When it was not in use as the headquarters for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres fell under the control of whoever needed it most. And today that was none other than Scootaloo, presiding over a fanclub of her very own and dedicated to a pony she looked up to.
Everypony gathered at the clubhouse was decked out in Rainbow Dash memorabilia. Rainbow Dash hats, Rainbow Dash t-shirts, Rainbow Dash flags, you name it. And of course, Scootaloo was presiding over the gathering as the club president, proudly banging a hoof down on her desk. "Attention, attention everypony!" She declared while trying to mimic Mayor Mare. "This official meeting of the Rainbow Dash fan club will come to order."
Everypony in the clubhouse fell silent, all turning their attention to Scootaloo.
The eager tomboyish filly cleared her throat and smiled. "Good. Now then, first order of business is to come up with a new word to describe Rainbow Dash. Because let's face it, there aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe her, there's nopony else in town like her. So, any ideas? The floor is open, whatever that means."
"Ooh, ooh! I got one!" Snips declared. "I was thinking fantastic!"
Another filly suggested. "How about amazing?"
Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. "I'm liking these ideas, but I feel like they could use a little more flair. You know, something awesome! Something that truly puts the Dash in Rainbow Dash if you know what I mean!"
All of a sudden, as if in response to the filly's concern, a voice called out from above. "How about the super fantastically amazing and awesome?"
If anyone knew that the voice belonged to Rainbow Dash they didn't acknowledge it. They all just began to discuss what she had just told them as Scootaloo banged her hoof down on the desk. "Alright. All in favor of calling Rainbow Dash... whatever it was that was just said, say 'Aye'!"
"Aye!" Everypony shouted all at once and the motion was settled.
Meanwhile, from outside the clubhouse, Rainbow Dash watched the whole thing with a smile on her face and a chorus of giggles. "Wow, it's like they think I'm some kind of superhero or something," She thought out loud. "Having ponies that look up to you and admire you on a daily basis? I think I could get used to that." But over the next few days, the unaware brash speedster was going to find her popularity threatened by an unexpected pony.
A day or two after the meeting Rainbow had eavesdropped on at Sweet Apple Acres, the pegasus was laying on her back and floating carefree amongst a sea of clouds. It had been only a few weeks since she'd gotten her pet tortoise, Tank, and she was starting to see the benefit of just relaxing and not really going anywhere.
Suddenly the peace and quiet of what had been a carefree summer day was interrupted, as a cry for help could be heard from down below!
The sharp, high-pitched cry reached Rainbow's ears and within seconds she sprang into action! Leaping off the clouds and flapping her wings fiercely, the normally brash mare didn't think twice about flying off to the rescue! She swooped down from her perch, soon finding out the problem. A filly had fallen down a well and was stuck!
Rainbow Dash swooped down into the well before anypony else could react. The darkness of the well didn't frighten her, and she quickly scooped up the filly and brought her back to safety, setting her down on the ground. By now a small crowd had gathered to watch the rescue, and they all burst into applause!
"Rainbow Dash, you're my hero." The filly (an earth pony) declared as she hugged the cyan coated mare tightly. Aside from being covered in leaves and branches due to her fall, the filly was unharmed.
A faint blush formed on Rainbow's cheeks and she tried to play it off. "It was nothing, I'm just glad you're okay. I did what I think anypony would've done in my situation."
But with an eager grin, Pinkie Pie declared. "Are you kidding?! This calls for a hero party, hosted by yours truly! I'm not taking no for an answer!"
And true to her very word, Pinkie set up a hero party for her friend that was held the very next day at Sugarcube Corner. Lots of ponies from the Rainbow Dash fan club lined up to talk with her, and even some who had previously not been members of said fan club were now singing Rainbow Dash's praises.
"Goodness, I certainly can't remember the last time any of us got this much recognition for something so mundane," Rarity commented as she and the rest of Rainbow Dash's friends watched the whole thing from afar. "But Rainbow Dash saves one filly from a well, and suddenly the whole town thinks she's a hero."
"Eh, I think RD's playin' this up a little, and the crowd's just happy to oblige," Applejack remarked with concern. "I've seen this before. We'll be lucky if Rainbow's head doesn't get all swelled up from this."
But Fluttershy shook her head. "Now girls, we shouldn't make such assumptions. Let Rainbow Dash enjoy the spotlight. I'm sure this will all be a fond memory in a week or two, and everything will be back to normal."
"Even so, you think Rainbow Dash knows that a true hero doesn't just rescue others for the praise and glory?" Twilight comments. "When I was growing up, my parents always taught me that you don't need to do good deeds to get rewarded. The good deed is a reward in and of itself."
Pinkie Pie just grinned. "Well, one thing's for sure, Sugarcube Corner's never been this crowded! Which is a good thing, because Mr. and Mrs. Cake could use the extra money. I don't wanna jinx it, but apparently Mrs. Cake is gonna have a baby. She's already getting a nursery set up, and I can't wait until the foal arrives!"
"Oh my! After all this time?!" Rarity exclaimed with surprise. "Well I certainly hope they're up to the challenge. When Sweetie Belle was a little one, goodness was she ever a hoofful."
Meanwhile, Scootaloo was approaching Rainbow Dash with a massive grin on her face! True, she'd met the elder pegasus before, but this time Scootaloo had something very special she wanted to share with her idol and honorary big sister.
Rainbow Dash was in the middle of signing autographs and thus she didn't notice as Scootaloo approached her. In fact she was not aware of Scootaloo's presence at all until the filly tapped a hoof on Rainbow's back. The mare spun around, finding herself snout to snout with her number one fan. "Hey, kid, you need something?" She asked.
Scootaloo, for her part, was all but bouncing up and down with excitement! "Oh my gosh, Rainbow Dash! I've been waiting a long time for this!" Without bothering to explain she grabbed her idol by the hoof and led her away, soon directing her to a pegasus mare about the same size as Rainbow Dash. But this pegasus mare had a coat of pale amber. Her eyes were a moderate rose in color. And her mane and tail were curly, the mane was pink as was the tail (which had pale raspberry highlights). Her cutie mark consisted of three tornadoes. "Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo eagerly commented as she gestured a hoof. "Meet my mom, Dizzy Twister. Mom, meet Rainbow Dash."
Dizzy Twister flashed a cheerful smile as she extended a hoof to Rainbow Dash and shook it. "Ah, so you're the Rainbow Dash my daughter's been talking about so much. A pleasure to finally meet you."
"The pleasure's all mine, Mrs. Twister," Rainbow commented as she returned the shake full force. "Uh, you are Mrs. Twister, right?"
Dizzy nodded her head in confirmation. "My husband is Quick Shot Twister, maybe you've heard of him? He likes to play hockey, and in fact he's the star goalie for the Cloudsdale Windigos," A slight frown formed on her lips. "Unfortunately, that means he's often away from home."
"That's okay, that means I get to spend all my time with you," Scootaloo nuzzled into her female parent. "You're the best mom in the history of Equestria!"
Dizzy blushed and waved a hoof. "Well, I wouldn't say that. I try my best. It probably helps that you're a pretty well behaved filly. Isn't that right, my little future Wonderbolt?" She proceeded to stroke Scootaloo's mane with a hoof a couple of times.
The tomboyish filly groaned lightly as she adjusted her moderate purple mane. "Mom, not in public, please! You're embarrassing me!" And then she spoke to Rainbow Dash. "Sorry about my mom, she has a tendency to get a little overly affectionate. I think it's cause she gets lonely whenever Dad's not home."
Rainbow just chuckled, the display kind of reminded her of her parents. But that was not something she really felt like sharing, the relationship with her parents was... complicated. One that she didn't want to let others in on if she could help it.
Dizzy cleared her throat, snapping Rainbow out of her brief mental pondering. "My daughter certainly seems to be a big fan of you. You've really imprinted on her, now she can't stop singing your praises all day long." She commented.
"Well it's to be expected when you're a big hero like I am!" Rainbow Dash proudly declared. "I mean, that's part of why I rescued that filly from the well. Sure it was dangerous, but danger is my middle name: Rainbow 'Danger' Dash!"
"Goodness, you certainly are... boastful to put it delicately," Dizzy remarked with what appeared to be a frown. "Small wonder I much prefer The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well."
At the mention of that Rainbow blinked her moderate purple eyes. "Who?"
As if in response to the question, Pinkie Pie bounced over and presented a poster of a pony clad in a dark purple outfit, a similarly matching hat and cape, and blue goggles that concealed the eyes, as well as a huge "M" attached to a belt that spanned the lower regions of the outfit. "Mare-Do-Well. Have you been living under a rock, Dashie? Everypony who's anypony knows about Mare-Do-Well."
The pegasus mare snatched up the poster and blinked in surprise. "What?! No way! This can't be real!"
Dizzy tried not to giggle. "Oh it's real. Mare-Do-Well's been a town hero for quite a long time, since Twilight moved to Ponyville in fact."
"Mare-Do-Well's just as cool as Rainbow Dash! I wish the two of them could meet someday!" Scootaloo fondly exclaimed. "The two most awesomest ponies in all of Equestria, in the same place, it'd ne a dream come true!"
"You're not jealous are you, Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie inquired of her prankster partner in crime.
Rainbow quickly shook her head. "Me? Jealous? Why would I be jealous? There's room for two heroes in town." But in her mind she was thinking. "Mare-Do-Well will just have to accept that there's a new hero in town, and that's me! If she's smart, she'll stay out of my way!"
But only a few days later, Mare-Do-Well would make herself known to Rainbow Dash, much to the dismay of the pegasus.
It happened on another otherwise uneventful summer day. Rainbow was busy signing autographs again and delighting in all the attention she was getting from ponies far and wide.
Suddenly there came a shriek! Everypony looked up, and gasped in horror at the sight that greeted their eyes! The hot air balloon that was often used in town had sprung a leak! And to make matters worse there was a pony inside the basket, trying desperately to prevent her perilous plunge out of the sky!
Rainbow heard the cry, and after signing one last autograph she unfolded her wings. "Sorry, folks, duty calls!" She took off at a speed faster than even lightning, much to the amazement of the gathered crowd. And as Rainbow flew off to the rescue she shouted. "Never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here!"
All of a sudden though, who should emerge from literally nowhere but the very figure that Rainbow had seen a picture of at her hero party? It was The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!
Everything seemed to happen at once, Mare-Do-Well was perched on a rooftop but quickly leaped from one rooftop to the next with the greatest of ease. Then he, she, or it (whatever Mare-Do-Well was) leaped off of the last rooftop and into the air! The balloonist pony had no time to react as she was snatched up, just seconds before the balloon hit the ground and crashed!
Rainbow hadn't noticed, the whole time she'd been focused solely on the balloon and catching up to it. She thought the balloonist was still trapped inside somehow. "Where is she?!" She commented over and over again in a desperate search. A search that only ended when she heard a series of cheers and whistles coming from only a short ways away.
The brash speedster turned to look, and that was when she saw Mare-Do-Well with her own two eyes. Mare-Do-Well spoke not a word though, before whoever it was took off and disappeared as mysteriously he, she, or it had appeared.
"I've never seen such bravery in all my life!" The balloonist pony exclaimed. "Mare-Do-Well saved my life!"
Mayor Mare seemed to nod her head in agreement, she had seen everything. "It seems we owe Mare-Do-Well another great debt of gratitude for again saving the day. Whoever this mare of mystery is, I hope we have not seen the last of her. For it is my great honor to announce the first ever 'Mare-Do-Well Appreciation Day', to be commemorated with a Mare-Do-Well parade!"
"A Mare-Do-Well parade?" Pinkie commented as she came upon the scene. "Shoot! Don't tell me I missed seeing Mare-Do-Well in action again!"
"I almost couldn't believe it when I saw it for myself," Twilight commented in reply. "It was like one moment she was there, and the next she wasn't."
Rarity blinked. "Do you mean to say she teleported, darling? That's not something a unicorn can just pull off, that takes skill."
"It didn't look like a teleportation spell to me. But it all happened so fast I couldn't be sure what I saw," Twilight declared. "Mare-Do-Well is indeed mysterious."
A frustrated Rainbow Dash trotted over to her friends, grumbling audibly. "Yeah, well if you ask me she's just some upstart who's lucky she hasn't gotten herself hurt, or worse. Just who does this Mare-Do-Well think she is? Showing up to steal my thunder when I had everything perfectly under control!"
"Didn't look that way to me, you looked like you were almost not going to make it in time. Mare-Do-Well obviously decided it better to step in rather than take a chance," Rarity explained. "It's almost like she knew this would be happening."
Pinkie giggled and waved a hoof. "Come on, Rarity. Even I can't predict the future like that. Nopony has that kind of power."
Spike just grinned. "Well, nopony until now it seems. Man, I hope they make a Mare-Do-Well comic, I'd totally buy it!"
Fluttershy, meanwhile, was reassuring Rainbow Dash. "For what it's worth, Rainbow, you did great. Perhaps you and Mare-Do-Well should team up sometime, they always say two heads are better than one."
Rainbow retorted with a slight spit. "Pah! Me?! Team up with Mare-Do-Well?! That'll happen, Fluttershy. When pigs fly!"
For a couple of days after that there were no more disasters or emergencies, and no sign of Mare-Do-Well anywhere. Rainbow took that as a sign of good news, that Mare-Do-Well had gone away and would never bother her again.
But she was proven wrong when the string of disaster free days came to a sudden and abrupt end, at a construction sight of all places. Various worker ponies were overseeing construction of a new high-rise building, which was to be part of a works project to build more houses to meet demand for the increased population of Ponyville.
Without warning, one of the cranes that was used for lifting heavy beams stopped working. Its arm swung round rapidly, knocking several beams loose as the whole structure threatened to collapse! The foreman immediately gave the alarm! "Everypony evacuate, pronto!"
But in the ensuing panic several ponies soon became entrapped or blocked off by falling debris!
Rainbow was on the scene as soon as she became aware of it, but even her incredible flying speed couldn't keep her ahead of the falling beams and timbers that threatened to crush anything in their path!
As Rainbow was dodging and weaving rapidly around the remaints of the structure as it fell apart, who should appear but Mare-Do-Well?
"You again?!" Rainbow Dash growled, but Mare-Do-Well did not acknowledge her or give any sort of reply. Instead, Mare-Do-Well opted to focus her efforts on saving the construction workers. Specifically the ones that her "rival" hadn't reached yet.
In fact it was thanks to Mare-Do-Well that Rainbow had to only rescue one pony, a construction stallion. The stallion barked out orders to Rainbow, instructing her to dodge left and right as more beams fell. And when he was finally brought to safety the shock of the close call caused him to faint.
Many of the other construction workers were singing Mare-Do-Well's praises. "You've saved our lives, Mare-Do-Well! We'll never forget you!"
Mare-Do-Well just gave a salute and then disappeared again rather than wait around. That left the brash speedster competing against the masked mystery most puzzled. "Why's Mare-Do-Well so afraid of being around other ponies? What's she hiding?" Rainbow pondered aloud.
After that, Mare-Do-Well's hypothetical identity was all Rainbow could think about. It nagged at her mind and would not leave her alone no matter what she did or what else she might try to think about.
And so it was that, just a day before the big parade for Mare-Do-Well, the pegasus mare was sulking about in Ponyville. "That Mare-Do-Well. Why does she always have to show up to the scene when I'm trying to being the hero? Can't she be out chasing bad guys, or rescuing ponies from burning buildings, or doing anything that doesn't involve crossing my path?"
True, Mare-Do-Well hadn't actually affected Rainbow Dash's popularity in any meaningful way. She still had many of her loyal fans. But it seemed like Mare-Do-Well was all but the talk of the town, and Rainbow's heroic exploits had been forgotten completely.
Which wouldn't be a bad thing if not for the fact that now the athletic pegasus couldn't seem to find any emergencies or impending disasters to respond to. The town seemed to be quiet, and she didn't like it all as she darted about from place to place.
"I swear, just last week it seemed like this town couldn't go a day without some big disaster. And now suddenly there's nothing out there. Nopony who needs saving," Rainbow sulked about. "Of all the times for the town to go quiet, why did it have to be now?!"
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye Rainbow spotted an opportunity to be noticed. And a chance to get some well deserved (in her opinion) recognition as a hero. Granny Smith was on her usual walkabout, but she seemed to be having trouble.
Without even bothering to see if her help was actually needed, Rainbow swooped down in front of the elderly earth pony. "Don't worry, ma'am! Your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here to help you!"
Granny Smith scoffed at the suggestion. "I don't need your help, whippersnapper!"
"Oh yes you do," Rainbow said with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll help you across the street. You old ponies can sure be stubborn sometimes."
Granny Smith protested and dug in her heels, but she was no match for Rainbow Dash. After a great deal of struggling, the elderly mare found herself all the way on the other end of the street.
With a satisfied grin, Rainbow told Granny Smith. "No need to thank me, it was my pleasure."
But Granny Smith's response was not at all what the pegasus mare was expecting. It came in the form of a slap across the face with a purse. "I said I didn't need your help! I wasn't tryin' to cross that street!" She angrily remarked and turned around and left. "Go find a tall buildin' to leap over or somethin', and leave me alone!"
The speedy pegasus blinked her eyes in surprise, rubbing a hoof over the spot on her face where she'd been slapped. "Man, that purse packs a wallop."
Rainbow was still rubbing the wound and trying to work through the pain when she suddenly and unexpectedly bumped into the last pony she had ever expected to run into. Mare-Do-Well herself. Rubbing her moderate purple eyes, Rainbow blinked. No, she wasn't seeing things, Mare-Do-Well was indeed standing before her.
"Oh, it's you," Rainbow groaned as she eyed the mysterious superhero. "What do you want now? Come to stick the knife in some more? Don't you have your big parade to get ready for tomorrow or something?"
To the surprise of the pegasus, Mare-Do-Well suddenly spoke up. The voice that was heard sounded feminine (which was to be expected from Mare-Do-Well) but it was not a voice that the cyan coated mare had ever heard before in her life. It sounded alien in more ways than one.
But Mare-Do-Well was indeed speaking. And the words she spoke with shocked Rainbow to her very core. "I'm not here to compete with you, Rainbow Dash. I'm here to ask for your help."
"My help? You must be joking!" Rainbow scoffed at the notion. "You're Mare-Do-Well! You can do it all! You're the hero everypony keeps talking about."
Mare-Do-Well shook her head. "You shouldn't doubt yourself Da... er Rainbow Dash," She quickly corrected herself. "No one is ever meant to do everything by themselves. There's a lot we could do if we worked together."
"Well in case you haven't noticed, there's nopony who needs saving. And no disasters that need responding to," Rainbow growled. "So I appreciate the gesture, Mare-Do-Well, but you're barking up the wrong tree."
The masked heroine protested the very idea. "I say I'm barking up the right tree, you just don't seem to realize it yet. But you will in time."
Now Rainbow was puzzled and perplexed, such a statement had taken her by surprise. "What are you talking about, Mare-Do-Well? What could you possibly know that I don't?"
Mare-Do-Well grabbed Rainbow by the hoof, pulling her away and into a back alley. "I've been working overtime to prevent disasters. But I can't do it alone. I figured that with your super fast speeds, you could cover more ground."
"You mean you can't teleport?!" Rainbow realized as her eyes widened in realization.
Mare-Do-Well lifted her hat, revealing that underneath it lay no horn. But even then she chose not to take it all the way off, as if afraid to be seen even by Rainbow Dash. "This is the only part of my identity you're allowed to know about. Now we must hurry, I have sensed that we'll be needed very soon!"
Before the cyan coated speedster could press for further details, there came the sound of frantic screams from far away! But Rainbow's trained ears were able to pick up the sound of wheels, wheels that were going too much fast! A gasp escaped her lips as she realized what that sound meant! A runaway carriage!
Mare-Do-Well took off without saying a word, and Rainbow followed! Any prior concerns or frustrations she might have had about having to share the spotlight with Mare-Do-Well had vanished. All she could think about now was getting to the scene of that out of control carriage before it was too late!
The pegasus' high rate of speed meant that it wasn't long before she came upon the scene. Mare-Do-Well was there too, running alongside the carriage as it rolled helplessly along, unable to stop!
Worse was to come, for in the distance lurked a steep slope that led to a steep cliff! If the carriage wasn't stopped soon, it would roll down the slope and plunge off the face of the cliff! And the carriage was moving too fast for anypony to think of bailing out.
Mare-Do-Well immediately and instinctively leaped in front of the carriage and reared her back hooves! The carriage rolled right up to them, and Mare-Do-Well dug in as her front hooves touched the ground. She put every ounce of weight and strength she could muster against the speeding carriage. But it seemed to be a losing battle! The carriage just kept on rolling despite Mare-Do-Well's best efforts, and the slope was drawing closer and closer with each passing second!
"Mare-Do-Well! Hang on, I'll help you!" Rainbow declared. "We'll stop this carriage together!"
But through gritting teeth, Mare-Do-Well forced out a protest. "No... get the passengers off! I don't know if I can... stop it in time!"
"Please, let me help you! The two of us can stop this carriage in no time!" Rainbow pleaded.
Mare-Do-Well still refused. "You handle the passengers, I'll handle the carriage! Quickly! We're almost out of time!" And she was right, the slope leading to the cliff was fast approaching! In a matter of seconds it would be too late.
The brash speedster quickly zoomed back to the carriage. "Sorry folks, everypony off! Emergency stop!" And without waiting for any sort of comments she snatched up the ponies in the carriage one by one, depositing them on the ground and out of harm's way. The last passenger was brought to safety just as the front wheels of the carriage, despite Mare-Do-Well's best efforts, slid down the embankment toward the cliff!
The passenger could only watch on in horror, watching Mare-Do-Well in what seemed to be a futile struggle to stop the carriage in time!
Rainbow swooped out in front of Mare-Do-Well, shouting down at her. "That carriage isn't gonna stop, we need to go!"
"I've almost got it!" Mare-Do-Well insisted as her teeth gritted anew. "You just need to find a way to slow it down."
"But what can I..." Dash began, before realization struck her as she eyed her own two wings. "Oh yeah!" She flew out and in front of Mare-Do-Well, positioning herself in just the right place. Then she flapped her wings over and over again as hard as she could, eventually generating a small breeze.
By itself the breeze probably wouldn't have accomplished much of anything, had it been attempted further back it could've stopped the carriage successfully. But Rainbow knew her breeze alone wouldn't do the job, and she didn't care. This was no longer about her. The breeze proved to be the extra bit of stopping force needed, the wheels of the carriage slowed right down to a stand still just before Mare-Do-Well's front hooves would've gone over the edge of the cliff.
At last the carriage had stopped.
Rainbow swooped down to check on Mare-Do-Well, and she almost gasped in surprise when she saw that Mare-Do-Well's hat had been knocked off in the resulting chaos. Unfortunately, her gasp alerted many ponies, including the passengers she'd just rescued a short time ago. And many of them had cameras.
Thinking quickly, Rainbow snatched up the hat and then swooped in front of Mare-Do-Well and threw up a wing, thus blocking the masked heroine from the eyes of curious ponies and their cameras (which clicked and flashed rapidly, hoping to snap a picture of what would surely be the scoop of the century).
Mare-Do-Well eventually retrieved it and fixed it back on. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash," She commented, adjusting the hat to ensure it wouldn't be knocked off again. And then she insisted. "You saw nothing!"
But the brash speedster shook her head. "I saw a glimpse of something, Mare-Do-Well."
Mare-Do-Well began to back away very slowly. "You're imagining things! You can't tell anypony! My identity must remain a secret!"
However, a smirk crept onto Rainbow's face. "Oh no, I think you've stayed a mystery for long enough: Mysterious Mare-Do-Well," She was quick to add. "This isn't just for fun and games you know, somepony could get hurt."
"You won't tell anypony! I won't allow it!" Mare-Do-Well declared. "If you talk, it's the end of me!"
"Come on, what have you got to hide?" Rainbow questioned as she crept closer. "Let's see just who it is under the mask. Unless, you're afraid, Mare-Do-Well."
Mare-Do-Well's response was to rise to her hooves and take off at a dizzying speed! A speed that even Rainbow Dash found impressive.
And Mare-Do-Well's abrupt exit only prompted a flurry of questions that were soon directed at her. Questions such as "Are you Mare-Do-Well's new sidekick?" "Did you discover Mare-Do-Well's secret identity?" and even "Is Mare-Do-Well retiring?" and "Are you Mare-Do-Well's replacement?"
Rainbow brushed off all the questions. "No autographs, please! I mean it this time!" She insisted quite audibly and then flew up into the sky, hoping to give the gathered crowd the slip.
However, while perched atop a cloud and trying to sneak away unnoticed, Rainbow happened to look down and spot the familiar form of Mare-Do-Well as she was just walking about.
"Now's my chance! I'm not gonna let her slip away this time!" The speedster declared and swooped down from her cloud!
Mare-Do-Well was ready though and quickly took off, ducking into a nearby ally. Undeterred, Rainbow gave chase after the masked mare of mystery. She pursued Mare-Do-Well through a series of allies and narrow passageways, down flights of stairs and around corners lined with barrels and buildings.
Despite this, Mare-Do-Well seemed to have given Rainbow the slip as the pegasus stopped in her tracks to catch her breath. "Where'd she go?! I thought I had her!" She complained. "Leave it to Mare-Do-Well to be a slippery one."
But then suddenly, Rainbow spotted Mare-Do-Well out of the corner of her eye. She appeared to be exhausted, which gave Rainbow the perfect opportunity to sneak up and tackle the unsuspecting mare. "Now let's see who you really are underneath that mask!" She proudly declared.
Mare-Do-Well weakly protested. "Please, don't!"
The plea was ignored by the pegasus, who grabbed the mask with her teeth and yanked it off. "Mystery solved!" She proudly declared even though no one was around to hear her. But then she nearly doubled back in shock and surprise at the face that greeted her!
Staring straight back at Rainbow Dash was a very familiar pink coated earth pony mare with innocent (almost playful, you might say) blue eyes. Her mane and tail were also pink, and her mane (which was visible with the removed mask) was styled into a poofy set of curls. Only one pony Rainbow knew fit that description. "Pinkie Pie?! You're The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well?!" She exclaimed.
Pinkie gave a half nervous, half excited smile. And seemed to giggle. "Aw, it looks like you caught me, Dashie. And here I was hoping to keep you guessing for a little bit longer."
"Don't tell me, you created the whole idea of Mare-Do-Well just to get back at me for boasting!" Rainbow bitterly remarked.
But Pinkie shook her head as she stood up, adjusting her costume. "Dashie, were you not paying attention? Mare-Do-Well's been a town hero for a long time. I didn't create her to compete against you, just as I'm sure you didn't mean to compete against me."
"Then why all the mystery? Why the chase?" Rainbow questioned of Pinkie. "I thought we were friends. Have you been keeping this a secret from all of them?"
The pink party pony nervously twiddled her covered hooves. "Well... yeah, more or less. I didn't think they needed to know," And she proceeded to explain. "Ever since I came to Ponyville, and ever since I started understanding my 'Pinkie Sense', I started to realize that I could predict when bad things were going to happen. It made me think about the stories my Nana Pie and my Granny Pie used to always tell me, about a masked mare who would show up to town to save the day and then vanish as mysteriously as she came."
"I... I don't believe it," Rainbow commented to her prankster partner. "You've been playing superhero all this time, and I never knew," Then she added. "But we're already heroes, Pinkie. You saw the display in Canterlot. Ever since we fought against Nightmare Moon, we've kind of become super heroes who beat the bad guys."
Pinkie sheepishly admitted. "Yeah, I noticed that too. But it just felt right to keep acting like a hero behind the scenes here in Ponyville. And it gave everypony a good mystery to talk about," She proceeded to confess. "I never meant for it to all get so out of control though. For ponies to start throwing an appreciation day and a parade. But I just didn't have the heart to give it up. I thought that as long as I continued to do good, that was all that mattered," A sigh of longing escaped her lips. "But I guess in the end I was wrong. I just turned out to be a grown mare playing pretend, thinking I could change the world."
However, Pinkie was quite surprised to have Rainbow pull her into a tight hug and declare. "Pinkie, you didn't do anything wrong. It's sweet of you to want to do something like this. The world needs more ponies like you, ponies who want to make a difference," Then she added. "But you don't need to dress up in a cape and give yourself an alter ego to do that. If there's one thing I've learned from the brief time we worked together, it's that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Real heroes don't need elaborate costumes, real heroes show up when they're needed. And that's what we are every day when we answer the call."
"The call to what?" Pinkie questioned.
"The call to action, the call to save the day," Rainbow explained. "It's not just when we're fighting evil forces from long ago either. It can be when we do things we didn't even think were heroic, like helping somepony in need or just taking time out of our day to spend it with others."
Pinkie Pie seemed to realize what her pegasus friend was saying as she commented. "Ooooh!"
The cyan coated mare nodded. "If you still wanna dress up as Mare-Do-Well, that's fine. But maybe you should hang it up and stop always looking for problems to solve. Sometimes, the most heroic thing you can do is leave the heroing to actual heroes. You know, not running into burning buildings or throwing yourself in front of speeding carriages."
"Isn't that more your thing?" Pinkie questioned Rainbow.
Rainbow blushed, massaging the back of her neck with a hoof. "Okay, you got me on that, Pinkie. And I guess maybe I could have toned down the bragging just a teeny tiny bit."
With a grin the party pony declared. "Sounds like we both learned something today. You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"A visit to Twilight?" Rainbow guessed. "I'd be up for that."
But Pinkie Pie shook her head. "No, silly. I'm talking about you appearing at the Mare-Do-Well parade tomorrow, alongside yours truly. It'll be a way for Mare-Do-Well to officially pass the torch if you know what I mean," And she gave a knowing wink. "Though you never know, there may still be a day when the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well is needed once again!"