Daring Do and Rainbow Dash and The Trials of Temptation
=======================================================
By Rainbow Dash
---------------

Rainbow Dash looked around. The thick cloud walls of her flying abode surrounded her, and the silence confirmed her loneliness. She's told each of her friends she had plans with a different friend, giving her the perfect alibi - nobody would suspect.

Acting quickly, she pulled a pad of paper and a quill from below her cloud-wrought desk, and set them down. Her secret writing desk's construction was completed. Nobody would know - the quill was Twilight's, and Dash had helped her search for it for hours. Little was Twilight to know that it was safely tucked under Dash's wing, where nopony would think to peek. The ink was Pinkie's, and she hadn't yet noticed its disappearance - Dash was unsure if Pinkie was entirely literate. She felt no remorse in repossessing her ink pot.

The papers were taken from the local branch of the post office, as Dash knew the local postmare would just write it off as wind damage or something equally untracable. Rainbow Dash truly was the master of subtlety, she told herself, as she grinned and sat down, pulling out her annotated copy of this years' Daring Do annual. The scribbled notes covered everything from possible plot holes, to lewd descriptions of Daring Do's plot hole. Rainbow Dash had become a big fan.

The last few pages of the annual were dedicated to providing an area for planning your very own Daring Do fan fiction, something Dash hadn't even considered was possible until she'd seen the guides and instructions. Since then, however, she'd spent almost all of her spare time planning and writing notes, pretending to sleep face down on a cloud so she could carefully scribble with her mouth unseen by the general population. Nopony must know her secret. Not until it's ready.

Staring over at this month's picture in her Daring Do calendar, Dash sighed as she imagined just how good it would be to adventure alongside, fighting evil and reclaiming lost treasures. She ignored the heat from her loins, and the blushing on her face - those were plot elements she didn't feel comfortable writing about. Shaking herself to clear her mind, Dash turned back to the pad of paper, and picked up the quill in her mouth. Dipping it into the ink, she began to write, trying her best to narrate out loud as she did it.

"Daring Do, and Rainbow Dash, and The Trials of Temptation", she penned in a messy but legible cursive. She'd spent days trying to figure out the best title for her masterpiece - it had to be descriptive of the adventure, but not give too much away. It had to sound cool, but not like it was trying too hard. She thought she'd done pretty well. She added, on the line below in smaller letters, "By Speedy Chromatic". Her pseudonym was Twilight's invention, though the purple librarian was clueless as to why Dash wanted one. When Dash's work was in every library in Equestria, nobody would know it was hers, and that was exactly how she wanted it - reading was awesome, and for the coolest of cool ponies, but writing? Only nerds and eggheads enjoyed writing. Nevertheless, the simple act of putting the title down on paper filled Dash with anticipation and a vague longing.

Steeling herself against the turmoil of emotion inside of her, Dash leant down and rested her nose inches above the paper, ready to start writing at a moment's notice. Then she began.

"That was amazing, Dash" shouted Daring Do as the two adventurous companions swung through the air on twin vines, the volcano behind them raging and belching smoke and fire as the ancient temple of magnificent doom collapsed, its mystical treasures kept safe in the hooves of the most adventurous adventurers in Equestria!

"Wait, adventurous adventurers? Man, that sounds awesome, I'm the best writer!" squealed Dash to herself after rereading her sentence. She was going to enjoy this.

"Hey, you weren't too shabby yourself, 'do! I don't think even I, Rainbow Dash, could have rode the updrafts from that lava so quickly!" the blue Pegasus replied, bracing herself to jump from the vine and land running, the boiling heat lapping against her legs reminding herself of the lava lake just feet beneath them. Suddenly, Daring Do's vine snapped, the shock of it sending the green rope coiling around her, restricting her wings and sending her dropping quickly to the deadly liquid below. Her life flashed before her eyes, but not as quickly as Rainbow Dash flew across to catch her in a flash. The magical treasures of the temple of doom weren't worth as much as her companion's life, Dash admitted to herself, as she heard her dropped item splash into the seething fires below.

"Dash, my statue! Only you can save it!" shouted Daring Do as Dash, carrying her, swung down and caught the one remaining golden treasure in her mouth, skimming the surface of the lava lake as she struggled to pull up. Being the expert, dazzlingly beautiful flier she was, though, Rainbow Dash managed the almost-impossible stunt and managed to fly the two to safety carrying the single statue.

"Thank Celestia you managed to save it, Rainbow Dash! The curator of the National Equestrian Museum of Ancient History would've been heartbroken were we to lose both of them!" Do gushed as the two slowly walked through the thick forest, the sun setting behind them as the smoke from the now-destroyed temple marred the horizon. "Once we're out of the jungle we'll have a clear flight path back to Canterlot where we can put this in its rightful place, center stage in the new exhibition! Maybe then we can finally have a rest - fancy renting a hotel?"

"Do!", Dash protested, her wings flaring out and her cheeks flushing red. "You know I'm always up for that!" she said after a few seconds, shattering the manufactured tension and causing the evening air to fill with the sound of two mares laughing.

Reaching the edge of the forest, the two constructed a makeshift camp out of some tree branches and a fishing rod, and sat down by the fireplace. It was going to be a long flight tomorrow, and they needed their rest. Many hours later, as their fire burnt out, the two ponies lay in a loose embrace, covering each other with a wing to stave off the bitter chill of the night air, and huddling close for companionship. Daring Do mumbled quietly in her sleep, and if you listened closely, you could just about make her her words: "Rainbow Dash? Rainbow Dash, are you up there? Oh, Fluttershy, would you be a dear and go have a look?"

Dash gasped as she broke free of her fantasy world and heard the disturbance for what it was - Rarity and Fluttershy come to visit. "Oh, Celestia", she whispered to herself, coughing out the now saliva-soaked quill and rushing about to put her things away. The dictionary found a new home on her bedside table, the thesaurus was quickly thrown through what Dash hoped was an internal wall, and her prized artwork was carefully slipped between the sheets of her bed. It was like she'd never been writing at all, she hoped, as Fluttershy fluttered up to her window and peered in.

"Oh, hey Fluttershy, what's up?" she asked, with an innocent smile and a crossed tail - please don't let her have missed anything.

"Oh, we just wanted to check on you and see if you were alright! You said you were doing something with Rarity, but I saw Rarity and you weren't there so I got worried" she sheepishly admitted, "Oh, um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what ARE you doing?"

Dash did mind her asking, but she knew if she said so, it would just make her friends more suspicious. "Oh, I just... I just had paperwork to catch up on! You know what weather work is like, y'know? Heh, anyway, really gotta get on with stuff, but thanks for dropping by!" Dash nervously chattered, reaching out of the window and giving Fluttershy a light shove, hinting she should go elsewhere.

"Oh, okay, I was just worried is all. That explains the ink on your nose, too! Don't let Pinkie see that or she'll laugh for days! Bye now, Dash" Fluttershy said, giggling a little as she saw Dash's reaction to her appearance, before flying down to meet back up with Rarity, where they held a short conversation Dash couldn't pick up on, before leaving. Thank Celestia for that, Dash whispered quietly to herself.

At least, she muttered, she'd managed to finish chapter 1 before time ran out.