Chapters Darling Do and a Daring Dash
The sun blinded A.K. Yearling as she woke to another blue-skied morning in Equestria. She yawned and stretched her mustard colored hooves over her head. Her eyes fluttered open as she scanned her room. It was, as one might say, a disaster. She chuckled to herself at the sight of it, thinking about how Princess Twilight Sparkle might react to it. Sighing, she rolled out from under the pale gray covers and onto the wooden floors of her room. She brushed her unkempt mane from her face as she trotted down the stairs into her kitchen. It was tight and cramped. The overwhelming mess didn't help. A strange smell filled the air. It was one of alfalfa and dandelions but also of detergent and overwhelmingly strong lemon soap. The writer laughed as it all hit her. Rainbow Dash had spent the night and must've decided to make her breakfast before she left for practice. With a little more scavenging, her theory was proven true. When she finally found a plate with food in the mess, there was a note next to it.
Daring,
The tired pony laughed and shook her head as she picked up her plate and dug in. She was only halfway through the meal when she heard a knock on the door. Confused, she lifted her head up and made her way to the door. Once she got to the little, curved, door, a knock sounded again.
"Comfing." She said, with a mouth full of food.
She reached out a hoof to the doorknob and was quite surprised at what she saw. A gray stallion stood at her door.
The stallion had a fancily done black mane and tail and had spectacles on the brim of his muzzle. his eyes were a dull blue and his mouth was set in a very judgemental frown. He wore a fancy green polo shirt and had a white sweater tied at his neck. At his hooves was a black briefcase embroidered with the letters, EHSWG.
"How can I help you?" Daring said, swallowing as she became increasingly aware of the fact that her mane was unbrushed, her mouth was full of food, and she had a very annoyed expression on her face. The pony humphed and began.
"I'm Jet Set." The stallion said with a grim nod and a perfect Canterlot accent. "And I'm here on account of the Equestrian High Society Writer's Guild. I would also like to add that punctuality and presentation will leave a lasting mark on a pony.' He added with a grimace.
"I'm sorry." Daring began. "Would you like to come in and sit down so we can talk about this um-"
"Equestria High Society Writer's Guild." Jet Set said as he followed the author into her home. He grimaced as he scanned the mess. Daring cleared a seat of papers and pulled it out for him.
"Apologies." She said with a grumble as he sat down.
"The goal, of the Equestria High Society Writer's Guild, is to take average and mediocre writers and help them. We take those who do not know the joy of high society writing and invite them to our guild to train them. We put them in classes and help them publish a book using the high society style of writing."
"So...a high society writer's reformation cult?" Daring asked with a raised eyebrow. Jet Set huffed.
"The Equestrian High Society Writer's Guild is NOT a cult. Also, if that is the kind of termology you use every waking hour, no one will want to give your work a mear glance." Jet Set finished with finality.
"Yeah, whatever," Daring said with a mouthful of breakfast. She looked up to see Jet Set looking at her grimly with a raised eyebrow and questioning eye. "Can I get you anything to eat?" Daring asked as she stood up and trotted over to the cluttered kitchen with her dirty plate.
"I would enjoy indulging in a cup of tea." Jet Set said as he pulled some papers out of his case.
"I have Caramba Cinnamon, Bitter Blaster, Peppy-mint, Super Caffeine Bang, Oaten Apple Fritter, and Mickey Moose Mousse Tea." She called out over the running faucet as she scrolled through her tea cupboard.
Jet Set mumbled something and said, "do you have ANYTHING proper or classic at ALL?" he said with a note of exasperation. Daring huffed and returned to the cabinet. She rifled through it and, by sheer luck, found a singular bag or Classic Mary's Rose Water Tea.
"Is this satisfactory?" Daring asked sarcastically. Jet Set frowned.
"I only drink fresh ground herb tea." He added with a note of aggravation. Good. If he got mad, he would leave.
"Well, this'll have to do sir." She said, with emphasis on the last word. After a few minutes of awkward silence, that was split occasionally by the sound of shuffling papers, the teapot whistled and Daring pulled out a chipped mug and poured his tea.
"You do realize that I'm not joining your stuck-up writer's cult," Daring said as she ripped a chunk of bread off of a loaf with her teeth.
"You are required." Jet Set casually.
"Ph, yeah right." She added as she swallowed the bread.
"Celestia requires you to." He added. Daring was so shocked that she tripped on her own hooves and spilled half of his tea on him. Her mouth dropped open as she read over the paper that the stallion held up to her face. She may be rebellious, but Celestia's word was what she lived by.
"ah-"
"You are permitted to bring one partner with you when you come to Canterlot tomorrow for your first day of class."
"But-"
"You will be joining our newest class of recruits and we expect you to be present with what is required." Jet Set plowed on as he handed her a sheet of paper and a bag that seemed to hold some supplies. "Understood?" Jet Set asked as he stuck his tea-soaked face into her confused one.
"Y-yes." She stuttered as she took the materials in her hooves and tried to toss him a rag.
"Perfect." Jet Set said with a nod.
With that, the Canterlot stallion excused himself through the mess that made up her foyer and trotted out the door into the bright blue Equestrian morning. The first thing that came to Daring's mind, was convincing Rainbow Dash to come to Canterlot with her.
Darling Do and a Daring Dash
High Society Ain't Gettin' Me Yet!
Rainbow Dash's multi-colored mane blew in her face as the two pegasi stood in front of the Canterlot castle.
"Why are you doing this again?" Rainbow Dash asked Daring.
"Because Celestia's word is my law. " Daring said with a sigh. "I know what happened to Luna when she denied Celestia, and I just-"
"You do realize that-" Rainbow Dash started.
"Legends and old stories have a way of getting the best of me," Daring said, as she tilted her hat over her bray eyes to hide their shame.
Just then, the door opened and a pure white unicorn with her mane and tail braided in crisp strands stepped into the Canterlot morning. The mare nodded to Daring Do and cast rainbow a confused glance. Daring nodded.
"Rainbow, technically you're not allowed to be with me when I enter for the first time." She said with an eye roll that earned her a frown from the white unicorn.
"Okay," Rainbow said. "I'm supposed to meet Fluttershy at our suite anyway," Rainbow said with a concerned smile.
"Aw I'll be fine Dashie," Daring said. "After all, it's just a bunch of snotty pristine ponies in some cult. I've dealt with worse." This earned the author another scowl from her unicorn escort. "You go have fun with Fluttershy," Daring added with a wink that made Rainbow blush.
With that, the bolt blue pegasus grabbed her bags, Rarity had been amazed at how few she brought, and dashed off. Daring blew a loose strand of mane out of her eyes, hoisted her backpack on her neck and nodded to the unicorn.
"I'm ready to explore the ways of this tribal cul-" She began.
"I'm Snowscort and I'll be your personal escort and helper here at the Guild. If you have any questions or concerns about anything or anyone that you encounter, you can come to me for answers. I will be here to make sure that you stay on schedule, stay on task, and stay out of trouble." The unicorn said with a flourish on the word trouble.
Daring shuddered. It was looking like she was going to have her own personal bodyguard.
"Well, my first question is, how can one back out?" She asked sheepishly. Snowscort turned around and pushed the castle's side door open as she responded.
"Well, if you're granted membership by Celestia, you can't," Snowscort said simply. Images flashed through Daring's head. Beams of powerful magic, sobs, smoke. "Ready?" Snowscort asked with a chipper annoyance. Daring nodded.
The main hall was huge. Its ceiling met in a rotunda lined with windows far above their heads. All along the walls, there were portraits of sophisticated high-class ponies. She assumed they were all famous writers. The floor was brilliantly tiled with silver tiles that made a clacking noise when her hoof hit them, and was so polished she could see her face. The walls were white, but the navy blue trim seemed to bring the colors out in everything and make the whole room glow with an intimidating essence. All around the cylindrical room, polished wooden doors with silver doorknobs and numbers lined the spaces in between the portraits. In the space directly across from the entrance, there was an opening the widened out into a hallway if you looked down it.
"This is the main rotunda," Snowscort said. "I'll be giving you a tour until we get to your room." Daring nodded. "All around these walls, you see the faces of our founders. They founded the Guild on the common belief that high-class and classic writing were the only ways to write."
After what seemed like forever, they finally began trotting down the hallway across from them. According to Snowscort, it was the Inspiration Hall. Covering the walls were framed works of classic writing with silver plaques explaining each one. Soon, the whole place seemed to bleed into one big room. The blues and silvers and whites covered everything. They trotted down hallways lined with portraits and framed papers, they scaled spiral staircases that passed over floors and floors of classrooms. Each classroom that they saw seemed the same. Just as elegant, just as perfectly done as the one before. Lounge rooms, dining rooms, auditoriums, amphitheater rooms, special classrooms, and sitting rooms. Finally, the passed through a breezeway to the dorms section of the campus. They scaled some more stairs until they came to the third floor where her room would be. The dorms seemed to be of not the same colors. There were greens and golds instead of the regal blues and silvers from before. Once they reached room 3-b5, Snowscort handed her two keys and advised her not to lose them.
"I'll come to call for you in an hour when all of the new students are to go to the main amphitheater for an orientation with the headmaster." With that, she trotted off.
Once her steps faded, Daring turned the key and opened the door to her dorm.
It was a small two-room space with walls of a faded sort of swampy green and a chipped dark brown trim. She shut the door behind her and heaved her case over to the bed. On one side of the room, there was a little electric fireplace with a sofa and a plushy brown lazy boy chair around a stour coffee table. Near the stove, there was a door that led to a little bathroom with a shower and tub combo, a toilet, and a sink laid in a countertop. On the other side of the room, there was a bed and desk area with a kitchen next to it. In the middle, there was a bright brown rug.
Content enough, Daring dragged her bag to her bed and began unpacking.
An hour later, Snowscort found Daring laughing as she blasted a comedy talk show of a little device she had packed and eating cheese with crackers. With unhappy grunts from both of them, they made their way to the main ampitheater.
Darling Do and a Daring Dash
High Society Has Its Ways
As the two ponies made their way to the auditorium, Daring Do took in the classy style of the whole campus. Chandeliers hung from the ceilings, each portrait was framed with an elaborately designed golden frame, and the windows were effortlessly spotless giving off views to the perfectly trimmed lawns and brick arches that lined the buildings.
"So, what exactly am I gonna do for the next eternity tonight?" Daring asked her escort casually. Snowscort sighed and answered pointedly.
"Tonight, you will be meeting your headmaster and the rest of your teachers. You will sit with your class and you will be given schedules, grade books, and a packet of course goals. You will begin to understand what each of the next eight weeks entails and what you are expected to do by the end of the course." The white unicorn clipped the end of the sentence with annoyance as they stepped towards a set of polished doors.
"Got it," Daring said. "Cult initiation. " She said with a wicked smile as she trotted around the corner into the room.
Cult initiation couldn't be further from the truth. Daring's gray eyes scanned the room looking for the section with a blue banner over it. The chairs were plush but not too plush and the floor was polished wood. The stage shone in a subtle light that covered the whole auditorium in a yellow glow. When she finally spotted her class, she trotted down the aisle towards them, staring at the high ceiling that was draped in diamond chandeliers. Daring took a seat near the right of the row in between two kind enough looking ponies. One was a mare with a pale blue coat and a gray mane that trailed around her side in elaborate curls. She had black eyes and was flipping casually through a writing guide in ancient Saddle Arabian. The other was a stallion with little glasses on the bridge of his purple muzzle. He had blue eyes and a matching blue mane that was closely cut to his head. He was leaning over a black briefcase and cleaning another pair of glasses with an embroidered handkerchief.
"Hellooo there," Daring said with a smile, addressing the mare with the writing guide. All she got in return was a slight smile.
With that, it was Daring's turn to humph. After a few minutes of leafing through a map of the campus and making origami birds out of it, the lights dimmed and returned to normal brightness. Gray stallions with little glasses and short straight black manes passed out labeled journals for note-taking. Then, a stallion stepped onto the stage. He was wearing a suit and blue tie that matched his blue eyes and mane. As for his coat, silky white. He tapped the microphone that was provided with a hoof and then began.
"Hello, students. My name is Fancypants and I am the headmaster here at the Equestrian High Society Writer's Guild. Tonight, you will be given everything you need to start class tomorrow. When you return to your dormitories tonight, you will find a black briefcase outside of your door. Inside it, you will find your schedules, course map, and a map of the campus. Along with plenty of other supplies that you will need for your course. Tonight, I will introduce all of our teachers and I will also give a speech about the main purpose of this guild. But first, I will introduce the heads of class. Each color class has a head of the class. Sort of like their own personal class headmaster. They will monitor your activity and track your progress." With that, he took a step back and another stallion stepped onto the stage. Sadly, Daring recognized him.
"Hello. My name is Jet Set. I am the head of the class for the blue color group." With that, her section raised their hooves politely. Daring had no choice but to follow suit.
He then gave a little speech about why he wanted to teach and why he fell into High Society writing. After him, a pegasus mare stepped out. She had a brick red coat and a wavy brown mane that she was constantly flipping to one side of her face. After her, she lost track. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies alike trotted on and off the stage. Their words about high society jumbling together into one big unessecary mess in Daring's brain. After a while, Fancypants came back out and spewed jargon about how high society writing was the only kind of good writing and that that was why we were all here. Finally, she heard a slight drizzle of polite applause and the pitter-patter of ponies getting up and trotting to their escorts. Snowscort stood to wait for Daring outside of the auditorium. They trotted to her dorm in silence. Daring dragged the briefcase into her room and tiredly mumbled thanks to Snowscort before she closed the door and trotted over to the stove to make some "Bloody Pete Blood Orange" tea. She probably should have read the course expectations, but the bed was too inviting.
The next morning, Daring dragged herself to the bathroom and brushed her mane. She slapped her face to wake up and trotted to the kitchen. She searched through the fridge until she found some eggs and milk. She scrambled the eggs and drank a glass of milk in one gulp. Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. When she went to open it, Snowscort greeted her. Daring sighed and grabbed her stuff.
All Jet Set did was give a soliloquy about high society writing for about a half an hour before he even mentioned their classes.
"For the first month, you will spend half of each week doing a different workshop. For the second month, it will be about putting it all together."
"Putting what together?" A minty unicorn asked.
"You book." Jet Set answered. "Your final product to pass my class is a book. You are expected to use everything you will have learned over the course to make a book. You will have different workshops for character building, setting, plot, vocabulary, and the sorts."
"What if you don't write high society and think its just a bunch of poop?" Daring asked.
"Go to the headmaster's office." Was Jet Set's only response.
Daring stepped down from her seat and found Snowscort waiting at the door. The two wound through hallways and up several silver lined staircases, Snowscort's hooves making an annoyed clacking with every step until the reached another shined wooden door. Snowscort knocked.
"Come in." Fancypants said with an annoyed hint in his Canterlot accented voice. daring pushed the door open and trotted over to a leather chair studded with gold that sat in front of a wooden desk laden with neat stacks of white paper and a little jar of quills. Across from her, fancypants sat in a matching chair.
"I understand you are skeptical." he began. "But, Celestia-"
Daring's eyes went wide at the sound of the name and the idea of what came after it. her head whirled and images flashed before her face. Images that had terrorized her for years and had made her want to fly away more than ever.
"I got it," Daring said quickly. With that, she bolted from the room and down halls and stairs until she found her classroom. She took a second to breathe, gritted her teeth. She was determined to prove to everyone that she was the best high society writer of the Guild.
Especially if Celestia's word had anything to do with it.
Darling Do and a Daring Dash
High Society To The Max Minipulants
The first week of class flew by on wings of navy blue and silver as ponies studied furiously. In the first seven days alone, each student was directed to go to certain workshops. The first one was all about building a setting. As exciting as it sounded, most of the settings were tea-rooms, mansions, and gala halls. The second part of the week was spent developing a protagonist and antagonist. None as interesting as Daring Do or Auhizoto. Still, Daring began to pull ahead and soon had very nice beginnings.
Her setting was Wing-Guard hall. A large mansion on the outskirts of an elegant metropolis. It was inhabited by a society of unicorns who hated pegasi and spent their days playing piano and drinking tea. It was a glorious and charming mansion that sat in the center of sprawling rose gardens and was lined all around with a tall imposing fence of black metal. The hedges in every garden were trimmed to match and paths were lined with beds of tulips and daylilies. Her main characters were two unicorns by the names of Swift Stitch and Diamond Jewel. Swift Stitch was Diamond Jewel's seamstress and Diamond was the daughter of the head of the house. Her mother was an imposing unicorn by the name of Iron Gem. She enforced the law of the house with an iron hoof.
"How are things coming along Miss. Do?" A pale pink pegasus loomed over the author as she looked up from a sketch of Swift Stitch. Ms.Dreadsbelt her name was. And she was in charge of the character workshop. Daring cleared her throat and responded.
"Things are coming along swimmingly." She said sweetly. "This is Swift Stitch." She added, indicating her drawing. "She is the seamstress of my main character Diamond Jewel." She pulled out a slip of paper with a drawing and writing about Diamond and handed it to her teacher. Dreadsbelt nodded.
"Very wonderful work." She said pointedly. "You will benefit greatly from the plot workshop next week." She added crisply.
Daring nodded. Plot. Great heroes, saving the day, daring jailbreaks-. She cut herself off. Wrong idea. tea time, postal deliveries, everyday affairs at Wing-Guard. That's what was going to make a good story.
That night, crickets chirped in the courtyard as Daring sat at her desk trying to make a map of Wing-Huard Hall. She puzzled over dimensions and stairwells until she pushed her chair back and fell. Rubbing her head, she got up and decided a break was much needed. Just then, her phone started beeping. She went to her bedside table and saw that it was a face call from Rainbow Dash. Sighing, she picked up. The picture was blurry for a moment before it focused. Rainbow Dash's blue bolt face came into view as she swept her rainbow mane out of her magenta eyes with a smile when she saw Daring.
"Heya Dares!" She exclaimed. "Howzit?"
Daring smiled back politely. "Oh, I'm doing wonderfully!" She squealed. "We have to publish a book and-"
"But that's like no problem for you right? You publish books like every day." Rainbow cut in smugly. Daring scowled.
"It's not polite to interrupt when someone is speaking to you." She said pointedly. Rainbow looked taken aback. "I'm writing a book about two unicorns in Wing-Guard manor. The book's premise is all about preparing for and having tea with this charmer stallion."
"Uh- sounds great," Rainbow said grimacing. "Anyway, I just wanted to say hey and uh yeah." Rainbow started to look uncomfortable.
"Wonderful," Daring said. "Now if you'd please excuse me, I have to prepare myself for the next week. We're working on the plot for our books."
"So like daring heroes and cool jailbreaks?" Rainbow asked timidly.
"On the contrary." Daring snipped. "Tea time and preparations are what it's all about."
"But that's not really what you do Dares you-"
"Goodbye, my friend," Daring said with finality. With that, she tapped the screen and ended the call.
She trotted back to her desk but couldn't think. Rainbow's last words had hit her hard. Was this her? Plotting about tea times and postal deliveries. making her characters moon over faceless stallions. Talking with pink-ribboned words and stirring up vocabulary that made people carry dictionaries around her. No. As far as she knew, she was a hero. An explorer. But she couldn't. Not at the memory of Celestia's word.
"The first part of the book focuses on them preparing the household for the prestigious Lord Wickerfine. It has a dual perspective aspect as well. Each chapter rotates between Diamond Jewel and swift Stitch. The second part is the tea party. Then the third part is when the love battle begins. It ends with Lord Wickerfine courting both of them and taking them around the town to dress shops and buying ribbon." Daring looked up at Jet Set expectantly and he smiled.
"Wonderful job Miss.Do. Really quite superb! I am so thrilled by enthusiasm." He said. Beaming.
"Please, call me Miss. Yearling." She asked, bowing her head to him.
"Wonderful job Miss. yearling, truly wonderful plot line!"
That night, Rainbow called again. She called for the next few weeks until daring stopped answering them. Each conversation had grown shorter and shorter. Every morning, Snowscort rapped twice on her door and Daring would gather her belongings and trot to her classes. She would politely greet her fellow students in passing in the breezeway and would continue to serve her teachers in all of her classes. Her folder grew and grew as more sketches and chapters were slipped into it every day. Every night, Snowscort would bring her back to her dormitory and Yearling would prepare herself dinner and drink some calming tea while listening to classical music and building her book. Everything was the same. Until the last week of school.
One morning, Snowscort brought her to her classes like usual and brought her back to her dormitory at night. But, when she returned, she found two things that shocked her. One was a letter from Jet Set about instructions for publishing. The other was a text. She skimmed the letter and reminded herself to take a trip to the publishing company the next day. Then, she read the text. It was from Rainbow.
Dares, idk if ur even gonna care bout this or not. But Flutters and i just wanna say something. We want the Daring you back. We see blips bout u and ur classmates in the paper sometimes. ur ak yearling now i guess. y cant u just quit. i thought u thought it was a cult. what bout that? urs daringly, rainbow + fullters
Her head swam. She flopped on her bed and let the thoughts come rushing over her. Visions of pain and torture. Screams pierced the air around her as tears flooded her vision. A great ray of sun blinded her mind as the silhouette of a holy alicorn crashed down upon her, pushing her farther and farther into the earth.
Darling Do and a Daring Dash
High Society's Gotta Get Go
The air was sweet and cool from last night's rain. Yearling's mustard-colored hooves trotted daintily around puddles of mud as she made her way to the publishing company. Canterlot was swarming with early morning life as cafes and coffee houses opened. Ponies trotted around with their muzzles turned up to the sky as they sipped coffees and mingled around the fountains that were scattered around the cobblestone streets. The sky was still turning from gray to pale blue as Celestia rose the sun from her post on the top of Canterlot castle. If I squinted, I could see Celestia's regal mane flowing about her as she raised her head to greet the day she was bringing. Yearling sighed and trotted on, holding her head up the same way all of Canterlot did. She trotted along the cobbled streets, ignoring the haunting voice in the back of her head telling her to sprint and let the wind pick her up into the sky. Then, she saw them.
Walking towards her, on the other side of a murky puddle, came two familiar pegasi. One was confident and bolt blue with a mane of rainbow that lay carelessly over her shoulder and piercing magenta eyes that squinted in a smile. The other was a timid butter yellow mare with flashy teal eyes that hid behind her swirled pale pink mane. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. When Rainbow's eyes fell on me, they squinted and scowled. Fluttershy whispered something to her and pulled her around the puddle towards the stunned author.
"Hello, A.K. Yearling," Fluttershy said squeakily, a little smile darting across her face as Rainbow Dash stepped closer to her.
"Pleasent to see you both," she said with a simple nod.
"We heard that graduation is in a few days. Are you excited?" Fluttershy asked as she prodded Rainbow's side as if to encourage her to speak.
"Yes. I'm quite enthusiastic about the whole ordeal," she said. Allowing a little bit of excitement to twinge the corners of her voice.
"How pleasant." rainbow quipped. She practically spat the word into the puddle at their feet.
"Rainbow no need to get tense," Fluttershy said in a calming voice. Rainbow scowled but loosened up a bit. Then, Fluttershy's teal eyes darted towards Daring's book. "Is that your book?" She nodded. "Can we-"
But before the weak mare could finish, Rainbow Dash swooped in and grabbed the book from her.
"Excus-" The outraged author began.
"Darling Diamonds and Silver Stitches. A story of love and tea. By A.K. Yearling, in other words, Darling Do." Rainbow proclaimed as she read the title page. She scoffed. "Darling Do?!" She exclaimed.
"Please Rainbow Dash." The two other pegasi began as Rainbow flipped to the last page to read a summary. She cleared her throat.
"Darling Diamonds and Silver Stitches. Diamond Jewel is the grown daughter of Iron Gem, the ruler of Wing-Guard hall, a strictly unicorn household on the outskirts of an elegant town on a plantation land of 100 acres of gardens. Swift Stitch is her seamstress. When Iron Gem announces that she will be housing the most dapper and well-known stallion in all of Equestria at the manor for tea, Diamond and Swift long to meet him. But when they do, who will win the stallion's heart without breaking the other's. Or spilling their tea along the way."
"Dashie come on." Fluttershy pleaded. Daring just looked on with a lost look in her eyes as though she was considering what to do. She thought too late.
"What happened to Daring Do? The one who went on adventures and kicked the noodles out of mythical beasts." Rainbow begged. daring jumped forward to grab her book, but Rainbow had already dropped it.
For a split second, it seemed as though everything was going in slow motion. Daring, or Darling, was lunging forward across the puddle to save her book from its muddy fate. Her lips parted in a cry of anger, her eyes on her book, and her hooves on the cobblestones as to not get dirty. Fluttershy's face contorted in a mixture of anguish and confusion as she looked on helplessly. Rainbow Dash's eyes brimming with tears as she tried to twist her mouth into a scowl. Then, it all fell apart. Time resumed normal pace, and the pages of her book lay soaking in the mud. Daring cried out as Rainbow Dash rushed off in tears. Fluttershy squeaked an apology and raced off after Rainbow Dash.
Daring sniffed heavily as she made her way through Canterlot. Her soggy mess of a book in her briefcase and her eyes full of tears. She stuck to the sides of roads and little back alleys until she reached golden gates. She sobbed and tilted her head up to see the open gates of Canterlot castle. Choking a bit as she went along, she followed a path into the royal garden and around to a door. A royal guard stood waiting. She walked past him to a little clipboard and wrote her mane on a slip of paper. Darling- no Daring- no Yearling. She sobbed and settled on A.K. Darling Darer. She showed the soggy contents of her bag to a royal guard, for security measures, and wandered to the throne room.
Why was she here? Why did she think that the very pony that frequented her nightmares could help her find herself? She choked as slipped inside. The room was streaming with multi-colored light from stained glass windows, and it reflected off of Celestia's mane as it glittered on her head from her golden throne.
"Princess." She bowed and wiped tears from her gray eyes. She looked up to see Celestia smiling.
"Why are you here?" The princess asked politely.
Then, it all came out. She sobbed and moaned and fell on the floor as she recited the past two months for the princess. When she was done, she looked up to see her expression placid and calm. Like a pool of crystal clear water just waiting to be swung into.
"Well. If high society isn't you Miss. A.K. Darling Darer, why didn't you quit?" Daring gulped. Her throat dried up and she couldn't find words. Celestia raised a regal eyebrow. Daring spoke.
"When I was younger, I had a friend. She was an amazing storyteller. Anything she said sounded just so amazing. She took you away in her stories and made you feel like you were the hero. Living in whatever world you lived in, doing what she said you did. Anything she said, I believed. One day, on Nightmare Night, she told me the story of how you banished Luna to the moon using the Elements Of Harmony. The way she told it made you sound like a hero and I worshipped you for thirty seconds. Until she told me another legend. She told me a story about how once, there had been a family that couldn't make it by. There was a village of very poor ponies out in the secluded hills. They tried their best, but they were starving. So, they made their way to Canterlot to find you. But when they brought you back to their village, you were almost killed. You thought it was a trap to kill you so you lashed out and destroyed everything around that village. You spared no one. I was so scared of you ever since. I thought- I thought if I didn't obey your word, I would end up like the village ponies. I-" She found that she couldn't continue. She looked up at the princess and found her smiling a bit.
"Come Daring, let me show you something."
