13: Daring Do and the Princess of Magic [Adventure]
((Prompt: Daring Do teams up with one of the Mane Six to go on a rescue mission to save Rainbow Dash.))
“Be careful, spikes come out of that wall.”
Daring Do flinched back as a row of sharp spikes shot forward, missing her muzzle by an inch. She lifted her hoof off of the sunken tile she had stepped on, and the spikes pulled back into their holes with a mechanical clank.
She pushed her hat back. “How do you know so much about this temple?” she asked, raising a suspicious eye to her purple companion.
“This is one of my favorite books in the series,” Twilight Sparkle explained, carefully side-stepping the trap's pressure-sensitive trigger. “I've read it cover to cover half a dozen times, at least! Rainbow Dash couldn't have picked a better book to get trapped in if she tried.”
“You're not making any sense,” Daring grumbled, forging on ahead in the dark, gloomy tunnel. “You keep talking about books and characters... and why do you keep calling your friend Rainbow Dash? I thought her name was supposed to be White Lilly.”
“That's because that's the character she's taken the place of in here. Just like how I'm supposed to be an earth-pony named Mild Winters.”
Daring cast an incredulous glance back at the purple alicorn. She was very clearly not a middle-aged grey earth-pony with a beard. “If you're supposed to be an earth-pony, why are you casting a spell right now?”
“Invisibility,” Twilight said, her horn lighting the tunnel. “See, I'm not supposed to be here when you get captured.”
Daring Do's eyes narrowed. She ducked suddenly, and a dart sailed right over her head, clattering harmlessly against the wall. With a cry, she pulled one of Ahuitzotl's henchmen out of the shadows. His blowgun bounced on the floor as she knocked him out with a solid buck to the head.
Twilight's eyes went wide. “That... that didn't happen in the book.”
Daring patted down the unconscious stooge, relieving him of all his hidden weapons. “You said I would get captured,” she said. “I don't like getting captured.”
Twilight pointed a shaking hoof at the dart on the floor. “Th-the poison dart was supposed to hit you, and you'd fall asleep, and wake up tied to a post in Ahuitzotl's secret lair!”
“Good thing I ducked, then, huh?” Daring Do kicked at the dart.
“No! You don't understand!” Twilight went pale. “If things can happen differently here than they do in the book, then that means you won't escape the ropes, grab the Amulet of the Moon, and free Rainbow just before the pillar she's tied to falls into the chasm!”
“You know, I've never noticed before, but that guy really likes tying ponies up.” Daring Do rubbed her chin. “Maybe it's got to do with that third hand on his tail.”
“Daring, if Rainbow is hurt in here, I... I don't know what will happen to her in the real world!”
“All right, Princess, calm down.” Daring Do put a hoof on Twilight's back. “Panicking isn't going to do your friend any good. We need to think.” She tapped her hoof on the stone floor. “If what you said was supposed to happen, then maybe we might have a leg up on Ahuitzotl.” Her eyes fell on the prone form of the henchman. “I think I have a plan...”
*
Ahuitzotl cackled loudly as a limp Daring Do was carried into his lair. “Excellent! I knew you could do it, my loyal...” He stopped, rubbing his chin suspiciously. “Say, didn't you used to be less purple? And wingless?”
Twilight grunted in as gruff a voice as she could manage. “I, uh, fell in a patch of berries, your lordliness. And... um... I've always had wings. Yep, always.”
The creature scratched his head. “Very well. Get yourself cleaned up before you get my rug all sticky.” He dismissed her with a shooing motion. “Now then, Miss Do.” Ahuitzotl pulled out a coil of rope, grinning. “This will finally be the end for you...”
Daring's wings snapped up, flicking a cloud of dust into his eyes. “Not in this story!” She dove between his legs and kicked out, causing him to fall face-first onto the stone floor. “Twilight?”
Twilight carried an unconscious blue pegasus in her magic. “I've got her,” she called. “Oh, and the amulet is hanging from the second balcony on the left. The temple will start crumbling when you grab it.”
Daring Do saluted and took off into the air. Color slowly drained away from the world as the spell unwound itself, freeing Rainbow Dash and Twilight from the book.
*
Rainbow Dash's eyes fluttered open. She found Twilight sitting over her, a copy of Daring Do and the Amulet of the Moon resting between them. “T-Twi?” she said through cracked, parched lips.
“Shh,” said Twilight. “It's okay. You're fine now.” Twilight briefly stroked Rainbow's cheek with a hoof before standing up and taking a step to the side.
Rainbow Dash propped herself up to see Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy all sleeping in a row on the floor, each with a different book clutched to their chests. Twilight sat down next to Rarity.
“One down, four to go,” Twilight said, pressing her horn against the trashy romance novel in Rarity's hooves.
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...oh, my. That must be a difficult spell to fix up.
Whatever book Pinkie's trapped in, I'm sure it's way off-script by now.
Kinda want to read about getting Rares out of the romance novel. So many great Ideas.
Why does everyone make Rarity read trashy romance novels?
3402764 I pretty sure that it's a "romance" novel
Which book is Pinkie in?
This really needs to be expanded on
I don't know that Rarity really needs saving from the Trashy romance.
Be honest with us, Twi: You're just going in there to join her with whatever paramour she's got, aren't you?
3402776 go re-watch Ticket Master.
3402984 3402764 3402866
3402776 It seems rather in-character for her, don't you think?
3402742 3402840 Pinkie is either in a thick, dense book of high philosophy, or she's in a coloring book. I haven't decided.
3403195
Obviously, then, she's in a thick, dense colouring book of high philosophy.
3403195 What about a book of real faerie tales? :D
3403178>>3402991
I'm not saying she wouldn't read romance novels, but I think she would at least have some taste. There are non-trashy romance novels.
Òhhh man. This needs a proper story. Very interesting premise.
Pinkie better be trapped in a Deadpool comic! Just sayin'.
So, it seems like Twilight has to see these stories through to their successful completion to release her friends from them. I guess she's gonna have to really get into her role for Rarity's book.
Also, I had to laugh at "And... um... I've always had wings. Yep, always."
3403455
I always imagined that they're a guilty pleasure for her. She knows they're cheezy and cliche, but every now and then you just want to follow the rails to the ending and not really worry about the details, y'know?
3403217
I'm now imagining a "Philosophy Party", with a corner dedicated for ponies to be existential in and little note cards by the food that encourage the party-goer to fully consider the choice between chocolate or vanilla cupcakes. I also like to imagine the "chocolate or vanilla" thing actually being incredibly thought-provoking, when given the right perspective.
"Now, put your right hoof in. There is no intrinsic value in doing so, but this needn't necessarily make us weep. In existentialist hokey pokey, you must determine for yourself what it's all about."
3406131
Chocolate cupcakes require cocoa beans. Though a single cupcake will not make a major difference, when selected or rejected by ponies in sufficient quantity, the net effect on world sales of cocoa beans can be rather dramatic. While one person's individual choice is but a drop in the ocean, the ocean in question is made entirely of individual choices.
It thus becomes an important question; is it better for world sales of cocoa beans to rise or fall? Rising sales of cocoa beans give more money mainly to shop owners, warehouse keepers, and people handling transportation, together with a pittance for the cocoa bean farmer at the end of the line. Is the extra economic stimulus caused by eating a single chocolate cupcake worth it?
On the other hand, if world cocoa bean sales fall, some cocoa bean farmers may elect to change to a more lucrative crop, and some new farmers may elect not to grow cocoa beans. This leads to more farmland being available to grow staple foods, like wheat or rice. (Do these grow in climates suited for cocoa beans? I have no idea). This could make the planet infinitesimally better prepared to face the scourge of world hunger.
Of course, one cupcake is hardly going to make a difference. But if you add up all the cupcakes you'll ever eat... and all the cupcakes that anyone who you pose this problem to will ever eat... and all the cupcakes that anyone they pose this problem to will ever eat... then, well, you get a very difficult amount of influence to compute.
So... chocolate or vanilla?
Augh! why must you write such awesome concepts and not make them full stories
OMG THIS ONE!!! CAN I MAKE A SEQUEL?? CAN I?? CAN I?? CAN I??
OMG THIS ONE!!! CAN I MAKE A SEQUEL?? CAN I?? CAN I?? CAN I??
3402764 I'd rather read about Rarity not wanting to be taken out of the romance novel.