by G. M. Berrow
“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 way Rainbow 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 hot peppers. But that couldn’t happen! Not now, after she’d done all that other stuff. To quit now would totally disprove her point.
“What I meant was…” Rainbow forced herself to stand a little taller. “I don’t like how long you’re taking to give me those peppers!” She smiled nervously and looked around. That seemed to satisfy the onlookers.
“What?!” replied Applejack. “Are you sure? Well, color me surprised and call me Golden Russet!” 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 the whole 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. Not even 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 Do herself in the crowd. Finally, her ears began to feel hot and she heard the booming laughter of Ahuizotl 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 the letters to Princess Celestia now!” He found it particularly funny, since he was the only one who 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 than the 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, because those peppers were brutal!”
Twilight gave Rainbow a stern look. “That’s just what we’re worried about. Your daring ways are starting to put you in danger!”
Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack all looked at Rainbow in concern. Pinkie slumped down with the 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 on danger. 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 charm was 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 and being the best.” Rainbow trotted to the door. “But thanks for all the cider! Now I’m ready for even more action.”
“I liked this whole Daring Do thing better when it was just about reading books,” said Twilight with a sigh. Rainbow Dash could have used that Sapphire Stone bookmark right about now. 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 head out the window of her home in Cloudsdale. All the other Pegasi were darting around in a tizzy and jumping on the thick, gray clouds to drain them. With each push, big raindrops began to fall on the landscape below. It was pouring!
“That’s funny,” said Rainbow Dash, still a little groggy. “I don’t remember a heavy thunderstorm being scheduled for today.” Usually, Rainbow Dash knew when all the weather changes 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 her and flew over. “We changed the schedule yesterday, but nopony could find you!” She darted off to 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?” asked Rainbow Dash, scratching her head. Her brain felt a bit fuzzy. She’d had a weird dream about walking 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, showing everypony in town that she was the bravest pony ever. Now, she was known as Daring Dash—undeniably, unquestionably… unstoppable! “Great job, me!” she said, patting herself on the back with her right wing.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash couldn’t wait a single second longer to get down to Ponyville to greet everypony, especially her friends. Even though Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had been totally skeptical before, there was no way they wouldn’t have come to their senses by now. They’d have to admit that she kicked serious flank on those dares and nothing bad had happened! They really could be such a group of worry-ponies. All Rainbow Dash had to do now was sit back and wait for their apologies. And in the meantime, she would enjoy the praise that came with the title of being Ponyville’s bravest.
“Sorry, guys,” Rainbow shouted to the other Pegasi. “I’ve got somewhere to be!” Rainbow stretched her blue wings and smoothed down her multicolored mane. She gave herself a quick wink in 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 and recapping their favorite dares. Some of them were even wearing their Daring Do costumes from the 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 on the platform in front of the Dash-Board. Her outfit of choice was a rainbow-colored “Daring Dash” T-shirt and a hat that looked like a giant hot chili pepper. A few other ponies were wearing 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 friends watching, and new, thrilling challenges to take on. Maybe it would be better to keep her entrance 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 the conversation.
“I’m gonna dare Daring Dash to hoof-wrestle with Snowflake—the strongest Pegasus in Cloudsdale!” 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 mark of a cactus. “With her bare hooves!”
“How about daring her to get a hooficure?” suggested their purple Earth Pony pal with a giggle. Rainbow cringed. She didn’t like the sound of that one. If there was anything Rainbow hated 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 town square. Rainbow looked up at the platform in confusion. Sometimes Pinkie Pie seemed to move faster than Rainbow! Pinkie shrugged.
“Is something wrong?” said Fluttershy, floating down to meet the two of them. “You seem a little 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 as soon as she landed, a large mass of dark clouds began to drift over the town square. Then a bright shock of light zigzagged across the sky. Rain poured down and began to drench the ponies.
“Aw, come on, guys!” Rainbow shouted up at the sky. “Couldn’t you wait just a little longer to 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. One spot 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 lots of gold necklaces and a set of shimmering hoops in her ears. Her left foreleg was adorned with shiny 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 about the worried look on Zecora’s face, but Rainbow couldn’t let anypony see that. Zecora did have a taste for the dramatic, and the whole clouds parting, personal-spotlight business had not helped 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 was struggling 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 should be 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 was silly. Rainbow Dash and her friends knew that Zecora wasn’t actually an evil enchantress like they’d originally thought. She may have been lots of things—mystical, magical, and mysterious—but malicious was definitely not one of them. Too bad some stubborn ponies still held on to that fear.
“Anything you need, Daring Dash will do,” Rainbow assured her with a salute. “So… uh, what is it I’m doing?”
Zecora looked around at the group of ponies, her blue eyes full of worry. “A token that provides 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 her hoof toward the crowd, and a three-dimensional image of the relic appeared out of wispy green smoke. It spun around slowly in the air so that everypony could see it. One side of the horseshoe was completely gold, and the reverse looked rusted and beat-up.
Twilight Sparkle gasped and stepped forward. “You couldn’t possibly mean… the Half-Gilded Horseshoe?!”
Rainbow Dash looked around to see if anypony else knew what Twilight was talking about, but their faces were all blank. Twilight knew a lot about a wide range of topics from all her studies 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 it every 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. To the Spirit Circle,” Twilight explained. “The myth says that the pony who unlocks it will find 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 whole thing 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 now somepony’s gonna score some treasure.” She lifted an eyebrow skeptically. “And this puts us in danger how exactly?”
Zecora swatted away the green smoke with her hoof. “The ghosts will be free when key meets lock. 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 was flying 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 best flyer 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 stuff had just been practice.
CHAPTER 8
Well Suited
The carousel boutique was an absolute mess. Swatches of green fabric lay on every surface, and pieces of thread and ribbons littered the floor. Half-drunk cups of tea sat on the sewing table. 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. Standing still was the absolute worst.
“I don’t see why you need to add anything to it,” groaned Rainbow. “My Daring Do costume from Nightmare Night is totally fine as it is! In fact, I can’t wait to wear this baby on my quest 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 any of us go with you, you have to at least let your friends help you prepare for your journey. You are 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 whole thing. We’ll all be ready to go with you in a jiffy—just say the word.”
Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight nodde
d.
“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 like she 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 and bravest, 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 used her horn to magically carry over a large stack of books. They landed in front of Rainbow with a thud. “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 Do books, hoping to memorize some more cool moves. “The entrance to the Spirit Circle can be found by…”
Twilight sighed. They had been over this a few times already. She was trying to make sure Rainbow knew everything that Twilight had found regarding the Spirit Circle, but the Pegasus wasn’t making it easy. “By the Dual Stronghold—whatever that is—and is only visible once every 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 that whoever took the Half-Gilded Horseshoe will be there, waiting for the entrance to appear.”
