“See the ponies trottin' down the street! Equestria is where they wanna meet!” Pinkie sang as she marched. “They all know where they wanna go! And they're trottin' in time! And they're trottin', yeah!”
Pinkie thought that her singing would keep her friends’ spirits up as they once more marched through the Bone Dry Desert.
They had awoken at the crack of dawn, just as Twilight had asked. Since then, they had taken the train from Ponyville to a station in the vicinity of Somnambula and the Get On Inn. The train from there went on directly to Mount Aris without any further stops so this was the closest they could get to Klugetown by train. From there, they followed the old stone road that Twilight and her friends found the end of the last time they found themselves at Klugetown. That still left them marching through a seemingly endless desert with no other creatures around save the lonesome bug crawling through an empty, dessicated skull. Nothing more could done about it. So on they marched.
“'Cause we got the beat! We got the beat! We got the beat! Yeah, we got it!!...”
“Pinkie, don’t you know any other songs?” Rainbow asked.
Pinkie looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying in front of her.
“What’s wrong with this one?” Pinkie responded.
“Nothing,” Rainbow answered. “You’ve just been singing it on a loop for the past hour.” Rainbow shrugged. “You know just mix it up a bit.”
Pinkie rubbed her chin in thought. “Alright, how about this?”
She sang once more. “When you're rife with devastation, there's a simple explanation:
you're a toymaker's creation trapped inside a crystal ball!...”
“Maybe not that one either,” Applejack said as she trotted behind Pinkie Pie.
“Okay, how about this one?”
Pinkie sang once more. “So, we wanna stay. But can't find peace while sittin' still. I guess we never will. We're on the way. We won't hurry back again. The journey is the end.”
Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Twilight and Daring led the way. Glancing at the horizon to her right, Twilight saw the sun was going down.
“It’s going to be dark soon,” Twilight said to Daring. “In this desert, it’s probably not the best idea to be out here at night.”
Twilight consulted the map she pulled out of her saddlebag, floating it in front of her. She did a few quick calculations.
“If we camp out for the night now and wake up at dawn again, we should reach Klugetown around mid-morning tomorrow.”
Daring pointed at Twilight’s map. “There’s an oasis just up ahead over that hill. We could make camp there.”
Twilight and Daring crested the next hill, and sure enough, there was an oasis below them.
“Hey! Where you gonna go? We're off to see the world. We don't need to know--oh. Hey! Where you gonna go? We're off to see the world. We don't need to know!...” Pinkie sang.
“Okay girls,” Twilight said once she turned to address the group on the side the hill. “We’re going to set up camp for the night in an oasis up ahead,” Twilight said. “We’ll wake up at dawn again tomorrow and finish making our way to Klugetown.”
Everypony nodded in response.
Once they reached the oasis, everypony began unpacking their saddlebags and pitching their tents in a grassy pitch surrounding the large pond at the center. Rarity walked up to her purple tent levitating the three suitcases she’d brought with her. As she began to unpack her things, Daring walked by. She stopped and began looking inquisitively at all the things Rarity had brought with her.
“Gee, is all that really necessary?” Daring asked.
“Why of course,” Rarity answered matter-of-factly. “These are only the essentials.”
Applejack walked up to them and also looked at Rarity’s luggage. She pointed at one of the suitcases.
“Like that eyelash curler,” Applejack said with a smirk.
“Why would you need an eyelash curler?” Daring asked.
“Well, I certainly can’t meet this all important professor friend of yours with uncurled eyelashes,” Rarity responded. “A lady always makes a good impression.”
“I don’t think he’s really going to care if your eyelashes aren’t curled,” Daring said.
Rainbow landed next to Daring, still looking very similar to Daring in her Daring Do costume. “Don’t mind Rarity. The first time we went camping, she brought this ginormous tent with her.”
“Really?” Daring questioned.
“Yeah, that’s just how she is.” Rainbow threw her foreleg around Daring’s withers and started leading her away. “She has to look good for everything. But despite all her nonsense though, Rarity is generous to a fault.”
Rainbow led Daring over to her green tent, which was pitched right beside Daring’s olive-green tent. “Look, both our tents are green. Can we be anymore alike?”
Daring’s eyes darted off to the side. “Yeah, how ‘bout that,” she said awkwardly.
Later on when the sun had fully gone down, Daring, Rainbow, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy were gathered around a campfire at the center of their makeshift camp. They were roasting marshmallows over the fire. Even though they were once again on an epic journey to save Equestria from certain doom, Pinkie Pie still thought it was a good idea to bring marshmallows to roast.
Rainbow Dash was happily munching on a marshmallow. “So,” she said to her assembled friends, “since we’re already sitting around a campfire, why don’t we tell scary campfire stories?”
“You’re not going to tell the one about the Rainbow Factory again, are you?” Fluttershy asked in fear.
“The one about where rainbows really come from?” Daring asked with a grin.
Rainbow cocked her head at Daring. “You know that story? I thought it was just a Cloudsdale thing.”
“It is mostly. When I was a filly growing up in Horseshoe Bay, I knew these kids who had moved there from Cloudsdale,” Daring said. “They tried to convince me the story was true. They even swore they had escaped from the Rainbow Factory.”
Rainbow had to laugh at that.
“Rainbow told me, Derpy, and Cloud Kicker that story late one night when we were at Summer Flight Camp,” Fluttershy said. “It gave me nightmares for a month! I still can’t look at the Rainbow Factory without at least… wondering.” Fluttershy shivered.
“Perhaps,” Rarity began, “we could tell the stories our favorite legends of old Equestria.”
“Or we could tell Daring how we’ve actually met the original Pillars of Equestria,” Rainbow suggested.
“I heard that they had made a comeback,” Daring said with quite a smile. “It’s like every archaeologist’s dream to get the chance to speak to somepony from ancient times. Can’t wait to meet them one of these days.”
“As fun as all that would be, I think it would be best if we all turn in and get a good night’s sleep,” Twilight said.
Everypony agreed, except for Rainbow who let out an audible groan. Everypony stood up to return to their tents.
“Wait, before we go to sleep,” Daring said. “We’re going to need these.”
She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out seven dreamcatchers. She handed one to each of the ponies with her.
Rainbow stared at the dreamcatcher she was given, confused. “Dreamcatchers?”
“They’re not ordinary dreamcatchers,” Daring explained. “These are enchanted with old Buffalo magic to protect sleepers from nightmare demons.”
“I didn’t know Buffalos still had magic,” Twilight said.
“You still find a couple out there with a talent in it,” Daring replied.
“So, these’ll prevent Ahuizotl from sneaking into our dreams, right?” Rainbow asked.
“Well, as much as he acts like one, Ahuizotl isn’t technically a demon,” Daring answered. “But these should even the odds enough. Give each of us a fair fight if it happens.”
Everypony said their goodnights. They returned to their tents, hung their dreamcatchers by their sleeping places, and soon enough fell fast asleep.
Daring Dash stalked cautiously through the corridor of ancient temple that looked so much like the one that had housed the Sapphire Statue. Unlike that temple, this one did not seem to be booby-trapped. So far, things had been quiet. Maybe too quiet. Still, Daring Dash continued to approach the doorway at the end of the corridor. Slowly, she approached the entrance to the chamber at the end of the corridor. Then finally, she crossed the threshold and looked about the chamber. Daring Dash couldn’t believe her eyes.
The chamber was empty.
“Hey, what gives?!” Daring Dash said to herself.
The chamber, though similar to the one that housed the Sapphire Statue, was devoid of anything but the lit torches within disembodied hoof sconces on the walls for it also lacked a skylight. While Daring Dash could see nothing in the chamber, she definitely felt something there. There was an overwhelming feeling of wrongness in the chamber, as if it was somehow wrong for her to be there. It was like the feeling a Pegasus got when flying by a window and unexpectedly seeing a pony in the process of undressing. Though Daring Dash never understood why that would feel wrong; ponies didn’t normally wear clothes anyway.
Suddenly, a slab of stone descended from the top of the doorway and slammed the entrance shut. Daring Dash ran to the slab that now blocked her only means of egress. She pounded her forehooves against the slab, but it was no use; she was trapped.
Then, she heard the loathsome cackle.
Out of a darkened corner opposite the doorway came Daring Dash’s most formidable foe, the dreaded Ahuizotl!
“Hola Prism Rush,” Ahuizotl said as he approached her. “I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again.”
Daring Dash noticed the gold medallion inlaid with a round blue crystal around Ahuizotl’s neck. Seeing it somehow provoked something in Daring Dash’s mind. It made her ask herself a single question.
How did I get here? Daring Dash thought.
Daring Dash then realized that she had no idea how she came to be in this temple. That could only mean one thing.
“This is a dream!” Rainbow Dash said to herself. Her Daring Do costume then disappeared.
“So, it seems Daring Do has provided you with protection,” Ahuizotl said. “It matters not. I was not going to be penetrating you tonight.”
“That better my dreams you’re talking about,” Rainbow retorted.
Ahuizotl laughed. “You flatter yourself, Prism Rush.”
“My name is Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow cried.
“Also irrelevant,” Ahuizotl said. “I may not have full control here, but I can control what I call you, Prism Rush.”
“What do you want with me, you son of a nag?” Rainbow asked with disdain.
“What I want, to put it simply, is revenge,” Ahuizotl said. “And the wrath of Ahuizotl begins with you!”
“With me?” Rainbow asked in response, confused.
“Yes, with you!” Ahuizotl cried. “I will destroy Daring Do by destroying what you think of her!”
Rainbow sat on her rump and crossed her forelegs.
“Well good luck with that,” Rainbow said with confidence. “There’s is nothing you can possibly say that will make me do that.”
“Really,” Ahuizotl retorted. “Do you even know who Daring Do really is?”
“Of course I do,” Rainbow said, scoffing at Ahuizotl.
“You think you do, but you don’t, mija,” Ahuizotl replied. He touched the Blue Moon Medallion. “With this trinket provided to me by my new Zebra, I have been able to collect many secrets. Secrets are the means by which Daring Do lives.” Ahuizotl indicated the wall opposite the doorway. “And they’re all right here. All Daring’s secrets for you to see in this place, the Chamber of Secrets!”
A door of a bank vault suddenly appeared in the wall opposite the doorway.
Rainbow stood back up. She wondered if the fact that this chamber held all Daring’s secrets was why it felt so wrong to be there.
“Why would I want to know Daring’s secrets?” Rainbow asked.
“Because many of them are about you, Prism Rush,” Ahuizotl said.
Rainbow stared back at Ahuizotl in shock.
“You’re lying!” she responded in defiance.
“Am I?” Ahuizotl asked. “Do you truly feel that Daring Do has been completely honest with you?”
Despite her confidence, Rainbow could admit that sometimes Daring seemed a little off. She noticed that she acted weird around her, kind of… guarded. It was as if Daring knew something that Rainbow didn’t and wasn’t willing to share. Perhaps there was something to what Ahuizotl was saying.
“Why would Daring have secrets about me anyway?” she said as if she didn’t care.
“Well, the answer to that question is just behind door Number 1.”
Ahuizotl stepped aside to let Rainbow pass.
Rainbow took a few steps and stared at the vault door. She had to admit, she was tempted. Rainbow didn’t care how many secrets Daring had. She was entitled to them. However, Rainbow was curious as to what Daring was hiding from her. There was a lot Rainbow didn’t know about Daring. Sure, she knew the Daring of the book series, but she didn’t really know the real Daring. What could Daring possibly be hiding that had to do with Rainbow?
But there was a right way and a wrong way. The right way was to be patient and trust Daring to eventually share those secrets with her on her own time.
Finding out in this Chamber of Secrets behind Daring’s back was definitely the wrong way.
“I’m going to have to pass,” Rainbow said.
Rainbow jumped into the air, spun around, and kicked Ahuizotl in the face. Ahuizotl went flying back and struck the struck the wall behind him. The slab in the doorway disappeared.
Rainbow swiftly flew towards the exit.
Ahuizotl picked himself off the floor. He focused on Rainbow Dash, and the crystal in the medallion glowed.
Rainbow suddenly found herself grasped by Ahuizotl’s monkey paw by the scruff of her neck. Ahuizotl slammed her onto the ground on her back. Rainbow struggled against the monkey paw around her throat. Ahuizotl stood over her. He looked into her eyes while the medallion glowed.
Ahuizotl laughed, quietly and deadly. “Now I know how to terrify the heart of the filly you really are.”
Ahuizotl suddenly grew to enormous size. Or was it that Rainbow had gotten smaller? Rainbow looked down at her flank as best as she could and found that her cutie mark was gone!
She was now a filly again with all the fears she had as a filly.
Ahuizotl towered over her. In this right paw, a rusty horseshoe materialized. He raised it above his head, ready to bring it down on Rainbow’s.
“Who’s got my rusty horseshoe?” Ahuizotl said. “You do!”
Tears welled in filly Rainbow Dash’s eyes. “No please!” filly Rainbow cried. “Blaze! Help!”
“Oh, there is no Rainbow Blaze for you, mija. He is dead!”
Ahuizotl brought down the horseshoe. However, as he did so, the horseshoe froze and dissolved into snowflakes.
Ahuizotl stared in confusion at his now empty paw. “¿Qué carajo?”
A wintery wind began to blow through the chamber. The wind grew and grew until Ahuizotl was blown off of Rainbow Dash. He slammed against the vault door and both he and it burst into a cloud of snowflakes.
Rainbow Dash, once more an adult, stood up and faced the doorway. The brightly glowing white silhouette of a Pegasus mare glided gently into the chamber. The mare glowed brighter and brighter until everything was engulfed in a bright, white light.
Rainbow Dash gasped as she woke up back in her tent. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She ran a forehoof through her mane and found it was inundated with sweat.
“Whoa,” Rainbow said with apprehension. “What was that about?”
Twilight Sparkle awoke with a start. She thought she heard something rustling. She looked up and saw somepony pawing at the flap of her tent.
“Twilight! Twilight!” Rainbow whispered as loudly as she could. “I need to talk to you.”
Twilight got up and opened the tent flap. Standing before her was a rather disheveled and panicked looking Rainbow Dash.
“It’s the middle of the night, Rainbow. What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Twilight asked, concerned.
“Ahuizotl was in my dream just now!” Rainbow answered, crying as quietly as possible.
Twilight gasped. “We should tell Daring.”
“No!” Rainbow cried. “I mean, I-I don’t want to get her involved in this exactly.”
“Don’t want to get her involved?” Twilight asked, confused. “What are you talking about?”
Rainbow took a deep breath. “In my dream, Ahuizotl said that he used the Blue Moon Medallion to collect Daring’s secrets, and he wanted to show them to me.”
“Why?” Twilight asked.
“Because they’re about me!” Rainbow cried.
Twilight looked an equal mixture of shocked and confused for a moment.
Then, she said, “You know as well as I do that Ahuizotl can’t be trusted.”
“I know, but,” Rainbow paused to gather her thoughts, “it got me thinking what if he has a point.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, concerned.
“Have you noticed that Daring sometimes acts kind of… off around me?” Rainbow asked. “Like she knows something that I don’t. Like she’s hiding something.”
Twilight hummed as she thought.
“That could be for a lot of reasons,” Twilight answered in a conciliatory manner. “Daring isn’t used to trusting other ponies. Maybe that’s why she seems kind of guarded.”
“I guess, but,” Rainbow looked Twilight right in her eyes, “do we really know who Daring really is? Beyond what’s in the books or what she’s done as A.K. Yearling. Who is she really? Who is Daring Do?”
Rainbow sighed in frustration. She sat and looked down at the ground, disconsolate.
Twilight stepped forward and gave Rainbow a hug.
“There, there,” Twilight said as she rubbed Rainbow’s back. “It’s going to be okay, Rainbow.”
“I just don’t know what to do,” Rainbow said sadly. “I want to trust Daring, but what if I can’t?”
“I think you already know what to do. You have to do what you do best.” Twilight pulled back and looked at Rainbow. Rainbow looked up to her as well. “You have to be a loyal friend. If you are, then Daring, if she even has this secret, will feel comfortable sharing it with you. You can’t discount the possibility that Ahuizotl is trying to break your spirit. Remember what happened with Discord?”
Rainbow snorted. “He was just as bad back then.”
“You see,” Twilight said. “You could be worrying over nothing.”
“I hope you’re right, Twilight,” Rainbow said.
“Now, you should get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us,” Twilight said.
Twilight released Rainbow from her hug. They got back into their respective tents.
Rainbow returned to her knapsack. Instead of going right to sleep though, she looked up at the roof of the tent above her, imagining the heavens above.
“All-Sire, Mother Mare,” Rainbow whispered in prayer, “please let Twilight be right.”