Marvel Mares

by neorenamon

Now that Pinkie had a bag of bits, she was ready to go home and give that money to her Aunt and Uncle. She could hardly wait to repay them for years of kindness. For years of caring. She was so proud that she did something to help them. The sun was almost down by the time she came in sight of their house.

But when she made the fairly short trip from the contest sight to their home, she was shocked to see quite a sight: several police cars and an ambulance parked in front of their humble home. There was a group of uniformed stallions milling around front along with the paramedics and they looked like they were wrapping things up.

She rushed up to the nearest policestallion and asked, "What happened here?!"

He turned slowly and asked, "Who might you be?"

"I'm Pinkie Parker," she replied, "This is where I live with my Aunt and Uncle."

"Oh... I see..." he said slowly, "Well... there's been an incident... with your Uncle."

"What happened?!" she asked in growing alarm.

"You better go to the ambulance then," he said, "They're taking him along with your Aunt to the hospital."

So Pinkie rushed to the ambulance just as they were about to close the back doors.

"Wait!" she called, "Please!"

The doors opened again as she saw the distressed look on her Aunt's face. She climbed in the back with her, her Uncle on a stretcher, and a paramedic. It was a little crowded in the back.

"Your Uncle was attacked when our car was stolen," she said shaking, "That old car wasn't worth his life."

"Calm down May," replied Ben softly, "Old warhorses like me don't go away so easily."

The paramedic closed the doors again and they drove off. Then her Uncle was hooked up to monitoring machines.

"Pinkie," he said, "Come closer."

So Pinkie moved closer to his head.

"Yes?" she asked.

"If I don't make it," he replied, "You'll be the stallion of the house. Promise you'll take care of May."

"Don't talk like that!" she scolded him.

"Promise..."

"I Pinkie Promise!" she exclaimed.

"Good filly," he replied, "Just one more thing..."

She waited for him to continue.

"With great jobs come great responsibility."

"I'm sure you'll have many more years to tell me those little gems of wisdom you like so much," she said as she forced a smile.

He coughed a few time as the paramedic checked the machines. Then he leaned towards the front and said, "Radio ahead and have the ER prepared! This one is going to require emergency surgery!"

"Pinkie," he coughed, "I want you to know... how proud I am of you... I wish I could have been... your true father instead of just... your uncle."

"I dont' care about that!" she replied, "I couldn't love you both more no matter how we're related!" She placed her hooves over one of his and squeezed it.

"And be sure to keep... an eye on the shop's wiring..." he coughed, "Great power... great responsibility..."

Then he closed his eyes.

"Uncle Ben?!" she cried, "UNCLE BEN?! UUUUUNNNCLE BENNNN!!!"

He was pronounced dead at the hospital Emergency Room entrance. While May cried and cried, he heard a couple of cops speaking nearby.

"I heard that the stallion that did this," said one, "He's cornered in an abandoned warehouse."

"Which one?" asked the other.

"You know the one," he answered, "The one where they used to make the old magical tricks and gags."

"Oh, you mean the old Laughco Toy Factory?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Can he get out?"

"The place is surrounded by half the police department," he replied, "But that place... is like a small fortress. We can't move in against him until morning."

Pinkie ran over to Aunt May and handed her the bag as she said, "Here. This money should help take care of things here. I need to get back home and make sure everything's all right there."

"Thank you dearie," she said. She was going to say more, but Pinkie had already run off.

...

"COME OUT WITH YOUR HOOVES UP!!" called the cop over the bullhorn.

"Ya ain't takin me alive, dirty coppers!!" he called back as he fired a few shots at the cops. They scrambled for cover behind their cars.

"Well this looks like it's gonna be a real long night," muttered the Captain from behind his cruiser. He looked at the officer next to him and said, "Send someone out for a few dozen donuts and a whole lot of..." He paused because the officer was looking up. "What is it?"

"It's weird," he replied, "I thought I saw some pony swing over to the factory roof on a rope."

"It's dark," he answered, "You must have been seeing things."

"I guess so," he said, "Maybe I'm putting in too many hours."

...

Pinkie landed on the factory roof over the crowd of police. She walked to the skylight as she said aloud for no particular reason, "You might be out of reach of the police, but you can't get away from the Spider-Mare!" She opened the pane of glass and dropped down about 20 feet to the floor effortlessly. While she couldn't see very well, her other senses were quite acute.

A few more gunshots told her the thief was a couple of floors beneath her and he must be still near one of the walls. So she ran for the nearest stairwell and headed down it. When she saw him crouched beside the window, her Pinkie Sense was barely tingling. She judged by his movements her was struggling to reload his cap and ball revolver.

Without a sound, she leaped on top of him. She ripped the gun from his hoof so hard, she probably broke his hoof at the fetlock.

"Who the hay are you?!" he asked in alarm.

"I'M YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" she replied, "I'M THE SPIDER-MARE!"

She ripped off his mask and then gasp. It was those exact same green eyes.

"Wait," she cried, "Did you rob the Equestria National Baking Competition?!"

"Yeah," he replied, "What about it?!"

'OH NO!!' she thought, 'I could have stopped him when I had the chance!'

"Why did you kill a stallion just to steal his car?!" she screamed in his face.

"The getaway driver," he replied, "He bailed on me! Worthless coward! I couldn't outrun the cops so I stole a car!" He paused as he added, "I didn't wanna hurt nobody! All he hadda do was gimme the keys and I would'a let him go! But he just jumped me! I shot him when I panicked! I swear!"

Pinkie was boiling with rage. 'It would be so easy to kill him,' she thought, 'Eye for an eye.'

But she looked into his terrified eyes. He must have been thinking she was going to kill him. Could she let herself became as evil as him?

'NO!' she thought, 'I have to be better than the thug that killed my Uncle!'

She used her web-shooters to cover him from his mouth down to his back hooves. Then she spun a web line to the makeshift cocoon. It was long enough that the scared crook would stop a few feet from the pavement. Then she called out the window in her somewhat altered voice, "Special delivery from your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Mare! Please don't shoot!"

There was a call from below: "Everypony hold your fire!!"

So she tossed the criminal out the broken window without any further fanfare. While she did the right thing, she still felt empty on the inside and riddled with guilt.

'With great powers comes greater responsibilities!' she thought as she went back to the roof.

...

Pinkie returned to the hospital to find Aunt May in the waiting room.

"The house is fine," she said as she came up, "How are you holding up?"

"He's gone," said Aunt May quietly, "I'm going to miss him so much."

"I'm so sorry," she sniffed.

"What are you sorry for?" she asked as she looked into Pinkie's eyes.

"I should have been home!" she cried, "I should have protected Uncle Ben! It's all MY FAULT!!"

Everypony in the room stopped to look at them.

"Don't be foolish!" scolded Aunt May, "You couldn't have done anything to save Ben! It would only have wound up with both of you dead instead of just one!"

Pinkie hugged May and was soon crying her eyes out. So was Aunt May. Most ponies pretended that nothing was going on as they went about their business.

'I swear I'll never let another criminal escape justice!' she thought as she bawled, 'I'll never make that mistake again!'

"I swear I'll take care of you for the rest of your life!" she cried.

"I'm just so glad I didn't lose you too!" wept Aunt May.

After 15 minutes or so, Pinkie separated from May and went over to the counter.

"Can I take care of the bill now?" she asked.

The nurse looked at her sympathetically and replied, "The director of the hospital assures me that the Hospital is going to eat the costs on this one. I don't think you're going to billed for this." She paused before she added, "I'm so sorry for your loss. Just make sure he gets a good funeral. He seems like the kind of stallion that deserves that much."

"Thank you," she sniffled, "I will."

...

So Pinkie Parker took over the primary responsibilities of the Sugarcube Corner even though ownership of the shop was kept in her Aunt May Cake's name. Between school, planning parties, making new friends, running the shop and trying to make extra money on the side, she was really busy.

"But things will surely look up from here," replied Pinkie.

Did we talk about this?

"Not really,"

Oh, I just hope I never have to write any more stories with such blatant fourth wall breakers in them.

"I don't think you're going to be so luuucky!" she replied.

Just great. Well the career of the Spider-Pony has begun.