Mare Do Well
is a short entry in The Weedverse, written by Kudzuhaiku.
Rainbow Dash, a heroic pegasus mare, comes back to her friends badly injured from yet another day of crime-fighting with her partner, Tarnished Teapot. Fortunately, her friends include a few mares who are well to do.
Mare Do Well contains examples of:
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Trixie pats Sumac's head in a "Good job" manner, after hearing some of his other gadgets worked.
- Bad Samaritan: Apple Brown Betty ran an immigration racket; she got Equestrian immigrants to work for her by luring them with promises before saddling with huge debts to ensure their compliance.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Pun aside, it's averted as most of the story has Rainbow Dash getting her many injuries and burns from nearly getting roasted alive by Apple Brown Betty patched up. Being a Proud Beauty, Rainbow worries about having her looks diminished in the long term.
- Evil Old Folks: Sumac mentioned that Apple Brown Betty was his father's mother's sister. She also ran a sweatshop and exploited the immigrants working there.
- Eye Scream: Rainbow Dash's mask caught fire when Apple Brown Betty tried roasting her alive, causing her eyelid to burn slightly. She had to wear an eyepatch to cover the burns.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Sumac is responsible for Rainbow Dash's weaponry, such as her stink bombs. When he couldn't be a Kid Sidekick on the field due to danger, he settles on being Rainbow Dash's gadgeteer instead.
- Hollywood Healing: Averted. As with many examples in the Weedverse, the healing process applied to Rainbow's many injuries is manual and not a smooth one. Rarity even had to apply ice numbing sprays to some of the nastier injuries before she could stitch them up properly.
- Kid Sidekick: Sumac wants to be this for Rainbow Dash which is why he signed up for Stiff Upper Lip. Rainbow herself is keen on the idea, but Trixie is against it. She is calmed somewhat when Rainbow decides to have Sumac be her gadgeteer instead.
- Kill It with Fire: Apple Brown Betty tried killing Rainbow Dash by dousing her with fire. It doesn't work, as Rainbow Dash survives and Tarnish shatters Apple Brown Betty's spine in retaliation.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Tarnish permanently cripples Apple Brown Betty by shattering her spine after she tried setting Rainbow Dash on fire. Considering her other crimes of running a sweatshop and exploiting immigrant workers, it's hard to feel sorry for her, though Sumac felt conflicted over what to feel.
- Mama Bear: Trixie is not happy with the prospect of young Sumac getting involved with Rainbow and Tarnish's heroics, and for good reason. Eventually, she settles with Sumac being their gadgeteer since it's out of the line of fire.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Rainbow Dash is fighting a bunch of "mooks" working for Brown Betty, when Tarnished Teapot enters the room. As Rainbow put it:Rainbow Dash: He shows up while I'm fighting like a hundred or so mooks and when he opened up the doors, there was a moment where you could have heard a pin drop. I swear to Princess Celestia, it was that quiet. A mouse fart would have been deafening. But he locks the doors behind him and everypony just kinda stopped to reconsider their next move.
- Non-Fatal Explosions: Subverted. Sumac's stink bombs did cause a lot of goons to throw up, but Rainbow mentions that having her suit and mask on was what protected her from getting affected, too.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Tarnish does this to Apple Brown Betty for burning Rainbow Dash, by permanently crippling her by shattering her spine.
- Proud Beauty: Rainbow Dash worries about the long-term repercussions of her injuries and how they might affect her overall appearance, because she hates the thought of not being a beautiful pegasus mare anymore.
- Secret Underground Passage: The "well" Rainbow enters actually hides a staircase that leads to an underground chamber. It was built by members of House Lulamoon during the Equestrian Civil War, so peasants could have a way to hide from the Separatist army. Here, Rainbow Dash and her friends use it to regroup, discuss, and recuperate.
- Spy Speak: Rainbow's recalling of her day with Tarnish is all spoken in metaphors and codenames, mainly because little Sumac is there listening to the conversation. For example, certain people are given codenames (i.e. Tarnish is "Captain Equestria", Apple Brown Betty is "Sweaty Brown Betty), and Apple Brown Betty's sweatshop is referred to as the "Secret Sweatshop of Shame".
- Squick: In-universe; this is Trixie's reaction to Rainbow Dash's description of what Sumac's stink bombs did to the mooks she was fighting, as well as why she got an eyepatch on one of her eyes. It's to the point where Trixie attempted Brain Bleach on herself by shaking her head.
- Stink Bomb: Sumac's creation, which Rainbow Dash used against a group of mooks. The stench from them was so powerful that it caused anyone not wearing masks to vomit all over the floor.
- Stunned Silence: The group of mooks Rainbow was fighting went silent as soon as Tarnish showed up. It was so quiet that "[a] mouse fart would have been deafening."
- Why Can't I Hate You?: Sumac is conflicted over his feelings regarding Apple Brown Betty and her crimes of immigrant exploitation and owning a sweatshop; he wanted to feel glad that Tarnish shattered her spine and crippled her, but at the same time he felt bad for her.Trixie Lulamoon: Kiddo, family is complicated.
