Both Sides Now

The lobby of the Saddleton revealed it to be thoroughly modern on the inside, stark white and gleaming metallic finish, in contrast to its classic exterior. Rarity strode across the marble floor, intent on asking at reception which room a mister Fair Banks was staying in, but she needn't have bothered; he sprang out of a seat tucked in the far corner and flew to intercept her, his goggles swaying at his neck.

"Rarity!" he exclaimed. "Up early in the morning, another admirable quality. Shall we retreat to my temporary abode, so that I can wow you with my presentation?"

Rarity never broke stride. "We shall," she said, her hooves clacking against the floor.

-/-

"...And she knocks the Ram King into the gorgon's pit, crash!, and close-up on his face as the shadow falls over him and he's turned to stone!"

Fair Banks held up his hooves in defense, mimicking the pose the wicked Ram King would be frozen in.

"Then Daring dives into the pit! She shuts her eyes and she's searching for the mirror shield. Where is it? Wasn't it here? She can't open her eyes and risk being petrified by the gorgon, but we can hear the hissing snakes coming closer! She's scrabbling with her hooves - she's found the shield! She grabs it and rolls away just in time to dodge one of the snakes striking with its deadly venom!

"She's adjusting the mirror, looking around the pit - there's the Ram King! The scepter is still in his cloven hoof! Daring edges towards the gorgon behind the mirrored shield, and when she's close enough... she tosses it, stunning the snarling beast, and snatching the scepter! She flies to freedom! Disaster is averted, the tsunami can be stopped and the pearl divers' village is saved!"

Rarity sat upright in her seat. She didn't think being at the edge of one's seat was more than a figure of speech, but listening to Banks' pitch, she could see how a pony more enthralled with Daring Do's derring-do might be inclined to make the figurative literal. His enthusiasm was infectious.

"Hurrah!" she exclaimed, and politely applauded.

"And then," Fair Banks said, holding a hoof out to a distant horizon that existed far beyond the walls of his hotel suite, "Daring Do gallops off into the sunset, on her way to more thrilling adventures in far-flung lands." He traced an invisible Daring Do's progress into an imaginary sunset.

"I must say," Rarity said, "you do paint quite the vivid picture with just words."

Banks wiped his forehead with the back of his hoof, the toll of putting on a one-pony performance evident in his labored breathing. "So imagine how much better it's going to be up on the big screen in full color. One hundred times the grandeur, one thousand times the spectacle."

She could see it in her mind, too. The humble and traditional garb of the sheltered pearl divers, the splendor of the court of the Ram King, the mysterious and otherworldly priests of the Sunken Temple, and of course the Ram King himself, clad in bejeweled golden armor. She could put her stamp on it all, her mark on Fair Banks' vision of Daring Do's world. Every pony who bought a ticket would see her work; not all of them would appreciate it in the way she wanted, of course, but the kind of reach it might have... it would surpass any fashion show out of Ponyville and the occasional magazine write-up, that was for sure.

And yet Fair Banks was looking at her with all the hope in the world in his eyes, waiting for her to agree to his proposal. She was the one being pitched to. She was the one being convinced, because as far as he knew, she was the pony who would hold open the door for him that led to bigger and better things.

This was arrival. Rarity had made it.

She gave a coy shrug and said, "It sounds impossible to refuse," noting the way Banks' eyes lit up at her acceptance. "I do have a question, though: which novel inspired this story? I'm not greatly familiar with Daring Do in the same way as my friend Twilight, but I have read them and I can't seem to recall a Sunken Temple or a Ram King."

"Ah, that's the beautiful part, the picture's a completely original story given the go-ahead by A. K. Yearling herself. Nothing the audience has ever seen before, no rehashes, no adaptations, a complete mystery even to the die-hard fans. And -- and here's the really brilliant part -- there's vital information about A. K. Yearling's next Daring Do book cleverly sprinkled through the film! Everypony needs to get to the theater before it comes out or they won't know the whole story, then they see it again to catch the little clues they missed. The film promotes the book, the book promotes the film -- cross-promotion, it's the way of the future."

Rarity smiled to herself, thinking of how much Twilight would be overjoyed to be hearing this inside information, seeing her bright eyes and eager smile.

-/-

Back at the hotel, her room felt very quiet. Empty. She still had the rest of the day, but Rarity found she didn't want much to use it.

She drew herself a bath in the shared bathroom and submerged herself in the warm water, dipping her head under and wetting her mane. This was how she would relax herself, but today it didn't relax her.

An idea struck her. She tested the door to Twilight's room with her magic, and found it opened. She could see her bed, a thin sliver of the window, and Twilight's trunk full of books. Aha. She bade the topmost one come to her. It was Understanding 'The Underworld'.

Rarity summoned her glasses from her own room, turned to the first page, and started reading. This, she felt, she could pass the rest of the day doing.