lifting Moondancer up bridal style, she rushed out of the new hole in the front of the building, banking around the right side and sliding into an alley way.

"Clock down!"

All of a sudden, the sounds of life started back up- and from the sound of the ruckus inside, the thieves were having a bad time. Minuette put Moondancer down, collapsing against a wall.

"Oh man, that always takes it out of me-"

Unfortunately for Minuette, her time to rest was cut short as Moondancer hauled her up by the collar of her Crystal Prep uniform, glaring at her.

"Explain. Now."

"Easy, easy!" Minuette said, holding her hands up, "I'll explain everything, just give a chance to catch my breath, alright?"

Moondancer glared at her for a second longer, before sighing and letting go. Minuette wiped some sweat from her forehead.

"Alright- so thing is, and you HAVE to promise not to tell anyone about this- but I... may kind of sort of have weird time magic that, according to our good old Lord and Savior, means I have some kind of important destiny- like those Crusader kids who started up PAULDRONS and stuff."

Minuette found a box in the alley to sit on as she continued her story, "Basically, there's some forms of magic that come from pony-land that are kind of hard to mix with human magic? So there's a few people that have access to these weird powers to kind of balance stuff out. Time magic, destiny magic- stuff like that, you know? So yeah, regulating time is a thing I can do now," She bounced in her seat, beaming with glee, "Ain't that totally neato?"

Moondancer, for her part, remained absolutely incredulous throughout Minuette's "explanation".

"... Time magic."

"Yup."

"And no one else can do this?"

Minuette tapped her finger to chin, "Well, I wouldn't say that- according to Sunset there's a few other people with wibbly-wobbly time stuff. One of them's an Earth-aspect, if you can believe that."

Moondancer groaned, letting her face fall into her palm.

"That's... great. Looks like relativity just flew out the window, that'll be just PERFECT for reworking current scientific theories on how the universe is supposed to work."

"Hey, lighten up!" Minuette said, clapping her hand on her friend's back, "Listen, you're probably a little shaken because you almost got stuck in a bank robbery, how about we go get some ice cream, okay? My treat."

Minuette waved a fat stack of bills under Moondancer's nose, and the bespectacled nerd frowned.

"That seems like a lot more than what you cashed out earlier."

"Whaaaat? Pfff-" Minuette waved her hand in Moondancer's face, "You probably misremembered or something. Come ooooon, ice cream is calling our names!"

Minuette started to lead Moondancer on, and she shook her head. Probably the stress of the situation getting to her.

Celestia played the tape again- she might not have made it to that particular robbery as Sunny Skies, but when it hit the news about how the thieves managed to somehow foil themselves with inexplicable clumsiness, she called in a couple favors. Something about the situation didn't seem right; aside from the scene caused by crashing an armored van into a building, they almost seemed to enter with practiced poise and grace. Absolute professionals. And then not a moment later, they're tripping over each other like a circus side-show.

"And here I thought I was the night owl around here," Luna said as she entered into Celestia's home office, setting down a tray with tea.

"Still looking over that tape?"

Celestia nodded, "It's so strange- they were obviously foiled by an outside source, but the people with abilities so fast were nowhere near the scene at the time. I even double checked with Rainbow and Turner- after school soccer practice and grading history tests, respectively."

Luna snorted as Celestia mentioned the resident crackpot of a teacher, "Time travelers, I'll never understand the appeal," She took one of the mugs, sipping quietly as Celestia rewound and parsed through the crash again. Something caught her eye.

"Hang on- who are those two? In the corner?"

"Huh?" Celestia turned as Luna jabbed her finger onto the screen. She frowned, removing it and taking out a small cloth to wipe away the smudge. It was no small wonder her little sister was always needed her help with technology- she acted like some old lady who didn't even know how to treat it right.

"What are you talking about, Luna?"

Luna took another sip, before clearing her throat, "Just watch those two in the bottom- they look like they're wearing Crystal Prep uniforms."

Celestia raised an eyebrow, before rewinding again and watching the van crash through the glass foyer for the thousandth time tonight. A full five seconds before the van enters stage-left, the blue and white haired girl tackles the other to the ground- barely leaving them in frame. Then, as all chaos broke loose they just vanished. Celestia's other eyebrow joined it's twin higher on her forehead.

"How did I not notice that?"

"Probably just sitting too close to the screen," Luna said as she took another drink, "You're going to go blind that way, you know."

Celestia rolled her eyes, before skipping back a few seconds and playing the scene frame-by-frame. Sure enough, the two mystery teens vanished without a trace the moment the heist went pear shaped.

"... Luna, send a message to Abacus Cinch. I need to make a social visit to Crystal Prep."

Super Acquaintances

Author's Note

Warning- this chapter is... a little anvilicious in its content. But I feel like Principal Celestia is not the kind of person to pull any punches- she doesn't have the centuries of tempering and chess-mastery of the Princess, which I think leads to her being more of a stern but fair figure. She's proactive and nips problems in the bud- and I prefer a leader who is a little more genre-savvy than not.

Super Acquaintances

Featherweight was nervous- and understandably so. He stood outside one of the many classrooms in CHS, the final bell for the day having rung more than half an hour ago and sitting through yet ANOTHER school news meeting. At least Tiara seemed to be putting forward a little more patience- he'd have to remember to thank Apple Bloom for making his boss at least slightly more agreeable.

Sucking in a breath and pushing out those procrastinating thoughts, he twisted the handle open. Inside stood Celestia, his brother Wiz and some girl with hair that reminded him of toothpaste.

"Uh, sorry I'm late- had to take care of business with the school paper."

Celestia nodded with a calming smile, gesturing to one of the seats. She herself was parked rather casually on the desk itself. It was totally bizarre to see such an authoritative figure acting so... Laid back. Featherweight took the seat with haste.

"Now that this is settled, I suppose you're all curious as to the nature of this meeting?"

"It's about our super powers, right?" Minuette spoke up, twirling her hair, "Like, okay- I get that you're all 'use these for the greater good' and stuff, but like- I've already got stuff on my plate here? Plus I'm pretty sure Cinch would make life an absolute b-"

She looked over at the much younger teen that was Featherweight for a moment.

"B-buh, bad- bad time!"

Flashing her pearly whites did nothing to lower the incredulous eyebrow on Celestia's face.

"I'm not asking you to be a super hero or anything," Celestia started, "I just want to offer a guiding hand to make sure you don't end up getting lost in the power that comes with your magics."

"Like Uncle Pen, except with less, uh... Dying." Featherweight piped up, and Celestia nodded.

"In a sense, yes. Now, since it's just the four of us for right now, all I wanted to do was have a casual talk about responsible power usage," she got up, pacing as she spoke, "These gifts were given to you for a reason- I would hate to see them squandered in such ways as petty theft."

Celestia threw a pointed glance at Minuette, who very pointedly looked anywhere else. She then continued.

"While I can't expect you to just become a paragon of excellence overnight, I'd like you all to give a long hard look at what selfish exploitation of your powers can lead to." Celestia pulled down the projector screen, and hit play on a news site video file. An Earth-aspect in a sharp looking suit, named Bobby Pin according to the superimposed news graphic, straightened a few papers.

"Tensions are mounting as the situation in Tauros escalates. Reports of Tirek's magical conquests pour in daily, as the scarce few refugees who have escaped tell their tale. Earlier this week, we interviewed one of the most surprising of these refugees- a member of Tirek's personal guard. We have kept his identity secret as per his wishes- I must warn you, viewers, what he has seen may shock you, but it is a story that needs to be told."

The scene cut to a darkened news room, with only Bob in lighting. Across from him, in typical anonymous fashion, the former guard was backlit to hide his features.

"I must say, it's incredibly brave for you to come forward like this," Bob started, "What exactly drove you to try and escape Tauros?"

The guard's voice was modulated to hide their identity, deep and absurdly bassy, "There's only so much a man can witness before their conscience gets the better of them. Though, the horrors that Tirek has subjected his fellow countrymen to... I wonder if the man is even capable of such simple empathy."

Bob nodded, gently urging him on.

"Tirek's cruelty was never a secret to the rest of the world- while he has made some boastful claims of Tauros' might in the past, I have learned that most of your world takes them... almost as if a joke. I do not see the humor in my fellow aspects having their down shorn from them, or seeing Earth-aspects herded like cattle and monitored at all hours of the day."

"He's... harvested feathers from Pegasus-aspects?"

The guard's nod was almost imperceptible, "Yes- and those are not the only ones. Those unicorns he's deemed 'worthy' enough- he can... he just rips the magic right out of them, to fuel his own power. And that's if they're lucky."

"How is that even remotely lucky?"

"Others, he just tears the spell gems off of- cuts them right out of their foreheads," The guard was physically shuddering now, his shadow shaky, "I saw- I saw him do it. Many times."

Celestia chose that moment to stop the video, looking over the gathered trio. Featherweight seemed like he was physically about to hurl, while his brother held him close to comfort him. Minuette touched the blue crystal on her head for a moment, shuddering as a look of pure horror crossed her face.

"This is what happens to a person who abuses power," Celestia said, "Power corrupts- and I've seen it do so many, many times."

Wiz looked up, frowning, "What do you mean you've seen it? You're... our principal?"

Celestia shook her head, "I wasn't always an educator- or, well... not in the same way, at least. But that's a different story," she walked over to her students, kneeling down and placing a comforting hand on the shoulders of Featherweight and Minuette, "I know, this is scary- and it's not what you were expecting when you were given these gifts, but please- know that I'm not doing this to try and 'scare you straight' or anything like that- that's more Luna's style."

She took in a sharp breath, "A harsh truth is still a truth, regardless- doing the right thing on a... "Heroic" scale is not fun and games," she looked Featherweight in the eye, "It's a responsibility- I know that you know that. But you young kids seem to think yourselves invincible, and that kind of attitude can get you and others hurt, or worse."

Celestia then looked at Minuette, "And the inverse... it's a slippery slope. You try and justify the small things, but those small things add up into much bigger things, and eventually you don't even recognize the person you've become."

Getting back up, she walked towards the door, "I'm going to leave for a few minutes- I've already said my piece on responsibility, and that's about all I can do. Your choice in what to do with that lesson is your own."

The door clicked shut, and the three kids sat in silence for a while. Only the ticking of the clock broke the silence, like a judgmental beat to the tune of their own indecision.

"... I can't just stand aside," Featherweight finally spoke up. Wiz rubbed his shoulder, comfortingly.

"What?" Minuette stared at him, absolutely dumbfounded, "Did we watch the same interview, here? Because, like- that was messed up! Having your... I can't even imagine that happening! It's horrible!"

"And that's exactly why I can't do nothing," he said, standing up from the desk, "I mean- yeah, maybe I'm just a kid here, and there's definitely no way I could ever take on someone like Tirek right now- but there are probably a hundred other people like him that aren't making the news. Someone's gotta take responsibility- someone's gotta make a start. And maybe it inspires another person to do the right thing, and they inspire another and another, and soon enough you've got people everywhere standing up against the jerks and the bullies."

Minuette gave the kid a long, hard look- he had the determination in his words, that was for sure. Once again, she rubbed a finger against her gem.

"I've... been pretty irresponsible with my own life, so far," She admitted, "I mean- before the magic and everything, even at Crystal Prep I just... kinda wanted to go more with the flow rather than act like every other stick in the mud, you know? Be exciting and cool. After Sunset Shimmer did her thing, and I got stuck with some weird magic because destiny said so, I just... it felt like life was giving me a big ol' finger like "Nah, Minnie- you've got to be serious and help restore time and blah blah blah" which is just-!"

She huffed and put her face in her hands, "It's not fair... I wanted my own choices and stuff."

"I don't see how that has to change," Wiz said, earning a questioning glance.

"I mean- she said it herself, Celestia's not gonna force anyone to fight- me and Feathers here are in it to the end, but you honestly sound like you've got a lot on your plate," He shrugged, "Maybe you just... need to take the time to figure out stuff for yourself? Come to terms with your... uh, I don't think you actually mentioned what kind of magic you got stuck with?"

Minuette rolled her eyes, "It's... stupid time stuff. And not even like time travel- I can just pause it for a few moments while I zip around and, well... do whatever, really."

"Oh wow- so like that one Mercury scene from "Y-Men: Here Tomorrow, Gone Today"?" Featherweight said, a huge grin on his face. Minuette frowned.

"Uh... I dunno? I guess?" she shrugged, "I'm more of a fan of "The Journal" or "Oil" far as movies go."

"Aww..."

Minuette got out of her seat, brushing down her skirt, "Anyways, I think I'm gonna... head out. Do some thinking. This has been pretty heavy, you know?"

Wiz nodded, "Yeah, no kidding."

Giving a small grin, she headed towards the door, stopping for a moment, "You know... for a couple of CHS kids, you guys have some solid noggins on your shoulders. And... thanks for the advice."

And like that, the brothers were the only ones left. Featherweight gave Wiz a grin.

"You're real softie, "Care Root"."

"Ugh, come on- only mom gets to use my real name like that. Let's go find the Principal- let her know that we're still on the team."

"Yeah- we totally need a name for it, though. Like the Revengers! Or the Hero Pals!"

"Ehhh... we'll work on it."

The Man in the Iron Suit

Near the Saddle Arabian/Tauros Border, Three Weeks Earlier...

Fancy Pants smiled as he looked out the window of his convoy- for all its heat and sand, Saddle Arabia was a truly beautiful country. The spiraling architecture, the wondrous reds and browns of the natural clay; while he may have been a unicorn aspect, there were scarce few times where he felt more of a connection to the nitty-gritty aspects of a more down-to-earth way of life.

"Don't know why you're grinning so much- looks like a lot of dirt to me," his military escort quipped, the rumble of the Humvee's engine a small comfort through the steering column. Fancy chuckled.

"Oh, come now Captain Spitfire- you must admit, it is rather remarkable how people have managed to flourish in such inhospitable conditions. Such hard work and perseverance, it's rather inspiring."

Spitfire chuckled, "You're a weird one, Mr. Pants."

"Please, call me Fancy."

"Well, Fancy- looks like this is our stop," Spitfire said, as the Humvee slowed to a stop. Stepping out into the harsh sunlight, Fancy Pants could barely make out the forms of the Saddle Arabian dignitaries he was meeting with- and demonstrating for.

"Haakim, Amira- it is certainly a pleasure to finally meet face to face!" He called, shaking each one's hand thoroughly. Amira smiled in return.

"The pleasure is all ours- we look forward to what you have in store for us."

Fancy gave a sly wink and a smile, "Well then, shall we?"

Leading the pair of dignitaries to a shaded pavilion, one of Fancy's assistants handed him a small remote. Fancy nodded.

"Now, as you are well aware, Fancy Industries has its irons in many fires- from household electronics, computers, textile manufacturing, and even on occasion- military defense technology."

He held up the remote, and continued, "Our most recent venture, however, has been delving into the world of Magitek- patent pending- and what I am about to unveil may be the next step in blending our newly returned magics with the power of technology."

Turning towards the Captain, he asked, "What's the ETA on the missile strike?"

"T-minus five minutes, sir."

Haakim's eyes widened, "M-missiles? What game are you playing at, here? I was promised defensive technologies, not some- some wargame!"

Fancy chuckled, "Please, please, calm down. I assure you all we are perfectly safe," he checked his watch, and then stared into the distant horizon. Sure enough, he could barely make out the glint of something flying towards them all- and fast. His grin spread, and the pair of dignitaries started to worry if they had just fallen in with a madman.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce," He said, pressing a single button on the remote. An unearthly hum resonated from underneath the raised pavilion, and a shimmering barely-purple bubble sprouted around in a fifty foot radius. The missiles screamed as they closed the distance.

"Fancy Industries' thaumatic reaction shield technology!"

The missiles struck the bubble, and the plume of smoke covered the sky. Haakim shut his eyes, and a moment later cracked them open- he was still alive. Fancy stood, arms open to the side with a smile on his face.

"Well? Jolly good demonstration, I should say!" He cackled with laughter, and Haakim struggled to regain some of his dignity. Amira smiled lightly, before clapping.

"It was very effective, yes."

Haakim nodded, "But please, if you pull a stunt like that again without our prior knowledge again, I may have you thrown into stocks for good measure."

Fancy cleared his throat, nodding, "Yes, yes- I suppose that would be fair. Now then- shall we head back to the city? I'm sure there is paperwork to do, and I would prefer a moderate amount of air conditioning to do it in."

Deep Within Tauros, Two Weeks and Four Days Ago

As Fancy struggled to wipe the sweat from his brow with the incredibly grungy sleeve of his dress shirt, he was beginning to miss paperwork.

It was going so well. He was well on his way back to capital city of Saddle Arabia- electing to ride with some of the younger recruits and hand out a few autographs. Positive PR. And then everything went to Tartarus- something exploded, the car flipped, and next thing he knew he was handcuffed in a dingy cell while his head throbbed like someone had caved it in. That's when he came in.

He was tall, with skin so red it almost seemed burnt, and a beard that under normal circumstances Fancy would have commended. Fancy cleared his throat once.

"Tirek, I presume?"

"Lord Tirek," He rumbled, flanked by a pair of guards. Fancy sniffed.

"Very well- for what do I owe the pleasure?"

Looking side to side, Tirek snapped his fingers as one of the guards unlocked the cell door. His expression remaining neutral, Tirek stepped in.

"You are going to build me one of those magic generators."

Fancy snorted, "The Hell I am! You're an absolute menace, I'd rather die!"

A small smile passed Tirek's face, as he held out a hand to one of his guards, "I was hoping you'd resist."

Fancy scowled, as he watched the guard hand Tirek a chisel. His face fell as he soon realized what was to pass.

"Do not worry- this will only hurt a lot."

Deep Within Tauros, Two Weeks Ago

Fancy Pants had gotten used to the pain. It had been a good few days since he had finally managed to break the habit of trying to touch his forehead where his gem used to be. The world was dull- colorless. He couldn't even feel the spark of life that magic gave anymore.

So he would build Tirek his thaum reactor. And it would be the biggest regret Tirek would ever have.

Deep Within Tauros, One Week Ago

"He's stalling," One guard said, as he watched the screen connected to Fancy Pants' cell turned workshop. The man was hard at work, for sure- but the device was barely the size of a fist, let alone a full powered energy source. A sheet remained over what they had assumed was the true project- perhaps Fancy needed further encouragement to keep him from becoming distracted. He nodded towards a few of the guards- it was time for applied persuasion techniques.

The guards filed down the hall, stopping right outside the reinforced metal door to the workshop. One of them peered through the small slot of a window- Fancy was nowhere to be seen. He nodded towards two of his fellows, who readied their guns. The door creaked open.

"Hands where we can see them, Fancy Pants! You know what happens when you resist!"

No one responded- The workshop was practically empty. Cautiously, the guards fanned out into the room. A small breeze fluttered the sheet covering the promised thaum reactor.

It was too late that the guard realized there shouldn't be a breeze so far underground. With a sickening crunch, the guard was sent flying across the room and into a wall. The four remaining guards turned, their weapons firing full auto. Bullets pinged and fizzled as they hit the metal monstrosity in front of them- like a man, but at least eight feet tall and covered in arcane circuits that glowed with a slight blue light. On it's forehead, a brightly glowing gemstone sat, shimmering with every hit. Soon enough, the guards ran out of ammo, and the metal monster took a wide stance.

"My turn."

Raising its fists forward, the arcane circuits glowed as a pair of panels popped open- streaking blue missiles flying forward and detonating the area with blue magical force. The guards went flying, and Fancy Pants took a few trudging steps out of the cell.

The klaxon call of the siren sounded in the hallways as Fancy slowly but determinedly walked down the hall. Another small platoon of guards found themselves bottlenecked off a side hallway, and Fancy let loose another magic missile to fell them. Soon enough, the hallway widened into a hangar- with dozens of guards and turrets gunning for him. The shimmering of his personal shields held up, as Fancy Pants let loose salvos of magic missiles and a few mundane shoulder-mounted guns at the troops in front of him.

And still, he kept moving forward. The smarter ones dove out of his warpath, and the arcane runes started to glow brightly. Fancy managed a small smile.

"Sorry to dash so quickly, boys- but I've a flight to catch." He quipped, and the pack on his back hummed to life. With a loud roar, a plume of magical fire rocketed downwards- and with every action, an equal and opposite one must follow.

Fancy Pants careened through the metal roof of the hangar, tearing through it like tissue paper. He arced high in the air, and as he saw the sun for the first time in weeks, he laughed.

But soon enough, another fundamental law of physics started to take a hold of the incredibly heavy metal suit Fancy piloted. It was with dull surprise he noted how fast the horizon greeted him.

He bounced once, then twice, and finally skidded to a stop at the third. His shields held, but the suit was torn apart from the inside. In hindsight, an obvious flaw in the riveted structure- but Fancy was innovative. He could fix it in a later iteration. That was the last thought to cross his mind as he went unconscious.

Downtown Canterlot, Three Days Ago

Fancy Pants was always known for mingling with the common folk. But he was still rich- and so were his tastes. However, as the grease from the Hey! Burger double quarterpounder with cheese dribbled down his chin, he couldn't be happier. Damn those veal tortellacis in creamy pesto- this hamburger was the food of the gods. Quite literally, he was sure- after all, that Sunset Shimmer girl was a teenager, right? She probably ate fast food more than a few times, right? Though the "really being a horse" thing might put a wrench in that line of reasoning.

"Slow down there, don't want you to die from choking so quickly after rescuing you," Mrs. Spice said. Fancy was relieved to find his secretary one of the few people who wasn't constantly fussing with his well being after his prolonged detainment. Of course, she was absolutely horrified to find what happened to him, but the ribbing remarks were her way of showing she cared. And Fancy Pants could appreciate that.

Almost as much as he appreciated his third burger.

The limo pulled up to Fancy's main office tower in downtown Canterlot- press conferences. He both loved and hated them, and he was pretty sure this was not going to be one of the good ones. Cameras flashed as he stepped out, reporters immediately dogging him and Mrs. Spice doing her best to keep them at arm's length.

"You'll have a chance to ask questions in the conference itself, wait your turn!"

The short walk to the podium felt agonizing as Fancy organized his thoughts. He cleared his throat, tapping on the mic.

"Ah- this thing is on, yes? Good, good." He chuckled as the reporters quieted. He let out a breath.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have questions, so I am going to cut to the chase and head off the obvious ones," He started, "One- yes, Tirek did remove my spell gem. It was a horrifyingly painful process that I do not wish on anyone- and the less I talk about it, the better."

The reporters murmured among themselves in quiet horror, and Fancy continued, "Two- I spent the entirety of my stay in a solitary cell. I cannot say if any of the other reported missing persons in Tauros were there. To the families of such persons, I offer my sincerest apologies. Were I able, I would have done everything in my power to spirit them away from that place with me."

"Three- Tirek's purpose for keeping me locked away was in order to try and steal technological secrets from their source- fortunately, he was unsuccessful. The exact methods of my escape, I'm afraid I must decline to explain."

Fancy cleared his throat one more time, "Now, my time in that... place. It's put a few things in perspective for me. This Tirek is a dangerous madman, with a ruthlessness I've never experienced first hand before. As such, I feel it is my responsibility to keep any sort of technology that could give him an edge out of his hands, and what with the increase in reports of smuggling and piracy out in the western seas, I can only think of one course of action that should be suitable."

"From this day forth, until I find a time more suitable, Fancy Industries will be ceasing it's military and Magitek manufacturing and development. No more further questions."

The crowd of reporters howled with shock, demanding answers to this course of action. Fancy kept his eyes forward as Mrs. Spice led him to the limo once again. Buckling up, he had only one more thing to say.

"Now, can I please just go home?"

Fancy breathed in deeply as the lights to his mansion lit up- home. His own couch. His own bed and television. Downstairs, his own workshop. It truly felt good to be back.

"This is an absolute press disaster, I hope you know," Mrs. Spice said. Fancy nodded.

"I am well aware, Mrs. Spice."

"Then I guess that means you did lose your mind out there," she retorted, flicking through a few files, before placing them on the coffee table, "I have some reports you'll need to go over, now that you're back. Hopefully you don't decide to shut down any more of our most lucrative sectors."

"Ginger," Fancy started, looking towards his assistant, "Do you think I did the right thing?"

Ginger Spice stopped, the professional mask of sarcasm fading for a moment, "... I want to hope that you did. Only time will tell, Fancy."

Fancy nodded, "I suppose that's fair. Now- I'll take care of all this, don't you have a son to go home to?"

Mrs. Spice nodded, "I'm sure Snails is used to my late nights, sir."

"Still not a reason to stick around," He replied, nodding towards the door, "Go on- far be it from me to keep a family apart."

"Thanks, Fancy," Mrs. Spice headed towards the door, pausing for a moment, "Get some rest, okay? You look like death, old man."

Fancy chuckled as the door shut, rubbing a hand to the back of his neck. As the engines of Mrs. Spice's car faded away, Fancy strolled through the foyer and towards the triple-locked door to the basement workshop. Scanning his hand and inputting a few codes, the door opened with a hydraulic woosh.

Lights lit themselves as he descended, walking towards the work table. He pulled out the roughed up papers hidden in his coat pocket- blueprints of the original suit and the micro thaum reactor that now lay nestled under the bandages on his forehead. The table whirred as the systems automatically scanned and interpreted the designs, a magical holograph building itself in real time as it worked. Fancy smiled lightly as he looked over the designs, already forming ideas of how to improve it.

"Time to get to work."

Author's Note

So, in the Oversaturated world Earth-aspects are more "in tune" with technology as a thing instead of the blanket farming talent of Earth ponies. But I figure- this isn't just a purely technological marvel here. The iron suit is a melding of technology and magical crafts- running on magic as a power source, acting as a reusable and wearable spellbook of sorts and covered in Tron-like runes and such. And Fancy himself is just straight up incredible intelligent. Thusly, "Power Suit" was born.

Secret Wars

"-Also, our patent claim for 'Magitek' has been denied- seems that the term is already too ingrained into pop culture as a thing that it would be tantamount to trying to copyright the word 'technology' or 'reaction', which in hindsight seems like an obvious oversight," Ginger Spice said, as Fancy nodded. He had taken to staying in his house for the few weeks it had been since his escape, so Mrs. Spice dropped by on a daily basis to keep the CEO informed of the going-ons of his company while he recuperated.

"Well, that certainly throws a monkey wrench into things," Fancy muttered, "And it was such a snappy name too- I truly do not wish to brand this branch as 'thaumatic science', it just doesn't have the same ring to it."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out, sir." Mrs. Spice said, flipping to the next note, "The board of directors is getting restless, as well. You know you can't stay cooped up in here forever."

Fancy sighed, "Yes, yes- I just need a little more time to... tinker, I suppose. Things to do."

Mrs. Spice quirked an eyebrow, as she gave her boss another cursory once-over; the man had taken a habit to wearing hats now, which had the effect of hiding his forehead under his bangs. She frowned, but decided it wasn't in her place to say anything.

"Well then, on a final note- you have someone requesting your presence today."

"Who?"

"Can't rightfully say," She said, flipping through a few more documents, "But the papers seem pretty high up here. Probably important, and probably..." she cleared her throat, "Probably related to the incident."

Fancy stopped writing for a moment, looking up at Mrs. Spice. Slowly, he nodded.

"Alright then, I'll see them at their earliest convenience."

Mrs. Spice nodded, standing up and gathering her tablet, "I'll email them, then. That should about wrap things up."

Fancy nodded again, "Right- have a good evening, Mrs. Spice."

Silence permeated the Fancy residence once again as Mrs. Spice left the house. Taking off his hat, Fancy Pants lightly touched where his head gem once was- the indent into his skull still sensitive to the touch. His first model prosthetic thaum reactor did the job of acting as a replacement, but it was clunky- he had started working on a sleeker model the moment he got home. The only problem was finding a material that could channel magic well enough- the only ones really being semi-precious and precious gemstones, which was in itself a bit of a problem. With enough time he could research an artificial element that might do the trick, but...

There was a knock on his door, drawing his attention away from his designs. Did Mrs. Spice forget something?

"One moment," He called, gathering the few scattered papers and stuffing them in a drawer. He straightened his collar, and went for the door. Greeting him was a curiously familiar and striking woman, with dark skin and a... rather peculiar sense of fashion. Ripped clothing surely went out of style in the 90s, did it not?

"Mr. Pants, I presume?" Chrysalis asked, and Fancy stood there for a moment before responding.

"O-oh! Yes, of course- um, who might you be?"

"Did your secretary not tell you of my request to meet?"

Mentally smacking himself, he nodded, "Ah, yes- I must say, when I said 'at their earliest convenience' I was not expecting such an immediate reply."

"I was in the neighborhood," Chrysalis responded, stepping through, "I won't take up too much of your time, I simply wish to express my gratitude."

Fancy nodded, a little perturbed by her forwardness, "I see... em, and what do I deserve such gratitude for? I'm not sure I quite know who you are, still."

Chrysalis laughed, nodding, "Right, how rude of me- I am Chrysalis, matron of the Wholesome."

Fancy's eyebrows shot up as he finally put two and two together and figured out why this woman looked familiar to him.

"Ah. You mean-"

"Yes, that Wholesome."

Fancy cleared his throat, and then gestured to one of the couches in the lounge, "Well then, make yourself comfortable."

Chrysalis' heels clacked as she walked across the hardwood flooring, sitting primly on one of the sofas. Fancy took a seat directly across from her.

"Well, I won't tarry," Chrysalis started, opening her purse and looking through, "I really must thank you, Fancy Pants- without your little stunt escaping Tirek's capture, my children may not have had the chance to enact my plan to see the tyrant fall."

Fancy Pants raised an eyebrow, "My... stunt?"

Chrysalis gave a wry smile, "No need to play coy- I know about your little super-hero suit you made. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Fancy pulled at the topmost button of his shirt nodding, "Indeed- though I must say I think I must be the one thanking you here. If you and yours hadn't taken Tirek down, I most assuredly would have probably attempted a similar measure. Though not nearly as swiftly as you have, it seems."

"I've had a lot of time to make plans," Chrysalis said, and pulled out what she was looking for- a small, wooden box with a clasp.

"Now, I realize that this gift may come off as... a little macabre," she started, placing the box on the coffee table, "But I assure you, that is not my intention. I just figured I would return this to it's rightful owner. Maybe you could even do some good with it."

Hesitantly, Fancy Pants reached for the box, cradling it in his hands as he opened it. Fluorescent lighting caught the sparkling blue gem inside, and for a moment Fancy was speechless.

"Oh dear," He finally said, as he carefully lifted his spell gem from it's satin lined confines. Chrysalis reached a hand out, lightly placing it on Fancy's shoulder. Gently, Fancy placed it back in the box and set it on the table again. He took in a shallow breath.

"Thank you, for this," He said.

"It was no trouble at all."

Chrysalis stood up, brushing a few wrinkles from her skirt and gathering her purse, "Now, I really must be off- things to do, you know how it is."

Making her way towards the door, she stopped suddenly, before turning around, "Oh- before I forget. One of my younger children is quite a fan of yours, would you mind terribly...?" She pulled out a pen and a picture. Fancy sat for a moment, still in a stunned silence, before an incredulous grins spread across his face. He barked out a single laugh.

"Please, an autograph is the very least I could do for you at this point," He said, standing up and grabbing the pen. Chrysalis nodded.

"Yes, just make it out to a miss Fleur de Lis- bright young woman, I must say. Rather talented with optical technology, could do well in a company like your own later on."

Fancy nodded, "I'll be sure to keep an eye out, should her resume pass through."

Flourishing the pen with a final stroke, he returned the photograph and pen, which Chrysalis promptly stowed away.

"Once again, I cannot stress how thankful I am for this," Fancy said.

"I try my best," Chrysalis said, and Fancy smiled.

"Don't we all?"

Fancy wiped away some of the soot off his brow from a few hours of soldering now. His workshop lights glinted off the minuscule metallic cradle, where his spell gem now laid. Tiny archaic circuits made contact at key points, and the gem pulsed with a shallow blue light.

Laying down on a makeshift gurney, Fancy pressed a button on a remote as a robotic arm picked up and placed the gem in the indent where it once was. Fancy breathed out- that was the easy part.

He grit his teeth as pricks of pain stabbed into his forehead, while the robotic arm connected tiny electrode-laden pins through the cradle and into his skull. In an instant, the dullness seeped out of the world; magic once again coursed through Fancy's veins, and he felt the electric arc of thaums passing through him once more. His grin could give a certain fictional cats a run for their money.

Fancy Pants was back in the game.

Author's Note

Thanks to Masterweaver for his own little shout out to my work here in his story "Rise of the Wholesome", linked in the story above. Definitely check it out if you haven't already.

Well, heroes seem to be popping up in the world all over now. I think the wait for the next one will be well worth it- I do like a slow burn, literary speaking.

Worthy of the Legend

“Dammit, I mean- how the hell did I think that was a good idea?” Gilda griped, very slightly limping while she walked. Ember shrugged, shoving her hands in her pockets.

“Well, you’ve said Dash is an idiot before- I don’t know why you’d listen.”

“I was desperate, okay? You don’t KNOW how much cash I’ve been spending on razors ever since that nerd became some magic god thing.”

“Last I heard, she doesn’t really like being called that,” Ember said, “Honestly, I don’t get it- you save the whole universe, I would accept the respect that came with it.”

“Meh. Still wish this magic crap wouldn’t interfere with my aerodynamics.”

The two of them stopped in front of an only slightly dilapidated building, the rusted sign showing it to be “Griffonstone Heights Apartments”.

“Welp, see ya back in the slammer on Monday.” Gilda called, waving back at Ember as she went up the steps.

“It’s just school, you don’t have to be so melodramatic.”

“You don’t know my pain, Ember!”

Ember rolled her eyes as the door shut behind her, turning on her heel and continuing her walk home. There was a reason the inner city blocks of Crystal City were known as the Badlands- run down buildings, rough people and rougher attitudes- you had to be strong to make it. And the worst of the worst were on Flamecano street.

As Ember turned down that particular lane, she held her head up with pride- she was strong, and she knew it. Even for a night-pegasus, she was tougher than most. Her dad had immigrated here long ago from Hosstralia, bringing his talent for dealing with dangerous critters with him. There were only two rules on Flamecano street- don’t mess with the pet shop owner, and don’t mess with the pet shop owner’s daughter.

The moment she stepped inside her home, she had the gut feeling that someone wasn’t aware of these rules.

Ember’s first impression of the guy at the counter was “Total greaseball”- his gaudy red leather jacket and slicked blonde hair immediately put her off. She faintly remembered them from school- bunch of incompetent punks, and if the unifying new theme of leather and metal were anything to go off of, these guys were trying to muscle in on the gang scene.

Torch had seen the rise of many of these young punks before- and their almost immediate fall as well. He taught Ember well to not get involved with that kind of scum- the Torch family was too proud for that life.

“I’m done playing nice, old man,” The greaser said, leaning over the counter, “Our boss needs dogs, and we’ve offered WAY more than what’s fair for your mangy mutts! Why don’t you fork ‘em over and-”

Torch snorted once, grabbing him by the collar and hoisting him up to eye level.

“You think you can threaten me, you sorry excuse for a gangster? You pomp and preen around, but you ain’t got any spine in ya- and I don’t deal to scum like your boss. I’M the king around here, you get me?”

The young man staggered as he dropped to the ground, glaring as he dusted off his jacket.

“Alright, I’m done playing nice here-”

“Hey!”

Ember glared at the three greaseballs wasting space in her dad’s shop, bag slung over her shoulder and fire in her eyes.

“I believe my dad ordered you to leave, Garble. How about you scram before it gets ugly.”

Garble sneered, “Ember- what, you think I’m scared of some gir-”

He couldn’t even finish his sentence before Ember was across the shop, fist firmly embedded in his gut. Garble doubled over, before an elbow-drop knocked him to the ground. His two cronies winced as she leveled her glare at them.

“Anyone else?”

Grabbing Garble, the three of them high-tailed it out of there, while Ember snorted. Flawless victory.

“Ember.” Torch growled, glaring unimpressed. She rolled her eyes.

“Oh, come on! They weren’t gonna back down with you blowing hot air all over the place!”

“I had it handled.” He rumbled, leaning heavily on his cane as the mountain of a man walked around the counter.

“Yeah, you sure did. That’s why they were totally about to throw down with a geriatric.”

Torch growled out a sigh, “Always with the jumping into things you don’t belong in. I’ll never understand where you got your stubbornness from.”

“Gee, I wonder,” Ember said, dropping a plastic bag of takeout on the counter, “I brought dinner- Chineighse.”

“Did you remember the pot stickers?”

“Please, like I’d ever forget.”

Ember was sleeping peacefully, before a scuffling woke her up. The sound of glass crunching under heavy boots- her eyes flew open and she rushed out of bed.

"I've told you PUNKS BEFORE-"

Ember burst through the stairwell's exit, just in time to see her dad bash someone in the head with the red stone on the end of his cane, "I don't sell to WASTES OF SPACE!"

These people were different from Garble's gang from earlier- black masks, dark suits with little bling to grab onto. She caught a glimpse of metal reflecting the street light- guns. These people were armed.

With a roar, Ember charged forward and tackled the closest intruder she could- he collapsed under her, head cracking against the linoleum and gun sliding across the ground. Torch whacked another goon in the face, and he stumbled against a cage. One of the cockatoos squawked, pecking at his head through the bars.

Ember struggled with her opponent, trying to scramble across the floor to his gun as Ember grabbed him by one arm and twisted it back. He howled in pain, and Ember heard a faint "pop". She rolled off and into a standing position, before kicking him once in the face. The screaming stopped immediately, and just as Ember turned around she saw the last of them being battered about by her dad. He swung his cane, but the assailant dodged deftly left and right of it. They managed to plant a kick to Torch's gut, sending him stumbling backwards before-

BANG.

Smoke drifted off the gun's barrel, and Torch collapsed onto the floor. Ember froze.

Then, all at once, her world was wreathed in flames.

Ember groaned, feeling like her head was about to split from the pain. She couldn't remember a thing, panic quickly setting in as she looked around- white walls and the septic smell cluing her in immediately to where she was.

'A hospital. When did I get to a hospital?'

She tried to stand, a pain lancing through her as she immediately decided to stay seated. Whatever happened, it absolutely wrecked her, and she went back to looking around. A single nurse filed paperwork behind a counter, and her dad's cane was on the seat next to her.

'That'll have to do,'

She tried to stand again, leaning on the cane as she rode out the waves of pain. After a couple of moments, her breathing returned to normal and the pain was more of a dull ache. Grumbling, she semi-hobbled her way down the row of chairs to a front desk. The nurse on staff gave her a polite smile, "Ah, finally awake? You practically collapsed into that chair after the doctors took your father off in the stretcher."

Ember nodded, "Yeah- is he okay? I can't really remember much of what happened..."

The nurse nodded, flipping through some charts, "Yes, that's pretty common with high stress situations- I can only imagine what happened with that wound- but yes, your father has been out of surgery for a few hours now and is in stable condition."

"Oh, thank goodness," Ember breathed a sigh of relief, "Can I go see him?"

The nurse frowned, "Not yet, I'm afraid- he still needs a bit of care before he can safely see any visitors. If you want, I can set you up in a cot in the break room? We'll wake you when he's ready, you look like you could still use the rest."

She looked around the empty hospital, the blanket of night still covering the world outside.

"I... thank you."

Fire swirled around her, but it didn't burn. What had she done? What had she become?

"What you truly always were."

She twisted and turned- what was that voice? Where did it come from?

"I am a part of you- and you are a part of me. Two halves of the whole of Bahamut. Heiress to a lost empire."

She was confused. What did this voice mean? Heiress to what?

"A power stronger than you could ever know. You are the blood of Bahamut- they knocked you down tonight, but you will rise again stronger. That is our warrior way."

The voice was growing fainter. But she had so many more questions!

"There isn't much time. The Bloodstone will guide you- find the seven pearls and seek their wisdom. Then you will truly understand who you really are. Rest now, young warrior. Purpose will find you."

Author's Note

Tying all these separate plot threads together is gonna be an absolute pain, but I hope it's worth it in the end. Maybe I should've gone with Marvel's formula and done separate stories first before trying to tie them all all in together.

Mares of Steel

Wiz flipped the lid to the mailbox back, thumbing through the stack. Phone bill, internet bill, cable bill- boy, was he glad he still had his parents paying this stuff still. He shuddered at the prospect of adulthood, and paying for his own internet that would come with it.

Needing money to live kinda stinks when you think about it too hard.

He nudged the door shut behind him as he continued to thumb through the stack. Spam, spam, spam, spam, magazine, spam-

Oh hello.

He paused, a familiar icon adorning this last envelope- a trio of very, very familiar crowns. He tossed the rest of the stack onto the kitchen table, carefully slipping open the envelope.

"I GOT IN!"

Featherweight screamed, toppling off of the top bunk as Wiz slammed open the door. Quickly, the young lad found himself dragged to his feet in the crushing embrace of his earth-aspected bro. The room spun around him, and he desperately tapped out.

"Air! AIR!"

Wiz finally let go, but the glee in his face never left, "I got in! The Fancy Industries seminar! DUDE!"

Featherweight coughed and wheezed, waving his hand, "T-that's great, man..."

Wiz practically skipped to his desk, spinning around into his chair as he booted up his computer, "This is gonna be great! Oh man- just think of all the ways I could use what I learn to improve your suit! This is some NEXT LEVEL stuff, man!"

"Calm down, buddy," Featherweight said, crossing over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder as he typed- for the younger brother, he sure was a lot more level-headed.

"Sorry, sorry," Wiz took a breath, "I just- even beyond the superhero thing, this is like... a dream come true."

"And I'm happy you got in," Featherweight grinned.

Wiz bounced in place- an ACTUAL laboratory! Not a high school one- a REAL lab. Looking around, he saw a lot of other eager faces in the group- though a couple of smug ones, too. Wiz assumed private school kids- maybe even Crystal Preppers. Blegh- honestly, the thought that the Friendship Games were coming up soon put his stomach in knots. His parents encouraged him to interview for a spot there around middle school- that Abacus Cinch lady gave him the heeby-jeebies.

It was just your basic academic/athletic decathlon, though- what's the worst that could happen?

His thoughts focused back on the present, as a gentlemanly voice rung out.

"This is where the magic happens, ladies and gentlemen," Fancy said, from behind the group. Wiz jumped a little as they collectively turned around, the big man sporting a bit of a cheesey grin, "Pun absolutely intended- sorry if I'm a little late! Personal project just needed a couple extra tweaks, I'm sure you all know what it's like to lose track of time like that."

A chuckle emanated from the group, Fancy making his way through and shaking a few hands. Wiz was, unfortunately, stuck behind a couple of larger fellows and didn't get the chance.

"I'm Fancy Pants, but I'm sure you all know that- come along! I've a few things to show you."

Wiz was in awe as Fancy led the group on tour through the lab- of course, most of what was on display was carefully vetted and already public knowledge. The primary focus seemed to be on thaumatic conversion- Wiz could only DREAM of the gear he could pack into a utility belt with that kind of power fueling it.

"Sir? If I may ask a question," A young, pale girl in a crystal prep uniform spoke up. Fancy motioned her onward.

"Of course- I wouldn't dream of this being simply a one-way experience. Your name, dear?"

"Oh- Fleur de Lis," She curtsied, "I'm... ah, huge fan."

A look of recognition crossed Fancy's face, "Ah- of course! I remember your submission quite well- you lived up to the expectations a mutual acquaintance had assured of your prowess with photo-optic technology. The theory you've worked on for the basis of hard-light is simply astonishing, you should be proud!"

A heavy blush crossed Fleur's face, "Well- I do hope I can shed more light on the subject when I've got a working prototype," She started, "However- I do have to wonder. These breakthroughs you've made recently involving thaumatic generation- I've studied and experimented a little on that myself, trying to solve power issues for my working model. No singular gemstone I've been able to procure has had quite the same resonation frequency as a unicorn-aspect's head gem."

"And I suppose you're wondering how I've gotten around that?" Fancy finished, as Fleur nodded, "Sorry to say, that's currently secret proprietary knowledge."

Fleur deflated a little bit.

"Chin up- I'm sure you've got just as good a shot at winning the grant this week-long seminar culminates in."

The group started forward, before Fancy stopped, checking what appeared to be an alert on his watch. He frowned.

"Ah, bugger all- sorry, everyone, it seems my attention is needed elsewhere. I'm sure one of our lead researchers can easily take my place here-" He said, making his way back to the exit. A wave of disappointment washed over the crowd, and Wiz felt his butt vibrate- or, more accurately his phone.

Wiz- Sunny+Me got a sitch@downtown bank near u. B careful. -Featherweight

Wiz frowned. That was... convenient.

Too convenient.

Taking a quick scope around, Wiz slipped away from the group and back towards the exit. He was pretty sure he saw Fancy take the same route back outside- yup, there's that same swishing tailcoat. Nonchalantly, Wiz made his way down the hallway, tailing the fleeing debonair with nary a single watching eye.

Another turn, down a short corridor to an emergency exit as Fancy stepped through, key in the lock to avoid the siren. Wiz waited for him to step out, before quickly darting to the door and keeping it ajar with his foot. Peering through the crack, he watched as Fancy rushed towards his limo-

And then the limo opened up in a way that a car definitely should not.

"FOOLISH Sunny Days! You could NEVER hope to overcome the swarming might... of the army... OF THE MECHANIZER!"

"Someone's been reading way too many comic books," Spider-Hawk quipped, two static blasts of paralyzing electricity tazing a pair of encroaching (and incredibly junky-looking) robots.

"And we're one to talk?" Sunny said, plowing a fist straight through one robot and swinging it into a whole group of them, bowling them down like pins.

"Less quips, more focusing on taking out these robots before any civilians get injured." Sunny said.

"But that's my whole brand-"

"Safety first! Quips later!"

Sunny blazed through another crowd of robots, gathered like living shields around their larger master trying to beat his way into the bank's vault. Her fists crashed towards his armor- bouncing off as ripples of blue energy went through what Sunny, of course, assumed was a force field.

God dang newfangled technology.

"AHAHAHAHAH! MY SHIELDS ARE IMPENETRABLE, you FOOLISH-"

CLANG

"-No, I said they were-"

CLANG-ANG

"Would you STOP punching them, I said they were-"

CLANGARANG

"STOP IT!" The Mechanizer cried out, a small spark arcing from the cumbersome backpack-looking thing he wore on top of his armor. Sunny grinned- of course this thing had to have a weakness- the power for those shields couldn't withstand her blows forever.

Rearing back, she let forth a machine-gun barrage of punches, rippling the surface of the shield like a sea in the storm, before the Mechanizer reared back one of his own fists, shooting it forward in a telescoping punch catching Sunny off-guard enough to get her to back off.

She shook off the blow- looking back towards Spider-Hawk, it seemed he was starting to get overwhelmed as he took on the brunt of these robotic foes- dang it, she should be watching the kid's back-

"Nice toys you've got here."

A high-pitched whine of magical energy rung out, before a neat hole was blasted in the roof- and yet another mechanical man dropped in.

"I don't suppose you would acquiesce to a surrender? I would hate to ruin another mechanically minded individual's work."

"Surrender?" The Mechanizer turned around the LCD screen implemented on the face of his mask displaying an simplified amused expression (The kids called those 'emojis', right? Sunny was pretty sure of that, she's confiscated enough phones to know the jargon.)

"HA! You're still far outnumbered, even with three of you!"

Iron Suit jolted a little- noticing he was crashing in on two other heroes' turf, "Oh- I hadn't realized. Pardon the interruption here-"

"No, by all means- we appreciate the help."

"HELP WOULD BE GOOD!" Spider-Hawk cried as he dodged over a punching claw.

"Jolly good!" Iron Suit tapped a sigil on one of his forearms, sliding it downward as a low hum thrummed from him. Suddenly sparking, the robotic army of the Mechanizer shuddered and shut down, while his one shields vibrated- but barely held strong.

"W-WHAT? But how-"

"Electromagnetic interference, chap," Sunny could practically feel the smug grin from underneath the metal helmet, "I'd say that evens the odds a little, eh?"

"Ohh, no no no NO!" The Mechanizer took a couple shaky steps backwards, as the three heroes advanced upon him. He pried open a hatch on his chest, slamming a large blue button.

"You may have won this round, but I'll be BACK!" He shouted, arcs of energy cascading from his shield back onto himself- and in a blinding flash of light and smoke- he disappeared.

"Huh- emergency teleport. Quite dangerous escape plan, if you ask me." Iron Suit said, dusting himself off a little before turning towards the other two, "Again, my deepest apologies if I stole any thunder, there-"

"None at all-"

"Ehh, only a little."

Sunny gave Spider-Hawk an admonishing look, to which he only returned a shrug, "What? We probably could've caught him if he kept gloating and feeling like he had the upper hand."

"A fair point, chap," Iron Suit said, "Now, if you'll excuse me- things to do, and whatnot. I'm sure you understand- pleasure to meet you in the flesh, Miss Sunny Days. Bit of a fan."

Sunny's eyes widened a little, before she smiled, "And I hope to become more acquainted with your own work, sir....?"

"Oh, how rude of me- call me the Iron Suit. Now- tata!"

With another magical hum, he shot up into the air, flying right through the hole he made earlier. Sunny frowned- next time, she'll have a little talk with the man about how collateral damage means more than just 'civilian lives'. Holes in roofs cost money to fix.

"Holy SHI-SHOOT! I said shoot!" Spider-Hawk said, flipping through his phone as he headed towards the exit, "UH- Sunny Days! We gotta skeedadle! Also! Important things from our eye in the sky!"

Sunny raised an eyebrow as she followed Spider-Hawk outside. Grabbing him by the waist and hooking a right, she sped down a few alleys, away from the scene. Spidey wobbled a little as she set him down from the sudden acceleration.

"Woah- ugh, okay, okay... ugh... just a sec."

Featherweight tore the mask from his face, sucking in a deep breath- yeah that was not very fun. Celestia put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?"

Featherweight waved her off, "Just a little motion-sick, I'm good."

One more breathe- and calm. Easy in, easy out.

"Alright, just- take a look at this."

Featherweight tossed Celestia his phone, as she scrolled through the photo feed Wiz sent him. Her eyes widened.

"Well. Honestly I shouldn't be surprised by this revelation."

"Yeah- I think we're gonna need something better than just masks to hide our identities."

The Revengers Initiative

"So, we've obviously gotta invite him in, right?" Wiz said, his little brother nodding along. Celestia frowned.

"It certainly would be a good idea to have this team compromised of more adults- no offense to the ability you two have shown."

"None taken."

"Maybe a little taken."

Celestia chuckled. Featherweight's snarkiness reminded her of Luna when she was that age.

"I just mean I still don't feel quite too comfortable putting other minors in danger." She got up from the desk in the empty classroom that seemed to be their base of operations now.

"Have either of you heard from Minuette?"

Featherweight shook his head, "Not since you showed that video."

Celestia nodded, "Well, that's her choice. I'll see about paying Mr. Pants a visit- at the very least, maybe we can stop meeting in a classroom."

Wiz beamed, "An actual secret lair! Dude, could you even imagine?!"

As Wiz started shaking his little brother in excitement, Celestia laughed again. The more things change, the more they stayed the same it seemed.

Celestia hummed to herself as she looked over the Fancy Industries building in downtown Canterlot. She was fairly certain this was the same building she leaped over when testing the newfound strength a few scant months ago. It felt like so much longer to her.

Brushing that thought aside, she hooked a right and headed down the alley beside it. Out of sight, and out of the way- perfect. With dizzying speed, Celestia changed out of her normal clothes to reveal the Sunny Days outfit beneath it, slipping the mask over her face and pulling her hair up and under the pink wig. No witnesses- check.

Breathing out, Celestia crouched down, the muscles in her legs coiling with more force than a locomotive. And with a single "hup!", she jumped.

The wind roared past her ears as she easily sailed over the few dozen stories of the building, landing with a roll on the roof. Her memory served her well once more, thankful as she spotted the door leading to the roof access. She walked over, jiggling the handle

Locked.

"Oh, come on- please?" She asked, jiggling the knob once more as the door clicked and swung open. Celestia stood for a moment, blinking in surprise before carefully stepping in and shutting the door behind her.

"Er... thank you?"

She might also have to tell Fancy Pants about how easily the doors to his building were swayed. Descending the stairs she eventually made it to a door leading to the top floor.

Peek left, peek right- nothing. Good. Celestia slipped out from the door, crouching low and quickly making it to the office across the hallway. An all glass door, with a frosted image of Fancy Industries' insignia on it- the triple crown. From both the size of it and the mahogany desk inside, there was no doubt about it being Fancy's office. Now, all she had to do was wait.

As Celestia tried to lean against the wall in a casual position, a thought crossed her mind- she didn't exactly know Fancy's schedule.

She could be in here for a while.

"Oh dear."

Fancy did his best to suppress a sigh. This board meeting certainly was dragging on- probably in no thanks to his extended recuperation and cessation of weapons development. Who knew left-field corporate wide decisions would have CONSEQUENCES for him?

It was only when his watch beeped with an alert that he shook himself out of his doldrums- an unauthorized entrance into his office? Well.

"Gentlemen of the board, I do hate to interrupt, but I've got a momentary emergency that needs taking care of," Fancy said, standing from his seat, "Mrs. Spice, if you could schedule a continuation for this meeting something this week? I believe I have an hour on Thursday we can wrap this up on."

Mrs. Spice nodded as Fancy escaped, just barely outpacing the indignant cries of investors and shareholders. A brisk walk to the elevator, and he was alone with his thoughts and his advanced technology for a few scant moments.

He tapped the face of the watch, pulling up the feed from the security camera in his office, nearly having a double take as he recognized the figure pacing about. Sunny Skies- in his office. Fiddling around with- was that his Noble Prize?

And she just accidentally snapped it in twain. Aaaaaaand is now proceeding to stuff it into a waste bin, well this certainly was going to be an episode.

The elevator dinged as Fancy stepped through the doors, calmly making his way down the hall to his office. He took a moment to compose himself at the door, before reaching for the knob.

"I do hope you plan on replacing-"

"Well, if it isn't Iron-"

The both stopped mid-interrupt, Fancy clearing his throat.

"Oh, I apologize- did you have a whole thing planned-"

"No, no, please- you go first."

"Oh, no I insist."

They both stood silent for a few seconds, before Sunny started laughing.

"Honestly, I don't know why I thought I'd even try to have a flair for the dramatic with this. I've been reveling in the tropes too much."

She cleared her throat, standing from her carefully chosen 'lean-sitting on the edge of the desk' pose she quickly adopted after disposing of the let's say evidence, and taking a stride towards Fancy.

"So, I know you're Iron Suit."

Fancy blinked.

"Oh. Well, I suppose I can ignore the destruction of a rather proud achievement of mine if you can ignore that bit of information."

About then was Sunny's turn to have the tables flipped on her.

"Ah, well I probably should have guessed you'd have a camera or five in here."

She shook her head, "But, I'm not here in some kind of confrontation. I... actually need your help."

"... Go on?"

"I'm forming a... proof of concept, of sorts. A team." Celestia looked away from Fancy, gazing over the breathtaking view of the city's skyline they had from Fancy's office.

"The vigilante stuff won't fly for long, I can be sure of that- but I think I know a few people who, if I can prove we all work well together, might be able to make this all more... legitimate."

Fancy nodded.

"I see... now, is this more of a mutually beneficial merger or a hostile takeover?"

"The former, hopefully," Sunny said, turning back to Fancy, "And as a sign of goodwill, I'll let you in on something only a few people know."

Sunny reached up to her face, taking the domino mask off and pulling away the pink wig.

"Celestia Empyris. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance in much calmer circumstances."

Fancy shook her extended hand with an exceptional amount of vigor.

"Well then, Miss Empyris- I think I speak for both of us when I say I work forward to our continued partnership."

A teenager's cellphone camera. While Fancy didn't begrudge the opportunity him slipping up with his secret identity gave him, he was still slightly disappointed in how easy it was to foil. They definitely needed something more than just masks to conceal their identities.

Fancy Pants, Celestia, Wiz and Featherweight stood in the foyer of Fancy's home- he had already been keeping his hero work off the record at his actual company with his personal computers, so might as well turn his house into a hangout for teenagers with a death wish. Why not.

The older one- Wiz, he remembered seeing his face at the seminar- was sitting ramrod straight on Fancy's sofa. He wasn't quite sure whether the boy was simply overloaded by being in his presence or so scared of accidentally tipping over some priceless antiquity he'd have to spend multiple lifetimes earning off the debt.

His brother, on the other hand, was zipping about with glee, utterly fascinated by the sheer immensity of the household.

"So, first thing's first," Fancy said, walking towards the sofa pit and tapping once on the center of the coffee table. A holographic display of his original schematics flared to life- edited, of course, to disclude the mentions of the thaum reactor.

"As far as I can tell, only one of us here is immune to bullets, so I'd like to have a look at the young Featherweight's suit if you don't mind?"

Featherweight zipped over, pulling his backpack off his shoulders, "Actually, Wiz was working on a prototype for something new- my brother's great at this superhero tech stuff, though I haven't really had a chance to test it out yet."

With a zip, Featherweight pulled out a long, onesie-like garment, dark navy with a pullover hood and large, iridescent orange eyes- a far cry from the Halloween costume Feather was messing around in at the start.

At that thought, Feather frowned- how the heck did that even make sense? It was the middle of spring- the Friendship Games were in like a week, yet he very distinctly remembered being grateful that it was close to Halloween, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to easily get the first suit.

He shook his head- stupid comic book time. He sure was glad he didn't have to deal with the same kind of temporal headaches that Minuette girl probably had to deal with

Turning his attention back to the present, Feather tried to suppress a snort as Wiz somehow managed to sit up even straighter while Fancy looked over the suit.

"Are these optical displays on the inside of the goggles?"

Wiz nodded stiffly, as Fancy continued to tut and examine every inch.

"A-and the wrist mounted cables are attached to a kind of, uh, prototype unpowered exoskeleton- before, Feather was more using his lightbow to glide with the ziplines instead of doing any true swinging; it was more useful for gaining stealthy vantage points and-"

"Utterly remarkable," Fancy turned to Wiz with a grin, "And you built all of this in a garage? With a box of scraps?"

Wiz gulped, but managed a nervous grin. Fancy clamped a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Truly, some excellent work. Though I think you and I together can drastically improve the design," He looked over at Celestia, "I've said my piece. Miss Empyris?"

Celestia nodded, "Yes. There's one thing I need to tell you all before we should decide to proceed with this."

She looked over at Fancy, "I can only imagine the sort of brutality you witnessed in Tauros, so I feel like the stakes of something like this are already clear to you."

Fancy nodded slightly, while Wiz and Featherweight shared a worried glance as Celestia's gaze turned towards them.

"I think it's about time I told the both of you the truth- about who I was before I became a teacher, and the people who I hope will help us make this idea a reality. Back when I worked with Luna in an agency known as 'Specialized Mediation, Intelligence, Logistics and Equipment'."

There was a beat, as Wiz started silently mouthing letters.

"Wait a second, their acronym was S.M.I.L.E.?!"