It was a dark night in Ponyville. Most everypony in town sleeping soundly in their comfy beds, except for one young mare who had just arrived into the town from a long trip. Her hooves felt like rocks from all the walking she had done, her back hurt from the cart she was pulling, and her mind tired from thinking of her bed over and over since she left Appleloosa. A few lamps on the streets corners were the only lights on the small town. The place that was usually the most tranquil place in Equestria was now somehow scary. The mare walked down a corner and quickly she was stopped by a shadowy figure of a stallion
“Hello baby, that cart seems heavy. Want me to help you out with it?” He said in a sarcastic way. His tone gave chills to the mare’s spine.
“I-It’s alright. I can take it myself.” She said in a shaky voice.
“I think I should speak a bit clearer. What I meant to say was: hoof over the cart,”
The stallion stepped forward, and light finally illuminated his gray coat. He was wearing a shirt with black and white stripes similar to the one prisoners wear, and black eye mask.
The mare stepped back, she thought of running away, but the heavy cargo behind her wouldn’t let her get away. She looked around and saw nopony around.
“Oh, and now who would be able to help me?” She said out loud.
“I am!” A voice announced.
They both looked up to the rooftop above them. A pony wearing a red suit, and carrying a red, and yellow hammer on his back, stood proudly at the roof’s edge. He had two antennas coming out of his head as part of the suit, his hooves were covered with yellow as if he was wearing boots, and a yellow heart with the letters “CH” were his cutie mark should be.
“Who the hay is that freakshow?” Asked the thief.
“I am the Crimson Grasshopper,” He said waving his right hoof where the thief stood. “Good guys, follow my lead!”
He tried to jump back from the roof. However, he tripped on a loose shingle and fell to the ground “Woah!” As he made his way to the street, his hammer came out from it’s hold, landing perfectly on the thief’s head. Both the Grasshopper and the thief hit the floor, but only the red suited stallion remained conscious, although in a lot of pain.
“You… You saved me,” The mare said while approaching the super hero on the ground “How can I repay you?”
“There’s no need,” The stallion stood up proudly, holding back a tear that wanted to come out from his pain “Because wherever there’s a pony in need there will be me.”
“Who are you, again?”
“What? Didn’t you hear my name a minute ago?”
“I’m sorry I was too scared, and I didn’t hear you clearly.”
“Oh,” He cleared his voice before he announced himself again “I am… The Crimson Grasshopper! Good guys, follow my lead.”
The stallion galloped to the opposite side of the street in a heroic manner. Even though his clothes were bright red, he disappeared in the shadows of the night. The mare watched him until he had vanished from sight. turning around, she walked back to the body of the unconscious thief.
Suddenly, the clopping of hooves behind hear grew closer. turning around, she saw the familiar pony walking back there.
“Sorry, this is mine,” The hero said, taking back his trusty hammer “Good guys… Keep following my lead!” He said again before trotting back into the dark.
“You got to be kidding me.” Bonbon, said.
“But it’s the truth. Lily told me she was saved by a the pony grasshopper, and I trust her.” Lyra Heartstrings, commented.
“Isn’t she the same girl who fainted at the sight of a bunny stampede?”
“I know she can be a bit dramatic at times, but that doesn’t mean she is a liar.”
Bonbon sighed at the response “Okay, let’s say she isn’t lying. Are you telling me there’s a pony dressed up like a grasshopper just running around Ponyville?”
“She said he was like a superhero.”
“Great, another Mare-do-well situation, probably is that Rainbow Dash and her friends again. You know, kids are still hurt about that, not to mention the time you spent whipping.”
“First of all… I only cried for a day. Second, I’m sure is not like that time.
Bonnor spun at the sound of her door chime, announcing a customer’s entrance. A familiar pink coated pony stepped in the establishment waving her hoof to her friends.
Lyra trotted out to meet her, eager to learn more about the encounter. “So, was he a unicorn or a pegasus? How big was he? Was he strong? Was he fast? Did he have grasshopper powers?”
“Was it Rainbow Dash?” Asked Bonbon tiredly.
“I don’t think so, I’m pretty sure it was a HE; and he didn’t have any wings or horn.” Lily placed he hoof on her chin to remember any detail about the event “But he did had a hammer.”
“A hammer! That’s it!”
“That’s what?”
“He has to be super strong to wave his hammer of justice.”
“Lyra, don’t even start. Please don’t encourage her.” Bonbon begged.
“Come on Bonbon, aren’t a little excited to have a superhero in town?”
Bonbon rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, because this is such a troublesome town that requires something such a superhero,” she said leaning on the store’s counter.
Lyra waved her hooves on the air in a dramatic manner. “Maybe he sense evil lurking in this town and came here to prevent the destruction of Equestria!”
Lily shook her head. “Nah, he just said wherever somepony was in need there will be him.”
Lyra placed her right hoof on her chin when hearing this as an idea sprung to mind. “Yes, that’s it!”
“What now?” Bonbon rubbed her hooves on her face in frustration.
“If we can fake a crime, we could see him with our own eyes,” Lyra said looking mischievously at Bonbon.
“I wanna be the criminal! I look good in black.” Lily raised her hoof.
“And we are gonna be innocent bystanders.” Lyra put her foreleg around Bonbon.
The earthpony quickly took the leg of her friend out and looked at her in disgust “There is no way I’m gonna do that.”
“Come on, Bonnie. You owe me one.” Lyra winked.
“Owe you?”
“You know, that time I found you with those-”
Before Lyra could finished, she was cut off by Bonbon who was blushing “Okay, okay! But you can’t bring that up again.” The green unicorn crossed her heart as a sign of promise.
“So, where are we going to fake the crime?” Lily joined the conversation, rubbing her hooves mischievously.
“It has to be somewhere quiet, if somepony sees us they might think it was a real crime.” Lyra said, pondering somewhere safe.
“How about the clearing at the Everfree forest?” Lily suggested.
“Perfect! Now we have to be there at six o’clock sharp, before the sun comes down.”
The trio bumped hooves, and agreed to meet there and hopefully find their hero.
“Nopony move! This is a robbery!” Lily faked her voice as she remembered the thief from the night before. She was wearing a black sweater with a black hood, perfectly hiding her face and mane. But the color of her coat and her cutie mark were completely visible.
“Oh no! A criminal! Somepony help us!” Lyra whined imitating the dramatic pony from the boutique she knows.
“Oh no, don’t shoot us, or whatever.” Bonbon said in a harsh tone. They both were wearing their gala dresses.
The three of them stood there for a couple of minutes, however, no matter how much they wished for they didn’t see anything moving aside from the leaves on the trees.
“This is hopeless.” Lily frowned.
“We just have to do it again, with enthusiasm this time.” Lyra jumped trying to keep her hopes up.
“That was sixth time, and it’s getting dark.” Bonbon whined.
“Yeah, we should head back.” Lily suggested.
“Come on guys, it’s not working because you are not doing it right. You have to give it all you got so you sound believable. Like this.” Lyra took a deep breath until her lungs were full of air. She then gave the loudest scream of terror she could muster.
Both Bonbon’s and Lily’s ears rang from the high pitch of their friend’s scream.
“Wow, that is impressive,” Lily said, massaging her ears in an effort to sooth the pain the unicorn’s scream had inflicted on them.
Lyra stood proudly on her hooves, smiling smiling at a job well done.
Right at that moment, the earth shook beneath their hooves. It wasn’t an earthquake, the shake was not constant. Rather, it was as a stomp with a low pace. After a short moment the shake was accompanied with the sound of the leaves on the trees moving, and even some trees being pushed away. A cold sensation ran through their backs, as their hooves began to shake, their eyes looked around trying to spy whatever the source of this.
The trio turned towards the commotion, only to see behind the trees of the Everfree forest the figure of something they didn’t want to see ever again: an Ursa Minor. Even though the huge bear was only a baby on it’s specie, it was still big enough to swallow a pony without any effort, and the huge amount of magic to tame the beast was too much for any regular unicorn.
“I… I think we... should run.” Lyra suggested, but when she took a second look she saw her friends already fleeing towards Ponyville; leaving her alone in the clearing with the bear. Without a second thought, Lyra galloped full speed to catch up with her friends.
The ursa minor gave chase to the one who woke him up. No matter how many trees or rocks were on the way, none of it slowed down the enormous creature. While Lyra’s body surpassed it’s own physical limit, she remembered the only pony capable of dealing with the ursa, who, thankfully, also lived in Ponyville. The thought of going back to her house and hiding was replaced by getting to Twilight’s house before she’s eaten.
When they arrive to the small town, followed by the ursa, the town’s ponies quickly sought the shelter of the nearest basement. Even though Ponyville was low on crime, it was very high in disasters and “almost destroyed” situations; which motivated ponies to have a basement under their house for emergencies. Bonbon and Lily headed straight home without a second thought. However, Lyra kept running to where the Library used to be.
She approached the crystal, tree-shaped castle and pounded on the crystal door with the speed of a woodpecker tapping a tree. From up the castle’s walls a sound could be heard “Who goes there?” It was the voice of a boy imitating a royal guard.
Lyra was trying to catch up her breath while she announced “Quick.Need.Twilight.Ursa.In.Town.Help!”
The sound of a roar was heard reinforcing what she just said “Oh no, is that an ursa minor again?”
“Yes!”
“B-b-but Twilight is in Canterlot right now. She can’t help us.” The voice said in a desperate voice.
Lyra felt a strange air coming from behind, followed by a really bad smell. She turned around only to see the towering figure of the Ursa standing behind her. It’s eyes were furiously red, and showing it’s large teeth and fangs with a snarl. It wasn’t moving an inch but it’s eyes showed how much it desire to eat the little pony.
Without a place to run or hide, Lyra took a few steps back until her back touched the cold crystal castle door. She closed her eyes and said “Oh, now who will be able to help me?”
“I am!” She heard a voice coming from the right side of her. Standing proudly on the middle of the street, wearing a red and yellow suit with his hammer on his back, there he was.
“The pony grasshopper!” Lyra said, her voice showing hope.
“It’s actually Crimson Grasshopper, but close enough. Good guys follow my-” He stopped only now seeing the situation at hoof “What in the Equestria is that?!” He said pointing at the biggest creature he has ever seen.
“It’s an ursa minor, use your grasshopper powers and beat him up!”
The bear looked to his side, spotting the pony in red. The bright red of his suit proved to be irresistible for the young bear’s eyes. Forgetting about the pastel Unicorn, it changed target towards the new red and yellow pony.
The pony’s eyes became small dots at the sight of the ursa charging towards him. There was only one thing on his mind: fleeing. He ran without a direction; trying to evade the huge figure following closely. He went through some alleyways and changed direction a couple of times, but no matter how much he tried there was no escape from the towering creature, it never lost sight of him. More concerned with what was following him than where he was actually going, he turned to a corner in an effort to escape, only to find himself in a dead end.
Now he was between a bear and a hard place. He took his hammer with his mouth and waved it around desperately trying to scare off the bear before it approaches any closer. While it did not strike fear in the beast, the baby ursa did pause to watch the colorful pony out of curiosity.
The Crimson Grasshopper smiled at seeing the ursa pause, thinking he was intimidating it. However, the smile make the hammer slip from his mouth, and fly through a near by window; shattering the glass, and making a great deal of commotion inside the building.
Suddenly, a rare arome came from the building. The vandalised shop turned out to be perfume store, and the hammer had managed to break not a small number of perfume bottles inside. The mix of scents quickly filled the alley, tormenting the ursa’s nose. With the pungent mix of aromas filling his senses, the young ursa snorted and pawed at its nose in an attempt to clear the smell from its head. The eyes of the bear were full of tears, as it began to sneeze. The ursa couldn’t stand all the cloying scents any longer. Turning its back, it ran back towards the Everfree forest and the safety of its cave.
With the Ursa gone, the ponies of Ponyville left their shelters to find who their saviour was. What they found leaving the alley, was a pony wearing a red suit and a hammer in his mouth. It didn’t take long for questions to began being murmured amongst themselves..
“There he is,” Lyra shouted from the crowd “He’s the pony grasshopper. He saved Ponyville!”
“It’s Crimson Grasshopper.” He said in a tired voice.
The crowd cheered wildly, they roared and shouted for the red pony responsible of saving Ponyville from yet another disaster.
“But look, he’s not a unicorn. How did he vanished the ursa?” A stallion said on the crowd.
“He has to be super strong and super cool to do something like that.” A mare answered.
The pony stood on a barrel, giving the ponies from behind the crowd to take a better look at him “Fear not citizens. No matter the villain or the disaster, where there’s a pony in need there will be me: The Crimson Grasshopper. Good guys follow me!” And with that, the pony ran into the darkness, preparing for the next time he is needed.
Author's Note
For those who don't know. The Crimson Grasshopper is an old show that aired in Mexico in the year 1970 and became really popular in many contries of Latin America and overseas.
Instead the typical super hero who outsmart or overpower his villians, the grasshopper was very silly, clumpsy, and sometimes a bit dumb. It was a parody of super heroes with hilarious jokes.
I hope you enjoy this story.
