A Daring Duo

On a stormy afternoon, there was nothing Twilight liked more than curling up on her bed and studying by candlelight. And by some wondrous coincidence, the newest books ordered from Canterlot had arrived just that morning, including one she had been just dying to tear into. She was so deeply immersed in a chapter on detecting approaching threats that when the downstairs door burst open she jumped three feet in the air.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash cried, stomping in and shaking the water from her mane. Twilight rushed down the stairs, but the intruder had already begun ripping books from their shelves in search of something.

“Rainbow Dash!” she cried, “What in the wide world of Equestria are you doing?!”

“I'm bored,” Rainbow said, tossing another book aside and trotting over, “Please tell me that there's another one.”

“Rainbow, you know as well as I do that there's not another Daring Do book out yet. Go ahead and read something else. I personally–”

“No!” Rainbow Dash cried, “I don't want to read anything else right now! Find me something.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and picked a book up off the floor, one she recognized as a tome of literary magic. Figuring that there might be something in there to help, she flipped it open and began reading.

Restoring burnt pages, sorting books alphabetically, refreshing faded ink– oh, maybe this... It wasn't a spell Twilight was very familiar with, but as Rainbow Dash had gone back to sweeping her shelves clean in the pursuit of something to read, she was willing to try anything to keep the pegasus occupied.

“Alright,” she said, “I think I've got something.”

“Really?” Dash asked, pouncing over, “What is it?”

“It's a spell,” Twilight explained, “that should create a brand new story for you to read. Just tell me what you want.”

Rainbow's eyes widened and she began spouting off: “Okay, I want this to be Daring's most dangerous adventure yet, with new enemies and the greatest villain she's ever faced! It needs to be full of exciting and shocking twists too!”

Twilight rolled her eyes again. “Alright,” she sighed, “Let me try this.”

Pooling all her energy, Twilight thought about the end result she wanted to achieve. Her horn began to radiate with a purple aura. The spell was so unfamiliar to her, and so complex, that the normal toll that even difficult spells took on her concentration seemed magnified tenfold.

Twi simply closed her eyes and doubled her effort. Hearing Rainbow’s happy gasp, she looked to see that a book was actually forming in midair out of nothing, surrounded by a purple aura. Twilight allowed herself a small smile and continued pushing herself. It was only a matter of moments before the spell would be complete.

“Uh, Twilight…” Glancing over at Rainbow Dash, Twilight panicked and stopped casting. Rainbow had been surrounded in a purple aura too, and even though she canceled the spell that aura did not disperse.

Twilight watched helpless as Rainbow was dragged closer to the floating book. She was pulled closer as though by some sort of funnel, and too quickly for Twilight to do anything but stare in disbelief. The poor pegasus was lifted up into the air against her will and, though she flapped her wings ferociously, was sucked into the pages of the little novel right before Twilight’s eyes. The book fell, landing hard on the floor and sitting there, feigning innocence.

After a moment of shock, Twilight quickly dashed back to the spellbook and reread the description: Allows for the experience of new ideas as developed stories. Experience! How could she have misinterpreted the word?! Now Rainbow Dash was gone, possibly in danger!

Suddenly very afraid for her friend’s safety, Twilight darted upstairs to look for the notes she had on spell reversal.

***

The first thing Rainbow noticed was that she couldn’t see anything. There was a sharp ringing in her ears, but something else too, like a voice calling something to her. Her vision slowly began to swim into focus and the words she was hearing became clear.

“-are you? What are you doing here?”

Rainbow Dash blinked several times. Somepony was standing over her, blocking the setting sun so that she was only a silhouette to the half-conscious pegasus. It looked like she was wearing a hat and coat, but there was no way Dash could be sure.

“Who are you?” Rainbow tried to ask. All that came out was a wild slur.

The pony standing over her recoiled at the sound, allowing Rainbow Dash to get a better view of her. For a moment, she could only stare in wonder and awe. Then Rainbow shrieked with joy and leapt to her feet.

“Daring Do!” she cried. Indeed, the pony that had stumbled across her sleeping form was Daring Do, her favorite storybook character. But with this answer came a hundred new questions.

First: where was she? The two pegasi were standing in a small camp on an arid plane. To their left was a vast, sandy desert, which glared by reflecting the light of the harsh evening sun.

“This must be where…” Rainbow trailed off. This must have been where the book was supposed to take place. She could only look around and stare in astonishment at what she was surrounded by.

“I’ll ask you again,” Daring said, looking angry at Rainbow’s intrusion, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Oh, Daring Do!” Rainbow cried, rushing forward and shaking her hoof ferociously, “It’s such a pleasure to meet you you don’t even have any idea! I know all of your adventures by heart and I just know we’re going to be the best of friends! Can I have your autograph?!”

“What? No!” Daring Do pulled her hoof free from Rainbow’s grip. She looked over Rainbow again with a mild form of disgust. The way she stood there, a smile plastered to her face and wide eyes sparkling with excitement, it gave Daring the creeps.

Probably just some crazy fan, Daring finally decided, turning away and inspecting her saddle bags to see if they were properly packed.

After a moment, though, Daring realized that she could feel somepony’s breath on her neck. She glanced over to see the rainbow-haired pony peering over her shoulder to see what she was doing.

“Please go away,” Daring said calmly.

Rainbow Dash slowly backed away a few feet and sat down on her rump. Daring rolled her eyes and asked, “Would you at least tell me your name?”

Rainbow jumped to her feet and saluted, proudly declaring, “Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria, at your service!”

“Ah, okay,” Daring replied, unimpressed, “And why are you here?”

“To come with you on-”

“NO!” The reply was so ferocious that it took Rainbow completely by surprise. Daring had eyes like daggers, and she was positively fuming. “I work alone,” she said.

“But…”

“ALONE!” she cried, “Besides, I can’t trust you.”

“Yes you can!” Rainbow insisted, “I’m not just the fastest pony in Equestria, I’m also the most loyal. You see–”

“Please, please stop,” Daring begged her, “I don’t want to hear your life’s story.” And, ending the conversation there, she returned to her busy packing.

Rainbow was beginning to feel a little irritated now. She had finally gotten to meet her hero and it was nothing like the meeting Rainbow had always pictured: Daring Do would have gotten herself into an impossible situation, and then here comes Rainbow Dash from above to save the day! The two outsmart the villain and race off towards home to roaring applause, and they are recognized as the best team in all the land.

This was nothing like Rainbow Dash had imagined it.

“So…” she started, “what exactly are you looking for?”

Daring groaned and looked at Rainbow. “If you must know,” she said, “I’m searching for a temple deep within the desert. There’s an item in there that needs to be kept out of the wrong hooves.”

“What kind of item?” Rainbow asked. Daring noted that her tone implied that she was legitimately clueless, indicating that she probably wasn't smart enough to be a spy. Or if she was, she certainly wasn't very good at it.

“That’s confidential,” she replied.

“Well, why can’t I come then?”

“It’s too dangerous,” Daring insisted, “Besides, you’d just slow me down.”

“But I’m the best,” Rainbow whined. She went on to beg, “Come on. Just trust me. I can handle myself.”

Daring didn’t reply. So Rainbow tried again, pleading, “You can at least use the extra hoof, right? There’s a lot to carry, right? And– and if I can’t do it, you can just leave me behind.”

Daring Do sighed. She turned to look at Rainbow Dash again and looked her over once. Rainbow did her best to look proud and strong, but she was clearly terrified that Daring Do wouldn’t allow her to come.

“Fine.” The word hung in the air. At first, Rainbow couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t until she heard Daring go on to say, “But if you can’t follow orders and do as I say then I’m leaving you in the dust,” that she really understood that she was coming along.
“Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!” she cried, jumping up and down. She leaped up into the air and did a quick couple of loop-de-loops around the camp, flying as fast as she could.

When she landed, Daring told her, “Don’t do things like that either. We have to be as discreet as possible. We’re not going to be the only ones out there, and I don’t want to be caught.”

“Oh. I understand,” Rainbow told her, blushing.

Daring didn’t reply, and her expression was blank, but she was probably rethinking her decision to let Rainbow come along. Instead of kicking her out right there, all Daring said was, “It’s late. We need to get our rest for tomorrow. You can use my sleeping pad. I’ll keep watch for a couple of hours.”

Rainbow smiled. They had gotten off to a rocky start, but things were quickly looking up. As she laid down on the thin little mat, she just knew that the two of them were going to get along great.