A week had passed, it was time to go.
The train ride to Manehattan was a bit longer than the others. But I knew that going in. Neon and I were already up to date on the differences of the city. Of course, research and physical experience were two different things. But that keen bat-like nose of his and those eyes would assist me greatly.
“We’ll meet up with Babs at her place. That’s where we’ll be stationed.”
He finished his bottle of tomato juice, “Mm. And what will be our first move?”
“Wait until nightfall,” I explained as I read through my notes, “once then, we’ll start scouting for any suspicious individuals.”
“And by we, you mean me,” Neon corrected me with a nudge, “If someone’s foolish enough to dig up your old schoolyard name, then they’re no better than the children down there at the school.”
That dark blue stallion was right. If somepony was trying to use a name I made up for laughs, then what did that make them? Scum. Or something lower than that. Who knows?
My bat friend stuck his head out of the window. “There it is, mate. Your home city,” he pointed to the vast metropolitan zone of skyscrapers and harbors. “Can’t wait to see how much has changed. If anythin’.”
“Pshaw, it’s just another city. Big, loud, obnoxious. Probably no different than Trottingham.”
“Well you’re half right,” he leaned back in his seat, “Queen’s land is rather congested these days. But with lots of rain, it’s hard to get out and have any fun. Still, my family’s factory is still up and runnin’. Our technology revolves around sound and airwaves so it lets us fight our enemies in the dark.”
I clapped my hooves, “So that’s why the Thundergun exists.”
“Essentially. Though the schematics for the Thundergun were originally meant for Pegasi to move clouds around faster. Heh! Turns out it’s much better at blasting away ponies ya dislike, lad.”
I looked into my coat at the lever-action air blaster. “And my weapon...it’s a smaller version, yeah?”
“Now ya gettin’ it, lad. There’s a whole sea of things we can accomplish if ya take time to look,” he yawned, “thing we’re arriving soon? I’m completely knackered.”
I checked my watch. It would be about another ten minutes before we finally arrived. Once there, we exited the station. The dirt roads beneath our hooves were exchanged for rough and tumble pavement and asphalt roads. Metallic and manufactured scents rose through the air and filled my snout. This...this was home.
Neon was just as into it. He turned around multiple times in order to get a good look at everything. “Ahh...what a place to be. A city with no rain and actual space to move around in. I’m positively floored. How could you leave such a place, chap?”
I sighed with a tip of my hat as we walked, “When you grow up here...you start to notice the bad side of things. It’s not docile like Ponyville, Canterlot, or even Trottingham. Kids that grow up here have to harden themselves and become stronger lest they fall through the cracks.”
“Ah, well that doesn’t sound very dandy. But even so, you gotta admit the shoppes ‘ere are much cooler. Like over there!” He put one hoof around my neck and pointed ahead with his mechanical one, “a fruit stand? A clothing store? A comic store? Absolutely maddening!”
I raised an eyebrow. I thought Trottingham had advanced at least a little bit since I had last been there. “You mean you don’t have these sorts of shops back home?”
“Not at all, mate. It’s a very...retro sort of place. Nothing but historic items and the occasional pie stand,” he said with an annoyed scoff. “Freaking bellends won’t budge. I love me home, but they can be so purist at times.”
“Well then, here’s hoping you’re not affected by culture shock. Where we’re going, you can even get your mane done.”
The dark blue stallion screeched at a frequency nopony else could hear due to his excitement. “That sounds completely radical, friend. You must take me there.”
By the magic of luck or supreme editing skills, it turned out we had already arrived. A small, modern-looking barber shop with a bright red and yellow sign.
‘Babs Do’s’
“Pretty simple for a name, eh?” he commented.
“I like it,” I replied as I stepped inside. My hooves met the simplistic black and white tile with a harsh chill compared to the rugged sidewalk. “Rolls off the tongue pretty well.”
Neon was distracted by the swirling cylinder of red, white, and blue for a moment before he followed me in. “Oh right...me nanny used to take care of that for me...didn’t like it one bit.”
“Heheh.” I could only imagine the horrors that befell his foal mane. Now I could see why he kept his red locks in a short cut that only went halfway down his neck.
Now that we were in the shop, we could see ponies working with a few customers on their hair. But I noticed Babs wasn’t around.
Not until she walked out a few moments later from a different section that focused on washing manes. “Alrighty, now take a look at dis,” she gave the mare a mirror and removed the towel. Her mane was now a neatly curled bed of pink and yellow, “how ya like it?”
“Yes!” she shouted, “This is the exact look I wanted for jury duty. My dad’s gonna lose it when he sees how good I look.”
“Business casual, ya know? I’m an expert,” she stated proudly as the mare handed her a bag of bits. “Woah, dis is a lot.”
“Keep it! When my dad loses that case, I’m gonna inherit everything from my grandma anyways.”
Neon and I blinked in unison as we looked at each other. The customer left with a giddy smile. That’s when the brown mare noticed us. “Yooo, ya made it!” she washed her hooves and trotted over to us. “How ya doin’, bud? And who’s ya friend?”
“Quite fine, and yourself? This is…”
He took a bow, “Neon Isotope, at your service, my lady. Allow me to say what a fine establishment you have here.”
“Woah…” Babs was intrigued. Her eyes drifted towards his bat-like wings a few times, not to mention his mechanical limb. I could tell she wanted to know more about him, but she saved it for the time being. “Nice to meetcha too. I’m still workin’ so if ya’ll could come back at like 6-ish? That’d be great.”
“That’s quite fine, we intended on taking a tour so I could see what it was like for ol’ Paley here as he grew up, anyhow.”
Babs giggled, but I shuddered at the thought of revealing all of what made me who I am today. Or maybe it could be a nice learning experience. Yeah, I don’t know.
“Heh. Come back here at six and then I’ll take ya to my place. I live near Aunt and Uncle O in Hooflyn. Pretty nice place.”
Ah, Hooflyn. One of the multiple districts of this fine city. I wonder if Saddle Island had gotten any better since I left. But Neon simply had to say something unexpected.
“Your aunt and uncle? Pray tell, where are your pa--”
I shoved him into a nearby plant. “Whoops! Sorry, bud. My entire side slipped.”
Luckily, Babs didn’t hear him properly. She instead laughed once more, “Hah! Ya’ll are funny. I gotta get back to work. So don’t mess up muh shop.”
I ushered the bat pony out of the salon. “Listen, I know you’re trying to be friendly and all, but try to avoid bringing up her parents. It’s not pleasant for her.”
Neon nodded, “Ah, sorry about that mate. I thought she’d be willing to speak of it. So. Shall we take a tour around your home, then?”
Dammit. The last thing I wanted was to recount every inch of where I grew up. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, though.
Sadly, it was a rather mundane tour to be quite honest. I showed him the various parks, buildings, and piers where boats were docked. Compared to Trottingham, Manehattan was a technical marvel ahead in almost every way. Neon was pleased by this, his fanged grin was thrown at just about everything I showed off. Madison Mare Garden in particular had him beside himself with excitement.
It was...nostalgic, but not very entertaining to me. I wasn’t much of a tour guide, and only felt a minimal shred of desire to return to this place. Though...I did have to admit, the movie theater had me invested.
“Hold on, mate. You mean to tell me that ya’ll are able to watch full films in giant rooms?”
“That’s right,” I said as we stopped in front of the theater. “Normally, I would say we should catch a flick, but we’re short on time. Babs is going to meet us within the hour,” I looked up at Neon.
“Hm…” As it would appear, he was looking at the sun. Oh yeah. I remember that bat ponies become more aggressive at night depending on what their sleep schedule was. For the sake of his job, Neon conformed to a normal one--in other words, he was diurnal. Even still, I wondered just how the night would affect him. “Sun’s setting soon. Think we have enough time to visit your old place?”
Another detail I noticed is that Neon rarely took flight during the day. Probably to avoid scaring others with his bat wings? “Um...now isn’t a good time.”
“C’mon, bruv. If it’s close by, we may as well have a gander, yeah?”
He was persistent. I hated that. It might have been a good idea, but we weren’t here to waste time. We were on a mission to expose the hidden problems of this city. “If we happen to pass by it...then sure.”
Neon put his good hoof on my shoulder. “Bruv...if there’s something wrong, don’t be afraid to tell me. I’ve got a lotta problems too, ya know. And when the time’s right...I’ll tell ya all about ‘em.”
I gave a nod of respect. He wasn’t trying to annoy me, and I knew that. I was starting to warm up to the guy, even if I wasn’t familiar with his methods. It was nice.
So we both kept wandering around the city until 6 o’clock came. Like gentlecolts, we made sure to arrive on time for Babs as soon as she got off of work.
“Whew. Tough day, but pretty fun,” she came out with a fur coat on, “ya both ready?”
We nodded, and Babs led us through her city, this time for a slightly more direct route towards the residential area. She actually showed us where she used to live, in a secluded apartment complex near a shady set of alleys.
“This is where you used to live?” Neon asked.
Babs replied as she continued down the sidewalk, “Yeah, muh parents didn’t have much. So I kinda forced my way through the crowds in school.”
I decided to speak next, “And...what did that do for you?”
“Landed me in some trouble a few times, but ain’t nopony messin’ with me now.”
While I didn’t entirely agree with that notion, I was in no position to criticize since I too, grew up with strife and had to also break through the mold in order to get anywhere. Babs was lucky to have other family members to watch out for her, though--her aunt and uncle.
It would be awhile before we arrived at a more suburban area near the edge of the city. Babs had quite the house located on a hill. A simplistic two-story abode with a nice garden separated from the sidewalk. Interesting.
The sun had begun to set. It would be nighttime very soon. I looked at Neon who seemed more content to perch upside-down from a nearby lamppost. “I’ll remain out here. Keep watch over things.”
“Alright, well if ya wanna come inside, I’m right here,” Babs offered before she led me into her home. The inside wasn’t much different from other homes I had been in. Though, Babs’ home was a tad more on the luxurious side due to the culture of Manehattan. Her living room was filled with a shelf of video games, a large TV, a wide angle U-shaped red couch, and multiple lamps. Her kitchen was twice the size of mine. She had a table in the middle of it to sit and eat, a separate fridge and freezer, various appliances including an electric can opener. What?! They had those?! “Here we are. Mi casa is...whateva they say.”
“...What a wonderful abode you have here. Did your Aunt and Uncle assist in--”
“Nah,” she removed her coat and tossed it on a rack near the door. “Worked hard and paid for dis place muhself, bro. But I got a rule.”
“Oh?”
“If ya come in my place afta a long day of work, ya showa,” she pushed me towards the guest bathroom, “just like to keep the place clean. Plus, ya mane could be covered in stuff ya didn’t know existed.”
That was rather forward. I didn’t expect to be offered a chance to bathe in her home. But I wouldn’t deny her. As a guest, it would be rude to not accept her rules. “Alright. I’ll go. What about you?”
“I’mma head upstays and get clean muhself. Gotta keep dis mane conditioned and set a good example for my customas,” she made her way up the stairs to the second floor, “when we done, we’ll discuss our next move. Right?”
“Right.”
The bathroom was exceptional as well. Beautiful black and blue tiles all over the place and the tub was separate from the shower. Lord above, this bathroom was massive. If this was for guests, I couldn’t imagine what it was like in her own master bath.
In any case, I got cleaned up. My vest and hat waited for me outside. Once I was done, I felt like a new stallion. The sheer amount of quality conditioner she had available left me shocked. I didn’t think it was possible for the roughest filly around to grow up and care for her appearance so much.
Once I got out, I saw Babs relaxed on her couch in a bathrobe. “Ah...das betta. Now, once nightfall really hits, you gon’ start to see more activity.”
“Right, our targets...do you know where they’ll attack first?”
“I got myself a hunch. I’ve actually heard some rumas about suspicious activity near my old place. If we can bust ‘em fast, then that’ll be best for my business.”
I gave it some thought. Is it possible that we could find who has taken it upon themselves to make use of my old alias for the sake of dragging me through the mud? “Listen, Babs. There’s something else I’m here for…”
“Oh? What’s dat about?” she responded, still looking at her TV.
“...Someone out there is throwing the Blood Viper name around. I have to find out who it is and put a stop to it.”
She stopped and looked at me, “...wha? That’s...crazy, yo. Heh, they’d gotta be stupid to use such a cheesy name like dat.”
I had to agree. The moniker was rather annoying to listen to. But for now, what mattered was catching these fools. “Yeah...so when do we head out?”
“At about nine,” she explained and pointed at the clock, “things heat up lots by then.”
Made sense to me. So we waited, and talked some more. It was nice to get a better learning experience from someone who had never left this city. She told me about the conditions of Kings and The Flanx. Both were doing relatively well. Hooflyn was the only problem here.
By the time the clock struck nine exactly, we heard a knock at the door. Babs went to answer it, and it turned out to be my friend Neon. But something was different about him.
“Alright, mates. We betta get a move on. I heard some suspicious activity just northwest of ‘ere. About 20 clicks. I’ll take off and start scouting ahead. Quit foolin’ ‘round and let’s go.” And he launched himself into the sky, wings aloft and flapped faster than the eye could follow. It was fully dark outside. Yup, Neon had changed somewhat. I could still tell it was him, but he acted a bit more...strict.
“Wow, dat friend of yours really knows what to do, eh?” Babs commented while she changed out of her bathrobe, and into a leather jacket. “But I wonda how he got that fake leg.”
“Let’s just say, he’s been through a lot…heh,” I put my vest back on, and retrieved my hat. It was time to go hunting.
We worked our way down the streets. Things were quiet. Too quiet. At Babs’ direction, we headed towards the slums by her old apartment building. We got a closer look at the area. It was unkempt and the alleys were full of trash. Graffiti stained the walls of various buildings, and we heard various noises including loud music, arguing, and crying foals. I thought the neighborhood of Harness was bad, but this? This was not very good. I knew ponies were tired after working so hard, but wow. Did nopony care enough to clean up?
“Picking up various frequencies,” Neon said from above us, “If there’s any mention of that name, I’ll know who we’re aimin’ for. Stay quiet,” and he flew even higher to perch atop one of the buildings.
“Was he always dis serious?” Babs said from behind as she followed me.
“Only at night. His bat-ish instincts take over and he becomes a different guy. During the day, he’s more prone to let loose.”
“Sweet. This’ll be easy, then…”
Ah, the "Shining Armor is an asshole" cliché. Why do people always pick Shining to be the bad guy?
10411388
I dunno about other people tbh since I don't use other people's work. He's not meant to be an asshole here, he's just really protective of his family. To him, Pale seems oddly suspicious given his background so he wants him to prove that he's clean is all. Is he being smart? No. But has Shining Armor ever really shown keen levels of tact anyways? From his perspective, he just wants to stomp out all threats to his family's safety rather than simply protecting them when something bad happens. He's an opposing force to Pale, but he's not a bad guy.
Which is why Sunburst was trying to be more reasonable and fair. He understand's Shining's POV but wants to be unbiased since he's speaking on behalf of Starlight.
10411399
It'd help if he had raised some valid points rather than just threaten Pale. Sunburst is the closest I've seen anyone raise a valid point against Pale so far (first one so far, too), but by comparison there's nothing for Shining to do beyond being intimidating. Right now Shining comes across more like a thug threatening Pale to stop what he's doing and stay away from his family. Something that, as others have pointed out, Shining doesn't even have the right to do outside the Crystal Empire.
10411422
You have a point. Shining was just acting off his emotions at the moment, so his points weren't exactly straight at the time. That's an overprotective father for you. Once he's not so angry, he'll be able to think more clearly.
Also you're forgetting Neighsay, Starlight, Trixie, and Moondancer. They've all stated their position against him. In fact, Sunburst wanted to speak to him because of Starlight's warning. Celestia has also stated that she fears what Cozy could do if set free, so she isn't 100% on board either.
Nice to see Babs doing so well. Hopefully they will find the impersonator soon. It might even be a changeling.
That is an interesting quirk of his species.
10411440
Yup she's got a good life now. And you never know what could be lurking in the shadows.
And yeah I figured why not expand on batpony lore a bit more? It's a shame nothing was ever done with them in the canon so I'll do it myself.
10411435
Neighsay, Starlight, Trixie, and Moondancer have stated they don't like his idea, but their points as to why have been either lazy, flimsy, or drenched in racism, and very easy for Pale to defeat in an argument. At this time, Sunburst's point seems to be the only one that holds any merit, even if it's more aimed at Pale himself possibly not being the right choice to be Cozy Glow's caretaker rather than a point as to why Cozy's imprisonment should continue.
10411454
Exactly. Which pretty much shows you why the idea of throwing a psychotic filly into a show like this was a bad idea for the main writers to go through with. Instead of justifying or explaining why she was so evil, they never bothered because it would've taken too much work and the show was already ending. So it was much easier for them to have the M6/Princesses/Good guys beat her along with Tirek and Chrysalis and cast her in stone as a lost cause. Even though, from a realistic standpoint, someone so young would've likely been given more attention and care to understand why she did these things. But the writers of the show clearly didn't, so they tossed her aside.
Hence why the characters themselves don't have the best arguments in the world. How can someone reasonably justify this? They can't. Emphasis on the world "reasonably." They're coming up with whatever excuses they can provide in order to keep Cozy locked up, and that's what Pale is looking to expose to the public. That the system of having a trial in place is nonexistent and giving second chances is extremely selective.
The challenge for Pale is to sway the public away from that status quo and onto his side so he can reform her himself. In the end, that's his main goal.
Know more about him in terms of appearance, or rather, something else? 😏
10411465
Appearance of course! What else could she be interested in?
10411460
But... doesn't that make this just a bashfic where Pale bashes every character who disagrees with him with how obvious redemption for Cozy is and makes them look like idiots when they finally admit Pale is right?
Wouldn't it be much more interesting if Pale had to deal with actually sensible arguments? Like how Cozy's extraordinary talent for manipulation means you can never be sure whether Cozy is actually willing to walk the better path, or is just biding her time? Or how her actions weren't just an internal Equestrian matter, but a global one and so can't be dealt with the same way the other villains were? Or the damage and potential injuries when Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus came crashing down from the sky when magic was fading? (or if you want to get more grim, the hospitals when they lost magic?)
There's a variety of sensible arguments you think of to keep Cozy Glow in stone for now. And while none of these arguments are insurmountable (and shouldn't be, given Cozy's redemption is the end goal of this story) they would at least give Pale pause and consider whether what he is doing is really the right thing and work to find proper counter-arguments. A bit of actual conflict, rather than just easy to dismiss speedbumps.
10411491
That's not the intent here. This isn't a bash to make one side look good and the other look bad. And Celestia has brought up those points you have mentioned. Specifically in reference to the fact that if she were to be released, she would return as a vengeful soul that could go on to do something even worse than before. That fear she has is keeping her from fully accepting what Pale is saying. Not to mention, he has already stopped to reflect on his actions with Tree Hugger.
I'll admit, that those are good points, you've made. This story is meant to have a sense of progression by starting off with more basic arguments before delving into more complex ones. For example, Starlight considers it too large of a risk to take followed by Neighsay denouncing his POV due to the personal skeletons Pale has in his closet.
From there, it's gotten more complex. Celestia has stated that she simply doesn't know if it's a good idea due to the fact that she could very well repeat the same atrocity and as you said, Sunburst has countered with the fact that Pale is not the best individual to try and fix Cozy so his case is going to fall flat if he doesn't provide better points.
Within the next few chapters, the arguments will get even more complicated and Shining Armor will redeem himself and have a better perspective that isn't driven by his emotional rage. Stay tuned.
10411477
😁 I don't know, man. It seems to me like she's checking him out or something. That's just my two cents on it.
10411523
Hehe. Maybe! You never know with someone like Babs.
10411516
I think the main problem we have with petrification is that the worst penalty human countries can give a criminal is execution. Keeping someone trapped in stone while aware of his/her surrondings for all eternity is simply too horrific.
And Tartarus isn't much better. For a race which is supposed to be nicer that us is kinda bizarre watching them giving Fates Worse Than Death to their enemies and criminals without a care.
10412732
Yeah pretty much. Pale is trying to essentially debate whether or not she's learned from that experience. Something that nobody will fully understand until they listen to her side.
Ponyville Docile? Not for a long time it isn't. Right next to a forest that is full of monsters? Home of Discord? Home of Pinkie Pie possibly by now also Cheese Sandwich(one party pony is chaos what is a married couple made of two like?) Has the school of friendship so it's got teenage dragons, Griffons, yaks, Changelings and Kirin ruining around?(I pity the fire department) There is no way Ponyville is a sleepy little town anymore.
10423044
Ponyville deals mostly with the supernatural, or the magical aspect of things. Doesn't have a lot of roughness to it. No gangs, no orphans, its pretty tame compared to what a city might offer/contain.
10684371
Very good point indeed. This is why Pale is so rough around the edges.