“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh…” Rainbow rambled as she paced about her cloud house, trying to make sure she got everything she needed in her saddlebags. The time had finally come, her return to Wonderbolt Academy. She was looking forward to seeing Spitfire again, and now that she was a Lead Pony instead of Wingpony, she’d have to really show them her stuff and be a step closer to achieving her lifelong dream. Tank flew about her room, watching as his owner would frequently disappear into her closet and come back out with something or another, and barely had time to dodge an airborne Daring Do book that somehow landed perfectly in one of the saddlebag pouches.
“Score!” Rainbow said, raising her hoof in success. “Oh… sorry, Tank,” she remarked, grinning sheepishly when she’d realized the book had almost hit him. Finally, she felt almost done, but something was missing. “Hey, Tank… am I missing anything? I feel like I am,” she mused. The tortoise descended onto a box that was peering from under Rainbow’s bed, looked down at it, then up at her.
“The Mare Do Well costume?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I won’t need it, I’m gonna be off training. Consider this Mare Do Well’s time off!” After that experience with Decepto and the Hollow Shades, she needed some way to unwind that beating up robbers and the occasional second-rate supervillain wannabe didn’t help for her. The tortoise looked down at the box again, then at her, as if he suspected she wasn’t being entirely honest with him.
“No, Tank. I’m not bringing it with me,” she said, turning her head. Memories of what she’d told Celestia came to her then, about how she needed to keep at it. “Come onnnn…” she whined at her pet tortoise, who saw right through any denial she attempted.
~
“Well, guess this is goodbye for now. Hope you all won't be too bored without a pony as excitingly awesome as me around to liven things up!” Rainbow said as her friends were gathered about.
“Ya take care of yourself, got it?” Applejack said. “Ah’d consider payin’ a visit but last time kinda got us an unexpected free-fallin’ experience,” she joked. “So just write us or somethin’ alright?”
“Yes, while I won’t deny Thunderlane’s not half bad-looking, I’d rather keep my hooves on the ground for the moment, thank you.” Rarity said with a smirk.
“You have fun Rainbow Dash! I’ll be sure to send you a care-package and take EXTRA special care it gets to you like it has to, and I’ll make sure the mailpony doesn’t squish it either!” Pinkie Pie said, hopping up and down with excitement. “Ooh, maybe you can show them all the stuff you do as a superhero, I mean, most of them probably remember from Cloudsdale so it's not like you're giving yourself away or anything so that’d be way cool!”
“Yeah, it would be pretty cool,” Rainbow said with a laugh. “But I’m gonna have a lot to handle already when I get there. Spitfire’s gonna work us hard and I’m looking forward to every second of it!” she then looked at Fluttershy and Tank.
“You behave, buddy, got it?” she asked the tortoise, who nodded slowly.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be with his friends at my place. I’ll take good care of him,” Fluttershy said, patting Rainbow’s shoulder with her hoof.
“I know I can count on you, Fluttershy.” Rainbow said with a smirk. “Well, I’ll see you girls in a week!” She said, turning to leave, when she heard one of them catch up to her. Twilight.
“Rainbow…” Twilight asked, shifting a little where she stood. “You didn’t bring anything… not on the lists they gave, did you?” She asked.
“I brought the latest Daring Do book you got me, not on the list but they aren’t against things like that.” Rainbow said, glancing sideways.
“That’s not what I’m talking about, Rainbow,” Twilight said sternly. She knew Rainbow knew what she meant. “Not planning to go out on patrols every night are you?” she asked. “With the stuff you’ll be doing at the academy you’ll be too worn out for that.”
Rainbow immediately began to shift awkwardly.
“…I knew it,” the unicorn said. “You’re obviously not as into becoming a Wonderbolt as you used to be or you wouldn’t have even bothered to bring the Mare Do Well costume along.”
Rainbow glared. “How can you say that? It’s been my lifelong dream!” she protested.
“Then why bring the costume?” Twilight asked. “Did you think you could do both? You freak out when stuff takes away from your patrols. Spitfire’s not gonna be happy with you if you’re dragging your hooves through your exercises without any explanation.”
Rainbow was unsure how to answer that, she glanced about nervously, trying to think of a way out, and Twilight’s words did have more impact then she expected. She could handle both, couldn’t she? Of course she could! She’d train to become the kind of Wonderbolt her mother was remembered as while being a hardcore superheroine too. “I… I don’t know why I have it. Maybe I just… I dunno. I gotta go now, even as unbeatably fast as I am I’ll be late if I stay here chatting, Twi. Seeya in a week!” she said abruptly, spreading her wings and speeding off.
~
“Hm, place hasn’t changed much,” Rainbow mused as she came down, surprised by how underwhelmed she was compared to the last time she’d been here. Well I’ve been through a lot crazier stuff. she thought to herself. Still… a smirk came to her face as the afternoon breeze filled her wings. “It’s great to be back!” Landing, the pegasus saw Cloudchaser, Bulk Biceps, and Thunderlane had beaten her there, and Lime Jelly arrived moments after she did, followed soon by the others.
“Well, well, at least none of you cadets were LATE!” Spitfire shouted, touching down flanked by her two guards. Rainbow couldn’t help but smirk from the Wonderbolt captain putting on her Drill Sergeant act when she knew Spitfire to be quite different without it.
“I’m sure every one of you is thinking ‘how hard can this time be? I already handled the stuff I went through first time’,” she said, pacing past the cadets as they were lined up. “You couldn’t be more wrong! That was the foal stuff to weed out the less qualified!” she said. “Trust me when I say this is the next level. Now I expect you all to suit up and be back out in no less then one minute! Same dorms as before, I trust you remember them, now move!” The yellow pegasus shouted, blowing the whistle and Rainbow and the other cadets gave quick ‘yes ma’am’s and sped off to their designated locations and returned in their cadet uniforms in the ordered amount of time.
“Not bad, you took exactly one minute to all return. I hoped for less then that. You’ll be doing one speed flight…” she ordered, “Through the course NOT marked for entry level!” she finished, gesturing to what looked like a significantly more perilous course then the lap track that lead to several mountain caves and blew her whistle again. With a grin, Rainbow Dash took to the air, followed by the others, and they were soon on their first exercise down a new course that would send them around the mountains.
Weaving through the cloud rings, Rainbow Dash had to admit the other cadets had definitely improved on their flying speed, though she was still well ahead of them, having already made it up to what she was certain was halfway through. A turn was coming, some clouds around it near the cloud ring she had to pass through set as obstacles. Getting closer, she was just about to reach the cloud ring when suddenly an explosion of purple fire burst from one of the clouds right in front of her, making a sound that resembled a shrill shrieking like certain fireworks or a scream of some kind, causing the pegasus to spin backwards out of control. Losing altitude, Rainbow turned herself over and beat her wings as hard as she could, flying back up, only to suddenly be beset by more bizarre purple fire explosions that prevented her from going any further.
“Rainbow, why are you stoppi—“ Cloudchaser said approaching behind only to be cut off by another explosion of purple flames that startled her and the others.
“Everypony, we gotta turn back, somehow I don’t think Spitfire set this up…” Thunderlane suggested.
“No way, I’m sure it’s just another challenge! I gotta get to the end of this!” Rainbow insisted, about to move but Bulk Biceps grabbed her tail with his teeth, tugging her back and earning himself a hard glare.
“He’s right, Rainbow. This is way too dangerous to be a test she wouldn’t tell us about,” Lime Jelly said, barely avoiding another explosion and yelping when her leg got burned. Rainbow Dash nodded.
“You’re right. No way would this be happening on our first day,” she said. But if this wasn’t a test, who set this up? Perhaps Mare Do Well would find out… no, this was her time off. She was Rainbow Dash, future Wonderbolt for a week, not Mare Do Well, present-day superhero pony! Her thoughts were interrupted by more shrieking explosions of purple fire that went off all around them. “Let’s go! Now! Fast!” Rainbow ordered and she and the cadets flew back the way they came. As soon as they were gone, a figure emerged from one of the mountain caves and let out a sinister laugh before retreating back into the shadows.
Landing back on the runway, Rainbow galloped over to Spitfire, who turned and regarded her with a puzzled expression.
“Alright, I know that course is a step up for you ponies but I wasn’t expecting it to overwhelm you that easily,” she muttered, clearly annoyed.
“It’s not like that, Spitfi—I mean, ma’am…” Rainbow Dash said. “We were reaching the halfway point and suddenly all the clouds started exploding! Like purple fire, weird shrieking sounds, the works, we had to turn back! Look at Lime Jelly!” she said, gesturing to the injured green pegasus. Spitfire came over, noticing the burn on her foreleg. “I see. Nothing too serious, thankfully,” she looked at Manerick. “You, get her to the clinic and have her tended to!” she ordered; then looked back at Rainbow and the other cadets as the mustached pegasus guard saluted and lead the injured cadet away. “Did you see anything else? I’d think you of all ponies would notice if there was anything or anypony unusual there,” she asked.
“No, ma’am.” Rainbow said. “I didn’t see anything else, we didn’t exactly have a chance to really look around.”
“I see,” Spitfire answered, then looked at her remaining guard. “Whiplash, gather a team. We’re gonna scope the area out and look for anything suspicious. If somepony or something is here to start trouble we gotta deal with it,” she ordered.
“Yes, ma’am!” the other pegasus said with a salute and flew off to gather some other instructors as Spitfire again returned her attention on Rainbow Dash.
“In the meantime, you ponies get to the mess hall, dinner’ll probably be ready soon anyway. Don’t worry, we’ll handle this,” Spitfire ordered.
“Yes, ma’am!” Rainbow said, though with less enthusiasm then she wanted and hoping the captain didn’t notice. With that, she and the other cadets quietly flew over to the mess hall.
~
“Well, I think we can all agree that was intense,” Rainbow said, breaking a long silence and stroking the table with her hoof while sipping her drink.
“More intense then the time you saved DJ PON-3 from Shockwave?” Cloudchaser asked, causing the pegasus to do a spit take.
“’Scuse me?” Rainbow asked, looking at the other pegasus in shock.
“Come on, think we forgot about the whole Cloudsdale thing? It’s not hard to guess who’s been running around in that costume lately,” Cloudchaser said.
“Forget Shockwave, what about saving Trixie from that Decepto guy?” Thunderlane asked. Rainbow could only blush. Moments later, Lime Jelly arrived with bandages over the burn she’d gotten.
“What’s up?” she asked, clearly in better spirits.
“Oh, we just wanted a certain superhero pony to tell us about her adventures!” Cloudchaser said.
“YEEEAAAHHH!” Bulk Biceps shouted, flexing.
“Hey, hey, I never said I was Mare Do Well, for all you know, somepony else could have threw on the costume after I retired from it,” Rainbow said nervously. “Like… uh, Spitfire! I mean she’s captain of the Wonderbolts, and she was really something in the battle for Cloudsdale too!” she said, shortly after the words left her mouth, Spitfire arrived.
Well, speak of Tartarus… Rainbow thought in amusement as the captain approached the group.
“We did a full search, cadets. There was nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the clouds missing around the halfway point. Whatever was out there was already gone by the time we made it over,” she explained. “Rainbow, as Lead Pony I ask you keep me posted on if anything else happens during exercises tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Rainbow answered with a salute, and with that, Spitfire left.
Once the captain was gone, Lime Jelly smirked. “Nice try, Dash. There’s no way Spitfire would have the freetime to be Mare Do Well. I mean… being a Wonderbolt while being a crime-fighting superhero? That’d be, like impossible!” she said. As the words left her mouth, their impact hit Rainbow Dash with a sudden realization that made her go numb.
“Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?” Cloudchaser asked.
“Y-yeah… peachy-keen!” Rainbow said, forcing a grin. “Look, you guys go on and eat without me. I-I’m gonna go get some air, okay? Be right back!” she said, spreading her wings and flying out the door.
~
Rainbow descended to the ground and slowly walked down the stairs from the mess hall. When she finally reached the foot of the stairs, she sat down and stared at the night sky. The moon was out, but it seemed unlikely Luna would be there to give her any advice. Lime Jelly clearly didn’t mean any harm in what she said, it was just she’d brought up a matter Rainbow had barely given any thought to when she decided to go back to being Mare Do Well.
She wanted to be a Wonderbolt, just like her mother. It had been her dream since she was old enough to start having one. But now, she felt so right when she wore the Mare Do Well costume, she felt like she did when she had her daydreams about being a Wonderbolt. Mare Do Well wasn’t a costume she wore, and she wasn’t who she was on the inside either. Mare Do Well was a part of who she was now. She’d let the pent-up guilt she’d held back since preparing to come back here flow into her mind. How many ponies would be in danger because she was here? What if Shockwave or Decepto or Frostmare broke out of Alkatrot and caused trouble in her absence? What if some new villain came on the scene? What if Big Shot went through with whatever his master plan was? What if disasters like the fire she rescued the filly from so long ago happened? So many what-ifs she’d tried to hold back. Sure, if she was there she’d handle any one of them in seconds and be kicking back the rest of the night with a strong sense of accomplishment and a touch of pride on the side, but now it felt like some kind of temporary…
…abandonment…
“Didn’t expect you’d be out here when there’s food inside, Rainbow,” Spitfire said, addressing the pegasus by name instead of saying ‘cadet’. “Care to tell me what’s on your mind?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Rainbow said, earning a look from the Wonderbolt captain. “Okay, it’s like this… I’ve had a lot go on lately, mostly—“
“Mare Do Well. I know, I’ve kept all the articles,” Spitfire said with a smirk.
“Wha… you have?” Rainbow asked, agape.
“Any reason I wouldn’t?” Spitfire asked. “You’ve done a lot of good as Mare Do Well, I’m rather amazed you came back.”
“Of course I would! Think I’d abandon my destiny in favor of something that’d just hold me back?” Rainbow asked instinctively, only prompting the yellow pegasus to raise an eyebrow at her.
“Do you even know what you mean by that?” Spitfire asked, earning a confused look from the younger pegasus. “Rainbow Dash, the Wonderbolt mantra is to always follow your dreams. Which reminds me, you may not believe this, but my dream of becoming captain of the Wonderbolts was inspired by my hero, Captain Firefly.”
Rainbow was once again agape. “My… mom… was your hero?” she asked.
“Your mom, huh?” Spitfire asked. “That would explain a lot. She was brave, determined, and loyal to everypony. She was always pushing herself to be the best, but always slowed down to help somepony who needed it. Soarin and I even pledged once we graduated high school, we were gonna do whatever it took to get accepted into the academy and become the next Wonderbolts… unfortunately, we didn’t make it in till after she retired…” she explained. “…At least I still got to meet her when I was a filly, got her autograph and a picture from an awesome air show she was in!”
Rainbow Dash tried to imagine all that. Her mother may have been her inspiration to become a wonderbolt, but it was weird learning her biggest idol wasn’t much different from herself long ago.
“Rainbow Dash, whatever happens, so long as you keep working to be everything you can be, you have my support. But until then, I suggest you go rejoin the others and take it easy for the night. Tomorrow’s another day and believe me it’s only gonna get a lot tougher from here,” Spitfire explained as she turned to leave, and once again the pegasus was alone with her thoughts.
~
“An overcast sky all around, and lots of storm clouds all dormant. The team was very diligent in setting this up for you…” Spitfire explained to the cadets. “You MAY recall the time you were required to clean up regular ol’ clouds, right? Well this time you’re dealing with something a little more dangerous… storm clouds. With all the rainwater and lightning it comes with,” she said, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “Remember, unlike the task you were given last time, this can NOT be treated like a race. You must use caution and care if you’re going to clean this up properly. One wrong step, and I’m sure any weatherpony knows what happens if these clouds get disturbed…”
Rainbow looked over at her current wingpony. Leads and wingponies had been swapped about among the others for variation and learning to work with others, and this time, Cloudchaser was appointed Rainbow’s teammate. “Ready?” the other pegasus asked.
“Heh, this’ll be a piece of cake,” Rainbow said with a grin.
“Are you all set, cadets?” Spitfire shouted.
“YES MA’AM!” the cadets shouted in unison.
“Then GO!” the captain ordered, blowing her whistle and the ponies were off to their designated areas.
Rainbow moved as fast as she could without leaving Cloudchaser too far behind. The idea was to spread out and cover more ground, but remain close enough to help eachother out in case something went wrong. As she moved, however, Rainbow saw what she thought looked like a Wonderbolt zip by from behind one black cloud and behind another. No, wait, it wasn’t. Their costume didn’t have a black and purple color scheme…
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by faint laughter. Not a playful laugh, but a cruel, menacing one.
“Cloudchaser, did you hear that?” she asked her wingpony.
“Hear what?” Cloudchaser asked, dissolving a storm cloud successfully.
“It was—“ Rainbow began and suddenly she saw what looked like a burning sphere of purple fire come flying out from behind a cloud, striking the one in front of her in a violent, fiery purple explosion and emitting a horrific shriek, knocking the cyan pegasus backward and plummeting towards the ground. As she fell, she noticed a odd pegasus silhouette emerge on a cloud, watching her fall.
“Rainbow Dash!” Cloudchaser sped down as fast as she could towards her falling teammate, catching her with her hooves. “Rainbow Dash, are you alright?” she asked.
“Yeah… I’m fine…” Rainbow answered, shaking her head to fight off the dizziness and looking up, noticing the mystery pegasus was gone.
“What was that?” Cloudchaser asked.
“I don’t know, I saw some pegasus in a weird outfit and suddenly some purple fireball came my way!” Rainbow said.
“Weird like fashion disaster weird or weird like supervillain-weird?” the other pegasus asked.
“Definitely the second, I didn’t get a good look but it was like the Wonderbolts’ uniforms, except with dark colors, like remember my Nightmare Night costu—“
Suddenly, before Rainbow could finish they were rained upon by more fiery purple spheres that began exploding all around them.
Barely avoiding the explosions as they began obliterating storm clouds and activating others, Rainbow Dash and Cloudchaser flew back up as fast as they could.
“We gotta go warn Spitfire! Now!” Cloudchaser said urgently.
“But we gotta find the others!” Rainbow replied, dodging another purple fireball that exploded into a cloud next to her in a burst of purple flames and smoke.
“We get Spitfire, she can get the instructors to take care of them. Come ON!” Cloudchaser insisted, Rainbow grimacing as she followed but knowing her wingpony had a point.
~
“Back again early?” Spitfire asked, though this time more concerned.
“Captain! Somepony attacked us! They were using some kind of magic fireballs we barely got away!” Cloudchaser explained.
“I saw them, only for a second. Pegasus wearing an outfit that looked like a Wonderbolt uniform, but it was purple and black. Didn’t get a chance to get a good look at anything else about them,” Rainbow said. “What’re your orders?”
“I’ve never heard of any Wonderbolt matching that costume. I’ll get the instructors right away.” With that, she blew her whistle as loud as she could, but the moment she did, countless explosions of purple flame went off in the clouds surrounding the academy and within them, the laughter Rainbow remembered from earlier could be heard, but it grew louder and escalated into a psychotic cackle. The three ponies looked up, and descending down towards them, leaving behind a trail of black smoke and purple lightning, was the pegasus Rainbow had seen earlier.
It was a mare, with a faded blueish-gray coat and a purple and gold-streaked mane and tail in a wild style that’d make Vinyl Scratch look well-groomed. She wore a purple and black costume identical to the false Wonderbolts Nightmare Moon had attempted to deceive Rainbow Dash with so long ago, with luminous yellow goggles over the eyes and a skull mark on the flanks of the uniform. As she came to a stop, the smoke billowed around her and the purple lightning sparked about as she hovered in the air, her wings flapping to keep her in place as she flashed a grin that showed tiny fangs then let out another crazed laugh. "Anypony up for being on the receiving end of a little widespread chaos and carnage, raise your hooves and say AYE! Whaddya say, Captain Spitfire?" she shouted, giving a challenging glare at the Wonderbolt captain..
“Instructors! Go find the cadets NOW! Cloudchaser, Rainbow Dash, go help them and bring them back to the mess hall when you find them. I’ll deal with this intruder,” Spitfire ordered.
“We can’t leave you by yourself!” Rainbow insisted, looking at the costumed mare who sported a sinister grin as she remained where she was.
“That’s an ORDER, cadet!” Spitfire said firmly, and Rainbow Dash promptly nodded and she went off to follow the instructors and Cloudchaser. Now alone with the intruding pegasus, Spitfire took to the air and hovered in front of her, the two circling eachother for a few moments. “I don’t know who you are, or what you’re expecting to accomplish here, but I don’t take well to psychopaths showing up to cause trouble at my academy…” Spitfire said, throwing aside her sunglasses.
“Of course you don't know who I am! If I wanted anypony to, think I'd wear this mask?" the other pegasus said matter-of-factly with a laugh. "You can call me Shadowbolt. Not that it’ll matter because I’m not expecting you to fly away from this… scratch that, I do just not in one piece!” the mare sneered with a dangerous chuckle, suggesting she may have been more then a little bit deranged as she raised up a hoof and suddenly a flaming purple sphere formed above it, a ‘face’ made of menacing ‘eyeholes’ and a jagged ‘mouth’ briefly appearing on it before she flung it at the Wonderbolt captain. Spitfire weaved out of the way, the purple fireball hitting the ground behind her and exploding on impact. Shadowbolt then summoned two more, flinging them one after the other as Spitfire flew past them, slamming her hoof into the costumed villain’s chest and sending the other pegasus into a wall. Before Shadowbolt could move, Spitfire was already upon her, striking her several times with her hooves, causing the villain to grunt with each blow.
“Had enough?” Spitfire asked, drawing back her hoof to deliver another strike.
“Try me!” Shadowbolt said with a sinister grin, and suddenly purple lightning surged from her body, shocking the Wonderbolt captain and sending her falling. Before she even hit the ground, Shadowbolt summoned another purple fireball and flung it at her, the explosion sending Spitfire tumbling backwards across the runway. “How do you like my shadowbombs? Pretty nasty, huh? Perfect for handling pesky clouds and tough-stuff pegasus aerobats!” she said with a crazed laugh, creating more and flinging them as soon as they’d form. Spitfire rolled out of the way of the explosions; even though she was a pegasus that purple lightning still stung, and the shadowbombs were overwhelming when Shadowbolt was throwing them so rapidly so long as she remained on the ground. Taking to the air, Spitfire flew straight up and then swooped down, resuming the fight.
Amongst the clouds, Rainbow Dash saw that the weather had grown more chaotic. Storm clouds were waking up, and they’d managed to recover most of the cadets.
“Who’s left?” Rainbow asked urgently.
“Just Lime Jelly and Bulk Biceps,” Whiplash said.
“Found ‘em!” Thunderlane shouted. The two were surrounded by violent storm clouds that crackled with lightning all around. Immediately, Whiplash and Manerick flew in with several other instructors and cleared the clouds away.
“You alright?” Whiplash asked.
“…YEAH!” Bulk Biceps shouted, his resolve back.
“I’ll be alright,” Lime Jelly said with a small smile.
Rainbow looked back towards where the academy was. Purple light from explosions could be seen in the distance. “Get back to the mess hall. I’ll meet you all later,” Rainbow said, speeding off before anypony could answer, though many of them already had a pretty good idea what she had in mind.
~
Spitfire barrel-rolled away from a bolt of purple lightning Shadowbolt fired from her hoof, then moved upward avoiding another shadowbomb. Swooping at her, a fiery aura began to surround the Wonderbolt captain as she moved at incredible speed, slamming into Shadowbolt and sending the costumed villain somersaulting in the air before turning around to do it again, but this time Shadowbolt was prepared and weaved to the side, firing a blast of purple lightning that struck Spitfire’s wing, causing the pegasus to rapidly lose altitude and fall toward the ground while the crazed villainess laughed madly as she watched.
Suddenly, she felt somepony catch her, looking up behind her, Spitfire found herself face-to-face with a dark blue-masked muzzle that belonged to Mare Do Well.
“Look, I’m grateful for your intentions, but this would be considered disobeying an order…” Spitfire said. The last thing she needed was for Rainbow Dash to get herself killed by this maniac.
“The others are safe now. The instructors got them to the mess hall. I just came back to help, and do what I do best,” Mare Do Well answered. “You alright, ma’am?”
“I’ll be fine, but my wing’s gonna need attention before I use it again. Hate to admit it but Shadowbolt there tagged me pretty good.”
Before Mare Do Well could answer, suddenly two more shadowbombs suddenly came flying in her direction, followed by sinister laughter. The costumed pegasus weaved out of the way to avoid them.
“HELLOOOOOOOOOOO! FORGETTING SOMEPONY?!” Shadowbolt called out. “And they think ME rude!” she said, giving a sideways glance as though she were addressing an imaginary audience. With a crazed laugh, she raised her hoof up again as purple lightning danced around it.
“Oh Tartarus…” Mare Do Well muttered, dropping altitude and barely dodging another lightning bolt, then moving to the left, then the right, avoiding another pair of shadowbombs that flew past her and exploded behind her. Moving at high speed, Mare Do Well flew past Shadowbolt, causing the villainess to spin a few times.
“Nice to see you show up, Mare Do Well, but you’re not getting away that easily!” Shadowbolt shouted with a laugh, flying after them. Due to having only herself and Mare Do Well carrying Spitfire, the villainess soon caught up to her, then swept past her, then flew in circles in front of the two pegasi and just as they were about to reach her, a tornado formed and came straight at them, Shadowbolt’s insane cackling could be heard and suddenly a flurry of shadowbombs flew out of the tornado in random directions, exploding whenever they hit anything.
“Over there!” Spitfire gestured to several thicker, higher clouds, and Mare Do Well complied, flying her up to them. “The vortex won’t reach us from up here,” the Wonderbolt captain explained and Mare Do Well placed her down on the cloud and landed beside her to take a few breaths. As they did, though, they noticed the tornado suddenly dissipate, and Shadowbolt was missing.
“Wait, where is she?” Mare Do Well asked quietly. Spitfire looked around but saw no sign of her. From what she’d seen of the pegasus, Shadowbolt seemed more likely to just blow up every cloud she saw if she were still looking for them. Unless she wasn’t here anymore…
“Mare Do Well, she’s gone after the others! Go deal with her!” Spitfire said.
“What about you? You're injured I can't go without you!”
“Whether you carry me or I try to fly with an injured wing, I’m only gonna slow you down. I can catch up later with a cloud ride. Go now, that’s an order!” the captain said firmly.
“Yes, ma’am.” Mare Do Well said with an instinctive salute, then sped off back towards the academy, while Spitfire worked on tearing a piece of cloud loose to ride back.
~
“Definitely not like last time…” Lime Jelly said.
“I’ll say, last time I don’t remember crazed pegasi throwing explosive purple fireballs at us!” Thunderlane said.
“We oughta do something. I feel so useless just hiding in here!” Cloudchaser said.
“Spitfire doesn’t want any of you in danger, you need to do as she said,” Manerick stated.
Suddenly a series of explosions blew away the entire wall they were near, sending cadet and instructor alike flying. Coughing, Cloudchaser struggled under the rubble that had fallen on top of her and turned at the sound of familiar sinister cackling as Shadowbolt took that moment to stride in.
“Too bad she won’t be getting what she wants,” Shadowbolt said. “This being the mess hall, any chance I can grab a bite? Wanton slaughter has a way of working up a killer appetite, let me tell you!” Laughing at her sick joke, Shadowbolt raised a hoof, and another shadowbomb formed over it and flung it past them, blowing up one of the tables. Whiplash and Manerick immediately leaped into action, flying straight at the pegasus, only to be struck down by twin bolts of purple lightning as she threw her head back and let out a loud, crazed laugh. “Now THAT felt good!”
“Who the hay are you anyway?!” Thunderlane asked, pinned under some rubble.
“Friends call me Shadowbolt, you can call me your executioner!” Shadowbolt replied with a fanged grin, taking to the air and raising both hooves, and two more shadowbombs appeared.
Right before she could throw them, however, she was struck from behind by Mare Do Well, causing both shadowbombs to dissipate and both pegasi tumbled across the floor and into the opposite wall and through it.
“Get her, Mare Do Well!” Cloudchaser cheered.
“YEEEAAAHHHH!!!” Bulk Biceps shouted, the boost of enthusiasm allowing him to bust out of the rubble he was under.
The two pegasi remained interlocked in battle, trading hoof strikes as they spun about in the sky, lightning from the active storm clouds striking all around them. Shadowbolt cackled madly as she used her hind legs to kick Mare Do Well off her and immediately summoned more shadowbombs after, flinging them one after the other at the superheroine. Now free of distraction and bystanders, Mare Do Well put her full focus and avoided each fireball, swinging her hoof and striking Shadowbolt in the face once she got close enough, then looped in the air and slammed her hooves into the villainess’ chest, sending her tumbling across the runway. Shadowbolt raised her hoof up and fired another blast of purple lighting, causing Mare Do Well to jerk back and buy her all the time she needed to get back up and take to the air again, flinging more shadowbombs at her. Mare Do Well flew straight up and then flew circles around Shadowbolt as fast as she could, creating enough wind force to cause Shadowbolt to spin out of control and get flung into the air before falling, but was promptly intercepted by Mare Do Well, who swooped down with a drop kick from her hind leg, sending Shadowbolt crashing into the outer wall of the mess hall.
Landing on her hooves, Shadowbolt shook her head, dazed slightly, and grinned again at Mare Do Well, before letting out a very sinister laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Mare Do Well asked.
“Oh, just a little choice you’ll have to make, Mare Do Well. Stop me, or save those poor trapped cadets and this academy!” Shadowbolt said, immediately taking to the air and flying in high-speed circles, and suddenly a massive tornado formed. “We’ll meet again one day, Mare Do Well! Count on it!” she declared, letting out another laugh and she flew off into the dark clouds, a trail of smoke and purple lightning behind her and soon she was gone.
“Great,” Rainbow muttered, flying into the mess hall through the hole she and Shadowbolt had made earlier.
“Everypony, listen!” Mare Do Well ordered, getting cadet and instructor alike’s attention as they finished getting out of the rubble. “There’s a big tornado outside and its coming this way! I need everypony who’s okay to help me dissipate it, now!”
Immediately, Cloudchaser, Bulk Biceps, and Thunderlane stood. Whiplash shook his head, fighting off the pain from getting shocked earlier and approached as well. Manerick got up as well, nodding but looking a little worse for wear. Several of the other cadets were still unconscious or injured.
“Reverse-tornado!” Whiplash said. “I’m sure all of you know how to do that. “Fly in the opposite direction of the vortex, top to bottom. It’ll break it apart.”
“Got it. Let’s go!” Mare Do Well said, flying off, followed by the ponies who had stepped forward to face the tornado, fighting off its powerful suction as they moved towards the top.
“Okay, split in two teams, follow me and Whiplash!” Manerick said loudly as he could to be heard over the powerful gusts. Mare Do Well and Cloudchaser joined him, while Bulk Biceps and Thunderlane joined Whiplash., and they began flying in circles, moving downward in the opposite direction of the winds and avoiding the funnel. The intense wind current was brutal, but they didn’t let up, the academy was counting on them. Mare Do Well closed her eyes and flew with all her strength. The tornado drew ever closer to the mess hall, tearing away debris the pegasi took caution to avoid, till a stray brick slammed Manerick in the chest and sent him flying.
“Manerick!” Cloudchaser shouted, looking back.
“Don’t worry about him right now, we gotta stop this tornado!” Mare Do Well shouted. “Everypony use every bit of power you got!” Being down a teammate, they pushed harder, avoiding as much debris as possible, Bulk Biceps swatting aside a bench like it was an insect and Whiplash weaving through anything that came is way but being careful not to lose too much speed. Flapping her wings as hard as she could, Mare Do Well let out a strained grunt as she finally reached the bottom of the funnel, and it dissipated before it could tear away any more of the wall and suck up the pegasi inside.
“We… did it…” Mare Do Well muttered, out of breath and collapsed to the ground.
“YEEEAAAAHHH!” Bulk Biceps cheered, flexing his hoof while Whiplash flew off to check on Manerick.
“Where’s Spitfire?” Whiplash asked looking back at Mare Do Well.
“Northwest by the storm clouds. She’s injured so she told me to leave her and come help you guys.” Mare Do Well explained. With a nod, Whiplash shook Manerick, helping him up and the two flew off to find their captain.
After a minute of getting her breathing back to normal, Rainbow slid her mask up to get herself some more air.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash… er… Mare Do Well?” Cloudchaser asked, approaching.
“Yeah, Cloudchaser?” the costumed pegasus asked, still flopped on the ground and slightly out of breath.
“I think I’m happy just reading about the stuff you go through,” she said with a smirk, barely stopping herself from falling over from fatigue as well.
“Well, being a superhero’s not for everypony. Just the really awesome ones,” Rainbow answered, grinning playfully and looked over to the side, seeing Spitfire being brought back by her two guards.
“They told me everything. How’re you holding out there?” Spitfire asked, looking down at the costumed pegasus.
“I’m fine, ma’am… just… Shadowbolt got away but I couldn’t let her destroy the academy!” Rainbow answered.
“You made the right choice. You put everypony’s safety over catching the bad guy,” Spitfire said. “Trust me, though, there’s gonna be tougher choices down the road then that,” she explained, then looked at the other cadets. “Everypony who’s alright, get some rest. Manerick, Whiplash, handle the injured and help them get to the clinic,” she ordered, then looked back at Rainbow Dash. “You, see me in my office tomorrow at noon sharp. Don’t be late.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rainbow answered, with as firm a salute as she could manage.
~
“Come in,” Spitfire ordered as the door opened and Rainbow Dash, back in her cadet uniform walked in.
“Well, I’m here. And good news, the others have been pretty easy on me about the whole superhero thing. Probably for the best, I mean you wouldn’t want to see me when stuff like that gets to my head!” she rambled, clearly nervous.
“Leave. I need to talk to her in private,” Spitfire ordered Manerick and Whiplash, who promptly saluted and walked out, closing the door behind them.
“So, what’d you bring me in here for, ma’am?” Rainbow asked.
Spitfire sighed a little and got out of her seat. “Good news and bad news, cadet. Good news is, I’m really proud of you for what you did last night. You fought hard, you worked to protect everypony here, you saved them from a dangerous lunatic.”
“…But?” Rainbow asked.
“But… I also mentioned tough choices would come down the road, and one of them’s one I had to make. Rainbow Dash, I’m dismissing you from the Wonderbolt Academy,” Spitfire said, her tone was firm, but there was a hint of guilt even she could not conceal.
Rainbow Dash stared agape, unable to believe what she heard. “Haha. Real funny, ma’am. I-I know you always had a-a gre-eat sense of humor…” she said, but Spitfire’s expression said otherwise.
“It’s no joke, Rainbow Dash. You stopped belonging here ever since you became Mare Do Well,” Spitfire said. “You’re only fooling yourself otherwise.”
Rainbow grit her teeth, hitting her hoof on the floor.
“DON’T… leave yet. I didn’t say you could and I’d rather not have a repeat of last time when you didn’t give me a chance to explain myself!” Spitfire said sternly.
“Well what else is there to say? Being a Wonderbolt’s been my lifelong dream!” Rainbow protested indignantly. “I’d think I’d at least get something other then dismissal for what I did last night!”
“It’s the best I can do for you, Rainbow Dash. Remember when you asked me if I think you’d abandon your destiny in favor of something that’d just hold you back? You remember what I said in response to that?” the captain asked.
Do you even know what you mean by that? Spitfire’s words repeated in the pegasus’ mind, causing her to hang her head, a downcast look on her face.
“As I read about your experiences as Mare Do Well, the thought came to me, and I’ve been thinking it over for some time, but I wanted to see for myself if I was making the right choice… I guess I got my answer in a more extreme way then I expected,” Spitfire explained, recalling all that had happened last night. “You’ve found a path and a role that means a lot to ponies you’ve met and helped. You’re the Bearer of Loyalty, so I know that’s something you won’t give up even if you wanted to. Now tell me, Rainbow Dash, did you at any point and time while you were here, wonder how other ponies were doing without you there to watch over them as Mare Do Well?”
“N-no! Of course not! I was focused on this 100%!” Rainbow insisted, forcing a grin.
“With that kind of talent for lying, I’m amazed you’ve kept your identity mostly secret as long as you have,” Spitfire said flatly. “Be honest with me.”
Rainbow sighed. “Yes. I was. I kept worrying what if Shockwave… or Frostmare… or Gametime or Decepto gets out of Alkatrot while I’m gone… o-or if this enemy Big Shot I haven’t even met yet is gonna pull off some part of whatever he’s got planned and I won’t be there to stop him, or if any disasters happen, what if somepony dies because Mare Do Well wasn’t there to save them? But I don’t want to abandon my dreams either!”
“Sometimes, Rainbow Dash, you have to. Besides, if you really were so hung up on this, why’d you bring the costume? Were you expecting something to happen, or were you planning to sneak out at night to do patrols? Between that and training, not even Princess Celestia has that kind of endurance!” Spitfire explained. “You have the makings of a great Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash, but your heart and spirit are what made Mare Do Well the kind of hero I hope won’t go away any time soon.”
“I-I wasn’t… planning to…” Rainbow said, trying to fight back tears.
“Exactly my point. Look here,” Spitfire said, opening her drawer and taking out a photo, laying it on the desk for Rainbow Dash to see. A pink pegasus with a blue mane wearing a wonderbolt costume stood, posing with a much, much younger, filly-age Spitfire. The Wonderbolts mantra was on the side, written and signed by Captain Firefly. Rainbow Dash smiled a little, her mom looked so awesome there, every bit the legend she was known for being during her Wonderbolt years.
“Firefly gave up her life and career as a Wonderbolt to settle down and have a family with your dad. It took me awhile to really get why she would… I mean I was still young and inexperienced at the time… but later I got that she was happy with her choice, because she was with the ones she cared for most, they mattered enough to her to leave that behind and go a new direction. Now I doubt being Mare Do Well’s nearly that peaceful, but the point is you’ve found something else that feels more worthwhile, and I agree with it,” the wonderbolt captain explained.
“But…” Rainbow began. “I’d… at least hoped the training here could make me a better Mare Do Well…” she attempted, still trying to deny what may have, in the long run, have been for the better.
“I won’t phase you out completely, Rainbow Dash. First of all, you’re free to keep the Lead Pony badge as a memento, if you want. And second, I have some off-time this weekend before I have to rejoin the others to evaluate and return to Canterlot. If you’re interested I’ll meet you at Smoky Mountain and show you some of our combat maneuvers.”
Without words, Rainbow instinctively threw her forelegs around Spitfire and hugged her. A second later, realizing what she was doing, she promptly let go and stood back. “Sorry about that. A little carried away, I guess,” she said. “…Thanks, I guess. It’ll take me some time to get over this, but…” she sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Mare Do Well is a full-time gig.”
“You’ve done a lot of good as Mare Do Well, I know she’d be proud,” Spitfire said, giving another glance at her photo before leading her outside.
~
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today marked probably one of the hardest turning points in my life. I learned how being Mare Do Well is a part of me that isn’t just important to me, but important to everypony around me. Being a superhero can feel like the most awesome thing in the world sometimes, and on the outside, fillies and colts are probably wishing they could be me.
But that’s just what it is… on the outside. On the inside, it leads to choices I’d rather not make, choices sometimes other ponies will notice before I do and may even have to make for me when they care enough to do what they feel is best for me. I had to leave behind the dream I’ve had since I was a filly. There are too many ponies, places, and things Mare Do Well needs to be there for and can’t be held back or distracted by her own goals sometimes…
Rainbow walked to the end of the runway, her things packed as she looked back at the other cadets and Spitfire, who all gave her an honest salute. Smiling sadly, Rainbow returned the salute, spread her wings, and flew off into the afternoon sky.
As I’ve always said, Mare Do Well is a hero, and I think I’m understanding how these choices and agreeing with them are part of what defines that. A hero acts with grace and humility, and accepts the right choice over what they may want to have. A hero is there when they’re needed…
Rainbow Dash finished straightening the cape and slid her mask on, topping it off with the hat, and looked over at Twilight and Spike, who had been writing the letter for her.
“And that’s what I’m going to do. Spitfire made the right choice, I see that now. She wants me to be the best I can be, and this isn’t a loss, it’s a chance to be that, and I won’t let anypony down trying to make that happen. Your faithful subject, Rainbow Dash.” She concluded, and nodded. Spike smirked, rolled up the scroll and sealed it, and breathed fire on it, sending it away to the Princess’s throne room.
“So, which city today, Mare Do Well?” Twilight asked.
“Van Hoover, Twi.” The costumed pegasus said. She altered her schedule from time to time so no criminal ponies picked up a pattern. Twilight nodded and her horn began to glow, and in a flash of light, Mare Do Well vanished.
~
On the windy mountaintops, a dark-clad pegasus mare paced about, glancing down at the lands below with a fanged sneer.
“This isn’t over, Mare Do Well. You fly along and be the hero all you like, but I look forward to the next time we meet, when I know I’ll have you all to myself…” she said, letting out a loud, terrifying, maniacal laugh that echoed across the mountains she stood upon as purple smoke swirled around her.