Act V-VII
“Okay, I can understand that you need the library card in order to access the secured archives at the university library, and I can understand that you needed to borrow the car because you can’t take us to this library on just a motorcycle. But what exactly did you need the one thousand dollars for?”
Though the question had raged on in my mind for almost the entire duration of the car ride between Ms. Yearling’s place and the library at the local university, I had waited until we were just pulling into the library parking lot before popping the question. I had chosen to bide my time before asking because I wanted to wait and see if the answer revealed itself or if Derring Do offered up the answer on her own. However, given the fact that Rainbow Dash spent the entire trip talking Derring’s ear off, I never had a chance to get a word in anyways.
“I dunno, dinner maybe?” Derring answered with an uncertain shrug before stepping out of the car. “I mean, I am a little strapped for cash, but I just wanted to see how much I could get away with.”
“Wait, you mean you didn’t actually need the money? You just… asked for it because you could?” I asked in disbelief. “That’s… that’s practically stealing!”
“Honestly, you’d think she’d learn after so many times. Still, she managed to haggle me down to five hundred, which is better than the last few times,” Derring replied. “And she could’ve just said ‘no.’”
I was still in such utter disbelief at her brazen attitude that I couldn’t even formulate a response. It was probably for the best since I didn’t want to start an argument with the person I still needed to ask for help from. Besides, we were at our destination and a part of me was still excited to see what Derring Do had in mind. Research had always been a crucial, albeit a bit boring, part of all of her adventures according to the books, so I wanted to see how an expert handled the task. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was still just over-the-moon excited to still be basking in her idol’s radiance, even if some of that shine was beginning to come off from my perspective.
The library at Canterlot City University hosted some of the largest collections of historical documents this side of the continent. From what Ms. Yearling told us before we left, she does some work with the university during the summer, and that affords her the privilege of being able to access the archives that are otherwise restricted for the average researcher. While I felt uneasy about such an act of deception, Yearling’s deadpan explanation made it sound like this wasn’t the first time they had used their identical looks for personal gain.
“Except when she first said ‘no,’ you insinuated you’d ask Blondie for money instead,” I pressed on.
“If Dee could ever learn to trust somebody, she’d realize that Blondie would’ve said ‘no’ even faster—mostly because I owe her a few grand,” Derring’s tone made it sound like she was more annoyed that I was still pressing the issue rather than any of the actual accusations being made. “Trust me, you have no idea what it’s like trying to deal with my sister, so stop pretending like she’s some kinda saint.”
While it was tempting to just flat out deny Derring’s assertions, I decided to take a moment to consider her words. Needless to say, I liked Ms. Yearling leagues more than her sister, but I also knew one far better than the other, and I only knew her as a teacher. I didn’t know nearly as much about her as a person, though what I had seen suggested that she was a woman with a bit of an insecurity issue.
“Don’t pay any attention to Sunset’s fussing,” Dash reassured her idol. “She can just be a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, like your sister.”
“So much for loyalty,” I muttered under my breath, but otherwise remained silent as we headed into the library.
The massive oak double-doors that greeted us as we walked up the stairs gave the impression of the traditional, stuffy archives back in Equestria, but upon stepping inside we were welcomed into the embrace of one of the most modern libraries in the region. And it was massive, too, with a wide-open atrium reaching all the way to the skylight above, spanning up five separate floors with a lavish, glass-walled elevator in the middle of the atrium servicing the entire height of the building. Rows upon rows of books lined every nook and cranny, along with banks of public computer terminals and, according to the library map, a plethora of study halls and conference rooms for every want and need. It made the library back at the Royal Palace look almost minuscule in comparison.
And that was only what was visible from the main floor, as the map conveniently located next to the main door indicated that there were a couple of basement levels containing the treasured archive, which housed the library’s most valuable assets.
“Good afternoon Ms. Yearling,” an elderly woman greeted us from behind the checkout counter. “Are these two young ladies guests of yours?”
“Heya Inkwell. These are just a couple of students of mine,” Derring replied without hesitation. It was safe to presume it wasn’t her first time pretending to be her sister. “I’m going to be taking them with me into the archives, okay?”
“Just be sure to put back everything when you’re finished,” Inkwell said with a polite nod. “You three have a lovely time.”
We continued on our way, strolling through the vast atrium, which included a sizable statue of a familiar-looking man holding a heavy tome under one arm. To be precise, it was less the man that looked familiar and more his impressive beard. I spent a few moments gazing at the figure, remembering a similar pony-like statue back in Equestria. How many hours and lonesome nights did I spend in the libraries of Canterlot? Far too many to count, that’s for certain. They were the sites of my greatest triumphs, but also my worst failings.
It was a bittersweet reminder of the old days.
“Hey Sunset, hurry up!” Rainbow Dash called out to me, albeit in a hushed voice as to not disturb the other library patrons.
Derring and Dash had kept walking when I was romping through the fields of nostalgia, so I hurried along and joined them at the elevator.
“Everything okay, kiddo?” Derring asked.
“I’m fine. Just… remembering things,” I explained. “My lust for knowledge once led me down some dark paths, is all.”
Derring cocked an eyebrow before she replied, “Geeze, you’re sounding like a Saturday morning cartoon villain.”
We all shuffled into the elevator and descended to the archives level.
“So Derring, how many of the villains from the books are actually real?” Dash asked once the doors had closed and she could return to normal volume. “Did you actually fight on top of a runaway tank?”
“They’re all real,” Derring answered, proudly. “Well, I mean all except for Ahuizotl, obviously; Dee just used him whenever she didn’t feel it was appropriate to use the actual antagonists during the expedition, or when it just made things easier for her to move the plot along. The adventures are real, but they usually didn’t involve saving-the-world-level events. The real conflicts around archaeology tend to be a lot more mundane.”
“Such as?” I inquired.
“Usually money,” Derring said with an indifferent shrug. “Sometimes it’s somebody funded by a rich dude who wants to add something to his collection, sometimes it’s just a really competitive rival archaeologist, and sometimes it’s just a matter of pride.”
I wasn’t sure which category Derring fell under, but I got the impression she wasn’t of the noble stock of explorers who believed that ancient relics belonged in a museum. In fact, I was beginning to wonder what, if anything, this Derring had in common with the one from the books, aside from having endured the same ordeals.
“What about the runaway tank?” Dash asked again.
“Oh yeah, I definitely had a full-on brawl atop of one of those,” Derring said as she flashed a brief but triumphant grin. “Granted, it was probably going much slower than the book makes it seem. It was a forty-year-old piece of machinery and I was too preoccupied to pay attention to how fast it was going.”
The elevator came to a halt and we disembarked. The air in the basement level was a lot crisper and cooler, the mark of precision-controlled air conditioning. “The two of us aren’t going to cause any issues going into these archives, will we?” I asked, just to be on the safe side.
We stopped just outside a solid glass door, which opened after Derring swiped her keycard through a reader. “You’ll be fine, we’re going to the least-secured of the archives anyways,” she explained while we headed inside. “These books are valuable, but they’re not going to fall apart if you touch them with your bare hands.”
The archive room we entered felt a bit more like a sterile lab than a proper library. There were, as before, a number of bookshelves housing some of the older pieces belonging to the library, as well as a separate room which undoubtedly held the really valuable stuff. I felt almost relieved we never went to that part of the library since I didn’t trust myself, or Rainbow Dash, with such priceless antiquities. Derring told us to wait by the door as she disappeared into the rows of bookshelves.
“Isn’t she so awesome?” Dash whispered, grinning brighter than ever before. I suspected she had been holding that in since we got in the car with Derring, but had enough restraint not to let it out until she was out of sight.
“She’s pretty cool, I guess,” I answered back, although with far less enthusiasm than my friend.
“You guess? What’s wrong with you? I thought you were a Daring Do fan.”
“I am! But that’s not the same Daring,” I argued. “The Daring in the books was brave and adventurous, clever and resourceful, but most importantly she was a moral compass in a world obsessed with power and greed. This woman? I’ll give her points for being adventurous, but she seems as self-serving as all those villains she supposedly dealt with.”
Rainbow Dash gasped in horror, as though I had just pulled the rug out under her entire world view. “You… traitor,” she sneered. “You’re just taking Yearling’s side on this.”
“Yeah, I am. I like Yearling; I don’t like how Derring appears to treat her own sister.”
“You just don’t understand siblings.”
“True,” I mumbled with a quick nod. “But you’re an only child, too.”
“Yes, but I’ve hung out enough with Fluttershy and her annoying brother to know what siblings can be like.”
I had to concede that there may have been factors that I was still not aware of, particularly of this ‘sibling business’ that seemed to be commonplace. Their relation looked a lot more antagonistic and one-sided than what I saw with Celestia and Luna, but there were some similarities. I just didn’t know enough to say with certainty, which was beginning to drive me insane.
Before I could say anything further, however, Derring returned with several heavy tomes in her arms. “Get over here,” she said as she gestured to a nearby work table. We all grabbed a seat while Derring set a book down for each of us, followed by taking out the golden amulets and setting them down in the center. “Okay, so these dusty ol’ things were written by my great-great-great-grandpappy, one of the best archaeologists there ever was. Once discovered an ancient mummy’s tomb after he tripped and fell through the ceiling while at a dig site.”
“Wasn’t that in one of the Daring books?” I remarked, though mostly to myself.
Derring flipped the golden amulets over, showcasing the small carved symbol located on each underside. “I want you two to look through these books and find any sign of any of these symbols,” she explained.
“You got it!” Dash exclaimed.
At least her enthusiasm remained undiminished, though that may have been because she didn’t realize how dreadfully boring the next couple of hours were going to be. Were we in a movie, we could’ve just skipped past this bit or at least replaced it with an entertaining montage, but instead we were treated to combing through page after page after page of dry and heavy text about ancient cultures, languages, and rituals. I might’ve been able to fast-track the process if I had just skimmed through, looking for just references to the particular symbols, but I wanted to be thorough and read through much of it, looking for any mentioning of ancient pendants or beetles or anything resembling what I was dealing with.
Unsurprisingly, after a few hours of this monotony, a certain somebody started to lose her passion. “Oh my gosh, this is soooo boring,” Dash whined. She was just about to drop her face straight into the book, but was fortunately intercepted by Derring’s hand.
“Listen, I know this can seem a bit dry, but research is an important part of any expedition,” Derring said in the first case of behaving like how I expected an archaeologist to act. “You look like you play sports, right? Just think of this like training, except for your brain.”
“I guess you have to spend a lot of time doing research to become an archaeologist,” I remarked, feeling a brief surge of respect for the woman.
“Oh, I’m not technically an archaeologist; those guys have PhD’s and stuff. I’ve never done any postgraduate stuff,” Derring answered.
And there went all the respect.
“Wait, do you have any formal education in the subject?” I remarked in disbelief.
“Of course I have some! Got my undergraduate degree in history—I majored in archaeology.”
“Oh my goodness,” I groaned, burying my face into my palm. The famous explorer had only a few more years worth of education over me, which was a stark contrast to the Daring Do in the books who was an accomplished doctor in the field and spent her non-adventuring days lecturing at the Royal Canterlot University. It was one of the things that I had admired the most about the character: she wasn’t just some thoughtless, gung-ho adventurer, but a well-read and educated individual who excelled at her craft. Daring Do offered a breath of fresh air compared to most stories aimed at people my age, which typically involved sword-wielding warriors or love-struck teenagers.
“Don’t you start getting on my case,” Derring shot back, stabbing an accusatory finger in my direction. “It was bad enough with my sister: finish your homework, stop wasting money, get a real job, go back to school, take that doctor’s offer! I’m my own bloody woman, I can make my own decisions and I don’t need Dee or anyone else going around acting like a self-appointed guardian.”
It sounded as though I had just hit a nerve with her, but while I was quick to apologize, it was easy to see where some of Derring’s grievances stemmed from. “Okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said. “I was just… surprised. I guess I was just expecting something more like the Daring Do from the books.”
“I figured as much. I swear Dee uses those stupid books sometimes to make subtle suggestions about what I should do with my life,” Derring continued on. “You know, when we made the first Daring Do book together, we agreed to split the money equally. Since I was out of the country most of the time, I let my sister handle the finances. You’d think that kind of gesture would earn a little trust? Nope! Every time I need money it’s like pulling teeth and I get the whole twenty questions treatment.”
That did sound a little unfair, but it also ran counter to what I knew about Ms. Yearling and how she carried herself. “Did… something happen to make her start doing that?” I asked.
“Well she said it’s because I’m ‘too irresponsible with money,’” she answered while throwing up some air quotes to emphasize how absurd she found the premise. “So I made a few poor investments and had a couple of bad outings at the casino; she doesn’t understand that those were business expenses. I was casing clients, which sometimes means spending a little money here and there.”
“And… how much exactly have you lost with these ‘business expenses?’” I inquired.
Derring shrugged. “I dunno, like around a hundred grand; a hundred and a quarter maybe.”
The urge to shout ‘maybe that’s your problem’ was so overwhelming, it almost felt like the words were trying to kick their way out of my lungs. Willpower triumphed in the end, however, and I held my tongue with a polite smile. While I was definitely gaining some insight, at the same time I was beginning to get on her nerves, which wouldn’t help me in the long run. I still needed her help, after all.
“Speaking of the books,” I began, in an attempt to steer the conversation to a more pleasant subject, “some of your adventures had some pretty… magical going-ons. Was any of that based on reality?”
“Magical going-ons? Which one was that?” Derring replied with visible confusion.
A disappointing answer at first, but then I realized that she might not have perfect memory of every adventure she’s been on. “Daring Do and the Temple of the Silver Moon, I think,” I answered. “It’s the one where you had to track down this magical amulet that had once been the focus of obsession for your estranged father.”
“Oh right, that one,” Derring nodded in response. She paused for a second, scratching at her chin as she pondered it over. “I remember seeing a lot of weird things happening in that temple, and the guy who I was trying to keep amulet away from was, like, proper crazy. He definitely believed in the magic stuff.”
“So did you see him use the amulet like in the book?”
“Yes and no,” she said, leaning back in her seat. “He definitely tried to cast some spells, and I did see some crazy things afterwards, but that poison dart he had hit me with earlier in that chapter had me seeing a lot of things that weren’t real.”
The news was disappointing, although not unsurprising in retrospect. In the book, the aforementioned poisoned dart had just left Daring Do feeling weak and sluggish, but it was easy to deduce that Ms. Yearling had changed some of the details for dramatic effect and to avoid suggesting that the lead character was on the trip of a lifetime. Winners didn’t do drugs, or at least that’s what all the posters say.
“Why are you asking, anyways?” Derring asked, giving me a curious look.
“Just curious,” I hastily replied.
“No you weren’t,” she replied. “When I answered, you looked really troubled by it. I’d expect random curiosity from your friend but you—you sound like you got a bit more invested in this.”
“She’s just trying to figure out how my magic powers work,” Dash answered in a manner so blunt and unceremonious, I was almost knocked out of my chair. Of course she was going to say something stupid to try and impress Derring Do.
“Wait, you mean like real magic?” Derring repeated with understandable skepticism.
“Yeah, I get wings and can fly. It’s a bit of a long story but it is so cool! You have to let me show it to you one day!”
“Rainbow Dash!” I exclaimed.
“What?”
“You’re not supposed to just tell people that! We’re trying to keep this a secret, remember?”
“No, you’re trying to keep this a secret,” Dash shot back. “I think this is awesome and I should be allowed to share this with the world.”
I could’ve spent the next year lecturing Rainbow Dash on all of the reasons why that was a stupid attitude to take towards her magic right now, but I had neither the time nor the energy to indulge in that whim. Not to mention, Derring was just shaking her head in disbelief with a quiet chuckle on her lips.
“Oh, you kids these days,” she chortled. “Such wild imaginations.”
At least Derring Do remained skeptical, which was a small miracle all things considered. It might’ve left my friend’s ego a little bruised, but it was for the greater good that we didn’t broadcast our magic powers to everyone we passed by. For the moment, everyone’s mood for conversation was dampened and we returned to our work in silence. Our chat had distracted me a little bit, so I had fallen behind far more than I would’ve preferred. It didn’t help that I was still partly distracted by my contemplation over Derring Do herself. It was beginning to sound like a case of one sibling wanting freedom, and the other wanting to maintain a degree of control and security. Both had their own reasons for wanting things their way, and I was beginning to feel a little torn about who was in the right. After all, while I didn’t know siblings, I could recall to a time where I resented a certain figure of authority telling me what I could and couldn’t do.
Now my reaction to that control and my reasons for doing so may have been wrong, but that didn’t make what I felt any less real or important. I thought my ambition could set me free, and while I only traded one set of chains for another, freedom and independence were not unworthy goals. There were days I wondered if things could have gone better if Princess Celestia had chosen another way to stop my downward spiral—if she had just taken the time to understand my grievances rather than just insisting that I needed to be patient and wait.
Not that I blamed her for any of her choices; the life I enjoyed now was a direct result of it. However, the more time I spent in this world, and particularly around Principal Celestia, the less I saw the Princess as this nigh-infallible being. Pondering the past wasn’t going to change anything, of course, but it did give me something to consider. Even if Ms. Yearling was more in the right, it didn’t necessarily mean she was going about the problem in the correct way. As always, more information was needed if I wanted to act on this.
“Okay, I gotta take a walk and stretch my legs,” Dash announced all of a sudden as she rose from her seat. “There should be laws against making me sit for that long in one spot.”
“You’ve watched movies longer than this, Dash,” I replied.
“But those were cool and interesting. This is just boring,” she rebuked. “Plus I need to use the bathroom.”
Though I had no idea why she didn’t just lead with the bathroom remark and leave it at that, I chose to remain silent and went back to my research while Rainbow Dash headed upstairs to find the restrooms. However, if I had been expecting some more solitude, I was about to be disappointed.
“You don’t like me, do you?” Derring asked, waiting until we were alone in the room.
“What? No! Th-that’s silly.” Once again, an almost instinctual response that was about as effective against her as a wet napkin is against small arms fire.
Derring’s disbelief was written all across her face, too, so I knew I was busted already. “Give me a little credit, Sunset. When you spend enough time working around people who don’t speak the same English, you learn a thing or two about reading body language.”
“It’s not you, just that you’re… well, I just don’t really agree with how you treat your sister, that’s all,” I answered as diplomatically as I could. “But at the same time, I’ll admit that I only know her as a teacher, in which she has always treated me fairly, most of the time.”
“She probably just likes you better,” Derring replied. Thankfully, my answer didn’t seem to upset her; if anything, she appreciated the truth for a change. “I swear, sometimes I think she’s just constantly disappointed I’m not perfect like her vision of Daring Do.”
“Do you… regret helping create Daring Do?” I asked, going on a hunch.
“No! Never,” Derring immediately replied. “Daring Do has made my sister a small fortune. She’s set for life; and once Blondie gets around to manning up and making an honest woman out of my sister, they’ll both get to live happily ever after. I’ll be the first to admit that I can get a little self-absorbed, but I would never, ever do something like that to her.”
Were it not the passion lacing her voice, I might’ve not believed her. However, before I could ask another question, we heard knocking at the glass door. It was Rainbow Dash, and she was back a lot sooner than we had expected. In fact, given how frantic she was knocking at the door, it made me wonder if she made it to the restroom at all. Since the door was locked, Derring had to get the door for her.
“Is everything okay, Dash?” I asked as my friend scampered back inside.
“Um, I guess that depends on the answer to the next few questions,” Dash said, at which point I noticed she had her phone out. “Hey Derring, you said that Dr. Caballeron is a real dude, right?”
“Yeah. He has the chest and I’ve been working my butt off just to keep a few steps ahead of him,” Derring replied.
“Does he look like this?” Dash then held up her phone, showing off a picture of an older gentleman with dark, slicked-back hair, and a lot of stubble. What was more concerning was the fact that it was clearly a picture of the man standing in the library atrium. We didn’t even need an answer since Derring’s expression confirmed everything we needed.
“And… um, how many henchmen would you say were accompanying him?” Derring inquired.
“Maybe a dozen.”
“Wow, he’s pulling out all the stops this time,” Derring said with what could’ve been interpreted as a hint of awe in her voice. “We better check this out.”
We grabbed the amulets and then headed towards the stairwell, as the elevator would be far too exposed for us. A quick sneak up to the main floor and then peering through the window in the stairwell door confirmed everything that Derring had feared. There were a lot of henchmen out there, as it wasn’t too difficult to tell the difference between a hired goon and a random college student working on an essay. They were fanning out through the building in search of her, along with a few standing at the exit.
“This shouldn’t be a problem for you, right Derring?” Dash remarked.
“I fear you may be overestimating my abilities to deal with hired goons,” Derring replied as she backed away from the door. She didn’t look worried, fortunately, but nor would I have described her look as confident.
“Come on, you could fight your way past these guys. You took on like two dozen goons in ‘Daring Do and the Girl with No Name.’”
“With Blondie’s help. Listen, a good adventurer knows when to fight, and knows when to run—now is the time for the latter.” Derring gestured for us to follow, leading us back downstairs. “Okay, now let me think. They’ve got us outnumbered by quite a large margin, and no doubt all of the exits are being watched at this point.”
“We could create a diversion. Maybe pull the fire alarm?” I offered as a suggestion. It wasn’t an original idea, unfortunately, as it was something that Daring Do used to escape a similar situation in one of the books.
Unfortunately, Derring was quick to point out a fatal flaw in that plan. “There’s not enough people here to create a suitable crowd. We’d be spotted easily if we tried to escape.” She paced back and forth across the hallway a few times, clearly considering her options. In all honesty, I was out of ideas—this was beyond the scope of problems typically faced by a teenager. If we had been in Equestria, the solution would’ve been easy: teleportation.
“Really wish I had my magic right about now,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Maybe I can call Dee, get some back-up or something,” Derring said as she whipped out her phone. Unfortunately, once she dialed, she stood there idle with the phone up to her head for a lot longer than one would’ve expected. “Oh come on, pick up the darn phone,” she growled through gritted teeth. “You better not be screening my calls or you’re so off my Hearth's Warming card list!”
“I could try texting some of our friends,” Dash offered as an alternative.
“Forget it. I doubt any of them would be able to get here soon enough anyways. We’re on our own.” Derring turned to look at the stairwell once again, and then back to us. “We do have one advantage, though; they don’t know about the two of you.” She then handed me the amulets. “Take the elevator to the upper floors and find somewhere to lay low. Once I’ve led them away, you can sneak out at your leisure. Take the amulets back to my sister’s place and just wait for me there. I’ll catch up to you when I can.”
While I wasn’t fond of the idea of splitting up, especially in the face of a numerically superior force, Derring Do did present a good argument. So long as they were just chasing her, Rainbow Dash and I would be safe. There was no time for debate, and in the absence of any better ideas, Dash and I made for the elevator. As we had hoped, no heed was given to a couple of teenagers riding the elevator up to the top floor.
“Well, this is certainly becoming my second-most eventful outing to a library,” I remarked in an attempt to steady my nerves.
“Libraries are usually more boring than this,” Dash replied.
Unsurprisingly, the presence of Dr. Caballeron and his men made many of the other library patrons curious, which we used to our advantage so that we could watch what was happening without appearing conspicuous. We positioned ourselves close to the stairwell and elevator, just in case we needed to make a quick exit, and just leaned against the railings that offered us a view of the atrium down below.
“So do we, like, wait for a signal or just keep an eye for when all the action begins?” Dash asked, sounding almost bored as we continued our vigil.
“We just have to do what Daring would do in a situation like this and trust our instincts,” I replied. To be honest, I wasn’t fond of the waiting either. Would Derring Do try something bold and dramatic to break through the scores of thugs, or would she employ wit and guile to make her escape. If I were to guess, I would vote for the later: a library wasn’t a very suitable place to start a commotion, and as Derring said, the odds were a bit too heavy against direct confrontations. At the same time, that could be what Caballeron counted on, since being a long-time rival of Derring Do would afford him some insight into how she operated.
Assuming the real man was as devious as the book’s incarnation.
As the minutes ticked by, the hired cabal spread further throughout the library. One was even skulking about the top floor, but once again Dash and I didn’t stand out from the dozens of other youngsters who were busy watching whatever was unfolding down on the main level. As for Dr. Caballeron himself, he just stood waiting patiently in the atrium, no doubt with a smug little smile across his stubble-covered face.
Finally, though, some sign of activity began to spring up. A few of the thugs that had been milling about the ground level broke into a sprint towards the stairwell. Had they found Derring Do already? Maybe she was trying for a direct approach after all. The downstair hallways were a lot narrower than the upper levels, which could be used to limit numerical advantages. It still sounded far more violent than most of Daring Do’s methods, but I had to remind myself that Derring and Daring weren’t the same people.
“Do you think she’ll make it?” Dash whispered.
“I don’t know,” I replied with growing unease. “I think we need to start considering contingency plans.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. This is Derring Do we’re talking about.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” I said as I gave a subtle gesture back to the atrium ground level.
Two of the hired goons were making their way back to Dr. Caballeron, and being held firmly between them was Derring Do. We were too far away to make out anything being said, but it was safe to presume that Caballeron wasn’t going to be asking her for a casserole recipe.
“Maybe she let them catch her,” Dash suggested. “Now that they think they have her, they’ll leave, and then she can escape later.”
It was a reasonable explanation, though I had no way of knowing if that had been her plan or not. It could very well have been a last-second decision, or perhaps there were a bunch of thugs still in the basement level now sporting bloodied noses. We had no way of knowing and I wasn’t going to make any sudden moves until I knew for certain. Once Derring and Caballeron finished their exchange, the former was escorted out of the library, most likely to a large panel-van waiting outside. Unfortunately, this did not result in a mass exodus of muscle-heads as we had anticipated, but rather they began to spread out once more. It looked like they were searching the library once again, but this time it looked like they were interrogating the patrons as well. It didn’t take long for us to realize what was happening.
“Oh no, they must think Derring hid the amulets in the library,” Dash remarked.
“She did: on us! We need to get out of here!”
A quick glance about revealed that Caballeron’s men were spreading quickly throughout the library, including a few riding up in the elevator and a couple more emerging from the stairwell. We had no choice but to flee deeper into the library. It wasn’t a fool-proof plan, unfortunately, as the library’s floor plan consisted of four ‘wings’ connected to the center atrium, which limited our mobility and made it easy to cover all the exits, as they were only located near the atrium. There might’ve been a few fire escapes, but I didn’t want to risk announcing our exodus just in case more were waiting by the exits.
We continued our evasive manoeuvres through the aisles of books, attempting to keep one step ahead of the various henchmen scouring the library. If any of them saw us, they’d shake us down, and running would only make us look suspicious to them.
“We need a better plan than this,” I lamented as we paused briefly at the end of an aisle of art history books. I glanced around the corner to look for signs of any henchmen, but didn’t see any in the vicinity. “This is a holding pattern at best; circling the drain at worst.”
Unfortunately for me, Rainbow Dash wanted to channel her inner Daring Do, and saw her opportunity just across the hall. Lining the opposite side of the corridor were a number of study rooms, where one could get some privacy for their work, and while they consisted of little more than a small room with a large desk, they also included an equally sizeable window.
“I got an idea!” Dash said as she took hold of my wrist. She didn’t even wait for a response before she dragged me across the hall and into one of the study rooms. “We can climb out this window, just like Daring would.”
“Are you insane? We’re five stories up,” I pointed out, not that facts had much hold on Rainbow right now. “Maybe if we were on the second floor I’d be okay with the idea, but this isn’t worth risking our lives over.”
“Derring Do asked us for help, and I intend to deliver on that,” Dash boldly proclaimed. “Rainbow Dash does not back down from a challenge, and she does not abandon her friends. Or, well, sorta friends, I guess. Do you think Derring would consider me a friend after this?”
“Guess that depends on whether we get out of here or not.”
While Dash worked on getting the window open, I stayed on guard and soon overheard the sound of opening and closing doors coming from nearby. I carefully opened the door and peeked out, which confirmed my suspicions.
“Dash,” I whispered once I closed the door again, “there’s a guy checking all the study rooms.”
“This stupid window isn’t budging!”
“What are we going to do? He’s going to catch us!” I felt the panic beginning to rise up the back of my neck. We were cornered, and while it was tempting to chastise Rainbow Dash for leading us in here, it was a step further than any plan I had available. “We have to get out of here!”
“We can’t do that; we’ll be caught,” Dash replied. “Derring’s counting on us! We have to do something.”
“Well… what would Daring Do do in a situation like this?” I couldn’t come up with a plan on my own; every logical plan that came to mind had huge gaping holes in them. I needed something unpredictable—something crazy.
“Let me think! Let me think!” Dash pressed her palms to the sides of her head as she bounced about in thought. Judging by the sounds outside, we had only a few moments before the door swung open and we’d be caught. “I’ve got a plan—no time to explain.”
Without warning, Rainbow Dash shoved me up against the wall and moved to pin me up against it. “Dash, what are you—?”
“Just play along,” she whispered. She then grabbed me by the back of the head and pulled me into a kiss.
My mind froze for a second, along with every muscle in my body. I wanted to shriek and push her away, but thankfully I was able to get my brain back in order and realized what her plan was. Or at least what I hoped her plan was. As crazy as it might’ve been, it was only going to work if I played along. With my only options being ‘guaranteed to get caught’ and ‘probably going to get caught,’ I had to go with the choice that had some chance of success. Thus, I wrapped my arms around my friend and pulled her in even tighter for the best faked make-out I could muster.
Good thing I had plenty of experience faking sincerity with Flash Sentry.
Kissing Rainbow Dash was an odd experience. I had never kissed another girl before so that in itself made it unique, but at the same time we were both on edge and running on fear and adrenaline, which dampened any sense of passion or emotion. I had no doubt that she, like myself, was just going through the motions while imagining somebody that we would rather be locking lips with.
She’s a lot softer than Flash Sentry, which made for a nice change of pace.
Of course, before I could even consider trying to get some enjoyment out of the experience, the study room door opened. Time to manufacture some outrage.
“Hey, do you mind?” Dash immediately exclaimed.
“Oh my gosh, get out, you pervert! Before I call campus security!”
“You darn creep!”
Between the risk of attracting the attention of the authorities, and the unlikelihood of a couple making out in a remote backroom being involved with Derring Do, the quite-flustered henchmen made a hasty apology before shutting the door again. We waited for a few moments to make sure he was well and truly gone before we were both finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“I can’t believe that actually worked,” I remarked, still trying to calm my frantic heart rate.
“It worked in the Daring Do books; I figured it would work here, too,” Dash explained.
“You can take your hand off my butt now.”
“Oh, right. Sorry. Just needed to make it look authentic, ya know?” Dash flashed me a quick grin before we both succumbed to a quiet chuckle. “Come on, we can still try the window route.”
I still wasn’t sold on that idea, but without better alternatives, I continued to follow my friend’s lead. This time around, though, I helped her with the stubborn window and together we were able to force it open.
“So Dash, first time kissing somebody?” I remarked with a devious little smirk.
“Yeah—er, I mean, no! Of course not. I’m awesome—I kiss people all the time.” Needless to say, I didn’t believe her, and I just responded with an incredulous gaze that conveyed that sentiment. “Uh, s-so maybe it was. I’m just busy, that’s all. It… it didn’t show that badly, did it?”
“It was far from an ideal circumstance, so I wouldn’t judge it too harshly. You can always hit me up for some free lessons if you need ‘em,” I reassured her, then gave her a playful pat on the shoulder. “But just as a point of advice for your next partner, try to remember that it’s a mouth, not an oyster.”
With the window now open, I poked my head out and checked our surroundings. I was immediately reminded of just how high up five stories was, and just how uncomfortable I was with that notion. Now I wasn’t afraid of heights, but I was extremely uncomfortable with the prospect of falling.
“I thought you were a vegetarian,” Dash commented.
“I am, but sometimes you’ve got to eat what’s being served if you want to keep the gryphon diplomats happy.”
“I still can't believe you got to hang out with gryphons...”
Now it was my turn for a crazy idea as Rainbow Dash’s mentioning of my homeland spurred my brain into action. “Hey, what if we can get your magic working again? We could use that to fly us out of here.”
“We’re a bit short on guitars for that plan to work,” Dash replied.
“But you’ve been able to summon your magic without music; we just need to recreate that moment. Do you remember exactly what was going on through your mind when it happened?”
“Okay, well… um, let’s see. I was in school with the soccer team, and I was giving them a pep talk,” Rainbow Dash said as she mentally walked through the events leading up to her previous transformation. “I needed to get them pumped up and ready for the next match, because I wanted them to succeed. Since I’m the captain, it’s up to me to help inspire them and lead them to victory, for themselves and for Canterlot High.”
“Right! Of course! You’re connected to the Element of Loyalty,” I postulated. “Your magic must come out when you’re showcasing that virtue. Quick, you gotta start thinking loyalty stuff.”
“Are you sure just thinking it would help?”
“You’ve got to try, Dash. Derring Do is counting on you, remember? I know you can do this, I believe in you!”
“You’re right,” Dash exclaimed. “I can do this, and not just because flying is totally awesome, but because everyone is counting on me. I can’t—no, I won’t let them down. I’ve got to do this: for every Daring Do fan out there.”
And just like, my friend began to shimmer and shine, lifting off the ground as the eldritch energies transformed her into the winged heroine we needed. I was just about to cry out in delight, but managed to restrain myself so I didn’t attract everyone in the immediate vicinity to our whereabouts.
“Sweet, it worked,” Dash said, thankfully exercising similar restraint in her excitement. “Hands down, this is the best trip to the library I’ve ever had.”
With Dash all set, I chanced another look out the window, just to make sure there wouldn’t be any witnesses to our escape. “Um, m-maybe I should just give you the amulets,” I suggested as my uneasiness with the prospect of falling crept back into my mind. “I could just walk out the door and meet you.”
“No way, we’re riding out together in style.”
Once again, Rainbow Dash didn’t even give me a chance to respond before she wrapped her arms firmly around my waist and out the window we went. Seeing the ground so far below and feeling the wind rushing through my hair soon brought about a whole new feeling.
“Oh my gosh, you’re flying!” I exclaimed. “This is awesome!”
“I know, right?”
We flew a few laps around the library despite the pressing need to get back to Ms. Yearling. It was hard not to get lost in the exhilaration of the moment, since this would be the closest I’d probably ever get to flying on my own.
“Okay, I think we should land now,” I suggested to my friend.
“What do you mean? It’d be so much faster to just fly back to Yearling’s like this.”
“We might get spotted, and your magic is still relatively new. We don’t know how stable it is.”
Rainbow Dash groaned and rolled her eyes, clearly unhappy that I was bringing her fun to a close. “Okay fine,” she grumbled before beginning a descent. “Maybe I should just make you walk back on your own for this.”
And in that instant, her magic and wings suddenly vanished, and we assumed all the flight properties of a fully-stocked vending machine. A slew of very unladylike profanity ensued as we careened back to earth. Fortunately, we were low enough to the ground that the vertical fall wasn’t an issue, but with our forward momentum we sailed across the library parking lot and crashed right into Yearling’s parked sedan. Being the lower of the two of us, I slammed into the rear windshield while Rainbow Dash bounced across the roof before rolling down onto the hood, knocking the radio antenna off in the process.
“I take back what I said,” Dash groaned, “this was the worst library trip ever…”
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Thus starts the SunDash ship
Yeah, improvisation!
potential shipping detected; shipping goggle requisition requested
No idea if you are going there, or are even gonna mention it again. But as much as I like Sunlight, there's not nearly enough SunDash on here!
Cool. So much adventure! I like your take on the Daring Do concept. I hope Sunset finds answers about some magic in the world.
Thank you for the Christmas chapter! Happy Holidays!
I read "you're not going to fall apart", which sounded like another Indiana Jones reference.
Also: Funny as that was, SunLight is still objectively better ship. Adorable eggheads forever.
Well, that was interesting. And quite the happy surprise this morning. A third chapter posted this month. How do you work so fast? And posting on Christmas. Thank you so much for that.
So far it looks like there are no leads on magic from Derring, although Sunset's starting understanding the magic she and the others do have at least. And the thing with Rainbow was definitely an odd surprise.
I can't wait to read more. Thank you again. I hope you had and are still having a merry Christmas and happy holidays.
Ah, the shipping. How I love it.
Totally saw the faux make out session distraction coming. Keep those chapters coming!
7818480 Don't think I ever saw that ship before. But I love Sunset and Dash, so wouldn't mind seeing where it goes.
Ooooh, shipping.
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I don't want to get into too much detail just yet, but let's just say I might've been talked into writing some side-story 'what if' scenarios.
Scenarios that might have a
slightlymuch higher advisory rating.7819769
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/aa/a4/4a/aaa44a60ad7e391db82cfb5d66962956.jpg
7819769 I can think of only one appropriate response....
7819769 Formerly Committed would be very pleased with that outcome :P
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Believe me, I'm the last person to complain about that... gosh, I'm looking forward to the next chapter!
I gotta say, I do love how absolutely nonchalant Rainbow Dash is about keeping her magic secret. It's just so...her, to want to show it off to everyone. Otherwise, it was quite an entertaining chapter to read. In fact, the whole way you've been writing the relationship between Derring and Yearling has been well done. It's a strained sibling relationship that feels very real.
Looking forward to the next one!
But how far does she usually need to go... Are those pyramids located close to the city? Does she take a bus right to them?
Ah, that old classic "distraction". SunDash isn't my favorite Sunset shipping, but I don't mind it as all either, depending on if that goes anywhere. Either way, I like their banter a lot, with Sunset as the sane one. Which is also reflected in the way the sisters act towards each other too, with Sunset favoring Yearling's position but trying to be neutral.
Now they've got to go get some help. I just hope Sunset can keep Rainbow in check from following the books too closely. Wonder if they'll find out just how much magic does or doesn't exist (since the previous instance seemed more like a hallucation than actual magic).
.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................well
that was wholly unexpected!
What the actual hell is this story right now?
Well, that ship came out of nowhere. I'm always a sucker for SunDash, though, so that was a pleasant surprise. Excellent chapter, as always.
That ending demonstrated the...
(Wait for it. ..)
... gravity of the situation.
You...really don't like Rainbow, do you?
7853740 Personally I find this a pretty accurate portrayal to an earlier rainbow dash's character.
7884862 I defy you to find any point in the early episodes where Rainbow insults her friends to their faces while talking to a stranger, followed by the friends in turn sniping at Rainbow behind her back. Because that's what happened here.
Oh yeah, Rainbow's let her enthusiasm put her hooves in her mouth and blind her to consequences more than a few times. But the way this fic is written is simply mean-spirited.
After that amazing chapter, I cannot imagine what's to come. I just wish that Rainbow wouldn't have supported Derring so much. Friends before idols, straight up. You don't have to agree, but you should straight disagree.
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Commissaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!
I just noticed this, but she should already know about gryphons. From Act I-VII, when Sunset is explaining Equestria:
I guess she could have forgotten, but it looks like a little detail that got lost between the two years between the chapters.
Very much enjoying the story so far, though.
edit: By the way, I was just thinking that fake makeouts would probably work as a cover only a few paragraphs before Dash went for it. Great minds think alike?
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Welp, that's what happens you write chapters almost two years apart... you forget you already did a bit.
Not the first time I've made that mistake... better go fix it.
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Csquared08 malding