Daring plopped down at a computer in the griffon kingdom. It was convenient, sometimes, to have these "communication stations" spreading so far. It meant she could keep in touch with her contacts over vast distances instantly. It used to take days or weeks for letters to find her, and now she needed merely click a few icons to get the latest news.
"Oh, Marigold," she said with a chuckle, as she read over one amusing E-mail.
She typed out a response: "Marigold, I assure you, the Ruby Eye of Doom is entirely safe to handle and keep in your museum. It only works in conjunction with the Emerald Eye of Demise, which I've sent safely to the other half of the world. Just be sure to keep it under high security, as with all magical artifacts."
After that, it was mostly a matter of clearing out the annoying fanmail. Not to say that she didn't appreciate her fans - customers, she caught herself thinking - but she simply didn't care to reply to every excited filly and colt who discovered Yearling's E-mail address. She mass-selected several clusters of E-mails and deleted them at once. She almost found herself deleting an E-mail from her #1 fan before she stopped herself.
E-mails from Rainbow Dash were always... interesting. Mostly, the cyan mare would just gush about how good Daring's books were, beg for spoilers (even though she knew perfectly well that Daring didn't have any), or brag about her own exploits with the Elements of Harmony, all of which were always written with atrocious spelling and grammar. (Hey, she was an author. She noticed these things.) Today, she was being linked to a few websites, though.
"Hey, A.K.! I thouhgt u might like 2 chek thees out/ the stories are really awsome! Not as awsome as the real thing that u write, but so!!! TOTALLY!!! AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yep. Very definitely from Rainbow Dash, Daring thought with a sigh.
She looked skeptically at the links. "daringdofiction.net", "archeologyfordummies.com", "daringfanfics.com"... However creative or uncreative the titles, they all linked to the same thing: Daring Do fansites. She felt another heavy sigh pass her lips.
She typed out a response: "Alright, Rainbow Dash. I'm not pressed for time right now, so once I'm done with reading my E-mails, I'll check these websites out. Maybe read some of the stories. How many of these sites are you running, anyway?"
She meant the last sentence as a joke, and smiled as she sent it. She had barely started reading another E-mail when she saw a reply pop into her inbox. Damn, that mare was fast.
"4," the E-mail said shortly. Daring facehoofed.
The first fanfiction she delved into was an action-adventure not too dissimilar from the very things she experienced. It involved the crown of some ancient diamond dog king, which was revitalizing the spirits inside of the castle to guard itself. Ghosts were an enemy she'd never actually seen, but with all of the ancient magic she worked around, she couldn't say for sure they didn't exist.
It was a three-chapter story, plenty short enough for her to read in one sitting. Overall, she was impressed. The writer clearly understood the three-act system (dividing the chapters appropriately), and had a solid grasp of spelling and grammar. Sure, there were errors, but even Daring made those - that was what editors were for. It wasn't something that threw her out of her seat, but she liked it.
The second story was apparently a romantic "one-shot", as the description read. Daring took this to mean "single chapter". She opened it skeptically and groaned.
"With Ahuizotl," she said disbelievingly. "'Enemies bound in secret romance'? What kind of cliche tripe is this?"
Fearing for her own sanity, she read it. It was every bit as bad as she feared. Sure, the writing was decent, but the story had no substance beyond that the writer, for whatever reason, felt like Daring Do should be in love with her nemesis. Daring wanted to puke at the idea. If she'd seen a grammatical error, it might have pushed her over the edge.
Wanting to be rid of this story as quickly as possible, she went back a page even before finishing reading. She decided to consult a different website for the next story.
The third story she happened upon was another romance, but this one, thank Celestia, did not revolve around a relationship with Ahuizotl. Instead, it regarded her and... Marigold, the museum manager. Well, not Marigold, of course, but the character inspired by her: Dusted Bones.
Daring sighed heavily as she read the story. There was obvious need of proofreading in the writing itself, but the story was... somewhat solid. Shaky, but not as bad as the last one. It came off as an overall pulpy, illiterate romance. Daring might've even liked it a little, if not for one tiny detail: Daring was not into mares. Not that the author could have known that, of course. Daring's sexuality never came up in her books. It still threw her off. She might have to make a public note of her sexuality in one of her later books.
The fourth story was another refreshingly adventure-esque one. In it, Daring was going through a magical, sentient, and very hostile forest.
She took immediate note of out-of-character actions, most notably attacking the wildlife head-on with a dagger. Daring did typically carry a knife when going through tough terrain, but it was entirely for dealing with plants. She never injured a creature when she could escape without doing so, much less killed them in... an admittedly badass-sounding display. (Ok, so maybe she might have hurt Ahuizotl a few times. And maybe enjoyed it a little. That was ok, right?)
Then things got... gory. Daring had to do a double-take upon reading just how she carved up a lion sent to kill her. It was written in disturbing detail... and entirely accurate to a lion's anatomy. Somepony actually did research just to show Daring doing... this. They did seem to miss the part where lions don't even come from forests.
"Ew," she said to herself, even as she kept reading.
It wasn't the only gory scene before the story was finished, either. Daring found herself skipping large chunks of text, just looking for the first paragraph that didn't mention blood or guts. She got to the final chapter... and found that it didn't clear up anything. It left the story on a cliffhanger.
"On Hiatus," the author's note at the bottom said.
"And I sort of liked it..." Daring muttered. Ignoring the out-of-character and the gore, of course. Actually, the out-of-character was kind of refreshing...
Daring turned to a fifth story. It seemed normal, even if portraying her as a lot more foul-mouthed than she really was. Not too surprising: she tended to embellish her language even in her books on occasion. It made her sound more mature, ironically.
Her pupils dilated as she read. The scene started with her getting bound up. Then her clothes were removed, even her beloved pith hat. And then...
"With a freaking octopus!?!" she yelled.
"Dear Rainbow Dash,
Your links were definitely insightful into my fans' mindsets. The stories show a clear variety in their writing and reading styles, and their interests. In fact, there were a few I really, truly enjoyed reading. Even so, with all respect, please never send me any more fanfiction links. Ever."
