High on the Roofs Lived a Lone Crusader (Open!)

[waxworks]

Ponyville was an oddly peaceful sort of place. Sure there was constant chaos just bursting through the streets on a nearly daily basis, and sometimes chaos personified would literally stroll through, but it was oddly manageable. Nothing that would get your mane out of shape or disrupt your daily trot too terribly. No real trouble, no real challenge.

And Mezcal was going out of her mind from it.

For over a year now the eager little cow with a pelt the color of chili peppers and a glittering mask that shone like a golden beacon had sought to make a name for herself in the wide and wild world of professional lucha libre wrestling. She'd come to Ponyville from Mooxico in an attempt to see the sorts of challenges that the comfortable life at home with her family could never afford her, to really strike out on her own and take a risk, but now she was beginning to worry that she'd made a mistake.

Sure, there was the occasional sparring match at the Ponyville gym, and Equestria Games had been a great time to be a wrestler, but it was few and far in between for Mezcal's taste. She liked excitement and spectacle. She wanted bravado and boasting. She really, really wanted to tackle something.

But galloping through Ponyville's town square on her daily race around town it was the same collection of friendly faces and occasional impromptu songs that she saw every day. Sure, she could always pack up and head elsewhere, but she had friends here, like Riddle and Dusty, and she did have a bit of a reputation which she'd always hoped would draw challengers from afar. Ponyville was great and that was that, but was it too much to ask for a little drama?

"STAND BACK CITIZEN!"

Mezcal stopped dead in her tracks and looked around herself wildly. A booming voice, echoing through the square? She leapt wildly to look behind her, then leapt again to look forward, but saw nopony waiting for her.

"Oh, oh thank you!"

She looked around again and suddenly saw it. An old pony who'd been struggling with a stack of barrels and had nearly been crushed by them when... what was that? It was some kind of pony dressed from mane to hoof in a glittering facade of spandex and armor, like something straight out of a TV show meant for little ponies to watch while they ate their cereal. This costumed figure suddenly struck a pose and with a deft buck cracked the lid clean off of a barrel like it was nothing. Several nearby ponies stared in awe, and a few stomped their hooves in delight. Mezcal just stared, jaw hanging slack, slowly trotting forward.

"TADZUNA PONY, FRENZY!"

And with that loud proclamation the costumed pony ran off into a side street.

"ESPERA," cried Mezcal, suddenly racing after only to find an empty alleyway. "W-wait... iy... que..."

The little cow clattered back out into the town square looking around at the gathered ponies. "Did chu see... what was that?!"

[Myriad]

It was such a nice day in Ponyville, and Myriad had convinced her mother to take her and her sister shopping while their father was at work in the weather factory. The family had recently moved to Ponyville from Stratusburg for the health of the twins, but as usual, they weren't allowed to go outside save for rare occasions, and definitely not unsupervised. However, Myriad's curiosity got the better of her when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. There was something across the street that was catching the sunlight just enough to glitter. She found she could make it appear and disappear depending on where she moved her head and decided to head over to investigate without thinking, or telling her mom where she was headed. She just slipped away unnoticed as her mother haggled for the price of zucchini and her sister watched a beetle crawling around on the ground.

The roads here in Ponyville weren't nearly as bustling as the ones in Stratusburg, so it was foalsplay for the gray filly to cross the street, even without checking to see if there was anyone coming. It's not like the ponies here were in a hurry to get anywhere in this small town. Having only been here for a few days, Myriad was already feeling more comfortable in her new environment since there seemed to be a lot less to worry about. She could stop worrying about getting sick or hurt and just enjoy being a foal.

At the pace of a light trot, she finally found what had caught the light and captured her attention. It was a gemstone earring, and quite a large one at that. Clearly somepony had dropped it and either not noticed, or just wasn't able to find it. Picking it up and putting it in her vest pocket, she figured she would go around and start asking the ponies if they lost an earring. So she walked up to the first mare she saw, raised her hoof to give a light tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know any pony who lost an earring?" she asked in her sweetest voice.
"I'm sorry little one, but I haven't heard a peep about any pony losing an earring today. Sweet of you to ask though. I'm sure you'll find the owner if you keep asking around." Was the mare's response.
"Oh alright then, I'll just keep looking. Thank you though." Myriad finished with a bright little smile as she trotted off to ask the next pony.

The young filly continued her search until she heard a big commotion fairly close to her. She watched in horror as a bunch of barrels came tumbling down towards an older mare, well, older from Myriad's perspective. She froze in terror at the thought of some pony getting hurt when out of nowhere a pony in a crazy costume showed up and bucked the barrels away before they could hurt the pony they were about to land on or even careen out of control into somepony else. Her jaw dropped in shock as she stood there, still frozen, unable to comprehend what just happened, or the fact that nopony seemed phased about the sudden appearance and disappearance of the hero that had just saved the day. All except one creature who seemed just as confused as Myriad was.

[jakester4316]

Today was the day that Silver Streak had been waiting for. He has finally made the biggest leap yet towards his goals of best DJ in Equestria by moving to Ponyville were he can make his debut! He has just purchased a new home in Ponyville and figured now would be the best time to go grab some food and other essentials for his new home. Silver decided to fly to the town square to go purchase what he needed when he saw a bunch of barrels rolling straight towards a mare who couldn't even see the eminent threat approaching.

"I can't just sit here and let her get trampled by those barrels! I have to help!" He thought to himself as he was flying at incredible speeds toward the damsel.

Silver dipped and weaved between the surrounding buildings and patrons in an attempt to save the mare. When he was within one hundred feet of the damsel, he saw that the barrels were almost about to hit her. With a high pitched shriek from the now frightened mare drawing full attention to the events unfolding, Silver Streak noticed a costumed figure seemingly leap from the shadows and bucked the barrels away from the frightened mare. After coming to a quick stop, he saw the masked hero strike a heroic pose before he saw a little red cow with a mask on try chasing the hero down. After noticing that most of the other ponies went about their days, Silver thought to himself, "Wow! I heard about the crazy stuff that happens here, this is going to be a great time here in Ponyville!" Silver then noticed a light grey filly just as awestruck as he was, only the filly showed it. He decided to approach the filly.

"Boy that was crazy, huh? It's my first day here to Ponyville and I get greeted with a heroic spectacle like that!"

[waxworks]

(OOC: Sorry about that, real life just sort of spiked me into a wood-chipper for a while there o.o)

They were dispersing. Just like every day, every time something stunningly fantastic and bizarre happened in Ponyville, like that day an enormous cheese wheel tore through town, or when an invisible marching band popped out of a nearby well, stumbled down the street, and apparently fell into a river, just like any other day in Ponyville, the gathered ponies expressed some delight and amusement, and then went right back on to their lives. Mezcal looked about frantically.

"Chu have to- Iy... que pasa con ustedes?"

Her bright red ears drooped more than usual, flapping sadly against the sides of her glittering orange mask. She looked about at the vanishing crowd, deflating as she saw her ambition to chase after the costumed hero drain away with the interest of the crowd. But what was this?

"Que?"

Mezcal swiveled around and realized she wasn't completely alone in the emptying square, as two pegasus ponies seemed to still be as stunned as she was by the sudden appearance and disappearance of the glittering pony.

"CHU! Ponitoes!" She raced over to them stopping just shy of trampling them under her blazing red hooves, "chu saw that, yes? Chu know who that was? Chu know what that was?!"

The cow's mostly masked face was a mixture of hope and desperation, eager for any slice of information she could find, any sliver of hope she could cling to, if it meant finding that strange masked hero.

[Nook Cranny]

It was a nice, sunny day in both Cloudsdale and in Ponyville and Nook would know since she had been in and out of both places all day. Indeed she had been pretty busy that day with both her job as a lost and founder and as a local hero. It was difficult and stressful wearing two hats, but not downright impossible. Plus she loved her work. Both jobs were so satisfying that it made whatever stress it created worth it. At least in her mind anyway. Anypony else would probably just quit being a hero and stick with the job that pays. But not Nook. She couldn't, wouldn't do that.

But yes all day she had been juggling her civilian work and her hero work just as she did most everyday. It wasn't easy and keeping her hero identity a secret was surprisingly an even bigger challenge. What, with all the nosy reporters out there, plus her own ego getting in the way of things, it truly is a miracle her secret identity hasn't been exposed yet to all of Equestria. Earlier that day, she had returned several lost items to their rightful owners when they stopped by her shop to pick them up. Afterwards, she put on her purple costume and stopped a robbery and saved a pony from getting creamed from an out of control speeding carriage. Overall, it's been a pretty good day so far. For her though this would be considered a slow day. Indeed, she would have normally had more jobs in one day than this, but hey she wasn't complaining or was she? While she certainly did not mind breaks and slow days, she would rather be out there doing something and being useful than just sitting around boredly in her shop all day wishing for something to happen. Something, anything that would be big enough to get her out of her Ponyville Lost and Found shop.

As luck would have it, Fate chose that precise moment to strike with a literal ringing of a bell. Nook who honestly was seconds away from dozing off at her counter jumped up several feet into the air at the sound of her shop's bell ringing and there in the air she stayed, flapping her wings. "I'm up! I'm up! I mean that is to say, I so wasn't sleeping! I would never sleep on the job! So, what seems to be the problem Ma'am?" Nook asked in her thick Haystralian accent as she watched a very wealthy looking pony enter her humble shop. The wealthy pony was pink and purple with a diamond ring as her cutie mark. Nook recognized the pony right away! It was none other than Spoiled Rich! She just couldn't believe her eyes: Spoiled Rich was in her shop!

At the sight of Nook, however, Spoiled Rich just sort of rolled her eyes and stuck her nose up. "Yes well I cannot believe I am in here! This place is positively common and the decor-ghastly!" the wealthy socialite commented with a sneer. Nook's formerly excited expression fell at this and her head drooped at the snobby pony's words. Sure her shop could use some sprucing up, but she didn't think it was that bad, but then this was Spoiled Rich we were talking about. So Nook supposed she shouldn't be too surprised by the rich pony's impudence. "But, I have heard tale from many of my associates that you are one of the best at finding things," Spoiled Rich revealed. Nook's spirits lifted at that and she all of a sudden looked ready to take on anything! She just couldn't believe her ears! Rich ponies actually said good things about her? Then again she could hardly blame them as she was pretty amazing. In fact, she could barely contain her excitement. "Oh wow, you really mean it? Your rich friends said all that about me? I mean what they say is only all too true! I really am one of the best at finding things! Like my motto says, you lose it. I find it! I can find anything! Guaranteed or your bits back," Nook practically gushed in her Haystralian accent with a big smile on her face, practically gleaming with pride.

At this spoiled Rich just groaned and tapped her hoof rather impatiently against the shop's woodened floors. "Will you please get a hold of yourself and come down here? I haven't even told you what I needed you to find yet," the rich socialite ordered the overly excited pegasus. At that the pink pegasus pony's face reddened as she landed in front of Spoiled Rich. Nook just smiled at Spoiled Rich sheepishly while using her right hoof to rub the back of her neck. "Oh...right. Sorry bout that. Just got a bit excited is all. But please continue. Oh I can't help it! I'm just so excited! You got a mission for me, don't you? Oh you will not believe how bored I am right now! I am so stoked," Nook cried out excitedly in between deep breaths.

Spoiled just sort of raised a suspicious brow. "Yes, I can certainly see how a pony such as yourself could be bored. Unlike us rich ponies you don't have any important social events to host and attend; which brings me to your...mission. Indeed, as it so happens I do have a job for you, a very important one at that, so I need you to listen very carefully, so I don't have to repeat myself. This morning I have lost something very important and dear to me. As you can plainly see," Spoiled Rich began as she moved her dark purple mane around revealing nothing but her ear, "my gorgeous, shiny left earring is gooooone!" At the word, 'gone,' her voice broke and she actually started to get all emotional and was even on the verge of weeping. Before Nook could say anything, Spoiled Rich continued, "as you can see I still have the right one. You can now see what it looks like," she said shaking her mane to the side revealing the large, gorgeous earring. Nook's purple eyes practically popped out of their sockets at the size of the gem. Spoiled Rich noticed and somehow Nook's reaction made her feel a little bit better. "Yes, I know. They're amazing; which is why I need you to find its mate for me and I need you to find it before tonight's big soiree. I'd look pretty ridiculous dancing with only one earring," Spoiled Rich calmly explained.

At this Nook only grinned. She felt confident that she could find that missing earring no problem. Things certainly were easier to find knowing what they look like and since the earring was in Spoiled's ear she could just follow the wealthy pony's scent all the way to the lost earring. "Oh is that all? And I thought this was going to be hard. But sure I can find that earring of yours by tonight no problem! But uh just out of curiosity, why couldn't you just wear a different pair of earrings? I am certain a tall poppy such as yourself has plenty to choose from," Nook inquired innocently. Spoiled just looked at her funny for the wealthy pony has never heard the term, tall poppy before and therefore had no idea what it meant. "A tall what? Are you making fun of me? Because if you are I will ruin you financially," the rich pony threatened with a hiss. Surprised by the accusation, Nook just laughed. "No, you see tall poppy is Haystralian for rich and successful," the pink pegasus explained. At the Spoiled just straightened herself back up. "Oh I see... Well, that's certainly different and anyway I cannot simply choose a different earring set for tonight's soireee because I promised a certain...friend of mine that I would wear these specific ones, so she could see them and hopefully shut up about how much better and more glamourous hers are. So as you can other earrings are simply out of the question."

Nook couldn't help smiling at that. It seems that Spoiled is not as good as she thinks. Still, she aimed to keep all her clients happy even the snobby ones. "I see... Sooooo um where exactly were you when you remember last having it?" Spoiled seemed to be thinking before she answered. "Well, I am pretty sure it was on during my daily morning stroll around town. I'd check along that route if I were you." "Okay, so that narrows it down to pretty much anywhere in Ponyville. Care to narrow it down some more?" Nook sarcastically mused. Spoiled just huffed in response. "Why, the rich area of course. I would not dream of just casually walking anywhere else unless it was for business reasons." "Hm, that really does narrow it down. That's actually bloody helpful," Nook admitted before she started smelling Spoiled in order to get her scent memorized. Spoiled looked a bit taken aback by Nook's rather eccentric methods, but didn't question them and just allowed the strange pink pegasus to do her thing.

Once she got both Spoiled's scent and that of her earring, she headed for the back room. "Okay, this might take me some time, so I suggest you come back later for your earring. For this to work I need absolute silence and privacy," she called back to Spoiled Rich in warning. Spoiled who was so used to having everything done for her instantly did not like this, but there was no way she was going to spend anymore time in this dingy shop, so she turned and left to go someplace with actual class and style to wait.

After hearing Spoiled leave, Nook Cranny positioned herself in the middle of her back room's carpeted floor and meditated. Closing her eyes she concentrated real hard on the whereabouts of Spoiled's lost earring. Her back room smelled of incense and burning candles. Not five minutes into her meditation a sudden, loud noise coming from outside broke her concentration. Startled, she leaped into the air. Looking around for the source of the sound she saw nothing inside her shop. Curious, she put on her full faced purple and black costume complete with cape and brimmed hat. No longer was she Nook Cranny. Now she was the one and only Darkwing Night, superhero extraordinaire! As Darkwing Night she then slipped outside to investigate while very carefully making sure no pony saw her exit her shop.

Spotting a group of ponies she flew over to them to see what all was going on. She arrived just in time to witness a bunch of barrels rolling towards some poor oblivious elderly civilian. Even she with her enormous ego realized that in these certain situations there was simply no time to introduce herself. Time was of the essence. "Oh my gosh! No worries citizen I'll..." But to her genuine surprise and annoyance another costumed pony just had to steal her spotlight and get in the way by finishing the sentence for her in a loud, booming voice and kicking the barrels safely out of the way before they could harm anypony. Er that is to say at least someone else got here in time to knock the barrels out of the way. I just wished that somepony was me and it really should have been! I'm supposed to be Ponyville's big hero after all not this...hey! Before Darkwing had the chance to say or do anything more the other costumed hero disappeared down the streets. Still hovering in the air, Darkwing spotted the fleeing costumed hero easily and started to give chase.

She also saw she was not the only one chasing after her fellow hero. A costumed cow running full speed below her was also in hot pursuit. Getting only slightly annoyed at the sight of all these other costumed heroes running about, Darkwing just rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. Really now what was this: Nightmare Night?! Why must everybody be a costumed hero today? Just why? Business for heroes is slow enough in Ponyville as it is without having to compete with other heroes at saving the day.

In any case she would have continued her pursuit had it not been for a very familiar scent catching her sensitive nose. She stopped in mid flight and sniffed at the air. That's funny, I already have Spoiled Rich's scent, but I don't see her anywhere below me. Hmmm...is it possible that some pony else is wearing her choice in perfume? Looking confused, Darkwing turned back around and followed the scent straight to a pair of fellow pegasi and funny enough the costumed cow was also there. Odd. None of them looked like they could afford Spoiled's expensive perfume. Could one of them have found the earring? Since she was in costume she needed to be discreet in the way she asked.

Clearing her throat she landed softly behind them. "Ahem pardon me, but um I realize this may sound strange coming from me. But uh have any of you folks come across a bloody exy earring? The rock used in the earring is a beaut it is," the pink and blue pegasus asked in her Haystralian accent. She looked hopeful while patiently waiting for a response. Again she sniffed excitedly at the air. "Ah yes, I sense that the sparkly rock is close. One of you three must surely have it," continued Darkwing, smiling confidently underneath her mask. "Might I please have it? A damsel in distress has lost it and has asked me to find and retrieve it for her! She says it's urgent and that she desperately needs it back in time for a rage," Darkwing continued with the hopes of appealing to the three civilians before her.


ooc: Being an Hayssie, Nook tends to use a lot of Haystralian slang. Here are their translations, but feel free to have your characters be confused by what she is trying to say and not always know what she is talking about. I also bolded everything Nook says out loud.

Bloody- Very
Exy- Expensive
Rage- Party
Tall poppy- Successful people

[waxworks]

Mezcal had been getting progressively more anxious and dismayed as the two ponies she'd questioned also seemed to have absolutely no idea about what had just happened. With a snort of smoldering Mooxican temper she'd just about prepared to abandon the idea entirely when a soft thump behind her caught her attention. With a slow turn over her shoulder, her brain promptly fell out and rolled across the stones, where it came to rest at the hooves of yet another pony in heroic garb.

"....Que?"

Darkwing's stream of questions went directly into one of the cow's bright red ears, neatly circumnavigated her senses completely, and shot out the other ear with enough velocity to escape gravitational pull. The entire time this new pony spoke, Mezcal's mind was full of dreams of moo-saults and hurricaranas, and she very much wished that there was something to leap off of dramatically nearby.

"Chu wanna fight?!"

These words popped out of Mezcal's mouth in much the same way an awkward teenager would ask someone out to prom. She cleared her throat and shook her head.

"Ah, I mean, chu... are..." She was still recovering from the shock. Something about bloody... sparkly... exy... rage. Sparkly Rage? That was a terrific ring name, right? "Sparkly Rage? Are chu a face? AH! SI! I GET IT! Ponyville's full of faces, no heels! No wonder I haven't been able to find a good card, every ponito is a babyface!"

By this point the cow had advanced on the heroic pegasus to the point that they could've exchanged advice on the stitch-work of their respective masks. She was grinning, eyes shining, and she was starting to scrape her rear hooves on the ground.

"Just don't run anyway like the other ponito, I'm no jobber, I'll show you how I get over and then you show me where your stable is, si?"

ooc: My turn! Being both Mooxican and a Lucha Libre wrestler, Mezzy's dialogue is littered with both Spanish and wrestling-lingo!

Que? - What?
card - A wrestling promotion's roster.
face/babyface - A 'good guy' wrestler.
heel - A 'bad guy' wrestler.
jobber - A wrestler whose job is mainly to lose.
get over - Prove you're someone who can draw a crowd.
stable - A wrestling 'team'.

[liaraamagi]

Hope you don't mind a hippogriff can come in.

A young white hippogriff with light blue on the tips of her wings flew to the ground hittin chest first into the ground, "oww, thine is too out of practice..." she was the size of a foal though she spook like how Luna did when she was freed from her banishment. She got up and shook out her feathers and fur before wiping it off. Hippogriff's were rare to see since, they were known to be true isolationists. She got out of the way retreating to the side of a stall before pecking at a tangle inbetween the toe bads.

[waxworks]

( For now whoever posts next, we'll skip Liara's post since she's not approved yet. But once approved she's welcome to join in as well. )

[Rapid Quill]

ooc: Apologies for the long wait, Waxy and for the shorter than usual length. I'll add more to my next reply. Just didn't think anything else would fit properly timewise.


bic: Darkwing waited patiently for several seconds for one of the three to respond. To her great surprise the costumed cow spoke first and with a Mooxican accent to boot. What really surprised her was the younger cow's request. Did she not hear my question or did she just not understand it? Perhaps I shall try asking her again after I show her a few moves of course!

But before she could the cow continued to...talk and this time it was Darkwing who was confused. She honestly had no idea what this cow was trying to tell her. The funny thing was Darkwing knew some Spanish, but those words the cow just used didn't sound like Spanish at all. They sounded English, but Darkwing had no idea what these words even meant. From behind her mask, her purple eyes just blinked.

Not wanting to just stand there saying nothing, she decided to try out her first plan. Her lips formed a sly smile. "Actually, I would like to teach you a few moves. I've been wanting to fight you since I first saw you chasing after that other costumed pony! Think fast mate," Darkwing mused thoughtfully as she hopped into her signature fighting stance. The very same stance the Wonderbolts used though she would never admit it. Once she felt that the cow would not be able to push her down no matter how hard she tried, Darkwing made a move to knock the cow off her feet. The move itself was fast and its execution smooth, so would be hard to avoid, but not impossible. Not if the cow moved even faster than Darkwing's military trained hooves.

[waxworks]

Mezcal promptly exploded.

Delight coursed through every vein of her bovine body at the unexpected but keenly sought after impromptu match on the streets, and seeing that this pony not only was costumed but was rushing at her with an appropriate stance said this was no common scrap. This was a proper match. Mezcal took the hit full in the chest and rolled off of her hooves, rolling head over heels and slamming onto the ground, selling the full impact of hit as best she could. After a moment, she sprang to her hooves in a single, fluid leap.

With a grin sparkling out of her mask she could practically hear the cheering crowds. She snorted once, twice, venting out a blast like a locomotive as she did so before turning tail and galloping away as fast as she could. A moment later and she impacted a local merchant's taffy-stand, neatly spearing a wide band of taffy and springing back off of it like a slingshot. With her Mooxican blood roaring in her ears and her lucha libre skill ringing in her hooves she shot into the air like a spandex-clad pegasus, sticking her rear legs out as she threw a flying scissor-lock directly at her properly costume-clad opponent.

In the distance, a third costume-clad character watched these events curiously from atop the clustered roofs of Ponyville.

[Rapid Quill]

Nook just watched looking pretty pleased with herself as her slick move successfully struck the Spanish speaking costumed cow causing her poor opponent to roll over the ground. The impact looked painful; which caused Nook to cringe and her smile to fade. The pink and blue pegasus watched the costumed cow with concern. "Oh wow that looked really painful! Are you alright?" she asked. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long for an answer. She watched as her costumed opponent fluidly sprang back onto her hooves. The slick move caused the crowd to cheer and even Nook had to admit that the cow impressed her. But she reassured herself that meant nothing. The last thing she needed was a partner. She was a solo act for a reason. She didn't need anypony else. They would just discover her secret identity and use it against her like her own sister did. 'No! I won't let that happen...again! I refuse,' thought Nook stubbornly to herself.

So Nook stood her ground against the now charging cow. She watched with suspicion as the cow made a slingshot out of some sticky taffy. 'Just what is that crazy bovine up to,' thought Nook as she watched along with the crowd. Then it donned on her. 'Wait a minute, she's going to... Ack, she's crazy! I've got to take cover!' Her masked eyes widened at the sight of the flying cow coming right at her. "Sweet Celestia, if I did not see it with my own eyes I would not believe it..." she gasped as she performed several backwards flips until she landed safely behind a nearby stand where she took cover. No way did she want to feel the full impact of flying cow. That's just crazy talk to expect her to stay put for that. And if sompony dare call her a cheater for this then so be it. In her mind she had the perfect defense.

She did not realize they were being watched by the third costumed being for Nook was still a little bit preoccupied with the costumed cow. She dared not take her eyes off her for even a second. To do so would to greatly underestimate her opponent; which could only lead to trouble.

[waxworks]

With a dramatic whistling, the blazing red bovine dropped out of the sky having missed her attempt at a scissor-lock, and clopped back onto all fours with an exhilarated look of delight on her face. Her eyes sparkled as they quickly shifted back and forth, ready for a counter attack. A moment later she bounced into the air and landed facing the opposite direction, again scanning for another attack. One might have almost mistaken her for a puppy in the midst of playtime, save for the glittering mask and mooscle mass.

A growing look of confusion was now starting to creep out from under her mask, as she looked up to scan the sky, then with some grim hesitation looked at the undersides of her hooves for a moment, before sighing with relief that there wasn't a splattered pony anywhere to be found.

"Uh..."

She began turning in slow circles, "eh? Ponita? Hola? Where'd chu go?"

Her confusion, now gently stirred by her circling, started to bubble up into anger. "Chu just gonna launch an attack and RUN AWAY?! IY! WHAT KINDA NO GOOD PONITOS DOES THIS TOWN SERVE UP ANYWAY? I GO FOR THE-"

What followed was a mostly Mooxican and fairly untranslatable tirade from a fuming red cow, but it could be roughly gathered that she was very upset about something, and that this was best expressed by pounding her chest with a hoof as she bellowed and snorted.

Despite the fully-concealing facial mask worn by the creature that was sitting on a distant roof, one could get a sense of a quizzically raised eyebrow being thrown at the ranting cow, and the hiding pony. It seems he just didn't get these masked city-ponies. Of course he didn't have long to focus on this, as a brief shriek from down the street drew his attention to something that resembled a mix between an armadillo and a bulldozer trudging its way into the city.

[Rapid Quill]

Nook watched in glee as the red bovine landed softly on the ground. She just continued to watch the poor cow seemingly search for her. 'Boy she sure does want to spar with me, doesn't she?' Nook thought as she observed the cow's actions straight down to her facial expressions. 'Not that I can really blame her. I am pretty awesome, after all,' she arrogantly thought.

The masked cow's growing anger and frustration increased with each passing second. On top of all that she was snorting angrily and speaking a whole bunch of Spanish. Covering both of her ears, Nook cringed as the furious masked cow began screaming at the top of her lungs. 'Ugh, why is she so angry?' thought Nook. 'All I did was dodge her crazy attack. What in Celestia's name is so wrong with that? And what does Ponita mean anyway? It better not mean coward! Because if it does...' Nook just watched as the infuriated Mooxican cow continued throwing her little childish tantrum. 'Okay, that is it! I cannot take this much longer! I've got to go out there and put a stop to this foolishness once and for all before somepony gets hurt,' Nook thought to herself.

Feeling a little more than heroic, Nook rather casually stepped out of her hiding spot to face the enraged masked cow and put a stop to her would be rampage. "You there bovine! Yeah you, the one wearing the mask and is in the middle of a rampage! I uh I don't think I quite caught your name. The name's..." Nook thought a moment. She decided to change her hero name to something shorter than Darkwing Night. She cleared her throat before continuing on. "The name's Nightwing. Look, I'm sorry for uh disappearing on you earlier, but I uh had to make a quick pit stop to the little mare's room. You understand, yes? But hey, no worries mate. I'm here now. We can continue where we left off except this time, how about no falling from the sky, eh? And I, in turn, will promise not to fly. Deal? By the way just between us, what does ponita mean? It doesn't mean coward, does it? Because believe you me mate, I am no coward! Nightwing runs from no one, ya hear! No one! And that goes for some fancy costume wearing cow," Nook formally introduced offering her masked opponent her hoof to shake.

At that moment the crowd of cheering ponies closed in surrounding the two. Hopping into the Wonderbolts' signature fighting stance, Nook grinned from underneath her mask. "Now where were we, my fine bovine friend? Ah yes now I remember, I was going to introduce you to some more of my super cool moves. Like this one," she announced before charging at her costumed opponent. It was her hope to tackle the cow.

However, in the middle of her charge, she thought she heard somepony screaming for help. Distracted, she lost control of her footing and tripped and tumbled towards the cow. Regardless if she collided with the cow or not, she felt her head spinning after hitting whatever she ends up hitting.

Dizzy, she struggles to climb back onto all four hooves. "Did...did you hear that? Sorry for cutting our lesson short, but it sounds like somepony crying out for help! I...I've got to go save them! I must! It's my civic duty for I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the bowling ball that knocks unsuspecting criminals off their hooves! I am...Nightwing!" During her little speech, Nook was every bit as dramatic as Trixie complete with utilizing her cape to increase the effect. Why, she even had smoke bombs at her disposal. After tossing some onto the ground she seemingly disappeared into thin air.

But in reality, she was up in the air-flying and making her way towards the screams unaware if they actually belonged to a pony in trouble or a baddie aiming to cause trouble.

[KDS2]

Ejaz had been walking through the town, haven gotten a suggestion to explore and see what he can about the village and to close his shop so that he didn't feel the need to rush. His mini journey had already taken him through some areas of the village, and he was just passing through when he heard the cheering of ponies and the sound of fighting. The pegasus' ears perked in the direction of the sounds before he looked over.

"Huh? Is there a fight?" He thought as he stared over before walking up to the crowd himself, he gently nudged and 'excused' his way through to see Darkwing Night and a Mooxican in the middle of a match, Ejaz watched with worry, thinking that they were fighting out of anger, only to soon realize by the smile on the Mooxican's face, that it was more of a sparring match.

"Welll... That's a relief.... Hmm.... I'm not much one for violence anyway..." The stallion thought before turning and walking away, he continued on his merry way until he jumped as he heard and felt, something slamming into the ground. Running back, he arrived just in time to see the Mooxican throwing a tantrum, and Darkwing about to make her move. He had half a mind to step in, but thought better of it, before blinking as he heard a scream and look into that direction. Though, he wasn't able to think of the possible source for long as he felt Darkwing Night slam into him and almost knock him off his hooves (though she did knock most of his air out of him). After coughing and catching his breath, the beige Pegasus looked down only to see her get up and announce her departure. The pegasus' eyes widening as he was then caught in the smoke bomb she threw, and was currently trying to cough it out his lungs.

"Mother Hubbard... What was that all about...?" He inquired as the smoke cleared and he saw that Darkwing had left, the pegasus then looked over to the Mooxican out of both curiosity and fear of what was going to happen next.

[waxworks]

"Nightwing?"

Mezcal snorted indignantly.

"Cow in a COSTUME?!"

Mezcal snorted again, for emphasis. Her temper was riled up, and like a mouth full of hot peppers any attempt to quench it was just likely to spread it around and make it ten times worse. She responded to this summation of her character before the pegasus could strike her pose, choosing the moment when the crowd swelled to lift herself up on her rear hooves and point a hoof to the sky.

"I AM LA VACA LOCA, MEZCAL! The greatest luchadora _{in training} in ALL OF EQUESTRIA. If chu are going to hit and run then chu better be ready for a stampede."

She held this pose as the pegasus dove at her, missed, and struck another pegasus in the gathered crowd. Mezcal winced, trying to hold the drama of the moment but feeling that this was a decidedly non-standard wrestling match.

The following shriek and confusion in the crowd was a welcome distraction and end to the 'match' that hadn't started well and didn't look like it was going to end well either. As she grumblingly stomped over to the coughing, sputtering beige pegasus and used her tail to dust him off before she steadied him on his hooves, looking him over for signs of damage.

"Iy... some ponitoes shouldn't try flying until their wings grow in, eh?"

Another growl issued from slightly closer than the first, and now the crowd had gone from cheering to scattering. For the most part. Some of the gathered ponies had simply casually dispersed, as it was Tuesday, after all, and monster attacks were no reason to not get chores done.

Mezcal blinked and narrowed her eyes into the crowd, making out a large shape lumbering into town.

"Okay." She spoke to no one in general but her general bravado and sense of passion made it a proclamation, "chu know what? Mezcal is GOING to spar today, and it looks like somepo.. thing... has decided to step into the ring."

With that, she shouldered into the streaming crowd towards a wide creature that was happily stomping its way towards the center of town.