Sunset Shimmer: The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well

by Joeycrick


Chapter 14: Midnight Guests

Princess Twilight and Sunset Shimmer,

Good news! After a couple days of searching, we've managed to track down the Relic of Flight!

Me and my associate are heading for Ponyville, it shouldn't take us more than two days to arrive. Once we meet up, we'll use the two Relics to locate the third one, and hopefully we can get to it before Night Shade does!

We'll see you soon!

A.K. Yearling, aka Daring Do

Sunset looked over the letter a couple times, before turning to Twilight. "You sure this is from her?"

"Definitely," Twilight assured her. "I've got a ton of books autographed by Daring Do, and the hoofwriting matches perfectly."

"Too bad that Rainbow Dash is stuck at the Wonderbolt Academy for the next two weeks," muttered Sunset, her mind wandering to the rainbow-maned pegasus. "She'd go nuts over this."

"Her training comes first, and becoming a Wonderbolt's been her lifelong dream, so there's not much we can do about that." Twilight sighed as she rolled up the scroll and levitated it onto her desk.

"Hey Twilight..." Sunset spoke up. "Did you find anything more about those Relics?"

The alicorn shook her head. "I've read nearly all the books I grabbed from Canterlot about the Relics, and none of them mention a way to destroy them or drain them of their magic. If I still haven't found anything by the time Daring arrives, I'll contact Princess Celestia. She's the one that split the Celestial Amulet into the three Relics, maybe she could help us."

"Alright then," answered Sunset as she turned around to leave. "I'm heading off to Sweet Apple Acres to help Applejack with the harvesting. See you later."

"You too," Twilight responded as her horn lit up. A pink aura surrounded a half-dozen books as they orbited around Twilight, who was flipping through their pages furiously. Hopefully there's something here that can help...


But Daring Do didn't come.

Twilight and Sunset patiently waited for the archaeologist to arrive with the Relic of Flight. As the days passed, however, they grew uneasy, worrying that something probably happened to her.

Sunset couldn't shake the feeling that Night Shade was involved. She spent the last several patrols interrogating any minions she ran into, hoping to find out about Daring Do's whereabouts. But no matter how much she threatened them, they couldn't give her an answer, and she was getting frustrated.

"I swear to Celestia, I don't know where that archaeologist or the Relic is!" a cloaked earth pony screamed as Mare-Do-Well pinned him to the wall.

"You think I'm an idiot or something?" the masked mare hissed, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "You'd better tell me what you know about Miss Do's whereabouts, or-"

"I'm serious!" the earth pony cried out, shrinking away from his captor. "We haven't heard from Night Shade for the past several days! I'm just a lowly mook that spreads chaos across the cities! I'd tell you where Miss Do was if I knew, that's how much you're scaring me now!!!"

Mare-Do-Well looked over her hostage, who was sweating profusely and breathing heavily, his eyes filled with terror. After a few moments, she released her grip and dropped him to the ground. "Fine," she said, looking down on the earth pony as he struggled to catch his breath. "I believe you... for now. But if I find out you were lying..." In a flash, she swung her forehoof, striking the pony's pale face and knocking him out cold.

"You're in for a world of hurt."


It had been over a week since Twilight and Sunset received Daring's letter, and she still hadn't arrived in Ponyville. The two of them were at their wit's end with worry. As Luna's moon shone brightly in the sky, the two ponies were in the castle foyer, still wondering what happened to the archaeologist.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Twilight." Sunset shifted uncomfortably as she sat on the stairs, still wearing her Mare-Do-Well costume after coming back from a patrol in Fillydelphia.

"Same here," Twilight muttered, pacing nervously as she kept her eye on the front door.

"All of Night Shade's thugs I've interrogated said they don't know anything," Sunset remarked, spinning her fedora on her forehoof. "So I don't know what's keeping her."

"She's gotten in a ton of hairy situations in her books, especially when she had to go after the Sapphire Stone with a broken wing," said Twilight. "If she's in another one, you'd think that she'd have gotten out of it by now."

"You wanna try to use the Earth Relic to find her, in case she still has it?" Sunset asked, gesturing to the hallway leading down to the lab.

Twilight stopped, pondering for a moment before responding. With a sigh, she nodded. "We've got no choice at this point. We'll get some rest tonight, and we'll head out in the morning-"

Suddenly, a loud knocking sound caught their attention. The two ponies turned towards the front door. Sunset jumped onto her hooves, keeping an eye on the door as Twilight slowly approached it.

"Who could be visiting at this time of night?" the alicorn asked quietly.

"I don't know," Sunset answered her. "But just be r-"

Twilight held up her forehoof, silencing her student. She leaned in towards the door, straining her ears. Sunset did the same, and she could make out a voice calling to them from the other side.

"Princess Twilight, open up! It's me, Daring Do!"

"Wait a minute... Daring Do?!" Sunset whispered.

Twilight looked towards her student, a hint of suspicion in her eyes. "You think it's odd that she's choosing now to show up?" she whispered.

"Yeah," the costumed mare answered back. "You think she might be an imposter?"

"We haven't heard from her in over a week, and she suddenly shows up in the middle of the night. It sounds pretty fishy to me," Twilight replied. "Just get ready if she tries anything." Sunset nodded and quickly dove behind a column. Doing her best to keep out of sight, she peeked out, watching front door as Twilight slowly opened it.

Standing underneath the night sky was a pony in a dark red cloak. She looked up to Twilight, who was eying her suspiciously. "Hi, Princess," the pony said, lowering her hood. "Sorry it took so long to get here."

Twilight gasped loudly. "Daring Do! Wh-what happened to you?!"

Sunset jumped out from behind her hiding spot once she spotted the grayscale mane. She ran up to the two ponies, her eyes widening as she caught a glimpse of Daring's face. "Holy-!"

Daring had a bandage wrapped like a bandana around her forehead, and there were a couple bruises on her face. Her eyes were baggy and bloodshot, and her mane was extremely filthy. "Hey, Miss Mysterious," she chuckled weakly.

"Come on, we need to get you inside!" Sunset lowered herself under one of Daring's forearms, using her weight to support the injured pegasus. As she carried Daring inside, Twilight called out to her.

"I'm gonna get Fluttershy, just keep an eye on her until I get back!" Spreading her wings, Twilight took off into the night, flying at full speed towards Fluttershy's cottage. Sunset watched her mentor disappear before lighting up her horn, shutting the doors.

"Come on, I'll take you to my bedroom," she told Daring. "Fluttershy will be here shortly to help you."


"Oh my goodness, this looks serious," Fluttershy muttered as she looked over Daring Do.

Twilight and Sunset, still in costume, couldn't help but cringe when Daring removed her cloak. Dirt, scratches, and bruises were covering her entire body, her olive vest was ripped to shreds, and her wings were bent out of shape. She grimaced as she stood up so Fluttershy could inspect her, holding up one of her legs to avoid putting pressure on it.

"What the heck happened to you, Daring?" Sunset asked, watching as Fluttershy rubbed one of Daring's legs.

"Night Shade and her goons got the jump on us," Daring grunted. "We were taking the train back, the two of us had a car to ourselves. They attacked us while we were traveling through a tunnel. Knocked us unconscious and dragged us off. They beat us pretty good, even broke my wings, but I managed to escape."

Twilight held up her forehoof, just coming to a realization. "Wait a minute... you keep saying 'us'... was somepony else with you?"

"Yeah, it was... ow..." Daring grimaced as Fluttershy began dabbing alcohol on her wounds. She grit her teeth as the liquid stung, but managed to get some words out. "It was my associate, Dusty Runes. She helped out with the expedition."

"So where is she?!" Sunset blurted out as she began to panic. "Why isn't she with you?!"

Instead of answering, Daring just lowered her head and turned away. Fluttershy gasped, covering her mouth with her hooves.

"W... was she... c-captured...?" she whimpered quietly.

Daring closed her eyes and nodded slowly. "Yeah..."

"Oh my...!" Fluttershy closed her eyes, tears slowly falling down her face. "I'm so sorry, Miss Do...!"

Sunset's mind went blank as she tried to process what she just heard. "You... you left her behind?!" she shouted angrily, stomping up to the archaeologist and jabbing a wrapped hoof in her direction. "Just like that?!"

Daring rounded on Sunset. "Wha...?! You think I wanted to leave her behind?!" she growled. "We got separated while we were trying to escape! I tried to help her get out, I really did! But she kept telling me she didn't want to slow me down, insisting that I get the Relic of Flight to you guys first! Before I could argue with her more, a ton of goons showed up, and-"

"Um... guys..." Fluttershy muttered quietly.

"W-w-w-wait!" Twilight jumped next to the two arguing ponies. "You said you've got the Relic of Flight?!"

"Uh... everypony..."

"Yeah, I've got it," Daring replied.

"Everypony... um... you should really-"

"Well, at least we've got some good news!" Twilight cried out excitedly. "Where is it?!"

"Er... there's somepony else in-"

"It's in my saddlebags over..." Daring froze in place as she turned towards the bookshelf next to the bedroom door. Everypony else followed her gaze.

Sunset's eyes narrowed into a glare. "YOU!!!"

Standing at the doorway was a unicorn stallion in a black cloak, one of Night Shade's followers. His hooves were inches away from Daring's saddlebag, the crystalline Relic of Flight sticking out from inside.

"Don't you think about it!" Twilight shouted, crouching into a battle stance alongside Sunset, while Fluttershy dove behind the bed.

The unicorn remained still for a few moments, before smirking and lighting up his horn.

"Oh no, you don't!" Sunset yelled, leaping into action. She dove towards Night Shade's minion, only to get struck with a flying vase as he fled the room. Gritting her teeth, Sunset gave chase, her cape flapping behind her.

The cloaked unicorn sped through the hallways of the castle, carrying the saddlebag on his back. He took a glance behind him and spotted the unmasked Mare-Do-Well slowly closing in. With a sly grin, his horn lit up and he flung a pair of Twilight statues towards his opponent. Sunset slid underneath the first one and jumped onto the second, using it to propel herself through the air. Her forehooves outstretched, she tackled the unicorn to the ground. They slid forward a couple feet, before eventually falling down the staircase in the main hall.

The two unicorns swung at each other as they tumbled down the steps. One of Sunset's jabs knocked Daring's bag off the unicorn's back, sending it spiraling across the floor. He gasped loudly before turning to Sunset with a glare and firing a magic blast at her. Unable to react in time, she was knocked away from her opponent, hitting the floor with a thud. Grunting slightly, Sunset quickly jumped to her hooves just as her opponent sprinted past her and grabbed the saddlebag.

"You're not getting away with that, punk!" she shouted, her horn lighting up as she grabbed one of the bag's straps. The unicorn jerked back, spinning around and glaring at the unmasked heroine before pulling back on the other strap. The two ponies tugged at the bag, Sunset's magic easily overpowering her opponent's.

"Let... go!" Sunset growled loudly.

"No, you let go!" her opponent shot back.

Suddenly getting an idea, Sunset smirked. "Okay then, whatever you say!" Pulling as hard as she could, she released her grip on the bag's strap. Come on, come on... YES! As she had hoped, the stallion pulled with too much force and tumbled over backwards, losing his grip on the bag in the process. Seizing her chance, Sunset galloped up to him. Before he had a chance to look, she spun around and delivered a solid buck with her hind legs. He flew through the air, crashing through the door to the library and skidding to a halt on the floor.

Sunset jumped through the wreckage, approaching her opponent and levitating him into the air. She slammed him into the nearby bookcase, knocking a few tomes off the shelves. She leaned in towards his face, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Let me guess... you followed Miss Do here, didn't you?" she growled.

The stallion looked his captor over, before grinning. "Yeah, you got me... hate to admit it, but you're kinda pretty without that mask on. Almost like a sunset."

"You've got some nerve trying to flirt with me after breaking into my home," Sunset hissed.

"Sunset Shimmer!" The costumed mare turned around, spotting Twilight stepping through the wreckage. She was sporting a furious look on her face as she approached the stallion, levitating a metal ring with her horn. Sunset recognized it as the magic-canceling ring Princess Celestia used on her after she was locked up years ago. Princess Celestia removed it when she sent me to Ponyville... but she entrusted it to Twilight, just in case things got out of hoof. Good thing she kept it.

"'Sunset Shimmer'... so that's the name of the lovely mare behind the mask..." the stallion remarked, glancing at Sunset again. "Pretty fitting." He then turned to Twilight. "Why... hello, Your Highness. Looking rather dashing tonight."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, you criminal," Twilight replied firmly, sliding the ring onto the stallion's horn. "And neither will your magic." The stallion grunted as his horn sparked and a sharp pain shot through his forehead.

"Now then..." Twilight leaned in towards her hostage. "I don't appreciate uninvited guests in my castle, so I'll make this simple for you."

A smirk formed on her face. "Care to tell me where Miss Do's assistant is? Or would you rather have my costumed friend beat the answers out of you?"