The Lost Books: Daring Do and the Forgotten City
Prologue: finding the diary
Rainbow Dash idly flew over the Everfree Forest, humming to herself as she did. Her eyes were closed, and she was completely in her element. This wasn't stunt-flying, and she wasn't even going that fast- which may have seemed to be an anathema to the pegasus renowned for her speed. Yet sometimes, she'd learned that you didn't always need to take the fast road. She may have been the Element of Loyalty, but sometimes in order to be loyal, you had to back off, let your friends do their own thing. And besides, there was one loyalty that she would never, ever forget: the sky.
To describe the sensation of flight to a non-pegasus, to her, was an exercise in futility, but she tried. Rarity had described it as being 'like love; twists and turns and you're not sure whether this move will leave you soaring graacefully or crashing into the bedrock.' Rainbow Dash agreed with Rarity on that, but it seemed to be a bit too... soppy for her tastes. So she found a more preferable metaphor. Flying was like being on a roller-coaster, only there were no restraints, no safe-guards, nothing. All you had was your wings, guts, determination, and of course the sensation of the wind blowing over and through your hair. In the air, gravity was a force that seemed constantly distant, your beating wings and the slipstream of wind carrying you far and away from the dull nature of being on the ground. Being on the ground was like being caged to her- only able to move with your hooves tied to the ground by an invisible glue that seemed lenient until your tried to escape it.
She blinked a bit at that, then chuckled. Actually reading had improved her vocabulary quite a bit.
"Heh, better watch out that I don't become too much of an egghead. Otherwise, I might start filling my house with dictionaries." She chuckled at the mental imagery. That was unlikely to happen to her, but it was a possibility... and there came the egghead language again. She banked, pulling her wings in close, to land on a thick tree branch, not even winded. She sat down, admiring the sunset with an appreciative look in her eye.
"Man, the Princess knows how to end a day off." She continued watching for a few more moments, then got up.
"Anyway, probably should be getting back. Tank'll probably be worrying about me." Tank was a loyal pet, and she was a loyal master. Loyalty worked both ways- you couldn't give your friends your all if they were not capable of doing the same for you.
With that, she got into a ready position, preparing to fly bak to her house. However, something caught her eye from where she was crouching. To a normal earth pony or a unicorn, they would not have seen anything. But a pegasus's eye is naturally sharper than most; after all, when you're flying, you have to be able to see intricate details at high speeds. The pegasi who couldn't see that well... let's just say that evolution phased them out of the gene pool and leave it at that. Unpleasant, but true.
What Rainbow Dash had spotted was a brown smudge that looked a little too angular to be natural. She was about to leave, but natural curiosity won out and she flew closer, keeping a sharp eye out for Everfree predators. Sure, she could take them on, but she would rather not take too many unnecessary risks. Sure, Rainbow Dash would be the first to admit that she was a reckless pony, but even she knew that the odds of her making it back to Ponyville with a broken wing or leg were close to zero.
"What's this?"
The object in question seemed to be a book, covered in crusted mud. Once, long ago, it had been tossed here, far away from civilisation. She quickly dug it out with her bare hooves, and then scraped the dirt off eagerly to revealing its vague title. She squinted, but even though she possessed fantastic eye-sight, the fading light meant that she couldn't see much more of the book's title other than it started with a 'D.' So, she gripped the book tightly, and shot off from the ground, causing the trees around her to creak and shake as if they were in the midst of a violent storm.
The flight back to Ponyville was uneventful, though Rainbow Dash enjoyed the sight of the lights flickering on in every window she could see. Her own home was situated far, far above the ground, where she could relax within the sky. Rainbow Dash wasn't exactly the most artistic or fancy ponies, or the most poetic. Yet all her life, she'd slept with the faint whisper of the wind flowing through her ears, and you couldn't hear those sounds when you were on the ground.
So, she slept in the sky. The most loyal of friends, as hey, it was always there for you when you needed it. Now that she had more light, she scraped more of the caked mud and grime off. The pages were slightly damaged, and had swollen up like maggots from the water. Nevertheless, in this improed light she could see the title of this book clearly.
Diary of the Forgotten City.
~A.K. Yearling.
Rainbow Dash immediately let out a fanfilly gasp.
"Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod~!" She clasped the book to her tighter, as a mother would her own child.
"Who would commit the totally terrible crime of throwing out one of A.K. Yearling's diaries?" She looked at it.
"Don't you worry, diary. I won;t throw you out."
She noticed that the book had no lock or strange defence mechanism on it, as she would expect from the autobiographical writer of the world-famous Daring Do. Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, then shrugged.
"Eh, might as well have a look at this diary of hers. Not like she'll know or anything..."
She opened the book to the first page, and started reading.
To whichever pony finds this book, I implore you:
Please stop reading this. What is contained within these pages should never be read by another pony if possible.
I have thrown this diary away so that I have no temptation to write of the events that have occurred within this diary.
If you persist in reading this, then you only have yourself to blame.
This tale shall never be repeated.
~A.K. Yearling.
Rainbow Dash paused, looking back up. She peered inquisitively into the beady black eyes of Tank. "Whoa, A.K Yearling threw away her own diary? That's insane!"
Still, it was not without trepidation that Rainbow Dash turned the page, to the first entry contained within.