TMMDW #1: Act I

The Mysterious Mare Do Well #1: The Mare Before the Mask

Act I: "Moving up!"

***

It's funny. I remember clearly, a time when a pony didn't have to fear the night. When a mare could walk the streets under Luna's vivid stars and feel safe in the knowledge that no harm would come to them. It wasn't even that long ago, really. The streets of Manehatten are the worst offenders now that the night holds real darkness. The rules have changed it appears. Crimes never before seen are now commonplace. The two rival gangs, The Hoods and  The Vandals swarm the alleys and byways. And the police? Don't make me laugh. Incompetent foals and soft headed lackeys.

I should know. I was one of them. My name is- was- Amber Lights, and this is the story of how I became Mare Do Well.

***

"Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Ponyville Police Unable to Apprehend 'Mare Do Well'! Fillydelphia Snowstorms Out of Control, Weather Pegasai Baffled! Canterlot Castle to Host First Winter Solstice Festival! Read all about it!" The crier continued to petal his papers on the busy Manehatten street corner as the city ponies went about their lives. One Pony, a brown Earth Pony mare stopped and took a paper, dropping a bit into a jar at the crier's feet. The crier nodded his thanks to the mare and turned his attention back to his task.

Amber Lights idly skimmed the cover-story on Mare Do Well, the mysterious masked vigilante that sprang up in Ponyville more than a fortnight before who had quickly caught national media attention. Regardless of her fame, Vigilantes were unlawful and so the local authorities had no recourse but to try to capture them. This, however proved to be quite difficult as Mare Do Well skillfully avoided capture at every turn vanishing without a trace. In her youth, Amber had read the old Half-Bit Funnies. She particularly liked the super hero strips that were published. She only stopped reading them because the publishers dropped the title. She still had the old back issues in a box in her closet.

The story continued on an inside page so she deftly rolled the paper and deposited it in her saddlebags and took off for Starbuck's for her morning fix. The Barrister nodded happily when she stepped in and just as she reached the counter, he nosed a cup across to her. Thanking him, she grabbed a muffin, paid and took a seat at the nearest table. The article continued, detailing the events as they had unfolded and quoted one 'Miss Rainbow Dash' as saying "Mare Do Well, eh? Well that mare would Do Well to Stay out of my way! Ponyville's only got room for one hero, and that hero is me!" Amber chuckled at the quote, and read on. A week and a half had passed since the last reported sighting and authorities speculated that Mare Do Well had simply given in and hung up the cape and hat.

Before too long the door jingled and a grey Unicorn trotted through. Spotting Amber at her table reading, he ambled across and took a seat across from her, unnoticed.

"Hey gorgeous," He said with a wry smile. The edge of Amber's paper lowered to reveal a jokingly contemptuous glare.

"Easy there, Romeo, I'd hate to have to hit you with a harassment suit so early in the morning," The brown mare joked with her friend. "So, Stone. Any word on that promotion I've been hearing about?"

Stone Shifter ran a hoof through his dark brown mane and leaned back in thought. "Not much, but I know it's going to be in house, and word from the Scuttlebutt is a certain brown filly's been in the Chief's good graces for some time."

"Shame about Holms though," Amber sighed, rolling her paper up and getting to her hooves. "I was sure that Colt could survive anything. I guess a runaway trolly's a bit much to ask though."

"Bad luck's what it was."

"Yeah." Amber drained the last of her coffee and dropped the cup in the trash as the two ponies left the shop. "Just gets me though. Best case record on The Force, a Mare and two fillies. That Stallion had it all right."

"Heh, You're tellin me!" Stone shook his head as they waited for the crossing guard to signal them pass the intersection. "I'm like a walkin example of why you don't do what he didn't do."

"Ah, You're not that bad," she joked, nudging the glum unicorn with an elbow. The guard waved the crowd onward and they followed it's flow for a time. "A little rough around the edges sure, but hey! Nopony's perfect."

"I guess. Say, Where do ya' recon Chief's gonna put us today? I hope we get an uptown beat."

"You're a really lazy sod you know." Amber sighed as they approached the precinct doors.

"Hey, I can't help that I'd rather not deal with the Hoods and Vandals during a turf war."

Amber could only nod to this, cause really, she felt the same. Downtown Manehatten recently began playing host to two rival gangs, the Hoods, and the Vandals. It had become even worse in the last few weeks as the two gangs began to push at each others borders. The Downtown beat had always seen it's share of crime and rowdiness, but now, it was at a whole new level. Scarcely a day went by without reports of street brawls, break-ins and even the occasional killing. The homicide department was once a single office. Now, it had it's own wing of the building.

Inside the lobby, the off duty officers gathered around The Chief, a portly blue Pegasus, with a mustache and a clipped left ear. He was speaking to the gathered ponies when he turned and spotted Amber and Stone walking in.

"Ah, Detective Lights! Just the mare we've been waiting for!" he shouted over the hubbub of the lobby.

"Morning Chief. How's ever..." She paused for a moment and replayed what had been said in her mind. "Did you say 'Detective Lights', Chief?"

The Chief's grin widened. "That I did! Congratulations on your new position within the Manehatten Police, Detective." He thrust a hoof forward towards her which she shook, a smile slowly spreading across her muzzle. "I've got your first case lined up and waiting on your desk!"

"Hold it! I have a desk too?"

"Comes with the badge, Filly." Clapping her on the back, he smiled even more broadly as he continued. "And since we go nowhere alone, I'll let you keep your pet!" At this, he glanced back to Stone shifter whose grin quickly faded into a pointed glare at the Chief. "Ah, lighten up Stone! We're celebratin!"

Stone continued his glare as the gathered ponies headed in for shift change. With the general announcement out of the way, the Chief began leading the two new promotees into his office behind the booking desks. Once inside, he fluttered across the room to a filing cabinet and withdrew two forms. "Just need your John Hancolts here, and it's official."

Amber quickly signed her name, and hooved the pen to Stone Shifter who grabbed it with his magic and followed suit. Badges were handed to the duo along with a case-file which Stone took. "Amber, Your new desk is just around the bend. The one in the corner, oh, and when you got time, look over the policy on desk decor. No sense in getting yourself in trouble over something like a paperweight."

"Will do Chief! Oh, and this case? Anything I need to know right off hoof?"

"Just a string of robberies. We think the Hoods may be involved." The Chief plodded up behind his desk and dropped to his haunches and began pulling papers across towards him. "You'll be downtown for all of this so watch your flank. Don't need you getting into any trouble the case don't throw your way. Also, we're supposed to give some speech or other about 'conduct befitting an officer of the Royal Equestrian Police' but I just can't be bothered, so here's the short and skinny. Read everypony their rights, don't rough em up too bad, and make sure you follow S.O.P. at all times. That's it, good luck and don't get lost on the way."

"Count on it," Amber said as she led Stone Shifter from the office and towards her new private workspace. "Detective Amber Lights," she mused idly, a wistful smile gracing her features. "Movin on up, eh Stone?"

"That's what I heard," He said, looking over the files as they approached the desk in the corner. A mat and name placard were all that adorned the surface. The placard read "Detective A. Lights" and the mat looked worn and well used. To Amber, it looked brand new. She plopped down behind her desk and ran her hooves over the polished wood surface, opened and shut drawers and adjusted her name plate for a moment, until apparently satisfied.

"So, what's the low down on our first assignment Partner?"

"Like the chief said, a string of robberies that fit the same M.O. All magi-tech appliance shops, and all at midnight right around Trottingham and Hundred-First. Right on the razors edge as it were. Hoods to the north, and Vandals to the south." He turned a page in the report, and magicked a map from the file to the desk with locales circled. "There are where they hit, in red. In blue are likely future targets and in green are priority."

"It kinda looks like somepony's done all the detecting already." Amber said, slightly put out by all the work that's already been done for them.

"This was Holms' last case before the accident. He'd had it about two days before." The grey unicorn shuffled the papers again and a paper fell out as Amber was fiddling with a drawer again. It was a dossier picturing a Diamond Dog with red teeth and earrings Entitled 'Ruby Tooth'. Without drawing attention to it, he used his magic to slip the picture to the bottom of a full wastebasket nearby and shut the file with a snap, catching the brown mare's attention as she was slipping her newspaper into a drawer. "Well, no use in us wasting Celestia's sun. Let's hit the cobbles."

Amber nodded and with badge pinned to her coat, followed The Grey stallion from the building and out into the bustling city streets. As they moved towards their goal, Amber only became more excited, whereas Stone Shifter was becoming jumpy and antsy. With a shrug, she attributed his strange behavior to nerves over their first case and trotted merrily along, chatting with the unresponsive unicorn at her side. As they neared downtown, the buildings became taller and more brick appeared in the construction. The streets were worn and the ever present Manehatten crowd thinned to a few isolated gaggles of nervous ponies hurrying about their business.