A snowball smashed against the side of a tree. Then another. And another. Daring kept throwing, a small growl rumbling from her throat with each toss. She had no better way to vent her anger.
What was she?
Smash.
A pony?
Smash.
A doll?
Smash.
Some dumb character in an equally dumb book?
Smash.
Smash.
Daring reached down and felt nothing; she’d run out of snowballs. Cursing, she kicked at the snow and sat, glaring at the forest that surrounded her. What was she going to do? Where was she going to go? Was there any point in doing anything? In going anywhere? She had two weeks left, and then she was nothing. Literally nothing.
She wanted to scream. To lash out and pound somepony! Who were they to just make her and throw her away? Did they not even consider how she might feel about it? What kind of bucked up world was this?
She began to pace, stomping hard on the snow for the sake of crunching something beneath her hooves. She wished her books were real, that there was some artifact or ancient relic that would fix all of this. But her books weren’t real, and that kind of artifact didn’t exist. Or if it did, she had no way to know it. She’d probably not last long enough to locate it, much less get to it.
She wanted to live. That one thought kept coming back, over and over again. She wanted to live. Why couldn’t she stay? Maybe she didn’t have a pulse, but did that really mean she wasn’t alive? She was warm, she was breathing. Anypony who didn’t know better would think she was alive, so what was the difference?
“There you are!”
Daring’s hackles rose. That was the last voice she wanted to hear! “Go away, Rainbow.”
The fan landed before Daring, concern etched on her face. “What are ya doing out in the Everfree Forest? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out here?”
Daring sneered and turned her head away with a jerk. “Who cares? I’m supposed to die soon anyway, right? Just leave me alone.”
Rainbow winced. “Y-yeah… Twilight told me what happened. It’s a real mess.”
“Why?” Daring turned her back on the pony. “Because you won’t get to hang with your ‘hero’? Oh, it’s so terrible!”
There was a moment of tense silence. Daring didn’t care if she'd hurt Rainbow’s feelings. She didn’t care about much of anything now. She just wanted to be left alone to brood, bitterly hoping that the stupid pony would take the hint!
But Rainbow didn’t leave, and when she spoke, it was with great hesitancy. “Look… If you’re gonna be angry at somepony, be angry at me, not Twilight. It’s my fault, really.”
As far as Daring was concerned, they were all responsible. Still she was curious – to her immense frustration – so she glanced back and waited.
Rainbow, sitting with head lowered, explained. “I like to think I’m your biggest fan, y’know?”
“Oh, believe me,” Daring muttered with a roll of her eyes, “I know.”
Rainbow averted her eyes with a blush. “Well… It was my idea for Twilight to summon you. I sorta pushed her into it, goaded her on, challenged her. She didn’t wanna at first. But she’s a fan, too. Wasn’t hard to get her excited about the idea. So if you’re gonna hate somepony, hate me, ‘cause it’s my fault.”
Daring turned to stare at her fan, who kept low as if expecting some sort of fury. But Daring didn’t lash out. She didn’t scream or attack or fly off. She didn’t have the energy to do so. And besides, she was better than that. So she sat in the cold snow and drooped. “I don’t hate ya, Rainbow, not really. I don’t hate any of you. I’m just so…mad! Did you not think about what you were doing at all?”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with averted eyes. “We were kinda too stuck on the idea of actually meeting ya.”
Daring leaned back to stare at the sky through the trees. She was so tired… She let herself flop onto her back, snow flying up at the impact. Her anger was gone now, replaced by a mind-numbing depression. “What am I gonna do, Rainbow? I haven’t been here a week, and I’m gonna die in two. What does a pony do, knowing that?”
“I dunno,” Rainbow admitted,standing over the miserable hero. “We can’t do anything, Double D, but Twilight might. She wants to talk, if you’ll let her.”
Daring studied Rainbow’s face and saw that her concern was real. She still didn’t much care for Twilight…but what choice did she have? “Yeah. I guess I better.”
Four mind-numbing, depressing days. Daring watched the trees roll by from her train window, cheek resting on a hoof and feeling about as despondent as ever. She still didn’t understand why Twilight couldn’t just make the spell permanent and be done with it.
No, that wasn’t true. She did understand that the magic had to be researched, and great care needed to be observed. Creating the spell had taken nearly a year of preparation, and modifying it to that purpose could take even longer. Twilight wasn’t even sure she could extend the spell’s duration, much less make it permanent.
What Daring really didn’t understand was the debating. And debating. And debating. She’d been stuck in Canterlot for two days. Twilight had insisted that there were moral and ethical issues involved with the decision, as the situation had no known precedent. With that in mind, she’d refused to make a decision about continuing the magic on her own. Instead, she’d brought Daring to meet the Princesses of Equestria.
So Daring had met with Celestia, Luna and Cadance, not to mention a large number of esteemed mages and individuals supposedly of moral superiority. The concept of meeting them didn’t bother Daring; a pony who’d stopped the machinations of dark gods and foiled the plans of corrupt sheiks didn’t bat an eye upon meeting royalty. But there had been so many meetings, so much debating, so many questions! By the time it was over, Daring had half a mind to just let the spell expire so she wouldn’t have to put up with anymore of it!
And the worst part was that it actually wasn’t over; Twilight was staying in Canterlot to continue the debate and do research. Daring’s part was over, but her fate was still undecided.
At least she wasn’t alone. Rainbow Dash lay napping across from her, while Fluttershy sat at her side. They’d come to show their support and keep her entertained somewhat during the whole ridiculous process.
Daring eyed Rainbow, who was flopped on her back with a leg hanging loosely over the side of her seat. She seemed to think she was wholly responsible for this fiasco, and was doing her best to make up for it. Daring appreciated her. She’d originally found her annoying, although once the stars were out of her eyes Rainbow proved an entertaining and pleasant companion. There was a bit of annoyance, though; Rainbow Dash was a lot like Daring in some ways, which resulted in them butting heads on more than one occasion. Yet Rainbow always yielded, perhaps because she still felt guilty.
Daring’s eye roamed to Fluttershy, who was quietly reading a magazine article about – what else? – animal care. If there was a silver lining to this disaster, it was her. Her talent for comfort was unparalleled, her kindness was humbling, and her oft-whispered advice kept Daring from blowing up during the meetings on several occasions. Without her, Daring wasn’t sure she’d have mentally survived the ordeal.
Not to mention the added benefit of her being a knockout. It was one thing to have a helpful friend around, but it was another when that friend was easy on the eyes. In fact, several high-class ponies had recognized her from her brief modeling career and made attempts to court her into a new one (or court her in other ways). They were all refused, and those that didn’t bow out gracefully were sent packing by both Daring and Rainbow.
Fluttershy was kind, gentle, helpful, entertaining and attractive. She made the world a little brighter whenever she walked into the room. Every day – almost every hour – Daring found herself liking Fluttershy more and more.
That was a problem.
Daring had a week and a half to live, assuming the debates didn’t go her way. There was nothing anypony could do to keep it from weighing on her mind. What good would it do her to fall for somepony if she wasn’t going to be able to do anything with said pony? Was there any point in even bringing the topic up?
Daring had never been a logical pony, yet even she knew that the best route was to ignore the attraction. If she couldn’t stay, then she’d be the only pony who knew, and when she was gone so was the issue. Besides, there was no sign that Fluttershy might even be remotely interested, so who was to say she wasn’t sparing herself needless heartache?
Yet, as Fluttershy glanced up to hit her with that heart-melting little smile, Daring knew that she wasn’t sparing herself at all. She wanted that pegasus, in more ways than one. It was an entirely new concept, for she’d never had an interest in romance before.
Fluttershy raised her pretty eyes again, this time with a little more focus. “Is something wrong?”
Daring turned a little too quickly to stare out the window, face going red. “Nope. Not a thing.”
An uncomfortable quiet passed, interrupted only by the steady clack-a-clack of the railroad. Daring could feel Fluttershy’s eyes on her. She fought to keep from shifting, or speaking, or doing anything that might give her away.
“It’s going to be okay,” Fluttershy declared. Daring blinked and turned back to her companion, who had set the magazine down to offer her full attention. “The Princesses are smart ponies. Good ponies. They’ll make the right decision.”
Daring sighed, strangely disappointed, and turned to sit straight in her seat. “I’ve been hearing that one a lot lately.”
“I know,” Fluttershy confessed. “But it helps to hear it, right?”
Daring recognized the hope in that tone, and forced a smile to her lips. “Yeah… Kinda. I just want it to be over with. One way or another.”
Fluttershy let out a fretful sound and leaned close, making the storybook adventurer lean back with a blush. “What do you mean, one way or another? You’re not thinking it would be okay to die, are you?”
“Don’t be silly.” Daring pushed Fluttershy back into place. “I wanna live! But if I’m not going to, I’d rather it be over and done with. I’m sick of waiting.”
Fluttershy frowned. “That doesn’t sound like the Daring Do from the books. She’d never accept defeat as a possibility.”
Daring’s ears perked up. “I thought you said you’d never read my books.”
Now it was Fluttershy who blushed and averted her eyes. “Well, I sorta started reading them after you showed up. Just to know more.”
If Daring had a heart it would have skipped a beat, but she shoved the thoughts down as quickly as they’d come up. Fluttershy was not reading Daring’s book because she was interested! She was trying to know more about the stranger she was letting stay in her home. Who wouldn’t do that?
Still… “What did you think of them?”
Fluttershy winced. “Umm… They’re a little…scary.”
Daring’s entire body slackened. “Scary? They’re adventure stories, not horrors.”
“I know,” Fluttershy confessed with a blush. “It’s just that everything you do is so…dangerous. I mean, I know you get through it all, but for a pony like me…” She shook her head and said no more.
Daring laughed. She couldn’t help it. “You are adorable!”
She clamped her mouth closed, eyes going wide. Forget that the word ‘adorable’ should never pass through her lips; she’d just confessed! She leaned back against the window, face going red, and waited in horror for Fluttershy’s reaction.
“I’m a scaredy-pony, is what I am,” Fluttershy confessed with a sigh. For Ra’s sake, the confession had passed right over her head! Daring didn’t know whether to be relieved or whack the pegasus over her pretty head for missing it.
That was Daring’s major self-revelation of the day: deep down, she’d wanted Fluttershy to catch on. What did that mean? Did it mean anything?
She noted Fluttershy’s self-conscious manner and mentally kicked herself. “You’re not a scaredy-pony, Fluttershy. Anypony who can stick her hoof in a bear’s mouth without fear of losing a leg is no scaredy–pony.”
Fluttershy giggled. “That’s not the same thing."
“Oi.” They glanced over to see Rainbow Dash peering at them with one unpleasant eye. “Keep it down, would ya? I’m trying to nap here!”
Daring and Fluttershy exchanged bemused glances. “We’re sorry,” Daring replied.
“Yes,” Fluttershy added, “we’ll try to be quieter.”
“Thank you.” Rainbow rolled so her back was to them. Daring thought that was the end of it, but after about a second Rainbow added, “And stop pretending to be a wimp, Fluttershy. If ya want Daring to be your rescuer, just say so.”
It was clearly meant to be a joke, but Daring was turning red anyway. She glanced at Fluttershy and, to her surprise, saw that she was blushing, too. Once more she felt that rising feeling in her chest, but she shot the thoughts down. She was blushing because she was being made the butt of a jib, no more! She forced a chuckle from her throat. “Y-yeah, good one, Rainbow.”
Fluttershy huffed a laugh that was about as blatantly fake as could be. She wouldn’t meet Daring’s eye.
The rest of the trip was about as frustrating as possible. Daring Do tried to relieve the tension in her mind, but it just wouldn’t go away. She kept seeing hints that rational thought told her didn’t really exist, even as her emotions went wild. The only relief she’d had came when Fluttershy blessedly left the booth to ‘go for a walk’, but that had left Daring alone with a snoring Rainbow Dash and her own tempestuous thoughts. She couldn’t get involved, she just couldn’t.
But by the time they stepped off the train at the Ponyville platform, she knew it was too late. Like it or not, she was falling, and falling hard. By now she was trying to find ways to justify her interest, but she held back. She wouldn’t make a move, she refused! She didn’t even know if she was going to be around past Hearth’s Warming Eve, and until she knew the whole concept was off limits!
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t prepare for the possibility…right?
“Rainbow!” She stopped the pegasus from flying off just in time. As Rainbow came swooping back, Daring glanced behind to ensure Fluttershy was well out of hearing range.
“What’s up?” Rainbow asked, hovering just over Daring’s head with an eager smile.
“Back when you told me about the Elements of Harmony, you mentioned some castle ruins,” Daring noted. “Was there anything…special about them?”
Rainbow frowned as she considered the question. “Special? Whaddaya mean?”
Daring couldn’t state her true intentions, so she thought fast. “I’m an explorer,” she declared with a distinguished air. “And I’ll be bummed if I don’t go on at least one adventure! So just in case, I wanna do a little exploring. That castle is probably the closest thing to an adventure I’m gonna get. But,” she added with a frown, “there’s no point in going on an adventure without a goal. Surely there’s some artifact or relic or…jewel…that might be left over in the ruins?”
“Ooooh, I get it,” Rainbow admitted with a grin and a wink. Somehow Daring didn’t think she understood, at all. “You wanna go on another epic journey! I’m sorry to say there’s nothing really epic about that dusty old castle, though.”
That wasn’t at all what Daring wanted to hear. She glowered as she spoke. “It can’t hurt to look, though. Surely there’s something out there. I mean, it’s an abandoned ruin, and my adventurer’s experience makes it clear that those always have something worth finding.”
Rainbow shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe you can check out the library for some bit of info; my adventurer’s experience makes it clear that there’s always something helpful in that mass of books Twilight worships.”
“Then I guess I’m off to the library.”
“Oh!” Rainbow was in Daring’s face with a huge grin and sparks in her eyes. “Can I come? Going on an adventure with you would be soooooo awesome!”
No! “Umm, haven’t you already been there?”
“Not the point,” Rainbow declared, so excited she was doing flips. “It’s an adventure with Daring Do! Sign me up, any day!”
Daring rolled her eyes, knowing that the incorrigible fan wouldn’t be dissuaded. “Fine…”