MareDoWell

Trixie…

We just stood there staring at each other for the longest time, silence filling the air. Millions of questions speed through my mind; ‘How did they know?’ ‘What do they want?’ and ‘How do I fix this?’ were the most prevalent among them. I tear through my own mind, searching frantically for a solution to all this… until one idea in particular made itself all too clear.

I mentally gawk at myself, the boldness and risk of such an idea astounding me, but when I search for alternatives… I can find none. So, with new found confidence, I face Spike, beginning to charge my horn in preparation for the spell, focusing my magic.

“What are you doing?” Spike asks, a venomous glare in his eyes. Ignoring him, I put my full attention into my magic, gathering the last bit of it I need to power the spell, and hurl it at them at full speed.

They try to dodge me, scrambling out of their seats, fumbling over each other… but they're to slow. The spell engulfs them in an orb of light levitating them off the ground. When I know they're in position, I begin to recite the spell, no, the hex I have in mind.

“I call forth my magic, upon which I am reliant.”

I look up, seeing that their faces carry expressions of fear and surprise. I want so much to tell them that it will be alright, that it would all be okay soon… but saying anything other than the second verse would disable the hex. So I close my eyes, and recite that last verse of the spell.

“Keep my secret, and make them SILENT! ”

The orb of light containing both of them turns pure white and flashes in a neon blaze, causing my whole world to stop… and everything to go quiet.

Nightstick…

I wasn’t agitated.

I wasn’t angry.

I wasn’t sad.

No… I was pissed!

I had the deputy that had busted down the door up against a wall, my nostrils flaring violently. Mack and I still had our injuries, but I was far too enraged to acknowledge my wounded shoulder.

“WHERE WERE YOU!?” I scream. “WHERE, IN THE BLOODIEST OF ALL HAYS, WERE YOU!?”

“I-I’m sorry!” he says. “We tried to get the door down but that… thing had some sort of field around it! It was like every entrance into the room had been turned into reinforced titanium!”

I release him from my grasp, my anger now directed solely at the masked stallion, Razors Edge. i was practically swimming in my own seething rage when a sudden thought comes to mind; where’s Raphael? He was with us when everything went down, and now all of a sudden he was just… gone! I got up and began to search for him, asking around to see if anybody had seen him, but only to learn no one had. I had almost given up, thinking he had left home to be with his family at the time, but then I found him. He sat in front of a window, completely silent, staring out onto the horizon as if in deep thought. I walk over and put my hoof on his shoulder, trying to get a response from him.

“He was my brother…“he whispers. It was at that moment that I fully realized the full scope of this situation; this stallion, mere minutes ago, watched his own brother die.

“Raph, he was a homicidal scumbag who-.”

“HE WAS STILL MY BROTHER!” he yells, tears beginning their descent down his face. I hung my head, ashamed for assuming that, even through all the bullshit, he wouldn’t care about his own brother. I walk over and put my hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him as best I could. He puts his face into my shoulder as I embrace him in a hug. hearing his gentle crying forming into heavy sobs.

“H-he was my b-b-brother, and I just sat there and watched him DIE-E-E!” he sobbs, his tears beginning to stain my coat. I hold him close as he cries, letting a few tears of my own fall down my cheeks.

“Promise me…” I hear Raphael whisper. I looked down at him, my eyebrow raised, before he took me by my coat and brought my face mere inches away from his, shaking me violently.

“Promise me that you’ll find him! Promise me that you’ll stop him from doing this again!” he sobbed.

“PROMISE ME THAT YOU’LL TAKE DOWN THAT SON OF A BITCH DOWN!”

I stared at him, the look on his face burning itself into my mind. I took his hands in mine, and stared straight into his eyes.

“Mister Saltine,” I began “I solemnly swear that, whatever it takes, however many ponies I need, and how ever many resources I expend. I will find him, and I will bring him bring to justice!”

With the end of the oath, I held a fist to my chest and raised the other hand in salute, signifying my undying loyalty to the promise I had made. He hugged me, his sobbing fading into sniffles.

“Thank you.” I heard him whimper. I held him closer to me, allowing him to let out his last few sniffles, before pushing him back so that we stood in front of each other.

“Now go.” I told him. “Be with your family, make sure they’re safe.”

He nodded to me and ran out of the front door.

As I walk back to the interrogation room, I realize just how hard a promise that would be to keep. But what I never realized… was just how much pain that promise would bring upon me.

“Oi, Watch the shoulder!” I hear Mackie yell. As I walk through the door, I spot a now apologetic looking medic mare patching up a nasty scrape on Mack’s shoulder. I chuckle a bit at the scene before me, always finding Mack’s aggressive attitude quite entertaining.

“How are you?” I ask.

“Well let’s see; I got kicked in me stomach, thrown into a wall, and I saw one of our suspects get executed ‘n front of me. How tha HAY do ya THINK a’m doin’!”

I shook my head and chuckled some more, looking over to the female officer and signaling her to leave the room. I walked over and sat beside him with a heavy thud.

“They showed you the knife?” I ask.

“Aye.”

“You know who it’s from?”

“Aye.”

“Good… cause I just gave Raphael the Officers Pledge.”

“Ay… YOU DID WHAT!” he screamed.

“What? The guy had to watch his brother die. So why not?”

“Because it’s tha Black Dynasty ya daft mare! Not just some random street gang!” he yells. I could see where he was coming from, knowing what the Black Dynasty was. But at the same time, I knew I made a promise to Raphael, and I intended to keep that promise.

“Black Dynasty or not, that stallion not only murdered somepony, but he did so in front of two EPD officers, and then proceeded to insult the EPD directly in front of those officers.” I state, making my way towards the door.

“So frankly, I don’t give a good Celestia damn if he’s with the bloody Dynasty, he’s going down!”

Just as I was about to walk out, I felt Mack’s hooftips grip my shoulder. I turned to see him staring at me with large eyes and low-hung ears, his look just begging me to listen. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the door frame, waiting for his opinion.

“Look, I know ya think this‘s like other cases, but this is the DYNASTY were talkin’ about. And furthermore, this aint no regular agent o’ theirs either!” he says, pleading with me to see things his way.

“How do you know that?” I ask. He looked down at the floor as if troubled, obviously holding something back.

“I… I’ve her’da Razors Edge before.” He mutters.

“How so?” I ask. I was taken aback a bit, honestly. I mean, ever since the BD graduated to insurrectionist class they’ve been specifically the Royal Guards problem, and rarely ever tangled with the EPD. So we rarely ever got any relevant up to date info unless the royals needed a helping hoof.

“Tha royal’s nee’ed some help with a case involving the Dynasty, so they invited any EPD CSI officials to volunteer. When we received the initial reports, I thought it’was just anotha case… but when we got the files on the agent they’er after.”

He looked away from me, as if reluctant to discuss the ordeal entirely. I took him by the shoulder, coaxing him to finish.

“His… every one of ‘is cases involved murder.” he said.

“What do you mean ‘every one’?”

“I mean there wasn’t a single case that didn’t involve him killing somepony!” he said, locking eyes with me. I didn’t want to believe him, but his expression told me that he was telling the truth.

“And the worst part, they didn’t send’em to kill these ponies just because he was good at it, but because the bastard enjoyed it! Don’t you understand! That stallion’s out of ‘is bloody-.”

“It doesn’t MATTER!” I yell, cutting him off.

What matters is that I made a promise, and you know…  I don’t go back on my promises.”

“I know that! But this guy is more than we’ve been trained to handle!”

“Then we’ll adapt!” I say, storming out of the door. Mack was about to protest, but simply huffed and followed me out.

We drove in the cart in silence, only glancing over at each other every now and then. I knew his concerns and understood them, but a promise had been made, and a promise had to be kept. The tension in the car was growing out of control anyway, so one of us had to speak eventually.

“You know… ya didn’t even know that stallion until this mornin’.” he says.

“Your point?” I shot back, a little venom in my words.

“Look, I’m not sayin’ that what ya did was wrong, but this guy is a stranger ta you! And a felon!” he says. “Furthermore, why the hay did you just let him go when he was involved in a foalnapping attempt!?”

“Because he was a victim of circumstance.” I reply. “You know how the Equestrian DA works; once they heard his case, saw the evidence, and got an official statement from me, they would have let him go with some minor community service. In fact, they’re probably going to send him a note saying just that.”

“Aye…” Mack says, admitting defeat. As we drove on, we decided that we would get the easiest thing out of the way first; trying to find out exactly who MDW was, and I knew six prime suspects that could help out with just that.

Trixie…

I looked over what I had done, wondering if all the possible consequences would truly be just that worth it. I hoped and prayed this would work, trying to find the right words to say.

“WHAT IN THE HAY WAS THAT!” Spike screams, his voice cracking slightly. He rapidly checked over his entire body making sure everything was still there. Once he had checked all of his claws, he let out a long sigh of relief, and continued to stare at me angrily, while his gray friend simply shook her head and smiled.

“Do it again!” she says gleefully. Both I and Spike looked over to her for a moment, confused and bewildered, before turning our attention back to each other.

“What did you do to me and Derpy!?” Spike demands.

“Now calm down spike it was only a minor hex…”

“A HEX!” he screams.

“Am I gonna grow another limb! Are my scales gonna fall off! Am I gonna-“

“Try saying who MareDoWell is.” I interrupted with a sly grin.

“What?”

“Just tell me who MareDoWell is.”

“Um… okay… you’re MareDoWell.”

“Mention her by name.” I instructed.

“████ is MareDoWell.” Spike says, his hands flying to his mouth and my face contorting into a mischievous grin.

“Trixie.” he said cautiously.

“MareDoWell.” he said again.

“Trixie, MareDoWell.” he said together.

“████ is MareDoWe-WHAT THE FUCK!”

“Spike, Watch your language!” Derpy scolded. Spike ignored her, continuing to try and state MareDoWell’s name (my name) until falling out on the chair from exhaustion.

“It’s a redactor.” I explained. “A spell that is used to stop ponies from divulging… sensitive… information.”

“So we can’t say that you’re MareDoWell anymore?”

“I was going to do you both actually, but the I decided to just do you instead.”

“WHY!?” Spike shouts, a little more than angry.

“Because Derpy owes me, you don’t.” I reply. I look over at Derpy, who smiles and nods, while Spike face-palms.  I walk past him and sit down, relaxing myself before I begin questioning..

“How do you know?” I ask.

“You go down to a basement during a house party and stare at that costume like its Faust incarnate and you suspect me not to get suspicious?”

Spike had a valid point. After all, I had stood there… admiring the costume for at least 15 minutes before leaving that night. I turned to ask Derpy, but she was already prepared.

“When I first heard about MareDoWell, I thought back to that night you saved me. Then I just put two and two together and here I am!”

I face-palmed, not believing I could be so naive as to think that Derpy wouldn’t be able to figure out the obvious. I was actually ashamed of myself for a moment, scolding my own mind for assuming a mare would be stupid because of an eye condition. I wanted to apologize for my gross assumption, but there would be a time and a place. For now though, I needed to make sure this wouldn’t get out.

“Derpy is there a reason you were so angry at me earlier?” I ask. She looks down to the floor, ashamed.

“Spike… um… had a few theories about why you had taken up the whole MareDoWell thing and, well, I may have believed them; just a little bit.”

“And what theories are those?” I asks, turning my attentions towards Spike.

“Look!” he responds. “All I’m saying is that, in the past, you haven’t been the most trustworthy of ponies. I just think that maybe there could be some ulterior motives here.”

I look down to the floor and began to think.  I knew why Spike would think that, he did live with Twilight after all. There had to be a way to convince him!

After I rack my brain for a full minute for a solution, I can come up with only one; tell the truth.

“If I make us all some tea, would you trust me a little bit more then?” I ask.

They looked at each other for a few moments, exchanging several facial expressions before nodding in agreement. Spike looked over to me and huffed “Start the kettle.”

We sat, sipping our tea, talking about nothing in particular for fifteen minutes straight. When we reached a moment of silence, I decided it was time to talk.

“I’m doing this for their friendship.” I said.

“What?” Spike asks.

I let out a sigh and began to explain. “I hadn’t seen any other ways of changing their minds about me for awhile, but when I saw the costume….” I trail off.

“The basic idea was that I would become MareDoWell for a while, fight some crime, save some innocents, and then finally help each of the five individually. At the end of this, I intend to reveal my identity to them, and if all goes as planned they will see that my heroism and generosity as a surefire sign that I’ve changed, thus gaining me there affection.”

There is a moment of silence, along with Spike giving me an awkward look before breaking said silence.

“Are you kidding me?” he asks.

“What?”

“So let me get this straight; you’re going to save lives, stop evil, and become a super hero, all so you can gain friendship! Doesn’t that seem a bit selfish to you?”

“Spike….” I try to reply.

“What if this whole plan of yours doesn’t work? I’m pretty sure that Twilight and the others wouldn’t just go ‘We like you now’ because you decided to become Daring Do in a cool outfit.”

“Spike…!” I call again, agitated.

“I’m sorry but this sounds like complete bullshit to me!”

“I KNOW, ALRIGHT!” I scream. “I’ve tried everything, literally everything to try and win them over.”

Spike and Derpy back away, their heads hanging slightly.

“Besides, who are you to judge me!? You’ve always been their friend! You’ve never had to work for it!”

“Trixie….” Derpy tries to say.

“You get to spend every day with Twilight; helping her, talking to her!”

“Um… Twilight?” Spike asks.

“I would give everything just to be with her, even if only once! To hold her, caress her… love her.” Tears were freely flowing from my eyes, slowed only by the look of anger they adorned.

“You will NEVER know what it feels like to love somepony that hates you!”

My breathing was heavy and my eyes stung, gaze stuck to the two in front of me. They looked at me like I was an alien, their expressions those of shock, awe, and surprise. It wasn’t long until I realized what I had said, covering my mouth with a hoof in embarrassment.

“Y-You love Twilight?” Spike asks.

I couldn’t respond, I didn’t know how, and like a scared filly I ran upstairs. I cried for fifteen minutes, ashamed I had exposed my innermost feelings to two outsiders. I paused in the middle of my sobbing at the sound of a knock at the door.

“Trixie?” she calls. “It’s Derpy. Can I come in?”

“J-Just go away! You two have done enough!”

“I could always have Spike burn the door down.”

Yet again, I had no response. The only thing I could do was get up, and open the door.

She walks inside too quickly and we gently butt heads, reeling back from each other with matching gasps.

She rubs her head and looks up at me. “Sorry….” she says with a half smile.

“It’s okay, come on in.” I reply.

She walks in, carrying some tea with her, and plops down on a beanbag, with me sitting next to her on another. I try to speak, but she interrupts me.

“Please forgive Spike.” she asks. “He doesn’t really understand. Not to mention Twilight’s been pumping all that bullshit about you into his head.”

“It’s odd to hear you curse.” I reply.

“Why, because I look to nice and special?”

“I wasn’t insinuating-.”

“No, forget it. It’s the eyes, I know.” she says, waving her hoof.

We have a small moment of silence while she takes a sip from her cup. But as she does, a question comes to mind.

“Why do you act the way you do?”

“What?” she asks.

“Ever since that alleyway incident, I’ve noticed you around town. You’re very bubbly, almost a blonde personality, not to mention a klutz. But here you’re well spoken, mature and you think things out. Why so different in public?”

She sighs, and then reluctantly gives her answer. “Because if I acted like this around others they’d get pissed that the special Pegasus is actually competent.”

I was confused, but before I could ask, she was already explaining.

“I don’t like to cause trouble, alright? I mean, Luna knows how many ignorant bastards would hate to see a ‘special needs mare’ do anything better than them.” she says, taking a sip from her cup. “So, unless I absolutely have to, I stow away this mare you see know and replace her with a hard working and capable, yet handicapped klutz of a mare.”

“Why?” I question.

“Because I don’t want any trouble, Trixie.” she looks directly into my eyes. “Just like how you want their friendship.”

I said nothing, allowing the silence to permeate the air. Then she speaks once more.

“That’s why I came up here, because I think, in that way, that we’re the same.”

She takes another sip from her cup, still keeping her eyes on me.

“And that’s why I want in.” she finishes. Doing so in a disturbingly happy manner I might add.

I look up with a start, gazing at the absently smiling mare in front of me. For a second, I had thought I misheard her.

“What do you mean ‘you want in’?”

“Well think about it; Batmare has a sidekick right? So it would only be fitting if-.”

“No.” I cut her off.

“Why not!?”

I look to her, seeing her gaze at me with puppy dog eyes. “Because if I get in trouble then you’re going to try and save me and then you’ll be in trouble, and then we’re fucked.”

“We could call Spike!”

I raise an eyebrow. “Really? A small baby dragon that doesn’t even have his wings yet?”

“For your information,” I hear downstairs “I may be a juvenile in my species, but in yours, I’m twenty! Also, we still have near perfect hearing at this age you bitch!”

My face goes flush with embarrassment and Derpy fails to suppress a giggle.

“Look, the fact of the matter is it’s just too dangerous! I mean, what if you died or got seriously injured? Why would I want that on my conscience?”

Derpy considers this, bringing a hoof to her chin, searching for a solution.

“I got it!” she proclaims. “What if I wasn’t a ‘sidekick’, but an informant!”

“Informant?” I ask.

“For instance; let’s say I notice some strange behavior on my paper route, maybe a few shady characters constantly going in and out of one place constantly. I can call you up, let you know what’s going down, and have you come over and take a look.”

I was about to object, but then I began to think of all the applications that might have. I wouldn’t need to wait for something to happen anymore, I would only have to call Derpy and ask her, or check my messages to see if she left me one. The other practical use would be private medical transportation. If I’m hurt bad, I can call her with my location and be taken back to my house to get the medical supplies from my basement.

While I wouldn’t want her to get hurt, somepony offering such a position wouldn’t just fall out of the sky. So the choice was obvious.

“Alright.” I huff. “We’ll try this later on today. But at the first sign of trouble on your end, we’re done. Got it?”

“Deal!” she happily squeaks. We shake on it and finish our tea, telling stories about our lives and sharing a few laughs. When we head back downstairs, Spike is sitting in the easy chair, sipping his own tea. Before I could even speak, he began to talk.

“Look.” he says. “I still don’t know if I can fully trust you, but if Derpy thinks you’re okay… than I’ll give you a chance.”

“Really!” i gasp.

“One chance!” he scowls.

He gets up and waves Derpy over with a claw, the blonde Pegasus waving to me as she goes. But as they leave, I get an idea.

“Wait!” I yell after them. They turn to me, eyebrows cocked.

“Follow me; I have an idea!”

They follow me to the room where I had made my cape, and while I would not need a full circle, the enchantment table at the back of the room would suffice. I grabbed the supplies I would need, sped into the room, and closed the door behind me.

“No peeking!” I shout. After casting a few spells, and binding the material, I come out of the room with what appear to be one bracelet and two hoof bands, each with a large crystal.

“These are contact bands.” I explain. “If you need to contact me or each other, just think of that pony, or dragon, and think of what you need to say. It should send the message telepathically.”

“Can’t we just use our spellphones?” Derpy asks.

“No. Spellphones can be tracked too easily.”

“Why do I get one?” Spike asks.

“Well you live with the mare I love, so that’s one reason, the other being that she sends you out for errands all the time, so you should see if anything goes down if you look close enough.”

“Wait, why would I help you?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll have Derpy tell Twilight you swear when she’s not around.” I reply, smiling.

He look’s over at Derpy, only to see her smile and wink. He turns back to me with a huff, arms folded as he nods his head.

“Alright, then it’s settled! You are all now officially MareDoWell informants!” I shout, waving my hooves in the air. Derpy claps with delight and squees, while Spike merely rolls his eyes.

I bid them farewell as they leave, and go back to finish the tea Derpy graciously left behind. But before I could even begin to sip, my band vibrates, and I hear a thought ring loud in my mind. ‘Trixie, it’s Derpy! There are some ponies out here and… they’re asking about you.’

I respond, my thought a booming holler. ‘Look directly at them and focus Derpy! I’m going to try something!’

She does so, sending a visual to me. I close my eyes, letting out a surprised, startled gasp as one of them screams “I’ll ask you and you’re pet dragon one more time. Is that blue whore in there!?”

My surprised expression gives way to a grin as I get up to get my costume. They’re we’re a few new faces, but I recognized the few stallions in the middle well, and I didn’t want to keep old friends waiting.

Besides, who would I be not to repay the ponies that gave me a reason to train under Reave.

Twilight…

Dead ends.

Dead ends all day, that’s all we got. Rainbow grilled some of her friends in Cloudsdale, Applejack interrogated her entire family, and even Rarity tried to ask her customers ‘key questions’. We were sitting in the main room of my library, discussing who it could be, if the magic used by ‘her’ was unicorn or potion caused. But just as we thought it couldn’t get any worse, there was a knock at the door. I get up first, thinking that Spike has finished his errands, but when I open the door, it’s not the little dragon I expected. Instead there is a large earth pony mare with a neon white coat and a black mane with silver stripes going throughout it. Her eyes are a light purple, and on her flank is what appears to be a sheriff’s badge. I recognize her easily as commissioner Nightstick, and the green Pegasus stallion behind her as Mackey McBrawler.

“Commissioner Nightstick! What are you-?“ I tried to say.

“We’re here about MareDoWell, Miss Sparkle.”