The train ride home was rather exhausting… especially for poor Fluttershy, who was still recovering from the shock of being out on stage… live! She was so shocked, in fact, that she was still in the very same wide & glassy eyed, semi-catatonic state as she was in the previous night. Her eyes started developing larger and larger veins from the dreadful lack of sleep.

Discord, Twilight, and Spike all decided, regardless, just to leave her be for the moment; during the previous night, they had tried everything they could think of to get her out of her semi-catatonia… without any hint of success… and without hurting her in any way.

Discord was the only one who kept trying – he was the spirit of chaos, after all, so he had an eternal cornucopia of tricks in his proverbial grab-bag.

They made it back to Ponyville well into the afternoon. Spike and Twilight went home to her castle, while Discord carried Fluttershy back to her cottage on the edge of the forest… still tickling her nose to make her sneeze (didn’t happen!)

Once inside Fluttershy’s cottage, Discord caught sight of Angel Bunny. “Oh, what luck!” cried the draconequus. “Could you give me a bit of a… paw with Fluttershy? She… uh… well, let’s just say she got a real taste of life onstage.” He explained the scene, as Angel just nodded.

The bunny grinned, wordlessly indicating he had one trick in mind.

Something rather… fiendish, from the look on his face.

Discord loudly cleared his throat and glared at the bunny. “I’m not so sure I particularly like what you have in mind, Mr. Bunny.” Clearly, the draconequus had changed his lease on life dramatically: while he was a spirit of chaos, he was anything but evil anymore.

In fact, he was only partly evil when he first met Twilight Sparkle’s group of friends. Most of the evil stemmed from his abject bitterness from being isolated away from the rest of society all those years before he was turned into the local spirit of chaos and disharmony.

Once Fluttershy showed him the true meaning of kindness and friendship, then he changed. In fact, his heart grew fonder of the gentle saffron pegasus day by day. Like all other ponies who knew her, he made absolute sure to always treat her preciously. Like all other ponies, it hurt him to see her cry.

And that was why he was very suspicious of Angel’s actions at that moment.

As for Angel, he just waved his paw as if to say: “Relax! I know what I’m doing!” He stepped up on the nearby open windowsill and let out a shrill whistle.

A robin plunked right next to the bunny.

“Reggie?!” cried Discord. “Is that you again?!”

Fluttershy suddenly bolted upright. “Reggie?!”

The bunny-bird duo gazed at each other, rather stunned and baffled. Obviously, Angel’s plan wasn’t necessary after all…

Except, another plan was needed in very short order.

Fluttershy was now headed towards them. “What did you do this time, Mister?!” she demanded of Reggie.

The bird and bunny nodded. No sense bothering with a plan; the bird just bolted out the window.

“Ooh!! That… that crazy bird!! I have to catch up to him and make good and sure he’s not hurt!!” Then she lamented, “Oh, but I’ll never catch him; he’s much too fast.”

Then she remembered the medallion still around her neck.

“Umm… Shy…!” stammered Discord.

“How did that phrase go…?”

“Let’s not get hasty, now! I can assure you that he’s…!”

“From deepest earth to highest sky, comes the might of Powerfly!!” she hollered… rather mightily, one might add.

In one mighty flash of light, the mighty being re-emerged in full heroic regalia.

“Now, then…” said Captain Powerfly. “One of nature’s most fragile creatures must be taken care of, post haste!” She bounded out the window, and with the mightiest of voices, hollered her catchphrase, “WINGS TO THE SKY!!”

And with a mighty flap of her wings, she was off and away… after the “hapless” robin.

Miles away from the cottage, Reggie continued beating as hasty a retreat as he could possibly muster… flying even harder once he heard the catchphrase screamed out loud. He dared a quick peek behind him at least once or twice…

Sure enough, there was the mighty pegasus bearing down on him.

Okay! That’s it! he thought. I am never playing tricks on that crazy pegasus ever again!! If I ever get through this, I am moving to a new state!

He tore off straight into Ponyville, dodging and weaving around houses and kiosks, nooks and belfries, statues and café tabletops… with Captain Powerfly remaining hot on his trail.

Even more impressive - while Reggie was a tiny bird that could easily weave through very tiny spaces, and Captain Powerfly an average sized pegasus mare who couldn’t - not so much as one teacup or saucer was even remotely disturbed. Indeed, she was forced to dodge and weave around the general municipal landscape to keep up to him… but she did so with the precision and finesse of a superior grade arrow.

Just like in the comic, such was the capability of the mighty superhero…

…Who had the bird firmly between her front hooves once she caught up to him in the town square, right between the fountain and the town hall.

“Hold fast, creature of the forest!” she ordered. “Let me examine you first to ensure you aren’t so much as scratched.”

The bird sighed and yielded, throwing his wings in the air in submissive disdain. I might as well, he thought. I am done with this craziness!

After several minutes thoroughly examining him, Captain Powerfly gently lifted him up and said, “Thank you for your cooperation, creature of the forest. Fly free, and remember: safety first, always!” Then she noticed the crowd gathering around her.

They all had varied looks of very keen interest, varying between amazement, curiosity, shock… some even a little nervous. Whatever the case, this new superhero had everypony – repeat everypony’s – attention.

The Fluttershy inside really wanted to run and hide from all the staring eyes now upon her…

Captain Powerfly, on the other hoof, stood as steadfast as she could before the crowd, gauging their responses, anticipating upcoming possible scenarios… typical superhero thoughts.

She stood a bit taller, cleared her throat, and announced to the crowd, “Have no fear, citizens of Ponyville! Your fair community is now under the protection of… Captain Powerfly!!!” She struck a heroic aerial pose for emphasis.

Discord had arrived on the scene with Angel in tow… just in time to witness the posturing.

He sighed as he shook his head, a claw scratching his muzzle thoughtfully. “I have a… particularly uneasy feeling about this,” he said to the bunny, who nodded in agreement. “You too, huh?” He paused in deep thought for several moments before he assessed, “I have a hunch the others won’t be quite so… fond of this whole thing.”

Angel nodded glumly. He knew exactly where Discord was coming from.

*******

The Ponyville residents, naturally, saw it the other way, especially after the numerous feats of heroism Captain Powerfly performed.

Oddly enough – one could even say ironically enough – the rest of the Mane 6 saw it the same way, more or less. (Not so much Rainbow Dash, who saw her thunder being stolen… but still.)

*******

One day, a house caught on fire, the result of a stovetop fire.

A baby was trapped on the upper floor. Firefighters just could not reach up to the poor, helpless infant; one of them was injured and needed an evac himself. And the window was just above a raging flame, so a ladder was no use.

Luckily, Fluttershy happened to see the smoke pouring out in the distance, so she decided to quickly have a peek.

She got within yards of the burning house… and heard the poor baby crying.

Into a back alley she ducked. “From deepest earth to highest sky, comes the might of Powerfly!”

*******

“Is there any way to get up to the second floor and reach that kid?” queried the captain desperately. “Any way at all?!”

A mighty voice echoed throughout the streets, “Wings to the sky!!”

Along came Captain Powerfly to assess the scene.

Everypony cheered. Their heroine had arrived to save the day.

She hovered above the crowd, surveying each and every one of them… finally catching sight of a mare with a large cloth bag. “Citizen, I am in need of your bag,” she said to her.”

“Oh, go right ahead! Please!” she replied excitedly.

To another mare with a neckerchief, she asked, “And may I borrow your scarf as well?”

“By all means!”

Powerfly zipped over towards the nearby fountain and soaked the bag and scarf in water. She wrapped the wet scarf around her mouth and hooked the bag in her front hoof… and charged right into the open window.

Inside, it was nightmarishly hot and smoky. Fire was just starting to seep in through slowly widening floor cracks.

The baby was writhing, coughing and screaming in her crib in dire panic.

Powerfly hovered over the crib and slowly reached for the terrified little foal…

…Just as the floor underneath collapsed right under one of the crib’s legs, causing it to tilt in one corner, catching fire right where it fell in.

Foal filly in hoof, Powerfly carefully slid her into the wet bag and made her way out the window… just in time for the floor and the crib to collapse into the main floor. A huge draught of flame blew out the window just behind them, catapulting them several yards over and across the street… just about into the window of another house.

Catching her breath, Powerfly removed the scarf from around her mouth and comforted the little foal, assuring her she was alright. She slowly floated down and hoofed her off to her poor, unnerved mother.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” cried the tearful mother as she grabbed her baby out of the bag.

The crew captain sighed in relief. “Well, I guess all that’s left to do is get the flames out and get our injured ponies looked after.”

“Alright! Make it happen, people!” barked the chief. He approached the superheroine. “And, job well done, Captain… Powerfly. Right?”

“Correct, Chief. Your crew should find their work now much simpler.”

“Thanks to you!”

She modestly nodded back to him. “Just doing my duty, Chief. Just as you do yours.” Once again, she braced herself for a mighty lift-off, yelling, “WINGS TO THE SKY!!” With one mighty flap of her wings, she catapulted herself skyward.

*******

The next day, Fluttershy brought in a little package from the gadgets store.

“And what do you have there with you, my dear?” queried Discord.

“It’s my newest tool for my crime-fighting crusade!” she replied excitedly as she ripped open the box.

It was a radio scanner for listening to emergency bulletins.

“Oh, how… how nice. That should help greatly in your crime-fighting campaign.”

The pegasus squealed in delight. “Oh, I know!” she squeaked as she turned the device on and started fine-tuning it. “Now if there’s another emergency, Captain Powerfly will be there on the triple!”

Discord nodded. “Hmm, very nice, my dear. Very nice.”

Fluttershy caught on to his rather indifferent demeanour. “Is something wrong, Discord?”

The draconequus grimaced for a moment as he sought an appropriate answer. “Well… I’ve been wondering something,” he finally said. “Don’t you think you’ve been getting a bit… over the top with this new superhero persona of yours?”

Fluttershy grimly gazed at her friend. “What do you mean by that… if you don’t mind me asking?” She finished her question rather… harshly.

Discord sighed heavily. “What I’m saying is…?”

“Is…?” She left that hanging precariously… very precariously.

Discord began sweating bullets. Fluttershy – normally so sweet and gentle to a fault – was suddenly subjecting him to an inquisition.

Suddenly, the scanner squawked loudly, “All units, be advised, we have a 459-Sierra at the Town Hall. Possible 10-31.”

“10-4, Dispatch. Charlie two-five, en route.”

Fluttershy ran outside. Discord just stood at the door, sighing.

“Charlie oh-eight. Two-five, you need backup?”

“From deepest earth to highest sky…”

“10-23, oh-eight. I’ll let you know.”

“…Comes the might of Powerfly!”

Captain Powerfly emerged, ready for active duty once more.

Turning to Discord, she staunchly declared, “Ponyville needs my help once again, Discord. We will discuss this further upon my return. WINGS TO THE SKY!!” And off she flew towards the town hall.

Discord nodded glumly. “I expect the discussion will be quite interesting.”

Author's Note

I bet it will be interesting. Very interesting.

There you go, gang! Captain Powerfly herself in ponysona! Tell me what you think! Comments are welcome!

But like I said, why would Angel and Discord start becoming alienated?
Find out next chapter...