Another Day, Another Dungeon

by 00Pony

Prolgue

“She reminds me of somepony that I knew, long before you were born…”

“Geez… Why are these lines always so feathering long?!” Was the cry of frustration that emanated from the throat of a prismatic-maned Pegasus mare, hovering just a few feet above the paved walkway of Canterlot.

Her companion, a lavender hued Unicorn mare, giggled at her friend’s torment, “She’s the author of a best-selling series of novels, Rainbow. Of course the line to meet her is going to be long!”

The Pegasus huffed, “I know, Twilight! But we got up got up extra early to be some of the first in line!” Rainbow glanced ahead at the line of ponies before them that fed into the Canterlot Public Library before them, “Of course, we weren’t the only ones with that idea… It’s just like cider season all over again.” She finished, with a pout.

Twilight rolled her eyes at her impatient friend, “Don’t worry, Dash. We’ve still got plenty of time before the signing ends. We’ll make it inside no problem, and you’ll be able to meet the author.” Her tone was one of reasoning.

The brash Pegasus, still floating above her, sighed, “Fine… I guess you’re right… I still don’t like having to wait though.”

“You know, you could have just held off until she came to my library to get this done…” Twilight said, already knowing exactly how her impatient friend would react.

And she did not disappoint, “That’s next month, Twi! There is no way I am waiting that long to meet the genius who writes ‘Daring Do’!”

For as much as Rainbow complained about the wasted time spent in the line, she could not deny that she was excited. It had been several months prior that she had discovered a love for reading. Of course, it had come at the cost of a fractured wing and a few days wasted time in the Ponyville Hospital, but looking back on it, it was well worth it. Twilight Sparkle, ever the bookworm, had brought her a book entitled ‘Daring Do, and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue’, claiming that the titular character was much like Rainbow Dash in personality and behavior.

Originally refusing to read it, Rainbow held off for days, until the boredom had become too much for the prismatic-maned mare, and she picked up the book, swiftly finding herself able to identify with Daring, and consequently enjoying every minute of the story told in the pages of the novel. As stated before, that was several months ago. By now, she had finished all eight books of the ‘Daring Do’ series. And now, she was going to meet the mare behind all of those grand adventures! This was one of the many times that she was glad to have an ‘egghead’ like Twilight Sparkle as a friend. She had connections.

It was a decent amount of minutes, perhaps thirty, to forty-five, before Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were nearly to the signing desk. Going by the position of the sun in Equestria’s sky when they entered, the time would have been about three o’clock in the afternoon. Still plenty of time, as Twilight had mentioned before. The line finally started to move again, and Rainbow’s hype built to about bursting point, for just around this very corner that she was now turning, sat the mare she had so eagerly wanted to meet. The author of ‘Daring Do’…

“Good afternoon, mother!” Twilight called out cheerily, trotting up to the desk with a bright smile on her face, leaving behind an incredibly confused Rainbow Dash.

The lavender Unicorn’s mother herself broke into a broad grin, “Ah! Twilight! What are you doing here? You already have signed copies.” She said, mirthfully, as she stood to skirt around the desk and wrapped her daughter in an embrace.

Twilight returned the hug for a second or so, before stepping away and gesturing to her friend, “Mom, this is Rainbow Dash. She’s a big fan of your ‘Daring Do’ series!” She turned her purple eyes to Rainbow, who was still standing in dumbfounded shock, no longer hovering and with her wings stuck in mid flap.

The white coated mare, who was the writer of the aforementioned series, looked Rainbow over for a second, before breaking into a smile, “It is very nice to officially meet you, Rainbow Dash!” She said, stepping over and holding out a hoof, “My name is Twilight Velvet. Twilight Sparkle’s mother… You may just call me Velvet, to avoid confusion.”

It took Rainbow several seconds to register what was going on, but once she did, she reached out a cyan hoof and shook Velvet’s, “H-Hi… It’s nice to meet you also…” Her magenta eyes turned to Twilight Sparkle, “‘Mother’?” She quoted.

Twilight nodded emphatically, “Yep! Didn’t you think that the name ‘Twilight Velvet’ was kind of a hint?” She asked, snickering quietly. Her mother joined in the mirth of her daughter, moving back to sit behind her desk.

As the older Unicorn did so, Rainbow turned her attention to Twilight, and with narrowed eyes, “Hey!” She said, her voice cracking, “In my defense, our naming systems are really weird…”

Twilight Sparkle held up her hooves in defense, trying to get her snickering under control, “Okay, okay. I get it Rainbow. I guess I just expected you to have worked it out,” she shook her mane out of her eyes, before nodding to her mother as she was sat behind the desk, “Anyway, you wanted to get your own, signed copy of the books, didn’t you? We’re holding up the line.”

At Twilight’s mention of their mission, Rainbow Dash’s ears perked straight up, and her eyes shone bright as she nodded, reaching back into her saddlebags and drawing out a pouch of bits. As she began to count out the full amount, Velvet – who had already begun to pull out a copy of each of her books, shook her head, “That won’t be necessary, Miss Dash. Because you are such a good friend to my Twilight, I’ll give you a discount. Say… twenty percent?” The older mare said, with a smile.
“You’re serious?” Rainbow asked, surprised.

“I am dead serious.” Velvet replied, with a small twinkle in her eye.

And as Rainbow placed the now discounted amount of currency down on the desk, Velvet set to work writing her signature onto the front page of each book, the quill clutched in the dark magenta aura of her magic. A minute or so later, and Rainbow Dash was stuffing her precious books into her saddlebags with meticulous care, as if they were priceless treasures retrieved from a long forgotten temple. As Twilight gave her mother one last hug, Velvet whispered conspiratorially into her ear, “She reminds me of somepony that I knew, long before you were born…” She said.

As she pulled away, Twilight saw her mother pointing to Rainbow Dash, whose back was turned to the Unicorn mares. The daughter turned back to look at her mother, seeing that she had a distant look in her eye, “What do you mean by that, mom?” She asked.

That seemed to break Twilight Velvet out of whatever memory she had been in. She turned her gentle, blue eyes onto her daughter, and smiled wistfully, “Oh, nothing much, really. It’s just that… Well, I haven’t seen that friend in quite a long time. I didn’t realize until now just how much your friend, Rainbow Dash, reminds me of her.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Who was this friend, mom?” She asked.

Velvet seemed about to answer, when Rainbow cut in, “Alright, let’s go Twi! So long as I’m here in Canterlot, I want to check out the Wonderbolt Barracks!”

Twilight glanced back at her, “Okay, Rainbow! You go on ahead; I’ll catch up in a minute!” Rainbow waved a hoof to her, and made her way out of the library, with a skip in her step much like that of a filly who had aced a particularly difficult test.

In turning her attention back to her mother, Twilight had been about to ask what she had been saying before, but Velvet was already one step ahead of her, “You come by the house tonight. I have a story to tell you, that I figure it’s about time I told.”

And she would say no more. Velvet merely gave a sly wink, and returned to her desk, gesturing for the next in line to come up. Twilight regarded her mother with an air of curiosity, before trotting out after her friend.

/)*(\

Later that evening, Twilight Velvet sat in the living room of her home in Canterlot, going over a few old albums that she had dug up for the first time in ages. The white mare was broken from her reverie by the sound of hooves knocking against her door. That was probably Twily and her friend. Standing from her armchair, Velvet set her album down on the thick cushion and trotted to the front door, and opened it, smiling. It was only Twilight at the door, however, “Ah! Twilight! Come on in. Where’s your friend?” She asked.

“Rainbow had work tomorrow, so she went home to get some sleep.” Twilight responded.

“Ah, I see. Just as well… I had almost been hoping that only you would come,” At Twilight’s confused look, Velvet added, “Out of respect for my own friend. It’ll be explained soon enough,” she said, and stepped aside, ushering her daughter through the door, before gently closing it, “I have had a kettle of tea steeping. It’s passionflower, your favorite.”

As Velvet trotted across the floor into the kitchen, she called back to her daughter, “Just have a seat anywhere you like, Twily. Just try not to make too much noise. Your father is asleep, and I don’t think he would appreciate being woken up.”

“Okay!” Twilight responded, and moved to sit in the chair her father had often occupied when she was younger.

As she did so, however, she caught sight of her mother’s album, which she had left open. Her curiosity piqued – after all, this was a particular album she had never seen before – she went over to investigate. What she found were various pictures of a pretty young mare she knew was her mother, most of which had her standing next to another young mare, a Pegasus, who looked an awful lot like Rainbow Dash. In fact – though it may have been the faded colors of the photograph – this Pegasus looked rather like, “Daring Do.”

Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin at her mother’s words, though she managed to keep her customary shriek down to a strangled squeal. She turned to face her mother, tilting her head, “Excuse me?” She said.

Velvet trotted past her, setting the kettle and two mugs full of steaming tea down on the table in the center of the room before responding, “You asked me before where I got the inspiration for my books. And I only ever answered you with a sly little smile and a wink. If you were lucky, I’d just say ‘you’ll find out, eventually’.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Twilight said, carefully stepping over to her father’s chair, taking the mug closest to her in the light magenta manifestation of her magic. Before she could seat herself however, her mother gestured her to sit by the table.

Velvet sat by the table herself, gently placing the album down and turning back to the first page. The white mare took a sip of her tea, waiting for Twilight to sit next to her, before she continued, “And earlier today, I mentioned that your friend, Rainbow Dash, reminded me of a dear friend of mine, both in personality and appearance, though, I must say their colors are quite different.”

She gestured to the first photo in the large album, one that had her and the Pegasus adventurer standing with one foreleg over the other’s shoulders, smiling broadly at the camera, an object Twilight recognized as the ‘Sapphire Statue’ placed before them, “Daring was a close friend of mine when I was your age, and arguably, my best friend. I met her when I was researching for my debut novel, in the Caballo Valley…”