The Adventures of the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!

AT A WAREHOUSE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF CANTERLOT

It was safe to say that my previous fight with Iron Will had really shown me the extent of my pain tolerance. Up until tonight I have been beaten, stabbed and hit with baseballs bats, chairs, pool sticks and metal chains. Yet the feeling of being smacked with a mutated scorpion tail through a concrete wall had easily taken the cake as the most painful thing I had ever experienced. Cercus’ Scorpion tail wasn’t like an insect's hard shell, but rather a stone like texture. Rough, sharp and solid. In simpler words, it felt like being hit with a boulder.

I was in the other room now where abandoned forklifts were parked. The smack had me skidding across the ground like a rock being thrown across a pond. When I tried to stand up, I fell back down to my side. Blood was beginning to fill my mask, and the burning sensation down my spine was excruciating. The worst part is, this was all just the first hit.

Through my blurry vision, I looked around for my fedora. I know at that point it shouldn’t have been my priority, but you don’t really think about the important things after having the shit knocked into you. I felt around the ground until I found the hat, and slowly put it back on.

“Alright Sunset...” I coughed out some blood in between words. “Clearly jumping straight at him is out of the question...stupid bitch.” Once I saw Applejack exit the doorway, I had charged right at him, only to be met by his tail swinging at me. His speed was incomprehensible. Within under a second, he had that thing flying at me. Despite how girthy it is, I couldn’t see it. The speed made it nothing more than a blur to me, and its pitch-black color made it almost invisible in the dark space. Which brought me to another horrifying revelation. This place was dark, and I was fighting an opponent that was entirely pitch black. The darkness was my ally, but it could very well be my determent in this situation.

Stumbling for a bit, I managed to get to my feet, trying to let me vision adjust. I looked over to where I had just flown in from. The newly formed hole in the wall was huge. I was grateful I didn’t just pop like an organ filled balloon upon the impact. As I tried to regain my composure, I heard a crunching noise. Like a crab moving its legs.... The sound was coming from directly above me. When I looked up, my heart skipped a beat. All I saw within the dark shadows of the roof were a large pair of bright red bug eyes staring back at me. He could climb walls like a bug too.

The giant creature came hurtiling down at me, stringer at the ready. Without thinking, I summersaulted away from the area, barely avoiding him as he smashed into the floor, stinger first. The concrete floor erupted underneath him, revealing the dirt underneath the foundation of the building. Holy shit was he strong. If that stinger hits me with force like that, I’ll be nothing but blood and organs splattered on the walls. Quickly I jumped into the shadows underneath the scaffolding, attempting to hide from him. I just needed to catch my breath, and formulate a plan to stop Cercus before the cops get here. It would be a damn blood bath if they arrived with this monster still loose.

“Oh, you silly fucking billy, you think the shadows are your ally? You believe it’s your safe haven from me? But you’re misguided in that department. I don’t have the senses of a human. I can feel, hear and smell everything. Insects are such marvelous creatures. They can see where we can’t, and right now I see you.” His red eyes were now staring right at me, and a low menacing giggle escaped from his fangs. What made it worse was the horrid voice was echoing from everywhere. It sounded like he was whispering right in my ear. The buzzing of his wings began to sound off, and the wind around him started to blow the dust into the air. Like helicopter propellors rotating. His speed surprised me yet again, and no sooner was he hovering off the ground, to flying right at me. He shot his stinger into the shadows where I was, and once again, I had to jump out of the way as his stinger plunged itself into the wall. It went straight through it, and effortlessly, he retracted it back out from the ruble.

“Damn, I’m one strong motherfucker. I gotta get use to this power,” he said. I wasn’t safe in the darkness with him, he could easily find me. What was worse is I still couldn’t really see him. Just a rough outline of his huge body, and his glowing red eyes. I didn't even see him throw a punch right at me.

“UGH!” I grunted as I went flying across the room, crashing into the side a forklift and toppling it over like a domino. Vomit and blood puked from my nostrils and mouth, and I had to lift the mask up just to let the liquid out. I could feel hot tears escaping my eyes as the pain was so unbearable. It was like being hit with a car. But I wasn’t given the luxury of relief because immediately I howled in pain as I felt one of Cercus’ pinchers snatch my leg. The edges of the claw were digging into my leg and I was dragged across the floor and up into the air.

“HAH, you’re like my little punching bag. Let’s see how many hits you can take before you fucking die,” Cercus joked. He swirled me over his head like a rag doll, and smashed me through the top of a wooden crate. With his pinchers still crushing my leg, he lifted me out of the crate and back up into the air.

“That was one! How about two?” I felt myself being flung to the ground again, slamming into another wooden crate, crashing right through the top of it. It happened so fast that my body couldn’t even process the pain from the first hit, and Cercus wasn’t going to allow me to process this one either. Immediately he picked me right up from the destroyed box and back up into the air.

“Still awake? Yes? No? Maybe so? Ah fuck it, let's go for three more!” Everything was starting to go black; I couldn’t take the pain anymore. But my torment wasn’t over just yet. He slammed me into another wooden crate, then another, and then one more after that, like he was playing drum kit. After the fifth one, he flung me across the room at another forklift, toppling this one over as well. My breathing was akin to wheezing, and I could feel air through the tears and holes in my costume. I got to my hands and knees and vomited out more blood. The bottom part of my mask had been completely ripped off, exposing my mouth. But this wasn’t over just yet.

“Come here you little shit, don’t die on me just yet.” I felt my cloak being pulled from behind, and I was being lifted up yet again. This time tough I was being choked as I hanged from my cloak. Cercus raised me to his eye level, and I could feel the pressure being built up in my skull from my own make shift noose.

“Aww, what’s the matter hero? Can't breathe? Why don’t I give you some fresh AIR!” he hurled me right at the window near the ceiling. I crashed through it, being stabbed and scrapped by the glass shards around the frame. The cool breeze from outside hit me as I flew out of the building. My struggle to remain conscious made me fail to realize that I was now flying from the second story. It only became aware to me when I crash landed onto the grass below me.

“Ugh...ugh....ah damnit....” I stammered to myself. My body felt stiff, especially my right arm that I landed on. It hurt so much to move. The pain was indescribable. I Slowly got to my knees; my arm was protruding out a bit. I think it was dislocated. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my shoulder where the dislocation was, and building up all my courage, I pushed my bone back into its socket.

“AGHHHHHH,” I screamed. As much as I wanted to tell myself I deserved all this for all the wrong I’ve caused, it was hard to keep that mentality when everything hurt like hell. When I tried to stand up, I fell back to the ground. The damage on my leg was severe from Cercus’ pinchers. Multiple holes ran up and down my thigh oozing blood. Trying again, I managed to get back onto my feet, applying all my weight onto my other leg. I slowly limped towards the building, only to be stopped by the garage door being busted open. A chunk of it flew at me, scrapping the side of my head and blowing my fedora right off, causing me to fall back down again. Cercus had to hunch a bit to fit through the door as he exited the building.

“Fuck, you still alive?” He asked while breathing in the fresh air in an exaggerated motion. I could only mumble in agony as a response, making him chuckle. He walked over to me slowly, humming to himself as if this were all some kind of game. His footsteps rattled the ground beneath me, like miniature earthquakes setting off.

“Aw, does little baby need to take a nap?” He mocked. I could only wheeze as I struggled to get the air out of my lungs. He raised his tail high into the air, pointing the stinger at me. As tears slowly rolled down my face, my life began to flash before my eyes. I remember my time back home. My family and how much I disappointed them. I remember Celestia, and the shouting match we had with one another before I stormed off. I remember all the hurt and pain I’ve caused to others. My life up until this point was pathetic, and meaningless. I was just another villain in the grand scheme of things. A spoiled brat needing to be stopped. That’s all I could think of in these final moments.

“Time to die.” Cercus cocked his tail back, ready to strike. But before he could move an inch, the sudden voice of a little girl stopped him.

“LEAVE HER ALONE!” Applebloom shouted. With barely any energy left in me, I turned to look at her. She was standing over a hill next to some utility poles.

“Applebloom…..no,” I muttered. But I couldn’t move. Everything in me felt broken. Cercus howled in laughter.

“HAHAHA, oh this is fucking rich. Okay, you don’t go anywhere, I just have to go deal with some stupid redneck bitch.” He walked over me like I was nothing to him, and his stomps began to fade away as he approached the little girl. I could see Applejack limping her way over to her, desperately trying to reach her little sister. But she kept stumbling and falling to the ground. Mustering up everything that I had, I attempted to pick myself up.

“Come on Sunset…. come on you useless piece of shit. You don’t get to die that easily…. they need you,” was all I could tell myself as I pushed my body to move. Blood, tears and snot were dripping onto the grass as I struggled to get up. I needed to move. I can’t let them die. Not the girls, not the innocent, nobody.

“GET UP!” I shouted before getting to one knee. I looked around the area, and my eyes fell upon a truck parked next to the building. It was a water tanker. I looked back to see Applebloom paralyzed in fear as Cercus approached her…right next to power lines. A wicked smiled escaped from my bloodied mouth.

“Please, oh Celestia please give me some luck tonight,” I whispered to myself, trying desperately to walk over to the parked vehicle. Hearing Apleblooms screams was all I needed to kick whatever energy I had left into overdrive, and ignoring the pain in my leg, I ran over to the vehicle. Thank Celestia it was unlocked, and even better, the keys were tucked in the visor. I dropped the keys while trying to place them in the ignition, my hands were shaking badly. After a third try, I managed to put the keys in, and started the truck. The rumble of the mechanical beast jolted me awake with joy. Wasting no time, I pushed in the emergency brake, shifted to drive and slammed my foot on the gas pedal. The truck floored it through the grassy open landscape, right towards Cercus and Applebloom. Cercus didn’t seem to notice, or didn’t care about the truck speeding his way. Once he was directly above Applebloom and under the power lines, I steered the vehicle towards the nearest pole, slamming my foot on the pedal.

“Eat this you cocksucker!” Bracing for impact, the truck rammed into the wooden pole, snapping its base in half, and causing the wooden pole to fall straight onto Cercus. The power box slammed on top of his head, while the wires began to cover him like wild vines. He screamed in agony as the electricity flowed through his body, but I knew it wasn’t going to be enough. Hoping for another miracle, I jumped out of the truck and ran towards the back of the tanker. A large water hose was rolled in a container underneath the tanker. It was already heavy, but my weakened state made it difficult to throw it out. Once I did, I rolled it out in front of me, grabbing the metal nozzle and aiming it at Cercus.

“APPLEBLOOM, RUN!” I shouted. The young girl looked over at me with terrified eyes, shaking and breathing uncontrollably. I had to shout her name out again to snap her out of it. Eventually she got the message, and took off. Cercus, who was still being electrocuted slowly turned to look over to me. Despite the emotionless, blank stare that was present in those bug eyes, I could see the hate filled in them. I hoped he saw my bloodied teeth smiling at him. Grabbing the valve, I turned it with everything I had, and water began to jet out of the hose. I was relieved to know that the tanker still had some water in it, albeit it was dirty. But that didn’t matter. Cercus was drowned by the ferocious stream, and the electricity amplified, violently shocking him to such an extreme degree. My goal wasn’t to kill him, and I was hoping that he wouldn’t die from this, but I just couldn’t see any other way of beating him.

“AGHHHHH FUCK!” his haunting vocals echoed. Even outside, his voice seemed to bounce off everything. Smoke started to eradiate off his body, and the smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils. Once the water was all used up, the electricity died down. Bit by bit, it lowered until it was nothing more than a fizzle. Cercus fell onto his knees, then plummeted face first into the ground. The sparking wires around him didn’t budge. He was either dead, or passed out. Either way he was neutralized.

My grip around the hose loosened, and it fell to the ground. Stumbling a bit, I had to catch myself from falling down. Blood and tears continued to seep its way through my torn mask. It took everything I had to not fall to my knees and break down crying. Sweet Celestia did everything in my body hurt. I was about to take my mask off to feel the desired sensation of the cool wind. Despite everything that had just transpired, the chirping of the crickets, the crescent moon and the shining stars illuminating the grassy plains of Canterlot’s outskirts was rather peaceful. But the sounds of footsteps running towards me snapped me back to reality. I was quickly being embraced by a sobbing Applebloom. Honestly, her sudden hug almost knocked me to my ass. But I knew now wasn’t the time to be weak. Especially since I could see Applejack limping towards me. Regardless of what my body was telling me, I couldn’t show it in front of them. Sunset Shimmer might get hurt, the useless bitch. But the Mare-Do-Well has no limits. Straightening myself up, closing my mouth and controlling my breathing, I looked down to the sobbing child.

“I... I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I’m so stupid. I almost got my sister and friends killed. I’m so sorry.” The pain in her voice was all you needed to hear to understand the damage that was done here. I wrapped one arm around her, and held her tightly. Although to some degree, there is some responsibility that she and Sweetie Belle will have to carry, none of what just happened was her fault. It was all mine. All of this was because of me. I underestimated the extent Spoiled or the Changelings would go to kill me, and because of my stupidity, these innocent girls were nearly killed. Some hero I am Diamond Tiara.

“Shh, it’s okay. Nothing here is your fault. It was all these animals. You don’t need this weight on your shoulder kid.” It was a little difficult keeping up with the Mare-Do-Well voice when all I wanted to do was scream in agony. But it seemed to get through to her regardless. With her big, glossy eyes, she looked up at me, trying to keep the snot from running down her nose.

“I... I’m scared. What if this isn’t over yet? I don’t wanna lose my family. Especially not for my mistakes.” Something about those words got to me. The vivid memories of my own family flashed in my eyes. The family I destroyed back in Equestria.

“It is over. Your family will be safe. Don’t blame yourself for this, I’ll always watch over you, and everyone you love. I won’t let anyone hurt you again kid, I promise,” was all I could think to say.

Applejack walked up to us, taking Applebloom into her own arms. She looked at me, a bit of hesitancy in her face, but not fear.

“I don’t know who you are, but I’m mighty grateful to you for saving my little sister and friends,” said Applejack.

“I’m nobody ma'am. I’m just here to help. Don’t thank me please.” I said coldly. The gesture wasn’t just for the sake of the crusader act. I genuinely never wanted anyone to thank me ever. Not someone like me. Especially anyone from CHS, and especially not her.

“Don’t you pull the lone wolf act on us. Please let me thank you properly, I’m in your debt,” she pleaded. I shook my head slowly, denying her of her wishes.

“No, don’t ever say that. When it comes to me, you’re never in debt to anything. Don’t even think about me.” Applejack looked me over, no doubt seeing the blood dripping from the bottom of my cloak. She looked back at Cercus and shivered.

“I imagine you took one heck of a beating from whatever that is. You should wait until an ambulance comes.” She looked back at the giant bug creature, then back to me with a look of confusion. “What even is he? I ain’t ever seen anything like that. Is it some kind of magic from Eque...” she stopped mid-sentence and averted her gaze from me. “I mean...never mind that. Come on, I hear the sirens approaching.” She began to turn around with Applebloom helping her up, but I didn’t move. Quietly I spoke.

“Applebloom, don’t tell the police about Gabby Gums.” Both her and Applejack turned to look at me with shock.

“Wha? How did you know about -”

“The person that sent these people after you is very powerful. I’m not sure how much of the police she owns, but just keep those details to yourself. As far as any of you are concerned, you were victims of a kidnapping. The police will suspect that they were trying to use your farm as a smuggling route for drugs.” I turned around and began walking away from the confused sisters. I could hear Applejack voice her confusion and horror at the revelation she just heard. It wasn’t the ideal way of dropping such a bombshell on her like that, but she had to know the truth. “Stay safe out there,” I said before walking off. Applejack tried to call out to me, but I kept walking.

The promise I had made to Applebloom was a promise that I intended to keep. Up until this point, I hadn’t done much saving. I’ve just been after criminals. Jumping into gang infested areas and fighting off multiple bad guys was all I’ve really been doing. But when the lives of people, especially ones as close as the girls are in danger, getting them out of helpless situations suddenly put a whole new weight on this little venture of mine. I still feel like a failure. I still hate myself. I almost got Applejack, Rarity, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle killed. There is no denying that this is my fault. I don’t consider myself to be their friend, nor do I think I’m any kind of hero. I’m just the bad guy torturing herself at the end of the day. But that doesn’t change the fact that there are very real monsters out there, and I suppose I’m the best the city’s got. The girls are the real heroes. Them along with princess Twilight are the light in the darkness. They saved the school, and probably the world from the evil she-demon, Sunset Shimmer. But this level of depravity that the criminal underworld supplies doesn’t need such light. It needs someone as low as itself to keep it in check, and that’s what I’ll do. Looking back to the siblings, I gave them a light nod, before walking into the darkness. Beaten and alone. This is just the path of the Mare-Do-Well.