Honestly – what good was a police department in a city full of superheroes?
All it had taken was a hairspray bomb and some quick-acting hairspray and the Mane-iac was able to waltz right in – if hair tentacles could waltz, anyway. She ushered in her accomplice, some second-rate villain named D-Cipher. His only use was he was good at hacking computers.
“Alright, what am I looking for?” he asked as he tapped away at the keyboard with his mechanical appendages.
“The Power Ponies must be in the police database, seeing as they practically work for the city,” Mane-iac said, spraying down some of the frozen officers again for good measure. “That means their real identities must be in there too!”
“They are,” D-Cipher announced. “I got their names right here.”
Mane-iac shoved him to the side and leaned in close, using some of her smaller hair tentacles to work the mouse and keyboard. “Excellent, excellent,” she said, a manic grin on her face. “Now… let’s see who they’re close to.”
“Close to?” D-Cipher asked, rubbing his head. “What do you need to know that for?”
“Oh get with the mane program, D-Cipher,” Mane-iac huffed. “If I know who’s close to them, I can strike the Power Ponies where they’re most vulnerable: their loved ones! Their very hearts!”
D-Cipher frowned. “Couldn’t you just kidnap Humdrum?”
“That’s been done a hundred times! Besides, they’ll expect it by now – but their friends and family?” The Mane-iac cackled. “They’re ripe for some pruning!”
D-Cipher joined her at the computer, glancing over the lists. “Looks like only one of them’s married: Fili-Second,” he remarked. “Wait – she works at the police department?”
“Not this one – she’s a detective at the downtown precinct. But married you say?” Mane-iac grinned, shrunk pupils glancing over the file. “Looks like she lives in the suburbs. Perfect. I never operate all the way out there – they’ll never see it coming!”
The Mane-iac cackled as she left through the gaping hole she’d made in a wall. D-Cipher blinked and turned the way she had gone.
“Hey! Don’t you want to know her name?” D-Cipher called. He looked around at the frozen cops, suddenly nervous. “And what about all these cops? Hey!”
But the Mane-iac was long gone, halfway to the Maretropolis suburbs, maniacally laughing all the way.
The house Fili-Second shared with her spouse was hardly out of the ordinary – brick and vinyl siding, two-stories, with a neatly trimmed front yard. Hedges of wine-colored roses lined the front walkway. The neighborhood around the house was quiet, unlike the bustling city, and during mid-afternoon, most ponies were at work.
The Mane-iac retracted her hair tentacles into something that looked presentable and added a pair of fake glasses and a rolling suitcase of haircare products for good measure. She composed herself to the best of her ability – which, to be fair, wasn’t very composed.
On her way up to the front porch, she let out a little giggle or snort – this was so easy it was laughable.
She cleared her throat and pressed the doorbell. Mane-iac shifted on her hooves until the door opened, and she blinked in surprise at who answered it.
The mare could’ve been a soldier with her commanding presence and muscles. Her face was stoic, not betraying any emotion, though her teal eyes seemed friendly enough. She raised an eyebrow at the Mane-iac, unsure of what to make of her.
With her broken horn and the scar over her right eye, the Mane-iac wasn’t sure what to make of her either.
“Can I help you?” the mare asked.
“Uh, yes.” Mane-iac cleared her throat. “Is the lady of the house in?”
“One of them.”
“Oh, excellent.” Mane-iac beamed. “I am a haircare salespony, representing the finest brands in the industry. If I might have a moment of your time, might I come in and show you some samples?”
The unicorn huffed. “Fine. Come in,” she said.
She entered and walked into the living room adjacent to the entryway. Bookshelves flanked either side of an unlit hearth – the one on the left full of detective and romance novels, the one on the right full of framed photos of a happy couple. A large portrait of a couple on their wedding day hung in-between them.
The mare sat down in front of a cup of tea cooling on the coffee table. The Mane-iac broke out into a broad grin, entered, and slammed the door behind her.
It only got a glance out of the mare as the Mane-iac walked over to her. “If I might ask – what’s your name?” the Mane-iac asked.
“Maelstrom, Maelstrom Shade Allen,” the mare replied.
“Well, Mrs. Allen, are you aware your wife is the Power Pony known as Fili-Second?” A few hairy tendrils broke free from her composure.
Maelstrom raised an eyebrow again. “I am. How do you know?”
“Because I—“ Her hair tentacles unfurled fully, nearly pressing the Mane-iac against the ceiling. “Am the Mane-iac!”
As the villainess cackled with glee, Maelstrom simply lifted her tea, took a sip, and replaced the cup. Her eyes never left the Mane-iac’s.
Mane-iac blinked in confusion, bowing low until she was practically in the mare’s face. “You don’t seem to be trembling in mane-raising terror,” she remarked. “Was it not a dramatic enough reveal?”
Maelstrom blinked. “You don’t know who I am?” she asked.
“Maelstrom Shade Allen, wife of Fili-Second – one of my archnemeses,” Mane-iac listed off. “Am I forgetting something?”
“Does the name… Sinister Shatterhorn sound familiar?” Maelstrom asked slowly, nonplussed.
“Shatterhorn… Shatterhorn…” Mane-iac mumbled, rubbing her chin. “Sounds like the Masked Matter-Horn. Oh, wait! I remember – she was that supervillain that popped up a year ago.”
“Do you remember what she looked like?”
“Of course! Her whole schtick was to fix her broken horn and destroy all who got in her way.” The Mane-iac blinked, taking in Maelstrom’s missing horn. “Wait… are you saying… you’re her?”
“I was.” Maelstrom took another sip of her tea.
“What happened to you?” Mane-iac spluttered, gesturing at her with both forelegs. “You were intimidating! You were powerful! And now you’re married to a Power Pony?”
“I thought what I needed in life was to fix my broken horn,” Maelstrom said, staring down into her tea at her reflection. “Marey Allen—or rather, the mare you know as Fili-Second—was the first pony to care about me, regardless of my broken horn.”
“Gag me with a hair curler,” Mane-iac said with a grimace, sticking out her tongue. “You actually fell for that load of hair gel?”
“No, I fell for Marey. She and her friends cared about me more than anypony has. Besides.” Maelstrom smiled softly. “She makes me laugh.”
The Mane-iac rolled her eyes. “Whatever. It looks like I’m snipping two bangs with one pair of scissors – kidnapping a Power Pony’s wife and getting a half-rate villain off the streets!”
As she reached over with one of her hair tentacles, one of Maelstrom’s hooves stomped on it in the blink of an eye, filling the house with a quake of thunder. The Mane-iac’s eyes widened in surprise as Maelstrom slowly looked up to her.
Her teal eyes had darkened, as a cold, remorseless look fell on her muzzle. Slowly, she rose to her hooves, eyes locked with the Mane-iac’s.
“Attacking superponies is like rolling dice, Mane-iac,” Maelstrom said in a low tone. “Sometimes you roll high, sometimes you roll low. And you?” Her horn stump glowed softly, crackling with electricity. “You just rolled snake eyes.”
To an observer, it might have looked like a bomb went off inside the house – a bright light flashed in the windows of the living room, along with the sounds of a million volts going off amidst anguished cries.
The front door swung open and a charred Mane-iac scrambled to leave. She made it two steps out the door when a singed rolling suitcase full of haircare products flew out and hit her square in the back.
As she tried to get to her feet, a hoof came down on one singed, split-ended hair tentacle of the Mane-iac’s tail. Maelstrom towered over her, horn still sparking. The supervillain looked back at her over her shoulder, cowering in fear.
“Now listen here, Mane-iac,” Maelstrom said in a low tone, leaning in close. “You can fight Fili-Second and the other Power Ponies as much as you like, but if I hear you’ve messed with any of their loved ones, I will personally give you the shock of your life. Am I understood?”
The Mane-iac quickly nodded, and Maelstrom released her tail. She watched the supervillain scramble away as fast as her singed hair and legs could carry her. With a snort, Maelstrom turned and entered the house.
She walked over to the living room windows and opened them one by one to air out the lingering smell of burnt hair. She noticed the portrait over the hearth had tilted slightly, and promptly adjusted it. Sighing, she returned to her tea.
She was halfway through it when the door burst open and a white and pink blur darted in, tackling her across the couch she was seated on. Maelstrom giggled as she was caught up in Fili-Second’s tight hug.
“Berry!” Fili-Second exclaimed.
Maelstrom snorted. “Honey, you know I haven’t gone by Berrypop Fizzletwist in years,” she replied.
“Fine, but I liked that name better.” Fili-Second pouted. In a second, she was off of her and out the door – and in less time than that, she was back again, hugging her. “Mae Bae!”
“How did patrol go?” Maelstrom asked, kissing her cheek.
“Oh, I’m still on it – I just came home for some snacks and some really, really quick cuddling,” Fili-Second replied, kissing Maelstrom’s cheek in return before darting off to the kitchen.
“Anything exciting yet?” Maelstrom called, sitting up.
There was a clattering in the kitchen as the speedster quickly made and ate some sandwiches in rapid succession. “No, but it’s weird – my Fili-Senses have been tingling all day, like the Mane-iac was going to strike. I thought she’d have done something by now.”
“Funny you should mention her,” Maelstrom said, getting up and heading into the kitchen. She stood in the entryway as Fili-Second finished off her last sandwich. “She just paid me a visit.”
Fili-Second gasped in horror, then composed herself, sniffing the air. “Is that why it smells like burnt hair?” Worry quickly returned as she practically pounced on Maelstrom, clinging to her tightly. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”
“I believe she wanted to, but it seems she forgot who the Sinister Shatterhorn was,” Maelstrom said with a soft smile. “I’m fine.”
“Good.” Fili-Second buried her snout into Maelstrom’s neck. “I don’t know what I’d do if anyone hurt you.”
Maelstrom smiled, leaning into the touch. “Well, I have a few ideas of what I’d do if anyone hurt you,” she replied softly.
Fili-Second giggled. “Alright, well, I better get back to patrol.” She leaned up, pecked Maelstrom on the cheek, and was out the door with a distant “Bye! I love you! Stay safe!” The door shut behind her from the tailwind.
Maelstrom chuckled and shook her head. “That’s the problem with striking at a superhero’s heart, Mane-iac,” she said to herself with a dark smile. “Sometimes the heart strikes back.”
Author's Note
Date of Creation (D.o.C.): 07/25/20
I think I wrote this shortly after seeing the MLP Movie - a lot of my Tempest ideas came from around that time.
A happy little coincidence that happened was Fili-Second's real identity. I already knew she was based on the Flash, so I went down the thought process of Barry Allen, but female and ponified: Marey Allen. Turns out Hasbro was one step ahead - that's her name as according to the trading cards.
I have also started work on a prequel, also using a prompt from the Writing Prompts subreddit.
I don't remember the song I listened to for this one, but I listened to "Undertale" from the game Undertale when editing.
-yours truly,
The Legendary Bill Cipher, Equestria Enthusiast
