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A Second Chance

by Jay David

Chapter 117: Rainbow Dash and the Raiders of the Temple of the Crusade of Doom

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The sun had long ago set below the horizon, and in a dark and secluded woodland, far away from any village or town, there was little activity. Some screeches or other animal sounds were commonplace, and yet, it really did seem as if this was the kind of place that nopony would ever go to. However, it was not long before activity did occur, as there was a rustling of bushes, after which, a pegasus mare leapt out, looking as if she was ready for action. With a black and grey mane, a dark-yellow coat and an attire that just screamed of adventure and exploration, this was, without question, the famed fictional character, Daring Do. Or, to be more precise, the non-fictional Daring Do, as she was very clearly real at this moment. She looked around, checking for danger all around, before making her way through the forest. Every once in a while, her head would dart left and right, making sure that she wasn't being followed, or that there wasn't anypony there to try and fight her. For the time being, she seemed to be safe, and so carried on as she always did; with purpose. Eventually, and after much traversing of this dangerous-looking forest, she looked up and saw, to her amazement, a grand old temple in the distance. It was a ziggurat-style structure, looking about as ancient as anything in Equestria, and, more importantly, a sight that brought a smile to Daring's face. But, before she could set hoof towards it, a voice then spoke up to her.

"Um...Miss Do?"

Immediately, the older mare spun around, expecting some kind of attack from the rear. And yet, there was nopony there. Instead, she realised that the voice had come from up above, and so craned her neck to see who it was. A look of confusion crossed her face as she saw that there, flying in the darkened skies above her, were two mares. The first was a cyan pegasus with a bright rainbow-coloured mane. But it was the second was who Daring was especially surprised to see. For this was no mere pegasus, but an alicorn, lavender in her coat and dark purple in her mane. The two mares, after nervously waving to the one on the ground, gently flew down to greet her, with Daring seeming more than a little nervous about their approach. However, after much silence between them, the cyan mare spoke first, a big smile plastered onto her face.

"Miss Do...it's an honour to meet you!"

She raised a hoof, most likely expecting Daring to take it and shake. But, that was not what happened, and the latter simply narrowed her eyes at the two.

"And...just who are you two supposed to be?"

The rainbow-maned mare chuckled somewhat before giving an answer.

"Oh, right! Sorry. I'm Rainbow Dash, and this is my friend, Twilight Sparkle."

Daring turned to the lavender mare beside Rainbow, who gave yet another small wave in greeting, before giving her a somewhat analytical look.

"I'd heard rumours of a fourth alicorn running around these days. Never thought I'd actually get to meet her though."

A small blush appeared on the young alicorn's face as she heard that, after which she cleared her throat a little before speaking.

"I'm sorry to disturb you like this, Miss Do, but my friend here is a great admirer of yours. I wanted to introduce the two of you."

Daring raised an eyebrow at that.

"Great, another fan-filly. And just how exactly did you know to find me here of all places?"

For a moment, Twilight seemed somewhat nervous at that, and turned away from her before scratching the back of her head.

"Oh...I hear stuff every now and again."

For reasons Daring didn’t understand, Rainbow then did her best to stifle a giggle after hearing her friend's words. Needless to say, the older mare was somewhat irritated by all of this, and so rolled her eyes before starting to turn away from the other two.

"I don't have time for this! In case you didn't know, there's a dangerous beast out there who's about to unleash an unspeakable power on Equestria, and I'm the one who has to stop him!"

Twilight and Rainbow looked to each other with knowing expressions. It was clear from looking that the former had already informed the latter on what was to occur on this night, and so Rainbow gave Twilight a confident nod before starting to move away herself. She flapped her wings and launched herself up into the sky, before then spinning around and landing down right in front of Daring, barring her path. Although somewhat taken aback by this, the older pegasus then frowned deeply at Rainbow, opening her mouth to speak, and no doubt ask her to leave so she could do her job. However, she was prevented from doing so when Rainbow began to speak up herself.

"Look...I know you've got a lot on your mind right now...but we'd like to help, if you're willing to have that."

Hearing those words, Daring let out a grunt of annoyance.

"Ugh! Here's a free bit of advice, kid...I work alone!"

At first, Rainbow seemed somewhat taken aback by the harshness in which the mare had spoken to her. And it wasn't as if Twilight or anypony else could blame her. After all, this was Daring Do, a mare that Rainbow Dash had idolized for some time now, talking to her as if she wanted nothing to do with her. But, rather than being outwardly offended by this, Rainbow said nothing, instead turning to look upon Twilight. There was silence between the two mares for a time, during which, Rainbow seemed to be deep in thought over something. It took a while, but eventually, she broke out into a knowing smile, after which she looked back to Daring.

"You know...I used to be a lot like you."

Daring raised an eyebrow at that.

"Um...excuse me?"

A chuckle escaped Rainbow before she started to speak up again.

"I was always going about, thinking I was so skilled and capable of doing anything and everything myself, without any help from anypony. I felt good about myself, confident, as if I could do no wrong or mess anything up."

In contrast to her earlier harshness, Daring stopped for a moment and looked to Rainbow with curiosity, but nevertheless remained silent as she continued.

"But then...not so long ago...things changed for me. I realised that, sometimes...being the best and doing everything myself wasn't always the best thing for me, or even for others. Sometimes...it's good to accept help, if only because it's better to do something with others than without them."

In this moment, Twilight looked to her friend with great pride upon her face. To think that she had come such a long way, believing so fervently that doing things by yourself isn't always the best thing, and to accept help when needed. It was a thought that brought a smile to her face. As for Daring, she thought long and hard about the words the younger mare had just spoke to her, and in time, her expression softened considerably. Slowly, she gained a small smile before walking up to Rainbow, after which she gently placed a hoof upon the cyan mare's shoulder, giving an appreciative nod to her.

"You know, kid...you make a lot of sense. I guess...I do get caught up in the whole "adventurous loner" thing a bit too much sometimes. It's nice to know I've got options."

Rainbow smiled at that, silently thanking her lucky stars that her heroine was praising her like this. However, the moment was somewhat short-lived, as Daring raised a hoof to her chin and tapped it slightly, looking as if she was thinking about something.

"Although...there is something in all of this that bothers me. What could it be?"

After a while, she gained a look that would not have seemed out-of-place with a fully-lit lightbulb upon her head.

"Oh! That's right! How about the fact that...you know...AHUIZOTL HAS A BUCKING DOOMSDAY WEAPON!!!"

The fury on Daring's face was a clear as day, complete with a massive snort on her part. As for Rainbow and Twilight, they took a nervous step back from the enraged mare, before looking to each other, somewhat embarrassed about having forgotten about such an important detail of their journey here today. Moments afterwards, Rainbow looked to Daring with a genuinely apologetic look on her face.

"I'm...I'm sorry we forgot about that, Daring. But, we can make it up to you! Just let us help!"

Daring rolled her eyes at that before looking away from the two mares and towards the nearby temple.

"Yeah, right! What are you going to do? Just waltz on in there, take him out and recover the ancient magical ring single-hoofedly?"

Gradually, a sly smile crept onto Rainbow's face, and she turned once more to Twilight, who, after some time, gained a similar look, after which she gave her a nod, silently granting her consent to the plan she was unquestionably thinking of right now,. Seeing this, Rainbow nodded back before looking to Daring once more.

"Well...I can't...but my friend here can."

Turning, Daring looked at the two as if she was honestly amused by what she'd just heard.

"Oh really? If you can pull that off, I'll eat my hat!"

Although Rainbow couldn’t help but let out a chortle at those words, she nevertheless shrugged her shoulders a little.

"Alright then, you've got a deal."

Rainbow then turned to Twilight, who nodded to her before looking to the temple. She walked forward slightly, moving right past Daring, who looked to her with clear confusion, before closing her eyes and concentrating. Moments later, her horn began to glow, and then, before Daring could react, there was a bright flash of light, which, when it died down, showed that Twilight had completely vanished, much to Daring's shock. She darted her head all over the place in a vain attempt to see where the lavender mare had gone to, before then looking to Rainbow for answers. But, before she could say anything, the cyan pegasus raised a hoof, stopping her from doing so. Although somewhat annoyed at being silenced like this, Daring watched as the younger mare began to, of all things, count.

"One Mississippi...two Mississippi...three Mississippi...four Mississippi...five Mississippi...six Mississippi...seven Mississippi...eight Mississippi…nine Mississippi...and..."

At the cusp of the tenth number, there was yet another flash of light, after which it was revealed that Twilight had returned. Although this in itself was a shock to Daring, what shocked her even further was that, as promised, the young alicorn was carrying the ancient golden ring in her hoof. As she stared at the thing, mouth agape, Daring then looked up to Twilight, her voice hushed.

"But...you were only in there for a few seconds!"

Twilight nodded at that before handing over the ring, which Daring accepted gladly.

"True. But, as we said, here's the ring, Miss Do."

Although seeming to be overjoyed at the return of the ring, a look of worry then crossed the older mare's face as she looked to Twilight once more.

"But...what about Ahuizotl?"

A sly smirk crossed Twilight's face with that question.

"Well...


Deep within the temple, far from any source of light, there was a small chamber. And there, upon it's farthest wall, as a creature that few in Equestria had ever seen before; Ahuizotl, the feared arch-nemesis of Daring Do. Unfortunately for him at this point, he was in no position to be either feared or intimidating, for he was bound at all four limbs to the wall, looking down with fear as a pool of water down below began to rise up, creeping closer to him with every passing moment. As one might expect in such circumstances, he was frantically looking around for help, a look of terror upon his face. Luckily, one of his servants, a stallion, ran towards him by way of a passage to the side, taking only a moment to realise what was going on.

"Sir?! Do...do you need any help?"

Ahuizotl looked to the stallion with a clear "are you kidding me" expression before frowning deeply at him.

"Do I...YES I NEED HELP, YOU IDIOT!!!"

Taking a step back, the stallion bowed in apology before speaking up again.

"But...what happened?"

Ahuizotl turned form him before grumbling somewhat.

"Some meddlesome alicorn just zapped in out of nowhere and put me here like this. But never mind that! What about the ring?"

Immediately, the stallion gained a look of nervousness before answering his master.

"Well...she, er...took it?"

There was silence for a time, but inevitably, Ahuizotl looked up to the ceiling and shouted up to the heavens.

"Curse you, Daring Do! I know it wasn't technically you who put me here and stole from me today, but even so, I blame YOOOOUUUUU!!!!"


"...let's just say he's a bit preoccupied right now.

Daring raised an eyebrow at that, clearly wanting to know more. But, a feeling in her gut told her that it would probably be for the better not to ask any further. Instead, she looked down to the golden ring in her hooves, staring at it with a sense of deep relief. After a short while of this, she looked over to Rainbow Dash, giving the young pegasus a small smile.

"Not bad, kid. Guess you and your friend had a point about all that help stuff."

Rainbow smiled at that, only to be prevented from replying when Daring found herself looking somewhat unsure about something.

"So...do you want me to eat my hat now, or...?"

Hearing that, both mares giggled somewhat before Rainbow shook her head at her idol.

"You know...I think we can let it slide this time."

Next Chapter: An Insult Without Sting Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 3 Minutes
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