The Metro (1/2)
Rainbow Dash had always been a rather simple pony.
She lived in a one-bedroom apartment with little furniture and no entertainment besides her twenty- seven-inch television and her PES, or Pony Entertainment System. She went to her job every day on the Ponyville weather patrol every day from ten until six. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy her job on the patrol; it’s just that after four years of more or less the same routine, life had gotten rather… dull.
She lifted her head to survey her surroundings. She appeared to be in a bathroom, but a rather gross and strange one at that. It had no toilet, only a wooden chair, a sink, and a door. The white tiling on the walls was beginning to peel off, and the faded, tan linoleum was cracked and had begun to cave in near the center of the room.
Getting up from her chair, she sauntered over to the sink. The blue Pegasus felt groggy, and she was hoping to splash some water on her face to help wake herself up.
She turned on the tap, only to find that the water that said tap released was a dark yellow color, and smelled strongly of old garbage.
Grimacing, she turned off the faucet and moved to the door. Upon opening it and moving in to the next room, she found what appeared to be a large hotel lobby of sorts. The room was dirty; mud could be seen smeared across the carpet next to a small pile of garbage bags in one corner near the door. Flies buzzed around the bags noisily.
What was most interesting, though was the three figures sitting in chairs in front of her. She couldn’t quite make them out because of the room’s dim lighting, but their bodies appeared to be that of ponies, although their heads were much too big and strangely shaped.
Suddenly, a turquoise light seemed to turn on behind the figure on the far left side. Rainbow Dash shielded her face with a hoof for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the light before looking up. She was quite surprised by what she saw.
Sitting in the chair was a pony, a mare, with a yellow coat. She was wearing a sage colored dress that seemed to cover almost her entire body. She sat relaxed in her chair laying back before perking up and looking at Rainbow Dash. What was most strange though, was that she was wearing a mask. It wasn’t a normal mask, it was a large, rubber mask made to resemble a pony; and truth be told, it was really creeping her out.
“Who do we have here?” The mare asked from inside the mask. Though her voice was somewhat muffled, it sounded soft and relaxing.
The masked pony leaned forward a bit, as if expecting and answer.
She was given none.
“Oh.” She said simply before continuing. “You don’t know who you are. Maybe we should leave it that way.”
The cyan Pegasus was confused by this message. She knew who she was! Rainbow Dash, star athlete! This yellow pony was nuts, that’s all there was to it.
Suddenly, the blue light went out and was replaced by a yellow light, this time illuminating the figure in the center of the room.
This figure was also a mare. She had a cyan coat that bore a striking resemblance to her own underneath a tan varsity jacket with white sleeves and the letter “B” embroidered on the left side. The rubber mask she wore appeared to be based off of a chicken, having a beak and white feathers.
But the mask wasn’t what confused Rainbow Dash. It was the jacket he was wearing. It looked almost exactly like the jacket she had worn when she played hoofball for the Ponyville Bulls, hence the “B” on the jacket. How was it possible that this mare had her jacket?
“But I know you.” The rooster pony said simply, interrupting her thought process.
“Look at my face.” She commanded. “We’ve met before. Haven’t we?” Her voice was deep, growly, and quite intimidating.
Before she had a chance to process what she was being told, the yellow light disappeared and was replaced with a red one, this time illuminating the far right corner of the room.
“Ah don’t know ya!” The third pony growled, her accent thick. Her coat was orange, but the white suit she wore mostly obscured it. It looked expensive, and freshly pressed. These types of suits were worn by the majority of the Russian (I have no idea how to ponify Russia.) mafia, who controlled almost all of the organized crime in Ponyville and Canterlot.
The mask she wore, looked to be that of a brown owl. Despite the huge eyes, she couldn’t make out a face behind it at all.
“Why’re ya here?” The owl pony asked angrily. “You’re no guest of mine!”
Rainbow Dash took a step back. She couldn’t understand why this pony, (If it even was a pony) was so hostile.
The lights switched once more. Red disappeared, and the greenish-blue light took its place, illuminating the yellow masked pony once again.
“Do you really want me to reveal who you are?” She asked. “Knowing oneself means acknowledging one’s actions.”
The masked pony paused for a second before saying, “As of late you’ve done some terrible things…” Her voice was softer now, as if the “things” were too awful to discuss.
Yellow replaced blue.
“You don’t remember me?” The chicken pony asked, sounding slightly aggravated that Rainbow Dash didn’t recognize her. “I’ll give you a clue.”
“Does April the third mean anything to you?” She asked. “I believe that was the day of our first encounter.”
Rainbow dash stood there, thinking. Come to think of it, April the third did seems like it held some degree of importance…
“You look like you might be remembering something…” She trailed off as the yellow light behind her dimmed until the room was consumed by darkness once more, leaving one very confused blue Pegasus behind.
-----
Saturday April 3rd, 1989
Ponyville – Equestria
Rainbow Dash bolted upright from her bed, panting. Once she steadied her breath, she slowly got out of bed and walked to her kitchen.
“Well that sure was weird…” She thought to herself. It’s not every night a mare gets asked questions by three creepy masked figures in her sleep.
“Definitely no more Chinese take-out before bed.” She joked with herself as she filled up a mug with coffee.
She turned to walk to her couch when she noticed a red light blinking slowly on her answering machine.
Her coffee mug fell to the floor. It shattered into several large pieces as coffee was sprayed in a large radius around the area, staining her carpet.
But that didn’t matter now. She rushed to her answering machine as fast as she could and simply stared at the blinking light as if she was a cat, enticed by it's glow.
She lifted a hoof to press the playback button, but hesitated. Did she really want this? She knew that there would be no turning back.
She waited five seconds.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
She pressed the button.
“You have one new message.” The machine said in a feminine robotic voice.
Rainbow Dash held her breath.
“Beep.”
“Hi, this is Tim from the bakery.” The message started. The voice was rather high for a colt, but she didn’t question it.
“The cookies you ordered should be delivered by now.” It continued. “A list of ingredients are included… make sure you read them carefully!”
“Beep.”
Silently, and without thinking, Rainbow Dash rushed to her apartment door and put her eye up to the peephole. Nopony.
She twisted the knob slowly, careful not to make a sound as she pulled her door open.
She looked to the left, then to the right. That’s when she spotted it. Sitting to the right of her door was a brown, unmarked, and rather boring cardboard box that had been sealed with clear packing tape.
She quickly looked both ways to make absolutely sure she wasn’t being watched before grabbing it and quickly pulling it in as she shut the door. She locked her door then turned to her living room.
She gently set the box down on her coffee table before running to the kitchen to grab a steak knife. She cut into the box carefully, not wanting to disturb the contents inside, like a filly on hearth’s warming day.
Slowly, she peeled back the flaps on the box. Inside was a note and what appeared to be a rubber mask.
She grabbed the mask and pulled it out, then immediately froze once she realized what it was.
The mask, made of rubber and big enough to fit over her head, looked exactly Like a rooster. Furthermore, it seemed to perfectly resemble the one from her dream last night.
She set the mask down and picked up the letter. It looked as though it had been written in a hurry, judging by the messy scrawl that made up the note.
The target is a briefcase.
Discretion is of the essence.
Leave target at point F – 32, Inside the dumpster.
Failure is not an option.
We’ll be watching you.
The Pegasus lifted one of her eyebrows in confusion. They had told her everything except for where to go. She took hold of the box and turned it upside down to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. When nothing came out, she began to furiously shake the box.
Something red fell out and landed on the floor. Dash dropped the box and picked it up. It was a tiny model train, significantly smaller than her hoof, but intricately detailed.
She examined it closely for a few seconds before the realization hit her.
The Ponyville metro! It only about nine blocks from her house, and was often populated by ponies in white suits…
She grabbed the note and her lighter before hurrying to her bathroom. She held the note over the sink as she slowly set it ablaze. She watched it burn until nothing but ashes remained, then she scooped them up and dropped them in the toilet and flushed them, watching to make sure none were left.
After placing the train on her table beside her television, she put her mask under her bead and sat down on her couch. The TV screen came to life as she tapped her hoof on the remote.
As re-runs of “Full Stable” began to play, she did her best to relax. She would have to wait in her apartment until it got dark outside before she could go get that briefcase.
She glanced at her digital clock. 9:26 AM.
She leaned back on the couch and groaned. It was going to be a long day.
-----
After finishing Super Colt Bros. for the fifth time that day, the Pegasus looked up at her window to find that darkness finally greeted her.
Having been too wrapped up in the game to notice, she bolted to her room grabbed the rooster mask before stuffing it into a brown paper bag from the kitchen. She hit the power button on her PES and then walked out her door.
As if out for a casual nighttime stroll, she dawdled down her staircase, carrying the bag in her mouth as she did so. When she exited her building, she noticed that it had begun to drizzle, and her coat was quickly becoming soaked. She picked up the pace, arriving at her car within a minute.
She smiled at the sight of it every time. The DeLorean DMC- 12 sat in its regular parking place. She had saved her bits for over two years to afford this car, but it had been worth it just to watch other ponies drool as she drove by. She often thought about the other things she could’ve bought with all that money, but she never once regretted her decision.
She often had ponies ask her why she would spend money on a car when, being a Pegasus, she could simply fly to her destinations. She had always simply replied with, ‘That wouldn’t look nearly as cool.’
As she got in she noticed the tan varsity jacket sprawled across the passenger seat. Her dream from last night at the very back of her mind, she quickly set the bag down on the floor and donned the jacket. Hopefully, it would keep most of the rain off her. Well, rain and… other things.
-----
As the DeLoran pulled up outside the metro, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but notice the lack of cars. The lack of anything, for that matter. The subway looked completely abandoned. This was unusual, even at night. Usually there would be at least two or three scary looking ponies hanging around the entrance at this time.
“Something must have scared them off.” She thought with a slight shiver.
The Pegasus parked her ride just outside the metro, in case she needed to escape quickly.
She got out and walked to the entrance. It was a cheaply made door, with a turntable knob and a small, rectangular window in the top right-hand corner.
Tiptoeing up to the window, she risked a look inside.
Leaning against the door was a rather scrawny earth pony with a light brown coat and a spikey, dark brown mane. His eyes were closed, and looked as if he was dozing off until he lifted a cigarette to his lips and took a long drag before exhaling.
Rainbow dash tore her gaze away to look at the “NO SMOKING” sight that had been hung just outside the doorway and shook her head.
Looking again, she noticed what appeared to be a baseball bat was leaning on the wall to the right of him. It wasn’t a cheap bat, either. “Ponyville Slugger” Could clearly be read on the side of it.
Rainbow dash took a step back from the door and retrieved her mask from the bag it had been hidden in. She put it on her hoof, examining it before slowly lowering it onto her face. It fit comfortably. She turned her head left and right to make sure the mask turned with her.
“Good and snug.” She decided.
She took a deep breath. Suddenly she was unsure. What was she doing? Why was she going into a station filled with mobsters to retrieve a briefcase she didn’t even know the contents of, let alone who wanted it and for what reason.
Because she needed the thrill. The rush. These ponies deserved it anyway. This is what she wanted, she had asked for this. Right?
Right?
Right.
Rainbow Dash turned around and bucked the two with her two back hooves as hard as she could. The force knocked the door open with enough force to send the suited pony sprawling. He landed on his chin with a small crack. He groaned in pain, letting out a “HT THE FK” through his hooves that were now cradling his damaged jaw.
While the stallion was writhing on the ground in pain, the masked Pegasus moved quickly. Clutching the bat in her front hooves, she stood on her rear legs and lifted the bat over her head. She hesitated for a second before bringing it down as hard as she could.
There was a sickening wet crunching sound. The bat had smashed the pony’s skull in, leaving a large, oval shaped indent in his head that was already beginning to bleed. His eyes were wide open, looking straight up at the ceiling despite him having been lying on his belly.
Rainbow Dash was only starting to lower her bat when the stallion’s body convulsed, making a horrible gurgling noise as it did so.
Disgusted, Dash took a small step back, her eyes wide behind her mask. She considered her options again before lifting the bat over her head once more.
CRUNCH.
The pony kept convulsing.
CRUNCH.
The pony kept gurgling.
CRUNCH.
CRUNCH.
Squish.
Panting, the Pegasus stepped away. She had succeeded in opening the stallion’s brain cavity, as his grey matter now painted the ground around her. She was pretty sure she could make out what was left of a lower jaw in the red, chunky mess that was where this pony’s head should be.
She lifted the bat to examine it as she began to walk away, most of the top of it was now stained red, and what appeared to be pieces of the stallion’s skull were stuck to it in places. This was all the observation she could manage before she was interrupted.
“What was that?” A feminine voice called from the washroom.
When she received no answer, she continued. “Yo, Whooves, you okay out there? I’ll be out in a second, don’t worry.”
Rainbow dash rushed around the corner of the hallway to the bathroom door, standing to the right of it so that the mare wouldn’t see her when she opened it.
When the masked pony heard the tap turn on, she hoisted the bat over her shoulder and took a stance, as if she was getting ready to receive a pitch.
The door opened slowly, but the pony didn’t come all the way out, instead she looked around on the other side of the door for anything suspicious before coming to the side Dash was waiting for her on.
As the mobster came around the corner, she saw a pony, wearing a rubber chicken mask, carrying a baseball bat, and looking as though she had just vandalized a blood bank. Her eyes grew wide with terror as she stared into the mask’s eyes.
“Wha-“ was all she managed to get out before the bat collided with her head. The impact sent her off her hooves and her head smashed against the wall as she flew. She slumped to the ground until she appeared to be in a sitting position. Blood dripped from her head and face, soaking through her curly orange mane pooling on the floor between her pale yellow-coated legs. She had left a splatter where her head had hit the wall that was streaked down to where it currently rested.
Rainbow Dash approached her, pulling the pony’s suit jacket away to reveal a switchblade hidden in the inner pocket. She took it.
Bloodied baseball bat in one hoof and switchblade in the other, she began to ascend the stairs to the Metro’s upper level.