The Mysterious Adventures of Mare-do-well

by Commando-Scarecrow

Oh City, My City

There he lay, her boyfriend. He was fast asleep, so now was the perfect time for her to leave to go to second job. It's not like she had any choice in the matter. When they left their own hometowns to live here together, they not only found out what kind of hay-hole this town was, but the lengths she would go to protect him. He was just lying there, too, completely oblivious to what she was about to go and do. She wished so hard that she could tell him, but she had made some powerful enemies here in New Maredrid City , so she couldn't take that chance. She finished putting her mask on and then her wide brimmed hat. "Time to get to work," she said solemnly.

...

The purple clad pegasus leapt from her apartment window and took flight. There was far too much crime in this city. So much so that she had to adopt a new identity amidst all the chaos to defend the one pony she would leave her friends and family for. She left Ponyville to become one of the weather managers of New Maredrid City. She remembered years ago that there was a violet clothed heroine that went by the name of Mare-do-well. She wasn't her though. She was the new one, and from the looks of it, this town needed a hero. She took long leaps from building to building, doing her best to avoid being seen and so better surprise the various villains across the city. Everything seemed clear tonight, so she indulged herself in remembering what had brought herself here. Her boyfriend had been stabbed while walking back home. She wouldn't let that stand so she bought a hat and set out to find justice herself. This town was corrupt as hay, and it was also a thousand miles away from Canterlot. She wasn't sure whether or not Princess Celestia or Princess Luna knew of this wretched hive of scum and villainy, or maybe they were just afraid to come here themselves, not that she blamed them. New Maredrid was a nightmare built from wood and brick, and she wasn't willing to risk the lives of two princesses just to satisfy her lust for revenge. That was her job. "AAAAH!" Mare-do-well turned as she heard the scream of an innocent. She extended her wings and took flight into the cool night air.

Three blocks later, she found what she had been looking for: three colts surrounding a teenage mare. "C'mon, little girl! We ain't gonna hurt you no-OOMPH!" Mare-do-well landed straight on his head, knocking him out cold. She very much doubted what he said about not hurting her.

"Mare-do-well?!" The young unicorn asked, half confused and half elated to see the help of somepony who heard her cries for help. "Thank you!" She expressed her gratitude and then ran off to find a guard or an officer, not that they were ever much help. Mare-do-well nodded her head in acknowledgement and then turned her head back to the matter at hoof: these two sons of griffons.

"You picked the wrong colt to do that too, Gri-!" The unicorn had been charging up a blast from his horn, but Mare-do-well had been too fast for him and landed a quick punch into his gut. "GMPH!" He fell to the floor, rolling in pain, as the third piece of scum stood just staring at her, unsure of how to proceed next. He ran. She ran after him. She grabbed his tail and tied him to the nearest light post, along with his three other companions. Catastrophe averted. She could see the flashing lights coming from the horns of the cops, so she took what little time she had left and escaped the scene. These ones would be dealt with by the courts. She didn't really do patting herself on the back while she was in uniform, but she saved that young mare, so she gave herself a mental one. She flew off into the new moon, being as invisible as the air. There were other ponies that needed saving, after all.

Mare-do-well took time to fly over each and every district to make sure that nopony would be hurt while on her watch. She wasn't a princess by any means, but she had to stop all this rampant crime somehow. The original Mare-do-well would agree with her on that. She took a moment and admitted to herself that she could no doubt do this without her mask and hat and be hailed as a heroine for being herself, but this costume wasn't there just to make a fashion statement. She dawned it for the purpose of gaining some humility in her actions, and so nopony would recognize her and strike at her beloved. No. She had to carry out her caped crusade as a masked avenger of the weak and helpless. That was her place, regardless of how much she would prefer, neigh, how much she would love waking up next to him each and every morning. Him, with his green eyes saying good morning to her as they both used to do. "But," she thought out loud, "if this is what it takes to protect him, I'll do it." Even if she couldn't be there when he woke up, her first loyalty was to him and to then to the city, and herself last. She was always last in that regard. Mare-do-well heard another scream and then hauled flank. The night wasn't over yet. There was still plenty of work to be done and more lives to save in this Celestia-forbidden town.

She flew to the top of the highest building of the city, known soley as the Spire. New Maredrid was an old town. It had been one of the last cities to be colonized before the unification of the three tribes and was founded by the greatest of all pegasi: Thunder Clapper the Brave. In fact, the 20 story high tower that Mare-do-well stood had been built in his honour.

She peered over the side to see where that scream came from. "Help!" It was a young colt, maybe 16, by the sound of it. She jumped from the tower and took off as quick as she could. In less than a minute, she arrived at the scene of the tragedy. It was a fire. No. It was a blazing inferno. The young colt was frantic and no fire fighters were in sight. It was her that had to save the night for the boy. "Help! My little sister is still in the-!" Before, he could finish his cry for help, Mare-do-well leapt into the burning danger. The place hotter than almost anything she'd ever experienced before. She's generally tried to steer clear of fires, but she had no choice this time. This colt needed her help. She searched room to room, being careful not to shout to loud or move to fast. Oxygen was in short enough supply here already.

"Hello!?" She was careful not to yell too much or too often, electing to choose where she did so carefully and thoughtfully. "Hello!"

"Help!" Mare-do-well heard the voice of a small filly crying out. "Please! Help me!" She could hear the small one weeping. She burst through the door of the room and must've looked like she came straight from tartarous to the little girl. She was right. The little unicorn was maybe eight years old and had no words for the violet phantom that stood at the threshold of what might have been her death that night, but Mare-do-well could care less whether or not the filly thought Mare-do-well to be her salvation or damnation. She would be saved. Mare-do-well grabbed the small pony with her mouth through her mask and through her on her back. She ran as fast as she could now, not caring about oxygen because the fire had gotten exponentially worse. So much so that now burning to death was a much greater risk than asphyxiation. The little girl must have now understood that Mare-do-well was the heroine here, as she held on to her for dear life. Finally, after taking turn after turn, she found a window and burst through it. She extended her wings and landed gracefully on the brick road.

"Thank you so much!" She handed the small unicorn to her brother, an earthpony. "Are you okay?!" He turned to her and asked, barely keeping his wits about him.

"Mhmm!" She moved to hug her brother. "This pegasus saved me! Her name is... um." The young filly stumbled across her next few words, unsure what exactly to call the mare who saved her.

Her brother only smiled at her confusion, then looked back at the dark clad hero. "Well, whatever your name, thank you."

Mare-do-well smiled wryly under her mask. This was one of the reasons she did this every night. "Mare-do-well" She said her name and then took flight into the cool night sky once more. The city had been under her guardianship for nearly a month. They needed to know their heroes name. As for Mare-do-well herself... she was exhausted. It was time for bed.

...

Mare-do-well snuck back into her apartment that was clear on the other side of the city. She smiled as she saw her special somepony still asleep in their bed, his blonde mane scattered across the mattress, but first thing's first. She had to take a bath. She wreaked of smoke and ash. She carefully hid her costume inside her special box that she owned the only key to. She'd told him that she kept important keepsakes from home there, and he was kind enough not to push it any further. She wasn't really lying, though. Mare-do-well WAS a hero from her hometown, so her uniform would technically count as a souvenir. As her bath neared completion, she turned off her water and slowly dipped into it. It stung, but as it entered each crevice and scratch on her body, she felt only peace. It was a good hurt, though. It meant she had done something worth doing. It meant she was still alive to secure a future for him and her. She might have even fallen asleep if not for the constant stinging of the soapy water coming in contact with her scrapes and burns. Eventually, she was satisfied with how clean she had become and exited the bath. She unplugged the drain and dried herself off and carefully made sure to unmatt and clean the parts of her coat that had blood in it. And after all that, she finally took her place next to her stallion in the bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

She woke up to the smell of burnt coffee. She smiled at the scent which her boyfriend had called his "special recipe". What made it special was burning it. She took a moment to run her hooves through her mane, dawned her robe, and entered the kitchen. "Haya, Sweetie!" His country accent permeated the air. It was a good permutation, though. It was unique, just like they were, which was why they had fallen for each other in the first place. "Ya slept in so I thought I'd make us up some of my special coffee!"

"You mean the burnt stuff that woke me up?" She playfully snarked at him. They did this to each other all the time. It was a part of the chemistry they had. Granted, she was the one that usually started it.
"Nah, Sweetiepie! That's just the extra kick I give it!" She never could get him down, or at least, not unless she deliberately chose to insult him for real. She's seen him get upset when that happened and more than a few bar fights were started as a result. He won all of them.

"You burn it to give it an extra kick?" She replied as she walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. She could see an entertained look on his face.

"I love you, too, Sugarcube," he said, chuckling at her. As they both laughed at each other, she couldn't help but feel guilty about leaving him in the dark like she did. He was sweet and he was tough. He was one of the kindest mustangs she'd ever met. He also knew how to have a good time. It was almost like putting a knife into her own heart to leave him totally oblivious in all of this. She had no choice, though. If she told him, then he might tell somepony else. It's not like she didn't trust him. On the contrary, there were only one or two other ponies in all of Equestria she trusted more. It was something else. She'd read more than a few adventure novels over the past few years, and if there was one thing she'd learned from them, it was that the special somepony of the hero was always at risk. "So what were you plannin' to do today, Sweetiepie?"

"There was a weather management meeting I was planning on skipping, in case you were interested on joining me," she said a smirk on her face.

"Sugarcube, ya know ya can't do-uurgh!" He made a hard grunt as he dropped his mug of burnt coffee and grabbed his side. It was where he was stabbed soon after they moved here a few months ago. He braced himself against the counter.

"Babe?!" She rushed to him and helped to keep him from falling. Then she saw blood. "You're bleeding!"

"Nah, Sugarcube! It's fine." He struggled to stay on his feet. "I just moved wrong earlier today, that's all."

"You call that fine?!" She touched her hoof to his side as she started mixing her concern with her anger.

He thought for a moment, then answered. "Yep. Just a flesh-wound. Hey! Where ya goin', Hon?" He called out for her as she left the kitchen and headed to the bathroom.

"First-aid!" By the time she got back, he was laying on their couch. She forced his arm out of the way and undid his old bandages.

"Since when do you know first-OWW!" She prodded his open wound with iodine to kill the germs.
"Since be quiet is when. Don't get used to it." She finished cleaning it out and applied the bandages to his side. "How in the hay did that even happen?!"

"I don't got a lot of stuff to do, here, so I was..." he mumbled the last few words of his sentence on purpose.

"Not sure I heard that, Babe." She knew he didn't want to tell her, but that was just too bad for him then.

"I was... OWW," He did it again, so she dabbed him with more of the stinging disinfectant.

"Tell me." She commanded him. He might have respected her privacy, but she had no problem digging into HIS trash for answers. She was just that kind of mare.

"I was, ah, practicing dancing for a special night out with ya, Sugarpie." It figured he would tear open an old wound doing something for her. "Just forget I said that, kay, sugar?"

"Can do, Chief." He knew she didn't really like to do things like that. Maybe that was just his good ole colt habits leaking out. She smiled at that thought, though. She may not like when he did things for her beyond cooking. Hay, she couldn't cook any better. In fact, she was even worse! But just because she was fiercely independent didn't mean she was unappreciative of when people tried to do nice things for her. "Alright, Babe. All done. Just try to stay off of your feet like that for a while." She finished tying up the bandage and patted him on the back... hard.

"OWW!" He yelped out in pain.

"Quit being a baby." She walked out of the room and got ready for work. She couldn't go out with him today, so she might as well show up to the meeting. "And stay off your hooves! I'm not gonna patch you up again!" She flew out of her window and got moving to work. Today was supposed to be rainy, so she really had to haul flank to get there.

Comments

[TrevorLaneRay]

Me gusta. Great style; story flows well.

[Commando-Scarecrow]

Try and guess who she is.

[bahatumay]

I think I like where this is going, but it would be much easier to read if you hit tab before every new paragraph.
(Props for actually putting it in paragraphs, though.)