The Secret Sistersby Bronze GearsChaptersChapter 1Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7: FinaleChapter 2Chapter 1~Rainbow Dash I stood staring off the edge of a huge cliff. Ghastly Gorge to be correct. My ears perked up as I heard an electric motor buzzing closer to me. I turned and noticed Tank inching his way over to me smiling, happy to see me. I trotted over to help him out with his huge journey over a foot long, his motor needed new batteries I thought, chuckling to myself. "Don't you see why I like coming out here? I can see for miles!" I shouted, my voice echoed through the gorge, Tank replied with a small, agreeing nod. I smiled and turned back to the mesmerizing cliff side. I heard a falcon screech overhead and a pebble tumbled down. It screeched again and more stones began to fall, I took a step back cautiously. Unknowing of what was about to happen next. Tank decided to start making little roars along with the bird, and along with bigger rocks collapsing to the ground. After a few tries to get Tank to shut up, I felt the ground tremble. I grasped Tank's leash and flew him up to the clouds, Tank seemed to be shaking madly. It was then when I realized what was happening. A small crack split down Ghastly Gorge's wall, and spread until it reached ground level. I had to warn the others, but how could I warn all of Equestria about the world splitting in two? I raced to Ponyville and rushed down through Twilight's library door. "Spike! Take a note! NOW!!!" Twilight rushed down the stairs "What's wrong Rainbow?!" She managed to spit out "What happened?!" I ran up to Spike and yelled him to write down, 'Dear Princess Celestia, I have noticed a large crack splitting Ghastly Gorge in two, it has reached ground level and is spreading in every direction! Please respond as soon as possible! From: Rainbow Dash'. Twilight's mouth dropped to the floor, she began to stumble over her words, "WHAT!?" She yelled, breaking all the windows in Ponyville. "Are you kidding or are you serious!?!?" Twilight screeched. "Serious business dude" I replied quietly, motioning for Twilight to settle down. She ignored my advice "But I was just researching something that Princess Celestia wrote to me about, Spike, bring me her letter from today please!" Spike rushed upstairs and brought down a small scroll, and unraveled it before me. 'Dear my faithful student Twilight Sparkle, I have been notified of a mythical split told to start off in Ghastly Gorge, and apparently it is supposed to rip Equestria to pieces! This mythical crack is supposed to also split in another location, I myself do not know yet, but when or if I find out, I will notify you as soon as possible. Information on this mysterious split is in a book in your library: Myths and Legends on page 187. Please notify me if you find anything. Princess Celestia' Spike rolled the scroll up once he saw my eyes dart over to Twilight. "What have you found?" I asked. Twilight trotted over to a shelf and brought it down using her horn,while flipping to page 187. She stopped and pointed directly at an article on the yellowed, torn page. "I was trying to finish what it said..." Her voice trailed off. "The page was torn off right when it told where the other split is supposed to be located. I groaned annoyingly and trotted away mumbling, "So now what? Just watch our world crumble to bits and pieces while some stupid pony has a wad of paper we urgently need? I walked out of the library and slammed the door on Twilight. She managed to push through as I flew up to nap on a cloud"Oh come on Rainbow, I can find it! I Pinkie Pie promise! It'll be like an adventure! A Daring Do adventure!" The sound of her name always seemed to send an electric shock through my veins, I propped up and glared at Twilight, narrowing my eyes. "No adventure is better than a Daring Do adventure" I said, flying down on to my hooves. "You'll see" Twilight replied challengingly. Chapter 3~Rainbow Dash I kept a keen eye on the split slowly creeping in all directions. Everyday it seemed to grow a few inches wider, deeper, and longer. I also visited Twilight to hear recent news on what she's found. Though everytime is the same "Sorry Rainbow, haven't gotten much yet," and I'd trot away slower than ever.. Now Tank has seemed to notice i'm not eating as much, this whole 'crack splitting Equestria' thing is really getting to me, and tearing me to bits. Though one day when I was visiting Twilight's, her face lit up when she saw me. She explained that the other split met our's somewhere in between. "Like a tunnel connecting 2 dimensions!" She shouted gleefully. I smiled, and told her that I would continue to keep watch for anything strange, "This is the fate of Equestria in our hooves!" And galloped off. The next afternoon was astonishing. I tumbled out of bed, snout first to the floor. Groaning, I trotted over to my window to check on the split, with my eyes bulging out of my head. I almost couldn't breath, and fell on the floor. Again. I grasped the windowsill and checked again. The crack had split not just a few inches, but a few MILES. I flew down and kept checking my eye sight, pinching myself, anything to prove this wasn't real. After my hooves were swolled red with pinches, and my eyes watery from rubs and scratches, I finally sat at the start of the split. The start of it was a circle at the bottom of Ghastly Gorge, which spread into thick, deep branches stretching in all directions. Though the middle of the star-like structure, was the deepest of all. I grabbed a pebble and tossed it down, after a few moments of complete silence, an extremely quiet 'drip' rang through. It had to be at least a few miles below the ground. And I had fight a strange urge to not jump inside, but I gave in and dived into the split. "GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOO!" Chapter 4~Daring Do I trot down a small creek and find a deep cave, trying to forget the incident from earlier today. I lay down some stones into a small circle and gather some fallen sticks and branches. When smoke began to rise from the branches vigorously being rubbing together, I heard a sharp snap, but ignored it for a rock tumbling down. After lighting the fire, I grabbed my stuff and scooted closer to the heat. I heard a roar of thunder tumbling in and watched as a dark, black cloud rolled into the forest. As the first few, fat drops fell, the cave seemed to look brighter, I took out my journal and open it to a new page. I tried to concentrate but dazed off staring blankly outside where the ground became damp. I blinked hard and slammed the book shut, and rolled closer to the flames, drifting off to sleep. 'Fire. It was everywhere and everything. I rushed as the meadow behind me burned to ash, I couldn't turn around to look, it was catching up to me. Orange tongues begin to nip at my sides, adrenaline pumped through my veins, pushing me to my limits. Though the entire time, I was mesmerized by the sparks soaring into the inky, black sky. They danced with the stars, but only momentarily, they dived back to the earth and started new little fires. I stared down on one in-particular that flew in front of me, instead of flying to the sides. It landed right at my hooves stopping me dead in my tracks. There was nowhere to run. The spark grew into a blaze that met with the main fire, I was surrounded, trapped. It was my worst nightmare.' I jerked my eyes open and jumped to my hooves. I glanced around, nothing was wrong, the fire was now only smoke, ash, and anything left in the pit was burnt-to-a-crisp wood. I noticed a small slip of paper sticking out of my journal, it looked as if it was torn from an article, but I had no idea where it came from. I walked out to the river and packed up my things, refilled my jug of water, and left. While I traveled down the creek, I studied the piece of paper. ...in Saddle Arabia. These are extremely da... ...both of them appear...10,000 years... ...portals...Once anypony enters, they can not escape. I put the slip of paper in my pocket and continued down the river, I was curious to see if anything had happened to the split, or maybe even who put the paper in my journal. I came to a turn and at that point, I could see the peak of the hill. I ran and found myself at the foot of something much different from yesterday. The hill seemed as if it was once a volcano that had erupted. The split had turned into a crater, I trotted up cautiously, not knowing what to expect. The rim of the crater was like a cliff, but the middle was very different. It was like a funnel cloud, wide and not very steep for 30 yards, but it changed into a steep narrow drop down into darkness. I flew closer to the narrow gap and noticed a tiny purple light. I thought I was just seeing things, but I was wrong. VERY wrong. It would change my thoughts on the world forever. The light began to swirl upwards, turning to a shade of teal. I stepped back nervously, not having any idea what was happening. Lightning began to spark from the gap, I jumped back just in time before it shaved my mane off. It was then that I got scared for the first time in my life, I heard screaming. My fur stood straight up, along with my back. My legs began to buckle. I couldn't do anything, I was too nervous. The screaming became louder and the blue light closer. I fell over when lightning almost hit me, then it happened. It seemed as if the world had just exploded. I woke up dizzily, I barely opened one eye, somepony was looking at me, but I couldn't even make out if it was a mare or stallion. It was blue, for sure, and looked as if it had a rainbow mane and tail that wasn't taken care of very well. She was staring at me wide-eyed, I scooted back and jumped to my hooves. "A-are you... D-daring Do?" She stuttered. "Yea. Why does it matter so much?" I muttered."But-but you're only a book character!!!" she cried. I brushed off the leaves and grass and actually looked at her for a moment, finally recognizing her. It WAS her, Rainbow Dash. My idol as a filly, but I grew up and realized she was only a fictional character. I shot a confused look at her, speechless. "Rainbow Dash?" I said quietly. "You know my NAME!?!?" She hollered. "Uh... You're only a book character" I pulled out my book: Rainbow Dash and the Changling Attack. She studied it with a questioning look, and pulled out a book: Daring Do and the Griffin's Goblet. I stood in amazement. We trotted back to the cave I spent in the night before, Rainbow asked tons of questions about me and I asked loads of questions about her. "Where is Equestria?" I asked puzzled. "Wait, we aren't in EQUESTRIA!?!?!" She hollered nervously. "Sorry but no, we're near Saddle Arabia." I answered a bit disappointedly. She stood up and started to trot back into the direction of the split. "Where are you going!?" I shouted to her. "Home" she replied. Chapter 5~Rainbow Dash I stood up and began towards the hill, hoping to make it home. After only a minute of walking, something crashed into me, knocking the wind from my lungs. I stood up and saw a tan pony with a black and grey mane laying on the dirt path. Daring. She moaned and stood up, and regained her balance. "Home? What do you mean 'Home'?" She questioned. My eyes grew restless, "HOME, as in Equestria... Like I tried to explain to you..." I turned around and began to trot away when my tail was jerked backwards. "Sorry, but you're not going anywhere" Daring said. "Yes I am, I am going home, don't care what ya say." I corrected. "Well, if you DO go, you'll probably end up floating in an endless black space, not Equestria" She convinced me to stop and glare at her questioningly. "What mumbo-jumbo are ya talking about now?!" I shouted. Daring pulled out a small piece of ripped paper and began to explain. "It looks like it's been ripped from an article or somethin' but it says here, 'anypony that enters can not escape'." My eyes bulged out of my head and I jerked the paper from her hooves. "Where did you get this!?" She shrugged and gave me a disappointed expression. "I dunno". My head shifted sideways and I stared at her, with Daring giving me the same look. "You look a bit more familiar than I read in the book." She said. "It doesn't matter right now, where did you get this!?" I hollered, the forest echoed and a few birds screeched and flew off. She shrugged again, "It showed up in my journal this morning..." I groaned and slapped my hoof against my face, dragging it down dramatically. So how was I supposed to get home? I have NO idea. Turns out, when Twilight said, 'Like a tunnel connecting 2 dimensions!' I was just LUCKY to get to the other dimension. I flew back to the cave with Daring, she tried to explain to me she would figure something out and I wouldn't have to worry and I would get home soon... but I still slumped away, ignoring her. It was mostly the same thing everyday, wake up, fill up some water bottles, and be on our way. I starting to realize how Daring Do is so famous for just traveling, it's freaking hard work. It's just walking, what's so bad about it? EVERYTHING. Bugs biting and itching, the lack of water, and food, the humid air, the heat. It's all just too much. Now I know why I hated traveling to other countries when I was a filly. I would complain every once in a while to try and get Daring to speak, but she would just ignore me. "How can you stand these bugs!?" No answer. "It's so stinkin' hot! Are you?" No answer. "Wow, about a pint of water left in this thing..." I shook the bottle dramatically. No answer. And so it went on, slicing branches away in complete silence, I had no idea why she wasn't answering me... "So... Where are we heading?" She stopped and turned looking back at me, she had a bored expression printed on her face, "We're going to Saddle Arabia... What else do you wanna know!?" Daring asked in a tired, monotone voice. She turned around and continued in silence, and I kept my mouth shut. Chapter 6~Daring Do Everyday was the same boring routine. Rainbow Dash tried to keep a conversation up, but I didn't feel like talking, there wasn't much to actually chat about. So we just stayed silent, only hearing our hoofsteps, breaking branches, and other animal calls. Rainbow seemed to be more and more worried every day, she was scared about her home, I could tell, she tried not to talk about the destruction of anything in her dimension, so I stayed quiet about mine. One morning Rainbow Dash woke up extremely early, it didn't seem like a big ordeal until she started talking to herself, and even stumbling around when she walked. I told her to relax, we didn't travel as much that day, we only had about 15 miles until we reached Saddle Arabia. After around 4 days of walking, the climate grew hotter, the trees seemed to thin out, and the soil grew dryer. I pulled out the map and scanned our surroundings, we were only 3 miles away from the Stone of Bits. "Come on Rainbow, we can fly 3 miles before sundown, can't we?!" I shouted back to her, she nodded confidently and we darted off, racing to beat the sun to the finish line. We were about a mile away when I glanced at the horizon, it was inching closer to the ground, I flew faster, and noticed a structure ahead. "I can see it! Come on Daring lets hurry! We're almost there!" Rainbow Dash yelled, pushing both of us faster. We reached the top of a large hill of sand, I noticed the Stone of Bits at the foot of the hill. I tumbled and rolled down the hill and stopped right before a gleaming silver foundation. I looked up and saw a statue of a book and a bag of bits, shining bright gold in the afternoon sun. "What are those weird pictures on the back of this?" Rainbow asked concerned. "Oh those? Those are ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, it's not that hard to read em'. It says: 'To reveal the entrance, discover your unknown relative.'" I answered. Rainbow Dash and I both had the same thing in mind, 'An unknown relative?' We glanced at each other in perfect sync, with questioning expressions. I finally realized it, Rainbow Dash had the same eyes, mane, tail, wings, and even the same attitude as I did. My eyes bulged out of my head, and my mouth dropped to the floor. "Uh... You ok there buddy?" She asked nervously, she took a small step back with a cautious look on her face. "What do ya mean 'buddy', don't you mean SISTER?" I asked carefully, not wanting to mix up my words. Rainbow Dash took a giant step back, her eyes grew huge, and she became speechless. Chapter 7: Finale~Rainbow Dash We both stood in shock, staring, speechless, until a roar of thunder broke the silence. "Wait, what's supposed to happen!!!!??" I yelled nervously. "Uh... Hehehe... I'm not sure!" Daring Do answered with a scared look. Suddenly, the ground beneath us crumbled away. We soared into the sky, looking below into a bright tunnel. Daring shrugged and hollered, "KOWABUNGA!!!" folding her wings and dropping like a rock into the white abyss. "Rainbow!!!!!" laughs and whoops echoed to the top, where I stood, unsure, "It's a huge slide!!! C'mon!!! Whaaaa Whoooo!!!!!" The tunnel echoed. I gave in, locking my wings tight to my sides, and sliding into the bright abyss. I laughed and hollered along with Daring, unable to contain my joy. "Hahahaha! This is AWESOME!!" I yelled, flailing my hooves. I heard a grunt echo throughout the slide, "SLOW DOWN!!! YOU WON'T MAKE IT!!!" Daring screeched. I immediately slammed my hooves onto the tunnel's floor, sparks flew past my view, my hooves burned, but I was gradually slowing down. Lights that once whizzed by now inched past me. I winced as the slide ended in a blinding light. My eyes adjusted to the brightness as I was flung off the tunnel into a giant sand pit. I swam through the grainy sand, my head darting around, looking for Daring. She was sitting on the edge of the pit, pressuring her forehead and wincing. "You ok?!" I yelled to her, she nodded gently, still wincing, her teeth bared. I stood up on the pit of sand, but fell through, it wasn't stiff enough to hold my weight, so I continued to paddle through. I reached where Daring's hooves dangled off, and pulled myself out of the sand. She was pressuring the corner of her forehead with both of her hooves. "Ya sure your ok?" I asked with a concerned tone. "I dunno, but it hurts like crazy," she answered quietly, with a strained voice. "What happened? Let me see your forehead. Are you gonna be ok? How did-" I questioned her nervously, "Rainbow!!! Calm down!!! I'm fine. Ok?!" my 'sister' interrupted angrily. I quieted and examined her with a concerned face. "Well, can I at least see your head?" I whispered, Daring gently took a bloody hoof off her head, a giant gash sat in it's place. I gasped, "Daring, you are notok. You need help!" I ordered. She ripped off a piece of her shirt and pushed it against her forehead. "I'm FINE!!!" The pegasus growled. She sighed, stood up, and began to trot down another tunnel, lighted by wall torches. After about 15 minutes, we reached a dimly-lighted room. I began to walk out onto the floor, but Daring stuck out her hoof, stopping me from doing so. "It's a trap," she said quietly. She looked at each of the walls, dark holes were dug into them. "Some sorta dispenser, like for arrows or something," she added. "You really know a lot about spy and secret agent stuff don't you?" I whispered. "Yup," she answered, pulling out some weird device. "What the heck?" I added. "It's to check for invisible laser beams," Daring said with an annoyed tone. Sure enough, red laser beams were scattered all around the room, in every direction. "And that's why I love doin' my job," she stated confidently. "So how do we get through it Miss-Know-It-All?" Daring whipped out a tiny pen-like electronic, scanned the room, and walked forward. I was speechless, but also a bit jealous. I stuck out my hoof cautiously, to check for a defect. "C'mon ya big goof," My new 'sister' ordered, and I trotted forward reluctantly. We approached a podium with a small key card laying on top of it. I shrugged and took the card off, not expecting anything to happen. "Wait!" Daring whisper-screamed, grabbing my hoof as I held the card. "What?" She stood silent, looking around cautiously. Nothing. I trotted to the brick door and stuck the key card into a slot, heard a click, and the red light turned green. "Bazinga!" I shouted as the door slid open. Daring rolled her eyes and trotted past me, smiling. "How'd I do?" I asked excitedly. "With what?" she added confusingly. "The room back there! Duh! You were like: Oh no don't do that! And I was all like: Bazinga! With the card, and the door opened. Hahaha, good times," I exclaimed. She laughed and rolled her eyes again, "What?" I asked seriously. "It's just the way that you make my voice sound like a cartoon character off a little girl's show," She explained, with a smile spreading across her face. "Oh, yea," I laughed. We continued down the hallway chatting about how we were siblings, and how each of us might have been separated. "Maybe I was flyin' around as a filly, and never realized it, but flew into a portal," Daring suggested. We shrugged off the topic as we approached a dim room. It grew brighter as we neared, but it wasn't blinding. Daring's eyes grew huge and shiny when we reached a small set of stairs. She began to mumble and stutter, "Th-The... Stone... O-Of Bits! It's The Stone Of Bits! I made it!" Daring clenched my shoulders tightly, leaving a red marking, "WE did it! All my life! I've been waiting for this all of my life!" She celebrated her journey, prancing around, bounding down the steps and staring at the mountains of golden coins. She had done it all herself, I could tell she was proud. Daring had apparently forgotten about her head, which made me glad. I didn't say much, just stood off to the side enjoying watching my sister celebrating. After she had her moment of glory, she sighed and sat down, glaring at the room of bright gold. I trotted over, and sat down next to her, she smiled briefly, but looked at the ground, as if she was unsatisfied. "What's wrong? You just found what you've been searching for your whole life. Aren't you happy?" I questioned with a concerned tone. "Oh I'm very happy, but it's just that... I noticed something... I couldn't have done any of this without your help," Daring smiled, "You're my sister, Rainbow. If I had never found you, if you had never dove into that portal, I never would have met you, found the Stone of Bits, or even meet my idol. And I've realized... that my idol... is my own sister. And that... I wasn't looking for all of this gold, I was looking for a friend," She finished. "Well, now that I think about it, that's all very true," I stated, a warm smile on my face, "I'm just... glad that I have someone other than a turtle in my family," Daring and I laughed. The two of us stood up, and flew passed the mountains of gold. Though I managed to dive down and pick out two smooth coins, Flying back up, I tossed one to my sister. "What's this for?" She asked confusingly, "I don't think one coin will make much of a difference," "It's not for your bank account. It's to remember each other, we're sisters, we need something to remind us that we truly are family," I explained. Daring nodded slightly and gave me a small grin. "Ok," was all she said. "Because... I..." We both knew we would never be able to see each other again, though I slowly choked out the words, tears forming in my eyes. "Well, you know..." Daring simply nodded, she understood. I noticed a single drop of water race down her cheek, though she quickly wiped it away. "I couldn't have done it without you." Were her last words as we flew back to the portal. Afterwhat seemed like an eternity, we reached the split in the dimension. After many goodbyes, hugs, and 'good luck's, I dove into the abyss. I can't describe how I felt at that moment. So many mixed emotions, thoughts, and pictures were racing through my mind. Sad that I was leaving one of my greatest friends, and family. Happy to return to my true home. Worried if Daring would be okay. I tried to process what I was thinking as I dropped through the portal. Though suddenly, a rush of energy spread to the tips of my wings, hoofs, tail, and especially my head. I grew dizzy, though stronger than normal. I felt stretched out then squished up in a little ball. My wings felt uncomfortable, and I felt a massive pressure closing around me. Suddenly, I blacked out. I woke up where I expected, at the bottom of Ghastly Gorge. I groggily opened one eyelid and saw Twilight, yup. Of course. "Are you ok?!" She asked eagerly. I stood up on all four hooves and stretched out my wings. "Doin' fine. Did that crack close up?" I asked turning around noticing the portal had vanished. "Yes, I'm not sure when though, I was worried about you. Where've you been the last week?!" She asked with a concerned expression. "Oh... Exploring.... Yea. Just exploring." I said with a weak smile. Chapter 2~Daring Do A machete whipped through the humid air as I sliced away branches. I stopped and reached for my map and translated the hieroglyphics, it said that I was mile away from the Stone of Bits. I continued to slice through the thick vegetation when I heard something I had never heard before. I thought it was thunder at first, but thunder can't make the ground shake, can it? I heard something that sounded like snapping wood, but it was LOUD! I flew up onto a high tree and tried to look for signs of where the sound came from. I could only see for a small distance, since the fog was so thick. I saw a dark figure ahead, but I couldn't make out what it was, I flew closer but it only seemed to fade away. Then, THWACK! I flew headfirst into something that was most likely a tree. The most humiliating thing I've ever done. I flew over to the right and flew straight when again, THWACK! I felt dumbfounded and flew far to the left, THWACK! I couldn't see what I was running into, but it was big. I flew up, down, every possible direction, and each time... THWACK! Then I finally realized what it was, a hill. Yes, a hill. I flew up into the clouds and finally passed it, though moments after flying passed the peak of the hill, a thunderous crack roared and seemed to echo through the entire forest again. I turned around and stood hooves planted firmly on the ground. Another thunderous crack. And another. And another. Until, it finally happened, the ground shook uncontrollably, I fell, tumbling down to the ground, and the huge hill broke in two.
Chapter 1~Rainbow Dash I stood staring off the edge of a huge cliff. Ghastly Gorge to be correct. My ears perked up as I heard an electric motor buzzing closer to me. I turned and noticed Tank inching his way over to me smiling, happy to see me. I trotted over to help him out with his huge journey over a foot long, his motor needed new batteries I thought, chuckling to myself. "Don't you see why I like coming out here? I can see for miles!" I shouted, my voice echoed through the gorge, Tank replied with a small, agreeing nod. I smiled and turned back to the mesmerizing cliff side. I heard a falcon screech overhead and a pebble tumbled down. It screeched again and more stones began to fall, I took a step back cautiously. Unknowing of what was about to happen next. Tank decided to start making little roars along with the bird, and along with bigger rocks collapsing to the ground. After a few tries to get Tank to shut up, I felt the ground tremble. I grasped Tank's leash and flew him up to the clouds, Tank seemed to be shaking madly. It was then when I realized what was happening. A small crack split down Ghastly Gorge's wall, and spread until it reached ground level. I had to warn the others, but how could I warn all of Equestria about the world splitting in two? I raced to Ponyville and rushed down through Twilight's library door. "Spike! Take a note! NOW!!!" Twilight rushed down the stairs "What's wrong Rainbow?!" She managed to spit out "What happened?!" I ran up to Spike and yelled him to write down, 'Dear Princess Celestia, I have noticed a large crack splitting Ghastly Gorge in two, it has reached ground level and is spreading in every direction! Please respond as soon as possible! From: Rainbow Dash'. Twilight's mouth dropped to the floor, she began to stumble over her words, "WHAT!?" She yelled, breaking all the windows in Ponyville. "Are you kidding or are you serious!?!?" Twilight screeched. "Serious business dude" I replied quietly, motioning for Twilight to settle down. She ignored my advice "But I was just researching something that Princess Celestia wrote to me about, Spike, bring me her letter from today please!" Spike rushed upstairs and brought down a small scroll, and unraveled it before me. 'Dear my faithful student Twilight Sparkle, I have been notified of a mythical split told to start off in Ghastly Gorge, and apparently it is supposed to rip Equestria to pieces! This mythical crack is supposed to also split in another location, I myself do not know yet, but when or if I find out, I will notify you as soon as possible. Information on this mysterious split is in a book in your library: Myths and Legends on page 187. Please notify me if you find anything. Princess Celestia' Spike rolled the scroll up once he saw my eyes dart over to Twilight. "What have you found?" I asked. Twilight trotted over to a shelf and brought it down using her horn,while flipping to page 187. She stopped and pointed directly at an article on the yellowed, torn page. "I was trying to finish what it said..." Her voice trailed off. "The page was torn off right when it told where the other split is supposed to be located. I groaned annoyingly and trotted away mumbling, "So now what? Just watch our world crumble to bits and pieces while some stupid pony has a wad of paper we urgently need? I walked out of the library and slammed the door on Twilight. She managed to push through as I flew up to nap on a cloud"Oh come on Rainbow, I can find it! I Pinkie Pie promise! It'll be like an adventure! A Daring Do adventure!" The sound of her name always seemed to send an electric shock through my veins, I propped up and glared at Twilight, narrowing my eyes. "No adventure is better than a Daring Do adventure" I said, flying down on to my hooves. "You'll see" Twilight replied challengingly.
Chapter 3~Rainbow Dash I kept a keen eye on the split slowly creeping in all directions. Everyday it seemed to grow a few inches wider, deeper, and longer. I also visited Twilight to hear recent news on what she's found. Though everytime is the same "Sorry Rainbow, haven't gotten much yet," and I'd trot away slower than ever.. Now Tank has seemed to notice i'm not eating as much, this whole 'crack splitting Equestria' thing is really getting to me, and tearing me to bits. Though one day when I was visiting Twilight's, her face lit up when she saw me. She explained that the other split met our's somewhere in between. "Like a tunnel connecting 2 dimensions!" She shouted gleefully. I smiled, and told her that I would continue to keep watch for anything strange, "This is the fate of Equestria in our hooves!" And galloped off. The next afternoon was astonishing. I tumbled out of bed, snout first to the floor. Groaning, I trotted over to my window to check on the split, with my eyes bulging out of my head. I almost couldn't breath, and fell on the floor. Again. I grasped the windowsill and checked again. The crack had split not just a few inches, but a few MILES. I flew down and kept checking my eye sight, pinching myself, anything to prove this wasn't real. After my hooves were swolled red with pinches, and my eyes watery from rubs and scratches, I finally sat at the start of the split. The start of it was a circle at the bottom of Ghastly Gorge, which spread into thick, deep branches stretching in all directions. Though the middle of the star-like structure, was the deepest of all. I grabbed a pebble and tossed it down, after a few moments of complete silence, an extremely quiet 'drip' rang through. It had to be at least a few miles below the ground. And I had fight a strange urge to not jump inside, but I gave in and dived into the split. "GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Chapter 4~Daring Do I trot down a small creek and find a deep cave, trying to forget the incident from earlier today. I lay down some stones into a small circle and gather some fallen sticks and branches. When smoke began to rise from the branches vigorously being rubbing together, I heard a sharp snap, but ignored it for a rock tumbling down. After lighting the fire, I grabbed my stuff and scooted closer to the heat. I heard a roar of thunder tumbling in and watched as a dark, black cloud rolled into the forest. As the first few, fat drops fell, the cave seemed to look brighter, I took out my journal and open it to a new page. I tried to concentrate but dazed off staring blankly outside where the ground became damp. I blinked hard and slammed the book shut, and rolled closer to the flames, drifting off to sleep. 'Fire. It was everywhere and everything. I rushed as the meadow behind me burned to ash, I couldn't turn around to look, it was catching up to me. Orange tongues begin to nip at my sides, adrenaline pumped through my veins, pushing me to my limits. Though the entire time, I was mesmerized by the sparks soaring into the inky, black sky. They danced with the stars, but only momentarily, they dived back to the earth and started new little fires. I stared down on one in-particular that flew in front of me, instead of flying to the sides. It landed right at my hooves stopping me dead in my tracks. There was nowhere to run. The spark grew into a blaze that met with the main fire, I was surrounded, trapped. It was my worst nightmare.' I jerked my eyes open and jumped to my hooves. I glanced around, nothing was wrong, the fire was now only smoke, ash, and anything left in the pit was burnt-to-a-crisp wood. I noticed a small slip of paper sticking out of my journal, it looked as if it was torn from an article, but I had no idea where it came from. I walked out to the river and packed up my things, refilled my jug of water, and left. While I traveled down the creek, I studied the piece of paper. ...in Saddle Arabia. These are extremely da... ...both of them appear...10,000 years... ...portals...Once anypony enters, they can not escape. I put the slip of paper in my pocket and continued down the river, I was curious to see if anything had happened to the split, or maybe even who put the paper in my journal. I came to a turn and at that point, I could see the peak of the hill. I ran and found myself at the foot of something much different from yesterday. The hill seemed as if it was once a volcano that had erupted. The split had turned into a crater, I trotted up cautiously, not knowing what to expect. The rim of the crater was like a cliff, but the middle was very different. It was like a funnel cloud, wide and not very steep for 30 yards, but it changed into a steep narrow drop down into darkness. I flew closer to the narrow gap and noticed a tiny purple light. I thought I was just seeing things, but I was wrong. VERY wrong. It would change my thoughts on the world forever. The light began to swirl upwards, turning to a shade of teal. I stepped back nervously, not having any idea what was happening. Lightning began to spark from the gap, I jumped back just in time before it shaved my mane off. It was then that I got scared for the first time in my life, I heard screaming. My fur stood straight up, along with my back. My legs began to buckle. I couldn't do anything, I was too nervous. The screaming became louder and the blue light closer. I fell over when lightning almost hit me, then it happened. It seemed as if the world had just exploded. I woke up dizzily, I barely opened one eye, somepony was looking at me, but I couldn't even make out if it was a mare or stallion. It was blue, for sure, and looked as if it had a rainbow mane and tail that wasn't taken care of very well. She was staring at me wide-eyed, I scooted back and jumped to my hooves. "A-are you... D-daring Do?" She stuttered. "Yea. Why does it matter so much?" I muttered."But-but you're only a book character!!!" she cried. I brushed off the leaves and grass and actually looked at her for a moment, finally recognizing her. It WAS her, Rainbow Dash. My idol as a filly, but I grew up and realized she was only a fictional character. I shot a confused look at her, speechless. "Rainbow Dash?" I said quietly. "You know my NAME!?!?" She hollered. "Uh... You're only a book character" I pulled out my book: Rainbow Dash and the Changling Attack. She studied it with a questioning look, and pulled out a book: Daring Do and the Griffin's Goblet. I stood in amazement. We trotted back to the cave I spent in the night before, Rainbow asked tons of questions about me and I asked loads of questions about her. "Where is Equestria?" I asked puzzled. "Wait, we aren't in EQUESTRIA!?!?!" She hollered nervously. "Sorry but no, we're near Saddle Arabia." I answered a bit disappointedly. She stood up and started to trot back into the direction of the split. "Where are you going!?" I shouted to her. "Home" she replied.
Chapter 5~Rainbow Dash I stood up and began towards the hill, hoping to make it home. After only a minute of walking, something crashed into me, knocking the wind from my lungs. I stood up and saw a tan pony with a black and grey mane laying on the dirt path. Daring. She moaned and stood up, and regained her balance. "Home? What do you mean 'Home'?" She questioned. My eyes grew restless, "HOME, as in Equestria... Like I tried to explain to you..." I turned around and began to trot away when my tail was jerked backwards. "Sorry, but you're not going anywhere" Daring said. "Yes I am, I am going home, don't care what ya say." I corrected. "Well, if you DO go, you'll probably end up floating in an endless black space, not Equestria" She convinced me to stop and glare at her questioningly. "What mumbo-jumbo are ya talking about now?!" I shouted. Daring pulled out a small piece of ripped paper and began to explain. "It looks like it's been ripped from an article or somethin' but it says here, 'anypony that enters can not escape'." My eyes bulged out of my head and I jerked the paper from her hooves. "Where did you get this!?" She shrugged and gave me a disappointed expression. "I dunno". My head shifted sideways and I stared at her, with Daring giving me the same look. "You look a bit more familiar than I read in the book." She said. "It doesn't matter right now, where did you get this!?" I hollered, the forest echoed and a few birds screeched and flew off. She shrugged again, "It showed up in my journal this morning..." I groaned and slapped my hoof against my face, dragging it down dramatically. So how was I supposed to get home? I have NO idea. Turns out, when Twilight said, 'Like a tunnel connecting 2 dimensions!' I was just LUCKY to get to the other dimension. I flew back to the cave with Daring, she tried to explain to me she would figure something out and I wouldn't have to worry and I would get home soon... but I still slumped away, ignoring her. It was mostly the same thing everyday, wake up, fill up some water bottles, and be on our way. I starting to realize how Daring Do is so famous for just traveling, it's freaking hard work. It's just walking, what's so bad about it? EVERYTHING. Bugs biting and itching, the lack of water, and food, the humid air, the heat. It's all just too much. Now I know why I hated traveling to other countries when I was a filly. I would complain every once in a while to try and get Daring to speak, but she would just ignore me. "How can you stand these bugs!?" No answer. "It's so stinkin' hot! Are you?" No answer. "Wow, about a pint of water left in this thing..." I shook the bottle dramatically. No answer. And so it went on, slicing branches away in complete silence, I had no idea why she wasn't answering me... "So... Where are we heading?" She stopped and turned looking back at me, she had a bored expression printed on her face, "We're going to Saddle Arabia... What else do you wanna know!?" Daring asked in a tired, monotone voice. She turned around and continued in silence, and I kept my mouth shut.
Chapter 6~Daring Do Everyday was the same boring routine. Rainbow Dash tried to keep a conversation up, but I didn't feel like talking, there wasn't much to actually chat about. So we just stayed silent, only hearing our hoofsteps, breaking branches, and other animal calls. Rainbow seemed to be more and more worried every day, she was scared about her home, I could tell, she tried not to talk about the destruction of anything in her dimension, so I stayed quiet about mine. One morning Rainbow Dash woke up extremely early, it didn't seem like a big ordeal until she started talking to herself, and even stumbling around when she walked. I told her to relax, we didn't travel as much that day, we only had about 15 miles until we reached Saddle Arabia. After around 4 days of walking, the climate grew hotter, the trees seemed to thin out, and the soil grew dryer. I pulled out the map and scanned our surroundings, we were only 3 miles away from the Stone of Bits. "Come on Rainbow, we can fly 3 miles before sundown, can't we?!" I shouted back to her, she nodded confidently and we darted off, racing to beat the sun to the finish line. We were about a mile away when I glanced at the horizon, it was inching closer to the ground, I flew faster, and noticed a structure ahead. "I can see it! Come on Daring lets hurry! We're almost there!" Rainbow Dash yelled, pushing both of us faster. We reached the top of a large hill of sand, I noticed the Stone of Bits at the foot of the hill. I tumbled and rolled down the hill and stopped right before a gleaming silver foundation. I looked up and saw a statue of a book and a bag of bits, shining bright gold in the afternoon sun. "What are those weird pictures on the back of this?" Rainbow asked concerned. "Oh those? Those are ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, it's not that hard to read em'. It says: 'To reveal the entrance, discover your unknown relative.'" I answered. Rainbow Dash and I both had the same thing in mind, 'An unknown relative?' We glanced at each other in perfect sync, with questioning expressions. I finally realized it, Rainbow Dash had the same eyes, mane, tail, wings, and even the same attitude as I did. My eyes bulged out of my head, and my mouth dropped to the floor. "Uh... You ok there buddy?" She asked nervously, she took a small step back with a cautious look on her face. "What do ya mean 'buddy', don't you mean SISTER?" I asked carefully, not wanting to mix up my words. Rainbow Dash took a giant step back, her eyes grew huge, and she became speechless.
Chapter 7: Finale~Rainbow Dash We both stood in shock, staring, speechless, until a roar of thunder broke the silence. "Wait, what's supposed to happen!!!!??" I yelled nervously. "Uh... Hehehe... I'm not sure!" Daring Do answered with a scared look. Suddenly, the ground beneath us crumbled away. We soared into the sky, looking below into a bright tunnel. Daring shrugged and hollered, "KOWABUNGA!!!" folding her wings and dropping like a rock into the white abyss. "Rainbow!!!!!" laughs and whoops echoed to the top, where I stood, unsure, "It's a huge slide!!! C'mon!!! Whaaaa Whoooo!!!!!" The tunnel echoed. I gave in, locking my wings tight to my sides, and sliding into the bright abyss. I laughed and hollered along with Daring, unable to contain my joy. "Hahahaha! This is AWESOME!!" I yelled, flailing my hooves. I heard a grunt echo throughout the slide, "SLOW DOWN!!! YOU WON'T MAKE IT!!!" Daring screeched. I immediately slammed my hooves onto the tunnel's floor, sparks flew past my view, my hooves burned, but I was gradually slowing down. Lights that once whizzed by now inched past me. I winced as the slide ended in a blinding light. My eyes adjusted to the brightness as I was flung off the tunnel into a giant sand pit. I swam through the grainy sand, my head darting around, looking for Daring. She was sitting on the edge of the pit, pressuring her forehead and wincing. "You ok?!" I yelled to her, she nodded gently, still wincing, her teeth bared. I stood up on the pit of sand, but fell through, it wasn't stiff enough to hold my weight, so I continued to paddle through. I reached where Daring's hooves dangled off, and pulled myself out of the sand. She was pressuring the corner of her forehead with both of her hooves. "Ya sure your ok?" I asked with a concerned tone. "I dunno, but it hurts like crazy," she answered quietly, with a strained voice. "What happened? Let me see your forehead. Are you gonna be ok? How did-" I questioned her nervously, "Rainbow!!! Calm down!!! I'm fine. Ok?!" my 'sister' interrupted angrily. I quieted and examined her with a concerned face. "Well, can I at least see your head?" I whispered, Daring gently took a bloody hoof off her head, a giant gash sat in it's place. I gasped, "Daring, you are notok. You need help!" I ordered. She ripped off a piece of her shirt and pushed it against her forehead. "I'm FINE!!!" The pegasus growled. She sighed, stood up, and began to trot down another tunnel, lighted by wall torches. After about 15 minutes, we reached a dimly-lighted room. I began to walk out onto the floor, but Daring stuck out her hoof, stopping me from doing so. "It's a trap," she said quietly. She looked at each of the walls, dark holes were dug into them. "Some sorta dispenser, like for arrows or something," she added. "You really know a lot about spy and secret agent stuff don't you?" I whispered. "Yup," she answered, pulling out some weird device. "What the heck?" I added. "It's to check for invisible laser beams," Daring said with an annoyed tone. Sure enough, red laser beams were scattered all around the room, in every direction. "And that's why I love doin' my job," she stated confidently. "So how do we get through it Miss-Know-It-All?" Daring whipped out a tiny pen-like electronic, scanned the room, and walked forward. I was speechless, but also a bit jealous. I stuck out my hoof cautiously, to check for a defect. "C'mon ya big goof," My new 'sister' ordered, and I trotted forward reluctantly. We approached a podium with a small key card laying on top of it. I shrugged and took the card off, not expecting anything to happen. "Wait!" Daring whisper-screamed, grabbing my hoof as I held the card. "What?" She stood silent, looking around cautiously. Nothing. I trotted to the brick door and stuck the key card into a slot, heard a click, and the red light turned green. "Bazinga!" I shouted as the door slid open. Daring rolled her eyes and trotted past me, smiling. "How'd I do?" I asked excitedly. "With what?" she added confusingly. "The room back there! Duh! You were like: Oh no don't do that! And I was all like: Bazinga! With the card, and the door opened. Hahaha, good times," I exclaimed. She laughed and rolled her eyes again, "What?" I asked seriously. "It's just the way that you make my voice sound like a cartoon character off a little girl's show," She explained, with a smile spreading across her face. "Oh, yea," I laughed. We continued down the hallway chatting about how we were siblings, and how each of us might have been separated. "Maybe I was flyin' around as a filly, and never realized it, but flew into a portal," Daring suggested. We shrugged off the topic as we approached a dim room. It grew brighter as we neared, but it wasn't blinding. Daring's eyes grew huge and shiny when we reached a small set of stairs. She began to mumble and stutter, "Th-The... Stone... O-Of Bits! It's The Stone Of Bits! I made it!" Daring clenched my shoulders tightly, leaving a red marking, "WE did it! All my life! I've been waiting for this all of my life!" She celebrated her journey, prancing around, bounding down the steps and staring at the mountains of golden coins. She had done it all herself, I could tell she was proud. Daring had apparently forgotten about her head, which made me glad. I didn't say much, just stood off to the side enjoying watching my sister celebrating. After she had her moment of glory, she sighed and sat down, glaring at the room of bright gold. I trotted over, and sat down next to her, she smiled briefly, but looked at the ground, as if she was unsatisfied. "What's wrong? You just found what you've been searching for your whole life. Aren't you happy?" I questioned with a concerned tone. "Oh I'm very happy, but it's just that... I noticed something... I couldn't have done any of this without your help," Daring smiled, "You're my sister, Rainbow. If I had never found you, if you had never dove into that portal, I never would have met you, found the Stone of Bits, or even meet my idol. And I've realized... that my idol... is my own sister. And that... I wasn't looking for all of this gold, I was looking for a friend," She finished. "Well, now that I think about it, that's all very true," I stated, a warm smile on my face, "I'm just... glad that I have someone other than a turtle in my family," Daring and I laughed. The two of us stood up, and flew passed the mountains of gold. Though I managed to dive down and pick out two smooth coins, Flying back up, I tossed one to my sister. "What's this for?" She asked confusingly, "I don't think one coin will make much of a difference," "It's not for your bank account. It's to remember each other, we're sisters, we need something to remind us that we truly are family," I explained. Daring nodded slightly and gave me a small grin. "Ok," was all she said. "Because... I..." We both knew we would never be able to see each other again, though I slowly choked out the words, tears forming in my eyes. "Well, you know..." Daring simply nodded, she understood. I noticed a single drop of water race down her cheek, though she quickly wiped it away. "I couldn't have done it without you." Were her last words as we flew back to the portal. Afterwhat seemed like an eternity, we reached the split in the dimension. After many goodbyes, hugs, and 'good luck's, I dove into the abyss. I can't describe how I felt at that moment. So many mixed emotions, thoughts, and pictures were racing through my mind. Sad that I was leaving one of my greatest friends, and family. Happy to return to my true home. Worried if Daring would be okay. I tried to process what I was thinking as I dropped through the portal. Though suddenly, a rush of energy spread to the tips of my wings, hoofs, tail, and especially my head. I grew dizzy, though stronger than normal. I felt stretched out then squished up in a little ball. My wings felt uncomfortable, and I felt a massive pressure closing around me. Suddenly, I blacked out. I woke up where I expected, at the bottom of Ghastly Gorge. I groggily opened one eyelid and saw Twilight, yup. Of course. "Are you ok?!" She asked eagerly. I stood up on all four hooves and stretched out my wings. "Doin' fine. Did that crack close up?" I asked turning around noticing the portal had vanished. "Yes, I'm not sure when though, I was worried about you. Where've you been the last week?!" She asked with a concerned expression. "Oh... Exploring.... Yea. Just exploring." I said with a weak smile.
Chapter 2~Daring Do A machete whipped through the humid air as I sliced away branches. I stopped and reached for my map and translated the hieroglyphics, it said that I was mile away from the Stone of Bits. I continued to slice through the thick vegetation when I heard something I had never heard before. I thought it was thunder at first, but thunder can't make the ground shake, can it? I heard something that sounded like snapping wood, but it was LOUD! I flew up onto a high tree and tried to look for signs of where the sound came from. I could only see for a small distance, since the fog was so thick. I saw a dark figure ahead, but I couldn't make out what it was, I flew closer but it only seemed to fade away. Then, THWACK! I flew headfirst into something that was most likely a tree. The most humiliating thing I've ever done. I flew over to the right and flew straight when again, THWACK! I felt dumbfounded and flew far to the left, THWACK! I couldn't see what I was running into, but it was big. I flew up, down, every possible direction, and each time... THWACK! Then I finally realized what it was, a hill. Yes, a hill. I flew up into the clouds and finally passed it, though moments after flying passed the peak of the hill, a thunderous crack roared and seemed to echo through the entire forest again. I turned around and stood hooves planted firmly on the ground. Another thunderous crack. And another. And another. Until, it finally happened, the ground shook uncontrollably, I fell, tumbling down to the ground, and the huge hill broke in two.
