Mask, Cape, and Cowl

1

Snow Storm's ears flicked once, twice under her dark blue mask. The soft footfall of hooves against a concrete rooftop told her that someone was approaching. More than likely it was her friend on the force. With her ears only able to hear so little of Manehatten, Officer Bluecoat filled in many of the blank spots that she couldn't otherwise watch over.

The mare under the suit felt her heart leap into her throat - if Bluecoat was here, then he'd have to arrest her. Even though they'd developed a professional friendship, he still had the law to uphold.

The law which she had broken.

Snow Storm snapped her eyes open and swiveled her masked head around, expecting to see the regretful face of an officer forced to fulfill his duty. Instead, she was met with a tan pegasus standing firmly in the center of her vision. Snow Storm’s brow arched in mild surprise as she comprehended Delilah’s presence, while it felt like her stomach was plummeting like a stone down a large well. The feeling that something was ‘off’ swept over her again, and all at once it clicked in her mind.

Delilah must be the latest in Mr. Leaf’s line of goons hired to get his crystal artifact back.

The mare in question wore a deep frown on her face, complementing the hard stare emanating from her ruby eyes.

"Give me the Egg," Delilah demanded, shifting her eyes to the saddlebag on the Mare Do Well's side.

Sporting a cheeky grin through her mask, Snow Storm nodded her head to the side and pointed down toward the street. Delilah followed the forelimb... straight to a brightly-lit grocery store.

Delilah fumed, her eyes narrowing menacingly as she rounded on the Mare Do Well again. "Don't play games with me. Just give me what you stole from the Museum, and then you can go back to playing superhero for everyone."

The Mare Do Well brought her forehoof up to her chin, rubbing it in mock contemplation before giving a firm shake of her head.

"I wasn't asking," the pegasus growled, flaring her wings in a show of force as she inched closer to the costumed pony.

An alarm blared from the ground, snapping the tension between the two mares as they both turned to face the disturbance. Delilah brought her head back forward, only to discover the Mare Do Well had vanished. "Oh no you don't!" she snarled, spotting the very tip of a dark-hued cape falling over the edge of the building. She dove for it, missed, and watched as the Mare Do Well slid down the fire escape and bolted into the night.

2

Mr. Leaf really wants this egg thing back, Snow Storm mused curiously as she galloped down the street. Manehatten’s nighttime crowd jumped out of the way for the shrouded mare as she ran by, murmuring excitedly to themselves.

Through a hole in the crowd, Snow Storm spotted the vandalized shop which had offered her an excuse to break away from Delilah. Squinting through her silver lenses, she could see only a broken window, behind which an alarm belted out its grating tune for all of Manehatten to hear. Sporting a scowl at having lost the potential thief, Snow Storm quickly pivoted her head around, searching for any possible means to ascend to the rooftops above to give herself a better vantage point.

Before she could even attempt to scale a building, Snow Storm was blindsided by a tan blur, sending her rolling into a small group of ponies. The adolescents she had been knocked into helped her back onto her feet, murmuring and giggling that they had been able to touch their resident savior. Snow Storm winced from the weighted saddlebag digging itself into her side when she had landed on it. She gave her head a violent shake, blinking the multitude of dots away from her eyes and slapping her hat back onto her crown, shooting a glare at the pegasus who had projectiled into her. A tan hoof arced across her peripheral vision, slamming squarely into her jaw. Snow Storm used the force of the blow to swing her body around on her front legs, double-barreling Delilah in the chest and sending the pegasus tumbling head-over-tail into an empty fruit stand. She bolted away once again, scrambling up the side of a nearby building via an external drainpipe.

The criminals would have to wait. Snow Storm’s priority had changed to returning home safely with the Egg.

* * *

Delilah surged through a small wave of bodies, following the billowing cape of her impromptu adversary. No reward is worth this, she thought sardonically, pushing herself to close the gap between herself and the Mare Do Well. Around her, a low drone of excited mumbles rose into animated cheers and applause for the city’s resident savior. She scoffed at the idea that so many ponies could be so easily taken in by an obvious ruse this Mare Do Well had concocted, and then recalled the officer from earlier that day who had immediately defended the mare in question without any hesitation whatsoever.

A break in the crowd finally presented itself. Delilah pushed off of the ground with her back feet, flaring her wings out and propelling herself into the Mare Do Well’s side, sending the mare rolling sideways into a small group of adolescents. Delilah was in the Mare Do Well’s face just as the mare was helped back onto her feet, throwing a powerful hoof into the side of the mask. She felt a significant resistance against the mask, as though she were punching a somewhat-stiff cloud. Her eyes bulged as she comprehended the next few seconds in perfect clarity; the Mare Do Well’s body swung around with supreme fluidity, and before Delilah knew anything else she was staring straight at a pair of cocked rear-legs.

Oh cr- Her thought was cut off as she took the full force of the kick, launching her backwards like a bowling ball into a fruit stand and causing it to collapse on top of her. She pulled herself up out of the small rubble pile, brushing away splinters from all over her body. Delilah let out a small dry-heave, trying to catch her breath after the blow to her chest. Like getting hit by a lead block. But again she had felt that soft sensation, like the lead block was buffered by a fluffy cloud. Padded boots and armor. Got it. And then, dear Celestia... what is she like withoutthe padding?

Delilah scanned the sky, spotting a caped figure making a daring leap between two largely spaced structures. The Mare Do Well had taken to the rooftops once more, probably hoping that Delilah wouldn’t risk flying illegally. How wrong you were. She crouched, flared her wings out, and took off.

She crested the building, grimacing as she pushed her wings to their limit in order to catch up to the fleeing “hero”. Ahead, the Mare Do Well reached the edge of her building, not slowing even for a moment as she dove head-first into the alleyway below. “You’re mine now.” Delilah grinned triumphantly - there were only two directions her target could run, and Delilah would have the supreme advantage in the air regardless. She rocketed to the alleyway... only to find it empty, save for the random stray tomcat rummaging through a buffet of garbage cans and a lone dumpster.

Delilah rubbed her furrowed brow, groaning in exasperation at having let her target get away. But it wasn’t her fault, was it? The Mare Do Well had simply vanished into thin air. Delilah lowered herself to the concrete alley, searching for any signs of a possible secret entrance and wishing more and more that she’d never taken this stupid job. Decrepit temples rigged with death-dealing booby traps was something she could easily handle; one costumed mare that outsmarted her at every turn was something she could not.

“How could she have just disappeared!?” Delilah slammed a hoof hard into the concrete. Her ruby eyes shrunk to pinpricks and immediately she regretted the outburst as a lightning bolt of pain exploded on her hoof and crisscrossed up her leg. “Ow ow ow ow,” she moaned, drawing the forelimb up to her chest to cradle it. She hissed through her teeth and limped down the alleyway, biting the inside of her cheek as her fetlock pulsated in a dull ache.

* * *

Snow Storm galloped across the starlit rooftops, straining her petite body to outrun her pursuer. She risked a backwards glance, dismay gripping her stomach as tightly as the saddlebag she wore. The mare she had quite literally bumped into earlier that day had now taken to the skies in order to close the gap.

So much for the no-fly rule.

She could never outrun a pegasus in flight, and she knew it. To turn around and fight would mean risking the Egg, and that was unacceptable. Cannot run, cannot fight. So what canI do? She surveyed the building which was rapidly rising in front of her. It seemed to be one of Manehatten’s many apartment complexes, judging by the multitude of evenly-spaced windows on its side. Several of these were open, bringing the naturally cool air into the residencies.

It was the only shot she had of escaping.

Never breaking her stride, Snow Storm dove down from the edge of the building, aiming toward an unlit window which (she hoped) was open like so many others.

She fell snugly into the opening and landed on her padded hooves upon the hardwood floor with a dull thud, rolling head-over-flank and pushing herself to the side and into the shadows. She ripped the wide-brimmed hat from her head, stuffing it behind her prone body as she watched Delilah fly up and hover in place, scanning the alleyway below.

Do not look in the windows... Do notlook in the windows... Snow Storm felt safe enough in the darkened room; her suit would blend decently in with the shadows from afar. But if the pegasus decided to give a close inspection to the apartment units, the camouflage would be useless. Still, she held her breath; the slightest movement might give her position away.

After what felt like an eternity, Delilah lowered herself out of view. Snow Storm kept her position, listening for any signs the mare might give. Finally, her ears twitched as she heard Delilah speaking to herself, followed by a dull thump and a string of curses. Finally, finally she heard the offbeat clop clop clop of a pony limping away on three legs.

From behind, the creaking of a wooden door caused Snow Storm to nearly fly out of her skin. She spun her head around, quickly slapping her hat back on. In the doorway between rooms stood a rather lean unicorn in a blue gown and matching nightcap, knees buckling as he nervously investigated strange sounds emanating from within his living room.

“W-who’s there? I-I know magic! Powerful magic! You better go away!” He clenched his eyes, teeth gritting as sparks began to fly from his horn. Finally he let out a gasp of relief, feeling a wave of ether pulse through his magical leylines and converge at the very tip of his horn, forming into a ball of light. “Aha!” he proudly exclaimed, opening his eyes once again. His jaw nearly slammed into the floor as he took in the sight of his living room... or rather, what was in his living room.

“Ma-ma-mare...” He could only stammer, eye twitching as he backed away slowly. The Mare Do Well perched on his window sill, her mask creased into a smile as she brought a forelimb up, waving at him as though they were simply passing on the street.

Dumbstruck, he brought his own foreleg up, returning the wave with total absentmindedness. In one swift motion, she brought her hoof to the corner of her mouth, swiping it across her face and to the other corner. He understood the gesture at once: Keep quiet. He nodded his understanding, dissipating the spell from his horn and slowly backing away into his bedroom.

He blinked once to clear spots from his eyes, and the Mare Do Well was gone.

3

Snow Storm darted down Manehatten’s infinite web of alleyways, glancing back every so often incase she was being followed. So far, there had been no sign of Delilah - hopefully she had given up the chase for the night.

Snow Storm pulled herself back to a brisk trot, wishing she was home already. She scrunched her face as it poured out sweat, causing her mask to stick incessantly as well as filling her nostrils with the pungent odor of tireless exertion. She couldn’t remember the last time she put forth so much effort in a single night - stopping criminals on the street was a cakewalk for her. And even if she had trouble, there was always a moment of respite atop the Manehatten buildings. Some nights even afforded her to take off the mask and breathe a sigh of fresh air.

Her petite body begged to slow down, but her mind refused. The heavy saddlebag ground against her side at the trot, and a stitch had embedded itself into her, poking it’s malice between her ribcage like a white-hot branding iron.

And her home felt like it was still a million miles away.

Reaching the end of the umpteenth alleyway, Snow Storm trotted out into an abandoned street bathed in the orange glow from twin rows of street lamps, her senses easing in the serene silence. She almost reached the next shortcut between streets when a heavy force tackled her from the side, pushing the saddlebag deeper into her ribs and sending her rolling into a lamp post.

“Miss me?” a familiar voice -- no longer amused but instead bordering on irate -- growled. Snow Storm was on her feet in a flash, glaring through her silver lenses and straight into Delilah’s very being.

Enough was finally enough.

* * *

Delilah trotted into a street now almost empty, favoring her forelimb as she contemplated giving up for the night. Why even bother? she asked herself bitterly. Very rarely had she failed on her grand adventures, and never so hard.

Why? Because I’m Daring freaking Do, that’s why. That alone seemed to lift her spirits, forcing a cocky grin to plaster itself on her face. Because she was Daring Do, and Daring Do always got her treasure.

The grin just as quickly disappeared when she heard a muffled thump come from the alleyway behind her. She turned around, eyes bugging out as she saw the Mare Do Well galloping away.

Delilah ground her teeth, whipping out her wings once again and flying low, stalking the Mare Do Well like a bird of prey - running would only injure her swollen fetlock even more. Many times, she saw the mare ahead shoot her masked head around to look back, to which Delilah responded by ducking behind a dumpster or moving onto a street itself and out of an alley’s line-of-sight.

She had no idea where the Mare Do Well might’ve been going, but this cat-and-mouse game had to end. At the street, Delilah broke left, hoping her assessment of Manehatten being a giant grid was correct.

It was. She ducked into an alley which ran parallel to the Mare Do Well’s patch a couple of blocks over, racing to beat out the mare and hopefully catch her off-guard. It was no longer simply about the Crystalline Egg and getting her money. The Mare Do Well had outsmarted her at every single turn, and she didn’t like that.

She didn’t like that at all.

Her target trotted out from between the buildings, apparently confident that she wasn’t being tailed after all. Delilah made her move, rocketing towards the Mare Do Well and slamming hard into her side. The Mare Do Well was sent reeling toward a black lamp post, knocking into it with a clang which rang from the reverberating decoration.

“Miss me?” Delilah’s voice was low, angry. The Egg was momentarily forgotten - she simply wanted to lay her hooves on the Mare Do Well’s masked face. She’d had enough games for one night.

Apparently the Mare Do Well had had enough games, as well. Delilah could read the annoyed anger in the mare’s aggressive stance. The very tops of those silver eyes were cut away as a brow furrowed deeply; Delilah could almost imagine the piercing glare behind the mask.

Before the pegasus even knew what happened, the Mare Do Well had charged, sending a single forelimb both to her chest and her muzzle in rapid succession. Delilah staggered backward, shocked by the ferocity of the attack and tasting trace amounts of copper in her mouth. The Mare Do Well kept her pace as she dropped low to the ground, swinging around a rear leg in a long, sweeping arc. Delilah legs were kicked out from under her and she fell flat onto her side, feeling all of her weight press down onto her wing and crying out as she felt a bone inside it snap.

She picked herself up, swinging wildly at her costumed opponent who only dodged every potential blow with unearthly fluidity. One swipe felt like it hit a brick wall as the Mare Do Well brought her own forelimb up to block it, sending her other one at Delilah’s eye with a quick jab. Delilah reared away from the attack, and the Mare Do Well twisted around, bucking the pegasus in the gut. Delilah retched from the attack, her ruby eyes shrivelling into tiny pinpricks as she fell to the ground, panting heavily.

The shadow of the Mare Do Well filled the ground beneath her vision. With a shuddering breath, she screamed, “I’ve had enough!” and swung hard, clipping the side of the Mare Do Well’s face with what remained of her strength. She saw the mare stagger drunkenly backwards and fall to her haunches, acutely aware that... something looked different. Her furious gaze ran up the length of her trembling foreleg and onto the soft fabric which rested on her hoof, staring at her with its silver, expressionless eyes.

* * *

Snow Storm had finally reached her limit. If she couldn’t get away from Delilah, she would make sure that the pegasus would leave her alone. It had been a very long time since she had to put any real strength in her blows, and now she almost relished the opportunity. In truth, if it wasn’t for the fact that she had something precious to protect, she’d enjoy the challenge of a true fight.

Snow Storm charged, running up on the mare and jabbing her in the face and chest. Before Delilah could react, Snow Storm ducked low, sweeping the mare’s legs out from under her. Delilah was back up in admirable time, throwing her forelimbs out with seeming randomness. Snow Storm observed quickly as the attacks had a certain gruff rhythm to them, and decided to break it by blocking the next swing. The leg hit her own with a surprising amount of force, but she held it steady as she brought her free limb up, giving Delilah a quick shot to the eye before swinging around to double-barrel her in the gut.

She heard a sickening gagging sound emanate from the pegasus, and watched as Delilah slumped to the ground, seemingly defeated. Snow Storm sauntered up to her trembling opponent, ready to finish the fight. She never saw the blow coming as Delilah sucked in a hard breath and screamed, “I’ve had enough!”

Snow Storm staggered backwards from the unexpected blow and fell to her haunches. She blinked once, twice... and realized she was staring at a Manehatten night through her own eyes. She inhaled sharply, raising what she could reach of her cape up to her face to cover it.

But it was too late. Delilah had already seen everything.

* * *

“You... you’re that mare I met earlier today.” Delilah couldn’t quite bring herself to believe what she was seeing. The Mare Do Well had quickly covered most of her face with her cape, leaving only her icy blue eyes exposed. But Delilah recognized that simple streak of grey cutting through a sea of blue which made up Snow Storm’s mane.

The unmasked Mare Do Well shook her head in denial, but it was futile. Delilah knew the truth now. What’s more, she had the upper-hoof.

“Look, just give me the Egg already and I won’t tell everyone in this entire city your secret, okay? I’ll even do this as a sign of good faith.” She tossed the mask back to Snow Storm, who quickly slipped it back on along with her hat which had been dislodged during the scuffle. “Now come on. You owe me.”

Conceding defeat, Snow Storm nodded solemnly. Slowly she unbuckled the saddlebag, feeling instant relief as the strap was freed from her gullet. She tossed it unceremoniously at Delilah’s feet, quickly standing up and galloping away into the refuge of the night.

Delilah decided to let her go, instead focusing on her hard-fought victory. Years of habit forced her to open the satchel slowly and dig carefully, though what sort of booby traps there could be in such a small bag she had no idea.

There was only a solid lump in the bag. She tongued her cheek as she felt it - it wasn’t at all smooth like she assumed it would be, not that it ultimately mattered. Dismissing the thing’s texture, she finally willed herself to pull it out of the bag, only for her triumphant smile to die as her eyes fell upon the contents of the saddlebag.

A rock. It was a stupid, nondescript, grey rock. Delilah could feel her own blood boiling as the recognition set in. The Mare Do Well had been carrying it as a decoy the entire time. She snorted through her nostrils like an angry bull, wanting to tear that Snow Storm’s head from her neck and shove it in unpleasant places.

She let loose a scream of fury, chucking the rock as hard as she could down the nearest alleyway. It slammed into a metal garbage can, forcing the feline occupants to scramble out with outraged hisses.

She strapped the empty saddlebag to herself, deciding to give up for the night. Her jaw was sore, her fetlock still throbbed, and she was sure she had a black eye. All in all, she only wanted the night to end and for tomorrow to begin.

Sighing, she lethargically trudged her way back to Gilded Leaf’s home.

4

“Come in!” Aureate Leaf invited, responding to the small knocking on her door. It creaked open, allowing entry to a beaten-up pegasus.

“Hey there, Miss Delilah.” The adolescent mare closed her studying material for a moment, instead focusing on entertaining their latest house guest. “You don’t look so good, if I may be allowed to say so.”

Delilah smiled at that. “You’re more than allowed.” I could at least tell her. Get it off of my chest.

“Is there anything I can possibly help you with?” Aureate’s head tilted to the side in curiosity.

“Yes, actually. Would your fighting instructor mind an extra student?”

“Master Storm? I’m sure she’d love it!” Aureate smiled brightly, her eyes alighting just thinking about Master Storm’s class. “Er... can I ask why?”

Because your teacher is the Mare Do Well and I’m going to catch her off guard. “Because I had a run-in with the Mare Do Well tonight, and I don’t think I fought her right.”

Aureate’s expression grew more awestruck at the mention of the Manehatten hero. “You got to see the Mare Do Well!? What is she like? I hear she fights really, really good.”

You should know, kid. You train under her every day. “She was too quick for me to even keep up with. Then again, I’ve always been a boxing kind of girl. Never could figure out that martial arts stuff.”

Aureate giggled. “It’s not really as hard as it looks, Miss Delilah. And actually, a few of my classmates were street boxers, so you shouldn’t feel completely out of place.”

“Alright, thanks.” Delilah wavered on her feet. She turned around, making her way out of the door and into her own bedroom. “What time should I show up there?”

“Be at the downtown Dojo at four o’clock. If nothing else, I hope you have fun there tomorrow.”

“Yeah...” Delilah turned her head, grinning to herself. The hunt wasn’t over, after all. “I can’t wait.”