The Power of Ponies

by Masterweaver

Life of Radiance issue 4 story 3: Respite

Radiant Glory smiled politely at the guard as he escorted the Masked Matter-Horn into her new room. "Thank you, darling. You're far too kind."

The stallion snorted. "Mare was framed, everypony knows it. Only reason Bit Champer ain't let her go was cause o' the pay he's getting under the table. If Steelbender were here... Maretropolis would be a hay o' a lot different." He tipped his helmet. "Glad ta see that somepony still stands up for the right."

The blue unicorn nodded back, her smile now much more genuine. "I take it you'll be checking in once a week?"

"I'd do it more often, but the level of paperwork I've got ta get through..." The guard shook his head sadly. "I can only hope you can keep her from causing more trouble, ma'am."

"I guarantee she won't be engaging in any criminal activity within these walls." She met his eyes and gave him a warm pat on the shoulder. "Now then, I think you need to report to your commander?"

"Aye ma'am." The stallion gave her one last nod and trotted away, leaving her alone with the famed superheroine.

The room that they were now in was far nicer then the prison. True, there were bars on the windows, and the door itself was a thick portcullis... but the bed was soft, the connected restroom was clean, and there was a small button on the wall which would ring a chime in the servant's quarters when pressed.

"This is an... interesting cell," the Masked Matter-Horn commented, glancing around with some interest.

Glory tapped the button with a hoof, smiling. "This is a recovery room for insane, possibly dangerous individuals. All the rooms in the hospice were designed like this, actually."

The pegasus on the bed stretched her pink wings. "So, I'm insane and possibly dangerous?"

"Perhaps, darling. But for now, all that you definitely are is in need of some medical treatment. Ah, Diamond Cuff!" The millionaire stepped aside, gesturing for the maid to step in. "Your patient awaits."

Matter-Horn raised an eyebrow. "I remember you. Didn't you help get that class of foals to safety while I was fighting Mirror Mask?(1)"

"Just doing my civic duty, ma'am." Diamond Cuff stepped forward, peering at the pegasus carefully. "Oy, you're a sight. Can I ask you to take off your armor--not your mask, ma'am," she quickly reassured her.

For a moment, the pegasus glowered suspiciously at her.

Then, with a sigh, she began to disrobe. "I need to examine the thaumatic circuitry anyway..."

With the air of an experienced professional, Diamond Cuff ran her hooves over Matter-Horn's coat. She nodded to herself, her own horn glowing with magic. "Mmmhmm. Burns, a bit of muscle strain... were you electrocuted?"

"Yes... some strange robot that Shadowlight hired."

The millionaire's ears perked on hearing that. "Hired? Not commissioned or built?"

"No." Matter-Horn shook her head. "It said something about a bargain and he gave it something to track... someone."

Radiant Glory shook her head. "There are precious few machines intelligent enough that they require a trade. Most are highly classified, and those that aren't... did this robot have a name of any kind?"

The masked pegasus considered the question. "He called it... exterminate, I think."

Diamond Cuff drew a sharp breath. At her employer's curious look, the maid steadied herself. "Some of my old army mates were around when X-Term N8 landed, ma'am. I attended their funeral, talked with the officers... that thing's a real monster." She shuddered. "We're right lucky it's only looking to kill one creature on this world... leastways, that's all it wants right now."

Matter-Horn sighed as she looked over her armor. "Well, then, it's best I get a warning out to this poor soul. The machinery in this is fried anyway, I won't be any use out on the street... Glory, you won't mind keeping an eye on Shadowlight for me, will you?"

"Maretropolis is as much my home as it is yours," the millionaire replied. "And besides, I have you to thank for my new fashion.(2) Pink works far better on you then it ever did on me though, to be sure, I do love the highlights of the bracelets that you chose to improve."

"And the fact that they let you form telekinetic constructs, instead of just letting you climb walls, has nothing to do with it?"

"Practicality and elegance go hoof in hoof, darling." Radiant Glory smiled smugly. "Or have you forgotten how you spray painted your horn to match your coat when I met you?"

The pegasus pulled her pink wings in and grumbled under her breath, blushing. "I thought it would hide the fact that the horn wasn't real...."

"Please darling, it was incredibly obvious to everypony who saw it." The unicorn gave her a sly smirk. "Not to say it didn't make me jealous, though; I daresay a number of mares dreamed of stripping it from your head just for its... beauty."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you...." After a moment she sighed, turning to Diamond Cuff. "You seem to know a lot about this robot. What exactly is it and who is it hunting?"

Diamond Cuff shook her head quietly. "...it's a killing machine, far as I know. Meant to kill every last thing on one particular world, only one of those things hopped a rocket ship and landed here before X-Term N8 got to it. I don't know how or why, but it infused its DNA into a mare that it found."

She scuffed her hoof across the floor for a moment.

Then she looked the Masked Matter-Horn in the eye. "You might know her as the Saddle Rager."

Author's Note:

(1) Masked Matter-Horn Adventures issue 20.
(2) Radiance Classic series, issue 37.

Comments

[Aurora Dimmet]

Continue.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Oh ho. Well, that's certainly an alternative to gamma radiation. Things are getting very interesting...

[Forlong]

So...does X-Term N8 look like the Dilect?

[Prawo Jazdy]

Blue unicorn? I sure hope that's not a mistake. I'd find it quite suspicious if we found (in MLP proper) that the colors of the seven heroes already matched those of their counterparts.

Now before it distracts me too far, two typos: "withing" at the beginning is not a word, and "just for its... beauty" needs a close-quote mark.

[Technopony145]

3689207
I believe, in the first chapter, it was suggested to be griffon-like

[Swashbucklist]

I think you could have made X-Term N8 seem a tad scarier by having Diamond Cuff add that the funerals she attended were closed-casket. Too late now, but it would've been cool.

[Neoco]

The pegasus pulled her pink wings in and grumbled under her breath, blushing

When I read this line, I thought of Firefly