A Daring Day

by EchoWing

Chapter Two - Excitement for All Ages

It was a crisp, pleasant summer’s afternoon in Ponyville. Ponies went about their business all throughout the town, going to and fro and occupying themselves with one thing or another. A few passing by Golden Oak Library, however, found themselves catching the odd bit of sound from inside and laughing to themselves as the familiar gasps of young foals. Given what all they were hearing, it wasn’t hard to figure out the cause.

Inside the library proper, a small crowd of fillies and colts were nestled together in one corner with their attention fixed upon the stallion seated before them, a book in his front hooves and an excited smile upon his face as he read the book aloud.

“An evil chuckle escaped Ahuizotl’s lips as he sat upon the stone throne, his feline minions nestled around him and the statue held aloft in the appendage at the end of his tail.” The stallion effortlessly slipped into a hammy Andalusian accent as he continued to read aloud, “‘With Daring Do out of the way, the world will suffer mightily at my hands. I am victorious!’ But even as he laughed gleefully to himself, assured of his victory, Daring Do swooped in and snatched away the stone. ‘I’ll take that!’”

In the audience, many of the foals squealed gleefully, and one orange pegasus filly in particular clapped in excitement, fully aware of what was coming next.

“As Ahuizotl watched and gibbered to himself in shock, ‘Huh? Wha–? Noooooooo!’ Daring landed safely upon a waiting clifftop and called back, ‘Better luck next time, Ahuizotl!’” Quiver Quill looked up and grinned as Scootaloo called out the phrase alongside him, but hardly skipped a beat as he went back to the story. “She waited just long enough to tip her pith helmet to him in farewell before she turned and fled, followed by her foe’s defeated cry of ‘Curse you, Daring Do!’” He hammed and emphasized his point by dramatically raising a hoof skyward and giving out an anguished wail, much to the delight of his audience, before he returned to his book. “And so, with Ahuizotl defeated and the Sapphire Statue secured, the world was safe and sound once again, thanks to Daring Do!”

He closed the book in his hooves to the cheers of his audience, and even the applause from the library’s caretakers. “Wow, what an animated reading!” Still caught up in it herself, Twilight Sparkle approached with a beaming smile and looked to the audience. “What do we say to something like that, my little ponies?”

“Thank you, Mister Quill!” they chorused together, though a few of the older ones rolled their eyes beforehand.

Quiver smiled and took a small bow. “You’re very welcome, everypony. And if any of you want to know about the rest of Daring Do’s adventures, they’re all available here for you to read whenever you like. Along with plenty of others.” He looked to a nearby wall clock and noted, “But it’s starting to get late. You’d all best get a move on, or you’ll worry your parents.”

Many gave various cries of protest, but most dispersed and made their way out of the library, only a few stragglers remaining behind. Among them was one young colt with a propeller beanie upon his head who quietly admitted, “Okay, fine, a book can be just as exciting as a video game. You win.” He gave the unicorn filly beside him a pleading look and asked, “Can I have my Joyboy back now?”

The filly rolled her eyes as she grinned and retrieved the device from her saddlebags as they exited the library, much to the colt’s delight. Quiver watched them go with a sad smile. “So, how long’s that been going on?”

“Long enough for me and Apple Bloom to tease Sweetie Belle about it,” Scootaloo answered. “Anyway, that was an awesome reading for ‘Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone’, but I don’t get why Twilight called it ‘Sapphire Statue’ instead.”

“It’s a regional printing thing. In some areas it’s got the one title, in some it’s got the other.” He leaned in and whispered, “I go with the first one, though. Don’t like to come across as that kind of fan.” He winked, which prompted a giggle from the filly and a chuckle from the young drake nearby.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Twilight however, who gave them a raised eyebrow and asked, “Hey! What’s that about?”

A laugh sounded from the entrance to the library as a familiar mare’s voice noted, “I’d think you’d be used to a conspiratorial aside by now, your Highness.” Heads turned to find a familiar rosy pink mare at the door with a smile upon her face. “After all, you’re raising a youngster too.”

“Aunt Lily!” Scootaloo bounded towards Gilded Lily, who received her niece with a warm embrace. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be too busy to see me!”

A regretful tone entered her voice as she answered, “Well dear, I wish I could say I was just here for you.” She smiled and affectionately nuzzled her daughter as she added, “Not that I don’t think you couldn’t handle yourself, of course.” She looked to the one stallion present and smiled pleasantly. “Good afternoon, Quiver. No problems since last we spoke?”

“No ma’am, at least, nothing you can solve.” He sighed and noted, “I’ve had an ad in the Chronicle for the last couple weeks for a housemate, but no bites yet. Granted, I can think of plenty of ponies I’d rather not have living with me, but there’s got to be at least one pony looking for a place to stay.” He frowned and added, “I hope it isn’t my fault.”

Gilded Lily shook her head. “I doubt that. Many might still be unsure if they can take it. That mess with Luster Drain got a lot more attention than I thought it would, and there might be concern that her rooms are still off-limits because of the case against her. Fortunately for you, I know better.” She gestured to her saddlebags and added, “As do others. Could you assist please, ma’am? It’s the black folder.”

Twilight did as requested and withdrew the folder from the bag. “What’s all this about?”

“I’ve been contacted by a third party regarding the spare room at Quiver’s residence. There’s somepony who wants to take it who’s moving to Ponyville soon, and I wanted him to look over their information. Give him an idea of what he’s getting into, and maybe we can avoid a repeat of what happened with Luster.” The folder opened and Quiver looked over the information inside. “Well?”

His eyes widened at what he saw, and a brief smile escaped his lips. “I think I’ll be okay with them. And they should be okay with me, at least in small doses.”

“Well that’s a good sign at least.” The folder was closed and returned to her saddlebags, and Gilded Lily gestured out the door. “Come on then, Scootaloo. Let’s get you home.”

As aunt and niece made their way out of the library, Twilight gave Quiver a curious glance. “You look eager to meet this mysterious new roommate-to-be. Do you know something about them?”

Quiver smirked and answered, “You’ll find out soon enough, but don’t worry. I know plenty about them, and they’re nothing like Luster.”

Before Twilight could query further, a familiar raspy voice called out for her attention. “Twilight!” Rainbow Dash all but exploded into the library as the two turned to face her. “Oh, hey Quiver! What’s got you here?”

“Dramatic reading for the foals.” He gestured over to where Spike was putting the library’s copy of Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone back into place with the rest of the series. “But what’s got you so excited? The Wonderbolts putting on a show here in town, or what?”

“Good guess, but it’s even more awesome than that!” She held up an opened letter in one hoof before pulling it from its envelope. “Twilight, I just got a letter from A. K. Yearling!”

A fanfilly-ish gasp escaped Twilight’s lips. “No way! She wrote to you?!”

The prismatic pegasus was grinning from ear to ear. “I know! I am so gonna frame this!”

“Whoa, hold it!” Quiver gave Rainbow Dash an incredulous look and asked, “You get letters from A. K. Yearling?”

“They’ve met A. K. Yearling!” Spike called as he rejoined them. “It was a few weeks back, before you moved to Ponyville. I didn’t get to go with though, had some stuff to take care of in Canterlot.”

“No way!” Quiver looked upon his two friends with an awestruck expression. “A. K. Yearling’s more enigmatic than Jade Singer! Practically nopony in the fandom even knows what she looks like, and you’ve met her in the flesh? Oh, I am so jealous!”

Rainbow smirked and nodded towards the alicorn. “Be jealous at Twilight. She’s the one who had Yearling’s address.”

A nervous smile flashed on the princess’s face. “My mother’s her editor.” She regained her composure and prompted, “Anyway, what’s the letter about?”

“A. K.’s invited us to meet her in Maretonia!” Rainbow passed the letter over and exclaimed, “This is absolutely awesome! We could be getting a preview of her next book, or maybe even the next trilogy! The fanzines have been talking about the publishers putting them out all together in a giftset, but getting an early glimpse…!”

“Um, Rainbow Dash, the timing for this is gonna be pretty tight.” Twilight looked to her friend and asked, “I mean, she’s specifically asking us to come this Saturday, and for some reason, she’s really emphasizing that I come.”

“Well, you are a princess, and you’re her editor’s daughter.”

“True, but…” Twilight shook her head. “Anyway, I can clear my schedule easy enough, but everypony else might be busy with everything going on in town over the next couple days.”

“Well, we can ask ‘em, can’t we?” Rainbow wrapped a leg around Quiver and offered, “And hey, maybe we can bring Quiver along!”

The stallion gaped. “Me? What about Spike?”

The dragon waved it off. “I’m not that big on the series. Twilight kinda force-fed it to me for years, and I don’t want to be on a train car with two crazy fan-fillies. Three if you count Pinkie Pie, but she goes crazy over everything.” He turned more enthusiastic as he added, “But you should totally go, Quiver! I mean, you’re just as big a Daring Do fan as these two.”

A nervous expression crossed his face. “Well, I should have this Saturday off from work, and if it’s not an inconvenience…”

Comments

[Comickook]

Again, extremely good job on the exchanges and characterizations in this set-up chapter. :-D Thanks for going to the trouble of getting this started. I'll very certainly be looking forward to more of this, but will also completely understand if real-world concerns have to come first.

[EchoWing]

8414269
Glad you liked it. As for future installments, don't worry - I've got the next two chapters written and ready to go, and will have the remainder of the story done within the next couple weeks.

[Comickook]

8414614
Indeed it is. :-D You were most certainly right about that. :-D

[Comickook]

8414629
Glad to hear that, but I have no intention to rush you. :-D

[Azure Wolf 227]

The first chapter did an excellent job in setting up for the tale while this one had everypony in character while at the same time setting up the way of meeting in a realistic manner.

Edit: Surprised Gilded Lily was Scootaloo's mom and wonder who Quiver's new roomie is?

I hope to see more of these soon!

[EchoWing]

8415224
Thanks. As for Gilded Lily being Scootaloo's mom, well, that came about for a number of reasons. Elaboration will come at a later time, however.

[Azure Wolf 227]

8415285
Alright.

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

This was nice. I liked the characterization of everyone here. It was especially charming to see Quiver reading to the foals and fillies in the library

[EchoWing]

8785302
Yeah. Quiver loves telling stories, and he gets on okay with kids under most cases.