Daring Do and the Cursed Tome
Daring Do and the Secret of the Cursed Tome
a fanfiction by Twilight Sparkle
Daring Do trotted into the dark library with slow, hesitant steps. Other than the unlocked front door, there was no sign anypony else was there. The close stacked bookshelves loomed in the moonlight, reminding Daring Do of any number of ancient temples she had explored. To be honest, she thought, I think I'd rather be avoiding traps than be lost in here all night. “Hello? Dawn? Anypony here?”
Nopony answered her shout. Not even an echo came back to meet her. Grumbling, Daring Do reached into her jacket and pulled out the letter that had brought her here in the first place. Unfolding it, she read the neat, even hornwriting for what must have been the hundredth time.
Daring Do--
Your reputation precedes you, and I have need of your unique skills and expertise. Meet me in the Bridlevale Central Library at nine o'clock. The front door will be open.
--Dawn Glimmer
Daring Do took a seat at one of the research benches. She set her hat down and ran her hooves through her hair. This wouldn't be the first time somepony had asked to meet with her and not shown up. Sometimes it was because they got kidnapped. Sometimes they were leading her to a trap. But never before had she just felt stood up.
“There you are,” a voice called behind her. Hoofsteps approached, muffled against the carpet.
Daring Do turned to look and found a bespectacled mauve unicorn approaching her. “I'm Dawn Glimmer,” she said, her voice brisk and businesslike. “You got my letter, I presume?”
“Yeah,” replied Daring Do. She collected her hat from the table and resettled it on her head – no reason not to look every inch who she was. “What's all this about?”
“I'm the head librarian here,” Dawn said. “Do you mind walking with me while I talk? There's something I'd like to show you.”
Daring Do shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
Dawn Glimmer led her back into the stacks. Daring could see a light up ahead. “Why are you still at the library this late?” she asked. “Surely nopony comes in at this hour.”
“I'm... I'm working,” Dawn answered. “I don't get back to my apartment much, so I set a cot up in here.” Her horn glowed, and she pulled open the office door. “After you.”
Daring Do stepped through and sighed. Inside was just more library, as far as she could tell. It was better lit than the main stacks outside the door, but it was still nothing more than stacks and stacks of bookshelves.
“Recently, we received a book from an anonymous donor,” Dawn said, shutting the door behind her. She reached up with her magic and grabbed a safety deposit box off a high shelf. “The more I've looked into it... well, ponies who have possessed this book have come to unusual and terrible fates.”
“What kind of fates?”
“I couldn't come up with much concrete evidence. But I did come across the story of Bright Spark, an up and coming magical researcher. His lab was consumed in a mysterious fire. This book was on one of his shelves, untouched by the flames.” She opened the box to reveal a book bound in black leather – leather! – and decorated with small bones. “The more I learned about it, the more I didn't want to keep this thing around. I don't believe in curses, but I just wanted to make sure that the same didn't happen to the library here.”
“Or to you,” Daring Do said. “Since you run the place, doesn't that mean you're in danger too?”
“I suppose,” Dawn said after a moment. “But I don't have much here. I'm just one pony.”
“Surely your friends would worry about you.” Daring Do stepped in closer.
Dawn Glimmer's eyes dropped to the ground. “I don't exactly have time for friends, Miss Do. I have too much to get done. The entire city depends on this library. Every filly and colt who becomes an engineer, or a researcher, or an adventurer, because they read something here? They depend on me. I can't let anything bad happen to them.”
“But who's going to make sure nothing bad happens to you?”
Dawn looked up to find Daring Do's face inches from her own. The shadows seemed to move in around the two of them, pressing them into an intimate bubble of light. “I-- I--” she stammered. “I suppose that's why I asked for your help.”
Daring Do puffed out her chest. “Aww, I'm a sucker for a pretty mare. Don't worry, I'll look into it for you.”
“Pretty?” Dawn Glimmer blushed, brightly enough that Daring Do could see it even in the gloom of the library. “I... I don't know what you mean, I'm just worried for my books, and the other ponies who work here.”
“And you think of other ponies before yourself,” Daring Do said, taking a step closer to the librarian. “You know, I find that very attr--
~~~
There was a knock on the door of the Ponyville Library. “Hey Twilight,” an unmistakably brash voice called from the other side. “You around?”
“GWAH!” Twilight Sparkle jumped at Rainbow Dash's voice. Her horn glowed briefly as the door opened, grabbing a random stack of books off the shelf and dropping them onto the desk in front of her, covering up the parchment she had been writing her fanfic on.
She tried, and failed, to reach a casual pose by the time Rainbow Dash entered. “Ahh-- RIGHT! Yes. I am here, Rainbow Dash. Doing research. With books.” She gestured to the chaotic stack of unopened books in front of her. “Many many books.”
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “It doesn't look like you're reading.”
“I'm taking a break. SOOO, what, exactly, are you doing here?” Twilight tried to stifle a nervous chuckle, but her attempt turned it into a creepy cackle instead. She clamped a hoof over her mouth and smiled.
Rainbow Dash peered closer. “Really?”
With great effort of will, Twilight brought her expression back to something resembling normalcy. “Yes. Really.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but eventually gave up and shrugged. “I was just wondering if you had the new Daring Do. It came out today, right?”
Midnight the previous night, actually. Twilight was running on less sleep than usual, having stayed up the whole night to finish it. “Well, the library doesn't have a copy yet, but you're welcome to borrow my personal copy, Dash.” She magically pulled the last book off of her Daring Do shelf and passed it over. “Here you go, Daring Do and the Mystery of the Copper Throne. It's a good one. Make sure you have the time to read the whole second half in one sitting, you won't want to put it down.”
“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash grabbed the book covetously. Then, on impulse, she walked over and embraced Twilight tightly. “You're the best, Twi! We should talk about it later!”
Even in the brightly lit library, Rainbow Dash couldn't see Twilight's blush. “I... I think I'd like that,” she stammered.
“Hey, I was wondering. I know you love books and all, but how come you like Daring Do so much? I didn't think you'd like adventure stories.”
Because Daring Do was my first fictional crush? Twilight thought, reminiscing briefly to happy and confused days reading and rereading the first few books in the series, trying to figure out why this mare from a book was so much more appealing than the colts in her class... “Just because I'm an egghead doesn't mean I can't appreciate a mare that kicks flank,” she said finally. It was true, in its own way.
Rainbow Dash grinned. “Cool! Well, I gotta find a good cloud to read this on before Weather Patrol starts getting onto me about airspace regulations. See ya!” With that, Rainbow Dash rocketed back out the door, book in tow.
Twilight had to wait a few moments for her heart to stop pounding and her head to stop buzzing before she trusted herself with magic again. She made sure that all of her camouflage books were back in their proper place on the shelves before taking up quill and parchment once more.
“So,” she muttered. “Where was I? Let's see, Daring Do and Dawn Glimmer were about to...”
