Thunder and Lightning thundered overhead in a dark sky riven with clouds. Rain poured down as a volcano bubbled, thick, hot magma oozing down the sides toward the ground. Through the scene, a man with grey skin and black hair, who bore a passing resemblance to Clark Gable, walked down a poorly maintained path, a cloak billowing in the wind. He dropped the hood, revealing a moustache that radiated pure evil. He let loose a loud booming laugh, as if his evilness (is that even a word? It is now) was not yet apparent, and began to speak.
"It is almost time," he said, surveying the land and the volcano before him as if it was simply keeping his throne warm. "Once I have all Three Relics," he continued, producing a golden staff with a red gem inset on the body, "nobody will be able to stop me, and Mareapore will fall." He raised the staff aloft. "FOR I, AM STALWART STALLION-!"
"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" Shouted a disembodied raspy voice from somewhere. Stalwart looked annoyed, whilst a man sitting in a director's chair was thoroughly nonplussed, judging from the look on his face.
"Ugh!" He groaned. "Cut! What now?"
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Sorry! But at this point in Daring Do and the Masked Thief of Mareapore, Stalwart Stallion would be known at this point in the story as 'Mojo'." When Twilight looked at her, confused, Rainbow Dash looked her in the eye. "What? You think he wants Daring Do fans calling him out on a mistake like that?"
The director sighed. "Fine," he grumbled. He raised his megaphone. "Let's go again, but this time say 'Mojo', instead of Stalwart Stallion, OK?"
The actor shook his head, but Rainbow Dash beamed with pride.
"I cab't believe we're actually here!" The prismatic haired athlete, and secret bookworm, cried, as they were led through Soundstage A. The Rainbooms, in cooperation with the Shadowbolts, had won a dance competition that had allowed for not only enough money to repair Camp Everfree from the damage it had suffered, but that the Shadowbolts could have their prom on a yacht (which was where they were now). In the meantime, the Rainbooms had been invited to Hollywood, Pinetree Studios to be exact, to see the making of the newest Daring Do film, one of the biggest movie franchises of the day (although there had been legal issues surrounding similarities to Indiana Jones).
"Thank you so much for letting us come, Mr Zoom!" Twilight said, referring to the man leading them through the studio. Mr Canter Zoom was a man in his late 50s, with green hair and beard; if viewed from a distance, he could easily have been confused for Steven Spielburg. He wore a long sleeved green shirt, a grey utility vest, and grey pants combined with similar trainers.
"We promise we won't get in the way," Sunset added. "Again," she observed, pointedly glaring at Rainbow Dash. In response, Rainbow Dash just shrugged her shoulders and laughed nervously.
Canter turned around and smiled, speaking and walking backwards at the same time in that disconcerting way some people can, without crashing into anything. "As a fellow Camp Everfree alum," he began, "I was more than happy to afford the girls who helped save it the chance to visit the set of our little film."
Rainbow Dash looked stunned at Canter's words. "Eh-heh! Little?" she exclaimed. "This is Daring Do we're talking about, one of the biggest film franchises of the last decade! This movie is gonna be huge!"
The excited conversation was interrupted when a woman with purple hair and blue skin turned up, speaking into a microphone mounted to her ear. "Uh, there's a problem in wardrobe. They can't find the costume Daring Do is supposed to wear in the nightclub scene."
Canter facepalmed in frustration. "Again? That's the fourth time this month!" He turned to the others. "At this rate, the film will be huge if we ever manage to finish it, which will frankly be a miracle if we do." He headed away into the crowd, sighing as he did so. "I hate my job sometimes."
Twilight adjusted her glasses and looked at her schedule and map. "According to our visitor schedules, they won't start shooting the next scene for a while, which means we have time to-"
"Get my picture taken with Chestnut Magnifico, the actress playing Daring Do!" Rarity squealed excitedly.
"Didn't she start her career modelling shampoo or something like that?" Sunset asked. "Kinda like that guy in Vikings."
"We all have to start somewhere," Fluttershy said. "I want to ask her to sign my petition to bring more bird feeders to Canterlot High!" When everybody looked at her in varied states of confusion, she added; "Well, Chestnut Magnifico is an avid supporter of a foundation that helps build homes for animals in need."
Twilight tried to get the conversation back under control. "Well, uh, OK. But I was thinking that we could-"
"Check out all the sets?" Sunset asked excitedly, which was odd for her. Normally she maintained a fairly level tone whilst speaking.
"Ah'd sure like to get a closer look at that volcano," Applejack added, much more calmly in comparison.
"I'm not sure they'd let you wonder the set without a tour guide," Twilight replied. "I know you can at Leavesden, but everything of concern there is roped off. Besides, I thought we'd-"
"Find the buffet!" Spike cried. Twilight was still getting use to the fact her dog could now talk, which was still a little disconcerting.
"And the cupcake fountain!" Pinkie Pie cried. How that girl didn't end up overweight, given her preoccupation with sugary drinks and food, nobody knew.
"I don't know what a cupcake fountain is," Rainbow Dash sighed, "but I'm pretty sure they don't have one. How would a cupcake fountain even work? I thought fountains were for liquids, not solids!"
Pinkie grinned. "Of course they do. I read it in my 100 Things You Didn't Know About This Movie Studio: Insider's Tour Guide."
"Was that on the front desk?" Applejack asked. "And is the number one thing we didn't know was that the guy who founded this studio was an eccentric oddball with a sweet tooth?"
"Quentin Tarantino?" Rarity suggested.
"Oh! Yes!" Pinkie exclaimed. "But not Tarantino. His fountains would spew expletives!"
Twilight shrugged, and glanced about her. "I guess we're splitting up?" she said, with a sigh. A few murmers and nods later, the friends all headed off in different directions to different parts of the set. She glanced over to Rainbow Dash. "I don't suppose you want to-"
Rainbow Dash cut her off before Twilight could finish. "Check out the props that A. K. Yearling designed specially for the movie?"
"You read my mind!" Twilight exclaimed. "You know, Applejack told me the reason you got into Daring Do was because you were sick in hospital and had nothing else to do."
"Pretty much," Rainbow Dash replied. "Best set of flue jabs ever!"
Twilight nodded. "The series sure is a juggernaut, even though my mom has questioned whether they suit my reading age."
"Says the girl who reads scientific textbooks over lunch!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Touche."
A few minutes later, Rarity and Fluttershy stood outside a trailer parked on the studio lot (and not the faculty lot, which was fortuitous, as parking was permitted). Fluttershy looked nervous, which wasn't a real change from the usual.
"Um," she said quietly, "maybe we shouldn't bother her when she's in her trailer."
Rarity scoffed, making that strange beatboxing sound she often did when doing so. "Darling, please. Actresses love interacting with their fans."
Just then, the door flew open, and the door handle crashed straight into Rarity's face. Recovering almost immediately, she launched into her spiel. "Ah! Miss Magnifico," she said, referring to an orange skinned woman with yellow hair with pink highlights. She wore a hideous pink and purple dress with a white jacket over the top, and her eyes burned with rage. "I-!"
Before Rarity could continue, the woman, whom I can now reveal to be Chestnut Magnifico, began ranting into her phone. "Ugh!" She cried. "I don't care if I'm under contract! This whole thing is a joke, and I want it SHUT DOWN! DO YOU HEAR ME?" Not considering the feelings of the poor soul who had to take the call, she ended the call and stomped onto the lot.
Rarity just looked shocked. "She probably didn't see us," she said quietly.
Meanwhile, Applejack and Sunset walked across the set of the volcano, astonished by the complete lack of security guards on site. "Hmm," said Applejack quietly. "Ah wonder how lon' it takes to build somethin' like this?"
"Given it looks like a cardboard cutout, several weeks, I'd bet," Sunset replied.
"They sure do go all out makin' it look like the real deal, huh?" Applejack replied. "Maybe Ah shoulda brought Apple Bloom. She's more of a Darin' Do fan than me."
Sunset nodded, but suddenly trod on something, which made a rustling noise. She bent down and picked up what looked like a candy bar wrapper. "Though I don't think the rainforest is known for its... Bon Mott peanut butter praline crunch bars."
"Those make ya hyper," Applejack said. "Better pocket that; ya don't want it ruinin' the shot." She looked more closely at it as Sunset popped it in her jacket pocket. "Who's 'J', though?"
Elsewhere, Twilight and Rainbow Dash walked onto the Mareapore set, which bore more than a passing resemblance to the Cairo set in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Wandering past the North African style buildings, the duo suddenly saw a box on set with a glass lid. In it were three objects. The first was a golden arrow with red gems set into the shaft, and a purple head. The second was a gold sword with green Aztec markings, and it glowed green too. The third was a golden sceptre with red gems set into it, as well as a ruby set into the top, surrounded by three golden plates.
"Wow!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, looking at the three objects. She and Twilight rushed over to them. "These are the three Altoriosa relics!"
"The staff!" Twilight exclaimed suddenly.
"The sword!" Rainbow Dash added quickly, her eyes quickly moving up the storage box.
"Don't forget the Arrow of Altoriosa!" added a third voice. Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned around to see whom the voice belonged to.
Standing a short distance behind them was a girl with yellow skin, blue eyes, and multicoloured blue hair, done up in a pair of pigtails held in place with button hairbands designed to look like reel holders on old film projectors. She wore a pair of purple glasses that accented her eyes, a light blue blouse with a white collar, a purple jacket with a symbol of a tree on one of the lapels, a black skirt with pink dots set in two rows, a pair of white socks, and purple slippers (or formal shoes).
"You're the girls from Canterlot High, right?" the girl continued. "I'm Juniper Montage. I'm Canter's niece. The props are pretty cool, right?"
"They're awesome!" Rainbow Dash replied, a gigantic grin on her face. "Is it true A. K. Yearling herself oversaw their production?"
"Yep!" Juniper replied. "I've only met her once, when she came over to see how production was going and to ensure the props were to her liking." She leaned over to Twilight. "I did get her to sign a copy of the latest Daring Do book though!" The two girls Squee'd with glee.
"So," Twilight began.
"A needle pulling thread?" Rainbow Dash suggested.
"What do you do here, Juniper?" Twilight continued, tired of interruption.
"I mostly work as a gopher," Juniper replied. "I take people drinks and help get the place set up for shooting, as well as move props around. I've worked here part-time for a while, since they made Intercity."
"Wasn't that the comedy about two guys who restore an Intercity 125 and run it as a passenger service?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yep!" Juniper grinned. "We've still got the train on the backlot. Still works, too. I know this place pretty well now, practically like the back of my hand." She giggled, before her face sank. "I did ask if I could appear as an extra in this film, but Canter didn't really go for that." Her face brightened up shortly after. "Fancy a backlot tour? I have keys to practically everywhere on site!"
A moment later, the trio set off, unaware somebody was watching them.