The One That Wrote
With one last, adrenaline fuelled pump, her wings lifted her that extra inch and her hooves caught on to the edge of the drop. Hind legs dangling, Daring Do tried with all her might to pull herself to safety, but every second she hanged there she could feel her strength being sapped. Turning her head, Daring looked behind her at the rabid beasts that pursued her, and that she barely managed to get away from, but there was one problem. Their wings still worked, and hers didn’t.
Not only could she not muster the strength to take another deep breath, but on top of that, her right wing was wrapped in layers upon layers of a dark brown gauze that had once been white, tainted by the weeks of rolling down and crawling through the pasty steep slopes and the dry, dusty crevices of the mountain behind her. Despite her situation, Daring Do couldn’t help the grin that crept across her face. Many a time has she found herself hanging between the worlds of the living and the dead, kept alive by what little strength she had left. But she always had her motivation.
Every other time she would either have the treasure in her hooves or the reward in sight, but this time, her expedition turned up nothing. She flew all the way to Zebrica in the hopes that she would find what natives claimed was the “greatest gift,” that could only be attained after months of arduous trekking and perseverance. She conquered the highest mountains in the world, survived the unbearable heats, and even plundered the depths of the sea around this vast country, but she was still empty hoofed. In the end, it was her pride and her wanderlust that brought her to this fate.
She was ready to do the unspeakable; ready to hang up her hat, fold away her wings and bow down, declaring that this treasure was impossible to find. The ultimate shame of explorers and treasure hunters abound; a nightmare for ponies as sly, strong and successful as her. However, just before she headed home, an aged Zebra, blind since birth held on to her hoof and silently pointed in the direction of this snowless mountain. Words were unnecessary, for a true adventurer can read the promise of danger, excitement and priceless joy in the face of anyone. The very next day, she was at the base of the mountain, ready to ascend.
Ponies like her are never alone though, and it was her foolishness that prevented her from seeing this sooner. Most of her adventures were only adventures because there was a distinct amount of danger involved, but this time, she didn’t realise she was being followed until it was too late. She always had a gut reaction to the evil around her, almost as if she were an “evil-detector,” but as with any of the equipment she’s ever used, it had to break eventually. It was only when she was halfway to the top, too high to give up and too depressed to continue, that she realised she wasn’t alone. It was only then that she had noticed the tracks, the prints and the leftovers of their meals as they stayed eerily close to her, pacing themselves just as she had done, ascending the mountain by the exact same route.
No. They weren’t hikers; they weren’t climbing the mountain. It was obvious that they were following her. Thinking back, Daring Do couldn’t remember whether they had only followed her up the mountain, or did they pursue her through all her journeys in Zebrica. It was a mystery, and as much as she loved to solve them and rise up as the hero, there were more important things this time.
Daring didn’t get this far on guts and determination alone. No, they waned to the point of extinction long before she came here, roughly when she had given up searching the countless miles of underground mines that she thought would reveal priceless jewels or rare ores. She managed to get so far up this mountain because of a mountain guide who she grew fond of over the many moons they spent together on the almost lifeless mound of dirt. The extremely high mound of dirt.
“True North” was what Daring called her, because she couldn’t pronounce her name. Though fluent in English, French and capable of reading Sanskrit as well as many other ancient texts, she was still raw in her understanding of the languages from the depths of Clawdor and Zebrica. In all honesty, Daring didn’t even know what the young Griffin spoke. True looked as if she was born in Clawdor, home of the mighty Griffin warriors with whom Daring had journeyed beside during her trials in their country. However, the natives of a village in Zebrica called, “Sawry,” -- but that pronunciation probably wasn’t right. She had a hard time remembering the names of any of the places she’s been too, and that’s all the more true when she’s on the verge of defeat. -- ensured her that True North was raised in Zebrica. That didn’t matter to Daring though. True could have been born and raised in Dysica, the most violent and discordant of the four great countries, for all she cared. As long as True was willing to aid Daring Do in her travels then she was her friend.
She was her friend. After Daring noticed that they were being followed, what did she do? Of course, she thought about her; she thought about True and what would happen to her if they were to fail, and she were to be captured. What Daring pictured could only be described as Tartarus for both True and herself. Daring could never live with taking that chance, knowing that she put another’s life in danger. With no other choice, Daring told her everything. Daring wasn’t gentle, nor was she reassuring. She was what she always was -- loyal and honest -- but True couldn’t see that.
To True, it was an insult to even think that the Griffin raised by Zebras couldn’t handle herself in her own territory, but Daring persisted nonetheless. She wasn’t always alone on her expeditions, and from time to time Daring would bring a companion. Nothing has ever pained her more than seeing them cut themselves or get injured because of her. That is why none of her companions have ever died; she would never let that happen. Daring had put her hoof down on the frail surface of the mountain, so void of life that seeing a tree bearing fruit was such a rare sight that they were reluctant to steal its chance at having company. Daring screamed at her friend yesterday, and that was the day she had experienced true pain. In all her life, she had never witnessed anything as heart-breaking as the tears that flowed down True’s face, faster than the torrential rainfall of Zebrica that came once every winter.
When Daring woke up, True was gone, and though a burden was lifted, something else was taken from her. Weak and rueful with an unbearable, searing pain in her wing, Daring persevered and eventually, after a few more days of picking the right fruit, sleeping in the right places and rationing those few drops of water that she had left, Daring made it to the top of that mountain. What was she to do though, when she found nothing up there save for a truly admirable sunset and an unmatched serenity that circled her? She had to do it. No matter how much her heart and mind cried, her soul didn’t listen. Closing her eyes, she admitted it to herself, hearing her own whimper and her voice crack when whispered that the “greatest gift,” was unattainable. Carrying her tears, Daring knew that it wasn’t over, for the pursuers were close behind her, and their eyes burned with a fiery passion as they glared at her through the leaves of the sole tree that dared to grow that high up.
Taking a deep breath and warming up her wings, Daring Do lifted her chin and placed a hoof on her chest, feeling the erratic beats of her life support. Silently, she mouthed a promise and with a newfound obligation, Daring dashed down the side of the mountain and headed for the base. She rolled along the incredibly steep slopes and galloped past the beasts in a blur of grey. However, within moments they caught up to her, and they chased her down, closing in on her as her shadow stretched out as if in prayer. With no other choice, Daring Do had to use her ace now, or else they would catch her, and her journey would end there. Biting down hard on her tongue, she embraced the pain that ensued in her mouth, and the red-hot burning of that muscle kept her wing from getting the best of her whilst she was in flight. Like a bullet, Daring cruised down the side of the mountain and she could see the base before her very eyes, but she had made a fatal mistake.
At school, Daring was renowned for her keen interest and her athletic ability, and everypony looked up to her when it came to the 1500m dash. Nopony could run faster than her and when asked what her secret was, she always gave the same gentle smile, and the same answer.
“There is no secret,” she would tell them, letting their gasp die down before continuing. “I’m not a super athlete either. I’m not even that fast!”
At this point they would all be laughing, hoping that it was all a joke.
“But what you should know is, never get ahead of yourself. Always pace yourself, always be calm and make sure that you can see your goal! I think of it like this: If I start off too fast then I’ll get tired later, which means the teachers will be able to catch me for not doing my homework.”
This time their laughter would be louder, but it would lose the undertones of mockery.
“If I go too slowly to start off with, then I have the same problem. I have to be running at just the right speed -- a speed that I can keep -- if I want to escape that detention!”
If only she had listened to herself. She saw before her the seemingly bottomless drop of the abyss that served to separate the forsaken mountain from civilisation, and she cursed the name Daring Do when she felt the pain come back to her, right as she was about to fly across. The gap was too wide, and she knew that by the time she reached the other side, she would be so far down that not even the rabid beasts behind her, with their sharp eyesight, would be able to see her. Breathing out, she shut her eyes again and thought of the mountain top. This may have been a disappointing year for the great Daring Do, but that just means her next adventure would more than enough to make up for it. When you find a locked door, then that just means there’s an open window somewhere, and you just have to find it. With a grin, Daring Do flexed her wing one last time, hearing a painful crack before her yelp, and that tiny bit of lift had saved her.
Now, Daring found herself dangling on the edge of a vertical drop, so close to the village that offered her shelter when she needed it, and a mountain guide when she declared she’d conquer the mountain in their backyard. Her signature cap had fallen into the dark depths below her, and if it were any other day then she would have kicked herself, but any unnecessary movement could mean the difference between life and death for her. She watched the black bodied quadrupeds as they raced towards her. Their jaws were foaming, and their wings were ready. With a short, nervous chuckle, Daring closed her eyes.
How would she get out of this? She’s one of the greatest adventurers, explorers and discoverers of her generation, but how would she get herself out of this? To think that if she had waited for her characteristic iron will to forge itself again then she would have been safe, caused her a great amount of grief, but no volume of tears, regret or sorrow could change anything.
‘At least,’ she thought to herself, losing sensation in her forehooves. ‘At least I kept True safe...’
Daring didn’t need anything more. She had already lived more tales than there are in legend, and she’s found more than her share of priceless artifacts. She was never in it for the money anyway; it was the thrill that invigorated her, and Daring’s pursuers gave her one last taste of the delicious nectar that had made her life so sweet. Sighing, Daring stared up at the tainted orange sky. Celestia was still setting the sun and thanks to that magnificent start, she could forget about the three shades of grey that dangled before her eyes. Instead, she could remember the gleam of the rays and the unmatched radiance that shrank away from her as the sheer drops of the abyss closed in.
In her darkest moment however, her very own star reached out and offered her benediction in an already familiar form. Daring only felt a swoop and she thought that she had struck the dark rock of her tomb before she fell into a world of darkness and peace, but she just missed the sensation of the salty droplet that fell onto her cheek as she was brought up, closer to the illuminating sun that she had admired.
Days later, Daring Do woke to find herself in a hut, covered in thin sheets dirtier than the mud that she lay on top of. Two Zebras were tending to her, raising her head and giving her water whilst mumbling to each other in a foreign tongue. As her gaze shifted from the Zebras to the sliver of light on her left, Daring’s eyes went wide and the water dribbled out of her slack jaw. For just a brief moment, Daring thought she saw True North, standing at the curtain of the hut, peeping in at her with a relieved smile on her lips. Immediately, she rushed outside to find that there was no one there, and it seemed that she was alone again. Lifting her chin, she saw that she was wrong, for though it was only barely larger than a speck, Daring could make out a body with two majestic wings on either side, carrying it into the sun. What was stolen from her she had found again, and her heart felt whole as she nodded silently to herself, trying to contain the tears.
Daring returned to Equestria, settling down in her home in the clouds. There was an incredible amount of dust there, but dust doesn’t usually gather so easily when everything is made out of clouds. Sighing, she swept slowly along the ground, leaning against the broom whenever she felt bored or tired. Staring out of her window, she found that her eyes were almost level with the sun, the same sun that she saw in Zebrica, and the same sun that reassured her when she failed for the first time in her life.
But did she honestly fail? There was no physical treasure up there, and it wasn’t a barrel of laughs either, but does that mean that she left Zebrica empty hoofed? She saw her pursuers caged and her wing had healed completely, but is that all she had to gain? Wasn’t that what she was owed from the start? Smiling, Daring knew that she lied to herself. The greatest gift was something she found long before she reached the summit, and possibly even before she set hoof on the dry rock of the mountain. Daring might age as the decades pass, and her wanderlust might wane, but like she had promised herself that day, she would never forget the one that made it all possible. The one that despite their lingual barriers, taught her, guided her, and brought hope to her when she felt that all was lost.
Smiling with her head propped up by the broom, a single tear traversed down her cheek and fell, soaking the dust when it had come to its end. She stared out of her window again, but she didn’t see the sun there, shining its blinding light towards her. She saw the delicate eyes and the heart-warming grin of the Griffin that saved her life. As long as she could see in her heart where her True North pointed, Daring knew that she would never be lost again.
She lost a year of her life, but in return, she was given the magical gift of friendship, the greatest gift of a-
The paper was buffeted by a cloudless rain, staining it in places and blurring some of the fresh ink. Sobbing uncontrollably, Gilda grabbed some tissue and dried her tears, saving her work. Stacking the sheets together, Gilda carefully slid them to the side and folded her arms on the desk, resting her chin against her limbs as her tears continued. Even her creation, Daring Do, had friends. A figment of her imagination that spawned into such a famous and well known character had more friends than she did.
Sighing, she wiped her eyes with a talon and stood up from her chair, watching as it skidded away from her and gently bumped against the peeling azure wallpaper. Moving over to the second of the three desks in her study, Gilda sifted through the heap of envelopes of countless sizes and hues before lifting up one that was coloured much the skies outside her window. There were eleven stamps stuck to the top right corner of the gentle blue envelope. Nine of them were a darker shade of the envelope, another was light in comparison, and the final stamp was a deep purple, totalling fifty bits in all. It takes a lot of money to send a letter from Equestria to Clawdor.
Gilda’s beak quivered as she leaned against her desk and slid a talon under the folding flap of the envelope, carefully opening it after it had been somewhat resealed. Gently, she extracted the letter inside it and prepared herself for another bout of sobs before she scanned the words with her golden eyes, already teary and downcast. Holding the creased letter at arm’s length, she wiped her face with a clenched claw, and she rubbed her eyes until they were bloodshot. Sniffling and letting out short, rushed breaths, Gilda read the last words of the letter.
“From you’re biggest fan, Rainbow Dash.” She couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the horrifically written words. Rainbow was never good at spelling, and she never really understood what homonyms were.
Reluctantly, she folded it away and slid it back into the envelope as she cried silently, shoulders twitching with every drawn breath. Dropping the light blue envelope back on top of the table-top’s worth of fan mail, Gilda dragged herself to the far side of her room, past her almost finished story and slumped into a rickety chair. The final desk before her was covered in pictures she had sketched in the years that she had spent as the anonymous genius behind Daring Do, enthralling foals throughout Equestria and the occasional mare.
At the very top of her pile were her more recent sketches, and the ones that she actually used as the cover art for her stories. Comparing the top of the pile to the middle, it was evident that there was a dramatic amount of improvement in the texture of the lines, the accuracy, and the likeness of the pony in the green vest to the Pegasus that claimed to be her biggest fan. Hours of work went into each sketch, and often it took Gilda a few days to draw something that she was satisfied with. Every little detail had to be right; the raspberry red eyes, the three tones of grey in Daring’s mane, and the spiky hairstyle that they were both so fond of. It was a secret that Gilda never intended to tell anyone, but Daring Do was the result of plagiarism. No one would ever realise of course, but Daring wasn’t completely fabricated by Gilda’s imagination. Instead, it merely nurtured the seed that had been planted by her memory into a mighty tree, bearing the fruit that would eventually become the Daring Do series.
Gilda knew that this day would come eventually. She knew that her inspiration was limited, that eventually the tree she cared for and picked regularly would wither. The leaves would turn a sickly orange, they would fall to the ground and her beloved tree would be gone forever. Gilda had used all the ideas that it offered, and it didn’t need to exist anymore. Now, whenever she closed her eyes, she would find herself standing in a sea of thin, lifeless leaves that crumbled when she touched them, turning into flakes with every one of her steps. In the middle of the vast expanse, she’d see a scrawny corpse, reaching for the sun with its frail branches.
Chuckling to herself, Gilda fought back the tears as she looked through the chronology of Daring’s appearance, going from what the world knew her as to the preliminary sketches that never saw the face on eager foals, ready to break the spine of the volumes and to be absorbed into herr world of adventure. The further back she went, the more she realised how much her muse influenced her stories. She choked on her own laughter when she saw the very first drawing she had ever done of Daring Do. Bright cyan was in the place of the adventurer’s classic mustard coat, and her mane was made of six streaks, as if she had showered in a rainbow. Staring at the coloured sketch, Gilda’s grin grew wider as she realised that this wasn’t even Daring Do at all. It was her friend.
Sighing, she tilted back in her chair and stared up at the plain ceiling, whistling a melancholic tune. The echoes came back to her immediately, and with a scowl, she bit down on her tongue, cursing herself. She used to have a friend, but everything changed, and it was her fault. Gilda hasn’t been back to Ponyville ever since the incident in Sugarcube Corner and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t visit the pony that had cared for her when they were younger. Glancing back at the cyan envelope on the pile of letters sent to her from countless ponies, Gilda sighed again before moving back to her writing desk, where her final story sat in a pile on the side. Grabbing her quill and dipping it in the ink, she found the last page and ended her sentence, letting out a deep breath as she sank back into her chair, dropping the feather on the floor as she grinned up at the ceiling.
‘I may not be able to see you again,’ she thought to herself, a single droplet forming under her eye. ‘But at least we’re still in touch.’
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” cried Rainbow, spiralling through the air and grabbing the hardcover book suspended by Twilight’s magic. “You weren’t kidding!”
“I asked Celestia to help me get my hooves on it so that Golden Oaks Library would be one of the first libraries in Equestria to have a copy of this book,” confessed Twilight, her contagious smile spreading across Rainbow’s face as she landed in one of the bean bag chairs. “I know how much you love this series, so I thought that you could come and read it before anypony else.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Twilight! You have no idea how happy I am!” cheered Rainbow, wrapping her hooves around Twilight and rubbing their cheeks together.
“Ha ha,” laughed Twilight nervously, pushing herself away. “You’re welcome Rainbow.”
“I can’t wait until I get home!” squealed the Pegasus, eyes shining with delight.
“Why don’t you just read it here?” suggested Twilight, breaking away from the tight hug. “You can just read it in that bean bag if you want.”
“Really? Well, it is pretty similar to a cloud...OK! I’ll read it here, thanks Twilight!”
“No problem Rainbow!” she replied with a grin. “I’ll just be in that room over there,” she announced, pointing a hoof at a door. “Just call me if you need anyth-”
“Daring Do’s Greatest Treasure!” read Rainbow, wings twitching with excitement.
With a silent chuckle, Twilight left the room and shut the door behind her, leaving Rainbow and the latest Daring Do book alone. Through the walls inside the mighty oak tree, Twilight could hear Rainbow’s narrations, mixed in with her own exultations and celebrations as Daring no doubt survived another dangerous chapter in her life. Smiling, Twilight scribbled with the quill gripped by her telekinesis, reminiscing about the first time she laid eyes on the treasure hunter Pegasus, and she tried to contain her own excitement, knowing that in a few hours, she’d get to read yet another of her stories.
“Oh. My. Gosh. This is the best book I’ve ever read!” cried Rainbow, flying loops in the air with the book in her hooves and a toothy grin on her face. “I never saw that coming! I mean, who woulda guessed that Daring-”
“Rainbow!” interrupted Twilight, snatching the book from her friend. “No spoilers!”
“I didn’t know you read the Daring Do books as well Twilight,” remarked Rainbow, eyes wide.
“It’s a nice change from what I usually read,” mumbled Twilight, turning her flushed face away.
“Well, it is a brilliant series, and that book was incredible. Just the right amount of radical, awesome and cool mixed in with the danger and boy was that twist at the end a shocker!-”
“Rainbow!” complained Twilight, stomping a hoof and clenching her eyes .
“Oops. Sorry, sorry. You can see for yourself how good the book is, ha ha...” Smiling apologetically, Rainbow hovered over to the door and opened it, waving at her friend before flying home, thinking all the while of the relatable thrill-seeker.
Exhaling with her relief, Twilight loosened her shoulders and trotted over to the bean bag. It was still warm and welcomed Twilight as she sank into it, levitating the book above her eyes and turning on a lamp so that she wouldn’t need to strain her eyes. Cheeks red with excitement, Twilight let out a quiet squeal before opening the book and scanning the first few pages that never had anything to do with the story. Just before she could be sucked into the adrenaline fuelled travels of Daring Do however, something on an almost blank page caught her eye. Reading it over and over only made her confusion worse and sitting up didn’t help her decipher it either. Her lips quivered as her eyes scanned the dedication page one last time.
“For Rainbow Dash, my biggest fan, who showed me what true friendship is.”
