(Outside Ponyville) Daringcon General (Open)

[RarityDash]

Silver Flash seemed kind of put off by Snow's comments. This was fairly common. It was a kind of controversial view, especially for a pegasus, but in a way it tied into the spirit of Stalliongrad and its founding. The fact remained that unicorns needed to be talented and knowledgeable enough to perform a cloud walking spell to explore the city and earth ponies had no means of doing so on their own. To the entrepreneurial pegasus mare, it seemed kind of backward and old fashioned. To its credit, Cloudsdale was at least preferable to Canterlot though, but that was an entirely different matter.

Before she could finish her thoughts on the matter, Silver cut herself off, evidently recalling she had to be somewhere. Snow nodded when she said she had responsibilities to attend to. She definitely knew how it was to be pulled away from responsibilities mid conversation. "Don't worry. I understand," she said, smiling. "It was a pleasure meeting you," she said.

Snowfall was rather curious to get to the opening ceremonies herself. Pathfinder had said they'd meet back up there, after all. Waving goodbye to her other new friend, she rushed with the crowd in the direction of the hall where the ceremonies were taking place. With some effort, she pushed through and found herself inside. It was an incredibly large crowd, which was still kind of surprising to the businessmare. There were really so many ardent fans of Daring Do? It was still something of a shock.

She didn't see Pathfinder yet. Again it was a little hard to pinpoint the pony when in this place there were countless others in Daring Do cosplay who looked practically just like her. Eventually she decided to put off actively looking for the other mare and just turn her focus up to the ceremonies themselves. The emcee addressed the crowd with enthusiasm for the event, and the crowd returned equal enthusiasm in their soaring applause at various parts of the speech. Snowfall was just a little overwhelmed by it all that she barely took in what was actually being said. Just being a part of it was kind of fun though.

[Corsair]

Snips couldn't wipe the smile off his face. The line for pre-purchased tickets was nearly empty at this point, so he was able to zip though quickly. He felt a little bad that Rainbow Dash was still stuck outside, but an awesome pony like her could probably find a way in. She was so incredible, she could probably have her OWN convention!

After getting a badge from an impatient looking pony, a badge that actually looked straight, Snips finally made it over to Snails. "We made it!" he called out, holding up a fabric-covered hoof for his taller friend to smack. Snips then got a better look at the orange colt. "Snails, where's your costume? You said you were cosplaying with me!"

Just then, began to hear cheering from the main hall. "Snails, we're missin' the opening ceremony!" he cried out in distress. "You gotta get changed so we can get in there!"

[Boss_Hoss1]

Snails pranced in place as he waited for Snips to get his badge from a different pony than the famous Pathfinder.

He ulped as Snips suddenly pointed out that he was still not yet in costume.

"Oh gee! Ah didnt have m'costume on so's ya could see me in this crowd! Juuuust a second here."

Snails pulled his vampire mosquito costume out of his saddlebag and wiggled into it, not seeing Pathfinder close the door on the others in line.

The orange foal pulled out a set of deelybobber antennae covered in glitter and plopped them on his head. All as he bumped his way through the crowd behind the already-costumed Snips. "A-almost..there...."

He found himself in the auditorium, only even he could not see over the adult Darie fans closest to the Auditorium door. He saw folding chairs and tables stacked against the wall, with some foals already perched on top "Hay Snips! There's some seats we can see from!"

The lanky foal found the chair the other foals had used for a ladder and clambered up onto the nest of stacked tables and reached down a hoof "Come on up, Snips! Ah'll help ya!"

If he got a chance to look out the window now at his level behind him, he would see Rainbow Dash and Carrot Fields looking for a way in...

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash pressed herself against the side of the wagon, hiding with Carrot Fields from the workers carrying in all the trinkets needed by a massive convention. "Right," she declared. "Don't worry, I've done stuff like this before!" She didn't need to mention that it'd failed horribly. Well, kinda. She'd gotten *in* all right. It was everything *after* that which had been a disaster!

She led him from the wagon, slipping behind a rolling rack of costumes, just their hooves showing underneath the dangling garments. She snuck along carefully, hissing at Carrot, "stay close!" And he had to, to stay hidden behind the rack! The grizzled pony pushing the cart didn't seem to notice, as he propelled their cover right up and into the convention center.

She grabbed Carrot and leapt into a divide between two stacks of boxes, pushing him into the hiding space first, and then backing up into him so she could peer out past the edges of the crates. "Shhhhhh..." she murmured.

Someone dropped something heavy, and the firefly lamps up by the ceiling, startled, suddenly scattered and flew out the doors, plunging the rear warehouse into darkness. The gruff workers let out sighs, and the few unicorns amongst them lit up their horns, walking down the aisles with beams of light splaying along the floor ahead of them.

Rainbow Dash grinned back to Carrot Fields. "OK, here's the plan - we do it just like Daring Do and the Artifact Smugglers of G'dee Hup."

----- ----- -----

Silver Flash sat there in the makeshift changing room, her eyes closed as a makeup pony dusted her face with the brown dye. Her flank twitched as another makeup pony stenciled the compass rose over her blanked-out cutie mark. A third pony worked at her hair, brushing through it. She was running over the script in her head, making herself *feel* the emotions - not hard, as this was extremely exciting! Her posture slowly shifted as she found it harder and harder to sit still. After all - Daring Do never did.

On stage, the announcer was ramping it up. "Daring Do has been a literary sensation! None of us need to be told that! We've read the books. We've been to the school plays, the off-Mareway productions, the comics. Heck, plenty of you have written a few fanfics yourself!"

He leaned forward over the edge of the stage, speaking into the megaphone. "It's a very exciting announcement we have, this year. Imagine, for a moment, if you will - a Manehattan production company, with a full Mareway budget, and a big-name actress," The crowd had gone silent, "putting on the first ever, fully authorized, original story MAREWAY THEATRE PRODUCTION OF DARING DO!"

The crowd exploded with noise, hooves thumping against the floor in applause. Whistles and cheers sounded for at least a minute, and it took another half a minute after that for the announcer's raised hooves to quiet them enough to hear the next line. "FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS!" he cried. "It is my pleasure to introduce to you, star of over two dozen major theatre productions, and the lead role in the stage production I'm sure we're all very eager to see... the lovely Silver Flash!"

A shadow flitted over the heads of the crowd, the spread brown wings, the lean athletic form. She landed on the stage with a thump, her grey, striped mane flaring and then settling, her tail drifting out of the way of the telltale compass rose cutie marks. She lifted a hoof to seize the edge of her hat, spun around with a fire in her eyes and an eager grin on her face. "That's DARING DO! Who's ready for an ADVENTURE?!"

[brianblackberry]

Carrot Fields shifted uncomfortably, not feeling so sure about sneaking in like this - he just had to keep reminding himself that they'd pay for the tickets, later ... but he didn't have to remind himself of the smile he kept seeing on the cute filly's face. And of course, that overruled everything - impressing the filly. Oh, how Purple Haze would tease him now!

Carrot Fields followed along closely, taking cues from Dash, sneaking along the rolling rack undetected, just like in those old five bit novels he used to read as a colt. The next thing he knew, he was pushed into a dark, narrow divide where he managed to clumsily fell over onto his rear. He didn't have any time to contemplate this embarrassment though, for the next thing he knew her tail was backed right back into his face. "Umm…", he didn't get anymore out that that before he was shushed; all he could do is look away, flustered and red, trying not to take a peek at her backside, at least not too much. Not that he could see much, anyway. Why does it have to be so dark! Then it became a whole lot darker…

This was their chance! Carrot jumped up upon all fours with a surge of confidence. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was the challenge of it all, but he was determined. Carrot leapt out into the darkened hall - it wasn't completely black, just various shades of very dark gray, the shifting light of the unicorns casting just enough light to show where the deepest shadows were. Just up the aisle was a larger shadow, an opening between the boxes that was closer to the convention hall. "Aye, This way!" He quickly tip hoofed his way towards that shadow, trying to stay silent, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his head as he noticed the end of this aisle growing brighter and brighter. Carrot leapt rather dramatically into the opening, as the Unicorn rounded the corner, the beam of light from his horn sweeping down the row of boxes towards them. Carrot grabbed Dash by the forehooves and pulled her in a little harder than he meant, just before the bright circle of light reached her, tripping and falling on his back, but safe from detection! Not quite as planned, but it was sure exciting!

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder hurried along at nearly every stage of her life, rushing from certain doom to certain defeat and ranging between the two on a near daily basis. She loved it, made her feel as if she was truly worthy of Daring Do. It was also a nice rush, but that was a nice bonus. Today was no different, even if the stakes were so much larger than life or death. Missing the opening ceremonies in their entirety would deal a fatal blow to her psyche the likes of which only a magical gemstone could hope to repair. Sure she had been at more than...thirty or so Daring Do conventions but the thought that she would miss something as vital as an opening ceremony filled her with sincere horror. This seemingly gave her wings the extra boost they needed for her to continue powering above the ponies below her. Hats were forced off of heads and well-styled manes were tossed into anarchy at her passing as she blew through the crowd and into the hall.

She arrived just as Silver Flash made her presence known with aplomb, much to the crackling excitement and approval of the ponies in the audience. Daring Do had been so roughly treated by any form of mainstream production in the past that there was fear that, perhaps, their adventurer was forever doomed to be trapped within the confines of the book. Pathfinder found those fears unfounded as she also traversed the wide spaces of the imagination, and if there was anything better for a character so devoted to the thought of ceaseless freedom than forever wandering landscapes without borders she had no idea what it could be. She was content to let Daring Do live there and in some arrogant way, through her. That was until her obsessive reading of the media in search of anything Do turned up scant and faint details of the production. Nothing solid and few things were in any way directly referential. For most the trail was bare, but Pathfinder made a living on such trails and the great importance of the topic drove her to research it. The more she discovered, the better she felt. Mareway was a tough place and it required a great investment in talent to make it work.

And it appeared as though that was the case here. Silver Flash was a talented actress and the production behind the...production...had a talent core of professionals at every level. Sure, the design was not perfect. The costume looked mostly accurate, but having read every book a few dozen times, she may have known a little too much about the stitching and the way it was supposed to flow. She supposed this was either a mental image of hers that was unfathomably attached or an attention to detail nopony could ever live up to, but she also resolved to not hold it against them too much when she saw the first thirty or so performances. She clapped her hooves together, adding her noise to the cacophony around the room. After devouring Silver Flash's exciting take on Daring Do's speech, Pathfinder fluttered above the crowd until she spotted a Princess Veil cosplayer of near perfection. Snowfall, perhaps? It could be difficult to tell, seeing as she had masked herself so well. There was only one way to know for sure: Pathfinder lowered herself until she was almost on top and sniffed the cosplayer. Yep, Snowfall.

Pathfinder lowered herself next to Snowfall and gave a relieved sigh.

"Snowy! Snowy! Did you hear that? It's going to be pretty cool!" Pathfinder smiled and hugged her fillyfriend almost excessively as she imagined the both of them camping out in front of the Mareway premier and the following twenty-nine shows in a row. It was bliss.

[RarityDash]

Snowfall watched the stage with a smile. The crowd's enthusiasm for all the various announcements was electric. She wished she could get even a fraction of this kind of reaction out of crowds she spoke to at NSI conferences. The announcer had them all captivated. It was quite impressive to watch in a way.

"Daring Do has been a literary sensation! None of us need to be told that! We've read the books. We've been to the school plays, the off-Mareway productions, the comics. Heck, plenty of you have written a few fanfics yourself! It's a very exciting announcement we have, this year. Imagine, for a moment, if you will - a Manehattan production company, with a full Mareway budget, and a big-name actress, putting on the first ever, fully authorized, original story MAREWAY THEATRE PRODUCTION OF DARING DO! FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS! It is my pleasure to introduce to you, star of over two dozen major theatre productions, and the lead role in the stage production I'm sure we're all very eager to see... the lovely Silver Flash!"

Even Snowfall got kind of wrapped up in this announcement. She rather enjoyed theatre, and a Daring Do production? That sounded just fantastic. Maybe she'd meet Pathfinder in Manehattan at the premier and make a date of it. She smirked at the thought. Surprise hit her face when the name of the actress was said. Suddenly she understood everything Silver had said to her, and why she had been under such a rush. How fun. She was an impressive actress, so Snow was sure she'd be good for the part.

Heh. Snow remembered how she was sick of boring plays with no action. This role had to be pretty perfect for her if that was the case. She looked great in the costume though. It was a real professional work, and looked about as real as you could get without the genuine grime and wear on Patfinder's ensemble. She had the mannerisms down pretty good too, it seems. She hardly seemed like the same mare Snowfall had been conversing with only moments ago. It was an impressive transformation.

About then, a pegasus flew up behind her and started sniffing her. This would have been just slightly odd if it was just any pegasus, but a quick look revealed it to be Pathfinder. The enthusiastic pegasus spoke vibrantly and then hugged Snowfall. Snow giggle softly and hugged the mare back, glad to see her back again. She nodded.

"Yes, it does sound definitely like something to see. Really, I can't imagine missing it. It'd be my delight to purchase tickets to the show for us both!" she replied, smiling.

[Hippo]

The auditorium erupted as the presentation went underway. What looked like an unveiling of a convention VIP sent shrieks of joy through the halls of the con. Madden was beside himself. He couldn't believe this many older ponies would be this wound up over a silly children's novel. He grabbed his camera mare by the hoof and pulled her into the direction he wanted to go next. He walked out to the hall and started making his way towards the backstage section. He felt that he could easily get a behind the scenes look from this hilariously shocking event, and get an interview with someone who worked at the convention center for more information. There would be no clearance issues as Madden's press badge permitted him VIP status. But when he got back there, he found it hard to see anything at all. It looked like someone smashed an important light source and unicorns where putting up searchlights in order to see where they were going. The camera mare set up a small burning candle at the top of her recorder. Madden walked around, and asked for people's attention, but they all seemed too busy to talk. He also noticed lots of boxes. He could have guessed that he somehow ended up near the docking area. "Is anypony here willing to take an interview? I need to talk to someone who works for the convention center."

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash followed Carrot Fields down the aisle, looking around with quick movements of her head, grinning broadly. This was so cool! She hurried with him as the unicorn made his way around the corner, the circle of light his horn projected sweeping across the crates towards them. She jumped into the opening between crates right after Carrot, his pull making it even faster a movement than she expected, right before the light swept across the dark space they'd disappeared into.

She stumbled with Carrot, through the dark, and then was running into a third pony! They fell down, a camera skittering away across the floor into the darkness, as she landed atop Carrot's sprawled form, her head tucked into his chest. She giggled helplessly, excitedly, and looked up to Madden, while his camera mare scurried after the lost camera to retrieve it. "Oh, sorry! Didn't see you here, with all the lights out!" She hurried to her feet, put her hat back on, and helped Carrot up. His hoof in hers, she pulled him away into the nearest doorway she could find. It had to be an improvement over storage!

And it was! It seemed to be a changing room! It had all sorts of costumes, makeup, necklaces and whatnot, the works. Hey! That was light brown fur dye ... and grey mane dye! "hey, Carrot!" she said excitedly, handing him one of the little tins of fur dye. "Help me put this on!"

----- ----- -----

Silver Flash waited for the convention hall to quiet down to an acceptable level ... it took a while. Quite a while. All the time, she kept strutting in front of the crowd, head high, chest out, her wings constantly flaring as if it took great self-control to keep from taking off into the air just for need to move ... Daring Do just couldn't stand still for long.

But eventually the crowd quieted, and Silver Flash grinned out at them, leaning forward as if imparting secrets. "I know some of you are wondering which of your favorite stories will be brought first to the stage! And I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the answer is - none of them! We all know what the record is on books-made-theatre ... so we're not going to even try! No butchered shortenings or cuttings of your favorite scenes! No awkward re-imagining of your favorite characters! They will forever remain true to your potent imaginations! Instead, the director has worked closely with the author to bring to you a brand-new, never before told tale of my brilliant and epic adventures!"

She grinned, and lowered her voice, though her words still carried to the far corners of the room as the crowd quieted with her. "For I have a tale of Daring Do for all of you fans out there that has never before been heard! A tale of love, and treasure, and danger, and loss! My hoofsteps and wingflaps will take me to a place of such dreadful danger that its very name has become synonymous with the most dangerous and evil things that Equestria has ever known! FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS! Are you ready to brave the terror of DARING DO and the TREASURE of TARTARUS!"

Onc again, she had to wait ages for the crowd to die down. She smiled, and strutted some more. "I can't tell you more just now! But all your pre-con schedules have those generic 'special event' slots there with no descriptions? Well, the con staff have handouts to replace those slots with theatre-related events! The first one, later today, is a huge Question and Answer period, where I, and the director, and the author, will all be together to answer whatever questions you, the loyal fans, might direct towards us! Except, of course, the plot of the next play!"

She winked and touched the side of her nose. "Spoilers, after all!"

[brianblackberry]

In Carrot Fields' mind, this was more than just some harebrained plan, it was an adventure! A Daring Adventure! Normally he wasn't so quick to take such foolhardy risks - he wasn't a colt anymore, but a responsible stallion! One who had to set an example for his little sister, Purple Haze. Yet he couldn't deny the impulsive lure, nor the cute filly urging him on. He *felt* like a colt again, doing something stupid that he'd never regret! Why not? Everything was going their way! Of course, in his exuberance, he'd pulled Dash a little harder than he meant to, and the next thing he knew he had fallen on his back, with the rainbow maned mare laying atop of him. Carrot blushed fiercely, quickly stammering out, "Ach! Oi'm sorry! Oi dinnae mean- are ye -" Unable to finish a sentence, he forgot even that train of thought as she looked up and giggled happily. Oh Luna above, wae a looker! His blush brightened to match his mane!

Then it dawned on him, she wasn't looking at him, so was looking at… Carrot turned his head around as best he could and there were two other ponies looking right back at them! With press badges! "Oh, horseapples…" Carrot mumbled, then gave an awkward smile, "Roit, then ... hi there! Um ... It's nay what -" He was less concerned about being caught sneaking in as them thinking they'd slipped off for a more private reason, but before he could "explain" the situation further, Carrot found himself hauled off through the nearest door. Oh, ponyfeathers, what had *that* looked like?

The room they'd found was full of boxes and clothes hanging on racks, with a table and mirror on the far side with all sorts of bottles. No surprise there, this center was probably used for various plays, which required a lot of costuming and makeup. Wait, what had she said?! "All, umm, all of it?" It suddenly seemed really hot in the room. Carrot cracked opened the jar and dipped his hoof in the end, then started to work the stuff over her wings and back. Dinnae haver on then, Carrot! Remember ... Adventure!

[Boss_Hoss1]

Snails bounced eagerly in the nook formed by the stacked tables as Silver Flash appeared on stage.

Him and probably all the foals perched up there on the stacks were cheering and waving in excitement.

When snails took a glance out the window, he noticed Rainbow Dash and Carrot Fields were gone but stuff was coming in and out through an open door so he hoped they made it in all right.

Suddenly the actress on stage said the first stage production was not going to be any of the books, but an original adventure that nopony had seen before!

Snails got a goofy grin "Snips! Didja hear that? A totally awesome Adventere thet we wont know word fer word before we sees it! Suhweeeeet!"

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder stomped her hooves emphatically as Silver Flash did a fine job of portraying Daring Do. That was in all honesty the initial cause of Pathfinder's excitement; the words came later. Seeing her strut around and seemingly crackling with nervous, barely contained energy excited Pathfinder in ways she never knew possible. It was wonderful to see that somepony else could try to establish such an amazingly accurate recreation of Pathfinder's terribly accurate headcanon. Daring Do couldn't possible just stand still- it just wasn't in her character! Pathfinder was happy enough to see that she was putting the mental energy into the physical aspect of her character needed to make the character truly come to life. After all, everypony knew what Daring Do looked like and had a decent idea of how she moves. If you couldn't get that right then you may as well pack your tent up and head back to Cloudsdale, missy!

Then she actually paid attention to the words and grew more excited. She had seen more than a few adaptations of Daring Do in various alternative media fail because instead of using their wonderful character in new areas they rehashed the same stories and, as Silver Flash was right to point out, they failed utterly. Pathfinder tried to remind herself that they had all meant well but she still felt the burning desire to go ahead with a citizens arrest for treason of the highest order against an Equestrian literary icon. She had drafted paperwork but her friends had lost it- unreliable friends who had a terrible habit of carrying her belongings on their backs during a once-in a lifetime storm that not even the Cloudsdale pegasi could stop that she missed and everypony- friends not included- was so shook up about that they denied ever happened.

Her hoof stomps continued unabated as she mentioned what the story would be about. What joy! If it led into Tartarus, that would mean it would have to be before Synergy of the Saxon Staff, as in that piece of the canon she revealed she had never been to Tartarus. If that was the case, then Bravado and she hadn't made their love-hate relationship's tendency towards the love portion of the equation well known, so was the romance part of the play going to involve somepony else? After all, they weren't going to have many series regulars in there. A flame? That worried Pathfinder a little: If it was canon, how would it impact her series of excellent fanfictions regarding Daring Do that just so happened to involve a lot of her pre-Saxon love life? Perhaps it was silly to be worried about such a thing to some, but to Pathfinder, it was serious business.

The fact they had arranged a series of events later in the con regarding the production excited Pathfinder some more, not that her excitement could be any more obvious from her continued hoof stomping. Oh yes, she had questions for the production, many of them. She also wanted to hug the author and see if she could blitz past security and the red tape he hid behind. She'd done it a few times before and Celestia above she'd do it a few more times.

The crowd finished up with a roar and a few minutes later, the opening ceremonies came to an end. Pathfinder turned to snowy and grabbed her by the sides, shaking her back and forth. No words for a full minute, just shaking. After the Snowfall milkshake was finished, Pathfinder spoke.

"This is so awesome! Where do you wanna go first? There's some small panels we can go to or we could even go get stuff or go to some games or panels or stalk the author and Silver Flash!"

[RarityDash]

Watching Pathfinder react to the announcement was just the cutest thing. Her foal-like excitement was just infectious. Snow smiled and watched mare beside her almost more than she watched the similarly dressed mare on the stage. That's not to say she didn't pay attention to Silver Flash at all. On the contrary, the announcement was exciting. Snowfall had read a lot of Daring Do books since meeting Pathfinder and they were always a true delight. The idea of a new adventure, told through theatre, definitely had her full curiosity piqued, especially with the lead actress clearly doing such a wonderful job in the part.

As the Opening ceremonies wound down Snowfall was feeling pretty good. The event had already proven the source of much excitement, and it was only just beginning. She could hardly imagine what else lay in store; she was excited whatever it may be. Pathfinder evidently was even more so, as suddenly the excitable mare started to aggressively shake her. Snow was somewhat confused by this, but laughed it off as just the usual sort of eccentricity she had come to expect. As the shaking stopped, the other mare was finally able to express herself in words:

"This is so awesome! Where do you wanna go first? There's some small panels we can go to or we could even go get stuff or go to some games or panels or stalk the author and Silver Flash!"

Snow giggled some more and gave a small nod. "While I'd love a chance to talk with Ms. Flash again, we should probably avoid stalking anypony for now," she said, smirking.

"What panels are scheduled?" she questioned. "If there's anything that catches your eye, we should go. If not, I say we see what we might be able to buy from the vendors."

[Hippo]

The camera mare ran over to her heavy machine of mechanical contraptions that was somehow supposed to record real life, and check it for damage. Meanwhile, Madden looked over the two ponies who seemed to be involved in a private matter. As Rainbow Dash responded to Madden, he coughed, trying to ignore the incident. "Um, yes, that's quite alright. I'm look for convention stage crew members." Madden then noticed that the two ponies, a rainbow-maned pegasus mare and a hearty gray earth stallion looked through some of the supplies in one of the rooms. He assumed they were just part of the show. Rainbow started grabbing a few bowls of tan colored pelt paint and asked her friend to help her apply to her body. Madden intervened, with a raised smile. "Ah, so you must be part of the entertaining act or something. I suppose while you're getting ready for your performance, you wouldn't mind me asking you a few questions."

Madden pulled voice recorder and began his impromptu interview. "So, first question. Are you guys fans of the books series too? I mean, of course you're not, you're getting paid to do this obviously. Let me ask something else. Um." Madden thought for a moment. "Ah yes, do you guys enjoy these conventions and putting on a show, and how many of these events have you performed Daring Do?"

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash grinned eagerly at the thought of improving her costume, but then blinked as she heard Madden's voice. She turned to see him open the door and enter the changing room. Paid? What was he talking about?

"Oh, it's my first convention!" she said cheerfully, as Carrot rubbed the dye into her wings. "But I do this because I do love the books! They're pretty awesome! Action and adventure, honor and excitement, competition and athletic achivement! It's all the traditional values of Cloudsdale! I used to think it was just for eggheads, and most books are, but these books are something special!"

Her grin broadened. "It's neat, this being my first convention! I wasn't sure what to expect - but I see pegasus ponies and unicorn ponies and earth ponies, young ponies and older ponies, egghead ponies and athletic ponies and farmer ponies, goofy ponies and handsome ponies, all coming together and finding something in common! There's incredible costumes, and excitement! What's not to understand? Now, if you'll *excuse* us, we're changing here!"

She took up some of the tan fur dye, and taking off her Daring Do jacket, started to apply it to her shoulder. "This is gonna be awesome!"

----- ----- -----

Daring Do spread her wings and flew out over the audience, taking one last celebratory lap, exorting the crowd to cheer even louder, and then was flew through the curtains to disappear into the backstage and be gone.

The head of the con tried to get the audience's attention back, but to no avail - all other announcements would just pale in comparison to what had just happened. Finally he laughed, shook his head, and simply announced, "I proclaim Daringcon ... BEGUN! To Adventure!"

Silver Flash landed lightly behind the curtains, grinning eagerly at the reaction. She'd *never* had a crowd like that before! Not in high school, and certainly not with the hum-drum romances she usually performed in! It had energized her, and made her feel like she really had been Daring Do! She'd modified the script a little on the fly - she hadn't been supposed to be in-character, but she couldn't help it - the fans deserved their hero! She nodded in passing to the two ponies getting ready for some publicity stunt. They really had found a near stunt double for her in that pony with the rainbow hair - if they could only hide all that color! She got to her own private changing room and settled down, letting out a long breath. *whew* She took a long draw of icy-cold water and relaxed, needing a break before her next engagement. It was exciting, but took a lot out of her!

[brianblackberry]

It was surreal - awkward and fun - for the shy and reserved earth stallion to sit there and slowly cover the sky blue coat of the alluring mare before him with dye, especially her wings; he never had been this close to a pegasus pony's wings before. As he applied the tan pigment, he was fasicnated at how soft and delicate they were. And he was surprised she trusted him like this.

The moment didn't last as the blue reporter they'd run into before burst into the room - microphone, camera, and all! All Carrot Fields could think was how they were sooooo busted, and all his instincts screamed in his mind to bolt. He couldn't though, as much as part of him wanted to - there was no way he was going to abandon her. Even if she was, at most, an acquaintance, there was no way he was going to let her take all the blame.

Carrot was about to tell the honest truth when Dash spoke first, innocently answering the reporter's question honestly but without revealing their indiscretion. Better still, her excited and eager answers showed that she loved the whole Daring Do ideal as much as he, perhaps even more so! He managed a nervous smile as he listened, it was just so incredibly cute, and it made her cute ... Well, cuter. Egghead fillies were just so adorkable!

Her answer gave him the courage to finally speak up himself, "Aye! Oi'm a roit big fan ah th' books. Oi been collectin' them since Oi was a wee baern, e'en had her posters in me room back 'en!" Carrot pondered for a moment, then continued, "Roit on, th' first shindig fer th' tae of us! we near on dinnae-" Carrot stopped himself short, as he realized he'd almost confessed too much, "well, we're wee taken tae it, roit? Now, we're nae tae lazy onnit, if'n ye catch me." Hopefully the reporter's curiosity would be sated with that!

[Boss_Hoss1]

(OOC: been prodded to post. Snips where are you? )

Snails bounced eagerly, the motion making his silk covered wire mosquito costume wings flap as he hopped off the nested stack of tables to the floor.

He fumbed out the program and looked over the schedule.

[colour=#daa520]"SUH-WEEEET! Th' Convention is Officially on! What do we do first Snips?! Th' panel on "Creatures of Legend"? Sign-ups fer th' "Costume Competition"? Th' Panel on "Costume Making"? Or we could hit the "Dealers Den" and see what cool and awesome swag we can buy, eh? Oooh Yeah! How about "Meet th' Guest of Honor"?[/colour]

[Hippo]

[colour=#0066cc]As Rainbow Dash spoke openly about Daring Do and her fanmareship, it became clear to Madden that these ponies had fallen off the deep end. [/colour][colour=#000000]"Wait. So you actually enjoy this foal literature? I thought this convention would be for little... I mean. You're not even getting paid! You're doing this for free!"[/colour]

[colour=#0066cc]Madden was clearly confused. As he could not understand how anypony could fall into such a fanbase like this and enjoy it to the point to where they would dress up like fairy tale characters in a fiction novel geared towards young readers. In which, Rainbow Dash argued Madden's intrusion while they were dressing. [/colour][colour=#000000]"Oh, sorry. I'll face this way then."[/colour][colour=#0066cc] In what he thought would be an acceptable compromise, he faced the opposite direction facing no pony, but remained talking to the two fans. [/colour][colour=#000000]"So are you guys still living with your parents? Do you have jobs? Or is this what you do all day is do fan stuff? And you," [/colour][colour=#0066cc] Madden pointed back at the sweating stallion,[/colour][colour=#000000] "Wouldn't you rather be watching a game of hoofball? You know Stalliongrad best Trottingham yesterday in Hoofball 33-25. Do you like hoofball?"[/colour]

[Corsair]

[colour=#696969]Snips had followed Snails up unto the stacked chairs, but he could still barely see the stage. Throughout Silver Flash's speech, the short colt was jumping and bobbing his head around for a better view. What he saw though, just got him more and more excited. The actress portraying Daring looked JUST like Daring Do looked in his mind's eye, even more so than the mare that Snails had been talking to outside. Her movements, her voice, it was spot on. Snips appreciated good showponyship, and this mare had it in spades. [/colour]

[colour=#696969]"We HAVE to see this show, Snails..." he said to his friend, his eyes wide with excitement. "But how're we gonna get to Mareway??"[/colour]

[colour=#696969]As the actress concluded, Snips joined in the raucous hoofstomps of the audience, to the point where his over-sized diamond dog paws slipped on the chair and he fell to the ground. The colt barely noticed.[/colour]

[colour=#daa520]"SUH-WEEEET! Th' Convention is Officially on! What do we do first Snips?! Th' panel on "Creatures of Legend"? Sign-ups fer th' "Costume Competition"? Th' Panel on "Costume Making"? Or we could hit the "Dealers Den" and see what cool and awesome swag we can buy, eh? Oooh Yeah! How about "Meet th' Guest of Honor"?[/colour]

[colour=#696969]There were so many things to do, Snips had a hard time deciding. A look at the line that was already forming for signatures made him decide against that... for now. He was filled with too much frantic energy to wait in a queue. The pair of colts had their own experiences with 'Creatures of Legend,' so they could skip that. Well, maybe they'd poke their heads in there later. Finally one desire made up his mind. "OK! First we'll sign up for the contest, then to the dealer's room! I have to get a DD pith helmet!"[/colour]

[SteelEagle]

Did Snowfall say if anything caught her eye? That was silly. Everything at a Daring Do convention caught her eye. It was like a fat colt in a candy store, a veritable treasure trove of delight spread before her. Of course a real treasure trove was hard to find and often cursed, since genies loved to play tricks on ponies who would disturb their piles of treasure. If it was too good to be true, one could bet on it being a trap. You didn't even need to be an adventurer to know that. As for the convention, there were more panels than she could shake a hoof at, but even vendors than she could shake a hoof at! Plus, there was probably merchandise and swag that would start to vanish quickly once the con got roaring off and Pathfinder was going to buy at least one of everything, no matter how much of Snowfall's money she spent!

[colour=#006400]"Dealers for sure, Snowy! We have a while before any of the good panels start-"[/colour] She drew in close, pressing her lips into Snowfall's ear, [colour=#006400]"Some of the panels starting super soon are run by a bunch of loons who...err, well, they ignored my advice,"[/colour] Pathfinder drew back, shaking her head sadly. Pathfinder shot up and beckoned her up.

[colour=#006400]"Now come on Veil, I'm sure someponies out there might want a picture!"[/colour] Pathfinder bellowed, picking her up into the air above the mass of ponies that slowly started to leave the room. Within a moment, Pathfinder's wings were beating swiftly and she made good her escape from the room.

[colour=#006400]"So, whatcha want first? Do you have any plushies or posters yet?"[/colour]

[RarityDash]

[colour=#006400]"Dealers for sure, Snowy! We have a while before any of the good panels start- [/colour][colour=#006400]Some of the panels starting super soon are run by a bunch of loons who...err, well, they ignored my advice,"[/colour]

Snowfall wasn't entirely sure what her date meant by these words, but she was wiling to be bet it had to do with Pathfinder being the ultimate authority on Daring Do and thus infallible when it came to Daring Do knowledge. She was willing to leave it at that too, rather than asking for the excess of details she'd no doubt receive. Not that she had much chance to ask anyway, as Pathfinder just continued to speak.

​

[colour=#006400]"Now come on Veil, I'm sure someponies out there might want a picture!"[/colour]

The mare called out suddenly before grabbing Snowfall and carrying her into the air. it was unexpected, but it was a smart move, Snow had to admit. Once she realized what was going on, she began to flap her wings and fly with her date, making it a little easier for them both to stay above the crowd. She followed after Pathfinder eagerly, headed in the direction of the dealer's room.

​

[colour=#282828][colour=#006400]"So, whatcha want first? Do you have any plushies or posters yet?"[/colour] [/colour]

[colour=#282828]

Snowfall gave a laugh. She wonder what ponies would think were posters and plush toys of Daring Do to suddenly start decorating the rooms and halls of Northern Storm Manor. Her mother would no doubt have a fit about, how garish and common such things were. She could vividly picture in her mind the strange looks from the servants as they passed on one a priceless piece of art and on the other a framed poster of Daring Do.

[colour=#282828]These images amused her greatly.[/colour]

[colour=#282828]She gave a nod. [colour=#99ccff]"No, I can't say that I do," [/colour]she said with a devious smirk.[colour=#99ccff] "But I do believe that I would be most interested in acquiring some of both. I rather think the manor needs the sort of warmth and brightness that only Daring Do can provide."[/colour]

​[/colour][/colour]

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash bristled at Madden's implications ... all her old fears about being called an 'egghead' popping up again. She'd always had to push *extra* hard at all the sports to keep her awesome grades from getting her that label! And now here he was, doing it again! She tamped down the nervousness in the pit of her stomach the way she always did ... by being aggressive.

She turned towards Madden and puffed out her chest, her voice cracking a bit in her exuberant reply. [colour=#0000cd] "I have my own place, fully paid off already! Helped sculpt the clouds for it myself! I'm the head weather coordinator for this entire region, I'm the only pegasus in EXISTANCE to perform a sonic rainboom - as you should know, you were announcing at the time! And someday I'm going to be in the Wonderbolts! I train every day to get better and better, even though I'm already so awesome!"[/colour]

She blinked, as Carrot started working the dye into her wings, a bit of a blush touching her cheeks ... then she got inspired. Grinning a bit, she remarked. [colour=#0000cd]"Look, I went over all of this a few months ago when I was in the hospital healing up from an athletic injury, before they finally got me to give it a chance. Have you even read the books? See, this is my weekend. And I'm hanging out with a cute stallion doing something that I enjoy. You're busy working on your weekend and obviously not having fun at all. Of the two situations, I think mine is plainly much more awesome!"[/colour]

​

[brianblackberry]

Listening to Madden's pointed and inflammatory questions, Carrot Field's confidence began to nose dive. After all, he was supposed to be a grown stallion, taking life seriously, and this reporter was clearly demonstrating that most ponies saw Daring Do fandom and conventions as "foal stuff". Perhaps his sire was right all along, that stallions need to be serious and focused on work and chores all the time in order to be taken seriously. Maybe Carrot really was a dumbtail, still acting like a silly colt instead of a responsible stallion. What was he doing? Sneaking into a foal convention?? Playing with paint?? Why wasn't back on the farm working??? What would his sire say if he saw him now???? Carrot's stomach churned as his panic started to rise - he just wanted to be away from this sudden spotlight, tempted to give in the excuse he wasn't even supposed to be inside to just leave as fast as possible.

But Dash's bold defense of both of them gave Carrot some pause - she certainly was somepony to take seriously, after all! And she was absolutely right! To hear a nice mare like her defending this dorky stuff he was into ... well, maybe mares liked to be foalish a little sometimes, too ... There was just something extra hot about listening to her passionate defense of what they were doing. Carrot could feel his confidence returning along with his smile, and not a small blush on top when she called him cute … [colour=#ff8c00]She thinks Oi'm cute? Ach, she cannae mean that! Can she? Well, she seems to like hanging around you![/colour]

Carrot continued to rub in the brown dye when he confidently looked at the reporter whom Dash so put into his place. [colour=#ff8c00] "Adults love the Daring Do books! Most of us grew up with them, and her adventures inspired us to take chances as fillies and colts and believe in ourselves. The stories are timeless, so adults and foals can both enjoy them!"[/colour] Carrot felt fully confident now, [colour=#ff8c00]"just like my stunning companion here, I have my own place, actually my own farm, so its both my home and my business! As for Hoofball, well: Stalliongrad over Trottingham - after double overtime, what's more; Baltimare over Hoofington; Las Pegasus over Canterlot; Fillydelphia over Ponyville; and Appleloosa over Dodge City with Cloudsdale and Marelia on their bye week; did I cover everypony for you?"[/colour]

At this point he had Dash mostly covered but he was rapidly running out of dye, certainly not enough left to cover her completely from head to hoof, some place would have to be left uncovered! The chest made sense, since she had her hoof-stitched costume ready to hand that would cover up the bare spots.

​

[Hippo]

[colour=#000000]Madden nodded his head defensively as Rainbow Dash made her case. She was independent, very powerful, and confident. She was the pony that did the sonic rainboom. He thought she looked familiar. Madden chuckled as he spoke up.[/colour][colour=#008080] [/colour][colour=#ffffff] "That was you! Ha! Sorry, I couldn't recognize you with all the costume and makeup on your pelt. Maybe ponies would recognize your 'awesomeness' if you weren't hiding in a broom closet playing with hoofpaints."[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Madden listened to Rainbow Dash's argument. For the most part, he could respect her forwardness. She obviously didn't think there was a problem, but then she mentioned the Wondebolts. [/colour][colour=#ffffff]"The Wonderbolts? Are you kidding me? You think you can try out for the Wonderbolts and you at this convention obsessing over a foal's book. And obsessing so much that you're dressing up like the mane character? Look, I personally know the Wonderbolts. They train all day every day, just to get into the Academy."[/colour][colour=#000000] Madden pointed aroud the ponies, showing them the props they were messing with.[/colour][colour=#ffffff] "They surely didn't have any time to foal around at an egghead convention like this one and wearing play hats! And if they did, they wouldn't be on the team."[/colour] [colour=#000000] Madden starred at Rainbow Dash. There was no way she was going to out-best him. He was already in with the Wonderbolts. This blue, and now brown, pegasus was hanging on to wishes.

The gray stallion also had his own defense, but not after looking down and thinking for a bit. Madden thought he struck a deep key on his heart. He listed his own analytics on hoofball, and was surprisingly aware. Madden built up his own defenses. [/colour][colour=#ffffff]"Yeah I supposed you liked the books when you were foal. Maybe even today's foals like the books. I bet even some of my friends liked them when they were foals. And heck, I even dabbled a bit when I was a foal. But I'm not a foal anymore. Neither are my colleagues. And neither are you!"[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Madden wasn't going to let somepony else out-talk to him about sports. This was his territory. Madden stepped back. [/colour][colour=#ffffff] "Oh, good, good. That's good that you can read a newspaper and find out the scores. But do you know what happened in these games? Did you know that Canterlot's Jonty Knocks got hurt after they lost to Las Pegasus? He could be out for the season. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you!?"[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Before Carrot had a chance to respond, Madden hovered himself with his wings and zipped over to the door in frustration, but before he stormed out, he spoke his mind one more time. [/colour][colour=#ffffff] "Look. I get it. This is your thing. It's what you do for fun. Ponies need to be able to have fun. But if you continue to dress up and have these foalish convention adventures like this at your age, very few ponies in Equestria are going to ever take you seriously. And neither can I." [/colour] [colour=#000000]With that brisk bolt of words, Madden flew out of the room and headed towards the front lobby to see what else was happening in this wacky loser convention.[/colour]

​

[SteelEagle]

(OOC- I waited long enough. Snips, Snails, come on! I know how to getcha in!:[)

Snowfall was rarely wrong about things and it appeared her winning streak was about to continue without any sign of stopping on this night. That the streak was probably equally due to how awesome Pathfinder was and how they shored up each other's weaknesses didn't occur to her(except in the arrogance laden parts of her brain that attributed most Equestrian success stories to adventures such as herself). Snowfall knew the truth, that Daring Do made any situation infinitely better by simply existing in a space. Pathfinder had tried to tell the Cloudsdale orphanage that but found them unwilling to listen to reason. Then they had been very unkind and rude and painted over the posters she had brought for the foals, mostly because they were over 'important' safety materials. They said she could hang them in the foyer but everypony hung stuff in the foyer and Daring Do was better than some foal's new drawing or job interviews for underprivileged colts and fillies. Besides, they hadn't had a fire since Pathfinder had left, which made the endless evacuation route maps installed after the unusual run of fires somewhat silly.

[colour=#006400]"Good! Maybe the orphanage will let me put more posters up instead of taking them down or painting them over for security reasons once a super hot and rich and famous and successful and cool mare like you says it's awesome!"[/colour] She said, her eyes aglitterin'.

Point is, and always was, Daring Do was awesome and Pathfinder was pleased Snowfall was ready to let The Do consume her. That meant the only obstacle was her purse full of bits!

[colour=#006400]"Well, you have a lot of options! First off, we gotta decide whether you want something official or some fan stuff,"[/colour] She said, landing on the floor in between a few Daring Do cosplayers. They didn't get the paint all the way down to the pelt, meaning you could tell they weren't really Daring Do. What was this, freakin' amateur hour? She refocused.

[colour=#006400]"Official stuff is cool and all, and you support the people who make the show. They used to have a pretty tight leash around the character and stuff but they relaxed it, so you can find a lot of fan stuff! The big difference is that the official stuff tends to be around PG rated. You know how it is with the foals! Some posters, a lot of written stuff, some toys, ya know the usual,"[/colour] She said as she trotted up to a fan vendor surrounded by questionable content.

[colour=#006400]"Fan stuff is a lot more varied. Pictures, posters, fanfiction, art, plushies, pretty awesome and a lot more variety. Of course, the quality differs, but it is what it is. Plus,"[/colour] she shot her mare a vicious grin,[colour=#006400] "you can get just about ANYTHING!" [/colour]She finished, arms wide and hoof smacking a stallion in the eye. He wandered off, grumbling.

[colour=#006400]"So, whatcha into?"[/colour] She asked, ready to let the question get answered until she saw two adorable colts nearby heading towards the costume signup.

[colour=#006400]"Awwww! Look at them, they're so adooorable!" [/colour]Pathfinder said loudly before tapping Snowfall on her head.

[colour=#006400]"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"[/colour]