Twilight finds it all very, very silly.
They should've gone back home after defeating the Mane-iac... or whatever her name was. But instead, she's not in the old castle, but she's standing in a run-down, quite dusty room. When she strains her ears, she can hear ponies yelling. Twilight stands up, her body screams for her to lie back down.
She doesn't, sadly enough.
Twilight places her front hooves on the cold window and pushes the window open—completely forgetting about the horn that was on the center of her forehead. She looks down at the crowd of ponies by the front door of her (her?) apartment building, her eyes slowly gazing over to the other side of the street. Two police ponies escorting a tied-up pony to a vehicle. She stares.
When she turns around and slams her window shut with her magic, her friend (and roommate) runs out of his tiny, tiny room. Hum Drum, er, Spike, begins to slow down to a crawl when he sees her.
"Wow," he whispers, his eyes taking in her entire appearance. His claws flexed and closed, but the smile on his face made Twilight's heart slow to a normal speed. At least somepony was happy. "You look just like her!" He said in awe. And then his eyes grew in size, whispering: "Even your cutie mark changed!"
"Even my what did what?!" Twilight screeched, and she began to wildly turn around in circles. When she couldn't get in a position to see her cutie mark, she took in a deep breath and teleported over to where a mirror was. When she angled her body, she saw it.
On her hindquarters was not her normal cutie mark, one that she loved so much. But something different. It was just a red... and green squiggly line! Not her cute star one!
Before she could dive straight into a panic attack, Spike joined her by the mirror. Testing the waters, he said, "It's Trot Summers cutie mark! This is so cool!"
"No, Spike, this is not cool!" Twilight shot back, her ears pressing on her head. "I don't know where my friends are, and this isn't my library! I don't even know where the library is! That's horrifying!"
"Ok, now I think you're being a bit overdramatic," Spike murmured, rolling his eyes. "Look, it's probably the same thing as my other comic," he said, putting his tiny claws on his even tinier hips. "Defeat the Mane-iac and return to where we started! The castle!"
Twilight was more focused on her breathing now. "Right... right," she murmured. "I'm sorry Spike, I didn't mean to yell at you like that," she turned around and began to trot over to the kitchen. It was clean, cleaner than her own kitchen at home. Whoever this "Trot Summers" pony was, she was a very clean pony! She placed one hoof on the counter and wiped it—she couldn't even feel the cleaning mixture! Now that was clean!
Focusing just a little, she triggered the faucet to turn on and she splashed her face with water. Nothing quicker than that, sure, ponies may rave on and on about coffee, but there was one faster alternative: water. And it worked! And Twilight's calmer now. She turned the water off and looked around the apartment. A lot of bookshelves filled with even more books, a messy, maybe even bloodied rug and a broken TV coffee table.
Without thinking much about it, she grabbed the table with her magic and put the two halves back together. It did nothing to actually fix the table, but she enjoyed seeing it fixed. Though she couldn't keep it like that for too long, it seems like the more she overuses her horn, the harsher a headache. Normal in her world, but usually she could use magic nonstop for days!
Still tucked to her side, her wings flexed and she spread them open for a second before closing them again. Twilight sat on the floor, her tail wrapping around her leg as she stared at the window.
"It's... going to be okay, Twilight," Spike said, joining her on the floor. "Trot Summers is really strong! She can do a whole bunch of things!" He hugged her. "We just need to find our friends and get out!"
"Easier said than done, Spike," Twilight said. "It's not like," she waved a hoof around, "I can just run to them!"
A rock was thrown at her window. Her eyes narrowed. "Please please please tell me I didn't just summon Pinkie Pie," she said slowly, and then finally got off the floor. She trotted over to the large window slowly, just... almost silently hoping that Pinkie would disappear. Or some filly who wanted to annoy her got fed up and left. When she magicked her window open, she saw it. Well... she saw her.
Pinkie Pie was flying. But not actually flying. It didn't take long for Twilight to realize that she was probably just jumping continuously, and her super speed made it look like she was flying. It was a nice trick though, something that she probably wouldn't think of. Because, well, she doesn't need super speed to fly. Thinking about it, her wings opened and flexed instinctively. A few lavender feathers drifting down to the wood floor.
"Oh!" Pinkie smiled widely, "There you are Twilight!" She hooked her hooves on the window sill and stopped jumping. "Jeez, took you long enough! I thought I'd just have to break in!" She giggled, before climbing... er, slithering into the room. Twilight closed the window and watched Pinkie.
"Isn't this amazing?" She clapped her hooves together a few times. "We defeated the Mane-iac but we're still in the comic! You know, I always wanted to be a superhero, and then you came to Ponyville, but having the Elements of Harmony attached to your soul doesn't really make you a superhero, but this sure does!" She didn't eve pause to breathe, "I mean! Applejack and I don't have superpowers or magic like you Unicorns do! But we're fast! But, like, now I'm super fast!"
"And super talkative," Twilight comments under her breath.
"Yeah! Super talkative too!" Pinkie hopped onto the couch. "I mean, I was already pretty talkative, but now I can talk twice as fast," she looked around. "Anyway! Nice place you got here, Twilight—or should I call you Trot now? Most ponies will know you as Trot, but I know you as Twilight! Trot or Twilight? Twilight or Trot? Summers or Sparkle? Sparkle or Summer? Ah! It's all so confusing!"
Twilight didn't even have to force a smile at Pinkie's rapid-firing questions. "Just call me Twilight. Maybe Trot had a name change recently," she snorted at her own joke. "But Pinkie, I do have a question for you,"
Pinkie's ears twitched, "Yes?"
"Have you seen the others around?"
Pinkie thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I don't think so," she shrugged and fixed her position on the couch. "I looked in every apartment's windows in a two-mile radius, and I only found you," Pinkie said. "You were the first one I found!"
Twilight thought and mulled over Pinkie's words for a second or two or ten. "Wait... you looked in every apartment? What about the ones with their window blinds closed?"
"I looked in every apartment! Every single one!"
Twilight made sure not to let her mouth drop. "How many apartments did you break into?!"
"Only a dozen!" Pinkie Pie said. "And I ran away before anyone could see me!"
"You do realize that's not okay, right?" Twilight said, shaking her head slowly. "Oh, whatever, no use trying to convince you," she sighed out. "I don't know what this Trot Summers pony does in her day-to-day life, but we need to find the others quickly. The faster we find the rest of the girls, the faster we can find the Mane-iac and get home," Twilight grinned. "We can pretend to be two friends going out for some tea and no one will think twice,"
Pinkie only looked at her. "If you take off your superhero outfit, then people will only see Trot, not the Masked Matter-horn!"
Twilight looked down at her silly little persona outfit. She clicked her tongue, "Right, right. Let me go change and, uh, we'll get going!"
All of Trot Summer's outfits were itchy and scratchy. Twilight could only wear this ivory-colored, silk-based material shirt and a beige maxi-skirt. Pinkie Pie was practically bouncing beside her, wearing a nice gray button-down and khakis. It looked good on her, like, really good on her.
Like Twilight was really jealous, that's how good. And it was just a simple get-up!
"I wonder if time is frozen in our world," Pinkie Pie said as the two of them rounded a corner. Twilight lifted a hoof up and tried her best to step over a muddy puddle. "I sure hope so! Imagine we get back and all of my cake supplies have expired! I can't bake a cake with expired ingredients Twilight!"
"I'm sure you can't," Twilight responded. She was a bit saddened to leave Spike at home, but Manetropolis was a large place, and Twilight didn't know it well herself. Even if Spike did know the area and the context of this place well, she doesn't want to bring a helpless, baby dragon to the bustling and crowded city. To be honest, she didn't even want to be out and about!
Twilight would be lucky though, as the two of them began to cross the street, a loud explosion echoed around them, and a dead body slid right up to them.
Pinkie Pie lifted her hoof gently to avoid stepping in the blood spilling from a wound in the pony's head. Her eyes blinked rapidly and her tail shook just as fast before she dived into Twilight, knocking her off balance and narrowly avoiding another dead pony flying.
Twilight wasn't able to save her clothes from the blood puddle. If Rarity was here, she'd stop everything just to get the blood out. Twilight tries to stop her racing thoughts. It doesn't work.
Pinkie is already fast without superpowers, she's able to keep up speed with Rainbow Dash like she, too, is a pegasus. But she doesn't have the strong, natural wings of one. She has four hooves and determination.
Which is why she is speeding toward the location where the bodies are being thrown from. Twilight can only see a bright pink blur for barely a second before Pinkie comes to a sudden halt in front of her. She's bloodied and tired, but still Pinkie. She smiles.
"Oh! That girl was determined to kill me," she said, wiping her hooves on her shirt, therefore smearing the blood on her shirt even more. "I had to spin around so much I almost threw up! Hah! No need to worry though, she's in-"
Pinkie didn't get to respond as she, once again, jumped to protect Twilight from another attack. Though this attack never landed. When Twilight forced her eyes to open, she saw a car (a literal car!) being pushed away. When she looked around, she saw a familiar orange pony.
"Applejack!" Both of them called, but their happy reunion was cut short as a sudden blast of red and blue light shot at them. This time, Pinkie couldn't get away to protect Twilight fast enough, but her wing reflexes were much faster than she originally thought.
She breathed heavily. Her wings ached and slowly the pain subsided enough for her to fold them back in. Twilight looked around her quickly, trying to figure out just exactly where the beams were coming from. Before she could even take one step forward, Pinkie came to a sudden halt in front of her.
Well, is it still Pinkie if she's now Fili-Second?
Twilight didn't have the time to think though. She never has the time to think, but she certainly doesn't have the time now.
Fili-Second runs in that direction and Twilight has the split of a second to see Mistress Mare-velous begin running toward the beam as well. Twilight should be changing into the Masked Matter-horn but...
How?
Twilight stamps her front hooves on the ground and lets out a guttural growl. Not at the villain (sorry) but rather at herself. Spike loves to tell her about what happens in his comics; the first rule of being a superhero is always wearing your suit under your clothes.
Twilight is stuck here simply because she ignored Spike's number one rule. That was so unlike her!
In a twisted turn of events, Twilight was forced to sit and watch her friends deal with the so-called Villain of the Week. Now, in some low-down and rustic café, she, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike talked. Softly (hardly at all). Twilight traces a flower into the precipitation on the table, completely and utterly zoned out.
"And then I was all like, boom boom and bam!" Pinkie cheered, though she knew how to keep her voice down just a little, so at least no one looked over at her. "Man, that villain was not expecting me!" She blinked over at Spike's pie, "Hey, can I have that? Are you gonna eat it?"
Spike nods frantically and shoves the pie into his mouth. "Yeah, I am! Get your own!"
"Now, Spike, that wasn't appropriate," Twilight utters, using her magic to pick up her fork and stab it into her slice of pie. She didn't know why she got it in the first place, she was not hungry. Silently, she pushes the plate away, looking a bit depressed.
"Now, suga'cube," Applejack says, pushing the plate back towards her. "You should eat. Eating helps keep ya active!"
Twilight tries and fails not to roll her eyes. "I know, I know... I just... I'm not hungry,"
Pinkie sniffs, "Then... can I have your pie?"
"Yes, Pinkie, you can have my pie," Twilight says, almost surprised at how fast Pinkie grabs her pie and shoves it into her mouth. Faster than Spike. She'd be surprised, but she's not. How could she? She's known her for years now! When Pinkie finishes eating the rest of her pies, she then chugs down some water.
"Woof! That hit the spot!"
Applejack chuckles. "Nice t' know that Pinkie keeps her appetite," she rolls her eyes and takes a small bite of her pie. Nothing special, just apple. Of course, it was an apple pie, she is Applejack. Not Pumpkinjack! Though, Twilight does wonder (for just a few seconds) if Applejack would even like pumpkin pie...
Would she?
"Now then. Ah just want to know where the hay are we?" She looks around. "And don't give me no sarcastic response either. Ah know we're in a cafe, but are we still in the, you know"- Applejack waves her forehoof around- "the comic book?" She ended with a whisper.
Spike, however, does not speak with a whisper. "Yes! We are still in Power Ponies!" He claps his tiny claws together and he doesn't seem to notice the few glares sent at them from the other patrons. "Isn't it amazing? This is, like, my wildest dreams come true!"
"Ah ah, come now," Applejack says, her ears twitching just slightly, "you're startin' to sound like RD,"
"You say that like it's an insult!" Spike hisses, putting his hands on his hips. "Rainbow Dash is pretty cool!"
Pinkie deflates in such a way that Twilight isn't sure if deflate is the right word. She sinks, but not enough to lose her signature Pinkie Pie Pink color. "She doesn't like my cupcakes," Pinkie whispers, "or my pies..."
"Ah'm sorry, pumpkin," Applejack says, moving over to rub her hoof on Pinkie's back. "But... in Rainbow's defense, no one likes your pies,"
"No one?!"
Twilight's ears press against her head. Applejack continues, "Well, Pinks, they're just filled with fruits that just don't mix and..."
"No... I understand," Pinkie says slowly like she's tasting the lies bubbling in her throat and trying not to vomit. "Can we talk about something else?! Let's go on a walk!"
Applejack shakes her head and clicks her tongue. "That helps a lot, Pinkie," she finishes up her pie and then shifts on her seat. "Ah was rummaging around the town early, before the whole villain thing," Applejack clears her throat and smiles at them. "Ah believe Ah know where Fluttershy is,"
Twilight smiles, her mouth opens and then closes and then opens again for good measure. "W-wow? Really! That's great, AJ!" She claps her hooves together and lets a giddy giggle escape her lips. "If we can find the rest of the girls before sundown, then that'd be great!"
"Before sundown?" Spike repeats, "Are you sure? Because it's almost noon already! We'd better get going now if you want to find the rest of them before sundown,"
"Ok, Spike, you don't have to continue articulating your words like that," Twilight says, rolling her eyes. Though she smiles. "I thought you well," she pauses briefly to drink water, "we should get going. Uh, waiter!"
In the middle of a park, two ponies dragged their way to the central lake. One of these ponies was an impossibly beautiful mare who had the cutest styled hair. The mare next to her was meek and... well, not so beautiful. But still beautiful in her own way!
"Uhm... Rarity," Fluttershy says, trying her best not to stand out in the large crowd that follows them, surrounds them, and is in front of them—as normal crowds do. "A-Are you sure we're going the right way? I thought we were going to get food and, uhm, I'm getting a little hungry..."
"Now, Fluttershy, dear!" Rarity starts, picking up her speed just a little bit. Fluttershy had to fly just to catch up. Her wings ruffled as they walked close together. "Never question a lady! I know what I'm doing!"
"I'm not questioning you," Fluttershy says, "I just think that... well, sometimes a lady can be wrong, right?" When Rarity snapped her head back and stared her down, Fluttershy backed up and quickly retracted her statement. "I-I mean, it's a-all hypothetical!" She forced a laugh. "B-but really, uhm, where are we going?"
"We're going to the lake, Fluttershy," Rarity says, "the lake is where all the magic happens after all. Love is sure to birth there... and all that jazz," she waves a hoof as she walks. Fluttershy wants to sink down farther into her coat. "And yes, I promised you that I'd buy you some food, right? A lady—"
"Never breaks a promise," Fluttershy finishes the quote quickly, and Rarity is only a bit shocked. "I can't believe I forgot to bring my bits," she sighs so softly, it's not even a sigh anymore. "But then again, my job doesn't really make a lot of bits in the first place..."
"Darling, what is your character's job anyway?"
"That's just the thing! I don't know!" Fluttershy gestures with her wings, flexing them before tightly pressing them against her body. "I don't know where I work, so I'm going to get a call, a-and then I'm going to get yelled at! Yelled at by somepony I don't know!"
"Aw, Fluttershy," Rarity turns around and the sudden halt almost makes Fluttershy run into her. "Don't speak like that! Knowing you and how you act, the character you're portraying must be similar, no?" Rarity tilts Fluttershy's head up gently, smiling, "I'm sure she's never missed a day,"
This causes Fluttershy to smile. Yes, never miss a day.
Rarity and Fluttershy pushed through the crowd as the lake came into view. It sparkled with the sun, just begging them to come dip their hooves into the crystal clear water. But just as the two came closer, Rarity narrowed her eyes.
"What... is that?"
There was no reason to ask, she knew what it was, and so did Fluttershy. A rainbow was streaked over the sky, reflected in the clear water. The two mares lifted and craned their heads upward to see the rainbow, pretty, of course, but they wanted to see the mare who made it.
And that mare immediately crashed into the lake. Soaking Fluttershy and Rarity down to their bones. They shook the water out, Rarity huffing at her messed-up hair.
"Oh my gosh," Rainbow grunted as she climbed out of the water, she, too, was dripping head to toe with water. "That. Was. Awesome!" She zoomed up. "Who wants to see me do it again?!"
"Uhm, no one, Dash," Rarity said slowly. She pressed a hoof into her fur. "I can't believe my outfit was ruined! And it was so pretty too!"
Rainbow flew around her, looking down at her as well. "What? It looks perfectly fine?"
"It's. Wet." Rarity hissed.
"And still cool!" Rainbow said, plopping herself down on the ground. "Ok, whatever. Did you see the cool rainbow I did?"
"I suppose so," Rarity said, looking up at the sky. "Though we only saw the rainbow and not the action part of it,"
"Damn it!" Rainbow hissed. "Wanna see me do it again?"
Fluttershy spoke up this time, "Your crash... didn't it hurt?"
"Only a little!"
Both Fluttershy and Rarity sighed deeply at this. Of course, it hurt, and of course, Rainbow wants to do it all over again. Rainbow shakes off the water that dampens her fur.
"So, like, we're still in that comic book series right?" Rainbow asked, and she absent-mindedly poked and prodded at the ground. "Why couldn't it have been Daring Do? That's something interesting,"
"I think it's interesting," Fluttershy says, "I-I mean, not the fighting part, but exploring seems fun!"
"You're right," Rarity looks around for a second before realizing that she couldn't find anything impressive to look at. Everything here was so drab and boring! "We're stuck in a comic book with no way out. We don't know where the others are, and frankly, we're all in very ugly clothes,"
"Really?" Rainbow asked, her head tilting to the side. "Because I think my clothes are pretty fucking rad!"
"Of course, you think they're rad," Rarity said in such a way, it was almost insulting. It was insulting, but that was beside the point. "If we find Twilight, I'm sure she can tell us what's happening," well... they know what's happening, they're stuck in a comic book!
"But my powers are awesome!" Rainbow said quickly, "Why would I want to leave?"
Fluttershy was the one to speak up this time, "You can't find Daring Do books here,"
Rainbow Dash gasped in such a comical way, Fluttershy had to look away to stop herself from laughing. Rainbow's wings and ears drooped, "No... more? But the latest chapter I was reading left off on a cliffhanger! I hate cliffhangers!"
"Well, I suppose we should find a way out then, right?" Fluttershy said, earning herself a giggle from, well, herself! She thinks she is very funny. "It's a shame Maretropolis is so large, if we were back in Ponyville, we'd find them in no time,"
"That is true," Rarity said, and the three of them began to walk. Well, she and Fluttershy began to walk, and Rainbow began flying because the darn pegasus couldn't be bothered to walk for more than a few minutes. "But we aren't in Ponyville anymore, so we should try and adapt to our surroundings,"
"How do we do that when we don't even know where we are?" Rainbow asked. "We don't even have a map!"
"Darling," Rarity cooed, "all parks have a map,"
Fluttershy let out a soft "Oh..." at this. She placed a hoof on her head and shook it. "How could I forget...?"
"If we find a map, then we can find a station," Rarity continued, "and in a station, whether it's a park ranger or train station, all of them should have maps,"
"Or," Rainbow started, flying in front of Rarity, "I could fly. And flying is always faster!"
"And I could teleport, and teleporting is faster than flying, no?"
"Do you even know how to teleport?"
"No!" Rarity said quickly, shaking her head. "But that's beside the point. This could be a good learning experience for all of us,"
Rainbow crossed her arms. She didn't say a single word until Rarity found a map stabled to a sign. There was a police station not too far away from where they were. They started.
There was nothing overly interesting about the park they were in. There were tons of trees and fewer ponies walking around, but there were no play areas. No colts or fillies ran around them, only grumpy business colts on their way to work. The only somewhat interesting thing was Rarity seeing some pale red business pony sit on a bench so depressedly, she had to buy him a flower just to get that look off his face. He then preceded to explain that he just got fired and... yadda yadda, normal things, normal problems!
Well... Rarity felt bad, so she ended up buying him three more flowers!
And then they were off again, walking and flying until they saw a large police station appear around the corner. At the sight of this, Rainbow couldn't stop herself from flying into the station as fast as her wings could carry her.
Rarity and Fluttershy appeared just as Rainbow put herself on the ground, her front hooves pressing against the cold, marble counter. They went behind her, apologizing frantically.
"It's map time," Rainbow said, mostly to Fluttershy and Rarity behind her. She tapped her hooves on the marble counter again, a dorky smile on her face. "Do you have any maps?"
The dark gray receptionist behind the counter just stared at her, smacking her lips as she chewed gum. She looked over her shoulder to glance at the clock on the wall, sighing deeply. "It's eleven forty, shouldn't you three be at work?"
Rainbow's ears flattened. "W-well, yes! Sure! But do you have a map we can buy? Please?"
The receptionist continued to smack her lips. Rainbow wanted to rip the gum out of her mouth. "I suppose so," she bent down and rummaged behind the counter for a few moments before she came up with a map in her hooves. "This is a map," she said like they didn't know that it was a map, "it'll cost"- she looked them up and down- "ten bits,"
"Ten bits?!" Rarity screeched. "For a map?!" When some of the other patrons began to look at them, Rarity sighed, pressing her hoof on her chest and breathing heavily. With magic, she grabbed the ten bits and placed them on the counter. "I apologize, a lady shouldn't have an outburst like that,"
"Holy hayfeathers," Fluttershy whispered. "That's a lot of bits... what if no one gets paid soon? Will we be forced to eat... grass?"
"No, Fluttershy," Rarity responded, watching Rainbow snatch the map up. "We are not some common-" she waved her hoof around- "mule!"
Fluttershy looked away, a bit shocked. "Wow, uhm, I didn't know you had such a, uh... colorful vocabulary," she whispered. "My mother would kill me..."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and my dad would toss me into the wilderness for two weeks, come on! Maretopolis is large, and the other girls are small! It's going to take all week to find them!"
"Especially if they're trying to find us as well," Fluttershy said, the three of them exiting the police station. "Oh... I hope it doesn't end up like some slice-of-life show I watch," she said, watching a few rats scurry in the alleyway they passed. "Always running near each other... but never colliding,"
"Fluttershy, darling, I think you need to read a few of my romance novels," Rarity said. "I think there's one you'd like quite well!"
"Well...! Maybe, maybe."
"Romance is boring!" Rainbow said, scanning the map as she flew around. "It's always so sappy and... weird! I think there should be more fighting and, uh, action!"
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Well, there's a romance novel for everypony,"
