//------------------------------// // The First Calling Card // Story: Masked Justice // by aggressive cornelius //------------------------------// Date: Unknown Apple Bloom woke up in her cage in the velvet room again. She sighed and glared at index who was reading a book “Why am I here again?” she questioned. Index answered without looking up from his book “That's what I should be asking you. I'm not the only one who can bring you here, so can you. Since you're here, I can only assume you have questions.” he said. She gasped “Ya mean ah brought myself here because ah wanted answers? And you'll give me those answers?” she asked. Index placed a bookmark into the book before slamming it closed “I may have the answers you seek, I may not. We will not know until you spit it out.” he said. Apple Bloom nodded “First of all, why am ah stuck in this cage? Did ya stick me in here?” she asked “You're the reason you're in that cage. You're a prisoner of fate. We'll see if you can break your bars.” he said. She raised an eyebrow “So if ah try to break out of here, ya won't try to stop me?” she asked. Index rolled his eyes “No amount of physical force will break the bars. The cage represents your destiny.” he said. Apple Bloom hummed in thought “So the only way ta escape is ta prevent the ending yer always talkin' about.” she concluded. “I find it disappointing that you've only figured that out now. Do you have any other questions?” he asked. Her mind raced to think of another question to ask since she wasn't sure when she would get another chance. She then gasped as she finally thought of something “Have ya been visitin' mah friends like you've been visitin' me?” she asked. He just shook his head with a disinterested expression “That would only be a waste of time. Like you, they are prisoners of fate but they just don't have it.” he said. Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes “Don't have what?” she asked. “The potential to change fate. From what I've seen of your story thus far, you stand a much better chance of surviving the coming calamity.” he said. She took a step back with wide eyes “S-survive a calamity? What calamity? When?” she questioned. Index opened his book once again before continuing where he left off “That's enough for now. Leave me.” he said. Apple Bloom felt an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion fill her. She growled as she tried to fight against it “no! N-not yet! Ya h-have ta te-tell me about th-this cal-” she tried to say before passing out. Date: Tuesday, March 9th Apple Bloom's head shot up from her pillow. She tried to calm her heavy breath before putting a hoof to her forehead “Calamity? Was he tellin' the truth?” she shook the thought from her mind “I can't think about that right now. If anythin' happens mah sister and her friends will handle it.” she assured herself. With a deep breath she hopped out of her bed to get started on the day. Once she got to the outskirts of the farm, she saw Scootaloo, Sweetie, and Spike waiting for her. She tried to push her thoughts about the velvet room to the back of her mind and greeted her friends with a smile “Howdy. Why are ya here too Spike?” she asked. “I thought I could walk with you to school and we can talk a bit about our plans.” he said. As they started their walk, a idea came to Apple Bloom. She turned to Spike “Hey Spike? Do ya know if that book on the metaverse says anythin' about some place called the velvet room?” she asked. He was slightly worried by the serious tone in her voice. He thought back to what he read in the book “Velvet room? I don't remember anything like that. I could check again if you want.” he offered. Apple Bloom shook her head with a weak chuckle “No that's okay, it's not important.” she said. Sweetie frowned with concern “Where did that come from? What is the velvet room?” she questioned. “Nothing, it's...just a dream ah had.” she said while averting her eyes. Scootaloo hummed in suspicion “You seem too worried for it to be a dream, are you sure?” she asked. Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her neck nervously while prying for something to get her out of this situation “Well, ya see-” “Look at that, the blank flanks are taking their pet lizard for a walk!” a not very pleasant voice said. The four of them instantly recognized the voice and turned to see Diamond Tiara walking behind them with Silver Spoon by her side. They both wore sinister smiles on their faces “Just keep your pet away from me, I don't want to get rabies.” she said. Spike crossed his arms with a frown “Don't you have anything better to do right now? We're busy.” he said. Silver scoffed “I can see that you three are very busy not getting your cutie marks.” she said. Scootaloo growled and stomped up to Silver “Just leave us alone!” she shouted while jabbing a hoof into her chest. Silver stepped back and held her chest while wincing. Diamond stepped between them and glared at Scootaloo “Don't you dare touch her with your filthy hooves! You hurt her!” she accused. She just rolled her eyes in annoyance “I barely touched her! She's just being a drama queen!” she shouted in her defense. Apple Bloom was about to agree with her friend until she saw Silver's face. She truly looked to be in some kind of pain and her eyes seemed watery. Diamond huffed and stuck her nose in the air before turning to her friend with a comforting smile “Come on, let's get away from these brutes. We'll get some ice cream before school.” she said before leading her away. Spike gave Scootaloo a disappointed look “You didn't have to get violent with her.” he said. Scootaloo groaned “I didn't jab her hard enough for it to hurt, I swear. She was just playing the victim for sympathy.” she said. Sweetie frowned “Please don't fight.” she said. Apple Bloom jumped in to assist her “She's right, we should be using our time ta talk about Filthy's palace.” she stated. After a few moment the others agreed and they discussed their plans before they reached the schoolhouse. Later that day, the four of them returned to the palace and teleported to the safe room they discovered. Before heading out they sat at the table. Spike cleared his throat before speaking “Let's talk about what we have left of this palace a little.” he said. Scootaloo thought back “Well we only need one more key to get into the CEO's office.” she recalled. Apple Bloom continued her thought “That means we probably need ta get through some kind of obstacle and fight another robot pony.” she said “Most likely an earth pony if the pattern continues.” Sweetie Belle added. Scootaloo gave a confidant smile “But after that, we'll be done. The treasure is behind the door, I can feel it.” she said. Apple Bloom chuckled with a shake of her head “We don't know that fer sure but bein' optimistic ain't a bad thing.” she said. Scootaloo slammed her fore hooves on the table in excitement “What are we waiting for? Let's get to it! I'm aching to stretch my legs after that boring school day!” she shouted. Spike facepalmed “Alright alright, just be quiet. We are intruders so we shouldn't be shouting.” he said. Scootaloo blushed and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment “...Right, sorry.” she said. The others shared a quick laugh before they decided to head out. They ascended the spiral staircase to the room with the four doors. The entered the door that should hold the final key. They arrived in a seemingly empty hallway with a door waiting for them on the other side. Sweetie Belle looked around with unease “I don't see anything dangerous, but somehow that makes it scarier.” she said. Spike nodded in agreement “Let's take it slow just in case.” he said. Apple Bloom took the lead and took slow steps while keeping an eye out for any surprises. Around the middle of the hall the heard a metal scraping sound above them. The snapped their gazes up to see a thick metal door falling towards them. They yelped and shuffled back in fright. The door slammed to the ground and completely blocked their way. “Sweet Celestia! We were almost crushed!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Spike put a claw on the new obstacle and frowned “But now we have a brand new problem. How do we get past this?” he wondered. Sweetie Belle scanned the walls for any kind of switch only to find them bare “I don't see any way to raise it back up.” she noted. “Maybe we can break through it?” Scootaloo suggested. Spike was quick to shake his head “It's too thick. That would never work.” he said. Suddenly Apple Bloom heard Galahad speak in her head “Please allow me to assist.” he said. Instantly she knew what he had in mind and smiled. She got the others' attention “Maybe Aviator's right. Make way.” she said. The others seemed confused about her plan but decided to give her the room she asked for. She ripped her mask off “You can do it Galahad!” she shouted. The persona appeared and crossed it's gauntlets into a cross before shooting forward. He crashed into the door hard enough to puncture a hole big enough for the fillies and dragon. The others were speechless as Apple Bloom donned her mask again and Galahad disappeared. Scootaloo ran up to her “That was so cool Paladin! I wonder if Earheart can do that?” she wondered. Spike was still staring at the hole in amazement “I stand corrected.” he mumbled. Sweetie giggled “I guess we shouldn't underestimate our personas.” she said. Once they calmed themselves down they walked through the opening and the next door. As they expected they arrived in a relatively empty room with a tree-shaped key at the end and an earth pony robot protecting it. What surprised them was the robot's condition. The other two looked new and vigilant while this one was rusty and seemed to be struggling to stay on. Black smoke blew out of a vent on it's side. The group stared at the sad sight in surprise. Sweetie Belle furrowed her brows in concern “It doesn't look so good.” she said. Scootaloo nodded in agreement “It looks about ready to drop. Why does Filthy have this thing guarding a key?” she wondered. Spike looked down in sadness “This might be somepony who Filthy's overworking out in the real world. I hope they're okay.” he said. With that information Apple Bloom felt any need to fight leave her body “Ah don't know if ah'd feel alright fightin' somethin' like that.” she said. Scootaloo sighed “I doubt it could fight even if it wanted to.” she said. They approached it to see it it would act hostile towards them. They stopped in front of it but it didn't even react to them. Spike waved a claw in the air in case it didn't see them “Hello?” he tried. A weak robotic voice came from the machine “Rest...I need...rest.” it said more to itself than them. Apple Bloom shrugged “Ah guess if it ain't gonna attack us there's no reason for us to hurt it.” she said. Sweetie smiled slightly “That's good. Let's get the key then.” she said. They all agreed and started to walk past the malfunctioning machine but only got a few steps before a familiar voice came from a speaker system “Just a reminder that anypony seen slacking will be immediately let go.” Filthy said. At those words, the robot stood a bit straighter “C-can't...but m-must.” it pushed out. It started shaking violently and more black smoke emitted from it's vent. Sweetie took a step back “What's it doing?” she asked. Apple Bloom stood on her back legs and took her weapons in hoof “Ah think it's gonna try ta fight us. Get ready fer anythin'!” she said. The others readied their weapons and watched the robot carefully. The machine threw it's head up towards the ceiling and let out a metallic screech. It's rusty body was covered in a purple energy before it turned towards the kids “T-this is...a re...” it seemed to be struggling to get the words out “Come qu...qui...” it seemed to give up as it stood ready for battle. Apple Bloom dashed forward and aimed her hammer at the side of it's face. To her surprise, the robot barely flinched from the attack. It then raised both fore hooves with intent to crush the filly. She quickly brought up her shield which took most of the impact, she was still struggling under it's weight. She gritted her as she pushed against the force with everything she had. “Butch!” Spike called before fire was sent into the robot's side which caused it to wince and back up from Apple Bloom. He jumped to her side quickly “Are you hurt? Do you need to be healed?” he asked. She caught her breath and smiled “No, I'll be okay for now. Thanks Drake.” she said. Scootaloo jumped and slashed into it's side, doing minuscule damage. Sweetie tried to plunge her claws into it's other side but they just bounced off. The robot stomped the ground which created a shock wave that threw Sweetie and Scootaloo back. Scootaloo growled “What happened? It looked so weak before but none of our weapons are scratching it.” she said. “Did it power itself up?” Sweetie wondered. Spike rubbed his chin in thought “I think that aura is boosting it's defense. Something has to work, we just have to keep at it.” he said. The robot faced Sweetie Belle and opened it's mouth to reveal a missile. It shot out and Sweetie took her AR out to fire at the projectile. The bullets blew the missile up before it could reach her. Spike struck while it was distracted and slashed both of his daggers into it's back. The robot didn't react to the attack and countered with a buck that sent him flying. Scootaloo put a hoof to her mask “I'll show it.” she said before summoning Earheart. She was enveloped in a speedy green aura. She ran up and started giving it blindingly fast slashes with each doing minimal damage. It threw a hoof towards her but she easily dodged before continuing her assault. While she kept it busy, Apple Bloom took her mask off “Come on Galahad!” she called. He appeared and he cast a bolt of lightning which struck his target. The robot's legs buckled under the force and Sweetie gave it a slash to the face as she jumped past. Spike smiled as he noticed something “That's it! Magic's effecting it!” he shouted. “You don't say.” Scootaloo said with a smirk before summoning earheart. She sharp winds at the robot which circled it and scratched at it's metallic body. It seemed angry as it fired multiple missiles from it's mouth wildly. The kids ran around as they tried to dodge them. Scootaloo was dodging them will little trouble since she still had boosted speed. Sweetie shot any that got near her with her AR. Spike got out of the way of most of them but one caught him off guard and was headed straight towards him. Apple Bloom jumped in front of him with her shield held out in protection. The missile exploded against it and she was blasted over Spike. He ran back to help her back onto her hooves. Without asking this time, he summoned Butch and healed her. She smiled and gave him a nod “Ah appreciate it.” she said. He then turned his attention to the robot and sent more fire it's way. It took a few steps back from the fire and Sweetie jumped behind it with Fagin ready. Ice formed over it's legs to restrict it's movements. More sharp wind blew from Scootaloo and the robot was started to look weakened. The purple energy dissipated leaving it vulnerable. Apple Bloom took her mask off and pointed a commanding hoof towards the robot “One more should do it!” she said. Galahad struck it with lightning causing it to give one last metallic wale before falling dissipating to nothingness. The four of them sat down to catch their breath. Spike sighed “That was more difficult than it should have been.” he said. Sweetie managed a chuckle “But we're really starting to look like a real team.” she said. Scootaloo nodded and smiled “You're right about that Hoodlum. We're getting better every day.” she said. “Ah can't imagine tryin' ta do this without y'all.” Apple Bloom said. Spike smiled at his friends before getting back up to his feet. He walked over to the green tree-shaped key and took it “The last key, now we can get into the CEO's office.” he said. Apple Bloom walked up to his side “Ah hope his treasure will be there so we can finally be done with this.” she said. They were quick to return to the locked door. Spike was about to fit the key into it's place but stopped before turning to the others “How are you all feeling? If you're feeling tired, we can put this off until tomorrow.” he offered. Scootaloo waved a hoof in the air “Just a bit winded but I'm still raring to go.” she said. “I'll be fine. I don't need a break.” Sweetie assured. Apple Bloom nodded in agreement “We don't have much more time, we should continue.” she said. Spike gave them a nod before turning and fitting the key into it's place. The door was automatically opened and they saw a large hallway ahead. There was a red carpet on the floor and marble columns on the sides. There were two giant paintings hung up on the walls, on on each. One was of Spoiled Rich and the other was Filthy Rich himself. They walked in while taking in the surroundings. Scootaloo rolled her eyes “Just as I expected, the rest of this place looks like a sweatshop while the hallway to Filthy's office looks like a frickin' mansion.” she said. “Shows where his priorities are.” Spike said. When they got near the middle of the hall, three shadows appeared in front of them “Stop! You intruders will go no further!” one of them said. Apple Bloom quickly got her weapons out “Ah should have known that he'd have protection here.” she said. The shadows transformed into two fireflies and a zompony. A firefly charged Scootaloo but she was ready for it and sidestepped it. She didn't she the other one dive down towards her and blasting fire down at her. She tried to shield herself with a hoof but once the attack ended, she noticed that she was still being burned. She tried to smother the bits of fire on her but they didn't seem to want to go out. The burning wasn't unbearable so she decided to leave it for now. The firefly that missed her dove back at her but was interrupted by a crossbow bolt piercing it. With that distraction, Scootaloo was able to land a slash with her knife. Apple Bloom then brought her hammer down onto it's back to finish it. Scootaloo turned to the other firefly and summoned Earheart to attack it with wind. The shadow fell the the floor in pain and Scootaloo offered Apple Bloom a hoof “Finish it Paladin!” she said. They hoof bumped before she took her mask off and Galahad finished it with a devastating bolt of lightning. Sweetie ducked under the Zompony's Great sword before Spike fired at it's back with his revolver. It turned towards him and blasted him with cursed energy. Spike gritted his teeth as he powered through the pain. Sweetie hopped onto it's back and plunged her claws into it. It screeched in pain but was silenced when Spike blasted it with fire to finish it. Once the shadows were dealt with Scootaloo was able to rid herself of the flames that were burning her. Apple Bloom walked over to check on her “Are ya alright Aviator?” she asked. “Yeah, being on fire was so much fun.” she answered sarcastically. She suddenly felt her pain fading as Sweetie and Spike approached with Fagin healing “You have to be more careful, that could have been bad.” Sweetie said. Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck “Yeah I know. Sorry, and thanks.” she said. Apple Bloom turned towards the large wooden doors at the and of the hall “Ah guess that's the office.” she said. Something seemed to get Spike's attention as he started sniffing the air “Is...is that?” he wondered. Apple Bloom was confused as she didn't smell anything out of the ordinary “What are ya smellin'?” she asked. “Sapphires...” he shook his head “No, it's emeralds...” he raised an eyebrow “Amethyst?” he wondered. Scootaloo stared at the door ahead “Does Filthy keep his gem safe nearby or something?” she questioned. “I don't think so. It smells like every gem I've ever known, but it's different somehow.” Spike said. Sweetie hummed in thought “The treasure maybe?” she suggested. Apple Bloom took a few steps forward “Only one way ta find out.” she said. The others followed her through the door. Once inside they saw a large wooden desk with gold trimming. The room was surprisingly empty of life but their was something that caught their attention. Floating above the desk was some kind of cloudy light. Spike walked up to the light and gave it a cautious sniff. He lit up “This is it! This is what's causing that delicious smell.” he said. Scootaloo hopped onto the desk “So this is the treasure?” she reached a hoof out to it only for her to phase straight through it “What? How are we supposed to steal it when we can't touch it?” she questioned. “The book mentioned something about this.” he tried to recall it “Distorted desires don't usually have physical forms.” he said. Sweetie raised an eyebrow “You said usually, so does that mean they can have physical forms?” she asked. He nodded “I think it'll change forms of the pony in the real world is aware of it. They have to know that it's in danger of being stolen.” he said. Apple Bloom hummed in thought “How do we do that? We can't just tell Filthy that we're gonna steal his desires.” she said. Sweetie gasped happily as an idea came to her “I know how we can do it. Let's go back to the real world for now, we'll talk about it in the clubhouse.” she said before dashing out of the door. The others just shrugged before following after her. Once they got back to the clubhouse, Sweetie grabbed a novel and opened it “I've been reading this book recently and one of it's characters gave me an idea.” she said. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “We're gonna copy some book? Lame.” she said. “Isn't that what we've been doing this whole time?” Sweetie countered. Scootaloo blinked a couple of times in shock before blushing “Fine, what's this character then?” she questioned. “She's known as Phantom. She's a famous thief. She's so skilled that nopony can come close to catching it. So for fun she likes to warn the ponies that she's gonna steal from to make it harder.” she said. That seemed to get Spike's attention “That's exactly what we need to do. How does she do it?” he asked. “A calling card! She sends a card to a museum or something that says exactly what she wants to steal and when she'll do it. Maybe we can do something similar.” she finished. Apple Bloom nodded “That's perfect! We'll send him a calling card.” she hummed in thought “We just need to figure out the right way to do it.” she said. “We should just put it on his doorstep right?” Sweetie asked. Scootaloo shook her head “No, we have to make it much more public.” she said. Apple Bloom was surprised to hear that “Public? Why?” she asked. “He's ruining lives. We have to do more than stop those distorted desires, we have to expose what he's been doing.” she said. Spike seemed unsure “I don't know if we should, doesn't that seem like a bit much?” he wondered. Apple Bloom shook her head “No, she's right. Ponies need ta know what's been goin' on. We should make a whole load of callin' cards and spread them around the market. If he doesn't see 'em right away then ponies are sure ta bring 'em to him.” she said with a prideful smile. Scootaloo smiled and Sweetie nodded in agreement. They then turned to Spike to see if he was convinced “Alright, that doesn't sound bad. How do you think we should make the cards? We can't hoof write them in case somepony tries to trace them back to us.” he said. Sweetie raised a hoof in the air “My sister has so many magazines that she won't notice if some when missing. We can cut out the letters to write out a message.” she said. Spike snapped as if he remembered “I can get some of Twilight's card stock paper that we can use too.” he said. Scootaloo frowned as she thought of a problem “We have to write something right? What do we write? I have no clue.” she said. Apple Bloom's mind returned to what Filthy was trying to do to her family “I'll think of the message tonight.” she offered. “Then I'll help make the cards” Scootaloo said. Apple Bloom nodded and smiled “Ah think we have our plan. Let's go back home fer tonight. Tomorrow we'll meet back here. Ah'll bring the message, Sweetie will bring the magazines, and Spike will bring the cards. Sound good?” she asked. The others agreed and they dispersed for the day. Date: Wednesday, March 10th After school Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle returned to the clubhouse. Apple Bloom held a sheet of paper in her mouth that contained her message. The other two both had stacks of fashion magazines on their backs. When they entered, they saw Spike waiting for them with a stack of red card stock in his claws. Apple Bloom set her paper down and stared at the cards with a questioning tilt of her head “Red?” she asked. Spike rubbed the back of his head “I thought Twilight might notice if some of her white card stock went missing.” he said. Scootaloo shrugged “Red's cooler anyway. We want these to really catch ponies' attention.” she said. At those words Sweetie smiled and laid her stack of magazines on the floor “I thought so too! That's why I worked on this last night!” she said before pulling a piece of paper from one magazine. She proudly showed it off to the others. The paper showed a drawing of a pony wearing a top hat. A hoof laid on the hat's brim to pull it over it's eyes. A horn poked out of the top hat and a wing came out from behind the pony's head. Apple Bloom raised her eyebrows in slight surprise “That's a real nice drawin' Sweetie but why are ya showing it ta us?” she wondered. Sweetie beamed at the complement “I thought it could be a logo of sorts. Any calling card needs a logo. Just a message would be too boring.” she said. Spike rubbed his chin as he pondered the idea “It would make creating the cards longer but I guess we can draw that on them.” he said. A thought then crossed his mind causing him to turn to Apple Bloom “Speaking of the cards, did you write the message?” he asked. She nodded and gave him her paper. He took it and began reading. Overcome by curiosity, Scootaloo and Sweetie walked over to read as well. Scootaloo reacted first “Oh I can't wait to see the look on his face when he reads this.” she said. Sweetie tilted her head and pointed down near the bottom of the paper “What's this part at the end? 'signed the Phantom Thieves' is that us?” she asked. Apple Bloom blushed and averted her eyes “Ah thought we needed a name and that character in Sweetie's book was named phantom so...that was the best ah could come up with.” she said. Sweetie gasped happily “We'll be just like phantom!” she squealed. Scootaloo nodded in agreement “A name like that is sure to scare Filthy out of his horseshoes.” she said. Spike glanced at all of the materials around him “Let's get started on these cards, we don't have all day.” he said. The others agreed and settled down to work. Later that night, they idled around Ponyville's market waiting for everypony to clear the area. Sweetie stared at the moon that hung brightly in the sky. She then started tapping her hoof anxiously “I hope they all leave soon, my sister will be wondering where I am.” she said. Apple Bloom wanted this done as soon as possible but she didn't want to get her friends in trouble “Maybe we should come b-” she was interrupted by Spike pointing towards the market “Wait! Look! I think they're leaving.” he noted. Apple Bloom looked to see that he was right. The few ponies that populated the area were dispersing. She gasped happily and nosed though the saddlebags she brought and took out a stack of the calling cards they made. She gave spike half of the cards “Do y'all remember the plan?” she asked. Scootaloo nodded “Of course. You and Spike spread the calling cards while me and Sweetie keep watch. Easy peasy.” she said. Apple Bloom and Spike nodded to each other before running off in separate directions. Date: Unknown Twilight hummed in thought “So that was when you spread those calling cards around the market?” she asked. Apple Bloom nodded with a smile “Yup.” she confirmed “So you admit to the vandalism.” she said. The filly's smile was quickly replaced with a frown “We did it for a good reason.” she said in an attempt to justify her actions. Twilight sighed and gave her temples a rub in annoyance “It's still illegal, even if it wasn't it's not even close to your worst charge.” she said feeling a slight sadness at remembering the filly's murder charge. She shook the thoughts from her head “Just continue telling me your version of the events.” she said.