• Member Since 20th Apr, 2013
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Crack-Fic Casey


Presenting the best version of the weirdest idea!

E

This story is a sequel to Heart Forged of Iron


Ditzy Doo has been the defender of Manehattan for almost ten years, and she's made a lot of enemies. When an old face pulls it together for one last plot, will she be able to survive the day, or this finally be the end of the Wall-Crawler?

Side story to Heart Forged of Iron. Art by JodtheCod.
Theme Song.

Chapters (2)
Comments ( 30 )

He could be rich and, ya know, not imprisoned if he stopped trying to kill people but he just won’t and where is the fruit?”

Turner’s eyes were glued to the table now as Ditzy’s locked onto the back of his neck. “I had an audition in the city, so I finished it off,” he said. “Sorry.”

She sighed. “No, I didn’t mean to snap.” She pulled out some other things and shut the icebox behind her. “Hey, is that for the script you’re reading right now?”

Her coming off as snappish is more believable if you add a exclamation point to that question mark at the end of "fruit".

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Maybe two, but I'll leave that to you to decide.

Looks pretty good so far. Great job getting us inside Mysterio's head. Loved the technology and moves used during the fight scenes.

Jack Pot as Mysterio is perfect, especially given how his daughter is following in his hoofsteps. I wonder how he'd feel if he knew she's part of a much larger sinister criminal organization. And can recruit her own minions.

If he wore a different sort of pony he could make a fortune from it, but Jack Pot wouldn’t give up glory for something so paltry.

Never mind that that fortune would likely come with glory for the stallion who reinvented special effects... :facehoof:

In hindsight, a gadget-dependent villain was never going to fare well against Best Pony.

You do a great sense of conveying a sense of exhaustion and exasperation throughout the fight. These two are well and truly sick of one another and of the argument that's gone on as long as their fights.

“How do we shut them down?” Spider-Mare shouted.
“You can’t!” Mysterio shouted back. “Why would I order golems that can self-destruct?”

There's a big difference between an off switch and a self-destruct option, Jack.

the Hunter went straight years ago, he’s dating that squirrel person.

There's a Squirrel Girl in this universe? Well, at least we don't have to worry about Thanos.

What even happens if I win?
Then I win.

Yes, and then what?
Right, right, madmare. Can't expect much in the way of rationality from her.

Excellent reboot thus far. Looking forward to seeing the new take in full.

Wow, you really put the work in here. Think you could've kept the first draft and just maybe nipped and tucked Cozy's stuff but at least Sandstone's still a nice idea and out there.

Jack Pot missed the old days of super-villainy. There’d been pageantry back then, pizzaz!

Another great opening line. Déjà vu!

Jack Pot's grumbling puts in mind an Astro City character called Mr. Drama. He's an archetype of diffrent theatrical villains of course, but it's that same fun level of head up the ass craftsmanship for totally ridiculous things like haunted boat theatres. Mysterio's also a fun opening villain because beyond just stage presence it's neat to think of what a Theatre Villain would be like in a society where magic's definitely real. (Delightful. The answer is delightful.)

No one he had to care about was ever hurt and if he were to be honest, it felt like the papers focused on those others a little too much. They weren’t a part of the narrative. The narrative was of an eccentric underdog trying to make a name for himself, in an unappreciative world.

A great way to get us inside his head and toy with emotions a little. You wanna feel sorry for the tired old guy at first but also he's clearly a sociopath and like Ditzy says later on everything he's whining about is his own fault.

A part of him had always figured that, in ten years, he would have gotten to the part where people revered his genius.

Because he was good at non-shark related forward planning he wouldn't be a super villain.

I should have a gang by now, he lamented. Maybe not even a good gang, just a gang of some kind. After all the work I’ve put into my career, I shouldn’t have to be doing basic set-up! If I could find someone to do the hard stuff for me then I could really step my game up.

But the Guild of Calamtious Intent charges a fore and BOTH hind legs for top shelf minions! And they call ME a thief!

He removed his fishbowl helmet and made sure nothing was visible to the naked eye. Under the enchanted glass, the theatre was a mess of traps and obstacles. The spells were outlined in purple, and he could trigger any of them from anywhere in the theatre, but to the untrained eye, nothing had been changed.

Really liked that! Makes Mysty's helmet functional without taking away the fun.

If he wore a different sort of pony he could make a fortune from it, but Jack Pot wouldn’t give up glory for something so paltry.

*Were

The last thing he wanted to check were the mechanical systems. He pressed a button on his gauntlet, and the stage began to shift. The elaborate slid aside for a large pen, filled with golems that mimicked a ferocious shark.

The elaborate what?

The gate door began to swing open and even though he was alone he couldn’t resist a chuckle. “Soon,” he said, “soon my luck’s gonna change. Soon I’ll be free of the web-slinger once and for all. Soon, the world will tremble before the might of—”

The door was stuck.

I laughed a little too much.

“No, I— I just want a win!” He made his helmet more transparent so Spider-Mare could see his glare. “You wouldn’t get that,” he threw in her face. “You know what? You’re selfish! You think you can just run around getting attention from—”

Crack!

Jack Pot blinked, staring at the hoof that had seemingly materialized where his helmet had been. The glass fell away, shattering further when it hit the ground. After a moment, Spider-Mare pulled her hoof back. “You don’t know a thing about me,” she said quietly, “and you could have just stopped trying to kill people a long time ago.”

Wow. This Ditzy doesn't mess around.

“Mysty!” She snapped. “I swear I’m trying to be patient but—”

The two of them being absolutely doneso with each other is a nice touch.

“What’d I ever do to deserve this?” He moaned.

Killed people. She just said that. C'mon Jack, you're an actor, you should be good at remembering things.

Another button activated the projector hidden upstairs, creating a gigantic illusion of himself in full regalia.

Mysterio unleashed one of his booming laughs as he took control of his death trap. He could see the entire theatre in his helmet and had access to all of his traps. This one would be tricky; the plan hinged on distracting Spider-Mare with civilian casualties which unfortunately required civilians. Now all he could do was send all of it in at once and hope it worked.

“You wanna kill people because your mother said ‘I love you’ either too much or not enough,” she shot back. “You ain’t as weird as you like to think.”

Yeesh. Lady takes no prisoners.

“We’ve been doing this for ten years,” Spider-Mare said, almost tired. “I've been working on a way to disable your machines for nearly that long. it's laced with flakes of magic-absorbent materials, Honestly,” she grumbled as she spat out more webbing, “I’m more annoyed by how much they cost than I am by your need to produce sequels of yourself.”

Huh. Roomies Spidey's been doing it for nine. Nice touch working in organic webs and still made them a super power that generates bills.

“This! This is why everything has a self-destruct!

Now there's a t-shirt.

The Ditzy and Turner stuff is still very sweet.

Cozy Glow thought herself a reasonable person. Most madmares did.

Oh, so that's why they're always shouting they'll show us all!

She sighed as she put down the paper. Her usually sunny expression was dour as she surveyed the dinner table. “And then there was one.”

The hideout of the Sinister Six had always felt too cramped for such a herd, but now it was empty and quiet. She shivered a little, almost wishing for the days when there was a crowd of unruly morons looking to her for guidance. Cozy had gotten so fed up with them so quickly. Now…

Is she still Negative here or...?

Electro is to well-secured to free, I haven’t seen him in years.

Maybe he likes it in there, you don't know.

Sandmare is due for parole

Good for Limestone! Pinkie'll be proud.

and the Hunter went straight years ago, he’s dating that squirrel person.

Wow. Way to go Sergi.

Vulture died.

She’d forgotten for a moment. It had been years ago, and to her own surprise, it wasn’t Spider-Mare’s fault. Vulture had been old, and his injuries had caught up with him.

Didn't see that coming.

She’d always been older than she looked. She was one of the first of Spider-Mare’s so-called Rogues Gallery, and Cozy liked to think she was the first important one.

Of course she would.

What even happens if I win?

Then I win.

Ooh, so now you're telling a story about two people who can't move on. Interesting!

Solid (re)start with Jack Pot giving us some wonderful Spidey action, best scene is still Ditzy's home life and ending on Cosy Glow plotting among the depressing ruins of her own career is a great hook. Egarly looking forward to more!

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Thanks!

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The strategic potential of really weird made-up stuff is one of my favorite things! Thanks.

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Jack Pot as Mysterio is perfect, especially given how his daughter is following in his hoofsteps. I wonder how he'd feel if he knew she's part of a much larger sinister criminal organization. And can recruit her own minions.

I do intend to use that at some point, I love me some drama.

There's a Squirrel Girl in this universe? Well, at least we don't have to worry about Thanos.

She's a professional therapist and played by Suprise, because Pinkie is taken.

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Wow, you really put the work in here. Think you could've kept the first draft and just maybe nipped and tucked Cozy's stuff but at least Sandstone's still a nice idea and out there.

...Well, her name is defiantly Sandstone now, that's awesome.:raritystarry:

A great way to get us inside his head and toy with emotions a little. You wanna feel sorry for the tired old guy at first but also he's clearly a sociopath and like Ditzy says later on everything he's whining about is his own fault.

Mysterio is one of my favorite villains for this reason. He's just sympathetic enough that we understand why he wants what he wants, but he's clearly responsible for everything that's happened to him, which lets his performance and schemes to be more grandiose and dangerous a generously sympathetic villain would enact. I also like that his gimmick invites elaborate set-ups; as much as I liked Far From Home I wish I could have seen a Tim Burton or Sam Rami Mysterio. The illusions were cool but c'mon. Gimme a twenty-foot tall robot duplicate of himself and a fake alien invasion.

Is she still Negative here or...?

No, she says 'The Die is already cast' at the end and double-check that cover!

Eagerly looking forward to more!

Thanks!

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A great way to get us inside his head and toy with emotions a little. You wanna feel sorry for the tired old guy at first but also he's clearly a sociopath and like Ditzy says later on everything he's whining about is his own fault.

I know right?! This gets us just to the point where almost feel sorry for him, which is what good writing does.

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I do intend to use that at some point, I love me some drama.

Me too!

because Pinkie is taken.

So I know she works for Twilight but who is she in relation to the comics? Or would that information contain spoilers?

No, she says 'The Die is already cast' at the end and double-check that cover!

Well, that should be interesting.

Electro is to well-secured to free, I haven’t seen him in years.

So I just noticed, that first "to" needs a extra 'o'.

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All casting decisions are kept confidential aside from cameos, I'm afraid.

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Fair enough. I am not familiar with the comics as I watch the video material, or animated stuff, so I have no idea whether Pinkie's character turns into a "super" later on, or whether that's just you sticking rigorously to cannon.

I have mixed feelings about the reworked chapter. Are we going to the Sandmare again? I liked who it was and how that scene went down. But this was good, too.

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I'm sorry, but the new narrative is designed around a very personal conflict between Doc Ock and Spider-Mare. Limestone should appear in my Iron Mage story (since Pinkie is one of the main characters and they're sisters) and I'll probably even re-use the scene because I love me some drama, but it won't be for a while.

I applaud you for the "I just don't know what went wrong" bit. That was perfection. :rainbowlaugh:

Okay, I already liked the original chapter but this was probably even better in my opinion! :yay: I really got a bang out of the whole clash between Mysterio and Spider-Mare, that was really well-done in just about every way, and then the concluding scene with Cozy made for an intriguing set-up as well. Nice work all around!

Lovely work, there is certainly a few typos here and there but it is quite an enjoyable read. I am curious if someday you'll be able to release the cut version once life has changed for everyone to something a bit more peaceful, but for now I'm very happy to read what you've got in store!

Please don't delete or remove the comments from this chapter like you did last time

Amazing
Someone may have asked but I'm on lunch at work and don't have time to read the comments.
But does this take place at the same time as Iron Mage is?
And if so then I guess that would mean that Spider-mare has been around longer i think.

She sighed and slipped on her mask. At what point do I start winning?

When you let yourself.

Cozy pointed at Blueblood. “You and Spider-Mare,” she said, “are in cahoots!”

The irony is exquisite.

And yikes, this one's going to be tough. And I can only imagine what it's going to do to Blueblood's mind.

She unplugged her camera from the mana charger and frowned; the homing spells on the lense hadn’t finished restoring even though it had been plugged in all night. The machine she used to recharge spells had been bought used and she’d need to replace it soon.

Apartments in the city come with these.

Relate to this a little too much.

Without the spell, her camera wouldn’t follow Ditzy when she was in the suit, so she couldn’t take pictures of herself fighting crime.

Oh, like 616 Spidey had that tracking chip thing in New Ways to Die?

She sighed and slipped on her mask. At what point do I start winning?

Preach.

“I made eggs,” he shouted. “Do you want some?”

“I already ate,” Ditzy lied, remembering her promise to eat something but somehow forgetting that Turner was in the kitchen and knew she was lying. “I don’t wanna be late! Love you!”

She popped the window open, hesitating just long enough to hear Turner’s disappointed “love you too.”

Ditzy entered the Daily Bugle her usual way and changed clothes, wincing at how tight her blazer was around her shoulders. Aunt Minty had bought her the outfit (A blue blazer, yellow vest, red tie, and a white dress shirt) when she’d moved out for college and it’d never really fit correctly. Back when she’d been a freelance photographer she’d gotten away with not wearing anything, but there was a strict clothing policy for members of staff.

Nice touch, especially because it inadvertently provides her with a way to hide her costume.

B. Blueblood burst out his office, followed by his editor-in-chief Fancy Pants.

Was not expecting this casting to be as perfect as it is.

This was another word that the reporters had learned to agree with. “For shame,” one of them absently said.

AHAHAHA

“I’m serious,” Fancy said. “You’ve been on edge lately, and I understand why. But if you let that affect how you do your job, somebody could be hurt, and yes I’m counting you as one of those people. Be more careful.

HE KNOWS. KILL HIM.

“Hey Carrot Top!”

Really like that Carrot fits that archetypal Spidey friend while still being her own person and not any specific one. Frees things up a lot. (Also is Ditzy bi or did I misread something?)

Carrot smiled. “Funny how things change, huh? Back when we dated you spent as much time as you could away from there.”

“The neighbors kept an eye on Aunt Minty,” she said defensively, “and the whole social-life-thing was a new experience—”

Oh ho HO! Someone's mask is fading over one side of their face, because they are two-faced!

I can’t patent my webbing because I still can’t duplicate its effects. Spider-Mare is a wanted criminal and can’t collect bounties… maybe Ditzy Doo could help catch someone dangerous?

A nice way to box her in! I hate the more obvious How Do Glasses Work questions but they can create some nice handwave solutions that add to the story.

On the plus side, once I do bring her in that should be it for supervillains for a while. SHIELD prisons don’t have breakouts like Strikers did, and it’s not as if anybody’s making new ones.

So someone was manufacturing supervillains at some point? Interesting.

Cozy's joke is so in character.

The feeling was heightened as she burst into the Daily Bugle bullpen. She sat comfortably in a transparent pod, operating her eight mechanical limbs with practised ease.

Nice visual! Also helps you get around the image of Spidey assaulting a child, so bonus!

The shouting and swearing were muted through the thick glass. She rubbed her muzzle in frustration— had one of them started crying? Honestly, it was depressing.

"I remember when they used to point at you and narrate what you were doing as you did it! Now there was a captive audience that understood give and take!"

“It was super obvious,” Cozy said. “She can’t work for you, because who would ever put up with a boss like this. Clearly, Spider-Mare allows the Bugle to run articles that make her more threatening to the criminal class and probably distract from her real identity, and gets paid by you for exclusive access. I mean,” she snickered, “if that feud of yours was real then she’d have killed you by now.”

"That's what I'd do!"

It's great when villains are thiiiiiis close to putting all together and then their sociopathy trips them up.

Spider-Mare’s tail was lashing back and forth, the only reminder that she was a pony as that expressionless mask stared at Cozy Glow. “Which bridge?” She asked.

Cozy smiled wider. “Oh, I think you know.”

What did you put her through you absolute monster.

Great chapter! You really kick everything up a notch without losing any of the nice character beats and Cosy's master plan is a corker I really wanna see play out.

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Yes, they are simultaneous, and Spider-Mare has been operating for far longer than Iron Mage.

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And I can only imagine what it's going to do to Blueblood's mind.

Some version of "I'm such a good person, why does this always happen to me?"

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Oh, like 616 Spidey had that tracking chip thing in New Ways to Die?

Exactly like that! For those who haven't read that; Spider-Man has a tracker in his spider-insignia that lats his camera track his position, so that the photo's he takes are always centered.

Nice touch, especially because it inadvertently provides her with a way to hide her costume.

It does, as well as being Peter Parker's original outfit!

Was not expecting this casting to be as perfect as it is.

Was very proud of that.

Blueblood bursting out of his off using Spider-Mare's name as profanity, as well as Cozy's joke, are both from Adam-Troy Castro's Spider-Man novels.

Really like that Carrot fits that archetypal Spidey friend while still being her own person and not any specific one. Frees things up a lot. (Also is Ditzy bi or did I misread something?)

Actually, Carrot Top is Betty Brant.:twilightblush: And Ditzy is Bi, mostly because Spidey has dated a lot of girls and there aren't that many stallions with established personalities. (I still need a Gwen, come to think of it. Well, I guess it's not like she has a speaking role.)

So someone was manufacturing supervillains at some point? Interesting.

Well, Doc Ock was for a while but it's not a big deal. Mainly, she's expecting there to be a less exotic crime now that the only people causing trouble are that small terrorist group AIM, and they definitely don't have an interest in superpowers.:trollestia:

Great chapter! You really kick everything up a notch without losing any of the nice character beats and Cosy's master plan is a corker I really wanna see play out

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Thank you! I only have eleven days left to finish this story for the contest and I am freaking out.

Okay, did J.J. ever get accused of that? Because that's just freakin hilarious.

I cracked the hell up to see who this story's Jonah and Robbie are. That was beautiful. :rainbowlaugh:

Solid work all around. I really can't say much else because there's already a lot more in-depth comments than mine, but still, superb stuff!

Gotta say you really nailed the attitude of Spidey with some "derpyims" :derpytongue2:
I think the reader can tell that Derpy has been doing this for a while and has a rich, complex history.

The inner dialogue of the villans is very interesting and humanizing. I look forward to seeing how it ends

Did you remove this from the Depth in Innocence group yourself?

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No, I don't know how to do that. I asked the GM to remove it.

Whoever drew this otherwise AWESOME cover art, kinna forgot Derpy is a Pegasus.:facehoof:

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Her wings are hidden under the body of the suit

Spider-Mare!!!!!! 0_0 *hype*

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