The Adventures of the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!

SUNSETS APARTMENT

SLAM

I peeked an eye through the buildup of bubbly shampoo over my hair, startled by the sound of my front door being slammed shut. Even through the pounding of the showers head, it was pretty loud. Peeking out of the curtains, I yelled, “GEEZ RED, COULD YOU SLAM THE DOOR ANY LOUDER?” I didn’t get any response though. Shrugging, I continued to whistle to myself as I finished up my shower, chugging the whole thing up to Red just having a bad day. Once I was done, I turned the shower head off and slowly exited the tub while wrapping my nude body with a towel. Being naked never bothered me, but I didn’t want to get water all over the floor.

“Ouch! Shit,” I yelped, grabbing my side as I stood in front of the mirror. It was stupid of me to go out last night, but I had a lead on a known pusher for Blueblood, and I had to question him. It was a good thing too since I found the scumbag attacking Lyra and Bon Bon in an alleyway with his friends. Thank Celestia I arrived just in time... I could only imagine what they would have done to them if I didn’t intervene.

Still, Red warned me that I needed more bed rest, and damnit was I starting to regret not heeding her warning... for the most part of course. I wiped away the layer of fog that was covering my mirror with the palm of my hand, staring intently at my face in the reflection. Slowly, I lifted the bandage up that was covering my right eye, grimacing at the sight of it. It hurt just as bad as it looked. My eye was still bloodshot red, and the skin around it was still burnt with some stitching going across my eye. Shit, it was going to leave a really bad scar. I’ll probably have to get a new hair style just to cover it up. My main concern though was my stomach. I began to unwrap the bandages around my torso, gritting my teeth as I felt the cloth pick my damaged skin off. Reds huge line of stitching was still very much visible across my midriff, and the surrounding skin was still black and charred. Sighing, I reapplied the bandages and began to fix myself up.

Once I was done, I slipped on a baggy pair of grey sweat pants, and a white tank top, exiting my bathroom as I tied my hair into a ponytail. I heard Red in the kitchen, moving around pots and pans while the stove was on. With my eyes still closed as I finished up tying my hair, I walked into the living room, my mouth practically watering from whatever Red was cooking.

“Hey Red, make sure you don’t put any butter in that, you know what it does to my stomach.”

“Oh of course my dear, you don’t need to worry about that.” My eyes shot open, and ignoring the pain, I spun around in a defensive stance. That was not Red's voice, or Applejacks, or anyone's that I knew.

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?” I shouted. The man standing in my kitchen was cooking some eggs, a sly smirk and his half-lidded eyes were focused entirely on the dish. He was tall, really tall, and was wearing a disheveled brown suit, brown slacks, black dress shoes and an orange shirt with a blue tie. His skin was dark grey, and he had black slicked backed hair with white sides, bushy white eyebrows and a white beard that dangled under his chin. But what really unnerved me were his eyes. They were dark yellow, with red pupils. I didn’t think he was human.

“Feisty aren’t you? Even after I just finished making you breakfast. Or, what would this be for you? Dinner? Considering you haven’t slept all night.”

“I’m going to ask you again; there will not be a third time. Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house!” But my threat was only met with an exaggerated yawn from my intruder.

“Boring,” he said while lifting his hand up, snapping his fingers. Suddenly, I found myself seated in the middle of my kitchen; my island was replaced with a fancy dining room table. In front of me was a plate of steaming hot eggs, hashbrowns and bacon strips, and sitting across from me was my intruder, taking a sip of wine with a steak in front of him.

“Wha- what the hell?” My mind went blank at what just happened, and admittedly, I was starting to panic.

“Oh, my apologies my dear, I know how much you ponies revolt at the sight of meat. Silly me, I would have thought by now you’ve been used to it. What would you like? Pancakes? Waffles? French toast?” The entire time he was snapping his fingers and the plate in front of me changed coinciding with what he was saying.

“Wha- wha- what? Wait, wait wait wait wait wait. Wait damnit. What the hell are you?” It did take everything in me to not freak out, which believe me, not many things could freak me out, but this was pretty close. The man in front of me just kept smirking, leaning back into his chair as a lit cigar just magically popped into his mouth.

“Honestly Sunny, I’m hurt you’d fail to recognize me by now. After all, my statue would give you the creeps all those times you trained with Shining Armor back at the castle gardens.” My eyes flung wide open, and I could feel my whole body begin to shake. It wasn’t possible, but the shit I was seeing right now told me otherwise.

“You’re... no way, that’s not possible. You’re supposed to be imprisoned back at Celestia’s gardens.” I stood up quickly, backing away a few steps out of fear. Discord. The lord of chaos... damnit. My mind began racing at that point. How is he free? Celestia and Luna imprisoned him centuries ago. Oh my... did he take over Equestria? Is everyone I know dead? No no no, this can’t be happening, this just can’t.

“Relaaaaax my dear. Your thoughts are so loud. Equestria is just fine.” I froze at this. Shit, can he hear my internal monologuing? “Yes, I can. But to establish trust, I’ll stop. But you must use your words my dear.” Great. Okay, just take a breather Sunset. I slowly sat back down in the seat, watching as Discord happily sipped his wine and dined on his steak. Trying to find the right words, I decided to ask my first question.

“Why are you free? How did you come to this world? The portal shouldn’t be opening for another couple of weeks!” He lightly chuckled to himself.

“Oh believe me, my little pony, I do not need portals to venture through the vast cosmos of time and space, let alone to something as simple as another dimension.” I don't know what I was expecting for an answer to be honest. “Anywho, as for why I’m not stuck in a cold stone prison, well I am officially reformed thanks to Twilight and her friends, well, mainly Fluttershy but I suppose I can give the whole group credit.” Of course... why am I not surprised. The explanation had me more inclined to believe him. But still, it didn’t answer my burning question.

“Why are you here then? In my place of all places I might add,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and doing my best to not show any fear. It wasn’t really working. He put down his cigar in an ash tray that randomly appeared on the table, and crossed his hands together, still smiling at me with that smug expression.

“Well, I wanted to see you of course!” His voice was already starting to irritate me. It sounded so whimsical yet so sophisticated... I hated it. He must still be reading my thoughts because he smiled even wider, deciding to continue speaking before I could say anything else. “You know, Twilight talks about you occasionally. Or, oopsie, I met Princess Twilight.” My ears peaked up.

“She... she talks about me?”

“Oh don’t get your hopes up too much, it’s not often, if ever. She just sometimes wonders if leaving you in this world was a good idea or not. She wonders if you’re capable of reformation or if the girls here can even do it. Sometimes she asks that little dragon of hers whether she should have brought you back to Equestria to face justice.”

“Oh...” That.... that honestly hurt a bit. Discord, still smiling decided to add salt to the wound.

“She doesn’t talk about you with Celestia either, and the old princess herself never asked about you when she returned.”

“....oh.” I looked away from him, fighting to keep my tears inside. But... I don’t know... I figured I wasn’t worthy to be on their minds, I tell myself that all the time. But having it confirmed to me just made me feel like a piece of shit. His damn chuckles broke my thoughts.

“Yep, I would feel like shit to. From one piece of trash to the other, don’t think about it too much. Or do, I don’t care.” Wiping my eyes, I glared back at him, regaining my composure.

“That doesn’t answer my question, what are you doing here?” His smile turned into a twisted grin as I could feel his eyes burn a whole through my heart. I’m sure they could’ve if he wanted to.

“Well, I have a reason for being here, you’re not entirely that reason. But I just wanted to check on you, see the damned pupil for myself. I’ve heard stories about you. I remember you in those gardens, and I wanted to see how much of a failure you turned out to be. This world has its own version of the girls back home, and when I heard what you did to the Fluttershy here, well... let’s just say you were going to wish you were dead.” Those last words left me terrified as his voice got more demonic. But he then went back to his normal voice and his sly smile returned. “But, imagine my surprise when I arrived here, and I don’t see you in a pathetic state. I don’t see you in a corner full of rage and regret, withering away like the vermin you are. Now don’t get me wrong, you are still full of regret, rage and a lot of self-hatred, which is pathetic. But the surprise I got was far better than any punishment I could have dished out to you. I must say, this, was a marvelous idea on your part.”

From underneath the table, he pulled out the Mare-Do-Well's mask. I didn’t even flinch or object as he held it, at this point I just accepted whatever was going to happen. Not because of his words though, I tell myself that same shit enough. But just because of the nature of him.

“You know Sunset, one thing that fascinates me about this world is its natural chaos. These creatures are absolutely despicable. It’s a breath of fresh air really. The stark contrast to the typical monster in Equestria or evil God hellbent on power, to the simple rapist, murderers and druggies in this world. It’s incredible just how much chaos these humans can unleash to one another without magic. You my dear, seemed to have fit right in. Your attempts to control all of this is absolutely hilarious. Sad, but hilarious.” His laughter echoed from everywhere in my house, but the entire time I just stared down at the plate of food, accepting everything he said. Once he was done, he stood up, stretching his arms out while grabbing a golden cane from midair. “You know! I want to see you in action for myself!”

He snapped his fingers and I suddenly found myself standing over the edge of a rooftop in downtown Canterlot. The sun was gone and the moon was high in the sky, despite it just being eight in the morning. I was now wearing the costume; my cape was blowing viciously to the side. Discord was standing beside me, both his hands placed over the top of his cane. He took an exaggerated sniff of the air, breathing out in satisfaction.

“Don’t you just smell that chaos,” he cheered.

“What are we doing here? What’s your game?” I demanded. Discord looked over to me, that sinister grin slowly returning to his face.

“I don’t believe you’ve changed Shimmer. I believe you’re still the selfish brat from before. I could smell it off you back in Equestria.” He looked down to the alleyway below us where the shrieks of a woman were ringing through the air. I looked down below, my eyes widened at the scene. A man and a woman were being beaten by a group of four thugs. They were beating the man as two of them held down the woman. I turned around to glare at Discord.

“What is this?”

“Oh don’t look at me. This is just the reality of this world, the untamed chaos that these humans have unleashed. Why don’t you go do what you’re supposed to do ‘hero’ and fix it.”

“Fuck you,” I snarled before jumping onto the buildings storm drain, sliding down it until I reached the floor. The entire time I could hear Discords laughter howl into the air. The loud thud of my boots hitting the concrete ground made the group look over to me.

“The fuck? What’s with the Halloween costume freak?” said one of the thugs.

“That’s enough. Leave them alone or else.” The four of them let go of the couple, one of them grabbed an empty beer bottle off of the floor.

“Or else what? Bitch.” He lunged at me first, swinging the bottle towards my head. I ducked and tackled him to the ground, pounding away at his face. But after the fourth punch, I stopped and grabbed my side, wincing from the shock of pain that ran across my stomach. I didn’t take the morphine this morning. The only reason I was able to go out last night was because of it, but now that it’s worn off, I could feel all the pain again from the Flim Flam fight. For that brief moment I stopped, someone from behind me swung a metal pipe, hitting me right at the side of my head. In my dazed state, another guy dragged me to the ground by my cape, before kicking me repeatedly in my side. Curling up into a ball like a fetal, the other guy began to slam my back with the pipe. The pain was now unbearable, and mustering up everything I had, I swung my foot back, crashing my heel into the pipe wielders knee, causing him to drop the pipe and fall to the floor. The loud crack followed by his screams made the kicker stop for a minute, and with that brief period of time, I grabbed the pipe off the floor and bashed it into his ankle, sending him falling to the ground.

With the hit of adrenaline still washed over me, I got to my feet and began to hit the pipe over him repeatedly, my grunts of anger were accompanied by Discords maniacal laughter from up above. Satisfied with the bloody mess lying before me, I threw the metal pipe at the face of the third thug, and jumped at the fourth. He tried to stab me with a large hunting knife, but I was able to grab his wrist, twisting it in multiple directions until he dropped it. Finishing him off, I smashed my knee over the side of his head. With the adrenaline starting to drop, I stood up, panting heavily while holding my side. The only one that was still conscious was the one with the busted knee. He was trying to crawl away, scared out of his mind. Sighing, I looked behind me at the scared couple, trying my best to speak in a calm tone.

“It’s okay... you’re safe. Get out of here.” Without questioning, the two ran out of the alley.

“NO NO NO NO NO!” Discord yelled from up above like a child having a tantrum. Within the blink of an eye, he was down the building and standing right next to me, the look on his face was a mixture of annoyance and un-amusement, as if I had just taken a shit on his birthday cake.

“What do you want now,” I said in frustration. Discord was looking at the thug trying to crawl away, then back to me, his glare looking uncharacteristic of him given the brief time I’ve met him.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Kill him!”

“Are- are you serious? I’m not going to kill him you deranged lunatic. I’m going to tie him up with his friends and leave him for the cops.”

“DON’T GIVE ME THAT SUNSET SHIMMER!” The switch up in his voice made me back away in fear, it was loud, echoey and almost demonic like. “DON’T SIT THERE AND ACT LIKE YOU’RE SOME KIND OF GOOD PERSON! YOU’RE NO BETTER THAN THIS SCUM! IF YOU REALLY WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE THEN ACCEPT YOUR PLACE AMONGST THE FILFTH AND KILL HIM!” This set something off in me, and I suddenly found my confidence again.

“NO!” My sudden shout made even Discord look surprised. “No... you’re wrong. It has nothing to do with being a good person. It’s about doing what’s right! If I'm going to do this, I’m going to do it right!” I already told Red, I’m no killer. I was so close to crossing that line during the Fall Formal, I will not make that mistake again. Discord gritted his teeth, his eyes glowed red and his body started to change. Hair began to grow around his face, and the rest of his body started to extend like a snake. Horns began to protrude from the top of his head, and his teeth grew large and turned razor sharp. Soon he was in the form that I knew him to be, that all of Equestria knew him. The draconequus, the spirit of mischief, the lord of chaos. As the giant hybrid dragon stood above me, I did my best to be as fearless as I could be as I stood before him.

“Fine, if you won’t get the job done, I will!” He turned to face the crawling thug, and lunged at him with his mouth wide open, his rows of razor-sharp teeth were ready to strike.

“NO,” I yelled, and without even thinking, I lunged in front of him, standing between the him and the downed thug. With no hesitation, I threw my arm up into the air, lodging it between his mouth and stopping Discords attack. He chomped down, digging his teeth into my arm. I yelled in agony, but continued to hold my ground against the relentless beast. Even with my arm in his mouth, he still spoke in my mind clear as day.

“Why? Are you telling me you’re willing to risk your life just to save this trash?”

“YES!” I could feel his mouth slowly give. “You’re right, I’m not a good person. Nothing I can do will ever change that or make up for the pain I’ve caused. But I will not cross that line! I’ve spent my entire existence devaluing the gift of life, I almost killed innocent people at my school. I will never go back to being that person. Whether redemption is possible or not, I will do everything I can to save people, and do so without playing executioner. Because I learned that I am not above anybody. Not in this world or Equestria.”

“You’d refrain from killing criminals? Even if that damns you to a never-ending war against crime?”

“So be it. I will not spend the rest of my life as a monster.”

“Then you realize this is all in vain then.”

“No. Because of me people are alive and safe. Because of me violent criminals are behind bars. Nothing you say or do will ever take that away. Regardless of anything else, that’s the one thing I’m not ashamed of. If you want to kill this man then you’re going to have to tear me apart, because I don’t give a damn if you’re some kind of God or not, I will do everything I can to stop you Discord.” He didn’t say anything after that, and we were in the same position for a while, staring each other down, refusing to back out. But eventually he yielded, he opened his mouth and released my arm from his grasp, floating away as he continued to stare at me.

“Heh... you ponies, I swear.” With the flick of a finger, the world around us began to turn white, and everything began to fade away like the floating specs of a dandelion after being blown. Eventually I found myself back in my apartment, wearing the clothes I had been wearing after my shower. All the injuries I just sustained during that little scuffle were gone... except for the bite marks Discord gave me. Speaking of which, he was no longer in his natural form, but was back in his human form, tidying his suit and adjusting his tie.

“Huh? None of that was real?” I said, looking around in confusion. Discord just chuckled to himself.

“No my dear, none of that was real... except that bite I gave you.” I looked down to my arm, grimacing at the four punctured holes that were leaking blood onto my floor. “I could fix it, along with all your other injuries... but I won’t.”

“What was the point of all of this then?”

“I just wanted to see what you would do. You didn’t disappoint. I was lying to you, Twilight does talk about you quite a bit, and Celestia does ask her about you from time to time. Would you like to know what she says?” I smiled, and sighed a sigh of relief, feeling as if a dark thunder cloud had dissipated from around my heart. I collapsed onto the couch near me, closing my eyes with a grin.

“No... I don’t want to know.” Discord smiled, and began to walk towards my door, but stopped when he was in front of it.

“You know, I always wondered about this place, why the old wizard never gave much care to it. He only ever saw it as a dumping ground for monsters and dark magic. I always just assumed this place was far beyond saving... I guess I was wrong.” I raised my head over the couch's backrest, staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t worry about it. Hopefully I’ll see you again soon. This was quite the most fun I’ve had in a while, but I must get going, I have a tea date with Fluttershy. Too-da-loo.” With that, he snapped his fingers and disappeared before my eyes. Not trying to question the breakage of physics I just witnessed today, I laid back down on the couch, holding my blood-soaked arm while just staring at the ceiling.

“Fucking waste of a Sunday.”