//------------------------------// // TMMDW # 2: Act II: "The Choice" // Story: The Mysterious Mare Do Well // by Dalkrin-the-Wanderer //------------------------------// The Mysterious Mare Do Well #2: The Truth of the Matter Act II: "The Choice" *** I wasn't always eager to put on the mask and traipse around the cityscape, attacking criminals and thwarting villains. It was a process. One that began in Ponyville when my friends decided that they wanted to help me become a better mare, even if I didn't become Mare Do Well. I could have left the suit in it's case and just went about my life but that's not what happened. But my friends, they decided I was worth the time... *** Amber stood silently staring at the three 'Mare Do Wells' before her. "So..." She began, but trailed off, taking a step towards the costumes and inspecting them more closely. "So there's three Mare Do Wells?" Her mind was having trouble processing what was happening around her. The six mares were all watching her inspect the suits. "How are there three?" "Well, it ain't exactly what you thought it was," Applejack said, approaching Amber. "See, if you wanna get right down to it, there never really was a Mare Do Well in the first place." "What?" Amber said, dumbfounded. "Of course there was." "No Amber," Rainbow Dash said. "There really wasn't. It was a hoax. I was getting a big head doin all my hero stuff around town, so my friends pulled these costumes together and started showing me up left and right." "We didn't mean to bring the media in on it but they got wind of the situation really quickly," Twilight said. "As soon as we were sure Rainbow had learned her lesson, we put the costumes away." Rarity chimed in next. "The only issue was, the Media was here and they wanted a story. We had to hide the truth even from the Princess. Not only was what we did bringing unwanted attention to Ponyville, it was also Illegal, though we didn't know that at the time." "Basically," Twilight said. "If we let it out that we were behind Mare Do Well, we would be the center of a media circus and some of us would probably end up with a criminal record. We decided to bury Mare Do Well for good. We all Pinkie Pie swore not to mention it to anypony outside of the group. You're the only pony we've told any of this to and only because you're in a tough spot too, and like Rainbow said, it's kind of our fault you're here at all." Amber turned her gaze between the ponyquins and the collected mares. Her mind was blank now as all thought fled her. This wasn't right. It was better when Mare Do Well was just gone. Now she knew that Mare Do Well never really was. Sure, she existed in that people saw her but the idea was never really there. Mare Do Well was never anything more than a tool that these ponies used to play a prank on a friend that blew up out of control. A sham. A joke. "If it were me under that mask, I would have kept going," she whispered to no pony in particular. "I would have kept going and made a difference. Done some real good..." with that, she stood and left leaving six dumbstruck mares in her wake. Outside, the unseasonably warm night had given way to a chill wind that sapped the heat from the flesh of anypony foalish enough to be outside. Amber didn't care. Why should she? Her one hope at returning to her life was gone. She couldn't go back now and she was sure of it. Appleoosa it was. No other options presented themselves. She trudged off into the night, following the highway she came in on. She was almost out of view of town some thirty minutes later when the sound of rapid hoofsteps met her ears. She cocked an ear but did not turn when Applejack came cantering alongside her. The two earth ponies walked in a terse quiet for some time before Applejack finally spoke. "Did ya really mean it?" She asked. "Mean what?" Amber replied mechanically, not actually listening to herself. "What you said, about makin a difference an doin some real good. Did you mean what you said?" Amber's brain kicked in just then and clued her into what was being asked of her. "Of course I meant it, every word." "That's what Ah was afraid of," Applejack said with a smirk. "What do you mean?" "Ah mean, y'all cn stay in my barn tonight while we get a room squared away for ya in tha farm house. I'll see ya bright an early tomorra morn." Applejack turned to leave. When she was a fair distance away, she called back. "Remember, Bright an Early!" Amber nodded dumbly, as she watched the orange earth pony take to a swift lope down towards town. On the far side of town was an apple orchard that stretched across several hills. She could just make out the gleaming weathercock on the roof of the barn in the dim moon light. What was Applejack driving at with that question? Every cop bone in her body told her to sprint after Applejack and demand explanation but she held her position and calmed her racing thoughts. Even if she was over-thinking it all, at the very least this would save her a week long hike to Appleoosa. She passed through town and on to Sweet Apple Acres, meeting no pony the entire way. It was strange to see no pony moving about. Even at the latest hour in the harshest weather, Manehatten was alive and buzzing with energy. Sure it lessened and waned at night but it was there. You could not go five minutes in that city without seeing another pony. Here she was almost an hour on her own outside and the only soul she had seen was Applejack. It really was a different world outside of the city. She crawled into the hayloft and settled on the cot that Applejack had left there. Sleep took her instantly. Her mind worn as her body from all her travels and the emotions of the day. She did not, however, sleep peacefully. Images of her life in Manehatten assaulted her in her dreams. Her past that was seemingly forever lost to her. The six mares appeared, laughing at her for falling for their trick. Ruby Tooth bore down on her, clawed hand outstretched to seize her, only to sail past and drag Stone Shifter kicking and screaming from behind her. She awoke with a start as the barn door groaned loudly on it's rusted hinges. Bright sunlight poured in. Applejack trotted through the doors with a large red stallion following her in. "Rise an Shine!" She called up to Amber who groaned in protest to the rude awakening. "We got work ta do missy, so hop to!" "Work?" Amber moaned. "What kind of work?" "Well, Hard work of course! This here's a Farm, not a day spa!" Amber rolled off the cot and hopped down from the loft, giving her head a shake to clear the sleep. She followed Applejack out into the orchard, the red stallion plodding along silently beside them. "Well, Ah guess some introductions are in order. Amber, This here's Big McIntosh, but y'all can call em Big Mac. Big Mac, This here's Amber. She'll be helpin round the farm every once in a while." Big McIntosh shifted a chaff of wheat in his mouth before he spoke, in a deep drawling voice that Amber found strangely pleasant. "Howdy, marm," he said, dipping his head in greeting. "Pleasure to Meetcha." "Right back at ya," Amber replied. They crested a hill and before them was a row of about twenty felled trees lined up in a row. Applejack lifted a harness from the ground beside the nearest tree and set it in front of Amber. For her part, she just stared at the collection of leather and metal. Her mind suddenly drug up images of the Diamond Dogs outside the cafe she and Stone had eaten at before their stakeout wearing their leather jackets. Applejack saw the disgusted look that crossed the brown earth pony's face and she laughed. "Don't worry, we didn't kill nothin to get that leather. It was a gift from a dyin buffalo to my grandpappy. They're an odd bunch. Only thing in all of Equestria that uses their own dead fer tools. It's supposed to be a great honor, somethin like being able to help the family even after yer gone or some such." Amber was still a bit loath to let the harness over her, but under the circumstances it wasn't as bad as she had thought. With the straps secured, Applejack turned to her with a smile. "Now then," She said. "All them trees need to be moved outta this field so we can do our planting. This here's gonna be the new Sweet Apple Acres tomato plot." "All of them?" Amber said, dejectedly, looking at the score of huge trees. "Eeeyup," Big Mac said, simply hooking a rope to his yoke and beginning to heave one of the trees away from the hill. Amber began hooking one to her harness when Applejack spoke up "Well, y'all two keep at it, I'm gonna go finish takin care of the mornin applebuckin afore Big Mac takes it out ta market," Applejack said, turning to leave. "Y'all come an find me when Big Mac lets ya leave, ya hear?" "You got it AJ," Amber called after the orange Earth Pony. With Applejack gone, Amber threw herself into her harness, pulling with herculean effort to get the log moving. Once it shifted, the going became easier, but still quite difficult. "So, Big Mac," She said, coming up behind the red stallion. "You been workin on the farm a long time?" "Eeeyup," Big Mac replied. "It shows," She said, pausing for a moment to think of something to get a conversation going. "You lived in Ponyville your whole life?" "Eeeyup," Big Mac replied. "You don't say much do ya?" "Nnnope," Big Mac replied. "Awesome..." The work was grueling and the cool air of early winter did little to abate the heat that poured from Amber's core. When the last of the felled trees were finally removed from the hill, Big McIntosh simply nodded to her and began his slow plodding towards the farm house. Amber shrugged out of the leather harness, which had rubbed her raw across the shoulders and barrel. With the leather straps slung over her back, she wandered towards the nearest stand of apple trees. Listening closely, Amber tracked Applejack to the far edge of the stand, following the crack of hooves against solid wood and the myriad thumps that followed without fail. Amber saw ten trees with baskets of apples laid around them. Applejack was emptying an eleventh tree of it's bounty when Amber arrived. "How'd it go?" Applejack asked, grunting as she struck the tree with force, dislodging every apple from it's branches. "I only got six. Big Mac's a real work horse if I ever saw one," Amber said, smiling. Even if she was tired, she felt better than she had the previous day. "Got anything else you need me to do?" "Nah, that's about it," The orange farmpony drawled, hoisting a basket of apples onto her back and heading for a wagon. "Rarity said she had something fer ya at the Boutique. Iffin, yer interested ya might head on up there and see what she's got. Don't gecher hopes up though. It's prolly some fancy schmancy dress or some such." "Well, whatever it is, I'll be glad to have it," Amber said. "All I got right now's the saddlebags the Pies lent me. I'll have to give them to Pinkie to return to them." "Alright, see ya later then," Applejack said. Amber struck off for Ponyville with a strange spring in her step. A bit of work, a bit of purpose, that's what she needed and Applejack had given her that. Her mind hadn't wandered too much as she'd hauled the trees down from their hill. For that she was thankful. The day was cool and after the work she'd put in at Applejack's farm, it felt wonderful. The town was now awake and ponies were going about their business. Many nodded and greeted her with genuine smiles. In Manehatten or any of the New Yoke area, you'd be avoided if you acted that friendly to strangers. That city was so dark compared to the rest of Equestria. It was beginning to irk Amber. She remembered when it wasn't nearly so bad. But that was years ago and her mind probably romanticized the memories to some extent. Carousel Boutique was empty when Amber arrived. Rarity was working near the back of the sales floor, dressing ponyquins in some new designs of hers and humming a merry tune. The bell above the door chimed and she carefully set the dress she was working with aside, "Welcome To Carousel Boutique, whee everything is Chic, Unique and Magnifique! OH! Amber, welcome darling!" Rarity beamed at her new friend and motioned for her to follow. "I assume Applejack told you?" "She said you have something for me," Amber said, smiling back at the alabaster unicorn. "Did she say anything else?" Rarity inquired further as they passed through the hall and into a sitting room on the other end. "Noting too specific," she replied, deciding to keep Applejack's rib about dresses to herself. "Why? Was she supposed to have?" "No, I suppose not. I guess this will be coming as a bit of a shock for you then," Rarity said, opening a closet and removing a dress box and a hat box which she set on the coffee table. "So, now for the big reveal. Last night, after you left, we were all talking about how we could help you. We batted around some ideas until finally Pinkie Pie said something that took us all by surprise. Not because it was absurd, but because for the life of us, it seemed the only recourse to help us all." "What did she suggest then?" Amber asked, working her brain to come to some kind of answer. "Well, she suggested that you become the 'Real' Mare Do Well..." Amber stared blankly at Rarity for a moment before a bark of laughter escaped her. "You're joking!" "I most assuredly am not," Rarity insisted, using her magic to open the boxes on the table. Amber's laughter died on her lips as she looked down and saw the open boxes before her. In one, neatly folded was a full body jump suit of dark maroon. In the other was a wide brimmed hat, colored Dark blue with a binding to match the suit. Rarity used her magic to lift the costume from it's case. It was decidedly more well crafted than the three party costume looking versions down in the basement. "You're serious aren't you?" Amber breathed, looking at the costume floating before her. "We are," Rarity said, placing the costume back in it's box. "And we want to help you fix your problem. That 'Ruby Tooth' while a dog of good taste, is not one I feel comfortable leaving to his own devices. He should be stopped. You deserve your life back and since Mare Do Well can't give it to you, we'll give you Mare Do Well. Though this also serves a purpose for us. If Mare Do Well suddenly moves to Manehatten, then the media will leave Ponyville alone and there will be much less chance of it coming back to us." "Even still, are you sure that it's a good idea?" "I am not, but you know what they say. Nothing ventured?" Rarity said with a smirk. "I guess, but I hardly think I'm cut out to be a superhero, I mean I was a street cop sure, but it's a whole different game when you go throwing yourself into the situations." "Well, didn't you wonder why Applejack had you hauling those trees when they could have easily rolled them down the hill?" Rarity asked, earning a confused look from Amber. "We're not going to send you off totally unprepared Dear. That was strength training." "Training? Really?" Amber was finding all this hard to swallow but something in her was burning with excitement at the prospect. Her, a superhero! Imagine! But her logical 'Cop Brain' was fighting the idea. "What other training am I going to be doing?" she asked, still skeptical of the whole idea but willing to play along for the time being. "Well, you'll have hoof to hoof combat and weapons training with yours truly, Agility training with Rainbow Dash and field medicine with Fluttershy. Also Twilight said she found something that may interest you in one of her musty old books. I'd stop by the Library soon and see what she wants." "That's assuming I decide to go along with this," Amber said, making it clear that she wasn't totally sold on the whole idea. "Well, we can't force anything on you but these are all skills that could very well come in handy anyway, so while you make up your mind, why not take us up on our offers?" "Well, I guess I could," Amber admitted. "and I'm not gonna lie. It would be beyond awesome to be an actual super hero, but I'm just thinking logically here." "I understand dear. It's a lot to even consider, so take your time. No sense in jumping into brash decisions." Amber and Rarity left the topic of Mare Do Well at that and conversed for some time before Amber decided she'd best go see what Twilight had found before she forgot. Back in the streets of Ponyville, the energy of the town had risen again as market opened up. Ponies all but swarmed around the stalls and stands buying and trading goods. The library was just as she remembered it, at least on the outside. Inside was a different story. Books sat stacked in piles all around with papers covered in tightly written notes littered about. In the middle of it all in a clear spot was Twilight Sparkle, magically manipulating several assorted books and papers. "Oh! Amber! Just the pony I wanted to see!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly. "Good to see you again too Twilight," Amber said. "What's this all about?" Amber gestured to the myriad scattered books and papers around the library. "Research, Amber. Research!" Amber was almost afraid to ask when she caught the manic edge to Twilights voice. "I've uncovered some old papers written by a Theoretical Thaumaturgasist from Cloudsdale University of Arcane Studies. Needless to say, an Arcana research lab in a city full of Pegasai didn't last but this was one of it's more promising products." She levitated a stack of seemingly random papers and trotted over to a table which she cleared off with a sweep of magic. Setting the papers down, she began again, shifting almost visibly into 'lecture mode'. "Theoretical Thaumaturgy is the study of Magical theory, as you already knew of course." "Of course," Amber agreed, not knowing what she was agreeing to. "The doctoral thesis written by Sir Weather Wary was a culminate essay regarding his studies on Earth Pony magic. His thesis that he sought to prove was that while it is true that Earth Ponies cannot perform magic in the same way as Unicorns or Pegasai, their own magics are more powerful than given credit for. He theorized that with proper mental preparation and practice an Earth Pony could in fact affect the magical energies around them to some degree, albeit far lesser a degree than either Unicorns or Pegasai. He went on to say that this may be manifested in several ways. The ability to sense when magic is being used and where. The ability to identify specific spells. The ability to disrupt spells cast on the pony in question, and maybe more." All of this, Twilight ticked off at blazing speed with Amber only just managing to keep up thanks in no small part to living in a city where fast talk was the norm. When Twilight finally stopped for breath Amber took the opportunity and spoke up. "That's all real interesting Twilight, but what's that got to do with me?" She was looking pointedly at the purple unicorn who was smiling like a filly in a candy store. "I want to test his theories. Sir Weather Wary died before he could publish this paper. I only found it because I'm the princess's personal student. And I still lucked into it. The records department at Cloudsdale accidentally mixed it in with my requisitions." "So what do you need me for? Can't you have Applejack help?" "I asked her, but she doesn't want me using magic on her," Twilight explained, a look of hopeful pleading on her face. "So please, will you help me Amber?" "I don't know, Twi," "Pleasepleaseplease!" The look on Twilight's face could give Pinkie's sad puppy stare a run for it's money. After a few seconds of resistance, Amber finally caved in, eliciting a squeal of girlish glee from Twilight. "Okay, so what do you need me to do?" Amber asked, as Twilight industriously cleared the books away from the middle of the room. "First we're going to see if you can sense magic. Sir Wary says in his paper that when magic is used, Earth Pony magic reacts to it. If you can get in touch with your magic, you will likely be able to guage this interaction." "So, how do I do it? Before all this, I worked for two years with a Unicorn and I never felt anything when he'd use magic around me." Amber thought back to all the times Stone had used his magic and could not pick one out where she felt any indication aside from the visual. "That's probably because you're not paying attention to it. He says it's a feeling. His test groups described it differently each time so it must be unique to the individual." The lavender unicorn was pouring over the collected papers trying to seek an answer. "Says that some described it as a tug, others a tingle. Some said it felt like a breeze. Even a few said it hurt a bit." "So, I guess I'll know it when I feel it then, huh?" "Seems like it." "Well let's get to work. Throw some magic my way," Amber said, deciding that it would be best just to dive in rather than over think it all. Over the next several hours, Twilight cast various spells of varying strength and Amber attempted to focus on them and to feel them. The experiment wasn't going too well and Twilight was beginning to tire, which was impressive in it's own right. Stone Shifter would have collapsed thirty spells before. "It's no good," Twilight said, dejectedly. "I guess his theories were just that after all." Amber was almost sure she was close to sensing the spells. Her mind just wouldn't let it happen. Her skepticism was likely affecting the whole experiment. Shaking her head, and reigning in her inner skeptic, she turned to Twilight, determination in her eyes. "One more, Twi, and give it your all." "Are you sure," Twilight asked, pondering the Earth Pony before her. "Just do it, We'll see if this is a load of horseapples or not after this," Amber stood in the center of the room and lowered her head, eyes closed in concentration.she strained all other senses seeking to detect the buildup of energy that Twilight was currently channeling into her horn. Twilight's horn flared a bright white light, like a floodlight that washed away the colors of the room. Then Amber felt it. A light pulse from Twilight's direction, but she didn't feel it with her body. It somehow circumvented the nerves and manifested itself as an awareness of having felt it. Only a memory of a feeling, but it was there, however indistinct. Then it was gone. A thud resounded from the direction of Twilight, and when Amber opened her eyes, she saw a bleary eyed unicorn staring back at her. "Did... Did it work?" Twilight mumbled through the exhaustion. "Yeah. I felt it that time. This guy really knew his stuff after all."