My Little Pony - Rainbow Dash and the Daring Do Double Dare - G M Berrow

My Little Pony - Rainbow Dash and the Daring Do Double Dare - G M Berrow Begin Reading Table of Contents Copyright Page In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronicsharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy andtheft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book(other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting thepublisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. For the two stallions who make my life 20% cooler: Gareth and JM CHAPTER 1 ? The Latest and Greatest It was almost midnight in Ponyville, but nopony was tucked into bed yet. They all had the samevery good reason for staying up past their bedtime: There were only four measly minutes to gountil it was time. Time for the most epic adventure ever to be released—Daring Do and the !Volcano of Destiny “Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh!” said Rainbow Dash, a blue Pegasus pony with a rainbow-coloredmane. She bit her lip and began to pace around the patch of grass outside the Ponyvillebookshop. Even though she would have the precious book in her hooves in less time than it tookfor her friend Pinkie Pie to throw together a party (her current record is four minutes,seventeen seconds), Rainbow Dash still felt so fizzy with anticipation that she thought shejust might explode. As awesome as a rainbow firework would look, however, Rainbow didn’t havetime for it. Not now. Not on the release night of the most incredible adventure book ever! Plus, if she exploded, she’d lose her place in line. Three more minutes, she thought. Hardly any time at all! Yet it seemed like an eternity for thebiggest fan of Daring Do in all of Equestria. “Can’t you ponies hurry it up in there?!” Rainbow whined as she peered through the window ofthe bookshop. “I need that book right now!” The light was on and there was some movementinside, but the CLOSED sign had not been flipped around to OPEN just yet. Giant posters ofDaring Do adorned the shop windows. They showed the famous adventurer Pegasus wearing hersignature outfit—a khaki pith helmet and an olive green shirt. On the new book cover she wasshown standing at the mouth of a volcano bubbling with fiery red lava. The words above bore thebook’s title: Daring Do and the Volcano of Destiny. Below the cover, the poster read MIDNIGHT RELEASE PARTY! GET YOUR COPY BEFORE EVERYPONY ELSE! Rainbow snickered as she glanced at the large crowd behind her. It had grown a ton in the pastfew hours. It looked like two hundred ponies were there. Thank Celestia, she was first in line!Nopony else loved Daring Do as much as Rainbow Dash did. To prove it, she’d been camping outsince the morning. She brought all of the Daring Do books with her and had spent the dayrereading them so she could have the stories extra-fresh in her mind. When midnight struck, shewouldn’t have to wait a single tick of the clock longer to find out what happened to Daringnext. It. Was. Going. To. Rock! The Daring Do series of books had become extremely popular lately, and Rainbow Dash suspectedit was mostly because of her. After all, she was a major trendsetter in Ponyville. Other ponieslooked to her for anything extremely awesome or cool. So it was only natural that the bookshophad decided to make it a special event. It had closed early in the afternoon to prepare for thefestivities. Some of the ponies in line wore homemade Daring Do costumes, and some munched ongoodies from Applejack’s treat cart. But they all had one thing in common—they were beyondexcited to continue reading about Daring Do and her thrilling adventures. “Get yer Apple Fritters… of Destiny!” Applejack said, trotting up and down the line with atray of treats for sale. “Fresh Caramel Apples… of Doom?” “Hey, Applejack?” Rainbow asked her friend. They just looked like normal treats to her.“Uh… what are you doing?” “Figured I’d try to make my treats from Sweet Apple Acres sound as Daring Do as I could,”Applejack explained. She picked up a mini apple pie and passed it to Rainbow. “Apple Pie ofFate? It’s my last one!” “Thanks, but no,” Rainbow said, pushing the treat away. “It’s almost time!” Plot Twist, the yellow Earth pony with an orange mane who owned the bookshop, poked her headout of the door to count the ponies in line. “So many readers!” she observed with delight. Itwas fun to see so many young fillies and colts interested in reading. “We’re almost ready, everypony!” Plot Twist shouted at the line. She was glad she hadrecruited Pinkie Pie to help her with the party. They had expected a large crowd, but nothinglike this. She needed all the help she could get. “Oh, man!” Rainbow squirmed. “This is taking for-ev-er!” “Hiya, Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie chirped, poking her bushy fuchsia mane out of the window.“Are you, like, so totally excited that you feel like you’re going to burst into a rainbowfirework of happiness and super bubbly joy now that you’re going to get the new Daring Do bookfirst?! Are you?! Are you?!” “Exactly!” Rainbow nodded. “Now, can we get this show on the road? I have a story to read! Ijust have to know what happens with Dr. Caballeron! Is the Volcano of Destiny his secret lair?Or is it just a decoy to distract Daring from finding the Secret Stables of Crickhowell?” Witheach word, Rainbow inched closer to Pinkie’s face like she was interrogating her. Pinkie shrugged and smiled wide. “I don’t know, but it won’t be long before you do! We’rejust putting the finishing touches on the replica of Ahuizotl’s temple we made. It’s builtcompletely from books! Isn’t that totally readeriffic?!” Her eyes sparkled with delight. “Yeah, yeah. Very cool. But hurry it up!” Rainbow said, jogging in place. She’d been waitingoutside for a long time. Her legs and wings were starting to majorly cramp up. And since she’dbeen waiting alone, she hadn’t even had one chance for a flying break. Rainbow had tried to get her friends to come, but none of them had wanted to wait all day long.Fluttershy and Rarity had stopped to visit but had to go tend to some newborn goats and finishsewing hats for them, respectively. Twilight Sparkle loved Daring Do, too (she was the onewho’d originally introduced the series to Rainbow Dash), but she had decided to wait until hercopy arrived in the mail the next morning. She mumbled some nonsense about needing sleep so shecould get up early to do some studying before her Daring Do book arrived. She said readingwould “distract her,” so she’d better get her work done first. It was so silly! What could be more important than this?! At least Applejack and Pinkie Piewere there, even if they were both working. “Only one minute left, everypony!” Rainbow Dash shouted to the line. Her call was met withcheers. The sound of the crowd triggered something inside of her. Hundreds of ponies watching?Excited fans? One minute left? It was more than enough time to make a grand entrance into thebookshop! If she flew at the door at just the right angle… yeah, she could do this. She woulddo it for Daring Do! Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack’s big brother, Big McIntosh, who was in line behind her. Hewas wearing a Daring Do helmet and chewing on a piece of hay. She’d have to trust him to keepher place. “Watch my spot, Big Mac!” Rainbow shouted. “Eeeyup,” he said, nodding his light orange mane. “Hey, Daring Do fans! Watch THIS!” Rainbow hollered. The ponies all started chattering. Whatcrazy thing was Rainbow Dash going to do now? The store was about to open! Rainbow bolted into the air, beating her blue wings as hard as she could. She shot off into thedistance, a rainbow trailing behind her that was so bright it was visible in the night sky. Ithappened so fast that if a pony had blinked they would have missed it. “Hey, where’d she go?” asked Apple Bloom, pointing to the sky. “I don’t see heranywhere!” “There she is!” squeaked Sweetie Belle in her little filly voice. “She’s headed straightfor the door!” Up in the sky, Rainbow Dash could see the sign on the door flip from CLOSED to OPEN. The doorwas still closed, but if she’d calculated the timing correctly, everything would work outperfectly. She’d be the first to get the book and she’d do it with style. “Daring Do, here I coooooome!” Rainbow shouted as she completed a perfect triple barrel rollacross the sky, leaving a corkscrew rainbow in her wake. Rainbow Dash swooped down like akamikaze pilot. Everypony in line held their breath. She was getting dangerously close to theshop! Would she crash into the door? Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shielded their eyes withtheir hooves. Several ponies gasped as Rainbow hurtled herself forward, about to make contact. Then, at thevery last second, the door opened! “Iiiiincomiiiiiiing!” Rainbow Dash hollered as she dived through, narrowly missing PlotTwist, who had come to greet the eager fans. Bang! Boom! Crash! When the dust had settled, all that was left of the grand towering replica of Ahuizotl’stemple was a big pile of books with a rainbow Pegasus in the middle. Even though Rainbow’sstunt had ruined the display, it was a good thing the books had been there to soften thelanding. At least that’s what Rainbow told herself as she looked around at the destruction.Sometimes it took a little sacrifice to do something impressive, so the trade-off was totallyworth it. Plot Twist frowned. Clearly she didn’t agree. “My display is ruined!” Plot Twist cried, throwing her hooves in the air. Rainbow gave a weak laugh as she stood up, books falling off of her. “Whoops, sorry aboutthat. I know it looked great.” Then Rainbow snatched up a book, dropped her bits on thecounter, and took off for Cloudsdale to read through the night. CHAPTER 2 ? Patience Is an Issue “And then what about the part where Daring swooped through the massive barricade thehenchponies had constructed?! I couldn’t believe she made it! Even though they were blockingthe path to the secret stone that unlocked the hidden gates that led to the road to the Volcanoof Destiny!” Rainbow Dash yelled. She spread her blue wings out wide in excitement. Her voice was so loud that anypony within amile radius of Ponyville Park could have heard her. The only other times she got this worked upwas when she was flying, performing a Sonic Rainboom, or when she saw one of the Wonderbolts doa sweet new trick. “Spoiler alert! La, la, la…!” Twilight sang as she held her hooves over her ears. She shookher head back and forth in protest. “Uh, Twilight? What are you doing?” asked Rainbow Dash, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Don’tyou want to talk about how so totally awesome the book is?! Especially the part where—?” “No!” Twilight yelled. She softened her tone and added, “Sorry. I mean, no. No spoilers,please?” “You’re not finished yet?!” Rainbow whined, doing a dramatic twirl before falling to theground. “This is the worst! I thought you of all the ponies in Equestria would be done reading it by now! Don’t eggheads like you just, like, look at books and absorb what’s in them, anyway?” She groaned. Twilight smirked. Sometimes Rainbow said things that sounded harsh but were really complimentsin disguise. Whenever she called Twilight an egghead, she really meant that she thought Twilight was smart. “Well, I can speed-read, but this is a book I really want to savor and enjoy.” Twilight heldup her copy. “A new one of these doesn’t come out every day, you know.” ?Of course Rainbow knew! She’d only been waiting for this Daring Do adventure for what—months “Hey! What is that and why didn’t I get one?” Rainbow pointed to the Daring Do bookmarkstuck in between the pages, about a third of the way through. It was shaped like the famousrelic from the first book in the series, the Sapphire Stone. It was actually pretty sweet. “They sell them at the bookshop. You can have this one if you want,” offered Twilight. Shepassed it to Rainbow, clearly trying to make up for her disappointment. “Nah, it’s okay,” Rainbow said, handing back the bookmark. It was a nice gesture, butRainbow Dash’s number one problem still wasn’t solved. She needed to find somepony who hadfinished reading the book so she could go over all the new awesome stuff that had happened inthe story! Now. “How am I supposed to talk about the coolest parts of the story if nopony hasfinished yet?” Rainbow groaned. “Sorry, Rainbow,” Twilight said, taking a seat on her favorite bench on the perimeter ofPonyville Park. “But I’m going to take my time.” Then she opened her book and got settledfor a slow, relaxed reading session. “I guess reading is just another thing that showcases how fast I am and how slow everyponyelse is,” Rainbow Dash mumbled before taking off into the clouds. “Story of my life.” Fluttershy, who was leading a group of ducklings to the pond at Ponyville Park, happened towalk past just as Rainbow Dash took off. Fluttershy noticed the look of dismay on TwilightSparkle’s face, so she made a detour. “Hold it right there, little sweeties,” the yellowPegasus cooed to her feathered followers. “I’ll be just an itty-bitty moment, and then we’llgo for that little paddle like I promised.” The ducklings responded with tiny, happy quacks. “Hi, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, still looking to the sky in concern. Up in the sky, Rainbowkicked a cloud in frustration. It disappeared with a poof. She frowned and looked for anotherpuffy cumulus to take her anger out on. “Is something wrong with Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked, looking toward the sky. “Sheseems… a little down.” “She wants to talk about the new Daring Do book, but nopony’s finished reading it yet,”explained Twilight. She furrowed her brow in concern. “Oh, I just started reading it,” said Fluttershy. “But I had to put it down to take care ofmy daily duckling duties. It’s quite good so far!” “I just wish there was something we could do to help her. It’s so great to see a pony soexcited about reading.” Twilight sighed. “If I had it my way, everypony would read all thetime! Then, we’d have meetings and discuss what we’d learned and exchange ideas.” “So why don’t you do that?” asked Fluttershy. “It seems like fun!” “Fluttershy, that’s perfect!” Twilight replied, standing up. “We’ll plan a Daring Do bookclub, and we can hold it at the library. Then Rainbow can talk about the books all she wants!” Rainbow flew down so fast that Fluttershy and Twilight didn’t even see her coming. “NowTHAT’S what I’m talking about!” she cheered as she did a little backflip. “By the way, Iwas totally listening to your whole conversation.” ? ? CHAPTER 3 ? The Golden Oak Library Society A few unbearably long days later, Rainbow Dash’s wish was about to come true. Book Club Night!It would be nothing but talking about Daring Do all evening! By the time Rainbow arrived,Twilight Sparkle’s home was already bursting at the branches with ponies who had recentlyfinished reading Daring Do and the Volcano of Destiny. Everypony had come prepared for the very first meeting of the newly established Golden Oak Library Society. One by one, they filed intothe library clutching their copies of the book and chattering excitedly about its contents.Rainbow Dash took a seat at the front and watched the room fill up. This was going to beawesome. Plot Twist and Berry Punch walked in together, followed by their friends Lyra Heartstrings, BonBon, and Wild Fire. They all poured themselves cups of cider from Applejack’s refreshmentstable and took their seats. “Daring Do is such an exciting hero! I just love her!” said Berry Punch. “This was the best book yet!” said Plot Twist. “We completely sold out in the first hour atthe shop.” Bon Bon nodded in agreement. “The next book release will have to be even bigger.” “Totally,” Wild Fire added, her voice monotone. The brown-maned pony wore straight-edgedbangs that hung over her eyes and a chilled-out expression. It was still the most excited shehad ever looked. Pinkie Pie popped up out of nowhere. “Name tags, anypony?!” She passed eachattendee a little red sticker that said: HELLO, I’M… _________. Pinkie was already wearingone, except instead of her own name, she’d written HELLO, I’M… EXCITED! “You’re Excited?” asked Bon Bon. The pony scratched her blue-and-pink mane in confusion. “Sure am!” Pinkie replied with a smile. “Aren’t you?!” “I’m confused,” Bon Bon replied. She already knew Pinkie Pie. “You’re—” “And I’m excited you’re here, Confused!” said Pinkie, passing her and Lyra some name tags. The two ponies shrugged at each other. “Sorry I’m late, darlings! I wasn’t sure what one wears to a library society,” announcedRarity, waltzing in the door. “But I managed to rustle something up.” She was decked out in acollegiate ensemble, consisting of a sweater over a collared shirt and horn-rimmed glasses. Hersaddlebag was filled with quills and notebooks. She definitely could have passed for a studentat Mythica University. “I never tried the bookish look, but I think it really works on me,no?” “I think you look great, Rarity!” said Spike, popping his head out from the other room. Before Rainbow Dash could add her two bits on Rarity’s look, Fluttershy stepped inside. Alittle green inchworm followed her. He was wearing glasses and a tiny Daring Do pith helmet. Hescooted in, moving almost slower than Tank, Rainbow Dash’s pet tortoise. “I hope it’s okaythat I brought my friend William Wormsworth,” she said in her gentle tone. “He’s a bookworm.He loves books ever so much and begged to come along.” William smiled and scooted to the topof a stack of Daring Do books. “Of course,” said Rainbow anxiously. “And it’s nice to meet ya, Will. But please sit downnow so we can get on with it!” It felt like everypony moved slow on purpose to frustrate her.Where was the hustle?! But still, Rainbow was happy to see that all her friends had shown up for the meeting. Thediscussion was bound to get really heated and not just because they were going to talk aboutthe Volcano of Destiny. She was going to impress everypony with her new theory. Rainbow waspretty sure that the Volcano of Destiny would become the Hollow Hideout of the prophesiedStalwart Stallion of Neighples in the next book. Surely, nopony else had made the connectionbetween the newly recovered ancient map of the underground fortress of Mount Vehoovius inchapter four and its similarity to the one mentioned in Daring Do and the Griffon’s Goblet. It had to be the same one! She just knew it. “All right, everypony. Find a seat and we’ll get started!” Twilight announced. There was atwinkle in her eye. Clearly, anticipating a whole evening of talking about books with herfriends had brought her to almost the same level of enthusiasm as Rainbow Dash. Twilight had certainly worked hard to make the event very official. The room was arranged sothat the ponies could sit in a semicircle. It was a little bit like a classroom but morecasual. The book-lined walls of the hollowed-out tree set the mood nicely. A big chalkboardlisted the order of business for the meeting. “Welcome!” Twilight chirped. “I’m so glad you’re all here to share in the joy of readingwith me! In my opinion, there are not enough events in Equestria purely for celebrating books,especially the Daring Do series!” For once, Rainbow Dash wholeheartedly agreed. She didn’t even care if it made her an egghead. ? ? CHAPTER 4 ? The Double Dare Pinkie Pie squirmed in her seat next to Rainbow Dash like she was sitting in a pile of ants,except she had a huge grin on her face. “Oh my goodness, Rainbow! You must be so thrilled! I mean, Daring Do is, like, your favoritestpony character ever, and we’re about to spend hours talking about her! What are you thinking right now? What are you feeeeeeling?” Pinkie leaned in until she was about an inch fromRainbow’s face. “I’m thinking I want to talk about Daring Do and I’m feeling annoyed that we aren’t yet,”Rainbow deadpanned. “Great, great. Okay, that’s great.” Pinkie nodded as she scribbled something on a notepad.“And how does that make you feel?” She propped her chin on her hoof. “Pinkie Pie!” scolded Twilight. “We’re starting! Shhhh.” “Consider my lips zippified!” Pinkie procured a zipper out of thin air and taped it to hermouth. “So…” Twilight motioned to her blackboard, which was filled with tons of writing anddiagrams. “I’ve done some extensive research into how to run a book club meeting,” sheexplained excitedly. “Number one on the agenda should be introductions of each member of thegroup.” “I think we all know each other already!” Rainbow shot back. “Moving on!” “Nuh-uh!” said Pinkie Pie, the zipper falling off her mouth. She pointed to Bon Bon. “Haveyou all met Confused yet?!” Bon Bon shook her head in defeat. Twilight ignored the exchange. “Okaaay, so if we skip that part… next should be a quick recapof each chapter in the book to refresh everypony’s memory. Then, we’ll move on to generalinterpretations of the text and its meaning, and last we’ll go through the list of discussionquestions. We’ll have one ten-minute snack break in the middle, so please wait to visitApplejack’s treat table until then.” Rainbow Dash looked around the room. A quick survey of the skeptical faces confirmed that shewasn’t the only one who didn’t think Twilight’s schedule sounded all that fun. Rarity wasbusy inspecting her new hooficure, Bon Bon was staring out the window, and Lyra Heartstringswas slouching down in her chair with her hind hooves dangling in front of her. She lookedindifferent. Rainbow jumped in before things got worse. “I think I speak for everypony here when I say wecan cut straight to discussing the ridiculously sweet action sequences.” Plot Twist nodded herwavy orange mane in agreement. Applejack interjected, trying to be a bit more gentle, “I think what she means is maybe weshould giddyup on gettin’ this thing goin’.” Twilight had the best of intentions, but sometimes she was an overplanner. And right now shelooked pretty disappointed that her Library Society agenda hadn’t gone over so well. Fluttershy felt bad. She raised a hoof and said, “Twilight, if it’s okay with you, WilliamWormsworth and I would love to stay after and discuss all your talking points. He usually has alot to say, the little chatterbox!” William sat on his chair, smiling but not saying a peep.He hadn’t said a single word yet. He tipped his pith helmet to Twilight like a gentleman. “It’s all right.” Twilight sighed. “Rainbow Dash, maybe you should take over.” Twilightfound an empty seat. She was a good friend for trying, but Rainbow was more than happy to takethe reins of this meeting. Now they might actually get somewhere. “First things first: I can’t believe that move Daring Do did where she hitched a ride on theback of that dragon and let go right when she was over the middle of Ahuizotl’s encampment! Ican’t wait to try that out sometime! Of course, I’ll need help finding a dragon.…” “At your service!” said Spike proudly. It was silly because he was still just a baby—and fartoo small to pull off a stunt like that. It was better to change the subject before he got hisfeelings hurt. “Riiight.” Rainbow clapped her hooves together. “Anywaaaay, how about I tell you all myamazing and totally brilliant theory on the ancient map of Mount Vehoovius?!” This was hermoment to wow them. “So, you know how in book two—on page one hundred sixty-three, to beprecise—Daring Do is looking for the griffon’s goblet when she happens upon a tablet thatrefers to an ancient map? I think that—” Wild Fire raised her hoof, interrupting Rainbow’s flow. “Um, excuse me?” “Yeah?” Rainbow replied, trying to hide her annoyance. She didn’t like being interrupted.Especially when she was about to say something so epic that it was going to blow everypony’sminds. “I like Daring Do as much as the next pony, but do you really think that all those daring things she does are realistic?” Wild Fire flipped through her copy of the book, frowning. “Noway could a pony ever really do them in real life!” “She has a point,” said Lyra. She nodded and bobbed her mint green mane. “Some of it is pretty far-fetched,” added a blue Unicorn seated in the back. A couple ofother ponies murmured in agreement. “Like the part where her wing injury is acting up, so she has to step out onto an invisiblerope bridge to cross the canyon?” said Bon Bon, flipping to the page of the scene in her book.“No way would anypony risk that.” They were clearly missing the point of a fun adventure story. Twilight chimed in with a seriouscounterpoint. “I don’t think the purpose of the books is to—” “Are you guys kidding me?!” Rainbow shrieked, interrupting Twilight. Her eyes grew as wide asa couple of Granny Smith’s prized giant zap apples. “Of course, all the stuff she does couldbe real! Daring Do is the bravest pony ever. I wouldn’t be surprised if she were real!” Rainbow puffed up with pride. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie each shot Rainbow a warning look. Ifshe wasn’t careful, she was going to say too much. “I guess I’d just have to see it to believe it, is all,” Wild Fire said, giving a littleshrug. “Well… maybe you can,” Rainbow Dash said, walking up to Wild Fire. The expression onRainbow’s face was a familiar one—determination. She’d looked the same when she saved Rarityby performing a Double Rainboom in the Cloudsdale Best Young Flyer competition. Just likenothing would have gotten in the way of saving her friend from falling then, nothing was goingto stop her from proving her point now. “Oh yeah?” replied Wild Fire, standing up to challenge her. “And just how are you going todo that?” Applejack stood up and positioned herself between the two ponies. “All right now, everypony,why don’t y’all just slow yer trot for a second? This is just a book club.” Rainbow Dash and Wild Fire stared at each other. Even though things were getting heated, it wasa friendly challenge. “Oooooh, I sense a dare coming on! This meeting is already way more exciting than I expectedit to be!” Pinkie Pie said, jumping up and down. “And I was already excited.” She pointed toher name tag. “See?” Rainbow turned to the rest of the ponies in the room. She climbed on top of a chair fordramatic effect. “I… I dare anypony here to dare me to do anything Daring Do could do!” Sheput her hooves on her hips in triumph. “And I… dare you to do so!” replied Wild Fire. She narrowed her eyes. “No—I double dare you!” Everypony gasped. To Rainbow Dash, a dare was unbreakable. But a double dare? That was a wholenew crate of apples. “Called it,” said Pinkie. CHAPTER 5 ? The Daring Dash–Board The next day, there was a big stir in the Ponyville town square. Everypony was gathered aroundthe center, trying to catch a peek at something. Pinkie Pie had taken the lead in helpingRainbow Dash carry out her dares. Pinkie Pie stood proudly next to a giant rainbow-colored scoreboard, making grand motions withher hooves and urging ponies to come up and write their challenges on it. The frame wassurrounded in decorative glittery clouds made of cotton balls and said DARING DASH–BOARD inbubble letters at the top. The proud expressions on the faces of the Cutie MarkCrusaders—Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle—were dead giveaways as to who had helpedmake it. Those three little fillies loved arts-and-crafts projects. Their teacher, Cheerilee,who had many hoof-made cards from them at home, could vouch for that. Rainbow Dash trotted up and waited for the ponies to start showering her with words of praiseand adoration. But they were all so busy admiring the Dash-Board that they hadn’t even noticedthe guest of honor had arrived! Rainbow cleared her throat loudly to get their attention.“Umm, guys? Bravest pony in Ponyville present. You can all chill out now, because I’m here.”She turned her nose up to the sky and closed her eyes. “Oh wow, it’s Rainbow Dash!” shouted a small green Unicorn filly, jumping up and down inglee. “Is she really going to do whatever anypony dares her to do?” “She’s here! She’s here!” shouted Scootaloo. She was Rainbow Dash’s number one fan; arainbow-colored hat was pulled down over her short pink mane. “Come on, Rainbow!” “Or you can all go wild,” said Rainbow nonchalantly. “That’s cool with me, too.” Everypony watched as Rainbow Dash parted the crowd with her confident trot and took her placenext to Pinkie Pie. Rainbow now saw that the board had a bunch of lines where ponies couldwrite their names and dares, and a spot for a check mark if Rainbow completed the daresuccessfully. Even though she hadn’t read any of the dares yet, Rainbow had no doubt thatevery row would have a check mark next to it soon. She was fearless, after all. Just like herhero, Daring Do! “Thanks for coming!” Rainbow shouted to the crowd. “I’m pretty pumped to see you all see medo some awesome stuff!” She took notice of Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejackentering the town square. They all had funny looks on their faces. What was the big deal? Shewas just trying to prove how brave she was. “Pssst, Pinkie, will you do the honors of reading the first dare?” whispered Rainbow Dash.“It looks cooler if I have an assistant.” “Sure thing, Rainbow!” Pinkie chirped, and then faced the crowd. “Fillies and gentlecolts!The amazing Daaaaaring Dash will now take on all these extremely difficult challenges to provethat her hero Daring Do could also do these dares that she will do!” Pinkie made a grand sweeping motion toward the Dash-Board. “Then she will defend her title as Ponyville’s veryown most brave, most fearless, most DARING pony!” The townsponies cheered. Rainbow smirked. “Daring Dash’s first dare is…”—Pinkie paused for effect—“to cross the Ghastly Gorge…” Rainbow rolled her eyes. That was hardly a challenge. If she was going to make her point, theseponies needed to get a little more creative than that. “… on a tightrope…”—Pinkie continued, making a dramatic face—“without using WINGS! Overthe lair of the quarray eels!” “All right!” Rainbow shouted, flying up into the air. “Now that’s more like it! Everyponyfollow me to the gorge!” Rainbow shot off into the blue sky, leading the way. The crowddutifully followed, trotting below. Would Rainbow chicken out and use her wings? Or would shemake a misstep and risk falling into the jaws of a giant, scary quarray eel?! Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy followed but stuck to the back of the herd. “Is this all really necessary?” Twilight asked her friends, walking at an easy pace. “We allalready know how brave Rainbow Dash is, but sometimes she takes it a little too far.” Twilightthought of the time Rainbow had become boastful after saving some townsponies and becoming alocal hero. Her friends had devised a plan to remind her to keep her hooves on the ground andbe modest. Clearly, that lesson was beginning to wear off. “Don’t you fret, sugarcube!” assured Applejack. She trotted alongside Twilight. “I reckonshe’ll do a coupla dares and it’ll all be over in two shakes of a filly’s tail. Now comeon!” Rarity trotted up to join them. “Well, if anypony understands the allure of attention, it’sme. But somepony ought to tell her that if she’s going to be famous, she should look the part.A costume would really add a certain something.” “Rarity, I don’t think that would do much to discourage the whole thing,” scolded Twilight. “I was just saying,” Rarity huffed. “Besides, it doesn’t look like she’s giving up her newpersona anytime soon.” Up front, Rainbow was doubling back through the crowd, hoof-bumping anypony she passed. She dida corkscrew flip and flew to the front of the group. “Ghastly Gorge, watch out!” “It looks like she’s having fun,” said Fluttershy, walking alongside her friends. “I justhope she’s careful.” “Me too, Fluttershy,” said the concerned Twilight. She watched as Rainbow dived straighttoward the ground. At the very last second she did a one-eighty and flew up into the sky, fullspeed ahead. “Me too.” ? ? CHAPTER 6 ? Heating Up It had been a busy day for Rainbow Dash and the ponies who had been following her daringescapades. They’d been all over Ponyville and back again, watching as Dash took on a multitudeof crazy challenges. Some were totally thrilling—like when Snips and Snails had dared her toswim to the bottom of the disgusting swamp, Froggy Bottom Bogg. Rainbow had gotten completelycovered in green slime and gook, but everypony had been impressed. Others were not quite as exciting—like Pinkie’s dare for Rainbow to babysit her favoriteyellow balloon for an hour. (“So many things could happen if he’s left alone! It’s veryrisky,” she’d insisted.) But still, Rainbow Dash had completed each and every task, no matterthe level of difficulty. Rainbow took off into the air and felt the cool rush of the wind in her mane. “What else yagot for me?!” she shouted to the ponies below. There was only about an hour left of daylight before Princess Luna would be lowering the moonover Equestria. But that was more than enough time to get a few more dares in. Rainbow Dash’sfriends had been following her all day, but as the hours wore on, they were getting more andmore worried. She’d proved her point; why didn’t Rainbow just put an end to the madnessalready? “What was it you said again?” Twilight turned to Applejack. “Just a few dares and she’ll bedone? Look at her—she’s been doing daring things like Daring Do all day!” Applejack shrugged. “Maybe we can try a different approach to get her to give it up.” Shetrotted up to Pinkie and whispered something in her ear. Pinkie nodded and scribbled a new dareon the board. Rainbow Dash landed and trotted to the middle of the dwindling crowd, nose turned up to thesky. “Pinkie Pie, let’s go over all the amazing feats I have completed so far.” “Oooh, fun idea!” Pinkie said, turning to the Daring Dash–Board. She pointed to each itemwith a long, glittery wand. “First, you tightrope-walked across quarray eel dwellings atGhastly Gorge with no wings.” The crowd murmured their approval. “Piece of apple cake!” said Rainbow, hoof-bumping a nearby stallion. “Then, you went inside the scary, old abandoned barn filled with bats.…” Pinkie touched herpointer to the dare. “I wasn’t scared for a single second!” Rainbow assured her fans. “If anything, those batswere afraid of me.” “Awww,” said Fluttershy, thinking of the poor little bats. “I hope they’re okay.” “Then…” Pinkie took a long, deep breath and then said very fast, “… you swam in the bogg,babysat my balloon, spun around in a circle two hundred times until you were totally dizzy,gave Rarity’s kitty-cat, Opal, a bath, knocked on Cranky Doodle Donkey’s door during hisbridge game, performed a Sonic Rainboom through the tree obstacle course at Sweet Apple Acres,and now you’re about to eat the hottest chili peppers in all of Equestria!” “Woo-hoo!” Rainbow smiled, satisfied with her success. Then the last part registered.“Wait—did you say something about chili peppers?” Rainbow disliked hot peppers more than anyother food in existence. And there was only one pony she’d told that secret to: Applejack! “Yeah, she sure did,” said the yellow country pony, stepping forward. “Peppers from SouthAmareica. I just got some down at the Fillydelphia market last week when I was making my piedeliveries. The pony who sold ’em to me carried them across the San Palomino Desert. He said acouple of those guys around the orchard would keep out pesky pests,” Applejack explained. Sheleaned in close to Rainbow Dash and looked her straight in the eyes. “He also said that onelil’ bite of one of ’em would make fire shoot straight out yer ears.” “TO THE BARN!” shouted Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and down. “Let’s get the fire peppers!” “But… but…” Rainbow Dash began to protest. Beads of sweat started to form on her forehead.What had she signed up for? “I don’t like—” “Yeeeeah?” said Applejack, giving a little wink to her friends. Twilight looked hopeful.Maybe her plan to get Rainbow to quit all this darepony stuff might just work. There was no wayRainbow Dash would ever eat a chili pepper. Rainbow looked around at her audience. Suddenly their faces seemed to be bearing down on her.It was like they knew she was about to be defeated by some tiny, little, itty-bitty hotpeppers. But that couldn’t happen! Not now, after she’d done all that other stuff. To quitnow would totally disprove her point. “What I meant was…” Rainbow forced herself to stand a little taller. “I don’t like howlong you’re taking to give me those peppers!” She smiled nervously and looked around. Thatseemed to satisfy the onlookers. “What?!” replied Applejack. “Are you sure? Well, color me surprised and call me GoldenRusset!” Applejack felt a little silly now that her plan was literally going to backfire. “She’s gonna do it!” A yellow Pegasus with a blue mane shouted. “Go, Rainbow!” added Bon Bon. “Rain-bow! Rain-bow!” she chanted. It wasn’t long before thewhole crowd was egging her on. “That didn’t go quite as planned,” Applejack admitted to Twilight, stifling a nervous laugh.Apparently, Rainbow Dash was on a roll, and she wasn’t going to cool it for just anything. Noteven a hot, hot pepper. As soon as Rainbow Dash bit into the pepper, all sorts of weird things started to happen.First, she felt like her mouth was on fire. Then, she could have sworn she saw Daring Doherself in the crowd. Finally, her ears began to feel hot and she heard the booming laughter ofAhuizotl telling her she could never defeat him. It was kind of awesome, in a way. Rainbow coughed, and a few multicolored flames burst out. “Look at that!” Spike laughed, clapping his claws together. “Rainbow can send all theletters to Princess Celestia now!” He found it particularly funny, since he was the only onewho could breathe fire, as well as use its magic to deliver messages across Equestria. “All right, now. That’s it. Drink up, sugarcube!” Applejack patted Rainbow Dash on the back.She had insisted on bringing Rainbow an endless supply of water and cider to calm her tongue.She obviously felt very guilty about challenging Rainbow. Her plan had gone up in smoke. “Thanks,” said Rainbow, taking a big gulp. Everything seemed almost normal again, other thanthe fact that her tongue was now 20% cooler. “I’ve never seen anything like that.” Fluttershy shook her head in disbelief. “Your face turned as red as an apple!” added Applejack. “I’d say it was more of a deep crimson hue,” said Rarity. “But it was dreadful.” “What about those rainbow flames that were shooting out of your ears?!” Pinkie squealed.“That was so awesometastic!” “Was it?” Rainbow groaned, sipping from her cup. “At least it impressed everypony, becausethose peppers were brutal!” Twilight gave Rainbow a stern look. “That’s just what we’re worried about. Your daring waysare starting to put you in danger!” Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack all looked at Rainbow in concern. Pinkie slumped down withthe realization that she’d been encouraging her all along. “What?” Rainbow Dash took another sip of cider. “I’m totally good. And plus, I thrive ondanger. Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash! Now let me go back outside and greet my fans.” “Rainbow, my dear,” Rarity chimed in. “I think what she’s trying to say is that nopony expects you to be as brave as Daring Do. Maybe you should just focus on being Rainbow Dash.Hmm?” Rarity batted her long eyelashes and swished her purple mane. Unfortunately, her charmwas lost on Rainbow, who was now standing up and brushing herself off. “Uhh, as nice as that is, guys, I think I’ll just stick to being the bravest pony in town andbeing the best.” Rainbow trotted to the door. “But thanks for all the cider! Now I’m readyfor even more action.” “I liked this whole Daring Do thing better when it was just about reading books,” saidTwilight with a sigh. Rainbow Dash could have used that Sapphire Stone bookmark right aboutnow. She was starting to lose track of her place. ? ? CHAPTER 7 ? The Talk of the Town The next morning, Rainbow Dash awoke to the sound of a loud thunderclap. She popped her headout the window of her home in Cloudsdale. All the other Pegasi were darting around in a tizzyand jumping on the thick, gray clouds to drain them. With each push, big raindrops began tofall on the landscape below. It was pouring! “That’s funny,” said Rainbow Dash, still a little groggy. “I don’t remember a heavythunderstorm being scheduled for today.” Usually, Rainbow Dash knew when all the weatherchanges were supposed to happen. But today, she was distracted and out of the loop. Glitter Dew, a purple Pegasus with a blue mane and a starry cloud for a cutie mark, heard herand flew over. “We changed the schedule yesterday, but nopony could find you!” She darted offto join the efforts. “It’s only a morning rainfall.” “What was I doing yesterday that was so important that I’d miss the weather schedule?” askedRainbow Dash, scratching her head. Her brain felt a bit fuzzy. She’d had a weird dream aboutwalking on a tightrope and then eating some insanely hot peppers. Unless… that was real!Rainbow touched her hoof to her mouth. Her tongue still felt a little numb. Oh my gosh! she thought. The events of the previous day came flooding back to her. “That was no dream—that is what I was doing!” she said aloud. Rainbow Dash had spent all day zipping around Ponyville, showingeverypony in town that she was the bravest pony ever. Now, she was known as DaringDash—undeniably, unquestionably… unstoppable! “Great job, me!” she said, patting herself onthe back with her right wing. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash couldn’t wait a single second longer to get down to Ponyville to greeteverypony, especially her friends. Even though Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy hadbeen totally skeptical before, there was no way they wouldn’t have come to their senses bynow. They’d have to admit that she kicked serious flank on those dares and nothing bad hadhappened! They really could be such a group of worry-ponies. All Rainbow Dash had to do now wassit back and wait for their apologies. And in the meantime, she would enjoy the praise thatcame with the title of being Ponyville’s bravest. “Sorry, guys,” Rainbow shouted to the other Pegasi. “I’ve got somewhere to be!” Rainbowstretched her blue wings and smoothed down her multicolored mane. She gave herself a quick winkin the mirror and took off for Ponyville below. Rainbow soared down from the sky and immediately noticed how full the town square looked.Apparently, word of Daring Dash’s amazing feats had been spread across Ponyville by Wild Fire.There were twice as many fans as yesterday. They all gathered excitedly, chattering andrecapping their favorite dares. Some of them were even wearing their Daring Do costumes fromthe book party, but had added rainbow-colored wigs to the look. Wow, thought Rainbow. There sure are a lot of ponies here to see me. “Are you all excited for Daring Dash?!” Pinkie Pie shouted to the herd. She was standing onthe platform in front of the Dash-Board. Her outfit of choice was a rainbow-colored “DaringDash” T-shirt and a hat that looked like a giant hot chili pepper. A few other ponies werewearing them, too, so there must have been a merchandise booth somewhere. For some strange reason, Rainbow was starting to feel a little bit panicked. It was confusing.The scene certainly had a ton of things she loved—a crowd cheering her name, her best friendswatching, and new, thrilling challenges to take on. Maybe it would be better to keep herentrance low-key this time. She landed in an alleyway and crept onto the scene, unnoticed. A few more ponies trotted up, and Rainbow quickly darted behind a shop to listen to theconversation. “I’m gonna dare Daring Dash to hoof-wrestle with Snowflake—the strongest Pegasus inCloudsdale!” said a pink pony with a curly teal mane. “Well, I’m gonna dare her to fight a manticore!” added an orange Unicorn with a cutie markof a cactus. “With her bare hooves!” “How about daring her to get a hooficure?” suggested their purple Earth Pony pal with agiggle. Rainbow cringed. She didn’t like the sound of that one. If there was anything Rainbowhated more than chili peppers, it was beauty treatments at the Ponyville Day Spa. “Ooooh, a hooficure?!” whispered Pinkie into Rainbow’s ear. “How are you going to do that,Rainbow? You hate the Ponyville Day Spa!” “Whoa! Where’d you come from?” shouted Rainbow, jumping back in shock and landing in the Sometimes Pinkie Pie seemed totown square. Rainbow looked up at the platform in confusion. move faster than Rainbow! Pinkie shrugged. “Is something wrong?” said Fluttershy, floating down to meet the two of them. “You seem alittle jumpy today, Rainbow Dash.” “Of course not!” Rainbow shot back in defense. “Everything is perfect! Look at this place.Everypony loves me!” She took off toward the stage, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. But assoon as she landed, a large mass of dark clouds began to drift over the town square. Then abright shock of light zigzagged across the sky. Rain poured down and began to drench theponies. “Aw, come on, guys!” Rainbow shouted up at the sky. “Couldn’t you wait just a little longerto do that? We are sort of in the middle of something here.” “Sorry, Rainbow Dash!” Silverstream, a gray Pegasus with a blue mane, shouted. “Carry on!” “Thank you!” she shouted back, satisfied. Even the Pegasi did what she said. Finally the clouds parted, and a strong ray of sunlight pierced through onto the crowd. Onespot in the square was immediately lit up, drawing everypony’s attention. Standing in the middle was none other than Zecora—Ponyville’s resident shaman! She wore lotsof gold necklaces and a set of shimmering hoops in her ears. Her left foreleg was adorned withshiny bangles and she wore her black-and-white-striped mane short. “What’s up, Zecora?” said Rainbow Dash casually. In truth, she was a little nervous aboutthe worried look on Zecora’s face, but Rainbow couldn’t let anypony see that. Zecora did havea taste for the dramatic, and the whole clouds parting, personal-spotlight business had nothelped the situation. Maybe whatever Zecora had to say would be no big deal. “Citizens of Ponyville!” she bellowed in her rich, deep voice. Zecora paused, like she wasstruggling to find the strength to carry on. “Is everything okay?” Twilight stepped forward, her voice doing little to hide her alarm. Zecora continued, “I’ve come to summon the pony who has proved bravest…” “Oh, well, in that case, I think you’re looking for me. Bravest pony in town right here.”Rainbow pointed to herself and puffed up with pride. “… for only she can be the one to save us!” On the other hoof, maybe it was time to panic. Zecora’s gold hoop earrings glistened as she nodded her head. “Of course, Rainbow Dash shouldbe the one! Her skills and courage are second to none.” The zebra made her way toward the platform. A few ponies jumped out of the way, scared. It wassilly. Rainbow Dash and her friends knew that Zecora wasn’t actually an evil enchantress likethey’d originally thought. She may have been lots of things—mystical, magical, andmysterious—but malicious was definitely not one of them. Too bad some stubborn ponies stillheld on to that fear. “Anything you need, Daring Dash will do,” Rainbow assured her with a salute. “So… uh, whatis it I’m doing?” Zecora looked around at the group of ponies, her blue eyes full of worry. “A token thatprovides us protection was stolen for another’s collection.” “Okay,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “So you’re saying it’s pretty important and stuff. Got it.What is it?” “The precious relic of a golden hue resembles the hook of a horse’s shoe.” Zecora waved herhoof toward the crowd, and a three-dimensional image of the relic appeared out of wispy greensmoke. It spun around slowly in the air so that everypony could see it. One side of thehorseshoe was completely gold, and the reverse looked rusted and beat-up. Twilight Sparkle gasped and stepped forward. “You couldn’t possibly mean… the Half-GildedHorseshoe?!” Rainbow Dash looked around to see if anypony else knew what Twilight was talking about, buttheir faces were all blank. Twilight knew a lot about a wide range of topics from all herstudies on magical history. “The what?” Applejack cocked her head to the side. “Did she just say something about gilded shoes?” Rarity trilled. “Now you’ve got my attention!” She trotted up to the rotating image of the horseshoe and started fussing over itevery time she saw the gold side. Rarity couldn’t help herself around anything shiny. “It’s not really a shoe, it’s… it’s—the Half-Gilded Horseshoe is like a key of sorts. Tothe Spirit Circle,” Twilight explained. “The myth says that the pony who unlocks it willfind a room full of treasures, but at a great cost.” “Treasures?” asked Spike, his eyes sparkling. “Like gems? Big ones?” “Maybe… but nopony really knows,” said Twilight. “Honestly, I really thought the wholething was an old pony’s tale.” “Much of the legend is a mystery, and most regard it as ancient history,” said Zecora. “But,I have failed as the key’s protector, and so must prepare to face these specters.” “Am I missing something here?” Rainbow Dash asked. “An old rusty shoe was stolen and nowsomepony’s gonna score some treasure.” She lifted an eyebrow skeptically. “And this puts usin danger how exactly?” Zecora swatted away the green smoke with her hoof. “The ghosts will be free when key meetslock. If you want to save Ponyville, fly fast, don’t walk!” Rainbow wasn’t too sure about legends or ghosts, but if there was one thing she knew, it wasflying fast. Rainbow stepped forward without another thought. “I’ll do it!” The shaman sighed and patted Rainbow on the shoulder. “It is a great relief that our bestflyer will be the one to put out this fire.” “You bet! Never fear, Ponyville. Daring Dash is here!” she shouted, flying up into the sky.Finally, Daring Dash had her own real book-worthy adventure to star in. All that other stuffhad just been practice. CHAPTER 8 ? Well Suited The carousel boutique was an absolute mess. Swatches of green fabric lay on every surface, andpieces of thread and ribbons littered the floor. Half-drunk cups of tea sat on the sewingtable. But it was crunch time. Rarity paced around Rainbow Dash, deep in concentration. “Stretch your left wing out again,please. And stop moving around so much.” Rainbow sighed and did as she was told. Standingstill was the absolute worst. “I don’t see why you need to add anything to it,” groaned Rainbow. “My Daring Do costumefrom Nightmare Night is totally fine as it is! In fact, I can’t wait to wear this baby on myquest to recover the Half-Gilded Horseshoe.” She looked at herself in the full-length mirror.With her green shirt and pith helmet on, Rainbow was the spitting image of her hero. Well,almost. “Because I insist,” Rarity said, measuring the shirt again. “If you’re not going to let anyof us go with you, you have to at least let your friends help you prepare for your journey. Youare seriously lacking in utility pockets.” Rarity shook her head, shuddering. “Now there’s a sentence I never thought I would say!” “You know, Rainbow,” Applejack chimed in. “You can still change your mind about the wholething. We’ll all be ready to go with you in a jiffy—just say the word.” Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight nodded. “Yeah! It’ll be like a party!” Pinkie Pie added. “But instead of streamers and balloons,there will be scary beasts and spiky hedges!” Pinkie stood up and waved her arms around likeshe was trying to scare them. “And I’ll bring cupcakes. There’s always room for cupcakes.” “Thanks, guys,” Rainbow replied. “But if I’m going to maintain my image as the fastest andbravest, I can’t have a bunch of other ponies slowing me down. Nothing personal.” “Well, in that case, we better go over all my research on the Spirit Circle.” Twilight usedher horn to magically carry over a large stack of books. They landed in front of Rainbow with athud. “I think you’ll be interested in what I discovered.” “So let me get this straight—” said Rainbow. She was looking through one of the Daring Dobooks, hoping to memorize some more cool moves. “The entrance to the Spirit Circle can befound by…” Twilight sighed. They had been over this a few times already. She was trying to make sureRainbow knew everything that Twilight had found regarding the Spirit Circle, but the Pegasuswasn’t making it easy. “By the Dual Stronghold—whatever that is—and is only visible onceevery five seasons… on the seventh day of the… third week of the year.” “That’s so random,” Rainbow said coolly, flipping a page in her book. “It’s tomorrow!” Twilight shouted, pointing to the calendar on her wall. “It’s likely thatwhoever took the Half-Gilded Horseshoe will be there, waiting for the entrance to appear.” “Well, I’ll be ready with the move that Daring Do used in the final scene of book four—theold switch ’n’ fly. This is going to be totally easy!” Rainbow said, conjuring up an imagein her mind. She pictured herself getting to the entrance of the Spirit Circle just in the nick of time.Then she would distract the Half-Gilded Horseshoe thief with an awesome stunt, snatch the relicby switching it with an item of equal weight and size, and then zoom off into the sky to returnit safely to Zecora all before it was time for dinner. She would be miles above the thief bythe time he noticed what had happened. No problem. “Rainbow, don’t forget the most important part,” warned Twilight. “If whoever took theHalf-Gilded Horseshoe opens the entrance, the spirits will get out!” “Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow Dash replied. She was already thinking of her homecoming party. MaybeMayor Mare would give her a medal. Twilight came up close to Rainbow Dash and tried to look her in the eye. “And if they do, theywill be freed for another whole season. You have to make sure the entrance is closed! Don’tlet the spirits out!” “Yeah, yeah… got it…” Rainbow answered mindlessly. “Closed and stuff. It’s all good.”But, unfortunately, Rainbow Dash’s head was still in the clouds. CHAPTER 9 ? Enter the Everfree The six ponies, Zecora, and Spike all stood at the clearing that led to the Everfree Forest.Rainbow Dash was wearing her new costume that, thanks to Rarity, had a ton of new pockets and anew, matching lightweight saddlebag. A picture of her cutie mark—a cloud with a rainbowlightning bolt—was embroidered on the collar of her shirt, and the fabric on her helmet wasrainbow-colored. She certainly looked the part. Now it was all up to her. “You sure you don’t want company?” asked Applejack. “I feel mighty funny sending you outthere alone.” The six of them had been to the Everfree Forest more times than Applejack hadliked, but at least they’d been together. It was a spooky and unpredictable place. “For the last time, no,” Rainbow answered. “Being the bravest means you don’t need anyhelp.” “Everypony needs help sometimes,” offered Fluttershy. “I know I do,” Applejack insisted. “Remember that time I tried to buck all the trees inSweet Apple Acres on my own?” Zecora bowed her head. “It is time, Rainbow Dash, and I hope you are ready. May your wingbeats be strong and your hoof beats be steady.” “Thanks. And don’t you worry, Zecora,” said Rainbow. She patted the pocket Rarity had addedfor the relic. “I’ll have the Half-Gilded Horseshoe back in no time. No ghosts will hauntPonyville if Daring Dash has anything to say about it.” Rainbow twisted into an actionpose—right arm up to the sky, wings spread out. Zecora looked slightly reassured. Rainbow Dash gulped and took a step forward. “See ya later, everypony.” “Wait!” shouted Twilight Sparkle. “We didn’t even get to show you your tools yet.” “My what?” answered Rainbow, growing impatient. “Each of those dreadfully practical new pockets has a little something from one of us to helpyou on your way,” explained Rarity, smiling warmly. “Go ahead and look.” Sure enough, Rainbow Dash emptied the pockets to find a piece of rope from Applejack, a miniteddy bear from Fluttershy, some green cupcakes (and one pink one) obviously from Pinkie Pie, apair of horseshoes from Rarity, and a Sapphire Stone bookmark from Twilight. They were theweirdest group of adventure “tools” she’d ever seen. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure how any ofthese things was going to help her, but her friends looked so proud. It was a nice gesture, soRainbow played along. “I told you there was always room for cupcakes!” squealed Pinkie Pie. “The pink one’s foryou.” “Thanks,” said Rainbow, who was already planning to ditch the items as soon as she was out oftheir sight. No need to have anything extra weighing her down—that went for extra ponies and random gifts. She stuffed the presents back into her pockets. “Now I’m off for real!”Rainbow announced. Then she flapped her wings and soared straight toward her destiny. As soon as Rainbow Dash was out of sight, Twilight turned to the other girls. “Are you allready to go?” “Yes!” Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie said together. Zecora bowed to them and Spike gave a little wave. “Be careful out there! Good luck!” thedragon said as the five ponies trotted toward the dangerous forest. He was pretty sure theywere going to need it. CHAPTER 10 ? In the Thick of It Rainbow Dash took a deep breath as she flew off. The humid air filled her lungs. It was a hotday, and the sun hung low in the sky. The gentle light illuminated every rock, tree, andbramble on the edge of the Everfree Forest. It was serene, but it was a false sense of calm. Ina second, Rainbow would be deep inside it—the most wild, unpredictable place in all ofEquestria. Other than Pinkie Pie’s head, of course. Mysterious bugs trilled and exotic birds cried out from the treetops. They seemed almost likethey were saying “Do Not Enter!” but there was no way Daring Dash was going to heed thewarning. She was the bravest pony in town. And she was on a mission to save Ponyville. Nowwhere to start? Rainbow Dash looked around and surveyed her options. There was no visible path up ahead. Every direction was dense with green foliage that seemed tofade into black. It looked so… dark and cold. Rainbow Dash shuddered but then quickly shookoff her doubt. “I can totally do this. I’m Daring Dash!” she said out loud to nopony. Herwords fell flat against the bushy trees, and she started to realize just how alone she was. Suddenly, the sound of deep, booming laughter echoed through the trees. It sent shivers upRainbow’s spine. Maybe she wasn’t so alone after all.… No, it was probably just a trick ofher mind. She had to keep moving. Fifteen minutes later, however, Rainbow Dash hadn’t gotten any farther. When she saw the samepurple tree with gnarly roots, she realized she had been flying in a giant circle! She needed abetter plan if she was ever going to find the entrance to the Spirit Circle before the relicthief. Rainbow found a safe spot and landed. She hadn’t heard the scary laugh again and there hadbeen no signs of anypony else. Something told her that it wouldn’t stay that way for long. “Now where did I put that map of Equestria?” Rainbow said to herself as she riffled throughher saddlebag. “I know it’s in here somewhere with all this other stuff.” Rarity’s pair ofshoes clanked together and squished into one of the green cupcakes. What had her friends beenthinking? “Yuck!” said Rainbow. She took one of the shoes and flung it behind her carelessly. Sheexpected to hear a thud, but instead she noticed a low gurgling noise, followed by a loud SNAP ! It sounded like a huge set of teeth. Rainbow Dash got the funny feeling that she wasn’t alone anymore. Her body froze, and sheturned around slowly, unsure of what fate had in store for her. What she saw was worse thanshe’d imagined. “Ahhh!” Rainbow screamed at a huge pack of Colossa-gators. They had iridescent, scaly greenskin and red eyes and were each almost the size of an Ursa Minor. They were like normalalligators, except much stronger and a whole lot different than Pinkie Pie’s toothless babyalligator, Gummy, back home. He was so cute. Rainbow was completely surrounded. She stood frozen in place and watched as they crept towardher. The Colossa-gators were very hungry; they snapped their massive, sharp-toothed jaws andlooked her in the eyes. Did they like to eat ponies? She couldn’t remember. All signs pointedto yes. Finally, she got hold of herself. Rainbow flew up into the air, but the thick canopy of low-hanging trees prevented her from getting enough clearance to be safe. She was still withinreach of the gators! “Oh no, you don’t!” shouted Rainbow, starting to get angry. She flew around, trying to annoythe giant gators like a tiny pesky housefly. Maybe if she could make them dizzy enough, they’dleave her alone and she could escape! As she weaved through the spiky tree trunks, the gatorssnapped and chomped. They narrowly missed her rainbow tail more times than she cared to admit. “Watch this, you ugly gators!” she yelled, flying as fast as she could around them. It lookedlike a rainbow-colored tornado with random scaly alligator limbs flailing around inside.“That’ll teach you to mess with Daring Dash!” Rainbow landed on the back of a huge gator todo a little victory dance. “Ahhh!” she yelled as the big gator swung around, flinging herinto the branches of a nearby tree. She picked herself up and tried to take off again, but her tail was stuck! She yanked andpulled, but nothing worked. The biggest gator of the pack was getting close. He crawled upslowly, like he was savoring his victory. If she didn’t break free soon, he would be savoringhis lunch—a rainbow Pegasus! Rainbow looked around for something, anything to throw at him. She reached into her saddlebag and grabbed the first thing she could find. It was one of Pinkie’s green cupcakes. “Ifyou’re so hungry, eat this!” She chucked the baked dessert right into his mouth. The alligator swallowed the cupcake, burped, and simply walked away. Rainbow couldn’t believeher eyes! What was in those things?! Rainbow reached for another one and gave it a closer look. It hadloopy icing that said the words GATOR CUPCAKE on it. Rainbow Dash threw another at a different gator. The same thing happened. They were… gator treats?! “Pinkie Pie, you’re a genius!” Rainbow shouted into the air. Pinkie popped her bushy pink mane out of a nearby tree. “Awww, thanks, Rainbow!” But luckily, Rainbow was so caught up in the action that she didn’t notice her overeagerfriend almost blow the cover of the other ponies. Rainbow wasn’t supposed to know that theywere following her. That would ruin the whole plan! After Rainbow Dash had gotten rid of all the alligators, she only had one cupcake left. It wasthe pink one, so she ate it. She hadn’t even realized how hungry she was until then. Sheguessed Pinkie was right about the whole “making room for cupcakes” thing. It was a minor victory. Even if she was no closer to finding the Half-Gilded Horseshoe, atleast a giant creature wasn’t eating her for lunch right now. But Rainbow needed to buckledown if she was going to make it to the Spirit Circle by nightfall. It would help if she had some idea where she was going. Rainbow finally found her map of Equestria and began to search for any sign of something calleda Dual Stronghold like Twilight had mentioned. All she could see beyond the forest were oldcastle ruins. Rainbow suddenly found herself wishing that Twilight were there. She would havedefinitely had an idea about where to find the entrance. Or maybe she already had, and Rainbowjust hadn’t listened… which was entirely possible. Either way, it was too late now. Rainbow rolled up her map and soldiered on into the unknown. ? ? CHAPTER 11 ? A Sinking Feeling There was a hint of something glowing and red in the distance. Rainbow watched with curiosityas the glowing mass drifted and swirled through the branches before escaping behind a largeshrub. It looked a lot like the green magic smoke Zecora had used to show them the Half-GildedHorseshoe. Maybe this meant Rainbow was on the right track! She took off in the direction of the smoke, hoping that it would lead her closer to the SpiritCircle. “Hey, wait up!” shouted Rainbow as she flew along, relieved that she had a directionto go. Soon she’d find the entrance and retrieve the relic, and Ponyville would be safe oncemore. Rainbow reached a large oval-shaped clearing that looked like a lake. But instead of water, theground below was covered with soft white sand. That was strange. Rainbow hadn’t seen sand likethat anywhere except at the beach or the swimming hole. She had certainly never seen it in aforest. But the Everfree played by its own mysterious rules, so it made sense in a backwardway. The red smoke hovered over the sand momentarily before continuing to the other side anddisappearing into the woods. Rainbow was about to run after it, when she got a feeling that sheshouldn’t. She leaped into the air, beating her wings like normal. She soared across theexpanse. “Wait up!” she shouted, though she wasn’t sure whether blobs of bright red smokecould even hear anything. She was halfway across when, suddenly, Rainbow felt herself falling! It was as if her wingswere frozen in midair. She looked down at the sandy ground. It was approaching fast and therewas nothing she could do. Rainbow braced for impact. “Rainbooooow!” she heard a voice shout. It sounded like… Applejack? It had to be the forestplaying tricks on her. Rainbow Dash landed in the soft sand.Wooompf! It was a nice cushiony landing. She found herself slowly sinking into its embrace, so sherested a moment. Then, she reached out her right hoof and pulled her body up. Her hoofdisappeared into the pale grains of sand. Rainbow tried her left hoof and the same thinghappened. Every step she tried to take brought her deeper and deeper into the sinking sand. “It couldn’t be…” Rainbow Dash said aloud, “… quicksand?!” She tried to spread her wings, but they didn’t work. They were still frozen in place by somesort of magic. Now, Rainbow was in up to her knees. If she didn’t act fast, the sand wouldsoon swallow her up completely. “This is probably the only time I will ever say this, but—Iwish this would go slower!” Her announcement was met with the familiar sounds of evil laughter, echoing across the sandyclearing. Rainbow looked around in desperation for something to grab. The edge of the sandpitwas about ten trots away. She scanned the foliage and zeroed in on a low, sturdy bush with wirybrambles. If only she had something to reach it… maybe she could pull herself to safety. Butwhat? “Applejack’s rope!” Rainbow yelled out, brightening. “Of course—it’s a lasso!” Luckily, the sand hadn’t swallowed Rainbow’s saddlebag yet. She reached in, grabbed thelasso, and pitched it up into the air with all her might. She swung it around in a circle likeshe’d seen her friend do so many times. Rainbow Dash grunted as she tossed the rope toward the shrub. It bounced off the branches andfell to the dirt. “No!” Rainbow shouted, now waist-deep in sand. It was a lot harder than itlooked. She made a mental note to compliment Applejack on her lasso skills when she got home.If she got home. The thought of never seeing her friends again filled Rainbow with a new resolve. There was noway she was going to let that happen! She pulled the lasso in again and gave it another shot.This time, the loop hooked around the bush. Rainbow mustered all her strength and pulled. Inchby inch, she reeled herself back to the solid dirt. By the time she reached the bush, she wasexhausted. She collapsed into a heap. This Pegasus had never been happier to have her hoovesfirmly on the ground. ? ? CHAPTER 12 ? Finding Your Place After what seemed like an eternity of trotting through the forest, Rainbow finally stoppedherself. She wasn’t going toward anything, and she had no leads on how to find the DualStronghold or the Spirit Circle. She was beginning to wonder if they even existed. “Dual Stronghold…” Rainbow Dash said out loud, allowing herself to sit on a mossy log.“Dual Stronghold? Hmmm. Dual means ‘two,’ so… two stronghold?” Rainbow scratched her head. What in Equestria was a two stronghold? Maybe she was gettingfurther from figuring it out than before. It was starting to get dark. Time was running out, and Rainbow was starting to feel weary and very alone. She wondered whather friends were doing right now. Applejack was probably having a yummy dinner with AppleBloom, Big Mac, and Granny Smith. Maybe Fluttershy was reading Angel Bunny an early bedtimestory. Twilight might be studying a new spell with Spike. Rarity could have been busy designinga new line of dresses involving utility pockets. And Pinkie Pie was definitely baking a giant cake to pop out of—just for fun. All those things sounded better than being stranded in a scary forest on an aimless mission toretrieve a relic from an unknown thief. Rainbow grabbed Fluttershy’s teddy bear and curled upinto a ball. She started to drift off when she heard a voice softly whispering. “Don’t give up, Daring Dash!” it said. “You’re supposed to be the bravest pony inPonyville. You don’t want to embarrass yourself, do you?” “No!” Rainbow popped up and riffled through her saddlebag for her map. She pulled out theSapphire Stone bookmark that Twilight had given her and stared at it. Why this instead of something useful like Applejack’s lasso or Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes? Twilight was usually themost practical one of the bunch. Her gift didn’t make any sense. “I wish this was over!” Rainbow shouted, throwing the bookmark on the ground. She looked downat the gift from Twilight. “I wish I was back with my friends,” she whimpered, picking it upand holding it close to her. Why had she pushed them away again? If they were here, this wouldhave been so much easier. She would have already retrieved the horseshoe and Ponyville would besafe. But now she was lost and alone. “I wish… I were at the Dual Stronghold right now!” And suddenly, a bright white lightblinded Rainbow. Rainbow Dash blinked and rubbed her eyes with her hoof. When she regained her sight, she sawthat she had been magically transported! Instead of being surrounded by spiky, dark trees andlow-hanging vines, Rainbow now found herself in front of a large, crumbling stone structure.She knew this place! “The Castle of the Two Sisters!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. So that’s what Dual Stronghold was code for. Stronghold was just a fancy word for “castle.” If she had figured that out sooner,Rainbow could have saved herself a lot of time and trouble—sneaky Twilight and her enchantedbookmark aside. But there was no time for regrets now. The Spirit Circle had to be nearby. Rainbow could feel it. She took off toward the castle, searching for any signs of life. A puff of the swirling redsmoke was just ahead. “Aha! I see you!” Rainbow shouted in triumph, taking off and flyingafter it. It led her through a maze of winding corridors and staircases that she didn’t evenknow existed. Finally, she ran outside into a grassy clearing. The smoke joined a massive cloudof the same substance. It churned and spun like a slow, red tornado. “Rainbow Dash!” a voice cried out. “She’s here!” “Don’t worry about us!” cried another. “Close the entrance!” “Fluttershy? Twilight? Is that you?” Rainbow would recognize her friends’ voices anywhere.They sounded like they were in trouble, but where were they? “Finally Daring Dash has arrived!” a deep voice bellowed. “I wasn’t sure if you hadsurvived.” A figure stepped forward but was still shrouded in red smoke. The dark outline heaved withlaughter, and a shiver went up Rainbow Dash’s spine. It was the same laugh she had beenhearing all along. “Show yourself, you… you… coward!” Rainbow squeaked. “Prepare yourself to be amazed!” the voice cackled. The red smoke parted and out stepped amassive zebra. “For you are graced by the presence of Braze!” He had blood-red eyes and an earring made of orange-and-yellow phoenix feathers. He hadstripes, just like Zecora, only his weren’t black-and-white; they were red, orange, and yellowand looked like the flames of a raging fire. It was a bit intimidating. “I’m not afraid of you, Braze!” Rainbow Dash lied. She narrowed her eyes at him and adjustedher helmet. “Who are you and what have you done with my friends?!” Braze stepped forward and slowly walked to Rainbow. He looked down at her with a wicked smile.“I knew they would be useful in this endeavor. Open the door, or they’re mine forever!” Hemade a sweeping motion with his hoof to reveal Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, andPinkie Pie all tied together with a magical red fire-rope. They were all wearing pith helmetsand shirts just like hers. Rainbow gasped and flew over to them. “What are you ponies doing here?!” “We’re sorry for following you, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “Honest. We just wanted to makesure you were safe!” “We tried to let you have your adventure…” Fluttershy added. “But…” “But then this big meanie zebra caught us and brought us here!” Pinkie Pie pouted, squirmingaround. Her mane was messier than usual, poking out of her helmet, and she had painted linesacross her cheeks like a warrior. “And also, we’re all out of cupcakes.” Her stomachgrumbled loudly. “Which is the worst part!” “This fire-rope is really frying my mane!” Rarity cried, touching her purple locks. “It’sawful!” “Don’t worry, guys! I’ll have you free in just a second,” Rainbow reached for the fieryrope, but it burned her hoof. “Ouch!” Braze laughed. “Did you really think I’d make it that easy? Come here, Daring Dash, thischoice will be breezy!” The zebra waved his hoof, and Rainbow found herself being draggedtoward him. He turned her around to face a large, freestanding stone door. It had all sorts of ancient pony carvings across it that seemed to tell a story. There was aPegasus, who looked a lot like Rainbow Dash, soaring through the clouds with a striped trailbehind her. The paint had long since worn off, but it could have been a rainbow. In the middlewas a large U-shaped slot. Perfect for a horseshoe. The Half-Gilded Horseshoe. The key thatcould unleash a ton of scary spirits into Ponyville. She hated to admit it to herself, but Rainbow was actually nervous. “Hand over the horseshoe, Braze!” Rainbow demanded, trying to hide her shaky voice. “Andrelease my friends! This is between you… and me!” She stood up a little taller and grittedher teeth. Nopony, or zebra, was going to mess with her friends. Braze nodded his head, his feather earring swishing back and forth. “Yes, dear Dash, you are what I need! It’s the only way for your friends to be freed. The spirits will only open theroom for the one who can do a Sonic Rainboom.” He tossed the Half-Gilded Horseshoe into the air to show off. It twirled around just as it hadin Zecora’s green flames. As it glistened and sparkled in the light, Rainbow noticed that theedge caught one of the fire-ropes, cutting it slightly. It was subtle, but it gave Rainbow anidea. “You want me to open the door to the Spirit Circle for you?” Rainbow asked, playing along.“And then you’ll untie your fire-rope and let my friends go?” Braze circled around her, little flames escaping from his hooves with each step. “Yes! Yes!Then I’ll disappear with my treasure, and you can leave at your leisure.” He smirked.Everything was falling into place perfectly. “Deal!” Rainbow nodded her agreement. A look of horror flashed across Twilight Sparkle’sface. Clearly, she thought it was a trick. But Rainbow had a plan. “Look at that! Aren’t you clever? Now insert the key and pull the lever!” Braze salivated,rubbing his hooves together greedily. He tossed Rainbow the Half-Gilded Horseshoe. The poniesall held their breath as Rainbow caught it. Was she really going to open the door? What aboutthe spirits getting out? If only she could distract Braze somehow.… Rainbow gave a sly wink, and Pinkie Pie seemed to get the hint. “Hey, Mr. Braaaaaaze?” shechirped. “Do you have any snacks?! I’m sooo hungry!” Braze turned around and growled in rage. “I know nothing of your pony diet! Stop talking foronce and just be quiet!” It had been just enough time for Rainbow to make the switch and slip the Half-Gilded Horseshoeinto her saddlebag. “One haunted room full of treasure, coming right up!” Rainbow said, inserting a regularhorseshoe, the gift from Rarity, into the slot. She reached her hooves onto the lever andslowly pulled down. CHAPTER 13 ? The Dash to Safety “See? Guess you were wrong!” Rainbow shrugged as she pushed down on the lever again. “Itdoesn’t work.” Rainbow Dash’s plan was going even better than expected. Braze hadn’tnoticed the horseshoe had been switched. “No! No! This cannot be!” Braze looked toward the sky and let out a deep, angry growl. “Ihave secured both the Pegasus and the key!” “Maybe you should just let us go and git along now, Braze,” Applejack shouted, strugglingagainst the fire-rope. “Looks like you won’t be openin’ any spooky doors today.” “Give it up, Braze!” shouted Twilight. “The entrance is going to close any minute andyou’ve got nothing.” “No!” Braze shouted, and began to pace back and forth. He started mumbling to himself,presumably in rhymes. It was the perfect time for Rainbow to make her move. She crept over toher friends, careful not to let Braze see what she was pulling out of her bag.… “The Half-Gilded Horseshoe!” Twilight exclaimed. “It’s been in your bag this whole time?” “What?!” Braze galloped over and stood between Rainbow and her friends. “I knew that youwere being phony! Give it back now, you deceitful little pony!” Over Braze’s shoulder, Rainbow Dash could see that the door was starting to lower into theground. She just had to buy a little more time and keep the Half-Gilded Horseshoe away from himuntil it was gone. Then, she would cut her friends free and they could escape! “I’ll never surrender it to you, Braze!” Rainbow shouted. “And in case you forgot—I am thefastest Pegasus around!” Rainbow shot up into the air just as Braze threw a fire-rope at her.It singed the bottom of her tail. Rainbow dived back toward her friends, hoping to cut therope, but Braze was in the way. He reached out for the horseshoe and almost got it. It was tooclose. Rainbow was going to have to do this from afar. “Hey, Braze! Watch this!” Rainbow hollered. She held the horseshoe up and narrowed her eyesto aim. Then, she flung it like a boomerang—right at her Ponyville friends! Braze dived for it. The shoe flew through the air, landing perfectly out of Braze’s reach and exactly in positionto slice through the fire-rope. It doubled back to Rainbow, as if it were under her control.She caught it with a smirk and blew the residual smoke off its surface. She put it safely awayand gave her bag a pat. The girls broke free and cheered. “All right, Rainbow!” Pinkie Pie squealed, jumping up and down. “Wahoooo!” “You did it!” said Fluttershy. “Thank you, darling,” said Rarity, smoothing down her purple mane. It still looked perfect. “Now let’s get the hoof outta here,” said Rainbow. “This dude is creeping me out.” Brazewas standing over the door, which had only a few inches left aboveground. He was shaking hishead with a pained expression on his face. Finally, the door was sucked into the earth anddisappeared. Now, there was just grass. He let out a sob. “You may have won this time, Daring Dash…” Braze pulled himself up. He looked over toRainbow, his eyes aflame. “But I will be back to claim my stash! And when the door is backanew… I will not stop till I find you!” Braze cackled and vanished into a burst of flames. “And I’ll be ready for him,” said Rainbow. She wasn’t going to let some greedy zebra puther friends or her town in danger again. But maybe next time, she would agree to some help fromthe get-go. She smiled at her friends. “I mean—we’ll be ready for him.” “And so, with Braze defeated and the Half-Gilded Horseshoe secured…” said Twilight, quotinga famous line from the Daring Do books, “Ponyville was safe and sound once again, thanks toDaring Dash!” “… and her friends!” said Rainbow Dash proudly. “Thanks for being there, even when I saidyou shouldn’t be. Plus, I couldn’t have done it without those gifts! What was with thatbookmark?” “It’s a placeholder,” Twilight blushed. “I enchanted it to help you find your place.” “And aren’t gator treats the best?” Pinkie Pie sighed. “Gummy just loves them.” Rainbow laughed. “You guys really saved my tail.” “It looks a little burned to me,” commented Rarity. She inspected where the fire-rope hadfried it. “But a trip to Ponyville Day Spa will fix it right up.” “Anything but that!” said Rainbow Dash, shaking her head. “And you’re supposed to be the brave one?” Twilight joked. CHAPTER 14 ? The Bravest Thing Miss Cheerilee’s classroom at the Ponyville Schoolhouse was packed with students from all overthe school. The fillies and colts were all buzzing with excitement for today’s visitors. Thelocal heroes, Daring Dash and her loyal friends, were going to talk to the class about theiradventure in the Everfree Forest. All sorts of crazy rumors had been flying around aboutexactly what had happened out there, but today they were going to set the record straight. “My big sister Applejack was there when Daring Dash defeated the evil zebra, Braze!” AppleBloom bragged to Diamond Tiara, who turned up her nose. “And so was mine!” said Rarity’s little sister, Sweetie Belle. “Well, I knew Rainbow Dash before she became Daring Dash!” offered Scootaloo, who was wearingher own mini Daring Dash costume. “All right, let’s calm down, my little ponies,” Cheerilee said, taking her place at the headof the room. “Let’s all give a warm welcome to… Daring Dash!” “Hey, kids!” Rainbow trotted in and gave a nervous wave to the students. Everypony’s hoovesshot up into the air. They all had questions for the bravest Pegasus in Ponyville. But beforeRainbow answered any of them, she had something important to say. “Remember, it may seem cool to be brave and daring—and it totally is awesome—but if there’sone thing I learned as Daring Dash, it’s that…”—Rainbow looked to Rarity, Applejack,Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, and they smiled back—“… sometimes the bravest thing apony can do is accept help from her friends, even when she doesn’t think she needs it!” Rainbow put on her pith helmet, and the students cheered. “Now who wants to hear a play-by-play of how I was wing-deep in quicksand and used a lasso to pull myself out?!” ? ? ? Read all the My Little Pony books by G. M. Berrow Pinkie Pie and the Rockin' Ponypalooza Party! Twilight Sparkle and The Crystal Heart Spell Equestria Girls: Through the Mirror Rainbow Dash and The Daring Do Double Dare Coming soon! Rarity and The Curious Case of Charity Applejack and The Honest-to-Goodness Switcheroo ? For more great reads and free samplers, visit www.LBYRDigitalDeals.com ? CONTENTS Navigation 1.Begin Reading 2.Table of Contents Copyright This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of theauthor’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, orpersons, living or dead, is coincidental. HASBRO and its logo, MY LITTLE PONY and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and areused with permission. ? 2014 Hasbro. All rights reserved. Cover design by Steve Scott Cover art ? 2014 Hasbro. All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronicsharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy andtheft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book(other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting thepublisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. Little, Brown and Company Hachette Book Group 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017 lb-kids.com Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by thepublisher. First ebook edition: January 2014 ISBN 978-0-316-23574-7 E3