//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: The Legend of Mare-Do-Well 
// by JD2K 
//------------------------------//

The Legend of Mare-Do-Well
Chapter 7: Night of the Game Marester, Part 2
by JD2K

Game Marester coughed as she tried to move only to realize she was pinned under the new stranger’s hooves. “How dare you! Do you even know who I am?!”

Mare-Do-Well didn’t even budge. She was looking everywhere for this strange pony’s presence ever since she lost the trail after reaching the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres and the Crusaders’ clubhouse. Since then, it was a mad chase around all Ponyville, hoping to find clues. She eventually felt her presence once more and found her with Applejack back at Sweet Apple Acres. Before Mare-Do-Well could interrogate her to the whereabouts of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she vanished with the farmpony along with her lead. 

Not giving up, she eventually received the jolt to her back that led her to a field close to Rainbow Dash’s cloud home where the Pegasus stood there with the gold unicorn. Again they both disappeared under the thick yellow smoke before the vigilante could catch her. Finally as the sun began to set, Mare-Do-Well found the pony once more with Rarity this time, but again she was too late to jump at them.  Having failed at capturing her, she decided it was time for her to return to the library and wait for the stranger there as she was certain to strike at Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy there. 

That was, of course, when she received a different combo and felt it as she thought about the Cakes. She quickly made her way to their current location as Sugarcube Corner was being rebuilt after Spike’s greed-induced growth and rampage. It was also that same incident which caused her room to be destroyed and currently stay in Twilight’s basement until it was finally reconstructed.  Hopefully she will have a much larger hidden room being constructed according to the Cakes’ wishes so she stayed put at the library in the meantime.

When she arrived to Sugarcube Corner, Mrs. Cake immediately began to have labor pains. Even after working herself to the point of mental and physical exhaustion, she put customers above her own expecting foal. This night however was when the pains reached stronger levels and that meant the foal would soon be born. Mare-Do-Well immediately postponed her current investigation, reverted to Pinkie Pie after getting out of her costume and hailed a taxi cart to take her, Mr. Cake and Mrs. Cake to the hospital on Ponyville’s outskirts. Once settled in, Pinkie left Mr. Cake to take care of his wife and returned to her mission.

Once redressed in her outfit, Mare-Do-Well went back to the library twenty minutes to one and found it empty. She was too late again. This time, however, she decided to stay put. No matter what, the stranger would come looking for her. For some reason, she was after the Elements of Harmony and now she was the remaining one. Her patience was eventually rewarded when a cloud of smoke appeared inside the room and from within came the strange pony and an emotionally-broken crying Spike who pounded the ground beneath him in anguish. This was the chance she was waiting for all day. Without any other thought, she leaped right at the pony and tackled her to the ground. She was pinned down hard and she would finally get some answers on where her friends and the Crusaders were now.

“Pin…Pin, pin, pin my tail to the ground, it’s Mare-Do-Well!” Spike exclaimed lucky to correct himself as he got up and hugged her. “Thank Celestia you’re here! I thought this monster got you too!”

“Agh! You slimy little reptile! How dare you refer to me as a monster?” scoffed Game Marester.  “And besides, I never met this… fashion victim in all my life! Tell her to let me go!”

“No! Not until you release Twilight and the others!” the small drake demanded while Mare-Do-Well arched a brow at him wondering what just happened.

Spike then explained everything to her, and when she heard what became of her friends, her head whipped forward as she faced Game Marester again with a gaze that would put The Stare to shame. With renewed strength, she slammed her hooves against the sides of the floored unicorn with such force that all the books in the library fell off their shelves by the shockwave. Game Marester, however, was unnerved by this display.

“What do you care? If you want to say something to me, then say it! What’s the matter? Too afraid to talk, you so-called hero?” the unicorn responded arrogantly.

The vigilante began to shake as she lowered her head. How could she explain or even threaten her to let her friends go? She can’t break her no-talking rule no matter how much she wanted. She was at a loss for words, in more ways than one.

The resourceful Spike however could tell what was going on and poked at her to get her attention. “Um, Miss Mare-Do-Well, do you by any chance know ‘Horse Code’?” he asked her.

Mare-Do-Well’s eyes immediately lit up. That’s it! Horse Code! She was a tad rusty at it but she was thankful her father taught her how to use it when they went to the telegraph office to deliver some messages to some rock farmers across Equestria. It was the only way she could talk and she decided to use it.

The purple-clad pony began to tap one of her hind hoofs in rhythm as Spike took out a scroll and quill and quickly translated her words.

“ ‘Young…dragon…stop…please…be…my…interpreter…so…I…can…defeat…this…villain…stop…’ ” Spike dictated. He then looked up and gave an affirmative nod. “You can count on me, Miss Mare-Do-Well! I’ll do my best. Start when ready.”

Turning to face Game Marester again, she again tapped her hooves and Spike translated.

ALL RIGHT, YOU EVIL MONSTER. RELEASE THE STUDENT OF CELESTIA AND THE OTHERS YOU HAVE CAPTURED THIS INSTANT!

Game Marester again looked at her smugly. “So forceful. I wonder if your spirit of competition is just as strong as your sense of justice. How about it? Care to play a game with them on the line?”

Spike looked at her vigilante/friend in worry.  She, in turn, merely lowered her gaze and started to tap again.

FOR THE CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE AND THE INNOCENTS YOU HAVE CAPTURED, I WILL NEVER LOSE. I AM READY.

“Excellent! Let’s get this started!” Game Marester chuckled as her gold smoke enveloped them both. Luckily, due to her eye covers, Mare-Do-Well didn’t even need to keep her eyes closed as she saw the Library vanish and replace itself with the neon light-strewn dimension Game Marester called home.

Before Mare-Do-Well’s alter ego could be impressed with how colorful this new world was, she realized Game Marester vanished from beneath her grip. Looking around everywhere, she saw a spotlight switch on above her. The vigilante saw the gold unicorn lying on top of the area the spotlight focused on while reclining against several gold and silver-glittery pillows. 

“Ho-hum… Very well, the same as before,” Game Marester yawned. “Choose the game and the rules. Make it interesting, hero. I want to be given a good challenge for once in my life.”

Mare-Do-Well gave a long pause. From what Spike told her, this outsider was a spirit of pastime and contest. Maybe there was a way for it to work to her advantage. If Game Marester could see under the mask, she would have seen the pony beneath smirk in pride. She began to tap.

YOU CLAIM TO BE THE BEST OF THE BEST WHEN IT COMES TO GAMES AND CONTESTS, DO YOU?

Game Marester laughed haughtily. “I don’t claim, dear hero. I am the best!”

MY OH MY. YOU PLAY JUST ONE LITTLE GAME AGAINST AN OPPONENT AND YOU CROWN YOURSELF THE QUEEN. OBVIOUSLY YOU PRIDE YOURSELF ON BEATING LITTLE FOALS AND LAME NAGS. HA. HA. HA.

The way the dragon child read the laughs aloud though made it sound more like sarcasm, and that’s what Mare-Do-Well wanted. Game Marester got up from her pillows and gazed down at the vigilante with scorn.

“I can beat you in as many games as there are drops of water in the ocean! I will prove to you I can win against you in every single game you can think up, super zero!”

THEN IT’S SETTLED. WE WILL HAVE A COMPETITION OF GAMES. THE ONLY IRON RULE IS THIS ONE. IF YOU LOSE ONCE DURING THIS COMPETITION, YOU WILL RELEASE ALL THE PONIES YOU CAPTURED TODAY. THE THREE FILLIES, THE ORANGE FARMER, THE CYAN PEGASUS, THE WHITE UNICORN, THE STUDENT OF CELESTIA, AND THE YELLOW PEGASUS. ARE WE CLEAR?”

“You make this so simple. Very well. I lose once, I release those following losers from my gallery. What’s there to lose? Oh right. I never lose!”

Spike seethed as she turned and faced Mare-Do-Well, whispering into her ear, “Pinkie, wipe that grin off her face. Twilight and the others are counting you!” The costumed pink pony merely nodded once.

With a tap of her forehoof, Game Marester teleported from her perch above and was back on the ground. “So let’s begin this feeble tournament of yours. Choose your first game, my dear.”

After closing her eyes to think, the heroine finally tapped her answer.

OUR FIRST GAME IS A TEST OF REFLEXES. WE WILL PLAY JUMP ROPE.

“Jump Rope, eh? You should have thought more carefully.” Game Marester sneered. “Very well. Let’s begin!”

Using her magic, Game Marester  conjured up what looked to be faint shadowy creatures in the shapes of young schoolfillies. Upon closer inspection, Mare-Do-Well was aghast to see the outline of the familiar red bow of Apple Bloom in one of the shades and the curved front mane style and tiny wings of Scootaloo in the other. The two shadowy doppelgangers had no eyes or mouths with which to see or talk, they only had their shapes. What they did have, however, was a long strand of what appeared to be a rope between what normally would be the location of their mouths and teeth.

“I’ll have you know this is the game I beat that little pastel-pink-and-purple maned unicorn yesterday. I figure I’d have her friends swing the rope for us as well,” the gamer pony gloated. The vigilante merely remained silent. She wasn’t about to lose considering how better her alter ego was at jumping rope. The two competitors walked up to the rope held by the shade fillies and stood ready to jump. On cue, the Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shadow clones started to swing the rope around. The game was on.

Spike kept time as he watched in amazement over how both Mare-Do-Well and Game Marester were able to jump the rope so many times. At first the swings were slow, next  becoming faster, then alternating between both speeds until finally the two fake Cutie Mark Crusaders began to walk up and down, changing the angle from which the rope was safe to jump to trip them.  The challengers just kept jumping without a break even as they moved their legs to keep up with the alternating central angle for successful jumps.

Game Marester was getting more and more annoyed. The little filly she beat at this game didn’t even last 50 jumps due to getting exhausted quickly and now this strange mare was already topping 200 jumps! She had to stop her and she knew the only way how. 

With sly intention, the gold unicorn moved forward just as the rope passed and shoved Mare-Do-Well slightly as the jump rope was coming back  in a rapid swing. The vigilante was startled by this sudden change since she was comfortably in an area both could jump with ease and was not ready for the next swing. She was tripped up and landed hard on the floor. Victory bells began to ring as the two shadows and the rope vanished while the cocky Game Marester reveled in her victory.

“You cheated! You pushed Mare-Do-Well before the next swing!” Spike snapped at her.

The pony merely snorted a blast of hot air in disdain. “I was trying to keep up the pace of the swing as the rope swingers were moving forward. It’s not my fault the super zero couldn’t keep up. How abysmal.” An angry scowl from Mare-Do-Well said otherwise. She has never lost a game of jump rope in her life. Now it was personal.

“Let’s get on with my display of my superior abilities. Choose the next game, NE’ER-Do-Well,” Game Marester yawned with boredom as she marveled at one of her front hooves. The heroine was seething but kept her cool as walked up to the cocky unicorn and began to horse-code with her hooves.

THE NEXT GAME WILL LAST TEN MINUTES. YOUNG SPIKE WILL KEEP COUNT.

“10 minutes? Very well. What shabby game have you chosen then?”

FIRST MAKE A RECREATION OF CANTERLOT CASTLE. MAKE IT AS REALISTIC AS POSSIBLE. THE THRONE ROOM, THE LIBRARY, THE GARDENS, AND EVERYTHING ELSE. 

With a shrug, Game Marester’s horn lit up and in just a few seconds the area around then came to life with various objects popping up over the landscape. There, in the middle of the dark neon-lit realm of the Game Marester was the majestic castle of the Princesses in full glory. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say this was the actual one brought straight from Canterlot itself. The competitive pony began to understand what was going on as a smile formed on her lips.

“Let me guess, Hide and Seek? What a joke. You obviously have no chance to win.”

Mare-Do-Well responded by shaking her head, causing the unicorn to wrinkle her brow. Raising the tip of a hoof, the vigilante pony softly touched the tip of the befuddled unicorn’s snout. She then began to stomp out horse code. As soon as she finished the message, she took off towards the conjured-up castle.

The angry Game Marester then turned to face Spike. “So? What did she say?” The dragon chuckled as he gave her a toothy grin and cleared his throat.

“Ahem… ‘Tag. You’re it.’”

The golden pony gasped as she realized what the masked pony did. Growling softly, she made her way into the building to find Mare-Do-Well and make her “it” before the ten minutes were up.

As the ten minutes ticked down, Mare-Do-Well tried to maintain her focus despite her alter ego enjoying the game. In fact, she couldn’t help but playfully bounce as she went from one place to another as she stayed one step ahead of the furious unicorn. Game Marester, however, was at the end of her rope. She never faced an opponent as bizarre and unpredictable as her. Just when she thought she managed to catch her as they both rounded a corner in the gardens, the unicorn was confused to see her gone only to see her competitor scramble across a stairwell leading into one of the towers. Game Marester growled loudly at this and took chase again. Spike couldn’t help but chuckle happily as two minutes remained.

Her patience was running short. Game Marester suddenly realized that if she wasn’t going to catch Mare-Do-Well, then Mare-Do-Well would have to come to her instead. With a sly grin, her horn began to glow and she suddenly vanished.

The vigilante enjoyed this game far too much than she realized and thanked her unique powers for helping her evade Game Marester for as long as she was doing. Once she would free them, her alternate self would throw a huge welcome back party for all of them. But then, she remembered all the other unfortunate souls still kept in the villain’s grasp.  She would have to figure out a way to keep playing against her and win back their freedom to finish her off for good. It was the right and just thing to do.

However, she was too preoccupied thinking on how to save the other ponies that she failed to heed a sudden combo running through her body. Without warning, she collided against something hard that was mysteriously in her way. Mare-Do-Well looked up and saw nothing. Just what did she hit? The answer soon came as a puff of smoke appeared and Game Marester stood directly in front of her.

“Oh my. You really should have watched the road ahead, my dear Mare-Do-Nothing-Well,” the cocky pony said as he pressed her hoof on her rival’s snout. “Tag. Now you’re it.” She then let out a whoop of laughter as she took off in the opposite direction. Mare-Do-Well quickly got back on her hooves and galloped off in pursuit.

Only thirty seconds remained and Mare-Do-Well was “it”. She had to find her opponent and touch her. She approached the edge of a small parapet and peered down to see Game Marester stand there tapping her hoof impatiently. Within her mask, Pinkie Pie grinned as she readied herself and jumped down ready to land on her foe. With merely touching her, she would pass the status to her and win for sure. There was no way for her to miss.

Nevertheless, the tuxedo-clad unicorn looked up and smirked at her. Her horn started to glow and in seconds, she disappeared. Mare-Do-Well’s eyes opened wide in shock as she landed on a bush that luckily softened her fall.

Game Marester reappeared out of nowhere and shook her head. “You are quite the clumsy pony, my dear. Time for you to hang up your mask and cape. And speaking of time...”

A buzzer sounded to signal the end of the game of tag. “You’re still ‘it’ and that means I win! Ha! Ha!”

The masked pony got up and scowled at her as she stomped her feet hard. The small drake caught up with the two and quickly translated for them.

YOU CHEATED! HOW COULD YOU USE MAGIC TO MAKE YOURSELF VANISH? THAT IS BREAKING THE RULES OF TAG!

Shaking her head in arrogance, the gold pony replied, “Where in the rules you set out for this game did you say no magic was permitted? You said five minutes. I merely used my inane unicorn abilities to prevent myself from being ‘it’ again. Be more specific next time, simpleton.” She blew on her hoof followed by rubbing it against her tuxedo jacket. “Now, do you wish to give up now and become a lovely part of my collection or keep going and show how feeble you are at my games?”

Mare-Do-Well looked down at her companion and the dragon child stared at her with hope. That was more than enough to keep going. She tapped her hoof once more.

LEAVE THE CASTLE WHERE IT IS. WE WILL NOW PLAY HIDE AND SEEK. FIRST, WE COUNT TO TWENTY AND THEN START SEARCHING. WHOEVER FINDS THE OTHER IN THE FASTEST TIME POSSIBLE WINS. AND YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE YOUR MAGIC TO TELEPORT YOURSELF OR HIDE ELSEWHERE IF I AM CLOSE TO FINDING YOU. IS THAT CLEAR?

The unicorn sighed in disdain. “And I shall add another... Allow me.” She then materialized a blindfold and placed it over Spike’s eyes.

“What in the-? Hey! Why did you do this?” he demanded as he dropped his quill and scroll as he tried to remove the blindfold only to find it stuck tightly around his head.

“Simple, reptile. So you don’t help your super zero out by telling her which direction I take. You’ll be able to see once this game is done.” Ignoring Spike’s growls of anger, she turned back to face her masked adversary. “Now that’s out of the way, the loser starts first. Go ahead, dearie, count to twenty. I assure you that you’ll never find me…”

Mare-Do-Well did as she was told as she turned around, closed her eyes and counted to twenty. When she was done she did another turn and galloped off. Spike stayed put where he was, arms crossed and muttering angrily with the blindfold around his eyes.

As she stood in front of the main castle foyer, she eyed all the doorways and hallways leading to various areas of the structure. Nopony would be able to find anypony else in such a vast area in record time, but then again anypony was not Mare-Do-Well.

She closed her eyes and allowed her power to come forth. Seconds later, her eyes shot open and she galloped towards one of the towers and opened the door. She was inside of the Observatory within Canterlot Castle with an enormous telescope taking up most of the space within the room. Various books on the stars and meteor showers Princess Luna herself set out to create were placed in several shelves on the walls. An array of instruments of measurement, including a worn-out old abacus, was placed on a table next to the telescope. Various maps personally hoof-written by Luna herself was placed on the surface of walls not covered by bookcases.

Her sense began to tingle. She was inside this room and her eyes landed on a particular map. She approached the faded old parchment and could see one edge was slightly bent just recently. Grabbing it, she tore the map clean off the wall to reveal a small hiding place hewn into the stone of the wall and huddled inside an incredulous Game Marester stared back at her.

“You… YOU! How could you find me so easily?! Aw, ponyfeathers... How many seconds was that?” the unicorn seethed angrily as she got out of her hiding spot. Her adversary tapped the floor 12 times in response.

“Twel… TWELVE SECONDS?!” she gasped only to quickly regain her composure by coughing and fixing her glasses in place. “Uh, I mean. I can beat that easily. Ok. Now it’s my turn to count to twenty. Start hiding. I will find you before too long. Count on that!” Mare-Do-Well turned around and sprinted off the moment she heard Game Marester count “one”.  She knew just where the place to go and she hoped Game Marester made an accurate copy of her best hiding place. 

As soon as she in front of the maze in the royal gardens, she zoomed through the twisting, turning passages until she reached the center of the labyrinth where the statue of Discord was now placed. She timed herself at 15 seconds on the dot. Game Marester made the maze just as she said and she was glad.

The tired pony sat on her haunches and placed her hat on the ground, but refrained from removing her mask as she stared at the statue of the spirit of chaos now with a shocked expression forever frozen on his stone form. Princess Celestia herself personally made sure the statue would be as far away from anyone quarreling or fighting in its presence and the center of the confounding maze was the best place. Still, Pinkie Pie herself liked coming to visit the old draconequus’s statue and having a picnic all by herself at his feet whenever she has the chance to visit Canterlot. She did this because despite him turning her and her friends into cruel mockeries of themselves, she really enjoyed the chocolate rain clouds while they lasted.

There was no way Game Marester would find her deep within the labyrinth and she was four seconds away from the 12 seconds she wasted finding her before. Her friends would be free for sure. That was, however, until she felt something tap the back of her neck. She turned around and her eyes open wide in shock seeing the grinning face of Game Marester staring back at her. 

“Ten. Seconds. Flat. I win, dearie.”

Just like that, a cloud of gold smoke formed around them and in seconds they were back in front of Spike whose blindfold magically vanished, as did the entire recreation of Canterlot Castle. Mare-Do-Well however was dumbstruck. How could anyone actually go through the maze in less than ten seconds while making sure the unicorn didn’t use magic? How did she ever find her? She began to stomp the floor in fury as the baby dragon quickly grabbed the quill and scroll beneath him and translated.

YOU CHEATED! ONLY I CAN GO THROUGH THAT MAZE IN RECORD TIME WITHOUT CHEATING! YOU USED YOUR MAGIC! ADMIT IT!

Shaking her head, the gold pony replied, “You said I had to count to twenty, dearie. You never said I had to turn around and stay still. All I did was follow you once you turned around and went into the maze taking each turn you did. Next time, specify you have to stay where you are while counting.”

Even though she couldn’t do so, Spike growled for the both of them. “This is crazy! You cheat at every single thing! You’re not a champion! You’re a phony!”

“Cheat? I merely stretch the rules within the boundaries, scaly. It’s not my fault my competitors don’t specify what things can or can’t be done,” she jeered with a quick raspberry at him. “I’m getting bored now. How about one last game? I win it and you will be my newest piece of my collection. Make it fast. I got a place just for you. 

The vigilante thought for a while. Obviously she enjoyed “cheating” at the expense of bending the rules. This made choosing a good game difficult considering how Game Marester acts. After a few minutes of pacing around, she finally stopped as an idea came to her mind. It was time for the pompous unicorn to learn how bending the rules will work against her. She tapped her hoof to speak.

LET’S SEE HOW YOU LIKE BEING AT THE MERCY OF SOMEONE ELSE FOR A CHANGE. WE WILL PLAY RED FLAG, GREEN FLAG. MY DRAGON FRIEND SHALL BE THE ONE HOLDING THE FLAGS.

“…Me? Hold flags?” Spike was puzzled at this when he finished writing. That was when the scroll and quill in his hands were replaced by a small red flag and green flag respectively. “So, uh, what do I do?”

Game Marester mumbled some words under her breath but finally explained, “The rules are so simple, scaly. Either the masked moron or I have to reach you and touch you to win. However, we move in accordance to which flag you raise. Raise the green flag and we move. Raise the red one and we have to be still. If no flag is raised we can't do anything until you lift one up. If anyone moves while the red flag is raised or when the green flag isn't, she loses and the other wins by default. These instructions simple enough for you to understand, lizard?”

“Don’t call me that! My name is Spike!” he snapped back as the two of them walked towards a starting line that materialized out of nowhere. When both participants were ready, the young drake called out, “Are you ready? Get set! GO!”

He lifted the red flag first hoping to catch the blowhard unicorn by surprise but she didn’t budge an inch and neither did Mare-Do-Well. He shrugged as he raised the green flag only for both to gallop straight at him. Jumping up with fluster, he quickly raised the red flag and both froze in place in mid-gallop. 

Spike looked at the green flag held at his side and the red one lifted up high and let out a gasp of wonder. That gasp however led to a giggle of mischief and a wiggle of his eyebrows as he realized he had a way to help tip the scales in favor of Mare-Do-Well, which was just what the vigilante wanted from the start.

From that moment, the young dragon began to formulate different patterns in hopes he could trip Game Marester up or take advantage of Mare-Do-Well’s alter-ego’s “Sense”. Sometimes he lifted both flags at once only to lower one forcing the two to move or remain frozen, at other times he lifted a green flag only to raise the red one to give them a second to stop and then raise the green one again for them to move. His patterns became erratic and unpredictable and the vigilante’s secret identity couldn’t help but be impressed. She would definitely ask Spike out as the flag waver for a grand tournament of Red Flag, Green Flag when she frees her friends, and she will free them!

Game Marester, however, was impatient. She cursed herself for allowing the vigilante pony to choose the lizard as the flag waver and she couldn’t keep up with all his crazy patterns. It didn’t help matter that the second she was close to him, he raised the red flag which forced her to stop her movements only for him to move farther away. She never felt as livid as she was at right now.

Walking towards her, Spike stood in front of Game Marester who looked down at him in contempt but didn’t move an inch. Unless the green flag was raised, he couldn’t touch him and win. Having him right in front of her nose was an insult to her prowess.

“You know, I don’t like the way you’ve been calling me names and insulting me ever since I came here with Twilight. Why? Don’t you like dragons? Why is that?” he mused matter-of-factly. The unicorn didn’t dare talk on account that she could only move when the green flag was up.

“Is it because of our… eyes?!” He then looked up at her with his green reptilian-slit eyes and that seemed to unnerve her as a small bead of sweat formed beneath her forehead above her horn.

“Or maybe our… tongues?!” He stuck out his slit tongue and softly tickled the bottom of her chin. Game Marester didn’t budge. The second she laughed she was done for. She did her best to not move.

“Or perhaps it’s because we….breathe fire?!” He then blew out a tiny flicker of green flame which quickly vanished and became a small plume of black smoke. The foul-smelling vapor billowed out of the drake’s mouth and managed to enter Game Marester’s nostrils. Her eyes began to water and her teeth gnashed within her closed mouth. She really hated dragon fire and its smoke! She couldn’t hold it in any longer and she let out a loud allergic sneeze. That was the second Spike raised the red flag again and a loud buzzer sounded.

“You moved your mouth when the red flag was raised! Mare-Do-Well wins!” the dragon announced triumphantly with wild cheering.

Game Marester screamed out, “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! I LOST?! NO! NO! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE! I COULDN’T LOSE! I’M THE CHAMPION OF GAMES! THIS WAS A MISTAKE! IT HAS TO BE!”

Mare-Do-Well stood in front of her and tapped her hooves in victory.

IT WAS NO MISTAKE. NOW FULFILL YOUR END OF THE BARGAIN. RELEASE THOSE PONIES RIGHT THIS INSTANT!

Spike couldn’t help but announce those words in glee as he couldn’t wait to hug his friends once more.

Game Marester however looked down as she shook her head slowly. “No. This is not over. I am still the champion of this realm. I will never admit defeat!” She then looked up at her with her glasses shimmering in an unnatural light. “We will play one last game. All or nothing! I myself will choose it! If you can beat me at this, then I will release those ponies! How about it? Do you agree?”

Spike stamped his foot on the ground. “Mare-Do-Well will not accept it! You lost fair and square! Now release Twilight and the others or else she will make you suffer!”

The masked heroine, however, was ready for this turn of events and she calmly stamped her hooves. Spike calmed down as he translated what she said. As he finished writing, he gasped and then smiled.

“Well? What did she say, lizard spawn?” Game Marester demanded.

Spike grinned up and read the words.

IF THIS IS ALL OR NOTHING, I DEMAND A STRONGER PRIZE FOR WINNING. INSTEAD OF JUST THE PONIES YOU CAPTURED TODAY, YOU WILL NOW RELEASE EVERY SINGLE LAST SOUL YOU HAVE TRAPPED IN YOUR PRISON. I MEAN EVERY SINGLE PONY. PERIOD. DO YOU AGREE TO MY CONDITION?

“WHAT?! Give up all my Gallery of Losers?!” Game Marester recoiled as her glasses shook off in shock, only for her to grab them out of the air and slip them back on. “You are out of your little pony mind if I’m going to put up my entire collection on the line!”

Mare-Do-Well merely lowered her head and tipped her hat forward as she arched a brow and tapped again. Spike smirked as he read what she said.

HOW SHAMEFUL. I CONSIDERED YOU A WORTHY COMPETITOR. BUT ALL YOU ARE IS SOME SCARED LITTLE FILLY WHO IS AS YELLOW AS HER COAT. IF YOU ARE A SO-CALLED CHAMPION OF GAMES, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR IN RISKING THAT SO-CALLED GALLERY OF YOURS. GO AHEAD. I. DARE. YOU.

The angry snarl coming from Game Marester was heard throughout her entire realm as she stormed up in front of Mare-Do-Well and pressed her snout against hers.

“Oh, you are so on, sister! I will place my collection as collateral as you demand, but mark my words. Making you part of my gallery will not even begin to fathom the torture I got planned in store for you for mocking me!” she seethed. She then looked down at Spike and added, “I will also take that little beast as well. I got several plans for it as I hate dragons and will make it suffer as much as you!”

Spike felt a bit unnerved by the remark but his ally stood firm. Mare-Do-Well countered the snout press with an even stronger one that managed to bend back the conceited unicorn a bit. Her eyes lowered in defiance.

“Enough idle chatter. Time for you to lose!” the impatient unicorn groused as she stepped back and used her magic.

In front of them a small table appeared. Rather unassuming, the table had a large smiling face of Game Marester herself right in the center of it. Using her horn, the sore-losing pony then lifted her top hat in the air and it softly began to stir only to split into two more hats as they landed on the table.

“Let’s see how good your eyesight can be!” she declared with hatred as a small gold ball materialized in front of the hats. With a glow of yellow magic, one of the hats lifted itself up and the ball rolled to the spot below the hat as it landed back on the table. In a flurry of magic, the hats then began to shuffle across the table with blinding speed. Spike lost sight of the hat with the ball beneath in one second. Only Mare-Do-Well stared down with unblinking  cloth-covered eyes at the flurry of hats moving on the table. Just before she could finally blink, the hats stopped moving and lined up in a row.

“Choose… Choose the hat the ball is under. Find the correct hat and I will release my collection. Lose and you and that despicable reptile are mine to punish for all eternity…” she whispered in tone of pure malice.

Mare-Do-Well frowned. She was walking right into a trap. She could tell Game Marester was a sore loser and would make sure whatever hat she picked will end up empty. Even if she ended up picking the hat that the ball would be under, she could make it vanish and appear in another hat just to spite her. She then tapped her hoof on the table as Spike translated.

I PICK ONE HAT. THAT HAT IS AND WILL BE MY CHOICE IN THE END. AM I RIGHT?

“Yes…yes… Once you select a hat, it will be your final choice. Any others will be invalid,” she replied with evil relish. 

That was what she wanted to hear. She tapped a hoof again for Spike to write down the code. As soon as he did, his eyes opened wide in surprise once more. Game Marester didn’t like that. Whenever that happened it was to be trouble for her, but there was nothing her opponent could do. One selection. Just any selection and she would magically make the ball appear in another hat and she would keep her title. There was no way she could lose now.

Spike approached the table as he set the quill and scroll down. Mare-Do-Well quickly sprang her strategy. She moved aside and placed her hoof above the leftmost hat. The overly confident unicorn grinned madly. “So you selected the left hat? Good! Let’s see if you’re ri… HEY!”

Game Marester was cut short when she saw the dragon child grab the middle and right hat off the table and stepped back. “There is no rule that says the other choices can't be removed! And there are no balls underneath these hats! How about showing the ball under Mare-Do-Well’s choice and showing she’s right?” Spike sneered with glee.

At this, the gold pony was at a loss for words. Her lips began to quiver and her eyes, even if they could be seen behind her glasses, lost all their shimmer. A pounding of the vigilante’s hoof on the table as she pointed at the left hat brought her back to reality. She lit up her horn as her face remained the epitome of gloom as the hat lifted up and revealed the gold ball. 

Just like that, loud trumpets began to blare and bells began to ring to announce the new victor. Spike threw the hats in the way and began to whoop with success. Mare-Do-Well stood up straight as she stared down in defiance towards the ever-shrinking former champion of games.

“No…” the unicorn said softly.

“No… No. No! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” she finally screamed as her entire realm began to shake with the force of her yell. Spike ran up to the triumphant vigilante and hugged her as she just stared at her fallen foe.

Spike finally stopped as he stomped towards the shell-shocked Game Marester and demanded, “You lost! Release them! Release them all! That was the agreement!”

The unicorn huddled down on her hooves as her cape magically covered up her form. The dragon lost his patience as he grabbed the cape only to see she vanished under the glittery cloth. Then, the cape itself disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“What? No! She has to release them! It was the agreement!” he protested and turned towards Mare-Do-Well who just stood there staring down at him with stern eyes.

That was when the realm again started to shake, even more than before. Spike huddled close to his friend wondering what was about to happen. The neon signs began to fall and shattered on the floor as the dice and card suit tiles started to crack and disintegrate in the ensuing earthquake. The Game Marester’s realm was falling apart right in front of them. With no magic power between the two of them, it was only a matter of time before they would be destroyed by the realm’s incoming destruction.

Then something started to appear in front of them. It was the wall where all the trapped pony soul figurines were placed. One particular statuette started to glow faintly only to finally radiate in full splendor. Soon another figurine began to shine, then another close by, followed by another bunch, until finally every last one was glowing with the intensity of Celestia’s Sun. As they radiated, they began to levitate out of their holes in the wall and streaked across the room amongst the forthcoming annihilation of the magic plane. Eventually, all the small spheres of light vanished out of sight, but eight of them stayed flying around the heads of the duo until they united in one single enormous ball of magic light and landed on the floor with a flash that caused the dragon and masked pony to shield their eyes.

When the flash dissipated, the two looked at the spot the light was and were surprised to see Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo standing there looking a bit disoriented. Spike couldn’t hold it any longer and ran up to the purple unicorn and threw himself at her in a long hug.

“Twilight! Oh Twilight! Thank Celestia you’re back to normal! I was so worried about you and the others!”

“Cut the chitchat, little guy. We’ve got more problems to worry ‘bout right now!” Applejack as she regained her bearing.

“AJ, Ah’m scared… What’ll we do?” the little earth filly trembled as she huddled close to her sister as did Sweetie Belle to Rarity and Scootaloo to her idol.

“Nuts! That sore loser left us here to push up the daisies and I’m not in the mood to chow down right now!” Rainbow Dash grumbled as her devotee stayed by her side.

Twilight nodded as she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and channeling all her energy into her horn. It then began to glow with an even greater intensity than the one last seen when she faced the Ursa Minor a year ago. “Everyone, get close to me! I’m going to attempt something I never tried before, but anything is better than staying here before it goes down!” she commanded as every pony in the small group along with Spike huddled as close as possible to her.

She then managed to open an eye as she saw Mare-Do-Well stand there before. “Come on! Hurry! I don’t have much power left!” The vigilante nodded once as she leaped into the air and was about to land on the pony pile the second the teleport spell was cast and they vanished in a flash, seconds before the realm was about to disintegrate.

When they reappeared, they were all bowled over by the impact of Mare-Do-Well crashing down on them. 

“Oww... Hey, did we make it?” Rainbow Dash managed to utter out. Twilight shook her head a few times and realized they were all back at the Books & Branches. “Yes. We’re back. All thanks to Mare-Do-Well.”

“YOU’RE BACK!!!” a shrill shriek of joy broke the silence of the library as a familiar pink pony burst out from the basement door. Pinkie Pie bounded up to the entire group and hugged them all tightly.

“Oh, I was so very very very worried about you all! I came here a while ago from the hospital where Mrs. Cake is right now but nobody was around. I went to Carousel Boutique, Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy’s cottage and shouted up to Dashie’s home but nopony answered! I talked to everypony and they all said you all vanished and I got so very very very sad and I thought no one wanted to be my friend anymore but I shouldn’t jump to those conclusions! <GASP> I mean, conclusions can’t be jumped! I can jump stones and bushes and small walls because I’m good at jumping! I’m also good at baking. It’s so tasty and Mrs. Cake always allowed me to sample the newest batch of goods she makes! Why this morning, I…”

The five ponies and Spike allowed her to ramble on since the Cutie Mark Crusaders were there and they didn’t want to accidentally reveal her secret. However, they wondered how she was able to quickly get out of her costume and get back up to meet them all in a span of just five seconds after she crashed on top of them. Then again, they chalked it up to Pinkie Pie just being Pinkie Pie. 

Eventually they managed to get her back to the main subject of them being finally back and she gave them all one big hug again. The clock then chimed two and they realized time flew much slower in the real world than the amount of time they all spent in Game Marester’s domain. That was when the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike all started getting drowsy as sleep finally was able to hit them. 

Saying their good-byes, four ponies with the 3 fillies left the library and headed back to their respective homes. Only Twilight and Pinkie stayed behind. Twilight lifted Spike up with her magenta aura as she took him to his basket to sleep. As she neared the top of the stairs, the purple unicorn turned around and looked down at her pink pony “roommate” at the foot of the steps.

“Pinkie Pie. Thank you. You not only saved us, but you also saved every other pony that Game Marester had imprisoned in her realm. Somewhere out there, there are many happy families who are overjoyed to see their loved ones back. You really did good,” she stated with a warm smile. 

The pink filly beamed from ear to ear. “Thanks oodles, Twilight. I admit that big meanie really cheated but I beat her at her own rule-bending game!” she giggled with a snort. One content sigh later, she finally spoke a bit more seriously, “I would have done anything to save not just you but all those poor ponies trapped there. I was going to play against her forever to release them all even if it ended up costing my freedom. I thank Celestia it never happened and managed to free everypony in that last challenge. I would give anything to be everywhere and see the smiles of those families when the freed ponies return to their homes. The thought itself is my only reward.”

Twilight quickly placed Spike on his bed and walked down the stairs to where Pinkie Pie stood. “Mare-Do-Well is a heroine to all. I’m sure all those you rescued will tell everypony that. Soon, your name will be known throughout all Equestria instead of just here in Ponyville. That is why we will always be proud of both Mare-Do-Well and you, Pinkamena,” the unicorn disciple replied as she placed her head over her friend’s back and nuzzled with a hug.

Pinkie shed a small tear as she realized her friend was right. Soon everypony will know about her and she will become a hero not just to Ponyville but all of Equestria now. A challenge she is willing to take. Deep down in her mind, she knew this was the start of something big, but where it would take her she didn’t know and she didn’t care. She would take this task as everything else in her life: With a smile.

*********************************

Under the blanket of the starry night with a full moon hanging overhead, a lone figure stood at the edge of a lonely mountain overlooking Ponyville. She stared with rage at the sleeping town below. 

“Mare-Do-Well. You are a cheater. I lost my gallery, my world and my reputation… Mark my words. I will make it the goal of my existence to see you cower in defeat at my hooves. Soon. Very soon. You will see that I am truly the Game Marester!”






The Legend of Mare-Do-Well trots along.