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Hoofprint Publishing presents: Daring Do, coming to a town near you!
This month, Daring Do will be touring Equestria with the release of her most exciting adventure yet! She'll be on hand to answer questions about her latest adventure and sign copies of her new book. Come along and meet the intrepid explorer in person. It's an experience you'll never forget!
Tour dates: Manehatten - 16th; Ponyville - 17th; Las Pegasus - 18th; Trottingham - 19th...
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Nice and very sad but in a good and are you going to write a squeal to this one please.
We need more Footlight.
Poor Footlight...
This was very well written and a nice character study. I'd love to see more of it.
Alright, I teared up at the end. That was really good. You are amazing at getting emotions across the literary medium.
Damn straight, you're the author. Dear God.
I know you're probably not the type of guy that is keen on flattery, and I know I've probably already said this before on one of your other stories... but you are, without a doubt, one of the best authors on the entire site. I know I look like such a squealing fangirl saying that, but I'm dead serious. Your stories are criminally underappreciated, and the fact that I have more followers than you right now is absurd.
In fact, it makes me wonder if you are actually a real published author in real life. Because if you haven't considered writing original fiction and sending it off to be published(and I'm not saying this to diminish what you've written on here; all of it is bloody-bleeding fantastic), then you need to start. At SOME point. And if you are feeling unconfident about the quality of your writing(I have no clue if that is the case or not), then let me just say, once more for good measure, that your stories on here are some of the best I have ever seen on all of FimFiction. And I mean that sincerely. You could submit all four of your stories to Equestria Daily, and they'd approve every single one of them without a strike.
I'm serious.
Thank you so much for writing this continuation to an already marvelous story, and I look forward to more of whatever you have to offer.
3936647
Whoa, not so fast. I'm always up for a bit of flattery! Seriously though, I do really appreciate it when folks take the time to tell me they liked something I wrote. It only encourages me to write more words. So, thank you.
I wish I could respond to everyone who liked, favourited or watched me but quite apart from the fact that I don't have that much time, I prefer to take a step back and watch from a distance.
Yep. Always paranoid that the next chapter will be the one everyone hates and undoes all my good work. Is that just me?
Dunno what the next one will be yet. I have a couple of ideas knocking about up there, none of which are ready for paper. They need to bake a bit longer,
Thanks once again for taking the time to encourage me. I know your time is valuable and I sincerely appreciate you spending some of it on me. With fortune and a fair wind, you'll get something else to read from me down the line.
Though...it'll probably end up being the story that everybody hates and undoes all my good work.
-8686
This was excellent. To begin with, I think the most impressive thing about this story was the incredibly natural and believable way you meshed all of the OC's (Footlight is an OC correct?) with Dash and Twilight. I think many authors struggle with characterization and staying true to established characterization. No such issues here.
It was hilarious to read Footlight's reaction to Celestia. I often think about how ponies should react when their casual acquaintance Twilight Sparkle reveals how powerful her social connections really are. You hit that nail on the head. The style you wrote this story in was surprisingly engaging. I believe you said it was "First person present tense." Interesting. Normally I'm an advocate of the fourth wall. This story is an exception. I believe it really works to convey a pony dealing with as much mental turmoil as Footlight. 
Furthermore, your premise was beautiful! The presentation of Footlight's discontent over her role is engaging and again, presented in a completely believable manner. Twilight and Rainbow Dash are the perfect characters to shine a light on her day in the initial chapter and light that spark of hope in Footlight. On it's own, chapter one is perfect, if rather sad, but then you added a second chapter and it makes me want to *squee*
Chapter two takes the progression you started in chapter one and furthers it flawlessly. Again, Twilight and Dash are written perfectly, not to mention Argento and of course, Footlight. *Spoilers* The debate over Dash taking Footlight's place in the show is very real, and you conveyed a sense of drama. I was genuinely concerned that Footlight would be caught and punished, and yet I was shouting in my head "GO FOR IT YOU FOAL!"
Other details, love your little ship.
Final opinion? Absolutely a 10/10 buddy.
Right in the feels, man.
Right in the fucking feels.
Look, I'mma be honest here. As someone who has struggled with something very similar to what Footlight undergoes in this story in general, and with crippling depression in particular, you nailed it. There were tears shed. I don't know whether they count as manly or not, and I don't particularly care.
I don't know whether to offer you a digital fistbump for writing something so damn amazing or stab you with something so as to keep you from publishing anything in future. As someone who hopes to be a professional writer some day, I'm seriously floored by this story, and I'm not sure I want you as competition.
Faved, upvoted, burned into my brain. That is all.
I actually don't think Daring Do being real interferes with this story.
Its fairly obvious that the real Daring Do doesn't want to be Daring Do to society in-person, and the publishing company probably set up the act with some other pony to rake in money.
It seems likely that Daring Do has some deal with the company to keep her existence as the real Daring Do quiet, given how that wasn't public knowledge.
If anything, Daring Do being real makes this tale rather ironic.
As heartwarming as the first was soul-crushing, excellent work!
Its amazing you manage to portray conversations without actually quoting them, and everything somehow flows perfectly.
I've just never seen that style before, but I guess it plays on not adding unnecessary details to a scene, and keeps the world viewed from how Footlight thinks of it.
No doubt about it, this story is one of the best of the best.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
So far as I can tell, the real Daring Do would be fairly indifferent, if maybe slightly annoyed, by a performer playing her.
She seemed to actively avoid attention and write the books to support herself...because I doubt she sold any of the relics she found for a cheap buck.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
I especially liked the characterisation of the Executives; they're businessponies, they're interested mainly in profit, but they're not inhumane about it. (Inponye?) And I can just imagine what their 'brief meeting with Celestia' was about...
When in doubt...
*Holds up hands and grins like the Ancient Aliens guy*
Wizards.
Great story man.
Very nicely done! I do have to say that I found the somewhat detached, contemplative tone that comes from it being in first person with no dialogue and little detailed description to suit the first chapter better than the second, but I still really enjoyed it overall.
This was really beautiful. I simply don't know what else to say. I'm dumbstruck by that sad-content feeling I get after finishing a really good story.
I'm going to have to look at your other stories later, when I have time again.
*sniff*
For a show dedicated to the power of friendship, I actually don't come across fanfic driven by that ideal very often. Maybe one-shots aren't enough room for the idea to fully unfurl. In any case this was a breath of fresh air I didn't know I needed.
I also liked how you kept the focus on the situation and its consequences. Nopony is a villain here, nor does anypony need to be. The problem is the circumstances and the fact that nopony understands that something is truly wrong until a friend decides to help a friend. Outstanding effort all around.
Arwhale seems to have beaten me to the feature recommendation, so all I can add is a like, a fav, a user page spot, and a ribbon:
i.imgur.com/6MrWqNZ.png
And, since it seems Mayhem just told me to moonlight as feature chooser this week, I'mma making this the TL spotlight fic, and nobody's gonna tell me otherwise
Very well done.
4451622
Jaw. Dropped.
You do me too much honour, sir.
However this little flight of fancy came to your attention, I infer that you enjoyed it. That being the case, I consider my time writing it well-spent.
Thank you most kindly.
Stay safe, and have fun.
--Author
4456833
I think it was Arwhale that added it to the Twilight's Library personal recommendations folder. Granted, we were so behind that folder was forgotten until now. I happened across the feature suggestion, when trying to figure out what to promote this week, saw the story wasn't technically processed, and here we are
Either way, very good read.
This was well worth the read. Thanks for writing this.
I don't think I'll ever be able to write something as fantastic as this, but heck if I won't try... maybe a few years down the line.
Very cute.
I think I would've preferred it if the story had proper dialogue, but this was excellent all the same.
I like this a lot--both chapters, equally. Sweet but not cloying, an interesting choice of narrative voice which you've used quite adequately, an interesting, sympathetic and believable OC and a deft use of the show's characters.
Your use of "stood" sounds rather odd to me, I'm guessing it's a regionalism from--Australia? New Zealand? Anyway it's creditable. Use of "worse" for "worst" is less so, however.
And for heaven's sake, watch the following video. It could change your life! ;-)
4566815
Then I was all, 
At first I was like
"Stood." Yeah. You got me. I can totally see where you're coming from. 'Stood' is properly the past tense of the verb 'to stand.' And I've kind of butchered it into the present tense everywhere with, 'I am stood.' 'She is stood.' I can see how that would be weird, but yeah, it's a natural, local way of talking for me and I never even noticed it until you pointed it out.
"Worse." I assume you mean:
That's probably bad phrasing on my part. You might have tried to read 'They're going to take away some of the worst parts of the...' but that wasn't quite the intent. Footlight's job has many aspects. Some are better than others, and some are worse than others. Those parts that are being taken away are worse parts. But they are not the worst parts. That's what I was driving at, but I probably should have done it better.
And that...video...
quickmeme.com/img/b4/b4d8f4b53ffa03fe2039b25b10352cfefe442bd9cba8cbca5e6e83fc30daca90.jpg
...but the sentiment is appreciated.
Stay safe, and have fun out there.
--The Author.
4567576
Aha! I see what's going on here, I think.
The word I've seen used in this circumstance is "worser" (formed as per "dumb" and "dumber"), but that's an archaism, nonstandard in current speech, and in any case unnecessary except when "worse" is, as it is here, the correct word, but somehow sounds wrong.
4569512
Criticism accepted.
Yeah. I know.
If you ever read Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' saga, there is a point, right before the end of the final book, where the author literally puts the narrative aside and talks directly to you, the reader. Almost in as many words, he says this:
"You can have that ending if you want it. The characters are content, and the world is largely put to rights. If a happy ending is what you want, then please, you are welcome to stop here. If you read on you will likely be disappointed, and you may even end up hating me. Because while that's a nice ending, it's not quite the right ending, and there is one more chapter to go."
When I decided to do the second chapter, I almost put a similar disclaimer in the author's notes at the end of chapter one. Because I knew I'd kind of done the reverse. I'd already given you the 'right' ending, and I was practically inviting you to read on just to give you a...well, 'wrong' one isn't quite fair, I think, but you know what I mean.
In the end I thought better of it for two reasons: 1) I'm not Steven King, (surprise!) He can get away with such pretentiousness and I can't, and 2) Well...nobody ever stops reading.
Why do chapter 2 at all? I'll admit I got rather attached to Footlight. I couldn't help but think of what would happen to her if nothing changed...and it lead to some pretty tragic, ultimately dark places. So I broke rule number one and put the character before the reader, just this once, just so I could set her straight...then she'd be okay. Hopefully no-one would mind.
I knew it was wrong. I'm not proud of it, but I don't regret it either.
Does she get everything she ever wanted? Yes and no, I suppose. She's still not overly thrilled at playing Daring Do for another year, and her reprieve from some of the unpleasant parts of the job is only temporary. I'd argue the only thing she really got out of the Publishers by the end was a two-week holiday and equal rights for Argento. But to go with it, she now has what she desperately wanted in the first chapter:- someone to talk to and a shoulder to cry on. That makes all the difference in the world to her, and she certainly feels like she got everything she wanted.
Because all she wanted was a friend.
Friendship is magic.
--The Author
Admittedly, it was a bit difficult for me to read through the beginning.
I felt for the character in the short measures she was introduced - a strong mark for this story. Sympathy.
There is an allegory somewhere in here...
Anyways, I enjoyed the turn in this chapter. My typical rule of thumb for character endings is to trust that the author knows what he/she wants for them. They might not get the ending I expected or wanted, but I can pretend they did in my head. Subtext!
And the best part about this is you neatly leave a wide-open door for a sequel that's already neatly dodged the "Daring Do is really AK Yearling" bit, without disturbing a single chunk of canon. Heh. Imagine if Footlight accidentally ended up with part of the next novel from first-hand knowledge...
I'm almost more impressed by this now than I was when I read it a couple of weeks ago. Why? Because I've been at BUCK, where we had Dave Polsky and G. M. Berrow talk about Daring Do in various ways, and this fic doesn't get in the way of anything either of them said. I think that's worth a favourite!
I really, really enjoyed this. It's quite tell-y, but I think that works; it also makes for an interesting contrast with Daring Do's all-action image, and since the contrast between who Footlight's playing and who she is is at the heart of this story, I found that rather satisfying.
There's very little that irritated me. The very occasional typo ("appearence", "vehemetly") and I'm afraid I just groaned at the "major plot points" line, but there really wasn't much. I did giggle at the mention that "somepony screwed up" at Las Pegasus. Well, yes. Quite.
The first chapter is probably better than the second, which is maybe a little overlong and perhaps wraps things up conveniently neatly (though I can live with that) but they're both good reads. Mainly because the whole exploration of friendship is so nicely handled. Sad without being mawkish, and that's impressive. Good stuff!
I've been grinning my way through much of this new chapter that I just now learned was here. Glad I checked back!
Chapter 1: Less then a thousand words in, and I was already invested enough in Footlight's dreams to get a sense of her crushing disappointment, not to mention very much compelled to reach the outcome of her story. This was a pretty nice surprise, as I wasn't expecting to enjoy a story with the [sad] tag, nor a Daring Do story that lacks the [adventure] tag.
And major props to you for typing "cutie marks", plural. I think it may be cultural twist in equine terminology that has them refer to both marks as a single unit, but it's refreshing nonetheless to hear them described as a set.
Chapter 2: My favorite kind of character-driven drama is the kind that's exhilarating without being melodramatic, and has enough optimism to relieve me from the loss, anger, dark feelings, and downfall that typically permeates such stories. This is definitely my kind of drama.
On its own, the first chapter works well as a standalone about a character sacrificing her identity. Then the second chapter turns it into a prologue for the real story. I always find that kind of duology to be interesting, because it demonstrates how something that is already original still has room to expand into even bigger ideas. Such is the case with George Lucas's movie Willow and the trilogy of novels by Chris Claremont that followed it. Or the ultimate example: Red Vs. Blue.
It was cool to see Footlight come full-circle in how she felt about her familiar fan group, and the way Rainbow Dash was used as a fulcrum for that change made for a very well-executed development. Another example of a nice development was setting the publishers up as the snooty, uncaring bureaucratic villains, then pulling back the veil of misunderstanding to reveal that they're just regular people doing their jobs.
Thing is, I was disappointed that I couldn't hate them after that revelation, and it took me a few seconds to get why: they wrote her contract, and knew what conditions she worked under. It seems ridiculous that they could go five years and fail to realize that those conditions might be detrimental to their top employee's well-being. … That ellipses right there marks where I stopped reading to type this part of my review. I see you understood already that those guys weren't sin-free. Footlight's “riposte” was very gratifying!
Dammit this was good. I felt as if I was actually there with the characters! Well played. Well played indeed.
So have the following: a thumbs up, a fave, annnnd....
five moustaches.
~ Super-Brony12
Almost perfect (the whole "sharing a room the very day we decide we're in love" seems ... sudden, and also tacky). Very nice little story, though, filled with all manner of genius.
4571169
This story is amazing!
Approved for Rated 'E' for Everyone
So this story made me follow 8686, and also made me wish I had checked for more stories after reading Friend of a Friend, since I only checked for more stories after I though the style was familiar.
I don't have much to write about after reading this. The writing style is fluid; it doesn't let the words get in the way of the story. It's one of the rarest traits a story can have, and is hard to recognize, even harder to pull off. The somewhat foreboding usage of Titles in place of names (Suits, Publishers, Executives) was interesting, but didn't detract from the reader's ability to realize them as people (or ponies, as it were), and the choice not to give them names (except ones 'assigned' to them) fit well with the characters detachment from the Publishers. At the same time, I felt they were fairly treated, which can be somewhat hard to do with characters that can hardly be called such, they feel more like a force, or an organization.
I liked the story, I loved the way it was told, and I gained no small amount of attachment to the characters, but at the same time, it felt like they told their story; I don't need to know anything else about them, but could picture it easily. For a story that was really about original characters, it's an accomplishment. For fitting everything into just over 22,000 words, without feeling like anything was left out, or worse, stretched out far longer than it had any right to be, I can safely say this might be one of the best, and most critically underrated shorter fics I've read.
4571169 Sorry for replying for your old post, but I need to share my two cents. And you feel (at least it's looks like) conflicted about the second chapter and that spur me on. So the first chapter was awesome. And the second one? It's hard to put into words (mostly because english is my second language). But I feel if MLP:FiM tackled more mature themes (or simply the target audience was older) this could be an episode.
What I'm trying to say the second chapter put it more into the MLP role for me, where everything is good at the end. And it was a great help for this that the story core was about friendship what this show is all about.
So yeah I think I just repeat myself, but I think the first chapter was a really good fanfic, while with the two it is a great MLP fanfic.
And an after thought song
Wow, that was great! I particularly like how you used the perspective to lend to the feeling of detachment Footlight describes throughout the story. I really felt for her through the whole thing, I could easily believe that Footlight was a real person and not a magical pony from your imagination.
This story has a fluid pace that reminds me of other writers like Estee or The Descendant. This has become one of my favorites.
Welcome to Tag-A-Long's Book Club
i.imgur.com/BF6x9JM.png
Wow. Just...wow. Wowee. Definitely in my top faves, this one. Just...wow. Well-done. Very well-done. If this was a steak, it'd be ash, this is so well-done. Great, fantastic, stupendous job.
I believe you mean "plaintive".
I normally hate stories written in this semi-dialogue-less style.
But I love it.
The second chapter truly took the cake.
Thanks to you, I only got 4 hours of sleep last night. Could not stop reading this masterpiece.
You've earned another follower, my friend.
This was a really good read. I like Footlight as a character...and I see no reason why "Yearling Do" (let's call her that) wouldn't already know about and approve that she has a paid actor doing the promotional scutwork while she is busy tapdancing on wildcats in the jungles turning field notes into the next book. :p
Footlight really does need to meet the author, though. She doesn't think it odd that in five years she hasn't once met the pony whose brainchild she is responsible for portraying?
...especially if it happened to be when she's visiting Twilight and Rainbow. After they've had their little introduction episode and know exactly who they are bumping into. Oh how confused any poor fans in the area would be if there were suddenly two Derring Dos nose to nose in front of them!
Hehe... How ironic that I'm reading this after the conclusion of Sunken City.
You can has review!
You can has review!
8499133
Oi, that's my line!
8677840
I'll fight ya for it
Secretly, though, I stole it from you for, uh, certain fics...
8678390
Ah-hah, I knew it! Thief! Thieeeeeef!
...
Yeah, I don't really mind. Imitation and flattery and all that.
Two things:-
One> You are the author so you can do as you wish. Sure, you may disappoint some readers or even yourself, but ultimately you have the say. To leave such a character languishing in that situation may be purity of literature for its own sake... but is it fitting to the world it is written in?
Two> You created a side character who engages your reader's empathy with a story of catching your dream and then realising the dream has caught you. That you did this using such a non-standard story telling style makes it even more outstanding. You then allowed FiM to recapture a piece of that dream and introduce a new one thus making Chapter 2 complete this as an MLP:FiM story. As someone before me mentioned, this could be made into an episode of the series and it would fit in easily.
All that said, Footlight is a pony that almost anyone can relate to and that is something I appreciate in a story. You also did not make the Publishers be evil for the sake of it, you portrayed them as powerful but fair ponies who appreciate having an employee who fills a role so well. The fact that both they and Footlight have failed to communicate problems as they developed is shown as being a combined issue, Footlight failing to think of simply saying "I need more time off because I am getting burnt out" and the Execs for realising too late that their valued employee is unhappy because they have begun to take her for granted. Some would say that ponies of that calibre would have had a fallback plan but, as anyone knows who has worked in a large business knows, it is just as likely that five years of seemingly smooth sailing has led to complacency.
All in all, a great little story that draws you in, takes you for a ride and makes you believe it and all in just twenty thousand plus words... far less than many others take to still get far less of an attachment between the reader and an OC. Very well done.
This is a real gem!
I love how you depicted the corporate structure, no one being evil but rather concerned for their own job and how much they can allow, with things not being noticed until they become a real problem. How she doesn't notice that Twilight uses her name, not Daring, and how she reacts.
As I stated this is a real Gem.