Issue 7-Making a Mark [Part 2]
“Everyone wants a bit of joy. Whether it is from opening a shiny toy from the packaging, reading a newly released story, or seeing a child’s face light up at a successfully performed magic trick, that wonderful feeling is what everyone wants to have.”
That was the philosophy of why a man opened a shop called ‘McIntyre’s Magnificent Merchandise’. It was a reasonably small store found in the downtown area of the city; a decent spot due to being near a few eateries, a candy shop, a neighborhood, and a college in walking distance. The name was coined as a reflection of the man’s history of being a simple, but respected stage magician, who decided to try his hand at selling wares such as magic tricks, gags, games, comics, and other such commodities. He thought calling it after his family name was respectable, but the man’s son thought it wouldn’t be as appealing to have the name blazing in the window without it being a bar. Still, Stuart McIntyre had the final say in what he wanted to call his store and his son, Ethan, really had no complaints to the place where he would spend his long summer days.
“That is why I decided to open this shop. To give people what they really want: that semblance of joy.” Stuart finished his thought as if he had not said any similar speech in the past. He then looked back at the door, only to find that his audience was only composed of one person and not another customer was in sight. “So where is everyone?”
The contrasts between the father and son were outstanding. Stuart was a man of a robust build and presence that was signature of a stage performer. It helped that he was wearing a white buttoned up shirt, red bowtie, and slacks as if he was preparing to go onto the stage and perform a few tricks to dazzle a crowded house. He was a descent height and constitution, whose mustache curled with a whimsy that was still respectable. Even though he wore a copula hat to hide his thinning black hairline, he still looked like a man who could jump into a rendition of a Shakespearean soliloquy if given the request. Yet, besides him was a young, skinny teen with an unremarkable face currently at the age of fifteen. His brown head of hair was spiked about as if his fingers were enough of a comb for him to use on it. He too was dressed in a similar faux magician’s outfit, but on him it seemed a bit off with his lack of presence unlike his father. He barely looked like he could run a mile for gym, let alone lift the crates of comics and other merchandise that the store demanded for his position.
It didn’t help that Stuart’s son couldn’t have appeared anymore bored with life as he had his comic in hand and sat on a stool behind the counter. Despite the surplus of intriguing wares surrounding him, he seemed to ignore them instead for the story in which Spider-man was facing off against Jackal, Morbius, Dok Ock, and a back from the dead Mysterio.
“What do you expect? It’s the opening weekend of Toy Story 3. Even though it’s summer, everyone and their kids is in a movie theater whereas we are sitting here waiting for some unlucky geek to swing by with nothing better to do.” Ethan said nonchalantly as he turned the page without so much as looking up at his father’s incredulous expression. It seemed that the movie theater a few corners down was essentially taking away his business and there was not a thing the once ‘Great’ magician could do about it.
“Ah, what do you know? You’re only knowledgeable in the few tricks I taught you, not business models!” Stuart muttered with annoyance as he looked at the clock and saw it was time for lunch. The man got up and started to head towards the door. “Now I’m going to go get us some food. Looks like it’s Subway’s turn to make us lunch. Promise me you’ll still be here at the register and not sneaking off to read the rest of that comic. We could use some money, son. And serving customers properly is the best way to do it.”
Ethan waved him off. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be here.”
“Promise me.”
“Fine! I promise that I will be here at the ready the moment a customer comes in asking about a comic, game, or some other gag we sell. Until you come back, this place will be the same as you left it, so help me God!” Ethan raised his hand in mock salute as he gave a smirk at the hamminess of his performance. He then went back to The Amazing Spider-man# 141. “After all, who else can you expect to make sure this place keeps running while you are gone?”
“Yeah, well just for that, I’m going to take my time in deciding my sandwich.” Stuart smirked as he laughed in a false evil manner. “You’ll just have to take the turkey and enjoy it, because I’m the boss here!”
“Whatever, old man!” His son shouted at him as he left through the door. “Better make mine a footlong, or don’t bother coming back!”
[}0{]
Ethan felt a sense of dizziness overtake him despite waking up. It wasn’t grogginess that was hitting him, but a sensation of vertigo due to something else. When he recollected himself and fold he was unable to rub his eyebrows due to his domelike helmet, the memories of his current situation came back to him.
“Master, are you alright?”Tsavorite asked as she looked over her shoulder to gaze upon Ethan in Mysterio’s attire hanging tightly to her shoulders.
“I’m fine. Never better.” Ethan lied in Mysterio’s echoing voice. The distortion of the suit’s speech made it so that his panic was not apparent to his draconic companion and current flying conveyance. Sure any other time, Ethan would probably be imagining flying across a magical land on the back of a dragon, but actually doing it seemed to remind him about why he hated flying on a plane when his dad traveled for one of his shows. That, and knowing planes had seatbelts, as well as actual seats and did not require you to hang on in what was essentially a piggyback ride a few stories above the ground had something to do with it as well.
“Well you seem to be shaking a great deal. If you are cold, I have no problem carrying you and embracing you tighter so you can better feel my warmth.” The dragoness offered, thinking that was the issue at hand.
“No!-I mean, that is not necessary. I am fine in that regard.” Being on her back was nerve-racking enough. Having her essentially hold him like a babe to her bosom, while being forced to gaze at the distance to the ground…well he didn’t want to get motion sick as well as scream in alarm if she started to descend while flying in that manner to say the least.
“…Are you sure?”
“I’m fine. How much further until we reach our destination?”
“I don’t believe much further. Although this method of finding it is not necessarily something I can judge well.” She looked down to take a peek at the object that was hanging from a bangle around her wrist. “Are you certain this is the best method of finding the way from north?”
The object was an old potion bottle that was round at the base, but contained a liquid mixture with a hint of reddish tinge and glowed in a mystical glare. The light source emanated from a needle that not only floated in the round container, but was vibrating as it pointed the direction for her to fly in. While the young man had kept aside “Count R. Clockwise’s Creative Charades and Countermeasures” for another day, the book “Fortune Folly’s Fantastic Spells for Frequent Use” did come in handy after all. In particular, the spell that enchanted the needle to point the direction to a location that it was used to write its name. While it was a simple method of magic, and was certainly leading them somewhere, it still had some serious flaws that made it apparent why it was a magical novelty. On one hand, it seemed to be a constant direction that was definitely not north based on the compass app on his phone. On the other, while knowing the direction to go in was helpful, and having a companion who could fly made it easier but it gave no indication as to how far they had to go to get there beyond glowing brighter the closer they got to it. The other major annoyance was that this spell needed to be recharged, which meant Ethan had to constantly recreate the ritual after a few hours. It was certainly an annoyance to keep pricking one’s finger to keep the magic going, and to use part of their supply ration’s to sterilize to parts to avoid infection.
Speaking of which, he noted the state of their stash for the trip and found that they were running low on nearly everything. “It’s the best we have for the time being. Hopefully we will reach it today. Otherwise we will have to come up with a way to get more of what we need out here.”
Now that was a terrible joke! To be forced to find anything out here in this desert beyond the rocky terrain and blaring sun. Sure, they had advantages that made this environment more bearable like the climate settings in his suit, or Tsavorite’s draconic genetics. But those things wouldn’t be much help when they finally ran out of water, food, and--for the dragoness--gems. Ethan in particular couldn’t help but to notice how when they camped for the night, he was woken up by a low grumble that he found to be coming from Tsavorite’s stomach. God help him, but the reason for his apparent lethargy was that he felt the need to sleep in sessions because Tsavorite unknowingly sleep-ate nearby rocks and minerals she instinctively sniffed with her serpentine tongue and dug out. The munching reminded him of what he imagined to be the crunching human bones. He didn’t sleep well after that thought to say the least.
Still, his mind ran in frustration as to what was this whole journey for? Why take the excursion to this place known only in his thoughts as ‘Clutter Coulee'? What was there that could be so important that he could be one step closer to his main goal?
“I know there is an easier way...but it is my choice anyway...don't let me waste my time, in futile thinking any more…”
The young man who wore Mysterio’s armaments stopped his pondering as he took notice of the tune Tsavorite was murmuring as she soared through the skies and realizing that he knew it quite well.
“Is that ‘Fly in the Freedom’?”
“Hmm?” The dragoness stopped her humming as she felt her thoughts unclouded from the sky’s spell on her senses. Flying for this long did tend to have one linger into ‘Skyway Hypnosis’ if one wasn’t to careful to maintain a level of alertness. “What was that, Master?”
“That song you are humming, is it ‘Fly in the freedom’?”
She pondered for a moment, before shrugging as best as she could with the sorcerer on her shoulders. “I am not sure of its name. Only that it was playing on that ‘eye-fone’ of yours when you lent it to me last. I really enjoy it if it is.”
“Well, you seem to be able to sing it wonderfully enough. I’ll be sure to lend you my music more often.”
Now that was an interesting thought! To think that something like his music would be a welcome commodity to share was something Ethan found some excitement in. But before he could consider other songs to entrance his draconic subordinate with, he caught a glimmer of something shinning on the desert plains below. The makeshift bottle locator was glowing with a brightness that would make any Christmas tree envious in response.
“We are here!” Mysterio proclaimed as he motioned for Tsavorite to land.
[}0{]
“So this is Clutter Coulee.” Tsavorite stated as she gazed upon the place’s magnificence, or rather lack thereof. She had been expecting maybe a township, or possibly a trading post; something that would be well-to-do enough to have resources to his cause. Instead, she found something even dingier.
‘Clutter Coulee’ was a scrapyard. It was surrounded by a high metallic fence with a grated gate. Heaps of organized odds-and-ends could be seen piled at heights above these walls. A couple buildings could be seen inside which gave the impression that someone worked here, or possibly lived here if the juxtaposition of the hot desolation of the environment surrounding it was any indication. Still, that may have been a stretch because they too look worn down like the scrap piles surrounding them.
“This place looks like it has nothing to offer us, Master. Perhaps it would be best if we quickly requested some water and be off on our way. Although, I admit, there is doubt we shall find even that here.”
Mysterio seemed to cross his arms at that, but pondered for a bit before committing himself to journeying into this place they traversed such a length to reach.
“In my land we have a saying, ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ Now that can be taken in a number of ways.” Mysterio announced as he leisurely strolled toward the front gates of the place. “People, or ponies in this case, have no idea that the things that they discard and disregard can still be useful.”
“The discarded can still have a use?” For some reason the words rang a cord in the dragoness’ heart, but before she could dwell on them, her master made to announce himself with a few bangs on the gate with his fist.
[}0{]
“To whomever owns these parts, let them come forth for I have business to discuss!”
“Who is that at this time of day?” Trixie asked aloud as she stopped her work for a moment. She was currently shoveling scrap into piles alongside the two Diamond Dogs. They too stopped their work to perk their ears at whatever this male voice just shouted.
“Is it a customer, big sis?” Norah excitedly asked with a skip. Customers were a good source of shinnies so long as they got their scraps that they were looking for.
“Sounds like them guards ponies. Probably wants more metal bits so they can makes more armors and spears.” Bo said as she took up her shovel and trotted towards the lever near the entrance. As she struck it, the chains that it controlled gave a shrieking groan as they lowered the gate to open for their latest guests.
The one standing the tallest was a dragon. Bo was surprised to see one out here in this desert; even more so since there was practically nothing of value to be had among their pile of scraps. Yet here was this female who had green scales shimmering in the sun, and dressed in the minimal garb of one who has lived in the lush jungles she assumed. She gave a pointed stare at the Diamond Dog that was as evenly matched to the point on her nose.
However, even she seemed to be outclassed in strangeness by the being standing next to her. It was a figure garbed in a green bodysuit and adorned in a purple cloak. Yet what was even stranger was the lack of a face. He, for the musculature was clearly a male, had a shining crystal sphere for a head that glimmered in the sun like a mighty pearl. It seemed to light up even more vibrantly as he spoke out:
“I am Mysterio! A master of the arcane, and soon to be the new proprietor of these premises!”
[}0{]
Mysterio couldn’t believe who it was that stood behind the gate of this junkyard property. As it lowered, he expected to find perhaps an earthly colored bipedal stallion that ran the place. Instead, he found a bipedal canine, and a female one at that. The way she was dressed and the way she carried herself showed that she was a hard worker who was not to be trifled with. Despite the other differences to her appearance in comparison to a pony, a few stood out the most. For instance, she had sharper claws at her digits as well as paws at her feet. She had natural chomping bits outside her jaw that were not amongst her teeth. Her overall body type was broad, plump, but muscular and she was blessed with ‘magnificent tracts of land’. They might have even been equal in size to his helmet. Yet that maybe had to do more with her being at least two heads taller than he as well as thrice as broad. Yet she was a part of the junkyard scene with how she was dressed in a pair of dark overalls and a flannel shirt of plaid. Overall, Mysterio summed her up in one thought: Here was a doggie version of Ellie from Borderlands 2 who looked ready to kick his ass.
“So big talk coming from a strange pony…” The female junkyard dog started to comment, before she took a closer gander at him. “You ain’t no pony I’ve ever seen. What are you?”
“I am a man of the human race, and a skillful sorcerer. That’s all I will say on that matter.” He unfurled his cloak a bit as he stood with his arms folded. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to carry on with my day. So let us begin the negotiation in order for me to acquire this place of business properly.”
“Over our doggie doornails! Right, Big Sis Bo?” barked a more youthful voice. Running up to the large bipedal collie, was a little scamp of what probably amounted to a puppy. She wore a blue shirt with a pink bunny as well as a faded pink skirt over a pair of orange pants. She had short orange hair with a black bow near her right ear. The more distinguishing marks she had seemed to be the black mark like a bullseye around her right eye and her larger forepaws and hind paws. They seemed even bigger than the larger dog’s and were almost bigger than her face, muzzle and all. If the big doggie was Ellie, then this little one had to be like Tina: tiny, but explosively dangerous enough to get you killed for underestimating her. At least, that was what Ethan felt when he looked her over.
“You mean ‘dead as a doornail’ bodies, Norah. But she’s still right. What make you think I just bow to you?” Bo asked with her paws on her hips. She seemed to lose a bit of her sternness at her sister’s misuse of a phrase, but regained it quickly enough to maintain an intimidating stature.
It was certainly working, for already, Tsavorite was subtly moving to get into a range to attack; something that Mysterio most definitely wanted to prevent from occurring. So in order to maintain control of this rising situation, he did what he felt was necessary: he prepared to play a hand to change the direction of this game they were playing.
“Let me be clear, I do not believe I can make you become my servant. Nor do I consider that I have much of a chance to take away this place from you so that I may be able to accomplish my goals.” He then snapped his fingers as he quickly revealed a fan of playing cards in his grasp. “However, perhaps I can propose a wager? It can be a contest of your choice in which we compete against the other.”
“Doggie-pile-driver-off!” The younger pup gleefully barked. She seemed to ignore her sister’s irate look as she immediately called the challenge and her terms. “Winner knocks the loser to the ground and keeps them there to the count of ten! If Bo wins, you give Bo shinies until you die!”
“Shinies?”
“I think she means gems, master. They are Diamond Dogs and thus they desire them nearly as much as I hunger for them.” Tsavorite quickly explained.
‘Diamond Dogs, huh?’ So this was another species that Mysterio would need to investigate. He put that thought aside for later as he swiftly came up with his terms of the challenge. “Very well then! If I win, I will get to use this scrapyard in anyway I see fit to do. Will that suffice?”
“Fine!” Bo held out a hand-er, paw-out as she stated the final terms of this apparent. “But remember, no help from your dragon friend and no backing out when you lose!”
“Done!” Mysterio agreed as he shook the offered paw. “Now, when shall we start?”
“We starts…right now!” Bo growled as she tightened her grip and threw the costumed man over her shoulder.
“Master!” Tsavorite was ready to run to his aid, but stopped when Mysterio quickly righted himself in midair and landed calmly on his feet.
“Stay back, Tsavorite!” He swept his cloak behind him as he readied into a battle worthy stance. “I can handle myself against this one alone!”
Immediately he had to take a great leaping dodge to the left as the large she-doggie rushed at him like a bull seeing red. When she failed to impact him, she quickly turned about-face and began to swiftly release a flurry of hard hitting punches. Mysterio found himself dodging a practical hailstorm of clawed fists as he did his best to avoid every strike made towards him. The suit seemed to help, for its HUD could display every incoming attack’s direction of impact. However, the lack of sleep and the effects of the desert climate seemed to be affecting him with every successful dodge he was able to force his tired body to make. If this was a battle of attrition, then already he was falling behind in the race.
Fortunately he had a few more tricks up his sleeves. Like an actual energy attack! “Sortilege salvo!”
He curled up his palm as a magenta burst of energy came flying out towards the Diamond Dog. However, she was not only quick enough to dodge it, but did it in a surprisingly agile way. She leant back and contorted her body into a side kick that hit Mysterio with enough force to knock him back aways.
Mysterio fired a few more shots in her direction. However, not only did she dodge them, but she actually battered a few of them away with her bare paws!
“You thinks I don’t suspect magics in fights? I faced off against trickier fillies than you!” Bo bellowed as she rushed Mysterio again.
Mysterio was able to stand up again, but was not fast enough to start dodging all of her strikes. This time he was forced into a more defensive position as some of her hits were just to close to dodge. The suit gave him some protection, seeing that it was probably made to take blows from Spider-man, but again he knew that he could only do so much before Bo could claim this fight as her win. He had to make a plan to change the outcome of this match and fast!
‘She’s quick! Even for one as bulky as her, she’s surprisingly quick on her feet. Not to mention she is pretty well versed with throwing those punches but with one handicap.’ He tried to avoid that line of thought, but there was one reason (or rather two big reasons!) as to why not all of her punches were hitting him with the impact that they should of at this close range. ‘But can you blame her with them at that size, it’s a wonder that she can see me over them, let alone reach me-’
It seemed that maybe Bo was getting wise to her attacks not having the bite that they should, because she gave an annoyed bark before winding up to give a greater blow; one from her tail with the force of her FULL weight behind it! The impact was enough to through him off balance, but fortunately he was able to catch himself into a roll, and quickly regained his footing. ‘That tail is something else! She knows it well enough to use it to make up for her lack of reach. However, that still leaves the glaring weakness of her technique available for me to exploit!’
He stayed crouched as he heard her steps come closer to him. Each one sounded off with a bounding thud, but the key detail was that they were consistently hitting the ground one after the other.
‘Wait for it…now!’ instead of getting off his feet, Mysterio slid his body right towards her left foot as she got into his range. With his whole body behind that move, he was able to knock her off balance While also kicking up a large dirt cloud.
“You are an excellent fighter, but you seem to be unwilling to let more than one foot off the ground!” Mysterio chide as he appeared to shimmer brightly in the sunlight. He was about to proclaim himself victorious, but was made silent by how she was no longer falling towards her back. Rather, she stopped herself by the strength of her tail. It was enough to give her time to have both of her paws to catch the ground again.
“Enough of this! I will finish this NOW!” like a mighty spring, her tail was able to launch herself up onto the pads of her feet and with that, she leapt up and prepared to body slam the sorcerer in a finishing move.
[}0{]
While this entire match was going on, there was another spectator to the fight: a blue unicorn mare named Trixie. She was watching from the shadow of one of the sheds, but could clearly see everything well enough. Believing it was not as forthcoming, but that wasn’t as surprising considering the way her life has been going these past few weeks.
A sorcerer and a dragon. Of all the things Trixie saw come to this desert junkyard, these two were not a part of it. The Dragoness was tall and looked strong enough to be a viable threat. However, her ostensible master was what drew her eye more. He had a crystal ball for a head, a spoke as if he was capable of magic greater than she could imagine.
Granted, when Trixie first saw him, she was still unsure of his actual capability. She knew the boasting game among practitioners of magic after all. It could have turned out that he kept that dragon as some sort of enforcer, and thus perhaps was only a spellcaster who was rich enough to keep powerful servants to do his dirty work. That line of thinking stopped the moment he told the dragoness to stay back to deal with Bo’s challenge on his own. It was cemented further by how he was remarkably dodging Bo’s strikes and capable of striking back with powerful magic. Even more so, was that he was able to knock the bitch off of her feet.
This sorcerer was strange to be certain. Yet perhaps he was the answer to Trixie’s wishes of late. Too bad it seemed that he too was about to fall into the diamond dogs’ ‘indentured servitude’.
'If only…' She thought as she saw Bo about to body slam him. Then she found herself gasping in surprise as he seemed to fade away like a mirage before Bo slammed face first into the dirt.
[}0{]
Bo couldn’t stop as she felt the dirt kiss her muzzle. The ‘hyooman’ couldn’t have teleported, for there was no flash, or burst of noise like when other things blinked to another spot. The shiny headed figure just stopped being there. Before the Diamond dog could dwell on the how, she felt a new sensation that was hitting her body. She couldn’t seem to pick herself up, but she soon discovered why.
Her legs were tied tightly together by Mysterio’s purple cape. They were knotted securely together to her wrists in a way that made it practically imposible for her to get off of her belly.
“Who’s on top?” Mysterio crossed his arms as he mockingly joked, “It seems I’m more on top than the top dog around here.”
“But how?” Bo asked as she tried to use her strength to break free. Yet whatever material the cape was made from had to be sterner stuff than any rope that Bo could break.
“How indeed?” Mysterio shrugged as he laid a boot on Bo’s back. “10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Looks like I win, all the same.”
He grasped the purple strand and with the flourish of the tablecloth gag, he pulled the cloth from Bo’s appendages and placed it back upon his shoulders. Norah rushed to her sister’s side to help her up while also giving Mysterio mean looks.
He walked calmly towards his dragoness companion as he began to preach of his victory. “As for my winnings-”
“We are not serving some shiny-headed-trickster-cheater!” Norah barked angrily with a tear or two dripping over her bullseye.
Mysterio stopped in place as he turned around to correct the evident misunderstanding. “Servitude? All I desire is the right to obtain whatever scrap I see fit to use and the methods of which to craft with it that you have here.”
That seemed to cause the Diamond Dogs and their unseen observer’s eyes to widen.
“That’s it?” Bo asked.
“Of course!” Mysterio spread out his arms in exasperation. “What else would I want that you could possibly give me?”
“Perhaps a meal would be acceptable as well as a place to stay the night?” Tsavorite interjected as she drew Mysterio’s attention. She gave a sheepish look as she held out the bag of supplies they carried with them. Only now it seemed to be bereft of certain goods. No doubt, it was due to the nervous hunger of the ‘Gem Gourmet’ at the sight of her master getting quite the near defeat handed to him.
“…Really Tsavorite?” He then sighed as he addressed the two Diamond Dogs. “I’d hate to impose more, but it seems that my servant decided to eat the last of our supplies as we fought.”
Despite the lack of a face, Mysterio somehow managed to give a shamefaced demeanor, and the dragoness gave an apologetic expression. Despite their previous scuffle, Bo just couldn’t help but to feel sympathetic enough to give a bit of hospitality.
“So long as you don’t stick your noses up at our cooking!” She gave a canine smirk. “We don’t waste food around these parts.”
[}0{]
“What a day!” Mysterio sighed out as he sat down in a shaded corner of the yard. Tsavorite took off to follow Bo and Norah to make arrangements for their staying the night. He trusted her judgement, and thus found himself taking it easy for a moment that he absolutely needed. He could practically see steam coming out of his suit due to him roasting in there. This suit was made for playing tricks and taking hits, but this heat was something else.
‘Kicking up the dirt was enough to hide that holocube for a quick diversion.’ He then took a few stretches to try and work some kinks out of his muscles as he tried to think of a way to cool off. ‘So I was only able to get the upper hand by some quick thinking. I’ll still need to work on my act if I want to keep up this charade.’
A mug suddenly floated into his range of vision. “Hmm?”
It was surrounded by a magenta glow. Clearly it was the sign of magic at work.
“You look like you might need a drink.” A feminine voice spoke as a tall figure stepped into his view.
It was a blue unicorn mare. She possessed a silverfish mane that was tied up with a worn rag. She was also dressed in a pair of overalls and flannel shirt which were dirty with the signs of working here. Yet it seemed out of place on her, as if she wasn’t originally meant to wear them. No doubt, they must have been old hand-me-downs that Bo must off outgrown at some point of her life. Overall, she was certainly pretty as far as these ponies go, but that made it more prudent that she didn’t belong to this junkyard setting.
Mysterio calmly snatched the mug from the air as if it was a normal occurrence. “Thank you kindly, miss…?”
“Lulamoon. Bellatrix Lulamoon. But you may refer to me as Trixie.” She gave a smile as she thrusted out a hip to lean against. “Your use of magic was most impressive. I was unable to see how you were able to cast that final illusion so flawlessly and with no sign of a traceable tell that are caused by spell work. Just how did you manage to pull it off with such little time has Trixie most curious.”
Mysterio was no fool, and neither was Ethan. He knew the look of a woman…or female…who clearly was after something he had. Many a woman could try their wiles, but he was a man who kept his secrets close to the vest. It certainly helped that she was being obvious in her stance.
“Well, it is a trade secret my dear. I doubt that it would remain as such if I were to tell it to everyone who asked me how.” He swirled the mug of water around as he considered just how he could possibly drink it with his helmet on. Still, he could at least humor her a bit. “Besides, what would a unicorn with such a skilled eye for magic such as yourself need with a mere parlor trick like that?”
That certainly was enough to preen the mane of Trixie. It had been a long time since she had heard any such compliment.
“Very astute for you to notice. I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. I am the one who is capable of matching any challenge and trick any pony alive dared to throw at me…” She started to stand with a bit more pride as she recalled her early days of ‘showmareship’. Yet her flare of esteem simmered down as she recalled she was not upon a stage, but in a shaded corner of a junkyard she was forced to work in. “Or at least I was. Now Trixie is just the humble and unrecognizable scrap pillar collector.”
Mysterio knew that look pretty well. “Life threw you one too many lemons?”
Trixie scoffed as she kicked a nearby rock with her hoof. “More like stones! Trixie remembers the last town she was in had a rock farm!”
Ouch! Mysterio didn’t like the sound of that; too literal for his tastes by the way she reacted.
“Sounds like they didn’t take a ‘stage incident’ well.” Her gazed upon the water as he saw a reflection of the two of them standing apart, and decided to impart something to a fellow magician. “Then can I, the Great Mysterio, offer a piece of advice to a lovely young…mare such as yourself?”
“Yes!” Trixie was ecstatic to see what this sorcerer had to offer her. Maybe it was a powerful spell to make her dreams come true! Or perhaps a magical amulet that could boost her power a hundredfold!
“Find another act.”
She dropped her jaw at that. “What?”
Seeing her reaction, Mysterio waved a hand as he explained his suggestion a bit further. “I’m not saying to quit. That would be a waste of all your time and effort. It would also make your naysayers think they’ve one. Rather, find another way to give them what they want. Only then will you find that method that has your audience captivated to your own plight.”
As he finished that, a drinking straw appeared in his sleeve. The moment he carefully picked it out, a tiny induction port opened in front of his mouth that was the perfect size for it. Hazzah! It seemed Mysterio had a way to drink while in costume after all.
‘What do you know, he was prepared for any situation!’ He immediately stuck the straw into the port and started sipping as much of the cold water as he could.
'Find a new act…?' Trixie wondered just how she could do that.
Having completed her task, Tsavorit choose that moment to reconvene with her master. “Master, I’ve made the arrangements and it looks like we will be staying in the ‘guest cabin’. Miss Bo says that there will be another we will have to share it with.”
“That would be me.” Trixie answered as she saw an opportunity to grasp.
“And who are you?” Tsavorite readied her wings as she looked questionably at this new unicorn trying to become familiar with Mysterio.
“This is Miss Lulamoon or Trixie as she is known.” Mysterio introduced as he paused from his sipping. He gave the same curtesy for Tsavorite’s introduction as he announced her as well. “Trixie, this is Lady Tsavorite whom I have dubbed ‘The Gem Gourmet.”
The dragoness kept a straight face until she held a claw out with a grin. “It’s a pleasure.”
Trixie grabbed it to shake. “The pleasure is mine!”
“I hope we won’t be a nuisance due to having to share such close quarters.” The dragoness stood taller and tightened her grip. Her subtle way of appearing bigger while showing more teeth made her unspoken message have a bit more edge. ‘Keep your distance, mare! My master is beyond your paltry tricks!’
“Do not fret! Trixie is used to making due with worse!” The unicorn’s grip tightening as well as maintaining eye contact also aided her unspoken response to that. ‘This dragoness thinks she could tell me to back off! I’ll show her!'
The two stared down the other. Mysterio just sat and drank his water, unknowing that there were silent daggers flying between his two acquaintances.
“Food’s ready! Eat up or you’ll get nothin’!” Bo’s voice rang out as a dinner bell started to ring.
“Ah, nothing to cement a new bond of companionship than a well-cooked meal!” He stood up and dusted himself off to be ore presentable.“Well, shall we ladies?”
“We shall/We shall!” The two females exclaimed as they followed his lead. Neither was willing to let up their pace to make way for the other.
[}0{]
It was an interesting meal to be certain. Not because of the dishes being served. The main course was chili beans hot from the pot. Bo was at least kind enough to make another pot without the ground beef for Trixie’s sake, but the way the smell wafted nearby and seeing the dogs dig into it made her nauseous and nervous. No, what made everyone ate the table wide eyed was who else was planning on participating in the meat filled dish today.
“You don’t mind meat?” Norah asked. Here they all were at a table made of scrapped materials like at a rubbishy picnic. She and Bo had planned to share the meat inclusive meal with the dragoness, but they didn’t expect that the round headed being would scoop up a spoonful from the pot into his own bowl.
Yet here was Mysterio eagerly swirling a spoon in his bowl to mix up the chili. “So long as it’s cooked properly, I’ll eat it and tell you if I enjoy it!”
“You are weird, Mr. Eeyoo! Even if you are some ‘hyooman’.” Norah didn’t bother with a spoon, and just dove her muzzle in to scarf as much food as she could.
“I’m sure I will get that a lot.” The ‘human’ set his bowl down to cool. He was also waiting for a proper opportunity to take his helmet off to eat.
The young pup wiped her muzzle with one of her forepaws as she asked a question she’d been having all day. “Still, how cans you eat with no mouth or holes?”
“Norah!” Bo chided with a pointed spoon from her own bowl of chili. While Norah ate with a ill-mannered gusto, she certainly had manners of a proper host, and thus wished her sister wouldn’t ruin the nice mealtime they were all sharing.
“What? He doesn’t has one!” Norah defensively retorted.
“I do. It’s just that my face looks…really scary!”
That appeared to excite the young pup. “Really?”
“Yes. It may give you nightmares for weeks to come!” He facetiously raised finger in a warning as he tapped his shinning orb of a head covering. “So don’t look when I take this helmet off, alright?”
Norah was far from deterred at the prospect. “Now I gotta see!”
Bo adamantly put a stop to that. “You better not! Last time you gots that scared we hads to get you a new bed.”
Everyone at the table developed smirks, and were holding back laughter at the implication. Norah waved her paws about as she embarrassingly defended herself. “Not because of that!”
Bo shook her head in annoyance as she explained further. “I wish! That would be better than you setting explosives to gets the monster that you said was living under it!”
Tsavorite raised a surprised eyebrow at that. Trixie seemed to blanch and look even more appalled at that bit of information. Mysterio noted the way she also rubbed her neck in which a junky looking collar with gaudy lights was adorned.
“So Norah, you’ve got an unusual name.”
That seemed to distract her into a calmer state of being. “Not really, all doggie names are based on our qualities or other things that are easy to recall. When we was fighting, I was able to be very sneaky and no-doggie could hear me until it was too late! So I was named ‘Norah’.”
The way she pronounced it was ‘No-rawr’, which was an interesting tidbit to Ethan. It seemed that names for Diamond Dogs had a story behind them. Granted, names in his world could work in a similar manner, it seemed they had a more active quality here.
“So why do they call you Bo?” Mysterio asked, trying to further explore the topic. Unfortunately, he seemed to have stepped onto another landmine, by the expression that developed on the older female Diamond Dog’s face. Norah didn’t seem to notice as she explained it with a poem of all things, and a surprisingly familiar one at that!
“Little Bo Peep, loose her sheep, don’t know where to find them. Leave them alone, and then they come home with wagging tails behind them.” Her pup sister recited.
Mysterio tilted his head at that recitation. Apparently some things were truly universal. He’d definitely have to explore that at a later date to be certain!
“Well that sounds very ni-”
“It is name of prey, not hunter!” Bo bellowed as she slammed a fist onto the table, leaving a crack on its surface. “It double insult because it is shorter than ‘bow-wow’. It is name for…”
She lost her anger and seemed to fall into a depression, with her ears and tail lowered. Norah’s ear drooped as well as she realized she slipped up again and her sister was the one hurt by it.
“What kind of name?” Mysterio asked gently without trying to push her. He had to know. At this point, if there was some sort of cultural deviation at work he would pay attention to it.
The Diamond Dog sighed out. “It is a name for a runt.”
If his eyebrow could rise any higher, his helmet would have cracked. “You are a runt?”
“Norah may have been born from a latter litter, but I am the runt of my bunch.” Bo answered with a bit of bite back in her voice. “As if magic-man didn’t know!”
“I did not. You must understand Miss Bo, I am from lands far beyond here, and every culture is as strange to me as mine is probably to yours.” He then raised a hand to his ‘chin’ in consideration as he commented. “In fact, you are the first ‘Diamond Dog’ I have ever seen.”
“Really?” Norah asked in honest surprise. “You know no things ‘bout Diamond Dogs?”
“Truly.” The man nodded as he folded his hands. “You could have told me any number of tales and I would have to consider the possibilities of their truth. Why…”
He unfolded his hands to reveal a pair of Queen playing cards he set on the table. The Diamond Dogs as well as Tsavorite and Trixie looked intrigued at the designs of a human woman in a suit of diamonds and hearts as he went on into a dramatic tale to lighten the mood.
“You could have told me you and your sisters were lost princesses of a warrior culture, the two of you on the run with nothing more than each other and a song in your hearts.” He waved his hands quickly over the cards as the two suddenly became a set of royal flushed of each suit in a ordinate pattern. “You could then impart to me the adventures of how you had found, fame, fortune, power, and love along a widespread journey in which you ended up here as a couple of successful entrepreneurs in a form of working retirement.”
“Magic-man sounds crazy, and silly!” Norah clapped. “Can we hear more?”
He shrugged. “That depends on you. It is your story to tell after all.”
“Aw…guess I’ll has to think it up and make it real special!”
“I’m sure you will.” Mysterio looked around before conspiratively whispering.“Perhaps with puppets, or something similar. Everyone likes those kind of stories from my experience.”
“I gots stuffed animals!”
“Then why don’t you practice? We will look forward to your reiteration of this wonderful stream of proceedings!” He said with a pat to her head.
“Huh?”
Tsavorite quickly translated her master's words into simpler terms. “We would love to see your show!”
“Ok!” Norah scampered away to fetch some props for her storytime. This left the adults in the room alone to carry on the
uncomfortable conversation.
“So why did you think I would know you were a runt, Miss Bo?” Mysterio asked when he could no longer catch sight or sign of the young pup.
“It’s quite obvious if you knows us Diamond Dogs well. It is plain for all to see.” Bo sighed as she held out her paws. “I eats lots. I works out lot too. And no matter what I do, the mark of a runt never leaves me.”
Her paws were about the same size as a normal human hand. Besides being padded like a canine’s and slightly plush due to her weight, the only other thing of note was that she had three fingers and a thumb unlike the five fingers he himself had. He supposed they looked average as far as anthro paws went, and couldn’t find any sort of marking on them. He was about to disregard her admittance that they were the sign of her runt status, but then he realized the comparison to her sister. Despite the pup’s age, she clearly had enlarged paws that were made for digging and would definitely make a deep impact into hard surfaces. Her bottom paws were a similar manner in that he recalled as they fought, he had to be quick on her feet to make up for her lack of reach.
“So the fact that your paws are smaller than what I assume are the norm are what make you an outcast?” He asked.
“You says it like it is just an inconvenience. But to Diamond Dogs, we needs to be bred strong to serve our lot in life. These are not paws of digger and fighter.” She shook them in restrained fury. “These are paws of clan bitch at best!”
Bo took a few calming breaths as she composed herself.
“So I show other dogs, I not just baby oven! I am BO! The Diamond Dog that is smarter than the rest!” She still gave a bit of a snarl as she looked directly at her guests at her table. She was especially pointed at the one who beat her today. “So now, Mysterio, what do you wants with this place I works so hard to keep safe from bad dogs like those I runs away from long ago?”
Mysterio said nothing. For what could he say? Looking discreetly at Tsavorite and Trixie, he saw that they too felt bad at this insight into Diamond Dog culture. Bo was a strong female, and apparently had worked hard to get to this place by the sounds of it. The idea that she had escaped a life of being a breeding machine was disheartening to say the least. After a bit of deliberation, he finally spoke what he hoped would placate her concerns.
“I said it before. You could have told me that you were the queen of these lands! You could have said that you reign from the distant mountains to the tree line as a benevolent and beautiful ruler and I would have to consider it. I would need you to prove it, but I would still consider it a possibility. I never considered you lesser, and even after our…small exhibition, I do not think of you as some…doggie only good for one thing.” He held out a hand as he did what he felt was the best way to assure her she was not worthless. “After the insight you’ve given, I think you have a great deal of untapped potential that could be amazing to see when it’s fully realized.”
Bo tilted her head at this. “What are you saying?”
“What I’m trying to say is that I’m offering you a new beginning. You can forget all this mistreatment because of your culture’s stigma and become one of my subordinates. Lady Tsavorite can vouch for me as a ruler.” Mysterio turned to her, and she nodded firmly at that.
Bo took consideration in that. Dragons were a proud race, and their word in regards to those with power carried weight. Still she was not as convinced at this sorcerer’s words. “Norah and I works ery hard to avoid slavery. What do you offer that’s so different?”
Mysterio thought this was a fair inquest. He crossed his arms as he showed a thinking pose. “Well, to start, how about you tell me what you want. Name it and I shall see about acquiring for you.”
“The Heart Stone!” shouted the young pup who revealed that she had been listening to their conversation this whole time.
“Norah!” Bo shouted though it was unclear if her admonishment was due more to Norah hiding, or her apparent request.
“What? He said anything, didn’t he?” She waved a stuffed grey doggie in one hand and a white unicorn with wings in the other as she excitedly barked. “So he can help us find it!”
“What is this ‘Heart Stone’?” Mysterio asked.
“It just stupid dream that should just lie with sleeping dogs.” Bo moaned with annoyance as she looked at her sister looking too
wound-up at the apparent prospect of acquiring it. “There’s no way even you’d be able to find it. Better dogs have tried and failed for the last eon. Of course, that’s what’s gotten us Diamond Dogs into this mess of our parts of the world to start with.”
“Oh really?” Mysterio asked.
“Yep! No-doggie has ever found it.” Norah barked as she held her stuffed animals together as she seemed to get ready to tell a story with them. “No-doggie has seen it! Yet everydoggie has been looking for it!”
“Ever since the day that cake-gobbler Celestia sent our kind's old head honcho, King Crunch into Tartarus!”
[TO BE CONTINUED…]
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This was awesome mate, and I can't wait for the next chapter!
Well well well he is going to get in to all sorts of trouble isn't he?
King Crunch, that sounds familiar to me. G1 villain, massive dog, causes people to be blue, right?
This is getting more interesting now.
Man, this chapter was great. I really liked how Mysteria had a combat with Bo and managed to win and befriend Bo through wiles. Likewise, I liked how Trixie developed an admiration/attachment, who receive genuinely good advice from Mysterio rather than a magic trick, towards Mysterio and a rivalry towards Tsavorite. The ending with Mysterio offering to take Bo and Norah as servants in exchange for a Heart Stone that is probably in Tartarus is one excellent cliffhanger. Hope the next chapter comes soon.
7075105
Let me check.
-looks over shoulder-
orig13.deviantart.net/47cc/f/2014/302/2/c/crunch_the_rock_dog_by_naitaidaifoxxoll-d84jyt1.jpg
Yep, pretty sure that's the guy.
7075105 more like cause people to turn to stone
7075186 I got a detail wrong, so sue me. Besides, I'd be pretty blue if I was petrified.
7075232 no problem dude
Heart stone...I do hope they do not mean the Crystal Heart, that'd be troublesome. (Also don't think its in the existence of time yet, considering the entire empire is out of time.)
So you officially peeked my interest yet again! you're really good at it.
Alright that was an interesting chapter. The fight scene felt a little too fast.
7075507
Ok. I will definitely work on that in the next chapter.
Awesome chapter.
Yes! More characters that everyone looks down on but has immense untapped potential! Mysterio sure knows how to pick them.
7075382 the heart stone is a relic from g1 or g2 not really sure that allowed a living mountain to have feelings a part of it was used on crunch the stone dog collar to give him emotions, the collar itself was made from black lava stone and made him indestructible.
7079946 Ah, I thank you!
I wasn't aware that silverfish could grow manes.
...was that whole thing a One Piece spoof? Because that's pretty funny if it was.
OKAY THEN!!! I think i shall leave for a moment, before i try to just go slap them for saying that. Celestia has a problem known as 'Sweet Tooth', which is something that even i have to deal with.
corrections
you're talking about mysterio right?
impossible
nothing wrong here that's just hilarious.
It should be "won," not "one."
it's like the hobbit isn't it?