A New Hero

by Alex The Lone Wolf

Daring Don't

Episode 69 - Daring Don't

---

"Now slide that this way."

"Okay?"

"And finally, press that big bucking button right there!"

As soon as I did, the entire house shook with greatly startling and heart pumping sounds of music. I had to place my hooves to my ears, as they were already ringing. My heart was pounding uncomfortably as another symptom of this loud volume. Vinyl was too busy nodding her head with her shut eyes in rhythm to the music. I couldn't help but give up as I pressed the button to immediately shut it off.

"Aw." Vinyl expressed a little playfully. "Too much for you?"

"Way too much." I rubbed my ear, hoping the ringing would go away soon. "How the hay can you listen to music like that?"

"You get used to it." She answered with a smile as she messed with her settings.

"Yeah. If it doesn't blow off your ears first…" I mentioned.

"You know…" She brought up, catching my attention. "I think there's somepony you'd really like…"

"Hm?"

"I wonder…" She tapped a hoof to her chin. "What time does she get back from her recital again?" She asked herself.

However, I suddenly gasped, remembering something urgently important. "Time?!"

"Huh?" She turned to face me.

"Ugh! I almost forgot!" I looked out the window to see it was already dark. "Sorry, Vinyl." I quickly apologized and readied myself to leave. "I have to go. I have a date."

"Oooooh." Vinyl smirked teasingly.

"Yeah." I answered with a grin nonetheless. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, sure! See you around!"

I swiftly raced out her door and began heading out to Fluttershy's cottage.

---

Once I arrived, I left no time to knock, I entered and trotted towards the dinner table. I was shocked to see two lit candles and two empty seats across each other. I formed a frown as my ears flopped down. "Oh no… Don't tell me she got tired of waiting and went off to bed…" I spoke sadly to myself and shook my head.

"Oh, Alex!" I heard a soft voice behind me, leading me to quickly turn around to spot Fluttershy surprised to see me.

"Fluttershy!" I immediately ran towards her and hugged her significantly. "I'm so sorry I'm late!"

"It's okay." She soothingly smiled at me. "I was able to put Angel to sleep while you were still out."

"Really?" I chuckled lightly. "That's good. We won't have any interruptions then."

She returned a giggle of slight embarrassment.

Fluttershy and I sat across each other as she revealed the dinner she made for the two of us.

"Wow, Fluttershy." I expressed as I examined the food. "It all looks delicious." I then sent her sweetened soft eyes. "Just like it always does…"

"You're too sweet." Fluttershy looked away with a blush in her cheeks, but then looked back to send me the same eyes. "I like it…"

"I'm just glad we can keep spending time together."

"Me too."

We both couldn't help but lean in towards each other as if we were both being attracted by a force. Our lips met and touched for a few seconds, which was the best way to start our meal. From there on, we continued our calm romantic arrangement.

---

I felt a lenient nudging against my head, waking me up from my apparent sleep.

"Alex…" The beautiful mare called my name. I opened my eyes and noticed her looking down at me as her hair fell down the side of her neck. "You better wake up if you want to make it to Pinkie Pie's party."

"Mm." I mumbled sleepily. "What party?"

"I'm not really sure, actually…" She answered, looking back with a face of slight confusion. "She said something about a… 'National Random Holiday Party Day'"

"Hm." I expressed with a smile. "Of course it would be."

Fluttershy hopped off the bed and began going through her wardrobe cabinet. "She said we could wear whatever random hats we wanted to wear." She pulled out something and placed it on her head. "How does this look?" She presented herself wearing a purple top hat with flowers.

"It looks really cute on you." I returned with a wondering gaze at her.

"It's supposed to be random." She half-joked.

"That too." I assured. "Cute in a random way. Or…random in a cute way."

She smiled and hugged her head to mine. "What are you going to wear?"

"Me? I don't really wear hats." I replied.

"But…you might be the only one not wearing one at the party. Is that okay?"

I shrugged. "Well…since it's random… I could always say I'm wearing an invisible hat. I'm pretty sure Pinkie will buy that." I laughed, visualizing the thought.

"Hehe." She giggled lightly. "Fair enough." She held out a hoof towards me. "Come on."

For a second, her appearance suddenly flashed and became Spirit's. "Let's go." I heard in her voice. I was shocked and rubbed my eyes quickly.

"Is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked concerningly.

"Ugh." I ended my eye-rubbing and saw Fluttershy as she was. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Guess I'm still kind of sleepy." I accepted her hoof to get off the bed.

Fluttershy rubbed my mane and coat. "Well, we better hurry. We don't want to be late."

"Yeah, sure." I answered, still a little dazed from that unusual sight.

Afterwards, we left the cottage, leaving me to stay by Fluttershy's side so she could lead me to the location of the party.

---

"Hey, there you two are!" Twilight greeted us as we walked inside. "Glad you could make it."

"Thanks." I answered, noticing how Twilight wasn't wearing a completely random but still fitting party hat. "We wouldn't want to miss Pinkie's parties."

"Feel free to help yourselves." Twilight happily offered, gesturing her head and eyes towards the middle table with a lot of absolutely delicious treats. "There's plenty to go around."

"She's certainly right about that, dear." Rarity added as she walked to us and offered each of us a balloon. Instead of a hat, she was rather wearing an adorable tiara that somehow made her look to be a princess.

"Hat?!" Pinkie Pie bounced from in front of me and offered a party hat. "No thanks." I grinned playfully. "I have one. It's invisible." I joke with closed eyes.

"Ooh! Really?" She raised her hoof as if she wanted to touch it.

However, I politely placed my hoof on hers and slowly lowered it down. "Careful. I wouldn't want you to tip it over and have it fall to the floor. Otherwise, it'd be pretty hard to find."

"Good point!" She dashed over to the dessert table.

I couldn't help but chuckle happily at Applejack who was dancing to her heart's content with a large country party hat with apples all over it. However, I felt there was one off at this party, so I looked around to find that it was Rainbow Dash. "Where's Rainbow?" I asked.

Applejack took a break from her dancing to answer me. "I went over to invite her, but I should've known nothing gets in that pony's head when she's reading her Daring Do books."

"Really?" I looked over to Twilight. "I thought she finished the whole series like a while back?"

"She's probably been rereading them ever since the announcement of the next book that's coming up." She took a sip of her liquid refreshment. "Too bad it was pushed back another two months."

"Huh." I returned, and then noticed Rarity offering Fluttershy and me a drink. I offered her a smile in thanks and continued my statement. "To be honest, it doesn't seem like such a big deal…but of course that's because I'm not exactly a fan…"

"Aw." Twilight responded. "I'm sure you'd like the series, though!"

"Probably." I answered, drinking the punch that really hit the spot. "But as of right now, I don't really have any intention of making the time to read them."

"Your lost!" Twilight teased with a grin.

I returned another raised smirk until the door suddenly burst open.

"Heya, Twilight!" It was Rainbow Dash. "Aren't you excited that—"

Pinkie Pie suddenly blew a loud party horn, cutting her off.

"So glad you've finally made it!" Twilight exclaimed to her as our attendance was finally complete.

"What's everypony doing here?" Rainbow asked confusingly after staring weirdly at Applejack dancing.

"We're having a holiday party!" Pinkie Pie answered and blew another horn right at her face.

"So what holiday would today be?" Rainbow questioned with no surprise.

"National Random Holiday Party Day! Woo-hoo!" Pinkie cheered.

"I've never heard of it either." Rarity took a sip from her cup. "But the punch is quite tasty."

"You might say the secret ingredient is..." Pinkie moved her head closer to Rainbow Dash and looked around cautiously. She raised Rainbow's ear and resumed. "…a secret!" She squeed and dashed out.

"How come nopony bothered to invite me?" Rainbow Dash asked, slightly growing angry but mainly shocked.

"I came to invite you personally," Applejack ceased her dancing to irritatingly answer Rainbow. "…but it seems you were a speck too busy reading the last Daring Do book for the twelfth time."

"Yeah, well, in three months and twenty six more days," Rainbow turned over to the tray Twilight was holding up while speaking with Rarity and grabbed a cup of punch. "I'll be able to read the next one." She lifted it up to began gulping it down.

"Oh, haven't you heard?" Twilight turned her head around to attend to Rainbow Dash. "The release of the next book got pushed another two months."

Rainbow's eyes suddenly widened and she shot out punch from her lips as soon as she heard the news, spraying Twilight in the process. "Two more months?! I've been waiting so long already! I don't think I can take another two months! I'll never make it!" Her legs began terribly trembling before she fell flat to the floor.

"Yeah. I can vouch for that..." Fluttershy added, as if she had experience with Rainbow's dilemma before.

"Easy." I spoke. "It's just a book. You've just got to do something else to get your mind off it."

"It's not just a book! It's my reason to live!" She grabbed ahold of my coat and clenched it tightly.

"And what happens when the series ends eventually?"

"Don't. You. Ever. Dare. Say. That. Again." She inched closer to me with every one word sentence, becoming so close to the point she was bumping and squeezing her nose against mine. I could utterly stare into her eyes and see how crazily serious she was. When the only thing I could return was slightly fearing silence, she released me and faced back to Twilight. "Did they give a reason?"

"The publisher just said author A.K. Yearling won't be able to finish the book for another two months." Twilight casually responded and then held up a tray of cupcakes. "Cupcakes?"

Pinkie Pie slid over to the tray and caught the pink frosted one with her teeth.

Rainbow Dash growled. "How could you possibly know that before me? I'm the series' biggest fan!"

"I'm just as big a fan as you!" Twilight fought back. "In fact, I'm the one who first introduced you to the books, remember?"

"Oh. Right." Rainbow Dash looked back in thought, realizing her mistake.

"A.K. Yearling just might be my favorite author." Twilight continued, leading Rainbow to rock her head in anger and mockery. "I know everything about her. Where she grew up, where she studied literature, where she wrote the first Daring Do book..."

This snapped her out of her aggressive mood to happily question Twilight. "Where she lives?"

"Uh... no, though I could probably find out somehow. Why?"

"Don't you get it? The new book is obviously delayed because she needs help dealing with whatever everyday nonsense is distracting her from spending her every living breathing second writing!" I felt the need to furrow my eyebrows a little irritatingly to Rainbow's speech. "So I—" She stopped to correct herself sheepishly. "I mean, fans like me, can get to read the new book ASAP!" Twilight, seeming to be on the same page with me, shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Think about it! We could help her with her laundry, buy her groceries, cooking her meals, whatever! Now, who wouldn't appreciate that?"

"Hmm, I don't know..." Twilight expressed, releasing a hint of doubt.

"I would think writers like to write in solitude, Rainbow." I voiced my opinion. "I mean, what authors can get great and enriching ideas when you have ponies breathing down your neck for every second you do your work? It's hard enough to fulfill the needs of anxious ponies awaiting your work, authors certainly don't need ponies pestering to them about when their next novel will come out… It obviously puts too much pressure on them."

"Yeah, exactly." Twilight agreed. "What she probably wants most of all is respect for her privacy."

Of course, we should have already known how stubborn Rainbow was. "She can always just say no." She pointed out.

Seeing the others approve her offer with a shrug, Twilight responded. "Mmh... I suppose you're right..."

"Of course I am." Rainbow readied herself for action. "So... how's about getting that address?"

"I still think this is a bad idea. Are we even allowed to personally go to where she lives like this?" I asked.

"We're just a few ponies strolling by the neighborhood that happen to ask for help when some pony needs it." Rainbow Dash tried to reason, bringing up a story for our search.

I sighed and looked at Rainbow with a narrowed look. "You aren't going to give this up, are you?"

"Nope." She answered confidently.

"Okay. Fine." I withdrew my argument. "But if this turns out for the worst, don't blame it on us."

"Really, what's the worst that can happen?"

I had no interest in answering, so I only rolled my eyes and looked away.

---

I don't know how Twilight did it, but she found the address this author apparently lived in. I couldn't really see how exactly you could find the location of such a pony, but thinking twice about it led me to reconsider. I suppose it was possible if enough research was placed into it, especially for a famous author. I knew Twilight wasn't on board with Rainbow on doing such a thing, but it seemed she was more on my route for Rainbow learning a lesson the hard way.

However, it was both a surprise, but somehow not shocking, that the address Twilight had had led us to roam inside a forest, which fortunately wasn't as creepy as taking a trip to Zecora's.

"You still want to tell her we were in the neighborhood, Rainbow?" I asked her as she flew above me, referring to all the trees as they secluded the author from any town if the address was correct.

"Yeah!" She answered, seeming too excited about meeting her favorite, or perhaps only, author to place any thought to what she heard. "Hang on! Lemme see if I can't find the house up higher!"

"Ugh!" Twilight rubbed a hoof on her face in frustration. "You see what I mean? Why would she live in this remote part of Equestria except to keep folks from intruding on her privacy?" Twilight tried to explain how absurd it was to undertake such a task. "We should respect—"

"I think I spotted the house!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, suddenly coming out from the bushes nearby. "We're super close! This way!" She pointed, leading the other girls to quickly follow her.

"Wait!" Twilight called out, and then we trotted after them. However, they had come to a stop not too far in their rush. "Oh no. What happened?" Twilight asked after we noticed a practically destroyed house. It looked like if ponies had ransacked the place, as there was furniture overturned and thrown out outside.

"Apparently somepony has intruded on her privacy pretty hard already..." Rainbow Dash said worriedly.

"Maybe it's abandoned?" I included, finding it hard to believe the house would be in the horrible condition it was in if it was located far from other ponies. "I wouldn't think A. K. Yearling would live in such a place if this happens…"

"Let's go check it out." Rainbow nonetheless offered and jumped over to the entrance of the house, leaving me with a bad feeling inside. Rainbow Dash knocked on the crooked wooden door as she looked inside the window, but the door ended up falling to the ground. She poked her head inside, along with the other girls, in pure curiosity.

I managed to fit my head through to see the utter destruction and mess that was left inside the house. It absolutely looked like somepony was in a hurry to go through the place.

"Hoo-wee, somepony really trashed this place." Applejack commented.

"Hmm... Maybe..." Pinkie Pie went through the piles of broken furniture. "…or maybe A.K. Yearling's just a terrible, horrible, unbelievable slob!"

"That's…pretty unlikely." I returned and then looked around a little worriedly. "I keep getting the feeling we shouldn't be in here."

Rarity walked over to a broken mirror. "I hope A.K. Yearling's alright!"

"You and me both." Twilight approached me by the pile of broken objects. "What if something terrible happened to her?"

"I know!" Rainbow Dash appeared from inside, searching around extensively. "There might be no more books!" As expected, Twilight shot back an aggravated look. "Uh... But, of course, I'd be worried about her, too. Heh." She laughed nervously.

"What are you all doing here?" We suddenly heard an unfamiliar face by the doorway.

We looked back to see a rather innocently looking mare walk in. She didn't look shocked or surprised. She seemed calm but a little annoyed.

"Uh... A... K-K... Yearling...?" Rainbow managed to pull out, too stunned at the sight of her apparent hero, in literature terms.

"What have you done to my house?" She asked, walking in a bit of hurry.

"We didn't do this, Ms. Yearling— whoa!" Applejack tried to answer, but Yearling walked over to the rug she was on and pulled it off from under her hooves. She then walked quickly to an area near Twilight and appeared to be searching for something in specific.

"We're awfully glad to see you're alright." Twilight expressed calmly.

But this didn't affect Yearling. She seemed to block out what the others had said in her desperate search. She now galloped over to an area Rainbow Dash was skimming through herself to throw out books and other objects in her way.

Rainbow whistled casually, seeing as she had been looking for any sign of the next book. "Okay, clearly this isn't the best time, but I've just gotta say how much we all really love your books..." She chuckled nervously.

Yearling once again blocked out Rainbow's comment and rather noticed something under her. She grinned in relief and pulled it out, tossing Rainbow away. She placed the odd-looking book to the ground and messed with it, leading to a clicking of sounds. The book opened weirdly and a golden ring popped out. Even though I had never read the books, I immediately got the craziest and most unbelievable idea.

Yearling sighed in relief as she held it up. "It's safe." She put it away and began fixing up the mess in her home as if the ring was really the only thing she cared about.

"Great!" Rainbow moved towards her. "Maybe now would be a good time for me to ask her how we can help move the new book along a little faster." She rudely pushed the typewriter in front of Yearling. "Chop chop!" Yearling only returned an annoyed set of rolled eyes.

"Rainbow Dash, a minute please!" Twilight exclaimed in a hushed tone, observing her rude behavior and taking her outside with her magic. The rest of the girls followed her while I decided to stay inside.

"Uh… Sorry about my friend, Miss…Yearling." I apologized, even though I knew she wouldn't really pay attention as she continued to fix up her stuff around her house. "We honestly don't know who did this to your house…but if you'd like…we'd be happy to help you fix up the place…"

Remaining concentrated and silent, she moved on to lift a wooden board against the wall and place back her mirror in the correct position.

I sighed, finding it completely understandable for her to be quietly furious with us. "Okay…" I turned around to walk out until a group of strangers approached me. "Uh…can I help you?"

"Are you working with Ms. Do?" One of them asked.

"W-what?" I questioned confusingly.

"We are taking back what belongs to us." Another announced until he was silenced by the dress Yearling was wearing. The other two were each shot by her glasses and sunhat.

When I looked back to look for reason in Yearling's actions, I was completely shocked to what I saw. In all of her glory, it was none other than Daring Do. Granted, if I actually read the books and was a fan, I probably would have been…well…completely paralyzed. But the idea of a character that was once only known in a book actually come to life…well…that is pretty darn something to be shocked at.

"Daring Do?! You're real?!" I exclaimed in astonishment.

She only prepared herself as the three stallions surrounded her, and I wasn't entirely sure if I should help. She is supposed to be the good mare in the series, but how the hay do you explain in getting involved in a once fictional character's adventure?

Daring Do tried to back away, but one of the stallions suddenly snatched the ring off her, which is something she was dreadfully trying to protect. She kicked the ring high up in the air to have it escape his mouth. The stallion with the shades tried to hold on to her tail as she caught the ring, but she merely kicked him off. She was backed into a corner, leading for one of the stallions to charge at her. She threw him to the side, having the other two run at her while she was recovering from her movement. They began fighting in a too fast-paced motion to keep up with. The ring flew up from them and ricocheted off the ceiling and walls. Finally, it surprisingly ended up on my neck, and I could only look up in surprise to see the angry stallions run after me. The biggest one, with no sign of patience, roughly removed it from me and punched me towards the ground.

Whether it was right or not, I knew who's side I was on now. Furiously, my teeth clenched as I glared at the stallions attempting to escape Daring Do.

"Alright…" I wiped my mouth with my hoof. "You've asked for it now."

Turning towards the pile of broken furniture nearby, I angrily picked them up with my magic and threw them towards the stallions. To their surprise, it smacked them at mainly their head. They were stunned, but I targeted and focused my attention mainly at the one that attacked me. I leapt into the air and kicked him right in the face. He shook his head and tried to swing at me, but I quickly ducked, grabbed any object I could find in the ground, and dazed him when I broke it on his head. Using this time, I used the strength of my magic and threw him across the room. The force of the impact clearly incapacitated him for the fight. The ring he had had flown from him and bounced off the wall. Daring Do tried to catch it as the other stallions ran after me, seeing me as a new threat.

Finding an empty bucket, I used my magic to hold one of them and have another stallion's head smack into it, depriving his vision for a moment as it covered his entire face. The last stallion attempted to make his move on me, but Daring Do came by with the ring held in her mouth. She pushed him away with a chair she held up. As she kept her eyes on him, I noticed the bucket-covered stallion managing to finally remove the vision-obscuring object on him.

"Watch out!" I warned and was about to prevent him from doing anything with my magic, but suddenly something blunt struck my horn directly. The pain was screeching, proving the horn was very sensitive to any damage. I placed my hooves on my horn and felt myself drop to the floor as my eyes clenched tightly.

Daring Do was distracted by my fall, allowing the bad guy to escape her hold and throw her down. The other stallion removed the bucket from his face and joined in on the fight. Daring Do had accidentally released the ring, leaving it to fly over to the doorway behind me.

"Many thanks, Daring Do." Another stallion spoke in a foreign accent. I managed to open one eye while pressing my hooves on my horn in pain. He was standing at the doorway while successfully twirling the ring on his hoof. "As you've probably surmised, our earlier search for this treasure was... unsuccessful. So kind of you to find it for us."

The fight with Daring Do had ceased, and the other incapacitated pony had managed to recover and join the two. She tried to stand up and gallop towards this stallion, but her front leg suddenly twisted, leaving her to fall towards the floor in pain as well.

"Give it back, Caballeron!" She ordered.

"That's Doctor Caballeron to you." He corrected. His eyes lowered towards mine. "I see you allow such a rare…Alicorn pony to accompany you. Is that why you refused?"

"He has nothing to do with this!" Daring Do returned, trying to fix herself up to stand.

"Oh but of course." Caballeron responded and then eyed me greedily. "Perhaps…we should take him as well. I can only imagine how many riches there will be when we offer this one to our buyer."

"Like hay you will!" I shot back. I so desperately wanted to shoot a beam of my magic at him to shut him up, but my horn was still stinging painfully. "I'm not some kind of object for you to sell off!"

The stallions around Daring Do began stepping towards me, but Caballeron stopped them. "No. We've had enough trouble as it is."

"Let me guess:" Daring Do managed to push herself back up. "Ahuizotl has put you up to this? You're stealing the ring to give to him so his hold on the Fortress of Talicon will be good for eight centuries as foretold by prophecy!"

"Close, but... no." He confronted Daring Do. "I'm going to sell this to him, make a bundle, and retire from archaeology in splendor."

"Caballeron, you fool!" She grunted, trying to stop him, but her damaged hoof, along with the other stallions, stopped her. "You're dooming the valley to eight centuries of unrelenting heat!"

Clearly ignoring her, he placed the ring around his neck and trotted off. "To market, henchponies!" They threw Daring Do to the floor and trotted after their leader, leaving her to grunt in pain. The stinging sensation in my horn slowly went away, but I still suffered some pain if I touched it or tried using magic.

Daring Do continued to have problems with her hoof. She tried to walk forward, but she obviously suffered a lot of pain as well. Even though I would have felt pain for doing so, I decided I would relieve whatever she was undergoing with her hoof.

She sat on the floor, gathering the materials to make a splint, as I approached her. At least I was still able to walk.

"Hold still." I advised, pointing my horn at her affected foreleg.

"I don't need—" She irritatingly responded until she began feeling my magic on her foreleg. She was surprised when she was able to move it again.

There was a gasp beside me. "Are you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked, leading Daring Do to slap her reaching hoof away.

"I got this." She refused. I suppose she was still angry for losing the ring.

"Um, she was just trying to help, Ms. Do." Fluttershy tried to relieve the tension with her soft voice.

"Daring Do doesn't need help." She began walking away, still limping a little. "She handles her business herself." After she was outside, she flew away, leaving us in silence.

I signed and poked my horn, glad it wasn't broken or anything. "It would have been nice to have some help earlier…"

"Sorry…" Twilight apologized. "We were…just shocked about Daring Do. We didn't really know what to do at the moment." Fluttershy carefully approached me and gently caressed my horn with her hoof. It caused me to flinch a little. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah… It's just my horn…" I answered. Twilight walked herself to me, placed tip of her horn on mine, and closed her eyes.

After using some magic, she opened them again. "Better?"

"Yeah…" I returned after feeling the pain soothed.

"Come on!" Rainbow Dash raced out to fly outside. "We've gotta go help!"

"You heard her!" Twilight ran after her, leading for me and the others to follow. "She says she works alone!"

"How can we just stand by and do nothing?" Rainbow tried to reason with Twilight. "You know what's at stake here! Ahuizotl has sought control of the Tenochtitlan Basin since book three!"

"True, but in book four, she defeated Ahuizotl and secured control of the Amulet of Atonement, dispelling the dark magic of the Quetzalcóatl Empress, and thus protecting the basin with the Radiant Shield of Rasdon!" Twilight reacted in defense.

"But the Radiant Shield of Rasdon is vulnerable to the dark enchantment of the Rings of Scorcherro!" Rainbow returned, leaving me to scrunch in confusion.

"But are you forgetting that the Rings were scattered to the four corners of Tenochtitlan, thus rendering the dark enchantment powerless?" I didn't know if Pinkie Pie actually understood this, but she nodded her head in agreement at Twilight's statement.

"Only if you assume that the Rings have yet to be retrieved, and the ring Caballeron just stole isn't the last to completely restore the dark tower and its cruel hold on Tenochtitlan! Did you ever think of that?!"

"You gotta admit, Rainbow Dash makes a pretty good point." Pinkie Pie delightedly pointed.

"We gotta help Daring Do retrieve the ring for safekeeping before it's too late!" Rainbow Dash pleaded to us.

Twilight released a defeated sigh. "Okay, but sounds to me like we're in way, way, way over our heads. We're going to need a carefully thought out plan..."

"I'm coming, Daring Do!" Rainbow Dash's voice echoed throughout the forest as she twirled around in the sky to assist her hero.

"That's not a plan!" Twilight shouted out and then groaned at her unthinking behavior.

"I better go after her." I advised the others. "The rest of you should stay together. I'll try make sure Rainbow doesn't screw things up."

"Are you sure?" Twilight questioned hesitantly.

I nodded. "The only flyers are you and Fluttershy, and I much rather have all of you together. I'll try to keep Rainbow in place until you meet back with us."

"Okay. Be careful." Twilight warned considerately.

"Got it." I granted and then waved off to the others for our later meeting.

I flew up to the air and attempted to figure out the direction Rainbow Dash left to.

---

I didn't know if she had changed directions during her flight time, but I hope she didn't. Otherwise, I'd probably be completely lost. However, I wasn't able to find her in the air anytime soon, so I turned my sight downwards and slowed down to see if I could see her through the trees.

"Rainbow Dash...where did you go?" I asked under my breath.

All of sudden, I heard a rush of wind and a spiraling rainbow ahead of me. I gasped and tried to call out to her. "Rainbow!" I shouted, but of course, it seemed she didn't hear me or listen. I sighed and looked downwards where Rainbow Dash flew from. I noticed another pony walking inwards, and based from the outfit, I could tell it was Daring Do. Of course, Rainbow Dash was going to go anywhere Daring Do was going to go, so I thought it'd be best to stay with her.

I lowered myself to approach Daring Do.

Once she spotted me, she scoffed irritatingly. "Don't tell me. You want to tell me how much of a big fan you are too?"

"What? No." I shook my head. "To be honest, I've never even read your books, but that's beside the point. I was just trying to catch Rainbow Dash before she did anything without thinking."

"Well, you're too late for that." She looked off in the direction that Rainbow headed off in. "Looks like she already getting in the way."

"I know how you feel…but you've got to know that she's only just trying to help, even though she's made herself to fangirl everything about you." I responded.

"Her 'help' is going to doom the valley! If you want to help, get her off my back and let me do my job." She returned in a deeply irritated manner.

I sighed once again, not wanting to anger her any further. "…alright. You've made your point clear enough…"

I followed her the rest of the way as we both remained silent. It took a while until we found Rainbow hiding behind a couple of bushes.

"Hey, Daring Do! I found them camping out here!" She announced in a hushed tone.

Daring Do narrowed her eyes irritably as she looked towards me.

Fed up with the angry looks she's been giving me, I walked towards Rainbow Dash.

"Alex? Where are the others?" She asked.

"Come on." I grabbed her hoof. "We're going home."

"What? No! We've gotta help Daring Do!"

"She wants to work alone!" I tried to get through her thick skull.

"But we need to!"

Daring Do scrunched her face in anger and finally stormed her hoof to the ground. "Fine!" She exclaimed in a hushed tone. "You can stay, but do not get in my way!"

"Sure! Anything, Daring Do!" Rainbow saluted while I released an angry breath. The both of them gathered around the bush Rainbow Dash was hiding behind and looked out beyond. "Looks like they decided to have an early dinner before making their way back down the hill to the marketplace in town." Not really caring about Rainbow's advisement, Daring Do turned to the ground and scraped up some mud with her hooves. Then, she began rubbing it on the bottom of her head, confusing me. "Oh, I see." Rainbow began. "You're gonna ambush them like in book four at the Haravian caves!" Daring Do threw her hat to the ground and crushed it a bit. "Or maybe, that neat trick you did in book three, where you swoop in and knock three guys down with one swing!" She was starting to get seriously loud, having me want to shut her up, but Daring Do did it instead. "Or maybe—" Daring Do sent her a glare, having her realize her mistake. "Okay. I'll be quiet now." She lowered the volume of her voice. "Just watching very quietly, heh. Shh. So, what kind of ambush are you gonna use then?" Daring Do raised her head from the ground, presenting a beard made of leaves and twigs. After, she held up a bag full of bits. "Wow!"

As Daring Do went to approach the camping stallions, I stayed behind to make sure Rainbow stayed out of it. However, I couldn't help but become concerned for Daring Do's plan.

"Are you sure that's going to work? I don't know if they'll believe it…" I mentioned.

"Of course it's going to work!" Rainbow answered confidently. "Daring Do's plans always work!"

In a low-pitched voice, Daring Do spoke to the stallions after dropping the bits to the ground and catching their wide eyes. "I have been led to believe you have in your possession an item of significant importance that might be... for sale."

They quickly raced towards the bag of bits. "Oh, uh, well..." Caballeron returned. "I did have another buyer lined up, but he's not here, so..." He held up the ring he had took. "…sounds like we have a deal."

Daring Do raised her hoof to accept it until we all heard a loud and fierce roar echo throughout the forest. Trees tumbled down until this large odd-looking monster appeared before the two. "Caballeron!" He shouted in anger. "The ring!" He demanded.

Caballeron gasped and released the ring, making sure to bring the bag of bits when he fled.

The ring clanked on the ground, leaving Daring Do and the beast to look at it in silence for a moment. Daring Do took the initiative to pounce towards it and grab it with her teeth. However, in the process, she knowingly revealed who she really was. The antagonist roared out loudly once again and chased after Daring Do.

"Be cool, Rainbow Dash, be cool... she's got this!" She covered her eyes with her forelegs.

"Don't do anything stupid, Rainbow." I placed a hoof on her. "Just let it play out."

"The ring, Daring Do! Give it to me!" The monster demanded as he inched closer to her like a cat, later pounding the ground which Daring Do easily escaped.

"Now, Ahuizotl, you know I love you, but I can't give you the ring 'til I've properly proposed." She wittily replied.

This led to Rainbow Dash smirking in a smug manner.

Nonetheless, Ahuizotl laughed. "Interesting, because my friends here have a proposal of their own." He snapped his…tail apparently, and summon several of feline species by his side, which even held a small household cat for some reason… They all growled ferociously at Daring Do, leading to her backing away and Rainbow sweating nervously.

Daring Do prepared herself for combat and narrowed her eyes. "Bring it!"

The panther ran towards her, only to receive a fierce uppercut that sent it flying back. The tiger pounced over to Daring Do next, but it missed when she jumped in the air. She pounded on its head and headed for the cougar with an outstretched back leg. She shot it backwards and then began fighting with the last big cat.

"Come on, Daring Do, come on...!" Rainbow pounded the ground in extreme anxiety.

"Rainbow, you should know she'll be alright. You've read all the books, haven't you?" I asked, but didn't receive an answer. "Rainbow?"

"Daring Do! I've got your hat! You want me to toss it?" She yelled out a few steps away from me while holding Daring Do's hat. Meanwhile, Daring Do was too busy fighting the summoned cats. "Daring Do! Daring Do!"

"Rainbow!" I shouted out and threw myself her to get her out of sight.

It seemed that it was a good thing I did, because Ahuizotl apparently tried to snatch Rainbow. However, when we were able to see what was going on again, Daring Do had been captured by the cats. She was tied up with a rope, which prevented her from moving at all. The tiger grabbed ahold of her with its fangs.

"Don't worry, Daring Do! I'll come help you!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed and tried to reach out, but the response she earned left her stunned.

"Don't bother! I'd say you've already helped plenty." Daring Do returned sarcastically, leaving Rainbow to watch the character she loved so much to be taken away hostage. She took a moment to realize that her action had led to Daring Do's defeat.

"…What have I done?" She asked as she flopped down her ears in sadness.

I sighed, seeing how she was now realizing the consequences of her actions. "You let your excitement get the better of you…" I wanted her to realize what she had done…but not in a negative way. I know it sounded a little mean…but I wanted her to learn. I couldn't help but comfort her about it though…

"I just…was so anxious to see her…" She spoke miserably as she stared at the ground. "I was just so excited to meet not only the author of my favorite books, but Daring Do herself." She sighed. "I can't believe how much I messed up…"

I sat by her and placed a foreleg around her. "We all make mistakes. You must know that we all aren't perfect, and whoever says they are is only a fool. But we can only learn from our mistakes."

"And how exactly will that help Daring Do?" She questioned, not really looking better than before.

"Well…it's up to you to realize what you did wrong, and avoid it the next time you want to help her out."

Rainbow Dash returned a quick scoff. "That's never going to happen. I'm not ever going to try to help her again after what I did."

"Rainbow…" I spoke, trying to get her to look at me, but she only remained staring at the floor.

I heard a galloping of hooves getting louder by the second. Suddenly, a group of mares ran out from within the forest to approach us. The girls had caught up.

"Thank goodness you two are alright!" Rarity exclaimed after a gasp.

"Quick, where does it hurt?" Twilight asked Rainbow, noticing her painful appearance.

"In here." She placed her hooves to her chest, directly pointing at her heart. "Daring Do and the ring have been captured by the dreaded Ahuizotl, and it's all my fault."

All of the girls gasped.

"Dash, I'm sure whatever you did was an honest mistake." Twilight assured.

"Whatever." Rainbow shook her head, noticing how Twilight was starting to sound like she came off of my speech. "Let's just go home." She turned away and began walking off sadly with her head held down low.

"We can't go back now!" Applejack announced. "Looks a mite like she needs our help more than ever!"

"Trying to help is how I got in this mess in the first place." Rainbow stopped in her tracks to answer Applejack. "You were right, guys." She directed towards Twilight and me. "We should've stayed out of this."

Twilight joined her in her walk while I tenderly followed along.

"Look, there is more going on here than meets the eye. In every Daring Do book, there always is! We can't turn our backs on her!" Twilight tried to reason with her.

"She doesn't want my help, Twilight."

"Perhaps. But she might need it anyway." Twilight did offer good points in the first place…

"No. My hero's way better off without me." Rainbow Dash declined, despite Twilight's reasoning.

"This don't sound like you." Applejack joined, nudging her in the chest.

"Where's the Rainbow Dash who would help anypony at the drop of a hat?" Pinkie Pie included as well, hugging Rainbow.

"Or pith helmet, as the case may be." Rarity added happily.

"She's here where she's got no business being." She pushed Pinkie away off her. "She should be at home." She continued walking.

"It's fine to look up to Daring Do, but you've put her so high up on a pedestal, you can't even see your own worth anymore!" Twilight proclaimed earnestly. "She's in the fortress, and we're here, and we wouldn't be who we are if we didn't go in after her! And neither would you! So, are you with us, or not?"

Rainbow Dash stared at the ground for a moment, and then looked at us as she held the same mood. It seemed she just needed a little more to finally be motivated and fix the mistakes she made in the first place.

"Rainbow…" I stepped forward. "She's your hero, right? And you'd want more than anything for her to notice you? Well, she needs you right now, even though she might not show it. You say it's your fault. Fine. And what are you going to do to fix it? Just walk away from the problem? I thought the Rainbow Dash we know is better than that. You want to feel better, Rainbow? Then you've got to do something about it. Like I said, use what you've learned from your mistakes and put it to good use for the better." I noticed she looked downwards in thought. "Come on… Come with us, and we'll all save Daring Do together. That's what you want, don't you?"

After finally putting some thought into it, rather than just jumping the horn, she looked up in determination. "Alright. Yeah. Let's go help Daring Do!"

"That's the spirit, Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed joyously. "But first…" She held up a hoof. "Let's come up with a plan this time?"

Rainbow nodded, knowing how leaving without one didn't help last time. "Right…"

The seven of us gathered in a circle figure.

"Okay, Rainbow." Twilight began. "As in every book, Daring Do will be in a very dangerous and heart-trembling trap. However, this time, you'll be helping her."

"You go find and patch up things with her, and of course…make sure she gets out alive first." I continued. "We'll take care of Ahuizotl and the ring meanwhile."

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash nodded determinedly.

"Everypony ready?" I asked, holding out my hoof in the middle of our circle.

"Ready!" They all exclaimed and placed their hooves on mine.

"Then let's go help Daring Do complete her quest!"

"Yeah!" They shouted out in unison, leading Rainbow to begin her task in flying over to the temple she was last seen being taken to.

"Come on." I directed the others. "Let's not waste any time." I turned to Twilight. "Twilight, you lead, since you know everything about the books."

"Roger that, captain!" Twilight saluted playfully and then began leading us towards the temple as well.

---

Wondering inside the temple, we heard a clanking of objects striking the ground in rhythm. We poked our heads through the main doorway, which inside held a rather larger crowd than we were expecting. They were all observing Ahuizotl seriously, who was performing some kind of ritual with the ring. He gave a loud laughter until I jumped in to stop him.

"Hey, Ahuizotl!" I called out to him, interrupting his joyous occasion. "Don't you know the bride is supposed to receive her ring first?" I announced, following Daring Do's witty manner. Then, I signaled the girls to begin the rowdy rumble.

"Hmph, place the ring, quickly!" Ahuizotl commanded his followers, but Pinkie Pie quickly bounced and jumped towards where the two ponies were holding up the ring. She placed herself inside the ring, twirling it around like a hula-hoop. She sent it at another direction and happily hopped off before Ahuizotl could grab ahold of her. "Get it!" He shouted out angrily.

Two of them tried to catch it, but Applejack intervened and kicked it up into the air. Those two were my first victims. Using my magic, I shot a few beams at them, similar to what Twilight used against the changelings back when they invaded Canterlot. Successfully, they knocked them out from the fight.

Applejack was running with the ring in her mouth, but one of the ponies tripped her with her weapon, grabbing ahold of the ring after. He tried to toss to Ahuizotl, but Fluttershy impressively intercepted it. Ahuizotl then gave chase after Fluttershy, frightening her. I growled but maintained my cool as I ran towards him. I hopped onto him and pulled his ears backwards. "You really don't have any manners, do you?" As I saw Twilight retrieve the ring from Fluttershy, I released Ahuizotl's ears and hopped off of him, just in time to avoid his grabbing tail.

Another two tried to pounce on Twilight, but she successfully used her horn to teleport out of harm's way, causing them to smack each other and knock themselves out. I used my magic to throw them on the initial pile. Another couple ran after Twilight, leading her to toss it back to Applejack.

"Twilight!" I called after her, grabbing her attention. "Let's show them what a little magic can do!" I grinned with a sneer as I provided a glow to my horn.

Twilight caught my invitation and nodded in the same manner. "You've got it."

The two of us gathered together in flight and then worked as a team to send out beams towards the bad guys, leaving us to almost look like a disco ball in the area. Our improvised tactic significantly helped the others, giving them an edge on keeping the ring off the wrong hooves. Once we noticed every one of the ponies were unconscious from our magic, we then worked together to place them all in the same pile. "That's the last of them!"

However, there was a loud laughter as Ahuizotl had somehow managed to receive the ring. But the temple began shaking and giving off huge vibrations, stopping him. We all noticed Rainbow Dash and Daring Do both trying to lift up the largest ring from the bottom.

"Stop her!" He commanded, pointing a finger towards the two. However, it was to his surprise when he noticed that all of his ponies were knocked out in the corner.

"Ponies! Run!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed to us, just about as they were going to completely remove the current ring they were holding. "This place is goin' down!" Ahuizotl tried to jump and grabbed ahold of them, but failed as they got away from the exit on the ceiling. He then turned around and his eyes shot towards the exit the others were using to escape. He looked as if he was about to chase after them before the temple could collapse, but seeing as he was the only one to handle, I stood in his way and prevented him from leaving.

"I don't think you're going anywhere." I stood my ground, despite the destruction of the temple that was to occur any minute. "You made a commitment to that ring and you're going to stay with it." I smirked with adrenaline pumping inside me and feeling no linger of fear whatsoever.

All of his fists clenched, and he shook them with absolute hatred. It seemed he had enough. His whole body shook, not because of the falling temple, but to release a loud and mighty roar. He stretched his tail to reach one of the fallen weapons his pony followers were using. "No pony will stand in my way! No pony!" He tried to strike me with the spear, but I quickly drew out a shield with my magic to block it. "You can't overpower me!" He was attempting to push through and knock my balance off, but with all my strength, both physical and magical, I grunted and pushed forward, earning a step each time.

When the time was right, I pushed through with a force and knocked him unbalanced instead. However, he wasn't giving up so easily. Using this momentum, he tried to swipe the spear at me, but I jumped and flipped in flight, knocking him back with a magical burst from my horn. Staggered from my blow, I then chained in a quick combo of several small bursts from horn, and then ended with bucking him with my back legs.

I would have probably been able to handle him perfectly, but with the falling debris, it made it a little harder. The falling rocks got in my line of sight, having me place a hoof in front of me to try to see clearly. However, I was caught off guard when he charged his massive body at me. I was thrown towards the floor. Then, he used his tail to grab ahold of me and then swung it around to fling me towards the wall. I roughly slammed into it, and it caused me to be inactive for a moment. This was the perfect time for him to try to attack me with the spear again, but I quickly regained my focus and summoned another shield to defend myself.

I managed to push myself back up and force him to back off. However, he learned from his last failure and didn't push on to be knocked back. While I still was recovering from the impact of the wall, he grabbed ahold of me with his tail again and held on while he glared at me angrily. "You are such an imbecile, do you realize that? You dare challenge me?!"

"He's not the only one!" I heard nearby. A couple of falling debris struck him at his face, causing him to let go of me. "You've still got me to deal with, Ahuizotl!" Daring Do revealed herself with a sly grin. She then flew towards me to ready herself by me. "I've still gotta repay the favor to you and your friends, y'know?"

Smiling back at her, I nodded. "Gotcha."

Ahuizotl rubbed his face and he was really getting steamed now. "Curse you…DARING DO!"

Daring Do launched herself in the air and faced me. "Toss a few of those rocks, will you?" She requested towards the projectiles on the ground.

"Roger!" I grabbed the majority of them with my magic and tossed them up in the air.

Daring Do licked her lips and bucked them straight at Ahuizotl, who couldn't gain any ground towards us because of it. As he fumbled due to our move, Daring Do took another look at me. "What do you say we finally end this reception?"

"Let's do it!" I agreed as I joined her to charge at Ahuizotl. Once we were on opposite sides around him, I signaled her. "Daring Do!" I called. I rose up in the air, and we both began smacking him with our back hooves from every side. Once he grew nice and dizzy, we both grabbed hold onto his tail instead and wrapped it around him. Finally, we gave one last tug and spun him rapidly. He fell to the ground, severely dazed.

"Come on!" Daring Do called out to me, grabbing my hoof. "Let's get out of here before we're crushed!"

She led me, flying us straight out the temple just as it fell into pieces.

Once we were on solid ground again, all of the girls raced towards us, absolutely appearing to be almost killed with worry over the fact that we could have been crushed in there.

"Daring Do! I will have my revenge!" We could hear Ahuizotl scream out from the ruins of the temple.

I looked towards Daring Do. "Are you sure you still want him holding out his revenge on you every single time?" I asked.

"Hey." She answered in a rather enthusiastic manner. "If he didn't, how would there ever be any more books? Plus, he's the only thing that keeps my life exciting!"

"Hm" I smiled at her comment. "I would say so."

She looked out to each of us. "I know I didn't want any pony's help before…but I really couldn't have done all of this without you all." She turned to Rainbow Dash. "Especially you, Rainbow Dash."

Daring Do held out a hoof towards her to shake, but Rainbow couldn't hold in her excitement. Instead, she wrapped her hooves around Daring Do, and I could tell she was squeezing tightly. Being surprised for a moment, she accepted it nonetheless and had to softly push her away when Rainbow wouldn't let go.

"It was truly an honor helping you in your adventure, Ms. Do!" Twilight expressed calmly but brightly.

Daring Do chuckled. "Well, if you all will excuse me… I've got a book to finish!" She waved and flew back towards the direction of her home.

Rainbow Dash returned to us and suddenly I was swarmed by every one of them in a group hug.

"Keep squeezing that tight…and it'll feel like if I had stayed in the temple…" I managed to say as I felt hardly any room.

Afterwards, they pulled back, allowing me to breathe.

---

After such a long and tiring day, Twilight suggested we return back home. There was just something quick I needed to do before doing so, so I told them to go on ahead and I would catch up to them in a few minutes.

I actually wanted to see Daring Do one last time, so I could thank her for her help back in the temple, which is something I didn't get to express before she left. I managed to track back to her house in the woods. The door was still pretty crooked and broken, but it appeared she was able to place it back on somewhat. I knocked and later heard her voice inside.

"That better not be you, Caballeron!" She threatened.

"Don't worry. It's Alex." I assured.

After a moment of silence and hoofsteps, the door opened, revealing Daring Do. "Oh, hey."

"Were you able to fix the place up?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. Mostly." She looked back inside. "I'll get the rest of it done after I finish the book."

I had noticed she didn't have on her disguise, which must have been placed on only for when she went out. "Well, I don't want to take too much of your time… I just wanted to thank you for helping me out at the temple." I looked at the floor and messed with the back part of my mane with my hoof. "I don't know if I would have been able to handle Ahuizotl all by myself."

Daring Do chuckled and waved her hoof. "Alright, alright, I get it."

"Huh?" I questioned, confused on what she was getting at.

"You want a hug from the adventurous Daring Do too, don't you?"

"…uh, well I wasn't really—"

"Come on, don't deny it."

Finding humor in Daring Do's sudden accusation, I decided to give up and just let her have her judgment. "Okay, sure." I held with a touch of sarcasm. Smugly, she held out her forelegs in her usual witty manner. I accepted, leaving us in a strong squeeze for a while before we pulled away. "Thanks for…accepting my thanks…" I expressed. "I guess I better let you get to writing then. Rainbow Dash is still going to be crazy about the next book, even though she just experienced it for herself."

Daring Do chuckled. "Right. Oh, and I trust you and your friends won't be ridiculously stupid and blab about this to everypony…right?"

I motioned my hoof in the manner of a Pinkie Promise. "Pinkie Promise and Alicorn's honor."

Before I could take up too much of her time, I allowed her to return back to her work as I quickly flew up to catch up with the girls before they got too far ahead.

---

After everypony went to bed, and I ended the night with Fluttershy in our usual manner, I visited the one pony who I knew wouldn't be asleep anytime soon.

"Hey, Vinyl." I greeted in a rather cheery manner as I walked in through her front door.

"Sup!" She removed her headphones and trotted over to me. "I was saving the bass just for you! How'd your date with Fluttershy go?"

"Great." I answered, taking a seat nearby. "She said she managed to put her pet bunny to sleep during the time I was running late, and that's a good thing because that bunny really doesn't like it when I show my love for his 'mommy'." I chuckled.

Vinyl laughed as well. "Right on!" We slapped hooves. "So, hey. Remember about that pony I was talking about earlier? Before you left?"

I placed a hoof to my chin, trying to remember. "I think so…"

"Well, I wanted to introduce you two!" She announced excitedly. "Despite our differences, we get along nicely, but you should really see her for herself. I may be an awesome DJ, but she's amazing with string instruments."

"Oh, uh…" I returned, surprised for her offer. "Well, I don't see why not. I do like making more friends like you Vinyl."

"Heh heh." She looked back with a blush of embarrassment. "Aw." She faced me again. "But this time, she won't wake you up in the middle of the night. I'll try to find a time when she's free in the day. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, sure." I agreed. "I guess I better get some sleep then. You won't believe how crazy my day was…"

"Go ahead!" She enthusiastically offered. "We can jam out again some other time!"

Grinning at her attitude and personality, I nodded. "Sure thing, Vinyl."

Lastly, the next thing on my list was sleep, which most likely meant seeing Spirit again.

---

Undergoing the same transition, I awoke in my dream state on the same bed as before. I looked out towards the doorway that led to the balcony. I walked calmly through and looked around for any sign of Spirit. This time, she was present and sat in the usual spot staring out at the sunset.

I carefully approached her and greeted her. "Hey." I announced with a smile.

She quickly turned and reacted defensively for some reason. "I'm not eating your ice cream!"

"Huh?" I raised my eyebrow in confusion.

Nevertheless, she giggled and pulled out a separate one for me. "Just kidding."

"Good." I played along and sat by her as I retrieved it with my magic. "You know I get cranky when ponies eat my ice cream." I rested my bottom and sighed in relief. "What a day… You should've been there."

"Oh, don't worry." She assured, taking a bite out of her treat. "I was."

"Oh, right." I joined her in our consumption. "You and your mysterious ways. As like any of the others, don't go on telling any other pony about Daring Do and such."

"Hm." She paused. "Even if I could, I wouldn't."

"Hm?" I questioned, looking at her.

"Nothing." She returned a slightly forced smile and then turned back at the sunset.

"Hm…" I took a moment to think about her. "…you know…you remind me of the girls back home." In silence, she faced me with the ice cream in her mouth. "You can kind of be hyperish like Pinkie Pie…or calm and trusting like Twilight, or even a little shy like Fluttershy." I turned my head up towards the sky. "Oh, definitely honest like Applejack." I placed my hoof to my cheek in continuation. "Come to think of it…brave like Rainbow Dash when it came to the castle…and for Rarity? Hm. I'm not too sure for her…" I turned my head back towards Spirit. "But I'm sure you've got a bit of her in you as well."

"Yeah…" She looked away. "I guess so…"

"Something the matter?" I inquired about.

"Not really." She answered steadily. "I guess I'm just starting to think about stuff…"

"Well…" I closed my eyes and took in one more bite of the treat, fumbling with the wooden stick in my mouth. "If you ever need to express something about yourself, or something that's on your mind. I'm here to listen."

"What if it might be something that makes you mad?" She asked a little worriedly.

"I try my best to understand anything told to me." I spoke to Spirit as I focused my visual attention at the sunset. "But, I don't think there's anything about you specifically that can make me upset. I don't see how."

"Oh…right…" She softly released. "Well…okay. I'll keep that to mind then." She referred to her expression of her thoughts. "Oh." She noticed the wobbling stick in my mouth. "Do you mind letting me keep those sticks after you're done with them?"

"Oh." I removed the stick from my lips and presented it in front of her. She removed hers and placed the two together. "Sure. What's the occasion?"

With her eyes half-opened towards me and a soft smirk, she answered. "It's a secret."

"Of course…" I returned, knowing she would have said something like that.

"Don't worry." She assured. "It's a secret you'll know soon enough."

"Well then, I guess I can't wait." I stated and remained quiet until Spirit spoke up.

"Hey…um…" She began, grabbing my attention. "Do you think…a wish can really come true?"

"Hm…" I thought about it for a moment. "Maybe… I can't just tell you it will…but I'd like to believe that anything you wish for can come true…"

"Well…I've made it this far…so I still have hope…" She responded, having me look at her a little confusingly for a bit until she quickly retracted it. "Sorry, just thinking out loud here."

Nonetheless, I smiled softly and felt gratitude for her part in my life, even though she was still mysterious. I placed my foreleg around her and expressed it. "Thanks."

She was a little surprised, but she didn't question about it.

We sat together as the day faded away.

Comments

[Lord Zalgo]

Why do I get a kind of 'Kingdom Hearts' vibe from Spirit?
Who IS she?

[Kuumatona]

3949309 My guess is the Spirit of Harmony or something since he did mention she was similar to all the bearers.

[DrWhooves007]

She said we could wear whatever random hats we wanted to wear.

A fez!! Where is my FEZ!? I need my fez! Or I could just wear a Stetson though

[DrWhooves007]

Oh and one more thing,

Roger that, captain!

I think captain is a bit too high try sergeant

[jamespotter]

3978250
what if spirit is the tree of harmony that would be awesome

[Dark_Night]

Just going out on a limb here and say that spirit is his spiritual sister. It just... Makes sense.

[Peter20percent]

5903386
doubt it, she seems to think telling him will make him mad, so maybe, dunno.