Chapter One: Mare Do - What?! That Makes No Sense!
Mare Do Well
The name had quickly become known amongst the criminals of the city of Manehatten. Some scoffed at the ridiculous - almost childish - title. Other had a good laugh about it with their buddies before planning their next heist. Nopony took the "superhero" seriously when rumors of her arrival spread through the city.
That was until the newspaper told about one of the most notorious unicorn robbers in the Griffin Kingdom - dubbed Miss Magister by some uncreative griffin - that chose the city of Manehatten as its first target in Equestria being found unconscious and tied to the top of a lamppost in a very uncomfortable position with the Mare Do Well insigna on her forehead. Then, it was a few common crooks thinking they could get away with stealing from some common stores and restaurants. Soon, it was any criminal that dared to crawl out of their little hidey hole.
Now, the name invokes an amount of fear in crooks that could only be described as pure terror. Not the "Oh Celestia, that's a huge monster!" kind of terror. More along the lines of "Oh no! I'm late for my own wedding!" kind of fear. It makes them reconsider whether their heist is really worth it. It makes them flee the big city, terrified they'd be caught next.
The citizens of Manehatten were grateful for the Mare and rejoiced at her acts of heroism. The news of her actions spread from city to city, even all the way to Canterlot.
Which included a small town on the outskirts of the royal capital. A town that went by the name Ponyville.
Today was what most ponies considered a "perfect day" in Ponyville. One of those ponies was Rainbow Dash. The sky was clear which meant that she could laze around without a care in the world. And on any other day like this, that would have been exactly what the rainbow-maned pegasus would be doing. But something had been gnawing at her mind ever since she began her slow flight across the clear skies.
Mare Do Well.
The name had been the talk of the town every since she woke up at about two in the afternoon, probably even earlier than that. Rainbow Dash was one of the six ponies in Equestria that knew the true identity of the masked mare. Her friends had made the costumes to teach her a lesson in humility. It was all an act.
Afterwards, Rainbow made sure to keep herself in check to prevent any more humiliation on her part. And it it had paid off for her. No more Mare Do Well and Rainbow could keep on being the most awesomest pony in Ponyville. So to say that the news of Mare Do Well's return shocked her would be very accurate. Saying that she was also livid was also spot on.
At first she had just blown off the piece of gossip she'd heard at the beginning of her flight. But after hearing nearly every other pony in town saying something about the former hero of Ponyville, Rainbow's aimless flight shifted courses.
She needed to pay a visit to her friends. And she knew just who to go to first.
"Fantastic..." Rainbow muttered from atop her chosen perch; a random cloud near the center of town. She had just visited each one of her friends. Twilight was in Canterlot for some royal buisness and wouldn't be back for another two days. She didn't stick around to hear the rest of what Spike had to say. Something about meeting griffin diplo-something about a unicorn criminal in their kingdom? She wasn't sure. Rarity had just dismissed the rumors, saying there was no reason for any of them to fill in the role of Mare Do Well. Pinkie had just laughed and told her not to worry about anything and that maybe it was an evil doppelganger of Rainbow Dash - Wob Niar. Applejack had adamantly declared that it wasn't her and, with her being the Element of Honestly and all, was enough to satisfy Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy had hid under her bed at Rainbow's accusations, saying that it wasn't her. After some coaxing on her part, she'd successfully managed to get Fluttershys out from her hiding spot and had apologize profusely for yelling at the yellow mare.
So it wasn't any of her friends... At least that what they told her!
"No! I shouldn't doubt my friends! I'm the Element of Loyalty for Celestia's sake!" She shouted, earning a few odd glances from a few of the ponies just beneath her.
Rainbow rested her head on her hoof, brow furrowing in thought. "But if it wasn't any of them, who was it? Who would risk being a hero when the pony behind the mask isn't even the original?" Rainbow shook her head, her brain already hurting. "Ugh. Twilight should be the one to try and figure this out, not me. Or maybe Rarity. Heck, even Pinkie would be better at this than me!"
Different thoughts swam through her mind but none stayed for more than a few seconds. Any guesses as for the mare's identity were quickly dismissed as none of them made any sense. It had to be one of her friends, right? Why would anypony put on the suit with the risk of being exposed as a fraud? And how would anypony make another suit in the first place?!
Rainbow slammed a hoof on the cloud beneath her, an idea popping into her head that actually made sense. "If it wasn't one of the original suits, not just anypony could make one. It'd have to be a dressmaker like Rarity!"
However, her moment of jubilation was short lived as another thought entered her train of thought. Who would make a fake superhero costume? I don't know Manehatten that well! Who in Manehatten could make a copy of one of Rarity's... things?!
She didn't know... But what choice did she have? She had to get to that city and find that Mare! Somepony was out there impersonating her friends and was being praised!
And she was getting shown up by the same pony again! Which is just as bad as the first thing!
With her resolve steeled, she shot off her cloud, destroying it in the process, and flew towards the train station.
When most ponies think about where a superhero might be when watching over a city, most ponies first answer would be the top of the highest building in the city. And most of the time, they were right. Even this very superhero had done it once or twice.
But tonight, this was not the case. Tonight, Mare Do Well was hiding around the corner of a three-way split in an alley. Not because she was scared or because she was being chased. It was the opposite. She was waiting patiently for a certain pair of criminals who had managed to break out of their hoof cuffs using some rather high - leveled magic. It was only a matter of time until they came down this path.
"Run faster, fatso!" Mare Do Well's ears perked up at the sound of very distant shout.
"You weigh nearly twice as much as me!"
"But I can run twice as fast as you! Now, hurry! Go that way!" The sound of hooves clipping heavily on the cobble drew increasingly closer. A small grin formed behind the mask. The police were too gentle. Hoof cuffs might work on earth ponies but pegasi can just fly away while unicorns can either teleport or use magic to break free. The city used to have much better ways of capturing the other two species of ponies in the form of magic canceling rings and leather wing restraints but, with the increase of crime, the new mayor abolished these years ago, deciding that hoof cuffs would suffice. His belief was that his police force was enough to capture anypony with just brute force alone. This, of course, was not the case.
With the dramatic spike of criminal activity, police did their job with about half as good as they did in the past. They became disheartened by not being able to capture all the criminals and some just gave up. And since the police didn't do their job...
That only left one option for Mare Do Well. Knock them out cold.
Right when the sound of hooves became it's loudest, Mare Do Well made her move. She stuck out a foreleg just barely above the ground. A small jolt was went through her body as the first stallion tripped over her leg, causing the unicorn to fall headfirst into the wall in front of him, his horn getting cracked in the process. The pain from that must have knocked him out. Mare Do Well almost felt bad but that stallion had it coming.
"W-Who's there?!" The second voice yelled. It obviously belonged to a younger colt, probably only barely a stallion. Maybe he was being forced by his father to do this? Maybe that other stallion was his father?
Doesn't matter. A criminal is a criminal.
Mare Do Well flung herself around the corner, tackling the other pony in the process. She pinned him down beneath her after rolling around for a little bit. The stallion's eyes were wide and fearful as he stared up at the masked mare. The moonlight shined down on the two ponies, the mare's shadow darkening the pinned stallion's features. "P-P-Please-"
"Attempted robbery. Resisting arrest. And then breaking free and running away." Mare Do Well's voice came out as very monotone and raspy thanks to the useful device she'd added to the inside of her mask. Now, nopony could match her voice to anypony. "You're in a lot of trouble. Ten years at the least." The stallion began trembling after hearing that. Of course, it was a bluff. Probably five years at most. This city has seen far worse than these two colts. But a little fear went a long way. "But dealing out punishment is out of my control. So you'll have to find out for yourself later."
"N-N-No-"
"Now, be a good little colt-" She pulled a hoof back. "-and take a nap." Her hoof slammed against the unicorn's forehead with a dull thud, instantly forcing him into unconsciousness. She shook her hoof and stood up, looking down at her handiwork. Both stallions were out cold and probably would be for a few hours.
In perfect condition to be captured by the police.
Speaking of... The sound of more hooves coming this way drew the superhero's attention away from the unconscious ponies. Several lights - presumably from flashlights or maybe horns - could be seen shining against the walls of the dark, cramped space. It was the police.
With a flourish of her cape, Mare Do Well was gone and in her place was the familiar logo she'd left with all of the criminals she dealt with.
Rainbow landed softly on the platform by the train tracks, waiting impatiently for the next train to Manehatten to arrive. Come on, come on, come on...
Various other thoughts bounced around the inside of her head. Where should she look first? Should she even bother looking for the creator of the suit and just focus on looking for Mare Do Well herself? And what would she do once she inevitably unmasked the mare? Should she tell her friends about this trip? What about Tank?!
"Eh, he's a turtle. He can survive a few days without me if he can spend months asleep underground." Her eyes widened and she slapped herself on the forehead. That's another thing! Where am I gonna sleep?! Maybe I should've thought this through better...
Rainbow's left ear twitched as she heard the distant sound of a train whistle to her left. She turned her head and in the distant, the next train to Manehatten of the day was coming this way. Too late now. I paid for my trip already and I'm out of time.
When the train stopped before the platform, a stallion with a dark gray coat and yellow mane opened the door to the train car. "All aboard! Last train to Manehatten departing in five minutes!"
Rainbow walked into the train car followed by a few other ponies who were eager to get to the big city as well. She plopped down in the front row of seats by the door to the train car. Rainbow tried to get the gray stallion's attention but he was as emotionless as the guards in Canterlot. Eventually, she gave up and decided to spend the period of downtime she had by breathing hot air on the window to her left and drawing a crude sketch of one of her dreams with her hoof; a stick Rainbow Dash fighting a hoard of stick Changelings.
After five minutes had passed, the stallion shut the door to the train car just as the train spurred into motion, nearly flinging Rainbow out of her seat and successfully making her hoof wipe away all her hard work. She shot a glare at the stallion but he either didn't notice or didn't care as he disappeared into a different train car.
Rainbow stared out the window of the car as it sped down the tracks with clenched teeth, Ponyville disappearing behind her, leaving herself alone with her thoughts that didn't involve her fighting thousands evil Changelings.
Mare Do Well tore the mask off of her face, letting her mane flow free. The room was pitch black, reflecting her mood rather well. She couldn't even see herself in her mirror. Still, she reached forward with a hoof, feeling the coolness of the glass even through her suit.
Even with all the work she was doing here, the crime didn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Fear had been planted in the criminal's minds but it wasn't enough. Which just infuriated the mare. The urge to slam her hoof into the mirror was almost overwhelming... But she couldn't lose her cool like that. So she resisted.
It was way past midnight. Nearly three o'clock now. Despite herself, Mare Do Well found herself yawning. She quickly stripped herself of the suit before crawling over to her bed, sleep easily gnawing it's way into her brain.
Any day now... She will show up...
After several hours in a cramped, stuffy train car, the first thing Rainbow Dash did after stepping out was take to the air, a confident smile on her face. "Finally! Now I'll..." She froze as she looked around.
It was pitch black in the city. Only a few rooms in apartment buildings emanated light and a few stores were still alive but, aside from that, it was a wasteland of darkness. Rainbow felt her left eye twitch. It was way past midnight. Nopony, not even criminals, would be awake at this time. Everypony was sleeping in their beds...
Which Rainbow didn't have. She didn't have a place to stay. And she didn't bring any bits with her to rent a hotel room. She was officially homeless in the city of Manehatten.
Rainbow Dash had only three words to say. Three words she'd heard a certain white filly shout that seemed oddly fitting right now.
"Oh, come on..."
