Post by waxworks on Feb 9, 2014 0:12:40 GMT
(( Originally I was thinking of calling this "The New Moo in Town" but decided against it. ))
"Buenos dias, Ponyville."
Taking in a hearty portion of the cool, fresh air, a lone, blazing red figure stood a short distance from one of Ponyville's gyms. It was common practice in gyms that traveling athletes be given free board provided they were actively training, and didn't make a nuisance of themselves. Of course sleeping in a gym wasn't the greatest arrangement possible, generally there weren't even beds or cots, so if you could stretch yourself out on a mat or a tarp, then good for you. To somebovine who normally slept on a dirt floor with a collection of blankets, it was the cushiest thing you could ever imagine. Of course the temperature didn't agree with her, so those few pony athletes that were staying at the gym (and with any luck a few griffons prepping for the Equestrian games) would often find themselves being sought out by a sleepy, snuggling cow on cold nights. She'd come to the opinion that griffons were among the best possible options to cuddle up against on a cold night, because their feathers essentially made them big pillows. Griffons would typically express their displeasure at such comparisons, so she didn't bother to tell them.
But now it was a new day, a fresh day, her first day, really. She'd gotten into town during an unseasonably warm, moonlit night and made her way to the gym after accidentally barging into several shops looking for directions. There was also a brief argument at the Ponyville Dojo about why one couldn't sleep in the dojo, the cow arguing that if they were all going to go around wearing pajamas anyway then who were they to discriminate against somebovine sleeping there.
Bright sun, fairly warm, Mezcal was feeling good. And homesick. It'd been a slow trip, essentially hitching along with wagons here and there, joining up with herds once in a while, but she'd made it to Ponyville. There was a strange sort of energy going on in this little town. It may not have been the biggest town in Equestria, but Mezcal had the feeling that the majority of things that would happen, would happen here.
The center of town was bustling as usual, ponies moving to and fro, songs breaking out here and there, and a general cheerful atmosphere. And Mezcal, was prowling. While she made most of her money from working as a cook wherever she could, her real passion was the high-flying, pulse-pounding life of a lucha libre luchadora. To that end, she was not-so-subtly examining every pony she laid her eyes on, to try to get a measure of how likely it was to find some decent competition in town. It wasn't looking that great. Most of the mares and stallions were of decent size, but not all that muscular. Mezcal had a strict code that she wouldn't wrestle anybeast that wasn't in the proper shape for it, after all injuring your opponents was the quickest way to get yourself blacklisted from any sporting venue.
But there had to be somepony in this town that had the right mettle for it. She spotted a few here and there, some bulky, some springy, a few that moved with startling speed through town. At one point she glimpsed a pegasus of preternatural size that gave her some glee, and she made a mental note about that for later. Maybe this wouldn't be such a lost cause after all. In fact, she was beginning to think that perhaps she could offer classes herself, train the eager young ponies to compete in the most honorable of sports, to learn the ropes of the... well the ropes. Perhaps if she could make it popular enough she could even...
...find another luchador. The little cow froze in place, a few foals that had been watching the masked cow with interest being hustled away by their parents. There. On one of the town's rooftops. She squinted and leaned forward trying to make it out. It couldn't be, could it? She wasn't a lucky cow, not at all, but she could feel her heart pounding in her chest at what she was becoming more and more certain that she was witnessing.
Posing on a rooftop, clad in a bright mask and matching outfit, with a decorative scarf blowing in the breeze, was a pony luchador. It had to be. Mezcal had seen numerous luchador masks in her time and there was no mistaking it, this was a stylish luchador that was... what? Watching over the town? Was it a mare or a stallion? Maybe it was even a cow? She trotted forward, trying to weave through the crowds to get a better look. Its costume was full-body, obscuring every little detail, and apparently nobeasty else saw it. How could they not see such a thing? It was right... it was right there... no wait, it had moved. It was moving across the rooftops! It was getting away!
Mezcal let out a pained cry at finally finding a fellow wrestler in this little town only to have it evade her. She wove through the crowds, barely keeping sight as it leapt and galloped from roof to roof, leaping effortlessly here and there as it went. Streetlamps. Banners. It was getting more and more obscured as the crowd grew thicker. She whined and thought about indulging her bovine heritage with a proper stampede, no no, you're an honorable luchadora, not a common punk, but it's getting away, it's getting away, it's-
GREEN. Suddenly, green, everywhere. The little cow, in her effort to circumvent the crowds while looking towards the rooftops, had navigated herself directly into the path of a basil-colored pony that was just emerging from the bakery. Her eyes snapped wide, and her wrestling instincts took over. Moments before the impact she remembered the old dodges she'd seen when you'd been flung out of a lariat and were approaching a stationary opponent. Leaping, tucking, and rolling herself sideways, her bright red back rolled over the bright green back of the pony in her path, and while this amazing near-miss took place down on one end, on the other end of it their heads smacked together with a coconut-like clunk.
Mezcal staggered. She'd landed on all four hooves in a daze, tiny luchabulls circling in her vision. A few steps and a shake and she'd gotten her head mostly clear, just in time to clearly make out what was being yelled into her ear.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
She turned, ready to receive an incoming flying grapple, to find a basil-colored unicorn swaying at her like a snake about to strike, almond eyes glaring at her from underneath a black hat. Given the lack of a mane and the coloring of the pony's face, if Mezcal hadn't known any better she'd have sworn it was another cow she'd just butted heads with.
"Iy, settle down ponita, no harm done, see? You are fine, I am fine, we are both fine."
"Please do not be telling me I am fine," scowled the unicorn, furiously searching around herself until she found a bakery box lying in the street, and flipped the lid open with her nose. The contents were, luckily, undisturbed. She exhaled sharply and then returned to her new favorite past time, glaring at cows. In masks. Masks? Who wore a mask on such a day and attacked an innocent merchant in the street except- she gasped, lifting the bakery box onto her back to keep it safe, "thief! Thief!"
"Que?" Mezcal looked around in confusion, as though some great drama were taking place just behind her. "You think that I- Hey! HEY!"
Riddle was backing away, trying to keep her eyes fixed on the cow as she went, only to find much to her horror that the cow was following her. And on top of that, it looked angry.
"IY! PONITA! ESPERA!"
And it was yelling gibberish at her.
"Back away," said Riddle, keeping her head low, swaying it back and forth as she went, "I promise you I will not be an easy target!"
Of course she had never been in such a situation before but she was quite certain that wildly flailing her hooves would be a good course of action if it came to that. She kept her eyes fixed on the cow, the cow that now had its head tilted and was looking somewhat amused. Amused? She fumed. A thief was bad enough, but to feel she was being mocked by a thief-
"Are you... a wrestler?"
Riddle blinked in surprise, mostly because of how bizarre the question way. Ah, of course. She must've done something that looked terribly intimidating, making the cow double-think her intentions.
"Yes, yes I am," said Riddle, trying to puff our her small chest. She looked adorable.
"Ah..." That explained it, thought Mezcal. No wrestler ever responded well to a sneak attack, it was insulting, rude, and unsportscowlike. But what joy! What luck! Here she was chasing after one wrestler, and she trips over another one? Ponyville was fantastic! "I see! I am sorry, I- I meant you no disrespect, you see I was just chasing after-"
She looked to the rooftops, but it was too late. The masked creature was gone. But there was no disappointment, because she'd found another to take its place. And this other pony, was terribly confused. Riddle Bits warily stared at the cow, still thinking that her bluff had worked and now the thief was being apologetic, but the cow wasn't moving. Shouldn't dissuaded, frightened thieves run away? Maybe she wasn't emphasizing it enough. The little basil pony thought back to the oil wrestling matches she loved to watch when she'd lived near Camelu, and how the ponies and camels would posture and pose as the match began. That should do the trick.
Riddle Bits wobbled slightly onto two hooves, her forelegs hanging in the air in preparation of performing some sort of hold. Mezcal gushed. Despite wearing a fairly concealing mask the look of delight on her face could be seen across town. The little cow lowered her head and lifted her own forelegs off the ground slightly, in the traditional first stance of her fighting style. She approached the little green pony with an ecstatic expression, and it was just as their hooves met that Riddle let out a high-pitched, thoroughly undignified squeal.
"PLEASE! LEAVE ME BE!"
Mezcal's eyebrows decided to hang out near the top of her head for a bit. The two hoofed creatures stood there, balancing against each other's forelegs, face to face. The unicorn looked like she was about to cry, and the cow looked endlessly confused.
"B-but I thought you wanted to!"
"I am not a wrestler, please stop!"
"But you said-"
"I was lying!"
The two stood there for a moment, still balanced against one another while a small number of ponies had stopped to watch them.
"You're not a wrestler?"
"No! I am a merchant!"
"...Ah... I see..."
"...Are you a thief?"
"No!" Mezcal smiled proudly, "I am a wrestler! A luchadora!"
Riddle blinked, and flopped forward onto all four as the cow pushed off of her gently, still grinning. The unicorn could feel her cheeks turning the color of spinach as heat shot through her face, feeling the supreme embarrassment of not only making herself look like a fool, but calling somepo... somecow she'd just met a thief. She'd done something wrong. Very wrong, in her book.
"Uh... I..." Riddle tried to pull on her merchant face, swing back into that mode where she could nonchalantly converse and convince, but it was staying out of it, leaving her to her own devices. "I am very sorry for calling you a thief, mam."
"Mam? Que? I'm nobovino's mama. I am Mezcal, La Vaca Loca! Wooooorld famous luchadora... in training," said the fiery cow, with a smirk and a sheepish rub of her neck. "I am sorry for cracking heads with you, I guess I wasn't looking where I was galloping."
Riddle Bits quickly associated those words in her head. Luchadora. Wrestling cow. Well this was certainly... interesting. The little merchant and the little wrestler sat in front of one another awkwardly for another moment, before Riddle piped up, "would mam care for something to-"
"Mez-cal. Iy. Don' you call me mama."
"Mezcal ma-" Riddle caught herself and strangled the word in her throat. "Would you care for something to eat?"
"Ah! SI!" The cow heartily clapped the pony on the back with a cheerful smile, "I haven't eaten nothing all day! Hey, what's your name ponita?"
"Riddle Bits, m-Mezcal." She accidentally yelled the name slightly in an attempt to not draw the cow's ire.
"Ah, well Riddle Bits, I would very much care for something to eat."
As the little green pony led the little red cow through the marketplace, a figure watched them curiously from the rooftops. Even though its features were masked, anypony that had noticed could've seen it was intrigued.
"Buenos dias, Ponyville."
Taking in a hearty portion of the cool, fresh air, a lone, blazing red figure stood a short distance from one of Ponyville's gyms. It was common practice in gyms that traveling athletes be given free board provided they were actively training, and didn't make a nuisance of themselves. Of course sleeping in a gym wasn't the greatest arrangement possible, generally there weren't even beds or cots, so if you could stretch yourself out on a mat or a tarp, then good for you. To somebovine who normally slept on a dirt floor with a collection of blankets, it was the cushiest thing you could ever imagine. Of course the temperature didn't agree with her, so those few pony athletes that were staying at the gym (and with any luck a few griffons prepping for the Equestrian games) would often find themselves being sought out by a sleepy, snuggling cow on cold nights. She'd come to the opinion that griffons were among the best possible options to cuddle up against on a cold night, because their feathers essentially made them big pillows. Griffons would typically express their displeasure at such comparisons, so she didn't bother to tell them.
But now it was a new day, a fresh day, her first day, really. She'd gotten into town during an unseasonably warm, moonlit night and made her way to the gym after accidentally barging into several shops looking for directions. There was also a brief argument at the Ponyville Dojo about why one couldn't sleep in the dojo, the cow arguing that if they were all going to go around wearing pajamas anyway then who were they to discriminate against somebovine sleeping there.
Bright sun, fairly warm, Mezcal was feeling good. And homesick. It'd been a slow trip, essentially hitching along with wagons here and there, joining up with herds once in a while, but she'd made it to Ponyville. There was a strange sort of energy going on in this little town. It may not have been the biggest town in Equestria, but Mezcal had the feeling that the majority of things that would happen, would happen here.
The center of town was bustling as usual, ponies moving to and fro, songs breaking out here and there, and a general cheerful atmosphere. And Mezcal, was prowling. While she made most of her money from working as a cook wherever she could, her real passion was the high-flying, pulse-pounding life of a lucha libre luchadora. To that end, she was not-so-subtly examining every pony she laid her eyes on, to try to get a measure of how likely it was to find some decent competition in town. It wasn't looking that great. Most of the mares and stallions were of decent size, but not all that muscular. Mezcal had a strict code that she wouldn't wrestle anybeast that wasn't in the proper shape for it, after all injuring your opponents was the quickest way to get yourself blacklisted from any sporting venue.
But there had to be somepony in this town that had the right mettle for it. She spotted a few here and there, some bulky, some springy, a few that moved with startling speed through town. At one point she glimpsed a pegasus of preternatural size that gave her some glee, and she made a mental note about that for later. Maybe this wouldn't be such a lost cause after all. In fact, she was beginning to think that perhaps she could offer classes herself, train the eager young ponies to compete in the most honorable of sports, to learn the ropes of the... well the ropes. Perhaps if she could make it popular enough she could even...
...find another luchador. The little cow froze in place, a few foals that had been watching the masked cow with interest being hustled away by their parents. There. On one of the town's rooftops. She squinted and leaned forward trying to make it out. It couldn't be, could it? She wasn't a lucky cow, not at all, but she could feel her heart pounding in her chest at what she was becoming more and more certain that she was witnessing.
Posing on a rooftop, clad in a bright mask and matching outfit, with a decorative scarf blowing in the breeze, was a pony luchador. It had to be. Mezcal had seen numerous luchador masks in her time and there was no mistaking it, this was a stylish luchador that was... what? Watching over the town? Was it a mare or a stallion? Maybe it was even a cow? She trotted forward, trying to weave through the crowds to get a better look. Its costume was full-body, obscuring every little detail, and apparently nobeasty else saw it. How could they not see such a thing? It was right... it was right there... no wait, it had moved. It was moving across the rooftops! It was getting away!
Mezcal let out a pained cry at finally finding a fellow wrestler in this little town only to have it evade her. She wove through the crowds, barely keeping sight as it leapt and galloped from roof to roof, leaping effortlessly here and there as it went. Streetlamps. Banners. It was getting more and more obscured as the crowd grew thicker. She whined and thought about indulging her bovine heritage with a proper stampede, no no, you're an honorable luchadora, not a common punk, but it's getting away, it's getting away, it's-
GREEN. Suddenly, green, everywhere. The little cow, in her effort to circumvent the crowds while looking towards the rooftops, had navigated herself directly into the path of a basil-colored pony that was just emerging from the bakery. Her eyes snapped wide, and her wrestling instincts took over. Moments before the impact she remembered the old dodges she'd seen when you'd been flung out of a lariat and were approaching a stationary opponent. Leaping, tucking, and rolling herself sideways, her bright red back rolled over the bright green back of the pony in her path, and while this amazing near-miss took place down on one end, on the other end of it their heads smacked together with a coconut-like clunk.
Mezcal staggered. She'd landed on all four hooves in a daze, tiny luchabulls circling in her vision. A few steps and a shake and she'd gotten her head mostly clear, just in time to clearly make out what was being yelled into her ear.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
She turned, ready to receive an incoming flying grapple, to find a basil-colored unicorn swaying at her like a snake about to strike, almond eyes glaring at her from underneath a black hat. Given the lack of a mane and the coloring of the pony's face, if Mezcal hadn't known any better she'd have sworn it was another cow she'd just butted heads with.
"Iy, settle down ponita, no harm done, see? You are fine, I am fine, we are both fine."
"Please do not be telling me I am fine," scowled the unicorn, furiously searching around herself until she found a bakery box lying in the street, and flipped the lid open with her nose. The contents were, luckily, undisturbed. She exhaled sharply and then returned to her new favorite past time, glaring at cows. In masks. Masks? Who wore a mask on such a day and attacked an innocent merchant in the street except- she gasped, lifting the bakery box onto her back to keep it safe, "thief! Thief!"
"Que?" Mezcal looked around in confusion, as though some great drama were taking place just behind her. "You think that I- Hey! HEY!"
Riddle was backing away, trying to keep her eyes fixed on the cow as she went, only to find much to her horror that the cow was following her. And on top of that, it looked angry.
"IY! PONITA! ESPERA!"
And it was yelling gibberish at her.
"Back away," said Riddle, keeping her head low, swaying it back and forth as she went, "I promise you I will not be an easy target!"
Of course she had never been in such a situation before but she was quite certain that wildly flailing her hooves would be a good course of action if it came to that. She kept her eyes fixed on the cow, the cow that now had its head tilted and was looking somewhat amused. Amused? She fumed. A thief was bad enough, but to feel she was being mocked by a thief-
"Are you... a wrestler?"
Riddle blinked in surprise, mostly because of how bizarre the question way. Ah, of course. She must've done something that looked terribly intimidating, making the cow double-think her intentions.
"Yes, yes I am," said Riddle, trying to puff our her small chest. She looked adorable.
"Ah..." That explained it, thought Mezcal. No wrestler ever responded well to a sneak attack, it was insulting, rude, and unsportscowlike. But what joy! What luck! Here she was chasing after one wrestler, and she trips over another one? Ponyville was fantastic! "I see! I am sorry, I- I meant you no disrespect, you see I was just chasing after-"
She looked to the rooftops, but it was too late. The masked creature was gone. But there was no disappointment, because she'd found another to take its place. And this other pony, was terribly confused. Riddle Bits warily stared at the cow, still thinking that her bluff had worked and now the thief was being apologetic, but the cow wasn't moving. Shouldn't dissuaded, frightened thieves run away? Maybe she wasn't emphasizing it enough. The little basil pony thought back to the oil wrestling matches she loved to watch when she'd lived near Camelu, and how the ponies and camels would posture and pose as the match began. That should do the trick.
Riddle Bits wobbled slightly onto two hooves, her forelegs hanging in the air in preparation of performing some sort of hold. Mezcal gushed. Despite wearing a fairly concealing mask the look of delight on her face could be seen across town. The little cow lowered her head and lifted her own forelegs off the ground slightly, in the traditional first stance of her fighting style. She approached the little green pony with an ecstatic expression, and it was just as their hooves met that Riddle let out a high-pitched, thoroughly undignified squeal.
"PLEASE! LEAVE ME BE!"
Mezcal's eyebrows decided to hang out near the top of her head for a bit. The two hoofed creatures stood there, balancing against each other's forelegs, face to face. The unicorn looked like she was about to cry, and the cow looked endlessly confused.
"B-but I thought you wanted to!"
"I am not a wrestler, please stop!"
"But you said-"
"I was lying!"
The two stood there for a moment, still balanced against one another while a small number of ponies had stopped to watch them.
"You're not a wrestler?"
"No! I am a merchant!"
"...Ah... I see..."
"...Are you a thief?"
"No!" Mezcal smiled proudly, "I am a wrestler! A luchadora!"
Riddle blinked, and flopped forward onto all four as the cow pushed off of her gently, still grinning. The unicorn could feel her cheeks turning the color of spinach as heat shot through her face, feeling the supreme embarrassment of not only making herself look like a fool, but calling somepo... somecow she'd just met a thief. She'd done something wrong. Very wrong, in her book.
"Uh... I..." Riddle tried to pull on her merchant face, swing back into that mode where she could nonchalantly converse and convince, but it was staying out of it, leaving her to her own devices. "I am very sorry for calling you a thief, mam."
"Mam? Que? I'm nobovino's mama. I am Mezcal, La Vaca Loca! Wooooorld famous luchadora... in training," said the fiery cow, with a smirk and a sheepish rub of her neck. "I am sorry for cracking heads with you, I guess I wasn't looking where I was galloping."
Riddle Bits quickly associated those words in her head. Luchadora. Wrestling cow. Well this was certainly... interesting. The little merchant and the little wrestler sat in front of one another awkwardly for another moment, before Riddle piped up, "would mam care for something to-"
"Mez-cal. Iy. Don' you call me mama."
"Mezcal ma-" Riddle caught herself and strangled the word in her throat. "Would you care for something to eat?"
"Ah! SI!" The cow heartily clapped the pony on the back with a cheerful smile, "I haven't eaten nothing all day! Hey, what's your name ponita?"
"Riddle Bits, m-Mezcal." She accidentally yelled the name slightly in an attempt to not draw the cow's ire.
"Ah, well Riddle Bits, I would very much care for something to eat."
As the little green pony led the little red cow through the marketplace, a figure watched them curiously from the rooftops. Even though its features were masked, anypony that had noticed could've seen it was intrigued.