//------------------------------// // The original Cutie Mark Crusader // Story: Nightwing // by ZettaGolden //------------------------------// “He doesn’t have anybody?” “I don’t believe so, your highness. Mr. and Mrs. Grayson never mentioned any relatives, and Dick… hasn’t been up to talking to anybody yet.” “I see… Thank you, ringmaster.” “Please, Princess,” he said with a bow, “Call me Big Top,” Princess Celestia reflected on how much larger the colossal tent looked now that it was so empty. Only a forensics team, Big Top, Dick, and Princess Celestia remained inside. The princess sighed deeply, and made her way over to the stands at the far end of the tent where the last Grayson sat with a blank stare. He hadn’t cried, and Celestia was worried about him. Keeping this kind of pain inside himself could end up destroying the dark-haired little boy in front of her. “Hey there,” she began as softly as she could as she reached him, “do you mind if I take a seat?” Richard, for a moment, didn’t move a muscle, and just stared blankly ahead of him. Then, slowly, he raised his gaze to meet hers. Even without entering his mind, she could plainly see the maelstrom of hurt and anger that he was containing, a silent storm that was ravaging his soul. “I know who did this.” Celestia’s expression flickered from pity to concern for a moment, before she sat down next to him and placed her arm tenderly around his shoulders. “Dick… It’s Dick, right?” He considered correcting her, but decided not to. His mother always called him Dick. Instead, he just nodded. “I’m so, so sorry about what happened here. But while we don’t have any conclusive answers right now, it’s really just looking like an equipment failure.” She paused for a moment, carefully choosing her next words. “Why do you think it’s someone’s fault?” “Earlier… Earlier, I went to see Big Top in his trailer. I was gonna ask if… if you were coming tonight. And I heard shouting. I slipped inside, and I heard Big Top and two other guys, they all sounded so angry. One of the guys, he mentioned a name… Tony Zucco.” Celestia’s eyes widened at the mention of the mob boss, so Dick pressed on. “He threatened Big Top. He said something like ‘it would be a shame if an accident were to happen tonight,’ or something.” The ember of rage that was kindling inside Richard since the incident was now being fuelled by his account to the princess. Surely she, of all people, could do something. “Those men rigged the trapeze. They killed my parents.” “Tony… Zucco?” She asked, speaking slowly. “You’re sure that was the name?” “Positive.” She sighed deeply, and dropped her gaze to the ground. While this may not be the best time to expose the flaws in the Equestrian legal system, she knew that lying to the boy would only come back to bite her. She opened her mouth, fully intending to tell Dick that there was a very small possibility that they would catch him. “… We’ll find him. I promise.” Dick tried to smile, but found that he couldn’t. “Thank you, princess. I knew you would.” Celestia compensated for Richard’s failed grin by giving him a soft smile of her own. “Why don’t you come stay in the castle tonight? You can have one of the guest rooms until we get all of this sorted out.” Richard felt a flash of guilt as he remembered how he had been daydreaming about this very thing happening earlier. Tears welled in his eyes, and he just nodded. “I have to-“ he started, but his voice cracked and he had to stop. Breathing in deeply, he tried again. “I have to go get my stuff…” “Of course,” Celestia responded tenderly. She turned her head to one of the Honour Guard’s watching her and beckoned them over. “My liege?” The white-winged man inquired as he reached them. “Silverbolt, escort young Mr. Grayson here to his trailer to get his things. He will be accompanying us to the castle tonight.” Twilight Sparkle yawned deeply as she took another book off of the sizable stack she had created on her desk. “So dragons can shift between their human and reptile form at will, huh? The more you know.” Her thoughts turned to the little green haired boy in the next bedroom over, and she sighed contentedly. While the pair’s apartment was quite small, they got it for free and it was just a fifteen minute walk from Canterlot Castle where the magically gifted girl spent her days being tutored by Princess Celestia herself. To a bookish girl like Twilight, it felt like she was living a dream. Being given her own home, an assistant, and more audiences with the princess than even some nobles got, she often wondered if it was a dream, and she would soon be rudely shaken awake by her mother. She found herself thinking about the boy that had lived with the princess for two years following the tragedy at the circus. He had been given private lessons, too, and it always irked Twilight how he always seemed to be one step ahead of her when it came to numbers, despite the fact that he hadn’t had any formal schooling. Crossing her arms, she frowned as she remembered Dick Grayson. He was smart, funny, and he was quite the athlete. He had even won awards for being so skilled with numbers, and his grasp of physics and chemistry was astonishing. If Twilight had had any interest in dating back then (or even now, for that matter), she would have been quite smitten with him. But there was always something lurking behind his eyes that had made her uncomfortable, a rising darkness that drove him to obsess over every lesson the princess had imparted on them. His drive to study until he reached perfection was almost as powerful as Twilight’s. Then, one day, he had simply vanished. Gone without a trace. He had such a promising future, too, and Twilight couldn’t help but wonder what had become of him. Was he studying abroad now? Was he working some dead end job? Was he laying face-down in a ditch? Maybe he re-joined that circus. While it had taken a hit at the loss of its most popular act, the show was still wildly popular. Twilight sighed, and brushed some of her purple hair behind her shoulder. She actually kind of missed Richard. He was her only companion other than Spike during her lessons, and the friendly rivalry the two of them had shared gave her motivation to work harder. Vaguely, she wondered if he ever got his cutie mark, and what it was. Maybe that’s why he had left. To find his special talent. Somehow, she doubted it, but it was the only logical explanation. Rubbing her temples, Twilight decided to just give up on her studies for tonight and go to bed. She had gotten too distracted trying to figure out what happened to Richard Grayson, and now couldn’t concentrate. “Well,” She said, rubbing her temples and smirking a bit, “at least the Summer-Sun Celebration is coming up. That’ll probably be kind of fun.” The girl looked out her window, and noted with a squirm of discomfort how there seemed to be a face looking back at her. It had been a while since she read the story of the Girl in the Moon. Yawning, and slipping under her sheets, she decided to re-read the story tomorrow when she had some free time. A little nostalgia never hurt anybody. Dick stared at the photo of him and his parents on his mother’s nightstand, tears forming in his eyes. “Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry…” “Dick…?” Came a voice behind him. He whirled around, wiping the tears from his eyes to see Trixie standing at the door of his trailer. She really needed to stop sneaking up behind him. “Oh… Hey Trix… You did… really well…” He dared not continue, for fear that his voice would crack and it would betray what he was trying to present as a stalwart nature. “Dick…” She just repeated, entering what had once been a place of love and acceptance. Now, it was just an unpleasant reminder that Richard Grayson used to have a family. “I know this doesn’t mean much, but… I’m sorry.” She watched as he dropped his gaze and turned around again, wiping his eyes. “Are you okay…?” “I’m going with Celestia. She invited me to live in her castle until we catch the man who did this.” Trixie felt her heart sink. “You’re leaving?” She asked, beginning to tear up as well. He nodded, still standing with his back to her. “I have to. I have to track down the man who’s responsible for this. Celestia said she would help me.” “But… What about the circus? We still have a show to do in Fillydelphia this season and-“ “Trixie…” He interrupted her with a whisper, “Please… stop.” He turned back around to face her, no longer trying to hide the tears that were coming out. “I need to do this. I need to.” As much as she didn’t want to lose her best friend, Trixie could tell by the tone of his voice that he had already made up his mind. He was going to leave, and he probably would never come back. Running up to him, she threw her arms around Richard and hugged him as tightly as she could. “Trixie! What are you-“ “One more hug,” she whispered, crying now as well. “For luck.” Snow drifted down from the sky, blanketing the mountain top in white. Not that it mattered. The peak of the mountain was high enough that it was covered in snow all year long- the only two people who lived around here didn’t have any need to perform a winter-wrap up. The weather teams had long ago stopped attending to this corner of the world, and so everything that happened here was natural, unpredictable. That was good. Richard Grayson yelled as he lashed out with his foot, fully intending on forcing his adversary to his knees with the quick, methodical strike. The man whom the blow was intended for merely danced out of the way, and delivered a quick backhand to the twenty-year old's face. “Too slow, Dick. You always were.” Panting, Richard recovered from the blow and attempted to get stable footing amongst the snow. He watched as the man circled around him. While Dick Grayson may have spent the last twelve years attempting to become the pinnacle of humanity, mastering one-hundred and twenty seven different forms of martial arts, studying under great escape artists, scientists, and engineers, he had never met an adversary as tough as Master Zen. “Your parents will have died in vain, boy. You let your anger and lust for revenge hijack your senses. Now, come at me!” Richard grunted in frustration and leaped forward, closing the distance between the two. He shot his fist forward, using his momentum to heighten the power behind the blow. His enemy only scoffed at the feeble attempt at a punch and delivered a spinning kick to his mid-section after easily dodging him. Grayson flew backwards, sliding along the snow, and he squirmed in displeasure as it got down his training robes. He attempted to get up, but could only gasp in pain. That last hit had cracked a rib. “Sensei!” He cried, “My chest…” “Do you think the criminals you seek to destroy will show you the same mercy as I? No! Now get up and fight!” Gritting his teeth, Richard stumbled to his feet, clutching the broken rib. His breath came in shallow spurts, creating short, staccato clouds of mist. Glancing around for something to give him an advantage, Dick spotted some long, vicious looking icicles growing from the roof of the small hut the two of them shared. He sprinted over, ran up along the wall of the hut, and gave a great push with his legs, grabbing two of the icicles as he flew through the air. Having mastered the art of Thai-fighting sticks long before he came to Master Zen, he twirled them around in his hands, attempting to intimidate the old, scarred man. The one-winged teacher watched as his student fought through the pain, and resisted the urge to flash him a rare smile, filled with pride. If his son was still alive, Zen imagined that he would have been much like Richard Grayson. The boy was swift, strong, and extraordinarily intelligent. Not to mention he seemed to have a natural aptitude for the martial arts. Dick panted, and his mind raced. He knew that he couldn’t take any more hits without something breaking permanently, and he couldn’t deal out the same kind of punishment with his strength flagging. The robe Richard was clothed in, given to him by Zen three months ago when the aspiring crime fighter arrived on his mountaintop, flapped in the wind behind him. It had come undone at some point during the pair’s sparring, and its lack of sleeves showcased his lack of cutie mark. It was time to finish this. Crying out, he whipped one of his icicles at the aged veteran and dashed forwards. Zen easily dodged the projectile, but Richard had been expecting that. He had a brief window in which his master would be off balance, and he took full advantage of it. Dropping into a slide, Dick kicked the legs out from under him and rapidly spun around to grab his feet. Twisting his entire body and releasing a scream of effort and pain, he threw the man across the peak of the mountain. Not wasting a second, Richard sprinted after the still airborne Zen watched as the man twisted in the air to land on his feet. This too was part of Richard’s plan. Dick had thrown the man in the direction of a patch of ice, reducing the amount of traction his opponent had. As Zen landed, he extended his single wing in an effort to balance himself, but tarried in one spot for too long. Richard Grayson was upon him, and the apprentice spared his instructor no quarter, slamming his fists into the aged body of the world’s greatest martial arts expert over and over again. Dick let out one last scream of exertion before bringing a fist into contact with the side of Zen’s head, and knocking him sideways. Blood seeped from a broken nose, and a few drops spilled to the ground, shockingly red against such a pure white. “You did… well… Richard…” The old man gasped, as he was pulled out of the snow. “Thank you, sensei.” He replied, not wanting to convey how much pain he was in by speaking through laboured words. “Sensei…” Zen repeated as his pupil helped him into the shack. Zen limped his way to a cot in the far corner, and lay upon it eagerly, resting his tired old bones. “I am not sure if there is anything more I can teach you, young one. You managed to defeat an opponent who was stronger and faster than you, through your own wits and skills.” “Master…” Dick began, but was cut off by a quick hand gesture from Zen. “When you first arrived on my doorstep with your grappling hook and-“ “It’s a gas operated grapnel gun with extendable claw and reinforced titanite cable, actually.” “Don’t interrupt, boy!” Zen replied irritably. “Now then… when you first arrived, seeking further training, I could see something in your eyes that I had no right to deny. A righteous anger seemed to radiate off of you. It still does. And I believe it is that which gave you the strength to accomplish all you have.” Zen paused, cleared his throat, and continued. “Richard, when you told me about the death of your parent’s at the hands of a criminal, I was reminded all too well of the day I lost my son, and one of my wings. When I look at you, I see a younger version of myself. The difference being that you have done so much more than I ever did in order to get revenge. Tell me something; what will happen when you catch this Tony Zucco? Will you kill him? What will you do afterwards?” Dick thought for a moment, brow furrowing in concentration. That was a good question. “I’m not sure. I don’t think I can kill.” “And why not?” “Because… To do so would make me no better than the men who took my parents away. I don’t just want revenge; I want to create an Equestria where no eight-year old has to lose their parents because of some bit-loving criminal. I want to make an Equestria that isn’t afraid to speak the truth, one where you can cross the street in the middle of the night and know that you’re safe. After I’m finished with Zucco… I’m gonna keep going. I’m not stopping until criminal’s quake with fear at the mere mention of my name.” Towards the end of his monologue, Dick’s voice had taken an edge, and his eyes had reflected some of dark anger that Celestia had seen all those years ago. Zen laughed, and stood up out of his bed. “You fail to see the flaw in your plan, Grayson. If you really want to be some kind of hero, you would be targeted by the scum you hope to stamp out.” “Let them come!” Richard yelled, sweeping a hand through the air for emphasis. “I’m not scared of some low-life punks.” “Perhaps not, but what happens when they come for your friends, your family?” “I don’t have a family. And I certainly don’t need friends.” The wizened old man laughed again heartily, and smiled sadly at Richard. “When I was your age, I said the same thing. Love can strike any one of us, young-one. Even you. How will you protect the people around you? How will you live knowing that you put them in danger simply by being around them?” Richard stared at the old man, noting how Zen took glee in testing his fortitude. “I’ll wear a disguise. I won’t be Richard Grayson. I’ll be something else… A symbol of hope for the people of Equestria. Someone to turn to in the darkest nights. Someone who can’t be broken, or bent, or twisted. Someone who can rise above everything and be a hero.” As he spoke, he felt a tingling in his shoulders. Looking down, he saw something that nearly made his heart stop. “My cutie mark…!” The outline of a midnight-blue bird adorned his shoulder, wings stretched up at an angle as if the bird was in flight. He was more certain now than ever what his life’s purpose was. Now, after all these years of being away, he would return to Equestria. It was time to fulfill his destiny.