TMMDW:The Mysterious Mare do Well

by Equinoxx

Episode 9: A great buckin' day

So I was out of the loop. I had recently visited Ponyville and learned about a few things from Pinkie. First off, I learned that Fluttershy had been released from the hospital. Appearantly the reason why she was in the hospital was because she was attacked by a honey badger. That was another thing, The Badger was a murderer who was going after ponies whom of which liked animals.

That, alongside with other things such as Prince Blueblood wanting to rule Equestria, had led me to believe that this is an alternate timeline from the show. Meaning that some, or in this case a lot, of things were going to be different. That didn't really matter, for now.

Also I had recently got the computer to start making some devices, but I'll get into that once they're done. Question was though, 'what now?' Well luckily I had my trusty computer to help me. I go over to the computer. "Computer, has there been any crimes lately?" I asked.

"No." It responded.

I sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." I huff then slump to the ground, completely bored. "You could go on patrol." the computer told me.

"I guess." I say as I lazily got off the the floor.

I get my costume on and go up the elevator, taking me to the top of the clock tower so I could observe the city... Seeing nothing, I decided to go along the rooftops and search... And still nothing. At this point I realized that I really need friends so that I wouldn't be so bored when there's nothing else to do.

With that in mind I go back to The Well and start brainstorming how to make friends. Well I'm pretty much already friends with Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Twilight. Mare do Well is friends with Twilight, but I think it'd be weird for Mare do Well to show up at Twilight's just for tea. I could try to be friends with Fluttershy or Rarity, but I don't really care much for them. Maybe I could try to hang out with Twilight or Rainbow as Seastar. Yeah that sounds good. Onwards!

---

So the first stop is the Golden Oaks library. The second I enter I could smell the great smell of books and there's a lot of 'em. I also immediately saw the tiny drake that is Spike, who now had his attention turned to me. "Hello, welcome to the Golden Oaks library." Spike greeted.

"Hi, I'm just here to look at some books, maybe check one out." I tell him.

He gives me a questioning look then asks. "Are you new here, I haven't seen you before?"

"Yes I am, but I don't live in Ponyville I just like the place." I smile.

"Oh, okay." An awkward silence followed. I go to a bookshelf and start looking through it. I had to think of a way to talk to Twilight, but how?

"So, do you know about dragons?" My thoughts would have to wait because Spike asked me another question.

I turn around. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well you weren't scared of me and you didn't even look surprised about seeing me." He explained.

"Oh that." I took a moment to think, then said. "I'm just not scared of much." Which was true, I was never really scared of anything. "I do have a question though."

"What's that?" He perked up.

"Do you work here, or are you the owner?" I asked, hoping I could draw out Twilight.

"Neither actually. Twilight is technically the owner, but I'm her assistant." He explained.

"Oh, I've met Twilight before." I continue to lead the conversation.

His eyes widened. "You have?"

"Yeah, when I first came to town I ran into Pinkie. She threw me a welcome party and one of the ponies I met there was Twilight." I elaborated.

"Well I hear somepony familiar." A new voice said, coming down the stairs. Said voice belonged to Twilight. "Hello Seastar, haven't seen you since the party."

I nod. "Hello to you too, I was just looking for a good book, but I don't know what to choose." I chickened out.

"Oh, well I suggest the first Daring Doo book, but that's just what I think is best." Twilight smiled.

"Hmm? Well I like a lot of book types, so sure." It took me everything to keep my own smile from faulting. Spike had already got the book from the shelf it was on and handed it to me, then he ran over to a scroll and wrote down what I presume was the check out information.

"Thank you." I said as I headed for the door.

"It was no problem. Have a good day!" Said Twilight as I left.

I put the book in my saddlebag and sighed. I guess if there was one thing I was scared of, it was apparently talking to Twilight... I found that as odd. Anyway next stop is Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn't a very long walk before I arrived at the farm and to my surprise, Applejack was bucking trees near the barn. Why was I surprised by something so common you may ask? Because of my bad luck.

"Hey!" I shouted while trotting to her. She turned to me and raised an eyebrow. Once I got close enough I spoke again. "Hello Applejack, you remember me right?"

"Yes, but why're ya here?" She asked.

"To be honest, I'm bored." I stated simply. Applejack's eyebrow continued to stay up. "I was gonna ask if I could help you on your farm, seeing as it's productive and would give me something to do." I explained. I really wasn't planning on going to Sweet Apple Acres, but something drew me to it... Probably the apples.

She scrutinized me for a few seconds then softened her expression. "Kay then, well ah don't see why not. Ah only have a small segment left ta' do, so you can do the back half and ah'll do the front."

"On it!" I give a salute then run towards the back half.

"But don' expect a reward!" I heard AJ shout from behind me.

---

An hour later and I met back up with AJ, with only ten trees left to buck. "Well howdy there." I say to her right before I buck a tree. She rolls her eyes and continues bucking as well. After a few more minutes we get all the apples off of the trees.

"Nice job. Ah'll admit, ah had mah doubts." She chuckled.

"Heh, thanks for the vote of confidence." I joked.

"Ya're welcome." She grinned.

"Well with those done, I suppose I should get going." I said, ready to leave.

"Oh no ya don't." Applejack said, stepping in front of me. "Ah told ya not ta' expect a reward, not that ya wouldn't get one. Follow me." She said as she walked towards the farmhouse. Her wording needed a lot of work. So I followed her and the first pony we see when we stepped in was Granny Smith, who just came out of the kitchen. "Howdy Granny. Hope ya don't mind if mah friend Seastar joins us for lunch. She helped me out in the field."

Granny Smith looked at me for a moment. "Why it's fine, she can join us!" She said, walking back into the kitchen. I have to admit, I was not expecting this much kindness, but I'm okay with it. I followed Applejack into the dining room, where we see Big Machintosh setting up plates and cutlery.

"Howdy Big Mac. A new friend o' mine will be joinin' us for dinner." AJ said, pointing to me. I wave at him with a nervous smile. He was much taller in person. He nodded then went into the kitchen, probably to help Granny Smith. I noted that Applebloom wasn't there, but then I remembered it was a Wednesday. She was probably at school. Applejack pointed me to a chair to sit on while she got onto one herself.

A moment passed before Big Mac came into the room with several plates of hayburgers and apple fritters. Yeah I kinda forgot about the whole pony food thing, but I could only hope I had new taste buds. Big Mac hooved the food out and sat down, Granny Smith sat down at the table soon after.

"Dig in." Granny Smith said happily and everypony started eating. I hesitated to take a bite of the hayburger, but eventually I gave in. Thank goodness it didn't taste bad! In fact, it tasted quite good, I definitely dug in!

After the meal I stood up. "I just want to say thank you for letting me have lunch with you all." I thanked them.

"T'was no problem." Granny Smith said.

"'Sides, ya helped me on tha farm. You deserved it." AJ pitched in.

"Eeeyup!" I bet you could guess who said that.

"Well I gotta get going, but I hope to see you all again." I waved and began to head for the exit.

"Eeeyup." They all said which made me chuckle as I left.

---

Well that was fun, really it was! The Apple family really is nice. So I definitely made some friends and had a lot of fun. Not everyday has to be full of action, sometimes it's nice to just take a break.

Roll credits

Author's Note:

Here we go, a full chapter with no action at all... Other than tree bucking.

Always know when to take a break.

(This chapter has been massively edited.)

Comments

[Equinoxx]

I actually quite like the punny nature of this chapters title. Not half bad past me.

So I was out of the loop. I had recently visited Ponyville and learned about a few things from Pinkie. First off, I learned that Fluttershy had been released from the hospital. Appearantly the reason why she was in the hospital was because she was attacked by a honey badger. That was another thing, The Badger was a murderer who was going after ponies whom of which liked animals.

Badger murderer? As in a badger that murders ponies? Man, kids really are creative! XD
Alas, as funny as that idea is, it was definitely meant to be more edgy. Plus, naming it “The Badger” did not help.

That, alongside with other things such as Prince Blueblood wanting to rule Equestria, had led me to believe that this is an alternate timeline from the show. Meaning that some, or in this case a lot, of things were going to be different. That didn't really matter, for now.

Okay, while I don’t think Seastar’s conclusion is terribly farfetched, I think the wording of her conclusion could have been better. For Example: “That, among other strange occurrences, made it clear things weren’t following the events of the show. It’s possible that my appearance here had significantly altered the world in some way, but even that didn’t feel like a sufficient answer. Regardless, it didn’t seem like I could do much about it.”

Also I had recently got the computer to start making some devices, but I'll get into that once they're done. Question was thought, 'what now?' Well luckily I had my trusty computer to help me. I go over to the computer. "Computer, has there been any crimes lately?" I asked.

Ah, the computer. As much as I appreciate how I characterized it, that does not save it from being a glorified plot device that can seemingly do anything. I understand why I did it. I told myself I would come up with a good reason for it existing, but I never did. I do have a few ideas how to make it work nowadays though. It’ll take some brainstorming, but I think I can do it.

I get my costume on and go up the elevator, taking me to the top of the clock tower so I could observe the city... Seeing nothing, I decided to go along the rooftops and search... And still nothing. At this point I realized that I really need friends so that I wouldn't be so bored when there's nothing else to do.

With the way I described the “patrol” here, it reads like MDW looked around for a few seconds before getting bored. XD
Most likely, I wanted to make it seem like she had been patrolling for a little while, but in that case I should have made the passage of time more clear. Even then, part of being a super hero is making yourself as available as possible since you never know when danger may arise. Subsequently, that’s where the whole difficulty of balancing hero life and regular life comes from. Of course, I could have made that an intentional character flaw, but that absolutely was not on my mind at the time.

I could try to be friends with Fluttershy or Rarity, but I don't really care much for them.

Damn, son! Cold blooded! XD
I could have worded that better with actual reasoning. Like: “but the former is likely still recovering from being attacked and the ladder is normally pretty busy.” I do ironically like the idea of Seastar picking favourites though. That line was unintentional comedy gold.

"It was no problem. Have a good day!" Said Twilight as I left.

Woah… Okay, I have to give myself a little actual credit on this one. The entire scene in the library was legitimately pretty good dialogue wise. Could have been better polished and had some different wording, but overall I’m pleasantly surprised.

I put the book in my saddlebag and sighed. I guess if there was one thing I was scared of, it was apparently talking to Twilight... I found that as odd. Anyway next stop is Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn't a very long walk before I arrived at the farm and to my surprise, Applejack was bucking trees near the barn. Why was I surprised by something so common you may ask? Because of my bad luck.

I don’t know what I meant here by “bad luck”. Was Seastar hoping to find Rainbow Dash here for some reason? Sure Applejack and her hang out a lot, but certainly not enough to just randomly assume she would be there that day.

"Yes, but why're ya here?" She asked.

Extreme nitpick, but AJ probably should have used “yeah” instead of “yes”. It’s more in line with her speech patterns.

"To be honest, I'm bored." I stated simply. Applejack's eyebrow continued to stay up. "I was gonna ask if I could help you on your farm, seeing as it's productive and would give me something to do." I explained. I really wasn't planning on going to Sweet Apple Acres, but something drew me to it... Probably the apples.

Now I’m just more confused on Seastars’ reasoning. Obviously it was just me making up an excuse for her to go there since I had a specific idea for the chapter. Unfortunately, I disregarded what Seastar would actually do.

"But don' expect a reward!" I heard AJ shout from behind me.

AJ seems a little off to me. She almost definitely would want to reward someone for helping her, that is if she would accept the help at all. Also, I could have done a bit more describing in regards to where AJ was directing Seastar to.

"Oh no ya don't." Applejack said, stepping in front of me. "Ah told ya not ta' expect a reward, not that ya wouldn't get one. Follow me." She said as she walked towards the farmhouse. Her wording needed a lot of work. So I followed her and the first pony we see when we stepped in was Granny Smith, who just came out of the kitchen. "Howdy Granny. Hope ya don't mind if mah friend Seastar joins us for lunch. She helped me out in the field."

Ah, I didn’t give past me enough credit. AJ was simply playing the long con. XD
That being said, I could have probably done slightly more with this premise. It could’ve been neat to have them talk a bit more while working.

Her wording needed a lot of work. So I followed her and the first pony we see when we stepped in was Granny Smith, who just came out of the kitchen.

It’s funny how Seastar says AJ had bad wording, then proceeds to say this. It implies that she’s only following AJ to the farmhouse to correct her, which isn’t the case. I probably could have started the next sentence with, “regardless, I followed her” for ease of reading.

Granny Smith looked at me for a moment. "Why it's fine, she can join us!" She said, walking back into the kitchen. I have to admit, I was not expecting this much kindness, but I'm okay with it. I followed Applejack into the dining room, where we see Big Machintosh setting up plates and cutlery.

Kind of odd how Seastar didn’t see the Apple family’s kindness coming. Since she was a fan of the show, surely she would have a grasp on how friendly they can be. Especially after AJ mentioned how she helped in the field.

A moment passed before Big Mac came into the room with several plates of hayburgers and apple fritters. Yeah I kinda forgot about the whole pony food thing, but I could only hope I had new taste buds. Big Mac hooved the food out and sat down, Granny Smith sat down at the table soon after.

What HAS Seastar been eating? I don’t think I ever brought that up.

After the meal I stood up. "I just want to say thank you for letting me have lunch with you all." I thanked them.

Again, I definitely think I should have added more dialogue here. You know, actually take some time to build chemistry.

Honestly, the premise of this chapter felt pretty strong, and had more than a good bit of potential. It still suffers from being terribly rushed, like I had a good idea that I just lazily plopped into the story and called it a day.

I also have evidently been increasing the size of my comments. Mostly because I’ve gotten better at giving criticism to myself. Though the chapters improving has helped me think of more constructive things to say about my old writing. Heck of a lot more work though! XD