With a courageous breath, Daring Do poked her yellow face through the brambles and shrubbery that surrounded the ancient jungle temple. Her ruby eyes narrowed intently. Through sweaty humidity and the buzz of deadly mosquitoes, the brave adventurer spotted her zeppelin. The getaway vehicle was surrounded on all sides by surly equines garbed in wooden armor and ragged animal pelts. The angry cannibals muttered and spat towards one another in a mysterious tongue, brandishing spears as they trotted sullen circles around the polished aircraft.
"Now that the legendary Tome of Relyk is her my grasp, Daring Do must bring it back to Manehattan University," the mare narrated in an uncharacteristically high-pitched voice. "But as soon as she emerged from the jungle, she saw that an entire tribe of flesh-eating bandits had surrounded the royal vessel donated to her by the Prince of Canterlot! How will she ever make it back to civilization, while keeping both the Chalice and the zeppelin in one piece?!"
A vicious grin crossed the pony's face as she fearlessly stalked forward through the underbrush.
"Unfortunately for the evil-loving creeps, their might is matched! For little do they know that Daring Do is a black belt in Trot Kwon Do! And she's eaten bigger tribes than these baddies for breakfast! With a loud war-cry meant to frighten the ghost out of their superstitious bodies, Daring Do fearlessly charges forward, galloping gallantly towards her airship with wild abandon!"
That said, the pony tightens her powerful leg muscles, flicks her gray tail, and bounds forward with a heroic leap.
"AaAaAaAaAaAaAaaaaiieeee!" a little filly warbled, charging straight out of her apartment on tiny waddling legs. She had a plastic pith helmet dangling over her tiny head and a large book balanced on her flank. With careful twirls and jukes and spins, she punched and bucked and whalloped a dozen invisible foes. "Wham! Pffft! Boof! Whack! Ugggggh! Haaa!"
"Amy!" a tall blonde mare with a peach coat called out from the front stoop to their home. She locked the apartment entrance shut, slid the key into her purse, and raised her voice. "Amy Knight Yearling, watch where you're galloping, young filly!"
"Aaaaaaaaa—" Blinded by the tilted brim of her toy helmet, Amy nevertheless bumped into the front right wheel of a compact wooden wagon situated on the lawn. "Ooof!" The six-year-old fell on her mustard-colored flank, but nevertheless threw the brief pain off, hopping instantly to her hooves. "Mommmmm! I'm not Amy! I'm Daring Do! The greatest adventurer who ever adventured! And you're gonna make me get ambushed by cannibals!"
"I'm less concerned about cannibals and more worried about the library book." The mare trotted briskly over towards the wagon. "You promised Mommy that you would hold it for her on the way to the drop-off."
"Library book?!" Amy bore a surly pout across her tiny face. She held the book up high, teetering slightly. "But this is the Tome of Relyk! It has written secrets about how to get into the Temple of Tartarus! N'stuff!"
"Hmmm..." The mother smiled. "Well, if it's so incredibly important, then certainly Daring Do would do her best to keep it in one piece and not risk dropping it into the dirt, don't you think?"
The filly gasped, hugging the book. "Then the professors back at Manehattan University would never know where to find the super secret hidden location to the Temple of Tartarus!"
"There's a good girl." The mother lifted Amy into the back of the wagon. "Now, sit tight, and stay inside, Daring." She winked before depositing her purse inside and then hitching herself to the vehicle's riggings. "You can't find any treasures in your temple if you don't get there in one piece."
Amy inhaled and inhaled some more. "We totally can't let them get the Tome of Relyk back! They'll use it to summon the pony ghosts from beyond!" Her plastic pith helmet slipped over her eyes and she tilted it back again. "Set a course for Manehattan Isle! Daring Do will hold off the cannibals and their air gliders with her prototype crystal ray gun!"
"So long as you keep seated in one place!" the mother sing-songed, trotting forward at a brisk pace. She pulled out of her front yard and onto a main street of Ponyville. "After all, you don't want to lose the crystal magic charge!"
"Pew pew!" Amy took aim with an invisible rifle, squinting one eye as she fired at the bushes, shrubbery, and white picket fences of Equestrian suburbia all around. "Pewwww! Back! Back, cannibals! The Tome of Relyk belongs in a museum!"
A gray hoof stamped the last of three cards and slid them into a trio of books before shutting them gently. A middle-aged mare with a pink mane smiled, adjusting her glasses. "There you go, Ms. Yearling. I do hope this helps you with your research."
"Oh, I'm certain they will, Ms. Mare." Amy's mother slid all three into her purse and spoke quietly in the stale library air. "I just wish I wrote better notes last time, this way I wouldn't have to show up and borrow the same books so often."
Ms. Mare chuckled in a low tone. "It's no problem whatsoever, my dear. How, may I ask, is your novel going?"
The blonde pony sighed. "Slowly but surely. I love my editors, but sometimes I think they're out for my head."
"Must be hard juggling all of that writing with... you know... everything else."
"Mmmm. Perhaps. But I couldn't be happier. I've just got a few errands to run today."
"I see you brought your darling Amy along." Ms. Mare craned her neck to look across the lobby of the hollow treehouse. "My my... she certainly is rather... quiet today."
"It's on account of the spring loaded cactus death traps," the mother calmly explained. "Any single vibration—even the quietest breath—could set them off."
"Huh?!" Ms. Mare blinked. She took another look.
Amy Knight Yearling bit her lip, stretching her legs as she nervously slid and slithered her way through an invisible array of deadly leaves. She squatted low once or twice, crawling on her belly, then pulled herself up like a stretching cat in order to avoid more phantom brambles.
"Ohhhhhh..." Ms. Mare nodded with a knowing smile. "I see."
"Yes." The mother winked and slipped her purse over her neck and shoulder. "Though, I imagine, none of us will ever see as much as her."
"Still, whatever works, works."
The blonde mare chuckled with a tired smile. "The day is only beginning." And she turned to exit, motioning a breathless adventurer to follow.
"Oh noes!" Amy shrieked into the sunny air of Ponyville. She squatted in the back of the wagon, gesturing at the three library books. "The Tome of Relyk split into three! This must be the cause of forgotten dark magics!"
"They're still precious, though, hmmm?" Amy's mother spoke as she carried the wagon towards the center of town. She smiled and nodded at politely waving ponies as she passed them by in the road. "So, we gotta make sure they reach Manehattan undamaged!"
"But... but how is Daring Do going to enter the Temple of Tartarus now?!" Amy gasped. Her plastic helmet fell forward and she pushed it back up above bulging red eyes. "The map was in the original tome! But now it's gone!"
"Oh, I'm sure she'll figure out something," the mare giggled. "Daring Do may be adventurous... but she's clever and smart all the same!"
"Hmmmm..." Amy rubbed her yellow muzzle as she squinted intently at the three books. "The books were split into three. Maybe this was something that they were enchanted to do from the beginning... in order to preserve a hidden message!"
"A hidden message, you say?"
"Of course!" Amy grinned wide. "Daring Do's seen this before! That lesson she took from Professor T.S. Booth on magical spectral enchantment! The Tome of Relyk has been split with a Rainbow Spell!" She spread all three books open and positioned them in a neat, papery triangle. "All she needs to do is tilt them at just the right angle to catch the sunlight and..." A loud gasp. "A magical laser beam! Bzzzz-nyaaarrr! Wow! All three books are shining a bright rainbow beam into the sky!"
A stallion trotted the opposite way down the street with a green-eyed little colt seated in his farm wagon. "Afternoon, Ms. Yearling. Goin' on another one of them whizzbang adventures?"
"Heeheehee..." The mother smiled, nodding as they passed each other by. "You know it, Mr. Appleseed." she spoke above Amy's sound effects. "Little A.K. has a four-thirty appointment with Dr. Farrier, but... well... you know..."
"Heheh. Eeyup."
"How's Lil Macintosh?"
"Heh... he's a real strong apple bucker, that's for sure." He smiled back at his son. "You should see him on the farm! The lil' fella thinks he can pull a plow already."
"Ha! Not until the handsome devil is big enough!"
"Darn tootin'. Whelp, we've got some fruit to deliver. Drop by and see us sometime!"
"We'd love to!" The mare waved before glancing back at her foal. "Wouldn't we, Amy?"
"Duaaaaah—Daring Do has done it! The rainbow beam is showing us the way to where a new map for the Temple of Tartarus is hidden!" Amy squinted beyond the rim of her "helmet" and pointed at the building looming straight ahead. "Of course! The Volcano Castle! Onwardsss!"
"Hmmm..." The mare smiled as she parked their wagon in front of the grocery store. "But of course..."
Ponies milled about in the brightly-lit aisles, dropping vegetables, cake mix, and all manner of ingredients into their shopping carts.
Amy's mother stood beside her cart, squinting at two different cannisters of coffee. "Mrmmff... silly marketing. If it's caffeinated, then why put it in an orange container?" At the sound of scuffling hooves, she sighed and spoke over her shoulder. "Amy Knight Yearling, now what have I told you about making room for the other shoppers?"
"Grnngh... must... make my... w-way to the other side... of the r-ravine!"
"Amy..." The mare sighed, chose one cannister, and dropped it into the cart. "In the back of the wagon is fine. Even the library." She pushed the cart across the checkerboard tile of the thin space. "But Mommy needs you to settle down a little bit right now, mmm'kay?"
"Nuuuuu!" Wide-eyed, the filly waved a wild hoof from where she stood with her tiny flank pressed up to the cereal aisle. "Lavaaaaa!"
"Hmmm?" The mare blinked.
Amy gnashed her teeth, positively sweating. "The dark spots are made of lava!" She shook, strained, and eventually hopped from one white square to another two spaces over. "If you go straight across, you'll burn right up! Daring Do will never forgive herself for letting you roast to a crisp on her watch!"
"Don't you think that's an awful lot of effort to go through just to booby-trap a volcano?" the mother asked with a wry grin.
"Nuh uh! This wasn't built by evil cultists! It was ancient alicorns who sculpted this place out of the fiery core of the earth!"
"Uh huh..."
"Daring Do must struggle her way across lava traps older than time if she's to find the map to the Temple of Tartarus!"
"You don't say..." The mother paused the cart, glancing aside. "Well, maybe the lava traps all cooled down over the eons, and it's safe to trot straight across the vulcanized glass?"
"But... b-but that's not dangerous enough!"
"Isn't it, though?" The mother picked up a pastel-pink box and shook it with a smile. "Dangerous enough for some fruit snacks, perhaps?"
Amy froze in place, her yellow ears perking up. The plastic pith helmet fell over her eyes, but she didn't bother to move. Not even a single inch.
"If you can ignore the lava just this once and make it across the Volcanic lair quietly, then maybe Daring can enjoy them."
"Mmmm..." Biting her lip, the little filly finally tilted the brim of the toy helmet up, revealing a pair of blushing cheeks. "No."
The mother arched an eyebrow. "No?"
"I-I mean..." The filly squirmed, fidgeted. "Daring wouldn't enjoy them. She'd need them. They're... uh... special medicine! Medicine that she needs in order to... breathe the poisonous volcanic fumes without dying!"
"Lemme guess, Professor T.S. Booth?"
"Uh huh! Uh huh!"
"Well, I'm certainly he'd want Daring to arrive at the Temple of Tartarus in one piece." The mare smiled as she placed the box of snacks into the cart. "And arriving there means doing so without a lot of fuss. Do you think Daring's up for the challenge?"
Amy gasped, her scampy gray tail flicking. "Oh look! The lava's frozen over! There's a clean bridge to the chest that contains the map!"
"Why, how convenient." The mother chuckled as she pushed the shopping cart straight for the checkout.
"Careful! Not too quick!" Amy bit her lip as she trotted slowly and politely beside her mother. "We don't want to make the lava melt again!"
"Hmmm... stole the words straight from my mouth."
The blonde mare hummed to herself as she carried the wagon full of non-perishable groceries across town. Just then, she heard a loud chime. Tilting her head, the mare looked to see the distant clock tower at the southern end of Ponyville.
"Ah, good," she said, pausing to wipe some sweat from her brow. "Four o'clock. We shouldn't be late for her appointment..."
"Mrmmmff..." Amy munched in delight from the back of the wagon.
The mother smiled over her shoulder. "You know, I'm rather surprised. I didn't think Daring Do would like nibbling on gummy princesses."
"That's... th-that's only because Professor T.S. Booth got permission from Princess Celestia to make this special medicine!" Amy pouted, her red cheeks puffing. "Besides, Daring Do survived the poisonous gases just long enough to get the map!"
"Oh? And do you know where the treasure map leads?"
"Uhhhh..."
"Somewhere dangerous, I bet."
"Nothing's too dangerous for Daring Do!"
The mare giggled. "I've no doubt." She smiled as she carried the wagon briskly forward. "But remember, the best out of life isn't danger."
"Right!" Amy gulped down another gummy snack and smiled. "It's excitement!" she chirped.
The mare nodded. "And that's why you should never give up on your dreams." She glanced ahead at a looming doctor's office. "Oh! Look! I do believe I see the temple already!"
"But that's not what it says on the map?"
"Are you sure? Try looking again."
"... ... ...Behold! Daring Do has found the Temple of Tartarus!"
"Heeheehee!" The mother grinned warmly. "I bet a lot of mysteries lie in way inside."
"Not for long, they don't!"
The blonde mare leaned over the receptionist's counter. "I'm here for the four-thirty appointment with Dr. Farrier."
"Let me see..." A young pony flipped through a schedule book. "Ah! A.K. Yearling?"
"That's right."
"You're right on time. Dr. Farrier has three other foals ahead of you, but it shouldn't take too long."
"I figured as much."
The young pony leaned over the counter with a bright smile. "And just how is little Amy doing? Hmmm?"
"Fwoooooosh!" The little mustard mare galloped around her mother inside the office's waiting room, her stubby wings stretched out wide. She looked up with a devilish smirk. "Not Amy! Daring Do! And the Temple of Tartarus is full of evil gargoyles! But they're no match for Daring! Fwoosh! Smack! Whappo!"
"Heeheehee... awwwwww..." The receptionist sat back. "She's absolutely cavity-inducing! I almost wish I worked at a dentist's office."
"Oh, Celestia forebid." The mother rolled her eyes with a gentle smirk. "That's going to be next year."
"Heh. Won't that be fun." The receptionist slid a piece of paper forward. "Just sign right here... and here."
"Much appreciated."
"Fwoooooosh! Uh oh! The gargoyles have clipped Daring's wing!" Amy teetered in mid-trot, bumping into a potted plant before scuffling her way towards a bubbling acquarium along the far edge of the waiting room. "Aack! The River of the Dead! Pull up, Daring! Pull uppppp!" She curved to the right, barely grazing the glass case and the blinking fish inside. "Yes! Using all her wits and strengths, Daring did it! Now she just has to land in the underground graveyard and the treasure will be all hers—"
"Zoooom!" A scarlet-maned colt with a red cape suddenly "landed" in front of her. "What do we have here, Flam? A damsel in distress?"
"Woosh!" Another colt ran up, his little red cape billowing to a stop as he did. "Looks like she just saved herself, Flim! Could she be after Dr. Destructo's evil formula as well?"
"Why don't we ask her, Flam? The Super Colts are always looking for a smart scientist to help them stop Destructo's wicked ways!"
"Greetings, Miss! Don't be alarmed!" One of the two crusaders bowed, his stubby horn glistening in the blue light from the acquarium. "We, the Supercolts, only fight for Equestria's freedom! How might we be able to save you today?"
"... ... ..." Amy stared at them, her eyes wide with shrunken pupils.
"Flim! Can't you see?" One colt "flew" around the other, cape twirling. "She's been zapped by Destructo's voice ray! She can't talk!"
"Oh no! The fiend! We have to find the formula quickly and save her!"
"Before it's too late!"
"... ... ..." Amy slowly, quietly backed up. In a yellow blur, she dropped her pith helmet and hid behind her mother's legs. There, she peered out from hiding, eyes still nervously locked on the two colts.
"Hmmm?" The blonde mare looked down. "What's the matter?" She turned and blinked at the two colts. Her eyes then traveled towards the far end of the waiting room where a middle-aged mare with matching red hair smiled nervously.
"Heheh... they're a rather imaginative pair, to say the least. I'm sorry. They didn't meant to frighten her, I swear." She stood up from her chair. "Flim? Flam? I think the Supercolts could use some rest right about now—"
"No no... it's quite alright." The blonde mare waved a hoof, then leaned down to nuzzle Amy. "What's wrong? Hmmm?" she spoke in a warm, high-pitched tone. "It's alright, honey. They're adventurers just like you, see?"
Amy merely bit her lip, trembling.
The mother smirked. "Certainly Daring Do isn't afraid of a pair of heroic stallions who are out to save the world—just like her!" She winked.
"Mmmmm..." Amy bit her lip, her ears folded back. Nevertheless, she stretched her head out, blinking, getting a better look at the two colts.
One of them had picked up her plastic helmet. With a twirl of his cape, he trotted over and held the thing out, smiling. "Here you go, citizen. A good traveler knows how to protect her head!"
"Go on..." The mother nudged Amy lightly. "It's okay."
Pensively, Amy reached out and took the helmet. After a deep breath, she held the thing to her yellow chest and said, "Of course it'll protect her head..." A devilish grin. "Because Professor T.S. Booth enchanted it with super special adventure magic!"
"Adventure magic?!" gasped one colt.
"Could that be used to defeat Dr. Destructo?!"
"Maybe!" Amy slapped the helmet onto her scampy head of hair and grinned viciously. "That is, if he built his lair deep inside the Temple of Tartarus!"
"The Temple of Tartarus! Of course!" One colt gasped at another. "You know what this means, Flam?!"
"Of course, Flim! He's trying to put Cerberus under his spell!"
"All of Equestria will be doomed!"
"Not on the Supercolts' watch! Let's fly!"
"Grab our hooves, citizen! We'll carry you there!"
"Nuh uh!" Amy galloped between them. "Cuz Daring remembered to bring her super secret rocket boots! And they use smoke from the underworld for fuel! Fwoooosh!"
"Up! Up! And away!"
"Your days are numbered, Dr. Destructo!"
"My my..." the colts' mother raised a hoof to her cheek, blinking sympathetically. "That can't be easy at all!"
"At times, it's hard." The blond mare nodded, seated next to her. "But every day is a welcoming challenge, at least to me. Besides, Amy might seem rambunctious on the surface, but deep down inside she's a bright little filly who takes after her father. And I honestly think that's good for the both of us."
"Well, I can only imagine how it must feel like for you."
"To be perfectly honest, I find it hard to put it into words sometimes." The mare fiddled with her purse, sighing. "So that's why I've chosen to put it into different words."
"With your novels, you mean?"
"Mmmhmmm. Imagination can take you a long way."
"Well, I certainly agree with you—" The scarlet mane'd pony gasped as the two colts and filly scampered by, trampling across the waiting room in furious little circles. "Good heavens!"
"Aaaah! Look out!" Amy yelped. "The gargoyles are under mind control by Dr. Destructo!"
"They won't stand a chance against us!" One colt spun with a twirl of his cape and squinted hard. "Quickly, Flim! Let's use our heat vision to turn them back to stone!"
"Bzzzzzzzt!"
"Bzzzzz-zaaaap!"
"While you have them distracted, I'll open the super secret vault!" Amy leaned up against a water cooler, brushing her hooves across its beige surface. "The treasure has got to be hidden in here somewhere!" She tapped a blue nozzel, and water trickled out of a plastic spicket. "Uh oh! Destructo has flooded it! That must mean he wishes to sink the oceans of Equestria into Tartarus!"
"Now now, Amy..." The blonde mare leaned forward in her seat, waving a hoof. "No wasting anypony's water. I don't care who's cursed it." The other mother besides her chuckled merrily.
Right around that time, a stallion trotted out from the doctors' offices with a quietly sobbing colt lying across his flank. He smiled nervously at those in the waiting room and made straightway for the receptionist's desk. In the meantime, a nurse trotted up, levitating a clipboard with her horn.
"Ahem... Felix Flim and Frederick Flam?"
"Oh!" The mare with the scarlet mane stood up. "I'm afraid that's us! Nice talking to you, Ms. Yearling."
"Likewise."
"Alright, my little Supercolts!" The other mother clapped her hooves and trotted over to the two caped foals. "The adventure in Tartarus will have to wait!"
"Awwwwwwww...!"
"But Daring Do was going to help us find the secret formula!"
"Yes, well, she can save the day on her own. It's time now that the Supercolts... uhm... got recharged!"
"Recharged? You mean more, newer superpowers!"
"Let's go, Flam! This may be what we need to defeat Dr. Destructo!"
That said, the two colts gladly accompanied their mother as she escorted them down the hallway. The nurse smiled sweetly at them, scribbled on her clipboard, then hung it from her station.
"Fwooosh! Nyaaaarrrr..." Amy found herself scuffling to a stop, alone in the center of the waiting room. "Wait..." She panted, breathing heavily from her adventurous exercise. "Where'd they go? We had almost snooped Destructo out from his lair!"
"They had to... fly back to Maretropolis, I think," the blonde mare said with a nervous titter. She patted the seat next to her, still warm from the colts' mother. "Why don't you sit next to Mommy, Daring?" She smiled. "Tell me all about your adventures in Tartarus."
"Ooh! You'll never believe what we found in the kingdom of the undead!" Amy hopped up onto the seat with a little help from her mother. She tilted her helmet back and smirked. "There were giraffe skeletons galloping around with laser beams!"
"You don't say..."
"Yeah! And... and when the Supercolts thought they were done beating them up, that's when Daring Do realized it was a distraction! 'Cuz Destructo had planned all along to take control of the gargoyles..."
"...and that's how we ended up with an entire legion of monsters chasing after our tails! But when Daring went to find the hidden treasure, she found out that Destructo had flooded the heart of Tartarus! This means that the rest of Equestria is in danger of losing all their water and—"
Right at that moment, the mare with the scarlet mane trotted out from the hallway. Two sullen-looking colts shuffled after her with thick band-aids over their fetlocks. Flim and Flam sniffled, their eyes moist and puffy. Their mother glanced over at the far corner of the waiting room and shrugged with a nervous smile.
The blonde mare nodded back.
"Ha!" Amy pointed. "Dr. Destructo must have zapped them with the deadly Canternite! Heehee! Too bad they're not as brave and strong as Daring!"
"Now now, Amy," the mother gently chided. "That's no way to talk about other foals, especially a pair of super colts who helped Daring through the underworld!"
"But look at them! Their superpowers are gone!" Amy stroked her chin in thought. "Hmmmm... If it's not Destructo who's behind this, then who?"
The nurse trotted up, lifted the clipboard, and cleared her throat yet again. "Amy Knight Yearling?"
"Whoops!" The blonde mare stood up, tilting her flank towards the seat behind her. "That's us, Daring."
"What's this?" Amy hopped onto her mother's flank and stood in place as the mare carried her down the long hallway lined with stale white rooms. "Has Daring been summoned? In Tartarus?"
"Hmmm... Tartarus is a dangerous place, isn't it?" With the nurse's help, the blonde mare was led into a tiny room with a chair, an examination bed, and white counters full of medical equipment. "The deeper you go, the more nasty things you run into."
"Heeheehee! Which is just how Daring likes it!"
"I bet." The mother placed Amy onto the edge of the reclining bed and smirked. "Which is why we need to make sure she's healthy for the deep trip."
"Huh?" Amy blinked. "You mean like a magic buff?"
"Something like that. Daring Do trusts Professor T.S. Booth, doesn't she?"
"You bet!" Amy's voice cracked. "With her life!"
"Well, she's going to have to trust Dr. Farrier today."
"Dr. Farrier? Is he a friend of Professor Booth's?"
"I'm willing to bet that he is—"
Right at that moment, a young stallion with fluffy red hair entered the room, knocking gently on the open door. "Hello hello hello!" He adjusted his white labcoat and produced a warm smile. "I do hope I haven't kept you waiting too long."
"Hardly, Dr. Farrier." The blonde mare giggled. "Busy afternoon?"
"Whew boy! Tis the 'Sneezin', if you catch my drift." He winked.
"Yes. Yes I do."
"Let's see..." He flipped through a clipboard. "Amy Knight Yearling..."
"I'm not Amy!" the filly squeaked, standing tall and proud atop the edge of the bed. "I'm Daring Do! The most courageous adventurer alive!"
"Well, is that so?" He smirked, adjusting his spectacles. "Well, we're here to make sure you get to enjoy a long, long life of adventuring, Little Missy!"
"Are you going to help me go deeper into Tartarus?"
"Uhhhhh..." The stallion chuckled as he rolled up a stool. "...I got my doctorate in a lot of things. I'm certain spelunking through Tartarus is something I squeezed in between pediatrics and pharmaceuticals."
"Now now, Daring." The blonde mare gave her daughter's shoulder a light squeeze. "Be nice, polite, and above all—calm. Or else the good doctor won't be able to fix you up just right."
"Pfft! I could do that in my sleep!"
"Heh... so long as you don't fall asleep in the middle of the examination!" The doctor leaned forward with a stethoscope. "Now... lemme see how strong that daring heartbeat is..."
The next fifteen minutes were a cavalcade of tongue depressing, knee-tapping, and blood-pressure testing. Several quirky jokes were told, and Amy giggled more than a few times. She was so distracted that she barely noticed when the nurse trotted in, balancing a tray full of slender objects.
"Here you go, Doctor," the pony said.
"Ahhh... thank you, Red Heart. Punctual as always."
"Does this mean I can go deeper into Tartarus now?" Amy asked, beaming. "'Cuz Dr. Destructo is trying to control Cerberus and drown out the water supply and Daring has to stop him!"
"One thing at a time, my little danger pony." The mother lifted Amy up. She trotted backwards, sitting down in a chair and holding the little filly in her lap. "Now, sit here with Mommy, okay?"
Amy tilted her head up. "But I gotta go save the worrrrrld! How else will I finally get to the treasure?" She felt a cotton swab being rubbed against her fetlock, and her nostrils tickled with a funny smell. "Huh?" She looked forward.
"Alright..." Dr. Farrier lifted a glass syringe with a long, glistening needle. He tapped it a few times and smiled calmly. "This will only take a second."
Amy's ears instantly drooped. "Uhhhh..."
"Shhhh..." Her mother hugged her tightly from behind, holding her in place as she nuzzled the filly's gray mane. "...it's okay, Amy. Just sit still. It'll all be okay."
"Uhhhhhhh..." Nevertheless, pupils reduced to pinpricks, Amy squirmed and fidgeted, her body leaning nervously away from the approaching needle. "Uhhhh... uhhhhh... uhhhh...!"
Amy sniffled, lying face-forward with a slump in the back of her mother's wagon.
As the sun set over Ponyville, the blonde mare hummed pleasantly to herself, carrying the cart back home. Dangling over her head and shoulder was her purse, and a plastic pith helmet rested neatly inside.
Glancing back over her shoulder, the mother spoke in a sing-songy voice, "Amy? Amy Knight Yearling? You haven't said a word in ages, my little pony."
"Mmmmff..." Amy frowned, fidgeting with the thick cotton band-aid over her fetlock.
"Come now, it wasn't that bad, was it? The whole thing was over in a blink! Besides... it's for your own good. You'll be less likely to be sick, now, once you're older!"
"... ... ..."
The mother smiled. "Is it like Daring Do to give her fellow ponies the silent treatment?"
"Grnnghgg..." Sniffling again, Amy glared off into the melting horizon, misty-eyed. "Daring Do is dead."
"Awwwwww... don't say that! She's fought cannibals and ferocious predators and lava monsters! Don't tell me a single needle is enough to end her adventures for good!"
"Meh..."
The wagon rolled along in squeaky silence. In the distance, crickets started their nocturnal song.
The blonde mare cleared her throat. "Well, that's too bad. Because I was really hoping to share some vanilla strawberry ice cream with Daring Do, and talk alllll about the latest adventure story I've been writing. I know how much she loves that." She shook her head. "Tsk tsk... what a shame..."
Amy fidgeted, one tiny hoof squirming before another. She gulped and murmured, "Mmmm..."
"Hmmm?" The mother looked back. "What was that?"
"Maybe..." Amy sniffed, slowly sitting up with twitching ears. "...m-maybe if the ice cream was... enchanted by Professor T.S. Booth, it'd be enough to bring Daring Do back from the dead..."
"Only if it was enchanted, huh?"
"...and had candied sprinkles?"
The blonde mare smiled as they came upon their apartment. "We'll see what I can conjure up, hmm?"
Two bowls of ice cream, a bath, and a thorough teeth-brushing later, Amy was being tucked into her bed, complete with a thick duvet illustrated with a large compass rose.
"And so..." The mother leaned back, smiling into a rosy-hued nightlight. "...that's when the building side explodes with a bright flash of light. Kazaaap! And who should be standing there?"
"Who?" Amy gasped, clutching the duvet as her ruby eyes beamed wide. "Who?"
"Why, none other than The Mane-iac! The Power Ponies' evil nemesis!"
"What?!" Amy did a double-take. "Oh noes!"
The mother smiled, gesturing. "Turns out, she was hidden deep inside the Convention Center all along, for she had planned to mind-wipe every pony attending the Salon Seminar and steal their precious values out from under them."
"It's a good thing Fillysecond snooped out her when she did!" Amy squeaked.
"Heh... you think so?" The blonde mare smiled. "I feared that maybe that would be too easy."
"Nuh huh! Nothing's faster than Fillysecond!" Amy blinked. "Well, unless Daring Do is gliding towards treasure, of course!"
"Hmmmm... of course."
"So, what happens then?!" Amy grinned wide. "Do the Power Ponies and Mane-iac fight? Do they save Humdrum from the evil hair ray? Huh? Huh?"
"Well..." The mother folded her forelimbs. "I haven't decided yet."
"Awwwwwwww..." Amy pouted.
"But..." The mother licked her hoof and used it to slick Amy's mane back. "...maybe tonight you can dream up something, and tomorrow morning you can help Mommy come up with a really cool scene to write, huh?"
"Heehee..." Amy smiled, snuggling under the covers with heavy eyelids. "Sure thing, Mommy." She gulped. "You think Daring Do could show up and help the Power Ponies this time?"
"Now now, Amy, you remember what I've always told you." The mother winked. "When someday you get to be my age, you can bring Daring Do to the world yourself. Everypony will love her. I just know it."
"Hmmm... okaaaay..."
The blonde pony tucked her in tighter and nuzzled the filly. "You know that Mommy would never do anything to hurt you, don't you, Amy?"
"Yes. I know, Mommy."
"Good. Very good." She stroked the mare's cheek. "What did we learn from our adventure today?"
"The same thing..." Amy yawned, eyes fluttering. "...that Daring Do learns everyday."
"Yes? And what's that?"
"The best life is an exciting life..."
"And?"
"And never..." Amy nestled her sleepy head into the pillow, drifting off. "...never give up on your dreams..."
"Never ever," the mother breathed.
Amy was out like a light, a thin smile stretched across her muzzle.
The blonde mare gazed at her for a long time. She leaned in, kissed the filly's forehead, and then her fetlock. Standing up, she trotted towards the door, then paused in the frame.
"Happy adventures... my little danger pony..."
And she left the foal to the embrace of night.
