Iota Force Issue #2: A Hair Out of Place

by The Iguana Man

Epilogue: Rinsing out the taste

The Mad Thespian strolled down the country street. It was chaos all around him – monsters, magical creatures and assorted colourful characters rushing around, destroying, looting and generally making mischief. For most creatures, this would be a terrifying situation.

He, however, was not most creatures, and for an... entrepreneur and showman such as himself, it represented a perfect opportunity to do what he wanted and take what he wanted without any pesky heroes (or hecklers, as he liked to think of them) interfering. There were extremely few such ponies around and they'd be too busy with the cornucopia of creatures around them.

He smiled as he deposited his latest... box office takings into his sack - marked with the word “SWAG” in big black lettering rather than a bit sign, one can never be too explicit with one's props, after all. He adjusted his maroon velvet opera cloak, pushed his wide-brimmed hat back slightly, twirled his cane and chuckled to himself, the soft laughter soon evolving into a full belly laugh and finally a long, loud, lunatic's cackle.

Unfortunately, he was so caught up in his mirth that he didn't notice the figure walking into his path until it was too late.

He walked right into the figure, feeling cold metal against him for the instant before he bounced off of it and onto his behind. Rubbing his head, he looked up at the figure to see that it hadn't moved at all in the impact. It was obvious why.

At first glance, the figure seemed to be some kind of robot, made of boxy metal with pipes weaving in and out of it, transporting an unknown liquid. Attached to each of the figure's front hooves was a gun-like nozzle attached to a box with wires and electronics sticking out and another pipe leading out of the back. It was only when one looked at the figure's face that one realized the nature of it. On the front of its head was a glass screen, behind which could be seen a pony's face, furless and an unnatural shade of white. Red goggles covered her eyes and her expression was unmoving, as if frozen in place. At points in the suit, a thick mist could be seen falling out, hinting at the intense cold within.

A frown formed of the Mad Thespian's face, his slitted eyes narrowing. “Misty Freeze, as I doth live and breathe.”

“Yes.” The figure replied simply. She fell silent after that, making it clear no apology was forthcoming.

The Thespian hopped to his feet, his flared boots making a muffled thump against the path. “That suit of yours, 'tis rather unyielding, 'tisn't it?”

“Yes.” Misty Freeze responded. “It tends to stop people cold.” Her monotonous voice didn't quaver as she said it, indicating that she took no joy in the pun. In fact, it was questionable whether she realized it was a pun – it could have simply been how she thought.

Sighing at the lack of emotional response from his audience, the Thespian glared at Misty’s shielded face. “Well, I dost hope thee dost not intend to interfere with mine revels this night. Stay out of mine way or we may have a fight scene.”

“There is no danger of that.” Misty responded, blinking slowly behind her goggles. “If your past performance against the Power Ponies is any indication, you will be put on ice before long.”

“How darest thee?” The Thespian responding, hamming up his indignation as much as possible. “At least mine enemies hath numbers and incredible powers.” He continued, emphasizing the last two words as if challenging Misty to disagree. “Whereast thee dost find thouself stymied by one pony in a costume even I find excessive. Dost thou truly think such an enemy more of a threat than mine?”

Mist Freeze didn't even have to think. “Yes, I do.”

The Mad Thespian frowned, his claws tightening around the top of his cane. “You realize, of course, that this venue,” he indicated to the town around them, “ist only large enough for one leading player. And I dost not intend to be upstaged by thou.”

“Your intentions are irrelevant,” Mist Freeze replied, the guns on her hooves beginning to emit a high-pitched hum, “your chances of victory are absolute zero.”

Roaring with rage (though whether because of the insult or the pun was unclear), the Mad Thespian charged, drawing his sword cane from its sheath. As he closed with his opponent, Misty Freeze raised her freeze gun and let loose a stream of cold.

“Have at thee!”

“Freeze!”

The thin foam sword bounced harmlessly off of Icy's armour of silver-painted cardboard at the exact moment that the rubber dart, painted white, attached itself to Spike's forehead.

The two stopped moving, appreciating the tableau for a few seconds before a snort from Spike sent them both into fits of giggles.

“Of course,” Icy managed once her laughter had died down, “it's not like they'd really recognise each other.”

“I know, I know,” Spike said, rolling his eyes, “different companies, but I couldn't resist. Besides, it'd be nice if there were more crossovers these days.”

“Well, there was JLE/Vindicators.” Icy pointed out.

“Yeah, but that was an exception.” Spike replied before amending, “An awesome exception, but still an exception.” He twirled his foam sword around before thrusting it dexterously into its sheath.

Icy stared at the maneuver. “Woooow!”

Looking up at the exclamation, Spike smiled. “Fingers!” He said, wiggling the clawed digits for a moment. “Pretty neat things to have.”

“Yeah.” Icy said, looking over the dragon. “That's an amazing costume, Mr Spike. Did you make it yourself?”

“Hey, no need to Mister me, I'm just Spike. And nah,” Spike waved a claw, “Rarity made it for me.”

“Huh.” Icy thought for a moment – she'd heard the name, but couldn't quite place it. “So, is she really into the Power Ponies too?”

“Not really,” Spike replied, starting to walk along the path again, “if she did know the Mad Thespian, I might not have asked her to make it.”

Icy frowned, trotting alongside him. “Huh? Why would that...?”

“Cause it meant I had to be around her to explain it to her while she made it.” He said, giving a semi-devious smile.

A smile that was lost on Icy. “Okay... I guess?” She said, not really understanding his reasoning.

Shrugging, Spike changed the subject. “So, anyway, I'm surprised you're here, I thought you'd be busy with dealing with… you know.”

“Oh, well, we got that wrapped up pretty early. And since Twist... couldn't be here,” Icy replied. She was smiling now, but it was a thin smile with a touch of melancholy. They both knew what had happened to the innocent filly, though Spike less intimately so. Still, Icy couldn't quite bring herself to say it, “and Truffle's staying with her tonight, we all agreed that we'd go out, get as much candy as we can and then each give some of our share to them.”

Spike smiled. “Aw, that's really sweet of you guys.”

Icy shrugged. “She deserves it after what she's been through. Also, Dinky said it might help make sure she doesn't get a phoba... phob...”

“Phobia?” Spike suggested.

“Yeah, phobia from all that.” Icy paused, looking at the young dragon. “Wow, you're really good with words, Spike.”

Spike smirked. “Comes from living with Twilight. So, anyway, Misty Freeze? Why'd you go with her. I mean, even ignoring the...adaptation, there are easier Batmare villains to make, aren't there?”

Rolling her eyes at the reference, Icy explained. “Yeah, but I kinda feel for him – I'm not that great with heat either. See, I...”

As the two continued on, their conversation wandering from subject to subject as they wandered from house to house, Icy's mood lifted considerably. Though she didn't think about it consciously, the experience helped her put the problems they'd encountered in perspective.

Because there would always be monsters, villains and threats. And sometimes, good ponies would get hurt.

But as long as they had friends, old or new, close or casual, things would always get better.

Author's Note:

So, fun fact, initially the Mad Thespian was just going to be mentioned once in chapter 3 as a quick little reference to a cartoon I love.

But then I thought of him when I needed a costume and the idea of Spike speaking in butchered elizabethan english was just too amusing for me. Maybe that's just me, but I think it worked.

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

This was cute.