The Girls

“Mulcher,” Sunset Shimmer said. “What are we doing here?”

Sunset had been led by Milly Mulcher into a thrift store, where the FBI woman had insisted they get a change of clothes. Sunset was looking at some novelty printed shirts while Mulcher had found herself a brown pencil skirt and a blue blouse with short sleeves. Without the long sleeves, Sunset was able to appreciate how muscular Mulcher really was. It was probably a requirement to be physically fit to be in the FBI, Sunset thought.

“We’re in ‘ere because we can’t go where I wanna take ya all conspicuous-like without some disguises. Don’t wanna be recognized, now do we?” Mulcher growled.

“But why would I be recognized?” Sunset asked and grabbed a light blue shirt with a unicorn head on it. “I’m not FBI.”

“Yeah?” Mulcher said, looking unimpressed and threw her trench coat back on. “How about that greasy slick-runner Z-Truck? Ya already ran into him once. Third time pays for all, but I’m not riskin’ it. You shouldn’t neither.”

“What exactly are we going to do? Where are we going? You still haven’t told me.”

Mulcher threw her normal clothes into a plastic bag and slung it over her shoulder. “I’m gonna show you what them supe cocks are really like.”

Sunset did as she was told and put on her new shirt, keeping the jeans she was wearing today. She figured no one would look at jeans as a form of recognition. Once that was done, she followed Mulcher back out into the streets where the van was parked.

Once they were on the road, Sunset took the chance to check out the inside of the vehicle, thinking that maybe it would tell her something about her mysterious new ‘friend’. Unfortunately there were few personal effects. Just a half smoked box of cigarettes, a flask of something on the dashboard, and a walkie talkie. That was probably what she used to talk to the chief of police or something. And as the van went on down the night streets of Canterlot, Sunset still wondered whether she was doing the right thing here. She was doing this for Pine, she knew that. But was this something he wanted her doing? She still hadn’t figured that part out yet. She hadn’t figured anything out yet, except to see where this was leading.

“This place.” Mulcher eventually stopped the van and Sunset realized they were in a dark side street which was barely even lit. “This is where all them supes come to meet their old eastern plates and that’s where we’re gonna catch ‘em doin’ what they don’t want you to see. Come have a look yourself.”

She got out of the van and slammed the door shut, prompting Sunset to get out as well and followed her as the older woman led her over to a door that she would’ve missed if Mulcher hadn’t pulled on the handle. It was the same colour of the wall and once it was open, the terrible smell of cigarette smoke and something that smelt like rotting plants snaked its way into her nose and Sunset had to fight to not double over and gag. Before she could take another breath of fresh air, Mulcher reached back outside and pulled her in, then shut the door behind her.

The inside of the building was wreathed in smog. Mostly it smelled of tobacco, but there were other, unfamiliar smells there which made Sunset gag.

“Hold it together,” Mulcher muttered to Sunset as the latter covered her mouth and nose. “Act natural.”

Fighting back a coughing fit, Sunset followed Mulcher deeper inside. There was music playing, she could hear it now, and the smoke was getting thinner.

“What is this place?” Sunset whispered to Mulcher again.

“This?” Mulcher answered equally quietly. “This ‘ere is one of the city’s many, many dirty secrets. A nice little hole in the wall where the supes can be themselves. Now shut yer gob ‘fore you get us both caught.”

The whole place seemed to be bustling with supes and normal people alike. There were people of all shapes and sizes and when Sunset said shapes and sizes, she really meant it. In one corner was a bird-like superhero, ripping into a packet of what looked like white powder and after taking a whiff with it with his rather large beak, he puffed it up into the air and cackled, his face now covered in the stuff. There was another hero who could shrink himself to something like the size of a pencil and when he was ready, he took a running start and jumped straight at a woman who was holding her legs wide open and he disappeared right into the folds of her snatch, much to the woman’s pleasure. Sunset just hoped he wasn’t going to grow back to regular size any time soon.

Supes all over the club were participating in acts that Sunset never thought a superhero would do and then she spotted a supe she knew from seeing her on television a whole lot. It was White Blanche, one of the members of The Septet. She was just dancing there by the bar counter rather robotically. It kind of reminded Sunset of the main character of a video game called Density Result, who also danced rather strangely. At least to her honour, White Blanche didn’t seem to be doing anything off like most of the supes in here.

Mulcher found some empty seats and ordered two beers from a passing waitress. As they waited for their drinks, Sunset and Mulcher watched the other inhabitants of the club go about their business. She spotted another familiar hero, Slender, who had the power to stretch her body. She had a woman ravaging her moist pussy while she stretched over to another table to make out with another.

“So,” Mulcher said eventually. “Bit of a surprise, yeah?”

“A bit? Are you kidding?” Sunset couldn’t believe what she was seeing. This was not at all what she thought superheroes were doing behind the scenes. She thought they would be more like Bruce Mane instead, or at least, typical heroes from the comic books. “All of them?”

“Well, ‘cept Protectorate Sod. She’s like the heavenly angel here. She don’t drink, she don’t smoke, she don’t do drugs. It’s as though she’s the perfect heroine, ‘innit?”

Sunset sighed. Perhaps there were still some good ones amongst all of this.

Mulcher smiled, but there was no humour in it. “Ya see, this is the side of supes that Vogel don’t want the crowds to see. Why else do ya think they’d all meet up here in the farmin’ dump part of town?” The waitress came back with the beers. Mulcher popped the lids off the bottles and handed one to Sunset before drinking from his own with a grimace. “Sure ain’t cause of the liquor, I can tell ya that.”

“Uh, thanks.” Sunset took the bottle reluctantly. She didn’t really drink. She’d done it maybe twice in her whole life. She guessed this would be the third. “So you brought me here to… see the dark side of supes? Was that it? How does this help me?”

“Well, a little birdie told me someone was going to be here tonight.” Mulcher took a long sip from her bottle and looked around the club. “And wouldn’t ya know it. There she is.”

Mulcher nodded in the direction of the bar, where there was a small crowd of people drinking. Then a little further away, sauntering in like she owned the place, was a familiar hero in a blue outfit and goggles, but the most recognizable feature was her rainbow hair. She looked like she didn’t have a care in the world and that irritated Sunset. She had seemed so regretful during the interview about Pine’s accident and here he was now, almost as if it had happened years ago.

“Z-Truck, you daughter of a witch!” The bartender clapped one hand to Z-Truck’s atop the bar counter. The two held on to each others’ hands and Z-Truck grinned, her arm pushing at the bartender’s in some kind of unofficial arm-wrestling. Eventually, the bartender let go of the hero’s hand and laughed. “So, what’ll it be? The usual?”

“You know it, Cheddar.” She sat back on the bar stool and placed her goggles on the table.

“How’s it with that running accident yesterday?” The bartender returned with a glass of alcohol for the superheroine. “Sad thing with what happened, people just jumping out into the streets like that.”

“Exactly, like, what, do you not want to live anymore?” Z-Truck guffawed. “Some people just can’t wait to end it all. Maybe he was a druggie or something. Owed big money to one of the cartels. Well, if that’s the case, he should be thanking me for what I did, then. I saved him the trouble of having to work it off. Of course, the funeral won’t be open casket.”

The two of them laughed together.

Sunset’s fingers curled into a fist and she took a swig of her beer to calm down. Z-Truck was a hero. She looked up to her, like she did for the rest of them. They were supposed to be protectors, not butchers. And they weren’t supposed to laugh about it, especially not after lying about their guilt on live television.

Z-Truck stayed there, drinking and chatting to the bartender until another customer came to be served. The superheroine stayed sitting at the bar, looking for all the world like nothing was wrong at all.

Sunset got up and wanted to give her a piece of her mind, but then she felt Mulcher grab on to her arm and she motioned for her to sit back down.

“See what I mean?” The black haired woman drank more of her beer and pointed at the heroine. “They don’t care. It’s all a big joke to ‘em, ya know. Bein’ in the FBI, I had all the reports of criminal activity that day. Other than Protectorate Sod stoppin’ those bank robbers and their getaway, there wasn’t any other armored truck on the road. Not even a second crime that day, could you believe that. That Z-Truck wasn’t chasin’ nothing. That girl is up to something else. Farmin’ diabolical, am I right?”

Sunset lowered her head to the table and shut her eyes. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want any of it to be true. What did Pine even die for? Where had Z-Truck been going?

“So are ya in, Sunny?” Mulcher tapped her bottle against the table to get Sunset’s attention.

“Hmm?” She looked up. “In on what?”

The woman took another swig, then leaned closer and spoke in a lower voice. “On gettin’ back at these farmin’ posers. I’ve got a plan, ya see. But only you can do it.”

“Me?”

“First, I need you to plant this in Vogel Tower.” Mulcher dug around her coat and pulled out a little black circular device, no bigger than a penny. “This’ll let us in on all of The Septet’s juicy little secrets.”

“G-Get in the tower?” Sunset gave Mulcher a slack jawed stare. “Are you mad?”

But the woman raised a hand. “Hold your horses there, Sunny. I ain’t done. Gettin’ in the tower’s the easy part. They want to compensate you, remember?”

“How’d you know about that?”

Mulcher made a weird face. “FBI. Remember? Anyway, you say you want to take the money, but you gotta make them a condition. Say you want Z-Truck to personally apologize to ya in Vogel Tower, specifically in the Hall of The Septet. Just to make it official; ‘they can’t say no to that unless they want you to sign their non-disclosures and wipe it all under the nasty mug.”

“No! I don’t want any part of signing those NDAs.” Sunset waved her arms. “That means that whatever happened to Pine will just fade away. Not like that.”

“Sunny, you listen, sure, it might look like that at first. But our real goal’s to hit ‘em where it hurts.”

Sunset paused for a good long while, then eventually sighed. “Mulcher, thanks, you know, for showing me all this and trying to help me out, but really… I can’t do this. I’m not someone who can help you.”

Mulcher leaned back and her seat and tipped her bottle from side to side. Then she raised her eyebrows for a second and downed her bottle’s contents. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Well, if ya ever get the right snatch to do the job…” She held out a piece of paper with a number on it. “You can just find me here.”

Sunset hesitantly accepted the number, then stuffed it in her coat pocket.

“Come on, then. We’ve spent enough time here.” Mulcher sniffed and got up. “I’ll send ya back and you can get a good night’s rest. Maybe you’ll change your mind.”

Sunset doubted she would, but a good night’s rest did sound good. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something she would get any time soon.

Flash Sentry slowly dragged himself into the restroom, his eyes wide with disbelief and shock as he homed in straight for one of the many sinks in the room. King Max, was also standing there, checking out his muscles in the mirror, but Flash didn’t have the energy right now to feel excited about meeting another of his heroes.

He simply approached a sink and flicked the tap on, before running the cold water over his face to wash off what he could.

The Shallow really was something else, and when she came, she came like a flood. He didn’t think any girl would be able to release so much fluid, and she had done so all over his face, his hair and even his cape. It was going to be a pain to wash. To add insult to his injury, he smelt terrible as well. It was as though he’d just swam through a sea of dead fish, then dried out under the sun.

When King Max was done flexing his arms, he looked over at Flash and raised an eyebrow. He shook his head and began brushing his long green dreadlocks, and then polishing what little clothing he had on. King Max’s outfit consisted of a belt that went across his muscular chest, which attached to a thick pauldron on his right shoulder and below that was a leather pteruges and a belt, which had his insignia on it. Other than that, all he had were his gauntlets and boots, with not even so much as a shirt. Then again, he was basically bulletproof.

“Dude, you better clean yourself up before heading out of here, man,” he spoke, his voice low and somewhat hoarse. “You’ll spoil our image.”

Flash could only look at him, saying nothing. His first day had already gone terribly wrong. What else could possibly happen now to make it worse?

When Max was done, he turned to leave, but then suddenly stopped and looked at the wall by the sinks. Flash was curious and looked over, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“Refraction, get out of here.” And then Max was out the door.

Flash still saw nothing, but then the corner of the wall began to shimmer and a naked pale skinned girl appeared, her voluptuous body almost a sight too much for the blue haired boy and he turned away to continue washing his face and hair, even though he’d already seen The Shallow’s pussy up close and even put his tongue in it.

“I’ll umm…” Refraction awkwardly pointed to the door. “I’ll just go, darling.”

And then she was out too, leaving Flash alone in the restroom with his thoughts. He’d already met three of The Septet and so far, they weren’t what he knew them to be on television. But the most disappointing one was still The Shallow. He had always thought she was pretty, but now when he pictured her, all he could think about was her sinister smile and what she made him do. This wasn’t the superhero he looked up to.

And that made Flash ask the important question: Was anything he knew about The Septet even real?

All he could do now was sigh and continue washing himself off.

Still Well grabbed a couple of clear glasses, then returned to the seating area of his office, placing them on the table, before pouring out a little red wine into both glasses.

He picked one up and slid the other one over to another man at the other end of the table, then sat back into one of the two long black couches beside the table.

“So, Mayor Calvert,” he began, crossing one leg over the other and formed a warm smile on his face. “I had time to think, and I think I can lower my offer to send Blue Whirligig to Baltimare. How does two-hundred million a month sound?”

“Two-hundred?” The mayor sipped the wine and twirled the glass in his hand. “Still a tad bit much from my one-hundred million, isn’t it?”

Still Well shrugged. “Well, we still need to earn something, right? I can’t hire him out to you if we’re on the way to bankruptcy.”

“Bankruptcy, please.” The mayor laughed. “You’re Vogel International. You’ve the money to spare.”

“What can I say. We take every opportunity to make profit, just like any other corporation.”

Mayor Calvert nodded, then leaned closer and rested his elbows on his knees. “That includes the production of Hold X, hmm?”

Still Well let out a low chuckle. “Come on, Mayor Calvert. I told you we don’t have such a thing. I don’t know where you heard that from.”

“And I told you, unless you agree to my deal with you, I can go to the media with this. Now what would the world say when they learn Vogel International is producing a kind of advanced warfare with Hold X?”

“Why, they wouldn’t say a thing. Because there’s no such thing.” Still Well stared at him, unblinking. “But I urge you to reconsider. Two-hundred million is already a really low offer. Take Appleloosa, for example. They’ve already accepted the offer of three-hundred and fifty million and Commodore will be shipping out to them tomorrow morning. Or even Manehattan. They pay seven-hundred million a month to have The Revengers in their fine city. But then we have you, sir, who wants to try a little bargaining chip to get Vogel in his palm?”

“That’s because I know something they don’t. And if you don’t want them finding out, I suggest accepting my deal.”

Still Well sighed, but maintained his smile. They were getting nowhere with this. “Well, I suppose I’ll need more time to think this through, Mayor Calvert. Perhaps I could let you know tomorrow?”

“Yes. That’s fine. Just don’t keep me waiting too long. I might… get up to other things if I get bored.” The man finished his drink and got up. “Thank you for the time and the wine, Mr. Still Well. Oh and I would like an answer before tomorrow night. I’ll be flying back to Baltimare then. You know how it is, these long flights.”

“I’m afraid I do, Mayor Calvert. Well, safe travels.”

Still Well walked him to the door of his office and watched him go. Once he was out of sight, his smile was quick to fall off his face, replaced by one of scorn and annoyance. This changed things.

The hero manager turned and walked back into his room, and almost as soon as he had done so, there was a knock at the doorway and he looked back to see Protectorate Sod standing there, her arms folded across her chest.

“Just met the Mayor of Baltimare earlier.” She pointed a thumb towards the hall. “Somethin’ the matter? He seemed pleased.”

Still Well sat at his desk and pulled out a flask of coffee from his portal machine and poured himself a steaming cup. “Just a little business meeting where I will have to recalculate the costs. I’m afraid he knows how to do business well.”

Protectorate Sod smiled widely and walked into the room, his eyes on the coffee in Still Well’s hands. “Aw, don’t worry a beat about it. You’re brilliant. Ah’m sure you’ll come up with a plan. Ya always do. That’s why you’re the boss here.”

Still Well chuckled. “If only everyone could have your innate optimism.”

“Come on, if everyone was like me, then we wouldn’t need me anymore, would we?” She plopped herself down on one couch and pulled her cape aside. “Besides, the people forget sometimes. They’re the real heroes of the world.”

Still Well blew at his mug and looked out the window at the dark sky. “Yes. Yes they are.”

And the Mayor Calvert of Baltimare was no exception.