Chapter One: Stranger Than Fiction
Abracing wind howled in the air, prompting Daring to grab hold of her favourite helmet, lest it be caught in the gust and blown overboard. She secured the main sail of the boat and allowed the wind the carry her forward to her destination.
While by definition it was an island, it looked more like a giant slab of rock protruding out of the open sea. The island had sheer cliffs on all sides which towered above Daring and her boat, with vegetation covering the top. To reach the top of the island would be difficult for anypony without the ability to fly. That being said, the top of the island wasn’t Daring’s target
Daring grabbed hold of the rudder, steering the boat around the island and keeping an eye out on the bottom of the cliffs. Eventually, she found a pitch black cave in the bottom of the rock, just big enough for the boat to fit into. She stopped the boat briefly to check her notes.
“This just has to be it,” Daring whispered. “The Soulpeacegem is almost mine,” steering straight on course for the cave. Daring soon realised she had already let her guard down. As the boat entered the cave, something snapped from under the water and the rocks above her started to rumble.
Daring was forced to take to her wings as a hail of rocks fell from above, smashing her boat to mulch. She swerved around to avoid the rest of the rocks as they splashed into the water below. As things calmed down, Daring breathed a sigh of relief, only to be met with the unwelcome sight of another, cream-coated pegasus.
“Getting a bit complacent, aren’t we?” the other pony snarked.
Daring’s brow furrowed at the sight of him. “Hoard Hunter. I should have known. Why can’t you get your own treasure?”
“I guess I just can’t stay away!” Hunter announced, launching himself further into the cave. “Ta-ta!”
“Oh, no you don’t!” Daring shouted back,dashing off into the darkness.
As she pressed further in, there were torches lining the walls of the cave, which served to illuminate the dangerous obstacles covering almost every inch of the cavern walls. Sharp stalactites hung from the ceiling with a series of metal spikes sticking out of the walls, and razor wires stretched across the cavern. Daring put her experience avoiding traps to good use. She strafed around the spikes and flapped her wings to swerve above and below the wires, many of them only missing her by inches. This continued until Daring was faced with a whole wall of spikes and wires, making it nigh impassable save for a small opening. Daring breathed in and focused on that one point. At the last second, she folded her wings and legs in, just barely getting through unscatched.
“What’s the matter, Daring?” an obnoxious voice from ahead echoed out. “Too much danger?”
“I’m just getting warmed up!” Daring called back, racing ahead as fast as her wings would go.
Rainbow Dash was completely absorbed in the book she was reading: Daring Do and the Cursed Soulpeace. Reading it along with the four books that came before it had forced her to use a whole week of her vacation time. To her, it was a trade-off she didn’t regret at all. Each book had been a roller coaster of hoof-biting tension, exciting action, and intense showdowns.
Rainbow Dash yawned and looked up at the clock on her wall. 9.15 AM. At this point she had at least decided to stop staying up all night to read, as it rarely ended well. That being said, the thought of reading the next part of each book was far better at getting her up than weather duty ever did.
She took a quick look at the pages in the book.
“Hmm, not much left. Oh well, now to the good part!” Rainbow Dash got straight back in at the point she left off.
Twilight shelved the last book, and released her focus on her horn. “Well, that just about wraps things up.”
“About time, too.” Spike noted. “I’m starving.”
“I guess now would be a good time to go and have lunch,” Twilight agreed after checking the clock. “Do you mind going ahead? I still have to...” Twilight ears suddenly perked up. It didn’t take her long to figure out why.
“Brace yourself, Spike!” Twilight said as the source of the noise came closer.
“Twiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiight!” the emerging voice called out as a prismatic blur came crashing in through the window. Fortunately, Twilight had anticipated such and thing and had left the window open.
“Hello, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight magically grabbed Rainbow Dash before she crashed into a bookshelf and ruined her hard work. “You’re finished already?”
“You know me, Twilight! Once I start one of these, I just can’t put it down! Well, most of the time, anyway… I still gotta eat and all that.” Rainbow Dash took the copy of the book from out of a saddlebag. “Wasn’t this one just awesome? The puzzles, the danger, even the ending! Who’d have thought Daring would have chosen to save Hunter?”
“I guess in that way, Daring’s a little bit like you, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said.
“Oh, you’re just saying that.”
“No, really! She’s bold and loves a great adventure, but in the end she won’t leave anypony hanging!”
“Well, when you put it that way…” Rainbow Dash mused with a silly smile.” Oh right!” She handed the book back to Twilight.
“So, where’s the next one?”
“I’m afraid there isn’t a next one. It hasn’t been written yet.”
“You gotta be kidding me!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, throwing her hooves into the air. “I have to know about Daring’s next adventure!”
“I’m sorry, Rainbow. You’ll just have to wait for Phantom to finish the next book like the rest of us…”
“Awwwww,” Rainbow Dash groaned before part of Twilight’s last statement sunk in. “Wait, Phantom?”
“Of course, he’s the writer of the Daring Do series,” Twilight explained. “Or she. Nopony actually knows.” She held the book up for Rainbow Dash to see. Sure enough, on the bottom of the book was the name Phantom Placer.
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the name. “So uh, has old Phantom done any other books?” she asked.
“Well, I had a look, but I couldn’t find any titles by that name besides the Daring Do series, even out in Canterlot,” Twilight said. “Phantom Placer is a bit of a mystery to just about everypony.”
“Then how do you know he’s old?” Rainbow Dash noted, her forelegs crossed. “Or she.”
“To be honest, I don’t.” Twilight pulled out one of the other Daring Do books off one of the shelves with her magic and opening it up. “None of these books say anything about who Phantom is. It’s more of a nickname ponies thought of than anything else.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “It just sounds weird to me. I wouldn’t like it if anyone called me old right now.”
Twilight chuckled at the remark. “I guess not, but it’s just a bit of fun. Who do you think Phantom Placer is?”
“I dunno, somepony awesome! How else could they make Daring Do? He or she probably didn’t like their name before, so they changed it. I know that’s what I’d do!”
“Ponies don’t often have their name changed, though it’s possible. At the same time why would they have a name related to ghosts? There has been no known existence of undead ponies or spectres over the past few hundred years. Well, at least according to my Unabridged Guide to Supernatural Beings, which suggests that the name is...” Twilight noticed Rainbow Dash’s eyes starting to slip shut and cut herself off. “Oh, sorry. Look, the point is... oh, never mind. Say, Rainbow Dash, do you want to try out another book? You might find something else you like.” Twilight placed the Daring Do book back into its shelf, then pointed out the shelf for Rainbow Dash to search.
“Well, I guess I haven’t got much else to do.” Rainbow Dash flew over to the shelf Twilight had shown her and inspecting the titles on each one.
“Just try not to mess anything up, okay?” Twilight asked.
Just then, a knock came from the front door.
“Coming!” Twilight walked over to the door and opened it up. Rarity was standing outside, checking for dirt in her hooves. “Oh, hello, Rarity. Is everything alright? You look worried.”
“There’s a whole rabble of ponies over by the town hall.” Rarity gestured towards the area of the Town Hall. “The mayor asked for you specifically. Something is going on around here.”
“Why would the mayor want me?” Twilight asked.
“Well, I can’t say for sure. I do know she wouldn’t ask for your help if it wasn’t of the utmost importance. If the gathering crowd is any indication, this requires your immediate attention.”
Twilight put her hoof up the her chin and stared intently at the ground for a moment. “Alright, but I want you to come with me. You too, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash stuck her head out from around the top shelves. “What? Oh yeah, sure.”
When they arrived outside the Town Hall just a few minutes later, the three of them found their way into the Hall blocked by the gathering ponies Rarity had mentioned.
Rarity extended a leg over her eyes and scanned the crowd. “My, there’s even more ponies here than before!”
“We don’t have time for this,” Twilight said, focusing some magic on her horn. “Girls, grab my legs.”
“You’re not gonna?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“She is.” Rarity sighed. The two of them reluctantly touched Twilight’s forelegs, at which point they all disappeared in a flash, reappearing in front of a door with a golden plaque marked ‘Mayor’. Twilight knocked on the door sharply.
“Come in!”
Twilight opened the door and the three of them went in. A few filing cabinets sat against the walls, along with some cabinets lined with thick books and other ornaments. In the centre was a fairly ornate desk the mayor was sitting behind.
“Ah yes, Twilight, do come on in,” the mayor said. She was flanked by a stallion wearing armour similar to a royal guard. On closer inspection, the armour was more ostentatious, with more sheen than normal and a red jewel encrusted in the
forehead. “I’m glad you could make it Twilight. You’ve probably noticed that there’s quite a bit of unrest amongst our fair citizens.”
“Yes, we noticed. What exactly is this all about anyway?” Twilight asked.
The mayor hopped out of her chair, putting up a hoof up to her forehead. “There’s a criminal, a criminal here in Ponyville!”
“But there’s never been anypony like that around before,” Twilight said. “At least, not since I first got here. Are you sure?”
The guard stepped forward, presenting the three of them with a piece of paper. At the top of the paper was the emboldened word ‘WANTED,’ accompanied by a picture of a young looking unicorn mare with a blue coat, light green, polished mane and golden eyes. Beneath that was the name ‘Opal Parchment,’ above the offer of a reward of thousand bits for her capture.
Rarity took a look at the poster and supressed a laugh. “Really? This looks like something they’d use out in Appleloosa. Don’t tell Applejack I said that...”
“Trust me, this is a very real problem. We caught sight of her jumping the train here in Ponyville. We’ve posted a couple of guards at the station to stop her from escaping, but we don’t know this town very well so we’re afraid she might escape some other way. ”
“That isn’t likely.” Twilight started pacing the office. “The only other ways out of Ponyville are open plains, or the Everfree Forest, which is dangerous at the best of times. Her best chance right now would be to stay put and hide.”
“Hmm... polished mane, fancy background... this pony is from Canterlot, am I right?” Rarity asked. The guard paused for a moment, then nodded. “What exactly is she wanted for anyway? Your little poster doesn’t say.”
“I’m... not at liberty to disclose that.” The guard tensed up slightly. “It’s an important secret.”
“I bet she’s a spy!” Rainbow Dash suddenly blurted , throwing her hooves up into the air, before looking around to find everypony else staring blankly at her . “What?”
“We’d be more than willing to help you with this, but what do you need us for?” Twilight asked, giving the poster back.
The mayor looked outside the window. “I take it you’ve seen the crowd gathering outside. As far as we’re aware, none of them know the whole truth, but somehow they’re aware that something is going on. We can’t afford to allow them to descend into a full blown panic. We need to assure them that there’s no danger.”
“I thought giving good speeches and such was your area?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
The mayor sighed. “That is true, but I’m not so great at writing them. Normally that isn’t a problem as I have more time to prepare, but that isn’t the case today. I want you to help me write something I can use to address the crowd. What we need is something to calm down the crowd. I would also prefer if we didn’t have to resort to lying. If we can do that, hopefully the ponies will return to their normal lives and we can search for this Opal in peace.”
“Alright then,” Twilight said, taking another look at the poster. “Let’s go over what we know.”
A few minutes later, and Twilight and the others went outside to greet the massing crowd of ponies outside. The majority of them were talking amongst themselves in concerned tones.
“Alright, let’s put an end to this.” Twilight went up the crowd. “Attention everypony!” she called out. Everypony continued to mutter to themselves. “Attention!” Still no response. “QUIIEEEET!” Twilight yelled out, magically amplifying her voice. It seemed to work, as everypony in the crowd was now silent and focused on her. The level of volume also meant most of the ponies closest to her had to cover their ears. “Sorry.” Twilight slowly stepped back to where the mayor was. “I think you should get started.”
“Thank you, Twilight.” The mayor stepped forward in front of the crowd. “Attention everypony. We want to assure you right now that there is nothing to worry about.”
“And what makes you so sure?” a voice called out.
“I heard there’s a wanted mare here!”
“How are we supposed to keep our little fillies safe?”
“Quiet!” Twilight snapped, taking a step forward.
“Please, calm down,” the mayor added. “Yes, it’s true. I’m not going to lie to you. We believe that there is a wanted mare here in Ponyville.” As the mayor said this, the crowd slowly became vocal again, most of them sounding panicked. Twilight quickly stepped forward and cleared her throat, which quickly caused their voices to die down again. “I told you that there’s no danger right now. While it’s true there’s a criminal in this town right now, we believe that she is here to hide, not cause trouble. There are already guards on the case looking for her, and we don’t believe her to be dangerous. If you see her around, be sure to inform one of the guards around the town. We’ll have this resolved within the next day or so, I promise.”
At first, everypony remained silent. Soon enough, the crowd soon started to disband as the townsponies left to go back to their usual business.
The mayor approached Twilight. “Thank you for coming on such short notice. Things might not have gone as smoothly without your help. I just hope we really can resolve this quickly.”
The guard approached the two of them. “I’m afraid that might not be possible. If Opal really does choose to hide, it’ll be tough to find her. We’re stretched a bit thin and we’re not familiar with this town.”
“I might be able to help there,” Twilight offered.
“I’d appreciate that. We should go inside and discuss this further.”
Rainbow Dash flexed her forelegs in a mock fighting stance. “Hey, Twilight. If there’s a pony up to no good, we want to help too.”
“Sounds good to me.” Twilight looked around briefly. “Why don’t you go back to the library and I’ll meet you there a bit later?”
“Good call. Rarity, I’m gonna go get Applejack. I’ll catch up to you!” Rainbow Dash flew off.
“Rainbow Dash, wait... ” Rarity sighed. “Alright.”
While the mayor had addressing the crowd, a cloaked figure had been lurking in a nearby alley, listening intently to what was being said. The figure was gone by the time the crowd of townsponies had started to disband.
The pony underneath the cloak was Opal Parchment, the mare who now had a price on her head. Underneath the cloak was a single saddlebag and a cutie mark of silver, gleaming quill.
Looks like I can’t hide here any longer. They’ll be on the lookout for me now, Opal thought, cantering briskly to Ponyville Station. There were still very few ponies around, but she kept herself from breaking out into a gallop nonetheless.
The station was a rather modest affair, with a small ticket office providing access to the platforms. Opal turned to corner to face the station, but forced herself back behind the house she had just walked past when she just when she noticed a pair of guards standing at attention outside the entrance. Opal poked her head out to get a better look. The guards stood at either side of the entrance, with their typical stony expressions.
That’s the only way in. No way am I going to slip past. There has to be another way out of here, and quickly, Opal thought. She wished, not for the first time that she had wings like a pegasus and she could just fly away. As it was, she walked across the street towards a signpost.
Town Hall, Library, Sweet Apple Acres? Blast, nothing I can use. Think, Opal, think.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when the wheel of a cart, being pulled by a green earth pony stallion just behind her snagged on her cape. She tried to pull it loose, but the cloak was stuck fast. The cloak started to pull Opal, so she slipped out of it, leaving the cloak to wrap itself around the wheel.
“Hey, what do you think you’re…?” Opal started, turning round to reprimand the pony who blown her only source of cover. However, she stopped when her eyes met with one of the guards standing outside the station not ten metres away. “Oh no…”
“That’s her! Get her!” one of the guards shouted out, the pair of them now galloping after her. Opal broke out into a gallop in the other direction, abandoning what was left of her cloak. She quickly turned into a narrow alley, but the pair of guards managed to keep up, never losing sight of her. Opal soon came up to a junction where a small crowd of ponies were standing, with a few market stalls on each corner.
No time to go around, Opal thought. She picked up speed until another unicorn stood in her way, this one with a yellow coat and carrying assorted fruits in her saddlebags. Opal waited until the last possible moment, then pushed off of the ground with all the strength her legs could muster. She flew a few feet in the air, barely avoiding the unicorn below her. As she landed, the other unicorn called out to her, but Opal was too busy running to hear what she had said.
Phew, that was close. Good thing I… gah! Opal realised too late that a table lined with various flowers was right in her path. Almost instinctively, she tipped herself over sideways and slid under the table. She quickly got up, and winced in pain.
My flank... I’m not doing that again anytime soon. She took off into a gallop again, the crowd of ponies finally behind her. She checked behind her a minute later, and found the guards still on her tail in the distance.
“Go...away!” she gasped between deep breaths. Between her shortness of breath and each step bringing her legs closer to locking up, Opal knew she didn’t have long.
I should have exercised more when I had the chance. I just can’t give these guards the slip. Then, she noticed a narrow alley lined with all different kinds of containers. Unless...
Opal skidded to a halt, then ran down into the narrow alley. About fifteen seconds later, the pair of guards entered the alley, but there was no sign of their target.
“Where’d she go?” one guard asked, looking at the other guard.
The other guard just rolled his eyes. “She must have tried to lose us in this alley. Come on, she can’t have gone far!” The pair of them galloped off through the alley, unaware of what had really happened.
As the guards galloped away from the alley, it fell silent. That was, until one of the open barrels started to shake. A few moments later, Opal slowly stuck her head out.
My neck... that was even more uncomfortable than I imagined. Opal had dived headfirst into the barrel the moment she saw it, and had been stuck flank up until she couldn’t hear any more hoofsteps and felt safe to start moving. It also appeared that the container was lined with something similar to vegetable oil, which had rubbed into her coat.
Well, at least it seems to have worked. She couldn’t see anypony around, least of all the guards, so she climbed out and stepped back down on the ground.
Great, my legs ache, my flank still burns a little and now I smell like goodness knows what. At least my bag is still intact, somehow. I just need a few minutes to catch my breath. But it probably isn’t safe here. Opal walked back the way she came, looking for a better hiding place. When she emerged from the alley she noticed a strange looking tree lined with windows and even a balcony. What caught Opal’s eye however was the front door, and a sign adorned with the image of a book.
Perfect.
Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had met up in the library just minutes before, and had begun discussing their plans. Rarity was sipping a glass of apple juice, while Applejack was busy tying a rope into a lasso. Rainbow Dash was flying back and forth with her face scrunched up.
It was Applejack who finally broke the silence. “Are ya sure about this, sugarcube? I mean Twi and the others look like they can handle things themselves.”
“What’s the matter, Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked, breaking out of her contemplation to face her. “You’re not scared, are you?”
Applejack gave her an indignant look. “Scared? Me? I just don’t think we should be goin’ to all this trouble when Twi said she’d handle things.”
“Come on, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash replied. “And miss this chance? No way. If anypony can save the town from this criminal pony, it’s me! I mean us.”
“I never thought I’d say this,” Rarity interjected, dropping her glass. “But you’ve been reading far too many of those books. This isn’t just some adventure you know. Nor is it one of your little acts of heriocs. We don’t want that to get out of hoof all over again.”
“Hey, I had a good thing going there,” Rainbow Dash retorted, pouting. “You saw how everypony was acting about this, Ponyville could be in danger. I’m sure if we work together, we can take this bad pony down and save our town! What do you girls say?”
Applejack paced briefly, trying to avoid eye contact with Rainbow Dash. “Well I dunno, are ya sure we should be the ones to do this?”
“Come on Applejack,” Rainbow Dash assured her, grabbing her by the shoulders. “We’ve been through worse than this. Don’t you want to help out? I’m sure you could use that reward.”
“Well okay,” Applejack trailed off. “But only ‘cause I wanna help out, ya hear?”
Rainbow Dash smiled and looped through the air and smiled. “That’s the spirit!” She then turned to Rarity “How about you, Rarity? You up to this?”
“Well, as much as I’d hate to dirty my hooves,” Rarity started. “We can’t have some criminal going around ruining Ponyville’s good name, can we?” She took another sip of her drink and turned to Rainbow Dash. “So, what’s the plan?”
Rainbow Dash laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, still kinda working on that.” Her smile quickly faded as she noticed the others weren’t smiling. “Look, all we gotta do is find this pony and catch her, you know? That’s where you come in, Applejack.”
“If ya say so,” Applejack agreed. “I’m just not used to wranglin’ other ponies, just so you know.”
Rainbow Dash grabbed the rope Applejack had been playing with. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.” She dropped the rope and glided over to Rarity. “Okay, and you can, uh...”
“This is what I was afraid of,” Rarity said, sighing. “I suppose I could help flush her out, but I’m afraid I may not be much help catching this mare.”
“Well I guess that will have to do,” Rainbow Dash admitted, noticed Rarity frowning briefly. “Hey, that’s still better than nothing. “It’s not like she’s just gonna come to us...” Rainbow Dash flinched as she heard the front door open, then close again a couple of seconds later. “That must be Twilight. Good, we can tell her our...” Rainbow Dash stopped herself when a blue unicorn rushed in, gasping for air.
“Wait, yer not Twi. Who are ya?” Applejack asked, approaching the new entrant.
Opal looked up at the other three ponies, and her legs started to shake. “I, um...”
Rainbow Dash broke out a grin. “Well, speak of the Nightmare. Looks like we won’t have to go looking for you after all.”
Rarity took a look at Opal, then her face recoiled slightly. “Are you sure she’s the one? She’s so much scruffier than in the picture. And what is that smell?”
“So what if she smells? The colours all match up,” Rainbow Dash said, holding a copy of the poster.
“Wait, no, I...” Opal stammered, stepping back slightly.
Rainbow Dash slowly closed in on Opal. “Now come quietly, or you’re gonna regret it!”
Opal‘s eyes darted around the room. There was just a table between her and Rarity, and nothing holding back Rainbow Dash or Applejack. There wasn’t much to the room they were in besides the shelves lined with books. Opal closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “I just have one thing to say.”
Rainbow Dash flew back a bit, eyebrow raised. “Yeah, and what’s that?”
Opal’s horn suddenly flared up. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, what are you... gah!” Rainbow Dash was suddenly pummelled by a small landslide of books, displaced from their shelves by Opal’s burst of magic. Rainbow Dash fell to the floor under the weight of the makeshift avalanche. The noise from the crash startled Rarity momentarily, which was all Opal needed. She jumped up onto the table, kicking the glass of apple juice into her face.
“My mane!” Rarity squealed, trying to rub her face clean. Opal looked to Applejack, who was now preparing her lasso. Opal jumped off the table and landed less than a foot away from Applejack.
“Yer not stoppin’ me!” Applejack declared. However, Opal had other plans. She grabbed the brim of Applejack’s hat and pulled it down as hard as hard as she could. The hat slid down Applejack’s head, obscuring her vision.
“Why, you...” Applejack cursed, trying to stop the lasso so she could pull her hat back into place.
Opal was already on the move at this point. “Sorry!” She called out as she ran to the other side of the room. Opal jumped up onto another of the tables in the room, and then up through the window that had been left open before. The underside of her body clipped the bottom of the window frame, making her wince slightly, but she landed on her hooves and proceeded to gallop off.
Applejack struggled against her hat until it finally came unstuck, and returned it to its rightful place. The scene that greeted her eyes when she did was one of chaos. The only sign that anypony was still here was a single cyan hoof sticking out of a messy pile of books. Applejack grabbed the hoof and pulled it as hard as she could. “Come on, Rainbow Dash,” she grunted. “Up an’ at ‘em.”
Rainbow Dash rose through the books to her hooves with the grace of a sleep-deprived elephant. “Urgh, my head,” she said, rubbing her head with a hoof and finding several sizable lumps.
“You okay, Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow Dash looked over the rest of her body. She had a few bruises. “I’ve had worse,” she replied. She turned back to Applejack. “What just happened?”
“That little snake pulled a fast one on us,” Applejack said with a scowl. “I think Rarity musta ran off, not sure where .”
Rainbow Dash took to her wings again. “Well, she sure managed to make a mess of the place, that little trickster.” She looked out the window, seeing a trail blood leading outside. “We’re not letting her get away with this.”
“Don’tcha worry, sugarcube,” Applejack said, picking up her lasso again. “We still got a plan. We just gotta be smarter is all.”
Opal continued to run as fast as she could after she had escaped the library, ignoring all of the painful experiences she had suffered over the last hour or so. She made her way back to the alley she had hidden in just a few minutes ago, and stopped there, once again out of breath.
There just had to be several tenacious ponies in the library. Just my luck really, Opal thought as she panted.
Wait, what’s that on my flank? Opal had suddenly noticed her right side felt somewhat wet. When she turned around to check it out, she noticed a crimson stain running along the bottom of the right side of her.
Blood. I must have cut myself during my escape, but if I’m still bleeding. Oh, oh no... Opal checked the area she came from. Just as she had feared, there were drops of blood leading the way she came from.
“To think, you almost got away,” a voice behind Opal said.
Opal’s eyes widened, as she slowly turned around towards to source of the voice. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes came inches from those of the blue pony from the library. Opal quickly stepped back. “What, how did you.. ”
“How did I find you, or how did I get out so quickly?” Rainbow Dash started, launching herself gently into the air. “Well, the answer to the first is that you left behind a trail I couldn’t miss. The second is that nopony, nopony stops Rainbow Dash. Least of all, you.”
Opal took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I can’t get caught. Not after everything I’ve been through. Please, get out of my way.” Opal opened her eyes and stared at Rainbow Dash, flaring up her horn.
Rainbow Dash just gave her a sly smile. “Oh, I’m not going to stop you. I’m the distraction!”
Opal quickly rose up to all fours, when a lasso dropped onto her from above. It pulled itself taut when it reached Opal’s legs, forcing them together and toppling Opal.
“Yee-haw!” Applejack called out, holding the other end of the lasso with her tail. “That’s how we do things down at Sweet Apple Acres.”
Opal struggled against the lasso around her legs, pulling on it as hard as she could. “Let go of me!” Opal sparked up her magic and tried to pull on the ring of rope with it.
Applejack grabbed her end of the rope with her mouth, pulling on it even harder. “Ren-Bow Dash... now!”
Rainbow Dash perked up. “Oh yeah!” She pulled out a metallic cone shaped object out of her mane and slammed it on Opal’s horn.
Opal tried to continue to struggle with her magic, but the device now stuck on her horn reacted and shocked her.
“A little something we borrowed from Twilight.” Rainbow Dash said, hovering over Opal’s head. “Thanks to this, you won’t be using any more magic. So don’t try anything!”
Opal continued to struggle against her binds. “Let go of me!”
Applejack walked up to Opal, still holding the rope. “After all the trouble you caused, yer going nowhere.”
Rainbow Dash started towards the end of the alley. “Oh man, Twilight’s gonna freak when she finds out that we got her. Come on, let’s turn this no good mare in.”
Applejack grabbed Rainbow Dash’s hind leg. “Now hold on a mite, Rainbow. We should at least tell Twi about this first. Don’t wanna leave her waitin’ on us and making her own plans fer nothin’.”
Rainbow Dash turned around and sighed. “Fine. Just make sure she doesn’t try anything.”
Applejack smiled. “Don’tcha worry, she’s not getting outta this.” Applejack walked back to the entrance of the alley, dragging the rope Opal was tied to by her mouth.
“Stop it, stop it!” Opal snapped. “You’re hurting me!”
Applejack turned around, and faced Opal. “You gotta lotta nerve talkin’ like that after what y’all did to us!”
Rainbow Dash turned around. “You know, she’s probably not gonna shut up about it.”
Applejack fumed slightly. “Yeah, I betcha you know all about that.” Applejack took another look at Opal. “Alright Rainbow Dash, but I’m gonna need your help.”
“I’m on it!” Rainbow Dash gave a salute, and proceeded to lift up Opal by the rope, while Applejack held it steady. Finally, Rainbow Dash lowered Opal onto Applejack’s back. “Now will you be quiet?”
“This is so humiliating,” Opal muttered. She noticed Rainbow Dash still glaring at her. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Though it was only a short distance back to the library, Opal proved surprisingly heavy, even for somepony as strong as Applejack. Even so, it only took a couple of minutes for them to make it back. Rainbow Dash had gone on ahead, although she had tactfully gone through the front door. When she went in, Twilight was there, standing of the rough pile of books from before.
“Oh hello, Rainbow Dash. Any particular reason my library is in a mess?” Twilight asked, her face slightly contorted.
Rainbow Dash just couldn’t hold back a grin. “You’re not gonna believe this!”
“Believe what?” Twilight asked. Just then, Applejack came in with Opal still on her back.
Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack, then back to Twilight. “Good timing. See Twilight, I told you.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. She ran over to get a better look, and noticed the state Opal was in. “Well, it looks like her. But what did you do to her exactly?”
“She did this to herself, believe me,” Rainbow Dash said, looking over to the mess of books. “She was also the one who did this to those books, on top of me.”
Twilight looked Opal in the eye. “Is this true?”
Opal sighed. “Well, yes, but.”
“There ya have it,” Applejack cut in. “Now can we hoof her in? I still got things ta seein’ to, and we can really use the reward.”
Twilight closed her eyes briefly. “Not just yet. I’m still curious as to why this all happened. Applejack, why don’t we start with what went on here.” Twilight gestured towards the library in its current state.
“Well, I guess it started when we were makin’ our plans,” Applejack started. “Suddenly, she pops in outta nowhere. We almost had her, only she goes and throws anything she can at us, includin’ those books. She almost got away too, but we were on her trail and we caught up to her before she knew it.”
Twilight smiled at Applejack. “Good work. Now, I’d like to ask her a few questions. Do you mind setting her down and removing the rope?”
Applejack blinked at the remark. “Yer sure about that, Twi? I don’t wanna hafta go through all that trouble again.”
“Don’t you worry Applejack,” Twilight said, already loosening the lasso with her magic. “I won’t let her go anywhere.” Twilight gently pulled the rope away and let Opal down the floor. Opal’s legs wobbled a bit, but she managed to stay upright.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood on either side of Opal, watching her closely.
“Alright,” Twilight started, pacing in front of Opal. “First of all, why is it you’re wanted? It must be pretty serious for you to go to all this trouble.”
“You heard her,” Rainbow Dash snapped. “Start talkin’!”
Twilight glared at Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash! Let me handle this.”
Rainbow Dash blushed, and give a silly smile. “Oh, yeah. Sorry.”
Opal cleared her throat. “I went to all the trouble because everypony has already sided against me. Clearly they already think I’m guilty. The truth is I haven’t done anything at all. Why, what do you think I’ve done?”
Twilight’s face scrunched up for a moment. “Well, to be honest we never were told what you were wanted for. They insisted we were better off not knowing. If you really haven’t done anything wrong, why are they after you?”
“Now hold on a second, Twi,” Applejack cut in. “Ya don’t actually believe her, do ya?”
Twilight picked up a quill and parchment with her magic. “Let’s just see what she says for now. Right now we don’t have enough information. I promise you I’ll figure out who’s lying. Now please, miss Opal, continue.”
Opal was checking her wound, but she quickly turned back to Twilight. “It’s my stupid father. He wants me to get married, but I can’t do it. Not just yet.”
Twilight was busy scribbling notes on the parchment. “So hold on, you’re being chased because you had second thoughts about getting married?”
Opal snorted. “Second thoughts? I never wanted to get married in the first place! It’s all a part of a business deal, nothing more. If that wasn’t bad enough, he had to move the date up to tomorrow. But I can’t do this; not just yet.”
Twilight nodded, still writing notes. “Why not? Why did you have to run away?”
Opal turned her head away from Twilight. “I can’t say. It’s a secret.”
Twilight tried to look Opal in the eye. “If you won’t tell me, I can’t help you.”
“Forget this,” Rainbow Dash cut in, snatching Opal’s saddlebag and flying a few feet away. “There’s more than one way to find out.”
“Wait, no!” Opal called out, trying to give chase. Applejack jumped on her before she could get anywhere. “You can’t go inside, it’s private,” Opal insisted.
Rainbow Dash smirked at Opal. “Well then, maybe this is what you’ve been hiding. Whaddya say, Twilight? Why not take a look?”
Twilight stared at the saddlebag for a moment. “Well, I guess it would help. But let me look inside, we don’t want to damage anything.” Twilight set her quill and parchment down, and pulled the saddlebag down to eye level with her magic. “Now let’s see here.” Twilight carefully unbuttoned the bag and pulled it open, checking the contents.
“Well, what’s in there?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying to get a look.
Twilight pulled out the pair of objects inside. “Looks like a purse and a folder.” The purse was rather uninteresting, and only contained bits, so Twilight set it aside. However, she showed more interest in the folder. It was a bright red, and was rather beat up. It bore an insignia of a compass on the front, and a sleeve holding a quill along the spine.
Rainbow Dash took a closer look at the front cover. “I swear I’ve seen this before.”
Twilight pulled the folder away. “Well, let’s look inside, shall we?” Twilight opened up the front cover. Inside was a stack of papers, the front one covered with text and a title at the top. “Daring Do and the Treasure of the Blind Swordsmare? What is this?” Twilight flicked through the rest of the papers. After a point about three-quarters through, the text ended and the rest of the sheets were. “It looks incomplete.”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “Of course. This must be the next Daring Do book.” Rainbow Dash stared at the pages intently. “Oh, I get it now!” Rainbow Dash flew right up in front of Opal. “You stole this, didn’t you? That’s why they’re after you!”
Opal furrowed her brow. “I told you, I didn’t do anything wrong! Least of all steal.”
“Don’t give me that,” Rainbow Dash snapped. “Everypony knows that Phantom Placer wrote the Daring Do series. Why would he give this to the likes of you? Or she.”
“Rainbow Dash had a point,” Twilight noted, still checking the folder. “How do we know you didn’t steal this?”
Opal paused for a moment, before sighing. “Well, since you’ve gone this far. The truth is there is no Phantom Placer.” There was a moment of silence as the statement sunk in.
“You’re kidding me!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “He only wrote the entire Daring Do series! Or she.”
Opal smiled slightly. “You insist that Phantom Placer is real, when you don’t even know if they’re a filly or a colt. Doesn’t that strike you as strange? Also, doesn’t that name sound strange to you at all?”
“I still think you’re lying,” Rainbow Dash insisted, turning to Twilight. “Don’t you think so, Twilight?”
Twilight had set the folder down and was scribbling away at her notes again, only more quickly than before. “Hang on Rainbow Dash, I need to check something.” Twilight continued to write, slowing down occasionally to check her earlier writing. “Interesting.” Twilight set the quill and parchment down. “Girls, I have to go check something. Can you hold things down?”
“Well, sure,” Applejack said, still on top of Opal. “Where ya goin’ though?”
Twilight’s horn lit up. “Somepony isn’t telling us the truth. I’m going to find out who it is.” Twilight teleported away.
Twilight appeared in front of the mayor’s office, and proceeded to knock on the door.
“Come in!” the voice from the other side called out, exactly the same way as before. Twilight opened the door and found the same two ponies inside as last time.
“Good, you’re still here,” Twilight said, walking in.
“Is there something I can help you with?” The mayor asked.
“Actually, I was hoping I could ask the guard here something.”
The guard looked up from some papers. “Ah, yes. Miss Twilight was it? I must thank you for your assistance earlier. My guards told me they almost got her earlier. I’m sure she won’t be able to hide for long.”
Twilight gave a shallow laugh. “Actually, that was what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, I’d really feel a lot better if we knew why exactly this Opal Parchment is so dangerous anyway.”
The guard walked up to the window. “I told you, I’m not at liberty to discuss it.”
“I think given the situation, we have the right to know.”
The guard simply closed his eyes and turned his head up. “We’ve already been through this. The information is classified, and it’s better you don’t know.”
Twilight furrowed her brow as far she could. However, a moment later a smile appeared. “Well, if you won’t tell me, I’m sure the princess will.”
“You, you know the princess?” the guard stammered.
“Well yes, this is Twilight Sparkle, student of the princess,” the mayor interjected. “You didn’t know that?”
Twilight nodded at the mayor. “Thank you.” She then turned to the guard. “You see, all I need to do is send one letter the princess. I’m sure, given the situation, she’ll be willing to tell me what I need to know. I hope for your sake that it’s as serious as you make it out to be.” Twilight turned around towards the door.
The guard stepped forward. “No, wait!”
Twilight turned round, smirking. “Yes?”
The guard sighed. “Alright, it’s true. Opal Parchment isn’t a criminal at all.”
“I knew it!” Twilight exclaimed, getting closer to the guard to the point where he started to shake. “Care to explain why you put us through all this trouble?”
The guard backed away slowly from Twilight’s glare. “Okay okay, it was this stallion, Opal Stone. He... well, he coerced me into setting this whole thing up. He said that his daughter had run away and he needed to get her back, by any means necessary.”
“Including this web of lies you spun over the whole town,” Twilight snarked. “Just why are you working for her father anyway? You’re supposed to answer to the princesses, not some stallion.”
“He’s not just some stallion,” the guard shakily replied. “He’s one of the biggest gemstone magnates this side of Equestria. He’s contributed huge sums of money the royal treasury, and he’s a pillar of Canterlot society.”
Twilight gave a heavy sigh. “You rehearse that?”
“Look, I have my own reasons for going through with this. Let’s just say he’s helped me out in the past, so I just couldn’t say no.”
“Just get out of here,” Twilight demanded. “You can be sure that the princess will hear about this, and my brother as well. I honestly expected better from the royal guards.”
The guard stood there shaking for a moment, then ran out of the office, not even bothering to pick up his papers.
The mayor watched him go, then sighed. “Looks like I’d better straighten this out. To think if it weren’t for you Twilight, we’d be none the wiser.”
Twilight blushed. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad we found out the truth. I think I’d better go now.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to...?” The mayor started, only to notice Twilight had already teleported away. She sighed “Never mind.”
“Would you please loosen up a bit?” Opal asked, still struggling against Applejack.
Applejack just pressed harder. “Sure, and let ya slip away again? I promised Twi I’d hold ya down, so that’s what I’m doin’!”
“That’s. Not. What,” Opal stammered, now struggling to breathe. Just then, Twilight appeared in front of them in flash of light. “Can you please... tell her to get off of me?”
Twilight turned to Opal. “Actually, yes. It turns out we owe you an apology. Applejack, do you mind releasing her?”
Applejack frowned. “Whaddya mean? She’s a criminal, remember?”
“Just trust me on this,” Twilight asked. “I’ll explain this all shortly.”
“Oh, alright.” Applejack climbed back onto her hooves, allowing Opal to breathe again.
“Thank you,” Opal gasped, still lying on the floor. Twilight lent Opal a hoof and helped her up.
Once Opal had gotten her stability back, Twilight took a look at Opal. “Are you alright? You don’t look so good.”
“You’re telling me,” Opal admitted. “It still stings a bit. Turns out I’m not quite the escape artist I made myself out to be.” Opal gave an awkward chuckle.
“Now wait just a second,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, flying close to Twilight. “Since when are we all friends now?”
Twilight pushed Rainbow Dash back with her magic. “Please, let me explain. You see, at the time the so called ‘guard’ wouldn’t tell us why they were after Opal. It sounded strange at the time, but it seemed more suspicious after Opal denied any wrongdoing. So I decided to go have a little ‘discussion’ about what was really going on here.”
“So ya made him tell th’ truth?” Applejack asked.
“Well, he wasn’t exactly willing to tell me, but yes, I did. Apparently the whole wanted thing was just a idea they threw together, and they were made to do it by a stallion named Opal Stone.”
“That would be my stupid father,” Opal spat.
Rainbow Dash pushed her cheek on her hoof. “Alright. But what about the Daring Do writing we found. How do you know she didn’t steal it?”
Twilight picked up the page of notes she had been writing earlier. “Well, I’m sure Opal must be telling the truth about that, too. I didn’t see it at first, but Phantom Placer is just a clever pseudonym.”
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “A what now?”
Twilight sighed. “A false name. A name somepony made up to hide their true identity. But it’s not just a false name. It’s also an anagram!” Twilight noticed the blank expressions on Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s faces. “A set of words made by rearranging other words.” Twilight showed them her notes, demonstrating that that by moving the letters around the name Phantom Placer could be changed to Opal Parchment.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “So wait, you’re saying the real writer is…”
“Standing right in front of us,” Twilight finished. Opal clopped a single hoof on the floor slowly a few times, and a long, awkward silence followed.
Rainbow Dash stood there with a blank expression. “So she’s… but she can’t…” she stammered. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh…” she zoomed up to Opal. “So youwrote the Daring Do books? That’s so awesome! You just have to tell me what happens next. I just know it’s going to be... gah!” Rainbow Dash was sharply pulled back by Twilight’s magic.
“Calm down, Rainbow Dash. Opal’s been through a lot today, she doesn’t need this right now,” Twilight said.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes were downcast. “Yeah, alright...”
“What was that about?” Opal asked, barely moving from shock.
“Rainbow Dash is a big fan of Daring Do, so it was a surprise to hear to you wrote them,” Twilight explained. “Actually, I was surprised too. Why don’t you tell us what a big, famous author is doing all the way out here anyway?” Twilight blushed slightly.
“You know, I didn’t even realise there were that many ponies who even read my work,” Opal started. “As you’ve already realised, I’ve been writing under a false name. You see, my father doesn’t exactly approve of my writing.”
“Just who does he think he is?” Rainbow Dash demanded.
“My father thinks it’s a waste of time,” Opal continued. “You see, he runs a company that deals in gem stones. He expects me to help as much as possible now I’m growing older. Which is where the marriage I mentioned comes in. You see, my father is trying to strike a deal with a mining company out in Manehattan. He tells me he can double his wealth if it goes through. Only thing is, the other company expects a sign of good faith, something to ensure my father doesn’t back out. So now he expects me to marry some colt I’ve never even met.”
Twilight looked down intently for a moment, before looking back up to Opal. “Well, I know I wouldn’t like being forced to marry somepony I didn’t know. But what does this have to do with Daring Do?”
“Only everything,” Opal said softly. “I wouldn’t have been able to write any of those books without the appropriate research materials. Manehattan may be a nice enough place, but its libraries aren’t nearly as good as the ones out in Canterlot.”
“I understand what you mean,” Twilight said. “Is that really it though? That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Of course not,” Opal continued. “Like I said, I’ve written all the books in complete secrecy. Once I move out and get married, that probably won’t be possible. Writing adventure books isn’t exactly a high society thing, you know.” Opal turned away from the others. “It wouldn’t be a problem, as I still had time to finish my last work. Then my father just had to get impatient and move the wedding up. So I ran away. I was hoping I could go see my mother out in Fillydelphia, but it turned out my father wasn’t far behind, and I had to get off of my train here in Ponyville. I’m sure you know the rest. As it stands, I won’t be able to leave Ponyville with those colts around. If they catch me, I’ll be forced to go through with the wedding, and I may never get to finish the book.”
Twilight sighed heavily. “Let me guess, you want our help.”
“I’m not asking you for anything,” Opal retorted. “You can hoof me over and take the reward right now; or you give me enough time to finish Daring Do’s last adventure.”
“Wait,” Twilight interrupted. “Haven’t you talked to your father about this? Tell him you don’t want to go through with it.”
Opal sighed heavily. “Believe me, I’ve tried. My father won’t take no for an answer. So I ran away, which only made father sent those colts after me. I wish there was some way out of this, but my father just won’t give up, not when there’s so much riding on this.”
“I dunno,” Applejack trailed off, adjusting her hat. “Are ya really sure she wrote those books, Twi?”
Twilight remained silent for a few seconds. “Well, I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, given the circumstances.” She then turned to Opal. “If you really are the writer of Daring Do, I’d never be able to forgive myself if I didn’t let you finish your last book. I’m sure Rainbow Dash agrees with me.”
“Hay yeah! I wouldn’t miss the next Daring Do book for all of Equestria!”
Twilight smiled. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. Opal, I want you to prove beyond any doubt that you are the writer you claim to be. If you can clear up any doubts we have, you can stay here as long as you need.”
Opal nodded at Twilight. “Thank you. I promise I won’t let you down.”
Chapter 2: Hitting the Fan
Unfortunately for Daring, the name ‘Temple of Swords’ wasn’t just artistic. The place was packed with hundreds of identical blades, and just about all of them had tried to cleave a hole into her flank. From the moment she entered, her wits and agility were put to the test as she was assaulted by the sword based traps every step (or flap, as it were) of the way.
A couple of the blades did actually connect with Daring, bringing fresh wounds to her legs and flank. However, the temple had not aged well. Many of the swords had become dull and rusty over the hundreds of years they had been in place, to the point where some of them fell apart the moment they sprung out of the walls.
“Just once I’d like a temple that just let me have what was inside,” Daring muttered as she barely made it past another sharp encounter. “Then again, that would mean anyone could get inside. And this is something I simply must have.”
By the looks of things, there was just one more hallway between Daring and her prize. The hall looked innocent enough, with no signs of obvious traps, just a few statues of ancient looking ponies in various heroic looking poses.
Daring just couldn’t shake the feeling she was being watched…
“There.” Opal breathed a sigh, releasing the quill she was using up to that point. “How’s that?” Twilight floated the piece of paper that Opal had just been writing towards her, and gave it a quick read.
“Hmm…” Twilight mused. “Yeah, this is actually pretty good. Do you normally write this quickly?”
“Well… actually, no. Normally it takes me much longer to come up with good writing.” Opal lifted the rest of binder she had been carrying. “It took me a few months just to come up with this, though I have triple checked most of my work already.” Opal paused briefly, putting her hoof up to her chin. “I guess I’ve just never been under this much stress.”
Twilight laughed softly. “I guess it’s not every day you get called a criminal.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Opal said, rolling her eyes. “I’ve had just about enough danger for one day.” Opal was still sporting several small injuries from her attempts to flee her pursuers.
Rainbow Dash suddenly flew past and snatched the paper that was still magically floating in the air.
“Let me see that,” Rainbow Insisted. “If anypony knows Daring Do, it’s me.” She glared at the paper, inspecting each and every word. This continued for a couple of minutes, until Twilight poked her head between Rainbow’s eyes and the page.
“So, what do you think?” Twilight asked.
Rainbow Stared blankly at Twilight for a few seconds. “About what?”
Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “You were supposed to be checked if this writing makes Opal the real Daring Do author!”
“Oh, yeah, heheh,” Rainbow laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, I think this is the real deal...” Twilight stared at Rainbow for a moment until she finally caved in. “Okay, okay! I just wanted to read what happens next.”
“Wait, so you already believe she’s the real Daring Do author?” Twilight asked.
“Sure, what not?” Rainbow confirmed, smiling. “I mean, there was that whole word play thing, right? And really, if I was gonna lie I wouldn’t say I was a famous author.”
“That’s surprisingly astute,” Twilight noted. “To be honest, it does seem a little elaborate for a fabrication.”
“Right,” Rainbow trailed off. “What she said.”
“Now hold on a mite,” Applejack objected, stepping between Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “I still don’t trust her. What about how she acted not an hour ago?”
“Come on, Applejack. That was when we all thought she was a criminal, remember? We weren’t exactly that welcoming ourselves,” Twilight explained.
“I still think she’s no good,” Applejack muttered to one side.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m sorry I pulled you hat over your face,” Opal offered. Applejack simply turned to the door to leave.
“I have to go back to th’ farm,” Applejack called out in a low tone, leaving the library and slamming the door behind her.
Opal stared at the door briefly. “Was it something I said?”
“Don’t worry, Applejack will come around eventually,” Twilight assured her. “You did cause us some trouble, and she probably wasn’t expecting me to be inviting you into my home.”
Opal turned to Twilight. “You know, that surprised me a little too. Especially when I don’t even know your name.”
“Oh, you’ll have to excuse me. Twilight Sparkle, student to Princess Celestia.”
Rainbow Dash zipped up in front of Opal. “Rainbow Dash, best flier in Equestria! But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Opal gave Rainbow a half-hearted smile. “Well, Twilight did mention your name before. With all that’s been going on around here, I don’t think I need any introduction.”
“Yeah, you really brought the house down,” Rainbow noted. Opal looked gingerly at the results of her escape attempt. The shattered remains of a drinking glass lay on the floor, along with a small puddle of apple juice. Not too far from them was the messy pile of books that had nearly crushed Rainbow Dash. Opal lifted one of the books slowly with her magic, and then pulled it in closer to get a better look.
“Wait, you have a first edition copy of Historic Equine Warriors: the Unabridged Index? Do you have any idea how difficult this is to get?” Opal asked.
“Well of course,” Twilight started. “There are less than a hundred of these still around. To think that I found this in a dusty old bookshop.” The copy was worn, but still readable.
Opal let out a short laugh. “Aren’t you lucky? My one cost me a small fortune. It’s a good thing my father never found out. He would have flipped.” Opal turned her attention back to the pile of books on the floor. “We should probably get these cleaned up.”
“Oh, I couldn’t ask that of you. Besides, you should probably get yourself cleaned up first.”
“I’ll be fine,” Opal insisted. “I think it’s only fair that I at least clean up after myself. If I’d have known you had these kinds of books, I probably would have thought twice about throwing them off the shelves.”
“And on to me...” Rainbow Dash added.
Twilight turned around. “Rainbow Dash, don’t you have anything else to do?”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. “Yeah, well I uh... I was going to uh, you know...”
Twilight smiled slightly at Rainbow “Getting a little star struck, are we?”
Rainbow reared back at the comment. “Hey, who do you think...?” Rainbow Dash’s angry expression disappeared, and her legs hung limply in the air. “Okay, maybe just a little. I mean, what were the chances?” Rainbow suddenly flew up in front of Opal. “I only have like a million questions!”
Twilight pulled Rainbow back with her magic. “I told you to calm down. Opal isn’t here to answer your questions, okay?”
“Perhaps when I have finished my work, we might be able to discuss it?” Opal offered.
Rainbow stopped hovering in the air and landed. “Yeah, alright. But promise I can get a chance to talk, just you and me.”
“You have my word,” Opal confirmed.
“Say, Rainbow Dash, could you go and talk to Applejack? She didn’t seem too happy,” Twilight asked.
“Gotcha!” Rainbow replied, launching up into the air and flying out the window.
“You have some interesting friends,” Opal noted, causing Twilight to laugh.
“That’s one way of putting it. Though I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Twilight explained. “What about you, Opal? What kind of friends do you have?”
Opal looked away from Twilight. “I guess I never really focused much on making friends. There was Gold Leaf; she was a good friend for a while. Then she moved to Manehattan. Once I discovered my special talent, I took to writing most of the time.”
Twilight was silent for a moment. “Yeah, I know how that feels. Not too long ago, I didn’t think I would ever need any friends. But having others you can depend on, share good times with, who’ll pick you up when you’re down.. It’s not something you should miss out on...”
“I think I’ll manage for now,” Opal said, still unable to look directly at Twilight. “We should probably get started on cleaning this up.” Opal magically lifted a couple of the books from the floor. “Say, why don’t you tell me some more about the books you’ve read? I’m sure you have a few good stories.”
Twilight smiled, picking up a book herself. “Actually, there are a few times they came in handy.” The two of them proceeded to talk about the different books they had read while returning the books to their
shelves. Quite a few of them were titles both of them were familiar with, while some of them Opal had never heard of. Though in fairness, she had spent just as much time writing books as reading them, while Twilight had absorbed as many books as she could, having read all the books in Ponyville several times. Thanks to their combined skill and familiarity with libraries, it only took them a few minutes to get everything straightened out. Twilight’s skill with magic also made picking up the shards of glass from the floor a lot simpler than it could have been. Finally, the library was clean and pristine again, for however long that would last.
“...how amusing. If I ever run into poison joke, I’ll keep that in mind,” Opal said. “It sounds like the Everfree forest is nothing but trouble.”
“I haven’t even told you about the time I got petrified.”
Opal took a look a look around until she found a clock adorning one of the walls. “Is that the time already? I should probably freshen up and get to work already. The sooner I get this done, the better.”
“Right. You can get yourself clean upstairs, first door on the right. Once you’re done, you can get to work... wherever you like, really. Just try not to go outside, the townsponies are likely still on the lookout for you.”
“I assure you I have no intention of pushing my luck,” Opal assured her, already heading upstairs. Opal went through the door to the right as Twilight had instructed, and found a rather modest bathroom. There was a simple bath with a shower head on the right, a sink and cistern over to the left, and a towel rack opposite. It was a lot less lavish than what Opal was normally used to, but complaining was neither one of her strong points or her hobbies, not to mention how rude it would be.
After a moment of consideration, Opal decided to run herself a bath. She needed to be at her best if she was going to finish her story as best she could, and her injuries from earlier were still hurting. Opal turned the faucet with her magic and watched as the bath tub filled with steamy water. Finally, she slowly dipped one hoof into to the water, only to quickly retract it as scalded her.
“Gah, this is harder than it looks. Come on Opal; just give it a few minutes.” Opal hadn’t been able to keep track of how long it had been exactly, but once the steam started to subside she tested the water once more. Finding the water to be more acceptable this time, she lowered her body into the water and lost herself in the hot water for a moment.
While the water had gone some way to soothe the sting of her injuries, she could still definitely feel them. On reflection, it seemed strange to Opal. Considered she had written about Daring doing countless dangerous stunts and having numerous close calls, and having almost nothing to show for it. Opal on the other hoof had taken part in a whole two chases and had gotten herself hurt each time. Not to mention the fact her pursuers eventually did end up catching her. Then again, Daring Do had a lot more experience with this kind of thing than her.
Live and learn, Opal concluded, now focused on cleaning herself off. She took a sponge and focused on the dirt on her flank and the blood that had now dried onto her coat. The blood proved the more stubborn of the two stains, but eventually with the help of the hot water it all washed out. Opal was also forced to scrub over her wounds, which made them sting all over again.
After deciding she was finally clean enough, Opal got out of the bath and dried herself off with one of the towels. She was getting impatient to start writing again, but one look in the mirror just above the sink showed Opal that her mane was a mess.
“We can’t have that now, can we?” Opal muttered to herself, opening up the cabinet above the sink with her magic. She quickly scanned the contents of the shelves until she found the hair brush she was looking for. With a few strokes of the brush Opal quickly tidied up her mane, trying to avoid spending any more time than necessary. As long as it was clean and presentable, it didn’t really matter to her, especially at this point.
Opal quickly put things back the way they were then left the bathroom. She could see the main area of the library immediately as she went through the door, but there was no sign of Twilight anywhere.
“Hello?” Opal called out. No response. Had Twilight really left her on her own like this? She decided not to dwell on it, considering all that had happened. Given her situation, Opal probably couldn’t try anything anyway. If she left the library she ran the risk of getting caught and if she tried anything inside the library Twilight would probably kick her out.
Opal’s speculation was quickly cut short as she was startled by a loud crashing noise outside, which also happened to shake the library. A moment later, Rainbow Dash came in through the front door.
“Oh, hello, miss Rainbow Dash. You’re back already?” Opal called out.
“Please, just call me Rainbow Dash. Or Rainbow if you like, it’s cool.”
“I see. Well Rainbow Dash, you wouldn’t happen to know where Twilight is, would you?”
“Well, that’s sort of why I’m here. See, Twilight had some stuff to do and everypony else was busy, so she asked me to come here and keep an eye on you.”
Opal came down the steps and approached Rainbow Dash who was currently grinning from ear to ear. “We both know that’s not the only reason you came back so soon, but I can understand Twilight not wanting to leave me here unsupervised. That being said, I’d prefer it if you didn’t disturb me while I was working.”
“Hey, we had a deal,” Rainbow retorted, before taking a moment to calm down. “Okay okay, so I might have one or two things I’d like to talk about.”
Opal let out a sigh. This was going to be a long afternoon.
Might as well make the best of things, Opal decided. “Alright, Rainbow Dash. If you’re going to be here for a while, you think you can help me out?
“Well, I’m sure...” Rainbow started. “Wait, you’re not trying to get rid of me, are you? This is just like those tryouts.”
“No no no, I actually needed some books from the library to help me write my story.”
Rainbow flew slowly along the bookshelf. “Wait, what do you need books for? I mean, I know you’re writing one and all.”
Opal pulled out her quill and a piece of paper with her magic, and started writing. “If you want to be a good writer, you have to do your reading. At least that’s the way I see it. Like anything else, learning the best ways to write a story helps a lot. I also like to research the different locations I use for my writing, or at least get an idea of how the places I write about might look.”
“I dunno, that sounds like a lot of work,” Rainbow admitted, rolling her eyes. “And anyway I wouldn’t say most of the Daring Do adventures could really happen, you know?”
“If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it right. Besides, you’d be surprised how often things like inaccuracies and such get noticed. It’s not so much that it has to be completely realistic, but believable. Or at the very least, entertaining enough for people not to mind.” Opal finished writing, and passed over the page to Rainbow. “Here’s what I’ll be needing.”
Rainbow took a look at the page, which now had a list of books along with their authors, listed alphabetically to boot. “You remembered all of these?” Rainbow quickly checked the list. “You’re more like Twilight than I thought,” she muttered to herself.
Opal picked up her folder with her magic. “I think we’ve talked enough, I should really get to work. So you think you can find those for me then?”
Rainbow was still staring at the page, before quickly turning to face Opal. “What? Oh right, the books. I dunno if all these will be here.”
“That’s okay I guess. Just try to find as many as you can, okay? I’ll be upstairs.” Opal climbed back up the stairs, taking her stuff with her. It was only when she was completely out of sight that Rainbow got to her task, flying around the shelves checking each book for the ones Opal had listed. There were a couple of history books, but also a few works of fiction, and even one of the past Daring Do books, which surprised her a little.
Opal set her folder open and flicked through the pages. She didn’t feel comfortable forging ahead without any materials to help her, so she decided she might as well try and fix up what she’d already written. That last passage in particular had been written on the fly, which meant there was even more risk that something sloppy or inaccurate had slipped through.
Opal carefully scanned the page, keeping her quill poised for the first sign of something she didn’t like, which didn’t take long. “Temple of Swords?” Opal muttered to herself. “What kind of name is that? No, this won’t do at all...” Opal scribbled the name out, and considered a more suitable name. It took longer than she expected, and she had to resist the temptation to start chewing on her quill.
Opal’s thought process was interrupted by a rather loud crashing sound coming from downstairs, followed by the sound of several things tumbling, before slipping back into an abrupt silence. Opal peered over the side and saw Rainbow Dash hovering silently, staring at a few books lying on the floor. Opal breathed a sigh. “do you mind? I’m trying to work here.”
“Heh, sorry.” Rainbow said, giving Opal a sheepish grin. “I’ll only be a minute.” Opal rolled her eyes and turned back, returning to her work. True to her word, Rainbow Dash came up to where she was working about a minute later, lugging a small pile of books.
“Here,” Rainbow Dash grunted, setting the books up onto the desk. “I couldn’t find Pre-Civi... Pre-Civi...”
“Pre-Civilization wars?” Opal finished, checking through the pile of books. “Don’t worry about that one, it shouldn’t be too important anyway.”
“Then why even bother with it?”
“Well, it was important back when I was writing the start of the book. Now that I’m this far in, most of the background’s already been explained. I just kept it around for reference.”
Rainbow scrunched up the list of books and threw it away. “So are you good now?”
“Well I might have been able to use that list later on if I had to put any of the books away again,” Opal remarked, making Rainbow cringe a bit. “I should be fine otherwise. Thanks for the help.”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. “Oh, it was nothing, really.”
“Right,” Opal trailed off. “Well, I should get to it now.” Opal took another look at the clock. Almost 5PM. “I’ll probably take a break in a couple of hours or so, we can talk a bit more then, okay?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Rainbow continued to hover in mid air for a few seconds until Opal looked back up to her, and started to stare indignantly.
“Do you mind?” Opal suddenly asked. “You’re distracting me.”
“Aww come on,” Rainbow groaned. “You really expect me to just wait around here for two hours?”
“I expect you to let me work in peace.” Opal looked around. “Surely you don’t have to stick around all the time?”
“But I promised Twilight I would...” Rainbow insisted.
Opal walked up to the window and opened it. “Well can you please do it somewhere it won’t bother me?” Opal snapped. She softened up when she noticed Rainbow looking downtrodden. “Look, it’s nothing personal. I just prefer not to have any distractions.”
“Yeah alright,” Rainbow conceded. “I’ll go downstairs, read a book or something. But you gotta tell me when we can hang out.”
“You’ll be the first to know.”
The next two hours for the most part passed without any kind of incident. Rainbow Dash spent more time looking for some kind of book she might actually be interested in than getting any reading done. Unfortunately for her, she had already read all the available Daring Do books, and nothing else looked similar enough to pique her interest. When she finally turned away from the fiction section, something did catch her eye.
“Hmm. Training for the High-Performance Flyer. This might come in handy. Not that I need any kind of book to do what I do best. Still, never hurts to try.”
It was some time later that Rainbow was finally able to tear her attention away from the book, which was only due to her sudden thirst.
“Never thought of it like that,” Rainbow mused, reflecting on the things she had read. “I’ll have to try some of these when the best writer ever isn’t in town. Speaking of which.” Rainbow took a look at the clock, and jumped at what she saw. “Dah! Seven-Fifteen already? What if I’m too late?” Rainbow zipped to the upper level, where Opal was focusing intently on the pages in front of her. Several of the books Rainbow had fetched her were now floating in mid-air, each open to a specific page.
Opal felt the rush of air resulting from Rainbow’s flight and turned to face her. “Rainbow Dash, what do you want?”
“What, I’m too late? No, I thought you’d tell me when you were having your break!”
“Break?” Opal looked up at the clock. “Huh, what do you know. Guess I really got in the zone there.”
“Yeah, me too I guess,” Rainbow admitted. “Sorry if I broke your focus.”
Opal stretched her forelegs and yawned. “Well, to be honest I think now may actually be the best time to call it a day. Don’t want to get sloppy now.” Opal took a good look out the window, where the sun was now starting to set. “You know, Twilight’s been out awhile. You think she’s alright?”
Rainbow waved a hoof at Opal. “Oh, I’m sure she’s fine. It’s not like she went into the Everfree or anything. So, can we hang and stuff now, please?”
“I guess you have been patient.” Opal relinquished her quill. “So, what is it you wish to know?”
Rainbow tried to think of the first question, but found herself distracted. It didn’t take her long to figure out why. “Okay, first of all what’s with the floating books? I’ve never even seen Twilight lift that many books for that long, at least not without even focusing on them.”
“Oh that?” Opal turned to the set of floating books, then back to Rainbow. “It’s simpler than it looks. All I did was use a spell to make all my books weightless.”
“Woah, you can do that?”
“Of course. I can keep a few books afloat for much longer than with simple magic. Though getting them all to hold still is another matter entirely.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Rainbow started flying back and forth. “Now let’s see here. Questions, questions... why not start at the beginning?” Rainbow flew up close to Opal. “So, why’d you start writing in the first place?”
Opal closed her eyes for a moment, putting a hoof up to her chin. “Well, I always did have a thing for writing. Though you probably already knew that from my cutie mark. Where did I get my Daring Do idea? I guess I always like the idea of somepony going on grand adventures. You know, Facing countless dangers, and still finding great treasures. Well, most of the time anyway. It was actually pure chance that it happened to end up getting the attention of a publisher. Once I got that far, I just couldn’t stop, you know? There were just more adventures to be recounted. Not that my father ever had any idea. I probably could have gotten my work done a lot faster if I didn’t have to make sure he never found out.”
“Right,” Rainbow trailed off. “But surely you’ve been on some adventures of your own, right?”
Opal rolled her eyes. “I wish. Like I said, I’ve been under my stupid father’s hard hoof for as long as I can remember. He wouldn’t even let me go see my mother after she left him. It’s not very hard to see why she walked away.”
“Well then why don’t you just walk away? Your father sounds like a jerk.”
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Opal explained, sighing.
“It sounds pretty simple to me,” Rainbow retorted. “All you have to do is get away from him. You know, like you’re already doing.”
“I said it’s not that simple. You’ve seen the lengths my father went to get me back. I’ve tried to reason with him, but that got me nowhere.”
“Why don’t you just stand up to him then?”
Opal’s eyes were downcast. “That’s... never worked either.”
“Well why not?” Rainbow demanded.
Opal opened her mouth, but she quickly froze up as no adequate answer came to mind. “I, I, I just can’t.”
“Oh, I get it now.” Rainbow Dash declared. “You’re too scared to do anything, aren’t you?”
“What?” Opal’s head rose back up as her gaze crossed Rainbow’s.
“You heard me. You hate your father, but you don’t even do anything? You say you love adventures, but you’ve never stepped out of your house in Canterlot. All you do is hide from your problems.”
“Shut up!” Opal almost shouted. “You have no idea what it’s like to be me. you think I wanted the life I have? You think it’s easy being me? I may have had everything I needed, but I never had anything I wanted.”
Rainbow snorted. “You know, I didn’t believe Applejack before, but now I’m starting to see what she meant. Because there’s no way the the writer of the Daring Do books can be such a spoiled little coward.”
Opal gave a soft growl. “I’ve had enough of your snide insinuations.”
Rainbow reared back a bit. “What?”
“Get out. Now.” Opal picked up a book from the desk with her magic and hurled it and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow ducked her head just in time to avoid the improvised projectile.
“Oh, you want to do this the hard wa- gah!” Rainbow had failed to notice Opal flaring up her horn, bringing the still airborne book flying into the back of Rainbow’s head. Rainbow threw a punch at Opal, only to be stopped at the last millimetre but Opal’s magic. A second later, Rainbow pulled her hoof back. “You’re not worth it. I’m done foalsitting. Twilight can throw you out for all I care. I wish I never read your stupid books.”
Opal gave a harsh, derisive laugh. “I’m amazed you can read at all.”
Rainbow started to shake as her face went red. “Whatever, you’re still a little scaredy filly. I hope I never see you again.” Rainbow bolted out of the window, ascending to the sky leaving her spectral trail behind her.
Opal just stood there for a moment, sucking in the almost jarring silence. A single thought ran repeatedly through her mind. What the hay just happened?
As much as she liked to think of herself as an even tempered pony, Opal had just been almost impulsively violent, with a pony who was supposed to be her greatest fan no less. Everything Rainbow Dash had told her, everything she had laid bare hurt Opal deep down. Mostly because in its own way, it was all true. Opal really never had the courage to stand up to her father, or to step out into the real world. If it weren’t for Twilight, her current escapade would have more than likely ended already.
Oh no, Twilight, Opal suddenly realised. How am I going to explain this to her?
Opal didn’t have time to come up with an answer, as the front door to the library came open. Opal rushed out to get a look, and sure enough Twilight had come back.
“Twilight!” Opal called out, voice shaking ever so slightly. “Where were you?”
Twilight set a pair of saddlebags onto a nearby table and went up to join Opal. “Sorry I had to run off like that, but I had matters to attend to. I had to go find Spike. I should have realised he’d be at the Carousel Boutique, trying to help out Rarity after her mane got messed up.”
Opal sighed. “I said I was sorry!”
Twilight cleared her throat. “Then I decided to around town and try to clean up the mess your father made. I still have to tell them you’re staying here, but it should be safe for you to go into town tomorrow. Sorry I took so long, but Rainbow Dash promised me she’d keep an eye on you... at least I think she did. Have you seen her?”
Opal could no longer look Twilight in the eye. This was going to hurt. “We, we kinda...”
“What happened?” Twilight asked flatly.
“We sort of had a fight,” Opal trailed off.
Twilight stared blankly for a moment. “A fight? What happened?”
“Well, I told her about my life she said some... brutally honest things. It was more than I could take. I smacked her with a book, and she flew off.”
“How is that even possible? Rainbow was supposed to be your biggest fan. How could you do that?”
Opal still didn’t look directly at Twilight. “She said I was weak, a coward. I just got so mad about it I couldn’t stand it. She didn’t deserve for me to hit her, even if she was a bit brutish.” Opal hung her head low. “So what now? Are you going to throw me out? I would understand if you never wanted to see me again.”
Twilight let go of Opal, scrunched her face and started pacing. Eventually, she turned to face Opal. “What you did was wrong, I know. At the same time, Rainbow Dash wasn’t completely in the right either. I appreciate the fact that you owned up to your mistake. I think you deserve a second chance.”
“So what happens now?”
Twilight took a quick glance outside, where it was now getting dark. “You can stay here tonight, but I want you and Rainbow Dash to apologise to each other tomorrow morning. Then maybe we can put this whole thing behind us.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to go that far,” Opal admitted. “But you’re right, she does deserve an apology. I don’t want to ruin things between us more than I already have.”
“Then it’s settled. Tomorrow morning, I’ll talk the Rainbow Dash and we’ll clear things up. Once it’s safe for you to go into town I want you to meet my other friends, if you haven’t already. If you have... well let’s just say you might need to fix a few more bridges.”
“If you insist.” Opal let out a rather loud yawn. “Do you mind if I have an early night? I have had a rather long day, you know.”
Twilight suddenly teleported in front of Opal. “Not so fast.” Opal froze for a second. “First you have to tell me how you got so many books to float in the air.”
Opal laughed again, more honestly this time. “I should have known.”
Morning had finally started to break out over Ponyville, and for once Twilight was there to greet it. She had decided to get to bed early herself, partially out of consideration for her new guest, but also to be up as early as she could. The sooner this whole fight was resolved, the better.
As she opened up the curtains, it soon seemed like fate had other ideas. Twilight looked around the room, but there was no sign of Opal. In fact, the bed she was in the night before had been made up perfectly as though it hadn’t been occupied at all.
“Opal. Opal?” Twilight called out. A few seconds passed, and no reply came. Twilight teleported around the library searching for any sign of her. Opal was nowhere to be seen, but curiously her folder and trusty quill lay on the same desk Opal had been writing from. Twilight came up to the folder for a closer look, and found a note, which she recognized as Opal’s hoofwriting.
Twilight
There is something I must do. I know that I must apologise for what I did, but first there is something I must prove.
The truth about what Rainbow Dash said still haunts me, and I cannot go on until I am past this.
Do not worry about me. I promise I will be back before dawn.
Opal
Twilight dropped the note then checked outside to confirm her fears. The sun had already risen above the horizon, which meant Opal was still out there.
Twilight grabbed the note from Opal and flared up her horn. “Time to get to the bottom of this.”
“Get up.” Twilight shook Rainbow Dash’s bed vigorously. “I said get up!”
Rainbow gave a long groan. “T-Twilight? It’s like the crack of dawn,” she said, yawning. “You know I’m more of a ‘crack of noon’ kind of mare.”
Using her magic, Twilight shook the bed even harder. “First of all, dawn was almost an hour ago. Or at least, Astronomical dawn,” Twilight explained, staring into space momentarily.
“How are you even up here?” Rainbow asked lazily.
“Cloud walking spell, remember? And anyway you’re missing the point. Opal’s missing!”
Rainbow simply turned her blanket over. “Yeah, so?”
Twilight sighed. “I thought as much. Opal told me about the fight you had, you know.”
Rainbow finally pulled herself out of bed and got up onto her hooves. “She threw a book at me. Twice.”
“I know, Rainbow Dash. Opal also mentioned you said some rather mean things to her. Is that true?”
Rainbow rubbed her mane with her left leg. “Yeah, i guess it sort of is. But I said those things because I meant them. I don’t care what she said.”
“That doesn’t make it okay to say those kinds of things, Rainbow Dash. How would you feel if we called you lazy and reckless all the time?” Twilight stared apprehensively at Rainbow for a while, who rolled her eyes.
“So what? I know I’m those things. Big deal.”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight snapped. “You’re missing the point! You insulted her when she hadn’t done anything to deserve it.”
Rainbow stepped back. “What’s your problem, Twilight? I thought you were my friend. Why are you taking her side?”
“I’m not taking anypony’s side,” Twilight insisted, eyes closed. “I had the same conversation with Opal. Except she was willing to admit what she did was wrong, which is more than I can say for you.”
“When you put it that way, I guess you’re right,” Rainbow finally admitted. “Not that it makes any difference. It sounds like Opal’s already skipped town.”
“No, it’s not like that at all,” Twilight objected, giving Rainbow the note that Opal had written. “Her stuff is still in the library as well. The only thing is it doesn’t say where she was going.”
“I’m guessing she didn’t come back when she promised either. You know, she might have come back since you left.”
“Good point.” Twilight looked out of a window towards Ponyville. “If Opal’s back at the library, I want you two to patch things up. If not, we’ll have to try and figure out where she is.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Rainbow took off out of one of the open windows.
“But... fine, don’t lock your house,” Twilight grumbled, lighting up her horn and teleporting away.
A few seconds later, Twilight materialized back in the library to find Rainbow Dash already there.
“Finally. What took you so long?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Look, there’s no time to argue. We have to try and find Opal.”
Rainbow took a look around the library, but there was still no sign of her. “Yeah, it doesn’t look like she’s coming back. So much for her promise.”
Twilight put her hoof up to her chin for a moment. “Wait, the note. Rainbow Dash, do you still have it?”
“Nah, I think I left it back at...” Rainbow Dash rubbed her mane with her leg, only for the note to fall out. “What do you know.”
Twilight grabbed the note with her magic in the middle of its fall, taking another quick look. “Hmm, something she had to prove.” Twilight turned to Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash, is it true you accused Opal of being a coward?”
“Yeah, don’t remind me.”
“That’s not the point. I think that’s what Opal went out to try and prove. That’s she’s not afraid. At least, that’s what it looks like.”
“But where would she go for that?” Rainbow asked. “It doesn’t sound like she went far.”
Twilight suddenly gave Rainbow a serious look. “There’s only one place she’d go that’s nearby. The Everfree Forest.”
Rainbow Dash did a double take. “That’s insane! Doesn’t she have any idea how dangerous it is?”
“That’s just it,” Twilight explained. “Opal obviously took what you said pretty hard. She wanted to show you she wasn’t afraid. And I kinda told her about some of the things that happened to us in there. She must of gotten it into her head that she could prove herself by going in there.”
“By herself? She could be in serious trouble, we have to go find her!” Rainbow took off towards an open window, but was quickly pulled back by Twilight’s magic.
“Hold on, Rainbow Dash. We can’t just go off into the Everfree, we have no idea where we would find Opal.”
Rainbow Dash kept pulling on Twilight’s hold, despite the continued lack of success. “I’ll search the whole forest if I have to. I’m not letting anything happen to her because of me.”
The room was silent for a few moments and Twilight and Rainbow Dash stared at each other for a few moments, Rainbow still trying to break free of Twilight’s magic. Finally, Twilight gave a sigh. “Fine, go.” Twilight let her magic fade, and a split-second later Rainbow disappeared.
“Oh, not again,” Opal complained. This was the third time she had run into the same oak tree. She had no idea how, but Opal finally admitted to herself that she had become completely lost. The sun was now bright enough to break through the canopy of leaves, but Opal was having little luck otherwise.
It was supposed to have been simple. Follow the path through the Everfree, then simply turn back once she had gotten far enough. As soon as she entered, it seemed that the forest itself had been trying to play tricks on her. What had appeared to be a shortcut had in fact led to a completely different path. Which soon led to a dead end. Opal had tried to backtrack to where she came from, only to choose the wrong path and get even more lost. From there, she had simply gone round in circles several times to the point where the area started to look familiar, in spite of the fact that Opal had no idea how to get out.
Why didn’t I stop for breakfast, Opal thought as her stomach started to hurt. She lay down to rest for a moment, as walking had become rather difficult with both her hunger and how long she had been going already. This whole thing was a stupid idea. Why didn’t I just stay in library.
Opal soon pushed herself back onto her hooves. No, I can’t think like that. I have to be strong. I’m not afraid. I’M NOT AF-.
Opal’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she sensed something or someone nearby. She turned around slowly, only to find herself face to face with a manticore. Opal let out a piercing scream louder than anything she’d ever done before.
Rainbow Dash combed across the top of the Everfree Forest, occasionally shouting out Opal’s name in the hope of getting a reply. For the first few minutes, Rainbow had no such luck. Nonetheless, she tirelessly raced among the trees, looking for any sign of her target.
“Come on, she’s gotta be here somewhere.” Rainbow stopped at a dirt path, hoping to find Opal’s tracks. Sadly, there hadn’t been any rain in over a week, meaning the path was covered in different tracks, which made finding any specific set of prints all but impossible.
Rainbow was about to set off again, when a shriek from the north caught her attention. “Oh no...” Rainbow Dash pushed off in the direction of the sound as fast as she could. “I’m coming, Opal!”
For Opal, her situation had rapidly gone off the deep end. Her initial reaction to the beast had caused it to assume hostility from her, causing it to chase after her, fangs bared. All of Opal’s hunger and exhaustion quickly evaporated as a surge of adrenaline had allowed her to run away as fast as possible. Which she wasted no time in doing.
Either she had gotten incredibly lucky, or her sheer desperation had given her speed she hadn’t even thought possible, but Opal managed to gain some ground on the manticore pursuing her. At the first opportunity Opal dived behind a rock and pressed her back to it, attempting to hide from the predator. She could hear the steps of the creature slowing to a halt, which meant her tactic had worked, at least for now.
Opal stood behind the rock, quietly hoping the beast would give up on the chase. From what she could hear, that wasn’t how it was going to go down. The manticore sniffed in the air for a few seconds, then let out a loud roar. The sound made Opal’s heart beat harder and faster than it already was, until Opal felt like it would soon escape from her chest. At which point, she could hear the manticore coming closer.
The sound of footsteps got louder and louder, as though the creature could smell her fear. Opal was now genuinely terrified, and completely unsure of what to do, not just because of her fear but also because it was difficult to tell whether the manticore knew where she was or not.
It let out another roar, this one just inches from Opal’s face. She urged her legs to start moving, but nothing happened. As the manticore poised itself to attack her, all Opal could do was watch, letting a single tear roll from her left eye. Opal closed her eyes, as time seemed to slow almost to a halt, prolonging the horrible moment that looked to be her last.
The manticore lunged towards her, only to be abruptly knocked back by an incredible blur, sending the beast flying several metres before crashing down to the ground. Opal opened her eyes, and saw Rainbow Dash hovering about a metre above.
“Not this time,” Rainbow boasted, before turning her attention to Opal. “You okay?”
Opal’s body finally started to move again, trying to dry her eyes. “Rainbow Dash. You- you saved me.”
“Yeah, I guess I did. To think, yesterday you couldn’t stand me.”
As Opal’s body stopped shaking, she got down and regulated her breathing. “You had a point, you know.” Opal turned the the stunned manticore. “And I can’t exactly afford to picky right now.” At this point, the manticore was already righting itself, preparing for another attack. “Speaking of which.”
“Right.” Rainbow offered her forelegs to Opal “Grab on, and don’t let go.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Opal grabbed onto Rainbow Dash’s hooves, and they both took off as the manticore tried to pounce on them.
Rainbow gained enough height to ensure her passenger wouldn’t collide with any trees, and made her way back to Ponyville. Rainbow briefly glanced at Opal, who still looked tense.“You okay down there?”
“I’ll manage,” Opal called back. “Great view too.”
The two of them continued to soar over the sea of trees, until they finally reached the point where the forest stopped and Ponyville began. Instead of heading back to the library, Rainbow Dash landed in the middle of a small, clear field. She gently lowered Opal to the ground until Opal finally let go, and landed herself. Both of them opened their mouths, but had to catch their breath first.
“Rainbow Dash,” Opal finally started between breaths.
“Opal.” Rainbow hit her gently on the shoulder. “What the hay were you thinking? You could have been eaten!”
After a moment of silence, Opal finally faced Rainbow Dash, holding back tears. “It was true, what you said. All of it. And I took it out on you because I couldn’t take it.”
“I see.” Rainbow Dash looked away for a moment. “Even then, you shouldn’t risk your life just to prove me wrong!”
“No,” Opal whispered. “I wanted to prove it to myself. Prove that I wasn’t afraid. It was stupid I know, but when you laid it out bare, I just felt so worthless.”
Rainbow reached her leg aground Opal’s neck. “Hey, it wasn’t cool of me to be so hard on you. I expected too much of you as the writer of Daring Do, and I almost made you hate me because of that. If it means anything to you, I’m not sorry I read your books.”
Opal finally smiled at Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, it means a lot to me. I just wish I wasn’t such a scaredy-filly. Back there in the forest, I couldn’t move because I was so afraid.”
“I still think you’re cool,” Rainbow insisted. “If it means that much to you, then take it one step at a time. None of us want anything to happen to you.”
“Sounds good to me.” Opal blushed as her stomach audibly rumbled. “Some food sounds good right now too.”
Rainbow took off from the ground. “Come on, Twilight’s waiting for us.” The two of them started to head back into Ponyville, but Opal soon slowed down.
“Rainbow Dash, wait,” Opal called out, making Rainbow come to halt and turn around. “Thank you. For everything. Maybe once we get back you’d like to read some of my work?”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “Yeah, I’d like that. But I’ve got some writing of my own to do first.”
