The Secret Sisters

~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.