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// Chapter 32 - One Visit, Five Hypocrite (The Mysterious Mare Do Well) 
// Story: On The Wings of Wind 
// by Chazonic 
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You've no idea how great it feels to finally feel like yourself again. Being a mare felt like all shades of wrong when you're supposed to be a stallion and yet... even after changing back, I still feel slightly off.

More than likely because of what had transpired the night before. True to Twilight's word, the royal guard that came to escort the crooks that attacked me and Scootaloo didn't know of my, or rather Gale's, involvement. Many ponies wondered who it was that rendered them incapable of escaping and even considered calling that pony a "one-shot hero" of sorts.

Twilight once again reassured me after I confirmed the potion worked that I shouldn't pick myself apart for something like that. What I didn't tell her is something that still frightens me: I wasn't fretting over nearly killing the stallions, but rather what had happened to make me fly into such a brutal rage. Thunderlane did try to reassure me, as Gale, that what I did was natural and I trust him... but I subconsciously knew something was amiss with his explanation.

And it scares me to think that I could lose it bad enough to hurt my friends or family.

When Fluttershy came back from the animal convention, she was clueless as to what had happened during that time. I didn't want to tell her myself, so I had to work up what semblance of courage I had to tell her. She was quite surprised to hear I got gender-bent in an accident, but told me she was proud of me for making the most out of a bad situation. I didn't tell her about my... psychotic breakdown that made Twilight's look like a case study, for fear of what her reaction might be.

I also managed to arrange Scootaloo to live with her for about seven nights. I wanted to go to Manehatten to visit my mom for a bit and Scootaloo still had school, even though she wanted to come with me. As shallow as my mind-set right now may be, I wanted to let my little sisters, especially my younger one, have some distance between us. I know she still loves me, but after what had happened last night, being around me was the last thing she needed for the time.

I got clearance from both Rainbow and Cloud to take a very brief vacation. They told me that they already had somepony on standby, in case I couldn't do wind management for whatever reason. All I told them was my wish to see my mom for a bit, though I think Rainbow didn't really buy it.

When I did get to Manehatten, my mom was surprised to see me again so soon. I told her the same thing I told Rainbow, but I knew for certain this time she didn't believe me. Oddly, she didn't comment on it, so I figured she didn't care.





I know I temporarily left because I wanted to protect my friends and family from myself; so why do I feel so empty because of it? Four days I've been here and it hasn't gone away. That's on top of me not sleeping very well and not feeling too well...

"Actually, Zephyr, Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Hm?" I look up at mom from my sweeping. Just because I wanted to visit my mom didn't mean I had an excuse to be lazy.

She sighs. "I didn't want to bother you with this yesterday as you seemed somewhat shell-shocked, but I need to know the real reason why you came to visit me. Visiting for the sake of doing so is nice and I appreciate it, but there's far more to it than you're letting on."

I put down the broom with a dejected sigh, knowing she already caught me. "I... guess there's no point in stalling." I tell her of my gender change and the events that followed after.

Her only response was to raise an eyebrow. "So you felt you needed to give everypony some breathing room from what had just happened? Are you excluding something from your story?"

"N-no, I'm pretty sure that--"

She sighs. "Zephyr, please don't lie to me."

"Wha-- how did you know?"

"Your left ear twitches whenever you lie." She giggles a bit at my dumbfounded look. "It's a mother thing, even if we aren't of the same blood. So what is it that you're so hesitant to disclose?"

I shudder out a sigh. "I'm... scared of myself, mom. The other night, some members of a syndicate tried foalnapping me and Scootaloo. When I heard her distressed cries after they said they would leave her alone, I... blanked out. Next thing I knew, all of the stallions were beaten unconscious and... I was the one who brutally beat them. I was the one who almost MURDERED them!"

This got a gasp out of her. "But... you never had a violent bone in your body for most of your life, even during the worst of the bullying!"

"That's why I'm scared of myself. I'm afraid... I'm afraid I'll lose it on my friends and family and do the same thing. I just... I just can't."

Mom drew me into a loving hug. "It's okay, Zephyr. You did what you had to in order to protect your little sister. I'm sure your friends will always be there to help you through anything, so have faith that they will be there for you should there be a repeat of the other night."

"T-that's what I'm so afraid of. I don't want a repeat of what happened on my birthday or worse."

"If they feel the same way, then I'm sure you'll be just fine; I think it's more important that you be there for your sisters regardless. Besides, you could always tell Pinkie Pie or Applejack to drain you, should you get too out of hoof."

That got a snort of laughter out of me. "Yeah, then they have to live with draining my magic forcefully."

"It's the thought that always counts, right?" She gives me an amused look before shaking her head. "You're here now anyways, you may as well stay for the rest of the duration."

"Thanks mom. How's dad been?"

"You bother to ask now of all times?" She laughs at my look. "You should know by now when I jest, Zephyr. Medi's fine, though he's been torn between moving in with me and staying in the house that holds the memories of your biological mom. I told him he could stay in Cloudsdale if that house mattered that much to him, but he still looked torn."

"I could try saying that to him, though I doubt it would make any difference."

That comment earned me a small smack to the leg. "Stop discrediting yourself. You need to have more confidence in yourself, especially when friends and family are present. Besides, I'm willing to bet my job that what you say to him holds sway, considering he thought he lost you so many years ago."

"Way to say I could take advantage of him..."

"You know full well what I meant," She groaned before shaking her head. "You should also stop being so negative. I thought you became more positive when you made friends in Ponyville."

I sigh. "I could comment on what happened after that, but I'd rather not remember that." I pick up the broom and start sweeping what remained of the floor. "Besides, if I did have more confidence in myself, I would probably be worse off."

Mom starts cleaning the table. "Everything in moderation, Zephyr. You can be more assertive just so long as you don't fly past it into either obnoxious or mean."

I give her a look as I put the broom away. "But what if it's something that makes me mad? I don't want to fly into a brutal rage again..."

"You don't have to be mad at all. Do you remember back when you were younger, whenever you did something bad?" I grimace and she sighs. "OUTSIDE of what happened that one winter?"

I think back for a bit. "I do know I always felt either disappointment or calm annoyance from you."

She nods. "Not so much the latter, but most ponies are very susceptible to disappointment, even when they're older. Many hate to disappoint, making it a very good way to tell them that they truly messed up. Rage and anger can as well, but the consequences are far more severe than with quiet disappointment. Hay, look no further than when I almost lost you that winter."

"Really? I thought only foals were susceptible to it."

"Well... some ponies do gain more immunity to it with age than others. Ponies like you and Fluttershy are still susceptible because it hits you hard whenever it happens. Ponies like Rainbow Dash are susceptible because, to them, there is no greater failing than disappointment aimed at them."

I give her a shocked look. "Rainbow Dash of all ponies? What makes you say that?"

"She strikes me as a mare who's stuck with only one option: to win at whatever she is doing and gain the attention from it. From what I observed from afar, she seems like the pony who sees success as the only way to get positive attention. Take that way and you wind up with a mare being very harsh on herself for being a failure, even if it's out of her control. She comes off as egotistical because of it, but strip that off and you've got a pony with self-worth issues."

Observant as usual, even I didn't see that. When I first went to Ponyville, I only saw her as an egotistical try-hard who needed her head to be deflated. I never realized how much failure affected her, even up to and after the chaos incident when she was punishing herself for getting me injured. Tch... and I call myself a friend.

Mom must of noticed my dark look and read my mind. "If you're bucking yourself for not noticing, don't be. Mothers are usually observant like that, almost to a fault. All I need to say is this: be there for her you no matter how annoyed or angry you get at her. In the end, it's lonely at the top and the fall from the top is the most painful. If either or both happen, she will need a good friend to pick her back up and help her start over."

"Jeeze, I come here to help you with various things and you're throwing life lessons at me. I appreciate them but still."

She giggles. "Fair bit of warning should you consider being one; a parent's job is never done, even if their children have left the nest. Also always remember that there is no greater failing than simply giving up without a fight."

I sigh before giving her a smile. "Thanks, mom. I'll try to remember that as best as I can."

One thing against what she said: I doubt anypony would want a freak like me to be their special somepony...

"That's all I ask. Now stop dawdling and help me with these dishes." I roll my eyes in amusement before doing so.





I decided to go back to Ponyville after another restless night, heeding my mom's advice to always be there for friends and family; the argument being that if I truly cared about them, I won't lose myself like I did with the syndicate members. I also still felt incredibly empty just leaving them all like that with no extra word.

However, when I did get back, there was some kind of parade being set up. Everywhere I looked, there were pictures of a pony clad in purple with the name "Mare-Do-Well" on them. There were even fillies clad in the same purple hat and cap.

"Hey Zephyr!" I look over to see Berry Punch trotting my way. "Are you here to participate in the parade in honor of The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well as well?"

My only reaction was mild confusion. "Care to fill me in?"

"Why, she has done so much for Ponyville in such a short amount of time that we just HAD to do this. You might not know because you were away a lot for some reason, but because of how heroic she is--"

"Let me get this straight: you threw a town wide parade for a mare that, for all I know, only saved the day a few times and no-pony knows who she is or why she's doing it?"

Berry gave me a surprised look. "Well... one of the reasons why we love her so much is because of how mysterious she is. She's also very selfless, so who and why isn't really important."

I do not have enough suspension of disbelief to not think something's off here.

"Right... I'll let you get back to it..."

She shrugs. "Your loss." She continues trotting towards the town square.

I shake my head as I continue home. Along the way I kept getting asked by various ponies if I was attending the parade as well. I gave them all vague answers, but I quickly grew annoyed with it all.

What stopped me in my tracks was when a stallion off-hoofedly  said something along the lines of, "At least she's better than that braggart, Rainbow Dash." He didn't notice me but I gave him a very shocked look because of what he said, realizing that there was indeed more to this situation than I thought.

I need to find her to get some answers, as none of the towns ponies would seem to know. Question is... where?

My search took me to to the outskirts, where I found Rainbow sitting on a grey cloud. This worried me as I got closer, only to hear; "Have I changed? Same sleek body, same flowing mane, same spectacular hooves."

As coincidental as my mom discussing Rainbow with me might be, this all sounds like an attempt to try and... reaffirm herself.

"Nope, I'm still awesome. They're wrong!"

I decided to interject, "And who exactly is wrong, per se?"

She whipped around in shock, only for her face to fall. "Oh, are you here to laugh at me or to tell me how Mare-Do-Well is so much better than me?"

This confused me tremendously. "What? I just got back today and I have no idea what is going on."

"All you need to know is that I was being a hero just fine until SHE showed up. After that, it's been humiliation after humiliation to the point that the entire town abandoned me in favor of her." She plops back onto the cloud with a sad sigh. "They all forgot about me..."

I gaped at her. "But... what about our friends? My little sisters?"

"They abandoned me as well. Even Scootaloo, who I thought would remain loyal to me, ditched me in favor of that caped pony. I'm all alone." She lays down, looking like she's about to cry. "I hate being alone..."

Once again, the mare I always knew to have a strong spirit was utterly crushed, which brought my mood down as well. It was then I made the boldest move I ever unconsciously did. I lay down next to her and drape my wings over her, which caused her to flinch. "But you're not alone, Rainbow. You have me."

My conscious thinking caught up a moment later and I realized what I just said. Rainbow was looking at me with a blush and a shocked look. Instead of throwing me off, however, she slowly started laughing. "That has got to be the corniest thing I've heard all week and I'm the one who spouted superhero one-liners."

I shifted away from her, my face burning in embarrassment. "W-well I d-didn't mean i-it in that sort of way!"

"I know, but that doesn't stop if from being so corny." She bops me on the nose with a hoof, making me scrunch it in confusion. "Still, thank you for reassuring me."

"Well... in an entire town, there should be at least one pony who still believes in you. However, I do wish to know the full story behind this." Noticing her worried look, I shake my head. "I'm not going to just drop you for listening to what happened."

She started slow, but as she went on, she became increasingly agitated. It started two days ago when she rescued a filly from an old well and she, for some reason, got recognition for it. Then she saved a baby from careening off a cliff at the bottom of a hill, with me commenting on why there is a drop right there with nothing there for safety. At this point, what mom said to me yesterday was true; her whole need for approval to feel good about herself.

It was when she told me how she saved elderly ponies that I recognized the problem, though I decided to give her my assessment after she was done. She did have a lot of ponies being fans of her, but it all fell downhill when Mare-Do-Well showed up. Ever since, Rainbow suffered humiliation after humiliation until the entire town practically forgot her. Even her friends turned on her, praising Mare-Do-Well for various things, some of which were the same thing Rainbow showed. I question how this Mare-Do-Well not only was strong, but also could use magic and fly, but all I got was a disgruntled shrug.

I put a hoof up to my muzzle in contemplation. "So that's what happened... seems like an awful lot of things to happen within a span of two days. What happened during the last three?"

"I heard Applebloom contracted something called cutie pox right after you left; don't ask me because I know nothing outside of it being resolved on the next day. Day after that, I got myself an awesome pet!"

"I'm going to ask about that later. However, I must give you an honest assessment of your current circumstance and it's that you more than likely needed an ego check right before Mare-Do-Well showed up."

She gives me a baffled look. "Are you turning on me now?"

"Don't misinterpret, Dash. I will concede that the first two deeds you did were purely because you wanted to save somepony and I'm happy for you there. The problem comes from when you did your third deed; you did it half genuinely, half because you wanted more attention, from what I've heard. After that, you got so much attention you became arrogant because of it; look no further than when you didn't immediately try to save the pony in the hot air balloon."

"So you're saying this is all MY fault?"

I groan. "Let me finish, please. Metaphorically speaking, your ego wound up digging a hole for you to eventually fall in. At the same time, having this Mare-Do-Well come out of nowhere and practically shove you into it is something I don't agree with. Did ANYPONY at all try to talk to you about your ego or attitude at the time?"

I'm starting to feel a bit hotter... must be leftover embarrassment.

She thought for a second before shaking her head. "Nothing of that sort. My friends didn't really like how I was acting, but they never really said anything about it, so I figured they didn't really care."

I grimaced. "I was afraid of that. If there was a pony who took issue with your bragging, they did something no-pony should ever do: turn a last resort into a first resort. I'd understand going that far if somepony tried to talk to you about your ego at all and got shot down every time-- I'm not speaking about if you would or not -- but that isn't the case here."

"Now you're saying I should of been more humble about it? That's what--"

I hold a hoof up to stop her. "I'm not saying you should of been totally humble because that's, in most cases, impossible; no-pony is perfect. My personal opinion is that if you can do something no-pony else can, that does give you a right to brag; it's technically not bragging if you can back it up. My problem with this comes from the fact that you LET it overstay it's welcome, rather than a small amount of bragging here or there then just shrugging it off."

She tried to retort, but her face fell a bit after she was silent for a bit. "I... suppose I did brag a bit too much..."

"If you understand, then I won't hold it over you. What matters is that you keep trying to rebuild yourself back up from the ground. My mom told me something that I think you already know: there is no greater failing than giving up."

"Yes, I know."

I nod before looking more serious. "As much as I would like to say that's it, the one rogue element in all of this that still remains is this Mare-Do-Well. Yet I have no I idea how to go about doing anything regarding her."

Both of us lapsed into silence, thinking over it. A little while after, the silence was broken by somepony from below. "Rainbow Dash!" It was Scootaloo.

"I knew it!" Rainbow immediately flew down to her in joy, much to my slight dismay.  "No need to apologize, squirt. Anypony could make that mistake."

"What mistake?"

Figures...

This immediately made Rainbow regress back to disgruntled. "Wait, why are you here?"

"To invite you to join us at Mare-Do-Well's thank you parade, of course! Who wouldn't want to attend to honor Ponyville's greatest hero?"

I chose this time to fly down myself. "Not just a parade, but a THANK-YOU parade? Talk about rubbing salt and pepper in the wounds."

Scootaloo gave me a shocked look. "Zephyr? When did you get back?"

"Not to long ago, really. I found a stray fuse that needed to be smothered, so I didn't have time to tell you or Fluttershy I was back."

She gives me a confused look. "I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"I'm in a metaphorical mood today, that's all I can really say."

Yay, rhyming... why am I suddenly possessed by an urge to say "now it's rhyme time"?

"Alright... then would you like to come along as well?"

Rainbow looked like she was going to rebuttal, so I quickly jabbed her in the side hard enough to get her attention. "We would love to go! I just wonder what it's going to be like!"

"Scootaloo gives us a happy smile. "Great! It's starting soon, so we better hurry." With that she scampers off with a few other foals.

Rainbow gives me an insulted look. "Why would we go to that thank you parade after everything I told you?"

"Think objectively here, Rainbow. If I did what little homework I had correctly, then this is the only time this Mare-Do-Well will show up." I look at her to see what her reaction would be.

She mulled over it before she widens her eyes. "We can expose her here and now for Ponyville to see!"

"And also get the reason why she decided to steal your thunder. It's a reckless plan, but it's all I got. I seem to be fond of those."

She grimaces. "Don't remind me. Anyways, if we want to do it we better hurry."

I simply nod and fly with her till we catch up with Scootaloo and I land next to her. "So do you have anything planned after this parade, Scoots?"

She gives me a confused look. "Not really. Why?"

Time to use my newly acquired weapon.

I lean in to whisper into her ear, "You and I need to have a little chat after this."

I'm petty sure she heard the disappointment in my voice because she now looks scared. "W-what did I do?"

"All in due time, provided you don't find out yourself. All I'm going to say now; it's not so much something you did do as it's something you shouldn't of done." That certainly left her scared as to what's going to happen. I felt slightly bad, but it needed to be done, otherwise she wouldn't learn.

When we reached the location of the parade, it had yet to start, so Rainbow and I simply tried to squeeze as close to the front as possible. I look at her inquiringly. "Closer proximity is nice and all, but what IS our actual plan of attack?"

She waves her hoof in a "keep it down" motion. "I've already figured some of it out. I'll be the one to initiate the chase, since I've already gone as low as possible with everypony else. I want you to try and sneak in the direction I chase the pony in and join me afterwards. If we do catch him or her, we'll try to get as much info as we can without taking the pony hostage to one of our houses."

"In laycolt's terms, try to avoid becoming the villain in this instance."

"Essentially, but there won't be any guarantees that it won't be interpreted like that. Be prepared for anything." I nod as we continued to wait.

Eventually, when the mayor announced it, Mare-Do-Well burst through the backdrop of the stage and posed as the crowd cheered. I crouched a bit as Rainbow went up to confront the pony and try to expose her. She missed and chased after him or her and I quietly snuck out of the confused crowd, suddenly feeling hotter and a bit worse because of it.

Why now of all times? I have to focus; Rainbow needs me!

I managed to find Rainbow chasing Mare-Do-Well into an alley, where she saw me. "Go around as fast as you can and try to cut her off!" I simply nod and do that. I encountered her on the way around, much to my dismay, and attempted to chase her as well. I lost her when I barely glimpsed her cape disappearing around the corner, but before I could continue chasing I hear a whistle. Turning, I see Mare-Do-Well... getting chased by Rainbow in another direction.

That explains how she could use magic and fly, it wasn't all just one pony; there were many in on this.

I landed on a roof and even though I was feeling even worse than before, I managed to flag Rainbow down on a roof, who gave me an irritated look as she joined me. "I almost had her, why did you--"

"That's not important. We're being played for fools; there isn't one Mare-Do-Well but multiple. Don't ask me how many."

She gapes at me. "So it was a collaborative effort? Guess that explains how she did all of that stuff; it was a different pony each time."

"That's what I thought. For now, try and focus one down."

She nodded before seeing a Mare-Do-Well standing near our hiding spot. Rainbow managed to get the jump on her and pinned her down. "Gotcha! Now lets see what under the mask!"

I fly down and land with a small stumble just as she rips the mask off, only for the both of us to be stunned at what lay underneath. "Pinkie Pie?!" I look around to see two other Mare-Do-Wells coming out and revealing themselves to be Twilight and Applejack. "What in the actual-- all three of you were working together?"

Twilight spoke up first. "I guess Rainbow filled you in already. Yes, we played the role at different times."Applejack grinned and Fluttershy and Rarity approached, which made me realize all of them were in on it. All of them were surprised I was there, but listed off their feats, with a little too much gusto. I was hard pressed enough to keep a flat look with my increasing weakness.

Rainbow finally regained her voice. "B-but I don't understand. Why did you do all of this? Do you not want me to be a hero?"

Twilight shook her head. "Of course we want you to be a hero. The thing is; real heroes don't brag."

Rainbow was about to say something when I interjected, "If you girls are going to lecture her on how 'real heroes are modest and that you shouldn't brag', You're about thirty minutes late for that; she's already learned her lesson. As for the five of you, I'm VERY disappointed in you." That got a variety of different reactions, but Fluttershy seemed to react the worst.

Rarity spoke up with slight disdain, "Well, I can't see how you're more disappointed in us than Rainbow. She was the one who was rubbing her feats in everypony's faces."

"Again, I already ran that past her. Besides, can you spell out h-y-p-o-c-r... i-s-y?" I almost trailed off from weakness, something both Fluttershy and Rainbow took notice of.

This confused everypony except for Twilight, who looked flabbergasted. "Why are you calling us hypocrites? I'm pretty sure we exemplified good qualities as Mare-Do-Well!"

"If what Rainbow said to me is true, all of you spouted something about 'Mare-Do-Well' the other day. It's hypocritical because it was you the entire time. You knew that full well, but you said it anyways while fully knowing Rainbow was starting to crack because of it. Don't get me started on the fact that you all just bragged about yourselves AGAIN... in front of us.

“The icing on the cake is the fact that you got a thank-you parade. Rainbow did not.”

Pinkie looked very taken back. "But... we just wanted to let her know that she shouldn't be bragging too much!"

I gave her a look. "And what was wrong with, oh I don't know, directly talking to her and asking her to watch her bragging?"

Twilight started looking a bit defensive. "I planned this way because I knew she wouldn't listen."

That was about the worst thing I've heard all day. Rainbow immediately looked very insulted. "Gee, THANKS for the vote of confidence, Twilight!"

I nod, which made me dizzy. "And that's not even getting into one thing: at least Rainbow started out just fine and had pure intentions. For all I know, every pony you saved was saved for the sole purpose of 'teaching Rainbow a lesson'."

Now the five of them look horrified. Applejack tried speaking up, "B-but we didn't mean to come off that way."

Rainbow shook her head. "I didn't think of it that way, but I have to agree with Zephyr there. While the two of us could give you the benefit of the doubt, I'm not sure the rest of the town would."

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow in surprise. “S-so you forgive us, Rainbow?”

“While I am bitter about getting everything swiped away from me and getting humiliated on top of it, I also understand it’s partially my fault as well. I forgive you, but you have to let everypony know what happened; the entire town will get on my case thinking I ran Mare-Do-Well out of town.” This got worried looks from the other five mares.

I sigh. "If you girls had... had..." I hold a hoof up to my head briefly, getting a small gasp from Fluttershy. "Excuse me for that. If you had thought your plan through better and at least tried to talk to Rainbow before it, I wouldn't be so disappointed. Instead, you used… a last resort...*huff*... as your first action..."

Unable to keep my weakness in check any longer, I fall over on my side while I begin to breathe heavily. This got a few cries of shock from everypony present. I felt one of them lift me and put a hoof to my forehead. "He's burning up and sweating like crazy. We need to get him to his home, fast!"

"W-was that Rainbow or Applejack speaking? I... can't tell...

The last thing I remember was being lifted onto somepony's back before blacking out from sheer exhaustion.