“Alright folks, you know the drill! You’re inside a bank, and we have guns. I’m assuming you’ve seen movies, so that should tell ya what we're here for and what we want you to be doing.”

A frightened crowd of Canterlot citizens shuddered and screamed as three heavily armed men in black ski masks and turtlenecks moved in through the main doors of the bank. The robber leading the trio fired his semi-automatic at the ceiling. “Perhaps I was being too vague. Get on the floor and give us the fucking money!”

The crowd of bank patrons did as commanded, each lowering themselves to the floor. The robber broke away from his partners, leaving them to watch the crowd and entrance to the building respectively. Pointing his gun at the teller sitting behind the glass, he demanded, “bills, all of them. In the bag. NOW.”

A large duffel bag was thrown on the counter, giving the teller no excuse to linger. Rushing winds blowing the bank doors open suddenly drew the robbers’ attention.

“Excuse me, I was hoping to stop by and make a quick deposit, but if you’re busy right now with other clients I could come back later?”

The robber turned to see someone new had entered the bank. He was dressed in a suit of body length spandex, with a dark blue portion covering him from the waist down and a crimson red portion covering his top. A bronze breastplate wrapped around the crimson material and similar looking running shoes covered the ends of the blue leggings. But his most defining feature was the Roman helmet that made him look like a centurion with a black reflective visor.

The robber blinked at the new arrival in astonishment. “How the hell did you get in here?” He turned towards his buddy who was guarding the door. “You were watching the door. How the hell did he get in here?!”

The Roman dressed man only chuckled to himself in response. “Now you see, only a person who didn’t know who I am would ask that question. Which I really doubt is the case because, well… I’m a pretty big deal.”

All three robbers pointed their guns at the man, each laying their finger on the trigger, ready to fire. “Well then why don’t you enlighten us. It’ll make it easier to carve it out on your headstone when we’re done with you.”

The man tilted his head and smiled at the robber. “They call me Day-Runner, and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

They fired, only to find him missing from the scene the second they took their fingers off the triggers. The robber who had been talking felt a sudden tap on the back of his shoulder.

“I think you dropped these.” The robber jumped back in surprise to see Day-Runner standing behind him completely unharmed. The centurion speedster then opened his fist dropping a handful of bullets to the ground.

The robber couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “No fricking way... you’re a super?”

“What? The costume didn’t tip you off?” Day-Runner then coiled his fist back before launching it forward directly into the robber’s nose, sending him spinning through the air before falling on his face unconscious.

The other two robbers lifted their weapons and shook as they got ready to fire. Day-Runner shot at them with blinding speed, causing one robber to scream in terror, before they both started shooting. Day-Runner seemed to weave between the oncoming bullets like a horse between a line of standing poles, before coming down upon the second robber a near millisecond after the first.

He delivered a powerful punch to the robber's gut, making him double over before finishing him off with a strike of his knee to his opponent’s face. He turned towards the final robber, who was now shaking so hard the poor thug could barely hold his gun.

Day-Runner walked towards the final robber at a more casual speed. The act of nonchalance seemed to unnerve the robber even more than his super speed did. He grabbed the barrel of the robber’s gun. “Mind if I look at that for a second?”

He pulled the weapon from the robber’s hands before he could respond, and just as quickly as the robber was able to blink, disassembled the semi-automatic to its most basic components. Day-Runner chuckled at the robber’s shocked expression. “I must be getting rusty.” He boasted. “Back in the day, I could have done that in half the time. Maybe I should get back into more intense training? What do you think?”

The robber didn’t answer, and instead only continued to stare at the superhero. Day-Runner smirked, “this is the part where you lay on the ground and surrender.” He whispered to the criminal. The sounds of police sirens cried out from the outside. “The boys in blue will be in to pick you up shortly.”

The robber only nodded before doing as he was told. The rest of the crowd however soon picked themselves up and cheered for their super-powered savior.

“You’re awesome!”

“Welcome back to Canterlot, Day-Runner!”

“That was amazing! You were always my favorite superhero!”

“Marry me!”

Day-Runner lifted his hands in an attempt to calm everyone down. “Thank you everybody! It feels good to be back! But I’m sorry to say, I can’t stay. As impossible as it seems, I’m actually late for a very important engagement.”

“No! You’re supposed to marry me!”

“...And by that I mean an appointment. A very important, platonic appointment among friends and government officials.” In that brief moment of calm after giving his answer, Day-Runner chanced a glance towards a clock he noticed on the nearby wall. Assuming it wasn’t fast, the hands told him that he was almost unforgivably late. He glanced back towards his fans, who were beginning to regain their joy-filled fire. He gave them an apologetic smile before leaning forward into a starting stance. “Sorry folks, but I’ve got a run!” He bolted out of the bank and down the street before anyone in the crowd could give him a response.

“Oh my god! We just heard the Day-Runner give his comic book catchphrase in person! Best. Day. Ever!”

The run proved to be rather short and easy by Day-Runner’s usual standards, even though most others would consider sprinting across the length of an entire city within a few minutes to be a near impossible feat. He only came to a stop once he reached the outskirts of the city limits, where a large, ivy-league building, with multiple floors and actual ivy growing on its walls, sat.

Before the stairs that lead to the front doors of the building stood a large, imposing mountain of a Scandinavian man. He wore a brown leather tunic that was cut to show off the build of his arms, and a pair of hairy tights that looked like it had been skinned off the back of a mammoth. His muscular legs also stood on display with a pair of shin-high leather boots that looked reminiscent of traditional viking garb. One might even consider him a viking in modern times, as a glowing golden battle ax was strapped to his back and held in place by a black plastic holster.

The large bearded man turned towards the runner as he came to a stop, just down the path. He gave the runner a smile, before walking towards his fellow hero.

“So, the great Day-Runner finally decides to grace us with his presence. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show up, my friend.” His voice was deep and rumbling, and appropriately so for a man his size, standing a good foot taller than Day-Runner’s average height.

The odd sound of wheezing could be heard coming from the Day-Runner as he doubled over in an attempt to catch his breath. This caused the man to raise a brow in confusion. In all his years of knowing the superhero, he had never seen him get winded unless put under the most strenuous of circumstances.

Raising his hand to stroke his beard, he questioned his companion. “You seem out of sorts, Magnus. I can hardly believe a long distance run like that has taken so much out of you.”

“We’re not as young as we used to be, Rock.” Day-Runner lifted himself back up to crack the lower sections of his back in an attempt to relieve his muscles. “I can’t just run halfway around the world at the drop of a hat anymore. Doing this takes a lot out of me now-a-days, it’s one of the main reasons we decided to set up this school.”

The larger man’s grin narrowed into a grimace, before he reluctantly nodded in agreement. “This is true, though I’d rather not have to admit it. The once great days of the glorious Einherjar are behind him, and though he is still ready and willing to protect the world from tyranny, it is time for a new generation to step in and fight the battles he soon will not be able to.”

“It’s good to hear you waxing poetic again, big guy. It’s definitely been way too long.” Day-Runner lifted his hand up above his head and placed it on Einherjar’s shoulder. The differing heights of the two supers proved to make the situation rather awkward, as to reach his shoulder Day-Runner had to stretch his body to its full extent just to perform the gesture.

“Come, the others are waiting for us inside for the first assembly of the year. Just to warn you, Star Swirl isn’t very happy with how late you decided to be. Expect a very long and hurtful scolding when the assembly is over.”

Day-Runner laughed halfheartedly. “It’s nothing I haven’t handled before. That old fart is full of hot air. As soon as he lets it out, things will go back to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.” Though he could lie through his teeth, he couldn’t ignore an amount of worry that was starting to grow within his own mind. Day-Runner couldn’t help but think that nothing was ever going to be the same ever again.

Thirty minutes earlier…

“Shining, please hurry! We’re going to be late!”

A stylish, crystal blue sedan was speeding through the countryside at a rate roughly twenty miles faster than the normal speed limit for the area. Ironically, it was also being driven by one the city’s most respected police officers as he tried to get his younger sister and brother to a very important location.

“Twily, I know!” Shining Armor responded. “I promised I’d get you there on time, and I will!”

The man driving the vehicle was dressed in a pressed, white collar shirt and black tie with a nice pair of matching slacks. One would almost assume he could never be involved with a dangerous profession like police work, just based on his gentle demeanor and appearance alone. But the toned physique hidden just below his tightly fitting shirt told a different story.

In the backseat, his sister was nervously pulling on a lock of her hair. She was a timid, mousy looking girl, with a large pair of thick-rimmed glasses framing her dark magenta eyes. Her hair was long and done up in a ponytail, with a pink stripe running up the left side of her bangs all the way to the end of her braid. She was wearing a sophisticated dark purple long sleeve undershirt and light blue sweater vest, with a prim-and-proper black skirt and knee-high stockings. It looked more like she was going to be attending a business conference rather than her first day of school.

A yawn was heard by both the driver and his passenger, as Twilight turned to look at her younger brother. “Do you guys have to be so loud, I’m trying to get some more sleep before I have to sign my lives away to the tyrannical education system.”

“I wouldn’t be shouting if you didn’t make us late by sleeping in again, Spike!” Twilight countered. “And you shouldn’t be sleeping anyways! You’re drooling all over your outfit!”

The boy sitting next to Twilight was obviously younger than his older sister, roughly by three years if their heights were any indication. Sitting down, they seemed almost equal, but standing up his forehead only managed to reach to her shoulder. He was dressed in a nice dress jacket with the sleeves rolled down to his elbows, with a white undershirt to bring out the navy color. His legs were covered with a pair of charcoal jeans, and his feet a pair of flat bottom sneakers. Truly anyone would say that this young man was not lacking anywhere in the style department, but his clothes were not his most distinguishing feature. No, that would be the smooth scaly skin that covered his body, his sharp pointed teeth and the long prehensile reptilian tail that measured out to the length of his upper body.

“No, you’d still be shouting even if we had left on time. I’m just giving you an excuse, so you don’t have to feel guilty about it later when sign up is all said and done.” He smirked at his older sister. “You should be thanking me. Aren’t I being a thoughtful baby brother?~”

Twilight only continued to scowl at him. “If we’re late for our first day at the Pillars’ Institute for Metaphysical Learning, I will never forgive you.” She pulled a handkerchief out from seemingly nowhere. “Now hold still while I clean you up.”

Twilight rubbed the handkerchief violently against Spike’s spit stained collar. “Gah! Get off me Twilight!”

“You look like a slob and a simpleton! A Sparkle does not present themselves that way!”

“Don’t be quoting mom at me!” Spike tried to break free of Twilight’s hold. “Blast! Unhand me vile woman!”

“What did you just call me?!”

Shining Armor twisted his head slightly and shouted over his shoulder. “Both of you knock it off or I am turning this car around! Then nobody gets to go to school! Is that what you want? Huh?!”

Spike gave his brother a baffled expression. He then quirked his eyebrow in thought as if deeply contemplating if his brother was being sarcastic or not. “Actually…”

“WE’RE HERE!” Twilight exclaimed in glee.

The car came to a halt on the side of a dirt road that led up to the stair of a large ivy covered building. It resembled a posh mansion more than an institution of higher learning, but given the specific qualifications needed to enter the prestigious school, it’s odd appearance was to be expected.

Twilight immediately unbuckled herself and broke out from the car. “I’m going to let the faculty know we’ve arrived. I’ll be back to help you unpack in a little bit.” She slammed the door shut before running off towards the entry stairwell. Spike and Shining Armor shared with each other a pair of flat looks.

“You think we’re going to see her again before we get everything inside?” Shining Armor asked.

“With how gaga she gets on the first day of school, I doubt we’ll see her again till lunch.” Both let out a sigh before exiting the vehicle and heading towards the trunk.

Twilight bounded up the stairwell towards the doors and grabbed the handle with all the excitement of a child opening the door to presents on Christmas morning. She began to pull, only to find the door swing open by itself and accidentally clock her clean in the face.

She fell backwards almost comically, managing to clear the stairs and land on her back against the dirt path beneath her, her glasses somehow managing to fly off, yet perfectly landing back on face after the descent. Spike and Shining Armor, having heard their sister’s squeal, turned to see what was occurring, only to see someone else running to her side before they could.

Twilight felt herself being lifted within someone’s arms as they provided her support. She heard someone ask, “are you okay?” in a hazy sounding voice. She opened her eyes to see a boy holding her, one with short blue hair and a black hoodie with a blue shield and lightning bolt on its sleeve. Twilight began to blush.

The boy asked again, “hey, are you okay?” He looked at her with a concerned expression. “Please don’t tell me I managed to knock out someone on my first day, and it wasn’t a criminal. That will not look good on my superhero resume.”

Twilight began to giggle, whether it was because she actually found his joke funny or the awkwardness of the situation was getting to her, she was uncertain. “No, no, it’s okay. I’m fine, no concussions or anything.” She stuttered.

The boy smiled, before taking her hand in his own and helped lift her back to her feet. “That’s good to hear.” He expressed while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “Listen, I’m sorry I hit you back there. I didn’t know someone was going in, while I was going out.” He stretched out his hand casually. “My name’s Flash Sentry, what’s yours?”

Twilight smiled and reached out her own hand taking his. She oddly felt more warm in the face, rather than in the hand, even despite their now combined body heats. “I’m… I’m T-Twilight Sparkle. It’s very nice to look at you… I MEAN, meet you.” She stuttered.

If he had heard her mix up, he was doing a really good job ignoring it because he continued the conversation as if nothing at all was amiss. “I just came out here to grab something I left outside by mistake.” He walked around to the side of the stairs and grabbed a guitar case leaning against the railing. “Don’t know where I’d be without my special lady.” He swung the guitar case over his shoulder so the strap hung lazily against his back. “The opening ceremony is going to be starting soon. I’d get unpacked quickly or you're going to miss the whole thing.”

Twilight suddenly remembered what she was heading into the school to do. Her eyes widened, “Right! Thanks for reminding me.” She explained. Flash only gave her a friendly smile in response.

“No problem. I’ll see you inside.” He walked past her before heading towards the door. He spared her one last friendly glance before heading inside. Twilight started to feel her legs turn into jelly.

“Wow~” She whispered.

Spike and Shining Armor, having watched the whole scene, turned to give each other some perturbed glances. “Oh boy, she’s got it bad.”

“You sure?” Spike asked questioningly.

“Trust me, you spend enough time with Cadence, you learn to spot these things. Twilight’s got the hots for that guy, no questions about it.” Shining nonchalantly stated while pulling boxes out from the trunk.

Spike glanced back towards the door, only to notice Twilight was gone. He grimaced at the idea of Twilight and that guy alone together. “You want me to keep an eye on him? Beat him up if need be?”

“Watch him, but keep your distance.” Shining explained. “It’s Twilight’s decision who she wants to be with, and we have no right to stop her without reason. Still if that blue-haired casanova thinks he’s worthy of our sister, he’s going to have to prove it.” Shining Armor’s tone suddenly turned a bit more dark. “Make sure he plays it straight and respects her, and if not, you send him my way, where I promise no superpowers on this planet can save him.”

A wicked smile began to spread across Spike’s face. “You got it boss.” He stated. “No one messes with our sister and gets away with it.”

Shining Armor chuckled at his little brother’s enthusiasm. “Yeah…” He absentmindedly glanced at his dress watch after pulling all the boxes out of the car. His eyes shot open upon noticing the time. “Shit! We only have twenty minutes to get everything to your rooms before the opening ceremony!” He glanced up at Spike. “You know your room numbers?”

Spike looked back at Shining with an equally horrified face. “I never asked! Twilight was in charge of all the planning!”

Shining Armor began stacking boxes as high as he could carry, which surprisingly reached five boxes high in each arm, as Spike grabbed the rest. “We need to find Twilight and quickly before she chews our heads off because you were an idiot!”

They both took off sprinting as Spike began to shout. “Don’t you go blaming this on me! You had plenty of time to ask her yourself, but you were too busy trying to figure out how to tie your tie properly! You’re twenty-eight and a cop, it should be muscle memory for you by now!”

After ten minutes of random scrambling, coupled with an additional five dedicated to Twilight chewing their heads off, the Sparkle siblings said their goodbyes. Shining Armor explained that he needed to get back to the house and was sorry that he couldn’t be there to see them off, but his wife Cadence was still nursing her pregnancy and couldn’t perform a lot of the tasks she found easy prior to this point in her life. It made him feel better to be there for her on days he could get a day off.

Twilight and Spike nodded their heads to show they understood, and gave him a hug to thank him for all he had done. Upon separating, Shining Armor and his younger siblings sped off in opposite directions, Shining towards his car, and Twilight and Spike towards the school’s auditorium. Though when they arrived it didn’t look much like an auditorium.

The room they had just entered looked more like a personal theater for an eccentric billionaire, complete with several rows of seating for large audiences, and a large synthetic fiber screen sitting behind a stage with a podium built into it. In the front rows they could see the backs of fifteen other students, each with their own distinct build and dress. They seemed to be waiting for the assembly to start because none of the teachers were anywhere to be seen.

Twilight let out a relieved sigh, thankful to all the stars in the heavens that she wasn’t tardy. She and Spike started to make their way down the stairs, when they felt someone push past them with a forceful shove. She was dressed in a black leather jacket and multi-colored skirt, but her most distinguishing characteristic was her long locks of red and gold hair that almost perfectly resembled a still flame.

“Get out of my way.” She grumbled, making her way down the stairs before taking the only open seat in the first row. Twilight and Spike blinked in surprise, as the flame haired girl had just brushed past them like they weren’t even there.

Before they could think any further on the subject, they heard a voice call out to them.

“Hey! Over here!” A soft shout, something not too loud that it would immediately pull the attention of the entire room, but loud enough that it got their attention. Twilight and Spike turned to see a girl in a cowboy hat waving them down.

“We got some seats over here, if y’all like?!” She continued to shout. Spike and Twilight decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth and accepted the cowgirl’s generosity.

They moved towards the second row where they saw the cowgirl sitting alongside a bigger gentleman with a red and brown jacket and white undershirt. She quickly nudged him in the side so they could offer the two new students the edge seats.

“Mac make room, we got some late arrivals comin’ in.” The red-skinned boy looked towards the blond girl, before turning his gaze towards Twilight and Spike. He gave them both a friendly smile before moving over without a word.

Twilight and Spike sat down. “Howdy, Ah’m Jacqueline Apple, but you can call me Applejack.” Applejack raised her hand for Twilight to shake. “And this here is my big brother Macintosh.”

Twilight nervously took Applejack’s hand, only to feel the bones within her fingers practically shattering upon the cowgirl squeezing them with her own.

“OW!” Spike winced at Twilight’s shriek of pain. Big Mac almost instinctively looked over to see if she was alright.

Applejack chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry about that. Sometimes Ah don’t know my own strength when Ah get excited.”

Twilight shook her hand to relieve the pain. She glanced back up to better see the girl in front of her. She was dressed in a white shirt with green shoulders that had a picture of a red apple printed right on her chest. Coupled with a pair of brown leather cowboy boots, she also wore a denim skirt and red belt with several lace patterns sewn into the skirt to give it a distinct country look.

“It’s okay. We’re all here to learn how to better use our powers, right? It only makes sense that some of us would not be in full control yet.” She shot a timid smile towards Applejack. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is my younger brother Spike Sparkle.”

Spike gave them both a friendly wave. “Hey there.”

Applejack and Big Mac both gave him a wave back. “It’s nice to meet ya, partner.” Applejack greeted. Spike sent a curious glance back towards Big Mac.

“You don’t talk much, do ya big guy?” Spike stated with a smirk. Big Mac only shrugged in response.

“It ain’t really a pleasant subject, but the truth is, he can’t.” Applejack explained.

Twilight suddenly looked shocked. “Oh I’m sorry. Spike didn’t mean to-”

“Naw, don’t fret none.” Applejack continued explaining. “What I meant to say was, it’s not really pleasant for him. Big Mac used to be able to talk yer ear off about anything, but ever since he got his powers he’s not allowed to utter a word without express reason.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “But that doesn’t explain…”

The lights began to dim, drawing everyone’s attention away from the conversations they were holding. “Woah nelly, looks like we’ll need to talk later. Assembly's startin’ up.”

Spotlights flashed on and illuminated the stage, where eight chairs and the single unmanned podium sat. Before any of the students could voice any words of confusion however, eight heroes--each instantly recognizable by their different iconic costumes--stepped out into the light and took a seat. A tall woman, dressed in snow white business attire and heels, walked in front of the other heroes and stood behind the podium. The students waited with baited breath as she began to speak.

“Greetings and welcome to all of you who are attending this, the first ever glorious semester of the Pillars’ Institute for Metaphysical Learning. My name is Celestia Aurora Faustdatter. If you are worried that I seem strikingly familiar to you, do not fret, you probably already know me by my other title… the nova heroine, Sunrise.” A few of the other students cheered and applauded upon hearing the name of one of their favorite superheroes. Celestia was quick to titter at their excitement.

“It is my esteemed pleasure to introduce you all to this new and experimental institution. In these hallowed halls you will learn the general skills needed to start careers and assert yourselves as respectable adults within the outside world. But alongside that, you will also be trained to harness each of your own unique and incredible skills in order to aim them towards a much more adventurous career path… superhero stardom.”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile in elation. This was it, her first step. Soon she and Spike would learn to use their superpowers properly from actual experienced heroes. She could already see them graduating with flying colors, and becoming world-renowned licensed superheroes, respected and adored by people all over the world for their good deeds and incredible feats. Judging by the expressions given by the other students sitting around her, they too were thinking much the same thing.

“You eighteen were all chosen based on descriptions of your skills, the promise we believe you will bring to this career field, and the overall personality you exuded in your applications. You are now the start of this Institute’s history, so we expect a great deal of accomplishment and valor from your performance, and allow me to assure you that we intend to show you the same.”

Celestia turned from her podium and raised her hand before the heroes. “Behind me sit some of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen. They, alongside myself, will be acting as your faculty, mentors, and legal guardians over the course of the year you will be living in this building. Perform admirably, and you will be considered eligible to return for the following years until your training is fully complete.”

The students gave the heroes and heroines a standing ovation. The heroes for their part only sat and smiled, even though some of them deeply wanted to stand up and bask in their students’ praise.

As the applause died down, Celestia turned back towards the students. “Your first and only period for the day will begin in twenty minutes. Please make your way to the back of the school where your instructor will be waiting to lead you to class.”

The students did as they were told, some of them giddily getting up from their seats, while others remained silent as they exited the auditorium. Once everyone had exited from the room, Day-Runner found himself being pulled from his seat by a very angry-looking bearded man.

“Indulge me, Magnus…” The bearded man growled. “How is it that the fastest man alive was almost late for a meeting he was reminded of everyday for the last three months?”

“Wait... were you the one sending me all those emails?” Magnus joked nervously. “Didn’t take you for a tech guy, Star Swirl.”

“Actually, that was me.” Celestia stated, also sounding none too pleased.

“Lest you’ve forgotten, let me remind you, I can see the past just as well as the present.” Starswirl seethed. “I know you’ve been ignoring the reminders that we’ve been sending you!”

“I’ve been busy in Greece. The days have practically been blurring together...”

“No they haven’t. But they will be fairly soon!” He stated, lifting his fingers as if to snap them. “Tell me, have you ever moved so fast the world around seemed to stand still? It’s very lonely, so I imagine it’d be very frightening for a man with such a big ego!”

Before the old man could snap his fingers however, he felt a pair of dainty hands touch his shoulders. Star Swirl turned to see elderly woman smiling at him. “Let him go Star Swirl, he did end up making the assembly after all. Besides I’m sure he had a good reason for not being here exactly on time.”

Magnus nodded almost immediately. “Yeah! I do! I most certainly do!”

With an angry sigh, Star Swirl pushed Magnus back into his chair and rolled his wrist at the speedster. “Speak...”

Magnus let out a relieved sigh. “I was stopping a bank robbery in town before I got here.” The news of this did not make Star Swirl’s brow furrow any less.

“For your sake I hope these men were using military grade explosives and tactical kevlar.”

“Masks and automatics…” Magnus explained. He felt a drop of sweat run down the side of his head as he stated what he was sure would be his death sentence.

Star Swirl exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This organization has no room for showoffs Magnus. You get in, you get the job done. If complications are involved, you make a plan then execute it as soon as possible before anyone has a chance of getting hurt! God! I’ve been trying to hammer this lesson into your head since you were seventeen!”

“...And now I’m going on thirty nine. Quite the record, huh?”

Star Swirl lifted his gaze to glare into Magnus's frightened joking eyes. For a moment Magnus could have sworn the old man was burning a hole right through to his very soul.

“Stop. Talking.”

Still feeling up to pressing his luck, Magnus decided to bring up one last thing he was able to take away from his fight in the bank. “I stole this from one of the thug’s pockets while I was disassembling his gun.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red handkerchief, before passing it to Star Swirl.

“Organized Strangers, right? The modern day cowboys?”

Starswirl stared at the handkerchief and frowned. He knew the red cloth calling card all too well.

Like the famous outlaws of the 19th century, the Cowboys, the Organized Strangers were a group of criminals, officials, and gangsters who all used secretly stored red handkerchiefs with invisible coded messages to identify each other. Effectively they were in control of all the major crimes and scandals affecting Canterlot City in recent years. They had never truly been a major threat back in the heroes’ heyday, but ever since the majority of the city’s super criminals were locked up in Tartarus Penitentiary, the Strangers had been unceasing in their opportunity to lay claim to a lot more territory. The fact that they were becoming brave enough to stoop to common bank robbery was a sign of bad things to come.

“Ever since we left Canterlot, things here have been going from bad to worse.” Star Swirl stated.

A woman with a tall beehive haircut strode up to look at the handkerchief. She gave Star Swirl a reassuring smile. “Organized crime is much more difficult to pin down than the criminals and disasters we’re used to fighting. It’s widespread, and evidence is needed to make charges stick. We simply don’t have the time to spend searching for clues to take down the entire mafia, especially when there are more immediate disasters to prevent elsewhere in the world.”

“But at least when we were here, criminals knew to think twice before performing jobs like this in broad daylight.” Star Swirl replied. “We stood as guardians, symbols that people could look up to and know they would be protected. Crime rates were at an all time low merely because we were present in the city.

“But isn’t that why we built this school, Star Swirl?” Celestia asked. “To find protectors for this city, while we are out protecting the rest of the world?”

“There are other heroes out there.”

“But as Celestia said, we are some of the best the world has ever seen.” The elderly woman added. “We need to go where we’re needed, and that means sometimes temporarily leaving the places we care for the most. We have a responsibility as heroes to protect anyone who can’t protect themselves, no matter how far nor how dangerous the task. Isn’t that what you always say?”

Star Swirl paused for a moment, but eventually ended up smiling at the woman. “It is Misty, and thank you for reminding me of this fact.”

He turned back towards his fellow heroes, before placing the handkerchief in his pocket and out of sight, just in case one of the students came back in and noticed it. “This matter will require our immediate discussion, but for now one of us will need to see to the students’ assessment.”

A woman with long flowing blue hair raised her hand to get his attention. “I can handle that, you can brief me on what you learn about the Strangers’ current organization later while someone else is educating the students.”

Celestia smiled. “Thank you, sister. That will be very much appreciated.”

The other woman nodded before heading off through the left exit to the stage. The others began to discuss as they exited through the opposite door on the other side.

“Scuse me... I’m here to see Mr. Rich.”

The woman behind the front desk, looked up from her crossword to address the person that had just entered the Rich Real Estate building.

He was a thin, disheveled-looking young man, but one probably wouldn’t realize that right away with the rugged five-o'clock shadow he was sporting on his chin. He was dressed in a mustard yellow jacket and a bright red undershirt. His hair was done up in a dirty-looking blond bun, which worked to complete the look she could only assume he was trying to go for.

She blinked at the man before shaking her head. It wasn’t her place to go judging other people’s fashion choices, even if they did make him look like a dirty hot dog. She was just the secretary after all.

She placed down her pen and quietly moved her hand towards the buzzer. “Mr. Rich, there's a gentleman here at the front desk who wishes to see you. Should I tell him you're currently busy?”

A low voice with a calming slight southern-drawl answered back over the intercom. “That won’t be necessary darlin’, Ah’m fairly certain Ah know what he’s here for. Send ‘em up, and while you're at it send yourself on break, you deserve an hour or two for lunch.”

The secretary smiled at the prospect. “Right away, sir.”

Taking her finger off the button, she then reached below the desk to pull out a laminated card with an attached lanyard. She handed it across the desk as the young man stepped closer.

“Mr. Rich’s office is on the top floor, just swipe this card in the elevator and press the button, it will bring you there shortly.” With a pleasant smile the young man didn’t recognize on his way in, the secretary picked up her purse from behind the desk and strutted towards the front door. As she moved, she exuded a confidence that made it look like she owned the entire building and was free to come and go as she pleased. As he watched her hips sway, the young man couldn’t help but wonder if what she was suggesting with her movements wasn’t partially true.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, the young man made his way into the elevator, swiped the card, and pressed the top floor button that would take him up. After a short ride, he found the doors opening to a long hallway with no windows or doors, except for a large pair of ornate double doors sitting opposite the elevator. As he made his way down the hallway, he took note of the large portraits of company CEOs that ran the Rich monopoly before finally stopping at a final portrait of a middle-aged man with slicked black hair and a fine blue suit.

The corners of his mouth turned upwards slightly as he glanced down the line of similar looking portraits, before glancing back to the current one. He muttered to himself, “the resemblance is uncanny.”

He walked towards the door before giving it a knock. He heard the current company CEO call out to him from the other side of the door. “It’s open…”

The young man took the invitation and entered through the door. The man he had seen in the portrait was sitting behind his desk signing a few papers with a ballpoint pen. He didn’t look up from his work, so the dirty blonde assumed he was expected to speak first.

“Umm… the boss sent me to give some news.” He stated nervously as he played with his collar. The man in the suit, better known as Mr. Rich, finally lifted his head to acknowledge the youth in his presence. He cocked an eyebrow at what he saw.

“Who are you?” He asked, but sounded as if he didn’t care to hear the answer.

“I-I’m Z-Zephyr Breeze. I’m the new guy in Rat’s gang, the other’s call me Butter Breeze.”

Mr. Rich didn’t respond, and instead only continued to stare at him with a flat, uncaring expression.

Zephyr chuckled nervously. “Your secretary was really nice. You usually don’t see that with front desk jockeys in this city. She was really… perky.”

The man sighed and went back to signing his papers. He responded with, “my wife is a banshee.”

Zephyr blinked at the statement. “But that has nothing to do with-”

“Trust me.” Mr. Rich stated, cutting him off. “If you have ever met my wife, that statement has everything to do with it.”

The room went silent as Zephyr Breeze tried to come up with a response to the out-of-nowhere statement. Mr. Rich started to tap his pen impatiently. “What are you here to tell me?” He sounded more annoyed.

Zephyr gulped. “The robbery on Clydesdale Avenue was stopped before Ransack, Sever, and Hold Up could make it out with any loot.” He saw Mr. Rich’s hand tightening around his pen. “Word on the street is, they were taken out by a super… they say the Day-Runner is back in Canterlot City.”

Mr. Rich didn’t react to the news like Zephyr expected, instead he just exhaled out his nose and put down the pen he was using to write. Then he opened a drawer on the left side of his desk, reached down into it, and pulled out a glock. Now this was how he was expecting him to react.

“Listen, Zephyr was it? Ah’m going to ask you a few questions, and depending if you answer them right, greatly reduces the chances I make that jacket of yours match your shirt. Do you understand?”

Zephyr nodded almost immediately. “Good answer, now onto the real questions. Do you know how my family made their fortune, boy?”

The frightened teen was hesitant to speak. “Uh… your business, sir?”

Mr. Rich shrugged his shoulders and lazily swung his gun around. “Broad answer, but I’ll accept it. My family did make their money legitimately in land sales, but their real cash cow came out of another kind of business… control.” He narrowed his gaze back towards Zephyr. “You see, I’ve got men doing business deals for me all over this city. Protection rackets, loan sharking, the occasional hit and the procurement of valuable items, are all business ventures that I oversee and get a cut from. It has been done this way since my great, great, great, great, great granddaddy started this business, and has been going strong up till me. Now can you tell me, what happens when superheroes get involved?”

“We lose money, sir.”

“We lose money…” Mr. Rich nodded. “Ah think you meant to say, Ah lose money, boy.”

“Sir..?”

There was a click and suddenly the barrel of the gun was pointed at Zephyr’s head. “Last question, what’s my name?” Zephyr was too scared to answer. “WHAT’S MY GODDAMNED NAME, BOY?!”

“F-Fil… Filthy-” Zephyr could barely make it past his stutter, before Mr. Rich cut him off.

“Filthy Goddamned Rich! As in, fat stacks of cash that should be sitting on this desk! But aren’t because a bunch of morally self-righteous lunatics keep getting in the goddamned way of my business ventures!”

Filthy sighed before placing his gun down his desk. He rubbed his hands over his face before he decided to continue. “Ah apologize Zephyr Breeze, Ah shouldn’t have gone off on you like that. It’s not that Ah’m mad at you, it’s that Ah’m mad at the situation. With more supers back in the city, Ah’m gonna have to focus more of the organization’s energy on firepower. And that’s gonna be a whole new big headache for old Mr. Rich.”

He glanced back up at Zephyr. “Ah’m sending you back to Street Rat with new orders, so listen carefully…”

Before he could continue another knock came at the office door, drawing both their attention. “Ah’m in a meeting.” Mr. Rich called out to the door. “Whatever it is you’ve come to tell me, it can wait till later.”

“I don’t think you’ll want to wait till later, Mr. Rich.” An eerily deep voice rang through the door. “For what I have to tell might just be something you find very opportune.” The door began to swing open as a new person stepped in. “Please forgive my forward nature, but the person working the front desk was missing, so I decided to just let myself in.”

The person that stood before the two men was like nothing they had ever seen. He was shaped like an average man, but without any of the major defining features. No hair, blank white eyes, no… definitive organs, just a smooth coating of what looked like a midnight purple wax that covered his entire body, but still allowed his mouth and body to move uninhibited.

Filthy Rich immediately grabbed his gun and pointed at his newest visitor. “Who the hell are you?!” He threatened. “No one can get up here without a key card, and Ah’m sure as hell certain no one in my building would willingly give a freak like you one!”

The strange man lifted his hand and placed it over his chest. “That hurts, Mr. Rich. You don’t even know me, and already you’re resorting to threats and name calling… and here I thought we could be such good friends.”

He pulled the hammer of his glock. “You didn’t answer my question. Who. The hell. Are you?”

“Like I said, a friend.” The wax-coated man smiled, showing off his shining pearly white teeth. “I heard through the doorway that you were expecting to have some issues with firepower in the near future. Luckily for you, I happen to have a few hundred acquaintances that might be able to sell you some premium weaponry that is guaranteed to take down any super you might run into.”

Mr. Rich started to relax his arm, but kept his gun pointed at the intruder. “My family doesn’t do business with supers, especially not super criminals. No offense to you, but your kind don’t have the greatest record of keeping your word when major deals are involved.”

“None taken, but to be fair, the same could be said about mobsters like you.”

Mr. Rich didn’t respond and instead only continued to point his gun. The man shook his head ruefully. “It’s fine if you don’t want my help. Just know that my friends will be moving some supplies at this location and at this time, if you change your mind.” A little white card was slid across Filthy’s desk. It was no bigger than a business card and had even less information printed on it.

The man began walking towards the door. Filthy Rich picked up the card and began to examine it.

Before the man could grab the door in order to close it behind him, he heard the businessman call out to him. “If I did send some of my boys to this location, what’s my guarantee that I’ll be hearing back from them.”

The man smiled. “It’d be bad for business if we killed our clients, don’t you think?”

“And how much would these weaponry cost?”

“We’ll consider it a trial run. We’ll give your boys the weapons, and for a time you’ll be able to do whatever you want with them. Cause some mayhem, rob some banks, whatever you want. We can talk about payment, once you feel satisfied enough to start making regular shipments.” He turned again and this time actually began closing the door.

“How can Ah contact you?”

The man paused, and gave the mob don his best friendly salesman smile. “I’ll find you in my own time, but don’t worry, I’ll be keeping tabs on your purchases. You can just let me know if you're having any issues with our merchandise the next time I see you, okay? Okay.”

The door shut before Mr. Rich could ask him any more questions. He looked down at the card he was given and studied the name printed on the top, the only thing printed on it besides the location and time.

“The Man in Shadows…” He whispered to himself. Mr. Rich had to admit he was curious, but at the same time he couldn’t help but feel uncertain given how quickly the super had entered and left his office. He was also intentionally dodging questions he didn’t want to answer, Mr. Rich still couldn’t figure out how he was able to enter his office without a key card. Eventually, curiosity won out over caution, and Mr. Rich decided that at least seeing the promised weaponry would be somewhat worth the risk.

He uncocked his gun and turned on the safety so it wouldn’t accidentally fire while in his desk, and placed it back in its drawer. He then turned to Zephyr, who had been smart enough to keep quiet while Filthy was finishing his conversation.

“Change of plans…” Mr. Rich stated. “...here’s what Ah want you to tell Rat.”

Author's Note

This chapter has been recently edited in order to fix some grammatical mistakes as well as change some small aspects of the story. In this case, Flash Magnus's previous superhero name, Marathon Man, has been changed to Day-Runner and Rockhoof's previous superhero name, Vanguard, has been changed to Einherjar (pronounced as ayn-heh-ree-aar).

A special thanks to the people who commented on my "Can someone help me come up with a name for a superhero?" thread post on the Crossover group's forum. I really appreciate all the suggestions you guys gave me.

Anyways, as stated before with the original draft of this chapter, this story is largely based on the superhero genre as a whole, so expect to see a lot of references to comics and movies in the coming chapters. Here's the superheroes that inspired the designs for our characters in this chapter:

Day-Runner (Flash Magnus):

Einherjar (Rockhoof):

Zephyr "Butter" Breeze: