The Adventures of the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!

SCOOTALOOS ROOM

I couldn’t sleep last night... I have a hard time sleeping nowadays. Every time I try to go back to bed, I keep remembering that day. The day the police officers arrived at my house, sat me down in the living room and told me that my mom and dad were missing... when they told me they found my dad's chopped off hand in their tent... I love Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty, but nothing they could’ve said or done after that day could make me feel any better. Aunt Holiday doesn’t talk much anymore, I mean dad was her little brother after all, I could only imagine what that feels like. So with the sun still set, I just stood in front of my bedroom mirror, seeing how long I could keep my eyes open before they began to turn red. I counted thirty seconds.

I looked awful, I really did. I never cared much for the girly stuff like Sweetie Belle, but I at least use to do the basic hygiene stuff. Wash my face, do my hair, that kind of stuff... but lately it’s been difficult doing that stuff too. My hairs always a mess, it’s been growing out and I haven’t been bothered to cut it nor shape it anymore. I just let it hang down, it’s almost covering my eyes now, it’s already gone past my ears and closing in over my shoulders actually. Diamond Tiara teased me saying it looks like I rolled off the bed and just walked out of the house, but at some point, when I stopped reacting, she backed off... though, she’s been getting kind of distant too after that whole Gabby Gums thing.

I stared at the five framed photos that were under my mirror. The first one was of me and my parents... Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood are their names. They’re adventurers, traveling the world to study rare wildlife, cultures and sometimes hunt treasures. But Aunt Holiday tells me they usually prefer to do science stuff then archaeology. She always tells me how important their work is, which I never doubted. It just sucks I don’t get to see them for a long time. If I’m lucky, I’d be able to see them at least three times a year... but that didn’t happen last year. It didn’t even happen once. They were out in the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, traveling with some other wildlife scientist, something about discovering a hidden part of the jungle. But that was the last we ever heard from them. Dad sent me one last letter before they went quiet. For a whole year there was no word, but I got distracted with all the crazy Fall Formal stuff. Afterwards though, at the beginning of this year is when the police told us they think they were kidnapped. Dad's hand.... well, I’ll just say there was a lot of other evidence for them to believe that... unfortunately since it’s in another country, there’s not much that they can do but leave it up to Brazilian officials to solve the case... since then, they’ve been the only thing on my mind. Auntie Lofty had to lock my door for a while because I was serious about going to Brazil to find them myself... I think Aunt Holiday was to. But Auntie is smart, she knew how dumb that would be... it’s the Amazon Rainforest after all.

Sighing, I looked over at the photo next to it where me, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were at a demolition derby, one of our many attempts to find something that we’re good at. I don’t know why, I guess we were just scared that we would be jobless after school... I miss doing that stuff though, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle still find hobbies, the newsroom being the latest, but I stopped after the police visit. I haven’t told them the truth, but they know somethings wrong. I was going to, but after they were kidnapped by that Changeling gang over the Gabby Gums stuff, I figured they had enough on their plates. Plus, it seems Applebloom had even more issues when her family was being blackmailed by two other criminals, they almost killed Applejack too until the Ghost of Canterlot saved her... I wish the ghost could save mom and dad. I wish I could find a way to call out to it if the stories I’ve seen on the news are true.

The next photo was the three of us with our sisters and their friends. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were standing behind the three of us while we were all posing in front of a roller coaster at Equestria Land. One of the best days of my life, it happened right after the Fall Formal. I’m glad those girls are friends again, though I don’t know how I feel about Sunset Shimmer hanging out with them now. We didn’t invite her that day for obvious reasons, the Fall Formal was still so fresh on our minds, we just wanted a break. Plus, Applebloom was pretty serious about not inviting her. But after recently? It was crazy of her to take the fall for the Gabby Gums stuff, and I don’t know what happened, but both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are friends with her now... I still don’t know what the think about her, plus we’ve never really talked. Even back when she was the number one bully, our paths never crossed.

The fourth photo was of me and my aunts, and the fifth was me and Rainbow Dash at a soccer game she took me to... I still haven’t told her either. She knows I’m dealing with stuff, but I haven’t said what. I feel awful because Rainbow Dash is the coolest person I know; she’s like my big sister and I want to be brave just like her! But... I’m not. I’m so scared, and sad, and I don’t know what to do. I just want my mom and dad back... I want them to be safe, but I’m scared their dead or being hurt.......... they’re most likely dead already...... I don’t think they’ll ever find their bodies...... the suns rising, I should get ready for school.

CHS

It's pretty cool Rainbow Dash started a band with the other girls. I was in the band room with them, sitting on the side steps on the right side of the room. Sitting next to me was Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, we were all on the edge of the steps as the girls jammed on, Rainbow taking the forefront as she shredded her guitar. I got to admit, even in my current mood, Rainbow Dash could always get a smile off of me, even if they weren't the smiles like they use to be, it was still something. As she shredded her axe, the other girls slowly eased off their instruments, looking annoyed at Rainbow Dash as she bounced up and down, feeling in sync with the music that she was playing. After some time, she began to float in the air, the wind around us started to pick up like a mini tornado, sparks of rainbows shot out from her, and eventually her hair grew long like a tail, and horse ears popped out of her head. But what really awed me were the wings that shot out of her back, and as she neared the end of her solo, she flew down to the ground, sending a rainbow shockwave across the room. It was like a hurricane blaring across the music room, sheets of music were scattered in the air as Rainbow Dash closed out.

“Wasn’t that awesome,” she said, but the other girls didn’t look as happy as she did.

“By awesome, if you mean hogging up the lime light, then sure. Anyways I’m more curious about those ears and wings of yours. You ponied up again,” said Rarity, staring at Rainbow Dash as if she was a zoo animal. Dash looked behind her, seeing her wings slowly start to disappear. It was weird, I didn’t really understand any of it, but occasionally when they played their instruments, they would ‘pony up,’ as they called it, just like back at the Fall Formal. I’m guessing it’s that other worldly magic Twilight brought... or something like that.

“Whatever it is, it’s super awesome,” shouted Rainbow Dash again.

“Oh oh oh oh! What if the magic is connected to our instruments! Like some kind of magical battery! Kind of how like how when I eat cupcakes and I get like, super-duper extra-duper hyper,” said Pinkie. The thought of an even crazier Pinkie kind of disturbed me.

“I guess that could be one explanation... but it’s not like our instruments themselves are magical,” said Fluttershy so quietly that I’m surprised anyone was able to hear her at all. Still, don’t let her timidness fool you, one time me and the girls had a sleepover at her place, Rarity was busy that night, and to keep us from trashing the house, she gave us this really scary stare. Shut us up right then and there.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure someone here could explain it,” said Rainbow Dash. As if on cue, we all looked to the back corner of the room at the girl was who sitting against the wall. Sunset Shimmer had her knees up against her chest, with arms wrapped around them and her head lying between them. Quietly, she was snoring with her eyes closed, stuck in a deep sleep.

“She’s still asleep through all of that?” Sweetie said in disbelief. Rarity sighed, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head as her keyboard dangled from the strap over her shoulder.

“She’s been asleep since we got here. I was the first one here and I found her nodding away in that corner,” said Rarity.

“Yeah, which is a real shame too since I was going to give her a big mega hug since we haven’t seen her for two whole weeks!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“Yeah well, I was going to give her a piece of my mind. She hasn’t been answering my calls or text at all the past two weeks, and she’s missing a tooth. Plus, I’m still mad at her about the Gabby Gums thing, when she wakes up, I’m going to give her a talking to,” declared Rainbow Dash.

“I’m more surprised she’s even tired, she had two weeks off of school. Imma try and wake her up,” said Applebloom with a big grin on her face. She was about to get up, but stopped when Applejack cleared her throat loudly enough to grab all of our attention.

“Nah, just leave her alone, we still got a couple of minutes before the bell rings. I know other than me, Rarity, Sweetie and Applebloom, none of y'all have seen her for a while, but I’m sure the girls got a good reason for hitting the hay as hard as she is.” The entire time, she wasn't looking at any of us, she was focused on tuning her guitar. That’s when we were all startled by the sudden shouts coming from Sunset Shimmer.

“NO! I’M SORRY!” Sunset Shimmer was now wide awake, breathing heavily as if someone dumped a bucket of ice water on her. We all stood still in silence, staring at her with puzzled faces... all except Applejack who was still tuning her guitar. She didn’t look surprised by Sunsets sudden episode at all.

“Morning sleepy head,” Applejack said, looking away from her guitar and to the shaken-up Sunset. Looking around the room, Sunset’s breathing quickly steadied itself, and almost with the snap of the finger, she looked calm. I was kind of shocked how quickly she was able to get a grip... it sounded like she was having a pretty bad nightmare.

“Dang... how long was I out? I don’t even remember coming in here,” Sunset said, rubbing her one tired exposed eye with the back of her hand. I just now realized she had a new hairstyle, her long bangs were covering her right eye completely, and the rest of her hair was kind of shaggy and messily hung around her shoulders. It was a bit 90s grunge if you asked me... but I kind of liked it, it looked cool. Only now was I starting to see that missing tooth Rainbow Dash was talking about... it looked really bad. What really struck me though was her one exposed eye. The dark bags that hung around it and the bloodshot red state of it reminded me of my own tired eyes. I knew she hadn’t been sleeping much because even after a nap that hard, she looked so exhausted.

“Just for about twenty minutes... long night?” asked Applejack, a warm smile was stretched across her face. Sunset took a deep sigh and leaned her head back against the wall, grinning back at AJ.

“Yeah... really long night.” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and glared at her, letting her guitar hang from her shoulder strap. But before she was about to say anything, Rarity leaned a bit forward, getting a good look at Sunset, her brow furrowed and she looked like she was forcing a smile.

“Oh my... uhm... forgive me for being so straightforward darling... but what on earth did you do to your lovely hair?” If you knew Rarity for long enough, you knew she was holding in her screams right now. Sunset stared at her with a blank face, blinking a bit as if she had no idea what Rarity was talking about. Only after a couple of seconds did the blank look get replaced with a small smile, as if the comment finally made sense to her.

“Oh, this? Just wanted to try something new is all. I’ll admit though, it isn’t my best work, but I like how it came out.” She stood up from the ground, stretching her arms and legs out as if she were stuck in a sleeping pod for years. I was starting to notice that she was beginning to wear jeans all the time now, but I guess it makes sense since its still pretty cold. But I don’t know, she usually never wears them. The only other style change that caught my eye were the fingerless gloves on her hands. Those were new I thought. But she was still wearing the black leather jacket everyone knew her to wear, and that purple t-shirt with that wicked sun logo... I don’t know why I was so interested in what she was wearing, but for some reason right now just feels like the first time I’m really looking at her. I kind of dig her style. Smiling a little, I spoke.

“Rough nightmare?” I don’t know why I said it, but it just slipped out. Everyone in the room looked over to me, probably surprised that I actually spoke. Even Rainbow Dash looked a little shocked that I said something, to Sunset nonetheless. I don’t blame them though; I don’t think I’ve really talked to anyone for more than three weeks now. I've just been kind of a ghost at CHS for a while. But Sunset didn’t look as surprised, she just gave me a smirk while picking up her bag.

“Something like that kid.” I couldn’t help but grin, ignoring the looks I was getting from everyone else.

“You got any advice on how to get rid of them?” The silence that hung in the air was pretty awkward. From the corner of my eye, I could see Rainbow Dash and the other girls giving me weird, almost concerned looks. But I chose to ignore them and keep my eyes on Sunset. Although she wasn’t giving me a weirded out look, she didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she kind of stood there for a second, tilting her head curiously as she stared at me. I mean really stared at me as if she was like, analyzing my face or something. After like, two seconds, she smiled while scratching the back of her neck.

“Nope, I’m probably not the best person to ask that specific question. But whatever's bothering you, it’ll go away when you confront it,” she said, walking down the stage and brushing past me. “Or it won’t, it all depends on you kid.” I looked back to her, a little stunned. Something about her straightforwardness... I kind of liked it. Though, admittedly that wasn’t the answer I wanted, but it was probably going to be the best answer I would get.

“Where are you going?” asked Applejack, still messing with her guitar as she watched Sunset approach the door.

“Principal's office, I was supposed to go there this morning. Was the ride back to Canterlot alright?” Applejack sighed, putting her attention back to her guitar. I couldn’t tell whether she was upset at her, or happy with her. It was a weird mixture of both.

“It was pretty smooth, would’ve been better if the dang storm hadn’t reared its ugly head.”

“That’s good to hear. What about you kid? I know it must’ve been a crazy week for you,” said Sunset, looking over to Applebloom.

“Aw shucks, it was nothing. I’m just glad my sister is alright. She told you about those dirty brothers and their robot? And how the Ghost of Canterlot saved her!” She stood up from the steps, raising her fist up and punching the air as she started talking about the Ghost of Canterlot. “Just like how the ghost saved us from those darn gosh old Changelings. The way it punches and fights is so cool.”

“Well, I wouldn’t idolize him to much deary. I’m sure the ghost is a vigilante,” said Rarity.

“I heard it was a woman in one of the papers,” added Fluttershy.

“Well, whatever it is, they have my support. Anyone who stands up against evil and saves my friends is awesome in my books,” declared Rainbow Dash. Much like everything, I agreed with her on this. The Ghost of Canterlot saved my best friend and her family twice now... I wish I could contact him... maybe he can do something about my parents.

“Well, I don’t support it. I’m glad he or she saved your lives, but I wouldn’t call them a good person,” Sunset said. We all kind of looked at her a little confused.

“Whaaaaaat? How could you say that Sunny! We have our very own superhero in this city!” said Pinkie. But Sunset just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

“More like a wackjob. If some lunatic is serious about playing Halloween, jumping on rooftops and beating up people with their bare hands, they probably have a screw loose or something. Like seriously, when did breaking the law become okay? Should people just start hurting themselves because they think they’re helping others?”

“Oh you’re one to talk,” muttered Rainbow Dash from under her breath. That’s when the air in the room went from awkward to tense.

“Dangit Rainbow, take that ba-” began Applejack, but Sunset stood in front of her with her arm raised out, stopping her from continuing.

“No, she’s got a point. I am one to talk, right Dash? After all, I tried to kill all of you, so who am I to talk about right and wrong or the law?”

“Dangit Sunset, just hold on a min-” Applejack tried to say again, but this time Rainbow Dash put her arm up, glaring at Sunset as the two stared each other down.

“Stay out of this AJ, I’m not taking anything back. I’m not talking about your past Sunset, and I wasn’t talking about the law either. I was talking about that stupid stunt you pulled two weeks ago,” shouted Rainbow Dash. Sunset’s glare eased a bit, she almost looked a bit taken by surprised. Lowering the tone of her voice, Rainbow Dash continued. “You don’t get to judge people for doing crazy things to help others when you yourself did the same thing.”

“Oh for the love of God, I already told you it’s whatever.”

“No, it’s not whatever. Have you seen your locker Sunset? It’s more vandalized than it’s ever been! For the past two weeks I had to grit my teeth while students talked trash behind your back, talking about how they’ll make your return to school a living hell. All because you wanted to take the fall for the kids. The only reason I haven’t said anything is because Applejack was right, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle have already gone through enough and they don’t need more crap on their plate. But don’t you stand there and tell me that you taking the fall was no big deal. What’s pissing me off though is you’re just accepting it. You’re not trying to fix anything!”

“And who ever said I wanted anything to be fixed? What do you want me to do Rainbow Dash? I tormented this school and tried to kill everyone. You want me to go around holding people's hands shouting kumbaya? I took that blame because I can handle it. I’m already known as a bully so it is whatever. Don’t compare my actions to the vain conquest of a lunatic!”

“ Well that lunatic saved our friends lives, and their families! Did you know the Flim Flam brothers were going to hurt AJ’s family? Even Babs and Braeburn? Say what you will about this vigilante all you want, but Pinkie is right, we have a hero in this city who stood up to save our friends... just like how you did with the kids. If that makes him an idiot, well then so are you.” I could see Sunset begin to grit her teeth. I don’t know why, but she seemed really bothered by the Ghost of Canterlot. Or actually, I don’t think she liked the idea of heroes at all. More specifically, it seems like she herself didn’t like being compared to one or being seen as one. Which I think upset Rainbow Dash the most. The fact she would do something so selfless like take the fall for the Gabby Gums thing, but she’s refusing to acknowledge it as a good or bad deed, and just letting the school degrade her down.

“Whatever,” sighed Sunset, turning around and walking towards the door. But Dash still looked pretty ticked.

“Well hold on, we’re not done here. You still have injuries, and don’t think I haven’t noticed your missing tooth. Are you going to finally tell us what that’s all about? Rarity’s been worried sick about you for the past two weeks. Even Fluttershy and Pinkie were going to go to your house to make sure you were okay.” Sunset stopped, and glared back at Dash.

“It’s none of your business, I’m sick of repeating myself,” she snarled. The statement honestly took me by surprised, and Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to erupt again, until Applebloom stepped forward.

“I’ve been worried about you too Sunset... are you still being hurt by those guys? I know you said you don’t like the Ghost of Canterlot, but maybe he could help you.” There was a silence afterwards, and Sunset just stared at Applebloom with a blank face, until she erupted out into laughter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sunset laugh, let alone laugh as hard as she was doing now.

“Oh... I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh out like that. Trust me kid, whoever this idiot is, I’m sure they have much more important things to do then waste their time on me. I’m fine Applebloom, honestly,” she said, holding her stomach and wiping away a tear. She took a deep breath and composed herself, looking over to Rainbow Dash with a light smile. “Listen... I'm sorry for blowing up like that. I've just had a rough weekend... we cool?” Rainbow Dash stared at her for a bit, before relaxing her brow and taking a deep breath.

“Yeah... I’m sorry too... we’re cool,” responded Rainbow Dash, though she still didn’t look too happy. Sunset sighed and looked over to Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy, smiling at the girls with an uncharacteristically warm smile.

“Thank you for your concerns, it means a lot. But I promise you, I’m fine. No need to worry about me.” Fluttershy blushed a bit while hiding behind her hair, looking away while fiddling with her tambourine. Rarity just took a deep sigh, probably relieved that Rainbow Dash and Sunset didn’t erupt into another fight like last time. Pinkie was still smiling, happy that Sunset and Rainbow Dash quickly apologized and made up. The one person who didn’t look happy though besides Rainbow Dash was AJ. The entire time she was just glaring at Sunset, clearly ticked off about something. “Anyways, I should go see what Celestia wants, I’ll catch you guys later at lunch,” said Sunset before exiting the room.

“Well, that went better than I had expected to be honest,” said Rarity once the door shut.

“Dang girl is way too stubborn... like you Dash,” said AJ. Rainbow rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

“I just wish she would be more open with us... more trusting of us. But she still has a wall up and I don’t see it cracking any time soon,” said Dash.

“Just be patient girls. Sunset hasn’t been on anyone's good side for more than three years, I’m sure this friendship thing is still new to her. She’ll open up when she’s ready,” said Rarity. As the group talked amongst themselves, the conversation went back to the Ghost of Canterlot and then to music. The entire time though I was still staring at the door. Something about Sunsets reaction to the Ghost seemed a bit too personal.

It’s probably nothing though. The bells about to ring, and it’s right back to the nightmare.