//------------------------------// // Tired // Story: MLPU: Spider-Mare: Cat's Claws // by TheInvincibleIronBrony //------------------------------// Scootaloo ran through the halls of her school, grumbling as she adjusted her clothes over her costume and stuffed her mask and gloves in her backpack. "Stupid crooks. Why can't they wait til after school to rob convenience stores," she mumbled as she adjusted her bag on her back. The halls around her were empty and she knew she was late for homeroom. A stallion had been holding up a store on Scootaloo's way to school and he'd taken up a good twenty minutes of her morning. Scootaloo arrived at the door to her homeroom and slowly pushed it open. Everypony in the class turned at the disturbance. Scootaloo guessed she'd missed roll call. "Umm... sorry, I'm late. Had to make a pit stop," she explained, hoping she wouldn't be questioned further. The teacher rolled her eyes. "Just take your seat Scootaloo and try to be on time tomorrow," the yellow mare stated, returning here eyes to the papers on her desk. Scootaloo spotted Dinky and Babs sitting towards the back of the room and joined them, taking the seat next to Dinky and behind Babs. "Keep showin’ up late and I'll look like a teacher's pet," Babs said smiling. "Babs you could do all your homework for a month and not look like a teachers pet," Scootaloo countered, jokingly. Dinky rolled her eyes at the banter. "Well at least you aren't the only one who's late today," the unicorn said, pointing a hand at the door. Scootaloo and Babs glanced over to see Diamond Tiara entering the room. The pink mare had shadows under her eyes and shuffled tiredly across the room. "I overslept. I was up late doing homework," she mumbled, shuffling to a seat next to Silver Spoon before the teacher could reply. Scootaloo watched with interest. "Is it bad I'm a little happy?" she asked looking away from the earth pony. "Nah," Babs answered simply, leaning back in her chair. Dinky glared at Babs. "It is frowned upon to take pleasure in the misery of others," she told her friends with a frown. Scootaloo sighed. "I know. Kinda hard though when she's caused us so much trouble," Scootaloo replied. Dinky looked at her desk and twiddled her hooves. "What would Spider-Mare do?" Dinky asked avoiding looking at Scootaloo. Scootaloo's eyes went wide. "That's low," she said, slightly angry. "How?" Babs asked. "She's a super hero. Whatever she does has to be good right?" she questioned. Scootaloo snorted. "Everypony makes mistakes. Shouldn't put her on such a high pedestal," she argued, resting her head on her desk. Babs quirked an eyebrow. //////////////////////////// By the time lunch came around Diamond was even more exhausted than she'd been that morning. Several times she'd been caught sleeping by teachers in class. Diamond rubbed her eyes as she made her way to her locker and started stuffing books and binders in it, dropping her open backpack on the ground by her side. "Hey Diamond," a familiar voice called. Diamond looked up to see Silver Spoon approaching her. "Hey Silver, what's up?" Diamond asked, blinking tiredly. "Not you. Why are you so tired?" Silver asked with concern for her long time friend. "I already explained that. I was up late doing homework," Diamond explained again, turning to go to lunch, shutting her locker. Silver Spoon glared at the pink mare. "You may have fooled the teacher with that excuse, but I've known you longer. What's going on?" Silver asked, stepping into her friends path. Diamond huffed. "I'm... dealing with some personal stuff," Diamond said, getting a glare from Silver who was obviously unsatisfied with the answer. Diamond simply glared back. After several long seconds Silver rolled her eyes. "Fine, keep your secret. Just remember you can tell me anything, okay," the gray mare said, trying to be reassuring. Diamond sighed heavily as her friend walked away. "Not sure I can ever tell you what I'm about to do," she said looking at the black material in her open backpack. ////////////////////// Diamond awoke to shouting. She'd gone to bed as soon as she had arrived home, trying to make sure she'd be awake for her plan tonight. From the sound of the shouting, she needed to get ready now. She jumped out if her bed and grabbed her bag from next to the desk on the other side of the room. She opened it and started pulling the suit she'd taken from her father's secret room and started putting it on. The whip and mask now sat exposed at the bottom of the bag. The shouting increased in volume and Diamond moved to the door out of curiosity. "And you have no idea who got in there?" the stallion from the previous day asked. "No, but if Fiscal still needs me to move his shipment, then I need that suit found. It ties me to several burglaries that would put me away for a life time," Filthy explained. Diamond smiled at this. Don't worry too much dad. I'll take care of everything, she thought. "Fine. I'll start asking around and get back to you when I find something," the thug said. "Next time, though don't keep incriminating evidence. Burn it," the stallion said forcefully, the front door slamming a few seconds later. Diamond moved back to her desk and was about to grab the whip when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. She shoved the bag under her desk and jumped back in her bed, pulling the covers over the suit and she pretended to be asleep. Seconds later the door opened and her father stepped into the room. "Diamond? Are you awake?" Filthy asked. Diamond didn't answer. "I'm sorry," Filthy said, sounding as if he were in tears. "I've made so many mistakes in my life. I prayed you'd never have to know, but it looks like my secrets will be out soon," the stallion said, moving closer to his daughter's bed. Diamond felt him run a hand through her mane. "I just hope you know, that whatever happens, you were always the most important part of my life," Filthy admitted, tears staining the bed sheets. Diamond had to fight the urge to throw her arms around her father and tell him she'd always love him, but she knew she had to stay put to protect him. Filthy got up from the bed and walked to the door. "I love you," he said softly as he shut the door quietly. Diamond sat up in her bed and looked at the door for a moment. She got out of the bed and walked to her bag, grabbing the whip and mask out of it. She slipped the mask over her face as she moved over to the window, opening it and climbing out onto the fire escape. Diamond looked back at the door across her room. "I love you too dad," she said, shutting the window and making her way down the fire escape. Once she was at the bottom she spotted the stallion exiting the building. He looked around for a moment before he started walking down the street, an annoyed look on his face. Diamond immediately found a flaw in her plan. She didn't know how to follow the thug without being on the ground. She looked up at the next building and saw a flag pole extending from the side, another fire escape just past it. She glanced at the whip in her hand and then back to the pole. "Worth a shot," she muttered as she swung the whip as hard as she could aiming at the flagpole. The whip wrapped around it and Diamond jumped, swinging to the next fire escape. She landed with the grace years of gymnastics gave her and smiled. "This could be more fun than I thought," she told herself as she caught sight of the stallion rounding a corner. "Oh crap," she cursed as she jumped onto a window ledge and started skillfully following the stallion along the sides of buildings. ///////////////////////////// Scootaloo swung through the night air, scanning the streets below for signs of trouble. She'd already stopped three muggers, four vandals and stopped a robbery in progress. Nights like this had become routine for the teenager. "Just another night," she told herself as she swung down to street level. Several ponies patted her on the back and asked for autographs. She smiled beneath her mask. Being a hero had been easy at first, but naysayers hadn't wasted any time springing up soon after the final battle with the Lizard. Chief among them, Namby Pamby, editor in chief at the Daily Bugle. The stallion had been turning every good deed Scootaloo did against her. He'd even gone as far as to say Scootaloo had been responsible for Cheerilee's transformation. He was technically correct, but it still hurt to hear. Scootaloo stopped at a newsstand and glanced at the headline on the Bugle. Wall-Crawler Still At Large. Scootaloo sighed. "What's your deal Pamby?" she asked herself. Scootaloo jumped off of the sidewalk and started heading for home. Before she'd rounded the next block a police car drove beneath her, sirens blaring. Scootaloo cursed her luck as she reversed her swing and started following the squad car. "I thought the wicked weren't supposed to rest," she muttered to herself.