Sweepers

This was a place where rats crawled. A place well removed from the citizens of Ranchtown so they didn’t have to breathe its putrid air. Rusty carcasses of forsaken vehicles were stacked to mimic buildings, and discarded electronic devices were piled up like small mountains. Everything in this enclosed area was arranged to form a landscape of its own, like a panorama of filth and twisted metal. No amount of cleaning would ever erase the sordid stench from this soil, the fumes a mixture of rot and battery acid. The dark and grime of this junkyard made it the perfect place for the filth of society to clot, usually in the deepest pits of night.

There were four of them in total, two coming from each side, meeting in the middle of a small clearing between the garbage stacks. One was an earth pony with his dark purple hair in a ponytail, small glasses sitting on his snout and a briefcase in his hand. He wore a sky blue shirt that was buttoned halfway past his chest and designer pants and shoes. Beside him was a lanky unicorn that stood a good five inches taller, his blonde and azure striped mane draped over his shoulders. Both appeared to be unarmed, though the unicorn followed closely behind the earth pony as they made their way to the center of their meeting place. They gazed intently as the other two approached them.

Beside a somewhat corpulent stallion with a goatee holding a briefcase, there was a massive, dangerous looking thug wearing a black wife beater tucked into his jeans. He was a pegasus, and had sleeve tattoos on both of his arms, which were like steel beams in both girth and density. He was about as tall as the unicorn on the other side, but trumped him in shoulder width by a wide margin. The pudgy earth pony looked at him, and his scarred, dark blue face with a cigarette between his lips gested at the other two. He threw his smoke to the side as they met them.

“Were you followed?” The bespectacled stallion asked first, a standard question for affairs like these.

“No,” the fat man answered, a sweat drop running down the side of his face. “Let’s get this over with. Did you bring it?”

“Only if you brought the cash,” was the answer. “Let’s see it.”

The unicorn and the pegasus stared each other down, their arms crossed. Although the latter had biceps that could crush the other’s head like a walnut, he still smirked at him. The black haired pegasus glared back, raising the corner of his lip and licking the outside of his teeth. They didn’t say a word while the heavy set earth pony stallion produced his briefcase and opened it, making the other grin widely.

“Very good,” he said, then did the same with his case. It was filled to the brim with red, unlabeled cardboard packs.There must have been close to one hundred of them. “Best ones we had in stock. Pay up and they’re yours, no questions asked.”

Both closed their briefcases in tandem and they were about to exchange hands, when there was a sound that made all heads snap to a dark corner. In there they could see the bright red glow of a lit cigarette as well as a cloud of light grey smoke in the air.

“Who the fuck are you!? Come out!” the purple haired stallion yelled somewhat panicky, retracting his briefcase protectively.

Slowly, a dark green mare walked out of the shadows while she took a drag from her cigarette. Her fire coloured mane hung low down her back and she had one hand buried in her jeans pocket. She had her red eyes half shut and looked barely interested in the whole situation.

“Please tell me she’s one of yours!” he snarled at the obese pony, who shook his head, clearly losing his nerve at this point. “I asked you if you were followed, and you said no!”

“I mean...I didn’t…” he stammered, more cold sweat rising through his pores.

“I didn’t follow anyone, I was campin’ out,” Sharktooth clarified casually.

“Bad timing, missy,” the tall unicorn said. “What do you think you’re doing here all by yourself at this time of night?”

“Crashin’ yer party,” she replied with smoke coming out of her mouth. The well dressed earth pony grimaced at this, but the unicorn and pegasus merely smirked.

“Funny girl,” said the ripped thug with a deep, rumbling voice. He then turned to his comrades. “Don’t worry, leave this to me.”

When he turned back to her, Shark was yawning, baring her teeth. It was so late, 3 in the morning. She would have been in bed by now if it weren’t for this stupid job. When she opened her eyes again, she was looking right at the guy’s collarbone as he stood before her. Her head raised up slightly and gave him a disinterested stare. He snarled down at her, which made her chortle.

“Now this just ain’t fair,” she remarked.

“That’s what you get when you put your nose in places it doesn’t belong.”

Shark rolled her eyes, her hand still in her pocket while the other ashed the cigarette. “Not what I meant. Either way, I’m afraid that your business is my business. Meddlin’ is what I get paid for.” The stallion raised his eyebrow. He stood nearly a foot taller than her and she didn’t even flinch, not even after he popped his knuckles and made his muscles bulge. She just stood defiant and calm, eyeballing him.

“So what, are you a cop or something?”

Shark chuckled and looked him right in the eyes. “Nah. Much worse, mate.”

Having had enough of her shit, he growled and took a quick swing at her, aiming for her face while her guard was still down. The force was admirable, but Shark barely staggered at the blow, and her hand refused to come out of her pocket. He quickly realised that he couldn’t move his arm anymore, though it didn’t hit him why until several seconds later. Nobody could believe what they were seeing, especially the pegasus, whose jaw nearly hit the ground.

The reason why was because his wrist was jammed between Shark’s head and shoulder. She must have somehow caught it right before it hit her neck, softening the impact. He pulled and jerked, but she had him completely locked in place. She flashed her sharp teeth at him with a grin. “What’s the matter, chum? Stuck?”

“What the fuck?!” he cussed, and attempted to punch her in the face with a left hook. Shark caught his fist, her cig still between her fingers. He gasped in shock, trying in vain to get both his arms back, but it felt like they were encased in a wall. His wings flapped in desperation, and that’s when Shark began to raise her right shoulder and tightened the lock on his wrist. That brick shithouse was forced down on his knees, crying harshly. He felt like he got stuck in a vice and his bones were under more stress than they could handle.

Now his forehead was beginning to glisten, and he looked up at her jaws clenched, an agonising expression on his face. He didn’t even attempt to pull back anymore, his hand just cramped up and thrashed as he tried to bite through the pain. Shark grinned viciously, squeezing harder gradually until his wrist couldn’t take it anymore. A loud snap sounded through the junkyard when his carpal bones shifted and cracked and his ulna dislocated. His howls of pain were sharp, and his wrist was finally released, his hand hanging limp from his arm. He was quickly silenced when Shark’s knee slammed against his cheek. A shockwave rumbled his jaw and he was sent skidding across the ground. A single tooth fell from his lips, as well as a small amount of spit and blood.

Now that his bodyguard was out cold, the corpulent gangster saw no other choice. More terrified than angry, he pulled a pistol from behind his belt and aimed it at her. There are generally two things you do not pull out on Sharktooth, one of them being a weapon. He was about to face the harsh consequences.

She hopped to the side, and before he could fire, she flicked the cigarette right at his face. The burning embers stung his eyes and he yelped, firing an uncontrolled shot into the air. Before he knew it, Shark’s fingers clenched his wrist, and her fist pounded against his elbow. His arm bent entirely the wrong way, and the sound was so awful the other two cringed and turned away. His face turned pale and his agony was reflected in his blood curdling scream. Needless to say, he dropped his gun to the ground.

His nasal bone broke in two when she fisted his face dead on. His head whiplashed and a small fountain of red blood sprayed through the air. One more punch followed the first and it sent him rolling against a pile of garbage like a bowling ball. Part of it collapsed on top of him and he stopped moving.

“Shit! Shit!!!” The stallion with the ponytail was in full panic mode now, clenching the briefcase close to his chest and turning around to run for it. He first turned to his unicorn guard and yelled at him. “Soul Spear! Stop her! I don’t care if you have to kill her, just do it!”

Spear nodded, standing in between his boss and Shark, who had turned to them, not even having broken a sweat. While he ran away with his tail between his legs, the unicorn smirked at her and threw up a barrier to trap her with him. The green mare stood calmly by, relaxing her muscles and popping her knuckles.

“So, you’re pretty strong, aren’t you? I’m afraid this is where your little rampage ends, though,” he said smugly. Shark didn’t respond, she just tilted her head to one side, then the other, placing her hand to her neck to massage her muscles. “I don’t know what you are exactly, but I don’t see a horn on your head.” He pointed at the horn attached to his forehead. “This means that I have the advantage.”

Shark spat on the ground and just stared back at him. “I am Soul Spear, and I’m a mage that graduated at the top of my class. I have yet to meet an earth pony or pegasus that can match my skill. Do you know why?” She wasn’t even looking at him anymore, she stared off to the side bored and yawned again.

“Because they can’t!” he bellowed. “Magic beats everything, and that’s why I’m superior! You may be pretty good with your fists, but I’ll have you reduced to a pile of smoking dust on the ground in seconds, you lowly earth pony!”

Shark sighed and checked her cigarette pack to see that she had five smokes left. “I don’t give a monkey’s arse about magic,” she said.

Spear laughed, and his horn began to glow a dim blue. “Your words are as garbage as your race. Now die!” He smirked and extended his finger into a gun. “Bang!” A beam like shot of magic fired out of his horn and came straight for her.

She countered it by doing the unthinkable. She punched it! Her fist made a small shockwave that broke the magic spear to pieces, a small tuft of mysterious red energy surrounded her hand and dispersed moments later. When she looked back at him, the disbelief on his shocked face was nothing short of delicious. “H-how did you- What?!”

She merely shrugged her shoulders, and his horn began to glow again. “Then, how about this!” He conjured dozens of similar spears, all surrounding Shark, their crackling, pointy ends aimed at her, threatening to skewer her. “Let’s see you punch these, bitch! HAAHHH!!”

As his horn flared up intensely, the spears all zoomed through the air simultaneously, and right as they were about to hit her, Shark pushed the palms of her hands outwards in a sudden and powerful motion. “RAH!!!” she roared and emitted a red blast. It was fast, only visible for a fraction of a second, but the wave of energy it created was very evident. It shattered all of the spears into sparkling, snow like powder particles that dissipated before they hit the ground.

Soul Spear was flabbergasted. He stood nailed to the ground as the last sparks around him vanished and Shark’s gaze turned to him. “Brace yerself,” she uttered, and dashed right at him, fists balled. As a last ditch effort, Spear created a protective shield around him, but when her fist collided with it, it caved in and exploded into shards like a mirror. The force was enough to blow him back, and it was all over for him when a brutal blow crushed his stomach. He spat and drooled, eyes wide and coughing as his gut felt like it had imploded.

“Top of yer class, but still absolutely worthless,” Shark commented as his head hung over her shoulder. “Thank yer lucky stars that I won’t break off that precious horn o’ yers and shove it up yer arse, scum.”

“Y-you...you’re a...monster,” he sputtered, holding back the bile in his throat. Shark smirked and drilled her fist deeper into his abs, making him flinch and gulp.

“Aye, heard that one before.”

She grabbed him by the face and slammed him down to the ground. As soon as his cranium was smashed against the dirt, everything in front of his eyes went black. When the carnage was all over, and all was quiet again, she lit a new cigarette and slowly put her hand to her ear.

“Proxy, I’m done here. Send in the cleanup crew to pick em up, and a couple of medics too.”

“Affirmative. Good work. Stay put until they arrive and you can come home.”

“Is the bird in the sky?”

“Yes. With some luck I will receive the coördinates in a few minutes.”

“If all goes well. Chat with ya later, Prox.”

After ending transmission, she looked at the 3 broken stallions scattered on the ground, the buff pegasus slightly groaning and stirring, just barely conscious. She blew the smoke out of her nose. All in a day’s work.

The car sped through the quiet streets of the outskirts of Ranchtown before pulling up at a large warehouse. The stallion stepped out of his car and slammed the door shut, and while holding his briefcase in his hand he ran through a small entrance door on the side of the building. Distressed, he stormed into the deepest bowels of the structure until he reached a storage area where two other ponies were waiting for him. Two pegasi, dressed in average work clothes. They were taking a quick break, munching on some candy bars while having a smoke. They could tell by the urgency in his face that the trade didn’t go as expected.

“Hey Cash, what happened?” the burly one with the white fur and red mohawk asked with his mouth full.

“Deal was a bust?” asked the other, a dirty yellow coated pegasus with a short brown mane.

“We got fucking ambushed,” Cash exasperated, throwing the suitcase onto the table, making the whole thing rock.

“By who, the pigs?”

“No! It was someone else! A mare! I’ve never seen her before, but fuck was she strong!”

The two pegasi looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. “Wait,” said the white one. “You’re saying there were four of you, and you couldn’t take down one little filly who just wandered on the scene?”

“Yeah!” he yelled throwing his arms up. “That’s what I’m saying! The two ponies we were making the deal with, they had their arms broken and got knocked out cold!”

“Where’s Spear?” the other inquired.

“I left him to deal with her, while I took the wares and came back here.”

“Wow wow, wait a minute, why did you come back here straight away? What if you were fucking followed?!” The mohawked stallion sneered at him. “Are you out of your fucking mind, you goddamn idiot?! If this place gets found out, White Gold’s gonna have our fucking heads, you know that?”

“I know, I know!” he sighed, and pounded his fist on the table. “I panicked, aight?! Look, I don’t think I was followed, but we should find a new place to store our wares just in case and kiss this place adieu.”

Cash looked over all the pallets and shelves lined with boxes upon boxes of wares, most of them containing plastic bags with dubious substances or bottles of smuggled alcohol, among many other things. The whole room was filled with them, and moving them to a new location was going to be quite the hassle.

“Easy for you to say, bub! Who do you think is gonna have to move all these? Not you, that’s for sure! You better watch yourself, or you’re gonna be waking up in a box soon, you stupid fuckin-”

“Quiet!” The brown haired stallion suddenly interjected, holding up his hand. “Both of you,” he whispered now. “I just heard something…”

Everything went deathly quiet for a while. “Heard what?” Cash whispered back. Their ears twitched when they heard a faint sound coming from somewhere above them. It sounded like gulping. They looked up, and Cash’s heart sunk into his shoes. On a beam above the warehouse was a pegasus, sitting in the faint light of the moon shining in. It was hard to tell, but it looked like she was drinking out of a can, quite gluttonously at that.

“AAAHHHHH~” she sighed in relief, crushing the can and throwing it down below, revealing it to be a can of Fury energy drink. The loud burp that followed echoed through the hall. “Hi guys! How’s it hanging?”

The three crooks poised themselves while the cerulean pegasus gal with orange hair dropped down from the beam and landed in front of them. Her wings folded behind her back and she hopped in place. “Man, you guys sure are night owls. Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“Is this her?” the muscular pegasus asked Cash. He shook his head negatively.

“N-no… I’ve never seen her before… She must’ve…”

“Oh yeah,” Vertigo smiled. “That was my buddy Sharky back there. I’m the one who followed you here. You ran two red lights and probably broke a few speed limits, but hey, I think I can turn a blind eye to those,” she winked. “It’s not like you aren’t in enough hot water already.”

She then pulled out a list from her pocket. “So lemme do an inventory check here for a moment. Cocaine, crystal meth, heroin, yadda yadda, several more drugs I can’t even pronounce, smuggled alcohol, weapons, and in that suitcase of yours, pounds upon pounds of an illegal aphrodisiac. Don’t even wanna know what they were planning to do with those, probably sell them to washed up porn stars who can’t get it up anymore. None of my business anyway. That’s quite a collection you got here.”

“How do you know that?! What the fuck do you want?!” Cash barked at her.

“Well, to answer both of your questions, intercepted call, and you!” Vertigo chirped happily. “You’ve made it near the top of the list of Ranchtown’s most wanted, and I’m here to pick you up, so congrazzles, man! Plus, you led me to your storage area, so that’s a big plus. Didn’t even have to beat it out of you.”

Cursing to himself, Cash growled and grimaced, once again he began to feel the burn. “Not if we get rid of you first! Kill her!” he ordered. The two pegasi stallions looked over their shoulder and glared at him, scoffing at the idea of taking any more orders from this moron.

“Oh, see, the thing is, I kinda already passed on the coördinates to my colleague, so even if you can kill me, I’m afraid the cops are already on their way,” she chuckled while scratching the back of her neck. “Sorry.”

Cash went wide eyed as he realised just how badly he screwed the pooch. The only thing he could do right now was run. While the two other pegasi stormed up to Vertigo, he hightailed it for the exit, determined to escape. This was not according to Vertigo. She ran toward them head on and knee slid between the white stallions legs, making sure to flick his beanbag along the way, making him cringe and reach for his junk. She got up in between the two and boosted off the yellow pony’s face. Now leaping through the air, she flapped her wings once and landed on top of Cash like a bird of prey. He gasped as the air was pushed out of his lungs and his glasses slid across the floor.

“Where’re you going? You’re the star of the show, baby!” She punched him in the face and knocked him out instantly. One down, two to go. She turned to look at the others. One was slightly bent over while the other had a shoeprint on his pissed off face. Vertigo bounced in place in anticipation and grinned widely. “Two big, strong stallions on one little mare. Kinky. Please go easy on me.”

The yellow stallion threw himself at her, and she was nimble in sidestepping his punch. She countered with a quick shoulder bash, and then the white one attempted to flank her. His fist grazed past her face, then the other one came right for her, which she ducked under. What followed was a volley of punches and swings, which were either deflected or dodged. This wasn’t the first time Vertigo found herself between two stallions trying to pound her, so she knew exactly what to do. Go straight for the jewels! As she ducked down, she punched the white one in the nether regions.

The jab was quick but vicious and caused him to double over in crippling waves of pain going through his lower abdomen. His breathing grew heavy as he tried to null the pain with his hands somehow. “Son of a-” he gasped with a higher pitched voice than usual. The other one didn’t let up. He grabbed her by the shoulder and tried to throw her to the ground. He sort of succeeded, but she stuck the landing and used the momentum to sweep his leg in a breakdance move. His ass hit the ground, but he was able to catch himself from falling flat. While he was crouched to get back up, Vertigo’s whole body spun and her leg came right back around, her foot connecting with his cheek. A spray of spit flew through the air as he was thrown aside and landed on his shoulder. He growled and held the sore spot on his face, feeling warm blood breaking through.

“Heh, you like my moves, buddy? I kinda expected you two big studs to put up more of a fight.”

“Y-you punched me in the dick, you bitch!” Vertigo turned to the red haired pegasus, who was still hunched over on his knees, cupping his private parts with his hands. Vertigo just smiled at him proudly.

“Yep, I sure did!” She then quickly leapfrogged over the yellow stallion who rushed her while she wasn’t looking. At the height of her arc, her feet pushed off against his upper back and kicked him to the ground.

As he looked back up, he just saw her take off into the air. He quickly rose to his feet and went after her, following as she weaved between the wooden beams. Vertigo made a U-turn and they clashed, pounding their shoulders against each other. The aerial battle continued with a flurry of punches and kicks, until she grabbed him by the arm and judo threw him toward the ground. He managed to stop himself from falling, but when he looked back up she was gone. He flew up to one of the supporting beams and kneeled on top of it while wiping the trickle of blood from his lip. He looked around, but all he saw were shadows and emptiness. How did he lose track of her so easily?

“BANZAI!!!” The loud cheer made him look up to see the soles of her skater shoes in close up, which then imprinted on his face as she dive bombed him. The force made his head jerk to the side and concussed his brain as he was launched down into one of the shelves like a comet. He crashed head first into it, and it broke apart and collapsed on top of him, creating a large dust cloud. He groaned from underneath the boxes and lost consciousness soon after.

Vertigo landed on the ground, when she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She detached the chain from her belt hoop and whipped it backwards, hitting the white stallion square in the you-know-what with an audible thwack. There was a whimper and she looked back over her shoulder to see him on his hands and knees, his body shivering.

“Dude, props for the persistence and all, but I’d stay down if I were you. I don’t think your cojones can take much more of this.”

“Why me… Fuck my life…” he wheezed before blacking out into a heap on the floor.

“Well, that was quick. Not usually how a threesome goes in these stories. Wonder what the audience will think about this.” She brought her hand to her ear piece while she leaned against the table. “Proxy! Come in, baby! Job’s done!”

“Already? Did you detain the suspect?”

“Yep, right here!” she replied as she ripped open a candy bar from the table and stuffed it in her face. “Want me to hogtie him?” she asked with a mouth full of caramel.

“No, that is okay. The police force will be there soon, so just hang tight.”

“Gotcha. Hmmm, before I forget! I overheard them saying something earlier, something pretty interesting. The name White Gold came up. Seems like these guys are pretty scared of him. I think he runs this business. May wanna take note of that.”

“White Gold. Hmmm, does not sound familiar. I will do a search on that name. For now, just come home as soon as you can. Shark is already on her way. Good work.”

“Sure thing. TTYL.”

She crouched down by the stallion with the mohawk while still eating the candy bar, poking him in the side. “You still with me, my dude? No?” He didn’t even stir. She did quite the number on him. Vertigo’s penchant to fight dirty was something of an old habit she never cared to get rid of, though she was perfectly capable of fighting properly. She had come a long way from all those years back, back when she was still green behind the ears.

The streets of Manehattan were not kind to a child, and neither were the other children. Vertigo found this out the hard way on several occasions. If you asked anyone around these parts what one of the most important things in life was, a common answer would be knowing where you came from. Vertigo didn’t know that. Her first few years in life were a blur at best, and the earliest memories that were clear in her mind she simply didn’t question. She never referred to anyone as a mom or a dad, although plenty of other kids did. She had surrogate parents that she lived with, but she always knew they were not the real deal. It just didn’t feel right. Where were her real ones? She didn’t know, nor did she ever truly care.

School was an annoyance she was forced through. Her grades were terrible on nearly all fronts and no amount of coaching had any effect. In her defence, her environment didn’t exactly push her to earn a master’s degree. Again, she didn’t care about any of this. She was a lost little filly who wandered with no real aim in life, no sign of any special talents, nor any attempts to pursue them. All that stuff was a drag to Vertigo.

There was one thing she had going for her; she was highly social. There was just one problem with this. Nobody seemed to like her.

Vertigo was a filly, but that didn’t mean she was interested in typical girl things. She didn’t dress like one, nor did she behave like one, but she sure enjoyed looking at them. This earned her an obvious label at a very early age. A tomboy who swung the other way.

Most of the kids would spend their free time shooting hoops on the basketball court not too far from school grounds. Several circles of friends would congregate here, either to play against each other or just watch and talk. Most all of these kids were young colts, often in the range of 7 to 10 years old, and as such, roughhousing was very common among them. This was the place where Vertigo often showed up in an attempt to create connections.

“To me! To me!” the young colt hollered. The ball was thrown into his hands and he dribbled it towards the hoop, taking the shot but hitting the edge. The ball bounced out of the court and was caught by the hands of a dark blue pegasus girl, around 7 years old. She wore a white shirt and dark red shorts, a band-aid on her knee from a previous scrape. Her orange mane was rather short, not even reaching her shoulders. The boys’ mood immediately turned sour and their faces twisted with irritation. Vertigo was blind to this, that’s just how stubborn she was. She just smiled broadly as she always did.

“Give the ball back, Vertigo,” one of the taller kids said.

“Heh, then take it from me,” she grinned, then began to dribble the ball and dash past the boys. Her moves were a bit sloppy, but her heart was in the right place. This kind of determination could have swayed some, but not the try hard kids of Manehattan’s streets. She was bodychecked and pushed to the ground by one of the colts.

“H-hey! What gives?!” she snapped back at him standing over her.

“You don’t learn, do you? You’re annoying, Vertigo! Go play by yourself or the other fillies, but leave us alone!” He took the ball and turned his back on her as they continued their game.

Actually, there was one other quality she possessed that would be essential to shaping her further in life. She never gave up, ever! She would try again the next day, and the next. Sometimes her feelings would be hurt, or her body, but she never backed out. Some saw this as pitiful, others couldn’t help but admire her for this. One of these days, somebody would stand up for her.

When that day came, her life changed for good in such a spectacular way.

Things were looking bad. She had provoked the ire from some of the harsher kids in the neighbourhood. Most of them were around ten years old. They obviously didn’t like her, but more likely than that, they didn’t like the reputation that came with her. Vertigo didn’t even know what she did wrong in the first place. It started with name calling, then shoving and ganging up on her. For the first time, she felt genuinely threatened, and she didn’t know what to do.

“The loudmouth of the neighbourhood. No wonder your parents abandoned you.”

The way he said it, the animosity on his face and in his voice, it made something crack deep inside her chest. The pain she felt was far more severe than ever. “Face it, nobody here likes you, so why do you keep showing up?”

Normally she would have yelled something back, but for the first time those words actually sank in. She felt a strange sensation in the depths of her lungs, like a hiccup. Was she going to cry? No, she hadn’t done that so far, why start now. But then why were her eyes starting to feel so watery?

“I just…”

“None of the girls want you around, and neither do the boys, so just go home and never show your face around here again!” another one shouted.

“I heard she’s actually into girls!”

“Haha! Hey, is that true?”

She was cornered, literally, as her back was shoved against a wall. “H-hey, c’mon, stop it…” she murmured. That’s when the first tear rolled from the corner of her eye and her throat choked up. Her ability to stay strong was beginning to crumble for the first time.

“Whoa, she’s actually crying!” The oldest colt shoved her shoulder against the concrete wall. “Hey, you gonna run crying to your mom? Oh wait!” The second tear followed as the laughter echoed through her head. “You little weakling! What makes you think you can fit in with us?”

Those who have the will to be strong will become strong. Those who ridicule the struggle for strength are truly weak.

The young boy who was prodding her to breaking point suddenly felt a strong hand grasp the back of his neck, and he was unapologetically thrown backwards onto the concrete. He didn’t go quietly, instead exclaiming his pain loudly and clearly as he hit the dense surface. The rest of the boys looked back at him in surprise, then backed off. Vertigo hardly caught what happened, but the unexpected nature of the situation caused her tears to stop flowing. Somebody was standing in front of her, shielding her. Her eyes went wide and took in the incredible colour of her thick, spiky mane, yellow near the roots and fading to blood red towards the tips, like beautiful flames running down her back. Her stance was firm and she stood several inches taller than her. She looked maybe two or three years older than her.

“Back off, maggots!”

Her voice was like a manticore’s roar, with the ferocity of a million demons. Her mere demeanor spat hot fire that she could feel the heat of, and she hadn’t even seen her face yet. “Who the hell are you, freak?!” a voice shouted, though Vertigo couldn’t tell who it was. All of her attention was usurped by this filly that came to her protection.

“I said back off, before I break yer fucking faces on the pavement!” Her words crashed like thunder and sent ripples through the air. Her intimidation had its effect. The young colts’ confidence drained from them as they all started backing away. The one who experienced her power firsthand was already about to run for it.

“Dammit… Come on, let’s go!” They ran off as a cohesive unit, vanishing as they turned the street corner. “Monster!” one of them still shouted. It was all over now.

She turned around, and for the first time, Vertigo saw the face of the person that stood up for her, the face those brats were so afraid of they ran away nearly soiling their pants. She couldn’t stop staring. Those eyes unlike any she had ever looked into before, like two pits of scorching lava and almost reptilian slits for pupils. Her body dark green and strong, and her teeth sharp and serrated.

What Vertigo saw before her was not a pony, but a dragon!

“You alright?” she spoke to her.

“You!” Vertigo exclaimed, staring intently, taking the mystery girl aback a little. She clenched her fists to her chest and looked at her like the impressionable and excitable young filly that she was. Her eyes sparkled with wonder and she smiled widely.

“Do you wanna be friends?!”