Origins: Part 2
"Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes."
- Hugh Prather
The downtown area of the city of Maretropolis was quiet that night. Since it was Tuesday, most of the citizens had turned in early so they would be awake for work in the morning. Only the street lamps illuminated the sidewalks and the only sound was the trotting of one set of hooves. A lone brown unicorn stallion with blue eyes and a white mane was on his way home from work, a satchel strung across his shoulder. He looked around nervously as he made his way down the dimly lit street.
A clank made him jump. He turned to the nearest alleyway and saw a tin can rolling on the ground. A tabby cat mewed as it hopped out of a dumpster. Breathing a sigh of relief, he continued down the street, only to find three figures obstructing his path.
They were just out of the lamp's light, so he could not tell what they were. The figure on the right was large and hunched over, the one on the left was smaller than a pony, and the one in the middle towered over the unicorn, staring down at him with bright green eyes.
"Very sorry," the stallion said, placing his hoof on his chest. "You came out of nowhere."
The tall figure took a long whiff of the air and said in a hissy voice, "What's in the bag?"
The pony gulped as he glanced at his satchel. "Um, nothing much, just…keys and stuff." He tried to walk around them. "Listen, I gotta get home to my daughter."
The large figure moved in front of him.
"I smell," said the hissy voice, which seemed to have a hint of slobber, "geeeeeeemmmmsssss."
The stallion backed away slowly. "I uh…I don't know what you're talking about."
The figures walked into the light, revealing themselves to be large dogs in spiked collars and vests. The pony turned to run.
"Get him!" cried the tall gray one with the hissy voice.
His friends bounded after the stallion. The large one with dull blue fur leaped over him and landed on the other side of the sidewalk, forcing the pony to turn into the alleyway. The little one with brown fur was fast and got close enough to snap at his tail. Crying out at the sudden yank on his tail, the stallion tripped, allowing the large dog to sit on him.
"Good work, boys!" said their leader. "Spot, search his bag!"
The small dog Spot tore the satchel off the stallion, snapping its strap, and dug through it. After tossing out a wallet, a cell phone and house keys, he produced a small diamond ring.
"Diamond!" Spot said, drooling.
"No, that's my wife's!" the stallion screamed as he tried to wriggle out from under the big dog. "Please, it's all I have left of her!"
"Too bad," the large dog said with a snort. "It belongs to the Diamond Dogs now!"
The three of them laughed in triumph. Then the big dog suddenly became silent and fell backward.
"Fido!" Spot exclaimed.
The leader squinted at the golden horseshoe lying near their comrade's head.
"Rover, Rover, Rover," said a female voice with a country accent.
The two dogs turned to the alley's exit, where an earth mare was leaning against the wall, playfully tossing another golden horseshoe upwards and catching it in her hoof. She wore a red jumpsuit with black cuffs linked with golden apples on her ankles. Strapped around her belly was a black saddle, a golden rope hanging on its side. Her blonde hair peeked out from under her green slips which covered most of her mane and tail. Her green eyes glinted through her black mask as she smirked at the thugs.
"Didn't yerr ma ever teach ya not to take things that don't belong to ya?"
"Mistress Mare-velous!" the stallion in distress called. "Help me!"
Catching her horseshoe, the hero said, "Give the nice stallion back his ring, boys, and I'll go easy on ya."
"Not a chance, Mistress!" the leader, Rover, hissed. "You won't stop us this time!"
At this point, Fido had regained consciousness and was slowly rising to his paws.
"Diamond Dogs!" Rover barked. "Attack!"
Fido and Spot charged for the superhero, who only rolled her eyes in response.
"Alright, learn it the hard way."
Her rope glowed and magically rose from its place on her saddle, instantly circling into a lasso. Mistress Mare-velous lowered onto all four hooves as her lasso twirled in the air. As she thrust her head forwards, the lasso whipped towards Spot, catching all four of his paws. The rope tightened, causing the small dog to trip and drop the small ring. Fido growled as he pounced at the hero, but she only smiled as she turned around and kicked him in the gut with her back legs, sending him hurtling into the far end of the alley.
The ring bounced at Rover's feet. He grinned as he picked it up.
"Oh no you don't," Mistress Mare-velous said as she brought out two horseshoes.
With expert aim, she flung the horseshoes at Rover. He squealed as they cuffed his wrists, forcing him to release the ring and fly backward. His new cuffs stuck into the wall on either side of his head, trapping him. The stallion levitated his ring and satchel as he stood up.
"Thank you, Mistress!"
"Don't mention it," the hero said with a bow. "Now you make it home safely, okay?"
The stallion nodded and ran out of the alley. Mistress Mare-velous spotted Fido climbing up a fire escape.
"Hey, get back here!"
Using her mouth, she picked up the horseshoe she had used to knock him out earlier and began chasing the dog up the fire escape. Normally, she would've used her rope to snag him, but it was currently binding Spot. Fido cackled as he jumped onto the roof of the building, but then screamed suddenly.
Seeing a flash of blue light, Mare-velous quickened her pace by grabbing the metal balcony above her and swinging over the rail. When she reached the top, she found Fido encased in a block of ice, his eyes and mouth open in fear.
The hero groaned in annoyance as she looked up at the sky. "I thought we agreed I would take the nightshift and you would take the dayshift."
Another superhero flew into view. This one was an alicorn with lavender wings and a wild indigo mane highlighted with purple and pink. Her suit was magenta, accessorized with white boots studded with pink six-pointed stars and accented with pink ribbons. On her neck was a blue metal collar that stretched over her back, the same material as the cover over her horn. Her purple eyes looked at Mistress Mare-velous through a magenta mask and thick bronze goggles.
"Sorry," she said apologetically, "but some of us are busy during the daytime."
Mare-velous scoffed. "The almighty Masked Matter-Horn who can fly and do magic is too busy to save the day?"
The Masked Matter-Horn sighed as she lowered onto the roof. "I just helped you with this last thug. A simple thank you might be in order."
"I could've handled him myself." She tapped the ice. "And I didn't need any fancy magic to do it either."
"Isn't your rope magic?"
"Ole Bessie's different. I inherited her from my pa. She's a part of me." She glanced at the Matter-Horn's wings. "I wasn't so unsure of myself that I felt the need to make myself an all-powerful alicorn."
The Matter-Horn sighed as she tucked her wings away. "I didn't come here to steal your thunder or fight over who's the better hero. I came to ask for your help."
"Help? What could ya possibly need my help for?"
She paced around the frozen dog. "An important and very powerful artifact is going to be unveiled at the Maretropolis Museum tomorrow. The archaeologists who retrieved it were attacked on their expedition. The archaeologists managed to escape, but so did the perpetrators."
Mare-velous tapped her hoof impatiently. "What's this gotta do with me?"
The Matter-Horn stopped pacing and turned to her. "We think the ones who attacked the archaeologists might go after the artifact again. While I trust the museum's security system, I think we superheroes should provide extra protection."
The earth mare didn't look interested.
"Here." The alicorn levitated two tickets out from inside her collar. "These are tickets to the exhibit's unveiling tomorrow. Go as your secret identity to avoid suspicion, and bring a friend if you must."
Mare-velous took the tickets for the "Wonders of Ancient Grace" in her hooves. She looked at the Matter-Horn.
"Exactly how powerful is this artifact?"
"It's Zeus' Lightning Bolt."
Mare-velous' eyes widened. "You don't mean…the lightning bolt with the power to control the thunder and the lightning and the rain and the hail and all the forces of nature?"
"You've heard of it?"
"Heard of it? My granny told me all those old Gracian stories of how the gods granted the mortals bits of their powers as gifts." She touched the hook where her rope usually hung. "My rope was said to have been given to my ancestor by Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture herself!"
She paused at the thought of her family heirloom and then shook her head with a laugh. "But really, guardin' the bolt would be a waste of time. Like my rope, gifts of power from the gods can only be wielded by those deemed worthy by the gods. Even if the thieves managed to get to the bolt, they wouldn't be able to use it."
"True," the Matter-Horn said with a nod. "Nevertheless, the bolt could be used for other things. It can be sold on the black market, passed off as something that can be used by any pony. And who's to say its next wielder won't be a thief?"
Mare-velous waved her hoof. "The gods would never choose some pony who would use that power for evil. Believe me." Her expression turned grim. "I should know."
"The bolt is still an ancient artifact and should be protected. Even if its power cannot be used, it could still be lost for another thousand years or so. How would you feel if your rope was stolen and lost forever?"
Mare-velous narrowed her eyes at her and sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll be at the unveiling, but it ain't to help you." She turned to the frozen dog. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get these goons to the slammer."
"You sure you can haul three heavy dogs to the jail on your own?"
The earth mare snorted as she started pushing the ice. "Yes."
The Matter-Horn stared at her. "There's nothing wrong with asking for a little help, you know? We could make a great team."
"I told ya. I work alone. You just take care of the giant monsters and natural disasters and leave the thugs to me."
"Not to sound territorial, but I was protecting this city long before you were. If you didn't want to share the burden, why leave Appleloosa for Maretropolis in the first place?"
Mare-velous paused. "I just…needed a change of scenery, that's all."
The alicorn shrugged. "Okay." She spread out her wings and took to the skies. "See you at the museum."
As she flew off, the other hero called out, "If yerr not gonna wear yerr costume either, how do I know ya won't just leave me there to do all the work?"
"Oh, I'll be there alright!" She smiled to herself. "You can be sure of it."
A few miles outside of Maretropolis was a rock farm, led by an old earth stallion named Igneous Rock. Every day they would mine for various types of rocks, take larger rocks and break them into smaller ones, and occasionally find gems that could be sold on the market. This morning, Igneous addressed his wife and four daughters at the breakfast table after they had finished their rock soup.
"Alright, girls," he said. "Today's Wednesday. You know what that means."
"Delivery day," his daughters said in unison.
His second youngest daughter, a mare with long flat hair and a dull pink coat, had her head down as she said this.
"As you know," Igneous said as he handed out a map to everyone but his eldest, "due to Limestone's sprained hoof, one of you will have to cover her route."
The pink mare's head shot up.
"Maud, I think you should…"
"Can I do it Pa?!" the pink mare asked, raising her hoof ecstatically. "Please, please, please, please, please?!"
"If she really wants to, Pa," said Maud, a gray mare with a dull violet mane and a monotonous voice, "I don't mind."
Igneous sighed. "Pinkamena, we've talked about this. If you want to make deliveries outside of Rockville, you can't…"
"Get distracted, get lost, or dawdle in any way," Pinkamena finished with a smile. "I know, Pa. I can do it."
"You sure? We can't have another late delivery."
"Don't worry, I promise! I'll get those rocks to Maretropolis faster than a dozen milliseconds!"
Back in Maretropolis, in the boardroom of Polomare Fashions, a meeting was being held. The CEO of Polomare Fashions was a pink earth mare with brown eyes and a purple mane curled up in a bun, held in place with a yellow scrunchie. She wore a blue plaid kerchief around her neck along with a bored expression on her face. She turned to her assistant.
"What's next on the agenda, Coco?"
Coco Pommel, a pale yellow mare wearing a flower in her short blue mane, flipped through her clipboard. "Uh…that would be jumpsuits, Miss Polomare. You asked Rarity to make some for the spring line…"
Suri Polomare groaned. "Right. Rarity, give your presentation, okay?"
A white unicorn with blue eyes and a delicately curled purple mane stood and stepped onto the runway in the middle of the boardroom. Clearing her throat, she spoke in a posh accent.
"Jumpsuits. What are they for, you ask? Well, typically they are for sports like skydiving or scuba diving, or for manual labor like plumbing, or for just casual daywear. Now normally I do formal attire, but…"
"Get on with it, okay?" Suri mumbled.
Rarity straightened up. "Yes, of course. Anyway, who's to say you cannot be practical and look fabulous at the same time?"
She illuminated her horn, making the lights dim and the curtains to the stage open. Four models strutted onto the runway, each of them wearing a unique jumpsuit. One was teal with a frilly pink collar, one was white with jagged purple stripes around the hooves and neck, one was dark blue with white hooves, and the final was indigo, decorated with a blue diamond pattern and complimented with an abbreviated spread collar. The ponies in the room oohed at the colorful designs.
"So what do you think?" Rarity asked.
Her boss rubbed her chin. "I like the color choices."
The unicorn smiled.
"But," Suri said, standing up and joining her on the platform, "while the colors are nice, the outfits need more…pizzazz!"
Rarity frowned. "Oh, um…of course. Um…how do you mean, exactly?"
"I mean," Suri said as she pointed to the jumpsuits, "these outfits aren't gonna stand out on the streets, okay? Unless you add a little more…sparkle!"
"Sparkle?"
"Accessories! Jewels! Rhinestones! Glitter! Something that will make these suits shine!"
Rarity's jaw dropped. "But…for jumpsuits? I can understand accessorizing for haute couture, but jumpsuits are more…prêt-à-porter. That is, practical."
"Then give it practical accessories, okay?" She turned to her assistant. "Coco, when's the deadline for the spring line?"
Coco examined her clipboard. "Friday, Miss Polomare."
"Good. That gives you plenty of time to upgrade these designs, kay?"
"But," Rarity said with wide eyes, "that's only two days!"
Suri smiled. "Then I suggest you get cracking." She poked her in the chest. "Kay?"
The unicorn's lower jaw quivered as she tried to get her words out.
"Kay!" Suri clapped her hooves together. "If there are no further comments, let's move on, shall we?"
On the road from Rockville to Maretropolis, Pinkamena was pulling a cart filled with crates of rocks and gems. Now, one would think rocks had no use in the economy, but some ponies bought them for building material, or for decoration, or they were geologists who needed samples. Even so, the jewels were more popular in demand for the simple reasons of being shiny.
Pinkamena Diane Pie didn't mind pulling the heavy cart so much. Hauling boulders for twenty-five years was certainly enough to build up a mare's strength. The journey was just slow and dull. She didn't understand why her father didn't simply get a truck as that would've been much faster. There was hardly any pony to talk to on the road, so Pinkamena found herself bored out of her mind.
At least she was off the dreary rock farm, so her surroundings were much more colorful. She took pleasure in watching the fluffy white clouds pass through the bright blue sky and over the shining sun. One cloud looked like a hot fudge sundae, which made her lick her lips hungrily.
She shook her head. "No, no, Pinkamena. You cannot get distracted. You need to deliver all this stuff on time or else Pa's gonna be really… Hey, look at that cute little chipmunk!"
In Polomare Fashions' supply room, Rarity was searching the drawers frantically for materials to use for accessories. She found buttons, strings, rhinestones, cufflinks, even googly eyes, but so far nothing that looked inspiring. Coco watched the unicorn as she quickly opened and closed each drawer, sometimes more than one with her magic.
"Oh," Rarity said, "how can I possibly find accessories that are showy yet practical and of course compliment the jumpsuits in two days?"
"I'm sure you'll figure something out, Rarity," Coco said assuredly. "Your designs are always the best."
Rarity sighed. "Suri doesn't seem to think so."
"Your jumpsuits were wonderful, Rarity. Suri just…likes to push the limits."
"And push them and push them and push them." She cracked a smile. "Kay?"
Coco giggled softly. "What about beads? You could string them along the collars."
"Hmm," Rarity said, shaking her head. "Bad idea. Didn't I mention some ponies use these suits for plumbing and electrical work? Beads could get caught in the machinery!"
The earth mare nodded as she closed the bead drawer. "That would be a disaster."
"I don't know how much longer I can take having that…that…tycoon as an employer!"
"She's not all bad," Coco said as she looked in a drawer of rubber bands. "Don't forget, she's the most successful designer in Maretropolis."
"I know." Rarity cradled her head in her hoof. "But the way she runs things. She simply has no regard for other ponies' opinions! I mean have you ever seen glitter on a jumpsuit?"
"Can't say that I…"
"COCO!"
The two mares winced at Suri's ear-piercing scream.
"WHERE'S MY COFFEE?!"
"Gotta go," Coco said as she shut the drawer. "Good luck on those accessories."
Rarity shook her head. "Coco, darling, you mustn't let Suri push you around like that."
Her friend blinked. "But…isn't that what you're…?"
"COCO!"
"Bye!" she squeaked before running off.
Sighing, Rarity closed all the open drawers. Coco was right. She had been at this company for a year now and every time she had shown Suri one of her designs, a change had to be made, one on which she always followed through. It wasn't that Rarity was against constructive criticism, but some of Suri's ideas were absolutely absurd.
A navy blazer with black pants? A red polo with a flowery green skirt? And now glittery jumpsuits? Rarity loved glitter as much as the next fashionista, but there was a time and a place for it. This wasn't it.
She leaned her forehead on the wall of drawers. "Think, Rarity. There's got to be a way you can please Suri and stay true to your creative vision."
Stats
Page generated in 0.025 seconds
Total duration
956 users online
444,004 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
This is good! You're doing fine with the characters' introductions, don't worry.
Wasn't electricity already cannon in the main universe
2 chapters in one day!?!?!?
I think Rarity's ponysona is Mare-velous. Applejack's is Saddle Ranger. That aside, great job! Can't wait for Flutters.
7768827 Huh?
7768827 Actually, Rarity is Radiance and Applejack is Mistress Mare-velous and Fluttershy is Saddle Rager.
7768741 Not to this extent
loving this! I think that you have the superhero's personalities own so far and I love the batman v superman vibe you've got going on with AJ and Twilight!
Hello there. Thanks very much for getting the next chapter up. I really appreciate you going to the effort. Once again, excellent job on the exchanges, emotional content, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Yeah, I definitely sympathize with Rarity in her introduction scene (Suri would NOT be a good boss to work for) and I DO have to applaud the effort you put into the Batman/Superman vibe that shows in Mare-Velous and Matterhorn. Indeed, it DOES make sense that at least TWO of the heroes would already have been active as heroes for a while before the others got their powers (since that means those two can double as mentors to the rest of the teams).
Anyway, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Twilight wears an outfit in her civilian identity that hides her wings so that she looks like nothing more than a relatively average unicorn in public (since it would be too easy to figure out her secret identity otherwise [there probably are NOT exactly a lot of alicorns; even in THIS world; and it would be too easy to eliminate whatever other alicorns there are as suspects, which would make wearing a mask in her hero persona counterproductive]) .
Of course, I will admit I COULD be wrong. At any rate, I will definitely be looking forward to more of this as soon as time and inspiration will allow.
7769197 And who would be a nastier boss than Suri?
Only Spoiled Rich.
Yeah. Spoiled WOULD be worse, but NOT by MUCH. :-D Of course, Svengallop would also be, if not worse, than at least JUST AS BAD.
Still, the point is well taken.
Fancy finding you here, Disney.
The Twin
I was a little surprised that Applejack and Twilight already had their powers. I was looking forward to seeing everyponies origins at once. That being said it makes alot of sense for a couple of them to have powers at the start and learn their origins later on. I think Applejack and Twilight were the best to start with powers as I can see them learning how to be superheros by themselves, while the others proably need some guidense.
Can't wait to see how Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy get their powers, especially how they all become a team.
P.S. Seems to me that Applejack is hiding something about her past, I've noticed that Disneyfanatic Applejack is always hiding things in these stories. Nothing wrong with that just something I've noticed.
P.P.S. When they become a team they should build a giant tower in the shape of the letter P outside of town on a little island.
7770569 LOL! I actually get the joke.
7768869 I feel extremely embarrased. for not doing a quick Google search to confiirm my critiique (though I'm on a Kindle Paperwhite so that probably would have taken like ten minutes) and extremely euphric that yoou actually responded to my comment.
I can't wait to see what you do with Flutters. If you're interested in a crossover when you're well into this we could talk something out.
I, for one, am rather glad of the approach that at least some of the heroes are already established as heroes and already saving the day, because while reading the first chapter, I got and liked the idea of Rainbow, now having access to the awesome power of Zeus's lightning bolt, having to mingle and prove herself worthy to other heroes who have already been doing this long before she has, and has to adjust to the whole superhero scene. So this way, that idea can still be a reality.
Anyway, looking forward to more.
7768741 It seems more magic based, I don't think ponies (ponies, not unicorns/pegasi) would beable to use a light switch that easily, then again, they are talking ponies!
Don't mind me, just trying to cram my OC into your story somehow. #Headcanons
This is already reminding me of the CW Superhero universe. Like Legends of Tomorrow but no time travel or suits, or space ships.
Really love the choices done with AJ and Twilight for their hero characterization so far! Love the mix and match of Wonder Woman and Batman for the former. And now that the others are getting into the story at their pace, things are gonna get good.
For a second I thought that said "Harry Potter"
An artefact I’ll let you control the weather, so like every other Pegasus then
Me reading the Origins Arc: Oh yeah, it's all coming together.