Author's Notes:

Double update as promised.

Principle Celestia sighed as she walked down one of the many streets toward home. It had been a very long day for her. Not only did she have to deal with the usual paperwork, but the way her new student put not one but two other students in the hospital with various injuries disturbed her. She knew that young man was stronger than he looked since he walked away without a single mark. She truly expected at least one bruise. That’s how most playground fights go. Nobody walks away unharmed. Then there were the phone calls home to the parents. As much as they tried to press charges, Excalibur was right. He was in the right and they were in the wrong.

“What a day…” she said, exhausted.

Looking up she slowly watched the sun dip behind the horizon as the moon began to take its place. Noticing this slight detail made her nervous. Sure she lived in a safe neighborhood… but Canterlot was full of crime.

Especially at night…

She just wished her sister didn’t have to use the car after school was over.

Adding another half step to her pace, her grip tightened on the strap of her work bag. That bag alone made her a target of opportunity. But all it contained was papers on various topics that she needed to address. She had her wallet yes, but it held nothing but her I.D. a few credit cards, and a single dollar bill.

She also couldn’t get over the nagging feeling she was being watched.

Her eyes darted from side to side and she would occasionally take a glance over her shoulder. Every little glance would only catch the occasional shadow. The night was dead silent, which only added to her nervousness. Not a single car was driving down the street.

“Just relax Celestia…” she said in a vain attempt to calm her nerves, “Nothing is going to happen. You’ll be home before you know it!”

She couldn’t have been more wrong that night.

As she approached a dark alleyway a figure stepped out, bringing her to a halt. She gulped and started to turn around, but was stopped by a second figure. Gulping a second time she turned to her left. Only to be boxed in.

“Come here sweetheart,” one figure said darkly before grabbing her by the arm.

“Hey let me go!” she retaliated, trying to squirm free.

She gasped when she felt the cold metal of a gun barrel to her side. Fear struck her stiff. She stopped resisting in the hopes that they would just take her bag and let her go.

That wasn’t the case.

Her captor started to forcefully drag her into the alley while telling her multiple times to “Move!” Being stripped of her bag she was forcefully shoved against a dumpster with a thud. The other two assailants started to go through her bag a few feet away. Pulling out papers, her small coin purse, and a few beauty products.

In the darkness, she could see the maniacal grin the gunman was sporting.

“I’m going to have fun with you…” he said before getting dangerously close and sniffing her neck, causing the high school principle to close her eyes and wince in fear. “Hmmm… vanilla…” he slowly dragged a hand up her covered arm. She whimpered and silently prayed for someone to help her.

Little did she know her guardian angel was closer than she thought.

The gunman felt a tap on his shoulder. Shrugging it off he continued his assault. Feeling it a second time he turned to face who was tapping his shoulder.

“I told you guys to-”

He was cut off when a fist connected with his jaw before the unknown hero grabbed him by the head and bashed the man’s skull into the dumpster, right next to the principle. She immediately turned away and closed her eyes to avoid the fight. The man fell to the ground in a painful and unconscious heap.

Opening her eyes, she saw the dark suited figure from the news. He was the talk of the town… and yet… here he was, right in front of her!

“You okay?” he asked, looking up from the man he just beat down. She lightly, but repeatedly nodded. “Good.”

The unconscious gunman moaned and started to move. Only to have the dark colored hero to lift his leg high and smash his foot onto the side of the man’s head, putting him back to sleep. Turning around the hero looked at the two other assailants who stared at their unconscious ally. The hero slowly cracked his knuckles.

“Who’s next?”

Both men looked up before they growled.

“You’ll pay for that!”

“Tonight you die!”

One man pulled a knife and flipped it open before charging. The hero blocked the attack with his forearm and delivered a heavy hit to the man’s gut, knocking the wind out of him. Pushing him out of the way he went after the second man who pulled a collapsible baton. Grabbing the blunt weapon, the hero uppercutted the baton man. Both men fell to the ground holding their respected areas.

“Had enough?”

Both men growled angrily. The knife wielder stood up holding the knife wide. With a loud battle cry he charged. As he went for the stab, the hero stepped to the side a kneed him in the gut, causing him to not only miss but cough and double over. Switching places, the baton man swung his weapon side to side in a failed attempt to hit his target. The hero would simply step back to avoid the hits.

“Stand… still!”

“Okay.”

The hero stopped and caught the baton in his hand before pulling it from the attacker’s grasp and head-butting him. Reflexively the man grabbed his face and stumbled backwards. The knife wielder let out a roar as he swung his blade haphazardly. Each swing would end up with it being blocked by the baton. Seeing an opening the hero swatted the knifeman on the top of the head with the blunt weapon. The man grabbed his head in pain. Before he recovered he was then Spartan kicked away, where he fell flat on his ass. The hero held the baton in front of his chest and grabbed both ends with his hands.

“You two are really stupid,” he said before snapping the metal weapon in half, “You know that?” he tossed both pieces to the side as both men sat wide eyed staring at the broken weapon. The hero started to walk toward them, slowly. The man on the ground started to crawl away while the knifeman backed away.

“Now wait! Lets-”

The former baton wielder was cut short as a black boot connected with his jaw, knocking him unconcious. The hero cracked his neck, causing the knifeman to trip over a piece of debris in the alleyway. Crawling away he pleaded for mercy.

“Look out!”

Turning around the hero’s head reeled back as a loud gunshot filled the air, the bullet hitting him in the side of the head. Stumbling, the hero attempted to regain his footing, only to have another round hit him in the back of his right shoulder. The gunman slowly walked forward with a gun in one hand as he fired. Each round connected with the hero’s body, forcing him to stumble back. Once the seventh and final round was fired the hero placed his hands on a nearby garbage can for support and leaned over it. The knifeman joined his friends side and smirked.

“Not so tough now, aren’t’cha?” the gunman asked.

The hero glanced over at them before leaning back over the can. In a flash of red light and speed he was standing on the other side of both men. A red ethereal sword dematerialized from reality as he straightened his back. The gunman fell to his knees, dropping the gun, a massive scorched mark across his chest.

“How?” he asked before he dematerialized into red particles of energy.

The knifeman watched his friend turn into ethereal dust. The sound of metal on dirt filled the air as the knifeman dropped his blade.

“Fuck this shit!”

He started running for the safety of the open street.

SHING!

He made it twenty feet before he too dropped to his knees. His gaze fell to the blade of the long sword protruding from his chest. He slowly looked up, only to catch the flicker of a faulty street light. The sword clanged on the ground as the gaping wound in his chest started to dematerialize his torso. Opening her eyes Celestia watched as her savior casually walked over and picked up his blade from the ground and dragged the blade across his forearm before placing it on his back.

He then walked back over to the third attacker. The man moaned and grabbed his head as he used the other arm to prop himself up. Looking up he saw the dark figure looming over him. His lower lip quivered as he attempted to form a coherent sentence.

“P-Please…” he held a hand up, “Have mercy!”

The hero held his left hand over the man. The attacker watched in horror as a beam of orange energy began to envelope him. He let out the most fear filled, terrified scream as he was absorbed into the other man’s hand. After several seconds the screaming stopped as he finally disappeared into the suited man’s palm. Closing his hand and lowering his arm the hero turned to young principal.

“Are you-”

PTSSSSSSSSS!

Silence filled the air as the can of pepper spray was emptied onto the hero’s face. Several seconds passed before Celestia lowered the now empty can. She was breathing heavily and her heart was pounding a mile a minute. The man just stood there with a deadpanned look under his helmet.

“You know…” the hero held up his hand and slowly dragged it down his helmet, “If you’re going to mace someone,” he reached the bottom of the helmet and flicked his wrist, splattering the orange liquid on the ground, “Make sure he isn’t wearing a helmet.” He walked past her, “You’re welcome by the way…”

“Wait!” she called to him. He stopped and turned to look at her. “Why did you help me?”

“Because I hate bullies… you of all people should know that,” he replied rather matter-of-factly.

“...Right,” she said while looking to the side, “Uhm… thanks… I guess…”

“No problem… do you, want me to walk you home?” he offered.

She looked back at him, “Uh… no thanks… I… I think I’ll be fine now…”

“Alright,” he said before turning back and walking away. “You should be glad though…” he said, reaching the sidewalk. He turned and looked back at her.

“Why?” she asked while started her way down towards him.

“Because you have something I need… you owe me sweetheart…” he said rather ominously. “And I’ll be cashing that favor in real soon.”

With that, he walked around the corner and out of sight. Jogging up -because Celestia can’t run worth shit in heels- she reached the street and looked down both sides, even high and low. But he was gone like the wind.

Celestia walked through the front door of her home. Dropping her bag on the nearby couch she leaned against the door and let out the most exhausted sigh she ever had. Her long day just kept getting longer and longer. All she wanted to do was drop dead... Actually that was a bad choice of words due to her earlier incident.

“Is that you, sister?”

“Yes Luna, it’s me!”

The young vice principle walked out of the kitchen and looked around the living room a moment before she spotted her sister.

“Are you okay?” she asked, slightly concerned, “You look terrible.”

Celestia sighed again, much less than the first one, “You have no idea…”

“What happened?” her sister asked, slightly concerned.

“I’ll tell you,” Celestia said before pushing off the door, “But I need a beer…”

Her sister stood there shocked, “But… you don’t drink.”

“I know…”

Walking into the kitchen, Celestia stopped at the fridge and opened the door before examining its contents and grabbing a cold one. Popping the twist off top she held the bottle to her mouth and took a large swig.

“Blah!” she licked her lips, “How do you tolerate this crap?”

“Generally when you aren’t drinking my personal stash…” her sister deadpanned while crossing her arms. Celestia rolled her eyes before taking another drink. “So are you going to tell me?” her sister urged.

“Yeah, yeah,” Celestia replied while walking into the living room and taking a seat on the couch. Following her, Luna took a seat in a nearby chair.

“So?”

Celestia took another swing before lowering the bottle. She sighed, “You know that superhero guy that’s been all over the news?”

“Him and his friend are the talk of the town,” Luna reached over and grabbed the television remote and turned on the TV. Immediately it popped up to the news. The anchorman talked with the words underneath his saying “Dragons… real or myth?” and a short excerpt of the fight of the previous day of the two super heroes. “Hard to miss them when he can literally throw a car and she can tear the barrel off a tank.”

“Well…” Celestia took another swig, “What if I told you I ran into him tonight?”

Luna turned off the TV. “I’d say you’re nuts,” realization hit her like a textbook being dropped on a desk, “Wait!? Did he…?” she couldn’t finish.

Celestia nodded while tilting her head back for another sip, “He saved me.”

Luna was taken back, “From what? Who? You aren’t hurt are you!?”

“No, no,” Celestia sighed for the third time tonight, “Let me just start from the beginning…”

The high school principle would go on to tell about how she was walking home when three men jumped her. How one pointed a gun to her side and attempted to probably rape her. She then went on to explain how he took on two crazy men wielding a knife and a baton and how he didn’t even break a sweat. She even told her how he survived not only a bullet to the head, but six more to the body. The whole time her sister sat there awestruck.

“And he said I owed him… and that he would be cashing it in real soon…” Celestia finished her story.

“That sounds rather… ominous,” Luna replied.

“How do you think I feel!?” Celestia yelled, “What if its sexual?”

“I highly-”

“I mean… it’s not that bad. I mean he could be cute under that mask.”

Luna rolled her eyes, “Or maybe he’s a robot being controlled by children.”

“Funny,” Celestia deadpanned with the same type of look.

“That is pretty funny,” a male voice said, causing both women to stiffen up. "But not unheard of."

“Who said that?”

“Check your phone and find out.”

Celestia quickly fished her pockets before pulling out the small device. On the screen was nothing but three question marks, but below it was the helmet of the man that saved her.

“What… but… how are you on my phone!?” Celestia asked both out of shock and disbelief.

“It’s not hard to hack the microphone and camera of your phone. A little magic work and boom! I’m in. The government does it all the time.”

“No they don’t!” Luna shot back, “Do they?”

“You would be surprised,” the voice replied, “Anyway… Celestia, you know that favor I asked you about?”

“Yeaaaaaah?” She hesitantly replied with a head turn and a raised eyebrow.

“I’m cashing that favor.”

“But… what do I have that you want?” she asked, nervously.

“Who’s to say that we will cooperate?” her sister added, while placing her fists on her hips.

“Your name is Celestia Solar Flare, you are thirty years of age, single, you live on 1354 Pony Way in the Ponyville suburb of the city of Canterlot. You live with your sister Lunar Eclipse Flare, 29 years of age, single, same address. Both of you like long walks in the park, you are the principle and vice principle of Canterlot High School. Tell me when you want me to stop?”

“How do you know all that!?” Celestia screamed into her phone, shaking it lightly as she talked. By now she was starting to panic.

“Facebook. Interesting thing, the internet. You can find anything with the click of a button. And…” he let out a whistle, “I think I let that college picture slide.”

Celestia’s face turned red.

She cleared her throat, “Ahem… yes, well…” she shook her head of said picture, “What do you want from me?”

“I need your school email.”

Both women went stiff. Not because they would have to give out something personal. No… this was far worse. The voice came from right in front of them. The call ended as both slowly looked up from the phone to see the dark clad man standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Boo…”

“But…” Celestia started before she nervously gulped, “How did you get in here?”

“Back door was open,” the man said while pointing a finger over his shoulder.

Celestia glared at her sister. Luna slowly and sheepishly turned away from the glare of her older sister.

“LUNA!” Celestia angrily yelled while smacking the younger on the shoulder.

“OW! Okay so I forgot… again…” her sister said while rubbing the new mark on her arm.

Celestia sighed again while closing her eyes and deflating in her seat.

“Why… if I may ask?” Celestia asked while opening her eyes.

“Do you think I’m that stupid?” he replied, “I’m not a fool to just let you know my plan.”

“But that’s how it works in movies?” Luna added.

“Yeah and the hero gets the girl and rides off into the sunset,” the man let out an amusing huff, “And guns kill people, spoons make you fat, and my pencil is to blame for my grammar mistakes… I’m on a mission. That’s all you need to know.”

Celestia was getting tired of sighing… she had done it so many times today.

"[email protected]...” She admitted while looking to the side and sinking down further in the couch.

“Hold on,” the man replied while walking up closer to her. She sat up in her seat.

“Can I go to the bathroom?” Luna asked.

Both her sister and the man looked at her.

“It’s your house, who am I to stop you?”

Luna looked to the side at the floor, “… Right…”

Standing up she slowly left the room. Ignoring her, both remaining humans went on about their business. The man held his hand open, palm to the ceiling as a video screen opened.

“Again please.”

Celestia looked at the screen, then lifted an eyebrow at the man, then looked back at the screen.

“[email protected].”

“Password?”

She glanced at him, “Solargoddess, with a capital ‘S’.”

He closed the hologram.

“Thank you,” he chuckled lightly, “I’m guessing your sisters is the same with her name and her password is ‘Lunaisgreat?” he said before going quite and drawing his sword from his back and spinning 180% on his heels, causing Celestia to jump. Nervously looking past the man, she saw her sister holding her hands in the air, the blade of his sword just millimeters from her neck. In her right hand sat a small pistol.

“You know how to properly use that?” he asked.

Luna gulped and closed her eyes. Sweat started to form on her forehead. Lowing the blade, the man reached out and took the small revolver from the vice principle. She let out the breath she was holding before she fell to the floor. Rushing to her sister’s aid, Celestia left the couch, ran over to her sister and wrapped her in a caring hug. The man just watched them for a second before walking over to a nearby table, where he unloaded the rounds onto the floor before placing the gun on the table.

“Luna, what were you thinking!?” Celestia scolded, “He could have killed you!”

By now Luna was sobbing into her sister’s shoulder, tears were slowly rolling down the elder sister’s cheeks.

“I… I got scared!”

“So you grabbed the gun!?”

“I… I’m sorrrryyyyyyyy!”

The man watched the two women as they sat on the floor sobbing into each others bodies.

“...You remind me of my sister.”

Both women lifted their heads and looked at the man.

“Y… Y-You have a sister?” Celestia asked between sobs.

“… Yep… Luna?” the woman in question lifted her head a little higher, “The only reason I didn’t kill you is because of the respect I have for the both of you. I know you were just defending yourself. Yes, I scared you and yes I entered uninvited. But my intentions were not hostile… I just wanted information... and I got what I needed.”

Both women jumped at the sound of a printer in a nearby room. But both relaxed when they realized what the sound was.

“Wait… Luna... did you print something?” Celestia asked her sister.

“Actually that’s me,” the man replied while stepping past the sisters and into a nearby room. A few seconds later he walked out folding a sheet of paper. Both women stood up and wiped their eyes with their sleeves. He held out the folded up sheet to Celestia.

She sniffed, “What… what is this?” she asked between sniffles while taking the sheet.

“Enjoy the car.”

“W-W-What?” she asked out of disbelief.

“I said, enjoy the car. Courteously of the government.”

He stepped past her, she turned to follow though, “I… bu… I still had several thousand dollars’ worth of payments!”

“Emphasis on ‘had’,” he clarified while turning to face her, “You now own it.”

She opened the paper and held it close to her face to double-check and see that he was right. Her sister looked over her shoulder in an attempt to read the sheet. On there, it said that they owed no more payments and to enjoy! She looked up from the sheet.

“Th… Thank you!”

“No problem… oh, and Luna?”

The woman in questioned focused on him. She watched as he held up his left hand and materialized a small case, about the size of case for a C.D. Once it formed he grabbed it and tossed it to her. “Enjoy.”

Stepping back and fumbling with the case in her hands for a second, she finally caught it and looked at the case.

“DOOM!!!!” she screamed while holding the case out wide. “I’ve wanted this for so long! How did you know!!!?”

He answered with one word.

“Facebook.”

Celestia rolled her eyes while Luna held the case to her chest and squealed like a little girl.

“Thank you… for everything…”

“It’s what I do.”

As he headed for the door, Luna ran off somewhere in the house while Celestia followed him. Opening the door, he started to step out. He stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he faced the woman he saved.

“I… I really mean it… I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t save me… or if you killed my sister… and, well… the car isn’t a ‘big’ deal, but well… thank you.”

“You’re welcome… like I said, I have high respect for you and your sister.”

“Why? If I may ask?” Celestia replied while furrowing her brow slightly.

He chuckled lightly. “I think you know… anyway,” he turned away, “I’ll be on my way.”

“Where are you going?”

He turned his head to talk over his shoulder, “Does it really matter?” he shook his head and chuckled, “I’m closer than you know… I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He started walking.

Celestia thought about that last comment for a little while, “Tomorrow…” she held a hand up slightly and looked at the ground, “What do you mean by to-” when she looked up, he was gone, “-Morrow?” she slowly closed the door and made sure to lock it.

Walking to her sister’s room she opened the door to see nothing but darkness. At the far wall her sister sat at her desk with nothing but the light of the computer monitor eliminating her figure. Celestia shook her head at her sister’s antics. She was never a gamer and her party days had long since passed. Luna already had the opening screen up and was just about to slide her headset on before she saw her sister standing next to her.

“You should have been nice and said good bye,” Celestia scolded lightly.

“He held a sword to my neck…” Luna slipped her headset over her ears, “That was enough of a 'goodbye'…” she grabbed her mouse and started to click away.

Celestia rolled her eyes and watched her sister start up the game. Before she could even pull up the first mission her computer froze.

“No!” Luna started to frantically click her mouse and mess with the keyboard, “No! No, not now!”

She watched in horror as the game screen minimized as the pointer started to move without her consent. Panicking, she started to think she was being hacked. Quickly she reached for the power button.

“Wait!”

Luna froze, her finger an inch away from the power button. She looked at the screen, eyes fixated. Words started to appear in a small textbox.

“Forgot to give you this.”

A small icon appeared on the screen before it opened to reveal the cover of the game Doom, but underneath the title it said in small, red words, ‘Survival Guide’. It was a cheat/ guide book to the game.

“Sorry for scaring you.”

X

The game opened back to the starting screen with the survival guide as a small box on the right-hand side of the screen. Luna let out a relieving breath knowing full well who had hacked her computer.

“… Ass…”

That reminded Celestia about something, “You might want to change your password. He actually guessed it right,” Celestia said with an amusing laugh.

Luna’s frown intensified, “…Dick…” she paused but perked up when she realized that she had demons to kill! “I’ll deal with the password later! I have to save the planet!” Celestia chuckled at her sister’s antics before leaving the ‘hero to save the day!’.

A young man nervously sat at his computer. He kept reviewing and reviewing what he was seeing. He couldn’t believe that ten thousand dollars just disappeared! Whoever hacked the system could have bankrupted the entire nation! Maybe even launched the entire nuclear arsenal! No one could bust through the governments firewall!

“What happened son?” a deep voice asked from behind the young man.

He turned to face the man in his chair, “Uhhh, w-w-well Colonel,” he gulped, “It w-would appear that someone has hacked into the national vault!”

“What did he do?” the militaristic man asked.

“Well,” the young man spun around and pulled up a dollar amount on his computer, “Of all the things he took. It was -in total- ten thousand dollars…”

“Can you track it?”

“I’ve tried sir!”

“And?”

“All I get is well…” he pulled up a picture, “This…”