A Short Farewell
IC date: Autumn 12
OOC date: October 1
PCs: Mad-Mare, Lorelei, Salty
NPCs: Rock'em, Sock'em
GM: None

Good times for the Harbor! Foalocalypse has ended! The townsfolk are resuming their normalish lives free from the woes of being too short and silly-minded to focus on true adult things, like drinking and general debauchery. And yet… Throughout the administration of The Cure to all the joked ponies, a certain group was noticably absent from the crowd.

The Harbor Watch no longer watches. Nary a goon, child or not, has been spotted in over a day. Since, in fact, the arrival of a certain Dread Pirate.

This is because the Harbor Watch has been holed up inside their fortress. Their stonework building on the port. The only place in town the Watch Captain felt she could hide from the horrors she's witnessed.

Of course she kidnapped the mayor too…

From the entrance of the building, two big wood doors with a big wooden bar strapped across them, is a 'foyer' of sorts, where the majority of the Watch now wait. Most of them playing cards, or drinking, or other silly nonsense, the bunch of foals. Then a hallway, and then the Captain's room. Upstairs are all the jail cells, many of them empty now that the smaller occupants have figured out ways to escape the bars.

This means the REAL Harbor Watch are once again out and about, destroying all the hard work Maddie put into creating a Black Market Syndicolt presence. While Maddie, and all her foalified goons sit in the equivalent of a stoney prison, for the devil to arrive.

Maddie and Lorelei in particular are back in the Captain's room. Maddie is pacing. She has been for a good day without sleep now… Muttering:

"Can't sleep, Salty'll eat me. Can't sleep, Salty'll eat me. Can't sleep, Salty'll eat me…"

Rock'em and Sock'em, good little goons that they are, have taken to using what supplies were still in the building to do constructive things like make snacks. Snack delivery being what they are doing at this exact moment, planting a tray of cookies on the nearby table. They aren't even bothering to talk to their boss anymore, preferring instead the company of the Young Fishy Mayor.

"…Sorry 'bout all this." "Yeah, we dunno what's gotten into her. I'da thought she'd be happy."

Lorelei has spent most of the time pacing, herself! Back and forth, back and forth. Staring out any window that has a view of the sea. She hasn't had her seaside walk today! Which does not make her happy.

"Why do we have to stay in here, anyway?" Lorelei whines to nopony in particular. "I want to go play. I want to go swim. Salt's not gonna eat anypony." Hmph. She sits back on her haunches and snatches a cookie. And munches. Sullenly.

"Yes she /will/." Maddie responds, to the only part of Lorelei's questions that she could comprehend in her current state. "She'll boil you in oil, spread you on toast, and /eat you/. Because she's /evil/. E. V. I. L." Pace, pace. "She's back from the dead. She /has/ to be a zombie. Or a demon. Or a demon zombie! She's not from this world! She's after me! After /us/! There's no other possible reason she could be back! None!"

"What if…she just wanted to come home?" Rock'em suggests, mid-munch. Sock'em nods. "Yeah. This is home, right? Maybe she's cool with the whole 'dying' thing, and she got better, so now she's just…home?"
Lorelei blinks over at Maddie. "I don't wanna be boiled. I don't like zombies. Or demon zombies. Why is there a demon zombie?! And what's she want with /me/?!" The lanky little shimmery blue foal scrambles to her hooves quickly. Back to pacing she goes. "Dead things don't just 'get better'… do they? I thought that was the whole /point/ of being dead."

"Heeellooooo?"

A haunting, terrible voice calls out from outside. It's /her/. "Oh Maddie, dear, I came to visit! And I brought ~cookies~!" There's a knock on the door. Knock knock!

"That /IS/ the point of being dead! Dead ponies are dead! They don't interfere with plots, or plans, or get in the way, or, or…" Maddie's ears perk up. "..or.." A voice. A VOICE. /THAT/ voice! The Mad Filly immediately squeals and dives under the table, huddling behind the central leg. "OhLunashe's found me! She's found meeeeee! Arm yourselves! Keep her out!" Then louder, "STAY OUT YOU ZOMBIE THING! You're supposed to be dead! DEAD!"

The battle of voices brings mixed reactions to the other ponies. Some of the goonponies out front perk their ears up too, but that's because the sound of 'cookies' is appealing. "Mmm, cookies…" one murmurs, an echo of several stomachs gurgling rising. But then Maddie shouts about dead things, and puts them all on edge again. Some of them grab slingshots, others grab actual pointy-ended sticks or, in one plucky foal's case, a sword he can barely lift.

Rock'em and Sock'em both shrug. Rockie clears the table, trotting off with the tray, while Sock'em goes back to what's been used for a kitchen to get drinks. Water's about all they got left, several glasses set on the table. "She can't get in. That's a heavily barred door, Boss. Just relax, yer freakin' everypony out."

"EEEEEP! ZOMBIE COOKIES!" And there goes the little seapony under the table as well. Because zombie cookies are /terrifying/.

"Oh, I know!" Salty calls through the door of the Watch fortress. "Isn't that /lovely/, Mad? You know, I loved spending quality time with you while I was, shall we say, /deceased/, but now that I'm alive and can handle /weapons/ again, I just… Hmm, you know, I just… I find I miss you, Maddie-dearest. Now be a lovely mare and open this door." She's pawing at it! Scrape scrape scraaaaaape

Whimper! Cower! "No! NO! You're not coming in!" Weapons! Now there's cookies AND weapons involved! The Mad Filly jumps at the sound of the scraping, shaking the cups of water. "Ahh! She's going to kill us all! We're only foals! I'm too young to dieeeeee!" She looks around, desperate for some way to stave off the iminent threat of Salty invasion. Her eyes fall on Lorelei. "I… I've got…a hostage!" she says, hastily, glancing at the door. "S..so just back away and leave us be or she'll…get it!"

Rock'em rolls his eyes, Sock'em shakes his head. They're not afraid. Why aren't they afraid? This makes Maddie mad, daring to crawl out from under her table just to huff at them. "Why aren't you two cowering too, huh? Are you on /her/ side?"

"No." Rock'em answers, patting his boss on her head. "We just don't think she's gonna kill you. The closest she's ever come to hurting you was that one bar fight…"

Lorelei blinks and peers over at Maddie. "A hostage? I'm not a hostage!" The very /idea/! "I'll get /what/? I don't want to get anything!"

"A hostage? Collateral damage means nothing to me, Sunshine, darling. You know that." Scraaaape scrape scrape. "o/‘ Sunshine, Sunshine, Stormcloud’s at bay~ It's time to get the door, wouldn't you say? o/`"

The door starts to glow, subtly, with green magic.

A glowing door is certainly a cause for alarm! At least all the kids pretending to be big mean goons right now are getting spooked out by it. "Boss!" "The door!" two goons shout, the whole group of them huddling up against the walls, away from the spooky glow!

Maddie's eyes widen, staring in pure terror at the door. "No… Noooooo… I'm doomed. Everything I've worked so hard for. She's going to take it all away. YOU EVIL BRUTE!" Buck, buck! Those metal legs get put to use, a fit of temper making her throw metal kicks at the table, at the nearby doorframe, even at Rock'em! Who barely ducks getting his block knocked off. "You can't have my town! I worked too hard to get it! It's mine now! ALL MINE!"
Lorelei ducks! Because here come flying metal kicks. And she does not wish to be kicked! But Maddie's words make her ears perk. "Wait… it's /my/ town, isn't it?" she protests possessively. And then, as an afterthought, "…Okay, well. Our town." Because one has to share. But, you know, /mostly/ hers.

"Oh Sunny, Sunny, Sunny," Salty chuckles, as the wood starts to bend and warp slowly under that green magic. "You and I both know that it was always my town. It doesn't matter how many ponies you kill, torture, or destroy. Horseshoe Harbor will always bear the mark of Saltlick. Not the terrible Mad Mare of the Syndicolt." The wood begins to strain, creaking ominously, before one board in the door snaps and splinters, sending showers of wooden shrapnel around the metal fortifications. A terribly crazed blue eye peeks through between oily blue mane, and Salty grins madly. "Did you miss me?!" she hisses.

Maddie bucks again! Out of pure feer this time, followed by a very quick backpedaling underneath the table with a *THONK*. "Keep her away! Boys, get her! Get herrrrrrr!"

Yeah. Because a whole bunch of scared kids is going to do anything with their door cracking to pieces in front of them. Especially when the eye, and the /grin/ show. Many of them start scattering, charging upstairs where they think they'll be safe, a few remaining 'brave' ones staying behind with their pointy weapons, staring as the door gives way bit by bit to the dark magicks warping it.

Maddie whimpers, crouching down, hooves over her head. "I killed you once! I can do it again! I CAN! Don't make me KILL YOU!" Her voice drops to a meek tone, "Just go awaaaaaaay!"

And foals scatter! Most of them. One lanky yellow pegasus starts to, leaping out of the way of the splinters! And then pauses. And then turns around to fire a little hoof-carved wooden arrow — well really more of a pointy stick — at the door. She might have been more accurate had she not been still half-scampering back! She probably won't hit the eye. She might hit the grin. And then she eeps and dives behind a barrel, because that's scary.

Lorelei is already cowering under the table, looking frightened and oh so confused. She blinks over at Maddie. "Wait, I thought… didn't some forest witch kill her? You… you wouldn't kill somepony."

The arrow hits Salty in the nose and she reels back briefly before snorting and smirking. "Oh, she's killed more ponies than bottles of booze in Horseshoe Harbor," she growls, before the next board starts to crack and strain. "Did you know, Maddie-Mad-Mad, my special talent isn't chaos? Not really." With another clatter, it breaks and the mare starts to squeeze in, staring through her oily mane at her terrified quarry. "That's just a /side-effect/ of what I do to contain my talent. Do you want to know what it is, Sunshine?" She strains past the boards and pops free into the room, her skull-and-crossbones cutie mark glinting and reflecting the unnatural green glow from her horn as she starts toward the Mad Mare.

Rock'em gives Sock'em a sideways glance. Sock'em shrugs and gets out of the way, taking up residence next to the table, hooves propped up. Rock'em leans himself against the wall next to Lorelei. "Doesn't do us much good to hide the truth now, does it? Technically Sock'em there killed her."

Sock'em falls out of his chair. "I did not! Boss did! I just…said the words!" Flail! Rock'em just grins.

Maddie's whimpering between the two. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" And then the door breaks. And Salty waltzes in. The remaining brave little ponies in the foyer scatter like the rest, pressed up against the walls, anything to avoid the spooky glow surrounding the crazy unicorn advancing on the suddenly very small looking room Maddie, Lorelei, and the two goons have taken shelter in. Maddie's trying to hide behind Lorelei now, a whimpery shell of her former self. "S..so what? Huh? I just did what I had to!" she whines, one eye peeking from behind the merpony. "I don't care what your talent is! I just want you to go away! Mayor make her go awayyyyy!"

Lorelei blinks. And gulps. And looks back at Maddie. And up at the currently-quite-menacing grown-up unicorn. And draws herself up tall and stamps a little hoof. "Leave us a-alone! We didn't do anything to you. And… and I don't want pirates in my town! /Especially/ not /zombie/ pirates! I don't care if you do have cookies!" So there!

Salty slowly approaches Lorelei, that horrifying stare in her icy blue eyes that promises death or worse. "My special talent is really…" She lashes out and grabs the mayor in her magic, yanking her up within reach. "…TICKLES!!!" And she does just that.

Maddie shrieks! She's absolutely positive Lorelei's about to get horribly devoured. So she cowers underneath a stool! Zoom! Shiver!

Rock'em and Sock'em are staring. Blinking. Then chuckling. "Haw. Tickling! Tickling causes chaos!" "And now we know."

"You…idiots!" Maddie whines, from her hiding spot. "She's just trying to trick you! Trick you all! She's going to KILL us, and EAT us, and wear our skins! That's what undead things DO!"
Lorelei squeals! And thrashes! And kicks! And… giggles? Giggles like a maniac, yep. "N-no! Nooooo! S-stop! Aah! N-no, no tickles, eeeee, l-let me down…" Flaaaaaaail.

"You know," Salty says sharply as she looks up at Mad with a much steelier look. "I wouldn't have to /un/ my death if you hadn't /killed me/. I felt for you when I was a ghost but now that I'm alive again, I'm feeling that mercy's pretty thin on the ground. And I'm thinkin'— " With a violent motion, suddenly Lorelei is slung bodily through the air at Mad, with intent to seriously injure the latter — or at least inconvenience her enough that Salty can pounce. "— that it's time to return the FREAKIN' FAVOR!"

"AHH!" Maddie, yet again, shrieks! She tries to dive out of the way, but y'know /dodging/ things like other bodies is a mite difficult when you've boxed yourself in between stool legs. So she crashes the stool first, then finds herself soundly thumped by a Salty-thrown Lorelei, ending in a confused and dazed sprawl on the floor.

Both of the Main Goons blink again. Things just got all serious all the sudden! "…That's not nice." Rock'em notes, Sock'em shaking his head. "Not nice at all." Rock'em looks up. "We gonna help?" Sock'em shrugs, "Are /you/ gonna tackle the crazy zombie pirate ex-mayor like this?" "Good point.

Maddie groans… "Nnngh, I said I was sorry… I meant it?" she squeaks pitifully, trying to look up past Lorelei at the crazy unicorn. Whimper. "Please don't kill me..!"

Yipe! Flung! Lorelei squeaks in alarm, then again as she strikes the target, sprawling out on the ground with a flumph and a groan. Ow. Seaponies are fragile! That might well have bruised her up more than Maddie.

Salty steps over to Mad, staring down at her with a cold anger. "You have five seconds before I figure out something deliciously terrible to do to you. That's /all/." She stomps a hoof. "Five."

Five seconds isn't a lot of time! Maddie squeaks out a noise, pushing herself out from under Lorelei with a mighty heave! She darts for a corner of her quarters, sticking her head in a small bag and pulling out a…bottle. Eyes locked on the apparently furious ex-mayor, naught but fear and loathing in those small youthful orbs, she sets the bottle down, and places a hoof on it. "…Fine! You can have your stupid town back! And you know what? I'm /not/ sorry now! Not sorry I killed you, or made a seapony mayor, or anything! I'm not sorry! Take your stupid town, and that stupid mayor, and just…just…"

She stomps her hoof down on the bottle, and the gem inside of it, the Flashgem giving a mighty twinkle of light! "Just BE STUPID TOGETHER!"

Kapoof! Gone in a flash of light and smoke! Naught remains of the Mad Mare but a faint smell of ozone.

She's left her goons behind, too. Not to mention every little Syndicolt. Said Main Goons fidgit where they sit, suddenly realizing that they might be in the littlest smidgen of danger. They look at each other uncertainly. "…"

Lorelei blinks and twitches her ears, looking up dazedly. "Wha… nnh… Maddie?" Blinkblink. "Wait, where're you… h-hey, wait, c-come ba-…" Blink. Her ears lay back. She stares. And blinks. And gives a small sniff. "…I'm not stupid…" Droop. And neither is her town, for that matter. But that comes as an afterthought.

Salty snorts and sneezes on the flashgem dust, before shaking her mane out. Then she looks at the foal-ish Lorelei. "You're a seapony, huh?" she questions, nudging her up to her hooves. "Mayor's a seapony. Huh. Fitting."

Rock'em coughs. Sock'em sneezes! And together they clear their throat. "…Uh." "Do we still have jobs?" "Can we still have jobs?" "Seein' as we have no idea where the hay Boss went?"

Lorelei blinks and looks up at Salty, then over at the two ponygoons, scrambling to her hooves. "What? Uh… uh, y-yes. Yes. Of course. You… you s-still have jobs." Because /surely/ they're asking her. She looks back up at Salty, tilting an ear. Well… well that's been outed, hasn't it? Can't really deny it now. Well, she /could/, but her foalish self doesn't think of that option. "So I'm a seapony. So what? I'm s-still the Mayor here."

"Why would I give you j—" Salty starts, before eyeing Lorelei a bit. "Right. Mayor. Right." She rubs her chin with a chapped and crumbling hoof for a moment. "Well come on then, shortstack. You probably ought to get back to the mayoral mansion."

The 'goons' bob their heads. It's a sad transition, but one can only follow the flank of a madwoman for so long. They might follow her still, if they knew where to look. Alas~ Both of the young ponies stand up straight, assuming a new position behind Lorelei! Rock'em tilts his head, looking up at Salty. Sock'em squints. What happens now is out of their hooves! Old mayor and New mayor have decisions to make. Who's going to run the Harbor? Will Red resume the post of Watch Captain? Will the rest of the harbor find out the new mayor was a seapony?

In the morning, will anyone even remember?