Mare-Do-Well Strikes! #2. The Mask. SPECIAL DOUBLE SIZED ISSUE!
-Cover concept:
Ponyville's black silhouette against a dark blue sky, no stars nor lights. The only contrasts for the general darkness is the moon hanging high and bright, outlining Mare-Do-Well's shadow jumping between rooftops (Frank Miller style).
***
-It was a dark and stormy nigh-- No! I'm not gonna do that 'dark and stormy night' thing and that's my last word. It's already bad that it's raining on the cover of the first issue! Yes, I know that Frank Miller's style demands at least one raining shot, but I'm done with it!. No! Rain!
Jesus.
...
Anyways... it was night time. That much I admit. But, the weather was peaceful and clear as the moon and stars prevented the night from being called dark. The calm and tranquilizing atmosphere kept this relaxing atmosphere for a while. This would prove to be one of the last nights to have this kind of peace for the foreseeable future.
After the first documented appearance of the Elements of Harmony since the legendary banishment of Nightmare Moon a millennia ago and the subsequent happenstances around the town, Ponyville gained quite the tidy sum of notoriety. It became such a popular place for ponies to move to that it grew from a small town, previously lost in obscurity within the shadow of nearby Canterlot, to something that was a city in everything but the official name. This was the main reason Celestia began her 'Equestrian Urbanization Program' which also included having its own Police Department.
But these changes also painted a very big target for ponies that wanted more than just a new home. She knew very well that Ponyville was what criminologists and criminals alike often called a 'virgin territory'. A place without the mark of any of the 'big fishes', which meant that any two-bit criminal and/or group of criminals could come in overnight and spread like a cancerous plague that would be hard to remove once it had found a stable place to settle down. Also, the police was still in the setting stage, not used to do more than some patrolling and the occasional isolated arrest.
In other words, Ponyville was the perfect target.
This point was illustrated when a lonely alarm went off in the commercial district that night. The frustrated theft from few weeks ago gave the shop owners a good scare. Most of them decided to install some newfangled security measures (safe boxes, alarms) in their businesses, which proved to be fairly effective.
Three familiar pegasi were being chased by two policeponies thanks to one of those new alarms. They ran from the commercial district to the west side of the town. Turning right and left randomly, avoiding flying since that would made them only easier to see for their prosecutors and being too tired to even take flight. Finally, after turning around a corner with its streetlights malfunctioning, they lost the cops and could rest in an alley till they were safe. Not a bad plan.
Or, that WOULD have been the plan if, without warning, a search light from somewhere above them did not turn on and did not illuminate the three soon to be arrested ponies. Dumb-Bell looked down to the ground to see that the light was casting a light blue 'M' over a purple circle. The dumbfounded stallion only managed to say. "Oh no, not again."
From above their heads, a soft mare voice that they knew too well replied. "Yep, again."
***
FIMFiction (not so) proudly presents:
Welcome to modern-day Ponyville, where a mare believes in the right of society to be protected from those who want to break them, with no regard for restraint or the law. Now, the entire city wants to know who she is. Just a lunatic running around in a costume? Or a truthful guardian angel protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty? The only thing sure is that...
Mare-Do-Well Strikes!
in
The Hunt (Part one). Chasing ghosts.
Written by Wave (dares you to solve MDW's identity) Blaster.
Preread by Diamond (already knows it) Dust.
Edited by VunderGuy (making an EPIC! job).
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic created by Lauren Faust (and others I suppose).
Based on the styles of Warren Ellis and Frank Miller. Dedicated to Bill Finger's memory.
Copyrights lololol.
***
Mare-Do-Well felt over the trio of criminal wannabes and started with her usual talking points she reserved only for these due to how ‘special’ she found them. ‘Special’ kind of chowder heads, that is.
"How many times this month Bell?" She landed behind Score who tried to buck her with no results as she simply ducked to avoid him. "Three? Four?" She continued, delivering a hoof over Score's head with each number she counted off. As he fell to the ground, she said. "If we keep up with this same song and dance, ponies will think that you're my only rogue gallery."
"Garrrgh!" Roared Hops, trying to intimidate her, charging in with the same kind of thoughtless rage that tended to precede her comments. Unsurprisingly enough, she jumped to the side and stuck her hoof out, tripping him head first into the asphalt.
"By the by, what do you think about the Do-Well signal? Is it too self-indulgent? Be honest." Dumb-Bell kicked a bag full of stolen things at the masked mare, but he misfired and instead hit a recovering Hops in the back of the head. “I mean, as ponies with a LOT of experience being arrested by, well, me, you must have some valuable insight to offer." Score managed to actually surprise Mare-Do-Well by silently approaching her from behind and holding her in full nelson. This, he though, would open her up to the ensuing charge from Dumb-Bell. However, at the last moment, Mare-Do-Well managed to break out of Score’s hold and jumped behind the surprised pony, leaving him uncovered against the incoming charge. The resulting collision left both ponies out of the game. The only one still in was Hops, who was tripping over himself trying to stand up straight and staring at Mare-Do-Well with a fire in his eyes.
"Say, what if you simply surrender and save yourself from this week's concussion?" She suggested in an honestly kind tone. His only response was attacking her with a knife. The fight continued as a lone pony was recording with a camera from the distance.
***
-Ponyville Central. The next day.
Another day, another bit, as Snowflake liked to say. Even if the town wasn't as peaceful as before, the daytime was more or less the same, and he was thankful for that small reminder of how things used to work. He was giving the new recruits an introductory tour around the building as paraphrasing his favorite quote from the only book he actually liked to read. "If fighting is sure to result in victory..." He said while showing them the gym.
Upstairs, Raindrops was sitting at her desk with her regular, by the second, punctuality. Usually, she would be bothered by another crime being added to the pile of recently growing criminal records. Not just because of the extra paperwork she had to file, like what she was grinding through right now, but because she tended to wonder just how much Ponyville has changed in the last year. These days though, she was in an atypically good mood, and there was a good reason for that. This morning for example, three pegasi criminals who had become common sights in Ponyville central, were found tied together with a rope at the steps leading into the building. They were also found with a calling card, printed in a style that was fast becoming familiar.
'Where laws end, tyranny begins.'
This wasn't just a randomly chosen phrase from a book as most of her co-workers thought. Even if her experience as detective was still near to nothing, she was inquisitive enough to understand that this was Mare-Do-Well's way to tell them that they were on the same side. That made her realize how much of a help was being this new masked vigilante as there were much less faces in the 'wanted' wall as this new Mare-Do-Well had managed to bring the elusive ones to justice.
But that was her opinion. Commissioner Barricade announced to press that Mare-Do-Well was operating as an outlaw and since then it was the Central's duty to find and arrest her. The yellow and blue pegasus knew that only a half of the force was actually with him on that, but orders where orders. All the other half could do was to keep finding something more important to do.
"Sunshower! Snowflake! To my office!" Barricade's battle cry resounded through the station, causing Raindrops to lift her head up from her forms in surprise.
***
"I still can't believe this." A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane confessed to her purple and white friends.
Since the Mare-Do-Well's return, Rainbow Dash had been a little in the edge. At first it was like seeing a taunting ghost of her mistakes mocking her from newspapers and magazines. Now it was like that ghost suddenly became a legend as practically everypony in town was talking about her in some way or another.
Just like before.
Noticing Rainbow's state, her friends had decided that spending the day taking her around town to distract her was the best course of action. After all, they did feel guilty considering that, without them, Mare-Do-Well would have never have been a thing in the first place. However, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack where too busy to accompany them, so only Twilight and Rarity were with her at the Starbits for a drink at that moment.
"I mean, it’s not like we actually need some dumb pony running around playing 'big damn hero' in town! Or wear that stupid mask! I mean, who does she think she is!?" Being the energetic and narrow-minded mare that she was, Dash couldn't take her mind from how much she hated the appearance of this new Mare-Do-Well, even with Twilight and Rarity’s best attempts to. The waitress taking her sweet time didn't help either.
"Darling, you must simply take that matter out of your mind." Rarity replied. "It simply isn't healthy to keep bringing up the issue."
"Sorry Rares, it's just that... Is like seeing back to the past."
"Rainbow, please. We all are truly sorry for what we did. Can you just move out of it?" Twilight felt the guilt pressing agains her heart, the original Mare-Do-Well was her idea to being with.
"No, it’s not like that. It's not about you guys. Hell, it’s not even so much about my raging ego this time. It’s just that… every time I hear about her now is like a nonstop reminder of how dumb I acted that time." The pegasus hung her head low. Twilight reached for her friend but Rarity was closer. The white unicorn rubbed the rainbow mare's shoulder to calm her.
"There there. We all learned from our mistakes then and now we're a better ponies for that. Just try to hold onto the lesson that whole experience taught you, and--." But the moment was interrupted by the waitress finally stopping by their table. That in and off itself wasn't out of the ordinary. What was unusual was just how familiar the azure unicorn, seemed to be.
She was so focused on a notepad hovering before her that she didn't noticed who she was talking to. "Hello, my name is Tr--" Then she raised her gaze to see who was sitting at the table. Frozen for a while before she realized she was skipping one too many beats. "--rickster! That's it! Trickster!” Then, in a moment of super speedy speech that would have made Pinkie Pie proud (if not go into a fit of jealous envy), the waitress said, “Sorrybutthereisarecessionandweareclosing! Goodbye!"
She turned around and tried to run the heck out of there as Rainbow looked at her and said. "You!"
Her mane was differently stylized into a ponytail, her purple ayes behind a pair of half moon glasses and her distinctive cape and hat where replaced by the green apron from the Staribts. But that couldn't fool Rainbow Dash. She could have picked her out of a lineup no matter what get-up she had on. The self proclaimed ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ was back in town.
The unicorn was already racing between tables, trying to ran away. But even at top condition, the average unicorn could barely match the slowest of the pegasi. In this case, said unicorn was trying to run away from the fastest mare alive. It wasn't even a chase.
Rainbow, despite being angry and tired, thanked Celestia for answering her prayers by providing a fresh target to focus her frustrations on. She literally jumped at this opportunity to vent her rage. She could have sworn she heard the voices of Twilight and Rarity calling her but she never figured out what they tried to say. Such was the extent of her speed and her tunnel vision.
In a split of a second, the two ponies where a blue blur, rolling in the ground before coming to a stop after crashing against a wall. The two unicorns, barely registering what just happened, practically galloped out of their seats, fully intent on stopping their flying friend from doing something she would regret in the future. And if there was enough time, maybe they could save the show mare from a hellish beat down too.
"What the b*ck are you doing here?!" Her voice was more a roar than anything else as she was pressing the trapped mare in her hooves against the wall. "Answer me!" Rainbow Dash wasn't a pony know for having a good memory, as she put it 'it's egghead stuff'' but she remembered too well how they first meet, Trixie humiliated her in public, bragged about it and also did the same to two of her friends. The stunt flyer really didn't liked to be mocked or somepony doing it to her friends. Being in front of somepony who did both things that in front of half town wasn't helping the unicorn's case either.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm working. You know, earning my daily loaf of bread." She simply deadpanned as struggling against the pegasus grasp. Meanwhile, Twilight and Rarity caught up to their friend, and tried to pull Rainbow away.
"Rainbow, please!" Rarity called her. Sure, Trixie was , and when, but she didn't want to see any violence break out, even if the rude and annoying Trixie, who attempted against her beautiful mane, was on the receiving end.
"Please nothing! Don't you remember what she did to us the last time she was here?!" Rainbow felt how her grasp on the other pony loosen for a second as she whispered, "What she did to me?"
"Like it was yesterday, darling, but hurting her’s not going to erase it. And she has done nothing worth for you to outright assault her." Rarity spoke as calm as she could, knowing all too well how hardheaded Rainbow could be. The cyan pegasus seemed to think about it before letting out a sigh that she didn't knew was holding and let her prisoner free.
"Fine." She spoke, slow and firm as she looked at Trixie right in the eyes. "You got exactly one chance, you blow it and I'll be over you again."
"And maybe I won't be polite enough to not reply that next time." She replied with a clear spark of defiance in her tone. "But unfortunately, I'm still in the need of working here if I want to see a breakfast with tomorrow's dawn." Turning her gaze to the floor where her notebook and pencil felt, avoiding any eye contact with the three mares in front of her. She used her magic to straight her apron and levitate her things as she continued. "Now I will need to ask you for your order or to leave the place in favor for those who want a meal or a drink rather than a conflict." Showing a flat, professional expression the entire time that took her to speak, her tone neutral as the color grey. Rainbow had to be hold by Rarity at this statement but Trixie didn't seem to care. "Of course, if you need a less eloquent and more direct persuasion, it is in my attributions to call security in case that you want to cause more obstacles to the functioning of this establishment."
The three friends decided to leave the place, mostly Rarity and Twilight in regards of calming down Rainbow's mod before she jumped again at the azure unicorn. But before leaving, Twilight offered Trixie to go and meet them at the library to clear things up.
"It is not in my wishes to expose myself before you or your associates." Pausing for a moment to think about it. "But since I am already exposed, well I could also try to make peace." Twilight simply nodded in agreement before leaving the cafe.
***
-Golden Oak Library.
"Ah-Ha!" Rainbow shouted, raising a triumphant hoof.
"Ah-Ha?" A purple dragon asked more annoyed than surprised.
"That's what I say, Spike. And I hold it!" Since the encounter with Trixie, Twilight decided (mostly due to Rarity and Rainbow telling to everypony else) to talk about it with her friends. To say that they opinions didn't matched was the understatement of the year.
Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, being the ones who the showmare wronged that first time, were the most concerned and still in some grades of anger. Pinkie and Fluttershy had yet to meet the pony in question.
The pink party pony was just exited -as always- on finally having her chance to throw Trixie her 'welcome to Ponyville' party that she missed the last time. Fluttershy, on the other side, was scared of the evil mare that her friends described her.
Twilight wasn't really sure what to think about the whole situation. In one hoof, she was still upset for all the trouble the showpony caused to her friends and to the town. But on the other hoof, the image of a destroyed cart and a lonely pony running in the distance was keeping her from being actually angry.
"It's so obvious. She has to be!" The cyan pegasus snapped her from her thoughts.
"Who has to be, sugar cube?" Applejack asked, not sure to follow.
"Mare-Do-Well! It's obviously Trixie." Everypony in the room -yes, even Pinkie- stared at Dash with the clearest 'are you serious?' face they could.
"Now, darling. I'm not a fan of that rude showmare but I hardly see how she could be Mare-Do-Well."
"But she has to be. Who else would want to embarrass me -us- doing something like this?"
"I don't think so." Twilight finally spoke, partially thanking to have another subject to think about. Trixie was a touchy one. "With what I've collected from this Mare-Do-Well, she seems to have some reserves of money and knows how to hold a fight. Trixie was working at a Starbits and wasn't a very combatant pony when we meet her." Faithful to her promise, she had been compiling all the info she could on the masked pony. She even managed to get some commentaries from Raindrops. Everything pointed to a resourceful and skilled pony. Trixie wasn't fitting in either category.
"Exactly, it's all a cover to discredit us. Just like in that Daring Do book, the one from two months ago." She needed it to be true, she really needed to put a face on Mare-Do-Well. A face that she could punch for making her feel so bad.
Before anypony could come with a response, a knock was heard on the door. All the girls looked at each other, knowing exactly who it was but at the same time being unable to decide who should open the door. Except for Pinkie, she simply walked trotted PINKIE STOP MESSING WITH MY SCRIPT! bounced to the entrance and opened it.
"Hi Trixie!" She saluted without even looking. The azure unicorn stood silently in front of her pink interlocutor. As in the cafe, she had her hair suspended in a ponytail and wearing glasses but also she was wearing a midnight blue pace that covered most of her body, sans her head.
"Good afternoon misssss..." Riding the 's' as inspecting Pinkie from hooves to mane. "...Pink. Is this the house of miss Sparkle?" She looked over Pinkie's shoulder. "She wanted me to come here."
***
-Ponyville Central.
"You want us to do what?!" The scream of two pegasi came from Barricade's office. The black earth pony didn't seemed to react at this but instead he calmly looked down at his papers, not minding too much the two angry detectives.
"I want you to do your job." He replied in a dry tone. "This vigilante is a public danger and I want her out of my town."
"Boss, let’s be honest here. Mare-Do-Well is actually helping." Snowflake was trying to stay calm. "I mean, look at all those arrests she has made for us."
"Physical assault, unprovoked aggression, various levels of injuries." The commissioner listed. "And at least half of her 'arrests' were against harmless members of our community."
"Will all respect sir, that's a lot of crap." Snowflake interrupted. "Every one of those ponies was guilty of something, all of them caught in the act. Also, Drops and I are already working in real cases and--"
"And nothing!" As a hoof hit the desk with enough strength to almost break it. "Every damn time she goes and plays ´big damn hero´ I got to deal with tons of paperwork, and a sh*tload of calls from high places. Now your job." Pointing to Snowflake. "And your job." Pointing at Raindrops. "Is to catch that damn mad mare and bring me her flank here. No questions. Now get out of my sight before I send you to sky patrol for a month." With nothing more to add, Barricade pointed to the door. Snowflake was about to deliver another response but Raindrops was faster.
"Sir." While slowly raising from her seat but not walking to the door.
"Whatever it is Sunshower I don't want to hear it." He was concentrated at his desk again.
"Don't pretend that nopony knows from whose are those calls from 'high places'."
Barricade raised his sight to meet hers. "Are you implying something, Sunshower?"
"I'm not implying anything, sir. Just stating that is suspicious when those important calls only come when there's a big arrest." And she exited the office with Snowflake silently following her. Barricade waited for the two detectives to get out of his office before picking up the phone. Without even looking, he dialed a number he knew very well and waited for it to get answered. Just a few second after and he was saluted by a too familiar voice.
"What's on?"
He just sighed and replied. "We got a worm in the apple, maybe two."
***
-Some minutes later.
'This is literally the stupidest thing you have ever done!' Thought the azure unicorn. She was sitting in the library's main room, alone. After entering and exchanging the greetings that would make it into the top ten of the most awkward moments in Equestria's history, Twilight told her to wait a second as she and her friends were at the kitchen 'making some tea'. That was half an hour.
Inside the kitchen, six mares were trying to figure out what to do.
"What do we do?" Asked Pinkie, following that damn script for once.
"Well, at least one of us should go there. It's been a while since we came here to 'make some tea'." Rarity tried to hurry the conversation.
"Yeah, just let me go there and I'll deal with her!" Exclaimed Rainbow floating near the ceiling with her hooves crossed over her chest.
"What do ya mean by 'deal with her' sugar cube?" Asked Applejack. "For what ah heard, yer not in ta right mod to talk with her."
"But we don't wanna talk, we want her outta town." She replied. "Just let me do it and she will be out in ten seconds flat." Still boasting about being the fastest at everything.
"But she hasn't done anything bad." Fluttershy whispered from behind but yet loud enough to be heard by the stunt flyer.
"Anything?" Turning around to face the butter pegasus. "Anything?!" Coming closer to her. "She humiliated us, then bragged about it and then lied about herself. Isn't that enough?"
They continued with that line for a while. Meanwhile, at the other room, the azure pony was hearing everything since Applejack forgot to close the door. Sure, it was rude to overhear a conversation but she simply reasoned that, since they were talking about her, it would make it 'less rude' to hear it. A moment later, a purple dragon walked from downstairs and looked at Trixie, then at the door and after face-palming he shut the door and walked in front of the unicorn.
"They don't trust me, don't they?"
"Well." He put a claw behind his head. "Is not that you made a good impression the last time." She just responded by smirking making him raising an eyebrow. "Did I say something funny?"
"Ironic." She corrected him. "After you pass through I have passed you start to appreciate it."
"You know, the last time you were here you were shouting your name at the four winds and making sure that everybody around knew where you were."
"I'm perfectly capable of remembering my own life, thank you very much. Are you trying to make a point or only pointing a mare her own mistakes so you can feel morally higher?" The question came without malice or aggression, just plain and dull curiosity. That didn't prevented Spike from feeling uneasy with it.
"It's just that..." He trailed off. "For how long have you been here?"
"I'm not sure, the pass of time becomes monotone when you only work. Two months?"
"Well, there's my point." He replied. "Nobody knew you were here, why?"
"Maybe it was my intention to avoid being assaulted by angered pegasi and curious dragons?"
"Please stop it."
"Stop what?" She asked slightly smiling.
"That!" Holding an accusatory claw at her. "Every time I say something you answer with another question. Can you be direct please?"
She seemed to think about it. Sure, poking at his nerves was funny but she was there to make peace with the mares that were still in the kitchen chatting. 'Did one of them said oatmeal? That's crazy.' Casting a glance to the clock at the wall, Trixie decided that she needed to get out of this if she wanted to find a new job.
The owner of the Starbits didn't took to kindly that one of the Elements was at bad terms with her, which meant bad publicity. Making the logic step, she was fired before attracting more bad looks. She understood him, one simple incident could be more than enough to ruin a business.
"Alright young one. At least you have enough spine to stand and ask what you want. I can appreciate that. Here's my story for you to tell it to those who ask." Every word accompanied by a gesture of her right hoof. "Just remember, I offer only the truth and nothing else, if you want to tell it to others I only ask that you don't change what I tell you for veracity's sake." One last wave of her hoof and she took of her glasses, cape and hair band to undo her ponytail. She regained the appearance she had when they first meet. "Now, listen to the real tale of how the once Great and Powerful Trixie ended her days."
Another half an hour passed before the girls finally decided how to deal with Trixie (the plan included Applejack being ready to hold Dash at any moment) so they finally exited from the kitchen with the delayed tea in a silver plate. When Twilight looked at the living room there was no azure unicorn mare waiting for them. Instead, there was a purple baby dragon seated at Twilight's desk with his head resting in a claw, thoughtful. Twilight came closer to him, worried about what happened.
"Spike, what happened? did Trixie..." He turned his head immediately, surprising her.
"Twilight." He said. "I think we owe her a very sincere apologize."
"What?!" Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack shouted (scaring Fluttershy in the process).
"Trust me, she has a very valid point. But first." She looked at the pink mare in front of him. "Pinkie, could you tell me a joke? I really need to heard something that isn't depressing as tartarus."
***
-Golden Dawn Hotel, Ponyville's North side.
Crime was a forgotten evil from the distant past. That was only a misguided notion that most of the ponies believed but only very few really thought about. Crime still existed to these days, but it was highly covered for its own sake. Every meeting, every talk, every single word spoken from those who have something to hide were made in the most hermetic of secrets. It was an unspoken war between the forces of order against the selfish and evil.
Because of this secrecy that a powerful pony had arranged this meeting by asking to one of his friends for the safest room on Ponyville. Said friend was the actual owner of the Golden Dawn Hotel, also he owed that pony for being with him when he needed it the most. So, because of that, a unicorn named Tempus Fugit was waiting in a desk with a radio speaker in the best and safest suite that favors could get him.
Just as the clock struck the appointed hour, three small but sure knock were heard at the door. When the brown unicorn opened the door, two stallions -a unicorn and an earth pony- and a unicorn mare entered. The earth stallion was purple with a gray and silver mane, both cut in military fashion, as his flank showed a white spider web. The unicorn was navy blue with pitch black mane with a goatee and a red arrow for cutie mark. To conclude, the mare was a deep red with a long golden mane that made her stand out from her companions, her cutie mark had two swords over a round shield.
"Gentlecolts, lady." A voice from the speaker greeted them as the pony went back to his position behind desk. "I'm a pony of few word so I'm going to be clear." Pausing for a moment. "My business has been having some troubles recently. Not the lone policepony whose opinion is not to consider, but instead a mayor one." Tempus went to a TV that was in a near table. The ponies in the room looked at the screen as the stallion put to play a videotape.
The images in the screen showed three pegasi being smacked around by a single pony without a single difficulty and at the same time mocking at them, repeatedly. The three standing ponies looked at it in silence, studying every second of the recording. When the tape was finished radio spoke again.
"I believe that you understand where this is going. You three are well known for having a special talent in solving a working pony's problem. What can you say about it?"
The red mare spoke first. "Whoever she is, she has a terrible taste for clotting." After smirking in amusement. "And barely knows how to attack. Defensive training at least but nothing too aggressive."
"Not a bad shooter, maybe a natural one." The unicorn followed her, stroking his goatee. "But slow in the timing." Frowning with some disappointing.
The purple pony was the last to speak. "Agile and fast, if not a pegasi then she trained very hard." He took a moment to think about it. "Definitely an athlete or an acrobat. Must be around her twenties."
"So, I assume that this is not a problem beyond your skills."
The purple one looked down at the speaker and replied. "No, it isn't."
"They call her a hero, don't they? Then you can call us the villains." Added the red mare.
"Good, good. When will you do the job?"
"Tonight."
***
-The Black Berry, Ponyville's number one tavern.
It was pass five o'clock in the afternoon when Trixie finally opened the door of her room in the second store of the tavern. After looking for a job around half of the now bigger town, she finally gave up for today and simply went back indoors before the equestrian winter made her catch a cold. She entered, walked to the bar and saluted Berry, who was kind enough to give her an extended time to pay for her room and daily breakfast for some days. She thanked her for the gesture, assuring her that at the first opportunity she would pay with the highest of interest.
Dumping herself in the bed she let the theater glasses and the hairband over the nightstand, letting the mask off and letting her real face to appear once more. After several minutes of not doing nothing more than just transforming oxygen into carbon dioxide she rose from her bed to look through the window, trying to distract herself from the reality of no having a job and no money left.
"It's came to this, isn't it?" She told to herself. "No money, no job and no place for you. All because you lied exactly one time!" *beat* "And repeated it various times." Lowering her head, unable to handle it anymore she punched the wall next to the window. "All because it really doesn't matter how hard you try, if you fall and nopony gives you a chance you're screwed." Another sight left her muzzle. She gazed into the window again, but not looking at the town behind it but to her own reflection. "What are you going to do?"
Then, she saw that her reflection had something wrong. She could see a pony face, like hers, and two eyes. But the rest of the face was missing...
Two hours later.
"I can't believe it." A green stallion said while inspecting the photos on his desk. There were five of them, all portraying a costumed pony jumping from a rooftop, fighting a group of mobsters. "These photos are... I have no words to describe this... They're amazing." Green Loch managed to say.
"Gee, thanks boss." Replied Action Shot, blushing a little.
"I can hardly believe that you took them."
"I withdraw my thanks."
He just ignored her and continued. "Every other paper only has long distances and out of focus at its best but this. This is..."
"Wait to see the last one." She smiled with pride. Green Loch found the photo at the bottom of the pile. A clear shot of Mare-Do-Well looking at the camera while tipping her hat!
"You got her."
"We got her." Correcting him.
"We got her!"
"Don't you tell us to avoid redundancy when a reporter is--"
"WE GOT HER!" The green stallion threw all the papers on his desk to the air triumphantly. "I have been checking the others, no one has an image this clear. Nopony but us! The Gazette is back in the game." He lightened a cigar as offering another to Action Shot who politely refused it. "Now." Throwing smoke at the ceiling. "We only need a good article to put with that photo."
"Maybe an interview?" A third voice joined them. Green Loch and Action Shot looked at the door, opened, as an azure unicorn with silver hair entered the office. "Hello, my name is Trixie Lulamoon. I was here early."
"Lulamoon... Right..." Loch motioned her to enter and sit at his desk. "Rose, do you have Lulamoon's resume?"
From outside a voice responded. "In your desk."
"In my desk." He started to search between the multiple papers in his desk. "There's also the seventh Element, Discord's daughter, a couple of changelings and everything else that nopony has ever found." After that, a pale mare with raspberry mane entered at the office, reached for Loch's desk and, without even looking, took with a hoof a paper that she held in front of her boss. He took it as she left the office. "I would kill her if it wasn't for, without her, I would never find the number of the forensic and her body would stay decomposing here." He told to Trixie as Action Shot nodded. "Okay, let’s see. Basic and secondary education, Celestial’s School, traveling showmareship and then a series of small time jobs I'm not interested in reading. Alas, nothing in the lines of journalism."
"Actually, my last job before coming here was as assistant of reporter in Manehattan."
The editor pony didn't seemed very convinced, the Manehattan newspapers were very fussy about their employees, even the minor ones. He went back to read the unicorn's resume, searching line by line till the job popped almost at the end, accompanied by the signature of the Manehattan Word's editor. He thought about it while taking an unhealthy whiff from his cigar. "Well miss, it seems you're telling the truth. But this interview of yours, when did it happened."
"I interviewed her like an hour ago. Everything is here. You really inspired me when I came here before, so I thought of giving the Gazette the premise." She rose from her seat and trotted to the door. "But of course, if you have that covered I can go..."
"Nonsense, nonsense." Loch almost tackled Action Shot by trying to follow Trixie. "There's always room for more coverage. There must be a free desk here.." Catching up with the unicorn and putting a hoof over her shoulder.
"We discuss an initial salary or..."
"Roseluck will have the legal thing tomorrow at first hour." Guiding them around the newsroom till finding a free desk inside a very small cubicle. "Here you got. Can you give us a twenty inch column for tomorrow’s edition?"
Trixie sat at the chair and looked at a writing machine that was buried in rust. "I think so."
"Good, and one more thing..." He tossed his finished cigar to a side and approached her until they were nose to nose. "Everything here is one hundred percent legitimate and veracious, this is a lifetime opportunity for the Gazette. If one single word of what you write is a lie, if you make up anything." *pause* "I will make you pay. Your head, my wall. Are we clear?"
"Crystal clear." Trixie saluted with a hoof as she was a soldier. "Boss?" He turned around and walked away while saying.
"Then start writing Lullaby, and don't call me boss!" As walking back to his office.
"It's Lulamoon, sir." She corrected before sitting down at the desk and retrieving a notebook from her saddlebag with her magic. The notepad levitated and landed next to the old writing machine. "And thank you, my masked friend." She finally had that chance she so much needed.
***
-That night.
The capped figure of Mare-Do-Well was watching the town from the highest rooftop she could find. She used her crossbow to shot a rope to the next building and head to the west-south zone. Recently, some gangs have been marking territory with graffiti tags around there and the police wasn't really present. Just one or two cops to fill the orders from town hall, never in big numbers. Those were reserved to the center and north sides, inhabited by ponies with social notoriety or sh*tloads of money. Or both.
Being on patrol was becoming relaxing for her, it gave her time to think about things. For example, she still wasn't sure about that interview. Sure it would help her public image to be something more recognizable for the townsponies than just a mask walking around smacking criminals, and it had the added bonus to help a pony that really needed it. But on the other hoof, it brought some lights over her figure, which meant that the dark image of an unknown threat was more away from the mind of her enemies, making her less dreaded. Damn, this 'being a symbol' thing sure was complicated.
She landed over a four stories building, waiting for anything out of ordinary. The waiting game, somepony should commercialize it. For every age and any number of players. Just stay still and wait for the next 'badflank' wannabe to try and make something stupid, any second now. Aaaaaaaaaaaany second now.
A clod breeze ran around her. Her suit, being made out of breathable fabric to avoid overheating by exercise, was a terrible cover against cold. Shaking a little she made a mental note to make a new one adapted for the incoming winter. Maybe if she was less trigger happy with the crossbow and less of a show off with the disappearing thing, she would spent less in arrows and smoke bombs and save enough money to make it.
That line of thought was interrupted when a lone pegasus stallion with a blue head kerchief and a white and blue shirt walked down the street. She saw that he wasn't very old, maybe sixteen at much, as he walked right into a near alley. Smelling something fishy in that and recognizing the head kerchief from one of the small gangs that was lurking around this part of town, she jumped to the next building and followed him with the look. The darkness remembered her to save some money for those night vision goggles she saw the other day, she sure needed them now.
The colt produced a paint can and proceeded to paint the logo of the 'Vultures' on the wall. She considered to use the signal first but she was bored so she descended with a rope, silent as a ghost, and used the night shadows of the alley to get closer to him without being noticed. "You shouldn't be doing that."
"Eek!"
Faust, she loved when they jumped out of their socks after she does that.
Stepping out to the small light that the crescent moon was casting over them she continued. "You know, the working ponies that live in that building don't like having to repaint every time you guys do that..." But she realized she was speaking alone when she saw the colt running like a bat outta hell from her. "Finally." She commented. "One pony with two brain cells." She thought of letting him go but she needed the exercise to avoid coldness. Galloping behind him, she jumped and tackled the pony just outside the alley.
Where two groups of ponies were waiting for them. With guns.
At one side where only earth ponies, dressed in red and black as the colt she tackled ran with the other group composed entirely of pegasi with blue and white. Apparently the Salamanders and the Vultures decided that she was worth the truce. The masked crusader couldn't help but feel sad when she noticed that they were all teenagers. Then a more primal instinct kicked in when she also noticed the insane amount of guns pointed at her, not only the street beretta and the occasional desert eagle but also three SMG's and one assault rifle. Strictly military equipment. Well, there goes the less arrow and bombs economy.
"Heyyyy." She talked veeeeery slowly and very careful, raising her front hooves to show them unarmed. "Now, let’s not do something that we will all regret." Nopony moved an inch.
"What are we waiting for? She can't have enough of those arrows for us!" One of the Salamanders yelled. "And I bet my flank that we have more than enough bullets for her." As cocking his gun. *chock* She smiled under her mask 'Gotcha.'.
"Did you just cocked your gun?" She asked in a trained deadpan voice.
"What?"
"Your gun. When you were all 'we have more than enough bullets for her' you stopped pointing and cocked your gun. What kind of idiot goes to a gunfight with an un-cocked gun?" Her question set the domino effect as every pony with a gun on his hooves looked at it Almost a half-second distraction and that was all she needed.
"Bombs away!" She leaped back like a gymnast, her body moving like silk at the wind, as at least five explosions were heard in rapid succession followed by a thick smokescreen that covered the street. 'Big guns first.' She thought, pointing her crossbow and firing a net arrow to where she remembered was the assault rifle. The pony with the weapon felt with a loud thump. 'Shoot.' She dragged him from there just in time as a rain of bullets hit the direction of the thump. When he was at reach she took the weapon and disarmed it.
The glint from the guns gave her an approximate of their positions. Running around, she grabbed the first one at hoof and kicked his gun away, then another one to his stomach and finally to his head. She repeated a similar process around with the rest of the gang. Occasionally some of them would try to fire but their vision was blurry for the smoke so the guns only served to tell their positions.
After the smoke was away only two ponies -a stallion pegasus and an earth mare- were still conscious. The rest of both gangs were scattered unconscious around the street. Some trapped inside a net and two or three nailed to the floor with arrows holding their manes and tails. The most were punched into submission and left at the concrete. They were scared.
Two arrows later and they were disarmed too.
From abode, they heard the whisper of a cape right between them. Then, a hit in their heads. Both felt but only the stallion was knocked out as he received the kick right in the head. The mare wasn't that lucky. A pair of gloved hooves dragged her on the pavement and lifted her against a wall. Scared wasn't a fit description for her anymore, she just saw a single mare taking down two groups of armed ponies with nothing more than arrows and her bare hooves. And now she had her, her yellowish with coat and black mane became very very pale. She was terrified.
"Calm down lady, I'm not the one with guns here." She tried to calm her down. Sure, gun carrying gang ponies were one of her buttons but she needed to know where do they got four military range weapons. She left her at the floor and dragged from her belt a small spray that she put near the nostrils of the shaking mare and pressed. The pulverized chloroform was enough to take the average pony down but in her frightened state, the adrenaline countered the effect from sleeping to stop her from shaking.
"There, there." Mare-Do-Well put a hoof over her shoulder to calm her nerves. "What's your name?"
"S- Sw- Swan Song." In that moment, she noticed Swan's cutie mark, a festively adorned green skull accompanied with a purple musical note.
"That's it, you see? I don't wanna hurt you."
"I--"
"But I still wanna know where did you got those weapons." Letting her go. The gang pony was still afraid of what was going to happen. If she told her and the boss discovered, it was going to be hell for her and her family. But on the other hoof, even if the analgesic calmed her nerves, she was still scared from this pony in front of her.
A black arrow cut the air from behind them and stuck in Swan Song's shoulder, making her shriek in pain as Mare-Dow-Well turned around. Behind them were two unicorns over a rooftop, a mare and a stallion. The stallion was navy blue with jet black mane, tail and goatee, wearing three quivers strapped to his hind legs and back respectively. He was holding a black longbow in a bronze yellow aura. The mare was red and wearing a half-face withe mask with red lenses. and various yellow straps holding a bundi dagger, a scimitar, a katana, a cutlass sword and two revolver holsters. A bloody arsenal.
"Well, look at you." The mare said as jumping from the rooftop to the street. "I still can't believe you actually go out in that thing." Drawing the bundi dagger with her magic and putting it in her left foreleg. "En garde." A she charged at her.
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well that was a long one , good and long , too bad that Trixie is having such a hard time because of her past , she's just trying to get enough money to survive
just to get a good laugh :
when i read that part i was like damn , ponyfied Red Hood , Deadshot and Bane are going to team up against Mare-do-well
still the chapter was good to read and fun keep this up
Ps: sorry i haven't be able to read the other story you publish recently , i've been quite busy lately but i'll go fix that mistake
SAME BAT TIME!
SAME BAT CHANNEL!
4475305
Well, the comic's Lady Vic had actually fought Deadshot AND Bane AND survived both as Merlyn had fought and survived Azrael.
P.S.: Don't worry for that, you are always helping me a lot with all the crazy stuff I do.
4477735
Curious, I was thinking more in the Green Hornet than Batman.
processing new data...probability of Subjects tribe Pegasus 98%. data: Subject MDW continues to display cocky attitude and significant confidence. Pattern is consistent, even if opening joke is taken from Spectacular Spiderman cartoon. data: Subject MDW financial status is confirmed. estimate moderate status consistent with weather management duties. data: combat skills consistent with moderate training level. Defensive style could be seen as a weakness, but is more likely to be a measure of restraint. supports previously stated theory that Subject wishes to prevent fatalities. strong evidence of possible past guilt affecting current mannerism of Subject. probability of 'Red Herring' is negligible. data: estimated age of Subject is within expected parameters. data processing is complete, conclusion: 99.98% probability, Subject identity: Lightning Dust
Ah, Rainbow Dash. Why is it so overwhelmingly easy to write you as an unlikeable douche? One of these days you'll get arrested for assault.
So is Trixie's sad tale her canonical one of losing her reputation and standing, and as such you off-screened it to avoid redundancy, or will we see an expanded version? Either or is fine. I suspect that it's easier to have sympathy for her when she's working minimum wage instead of terrorizing town with dark magic. Incidentally, the scene with her and Spike was very good. Of all the characters to act mature and treat her like an individual... yeah, it was good.
Also more fuel for my controversial headcanon that Trixie is probably pretty nice if you just treat her with some basic courtesy.
There's a sprinkling of typos throughout, or rather the kind that are proper words but not the right ones. Such as Rainbow Dash's mod or the red mare saying "she has a terrible taste for clotting" Other than that, a very good and intriguing story I will continue to read.
As for Mare-Do-Well's true identity, it's obvious if you look at the evidence. Agile but without real combat training? Showy and mouthy? Access to explosives? Showing no sign of magic or flight ability? It's obviously the Cutie Mark Crusaders standing on each others' shoulders. Particularly since we never see them at the same place at the same time.
4480550
Spectacular Spider-Man?
Nope, not at all. No sire, nothing like that. Nada de nada.
...
..
.
img.pandawhale.com/26532-bronies-Abandon-thread-PV8y.gif
Oh crap, he/she discovered me. In retrospective, I shouldn't have used very first scene of that series.
But in a more serious note:
2.bp.blogspot.com/_T4lPIVuRD3o/SDfHdWm7ojI/AAAAAAAAD6U/qp4n8iAtIhQ/s1600/141_4_0000619.jpg
You come closer and yet, farther. Is the trees what you have in front, or a forest? Who is wearing a mask?
4481286
Most of Dash's characterization here comes from the Blackest Night version which is the one I've read the most about her (for me, she's like a pony Guy Gardner as Applejack is Hal Jordan). With that in mind, hothead and hair trigger temper comes very easily (this will bite her back soon).
With Trixie I got a complete list of cliches that I want to avoid, but the sad back story is already canon so I can't do too much against that. Part of her character is a composite between the ones in my favorite list and an old project I had that never came to a good port.
I really wanted to make something new with the meeting scene so I skipped the most obvious parts (awkward greetings and sad story) and went directly for character establishment.
Sorry for the typos, just have some patience with this chilean guy, I will keep writing if you keep commenting, your comments are always a good extrospective to read.
And for MDW being the CMC's. This is happening in the same universe with Doom Patrol. Sorry for blowing up your theory (which explosive anyway?).
And finally, in a more meta sense, MDW is Oliver Queen, with Peter Parker's sense of humor, using Elena Bertinelli's equipment and has Dick Grayson's training.
I'll take your word for it. I'm sadly not very much into comics these days.
Hair trigger temper can be interesting, as long as it's not the entirety of her character. And, as you mentioned, it's recognized that it can have consequences. A lot of authors unfortunately seem to think that being a protagonist gives you carte blanche to commit unprovoked assault as long as the targets are 'bad guys'.
I still would like to see that story. Transmetropolitan was messed up, but it was enjoyable, and Spider was a surprisingly compelling protagonist. I could see Trixie in the role. ("What a great bar. Trixie hates it and everypony in it.")
I found it interesting that Trixie would have the guts to essentially walk into the lion's den on Twilight's invitation... and then all they do is hide in the kitchen until she leaves.
You want comments? I will give you comments. So many comments will I give.
Ah, um... not the current CMC, of course! I was referring to the Silver Age CMC! Obviously.
Also, the explosive is fireworks. It's canon!
Well done!
4484562
You actually nailed it. Dash behavior was intended as a deconstruct of the classic silver age "hero punches villain in the face" but sadly, Ponyvillians have more trust in The Elements of Harmony's word than in Trixie's (with an excuse actually) so if Rainbow Dash attacks somepony then there must be a reason.
Oh my God in heavens, FINALLY somebody who actually knows what I'm talking about when I say Transmetropolitan. And if you want to see that story then you're looking at it, some minor changes , but mostly here. maybe someday I will write a spin-off about Trixie working in the Manehattan Word.
Trixie stood her ground to what she though was an Ursa Major, say whatever the f(censored)k you want but the girl has some guts.
4485498
Thank you mister.
4487995
Finally someone else who recognizes that. Facing an Ursa when you had a perfectly good option to run, picking a fight with one of the most famous unicorns in the land... not to mention that her whole "anything you can do" routine is based on her challenging her opponent in their field of expertise with zero preparation and still coming out ahead... bad judgement aside, she's not lacking in confidence.
4489974
Tixie is a living eponymous (pun intended) of "come on world, you think you can beat me? Prove it!"
4919648
Let's see. I'm on a crusade to survive university right now, but at the first opportunity comes the next chapter.
P.S.: If somebody ever tells you that journalism is easy, the bloody b*stard is f*cking lying.