A Marketplace Villain? A Sale on Justice!
"You good there, Applejack?" A scratchy voice called from the porch of the Apple family homestead.
Applejack gave her current tree another buck, causing apples to rain down. "No need fer frettin' Granny," she called, "Ah've got this covered. Go ahead an' keep restin'."
Granny Smith conceded and settled back down in her chair. She was just about comfortable when a sudden thunderous Boom! shook the very foundations of the farm. It knocked her off her rocker and Applejack off her hooves.
A plume of smoke rose to the sky from Ponyville's general direction, followed by the sound of screams and a monstrous roar.
"Whoa Nelly!" Applejack exclaimed as she picked herself up. The first thing she did was rush to her grandmother's side and help the elderly mare to her hooves.
"What in tarnation was that?" Granny asked as she regained her bearings.
"Ah ain't got the faintest clue." the younger mare turned to the tower of smoke. "But it sure looks like Element of Harmony business t'me. Stay safe, Granny, I'll go see if the girls need any help dealin' with it." She raced off without another word.
Granny Smith waved to her as she departed. "Good luck, give 'em a wallop fer me!"
~Dee dee dede-leedle dee~!
A musical trill broke her attention from waving at Applejack's diminishing figure. With the music, a change came over the mare. She held herself a little higher and her gaze sharpened.
~Dee dee dede-leedle dee~!
The music trilled again, beckoningly. Reaching a hoof behind her head, Granny Smith pulled a long hairpin from her bun. It was gold and headed with a large apple-shaped gemstone. The gem was flashing with light in time with the music that came from within it.
A wide grin split the mare's face. "Well it's about time! Ah could use some exercise afore tonight's chores." With one last check of her surroundings, she trotted into the house. "Sorry AJ, but I reckon you'll hafta wait fer the next monster. Thisn's one a'mine."
She gave the hairpin a swift flick and it telescoped out, becoming as long as a baton.
An expectant magical pressure, like tinkling bells, filled the air as she swished the wand in a complicated pattern that left behind a trail of green and red sparkles that lingered in the air.
"Harmony Apple Transformation Go!"
A blast of rainbow light filled the small kitchen turning it into a mystical field of colorful sparkles. At the very center of it, Granny Smith underwent a remarkable transformation.
Her skin tightened and softened, wrinkles disappearing as her coat regained the youthful green of her youth. Her bun unrolled itself, her mane turning as yellow as the sun while it twined into braided twintails. Muscles tightened and flexed with renewed strength.
She spun and twirled, striking pose after dramatic pose as she underwent each new change.
Dazzling lights settled on her hooves and forelegs before dissolving away into knee-high socks. Colorful strands that glowed with magical energy wrapped her torso before poofing into a ruby red capelet and cream dress with a ruffled skirt and matching ruby trim. Pink ribbons burst into existence around the edges of her outfit including an enormous bow at the small of her back. Another bow, not dissimilar to the one favored by her youngest grandchild, coalesced out of starlight to land squarely on her head. Finally, the wand retracted into its apple-shaped gemstone which itself became a brooch on her sash.
As the otherworldly light and accompanying music built up to a crescendo, the magical filly struck one final dramatic pose.
"By the power of Harmony, I fight for peace!"
The magical effects settled down as the young mare dropped back to all fours. Feeling her renewed energy and vigor, she grasped hold of the immense magic within her, held out a hoof, and flexed both.
There was a rattling from the closet beneath the stairs soon followed by a large object flying straight for her.
It was a wooden mallet, the head as large as a pony and carved from a single log of applewood. Back in the day it had helped her protect Bright Mac from harm at the claws of rogue Everfree monsters, but now it served a grander purpose. The moment the flying hammer met her hoof, it underwent a change as profound as that of it's owner. Plain varnished wood grew bright colors in patches of striking red and pale green while bands of polished metal capped the ends like hoops on a barrel.
She hefted it over her shoulder without an ounce of apparent effort and dashed from the room. Once outside, the recently regressed filly took off for Ponyville proper with leaps and bounds that left her soaring above the trees with each step.
Meanwhile, the township of Ponyville was under attack!
Something was running amok in the town square, destroying anything that got in its way. It had the body of a mare, but its legs were like that of a praying mantis. Her face was a horrifying fusion of the two made all the more jarring by the green and silver choker around her neck. She was also nearly twice as tall as Princess Celestia.
The mantis-mare's scythe flashed and another cart was split down the middle, its previously petrified vendor running away in wailing terror.
She cackled in a horribly distorted voice. "Yesss, run you foolsss! Run like the little insssectsss you are! Thisss isss but the beginning!"
She darted across the pavilion like lightning to the rubble of the former town hall. Mayor Mare was pulling herself from the wreckage, bruised but otherwise unharmed. For now.
Just as she was dusting herself off and regaining her senses, the monster was upon her. "But firssst," she smiled cruelly, "We mussst dissspose of the old regime."
She raised a scythe high as all the color drained from the mayor's face. With a speed that defied comprehension, it dropped like a guillotine toward the unfortunate elected official, ready to slice through her ne-
CLANG!
Waves of force blew the Mayor back and across the plaza to safety as the scythe encountered a thoroughly unexpected force.
A giant hammer blocked its way, not so much as budging against the impact. From behind the hammer poked the face of a young filly in an outrageous getup with a cheeky grin on her face.
"Sorry, no regime changes today. Maybe you should wait for the next election cycle like everypony else?"
The mantis-mare sprang back, putting distance between her and this unexpected opponent. The filly picked up her hammer and twirled it around like a parasol. "You... who are you who daresss to challenge me?"
The filly set down her hammer and smiled genially. "Me? Oh, ain't nopony special. Come to think of it Ah never gave myself a special name." Her accent was very soft, a veritable shadow of her public identity's voice, and her voice flowed like honey and butter. "But Ah hear some ponies have taken to callin' me 'Mallet Mare', so you can call me that iffn you like."
"I'll make sssure to add it to your tombssstone!" The monster shrieked as she lunged, hoping to catch the filly off-guard. But once again she was blocked by the enormous mallet.
Mallet Mare tutted. "Well that's a mite forward. Ya didn't even introduce yourself."
"Nuisssancesss don't dessserve to know," she spat before rapidly attacking with her scythes in a flurry of slices faster than the eye.
Mallet Mare deflected each one, deftly wielding her hammer like a practiced fencer. After exchanging blows the two separated again. "Well that ain't gonna do. You wanna be remembered as 'Mantis-mare' from now on?"
The monster paused. "Once, there was no being alive who did not know my namesss and tremble. I was the Ssscourge of the plainsss, Viceroy of the famine legionsss, and The Cutting Wind. But you may call me by my grandest title: Thousand Ssslasssh Aratix."
Mallet Mare nodded, nonplussed by the litany of titles. "An' who's body is that you're using?"
Compound eyes narrowed in anger. "You ssshould be more concerned about yourssself. I am going to have to ssstart taking you ssseriously now."
The magical filly grinned and made a complex sweeping motion with her weapon. "Then put up yer dukes, bugsy. Ah've been beating down yer types since this here town was settled!"
Mallet Mare dashed forward, not giving her opponent the chance for a surprise attack, and swung her hammer so that her charge turned into a high speed whirling spin. She moved like a bludgeoning top. Aratix jumped to dodge, but her leg was struck anyway, eliciting a hiss of pain.
She returned the attack with slashing scythes, only to growl as they failed to so much as scratch the filly's hammer.
Mallet Mare shifted her grip and pulled the hammer up in a sudden uppercut that rivaled Aratix's own speed. It took a remarkable feat of gymnastic ability for her to dodge.
This wasn't working. She needed to deal with this nuisance quickly. But there was no way to reach the filly without going through her hammer first. Realizing an insane plan, Aratix accepted it as the best solution for the moment.
Aratix charged forward to where her opponent was waiting, hammer cocked like a baseball bat. She did not dodge or try to deflect the incoming hit. The filly landed a solid blow, but taking it had allowed Aratix a rare moment's opportunity. She was close enough to reach around the weapon and attack the wielder herself!
With a flash, the filly cried out in pain and lost her grip on her weapon. Aratix kicked her while she was down, rolling the injured filly farther from her weapon.
Mallet Mare groaned and looked up into her foe's grinning face. "Not ssso tough now are you? Without your little toy, you're jussst a normal, weak, little filly."
She pressed a scythe to her captive's throat, ready to slice down at any moment. "Any final wordsss?"
Mallet Mare looked up... and smiled. "Just one. Duck." The magical filly whistled a few notes.
Hearing something, Aratix turned around just in time for a flying hammer to slam into her face at full speed.
Hammer and monster flew across the pavilion, impacting the town hall's rubble with enough force to raise a new cloud of dust.
Mallet Mare picked herself up calmly, her minor wounds already healed, and trotted over to her foe.
The insectoid enemy did not move other than to groan plaintively. The magical filly retrieved her mallet.
"Now that yer sittin' still, let's see about puttin' you back how you belong."
Magical energy surged around the green filly, a pink aura surrounding both her and her hammer. Small rocks and bits of rubble started to rise into the air. She pointed her mallet at the downed foe as energy gradually built up at its tip.
It was about this time that the Elements of Harmony arrived on the scene.
"Alright, we're here!" Twilight announced, "Where's the-"
[Harmony... Resonance... Purification!]
A blinding light filled the town square, forcing Twilight and her friends to look away. When they looked back and cleared the spots from their eyes, the monster was gone. In its place was an ordinary green unicorn. Her necklace broke and fell off her neck, the gemstones dimmed and cracked.
Mallet Mare bent down and picked the artifact up, tsking under her breath. "Lyra Heartstrings, of course. What would yer mother think if she found out you were messin' with dangerous artifacts?" At the sound of hoofbeats, she raised her head. Six ponies and a dragon were rushing over.
She headed off their questions by talking first. "Make sure this mare gets to a hospital, she'll be a bit bruised but mostly just magically exhausted." She held up the broken necklace, "I'll make sure this gets properly disposed of."
"Hold up," Applejack started, "Now wait just a doggone minute-"
"Sorry, gotta go!" The magical filly cried before whizzing off, bounding over the roofs of Ponyville at astonishing speed.
Granny Smith was relaxing in her rocker when Applejack returned to the farm. A pie was cooling on the windowsill behind her.
"Welcome back, Applejack. You take care of that monster?"
"You ain't gonna believe this," Applejack said with a shake of her head, "That crazy filly wearin' one of Rarity's dresses showed up an' beat the monster before we could! Again!"
The elder mare raised an eyebrow. "Is that right?
Applejack chuckled. "Ah know it sounds a mite ridiculous, but that's what happened." Her humor died away. "Ah wish she'd tell us who she is; filly couldn't a'been more than a few years older than Applebloom."
Granny Smith placed a comforting hoof on Applejack's withers and began leading her inside. "Well, Ah'm sure she has her reasons."
Applejack sighed, but smiled. "I reckon she must. Anything happen here while I was gone?"
Granny Smith smiled with an odd twinkle in her eye."Oh, nothing outta the ordinary fer me."
