The Enigmatic Mare Do Well

Night in Fillydelphia. Luna’s moon was high in the sky. On the roof of a skyscraper stood a pony, a pegasus mare by the look of her. She was decked out in a  royal purple bodysuit that covered her small wings, dark blue boots on all four hooves, a dark blue mask with one-way lenses that had a slight blue tint, a large royal purple fedora, and a dark blue cape with a royal purple protrusion and a purple clasp with a stylized “M” that was the same shade of blue as the lenses.

The masked pony seemed to be listening for something. Suddenly, she heard an alarm, just what she was waiting for.

“Time to punch in,” said the mare in a dark, raspy voice, before jumping off the building, her cape shimmering with deep purple magic as it turned into wings that resembled those of a thestral, and taking flight at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash proud. As the mare flies towards the alarms, we hear the voice of a mare that was 20 at the most.

My name is Scootaloo Blake. You can call me Scoots. Yes, that’s me in the costume. But, I’m not the Mysterious Mare Do Well. No, I’m not so much a mystery as an enigma. I am The Enigmatic Mare Do Well. I’ve got more skills and gadgets than the original. Now, I bet you’re expecting me to go all Sally Sob Story about how my parents were killed by a mugger or some other stereotypical hero origin. Well, sorry, but no. Truth is, my parents died long before I put this hat and mask on… before I even got my scooter cutie mark of a blazing wheel thanks to my skills on one of those babies. Hmm, maybe I should ask Nick Nack to make me some kinda high-tech Mare Do Well scooter… okay, getting off topic here. My origin went a little something like this…

Okay, rewind to when I was a filly. I wasn’t the world’s greatest flier, to be honest, I still ain’t, because I was born premature, and my parents were killed in a terrible accident, leaving me to get sent to Ponyville to live with my uncle. Unfortunately, his good parenting stretched about as far as making sure I got to school and a good meal. Other than that, he just let the streets raise me. That’s where I learned to fight. Of course, I made friends with Sweetie Belle, who I hear is performing in Manehattan next week, and Apple Bloom, who I hear is doing pretty well with her art career.

But, there was one thing that made my time in Ponyville really awesome: The heroes that lived there.

The first hero that really earned my attention was my “big sister,” Rainbow Jennifer Dash, who these days is Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire’s left-hoof pony. She would be right-hoof, but Soarin already has that position… and, as I hear, Rainbow’s heart. What really struck me about her was her never-give-up, there’s-always-another-day attitude. She was everything I ever wanted in a big sister…

Then came along the pony who virtually defined the word “hero,”: The Mysterious Mare Do Well, whose mask and moniker is now my own.

She was fully awesome. She never said a word, she just showed up, saved lives, and was gone again. I remember some of the rumors and theories circling around her. Like that she was actually Princess Luna trying to right her wrongs as Nightmare Moon, or that she wasn’t even a pony, but a monster from the Everfree Forest. But, as it turned out, neither theory was true. Rainbow told me that Mare Do Well had actually been Twilight Sparkle, who had fixed the dam  with Fluttershy doing the fly-by afterwords. Applejack had saved the bus, and Pinkie Pie had saved the construction workers with help from her “Pinkie Sense,” a bizarre ability of Pinkie’s to predict events, such as falling objects, opening doors, and rainbows.

My middle school and high school years went by without too much incident. Me and the other Crusaders stuck together, our mission changing from getting our own cutie marks to helping other young fillies and colts get theirs. But, with graduation came the parting of the ways. I moved to Fillydelphia, which seemed like a nice city… at first.

My first month there, I met Nick Nack, a brilliant unicron inventor.  He’s always handsome, and nice, and charming… oh, Faust, I’m crushing on him! Anyways, it was he who told me about the almost invisible rise in crime and corruption. As he put it, as long as the crime bosses keep the good ponies scared and the bad ponies rich,  the city will continue to fall to pieces.

But, I didn’t listen to him.

Then, one day, I was walking through the street when I saw a robbery. Hiding, I saw the crooks come out, run directly in front of a cop carriage, and into an alley. The police just ignored it and went about their way.

It was then that I knew that the one thing Fillydelphia needed more than anything else was a hero, a new symbol to rally behind since the usual symbols were worthless. So, why not me? Of course, I couldn’t use my Scootaloo Blake identity. That’d virtually send up a flare saying, “Hey! I’m the pony who’s messing with you! Feel free to come and rearrange my face at your earliest convenience!” At my home, I at first thought about impersonating Rainbow Dash. But, then I realized that not only would I get in trouble, but I might paint a target on my big sister’s head.

It was then that I thought of… her.

I approached Nick with my idea. At first, he thought it was a suicide mission, but he agreed in the end.

After making the suit,which included a cape that could turn into artificial wings that would allow me to give Rainbow a run for her bits, the high-tech gadgets and defensive measures, The Enigmatic Mare Do Well was ready for action.

And speaking of action…

~

A group of three ponies, one was a unicorn stallion, one an Earth Pony stallion, and the third a pegasus mare, were busy looting a jewlery store.

“Come on! Hurry! We don’t want the police to catch us!” muttered the unicorn, who seemed to be the leader.

“Are you kiddin’ Gary? In a town this bent, the police aren’t gonna do anything. Besides, after this, we’ll be millionaires!” said the Earth Pony.

“No, we won’t… not after the Big Boss takes his share of the loot,” said the pegasus.

Suddenly, what looked like a purple flashlight beam with a stylized light blue “M” in the center. “Actually, you’re all wrong. Nopony’s getting a share of any loot,” said a raspy voice.

The three crooks looked up and saw Mare Do Well as she jumped down from a lamppost.

“And you are supposed to be… who?” asked the pegasus.

“Oh, where are my manners? Name’s Mare Do Well. The Enigmatic Mare Do Well. I tried to pick a cool costume with all the trappings, a memorable moniker, you know, the usual up-and-coming superhero stuff,” said Mare Do Well.

“Well, all that planning is about to go to waste. Let’s get her!” yelled the unicorn as he fired a blast of magic at Mare Do Well.

Mare Do Well did a backflip over the blast only to get hit by the Earth Pony.

“Ow… okay, now you’re pissing me off,” growled Mare Do Well. She reached into her suit, the pocket magic activating, and pulled out what looked like a M-shaped throwing star and tossed it at the Earth Pony, slashing his face and drawing blood, before flying up and doing a diving kick, which connected with his head, rendering him unconscious.

“Come on! Blast her!” yelled the pegasus.

Mare Do Well turned her head and saw that the unicorn was about to fire another magic blast… and that the pegasus was standing directly on the other side.

“Question: by ‘her,’ do you mean, ‘me?’” asked Mare Do Well jumping into the air over the magic blast, which hit the the pegasus mare. “And now, the big finish!” said Mare Do Well as she did a spinning kick on the unicorn…

~

Meanwhile, in a dark office, a ram in an business suit and a mysterious shadow watched Mare Do Well on a computer screen.

“And that’s the show!” Mare Do Well cried before taking off just before the police arrived.

“This is a live feed, yes?” said the shadow in a deep, gravely voice.

“Of course,” said the ram.

“Then, I’ve seen enough. Summon the Enforcers,” said the shadow as he closed the computer.

“They’re already on their way,” said the ram.

“Good…” said the shadow.