The Legend of Mare-Do-Well

by JD2K

Chapter 11

The Legend of Mare-Do-Well
Chapter 11: Evilution Begins, Part 2
by JD2K

Mare-Do-Well got up in a flash. She expected whoever was behind the door to be ready for her but didn’t count on a bolt of pure concentrated magic to knock her out. She was however curious why she wasn’t shackled or strapped to some restraints and instead dumped at the end of yet another torch-lit hallway.

“Welcome, Miss Mare-Do-Well.”

She turned her head around trying to pinpoint the location of the voice and felt frustrated she couldn’t find it.

“So naïve of you to think I could be so easily bested. I will concede that I was impressed, albeit minimally, with your puerile efforts in stopping the Prototype I bequeathed to that bloated glowcap harvester, locating my laboratory in this forgotten wasteland and fooling my genetically-modified naga guards at the entrance. However, this is where your charade comes to a close, my dear. You see, I was about to work on my latest volunteer when you destroyed my concentration with your intrusive assault outside my operating room.”

His voice became softer but far more sinister. “I despise having my concentration broken… I shall turn my attention to her soon enough. For now, I will test to see if either your legs are swift or what body part or organ will pop out first from the compression. No matter which happens first, it will be an entertaining experiment…”

Before she could ponder what he meant by that, the sound of rock shuffling plus a few stray pebbles falling to the floor caused her to look up. The ceiling was slowly lowering down! Mare-Do-Well reared up and broke off in a hurried gallop to escape this deathtrap.

She gritted her teeth as the adrenaline rushed through her body. The ceiling was a few inches from hitting her head so she ducked down and hoped the lower point of gravity would increase her velocity. Suddenly, she saw a bright light of an opening up ahead. This was her only chance!

Closing her eyes, she leaped forward, fell on her stomach and slid across the floor and through the opening just as the ceiling was now a few centimeters from the floor. She opened her eyes and touched her head. Her hat was missing! She turned around and saw it on the ground close to where she belly flopped and slid to safety. It was far too late to save it as the hat was crushed instantly by the heavy stone. She sighed sadly. Rarity was not going to be happy about that.

She turned around and found herself in an arena. It was large and cylindrical with thick rock walls surrounding it. A chandelier with several torches ablaze provided ample illumination but with several darkened places in the shadows the light was unable to hit. With her eyes upward, she noticed a sturdy balcony made of stone. More likely some private room for spectators to view the fights taking place. As her eyes accustomed to the dim lighting, she could make out three different doors etched in the stone walls of the arena. One was small, another much larger and the last one outrageously enormous. She didn’t want to know what sort of experiments the doctor kept behind the largest door and she didn’t care. She slowly made her way to the other side to find a way out.

“Admirable. To a fault, that is. You seem to have speed in you after all. I was indeed looking forward to guessing which organ or body part would burst from your corpse after the crushing.”

Mare-Do-Well stopped in the center of the arena and felt a presence here. She looked up at the balcony once more and saw the cobalt-blue unicorn with lab coat and monocle staring down at her.

“But let’s see if your strength is just as worthy as your legs. Normally, this is a room where I can watch my test subjects battle one another and see which is creditable to live longer for a while and which I would euthanize for being a waste of my resources, but tonight is special,” the doctor said with a chuckle. “In regular circumstances, I would say the odds of you being thoroughly slain are in the over 100 percentage range, but I want to be proven wrong. I look forward to seeing you make it to the end. If you can, that is…”

The small door beneath the balcony suddenly rose up with an audible creak, revealing a dark passageway. Mare-Do-Well lowered her eyes seeing several figures heading into the arena. She placed herself in a proper fighting pose and planted her hooves firmly on the cold floor. Her challenge was well accepted by the arrival of a werewolf pack of at least 12 beasts, all who quickly surrounded her from all sides and looked on with hungry stares.

“May I mention offhand that none of my servants have had a decent meal in a good while,” Dr. Caballus commented. “They miss the taste of pony and I am certain once they, how you say, ‘tenderize’ you, you shall be quite ready for their digestive tracts. Now, my dear lycanthropes, attack!” With one twist of his gleaming monocle, the dozen beasts immediately pounced on her.

The vigilante wasn’t about to let some overgrown mutts get the best of her, especially not during their preemptive strike! Quickly escaping the attack by running between the legs of one of the monsters being in midair, the twelve ended up smashing against one another in one big pile.

Mare-Do-Well swerved back to face them as the topmost one of the pile quickly recovered and lunged at her. The pony wasn’t about to become an easy target this time around. She took a deep breath, expelled it forcefully and took a flying leap into the air. The werewolf did the same.

The wolf opened its mouth wide ready to bite into the pony as soon as she passed him but she was ready for this. Turning her body around in the air, she leaned her left hoof out. She forcefully swung it forward the second the werewolf’s head was to nip her. The powerful kick knocked out several teeth from the beast’s mouth and caused it smash against the wall nearby, knocked out by the impact.

Mare-Do-Well wasn’t done yet as two more lycanthropes regained their bearings and ran towards her. The pony vigilante shook her head at them and turned around to run away. The beasts smirked seeing their prey escaping them and felt energized by this brisk run reminding them of the hunt. She, however, wasn’t running away from them but rather running straight to a wall nearby. The bipedal wolves felt their meal had nowhere else to go and she would be quickly devoured. They immediately increased their speed to catch her.

The running masked pony, however, was ready as she leaped right at the wall, back-flipped the moment after her hind hooves hit the stone structure and used the momentum to springboard off the wall and twirled behind the wolves. The beasts themselves were too dumbstruck by this acrobatic feat to notice they were already running at full speed towards the wall to not be able to change direction in time

SMASH

The werewolf pair hit the wall with resounding force and was knocked unconscious. Mare-Do-Well looked back and shook her head again seeing how easy it was to fool them. Now she had to face a total of nine werewolves who were already hot on her heels and approaching her position.

Taking a deep breath, she reared up on her hind legs and managed to stay balanced on her two hooves, making herself a taller target but also to be in the proper fighting pose of one of the styles she read in one of the Neighponese martial arts books Twilight Sparkle loaned her. How it was possible for a normal quadruped like a pony to fight a bipedal-style of combat was a mystery to even her but she was interested in it and decided to practice. Usually, she only faced against dummies made of straw Applejack allowed her to practice on in one of the lesser-used barns at Sweet Apple Acres, but now she was about to face real adversaries that were at least as tall as Celestia. It was time to kick tail.

The first lycanthrope met a hard forward kick from her right hind leg that stunned it only to quickly combo into a jump kick twirling forward like a helicopter and smacking him all four times in the head. She didn’t stop there as she cartwheeled to chain it into a forward roll, prepped up a forward mule kick and shot out like a torpedo striking the second one in the chest. She leapfrogged over the third beast pushing him into two more to strike them all down, and dive-bombed two more as she kicked them on their heads with her outstretched hooves. She faced the last two and the one in front was immediately hit with a solid headbutt to the midsection, cutting off his breath, followed by a full sweeping kick that knocked him on his head.

The final wolf wasn’t going to give her a chance to attack, starting to swipe with its claws and bite her. With her Sense, she quickly telegraphed one of his forward head lunge and ducked down just before he could nip her, only to quickly shoot her head up to smash him right below the jaw. The impact made the monster stand upright in a daze, opening it up for an uninterrupted buck to its unprotected stomach that sent it sailing across the arena and smash against the wall, out cold.

Mare-Do-Well looked back and saw the first werewolf was back on its feet after the assault so she went back to work on it. The beast immediately went on the offensive, swiping its claws at her, hoping to trip her up. The vigilante dodged and parried each blow with ease due to both his clumsiness and her Sense. Finally, she stood upright once more, hooked one of her front legs forward and clutched the werewolf’s arm beneath her. Using his momentum as he tried to break free from the arm hold, she quickly flipped herself around his body and clapped both of her front hooves over his head with a resounding crunch. She sweep-kicked him down to his knees and ended with yet another helicopter-twirl quadruple kick to knock him unconscious.

Three more wolves quickly approached and ganged up on her in hopes superior numbers would help them win. Instead, it just made them easier targets as the pony bobbed and waved between their strikes. Managing to latch on to one of them from behind, she held on tight and covered its eyes. The furious lycanthrope began to thrash about hoping to rid itself of the bothersome pest but instead managed to smack its own allies with such force that it inadvertently took care of its two allies plus another one who didn't see the clawed fist hit it on the head of them for. The unwilling patsy had served his purpose in clearing out the numbers for her, so the vigilante used her leverage to take him down to the floor where she landed hard on its head with her rear to have it seeing stars.

Two beasts then double teamed her, alternating between the strikes of one with the swings of the other. Mare-Do-Wel was in no mood for these shenanigans so she charged at them and managed to squeeze in between them to their surprise. Before they could turn around and face her, the fighting filly placed each forehoof against the side of both their heads and brought them together with a resounding crack as she pulled an efficient double-knockout blow.

All that remained was one final werewolf and it immediately went on a berserker rage, swiping, lunging, biting, kicking and any other desperate attack to prevent the pony from beating it. Mare-Do-Well merely shook her head as she moved out of the way of the unfocused yet easily avoidable attacks and figured it was time to end it. Standing upright once more, she swung her cape forward at the lycanthrope, momentarily stunning him by the flurry of cloth and quickly rushed forward and struck with multiple front-hoof thrusts at a rapid-fire speed, hitting him well over fifty times alone. The wolf was dazed long enough for Mare-Do-Well to turn herself around and land a powerful buck to his jaw that knocked out a lot of teeth and sent it down for the count.

Mare-Do-Well looked at the scene before her as she finally placed all hooves back on the ground. Twelve strong werewolves were all lying around her in defeat. Her chest heaved up and down as she released hot air from her nostrils after finishing her bout. Nopony is going to get in her way of saving Gummy and Fluttershy. Nopony!

A slow hoof-clap above her immediately refocused her attention to the balcony where Dr. Caballus stood as he placed his two hooves together and clapped them together in a slow, monotonous applause.

“Not bad. You have managed to overcome sheer numbers by a simple fluke of luck. But how about facing opponents where size is their element? I give your chances of overcoming the next challenge about the same as Tartarus freezing over,” he commented as the second stone door opened up. She didn’t need to feel her Sense’s combos to know something familiar approached.

The loud shuffling of a legless body against the floor and low hissing was all she could hear and the sounds became louder the closer the looming shadow neared. Mare-Do-Well’s suspicions were confirmed by the sight of a familiar serpentine beast with a pulled-out hood skin. This time, however, it was far more battle-worn with its head, chest and even its tail showing signs of multiple bites and scratches. One of its ears had some of their frills cut off and an eye was swollen shut. Despite all that, it still managed to remain standing and its one good eye glinted in anticipation as he saw her.

Dr. Caballus arched his uncovered eyebrow as he rubbed his chin. “Experiment Beta-Duo, where are the whereabouts of Beta-Une? It was supposed to come in to fight her as well!” he shouted down at the naga.

The naga, or Beta-Duo as the unicorn referred to it as, merely looked up, dragged an index finger across its throat and let out a guttural hiss. Mare-Do-Well realized her earlier plan to gain entrance to the lab was far better than she thought. One was dead so she only had to face the remaining giant naga, ironically her old nemesis, by itself now. Caballus, however, did not take this new development so well.

“Confound those asinine ‘superiority rituals’ adults of your species execute! Very well, fine! I do hope for your sake that you accomplish your task. If not, my executioner will make you its next repast if this bothersome waste of equine DNA doesn’t finish you off! Now, get her!” he snapped at the naga as his monocle sparkled once more.

The naga didn’t let anything pass to chance this time around, relying more on its tail to swing at or hopefully grab her instead of close-range attacks like claw swipes and especially not forward head bites. Its neck skin, now baggy and inflamed from the last two bouts, was more than enough to remind the creature that it would not attempt such a careless maneuver ever again with this bothersome pony.

On her end, Mare-Do-Well felt annoyed. The creature relied on long-range attacks now and that made this battle tougher. One false step and she could get knocked for a loop through a mighty swat of the tail or worse, be crushed to death in the powerful coils like Rainbow Dash earlier. She decided to wing it and hopefully play the trump card she had been waiting to throw out if she ever was unlucky enough to battle this opponent again.

On one tail swing, Mare-Do-Well jumped right on it near the tip and gripped the scaly appendage as best as she could. The beast took note and lifted the tip of its tail seeing the vigilante latch on to it like bait to a fishing pole. With a nasty smirk, it whipped the tail up to the sky and Mare-Do-Well was thrown skyward. The pony was helpless as it waved his legs futilely as she saw the naga open its maw below her.

With a loud snap of its jaws, it was over.

The vile monster wasted no time in beginning to chew its new meal, soon to become its next nutrients.

Dr. Caballus looked at what transpired with an unflinching eye. He shook his head sadly. “I feel regrets. I was looking forward to unleashing my newest creation on her. Water under the bridge, I suppose. I’m sure to have another chance further down the road.” He fixed his monocle in place and turned around heading back inside the observation room from his balcony. “I believe it’s time I returned to extracting that pegasus’s DNA for my-”

His thoughts her cut short by a sudden bout of forceful coughing from Beta-Duo, making the scholar stop in his tracks and return to the balcony. He looked at the naga curiously as it clutched its throat and started to hack and cough with more urgency. Looking intently at its mouth with its monocle eye, he saw what appeared to be…smoke?

There were some sort of strange fumes coming from inside the beast’s mouth. Without warning, the beast hocked up and spat out a small lump that rolled on the ground. The cobalt-blue madstallion lowered his eyes and he scowled as the ball uncurled itself to reveal the drenched, slightly disheveled, but still alive, form of Mare-Do-Well.

The vigilante was very lucky she took out a heavy helping of smoke pellets the second the naga closed its mouth on her to detonate them. The amount of smoke in its throat was more than enough to make the monster cough her up and spit her out before she was chewed up. The beasts managed to get a few lucky bites in, however, and her outfit was torn in several places showing her pink coat beneath and a few strands of her dark-pink straight tail. Worse yet, the light-blue eye cover that covered her left eye was sheared off by one of its bites and her light cerulean eye beneath was now visible. She only hoped she wasn’t recognizable enough with what little bits of her coat and eye were seen by the crazed scholar.

The naga grew more furious by this meal that was so close to being eaten that it chose to use its most powerful ability to make sure she wouldn’t resist it again. Grabbing her still dazed form in its clawed grip, it began to use its entrancing gaze on her yet again.

Little did it realize it was playing right into Mare-Do-Well’s hoof as this time she was prepared for the hypnosis.

Reaching into her utility bags, she was fortunate the one item she was carrying all this time hadn’t broken despite all the tumbles, falls and hits she took all evening. Then again, a tiny compact with a shiny mirror that was enchanted by Rarity herself to never break even under the hardest of blows came in handy with having such a “helper” like Sweetie Belle around the boutique. Pinkie Pie asked Rarity if she could borrow it for a while hoping she would use it against this particular foe again and she wasn’t disappointed.

Closing her eyes, she grabbed the tiny compact in her teeth and opened it up to reveal its mirrored section. The naga didn’t notice its hypnotic stare was being reflected back at it until it was too late. The grip on its hand started to loosen. Mare-Do-Well finally opened her eyes softly and saw to her relief the creature was staring down at her with vacuous eyes and mouth slightly open with drool oozing out. The serpentine monster had entranced itself.

Placing the cosmetic accessory back in her utility bag, Mare-Do-Well softly trotted up the paralyzed naga’s arm, jumped up to its shoulder, then up to its snout until she was right at the edge, close to the beast’s nostrils. She was unable to use sleeping gas pellets before since she was worried if the monster fell asleep with her still inside its mouth, she would never be able to lift that heavy maw open. Now safely outside, there was no qualm in doing it now. Taking a few sleeping gas pellets from another pocket in her utility bags, she smashed them right inside the beast’s nasal orifices.

It didn’t take long for them to take effect as the creature’s good eye’s pupil dilated and its body became heavy. With a low hiss, the naga fell forward and landed on the cement floor with a resounding thud. Against all odds, Mare-Do-Well managed to triumph somehow and she was quite pleased. Still, it wasn’t over yet as she used her exposed eye to look up at the visibly-shaken Dr. Caballus.

The good doctor’s features took a turn for the worst as once again his hair became messy and his moustache started to get spiky once more. His teeth grinded constantly and he rubbed his fore hooves with pressure against the floor of the balcony. Just before Mare-Do-Well could see him blow his top, he somehow managed to control himself. He took a few deep breaths, fixed his hair and moustache again and used his magic to lift the monocle out of his eye to clean it with a hanky in his lab coat pocket as he chuckled softly.

“Oh, I sincerely apologize, my dear pony. Was this supposed to be the part where I would be incensed? Out of control? Raging, raving and ranting like a stallion possessed?” He shook his head with a cruel smirk. “Oh, no no no. You see, I was actually looking forward to this. So you bested my werewolf pack and proved Experiment Beta-Duo as a worthless waste of my research. No matter, I shall correct my two failures and put an end to your miserable excuse of existence you call a life all at the same time. Lay your eyes on the last door, dear Mare-Do-Well, for you are about to face my executioner. My latest and greatest creation!”

She then felt her knee get pinchy. That was not a good sign. Not even Experiment Beta-Duo got her knees pinchy. This was something that made even her Sense feel dread. The biggest door of the arena then lowered to reveal nothing but darkness. The arena grew quiet. All she could hear was the sounds of her rapid heartbeat. Just what was going to happen?

That what when the small tremors began.

She shook her head. Those weren’t tremors. Those were footsteps! Whatever it was that caused them, it was certainly very large. Larger than Experiment Beta-Duo and its naga partner, most likely. This was no ordinary monster that was slowly approaching the arena.

Still Mare-Do-Well was ready. She already faced a gang of vicious werewolves and managed to finally overcome her giant naga nemesis even though it was bigger and taller than her. She wasn’t scared one bit. She already got this far and no aberration of science was going to stop her from her mission. She began to paw the ground in defiance and her visible eye scowled with ferocity. She swore that once she was finished with the monster approaching the arena, she’d buck Caballus’s flank clear over the horizon that he’d hit the moon.

Needless to say, her bravery and bravado faded away the second she saw the monster’s face.

Purple eyes…

A long reptilian snout…

That familiar bumpy green skin with that lighter-green underbelly…

“Gummy…” she slowly whispered to herself low enough for nopony to hear her as her visible eye shed tears of anguish. She began to shake her head slowly and sadly. What did that madstallion do to him?! Her “baby alligator” finally entered the arena and she took a good look at what became of him now.

His gargantuan size that was more than twice Beta-Duo’s was one of his visible characteristics. Other such features were a set of sharp, spiked ridged scales that adorned his back in a row and went down to his tail. His formerly stubby hands and feet now sported stallion-sized claws that were jagged and sharp. Sharp enough to dig through solid rock, much less ordinary flesh. A metal collar with a black crystal adorned his neck just like every other experiment seen so far in the lab.

“May I introduce you to my newest creation: Gamma!” Caballus announce with flair, “In my spare time, and to gather enough funds for my research, I also conduct a bit of genetic experiments on the local wildlife. I do not do this out of sheer curiosity. Perish the thought! Merely I test each formula strain in hopes I find the one that would help hasten the evolution of ponykind. As you can see, my Formula Strain Gamma didn’t live to my expectations on the subject. Still it will have a purpose in my service as an executioner. He is quite hungry, as you can see. I already fed him those worthless guards that failed to stop you from entering my operation room. Now he has quite a smorgasbord waiting for him with some werewolf snacks and a large naga entrée. Once he’s done with them, you shall be his dessert.”

Mare-Do-Well’s shock at how her pet has been mutated into a monster was quickly replaced by the seething hatred she felt for the maniacal unicorn using him as a guinea pig in his research. She stared up at the balcony with the fiercest scowl her visible eye could muster. She was so infuriated that her eye changed from cerulean to a dark vermilion in that one second.

“Oh, spare me your self-righteous bunkum. You have about as much authority here as a fly caught in a web!” Dr. Caballus spat with disgust. “And on the subject of flies in webs, it is high time the spider had its meal, eh? I wager he can wait on the others and deal with you first.” He twisted his monocle once and it shimmered on command.

“Gamma, sic her!”

The pony noticed a large shadow loom over head and she cautiously turned her head back, only for her ears to flop down and her eye to stare up in horror. The genetically enhanced gator’s eyes looked down at Mare-Do-Well and frowned. It opened its mouth to reveal… teeth?!

The formerly toothless reptile now sported sharp jagged teeth dripping with blood from his earlier meal. Teeth he now used to lunge forward to strike at his former owner, which she managed to jump out of the way before she was bit in two.

Her courage had all but dissolved. She could take on anything. Werewolves, nagas, stirges, hydras, dragons, cockatrices, irate mama owlbears, the all-you-can-buffet at the Apple Family’s Annual Family Reunion. They were all foal’s play to triumph over. Fighting her beloved pet was a different story.

She desperately wished to talk to him and hopefully get him to stop attacking her or reveal her face to him so he knew it was his owner. She could do neither; both because of her rules but also due to the evil doctor watching her from his balcony. If she so much as revealed her identity to him, he would stop at nothing to harm those close to her if she manages to survive and take him down. She was hopelessly outmatched. She had only one option.

Run.

Behind her, she could hear Gummy’s thundering footsteps as he pursued her ad lunged forward as he tried to bite her. Her Sense-induced twitchy tail, though hidden inside the costume, helped her avoid all these attacks. Unfortunately, it was simply a matter of waiting until she was out of stamina to run any further and it would be the end of the line for her.

Now she really wished she had her friends there to help her. Instead, her cold demeanor and stubborn attitude had shunned them away and she was now all by herself.

She had failed.

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

“Please… Just let me go…” Fluttershy pleaded in tears as she dragged her hoof against the side of the locked door. She knew she was still alive but if it wasn’t for the intrusion earlier of her friend, she would have not been.

Just a while ago, she was destined to be dissected by the maniacal Caballus only for him to be distracted by the sound of a fight outside his door. She saw the peeved unicorn put down his cutting blade and charged up his horn for a paralyzing shot of magic once the fight ended. As soon as the door was bucked open, he discharged the powerful magic blast and it connected. Fluttershy leaned her head forward as best as her restraints allowed her and saw the comatose form of Mare-Do-Well leaning against the wall. The doctor was furious. He instantly called several of his minions to take her back to her room, and send Mare-Do-Well and the two defeated guards to “the execution arena”.

Fluttershy feared for her friend’s life especially after the unscrupulous scholar told her during one of his spiels as he prepared to cut her open that he captured and experimented on Gummy, making him his next experimental creature. She knew Pinkie Pie wouldn’t dare harm her precious pet even if Caballus mutated him. But how could she escape? The door was locked tight and there was no way out. Her Stare was useless unless she could see her captor in the eyes and they stayed outside. Pinkie was as good as dead and she knew she would follow her soon enough. The pegasus started weeping as her wails were heard loud and clear inside the entire room.

The door opened much to her surprise and she stepped back in fear. Just as she expected, a werewolf stood there looking at her as it extended a paw towards her. She fell down on her knees and shook like a leaf, thinking it was going to take her back to the operating room to be cut open.

That was when the lycanthrope placed its paw on her forehead and patted it softly. She looked up in confusion and saw the werewolf looking at her without menace or ferocity. She looked hard at the paw it patted her with and she realized it was bandaged. This was the same werewolf that she healed before! The wolf beast started barking and growling at her softly as though it was communicating with her.

She blushed in response to its “words”. “You didn’t need to owe me anything. I just did what I did because I don’t like seeing anypony be hurt, but thank you,” she replied.

The werewolf began to “talk” again and Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide. “Oh my! Is she?! I really must hurry! Thank you again!” She then excused herself as she spread her wings out to fly off. The helpful wolf beast however barked sharply to stop her. She hovered over him as he growled, barked and whined as it tapped the metal collar around his neck.

“Really?! That’s… That’s… I just don’t know what to say! Listen, I’ll see what we can do about them. I will free you all. I promise. You are all prisoners in here just like us,” she finally responded as the werewolf nodded once and walked away. It was a tall order what the werewolf just confessed to her about the metal collars but she would solve that problem in due time. First, she had to find the execution arena and stop Gummy before it was too late. She took off flying without a moment to lose.

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

The vigilante finally had enough. She was in no more shape to continue running and her legs finally gave out as she landed hard on the floor. If it wasn’t for the cobalt-blue madstallion staring down at her from his private observation room, she would have already removed her mask to wipe the sweat that was soaking the entire front area of her face. With what little energy she had left, she managed to move her body around to stare up and see Gummy look down on her. The titanic reptile’s eyes began to shine as he slowly approached her. It wasn’t too long now before she would become a pony snack.

Dr. Caballus observed the scene with intent fascination. He had heard tales from several crime gangs that there was a bounty on her head for her death. While he was mildly upset there would not be much left of her after Gamma had its way with her, the simple fact that he himself was responsible for her demise was rewarding enough.

He heard the door open behind him and he moaned with annoyance. “I thought I made it abundantly clear I am not to be bothered while I watch the executions.”

“You will not get away with this!”

Dr. Caballus turned around and saw Fluttershy standing there. While she was never the type to look angry or furious, she had a somewhat believable expression of irritation.

“Miss Fluttershy?! How did you overcome my guards? They were ordered to not let anyone inside!” the unicorn scientist thundered with a stomp of his hoof.

She immediately responded, “You would be surprised how much genuine affection and care helps you get what you want. It is much better than the impulse and mind control you have over those poor werewolves and nagas!” Of course, she didn’t want to mention the Stare also helped things out at first but she didn’t want to give him any more reasons to further experiment on her should she be captured again.

“So you know about those collars. Pah! In a few seconds, Gamma will make a swift hors d'oeuvre out of that useless equine down there and then I will focus my attention on you.” He turned around as he waved a hoof in the air with indifference. “Now be a good little test subject and sit still. Soon I will extract your genetic material and everything will be over.”

Fluttershy however wasn’t going to sit still while a friend of hers was to be eaten. She was scared of facing the mutated alligator that would more than likely gobble her up as well, but the thought of losing Pinkie Pie was more than enough to give her courage. She took one step forward only for the madstallion to warn her despite still having his back to her.

“Ample advice, pegasus: One more step in direction towards me and the balcony and I will be forced to subdue you. Now, stay still!”

She took a few steps back and looked to the side in defeat only to spot a mirror hanging on the wall. Her brow furrowed as she came up with a plan but worried it could fail on her. No matter what, she had to try!

She slowly shuffled to the mirror and a beam of energy landed just a few centimeters away from her advancing hoof. Caballus frowned as blue electricity crackled from his horn.

“Last warning: Stay still or be shocked!”

Frowning, Fluttershy broke into a gallop as she ran to the mirror. The doctor responded by unleashing a large blast of magic energy directly at her. The yellow pegasus ducked down just before the beam struck and it hit the mirror’s surface. Just as she predicted, the blast was reflected back to its caster who had little time to react by the speed of his projectile and was zapped on contact.

When she opened her eyes, Caballus was slumped down on the floor, unconscious and a victim of his own attack. She took a deep breath of relief. Now it was time to save her friend. She spread her wings wide open, flew out of the balcony and down to the arena.

Mare-Do-Well saw her formerly tame pet stand before her; his mouth slowly opening to reveal the rows of jagged teeth ready to bite down. All she could think of at that moment were all the wonderful memories she had of him before his change. The day he first found him as a little egg and helped incubate him. How she skipped around Ponyville with him hanging on to her tail. How she scuba-dived with him in the tub and earned her achy shoulder reaction. The parties she threw for him and how they danced and frolicked and had the best time ever. She closed her eyes as a tear managed to seep through her exposed eye. She was ready for her final sacrifice.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”

Mare-Do-Well opened her eye briefly to see a visibly angry Fluttershy land on Gummy’s snout and stomped towards his eyes.

“You listen to me, Mister! You think you got the right to march in here and eat those poor innocent animals to satisfy your hunger?!” she shouted as best as her normally sensitive and weak voice could muster. “Do you know how many of them have actual families?! How many fathers, mothers, children and mates you have made cry? You should feel ashamed of yourself!”

Gummy’s eyes had a touch of remorse just then and the pegasus thought her chiding would get through to him. That was when Gummy began to growl in agony as the black crystal in his collar began to shine. He then looked at Fluttershy again and scowled at her, unfazed at her lecture. Without a second thought, he opened his mouth wide open right over her and slammed his jaws shut.

Or so he thought until the yellow pegasus hovered over him safe and sound. Her brow furrowed in confusion as to why her talk had no effect on him. That’s when she saw the black crystal on his collar and was reminded of the words the werewolf “told” her. It was clear to her Gummy would never become the friendly gator he once was unless she dealt with that problem. To do that, she needed her friend’s help and she was once again in the sights of the previously passive pet. Without a second thought, she swooped down and made a beeline for Mare-Do-Well.

WHOOOOOOSH

Seconds before Gummy’s mandibles bit down on her, Mare-Do-Well was successfully rescued by her flying friend. The vigilante looked up and saw the pained expression of the pegasus pony as she used all the strength she could muster to lift her up and keep them both aloft in the sky. The yellow pony strained to flap her wings as she went back up to the balcony where the doctor was still out cold.

As soon as they landed, Mare-Do-Well padded towards the unicorn stallion’s unconscious body and looked down. Her entire body was trembling, not out of fear but of uncontrollable rage. Never did she ever want to break her second rule so badly than with this monster that dared to experiment and change Gummy from a simple happy baby alligator to a full-grown carnivorous beast that had no regrets in eating anypony.

That's when something in her mind finally broke.

With the inhibitions finally released, she smacked him across the face with her forehooves , knocking the monocle clean off his head as it rolled down the floor and fell into the arena. The assault didn’t stop there. Pinkie Pie released all her pent-up anger and frustration with each hit, messing up the stallion’s moustache and mane and leaving him black and purple everywhere as blood began to pour out of his nostrils.

It was with Fluttershy’s intervention as she held her friend back when the irate pony stopped her assault. The infuriated pony gave her a death glare with her exposed eye and Fluttershy squeaked in terror. That change in the tender pegasus’s look was enough to make Pinkie realize what she had done and she finally calmed down and Fluttershy also relaxed.

Mare-Do-Well slowly walked back to the edge of the balcony and her heart broke seeing her formerly friendly and tame pet now a hulking monster that was already hard at work devouring piece by piece the remains of Beta-Duo, taking large meaty chunks of the naga’s flesh, snapping and chewing it in his mouth. Despite what he has now become, she wasn’t about to leave her pet behind. What worried her was the fact he was so consumed with thoughts of eating everything and everypony that even Fluttershy was unable to calm him down. Even if she managed to free him, there would be no stopping him. How could she ever get back the gator she knew and loved?

“Um, you are worried about Gummy…are you…uh… Miss Mare-Do-Well?” Fluttershy asked her. The vigilante looked at her and silently nodded.

“Well, there is a way for him to be freed of Dr. Caballus’s control…” she responded. This was enough to get Mare-Do-Well’s undivided attention.

“The thing is, you see, I was told some horrible news by a werewolf that I helped recover from an injury. According to him, Dr. Caballus keeps mental control over all his test subjects so they behave just as he wants them to do,” she explained, “Those collars around their necks have been fitted with something called a ‘Slave Crystal’. As long as they wear them, he can use his magic to mentally control their thoughts and hypnotize them to his servitude. That is…so cruel…”

Mare-Do-Well stared down with murderous intent at the body of the unicorn she had just beaten to an inch of his life and felt ready to cut that last lingering thread. Only by resorting to mind control could that maniac have some semblance of a workforce. He was a bigger monster than she thought.

Fluttershy continued, “But there is a way to free them. Caballus mentioned the Slave Crystals had a common core all other shards came from which he uses to focus his magic and control everyone who wears a collar. We must find the core if we want to free them and Gummy…”

That was more than enough to get Mare-Do-Well on board with the plan. Caballus was passed out already so grilling him for information was not a good idea. All they could do now was search the cavernous laboratory and hope they find the Slave Crystal's core before the entire garrison of minions were set loose. They had to hurry.

Fluttershy had a head start on her as Mare-Do-Well stared at the unconscious form of the maniacal unicorn. Mare-Do-Well lowered her gaze to see the doctor begin to stir despite his whole face now bloodied and bruised purple and black. She wished she could have resumed her beatdown but her Gummy came first. She quickly followed Fluttershy out.

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

After searching throughout the facility and finding nothing but half-empty rooms and guards lumbering about, the two equines eventually found a room that was furnished quite formally in comparison to the others in the laboratory complex. Judging by the diplomas hung on the walls, cabinets filled with awards, a messy desk with many papers strewn about on top and a large file cabinet placed against the wall, this was the "good" doctor's office. If there were any leads to the whereabouts of the core, it would be there.

Mare-Do-Well and Fluttershy went their own way as they began to search throughout the place. The pegasus went straight for the file cabinet while the vigilante searched the desk. One of the first papers in the messy pile caught the masked pony’s eyes. An “Analysis Report”? Mare-Do-Well read the paper and frowned seeing it was a report on Gummy’s capture. It was dated a week or so ago on the exact night her alternate self threw the anniversary party of Rainbow Dash’s arrival in her honor.

Mare-Do-Well quickly read other analysis reports on the desk, some including information that was way over her head and some basically acting as diaries of discoveries and experiment results. How would they find it among all this clutter?

“Here it is! I found it!” Fluttershy exclaimed as Mare-Do-Well looked up to see her hold the document in her wing. Satisfied with her good work, the supermare walked over to Fluttershy and they both read the report.

Analysis Report Number: 401
Title: Last Slave Crystal Core

The last remaining piece of the Slave Crystal core was hopefully more than enough to keep my minions docile. I had to sacrifice many other cores while experimenting and researching them to see how to prolong their lifespan, and now I was left with just one. If this core loses its power, my minions will be freed from their mind control and my life here would be in peril. The benefit of all this, however, was that I finally discovered why the cores before lost energy and shattered. There were slight miscalculations on how quickly the cores lost their energy if they weren’t feed by a constant source of magic. Without magic energy to absorb, the core would die and shatter, rending it useless.

The proper course of action was not to keep it hidden in my safe like all the previous cores, but to always have it on me, both in literal and figurative sense. In that way, the gem feeds off my innate unicorn magic and maintains a fresh supply of energy to keep it at full power. I had made sure to fit the crystal in a shape nopony would ever suspect. In fact, you could very well say I keep my eye on it at all times.

The only remaining concern I have is that the gem tends to sheen and gleam whenever I use my magic to transfer a telepathic suggestion to a minion that holds a Slave Crystal shard, quickly identifying it to an outside observer. However, I have full confidence nopony would be observant enough to notice. Still, I shall remain vigilant.

The two ponies looked at each other. Caballus keeps the core with him at all times? But where? That’s when both finally remembered something after observing the cobalt-blue scientist in their separate times.

“You don’t suppose…” Fluttershy began to say only for Mare-Do-Well to nod in response and pointed to her exposed eye, blinking it a few times.

“Oh, you already figured it out? I’m sorry…” the pegasus gulped. The vigilante rolled her eye in annoyance at her apologetic ways. They knew what they needed to do now. They had to go back to the observation room and the execution arena.

As they approached the arena, they could hear the loud guttural roars of Gummy very clearly from far away. Something was going on and it didn’t sound good. The two ponies made their way to the closed door leading into Caballus’s observation room and each held an ear against the wooden door.

“Quickly! Grab it! No… No! No! Imbecile! No! You over there! Go get it now! Hurry! … Wait! Don’t look behi-” Dr. Caballus speech was cut short by a shrill whine of pain followed by a loud snapping of jaws. “Idiot! Someone keep that beast occupied! I need that monocle!”

The duo nodded, ready for anything, and entered the room. Caballus swerved to face them. He sneered in contempt at them despite both his upper lip and right eye were swollen after Mare-Do-Well’s beatdown.

“You again! After all this trouble, I don’t even want that worthless nag’s DNA anymore! Instead, you will both suffer!” he shouted with contempt.

“But, you can’t do anything without your monocle, right?” Fluttershy whispered back with a bit of anger.

Dr. Caballus took a step back at the sudden realization of his secret, only to look down and shake his head, and finally facing them again. “So you found out about the last core, haven’t you? As we speak, my minions are down there searching for it.”

A loud reptilian growl followed by another yelp of fear and one bone-crushing chomp afterwards interrupted him. “There is a slight drawback with Gamma still down there. I’m surprised it’s still hungry after eating so much, including a specimen as large as Beta-Duo was, but I can always find more minions out in Everfree to replace the ones that are eaten. After all, I can always ‘persuade’ more sentients under my control once I latch the collars with the slave crystal pieces on them. Perhaps I should go find some volunteers from the nearby town of Ponyville. I’m sure several of their townsfolk, especially their unicorns, would made ideal slaves and servants...”

“You…you…you…” Fluttershy stammered to speak after hearing his callous disregard for all life and possibly planning to foalnap many innocent ponies from Ponyville. Meanwhile Mare-Do-Well didn’t waste time in charging at him. Caballus made his horn glow to shoot another magic bolt but quickly winced in pain and the glow ended. He was still aching all over from his beating and the vigilante easily tackled him to the ground. She pressed a hoof against his neck as her exposed eyed gazed down at him with intense fury as he struggled to breathe.

“Mare-Do-Well, we can’t waste any more time with him!” Fluttershy said alarmed. “I promised the werewolf that freed me that we would save the rest of them. We have to find that monocle and stop Gummy from killing any more of them! Please…”

The semi-masked pony closed her eye and took her hoof from his neck, instead kicking him right in the head and he yelled in pain. Fluttershy quickly went airborne, took Mare-Do-Well in her hooves and struggled to keep them both aloft as she flew down to the arena floor.

Once they landed, the scene before them chilled Fluttershy to the bone. Mare-Do-Well’s other self reacted by simply biting her lip in anguish. The formerly gray cement floor was now splattered red with the blood of various “sacrifices” the cruel stallion threw down there to appease the mutant alligator.

Exposed bones, spilled organs and other such horrifying sights from the half-eaten corpses were scattered everywhere. Most of all, the remains of Mare-Do-Well’s giant naga adversary, Beta-Duo, were especially horrifying with its head missing, its entire chest cavity torn apart and devoid of muscle, bones and organs, one arm that was eaten of all muscle and sinew was lying on the floor, and its tail has some of its skin and muscle missing. The prominent figure of this carnage was Gummy, whose mouth dripped with blood and bits of tissue stuck to its teeth as it chased after more werewolves and nagas to gobble them up. They didn’t set foot into an arena. They were right in the middle of a massacre.

Mare-Do-Well quickly looked to her emotionally-crushed friend and found her frozen with her eyes staring blankly at the scene before her. She shook her shoulders trying to snap her out of her stupor but Fluttershy was far too traumatized by the amount of death around her.

The vigilante was at a loss. She knew this area would shatter the resolve of a kind-hearted pony like Fluttershy and yet they both rushed in, risking both their sanity and lives to find this monocle, and destroy it to shut down the mind control. Pinkie deep inside also felt sickened and would have fainted away from the ordeal if the thought of saving her beloved pet didn’t help maintain her mental resolve up. She had to help the pegasus pull herself together or they would both perish.

She knew she could not talk to her while wearing the mask because it violated her rules, but her sharp mind found an acceptable loophole. Placing her snout next to Fluttershy’s ear, she began to softly hum the tune to the song she sang the day Cranky Donkey arrived to Ponyville. The broken pony’s mouth managed to quiver her lips into a smile and her eyes regained their color. She looked at her friend and hugged her tightly as she cried in her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Pinkie… I’ll try to be strong for you. For Gummy…” she finally whispered. A yelping werewolf scampering past them broke them out of the moment as they quickly jumped out of the way from the approaching Gummy intent on eating the beast.

The two ponies nodded at each other and quickly went their separate ways. Fluttershy took to the air once again and hope she could find the monocle from the sky. Mare-Do-Well decided to hoof it on the ground while avoiding the panicked monsters and her mutated pet as well.

Things looked bad. They had searched all sides of the arena while fortunately avoiding the terrified minions and their fearsome predator, but they found out that looking for such a small accessory like a monocle proved to be a useless effort amidst the chaos. It then got worse when Gummy, tired from all the werewolves it chased after and ate, chose to go after a different quarry and Mare-Do-Well was in his sight. The pony didn’t think twice in joining the werewolves and nagas for some exercise in running for their lives.

Mare-Do-Well went straight for Beta-Duo’s remains, hoping to lose Gummy hiding behind the decaying mass. The pony stayed still hoping the gator got distracted and went away. She then felt the carcass being poked and stirred by the reptile’s enormous snout as he sniffied around to locate her scent. Letting off a loud snort to let her know she got her smell, Mare-Do-Well took off galloping. The gator growled angrily and used one of its large paws to bat away the carcass from its position and landed on another part of the arena, nearly crushing two terrified nagas.

From the air, Fluttershy immediately noticed a small sparkle of light from from the blood puddle where Beta-Duo’s body was before Gummy swatted it away. Trying to get closer, she saw a very tiny round object stained with the naga’s blood. She gasped with surprise. It was the monocle!

“Mare-Do-Well. Mare-Do-Well. I found it. There. The puddle. Hurry.” She tried to scream but was unsuccessful due to her timid and gentle voice. She then began to wave her front legs around hoping to attract her attention while staying aloft in her wings but she instead got the attention of Dr. Caballus, who already was up and leaning over the balcony railing.

Thanks to Fluttershy’s inadvertent action, he saw the sparkle of his slave crystal core-encrusted eyepiece in the pool of blood where Experiment Beta-Duo’s body laid on and he could finally focus his magic on it. With a smirk, he focused his glow on the pool of blood and a cloud of dark blue magic enveloped the monocle, lifting it up in the air and slowly levitating it over to his position. Lucky for him, the pegasus was still too busy trying to get the supermare’s attention to not see him levitate the accessory back to him. Just a few more feet and it would be nestled in his eye and his control over his minions would be restored.

The unscrupulous unicorn was far too busy focusing his magic and attention on retrieving his trinket that he did not see a form slowly creep up on him from behind. The werewolf rubbed its bandaged hand in fury. It remembered the day Caballus entered their lives.

How he somehow managed to capture one of the younger hunters of the pack and then also capturing the strong members of the clan including himself who were sent to search for him by using large metal collars with a black gem placed in the center. The second the collar was placed around his collar, the young warrior felt his free will being suppressed. His mind was awake but his body was no longer his. It was now controlled by the crystal on the collar which followed the evil horse’s commands. Then came the most traumatic experience of his life.

The horse led the helpless warriors back to the cave and killed not only the chief they were fiercely loyal to, but also all the females, cubs and the elderly. The remaining males were just injured enough for them to not get in the way of the carnage so they could be later outfitted with the collars themselves. Once it ended, the clan was officially destroyed. No more descendants or a legacy remained, just a group of males who would’ve been distraught and hysterical in spirit as they were forced to watch as their controlled bodies killed all their loved ones and friends.

They were all then led to the ruins of a former horse settlement and were forced to work together with a bunch of filthy degenerate nagas who were also captured and collared into the horse’s servitude. Those were three long years of pain and suffering and there was nothing he or his remaining clan members could do about it.

Until, the small pegasus came…

The doctor chose him for an experiment involving her and he used a sharp rock to make a deep cut in his hand and threw him in the room with the pony. Somehow, she was able to actually break a bit of the control of the collar through her act of selfless kindness. While his body reacted the way the horse commanded it to due to the collar, those carefree licks on her face were not his orders. They came naturally from him. He had somehow broken enough control to be able to move his body again but not enough to force himself to remove the collar.

He first repaid the small pegasus back for her deed by setting her free. Now he had a chance to avenge his chief, his mate and all the others the horse killed. He managed to sneak in during a moment the horse was leaned against the railing of his balcony after he chose most of the remaining clan members for his “suicide” mission. Only he remained as a “guard” outside the door despite already having most of his free will back. Only by killing the evil horse would his remaining brethren be free.

The werewolf slowly approached the unicorn still busy focusing his magic on his monocle until he finally struck. The vengeful beast lunged at Caballus and both tumbled over the balcony’s railing and fell towards the hard floor below. The werewolf maintained a tight grip on the unicorn as they approached the ground. Hopefully in the position they were currently at, the evil unicorn would land first and he would be crushed by the added weight of the beast above him.

Unfortunately, the madstallion was quick to understand his assailant’s ploy and quickly used his magic to roll over in midair and change their positions. Now it was he who was above and the werewolf now below. The beast was not ready when they both collided with tremendous force on the cement floor and he instinctively yelped loudly. The impact not only shattered his back but also crushed his ribs and internal organs by the equine using him to soften his landing. It would not be long now before he would die. The only thing he regretted was not killing the monster that destroyed his clan, but hopefully the pegasus and the other pony would complete the deed. He closed his eyes soon afterwards.

Mare-Do-Well was able to hear the yelp loud and clear and turned her gaze towards not only Dr. Caballus who was now on the ground of the arena as well, but also seeing a small object fall from the sky and recognizing it as the monocle. She was at another dilemma at this point. Gummy was still hot on her heels and she couldn’t stop her running for anything whatsoever. How could she stop enough to be able to grab the small trinket without the "good" doctor getting to it first? At least the unicorn was dazed and out of breath after the long fall he experienced, but it wouldn’t be long before he could regain control of his monocle and it would be all over for her and Fluttershy.

The answer came in the form of the yellow pegasus who flew down and got in Gummy’s eyes. The reptile sensed a new target and decided to chase after her as she squeaked in fright. With him out of the way, she was all set and made a beeline for the spot where the monocle fell. With no werewolf, naga or Gummy to distract her, Mare-Do-Well dived forward in hopes of grabbing it.

Just before she could snatch it, a blue magic aura surrounded it and it moved away from its spot on the ground. The pony’s eye was dumbstruck by this and she landed hard on the floor. Shaking her head a few times to get her bearings back she looked up and silently gasped as Dr. Caballus held the monocle over his head aloft with his magic aura. The look on his face was one of mad joy as he chuckled with his pupils shrunk to near pinpricks with his hair and moustache more disheveled and messier than before. To say he finally lost his mind was putting it mildly.

“At last! I have regained control! Hee hee… Once I place this in my eye, all these worthless beasts will be back in my control!” he said between small fits of laughter. “But… how shall I deal with you now, hmmmmmmmmm?”

Mare-Do- Well could just shake her head wishing she was faster. Her misery was shortlived, though, as she saw Fluttershy rapidly approaching him from behind with a certain reptile with a current craving for pony flesh lumbering after her. The doctor, however, was far too enthralled with regaining his mind-controlling monocle to notice the heavy tremor-causing footsteps approach ever closer.

“Should I order Gamma to feast on you? Grind your bones to paste? Hmmmm? No no no. That would be too quick a death. I really want you both to suffer! Hee hee hee…” he then clapped his hoofs together as he got another idea. “Or maybe… Maybe I could place collars on both of you as well! Why, you could be my little entertaining fool! Yes, the former brave and gallant crime fighter now reduced to amuse me with all those fancy moves you showed me before and maybe I could have my minions have their way with you as well! Yes… perhaps I could research the theory if a hybrid can be formed from a possible gestation of equine with canine or reptile! Glorious! And that pegasus! Oh, she would work well as my private slave! My own little broodmare! You know being stuck down here with no outside contact can get very lonely… My body aches for the longing of the tender flesh of a young mare! And she would love me without question! It would be perfect! Hee hee hee hee hee!!!”

At this point, the pony had stopped listening to his ramblings and taken a few steps back. Fluttershy was finally able to fly far away from Gummy to escape him. The gator was not saddened by his meal managing to get away from him as he saw an even bigger pony prize that had his back to him. Licking his chops, the humungous reptile crept up behind the raving unicorn, who was still unaware to his presence.

“Oh, why bother keeping you alive? I mean, you have caused so much grief and setbacks to me! Making you my private jester is still too lenient! How to deal with you…” He looked down and tapped his hoof until he stamped it loudly and looked up at her with a crazed grin. “Eureka! I have found it! I could remove that brain of yours and keep it alive in a jar! Yes, that would do nicely! Then, I’d dissect your entire body, remove all the organs, and have them each functioning on their own accords in jars as well! And your body will make a quick appetizer for Experiment Ga-”

He finally noticed a dark shadow appear over Mare-Do-Well as the filly finally trotted away to safety. He finally turned around and saw the open maw of his latest experiment about to end his life.

“……mma? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!”

The alligator was quick to snap him up in his jaws and didn’t even bother to chew as he swallowed him whole. Mare-Do-Well scrunched up her nose in disgust as Fluttershy finally managed to land next to her and turned her head around wishing she didn’t see that. The remaining werewolves and nagas also stopped their mad dash and slowly made their way to where the ponies were.

So ends the life of a unicorn driven by the madness of unethical research and science, outdone by the very thing he created. Deep down, though, she wished he could have brought him to justice just like Bigtime and others she’s taken down. She sighed sadly in defeat as she patted her friend’s back.

Their moment of sorrow was shattered when they heard Gummy start to hack. The ponies looked up at him and the gator’s eyes started to roll around his sockets as he started to stumble around, unable to maintain his balance. He finally felt an enormous bulge form in his mouth and Mare-Do-Well knew she had to jump back by a sudden twichy tail and shoved Fluttershy away from the point of impact.

With a forceful retch, Gummy vomited up a huge mass of leftover flesh, bone and liquefied remains. In the middle of it all, the madstallion laid there drenched in the awful stinking mess. He was still alive despite being swallowed whole as he slowly breathed in and out. Mare-Do-Well was lucky her mask’s filter was still in effect while Fluttershy as well as the other minions tried their best to cover their noses at the nauseating stench. That was when Gummy again reached his head back only to cough up and spit out something smaller that landed at their feet as he remained queasy from the taste that didn’t agree with him.

Both ponies’ eyes lit up at the sight before them. A gem stood right at their hooves. The slave crystal’s core! After both Dr. Caballus and the monocle were immediately swallowed, the eyepiece must have landed in the digestive juices of the alligator, somehow dissolved the metal frame in lighting speed, and exposed the crystal core of it. Thanks to the forceful hock and spit of Gummy as he got rid of it, the crystal had some noticeable cracks on it due to its bullet-speed impact against the floor but it was still slightly solid.

She didn’t wait any second longer. Mare-Do-Well lifted her dark-blue bandaged hoof up in the air and slammed it down on top of the gem, crushing it into powder. As soon as she did, Gummy, and the nearby werewolves and nagas began to growl, howl and hiss respectively as the black crystals in their collars began to shine brightly. With one blinding flash, each and every black gem shattered to pieces.

The werewolves and nagas stayed still for a few seconds only to open their eyes and blink. They looked down at the collars around their necks and grabbed them, snapping them off and throwing them to the floor. They were all finally free!

However, they were in no mood to celebrate as they all stormed and slithered towards the three equines and the giant alligator. Mare-Do-Well looked at them sternly as Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind her.

One of the werewolves looked down at the masked pony, his eyes lowered and a hint of a fang showed through his sneering lip. The vigilante was ready to face them and didn’t care if they were free or not. If they harmed her or her friend, they would regret it.

“We free…”

Her exposed eye opened up wide in surprise. Did the werewolf…speak?

“Thank you…” he said as he and the rest of the lycanthropes placed their fists upon their chests and lowered their heads in reverence. Mare-Do-Well nodded slowly at them in response. Fluttershy warily poked her head from behind them and smiled nervously.

The nagas were not in the mood for sentimentalities and they slithered over to the foul-smelling pile where Caballus lay there drenched in the alligator’s stomach excretions. The serpent creatures leaned down and quickly shot their heads back up hissing in annoyance. The werewolves also looked on with mild disgust. The fact that they wouldn’t eat a disgusting creature like Caballus wasn’t the reason they weren’t ready to tear him apart, but rather the smell of the vomitus was strong enough to drive back these creatures whose senses of smell were quite powerful to begin with.

The nagas had enough of this place and they slithered to the side of the small arena door where they used their combined strength to force the door up and left it open as they retreated back to Everfree where they came from. Only the werewolves , ponies and the giant alligator remained.

The remaining members of the pack ran towards their comrade that was near death. Mare-Do-Well and Fluttershy caught up with them soon afterwards. All the beasts and ponies looked down at the brave warrior who risked his life to save them all. The fallen werewolf managed to open a weak eye.

“Doctor…dead?” he managed to whisper.

“Um… not really. His core is destroyed, though. You saved us all,” Fluttershy said tenderly with a smile. “If you didn’t knock him down from the balcony, he would have grabbed the monocle and you would all still be under his nasty control. But why are you all now speaking…”

“We know language elder teach us. When horse control, he command us to use old tribal language of ancestors instead of speech to insult heritage. We free to speak now,” one of the wolves answered and his comrades nodded in unison.

“We…free…But…sorrow…Chief…Family…Elders…Cubs… no more…” the dying werewolf uttered out which made everyone lower their ears in sadness. Mare-Do-Well and Fluttershy clearly understood what those words implied and also lowered their ears in empathy. Their way of life was irrevocably destroyed now.

“Find new pack. Legacy go on. We vow,” one of the wolves told him which caused the near-death lyncanthrope to cough up blood.

“Brave…warriors… Never…forget…old pack…Find freedom…This…command…of…last Chief son…” he said.

Fluttershy gasped. “Wait. You were the son of your pack’s chief? Oh, I’m really sorry to hear that… I really am…”

The chief’s son managed to smile at her. “Thank you…pony…Kindness…broke…horse power…on body…You…save…pack…You and…pony there…heroes…True…warriors…”

Fluttershy blushed a bit and Mare-Do-Well simply stared with a nod.

The werewolf then began to convulse as he approached his last breath. “I…die…Hunters…meet again…in…Great…Beyonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn………………………..” The noble wolf’s head suddenly leaned to the side staring blankly as life finally left him.

Fluttershy and Mare-Do-Well lowered their heads in reverence as the Pegasus shed tears of sorrow. Around them, the werewolves rose their heads up in the air and began to howl long and forlornly at the passing away of their original pack’s last leader. The chorus of howls was heard long and loud throughout the empty caverns of the lab facility until the period of mourning had passed.

Two of the remaining strong creatures then lifted the dead chief’s song between them and the pack began to depart through the door the nagas opened in their haste to leave. However, the other important thing they all saw was that Dr. Caballus was gone! The pile of dried vomitus was still there but the stinking, possibly-irate madstallion was gone. Mare-Do-Well cursed herself for not keeping an eye on him. Now he was gone and who knows what schemes he will concoct now.

The werewolves, however, didn’t let this break their spirit. They had to go prepare the funeral for the last heir to the clan’s leadership. “You now heroes to clan. Thank you. We meet again soon, friends…” one of the werewolves said as he turned around and placed a fist to his chest and bowed. The ponies likewise did the same thing and the lycanthropes finally left. The two ponies looked at each other. They were nearly done and only one loose end to tie: Gummy.

The masked pony gulped as she approached her pet once more. All this time he just stood there, not moving an inch. Was he waiting for a chance to strike? Was he preparing to turn around and finally eat them? She feared the worst.

The ponies looked up and saw to their collective relief that Gummy simply stood there looking up while blinking his empty-staring eyes.

“Um…Gummy?” Fluttershy managed to say. She eeped in shock as the alligator finally moved his head down to stare at them. Mare-Do-Well stood her ground, ready for whatever the reptile would do. Gummy blinked once or twice until he finally reacted.

He gave them a smile and began to wag his enormous tail.

Mare-Do-Well finally lost her final restraint. Despite having been mutated to an enormous size and his body radically aged, he was still the same baby gator he has always been. Her joy finally burst out as she tore off her mask, allowing the straight mane Pinkie Pie had been sporting throughout the entire ordeal to finally curl and poof back to her cheery frizzled form.

“GUMMY!!!!!!!!” she finally yelled as she took a tremendous leap from the ground and landed right on top of her loving pet’s snout which she hugged it as best as she could. The gator could just blink at her and keep wagging its tail, unsure of what to say or do.

“Oh, my dear sweet little Gummy…or rather my dear sweet big Gummy now! Oh how I missed you so much!” the pink pony said as she shed tears of joy. “Mama promises you she will never ever ever never ever never never let anypony harm you again! Once we get back to Ponyville, there will a huge super-duper mega party waiting for you! I bet everypony will be so happy to see you back!”

“Um…Pinkie…”

“And I will personally make sure to have all your favorite snacks there! We’ll have gumdrops and caramel apples and candy canes and muffins and pies and…oh! Maybe we’ll have Mr. and Mrs. Cake bake the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness in your honor!”

“Pinkie…I…I…”

“We will also have all our favorite games too! Jump rope, Pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, hide and seek, tag, and dancing! Lots and lots of dancing! We’ll have so much fun!”

“Pinkie…”

The excited pink pony turned to face her friend with a slight frown. “Fluttershy, can’t you see I’m making plans for the party once we get back?”

“Pinkie, you… you can’t take Gummy back to Ponyville. Not anymore…” she finally answered with sadness. Pinkie gasped loudly in response and frowned even harder.

“What?! How could you say that? Gummy is my family! He’s my little guy! I won’t abandon him!” she snapped back.

Fluttershy explained, “He’s not a baby alligator, Pinkie Pie. He’s been experimented on and he’s much bigger than all of us. Bigger than all of Ponyville, too. If stays there, who knows what damage he will cause to the buildings there. And think of how we have to feed him. He has teeth now. Ponies will be scared he would give in to his carnivorous needs and the police would be on high alert.”

Pinkie lowered her ears. “But…but…Gummy is my pet…He means everything to me…”

Fluttershy placed a hoof on Pinkie shoulder. “I know he is, Pinkie, but he will be much happier in a bigger place. Why, we could have him stay at Froggy Bottom Bog. I’m sure the nice frogs there will keep him company and that mean old Hydra and other predators there wouldn’t stand a chance against him. The swamp is the only place we can take him. I promise you, he will be happy there…”

Pinkie sighed and looked back at the enormous purple eyeball of her giant pet. She closed her eyes and nodded once. “Okey dokey lokey, Fluttershy. We’ll take him to Froggy Bottom Bog. I trust you.”

Fluttershy smiled at her and Pinkie gave her one back. With all that settled, she turned to face Gummy’s eyes. “Ok, Gummy, time we got out of here. Let’s go home, shall we? I’m counting on you to break through everything since you’re a big gator now, got it?”

The reptile growled once in response. The ponies then jumped down to the ground, with Pinkie lifting and putting her mask back on, and led Gummy to the largest door.

Mare-Do-Well pointed a hoof at the door and Gummy turned around and swung his tail up in the air. The crime fighter and her pegasus friend moved to a safe distance as the alligator began to slam its enormous appendage against the door over and over again like a battering ram. Some minutes later, the door showed visible cracks and just five more slams were needed to demolish the entrance and allowed a Gummy-sized hole to be seen. The ponies jumped over the rocky debris as Gummy just barreled through. As he did though, he looked rather uneasily as his stomach began to rumble in a worrisome manner but the ponies paid it no attention. They had to find a way out.

After reaching the end of the chamber which led to a private cell, it took Gummy’s enormous claws and tail to break through the cell and demolish the small hallways, causing cave-ins to the rest of the lab facility. Everywhere they went they found not a trace of a werewolf, naga or even Dr. Caballus, which made the duo uneasy. They also hope they could find a way out and soon before a cave-in would seal them inside the facility with no chance to ever escape. They had to succeed!

To their collective relief, the ponies finally reached the enormous antechamber with the ceiling covered with holes once more. They looked behind as they waited for Gummy to break through the tiny door and they would all leave. The two ponies were still looking back waiting for their scaly friend to free himself to not notice a long tail appear behind them. By the time Mare-Do-Well looked back, it was too late as the tail managed to wrap around both her and Fluttershy.The trapped vigilante was amazed to see the tail belonged to none other than a giant naga! It was Experiment Beta-Une!

When Beta-Duo appeared by itself and made a slit-throat motion with its claw, the crime fighter believed that it had killed its fellow guard. She now realized what that naga really did was merely triumph over its adversary to the rights of eating her in the execution arena. Now it bade its time, free from the collar that controlled it, and waited for its prey to finally appear. Its wait was finally rewarded.

Fluttershy yelled out in pain as Mare-Do-Well tried her hardest to not utter a sound, powerless to do anything as Beta-Une resumed squeezing them. This time however, it didn’t count on something unexpected like a giant alligator finally breaking through the small entrance leading into the lab, causing once final cave-in that sealed it forever and immediately swung its closed snout at it.

The impact was more than enough to knock the giant naga several feet into the air and released its prey before it was sent flying. Beta-Une hissed furiously once it got back upright. Gummy may have been bigger than it, but the giant serpent monster was still itching for a fight. The loyal gator, meanwhile, was not going to let anything harm his owner or friends and scowled angrily as it stomped the ground with his paws. The two mutants then charged at each other and began to fight.

Mare-Do-Well was able to recover quickly as she took many deep breaths to get oxygen in her system and checked on Fluttershy who was still unconscious, but hopefully still breathing. As she tried to bring her back to consciousness, she heard mad laughter ring out over her head.

“You insolent, insignificant wastes of equine genetic failure! You ruined all of my research! My progress for the last three years: Gone! You may have destroyed the last slave crystal core and my laboratory, but I will never allow you all to leave here alive! Taste the bitter fruit of my revenge! Die, worthless insects, DIE!”

As soon as Dr. Caballus stopped talking, she immediately heard a loud groan coming from up in the ceiling. To her horror, sharp stone spikes shot out of the holes above and the ceiling slowly began to descend! Mare-Do-Well looked up in fear. She knew very well that both Fluttershy and she could escape this deathtrap, in which the maddened unicorn was obviously far too irrational in thought at this point to believe it had a chance to kill them.

However, this trap could still kill Gummy if he couldn’t break his way through the passageway leading to the town shelter since he was far too busy fighting Beta-Une. She was powerless at this point. All she could hope for was Gummy finishing the battle quickly and have enough time to escape. She immediately placed Fluttershy in her back and quickly ran across the antechamber, looking up and seeing the spike ceiling continue its descent.

The alligator had difficulty keeping its focus even before the battle began. Ever since they left the confines of the arena, his eyes had trouble seeing ahead and his stomach felt nothing but pain. He wanted to end this battle quickly before the monster had a chance to kill him. Beta-Une was currently constricting his jaws by wrapping its tail around it and scratching deep cuts on the top part of his snout with its claws, hoping to tire its adversary long enough to strike a finishing blow.

Gummy however had enough of it and quickly rolled over on his stomach and slammed the top part of his head against the floor. The blow was enough to loosen Beta-Une’s tail from around his jaws and the naga laid there dazed on the ground. Gummy quickly snapped it up in his jaws and swung it around and around in their vice-like grip. The alligator finally released the naga as he arched his head upwards and the serpent beast was launched up towards the ceiling.

THUNK

The naga let out one final loud hiss of anguish as it was impaled against the sharp spikes and finally expired.

Mare-Do-Well was happy her pet triumphed and saw there was plenty of time for Gummy to force his way through the passageway and they would all be free. That joy immediately turned to sadness as Gummy was unable to stay on his feet. He slowly swayed from side to side as he approached the passageway and couldn’t apply enough pressure to break his way inside. The gator left off a loud cough that somehow spit something out that landed on the floor next to the pony who was unable to see it. Feeling strength leave him, he slumped down on the floor with his head inside the hallway but the rest of his body still in the antechamber with the slowly descending ceiling.

Mare-Do-Well began to shake her head. They were so close! What happened to her pet? Why was it tired?! She ripped her mask off and started shaking her nearly-unconscious Gummy.

“Gummy…Gummy! Wake up! Please… you have to get up! We’re so close! Just a little more energy! Come on…please… Don’t go to sleep…” she floundered as tears flowed from her eyes. Not giving up, she quickly galloped behind Gummy and pushed him as hard as she could. She was so desperate to save him that she didn’t even stop to rationalize that she needed the strength of at least five full-grown dragons to save him.

Fluttershy finally woke up at this point and was shocked to see Gummy who had all the telltale signs of death approaching. She was very familiar with those signs and the indicative face of the nearly departed as she herself had attended several “deathbeds” of woodland creature relatives who were ready to pass away. She really felt bad witnessing the passing-away of various birds, bunnies and other forest friends but she was there to give their friends and families moral support. Now, it was her turn, despite breaking her heart, to tell Pinkie her pet was about to do the same.

The question on her mind now was: Why? Why is Gummy dying so quickly? She looked down to the floor and spotted a small item, looking it more closely, she gasped in fear as it gave her the answer. No wonder Gummy vomited and started looking sickly. She had to inform her friend right away.

Pinkie Pie started to chuckle amidst her tears wishing she had the strength to push Gummy out the way. The ceiling was near the halfway mark. If Gummy didn’t move in less than a minute, he would be crushed and skewered. At this point, she felt that life wouldn’t be worth it without her precious pet, considering all the sacrifices she took. Her hair slowly lost its curls and returned to the straight style as she chuckled pointlessly.

“Mare-Do…Pinkie!” Fluttershy corrected herself as her friend no longer wore her mask. She quickly ran up to her. “Pinkie, we can’t stay here and we can’t save Gummy… He is…he is…” She choked on the words unable to say them out.

“NO! Don’t even say Gummy is going to die! We are going to save them or die trying. If Gummy won’t move, then I won’t move! I don’t care if I die! Gummy is my pet! I will not abandon him and that’s final!” she snapped angrily.

The yellow pony however, didn’t shy away and looked at her with a semi-crossed face. “Pinkamena, you have to listen to me. I have something to show you. I know why Gummy is going to die!” she blurted out sharply which made the pink pony stunned at her sudden remark of urgency. Hesistantly, she followed Fluttershy back to the front of her pet.

“Look at that down there. This is the cause of his death…” the pegasus muttered as she pointed at the small object with her hoof. Pinkie lowered her head down and looked at the item before her. It appeared to see some sort of syringe with a bent needle. A small drop of a strange liquid was dripping out of what little remained inside. She smelled it once and she quickly moved back before she could even touch the stuff.

“Is that…” she finally whispered.

“Some poison... Dr. Caballus…he must have had a syringe of it in case an experiment was unable to be controlled…” Fluttershy nodded sadly.

“And he injected it inside Gummy when he got swallowed and caused him to throw up…” Pinkie concluded as tears formed on her eyes again, only now of sadness. “Oh Gummy…”

Pinkie Pie walked up to her dying pet and placed her snout next to his nuzzling it softly. “I wish I could have been stronger. I wish I could have been faster. If only I managed to grab that monocle… or if I would have destroyed that crystal when you appeared… or even calmed myself down when I first came here instead of letting my anger get to me… Zecora was right…I am a big failure faily-pants…”

She then heard a slight tender growl which caused the two ponies to look up. Gummy’s eyes blinked at them weakly as the toxin coursed through his veins. His end was near. He gave her master a smile to acknowledge he had the greatest life being her pet.

“Gummy…” she sniffled. “Don’t go…”

The alligator softly used his snout to lightly push her away. Even as he was nearing his end, he really didn’t want her to see him die, more so under such extreme circumstances as the ceiling lowered even more. The spikes were less than 30 seconds from impaling him. Pinkie acknowledged it and nodded her head sadly. She placed her Mare-Do-Well mask right on what little exposed of his lips there was and turned around to leave along with Fluttershy.

As they did, they heard a small weak voice growl out.

“mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………………mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa………………mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…………………”

Pinkie choked on her tears as she galloped away back to the shelter with the pegasus following close behind. Gummy knew she heard him and he was finally free. Closing his eyes, he calmly went to sleep.

The ponies reached the foot of the spiraling staircase. Fluttershy took a small torch from the hallway and flew up to the ceiling hoping to find a way out. As luck would have it, she found a small handle that was hidden in the darkness and she pulled it down. As she did, the fountain above them slowly slid aside, allowing them to see the dark sky above them once again. Fluttershy quickly flew up but Pinkie remained slumped on her haunches and looking down at the floor at the bottom.

“Pinkie…Pinkie! We have to go!” she called out as loudly as her weak voice could but the pink earth pony didn’t budge an inch.

That was when they heard the loud crunch following by the earth-shaking slam of stone against stone. Pinkie shot her head up to the sky and screamed out as the tears flowed from her face.

“GUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

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

Storm clouds darkened the sky over Everfree, free of the manipulation of pegasi and serving as an appropriate backdrop of the event that took place. Pinkie Pie sat there slumped on the ground, still wearing the rest of her Mare-Do-Well costume, having done nothing but cry ever since she constructed a crude tombstone made of wood and placed it at the foot of the fountain in the town ruins.

Behind her were her fellow Elements of Harmony, with the exception of the hospitalized Rainbow Dash, all wearing manners of funeral garments. Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy wore simple black cloaks with attached hoods to protect them from the incoming rain. Rarity, as per her usual flair, wore a far more elaborate black dress with a matching hat and veil. Applejack simply wore a black velvet cowboy hat and black scrunchies on her mane and tail. All of them had the same feature of solemn sadness as though a beloved family member passed away.

“Gummy… You have no idea how much you meant to me…” Pinkie managed to whisper. “Even though you were turned into an enormous monster, I loved you with all my heart. I miss you, sweetie…”

The four ponies behind her only looked at each other, unsure what to say or do.

“Pinkamena, I-” Twilight Sparkle began only for the mournful pony to shoot up and stare at them.

“Why, Twilight?! Why do I keep going?!” she screamed at her with her eyes showing nothing but hate. The others tried to say anything only for Pinkie to keep ranting.

“I lost one of the most important joys in my life to that… that… monster! If only I could have talked, Twilight! If only I could have broken my rule and revealed my voice to Gummy when he was transformed, I could have saved him even if he was controlled! Fluttershy showed how much kindness was able to get a werewolf to snap out of the control Caballus had on all of them and I knew Gummy would be able to do it too if he heard my voice! I hate being unable to talk! I hate these rules! I hate these clothes! I HATE MARE-DO-WELL!” She then slammed her hooves against the hard marble basin of the fountain.

“I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!” she shrieked with every pound of her hooves.

The four Elements gasped to see with every blow against the stone, Pinkie’s hooves lost their bandage wraps and the tender pink hooves beneath began to bleed. It took all of Applejack’s strength and Twilight’s magic telekinesis to hold her down from hurting herself even further. She was eventually dragged away kicking madly as she finally knocked the farm pony off her and Twilight's magic faded.

Pinkie snorted a blast of hot air from her nostrils as she dug her teeth into her outfit and began to tear at it as peals of thunder clapped overhead and lightning bolts flashed against the dark sky. Everypony present, especially Rarity, were horrified to see how viciously she tore the Mare-Do-Well outfit from her darkened-pink body, leaving it nothing more than a pile of rags on the ground. She gnashed her teeth as she started to stomp on the former vigilante’s outfit until it was nothing more than a convoluted muddy mess.

She then turned around and galloped away. The others could do nothing but follow close behind. All except Rarity who was still frozen after her work was destroyed in front of her eyes. She finally was able to snap back to her senses after a lightning bolt struck inches from where she stood and she quickly left the area behind.

The thunder and lightning soon began to stop as a small rain shower fell on the area. Everything began to get wet except for Pinkie’s crude wooden tombstone. The words written there in her own blood read:

To my dear Gummy.

Your Pinkie Pie misses you.

May you be in a much happier place.

Wait for me. Soon we will be together again.

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

Analysis Report Number: 448
Title: Alpha Lab Falls

Due to the intervention of the accursed heroine known as Mare-Do-Well, Alpha Lab below the fountain was a total loss. All research data was destroyed in the cave-in and rockslides after the rebellious Experiment Gamma went on a rampage as it tried to free itself. I managed to stay alive in part by the neurotoxin solution I keep on my very being for drastic emergencies and it served well its purpose.

The loss of Alpha Lab is a seriously blow to my local monetary gains, but Bravo, Echo and especially Hotel Labs are still functional.

I have started to grow disillusioned by the lack of cooperation of philistine ponies who fail to share in the vision of helping advance their evolution. If all else fails, there is the final solution. If Equestria fails to realize I am helping it change for the better, then so be it.

Mare-Do-Well has been upgraded to a Class-SSS+ threat. Her demise has also been promoted to one of the chief goals as well. She will soon suffer my wrath, raw and unfettered.

Will the Legend of Mare-Do-Well still trot along?

Comments

[JD2K]

The second part is up. Please comment as always...

[Garino]

.........no words...can describe...

[Whalesbefreeyo]

Noooooo! Gummy, why?!

[Blackbelt]

Manly tears.....so many tears....I lost it when Gummy called Pinkie Mama......

Mr. Author, you're a bastard for killing Gummy.......Damnit, more tears.....

[Dream Catcher]

And then Pinkie went on a downward spiral. I'll feel sorry for the mean police captain when he inevitably accosts Pinkie anytime within the near future - it'll be the end of him, after all.

Edit: Brilliant chapter, by the way. It was loads of fun.

[Raven Smite]

"Wait for me. Soon we will be together again" ? That better not bucking mean what I think it means... I've been reading way too many GrimDark stories lately...

[KaijinZero]

thats just so....sad.

[Alchemystudent]

No,nonononononoononononono...GUMMMY!!!!!!!Yes I cried, and I have some sad music for it. Well, I guess this only means one thing, time for the "I am mare do well no more issue" with a really cool cover as drawn by John Romita. The fun part is seeing how she is going to get back in the suit...wich is the best part of any superhero "I will give up/this trauma has hurt me big time" story.

Sorry, its the spidey fan in me kicking in.

[JD2K]

A reader sent me this image a while ago saying if this is what Pinkie's feeling at the moment.

th04.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/144/2/0/don_t_cry_pinkamena_by_alex4nder02-d50x008.png

I agree.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

R.I.P. Gummy you will be missed.

(P.S. I still think it should've been that Pinkie Pie as Mare-Do-Well killed the doctor, breaking one of her rules, and running off as a result unable to trsut herself around anyone. )

(I wanted to post an image but I couldn't get it to work)

[Grazy Polomare]

Why...why Gummy?

You have made one of the most sinister villains yet. This is going to be the first bad guy in a fan fic that actually roused some hatred in me. For that, I applaud you. However, you have left the story with new questions. Proceed with this story! It is getting better!

Salutes Gummy. "You died a noble death mate." :(

[Mr-Dr-Prof Sweetness]

Pinkie vs. Warewolf pack of 12. Fighting style: Batman from Arkham City. Yes!

[Mr-Dr-Prof Sweetness]

Pinkie vs. Beta-Duo. Naga gets KO'd smoking, Hehe.

[Mr-Dr-Prof Sweetness]

You...Caballus... were only concieved by your mom just to keep the guy she was obsessed over. {to be continued}

[Jack Frankenstien]

This was raw and brutally emotional. I noticed, though, that you had some run on sentences. A lot, in fact, as well as a few not quite run on sentences that could have been broken up anyway. This is a good story, but I have to ask if you have a proofreader. Of course, I haven't read the chapter after this one yet, so if a pre/proofreader joined between this one and the next one, then Never mind this post.

[Joeycrick]

To Pinkie Pie and Gummy...

bulk.destructoid.com/ul/user/1/112092-222286-MetalGearSolid3shot05jpg-620x.jpg

[shadowstar618]

WHYYYYYYYYYYYY

SO MUCH SAD

[Alchemystudent]

Calaballus (Wich is latin for Equine by the way) makes for a well done villian. While not Pinkie's opposite, he serves well as a good way to show Pinkie the darker side of being a hero. Of the failures of being a champion of good and how sometimes, they do fail. His views and effects on life are a treat to see and I love how Pinkie is brought to the breaking point. I only wish Gummy was in the fic more so the effect on her would be even crueler. But, the emotions that you needed for this scene were well crafted.