Who is Daring Do?
The bone-chilling storm winds whipped mercilessly against Daring’s fur, her movements slowing and stiffening: unable to fight away the biting cold. She would not fall this way. She would not stop, not now. There was too much at stake. Maybe she really had started off the quest because of impersonal greed, but she had long since left that behind. The fate of world was resting in her hooves, as it had a surprising propensity to do when she least expected it, and she would not let everypony down.
Daring Do ground her teeth together, steeling her resolve; the fire in her heart melting away the all-encompassing ice that threatened to doom her and the world. Every step forward was a conscious effort of untold purpose: a testament to her fierce determination. But it seemed this, like the world, had been sentenced to destruction by Fate herself. A misstep on growing patches of ice sent her already weary form into the snow. It was soft, and Daring Do realized with slowly darkening sight that she would rather not stand up again at all. If her end was to come, at least she would be comfortable. Nopony would know and—
CRASH!
Rainbow Dash jolted from her absorption in the latest Daring Do book, regretting it immediately when she knocked the back of her head on hard wood. “Are you okay Twilight?” Rainbow yelled from the upper stories of the Ponyville library. She was half-hoping nothing had actually happened so she could return to the gripping end of the book.
“She’s fine,” Spike grumbled irritably as he came up the stairs, eyes heavy lidded with sarcasm and a book parted evenly over his head. Rainbow tried to stifle the laugh, but failed spectacularly. Spike sighed defeatedly, but in a flash snatched the soft book from his head and chucked it mightily at Dash. It was a pitiful throw, Rainbow dodging easily, but Spike burst out in more amused laughter. “That face you’ve got! Priceless! Ha ha!”
“Did you just throw a BOOK!” Twilight exclaimed, climbing up the stairs and appearing no worse for wear despite the crash that had distracted Rainbow. “You did, didn’t you!?” Twilight said, eyes narrowing disapprovingly.
“It was just for kicks Twilight!” Spike pleaded, warding her away unsuccessfully with his arms. She stalked past him, taking the thrown book in her magic.
“And a paperback too!” she said, now positively angry. “Spike, you know better. You’re grounded this weekend.”
“Aw man,” Spike said dejectedly, though Rainbow herself thought that was light considering the offense had been between Twilight and books. If Twilight had caught her throwing a book, she would have flown for the hills first thing.
“And you can go get Rainbow and me some lunch,” Twilight added.
“Okay, okay fine,” Spike said, trudging downstairs and out the door.
Twilight followed him, turning back once she was halfway down the stairs, asking Rainbow, “Dash, would you mind helping me out with the books that fell?”
“Sure, Twi,” Rainbow replied, though her voice betrayed her desire to get back to the book. “How many fell?”
“Pretty much the entire shelf closest to the doorway,” Twilight answered guiltily. “If I hadn’t been carrying so many with my magic when I fell off the ladder, I could have saved it but...” Something in Rainbow’s face must have given away her feelings, for Twilight interrupted herself, saying, “Dash, is there something bothering you?”
“Nah, it’s not really important,” Rainbow said casually, waving her hoof. “Daring Do’s not going anywhere.”
“Ooooo!” Twilight said eagerly as they entered into the main lobby. “Where are you?” It took a moment for Rainbow to reply, having been forced to register the sheer volume of books lying pell-mell over the floor. She shook her head vigorously to clear it, turning to Twilight.
“It’s the part where Daring Do thinks she’s gonna die,” Rainbow said, hovering above Twilight while the she sorted through the pile to find the proper number of the next book. “She doesn’t does she?” Rainbow added apprehensively.
“Nope. Not telling,” Twilight answered with a firm note to her voice. “I can’t spoil it for you.”
“Really? You can’t tell just something simple?” Rainbow asked.
“Nope,” Twilight said, remaining stalwart. “You wouldn’t have any good reason to finish it if I told you.”
“Yeah I would!” Rainbow retorted. “Whoever writes those books is just totally awesome. I mean, I’d read it just for the way it talks about walking.” When Twilight did not immediately respond, busy in sorting through the books for the next one in the sequence, a sudden thought struck Rainbow, and she was surprised that she had never wondered about it before. “Hey Twi, who writes the Daring Do books?”
“Oh, Plume?” Twilight replied. “I mean, that’s the pony who writes them, but it’s only a pen name. Nopony knows who she really is. Plume doesn’t come to events or anything. If you get a signed copy, its because you give it to the agent at the release date and she sends it back to you, signed, in the mail. It’s kind of funny actually. So many reporters come out with these crazy theories about who she is whenever a new book comes out. Half the fun is in reading those articles.” She laughed at some memory, but Rainbow was eyeing her critically.
“But somepony has got to know who she really is,” she said, perplexed.
“I’m sure there are some ponies that do, but not most,” Twilight replied matter-of-factly. “It helps with publicity too: mystery and intrigue and all of that stuff the media love.”
“Do you think there’d be any way to find out and meet her for real?” Rainbow asked excitedly, not really expecting an answer from Twilight that was probable.
“Maybe,” Twilight said, Rainbow’s face lighting up, only to have it fall when her friend continued, “but it would take something like a professional investigation to get to the bottom of it. Her publisher isn’t going to just let anypony know where their manuscripts come from, and her agent is famous for his talent of being expressionless when he needs to be.”
“Well Twilight, I’m going to be the one pony that finds out who she is!” Rainbow declared confidently. “The racing season isn’t until a few months and I need something to do besides work and practice.”
“If you really think you can do it...” Twilight replied unconvinced. “There’s a literature professor at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that might be able to help out.”
“Pff!” Rainbow waved her hoof nonchalantly. “I don’t need to go around doing all that egg-head researchy stuff. I’m doing it Rainbow Dash-radical-style!”
“Okay,” Twilight said flatly, returning to concentrating on sorting through the collapsed books, “you tell me how that works after a week or so.”
______________________________________________________________________________
With a solid plunk, Rainbow Dash’s face met the wood of her dining room table. She never ate at home (the table having been a gift from her flying school instructor), and thus the table had become a kind of catch-all for anything Rainbow needed a temporary place for. With her taking on the project of tracking down Plume’s real identity, it had become littered with a nice, three-page thick mess of papers. Some were dog-eared together, some stapled, and still others were merely strewn about haphazardly. Rainbow had never been particularly skilled in handling organization, and the mass of documents from various places proved as much. She half-knew that she had not made near the progress she could have if she were better at keeping her things in order. Still, she had taken on the challenge single-hoofedly, and she would finish it single-hoofedly. Besides, going and admitting to Twilight that she needed her friend’s contact would be beyond embarrassing. Unfortunately, said professor was rapidly becoming her only option if she wanted to push forward.
Thus far, she had—much to her own personal pride—concluded that whoever Plume was, she lived somewhere near or in Ponyville. Plume regularly sent letters to her publishers giving updates on her progress, and so long as the letters spoke of chapters or books already printed, the publishers were willing to give out copies to those who asked nicely. With the aid of Fluttershy in regards to wording the note as politely and sincerely as possible, Rainbow Dash had successfully acquired a goodly portion of these letters. They did not reveal much about her identity, except that even in her business interactions, her phrasing was exquisite and beautiful. Her penmanship also, was something to marvel at. However, Rainbow had thought that would be the case. Since the publishers were part of the facade to keep Plume’s identity a secret, there was no way even the luckiest pony would ever receive anything from them that might give out a clue.
No, Rainbow had wanted the letters for a different reason—though she had felt somewhat giddy as she read them despite her best efforts. Her job as a weather pegasus had not been hers to even apply for before she had graduated flight school. The need for a job had nevertheless still been present. So, like many young pegasi, she had taken on the ever-boring task of mail delivery. As monotonous as the job had been, Rainbow was now reaping its benefits. She knew from experience how many days it took to go from city A to city B, and through this knowledge combined with the dates on Plumes letters and the location of her publisher, Rainbow had been able to conclude she lived very near Rainbow herself.
The idea itself had brightened her mood for several days to the point that Pinkie mentioned how happy and smiley Rainbow had become. But it was only a small part of a larger puzzle, and the right piece was stubbornly remaining hidden. Hence Rainbow knocking her head on her table in frustration. Lifting her head, Rainbow glanced over the papers once more before turning her head to the mounted clock. Three twenty, Rainbow sighed in thought. Well, getting someplace early never hurt anypony and sure as hay the fresh air’ll do me good.
She pushed her chair out, taking in a deep breath to calm her nerves. As egg-headed as Twilight could sometimes be, she certainly had some good advice when it came to stress. Stretching as was her athlete’s habit, Rainbow walked onto the clouds supporting her house before leaping freely into the sky. She fell, eyes serenely closed, just feeling the air whip every hair on her body. Sensing the right moment, she snapped her eyes open, her muscles rolled her upright and pushed her wings out. She was slicing through the air with a rainbow trail in the purest form of freedom to ever exist in the world.
As thrilling as Rainbow found every moment of flight, this particular stay among the clouds was brief. She alighted outside the fence surrounding Ponyville Elementary, joining Applejack, Rarity, and all the other older siblings and parents waiting for school to let out. “You’re early today Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said pleasantly. “Scootaloo will like not having to wait a few minutes.”
“Hey, I’m never that late,” Rainbow defended herself.
“Hate to say it, but yeah, ya are,” Applejack replied. “What brings ya earl’er than yer usual time?”
“Nothing,” Rainbow said, casually. “Just decided comin’ was better than sitting around doing nothing.”
“Well, that’s something I never thought I would hear from you dear,” Rarity commented. “But anyhow, Scootaloo will still be very happy.” At that very moment, the large bell atop the school tolled long and low, but its notes were soon drowned away by the bustling noise of activity of fillies and colts inside. The doors appeared to bulge seconds before they were unlatched, and a wave of young ponies spilled out onto the path and grass, chattering away or merely shouting for joy that school was out for the weekend.
The seasoned veterans, like Applejack and Rarity, quickly moved to the side and allowed the mass of fillies and colts to flow between them, eyes darting this way and that as they searched for their charges. Normally avoiding the initial school let-out, Rainbow did only that which was natural and jumped up to hover. In retrospect, she realized it was not the best decision. As it was, she was the only pegasus in the air, and on top of that, she was Rainbow Dash; she captured the attention of a considerable number of the young ponies and the pile-up became inevitable. It was not serious, but Rainbow received several ill-wishing glares as parents fished their children out of the squirming pile. She smiled sheepishly at them, personally finding the whole event rather amusing.
Luckily, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were farther in the back of the crowd and Rainbow’s friends retrieved their siblings in short order. “Where’s Scoots?” she asked, perplexed when the filly was not with her comrades in crusading.
“It’s not good,” Applebloom was the first to answer, seriously concerned.
“Not good!” Sweetie replied incredulously. “Try horrible!”
“Wait, what happened Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked. “Did Scootaloo hurt herself or did she get in a fight and hurt somepony else?”
“Nah,” Applebloom answered instead. “It’s nothin’ like tha’ Miss Rarity. Miss Cheerilee just wanted her stay after class and talk to Rainbow Dash.”
“Horrible!” Sweetie re-emphasized with greater force. “Scootaloo made some bad grade, I know it! And now Miss Cheerilee wants to lecture her in front of Rainbow Dash! Horrible!”
“It is not horrible,” Rarity said sternly. “If Scootaloo has been falling behind in her school work, then she should be lectured. Though why she wants to meet with Rainbow Dash as well is odd to me.”
“I’ll explain later Rarity,” Applejack said pointedly, Rarity taking the hint and dropping the subject entirely.
“Well, you had better go inside and see what Cheerilee wants Rainbow,” the seamstress said cheerfully. “Tell us what happens and if we can help, don’t be afraid to ask.”
“Sure thing Rarity,” Rainbow said, waving to them as she settled onto the ground. Inwardly she was dreading this. In her school days, she had not been what would considered an ‘exemplary’ student. Cheerilee probably wanted her present because she would try to have her explain to Scootaloo the importance of doing well in school. The only problem was, Rainbow did not think it was all that important. She had finished flight school, of course, but had not, in fact, ever completed a standard education: having dropped out two years early. She was not the best motivational character when it came to the issue of staying in school.
But Scootaloo would be better off if Rainbow were with her, so Dash strode into the school building feeling only mildly apprehensive. Under ordinary circumstances, Cheerilee’s basement office would have been impossible to differentiate between all the other offices for all the other teachers. Circumstances as they were though, Scootaloo sat on a bench outside one of the rooms, marking her teacher’s workspace. The filly was the most dejected Rainbow had ever seen her: slumped over, eyes blinking back tears of embarrassment, and general complexion completely out of sorts. “Hey kid,” Rainbow said in the softest, but most reassuring voice she could muster.
“Hi Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo replied, voice choked as she tried not to let the tears begin flowing.
“Anything you want to tell me first?” Rainbow asked.
“No...” Scootaloo answered. “I don’t even know what’s going on. Miss Cheerilee won’t tell me.”
“Okay, you stay here and I’ll check it out. And Scoots, it’s okay. I wasn’t the best student in my day, so just roll with it. It’s not the end of the world,” Rainbow smiled for her.
“If you say so Rainbow Dash,” the filly answered, though her voice still said otherwise.
“I’ll make it quick as I can,” Rainbow said and opened the door into Cheerilee’s office.
The interior was as Rainbow expected it would be, purposefully bright and cheery to make fillies and colts feel less nervous. However, the sight of Cheerilee pacing back and forth behind her desk was enough to strip away any sense of calm the decorations exuded. “Oh thank Celestia you’re here Rainbow Dash,” Cheerilee immediately said upon hearing her close the door.
“What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked skeptically. “I mean, is one bad grade all that important?”
“Any bad grade is important,” Cheerilee replied seriously, brows frowning at Rainbow. “But thankfully that’s not what happened. And nothing’s wrong exactly...”
“Well what the hay then, Cheerilee?” Rainbow asked, feeling suddenly defensive of Scootaloo. “Scoots is all but traumatized out there.”
“I know, and I hate to do it, but what I found might embarrass her more than being asked to stay after class,” Cheerilee replied. She bent down, opening a drawer in her desk and pulling out a single sheet of notebook paper. “I found this in the week’s homework that Scootaloo turned in today. It wasn’t attached, so I don’t think she meant it to be in there, and I’m quite frankly not even sure if it belongs to her.”
“What makes you think I would know whose it is?” Rainbow asked, reaching out a hoof for the paper.
“You are our resident Plume fan-filly right?” Cheerilee answered hesitantly with another question.
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied, glazing over having just been called a fan-filly.
“Then tell me this doesn’t sound like it came from a Daring Do novel,” Cheerilee said, hoofing over the paper. Rainbow’s eyes flicked across the page, taking in every line. Barring some small grammatical things, she could not deny it certainly had the same vibe. The word choice, the pacing, the description, the pure enthrallment: it all could have easily leapt out of a Daring installment.
“Dang, it sure does... wait,” Rainbow began to say, impressed, when her eyes began to rove the words a second time. Only now, she was paying attention to the hoofwriting. She had seen Scootaloo’s hoofwriting, and it was nothing like this. The letters before her now were beautiful: and upon closer inspection, were matches for the letters in Plume’s mail to her publishers. “No—bucking—way!” Rainbow nearly shouted. “How could Scootaloo get ahold of an original Plume manuscript?!”
“You really think that’s what it is?” Cheerilee asked.
“The hoofwriting is the same as Plume’s,” Rainbow replied emphatically. “It has to be her’s!”
“Um... Rainbow Dash,” Cheerilee said quizzically. “I saw Scootaloo writing that out when I was lecturing on science.” Both ponies eyed one another blankly, Cheerilee unsure of what to make of the whole situation and Rainbow Dash doing her best to fit everything together. Despite her best efforts to turn each piece in every other way possible, one explanation persistently made its presence known in her thoughts. Scootaloo... Scootaloo is... is Plume.
“No, no, no! Hold on!” Rainbow Dash rejected the idea on the mere implausibility of it. “You probably just saw Scootaloo taking notes or something.”
“If only,” Cheerilee chuckled. “Scootaloo doesn’t take notes, no matter how many times I tell her to do so. That paper is the only thing she would have been doing.”
“But she’s so... so... young,” Rainbow Dash finished lamely. She had been young when she had performed her first Sonic Rainboom, younger even than Scootaloo was right now.
“We should ask her ourselves then,” Cheerilee said. “You see now why I didn’t want to bring it up earlier in front of her classmates on the off chance it was true.”
“No kidding,” Rainbow said, still somewhat in denial without a solid confirmation.
“Scootaloo dear!” Cheerilee called. “Would you come in now?” It took a moment, but the door was gradually edged open, and Scootaloo slowly dragged her hooves inside, head lowered in perceived shame.
“Will you tell me what’s wrong Miss Cheerilee?” she asked, quiet and distant.
“Nothin’s wrong kid,” Rainbow said, fighting back the urge to ask the all important question right then. “Cheerilee just found something in your homework she was wondering if you wrote.”
“So I did really well on something?” Scootaloo asked, hope clinging to her words as she raised her head up.
“Well, if this is anything to judge by young filly,” Cheerilee replied, waving the paper, “then I would say you’ve done better than well on more than one thing.”
“Oh horseapples!” Scootaloo swore upon realizing just exactly what Cheerilee had. “I... uh... that’s my... fanfiction... yeah, that’s my fanfiction.” She was too intense.
“Scoots, I’ve seen the way Plume writes, and uh, that’s identical,” Rainbow said, smiling in disbelief. “You’re Plume. I’m right, right?” Scootaloo only stared blankly—eyes wide as they could be and mouth ajar—between teacher and idol as she tried her best to reconcile the situation.
Upon realizing there was no way out, she said in an earnest seriousness, “Listen, you can’t tell anypony! I’m serious! It’s a secret and it’s supposed to stay that way! You have no idea how much trouble I’d be in if anypony found out!”
“Alright, cool it kid,” Rainbow laughed lightly. “Secret’s safe with me, but seriously, we have got to get together sometime to talk about it.”
“Okay, sounds good,” Scootaloo replied shyly, not sure of what to make of Rainbow Dash idolizing her instead of the other way around.
“Seriously Scoots!” Rainbow said, ecstatic. “It’s totally awesome! I had no idea you were so good at writing. Wish I was.”
“You don’t think of me differently do you?” Scootaloo asked.
“ ‘Course I think of you differently now kid,” Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof, only to retract upon seeing Scootaloo’s stricken face, “But in a good way! I mean, it’s not like I knew Plume and you separately. You’re still Scootaloo to me, but now you’ve got my total admiration for writing such awesome books.”
“Thanks,” the filly answered meekly. “Obviously nopony’s ever given me a compliment like that before.”
“I’d like to say something Scootaloo,” Cheerilee inserted herself kindly. When she had her student’s attention, she continued, “I think you should let ponies know. That feeling you got when Rainbow Dash gave you a compliment; that’s the same feeling I get whenever a student learns something or tells me how much they enjoyed a class. I’m sure it’s the way Rainbow Dash feels when ponies applaud her when she’s performing.”
“For sure,” Rainbow affirmed.
“And you know what, we only get that feeling when we don’t hide who we really are,” Cheerilee said. “Don’t you think that having your friends know who you are and what you really enjoy doing would make your friendship stronger?”
“Applebloom always says that being honest makes friends friends forever,” Scootaloo admitted. “I just didn’t want them to be jealous of me.”
“A true friend isn’t going to be jealous of you Scoots,” Rainbow reassured her. “And those two friends of yours I would say are true friends.”
“And too, being honest with others as well as with yourself is part of getting a cutie mark,” Cheerilee said knowingly. “How can a talent blossom when you hide it?”
“You’re right Miss Cheerilee,” Scootaloo said. “I have to be me, no matter what anypony else thinks!”
“There’s the spirit, and if those publishers want to be—! Whoah!” Rainbow shouted out as a there was a bright flash of white light in the room. It cleared in an instant, and with came a joyous yelp from Scootaloo. On her each of her flanks was her cutie mark, two pencils crossing an adventurer’s hat which looked remarkably similar to Daring’s hat.
“I’ve got my cutie mark!” she exploded in happiness. “You guys were right! If I wasn’t being honest with others, how could I be honest with myself! Thanks a ton Rainbow Dash and Miss Cheerilee!” She hugged each of them in turn, the adults returning the gesture with smiles just as large as Scootaloo’s own.
“C’mon kid,” Rainbow said. “I know a few someponies that’ll lose it when they see you’ve got a cutie mark. And hay, while we’re at it, might as well get Pinkie to throw a party for the occasion. I’m really proud of you Scoots, now just keep it up.”
“No problem!” Scootaloo said firmly, a new kind of confidence in her voice.
Author's Note
Many thanks to Feather Book for providing me with this prompt and challenge from the Authors Helping Authors 300 Member Celebration Admin Challenge.
