> Mare-Do-Well the Brave and the Bold: Requiem for a Rainbow Speedster > by Time Agent pony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Crime problems > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The streets of Manehatten were still and silent. Twilight Sparkle a.k.a. Mare-Do-Well, stood on top of one of the roof tops remembering all the good times she had had with one of her friend Rainbow Dash a.k.a. The Dash, stopping villains like: Gorilla Grodd, Captain Boomarang and Mirror Master. But now she was gone. The only thing left to remember her by was a bronze statue which stood near one of the many banks of Manehatten. On the plinth below the statue was a plaque which read “In Marmoreal” and below that "Hero of Manehatten". Suddenly Mare-Do-Well’s sad thoughts were interrupted by an explosion coming from the bank near where the Dash’s statue stood. The pony who had caused the explosion stepped out of the bank with a huge bag slung over his shoulder. Mare-Do-Well recognized the pony immediately, she was one of Rainbow’s old enemies, Heat Wave. Heat Wave let out a satisfied sigh, "It's almost too easy" he said. Mare-Do-Well knew she had to act and launching herself at Heat Wave she caught him off guard with a powerful kick causing Heat Wave to fall on his face. He turned to face Mare-Do-Well who said defiantly "The Dash may be gone Heat Wave but there's no way I'd let this city fall to the likes of you". "Too bad" Heat Wave said, getting back onto his hooves "because the likes of me have you surrounded." Just as Heat Wave finished saying this Mare-Do-Well heard a crackle and was struck by lightning that seemed to come out of nowhere, taking her completely by surprise. The source of the lighting was another of Rainbow’s old enemies, the Weather Wizard. He was riding a storm cloud and the jewels he had stolen were on another cloud next to him. "The rogues are taking this city by storm", he said sarcastically. Mare-Do-Well turned to see another of Rainbow’s enemies, Captain Cold. "See, Weather Wizard I told you one of Dash's friends would show up" Captain Cold said in a depressed voice. "Its not the same Captain Cold there's no...." Heat Wave said sadly, "Joie de vivre" Weather Wizard finished dryly. “Sorry to disappoint” Mare-Do-Well said and with that her horn emitted a bright flash of light which blinded all three of the villains. Captain Cold was the first one to get beaten, Heat Wave was next, but Weather Wizard managed to surprise Mare-Do-Well by using his Weather Wand to conjure up wind that swept Mare-Do-Well off her hooves and sent her smashing into The Dash’s statue. When Mare-Do-Well was back up again Captain Cold made his move, firing a blast of ice from his horn, freezing Mare-Do-Well in place. “You’ve got no style Mare-Do-Well, no panache” he said and nodded to Heat Wave. Just as Mare-Do-Well freed herself from the ice, Heat Wave fired a blast of heat at the hero. Mare-Do-Well shielded herself from the blast, but Heat Wave had been expecting her to do that. He fired another blast but this time at the statue of The Dash. The bronze started to glow red hot and melt slowly. Weather Wizard used another wind storm to suspend the runny bronze in mid-air above where Mare-Do-Well was standing and with a further nod from Heat Wave, Weather Wizard dumped the hot bronze on top of her. Mare-Do-Well tried to struggle against it but the bronze was too sticky. Captain Cold fired another blast of ice at Mare-Do-Well and the bronze solidified. The three villains gathered round the trapped hero. “If Dash was here she would have been creative, she'd have run circles around us spinning away our oxygen” Heat Wave said, like a filly at a party, “The old Rainbow Speedster would have vibrated her molecules right out of that bronze” Captain Cold continued, “and with a smile and an ‘Aww, yeah!’ that just made you want to rip her to shreds, you know?” Weather Wizard finished, saying it like he was remembering a good time. All three of the villains let out a disappointed sigh. “You miss her?” asked Mare-Do-Well, confused, “Who us?” Captain Cold said taken aback, “Miss The Dash...” Heat Wave said just as taken aback as Captain Cold, “don’t be absurd” Weather Wizard said, even though all three missed her secretly. Before these three ponies could react, an azure blue and golden blur came rushing at them catching them all off guard. “...Was that?” Heat Wave said, joy rising in his voice. “...Could it be?” said Captain Cold, with the same happiness. “...The Dash?” said Weather Wizard just as happy. The blur finally slowed down and all three villains face’s fell. It wasn’t the Dash they had been expecting, it was Soarin a.k.a. The Original Dash. “Not that Dash, but the Original Dash” he said smiling. “Huh... it’s just Wonderbolt Dash” Captain Cold said disappointed. “Not the same, not the same” Heat Wave said just as disappointed. “No, but I’m more then enough to handle you losers” Soarin said sarcastically. All three villains fired their weapons at the Original Dash, he managed to dodge all three blasts and knocked Captain Cold to the ground so his ice blast hit Heat Wave, freezing him to the ground. Weather Wizard managed to use a wind storm to catch the Original Dash off guard. When it looked like the Original Dash was trapped, another blur appeared. This one was coloured yellow and scarlet seemed to have sprung out of nowhere. It stopped near Weather Wizard. The blur turned out to be a small Pegasus filly called Scootaloo a.k.a. Kid Dash, Rainbow’s kid sidekick, “Hey Wiz, mind if I borrow your wand?” Kid Dash asked. Weather Wizard didn’t have time to react before Kid Dash snatched his wand and sent the Weather Wizard flying a few feet with a powerful punch. “Great to see you Kid Dash, you help Mare-Do-Well and I’ll…” before the Original Dash could finish Kid Dash zipped off heading right for Captain Cold, “or I'll help Mare-Do-Well” Original Dash said to himself. He rushed up to where Mare-Do-Well was stuck in place, “a little super powered rubdown should get this all melted again” he said. Original Dash’s hooves seemed to blur as he rubbed the bronzes super-fast which made them begin to heat up, allowing Mare-Do-Well to brake free. Meanwhile Kid Dash was running circles around Captain Cold dodging his ice blasts. “First wonderbolt Dash, now filly Dash, so lame!” he said. Kid Dash turned and headed straight for Captain Cold. He fired another blast of ice at the ground. Kid Dash didn’t have time to slow down she ran straight onto the ice and slid into Captain Cold, knocking him to the ground. She was about to get back up when the Original Dash stepped in front of her, “Playtimes over Cold” he said. Heat Wave using his heat blaster managed to break out of the ice block she had been trapped in, “It’s not over until we say…” was all she could say before a powerful punch from Mare-Do-Well knocked her out cold. “It’s over” Mare-Do-Well said. The Dashes and Mare-Do-Well watched while the police ponies were taking the three villains away to jail. “It’s good to see you Kid. I was hoping you would stop by my house?” Original Dash said to Kid Dash, “Been busy” Kid Dash replied. “Somepony’s gotta pick up the slack around here or haven’t you noticed?” Original Dash just seemed to freeze at Kid Dash’s second comment. Kid Dash turned to Mare-Do-Well, “say hi to Filly Be-Goode for me” she said, before rocketing off. Original Dash looked down at the ground, “What was that about?” asked Mare-Do-Well a bit confused. Original Dash turned to his friend and sighed and said, “It's time I got you up to speed.” > A ghost story > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back at Soarin’s house, where there were pictures of him with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo lining the walls. Soarin sat Mare-Do-Well down in his kitchen and poured her a cup of tea and explained what was wrong with Kid Dash. “Well, you know the official story" Soarin began, "Rainbow Dash 'The Dash', died fighting Lighting Dust, the Reverse Dash” he explained. “I gather that’s not the whole story” guessed Mare-Do-Well, “No it's not” Soarin replied, staring into his mug of tea sadly and he went on, “Rainbow and Lighting were evenly matched so Rainbow called in Scootaloo and myself to take Lighting down once and for all. We chased her all across Equestria, our speed ever increasing. Somewhere over the Equestrian sea we broke the sound barrier and still we accelerated, faster than any of us had gone before. As we approached the sonic rainboom it happened. Our speed opened a rift into another dimension. Before we could react we fell in, Lightning went first so she was the first to suffer its effects. We tried to turn around but there was no solid ground beneath our hooves, no way to slow down. So Rainbow gave Scootaloo and me a great big shove towards the exit. In saving us she doomed herself” he said. “Since then Scootaloo’s been running ragged trying to fill in for Rainbow and blames me for her death” he finished. Mare-Do-Well put a reassuring hoof on Soarin’s shoulder, “she's young and lashing out” she said. “That's a comfort” Soarin said thankful for the comment, “If I didn’t think the kid was right” he paused, “Rainbow was still a young Pegasis, not an old Wonderbolt like yours truly. If anypony was going sacrifice themselves, well it should have been me,” he finished sadly. “That’s your guilt talking” Mare-Do-Well said trying to cheer Soarin up. “I feel guilty, alright” Soarin said with a bit of a smile, “so guilty in fact I’m cracking up. I’ve been seeing Rainbow everywhere I go, it’s like she’s haunting me”. Mare-Do-Well finished her tea, “get some sleep Soarin” she said as she was leaving. Outside the house she climbed back into the Maremobile and drove off along the road back to Ponyville. She was just thinking about Soarin’s ghost when she saw a ghostly Pegasis in a scarlet red costume with a rainbow mane come galloping towards her. She swerved to avoid the Pegasis but she past through the chariot like a ghost. The chariot nearly crashed off the road but just managed to stop in time. Mare-Do-Well jumped from the chariot and looked quickly along the road, there was nothing there. Mare-Do-Well drove back to Manehatten and told both Soarin and Scootaloo that she wanted to meet them at the Dash museum. Some of the Dash's old enemies things were on display include a poster with the Dash and Soarin with the words, "Race around Equestria" on it. "You and Soarin, might want shot the breeze but I've got a city to protect" Scootaloo said, crossly "I don't like her tone, but I agree with the kid on this one" said Soarin, "why'd you have us meet here and what are we looking for?" he continued, "Didn't Rainbow use that magical treadmill Princess Celestia built for her to access other dimensions and travel through time?" Mare-Do-Well asked, "Yeah, if I remember correctly, it should be..." Soarin replied, he ran over to where a certain was covering something up. He pulled it off revealing the treadmill Mare-Do-Well mentioned, "here", "I encountered Rainbow's ghost" Mare-Do-Well continued, "I suspected this may be picking up her magical ora somewhere through the dimensional void and broadcasting it to us", "Whoa, hold on" Scootaloo said, "you saw Rainbow's ghost?", Soarin sighed, "It's my fault" he explained, "I've been seeing Rainbow, and I planted the idea in Mare-Do-Well's head", "Except you've never mentioned any ghost to me" Scootaloo frowned, "and I've seen it too", "Why didn't you tell me?" Soarin asked, shocked, "Why didn't you tell me?" Scootaloo retorted. "Help...me!" a ghostly voice echoed out of nowhere, preventing Soarin and Scootaloo from arguing any further, all three turned to the ghostly Pegasus Mare-Do-Well had seen before came galloping towards them, "Help me" the ghost said, again. Mare-Do-Well quickly wiped out her magical tracker before the ghost vanished into thin air. "I've got a lock on the ghost's resonance wave" she said, after checking the device. She turned to Soarin, "Soarin, can you set the treadmill to match it?" she asked. Before Soarin could answer, Scootaloo took the device from Mare-Do-Well's hoof, "I've got it" she said. She ran over to the treadmill's control panel and typed in reading from Mare-Do-Well's tracker, "there, now if we ran fast enough the treadmill will send us to wherever the ghost is" she finished. "Where's that? Tartarus?" Soarin asked, "What difference does it make?" Scootaloo replied, angrily "Rainbow needs our help! You coming or not?". Soarin and Mare-Do-Well looked at each other, then they joined Scootaloo on the treadmill, "Match my pace, kid" Soarin said, "You match mine, gramps" Scootaloo retorted, With that, the two speedsters and Mare-Do-Well began to run on the treadmill, Magical energy crackled around them as they went faster and faster, and in a flash the three were propelled into the unknown. > The truth revealed > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The three heroes reappeared in a futuristic version or Equestria, Mare-Do-Well checked her magical tracker. "The 25th century" She said, "And looks like reports of Lighting's death were slightly exaggerated" Soarin said, he was looking at something behind the group. Mare-Do-Well and Kid Dash turned to see a giant statue of Lighting Dust, the reverse Dash with her name and pictures of her around it. "How do we find Rainbow? Scootaloo asked, Before anypony could answer a voice interrupted, "Unauthorised superponies" the voice belong to a security droid that had noticed the three, "alerting the Lighting Force" the droid finished, it had already identified who the three of them were, "I doubt that will be a problem" Mare-Do-Well replied, A squad of flying chariots with police siren on them soon arrived, identical looking stallions stepped out of the chariots, they were wearing suits coloured black and scarlet with grey coloured armour with scarlet lighting blots on their chests and the same coloured visors covering their eyes. "You are under arrest by the order Lighting Overlord" one the stallions said, "She's not my Lighting Overlord" Scootaloo said, she dashed straight at the stallions, "Kid Dash, wait!" Soarin cried, but he was too late, One of the stallions that Kid Dash was aiming for, avoided her with the same speed as Scootaloo. In a quick move the troopers had her surrounded three lighting fast punches and Kid Dash hit the ground. Soarin was about to jump in, but Mare-Do-Well stopped him, her horn emitted a smoke screen that just gave Soarin enough time to slip away. The trooper's front hooves turned seem to turn into blurred as they blow the smoke screen away, the troopers then surrounded Mare-Do-Well subduing her and Kid Dash. Moments after, both heroes were handcuffed and being escorted, by two troopers, down one of the hallways of the castle on the edge of the city, "Can you believe Soarin? Runs off and leaves his partners behind...again" Scootaloo fumed, "Enough! Soarin's the original Dash and deserve your respect" Mare-Do-Well replied, "you're not mad at him, you're mad at yourself because you feel just as guilty about leaving Rainbow behind as he does. But the Rainbow Dash I knew wouldn't stand for either of you wallowing in guilt or being at each other's throats", Scootaloo gave Mare-Do-Well an angry look, the two past through a door, with a scarlet backwards lighting bolt on it, into thrown room where a familiar pony sat on a thrown, it was Rainbow's arch enemy Lighting Dust a.k.a the Reverse Dash alive and well. "Mare-Do-Well and Kid Dash" Lightning said, as the two entered "welcome to the Lighting fortress", "Lighting!?" Scootaloo asked, shocked "how did you survive? When Dash...." "Fell right into my trap?" Lighting finished, "it was foal's play to lure you all into the Rainboom dimension, which I had already arranged to teleport me to the 25th century" he continued, "My only regret is that I didn't get all three of you still, I got the prize I sought. The key to my conquest of the future", "Wait, are you saying the Dash is still alive?" Scootaloo asked, "Here she is, the Sonicrainboom Spectacular, the Rainbow runner, the once great Dash" Lighting finished. Some doors to the right of the Lighting's throne room opened. Inside was a huge futuristic hamster wheel on which ran a rainbow maned pegasus in scarlet costume, she turned to look at them only for a second, while still running. "Now a living dynamo powering my troopers super speed and my rise to absolute power!" Lighting declared. All Rainbow Dash could do was look on. > The fight back begins > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Now you'll both share her fate," Lighting smirked. "Flash, GO!" called Mare-Do-Well. From out of nowhere, Soarin dashed out from where he had been hiding. He took out the guards and then released both heroes from their cuffs. "It's your fate you should worried about, Lighting" Soarin said, defiantly as turned to face Lighting. "I'm quaking in my big red booties" Lighting replied, sarcastically. Lighting got up from of her throne and she to turn into a blur as she overpowered and grabbed both Soarin and Scootaloo, placing them in the same position the Rainbow was in. "She stuck us in here between eye blinks" realized Soarin. "I'm sorry I got you all dragged into this" Rainbow sighed. Mare-Do-Well didn't have time to react, as she too was grabbed by Lighting, she placed her in a holding cell and removing her utility belt. "Haven't you guess yet?" Lighting asked, poniting out the wrist bands she and her troopers wore, "Dash's power doesn't just provide my troopers with speed it increases my own velocity exponentially." "And now that you have three speedsters feeding your power..." Mare-Do-Well began. "I'll be able to move effortlessly though time" Lighting finished, "and conquer any era." "Welcome to the future, Mare-Do-Well" she declared, "you'll be here for a long time" with that she left. Back with the three speedsters. "I can't stop running" Scootaloo said, trying to slow down. "I know" replied Rainbow, "Lighting told me that the machine steals our own speed to run it" she explained, "it's like a hamster in a wheel." "And we're the hamsters" Soarin finished. "I used the machine like the magic treadmill to send after images of myself back to the past" Rainbow continued, "the last thing I wanted was you two trapped, too" she sighed. "Now, don't you start" Soarin stated, "this is my mess, if only I had been..." "Oh, give it a rest" Scootaloo interrupted, "I think we've dished out enough guilt for any five centuries," she smilied. "Sorry I've been such a jerk, Soarin" she continued, "it's Lighting who's to blame and when our moment comes, we'll take her down." "Because when you're a Dash" Rainbow nodded, "a moment's all you need." Back at the holding cell. Mare-Do-Well used a lock pick to free herself from her bonds, then she knocked out the guard and took his speed bracelet. Then she phased through the bars of the holding cell, grabbed her utility belt and Do Wellarangs. When she was readying she dashed off, taking out any guards in her way and taking their speed bracelets. She dashed into Lighting's throne room, taking out all the guards in the room in flash. Mare-Do-Well stopped right in front of Lighting's throne, "Your reign is over, Lighting" she declared, she dashed straight at Lighting. But Lighting stopped her punch, without any effort, "Is it?" she asked, she gave Mare-Do-Well a powerful punch, that sent her flying. While this happening the three Dashes watched, "Lighting's distracted" Rainbow Dash said, "nows our chances." "To do what?" asked Scootaloo, "we can't stop running, we can't even slow down." "But we can speed up" Rainbow Dash contined, "and create a dimensional rift, one that will send us through space and not time." Meanwhile, Mare-Do-Well, even with her super speed, was only barely holding her own against Lighting. Eventually Lighting managed to take two of the speed bracelets off her and beat her to the floor with two punches. "Did you really think you could beat me at my own game?" Lighting asked. All three Dashes started running even faster the machine could keep up, there was a crackle of energy and a rift open right in front of them. "There it is" Rainbow Dash said, "Only enough time for one of us to slip though." Soarin and Scootaloo quickly moved behind Rainbow Dash and pushed her though the rift, "Wait! I didn't mean me!" Rainbow Dash managed to shouted because she disappeared though the rift. > The Homecoming > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The rift opened again, near the giant statue of Lighting Dust, dumping Rainbow Dash on the ground. She took a moment to recover, then she dashed of back to Lighting's fortress. Meanwhile, Mare-Do-Well was fighting a loosing battle, even with the two speed bracelets she had, Lighting had the upper hoof and managed to knock Mare-Do-Well to ground. Mare-Do-Well was too badly hurt to fight Lighting anymore, Lighting prepared to kill Mare-Do-Well by vibrating her hoof through her. "Lighting!" called a voice. Lighting stopped her hoof and turned to see Rainbow Dash, "What do you say?" she asked, "One last race?" Lighting smiled, Soarin and Scootaloo watched with anticipation, Rainbow Dash and Lighting Dust began their fight. Both speedsters seemed evenly matched, the fight took them down the side of Lighting's fortress, through the city streets, across a desert and finally, across the sea. Lighting and Rainbow Dash traded a few punches, before going back to running. "My speed was always a match for yours," Lighting remarked "and now augmented by two more Dashes." Their fight continued, all across every inch of 25th century Equestria, until finally, Rainbow Dash managed to draw Lighting into a desert. Rainbow Dash started to run in a circle slowly carving out a trench in the ground, with Lighting close behind. After a few rounds, the trench was higher than them and still they kept on running. While Rainbow Dash did this, she ran her hoof over the side wall of the trench, heating up the sand in the ground, turning it into glass. Just as Lighting was about to land the final punch, Rainbow Dash stopped. Lighting was confused, but kept on running, she looked ahead of her to see Rainbow Dash leaning calmly against the trench wall ahead of her. Before Lighting could slow down, as she passed Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash stretched out her leg tripping her, sending Lighting flying back around the glass wall of the trench. When Lighting finished crashing along the trench, she stood before Rainbow Dash, battered, bruise and defeated. Rainbow Dash stood over her, "I'm The Dash" she said, "speed is my game." With that Rainbow Dash finished off Lighting with a three punch take-down. Equestria, the present. After using some of Lighting's technology, Mare-Do-Well, Soarin, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash return to the present. "Good to be home," Rainbow Dash said, looking around. "I wonder if they'll agree," Mare-Do-Well replied, pointing to the Gold Reserve bank which was getting robbed. Heat Wave, Weather Wizard and Captain Cold stared in disbelief. "Is that?" Heat Wave shocked. "She's back," Captain Cold smiled. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry" Weather Wizard said, tearfully. "You don't mind if we take these?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Wouldn't have it any other way" Mare-Do-Well replied. With that all three Dashes zoomed straight at them and the three villains were knocked happily out cold. "Welcome home, Rainbow" Mare-Do-Well smiled as she walked away.