In her forest home, brave adventurer, Daring Do, received a visit from her colleague, Professor A.B. Ravenhoof.

“My, these are exquisite pieces,” the professor observed the ancient artifacts the adventurer had acquired.

“Thanks, Professor,” said Daring Do. “They weren’t easy to come by.”

Prof. Ravenhoof smiled. “If any pony could get them, it’s you.” He paused to sip his tea. “Dr. Caballeron, I presume?”

“Not this time. I haven’t heard from him in a while. There’s no telling where he could be. He and his goons could be lurking around here. I should escort you back to the University.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’m going away on sabbatical for a few months. Coming to tell you was actually the nature of my visit.”

“Oh, where’re you going?”

“Saddle Arabia!”

“Sounds exciting! Wish I could go, but I’ll have my hooves tied cataloging these artifacts and planning my next book.”

“Well best of luck to you, Daring Do. I look forward to reading about your adventures.”

The professor put on his hat and coat, bid the adventurer-author adieu, and departed for Saddle Arabia.

***

While he was away, Prof. Ravenhoof would send a weekly letter to Daring Do. With one month left of his sabbatical, his letters stopped coming. On the day of his return, he did not show. He hadn’t written to say he would be staying longer, or that he was running late. Nopony at the University had heard from him either. One full week had since elapsed.

Worry filled Daring Do’s head. Prof. Ravenhoof should already have been back, she thought to herself. I’d sure hate to think something happened to him. I have to see if he’s all right.

She packed her bag and donned her trusty pith helmet. If she is going to find, and perhaps rescue, her mentor, she is going to need some help. She went to see her aviator friend, Brumby Cloverpatch, in his mountain village home of Alto Terre.

“What?! Ravenhoof is missing?” Brumby exclaimed in bewilderment.

“I don’t know for sure whether or not he’s missing,” Daring Do clarified. “He hasn’t written and he should’ve returned by now. Mr. Cloverpatch, you have to come to Saddle Arabia with me and help me find him.”

“Of course,” Brumby replied. “I love the professor as much as you do. I’d go through Tartarus and back for him.”

“Thanks, Mr. Cloverpatch. Now, to Saddle Arabia!”

Brumby made ready his airship, Reflector. When all was said and done, he and Daring Do ascended and sailed above the clouds for the land of gold-like sand.

***

The shimmering sphere of the sun shone high in the sky. As he piloted the Reflector, Brumby, a close friend of Ravenhoof’s, couldn’t get his mind off the professor’s possible predicament.

“For Harmony’s sake, Ravenhoof, you better be all right,” Brumby muttered to himself, wishing his friend was in no danger.

“Hey, we’ll find him,” Daring Do assured.

“I hope you’re right. I’ve known ol’ Ravenhoof a long time. It sure isn’t like him to up and disappear.”

Emerging from the horizon was a glistening kingdom.

“Kingdom ho!” exclaimed Daring Do. “It’s Saddle Arabia!”

“Crikey! We’re here!” Brumby declared with excitement.

Their jubilation ended abruptly when a sandstorm commenced to rage.

“Brace yourself!” Brumby hollered above the torrents. “It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

The pilot lowered his goggles as the sand buffeted his face and guided the Reflector towards their destination, making sure the storm didn’t blow them off course. As they pressed on, the storm became too much. Wind and sand blew every which way! Trying desperately to steer clear, Daring Do and Brumby were overpowered and consumed by the sand…

***

Daring Do wearily opened her eyes.

“Ow, I hit my head on something,” she groaned, rubbing her noggin.

“Yeah. My head,” Brumby replied.

What a storm it must have been. The gentle ocean-like waves of sand were now dunes of many sizes.

“Where did that storm come from?” Daring Do asked.

“No idea,” said Brumby.

The Reflector was partially buried nearby. Working together, they soon freed the airship from the sand. They carefully inspected it. Thankfully, it was still intact, although its silver balloon was deflated. There were no holes in it; that was a good sign. Soon, they were once again airborne. Not long after, they soared into the kingdom of Saddle Arabia. They found a place to land. As soon as they touched ground, they began their search for Prof. Ravenhoof.

The bazaar was bustling with ponies buying, selling, and trading goods. It was also alive with activities: there were puppet shows, fire-eaters, magicians, and charlatans.

“Naharak sa’eed, friends!” greeted a vendor. “Could I offer you some tamees?”

“You must try my sleeg,” said another vendor.

Further ahead, a stallion in a tunic and turban announced, “Fillies and gentlecolts, gather around! I am Sahir the Magician! See what wonders I wonder. See what marvels I marvel.”

Daring Do paused to survey the area. She was just about to continue the search when she saw a familiar stallion tossing bits the magician’s way.

“Mr. Cloverpatch, look!” she exclaimed.

Brumby looked ahead. “I don’t believe it.” A smile grew across his face.

He and Daring Do hurried to the stallion.

“Prof. Ravenhoof!” Daring Do called out.

The professor turned. He was surprised to see them. “Daring Do. Brumby. What a pleasure! I wasn’t expecting to see you. What are you two doing here?”

“Ravenhoof, you so-and-so!” exclaimed Brumby. “You had me worried sick.”

“I beg your pardon? What’s going on here?” the confused professor questioned.

“I thought something happened to you, Professor,” Daring Do explained. “Why didn’t you write sooner?”

Prof. Ravenhoof laughed. “Whatever would have given you the notion that something happened to me?”

“You should’ve been back a week ago.”

The professor put his hoof to Daring Do’s forehead. “Are you keeping hydrated? I still have a month of my sabbatical to go, you know that. I wrote you not two days ago. Surely, you’ve received my letter, no?”

Daring Do looked at Brumby. She could see that he was just as confused as her.

“Ravenhoof…” Brumby started. “Do you know what day it is?”

“Thursday,” the professor answered.

“Do you know today’s date?”

“Why, it’s the sixth.”

“Professor, today is the first of the new month,” said Daring Do.

“Oh, that’s preposterous! Today is the sixth,” Ravenhoof replied.

“Crikey, I think you must’ve knocked your noggin a good one, mate,” said Brumby.

Just then, the ground began to rumble. The stalls and kiosks of the bazaar started to tremble and shake.

“Earthquake!” a pony shouted out above the crowd.

As the intensity of the earthquake increased, everypony sought shelter as the city was struck by a sudden sandstorm.

“Get you two inside,” Prof. Ravenhoof advised as he nudged his adventurous friends towards an open door.

He followed them inside. All the doors and windows were battened down and boarded. The sand-filled sky was as thick as burlap. The sun became a silhouette against the swirling sand.

The kingdom became dark…

The kingdom became silent…

***

Daring Do and Brumby were lying in the sand. What a storm it was. Daring Do wearily opened her eyes as she sat up.

“Ow,” she groaned, rubbing her noggin, “I hit my head on something.”

“Yeah. My head,” Brumby replied.

Composing themselves, the adventurers looked around. What was once a calm ocean of sand was now a range of dunes.

“Where did that storm come from?” Daring Do asked.

“No idea,” said Brumby.

The Reflector was partially buried; its bow and port side were sticking out from the sand. Beside it lay its deflated silver balloon. Daring Do and Brumby worked together to free it from the sand. They carefully looked the airship over. Thankfully, it was still in one piece, and the balloon free of holes. They were soon airborne, and a short while after, they soared into the kingdom of Saddle Arabia. Having found a place to land, they touched ground and began their search for Prof. Ravenhoof.

The bazaar was alive with ponies buying, selling, and trading goods. It was also bustling with activities. There were puppet shows, fire-eaters, magicians, and charlatans.

“Naharak sa’eed, friends!” greeted a vendor. “Could I offer you some tamees?”

“You must try my sleeg,” said another vendor.

Daring Do paused. There was something familiar about this.

“Uh, Mr. Cloverpatch?” she began. “Does this seem familiar to you?”

“Familiar?” Brumby asked.

As she and Brumby approached Sahir’s show, Daring Do felt a sense of déjà vu. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but all of this seemed just so familiar. Could it all have been a dream? She couldn’t shake the feeling. Suddenly, she had gotten the strangest notion that Prof. Ravenhoof was nearby. She looked about the crowd, searching. Then she spotted him. “Mr. Cloverpatch, look!”

“I don’t believe it,” Brumby smiled.

“Prof. Ravenhoof!” Daring Do called out.

The professor turned. “Daring Do. Brumby. What a pleasure! I wasn’t expecting to see you. What are you two doing here?”

“Prof. Ravenhoof, I don’t know what’s going on here, but it can’t be good.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Come with me.” Daring Do pulled the professor aside. Away from the crowd, she explained, “Professor, I’ve got a feeling that we’ve already lived this moment.”

“What are you saying?” questioned Ravenhoof.

“If I’m right in my surmise, we’re stuck in a time loop.”

Before the professor could respond, a haze of purple smoke billowed above the ground.

“What’s this?” asked Brumby. “Purple fog?”

An omnipresent voice rang out, “My little ponies!”

Everypony in the bazaar stopped at the sound of the voice. Then, in a puff of smoke and flash of light, there appeared before them a Jinni. The ponies trembled in fear.

The Jinni gave a hearty chuckle, but when he saw that neither Daring Do, Brumby, nor Prof. Ravenhoof seemed frightened, he questioned them, “You are not afraid of me?”

Fearlessly, Daring Do responded, “What reason have we to be afraid of you?” Having fought her share of thieves, rivals, and monsters, the Jinni would just be another baddie in her rogues’ gallery.

“You’re the Jinni of Nibiru,” realized Prof. Ravenhoof.

The Jinni proudly grinned, impressed that the professor knew who he was.

“I’ve read about you,” continued the professor. “Moshawith the Sorcerer imprisoned you in a bottle which he hid somewhere nopony could find.”

“Curses!” roared the Jinni. “I have been imprisoned in that bottle for eight hundred moons! Now Saddle Arabia will face my fury. I have imprisoned the kingdom in an hourglass, doomed to relive the same moment of time for as long as I was in that bottle.”

“We are stuck in a time loop!” Daring Do authenticated.

What an awful thought to think that Prof. Ravenhoof and all of Saddle Arabia had been trapped for a whole month in the Jinni’s hourglass. They were victims of his spell and had no idea of it whatsoever.

“You best get comfortable,” said the Jinni, “because you’ll be stuck here for the next eight hundred moons!”

Daring Do had faced terrors and threats before, and the Jinni would be no different. She couldn’t let him get away with trapping all of Saddle Arabia in an hourglass. There has to be something she can do. From her experience fighting bad guys, she knew asking was out of the question. She had to do something fast. The time loop would reset and she may not get this chance a second time.

“So, you’re some kind of all-powerful Jinni, huh?” Daring Do questioned.

“Na’am. Yes, little Pegasus. I am the mystical, all-powerful, all-knowing Jinni of Nibiru.”

“Something just doesn’t make sense. If you’re as powerful as you say, how is it it took you eight hundred moons to escape the bottle?”

“Silence, pony!” the Jinni roared.

“Uh, Daring Do, mate,” a concerned Brumby began, “what are you doing?”

“I’m getting us outta here,” Daring Do replied in a hushed voice. She turned back to the Jinni. “I don’t believe you. Prove your might by making it snow.”

“Snow?!” laughed the Jinni. Was that the best she could think of?

He clapped his hands twice. In a flash of light, all the sand became snow. The light drizzle of sand in the air – on account of being in an hourglass – became snowflakes. The temperature suddenly dropped as the weather became like winter. Everypony began to shiver; they weren’t dressed for such weather.

“There’s your precious snow,” grumbled the Jinni. “Stand aside now. It’s time the hourglass inverts itself and you will all be sorry.”

Cr-r-r-k-k! There came an omnipresent cracking, followed by a groaning sound. R-r-r-r…

Daring Do glanced upwards. “I don’t think we’re the ones who are gonna be sorry,” she said with a smirk.

Though it had become icy cold inside the hourglass, outside, however, the desert was still blazing. Daring Do knew that this sudden change in temperature could only mean one thing…

The cracking grew louder. The Jinni looked up into the sky. The firmament cracked more until it suddenly shattered. Wisps of magic began to swirl swiftly about Saddle Arabia. In a flash of white light, the spell was broken; the kingdom was free of its prison, catching up with the true present. The snow turned back to sand.

“How dare you deceive me!” the Jinni was furious. “Hear me! You will pay.”

Just then, the adventurers heard a sound. It was muffled and distant. It sounded like a voice, a voice calling for help. As it sounded, the bottle tied to the Jinni’s sash shook and glowed.

“I say, what is that?” Prof. Ravenhoof wondered.

“…Help…” the voice called out.

“What’s in there?” Daring Do demanded an answer.

“Crikey, I think somepony’s trapped in there,” said Brumby.

“…Help…” the muffled voice cried out again.

The bottle glowed brighter and shook more violently.

Grabbing the bottle, the Jinni scolded, “Silence, Sorcerer!”

The voice yelled out, “Get me out!”

Daring Do spread her wings and leapt into the air. In one swift swoop, she swooshed past the Jinni, swiping the bottle from his grasp.

“Foolish Pegasus, give that back!” commanded the Jinni.

“I don’t think so,” Daring Do remarked.

She opened the bottle. A bright light radiated from within. The three adventurers shielded their eyes. When the blinding light faded away, a Unicorn stallion in a fine silk kaftan and turban stood before them. It was Moshawith the Sorcerer!

“Jinni of Nibiru,” Moshawith began, “your reign of mayhem ends here.”

His horn began to glow as he used his magic to levitate the bottle, pointing it towards the Jinni. The mouth of the bottle became like a vortex and began to suck the Jinni inside.

“No!” cried the Jinni. “No-o-o!”

The Jinni became like smoke and was whisked into the bottle. Moshawith quickly sealed it shut.

Looking upon Daring Do, the Sorcerer spoke, “Shukran gazeelan. Thank you very much. You have saved Saddle Arabia!”

***

A great ceremony was held in the palace where King Hosan and Queen Faras commemorated Daring Do for confronting the Jinni, freeing Saddle Arabia and Moshawith the Sorcerer.

King Hosan began, “Daring Do, for showing bravery and intellect, you have saved Saddle Arabia from the Jinni’s enchantment.”

Queen Faras spoke, “We bestow upon you this medal and these gifts as tokens of our gratitude.”

Everypony in the court applauded and rejoiced.

“Salamo alaykom and may Harmony abound!” King Hosan exclaimed.

After the celebration, King Hosan, Queen Faras, and Moshawith the Sorcerer met with Daring Do, Brumby, and Prof. Ravenhoof.

“Thank you again, Miss Daring Do, for helping us,” said Queen Faras. “Shukran gazeelan.”

“Having the Jinni conjure snow was clever,” Moshawith acknowledged. “How did you think of it?”

Daring Do explained, “I remembered a story Prof. Ravenhoof told me: he had a mug of peppermint hot chocolate, which he took with him out in the snow. On account of the changing temperature, the glass broke.”

“That was my favorite mug, too,” said the professor.

“Something’s got me flummoxed,” began Brumby. “If the bottle the Jinni was in was hidden away, how did somepony find it?”

“It was more than a lucky guess,” replied Moshawith. “It was locked in a vault. There’s no way anypony could’ve gotten in without the password.”

“Who were they?” Daring Do asked.

“I don’t know. They were four stallions. One was a burly brute, another wore sunglasses, the third wore a black hat. Their boss was a stern, stubble-faced fellow.”

“Dr. Caballeron,” Daring Do muttered.

“Not to worry,” said King Hosan. “We will make certain that no pony will release the Jinni again.”

After all, was said and done, Prof. Ravenhoof returned to his sabbatical; Brumby, to Alto Terre; and Daring Do, to her forest home where she began working on her next book. Prof. Ravenhoof continued to write to her, and when he got back, she and Brumby were there to greet him.

***

In Ponyville, Rainbow Dash eagerly waited in line at the bookstore with Twilight.

“I can’t believe it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “We are first in line to get the new Daring Do book!”

“Plus, A.K. Yearling will be here to sign autographs,” said Twilight.

When the doors were opened, Rainbow Dash hurried inside. She flew straight to the table where A.K. Yearling inscribed her name in her latest book. Recognizing Rainbow Dash, she gave her a wink. Rainbow Dash returned the gesture and hurried home to begin reading Daring Do and the Sands of Time.

###

Special thanks to my friend, Taicho, for helping me write this story! I couldn’t have done it without him.