//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: A New Enemy // Story: Sunset Shimmer: The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well // by Joeycrick //------------------------------// "Looks like this is the place." Sunset made her way to the house sitting at the end of the street, right next to the city's gardens. As she trotted down the path leading to the front door, she took in the sights around her. The lawn was decorated with all kinds of flowers and plants, from rosebushes and sunflowers, to lilies and daffodils. It made the Flower Trio's garden back in Ponyville look like a pile of dirt. Out the corner of her eye, Sunset spotted a patch of poison joke. She chuckled for a moment, recalling how Twilight and her friends met Zecora. I kinda want to hear Flutterguy singing Pinkie's "Evil Enchantress" song now... Sunset approached the front door and knocked. A few moments later, the door swung open to reveal a light-gray pegasus wearing a sunflower in her pink mane. On her flank, a trio of daisies made up her cutie mark. "Can I help you, miss?" she asked. Sunset cleared her throat before speaking. "Excuse me, but are you Daisy Petal?" The mare nodded. "Yeah, my name is Daisy Petal. What do you need?" "I've got something for you from Princess Twilight," Sunset answered, opening her saddlebag and levitating the wrapped-up book. Daisy gasped, pointing her shaking hoof at the package. "Is that Absolutely Everything You Need To Know About Flowers and Gardens?!" Sunset smiled and nodded. Daisy took the book in her hooves and hastily unwrapped it, squealing in joy. "Oh, I've been waiting for this for weeks! Thank you so much, miss..." Daisy paused for a moment. "Uh..." "Sunset Shimmer." the unicorn replied. "Princess Twilight's student." Daisy grinned. "Well, thank you, Sunset Shimmer. I've been eager to give this a read for a long time." She stepped aside. "Want to come in for a bit?" "Sure, I've got some time," Sunset answered, following Daisy inside the house. As Daisy led the way, Sunset's eyes wandered. Her gaze fell on several flowerpots lined up on a table, and a couple more were hanging from the ceiling. Passing a bookshelf, Sunset quickly scanned the titles and noticed that all of them were about flowers. Daisy Petal: confirmed flower fanatic. The two ponies eventually arrived at the back porch. Daisy opened the door and gestured for Sunset to go first. Sunset's eyes widened as she stepped through the doorway. "Holy crap." Sunset thought the front garden was impressive. It paled in comparison to the one she was looking at now. A massive garden with rows upon rows of flowers of all kinds, including a ton that she didn't recognize. "I... I... I..." she stuttered, in a state of utter disbelief. "You like it?" Daisy asked, setting her book down on a nearby table. "Like it?!" Sunset turned around, gesturing to the scenery around her. "I've never seen anything like this! It's incredible!" Sheepishly grinning, Daisy replied, "Been all around Equestria, collecting seeds and planting them." "Yeah, I can tell." Sunset continued looking around in amazement as Daisy brought out a tray with a pitcher of iced tea and a few glasses. "So Daisy, how do you know Twilight?" Daisy lifted the pitcher with her hooves and began pouring a glass for Sunset. "It was before she became a princess," she told her. "She was visiting Princess Celestia. I was just carrying some groceries home as she was leaving the castle, and we just bumped into each other by accident. I dropped all my bags, and she offered to help me carry them home. The whole way, she wouldn't stop apologizing." She smiled as she remembered Twilight's panicky meltdown. Sunset chuckled. "That sounds like her, alright." Offering Sunset a glass of iced tea before pouring her own, Daisy continued. "She noticed my garden, and she was really fascinated about it. She kept naming all the different plants and their special characteristics. Turns out, she's read a lot of books about them, and she even offered to lend me a couple from Ponyville. We've been keeping in touch ever since." Taking a sip from her glass, she turned to Sunset. "What about you? How'd you become Twilight's student?" Sunset looked down, sighing for a moment. "I used to be Princess Celestia's student. We... didn't exactly get along. As time went by, we started clashing more often. I did and said some things I'm not proud of." She looked at Daisy, a solemn expression on her face. "When Twilight became the Princess of Friendship, Princess Celestia figured that she'd be able to get through to me, so she sent me to Ponyville. I was reluctant at first, but Twilight, despite hearing what I had done, was willing to give me a second chance." Sunset's expression changed from one of sadness to one of happiness. "She introduced me to her friends, five truly fantastic ponies. Like Twilight, they were also willing to give me a chance to turn myself around. And you know what?" She looked up, a smile on her face. "I'm really, really glad I met them." "They showed me just how truly magical friendship is." A lone mare stood on a clifftop overlooking Canterlot. She was wearing a black cloak that flowed with the breeze, a hood covering her head and mane. The mare's eyes kept watching the city below. She heard beating wings behind her, but she didn't turn around. Behind her, a pegasus also donning a black cloak and hood approached. He was wearing a mask that covered his snout. "Is everything ready?" the mare asked. "Yes," the stallion answered. "We're ready to send Celestia and Luna our... message." The mare closed her eyes in satisfaction. "Good. Make sure they understand clearly that we mean business, and we are not to be trifled with." "Of course." The stallion opened his wings and took off, flying towards the city. Beneath her hood, an evil grin slowly formed on the mare's face. I hope you two crones enjoy what I have in store for you... "Wait, she did WHAT?!" Daisy shouted, a highly amused grin on her face. "Yeah, she tried coming up with a spell that would allow flowers to survive the wintertime," Sunset told her, trying her best not to burst out in laughter. "Not only did she fail, but all the flowers within a mile from Ponyville came to life and started parading through the streets, armed with pitchforks and torches while shouting some crap about plant oppression!" Daisy spat out her tea and started banging her hoof on the table, laughing uncontrollably. "Oh wow, that's just rich!" "It gets even better: want to know who stopped it? FLUTTERSHY!" "Wait, you mean that really shy pegasus who takes care of animals? Her?" Daisy seemed highly amused at the thought. "Yeah, she stared them down and gave them a good lecturing while Twilight got her counter-spell ready. The whole town couldn't believe it!" Sunset remembered everypony staring, slack-jawed and buggy-eyed, as Fluttershy got into the sunflower leader's face, her famous Stare working its magic while she spent a good forty minutes berating them for starting a riot. Even two months later, the memory still gave her a good chuckle. "Wow... I wish I could've seen it," Daisy giggled. "So even though she's a princess, Twilight's still experimenting?" "Yeah, her title hasn't stopped the mad scientist in her," Sunset replied. "You know what she was just doing yesterday? She was trying to come up with some potion that allows you to recall an entire book's contents from memory." "How'd that work out?" "Why don't you ask all the melted cauldrons and burnt Daring Do novels that resulted from the explosions?" Daisy grinned. "I figured." As she gulped down some tea, her eyes drifted to the sun. "Whoa, late afternoon already?" Sunset followed her gaze. "Jeez, time certainly flew by." She stood up and gathered her saddlebags. "I'd better get going now, want to make sure I get a seat on the train." Daisy put her glass down on the table and escorted Sunset to the front door. "It was nice meeting you, Sunset," she told her, smiling as she raised her hoof. "Thanks for the book, and be sure to keep in touch." Sunset raised her own hoof and bumped Daisy's. "I will. Nice meeting you too, Daisy, and thanks for the tea." "No problem," Daisy replied. She waved as Sunset followed the winding path through her front garden, watching as she disappeared onto a side street. Sunset trotted through the busy streets of Canterlot and the crowd of ponies, a smile on her face. She was really eager to tell Twilight about her visit with her new friend, Daisy. Arriving at the city square, she spotted the ticket booth at the train station. She took a step forward- *CRASH!* Sunset snapped her head to the right, looking for the source of the noise and finding it. One of the souvenir carts was wrecked, and several ponies were lying on the ground. She turned her head to the opposite direction, and her eyes narrowed. Opposite the cart stood four ponies, all of them wearing black cloaks with hoods over their heads, and masks covering their snouts. The pony at the front of the group, a unicorn, lifted another cart and sent it flying towards a family of screaming ponies nearby. Sunset dashed forward, grabbing the cart with her magic and throwing it aside. She turned to the ponies, shouting, "Get out of here and find some help!" "Thank you, miss!" the mother cried as she ushered her kids off the street. Sunset's gaze drifted to the cloaked ponies. A determined look in her eyes, she dashed into a nearby alleyway. Quickly checking to make sure nopony was around, she gave two taps to the pendant handing around her neck. As it began to flash brightly, Sunset closed her eyes. Wind started blowing around her as a purple bodysuit with blue wrappings around the hooves appeared out of thin air and covered her body. It was followed by a long, flowing cape held in place by a brooch monogrammed with the letter "M". A purple, wide-brimmed fedora appeared, floating slowly onto her head. As the breeze died down and the flash disappeared, Sunset slowly lifted her head, a fire burning in her eyes. Grabbing the mask with her hoof, she pulled it over her face before vanishing. In the city square, chaos ensued. The four black ponies were running rampant, smashing carts and store windows, terrorizing the citizens. A few of them tried fighting back, but were quickly overpowered. One stallion stood defensively in front of his wife, trying to shield her from harm. "Nopony lays a hoof on my wife!" he shouted. The hooded unicorn in front of him smirked. "How sweet of you to try to keep your special somepony safe. Too bad it won't do you any good." Her horn lighting up, she lifted a nearby street lamp out of the ground. "I wonder what'll hurt more when I'm done with you: your body, or your marefriend's broken heart." She raised the lamp, preparing to strike. The stallion closed his eyes while his wife screamed in horror. Suddenly, a blast of magic struck the cloaked mare, knocking her aside and causing her to drop the lamp. "What the-?!" She looked in the direction that the blast came from, and her eyes widened. On the rooftop stood her attacker, a masked dark-costumed pony, a stylish hat on her head and her cape flowing in the breeze. The pony couple gasped. "Mare-Do-Well!" The hooded mare lifted her hood, revealing light-brown fur, a pink mane, and a smirk. "So you're the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, eh?" The masked heroine jumped off the rooftop, extending her cape and softly landing between the unicorn and the couple. She glared at her opponent. "So you've heard of me. Guess my reputation precedes me," she replied coldly. The unicorn chuckled. "I've heard a lot about you," she said as the two ponies began circling each other. Mare-Do-Well's eyes narrowed, never taking her gaze off the unicorn. "So you must know that anypony who stands in my way gets beaten senseless, right?" "We'll see about that." Raising her hoof to her mouth, the cloaked unicorn whistled, summoning her three lackeys. They all gathered together, surrounding Mare-Do-Well. Two of them were earth ponies, and the last one was a pegasus. Mare-Do-Well turned to the pony couple next to her. "You two, get out of here now," she ordered. "I'll handle these thugs." The two ponies nodded quickly and fled while Mare-Do-Well lowered herself into a battle stance. The two earth ponies and the pegasus all charged at once. As they closed in, Mare-Do-Well crouched down and waited. Once they were close enough, she leaped into the air. She bounced off the pegasus's head, sending him to the ground with a thud. One of the earth ponies swung his hoof at the heroine, only to get jabbed in the side and kicked into a bench. The other earth pony rammed into Mare-Do-Well, tackling her to the ground. The two ponies rolled around, exchanging blows until the earth pony was on top. The cloaked mare raised her hoof, ready to smash her opponent's face in. Before she could, however, Mare-Do-Well grabbed her foreleg and flipped over, throwing her off and jumping to her hooves as the earth pony crashed into a lamp, knocking it over. A trash can zipped by, narrowly missing Mare-Do-Well. She turned to find the leader of the group magically flinging objects at her. The masked mare charged at the unicorn, dodging the thrown debris as she went. Sliding underneath a water fountain, she grabbed a nearby sign and slammed it into her opponent, knocking her aside. Mare-Do-Well moved in, only to get struck from the side and sent crashing into a nearby taco stand. As Mare-Do-Well shook the stars out of her eyes, she lifted the brim of her hat and saw the pegasus and the male earth pony charging towards her. Sitting up quickly, she looked around and spotted a bin full of hot sauce packets. Levitating a couple, she flung them at her attackers, striking them in their eyes and causing them to scream out in pain. "Gah, sweet Celestia, that's hot!" "MY EYYYYYYYEEEESSS!!!" Unable to see where they were going, the pegasus wobbled wildly in the air while the earth pony stumbled and slid forward. Her horn lighting up, Mare-Do-Well ripped the menu off the stand and swung it at the earth pony, knocking him into the pegasus. The two soared through the air before crashing through a store window, where they lay unconscious. Mare-Do-Well turned to the remaining earth pony as she approached. The two mares swung at each other, blocking and dodging each others' attacks. A sweep kick from the earth pony knocked Mare-Do-Well onto her back again, where she pinned the heroine's hooves to the ground. As Mare-Do-Well struggled to break free, the earth pony leaned towards her masked face, a smirk visible beneath her hood. "Gotcha now, hero," she taunted. Underneath her mask, Mare-Do-Well returned the smirk. "You sure about that?" she replied, her horn lighting up before she vanished. The earth pony fell flat onto the ground, looking around frantically. Just as she glanced skywards, her face hit the ground hard as Mare-Do-Well landed on her back. Rearing up, the heroine slammed her forehooves onto her opponent's head, knocking her out. Mare-Do-Well faced towards her last opponent, the unicorn leader. The two stared each other down, circling each other. "Impressive," the unicorn slyly remarked. "Glad to see for myself that you live up to all the hype." "Gee, I'm flattered," Mare-Do-Well replied. "Too bad that won't save you from getting thrown into a cell." At that moment, she disappeared. The unicorn looked around, scanning the area for the masked mare. Out the corner of her eye, she spotted a fluttering cape. Before she could react, Mare-Do-Well flipped over her and landed on her forehooves. Extending her hind legs, she gave the unicorn a solid buck, sending her crashing headfirst into the side of the building. Before she could recover, Mare-Do-Well magically lifted her opponent into the air and slammed her against the wall, holding her in place. The cloaked unicorn chuckled. "Looks like I underestimated you. Too bad you won't be stopping us anytime soon." "'Us'? So there's more of you out there?" Mare-Do-Well shouted in a menacing tone. "Answer me!" The unicorn simply grinned, remaining silent as she blew into her mane. Losing her patience, Mare-Do-Well slammed her into the wall again before leaning into her face. "Listen, you scum," she growled. "You're already going to the dungeons once I'm done with you. If you don't want me to send you there with broken teeth, I suggest you talk right now." The unicorn just chuckled, her laughter getting louder before she smirked. "Be sure to tell this to Celestia and Luna: Night Shade sends her regards." "Night Shade? Who the heck is-?" Before Mare-Do-Well could get her question out, she spotted an orb in her hostage's hoof. Underneath her mask, her eyes widened. "Don't you dare-!" Too late. The unicorn threw down the orb, and a cloud of smoke erupted. Mare-Do-Well lost her concentration, the glow around her horn vanishing. Coughing and sputtering, she quickly conjured up a gust of wind, blowing away the smoke. As it cleared, she glanced at the wall where her hostage... used to be. "Oh, don't tell me..." She looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the escaped unicorn. Well, this is just lovely. Mare-Do-Well teleported onto the nearby rooftop and quickly scanned the streets below her. Although she could spot the Royal Guards' carriages closing in, not a glimpse of pink on light-brown did she spot. "Great, she got away," she muttered to herself as she descended into the street. Around her, the Royal Guards were rounding up the unconscious thugs. "Mare-Do-Well!" a familiar voice called from behind her. Pausing for a moment, the masked mare slowly turned around to the pony who called her. Spotting her crown and flowing multi-colored mane, she bowed before the tall white alicorn in front of her. "Princess Celestia," she said. The Princess of the Sun smiled. "No need for such formalities, my little pony," she said warmly, offering a bow of her own. "I'd like to personally thank you for protecting the city of Canterlot from those four invaders." "You're welcome, Your Highness," Mare-Do-Well replied. "Unfortunately, one of them... she got away." "Hmm..." Princess Celestia closed her eyes. "Did she say anything before she escaped?" "She mentioned that there's more of them out there, then somepony named Night Shade," answered Mare-Do-Well. Shaking her head, she added, "I don't know who she is, though." "I see. My guards will try to get as much information from the three you've captured. I'll let you know if we find out anything." "Thank you, Princess," Mare-Do-Well told her, starting to turn around. "Oh, one more thing," Princess Celestia added. She smiled and gave the masked hero a wink. "Tell Princess Twilight I said hi," she quietly told her. Sunset Shimmer smiled underneath her mask, tipping her hat. "Don't worry, I will." She turned around and leaped into the air, disappearing over the rooftops. Behind her, Princess Celestia smiled and glanced in the direction of Ponyville. You've done well, my faithful student.