The Legend of Daring Do

by The Red Parade


Daring Do and the Golden Oak

I don’t often frequent the library. I just never understood the appeal of reading books. Of course, Twilight would probably hit me if I ever said that to her. She does literally live in the library after all.

The Golden Oak Library is hard to miss, given the fact it’s a giant tree. Yeah, I don’t know either. Twilight tried to explain it to me once, but I lost her when she started talking about ‘sym-bi-osis’ or something. I only remember the word because it sounds kinda funny.

Anyways. I find her sitting at one of the tables surrounded by books, a blob of purple in a sea of paper.

Her ears perk up as she hears me approaching. “Hey, Rainbow!” she answers me in a quieter voice, probably hoping not to disturb the other patrons of the library.

“Hey, Twi, you got a minute?” 

Twilight nods, closing the book she was reading. “Sure. Spike can watch the library for a bit.” She gestures for me to follow and leads me to the back of the library and up the stairs into her quarters.

We enter her living room, which consists of a few couches and a coffee table. “I’ll go make some tea,” Twilight says. “Make yourself at home.” 

I nod and throw myself onto the couch, shrugging off my saddlebags. I take out the book again and run a hoof over the cover. I can almost hear my sister’s voice as she eagerly told me about her newfound love for writing.

“Look, Sis,” she said, “I got a smiley face on my story! The teacher even told me it was very well done!” She smiled with as much pride and joy as if she had just been accepted into the Wonderbolts.

That thought brought a smile to my face for a second. “Those were the days.” 

Twilight returns, levitating a tray of tea. “Okay, what did you want to talk about?” 

I hoof the book over to Twilight. “My dad sent me some of my sister’s stuff. This book was amongst it, and it had your name on a note. Do you know anything about it?”

Twilight holds the book carefully, as if she might break it. “Hm. I can’t say I do, Rainbow. But it looks like she wrote this by mouth. You said my name was on it?”

“It’s on a note on the first page.”

She opens the book and unfolds the note, reading it silently to herself. Her eyes widen as she finishes. “Oh!”

“What’s up?”

Twilight blinks, setting the book and paper down on the table. “Well, Daring asked me something years ago, back when I first arrived in Ponyville. We didn’t talk much, but she was really interested in spells.”

I nod. “Yeah, that sounds like her.”

Twilight sighs, shaking her head. “She was one of the brightest ponies I knew, Rainbow. She showed me some of her works. Her writing skills were remarkable, and her knowledge of history was almost as good as mine. I swear, the first time I read one of her essays, I thought I was reading a master’s thesis on the study of rhetoric and understanding in the modern sphere of life.” 

I have no idea what the last sentence meant, but I’ll just assume she’s saying that Daring was smart. “What did the note say?”

“Daring and I used to talk a lot. She asked me about false reality illusionary spells and the plausibility of setting up temporary worlds in which--” She pauses, noticing my expression. “Sorry. Basically, she wanted to know if I could bring a story to life.”

I think about that for a second, drinking my tea. “Yeah, sounds like something she’d do.”

Twilight turns her attention back to the book. “I remember telling her it might be possible, but it’d be much easier if the caster could simply follow a script instead of making it up as they went along. The stress of keeping up such an illusion would have been taxing enough, not to mention the improvisational and creative skills required to--”

I jump in, because if I don’t, Twilight will go on for hours. “So did it work?”

“I don’t know. The last time we spoke, Daring said she might need my help with something.” She holds up the book. “I think this is what she was talking about. This might be her manuscript, something that a spellcaster could follow to create a world.” Her eyes light up in excitement. “Oh my gosh! This could be it! Oh, the possibilities!”

“So what you’re saying is that my sister wrote this script thing? And with magic you can make it real?”

Twilight nods. “Pretty much.”

I snort and roll my eyes. “Sounds kind of stupid. What’s the point if none of it’s real?”

The look Twilight gives me almost scares me. “Rainbow, there’s something else. I think Daring wrote this with you in mind.”

That made me freeze. “What do you mean?”

“The note gives me instructions as to how to set up an adventure. It mentions you by name.”

I hesitate before responding. “So… she wrote this story for me?”

“More than that. She wants you to go on an adventure.” 

I rub the back of my head. “I don’t know, Twi. I mean, I remember Daring would always talk about how she wanted to go on some crazy adventure, but I never understood that. I always thought it was just a phase or something, and eventually she’d grow up and be… normal.” 

Twilight lays a hoof on my shoulder reassuringly. “Rainbow, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but for what it’s worth, I think Daring really wanted you to do this.”

There’s a thought. The more I think about it, the more I think that Twilight’s right. This does sound like something my crazy sister would do. I can almost hear her voice in my ear, urging me to go out and take an adventure with her. 

An adventure. That was all life was to her. One big adventure. I could never figure it out. But I did remember the last thing she would say before leaving on some research expedition. “Don’t worry, it’ll be an adventure!”

And she did ask me to go with her. So many times. But… I never did. And that was one of my biggest regrets. I guess I just never found the time. Sure, it was fun when we were young, but I guess I just got busy. Maybe this is a chance for me to do her right? A chance to make up for all the times I called her writing ‘stupid’. A chance for not spending enough time with her.

Or maybe not. It’s just a stupid book, after all. But what matters is that she wrote it, and she’s not here now, but this book is.

“Okay,” I finally say. “What do I have to do?”

Twilight smiles at me. “You really don’t have to do anything, I’ll be doing most of the work. You just have to react to what happens however you want. Oh, and remember that this is all just imaginary. It’s an illusion. You won’t be hurt or killed, and whatever you see isn’t real. I can also stop the action whenever it gets too intense.”

I scoff, rising from the couch. “Too intense? Twi, come on, I’m Rainbow Dash. I don’t think a book is going to be too intense for me.” 

Twilight rolls her eyes. “Okay, Rainbow. Ready?”

I nod and Twilight’s horn lights up. The world around us fades away.