Magnets in a Mare's World.

by Triple-Rainbow

Chapter 16. World's Greatest Detective.

I’m not sure how to begin this journal entry. Today was uncomfortably boring for me. My recreational privileges were revoked for an, as of yet, unspecified amount of time, and I now have to attend mandatory group therapy tomorrow.

Not even the other inmates near my cell said anything of note that could alleviate the boring silence as seethed in my cell, latching onto my anger like a life preserver. I can’t wallow in my failures and regrets like a child, I have to look at my goal and try harder than before to reach it. Unlike my time before this prison, I don’t have any ponies I can rely on for help.

I doubt any of the other prisoners would be willing to overlook our history, and it would be a fool’s dream to hope that the Harmony League could actually see to reason.

I’m such an Idiot. Zephyr was a gift sent from a higher power, and I acted too quickly without an actual plan. I was too desperate and I acted like an irrational moron.

Every day I have to fight off the urge to rip the bars off my window and just walk out of this prison because I can’t risk letting any of them know about my true capabilities. Especially Nightmare Moon.

She truly earned the moniker of World’s Greatest Detective on this strange parody of Earth. I still remember how terrified I was the first time I met her in the flesh.

After my interrogation with Matter Horn had wrapped up, I left the station without any issues, not counting the dirty look Commissioner Bon-Bon threw me when I asked for my satchel back. Aside from that minor inconvenience, everything had gone incredibly well for me. The rest of the Power Ponies were busy with their own private lives at the moment, so I was only able to speak with Matter Horn and briefly interact with Fili-Second for less than a second.

As I walked out of the precinct, prepared to fly off back to work, a flash of pink and white raced past me as I felt something hit my helmet. Taken by surprise, I shot up into the air fearing that my battle with the Dazzlings had somehow begun a new. My rational thoughts soon drove those worries away as the sound of fluttering paper licked my ears. A quick inspection revealed a card that was attached to my helmet by a small refrigerator magnet of Fill-Second’s pink arrow logo.

The card was a personalized gift that had a business card for a boutique belonging to Rarity Belle and a note that read, “Sorry for beating you up while we were hypnotized. -F.S.”

The business card, meanwhile, only had a name, address, and offered repairs to costumes and clothes for heroes and civilians alike. A quick glance at my cape told me why Fili-Second thought the business card was a good gift. Even ignoring the giant scorched hole in my cape, the rest of my costume had clearly seen better days.

Putting a dirty costume in a time capsule buried in the forest is not a good way to keep clothes fresh and clean. My cape was covered in folds and wrinkles that refused to fall back into place, dirt covered my boots in a noticeable layer of dust and mud, and my helmet was certainly overdue for a polish. I had gone four months without cleaning in, since I didn’t know how to do it other than going into the lake with it, and it was starting to show. It didn’t smell yet of course, the measure by which most humans judge how clean their clothes are, but it would only be a matter of time, especially with what happened next.

I placed them both in my satchel before flying back to the Everfree Forest, but not before I shook off the pegasi that were trying to follow me by taking a detour through the sewers. It was a miserable experience, floating through smells that turn my stomach whenever I think back on them. Using my cape as a makeshift filter, I was able to feel the metal around me and find the marehole cover that was closest to the road out of Trot City. Disgusted by the indescribable horror that clung to my nostrils, I flew towards my Polaris Palace to deal with the terrible smell.

I was able to block most of it from my memory, but a faint odor still lingers somewhere in my mind. I did my best to wash off the horrible smell by “washing” off in a lake near the Polaris Palace. I wouldn’t be able to lock away my costume in the capsule again for fear of mold, so I dove into the abandoned mines of my lair to hang it up to dry.

Moving through the dusty mines and the intangible stones, I floated into the Polaris Palace and waited for the sensors in the enchantments to detect my presence. I was still cloaked in darkness as I walked past the threshold of the entrance, and was mildly surprised and annoyed by the enchanted rods. Floating closer to them, I tried to wave my hand closer to them when I was suddenly blinded by intense light.

Letting loose a few colorful words, I floated back down to the floor as as my vision slowly returned. A chill ran down my spine, giving me only a moment of warning before feminine voice spoke behind me.

“Greetings, Magneto.”

Taken surprise for, I believe, the fourth time in a single day I acted on instinct and leapt away from the voice. Turning to look at the intruder, I saw the mare that struck fear in the hearts of criminals with only a glance.

The dark draconic wings that had helped her hide in the shadows parted to reveal her full glory. Nightmare Moon was a unicorn clad entirely in what looked like black leather. A pair of white soulless eyes stared up at me as she emerged from the darkness, revealing the cosmos that clung to her head like hair. The crescent moon on her lapis colored belt matched the several that accented her design, breaking up the black mass that wrapped around her body. Finally, my eyes were drawn to the slender blue horn that pierced the top of her mask, glowing with arcane power as the lights in my lair began to dim.

I was frozen in place, either by shock or by her magic, unable to even say a word as she strode out of the darkness. Too dumfounded for basic speech, I tried to say the first words that came to my mind, which she blatantly interrupted before I could even speak a syllable.

“The foot print you left behind at your fight with the Power Ponies reveled trace amounts of coal dust and there were several pine needles that clung to Fill-Second’s costume. Using witness testimony, I was also able to deduce that your flight path led to the Everfree Forest. It was easy to narrow down your location after that,“ she explained as if it were a simple math problem.

I stuttered like a moron as she casually glanced around my Polaris Palace. Sheets of metal from the dump and random car parts littered the floor, filling in the spaces between my shabby attempts to decorate the bare stone walls. It felt like she was a parent judging a child for keeping a messy room, waiting in silence as my mind conjured a thousand thoughts.

Breaking free of the nervous tension that gripped me, I attempted to ask her a question. “Why are you here?”

“I was informed that you’ve met with Matter Horn and rejected her first proposal. While she is willing to stop at that price, I am not,” she said, pulling out a slip of paper from the belt that broke up her black costume. “This is my offer. Hand over the enchantment and I’ll leave without another word.”

I stood there quietly as I looked at the check in my hands. I had rarely seen a million of anything fully written out. Back on Earth, lotteries that offered millions of dollars would always shorten it to something like 1.7 MIL. It wasn’t an astounding number because it seemed so small in a passing thought. But to see all of it written down, it was something else entirely.

I hate to admit it, but there was a hint of reluctance in my movements as I handed the check back to her. “Thank you, but my answer is still the same. I’m not quitting just because of a few zeroes.”

She took back the note while giving me a soft glare that scrutinized every muscle and wrinkle. I could feel her ripping me apart and reassembling me in her mind, fitting into the strange puzzle that only made sense to her.

“Be careful out there,” she ordered as she melted into the shadows below her feet.

I had expected a lot more from my first meeting with this world’s Batman, but it seemed like I was only a pit-stop for the sleepless mare. Though, considering how little Batman interacted with others, her quick Irish goodbye suited her well as the great detective’s counterpart.

She also knew the greatest ways to unnerve others by just being herself, as evident by the “gift” she left on my swivel chair.

Resting on the seat cushion was a small plastic card with a small drawing of my helmet acting in place of a photo, my name, a checkmark next to a box that was for enchantment, and my actual name. It was an ID card for the Harmony League, one that somehow had a name that they shouldn’t have known.

I looked away from the card to stare at the shadows that crawled down the stone wall of my lair, feeling a sense of dread as I tucked the card away and left the room. I didn’t trust the Polaris Palace any longer.

Comments

[PixelatedPerson]

I really like how you already wrote nmm/ Luna
.