Dash had a fantastic view. The city looked a lot better from up here, in flight. After The Fifth Horseman vanished, Dash had rushed the saddlebag he had mistakenly given her back to its rightful owner. Then she had taken to the air.

The city was laid out before her. The whole thing. It was like a great big carpet stacked with a foal’s wooden toy blocks. The streets all made sense from this vantage point. The buildings looked like a study in perspective and vanishing points from some old school art class. There was a maze of canyons and chasms that separated them. This wasn’t an earth pony town when she looked at it in this way. This was a city for pegasus ponies.

And heroes. Dash still couldn’t believe what she had seen. The memory was burned into her brain, even though it had only lasted a few seconds. Just the idea of it made her mind boggle. Heroes were regular ponies who did extraordinary things. Jump into a lake to save a drowning foal. Or crawl into a wrecked, burning car to pull out a dog. But this guy? He was something else. He did this as a lifestyle. He worked outside of society. He worked above the law. He was some kind of... some kind of... super... hero.

The sun was setting in the west. It was filling the sky with a myriad of colors. The brick buildings were turning a warm orange and the glass buildings reflected the bright light. The spaces between them however, were lost in deep shadow. Anything could be lurking down there - villainy... or redemption.

Dash was searching for him. She retraced her steps to that alley, and the building above, but he was long gone. She flew in ever widening circles, hoping to spot him. She was getting nowhere. She flew back to the original rooftop. He was an earth pony. He couldn’t fly. He couldn’t teleport. Assuming he was sticking to the rooftops, and that was a big assumption, he’d probably jump across to the nearest building. That was impossible for an earth pony, but perhaps not one with wires and hooks. Who knew what else he might have?

Dash flew across the nearest building that an earth pony, even one with unearthly skills, could have conceivably reached. Then the next, then the next. She started to work out in her mind how such a pony might travel across the city.

She found the idea exhilarating. She had never wanted to be an earth pony before. She thought the mere idea to be distasteful. But if she had been an earth pony, this is how she would go about being one. She flew on and on. The sun set lower. The shadows grew darker. She didn’t even know if she was on the right path. She was about to give up when she spotted something.

There, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something. Just a little black spot that was moving, and fast. She banked towards it. It had to be him, there was nothing else it could be. Dash flew high. She didn’t know if he had seen her, and she didn’t want to be spotted. Not yet.

Celestia, he was magnificent. Dash couldn’t believe how fast he moved. Or how fluidly. He wasn’t even slowing down when he reached the edge of a building, he’d just jump at full sprint. Sometimes he’d lash some whip-like device around an antenna or flag pole or something and go swinging across the multi-story drops. The swings would take him in an arc across the street, and he’d land on the next building without losing any momentum. Other times he’d just free jump, landing a story or two lower on the next building, roll, and be off again. What amazed Dash even more was how well he had it all planned out, assuming he wasn’t a genius at improvisation. He stuck to the shadows, ducking behind massive air-conditioning units or stairwells or other rooftop machinery. He was hard to see, even if you were flying right above him. It was almost as if he did it just in case anyone was following him. Anyone like Dash.

He leapt to the roof of a high-rise condominium. There was a large, healthy, green rooftop garden, and a large shed. He ducked into the shadow behind the shed. He didn’t come back out. Dash banked sharply and circled above the building. She didn’t want to fly ahead of him and be spotted. She waited, but he still didn’t emerge. She circled lower and lower. She tried to peer into the deep gloom. He wasn’t there; he was just gone. Dash dove and landed behind the shed. It was impossible. There wasn’t any kind of door, or hatch, or window where he could have escaped through. He had simply entered the shadow one second, and disappeared. Dash leaped up onto the roof of the shed, and looked all around. She had lost him. She hopped down, ran through the garden, and peered over the edge of the building. Nothing. Rainbow Dash turned and walked back through the garden, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Why are you following me?” a voice boomed behind her.

Dash spun around, and her hind legs buckled underneath herself. She let out a scream in surprise. He towered over her. As big as Applejack’s brother. A current of wind lifted his dark cape behind him, making him seem larger still. “I... I...,” Dash had never felt more intimidated.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I wanted to find you,” she said.

“Everyone wants to find me. The cops. The FBI. Every two-bit mafia family. The Black Hoof Society...”

“I just thought you were cool!” Dash interjected.

“You thought I was... cool,” he grumbled. He turned and started to walk away.

“Wait, wait!” she hurried after him. “You’re the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. I had to talk to you. I want to know everything about you.”

He stopped at the edge of the building instead of leaping off of it. He stopped to talk to her. He sighed. “Look, I appreciate the compliments. But I work alone.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not taking any side-kicks.”

“Side-kicks?”

“Novices. Apprentices. Whatever you want to call it. Listen, I think you’re good. Really good. You’re the fastest thing on two wings that I’ve ever seen. And I’ve got the sneaking suspicion that you can go a whole lot faster. And furthermore,” he leaned over her and again she felt intimidated, “NO one has ever been able to track me down like you just did. You’ve got all the potential in the world. Probably more than I did when I started. I’m sure with the right training, you’ll make a great superhero some day. But that won’t be under my tutelage. Like I said. I work alone.”

Dash thought about what to say for a long moment. Then she just cut to the chase. “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

“What?”

“I don’t want to be your side-kick.”

“You don’t?”

“You’re supposed to help ponies. Right? Especially damsels in distress?”

“I try.”

“Well, I’m in distress. We all came here to Manehattan because we’re in distress. My friends and me. They’re all out there right now, getting their problems solved. But I hate it. I hate this. I never even really wanted to come. But I’ve got the problem too, and I don’t know what else to do.”

“What’s your problem?”

“I’m in heat,” Dash said. She looked at him. He didn’t respond. He didn’t even twitch. He could have doubled as a statue. “So yeah, I wanted you to help me out here. Solve my problem. Sounds pretty stupid when I say it out loud. You must think I’m crazy.”

“Lady,” he said. “I’m a costumed crime fighter. I’ve seen crazier.”

“Yeah, well, anyway. I’d never be able to live with myself if I didn’t at least ask. Will you?”

“No,” he said.

Dash didn’t react at first, but then sighed heavily. “Fine,” she said, and started to walk away, back into the garden. “I shouldn’t have asked. I shouldn’t have even come to this awful city.”

“It’s my city,” he said. Dash stopped in her tracks and turned back to look at him. He was looking around, for the first time she had seen him, he looked uncomfortable. He stepped away from the edge of the building and joined Dash in the garden. “It’s my city. It’s a wonderful place. Horrible and beautiful all at once.”

“I don’t understand,” Dash said.

“I know you don’t. And that’s my fault. I apologize.” He sighed, then reached up with a hoof and started to remove his cowl. Dash never expected him to. She had never asked him to. He pulled it all the way off of his head. The mane that had been tucked underneath came cascading out, long and straight and curling up right at the very end. The muzzle was much less square than the cowl would have suggested, instead round and curved. When she spoke, her voice rose in pitch a little, still deep, but less forced. “I have to maintain a secret identity,” she told Rainbow Dash. “I have friends. Family. If my enemies found out who I really was, it could put them in jeopardy.”

Dash was speechless. “You know,” she went on. “When I was just a foal, still in school, the other classmates would always make fun of me. ‘Butch’ they would call me. I hated it. I was so confused. Now that I’ve started doing this? Well, it’s this big, stupid, ugly body of mine that works to my advantage. The only confusion is among other people. I wanted to mislead people, but... I hadn’t considered someone might be mislead like I’ve mislead you. I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t want to help you out, it’s that I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m just a mare. I know exactly how you feel, by the way. I think it stinks too.”

“I don’t think you’re ugly,” Dash said.

“What?” she asked.

Dash leaped up and kissed her on the lips. They both fell over sideways into the garden.

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