"Are you sure you can do this?"
"Of course I'm sure," Twilight Sparkle answered her nervous dragon assistant proudly as she studied the spell one more time which was written out in the book that lay before her. "The book says this is a class seven spell, and I can handle that."
Spike, who had been carrying an armload of books, mostly the Daring Do novels that Twilight's friend Rainbow Dash had recently borrowed then returned, looked, unconvinced, at the light purple unicorn who stood a few feet away. She stood at the pedestal where she'd placed today's book of magic that she was studying.
"But, Twilight," the dragon tried to reason. "Last week when you quizzed yourself, you were only a level six unicorn."
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"I know, Spike," she said, not put-off. "But how am I going to get any better if I don't challenge myself? Besides, this spell isn't so hard."
Spike sighed, and placed the stack of books he'd been carrying down onto the circular table that stood in the center of the tree library where he and Twilight had lived since they came to Ponyville a few years ago. When they'd first come here, Twilight had been annoyed that she'd have to leave Canterlot and her studies to live among ponies she didn't know. But after defeating Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia's sister, Luna, who had been turned evil, Twilight had found that she loved the friends she'd made in the small country town and didn't want to return to Canterlot after all. Since then, Twilight and Spike had served the town as librarians, and Twilight had continued to study under Princess Celestia, sending her letters about what she'd learned in Ponyville.
Twilight had also been practicing her magic. When they'd first come to Ponyville, she'd already been very powerful, but since their arrival here, she'd been working to grow her powers even more. Most unicorns were a level two or three, in terms of magical ability. Their powers only extended enough to help them with their special talent, like how Rarity used levitation to help her sew, or maybe a unicorn that grew flowers would use a simple weather spell to make sure their plants got a gentle shower every day. But Twilight's special talent was magic, and in Ponyville, her abilities had only grown.
But Spike just wasn't sure about this, today.
The dragon crossed over to his friend and guardian, and reached up on tip-toes to see what this spell was. He'd seen it earlier, but he wanted to make sure he hadn't missed anything.
"'A Spell to Animate Those Not Real'," the dragon read, the blinked. "'Animate Things Not Real'? That's only a level seven spell?"
By the sound of it, a spell like that would be able to bring characters from books to life or bring pictures into existence, or even animate objects! How was that only a class seven spell? That sounded like something only Princess Celestia could do!
"Oh, Spike!" Twilight laughed. "It's not like that at all. Here, let me show you."
Using a simple telekinetic spell, Twilight lifted a picture of a pony in a meadow off the wall where it had hung. The pony in the picture was slightly deformed and not completely well-colored. But there wasn't much to expect – Applebloom had drawn it and given it to Twilight as a present. Sweet, but the little filly was no Michael Angelohoof.
"Look," she said, laying the picture down onto the pedestal, next to the book. "With this spell, I could animate the pony in this picture, make it come to life. But it's only temporary: the book says it will only last a few minutes."
"Honestly, I'd hate to be that pony when it's brought to life," Spike said, looking at the scribbled coloring job and the distorted limbs and face. "Good thing it's only temporary."
''See? Now do you see how easy it is? It's harmless," Twilight told him. Spike sighed.
"Okay, okay," he consented. "Just be careful."
"Of course," Twilight said with a nod. "When am I not?"
Spike decided not to answer that, it would only bring bad luck. Instead, he picked up the stack of books he'd left on the table and went to shelve them, scurrying up the ladder to the Daring Do section and inserting each book back into its proper order in the series. Twilight hated for her books to be out of order.
"Oh, and Spike?" Twilight asked, looking one last time away from her book. "Could you do me a favor and get out Daring Do and the Search for the Alicorn Stone? It's the next in the series for Rainbow Dash. She'll be by in a little bit to pick it up."
Spike nodded and slid his claw along the spines of the books, searching for the one Rainbow wanted. It was amazing, ever since Twilight had gotten Rainbow Dash into the Daring Do series, the blue Pegasus hadn't been able to leave the books alone. Spike even heard a rumor that she was trying to right her own story about the adventurous pony archeologist. Who would have thought that Rainbow Dash, fastest and, next to Applejack, most athletic pony in Ponyville, would love reading so much?
He found the book eventually, and tugged it down off the shelf. The cover showed a picture of the light brown Pegasus with the greyscale mane running through a tropical jungle, a saddle bag slung over her back with a hint of a radiant crystal jewel peeking out. A second, possibly younger, light green Pegasus ran behind her, looking anxiously over her shoulder. Spike hadn't read this one yet, but it looked good.
As he started down the ladder, he noticed that Twilight was starting on her spell. He supposed she was going to bring the pony of Applebloom's drawing to life. That would be interesting.
Fascinated, the purple dragon crouched down on the ladder, the Daring Do book held against his chest like some sort of shield. A shield against what, he didn't know.
Twilight closed her eyes, concentrating. She took a deep breath, planting her hooves firmly apart to give herself more stability. The spell in her mind, she slowly, carefully, called on her power, which collected in her horn, making it glow. She was almost ready. She just had to aim it in the right direction –
Rainbow Dash had been meaning to drop in on Twilight later in the day and collect her new Daring Do novel, Daring Do and the Search for the Alicorn Stone. She was looking forward to reading it. These Daring Do books were so goodI
But things didn't entirely work out the way she'd planned. She'd been practicing a new move that she'd seen the Wonderbolts, the Pegasus team she idolized, that she had wanted to try it out. If she had that trick under her belt, she was sure to attract their attention when she saw them the next time!
However, the trick turned out to be a little more….difficult than she had planned.
As she saw the window of Twilight's library coming into view, the Pegaus braced herself for impact.
Well, maybe she'd drop in on the unicorn a little earlier than she had planned….
The crash had not been expected. Not that crashes ever are, but if there was ever a crash at the wrong time, it was this one.
Rainbow Dash smashed through the upper window or the library just as the lavender pony was aiming her spell. Concentration shattered, Twilight lost both her focus and control over her magic. The magic flashed, and the shot went wide, missing the picture of the pony altogether, bouncing off a mirror on the other side of the room, and then ricocheting back. The bright light caused Spike to look away, holding the Daring Do book up to protect himself from both Twilight's runaway magic and the spray of objects that Rainbow Dash would cause once she crashed. Neither Twilight nor Spike saw the bolt of magenta magic hit the light blue pegasus full in the side just as she crossed in front of Spike and his book-shield.
The room became suddenly quiet, and Twilight raised her head from where she'd collapsed, the sudden loss of magic having taken a lot out of her. Spike, too, slowly lowered the book to look around the view the carnage.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said, angrily. "How dare you – "
She stopped when she noticed something as she glanced around, looking for the Pegasus with the parti-colored mane.
For one thing, no Pegasus matching that description was there. In fact, no Pegasus was in the library at all.
Twilight struggled to her feet and slowly turned around.
"Rainbow Dash?" she called. "Where are you? Are you alright?"
"Tw-Twilight?"
That wasn't Rainbow Dash, but Spike, and Twilight paid him barely any heed as she searched for her friend who may be hurt or unconscious.
"Rainbow Dash?" she called, but as she looked around the tree room, she saw nothing. The window was broken where the Pegasus had entered, but there was no pile of books or broken decorations or anything to show where she had landed.
Had she flown out? But the door was closed –
"Twilight?"
"Spike, have you see Rainbow Dash? Where'd she go?" Twilight asked, still not looking at him.
"Twilight, I found her," the dragon replied, but his voice was strangely uncertain. Twilight turned to him suddenly.
"Where?" she asked, anxiously.
With a shaking hand, Spike held up the Daring Do novel and pointed to the cover. Unsure what he was on about, Twilight stepped closer and peered at the picture on the front.
Her mouth felt dry.
There, running behind Daring Do, in place of the light green Pegasus that had once been there, was clearly now a different pony.
And that pony was Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash raised her head and shook it, then very carefully opened her eyes. She remembered flying into Twilight's window while practicing an aerial maneuver that she'd seen the Wonderbolts do. She remembered hitting the glass, breaking through it and toppling into the tree library, then seeing a bolt of Twilight's magic ricochet off a mirror and blast towards her. She didn't really remember the beam hitting her, and didn't remember feeling any pain or anything weird. She didn't remember anything after that, actually. Had she hit her head?
As the world slowly came back into focus, the crashed pegasus cast a glance around herself, taking in her surroundings. Her breath caught in her throat.
She wasn't in Twilight's tree library anymore.
As Rainbow struggled to her hooves, she slowly turned in a small circle as she stared at the scenery around her. She was in some sort of alleyway, and it was night. She had no idea what city it was, either. How had she gotten here? Did Twilight use a teleportation spell on her?
Rainbow tried her wings, working each up and down to make sure they were alright. Her right one was a little sore from where she'd smashed it against the side of the window pane when she'd crashed into Twilight's house. It wasn't anything more than a little bruising, but it might be better to lay off it for a little while and let it rest. She didn't want to strain it.
Unfortunately for her, that would mean she'd be on the ground for a little while. She wouldn't be able to fly back to Ponyville.
If she knew where Ponyville was.
"Well," she told herself, folding her wings against her back. "Let's see where I am."
She walked towards the mouth of the alley, where she could hear the comforting sound of other ponies walking along the sidewalks and the streets. She could see carriages and taxis being pulled along the main road that ran before her, and by the look of the bustle, this seemed to be a fairly large city. Maybe Fillydelphia? Rainbow Dash had only been there a few times, so she wouldn't be able to tell. Sheesh, what spell had Twilight used on her?
As she trotted to where the alley opened into the streets, passing a few dumpsters and haphazardly hung posters on the way there, Rainbow heard the distinct sound of galloping hooves. The pegasus raised her head and was shocked to see another pony, possibly a unicorn, but she didn't have a lot of time to notice, suddenly turn the corner and run full-charge into her. Rainbow went down hard, the unicorn on top of her.
"Hey!" she yelled, outraged. "Watch where you're going!"
The unicorn – she could see him clearly now – didn't answer. He was dark blue with a darker mane, and wearing what looked like a black jacket and a white tuxedo shirt. He barely gave her a glance and ran off further down the alley.
Rainbow Dash leaped to her feet, her multi-colored tail lashing in anger. She was not going to let him get away without an apology.
"You get back here!" she yelled, charging off across the badly paved, narrow passage after him. "You don't trample me like that without an apology!"
It had apparently rained earlier in this strange city, and puddles riddled the broken and loose brickwork on the ground. The unicorn splashed through one, and Rainbow dodged the water as she continued her chase. The water caused the unicorn's hooves to slide from under him, and he fell heavily. Something flew out of his pocket and landed not far from where Rainbow stood. She skidded to a halt and picked it up with a hoof. It seemed to be some sort of amulet, a long red jewel hanging from a gold chain. She held it up and looked carefully at it.
"Hey, what's this?" she asked, studying it. The unicorn had gathered himself and stood, and Rainbow Dash glanced over to see that he had his head down and his horn pointed at her. He scraped a hoof against the ground.
"Give that back," he said, his voice a low growl. "It's mine."
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond, but didn't get the chance. From above her came the sound of wings furiously beating at the air, and another pony –obviously a pegasus – landed between Rainbow Dash and the mysterious unicorn.
"No, it's not," the new pegasus said sternly. Rainbow Dash couldn't see her clearly, as she was backlit by a streetlight beaming into the alley, but the pegasus' voice was strong and determined. Rainbow Dash liked her already. "It belongs to the Manehattan Museum. Not to you."
"You stay out of this, Do," the unicorn snapped. "I've gone through too much trying to get this amulet."
"You stole it," the pegasus replied, stomping a hoof to emphasize her annoyance with this unicorn. "And I don't like thieves."
"Your opinion won't matter much longer!" he laughed and suddenly he raised his head, pointing his horn skyward. A blast of golden magic sprang from it, illuminating the sky.
Rainbow Dash had the presence of mind to slip the amulet's chain around her neck. Suddenly, the other pegasus slammed against her, urging her forward.
"Run!" she said. Rainbow didn't hesitate, but ran after the pegasus who immediately took flight. Rainbow gritted her teeth, but spread her wings as well, though her bruised one protested the action. She remained in flight for a few minutes before her wing cramped and she landed heavily, falling into the street.
Ponies swerved, trying to angle their carts out of the direction of the rainbow-colored pegasus whom had just made an unexpected landing in the road. Several shouted at her, and Rainbow struggled to regain her footing before searching for the mare who had saved her previously.
She ran out of the street onto the sidewalk, and the pegasus mare was at her side again.
"This way!" she called, leading Rainbow Dash down another alley. The blue pegasus still hadn't had time to really look at her rescuer.
They ran off together down another alley, but their escape was cut short when they unwittingly triggered a booby trap obviously left just for them. A net sprang up, wrapping both ponies and preventing them from escaping by flight. Rainbow Dash glanced up through the gaps in the net to notice that the ropes suspending the two pegasi were being held in the air by unicorns, using a levitation spell. Three unicorns, to be precise, two green and one blue like the one they'd been chasing. They looked at their captives and laughed.
"Fortune Cookie!" Rainbow Dash's rescuer called. "You let me down right now! This amulet belongs to the museum!"
Rainbow Dash realized she hadn't gotten a good look at her rescuer, even after all they'd been through. The multi-colored pegasus turned her head to look, but was suddenly distracted once more by a laugh.
"Ah, but now it belongs to me," a deep, chuckling voice said. The dark blue unicorn in the tux jacket came around the corner of the alley at the other side, and stood before the two trapped pegasi. "Nice try using your friend to intercept it. The red jewel does bring out her eyes."
Rainbow Dash blinked when she realized he was talking about her, and glanced down at the amulet that still hung from around her neck. She felt the pegasus next to her shift.
"She's not my friend," her rescuer snapped.
"Whatever. Not my concern," the unicorn, Fortune Cookie, said off-handedly. Suddenly, the necklace around Rainbow Dash's neck began to glow, and the blue mare felt it begin to lift off her neck. She tried to bite it and hold on, but one of the unicorns holding the rope of the net yanked it hard, causing Rainbow to lose her grip. Fortune Cookie calmly used a telekinesis spell to bring the amulet towards him, and he slipped it back into his pocket.
"Better luck next time, Daring Do," he said. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened at the name, but before she could look at the pony who was with her in the net, Fortune Cookie, complete with the amulet, closed his eyes and raised his horn high above his head once more, concentrating. A golden bubble formed around his body, and then vanished, taking him with it. Rainbow new a teleportation spell when she saw one.
Light flashed from the other unicorns, as they followed their leader in the disappearing act. With no one to hold the net, it collapsed in the ground and both ponies landed heavily with a grunt.
Rainbow Dash finally looked over at the mare who had rescued her, as the pony climbed to her feet and started to shake off the restraints of the net.
"I can't believe I lost it," the pegasus muttered to herself, but Rainbow Dash was hardly listening as she stared, awestruck, at the mare.
The pegasus who stood beside her looked a little different from the one on the cover of the books. She was still light brown with a grey-scale mane, but Instead of the typical explorer's hat and green work shirt that the mare was typically pictured wearing, she had apparently switched out those clothes for a light evening dress, which was now ripped and slightly muddy. She had a pack slung over her back that was bulging with who knew what. But besides that, Rainbow Dash had no doubt who was standing beside her, and who had rescued her. It was the heroine from her favorite adventure novels: famous pony archeologist and explorer, Daring Do.
"D-Daring Do?" Rainbow Dash stuttered, not believing her eyes. "Is it….really you?"
"Fortune Cookie's goons will be back," the adventurer pony said, not answering Rainbow Dash's question. The blue pony gaped at her. "We need to get out of here while we can. Come on."
As if to affirm Daring's suspicions, a dark blue unicorn appeared in a flash of light before him. Daring reared up onto her back hooves and lashed out, slamming her front hooves into the unicorn. It toppled over, and the light brown pegasus turned and raced out of the alley. Rainbow Dash was right behind her, noticing that though Daring could just take off and fly away, she was holding herself back for Rainbow. The two ponies ran through the busy streets of whatever city this was.
"Where are we going?" Rainbow Dash called, galloping after Daring.
"To the water!" the other pegasus called back. "I've booked a boat out of here! Thought Fortune Cookie would be a bit of a hoof-full!"
Rainbow didn't say anything more, just ran and tried to keep from losing Daring. The pegasus turned at what seemed like random to Rainbow, but was obviously a clear path for the pony-adventurer. Rainbow followed without hesitation.
Eventually, they came to a skidding halt at the edge of the docks. A wide canal let out into the sea, and the water was riddled with boats of varying sizes.
"Over there," Daring said, pointing with a hoof. Rainbow followed her gaze to an ancient, rusty-looking freighter ship that looked like it was held together with spit and tape.
"That's our escape?" Rainbow Dash said, eyes wide.
"No time to argue, come on!" Daring urged, and the two ponies quickly made their way to the ship which hadn't left the port yet. They climbed swiftly up the gangplank and onto the ship's flat, large deck.
An earth pony appeared seemingly from nowhere, a huge smile on his face. He was a rusty red color with a dark brown mane and a cutie mark of an anchor. He quickly came over to Daring and shook her hoof.
"I was worried you wouldn't make it!" he said, his voice deep and cheerful, not at all like the voice of Fortune Cookie. "We had almost given up hope!"
"Thanks for the lift, Rusty," Daring said, breathless. "Hope you don't mind another addition, though."
"Of course not!" the cheery sailor-pony said. "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine!"
"Uh, yeah – " Daring said, casting a glance at Rainbow Dash. "Look, do you have some place for us to hide? Fortune Cookie's unicorn spies will be everywhere."
"Of course, down in the hold," Rusty said, beckoning the two mares forward. The deck was made of some mismatched sheets of metal, all which seemed to be rusting to different degrees. However, in the center of one piece where was a handle, which Rusty grabbed with his teeth and pulled upwards. The hatch came away to show the dark depths of the barge, which Daring slipped into without a second thought.
"Thanks again, Rusty," she said with a smile and disappeared. Rainbow Dash followed her, and Rusty closed the hatch behind them.
The darkness was lit by a few oil lamps that hung around from the ceiling, and the lower deck didn't seem any more interesting than the upper deck. Some hammocks swung a few feet down, but other than that it was pretty sparse. Rainbow Dash assumed that there wasn't much need for any luxury items on a ship such as this. It seemed as if it was built for rough, dirty travel, not as a plush passenger carrier.
But the blue pegasus had other things on her mind.
She stood in the dim light, staring at the mare that stood before her. Daring Do had thrown her saddle bag onto the floor and was already pulling off the evening dress. Once she was out of it, she tossed it carelessly aside before reaching into her bag and pulling out her green work shirt.
"Are…are you really Daring Do?" Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes as wide as saucers. Daring Do struggled into her shirt as Rainbow Dash continued. "I mean the Daring Do? Equestria's most famous archeologist and adventurer? I can't believe this! I've read all about you! Oh my gosh, I didn't think I'd ever be able to meet you! You look just like I imagined! And you sound like it, too! I can't believe this! I must be dreaming!"
Daring Do rolled her eyes as she straightened the explorer's hat on her head, complete with its black band. She looked over at the blue pegasus.
"Are you done?" she asked flatly. Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly.
"Uh…yeah," she said. Daring sighed but smiled back.
"Yes," she replied. "I am Daring Do. And I'm allowing you to tag along with me until we can get away from here. Fortune Cookie's gonna have his eye out for both of us, now. I should say thank you, though, for tripping him up. Even if I did lose the amulet."
Rainbow Dash couldn't believe this. She was here, standing with the Daring Do! The very pony whose adventures had gotten her interested in reading! It didn't seem real! But…how was she here? Maybe Twilight had performed some sort of teleport spell. But to where?
"What's your name, anyways?" Daring asked, slipping the saddle bag back onto her back.
"I'm Rainbow Dash," Rainbow answered. Daring nodded.
"Good name. I like it. Weird though. You look just like me," the pegasus studied her new assistant with fascination. Except for coat and mane colors, the two mares did look strikingly similar. They even shared the same eye color. "Maybe we're related."
"That would be so cool," Rainbow Dash said, her voice rising to a fangirl-ish squeal. Daring gave her an odd look.
"Yeah," she said. "Look, stay down here for a while, okay? Until we get away from Shanghoof, anyways.
"Shanghoof?" Rainbow Dash asked, puzzled. "How'd I get here?"
"You don't know?" Daring Do asked, studying the pony. Rainbow Dash shook her head.
"No," she admitted. "It's…kinda a long story. Do you know where Ponyville is and how I can get back there? That's where I'm from."
"Ponyville?" Daring echoed. "You're a long way from home, Kid. Shanghoof's on the other side of Equestria."
Rainbow Dash blanched. On the other side of Equestria….
"That was some teleportation spell, Twilight," the light blue pegasus muttered to herself.