Manes and Mayhem

More months went by, and more times Radiance met with the Mane-iac. The encounters barely changed, with the notable exception of the villain intentionally separating out the Power Ponies more often, just to get some more alone time with the only one of them that she respected. Every meeting between them warmed Radiance up to the other mare even more, and from how tender those green tendrils stroked across her face, it was obvious the Mane-iac felt the same.

However, they were not the only two Ponies affected by their moments together, as the rest of the Power Ponies definitely took notice of all that time the two spent alone. It started as mere suspicion that the villain wanted something out of Radiance, but when the hero repeatedly came out unscathed and happy, of all emotions, the team began to think there was something more at play.

The team met a few times, omitting the heroine they were skeptical of, and came to the conclusion that Radiance was flirting with the dreaded Mane-iac! It was only the respectful and gossipy nature of Saddle Rager that Radiance even knew of what was happening behind her very back, and she swiftly took offense towards being left out like that, especially when they could have simply asked her what she was doing with the Mane-iac. Multiple times, she attempted to speak to the other members of her team about them talking behind her back, but each time, they brushed her off and seemed to grow somewhat more bitter towards her.

Well, only some of the team actually seemed to be particularly bitter about it. Zapp often shrugged Radiance off with whatever excuse she could pull out of her plot, not really liking spending time with someone so different, and Fili-Second seemed rather guilty about having to hide stuff from her, but still didn’t help settle anything. Humdrum was always slippery and good at avoiding stuff, but Mistress Marevelous simply gave Radiance a judgemental look whenever the idea was brought up. Masked Matter-Horn though... looked horribly offended and talked down the other mare, speaking as if she was violating some sacrosanct commandment by ‘getting close with the enemy’.

Needless to say, Radiance was quite annoyed by it all, and was going to bring an end to it. Thankfully, all that took was a little more gossip from her friend Rager, and she was in.

“If you wished to talk about a lady’s love life, you should ask first, you know!” She shouted into the main room of the Power Ponies HQ as she stormed in, all the rest of the team—bar Rager, who was expecting it, and Humdrum, who wasn’t even there—looking shocked at the sudden interruption.

That shock quickly turned into anger for Masked Matter-Horn, and she shouted back in offense, “So you are flirting with her!”

“Yes I am,” Radiance replied, somewhat exasperated by the accusation, “But I can’t say I understand why you are so... passionate about the matter.”

“Wha—” Matter-Horn sputtered, then a growl escaped her before she yelled, “WHY WOULDN’T I BE!?”

The rest of the Power Ponies left a gap within their huddle-up circle for Radiance to trot into, but not simply to let the two mares argue. “I mean, it’s not that big a deal, right?” Zapp muttered dubiously, looking between her arguing teammates, “We always get rid of the dang Mane-iac in the end, so no harm done, yeah?”

“So far, Zapp,” Matter-Horn seethed back, glaring out behind those goggles that Radiance still could never take seriously, “We’ve only managed to stop her so far, and I’d much rather have my whole team fighting against that villain!”

“Aw, come on, Masky!” Fili-Second chimed with a roll of her eyes, zipping over to the Unicorn and patting her head, “Rady and Mane-y just want have some fun! And,” She added when the angry mare swatted the hoof off her head and opened her mouth to shout back, “Rady is keeping the ‘big, nasty, Mane-iac’—” She spoke with an exaggerated pout, “—Busy, so that’s gotta be a good thing!”

Matter-Horn kept glaring back at Fili, and pushed her away before shooting back to the whole group, “And yet, we always have to defeat her anyway, even if to just get our supposed teammate back.”

“Oh, don’t be so rude, please,” Saddle Rager spoke up, her tone quiet and rather disappointed, “I don’t know why the Mane-iac gets you so aggravated, but take it from me, you really ought to calm down a bit, dear.”

“Why wouldn’t I be...” Masked Matter-Horn repeated, her tone blank this time, and her face fell. “Why am I.. the only one taking this seriously.” Glancing up, her eyes flitted between the rest of the team; the carefree Zapp, the jolly Fili, the taciturn Rager... and the oddly silent Marevelous. “Miss Marevelous,” She begun, pointedly speaking to the mare in question, “You’re a lawyer, and you actually take stuff seriously. Tell me you see an actual problem here.”

Mistress Marevelous looked back with a raised eyebrow, giving a slightly judgemental look for the way she was being talked to. “‘Problem’?” She repeated quizzically, then closed her eyes and sighed. “There’s a lotta problems right now. That danged Mane-iac’s always got a million goons ta spring on us, and who knows what crazy thingamajig she’ll have cooked up in a week. Got some other dimwits knockin’ stuff down every now an’ then, and that ‘Maximum Security’ prison never keeps ‘em for long. And all y’all...” She threw a look across the entire rest of the team, “Are more worried ‘bout Radiance gettin’ kissy with Mane-iac.”

The other Power Ponies looked between themselves for a moment, seeming uncertain of what to make of that speech, but Matter-Horn settled on it not being enough. “I’m worried about her being too distracted to actually help the rest of us out, Marevelous,” She spoke irately, glaring at the other mare, “And against a monster that keeps terrorizing this city for Faust knows why, that’s kind of a problem.”

“‘Terrorizin’?” Marevelous asked, quirking her head as nonplussed as ever, “‘Monster’?” She shook her head, and leveled a look at the angry Unicorn, and spoke candidly, “I ain’t a fan of that mare either, but she ain’t pure evil. Those goons of hers are doin’ just fine, not starvin’ or sleep-deprived, even. Sure, she wrecks a lotta stuff in our fights, but we ain’t much better,” She gave a pointed look at Zapp, Rager, and Matter-Horn; the former looked away guiltily, the second morosely lowered her head, but the final only pursed her lips for a second.

“I’ll say it again; I ain’t a fan of that mare,” The Earth Pony spoke, keeping control as best she could while the other heroes listened, “But ya gotta admit, she’s a lot better a nemesis than anything we coulda got. Madame Mystery keeps foalnappin’ Ponies fer her dumb riddles, Pharoah with all his mummies that freak everypony out... ya get the point. Mane-iac’s nuts, but the most she does is destroy a shipment or muss up some Ponies’ manes.”

An annoyed sigh came from Matter-Horn, and she retorted, “I get that, but she’s not exactly helping matters any. And nor is you—” She threw a sharp look at Radiance, “—Constantly trying to get in her suit.”

A scandalous, slightly ashamed giggle bubbled out of Radiance herself, and she muttered back, “I’m not going that far, dear. I-it’s just—”

“Gal, hush,” Mistress Marevelous snipped, cutting the other Pony off with a deadpan gaze, then turning it back to Matter-Horn (while pointedly ignoring the muffled laughter of the other heroines). “One thing I’ve learned from bein’ around for a while is that crime is gonna happen, no matter whatcha do. Supervillains or nah, Ponies are gonna get up to stuff, and we oughtta be thankful the biggest chunk of crime is coming out of somepony so harmless. And...” She added with a sigh, looking silently over at Radiance for a second, “Well, ya might be owing that harmlessness to somepony keepin’ her happy.”

A wide smile and mild blush grew on that Unicorn’s face, but it wasn’t allowed to get too far before Marevelous cut in, “But! That’s only if ya ain’t doing other stuff with her, like givin’ her vital information.” Her deadpan stare was becoming scathing, and her subdued tone scary as she spoke, “If we catch wind of you actually helping the mare cause problems, then... we gonna have issues, ya hear?”

“O-of course,” Radiance stuttered back, for she too, was intent on keeping the relationship strictly personal and not causing problems.