//------------------------------// // 35. Don't Get Too Comfortable // Story: Never Alone // by JeSuisLaPorte //------------------------------// At the dead of night, inside Canterlot’s abandoned caverns, Looking Glass could immediately tell his gut feeling was correct. The air in there was oppressive, heavy, ominous. Many of the crystals had already been mined out, casting the place in darkness. If he didn’t have magic, he’d be forced to turn back.  The glow from his horn was the only source of light in this abyss that kept on descending further and further in the core of Equestria. The sound of his hooves banging on the rocky ground echoed, compromising his hearing. Looking Glass stopped, satisfied of his thoughtfulness to bring some boots to muffle the sounds.  Being harder to detect, he confidently snuck down until he saw a faint light in the distance. Then it turned to multiple lights. His eyes opened ever so slightly at the fantastical sight before him. A town, underneath the very pillars of Canterlot. The unicorn stared in awe, his horn powering down. For a brief moment, a shiver crawled up his spine.  Anarchy was far more dangerous than he could have ever imagined. Nopony before has ever hid this well from the royal sisters, much less this close to them! If that mad stallion was not taken care of this instant, it could prove fatal to Equestria.   With a fiery look in his eyes, Looking Glass picked up the pace. Throughout the journey, the ghost was there, but silent. The detective glanced over him occasionally, wondering when he’ll say something, but the moment never came.  In fact, it looked like it wouldn’t come this night. The ghost’s jaw hung open, hanging by a thread. His crimson eyes locked on the dimly lit town that eluded him for years. Tonight, he learned just how outmatched he was by his rival, and it made him speechless for the first time.  Beneath the mask, Looking Glass sweat. No doubt was his plan risky, but if he can put an end to this madness tonight, so be it. The muffle sound of his hoofsteps ensured he wouldn’t be detected amidst all the noise that came from the town.  Murmurs, screams, music and laughs, these bandits were having a lot of fun in spite of their location. Looking Glass growled underneath his emotionless mask. The hostages were there, but how many the Anarchists had remained a mystery. All that was sure, was that he couldn’t save them all, not right now.  The biggest problem in his mission so far was finding his target. Some buildings were properly titled such as the bar, the restrooms and the hotel... The unicorn stopped and stared, bewildered to find a three-star hotel underground. The sheer ridiculousness of the idea was par for the course with Anarchy. For authenticity's sake, he even plastered some bad reviews on the front door.  The rooms are fairly decent, nicely cleaned but I can’t for the life of me willy my little wonka in peace with all this noise!  “How elegant...” Looking Glass groaned.  As he snuck past the looming residents of the town, the unicorn came to the realisation that Anarchy was again one step ahead of him. All the important buildings were built differently and titled, but not the evil stallion’s home. His house looks the same as all the other homes, making the search harder. The monster must have predicted something like this would happen eventually.  Well then, if he doesn’t know the way, he can just ask for directions. Looking Glass settled on a house that had some muffled noise leaking through the open window. Foolish. He thought as he climbed to the top with a simple suction spell applied to his boot. Silent and effective.  Reaching inside, his brows furrowed. He was peeking into a bedroom, a very messy one. Dust covered the floor where it’s resident clearly hasn’t step hoof in. The trashcan was full of tissues and has evidently, not been cleaned for more than a week. The bed was in complete disarray, with pillows and sheets touching the dusty ground. The stallion owning this place couldn’t have been more disgusting in his eyes.  However, what ticked him off the most was the beaten mare cowering before the stallion pegasus. From the window, he could see a couple of burns on her flank. In the blink of an eye, he hopped inside, an amber light burning underneath his crimson mask.      “Now then, how many times have I told you to be quiet? The boss cannot know that any of this is happening because let me tell you; if he finds out, I’m going to kill you... and I'm going to make it hurt.”  The poor mare sniffled, her voice croaking as she responded. “Y-Yes. I won’t beg anymore...” She had to hold the strong urge to break down into tears before him, or else it’ll only make him feel more powerful.  The sick stallion grinned. “Oh, that’s good. That’s really good. Now, how about we give it another go? I’m still feeling a little restless.”  The bruised mare’s eyes widened, her pupils turning to pinpricks. Her tail instinctively covered her flank as she backed away from her captor. More tears welled in her eyes. “N-Now?” she said, her voice barely audible past a simple whisper.  “Oh yeah, now, baby. Now...” The stallion grinned as he made every step, he took deliberately slow and menacing. Simply from the looks in his eyes gave it all away; he was reveling in her terror.  The beige mare blinked, something appeared before the stallion. Something that didn’t look quite like a pony. Her mouth opened in a mixture of confusion and fear, quivering too much to let out a single word. As her captor tilted his head, she got a better view of it.   It didn’t have the face of a pony.  Her eyes were glued to this shadowy apparition. Her fear of this ghastly being overshadowed that of the filthy stallion. “Hey, whatcha looking at?”  She remained silent, frozen in fear. That thing was real, it casted shadows around the room. And now, it’s shadow engulfed that of the stallion. It’s pointy ears and abnormally long muzzle painting the walls black.  Her captor finally took notice of this otherworldly creature, his pupil turning to pinpricks. They were now just as terrified as the mare. His mighty hooves were trembling like a terrified filly’s. “Wh-What the fu-”  “Hey...”  It spoke, the abomination spoke!  “Where’s Anarchy?”  Her puny captor spun around, gasping loudly. He tried to reach for the knife resting on his bed but was stopped by his own metal trash can flying straight into his face with a sickening crunch. The resulting impact obliterated his lower jaw, now dangling helplessly from his face. Blood poured down his neck as he fell, defeated but not dead as indicated by the twitching of his legs.   Now, she was all alone in the dark, a monster looming above her. Its voice was deep, growly and beastly. It ordered her to get up, and so she did. Her flank was still hurting but despite the pain, she remained in place, her face unable to stop cringing.  “Where’s Anarchy?” it repeated.  The beige mare opened her mouth, but the words just wouldn’t come through. “I-I-I, uh, wh-who...”  “Purple coat, green mane and a sickening smile.” The figure growled, although it sounded less menacing this time.  Fighting her tears, she was able to give an answer. “On the far-right end of the town. I-I don’t know which house but-”  “I see. If they question you, tell them the Crimson Mask said hi.”      “Did you feel that? It was fear.”  Looking Glass winced, the ghost was talking again, its disfigured appearance still irking the stallion. He returned from his trance to once again spew bile in his ears. Never listen, never try to understand his dark speeches. “No admiration, no worship, Looking Glass, fear... It’s more wonderful than any respect you can earn otherwise. With fear, you can make anypony do what you want.” The spectre’s ghastly maw opened to reveal dozens of mouths whispering from the abyss the word “fear”.  The unicorn sighed, resuming his stealth mission around the town. He had a lead, a vague one but it would take him closer to his target. Anarchy may be smart, but he’ll always make a show of himself. His position will naturally reveal itself to him, it was just a matter of time. During the trip, his muzzle pulled back in disgust. Many of the ponies there smelt terrible. Not surprising considering building showers in secrecy would be difficult, more so than constructing an entire town.   “You are still repulsed by the mask, as they all are. Your perception of it is... flawed, to put it nicely.” The ghost’s hollow eyes widened, creating new sets of teeth for him to speak with. “You all think the crimson mask offers you nothing but power, destruction, evil but the truth is... it’s so much more than that. With the mask, a world of possibilities opens to you. With it, you’ll find salvation in your right hoof... destruction in your left hoof.”  Looking Glass suctioned himself to another building and climbed up to a window, making sure if it was Anarchy’s home. It was not, sadly.    Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadddd!    Startled by the scream, the vigilante nearly lost his grip. He ducked for cover as soon as he landed on the ground.    She’s One Bad Mare!    Looking Glass relaxed, realising that the sound came from a radio. Oh, just another Jolly Melody song.  With the number of houses he had to search, Looking Glass chose to further investigate, starting with that prison area on a nearby cliff.  Sneaking in, he already made note of the foul smell in there. To be more precise, that smell came from the cells. That prison looked big on the outside, but it was nothing but a long corridor with a few rooms sparkled in there. Turning the corner, the masked vigilante spotted something worthy of a red alert, Strong Hoof accompanied by a pegasus mare and a unicorn stallion.  The dangerous trio was trotting from cell to cell, peeking inside until they stopped at a particular one. Strong Hoof ordered the unicorn to open it and he went inside.  From his position, Looking Glass could barely hear their voices, but he sure heard the one of the stallion in the cell next to him.  “Wh-Who are you?”  Looking Glass flinched, turning all his attention onto the potential danger. He had been spotted by a black pegasus with his wings tied to his torso. He looked afraid, probably because of the crimson mask.  “None of your concern.” Looking Glass looked back at the trio in the far end of the corridor. The two smaller ponies waited out the cell while Strong Hoof was talking to the captive inside. The unicorn wished he could get closer, but if he did, he’d lose the safety of the corner. There was nowhere to hide in this prison.  “H-Have you seen a mare with broken wings? She has a pinkish gray coat too.”  Disgruntled, Looking Glass backed off to the corner. “I have heard of such a pony on the news. Last I heard, she was comatose in Canterlot’s hospital.”  The stallion breathed a sigh of relief, the weak joy in his face brought a sense of accomplishment in the detective. It was better than nothing. Still, with no other option, Looking Glass left the prison before they could spot him but just before he could, he noticed something. Resting on a nearby table was a small book. Inspecting its content revealed the inner workings of the prison and the transfers of the prisoners inside. The detective got a bright idea and, checking the cell area to make sure nopony was coming, he took off his mask and grabbed a pencil with his mouth. He scribbled pointless information about the prison, and some big stuff about the false Crimson Mask. His magic writing was different than his mouth writing, it was prettier for starters and easier to read. He never wrote anything with his mouth ever since he learned levitation as a colt. In a few minutes, he finished this task. It would prove itself valuable in the coming days.     “What are these bruises?” Strong Hoof stood high above the cowering mare. The pony hid her face behind her hooves, trembling. She was covered in bruises and lacerations. Some wounds were still bleeding.  “T-They’re nothing...”  Unconvinced, the giant stallion gazed at his comrades. They shook their heads. “Nothing left these marks? Now that’s quite the whimsical explanation. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind, we just want to know the honest truth.” Strong Hoof softened his voice and sat down, hoping it would make him seem less threatening. Gathering information from frightened ponies wasn’t his forte but he knew how to do it thanks to Anarchy’s guidance.  The beaten mare stared horrified at the ground for what felt like minutes. “I, uh... I tripped during one of my tasks and hurt myself. Th-That's all.”  Strong Hoof reared his head back and sighed loudly. “What part of ‘honest truth’ don’t you understand? Just tell us who gave you these bruises already. We’re no fools!” He stomped his hoof in a commanding way, startling the mare into complying.  She gave them a physical description, which was enough for them to pin down the identity of the pony they were looking for. “So that’s Weasel, huh? Cracker, report it to the boss. He’ll pop the weasel later.”  He lingered his gaze on the poor mare, dark thoughts swirling in his mind.  The captives? Oh, I know you’re not too pleased with idea, buddy but I assure you, I don’t intend to hurt them at all. I remember how we first met, and you know I promised you only those who deserve to die will suffer. These ponies are just a diversion in our plan, that’s all. Of course, I’m no fool and so are you. We both know our stallions won’t be on their best behavior around the mares so... It’s your job to ensure our prisoners suffer no harm, because if they do, it’ll jeopardise our plan.  Strong Hoof left the cell, reassured. Unlike these filth, he has a vision. One that’ll promise us justice.        Moving on to the next, Looking Glass’s gaze rested upon a peculiar pony. The same mare that was in the prison previously. One with a dreamcatcher for a cutie mark. A dreamcatcher, in a group where the leader cherishes the princess of the night...  “You’ll come around, eventually.”  Lurking in the dark, Looking Glass approached the unsuspecting mare while she was out having a drink alone. Her expression reeked of nonchalance. Just goes to show how safe they all believe they are. But tonight, this town won’t be such a safe haven. Not when the Crimson Mask is in town.  In one swift motion, like a predator catching its prey, Looking Glass’s hooves slithered to her neck and pulled with all the strength of an angry bear. The light blue pegasus dropped her drink and got on her hind legs, hitting at the strong limb wrapped around her neck. She tried to call for help, but all that came of her mouth were garbled shouts.  Looking Glass’s amber eyes lit up like a raging fire with every new ounce of strength he found to strangle her. Her cutie mark was a clear indicator of her importance to Anarchy. She had to be one of his lieutenants, or at the very least, a powerful pony in his entourage. As such, his will grew more powerful in accordance with his choke hold.  The ghost cackled in his ears, his jaw unhinging to reveal a hundred laughing skulls of deceased ponies. “Feel it, feel the power coursing through your veins! With each pull, you grow stronger. Keep going, keep going until the deed is done.”  Dreamcatcher’s struggle began to dwindle, her hits losing power at a rapid pace. She was losing strength, and he was gaining it. Next, her hind legs gave under the pressure and no matter how much effort she put, they couldn’t get her to stand again.  “As you have spilled mine, bask in her blood. Take the next step and claim the prize.”  The mare’s garbled cries soon came to an end, her hooves dropping to the ground, but Looking Glass didn’t stop. He didn’t stop, his mind devoided of any thoughts. Like a robot, he was accomplishing his task, and he was seeing it to the very end.  “Finish it.”  Beneath his mask, the unicorn’s amber eyes widened. His grip loosened, his face frozen in shock. His mask’s mouth hung open. The ghost stared at the fallen mare, smirking. Looking Glass lifted his hooves to his face, they were trembling. For the first time in forever, the detective was shaking with fear. “N-No... I couldn’t have.” His eyes lowered to the pegasus, his face blanched.  He quickly pressed his ear to her heart and listened intently. It beated still, refusing to die. Breathing heavily, he took his head off her unconscious body and removed the mask, wiping the sweat off his forehead before putting it back on.  “Disappointing, again.” The ghost growled.  Never before has he come this close to losing it all. He leaned on the wall of the nearest house, taking slow and controlled breaths. This breathing exercise helped immensely. In a matter of seconds, his gaze of steel returned, and so did his determination. “Never again.”  “Tss, don’t be so sure.”      He finally did it, he found Anarchy’s office. Just as expected, it looked mundane on the outside. The evil stallion truly planned it all, but nothing can protect him from gossip. I found you. It’s time to end this, Anarchy.  Looking Glass gritted his teeth, his powerful eyes focusing on being in the moment. No more room for thinking, doubts and the future. All that mattered was winning this fight and beheading the purple devil.  To his shock, the door creaked open, an emerald glow surrounding it.     Why do you persist?  We both know that fighting me is meaningless   So, how should you choose to continue?    He winced, preparing himself for an incoming attack. When nothing came, he chose to enter through the front door. After all, if he was already aware of his presence then, what was the point in sneaking through the window? Angelic voices joined the ominous singing.    Hear the screams of thousands of ponies  Joining in one chorus, telling you to turn back  Before you drop like a filly  Can't you see you'll never make it?     Looking Glass stopped to analyse his surroundings. Anarchy’s voice came from every direction. Another spell to hide his presence, no doubt. The purple unicorn was an expert in the art of concealing.  The monster’s office was relatively simple in appearance. A singular desk sat on the other end; a chair pushed all the way to the wall. A beautiful painting of Nightmare Moon hung on the wall behind the desk. Then, there was the odd door to the left of the painting. The crimson masked detective couldn’t take his eyes off it. That door screamed bad news.  “You’re behind the desk.” he announced confidently, his voice was strong like steel.  “What? Naaaah!”  Looking Glass sighed. “The chair is pushed against the wall, leaving you enough space to hide behind the desk.”  Anarchy popped up from behind the desk, cackling. “Scurry, scurry, here comes Anarchy! The one and only, here to make some noise!” The unicorn, however, didn’t move one inch. The mask hid any emotion he could be expressing. For Anarchy, it took away a bit of the fun in the confrontation.   Behind the mask, however, Looking Glass was profoundly shocked by the new appearance of his nemesis. He could already tell this stallion was stronger than before. It’s not going to be an easy fight. I do at least have the mask as an advantage. I’ll have to end this quick, strike when he isn’t prepared.  “Well, you’re here so why don’t we start the show already? None of my ponies knows we’re about to tussle.” Anarchy’s gaze, despite its nonchalance, was clearly focused on him. The purple unicorn was on high alert.  Looking Glass took one step towards his nemesis, his voice turning to a growl. “Do you know what your ponies are doing to their captives?” Behind the mask, he glared.  “Oh noes, are they doing something unsavory? Of course I know what’s going on!” Anarchy trotted up to a dashboard. “Look here, on the left is the name of all the ponies I'm not going to, em, cull when the time comes and on the right are those who are worthy of serving a future king.” Seeing the complete lack of reaction from his opponent, the dark unicorn laughed.  “Don’t you see? I’m a stallion with standards! Anarchy doesn’t bite, that’s why the prisoners are not afraid of. Quite the contrary, my moronic followers speak so much of how much I'm going to punish them if I catch them in the act that my very own captives are praying for me to swoop in and save the day!” Anarchy erupted into an uncontrollable laughing fit, coughing in pain occasionally.  “So? Are you doing something about it?” Looking Glass growled, his amber eyes shining through the dark pupils of the mask.  Anarchy levitated a cup of blood and drank it all in one sip. “Sometimes I do it because it’s funny to see these guys pissing themselves! However, I do need some ponies for my endgame, so my hooves are rather tied at the moment. If you want to do something about it, by all means... go do it.” The purple stallion shuffled closer to that mysterious door.  Looking Glass gasped, his horns lit up with immense power as shown by the crimson aura of his magic. But before he could fire a deadly spell, Anarchy bucked the door down and showed its content to him. A bound and gagged mare, staring back in terror and incomprehension. The unicorn struggled against her bonds, whimpering.  The purple stallion quickly placed himself behind her, lifting the mare up to cover his whole body. Only a small portion of his head peeked out. “Well well, looks like I was one jump ahead of you, again! Come on, try to shoot me down, you’ll just kill this poor mare!”  The mare’s eyes widened, and she let out a muffled whimper. On close inspection, Looking Glass could see she was missing her cutie mark, replaced by a bloody spot. Anarchy grinned, baring his bloody teeth. “Only meat can sustain me.”  Looking Glass’s horn did not stop powering up. His brows furrowed and his teeth clenched. But then, he remembered the mare with the dreamcatcher cutie mark, and his resolve waned. The horn’s power died down.  Anarchy chuckled, poking his head out. He was not on high alert anymore. “Oh how precious, he got owned just like la- OH SHIT!” The dark unicorn fell on his back, barely avoiding a magic laser of doom. The laser grazed his eye, hit the wall behind him and melted it. At least, he still held the mare tightly during his fall.  "You're a back-poking snake, and by Celestia you'll die like one." Looking Glass didn’t dare to follow up, not when the stallion’s meat shield was still in the way. He used the down time to reposition himself behind the desk, where he had cover.  “Okay, when did you learn to use dirty tricks on me?” Anarchy grumbled, struggling to stand on his hind leg with the mare in his grasp. His singular eye was oozing with blood. In that moment, the new height of the monstrous pony was made obvious. He was taller, but not by much. Just enough to pose a slight problem in hoof-to-hoof combat. Anarchy was lankier, that extra range was bad for the masked vigilante, really bad. “I won’t let that trick work a second time, or will I?” Shockingly, his eye regenerated. The desk was flipped over, providing better cover. Looking Glass peeked to the side, where only a small portion of his head was visible. In that position, he was as protected as his nemesis. Only a killing blow will work on him... Anarchy hummed a tune as he paced around the room in circle. When he got too far, the masked vigilante’s horn glowed and fired a melting beam of laser, barely scraping his face. “Okay, I guess this is as far as I can go.” Through his grin, the evil stallion glowered the unicorn for being too quick on his hooves. Even from this position he had no clear shot.  “Well then, we’ll call it a draw. I’ll...” His gaze wandered to a nearby window. “let you go, and you’ll let me go. How’s that for a trade?”  Behind his mask, Looking Glass’s brows furrowed. He saw the stallion slowly scurry towards the closed window. “Take another step, and I’ll shoot. It won’t matter who I hit; I’ll fire without hesitation.”  Anarchy stopped, slightly peeking through his hostage. He quickly remembered that looking at his opponent’s face was futile, because he can’t see through a mask. Whether the vigilante was bluffing was up in the air. “Okay then... I guess we’ll be staying like this forever, or until one of us starve to death. Guess who will die first.”  Looking Glass repositioned himself on the other end of the table so that he could keep an eye on the window. “Don’t try it.” he growled.  “Try what?” Anarchy opened his mouth slowly and moved up to the mare’s neck. The poor pony whimpered when she felt his teeth closing in on her. “Thish?”  The Crimson Mask was fuming, lighting up his horn to take another shot when the earth rumbled. A loud roar shook the very foundation of the underground town, startling the two hardened unicorns.  “The hay was that?”  Anarchy lost his grin in an instant. He scurried over to the window and peeked through it, completely ignoring his adversary. “Oh shit Strong Hoof’s angry... OH SHIT STRONG HOOF’S ANGRY!”  Looking Glass gritted his teeth and took his shot. The laser hit Anarchy right in the eye, causing enough damage for him to drop his meat shield. “Now are you trying to piss me off, Lo- Crimson Mask! I probably gotta tell you that we shouldn’t be having tunnel vision right now.” He clenched his empty eye, blood pouring down from his hoof. “Strong Hoof is pissed off, and that’s OUR problem!”  The building shook, another loud roar unnerved them. That voice was clearly that of a giant stallion, but it lacked any thought or emotion behind it other than rage.  Down there, all the ponies ran around in a blind panic. Strong Hoof stood over the unconscious body of Dreamcatcher; his pupils now gone. He stomped the ground, shaking the earth as he flailed his head around in all directions.  Anarchy opened the window. “Hey, what’s gotten into you? You-” He paused, noticing Dreamcatcher. O-Oh shit.   Strong Hoof growled, turning his attention to the purple stallion. He was seeing red, no thoughts or reason coursed through him anymore. The earth pony screamed, sounding like a mindless zombie as he charged at the building.  “We gotta get out of here!” Anarchy shouted, falling back from the open window. Before any of the ponies inside could flee, the building exploded in a shower of debris.  Looking Glass levitated both himself and the bound mare whilst Anarchy simply landed on his hooves like a cat. As the rain of debris came to an end, the three found themselves face-to-face with a living tank, and it was angry, terribly angry.  Anarchy dove in front of Looking Glass with the angriest face he could have ever mustered. “Well, great job, asshat. You’ve enraged Strong Hoof, now he’s going to kill literally everypony in here. That includes you, I'm not letting you off the hook.”  Strong Hoof roared again, digging his hooves in the ground. He then effortlessly dug out a boulder to throw at his targets.  Before the giant slab of stone, Anarchy teleported himself away, but Looking Glass wasn’t so lucky. Becaise of the helpless mare, he was forced him to conjure a shield around them. A shield that proved to be ineffective at protecting them from the sheer strength of the giant’s throw. It cracked in a million pieces and launched the unicorn and the mare far away.  Strong Hoof charged the vigilante down, thankfully ignoring the bound mare. Squinting, Looking Glass noticed the lack of a necklace. He focused his efforts on levitating the monster, stopping him momentarily. The beast roared as it lost control of his course, now sent flying through a building.  “Fillies and gentlecolts! I’m happy to announce that whoever kills this crimson masked individual gets a very special prize! And yes, it’s more than just cash.” The crazy stallion levitated an electric guitar to him and began to play an ominous tune that further empowered the intimidating appearance of the giant. “Let’s hear it folks for the Midnight Tank!”   That bastard! He’s using this situation to put me on the ropes again. As he got up, Looking Glass felt his side being incinerated by his wound. Damn it, I haven’t fully healed yet. If I take one more hit like that, it’ll be the end of me. I must focus on escaping now.  Up on a nearby building, Anarchy grinned as he watched Strong Hoof roar. The furious stallion charged back again, dead set on pulverising the much smaller unicorn by comparison. Maybe we do have this under control!  His lackeys arrived not long after his announcement, but they were reluctant to get any closer to the two combatants, especially after seeing the look in the goliath's eyes. The most they did was forming a circle around them, creating a constricted battle arena to cheer the giant on. Not very impressive, Anarchy certainly thought so.  Dodging another attack, the vigilante finally delivered a counter-strike to the goliath's hind leg. It barely made him flinch. To him, the strike was a mere love tap, but it was enough to send him into a frenzy. Strong Hoof roared furiously, his mouth foaming as the sound that came from his mouth sounded like a revving chainsaw. His head jerked around like a flailing snake, nearly snapping his own neck as his pupils rose all the way up his bloodshot eyes. As he gazed into the jaws of the beast, Looking Glass surprisingly found himself shivering, his body hunched like a hissing cat. He remembered what these teeth did to his partner, how it crushed his bones and tore his head off. That... thing. It was no pony. It was truly a monster. The dark blue unicorn backed off, intimidated. Attacking the head is not a good idea either. I am defenseless against Strong Hoof. I can only choose flight in this situation. “Come on boys, don’t be shy. Jump in the fray!” To help convince them, Anarchy began to shoot lasers at his own ponies until they complied.  “Now that’s more like it!”  Looking Glass searched around until he found the exit behind the gathered crowd. It was far off, but reachable given the right circumstances. Good, now I must lose him somehow.  He lit up his horn, but Strong Hoof was faster. He smashed the ground with enough power to send rubble flying towards the unicorn. The giant closed the gap quickly and bucked the air, cracking it like a whip. Despite his large size, he was as quick as a fox.  The resulting sound nearly busted the eardrums of the crowd. For Looking Glass, the strike nearly gave him a heart attack. He remembered the news about the train robbery and that sent a shiver up his spine.  This is too much power. It was tough enough to block Applejack’s swing but him, he’s on a different level.  Distracted by the giant, Looking Glass didn’t see a stallion coming up behind him. The pony grabbed him, restraining his movement. “I got him! Go get his ass!” He shouted to his partner.  Hm...  A strong looking earth pony rushed him down, lifting his hind legs to buck the restrained unicorn. But before the blow was struck, Looking Glass casted a cheeky spell, rendering him temporarily intangible. As a result, the strong stallion only succeeded in cracking his friend’s rib cage. To thank him for his efforts, the vigilante brought him to his knees with a quick and precise kick, then followed up by smashing his face into the rocky floor.  Anarchy let out a hearty laugh. “Ooh, you’re gonna need a dentist appointment. Lucky you, we have a Canterlot above us! It’ll just take a thirty-minute trip.”  Setting his gaze back on the giant, he motioned the beast to come for him.  Strong Hoof growled and bucked again. His hoof struck the air and left a crack in it.  Everypony stopped cheering, awestruck. The crack in the air widened and widened until... it exploded in a strong gust of wind that sent dozens of ponies flying to their death, splattering on the walls and ceilings like tomatoes, letting the red rain drop down on the purple unicorn.  “Hm, that’s three on my ‘to kill’ list down. Nicely done, Strong Hoof!” Anarchy complimented from the luxury of the rooftop, opening his mouth wide to drink as many of the drops as possible.  Pissed off, a group of criminals charged the vigilante down, throwing wild haymakers and bucks all over the place. The few unicorns threw rocks at him to throw off his game. Can’t let my eyes off Strong Hoof.  Sound idea considering the giant galloped towards him, oblivious to his comrades’ positions. Looking Glass casted a powerful light spell to blind the beast and rolled away at the last moment, finding some satisfaction in seeing the giant tackle the criminals away like ragdolls.  I’ve figured out how to leave. It’s time to initiate my escape plan.  Looking Glass paced around the giant, positioning himself towards the exit. He occasionally glanced at the ponies on the ground, making sure none of them would interrupt his plan.  Strong Hoof breathed heavily through his clenched teeth, growling in rage. He backed away from Looking Glass, and headbutted the air, his head stopping against a big crack. The ponies behind the vigilante panicked and fled, stepping over each other.  This is my chance... not now.  The crack widened, and widened until...  Not now...  It exploded in another strong gust of wind that sent him flying away directly in the direction he wanted. He used a levitating spell to slow down his trajectory as the exit came closer.  Slowly...  His body came dangerously close to a rocky wall and bumped softly against it.  There!  Landing on all four, he fled the caverns, not daring to look once behind. The roars of the enraged stallion echoed throughout the dark caves, the only indicator he had of how far he was getting from the town.  "Dammit... Well, show's over, everypony on clean-up duty!" He kept on running, ignoring the burning charcoal in his side and the voice of the ghost until he was outside. Canterlot was still far away but at least, he was finally out of this nightmarish place. Looking Glass removed the crimson mask and sighed. It felt good to breathe in some fresh air in the safe comfort of the moonlight.  I have discovered a lot in this town but sadly I can’t incarcerate anypony. I don’t have any strong evidence. If they question these ponies further, they’ll learn I’m the Crimson Mask. However, I can use what I’ve learned here to organise a raid with Princess Luna’s approval. Hm, that’ll be the safest course of action.  We need to cut the head of the snake as quickly as possible.