Double Dare

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Chapter 6

Chapter 2

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Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

“Ooohh!” Twilight groaned. She ran through the library, haphazardly pulling books off shelves, scanning the covers, tossing those she didn’t want over her shoulder and flipping through others before tossing them too or depositing them on an ever-growing stack near the pedestal where both the spell book she’d gotten the animation spell from, along with Daring Do and the Search for the Alicorn Stone now sat together.

“This isn’t good. This is not good!”

Spike dodged another flying book projectile, which hit the wall of the tree library with a “thump”, then slid to the floor.

“Twilight,” the dragon said. “Calm down. We’ll figure out a way to reverse this.”

Twilight skidded to a halt and gave her assistant a wide-eyed, horrified look.

“Calm down?” she demanded. “Calm down? Spike, how could you say something like that?”

“Uh…” was the dragon’s answer. Twilight galloped to the podium with her spell book and the Daring Do book and grabbed the latter with her magic, opening it and hanging it before Spike’s face.

“Look!” she said, shaking the book. Spike reached up and grabbed it from her.

“I would if you’d stop shaking it,” he complained. Once the Daring Do book was in his claws, he glanced down at the pages. “What about it?”

“Don’t you see?” the unicorn demanded, indicating part of the page with a hoof. Spike’s eyes widened a little. Among the narration of the daring pegasus adventurer, Daring Do, were scattered the mentions of Rainbow Dash.

Spike blinked, realization dawning.

“She’s in the book?” he asked, as Twilight snatched it back from him and flipped nervously through the pages. “How’d that happen? I thought she’d just become part of the picture on the cover.”

“No!” Twilight told him. “The spell somehow reversed itself. It can cause fictional things to come to life, so when it came in contact with a very real Rainbow Dash, it caused her to become fiction! Now she’s trapped in the book!”

Spike rubbed his chin, considering.

“But, didn’t you say the spell was only temporary?” he asked. “You said that it would only last a few minutes.”

Twilight lowered the book slightly and her eyes widened with hope. She turned to Spike.

“Ha!” she cried, running forward and hugging him. “Of course I did! Spike, you’re a genius!”

“Thanks…” the dragon replied, though he could have gotten on quite well without the lung-collapsing hug that Twilight was treating him with now. He carefully extricated himself from her hooves, then grabbed the book from her magical field again.

“Okay,” he said, placing it on the round table that was now surrounded by a sea of books. “No emergency. We’ll just wait.”

Twilight nodded, and let out a long breath.

“Right,” she said, sitting down and staring at the book. “We just wait.”

And so they did.

Spike sat beside Twilight, watching the book intently. He wasn’t sure what was coming, but he tensed himself for a blast of magic that would deliver Rainbow Dash back to them.

They waited.

And waited.

And….waited.

And just for good measure, they waited a little longer.

No Rainbow Dash. Spike slowly looked up at Twilight to see that she was sweating. Her eye twitched involuntarily as she stared nervously at the book.

“How long has it been?” she asked, tentatively. Spike checked the clock on the wall.

“Ten minutes,” he answered.

“We’ll just…wait a little longer.”

Spike nodded and returned his attention to the book.

By the time twenty minutes had passed, Twilight couldn’t take it anymore. She leaped up and ran to the book.

“Why hasn’t she come back yet?” she asked, looking down at the cover that still showed the picture of Daring Do with Rainbow Dash. “Where is she?”

“I thought you said it was temporary!” Spike said, starting to get concerned. Twilight turned around and looked fearfully at him.

“It’s supposed to!” she gasped. “But….she hasn’t come back yet!”

Dragon and unicorn stared at each other for a long, tension-filled moment.

Then there was a knock at the door. Twilight slowly turned to look at it.

“Maybe that’s her?” Spike asked nervously. He watched as Twilight pulled herself away from her vigil over the Daring Do novel and stepped towards the door. Her horn glowed as she used her magic to slowly turn the knob. Spike held his breath.

“Hey, Twilight,” came a familiar twanging voice. Applejack. “You seen Rainbow Dash? She was supposed to help me with picking apples today.”

“I haven’t seen her!” Twilight said, maybe a bit too quickly, with an expression that was a little too frantic. Spike covered his face with his hand.

Applejack narrowed her eyes and gave Twilight an odd look.

“You okay, Twilight?” she asked. She tried to look around the unicorn, but Twilight moved to block her view.

“Yes! We’re fine! Thanks for asking!” Twilight said, her voice high-pitched and fast. “Everything’s fine! And Rainbow Dash is too! Not that I’ve seen her or anything! Haha!” She gave a nervous laugh.

“You sure?” Applejack asked again. She fixed Twilight with a gaze that the unicorn couldn’t look away from. Finally, she sagged.

“Oh, Applejack,” she said, standing aside and letting her see the destruction inside the depths of the library. “Something terrible has happened and I don’t know what to do.”

“What happened?” Applejack asked as she followed Twilight inside the library, which was strewn with discarded books, plus the shattered glass that still lay on the ground from where Rainbow Dash had made her crash entrance. “Good heavens, it looks like a tornado’s gone through here.”

She examined the glass from the broken window and looked up, eyebrow raised.

“Let me guess, Rainbow Dash crashed again, didn’t she? She should really practice outside of Ponyville.”

Twilight sighed.

“It’s…a little more complicated than that,” she admitted. Applejack looked slightly alarmed.

“She isn’t hurt is she?” the country pony asked. Twilight shook her head quickly.

“No,” she replied. “Or, at least, I don’t think so. Uh…I hope not.”

“Twilight, for pony’s sake, spit it out!” Applejack said. Twilight scuffed a hoof against the ground.

“Uh, well, you see….”

“Twilight was working on an animation spell when Rainbow Dash crashed through the window which threw off Twilight’s concentration and she hit her with the spell. Rainbow Dash disappeared but we found her on the front of the Daring Do book that she was coming by to pick up later and we think she’s trapped in the book now,” Spike explained. Applejack looked from the dragon to the unicorn, looking slightly confused.

“Come again?”

Twilight sighed.

“I was practicing a new spell that can turn works of fiction – or pictures – into real life. But Rainbow Dash crashed through the window and I hit her with the spell instead. Now she’s trapped in that Daring Do book, and I don’t know how to get her out.”
Applejack stepped forward, careful to avoid the broken glass, and maneuvered around the stacks of books to where the Daring Do book sat on the round table. Spike moved aside so she could see it better.

“This one, huh?” she asked, looking down at the cover. It certainly did have a picture of the rainbow-colored pony on the front, running right behind the famous pony archeologist.

“Yeah,” Twilight said, stepping to stand beside the orange mare. “She’s not just on the cover, either. She’s in the book itself: an actual character.”

“Twilight’s spell was only supposed to be temporary,” Spike said. “But…Rainbow Dash hasn’t come back yet. We don’t know what’s wrong.”

Applejack considered the book, then looked at Twilight.

“Well,” she said. “Ah don’t know much ‘bout magic, but maybe we should get the others together. One of them might have a suggestion on how to put this straight.”

Twilight nodded.

“I’m worried, though,” she said. “If we can’t get her back. We’ll have lost an element of harmony. And a friend.”

Applejack touched Twilight’s shoulder with a hoof.

“We’ll get her back,” the orange mare said with an encouraging smile. “I promise.”

Twilight smiled back, feeling a little better.

“Now, come on,” Applejack said, turning back towards the door that was still open. “Let’s get the others. We’ve got a Rainbow Dash to save.”

~**~

In not much time at all, they had the others gathered in the library. Twilight and the book were in the middle, as the other girls, including Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack sat around her, along with Spike.

“So,” Rarity said. “What you’re saying is – “

“That Rainbow Dash got zapped with a bolt of magic and got thrown into a book that she was gonna pick up to read but now she gets to be a character in it and solve awesome archeological mysteries with Daring Do??” Pinkie Pie filled in, talking at about ninety miles an hour.

“Well…” Twilight said once she’d caught up with Pinkie’s words. “Yes.”

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy said. “I hope she’s okay! She must be so scared!”

“Not Rainbow,” Applejack replied. “She loves those Daring Do books. She’s probably enjoying every minute of it.”

“Still,” Rarity replied. “We must get her back to this world. It just won’t do to have her trapped in a book like that.”

“Rarity’s right,” Twilight said. “But I don’t know how to get her out yet.”

“Anypony got any ideas?” Applejack asked.

“Is there a counter spell?” Rarity asked. Twilight shook her head.

“Since I don’t know what spell I cast in the first place – the one that hit Rainbow Dash was an altered and out of control version of the spell I tried casting – I don’t know what spell to use to bring her back.”

“Can’t you try a few?” Fluttershy asked. “The right one will bring her back.”

“It’s not that simple,” Twilight replied. “Magic is sensitive. If I cast the wrong spell, it could do something worse.”

“Like…?” Applejack asked.

“Like, causing her to lose her mane and tail,” Twilight responded flatly. “Or turning her back to a baby.”

“Mmm,” Applejack replied. “No, none of those sound like good options.”

“So what do we do?” Fluttershy asked.

“Why don’t you just read the book?”

All eyes turned to Pinkie Pie, who, for once, was sitting calmly, staring at them all as if the solution was obvious.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Well,” Pinkie said. “All books have an end, right? Well, if Rainbow Dash is stuck inside the book, then to get her out we just have to read to the end of the book. Then she’ll be free.”

Twilight felt momentarily like an idiot. How had she not thought of that?

“That…just might work,” she said carefully.

Applejack looked over at Pinkie Pie.

“How’d you think of that?” she asked. Pinkie Pie shrugged.

“I have experience,” she replied. The others stared at the pink pony, but she didn’t elaborate. Eventually, Twilight picked the Daring Do book up and cracked open the binding. She’d read this one before, but it had been a while.

“Okay,” she said. “Well…I guess we’ll get started. Should we take turns?”

“Why not?” Applejack asked. The others agreed.

“Okay,” Twilight said. “I’ll go first.”

She cleared her throat, then started to read.

Author's Note

This will probably be the last author's note I make, but I did want to try to explain something real fast. This story was written before "Daring Don't" was aired, so at the time I had no idea that Daring Do was a "real" pony. However, even the fact that she is a "real" pony doesn't change why Twilight's spell worked to trap Rainbow Dash in the book. That is because, the way I see it, every book that tells any sort of story, whether that book is based on true events or not, immediately becomes "separated" from the real world. The very fact that the story was processed through someone's (or somepony's) mind and penned to paper automatically makes it a little bit less real then it was before, and sets it in its own world. This made Twilight's animation spell work enough to place Dash in this scenario.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4-

The freighter creaked and groaned as it rocked and rolled over the waves of the sea. Despite Rainbow’s initial misgivings about the seaworthiness of the vessel, Daring assured her that she’d traveled on the Intrepid Wind before with little to no issues. She also told Rainbow that they wouldn’t be going very far in the rusting ship: they’d be following the canal out of Shanghoof and into the ocean, were they’d be mostly keeping to the coast and then turn into port at one of the sea towns that would allow both she and Rainbow access to the mainland of Equestria. There, Daring could safely return to the museum which sponsored her, and Rainbow could get safely back home.

For now, both mares found themselves wasting time in the ship’s captain’s – Rusty Anchor’s – quarters, which he had been kind enough to give up to them. There were others members of the ship, and Rainbow Dash had seen a few around. Rough sailor ponies, all well-muscled, with few words to say and mostly consisting of earth ponies. Some of them were even larger than Big Mac, something that Rainbow Dash hadn’t realized was possible.

“So, what was that amulet you were after?” Rainbow asked, as she sat on the bed in the captain’s quarters whilst Daring paced nearby. Once in a while she went to the porthole on one side of the small room, looked out at the dark water, then turned back and started pacing again. Rainbow figured it had something to do with whatever the unicorn back in Shanghoof – Fortune Cookie – had stolen from her.

“It’s a rare stone,” Daring replied, sounding a little distracted. “The Phoenix Amulet. It is said to be made from the tears of a Phoenix that crystalized. The amulet was once thought to have great healing powers. It was used, hundreds of years ago, by a tribe of Buffalo that once roamed the plains. They’re long since gone, and the Phoenix Amulet was found and given to the museum in Manehatten. I should know: I was the one who found it. But Fortune Cookie sent a couple of his goons to steal it. I’ve been hunting him down for months now, trying to get it back. And I almost had it, too.”

“I’m sorry,” Rainbow Dash said. Daring shook her head in response.

“Not your fault,” she replied. “I underestimated him.”

“Who is Fortune Cookie anyway?” Rainbow asked, interested. “I’ve never heard of him.”

“Fortune Cookie is a….rival of mine,” Daring answered, finally sitting down and folding her wings against her body. “But he’s not interested in the historical value of the items he takes. He’s only interested in the money, or occasionally the power that comes with the items.”

“Oh,” Rainbow answered. “I’m sure you’ll get it back.”

Daring took her hat off her head and fiddled with it.

“I hope,” she replied. “But it’ll take months to try and track him down again. It took months to track him down to that sleazy little nightclub in Shanghoof. I don’t know where I’ll go from here.”

She sighed and Rainbow immediately felt sorry for her. She was beginning to forget the fact that Daring was an awesome, amazing archeologist/adventurer from the books she loved and beginning to see her as just a normal pony.

“If only I’d been faster,” Rainbow said, flopping down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling above her. Even the ceiling of this ship was rusty. It seemed like the rust was the only thing keeping it together and floating. “I could have beaten that stupid unicorn into the pavement. Stupid wing.”

At the words, she wriggled the injured appendage slightly, trying to get it into a more comfortable position. She glared at it.

Daring glanced up at her.

“Yeah, what happened?” she asked. “I saw you crash into the street. What did you do?”

“It’s just a little sore,” Rainbow replied. She was annoyed, but not at Daring. She was annoyed for the fact that she’d allowed the pain to get to her like it had. It wasn’t even that bad of an injury. Just a bad knock. She should have been tougher than that.

“I hit it flying through a window. It cramped when I took off in the street.”

“Let me see it,” Daring said, standing up, placing her hat back on her head and walking over to where Rainbow lay on the bed. For a moment, the cyan pegasus seemed uncertain, but after all, this was the Daring Do. And…she didn’t want the other pegasus to think she was a wimp or something. Reluctantly, she rolled over her let the brown mare examine the wing.

Daring took it in a hoof and stretched it out. Rainbow winced a tiny bit, but forced herself to play it cool.

“Looks like you just bruised the joint, near the base of it,” Daring surmised, gently releasing the blue pegasus’ wing and letting her fold it back close to her body again. “It’s not serious, but it’ll hurt like heck for a little while. You’ll be fine in a day or so.”

“I should have been fine back there,” Rainbow responded sourly. Daring touched her shoulder with a hoof.

“It’s fine,” she replied. “Trust me, I’ve had the same thing happen. You’re not too bad, kid. You showed a lot of guts.”

Rainbow Dash’s heart skipped a beat at the adventurer’s words, and she smiled widely.

“Really?” she asked, and then realized what she was saying. She cleared her throat and looked away, trying her best to play cool.

“I mean, well, you know. I knew you could use some help.”

Daring rolled her eyes.

“Look,” she said, “move over on the bed a bit. I’m exhausted, and I bet you are too, coming all this way from Ponyville.”

Rainbow nodded her agreement and moved a bit over on the bed. Daring climbed in and took up a position at the opposite end of the bed, at the foot, while Rainbow took the head. The adventurer used her saddle bag as her pillow, while Rainbow tried to make the flat, lumpy pillow left by Rusty Anchor more comfortable. She shoved it under her head, gritting her teeth at the feeling of it under her. It felt like it was filled with rocks.

“How’d you get here, anyways?” Daring asked. Rainbow sighed. Honestly, she didn’t know herself. And what was she going to tell Daring Do? Nothing she could say would sound in the least bit believable.

“It’s…a long story,” she replied. The other pegasus raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” she asked. Rainbow shook her head.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

Daring laughed a bit.

“I know that answer pretty well,” she replied. “Well, don’t worry, Rainbow Dash, we’ll be back on mainland Equestria soon enough, and you’ll be able to get back to your home, I promise you.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled as the other mare leaned over and blew out the oil lamp hanging in the small captain’s quarters.

The flame went out, plunging the room into darkness and silence. Only the sound of water lapping against the sides of the freighter could be heard.

Rainbow Dash looked out the porthole at the blackness outside. She could barely even see the stars. She sighed. Yeah, she’d get home.

If she could ever find it.

~**~

Rainbow Dash was suddenly, startlingly awoken by a great, heaving force that knocked both she and Daring Do out of the small bed and onto the floor of the cabin. But instead of solid, hard floor that the two pegasi met, they found themselves splashing down into cold, salty water.

Rainbow Dash spluttered and stood, trying to see in the dark. The water wasn’t too deep, but it was not what she had been expecting to fall into. And she knew that this could not be good.

The ship tilted alarmingly, and both Rainbow and Daring struggled to stay upright.

“What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked, alarmed. She glanced wildly around, trying to piece together her surroundings and her situation. The view outside the porthole was broken by waves aggressively crashing against and over the glass, and during the moments when the small window did break above the water level, Rainbow could see the lashing of raindrops against the circular pane. Lightning lit up the sky, revealing that the inside of the captain’s cabin was definitely awash with sea water.

“Get above deck!” Daring said, making her way to the door of the cabin. “We’re taking on water!”

Rainbow followed Daring as they stumbled from the rapidly-flooding cabin out into the lower decks and then struggled to find the ladder up to the top deck. Daring shoved open the door and rain immediately began lashing at the two mares as they struggled up onto the ship’s slick, rocking deck. Lightning arched crazily overhead, illuminating a sea that was lashing at the freighter like greedy talons clawing at prey. Foamy water splashed over and onto the deck, battering the two mares, plus the other members of the crew that were desperately trying to hold the freighter together. But Rainbow Dash could tell it was a losing battle.

“Rusty!” Daring shouted over the thunder, the hammering rain, the cresting waves and the roaring wind. The entire deck swayed from side to side, and both Rainbow Dash and Daring Do struggled to just keep their balance. Both staggered forward as the waves threatened to sweep them over the sides of the freighter and into the churning sea if they weren’t careful.

“Daring!” a voice broke above the deluge. Rainbow squinted through the mixture of rain and sea water that was obscuring her view to make out the outline of the rust-colored pony she’d seen earlier. “We’re trying to keep her together, but she’s taking on water! She won’t last long!”

“Hey, careful!” Rainbow called, seeing a group of crewmembers attempting to save a pile of cargo crates from being washed away. She ran to help them, grabbing onto a snapped rope with her mouth and just stopping the boxes from toppling over onto another pony. She nodded to him as the others helped to try and steady the crates once more.

“Leave it!” Rusty yelled to his crewmembers. “Our best bet is to abandon ship! Daring, you and your friend had better, too.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Daring called to the blue pony. “You heard the stallion! Let’s get out of he-“

Daring’s warning was cut off abruptly when a rope coil she’d unknowingly stepped into suddenly pulled taught, catching around her hoof and throwing the light brown pegasus to the side of the ship as it tilted almost fully onto its side and the heavy cargo attached to the rope shifted. The pegasus was hurled from the ship and careened towards the water.

“Daring!” Rainbow Dash yelled, spotting the pegasus’ descent just in time. The cyan mare let go of the rope she’d been holding in her teeth, took to the air and dived towards the pony that was in very real danger of being dragged into the raging sea. Rainbow grabbed her hoof, but just as the blue pegasus reached for her brown and grey-scale lookalike, the ropes that had been barely securing the freighter’s heavy cargo snapped. Crates toppled, tossed by the storm’s vengeful spirit, and the stallions lost their battle in trying to maintain their precious revenue. Rainbow Dash heard the snap, but didn’t have enough time to process the danger that that one simple sound, barely audible over the churning sea, the whipping rain, and the pounding thunder meant until it was too late. A crate, heavier than she could have imagined, careened into her, knocking her from the air. Still clinging to the hoof of Daring, the blue pegasus found herself meeting the boiling sea as the ship once more rolled to the side and the cargo freed itself from its bondage.

The water hit both ponies like cement, the force driving them apart. Rainbow Dash was immediately separated from Daring, as crates and ship debris broke through the crashing waves around her. The water was cold and the current was strong, and Rainbow’s only thought was to try and find the surface. But in the swirling, churning darkness, she couldn’t tell which way was up.

She spun in what seemed like endless space, kicking wildly at the water surrounding her but only seeming to push herself sideways and in spinning, flipping circles. Her lungs screamed, her eyes burned from the salt. Panicked, she lashed blindly out as she seemed only to be sinking.

Her vision was turning red, and she knew she needed air desperately. In a burst of panic, she opened her mouth and let out her last breath, sucking in water. As the lungfuls of water only added to her pounding terror, she did notice the fact that the air she’d let out was ascending in bubbles, compelled towards the surface by simple physics. Rainbow Dash didn’t entirely care why the breath from her lungs did this, but what she did know was that it was showing her the way to the surface.

Her eyes wide with terror, she struck out once more, pushing her hooves against the water and propelling herself after the bubbles in blind terror. Her vision was beginning to become speckled with black, but she forced herself on.

Finally, when it seemed as if she would never find air again, she broke the surface. She threw her head back, sea and rain water washing over her face, and gulped in breath after breath as she tried to control her panic and refill her lungs. She coughed, but her victory was short lived as wave after waved crashed against her body, pushing her first one way, then another.

“Daring!” she called into the storm, but her words seemed to be swallowed by the wind. She tried to find the ship, but failed to do so. Between the thrashing waves and the pelting rain, she just couldn’t seem to make it out. Besides, she had no idea how far she’d drifted away from it. For all she knew, it might have been destroyed.

Unable to spot Daring, or any of the other crew members, Rainbow struck out in attempts to swim away from the wreckage. But the sea tossed her around like a sack of potatoes. The current and waves kept pulling her under, and every time she surfaced, she sucked in just as much water as she did air. Soon, she was beyond exhausted, struggling just to keep her head above the surface. Her wings were far too wet to carry her in flight, and even if that was an option, she was too tired to be able to stay air born for very long as it was.

Eventually, reprieve came in the form of a floating crate, which Rainbow mustered up just enough strength to swim to and pull herself up on. She clung to it, riding the waves as the storm continued its relentless attack on the ocean. She still wasn’t sure where Daring was, or where she was, but after a while, it didn’t really matter. Maybe she was all that was left. She honestly could care less, she was so exhausted. She continued to cling to the wooden crate, gasping for breath, her wings splayed uselessly to the sides, dripping wet. Another flash of lightning lit the sky. Rainbow Dash slumped forward, her head resting on the solid, if wet, wood of the crate. Her multi-colored mane drooped into her eyes, but she didn’t care enough to push it back.

She knew she needed to stay awake, just in case the storm got worse. She needed to stay alert and hold onto this box so she didn’t get washed off by the waves.

She needed to look out for Daring, and the others….

She needed to stay awake….

She needed to….

Rainbow Dash’s eyelids drooped as her body succumbed to darkness, even as she was tossed about by the waves.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5-

“Uh-oh.”

Applejack looked up from the book and over at Twilight, who was sitting with a look that was a definite mixture of worry and fear. The farm mare smirked.

“Ah know, pretty intense, huh?” she said. “Pinkie, Ah think it’s your turn ta’ read.”

“Yeesss!” the pink pony cheered, snatching the book from Applejack and holding it up, her blue eyes wide and sparkling as she prepared to read the next chapter. “This is so exciting! Where’d we stop? Okay, here it is.”

She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to start, but suddenly Twilight leaped forward and placed a hoof on the book, forcing it down. Pinkie Pie glanced up, confused.

“What?” she asked. “Okay, I wasn’t going to sing all of it, just a little – “

“No!” Twilight said, grabbing the book with her magic and quickly flipping through it. “Wait, what? No, never mind. It’s not that, it’s….is this the one? No, it can’t be! I thought it was…..This isn’t good.”

The purple unicorn lowered the book and looked with wide eyes at each of her friends which sat around her. Each returned her look with a blank stare.

“Darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked, her voice tinged with concern. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Twilight stuttered, flipping through the book again, confirming her suspicions. “How could I have forgotten? It’s been so long since I read this one, but…how could I have forgotten?”

“Twilight, what are you talkin’ about?” Applejack demanded, standing and forcing Twilight to lower the book by using a hoof to grab it from her magical aura.

“Don’t you see?” Twilight demanded, her voice rising in panic. “This is The Search for the Alicorn Stone!”

“Uh….yeah it is,” Applejack confirmed. “What about it?”

“This isn’t good,” Twilight said, grabbing the book back up and flipping to the last pages.

“Hey! Those are spoilers!” Pinkie protested. Twilight ignored her.

“It’s been so long since I’ve read this one, I completely forgot! Oh, why did Rainbow Dash have to become trapped in this one?”

“Twilight!” Spike finally intervened, his voice snapping Twilight from her panic. “What are you talking about? What’s wrong with this book?”

“It’s been a while since I read it, but I remember why I didn’t read it more than three times! I didn’t like this one!”

“You didn’t like it, so you only read it three times?” Applejack asked, confused. Twilight nodded.

“Of course,” she replied, off-handedly. “And the reason I don’t like it is….is….”

“Twilight,” Spike said, voice low and tinged with impatience. “What’s wrong with this book?”

Twilight swallowed.

“The….the companion in this book…well….it doesn’t end well for them.”

The ponies plus Spike blinked, still staring blankly at the purple unicorn. It was Fluttershy who broke the silence.

“Wh-what do you mean?” she asked nervously. “What happens?”

“Well, if I remember right,” Twilight said, flipping idly back through the book. “The original companion in this book that accompanies Daring tries to save her from an avalanche at the end of the book. Daring makes it out alright, but the companion….wasn’t so lucky.”

There was a general gasp from the others in the room.

“Well, now you just gave the end of the book away,” Pinkie griped, crossing her hooves over her chest. Applejack glared at the pink pony before stepping forward, her grass-green eyes locking with Twilight’s own deep purple ones.

“Are you sayin’,” the farm pony asked. “That Rainbow gets trapped in an avalanche?”

“Seeing how the events in the book haven’t been changed much just because Rainbow Dash is the new companion, I think the answer to that is yes,” Twilight replied weakly.

“But, surely she would just appear back in this world, after we finish reading?” Rarity said, clearly shaken. “It…it wouldn’t be permanent, would it?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight answered.

“What do we do?” Spike asked, eyes worried, and voice quivering just a little bit. “We – we can’t leave her in there!”

Twilight was at a loss for words. She wanted her friend back as much as the others, but nothing like this had ever happened before. She shifted from hoof to hoof.

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“There has to be something we can do,” Rarity protested. Twilight looked to the marshmallow white pony, and completely understood her desperation. None of them knew if the spell would reverse itself and bring Rainbow back safely from the book if she went the way of the original character. Would she be trapped forever inside it? Could they take the chance to find out?

She didn’t have any answers. But she did know someone who might.

“Spike?” she said, turned to her assistant. The little dragon looked up at her, his emerald eyes wide with anxiety. “Send a letter to Princess Celestia. Tell her the problem. Maybe she will have an answer to this.”

Spike saluted smartly and quickly scampered away to gather up a quill and paper to compose his letter to the princess. In the meantime, Twilight picked the book up in her magic and flipped nervously through it again. Honestly, she’d give anything just to go back to that morning and avoid this whole thing. She didn’t even want to think about losing her friend. But…what if…?

No, she told herself firmly. We’ll fix this. We will. As Celestia is my witness, I will bring Rainbow Dash back.

There was a flash of green light from the other room, and Twilight knew that Spike had sent the letter. A tense silence had overtaken the others, and was only broken by the sound of Spike’s clawed feet on the wood floor of the library. He ran back to join them once more.

“Sent,” he reported, but Twilight could still hear the uncertainty in his voice. But having a letter on the way to Celestia allowed her to calm down a little. If there was anyone who would know how to fix this, it would be the Princess.

“So, what do we do until the Princess responds?” Fluttershy’s voice was tense and softer than normal. The others agreed silently, their gazes riveted on Twilight. The unicorn didn’t have any answers, but they couldn’t just sit around driving themselves crazy while they waited for a letter from the Princess with instructions on what to do to fix this whole thing. Twilight looked at the book that was hanging before her in the air, then moved it to float in front of Pinkie Pie. She set it on the ground in front of the pink pony, open to the page that they had left off when Twilight had realized the danger that Rainbow Dash was in.

“Well,” she said. “I guess we’ll just keep reading, for now.”

Pinkie Pie snatched the book happily from the ground and held it up so she could see it, but Twilight could tell that the others were less satisfied with her plan. But what could they do? She knew the part where Rainbow Dash would be in the most danger, and it wasn’t for a while. In the meantime, why not continue? It would keep them from driving themselves nuts with worry.

“It’s okay,” Twilight assured them. “And it shouldn’t take too long for the Princess to respond.”

Pinkie Pie didn’t need to be reminded of her turn, and she was already preparing to start. She took a huge breath, her blue eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“Wait,” Applejack stopped her. The pink pony looked with surprise at the farm mare, as she puffed her cheeks up with the breath she’d just taken. “No singing, Pinkie. Got it?”

Pinkie let the breath go in one and looked disappointed.

“Ah, c’mon,” she argued. “What’s the fun in that? And I was just going to sing a little…”

“Just read the story,” Applejack interrupted, rolling her eyes.

~**~

Rainbow Dash groaned and rubbed her head with a hoof. She had a pounding headache, and her mouth felt dry and tasted like salt. For a moment, she wondered if she’d crashed while doing a trick. It would explain the headache, though not really the salt. It also didn’t explain why she felt like there were waves washing over her hind legs.

She supposed the best option was just to open her eyes and look.

Which she did.

The sun was hard and merciless on her throbbing head and Rainbow groaned again, squinting against the yellow, early-morning light. But as the spots in her vision faded, she was greeted by the sight of a long, sandy beach which seemed to stretch out in every direction. The beach sloped upwards, but just beyond the rise she was certain she could spot the distant shadow of trees, a green smudge against the blazing blue sky and the billowy, white cotton-ball clouds which drifted lazily past.

The pegasus shook her head, trying to clear it, but the movement only made her dizzy and her headache worse. But the pain focused her mind a little, as she recalled just what had happened to cause her to wake up on some strange beach in the middle of nowhere.

Daring. Daring Do. She’d been on a ship with Daring Do. And there had been a storm. At the memory of the storm, Rainbow Dash shuddered in spite of herself. She’d never been that big a fan of the water, being a pegasus, a creature of the air. And having that much water, all around her, choking her and pulling her down….it had not been fun. It was sheer luck that she’d managed to wash up here. Wherever “here” was.

Slowly, she gathered her legs under her and stood, flicking sea water from her parti-colored tail. She glanced around, recalling the fact that she’d lost sight of Daring when the two had been thrown from the Intrepid Wind into the water. She wondered if her light brown lookalike was alright.

“Ooo-kay,” Rainbow said slowly, glancing around. “I’m on a beach, in the middle of nowhere, and I don’t know where Daring Do is. I don’t even know where I am.”

She looked around once more, trying to make up her mind. With a shrug, she took a step forward.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out,” she said, trying to make her voice sound optimistic. But despite the cheery tone, she couldn’t help but feel just a tiny bit uncertain. She was lost, far from Ponyville, and had no idea how to get back home or where the one friend she had at the moment was. This wasn’t entirely a good situation.

Rainbow Dash tried to put those thoughts behind her, and pressed on, walking up the slope of the beach and aiming more inland. She stayed on the sand, deciding that maybe she should stick near the shore and look to see if Daring was somewhere on the beach, unconscious and washed up like she had been.

But, even as she stuck to the shore and away from the trees, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

Rainbow Dash paused for a minute and whipped her head around, her magenta eyes landing on the line of foliage that was maybe a hundred yards away. She stood, searching the darkness, but saw nothing. Her eyes narrowed and she carried on.

She’d made it a few more feet when she thought for certain she heard something rustling in the thick bushes towards the jungle to her left. She froze and looked again, but once more she saw nothing.

Rainbow Dash snorted.

“Is something in there?” she shouted, her voice strong. “Come on out and show yourself!”

She planted her feet firmly around her, preparing herself for whatever decided to come out of the trees.

But nothing came, and after a minute of watching and waiting, Rainbow Dash snorted again. She shook her head, as if trying to shake off the paranoia she felt and continued on, her hooves making soft noises in the sand as she padded along.

The third time she stopped, she was certain that she could hear the sound of hooves behind her. She turned and spun, rearing up onto back legs and waving her forelegs before her like a boxer.

“Come and get m-“ she started, but was cut off when she saw just who had come up behind her.

“Rainbow Dash!” Daring Do called, quickening her pace to catch up with the many-colored pegasus. Rainbow’s eyes widened and she fell back onto all four’s.

“Daring?” she asked, almost not believing what she was seeing. “Where have you been?”

“I was wondering the same thing about you!” the light brown mare replied, closing the distance between the two pegusi. Her magenta eyes moved up and down Rainbow’s form, checking the mare for injuries. “Are you alright, kid?”

Rainbow Dash smiled smugly and waved a hoof dismissively.

“Of course I’m alright,” she answered. “It’s gonna take a little more than just a shipwreck to stop me.”

Daring herself looked a little worse for wear, but didn’t look outwardly injured. Her shirt was a little wrinkled and stained, and there was sand pressed into her coat, but she still had her hat. Rainbow Dash knew from her reading that there was almost nothing that Daring wouldn’t do to make sure her hat stayed with her. It had been a gift from her first “enemy”, a looter whom Daring had almost defeated, but had been thwarted. The looter had given her his hat, and a few encouraging words. She’d had the hat ever since.

“Well, then, you’re tougher than you look,” Daring said, mirroring Rainbow’s smug expression. The blue pegasus started to laugh, but paused when she realized what her counterpart had said.

“Wait a –“ she started to protest, but she was cut off once more by Daring.

“I’m trying to figure out where we are,” she told Rainbow Dash as she looked around at the scenery. “We were about four hours or so out from Shanghoof when the ship wrecked.”

“Is this an island?” Rainbow asked, interested. Daring shook her head.

“No, it’s part of mainland Equestria,” she said. “I flew up a little ways and checked it out. But it’s far from where we were supposed to port. I think I saw a village further inland. We should go and see if the locals know where we are.”

Daring turned and started for the trees, and for a moment, Rainbow Dash hesitated to follow her, remembering the odd feeling and the strange noises she’d heard from the tree line earlier. But the fearless blue pegasus quickly put uncertainties fears behind her and followed after the adventurer. After all, it couldn’t be that dangerous, could it?

Chapter 7

Chapter 7-

Rainbow Dash followed Daring Do through the dense jungle underbrush which had seemed to only grow thicker and thicker as they pressed onward. She found herself continuously looking over her shoulder, feeling certain as if they were being watched. But she still didn’t see anyone, and didn’t want to tell Daring for fear the adventurer would think her a coward. So she strode on, keeping the eerie feeling to herself and sticking close to her brown lookalike’s side.

“Wait,” the other pegasus suddenly said, stopping in her tracks.

“What-“ Rainbow Dash started, but her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. She didn’t want to sound scared in front of Daring. But, of course, she was not scared. Just…unnerved. Yes, that was it.

“What is it?” she tried again. Daring used a hoof to push down some of the foliage in front of them, revealing a clearing just up ahead. For the first time, Rainbow Dash became aware of the smell of charred earth and wood. As she stepped forward to stand beside the adventurer, she soon found out where the smell was coming from.

The cyan pegasus’ eyes widened at the sight before her. The forest which had been here was decimated; a black hole and a few charred stumps were all that remained of the trees and bushes that had once grown here. Carefully, Daring and Rainbow maneuvered their way through the remaining foliage and down the steep incline that bottomed out into the crater. They paused together and glanced around.

“What could have done this?” Rainbow Dash asked, amazed. Daring scraped her hoof across the charred earth and raised it to her nose to sniff it. She made a face, and then lowered the hoof back to the ground.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “It’s too localized to be a fire.”

“And we both know that lightning couldn’t have done something like this,” Rainbow Dash added, drawing on the fact that they were both pegusi and knew almost all there was to know about weather. Daring nodded absently as she continued to look about the crater. Rainbow took a few steps forward and scraped a bit at the dirt, like Daring had. A few flakes of dust came away to reveal something sparkling beneath the layer of char and ash. Rainbow Dash blinked and held up what looked like a shiny pebble, but when she blew more of the dust off, it became clear that she was holding a clear – if somewhat dirty and impure – crystal.

“Daring?” she said, looking over her shoulder. The second pegasus came up to see what she had found. Her magenta eyes widened at the object in Rainbow Dash’s hoof.

“Diamonds,” she breathed. “I found some too. Whatever did this was hot enough to turn the foliage around here, not just into ash, but into diamonds.”

“Whoa,” Rainbow Dash said, staring with wide eyes at Daring Do. “Are you telling me that we’re dealing with something that can make diamonds?”

“Take it easy, kid,” Daring reminded her. “Look at the field that whatever it was destroyed. It doesn’t just make diamonds. It can destroy entire sections of jungle, using heat and force strong enough to turn plant carbon into crystal. Whatever did this, it’s not natural, and it’s definitely dangerous.”

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly and let the diamond drop to the ground. There was nothing she could carry it in, and she didn’t even know if she could get back to Ponyville anyways. And Daring was right. Whatever had done this was bad news.

She sighed and glanced around.

“So, have you figured out where we are?” she asked, looking up at Daring. But the pegasus’ eyes were locked on something over Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, and the look on the brown mare’s face wasn’t a good one. In fact, Rainbow could definitely spot some fear in the magenta eyes.

Slowly, Rainbow Dash turned and looked up as well at where the steep side of the crater met the flat ground. She blanched.

Several large stallions stood above them, their hooves wrapped around spears. A few wore gold earrings from one ear, and all had pieces of cloth – turbans – wrapped around their heads. Their manes and tails were slightly unkempt, but their bodies were muscular and sleek, and Rainbow Dash had no problem believing that they had the ability to use the spears they carried.

They did not look happy.

“Daring,” she whispered, not taking her eyes from them. “I know you said that whatever burned this field was dangerous, but…what about them?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” the brown pegasus replied.

A dark chocolate colored stallion with a black mane, who seemed to be a leader, or at least slightly higher in rank than the others of the group, began barking orders in a language Rainbow Dash didn’t understand.

“Uh…what was that?” she asked. Daring narrowed her eyes.

“I…think they want us to come with them,” she said, and started the climb out of the crater towards where the pony warriors stood. They raised their spears, but stepped away and allowed Daring Do through. Rainbow followed quickly up after her, and was given the same treatment. She kept a close eye on the sharp weapons, but none of them seemed intent on actually using them against the two pegasi mares.

The one who had spoken earlier came to stand in front of Daring Do and Rainbow Dash. He stomped a hoof and spoke some more in the strange language, and Rainbow looked to Daring for translation. However, Daring remained silent and simply bowed her head in response. The stallion turned and headed off into the jungle, and the others followed, pressing Rainbow Dash and Daring Do forward.

“Hey!” Rainbow snapped when one of them pushed too hard. The stallion, this one a lighter brown than the leader, snorted, but didn’t seem to care.

“Just walk,” Daring told the blue mare. Rainbow lashed her tail, but did as she was told. However, if another pushed too hard again, they’d get the business end of a hoof.

The stallions fell into a loose circle around their “prisoners”, the dark brown leader in front of them. As they walked, Rainbow Dash heard a few talk amongst each other.

“Well, we know one thing for sure now,” Daring Do said as they walked. Rainbow Dash glanced sideways at the grey-scale pony.

“What?” she asked sarcastically. “That the locals are a little spear-happy?”

“No,” Daring replied flatly. “That we’re in Manegolia.”

“Where?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused.

“Manegolia,” Daring repeated. “One of the more unexplored countries of Equestria. Very little is known about it, and it’s said there are entire tribes of ponies living here who have never even heard of Princess Celestia, or that she is seen as more of a myth by them.”

“But, you were able to understand what that one stallion was saying,” Rainbow Dash reminded her. “How?”

“My Manegolian is a little rusty,” she replied. “But I do know a little of the language.”

“That’s good news,” Rainbow Dash said. “Maybe you’ll be able to ask these guys how to get back to…you know….the real world.”

“You getting homesick, Rainbow Dash?” Daring teased. Rainbow snorted.

“No! Of course not,” she said, flicking her tail and laughing awkwardly. “I’m just saying…”

“Well, I think we may have to wait a little on that,” Daring said as the foliage began to thin. “Because it looks like we may be meeting a few more of ‘these guys’ before we go….”

Rainbow Dash looked once more forward and found that the stallions had led them to some sort of a village. It was unlike anything that Rainbow had ever seen before. The ponies (all earth ponies, she realized) had built mud and stone houses around a clearing, along with what seemed to be a well of sorts and maybe some other varying structures. As the stallions led their catches into the midst of the small village, the other ponies began to take notice and slowly dropped what they were doing to come and swarm around the two new arrivals. Rainbow Dash noticed that the stallions who had led them here mostly peeled away so as to not get trapped amongst the crowd as the natives crowded in on every side to try and get a better look at what their warriors had found.

The villagers were all varying shades of earth tones: shades of brown and grey, with maybe a white thrown in once in a while. While Daring Do blended more or less into their color scheme, Rainbow Dash was a clear stand out with her sky-blue coat and multi-colored mane and tail. The pegasus grimaced as she felt several ponies reach out and touch her hair, stroking it and trying to figure out if it was real or not. She tried to back away, untangle herself from the mob of fascinated earth ponies and their strange, babbling language that Rainbow Dash couldn’t understand which hammered on her ear drums as they asked her questions over and over again or called out to her strange words or sentences. Feeling overwhelmed, and pegasus pony opened her wings and attempted to take off.

The earth ponies gasped at the sight of Rainbow’s feathered wings and backed away a few steps. Rainbow winced as the bruised joint of her wing throbbed, but she wanted to get out of the crushing throng of ponies. She prepared to lift off when Daring touched her shoulder.

“Wait,” the grey-scale mare warned. “Don’t insult them.”

“They’re everywhere,” Rainbow complained.

“I know, but it’s just because they’ve never seen anything like us. These ponies have probably never seen a pegasus before. Just be patient.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled something under her breath and tried not to panic when the ponies began to move in even closer. She bit her lip, beginning to think she was about ready to drown in a sea of them….

There was the sound of a hoof stomping which could be heard even over the sound of dozens of villagers’ excited chattering. The stomping was followed quickly by a deep voice, speaking once more in the language that Rainbow Dash didn’t understand. However, it seemed to have a dramatic effect on the villagers, who immediately stepped back and away from Rainbow Dash and Daring Do. Rainbow relaxed a bit, feeling the hooves that had been petting her mane fall away. She inhaled deeply as she felt like she could breathe once more.

As the crowds fell away, another pony took their place before the two pegasi. Another stallion, but this one different from those who had brought them here from the crater. This one was light brown with a dark brown mane and tail which was thick and healthy. Like some of the other stallions Rainbow Dash had seen, he wore an earring on one ear, and a few gold rings decorated his neck and two front hooves. He flashed a smile that showed a golden tooth. He reminded Rainbow Dash slightly of Zecora.

“Welcome, my friends,” he said in heavily accented Equestrian. Rainbow was half surprised, half relieved that she could understand him. Though she wondered how that could be, it was nice hearing someone speak in a tongue she was used to. Listening to the language of the villagers made her feel lost and confused. Or, at least, even more lost and confused than she already was.

“Please forgive the ponies of my village,” he told them. “They have never seen creatures quite like you before. No pegasi have been born to us; we are just ponies of the earth. And your colors are quite a shock to them as well, as we are all the colors of the earth as well.”

“It’s no problem,” Daring Do said easily. “We understand.”

The stallion bowed his head, his smile still lingering. He seemed middle-aged, and his smile caused wrinkles to form around his almond-colored eyes. He motioned with a hoof for the mares to follow him.

“Please,” he said. “Come. I have been waiting for you, and you must be hungry. Dine with me. I have the feast all prepared.”

Daring and Rainbow shared a glance, but the former shrugged and followed the older stallion as he turned and made his way towards one of the more elaborate (if Rainbow could call it that) mud houses. She followed hence, but glanced briefly back over her shoulder at the villagers who watched her as she entered the stallion’s home. She tried a smile, but was relieved when a flap of cloth separated her from their staring eyes.

~**~

“So….where are we?”

Applejack’s question was blunt and simple. And Twilight had a simple answer to go with it…..she simply didn’t know.

“I have no idea,” the purple unicorn said as she gathered herself to her hooves and looked around. All she could really see was jungle. Trees. Lots of trees, and bushes too. Mostly just quite a bit of green. And not much else.

Twilight turned and looked behind her at the others.

“Everypony okay?” she asked as they began to rise to their hooves as well. Celestia’s spell had seemingly dropped them into a jungle of some kind.

“Figures,” Rarity griped as she stood. “We get dropped into the middle of some Celestia- forgotten jungle. And I just had my hooves done, too.”

“Rarity, watch your language,” Twilight warned. “It’s not too bad. After all, it could be worse….I guess.”

“I’d like to see how,” Rarity muttered under her breath as she wiped dirt from her white coat. Pinkie Pie had already bounced to her hooves and was busy inspecting the leaves of a nearby bush.

“Oh, look!” she said as she stared at something. “We’re in Manegolia!”

“That’s right,” Twilight said, suddenly remembering. “I remember that from the book. Manegolia, one of Equestria’s more undiscovered countries.”

“How’d you know that?” Applejack asked Pinkie Pie.

“By looking at this spider,” the pink pony replied simply with a wide grin.

“Spider!” Rarity screamed and leaped to hide behind Fluttershy.

Twilight didn’t bother asking how Pinkie knew about different species of spiders, and she also decided not to check on whether the pony was right about the certain arachnid she was studying. Having a face-to-face encounter with a spider was not on her list of things to do.

However, finding Rainbow Dash was.

“Where should we start?” Fluttershy asked, glancing around at the trees surrounding them. “She could be anywhere.”

“I know,” Twilight agreed. “But in the book, I remember something about a mountain, and a cave or a mine or something. Maybe we should just look for that.

“Easier said than done,” Applejack stated, looking up at the trees. No matter where they looked, the foliage blocked their view. There could have been a mountain right in front of them, and they would have missed it.

“Hmmm,” Twilight said, and then looked to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, you’ll have to fly up and see if you can see anything.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Fluttershy said softly, crouching low. “It’s just so scary here.”

“Please, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, walking over to the light yellow pony and placing a hoof on her shoulder. “We need your help. Without it, we might not be able to find Rainbow Dash in time.”

Fluttershy considered for a moment, then nodded.

“Okay,” she said, straightening. “For Rainbow Dash.”

The others cheered her on, and Fluttershy opened her wings and took off into the sky. She was lost as she broke through the thick tree canopy above them, and for several moments they merely stood there, staring up into the trees and trying to find a glimpse of their shy friend.

Finally, the yellow pony descended and landed gently back onto the ground, folding her wings against her back.

“I did see a mountain, but there are several of them,” she sighed. “I couldn’t tell which one you meant.”

“Well…” Twilight said, trying to think. “Where was the….tallest one? What direction?”

“It was that way,” Fluttershy pointed with a hoof. “To the North.”

“Then that’s the way we’ll go,” Twilight said determinedly. Applejack frowned,

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“No,” Twilight admitted. “But it’s our best bet. We have to find Rainbow Dash – before it’s too late!”

“Ah guess you’re right,” Applejack said, falling into step beside Twilight as the lilac unicorn began to lead the way into the underbrush. The others followed, though Rarity kept squeaking whenever a loose branch or leaf brushed against her. After a steady glare from Applejack, the white pony laughed nervously and tried to calm herself, but Twilight could still see how jumpy she was. She couldn’t really blame her. This jungle was spooky.

“Stay together, girls,” Twilight warned. “Anything could be in this jungle.”

I just hope Rainbow Dash is, too, she thought.

Author's Note

Please don't bombard the comments with stuff about how "that's not how diamonds are made!" Trust me, I know how they're formed. My sister is a paleontologist. But this is magic. So, suspend your belief for a little while, please?

Chapter 8

Chapter 8-

The inside of the light brown stallion’s hut was not what Rainbow would have called ornately decorated, but she could infer that the pony who had rescued Rainbow Dash and Daring Do from the excited and fascinated villagers had a higher standard of living than the rest. The inside of the hut was small, but large enough to accommodate a large rug that covered the dirt floor which was set with several bowls of native fruit and some plates of something brown and steaming that Rainbow wasn’t entirely certain she wanted to try. Looking around she could tell that this one room served as everything from a kitchen to a dining room – as it was now – to a bedroom. Now it served as a place to entertain, but Rainbow Dash could see a bedroll neatly rolled and stashed in a corner, a shelf of bowls and cookware, and a few books and undecipherable bottles that sat in other places.

The stallion motioned with a hoof for Daring and Rainbow to come closer, and he himself sat at the end of the rug which seemed to serve as the table. Rainbow sat on one side while Daring took up a position on the other. Before either mare could question him, the stallion decided to take his chance to speak.

“I suppose you are wondering how I am able to speak common Equestrian,” the light brown stallion who had called Rainbow and Daring into his hut stated.

“It’s not the only thing I’m wondering,” Daring muttered under her breath. Rainbow couldn’t help but agree. The stallion smiled.

“My father was from the tamed Equestria,” he said, stressing the word “tamed” with a certain pride, as if he was glad that he was not one of those civilized city ponies. Rainbow would have given anything to hear Rarity react to this. “He mentioned it once or twice. A city called Fillydelphia, I believe.”

If Daring found the information about the stallion’s heritage interesting, she did not show it. Two ponies came in from outside and began to serve Rainbow Dash and Daring Do from the bowls of fruit and plates of brown stuff. Rainbow felt her stomach growl, but she eyed the brown mush with suspicion.

“Thank you for inviting us into your home like this,” Daring said, raising an apple, but merely holding it whilst she talked. “But if I may ask, who are you?”

“My real name is something you wouldn’t be able to pronounce, as part of the Manegolian language, but you may call me Oracle.”

“Oracle?” Rainbow Dash asked, half a banana stuffed into her mouth. “That’s your name?”

“It’s the Equestrian equivalent of my Manegolian name,” Oracle replied. “In truth, the Manegolian name means something more along the lines of “Seer of Many Things”, but that is a mouthful.”

“I am Daring Do,” the mare with the greyscale mane said in a way of greeting, the pointed to Rainbow Dash. “And this is my friend, Rainbow Dash.”

“A pleasure to meet you both,” Oracle said. “We do not get many visitors here.”

“Wouldn’t know why,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“You said you were expecting us,” Daring Do said, the apple still in her hoof. “How could that be?”

“I saw you coming in Dream-Sight,” he told her. “You were brought here to help us.”

Daring raised an eyebrow,

“We weren’t brought here,” she corrected him. “We were in a shipwreck. We were heading back to the mainland of Equestria.”

“No, you were brought here,” Oracle insisted calmly. “For a great reason.”

Rainbow Dash and Daring Do shared a look.

“And…what reason is that?” Daring asked. But Oracle shook his head.

“No, no,” he said firmly but not unkindly. “No talk of this during dinner. You must be hungry. Please, eat.”

Once more Daring Do and Rainbow Dash glanced at each other over the table, but Oracle raised his cup, which was carved from wood, and the two pegasi did the same out of propriety. They drank together, then Oracle began to eat and the two pegasi did the same. However, though she partook in the fruit that lined the tables, Rainbow Dash carefully avoided the brown mush piled on her plate.

“You are not eating?” Oracle asked when he saw she had not finished her meal. Rainbow smiled awkwardly and tried not to make eye contact.

“Well, uh….” She stuttered. “I…had a big….breakfast?”

“Eat it,” Daring said flatly, glaring across the table at Rainbow. Rainbow glared back, but Daring mouthed, “Don’t be rude” to her. Rainbow’s ears flattened against her head and she looked down at the glop before her. She grimaced, but held her breath and scooped up a mouthful of it, swallowing it without chewing. It tasted as bad as it looked. She started to cringe, but then noticed Oracle staring at her. She swallowed hard and laughed a little.

“It’s…uh…great,” she lied with a large, fake smile. He smiled back his approval, then turned to grab another banana from the bowl on his opposite side. As soon as his head was turned, Rainbow grabbed her cup and drained its contents, a sweet fruit juice, into her mouth to wash away the taste. She replaced it quickly when Oracle looked back, but it wasn’t fast enough for Daring not to see. The light brown mare glared at the blue pegasus once again, but Rainbow shrugged innocently and looked away. She made a note to herself not to eat the brown stuff again.

~**~

Oracle walked with Daring Do and Rainbow Dash out of his hut and through the village. The villagers still stopped and stared at the newcomers as they went past, but at least they weren’t trying to mob them as they had before.

“Oracle,” Daring said as they walked. “Rainbow Dash and I passed something strange in the jungle. It was like a large crater in the ground – a hole, like a large lightning bolt hit that area. The trees and bushes were gone, and they were turned to diamonds by the force of the blast.”

“Ah,” Oracle said as they walked. The day was beginning to die, the colors of twilight taking over the sky. Soon the sun would be gone altogether, lowered by Princess Celestia. The thought of the Princess made Rainbow Dash wonder where her friends were. “The Great Fire. Yes, I know what you mean.”

“Fire?” Daring asked, confused. “The crater was too deep to have been caused by a fire. And the diamonds…”

“It is not a normal fire,” Oracle stated, pausing at the edge of the village. The village was built on a cliff, and from the edge they could look over the jungle below them, now being colored by the dusk. “It is a magical fire. It comes from the sky, shooting out from the north and raining down upon us. It is great, powerful magic, and we don’t know where it is coming from. But it is why you, Daring Do, have been brought to us.”

“Why would I have been brought to you because of some mystical fire?” Daring asked, standing beside Oracle as the trio looked out over the jungle.

“Miss Do,” Oracle said, turning his full attention to the pegasus with the grey-scale mane. “You are, of course, an adventurer, and an archeologist.”

“How did you know that?” she asked. Oracle chuckled.

“I am a Seer,” he replied. “I see many things. But you are these things, are you not?”

“Yes, I am,” Daring replied haltingly. He nodded.

“Then you have heard of the ancient story of the Alicorn’s Stone.”

“I have,” she said.

“The what?” Rainbow Dash asked, for the first time having a real input into the conversation. Oracle regarded her coolly.

“The Alicorn’s Stone,” he said. “Is an artifact of great power. It is said that it was created by one of the Great Goddesses herself.”

“In this culture,” Daring explained to the lost Rainbow. “Celestia and Luna are said to be goddesses, not just simply princesses.”

“The gem is extremely powerful, imbued with magic with resembles the magic of the alicorns,” Oracle continued. “The Great Goddesses kept it safe, but it was stolen by a corrupted sorcerer. He was ultimately defeated, but the gem was lost.”

“I’ve heard this story,” Daring put in. “According to the legend, the sorcerer caused a great tremor to open up a mountain in this region. The gem was swallowed before the Princesses could retrieve it. Believing it to be destroyed, they made no attempt to find it. They also believed it would be better left lost so no one evil sorcerer could wield its powers in the ways its thief did.”

Oracle nodded wisely.

“But that’s all it is – a legend,” Daring argued. “Nothing more than an old mare’s tale.”

“And your Princesses are but stories to us,” Oracle reminded her. “And yet they are very real. Just as I assure you that the Alicorn's Stone is very real. And it is beginning to wreak havoc on the land again. It wants to be found.”

“How could a stone want to be found?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused.

“It is not just a stone,” Oracle told her. “It is a magical being in and of itself. It has Alicorn-like powers. It is strong. It does what it wishes. And it does not wish to be lost any longer.”

Daring Do shook her head, looking out at the moon that was just rising. To Rainbow Dash’s surprise, she could see the form of Nightmare Moon etched into the big, silver sphere’s surface. She recalled the fact that many of the Daring Do books had been written before Luna’s return. So she was currently at least two years in the past .

That could make it even harder to get back home, she thought sadly.

“I don’t see what you want us to do about it,” Daring said, turning magenta eyes to the brown stallion.

“You must find it,” Oracle said urgently. Daring shook her head.

“Rainbow Dash and I shouldn’t be here,” she said. “We were shipwrecked. We have to find a way back home.”

“But the stone must be found,” Oracle insisted, stamping a hoof. “It is attacking the jungle. Soon it will destroy the lives of my friends and family, my tribe. Maybe more in this area.”

Daring look unconvinced.

“We still need to get back to our homes,” the mare with the grey-scale mane stated. “I have urgent business back at my museum.”

Oracle stared at her for a long time, then lowered his head and nodded.

“Of course,” he said, sounding resigned. “Forgive me. I thought that Daring Do was the greatest of all adventurers, willing to risk her life to help any in need and always searching for the greatest finds. But I am mistaken. Forgive me.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened at the underhanded insult, and she turned to see what Daring would do. The brown mare stomped a hoof, her eyes narrowing.

“I never said that….” She replied, her tail swishing back and force in irritation. Rainbow could see the glimmer of a grin twitching at the corners of Oracle’s lips.

“Perhaps you would like to sleep on it?” he asked. Daring and Rainbow Dash shared a glance. The blue mare shrugged. Eventually Daring looked back to the Seer pony.

“Fine,” she said. “We’ll think about it.”

Oracle raised his head and smiled.

“I hoped you’d say that,” he said. “Please, Miss Do, Miss Dash, let me show you to your resting place for the night. We will discuss the matter again tomorrow.”

Oracle turned and led the way back down the cliff towards the village below. Rainbow watched the stallion go. She didn’t altogether like his disposition, but she knew also not to judge a book by its cover.

“You sure about this?” she asked Daring as the two mares walked shoulder to shoulder after the stallion. Daring didn’t look at her.

“No,” she replied. “He has a point. If the Alicorn Stone is real – and I’m not saying it is – it could be a true archeological prize. Maybe the prize of the century. But my focus now lies in finding Fortune Cookie and getting the Phoenix Amulet back. I hate to disappoint Oracle, but that’s what I have to keep going after. The Alicorn Stone may have to wait.”

~**~

“Are we there yet?” Rarity wondered once again. “My hooves hurt. And it’s hot and humid here. And I’m thirsty. Where is Rainbow Dash?”

“Rarity,” Applejack snapped, pausing to glare over her shoulder at the marshmallow-white mare. “If you say ‘are we there yet’ one more time…”

“Girls,” Twilight said. “This bickering isn’t helping us find Rainbow Dash. And we’re all tired.”

“Oh, it’s getting dark,” Fluttershy said. “Maybe we should find shelter. I don’t think I want to find out what comes out at night.”

“True,” Twilight agreed, stopping and glancing around. The trees were growing increasingly shadowy and the moon was rising overhead. Fortunately, through the shadows, Twilight could make out a rocky cave amongst the jungle brush.

“There’s a cave up there,” she said, pointing with a hoof. “We’ll stay there tonight.”

“Oh, no, no, no,” Rarity protested. “I simply can not sleep in a cave.”

Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Well,” she said. “If you don’t like it that much, you can always sleep outside.”

Rarity’s mouth fell open as the others walked (or in Pinkie Pie’s case, bounced) into the dark opening amongst the rocks. A jungle bird sounded off its eerie goodnight to the surrounding trees whilst a few frogs began their evening chorus. Rarity gasped and glanced around, the sounds of night beginning to filter into her ears. She looked to the dark, most likely damp and smelly cave that her friends had disappeared into, then back around at the wild and untamable forest around her. She whimpered and her lip quivered.

“Wait!” she cried despondently and ran forward. “Wait for me!”

Applejack barely looked up when the white mare entered the cave. Twilight looked around the dark interior. It was dreary, but it would do for a shelter for the night. She just hoped they’d find Rainbow Dash soon enough.

“I can build a fire,” the purple unicorn said. “But we’ll need fire wood. And maybe if we could find something to sleep on….”

“Like these?”

The four ponies look up to find Pinkie Pie standing in the back of the cave with three blankets draped over her back. Twilight gasped.

“Pinkie!” she said, shocked. “Where’d you find those?”

“They were back there,” the pink pony said, pointing a hoof towards the inner depths of the cavern. “There are a few bags of oats or something too.”

The other three ponies shared a look.

“Show me,” Twilight said. Pinkie nodded and bounced deeper into the cave. It was getting darker, and Twilight used magic to light her horn so they’d be able to see better.

Pinkie had been right. As uncanny as it seemed, there was, indeed, a small stock of supplies in the back of the cave, including a bag of oats, a bag of apples, and a bag of what Twilight assumed to be medicines of some sort. She frowned as she examined them.

“By the look of these things,” she said. “Whoever put them here hasn’t been gone for long.”

“These apples are still fairly fresh,” Applejack agreed. “Maybe less than a week old.”

“But where are they?” Rarity asked. “The owners of these things? Out for a nightly stroll?”

“I doubt it,” Twilight replied. “It looks more like a stock, as if these things are kept here for frequent visitors.”

“But how frequent?” Applejack wondered.

“You don’t think they’ll be back, do you?” Fluttershy asked, scared. “Oh, I hope they’re friendly.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied. “But they’re not here right now, and chances are they won’t be back tonight. We’ll use their stuff and put it back where we found it tomorrow. They won’t know the difference.”

“Ar-are you sure?” Fluttershy asked, uncertainly. Twilight nodded.

“Of course,” she said confidently. “No one will know.”

But just in case, she thought silently. I’ll put some alarm spells up around the cave tonight.

“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said, snapping herself back to the present. The pink pony stood at attention. “Go into the jungle and find some fire wood. Applejack, go with her for safety.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie Pie agreed as she bounced out of the cave into the rapidly-dimming jungle beyond. Applejack followed her, and Twilight turned to Rarity and Fluttershy.

“Let’s see what else was left here. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

And they did indeed get lucky. With the blankets that Pinkie Pie had found earlier, and the bags of apples and oats, the small group of ponies had practically hit a jungle jackpot. After the fire had been set up by Applejack and lit by Twilight’s magic, Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to create for them a decent meal of oat cakes from the bag amongst the supplies. Rarity still seemed unhappy about having to sleep in a cave, and Fluttershy was still anxious about the prospect of unwelcome visitors discovering them, but after they were full and warm by the fire everyone seemed to settle down at least slightly. Twilight, in order not to worry the others, had cast her alarm spells over the entrance of the cave while no pony was looking, allowing her to calm down as well.

“It’s darker than the inside of a bear out here,” Applejack observed as the ponies began to settle down to sleep. Pinkie and Fluttershy shared a blanket while Applejack and Rarity shared another. Twilight had volunteered to take first watch, despite her alarm spells. It would just make everypony feel that much safer.

“I know,” Fluttershy whimpered as she snuggled further underneath the blanket.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy!” Pinkie chirped. “Nothing’s gonna get you while I’m around!”

“Thank you, Pinkie,” the yellow pegasus said, smiling up at her friend. Twilight looked out at the darkness beyond the cave.

“I hope Rainbow Dash is alright, wherever she is,” the unicorn sighed. Using her magic, she put out the small campfire, plunging the cave into an almost impenetrable darkness. She listened to the others shift around as they got comfortable. Despite the thick trees, the moon shone brightly into the forest. The image of Nightmare Moon made Twilight shudder slightly. She stared up at the glowing silver disc high above her head and sighed.

They had to find Rainbow Dash. They had to.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9-

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes for what felt like the thousandth time and attempted to fall asleep. But the reed mat that served as a bed was far, far from comfortable, and she was entirely certain there was a rock somewhere underneath her back that she just couldn’t find. Plus, it was rather warm in the hut she and Daring Do were sharing, which had been generously donated for their use by an elderly mare in the village. But hospitality makes a lousy pillow, and though Rainbow knew she could be grateful for the accommodations, her chances of getting a good night’s sleep were beginning to slip away from her as the minutes turned to hours and she still hadn’t drifted off.

She opened her eyes once more and looked over at Daring Do, who was sleeping comfortably a few feet away on her own reed mat. Rainbow Dash couldn’t understand how she was doing it. That mare must be able to sleep anywhere.

Rainbow Dash sighed and spread her front legs out in front of her, then rested her head on them.

Sun, where are you? She thought, then let out a long breath. Once more she closed her eyes. Once more she tried to sleep.

Whether she succeeded or not she wasn’t entirely sure. And it didn’t matter. Because she was awoken once more what could have been seconds, minutes, or even hours later. But it wasn’t just her general discomfort that caused her magenta eyes to open once more. No, it was something much more.

It was an explosion.

The sound ripped through Rainbow Dash’s head, causing her ears to ring so much so she almost didn’t hear the screams of terrified ponies from the village outside. The rainbow pegasus leaped to her hooves, confused, startled, and (though she’d never admit it) terrified.

Daring Do rushed past her and shoved aside the blanket that served as the hut’s door, allowing the chaos and catastrophe to flood into the once-quiet and peaceful living quarters.

Rainbow Dash could hardly believe her own eyes. She and Daring were bathed with the orange-yellow light of fire as it swept across the mud and thatch huts of the village. Villagers ran for their lives, desperate to avoid that blaze that was swiftly overtaking their homes. As the two pegasi watched, one small colt tripped head-over tail. The thatch roof of the hut near him burned brightly and threatened to collapse, which would bring the mud home down atop the small foal.

“Get to safety!” Daring ordered Rainbow as the brown pegasus shot outside.

“Daring!” Rainbow Dash called after her, but knew that the mare was right – she had to get out. The blue pegasus took wing and rocketed away from the burning village, but caught the sight of Daring snatching the colt out of harm’s way just as the mud and thatch house collapsed in a shower of sparks and cinders. Foal in her hooves, Daring darted through the air to catch up with Rainbow Dash. Together, the two mares plus foal landed safely on a hill away from where the blaze was quickly consuming the rest of the village. Most of the other villagers had found their way up to the same hill, and together they stared in abject horror at the sight of their homes being incinerated.

Daring Do and Rainbow Dash touched down, Daring immediately setting the colt on the ground. He ran off into the crowd of ponies to find his mother, and the two pegasi females looked back at the destruction. Fortunately, the fire already seemed to be burning itself out, but the destruction it had left behind was incredible.

“What happened?” Daring asked, astonished. Rainbow couldn’t answer her question.

“The Great Fire.”

Both mares turned to see Oracle coming up behind them. The stallion looked tired, but he didn’t look too concerned over the state of the village below.

“It is the Great Fire, like I said,” he answered solemnly, matter-of-factly, as if his home and his friends’ homes weren’t a smoldering pile of rubble below. “It struck us tonight, only barely missing the village. Look.”

He pointed with a hoof, and Rainbow Dash and Daring Do followed the gesture to see a dark, smoldering crater in the ground, only about a thousand yards from the village. It was clear what had happened: the fire from the crater had spread to engulf the town.

“You think the Alicorn Stone is doing this?” Daring Do asked the stallion. Oracle nodded seriously.

“I do not think so, Miss Do,” he answered. “I know so. Nothing natural could have caused this. Only something of great power could do so.”

Daring Do looked solemnly down at the village that was quickly being reduced to embers. Fortunately, it seemed as if everypony had escaped. Already some were descending back into the rubble, certain that the fire had mostly burned itself off.

“I’m sorry about your village,” Rainbow Dash said as both she and Daring followed Oracle back down the hill as well. The stallion shrugged.

“It was not as bad as it could have been,” he said. “I set up a few charms against fire years ago. They are old and weak now, but at least they were strong enough to allow my people to escape harm. That is what is important.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything as the trio walked through the rubble which was what remained of the village. Daring Do walked slightly ahead of them, strangely quiet as she stared at the crater a distance away. She was obviously making her way over to it. Rainbow Dash quickened her pace to catch up with the light brown mare.

“You okay?” Rainbow asked once she’d caught up. Daring didn’t answer. She stayed silent until they reached the edge of the crater, a black, still-smoking wound gouged into the forest floor. Like before, the trees and any other foliage that had been in the area had been reduced to black carbon, or, in some cases, diamonds.

“The Alicorn Stone…”Rainbow heard Daring whisper to herself. The multi-colored mare studied the archeologist.

“Daring?” she asked. Daring didn’t respond.

“Do you believe me now, Daring Do?” Oracle asked as he came to stand beside the brown pegasus. “The Alicorn Stone is real.”

“I don’t want to believe it,” Daring replied, looking at their stallion host. “But I can’t deny what I’m seeing with my own eyes, right in front of me.”

“You were brought here to find it,” Oracle told her. Daring shrugged.

“That part I’m still not sure of,” she said. “But I know one thing for sure: You were right, Oracle. I’m willing to bet that the Alicorn Stone is real, and it is in this area.”

“And it is powerful enough to destroy,” Oracle added. Daring nodded.

“That, too,” she confirmed.

“But, what about Fortune Cookie?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I thought you’re main focus was to find him and the Phoenix Amulet. And, you have no proof that the Alicorn Stone is what did this.”

“I know,” Daring replied with a sigh. “I might be chasing shadows, but that’s not what matters. What matters is that something Alicorn Stone or not, almost destroyed an entire population of ponies. Fortune Cookie can have a head start on me: I’ll find him again. But this…..we can’t leave these ponies to the mercy of….whatever this thing is.”

Rainbow looked at Daring, her eyes wide with interest.

“So, what are you saying?” she asked. Daring Do half-smiled and turned to Oracle.

“Oracle,” she said firmly. “Find your best guide. We’re taking a little hike. Tomorrow, at first light, we’re setting off after the Alicorn Stone.”

~**~

The dawn didn’t come soon enough in Rainbow Dash’s opinion. After the fire, the villagers had been forced to huddle in the huts that hadn’t been completely burned to the ground. She and Daring Do had been stuffed into a tiny room filled with other ponies, all trying to get at least a little bit of sleep before the sun inevitably rose and they would start to work on scrounging what little they had from the rubble.

As if Rainbow hadn’t been uncomfortable before, this was even worse. The stallion next to her snored the entire night, and the foal on her other side kicked her in the ribs at least three times. Even when she did start to drift off, she was half-paranoid she was going to hear another explosion.

Sleep did find her in the early hours of the morning, but a sharp nudge from Daring Do quickly halted that.

“Come on, Rainbow Dash,” the tan mare said. “We have a long way to go.”

Rainbow yawned and gathered herself to her hooves, then stumbled out of the hut after Daring into the early morning light. The sun had only started to emerge above the trees, and the world was cast in a mixture of grey and orangey-pink light. Shadows of dawn cast jagged strips of dark and light over the rubble of last night’s catastrophe. It looked even worse now that Rainbow Dash was awake (or at least, half awake) and not running for her life from the flames. She shuddered when she remembered how close the crater had been to the town. A little closer and….

She shook her head, deciding not to think about it.

However, despite the wreckage of the village, it was already abuzz with ponies. Some seemed to be gathering supplies, most likely for Rainbow and Daring to take on their mission, while others were already starting to sort through the rubble of their homes, recovering what little they could and preparing to start again. Rainbow Dash’s heart went out to them. If she wasn’t going on a deadly hide and seek game with a magical stone, she’d stay here and help them rebuild. Celestia knew they needed the help.

Daring greeted the handful of ponies gathering supplies in their traditional language, and they smiled and replied with what Rainbow Dash guessed was a greeting as well. She figured that when, and if, she ever got home, it wouldn’t hurt to maybe pick up another language.

As Daring oversaw the ponies (stallions, all of them) sort through and pack the gear they’d need for the trek, Rainbow Dash saw Oracle striding over towards them. He was wearing a tattered saddle bag slung over his back. Daring glanced up long enough from her overseeing to spot him. She raised an eyebrow.

“Oracle,” she said. “What are you doing?”

“I am coming with you, of course,” he answered with a half-smile. Daring and Rainbow shared a glance.

“Don’t you want to stay here and help your village?” Rainbow asked. The older stallions shook his head.

“They are able to take care of themselves,” he replied. “But you need a guide to get to the legendary resting place of the Stone. There is no better guide than myself.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, but Daring shrugged.

“Suit yourself,” she said. “Anyways, I think we’re ready. Are you boys ready?”

She directed her question to the stallions, but Oracle shook his head.

“No,” he said. “These stallions must stay here and assist the villagers in rebuilding. If I cannot stay, they must.”

“But, wouldn’t it be safer if we had – “ Daring started to argue, but Oracle stomped a hood pointedly and shook his head.

“I know the dangers of the jungle as much as I know the paths,” he said. “We will be safe.”

“Alright, well then I guess we’ll just have to split the load amongst us,” the brown mare said. Rainbow agreed, and after a few minutes of helping each other tie baskets and bags of supplies onto each other’s backs, the party was ready. Rainbow was a little disappointed –her wings were trapped under a pairing of a saddle bag and two bedrolls tied to her back. She wouldn’t be able to fly this time around. But Daring was having the same problem, her own wings pinned under two baskets of fruit and a third bedroll. Oracle had been given the lightest burden with only their canteens and his own saddlebag.

“Are we ready now?” Rainbow Dash asked, her inability to use her wings making her a bit antsy. Oracle stepped in front of both her and Daring, the looked back at the young, multi-colored pegasus.

“You will have to learn patience,” he said. “But yes, I believe we are ready. Stay close to me, both of you. There are many dangers in the jungle that you don’t know about.”

“Try me,” Rainbow Dash heard Daring mutter, but if Oracle heard, he didn’t let on. Instead, the dark stallion started off towards the tree line outside the village, and after sharing a brief glance, both Rainbow Dash and Daring Do followed hence, leaving the charred village behind.

~**~

“We’re lost, aren’t we?”

“We are not lost. I know exactly where we are.”

“Yes, in the middle of nowhere. That’s where we are.”

“You want to lead for a while?”

Twilight glared at Rarity. Although the purple unicorn did admit that the seamstress had a point. They’d been walking for what seemed like hours now, trekking through some endless jungle in search of…..what?

Okay, so they were searching for Rainbow Dash. But this was a large jungle. They were in the middle of nowhere (Rarity was right about that, too), and though Twilight had read the Search for the Alicorn Stone three times, nowhere in the book had there been a drawn out map showing the reader just where Daring Do had discovered the sacred magical object.

“Ah hate to say this, Twi,” Applejack added. “But Rarity does have a point. We’re not really sure where we are.”

Twilight paused and groaned.

“I know, I know!” She admitted, stamping a hoof. “But what else are we supposed to do?”

She started walking forward again.

“I mean,” she continued as she walked. “What do you want me to do?”

“Can’t you use some sort of a spell or something?” Applejack wondered. Twilight shrugged.

“I don’t know,” she said. “This isn’t our universe. This is fiction. I don’t know if my magic would even work.”

“Why wouldn’t it work?” Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight made an exasperated noise.

“I don’t know!” she replied.

“Uh, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, her voice low, but her protests fell on deaf ears as the others continued bickering.

“You used magic last night,” Rarity pointed out. Twilight shook her head.

“That was small magic,” she said. “A summoning spell is big magic. I don’t know if it will work.”

“Can’t you just try it?” Rarity asked. “It would save us from wandering around in this jungle. This humidity is not good for my mane.”

“But, Twilight, you should really – “ Fluttershy tried again, but once again she was ignored.

“If Ah have to hear one more complaint about you mane, Rarity,” Applejack snapped at the white unicorn. “I swear – “

“Twilight! There’s – “ Fluttershy tried again.

“Your bickering isn’t making this any easier!” Twilight snapped over her shoulder. “Can’t you all just get along for – “

“Twilight!” Fluttershy managed to be heard over the others, but by then it was too late.

There was a twanging noise, the sound of bells, and suddenly Twilight’s world was rushing up wards. The lilac unicorn blinked as the trees came back into clear view. Upside down.

The others stared up at Twilight as she hung by a back hoof from a short, scrawny tree, a rope tied taught around her leg as she bounced up and down.

“I was going to say that there was a trap there,” Fluttershy said softly. Twilight groaned.

“I’m almost afraid to ask if this could get any worse,” she muttered.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10-

They’d already finished one canteen of water, and, according to Oracle, they still had a long way to go. Rainbow Dash would have given her left hind leg at this point to fly, to just get off the ground. All this walking was something she wasn’t used to. She had wings for a reason. And wandering around like this wasn’t the reason.

The jungle was hot and humid, and Rainbow could feel her many-colored mane sticking to her forehead and neck, soaked by sweat. The heat just hung in the air, and her ears were constantly filled with high-pitched sound of buzzing insects, bombarding her every step. She used her tail to swat some away, and kept flicking her ears to keep others back, but it just seemed like they were everywhere. And no matter what she did, she couldn’t shake the horrible feeling of dozens of mosquitoes biting at her.

They walked slowly through the trees, Oracle in the lead, followed by Daring and then Rainbow at the back. Oracle didn’t even have a map, but somehow he knew where they were going. Although, they’d been wandering out here for so long that Rainbow Dash was beginning to doubt that.

Suddenly, Oracle stopped. The two mares stopped as well, and Daring raised an eyebrow.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked. Oracle shook his head.

“No,” he said. “But we will pause here so I can get my bearings. I must listen for the sound of the stone’s magic. Then I will know where it is coming from.”

Daring shrugged, then gently lifted one of the canteens from Oracle’s saddlebag and unscrewed the top. She took a drink, then turned to hand it to Rainbow Dash, who had sat down heavily on the ground.

“What’s wrong, kid?” Daring asked with a smirk. “Getting tired?”

Rainbow glared at her, but took the offered water.

“No,” she snapped. “it’s just so…hot. I’m not used to it is all.”

Daring snorted a laugh, but sat down beside her, the packs she was carrying shifting slightly as her body’s orientation changed.

Nearby, Oracle stood alone, his eyes closed. He was absolutely still.

“How is an Earth pony so attune to magic?” Rainbow wondered. “I thought only unicorns could use magic, and some zebras.”
Daring shrugged.

“I’ve seen a lot of Earth ponies use magic,” she replied. “It depends on where they were born, who their parents were or are. A lot of times, Earth ponies with a Unicorn blood are more sensitive to magic than a purebred Earth pony. And different cultures have different sensitivity to magic, too. These cultures out here, these villages, need ponies who can use magic, Earth or not. Magic is something that kind of chooses you, in a way. It’s not breed-specific.”

“I have a friend back home,” Rainbow Dash said. “She’s a unicorn, and she’s one of the best magic-users I’ve ever seen. She saved our town from an Ursa Minor and…well, she’s just pretty awesome.”

For just a moment, Rainbow Dash felt a gaping loneliness open up inside her, realizing she was trapped in a different time, a different world without her friends or family, or anything she knew. She didn’t know how she’d gotten here, and she didn’t know if she’d be able to get back. What wouldn’t she give to be back home in Ponyville, practicing her moves for the Wonderbolts and planning to pick up her book from Twilight? Now she was trapped inside that very book, and had no idea if she’d ever see home again. It wasn’t a great feeling.

Daring picked up on the blue mare’s sudden melancholy and touched a hoof to her shoulder.

“Homesick?” she asked. Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Yeah,” she admitted softly. Daring smiled gently.

“You never even told me what you were doing in Shanghoof,” she said. Rainbow laughed a bit.

“I don’t even know what I was doing in Shanghoof,” she admitted. “I just sort of…ended up there.”

“I think I can identify with that,” Daring said and laughed. “As weird as that sounds.”

Rainbow Dash laughed as well, as a feeling of comradery came over the two ponies. They weren’t just two strangers forced together because of survival reasons, or a fan and a celebrity, but they were starting to become real friends. And Rainbow Dash didn’t even feel like squealing because she was sitting next to her favorite book character. It just wasn’t like that anymore.

Oracle’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and he turned to the two pegasus mares.

“I know what way we are going now,” he said. “Follow. It’s already midday, and we must make the most of the daylight.”

Rainbow Dash and Daring Do shared a look, but stood, shuffled their packs back in order, and followed as Oracle once more led the way deeper into the dense, green jungle.

“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” Daring asked as they started their walk again. Oracle did not spare her a glance.

“The sound of the magic calls to me,” he said, his voice tinged with excitement. “I know where we are going.”

“Just making sure,” Daring said with a smile, but Rainbow Dash watched as it faded, and a brief frown flashed over her magenta eyes. For a moment, Daring had looked….uncertain. But why would she?

Rainbow Dash considered asking, but decided against it. It was hot. They were tired, and it had been a long walk for all of them. Daring was allowed to be tired like the rest of them, even if she was a great archeologist.

Rainbow flicked her ear as another mosquito buzzed around it, then scowled at the ground. The sooner she got out of this jungle and away from these bugs, the better.

She just hoped she’d be able to get back to Ponyville.

~**~

Twilight struggled with the knot that was attached firmly around her hoof, trying to use her magic to loosen it. But, she was embarrassed to admit, it was a very good knot. A very good knot.

“Twilight, do ya need some help?” Applejack asked. Twilight grunted as she still struggled with the rope.

“No, I can get it,” she said, refusing to give up.

“Here, let me try,” Pinkie offered and bounced over to the dangling unicorn. The pink pony then proceeded to grab her friend’s head and try to yank her down. The sound of bells jangling returned.

“Ow!” Twilight gasped as she felt her spine stretch under Pinkie’s pressure. “Pinkie! Stop!”

“Pinkie, Ah don’t think that’s helping,” Applejack said, coming to Twilight’s rescue. The pink pony released her friend, but reluctantly.

“Here, let me try,” Rarity said, stepping forward. Her horn glowed as she concentrated on the knot keeping Twilight in the air.

“Twilight,” Fluttershy said as the white mare worked her magic. “Why are there bells tied to the tree?”

“What?” Twilight asked, but at that moment the knot came loose and the unicorn landed on her head on the jungle floor.

“Umph,” she muttered.

“Darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked, holding a hoof out to help her up. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t catch you in time.”

“I’m fine,” Twilight replied shortly, taking the offered help as she gathered herself to her hooves. Her back leg was a little raw from the biting rope, but otherwise she was okay. But she turned back to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was looking at what where, indeed, bells.

“Uh-oh,” Twilight said, stepping forward to examine them.

“Is that a good ‘uh-oh’, or a bad ‘uh-oh’?” Rarity asked.

“When has an ‘uh-oh’ ever been good?” Applejack challenged. Rarity glared at her.

“This isn’t good,” Twilight replied. “These types of traps are used so tribes can deter enemies from entering their territory. The bells are tied to the trees so that the members of the tribe can hear when they’re trap has been triggered.”

“So…you’re saying that there are tribes around here that put this trap to try and catch intruders?” Applejack asked. Twilight nodded.

“And if they heard the bells chimin’….”

“We need to get out of here before some of them turn up to find who triggered their trap,” Twilight said. “Come on.”

“Aww, but we could have a party!” Pinkie Pie complained. “I love meeting new ponies!”

Twilight shook her head as she and the others started moving forward, altogether in a tight bunch as they watched the forest around them for any signs of movement.

“No, Pinkie,” she said, “These ponies won’t be friendly. This is their land, and they won’t like us to be invading it.”

“Let’s not wait around to meet them,” Applejack urged.

“Agreed,” Twilight responded, and they picked up their pace. Suddenly, Twilight realized something was off. She glanced around.

Fluttershy was missing.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight called, looking for the yellow pegasus. She found her; she hadn’t moved from the trap tree and seemed to be staring at something in the bushes.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight called. “Come on! We need to get out of here!”

She heard the pony whimper, her eyes still on the bushes. Twilight took a step forward.

“Fluttershy?” she asked again.

The underbrush began to ripple with movement, and Twilight’s ears flattened against her head. She could see what had Fluttershy so scared, now.

A group of dark-colored stallions emerged from the jungle, their eyes flashing with anger. A few carried long spears, one in particular was aiming his at Fluttershy. A certain stallion, larger than the others, came forward and barked something at the others in a strange language. They fanned out, circling the group of mares and boxing them in. One with a spear shoved Fluttershy back in amongst them.

The leader spat a series of commands at Twilight in a strange language, but the unicorn didn’t need to speak it to understand what he wanted. She swallowed hard. The message was obvious.

Come with us.

“Okay, look, I think there’s a very simple way to solve this – “ Twilight started, trying to sound reasonable. The larger stallion glared at her and barked the same series of sounds again, cutting her off.

“Twi,” Applejack said out of the corner of her mouth, pressing close to her friend. “Can you understand what they’re saying?”

“No,” Twilight replied. “I know they’re speaking Manegolian, but I never learned how to speak it.”

“Can’t you cast a translating spell or something?” Rarity put in. Twilight shook her head.

“I used to know one,” she said sheepishly. “But….I can’t remember it.”

“Oh, good,” Rarity muttered under her breath.

“Not helping,” Applejack retorted.

“Would you like to think of something?” Rarity responded sharply. Applejack snapped something back, but Twilight was distracted by movement out of the corner of her eye. Pinkie Pie had moved away from the group and was making her way towards the large lead stallion. Twilight couldn’t stop her.

“Good morning, sir!” the pink pony chirped happily, smiling as big as the world. “Or is it afternoon? Who cares! My name’s Pinkie Pie and these are my friends and we’re sorry we trespassed on your land. Is this your land? It’s lovely land. I mean, it’s very jungle-y. Lots and lots of trees. Not to say I don’t like trees, but maybe you could put something else in once in a while? Like a mountain or something? Cause I think trees are nice, but there’s an awful lot of them around here and anyways we’re really sorry that we’re trespassing on your land and we really didn’t mean to it’s just we’re lost and we’re looking for our friend. Have you seen her? She’s blue with a rainbow mane and she flies really fast and she’s a pegasus which means she has wings and –“

“Augh!” the stallion bellowed. He rattled off some more words in the foreign tongue, then grabbed the spear from his counterpart, jabbing it at Pinkie Pie. Twilight and the others gasped, afraid they might hurt her. Instead, he simple poked her in the chest, yelling over and over again, apparently attempting to try and quiet her. But Pinkie Pie seemed unfazed and continued to babble.

“Now would be a great time to remember that spell, Twilight….” Applejack said. Twilight closed her eyes and racked her brain, searching for that one spell she’d learned so long ago. She had only done it a few times and had never needed it since. She could sort of remember how it went……

Think, Twilight! She told herself. Think, think, think!

“I got it!” she gasped suddenly, then concentrated. Her horn illuminated, surrounded by the familiar magenta aura. She only hoped that it would work in a book’s world too……

“Be silent you pink pony!”

Twilight gasped and opened her eyes which she hadn’t realized she’d closed. She didn’t recognize that voice, and she could only assume that it was the lead stallion. Sure enough, she could understand him now, continuing to jab at Pinkie with his spear and tell her over and over again to be quiet. It was rather amusing.

“Pinkie,” Twilight said. She nodded to Applejack who shoved her hoof in the pony’s mouth, silencing her even though she tried to talk around the orange appendage. Pinkie’s talking momentarily halted, the stallion turned to Twilight.

“Please,” he said. Twilight smiled to herself, pleased that she could understand him. Her spell had worked. She quietly thanked Celestia that she had remembered it. “We’ll do anything, just keep her quiet.”

Twilight laughed a little.

“Hello, there,” she said. “We’re sorry we trespassed on your land.”

The stallion blinked.

“I can understand you,” he said, evidently astonished. “A few moments ago I could not understand a word you, or your babbling pink friend for that instance, said. But now you speak my language. You know the tongue of my people?”

“Well,” Twilight admitted. “Not really. I just used a spell so I can understand you, and you can understand me.”

“Twilight?” Applejack asked. “What’s he sayin’? What are you sayin’? Ah can’t understand you anymore.”

“He wants Pinkie to stop talking, mostly,” Twilight replied, instinctively switching back to Common Equestrian. “But he’s just surprised I can talk to him now.”

“So the spell worked then,” Rarity said. Twilight nodded.

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy spoke for the first time since the natives had appeared. “What does he want? He doesn’t want to hurt us, does he?”

“I don’t think so,” Twilight said. Then she turned back to the stallion.

“I’m sorry for trespassing on your land,” she said. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.”

“My name is Swift Water, and I am the leader of my tribe. You sprung the trap,” the stallion said, lowering the spear. “We thought you were an enemy tribe coming to invade us. Why are you here?”

“We got lost,” Twilight said. “We’re looking for our friend. You haven’t seen her, have you? Her name is Rainbow Dash. She’s light blue, has wings and a rainbow mane? She…well, she sticks out pretty well around here.”

“Hmmm,” the Swift Water said. “News travels quickly around the jungles, despite the distance the tribes live apart. I have been absent from my village for several days, searching for danger. But it is possible that somepony back home may have heard some news. Come with us, please, back to our village. You will find food and shelter there, and we may be able to help you find your friend.”

Twilight’s eyes widened.

“You’d be willing to do that?” she asked, astonished. And to think only moments ago, they were terrified of these ponies!

Swift Water chuckled.

“Well, now that we know you are not an enemy tribe wanting to fight us, of course,” he said. “Allow me to introduce you to my friends: Tall Tree, River Rock, and Fire Heart. They are some of my bravest warriors.”

Twilight nodded to each in turn, and they smiled at her, lowering the spears they had been carrying. Her own friends seemed to realize that the atmosphere had become much less hostile and were starting to relax as well.

“Twi?” Applejack prompted her friend again. Twilight turned around to the others and smiled.

“This is Swift Water,” Twilight said. “He’s the leader of his tribe, and these are his friends, Tall Tree, River Rock, and Fire Heart. They’ve been patrolling the jungle, looking for intruders. They thought we were an enemy tribe come to attack them. But Swift Water says that his villagers might have heard something about Rainbow Dash. He says we can stay the night with them and they will help us try and find her.”

“And…you’re sure they’re nice?” Fluttershy asked nervously. Twilight touched the yellow mare with a hoof and smiled reassuringly.

“They are, I promise,” she said. Fluttershy smiled a little as well and nodded.

“Okay, then,” she said.

“Follow me,” Swift Water said, and turned away from the group of ponies to head off into the dense jungle. His warriors followed. Twilight gestured to her friends.

“Come on, before we lose them,” she said. Together, the Ponyville group made after the tribal ponies as they followed the stallions into the dense jungle.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11-

With how dense the trees were, and the way the soaring canopy of green leaves blocked quite a bit of the sun from reaching the jungle floor, Rainbow Dash had some slight difficulty telling what time it was. It could have been evening for all she knew. The sun could have been setting and she would have never realized it. Unfortunately, the lack of sunlight didn’t lessen the humidity any. Sweat was dripping down her forehead as she continued to trudge through the dense undergrowth beside Daring Do. Oracle walked ahead of them, and Rainbow Dash was surprised to see that, for such an old stallion, he seemed unfazed by the hot, humid, stagnant air.

And though she might not have known precisely the time while making her way through the jungle, she did realize when night fell. She’d never been somewhere where that phrase had been so literal. It seemed like one moment they were trudging through the dim, shadowy jungle in a limbo state between light and dark, and the next they were in darkness so palpable Rainbow felt like she could bite off a hunk of it and eat it.

She squinted, trying to strain her eyes and force them to see through the impenetrable blackness that had formed all around her, but it was nigh on impossible. She lost her footing on a tree root she didn’t see, then landed roughly on the ground, her heavy saddle bags pressing her into the mud. She struggled to rise from under their weight.

“I’m fine!” she called as she found her footing once more and brushed dirt she couldn’t see from her legs.

“Hold on,” Daring said from somewhere in front of her to her left. There was a sound of bags behind rustled and items being shifted around, then the sound of a match being lit. A tiny point of light burst into being, illuminating Daring’s face as she held it cautiously in her teeth. She quickly lit some sort of makeshift torch from the packs and stamped the match out under hoof. She wrapped one leg around the torch and held it aloft, then looked back at Rainbow Dash with an amused smirk.

“You alright, kid?” she asked. Rainbow tried not to blush as she ambled forward to stand beside Daring. She shrugged her shoulder, trying to seem nonchalant.

“’Course I am,” she replied coolly. “I meant to do that.”

Daring chuckled a little. Ahead of them, Oracle surveyed the dark forest.

“We should find a place to rest,” he said. “The dark jungle is dangerous.”

“No kidding,” Rainbow muttered, recalling her meeting with the tree root. She also didn’t entirely want to think about what kinds of animals were lurking through the forest, veiled in the night. She tried not to shudder at the thought, then told herself that she’d be able to take them easily, if they did meet any.

All the same, she made a mental note to keep an ear out for any sounds around them.

Daring used the torch to light a fire, which fortunately dispelled some of the darkness. It still hung around them almost like a wall, and Rainbow Dash felt strangely disconnected from the world, as if all of Equestria had faded away around them, and they were the only ponies that still remained: them, and this tiny patch of jungle in Manegolia, lit by flickering firelight.

As soon as the fire was set up, Oracle began to slowly walk in a large circle around the perimeter of their small campsite, mumbling to himself. Rainbow Dash wriggled out of her pack, which fell roughly to the ground. Daring looked up at her from where she was securing her own pack to a tree branch, high above the ground.

“Hey, careful with that,” the tan pegasus said. “That’s got our food in it.”

“Sorry,” Rainbow muttered. Getting the burden off her wings felt amazing, and she was too intent on stretching them to listen to Daring’s remarks. Her bruised wing was feeling a lot better, and she thought about maybe taking short flight just to work the muscles. All that walking had been torture.

“You listening?” Daring was suddenly in her face, rapping her on the forehead with a hoof. Rainbow jerked her head back in surprise.

“What?” she demanded. Daring rolled her eyes.

“I told you to get enough food out for us and then hang those bags up in the tree, like I did,” Daring said, pointing at the hanging bags over her shoulder. “It’ll keep the animals from getting to our supplies in the night.”

Rainbow Dash gave a mock salute and did as she was told, unpacking enough food for the three of them before hanging the bags up. This was the perfect excuse to take a short flight – she took to wing and hung the sacks of supplies from a higher branch than Daring’s just to give herself a reason to fly.

“I have placed a charm around the camp,” Oracle told the two pegasi once he had stopped his mumbling and came to eat with them. “It will protect us through the night from predators. But don’t leave this area. Out there in the forest, danger awaits.”

“Thank you, Oracle,” Daring said with a smile as the old shaman stallion sat with them to eat.

They ate a basic meal of fruit and bread, and then Oracle announced that he was tired and promptly unrolled his bedroll and fell asleep near the fire. As far as the two pegasi could tell, he was sound asleep within seconds.

“Wow, he falls asleep fast,” Rainbow noted dryly, trying to keep at least a little conversation going. Daring grunted in response, but the blue pegasus was pleased to note that the adventurer was also stretching out her wings, obviously cramped from being trapped under the bags all day.

Rainbow Dash poked the ground with a hoof, as she sat in front of the fire, feeling slightly awkward. She still was struck with the incredible fact that she was on an adventure with Daring Do. She wondered if her friends would ever believe her….

Her heart hurt a little at that thought. She remembered now – she wasn’t in her world anymore. She’d been sent into the book. Would she ever be able to get back home? Would she be stuck here forever?

Although, she had to admit, if she was going to be stuck anywhere, this wasn’t too bad. But still, she’d never see her friends again…

She shook her head, trying to get her mind off the subject and turned to Daring.

“You wanna take a flight?” she asked hopefully. “You know, stretch our wings?”

Daring glanced sideways and Rainbow Dash and half-smiled, trying not to seem too eager.

“That sounds like a good idea,” the tan pegasus said, and Rainbow smiled wider. But then the adventurer pony shook her head.

“But I don’t think so,” she said. “We need to stay here, where it’s safe. I especially don’t want to leave Oracle alone. He’s too old to fight if something attacks us.”

“Oh,” Rainbow had to admit, she was disappointed. But Daring touched her with a hoof and smiled.

“Cheer up, kid,” she said. “We’ll be finding the Alicorn Stone soon enough.”

“I thought you said it doesn’t exist,” Rainbow Dash said. Daring shrugged.

“Well, something’s out there, burning stuff up, and whatever it is, it’s powerful. I don’t know if it’s the Alicorn Stone, like Oracle keeps saying, but it’s definitely interesting.”

“So what if it is the Alicorn Stone?” Rainbow Dash inquired. Daring smirked.

“I don’t think it will be,” she told her, beginning to unroll her own bedroll. “But I’ll be happy to be wrong. Let’s get some shut-eye.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and unrolled her own set of blankets, then lay down on it as she watched Daring smother the fire. She left a little of it glowing – “For protection,” Daring said. “In case Oracle’s charm doesn’t work.”
Once the two pegasi were settled, Rainbow Dash rolled over to look at the adventurer with the grey-scale mane. Daring Do met her eyes and half-smiled.

“Another question?” she asked. Rainbow nodded.

“If you don’t believe it’s real,” she asked. “Then why are you going after it?”

Daring Do laughed lightly.

“Fortune and glory kid,” she said as she rolled over onto her other side. “Fortune and glory.”

~**~

Rainbow Dash yawned and her eyes blinked open. For a brief moment, she was terrified that she had gone blind – all she could see around her was darkness. But slowly, the light from the dim, barely smoldering campfire allowed her eyes to adjust to the night around her. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes, as she smacked her lips together. She was thirsty.

The blue pegasus glanced sideways at Daring Do, but the only sign of the adventurer was a lump under a blanket and her signature hat lying right beside her.

Rainbow Dash stood, drowsily, and looked around. She knew the canteens were in the bags they’d hung in the trees earlier. But with the darkness the way it was, the blue pegasus could hardly see their supplies at all.

She stood and grabbed a nearby stick in her teeth and poked at the embers of the campfire, which immediately began to flare up a little. Then she threw another few pieces of wood onto the blaze and fanned it with her wings until the fire was not quite blazing, but high and bright enough for her to see better. With some light shed on her situation, Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to the supplies hanging from the trees.

But she was distracted. As her eyes moved back towards the packs in the air, she realized that something was wrong. Her eyes settled on Oracle’s bedroll, where the earth stallion had been sleeping only hours before.

Only to find it empty.

Alarmed, Rainbow looked around, trying to spot him, but besides Daring asleep nearby, there was no pony else around. Rainbow Dash frowned. It seemed odd for the stallion to have left after he had told them earlier that he’d set a protection spell around the perimeter that they shouldn’t leave. So where was he?

“Oracle?” she whispered hoarsely, trying to keep her voice down. She didn’t want to disturb Daring.

There was no answer. Rainbow Dash’s eyes moved to the dense jungle beyond the light of their camp and swallowed. Why could he possibly have wanted to go out there?

Think, Rainbow, she told herself. What would Twilight do?

Almost as if the purple unicorn was standing right next to her, she heard her overly-smart friend’s answer in her head immediately.

Look for clues, her inner Twilight told her. Rainbow’s face became determined and she nodded to herself. Of course. If he had gone out there into the forest, then she needed to find him. He could be in serious danger.

She moved over to his bedroll and looked down at the ground near it. His hoof prints were all around it, of course, but one specific set jutted off into the trees surrounding them. Oracle had left the camp. But why?

Only one way to find out, she thought to herself. For a moment she glanced at Daring, considering waking the adventurer up and tell her about Oracle’s disappearance. But if it turned out to be nothing, Rainbow Dash didn’t want to appear like an idiot in front of her idol.

And, if it did turn out to be something….well, Rainbow Dash could show Daring Do that she was good for something.

Recalling what Daring had done earlier, Rainbow grabbed a stick off the ground, wrapped a piece of cloth she’d ripped from her bedroll around it, and let it on fire. The makeshift torch blazed with hardly a steady light, but she hoped it would be enough to let her find Oracle before he got hurt.

With her leg wrapped around the torch, and before she could second-guess herself, Rainbow Dash started off after Oracle’s tracks into the jungle. As she walked, leaving the warm firelight and the protection spell behind, she tried not to let the unknown of the world around her push down on her thoughts too much. But there were a few times, not that she’d admit it to anypony, that she jumped slightly at the sound of a twig breaking, wind through a tree, or a frog croaking in the distance. She wasn’t scared, of course. It was just very dark and…

She shook her head and focused on the tracks she was following. As she walked, she became aware of what sounded like a voice ahead of her. It was deep and rhythmic, like chanting. Rainbow Dash paused and listened for a few moments, trying to understand what it was and were it was coming from. It was definitely somepony’s voice. Was it Oracle?

She followed it, torch held out in front of her, until the forest broke a little, ahead of her. The noise was loudest there, and Rainbow crouched down to peer through the shrubs in case there was trouble.

To her surprise, however, there was no trouble. In fact, far from it. Oracle was standing in the center of the small clearing, his back towards her, sitting on his haunches, rocking back and forth. He was chanting, his voice low and rhythmic, exactly as she’d heard. Rainbow frowned. She didn’t understand the words. What was he saying?

She took a step forward, and a twig cracked loudly under her hoof. She gasped, looked down at the broken twig, then looked back up to find Oracle had turned around and was gazing right at her.

Rainbow Dash straightened, decided to sound stern instead of scared. Which, of course, she was not.

“Oracle,” she said, sounding disapproving. “What are you doing out here?”

“Ah, Rainbow Dash,” the pony said, sounding as though he had been expecting her. “I should ask the same of you.”

“I saw your sleeping bag was empty,” the blue pegasus shot back. “I thought you might be in trouble. What are you doing, Oracle?”

“I am sorry if I caused you worry,” the stallion said calmly, crossing to where Rainbow Dash stood. “I was simply doing some meditation. I find that it helps my mind.”

“But out here?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused. “And at night?”

“I did not want to disturb you and Daring Do,” he replied as means of explanation. “I am finished now, however. We should return. There are dangerous things in this forest. It would be better if we go back to where I have set up my protection charms.”

Oracle walked past her into the forest, and Rainbow Dash looked after him, her eyes narrowed. For the first time, she got a twinge that there was something fishy going on here. Was Oracle trying to hide something from her and Daring?

“Are you coming, Miss Dash?” the earth pony called over his shoulder. Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed, but she followed him through the undergrowth, the torch still held in front of her. She made a note to talk to Daring about this in the morning.

She wondered if there was more to Oracle than he was letting on.

Chapter 12

Chapter 12-

The morning came with a steady rain that managed to find its way through the thick canopy of leaves over their heads and fall on the ground below. The campfire had burned out long ago, and now sizzled every time a drop of water hit it. The three ponies, Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, and Oracle, were awake and preparing to leave. Although, Rainbow had to admit that she wasn’t entirely excited to be up at this time.

“Okay, kid, you got it?” Daring asked once Rainbow Dash had secured her bags back onto her back. Once more her wings were pinned under layers of supplies. It was going to be another long day of walking.

“Yeah, I got it,” she said, shifting the packs so they rested as comfortably as possible. The events with Oracle last night still weighed on her mind, and she wanted to find a time to tell Daring about it, get her opinion on what was going on with the shaman. But not now – the elderly stallion was standing a short distance away, preparing his own saddle bag.

“Daring,” Rainbow whispered to the tan pegasus, keeping her voice down so as not to attract Oracle’s attention. “I need to talk to you – “

“We should not have too far to go now,” Oracle said, looking to Daring and Rainbow. “I can feel the magic of the stone, and I believe it to be coming from the mountains in the distance.”

He pointed a hoof ahead of them, but Rainbow Dash frowned.

“What mountains?” she asked flatly. “All I see is trees.”

“They are there,” Oracle promised her with a short laugh. “My kind have given them a name, which in your language translates to ‘Crumbling Mountains.’”

Daring pursed her lips and nodded.

“Catchy,” she said. Oracle smiled in agreement.

“They are known for their deadly rockslides,” he told them, seemingly unfazed by the fact, as if he was merely telling them that the sky was blue. Rainbow Dash tried not to look alarmed.

“Well, that’s comforting,” she muttered under her breath.

“It should only take us half the day to reach them if we start now,” Oracle said. “And we don’t want to be climbing the mountains in the dark. They’re even more dangerous.”

“So I assumed,” Daring replied. Oracle started forward, and the two mares fell in step behind him. As they walked, Daring turned to look at Rainbow Dash beside her.

“Did you want to tell me something, kid?” she asked. Rainbow glanced ahead at Oracle, but he was too close. She wanted to tell Daring about what she had seen last night. She wanted to get her opinion on whether the native stallion was being entirely truthful with them or not. But he was too close. She didn’t feel comfortable talking to Daring about him when he was right within earshot, especially when she needed to tell her that she was beginning to lose faith in the trustworthiness of their guide.

Instead, the blue pegasus shook her head.

“No,” she told the tan adventurer. “Never mind.”

Daring shrugged, but didn’t press her for anything more. The party fell quiet again, Rainbow eyeing their guide, Oracle walking quietly ahead of them all, and Daring…..well, Rainbow supposed Daring was just being her typical awesome Daring self. They walked for a long time, as the rain continued to drizzle from overhead. The air was thick and humid, but at least the rain helped keep them somewhat cool, when it was able to fall through the thick overhead canopy.

It seemed like an eternity had passed when Oracle suddenly stopped dead in front of them, and Rainbow Dash and Daring Do had to quickly step out from directly behind the old stallion to avoid colliding with him.

“Look,” he said, pointing. Daring and Rainbow glanced at each other before moving to stand beside their guide. Rainbow felt a lump form in her throat.

Before them was another crater, like the one which Rainbow and Daring had seen in the jungle, and the one which had decimated Oracle’s village.

Without another word, Daring leaped down into the charred hole, and immediately began feeling it out. Rainbow followed, while Oracle stayed up on the edge, looking down at them. Daring was closely inspecting some of the charred earth. Glittering bits in the dirt told Rainbow Dash that there were more diamonds around. Just like the others.

“This one is older,” Daring decided. “But it’s deeper than the other two we’ve seen. I think Oracle’s right. We’re definitely getting close.”

Daring turned and leaped up the steep sides of the blackened hole, as Rainbow followed. Once they reached the top where Oracle stood, the shaman pony pointed ahead of them once more.

“The trees are thinning,” he told them. “You can see the mountains now, yes?”

Rainbow Dash and Daring Do both followed the stallion’s indication. The trees had indeed begun to thin, and many of them had obviously been taken out by the strong blast of magic that had caused the blackened crater. But now that the foliage was sparser, great, rocky mountains could be seen. And Rainbow Dash could understand now why they were called the Crumbling Mountains. They stretched into the sky like jagged knives, roughly outlined by the mid-morning sun. They were massive, and they were right in front of them. It reminded Rainbow Dash of the time she and her friends had climbed mountains in order to ward off a sleeping dragon who was covering Equestria with smoke. And yet, these seemed even more terrifying. Not that she was scared, of course.

“It shouldn’t too much longer now,” Daring said. “Oracle, are you sure that you can feel the power coming from those mountains?”

Oracle nodded.

“Yes,” he said. “It is much stronger now. I know that the stone is there.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash asked, pawing the ground impatiently with a hoof. “Let’s get going!”

“Wait,” Oracle said. Both Rainbow and Daring glanced back at the stallion with the same annoyed, impatient expression.

“I should warn you,” he said. “The stone was trapped in the mountain by the sorcerer who stole it. It could have traps awaiting those who attempt to find it.”

Daring tilted her head to the side.

“The story said that the gem was swallowed when the sorcerer was defeated,” the explorer retorted. “I wouldn’t think he had time to booby-trap it.”

Oracle laughed lightly, like a parent laughing at a child’s mistake. Daring did not look as though she appreciated this.

“Your version of the story, the foal’s version of the story may have said that,” the stallion replied. “The true version tells that the sorcerer did not wish the Princesses to ever find the stone, so he hid it himself before they could defeat him. They simply believed that the stone was accidentally lost, and left it be. Their loss turned out to be his victory, rather than the other way around.”

Daring frowned, and Rainbow Dash had to admit, she didn’t like any version of a story that showed the Princesses to be losers or played like fools.

“Very well,” Daring said. “We’ll be on the lookout for traps. Of course, we have a ways to go before that – “

Her words were cut off when the mountains seemed to erupt in blinding light. All three ponies instinctively ducked, pressing themselves to the ground, as the world seemed to shake around them. Rainbow Dash recalled the night back at the village when the magical lightning had rained down on them, but they had never been so close to the origin point. For a few terrifying seconds, Rainbow Dash felt like the world was being ripped apart. She opened her eyes and looked up in time to see a shot of white lightning, larger than any bolt she had ever seen, streak out from the mountains and into the jungle, passing over them and slamming into the trees somewhere far off. The sight left her dazzled.

In a second, it was over, and the three ponies gathered themselves slowly to their hooves, rubbing their eyes as they recovered from the blast of light.

“It is getting stronger,” Oracle replied. “And we are getting closer. Quickly, we are running out of time.”

Without so much as a look to see whether his two companions were alright, Oracle began to move on, his steps quickening to a jerky trot. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were given no choice but to follow.

Behind them, some part of the jungle was now in ruins.

~**~

Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were all sitting with a handful of natives around a dead campfire. The Ponyville group had spent the night with a village of tribal ponies, the tribe which the stallions whom they had met in the jungle belonged to. With the help of Twilight’s translation spell, they had been able to more or less talk to each other, and had formed friendships with most of the native ponies in the tribe.

Their village was small but thriving, and had opened their homes immediately to the Ponyville group. After their initial rough meeting with Swift Water in the jungle (which the stallion had apologized several times for), the tribe’s leader had done just about all he could to make sure Twilight and her friends were comfortable. The ponies in the tribe were more than willing to help their visitors anyways, if for nothing less than to ask them as many questions as they could. They had never seen ponies such as the Ponyville group before, and were amazed by their bright colors, Twilight and Rarity’s horns, and Fluttershy’s wings. Twilight did her best to translate the multitude of questions asked by the village ponies, though she was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information they wanted to know. Seeing that she was becoming stressed, Swift Water had quickly stepped in and told the curious natives that they should allow their guests to rest. Many offered their homes, and all five ponies were given places to sleep for the night, surrounded by friendly and fascinated natives. Twilight found it hard to believe that they had ever been afraid when they’d first encountered them in the jungle.

By the morning, the villagers had stopped asking so many questions, especially once Swift Water had told them that he wished to speak to them. Most of the other natives went about their daily duties, while a few of the apparently more high-ranking ponies stayed nearby as they ate around the dead campfire.

“Now,” Swift Water said, speaking to Twilight. “Yesterday when we first met, you said you were looking for your friend.”

“Yes, sir,” Twilight replied. “Her name is Rainbow Dash. It’s….a long story of how she got lost out here, but we need to find her.”

Swift Water nodded and looked to a mare who was sitting near them. She was a light grey color with a dark charcoal mane and tail, and her cutie mark was some sort of exotic flower.

“Paradise,” he said to her. “Have you heard anything from the neighboring tribes about a brightly-colored winged pony?” he looked back to Twilight. “Paradise is one of our scouts,” he informed the unicorn. “She listens to the news of the other tribes.”

“Twilight,” Applejack said, leaning over to her friend. “What’s he sayin’?”

“He’s asking one of the scouts if she’s heard anything about Rainbow Dash,” Twilight told the farm pony. Applejack nodded, while Rarity and Fluttershy looked worriedly on. Pinkie Pie was entertaining a few of the other tribal ponies with some made-up game.

“Let me think,” the grey mare, Paradise, said, considering. “I did hear about two unknown ponies who appeared at a tribe to the west. They were both described as very strange.”

“Strange in what way?” Swift Water asked calmly.

“I heard that both had wings,” Paradise replied. “And….well, I heard that one’s mane was made from rainbows, though that seems silly.”

“No, that’s Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, her heart beat quickening. “And Daring Do, too.”

“Twi?” Applejack prompted. Twilight looked over her shoulder at her friends to translate.

“She’s been seen in a tribe to the west,” Twilight said. Applejack and Rarity both breathed a sigh of relief. Fluttershy still looked worried.

“Oh,” the yellow pegasus whispered. “I hope she’s alright!”

“I’m sure she will be,” Applejack said with a confident smile. “Rainbow’s like bamboo. You can bend her all you want – she won’t break!”

“And she is with Daring Do,” Rarity pointed out. “I’m sure the two of them make quite a team.”

“But still,” Twilight pointed out. “In the book, there’s that rockslide. We have to get to her before that happens.”

“How far away is she?” Fluttershy asked tentatively. Twilight voiced the question to Paradise.

“Well,” the grey mare said. “The tribe where they were seen is about half a day’s walk to the west.”

“Half a day’s?!” Rarity started after Twilight translated. But an annoyed look from Applejack quickly silenced the white unicorn’s whining. She looked away innocently.

“I-I just hate the thought of Rainbow Dash being so far,” she said, laughing awkwardly.

“But – “ Paradise continued. “I heard they left. The village was destroyed by some sort of fire. The two ponies left into the jungle.”

Twilight hit her forehead with a hoof as the memory came back.

“Of course!” she gasped. “They’re looking for the Alicorn Stone! They’ll have left to find it by now!”

She’d said the words in Common, and Applejack stared incredulously at her friend.

“’Alicorn Stone?’” she repeated. “What is that?”

“It’s a magical stone that’s trapped in the Crumbling Mountains,” Twilight explained. “The legend goes that Celestia created the stone, and it had the magical properties of alicorns. But the stone was stolen but an evil sorcerer, who tried to use its powers for good. Celestia and Luna fought against him, and though he was defeated, before he fell he hid the stone in the mountains so that the Princesses couldn’t find it and use it again.”

“And the Princesses never tried to find it?” Applejack asked, skeptically. Twilight shrugged.

“It’s just a story,” she replied. “According to it, they decided it was better left alone.”

“So….Rainbow Dash and Daring Do are going after this stone?” Rarity asked, her eyes widening. “Just how big of a stone are we talking about?”

“It’s not a gem to be worn,” Twilight replied firmly. “It’s dangerous. And surrounded by booby traps placed there by the sorcerer.”

“I cannot understand what you are saying anymore,” Swift Water said, looking confused. Twilight looked back to him.

“Sorry,” she apologized. “But, please, do you know where the Crumbling Mountains are? I think that’s where our friend is heading.”
Swift Water’s confusion deepened.

“The Crumbling Mountains?” he asked. “Why would your friend go there? All the tribes in this area have stories of danger about those mountains! They are nothing but trouble.”

“I know,” Twilight said. “But that’s where Rainbow Dash and Daring Do are headed, and we need to find them .”
Whether or not Swift Water was going to tell the ponies the direction of the mountains they never found out. As soon as Twilight finished her sentence, there sky seemed to erupt with light. The earth under their hooves shook, and all the ponies in the camp dove to the ground, covering their head with their front legs. A fair distance away, an explosion shot rubble up into the sky, and a few loose rocks and chunks of burnt foliage rained down on the tribal village.

And, as quickly as the blast had come, it was over.

Thick smoke hung in the air as Twilight raised her head and looked around.

“Is everypony okay?” she asked, rising slowly to her hooves. Her friends all nodded and voiced their assurances, and Twilight held out a hoof to help Swift Water back to his feet. The earth stallion looked troubled.

“What was that?” Applejack asked. Twilight sighed and looked into the distance. She could see smoke billowing up from where the magical lightning had struck.

“That was the Alicorn Stone,” the unicorn told her friends.

“This has happened before,” Swift Water said, though Twilight knew he had not understood her words to her friends. “My tribe, and all the ponies around here, are terrified. Many think it is the goddesses’ wrath, that we have done something to displease them.”

Twilight shook her head.

“Trust me,” she said. “This isn’t the Princess’ doing. But we will stop this.”

“Well,” Pinkie Pie said, seemingly unfazed by the destruction that had just happened. “I guess we know now where the Crumbling Mountains are!”

“Oh, good,” Applejack said dryly. “I always wanted to wrastle with a stone that can shoot off magic lightning.”

Pinkie Pie gasped.

“Really?” she said, unbelieving. “Me too!”

Applejack rolled her eyes.

“You will be leaving now?” Swift Water asked. Twilight nodded.

“We have to find Rainbow Dash,” she told him. “And we know they’re heading towards those mountains. We have to go, too.”

“Very well, then,” Swift Water said. “Would you like my assistance?”

Twilight looked around at the village ponies around them, some already repairing damage done to their dwellings after the shock wave from the blast. The unicorn shook her head.

“You have a village to look after,” she told him. “We’ll be alright. And I promise, the stone won’t harm your village anymore.”

As the smoke from the blast faded, the ponies prepared to leave. Swift Water, Paradise, and a few of the other villagers stood together to see the Ponyville ponies off. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie gathered together at the edge of the clearing where the tribe lived, and briefly thanked their hosts for their hospitality.

“Good luck, Twilight Sparkle,” Swift Water told the unicorn. “And be safe.”

“Thank you,” Twilight replied, then turned to her friends.

“Let’s find Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said, her green eyes determined. The others nodded in agreement, and with one look back at the villagers who had treated them so well, the group of ponies set off once more into the jungle.

Swift Water stood back, watching after them.

“May Celestia keep you all safe,” he whispered softly.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13-

Not for the first time, Rainbow Dash really wished she could use her wings. They’d reached the base of the mountains a few hours after they had encountered the new crater, and they’d been climbing ever since. It was around mid-day by now, and the sun was high over top of them. Without the canopy of trees to protect them, the sun beat down on all three ponies. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were both drenched with sweat, though Oracle seemed not to mind the heat.

“Let’s take a break,” Daring panted, taking off her hat and wiping sweat from her forehead. Rainbow Dash sat down on the rocky path they were on, silently agreeing with Daring’s request.

Oracle’s tail twitched in annoyance, and the old stallion turned back to them. He was visibly covered in perspiration as well, but he seemed utterly unfazed by the heat. In fact, a strange sort of determination that Rainbow Dash had never seen before glowed in his eyes.

“We cannot,” he said firmly. “We are too close to the stone now.”

“Oracle,” Daring said, trying to sound reasonable. “The stone has been hidden for hundreds of years. Why would a few more hours make any difference?”

The shaman turned back around so his back was facing them.

“Very well,” he said, sounding suddenly sad and defeated. “We will take a break, and give the stone a chance to explode once more, and this time, maybe even kill somepony. Maybe my own village. Maybe they will not be so lucky. But it is your choice. We will take a break, and risk lives. Or we can continue and stop this magic before it destroys all of my country.”

Daring looked as though she was struggling not to strangle the shaman, and Rainbow Dash didn’t blame her. But the adventurer stood back up, replacing her hat on her sweaty head, and sighed.

“Alright,” she consented. “Have it your way. C’mon, kid, let’s keep going.”

Rainbow groaned as she got back to her hooves, and followed after Daring. Oracle walked ahead of them, but Rainbow swore she could see what looked like a smirk on his face. She was really getting the feeling that the shaman was a dirty little rat, and she only wished she could talk to Daring about it. But it seemed like Oracle was always nearby, like he was always listening in on their conversations. The stallion was starting to give her the creeps.

For a long time they walked in silence. Neither Rainbow nor Daring were in the mood to talk, as they were mostly concentrating on not noticing how sore their hooves were or how hot the sun was or how tired they were. Oracle just seemed completely stoic, and barely spared the two pegasi a glance as he continued up the mountain like some sort of machine. Rainbow wondered how a stallion so old could do it.

They were well up into the mountains when Oracle stopped.

“Are we finally taking a break?” Rainbow panted. Oracle ignored her.

“Look,” he said, using a hoof to point upwards. The two pegasi followed his gaze. A higher peak a short distance away was blackened, and a jagged scar was cut into the rock. Daring frowned.

“I’m going to guess that hasn’t always been there?” she asked. Oracle shrugged.

“No,” Oracle said. “That must be where the Alicorn Stone is.”

“It’s not too far,” Daring stated, as the judged the distance. “But I don’t think we’ll be there before nightfall.”

“Ah,” Oracle said, suddenly lightening. “Then it is good that you have me for a guide. I know that there are cave systems that run through these mountains. They should be able to take us to that peak.”

“Caves?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “You mean there are caves running all around here and we’ve been walking up a mountain all day?”

“If we were inside,” Oracle replied calmly. “Then we could not have seen where the stone was located.”

“Oracle, that’s great that there are caves up here,” Daring said. “But do you have a map for them? We could be wandering in caves forever and never find what we’re looking for.”

“Fortunately for you, I have a great sense of direction,” Oracle assured them, sounding almost haughty. “And I will follow the sense of magic the stone is putting off. I will guide you well.”

Daring opened her mouth to argue, but seemed to think better of it. Frowning slightly, she followed after Oracle as the earth shaman started forward again.

“There should be an entrance to the system somewhere up here…” He said, scanning the rocks around them. Rainbow Dash glanced at Daring. The tan pegasus didn’t look pleased with this idea.

“Don’t like caves?” she asked teasingly. Daring glared at her, then shot a glance towards Oracle.

“It’s not the caves that worry me,” she muttered under her breath, but refused to say anything else. Rainbow Dash glances from the adventurer back to Oracle. Was she having doubts about their guide as well?

“There,” Oracle said, and strode forward to a jagged split amongst a pile of rocks. As Rainbow looked up at the huge boulders that towered above them on all sides, she was uncomfortably reminded of the rock slides that had given these mountains their name.

“Are you sure this will take us where we want to go?” Daring asked, standing just outside the entrance to the cave and giving Oracle a severe look. The stallion seemed either generally ignorant of her wariness.

“Of course,” he replied, straight forward. “All of these caverns connect, like I have said. And we merely have to follow my sense of direction.”

Daring still looked unconvinced.

“Alright,” she said. “But if I think we’re getting lost…”

“Then you will not be able to find your way back without my assistance,” Oracle replied. “Here, look.”

He had entered the mouth of the cave, and Daring and Rainbow cautiously followed. Oracle reached out a hoof to the wall, and Rainbow Dash saw an old, dusty torch resting in a crevice in the rock.

“Ponies used to frequent this area before the dangers of the mountains drove them away,” he said, taking the torch. “They used to light the entrances, though now there is not much of a use for that now.”

“If ponies used to frequent these passages,” Daring retorted. “Then why has nopony ever found the Alicorn’s Stone before now?”

“I do not believe anypony has ever tried,” Oracle replied. “Or knew it was here. If the Princesses could not find it, how could an ordinary tribal pony do so?”

Daring frowned, but didn’t have a response. Oracle held the torch out to her, obviously waiting for her to light it. She did so, using one of the matches from her pack, and Oracle held it out in front of them.

“Follow,” he told them, and started into the cave. Daring followed, and Rainbow Dash gave one last look back at the daylight behind them, before she followed as well.

~**~

“There they are,” Twilight said, as she and her friends stood on a hill at the edge of the dense jungle. Before them stood the jagged peaks of the Crumbling Mountains, shadows cast over them by the sun which was inching its way towards the opposite horizon. It had taken them the better part of the day to get out of the jungle, and they still had a ways to go before reaching the mountains themselves.

“Now, what did you say these mountains are called again?” Applejack asked.

“The name given to them by the natives translates to ‘The Crumbling Mountains’, so called for their dangerous rock slides,” Twilight answered.

Fluttershy bit her lip.

“R-rockslides?” the yellow pegasus asked. Twilight nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “If I remember, according to the book, ponies used to use the mountains quite a bit, but they stopped because they were so dangerous. Too many avalanches.”

“And…we’re going there?” Fluttershy squeaked, every second growing more and more scared. Twilight looked back at her friend, sympathetic.

“I know they look scary,” she said. “And…well, they are. But Rainbow Dash is already making her way up them, and we have to get there in time to save her.”

Fluttershy still looked terrified, but she couldn’t stand the thought of losing her friend.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Pinkie Pie chirped, already starting to hop down the cliff.

“Hold on,” Rarity said, her sapphire blue eyes concerned. “Twilight, it’s taken us most of the day to get here. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do could be anywhere in those mountains. How do we expect to find them before the avalanche at the end of the book?”

“Rarity’s right,” Applejack put in, looking at Twilight. “How can we find her in time?”

“Hmm…” Twilight said, thinking for a moment. They did have a point. She hadn’t thought of that. They could be wandering the mountains for ages before they found Rainbow Dash, and by that time it would be too late.

Suddenly, though, she had an idea.

“We don’t have to find her in the mountains, “the unicorn said, her eyes lighting up. “All we have to do is find where the avalanche will happen. The story’s plot will take care of the rest!”

“And where will the avalanche happen?” Applejack asked.

“If I remember the book correctly,” Twilight replied. “It happens on the mountain where they find the stone.”

“And which mountain is that?” Rarity asked.

“The tallest one,” Twilight responded. “On the top”

“So, let me get this straight,” Applejack said, slowly. “All we have to do is cross through the rockslide-prone mountains, find the tallest mountain, climb it, and then not get crushed by falling rocks in order to save Rainbow Dash from falling rocks?”

Twilight looked as hopeful as she could.

“That…pretty much sums it up,” she admitted. Fluttershy squeaked again.

“Well, let’s get a move-on before we lose anymore daylight,” Applejack said flatly, as she started off down the hill. Twilight and the others followed after, but Twilight didn’t miss hearing Applejack mumble, “But I swear, as soon as I find that pony I’m gluing her to one spot in Ponyville so she can’t pull this again.”

Chapter 14

Chapter 14-

It seemed as though they were trapped inside the earth itself, doomed to wander forever with only the light of a dim torch held out before them. Rainbow Dash had never realized just how much she loved seeing the sky, or being outside in the sunlight until she was trapped in these endlessly winding tunnels a long way from the open air.

Oracle had fallen back behind Daring, and Rainbow was now bringing up the rear. The party had hardly talked since entering the cave, unless Oracle was giving directions. Daring’s ears were pricked forward, and her face was tense with concentration. She seemed to be looking everywhere at all times, and Rainbow assumed it was for booby traps. Danger could be anywhere and everywhere down here. It made the blue pegasus shudder to think about it.

The three ponies mostly were relegated to walking in a single-file line, as the passageways were too narrow for anything else. They’d been walking like this for a while when the cavern opened up into a large room. Rainbow Dash sighed inwardly with relief. Finally, a break from the narrow passageways.

But Daring stopped short, forcing Rainbow to avoid running into the pegasus’ back.

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked, glancing around. “What is it?”

“This room,” Daring said, keeping her voice down as if it could cause a trap to suddenly spring. “It doesn’t feel right.”

Carefully, the tan mare edged out into the open chamber, her fuchsia eyes jumping from place to place. Rainbow Dash copied the adventurer, edging out after her. Oracle stayed back in the shadows of the passageway.

“Stay back with Oracle, kid,” Daring shot over her shoulder at Rainbow, but the blue pony shook her head.

“No way,” she replied. “I can help.”

Daring grunted.

“Fine. But step only where I step. Got it?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed with a firm nod. Daring turned her attention back to the chamber. She moved a few more steps forward, then paused. Her face became thoughtful, and Rainbow Dash glanced around the rocks trying to see what she had noticed. The adventurer’s eyes seemed to be trained on something near the ceiling, and the blue pegasus took a few steps forward to see. A gentle breeze ruffled her mane –

“Rainbow, NO!” Daring’s voice was like a canon, echoing through the cavern. “Freeze, right there! Do. Not. Move.”

Rainbow Dash froze where she stood, anchored to the spot.

“What?” she asked, trying not to panic. “What happened?”

“You’ve stepped on a mine,” the tan pegasus said slowly. “Look down at your front right hoof.”

Rainbow Dash looked down at her leg, to find that the section of the floor she’d stepped on had sunken a half an inch into the rest of the rock. She made a move to step away, but Daring yelled at her once more to stay where she was. Rainbow Dash froze again.

“That switch is part of a mechanism,” Daring told the blue mare. “Look at the walls of the cave.”

Rainbow Dash did as she was told, and in the dim light of Daring’s torch, she could see very slight crevices bored into the rock walls.

“Those are for darts, or arrows, possibly poisoned, definitely dangerous,” Daring told her. “And you’ve just triggered one of them. Take your hoof off that switch, and there’ll be a boatload of arrows coming right at you.”

Rainbow Dash swallowed.

“What do we do?” she asked, her voice cracking a little. She cleared her throat. She wasn’t scared. She wasn’t scared….

“We’ll have to move fast,” Daring replied. “It’ll take about a second for the mechanism to push the arrows out into the cave. The designers were obviously thinking the victim wouldn’t realize they’d hit the trigger until it was too late. But if you’re fast enough, you should be able to get out of the way in time.”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed with determination.

“Fast?” she said, calmly. “I can do fast.”

“Good,” Daring said. “On my count, then. One….”

Rainbow Dash’s muscles tensed, though she was careful to keep the same amount of weight on the switch.

“Two…”

Her ears pressed against her skull as she concentrated.

“Three!”

On Daring’s count, Rainbow Dash threw herself to the side, and hit the ground hard. She opened her eyes in time to see a barrage of darts peppering the far cave wall, and then fall uselessly to the ground.
Rainbow Dash let out a long breath and slumped, relief flooding her body.

“Good job, kid,” Daring said, giving her an approving smile. “You move pretty quick.”

Rainbow Dash smirked.

“Thanks,” she said, and gathered herself back to her hooves.

“Amazing display,” Oracle said, coming forward from his hiding place. “But now can we move on?”

“I wouldn’t be so quick if I was you,” Daring said, shooting a glance back at the old stallion. He seemed to be growing more anxious. “Unless you want to end up looking like Swiss cheese. This chamber’s probably full of those triggers.”

“How do we tell where they are?” Rainbow Dash asked, scanning the cave floor.

“The sorcerer probably marked the switches somehow, in case he came back through here,” Daring said.

“It’d be pretty dumb to get killed by your own trap,” Rainbow Dash agreed. She looked down at the switch that she’d triggered. “Look, there’s something written on here, or something.”

She raised a hoof to touch the stone, but stopped and thought better of it. Daring Do looked down at the switch, and squinted. A small, shallow symbol had been carved into the rock. It looked like an arrow.

“Yes, that should be it,” Daring said. “Look through the cavern. Check everything for this symbol, and once you’ve found it, mark it.”

She pulled a few pieces of charcoal from her saddle bag and handed one each to Rainbow Dash and Oracle.

“I feel like this is a waste of time,” Oracle said, his voice tinged with an impatience that Rainbow Dash hadn’t heard before. He always seemed so understanding. “We should continue on, not spend time dallying around this cavern.”

“Well, unless you want to end up with a bunch of holes punched in you,” Daring said. “Be my guest. But, if you want, you can move on and check for other traps along the way, and Rainbow Dash and I will catch up with you.”

Rainbow Dash saw something almost like anger in the stallion’s eyes as he and Daring faced off. But he seemed to gather himself, returning to his typical nonchalance.

“Very well,” he said, calmly. “I will do what you wish.”

He took the charcoal in his mouth and started off into the cavern. Rainbow cast a confused glance after the shaman pony, and looked back at Daring, the pegasus shook her head, taking her own charcoal in her mouth, and started the search.
It took them about twenty minutes to find all the switches. After finding the first few, they were able to find a pattern in their placement, and marking went much quicker. With the three of them working, they made their way to the far side of the chamber.

Daring stuck her charcoal back into her saddle bag, and Rainbow Dash and Oracle returned theirs as well.

“That should do it,” the tan pony said. “If we come back through here, we’ll be able to find the switches and avoid them.”

“We have wasted quite a bit of time,” Oracle said, sounding impatient once again. “We should move on.”

“My thoughts as well,” Daring said bluntly. She nodded to Rainbow Dash, and moved off into the darkness of the cavern. Rainbow Dash followed after the adventurer. Oracle brought up the rear, and when Rainbow Dash glanced back at him, his face was dark, his eyes hard and determined. She wondered if he was simply anxious about moving on, or if there was something more on his mind.

~**~

“Twilight, how much farther?” Applejack’s voice was a strained whisper. Twilight had warned them multiple times about how dangerous these mountain passes were. Even Pinkie Pie was staying quiet to avoid the possibility of causing an avalanche. They weren’t strangers to falling rock dangers – when the six had confronted a dragon a while back, Fluttershy had accidentally spooked and caused half the mountain to rain down on them. They’d learned their lesion since then, though it didn’t mean that Applejack wasn’t having to force Fluttershy to move up the mountain. The yellow pegasus was petrified with fear.

“I think we still have a long way to go, sorry,” the unicorn apologized. Rarity sighed noisily, and Twilight glared at her. The white unicorn looked away innocently.

They continued on in silence for a long time, winding steadily around the seemingly unending mountain trails. Several times the paths became so narrow that the five ponies were forced to walk in a single file line. Fluttershy mis-stepped once, causing a small shower of rocks to fall from the path. The yellow pegasus watched them fall – down, down, down – and immediately pressed herself against the ground, refusing to budge. Applejack had to come behind her and shove her forward until they found steadier ground.

Twilight couldn’t blame her friends for wanting to know how close they were to their goal. She was tired too. Her hooves were sore and throbbing, and there had been several times when the height had almost gotten the best of her, as it had to Fluttershy. But the unicorn focused her mind, forcing herself not to look down and just keep thinking of Rainbow Dash, and finding her.

And, honestly, though she didn’t want to admit it to her friends, she wasn’t entirely certain where they’d find their missing friend. Living in the book had jogged Twilight’s memory, but it had been a long time since she’d read this particular story. She knew that there was something in there about caves, which was why she’d chosen to take the over-the-mountains path, hoping to save time in finding Rainbow’s location. After all, they weren’t looking for the Alicorn Stone. They just needed to find Rainbow Dash, and Twilight had theorized that if they only got in the area where the Stone was hidden, they’d find their friend eventually.

But…exactly where that was? The unicorn didn’t know.

Oh, if only she’d thought to bring along her Reference Guide to Mythical and Fictional Maps of Equestria! There must have been something in there about these mountains! Or maybe if she’d just read the book again she’d know. Perhaps when she got back home, she’d make it a point to read every book in her library every year and take notes on the most important parts, in case this ever happened again….

The unicorn was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she was shocked when one of her hooves slipped off the side of the narrow path they were walking down. Twilight gasped as she fell forward, several layers of dirt and rock crumbling away under her weight. Without even thinking, Twilight cried out instinctively as she plummeted down the side of the mountain. She bounced off a few rocks and finally came to rest on a ledge several feet below where her friends were walking.

They were immediately all gathered around the edge of the path, looking down at her.

“Twilight?” Pinkie Pie called. “Are you okay?”

Twilight didn’t answer. Her ears pricked forward and she looked wildly around. The sound of their voices were bouncing off the rocks all around them, and a low, rumbling sound was beginning build, like distant thunder. Twilight swallowed hard.

“Oh, no….” she whispered. She looked up desperately at the worried faces. They hadn’t missed the sounds, either.

“Everypony run!” Twilight yelled desperately up at them, but her words were drowned out by the harsh, ear-splitting sound of hundreds of pounds of rock and dirt cascading down the side of the mountain, set loose by Twilight’s cries.

The unicorn had no choice – she couldn’t rejoin her friends like this. Rocks and dust were rolling down the mountain all around her, though she was shielded from their rain as the cascade mostly shot off the side of the mountain, missing her ledge. Still, she huddled as far against the rocky face as she could, her hooves pressed over her head. It literally felt like the world was crumbling around her, as though the mountains were falling apart and down onto her friends just because of the one careless sound she’d made. How could she have been so stupid?

She couldn’t hear her friends over the sound of the avalanche, and she hoped to heaven that they were all right. The crushing sound of rocks sliding and dirt raining down filled her senses for a long time, taking her to some nightmare realm where she didn’t know if she was dreaming or awake. She felt separated from everything, blocked from her friends and hoping that her position would be enough to save herself from falling debris.

Finally, after a long time, the rocks stopped.

Twilight’s ears were ringing with the sounds of the avalanche, and at first when the unicorn opened one purple eye, she couldn’t tell where she was. The air around her was so thick with dust, she could hardly see two feet in front of her own nose. She coughed, and slowly stood up, moving towards the ledge’s edge. She looked up to where she’d last seen her friends, but didn’t expect to see them anymore. She bit her lip, knowing she shouldn’t yell their names – she could start another avalanche.

Twilight used a teleportation spell to wink out from where she’d fallen back up to the path where she’d originally been. She appeared atop a pile of boulders, and looked quickly around, in search of her friends.

“Applejack?” she called quietly, trying to see through the dust. She coughed, as she breathed it into her lungs. She moved forward scanning the fallen rocks, searching for any sign of the ponies who had been here only moments before.

“Pinkie Pie? Rarity?” she asked, hoarsely, the dust coating her throat. She jumped from rock to rock, teleported from place to place. Soon, she was searching frantically through the debris for her friends.

“…Fluttershy? Where are you? Girls?”

The unicorn felt tears well up in her eyes, and she knew it wasn’t just from the dust. She stood amongst the debris and looked back over her shoulder, hoping to spot any sign of movement.

But she was all alone.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15-

A deep rumbling issuing from somewhere outside the caverns caused the trio of ponies to pause. Daring Do frowned.

“Avalanche,” she said. “Let’s hope it didn’t block any of the passage.”

They continued on after the rumbling had stopped, deeper and further into the caverns. Rainbow Dash wondered just how far they went for – it seemed like they were descending into the depths of the earth itself, directed only by Oracle’s infrequent instructions on which way to turn. The stallion had fallen back now, so that both Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were walking in front of him. If Daring found this behavior strange, she didn’t show it. The shaman had spent most of the journey walking ahead of them, steering them in the direction they needed to go. Now it seemed that he wanted to be as far from the front of the line as possible. Was it because the booby trap they’d come across earlier had spooked him?

As the ponies moved further in, Rainbow began to notice that the ceiling was becoming lower and lower, until the three ponies were crawling almost on their bellies through the tunnels. Rainbow Dash felt trapped, and tried to force herself to remain calm even as the narrow passageways closed in on her.

Finally, Daring stopped.

“Drop your saddlebags here, Rainbow,” she told the blue pegasus. The tan pegasus was already beginning to pull on the knots that were holding her own burden down.

“Are you sure?” Rainbow asked, though she wasn’t complaining – the bags weren’t helping their descent into these narrow tunnels.

“I’m sure,” Daring said, decidedly. “We won’t need them from here on out. Just leave them here. If we don’t find them again, maybe they’ll be some use to somepony else who finds themselves – unfortunately – trapped down here.”

From her words, Rainbow Dash concluded that she wasn’t the only one uncomfortable with such tight surroundings.

They left their bags shoved up against the side of the tunnel. Oracle, however, refused to take off his saddlebag and leave it behind. Daring tried reasoning with him, but the shaman would hear nothing of it, and his bag stayed firmly on his back. Daring eventually gave up and let him keep it.

Rainbow, on the other hand, was relieved to have hers gone. Her wings were finally free; though that didn’t matter much with the way things were going. The passage continued to grow narrower, until Rainbow had a growing fear that eventually they’d get stuck. Daring continued to hold the torch out before her, but it was starting to flicker. They could tell it wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Daring….if the walls get any closer, we’ll be pancakes,” Rainbow Dash said as she slid awkwardly through the narrow tunnel. She felt the rocks pressing against her body all around her, and the feeling made her anxious. Sweat beaded up on her forehead.

“Keep going,” Daring urged her. “It should widen soon.”

Rainbow bit her lip and continued on, hoping Daring was right.

And she was right, eventually. The tunnels did widen, but only marginally. Enough for Rainbow to almost straighten herself, though her head still hit the ceiling if she wasn’t careful. At least it didn’t feel like they were being squeezed through a tube of toothpaste.
And with this widening, came something else. A soft, distant sound, echoing through the rocks. Daring’s ears flicked forward as she listened hard to it.

“You hear that?” she asked. Rainbow Dash nodded.

“What is it?”

“Water,” Daring answered. “We’re coming up to a river.”

They moved forward until the passage widened again, but only sideways. They were still forced to crouch as they moved along. However, their forward progress was eventually stopped.

“There it is,” Daring observed. The three ponies had come to stand at the edge of a deep crevice, a long, twisting scar in the rock that stretched out in either direction. Rainbow Dash peered down into the depths, and could see the reflection of the torch off the water far below. The river was running swiftly towards their left, and the crevice it ran through was deep.

“It’s an underground river,” Daring explained. “Probably stretches all through these mountains before coming out in the jungle. It could be…ooh..hundreds of feet deep.”

“How’re we supposed to get across it?” Rainbow Dash demanded, still staring down at the black gouge in the rocks. “The ceiling’s too close – we can’t fly across. Is there a bridge?”

“There has to be,” Daring replied. “I’ll go down for a ways and see if I can find a way across. You two stay here. I’ll be taking the torch with me, so you’ll be in complete darkness. Don’t wander off. You could get lost here too easily.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t resist shuddering at the thought of wandering through these tunnels forever, without sunlight. She didn’t have to be told twice.

Daring nodded firmly, then started off down the passage in one direction, the torch held out in front of her as she began her scan of the river. Rainbow sat down on the cold stone, watching the flickering flame of Daring’s torch disappear as the mare walked off. Soon, the light was gone completely, swallowed by the dark. She and Oracle were left alone.

Rainbow Dash remembered that, when she was a filly, she had been afraid of the dark. All kids were. But she hadn’t been scared of it since she was little. But when Daring’s light finally vanished from her view, and Rainbow Dash and Oracle were plunged in to real, palpable darkness, she began to remember those fears.

This was beyond the darkness of her bedroom she’d been scared of as a filly, though. Rainbow Dash had never in all her life experienced something like this. The darkness in the jungle the night before seemed like a sunny day compared to the absolute blackness that wrapped around her now. A feeling of absolute nothingness. There was no light. None at all. She felt it pressing in on her, and she kept having to feel her eyes with her hooves to make sure they were still open. She just couldn’t tell anymore. Everything was so black.

And so quiet. There was no sound, except the rushing water far below, and the sound of her own breathing which now sounded so loud in her own ears. She swallowed.

“Oracle?” she whispered, though not sure why she was keeping her voice down. It was almost as though she feared the dark would attack her if she spoke too loudly. “Are you still there?”

The shaman chuckled softly, the only friendly sound she’d heard him make since they’d entered the caverns.

“Yes,” he replied calmly. “I am still here.”

Rainbow nodded, though she knew he couldn’t see her.

They waited a long time in the blackness, until Rainbow Dash felt certain that Daring wasn’t coming back. Just as the pegasus was beginning to wonder how they’d manage if the mare didn’t return, and if they were stuck down here without light forever, a pinprick of light, so faint Rainbow Dash almost thought she was imagining it, appeared in the distance. It slowly grew brighter and bigger, and she could finally see Daring coming back towards them. Her face was emotionless.

“You alright?” Daring asked as she came up to them. Rainbow Dash nodded, just glad to be able to see something again.

“Did you find a way across?” she asked, anxious to get out of this labyrinth. But Daring shook her head.

“No,” she replied. “I’m going to check down the other way. Stay here.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and watched as once more, Daring and the torch disappeared the other way. This time, the blue pegasus just lay down and closed her eyes, trying to shut out the darkness. If she just pretended she was asleep in her own bed, everything would be fine….

She didn’t have to pretend for long. Daring came back much faster this time.

“Kid, Oracle, you gotta come see this!” the tan pegasus said, sounding excited. Without thinking twice, Rainbow Dash rose quickly and raced after the adventurer, Oracle tagging along a short distance behind. They followed Daring for a short while, but it wasn’t long before they realized what had intrigued her.

The cavern opened up, the ceiling rising back upwards to a fairly reasonable and less-claustrophobic height. Rainbow could stand fully straight again, a wonderful feeling in and of itself.

But it wasn’t the height of the chamber that had made the adventurer to excited. It was what was in it.

The river was still there, with its deep crevice, but there was something else. It looked like a large, stone bridge that was laid across the ravine, though it was tipped upwards like an unbalanced seesaw. The side closest to them sloped down into the river’s canyon, the other was suspended in the air.

“There’s something written on the wall here,” Daring said, and Rainbow turned her attention from the strange bridge to where the tan pegasus was staring intently on a series of white markings on the cavern’s stone. Rainbow Dash trotted over to where Daring was standing, Oracle a few paces behind, and leaned forward to read the inscription which had been written neatly on the wall with some sort of white chalk or pencil.
It was surprisingly in Common Equestrian, and had been inscribed by somepony with excellent penmanship. It read:

If you have come so far, then I congratulate your progress, though I pity your ambition.

I am not fool enough to think that nopony will ever find the Stone, though I can
take the care to ensure it is not easy. It must not fall into the wrong hooves,
especially those of the two foolish Princesses.
Time is short, but here is a hint:
I unbalanced the magical order with my precious Stone. Look at the bridge I made for
you. Restore what it lost, and you will find more.

Rainbow hadn’t noticed before, but there was a pile of what looked like large, loose boulders sitting under the inscription. She ignored them and focused on the words written on the wall.

“Was that written by the sorcerer?” Rainbow asked, frowning. She didn’t like how he had called the two Princesses “foolish”.

“Yes,” Oracle said, his eyes sparkling. “We are close now, I can feel it.”

“Maybe,” Daring said. “But first we have to figure out what this means.” She gestured to the inscription. Rainbow looked at her as if she was crazy.

“Why?” she asked. “Come on, Daring! We can just fly across!”

At her words, she took to the air, enjoying the ability to stretch her wings again. In a mere four wing beats, she was over the crevice and safely on the other side.

“Kid, be careful!” Daring yelled over to her. “Remember what happened last time!”

Rainbow Dash snorted proudly.

“Please,” she said, haughtily. “I know what I’m doing.”

And to make of point of it, she landed on the other side, then tucked her wings back against her body. Nothing happened, and she smiled broadly back towards Daring.

“See?” she called. “Come on! Let’s get out of here!”

“Hmmm…” Daring said, rubbing her chin as she looked back at the words written across the stone wall. “This has to mean something….”

“Do you believe now, Miss Do, that the Alicorn’s Stone is real?” Oracle asked the tan mare calmly. Daring glanced back at him and frowned.

“Well,” she replied. “I believe something’s been destroying pieces of your jungle. But let’s not call it the subject of that old lore just yet.”

She turned back to see Rainbow Dash waving at them, then sighed. Maybe the blue mare was right….

“Hold on, Oracle,” she said, and took to wing, lifting the shaman pony off the ground with her. Rainbow Dash watched from the other side as Daring struggled with her burden. He was heavy, and she was tired…

The stallion’s hooves caught the edge of the bridge, and tipped it forward. As it leveled, a strange, scraping sound, like the sound of rock grinding against rock, filled the chamber. Rainbow swung around, her magenta eyes wide. Immediately across from the bridge, in the rock wall, a carved stone door slid upwards, leading to a darkened shaft leading further in. A gust of old, dusty cave air belched from within it: this door had obviously not been opened since it had been created many years ago.

Rainbow Dash was about to call Daring’s attention to the door, but as the stone bridge passed its balancing point and began to tip back down into the ravine, the door slid back downward with the ear-splitting sound of churning rock. It slammed closed.

“Daring!” Rainbow gasped as the tan mare landed and released Oracle. “Did you see that?”

Daring came forward to inspect the door, which was barely visible as it was so flush with the wall. She slid her hoof back and forth across it, but frowned.

“I can’t find a handle,” she said. “Or any way to open it.”

“It opened when the bridge was level,” Rainbow Dash told her, looking back at the stone bridge which was now tipped up onto its side, completely vertical. Daring looked over her shoulder as well at the bridge, and stepped towards the ravine. She looked thoughtful.

“’Restore what it lost, and you will find more,’” she quoted. “I don’t know what that last bit means, but I think what he’s trying to tell us it that to open the door, we have to restore balance to the bridge.”

“Makes sense,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “But with what?”

Daring looked across the dark tunnel back towards the ravine, the way they had come. Rainbow Dash glanced over her shoulder down the tunnel, and, in the dim light of the torch, her eyes came to rest on what appeared to be a pile of boulders in various sizes, stacked together. Realization came to her mind.

“Daring!” she said, flying over to the boulders. The adventurer turned around, regarding her.

“These boulders,” she said. “They’re like the ones on the other side, under the inscription!”

She grabbed the largest of the rocks and turned it around. White pencil had marked out a number “100” on it. Upon closer inspection, the other rocks had numbers sketched in the same pencil as well, ranging from “70” to “10” and even as small as “5”. She was willing to bet that the boulders on the other side were similarly marked.

Daring was at her side in a flash, looking over the rocks, too.

“I bet you’re right,” she said. “These must be weights, and we have to balance the bridge to open the door. Good thinking, kid.”

She punched Rainbow gently in the shoulder with her hoof, and the blue pegasus swelled with pride. That’s right. She could solve these problems, just like Daring Do could.

“We have to balance the bridge,” Daring said. “But I’m going to guess it won’t be that easy. One side is probably heavier than the other, which is why it’s tipping like that. We’ll just have to start trying some until we can find a combination that works.”

Since Oracle couldn’t fly, which Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were using to expedite the work, he remained on the side of the ravine closest to the door, and watched the two pegasi’s progress in solemn silence. Rainbow and Daring had to keep flying back and forth between the two sides, both to help each other carry the rocks and since there was only one torch to share between them. While one was heaving a boulder towards the bridge, the other held up the torch so she could see, and vice-versa.

They spent a while mixing rocks, testing theories, and experimenting with sizes and weights. The side nearest the door was heavier than the opposite side, and Rainbow Dash had to be constantly careful that it didn’t tip too far over that her rocks would fall into the river far below.

“We’re getting close,” Daring assured her, panting as she moved the boulder marked “100” onto her side, replacing the one marked “70”, which they deemed to be not heavy enough. Rainbow Dash moved a boulder marked “20” onto hers, changing it out for the “30” one. The bridge tilted a little further towards Daring. It was almost balanced now. Rainbow Dash looked over at the stone door, but it remained stubbornly closed. She supposed it would have to be exactly balanced for the door to open again.

“Just a little more!” Daring called over. “Try switching the ‘10’ for the ‘5’!”

Rainbow Dash called back her agreement, then swooped down to pick up the “10” marked boulder. She flew it back to the pile with the other unused rocks, then picked up the “5” and came quickly back. Holding her breath, and hoping this was the right combination, she placed the “5” rock gently down on her end of the stone bridge.

The bridge creaked and shifted downward. Rainbow Dash flew back and landed back on the ground, then looked back, her heart pounding in her throat. The bridge tilted, creaking as it shifted, then, came to a stop.

Rainbow Dash let out a deep breath. It was level.

Behind her, the groaning of stone on stone heralded the opening of the chamber door, and the blue pegasus looked back to see that it had, indeed opened.

“Yes!” she said, jumping up into the air. “We did it!”

“Good job, kid,” Daring said, as she swooped back over the other side, and landed on the ground. Rainbow Dash landed beside her, feeling her faith in this mission restored. For a little while, she had wondered if they should have just turned back. But now….now it seemed they were getting somewhere.

“After you?” Daring asked Oracle, who had remained silent and watchful during their entire time with the bridge. Only now did he speak again.

“No, no,” he replied, coolly. “Ladies first, I insist.”

“Very well,” Daring said, with a shrug, and started into the passageway which the door opened up for them. Rainbow Dash and Oracle were close behind.

“Now, remember,” Daring said as they walked forward. “Be very careful of where you step. There could be – “

She didn’t get to finish the sentence. Rainbow’s hoof hit something in the ground, which sunk into the stone with a soft “chunk” sound.

“Oops,” she said, awkwardly. “My bad, heh.”

“Here we go,” she heard Daring mutter.

It was like the adventurer knew what was going to happen (though, that wouldn’t be too outlandish, taking into consideration all that Daring had been through). Rainbow Dash felt the floor literally drop out from under her, and the three ponies fell straight down. Rainbow Dash considered opening her wings, in case they had been sent falling into some bottomless abyss. But before she even spread them out, they hit something hard, and were sent sliding downwards along something like a stone slide. Daring’s torch had been snuffed out by the wind, so they were left sliding downward through darkness.

The slide twisted alarmingly around, then arched upward, sending the trio of ponies soaring through the air. Rainbow shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain of being thrown against a cave wall. However, it never came, and she opened one eye long enough to see an opening, very similar to the door they’d opened with the bridge, come flying towards them. It seemed to be glowing.

The three ponies flew ungracefully through the air before shooting through the opening, and sliding to a halt on the floor.

However, this was no time to celebrate their stop. Because Rainbow Dash found out very quickly why the room had appeared to be glowing.

Jets of green flame shot out from the floor all around them, arching upwards into the air. Without a moment to rest, all three ponies leaped back to their hooves.

“Run!” Daring commanded, and Rainbow Dash and Oracle didn’t need to be told twice. They threw themselves into full gallops, charging towards another opening on the far side of the room. The jets didn’t stay in one place, though, and continually appeared and disappeared, causing the ponies to have to swerve, come to sudden halts, and switch direction to avoid being charbroiled. Rainbow Dash just missed running head-first into one. Daring’s tail was singed by the time they reached the far side of the chamber.

“Move!” Daring yelled, and the ponies threw themselves forward and out of the room of fire.

As soon as they were through, a door of stone slid shut, blocking them in and cutting them off from the green flames. Not that Rainbow Dash was complaining.

“Everypony okay?” Daring asked, as they gathered themselves back to their hooves. Oracle and Rainbow Dash both confirmed that they were unharmed.

“What’s in here?” Rainbow Dash asked, as she looked around the new chamber they were in. Unlike the passageways they’d been following for the last several hours, this area was very different. The walls were smooth and shaped, more like the inside of a building than a cave. Rainbow Dash supposed the fire chamber had looked like that as well, though they hadn’t spent enough time in it to see what it look like.

It was also lit with an eerie green light, which Rainbow Dash assumed was from the fire next door.

“I don’t know,” Daring replied in answer to Rainbow’s question. As she spoke, the blue pegasus had noticed something on the far side of the room’s far side, lying on the ground in the corner. It appeared to be some sort of a scroll. Daring had obviously seen it as well.

“Stay here,” she told Rainbow Dash firmly, and the pegasus drooped a little. After all, she had been the one to trigger the trap door that had brought them down here.

Carefully, moving painfully slowly, Daring Do made her way across the small, rectangular room towards the scroll which sat so innocently on the ground. Rainbow Dash felt her heart beat faster, waiting with bated breath to see what hidden traps were here for them. Her muscles tensed. What was going to happen this time? Walls and ceiling closing in maybe? That had to be it. Yes, any minute the ceiling and the walls were going to start moving together, ready to trap them….

But Daring Do reached the scroll without a hitch. The adventurer looked confused and still wary as she carefully lifted the parchment off the floor, sweeping her hoof around to make sure it wasn’t attached to any hidden ropes or wires that were ready to set off something else.

But there wasn’t anything. She looked back over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash and shrugged.

“Come on over, I guess,” she replied. “But step only where I stepped. Got it?”

“Got it,” Rainbow Dash replied seriously, and made her way across the room in the same way Daring had. Oracle followed carefully after her.

“Where’s the door?” she asked, once she had crossed to the other side, with still no signs of any triggered traps. It was really starting to worry her.

“Here, I think,” Daring said, gesturing to the far wall. “But we need some sort of a key for it.”

Rainbow Dash peered closely at the far wall. There was the outline of a door, like the others they had come through – she could see the crack in the wall. But in the center there was a large carved circle, and in the center of the circle was an indentation, which appeared to be in the shape of a star inside a diamond.

“Hold on,” Daring said. “Let’s see what this says…”

She pulled the ribbon tied around the scroll off, then unrolled it and held it up, letting the room’s ambient green light illuminate the script for her.

“’Congratulations, my friends,’” Daring read from the letter parchment.

“I once more tell you that while I congratulate you progress I pity your ambition. I am an old stallion now, and I am at the last of my strength. I therefore have decided to leave you, whoever may be searching for my Stone, this note. I did build these traps you have gone through, though I promise you that you are safe here. The Stone lies beyond the wall you are staring out now. Congratulations. In a short amount of time, you will have in your hooves the very artifact that I so nearly used to destroy the whole of Equestria, though I feel no guilt for that.

Be warned, though I am not sorry for the havoc I wreaked, nor am I sorry that the Princesses were ever able to find this place. The Stone is more powerful than you, then the Princesses, can understand. Only I understood its true potential, though I was stopped before I was able to use it fully. Therefore, the Stone itself will be your last test. And be alert: the only place of safety is the place you least expect to find it.

Place the key into the lock and move forward, travelers. And may the Stone’s power show you as much as it did me.”

Rainbow Dash shuddered at the words. She didn’t like how he kept speaking of the Princesses as though they couldn’t understand, but the very way he spoke of the Alicorn’s Stone made her cringe. Like it was alive, and it was more powerful than either Celestia or Luna. That wasn’t something she wanted to think about.

“The key?” Daring said, reading back through the scroll. “What key? There was never any mention of a key before! And he didn’t leave us one!”

Daring read back through the scroll and looked around the ground, but there was no sign of any such key. For the first time, the tan pegasus looked truly annoyed. Rainbow Dash couldn’t blame her. Had they come all this way for a dead end?

Oracle had been silent since they’d left the bridge, but when Rainbow Dash and Daring Do began to frantically search for this “key” that the sorcerer had mentioned, he began to laugh softly. Daring immediately straightened and looked at him, her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“What’s so funny?” she asked. Oracle smirked.

“You seek so hard,” he said calmly. “For what is right under your nose.”

“Wha – “ she started, but was cut off as Oracle thrust his nose into his saddlebag and brought it forth once more. From his teeth, Rainbow Dash was amazed to see, was a necklace, from which hung the very star-and-diamond etched into the door.

Daring Do stared at him first with shock and then with suspicion.

“Where did you get that?” she asked, slowly. He flicked his tail.

“Family heirloom,” he replied simply, and stepped forward. Rainbow Dash saw Daring’s eyes narrow as she watched him cross in front of her towards the door.

Gently, he placed the amulet in its carved niche and stepped back. It fit perfectly, and the moment it was centered, it began to glow. The amulet sunk back into the stone, twisting as if turning in a lock. The door shuddered, and Rainbow Dash watched with awe as the ancient stone moved upwards, into the ceiling. Dust spewed forth from the other chamber, and Rainbow’s heart leaped forward in her chest.

A light shone brightly from the other side of the door, and the three ponies stood, for the first time in a while, side by side as they looked, unbelieving into the next room.

There, sitting on a carved pedestal, shining as brightly as a star in the night, was what they had searched for, what they had spent the last several days chasing, what they had almost given their lives several times to find.

The Alicorn’s Stone.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16-

Rainbow Dash instinctively raised a hoof to protect her eyes from the light emanating from the massive stone which sat in the center of this newly uncovered chamber. Daring Do removed the amulet from its place in the lock, though she never removed her eyes from the artifact that lay before them. Oracle took the key from her, and returned it to his bag. She did not protest.

Slowly, reverently, the three ponies moved forward, through the open stone door. Rainbow could feel the sheer power radiating all around her, like electricity in the air before a storm. It was almost overwhelming.

Gradually, her eyes grew used to the light, adjusting from the dim green glow in the other chamber to the harsh white radiance of the stone’s resting place. It took a while before she was able to gaze fully at it.

It was, undoubtedly, probably the most beautiful stone that Rainbow Dash had ever seen. She supposed she had expected it to be in the shape of a diamond, or just the generic shape of an uncut crystal. But the Alicorn’s Stone was a perfect sphere. It wasn’t a color - it was all colors at the same time, the rainbow swirling around inside and across it, like ripples on water. It shone with an inner light that bathed the rest of the cavern in its glow.

It even rivaled the sun shining in from outside.

At the realization that there was another light source filtering into the Stone’s lair, Rainbow Dash turned her gaze upward, to see that a large portion of the cavern wall was missing, obviously where the Stone had shot out to blast sections of the forest. But it seemed so innocent and peaceful now, sitting there on its stone pedestal. Rainbow Dash found it hard to imagine it destroying the jungle outside. Or doing much of anything, for that matter, besides just sitting there and looking absolutely amazing.

Daring Do moved towards it, her magenta eyes wide, the Stone reflected in them. She was absolutely amazed, Rainbow could tell. She had never seen anything like it before.

“I can’t believe it,” the pegasus whispered, coming up to stand directly beside the Stone, to look at its shining, rippling surface. “The Alicorn’s Stone. It’s real. We found it.”

Behind her, Rainbow Dash barely noticed Oracle shifting, moving towards her. The blue mare’s eyes were glued on the artifact.

“Oh my gosh,” Rainbow Dash whispered, though her voice slowly grew louder as the excitement grew inside her. “Daring, we did it! We found the Alicorn’s Stone!”

“I can’t believe this,” Daring said, still staring at the relic. “This is the archeological find of the century! This will…this will completely change history books! And it…”

“And it will be mine.”

Oracle’s voice was such a surprise, that both pegasi turned to see what he was on about. But before Rainbow Dash even moved her head, the stallion, who had positioned himself directly behind the blue mare, leaped forward, wrapping his hooves around her body and pinning her wings to her sides so she couldn’t move.

“Hey!” she yelled, struggling against his grip. “Let me go! What do you think you’re doing?”

She fought him, but the stallion was strong, and she felt cold metal suddenly press against her skin. She glanced down to see that he was holding a knife against her throat.

“Now,” he whispered in her ear, his typical smooth, calm voice suddenly gaining a harsh edge to it that sent shivers down Rainbow’s spine. “Do not struggle anymore.”

To enforce his point, he pressed the blade harder against her neck. Rainbow Dash decided that, for the moment, it was better not to struggle.

“Oracle!” Daring’s voice was like a gunshot in the eerie silence of the cave. Her magenta eyes were hard as she stared at the stallion. “Let. Her. Go.”

“Ah, Miss Do,” Oracle replied, deadly laughter in his voice. “I do not want to harm her. Just give me the Stone. Then I will let her go.”

“Daring, don’t do it!” Rainbow Dash gasped.

“I should have guessed this,” Daring spat, slowly circling Oracle. He turned as she did so, keeping a firm grip on Rainbow. “You’ve been luring us here, haven’t you? That was so very convenient that you just happened to have the key for that lock. That’s not a family heirloom after all, is it?”

“You are so smart,” he replied, sounding mock-impressed. “He was so very right about you. You are very clever.”

“’He’?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “Who’s ‘he’?”

“Quiet, my dear,” Oracle hissed, reminding the pegasus of the knife he held against her throat. “To answer your question, your friend is right. That amulet wasn’t an heirloom. An old friend of yours lent it to me, Miss Do.”

“Who?” Daring demanded. “Ahuizotl?”

Rainbow Dash fought the urge to gasp. Ahuizotl was Daring’s arch-nemesis, a creature who had fought her tooth and claw for every artifact the pegasus had ever gone after. Was he controlling Oracle?

“He is very persuasive,” Oracle replied. “And he offered quite a sum for your demise. That key was only a little souvenir from him. A sign of his good will.”

Daring Do shook her head, but her eyes were still hard.

“You don’t strike me as the kind to sell your allegiance,” she snapped. Oracle chuckled softly.

“And you would be right,” he told her. “I’m not working for that fool. He has no concept of the power that this Stone contains. He has no vision.”

“So you’re not working for Ahuizotl,” Daring said. Rainbow Dash had the feeling that she was stalling, possibly trying to lure Oracle into a false sense of security. Rainbow Dash knew that as soon as Oracle started to relax into his monologue, she had to strike.

“Then why did you need me to come with you to find the Stone?” Daring continued. “Just wanted to make his pay to you worthwhile?”

“Of course not,” Oracle replied. “I took his money anyways. No, I knew I could find the Stone, I knew it was here. I have been connecting with it for the past year or so, tracing its magical signature. I also knew that you would come here sooner or later, looking for it. I know Ahuizotl was working up some plan to search for it, and you would be inevitably behind him. I just did not realize you would be here so soon. No, I knew I could find it – I just needed your expertise to get me past the traps. No pony knows how to get into a sacred hiding place better than Daring Do.”

“’Connecting with it’?” Rainbow Dash echoed, her mind beginning to piece things together as she waited for his grip on her to loosen. “That’s what you were doing in the jungle that night, wasn’t it? Calling to it?”

“The Stone wasn’t crying out to be found,” Daring said angrily. “You woke it up!”

“The lightning was an unfortunate side-effect,” Oracle replied with a shrug.

“’Unfortunate’?” Daring repeated, dumbfounded. “Ponies could have been hurt! Or worse!”

“All in the name of discovering the most powerful relic that has ever appeared in the world,” Oracle said, his voice gaining a strange edge to it. “Ahuizotl does not understand it. The Princesses do not understand it. Even the sorcerer did not truly understand it. But I….I will be the one who will control it! I will hold the greatest wonder that Equestria has ever known!”

Okay, that’s enough of that, thanks, Rainbow Dash thought sarcastically. She felt his grip on her loosen just a fraction, and she decided to strike, ignoring the knife still near her throat. She threw a kick backwards, launching her rear hooves into his stomach and breaking his grip on her and her wings. She twisted and just missed the knife at her throat.

Oracle fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Daring nodded to Rainbow Dash, and rushed towards the Stone.

“No!” Oracle screamed, and gathered himself enough to leap forward. He literally threw himself at Daring dragging her to the ground.

“Rainbow!” Daring cried, and the blue pegasus swooped towards the Stone. She almost had it, too, the edges of her hooves inches away from its shining, rippling surface, when Oracle’s voice told her to freeze.

“I’ll kill her,” the stallion snapped. He’d pulled the knife out again, and was holding it against Daring’s throat now. He had her pinned to her ground on her back. The tan mare was desperately trying to kick him away, but he refused to let up, that glimmering knife’s blade only inches from her throat.

“All I want,” he said. “Is that Stone. Let me have it, and I will let her go.”

“Rainbow, don’t do it!” Daring told her, still attempting to struggle. Oracle bared down even harder on the magenta-eyed adventurer.

“Your choice,” he spat.

Rainbow Dash landed on the cave floor beside the Stone, looking from it to Oracle and back again. If she took it, if she carried it away from his power-hungry hooves, he’d kill Daring, or at least seriously injure her. And could Rainbow face the knowledge that she had hurt her idol? But she couldn’t just let him take the Stone! Who knew what he was going to do with it?

“I do not have all day,” he said, his voice becoming a low, hissing sound, so different from the unflappable voice of the shaman they had come to know over the past couple of days. “Give me the Stone, or she dies.”

Rainbow licked her lips, her eyes narrowing. She’d made her decision.

“You can have it,” she replied, allowing a tinge of defeat edge its way into her voice. Oracle’s eyes flashed with triumph. But she met his gaze, and her own eyes hardened.

“….If you can catch it!”

She turned, planting her two front legs firmly on the ground, and bucking forward. She raised her back hooves and launched a kick at the Stone, sending it rocketing across the chamber. Then, she took to wing and dove after it, following its trajectory and making every move to grab it from midair.

She never got there.

The sphere was in her sights, but a sudden impact knocked her off course, caused her to lose her balance in the air and crash into the cave wall. Oracle’s saddlebag fell to the ground. He’d pulled it off while he was keeping Daring hostage. The bag fell uselessly to the floor beside Rainbow, and the amulet key which they had used to open the chamber door bounced out. Rainbow snagged it, then looked up, ready to grab the Stone.

But Rainbow’s momentary displacement was all he needed. He turned, kicked Daring with his back legs, then leaped towards the sphere just as it began its downward descent.

Rainbow watched, stunned, the scene seeming to slow down before her eyes. The sphere arched gracefully through the air, and Oracle leaped up to meet it. It landed softly in his light brown hooves, and the stallion landed on his hind legs, Alicorn’s Stone held out in front of him. His face glowed with triumph.

“Finally,” he said, his voice a harsh, exalted whisper. “I have achieved what I –“

His words were suddenly cut off as the sphere, resting in his hooves, exploded to life, sending out a wave of magical force so strong, that it flung Rainbow Dash once more against the wall of the cave. The pegasus slid to the ground, shielding her face with her hooves to protect her eyes from the white-hot light.

A whine echoed through the chamber and slowly rose in volume until Rainbow realized it was Oracle’s voice – he was crying out as though in pain. Tentatively, she lowered her hoof to see.

He stood wrapped in white light. He was staring into the Stone, but his eyes were filled with the glow so that he had neither pupils nor irises. Tears streaked down the side of his face, but he seemed either unwilling or unable to pull away from the Stone’s power. It was consuming him.

“Kid!” Daring yelled at her, gesturing upward. Rainbow Dash looked up to see that the stone ceiling was beginning to crack like a broken mirror. “This whole place is coming down!”

“What do we do?” Rainbow Dash yelled back. They wouldn’t be able to get out easily. Oracle was standing in front of the hole in the cavern that the Stone had blasted for itself. And there was no way they were going back the way they had come.

Daring considered for a moment, then her eyes brightened. She struggled to her hooves, then gestured to the center of the chamber, where the Alicorn Stone’s pedestal was carved.

“Come on!” she yelled, and Rainbow Dash knew she didn’t have a choice. Leaping up, she cleared the space between herself and the pedestal in two bounds. Daring was already on top and Rainbow Dash leaped up beside her. Daring looked down at the place where the Stone had sat, and Rainbow Dash followed her gaze. In the rock was carved the diamond-and-star symbol like the one on the chamber door.

“We need the key!” Daring yelled. “It’s our only way out!”

Rainbow Dash had no idea what the adventurer was talking about, but she raised the amulet which she had snagged from Oracle’s bag after he had thrown it at her. Daring’s face lit up, and she grabbed the necklace from Rainbow, jamming the pendant into the stone carving and twisting it.

The lock glowed in a similar light to the one at the chamber door, but this time, the light shone above and around them in a rippling circle. Rainbow Dash understood from her time with Twilight that it had created a force field. Jagged flashes of lightning began to streak outward from the Stone which Oracle still held, and the rock pedestal on which the two pegasi stood shook and began rapidly rising towards the ceiling. It gained momentum as it moved into the air, rising to the rocks above which were beginning to shake loose. Rainbow Dash instinctively crouched and tensed, waiting for the inevitable collision.

The force field surrounding the pegasi broke through the cavern ceiling with an almighty crash, sending rock falling into the chamber below. Above the mayhem that Oracle was wreaking, Daring grabbed the amulet from its place in the lock. The force field rippled, blinked, then disappeared.

“We’re outta here!” Rainbow Dash said triumphantly, taking off into the air. Daring Do was right after her. Below them, the mountains shook, and Oracle’s lighting blasted into the sky.

~**~

Twilight stood a long time alone, amongst the fallen boulders, searching her heart and mind for what to do. What if their quest to save Rainbow Dash had caused her other friends to…

No, she couldn’t think of that. She had to keep looking. Either for them, or for Rainbow Dash. If she couldn’t find the others, then she would have to find Rainbow alone, save her from the fate of the assistant originally in the book. She couldn’t forget what was still at stake here.

The unicorn stumbled over the rocks, her heart heavy. Where were her friends? How could this have happened?

She had walked a few paces on, continuing down the now-destroyed path, when she heard the faintest of noises.

“Twilight?”

Twilight froze, her ears flickering around her. Had she heard her name called? She didn’t want to get her hopes up….

“Twilight?”

This time it was a little louder, still sounding like a soft whisper. But it was closer. And coming behind her.

Twilight turned quickly around, her heart pounding in her chest.

Her entire body flooded with relief so great it almost made her cry. There, amongst the dust and the fallen boulders, stood Fluttershy. The timid yellow pegasus looked dusty and startled, but unharmed.

“Oh, FLuttershy!” Twilight breathed, remembering to keep her voice down, and ran towards her friend, embracing her. “I thought I’d lost you all! Where are the others?”

“We thought we’d lost you, too!” Fluttershy said, hugging her friend back, clearly relieved. “We hid in a cave a little ways down. We didn’t know what had happened to you!”

“Twilight, thank goodness,” Applejack’s voice was also at a whisper, but the earth mare was clearly just as relieved. Twilight looked up to see the other ponies approaching. They all looked dusty and a little worse for ware – even Rarity hadn’t managed to get away clean. But they were all together. The five ponies embraced each other, happy they were all safe and back together.

“Well, now,” Rarity said after they were finished hugging each other. “As much fun as that was, Twilight, darling, how close are we to finding Rainbow Dash? She could be anywhere in these mountains.”

Twilight had to admit that Rarity had a point. She had just supposed they’d keep going until they discovered something that would help them find the pegasus. But with these avalanches, she wanted to be out of here as fast as possible just like the others.

The unicorn was just opening her mouth where the ground began to shake. Applejack frowned.

“Another rockslide?” the earth pony asked, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

“Oooh, a lightshow!” Pinkie Pie cheered, looking somewhere over Twilight’s shoulder. The others followed the pink pony’s gaze.
Twilight’s eyes immediately widened. One peak, unobtrusive and physically unremarkable amongst the other peaks around it on a normal day, was now shining, ringed with a halo of white light, obviously magical. It glowed brightly enough to be clearly visible even in the daylight. And it was shooting lightning.

In fact, as they stared, a bolt streaked across the range and struck the mountain the ponies stood on, lower than where they were.

“Ah’m no expert,” Applejack said. “But that seems ta be where we want to go, don’t ya reckon, Twi?”

“That’s it!” Twilight said, a mixture of amazement, excitement, ad panic flooding through her all at once. “That’s where the Alicorn’s Stone is hidden! We have to hurry, or we’ll be too late to help Rainbow Dash!”

“How will we get there?” Rarity asked. “There’s no way we can run there fast enough!”

Twilight considered for a moment, then straightened, her face growing taught with determination.

“I’ll have to teleport us,” the unicorn said firmly. Fluttershy’s eyes widened,

“Oh, Twilight,” the yellow Pegasus said, uncertain. “Are you sure you can do that? It’s so far!”

“And there’re five of us,” Rarity pointed out. “That’s going to be a hard spell.”

But Twilight shook her head, waving off their uncertainties.

“I was able to transport Rainbow Dash into an alternate fictional world,” she said. “I know I can teleport five of us from one mountain to another. I have to.”

“Alright, Twilight,” Applejack said, sounding just as uncertain as the others. “Only if yer sure…”

“Everypony just stand still for a second,” Twilight said, closing her eyes and forcing herself to concentrate. She had transported herself and sometimes one other friend once or twice, but never this many. This would take everything she had. But it would be worth it. For Rainbow Dash.

Twilight took a deep breath and focused all her energy on her magic. Her horn lit, the familiar purple aura surrounding it as the magic flowed through her. She concentrated here mind hard on those around her, whom she wanted to teleport, then the place where she wanted to go.

This is it, she thought. You can do it, Twilight. For Rainbow Dash!

The magic surged out of her, and immediately she felt herself and those around her disappear, winking momentarily out of the universe. Then, her magic struggling under her control, they reappeared, clear across the mountain range and at the base of the one that Pinkie had spotted – the Alicorn’s Stone’s resting place.

Twilight stumbled unsteadily on her hooves, but Applejack caught her and held her up. The magic expenditure for that spell had taken a lot out of her. But she had done it! She’d teleported five ponies! By herself!

“I did it!” she laughed, in awe at herself.

“That’s great, Twilight,” Applejack said, staring over the unicorn’s head into the distance. “And Ah’d congratulate you and all, but right now, we have bigger problems.”

Twilight turned her head and looked up, and gaped.

Above them, the top of the mountain exploded as white light shot forth from within.

“Where are Rainbow Dash and Daring Do?” Fluttershy asked, her voice barely audible above the commotion of the magical explosions happening above them.

“I don’t know!” Twilight replied, pulling herself back to her hooves. “But come on, girls! We have to find them!”

Without another thought, the group of ponies leaped into a gallop and raced up the side of the mountain, towards their friend who was somewhere in the midst of the chaos.

~**~

Rock exploded upwards, causing Rainbow Dash and Daring Do to have to dodge the debris.

“DARING DO!” a voice thundered from below, and with a flash of magical light, Oracle himself ascended from within the chamber of the Stone to hover in mid-air before them. He was still holding the sphere, and his eyes were glowing white. Rainbow Dash was shocked to see that ghostly wings seemed to have sprung from his shoulders; the shadow of a horn spiraled from his forehead.

“That Stone’s too powerful for you!” Daring yelled at the shaman. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

“I know I will destroy you!” he boomed, his voice magnified a hundred times. It shook the mountains around them. Rainbow Dash was glad she wasn’t on the ground.

Or not.

White lightning shot from the aura of light that surrounded Oracle, arcing towards Daring and Rainbow. The two pegasi barely managed to miss it, and Oracle let out a laugh of earthquake-proportions.

“This Stone will be my victory!” he yelled as lightning continued to explode outwards, searching the sky for the two ponies. “I will be Equestria’s new ruler! The Princesses will bow before me! All will see that I AM THE TRUE LEADER!”

“Yeah, keep dreaming,” Rainbow spat sarcastically at him.

Daring narrowly missed another strike.

“We have to get that Stone away from him!” she yelled to Rainbow. The blue pegasus nodded, giving the adventurer a mock-salute. She turned to line up her shot, but a call from Daring held her back.

“Distract him!” the tan mare commanded. “I’ll go for the Stone! Go!”

Rainbow couldn’t say she was entirely happy about being shunted to “distraction duty”, but she did as Daring told her, zipping around to the side of Oracle to direct his attention away from Daring. The shaman turned blank, shining white eyes in her direction. His stare was creepy.

“Hey, Oracle!” she yelled at him. “If you’re so big and tough, why haven’t you hit me yet?”

Oracle growled.

“Do not taunt me, puny pegasus!” he yelled. “I am so much stronger than you!”

“Then prove it!” Rainbow shouted, flicked her tail at him, and took off. He yelled angrily after her, and she felt a bolt of lightning zip past her body and smash against a farther mountain. She changed direction, dodging deftly as Oracle attempted to roast her alive. After dodging one particularly close bolt, Rainbow looked over her shoulder to see Daring taking the advantage of Oracle’s distraction to fly straight towards the sphere which the stallion clutched so tightly. Rainbow Dash’s heart leaped in her chest, as she watched the tan Pegasus make her move.

Rainbow’s own momentary distractedness allowed Oracle to hurl another bolt of lightning towards her, and Rainbow Dash had to tear her eyes away from Daring in order to dodge it. When she looked back, though, she couldn’t believe what she saw.

Daring was inches away from the Stone, her hoof stretched out to touch it, to knock it from Oracle’s grasp. But despite Rainbow’s attempts as distracting Oracle, the earth stallion, hyped up on the Stone’s magic, was not to be easily outwitted. He apparently felt her near, and turned shining white eyes towards her. Immediately, Daring’s body froze in midair, and she hovered there, completely immobilized, as if held by some invisible force.

Oracle leered at her.

“Good show,” he told her, a smile creasing the corners of his mouth, but his voice as cold as a winter’s wind. “But you are no match for me, Miss Do.”

“Let her go!” Rainbow Dash yelled, streaking towards Oracle. However, the same force that was obviously holding up Daring wrapped itself around her, too, freezing her in midair so she couldn’t move. She felt trapped, worse so than those tight tunnels in the caverns. More like a rat in a trap. She didn’t like it.

Somewhere far off, she heard her name called. She looked to Daring Do, but the tan pegasus was focused on Oracle. Her magenta eyes were filled with fire.

“You’ll never get away with this, Oracle!” she yelled at him. He stared at her for a moment as though trying to understand if she was serious or not. Finally, he scoffed.

“I do not need to ‘get away’ with anything,” he replied. “I have enough power to conquer the whole of Equestria and beyond! Why should I be worried about ‘getting away’?”

Daring’s face creased in concentration, and Rainbow knew she was struggling to break her bonds. But the magical grip around both pegasi wasn’t going anywhere. She glared bitterly at him.

“It has been fun, though, has it not?” he asked them, his white eyes flicking between Daring and Rainbow. “But now, the party is over, I fear. Too bad this is how the legendary Daring Do goes out. If it makes you feel any better, it is an honor for me to be your end.”

It was like being flung from a slingshot, Rainbow Dash considered. Without so much as another word or thought, Oracle released his grip on both pegasi, sending them flying through the air in opposite directions. Rainbow Dash twisted in the sky, her wings struggling to catch her weight, the stone side of a mountain coming up very fast, ready to meet her face.

Fortunately, she pulled up just in time, barely missing a head-on collision with the rock wall. She performed a perfect back-flip, turning herself back around towards Oracle, whose attention was completely on Daring. He’d sent her flying in the opposite direction of Rainbow, and the blue pegasus turned in enough time to see Daring fail to recover as Rainbow had done. The tan pegasus hit the side of the mountain with a dull “thump” sound that made Rainbow Dash shudder. The adventurer fell to the ground, unconscious.

“Farewell, Daring Do,” Oracle hissed. A bolt of white lightning arced from the glowing aura surrounding his body, and streaked towards the rock wall which towered above the fallen pegasus. Once the electricity hit the boulders, it exploded into a rain of rocks which began to fall, as gravity demands, right towards the unconscious Daring.

One particularly large boulder began teetering precariously backwards and forward, inching its way to the edge. If it fell….

Rainbow Dash didn’t even give herself time to think. There was no way she was going to let Oracle do this to Daring. There was no way that Rainbow Dash was going to let her idol get crushed by falling boulders. They’d come this far! Daring wasn’t going to die for this!

The pegasus dived. Wind buffeted her body as she streaked downward. The rocks were falling as though in slow motion, making their descent towards Daring’s still form. None of the big ones had hit her yet. But it wouldn’t be long.

The largest boulder tipped, pulling away from the mountain. It began to fall.

Sweat prickled on Rainbow Dash’s forehead. She forced her wings to work harder, forced her body to become more streamlined. She wasn’t going to let Daring get hit. It wasn’t going to end like this.

Oracle’s laughter was piercing and haunting. It rang it Rainbow Dash’s ears.

Somewhere far off, she heard her name called again.

She hadn’t flown like this since the Best Young Flyer’s competition in Cloudsdale. But she knew a Sonic Rainboom wouldn’t help her now. All she needed was to get Daring out of the way.

For a moment, she realized that if she managed to get Daring out from under the rock slide, she wouldn’t be fast enough to save herself. But it seemed like such a minor detail that she hardly gave it any heed. All that mattered was flying, and reaching Daring, and making sure she was okay.

Someone had to stop Oracle. Daring had to stop Oracle.

She was moments away, the boulder was feet away. For a long, agonizing eternity that was probably only a few milliseconds, Rainbow Dash was terrified that she wouldn’t get there in time.

But then her hooves were stretching towards Daring. Rainbow Dash crash landed into the ground, thrust Daring out from the way of the rock slide, sending the pegasus sliding further down the mountain. The adventure’s eyes flickered open.

Rainbow Dash knew she didn’t have time to escape the falling rocks. She’d replaced Daring with herself. She didn’t have time to same both of them.

She barely had time to close her eyes and wait for the boulder to hit her. But she did anyway.

She heard her name called again. It seemed to be closer this time. Maybe it was Celestia’s way of calling her to the next life.

She waited for the pain.

Chapter 17

Chapter 17-

Rainbow Dash’s eyes were shut tightly as she waited for the inevitable pain of the falling boulders to come, waited with bated breath for the end. She had been sucked into a Daring Do novel, and that had seemed miraculous. But now it was all over. She was done for.

Time must have slowed down for her. This must be where she was supposed to see her life flash before her eyes or whatever. So time must have slowed down so she could do that. Or the way that bad events always seemed to take longer than normal ones.

Still….what was going on?

“Rainbow Dash!”

That wasn’t Daring who had called her name. Rainbow allowed herself to open one eye, and look up.

The rockslide had stopped for the most part, and, she was shocked to see, the very boulder she had been dreading was hovering above her, surrounded with an aura of blue and purple light.

Blue and purple? But, wasn’t Rarity and Twilight’s magic….?

She looked over to see Twilight and Rarity standing together, their horns glowing, and their faces tight with concentration as they held the rock only inches above Rainbow Dash’s head.

“Twilight?” Rainbow said, unbelieving. “Rarity?”

“Boulder….is….heavy…” Twilight managed to pant. Rainbow Dash blinked.

“Oh, yeah, sorry.”

She quickly stepped out from under it, and immediately the aura around the rock evaporated. It fell heavily to the ground where Rainbow had been standing only moments before.

“Not just them, Sugarcube.”

Rainbow Dash turned around to see Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all standing around her, their eyes bright and their faces smiling, though their coats and manes were dirty, coated with a layer of dust. Though, Rainbow Dash didn’t suspect that she looked any better.

“I hate to break up this reunion,” Daring called. She’d struggled back to her feet, and looked alright now. “But we have more to worry about!”

All seven ponies looked up to where Oracle was still hovering.

“You brought friends!” he boomed. “How nice! They will be witnesses to my rise to power, and your demise!”

“Who is that?” Rarity demanded, staring at the stallion. Twilight shook her head.

“Never mind that!” she said. “We have to get the Stone away from him!”

Oracle slung another series of lightning bolts at the ponies, who scattered and dodged. Applejack hit the ground, and her green eyes glinted with annoyance.

“Ah’m done with this,” she muttered. “Why don’t we all distract him and Daring go for that Stone-y doohickey?”

“It didn’t work so well last time!” Rainbow Dash called back. Twilight smiled and flicked her tail.

“Yeah,” she said. “But now there are seven of us! We can do it, girls!”

Rainbow Dash smiled at her friends, feeling the warmth and the hope that they had brought to this battle. If they all worked together, maybe they’d be able to stop Oracle before he did something incredibly stupid.

“Rainbow Dash, can Ah get a lift?” Applejack asked. The blue pegasus smirked.

“Of course,” she replied, glad to have her friends back. Both she and the earth pony gathered hooffuls of stones before taking off into the air and beginning to pelt the rocks at Oracle. The stallion yelled in anger and shot bolts at them, but couldn’t hit them. Once he managed to grab Rainbow in the same way had had earlier, but a well-aimed hurled boulder by Twilight’s magic broke his concentration, and Pinkie Pie blasted the shaman in the face with a party cannon that she seemed to have pulled from nowhere. Fluttershy even got into the action, throwing a few stones and helping supply Twilight and Rarity with boulders to hurl with their magic.

A tan and grey blur flashed through the air, and everypony seemed to stop their pelting of Oracle for a moment to watch. Daring Do streaked straight towards the shaman, this time before he could think to grab her in midair with his magic. He shot a bolt of lightning at her, but the shot went wild and hit the side of the mountain.

In slow motion, the two ponies collided. Oracle screamed, clutching the Stone like it a foal clutching his precious toy which he didn’t want to share. His ghostly wings acted like they were trying to keep him up, but the stallion was too disoriented to think quickly enough. They’d hit him on the head rather hard with some of those boulders.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack landed on the ground and watched as Daring and Oracle crash-landed. Oracle lost his grip on the Stone, and it rolled away.

“NO!” he screamed, as the white glow flickered out of his eyes, and they returned to their natural almond color. The Stone rolled a few feet from his grasp, sparking like a bad firecracker. He and Daring immediately began grappling with each other, rolling over the dirt to try and reach the sphere. Oracle kicked Daring hard in the jaw and leaped forward, his hoof outstretched. But Daring grabbed his tail with her teeth and yanked him backward, climbing over him. In desperation to keep the sphere from her grasp, he reached out and knocked it away. It rolled a few yards and the ponies began to grapple again.

The six Ponyville ponies watched in amazed silence, anxious and fascinated at the same time. Daring and Oracle seemed equally matched – Daring with skill and Oracle with brute determination.

Daring got to it first, but Oracle slammed her to the ground. They wrestled, their hooves locked together as they each tried to overpower the other. They were dangerously near the edge of the mountain now.

“The Stone is mine!” he hissed in her face. “I will rule Equestria with it!”

“It belongs to nopony!” Daring yelled back. “It’s a priceless relic!”

“I will not let you take it from me!” Oracle yelled, spraying spittle in her face. “I have waited for too long for this! I am worthy to wield it!”

“It’s not meant for us!”

They were on their hooves now, rearing, trying to push each other back. Oracle gave a great almighty heave, shoving Daring Do away from himself. The pegasus stumbled backward, and her rear hoof hit the sphere. She toppled over, and the Stone rolled away. It teetered on the edge of the drop off now, ready to roll off the side of the mountain.

“NO!” Oracle screamed, his cry wrenching through the air. He threw himself forward, reached out a hoof to grab it –

But instead of saving it, his reach pushed it over the edge. The Stone slipped over the side of the mountain, and fell downward. There was a general gasp from the ponies around them, especially as, once he saw it fall out of sight, Oracle flung himself over the edge as well, too obsessed with the Stone to understand his own danger.

But Daring was not going to let him go that easily. She leaped forward just as he disappeared over the edge, and grabbed his hoof. Rainbow Dash ran forward a bit to see better.

The tan pegasus hung onto the shaman’s hoof, even as he flailed in her grip.

“Let me go!” he yelled at her. “You will not keep me from it! Let me go!”

“You’ll kill yourself, Oracle!” Daring yelled back, struggling to hold on to him, even as he fought her. “It’s not worth it! I can help you!”

“You only want it for yourself!” he yelled at her. “You will never have it! It is mine! Let me go!”

“I’m not letting go!” she replied. “I’m not letting you kill yourself for this!”

“It is mine!” he screamed. He was becoming hysterical now as he flailed around in her grip. Daring was gritting her teeth, desperately trying to hold on, but Rainbow could tell she wasn’t going to be able to do it much longer.

“Let. Me. GO!”

He finally lost it completely, twisting in her grip. Daring struggled to hold on, but her hooves slipped on his leg, and there was nothing she could do. Rainbow Dash ran forward in attempts to help her, but it was too late.

Oracle fell away, down the side of the mountain, after his precious Stone. He laughed all the way down, until he disappeared in the trees below the mountains. His laugh couldn’t be heard any longer.

The ponies all stood there for a long time, Daring staring off down where the stallion had fallen, the others staring at Daring.

It was a very surreal moment.

Finally, Rainbow Dash stepped forward.

“I’m sorry, Daring,” she said softly. Daring continued to stare.

“I thought….” She started, but trailed off. Finally she shook her head.

“He was corrupted by the power,” she finally said, standing, shaking her mane back. “Who knows how long he’d been ‘connecting’ with that thing. It took his mind.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, but she could tell that Daring was still reeling for what had just happened. She had almost saved him.

But he didn’t want to be saved.

~**~

Rainbow Dash had wanted to greet her friends, to thank them for saving her life. But on Daring’s request, they flew down the side of the mountain and searched for the Stone. They didn’t find it. Or at least, they didn’t find all of it. They did find several shards that had the same swirling, shimmering colors as the Stone had, but there were nowhere near enough of them to have made up the entire sphere. There was a soft imprint in the ground near where they found the shards, though, as though the ground had opened up and something vaguely spherical had passed through it.

“Where did it go?” Rainbow wondered aloud. “Do you think it’s still out here somewhere?”

“From what I saw today,” she replied. “That Stone is powerful. If it wanted to hide away, to go back into the earth, then I guess it had the power to do so.”

Still, Daring collected the shards and placed them in her pocket. She said she’d take them to the Field Museum in Manehattan and have them looked at.

They didn’t find Oracle’s body. They didn’t look for it.

~**~

“Daring Do, it’s so amazing to meet you!” Twilight said, her purple eyes wide, her face plastered with an enormous grin. Rainbow Dash had returned to her friends to hug each of them, and especially to thank Twilight and Rarity for saving her life.

“Who are all of you, anyway?” Daring asked, slightly confused about the five ponies who had randomly turned up when they needed them the most.

“These are my friends,” Rainbow Dash said. “Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Daring said with a smile. “Where did you all come from?”

“We’re from Ponyville,” Twilight explained. “But we came looking for Rainbow Dash when she….well, when she disappeared from Shang Hoof a few days ago. We were all there together, and when we lost her, we tracked her down.”

“You must be very good trackers,” Daring said, impressed. “To have found her all the way out here.”

Twilight laughed nervously.

“Heh, yeah, you could say that,” she replied.

The ponies began to make their way down the mountains and back to the jungle. As they walked, Daring decided that she’d return to the village and tell them that their shaman was dead.

“Do you think there’s any chance that he…” Rainbow Dash trailed off. Daring sighed and shrugged.

“I honestly don’t know,” she replied. “Maybe I’ll see him again someday. Or maybe not. Either way…..”

They didn’t talk about Oracle again after that. But as they walked, a thought occurred to Rainbow.

“Daring,” she said. “How did you know to use the pedestal the Stone was on to get us out of the cavern?”

Daring half-smiled.

“It was written in the note that the sorcerer left in the chamber outside,” she replied. Rainbow Dash looked confused.

“What?” she asked. “It was?” She couldn’t remember it saying that.

“Don’t you remember?” Daring said. “It said ‘the only place of safety is the place you least expect to find it’. I didn’t get what it meant until we were looking for some way out. He must have figured that there should be an escape, just in case. ‘The place where you least expect’, being, of course, the place where the Stone itself was.”

“I figured that out right away,” Twilight said, but saw the look of confusion on Daring’s face and laughed awkwardly.

“I mean,” she said. “That I would have figured it out if I had…uh…been there.”

~**~

To Rarity’s chagrin, they walked back to the village where Rainbow Dash and Daring Do had originally met Oracle. It took them about a day and a half to get there, through the jungle. Fortunately, Twilight and the Ponyville group were able to find Swift Water’s village again and get shelter and provisions from them. They were very excited to hear that the Stone was gone, and they absolutely ate up the story of Oracle’s downfall. Though, after she finished telling it, Rainbow Dash noticed that Daring went off to be alone in the camp. She was obviously still shaken over Oracle’s decision.

The next morning they set off again and walked back to Oracle’s village. They were more than excited to see them again, but the atmosphere grew sorrowful when Daring Do told them that their shaman was dead. She spared them the details, though, about his fight for the Stone and his vows to take over Equestria. She did present the leader of the village with the amulet that had been given to Oracle by Ahuizotl. They burned it to honor him, though Daring admitted to Rainbow Dash later on that she had presented the amulet to them in order to wipe out any trace of Ahuizotl in case he came looking for Oracle. The amulet in the village might have placed the villagers in danger.

“But you could have kept it and given it to the museum,” Rainbow argued. Daring shrugged.

“Why?” she asked. “The Alicorn’s Stone is still mostly an old mare’s tale for most ponies. One amulet would cause more controversy than enlightenment. It wouldn’t be worth it.”

Rainbow did admit that she had a point.

The villagers thanked both Rainbow and Daring in plenty, throwing them a feast and giving them gifts of beads, pottery, and even a few rare pieces they had from their ancestors with rare stones in them. These would be Daring’s new contributions to the museum, Rainbow knew, in lieu of the Stone or Oracle’s amulet.

Later on, once everyone had mostly quieted down and Daring was off talking to the village leader, Rainbow Dash was able to catch up with her friends.

“How did you find me?” she asked them. “What happened?”

“When you crashed into my library,” Twilight said, a note of severity in her voice at the fact that Rainbow had once again made a surprise visit. “I was practicing a spell that turns fictional things momentarily real. Like a picture comes to life. But when you interfered, I hit you with the spell. It reversed itself, causing something real to be placed into a fictional world. Your Daring Do book was on my table, so that’s what you ended up in. You replaced the assistant that Daring was supposed to have in this book. But we came after you, because….well, you remember that rock?”

Rainbow frowned and nodded.

“Yes….”

“Well, in the real story, we weren’t there to keep it from landing on you.”

Rainbow Dash shuddered.

“So, how do we get out of here?” she asked. Twilight smiled.

“So anxious to leave, are you?” she asked. “And I thought you were her number one fan.”

Rainbow Dash glared at her.

“Of course I am,” she replied coolly. “But even I can get a little too much. Not that I can’t totally take it though.”

“Sure,” Twilight replied. “By what Celestia was saying, we should just go back to the real world when the book ends. Spike’s reading through it at the moment.”

“So, when does it end?”

Twilight saw Daring Do coming towards them, and Twilight smiled.

“Pretty soon,” she replied.

“Hey, kid,” Daring called to Rainbow. “Can I talk to you real quick?”

Rainbow Dash nodded, stepping away from her friends and walking out of the camp with Daring. The adventurer looked tired, but she didn’t seem to be feeling as bad had she had earlier.

“I’m going to be leaving,” she replied. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened.

“Leaving?” she asked. “Already?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a nonchalant shrug. “I guess I just can’t stay in one place for too long. Besides, Fortune Cookie’s still out there, and I have to get that Phoenix Amulet back. It won’t be easy to track down again.”

“I understand,” Rainbow nodded. “You’ll catch him, right? Give him a good punch for me when you find him.”

Daring laughed.

“Will do!” she said. “Hey, you have a way to get back home?”

Rainbow Dash glanced over her shoulder towards her friends, who were talking amongst each other. She smiled.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Daring said. “Look, kid, you saved my life.”

Rainbow suddenly felt her cheeks grow hot as she blushed. She scuffed the ground with a hoof.

“Aw, that? That was nothin’,” she said, trying to shrug it off, but Daring shook her head.

“No, really,” she said. “If it wasn’t for you and your friends….Thank you. Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow looked up, surprised. She as pretty sure that that was the first time Daring had used her entire name, and wasn’t yelling at her to move or something.

Rainbow smiled.

“You’re welcome,” she replied. She didn’t know what else to say.

“Look, you’re okay, kid,” she said. “You got a lotta nerve. Maybe someday we’ll meet again.”

Daring winked at her and turned, started off into the trees, obviously intent on getting on. Rainbow Dash paused for a minute, then called after her.

“Wait, Daring!” she said. Daring turned back, looking over her shoulder at the blue pegasus. Rainbow trotted to catch up with her.

“Thanks for letting me tag along,” she said. “I’m, like, you’re number one fan.”

Daring smiled.

“You know what, Rainbow Dash?” the adventurer pony said. “I think someday somepony’s gonna say that to you. And I think you’ll deserve it.”

Rainbow Dash smiled big enough to split her face in two, and Daring waved over her shoulder to Twilight and the others, who waved back. She winked one last time at Rainbow.

“See you again, kid,” she said, then took off into the sky, flying towards the setting sun. Rainbow Dash walked back over to join her friends. She smiled at them.

“Did you hear that?” she asked. “Daring thanked me! She thanked me for saving her life!”

“We heard,” Applejack said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. “And Ah don’t think we’re gonna be hearin’ the end of it anytime soon.”

Twilight laughed and half-smiled at Rainbow Dash.

“And I think,” the purple unicorn said. “That this is a pretty good ending.”

At her words, a white light flashed, temporarily blinding the six Ponyville ponies, and in that second, Rainbow Dash knew she was going home.

Epilogue

Epilogue-

The ponies found themselves standing in the throne room of the castle in Canterlot. Spike was holding the book, which he had just closed. His green eyes widened when he saw them.

“You’re back!” he cheered, running to Twilight and hugging her. Twilight hugged him back. Then he let go and looked up with awe at them.

“That was amazing!” he said. “That book was so awesome! Rainbow Dash, you’re so awesome!”

Rainbow laughed, and flicked her tail.

“Of course I am!” she snorted. “I’ve always been awesome! Don’t you forget it!”

“I trust you enjoyed yourselves.”

A regal voice made the ponies and Spike look over to where Princess Celestia was striding back into the throne room, smiling royally at them. The six ponies automatically bowed as the Princess strode majestically over.

She gazed down at Rainbow Dash, her purple eyes sparkling.

“I’ve been hearing,” she said. “That you’ve been having quite the adventure.”

“You bet, Princess,” Rainbow Dash said. “I won’t forget that anytime soon!”

“Ah, yes, books can take us to so many places, can’t they?” she breathed happily, using her magic to pick up the Daring Do book that Spike had left sitting on the ground. She passed it to Twilight, who took it with her own magic, ready to show the new cover with Rainbow Dash on it to their newly rescued friend. But when the flipped the book over to show its cover, she was disappointed. The picture on the book was the same as it had been before Rainbow Dash entered it.

“What happened?” Twilight asked, disappointed. “Rainbow Dash had been on the cover! Now she’s not!”

“I’m afraid the book was reset when you all and Rainbow Dash returned here,” Celestia explained. “The book is back to its normal plotline, I’m afraid.”

All the girls sighed and apologized to Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus sighed.

“Oh, well,” she replied. “But at least I know I had the adventure, right? Too bad this book won’t be as good without me anymore.”

~**~

They returned to Ponyville by the train, and the entire way Rarity praised modern convenience such as the Friendship Express and running water and other luxuries like that and how she wasn’t just going to take one bubble bath when she got back home but probably three or four. And when Rarity wasn’t complaining about how much dirt was packed in mane and how long it would take to get it out, Rainbow Dash was bragging about her adventures with Daring Do and what the pony had told her right before the end of the book.

“So, did you know that Oracle was bad?” Pinkie Pie asked. Rainbow Dash snorted.

“Of course I knew!” she scoffed proudly. “I knew from the very beginning that he was a bad guy! I just have an eye for things like that, I guess.”

Twilight snorted to herself.

“It’s so sad he had to do that,” Fluttershy sighed. “I bet he was a really nice stallion.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her as if she was crazy.

“’A really nice stallion’?” she repeated. “Fluttershy, he tried to crush Daring and me with falling boulders!”

“Oh, I know,” the yellow pegasus agreed. “But underneath all that, I bet he was just misunderstood.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, right,” she said. “You should have seen it when I was distracting him, and throwing those rocks and – “

“Uh, Rainbow Dash, we were there,” Applejack reminded her. Rainbow Dash blinked, caught off guard.

“Oh yeahhh,” she said, as though just remembering that her friends had been there to see the final fight. “You were, weren’t you?”

“Daring Do took Oracle’s fall pretty badly,” Rarity said. “I hope she’ll be alright.”

“I’m sure she will be,” Rainbow Dash said. “It wasn’t her fault.”

“Still,” the white unicorn said. “What a terrible thing to watch happen.”

Twilight took this moment to interrupt. She walked over to Rainbow Dash, carrying the book. It was completely back to normal. She’d read through it again since they’d been on the train.

“I’m sorry that the book went back to normal,” she said. Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“I guess that’s the way it goes, huh?” she asked. “But….is it okay if I borrow it anyways?”

Twilight looked confused.

“Why?” she asked. “You’ve already lived through it.”

“I know,” Rainbow Dash replied. “But I could use it as the base to write my version of the story!”

The Ponyville girls laughed at this, and Twilight agreed to hand it over. She knew Rainbow Dash would take good care of it. As they were pulling up to the Ponyville station, Rainbow approached Twilight.

“Twilight,” she said. “Can I ask you a question?”

Twilight nodded and smiled.

“Sure, Rainbow,” she agreed. “Anything.”

“Is Oracle….” She started, but trailed off. “I mean, I saw him fall off the side of a mountain, but is he really…..I mean, does he come back?”

Twilight smirked. The train lurched to a stop, and the conductor called out that they could disembark the train. As the purple unicorn turned from her friend, she laughed.

“That, Rainbow Dash,” she replied. “Would be spoilers.”

Rainbow Dash groaned as she followed Twilight off the train and continued to beg for more information, but Twilight remained silent on the matter.

After all, she thought. If I can keep her reading, I can keep her from crashing through my windows.
And that thought and Rainbow Dash’s continuous questions kept her smiling all the way back home.

End

Author's Note

And that's all, folks.

I want to thank everyone who read/commented on this fanfiction, and giving me the benefit of the doubt since it was my first one here on FimFiction. Tell your friends, tell your parents, tell your grandparents about this story. Tell EQD it wasn't nearly as bad as they thought it was going to be (at least I hope not), and stay tuned to this channel for some possible coming attractions!

Wordplay out.

Chapter 1 Author's Note

Well, this is my first fanfiction to be published on FIMFiction, though this fic was originally published in its entirety on fanfiction.net, So be nice to me.
Please note that this fic takes place somewhere between seasons 2 and 3, and was written before "Daring Don't" aired. That particular episode has no bearing on this story.

Read on!

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Are you sure you can do this?”

“Of course I’m sure,” Twilight Sparkle answered her nervous dragon assistant proudly as she studied the spell one more time which was written out in the book that lay before her. “The book says this is a class seven spell, and I can handle that.”

Spike, who had been carrying an armload of books, mostly the Daring Do novels that Twilight’s friend Rainbow Dash had recently borrowed then returned, looked, unconvinced, at the light purple unicorn who stood a few feet away. She stood at the pedestal where she’d placed today’s book of magic that she was studying.

“But, Twilight,” the dragon tried to reason. “Last week when you quizzed yourself, you were only a level six unicorn.”

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I know, Spike,” she said, not put-off. “But how am I going to get any better if I don’t challenge myself? Besides, this spell isn’t so hard.”

Spike sighed, and placed the stack of books he’d been carrying down onto the circular table that stood in the center of the tree library where he and Twilight had lived since they came to Ponyville a few years ago. When they’d first come here, Twilight had been annoyed that she’d have to leave Canterlot and her studies to live among ponies she didn’t know. But after defeating Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia’s sister, Luna, who had been turned evil, Twilight had found that she loved the friends she’d made in the small country town and didn’t want to return to Canterlot after all. Since then, Twilight and Spike had served the town as librarians, and Twilight had continued to study under Princess Celestia, sending her letters about what she’d learned in Ponyville.

Twilight had also been practicing her magic. When they’d first come to Ponyville, she’d already been very powerful, but since their arrival here, she’d been working to grow her powers even more. Most unicorns were a level two or three, in terms of magical ability. Their powers only extended enough to help them with their special talent, like how Rarity used levitation to help her sew, or maybe a unicorn that grew flowers would use a simple weather spell to make sure their plants got a gentle shower every day. But Twilight’s special talent was magic, and in Ponyville, her abilities had only grown.

But Spike just wasn’t sure about this, today.

The dragon crossed over to his friend and guardian, and reached up on tip-toes to see what this spell was. He’d seen it earlier, but he wanted to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

“’A Spell to Animate Those Not Real’,” the dragon read, the blinked. “’Animate Things Not Real’? That’s only a level seven spell?”

By the sound of it, a spell like that would be able to bring characters from books to life or bring pictures into existence, or even animate objects! How was that only a class seven spell? That sounded like something only Princess Celestia could do!

“Oh, Spike!” Twilight laughed. “It’s not like that at all. Here, let me show you.”

Using a simple telekinetic spell, Twilight lifted a picture of a pony in a meadow off the wall where it had hung. The pony in the picture was slightly deformed and not completely well-colored. But there wasn’t much to expect – Applebloom had drawn it and given it to Twilight as a present. Sweet, but the little filly was no Michael Angelohoof.

“Look,” she said, laying the picture down onto the pedestal, next to the book. “With this spell, I could animate the pony in this picture, make it come to life. But it’s only temporary: the book says it will only last a few minutes.”

“Honestly, I’d hate to be that pony when it’s brought to life,” Spike said, looking at the scribbled coloring job and the distorted limbs and face. “Good thing it’s only temporary.”

‘’See? Now do you see how easy it is? It’s harmless,” Twilight told him. Spike sighed.

“Okay, okay,” he consented. “Just be careful.”

“Of course,” Twilight said with a nod. “When am I not?”

Spike decided not to answer that, it would only bring bad luck. Instead, he picked up the stack of books he’d left on the table and went to shelve them, scurrying up the ladder to the Daring Do section and inserting each book back into its proper order in the series. Twilight hated for her books to be out of order.

“Oh, and Spike?” Twilight asked, looking one last time away from her book. “Could you do me a favor and get out Daring Do and the Search for the Alicorn Stone? It’s the next in the series for Rainbow Dash. She’ll be by in a little bit to pick it up.”

Spike nodded and slid his claw along the spines of the books, searching for the one Rainbow wanted. It was amazing, ever since Twilight had gotten Rainbow Dash into the Daring Do series, the blue Pegasus hadn’t been able to leave the books alone. Spike even heard a rumor that she was trying to write her own story about the adventurous pony archeologist. Who would have thought that Rainbow Dash, fastest and, next to Applejack, most athletic pony in Ponyville, would love reading so much?

He found the book eventually, and tugged it down off the shelf. The cover showed a picture of the light brown Pegasus with the greyscale mane running through a tropical jungle, a saddle bag slung over her back with a hint of a radiant crystal jewel peeking out. A second, possibly younger, light green Pegasus ran behind her, looking anxiously over her shoulder. Spike hadn’t read this one yet, but it looked good.

As he started down the ladder, he noticed that Twilight was starting on her spell. He supposed she was going to bring the pony of Applebloom’s drawing to life. That would be interesting.

Fascinated, the purple dragon crouched down on the ladder, the Daring Do book held against his chest like some sort of shield. A shield against what, he didn’t know.

Twilight closed her eyes, concentrating. She took a deep breath, planting her hooves firmly apart to give herself more stability. The spell in her mind, she slowly, carefully, called on her power, which collected in her horn, making it glow. She was almost ready. She just had to aim it in the right direction –

~**~

Rainbow Dash had been meaning to drop in on Twilight later in the day and collect her new Daring Do novel, Daring Do and the Search for the Alicorn Stone. She was looking forward to reading it. These Daring Do books were so goodI
But things didn’t entirely work out the way she’d planned. She’d been practicing a new move that she’d seen the Wonderbolts, the Pegasus team she idolized, that she had wanted to try it out. If she had that trick under her belt, she was sure to attract their attention when she saw them the next time!

However, the trick turned out to be a little more….difficult than she had planned.

As she saw the window of Twilight’s library coming into view, the Pegaus braced herself for impact.

Well, maybe she’d drop in on the unicorn a little earlier than she had planned….

~**~

The crash had not been expected. Not that crashes ever are, but if there was ever a crash at the wrong time, it was this one.
Rainbow Dash smashed through the upper window of the library just as the lavender pony was aiming her spell. Concentration shattered, Twilight lost both her focus and control over her magic. The magic flashed, and the shot went wide, missing the picture of the pony altogether, bouncing off a mirror on the other side of the room, and then ricocheting back. The bright light caused Spike to look away, holding the Daring Do book up to protect himself from both Twilight’s runaway magic and the spray of objects that Rainbow Dash would cause once she crashed. Neither Twilight nor Spike saw the bolt of magenta magic hit the light blue pegasus full in the side just as she crossed in front of Spike and his book-shield.

The room became suddenly quiet, and Twilight raised her head from where she’d collapsed, the sudden loss of magic having taken a lot out of her. Spike, too, slowly lowered the book to look around the view the carnage.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said, angrily. “How dare you – “

She stopped when she noticed something as she glanced around, looking for the Pegasus with the parti-colored mane.

For one thing, no Pegasus matching that description was there. In fact, no Pegasus was in the library at all.

Twilight struggled to her feet and slowly turned around.

“Rainbow Dash?” she called. “Where are you? Are you alright?”

“Tw-Twilight?”
That wasn’t Rainbow Dash, but Spike, and Twilight paid him barely any heed as she searched for her friend who may be hurt or unconscious.

“Rainbow Dash?” she called, but as she looked around the tree room, she saw nothing. The window was broken where the Pegasus had entered, but there was no pile of books or broken decorations or anything to show where she had landed.
Had she flown out? But the door was closed –

“Twilight?”

“Spike, have you see Rainbow Dash? Where’d she go?” Twilight asked, still not looking at him.

“Twilight, I found her,” the dragon replied, but his voice was strangely uncertain. Twilight turned to him suddenly.

“Where?” she asked, anxiously.

With a shaking hand, Spike held up the Daring Do novel and pointed to the cover. Unsure what he was on about, Twilight stepped closer and peered at the picture on the front.

Her mouth felt dry.

There, running behind Daring Do, in place of the light green Pegasus that had once been there, was clearly now a different pony.

And that pony was Rainbow Dash.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6-

The train to Canterlot chugged and lurched its way across the Equestrian landscape, and began to zig and zag its way through the mountains as it began its slow climb towards the great city in the distance. To Twilight, the typical relaxing train ride to Equestria’s capitol city now felt painfully slow and meandering. But she also knew the feelings were misplaced. The book that Rainbow Dash was trapped inside sat closed and was snuggled safely inside her saddle bag, and as long as they didn’t continue reading, there was no danger of pushing Rainbow Dash to the point where the danger really started. However, Twilight also didn’t know whether or not the spell would wear off if they waited too long. It was possible that if they didn’t get help soon enough for Rainbow Dash, she would be trapped inside the world of fiction forever.

“Twilight, stop twitching,” Spike scolded her. Twilight started and glanced down at the little dragon. She sighed and looked out the window as the train continued its journey upwards to Canterlot.

“Sorry, Spike,” she apologized. “I’m just so nervous.”

“We all are, Sugarcube,” Applejack said, coming to stand beside Twilight’s seat. “But the Princess will know what to do. You know that.”

Twilight nodded. Fortunately, Princess Celestia had sent a response to the ponies not too long after Spike had sent her the letter, telling them to come quickly to Canterlot and bring the Daring Do book with them. She apologized that she could not come to them: there were delegates in Canterlot who would be staying there for several days that she needed to attend to, but she assured Twilight that she would and could help her save Rainbow Dash.

“I’m just nervous about what I’m going to tell the Princess about how this happened,” she admitted to her friends. “This is all my fault. If Princess Celestia can’t figure out how to reverse this – “

“She will,” Fluttershy assured her friend. “If there’s anyone who can help, it’s the Princess.”

The others agreed and Applejack touched Twilight’s shoulder with a hoof.

“Besides,” the farm pony told the unicorn. “It was an accident. Princess Celestia’ll understand.”

“I should have listened to you, Spike,” Twilight said to the dragon. “That spell was too hard. I shouldn’t have tried it. And now Rainbow Dash is paying the price.”

Spike frowned and placed a hand on Twilight’s leg as the lilac pony stared back out the window at the mountains rushing passed. They were almost there.

~**~

“Princess Celestia!”

Twilight, followed by the other ponies plus Spike, rushed into Princess Celestia’s throne room. Twilight barely noticed the grunts of indignation from the guards as they were practically flattened by a wave of uninvited ponies. Twilight ran at the front, while Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike followed at a similarly fast pace only a short distance behind. Pinkie Pie, however, bounced happily behind the others, her usual bright sunny self despite the situation. The annoyed guards glared after the cotton-candy colored pony.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

The Princess was seated on her throne, two guard ponies standing on the ground on either side of the platform which elevated the white alicorn above the floor. They, too, were not happy with the sudden intrusion, but they also knew Twilight, so they made no move to protect the Princess. Princess Celestia set a scroll aside which she had been writing on with a quill and stepped off her throne to meet her pupil halfway. Typically, Twilight would greet her mentor by rubbing her head against the great white alicorn’s chest, but the situation didn’t call for this typical sign of affection. Instead, Twilight slid to a halt before her mentor, her eyes wide.

“Princess Celestia, something terrible has happened!” she gasped. The Princess, calm and controlled as always, raised a hoof in order to silence her student before she plunged into a lengthy and panicked explanation.

“I read your letter,” she said. “From what I gathered, your friend Rainbow Dash has somehow been trapped inside a book. Please, Twilight, tell me what happened.”

“It was all my fault!” Twilight cried. “I was trying a new spell that was beyond my level. It was a spell to turn images into real life things, but Rainbow Dash crashed into my window and I accidently released the spell onto her. There was a book nearby, and she got trapped in it. And I don’t know how to bring her back!”

She panted, catching her breath after the lengthy explanation she had just given. Princess Celestia did not look flustered, or even concerned. She remained calm and collected as she turned purple eyes to the other ponies before her.

“And the rest of you confirm that this was what happened?” she asked.

“We weren’t there to see it,” Applejack informed her. “But we did see the book, and it does have Rainbow Dash in it, and on the cover.”

“I saw it,” Spike said, waving a hand. “And that’s what happened. She was there one minute, then poof! She was gone.”

“Do you have the book that contains the spell you used?” Celestia questioned. Twilight swallowed and nodded. She had fortunately thought to bring the spell book along, and it was tucked into the other half of her saddlebag. She used her magic to levitate it from the bag and towards the Princess, who took it in her own magic and flipped it open to the page that Twilight had marked. She studied the spell for a moment, and then turned purple eyes back to Twilight.

“And you also have the book in which your friend is trapped?” she asked calmly. Twilight pulled the Daring Do book from her bag as well and Celestia studied it, her eyebrow slightly raised at the name of the novel and its content.

“Rainbow Dash was going to pick it up from me later,” Twilight explained. “It’s part of her favorite series.”

“I believe I know what you have done,” the Princess told her student. “And it will not be easy to undo.”

Twilight looked down at her hooves.

“I was afraid you’d say that,” she said. Celestia continued.

“Typically, I would have encouraged you to read through the book in its entirety. Words have power, and the words which make up the world that Rainbow Dash is trapped in would eventually free her if they are read.”

“I was right!” Pinkie Pie squealed happily. Twilight and the others looked back at the pink pony, perplexed, wondering how she could have known. But the Princess wasted no time.

“However, I know this book,” the white alicorn continued. Twilight’s eyes widened.

“You do?” she asked, amazed that the Princess would have read a Daring Do novel.

“Of course,” Celestia replied with a light smile, but did not further explain her interests in the adventures of the pony archeologist. She quickly returned to seriousness. “And I know that the companion to the heroine of this novel does not fare well. In which case, to read to the end would mean that Rainbow Dash would become trapped within the world of fiction that this book sets up.”

“But, what do we do?” Twilight asked. Celestia lowered the books and gazed down at the ponies below her.

“I am afraid there is only one thing you can do,” she said. “I must use the same spell that you accidently made, Twilight, to send you and your other friends into the same world and rescue your friend from the ending of this book.”

Twilight almost fell over.

“What?” she asked, shocked. “You want us to go into this book and rescue Rainbow Dash? But…how will that work? Won’t the story take us over too?”

“You five are not previously mentioned in the storyline,” Celestia explained. “While Rainbow Dash merely took the place of an already established character, you will become rogue elements, which the text of the story has no power over. Your presence into the book will change the outcome of it entirely: which is what must happen. Rainbow Dash wields one of the Elements of Harmony. She cannot become trapped inside this book, or Equestria will unable to rely upon its most important magic.

“However,” Celestia continued. “There is one thing which I cannot do. Despite the introduction of you all as rogue elements into the storyline, the story needs to be read to keep the timeline flowing. But I cannot take the time to do so. The delegates staying here are from the Griffon Kingdom, and we have much to discuss. Therefore, one of you must stay behind and read the book so that the others can save Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight considered this for a moment, and then looked up at the Princess.

“Can you…give us a second?” she asked. Celestia nodded slightly, and Twilight turned to consult with the others. They huddled close together to discuss the situation.

“Did you hear that?” Pinkie Pie said excitedly. “We’re going to get to be in a book!”

“Yes, but we need someone to stay behind to read the book,” Twilight reminded them. “Or else we won’t get anything done, even if we do get into the book.”

“I’ll stay,” Spike offered. Twilight looked down at him, her purple eyes slightly concerned.

“Oh, Spike, are you sure?” she asked. The small purple dragon nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he said. “I’ll stay behind and read through the book. I promise.”

Twilight pulled him in close and gave him a hug. He smiled, and then pulled away as Twilight turned to address the Princess once more.

“Alright,” she said. “We’re ready.”

“Good,” Celestia said. She placed the Daring Do book on the floor and the five ponies gathered before it. Spike stood back, out of the line of fire.

“Twilight,” Celestia said. The light purple unicorn looked seriously up at her mentor. “You must understand: you have to save your friend. The Elements of Harmony must be protected.”

“We won’t fail,” Twilight said bravely. The others gave their consent, and the Princess nodded and smiled.

“I know I can count on you. Be careful,” she warned. “The fiction world that has been created is similar to ours, but can be dangerous.”

Twilight stood taller as the others gathered close around her, preparing themselves for what was coming next.

Celestia herself straightened, her long, spiraling horn pointing high into the air. It began to glow, and Twilight closed her eyes as the light became too bright for her to look at. A flash erupted from it, so bright she could see the light through her lidded eyes, and feel the magic rippling around her like static electricity. Suddenly, she felt like she was falling, and she reached instinctively out to grab hold of her friends.

Then, there was nothing.

~**~

When Spike opened his eyes and lowered the arms he had thrown up to cover his face during the flash, he found that the five ponies who had stood before him moments ago were gone. He swallowed hard.

“Are they….are they…?” he stammered, unable to find the right words.

“They are now inside the world of the book,” Celestia told him. “Now, Spike, it is your job to read the book’s words to keep the timeline moving. Can you do that?”

“Of course!” the purple dragon affirmed, and ran forward to snatch the book off the ground. He held it in his claws in front of him and looked at the cover which still had the picture of Daring Do and Rainbow Dash emblazoned across the front. Nothing had changed, but he guessed it was because, like Celestia had said, Twilight and the others were rogue elements, taking up no part in the original text.

“Good,” the Princess said. “I must attend to the delegates, but you are welcome to stay here, in the throne room. I will not be bringing the griffons here.”

Spike nodded and watched as Celestia turned and strode away, her great, flowing mane swirling behind her in its multitude of color. The two guards stationed at the steps of her throne followed her close behind.

As the Princess neared the doors, she paused and looked back over her shoulder.

“If you should need anything,” she told him. “Tell one of the guards to fetch me or Princess Luna. We will do whatever we can to help.”

Spike nodded, agreeing wordlessly as the Princess once more began to stride towards the doors of the throne room. The guards posted their obediently opened the doors for her, and she walked regally out into the adjoining hallway. Finally, the doors closed once more, leaving Spike alone. Even the stallions at the doors had departed along with the Princess.

The little purple dragon padded forward and took a seat on one of the steps leading up to the throne. Carefully, he placed the Daring Do book on his lap and opened to the chapter where they had left off reading in Ponyville.

“Okay,” he said. “Here goes nothing.”

He took a breath and read on.