The Daring Adventures of Dash and Zecora

by Hack_N_Slash

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Zecora, Main 6, Original Character, Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Adventure, Daring Do
Length: 2710

When Rainbow Dash thinks up an idea to increase her speed, she seeks the aid of Ponyville's own resident Zebra. But when she arrives at the mysterious Zebra's hut, she ends up embarking on an adventure to help a friend find her home...

Rainbow Dash was practicing in the fields one day when she realized she had reached her limit. Wanting to surpass her already incredible speed, she turns to Zecora's strange magic to help augment her flight. When she finds Zecora, she is hovering over a book, deep in thought. Thinking she was just meditating, Dash walks in and proceeds to converse with her. Further investigation reveals that Zecora has been having a case of homesickness, and Dash is more than willing to help out a friend in need.

Published 2013-02-07 06:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-09 09:44:47 UTC

Limitations

Peace had recently been restored to Equestria. It was about two weeks after the wedding of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore' Cadenza. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, thanks to the weather team's own Rainbow Dash. With the work for today having been complete, Dash decided to head to a nearby field and practice some new tricks she had come up with yesterday. Ever since the incident with the Fluttershy during their tornado duty, Dash had been trying to increase her maximum wingpower and speed. To help her in her pursuit to increase her speed, and gain more wing power, Rainbow had borrowed Twilight's anemometer to measure her progress.

Gotta beat 16.5, gotta beat 16.5... The words echoed in her head. "After today, I'm hopin' to AT LEAST have 18.0 wing power!" she said to herself, preparing for her take off. She started on the ground, building up a steady pace, and worked her way up to a trot. She got into a full gallop, and at that point, opened her wings and took off at an earsplitting speed. Her wings beating a mile a minute, she raced towards the device. I can do this, I HAVE to do this! She sped faster and faster, until she had reached her maximum speed. "I CAN DO THIS!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. At that moment, Dash sped past the machine, nearly taking it with her as it quivered in her wake.

Exhausted and spent, Dash trotted back over to where the device was sitting. "16.7?!" Dash exclaimed in confusion and outrage. "That was the fastest I've ever gotten from a ground take off! How was that still only 16.7?! This thing's gotta be busted!" She stamped her hooves in protest and bucked the nearest tree in sight. After calming down, Dash had made a mental agreement with herself to come back the next day and try again.

Back at home in her cloud house in the sky, Rainbow lay upon her queen sized cloud bed, opening the latest installment of her favorite book series. "Daring Do and the Legend of the Cursed Shield. This is gonna be SO, AWESOME!"
Turning pages until she reached the one with the number of the chapter, Dash began reading the tale. Quickly, she became so enthralled, that she became lost in the book, unreachable to the rest of Equestria...

"'-but, just as Daring Do was about to make it out of the collapsing tomb, shield in hoof, a large rock had fallen on her wing, pinning her to the ground." Man, do I know how THAT feels... Dash thought to herself. "With the tomb still crumbling around her, and little time to act, Daring wedged the shield between the rock and the ground, and lifted it off her wing. With a quick glance to the doorway, she notices that the entrance had also blocked by the avalanche. She searched for a nearby exit, and to her fortune, spotted a crack in the wall, just wide enough for a pony to fit through. Daring raced to the opening in the wall, but much to her horror, the shield wouldn't fit through. 'Ugh! I'll just have to come back for it!' were the last words she uttered before exiting through the crack in the wall and reaching the freedom of the outside. To Be Continued..."

"Aw, what?! That's the end?! Come on! Daring barely made it outta there, and now I gotta wait until the next book to find out whether or not she gets the shield back?!" Needless to say, Dash was all too less than thrilled about the ending of her recent read, but, we've all been there before, haven't we? "Oh well, *yawn* I guess it's time I hit the hay anyway. I got a lotta practicing tomorrow if I wanna get faster than I am now." And with that, sleep quickly washed over the exhausted young mare.

The next morning, Rainbow Dash decided to pay Twilight a visit to make sure the anemometer had been working at it's full capacity. She packed her saddle bag with a few snacks and the book from last night, because she had wanted to re-read it to make certain she had not missed any crucial details, and she was out the door. While on her way to the library where Twilight resides, Dash bumped into Fluttershy, who appeared to be carrying a sack filled with carrots, judging from the label.

"What's up Fluttershy! Ya need any help?" Dash noticed that she was struggling to carry the medium-sized sack. "Oh-um, uh, no, thank you. You see, I was just picking up some food for Angel and the rest of my furry little critters from the market. Where is it that you're off to, i-if you don't mind me asking." her front hooves now trembling under the weight of her parcel. "I'm just headin' to Twilight's to see if this anemome-thingy is busted or not. I flew harder than I ever have before, and it said I still only have 16.7 wing power! Can you believe that?!" Dash's outburst slightly startled her friend. "Oh, well, um, that's still pretty fast you know. I'd say you're the fastest pegasus in all of ponyville." the timid mare said while still shaking under the weight of the heavy package. "Heh, thanks, but I already know that. I gotta get faster if we wanna beat Fillydelphia's 910 wing power record."

At this point, it was all Fluttershy could do to keep herself airborne. "Well, I can see you have a lotta work ahead of ya, so I'll just be off. See ya!" The cyan mare prepared her wings for a speedy take off. "Oh, okay. I'll see you later Rainbow." and with that, Dash bolted off in a trail of blazing rainbow colors, leaving the yellow mare in her dust, her final words being "LOUDER!" with a residual echo. Fluttershy looked down to see that the force from Dash's take off had torn a small hole in the bag she was carrying, letting a little over half of the cargo fall to the ground below. "Oh, pony feathers, Fluttershy, you are such a clutz sometimes.... " she said with a small frown as she turned back in the direction of the Ponyville marketplace.

Author's Note

Ok, so this is the first fic I've ever written, and I am still kinda nervous about it cause I'm writing it as I go, but I promise, I shall start writing down my ideas and adding bigger and better things to it as I go along. Until then, keep on smilin' everypony! ;)

The Average Equestrian Morning

With incredible speed, Dash made her way over to the librarian pony's humble abode. She passes over the Carousel Boutique, the home of Ponyville's resident fashionista, Rarity. Dash watched from above as a glorious white unicorn with a fabulously styled purple mane hung some laundry out to dry. "Mornin' Rarity!" Dash called out to her friend. The stylish pony looked up to see Dash waving at her, and she waved back at her. Dash quickly descended, and landed beside her friend.

"Doin' laundry this early in the morning?" she inquired with a slight turn of her head. "Well, Sweetie Belle had tried to fix some cereal, and ended up nearly burning down the entire boutique. All this laundry is actually me trying to save some of my newest creations from the horrid mess inside." Rarity stated as she hung another gorgeous dress on the line, not even bothering to turn her head to look her friend in the eyes as she spoke.

"You know, you really oughtta get her into a cooking class or something. We can't afford to have her set fire to all of Equestria every time she gets hungry." Dash said, picking up a half burnt piece of material, which looked like it could have been silk at one point. Rarity lets out a small chuckle at that remark. "I suppose that's true. So Rainbow Dash, where are you headed this fine morning? I doubt you came all this way just to see me cleaning up the remains of my shop"

Dash trifled through her saddlebag and brought out the anemometer. "I borrowed this thing from Twilight, but I don't think it's working right. I was just gonna head up there and see if something's wrong with it." Rarity stopped hanging clothes for a moment and turned to face her friend. "Hmm, well I wish you luck with that endeavor. Oh yes, I almost forgot! Applejack had asked me to inform you that she required your services in bringing down another old shed of hers." Dash rubbed the back of her head, remembering the last time she had helped Applejack bring down one of her farm structures. "Huh, I guess I have time for a quick visit. Thanks for the info!" Dash put the anemometer back into her saddleback, and began to float off. "See ya later!" and with one last wave goodbye, she was off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Dash flies through the air at breakneck speed, caught in deep thought. She had been wondering to herself, what if the anemometer had been working properly? What if, she really had reached her limits? No, I can't start thinking like that. I am Rainbow Dash! I have no limits! she thought to herself, her pride masking the fact that she had begun to doubt herself. She passes right by a mail truck, where a grey pegasus with a very distinct set of eyes had just accidentally dropped her entire cargo load to the ground. Dash could hear her say as she passed her by, "Oops... my bad..." with the most adorable look of guilt on her face.

"Looks like somethings never change. I wonder how Derpy's kept her job for this long?" Dash wondered to herself aloud. A few minutes pass, and Dash arrives above her destination, Sweet Apple Acres. She looks around from above, trying to see if she could spot her orange coated friend. After about a minute or so of searching, she spotted movement down below in the East orchard, and rushes down to meet it.

Dash dives down to see if the pony she had spotted was the pony she was after, but miscalculates the speed of her re-entry, and slams right into the pony below, knocking both of them to the ground. Dash gets up quickly, still a bit dazed, and brushes off the dirt from her fur. She looks over, and see a familiar red coat and harness. It was Big Macintosh, Applejack's older brother.

"Uh, sorry about that Big Mac..." she said as she offered a hoof to help the downed workhorse to his feet. "Are you alright?" Dash asked, once she had seen that he was not noticeably injured. "Eeyup." Mac said, uttering his all too familiar phrase. "But iffin' ya don't mind mah askin', where was it that you were a-headin' in such a hurry?" Mac brought a hoof to his neck, noticing that the tumble he had taken had gotten rid of a crick that had been plaguing him for the past few hours. "I was just comin' to see AJ. Rarity told me she needed my help bringing down another shed or something." Mac thought about what she had just said for a moment, and remembered something Applejack had told him. "AJ did mention something bout' puttin' up a new doghouse for Winona. 'Parently she's been hangin' 'round Fluttershy. Anyway, ya'll can find her in the North Orchard, just a might that way." he pointed his hoof towards a field a little ways off.

"Thanks Mac! Sorry again about runnin' into ya like that!" she shouted, already on her way to the North field. Dash trotted through the trees, seeing if she could spot Applejack. A few moments into her search, she saw an orange blur off in the distance, and raced towards it. "Hey, AJ!" she shouted, trying to get the attention of the pony in front of her. The pony turned to her, revealing a pony wearing a trademarked brown stetson hat, her brilliant orange coat glistening in the light of the sun.

"There ya'll are!" the earthpony exclaimed with a hint of both annoyance and relief. "Ah been waitin' fer ya. Ah need this here shed taken down fer-" she was cut off by Dash. "A doghouse for Winona?" Dash said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face. "How'd ya'll know that? Ah didn't tell Rarity bout' that." Applejack stated, a bit confused. Dash giggled a bit before playfully saying, "Lucky guess?"

She turned to look at the old, worn down shack that she was to demolish. "Huh, looks like I got here just in time. That thing looks like it's just begging to be knocked down" The shed appeared to have a worn look to it, what with the crooked double doors, the rusty lock, and the severely chipped paint job. "Yeah, ol' Winston's been here fer quite a while. Looks like it's finally his time..." AJ said with a saddened expression. "Winston?" Dash inquired, holding back her giggles. "Yo- you name your buildings?" she was now holding her sides and rolling on the ground, laughing hysterically.

AJ's face began to turn red with both embarrassment and irritation "Yeah, ah do! We Apples work hard to make these here buildins', so why can't we name em'? Dash backed off and said, "Okay, okay, calm down. I hear ya. So, anything you wanna say to, Winston-" she held back a chuckle "before, well, you know?" Applejack walked up to the tiny shed and placed her hoof on one of the crooked doors. "Goodbye Winston. Ah'll miss ya..." she said her farewells, and nodded to Rainbow Dash.

"Alrighty, here we go!" Dash exclaimed, taking off straight up into the air. Dash looked down, and watched as Applejack took cover in a nearby trench. "Ya ready down there?!" she shouted. "Ready!" AJ said in return. And with that, Dash divebombed the rickety old shed known as Winston. She collided with the shed, causing a medium-sized explosion, sending wood and pieces of debris in all directions, covering a large radius.

Dash walked over to Applejack, who now had a solemn expression on her face. "He was a good shed, always did his job. Ah remember when we first built him... Mac and ah used 'im as a clubhouse before we built that one far off in the East Orchard. He was always there for us. He kept our secrets, sheltered our tools from the weather--" While Applejack went on, Dash got an idea. She cantered off a ways, and picked something up off the ground.

She walked back to where AJ was still carrying on, not even noticing Dash' brief absence. "Here, maybe this will help." Applejack turned to her, and Dash presented her with the door handle from Winston. "Just a little something for you to remember him by." AJ held the trinket close to her, and looked up at Rainbow Dash. "Thank ya Rainbow, ah needed this..." she said as she hugged her multicolored friend.

"Yeah, well, don't go all sappy on me now." Dash playfully chided, returning the hug. "Well, I gotta get going. I'm headin' to Twilight's to see if this anemome-whatever is working." With that, Dash began to ascend, exchanging her goodbyes with AJ. She took to the sky, and darted off in the direction of the Library.

Finally, after an eventful morning of bumping into some of her friends, she was going to accomplish what she had set out to do. She arrives at her friend's tree dwelling and lands a few yards away from the door. She trots over to the door and begins to turn the handle, when suddenly... "DASHIE!!!"

Author's Note

Yeah, yeah, I know... "Just another lame introductory chapter." But trust me, I will need to have introduced the rest of the mane six for what I have in store for later chapters. So hakuna matata friends, you will not be disappointed!