//------------------------------//
// Year One: Best Hero Ever 
// Story: A Study In Nonsense 
// by Professor Piggy 
//------------------------------//

So it had started off as a prank, a stupid joke designed to teach her a lesson. So what? She knew pranks better than anypony in town except maybe Pinkie Pie, and she knew good pranks better than anypony in town. And the thing about a really good prank was that sometimes it kept going in ways you hadn’t really expected ‘em to when you planned them. And a lot of the time that sucked – like when she’d gotten carried away when Rarity’d fallen into the pit she dug for Pinkie and ended up shaving her bald. They’d all been really mad, then – like it was her fault that Rarity’d stumbled into the stupid thing!

But sometimes it was awesome. Like, really awesome. And thinking back on it she was pretty sure that that’s where the last year of her life, her first year as that super mysterious badass extraordi-mare – she cringed at her own joke, another reminder to work on her one liners – Mare Do Well, had ended up. She had saved a few lives, kicked some serious flank, gotten a whole bunch of super dramatic landing practice in, as well as some crash landing practice; heck, she’d even stopped a crime. Sure, littering wasn’t really that big of a deal, but Ponyville was a pretty nice place and the chance to stop even a little actual crime had just been too much to pass up. Just like tonight, except not as dumb,

On the whole, she was pretty proud of herself. But as she stared up from the ground at the pony with the bat, head still spinning from the impact of it against her skull, she couldn’t help but feel like her friends were still gonna be really mad at her. Not that it really seemed like it was gonna matter, now, what with the whole ‘probably gonna be dead pretty soon’ thing, but it still made her kinda mad. She’d just wanted to help out. And the whole superhero thing’d been their idea.

As the dumb earth pony and his two stupid friends advanced towards her, she lifted herself to her feet and weighed her options. She could run, but they were earth ponies and that meant they were probably in better shape on land than she was. Also they hadn’t just been hit in the head with a bat and probably weren’t having trouble just standing without throwing up. Though they did look like they’d been drinking, and she had caught them just as they finished robbing the bar, so that might not have been a safe bet.

She could try flying, but if running when she felt this way was a bad plan trying to fly this way was probably a worse one. Sure, she might make it as far as a nearby roof, but then she’d just collapse and fall off again. Or not. Probably not. Chances were she could get to safety if she took to the skies but… to be honest, she didn’t really want to. Maybe it was the whack in the head talking, or maybe it was wounded pride. Heck, knowing her it could even have just been plain old stupidity.

Whatever it was, it made her grin beneath her mask – and a moment later, she was barreling towards her attackers at top speed, shouting a war cry and feeling more alive than she had all night.