"♪" "Four more months." "Four more months." "Four more months." "I bet you're excited, huh?" "Oh, my, I uh..." "I could be excited." "I don't really know." "I wasn't really thinking..." "Come on." "You gotta be excited." "Oh, well, I guess maybe I'm a little, kind of sort of excited..." "I thought so." "Yeah." "So, um... why am I excited?" "Because the next Daring Do book is coming out exactly four months from today!" "THAT'S how exciting it is!" "So what amazing, incredible, awesome adventure do you think Daring Do will have in her next book, huh?" "Will she at long last stalk the Fortress of Talocan?" "Only to be forced to contend with its dreaded and impenetrable arrow defense?" "And if so, could her skill, quick wits and courage possibly carry the day?" "(thud)" "Or will her next adventure bring her face-to-face with the vast and horrible Ahuizotl himself?" "(screeching roar)" "Would she cower?" "Turn tail and run?" "Or would she fly at him full bore, knowing full well against all odds that the greatest challenge she'd ever faced was still sure to be no match for" "Fluttershy: (gasps) Look out!" "(thud)" "(chirping birds)" "Oh, I'm not so sure she's going to last another four months." "Three months and twenty-six days." "Three months and twenty-six days!" "Three months and twenty-six days!" "Hey Twilight, aren't you excited that" "(toot)" "So glad you finally made it!" "What's everypony doing here?" "We're having a holiday party." "(toot!" ")" "So what holiday would today be?" "National Random Holiday Party Day." "Whoo hoo!" "I'd never heard of it either." "But the punch is quite tasty." "You might say the secret ingredient is..." "A secret." "How come nopony bothered to invite me?" "I came to invite you personally." "But it seems you were a speck too busy reading the last Daring Do book for the twelfth time." "Yeah, well, in three months and twenty-six more days" "I'll be able to read the next one." "Oh, haven't you heard?" "The release of the next book got pushed another two months." "(spit)" "Two more months?" "!" "I've been waiting so long already," "I don't think I can take another two months!" "I'll never make it!" "(thud)" "Yeah, I can vouch for that." "Did they give a reason?" "The publisher just said author A.K. Yearling won't be able to finish the book for another two months." "Cupcakes?" "How could you possibly know that before me?" "I'm the series' biggest fan!" "I'm just as big a fan as you." "In fact, I'm the one who first introduced you to the books." "Remember?" "Oh." "Right." "A.K. Yearling just might be my favorite author." "I know everything about her." "Where she grew up." "Where she studied literature." "Where she wrote the first Daring Do book..." "Where she lives?" "Uh, no... though I could probably find out somehow." "Why?" "Don't you get it?" "The new book is obviously delayed because she needs help dealing with whatever everyday nonsense is distracting her from spending her every living breathing second writing!" "So I..." "I mean fans like me, can get to read the next book ASAP!" "Think about it." "We could help her with her laundry, buying her groceries, cooking her meals." "Whatever." "Now who wouldn't appreciate that?" "Hmm, I don't know." "What she probably wants most of all is respect for her privacy." "She can always just say no." "Mmh..." "I suppose you're right." "Of course I am." "So how's about getting that address?" "♪" "You see what I mean?" "Why would she live in this remote part of Equestria except to keep folks from intruding on her privacy?" "We should respect" "I think I spotted the house!" "We're super-close." "This way!" "Wait!" "Oh no!" "What happened?" "Rainbow Dash:" "Apparently, somepony has intruded on her privacy pretty hard already." "(clunk)" "(knock on door)" "(clunk)" "Applejack:" "Ooowee." "Somepony really trashed this place." "Hmm." "Maybe." "Or... maybe A.K. Yearling's just a terrible, horrible, unbelievable slob." "I hope A.K. Yearling's all right." "Oh no!" "What if something terrible happened to her?" "I know!" "There might be no more books!" "Uh, but of course I'd be worried about her, too." "Heh." "What are you all doing here?" "Uh.." "A..." "K..." "Yearling?" "We didn't do this; we swear!" "What have you done to my house?" "We didn't do this, Ms. Yearling." "Agh!" "(thud)" "We're awfully glad to see you're all right." "OK, clearly this isn't the best time, but I just gotta say how much we all really love your books." "Heh heh." "(crash)" "(buzz)" "Ah." "It's safe." "Great!" "Maybe now would be a good time for me to ask her how we can help move the new book along a little faster." "Chop chop." "Rainbow Dash, a minute please." "A.K. Yearling has made it pretty clear that she wants to be left alone." "We need to respect her wishes." "You should tell that to those guys." "♪ (scary theme)" "(grunts)" "A.K. Yearling IS Daring Do!" "Twilight:" "A.K. Yearling and Daring Do are one-and-the-same." "My mind is officially blown." "Aw, come on." "I knew it all along." "(fight sounds)" "Amazing." "Incredible." "(shouts)" "Pinkie Pie:" "Wow!" "So much action!" "Wheeeeeee!" "♪" "Daring Do!" "(shouts and grunts)" "(clatter)" "(shouts and grunts)" "(fight sounds stop)" "Many thanks, Daring Do." "As you probably surmised, our earlier search for this treasure was unsuccessful." "So kind of you to find it for us." "(grunt)" "Give it back, Caballeron!" "That's Dr. Caballeron to you!" "He's from Book 4:" "Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams." "He wanted to partner with Daring Do on her adventures." "I know." "But she refused." "I can't believe it." "The real Daring Do and the real Caballeron!" "So let me guess:" "Ahuizotl has put you up to this." "You're stealing the ring to give to him so his hold on the Fortress of Talocan will be good for Eight Centuries as foretold by prophesy." "Close... but no." "I'm going to sell this to him, make a bundle and retire from archeology in splendor." "Caballeron, you fool!" "You're dooming the valley to eight centuries of unrelenting heat!" "To market, henchponies." "(grunt)" "(cry of pain)" "Uh... should we go in and help her maybe?" "All:" "Oh." "Right!" "(gasps) Are you OK?" "(rude) I've got this." "Um..." "She was just trying to help, Ms. Do." "Daring Do doesn't need help." "She handles her business herself." "Rainbow Dash:" "We've got to go help!" "You heard her." "She says she works alone." "How can we just stand by and do nothing?" "You know what's at stake here?" "Ahuizotl has sought control of the Tenochtitlan Basin since Book 3." "True, but in Book 4, she defeated Ahuizotl and secured control of the Amulet of Atonement, dispelling the dark magic of the Ketztwctl Empress and thus protecting the basin with the Radiant Shield of Razdon." "But the Radiant Shield of Razdon is vulnerable to the dark enchantment of the Rings of Scorchero." "But are you forgetting that the rings were scattered to the four corners of Tenochtitlan, thus rendering the dark enchantment powerless?" "Only if you assume that the rings have yet to be retrieved and the ring Caballeron just stole isn't the last to completely restore the dark tower and its cruel hold on Tenochtitlan." "Did you ever think of that?" "You gotta admit, Rainbow Dash makes a pretty good point." "We've gotta help Daring Do retrieve the ring for safekeeping before it's too late." "(sigh) OK." "But sounds to me like we're in way way way over our heads." "We're going to need a carefully thought out plan." "Rainbow Dash:" "I'm coming, Daring Do!" "That's not a plan!" "♪" "Come on, come on, come on!" "Bingo!" "Here I come, Daring Do." "To join in adventure with the greatest, bravest, coolest, most incredible hero I could ever... (skid)" "(whimper)" "OK, maybe I just need a sec." "Just another adventure." "No big deal." "(smack)" "Get a grip!" "I got this." "Though doing it alongside Daring Do?" "Wow, maybe I could get my picture taken with her." "Or an autograph." "(smack)" "There you go again." "She's just a pony like any other pony." "A pony who stops entire armies of bad guys with nothing more than her bare hooves and an attitude and" "(smack)" "Ow." "Ow..." "That's starting to hurt." "Aargh!" "(shouts)" "Ow!" "Stop!" "Oh." "It's just you." "Wait, don't go!" "Think fast." "This is your big chance to impress her with your quick wit and courage." "♪" "I am suuuuch a huge fan." "Heh heh heh heh." "(sigh)" "Wait, wait, wait." "Let me help you." "I promise I can be a huge, huge help if you just give me a chance." "I..." "Work..." "Alone." "But why won't you let me team up with you just this once?" "My work always involves secrets, and since you never know who you can trust, it's best never to trust anypony." "But just because you can't trust some doesn't mean nopony can be trusted." "Look, I don't have time to argue." "Neither do I. Let's go!" "♪" "(sigh)" "I can't believe I'm even talking to her." "♪" "Looks like they decided to have an early dinner before making their way back down the hill to the marketplace in town." "Oh, I see!" "You're going to ambush them like you did in Book 4 at the Horavian Caves." "Or maybe that neat trick you did in Book 3 where you swoop in and knock three guys down with one swing." "Or maybe..." "OK." "I'll be quiet now." "Just watching very quietly." "Shh." "So what kind of ambush are you gonna use then?" "Wow!" "(clunk)" "(Cockney accent) I have been led to believe you have in your possession an item of significant importance that might be for sale." "Oh, um, well, I did have another buyer lined up." "But he's not here, so... sounds like we have a deal." "(roar)" "(crashing)" "Caballeron!" "Ahuizotl!" "The ring!" "(gasp)" "(clatter)" "(roar)" "Be cool, Rainbow Dash, be cool." "She's got this." "The ring, Daring Do." "Give it to me." "(crash)" "Now Ahuizotl, you know I love you, but I can't give you the ring till I've properly proposed." "(chuckle)" "Interesting." "Because my friends here have a proposal of their own." "(growls)" "Meow!" "(hiss)" "(low snarls)" "Bring it!" "(thud)" "(grunt)" "Come on, Daring Do, come on!" "Daring Do." "I've got your hat!" "Want me to toss it?" "Daring Do!" "DARING DO!" "(grunts)" "Aaaaahh!" "(crash)" "(growls and one meow)" "(grunts)" "Don't worry, Daring Do." "I'll come help you!" "Whoa!" "(thud)" "Don't bother." "I'd say you've already "helped" plenty." "What have I done?" "Rarity:" "Oh, thank goodness you're all right." "Quick." "Where does it hurt?" "In here." "Daring Do and the ring have been captured by the dreaded Ahuizotl and it's all my fault." "(all gasp)" "Dash, I'm sure whatever you did was an honest mistake." "Whatever." "Let's just go home." "We can't go back now!" "Looks a might like she needs our help more than ever." "Trying to help is how I got in this mess in the first place." "You were right, Twilight." "We should've stayed out of this." "Look, there's more going on here than meets the eye." "In every Daring Do book there always is." "We can't turn our backs on her." "She doesn't want my help, Twilight." "Perhaps." "But she might need it anyway." "No." "My hero's way better off without me." "This don't sound like you." "Where's the Rainbow Dash who would help anypony at the drop of a hat?" "Or pith helmet, as the case may be." "She's here, where she's got no business being." "She should be at home." "It's fine to look up to Daring Do, but you've put her so high up on a pedestal you can't even see your own worth anymore." "She's in the fortress and we're here." "And we wouldn't be who we are if we didn't go in after her." "And neither would you." "So are you with us or not?" "♪" "(bubbling)" "Surrender now, Ahuizotl, or I'll be forced to take you down." "(grunts)" "(nasty laughter)" "Oh, Daring Do, I will so miss your amusing laughter-jokes." "Now I must leave to commence the ring-placing ceremony to unleash 800 years of unrelenting sweltering heat." "(whoosh)" "(cackling)" "(grunt)" "(clang)" "(snapping jaws)" "(struggling grunts)" "(clang)" "(clang)" "(grunt)" "Gotcha!" "(grunts)" "You can flap too, you know." "(smash)" "I was just about to save myself, you know." "Of course." "I just thought you might need this." "Have I mentioned yet that I work alone?" "Have I mentioned yet that you're lucky I don't?" "(sigh)" "♪" "(spears banging)" "(evil cackle)" "Drop the ring, Huiz-whatever-your-name-is." "Place the ring, quickly!" "♪" "Get it!" "♪" "(poof)" "♪" "Come with me." "Help me get all these rings off." "(grunt)" "(struggling grunts)" "If we can remove the giant ring at the bottom, the whole fortress will collapse." "Was this your plan all along?" "I had to find a way to get into the fortress." "You did it on purpose?" "But I thought" "Didn't count on how heavy this ring would be, though." "Guess having a little help can be handy sometimes." "♪" "(evil cackle)" "(rumbling)" "Stop her!" "(rumbling)" "You can flap too, you know." "(grunts)" "Rainbow Dash:" "Ponies!" "Run!" "This place is going down!" "(clattering)" "♪" "(crash)" "Daring Do!" "I will have my revenge!" "(smash)" "Could never have done this without you, Rainbow Dash." "I've got a book to finish!" "Just had the coolest adventure with the coolest pony ever." "Came this close to blowing it because I got so wrapped up in how awesome she was, I almost forgot how awesome I was." "Good thing I didn't, 'cause it gave me a chance to show her how important it is to put your trust in somepony else." "(knock at door)" "Package from A.K. Yearling." "Sweet!" "The new book a week before anypony else gets it." "(gasp)" "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" "Oh my gosh, oh my GOSH!" "♪"