Chapter 4: A Helping Claw
The next day Rainbow Dash woke up with a grin on her face. She and Gilda had devised the perfect plan to outwit the Mysterious Mare Do Well. There was no way that this plan could go wrong. Rainbow Dash got out of bed, ate a light breakfast, and walked out the door. Her first stop was Carousel Boutique.
"Hey Rarity." Rainbow Dash called out cheerfully.
"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity greeted eagerly. "What a surprise. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Do you have a costume I can buy for a friend of mine?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"A costume?" Rarity inquired. "What kind?"
"Nothing too fancy." Rainbow Dash said. "All I need is a pony costume. A large one."
"What color would you prefer dear?" Rarity asked.
"Let's go with white." Rainbow Dash answered. "My friend will figure out what she wants to do with it by herself. She wants to get a head start on her Nightmare Night costume."
Rarity let out a squeal of excitement. She rushed into the backroom and came back with the costume that Rainbow Dash had asked for. The unicorn insisted that this costume would be the perfect size for a large pony.
Or a griffon. Rainbow Dash thought mischievously. "I'll take it." she said out loud. "How much?"
Rarity rang up her purchase and Rainbow Dash paid for the costume. Then she left the boutique with a grin on her face. Next stop: Twilight Sparkle's castle.
"Hey Twilight you got any spare ink I can use?" Rainbow Dash asked her alicorn friend when she entered her castle.
"I think I have a spare bottle I don't need." the alicorn responded. "Will black ink be all right?"
"That would be perfect." Rainbow Dash replied.
Twilight Sparkle handed over the black ink and Rainbow Dash was on her way. Next stop was Pinkie Pie's place.
'Hey Pinkie." Rainbow Dash called out. "Ya got any fake manes lying around?"
"Lying around?" Pinkie Pie repeated. "No not really. I do have some in a box. Wanna see 'em?"
"That's what I meant." Rainbow Dash replied.
"Well then why didn't you say so silly?" Pinkie Pie asked. She hopped into another room and came back with a large box that was filled with fake manes. Rainbow Dash grabbed a fairly long lime green mane as well as a shorter mane of the same color and thanked Pinkie Pie. Then she headed off to her cloud home.
When Rainbow Dash entered her castle, she saw Gilda waiting for her just like they had planned. The rainbow maned pegasus helped Gilda put on the pony costume and it fit the griffon perfectly. Thankfully Gilda had thought to wear her brown elastic wing restraint so that the costume would fit easier. Next Rainbow Dash glued the fake mane on top of the griffon's head just right. She then took the longer mane and cut it to the just the right size and shape and glued it on the spot where Gilda's tail would be. Finally Rainbow Dash dipped a paintbrush into the bottle of black ink and very carefully drew a cutie mark on Gilda's flanks. The cutie mark consisted of three bold black question marks. It wasn't anything special but it would do.
"So Dash how do I look?" Gilda asked.
"Who are you? Why do you sound like Gilda? And just how are you standing on clouds without wings or magic?" Rainbow Dash asked in a teasing tone.
"That good huh?" Gilda asked.
"Yep." Rainbow Dash replied. "Nopony will recognize ya G."
"Mare Do Well won't know what hit her." Gilda replied enthusiastically.
"You got that right." Rainbow Dash agreed,
The duo strolled through town and were on the lookout for anypony in danger. Suddenly a scream pierced the silent air. A pony was holding on to the edge of a cliff for dear life. Rainbow Dash and Gilda looked at each other and they nodded. Rainbow Dash flew off to help the pony while Gilda kept her eyes peeled for the Mysterious Mare Do Well.
All of a sudden Gilda saw the Mare Do Well. She was charging up a spell to save the pony. Gilda knew that Rainbow Dash was able to save the mare, so she ran towards the Mare Do Well and then she intentionally fell over. She laid on the ground and whimpered in pain. Her noises of agony distracted the Mare Do Well's attention as she rushed over towards the disguised griffon. She checked Gilda's leg and nodded as if to confirm that the 'pony' was all right. She gazed back to the spot where the mare was hanging from the cliff only to find that she was no longer there. Instead the pony was riding on Rainbow Dash's back.
"Look! The Mare Do Well did it again!" a townspony yelled.
"That's not the Mare Do Well!" another pony shouted.
"That's Rainbow Dash! She saved that pony's life!" a third pony screamed.
Rainbow Dash landed in front of the rapidly growing crowd of ponies. She gently placed the pony that she had saved back down on the ground. She grinned as the townsponies showered her with praise. Gilda meanwhile was grinning too. She was happy that Rainbow Dash was getting some of her old pride back. She was also happy that nopony could see her facial expression. The Mare Do Well mysteriously disappeared and Gilda didn't care where she went.
Rainbow Dash walked through the town with Gilda fairly close behind her. Gilda was keeping her distance so that nopony would think that she was working with Rainbow Dash but at the same time she was close enough that she could help her friend if she needed to.
Then another scream filled Rainbow Dash's ears. She flew off towards the source of the commotion with Gilda hot on her hooves. A filly was holding on to a tree branch that was hanging over a lake.
"Help me!" he cried. "I can't swim!"
Rainbow Dash flew to the young colt's aid while Gilda did her part. She saw the Mysterious Mare Do Well running towards the filly and she knew that she had no choice. Gilda leaped in front of the Mare Do Well and was flung aside as she hit the griffon with tremendous force. The Mare Do Well staggered off to the side as Gilda hit the ground. It was like a brick wall had slammed into her at two hundred miles an hour. The Mare Do Well got up and tried to help the filly but it was too late. Rainbow Dash had already saved the young pony's life.
"Look Rainbow Dash did it again!" a pony yelled.
Instantly a swarm of ponies gathered around Rainbow Dash. They praised her for her heroic deed and she showed off a bit of her fast flying. Gilda grinned as she watched her best friend express her happiness. The whole day continued like this. A pony would be in danger, Mare Do Well would try to help, but Gilda would distract her giving Rainbow Dash the chance to be a hero. Celestia's sun started to set and then Gilda and Rainbow Dash headed back to the pegasus' cloud castle. Rainbow Dash flew up to the door and then she threw down a rope ladder and allowed Gilda to climb up. The two friends were unaware that they were being watched.
Rainbow Dash helped Gilda out of the pony costume as she described her actions.
"And when I grabbed that filly from that branch did you see his face?" the rainbow maned pegasus exclaimed in a very excited tone. "He was admiring me."
"That Mare Do Well packs a punch though." Gilda said. "I'm gonna be feeling that tackle for a while."
"You're not hurt are ya G?" Rainbow Dash asked in a concerned tone. "I wanna be a hero but I don't want you getting hurt just for me."
"It's cool Dash." Gilda replied. "I'd go through a lot more for ya. That's what best friends do. Besides do you really think that the Mare Do Well can handle THIS?" Having finally taken off the costume, Gilda sprang to her hind legs and flexed her forelegs to show off her muscles.
Rainbow Dash grinned at her best friend and then she waved her forelegs around frantically as if she was trying to ward off an attacker.
"Watch out we've got a bad flank over here!" she said in a joking tone.
Gilda laughed at Rainbow Dash's remark and the pegasus laughed with her. They were laughing so much that they didn't hear the fluttering of wings as a pony flew away from their house.
Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle walked into SugarCube Corner. The bakery was closed at this hour so she knew that they weren't going to be disturbed. The purple alicorn sat down at the table with her three close friends Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy was absent but Twilight Sparkle felt that that was best for the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy had felt guilty enough about being part of the Mare Do Well plan and Twilight Sparkle knew that the plan that she was going to come up with was something that her timid friend would not want to be a part of.
"All right girls." the alicorn said. "We know why we're here."
"Ah guess Mare Do Well ain't gonna work?" Applejack asked.
"Not with that mysterious white pony that's constantly interfering with us." Rarity said.
"Who do you think it is?" Pinkie Pie asked eagerly.
"That white pony isn't a pony." Twilight Sparkle said. "It's Gilda."
"Ah shoulda known." Applejack said while shaking her orange head.
"Why can't we just tell her to let Mare Do Well save the ponies?" Rarity asked.
"Because Gilda is Rainbow's friend." Twilight Sparkle said. "She would think that we'd be happy for Rainbow getting all this praise. If we confronted her she'd find out that we're Mare Do Well and there's no telling how she'll react."
"So what do we do?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"I have an idea." Twilight Sparkle said. "I just hope it works."
She whispered her plan to the other ponies and they all had frowns on their faces after she was finished.
"Ah don't like this plan at all." Applejack said.
Rarity and Pinkie Pie shook their heads as well. They were not fond of Twilight Sparkle's plan.
"I know but it's this or let Rainbow be a braggart her whole life." the alicorn said.
The other ponies reluctantly agreed. They didn't care for the plan in the slightest but they desperately needed to teach Rainbow Dash a lesson in humility before the pegasus got any more arrogant.
