Airship Mauled

by Darkonshadows

Chapter twenty nine, Convention Tension: Unconventional Quiz.

-Jade-

I was calm, I was not thinking of the Alicorn Amulet or the havoc it could bring… I was also going to take part in a Power Ponies themed quiz. Nothing should go wrong today, at least here in Manehattan.

Ugh, how did the amulet end up where it did in canon? Was it something I did? My life is odd enough already for that to be true, I wouldn’t know what was going to happen. It was still a year or two off from Nightmare Moon’s return and I had a sinking feeling that canon was going to happen anyway, with or without my interference.

“Hello…” Hearing someone addressing, I turned to see Quibble sitting in the booth next to mine, he’d taken a hit or two leaving his face slightly bruised. “I’m going to win this so I can have some form of revenge against you.”

“You can try, but it’s two against one.” On Quibble’s other side was Maries, Mara was taking the role as the most active head at the moment. They made for a pretty good Tri-mera even without the triangle themed costume.

“You know the pony in that poorly made Tri-mera costume?” Yes Quibble, but that was no costume. “I can practically see the zipper on that thing.”

“Yep.” Not that I was going to tell him about Maries being a real chimera, that would cause another riot and the small one I already caused was hitting my daily quota for jerk ass tendencies I’m allotted as a cat.

“We are not working with you Jade.” Giving Mara my best watery cat eyes, she sighed and continued on to say. “Should we win the prize, you can have it if you wish.”

“Thanks Maries, supreme alpha chimera of our pack!” Yeah, buttering them up would only help me in the long run. Mara ducked her head trying to hide the blush on it, as did Marie and Maria.

“So that’s why there’s only two bodies… one of your loved ones is a chimera.” Turning to see the familiar visage of Cadence, I smiled cheekily at her and leaned close to whisper to her.

“They’re strong, fierce and quite protective of us, that and they really know how to snuggle. Don’t worry about them hurting anyone, they’re big softies as long as those they care about are not in any danger.” I seriously doubted Cadence would interfere in my relationships. “Please keep the fact that that is not a costume they’re wearing to yourself.”

“Of course, but please don’t start another riot like you did an hour or so ago.” Smiling at the glare Cadence sent my way, I didn’t feel the slightest bit bad about causing that incident. Cadence sighed, smiled at me while shaking her head and then cleared her throat to start announcing much to my surprise. “Welcome to the Power Ponies quiz off, with me as your special host for all the particular quizzes going on today! Hello I'm Cadence and I'm hosting these quizzes. Today here, we have our three contestants who were picked for this quiz, why don’t you tell us your names and a little about yourselves?”

“I’m Jaded La Perm.” I was grinning as I rested my arms on the podium. “Though you can all also call me Collateral Cat’astrophe, I am not an escaped insanity ward patient!”

The crowd laughed, a Collateral Cat’astrophe joke made for a good opener as my introduction.

“Looks like we got a real Abyssinian joker folks.” Cadence giggled as she moved on to Quibble to my right.

“I’m Quibble Pants and I’m going to win this!” The crowd seemed to be a little fired up and cheered, despite his supposedly unpopular opinion that I scraped off onto him.

“Now there’s a determined fan of Radiance, can he answer a generous helping of the quiz questions today?” Cadence then moved on to Maries, they smirked as they looked towards me… were they really going to… oh this would be awesome!

The three heads inhaled and let out a deafening roar, the crowd froze and then started to eat up what Maries was selling them.

“We are Tri-mera! How did we get here into this tiny booth? Where is our costume?” Maries acted falsely confused about being here and their three heads said three separate things at once, they turned my way and then shouted out as if in shock. “Collateral Cat’astrophe!”

“In the flesh, fur and costume, you like three’s don’t you? The only thing I’m missing a bit of drywall from a collapsed building.” The crowd giggled at my delivery, then I just had to add on to it. “Apparently I’ve been a good hero lately… after all, I’ve only broken one portable toilet today!”

The crowd broke out into laughter.

“We should have known it was you! Only you could cause this kind of wardrobe malfunction! I’m hungry, can we get some candy?” Nice method acting Maries. I’ll give you the gold star for this performance, but critics will probably mark it down for not being realistic enough. “Where is The Healthy Horniculture? Why isn’t she here to keep your brand of insanity in check? Can we get some new heroes to deal with… please!?”

The three separate questions asked by the three differing heads was selling it to everyone. We were slaying the crowd and Cadence took a moment to catch her breath.

“Alright that’s enough out you, we do need to get this show on the road after all.” Cadence was smiling as she took up her position off to the side and spread her wings wide to gain the crowds attention.

“You mean there are roads that I haven’t destroyed yet?!” The crowd had almost managed to settle down until I said that in confused tone, they started up again.

“Collateral Cat’astrophe is why we can’t have nice things, though she can be quite ‘acute’ when she wants to be. If we get another crossover, we’d seriously consider taking on Humdrum and High Heel for a more serious ‘equilateral’ fight. We’d need to find the ‘right angle’ for taking on the power ponies first!” Aw look, the crowd loved Maries. They also loved my joking around.

“Okay that’s enough of that, I’ll be asking nine questions about the power ponies, the first to get four answers right automatically wins. In the case of a tie we have a tenth mystery question.” After casting some magic over all of us to quiet us down, Cadence pulled out a series of cards and looked through them. “This quizzes topic is about… the origins of the Power Ponies and anything related to that subject! If you know the answer to a question, chime in after I’m done reading it out.”

The crowd cooed loudly.

“First question, what is Filli-second’s real occupation outside of being a hero?” When Cadence finished my reflexes were a bit faster than Quibble’s or Maries. “Jade chimed first.”

“She’s a Detective for the Maretropolis Police Department!” My booth lit up green.

“Correct, next question! What is Zapp’s real name?” Cadence had shuffled on to the next card. Quibble chimed faster than the rest of us. “Quibble chimed first.”

“Princess Aurora.” Quibble for once didn’t go on and on, he just turned a glare to me.

“Correct, next question! What was the Saddle Rager working on before she gained her powers?” This time Cadence saw how fast Maries hit the button and was a little shocked at how fast she jumped on the question. “Tri-mera chimed first.”

“A machine. To treat animal illnesses. Can’t cure us of our triangle fever though!” Their booth lit up green and got a bit more laughter out of the crowd.

“This is Correct! One point on the board for everyone. Now can you tell me… what school did ‘The Masked Matter Horn’ go to?” As soon as Cadence said ‘to’ Quibble was on top of this questions. “Quibble chimed first.”

“Professor Celestia’s School for Gifted Youth, though it mostly noticeably caters to unicorns and I would just like to say…” Quibble was cut off by his booth turning green and Cadence silencing him.

“Right, next question! Where did Mistress Mare-velous come from?” Cadence heard me buzzing s I jumped on this one, Quibble was a bit too annoyed by being silenced to actually get one in. “Jade chimed first.”

“The ancient lost city of Alfalfis!” The green glow and a ding had me smile.

“Next question! How did Radiance receive her powers?” Two chimes came in and Cadence turned to Maries. “Tri-mera chimed first.”

“An alien crash landed and Radiance saved him. She generously helped him and he gave her his power bands. She’d be so helpless without those power bracelets… we should steal them!” Their booth lit up green and Maries continued to act as Tri-mera would by giving three answers at a time.

“Next question. Chronologically speaking, which of the seven power ponies were the first to meet one another?” Cadence finished reading it off and three chimes went off simultaneously. She turned to Maries. “Tri-mera chimed first.”

“If we’re going by chronologically the first meeting of any of the Power Ponies. It would be when Humdrum met Filli-second, before she got her super powers and before he decided to become a hero.” A green ding and now Maries had three points, they smirked at the crowd and Mara even waggled her brows much to the amusement of everyone. Marie spoke up from behind them. “Three points for us, the very best number, yay!”

The crowd was laughing.

“Tri-mera could win if they get one more question correct, will this be the villain’s first victory? Oh this is a good one, what does Radiance do for a day job.” The only response was two chimes and Cadence turned to Tri-mera. “Why didn’t you chime? In any case it’s Quibble who chimed first!”

“Why would we want a higher number? It wouldn’t be a three anymore! I saw Celes somewhere trotting down the street singing ‘do what did he, what dumb did Ditty do’~?” It was Maria that acted up this time and even I couldn’t hold back the burst of laughter that escaped my lips when she sang that out.

“She’s a zeppelin pilot!” After the green ding, the now a laughing Quibble was tied with Maries.
“Can Jade answer this next one so we enter the final question round? Let’s find out. Here’s a tough one… where exactly was Filli-second when she acquired her powers?” Cadence had probably never heard so close a button press as this one, again only two sound out. I waited patiently and she then turned to me. “Jade chimed first.”

“I’ll get the last question, just you wait and see!” Rolling my eyes at Quibble’s taunt, I turned to Maries.

“She was almost finished cracking a case while at the Maretropolis Chemical Plant, when a chemical vat exploded thanks to a lightning bolt strike. That’s how she gained her powers. Also, I had nothing to do with that… honest! It was probably Zapp’s fault, I mean she’s the one who can control lightning right?” The green ding sounded beautiful to my ears and the audience started applauding us.

“Oh we have a three way tie here and our very last question.” Cadence's cheerful disposition smiled at us brightly.

“The best kind of tie there can be! Would we have to wear three ties, why can’t it be bows? We can’t exactly win, if we don’t chime in!” Though Maries would be notably breaking character if they chimed a fourth time they would have to if they wanted to win and the audience would just have to accept it.

“Final question… what eventually led to Humdrum joining the Power Ponies in their adventures as their plucky caped sidekick with a heart of gold?” Three chimes rang out as Cadence finished asking that question.

“We still got three chimes out of this. Yes, but which one of us did it first. Can we get some cottage cheese over here?” It seems like Maries was still going in three’s, while trying to explain how they’re still in character.

The five of us turned to Cadence and waited as she stood silently with her eyes shut.

“… Quibble chimed in first.” As Cadence said that, I groaned out loud. Really? Well if he has it, then he absolutely has it.

There was a silence and then I finally looked to Quibble, he seemed to be sweating a bit. Did he have it? Oh my goodness really!? He doesn’t have it, Oh this is too good!

“Humdrum made his first appearance when the Power Ponies were squabbling amongst themselves while fighting the Mane-iac…” That wasn’t an answer Quibble, you were stalling.

“You don’t know it do you?” I had a growing feral smile on my face.

“No…” Quibble huffed out loud as his booth flashed red and made an angry buzzing noise.

“Jade you chimed in second.” Cadence turned to me and I looked to Maries.

“Go ahead Jade. Win this one. I doubt you wouldn’t know this answer, you’ve practically lived it!” Well of course Maries knew I know the answer, I did in fact live it with Fizzle. Heck they even mentioned it once just a short while ago... and just now of course!

“It was during the Power Ponies and The Healthy Horniculture crossover special where Collateral Cat’astrophe convinced Humdrum that anyone can be a hero while she was fighting High Heel. That’s where Humdrum totally goes on to save the day while Mane-iac was tied up fighting Horniculture and High Heel was losing her arch support to Cat’astrophe!” I inhaled and then continued. “He obviously took that moment to heart and eventually became a caped crime fighter that should not be underestimated for his size or lack of powers. Also Horniculture looked beautiful while defeating Mane-iac, but she and Collateral Cat’astrophe couldn’t stick around in the city of Maretropolis forever as they have their own rogue’s gallery list of villains to deal with elsewhere!”

The booth turned green and I threw up my arms in celebration.

“Yes, that is correct. We have our winner in a Cat’astrophe of a costume, Jade! Come on over here to receive your prize!” Cadence opened a nearby box on a podium and I took the prize into my hands.

The first copy of a new Power Ponies comic, signed by the author of the comics. I hugged it to myself and then hugged Cadence while nuzzling her affectionately, I was just that happy.

“Jade! Hey! Down girl!” Maries growled out to me, I smiled sheepishly and backed off of Cadence. “We know you’re happy to win, but snuggle up against someone you actually care about more… us!”

Well since you’re giving me that invitation, I’ll gladly take it! I jumped at Maries and hugged Mara’s head while affectionately rubbing up against it.

“Okay, I’ll admit that there are some things I don’t know about being a fan of Power Ponies, like the fact that Cat’astrophe actually did something heroic for once. Until next time Jade, we're rivals!” With that Quibble turned and cantered off to continue enjoying the conventions, leaving me to snuggle against Maries as Cadence walked up to us.

“So who are your girlfriends here Jade? I know they’re not Tri-mera.” Well… since you wanted to know.

“These girls are known as Bloody Maries collectively, separately they are Mara, Maria and Marie.” I introduced them. “Girls, this is Cadence, the Princess of Love.”

Author's Note:

Does anyone know how hard it is to write a story this long, there are just so many things you have to keep track of...

Like who knows who, who knows what and who knows where and why!

I've been a little distracted by AGDQ 2019, Awsome Games Done Quickly.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

And we have a winner. And Jade got the prize as well.

All those ideas. Need maps, databases and spreadsheets to keep track of things if you want to keep everything coherent. At least the computers are getting better at handling the stuff.

[Draskos]

Nothing should go wrong today, at least here in Manehattan.

Walking on some thin ice there kitty.