//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: My Love Soared For You Through The Rainbows // by Xiojin //------------------------------// "Are you ready yet Soarin?" Rainbow Dash yelled out as she patiently waited in the living room of the Skies Manor. "Yes! Yes!" Soarin said as he quickly rushed down the stairs and ran into the living room. "Woah, I didn't know you were a Daring Do fan!" Rainbow Dash said in shock as she strapped her bag around her waist. "I never told anyone in the team that I am a Daring Do fan. You're the first," Soarin giggled putting on his Daring Do hat and adjusting it a little. "Why all the secret? She's a famous writer," Rainbow Dash asked as they took off to the Ponyville train station to Manehattan's train station. "Surprise loves to sometimes tease me with things I love like my apple pies. I have a lot of limited edition Daring Do books." He said with a prideful smile which was then followed up with a worried voice. "I can't have Surprise knowing them and blackmailing me with it later!" Rainbow Dash giggled as she tried to imagine that scenario. It must be funny to see Soarin running after Surprise. "Last call for Manehattan!" The train conductor yelled. "That's our train! Come on we have to reach it on time!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed and sped up to the train entrance. Soarin followed her closely behind. "Oh my gosh, have you read her latest book!? It's so awesome!" Rainbow Dash squealed as she followed closely behind Soarin to a vacant seat on the train. "Yeah, I did! The escape was the best! The way she did that parkour! It's so exciting!" Soarin squealed a little talking about his favorite parts of the book. "AND the way she fought those villains! Those kicks and punches AHHHH!! It's so awesome!" Rainbow Dash squealed with gleaming excitement in her eyes. The rest of the train ride was just Soarin and Rainbow Dash talking about each book and the parts they love so wholeheartedly. Their eyes glowing with passion talking about the parts they love so deeply. How the detailed writing excites them! Letting them have a vivid picture for the readers to imagine. "Next stop: Manehattan!" The train conductor yelled to the ponies. As they got off the train, the station was filled with cosplayers for the Daring Do convention. Some in the cosplay of her, others in Caballeron cosplay, or any other characters from the book. The duo galloped to the convention center in their never-ending chat about Daring Do. What fun activities will be there? How busy would the place be? The endless amount of booths to be checked out! They went their separate ways and agreed to meet back at a specific food store during lunchtime due to both wanting to look at different kinds of booths. As Rainbow Dash walked around she had fun and a gleeful smile was constantly on her face. It's like back when she was a little foal where she was at a fair. She accidentally bumped into an earth pony who later introduced himself as Quibble Pants. A stallion with brown-orange skin and a dark grey mane and tail with a few parts that were in a lighter grey. They met at the tiles booby trap area. Where they share their fanatic passion for the correct placement of tiles. "Nice costume." Rainbow Dash complimented, eyeing the pony's fit. "You, too," Quibble replied with a smug look. "Thanks. The hard part was figuring out the right..." " ...number of arrow holes." Both Rainbow Dash and Quibble finished the sentence together with enthusiasm. "B-B-Because on page 84 of Sapphire Stone, i-it describes her dodging a quote, 'score of arrows shooting forth from holes in the very walls,' unquote, but then on page 107, Daring Do says she, quote, 'barely made it past the traps 'barrage of arrows,' unquote, but clearly, Daring Do is embellishing and the correct number of arrows is..." Quibble started to go on a rant about the hat design. "Twenty!" They both answered at the same time and chuckled at the end. Rainbow Dash was so happy that she brought around Quibble with her until lunchtime due to the bond they made that they easily agreed with each other. She asked Quibble if he wanted to join her and Soarin for lunchtime. He didn't mind at all so he followed. Soarin waited patiently for Rainbow Dash, who was surprised to see an extra pony that came along with her. Rainbow Dash introduced both to each other, and they immediately hit it off without a hitch. "What!? You refuse to acknowledge the other books!?" Rainbow Dash asked in shock. her hoof covering her mouth. Soarin's jaw dropped to the ground. How could anyone not like ALL the books of Daring Do? "Why would you come to this convention if you hate Daring Do so much!?" "I don't hate Daring Do. The first series was smart and cool and an amazing nod to old-time serialized adventure books. That somehow managed to be self-reflective and ironic while at the same time celebrating the art form without a hint of cynicism. Which is why I came here to ask A.K. Yerling, muzzle to muzzle why she sold out and dumped down the rest of her books, in just a series of impossible action sequences!" "Okay! Now, I know you're crazy! A.K. Yearling is awesome! And every Daring Do book that comes out is better than the last!" "W-wow! Ok yeah! I-I'm sorry but I could never be friends with friends who willingly believe the impossible is possible just because Daring Do does it." "That's ok! Because I'm not going to be friends with some pony who's so focused on things being possible! That he is willing to turn his back on the coolest hero of all time!" A crowd had gathered around two ponies who were arguing. The bickering continued for a while, but eventually, both of them stopped and expressed their happiness at no longer being friends with each other. This caused the crowd to disperse as the drama had ended. Soarin watched the argument, feeling bewildered at first. However, he instantly understood she reacted that way because she's the biggest fan of Daring Do (which she self-proclaimed). This is evident from her rereading the books too many times to count. "I can't believe he calls himself a fan!" Rainbow Dash snarled. "It's just one bad thing that happened today. Let's not let it ruin our day," Soarin comforted Dash in hopes that she wouldn't dwell too much on that incident. Rainbow Dash immediately thought of a way to show Quibble that what Daring Do does is physically possible. She just has to get the actually Daring Do! So she bolted to a nearby hotel, barely listening to Soarin's comforting words. He stood there confused for a second before he swiftly followed her closely behind. "Tell A.K. Yerling that Rainbow Dash has come to see her!" Rainbow Dash told the receptionist. The receptionist just stared at her like she was some crazy fan while Rainbow Dash continued to repeat her line. Soarin was about to step in thinking she was going too overboard, until a pony in a cloak with big red glasses approached and talked to her. "Oh thank god! There's an emergency!" Rainbow Dash said to the pony. "Let's talk in my room..." The pony whispered. Rainbow Dash followed closely behind. Soarin felt awkward that he couldn't do anything, so he sat in the lounge of the hotel, patiently waiting for her. Rainbow Dash quickly said what her 'emergency' was. Daring Do immediately dismissed her concerns as she had much bigger problems to care about than dissatisfied fans. She showed the Amulet which is a key to the seven-sided treasure chest that Caballeron wanted to sell at a high price. Rainbow Dash immediately knew a new book was going to come out after this adventure and she couldn't wait! She left shortly after to meet Soarin staring at the ceiling and counting each tile. Soarin was excited to see Rainbow Dash. He wanted to know how she knew A.K Yerling, he simply had too many questions to ask her. Before he could even ask anything. Rainbow Dash asked Soarin for a favor to keep a lookout on anyone suspicious, especially Caballeron! However, he felt down that he couldn't ask anything as soon he asked her something he would be immediately asked to be quiet. He was a slight bit disappointed since Rainbow Dash seemed so swept up in this new "agent" role that he could not even ask a question. "Um, Dashie. You know Caballeron is a fictional character," "He's not! Ugh!!! I don't know how to explain but he's not—" Rainbow Dash accidentally bumped into some pony. She turned her head to see Quibble Pants and bumped into him accidentally. She paid no attention to his blabbering as she still remembered seeing Caballeron around the fair! "Hey! Are you listening!?" Quibble yelled at her. "Have you seen Caballeron?" Rainbow Dash asked as she continued to search. "Yeah! Like one there! And there, and there!" Quibble pointed to all the cosplayers. "Is your marefriend okay?" Quibble asked Soarin. Soarin's cheeks showed a tinge of red. Oh god, his mind started running wild. If Rainbow Dash is his marefriend would she want him as his coltfriend? 'What is wrong with me!?' Was the question he asked himself as soon as he snapped out of his train of thought. 'She's just a friend! and your student too Soarin! Calm down!' He thought to himself. "I don't know. Just let her be... she's always adventurous...haha..." Soarin replied with a slight nervous smile. How does he tell him that she's not his marefriend? Soon Rainbow Dash started running to an exit. Quibble and Soarin immediately followed out of confusion. The next thing they knew their vision went black. A few moments later they woke up in the middle of the jungle. All looked around to see five ponies surrounding them. "Caballeron!" Rainbow Dash sneered as she immediately recognized the leader. "I can't believe it! Daring Do has agents like you!" Caballeron laughed out loud. Quibble looked annoyed while Soarin was confused. To be honest he can just break out of here in an instant since he's well-trained as a wonderbolt. "Wowwww...I can't believe you bought the Daring Do experience..." Quibble sarcastically remarked and rolled his eyes. "What!? No, I didn't! This is the real Caballeron! We're actually captured!" Rainbow Dash bickered. "Whatever! This guy's accent is all over the place!" Quibble said and walked away slowly thinking it was for show. He immediately got beat up by Caballeron's henchpony and dragged back. Soarin tried to fly but he got pulled by his tail back to the ground. So much for a Wonderbolt... Caballeron ordered for the three to be tied up with a lock. A lock immediately recognized by Rainbow Dash which made Caballeron think she's an agent for Daring Do. Caballeron set off to find the temple while his henchponies keep watch of the three. Quibble went back to saying how dramatic this was then threw his pin into a nearby bush and lazily said "Oh my god, it's Daring Do! She has come to save us!" The henchponies all spread out to find her. Rainbow Dash panicked as she was worried that they could not unlock the lock. By the time she was finished worrying Soarin already unlock it with a dumbfounded face. "If I were to choose a favorite between you two, it would be him. He's way more logical than you," Quibble bluntly said. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Quibble wanted to leave the other way but Soarin advised the whole group to stick together as one might get lost in this big jungle. Quibble reluctantly agreed and followed Rainbow Dash's lead. The whole journey was Quibble ranting on the books about how bad it is and how he would change it. Which gave a headache to Soarin and Rainbow Dash. Soarin used his wings to block his ramblings. Quibble wouldn't notice since he walks behind Rainbow Dash and Quibble. At some point, Soarin's heart felt weird. It felt like it was being swallowed by darkness. If he was to be honest, he hated seeing Quibble beside Dash. Soarin quickly snapped out of those thoughts after all Rainbow Dash is his friend right? Maybe he's just jealous that his new best friend is hanging out with someone else and he just feels jealous. They all suddenly stopped as they approached an old wooden cranky bridge. It looks like it can break just by a step. Quibble bickered on again about how ridiculous this Daring Do experience is. Not until the bridge broke and Quibble fell. Rainbow Dash immediately took this chance to prove he was wrong. She grabbed the ropes of the bridge that was tied to a hoof of Quibble and immediately flew at Sonic speed by just letting Quibble's hooves slightly touch the river water. Soarin swiftly followed behind wanting to help but he couldn't even open his mouth to say anything. "WAHH!" Quibble screamed before Rainbow Dash threw him off the cliff and he landed on a few trees before having a soft landing cushioned by a growing sapling. "How's that!?" Rainbow Dash said smugly with her arms crossed. "Tell me that's impossible!" Quibble was so stunned that he went on a rant about what he just experienced. By the time he finished, Caballeron already found them and captured them with ropes. They had to follow Caballeron into the temple because he didn't want to risk them escaping again. They may have accidentally led him to the temple he has been finding. Quibble was back to insulting Caballeron and his henchponies saying how fake this is and he started making a lot of mechanism unfold in the temple the moment they stepped in because he was moving too much trying to prove a point. That was when a giant alligator-looking monster appeared behind them and they all screamed. (Quibble was the last to scream and realize.) "God damn it! Caballeron!" Rainbow Dash yelled as he shut the door on all three of them. They all scream waiting to meet their impending doom, just then someone rescues them all. Daring Do! Soarin and Quibble's jaw dropped. DARING DO IS REAL!? While a certain pony was smug about knowing her as she wrapped her wings around her. Soarin shuts Quibble up with his wing before he can even ramble again. They swiftly followed behind Daring Do and made their way to finally, the puzzle room. Seven doors, one key. Only a one-time use. All of them carefully analyzed the door, fortunately, Quibble found that one of the doors didn't match with the other six doors. As the other six doors will have a match. There's a total of 3 sets of pairs of doors that are together. Daring Do put in the key of the Alicorn door and there was it! The treasure. Daring Do pick up the treasure and place it in her coat. Quibble immediately notified others about the flooded temple and the only exit was through the top! They all wondered for a hot second. "I can carry him up!" Soarin volunteered. "Dash I just need you to support me from behind!" "On it!" Rainbow Dash said affirmative like she was receiving a command from the second-in-command wonderbolt. Quibble climbed up Soarin's back while Rainbow Dash was just right behind them to support them. Daring Do first makes it out of the temple waiting for the three. In a nick of time, they made it out and sat down at a safe place. "I got to bring this to a museum. See you guys later! And also Rainbow Dash (is that guy your coltfriend?)" Daring Do told the rest before giving a smirk look to Rainbow Dash before she took off. Rainbow Dash blushed and she thought to herself, 'Oh god not again,' on the way back Quibble and Rainbow Dash came to an agreement about their feud from earlier. Quibble just like how she solved the puzzles in a very realistic manner and anything that makes sense while Rainbow Dash loves all the actions like kicking, punching and the rest are in the books. The two looked at Soarin and he just said "I like all of them." They all had a good laugh and went to enjoy the convention before they all had to get going again. Then the time for them to head back home. It was a bright morning but Rainbow Dash was still sleepy from yesterday. She boarded the train with Soarin and sat adjacent to him. 'She must have not rested enough from yesterday's action'. That was what Soarin thought. He looked at the swaying sleeping figure and sighed. He said to himself, "Just this once." He put her head on his shoulder and started to re-read another Daring Do book. Whilst he was doing so, someone took a picture of the two famous Wonderbolts.