A Real Legend

by Metool Bard

To: Rainbow Dash; My Biggest Fan

Dear Rainbow Dash:

As you may already know, the enclosed book in this package is my way of saying 'thank you' for all your help. I hope you enjoy it. I mean, after all, you and your friends helped make it happen.

But, that's not why I'm writing this letter. See, I'm betting that you have a few questions after our whole adventure. Are all of my exploits actually real? Is every legend I come across an actual part of Equestrian history? Is the world really more fanciful than I ever imagined?

Well, yes and no. What I'm about to tell you is a bit of a secret, so do me a huge favor and don't go spreading it around. You can tell your friends if you want, but nopony else, got it? Good.

So, here's the thing: Almost all of my adventures are real.

There's stuff that you know is real, of course. Good ole Ahui, the Sapphire Stone, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. All of that actually happened in real life. Adventurer's honor. But here's a little trick to my books: If the stories don't directly tie into my dealings with Ahiuzotl, there's a good chance that I made it up.

Why, you ask? Well, it's like this. When I first tried to publish my research into school textbooks, nopony believed that I was telling the truth because stuff like the Sapphire Stone and the Griffon's Goblet were considered to be nothing but myths. Keep in mind, I was already known at the Royal Canterlot University for being an eccentric professor who had a worse attendance record than my students (because of all my adventures), so ponies tended to take what I said with a grain of salt. Yeah, never mind that the Sapphire Stone is sitting in the University Museum right now; I'm just a kooky flake who should've been fired long ago. You can't trust anything I say.

Sorry, I'm rambling. This kind of thing gets under my skin every time I think about it. But I didn't let that stop me. I snuck my research into an adventure novel so that it would get out in the open. Yeah, it was false advertising, but that's the only way the publisher would even look at it. And, much to my surprise, it was a big hit.

So, I decided to do that with every adventure I went on. Eventually, it wasn't so much about the research as it was telling stories that other ponies enjoyed. And hey, my adventures were always fun; I might as well share them. Although, I still kinda hold on to the hope that some scholar will pick this up and see the miraculous discoveries I had made for what they actually were.

But then, things got complicated. After my book Daring Do and the Riddle of the Pharaoh's Toothbrush, Ahui decided to lay low for a bit. He, kinda made the Sphinx Pharaoh angry, and trust me, you never want to do that. So, with him not making a move for the Rings of Scorcherro or any other treasures, I had nothing to write. It didn't help that my publisher kept getting letters saying that ponies couldn't wait for the next installment. Ugh, some ponies are really impatient, y'know what I mean? Of course you do; you're one of them.

Ah, I kid. You know that we're cool, Rainbow Dash.

Anyway, I felt that I had to do something to fill the void. So, I decided to make up some stories based on some common myths and legends that I knew weren't real. The lost city of Shetlandis; the Scarab King; the treasure of Das Reingold. Those all came from my noodle. Some of the characters were real (like Yours Truly), but the events weren't. And I gotta tell you; I discovered that I had more creativity than I thought I did.

Speaking of Das Reingold, my encounter with you and your friends wasn't the first time we met. At least, it's not the first time you had an adventure with me. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, right? When your little protégé Scootaloo switched places with me because of some pretentious changeling who made no sense. Boy, what a wacky ride that was. The critics couldn't make heads nor tails of that one. All they knew was that it was pretty awesome.

The reason I bring this up is because I want to clarify a few things. First of all, that Daring Do that you saved from being erased from existence was me, but at the same time it wasn't. Daring Do and the Treasure of Das Reingold was supposed to be a fictional story, so the "fictional" Daring Do is the one who switched places with your friend Scootaloo. But for all intents and purposes, there's really not much of a difference between us, so it might as well have been me.

The second thing I want to clear up is my behavior when you first met me for real. You know how I said that I work alone because I can't be sure who to trust? Well, I wasn't telling you the whole truth there, and you probably could've guessed that. Of course there are ponies I trust. There are ponies that I would call my closest friends, too. But here's the thing. My adventures are dangerous. You know this; I know this; everypony who reads my stuff knows this. I don't want other ponies getting hurt because of me. That's why when I do have a partner, their safety is my top priority. At the very least, it's up there with keeping myself alive. I would've told you that myself if you hadn't put me in such a bad mood.

Lastly, I want to tell you about Tailspin. Yeah, you know her. The hyperactive klutz who really hit it off with Scootaloo? Well, she's an actual pony in my class, and she really does look up to me. She's, actually one of the few ponies who believes that the majority of my adventures are real. She's always begging me to take her on one, but I never have. I kept telling myself that she's got her whole life ahead of her, and that she shouldn't be risking her neck going on adventures with me. Finally, I decided that if she can't go on an adventure with me for real, she can at least go on an adventure in my books. Thus, Daring Do and the Treasure of Das Reingold was created. Let me tell you; Tailspin really started rethinking her life after reading what she and Scootaloo went through.

I won't go into spoiler territory, but I will tell you to look out for Tailspin in my next book. After you and your friends showed me how helpful partners can be, I think I'll let her tag along for some extra credit. I'm finally gonna make her dreams come true for real, Rainbow Dash. And I have you to thank for that.

So, thanks again for everything you've done, and I hope you continue to follow my exploits; both real and imaginary. Because there's a lot more of Equestria left unexplored, and you know what I always say:

Another day, another dungeon.

Best regards,

Daring Do

PS: Tell Scootaloo I said hi.

Author's Note:

Yeah, sorry this wasn't the epic adventure you all were hoping for, but I can't have a story about Daring Do meeting her maker when she actually is her maker. So, this'll have to suffice. That being said, the episode was quite awesome.

I might explore inter-literary travel with somepony else, but that'll have to wait for another time.

Comments

[Shadow_Wolf]

Maybe not "epic" but definitely pretty good!

[Metool Bard]

3594223 Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.

[Peachy Moon]

This was really neat.

[Ellington]

Personally I believe Rainbow Dash was dreaming.

It wasn't really terrible or anything, but it left out one important detail: The whole point on HOW Daring Do is real. That episode did a very poor job of explaining it.

Also, RD can withstand against Ahuizotl better than THAT; the episode was rushed badly; and wouldn't those traps in the first book no longer work after all those years, in the first Daring Do episode I just shrugged it off as a story in a story, but now it's a non-fiction story in a fictional story.

Plus the first fight scene looked staged.

[Metool Bard]

3594660 Well, that's why I wrote this story: To explain how Daring Do is real with my own headcanon.

Also, I think Ahuizotl would maintain his deathtraps, even after all that time. Plus, Dashie was overenthusiastic; she's bound to make a few mistakes. She made plenty in the episode; that's for sure.

The pacing could've been tweaked, though. On that, we can agree.

[ElementOfHope]

Hm, pretty good. there was a little confusion in the middle but over all still good

[ConsciousHaze196]

That's good. And it can probably increase stability of the book worlds that there are original Daring Do and Tailspin who don't depend on books and spells to live.
That also changes Nihilmodo's role. He found a way to use changelings' spells to actually influence the real world, he needed to test his theory on something, and he did it the changeling (evil) way, but now that his plot didn't majorly involve original Daring Do (but it could), he seems more like a scientist. And his spell is interesting: now they can clone ponies or produce arbitrary new ponies, and that can do a lot of good, and evil, and chaos...

[Metool Bard]

3595466 I, suggest reading The Do Dilemma again; Nihilmodo's plan in particular. Because it's really not that simple.

Though I'd say a good two-thirds of your speculation was spot-on, so there's that.

[Razalon The Lizardman]

I might explore inter-literary travel with somepony else, but that'll have to wait for another time.

Wanna collab someday? In my own headcanon, Twilight and her friends created humanity through fiction, while Lyra is responsible for us creating the ponies and all of Equestria.

As for Daring Don't, like every other episode of season 4 thus far it has done nothing but AID my headcanon (not the part of the Mane 6 creating humanity; a different part). The only gripe I had with the episode was that Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy were nothing but deadweight following the party scene.

As for this 'sequel', it's awesome and I think everyone whom detested the episode should read it.

[Metool Bard]

3599091 Wow. That's, uh... That's certainly something.

I'll think about the collab, but for now, I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

[Flash_Magnus]

This was great

[Dashieluvzcandy]

Awesome! Nice story

[storiesatrandom]

There was a canon show that made Daring Do turned out to be real and everything there was real. Once again, Canon foiled us, that rascal!

[Metool Bard]

4290139 Canon foils us only if we allow it to foil us. If this story is any indication, that's not how I roll.

[theNDinspector]

I'll admit, I never really cared for Daring Don't. I get the idea it had of meeting your heroes in person and that the character in a story is real, but it just seemed off to me. I honestly don't think that the "real" Daring Do should be exactly like her literary self in every sense of the word--which is why I guess I like this story saying that some of it is "fictionalized" or others I've read where Daring actually is quite different than you would expect. So while it may be flawed, I've at least come to terms with that episode thanks to some stories like this. Good job.

[Godiswithus3]

Well written. The only thing I'm confused is the Scootaloo reference. I have no idea what you're talking about there. Other than that, awesome.

[Metool Bard]

5912544 Well, this is a sequel to one of my earlier works, The Do Dilemma. The bit with Scootaloo refers to the events of that tale (in fact, I explicitly said that in the description). Otherwise, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[King of Kings]

What do you mean you can't? It would be hilarious!