SPOILERS
So Rainbow Dash finds out that A.K. Yearling is retiring, and so she and Pinkie head off to Yearling's house to see what's really going on. They find a sad author packing up her belongings, hoping to get out while the getting is good, but why? Well, her alter ego Daring Do has been receiving hate mail over the destruction she causes when she's out on her adventures. While she's saving the town, the idol, the artifact, whatever, she tends to cause some collateral damage, and ponies are upset with her over that, so she's decided to pack it all in and quit for good.
Dash and Pinkie convince her to talk to some of these ponies in the hopes that they'll get to know the real Daring Do and see how awesome she is, so they head to one of the towns making the complaint, called Somnambula. Dash immediately begins getting a feel of the town's mood, and finds that she's quite wrong. Not only is Daring Do unliked, but she's outright detested. Her reputation is one of a thief, and of someone who merely causes trouble and leaves the town to clean up the mess.
Of course, the mystery begins when a hooded pony starts saying terrible things about Daring Do, getting the townsponies riled up against her, especially over the destruction of the town statue. Dash flippantly disregards the statue's importance, and the an older, wise pony has to fill her in on the story of the statue and the town of Somnambula. In short, the statue was a hero to the town, a mare named Somnambula who stood up to an evil Sphinx that had enslaved the town, and through hope had freed them all. Dash is rightfully abashed. Still, the hooded pony gets the crowd's blood boiling again, and they all leave angry once more with Daring Do.
Of course, it turns out to be a ruse, and the hooded pony is none other than Dr. Caballerone, arch villain of Daring Do, whose henchponies immediately capture Rainbow Dash before she can tell the others. Fortunately, Pinkie and A.K. find out what's happening and rush to her rescue. They find Dash in a pyramid surrounded by a glowing green slime that portends doom, and must find a way to rescue her. After the thrilling rescue, they hoof it back to the town and confront Caballerone as he's leaving, carrying a bag of jewels he had claimed Daring Do had stolen. Now being caught red hoofed, he spills his plan, and gets away (of course) to fight another day.
The townsponies cheer Daring Do as a hero, and she makes the effort to replace the statue she had accidentally destroyed in her pursuit against evil.
I really enjoyed this episode. The lessons are good, the story is fun, the location is new (world building!), and we get a better look at A.K. and her alter ego. The Dash moments are my favorite, but Pinkie does keep things moving. She's great to watch.
Anyhoo, good story, fun adventure, good moral, this one gets a solid A- from me.
