Rise of the Ultramare

by Dragomena

Part One: No Lessons Learned

Rise of the Ultramare

Part One: No Lessons Learned

by Dragon Rage

"... That's... nice of you, Spike," Rainbow Dash said, "but I really wanna write this letter myself."

"Aww, come on!" The purple dragon rolled his eyes, showing the scroll to Dash as she landed beside him. "I-I wrote the whole thing already!"

The rainbow-maned pegasus smiled, a mischievous little idea forming in her head. "Okay, let's hear it."

After clearing his throat, Spike began to read from the letter. "Dear Princess Celes-."

"LOOK OUT!" Dash shouted, a look of sheer terror on her face as she pointed behind him. "It's a real ghost!"

The little dragon turned and screamed, running for the hills with Pinkie Pie.

Dash clutched at her gut and laughed—it might not have been a great prank, but it felt good to pull one after everything she'd gone through this week. She'd been slacking on that front. On many fronts, actually. The whole week had seen nothing but trouble around Ponyville, and between her hero antics and brooding over the Mysterious Mare Do Well, she'd been making less and less of an effort to keep up on everything else.

As she continued to laugh, a fresh scroll and feathered pen floated up beside her, courtesy of her friend Twilight.

She smiled and gave a knowing wink to her friends, grabbing the quill in her mouth. "Right", she muffled, then brought the quill to the paper. This was going to be easy. How could she have not learned her lesson? As she stared at the paper she gritted her teeth, first in determination, then in frustration. The words just wouldn't come to her. She'd heard her friends well enough, and it's not like she didn't remember agreeing with them...

"Is somethin' wrong, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the blond earth pony, Applejack. "No, nothing's wrong. Just... give me a bit, okay?" She turned back to the paper, once again attempting to write something. Anything! Even one word! But nothing came to her, and her frustration grew into anger. Why couldn't she come up with something?! She lashed out at the paper, driving the quill straight through it. Only after her friends' shock became apparent to her did she snap out of it. She looked at them all sheepishly. "Heh, sorry about that. It's kinda hard to write when you're flying in the air like this. Why don't I just take the letter home and write it there?"

Her friends stared silently at her, various levels of confusion clear on their faces. Finally, Twilight spoke up. "It's okay," the purple unicorn started, "just remember to bring it to Spike when you're done."

"Got it!" Dash exclaimed, then jetted off into the sky, scroll and quill in her mouth

Fluttershy turned her head to the rest of her friends. "Do you think she's okay?"

The purple mare smiled. "She's probably just going to go take a nap. Let's go get Pinkie Pie. We're going to need to explain this whole Mare Do Well business to the mayor soon."

~~~

Rainbow Dash pounded on the writing desk in the corner of her bedroom. "Why can't I do this?!" The thing about not being able to write while flying was just an excuse—Twilight's magic made it easy enough to write without issue. What she'd really wanted to do was go somewhere to be alone, so she could think without having her friends worry about her. She stared at the paper sitting before her, reading what little she'd gotten down out loud. "Dear Princess Celestia, My friends... five words down. Come on Dash, you can do this!" She pressed her quill to the paper once again.

Nothing came to her. Why couldn't she do this? It wasn't as if-she'd heard them say it! She heard herself say it! The entire reason her friends went through with that Mare Do Well scheme was to teach her this lesson! So why couldn't she write it?! "It's okay, Dash..." she muffled, barely restraining her anger, "Just write it one word at a time. You can do this. It's not like you forgot it or anything..."

Once again she brought the quill to the paper lying before her. She could do this. So what if her friends had laughed at her? So what if they'd been avoiding her the rest of the week? Everything they'd done was to teach her this lesson. Everything. For. This. LESSON! Dash began to write furiously, stopping almost as soon as she began. Eight words now.

"Dear Princess Celestia, My friends are all-."

The rainbow-maned pegasus went pale. She crumpled up the paper, leaving it lie on the desk in a heap, then slid away, looking around her garbage dump of a bedroom. As she spotted the window, she unlatched it, letting the midday breeze sweep in. "I need to clear my head," she mumbled. "Maybe getting a head start on next week's weather will help." She flew from the cloud house, heading straight for Ponyville's Town Hall.

~~~

Fluttershy smiled nervously as she wandered the streets of Ponyville, trying not to make eye contact with anypony. Everyone she ran into had been greeting her, giving her a nudge here or there, winking, or worst, smiling knowingly. It was more than a little upsetting—they'd told the Mayor that the identity of the Mare Do Well was supposed to be a secret, but somehow it seemed like everypony in Ponyville was in the know now. She could only imagine what her friends were going through right now.

As she neared her destination, Ponyville's Town Hall, she spied massive crowds gathering around Sugarcube Corner. Far in the distance she could see Carousel Boutique, and there too was a crowd. "Oh, my!" She exclaimed, rushing to the crowd. Just outside of Sugar Cube Corner was a series of tables, arranged in a half-circle. Manning the table was none other than Pinkie Pie, wearing her own Mare Do Well costume with the cowl down.

"Pinkie Pie, what's going on?" she cried out, but her voice was lost in the crowd of noise before her. Still, it seemed like her friend noticed her, as the next thing she did was wave to her. The yellow pegasus flew up, fluttering over the crowd to reach her friend. "Pinkie Pie, why is this crowd here?"

The pink pony smiled enthusiastically. "Well, the mayor went and told everypony who Mare Do Well was, and all these ponies came here to show their appreciation for saving the town last week! I was kinda nervous at first, but then I realized I could help Mr. and Mrs. Cake sell all kinds of sweets and treats if it was Mare Do Well at the counter!"

Fluttershy cocked her head to the side, a worried expression growing on her face. "But... um... okay. Well, I hope everything goes well for you. Oh, and do you know what's going on at Carousel Boutique?"

Her friend nodded. "Same thing, really. Rarity's been selling Mare Do Well souvenirs to everypony in town! Even Applejack's been getting in on this, I think."

Fluttershy smiled nervously. "That's... nice. I need to head to town hall in a bit, there's somepony I need to talk to."

The pink pony's eyes lit up, more so than usual. She asked, "Tell the mayor I said 'hi' and 'thank you', okay?"

Fluttershy nodded, though she intended to do no such thing. With that she flew off, racing to the town hall. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. They were supposed to drop the Mare Do Well act and let her fade away, but all of her friends were using her fame around Ponyville now for their own profit. Well, except Twilight and Rainbow Dash, but the former was a librarian and the latter was Ponyville's weather captain, so it's not like either of them could sell anything...

Fluttershy shook her head. Her friends weren't doing anything wrong, they were just making the best of things and all of this would die down soon enough. The only pony to blame for any of this was whoever told everyone the identity of Mare Do Well. And other than her closest friends, only one pony knew their secret.

As she drew near the big double doors leading into the town hall, she saw a pair of carpenters, one an earth pony and the other a pegasus, repeatedly opening and closing them. "Good afternoon", Fluttershy started, "what seems to be trouble here?"

The pegasus looked down at her and groaned. "That loser friend of yours went and blew the doors to Town Hall clean off! Why don't you do something to keep her in line?"

The pink-maned mare cocked her head to the side, wondering just who they could be talking about. "Well, have you fixed the door yet?"

"'Course we did!" The earth pony shouted. "Just testin' the hinges to see if it won't fall off. Go on in."

As she entered the mayor's office, Fluttershy was quick to note that the mayor's desk had been upturned and papers had been scattered all around the office, as if a tornado had whipped through the room without warning. Standing next to the upturned desk was the mayor, diligently filling out paperwork. "Um, mayor?"

The gray-maned earth pony looked up and smiled at her. "Well if it isn't Mare Do Well! Oh, sorry, I mean Fluttershy. What can I do for you?"

The pink-maned pegasus looked at the ground sheepishly. "I'm sorry for troubling you, miss mayor, but... I wanted to, um, ask you a question or two."

"Well hurry up", the mayor said, "I have to finish with this paperwork and get to cleaning this room up soon."

"Well," the pegasus started, "I'd like to ask you how many people you told about Mare Do Well. I mean, it was supposed to be our secret, and-"

The mayor smiled. "You're still worried about that? You have my word that I would never tell a soul about that." The mayor turned to get back to her paperwork, but stopped mid-turn, one hoof still in the air. "Oh no. Oh no no no..."

"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked, flying over to the mayor. Her face had turned ghastly, as if a terrified realization had struck her.

Frantically the mayor paced the room, brushing aside loose papers, searching for something. "That photo I had you girls take with me—it went missing earlier. One of the ponies who'd come into my office this morning must have stolen it! That's... oh dear... why did you come to ask me that question, again?"

"Well," Fluttershy started, with more than a hint of annoyance in her tone, "I haven't been able to go anywhere this afternoon without bumping into somepony wanting my autograph, or cheering for me, or saying I'm their hero, and my friends are out there in their costumes, using Mare Do Well to sell their goods to crowds of dozens of ponies."

The mayor sighed and shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Fluttershy. I guess Mare Do Well won't be fading into obscurity anytime soon. Maybe if things are uneventful around here for the next month or so..."

Fluttershy smiled. "It's okay, miss mayor. The girls and I should be able to handle this." She drew in closer, patting the distraught mare on the shoulder.

The mayor lifted her head and smiled. "Well, thank you, dear. So what other questions do you have for me?"

"Oh! Um..." Fluttershy began, moving away from the mayor, "I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to your office and the front door."

"Oh," the mayor said, her mood souring almost immediately, "that was the fine work of our ex-weather captain."

The yellow pegasus's eyes widened. "You mean..."

"I fired her. Should have done so a long time ago, but she was so good at keeping the weather on track and so popular around town that my hands were tied. After last week, though? She was never on the job and became... well, a jerk, so I hired Ditzy Doo and Raindrops in her place. I doubt anypony would raise a fuss about it now either. I mean, have you seen-"

Fluttershy fled the office, racing out of the building and into the skies. tears streamed from her eyes as she veered towards the cloud houses above Ponyville. "This was all a mistake!" She cried out, though nopony had heard her.

~~~

Fluttershy's legs sank into the cloudy surface beneath her as she landed outside Rainbow Dash's home. The manorly cloud house sitting before her was a mess—Dash had been neglecting to clean up ever since she saved that filly from a well more than a week ago. The pink-maned mare's legs felt practically leaden as she trotted to the front door. There was no way Dash could possibly be feeling well after all this had happened to her, and the meek pony dreaded trying to confront her, even if it was to apologize and comfort her in her time of need.

Her hoof rattled against the door, first gently, then frantically. "Rainbow Dash? Rainbow Dash!" She cried out. But no response came from beyond the door, and Fluttershy began to grow even more worried. She carefully tried to open the door with her front hooves, only to find it was locked.

"Dash! Please open the door! Please!" She pleaded, but once again there was no response. She looked frantically about, spying the open window above her—the window separating the outside world from the blue mare's bedroom. Without a moment to lose the pink-maned pegasus flew up, nearly crashing into the frame as she rounded the corner, landing in the bedroom with a thud. "Rainbow Dash!" She cried, but by now it was beginning to dawn on her that her friend wasn't at home. Searching for some answer to the whereabouts of her friend, she spied the crumpled letter lying on the writing desk in the corner. "She must've been having a hard time writing that letter after all... oh, Rainbow Dash..." She hurried over to the desk, carefully smoothing out the paper with her hooves so she could read it.

"Dear Princess Celestia, My friends are all-."

Fluttershy gasped, tears streaming down from her eyes. "She thinks we're jerks?!"

~~~

Twilight groaned as she slammed the door to Sugarcube Corner shut. "I've had it up to here with these crowds! Why can't anypony just let me go shopping in peace?!" From across the room, she heard the sound of Mrs. Cake clearing her throat.

"Good morning, dearie! I take it you're not feeling well?"

The purple unicorn sighed and lowered her head. "I haven't been able to sleep well in days. It seems like everywhere I go in Ponyville, there's a crowd following me asking for autographs, telling me to pose for them, wanting me to get their cats out of trees and... eugh! I'm sick of it!"

"Dearie", the older mare started, "please try to keep it down. Pinkie Pie is still asleep in her room. She just hasn't been the same since Dash ran away."

Twilight nodded. She didn't understand it—there was no way her plan could have gone wrong. But it did, and when it came time to write her letter, Dash fled Ponyville for parts unknown instead. That was nearly a week ago, and it seemed like she might never return. More than anything, Twilight wanted to know just what had gone wrong, but all she had to go on was a single harsh sentence.

"How has she been fairing? Pinkie, I mean."

Mrs. Cake smiled. "She's recovering well enough. Yesterday she came down before noon and helped with baking some cakes! They... didn't turn out well, but that's still progress, right?"

Twilight tried to smile, but couldn't find the strength to do so. Pinkie and Fluttershy had taken their friend's departure the hardest—the former lost her sunny and bubbly demeanor entirely and the latter had locked herself away in her cottage.

The older mare glanced up the stairs, then back down to her customer. "So, what are you here for?"

"Hm? Oh!" Twilight exclaimed. "The usual. Two muffins to go, please." She dug around in her bags, removing a few bits for the older mare. "I'm sure Spike will love it."

Mrs. Cake nodded, then raised an eyebrow. "Where is your little dragon friend, anyways?"

Twilight looked to her side, her reddened, bloodshot eyes widening in terror. "Oh no, he must have gotten caught in the crowd! Hold on Spike, I'm coming!" The purple mare raced to the front door, about to yank it open with her magic, when it swung open on its own. Clawing his way in, carrying a scroll in one hand, was none other than her faithful companion. "Thank Celestia you're safe, Spike! Are you okay?"

The dragon put a claw up to quiet her as he tried to catch his breath. "Twi... you've... gotta... read this! It's from Princess Luna!"

The unicorn took the scroll away from her assistant, then began to read over it. "To my sister's student, As you may already know, your friend Rainbow Dash has long since left her home in Ponyville. Fear not for her safety, for she came straight to Canterlot and has been staying with myself and my sister for the past few days. She should be returning to you shortly-"

Twilight stopped, unable to read any further as her vision blurred. She breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to Mrs. Cake, a smile forming on her face for the first time today. "On second thought, we'll be eating those muffins here, Mrs. Cake. Pinkie Pie really needs to hear this."

The older mare nodded. "We'll go check on her as soon as I get your treats." With that the blue earth pony vanished into the kitchen, returning shortly with a pair of chocolate chip muffins.

"That was fast," Twilight said as she raised an eyebrow.

Mrs. Cake chuckled, setting the tray on the counter. "Would you like me to go wake her up?"

The unicorn shook her head. "No thanks, I wouldn't want to trouble you with that when there might be a customer waiting. I'll go get her myself." With that Twilight trotted upstairs, leaving her assistant and Mrs. Cake behind. The last things she heard from below were Spike's stomach grumbling, and the voice of Mrs. Cake saying "They're already paid for, so dig in."

Twilight cracked open the bedroom door, poking her head inside. Lying in the bed across the room was Pinkie Pie. Her chin lied against the pillow, her curly mane flopping down on all sides of her head.

As Twilight neared, she rose up, looking at her friend with sore, but hopeful eyes. "Good morning, Twilight."

The unicorn's smile grew as she came face to face with the pink pony. "Good morning, Pinkie. I want you to read this."

Comments

[Jphyper]

I've got a tip for you. When you have more than one character's dialog in one paragraph, it makes it difficult to keep track of who is talking. If someone says something, then someone else speaks, you should start a new paragraph, even if it means having single-sentence paragraphs.

Great one!

Great one!

[Yubella]

The purple mare smiled. "She's probably just going to go take a nap. Let's go get Pinkie Pie. We're going to need to explain this whole Mare Do Well business to the mayor soon."

At least they explain it this time

[Yubella]

Nothing came to her. Why couldn't she do this? It wasn't as if-she'd heard them say it! She heard herself say it! The entire reason her friends went through with that Mare Do Well scheme was to teach her this lesson! So why couldn't she write it?! "It's okay, Dash..." she muffled, barely restraining her anger, "Just write it one word at a time. You can do this. It's not like you forgot it or anything..."

You can't write it cause even you know they were in the wrong