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Context Recap / DaringDoAndTheQuestForTheSapphireStone

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1The first and most frequently adapted book in the bestselling ''JustForFun/DaringDo'' [[ShowWithinAShow series]], written by A.K. Yearling. It introduces [[TheHero Daring Do]], [[BigBad Ahuizotl]] and, within flashbacks, Coco Pie and Darrin Do.
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3!! Short Summary
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5After crash landing in the jungle, Daring Do must elude Ahuizotl and his minions as she attempts to recover the eponymous stone from an ancient temple.
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8The [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E16ReadItAndWeep best known film adaptation]] was directed by [[Creator/JJAbrams J.J.]] Thistle-Whistle and adapted for the screen by Minty Coral. It stars [[Creator/HarrisonFord Hairerion Trot]] (reprising her Bridleway role) as Daring Do and [[Creator/PeterCullen Pigroot Cullen]] as the voice of the MGI Ahuizotl. [[Creator/EllenDeGeneres Ellen De Jennet]] and [[Creator/DanteBasco Dante Bronco]] make brief appearances as Coco and Darrin.
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10!!''Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone'' contains examples of:
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12* AbnormalAmmo: One death trap that Daring evades are ravaging crocodiles -- ''from the ceiling''.
13* AdventurerArchaeologist: Daring Do, [[TropeCodifier codifying the trope in the process]].
14* [[KnifeOutline Arrow Outline]]: One trap triggers a volley of arrows that form the shape of a pegasus pony on the opposite wall.
15* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Daring Do is attacked by a cheetah, a panther, a tiger, a lynx, and [[TheRuntAtTheEnd an adorable pussycat]].
16* BigNo: Ahuizotl lets one out after Daring Do steals the Sapphire Statuette away from him.
17* BoobyTrap: Naturally. This one includes:
18** RiseToTheChallenge
19** SpikesOfDoom
20** TheWallsAreClosingIn
21** And a variation where [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill all three happen at once]]. With added poisonous animals.
22* CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase: Sets the trend for the later books.
23* [[BondVillainStupidity Con Villain Stupidity]]: Ahuizotl captures his nemesis and puts her in a DeathTrap. Not for the last time, or the first apparently.
24* ConvectionSchmonvection: Daring Do's escape from a room filling with lava, at one point with her standing inches above it (bare-hooved, even), without harm. She even gets a face-full of steam with no ill effects.
25* CoversAlwaysLie: The scene depicted on the cover never actually happens in the book.
26* DeathCourse: Several.
27* DeathTrap: Ahuizotl puts Daring Do in one after he captures her, [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim instead of just having his animals just maul her to death]]. Then again, it was a really, really ''good'' death trap.
28* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "Sapphire Stone" is a [[ShapedLikeItself tautology]]: "Sapphire" already means "dark blue precious stone".
29** Unless it's the ''adjective'' sapphire, which just means "dark blue".
30* DramaPreservingHandicap: Daring's wing is injured upon making it to the island where the eponymous stone is found, and she's unable to fly for a few days. Conveniently, none of the temple's traps require her to fly, though it would have made it easier.
31* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Because Yearling didn't know it would be a series yet, ''Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone'' is the only book not to explicitly include supernatural elements; the Sapphire Stone is never even hinted to have any supernatural powers. It is also the only book where Daring goes on the expedition completely by herself (though Darrin and Coco make brief appearances in flashback as she arranges transport), she does not own Calypso yet, and it is surprisingly short, making it seem no less epic but set in a vastly smaller world than what is established later.
32* EvilIsHammy: Ahuizotl
33* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Ahuizotl's eyes are a little ''too'' close to his nose.
34** Or, if you compare his head to a canine's, he has eyes where his nostrils should be (with his real, small nose crammed between them).
35* FailedASpotCheck: The book opens with Daring Do "surrounded by the sounds of predators", upon which one particularly nasty-looking cat appears [[StealthHiBye RIGHT IN HER FACE.]]
36* HandicappedBadass: Daring Do spends the whole story with a damaged wing, unable to fly.
37* ImprobableWeaponUser: One of Ahuizotl's cats is holding a mace as they corner Daring Do.
38* InMediasRes: The book starts off with, "As Daring Do trekked through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the cool blue sky, but her crash-landing in the jungle had injured her wing and she was grounded for a few days. ''Few days. It might as well be a few months. Or a few years!''" The reader only finds out who she is, why she was on a plane, why she is on this mission, and her relationship with Ahuizotl through flashbacks over the course of the next few hundred pages. But before exposition, we get ACTION!
39* [[IndyHatRoll Daring Hat Roll]]: A variation, as Daring doesn't have to rescue her hat.
40* {{Irony}}: Ahuizotl (who, as in [[Myth/AztecMythology Aztack mythology]], is dog-like) surrounds himself with cats, and even has a cat whistle.
41* LargeHam: '''Ahuizotl.'''
42* MacGuffin: The Sapphire Stone/Statue. Apparently Ahuizotl wants it as part of his plan to take over the world, but it's far from clear how.
43* MacGuffinDeliveryService: Ahuizotl captures Daring Do and steals the Sapphire MacGuffin as soon as she escapes from the temple with it.
44* [[{{Mayincatec}} Hayincatack]]: The architectural style of the temple where the Sapphire Statue is kept. (However, the statue itself looks like a two-headed [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Anubis]].)
45* MinimalistCast: The bulk of the book is the cat-and-mouse game between Daring and Ahuizotl, and the only other characters given a speaking role are Darrin and Coco, both in brief flashbacks. Some adaptations, such as the Pony in a Box radio series, add appearances by university students and staff such as Masra and Storm Talon, though the Applewood film adaptation sticks closer to the text.
46* MisplacedWildlife: Parodied -- a lynx, a panther, a cheetah, a tiger, and ''an adorable putty tat'' all chase Daring Do through the South Equestrian jungle. Possibly justified as they're actually Ahuizotl's henchmen.
47* OhNoNotAgain: Daring Do says "Uhhh, not again." when Ahuizotl flips a switch and leaves her tied up in a DeathTrap.
48* {{Padding}}: Dear Celestia, if it weren't for the SceneryPorn every other chapter, cascading action in the form of repetitive chase scenes, and flashbacks included to give Daring [[TheWatson somepony to exposit to]], this story would only have lasted about fifty pages. Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad in this case, as the book is somehow just as effective as any of its less padded sequels at drawing in new fans.
49* PantheraAwesome: Ahuizotl employs a pack of them, including a tiger, a panther, a cheetah, a lynx, and [[TheRuntAtTheEnd an adorable little]] [[CuteKitten white kitty cat]].
50* PinballProjectile: Daring Do's safari hat when she launches it to release the lever in the deathtrap is one of these.
51* RightHandCat: The fluffy white kitten from earlier in the book, to Ahuizotl.
52* RougeAnglesOfSatin: While talking with Darrin in flashback en route to the island, Daring makes a passing reference to a university page called [[UnfortunateNames Herpy]]. Following numerous complaints, the author clarified that this was a misprint of Harpy, but due to the inexplicable popularity of the as yet unseen and undescribed character, she would [[ThrowItIn maintain the misspelling]] if the character did make an appearance. The complaints have since died down somewhat, [[http://joestevensinc.deviantart.com/art/Equestria-Inquirer-24-283453811 though not entirely]].
53* TheRuntAtTheEnd: Ahuizotl has the aforementioned deadly feline predators, and... the adorable little kitten.
54* SayMyName: ''"CURSE YOU DARING-DOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"''
55* SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying: Rats aren't predators? Oatwell knew better; the threat of hungry rats is how [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Whinnyston Smith]] is made to give up.
56** The rats are replaced with sheep in most recent adaptations for precisely this reason.
57* StealthPun: The cat whistle.[[labelnote:*]][[DontExplainTheJoke Would that make it a cat-call?]][[/labelnote]]
58* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Ahuizotl traps Daring Do in a room with [[TheWallsAreClosingIn closing spike walls]], [[SpidersAreScary poisonous spiders]], and cobras. All while the room is filling with [[RiseToTheChallenge quicksand]].
59* TitleConfusion: The Sapphire Stone is set into a small blue statue, and so the MacGuffin is referred to as "the statue" very frequently in the action and dialogue. Because of this, even the most pedantic fans tend to call ''Quest for the Sapphire Stone'' "Quest for the Sapphire Statue" about half the time.
60* [[TwoFistedTales Two-Hoofed Tales]]
61* VineSwing: Daring Do swings over a canyon on a vine to escape from the predators chasing her, and again to snatch the statue from Ahuizotl.

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