//------------------------------// // Part 4, Boom Goes the Dynamite // Story: Grand Heist vs The Mysterious Mare Do Well // by aceotaku //------------------------------// Applejack woke up, rising from her bed gracefully and trotting over to her vanity, scrutinising her appearance in the mirror as she applies makeup to her face. She walked to her wardrobe and chose an appropriate dress, a simple black number. As she excited her bedroom and trotted downstairs she sniffed something in the air...a smell that was vulgar and vile and did not belong in her home. She marched downstairs and pulled up a floorboard, noting that it wasn’t nailed in for some odd reason...then her face blanched. Under her floor were several sticks with long, thin fuses connected to a red gem, smelling strongly of gunpowder to her sensitive nostrils. She lowered the board and hurriedly grabbed a special package she ahd planned to show her friends anyway before running out of her house fast as she could, thanking the heavens that neither Applebloom or Strongheart lived with her. --------------------------- Grand Heist stood in the centre of Ponyville, humming to himself, before pressing a small switch he held in his hoof. This caused the town well to explode with quite a large amount of volume, causing ponies to wake. When four abandoned houses exploded at different points in the town, that was when the town went into full panic mode, ponies running out of their homes, carrying friends, family and precious items with them as they began to evacuate the town while more buildings proceeded to explode. Grand Heist frowned, the notion that this may not work starting to crawl into his mind.... Suddenly a figure clad in dark purple and deep violet glided down from above in front of the thief, causing him to smile affably. “Ah, I’m so glad you could finall show yourself, I was beginning to think my attempt to draw you out had fallen flat.” He brough his hoof up to his chest with a light chuckle. “I’m glad you have proven me wrong.” “Draw me out?” Mare-Do-Well spoke, her voice rather deep and forced sounding. “I have been trying to draw you out!” “Au contraire, I went to a lot of trouble setting this all up to get your attention, after all, you only ever show up if something’s happening or if somepony calls out for you!” He spread his hooves wide as the townsponies had halted in their escape to watch. “And now we have a grand audience for I, Grand heist, to grandly reveal the sham you are to all in a suitably grand gesture!” He set off another bomb for emphasis, reminded the populace to escape, the crowds rushing away out of the city limits, several buildings now caught on fire bathing the square in red light. “Grand Heist...did you seriously admit to planting and triggering bombs in a small town...just to get my attention!?” Mare-Do-Well growled, glaring at her adversary. “Well nothing else seemed to work.” Grand Heist shrugged. Mare-Do-Well charged at him. “How many!?” The thief leapt over the Mare, drawing her towards the Town Hall. “Why, every building has between one to seven bombs planted in them. Sounds like a lot of work, I know, but I had to make sure I would get your attention.” “Forget the property damage, did you think about how many ponies you could hurt, or even kill, with this stunt!?” She shot a blast of magic at him from under her cape, but the blast fizzled out harmlessly the moment it connected. Grand Heist blinked, looking puzzled. “What are you talking about?” “I’m talking about the ponies who live in the town you psycho!!” Grand Heist simply titled his head, further perplexed. “Why does that matter?” he answered with complete nonchalance and honesty. “They’re nobodies, who cares what happens to them?” “You can’t be...” Mare-Do-Well stared in disbelief, and then glared hatefully. “They’re ponies just like you and me! Of course they matter!” She rushed at him, attempting to grab him with her bare hooves. Grand Heist ducked beneath her, tutting as he twirled his hoof, a large net of ropes rushing from behind him and ensnaring Mare-Do-Well, causing ehr to be pushed through into Town Hall, where the entire building had been piled inside with bombs, the hero struggling against her bonds as she fell to the floor. The thief skipped merrily into the building, music building. “Time for the Main Attraction The story must be told Time for a chain reaction It never gets old Some ponies get satisfaction Break king The mold Some Ponies are just distractions But I am just Grand!” He took Mare-Do-Well’s face in hooves, smirking mockingly as she glared at him. “Oh you did a good job Saving these worthless things It warms my heart and my flank To see such noble scenes.” He flourished to her side, looking reproachful. “Oh, don’t get me wrong You were very brave When faced with opening pickle jars You never caved!” He leapt to the middle of the building gesturing his hooves as he danced. “I’ve finished trying! Done with begging! No facts are left remaining! I got the gist of it It’s a perfect fit.” He shoved his face into hers, glaring. “I am done with your complaining!” He moved back as she tried to headbutt him, smiling amusedly. “I am taking this golden opportunity protect myself from obscurity you hurt my pride now enjoy the ride You’ll never be a part of this community!” He got close to her ears, stroking her cheeks. “You may say it’s all in my mind~” He moved to the opposite side. “But in the end I think you will fiiiiind!” He lifted her up, dancing around with her. “You are the main attraction! You story must be told! You are a new sensation! But it got old! You thought you’d get satisfaction Break king the mold! But you are just a distraction From something just Grand!” He laughed as he threw her onto the largest pile of bombs, leaning over her prone form, reaching to her neck. “But, before the climax, The Reveal!” He grabbed her mask, ripping it off...revealing the face of Rainbow Dash. “IIIIII KNNNEEWWW IIIIIT!!!” Grand Heist cackled in triumphed. “Iknewitiknewitiknewit I kneeewwww iiiit! What other pony is so obsessed with me, so obviously jealous of my talents and good looks and showmanship!? Nopony but YOU, RAINBOW DASH!” Rainbow huffed at him. “For your information, I went to all this trouble cause I knew it’d be the only chance I’d get at catching you would be to challenge that ego of yours!” “because you’re jealous!” “NO! It is NOT about YOU!” Rainbow shouted indignantly. “Well, partly so at any rate, but not the way you think! I wanted to catch you cause I knew you were trouble but also because somepony asked me to, somepony who told me how you hurt one of my friends in the past, AND then you have the audacity to hurt another friend, Applejack! This was about making you pay for hurting my friends, and hurting all the ponies you have, AND FOR WHAT!? To prove you can, that you’re better than everypony!?” Grand Heist shrugged. “Eh, part of it, but really, I’m doing this for one reason only: FAME! I figured that the best way to get my name across Equestria and everywhere else, I had to put on a grand persona, and perform only the flashiest, most unique crimes! Because really, there is no way I can become Celestia’s student or become a Princess, and besides,” he winked at Rainbow Dash knowingly, “everypony knows bad guys are more popular.” Rainbow struggled, ehr wings glowing under bonds. “Dangit why isn’t it working...?” The thief tutted, shaking his head. “Silly Rainbow Dash, you think I went to the trouble of binding you without taking into account your legendary magical prowess? Those are ropes are lined Orihalcum shavings. You know, the anti-magic metal? Sure you’ve heard of it. Anyway yeah, no magic while bounde under those ropes, and let me tell you, that cost a LOT of bits, but seeing you here, now, at my mercy, about to be blown to smithereens, it was all worth it.” He turned, heading towards the door with a mocking wave. “Farewell Rainbow Dash, I will see you in the papers. Specifically the obituaries. Because you’ll be dead. While I’ll be on the front page. Because I’ll be the most famous pony in Equestria and beyond. You got that?” “Just shut your gloating!” Rainbow cried out. “Spike’ll save me!” Grand Heist shrugged. “How? He’s back in your house is he not? After all, it’d be obvious who you were if you had a little pet dragon follow you around when you went around ‘saving’ ponies. And I doubt he’ll be able to get past the crowds fast enough to save you. Face it, you’re finished!” Rainbow paled, slumping. He was right, there was no realistic way anypony could get through to save her without pushing past ponies or risking being burned or blown up. She thought of Spike. Who would take care of him if she was gone? And her friends, how would they deal with this? She looked up at Grand Heist, a part of her hoping to beg him for mercy, to spare her life for the sake of her friends, but her pride shot that thought down. No matter what, she would never give that monster the satisfaction. Instead, she spat at him, though she couldn’t even get it a centimetre from her body. “Even with me gone, somepony will stop you.” “Oh?” Grand Heist chuckled. “And who will that be, Mare-Do-Well?” And then they heard somepony start singing. Several ponies. “There is no Need to fear When the Mare of Might is here where she comes is unknown perhaps a super ancient hill? Trouble comes She’s not slow It’s hip, hip, hip And away We go!” Rainbow stared in confusion as Grand heist started to look around in panic, pointing at Rainbow Dash. “W-what!? B-but SHE’S Mare-Do-Well!” “When criminals in this world appear” “No!” Grand Heist denied. “And break the laws that they should fear” “Stop singing!” the thief begged. “And frighten all that see or hear” Grand Heist glared at Rainbow Dash, holding up the switch, only for somepony to take it from him...a pony clad in a dark purple. “The cry goes out both far and near,” The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well sang, crushing the device in her hoof. “For Mare-Do-Well!” “Mare-Do-Well!?” Rainbow Dash parroted incredulously. “Mare-Do-Well!!” Grand Heist eclaimed, turning away from her...only to face a second Mare-Do-Well. “Speed of lightning!” The Mare-Do-Well sang, racing towards Rainbow Dash and grabbing her in her forelegs, jumping out the window with her. “Roar of thunder!” The first Mare-Do-Well punched Grand Heist in the jaw, knocking him spinning in the air. “Fighting all who rob and plunder!” A third Mare-Do-Well jumped down, dodging a kick from Grand Heist’s backlegs before grabbing them and spinning him around and around, throwing him in the air. “I-It can’t be!” Grand heist yelled out. “How can there be THREE Mare-Do-Wells!? And what does that make Rainbow Dash!?” The second (Fourth!?) Mare-Do-Well leapt back inside through the window, striking Grand Heist with a spinning kick, knocking him into the pile of bombs, his head spinning in a daze as the three heroes stood over him. “When in this world When headlines read,” They point to Grand Heist. “Of those whose hearts Are filled with greed Who rob and steal From those in need!” “Shut up!” Grand Heist spat. “Who rights this wrong With blinding speed?” “Mare-Do-Well!” The townspeople cheered from outside, Grand Heist shaking in fear. “Mare-Do-Well! Mare-Do-Well!” “Speed of lightning!” Two leapt out the windows as the third flew out of the door and into a large, black storm cloud. “Roar of thunder!” The hero kicked at the cloud sending a bolt of lightning into the building where Grand Heist sat among a massive pile of bombs. “Fighting those who rob and plunder!” “Mare-Do-Well!” The townsponies cheered as Rainbow Dash looked around in a confused daze. “Mare-Do-Well?” The Pegasus asked. “Mare-Do-Well.” Grand Heist whimpered as the bombs exploded, destroying town hall and sending him flying seemingly into the stratosphere. Rainbow Dash facehoofed as she walked over to the three heroes who had ran into an alley. They turned to her as she looked between them all. “Alright, who are you really?” The trio removed their masks, revealing...Applejack, Twilight and Fluttershy. “Applejack, do you realise how dangerous this was?” Rainbow Dash asked, unamused. “Darling, Ah know and it was frightfully scary even compared to all we’ve been through before, but Ah needed to tell them anyway, it would’ve been unfair.” The fashionista smiled sheepishly. “Besides, Ah needed an excuse to use these spares and when Ah found several bombs in mah house, Ah knew you would’ve needed help saving the town.” “Applejack managed to speak to us before Grand Heist detonatedthe bombs, so we were able to minimise the damage.” Twilight continued. “Spike saw Grand Heist fighting you and managed to send us a quick note asking for help and so we rushed over as fast as we could.” Rainbow smiled proudly. “Well, thanks, I really appreciate the save...though I think you could’ve done that without blowing up town hall. Mayor Mare is gonna be pretty peeved.” Fluttershy bopped herself on the head, sticking out a tongue. “Oopsie doodle. It’s fiiine! Everypony knows a superhero can’t beat up a super bad guy without breaking a building or two!” Rainbow Dash glared at her....before breaking out into laughter. “I suppose so!....sorry for lying to you all and keeping this a secret, but I felt I had to do it myself...” “We understand Rainbow...” Twilight said sheepishly. “I speak on behalf of the entire town when I saw we should’ve taken your concerns more seriously.” She looked around at the burned wreckage strewn around. “Otherwise we could’ve avoided this.” Rainbow shook her head. “Yeah but...I didn’t think Grand Heist would go so far as endanger an entire town just cause he was feeling threatened....” “Oh buck up silly!” Fluttershy interjected. “You didn’t know Grand heist was like super duper mean-bad, and it’s his problem if he decided to blow up the town! You can’t blame yourself for something a bad guy does!” “Ah think what she’s trying to say is...you are not responsible for the actions of an apparently violent sociopath.” Applejack smiled. “Besides, nopony was hurt thankfully, and we can rebuild. It...wouldn’t be the first time, admittedly...and all of I sudden I have just wondered why I haven’t moved out...” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Well, at least we got Grand Heist out of here, even though I was AIMING to capture him...” “Sorry.” Fluttershy giggled. “But still, I’m glad you guys helped...” The blue Pegasus turned towards the crowd of townsponies cheered for their hero. “Though...now I guess we’ll have to tell everypony the truth and tell them their hero only existed to teach a jerk a lesson.” Fluttershy put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, smiling conspiratorially. “Oh don’t worry, Auntie Shy has an idea...” “The idea doesn’t involve blowing up town hall again right?” Rainbow asked. “Nope! I’m saving that for next year.” Rainbow hoped that was a joke. -------------------------- Everypony was chattering amongst themselves, gossiping how they each witnessed Mare-Do-Well save the town, seemingly everywhere at once, putting out fires, removing bombs and evacuating ponies in case things went south, and had gotten everypony to help each other and work together despite their fear and confusion, even Spike helped by teleporting the bombs to a safe location, though he didn’t elaborate on where that was. Diamond Tiara looked up, and saw Mare-Do-Well fly into the air. “Look ther she is!” “You saved us!” “Thank you!” “huh...Where is she going?” Diamond Tiara blinked and started to tear up. “What....but...but you can’t leave! We love you!” “Stay here Mare-Do-Well! We need you!” “Who will protect us with you gone!?” Rainbow chuckled, walking to the crowd. “Sorry everypony, but Mare-Do-Well told me that she had to go home, she says there are a lot of ponies who need help, and she’s the only one who can.” “B-but!” Diamond Tiara stuttered tearily. “She’s our hero!” “I know,” The Pegasus nodded, “but...everypony needs a hero. Heroes inspire us, give us hope for the future, as well as rekindle our imaginations and inspire us. However, Mare-Do-Well told me...she told me that heroes are everywhere, no, that anypony and everypony can be heroes. Being a hero doesn’t involve special powers, a memorable name or costume or catch phrase or even epic fights, being a hero means only one thing...doing the right thing, and doing what you can when you can. Mare-Do-Well was here...cause she wanted to teach us that....that we can ALL be Mare-Do-Well.” “We...we can?” the filly sniffled as the other ponies looked at the Pegasus in thought. Rainbow Dash nodded. “Heck, the royal guard are heroes every day and they’re jsut doing their job protecting ponies from people like Grand Heist.” “But we don’t got the royal guard or anything like that here!” “I know, and that’s why I say we petition the Mayor Mare to get ourselves a proper law enforcement for the town, because we can’t rely on heroes like Mare-Do-Well all the time, we need to ensure we can protect ourselves, even if it means asking the government to provide the means for that protection.” “yeah!” the ponies cheered. “We don;t want this to happen again when Mare-Do-Well’s gone!” “Then go! Go to your homes, write a letter to the mayor or even the princess if you’re brave enough! Go and spread the word, go and be heroes like Mare-Do-Well knows you can be!” Rainbow Dash spread her wings, grinning. The townsponies cheered and ran to their hoems, or at least the ones that had homes still. “But first!” They stopped, turning to Rainbow Dash, “I think we should fix up the town as a first step!” They paused...then cheered even louder, marching off to find what supplies they could to clean up and repair the town. The cyan Pegasus chuckled...and turned to Applejack as the fashionista walked to her side. “Nice little Aesop, if Ah do say so myself.” Applejack said wrly. “Heh, thanks, I do admit it sounded a little clumsy...” “Oh hush! It was lovely and you know it!” “Um, I was wondering...” Rainbow turned to her loyal friend. “ Why did you agree to help me, when I explained myself better?” “What apart from being your friend?” Applejack scoffed in mock offense. “well...Ah do have another reason...you remember the fabric Grand Heist stole? Well, I wanted to pay him back for those...I was saving those for a very special occasion...” Rainbow raised a brow. “How special?” “They were for our Gala dresses.” The earth mare replied with a blush. “You do remember me saying hwo I have no interest in going to the Gala and how much I think you girls will hate it?” “Ah know but still...Ah think it would’ve been lovely to see what it would be like...even if it doesn’t match what we imagine, Ah think it would be just lovely to just go to the Gala and unwind after everything we have been through...as friends.” The Pegasus smiled. “I’ll think about it...though, I suppose you can’t make the dresses now...” Applejack scoffed. “Darling, even without those simply wonderful samples of expesive fabric, Ah can make the best dresses imaginable!” “Is that a challenge?” Rainbow asked with a smirk. “No, it is a promise! What kind of dressmaker would Ah be if Ah relied only on specialised materials?” The Pegasus chuckled. “Alright, let’s help clean up the town.” “On mah darling outfit, and with this makeup!?” “it’s either that, or double check for bombs with Rarity and Spike.” Applejack paled. “OH no...Ah’d rather deal with mess and ruined make up than the possibility of being blown up.” “Thought so.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. ---------------------------- Dear Rainbow Dash, I have received your report on Ponyville, and I find myself unsurprised. After I what I told you of my suspicions regarding Grand Heist, I felt I might have underscored just how devastating that action was, and so you were unprepared for the vile criminal’s true nature. However, I am glad you and your friends were able to deal with the matter yourselves, though I regret that you could not apprehend Grand Heist, I find the outcome acceptable regarding the circumstances. Grand Heist appears to have given up on Ponyville. I suppose he is scared, most likely justifying it as too ‘small’ to be worthy of his presence. I assume he was there just to spread his fame further, though I have suspicions he may have been after something else there too...The Gala tickets I suspect. Even here in Canterlot, they’re fairly sought after and considered valuable, since even merely being invited can cause a Noble’s standing to become greater and their name to become better known. Not to mention that the Princess always attend every year.... On that note, Celestia seems to have taken the town’s petition seriously, and is assigning a special branch of the guard as a field run of sorts, to see how they’ll deal with other ponies and vice verse. In fact, I believe you’ll be familiar with them yourself. The princess however is still adamant that Grand heist is harmless, and in fact she seems disappointed in you harassing him enough to drive him to extreme action. I suspect she may have deeper reasons for this behaviour of hers, it is peculiar... I shall continue to investigate Grand Heist in the mean time with the assistance of Blueblood and the Guard, and...I appreciate you keeping our correspondence to yourself, I am in enough trouble as it is for my theories, and I doubt your friendship with Twilight would last very long if she knew you spoke to me. It is...complicated. I hope our endeavours bear fruit in the future. Sincerely, Shining Armour, Prosecutor