Sugar Cube Corner was rarely without a healthy amount of patronage, but today it was packed with a small troupe of ponies in rainbow caps and multicolored wigs, the odd journalist and an appropriately-dressed dragon among them. All of them were looking up in rapt attention at the prismatic pegasus before them as she strutted down the tabletop, filled with confidence as she recounted her story.
“And then I zoomed down the well, scooped up that little baby in my hooves, and carried her out to safety.” Rainbow Dash grinned with satisfaction and continued, “I knew it would be dark and dangerous, but I didn’t let that stop me, because danger is my middle name! Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash!” She held her head up high and concluded, “Thinking back on it, I acted pretty awesomely heroic that day.”
As Spike repeated her last few words and jotted them down in a notepad, a few ponies in the back looked on in dissatisfaction. “Awesomely heroic that day, an’ awesomely arrogant ever since.”
The ponies gathered with her nodded in agreement as Applejack found her surprised by the heroine of the hour dashing up to her and wrapping a foreleg about her neck. “Hey Applejack! How’d you like to be immortalized as my friend?”
The farmmare boggled as the gathered journalists, as well as a few of the young fans, immediately started with their cameras.
With some disapproval, Twilight Sparkle moved towards her young assistant. “Are you seriously taking notes?”
“Yup!” The dragon beamed as he explained, “I’ve been hoof-picked by Rainbow Dash herself to write her autobiography!”
The unicorn’s eyes tabled. “Autobiographies are supposed to be written by the pony they are about.”
Rainbow Dash laughed. “Maybe for your normal, run-of-the-mill ponies, but I’m way too busy saving lives to stop and write.” She gently patted Spike upon his fedora-clad head and added, “That’s why I hired Spike as my ghost writer.”
Pinkie Pie yelped. “Spike’s a ghost!”
Rarity took hold of the pink party pony with a frown. “That’s not what the term means, darling.”
An exhale of relief. “Good. I don’t wanna throw a wake.”
“…yeah. Anyway, Spike writes down everything I say, and that way, I can stay focused on performing all these awesome acts of bravery that nopony else has the guts to perform.”
Twilight Sparkle frowned as she stepped forward. “Rainbow, nopony here is saying that what you’ve done isn’t something to be happy about, but don’t you think you’re taking this a little too far?” At her friend’s surprised expression, she elaborated, “I mean yes, you’ve helped ponies out and saved them from getting hurt, but there are plenty of other ponies who do the same, and they don’t milk for all it’s worth.”
The prismatic pegasus laughed. “Yeah, fine, but where were they when those ponies needed help? I didn’t see anypony else come to their rescue! No cops, no Royal Guards, just me!” She grinned as she turned back to her audience and declared, “And stuff like that takes guts! Brains! And sometimes a big lunch and a nap! Being a hero isn’t for everypony, but me? I’m up to the challenge!”
As Rainbow Dash continued to take snapshots with her fans, Twilight scowled, with the rest of her friends soon following her.
-
A few hours later saw Rainbow Dash signing autographs for a number of her fans, with the enthusiastic filly at the front accepting her signed photo with a smile. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash! Someday, I wanna be just like you!”
The prismatic pegasus grinned. “Don’t be afraid to aim high, kid, but know your limits.”
A scream rang out, and heads turned as, high above Ponyville, a punctured hot air balloon was plummeting downwards, Cherry Berry inside the basket and crying out for help. Gasps of shock rang out among the crowd, and heads turned back to Rainbow Dash as she was back at her autographs, albeit at a faster pace than before.
Lone among the crowd, Snips worriedly asked, “Don’t you think you should go and help?”
“I’ve got a good ten seconds, don’t worry.” She finished the photograph, then took flight, going fast but perhaps not as fast as she could to intercept the falling pony.
The crowd was tense as the scene unfolded. Few noticed Twilight in the crowd, her horn glowing as she readied a spell to slow the balloon’s descent, but a growing number caught sight of a dark figure as it darted across Ponyville’s rooftops. As the basket got dangerously close to the ground, the newcomer scooped Cherry Berry from the basket and out of danger. Rainbow Dash made a sudden stop as the balloon crashed to the ground, then watched as the new rescuer skidded to a halt and deposited their charge nearby, much to the delight of the cheering crowd, then darted onto a rooftop with a dramatic flourish of their cape.
“Sweet Celestia, that pony came outta nowhere!” A stallion looked about the crowd and called, “Who was that mysterious mare?”
“A new hero for Ponyville!” Heads turned as Mayor Mare appeared from nowhere and declared, “A mysterious mare who has done well by our fair city! I hereby dub this new masked hero, ‘The Mysterious Mare Do Well’!”
Much of the crowd cheered, but Rainbow Dash hovered nearby and crossed her hooves in displeasure. “Mare Do Well, huh? Well, that mare would do well to stay outta my way! Ponyville’s only got room for one hero, and that’s me!”
-
Within the next few days, a whirlwind of excitement had built up around Mare Do Well, discussion around town rarely straying far from the subject with each escapade and spectacle that they’d taken part in.
“Did you see Mare Do Well stop that runaway carriage? That took some amazing strength!”
“I saw Mare Do Well save all those construction workers when that crane malfunctioned! So fast, so agile!”
“I saw her patch up the dam with magic after it burst, and then I saw her fly away from the scene! It was amazing!” Daisy gasped and wondered aloud, “Do you think Mare Do Well could be an alicorn?!”
Rainbow Dash grumbled as she walked past the flower ponies’ stand. She’d seen all of that too, and every time, Mare Do Well had shown her up, pulled off all those stunts and saved all those ponies! It was like she’d known all that stuff was going to happen in advance! How dare she?!
But no way was Mare Do Well an alicorn. Equestria only had three of them, and they were all too big and too long in the leg to fit into that costume. No, there was another explanation, and the more she stewed over it, the more steamed she became as she stomped her way towards Sugar Cube Corner, confident that she’d find the ones responsible there.
As she reached the door and was about to throw it open, however, she stopped, and a tiny thought nagged at the back of her mind. What if she was wrong? She was already angry over the idea in her head, and as lousy as she’d feel about being right, how much lousier would she feel if she was wrong? As much as she wanted to charge in, she had to take a different tact.
She pushed open the door, and all of her friends looked at her in surprise, with Applejack raising an eyebrow. “You alright, Dash? You’re lookin’ awful steamed ‘bout somethin’.”
“Just got a lot on my mind.” She slowly walked in, consciously making an effort to not stomp her hooves, and kept her voice at an even level as she asked, “Girls, I’m gonna say this once, so please, give me a yes or no answer and don’t lie to my face. Are you guys Mare Do Well?”
Her friends looked at one another in shock before Applejack answered, “No! We ain’t! What in tarnation…?!”
“Good.” Rainbow sat down in a slump. “That’s good.”
More confused than anything, Twilight stepped forward and asked, “Rainbow Dash, what in Equestria could make you think that we were all Mare Do Well?”
“Because there’s no way everything she’s done could be done by one mare! But all of you together?!” She rounded on Rarity as she reasoned, “You could’ve easily made the costumes! You’ve got our measurements thanks to the Grand Galloping Gala!” Then to Pinkie Pie. “And that jumping around from rooftop to rooftop, and that rescue on the construction site?! Pinkie Sense would’ve made that a snap!” Then to Applejack. “And how many ponies would have the strength needed to stop that runaway carriage?!” Then to Twilight. “And that magic to fix the dam?!”
A shocked look was on Fluttershy’s face as she stepped forward. “But we’d be terrible friends if we did something like that!”
“I know! And I feel terrible for accusing you! But I’m sick of getting shown up like this, and all of you were acting like you had a problem with me being the hero! It made sense! Too much sense, and…!” She finally slumped forward and buried her head in her hooves in a fruitless attempt to conceal her anger and shame.
Twilight frowned and gently laid a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Rainbow Dash, I won’t say that I disagree with your logic. None of us are happy about the way you’ve been acting, both right before Mare Do Well showed up and since, but that doesn’t mean we’d go and pull a stunt like that.”
Still a little shaken, Rainbow Dash looked up and tried her best not to sound bitter. “Well, don’t you guys want me to help out? Save ponies?”
“Helpin’ out an’ savin’ ponies ain’t the problem, Dash. The problem is that you got a big head over it, bigger’n normal, struttin’ yer stuff like some high an’ mighty peacock.” Applejack scowled. “Reminded me just a little too much a’ that Trixie from a while back.”
That got the prismatic pegasus’ dander back up. “Hey! You were…!”
“Both of you! We’re getting off topic!” Twilight frowned at both of them and quietly noted, “And we’ll be having a talk about everything with Trixie later.” She then turned her attention back to Rainbow Dash. “Anyway, you remember what I was saying about other ponies helping out and saving ponies and averting disasters? How many of them do you think act like they deserve adulation just because they’re doing what they’re supposed to do? What they’re trained to do? A Royal Guard doesn’t do what they do for the fame or cheers. It’s a dangerous, thankless job, and they do it because it’s the right thing to do. And they don’t get a big head over it.” She frowned and admitted, “And while I admit, we could all have chipped in and played the part of Mare Do Well as you’ve suggested, none of us did.”
“Indeed.” Rarity stepped forward with a displeased look on her face. “And while I’m glad that you didn’t outright accuse us of taking on that identity, the fact that you’re clearly ashamed of having done so says a great deal. Regardless, your behavior during all of this and your reaction to Mare Do Well has been rather appalling. You’ve been acting like some spoiled, immature foal desperate for attention.”
Rainbow almost protested that, but instead quietly turned to Fluttershy and asked, “Have I?”
The yellow pegasus somberly nodded. “Yes, you have.”
“Like we were sayin’, there ain’t nuthin’ wrong with bein’ proud’a yerself, or helpin’ folks. Ain’t nopony who’d fault ya for it, neither. But after a while, we were startin’ to worry about why you were doin’ it.”
Rainbow Dash turned shamefaced as she tried to sit up. “It wasn’t about attention. Not at first, anyway. But that attention felt really good, and…” She bowed her head for a moment, then raised it again. “But why didn’t you guys just come to be about this before now?”
Twilight turned sad as she asked, “Would you have listened, after being on an attention high like that?”
The prismatic pegasus huffed. “Good point.” She looked them over as she admitted, “I don’t know why Mare Do Well decided to show up here and now, but I don’t think that matters. You guys must be mad as Tartarus with me.”
Fluttershy frowned. “No, more disappointed than anything.”
“Yeah, can’t blame you.” Dash turned around and mumbled, “Sorry guys. I need to be alone for a little bit.”
As her friend exited the shop and flew off, Twilight frowned. “It’s a good thing we really aren’t Mare Do Well, otherwise we’d be in really deep trouble right now.”
“Does raise the question of who it is under that mask.” Applejack looked among her friends as she explained, “Dash was probably right, an’ it’s more’n one pony, but somethin’ tells me we won’t ever know who they are.”
“And a part of me fears that the townsponies will simply forget all of this once Mare Do Well disappears for a while.” At her friend’s glances, Rarity explained, “What? I can’t be the only one who notices that we occasionally have rather short memories regarding certain topics.”
“Maybe in this case it’s for the best, but hopefully, Rainbow Dash won’t let anything go to her head again.” She then frowned and turned to Rarity and Applejack. “Now, as far as Trixie goes…”
-
“‘Dear Princess Celestia, I wish I could say I learned this lesson in a better way, but I didn’t. These last few days, I’ve been riding high on being a hero, only for all of that to go away once somepony else came along, somepony in a mask and cape. I got so caught up in my envy over not being everypony’s hero anymore that I ended up accusing my friends of trying to upstage me, and it’s gonna be a long time before they forgive me for that. It’s great to be good at something, but not so much when you rub it in everyone’s faces, and there’s no shame in admitting when someone else is better than you. Your loyal and very ashamed subject, Rainbow Dash’.” The stone-faced unicorn stallion looked up from the letter at the four ponies standing in line before him. “It seems we’ve had another deviation from what we were told would happen. Five times so far FROWN has failed to follow what we were told would be the normal progression of events, but fortunately, we have salvaged the situation well enough. Harmony is restored.”
Rainbow Dash, as it turned out, had been right – more than one pony had played the role of Mare Do Well. Four mares stood before the stallion, all identical in their costumes. As one, they turned about and marched out of the room, heading single-file along a hallway into a changing room, where they each removed their outfits and set them aside. The costumes would be burned, and records of the incident would be set aside and locked away, likely never to be seen again. As for the ponies themselves, none outside of the agency’s highest levels would know their identities. They were invisible, unseen, as easily forgotten and dismissed as déjà vu, and as they filed out of the room, nopony who passed by paid them any mind.
None noticed their glazed-over expressions. It was a common sight, after all, and not worth any notice.
The four ponies made their way out of the nondescript building in Canterlot, and broke off. One in particular made her way to Restaurant Row, and her arctic blue eyes regained focus just as a pair of voices called out to her.
“Bonnie!”
“Auntie Bon-Bon!”
Sweetie Drops felt as though she was waking up from a dream, then smiled to greet the two ponies rushing towards her. “Hey you two! Glad you could make it!” She hugged the smallest of the two tight and smiled. “You ready for our big day in Canterlot, Twist?”
The frizzy-maned little filly beamed. “Uh-huh! And I can’t wait to tell you about everything that’th happened in Ponyville while you were away!”
Lyra laughed. “Yeah, it’s been a crazy week.”
The candy mare sighed. “I’m sorry that I missed it. All my time here in Canterlot feels like it’s gone by in a haze, but that’s all the more reason to have some fun with the two of you.” She grinned and offered, “So come on, let’s get started with a nice meal.”
The three ponies laughed and made their way through the city. The topic of Mare Do Well would turn up, but it would soon be forgotten, and Agent Sweetie Drops of SMILE would be none the wiser about her role in it.
Ah, so the Stallions'in Black are acting behind the scenes. Hope that this doesn't turn out as bad as the Marionettes story although these guys seem almost as dark gray as in that story. Anyway, good call on this episode.
9667478
Thanks. I'm not at a point where I feel comfortable elaborating, but I'll say this right now - SMILE is going to be playing a role as the story goes forward.
Well, this is a take on this episode that I don't think I've ever seen before.
I like it very much.
And to be quite honest, this wasn't one of my favorite episodes, either.
Everyone was just so OOC, it just turned me off when I saw it.
To the point I've never watched it since.
Yeah, okay.
We all know Dash has an ego the size of the sky at times (major understatement there), but I've always thought that if someone just talked to her, she would've listened and dialed her bragging back to reasonable levels.
This ep just took things too much the wrong way, in my opinion.
9667658
Glad that you approve.
I definitely think that someone should have tried to talk to Rainbow Dash before they jumped into the Mare-Do-Well scheme, but at the same time, there's the chance she might not have listened. Case in point, 28 Pranks Later - after her friends tried to talk her down, Dash just escalated things. Maybe they could've done a better job of it, but my point stands.
Huh. Now that was a plot twist I didn't see coming. I must admit though, I like the idea!
All in all, I think you did a really good job here. TMMDW is (and probably always will be for some) a minefield to even address, and I think you did a really superb job of retelling and redoing the episode, especially in averting a lot of the usual pitfalls of handling one of the more contentious episodes in the series.
9667767 Oh, I definitely do!
As do I, but you have a very valid point on both of those.
Heh, sometimes I don't know who's the more stubborn ones in the Mane 6: Dash or AJ.
Kinda think they pretty much tie on that one.
Anyway, great Vignette, and I can't wait for the next one!
Or whatever story you update and/or publish next.
Okay, I know I said in the PM that I didn't have anything for the comment box since I've already seen this in draft form, but after looking at the comments, there's something I need to respond to.
9667767
One, that doesn't justify not trying to talk to her. Two, 28 Pranks Later takes place much later than the Mare-Do-Well fiasco, so it couldn't be used as justification even if the mane six wanted to. Third, I think you're underselling just how crappy a job the others did at trying to talk to her in 28 Pranks Later. The way Applejack was talking, only Rarity's follow-ups to everything she said made it clear to me she was trying to make Dash back off; if it weren't for that, based on what she said, I'd have come to the conclusion that she was trying to push Dash into escalating. And to Rarity's credit, she did do a much better job than Applejack, but since she only ever spoke after Applejack said something to provoke Dash, I can easily see her just not being paid attention to over the AJ/RD confrontation. Fourth, even if they had tried talking to her, that wouldn't have made what they did to Dash in canon any less cruel.
REALLY good alternate spin on this episode. Yeah, I have to admit that it actually DOES make the characters look more - well in character. And, yeah, Twilight has a point that Rainbow probably would not have listened if they had just tried to quietly talk to her (an attention high like that makes it, unfortunately, easier to justify suspicions of jealousy). And, yeah, I COULD almost see it. While Rainbow has played significant roles in defeating Nightmare Moon AND Discord without her head getting any bigger than it already was, that could have been justified by the fact that she knew she had to share the glory those times. Then again, she didn't have to share the glory when she saved Rarity and the Wonderbolts in "Sonic Rainboom" and her ego didn't get super-sized by THAT. So, yeah, I suppose it depends on the circumstances. Anyway, I suppose, in this universe, Lyra found out about S.M.I.L.E.'s existence BEFORE the events of "Slice of Life". But yeah, good selection for alternate Mare-Do-Wells to catch us off-guard.
At any rate, really good job on the exchanges, characterizations and general wrap-up in all the right places.
9667547
Cool.
9667819
That twist is one that I hope to build on over time. With any luck, I'll even be able to follow that thread all the way to its conclusion. Glad that you like it, and how I handled this episode.
9667925
Best case scenario, I'll have the next Vignette out on October 31st (which should give you a hint about what episode it'll cover). Worst case, I might end up with one out sooner than that. As I've said elsewhere, I'm hoping to have a couple new things out early in July.
9667980
I assure you right now that I thought of this plot twist before I read that story, though I fear some elements from it will find their way into this storyline. My take on SMILE doesn't have quite that much in the way of resources...though what they do have is still pretty terrible.
9668280
Given this is an AU, there's always the chance that events could happen much sooner than they did in canon, or not happen at all. I will say that, as of most recent events in the Quiververse, Lyra hasn't found out about Bon-Bon's little secret. How long that lasts remains the question, but given how I tend to think of Lyra as being something of a conspiracy theorist...
9667964
Someday, I'm going to phrase things in a way that doesn't lead to me being reminded of how lousy I am at expressing myself. You're right - they should've tried talking to her, 28 Pranks Later did take place much later, and the rest of the Manes did a lousy job of talking with Rainbow Dash about going too far with her pranks. Also, I can safely say right now that if Quiver had been involved, it might not have escalated quite as far as it did...though his solution to the matter wouldn't have been much better. He, like me, has no fondness for pranks as a consequence of the bullying he's endured, but unlike me, is a bit more forceful at expressing himself.
9668696 Okay, cool.
Whenever it comes out is fine with me.
Same for any new goodies of yours.
Another quick question that I have has nothing to do with the story per say, but I'm just kinda curious as to why "Vignette 10 - A Canterlot Wedding" was posted between this one and Vignette 4, and before this one.
I'm sure there's a reason for it, but this is me basically just being curious.
Again.
9668732
It got posted because I didn't have anything else that was ready to be posted. Trust me, if I had my druthers, it would've been released on a Valentine's Day, or on the anniversary of the original episode's airing. More likely the second one, given I have plans for another Vignette that will hopefully see release on Valentine's Day next year...and you might be able to guess the subject for that one as well.
9668761 Ah, okay.
That makes sense.
And yeah, I think I might.
Maybe.
9668696
Sorry, my comment was more confrontational than it should have been. It's just that 28 Pranks Later is, to me, something of an exemplar of the character assassination that the writers have been putting Dash through for the latter two thirds of the show, with Dash going back on a lesson she learned in season 1 (going from "Pinkie's right, Fluttershy shouldn't be a prank target" to "making Fluttershy fear for her life would be hilarious") and the episode rehashing the basic concept of Mare-Do-Well (the mane six don't like what Dash is doing, so they decide to break her). Part of me even suspects that the writers wrote it to try and retroactively justify Mare-Do-Well. So when I saw what looked like an attempt to use the episode to do just that, I kinda lost it. Sorry.
9669055
Eh, it's alright. And I agree with you, Dash did take a step backwards with that episode.
It certainly didn't help the episode when they decided while everyone is singing her praises to try to get her attention. And the way they handled it was just spotlight stealing which is wrong. They should have grabbed her away from the crowd and then talked with her. If necessary be heroes without the costume. Though some of the rescues were kinda dumb and cheating.
The dam a Pegasus vs unicorn in stopping the water the unicorn wins every time.
The wagon all they had to do was jump off . Sure you might lose the wagon better that than your life.
And the construction stite nobody else has pinkie weird abilities so once again unfair advantage. And the parade if that's not silently boasting I don't what is.