Line #26 Recap/DaringDoAndTheRubyOfTheBlankVillage


1	''Daring Do and the Ruby of the Blank Village'' is the third book in the ''JustForFun/DaringDo'' ExpandedUniverse, written by Gusty Lulamoon. This book is notable for unwittingly launching what would become known as the ''Tinker's Series'', thanks to its introduction of [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks the Blank Village and Greyhoof]]. Lulamoon dedicates the book to her equinology lecturer [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Donitz]].
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3	!! Short Summary
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5	While Daring and Storm Talon are with a group investigating ruins in the Everfree Forest just outside Ponyville, they find a village where nopony has a cutie mark. Two of the party are killed for having cutie marks, and that is not even the village's deepest secret.
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7	!! ''Daring Do and the Ruby of the Blank Village'' contains examples of:
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9	* AscendedFanon: To ''VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks''; when ''The Cutie Pox'' aired, many fans of ''Story of the Blanks'' began speculating that a Cutie Pox outbreak may have been behind Sunny Town's hostility towards those who bear Cutie Marks.
10	* BewareTheQuietOnes: [[spoiler:Starlet. Calm and reserved when we first meet her in flashback, insanely quick and AxCrazy when it comes to chasing down Ruby.]]
11	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Daring's rescue of Sunset from Nightmare Starlet and the bone fiends.]]
12	* CallItKarma: [[spoiler:The entire town is cursed into becoming Nightmares for what happened to Ruby.]]
13	* CrapsaccharineWorld: Sunnytown.
14	* CuriosityKilledTheCast: [[spoiler:Albeit in a different sense. Ruby's magnifying glass cutie mark, based on her knack for finding things, triggered the village into killing her.]]
15	* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Starlet dies moments after getting a cutie mark that represents her talent for [[AxCrazy sacrificing other ponies]]. Then Roneo gets his for [[WebVideo/FamiliarFaces irony appreciation]].]]
16	* DiedDuringProduction: Lulamoon was working on a sequel when she died in the Everfree in mysterious circumstances. Her death remains yet unsolved, but there are signs of violence.
17	* EnchantedForest: Everfree Forest.
18	* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: [[spoiler:The Nightmares are walking corpses. Crosses with OurZombiesAreDifferent; they're intelligent, they're born from a curse, they can feign life, and in their real form, they're blackened skeletal creatures.]]
19	* AFeteWorseThanDeath: A subversion. [[spoiler:The townsponies never ''intended'' to kill someone during the party, but Ruby's Cutie Mark appearing forced their hooves. The arrival of Daring's party of explorers forces their hooves again.]]
20	* GlowingEyesOfDoom: [[spoiler:The Nightmares and Ruby,]] although the latter is a red herring.
21	* GroundhogDayLoop: It's heavily implied that every year [[spoiler:the town's last party is acted out as it happened then, and everypony (except Mitta) just pretends that nothing is wrong in order to entice new visitors in.]]
22	* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: Part of the terms of the agreement with the dark power of Sunnytown is that the memory of their past was to be suppressed. When Mitta starts to feel remorse for betraying Ruby, she also starts to remember. Greyhoof has her killed immediately.
23	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: In the flashbacks, only Mitta and Greyhoof remember anything substantial of their lives prior to the founding of Sunnytown beyond the plague. Greyhoof's reaction indicates that not only was he responsible, but he was scared that the information might spread.
24	* LostWorld: Sunny Town.
25	* NoManOfWomanBorn: Near the climax, Ahuizotl taunts Daring after she steals the artifact that the Nightmares will not listen to "Those who would bear the Curse Marks". Completely nonchalant, she passes it to Professor Storm Talon.
26	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: While the others fear Cutie Marks because of their experiences with the Plague, Starlet seems to hate anything sentient that isn't a blank Earth Pony. While the others killed their victims and burned their bodies to prevent the spreading the disease, Starlet took pleasure in cutting off their horns and wings ''while they were still alive''.
27	* StealthPun: Roneo's cutie mark, resembling an clothing iron - see Death By Irony above.
28	* StepfordSmiler: Greyhoof was pretty brutal in suppressing Gladstone and Three Leaf's memories.
29	* TheseHandsHaveKilled: [[spoiler:Mitta holds herself personally responsible for Ruby's death due to her failure to intervene and prevent the other townsponies from killing her.]]
30	* TownWithADarkSecret: Sunny Town, of course.
31	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: With the exception of Starlet, none of the Blanks pay any attention to non-ponies like Storm and Ahuizotl.
32	* VanishingVillage: The village is little more than ruins most days of the year. Only days and nights of the full moon does it reveal itself, leading to speculation that Nightmare Moon was involved in its creation/cursing.
33	* WelcomeToCorneria: In the modern time, Gladstone and Three Leaf always repeats the same static dialog. It's unnerving.

Context Recap / DaringDoAndTheRubyOfTheBlankVillage