inFAMOUS Displaced
Chapter 18
Manehatten Mess (Part 1)

A few months had gone by in Equestria and a lot developed over that time. With Dusk Spark’s help, I had given the Bearers of the Elements the basics in Conduit combat. Applejack and Rainbow Dash accepted and used them enthusiastically (for different reasons, but still enthusiasm was shown).

Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight were a bit reluctant to learn how to fight, as they felt that violence was never the answer. However, after a bad encounter with some Skullcaps, they relented, if only for self-defence. Pinkie...well, she was Pinkie. She passed with flying colors...primarily pink.

Speaking of the Skullcaps, after the mysterious conduit made contact with me via neuro-tar, they seemed to have gotten more bold. There was always at least one or two Skullcap wandering Ponyville any given time, and Skullcap crime rate in Manehatten increased dramatically. It gave rise to the belief that they were based in Manehatten.

The same was to be said of the Descendants. At least one or two were wandering Ponyville, and Descendant incursions were becoming common in Canterlot.

So basically, Equestria was starting to go down the drain. I was extremely thankful that I had started up the Bio-guard to deal with the majority of these problems. But even then, I’ve had to deal with some of the problems that they couldn’t. It gave me plenty of time to practice the magic I was given, as well as get a better handle on my newer powers.

With all of this happening almost all at once, I was ready for a vacation. Unfortunately, an attack on a Griffin dignitary in Manehatten had caused the Three Alicorn Princesses to declare martial law in the city and sent me to deal with the Skullcaps. I was rather peeved as I rode into the city with Obsidian and Princess Stella.

“While the circumstances of going is sad, I’m actually excited to see someplace other than Canterlot,” Stella said as the chariot they were in flew above the city with the ten or so troop and supply chariots flew behind.

“I just hope that the Skullcaps don’t give us too much trouble,” I said, thinking of how her presence will cause issues concerning how much of a target it will make her.

“If the original conduit was successful, he should have been able to form a resistance against them...you know, the Anti-Skullcaps,” Obsidian commented.

“I haven’t heard from them recently. I think the tar is getting out of my system.”

“Skin contact can allow the connection to work for a short while, but it is injection and sometimes ingestion allows longer term connection.”

“So there’s that, but what about seeing about restoring order?”

“For now, they’re considered a vigilante group,” Obsidian said, “Once Princess Stella talks with the authorities, they can be considered official members of law enforcement.”

“Sirs and Majesty,” the pegasus Bio-guard pulling the chariot alerted, “We’ll be landing in Manehatten shortly.”

The city of Manehatten was practically in shambles. While the busy wagon and carriage traffic was still going strong, pedestrian traffic seemed limited. Any pedestrians that were around either stayed where they were visible by the general public or near places where any Royal Guard(s) were. Fear seemed to rule the place.

After we landed, Obsidian went with Stella to coordinate with the Guard to allow the Anti-Skullcaps to continue combating the Skullcaps from the shadows. This left me to deal with either boredom or with a random guard that looked confused as he peered through a file, possibly crime files. I decided to risk the guard.

“Hey,” I said, getting his attention, “What’re you working on?”

“A string of murders performed by a conduit.”

This caught my attention. “What do you have on them?”

“The only things we have on the pony responsible is the element...Neon.”

Why does this sound familiar? “Where’s the most recent murder in this case?”

The guard looked at me, as if he was skeptical of what help I could provide. A moment of deliberation and he made his decision. He led me through the streets, a few blocks from where we were to the crime scene.

The victim's body, that of a griffin, was underneath the typical white cloth to signify a dead body. Removing the cloth showed no noticeable means of death, but looking closely, a spot just under the right wing, was a burn mark. The burn mark, however, didn’t seem to be the reason of death. I switched my element to electricity so I could more accurately read the griffin's mind.

What I saw seemed to partially confirm what I was thinking. The one responsible was a mare, unrelated to the Skullcaps. She was neon blue earth pony and had neon pink mane and tail. The crime was committed by hitting the griffin in the aforementioned spot and then rushed down in a blur of neon and strangled him to death.

After I separated from the victim’s mind, I was able to see the conduit’s echo rushing off. Before I followed the echo, I instructed the guard to look into the backgrounds of the victims of the murder chain (something that the Guard never thought of).

I took off after the echo and followed it until I arrived at an alleyway. I looked around the alley but only found a dead pony, killed in a similar fashion as the one I saw first. The pony wasn’t dressed like the Skullcaps, but he was connected to them. His face was scarred by neuro-tar just like mine was.

Next to the dead Skullcap was a black saddle bag. I was about to examine the saddle bag, but a neon blur rushed past and grabbed the bag.

“What the Heck!” I shouted out and began to give chase. I managed to drain a street lamp to jump into Flowmotion and keep up with the blur, but it was for naught. While I was able to keep up, the mare stopped every so often and began to pepper wherever I was with neon, forcing me to seek cover and try to retaliate with light. It went that way across most of the city, but I lost her when a few Skullcaps decided to attack me, mid flow.

I dealt with the Skullcaps rather quickly, but by the time I was done, I lost her. I returned to the crime scene I began the chase at. The Guard as well as a few Anti-Skullcaps were scouring the scene. Obsidian motioned for me to speak with him private.

“What is it?”

“I spoke with the guard you were talking with about this case,” Obsidian reported, “He looked into the background of the victims in this case and found them to be involved in a city wide gang war between the Skullcaps and the Steel Beaks.”

“Who are the Steel Beaks?”

“A gang, not unlike the Skullcaps, but they don’t have neuro-tar connection, they’re composed of mostly griffins and their conduits use wire.”

“So I take it that the Skullcaps attacked a Griffin VIP, sparking the martial law.” Obsidian nodded. “So, where does this ‘Neon Assassin’ fit in?”

“From what we can tell, she's attacking and killing every Skullcap and Steel Beak she finds,” he shrugged, “She’s either been hired by a third-party or she is the third-party.”

I laughed lightly, “I guess we won’t know until I absorb her powers...and if we have some Skullcaps in custody, we might be able to catch her.”

“Lay a trap?”

“Something like that.”

We (meaning the local Guard, the Anti-Skullcaps, and myself) set up a plan to catch our neon conduit. The Skullcaps were to be released and let loose in a section of the city. The Anti-Skullcaps would observe them from a distance behind them to capture them once the conduit they were after was found. I was going to keep a bit closer with my light powers active, so that I could bend light around me so as to be invisible.

The operation (which I titled “Fetch”) was going to take place at night. This would allow us to track her, since when she enters light speed, she leaves behind a neon trail for about a minute or so, enough time to track most of the distance she flees and potentially capture her.

Night came, and the Skullcaps were released. They made it about five blocks from the Guard station before our target attacked.

When the mystery conduit attacked I was taken by surprise so badly that I dropped my invisibility. I looked up at the roof that Miss Neon was on and thankfully, she hadn’t noticed me. She seemed focused on Skullcaps, a fiery rage visible in her eyes.

With her focus diverted, I was able to switch to darkness and work a portal up to her position. When I got up there, my sudden appearance seemed to have been expected by her. She began firing neon at me. As I was being hit, I did the only thing I could think of.

I lunged forward and grabbed her hoof. As her powers became mine, I saw into her memories, and it wasn’t pretty.

Conduit’s Monologue

I wasn’t much of a city mare. Despite the propaganda, peace isn't found everywhere. There are still dark pockets of hostility and evil, especially in the cities. Gangs and respective violence, illegal drug trade, and drug abuse, and other such things. I had no desire to live in such places where evil was everywhere, yet hidden.

I was able to convince my husband to move, for the safety of my unborn foal. Our move, however, happened at the wrong time. As we were readying ourselves, some Skullcaps and Steel Beaks began fighting nearby. We were, unfortunately, between them, caught in the crossfire.

I awoke in the hospital a few days later. It was then, I learned the extent of our bad timing was. My husband and my unborn foal were dead.

Pencil Pusher…

Fetch…

Why?...

The weight that was put on my shoulders that day woke my conduit powers. I became faster, deadly, and accurate. I decided to put my powers to use and end this useless Gang war, even if I have to kill each and every member of the Skullcaps and the Steel Beaks to do so.

After I woke up, I saw that the conduit was restrained in rock bonds and was being taken away by a few guards. Obsidian then walked into my line of view with a smile on his face.

“It looks like the trap worked according to plan, sir,” he said to me, “Now that we’ve gotten her into custody, we can figure out her sentence.”

I nodded numbly. Seeing what that mare went through, it reminded me of what Smoke Shot went through. Losing her family and livelihood to a war with the griffins. Now this conduit lost her family to a gang war.

“Wait,” I said, stopping Obsidian, “Bring Stella and that conduit to the Guard station. I saw her motives for attacking and killing and I want to question her on that.” Obsidian didn’t question me. He saw the pain in my eyes and understood.

Author's Notes:

Sorry if this chapter seemed half-baked. Writing this with a half-melted brain doesn't do wonders.
Also, the next few weeks will be busy, I'll be starting up college and writing won't be on the (complete) front of my mind.