“Just… just, please… l-leave me alone…”

Twilight Sparkle was backed up against a brick wall in the back of an alley behind an abandoned factory in the old pier district of Manehatten, staring wide-eyed at the two older men blocking her way. Taking a “shortcut” in a city she only knew from maps had been… a less than intelligent move, she had to admit. Twilight really wished that she had taken Cadence up on her offer to come with Twilight to the big city. But she had been so sure that she could do this on her own.

Stupid, stubborn me.

The men had picked up Twilight’s trail after she had left Hell’s Kitchen, having sampled one of the surprisingly expensive restaurants before deciding she should probably get to campus. Hence her shortcut through Hudson Piers. And her current… terrifying predicament. Twilight’s hand closed in on the mace canister Shining Armor had bought for her, stashed away inside her purse. It took her a moment to grab the canister, stuck down so far in her purse from no use, but when she pulled, nothing came loose. Heart stopping with panic, Twilight frantically ripped and yanked at the small can, not noticing that the top had come unsealed till it was far too late.

With a loud pop and hiss, the entire can released at one time, almost all of it blasting Twilight Sparkle directly in her face and open mouth. She screamed and yelled incoherently at the blistering pain, flailing about.

As such, Twilight never saw the first blow coming. A heavy fist drove into her her stomach, Twilight’s breath coming out in a pained whoosh and raising her up onto her tip-toes. A shoulder check knocked her glasses off her face, sending them skittering over the rough pavement, and drove Twilight’s slim body against the brick.

“Pl-please I-!” She tried to plead, only for another punch to slam Twilight’s head back against the masonry, stars flashing brilliantly in her vision.

Vaguely, she wondered how much force it would take to detach her retina. Not helping, inner Me.

Twilight fell to her knees just in time for a booted foot to crash into her side, a sickening crack telling her quite plainly that she was in some deep, deep shit. Why hadn’t she brought Cadence with her?! Why was she such a- A hand gripped her hair tightly, making Twilight cry out as she was yanked up roughly.

“We ain’t done yet, bi-” the man started, his eyes bloodshot and running where the edge of the irritating cloud had gotten into them.

In desperation, Twilight reached out with both hands, bitten nails drawing blood as she frantically clawed at him. The grip on her hair let up for just a moment, and she took it. Twilight got to her feet and stumbled for the light of the end of the alley. Past the clawed man’s rage-filled scream, she could hear his partner shouting curses, and his rough hand gripped onto Twilight’s sleeve, ripping the cloth off violently. She wouldn’t make it. They would get her, and… and…

“SOMEONE HELP ME!”

“God, Soarin’, put up the window, it’s freezing!”

Soarin’ Windsong, former Wondercolt soccer player, current college goofball, shook his head happily, azure hair blowing in the wind as he drove his friends down the Manehatten boulevard. Sitting in the passenger seat was his former team-mate, Spitfire; the fire-haired girl shook her head and smirked over at her idiot friend.

“If you get the flu, it’ll be your own fault,” she told him, still smirking, “Don’t come crying to either of us about it.”

“Hey, I could get the flu too, and if I do, I’m kicking your ass, Soarin’!”

The third passenger, Sunset Shimmer, couldn’t help but smirk as well, despite her harsh words. She didn’t mean them, not really. Soarin’ was just an idiot. She had figured that out well in the past three months of living in the same apartment building. After high school, with a little help from Principal Celestia, Vice-Principal Luna, and the rest of her friends, Sunset Shimmer had been able to apply for student loans, and then be accepted to Manehatten University for a technical degree in automotive repair, specializing in motorcycles. It had surprised some of her friends; they had assumed she would go into science, or even music. And while those were interests! They were not Sunset’s plan.

Sunset Shimmer smiled out the car window as she watched the city pass by her. It was… both different, yet similar, to the Manehatten she knew as a pony. And perhaps, was a little better. It was /massive,/ filled with throngs of humans, all of them different and unique, some of them speaking languages quite different than the humans Sunset knew. Of course, that was all apart of the pony Manehatten- it was a trade hub- but this human city was just… well, unique! It was hard to explain, even in her own head. Sunset chuckled faintly.

Up ahead, a light blared harsh red light that seemed to cover the dark street, and Soarin’ slowed to a stop. For all his goofiness and faults, he was at least a damn good driver, and had a spotless record, even-

“SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE, I- AH! No, no get- aah!”

Sunset nearly gave herself whiplash as her head spun back towards her window; in the bright red light, she could just make out three figures, halfway down a tight alley. Two were large and broad, human males, definitely. They were standing close to each other, both of them grabbing onto a smaller, third shadow, who was thrashing from side to side. One of the male shadows struck out with a knee to the side of its face, sending it sprawling forward into the direct path of the red light, revealing a bloody, highly familiar face.

“Holy… Twilight!! Soarin’, Spitfire!” Sunset yelped, instinctively unbuckling and all but kicking her door open.

She could hear both of her friends cursing as Soarin’ threw the vehicle into park, struggling to get out of his seatbelt as Sunset pelted across the sidewalk. Getting closer, she could see that Twilight was a bloody mess, blood and snot streaming down her glasses-less face, mouth open and gasping for breath. Her assailants, two older men judging from their size and hair, had their backs to Sunset, one of them raising his fist back for another punch. Sunset saw red.

As a pony, Sunset Shimmer had found herself drawn to combat training, and had thrown herself into practice for quite awhile. On becoming a human, Sunset had decided to relearn as much as she could in this new body, mostly as a hobby’s sake. Grabbing the man’s arm by the elbow and planting her booted foot firmly down on his instep , she gave a sharp, firm tug, pulling him off balance and twisting his leg painfully, tossing the cursing bruiser to the street. Moving before his friend could jump in, Sunset leaped onto his back with an angered snarl, short nails digging into his sharp stubble and legs wrapped around his thick waist.

“Get the fuck off me!” He roared, thrashing and twisting; Sunset dimly noticed that the man was already sporting fresh scratches down his ugly face. Go Sparkles!

“Get this bitch, Jimmy!” He snapped to his partner, who was picking himself back up frantically, definitely favoring one leg.

“Right, I-”

“Yo!”

Soarin’s haymaker was textbook, a dull thud echoing across the alley as his fist connected with the man’s jaw, sending him stumbling away as Soarin dropped back into a boxer’s stance. The man turned back towards the smaller boy, one eye closed from the unexpected blow, but moving to respond quickly. His return blow had little depth perception behind it, and Soarin’ twisted to the side, a jab lancing out to crack against the bigger man’s jaw. Soarin’ winced and quickly stepped back, flexing his hand.

Sunset’s opponent snarled at the sight of his compatriot taking the hefty blow, and jumped back on his heels, grunting as he slammed Sunset Shimmer back against the solid concrete wall. The breath was blasted out of Sunset’s lungs, her grip loosening enough for the man to twist and throw her off. The tumble was rough, but Sunset had taken far worse in her lifetime. Instincts not entirely meant for her current body took over and with a quick twist of her legs and hips, she skidded to all fours, then stood back up, teal eyes staring daggers back at her opponent.

He looked rough, even among humans, with long, stringy brown hair and thick stubble, both eyes gleaming deep green in a sunken face. His jeans and white t-shirt were dirty and torn, and now stained with both his own and Twilight’s blood. His eyes narrowed as he studied the scrappy girl, before his lips pulled back in an ugly sneer. A quick movement behind his back brought a six-inch camp knife out in his meaty hand to glitter in the dim light, and Sunset’s heart skipped- for just a moment.

“Fuck, knife!” Soarin’ called out, more for Spitfire’s benefit than Sunset’s.

He was ducking and weaving through the other man’s attack, keeping away from what could be a deadly grapple and jabbing sharply at the sputtering, frustrated older man. Upon seeing the knife, Soarin’ upped the ante, stepping forward with a powerful right hook that shattered the man’s nose in a spray of blood and curses.

Sunset reached into her back pocket as the knife-wielding mugger stepped forward, smirking as she whipped out a butterfly knife, the metal handles clacking as she expertly flipped it over her knuckles and into her palm. The five inch double-edged blade gleamed far more brightly than the mugger’s dirty camp knife, and Sunset was quite sure it was much sharper. The handles were both covered in orange-red braiding, and she had acid-etched her cutie mark at the end of the blade. It wasn’t her pride and joy like Sunset’s jacket, or her motorcycle… but it was a close third.

“Sure you-?” she started, only to curse as the mugger took the chance to charge her.

Sunset was forced to step back, twisting past the man’s opening stab and slashing at his opposite arm. He didn’t curse, but Sunset felt the resistance of his shirt and skin parting under her knife. Turning with her, the man hacked down, just missing Sunset’s retreating arm, but his quick back-handed slash left a sting of hot pain across Sunset’s cheek, just under her left eye. It hurt, and she could feel the warm blood coursing down her cheek, but the attack had left the mugger open. Stepping forward, her knife hand darted forward twice- once in the man’s lower shoulder, scraping over his clavicle, and the second was blocked by his arm, the knife slicing open a wide gash. Sunset ripped her knife free and quickly backed up a few steps, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand and panting shakily.

Over the sounds of the fight, a warbling siren began to sound, and get closer, quickly joined by several more.

“The cops!” Shouted the un-armed mugger, and in his panic he frantically bum-rushed Soarin’, shoving the smaller boy aside despite a ringing punch that connected with his side.

But as he ran full-speed out of the alleyway, a stiff arm whipped out, connecting with the man’s neck and sending him sprawling to the asphalt, gasping like a fish for every breath. Spitfire smirked as she put her cellphone back in her pocket, aiming a painful kick to the man’s ribs.

“Dumbass,” she muttered, glancing up as two cop cars screamed down the street, “Holy hell, the cops don’t play around here.”

Spitfire quickly stepped back and emptied her pockets on the back of her car- just a cell phone, her own keys, and her wallet. Still, better safe than sorry. She raised her hands as the two officers, one male and one female, leaped out of the first car, tasers drawn.

“On your knees, take it nice and slow!”

Spitfire complied, gesturing towards the alley. “There’s one more down the alley, he’s got a knife!” Spitfire yelled to them, the male officer rushing past, the female officer moving to deal with Spitfire. Pushed forward to the sidewalk, Spitfire turning her face towards the alley as she was detained.

Spitfire let herself have a smirk as the clothes-lined thug tried to struggle to his feet, only for a male officer from the second car to kneel firmly on his back, yelling for him to stop resisting. The beaten man couldn’t fight back well at this point, and the cuffs were quickly clicked on, but Spitfire’s attention had by then turned to the second officer, racing down the alleyway after the first.

Please be okay guys, the cavalry's coming.

Sunset and the mugger had gone through another quick series of blows and slashes during the arrival of the police; Sunset’s leather jacket had a good-sized slash through it, and she could feel a line of pain down her left arm, but she was fairly certain her jacket had deflected most of the damage. The mugger had received a vicious cut along his left cheek, blood oozing out of the wound.

“Put the weapon’s down now! Put ‘em down!”

“Thank god,” Sunset muttered, turning her head back towards the source of the voices, lowering her knife quickly.

Soarin’, kneeling nearby with Twilight, suddenly lurched to his feet past Sunset. With her head turned, the mugger had attempted to capitalize on the distraction, knife held back, ready to be punched forward into Sunset. Soarin’ was smaller than the man by several inches and a good fifty pounds, but his grip and momentum stopped the knife dead- for a few seconds. The older man grabbed at his arm, twisting roughly and stepping forward. The sound of Soarin’s scream echoed through the alley as the knife bit deep into his chest, just below the ribs, pointing down.

But as the mugger released his grip on Soarin’s arm, rearing back for a devastating punch to the younger man’s face or throat, Soarin threw himself to the side, clutching desperately at the blood slick knife he wrenched it away with him. And as Soarin hit the ground with a clatter and further scream, the cops were more than ready. Two taser prongs bit into the man’s thin t-shirt, fifty thousand volts of electricity and /pain/ ripping through his body. He tensed and snarled in rage, struggling to fight against the power. For about a second, before his muscles locked up, and he collapsed face first onto the gravel strewn alleyway.

The tasing officer rushed forward to kneel beside Soarin, yelling for his backup to handle the perp. The second cop, his service pistol drawn, raced over to the fallen mugger, dropping a knee onto his back to his wheezed complaints.“Don’t you fucking move!” He snarled, jamming his knee more firmly into the man’s spine and yanking the man’s bloody hands back to be cuffed.

Meanwhile the first officer had holstered his taser and grabbed instead for his radio. “32Kilo to Dispatch, we have a 10-52 at 11th Ave and West 46th., Multiple injuries, one serious. Come in from 11th South, the direct approach is blocked.”

“Roger 32Kilo, ambulance and paramedics are enroute.” The officer was barely paying attention to the response, helping a gasping Soarin to his back. “Easy kid… lemme look.” He gently peeled the bloody hands back from their guarding of the wound. “Alright, we’re not gonna mess with it, you just keep breathing through it. The paramedics will be here soon.”

Numbly Sunset shrugged out of her jacket, wincing as the cut on her arm reminded her it was there, slipping to her knees, hands rolling the leather into a makeshift pillow for Soarin’s head. That done, she felt a trembling hand clutch at her uninjured forearm.

“S-sunset?”

Twilight had managed to crawl her way across the alley, finding her glasses in the process; the left lens was cracked down the middle. Twilight’s clothes were torn and bloody, and her face was an absolute mess of blood and tears. And her expression… Twilight Sparkle looked utterly, completely shattered.

“I-I… I’m…” she mumbled weakly, only to be cut off as Sunset enfolded the smaller girl in her bloodied arms, nuzzling into her hair.

“Shhhh. I’ve got you now… no one’s gonna hurt you…”

Twilight was quiet for a long moment before her body began to shake in Sunset’s arms, little sobs and whimpers bubbling out. Sunset sniffled, letting her own tears slowly trickle down her cheeks, her body sagging as the last of the fight drained out of her.

Sunset Shimmer let out a slow breath as she watched the cruisers holding the muggers drive away down the street. Things had quickly gotten chaotic once the ambulance, along with three other cop cars, had pulled onto the intersection. Soarin’ and Twilight had quickly been taken aboard, the paramedics letting Sunset and Spitfire know which hospital they should go to once they were done telling the police what exactly had happened.

The police, while not thrilled with having the trio of college teens intervening as they did, were glad that the men were off the streets. After giving Sunset some minor first aid for her cuts, the first officers on scene gave the girls a solid and drove them to the hospital, as long as they agreed to come in to the police department within the next few days to give a written statement. Sunset had replied vaguely in the affirmative on her way out of the cruiser’s door, all but sprinting into the hospital lobby.

It took some doing to get answers from the doctors. Sunset had to plead and beg just to get Twilight’s state- stable, but undergoing treatment- while Spitfire had to make the call to Soarin’s (admittedly frantic) parents, before the doctor would tell them anything about the boy.

“The stab wound is deep, but did not hit anything vital,” he told them quietly, giving a little smile as Spitfire sagged in relief and leaned against Sunset’s side, “However, we had to patch it up with sutures and staples. He is going to be down for quite a while, and will need your help to recover.”

Spitfire sniffed and nodded softly, “Of course, doctor, w-we’ll help him.”

Sunset gave her side a small squeeze. Poor girl. Once the doctor left to tend to Soarin’, Sunset gently sent Spitfire over to the waiting area to get some rest. The fiery-haired girl fell asleep practically the second she hit the cushions. Heh. Sunset wished she could do that, but now she had her own calls to make.

Cadance frowned as she settled back in her chair, only half-paying attention to her managers and the photographers as they discussed the scene. For the sixth time. Something… did not feel right. It wasn’t a Shiney feeling, not exactly. No, this one was more of a Twilight feeling. That… was not good. She could hardly wait for this damn shoot to finish so she could call and check in on her.

What made it worse was that she had been the one to encourage Twilight to go to Manehatten in the first place. Shining Armor, being his big, overprotective self, had been quite against it, especially with him shipping out for active duty a week later. But… well, Cadance had always been very good at getting Shining to calm down and change his mind.

A string of loud, angry German curses caught in Cadance’s ear, and she quickly turned towards the back stage. Photo Finish, one of her junior managers, was snarling into the phone in a loud, fast paced verbal onslaught. Cadance had seen Photo go on a tirade before, and woe unto thee who was the focus. But whoever was on the phone seemed to be dishing just as good as they received, judging from her reddened face and bared teeth. Someone who could hold their own against Photo? Cadance only knew a few people with that kind of spirit…

Standing up, she headed over towards her assistant manager, smiling faintly as she asked, “Photo Finish, who is it?”

“Bah!” Photo snarled, “Some fool who vishes to speak vith you, saying she is some… Sunset person, but I- Hey!”

Cadance beamed as she snatched the phone away from the Germane girl, “Sunset Shimmer, it’s so good to… wait, wait, slow down, what happened?”

Around her, the other members of the photoshoot team began to slow and pause, staring curiously at their model as she stood, transfixed by her phone. Those that knew her well paled or blanched upon seeing Cadance’s pale complexion, her wide, unblinking eyes. Her white knuckled death grip on the phone.

“I am on my way,” she whispered into the phone, passing it slowly back to Photo Finish, who was chewing on her lip nervously.

“Ah… miss Cadance, is-”

“I need an express flight to Manehatten. Right now.”

“But, the-”

“NOW!”

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the format, guys, I'm not sure why it won't let me indent.