Stories they weave

Chapters

Chapter 1: The beginning
Chapter 2: Armed and papyrus
The reading

Chapter 1: The beginning

A mustard colored pegasus mare with a stripped gray mane took a deep breath as she stared at six floating icebergs. She was wearing a yellow jump suit and flying goggles as she watched the floating ice with contempt.

“Daring Do! You can't do this! It's too dangerous!” a brown earth pony said as he raised a hoof feebly. He was laying on his side, a bandage wrapped around his back left leg. “That water is freezing, there's no way you can survive!”

“I don't have a choice. Those sea ponies are counting on me,” the mare said as she stretched out her wings. “I can't let Dr. Flashfreeze win.”

“No! Please, you can't! They won't help you, you heard what they said! Don't go... I... I love you!”

For a moment she stopped before smiling back at him. “I know,” and with those words she took off. Down below the sea churned as thousands of multi colored sea ponies fled for their lives from the incoming ice. Just below the sea level a black submarine could be barely made out, hovering above an underwater city of coral. On the very top a golden satellite dish had been lodged and was sending out blue waves of magic.

Taking a deep breath she dove down through the icy water, ignoring the pain as the cold enveloped her body. Despite the fact her wings didn't work under water the momentum pushed her through and she reached the dish in seconds. Holding her breath she quickly got to work, reaching for a wrench with her mouth as her air rushed out.

She tried loosening one of the bolts by pushing and pulling with all her might. With a powerful tug she managed to remove one of the bolts. Only five more to go.

She pushed off towards the surface, pulling in deep breaths as the water froze her small frame, turning her coat slightly blue. She glanced around and saw the ice bergs getting ever closer. Taking another deep breath she dived down towards the submarine. Two more bolts followed this time but her jaw, frozen by the cold, trembled as the wrench fell from her grasp. She dove for it but the water swirled around and made it difficult to move as the wrench hit the side of the sub and then disappeared to the depths below. Shaking her head she took off to the surface once again, her movements slowed as pieces of ice clung to her mane.

She looked around at the icebergs. So close. The situation looked hopeless... But she wasn't one to give up. She dove down straight back at the submarine, fighting with all her might to make it to the dish. Her hooves wrapped around the magic covered end and she kicked it! With all her might she bucked, again and again sending loud thumping sounds through the water. Her movements began to slow down as her eyes started to close. For a few seconds she stopped before shaking her head and starting again.

Her hooves finally dented the metal as she bucked and bucked, each kick getting more and more feeble until she couldn't go any more. Her eyes slowly drifted shut as her grip loosened and she drifted off from the end. Looking up at the satellite dish she reached out a feeble hoof as it drifted... closer?

What? She was getting pushed towards it! No, past it! Within moments she broke the surface and was out in the air, gasping for breath. She looked around as hundreds, no, thousands of sea ponies gathered around her. Some were holding her up as the others struggled to hold back the ice bergs, albeit doing nothing more than slowing them. They came back!

Growling in defiance of the cold she tried to sit up, “Okay every pony! If we want to stop him we'll have to act fast! Here's the plan!”

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!” a blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail squealed as she watched the pegasus go into action on the television. “They came back, I knew they would!” the pegasus squealed as she shook her friend sitting next to her, a purple unicorn with a purple striped mane and tail.

“Y-y-y-yes they did!” the unicorn squeaked as she was shaken to and fro! When she was finally let go her eyes were swirls and she fell over with a squeak. “C-careful Rainbow Dash, don't get to excited some ponies up stairs might be reading,” she groaned as she tried to regain her composure. The two were surrounded by books and wood, down in the basement of the local Ponyville library where an old tv had been set up for multimedia enjoyment. On the floor next to the equipment was an open video box with the title 'Daring Do and the lost sea ponies!' the newest in a series of riveting adventures.

Her friend was practically squealing with delight as the adventure finished and Daring Do, unsurprisingly, caught the villain, reunited the sea ponies with the rest of pony kind and cause back up with her love interest. As the credits rolled the pegasus turned to her unicorn friend and grinned.

“So what's next, Twilight? Another movie? Comics? What?”

“There isn't anything else. That's the last of it.”

“... What?” Rainbow asked as she cocked her head to the side in confusion. “That's... the rest? But... What about the comics?”

“You've read all mine and they haven't made any new series in a year,” Twilight said with a nod.

“Movies?”

“You've seen all five.”

“Books?”

“You've read all thirteen. Twice.”

“Games?!”

“Only three, you beat them all remember?”

“Even the foal stuff?!”

“You've done all six coloring books, thanks for warning me about that by the way,” the unicorn said sarcastically. “The learning adventures were fifteen and you read them all in a day. I'm sorry Rainbow Dash but there is nothing left.”

“N-nothing... nothing left? But... But... Daring Do! This can't be the end! There has to be more!” the pegasus said as she paced. “Action figures!”

“...” Twilight face hooved, “Well, yes of course there are action figures. But those are usually made to play or make your own... actually... there is possibly one more thing you haven't tried yet. It can be a bit hard to do but have you ever considered writing your own Daring Do story?”

“I... what?” the pegasus asked as she stared at the unicorn as if she was insane.

“Yes. You remember the book you were writing? Kinda like that. Writing your own Daring Do book. I'm sure you've had ideas of adventures she could go on that you'd adore, why not put some of them to the pen?”

“That's... I'm listening,” Rainbow said as she watched the unicorn suspiciously. “What's the catch?”

“No catch! It's just fan-fiction. I used to dabble a little when I was back at Canterlot. I'd write little stories about Starswirl the bearded and Clover and... errrr... It really helped with my spelling,” her cheeks turned red, “Anyway. We could probably get the other girls to join in and make a big contest out of it. We could read and grade every ponies story and the best one wins!”

Rainbows ears perked up at the words contest. “A competition? I'm in! You better hold onto your hooves Twilight, I'm going to write the best Daring Do adventure EVER!” with those words the pegasus flew off at max speed, barely managing to avoid slamming into the opening door as a little purple dragon pushed it from the other side. He eeked as he was sent flying by the tail wind.

“What was that?!” the dragon asked as he got to his feet and wobbled down the stairs. “She just sen-EEK!” he was nearly trampled by the running unicorn that followed a moment later.

“No time to explain! Please watch the library for a little bit Spike! I need to go see the others!” Within moments he heard the door slam.

He let out a soft groan and walked back up stairs and took a look around. Ponies and books had been scattered by the tail wind of the pegasus and pieces of paper lined the ground as ponies struggled to regather themselves. Downstairs didn't fair any better as all the wires needed to be untangled and disconnected before being stored back up. Spike hung his head and let out another disappointed sigh as he got to work.

As the sun began to set Twilight made her way back to the library with a skip in her step. Her back was loaded with fresh paper from Paper and Roofing as well as plenty of new quills from Quills and Sofas. The rest of her friends had been more than happy to participate in their little contest and she had been invited to lunch at Applejack's, an earth pony friend who maintained an apple farm with her family. Her stomach was particularly rounded now and she even got a few pies to bring home, which she knew Spike would love. Especially since he had to run the library so long by himself.

Taking a soft breath she slowly pushed the door open and looked around. A single lamp had been left on for her as she tip hooved inside. From up stairs she could hear the guttural snores from the over worked dragon. She giggled and put the food in the fridge before moving to her desk and neatly arranging her quills and paper and taking another deep breath.

She hummed as she gently suckled on the tip of her quill and tried to think. She wanted to write a story that was great, detailed, that did justice to the franchise. It also had to hold roots to all the incarnations, the tv series, the comics, the movies, the books, everything... She hummed for a minute as she let her mind wander for a moment. Now how would... she had it! Her mind exploded with ideas as her quill began to write lightning fast. Not only would this story do justice it would be an amazing follow up and keep Rainbow entertained for hours!

Far outside Ponyville in a massive farm growing all sorts of delicious foods such as carrots, corn and most importantly, apples, the Apple family had long since fallen asleep from a day of hard work at Sweet Apple Acres. All except one who still had the light on in her room.

Her name was Applejack, eldest daughter of the apples and an orange coated earth pony with a tied off yellow mane and tail. A sharpened pencil dangled from her lips as she stared at the blank piece of paper. She didn't know why she agreed to this confounded contest. Her full extent of knowledge on Daring Do began and ended with the Daring Do Jr adventures she read as a kid and a few episodes the cutie mark crusaders watched and made her, grudgingly, watch with them. Not to mention that movies they beeeeeegged her to take them to see.

She sighed as she slouched over. “Well... I guess I could do that...” she mumbled as she got to writing. This was all for fun after all, not like it had to be perfect or anything.

Deep in Ponyville in a small little boutique a white coated unicorn with a perfectly maintained purple mane stood by candle light as she held up a quill made from pheonix feathers. Her name was Rarity, the fashionista of ponyville and owner of the small boutique. Not to mention one of the greatest dress makers this side of Canterlot. The mare hummed as she wrote name after name on the paper.

“On the one hoof having her end up with a prince would be more exciting and I could have a sub plot during the wedding. On the other hoof if I had her marry one of her companions, perhaps after a riveting adventure, they could have a deeper connection. Ohhh! Ideaaaa! What if one of the princes WERE her companion? Yes! Of course! Hiding away from his true duties as a prince until she squeeeeal!” Her quill danced through the air as she wrote with perfect grace and poise in cursive.

A few blocks down from the boutique a large building designed to look like a massive gingerbread house had closed up for the night, the only sign of life a light coming from the top floor window. An excited earth pony with a pink coat and a cotton candy looking mane and tail hopped around her room as she randomly spouted out her plans to a small toothless gator that sat on her pink bet.

“First she can fall in a time warp and get sent back in time and then she'll meet herself and they'll have to team up to defeat the bad guy but then the bad guy will turn out not to be the bad guy and it turns out her other self was the villain all along and it turns out it's an alternate reality but then it turns out not only is it an alternate reality every pony is a vampire too! Except the princess who is a leprachaun and then they have to try and stop her evil side from destroying all the candies both past and future except she gets stuck in another time vortex and she meets hundreds and thousands of her and she needs to get every pony together so they can defeat the bad her except the bad her gets all the villains together and then they have a massive fight with all the good hers and bad hers and some of them are guys and some are dragons and some are griffons and they all come together and have a big oatmeal cookie party and then-”

“PINKIE KEEP IT DOWN! Some of us are trying to sleep!” a feminine voice yelled from one of the halls.

“Sorry Mrs. Cake!” she called back as she took her pen in her mouth and began writing, her entire body quivering with excitement.

On the outskirts of the village, near the dangerous Everfree forest, a small cabin surrounded by a small pond stood proudly. A number of smaller houses had been set up for chickens, bunnies and all manner of woodland creatures. A few beams of light emitted from the windows as inside a small yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail paced nervously around the room while a small white bunny watched her.

“Oh Angel,” she said to the bunny, “Why did I ever agree to this? I thought a story would be fun!” she wailed as she looked at her paper, already a few pages done. “They're going to be so mad... They'll go 'Oh Fluttershy, Daring Do would never do this or that.' or 'Fluttershy, you did the accents wrong,' or 'Fluttershy, you wrote to much detail and it's boring or didn't explain her motivations well enough and it's so rushed!” The pony dropped to the ground and sobbed. “Oh Angel I can't do this! But if I don't do it they'll be mad because I said I would but I just didn't want to upset Twilight...”

Angel hummed a little as he tapped his cheek with a little fury paw. He needed to find the best and proper way to motivate the poor mare and help her get over her fear. This would require tact. Skill. Talent. Most importantly of all, a small little sweater. He darted off and returned a few moments later in reading glasses, a small purple and dark blue plaid sweater and a small smoking pipe that shot out little bubbles rather than smoke.

The now articulate bunny hopped over to the writing material and took a seat, pulling the pieces of paper into his lap and flipping through them as his owner, Fluttershy, stood and watched with a frightened expression.

The small bunny hummed as he slowly scanned through the story until finally he read the last words and put the story down. He closed his eyes and lightly tapped his pipe against his paw, sending bubbles scattering through the small home. He then turned his gaze to the cowering pegasus and opened his eyes.

“W-well?” she squeaked.

He held out his paw... and made a thumbs up.

“Really? Are you sure? But what about the merchant's accent? Or when she freezes because of the poisoned dart almost hit her? Or-”

She was interrupted by a loud squeak as the bunny made motion towards its sweater.

“Oh. Right. Of course, thank you Angel. I'll get right back to work,” she said with a smile as she happily got to writing, her wing holding the pen. The story must be good! Nothing that read a story in a sweater like that could possibly misjudge a work of literature.

Far above in a large home made of clouds Rainbow Dash laid in bed and dreamed. She was of course being awesome since, well... she was Rainbow Dash. She and Daring Do were on an adventure! All the enemies from the movies and books were out to get some ancient artifact, it really didn't matter which one, and they were on the case to stop them! Explosions went off, high speed chases, it was the most awesome Daring Do story ever!

It was so exciting in fact the pegasus flapped her wings a few times and rolled around in her bed... before promptly falling off and crashing to the ground below. Fortunately it was made of clouds. Unfortunately it was still a fall and she landed with a groan and looked around.

“Huh? Wha?” she glanced up at her bed and slowly stretched. “Ugh... not again...” she then hummed and glanced towards a small desk she had set up with a pen and paper. “Wellll... if I'm up anyway... I might as well get to writing,” she said with a smirk as she hopped off and got to writing.

“Worse comes to worse I'll just move my nine o'clock nap to eight and take an extra long one at noon,” she grumbled as her pen danced across the paper. “Hee hee... So the herd of evil gathered, plotting their destruction of Daring Do... Fortunately her friend the amazingly awesome and fast flier Prism Runner was spying from above and got ready to fly off and tell her hero. Ohhh! She'll slip and let them know, time for a high speed chase!”

The pegasus giggled as she wrote with her special Wonderbolt certified refillable pen, unaware her five friends at the same time were working on their stories just as diligently. If not more so.

Chapter 2: Armed and papyrus

Spike groaned as sunlight leaked in from the window. He slowly rolled onto his side. “Twilight, can you close the blinds?” he asked with a grumble. After a few moments with no response he glanced up. “Twilight?” Her bed was empty with no sign that she had even touched it last night. The little dragon crawled out of his nice warm nest and stretched. “Sometimes I wonder how someone so smart can make such bad decisions...”

With a soft yawn he climbed down the stairs and opened the door. He let out a shriek as a wave of paper suddenly crashed down and buried him. “AHHH!” he screamed as he struggled to un-bury himself.

“Spike, calm down,” Twilight yelled as a purple aura enveloped him. “You should be more careful, you could have damaged the story.”

As the dragon was lifted into the air his mouth fell open. The library floor was covered, end to end, in papers. Flow charts, graphs and even a few presentations were stacked and hanging about. Stacks of parchment that towered over him were lined up all over the ground. “W-what... what is all this?”

“Oh! It's just the outline of my story, look. This will be the first part,” she said as she pulled out a stack of papers that was about three inches thick.

“First... part?” he asked as he was finally deposited on the ground. “How many parts are there?”

“Oh, don't worry. This is just the first of six. This one is based on the books. See, there are currently thirteen books so I've decided this one will have thirteen different mini arcs! They'll all be about one companion and a different villain and plot based off each of the books. See? The first book was about the sapphire stone so the first arc will be about a lost sapphire statue that was stolen by, you guessed it, Plotsberg! Named after the writer of the first book.”

Spike slowly nodded as he took a step back. “I... I see. So it's going to be about the books then?” he asked as he tried to make his way towards the kitchen, stepping around the papery obstacles.

“Oh no. This is just the first story,” Twilight said as she dipped her quill back in the ink pot and started writing again. “The next story is going to be about the games and about a new companion and three adventures inspired by the games. After that comes the learning adventures, the coloring books, the movies and then I'm going to finish it all up with one-hundred and seventeen adventures based on the comics. I have all the notes and information about each piece of entertainment made since then. I even requested a slight vacation from the princess until I have all this finished. Well, I will once you send the letter. It's around here somewhere...” the unicorn mumbled as she began lifted and stacking papers together. “I'll find it in a moment.”

“Gee Twilight, you sure that's enough?” Spike asked with a roll of his eyes as he opened the fridge and took out some juice. “Maybe you should try writing stories referencing all the other fanfiction and the creator's life. Maybe name a companion after her first dog or something.”

“Spike, you're a genius!” Twilight said as she lifted a stack of paper. “Oh, here it is! Yes, the creator's autobiography! I bet I could find plenty of other adventures here! Though writing about all the fanfiction could be difficult. Ohhh! I could write about some of the ones that had a great impact on the following! Like her butler! Did you know that Daring Do doesn't even have a butler in any books? Yet, thanks to a story some pony wrote and passed around in one of the larger fanclubs, many fans of the series believe she has one named Mister Crobblepot. I think some ponies even wrote their own stories just about him.”

Spike blinked before face clawing. “Twilight... I don't think this is such a good idea. I don't even think we have enough paper to write something like that.”

“Nonsense. I ordered triple our normal shipment of paper this morning. It should arrive in plenty of time for me to finish my notes.”

“Arghhhh...” the dragon grumbled as he took out a frying pan. “I'm going to start breakfast. Have you had anything to eat? Have you had any sleep?”

“No! Too busy to sleep! There's a treat for you in the stove! Oh! I found the letter, here!” Twilight called back to him.

Spike yelped as he dropped flat on the ground, an envelope, bloated almost an inch thick, nearly hitting him. “Careful with th... how long is this letter you wrote?”

“I had to explain everything! Thanks Spike!”

The dragon sighed as he picked up the letter. With a roll of his eyes he blew his flames on it, making the paper disappear in a burst of magic.

“Prism Runner is awesome!” a little brown pegasus filly with a light purple mane and tail said as she flipped through the few pieces of paper in front of her. Her name was Scootaloo, number one fan of Rainbow Dash. The rainbow maned pony was sitting besides her on a log near the forest.

“Heh heh, yah think so Scoots?” the older pegasus asked as she smiled at the little mare.

“Totally! The way she escapes all those bad guys and is all 'Bang! Boom! Kick! Bam!' and then warns Daring Do is just awesome! Though... she might be too awesome,” Scootaloo mumbled as she shuffled the papers a bit.

“What? Why?”

“Well, Daring Do hasn't done anything yet. The other mare is doing everything. It's almost like Prism is the main character and Daring is the sidekick. Not to mention when they first meet and Daring thinks she's a wonderbolt. She seems almost... too awesome. Something about her seems familiar, too. Is she based on somepony from the comics?”

“No, she's completely original,” Rainbow mumbled as she took the papers back. “Well, I did base her a little on the main character from the novel I was writing. I guess you're right. I don't want her to be too awesome. Maybe when she brings the warning to Daring Do, rather than having her kicking the flanks of her pursuers, she gets wounded and saved?”

“Yeah! Then they could go off together once she's better!” Scoots said with a grin.

“No,” Rainbow said as her voice got higher, “she gets hurt then, but decides to go with Daring! So the entire time Daring is trying to protect her while trying to stop the bad guys, until it eventually backfires on her. Then Prism runs in and shows what she can do and they escape from the bad guys clutches and capture a few of them!”

“That would be awesome!” Scootaloo squealed as her wings started flapping excitedly.

Rarity hummed as her quill glided across the sheet of paper. She was sitting at a desk in the front entranceway of the Carousel Boutique. “No no. This simply will not do, he must save her in a manner befitting his royal heritage,” she mumbled as she crossed out a few sentences before starting again. “Ah, there. Fini. Oh Sweetie Belle, it's ready,” she called out. Within moment a small white unicorn filly with a curly light purple mane and tail came running into the room with a giddy giggle.

“Oh! Oh! Let me see!” the filly squealed as the elder unicorn merely chuckled and handed the papers over. After a few seconds the filly flipped through them and blinked. “That's it? It's only four pages and almost all of it is crossed out...”

“Well of course, darling,” Rarity said with a radiant smile. “A truly great story must have the perfect beginning, especially a romance such as this. Remember, dear Sweetie Belle, it is all in the presentation. Notice the way all hope seems lost as Daring lies captured and trapped. Then, when it seems she shall perish, the dashing prince Steel Hoof appears to save her. Sweeping her up in his powerful magic he reveals that he is truly a prince as the two go off to live happily ever after... sigh...” the unicorn said gently as she leaned against her desk. Hearts radiated from her horn.

“Uh huh... isn't it a bit early?” Sweetie asked as she prodded the paper. “Where's the build up? The adventure? You just cut to the end where she's in danger and they fall instantly in love. Isn't that a little... boring?”

The elder unicorn blinked a few times before her magic picked up the papers. “Well, I suppose you are right. Perhaps I should have a bit more lead up. Since I'm using Steel Hoof maybe I can start it off a little bit after the third book, right after the two escaped with the golden sword of Zebrona. Perhaps start off with a nice, romantic resort...”

“I guess,” Sweetie mumbled. “I still don't see why you're using Steel Hoof though. Everypony knows that Daring Do was meant to be with Twitch.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Now, Sweetie Belle, he was only in the junior adventure series. While I'll admit he has been in all of them and they did have that one dance, he never even gets mentioned in the adult books. Besides, he's hardly princely material. Always getting scared and trembling.”

Sweetie hmphed. “He could be an awesome prince! He was always super nice and shared all his candy with Daring Do. He made her smile when she was feeling sad too.”

Rarity sighed and shook her head. “This is just a story, darling. No need to get so upset, it's hardly cannon.”

The filly hmphed and headed back towards the other room. “Fine. I still think it's a stupid pairing!”

“Of course, darling,” the unicorn mumbled as she went back to writing.

Far from the boutique, outside Ponyville, Applejack sat in front of the television while a Daring Do junior adventures video played. She groaned and looked to the side, “Ah don't remember them bein' so gosh darn... silly,” she mumbled.

“What? This is one of the good ones!” a small yellow earth pony filly mumbled. She had a red mane with a big red bow and a red tail. “She caught tha' pony red hoofed.”

“Yeah, but why they arrest 'im? He didn't actually do anythang illegal. He jus' went and scared a buncha ponies so they'd stop comin' around and botherin' him on festival week. I dun know, Applebloom, I remember it makin' more sense when I was a filly.”

“I dunno,” Applebloom said as she smiled up at her big sis. “Wanna read some ah the books later? They might be better!”

The mare smiled before nodding. “Sure. I'll get right on it after I help Big Macintosh out in the fields. We still gotta fix the fence for the sheep, finish plowin' the eastern field, chase off those darn fruit bats that keep trying to lounge in the old barn down by the pond and buck all the trees in the south field,” the mare said as she got to her hooves and started to trot off but stopped after a few seconds. “Yah wanna come with and help your big sis and bro out?”

“Yes!” Applebloom squealed as she jumped up and ran after the larger earth pony. “Can I pull the plow?”

“Heh. Maybeh in a few years when yah get bigger,” Applejack said with a chuckle. “For now I think we'll see about gettin' that fence nice and fixed. We leave it cracked like that a few more days and the sheep'll never let us hear the end of it.”

“Okay! When are you going to work on your book then?”

Applejack glanced back and shrugged. “Tahnight. I'll work on it a bit before bed. I ain't plannin' to write anything fanceh so it shouldn't take to long. I'll just read a couple ah your junior adventures and write somethin' like that.”

“Okay!” Applebloom said as she trotted after her sister.

Far from the farm, in a small cabin on the edge of the Everfree forest, the trash can was so filled with pieces of paper it nearly touched the roof. “No no no NO! It's just not developed enough! Nopony would realize that Daring was doing it out of her kindness, she just comes off as an arrogant jerk! This entire section has to be scrapped!” she wailed as she brought her hooves to her eyes and cried into them. “I-I never should have a-agreed to do this. They're going to read my story and hate me forever because I-I make it all c-come off s-so badly a-and I c-can't get Daring Do's character right at all!”

Angel softly patted her back and shook his head as he motioned to his sweater. Alas, even the sweater was not enough to calm to crying pony.

“Oh, Angel,” the pegasus said gently, “how could I do this? J-just look at this!” the mare said as she shoved the papers in the bunnies face. “Daring Do takes the artifact and runs, but she's so brave that the villain would have to suspect something was up. So why wouldn't he chase her? But if he doesn't chase her, then half the previous chapter doesn't matter! It was all written for nothing!” she sobbed as she rolled onto her back. “The trap needs to happen, b-but it's going to be horrible and- Oh!” she gasped as her wings pomfed and she ran back to the paper to begin writing again. “I... I have it... look!” she said as she held out the paper to the little rabbit.

Angel took the paper and slowly read through it. After a few moments he closed his eyes and put the paper down. Fluttershy watched him with baited breath. Finally the wise creature nodded his head.

“YAY!” she squealed happily as she dove right back into the papers. “With that part done I can move onto the finale! I think it's almost... are you sure it's not to short? Perhaps I should add a third section... I mean the entire thing is just over so quickly. What if they don't like it because it's not long enough?” the mares wings began to droop as she dropped the pen. Behind her the bunny face pawed.

Deep in Ponyville, in Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie jumped across the furniture as she enacted her story. On the ground were two little foals, one a pegasus with brown mane and tail as well as a light gray coat and the other a unicorn with orange mane and tail as well as a light yellow coat. They were the cake twins, Pound and Pumpkin respectively.

“So then Daring Do grabbed the time key,” Pinkie said as she grabbed a blue lamp and yanked it from the wall, “and ran across the bridge as fast as she could!” The pink mare ran across the couch, clutching the lamp to her stomach. “Then she jumped! Straight towards the lava, oh no!” she squealed as she leaped from the couch. The little foals gasped as their babysitter landed behind the coffee table and disappeared from sight. A moment later she appeared behind the foals. “With quick timing she activated the key and boom! She was back home! But oh no when she got there the evil version of herself was there, waiting! She was all 'Mwa ha ha ha!” Pinkie laughed as she tossed the lamp onto the couch and grabbed a black blanket, wrapping it around herself like a cape.

“'You've done well, Daring do,' the evil clone said with a wicked grin! 'But your time is up! You have brought the key to me and now I will use it to gather all the evil villains and evil versions of heroes throughout all time and space and then rule the timey whimey verse! None can stop me!'” Pinkie said as she cackled maniacally.

“Pinkie!” a voice called out. She turned and saw a light orange coated earth pony with an orange mane and tail walking into the room. He gasped and darted to the lamp. “I know you're excited about your story, but do you have to run through the house and tear everything apart when you tell it? Besides, shouldn't you be writing all this down?”

“Sorry, Mr. Cake!” the pink mare said as she tossed the blanket onto the nearby recliner. “I'm just super duper excited because this story is going to be awesome! I was going to write it down, but I've decided it'll be funner to act it out! Besides, everypony is going to read their story. This'll give mine the creative edge to make it stand out!”

Mr. Cake glanced around the messy room. Lamps were tipped over, cushions had been thrown everywhere and the twins were staring up with wide eyed wonderment. He sighed and moved to sit besides the twins with a chuckle. “Okay then,” he said as he pulled the foals into his lap, “continue.”

“Hee hee!” Pinkie said as she tossed the blanket aside. “So Daring Do goes, 'No! You haven't won yet, evil me! For you see, I planned for this! It's time for you to meet the Daring Do council of Goodness!' and then there was a zap, bam, boom...”

Many days passed until Twilight was once again chewing on the end of her quill as she glanced at the multiple stacks of paper surrounding her, each one taller than an average pony. “Hummmm...”

“Running out of ideas?” Spike asked as he chewed on some popcorn. The little dragon was lounging on a reading chair while watching the pony write her over stuffed manuscript.

“No, it's not that. I'm just not sure if I should do the books before the movies any more. Perhaps I should do them first? Or maybe I should start with the companion who is based on the creator's life story first? Should I end with the long comics stories, or end with the fanfiction based one? So many ideas...” the mare said softly as she moved a stack of papers neatly to the side.

“Maybe you should try just writing one small story?” Spike offered. “Or cut down one of the stories you've already written down to only three inches thick?”

“Nonsense, Spike,” Twilight said as she dipped the quill back in the ink and began writing again. “It's hardly going to be good if I don't give as much effort as I would any other assignment. Besides, I've already gone through and gathered all the information I need. I just need to figure out the correct order of each companion so the story doesn't feel too long...”

“Too long? Compared to this Canterlot castle looks like a walnut sized replica...” he grumbled. A moment later a thick stack of papers was dropped on his lap.

“Okay, that's the first half of the game-based stories. Proof read them while I try to finish the second half.”

“Fine. Twilight, have you gotten any sleep since you started all this?”

“Yes! I've been getting a few hours here and there, why?”

“You're starting to get that look in your eye. It's twitching...” Spike mumbled.

“I'M FINE!” Twilight snapped. She then gasped. “Spike, you're brilliant! In the eighth book she finds the ancient treasure of the golden sleeping lamb! I'll have the adventure based on that be about when Daring Do is so tired she can't get the treasure and gets captured! Eeeee!”

Spike groaned as he face clawed again and hopped out of the seat. “I'll be back soon...” he said as he jumped out of the chair and ran towards the door.

“Uh huh,” the unicorn said without paying attention as the door slammed shut.

Rarity sighed softly as she neatly wrote the finishing touches on her story, her quill dancing gracefully across the pages. She then gathered all the pages and gently hugged them to her chest. “Such a marvelous story. Romance, love and happily ever after. It's almost a shame I'm such a fabulous designer. I could have gone into the romance industry and written dozens of beautiful stories,” the mare said as small hearts flew up from her horn. She then glanced down to the papers and sighed. “I do hope it's not too short.”

A sudden knock on the door drew her attention. She put the bundle of papers down and walked to the entrance as she opened it with her magic. “Hello and welcome to the Carousel Boutique, how may I... Spike? Darling, what ever are you doing here?”

“Twilight's snapped again. She's been writing fanfiction all week and she's not even a tenth of the way done. There's paper all over the place, ponies can't get into the library and she hasn't slept since it started. Even more worrying is that she hasn't done any homework since,” the dragon said as he gazed up at the unicorn. “Can I stay here for a bit?” the dragon asked with a hopeful smile.

Rarity chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Now darling, there is no need for that. If Twilight's doing all that again I know exactly what we will do. An intervention for the poor dear. You go get Applejack while I grab Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. We'll meet at Sugarcube Corner and make a plan. Okay?”

“Awwww... okay,” the dragon mumbled in disappointment.

The unicorn smiled and patted him on the head as she passed. “Don't worry, we'll have Twilight back to... focused on more important things in no time.”

The unicorn headed for the outskirts of Ponyville first, straight to the darling little cabin where Fluttershy lived. Gently the unicorn knocked on the door. “Oh Fluttershy! Are you home? It's me, Rarity.”

After a few moments the door opened as the little yellow pegasus appeared. “H-hi Rarity. Ummm, how can I help you?” she asked with a nervous smile.

“Twilight seems to be going a bit overboard with her story,” Rarity said as she motioned with her head back towards the town. “We're going to-” The door slammed shut in her face. “Fluttershy?”

“I-I can't do it! I-I'm sorry, R-Rarity. My story is horrible! It should be burned, destroyed, tossed into the Everfree Forest and never seen again! I-I'm s-so sorry I w-wrote something so horrible... sob...”

The unicorn sighed as she reached out to knock on the door. “Now I'm sure it isn't bad at all, darling. Come on, please just open the door?” She waited for a few moments, but there was still no response. The mare banged on the door a few more times. “Fluttershy, open the door.”

Slowly the door began to creep open as the yellow pegasus whimpered. “I-I'm s-sorry. It's just a really bad story and I don't want any of you to hate me I'm sorry...”

Rarity chuckled as she stepped inside to give her dear friend a hug. “Now darling, this story writing is just for fun. None of us are going to get mad at you no matter how you wrote the story. Besides, I'm certain your work is marvelous and you have no reason to feel this way.”

“That's what Angel said,” the mare mumbled softly.

“Well, then your little bunny was correct. Come now, let's grab your story and I'll take a quick look at it,” Rarity said as she smiled at the mare. “But after that we really must go find Rainbow. It seems Twilight has gone over the edge and has Spike in a bit of a panic.”

Fluttershy gulped as she looked down and shuffled her hooves. “H-how about we just go get Rainbow now? We can see the story later. If we have time. Angel!” she shrieked as the bunny hopped out from under the nearby desk, clutching the story over his head. He stopped in front of Rarity and held it up.

The unicorn chuckled and wrapped the papers in her magic. “Now relax. I can afford a few seconds to look over the first page or so,” the mare said as she held them up to her face.

The yellow pegasus whimpered and began chewing on her hooves. “T-there's really no need,” she squeaked out. “I-it's really not any good. It would p-probably be better if I just s-started over. P-please stop...”

“... Oh Fluttershy,” Rarity said as she shook her head. “This story is fine. I can't understand what you're so frightened of.”

“Well the intro is too short, the descriptions are too vague, the hiring scene I can't get it right so Daring doesn't sound too arrogant, the traps were based around ropes and sticky things when they obviously called for a more wooden approach, the zebras are too quick to trust her and the villain is two one dimensional,” the little shy mare ranted.

Rarity stared for a moment, her mouth agape, before shaking her head. “Darling, calm down. It's just a bit of fun. No pony expects it to be perfect. Even the books had their own minor flaws. Besides, what I've read is no where near that bad. I felt the descriptions were fine and Daring didn't sound too arrogant, just experienced. Have you already finished the full story?”

“Y-yes,” Fluttershy said as she hung her head. “I'm sorry i-it's too short. It's only a few pages long and doesn't describe anything well...”

“Calm down, dear. It's fine,” Rarity said as she lightly patted the pegasus's head. “Remember, this is all for fun. Besides, I've already finished my story and its almost the same length. No pony expects you to dedicate your life to these little stories. Now come along, we need to find Rainbow.”

“Okay...” the stressed out mare said as she followed the unicorn out the door. “So you really don't think it's that bad?”

“It's not bad at all, darling,” Rarity said as they trotted away from the small cottage.

Rainbow groaned a little as she laid comfortably on her big puffy cloud. The mare had been up late again the night before and was now enjoying an extra long noon nap. Her tail dangled over the edge of the cloud as she dreamed of adventure through ancient ruins and fighting off villainous thieves after long lost treasures. She was disturbed from her nap by a sudden tugging on her tail. “Nhgg?” she asked as she slowly lifted her head with droopy eyes.

She let out a shriek as suddenly her tail was yanked even harder, pulling her right off the cloud. “AHHHH!” she screamed. About a foot later she landed sprawled out on the ground. Her heart was racing as she looked around wildly. “RARITY! What was that for?!”

“Well, you were sleeping on the job,” the unicorn said with a soft smile. “I believe today's forecast called for clear skies.”

“Ugh... you know I could of gotten hurt,” she snapped in annoyance as she glanced up. The sky was filled with clouds. “Besides, I can knock out those clouds in no time.”

“Oh, relax,” Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. “I made sure that Fluttershy brought the cloud down low enough first.”

“Sorry...” the yellow mare said gently.

“Also,” the unicorn said, “we have some important things to discuss. Apparently Twilight has been over doing it with her story writing and-”

“Wait, she's still working on hers?” Rainbow asked with a chuckle. “I finished mine ages ago. It's totally awesome, filled with adventure and an amazing new character I made up just for it.”

“Ah, so you're done as well?” Rarity asked with a smile. “Good, then how about you bring yours and we can all finish this experience.” The mare glanced to Fluttershy, who had gone considerably paler. “Before any pony has a breakdown.”

“Pfft,” the blue pegasus said with a chuckle. “Who'd have a breakdown over a little...” she went silent as she glanced to Fluttershy who Rarity was gesturing to with her head. “Oh. Right. I'll go get my story. Meet at the library?” the mare asked as she took off into the air.

“No! Sugercube Corner!” the unicorn yelled after her. “We'll meet you there!” She then glanced back to the other, much more timid pegasus. “Come along, let's go get our stories. Hopefully Applejack has finished hers as well.”

“What in... oh right, the lil story thing,” Applejack said as she gazed down at the dragon. With a mighty kick she knocked some apples down from a tree and straight into a bucket. “I've only just started the thing. Got a few ideas so I guess it'll jus' take a few days ah writin'. Twilight really goin' that outta control?”

“She isn't sleeping or eating,” he grumbled. “It's just like the time the princess assigned her to do a report on the magical ripple effects of area transformation spells using crystal focuses. She ended up spending days in the library and didn't get any sleep. She had six months to write the paper and she had it done within three days,” the dragon mumbled as he face clawed.

“Well, it's not so bad. Ah mean, it's not like she hasn't gone a lil ova board before. I'm sure once she finishes tha story she'll be right as rain. Hup!” the earth pony said as she bucked another tree.

“She's already been working on it for days and she's barely even started,” Spike objected. “If we wait for her to finish the entire story she won't be able to do anything but draw little blobs with her quill.”

Applejack hummed as she gazed out over the fields. After a few moments she let out a sigh. “Fine, tell yah what. I'll go let Big Mac know I'm comin' down for the afternoon and won't be back til later. I got a lotta work to get done, but you're right. If Twilight needs our help ah wouldn't be much of a friend if ah just stood by and watched. Go on ahead and let em know I'm on mah way, okay?”

Spike nodded and brought his claw up in a little salute. “Yes ma'am! Bye!” he yelled as he turned tale and ran.

The earth pony chuckled as she turned and trotted off towards the barn.

When Applejack trotted up to the large bakery she saw her friends sitting at a table near the front. They were all talking and nibbling at pastries as she made her way inside and took a seat at their table.

“So I say we go inside and toss some jello on her!” Pinkie started, “Then while she's confused we grab her and drag her out to the lake and toss her in! When she gets all the jello off and comes back to the library we say all the quills have disappeared forever and ever and the stories are done!” the mare said loudly as she hopped around the table.

“Now darling,” Rarity interjected, “there is no need to be so extreme. We just need to walk up and talk to her.”

“Awwww, but that's no fun,” Pinkie whined.

“Does that ever work?” Rainbow asked with a roll of her eyes. “I'm with Pinkie. Not to that level of course, but just take all the paper and run! She gets wayyyy to involved in all this stuff. I don't see why she cares so much, we all know my story is going to be the awesomest.”

“That's not a word, Rainbow,” Rarity said with a sigh. “Besides, this was all for fun. No need to get so competitive.”

“Fun?” the pegasus said with a smirk. “I don't know about you, but I wrote my story to win this contest! It's... Fluttershy? Are you okay?”

All eyes turned to the little yellow mare who was trying to sneak out, story hidden under her right wing. “Y-yes? I was just... g-going to... w-water the plants...” she lied.

“Fluttershy...” Applejack said as she trotted over and patted her back.

“I didn't know it was a competition!” the little mare said with a squeal as she fell flat on the ground and put her hooves over her head. “I-I just thought it was stories because Twilight wanted us to and she seemed so excited I didn't wanna upset her but my story isn't that good and please don't judge it and hate it I didn't know I'm sorry!” the mare shrieked as every pony in the shop turned to stare.

After a few moments Rarity sighed again. “Now darling, none of us took this little contest as a serious competition.”

“Hey, speak for yourself!” Rainbow snapped.

“Very well. Most of us didn't take it seriously. This is just a nice, friendly competition. Nothing to feel nervous about. Besides, your story is marvelous.”

Fluttershy gulped as she slowly got back to her hooves, coaxed by the unicorn's soothing words and the gentle back rubbing from Applejack. “R-really?”

“Can we hurry this up?” Spike asked as he tapped his foot. “Twilight is still in there going... whatever it is you'd call that.”

“Yeah yeah,” Rainbow mumbled as she rolled her eye. “We all got our stories done anyway. Maybe we should set a page limit or something. If she's that absorbed how are we going to get her attention anyway?”

“Leave that to me,” Applejack said with a smirk. “I haven't actually finished mah story yet though.”

“... Fine,” the pegasus said with a groan. “Most of us have our stories done though. Let's go!”

The five mares and the little dragon soon made their way to the large library and opened the door. They let out a loud shriek as they tried to run, but were too slow. Waves of paper washed over them and buried the small group in its embrace.

After a few moments Spike's head popped out from the pile and he looked around. “Still think I'm exaggerating?”

Applejack popped up a moment later and gave him a guilty look. “Sorry, sugarcube,” she grumbled as she slowly pulled herself from from the stacks of paper. “Everypony okay?”

Rainbow popped out and spit out some papers as she glared at the door. “Okay, this is getting out of control. TWILIGHT!” she yelled as she flew out of the pile and then in through the front door. A moment later a crash could be heard from inside.

“We're comin' sugarcube!” Applejack yelled as the other pulled themselves free and shoved through the piles of paper. Inside Rainbow was stuck flank deep in an even bigger pile of papers, her back hooves kicking feebly as she tried to break free. The earth pony snickered as she moved up behind the mare. “Hold on, I'll have you out in a jiffy,” she said as she grabbed the mare's tail in her mouth and yanked her out.

“Ow! Ugh,” Rainbow grumbled as she rubbed her flank. “How does one mare need this much paper? I think there's more out here than there is on the shelves!” she grumbled as she looked around. The entire building was covered top to bottom in paper, drawing, pictures, notes and most of all, words. She couldn't even see Twilight. “Where is she?”

“I don't know,” Applejack said as she put a hoof thoughtfully under her chin, “but I know one way tah draw her out. Come on, help me make it to one of the book shelves.”

Slowly the two mares made it through the swamp of paper, shoving the sheets aside until they finally managed to unbury a portion a part of the L section. “Okay, here goes nothin',” the earth pony said as she reached forward with a hoof and pulled out a thick tome. A moment later she popped it up on the shelf directly above where it had been.

A few seconds later they heard an 'Ahhh!' as one of the larger nearby piles began to move. Twilight's head popped out of the pile a second later as she headed towards the mis-shelved book. “Hey Rainbow, hey Applejack,” she mumbled as she walked by them.

“Hey?! Don't you hey us! Look at this place! It looks like a paper factory exploded in here!” Rainbow snapped as she looked around.

The unicorn stopped as she glanced around. “W-well, I guess it is a... little messy...” she mumbled as she brought a hoof up to stifle a yawn. Small black bags had formed under her eyes. Her horn glowed as she re-shelved the book where it belonged. “But it's all perfectly organized. You see that stack is possible one liners, and that stack is information on all the previous villains, that stack is all the allies Daring Do has had and proven or theoretical relationships between them, and that-” she was cut off as Rainbow put a hoof over her mouth.

“Look at this place! It's a mess!” the pegasus snapped as she gestured towards the stacks. “You look horrible, when's the last time you slept...” Her eyes trailed down to the purple mare's stomach. “When's the last time you ate? I can actually see bone...”

“I-I had an apple for breakfast!” she objected. “Ask Spike, he got it for me!”

“Twilight, that was two days ago,” the dragon mumbled.

“No, I remember. I was just in the middle of writing... oh,” she squeaked as she looked towards her buried desk. “Maybe I did get a little carried away... Oh! But I finished one of the books! The one based on the games is now completed and I've finished about three of the stories from the actual books but after that I still have twelve more books until the book is done and-”

“By Celestia's mane! Twilight, enough!” Applejack said as she shook her head. “What you're going to do is go upstairs and get some much needed sleep. Once you do that you're gonna come back down here, get some grub and be done with it. No more writin' for yah.”

“But-”

“No buts! Now go upstairs and get some sleep young lady or I'll tan your hide!” the earth pony snapped. Twilight let out an eek as she darted away from the papery mess and up into her room.

“Wow,” Spike said as he looked to the orange pony. “Where did that come from?”

“Yah learn a thing or two when yah got a lil sister like Applebloom,” she said as she began picking up and stacking papers. “Now help me pick all these up. We got a lotta work to do before she wakes up.”

“Aye aye,” the little dragon said with a smirk and salute before he got to picking up papers. The others soon joined him as they got to work.

Within a few hours the library was mostly clean. All the blank papers were deposited, neatly stacked, in the basement. Tall stacks of notes were bundled and tied with string in the kitchen, nearly touching the roof. Finally, the much smaller stack of actual story, only about five or six inches tall, was laying flat on the desk besides the three stories brought by the unicorn's friends. The five were laying on the library floor, panting and sweating, while Spike worked in the kitchen to make up some nice cold drinks.

Rainbow glanced over to Applejack and groaned. “If I ever accept to do anything with Twilight and writing again, please buck me up side the head.”

“Don't have to tell me twice, sugarcube,” the earth pony said with a groan. “How did she even get all this paper in here with those tiny lil legs of hers...”

“Magic,” Rarity grumbled, “and big strong delivery ponies. My horn is so sore...”

“S-sorry,” Fluttershy mumbled gently. “I-I didn't mean to trip on you like that. With all the paper I couldn't see where I was going...”

“Think nothing of it, darling. Mistakes happen,” the unicorn said softly. “Pinkie, I don't know how you can do that, I never want to see a piece of paper again as long as I live.”

Pinkie looked up from Twilight's story and giggled. “Awww, but it's actually pretty good!” the mare said as she flipped through a few pages. She hummed a moment as she glanced to Applejack. “Where's yours?”

“Haven't had much time tah get on it. Been too busy with all the work back home,” the pony said with a tip of her hat. “I'll get workin' on it soon. Already got it planned out. Gonna base it on- hey!” the mare objected as Pinkie hopped on her.

“Shhhhh! Don't tell us! Spoilers, silly!” the pink earth pony said with a giggle.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “I guess if we're gonna wait on her tah come down anyway ah should probably get tah writin' it,” the mare grumbled as she moved to the desk. After a few moments she sighed and plopped back down. “Ah horse feathers. Ahm jus' gonna do what Pinkie's doin'. Tell it. Maybeh we can get a nice fire goin' and do it campin' style.”

“Ohhhh! A campfire! That would be awesome!” Rainbow said as she got up and stretched her wings.

“Ahem. I hate to break everypony's fun,” Rarity interjected, “but may I mention the inherent danger in starting a fire in a library?”

Applejack coughed as she looked to the side. “Ah didn't mean in here...” she mumbled as she shuffled her hooves a little. “Twilight's probably gonna be sleepin' for hours. How about we all come back tah night and do the lil readin' and story tellin' then? Big Macintosh could probably use mah extra pair ah hooves. Ain't right tah leave it all for him while ah lounge about here,” the orange pony said as she adjusted her hat.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Rarity said as she glanced to the kitchen. “Spike, darling? Will you be able to keep Twilight out of trouble until we get back?”

“I'll try my hardest,” the dragon said as he came out from the kitchen, holding a tray with six glasses. “I finished the drinks though. Why don't you-” he eeked as the five ponies moved past him, taking their drinks and replacing them on the tray.

Calling back their thanks the five ponies headed out the door. Spike sighed as he put the tray down and moved towards the four stories sitting on the desk. He hummed a little bit as he picked up Rarity's and opened it to the first page.

“No spoilers!” Pinkie said as she popped out of the book.

The dragon shrieked and dropped the book as he fell backwards. His claw clutched his chest as the pink pony happily skipped off towards the exit.

The reading

Twilight laid in her bed, eyes closed, as she faced the window. Behind her she could hear her assistant's breathing getting steadier as it drifted into soft snores. The unicorn waited a few moments before she slowly slid the blanket down her body and glanced over towards Spike's bed.

The little dragon was curled up into a little ball and gently suckling his thumb. She let out a happy sqwee of delight as she hopped out of bed and landed on the ground with a loud clatter of hooves on wood. She froze as she turned to the sleeping form of her assistant, but he didn't stir. She let out a soft sigh of relief as her horn glowed and a small package hovered out from the nearby closet, wrapped in her magic.

The package was dropped on her bed and opened, revealing her black sneaking outfit that she had once used to (skillfully) infiltrate a forbidden wing of the Canterlot library. She chuckled as she quickly got dressed and gazed down at the dragon. He had yet to stir. She made up her bed, using the box and puffed up blankets to make it seem as if she was still there. With a triumphant grin she tip toed past Spike's bed and was soon at the top of the stairs.

“Perfect,” Twilight said with a smile. “Now to just sneak down and EEK!” she shrieked as she missed the first step and went tumbling down. She landed at the foot of the stairs with a pained groan.

“What?” Spike asked as he sat up, his eyes dropping from sleep. “Wuzzat? Who? Twilight?”

The unicorn gulped and pushed herself flat against the nearby wall. After a few moments she heard the dragon yawn before returning to his gentle snoring.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she slowly opened the door and slid out into the library. With a skip in her step she trotted over to wear the groups stories were laying flat on the desk and picked up her own. “Okay, I can just fix a few minor issues, expand on a few scenes and maybe add an alternate ending. That wouldn't really be writing, it would just be tidying up,” she said to herself as she gripped the nearby quill in her magic and flipped over to the second page.

It was blank.

The unicorn froze as her eyes went wide. “W-what?” She quickly flipped to the next page, which was blank as well. “What?!” she shrieked again. Page after page she flipped until finally she came to the final page, which had very small writing in the bottom right corner. She squinted as she leaned in to read the barely visible text.

“'Dear Twilight,'” she read aloud, “'this is the fourth night in a row you've tried to sneak down to work on the story. As such, I'm not in the mood to come down and drag you away. Again. Instead I've decided to have some fun with it. You'll find that all of the ink is gone.' Wait, what?” Twilight asked before she glanced inside the small quill vial. It was bone dry. “You clever little dragon... Let's see... 'I have stored it all in the basement and hidden the key. If you want the key you will first have to find all five pieces of your story. Hidden with each is a clue. I have given each story to one of your five close friends to guard. Good luck. P.S. You could always just go to bed. Applejack will finish up with the fields in a day or so and then this will all be over.'”

Twilight stared at the note nervously as she began to pace around the room. “Spiiiiike... how could you do this? I can't let them know I'm trying to work on the story,” she whined before humming “Of course! Whodin Neighs book! A hundred and one magical trips for bypassing locks!” she said proudly as she ran to the bookshelves and began searching for it. After a few moments she came up empty hoofed. “Where is it?” she mumbled as she ran a hoof over where it was supposed to be.

“Of course!” she said with a soft chuckle as she dove into the library records and began looking through. “Found it, checked out by... Snips? Why would he need a book like this?” she mumbled before shaking her head. “No matter! I'll just go visit him and retrieve the book!” she paused as she glanced at the clock. “... I'm sure he'll be up. Probably,” she mumbled as she darted out the door.

From above her the window of the library popped open as Spike leaned out. “Well, there she goes,” he mumbled.

“A-are you sure this is okay?” Fluttershy asked nervously as she perched on one of the tree branches above.

“It'll be fine,” the dragon said with a chuckle. “Once she gets Pinkie's she'll be probably have the riddle figured out from that alone. She'll be back in no time. She's not the only one who's really smart and good at writing, you know,” Spike said with a chuckle.

“Hey, smarty scales,” Rainbow said with a motion of her hoof. “I don't know where she's going, but it's not too Sugarcube Corner.”

“What?” the dragon asked as he caught sight of the unicorn disappearing down a side street. “Uh oh. We should probably follow her...”

“On it!” the rainbow-maned pegasus said as she took off from the tree and flew straight after the unicorn.

Twilight stopped outside a small house with an attached greenhouse on the side. All the lights, aside from in the glass structure, were shut off. She slowly tip hoofed towards the home and lightly tapped on the door. There was no response.

She sighed before trying to turn the knob. Unsurprisingly, it didn't budge. She glanced around and let out a gasp of delight as she saw a window a few feet from the door and she quickly moved under it. Her horn glowed as she tried nudging it and it began to go up.

Within a few moments it opened and she dove inside! A second later she let out a shriek as she fell head first into the sink before tumbling backwards out of it and crashing to the ground.

“I SAID KEEP IT DOWN, DOWN THERE!” a voice yelled from upstairs. Twilight whimpered and went completely still, not even moving to rub her aching back and neck. She didn't hear anything else so the mare slowly got to her hooves and crouched down low. She glanced left and right as she tip hoofed into the other room.

“Hah, totally- eek!” she shrieked as she hit something warm and soft with her hooves and tripped. She landed face first into something just as warm and soft as it began to wiggle. Suddenly screams began to pierce the air as the things she landed on began to twist and writhe! She screamed as she tried to free herself, fighting back against the fuzzy monsters in the darkness!

Suddenly, as she was about to give up hope of survival, the lights came on. “Just what in Tartarus are you two...” the voice trailed off. Twilight looked up to the doorway of the room and saw a very disgruntled green mare, wearing a cheap pink bath robe and plenty of mane curlers, staring at her. She realized she wasn't wrapped up by some fuzzy tangle monster, but instead a blanket.

A short and plump unicorn colt, with a turquoise coat and orange mane was sitting across the living room from her and staring. Another, much taller and slimmer, unicorn colt, with an orange coat and turquoise mane, was hiding under the couch and staring as well. Snips and Snails respectively. The librarian coughed nervously as she waved at the annoyed looking mare. “I... I can explain. Really, I can.”

Twilight fidgeted in her chair as she lightly nudged her hot cocoa(with only one marshmallow). She was sitting in the kitchen while the other mare, Snip's mother Mrs. Clips, paced back and forth. The two colts were sitting just outside the room, popping their heads around the corner as they tried to listen in.

“So, if I have this right,” Mrs. Clips said as she stopped to ground a hoof into the floor, “you broke into our house, woke all of us up, scared my son and his friend half too death during their sleep over all so you could come and retrieve a... book? From the library?”

“Y-yes,” the younger unicorn said meekly as she gently sipped her drink.

“And it couldn't wait until morning came, because you had to break into your basement tonight?” the mare asked as she turned to Twilight and just glared.

“Y-yes...” the librarian squeaked as she tried to sink into her chair.

“I see,” the elder pony said as she continued to stare. After a few moments she shook her head and looked to the living room entrance. “Snips! Go get the book,” she grumbled.

“A-are you mad?” Twilight asked as she poked her hooves together.

“No, no,” Mrs. Clips said with a shake of her head. “I'm not mad. I'm just... disappointed.”

The purple unicorn whimpered as she lowered her gaze to the ground. “S-sorry, Mrs. Clips... it won't happen again. It's just really, really important that I get this book...”

“... Yes. For your little contest,” the green mare said slowly. “Snips, just get her the book.”

“But mooooom,” the little colt whined. “I need it for our talent show tomorrow! I'm going to wrap Snails up in chains and padlocks and undo them while he's underwater!” he said proudly.

Twilight and Mrs. Clips stared at the colt in horror before his mother spoke up. “One, you are to never, EVER do anything like that. Two, go get the book so we can get some sleep. Three, miss Twilight, next time just... just don't do this. Four, I'm going to bed. Lock the door on your way out,” the mare grumbled as she turned and walked out from the kitchen. Her mumblings and grumblings could be heard as she walked up the stairs. “Element of harmonys... grumble... call the guards but they probably know her... rabble... hit her upside the head with a flower pot... grumble...”

Snips, grudgingly, tugged the book out from his school bag and brought it to the purple unicorn. She squealed as she grabbed it in her magic and spun around a few times. “Yes yes yes! Now I can get back to work! Sure I'll need to start a brand new story so the others don't find out and... errr...” she stopped spinning and dancing with the book when she noticed the two colts staring at her in confusion. “I... errr... heh heh... bye!” she squeaked as she ran out the door, leaving her cocoa behind. A moment later she darted back to lock the door and then departed once again.

As the purple unicorn ran from the house a rainbow colored flew flew over head and past her, zooming away towards the library.

Twilight grinned triumphantly as she opened the door to the library, without even using the key. Instead she used a small spell from the book to unlock it and let herself it. She froze after a few steps and glanced towards the door again. “I should probably fix it so some pony can't just break in at night...” she mumbled before running towards the basement door.

Her horn glowed as she gripped the handle and began to cast the spell, but stopped. She cocked her head to the side as the knob easily turned and opened. “He forgot to lock it,” she grumbled as she face hoofed. “Dang it, Spike. I could have avoided all that...” The mare trotted inside. It was pitch black so she reached out and switched the light on.

As it came on suddenly confetti exploded all around her. “SURPRISE!” Six voices yelled. Pinkie stood a foot in front of her and blew on a noise maker.

“AHHHHHHH!” Twilight screamed as she tried to step back, her wild steps making her hooves slip on the ground. She fell backwards and kicked the air for a few moments as she tried to escape. After a few moments she stopped and nervously gulped as she got to her hooves. “W-what is every pony doing here?”

“Bwa ha ha ha!” Rainbow laughed out as she rolled around on the ground, holding her stomach.

“We're here for the readings, you silly billy,” Pinkie said as she hopped around behind the unicorn and pushed her towards the stairs.

“Errr, really?” she asked as she looked down to the bottom of the stairs, her friends all gathered around. “I thought Applejack had a lot of work to do on the farm?”

“Ah always got work tah do,” the earth pony said with a chuckle. “But me an' Big Mac got tha apples all harvested an' put away so we won't have any problems. The fruit bats can freeload anotha day without problems.”

“Heh heh, yeah,” Rainbow said as she motioned to the stack of stories. “We woulda had the whole thing done ages ago if yah hadn't slept so long. Was like yah were trying to re-enact Drowsy Looker,” the pegasus teased. She stopped her chuckles as Rarity gave her a nasty glare.

“Now darling,” Rarity started, “despite what Rainbow said, we all understand how badly you needed your sleep. You really must take better care of yourself. Going days like that without sleep is just horrible for you! Not to mention what it can do to your appearance. Wrinkles, dark eyes, droopy skin, my, the effects are just too horrible to imagine!” the unicorn said as she lifted a hoof over her head and swooned.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “That and the whole wasting the day sleeping. I mean, who does that?” Every pony, and a dragon, turned to stare at her. “What?”

“... Well, movin' on,” Applejack said as she walked over to the stacks of papers. “We were all waitin' to surprise yah at Sugarcube Corner, but it seems yah had others plans.”

“Yeah, what were you doing breaking into that house?” Rainbow asked as she sat down. “Trying to steal their ink?”

“What?!” Twilight asked as her mouth fell open. “I-I would never steal another ponies ink! I-I was just trying to get a book to unlock the door down here,” she grumbled as she held up the book.

Spike chuckled as he looked up. “So you got a book so you could work on your book? Anyway, here it is,” he said as he pointed towards the tallest stack of papers in the center of the room. “All ready to- eep!” the dragon took a step back as the purple blur charged past and put a hoof to the papers.

“Well if we all have time now I really do need to get back to work on it,” the unicorn said as her eyes practically sparkled. “I still planned to come back to page sixty-three and expand on the capture scene. I can-”

“Oh no you don't!” Rainbow said firmly as she galloped up and put a hoof over the papers.

“What?” Twilight asked as she nervously looked at her paper. “B-but it's not finished!”

“You told me it was,” Spike mumbled.

“Well, yes. The first part,” the unicorn said quickly. “As a stand alone piece, though? No. It still requires plenty of chapters explaining more of the motivations of the characters. You see, there are only three games so I wasn't planning to use it as an introductory story and-mmf!” her words were cut off as Rainbow jammed a hoof into the mare's mouth.

“Okay. We're going to sit down and just go through the stories, okay?” the pegasus said with a nod. “Then we're going to see how awesome my story is, and declare me the winner.” To their credit, her friends managed to not roll their eyes.

“But... i-it's not ready,” Twilight said pathetically as she gazed back to her story with nervous eyes. “I-it's only a B, B+ grade level at best. I still need to-”

“No! Sit, now,” Rainbow ordered before motioning to the ground. “Spike, start reading the storys.”

“W-what?” the dragon asked as he looked down at the stories. “Why me?”

“You're a neutral judge obviously,” the pony said with a smile. “Besides, you read Twilight's mail all the time. It's the same thing.”

“I do not read her mail!” the dragon said with an annoyed hmph. “I orally communicate the missives of the sovereign.”

“You read the letters the princess sends,” Rainbow said flatly. “Also known as, Twilight's mail.”

“Hmph,” the dragon harrumphed as he moved to sit at the desk. “Grumble... not just mail... very important documents. Fine, I'll read the stories. Every pony gather around and I'll... huh?” He picked up Twilight's story and looked through it. “That's weird. Weren't there four of them? Rarity's, Twilight's, Rainbow's... where's Fluttershy's?”

Every eye in the room turned to the pegasus, who was trying her hardest to be as small as she could near the back. “I-I don't know. I-It must have gotten lost, i-it wasn't good o-or anything t-though so t-there isn't any p-problem with skipping it...” the pony squeaked as she moved her wings up to hide her face. Unfortunately, the movement caused the story, hidden under her wing, to fall to the ground.

“Now darling,” Rarity said gently as she enveloped the papers in her magic and drew them over to Spike, “there is no need to be so worried. Here, Spike? Read hers first. You'll find it is quite good and nothing to be ashamed of.”

“N-no! I-it's horrible!” the pegasus shrieked as she tried to make a mad dash towards the dragon. She was quickly grabbed by Rarity and Pinkie as she sped by.

“Calm down!” the unicorn said as she held tightly onto the mare. “Just relax. Your story is fine. No matter what is in it, you'll always be our dear friend who we love and respect. Okay dear?”

Pegasus looked around with frightened, teary eyes before slowly nodding. “O-okay...”

Spike cleared his throat as he held the story in his claws. “Okay then. Moving along... ahem. Eh heh ahem,” the dragon mumbled as he cleared his throat repeatedly and shuffled the papers.

“Get on with it!” Rainbow snapped.

“Hmph, no respect for proper dramatic speaking,” Spike grumbled as he began. “The sun shone brightly over head as Daring Doo, the amazing adventurer, slowly climbed through the narrow natural tunnels of Falosian bay...” The dragon paused as he looked over the page. “This is the worst thing ever written?”

Fluttershy cried out and fell onto her stomach as she put her hooves over her face. “I knew it! It's deplorable! Disgusting! Distressing! Depressing! Dreadful!”

Rarity glared at Spike. “Why would you say such a thing? It is not bad at all!”

“What? No! I-I was reading it, look! It says right here, in parentheses!” the dragon yelled as he held the papers out.

The unicorn glanced at the words and sighed. “Oh dear. I'd forgotten about those. Just skip over those and read the rest of the story, okay dear? Don't mention the... notes.”

“Okay,” Spike mumbled as he started again. “The grass was slightly wet under her hooves and the scent of dew wrapped around her snout. I need to come back and fix this later because... err, sorry. That part wasn't in parentheses, but I think it was supposed to be.” The dragon continued on, reading from the papers as the others listened with rapt attention. Despite the yellow fliers great fears, no pony galloped from the room, threw themselves from the nearest window or tackled the small dragon in an attempt to destroy the story. As a matter of fact, as the story was finished up no pony let out cries of pained despair, or even a small whimper.

“Daring chuckled softly as she tipped her hat forward. 'No problem!' she cried, 'it's what I do best.' With those final words the pegasus leaped forward and gripped the nearest vine, swinging out and onward towards her next adventure,” Spike said as he set the papers down and stretched out his claws. “Finished.”

Fluttershy let out a soft cry as she hid her face under her hooves. “I-I'm so sorry, I-I really tried my best but I couldn't figure out h-how to word it better and I know a lot of the scenes are silly and a waste of time and- mmph?” she went silent as Rarity covered the mares mouth with a hoof.

“Darling,” the unicorn started, “the story was marvelous. While there were a few confusing parts and a few minor inconsistencies, the story was all around good. We all liked it, isn't that right?”

The others nodded their heads as Rainbow shot into the air. “Yeah! That was awesome! The way you had her set that trap and let the villain think he won? That was soooo Daring Do,” the pegasus said as she did a few aerial spins. “I could definitely see that as part of the actual series. Well, a mini episode at least. It wasn't that long,” the pegasus said with a chuckle.

“You know,” Twilight said as she eyed the nearby ink well. “It really was quite good, I loved how you made mentions to the Golden Tail Brush of the Neigh Mang Dynasty. There were only six inconsistencies with the actual series canon, but considering a normal book can hold anywhere from eight to fifty-three, that isn't bad at all.”

“Eight to fifty-three?” Spike asked. A moment later a flow chart was dropped in front of him.

“Oh, yes,” the purple unicorn said as she whipped out a metal pointer and gestured to the chart. “As you can see, in book one Daring Do mentions how she dislikes spiders and just the sight of them gives her the heeby geebys, but by book six she doesn't even flinch when a pony has one in their little glass cage. Also, in book seven she mentions how she got wing rot when she was a child, but in the first book she said it was the first time she had been unable to fly. In book eight she-”

“Okay! Moving on!” Rainbow shouted as she looked to Spike. “Which story next? Read mine! It's awesome and filled with the most awesome characters ever.”

Spike shrugged and picked up the story. “Okay,” he mumbled. He picked up the story and cleared his throat. “Now... okay. Villains from all corners of the world gathered about in their evil sanctuary of evil, in a castle, on top of a volcano, underwater and... wait, really?” he cocked an eyebrow at Rainbow.

“Keep reading,” she ordered.

“Okay, underwater and surrounded by sharks that shot out lava from their mouths. Who also had laser cannons attached to their backs,” the dragon read aloud as his claws shook. He managed to barely keep a straight face, though the corners of his mouth kept trying to turn up. “This fortress, created thanks to funding from Dr. Destrucity, the Finanator and Rubyhorn, was currently the meeting place of five of the world's greatest super villains, and constant enemies of the amazing Daring Doo. As they discussed their plans to get rid of the cunning adventurer, once and for all, they were unaware of the pony hiding in the air shafts just above them. Special agent Prism Runner, of the Secretbolts... really?” Spike asked as he glanced to the pegasus. She motioned for him to continue with a glare and wave of her hoof. He rolled his eyes and continued the story.

The other ponies glanced towards Rainbow with worried glances, but after a few pages the focus was brought back to the story. As it neared completion even Applejack was staring at the papers with her mouth agape. As the story finally drew to a close the earth pony let out a low whistle. “Well, ah'll be. Dash, ah didn't know yah had it in yah.”

“Pfft, I told yah I was awesome. Of course my story would be so,” the pegasus said as she leaned back and puffed out her chest.

“Nah, not that,” Applejack said as she motioned to the story. “Ah mean how yah put yourself in the story. Prism Runner? I really expected her to take the show and relegate Daring Do to a side character, but yah made her an actual side kick.”

Rainbow coughed and looked off to the side as she rubbed the side of her head with a hoof. “What? Eh heh heh. I wouldn't do something like that. It's called Daring Do after all. Heh heh.”

“Ah know,” the earth pony said with a smile. “With her intro and all ah really expected her to be jus' you in the story. Instead, she was a really well thought out character. Ah really didn't think yah'd have her get hurt like that. As companions go ah I could definitely see her being a good one.”

The pegasus blushed a bit as she prodded at the floor. “W-well, I can't take all the credit. I mean, I did show the story to Scoots and used some of her suggestions.”

“Ah,” Applejack said with a smirk. “Yah still did a really good job on it. Color me impressed.”

Twilight nodded. “Not to mention it's very rare that Daring has a pegasus companion. I felt she did a really good job with the implementation of a government support group.”

“Yeah,” Spike said as he plopped the story down with the others. “The beginning really threw me off, but it got really good.”

“Of course,” Rainbow said with a snicker. “I told you, awesome. I'm totally going to win this contest.”

“Right,” Applejack said with a snicker. “So, who's next?”

“Ohhh! Pick me! Pick me!” Pinkie said as she hopped up and down.

“How about Rarity's?” Spike asked with a chuckle.

“Pick meeee! Me me me!” the pink pony said as she jumped around and raised her hoof.

“Well, if no pony is volunteering,” the dragon said as the earth pony suddenly put her face up against his.

“Piiiiiiiiick meeeeeee.”

“Well, ah guess we could do Pinkie's story next,” Applejack said with a chuckle. “Though ah'm not sure she wants us too.”

“I certainly have no objections, does any pony?” Rarity asked as she gave Fluttershy another comforting pat. The others shrugged or nodded their approval as Spike moved to sit down with every pony else.

“Okay! So it starts off with Daring Do slinking through the forest in the middle of a snow storm...” the pink pony crouched low to the ground as she began slinking around the basement, moving around desks and other furniture. The others watched and tried to stay out of her way as she hopped, skipped, pounced, dressed, partially transformed and baked a pie while narrating her story. The others giggled as they watched their friends story. As it eventually ended the mare blew into her hoof and exploded, sending pink balls of cotton everywhere.

“P-Pinkie?” Spike asked nervously as he wiped pink fluff off his face.

“Yeah?” she asked as she popped out from behind the desk.

“How did you do that?” he asked with wide eyes.

“A duck showed me! He said only do it once,” she said with a knowing nod.

“Not one of my ducks I hope!” Fluttershy squeaked. “I-I don't want them doing anything s-so frightful...” she said gently.

“No, no! A different duck. Taller. So, what yah think, what yah think?” Pinkie asked as she returned to hopping about.

“Errr, hold on,” Twilight mumbled as she continued writing on a piece of paper with her quill. “Okay, I think I figured it out. Here,” she said as she held up the paper. “So the evil Daring Do grabbed the villains from the real Daring Do's universe, henceforth known as the second dimension, as well as the police force from the third dimension. Now, in the fourth dimension she grabbed the bat pony's and in the fifth dimension, our dimension, she got Chrysalis and Discord. However, when she returned to the second dimension to find the real Daring Do. The evil Daring Do almost destroyed the real Daring Do, except the real Daring Do got the transporter thing and... no, wait. That didn't... it wasn't then. It was before then. She grabbed the... no...” the unicorn groaned as she held her head.

“You're over thinking it,” Spike said with a chuckle. “The real Daring Do just got all the other good groups and fought against the evil Daring Do. The slap fight at the end was pretty funny. Having her work with a good version of Dr. Destrucity was hilarious.”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “I loved how you had him just as incompetent. 'Look, I'll use my wedgie gun on her!' 'She doesn't wear pants!' 'AHHHHH! It backfired!'” the pegasus said before falling onto her back and rolling around laughing. “That was hilarious!”

“Heh, it was pretty good,” Twilight mumbled as she poked at her flow chart again. “I really think I can figure it out though. Maybe if I apply Star Swirl's theory of transdimensional circumstantiated cylindric orbiting boundaries... It would explain how she was able to teleport directly to those dimensions and not... hmmmm...”

“Easy now, sugar cube,” Applejack said as she reached out to pull the paper away. “If yah try examining everything too close yah'll miss out on all the fun. How about yah just try to enjoy the story for what it is?”

Twilight sighed and prodded the ground with a hoof. “Fine... so, who's next?”

“Rarity's!” Spike said quickly as he jumped to his feet. He was over by it within moments and gripped it in his claws. He let out a soft sigh as little hearts floated over his head. “Sigh... it even smells like her...”

The others watched him for a few moments as he happily held the paper before Rainbow finally rolled her eyes. “... Stop groping it and start reading it. We don't have all night,” the pegasus snapped.

“Huh? Oh, right. The sun heated the beach of the Zebracon resort. Daring Do and Steel Hoof were lounging by the pool, sipping coconut juice from split coconuts. The stallion occasionally gave her longing glances, but she failed to notice. Unseen by them a figure...” the dragon continued to read as the others listened.

After a few pages Rainbow let out a groan. “Oh come oooooon. Where is the action? It's all... romancy and lovey dovey and stuff! I get it, he's a prince and all that, but where's the fighting? She didn't even fight off any of the guards!”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Oh dear, it's not always about violence and action. Sometimes it's about drama and suspense. Come now, even you have to have read one or two romances in your... ah. Right,” she mumbled as she coughed into her hoof. “Spike, please carry on.”

“Gladly,” the little dragon said as he continued. “Daring sighed as she felt the hot shower run along her skin. Everything was going so fast, she didn't know what to think. She wasn't sure if she was ready, or even willing, to take up Steel Hoof on his offer. Even if it didn't affect her plans for adventure, could she really give up that freedom? To be shackled and held down to another pony? She was so lost in thought that she failed to hear as the bathroom door slowly slid open...” Spike read from the story as the others leaned forward in excitement. Even Rainbow was listening with rapt attention at the first sign of danger.

The story soon drew to a close as Spike flipped to the last page. “Daring sighed as she looked into Steel Hoof's eyes before leaning in to give him a kiss. After a moment she pulled back and smiled. 'I'm sorry,' she said. 'I'm just not ready. I need more time. There are so many things I still need to see and need to do. You have a home here that needs you. But... I promise. I will come back. When I do, if you're still wanting some pony like me... then the answer is yes,' she said before she turned and galloped away towards her plane. The stallion lifted his hoof towards her before shaking his head. 'I'll always be waiting for you, Daring. Until the stars themselves fall from the sky.'” There was a small pause as the dragon stacked the papers back together. “Finished!” he said as he looked around.

Fluttershy sobbed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “T-that was so beautiful. T-the way he o-offered to give up everything for her. I-I really thought she was going t-to say yes,” the pegasus said before blowing her nose in a hanky.

“Well, ah will say it was quite a sweet story,” Applejack said as she wiped some moisture from her eyes. “Ah didn't expect her tah head off like that.”

“Well, I felt it was a little too predictable if they got together just like that,” Rarity said with a smile. “Though I'm sure if I ever wrote a follow up, the two would most definitely fall in love and never allow themselves to be separated again.”

“Oh gaaaaaag,” Rainbow said with a roll of her cheeks. Despite her objections her cheeks were bright red. “All that romance and kissy stuff was just gross. Should have had wayyyy more adventure. There is noooo way Daring Do would do any of that lovey dovey stuff.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh? So it must have been some other mare who squealed, giggled and grabbed my hoof when he rescued her from the vizier's trap, huh?”

The pegasus' face turned bright red as she shuffled her hooves. “I wasn't, I mean I never, that wasn't because, I was just, it...”

“Now darling, there is nothing wrong with a bit of romance once in a while,” Rarity said with a small chuckle. “As a matter of fact, I have a number of books on the subject that I imagine you would absolutely adore.”

“NO!” Rainbow said as she tapped her hoof on the ground hard. “A-Applejack, how about y-you just do your story, okay?!” the rainbow-maned pony squeaked.

The others snickered as the earth pony made her way front and center. “Sure, sugar cube. Mah story is a tad different. I'm gonna tell it, but ah brought notes. Hold on,” the mare said as she pulled a number of small notes from her saddlebag. “Ah call it Daring Do Jr Adventures and the Lost Sapphire Dove. It all began on a bright, sunny day. Daring Do and her best friend, Twitch, were once again exploring ol' Rustytooth's junkyard.” Applejack began as she occasionally moved through her notes. She stood there as she talked, refusing to jump or leap about like the pink mare had. She did, however, use spooky voices and made gestures with her hooves.

Before too long the story was finished, barely taking half as long as any of the others' stories. As she finished the last portion of her story she glanced up, her front legs crossed. “Daring Do let out a loud laugh as she and Twitch went off tah get sundaes, paid for by his mom as thanks for findin' the missin' sapphire dove. The end. So, what yah all think?”

“It was... short,” Rainbow said as he cocked an eyebrow. “Simple. I really thought you were going to have it turn out to be a criminal.”

“Nah,” the earth pony said with a chuckle. “I was gonna at first, but I felt it was more simple jus' tah have it turn out it got accidentally lost. Besides, I wanted them tah capture the poor ol' ghost and have it turn out not to be some bad pony. Jus' another freaked out pony stuck in the old run down mansion.”

Fluttershy whimpered as she clutched onto Pinkie, who was giggling. “D-did you h-have to h-have all those c-creepy sounds?” the pegasus asked as she trembled.

Applejack shrugged, “Sorry, sugar cube. Ah was just tryin' tah set the mood. Ain't quite as good as Pinkie, but ah like tah think ah did pretty well.”

“I'm surprised you didn't write it down though,” Twilight mumbled as she flipped through the note cards. “It probably could have made an excellent short story.”

“Nah, ain't never really been one for writin',” the earth pony said as she sat back down with the group. “Besides, this is one ah those stories ah can tell tah Applebloom next time she can't sleep. How about we get onta Twilight's story now.”

Spike nodded as he moved back up to the stack of stories and nudged Twilight's. “Are you sure? It's kinda long... and late...” the little dragon mumbled as he tried to flatten the stack of papers as best he could, though it was still over four times as tall as the rest of the stories put together.

“Nah, go ahead,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “What's the worst that could happen?”

Spike sighed and nodded as he picked up the story and cleared his throat one final time. “My adventure was only just beginning as my carriage pulled into the front of a large golden hotel. Inside was my second interview of the week. A miss Golden Glitch. She was the second traveling companion of Daring Doo I managed to track and had agreed to discuss their adventures, so long as I met her at the hotel owned by her family. While, according to my sources, she had spent the least time with miss Do, their adventures were likely to be no less amazing. I trotted inside and was greeted by the scent of wild flowers...” the dragon read as the others relaxed and listened.

The story went on for ages and, though they tried their hardest, the gathered ponies could not stay awake for it. It began with the drooping of eyes. Then the soft yawns. Finally, Fluttershy fell asleep curled up between Pinkie and Rarity. Twilight laid down and nestled against Rainbow. Rarity closed her eyes just for a moment and laid her head against the yellow pegasi's neck, before passing out. Spike dropped down and fell asleep mid sentence. Applejack snored softly into the rainbow-maned ponies neck.

“Spike,” Rainbow mumbled as her eyes kept closing on their own, “gotta wake up... yawwwwwwn... story... reading... zzzzzzz...”

“Silly... billy... it's not...” Pinkie mumbled as she nestled against Fluttershy, “that... late... zzzzzz...”

Spike groaned and managed to wake himself, just for a few moments, so he could crawl over and nestle up against Twilight's side.

The gentle snores of the seven friends mingled into the night as the moon slowly trailed across the sky. Their dreams filled with adventure, suspense, romance and excitement as Daring Do lead them through dream land.