//------------------------------// // Idols // Story: Mare Do Well: As The Sky Falls // by ShadeJak //------------------------------// “So tell me, Leo, what do we know so far about Mare Do Well?” Razorbeak asked, though his tone suggested rhetoric. “Uh, really fast, really tough, and beat me and the others up?” Leo could have swore his boss rolled his eyes at that. “She’s a pegasus, for one thing. She’s likely a young mare, clearly studied Wonderbolt tactics, and obviously talented enough to be accepted into their academy. She has experience, so she’s been following them for awhile, but not being one yet, she’s joined the academy not too long ago. I’ll need the names of every mare who is currently enrolled, and I already got it covered on how we’ll get them,” Razorbeak answered, glancing over at some boxes which Leo cringed at when he heard a chittering sound from within one. ~ “Gotta love a good, detailed press report!” Rainbow Dash said to herself as she read the column on Mare Do Well’s rescue the previous night. Last night’s patrol had brought up no sign of the griffons she’d fought. Though it was possible they retreated to Manehattan, she’d never find them then. On the bright side, the paper had brought up more news that improved her spirits, that the Wonderbolts would be arriving that night, and staying at the Stargazer, the best hotel in Cloudsdale. Let those griffon punks just try something with them around! She thought with a smirk. Having decided she’d been cooped up in the house and wanting to enjoy the day, Rainbow Dash returned to her room and packed some bits and, should the need arise, the Mare Do Well costume in her saddlebags, and took to the skies, heading to the Skyhigh Department Plaza. The department store was massive and its floors circled around a large opening in the clouds in its center, which a rainbow flowed through, with a food court and many stores that could suit many a pegasus’ needs. Unfortunately it was more crowded then ever with visitors which made it harder to fly around inside as much and Rainbow found herself content to just hang out in the food court with a giant dandelion sandwich and lemonade with an extra-large hayfries, occasionally looking at the clock and finding it was already reaching into the middle of the afternoon. “Hey, Rainbow Dash!” a familiar, young voice called out from behind her. Rainbow turned and there was a familiar orange filly. “Hey, what’s up, squirt?” Dash asked, letting her number one admirer and surrogate little sister gallop over and give her a hug. “My parents brought me up here to stay with my grandparents so I could see the show. I’m actually starting to fly now!” the filly said excitedly. “Ha! I knew you would eventually!” Rainbow replied. “Well, best I can do now is hover way higher off the ground for awhile. Longest was like a few minutes. But I’m still not nearly as fast as I am on my scooter,” Scootaloo said, blushing a little in embarrassment. “Give it time, kid. You keep practicing and you’ll be as awesome as me. We all gotta start somewhere.” “Yeah, but there’s already fillies and colts who can fly better then me!” Scootaloo objected. “And still no cutie mark…” The older pegasus frowned a little, and a few memories of her own came flooding back. “Scoots, lemme let you in on something, just don’t go telling everypony or they may not believe ya 'cause this is even crazier then the stuff I told ya about those campfire stories!” Rainbow explained. “When I was a filly, yeah, I could fly, but I couldn’t fly straight to save my life. I was always bumping into stuff, wrecking everything. My face usually hit any surface before my hooves would. I got picked on a lot for it; bullies called me ‘Rainbow Crash’. Said I was an embarrassment to my mom who was this awesome Wonderbolt in her time. All I thought about was proving them wrong, and I guess I still do from time to time.” “Really?” Scootaloo asked, her eyes wide with this revelation. “Like I’d lie about something like that to you, squirt,” Rainbow replied. “But like the Wonderbolts always said, never give up your dreams. And I didn’t give up, I kept trying, and kept practicing, and look what happened; fastest young flier in Equestria, sonic rainbooms on command, Bearer of Loyalty, all in one awesome pony package!” she stated proudly. “Then I won’t give up either!” Scootaloo declared. “I’d expect nothing less from my adopted sis!” Rainbow said, mussing the filly’s mane. “So anything else new?” she asked. “Oh yeah! I heard about that Mare Do Well showed up again, she was seen in Cloudsdale!” Scootaloo replied. “Oh, her, right. Yeah, she kinda saved my dad last night. He was at the factory when those griffons attacked, she kicked their flanks good!” Rainbow answered. “I know I used to be way jealous of her, but I guess I owe a lot to her now.” She explained; the irony of the statement not too lost on her. Before Scootaloo could answer, a crash was heard a few floors above, and pegasi galloping and attempting to fly away from its source. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo jerked their heads up in the direction of the commotion, but then another crash was heard, and at the front entrance three griffons entered, and two more entered from the windows. “Don’t mind us! We just wanted to hang out!” one griffon thug taunted with a laugh, grabbing a drink cup and flinging it, earning a puzzled look from his teammates. Up above on the higher floors, another voice, one Rainbow found vaguely familiar made its presence known. “Nice afternoon, huh? We’ll settle for any bits and gems you pegasi might be carrying in those fancy saddlebags of yours! Nopony comes forward we may have to get rough!” the voice announced. Rainbow grit her teeth angrily. More of these punks? And with this many innocents around, including Scootaloo, who was staring up at the griffons who flew about circling the trapped ponies, Rainbow Dash knew she was in for a bigger fight then last time. “Come on, Rainbow Dash! Let’s show them what-for!” Scootaloo whispered to the cyan mare. “No way, squirt. These guys look pretty serious and I don’t want you getting hurt. You find someplace to hide and you stay there till it’s safe no matter what, go it?” she said, looking down at her firmly. “But—“ “No buts. You’re my responsibility right now. I’m gonna do my best to try and distract ‘em till help arrives. No matter what happens, you stay hidden and don’t move!” Rainbow answered. With a sigh and a nod, Scootaloo crept over to a decorative urn and turned it over, hiding under it. As soon as she did, Rainbow looked back at her with a confident smile and spread her wings, flying up several floors up, finding three more griffons there, the middle one wearing a ragged bomber jacket and holding a megaphone in his claws. Rainbow recognized him as the same griffon from the night before. “Oh look at this! Nice to see we have a volunteer already! Got ya scared, rainbow pony?” Leo asked with a sneer. “Naw, you’re just uglier then I expected. And way stupider. I mean come on, do you guys really expect to get away with this?” she asked, wings spread. “Well I think I’m on the right track at least!” the griffon responded with a laugh, tossing the megaphone aside. “You don’t scare me!” Rainbow said, several ponies looking at her with concern, worried about the outcome. Rainbow Dash had a reputation for being a talented pegasus but against this many griffons the odds didn’t look in her favor. “Sorry to disappoint!” Leo taunted, suddenly lunging forward and swinging his claw and knocking Rainbow Dash backward, then turning and kicking her with his back leg to send her tumbling off the balcony, plummeting down the opening in the mall’s center. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cried out instinctively as she saw her idol fall and disappear down below, but remembering Rainbow’s words, quickly hid again, fortunately the other griffons seemed rather caught up in the other ponies’ shock and their own amusement to notice her. “Well, now that Miss Hero’s out of the way, everypony line up and start unloading every bit you have,” Leo said, picking up his megaphone again, then turned over to his thugs. “Griff, Claude, find any young ponies and bring them up here for leverage. Taylon, make sure the entryways are secured before the sky guard shows up. And Skyler? Go to the food court and bring me up some nachos!” the griffon boss ordered, and those he’d addressed responded with salutes and flew off to perform their tasks. ~ Down below on a cloud, Rainbow Dash remained hidden from sight. The act had worked perfectly, the griffons assumed she’d fallen to her death or was otherwise out of action, and she’d brought her saddlebags with the costume ready to be changed into. She had to work quickly though, Scootaloo and a lot of other ponies were still in danger. As she finished straightening out the hat, Rainbow Dash grabbed onto the cloud and flew it up one of the walls toward the roof, preparing for a re-entrance that’d allow her to survey the situation. Reaching the ceiling and peering into the sky roof, she gasped at what transpired down below. The griffons had rounded up the remaining ponies, lining them up to give them their money, and near their leader was several tied up colts and fillies, one of them Scootaloo. “Oh no!” Rainbow shuddered. She had to act fast! Taking a deep breath, she jumped from the cloud and down into the sky roof, taking a diving pose to quicken her descent as she aimed for one of the griffons that was in the air, body-slamming him, then spread her wings and sprang off him, flying to another griffon and doing an aerial spin, using the impact to shove him headfirst into another, and finishing by decking another with her hoof, and then landed right in front of Leo. “Leave those ponies alone. NOW!” she ordered coldly. Leo grabbed a last clawful of his nachos and munched them down hastily, tossing the tray aside.”You finally showed up, I was beginning to get worried,” he said with a chuckle. “...Too bad you missed one poor mare’s thousands-foot-drop.” Mare Do Well narrowed her eyes and smirked under her mask. If only he knew. “Trust me, she’s fine. So you really set all this up for me? I’m flattered,” she said snidely. “How does a trip to the Canterlot dungeons sound for a reward?” Leo laughed. “You may have busted up two of my friends, but I’m not gonna underestimate you a second time! I still owe you for this!” he said, gesturing to his chipped beak and taking a fighting stance, and the two immediately charged at one-another. Leo swiped with his claws, Mare Do Well raised her hoof, blocking him, but was immediately struck in the stomach by his foot as he turned to a side, then swept his wing in front of her face, causing Mare Do Well to stumble backward, the distraction allowing him to grab her by the collar and fling her over his shoulder, sending her tumbling into the open sporting goods store behind him. “Mare Do Well!” Scootaloo cried out, struggling in the ropes she was tied in. Some of the others were crying, their parents held back by the remaining griffon thugs who stood around them. Shaking her head and standing up, Mare Do Well waited as Leo approached, the griffon grabbed several softballs and flung them one after the other at her, Mare Do Well dodged one, countered another, but got grazed by the last. Returning the favor, she bucked a soccerball into his face, knocking him backwards. Before he could react, another came his way, and another. Growling, Leo rolled out of the way and grabbed one of the soccerballs, holding it in front of himself to block the next one that came his way, and flung it at the costumed pegasus then promptly lunging at her after. Mare Do Well caught him in time, bringing her legs up to flip him off of her. The griffon crashed into the wall, then stood up grabbing a bat and swung it at her. Mare Do Well grunted in pain from the blow to the side, then to the back, collapsing to the ground. “Well, guess you’re not as tough as I thought,” he laughed, tossing the bat aside and lifting her off the ground by the neck. “Think again!” Mare Do Well said in a strained tone, pushing herself up and delivering a crisp kick to the griffon’s face, dazing him enough to drop her. Leaping over the griffon, Mare Do Well anchored herself, raised both legs, and put all her strength into propelling them backward, sending the griffon soaring out of the shop and back onto the balcony, crashing into one of his unsuspecting thugs. “GET HER!” he shouted angrily, staggering as he tried to get up, and the griffons that had been guarding the young pegasi immediately attacked. Mare Do Well smirked under the mask and flew straight up, the griffons followed, abandoning their captives and leaving the adult ponies able to rescue the young ones as she’d hoped. “Go, Mare Do Well!” Scootaloo cheered as she was set free, then noticed Leo getting himself back up. “No way...” She galloped over and leapt at him, using her momentum to slam her hoof into his face, causing him to stumble backwards and fall from the balcony. “Boss!” the griffon Skyler cried out, pointing to their falling leader, and the others immediately turned their attention on Mare Do Well and flew down and out of the mall to catch him. Descending back to the balcony, Mare Do Well looked down for any sign of them, and soon saw the griffons carrying their dazed leader in their claws. “Clobbered by a filly… this… isn’t… over...!” Leo growled, and on that was carried off in retreat by his thugs, disappearing down below the lower clouds. As soon as they were gone, Mare Do Well turned to the ponies, who looked far more relieved now. “Everypony alright?” she asked, using her lower, disguised tone, and was responded to with murmurs and nods of agreement and she turned her attention on Scootaloo. “You alright, too, Sc—kid?” She asked, catching herself. “Yeah, I’m fine! Did you see me get that griffon! I should totally get a cutie mark for that!” she said proudly, stealing a glance at her own flank as if hoping that’d actually happen, then gave the costumed pegasus a sheepish grin, then realization hit her. “Wait! Where’s Rainbow Dash! Oh gosh, is she okay? I saw her falling when he hit her!” “She’s fine, kid. I saved her right as she was falling. She was pretty out of it from the blow so I stopped her from going back in, so she made me… what’s the word she used… Pinkie Promise I’d save you!” Mare Do Well replied, crouching down to be more eye-level with the filly. “And if I failed I’d have way more to worry about then a bunch of griffons!” Scootaloo giggled. “Well you didn’t! Where is she anyway?” “I sent her to the doctor, she's gonna go home after. She needs rest now but I’ll be sure to tell her you’re fine, plus I promised her something else that got her to stay put,” Mare Do Well explained. “Oh, what’s that?” Scootaloo asked. “Well, if you’re up for it, I’ll be glad to get you back to your place safely for her,” the costumed pegasus answered. “Awesome! I’d love that!” Scootaloo said with a little jump of joy. “Well, hop on and hold on tight, alright, kid? Just be gentle, still a little sore from the fight,” Mare Do Well said, allowing Scootaloo to climb onto her back. Ignoring the pain from her fight with Leo and spreading her wings, Mare Do Well gave a nod to the other ponies and flew off, her filly passenger cheering. ~ “My grandparent’s place is right over there!” Scootaloo said, pointing with a hoof. “I'm staying over for the show. Through the top window right there’s where I sleep!” she said as Mare Do Well descended and landed on the cloud balcony, letting the young filly hover for a moment and land in front of her. “Thanks, Mare Do Well.” “No problem, kid. Just stay outta trouble, alright? Rainbow Dash cares a lot about you, she’d never want to see you get hurt!” Mare Do Well replied, giving her a nudge with her hoof. “Okay. I will!” Scootaloo said. “Well, I better go tell her you’re safe now. Go and tell your grandparents, I’m sure they’re worried too. Later, kid!” Mare Do Well said, leaping off the balcony and flying away. Scootaloo gave a nod and went inside. ~ Rainbow Dash lay on her bed, an ice pack on her back as her dad looked down at her with some confusion. “I get the bruises from when the griffon hit you, but how’d you get your back hurt?” Blitz asked. “Dunno, I was sorta out of it when Mare Do Well saved me,” she said, hoping her excuse was passable. “Well you got pretty banged up here, Dashie. You sure you’ll be alright?” her father asked. “Of course I am! I’ll be making sonic rainbooms on command again by tomorrow! Besides, like I’m gonna miss the show I’ve waited, like forever to see?” Rainbow asked, smirking. “Look, dad, I was thinking maybe I could take Scootaloo with me and meet you at the show then. I owe her that for all that happened at the mall.” She let out a sigh. “I guess I got way in over my head, I just didn’t want to see her get hurt, she really looks up to me.” “I’m sure she understands. Besides, she’s safe now and that’s what matters,” her dad said. “Thanks to Mare Do Well… she saved us both,” Rainbow answered. How much easier the situation would have been to explain if she could just tell her dad the truth. She felt guilty having to lie, and not to mention how irresponsible she felt like it made her look. “Well, I can’t ground you or anything; you’re not a filly anymore,” Blitz replied. “But I do ask you just be more careful and use your head more.” He eyed one of the bruises on the side of his daughter’s head. “...Figuratively speaking anyway.” “Thanks, dad,” Rainbow said with small smile. Yeah, it really is a pain keeping secrets sometimes… ~ “Come on, Spitfire! I wanna eat!” Soarin protested as he stood at the entrance to the Stargazer Hotel, his panic replaced by a wide grin when the fiery-maned pegasus flew over to rejoin him and the others. “Really? You got the appetite of a fully-grown dragon, Soarin,” Spitfire said with a laugh as the Wonderbolts finally left the paparazzi and went inside. “I missed breakfast and had one daffodil sandwich for a brunch to save on time. How do you handle that?” the stallion asked. His question went unanswered as Spitfire went to the front desk and handled check-in. “Honestly, Soarin, you can be so—“ her diatribe was cut off when the delicious aroma of the meal the hotel had prepared for them hit her muzzle. “…capable of having a point sometimes!” she said abruptly, and she and Soarin led the way to the roundtable reserved for them in the hotel’s diner. Thirty minutes later, the aerobatic team had gotten through most of dinner, chatting, joking, and discussing the finale for the show tomorrow night. After she'd finished eating, Spitfire got up to take a restroom break, while Soarin eagerly awaited dessert; apple pies for each of them. The stallion’s pie barely had the chance to enjoy the table surface before it was devoured, getting laughs from Rapidfire and Fleetfoot as Spitfire finally returned. “Hey, Spitfire! Dessert’s here!” Soarin said, gesturing to Spitfire’s pie. “No thanks, I’m good,” the Wonderbolt captain said with a hoofwave. “You can have it.” Soarin raised an eyebrow at this, he’d expected her to have at least wanted half. Still, he was flattered to get to enjoy more of one of his favorite desserts and helped himself. “Everything alright?” he asked, noticing Spitfire had yet to sit down again. “Yeah! Just waiting for you to finish, was hoping to have you upstairs a little sooner, we’d want to be rested before tomorrow, right?” she offered with a playful smirk, making the stallion blush a little. “Uh, sure. Almost done!” he answered, grabbing one more nicely-sized bite and getting up. “Well, uh, SpitfireandIaregonnaturninearlyhavefunguys!” he rambled at breakneck speed, getting a chuckle from the yellow pegasus captain as he got up and followed her to the elevator. “Sure they are,” Rapidfire said with a laugh, giving Fleetfoot a nudge that was returned with an amused eyeroll. ~ “Replay it!” Razorbeak ordered, watching the footage recorded of the fight at the mall. “Why? Aside from Grizzo having some genuine talent with a camera I don’t really see anything special,” Leo replied. “We’ve watched it like three times and there’s nothing I didn’t already explain in it!” As soon as the words left his mouth, Razorbeak smacked him in the face in exasperation. “Ow! Boss, I'm trying to keep what's left of my beak where it belongs!” the larger griffon complained. “Right, I almost forgot that a pegasus filly got the last hit in!” the masked griffon snarked. “How old was she again?” The other griffon growled. “Okay, boss, maybe I got hit a few too many times back there so I’m not thinking as clearly. Humor me, what am I looking for?” Razorbeak rewatched the film on the projector, turning away after the part where the rainbow-maned pegasus plummeted down from the balcony not too long before Mare Do Well showed up. “Actually, don’t worry about it… not till the show,” he said, walking past him. “The factory invasion taught us everything we need to know about how to navigate through, we’ll have all the time we need with the Wonderbolt show distracting everypony,” Razorbeak explained, Leo now following behind him. “In the meantime…” He looked down at all the work being done below, griffons ran about putting together explosives, and another with rubber gloves on his claws was working on a gauntlet that sparked with electrical energy. “...see to it that everything’s ready for tomorrow. I’ll brief you on everything come morning, I have another matter to deal with.” The masked griffon spread his wings and flew across the warehouse to an office on the other side and entered, and picked up a crude-looking communicator. The gem on it glowed for a second when Razorbeak pushed the switch on it, then seconds later Spitfire’s voice spoke from it. “Yeah, boss?” “I see you’ve already handled the captain?” Razorbeak asked in amusement. “Of course. She never saw me coming, and I don’t think Soarin suspected a thing either. He really loves this mare so he was in a drooling stupor in no time. The others will have their visitors soon, too,” Spitfire’s voice said from the communicator. “You got Soarin to list off the names of the Academy’s female cadets?” the griffon asked. “Of course. I got them right here… Cloudchaser… Lime Jelly… Rainbow Dash—“ “What was that last one?” Razorbeak suddenly said, cutting her off. “Rainbow Dash?” Spitfire’s voice asked. “I see… didn’t quite hear you that first time. Any more names?” “Midnight Strike, Raindrop, and Pizzelle, that’s it.” “Thank you,” Razorbeak said. “That’s all I need. Make sure you and your siblings are ready for tomorrow. We’ve got a big show to put on!”