By all logic and reason, I should’ve been able to put the entire Yearling affair into a box labelled ‘pointless things not worth wasting oxygen thinking about’ and shoved that into the back of my mind for the remainder of the school day. While it had only a loose connection to my future goals in life, it had nothing to do with trudging through the rest of my classes. And yet somehow I couldn’t get the thought of Yearling and that amulet out of my mind. It got so bad that I was picturing my trigonometry homework through a lense of Daring Do, calculating the angles of her swings as she traversed the hazards of some lost temple.
Maybe that was how Rainbow Dash managed to make math bearable for herself.
I just couldn’t stop thinking about Yearling, which wouldn’t have been so disconcerting had it not felt so reminiscent of my former obsession with a certain magic mirror. Why did Yearling break into her own classroom just to take back an amulet that she had been so dismissive of not too long ago? Perhaps she had known I was eavesdropping and put on a show to throw off any suspicion. The Daring Do of the novel series was known for her cunning and guile, and frequent use of misdirection to throw her enemies into confusion. If Yearling had been hiding amongst us for so many years, it would make sense that she had learned how to cover her tracks and avoid suspicions.
However, one thing she couldn’t account for was somebody as driven and perceptive as me.
The moment the bell rang, signalling the end of classes for the day, I bolted out of my seat and hurried to regroup with the rest of my friends. Fortunately for me, I was not the only person filled with a Yearling-inspired zeal, as I almost ran headlong into Rainbow Dash while on my way to find her.
“We need to find Ms. Yearling!” we shouted in unison.
There was a brief pause with both of us grinning like idiots when we realized we were of one mind. The rest of our friends joined us soon afterwards, though Dash nor I gave them much heed, caught up in our excitement as we were.
“If we’re going to find her, we need to come up with a plan,” I suggested.
“Ms. Yearling and Principal Celestia are practically best friends. There’s no way this big of a secret could’ve been kept hidden,” Dash replied. “We should go to Celestia and see what we can get out of her.”
“That might not be a good idea right now,” I admitted with a hint of humility and shame. “Celestia and I kind of got into a bit of an argument yesterday, and we haven’t exactly patched things up between us yet.”
“An argument?” a worried Rarity chimed in as she appeared at my shoulder. “Is everything okay? This is about the whole debacle in the music room, isn’t it?”
I let out a wistful sigh before nodding. My first instinct had been to deflect or avoid the question so that I didn’t get them embroiled in an affair that wasn’t their responsibility, but I reminded myself that they were my friends. I could share with them my burdens and concerns without having to fear reprisal or judgment.
“Celestia felt that I was being too reckless with my experiments,” I explained. “She wants me to stop, and I may have been a bit too full-throated in my defense.”
“Terribly sorry to hear that, darling,” Rarity said as she added to her condolences with a pat on my shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“It’s fine. Sorta,” I politely insisted. Perhaps another time I would’ve enjoyed talking the situation over, but I had more pressing concerns on my mind. “We just need to give each other a little time to cool down, and then I’ll go beg for forgiveness or something.”
While I didn’t believe for a moment that Celestia would refuse to help out of sheer spite for our current disagreement, she’d likely suspect that this unorthodox request would relate to my research into magic somehow. Since it was tangentially related, I’d have to lie, which was a tactic that didn’t appear to work with Celestia anymore. Things were tense enough between us already without me throwing more gasoline on the fire.
“The school records should have Ms. Yearling’s home address,” Rainbow Dash suggested, unwilling to allow my personal problems to distract her from her new mission in life. “We could always check with the main office and see if they’ll help.”
“The office staff isn’t going to give that information out just because we ask them,” I reminded her. “And I’d really prefer if we didn’t have to resort to lying to get what we need.”
“We could try waiting until everyone leaves and then sneak into the office and—”
“Definitely no!” I interrupted before Dash could even suggest what she was about to. “I am not breaking into the main office. An empty classroom was one thing, but that’s taking it too far.”
“I know where Ms. Yearling lives.”
“Okay, fine,” Rainbow Dash agreed, though shrugged it off as though it were of little concern. “Maybe we can check online, like on MyStables or a phone directory.”
I pursed my lips and tapped my chin as I pondered over the suggestion. “It’s possible, though I doubt she’ll have her address publically available on her MyStables page, assuming she even has one. Still, it’s better than anything we’ve got right now.”
“Oh, I’ve got an idea!” Dash exclaimed in ever-growing excitement. “We go to the office and we explain to them that we need to speak with Ms. Yearling right away, which isn’t a lie since that is what we want to do. We convince them to give us her phone number and then—”
“I have Ms. Yearling’s phone number and address.”
“Dash, that might not be a lie, but that’s still a lot more deception than I’m comfortable with,” I said with an exasperated sigh. Dash might’ve been exercising her creativity, but I feared she was over-complicating the issue.
“You want to find Ms. Yearling or not?” she snapped in an accusatory fashion.
“Um, excuse me, but I know where to find—”
“I’m just saying that if we’re not careful, all this deception will bite us in the butt,” I countered. “Ms. Yearling is still our teacher, after all, and I’d rather avoid getting on her bad side. Maybe we should just—”
Before I could continue, there was a sudden ear-splitting whistle, silencing both me and Rainbow Dash. Once our eardrums recovered, we saw that the source of the auditory assault was Applejack.
“If y’all are done squabbling, I do believe Fluttershy might have a suggestion,” Applejack informed us while gesturing to our soft-spoken friend.
“Oh, um, thank you,” Fluttershy said with a quick and polite smile. “I just wanted to say that if you need to know where Ms. Yearling lives, I have her address on my phone.” She held out the aforementioned device, revealing an entry in her contact list for Ms. Yearling, which included her address, phone numbers, and email address.
“Well why didn’t you say so sooner?” Dash exclaimed as she snatched the phone from her friend.
Fluttershy said nothing in response, merely giving her over-enthusiastic friend a short, disappointed glare that went ignored due to Rainbow’s single-minded drive.
Suffering from less tunnel-vision than my companion, I chose instead to ask the more obvious question. “How’d you get Ms. Yearling’s contact information?”
“She adopted a dog from the animal shelter where I volunteer,” she explained. “I helped her with all the supplies and got Indiana all settled into his new home.”
“And here I had always pegged her as more of a cat person,” Rarity remarked with a hint of surprise. “What kind of dog?”
“A golden retriever: the friendliest, most adorable one we had at the shelter, too.”
Seeing as I wasn’t too concerned about the sort of pets that Yearling kept, I went over to check on Rainbow Dash who now had her own cellphone out. She had a map open on her phone while keeping Yearling’s information out on the other, and was pinpointing our destination relative to our current location. I refrained from asking for a progress report, and just waited until she had a triumphant grin on her face.
“Got it!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Ms. Yearling doesn’t live too far from here. We should be able to take a bus to within a few blocks of where she lives and then walk from there.”
“Great! Let me just get my things and we can meet at the bus stop.” I was just about to part ways with Rainbow Dash when I paused and looked to the rest of my friends, realizing that the two of us had been making plans without consulting with any of them. “Do any of you girls want to tag along?”
The others looked among themselves for a moment and gave a collective shrug.
“Well it’s this or chemistry homework,” Applejack replied. “Pretty obvious which will be more interesting.”
*******************
“Look, there she is!” Dash exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
Our plan so far had proceeded smoothly: we took the bus to within a few blocks of Ms. Yearling’s address, and then we traveled the rest of the distance on foot. Like Celestia, our English teacher lived in one of the city’s many quaint suburbs, which meant a pack of youngsters roaming the streets raised few suspicions. Much to our good fortune, there was also a park not too far from Yearling’s home and within direct line of sight. This provided the six of us with plenty of trees and foliage to use as cover to mask our approach.
“Where? Let me see,” I whispered back once I finally caught up to my enthusiastic friend.
Rainbow Dash had run off ahead the second she caught a glimpse of Ms. Yearling’s house in the distance. At first, I was worried she’d just run up to the door and start banging on it, but she managed to stay level-headed enough to hide behind a bush. It was just large enough to provide cover for me and Dash, which forced the rest of our friends to hang back and find concealment elsewhere. As I pushed the foliage aside, I finally spotted what had excited my friend so much. Across the street sat an otherwise ordinary-looking suburban house: a more conventional-style brick-and-mortar abode compared to the modern chic architecture of Celestia’s residence.
The house, of course, was of little concern, as we were both more interested in what was out in the front yard: Ms. Yearling.
“What’s she doing?” Pinkie asked from several feet back, hiding behind an oak tree.
“Raking leaves,” I deadpanned.
I wish I could say that I was being sarcastic, but that did appear to be all that Ms. Yearling was doing. She was out in her front yard, rake in hand, gathering up all the leaves, and tossing them into a large, brown paper bag. It was as boring and monotonous as it sounded, and with the exception of her occasionally pausing to pull out her cellphone from her back pocket, there was little else going on.
“M-maybe she’s just waiting on somebody,” Rainbow Dash suggested. “Or maybe she’s just trying to uncover some secret treasure.”
“In her front yard?” I remarked.
“I used to try and dig up stuff in my backyard.”
“And did you ever find anything?”
“Well, I thought I found an arrowhead once,” Dash answered, though her excitement soon subsided, “which turned out to be old dog poop.”
“Hey look, that must be her dog,” Applejack observed. Unsurprisingly, she was more interested in seeing the kind of pet that Yearling had. A golden retriever came bounding along across the yard, making a dash towards the pile of leaves that Yearling had just gathered up, and promptly dove headlong into it, scattering the leaves in all directions. “Am I the only one noticing that her dog only has three legs?”
It would’ve been hard for anybody with at least one working eye to have missed the canine’s lopsided gait when he ran for the leaves. One of his hind legs was indeed absent, though that proved to be no impediment for him.
“He lost it in a car accident when he was young,” Fluttershy answered with a somber undertone. “It made it so hard to find a family that’d adopt him, but when Ms. Yearling came to the shelter, she fell in love with him the moment she laid eyes on him.”
“Aw, that’s kind of sweet of her,” I remarked.
“Guess she’s got a soft spot for special cases, eh Sunset?” Dash said with an insinuating smirk. “Of course, you’d know that better than any of us.” She chuckled and then nudged me a couple of times with her elbow.
“Yes, Rainbow Dash, I get it; I am the dog in this analogy,” I groaned under my breath.
My sardonic reply had less to do with Dash finding amusement in the comparison, and more to do with how our afternoon has turned out. All throughout the day, I had grown excited in anticipation of finding some answers, but all we found instead was a dead-end. It was almost as disappointing as the time when I was a filly and caught Princess Celestia sneaking out of my bedroom, thus leading me to realize that the Tooth Fairy wasn’t real.
“So all she’s doing is raking her yard?” Applejack asked. From her tone, it was easy to tell she was growing impatient, and it was a sentiment many of us were feeling. Only Rainbow Dash still clung to the hope that the scene before us was some kind of elaborate ruse.
Dash and I kept watching, however, even as the minutes continued to drag by. Dash was convinced something would change, but I was just being a stubborn idiot who didn’t want to admit this plan was a bust.
“Why would she take a day off from work and spend it raking leaves?” I asked in ever growing confusion.
“Ever thought she just really hates a messy yard?” A voice appeared at my shoulder. And it wasn’t just any voice, it was Yearling’s.
Dash and I both let out a startled yelp, falling to the side as we turned to see Ms. Yearling crouched down next to us. Or at least it looked like Yearling. She had a far more outdoorsy, casual attire than what I was used to from her. Instead of the simple blouse or cardigan that was at home in the classroom setting, she had an old, beaten-up leather coat and a pair of hefty hiking boots. Also absent was her usual stern, analytical gaze, replaced with a more careful and curious expression as she regarded the two of us.
“Wh—how? Where did you come from?” I stammered in disbelief.
“I walked,” she answered plain and simple. “Now what are you two doing snooping around here? You weren’t sent here by a tall guy with greasy hair and lots of face fuzz, were you?”
Of course, I didn’t have the slightest clue as to what she was referring to, but as I continued with my bewildered, dumbstruck staring, I noticed that she happened to be carrying a motorcycle helmet under her arm. This had to be the woman who broke into the classroom. But if she wasn’t Yearling, then who was she?
“W-we weren’t snooping,” I answered, blurting out the straight-up denial without even thinking. I was just stalling for time, hoping that I could figure things out in the few seconds I had bought.
“Right, of course, because kids just love sitting in bushes these days,” the woman replied.
Before either Rainbow Dash or I could answer, however, a set of arms suddenly breached through the bush and grabbed hold of us both. To the tune of another panicked shriek, Dash and I were pulled through the foliage and hoisted up to our feet in one swift motion, confronted by a very angry-looking Ms. Yearling. Clearly our commotion from a few moments ago hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“Sunset! Dash! What in blazes are you two doing here?” she demanded.
“This is totally not my fault this time!” the other woman blurted out as she shot to her feet. “I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s not.”
Now I had thought Yearling looked angry when she pulled me through the bush, but seeing the other woman made her absolutely livid. If looks could ignite, everything before her would’ve been reduced to an ashen wasteland. Every instinct was screaming at me to run but she had a vice-like grip on me at this point. It was enough to make me begin considering gnawing through my own wrist as a last resort.
“What are you doing here?” Yearling barked at the other woman. “How many times do I have to tell you to not just show up unannounced! You call first!”
“Well I tried, but you kinda hung up on me before I could get to that point,” the doppelgänger explained. “I mean, I was at the airport when I called, it’s not like I could just turn around and leave.”
Yearling’s frown only intensified, which did little good to my wrist bones. “It’s quite easy: you just turn around and walk in the opposite direction from here,” she said through gritted teeth. “You can start by doing that right now.”
“Oh, come on sis!”
“Sis?” Myself, Dash, and the rest of my friends all shouted in unison. In retrospect, I should’ve put the pieces together sooner, but everything had happened so quickly that I wasn’t able to keep up.
For some reason, Yearling fell silent and looked at me and Dash, as if having forgotten that we were still standing next to her. With a heavy sigh, she released us, and I could take a few cautious steps back in case the situation got even worse.
“I take it you know these kids?” the sister asked, gesturing to me and my friends.
Pinching the bridge of her nose as she fought down the whirlwind of conflicting emotions, Yearling answered in a disgruntled murmur, “They’re students of mine.”
Though wary of provoking my teacher further, I nonetheless had to sate my curiosity so I raised my voice cautiously. “Could one of you please explain what’s going on?”
“Follow me,” Yearling instructed as she turned and headed back towards her home. She had the look of a defeated woman at this point, and I began to feel some regret for having intruded on something that appeared to be very important. “No point having this conversation out in the open. I’m sure we can all agree that’ll be for the best.”
“Indeed, since you clearly have a snooping problem,” the sister added.
As the damage had clearly already been done, none of us saw any reason to back out now and we all went inside Ms. Yearling’s home to, hopefully, learn the truth. Once again, the contrast to Celestia’s preference for modern chic was apparent the moment we stepped inside, as the interior was adorned with the kind of furniture that probably predated most of us by several decades. It was the kind of rustic decor that one would expect in the home of a renowned, tenured college professor—the kind that smoked from a mahogany pipe, wore fuzzy sweater vests, and found everything ‘quite fascinating.’ It reminded me far too much of the old-money aesthetics that my parents favoured so much.
Most of my friends were intrigued by the decor as well; Applejack and Rarity both smiled and nodded approvingly, though each having their own reason for liking the particular rustic and pragmatic style; Pinkie Pie liked all the paintings and pictures that Yearling had a fondness for; and Rainbow Dash continued gushing because she thought she was now in the home of Daring Do herself. The only person not focusing on the home itself was Fluttershy, not just because she had apparently visited before, but because Yearling’s dog had not forgotten about her and was busy lavishing her with slobbery kisses.
“Hello there Indiana! Oh, I missed you too,” she cooed, giggling as she tried to calm him down.
“I see literally nothing has changed since the last time I visited,” the sister commented as our procession headed into the living room.
We gathered around the coffee table, finding what room we could to sit on or around a large, brown leather sofa. Once again, Fluttershy remained the exception as she opted to sit in the middle of the floor so that she could continue lavishing her affections on Indiana.
As for Ms. Yearling, she paced about the room in the small stretch of open ground between the coffee table and fireplace behind her. She still had that same exasperated and irritated look on her face, the kind that made me worry for her blood pressure.
“Guess there’s not much point in beating around the bush,” Ms. Yearling said with a sigh. “Girls, this is my sister—Derring Do.”
Rainbow Dash gasped in excitement, her grin stretching so far across her face that it threatened to split her ahead apart. “Daring Do!” she squealed.
“No, silly,” Pinkie replied. “Derring Do. With an ‘e’ and two ‘r’s.”
“Wait, how did she—?”
“Don’t,” Yearling interrupted her sister. “Greater minds than yours have tried.”
“So you two are, like, twins?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yes, though I’m the prettier one,” Derring replied with a playful smirk.
“We’re identical, you idiot.”
“Tell that to your flabby butt.”
“It is not—!” Yearling had to bite down on her lip just to keep any profanities from slipping out, much to her sister’s amusement.
“So she must’ve been the one we saw breaking into Yearling’s desk,” I remarked once I fully digested the new information.
“You broke into my classroom?” Yearling snapped at her sister.
Despite the outburst, Derring remained unphased. “Huh, that might explain why these kids tracked you down,” she commented while tapping her chin. “But yeah, I had to get the amulet back, and you weren’t in. What was I supposed to do? I tried calling.”
“I was at the hospital,” Yearling explained.
The answer, despite being delivered more calmly, got a far more energized reaction from the sibling, who jumped to her feet. “The hospital? Oh my god, is Blondie okay?”
“She’s fine; she hurt her hand working last night and I spent most of the night waiting with her in the ER.”
The news brought a huge sigh of relief from Derring, who then fell back onto the couch. “Don’t scare me like that,” she remarked. “Her hand, huh? I see she still hasn’t changed.”
“Hold on a second,” Dash said, waving her hand in the air for attention. “Is this the same Blondie as the one from ‘Daring Do and the Girl with No Name’?”
“One and the same,” Yearling confirmed.
“So the books are real?” I asked for verification.
“Complete, one hundred percent truth,” Derring answered, which just made Dash squeal even louder.
Yearling, on the other hand, scoffed and rolled her eyes. “The Daring Do novels are just based on your expeditions,” she said. “I have to make up half the events that happen just to make them more entertaining for the readers, and leave out all the stuff you do that wouldn’t be age appropriate.”
“Ruined half the fun with that decision,” Derring muttered under her breath. The comment seemed to go unnoticed by the sibling, who continued on with her thoughtful pacing.
While I had more questions, I didn’t get an opportunity to give voice to them as Rainbow Dash was far more eager to get all the questions she had answered. She had already shuffled her way across the couch until she was sitting next to Derring Do. “So you really went and found the lost Sapphire Stone?” she asked.
“Technically we both did,” Derring said while pointing over to Yearling. “Dee here figured it’d be a good research opportunity for her next novel so she tagged along. Too bad somebody couldn’t handle a little excitement because those were good times.”
“I got shot by an arrow!” my teacher snapped back. “And my name is Yearling!”
Once again, Derring was flippant in her response, “You had mom’s helmet.”
“Which just barely saved me from a lobotomy.” To emphasize her point, Yearling lifted up part of her bangs, revealing a small sliver-like scar near her hairline. “And I only got this because I had to save your irresponsible hide after you went into that trap-infested tomb in the first place.”
“You’re the one who set off the trap.”
“You were distracting me!”
“Because you were lecturing me non-stop.”
“I was lecturing you about the traps!”
As the situation was rapidly spiralling out of control, I took a page out of Applejack’s playbook and loosed a piercing whistle to snap both of them out of their tirade. Once both realized they had been bickering like children in front of actual children, they fell silent for a brief spell.
“I get the impression there’s some lingering hostilities here,” I remarked. “Maybe the two of you should separate for a minute to cool down, okay?” The last thing anyone needed was a neighbor filing a noise complaint with the police.
“I’m going to go put on the kettle,” Yearling grumbled, not wanting to admit defeat but still using the excuse to put some distance between her and her sibling.
“Bring out some Earl Gray while you’re at it, Dee,” Derring shouted.
“It’s Yearling!”
As I got the impression that much of the grievances laid on Yearling’s side of the battle, I decided to use the opportunity to speak with her alone. “You girls wait here, I’ll be right back,” I said as I got up to go after her.
I followed Yearling into the kitchen, though I refrained from speaking up initially. Instead, I chose to watch her from the doorway for a few moments as she went about preparing to make some tea. She was still tense, as that was plain to see, and her jerky, erratic motions conveyed a sense of frustration. I was treading into dangerous territory, part of which I felt a little responsible for as the presence of me and my friends seemed to make things worse for her.
I knocked my knuckle against the doorframe to announce my presence. “Um, Ms. Yearling, is it okay if we could talk for a bit?”
Out came another one of those heavy sighs, the kind that are almost instinctual when you’re on your twelfth hour and the world is demanding you go on for a few more. “It seems my life is being turned into an open book right now, so why not?” she answered.
Her answer didn’t inspire much confidence. “M-maybe I should go back to the others.”
“No, no, wait!” she called out before I even turned around. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be getting snippy with you—you had no idea the mess you were stepping into.” Yearling gestured to the nearby kitchen table and I helped myself to a seat. Before sitting down herself, she poured herself a glass of water. She offered me a glass as well, but I declined.
“Were you and your sister always like this?” I asked.
“Only since I started writing Daring Do,” she explained. “I mean, we had grown a bit apart after college, but that’s pretty normal for any pair of siblings. Growing up, we were like a lot of identical twins: virtually inseparable. We even got matching tattoos when we turned eighteen.”
As an only child, the dynamics of a sibling pairing was a mystery to me, and even moreso for twins. I had trouble picturing life with something so constant as an identical twin following you through almost every moment and experience. It was disheartening to see that Yearling and her sister had such a damaged relationship, especially since Celestia and Luna demonstrated an ability to work past differences and maintain peace and harmony. There must have been more to this story that I had yet to discover.
“So what changed?”
Yearling gave an uncertain shrug. “We just started becoming different people, I suppose. Little by little, she grew more cavalier, and I became more reclusive. When college hit, that divergence became all the more apparent as she opted to follow in mom’s footsteps while I went into English literature.”
“Your mother did archaeology as well?”
“She was the original Daring Do,” Yearling answered, a soft and somber smile crossing her face for a moment. Her eyes remained fixed on her glass of water, which she had yet to actually drink from. “She was the first inspiration for the character, but she didn’t have many notes from her years in the field, so that’s when I turned to my sister and got dragged along for the whole Sapphire Stone quest.”
“But you have to admit, that gambit turned into a huge success for you.”
“I know, but nearly getting lobotomized has a way of putting life into perspective for you,” she exclaimed, her grip suddenly tightening around the glass. “She was so flippant about it, too, even when I was bleeding all over my face. She’s just so… irresponsibly reckless! And for every novel, I had to read about all the insane and dangerous antics she kept getting mixed up in. Did you know she once stowed away on a pirate ship to get to her next destination?”
“Yeah, that was in the fifth Daring Do book,” I replied. The whole scene sounded more heroic and daring when you just thought it was all fiction, but realizing now that Derring spent days inside a tiny box surrounded by people who would’ve thrown her into the ocean if they had caught her felt less inspiring. I couldn’t begin to imagine what Yearling thought of that when she first read about it.
“And then there’s Blondie,” she added. Her voice trailed off afterwards, however, replaced with a wistful sigh and the light tapping of her fingernails against the glass.
Blondie was the other major character in ‘Daring Do and the Girl with No Name,’ a tough-talking, no-nonsense bounty hunter who served as alternating between antagonist and reluctant ally to Daring Do throughout the story. It ended with her becoming a romantic interest for the adventurer, but at the end of the story, Blondie went her own way. Remembering back to my conversation with Yearling back in her classroom, it appeared that Blondie went from one Derring to the other.
I noticed that Yearling’s gaze shifted from her glass to a nearby picture frame. In it was an image of Ms. Yearling, seemingly dressed as Daring Do, standing alongside a taller, blonde-haired woman adorned in cowboy finery. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who the other woman in the picture was, and that the way they were embracing each other meant their relation was very intimate.
“Where was that picture taken?” I asked, hoping to shift Yearling to a more pleasant memory.
“Sci-Fi and Fantasy convention from a few years back,” Yearling answered. My plan seemed to be working as she began to smile more pleasantly as she reminisced. “The only way I could get her to agree to come along was to dress up like that. She got a kick out of it; said it reminded her of the old days.”
“Did she really bluff her way out of a stand-off with a lit stick of dynamite? Or did you embellish that part of the story?”
My question was met with a brief chuckle at first. “That was actually one of the few scenes I had to tone down just to make it seem more plausible,” she explained between chortles. “She was always a wild one, that Blondie. It always makes me wonder why she chose to go for the quiet life with little ol’ me.”
“Because she cares about you deeply?” I offered as a token of support.
“Maybe. I hope so,” she shrugged, sounding a bit disheartened. “Blondie and my sister were cut from the same cloth, fueled by passion and adrenaline, and some days I feel like I’m just ‘Derring Do lite.’ And it doesn’t help that whenever my sister does parachute back into my life, she drags Blondie off on another wild goose chase.”
“Really? But Blondie’s only been in one novel.”
“For every Daring Do book, there’s five or six Derring Do failures,” Yearling explained with no attempt to hide her contempt. “Last time she talked Blondie into helping, they both came home covered in mud and bruises. And every time I voice my concerns, they just wave them off, and tell me to take the giant stick outta my butt.”
It seemed to me that the problem in this family was a bit more complicated than I had initially thought. If I didn’t know any better, it almost sounded like Yearling was jealous of her sister. It sounded absurd to me, since from my perspective it looked as though my teacher had built for herself a very good life: a stable job, a committed relationship, and she could’ve had all the fame she wanted if she just went public about being the author of Daring Do.
“It’s not always like that, is it?”
“It’s been like that for the past several years,” Yearling said with a tired groan. She rested her chin upon her hand and then vented her annoyance with a puff of air against an errant strand of hair. “The only time she ever calls is when she needs me to wire her money; she’ll just walk back into my life on a whim and take whatever she wants, and before I can even get a word in she’ll be off again on another one of her ‘big finds.’”
I was beginning to understand why Yearling warned me about getting involved in her problems back when I interrupted her phone call. While at first glance it felt similar to some of the problems I’ve faced or seen others faced, this was underscored by a lifetime of grievances. How could I even begin to understand the entirety of this problem with such a small snapshot of it? It felt like trying to map the world without ever having stepped out of your front door.
Before I could even begin to ponder what I could say or do to help the situation, Rainbow Dash suddenly burst into the kitchen looking as giddy as a filly on her birthday.
“Sunset! Sunset, you have to see this! Derring’s gonna re-enact the famous sword fight scene from the first book,” Rainbow explained.
“Not in my house, she’s not,” Yearling snapped as she jumped to her feet. She raced back to the living room, shouting, “Derring, that sword’s an antique, not a toy!”
Rainbow Dash was about to give chase, perhaps to watch the ensuing argument between the sisters, but I took her by the wrist to stop her. “Hey Dash, can I ask you something real quick about Derring?” I said to pique her curiosity. “What’s your impression of her?”
For a brief moment, my friend just looked at me as though I had just sprouted a horn and wings. “What do you mean by that?” she asked.
“Like what kind of person is she?” I reiterated. “It’s pretty obvious that Ms. Yearling doesn’t like her sister much these days.”
Rainbow Dash gave me an uncertain, perhaps even indifferent, shrug. “Not sure why anybody would think that,” she replied. “Derring Do is awesome. She’s been telling us all about the things that happened during ‘Quest for the Sapphire Stone’ that wasn’t included in the book. Did you know Ms. Yearling is terrified of spiders?”
Since I was the last person in the world that should be ridiculing others for their phobias, I refrained from saying anything and instead tried to keep the focus on the conflict at hand. “I’m worried about Ms. Yearling. This whole thing with her sister seems to be really stressing her out.”
“Yearling just needs to chillax,” Dash reassured me as she headed for the exit once more. “If you ask me, it’d do her good to take that giant stick out of her butt.”
Fortunately, she was looking the other way so she didn’t see me rolling my eyes in disappointment. In hindsight, asking Dash for an objective opinion about Derring Do would be like polling Nightmare Moon about Princess Celestia’s leadership skills. With a quiet sigh under my breath, I followed my overly-excited friend back to the living room, where Yearling was putting the antique sword back onto its mount over the fireplace. Since there were still questions lingering on my mind, I decided to speak up.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Derring Do, what is the significance of that amulet you took? It must be important for you to break into a school for.”
“Oh right, those things,” Derring remarked as if only just remembering their existence. “It’s actually part of a set of three amulets, known as the Amulets of the Three Kings. Even on their own, they’re pretty spectacular, but they’re also said to hold the key to opening an ancient chest containing even more lost relics.”
“That old story?” Yearling remarked, folding her arms and leaning against the fireplace mantle. “Haven’t you gone after that four or five times now? Last time you came back with about ten grand of debt and a bout of malaria.”
Sporting a wide, triumphant grin, Derring reached into her coat pocket and pulled out three near-identical golden amulets. “Except this time I’ve got the whole set,” she said. “So now all I need to do is figure out how these ‘hold the key.’”
“What about the chest?” Dash asked. She stood just behind the couch, leaning over it while looking more energized about the prospect than anyone else. Even without her wings, I was almost certain that the excitement alone would lift her off the ground.
“Caballeron has it; I’ll need to figure out a way to swipe it from him later,” Derring explained. From the way she said it so casually, you’d think she was just picking up milk from the corner store. “No point in letting him know that I have all the amulets until I’ve figured out how they work.”
Dash let out another girlish squeal, leaning even further over the couch. “He’s real too?”
“Well, d’uh! He’s only my biggest rival these days,” the idolized heroine answered. “Of course, he’s not as bad as the books make him seem.”
It was hard to deny that I was beginning to feel some of the excitement that had already overwhelmed Rainbow Dash. I had grown to admire the Daring Do books just like everyone else that had Ms. Yearling for a teacher, and now I was getting to see how those adventures unfolded right before my eyes. Plus it meant I could question both of them about any potential magical dealings they might’ve encountered. For now, though, I wanted to see where this mystery led, then I could indulge in my own pursuits.
Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Ms. Yearling, who maintained the professional stoicism that she often held in the classroom. Whether she didn’t believe her sister’s hype or just maintained a degree of caution, I couldn’t tell. “And this is the part where you say you need something from me, isn’t it?” she asked.
“I just thought you might be interested in getting in on the action, Dee,” Derring explained, dangling the amulets out to try and entice her sister further. “This’ll be way more interesting than anything that ever happens at that high school of yours.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Applejack remarked.
“I have my own life to worry about, Derring,” Yearling informed her. “I can’t go gallivanting off on another adventure just because you say it’ll be fun. Besides, since when have you ever really needed me for this? I write books, not comb through old ruins or dig up lost treasure.”
There was a brief flash of disappointment on Derring’s face, though it went ignored by her sister. To me it seemed like Yearling was turning down a real opportunity to try and fix things, but at the same time this could’ve been a song and dance that the two had gone through several times over. I just didn’t have enough information to make a real judgement.
“Maybe we could help,” Dash volunteered in a move that shocked nobody at all.
And in equally predictable fashion, Yearling was quick to shut that idea down as well. “Oh, no! I’m not letting you get dragged into her mess as well. This isn’t some story book; my sister’s work is no place for children.”
Normally I would’ve been one to agree with Yearling, but I saw an opportunity to help all the parties involved. “Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh, Ms. Yearling? We’re in the city; not some ancient ruin in the middle of a jungle,” I chimed in as I stepped in front of her to force myself to be the focus of her attention. “Helping Derring Do could be a good learning experience, and if we’re providing the help, then your sister won’t need to turn to anybody else for help.”
I made sure to put extra emphasis on the last part so that there was no confusion as to whom I was referring to. She wasn’t happy about the idea, that was plain to see on her face, but she was smart enough to recognize an opportunity when it presented itself.
Of course, she couldn’t sound too eager, lest she reveal her motives. “Well I still think it’s a bad idea,” she said with a feigned display of indignity, “but we’re not in school, so it’s not as if I have any authority over what you do in your free time. Derring would still have to agree to it.”
“I dunno; I’ve had bad experiences working with kids,” Derring replied while scratching her chin. “These students of yours any good, Dee?”
“Yearling!” she snapped back. “And yes, I would say they are. Sunset here once almost overthrew the entire school.”
“Like figuratively?”
“No. Literally. She’s very… resourceful.”
Hearing somebody use my past misdeeds as a selling point made me feeling a little self-conscious. The way she phrased it made the whole incident seem so innocent and innocuous, despite the horrible ramifications that would’ve arisen had I succeeded. All I could do was hide my growing embarrassment behind a nervous little chuckle.
To my surprise, Derring flashed me a wide, approving grin. “A rebel, huh? Thinks outside the box, and plays by her own rules. I like it!” She held out her clenched hand, and we exchanged a quick fist bump that left Rainbow Dash aghast with jealousy.
“Just try not to get into too much trouble, okay?” Yearling offered as a parting piece of advice. Despite her misgivings about the whole idea, she did look a little relieved to see that her sister wouldn’t be taking anything of hers.
“We’ll be fine,” Derring reassured her sister for the hundredth time. “Also, I’m going to need your access card for the library archives, your car, and a thousand bucks.”
“WHAT THE H—”