7 days left before the storm
Inside the Golden Oak library, Twilight wrote in a magical journal. One she destined to a special unicorn who kept in touch with her after their initial “disagreement” at the Crystal Empire, then taken to another world. Though she often talked about what was going on in Equestria, Twilight chose to omit anything regarding Olive and her father for the time being. Now just didn’t seem like the right time to be venting about it.
Somepony knocked on the door, forcing Twilight to cut her interdimensional writing session off. Living in a public library did come with the downside of often being interrupted by ponies but it was something she quickly got over after she had built strong friendships with five of Ponyville’s residents.
She opened the upper portion of her door, accidentally hitting somepony standing on the other side. “Oops, sorry!”
The unfortunate pony who got hit in the face back pedaled, holding their head in pain.
“Mango? What brings you here?”
Captain Mango shook off the pain and smirked. “Well, you did give me permission to ‘come inside’. I was gonna swing by eventually.” He was noticeably lacking his usual royal captain armor.
Twilight smiled back. “Well, that’s nice, but I don’t really understand why you’d want to come here in particular. Canterlot has bigger and better libraries in general. You’ll find exactly what you want there, not necessarily here but-”
“I ain’t here for the books.”
The princess of friendship frowned. “Oh?”
Mango lifted his body and leaned over the door, pushing Twilight away. “I came for you.”
“Uh-uh. What do you want from me?”
“Nothing, but I’m here to tell you a thing or two, courtesy of the lunar princess.”
Twilight’s expression immediately changed. “Princess Luna sent you? Then it must be super important!”
Captain Mango’s smirk grew wider. “Indeed, it is. Mind if I hop right in?”
“N-No, but I could just-”
The batpony jumped over the door, landing too close to Twilight for comfort. “Great, now let’s talk a bit about... Anarchists.”
The lavender alicorn cringed. “I’d figured it’d be about him. That, or about Olive’s unfortunate ‘monster living in my body’ problem.”
Mango dropped his smirk, getting a visible reaction out of the mare. “Princess Luna didn’t send me to talk about Anarchy specifically.”
“Huh?! Then wha-”
“It’s about his second in command, Strong Hoof.”
Twilight squinted, putting a hoof to her chin. “Uh-”
“No use in digging up your memories. You’ve never heard of him.” Mango affirmed, taking out a sketch made by Looking Glass regarding the gigantic stallion.
“Oh...”
“He’s got to be the strongest pony alive right now. Strongest as in, physical strength of course. Nopony holds a candle to Celestia, but that’s beside the point. Remember when I showed you those fancy necklaces that protects you from magic?”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “I do.”
“You already see where I’m going with this, that’s good.” Mango’s face darkened as he took on a serious expression, one that Twilight never got to see before. “If you’re truly serious about helping us out in this case, then you must be prepared to go through living Tartarus for Equestria’s sake. Strong Hoof won’t fall so easily, and we do not recommend taking him on alone.
If you ever see a gigantic stallion wearing a plumber’s cap, call for our help, don’t try to fight him by yourself.”
“I see. Do we know anything else about him?”
Mango lost his serious gaze. “Uh, no, but he’s unusually big so it shouldn’t be too hard to identify him, should we ever encounter this tough stallion. Do you remember what I taught you a couple of days ago?”
The lavender alicorn nodded. “I do, I’ve been practicing a bit each day since then.”
“Why that’s very good! You’re gonna need it when the time comes. You do know there’s a massive storm coming next Friday, right?”
“Yes. Wait, are you suggesting that something big is going to happen during the storm?”
Mango looked out the window to the sky. “Naturally. The storm’s going to give these Anarchists plenty of cover to do whatever they want. We can’t just tell the weather team to cancel the storm, it’s already been prepped for weeks now. I have a bad feeling about all of this honestly, hence why I came to warn you.”
Twilight took a deep breath, her gears already turning in her head. “O-kay... Anything else I need to know?”
The batpony took out a list from his saddlebag and read through it. “No, that should be it. Well now; mind if I stay for a bit?” he asked, smirking,
“Well...” Twilight gasped. “I know! I have some theories about the Crimson Mask and the eldritch monster I want to show you!”
Mango looked surprised, but agreed nonetheless. Not my idea for a first date, but... let her rant.
The lavender alicorn left only to return later with a billboard. On said billboard were a bunch of sentences and crude drawings each connected to one another. Mango tried to make sense of it, but clearly, he wasn’t Princess Twilight Sparkle, so he couldn’t understand any of it.
“Alright, I’ll start with my theory regarding the imposter masquerading as the Crimson Mask since it’s been stirring up some panic in Ponyville.”
“It's the same in Canterlot, but much worse. Poor Looking Glass had to give a speech to calm everypony down.” Mango chuckled.
“Yikes.” Twilight then cleared her throat as she took out a wooden stick, pointing it at the first drawing. “So, first off, I have many arguments to affirm that the new Crimson Mask is not the same exact pony as the old one Looking Glass defeated because-”
Mango took a seat and listened intently. Eventually, he started to pay less and less attention to Twilight’s words, his mind now focused on only her and her alone. Everything else blended in with the background. In that moment, there was nothing but a lone mare speaking so passionately to him. The captain finally felt it, a spark that disappeared so long ago only to return in the most unexpected of times. However, the stallion was no fool. He knew this battle was lost from the start.
Twilight was too good for him. Either that or she was just completely oblivious to his feelings, which was honestly pretty hilarious to him.
“Interesting, now about you talk about the eldtritch monster living inside that little filly, uh, what was her name again?”
Twilight sighed. “It’s Olive. Come on, how could you forget her name? She’s practically the entire reason we started this case!”
“I’m, uh, a forgetful stallion.”
Twilight glared. “Yeah, right. Anyway, after my first and close encounter with the monster, I’ve done some research and I believe I may have found an explanation to its existence.”
“Go ahead, I'm all ears.”
“Okay, so I’ve noticed that when transformed, the monster has a very similar build to Nightmare Moon, down to the size of the horn although it lacks her power. Then, I finally met Anarchy in pony. I’ve heard his voice and noticed something weird. Olive, when transformed, speaks with three voices, two of them are the exact same ones coming from Anarchy!”
“So this confirms it. Anarchy tried some sort of experiment on his daughter to infuse her with the Nightmare. Considering he tried to kill her, it must have been a failure. Good.” Mango commented.
“This still raises some concerns, mainly about how we should go about taking the Nightmare out of her. She’s still a young filly, removing it might be too dangerous for the time being.” Twilight informed.
“Then let us wait, as long as she can keep it under control, it should be no problem.”
“Yeah, let’s just hope it’ll be that easy...”
Finally, alone and with nopony to disturb him, Looking Glass could move on to his leads in Anarchy’s case. Right now, he had only two objectives, find Anarchy’s hidden base and discover Strong Hoof’s appearance. For both, he knew exactly where to look to accomplish his goals.
Since he was already in Canterlot, he thought to pay a certain rich stallion a visit. The great renowned unicorn Fancy Pants was spectating the Wonderbolt’s race alongside his aristocratic entourage of typical Canterlot elite. The detective could hardly stand these snob ponies, their way of speaking, their condescending attitude, these ponies didn’t have an ounce of respect for anything that doesn’t have their pockets filled with money.
He climbed up the stairs to the top of the stadium, being briefly stopped by one of the guards.
“Halt, this area is reserved only to Fancy Pants and his guests.”
Looking Glass’s powerful amber eyes quickly established who was the stronger pony. “I’m here to talk with Fancy Pants on the behalf of Princess Luna. Is that problem?”
“N-No.” The guard moved out of the way, the dark blue unicorn reached the top of the stadium, his eyes locking on to Fancy Pants.
The aristocratic unicorn was talking to his entourage of rich folks about the Wonderbolt he’s betting on, still wearing his usual smile though it faltered from time-to-time.
“Spitfire might be the fastest of the Wonderbolt, but I know for a fact that she’s tired from her previous escapade. Now, Soarin, on the other hoof is in top shape. I have no doubt he’ll be able to clutch it!”
“Ooh! Then I should bet for Soaring too!” One of the rich ponies said.
“As for me, I think I’ll vote for-”
“Fancy Pants.”
Everypony turned their attention to Looking Glass. The detective strolled to them without a single care in the world, his eyes staring deep into Fancy Pants’s soul. “I’ve come to ask a few questions if you don’t mind.”
“A-Ah! That won’t be a problem at all, good sir!” Fancy looked at his companions. “I will absent myself for a moment. I’ll be back in a jiffy!”
Now alone, Looking Glass could finally begin what he set out to do. The dark blue unicorn took a quick look at the sun, estimating how much time left before sundown before he began. “This is about the Anarchists, mainly a stallion going by the name ‘Strong Hoof’. I’m trying to find as much information on him as possible.”
Fancy Pants’s eye twitched slightly. “Oh? The name doesn’t ring a bell, I’m afraid. I don’t see how I can help you.”
Looking Glass wasn’t fully convinced. Something about this subtle eye twitching told him he was on the right track. “Then maybe a short description will suffice. Big, muscular, sporting a plumber’s cap. I’m sure that rings a bell.”
Fancy Pants broke eye contact, looking back at the race for a quick distraction. “I don’t believe I've ever seen a stallion that fits this description. My apologies, sir Looking Glass. If I ever see him, I’ll notify you immediately.”
Darn, he won’t talk. There’s nothing I can do here... not as Looking Glass. The detective respectfully nodded. “I see, thank you for your help.” Under the sunlight, there wasn’t much he could do. But under the moonlight, a world of possibility opened to the stallion. Fancy Pants might not be comfortable talking, but the contents of his home would reveal the truth, one way or another.
That night, Looking Glass snuck in Fancy Pants’s courtyard, trying to find a safe way in. He was wearing his dark cape and the Crimson Mask to hide his identity. As the new Crimson Mask, he could do anything he want to achieve his noble goal. He stared at the mansion with a mixture of disgust and admiration. It was pretty, majestic, but like everything else in Canterlot, it felt a little too... gaudy.
“Security is lacking. How odd for a rich pony. Here I thought they hired bodyguards to patrol around their propriety.” Once again, the ghost of the previous owner haunted him again. The skin around his mouth vanished, revealing strands of muscles pulling and tensing to move his jaw. “I was afraid to stick my neck out in Canterlot because of Princess Celestia and because I thought these rich folks would pay themselves with all sorts of security measures. I was wrong, and now it just pisses me off.”
“Everything is too easy when it comes to criminal activities. It’s no wonder ponies like Anarchy get away with their vile actions so often. All of this is a sick joke.” Looking Glass grunted. “That’s why I must fight no matter what happens to me.”
“How noble. This mentality won’t get you killed for sure.” The ghost mocked, the tiny skulls in his mouth cackling.
The Crimson Mask snuck around the courtyard, pressing its face on the stained glass and peeked inside. The place was huge, but empty on the inside. Nopony in there except for Fancy Pants and Fleur-de-lis. This made things much simpler. It was only a matter of sneaking in, making as little noise as possible, find something of note and leave.
“What’s with rich ponies and giant houses meant for only two ponies? It’s a precious waste of space.”
Considering the lack of security, I’ll have to find an open window or a chimney to sneak in.
The Crimson Mask wished he learned flight magic for it would have made things so much easier. Instead, he had to climb all the way up and find an entrance from the roof. Easier said than done. To this end, he remembered a spell that can come in handy. A spell to make your hooves sticky, great for climbing. He learned it back when he went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and such knowledge never left his strong mind.
He pressed one hoof against the wall, then another and then, all four were glued to the wall. From then on it was just a matter of not letting fatigue get the better of him. It wasn’t so bad at first, but the weight of his body quickly caught on to his four hooves. The pain reared its ugly head, making him want to let go, but his mind was stronger than that. He worked through pain, and simple exercises like this one won’t get him to give up.
“Hum, admirable...” The ghost reluctantly admitted.
Now, to look for an entrance. Something like an open window should do.
The Crimson Mask searched around the rooftop but came up short of an open window. That was no reason to look somewhere else, unicorns can do magic, and that means that nothing is impossible to them. Criminals always find a way in even if all doors and windows are locked. For the masked stallion, he found a good entrance in the form of a closed window leading to Fancy Pants’s office.
The window may be locked, but there were plenty of objects heavy enough to twist the lock. Windows in Canterlot, especially for rich ponies, are usually magic proof, but not object proof. Crimson Mask lifted an umbrella resting in the corner of the room and pulled it to the locked window, fidgeting with the lock until he succeeded in unlocking the window.
With one push, he opened his entrance and got in undetected.
“You’re too good at this. Aren’t you sure you’d be better off switching teams already? You can forge your own empire, one that will surely surpass Anarchy.” The ghost proposed, his voice sounding higher, almost like he was pleading.
Crimson Mask inspected his surroundings, locking the window behind him. With Fancy Pants’s office all to himself, he had the whole night to find a lead on his nemesis.
“Think about it. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of ponies kneeling before you. Hailing you as their savior in this world. They’ll do anything for you. You’ll be able to build a whole new world with them at your command.” He unhinged his jaw, letting all the tiny skulls inside praise him endlessly until he closed his mouth to silence them.
The Crimson Mask opened a drawer and took out its content, inspecting every document closely. So far, nothing that featured Anarchy or at the very least, alluded to the dark unicorn.
“Put some thoughts into it, I guarantee it’s not as bad as it seems. You see-” The distant sound of hooves clopping against the stone floor caught the unicorn’s attention.
“Silence. Somepony’s coming.”
The door creaked as it opened. The mansion’s owner entered and quickly shifted to his desk, opening a specific drawer. He fumbled through some documents until he found what he wanted and closed the drawer, looking around him to make sure nopony saw him. Nothing in sight, he was truly alone. He sighed as he left his office, failing to the masked stallion clinging to the roof with sticky hooves.
Gotcha, now I need to follow him discreetly and see what he’s going to do next. The franticness of his movement tells me he’s stuck in a stressful situation, but why?
Fancy Pants trotted around his luxurious estate, oblivious to the shadow following him around. He went down the stairs, past his kitchen to reach the back hall where he was to be expected. Standing in his back hall were two ponies. An average sized pegasus mare with a light blue coat and purple eyes. The other one, was the bruiser and the mastermind of the two. As large as a tree, he sported a white coat, a plumber’s cap and scarlet eyes.
Hiding behind a pillar, the Crimson Mask stared in awe at Strong Hoof, finally seeing him under the moonlight. Yes, the light that shone through the large windows of the back hall finally revealed the form of Anarchy’s right hoof. One of his objectives have been accomplished. Now, he only needed to know what was going on here.
Fancy Pants slowed down to a crawl, lifting the trembling hoof that held the document. “H-Here’s as you ordered, um, mister Strong Hoof.”
The giant gazed around the area, frowning. “Your ‘wife’ is not spying on us, I presume?”
“Oh no no no no! C-Certainly not! I’m the only pony awake in this mansion.” Fancy Pants looked behind him to confirm it.
“Well, um, here it is.”
Strong Hoof snatched it, quickly reading through the documents. “Good, it’s everything we needed. It’s very detailed too. I must commend your work, without it, we wouldn’t have all the components necessary to bring some change to this country.”
“Th-That’s great. N-Now I only wanted to know if you’d keep your word.”
Strong Hoof grinned. “What word was it again? I believe I’ve made too many promises to remember.”
Fancy Pants’s head jerked back. “Th-That you’d leave us alone, and not burn down our mansion!” his trembling voice said.
“Oh yeah... that one.” Strong Hoof stared at the stained glass around the back hall, a certain sense of disgust filling his mind.
“We’d never burn down such a... fine work of art now, would we?” He lowered his head to match the much smaller size of the rich unicorn. “We’re not barbarians, I assure you. Call us... revolutionaries, underdogs even.”
“I-I never doubted you, kind sir. I always knew the Anarchists were a, um, sophisticated group of individuals.”
The Crimson Mask could clearly discern uncertainty and fear behind Fancy Pants’s voice. I see now... This poor gentlecolt is forced to work with these ruthless criminals. With Anarchy, even the most powerful ponies in Canterlot bend their will to him, one way or another. All the more reason to strike as quickly as possible. Flush out their base and announce it to Luna and Celestia. Then, during the raid, I’ll strike him down and once again... I’ll say I had no choice but to kill him.
“Sure, if it worked once, try it again. You should know by now that this strategy isn’t going to work everytime. You can’t make exceptions constantly. One day, they’ll catch on to your deception. Who’ll be laughing then?”
The Crimson Mask was satisfied, he had seen enough. With no real reason to stick around, he snuck from pillar to pillar, keeping an eye out for Strong Hoof. It was reasonable to assume they were both protected by their magic deflecting necklace. After all, they were intruding on the propriety of two unicorns.
A lone unicorn stallion wouldn’t fare well against a giant earth pony stallion. If Applejack could leave a nasty bruise on his hoof, then Strong Hoof would simply smash it to pieces in just one blow. All the more reasons to leave before he is spotted.
“Fancy Pants? Who are these ponies?”
Everypony inside the back hall froze. Fleur-de-lis was there, lingering above the staircase, her hooves perched on the guardrails. Fancy Pants noticed the displeased glint in the giant’s eyes and began to panic.
“Th-They’re just friends, miss Fleur. We were having a friendly chat in here.”
The shadows covered Strong Hoof’s eyes, making it impossible to know how he was feeling.
As for the Crimson Mask, he hid behind the mare, thankful that her attention was directed only towards Strong Hoof. Without him, she’d have spotted him, and things would have gotten ugly. The white stallion of all ponies would react with extreme violence should he see the mask. However, his cloak was getting in the way of his hooves, making it arduous to sneak without tripping on it.
Then, Strong Hoof smiled. He let out a bone chilling laugh meant to clearly sound casual. “I must say, mister Fancy Pants is quite the interesting pony to chat with. I learn something new every time I speak with him. But do pardon our ‘intrusion’ tonight, we only came for the wine.” He raised his head slightly, the shadows leaving his face to reveal two eyes that were irked with this fancy talk. His smile even faltered a bit.
Dreamcatcher took off to reach Fleur-de-lis's eye level. “We heard from folks that you had a wine cellar. We’d like to have a taste of one of your wine bottles.”
Behind the mare, the Crimson Mask doubled his efforts to get away. Should this pegasus approach the unicorn, he’ll be spotted. He’s not even sure if he can outrun Strong Hoof. As his speed increased, so did the risks. His hooves kept getting caught in the cloak. Despite this, he accelerated whilst making sure he made as little sound as possible. In a cruel twist of fate, his body pulled too hard, his hoof weighing down on the cloak. The resulting pull tore off a piece of the cloak, producing a sound loud enough for Fleur-de-lis to notice.
She turned around and her startled eyes met the cold ones of the mask. In the split-second that followed, the two ponies’s hearts stopped. Fleur-de-lis shrieked, almost tripping on the railing. The Crimson Mask growled and took off galloping.
“There’s an intruder!” Dreamcatcher announced, her brows furrowing.
Downstairs, Strong Hoof grimaced. His scarlet eyes turned a bloodier shade of red. “Oh, you are a dead pony!”
"Wahoo!" With one powerful leap, he reached the upper floor and took off running. His heavy weight forced him to only trot at a faster pace than average, but it was more than enough to catch the fleeing intruder. Bigger means faster, this intruder can’t outrun him.
The Crimson Mask cursed his injury that was slowing him down. His chest felt like it was tearing itself apart from the pressure of running. To buy some time, he fired a spell at the floor behind him, turning the corridor into an icy arena. It doesn’t matter how big or fast you are, nopony is immune to sliding. Nopony except pegasi, but the light blue mare wasn’t his concern.
Strong Hoof tripped as expected. Losing his balance, he slid across the corridor, unable to get back on his four hooves. He eventually smashed into the wall, sending rows upon rows of brick tumbling on him.
The cloaked stallion took advantage of this small distraction to bust into Fancy Pants’s office, heading straight for the window that’ll get him out of here. He unlocked it and climbed back to the roof; the one place Strong Hoof couldn’t reach him without breaking the entire rooftop.
The white coated giant stuck his head the window like a periscope. He swung left and right, unable to find the intruder.
“Looking for me?”
Strong Hoof looked behind him, now noticing the masked stallion standing above him on the roof. His cloak followed the gust of the wind, revealing the scarred body underneath.
“Crimson Mask, it seems the boss was right all along. You-” his eyes rested upon the scars. In that moment, he realised who was currently taunting him. “Looking Glass... it seems the boss failed in humbling you, twice. You’ve become more arrogant than ever.”
“I’d say he’s the arrogant one. I’ll put an end to your chaotic crusade and restore peace in Equestria.” Looking Glass coldly stated.
“Let me correct my previous statement, idiota. You’re egotistical.”
The cloaked stallion jumped in front of Strong Hoof, slowing his fall with a minor levitation spell. “I back my words with facts. You’re just a barking dog.” Who failed to kill a filly.
Strong Hoof gritted his teeth, pulling his head back inside. “This dog does bite, and he knows a thing or two about crushing bones.”
Landing on the ground, Looking Glass wasted no time leaving the courtyard. He only stopped galloping once he was in the dimly lit streets of the city.
“Smooth moves, detective. You have pizzazz, I’ll give you that.” The ghost reappeared, chuckling as the dark blue unicorn took off his cloak and mask, replacing them with a suit and a top hat. He hid the two items inside a nearby saddlebag he hid.
I have discovered Strong Hoof’s appearance tonight. I don’t know who that mare was, but I’ll remember her face just in case she turns out to be important to this case. Light blue coat, dark blue hair, freckles... Noted. I must return home, without being seen by anypony. Looking Glass slept like a foal this night, he wasn’t out in the streets.
The ground rumbled, a small puddle of water on the ground creating waves. Looking Glass gazed behind, seeing the dark silhouette of a giant pony slowly coming to view. He's coming for me.
“Where you’re running off to, detective? Heh, running only means you’ll die tired.” Even inside the great city of Canterlot, Strong Hoof had no fear. With the necklace on, he was nearly indestructible. Looking Glass had to lose him as fast as possible, or else he’ll be pummeled to death by the giant who took down an entire train with a headbutt.
The detective ran down an alley, catching the attention of his pursuer. The white earth pony chuckled, following his prey down the tight alley. “Let’s fight, loser buys the first round.”
I can’t leave these tight alleys, otherwise he’ll have plenty of space to catch up. Better stay in enclosed spaces where he can’t reach his top speed. I’ll have to find a way to lose him.
Looking Glass sprinted throughout the narrow alleyways of Canterlot, knocking over barrels and trash bins along the way in a last-ditch attempt to slow his pursuer down. Despite being unable to run in there, Strong Hoof was still slowly closing the gap. His thick skin brushed against the stones of the buildings around him, they scratched at him, but he refused to slow down. Strong Hoof wasn’t the type to give up the chase so easily.
His giant hooves crushed the obstacles thrown his way with relative ease. The detective began to wonder if there were any materials on Equestria that could even withstand this giant’s strength. Reaching an intersection, the unicorn winced. He could buy himself some time there, or even lose his pursuer.
At said intersection, he casted a teleportation spell, making it impossible from Strong Hoof’s perspective to see which route he took. Under stressful circumstances, a unicorn struggles to cast a spell, for it requires concentration. For Looking Glass, however, he fortified his mind so that no stressful situation can get the better of him.
Now gone, Strong Hoof stopped at the intersection. “Where’re you running of to, smarty pants? I found you once, I’ll find you again!” His eyes shifted from the three possible alleys the detective could have taken. Nopony was in any of them. Gritting his teeth, he took one alley at random and shuffled around.
What he did not know, was that Looking Glass merely teleported to the roof of one of the buildings, watching from above. Crawl back to the shadows. I’ll come back for you later.
Wings flapped above, catching the dark blue stallion’s attention. Dreamcatcher was darting the city in search of him too, or perhaps of her companion that took off running.
I should go back to the streets, while they’ve lost me.
Minutes later, Looking Glass arrived home. Now locked behind the safety of his door, he headed to his bed and calmly stepped in. The mask made him feel powerful. Not because he was stronger, no, but because he had complete freedom over his course of action. As long as he had it, there were no reasons to fear these wretched ponies.
The stallion placed the mask inside a nearby drawer and turned off the dimly lit lamp on his night table, ready to go back to sleep as if nothing happened that night.