Author's Note
Got 5th Place on the "Three Lines" contest in Quills and Sofas.
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Moondance with the Devil
“I suppose you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here today.”
Shifting her hooves, Moon Dancer adjusted her position in the chandelier’s cradle. This mission she was on was all about confirmation. Ever since her reconciliation with Twilight Sparkle, she’d also been working closely with Celestia. Naturally, Moon Dancer didn’t want to lose this second chance to show she could solve a friendship problem like Twilight.
Tick. Tock.
Which was why she needed to know exactly why Suri Polomare was speaking on the floor beneath her. And how Coco Pommel hadn’t found out about the burly stallions surrounding her at their last meeting. It was 11:59, after all. This would come down to the minute.
“Well, long as it’s been since Rarity ruined my chance at glory, I’ve been thinking. All the places she goes, all the ponies she’s seen… what about we make sure she stays in one for a while?” Suri’s airy voice tinkled around the room, just as rich and as sharp as the chandeliers over their heads. “After all, the mare I loved is in a hospital too - while that ungrateful unicorn she's friends with parties over my punishment!"
Moon Dancer snorted. Leave it to a building like Crystaller to have such gaudy decorations in the basement. Her advantage too: she was nestled in one, twenty yards from the target. The room was quite sparse, only the henchponies, Suri, and the Mirror in this bast space. Two thick double doors led out of this basement room, and as she saw the ponies directly below her position eye them, Moon Dancer tensed.
"Well, no more." hissed Suri.
Tick Tock.
Forty seconds.
“After all, Starswirl had the right idea for how to deal with such overpowered, overbearing homewreckers.” Suri glowered. “And my mistake was not following such a wonderful mage’s example. So boys, I’ve an artifact of my own - one that’ll keep Rarity out of my mane and life for a good long time.”
Moon Dancer’s horn ignited. It was times like this that she wished organizations like S.M.I.L.E. were back around. Volunteer work was no way to prevent missions like this. It had only been by Coco Pommel’s word that anypony had even gotten wind of this meeting in the basement of the Crystaller Building.
Everyone in this town felt so… well, the top of it could have given a clue, but yes, horse-headed. So much paranoia, and pressure, and predation. It was a complete opposite of her city, and her as well. But that’s why she took up this little duty by Princess Celestia and Luna, wasn’t it? To see more of the world, rather than snap at it when it came to her?
Tick. Tock.
Thirty seconds.
Even now her heart panged painfully for Twilight. Guess that was really what it was all about. She’d been so distant and so angry for so long, and never knew why. Just like the pony strutting about below her. A great, constructive mind, until she decided cribbing Rarity was worth more than making it alone. It would be up to Moon Dancer to stop her.
“This shining mirror before you -” and Suri pointed to the large filigreed mirror behind her. “-is Rarity’s exiler. After all, she stole my spotlight; only fair I return such a tremendous favor to so sweet a darling.”
Moon Dancer had heard invoking of the word ‘tapeworm’ delivered with less venom than Suri’s ‘darling’.
Tick. Tock.
Moon Dancer tensed. She tried to avoid looking at the similarly cream-coated pony across from her. It would only be a matter of time before Suri moved, fear of them being noticed would only serve to ensure they’d be noticed. Plus, if her wildly thumping heart didn't give them away, nothing would.
“Now, Rarity should be in the building next to this one with her friends - leave it to her to mock my ruination by making her own store in the place I made famous!” A sharp flick of her mane, and her purple locks settled back into its high perch. “Move out, everypony.”
Yes, it was a shame that S.M.I.L.E. wasn’t around, thought Moon Dancer. Thankfully, one of its past prodigies had not been so elusive to find.
Tick. Tock.
And it would be with her help that Moon Dancer would succeed.
The second the number of henchponies in the room dwindled to twelve - and the clock struck one minute before twelve, right over the doorway behind her - Moon Dancer flipped out of her perch. Her eyes were on the thick doors the grunts were heading out of; as they slipped shut, red auras sprang around them. Their locks snapped shut, the doors refused to budge no matter how many hoofpounds rang behind them.
Now Suri’s forces were split. Much like the kick Moon Dancer delivered to the two of them about to exit the door behind her perch. Two thumps from her split rearlegs, and they were down. Just as her friend had reported; they were here for the size in the fight, not the fight in them.
Speaking of dogs, her partner swept down from her spot in the rafters like a bloodhound, purple and blue locks swinging around her like a curling curtain as she moved. Her moves were so much more graceful than Moon Dancer’s; a sweep to knock off the henchponies next to her, a grappling hook in her left forehoof knocking them down.
It was quite the show. Once Moon Dancer might have scoffed at an earlier bend in her life. Right now, however, she wanted to make some magic of her own.
Moon Dancer flipped over another guard. She saw Suri gasp and hurtle herself behind the curtain. She didn’t know what it was, but since Suri knew the doors were locked, she was either looking for another escape hatch.
CLICK-A.
...or a weapon, like the obscenely large gun a stallion now held to her flank. She saw his smile grow as he pulled back on the hoof-sized trigger. But despite an ebbing glow in the center of the square-shaped barrel, nothing came out to roast her rump.
The pony stared at it, then hit the switch again. Nothing. Which made it easier for her partner to wrap the bars of her rappelled hook around it and yank it out. One sprint by Moon Dancer later, and her rearhoof crashed into the back of that stallion’s brown-maned neck.
“Bon Bon! Thank goodness!” she called out to her. She was using the hook the gun was attached to now as a bolo, knocking down five more henchponies about to start on her. Suri was still nowhere to be seen.
“Thank me later-unf!” Moon Dancer’s horn shot a crimson bolt into that pony that had hit Bon Bon in the barrel, sending him into the wall. The doors flashed dangerously, and she grit her teeth reinforcing the force fields around them. How much time had passed.
Tick. Tock.
They were running out of it. That portal would open within the next minute. Then real danger would occur.
“Do you have any idea what this thing does?” yelled Bon Bon, holstering the weapon to her side.
“Gonna guess ‘holes in stuff’? Am I getting warm?”
“No,- but this would be if the safety wasn’t on.” Bon Bon brought the weapon crashing into the recovering henchpony. “Should know; my org made it before they went under. Which gives me an idea. I’ll talk you through it quickly, but we have to start now.”
Tick. Tock.
Four henchponies were left. Moon Dancer galloped toward one, slid underneath his stomping legs and brought one of her legs into his face when he ran toward her. Prone as she was, she had to roll to avoid the next burly stallion, setting up the gun when she was right-side-up.
Crouched over it, she gave Bon Bon enough free space to wrap her forelegs around the stunned stallion’s legs. Pulling to the left, Bon Bon brought his head crashing into the ground in a brutal headscissors.
Remember, Moon Dancer thought as she looked to the weapon she still had no idea how to use. This is to bring you way up to Twilight’s level.
And yet that purple princess would never know of it. Moon Dancer would, though. And that would make up for so much more than lost time.
Tick. Tock.
Less than a minute now.
“Hoof in the slot next to the trigger, turn it clockwise: that’ll release the safety!” Bon Bon yelled, stuck between two “And don’t come for me. Stopping that mirror’s all that matte-ugh!” One of the ponies slammed a hoof into her collar. Moondancer tensed, but stayed put.
Moon Dancer complied, the satisfying whirrrrr of the machine music to her ears. Certainly more so than the other stuff she’d had to hear. She’d have to remember to get something nice for Coco. Meeting her alone was a task and a half; maintaining friendship was so important.
A crack brought her attention back to Bon Bon. She was quite skilled with her rear-legs, apparently: they’d both brought the last two stallion’s heads together. Both bodies slumped to the ground as Bon Bon regained her footing. “Last three switches are behind the holster, hit them now!”
“In what order?!” yelled Moon Dancer.
“Speaking of… could I have some of that in this court?” Suri Polomare was back out from behind the curtain. Moon Dancer froze at the pony wrapped around her forelegs. Her blue bowl cut gave away her identity almost immediately.
“Coco…” The way Bon Bon spoke upon seeing the trembling mare that Suri held hostage made Moon Dancer wince. It’d spoken of so much heartbreak. It spoke just like Twilight had, one beautiful and unappreciated party ago that she’d thrown Moon. But this red-haired mare would not let that moment be her portion.
Tick. Tock.
“Only thirty seconds before I get my Rarity-B-Gone portal, you two. I suggest you lay down and let me have this victory.” Suri purred. “After all, this is quite untested. I’m not picky of which traitor goes in first.”
“You don’t know where that portal goes, Suri.” Bon Bon yelled. “We’re doing you a favor!”
“And I’m doing all Manehattan a favor!” shouted Suri. “I’m sorry for dragging Coco into this, but-”
“You know Pinkie’s okay, right?!”
Bon Bon turned to her, bewildered. For Suri, however, her look of perfect composure gave way to broken surprise. “That’s why you’re doing this all, right?” Moon Dancer added. “She had this nice relationship with you. Met her just like Trixie did after talking with her, looking for something new after losing to another Element! But it was different: you and her actually hit it off! She never cared where amazing things came from, so long as you did it with something sweeter than sequins.”
“How did you-”
“Because you talked with Trixie about this!” yelled Bon Bon. “The second she put two and two together, she told Celestia, she told us!”
Moon Dancer’s voice came out to follow Bon Bon’s almost robotically. She knew she was breaking protocol; No more info given out than needed. Especially not to the target. But she had to try to make Suri see the light too. At least, long enough for them to stop Suri from making her biggest mistake. “You think with the incident that got Pinkie hospitalized, that there's nothing left for you here; so there should be nothing left for Rarity here either!” Even she trembled at it. “But she’s fine, and so’s the bugbear she tried to feed! And so are you. As long as you let us help you.”
Normally, for a supsect to know this would mark the end of a pony’s career in the new organization the Princesses had made. But Moon Dancer was no heartless monster, unlike the Tartarus-spawned beings Suri didn't know she was loosing on Manehattan. Suri hadn’t done anything bad yet. Not until that portal opened.
Summertime as Canterlot City was right now, the destination that portal had in mind was someplace far hotter. Which was why it had been hidden by Sunset in this building when she’d told both Celestias about the artifact. And probably how Suri knew of it, being a frequenter of Canterlot City herself. And why they needed to stop it from coming to fruition.
Tick. Tock.
“A-are you sure?” Suri’s resolve was fading. So was the window of time for them to stop that mirror. Soon it'd open and suck them all into a place they really didn’t need to be.
“I am.” Moon Dancer’s last switch was flipped. She got to all fours, hooves over the barrel so Suri couldn’t see it shine. So she wouldn’t do something she actually regretted. “And this is for both Pinkie and your own good.”
Bon Bon’s muscles flex as she bolted toward Suri. Whether she knew it or not, Suri’s turn toward her gave Moon Dancer her opportunity. Both cream-coated unicorns aimed for their targets - one for Suri, the other for the artifact behind her.
Red light poured forth from Moon Dancer’s weapon, even though she pulled no trigger. Her red glow over the doors faded - just as one emitted from the mirror behind her. Jagged peaks and chains danced around every corner of the world beyond that magicalized threshold. It’d be close.
Almost too close.
TICK. TO-
And with the latest bust by a pony only identifying themselves as ‘The Smiling Sweetheart’, another case in Manehattan finds itself solved.
Both the formerly disgraced fashion designer Suri Polomare and her ex-assistant Coco Pommel were found to be fine with only minor burns, despite the stallions around them on the scene. The operation that was stopped took apparently two minutes to stop, as several of the henchponies confessed to.
Rumors of a mare accompanying ‘The Smiling Sweetheart’ have proven to be unfounded, as no trace of her was found on the scene.
Rumors abound that the group that had abducted them, by the ‘Smiling Sweetheart’s’ words, had seemed bent on opening the artifact known as the First Circle, a portal that several Canterlot-based sources alleged led directly to Tartarus. Further development…
“Gotta say, Moon Dancer, it's’ great that you decided to bring us over here for the party!” Dash sputtered out among a mouthful of potatoes and leeks. “Twilight had been looking for that lost mirror for days! Lucky break, huh?” A ‘Really!’ came out from the unicorn next to her, her cloth-covered hoof pulling dramatic swirls into the tabletop.
“W-what could I say? Figured our last party went so bad, I’d try to make up.” Moon Dancer adjusted her thick glasses atop her snout. Smiling warmingly at Rarity as she scrubbed out the flecks of food Dash had spattered over their table, her eyes flicked back to the clock. Ten minutes this time. That was why they were called the Ten-Minute Warning, after all. “Thought I’d make up for a lot of things.”
Well. Why did Celestia call them that, anyway? Goodness, even now she was so weird.
“Well, we're all very happy we can see that dreadful thing hidden,” Fluttershy stammered out.
“And I’m happy you all enjoyed the food I got up here!” Pinkie declared. “Moon Dancer, you’ve barely touched yours! Was it overcooked?”
Actually, the taste of something besides ozone and sweat was quite appetizing to Moon Dancer. But her eyes had been so focused on the clock she’d never noticed. “Y-yeah. I did call you all here for a reason, after all.”
“It is nice that we don’t have to solve this problem for once.” Twilight Sparkle placed her hoof upon Moon Dancer’s cream coated one. Both blushed at the maneuver, but Twilight grinned. “Seems, almost a relief. But don’t tell Celestia I said that!”
“I’m only happy you were nowhere near there, darling.” Rarity thumped at Dash’s back, the swallowing of her meal having some trouble heading down her gullet.
Spike was next to the alicorn he played assistant to, a sparkling sapphire-scoop ice cream platter softly shoveled into his maw. “Would you believe - on the way here, Pinkie actually thought that the reason Moon invited us here was that she was convinced you were this ‘Smiling Sweetheart’!”
“C’mon, girls!” Twilight’s eyes swept over the group disbelievingly, ignoring the red splotches that grew in intensity around Moon Dancer’s face. Her eyes swept back to the clock over the paramedic-thick Crystaller Building., but none of the seven seated at their table noticed. “Moon Dancer’s been great to us all as of late, and she’s even started looking more fit as of late. But Moon Dancer? A literal secret agent in Equestria?”
Tick. Tock.
“Come on. That’s crazy.”
