The moon was high and full that night, bathing a light blue glow over Ponyville as it slept. All was motionless in the night. Calm, serene, peaceful. This was suddenly broken by a single pony running through the streets, galloping like her life depended on it, and it very well may. She was followed by three other stallions, all of them looking shady. The mare ran down alleyways, turning left and right, trying everything to try and lose them. She rounded another corner and came face to face with a dead end.
"Well, well, well," said the ringleader stallion, "look at what we have here. A little filly out all on her own. Out for a walk in the moonlight?" The mare simply cowered in fear, knowing she had no way out.
Then a thunderclap rang out in the darkness. Storm clouds gathered overhead, and the stallions stepped back slightly. As they gazed at the clouds in the night sky, a thunderbolt struck the ground in between the group of stallions and the mare. This momentarily blinded every pony, but when their eyes had adjusted, they saw one pony standing where the lightning bolt had struck.
His body was gray and his blue-and-teal mane was slicked back over his head. A black padded-leather trench coat, embroidered with subtle designs that can't be done justice here, flowed down his body. His wings poked out from two holes cut into the back of his jacket, and his look was complete by a pair of dark sunglasses and a look of focus and determination.
"Who the heck are you?!" said one of the stallions.
"I am the one you should be running from," said the pony. "But you may call me Maelstrom."
"Get that greaser!" yelled the stallion ringleader.
The two stallions behind him immediately moved towards Maelstrom, but he was ready. Maelstrom's whole body seemed to dematerialize, transforming into pure electricity. He shot out at one of the stallions who had moved forward. There was a clap of thunder and the other pony was sent flying backward. His friend swung at Maelstrom, but he nimbly dodged the pony's attempts to hit him. A swift right hook and the stallion was done.
Now only the ringleader was left. The stallion proceeded to pull out his switchblade, holding it by the teeth.
"Oh no!" said Maelstrom mockingly. "Its a small knife! My only weakness!" He then proceeded to fire off a bolt of electricity at the knife, electrocuting and stunning the final stallion. Now that they were taken care of, Maelstrom looked at the mare that he'd protected. She looked at him with a mixture of awe and fear.
"Don't worry," said Maelstrom. "I don't want to hurt you. You're safe."
"Thank you," said the mare. "How could I ever repay you?"
"There's no need. I just needed to do what was right." With this, Maelstrom was off, back into the night.
Silver Rush awoke the next morning, his mane in a tangled mess. Most of last night was a blur for him, but he remembered a few key things. Fighting the stallions in the alleyway, saving that mare, that was all perfectly clear for him. The real question for him, however, was how his actions were reverberating through Ponyville right now. He decided to run a comb through his mane and fly down to Ponyville to find out.
Silver flew down and walked through the streets. No one seemed to be gawking at him, so that meant his true identity was safe. As he walked, though, he did pick up on a few side conversations:
"Did you hear about that Maelstrom character?" said one pony.
"He saved some mare from three gang bangers last night," said another.
"I heard his body is made out of thunder!" exclaimed one young colt.
Silver smiled at this last comment. His body wasn't made from lightning, but it didn't seem to hurt him either. Suddenly however he heard a cry ring out from somewhere in Ponyville. Silver ducked into an alley nearby, doned his costume, and Maelstrom shot up into the sky and off toward the cries.
"What is with this town and construction projects gone ary!?" yelled Rainbow Dash, pausing her weather duty to help the construction workers.
The entire structure was shaking, and the workers both on and below the scaffolding were paralyzed with fear. Six ponies, all of them trapped in a web of steel bars. Rainbow Dash was fast, but only fast enough to pull one worker from the scaffold. But as she was doing this, the bolts on one piece of steel snapped and gave way, sending it soaring down toward her and the pony worker she was trying to save. She closed her eyes and… nothing. She then opened her eyes to find the bar of steel in midair, suspended by a field of electricity.
"Guess I arrived at just the right time," said Maelstrom.
"A few seconds earlier would've been better," said Rainbow, flying out from under the steel bar and carrying the worker to safety.
Maelstrom knew he had to act fast. His body took on the likeness of a lightning bolt, and he moved as such, darting and grabbing the five remaining workers that were still underneath the steel death trap. Once they were safe, though, Maelstrom did one last thing. Looking at the mess of steel bars and scaffolding that were still standing, his eyes began to glow a deep blue. Electricity crackled in the air as the metal ascended into the air, aligning and conjoining themselves together. In a few moments, the original structure had pieced itself back together, even sturdier than it was before.
When all this was said and done, Maelstrom looked back to see a crowd had formed, who had watched him save the workers and piece the structure back together. The crowd cheered, calling out his name, praising him for the miraculous things he'd just done. Maelstrom simply bowed his head to them and soared off back into the sky. Once he was out of sight, however, Maelstrom slipped into another alleyway, walking back out as Silver Rush once again. Smiling, Silver continued his amble stroll through Ponyville, walking through the crowd unnoticed, as if nothing happened.
Silver was, in reality, quite pleased with himself. He was putting his gifts to good use, helping ponies whenever he could. Everything seemed to be going well so far; he'd further honed his powers since their discovery, kept his true identity a secret (except from the Mane 6), and the public seemed to like Maelstrom. All seemed okay, but something was still nagging at Silver.
Maybe I should just relax a little, thought Silver Rush. Things have been moving pretty fast lately.
"Silver!" called out a familiar voice. Silver looked up to see Twilight Sparkle flying in.
"Hey Twilight, what's up?" Silver responded.
"Just saw the commotion at the construction area," said Twilight. "Do you mind if we talk in private?"
"Sure," said Silver. The two ponies walked back to the castle, with Silver wondering all the while Twilight wanted to speak with him so urgently. Obviously it had to do with the Maelstrom thing, but what about it? When they arrived at the castle and were behind closed doors, however, Twilight elaborated.
"I've been doing research into your newfound abilities," Twilight said, the two of them now standing in the castle's throne room. Twilight's throne was surrounded by stacks of books, one of which now began to float in front of her.
"Have you found any definite cause?" asked Silver Rush.
"No, not yet. But it seems you might not be the only pony out there whose able to do these things." Twilight showed the book to Silver. "An old pony legend tells of an individual, born once or twice a generation, able to access potentially unlimited power. A power that, for much of their lives, lays dormant within them. But when faced with a great or terrible event, their powers are revealed, allowing them to become champions of justice and good. According to this book, they are simply called the Champions."
"How have I never heard of this legend?"
"It used to be history," said Twilight. "The Champions used to serve Princess Celestia and the royal houses, but there hasn't been one in centuries."
Silver Rush was taken back by this flooding of information. "But how would I be one of these so-called 'Champions'? What kind of powers do they have? Why would I discover my powers now of all times?"
"The book doesn't say how Champions are born, only that there hasn't been one in a long time. Their powers varied with each incarnation, everything from power over flames to controlling the forces of nature, and now apparently power over electricity."
Silver was propping himself up against one of the thrones now. "This is all so strange," he said. "At least when I was lying in that hospital bed for a week I had time to think, but all this is so sudden."
"Believe me, I know how you feel," said Twilight. "My information is limited as it is, but maybe Princess Celestia knows more. Maybe she can help."
Silver was starting to calm down now. It all now started to make sense; him surviving the lightning strike as a colt, his man-of-action attitude, how he could never hold still and focus - these things all made sense to him now. But now that the question of where his powers came from was answered, he had even more questions with even less clues as to what the answers were. But he knew that Twilight was right.
"When can we see Celestia soonest?" said Silver.
Twilight and Silver left toward Canterlot almost immediately, but not before they informed the rest of the Mane 6 and brought them along. They send a message to the princess ahead of them, saying that they needed to speak with her urgently and that they would explain upon arrival in Canterlot. Silver Rush couldn't remember the last time he'd ran so fast to get somewhere. He was panting by the time they reached Princess Celestia's throne room, and this made him realize he should really get into better shape.
"Princess Twilight," said Celestia, seeing Twilight and her friends barge in, "what is so urgent that you needed to see me on such short notice? Not that I'm complaining, of course."
"Princess Celestia," said Twilight, "do you remember anything about-"
"Silver Rush is a Champion!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, unable to hold her words any longer.
"A Champion?" said Celestia. A look of surprise came over her face. "At this time of all times, a Champion has been revealed?"
Silver Rush stepped forward and bowed humbly. "Princess Celestia, my powers have only recently been revealed to me," he spoke in a calm and contained voice. "I still don't fully understand them. That's why we came here, to ask you for guidance."
Celestia just sat there for a moment. "Silver Rush," she said, "there hasn't been a pony like you in a long time." Now Celestia stood, walking up to Silver. "For the longest time, the Champions were the only thing standing between Equestria and the forces of evil. Their powers were unequaled, beyond measure. But when Equestria entered a time of peace, the Champions faded."
"But how?" asked Rarity, standing with Twilight and the rest behind Silver Rush.
"None is known for sure," said Celestia. "But I believe that Champions stopped being born when there was no great evil for them to fight. Which is why I wonder why one would be revealed to us now…"
As Celestia spoke, a large clamor came from outside the throne room. Suddenly, two Royal Guards burst through the doors, nearly falling over each other to reach the Princess.
"My princess!" they yelled, both of them kneeling at Celestia's hooves. "we bring urgent news from the far edge of Equestria!"
"What is wrong?" asked the princess, alarmed by the two guards suddenly appearing.
"It is Tirek!" one guard yelled. "We believe he has made a second escape!"
The ponies, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Silver Rush, just stared at the two guards.
"Princess," said Silver, "I think your question may have just been answered."
End of Part5