Act 1

The sun was setting over all of Equestria and the golden skies slowly fell asleep as another day concluded. Ponies everywhere put on their nightgowns and nightcaps, brushed their manes, cleaned up their hooves, and slowly dozed off to dream.

The Pegasus ponies on the night shift moved the darkening clouds out of the way of the night sky. The stars danced in the celestial heavens as the gentle crescent moon watched over the majestic lands, quietly sending the winds to sing a lullaby. In time, every pony would be fast asleep and…

“Twilight, what kind of namby-pamby story is this?!”

Scootaloo’s sudden interjection brought Twilight Sparkle’s out of her dreamy state and back into reality. She looked back at the three awkward faces of Applebloom, Sweetybelle, and Scootaloo staring at her as if she had done something odd.

“Wh- huh? I’m not sleepy!” Twilight said with a yawn.

As a matter of fact, the sun was indeed setting over all of Equestria and the golden skies over Sweet Apple Acres were indeed slowly falling asleep as another day was being concluded. A warm bonfire crackled in the cool evening, casting dancing shadows on the faces of the four ponies.

“C’mon, Twilight, you can’t fall asleep now! If our camp master falls asleep, how are we gonna’ earn our camping cutie marks?” Applebloom said, rolling and rolling around without much to do.

“Yeah, and who’d have thought that camping would be such a bore! We haven’t done anything except hike, hike, hike, hike, and hike!” Scootaloo groaned, plopping herself into her bedroll.

The makeshift camp was a nicely fashioned circle of bedrolls: one for each pony. Twilight Sparkle added some extra wood to the fire to keep it going a little longer and sat next to Sweetybelle who was squirming with eagerness.

“Twilight, do I have my camping cutie mark yet, do I?” Sweetybelle asked impatiently.

Twilight Sparkle sat down next to the young unicorn and took a twig out of her mane with a chuckle.

“I’m afraid not, Sweetybelle. Cutie marks come in at varying times for every pony. You’re just going to wait and see what happens,” Twilight said, settling down in her bedroll.

The fire crackled as the symphony of the orchards around them started. Crickets began to chirp in the tall grasses and the wind danced in the air, bringing a cool breeze on the mild summer night.

“Well at least finish the story you were going to tell us, Twilight,” Scootaloo pointed out. She was flat on her back with her wings stretched out, gazing at the stars with boredom. The celestial bodies danced, just as Twilight had said they would.

Twilight took some s’mores out of her knapsack and gave one to each of the little fillies to roast over the open bonfire. The three young ones looked up at Twilight with eager eyes, waiting what happens next in the story she just began.

“Okay, now where was I…” Twilight began, scratching her chin with her hoof.

Well, at least two of them looked up with eager eyes. Scootaloo had eyes of skepticism.

“I don’t know, Twilight. I’m not exactly sure if I like your story or not. No offense or anything, I understand you’re taking your time to watch over us while we camp out, but what kind of story are you telling exactly? The introduction to the story should be the most exciting bit! Not some kind of calm setting! Can you maybe pick a more… you know…” Scootaloo said, her voice trailing off as she pondered the world she would use.

“Adventurous?” Applebloom said.

“Awe inspiring?” Sweetybelle chimed in.

“No, that won’t do. What we need is a… a… an awesome story! Yeah!” Scootaloo cried with triumph.

Twilight Sparkle took into consideration the suggestion the three had just made. Racking her brains, she looked up and around for any kind of inspiration.

“Well…” Twilight Sparkle began, drawing the eyes and ears of the three fillies closer. “I do know this one story…”

“Well, go on Twilight! Tell us!” Applebloom said.

“Alright my little ponies, listen up. I think I may have a story that will suit your needs. You all know Daring-Do, the adventurer pony, right?” Twilight asked.

“We sure do! She’s the main character in the Daring-Do series! I love those books; they’re always filled with adventure and action!” Sweetybelle said, recalling her most recent read.

Twilight, smiling, continued on.

“Well, the thing is, Daring-Do was also just like you three, always looking out for adventure. But the thing most ponies don’t know, is that Daring-Do also didn’t get her cutie mark until far later in her life. Just like you three, she chased that cutie mark during much of her childhood. In fact, she went without a cutie mark for a very long time…”

Interested in this next camp fire story, the three fillies, each eager to receive their own cutie marks, fell silent to listen to Twilight Sparkle and her tale of how the famous adventurer Daring-Do received her cutie mark…

The bonfire crackled as the symphony of crickets played; the stars and wind danced around the camp as the tall-tale began…