Rather than "why" I'd like to know "how" - the show has never answered me satisfactorily. But perhaps one of you will?

As for my take - well, it's a bit negative.

Daring Don't was the first episode I rejected conceptually - just plain "that didn't happen except maybe the opening scenes". So my answer to this question would probably be "what are you talking about" if not for Stranger Than Fan Fiction, which was too good to ignore. And then came Daring Done, which wasn't good but was important to the seasonal arc...

Ultimately, if one looks at my headcanon as a sheaf of possible universes, then in 85% of them Daring Do is simply a fictional series, while 5% follows the canon without looking too closely at the details. The remaining 10% are my attempts to reconstruct the concept backwards - things like "A.K Yearling was an archaeology student who used real lost artifacts in her books" and "Ahuizotl was brought to life by a fear fern* or something like it and now A.K. considers it her responsibility to oppose him" - but I haven't really brought it together into one narrative yet. The common factor, though, is that the fiction came first and then spilled out into reality leaving the author to clean up the mess.

*See Ponyville Mysteries:Riddle of the Rusty Horseshoe.

Because much of what she does in her books is just plain illegal (pillaging temples, looting the remains of long dead civilizations for profit, etc) and AK Yearling is a bold criminal.

This is maybe the most interesting question on this list, and one I've never considered before. Note I'm ignoring S9 canon here, because it's stupid.

The way I see it, Daring got into archaeology at a young age -- the cutie mark fits, after all -- and quickly discovered there were dark forces at work plundering ancient tombs to sell the artifacts or, worse, using their power to control the elements. You know what I'm talking about.

So at first, she tries to get her professors or classmates to help out with keeping these things out of evil's clutches, but they're all stodgy scholars (or worse, in Caballeron and Ahuizotl's pay) and aren't interested. She figures, she's got to be the one who's the adventurer, then, and sets off to try and retrieve the artifacts herself. But her early attempts don't go very well, and when they do, she has trouble getting others to believe what she's done. ("That can't be the Icon of Tlaloc! It's just a myth!")

So rather than go rogue, she decides what she needs is a campaign. If she writes her adventures, turns herself into a figure as legendary as the artifacts she's pursuing, she can sneak awareness into the consciousness of the public, make things easier on herself, and get some money, because delving through jungles doesn't pay for splints and bandages by itself. She comes up with the pen name, but using it as an actual identity cover comes later when she realized she's basically covered by the law of superheroes. :B

I will acknowledge “Read It and Weep”, but I don't acknowledge “Daring Don't” If anything, the events in “Daring Don't” were Rainbow Dash getting in the way of Live Action Role Players and their big Saturday game. Why else would a supposed bigbad completely ignore an entire group of ponies until they directly interfered with the plans? … Yearling turning those RPs into books? Common thing among people who role play.

7039482
I've wondered if the later Daring eps were Rainbow's self-insert fics. She did mention she was writing a book...

I have yet to see S9 Daring however my answer for prior was that the novels are fiction so she can release them. In my headcanon, she is part of a secret organization like Sweetie Drops was. Her job is to keep ancient artifacts out of the hoofs of those that might try to get them and use them to usurp Equestria. She wanted to write adventure stories and Celestia gave the ok so long as certain conditions are met for each story.

7041640
That seems like a pretty leaky secret organisation.

In my mind, the only secrets that there are are who the agents specifically are, where they are and where recovered artifacts are kept. However, AK being AK, she is reckless about a number of things. Partly so she can make the adventures and thus the books interesting. Thus the leaky part of it is more on AK however so long as AK gets results and sweeps the facts of why things go down that way under the rug so that information doesn't go up the chain she gets away with it.

No, it isn't great I grant.

7031394 So if you're asking how instead of why, how come the title of this thread is asking why? Isn't that a bit misleading?

It seems to me like you're asking why she does it, not how she does it. The show answers that pretty clearly, she lives in seclusion as A. K. Yearling to write her stories. Why is a mystery.

Personally, I think it was a sort of contingency plan. If anything were to happen to her it was hoped that somepony else might know what she knows and use it to take up the mantle and continue her work. It would seem odd for A. K. Yearling to suddenly drop off the face of the world.

Another part of the headcanon is that while she writes the stories herself, Daring doesn't publish them directly. A lot of people assumed Twilight Velvet wrote the Daring Do books, so my headcanon is sort of resurrecting that. Velvet is Daring's co-author, the only other pony in on the secret. Daring recruited her because Velvet has contacts in Canterlot for publishing. After all, they never said how it was Twilight gained all that info on A. K's whereabouts, and princess or not I doubt a publisher would just give away that sort of information to anypony who asked. But a family member might.

7043046
The title is "why" because I copied the original questions verbatim. And answering why is fine too. But my "why" here is mostly directed at the writers - in-universe I ask "how" because I find it utterly implausible. (I admit, this question is probably one where my own biases, as given in my answer, show most.)

7043384 I see.

Well, what do you think of my explanation for the "how" and "why"?

7043412
Hmm... someone taking up the mantle of what they thought was a fictional character... is both implausible and pretty dramatic.

I still don't see how she can do those things - not all of them in the uncharted wilderness - and avoid confirmation of her existence. If nothing else - what does she do with the artefacts she gets?

7043419 Both "Stranger Than Fanfiction" and "Daring Doubt" suggest she donates them to museums. Her intent is to keep them out of the hooves or paws of those who would use them for nefarious purposes.

7043429
Yes, them turning up in museums is another big crack in the ID - and we know she doesn't even change the names.

7043434 They're probably anoyomous donations.

7043437
That's not the point. Even if she delays each book so it looks like she heard about the new donation and then made up a story about it, that still calls attention to a lot of anonymous donations.

7043466 She likely doesn't mention the donations in her books.

But the books centre on them. She doesn't even change the names.

Aw, I love this. That's actually a really funny question. Never would have thought of asking that.

I'm currently building up a Tails of Equestria Pen&Paper-campaign for some friends of mine. (Only one of five has knowledge of MLP. Thaaaaaat's gonna be a rough start. ) And in the midst of outlining my planned storyline, I came across a similar thought.

I mean, why she writes is simple enough, I think. Bits, right? Food is nice. Kinda necessary, too. And that new whip would be cool, since she lost another one in that temple back there. Third one this month.

But why fiction?

Well. On one side, I'm thinking: If I would read this stuff in a book that claims all of this to be true... would I actually believe that? Or would I be inclined to call the 'author' a fraud? Making it fiction circumvents this risk entirely. Plus: If all that stuff is 'just fiction', it reduces the risk of air-headed fans coming into the dangerous jungle searching for the crumbled temple ruins to see it for themselves and getting killed in the process, right? Aaaand it makes it a lot easier to keep her private identity hidden and secured. no reason to ask who Daring Do really is when it's clearly labeled as fiction, right?

Oh and I suppose the Bard has a good point, too. About the legality of it all, and her vigilantism.

Heh. Maybe I should've read the comments before answering. Oh well. It's a learning process.

I don't think Daring is part of any secret organization. She doesn't particularly strike me as the 'yay, go team!'-type. I do like the thought that she was a legitimate archeologist before things turned sideways, but I'm not saying that I'm adapting it for myself. (I am considering that, though.) As for the artifacts in question, here's a thought:

Celestia surely has an interest in securing dangerous stuff where it's less dangerous. Say, for example, in a locked vault that can only be opened by her? Daring Do might in fact be an 'unofficially sanctioned thief' of sorts. If she ever gets caught, my lovely sun butt can deny any knowledge while already planning Daring's eventual release, given that she's proven to be such a valuable asset to secure Equestria and its ponies.