Mare Do Well vs Professor Nightshade
Chapter 2: Heavy Sits the Cowl
Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
Welcome back true believer! Our story opens upon the beautiful fields of Sweet Apple Acres, the premier purveyor of plenty of Apple related products. This morning, like most mornings, we can find the hard working Applejack working amongst the apple trees. She was quite thankful for the slightly overcast sky the weather team left today. It helped keep the air nice and cool as she went about her daily chores. She’d still end up sweaty from exertion at the end of the day, but at least the heat of the sun wouldn’t sap her of her energy.
Today was more applebucking for Applejack. Nothing like it would be during Applebuck Season, but there were always trees that need harvested on the farm. After she was done with that, she’d have to start collecting the apples that were too bruised or old to sell for the pigs to eat. Normally she’d have Applebloom help her with this part, but she would be at school until later that afternoon. Still, it wasn’t like it was something she couldn’t handle on her own, and the day was nice enough that it wouldn’t matter too much if it took a bit more time than usual.
So Applejack set about her applebucking. She worked amongst the trees of her family’s orchards until the sun was high in the sky. It was just past noon when she finished the last tree in the orchard. She wiped the sweat from her brow with a forehoof, as she looked back at the trees she’d cleared. Baskets placed around the trees were full of apples, but the ground was also littered with apples that hadn’t made it in, which would doubtlessly be too bruised for sale now. Time to gather those up before they turned to mush on the ground.
Applejack headed back to the barn to grab some more baskets to gather up the bruised apples in. She wouldn’t have to worry about the filled baskets, Big Macintosh would come by with the cart to gather them all up and take them back to the barn. Actually, it was odd that he hadn’t already started gathering up the filled baskets. Normally by now he’d have at least started on that part of his chores.
The barn doors were shut, which meant Big Macintosh hadn’t even made it this way yet. Strange, but she knew Big Mac wouldn’t let her or the farm down. She pulled one of the doors open, and stepped inside the barn.
The overcast sky turned out to be a bit of a problem here, as the clouds were blocking any light from reaching inside the barn. That wouldn’t be a huge problem though. She knew the inside of this barn like the back of her hoof. Besides, they always kept some empty baskets near the front of the barn.
She stepped inside, and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She could barely make out the stack of baskets in the corner. She walked over to the pile, and flipped a couple of baskets onto her back. She staggered for a moment, trying to find a balance for the baskets.
A sudden noise from the back of the barn caused Applejack to jump into the air, causing the baskets to tumble off her back. It sounded like something was thrashing around in the back of the barn.
“Applebloom? That you? I swear y’all better not be playing hooky from school.” Applejack said. She heard the thrashing sound again, but no other answer. She stepped further into the darkness of the barn. The sound was getting a little bit louder now, but she could also hear something else. A kind of muffled sound, like somepony was trying to talk through...
Through a gag. Precisely like the one that was currently stuffed into Big Macintosh’s mouth. Applejack took a step back, but not because of that. Nor because she had just come upon her brother hog tied and gagged in the back of the barn. No, what caused Applejack to step back in fear were the two red skinned creatures standing near him. They were tall, taller even than Princess Celestia. They were shaped vaugely like Diamond Dogs, standing on hind legs and slouched forward, with long arms that could almost drag across the ground. Their heads held what seemed to be rudimentary parody of a face, simply two black eyes and a frowning mouth. The one on the left looked at Applejack, who was slowly backing away towards the barn door.
“Hey, is other pony. Mistress say we eat that one?” It asked, turning it’s head to the other creature.
The creature on the right shook it’s head. “No, Mistress say we catch ponies first, can’t eats till later.” It said, before taking a lumbering step towards Applejack.
Applejack had heard more than enough. She reared up on her hind legs and spun around, galloping towards the door. She heard the creatures lumbering behind her, but she figured once she cleared the barn door she’d be home free. Then she could get some help. She wasn’t going to risk trying to fight these things if they could take down Big Macintosh, and from the sounds of it, they were doing somepony else’s dirty work. She would probably need to get her friends help on this one.
Unfortunately her planning was cut short as the barn doors slammed shut moments before she reached them. She twisted her body around, skidding against the ground as she reared her back legs, and used the momentum she’d gain running to give a might buck against the doors.
The force of this buck would’ve been enough to splinter one of the apple trees. It should have been plenty enough to knock one of the doors open. It was not. Instead, the doors bent where her hooves impacted them, before bouncing back like rubber, sending Applejack flying into the waiting clutches of one of the strange red creatures.
“Let me go ya varmints! Let me go or I’ll kick your flank so hard-”
“My my, such language my little pony.” A silky voice said, coming from within the darkness of the barn.
“I’ll show you language you... ummm... wait a sec, who’s there? Y’all the one behind all this?” Applejack said, twisting her head to each side trying to locate the source of the voice.
“That’s right little apple pony.” The voice said, sounding quite smug.
“Who are ya, and what do y’all want?” Applejack continued struggling against the grip the creature held her in, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Who am I?” The voice asked, sounding almost insulted, “Why I am the soon to be the ruler of this quaint little town, and then all of Equestria. As for what I’m doing here, well, I suppose you could call it a recruitment drive.”
Applejack scoffed. “What, ya think you can intimidate me into joining you or something? Cuz that ain’t happenin.”
“Oh no no no little apple pony. I’m not here to recruit you.” Green light filled the barn, and Applejack watched as an apple floated in front of her, held in a green magical aura. “You see, I find most ponies a little too... free minded for my liking. Besides, why share my glory, when I can simply make followers when I please?” The voice said, before flaring the magic around the apple. There was a popping sound, as the green light flashed through the barn.
Applejack looked on in shock and confusion, as what had once been an apple, grown right here on her farm, was transformed into the same kind of creature that currently held her. She almost felt like she’d been slapped. Some pony was turning apples... HER apples, into monsters.
“But I do need one thing from you, little apple pony.” The voice said again. It sounded much closer this time, and Applejack found herself swallowing in nervousness.
“I... I ain’t doin nothing to help you!” She said, her voice steady despite the nervousness she felt.
“Oh, I think you will. See it’s a very simple thing. I just need you...” Applejack felt her breath catch in her throat, as in the darkness two red feline like eyes appeared, staring straight at her. A grin slowly formed below the eyes, showing a mouthful of fanged white teeth.
“To scream!” With that, the fanged mouth lunged towards Applejack.
MDWvsPN
“HEEEEELLLLLLPP!!!” Rainbow Dash jerked forward, suddenly awoken from the nap she’d been having. Somepony was screaming for help, and it was coming from Sweet Apple Acres.
“Oh my gosh oh my gosh! Finally!” Rainbow said, before reaching into the cloud and pulling out the Mare Do Well costume. The outside was covered in moisture from the cloud, but Twilight’s spell kept the inside nice and dry. She quickly slipped the costume on, and took flight, shooting through the sky towards Applejack’s farm.
The flight was so quick, she didn’t even get a chance to imagine what could be awaiting her. A Ursa Major? A pack of Timberwolves? A egotistical showmare who had snapped and was just asking to be put in her place for humiliating an awesome pegasus?
She circled above the farm, looking for any signs of trouble. Not that it was hard to spot. There were dozens of these strange red creatures, roaming through the orchards, carrying bushels of apples towards the barn. Mare Do Well flew over towards the barn, ducking into one of the nearby clouds to avoid being seen.
Mare Do Well did a double take, at first thinking she was seeing Princess Luna standing in front of the barn, flanked by two of the red creatures. But while the mare down below certainly was big enough to be the lunar princess, the coloring was all wrong. Her fur was a dark purple, and her mane was a deep red, falling across her back in wavy curls. She had a horn, but she also had wings. An alicorn? Like the princesses? What was going on here?
She watched as the alicorn channeled magic through her horn, enveloping one of the apples in the basket before her in a green aura. The alicorn concentrated for a moment, before a bright flash of green light filled the area. When it cleared, another one of those red creatures was standing where the apple had been. Was this mare creating them? Out of apples?!
Mare Do Well felt like she’d seen enough. There was no way Applejack would just let these creatures roam around on her farm, or let some strange mare turn her apples into some kind of weird... things. She leapt out of the cloud, and pumped her wings, sending her flying downwards toward the mare.
The mare was levitating another apple out of the basket when Mare Do Well landed in front of her. She gave a chuckle as she let the apple drop from her magical grip.
“So, the Mysterious Mare Do Well. I was wondering if you’d show up. I had almost thought that you’d retired.” The alicorn said. She was smiling at Mare Do Well, but the smile was anything but friendly. It was far too wide, too large all around. It gave her the look of a madpony.
“Who are you, and what are you doing to Sweet Apple Acres?” Mare Do Well asked. On the inside, Rainbow Dash gave a little cheer of excitement. She finally got to use the gravelly voice she’d been practicing for if she ever ran into any criminals. It hurt a little to talk like this, but she had to sound like an awesome, don’t take hay from nopony bad-flank right? Oh, and it would help keep her secret identity... that was another good point.
“Moi?” The alicorn asked. She blinked her eyes, looking quite shocked at Mare Do Well’s question. “Why I am the great Professor Nightshade, soon to be ruler of Ponyville. As for what I’m doing... why I’m simply making some new friends.” She waved with a hoof, pointing at the various apple-golems that had stopped what they were doing to watch what was happening.
“Looks like we need to update your definition of ‘friends’ then. What did you do with the farmers that work here?” Mare Do Well asked. She kept facing towards the mare, but tried to look out of her peripheral vision to make sure none of the apple-golems were approaching.
Professor Nightshade opened her mouth, and then snapped it closed, bringing a forehoof to her mouth. Her whole body started shaking, and Mare Do Well could swear she heard her give a snort.
“They’re... pfffft...they’re all tied up at the moment.” And that seemed to burst the dam.
Professore Nightshade fell to the ground, howling with laughter. Tears leaked out of her eyes, as she pounded on the ground with a hoof.
Even through the mask, it was clear that Mare Do Well was wearing an expression that simply said “seriously?”. “You’ve been waiting all day to use that one haven’t you?” Mare Do Well asked in a deadpan voice.
Professor Nightshade instantly composed herself, giving a disappointed look to Mare Do Well. “Oh, don’t take yourself so seriously Mare Do Well, you should enjoy life more. Especially since yours will be over very shortly.” With that said, Professor Nightshade stomped on the ground twice.
That seemed to be a signal to the apple-golems, as they rushed towards Mare Do Well. Five of them that Mare Do Well could see, with more stomping behind her. As they got close, the apple-golems leapt into the air, landing in a pile on top of Mare Do Well.
Or, so they thought.
Mare Do Well watched from the sky as the apple-golems looked on in confusion, feeling only the hard ground beneath them. Seriously, these slow pokes thought they could catch her? Obviously they had never heard of the amazing Rainbow Da-, erm, the Mysterious Mare Do Well! She’d just have to show them how it was done.
With a flap of her wings, Mare Do Well rocketed towards the the pile of apple-golems, who were just starting to pull themselves off the ground. She flipped around in the air, extending one of her rear hooves as that was now pointing towards the golems.
If Mare Do Well hadn’t known better, she’d have sworn it sounded like bowling pins being knocked down. The effect was very much the same at least, as she plowed through the apple-golems, knocking them off their feet and back onto the ground. The ones that hit the ground glowed green momentarily, before emitting a popping sound and transforming back into apples. Mare Do Well noted that in the back of her mind, but had to quickly jump back as another two apple-golems charged her. The two apple-golems slammed into each other, falling to the ground, but not transforming. So it wasn’t just a one hit thing, they had to be hit hard enough to cause them to transform back.
Under the Mare Do Well mask, Rainbow Dash grinned excitedly. This was perfect! She wouldn’t even have to hold back against these things, she could really cut loose. She charged the two apple-golems who were picking themselves up off the ground. She jumped into the air, flipping over and extending one of her rear hooves. There was a solid thump as her kick connected with an apple-golem, which went flying across the orchard and into a tree, transforming back into an apple when it landed. As soon as she landed, Mare Do Well twisted her body around and gave the second apple-golem a vicious buck to its chest. This one didn’t even hit the ground before the popping sound was heard, and a bruised apple fell to the ground in its place.
Mare Do Well turned around, getting ready to leap at Professor Nightshade. Her eyes widened in surprise, seeing the grin on Professor Nightshade’s face. On either side of the evil alicorn stood more of the apple-golems, at least twenty of them.
“You’ll have to do better than that little Marey. Oh! I like that! I’m going to call you Marey from now on.” Professor Nightshade said, seemingly ignoring the situation in lieu of giving her adversary a nickname.
“The only thing you’re going to be calling me is the mare that kicked your sorry flank!” Mare Do Well growled out, while she tried to think of a way she could take down the other apple-golems.
Professor Nightshade looked taken aback for a moment, her face scrunching up as if she had just tasted something particularly sour. Then she shook her head, her face falling into a look of pity. “Wow, you’re really not very good at the whole witty banter thing huh? You’ll really have to work on that Marey.”
Mare Do Well flared her wings angrily. This pony was mocking her. Her! She’d show her. With a flap of her wings, Mare Do Well shot up into the air, climbing higher and higher until Professor Nightshade and her golems were just dots on the ground. Then, she dove. She flapped her wings for the first few moments of the dive, propelling her forward faster. Then, she tucked her wings into her sides, keeping them from dragging in the air. The wind was wailing in her ears as she fell faster and faster. She knew in a few moments that she’d start feeling the barrier that came before a Sonic Rainboom, but that wasn’t what she was going for. Right as she begin to feel that barrier, she pulled up, angling her wings just enough to put her level with the ground.
With the speed she’d gained, she flew straight at the first apple-golem she saw. She rammed into it, and in the same instant pushed off with her wings and hooves, flying towards the next one. She lost just a bit of speed with the collisions, but the spell Twilight had cast on her costume kept her safe. She continued flying into each of the apple-golems that were left, pinballing between them and causing each one to turn back into an apple as she went. She hit the final one with her rear hooves, leaping off of it and flipping in the air. She landed solidly in front of Professor Nightshade, breathing heavily from exertion.
Professor Nightshade looked mildly impressed at Mare Do Well’s quick takedown of her force, but not intimidated. If anything, she looked excited.
“The-there... how... how do you like those apple!” Mare Do Well said, keeping her voice gravelly even as she attempted to catch her breath.
Professor Nightshade’s crazed grin reappeared on her face at that. “Ohh, see! That’s what I’m talking about Marey, that’s the kind of banter we’re going to need if this relationship is ever going to work.”
“What... what the hay are you talking about! What are you even trying to accomplish here?” Mare Do Well said. It was a trick she’d learned from the Batmare movies she’d seen. Keep the villain talking, it buys you time to recuperate, and they might let something slip.
“I already told you Marey, I’m here for Ponyville.” Professor Nightshade said. Her face took on a frown, a look of pity in her eyes. “I’ve heard all about the substandard villains you’ve had to deal with here. A jealous princess, a grumpy griffon, and a draconequus whose idea of evil was chocolate milk rain. It’s just sad.”
She looked back at Mare Do Well. It took all Mare Do Well had not to flinch. She still had that pitying look on her face, except for her eyes. They were crazed, wide and unblinking.
“Ponyville deserves a better class of villain, and I’m going to give it to them.” She said, a grin slowly spreading across her face at the end.
“Not gonna happen Nightshade. I’m stopping you here and now!” Mare Do Well said. She leapt at Professor Nightshade, preparing to kick her in the snout and hopefully knock her out cold.
She never connected. With a flash of green light, Professor Nightshade was gone, Mare Do Well sailing through the air where she had been standing.
“Uh-uh-uh Marey, it’s much too early in our relationship for the climax. Why, you haven’t even bought me dinner yet!” Professor Nightshade’s voice echoed through the orchard. Mare Do Well whipped her head around, trying to locate where the voice was coming from. The orchard was empty however, even the apples that had littered the ground were gone.
“Come out and face me like a mare you coward!” Mare Do Well called out. How annoying was this? She couldn’t fight a disembodied voice!
“Oh no, I think we’ve had enough fun for today. But don’t worry, I’ll be in touch! My ponies will call your ponies, we’ll do lunch! Ciao!” And with that, Professor Nightshade’s voice faded into nothingness. The orchard was quiet, the only sound coming from Mare Do Well as she growled in annoyance.
Mare Do Well spread her wings, and flew into the sky. She flew up higher until she found a cloud that she deemed was far enough from the ground. Once she landed, she began jumping around.
“Oh my gosh! That was awesome! I have a villain! I have an archenemy! And I totally just kicked her flank!” All traces of her Mare Do Well voice were gone, as Rainbow Dash celebrated her “good fortune”.
MDWvsPN
There was a flash of green light in the Golden Oaks Library, as a purple alicorn materialized. She smiled as she took in her surroundings, giving a tired but happy sigh. Her horn flared green for a moment, and she faded away, leaving a much lighter and smaller purple unicorn in her place.
Twilight gave another sigh, this time in relief, as she began dispelling the various enchantments she had cast on herself. The illusions to change her appearance were easy enough, but the spell to alter her voice and magical aura took a lot out of her. Likewise, casting the wing spell was still draining on her. On the plus side, all this use of advanced magic could only increase her magical capacity. Perhaps some day she wouldn’t feel like she’d just ran the entirety of the Running of the Leaves after she was done. For now though, she figured she’d take a page from Rainbow’s book. A quick nap sounded heavenly.
Unfortunately, she had only just lain down in her bed when somepony knocked on her bedroom door.
“Hey Twilight, is that you?” Scratch that, some dragon was knocking on her door. The door creaked open, and Spike stuck his head inside. “Twilight? Are you... taking a nap?” Spike asked, his tone slightly incredulous. Twilight couldn’t blame him, she hadn’t taken a nap since she was a small filly.
“Yeah Spike, that experiment really took a lot out of me. I’ll be up in a hour or so. Can you watch the library just a little bit longer?” She asked.
“Uh..” Spike shook his head, before smiling and nodding. “Sure thing Twi! You just relax, you look dead on your hooves.”
Twilight smiled. “Thanks Spike, could you make sure I’m up in an hour?”
Spike nodded again. “Will do Twilight. Enjoy your nap.” With that, he closed the door and walked back downstairs into the library proper.
It sure was nice having an assistant as caring as Spike around. She felt a little bad about hiding what she was really doing from him, but she figured the bag of gems she gave him to watch the library made up for it. After all, she had to maintain her secret identity, it was basically rule number one of being a super hero/villain.
She still couldn’t believe she’d pulled it off as well as she had. Sure, she’d practiced her “Professor Nightshade” persona extensively, and that was only after she had written up an entire history, backstory, mannerisms, and list of favorite foods for the character. Still, she had thought it’d be harder to act like the slightly crazed, arrogant villain she’d concocted. Once she got into it though... it was fun! It was almost like reading a good book, only she was living it instead. She almost couldn’t wait until her next “caper”. She’d have to plan out something a little more exciting than her little stunt today though.
Still, that could wait for now. Her eyelids were feeling more and more heavy, and she was more than willing to let herself succumb to sleep’s alluring song.
Still, as she drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t help but think she had forgotten something...
MDWvsPN
Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, walked into the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. Granny Smith, Applebloom’s grandmother, had asked the three fillies if they could see if Applejack or Big Macintosh were in there, as neither had been seen since that morning, when the elderly mare had fallen asleep.
“Hey AJ! Y’all in here?” Applebloom called out.
“Applebloom! Thank Celestia, we’re back here sugarcube!” Applejack called back.
The three fillies looked at each other in confusion, before walking further into the barn. They stopped suddenly, all three sets of eyes widening in confusion at what they saw. Both Applejack and Big Macintosh were tied up, hooves sticking up in the air. As if that wasn’t weird enough, they were both laying on what looked to be large plush pillows.
“Hey there girls, think y’all can give Big Mac and I a hoof here?” Applejack asked.
The three fillies looked at each other, and Applebloom’s face split into a grin.
“Girls! This gives me an idea on how we can get our cutie marks!” She said. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were obviously thinking the same thing, as they smiled. The three fillies clapped their hooves together.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ESCAPE ARTISTS!” The cheered, looking for more rope.
Applejack wished more than ever that her hooves weren’t tied together, the impulse to facehoof was just too strong.