“Come on Sunset! I don‘t wanna miss it!”

After suffering through classes all day, Rainbow Dash couldn’t wait to get to the comic shop. Wanting to some time with her outside of the circle of friends, Sunset Shimmer had agreed to join her on a few of her latest outings. Like over the past weekend, they had seen the new “McMane” movie, a mind-achingly cliché action flick that saw the titular muscle-bound star infiltrate the dinner of the fiendish corporate villain who wanted to get millions addicted to his new synthetic drug, “Swank”. Much to his surprise, is mortal enemy McMane infiltrated the celebration party inside an ice sculpture, emerging to the phrase: “Ice to see you.” Before spraying bullets everywhere.

Now, she was several steps behind Rainbow as they made their way through town, Sunset at a jog to keep up that much.

“You’re not gong to miss it Rainbow, the issue just came out!”

“You don’t understand!” Dash complained. “Mane-iac is the newest rising star of Marevel comics, her issues are gonna fly off the rack!”

With the most recent run of “Daring Doo” comics coming to a seasonal hiatus, she had discovered the debut arc of “Mane-iac”, a super-powered heroine who fought crime with her gadgets, sweet muscle car, martial arts, and detective skills. Not to mention, the mess of superstrong prehensile hair that she could use like multiple extra limbs.

“They’ve been teasing the upcoming story line for weeks, something about fighting a new rival hero.”

“Seems like hero vs. hero is kind of a trend these days.” Sunset remarked, thinking of the recent spat of big-budget, CGI-enhanced, super-hyped blow outs where two good guys fight each other for tenuous reasons, only to team back up to fight an actual villain.

Rainbow laughed, “Hey, who’s complaining?”

“The internet.” Shimmer huffed under her breath.

Finally reaching the store, passing by a clique they recognized from school who called themselves the “Diamond Dogs” that must’ve cut class, Rainbow flung the door open and darted straight for the shelves of Marevel brand titles.

“Last one!” Sunset heard her cry from within the Byzantine racks. By the time she managed to navigate the isles, she found Rainbow clutching what indeed appeared to be the last copy of its kind.

“Told ya I had to hurry!” Staring at the cover, Rainbow drank in the sight of her narrowly achieved goal. The debut special single volume had been epic, with multiple two-page splashes of action. The inclusion of some wacky character named “Gigan” though had left a few readers scratching their heads. The going fan theory on internet message boards was that he was a new character introduced to help sell Mane-iac as the hard-nosed, take-no-jive, hero.

Though plenty in the budding fandom had taken a liking to the lecherous and loud cyborg.

“This is it Sunset, this is gonna be my summer reading.” She flipped through the pages to get a glimpse of the glossy images of story yet to come. The polychromatic teenager taking a whiff of the fresh ink.

Sneaking a brief glance, and given the evident popularity, Sunset had to admit she was curious. Besides, this should be a good chance to get familiar with some of Rainbow’s favorite hobbies that didn’t take place on a grassy field.

“We can hang out in the park across the street and go through it. Maybe you’ll show me why Mane-iac’s so radical.”

A wave of discomfort washed over Rainbow’s face. “Uh, Mane-iac is not radical, she bad-ass. There’s a big difference. You sure you been a human this long?”

Sunset merely rolled her eyes.

After digging up every bit of pocket change she had on her, the last comic was purchased, where it would go onto glorious adoration. For approximately a week until the next issue came out, and part one was relegated to any one of the chaotic piles of stuff in her room.

“I hope we get to see what that nut Gigan is up to. He was a riot in the last one. Ya Bastiches! Ha-ha!”

Leaving the store, Sunset paused in her step, the name “Gigan” triggering some faint instinct of suspicion. But the moment passed and she shook off the odd feeling.

The park today was under a sunny clear sky, with even more of their recently released classmates enjoying the warm April afternoon. Sunset noted Bulk and Derpy playing a game of Frisbee, then noted the floating disk slip through her grasping fingers and smack her in the forehead. The blow knocked her eyes straight for a moment, until she blinked and they returned to their offset ordinates.

Under a large oak tree, the girls found a spot to settle down in the shade. With their backs to the trunk, Rainbow held the book between them.

"Check it out, 'Shadow of Vengeance'!"

Shimmer scrunched her eyebrows at the name. "Sounds dark."

“Part 1." Rainbow began, flipping to the first page. "From the Shadows of Night…”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Tarbtano for giving me the premise of the prologue.

This story takes place the the events of his special Christmas chapter of his epic Godzilla/MLP crossover, "The Bridge". Which you should check out.

And make sure you check out the amazing art gallery of the Illustrious illustrator Faith-Wolff, who created the original art of Mane-iac, and provides the artwork for "The Bridge" series

"Mane-iac: SoV" is written with his authorization and supervision.