Rise of the Ultramare

by Dragomena

Epilogue: Not Too Late

Rise of the Ultramare

Not Too Late

by Dragon Rage

"21... 22... 23..."

Rainbow Dash huffed and heaved, pressing her body to the floor and lifting it back up. She needed this—her new living arrangements made it impossible for her to really fly about, so working those muscles any way she could would stop them from weakening.

"24... 25..."

The Royal Canterlot Dungeon wasn't nearly as big a deal as she'd expected it to be. Sure, the drab grey brick walls looked completely out of place in a colorful city like Canterlot, but she was expecting it to be darker, or danker, or filled with the worst ponies in history, maybe. Instead it was fairly well lit, remarkably clean, and as far as Dash could tell, her only company were the guards assigned to watch the empty cells.

"28... 29... 30..."

That suited her just fine, of course. A one-sided conversation with one of those stoic pegasi wasn't so bad. Boring at times, but just having somebody to talk to was still much better than being left alone. And while her sentence had only just started a while ago, her friends had promised to visit every two weeks to see her.

"34... 35... oh, forget it..."

Dash slumped down in a heap, her eyes directing themselves to the window to the fresh air beyond. She wanted to fly so badly right now. If she could squeeze through the bars of her barely furnished prison, she mused, she'd be out there soaring through Canterlot's skies that very instant. And nopony in the world could stop her. Not her friends, not the guards, not Celestia or even-

"Good afternoon, your highness."

Dash lifted her head in confusion at the sound of the guard's voice, turning it to see just who he'd addressed. Walking down the hallway was a tall winged and horned pony, her mane and tail shimmering like the night sky itself. Adorning her side was a fancy saddlebag, matching her mane.

"Good afternoon," Princess Luna said as the guard bowed his head low before her. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a moment or two with this prisoner. If you'd be so kind, could you leave for a moment?"

The guard nodded and, without another word, left the area.

Dash raised her head as the alicorn princess turned towards her cell. "H... hi..." She muttered, then nearly smacked herself in the face. This was Princess Luna! What was she thinking, greeting her like that?

"... hello, Rainbow Dash," the towering mare said, her tone perfectly even. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"

The rainbow-maned pegasus gulped and nodded. "Y-yeah... I was kinda hoping you wouldn't find out about this." She paused, trying to gauge the stoic mare's reaction, then continued, lowering her head in shame as she did. "I'm sorry. Sorry for everything."

"Yes," the princess began, "I can see that. Rainbow Dash, what were you thinking? My sister and I took you in when you said your friends had mistreated you. Our home was your home, our kindness and advice was given freely. What posessed you to steal such a valuable artifact from us? From me?"

The blue pegasus took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts. "I didn't mean... I just thought I could use that circlet to get everyone to like me again. I'd go around as Ultramare and cause a little mischief, then show up as myself and save the day. Only... that didn't work out well." She stopped, trying once again to read the princess's face. The faintest hint of concern was present. "It was a horrible idea. Probably the worst I've ever come up with. And as it turned out, if I'd just talked things out with my friends... none of it would have happened."

Luna nodded. "I've heard a pony say something similar not too long ago. She believed her friends had to have had her best interests at heart, but because they had no faith in her and went behind her back, their actions hurt her in many ways." She sighed, patting the miserable little pegasus on the shoulder with a hoof. "If what you say is true... if you know now that your friends really would have listened to you, then am I to assume you've reconciled with them?"

Dash nodded. "They apologized, and... they forgave me for everything. I destroyed Applejack's cart and beat her up, and she forgave me. I tried to burn down Carousel Boutique, and Rarity forgave me, too. For a while Ultramare... all I wanted to do was hurt them until they couldn't stand me or... worse, but they still wanted to be my friends." She sniffled, pushing herself closer to the towering mare. Another hoof went up around her, pulling her into a gentle hug. "They're too good to me sometimes, y'know?"

For a while, Luna stood there, holding the sobbing pegasus on the other side of the bars lining her cell. Then she cleared her throat, setting her friend down. She opened her saddlebag and, with her unicorn magic, removed a blue and yellow costume from within. "I was wondering what you'd like me to do with this. I know it must have some terrible memories for you, but-"

Dash groaned, turning away from the princess. "Do whatever you want with it." Silently she cursed herself, wondering why she'd even thought it was a good idea in the first place.

"Well," Luna said, placing the costume back within her saddlebag, "I suppose I'll hold onto it, then. It was rather expensive, as I recall. How you talked me into taking you to the finest tailor in Canterlot for it will forever elude me."

That got a chuckle out of Dash. "Sorry, it's just... you wanted to do something nice for me, that was all. Thanks." She shuffled her hooves about, still wanting to move on to something else, though nothing immediately came to mind.

Luna cocked her head to the side, then nodded. "I need to leave soon. It's getting late, and the moon isn't about to raise itself. If you don't mind, may I visit you from time to time?"

The rainbow-maned pegasus smiled. "Well, why not? It's not like I have much else to do and... well, the guards aren't into the whole 'talking' thing." As the princess turned to leave, she added, "Thank you, Princess. Thanks for everything."

~~~

Raindrops raised her head and arched her back, licking her lips in anticipation. She raised one of her front hooves, then turned to look at her partner. The blond pegasus nodded in approval, and she was off. "One two, one two! One two, one two!" She shouted, rapidly stomping her hooves against the fluffy gray cloud underneath her. Rain drops poured out from the bottom, until at last the cloud had turned a nice white.

"Good job, Raindrops!" Ditzy Doo said, clapping her front hooves together excitedly. "At this rate, we'll have all the rain clouds cleaned out for the day by-." A voice came from behind the blond mare, saying "Midnight." She turned her head, gulping at the sight of one of the weather patrol's top fliers, Thunder Cracker.

"S-sorry, miss!" Raindrops said, lowering her head in shame. "We were just having a bit of fun."

Thunder Cracker shook her head. "Sunny skies today, girls. Cloudkicker's been having a rough time without her partner, and you two agreed to pick up the slack."

"Oh lighten up!" Dizzy Twister shouted, kicking an emptied cloud down at her friend. "Tell ya what, you go and help out Cloudkicker, and I'll take these two to do our share, okay?"

"But-" the blue-maned pegasus shouted back, but before she could even raise a complaint, another cloud was sent spinning after her. She let out a sigh and flew off, trying to find the weather patrol's captain.

Dizzy Twister smiled and flew down between the two new recruits. "Now that she's gone, whaddaya say we have some fun, girls?"

The two mares looked at each other quizzically, then back to their wavy-maned superior.

"You guys want to play around, right? So how about we make a game out of this? I'll keep time, and whoever stomps out the most clouds in the next thirty minutes wins. So how 'bout it?"

Ditzy smiled and nodded. "Sounds fun! You sure that's okay, though? Thunder Cracker said-"

"Thunder Cracker's a silly filly," the sandy pegasus said, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, she won't mind so long as we get some work done. Ready, you two?"

The two mares looked at each other again, then nodded.

"Then let's go!"

~~~

Cloudkicker sighed as she stomped away at a large cloud. She'd gotten the whole story from Dash and the rest of her friends not more than a week ago, before the rainbow-maned pegasus was incarcarated. The whole thing weighed too heavily on her for her own good—she'd been the final straw that broke the pony she'd considered her best friend. It wasn't as if she'd done anything wrong, either, but if she knew then what she knew now...

"Hey, 'sup boss."

The lavender pegasus turned her head towards her icy companion. "Hey there, Thunder Cracker."

The blue-maned pegasus patted her friend on the shoulder. "Why so down, Kicker?"

"Why do things have to be so hard, Thunder?" When the icy pegasus cocked her head to the side, as if she hadn't understood the question, Cloud Kicker continued. "I'm responsible for making sure nothing bad happens to my girls. And Dash went out of her way to hurt all of them, so..."

"You miss her," Thunder Cracker said, a knowing smile forming on her face. "We all do, Kicker. Even Ditzy and Raindrops couldn't stop talking about wanting to work with her, before and after what she did to them." She shook her head in disbelief and smiled. "I swear, someponies will forgive just about anything, won't they?"

"Yeah..." Cloudkicker turned away, watching her three other workmates fly about, clearing out the clouds in what seemed like record time compared to her own pace. "Right, we're falling behind. We can talk about welcoming Dash back later. Gonna need to set some ground rules for her, too. Come on, Thunder, we've got a sky to clear."

Thunder Cracker nodded, and the two were off, making their way across the cloudy skies above Ponyville.

~~~

The sun hung low on the horizon. Night would soon be upon the busy city of Canterlot, and for most ponies, this meant it was time to sleep and await the rising sun in the morning. Not so for Princess Luna. This was only the start of her day.

With a tired sigh she walked about the gardens outside the castle, waiting out the minutes until the sun had fully set. She had not slept well in weeks, though now that she'd reconciled with the young pegasus that had come to her, that would likely change soon. Still, there was one thing she needed to do before everything could be put to rest. Well, two things.

The sun sank below the sky, and with fluidity and grace the starry-maned alicorn flew into the air, the moon rising behind her as she did. She then slowly fell to the ground, a contented smile on her face. All that was left was the Horned Circlet, an artifact once crafted by an old friend.

With haste the alicorn princess fled to her private quarters, not stopping even to check with the castle's night watch.

~~~

"Sister! Wake up!"

Celestia yawned and rolled over on her side. "Not now, Luna... tell me in the morning..."

The starry-maned alicorn's horn glowed fiercely, and within moments the bed and all its coverings—save the elder princess herself—vanished, leaving her sister to fall to the hard tiled floor beneath her.

"Alright," Celestia groaned, rising up from the ground, "what is it?"

Luna took a deep breath, trying to find the best way to put this to her sister. She did not want to cause a disaster, after all, and after the events of the past month or so she would surely lose her cool if this was put poorly. "It... it seems that somepony has taken the Horned Circlet of Star-Swirl the Bearded again."

"Yes," the aurora-maned alicorn yawned, "I know. May I have my mattress back now?"

Luna cocked her head to the side in confusion. "You... what?"

Celestia yawned again. "I took it myself, and hid it somewhere safe. A vault, somewhere deep beneath the castle. I could show you where, if that would set your mind at ease. Now, about my mattress-."

Luna shook her head. "It must be destroyed, sister! You have read the medical reports, listened to Rainbow Dash's testimony. And certainly the history of the horned circlet was not lost to you."

"Luna, it's fine." Sensing that a simple dismissal hadn't set her sister at ease, Celestia continued. "The medical reports stated that Rainbow Dash is in perfect form, despite her prolonged usage of the horned circlet and the damage it should have inflicted on her body and mind. We have the Elements of Harmony to thank for that, I suspect."

"Yes, but-," Luna yelled, stopping herself once immediately. She just needed to convince her sister that she was right, there was no need to get dramatic about it. "What if they had not petitioned you for the Elements? Even if they had still talked Dash down, she would have died not long afterwards. How many more must suffer the effects of this infernal device before you realize how dangerous it is?"

The aurora-maned alicorn shook her head in disapproval. "It's a tool, Luna. It has no will of its own, and can not determine what is and is not proper usage of itself. That comes down to those in posession of it, and who is that?"

Luna sighed, lowering her head. "Us. So what do you plan on doing with it, then?"

"As I've said," Celestia began, "it is being kept in a safe location deep under the castle. Only one with magic on our level or greater can break through the wards in place, and if anyone tries to get through without our approval, we'll know before they even get close to the horned circlet." She paused, trying to clear her head. "If somepony in the future requires it, having it on hand is better than not having it at all. We just need to show some discretion in the future as to who we allow to see it. No young pegasi with emotional baggage and a need to prove themselves to their peers, for example."

The starry-maned alicorn gulped as her sister finished that last sentence. "You're right. You have my sincerest apologies for that. So... only unicorns, then?"

"Yes, sister." Celestia smiled, walking over to her counterpart and setting a hoof on her shoulder. "Do you have any other concerns?"

"No. Thank you, Tia." With that the starry-maned alicorn turned, leaving her sister to her sleep.

With a sigh of relief, Celestia turned to climb back into her bed. Realization struck her as she did. "Luna! Get back here and give me my mattress back!"

Comments

[Daioh2]

loved it loved it loved it loved it loved it loved it loved it loved it loved it

[Rubiks_Err0R]

I really like these kinds of stories, that acknowledge how broken the ending to "The Mysterious-Mare-Do-Well" was.
Thank you.

[Snow123]

I, too, like how this fic points out how broken and... stupid... the ending to that episode was, but at the same time... did Dash just HAVE to be made a villain with that Ultramare persona getting out of control? I mean... really? I mean, sure, if we went with the 'talk out your problems' thing, we wouldn't have an interesting story, but... I'm conflicted on this one.

[Dragomena]

I'm not sure what you're getting at. The way the story was set up had to follow along with how the episode ended: Rainbow Dash just accepting the (supposed) abuse her friends had heaped on her without complaint, but at the same time without actually demonstrating that she'd actually learned anything from it.

I could probably have written it so Dash had an epiphany and talked to her friends from the start, but that would be a very short fic, kinda boring to read, and... to be honest, would have crossed the line for me. I had no intention of simply setting out to write a fanfic to "fix" the episode. My goal was to write an interesting story based on an idea: "Could this be made into a supervillain's origin story?", while also building off of a preexisting and related story. I'd planned on doing the same for The Last Roundup (the idea of Rarity and Pinkie getting completely forgotten never sat well with me), but couldn't figure an interesting idea for it.

Anyways, Rainbow Dash becoming the villain wasn't just mandatory, it was what I sought to write in the first place. She needed to be sympathetic to boot, which is what set me to write Ultramare the way I did.

[ElJorro]

How long is she in prison?

[Dragomena]

1609585

I have no idea. Never actually worked that out, but it'd probably be a few months or so.

[Onyx Heart]

Before I read this story. I just want to know if this is a MLP adaptation of Ultraman?

[Black Kyurem]

Boo. This sucks. Black Kyurem was going to favorite this, but found the ending just too unlikeable. Thanks a lot. So much for "not too late". Not too late, my ass.

[Cynel1]

4095629 You didn't like ending too?

[Black Kyurem]

4118144 You didn't either? There, now you can say "Sister Dash" was not all that bad... not compared to this.

[Cynel1]

4120716 even if that Fic was made out of anger it provided a little more closure then this one.

[Black Kyurem]

4121830 True dat.

[Cynel1]

4122286 Hell I would rather have Rainbow Do community service in ponyville to earn there trust instead of being in prison but it is what it is.

[Black Kyurem]

4231645 Starting to wonder if anyone actually cares how much humiliation Rainbow Dash had to endure.

[Cynel1]

4232051 hmmm not many there have been a Few fics That deal with the issue

like that comic Alone
and What's Eating Rainbow Dash? ( I found out the Original Ending to that Fic was much darker by having RD doing suicide)

And The Price of Loyalty which I will not post a link here.

[Black Kyurem]

4232709 Ouch.

And... why is that?

[Cynel1]

4234693 beats me and I have a Felling it was changed to be less depressing.

[Black Kyurem]

4234796 And... as for "The Price of Loyalty"? No link... because?

[Cynel1]

4234807 oh you want the link well here you go

[Black Kyurem]

4234881 This isn't about "Sister Dash", isn't it? Black Kyurem can still look at fanfics that handled Mare-Do-Well better than "Sister Dash", but that Mare-Do-Well episode just sucked balls.

[Cynel1]

4235205 not anymore

[Black Kyurem]

4236821 Didn't think so.

[Dragomena]

4095629

The epilogue's title is in reference to Dash's own personal redemption, not how society sees her. And as far as prison time being too harsh a sentence, consider the following: By the end of the story Dash has stolen a powerful and dangerous magical artifact, caused onscreen and offscreen property damage, deliberately interfered with Ponyville's weather in a way that was seriously endangering the townsfolk's lives, assaulted and hospitalized (however briefly) multiple ponies, and capped off all of this with multiple accounts of attempted homicide.

As far as I'm concerned, her feelings while committing the aforementioned crimes and her personal redemption at the end of the story don't excuse the things she did. That was the entire point of the story: That you have to take responsibility for your actions and the consequences they bring, even if they make you unhappy.

If that does not satisfy you, that's okay. A lot of people weren't satisfied with the episode this fic is a sequel to, as evidenced by the sheer number of fics it spawned attempting to "fix" the errors they'd seen in it. It's only natural that people would take exception to any given number of those "fixes".

[BleedingRaindrops]

Finally read it. Gosh it feels good to fulfill an old promise. It's not bad, really. I mean it clearly needs editing, and the pacing could do with a little clean up (not to mention you've got the worst case of Lavender Unicorn Syndrome I've ever seen), but barring all of that I really enjoyed the read.

My only real qualm is that you totally passed up the opportunity to show Luna relating to Dash over the comon ground they now share. I would have liked that.

[Dragomena]

4571333

Yeah, in hindsight all the lavender unicorn stuff is just... wow, how did that slip by me the first and second time through this story? I'd go back and fix it all, but I haven't felt up to touching ponyfic stuff in a long time.

That was actually what I was trying to go for with Luna's visit to Dash in her cell, but I could've done more to make it work, yeah. Sorry about that.

4057373

Figured I should've answered this sooner, but eh. No, this is not an adaptation of Ultraman in any way. The name "Ultramare" was actually in reference to a DC Universe villain named Ultraman. Ultraman there is an evil alternate universe version of Superman. Ultramare in particular is closer to the Batman Beyond movie's version of The Joker, though. I was a DCAU fan before I was a pony fan, eheh.

[Rainbow87dash]

Wow....

[Pencils Writer]

Good fic, just one question. Uh, Rainbow Dash isn't sentenced to life in prison, is she? I ask because I didn't notice you give any specific time, and the mention that her friends will only be visiting her every two weeks makes it seem like she's going to be in there for a long time. And I mean, I totally get the reason for jail time after everything she did, but... life in prison seems kind of harsh...

[Dragomena]

4778101

The length of her sentence was left out intentionally, as I couldn't think of an appropriate amount of time. Though, given how light the setting can be, I wouldn't put it at more than a few months.

[Yubella]

4778101
Forget that. Why is Twilight as always get to be the hero even in a fanfic!?