The Adventures of the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!

AT A WAREHOUSE ON THE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF CANTERLOT

I really need to look into getting some form of transportation or build that grappling hook I’ve been designing. Running and hopping on top of trains and buses wasn’t the most ideal way of traversing the city. But thankfully the abandoned warehouse that Spoiled Rich once used to store legitimate goods wasn’t that far of a run from Filthy’s mansion. I was on the roof of the structure, peering down into the building through the yellowed stained skylight. The position gave me a clear view of the main warehouse where I saw something I had hoped to never see. Leaned up against some crates in the center of the room were Applebloom and Sweetie Belle with gags in their mouths and hands tied behind their backs. Tears stained their terrified faces as they looked up to their capturers. Changelings. Just great. Spoiled Rich is now having them kidnap minors. Just another crime to add to the ever-growing list. There were two changeling members standing in front of the terrified children. The one near Applebloom had a cigarette poking out through his lips and wielded a large crowbar. The other standing next to sweetie belle had a large chain wrapped around his left forearm with the end dangling to the ground, and a machete clutched in his right hand. Both were sporting the black leather jackets that the changelings were known for. Slowly, I creaked open the skylight, and climbed my way through it, landing on top of the scaffolding that was directly under it. Quickly, I ducked behind some empty wooden crates, and quietly began to climb down behind the scaffolding. It was a bit difficult given how close to the wall the metal bars were. Being in such a tight space made me feel like I was in a Daring - Do novel. Eventually I made it to the ground, and like a rat moving through the shadows, I darted behind some nearby crates. From here, I peeked over the boxes and observed the area.

“Damn, we finally got this bitch to calm down,” said a voice from the entrance. Two more changeling members entered the main room dragging…Applejack. The state she was in sent a chill down my spine. She was being dragged by the end of a rope that had been tied around her body, entrapping her like a cocoon. But what horrified me the most was her face. She had been badly beaten as the side of her face was bloodied and swelled. The changelings threw her in front of Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, who began whimpering louder behind their gags.

“The Hell took you two so long?” Asked the changeling with the crowbar. The other two that had just entered were wiping blood off their hands with a dirty towel.

“This fucking farm cunt was a real pain in the ass. The entire time we had her in Cercus’ trunk, the bitch wouldn’t stop pounding. Even Teneye had to smack her with the butt of his shotgun and she still had some fucking fight in her,” said the Changeling. The other Changeling that had entered the room with him had a Remington pump action shotgun flung across his shoulder. He pulled out a carton of cigarettes and placed one in his mouth.

“Little cowgirl is one tough son of a bitch. If we didn’t barge into that farm by surprise, she would’ve put up one hell of a fight.” After the Changeling was done lighting his cigarette, he aimed the tip of the shotgun right at Applejacks face, pressing the barrel into the side of her head. With a wicked grin he chuckled. “Shit, it would probably be easier if we just blow her fucking head off right now.” My blood began to boil at this point, and I was sure my knuckles were turning white underneath my gloves. The Changeling with the machete looked at the frightened girls, then down to Applejack lying in a pool of her own blood. He took a deep sigh and shook his head disapprovingly.

“Man, this is so fucked. Can someone explain to me why we’ve just kidnapped a bunch of children? Are we really about to kill some fucking kids?” He asked. The Changeling with the crowbar blew out some smoke from his nostrils as he stared down at the three girls.

“You’re telling me. I mean, I don’t mind killing them, but fuck. It’s gonna bring a lot of heat down on us. I’m just wondering what the fuck these little shits did that would make Spoiled’s bitch ass so riled up. I mean for Christ sakes, how old do you think these two bitches are? Eleven? Twelve?” He spoke while pointing the machete at both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. The shotgun changeling took the barrel of the gun away from Applejacks face and flung it back over his shoulder before looking at the others.

“Shit if that. I know they’re the same age as Spoiled Riches little bitch daughter. I’m just more annoyed we have to wait for Spoiled’s men to come down here. The fuck do they need to be here for? To question them? I would’ve figured having us kidnap some children would’ve been past the point of questioning. This shits such a pain in the ass. We should’ve just killed all of them back at the hick's farm. This whole little showbiz shit is such a waste of our time. You know if it wasn’t for Chrysalis, I’d kill so many of Spoiled Riches guys by now. Those stupid mafia fucks are so full of themselves. Not even those motherfucking Griffon biker bastards would have the nerve to kill children over the smallest shit. These fucking crystals better be worth it man. That’s all I’m saying.”

The mention of crystals piqued my interest. It had seemed as if there was a bit of reluctancy between the two criminal factions over this. But the name Chrysalis really caught my attention, and much like Sombra, the name sent a shiver down my spine. I dreaded to know what this worlds counterpart of the infamous queen would entail. They did have a point though. This all seemed a little extreme, but I suppose extreme violence was something Spoiled Rich was known for. Still, the murder of school girls, let alone girls that went to the same school as her daughter seemed ludicrous. Surely, she must know that if this links back to her, there would be a lot of pressure on her and her organization by authorities. No, there must be another angle to all of this.

From what Diamond Tiara told me, this all started back when Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo joined the Canterlot High news team. No doubt in their never-ending pursuit in finding a special talent. I think the fear of not fitting in has always been their drive to finding different hobbies to relish themselves in, and the news team was no different. At first, they weren't very good at it, or rather they just couldn’t meet Tiara’s unrealistic expectations. Every story they turned in was met with disapproval by her. Shortly after, Scootaloo had left the team, probably on account of those personal problems that Dash was talking about. Afterwards, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle would submit the story on Bon Bon and Lyra. Tiara found the story to be quite entertaining, and told both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to continue finding more personal secrets of the students of CHS. They went by Gabby Gums as a way of concealing their own identities. But apparently at some point, the girls had a change of heart. They wanted out, but Tiara wouldn’t let them. She threatened to tell the entire school that it was them who were Gabby Gums, and when the two girls warned her that they’d go to Principal Celestia, Tiara told them that she would ensure that they would never be involved in any club within CHS ever again.

Now for the girls I’d imagine this is all a pretty serious conundrum, but things quickly escalated into something more dangerous. Diamond Tiara said that the two young girls sought to find a way to blackmail her. Although Diamond claimed it was all just to get one over on her, I believe Applebloom and Sweetie Belle just felt cornered, and the only way their young minds could think to get out of the situation was to find something on Tiara and use against her. That something was her mother. The two girls would trail Diamond after school until they eventually found the dirt they were looking for. Tiara told me that the next day Applebloom and Sweetie Belle confronted her about Spoiled’s little ventures.

They had a recording of her mother on the phone with someone discussing an assassination attempt on an unamend rival gang leader, an import of cocaine and the crystals, and some of her racketeering operations. Spoiled had been over at Filthys mansion to pick up Tiara, and was having the phone call in the back yard. The girls hid in a bush and recorded the whole thing, then later sent it to Tiara to show that they weren't lying. Tiara informed me that she didn’t really know what her mother was talking about, and I don’t think Applebloom or Sweetie Belle really knew either. I’d have to imagine that all they heard was murder and drugs, and that was enough for them to realize they had some top-notch dirt. Although she didn’t know the exact details of it, Tiara knew exactly what her mother does, so in a panic she informed her and showed her the video. Even though she didn’t tell me, the bruise on the side of her face told me that she received a beating for this. Spoiled Rich then sent one of her goons after Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. Diamond Tiara doesn’t know how, but they managed to talk to the girls privately, and informed both that they would hurt their families if they ever showed anyone the video. No wonder they were so frustrated and paranoid. Poor girls must’ve been terrified.

Diamond Tiara figured that everything was back to normal, and continued her school as if nothing ever happened, forcing the two girls to continue publishing Gabby Gums articles. It sounds morbid I know, but I don’t think Diamond truly understood what her mother had just done. The day after the threats, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle would submit the article on Fluttershy, and Diamond threw in the story on me after Trixie submitted the photos. But for some reason, Spoiled decided to go on ahead and have the two girls killed, causing Tiara to panic. That’s when she called me. But my question is why? None of this makes any sense. I told Tiara to send the video to a specified number, which would be for my burner phone. I’d look at the video later tonight. But still, it was all weird. Why have the Changelings commit this crime? Could it be to keep the murders as far away from her as possible? No, it couldn’t be. Even an amateur detective could trace this back to her. It also couldn’t be because she wasn’t able to carry this out. She clearly had the manpower and associates who could not only track, but confront the girls privately. Also, why not have the girls killed back at the farm? I mean thank Celestia that the scumbags didn’t, but it doesn’t make any sense. What could they possibly want to question? Spoiled knows that these aren’t cops or criminals. They’re just little girls who’d keep their mouth shut by an empty threat. So, what possible information could they possibly ring out of them? My thought process was broken by the sound of someone else entering the room.

It was another changeling, but this one was much bigger. He was as big as Iron Will before the crystal injection. He wore a black tank top tucked into blue jeans. His golden cowboy belt buckle shined brightly amidst the dreary scenery, and the steps of his black cowboy boots dominated the quietness. He had on black shades, and his thinning hair was slicked back. The light stubble was all that was on his square chin.

“Shit,” I mumbled to myself as my eyes widened. He was dragging Rarity by the hair. She was a mess, mascara running down her face, and her clothes were covered in dirt. But she didn’t look injured.

“Cercus, where the Hell were you?” asked the crowbar wielding Changeling. The hulking brute threw Rarity next to Applejack. He then spoke in a low, deep voice that sounded rough as nails. The voice sounded familiar, and after rejogging my memory, I recognized it. It was the same voice from the megaphone back at the bar. The same voice that ordered the gunfire that tried to kill me, and did kill the man within my clutches. I could feel knots tightening around my stomach.

“I went back to the farm real quick. Checked to see if the old hag or the big fucker was back. They’re still out unfortunately. We can go back later and kill them after this shit.” Easy Sunset, I had to tell myself. But hearing these bastards talk so casually about killing Applejacks family was beginning to piss me off. “That’s when I found this bitch snooping around. I think it’s the white one's older sister,” the man named Cercus said. Just as I thought before coming in here. Rarity had hung up earlier because she had to go pick up her sister. She probably got to the farm after they were gone, and this bastard found her. Rarity got to her hands and knees and hovered over Applejack. Her sobs grew louder as she held her bloodied friend. She looked over to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, then back at Cercus with pure rage.

“How dare you! You cruel monsters! Let my sister and my friends go you -” with unfathomable speed, Cercus punched her square in the face, shooting Rarity straight to the cold concrete ground. I hadn’t even processed what had just happened before Cercus was on top of Rarity beating her senseless.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH. KEEP YOUR WHORE MOUTH SHUT AND DON’T EVER TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” Cercus yelled as he stomped on Rarity. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle cried out, begging him to stop through their gags. All while Applejack’s one good eye widened with anger. She desperately tried to break free of her bondage, but her worn out body just couldn’t build the energy up to fight. Even the other changelings stepped back in fear. At this point I had enough, it was time to stop this madness. But I couldn’t just jump in there like a dumbass. The girls were right by them, and one of them had a shotgun. I couldn’t risk getting them killed. Quickly I looked around the warehouse, hoping to find something I could use to distract the group. That’s when my eyes fell upon a fuse box right behind me. Moving as swift and quietly as I could, I hurried over to the box, and breathed a sigh of relief when I found it wasn’t locked. Without thinking, I flung the door open, and began to violently rip out random cables. Immediately the lights to the entire warehouse turned off, engulfing the area in darkness. You couldn’t tell from behind the mask, but a grin was plastered on my face.

Cercus’ beating ceased, and him and the others looked around in confusion. Even through the darkness I could see his pearly white teeth shine as he smiled.

“The caped freak is here. Kill her,” he ordered. Just as I hoped for, the four other changelings dispersed in opposite directions, away from the girls. Now I can really do something. The unarmed Changeling walked over to the fuse box, grumbling to himself in annoyance.

“Who’s here? Seriously that fucking psychopath is just dumb. Ain’t nobody fucking here, it’s just this piece of shit short fused,” he grumbled to himself. Once he was Infront of the box, he leaned in closer to examine in, and that’s when I slowly crept my way up to him.

“Huh, that’s weird. It looks as if someone ripped- CRASH” I slammed his head face first into the box causing sparks to light up all over. The electricity and force of the impact wouldn’t kill him, I already told myself I didn’t want to be a killer. But it would definitely leave scars. With his hair still clutched in my hand, I threw his limp body onto the floor, before disappearing back into the shadows. As I made my way through the back of the scaffolding, I heard footsteps approaching. Instinctively, I jumped onto a nearby crate and climbed up the second story of the scaffold. From here I could see the machete wielding changeling making his way down the aisle with caution. As I waited for him to walk under me, I crouched down, waiting to pounce on him like a lion hiding from its prey. Once he was directly under me, I jumped from the scaffold and crashed down onto him. He didn’t even have a chance to react before he was engulfed by my cloak. The heels of both my boots crash landed on top of his head, and within seconds he was down on the floor. Before he could regain his senses, I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him back down onto the concrete floor, knocking him out as blood shot through hit nose. Two down, three to go.

Both the Changelings with the shotgun and crowbar were above me. The sound of their boots rattling the metal balcony told me exactly where they were. I hopped back onto the crate and began climbing up the scaffold until I was within reach of the second-floor balcony. I grabbed onto the ledge and skimmed my away across to where they were. Thankfully the darkness was still concealing me. Once I was under them, I grabbed the foot of the closest changeling, hoping it was the one with the shotgun, and dragged him down through the railing and flung him off the second floor. His body crashed through a wooden crate, and I could see him squirm around in pain inside the box before going limp. To my utter dismay, I saw the crowbar lying right next to the box, followed by the sound of a shotgun being pumped. Without even thinking I jumped onto the balcony, barley avoiding the shotgun blast aimed at me. The shot was so loud that my ears were now muffled and ringing. But I couldn’t focus on that right now. I charged right at the thug before he could pump the shotgun again, tackling him to the ground. As I did, he let out another shot, this time way closer to my face. I was pretty sure I was going to be deaf in my left ear for a while. We wrestled around on the floor of the balcony for a bit, before I crashed my elbow into his side, applying all my weight until I heard the sound of his ribs snap. He let out a howl of pain, and his grip around the gun loosened. I took the opportunity to rip it out of his hand, dislocating his finger that was still stuck in the trigger. Before he could even move, I slammed the butt of the gun down on his face two to three times before he knocked out. Breathing heavily to myself, I threw the gun over the rails, hearing it land on some metal. After regaining my composure, I made my way down to where the girls were. To my shock, Cercus was nowhere in sight. I told myself to be suspicious about this, but the sight of the girls overtook my instincts, and I rushed over to them. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle began cowering under me, terrified by my presence.

“Shh, it’s okay. You girls are safe now, I’m here to help. I won’t hurt you,” I said. This seemed to calm them down enough. I untied Applebloom, then Sweetie Belle. Both jumped up and embraced me in a tight hug, much to my shock. I wanted to push them off, but the warm tears of their sobs into my stomach told me not to. This was the first time anyone came to me for comfort. All my life I’ve been use to people fearing, hating or being jealous of me. But never have I felt this sense of comfort and compassion. It was the most real human expression I’ve ever felt. Especially since in the same day, both of these girls expressed just how much of a monster I’ve been in their lives. Ignoring my feelings as Sunset Shimmer, I tried to comfort them as the Mare-Do-Well, something I should’ve probably done with Tiara. With one arm, I gently wrapped it around both of them, trying my best to remain calm.

“I know, I know. But come on, we have to leave. More could be coming. Help me with your sisters. The two girls slowly let go of me, and ran over to their respective sibling. The sight of them wasn’t pretty. Applejacks face was covered in bruises and blood. Her right eye was swollen, and her hair was a mess. Applebloom wasted no time untying her. Rarity looked awful. Her face was also bloody mess, and she was clutching her stomach. I could only imagine the pain she was feeling after such ferocious kicks. Sweetie Belle was holding her tightly, crying her eyes out.

“Sis, I’m so sorry. Please be okay. Oh gosh, don’t die.” She looked up at me with a look of panic. “Is she going to be, okay? Please help!” she begged.

“She’ll be okay, but we need to get her and Applejack to a doctor. I’m going to need your help carrying her,” I said. I began to walk over to them, but stopped dead in my tracks from the sounds of footsteps approaching from behind. With the weight of tension building up in me, I turned to look over at Cercus, who had a crazed look on his face. Applebloom had managed to untie the knot, but she was now looking at the man with scared eyes. I could hear both hers and Sweetie Belles breathing intensify.

“Well, I’ll be damned. You actually came. You know we were worried you wouldn’t come. I found the biggest flaw in all of this was how we were actually supposed to get you to find us. But somehow you managed to follow some clues and come for the girls. Bravo hero,” Cercus said with enthusiasm. That’s when the awful realization hit me. What Cercus just said finally answered my question on why any of this was happening. It wasn’t about the girls. It was all a trap for me, and I stupidly caught myself in it.

“There is no one coming, is there?” I asked, realizing that Spoiled Riches men weren't heading here. Cercus giggled to himself while shaking his head. The entire time he didn’t blink or break eye contact with me.

“Nope, this was all just for you. We only agreed to this because I was promised that I’d have the chance to kill you. Nobody fucks with the Changelings,” said Cercus. I raised an eyebrow at this. Sure, he was a big guy, but I’ve fought bigger. Plus, I had already taken out the other four guys. Surely This couldn’t be the big plan to get rid of me? That’s when Cercus pulled out a small black box tucked behind his pants. I couldn’t but help sigh and chuckle a bit.

“Crystals huh? I wouldn’t bother with that Cercus. You may put up a good fight, but I’ve taken out a crystal user before,” I said confidently, remembering the battle I had with Iron Will almost two weeks ago. Sure, the fight had pushed me to my absolute limit, but I gained experience through it. Already at this moment, I was surveying the warehouse. Analyzing different methods to take out the soon to be raging beast. I just had to get the girls out of here. But to my surprise, Cercus just howled in laughter. He removed his shades, revealing his crazed twitching eyes, and threw them to the floor. Opening the box revealed not a syringe like Iron Wills, but a medium sized red crystal.

“Oh please, you crack me up. That fool doesn’t realize the full potential of these things. He only ever took it in small dosages. Breaking up the material into an easy, injectable liquid. He was just too much of a pussy to take in the crystal's full potential. But not me.” He took the crystal out of the box and held it firmly in his hand. His insane laughter grew louder, and louder as the crystal began to glow. The sole light that was being illuminated from the shard shined over Cercus, covering him in a sinister crimson red hue. Suddenly I didn't feel so confident anymore. I turned around to face the girls, and with urgency in my voice, told them to get out of here. Applejack was slowly getting to her feet, coughing out some blood as she got to one knee.

“I’m alright sugercube,” she said to Applebloom as her little sister tried to help her up. “Just go help Sweetie Belle get Rarity up, I don’t have the strength in me to carry her. You’re going to have carry her out of here with Sweetie.” Applebloom hesitated for a moment before reluctantly nodding her head in understanding. She ran over to her friend and knelt down on the other side of Rarity. The two girls grabbed an arm and took a deep breath. With a bit of struggle, they managed to lift her onto her feet, using themselves as a sort of crutch on each side. They then slowly made their way to the door. Applejack looked at me with her one good eye.

“Wait, I’m so grateful to you for saving my family. But who are you? What’s going on?” She asked, slightly hunched over and grabbing her side.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m just here to help. Your sister can explain everything to you later. Just get out and call 911, I think it’s going to get really bad in here,” I responded, turning my attention back to Cercus. Blood was oozing from his hand down his forearm. The shard slowly began to dissolve into his hand, and red like electricity began to flow all throughout his body. It was as if he was being charged like a battery. His laughter grew louder and louder, echoing all around us in an unnatural manner, and what happened next filled me with dread.

Cercus began to grow in size, his clothes ripping apart and exposing his bare skin. But his flesh tone began to darken until his pigment turned to pitch black. His skin began to turn sharp and jagged. It looked as if it was hardening. His eyes started to glow red, and they began to bulge out of his eye sockets. It resembled the eyes of a fly. His jaw popped out of his mouth, and his teeth began to turn sideways. The sickening crunching sound of his bones rearranging themselves was horrific. His mouth looked like pinchers from an ant. As the skin around his torso began to tear open, another pair of arms shot out, spraying a gooey green substance all over the floor. The new pair of arms had large pinchers for hands like a scorpion, and speaking of which. A large tail began to protrude out from the base of his spine. It must've been at least fifteen feet long. His back was contorting and cracking, and just like the new arms and tail, a set of fly wings shot out from his back, squirting more of the green substance out.

Cercus was already a big guy, but now his size was incomprehensible. He easily towered over Iron Will, even juiced up on the crystal. It hit me quickly that this wasn’t the same as Iron Will. This was a true monster. Taking in the entire raw crystal instead of an injectable liquid turned him into some kind of grotesque bug creature. His voice was different too.

“Oh, fuck that hurt like a bitch. But I feel...alive. Hehe, you’re so fucking dead freak.” It didn’t sound like it was coming from his mouth, but rather the source seemed to be coming from everywhere. The voice was also echoey, as if more than one person was speaking. For the first time since I’ve put this suit on, I was truly terrified. Applejack stood there in shock, and I could hear Sweetie Belle and Applebloom crying out loud as they carried Rarity out the door. Trying to quell my fear, I turned back to Applejack.

“GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!” I yelled. She looked back at me and shook her head.

“But...but...how are you going to beat that thing? You’re going to get yourself kill-”

“GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE NOW APPLEJACK!”, I screamed back. I didn’t care how aggressive it sounded, I needed all of them out of the building. Applejack closed her mouth and turned around, limping quickly out the door.

“Go ahead, I don’t care. I’ll kill them all later. Right now, I just want to kill you,” said Cercus. I didn’t know how I was going to beat this thing. This was suicide, a lose lose situation. There was absolutely no way I could win this. I was going to die here, I was sure of it. My body was paralyzed from fear, shaking uncontrollably. I never felt so powerless. Even being banned from Equestria and losing to princess Twilight back at CHS, I didn’t feel as small as I do now. My body was telling me to run. This was impossible.

“Bring it on” I muttered.