Daring Do and the Several Signatures (Ended)

[Bellosh]

For just a split moment after she finished asking her question, A.K. Yearling wondered whether somehow, this amateur explorer really did stumble upon the lost civilization of Mbili'Pembe, whereas the very real Daring Do hadn’t managed that feat yet. The more mundane truth revealed itself in good time, although the real story was no less fascinating. It was quite funny at times to hear of the bizarre fates bestowed on once important objects… except when said pony tracking down the artifact was Daring Do, which was always a pain in the rear to deal with.

As she sat through the story, A.K. Yearling helped herself to a drink of water, consuming half of the glass while remaining attentive to the younger mare. The author’s diligent royal guard assistant also managed to use the time to place an unsigned copy of Ring of Destiny on the table. Once the story ended, Yearling provided her opinion. “I-I can’t believe something like that could ever happen to a priceless artifact,” she stated first, feigning disbelief just a little bit too poorly. Yearling had always been a more convincing actor when... things were on the line.

Afterwards though, the mare spoke with true concern now that she knew the full story; “Between you and me though, you really need to keep the amulet in a safer place away from the elements. Something bad is likely to happen to that heirloom if you get careless with it. You probably should get in touch with a historical museum if you can. Any of them would love to get their hooves on your amulet... and figure out the true significance of it.”

By this time, Yearling was ready to sign the book; “By the way, may I have your name please?”

​

[Solaria]

"Hey Lieutenant, good to see you," Spitfire returned the greeting, nodding in understanding to Lore Weaver's instructions as he dealt with other patrons. "Here to get the new Daring Do book I guess?"

She smiled at the newly introduced Silver Belle. A duchess, no less.

"Well, everyone has their jobs, right? And I see you know Fire Walker, too. REA reunion at the book signing."

While the captain resolved to speak more with the noblepony after getting a signature (which still made her smirk at how she'd been roped into the whole thing), she also leaned down a bit to speak with Fire Walker's younger companion.

"Are you excited about meeting Ms. Yearling?" she asked, nudging her muzzle in the author's direction. "Seems like a pretty cool pony to me, if she can write about all that stuff. Just don't go and hurt yourself trying to be like Daring Do is in the books, okay? You have plenty of time to grow into a hero of Equestria."

[Pretzelparty]

“I-I can’t believe something like that could ever happen to a priceless artifact. Between you and me though, you really need to keep the amulet in a safer place away from the elements. Something bad is likely to happen to that heirloom if you get careless with it. You probably should get in touch with a historical museum if you can. Any of them would love to get their hooves on your amulet... and figure out the true significance of it.”

Presteza put a hoof to her chin. She really hadn't thought of bringing this artifact to the museum... but really it seemed like a good idea. Her family actually knew somepony back in Trottingham who made a living as an archeologist despite having come from a family of Vintners. Maybe she should try and get in touch with him sometime to get his two bits on the artifact. The entirety of knowledge this mare had on this amulet was that it would glow and sort of pull itself in the direction of any other Abada artifact or cultural site. If Presteza wanted to try and find any other Abada settlements in the Brackenweald on her next visit to Unyasi it couldn't be a bad idea to learn just what all the fancy writing on the amulet said.

While she hadn't told Miss Yearling the entire story originally she thought she might say just a little bit more, the author did seem more interested in the amulet than she thought she'd be too so it might not be too bad of an idea. "Well... tha's no' a bad idea... I jus' hope they give it back once they figure it out! This thing's already lead me to one really awesome place... and if what I found out there is right there're actually more places like that in the Brackenweald.. and maybe even some hidden in Equestria too! " Said the mare enthusiastically, "Maybe -I'll- Be able ta write a book series about what I find ... An adventurer makin' bits by writin' about awesome events in 'er own life, ya think anypony's done anythin' like that before?" she said with a chuckle, obviously not really taking the last comment she made seriously.

“By the way, may I have your name please?”

It seems Miss Yearling was Ready to sign. Presteza gave a bit of a nervous gulp, hoping to celestia she wasn't boring Miss Yearling with how she went on. Looking behind her she noticed the line was growing slowly. As much as she wanted to chat with her favorite author she knew she couldn't monopolize her,"Oh I'm Sorry! I'm Presteza, The world's future greatest painter!" she said with a hint of pride in her voice.

[tacobob]

"You name the time and the place.", Fire Walker replied with a wink as she made sure to cut it very short since it appeared that it was Presteza's turn to get her copy of 'Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny'. The red mare tried her best to hide the fact that she was rather surprised to see Pres and Silverheart's mother standing in line with her daughter. The fancy pony and scholar seemed more suitable for ritzy social events than a 'Daring Do' book signing, but here she was. "Oh, good day to you Duchess.", the mare was used to addressing members of higher status than she, so it came out all naturally. "I do hope you're enjoying this fine Ponyville morning."

This was a bit too much for the little filly, as there was not one, but two of her heroines in this very building! While one was an honest to goodness action-heroine, the other just wrote about a fictional one, it was still all very good! While she had been to more than a 'zillion' Wonderbolt events, and even had a poster autographed by the team, this was the first time she was actually addressed by one of the team members directly, and it was the good Captain herself. Wind Walker nodded politely, "Oh yes mam.", while Yearling looked like somepony's aunt, she did agree that her favorite writer was as cool as several cucumbers and that she had one heck of an imagination! "Well, I did try a few of her stunts. Nothing too dangerous. Still trying to figure out where I can find a giant boulder though."

Fire Walker smirked at her little sister who was starting to act a little silly, but let it slide, "I was a little too old for the stories when they came out, but I used to read them to Wind here when she was younger. She always got a kick out of it when I used to do the voices for each of the characters. Isn't that right?", she grinned at the blue filly whose face flushed red, "Moon Walker did the best Ahuizotl."

The R.E.A guard kept the smile on her face as the store owner addressed the pair, "You bet! Now do we buy the books from you here, or do we wait till we reach the end of the line?"

[Mojo]

While Tankena examined the store's inventory of sheet music, the Stalliongradian Earth mare spotted her old teacher and mentor Professor Krashkop waiting in line to meet A. K. Yearling. The lime green mare was so excited to see him, she literally pounces upon the elderly Pegasus stallion, bringing him down to the floor on his back.

"ACK! UNEEMAL!" the Professor shouted until he got a good look at the face of the mare who had tackled him. "Fraulien Tankena! Mein favorite student back in dee days I vas teaching at Cantorlot University! I can see you still have no ounce of shyness in you, Ja?"

"Oh, sorry Professor!" Tankena neighed as she helped him back to his four hooves. "I was so thrilled to see you again! You are fan of Daring Do books also?"

"Javol! I vas big fan of dem from dee very first book! I vas not going to miss dis opportunity to finally meet dee author und see her vith mein own two eyeballs!"

"She is very nice, so I am going to write new Daring Do song, even create dance for it too!"

"You vere alvays dee thinking, creative type of student! I can still remember dee first steam powered grass cutting machine you invented in your Senior year. Did you ever perfect it?"

"Nyet! Every other prototype I would build had same problem, steam pressure overload. By the way, I still owe you much thanks for taking the blame for the one I built at school. Did they ever find out that it was me and not you who created it?"

"Nein fraulien. I took blame when it blew up! I vas alvays inventing tings dat exploded, so no pony ever questioned it vhen I told dem it vas mein machine."

"You saved me from getting expelled! I am forever in your debt."

"Nein frau Tankena. Tink nuting of it. You vere alvays mein best student. You have creative flair equal to mein own."

"Anyway, Comrade, I must resume search for sheet music, good luck with meeting A.K. Yearling!"

"Danka fraulien, und good luck vith finding dee proper sheet music you are seeking!"

As Professor Krashkop stood in line, Tankena walked back over to Lore Weaver.

"I think I have found good sheet music, but I am not sure if I can play these notes on my ballilaika. May I attempt to play some of these songs before I buy the sheet music? I would not leave store with them, I would play right here in front of your eyes. Tankena is not a thief!"

[Bellosh]

A slimmer of a grin escaped from A.K. Yearling’s muzzle; apparently, that amulet of the mare’s did serve some practical purpose. The author lacked the time to inquire further, so she concluded her conversation by shrewdly answering that last question; “Oh, it’s quite common for explorers to write down memoirs once they retire. Reading them was of course what inspired me to create Daring Do.” A complete lie, but a necessary one repeated over many years. With that said, Yearling wrote a fitting personalized message to the travelling artist.

​

To Presteza:

Only through facing adversity can true greatness be achieved. I wish you the best of luck in your art career.

~A.K. Yearling

“Enjoy your copy of Ring of Destiny Presteza,” A.K. Yearling farewelled with a smile; “Thank you for showing your support today.” The next fan in line went all out in her Daring Do costume, looking almost like the adventurer herself. Yearling suspected that this pegasus was that fan violating her restraining order again, but she didn’t know for sure since numerous fans liked showing off their cosplay at these publicity events. The author kept a mostly straight face, but she hastily whispered something in the royal guard's ear as the next pony in line approached.....

​

[SteelEagle]

Pressy was having the time of her life talking with Yearling about the super cool adventure in Unyasi AND WHO WOULDN'T SHE WAS THE GREATEST AUTHOR IN THE HISTORY OF EQUESTRIA'S GREAT AUTHORS. Sure Pathfinder and her super cool adventure buddy systems didn't seem to make a play in Pressy's story of the events but Pathfinder didn't blame her. It was hard to keep your mind FOCUSED ON THE TASK AT HOOF and your memory in neat rows for easy recollection when you were dealing with the greatest mind in all of literature. Intimidation was a real thing, but Pathfinder wasn't intimidated! She wasn't intimidated at all because she had met A.K. Yearling many, many, MANY times. Most of the time she wasn't even violating the law! She could correct Presteza's explanation of events easily. She didn't even mention the jungle golems or the whisper vines and the many instances of whizz, bang, boom that occurred. But that just meant Pathfinder could talk some more to her favorite author and MOST BESTEST PENPAL EVER.

Because you see Pathfinder wasn't intimidated by her. NOPE NOPE NOPE. Pathfinder had read everything there was to know about her and even something others didn't, if she could believe the leaked pages of other novels written by her. She was an author without compare anyplace in the world and Pathfinder would kick the seeds out of your stomach if you said otherwise. But Pathie was familiar, so no intimidation there. Nor was she in any way intimidated by Yearling's breathtaking, jaw-dropping, wing snapping beauty. Some ponies couldn't help be overwhelmed by her gorgeous eyes and coat, or her beautiful hair and on rare occasions her adorable tail even made a fleeting appearance. She had wondered what lay beneath her fashion decisions and had even drawn it out a few times, but it was all in her deep, lovely eyes that ponies found themselves hopelessly trapped in a starfield of affection. But not Pathfinder, even if it was difficult the first few times to not just crawl onto her lap as a kitten might and lay there for eternity. Pathfinder was a taken mare and nopony could steal her away from her pretty pony Snowfall, foul temptress! Except Daring Do, but she was just fictional.

Instead of intimidation, just pure excitement! ALL OVER THE PLACE EXCITEMENT! Yearling was the super best mare of all time, except Snowfall and Daring Do, and her very signature gave her heart reckless abandon. Now her copy would be enshrined as if a Goddess had granted life to the fleeting imaginations of the little ponies who dared to dream in vivid detail her words. Flights of fancy made reality by her consent, and Pathfinder felt as if with every signature her decisions were even more set in stone with the approval and authenticity of Yearling herself. Sure there were laws preventing them from meeting legally, but guess what? Pathfinder didn't have a mailing address to reach her, and Yearling probably was annoyed at her lawyers too. NO MATTER. Pressy left her and Yearling and it was alllll about to kick off in Pathfinder's mind. YAYAYAYAYAY.

She galloped in place a few seconds before taking off, ending in front of the table and still trotting madly in place as she stared directly into Yearling's beautiful eyes with a wide smile held in check only by the book that hung loosely in there. She nodded. OH YEAH IT'S ME. She nodded more emphatically. OH YEAH IT'S YOU. She nodded more emphatically and jumped up. OH YEAH IT'S DARING DO TIME. She dropped the copy of the book on the table and started up.

"Oh my Gosh it's so nice to see you again! I don't have your autograph for my second edition paperback edition of Daring Do and the Rings of Fire and I had to get it despite, ya know, laws and such. Yay! Yay! How are you? How have you been? Do you need any assistance?" She asked a mile a minute, still running in place with her tail flipping out in every direction.

"Did you like Presteza? She's a cool pony! We had this cool adventure in the Unyasi and it had all sorts of golems and wild fauna trying to eat us! Nom! You can use them in your next story, don't have to credit me or anything. So, question- when are you gonna have the mystery of the Trials of Unity map solved? Daring and Derin and Derring were really good as a trio in that book and I think you should explore that more! It was so cool and sweet! Almost like my marefriend, Snowfall. She's the CEO of Northern Storm and sooooo pretty, you'd like her! She has tried to adventure but ya know how some ponies aren't like Daring Do and some totally ARE? She isn't. But I still love her! I think I told you about her in my letters. Do you still get them? OHHH! As you may know if you've read one of my dozens of fan letters on the subject, it has been announced that Applewood has acquired the rights to the non-print media distribution of the Daring Do franchise, and in two years, we will see the release of Daring Do V: Beyond the Valley of Queens. isn't that exciting!?"

[Lux]

Everything seemed to be working like clockwork, much to Lore Weaver's surprise. Although he wasn't expecting complete and utter chaos to erupt in is bookstore, he thought that there would be at least a few hiccups to take care of. As he watched the line he was pleased to see nopony bored in line, finding friends or a few books to peruse. Looking over at the table where A.K. Yearling sat it appeared the author was interested in an artifact that the yellow unicorn had. But seeing that A.K. did write about adventures Lore guessed it was hard not to be interested in relics like that one.

"Well I'm glad that you had a chance to meet A.K. Yearling," Lore said to the mare, "She seemed very interested in your artifact you brought with you. Before checking out, is there any other book or such that I can help you find?"

Lore's attention was then briefly redirected towards the pony named Tankena who asked about if she could practice a tune on her ballilaika, an instrument that the purple unicorn had no idea what it looked like or sounded. But if he was to help a pony out, then trying out what was in the song book came with the territory.

"Of course you could practice some of those songs. And you don't have to worry about me trusting you. You certainly don't strike me as somepony who would steal. So feel free to play without worry."

The stallion then noticed that the pony dressed in the Daring Do costume was next, something that brought a worry to Lore Weaver's mind. Although the unicorn knew that fans were no stranger to A.K. Yearling, one bad experience could ruin the event or even the possibility of future events, or at worse his reputation as a bookstore owner! He could see the author whisper something to the nearby guard, which although increased his tension a little dis put some of his mind at ease having a guard as security.

Strangely the Pegasus seemed infatuated with the author, staring at her before suddenly exploding into a barrage of questions while running in circles! Lore held his breath to see how the author would respond, diverting his attention between the author's table, Presteza, and Takena practicing her music piece.One thing was for certain, Lore might need a relaxing bath at the end of the day and some calming tea to celebrate and unwind from a busy and fun day.

[Bellosh]

Blast, so that costumed pony was Pathfinder after all. Out of all the fans of her work that A.K. Yearling ever met, none have ever disturbed her as much as that sad pegasus. The author didn’t know the reasons, but Pathfinder evidently treated the Daring Do universe as an actual religion, modeling her entire life by what transpired in Yearling’s books. It wasn’t enough for Pathfinder to idolize the stories however; whenever she got the chance, she’d harass A.K. and spam her “official” Canterlot mailbox for any number of excuses. To put it mildly, Pathfinder acted as a severe-enough nuisance that the author found herself desperate enough to put a restraining order on the fanatic.

If that wasn’t enough, A.K. Yearling also regarded Pathfinder as a total dimwit who survived purely on luck. The smarter pegasus knew full well from reading the stories about the Helm of Commander Hurricane that her cringeworthy doppelganger also had the guts to venture into the unknown, and imitating her supposedly-fictional idol’s love for adventure. Yet imitation was clearly Pathfinder’s only strongpoint; just one peek at her pitifully-malnourished body indicated to Yearling either a lack of mastery of survival skills, or inability to make money for basic necessities. Critical research failure plagued Pathfinder too; idiotic enough to believe that the Helm resided in Talonopolis instead of Rockwington. No wonder that Yearling’s alter-ego remained undiscovered.

Well, the author would have none of Pathfinder’s babble today. Time for that requested royal guard to make himself really useful; Private Century if Yearling remembered his name correctly.

​

“Ma’am,” ordered PFC. Flash Sentry to Pathfinder, his voice authoritative but not so much that it could frighten anypony; “You are in violation of a restraining order. I’m going to have to ask that you step out of the premises and refrain from further contact with A.K. Yearling.” Flash did the talking, intent on performing his duty with superb skill in the service of his all-time favorite author. If only Yearling could get his name right though.....

[SteelEagle]

Pathfinder trotted excitedly in place, heedless of Sentry's words, looking at Yearling and the book in rapid succession. When nothing was said of importance, she decided to continue with her train of thought.

"Okay, so I know you probably have your own ideas, but Here is my proposal for the plot of that moving picture.

I’ll begin with standard title sequence and Neighlliams' fanfare, followed by a scroll to be written. I would like to mention that Slick Palma wrote the original opening scroll for Daring Do: A New Dawn. I think it would be nice nod to the franchise if he were to write this opening scroll, then, pan down from the Celestial sun of Tartarus. We are now close on the mouth of the Manticore Pit. After a beat, the gloved gauntlet of Razorclaw grabs onto the sand outside the pit, and the feared bounty hunter pulls herself from the maw of the manticore clan.

And we realize that she survived her fall during the battle at Ahuizotol’s palace airship. Then, do a hard cut to a re-purposed Caribou Airship, which has now been taken over by Equestrians. Daring Do, now a full Hero of Equestria, training new adventurers, is using – ironically – her nemesis' red power cape which will be a symbolic, I think, visual for her battle with how to both bring about the new Equestrian dawn, while still acknowledging her foe's passion for ultimate justice. In the previous film Daring Do was reaching her twilight years and this is a little after that, so she is approaching the age of retirement and in between this and the previous movie she suffered a setback during an adventure that is making her rethink her ongoing adventuring. This is important, remember, for later on in the story when she gets back into the game despite the protests of friends and family.

As she is training the little ones, we pan outside of the control window to a nearby mountain top where we see – and please allow me to finish this because it’s gonna seem like a bit of a jump – we see Paindrome, who was the…villain tease at the end of the first Power Ponies movie. Now Paindrome, as you know, owns the Staff of Fate which has the Ruby Claw, Orb of Destiny, Red Crescent Flower, the Staff of the Crystal Empire, and the Faye. If he controls the Faye, that means he can jump from different realities. This will be our link from – to the Marevel Universe from the Daring Do Universe. We then cut to Maretropolis, where Princess Mareia- Mistress Marevellous- of Lost Okeanos realizes that there has been a disturbance in – in what she will call a reality ribbon. For the time being, I will allow them to think of a better term for this. And she then starts to assemble the cream of the Marevel universe, not – not the second-tier super heroes that we saw in the first Power Ponies movie, I’m sorry but Trickshot and Danger Mare are not first-tier. He would go find, hello, Wolfie-Mare? Wolfie-Mare exists in this universe.

He would go find Luna Knight; he would go find Daremare; he would go find Attack Mac, and then that can bring in the entire pantheon of Changeling gods that we saw in Clash and Wrath of the Changelings.

So now we have a giant three-franchise tie-in. Now, cut back to the Caribou airship, Daring gets a visit from – and we only show this from the boots up first, so we show these like black boots with the – and then we pan up in, oh, my god it’s Derring Do her older sister but she’s old, older and grizzled and really, like, focused and cool like she’s seen some really bad stuff, and she actually seems shaken.

And Daring is like, what’s wrong, sis? And that’s when Derring drops Darin’s severed head onto the floor. Yes, in front of the all the new adventurers. The adventurers are all horrified, and Derring says that the city of San Fransicolt has been destroyed by this very mysterious force. Now we know, oh, this was Paindrome. Paindrome is beginning to, you know, gather power in this new universe. So while they take Darin’s head down to – because we’ve seen that, you know, the caribou, they can build new bodies. They’re gonna build Darin this really cool robot – I’m thinking spider body? You know, like a cool spider body with Darin’s head and ion arrows on it, but that will be in the – he’ll come back. That will be the – the post-credits tease of this moving picture. So keep that in mind. So, I don’t want you guys bummed out, because Darin’s not dead, he will come back.

Then – and then Derring – and then Daring looks down and Derring’s wedding ring is gone, hey, what happened with you and Stalwart Shield? And Derring’s like, don’t even get me started on that. So now, you know, where did Stalwart go? Where did Stalwart go? She’s not gone but we will find out in a sec, now the whole…

Then, at the edge of the – of the Airship’s orbit, suddenly the reality ribbon begins wavering and what comes through? The X-Mare’s Quadjet, that’s right. What we – what we did was back at Canterlot we showed them gathering up all the heroes, but we didn’t see them gathering up the X-Mares, so, oh my GOODNESS. Now, Honey Badger’s gonna be there, now Troll-eye is gonna be there.

So the Quadjet comes through, Daring Do gets out there with the exoskeleton that was made for her in Daring Do IV: The Valley of the Queens to go out and meet them and they engage in this awesome battle and it looks like the Quadjet actually is going to shoot Daring down and suddenly this volley of explosive arrows comes in and what comes flying in is– we think it’s going be – we think it’s going to be the Eternal Eagle just like in II when Derring comes in and saves Daring during the Battle of Tartarus but no. It is Griffonia Revenge. That’s right, Razorclaw has to save Daring because, of course, she’s trying to track down Derring, she can’t have Daring die.

So then, now, it’s a battle between the Quadjet, between Daring Do, between Griffonia, and then we see the Eternal Eagle is flying away, so, it’s now Griffonia that goes off to do that. But then, then – now we cut down to the Crystal Empire, where Stalwart Shield is now consulting with Hoofbeard the Pirate.

Now, it looks like they’re just having a very intense meeting about trade regulations and whatever but then suddenly once, when the rest of the council meeting leaves, they fall into each other’s forelegs.

Oh, my Celestia, Hoofbeard the Pirate and Stalwart Shield are having an affair, and that is why Derring Do – because look, Hoofbeard was like, hey, if I’m gonna lose the Eternal Eagle to you, I’ll just take your woman, and he has, so then we set that triangle up.

Now, cut back to the Quadjet and Read Ricardo, Mister Fabulous, from the Fabulous Four is piloting it. Oh it was a fake-out! He – it’s him, and we have select members of the X-Mares that I thought, in my opinion, were – were not focused on properly in the earlier moving pictures. We have Hammerloss in there, we have X-20, which is Honey Badger’s daughter, and then we have a now mind-controlled Mad Manticore, and of course Honey Badger.

So imagine those two going up against Robot Darin, because that’s gonna happen. That’s what we’re teasing right now. And then you have all the other Fabulous Four and the other X-Mares lost in this reality ribbon...I literally have no fluid in my mouth," she panted, completely out of breath and sense.

[Mojo]

As Professor Krashkop remained in line to wait his turn for A K Yearling to sign a copy of her book for him, Tankena rejoiced at the answer Lore Weaver gave to her question.

"I thank you, Comrade! I will begin right away!" the eager green Earth mare shouted as she produced her many stringed balalaika and started to strum it. After that brief 'warm up,' Tankena began to play the first piece of music at a very fast tempo, shouting and cheering as she played. She felt like she was back home in Stalliongrad during a big party where she'd entertain the crowd for hours with her music, singing and dance. So far, she was only playing music, but as she tapped her hoof to the tempo, the mood of the green mare grew more and more festive.

Meanwhile, while waiting in line, the Professor looked forward in line and spotted Pathfinder. The elderly green Pegasus stallion was almost as big a fan of Pathfinder as he was of A K Yearling! He thought about approaching her in line but then saw and heard her long conversation with the author. Seeing this exchange got the Professor to thinking.

"A K Yearling is dee greatest adventure writer of all time, und Pathfinder is reputed to be dee greatest adventurer of all time. I vonder, could Pathfinder be fraulien Yearling's inspiration for her Daring Do books? She seems very friends to dee author, could dis be true? I vish dere vas a vay to find out dee truth...."

[Pretzelparty]

"Oh, good day to you Duchess. I do hope you're enjoying this fine Ponyville morning."

The light grey mare smiled at fire and chuckled lightly,"No need to Address me as Duchess here. In this setting feel free to call me 'Belle'. " Said the classy looking pony , raisinga hoof and brushing some of the bangs of her mane from her eye. "And actually yes I am, I came hoping to say hello to my daughter... but as you can see she's a little preoccupied at the moment." she gestured towards the mare in the hat who was just leaving with her book and signature. Since Presteza looked like she had a little bit more to say, Belle figured she may as well chat a little more. Looking down at the little pegasus filly she smile,"You must be Miss Wind Walker! I heard some stories about you too. I hope you remember the stallion that watched over you during the running of the leaves? Well I'm his mother."

" And I see you know Fire Walker, too."

Belle Turned to Spitfire and nodded, "Indeed I do. Fire Walker is a colleague of my son, Silverheart he's a second lieutenant so Fire out-ranks him." she said with a bit of a chuckle.

“Oh, it’s quite common for explorers to write down memoirs once they retire. Reading them was of course what inspired me to create Daring Do.”

The mare smiled wide and almost reflexively reared back in her excitement, ultimately she stopped herself in the hopes of saving face,"Really? That's so cool! Maybe one day -my- memoirs will inspire somepony ta write an awesome book series! I'll make sure I meet all sorts o' interestin' types! I met this one mare after I tracked down this amulet named Pathfinder and she was..." the mare gave a bit of a pause as if she was unsure of how to properly describe her,"uhh... she was... helpful." the mare seemed almost hesitant to finish the last word.

“Enjoy your copy of Ring of Destiny Presteza, Thank you for showing your support today.”

The mare smiled and nodded,"No problem, Miss Yearlin'! I Should thank you fer yer awesome book series... or wait did I do that already?" questioned the mare with another slightly embarassed chuckl "But yea I'm sure I'll love it! Take care o' yerself , Miss yearling!" With that the peppy young painter began walking away, with her little fruit- bat companion poking his head out and waving at Miss Yearling.

Presteza's eyes widened a moment as she saw pathfinder immediately take her place in front of Miss Yearling. Putting on a slightly awkward smile the mare waved to the fanatical pegasus,"Oh, Hi pathy... I hope ya have fun talkin' ta miss Yearling she's really nice." Seeing as Pathfinder was getting very wrapped up in her "conversation" with Miss Yearling, Pressy diverted her attention elsewhere. The first thing she did before leaving the line was give a wave to the familiar looking stallion who was protecting Miss Yearling. It only took a few seconds to realize where she'd met him before. Before he stepped up to confront pathfinder, Pressy waved to him,"'Ey there mister Bravado! Nice ta see you came out o' Nightmare night okay!" she said with a playful smile before looking over the signature she was given.

"To Presteza:

Only through facing adversity can true greatness be achieved. I wish you the best of luck in your art career."

The mare smiled wide and put the book in on of her Saddlebags. Not only did she seem to have the blessing of her favorite author but she had even given her some helpful knowledge! The silver maned mare had already seen a bit of adversity in her life. Particularly during the Changeling invasion of nightmare night where she she got some of her mane and tail blasted off, gotten a few bruises... and even wound up having a changeling sink it's teeth into her backside. Maybe Presteza was closer to greatness than she thought!

"You name the time and the place."

Oh, that's right! She hadn't responded to Fire walker earlier. The time they had established the wager that resulted in Fire promising to take Presteza out for pizza, Presteza had beaten the REA officer in a the Running of the leaves. Fire had mentioned a really good pizza place in Manehattan and Pressy was sure as hay ready to head there as soon as she could! As soon as she looked in the group's direction her jaw dropped as she took notice of the very last pony she ever expected to see here,"M-Mum?"

After Wind and fire Replied to her previous statement, Belle's ears perked slightly as she heard her daughter address her. Smiling the classy mare waved to her daughter,"Tizzy! I was wondering when you'd notice I was here. Come on over, I was just talking to Miss Fire and little wind!" Ugh ... that nickname, Pressy still remembered when her mother first started callling her that nickname. Belle started callign her daughter that after she began trying to teach her magic herself and Presteza would always flip out whenever she messed up a spell; which was more often then she'd prefer. Before Pressy could think any more on the subject she was shaken back to reality by her mother raising her voice again to catch her attention,"Don't just stand there! Come on over!"

The painter took a deep breath and calmly walked over to the group. Before she could get a word out to Fire she was pulled into a hug by her mother. Pressy was happy that her mother missed her... but did she have to suddenly hug her in front of a friend... and was that the captain of the Wonderbolts next to her?! As soon as she was released the mare resolved to speak to Spitfire but once again a bit of interference from her mother put that on hold,"How have you been? Are you eating right?" Before she could answer either of these questions, belle spoke up once more,"Oh, Tizzy you've got somethin' on your muzzle" swiftly the grey unicorn levitated a small handkerchief from her saddlebag and after giving it a lick she began to wipe off her daughter's muzzle while she tried to pull her face away and get a word in edgewise... only to fail as her mother finished cleaning her face of whatever was on it.

The tan colored mare sighed in annoyance and answered the first two questions rather simply and bluntly,"Fine and as well as I can... and could ya please not do that?" with that the mare waved to Fire and tried finish what she wished to say,"Um... anyway, Fire I think ya mentioned a nice place in Manehattan last time didn' ya?"

[Bellosh]

A.K. Yearling only managed to get through several seconds of Pathfinder’s drivel before giving into the unseemly urge of rolling her eyes. Not only did Pvt. Century’s words have no effect, but he appeared at a loss of what to do. At no point did the royal guard try to interrupt the deluded mare and get her to comply with the restraining order; the young stallion just stood there and let himself be pummeled by Pathfinder’s verbal abuse of the pony language. If this gentlecolt was representative of the Royal Equestrian Army as a whole… it would really explain quite a lot about how heroes like Daring Do and Princess Twilight Sparkle thrived in this world.

Tired of having to listen to the annoying fanfilly, Yearling slumped onto the signing desk and covered her ears. Why was Pathfinder bothering her with an ill-conceived laundry list of suggestions, anyway? A.K. only wrote the core Daring Do novels; her publisher handled all the heavy-duty licensing. And yet Pathfinder droned on and on and on… she. Did. Not. Stop. TAAALKING! GRAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!

​

Flash Sentry would have done more to shoo away Pathfinder, but he feared that escalating the situation would only make things worse. For better or worse, this was a public place, and the armored stallion had no wish to produce a scene that involved the fanatic struggling to remain in the author’s presence. Considering that Flash also had no backup with him in case Pathfinder attempted resistance, his options were very limited to say the least.

Halfway through the speech, one of the bookstore patrons came up and addressed Flash Sentry as “Mr. Bravado”. It took a few moments for the stallion to realize that this mare was one of those ponies he met back on Nightmare Night. But because he was in the middle of a situation that could get worse at any time, he whispered to the mare; “Sorry ma’am, I’m on duty.” Chit-chat would have to wait.

After almost ten minutes, Pathfinder’s throat finally gave out. Sensing the right opportunity, PFC Sentry spoke up again, feeling unnatural from using more authority in his voice; “This is your final warning. If you do not step away from A.K. Yearling, I will be forced to take you into custody.....”

[tacobob]

The little blue filly stared directly at the Wonderbolt in utter amazement, and probably for the only time in her entire life, she would be able to ask Spitfire a question. Would it be about her training regiment? How she Pegasus mare was able to move so quickly with such perfect agility? Or her favorite stunts? Wind Walker asked, "Captain Spitfire?", the filly tried her best to get the mare's attention, "Hey! I was wondering about something. I was wondering, how do you get your hair to look like that? My big brother Sky thinks you fly so fast that it just ends up that away. He also thinks Fleetfoot is faster than you, but he thinks that mostly cause he's a silly hoof-head!"

Fire Walker smiled politely as Presteza's mother spoke to her and couldn't help but chuckle as the Duchess fussed over her child. She decided not to forget her cute little nicknames. The red mare was all smiles, but she couldn't help but start to worry about the bit of drama that starting to break out near the end of the line. Apparently the mare who had dressed up Yearling's character apparently had somewhat of a history with the famous writer, so much so there was an actual restraining order had been placed over the mare. The R.E.A. guard had felt a bit of pity for the pith helmeted fan, but something needed to be done before things got out of hoof, but first she needed to see how the young private was going to defuse the situation. If the higher ranked officer stepped in to put a stop to Yearling's harassment kit would probably shatter the young pony's confidence, so she waited and silently prayed that the mare would calm down.

So intent on watching nearly it all, Fire nearly missed her friend's question, "Er..Oh yeah. Manehattan has the best pizza. Ah..", she lowered her voice, "Miss Presteza, I need your help. If things start to get a little crazy with our fan over there, I need you to get little Wind and your mother out of here quickly and safely. There are some things she doesn't need to see especially after the whole 'Nightmare Night' mess."

[SteelEagle]

It took Pathfinder a few seconds to recover her faculties after she expelled from her the greatest idea ever committed to speech. It would make all the bits and win all the awards and then everypony would love Daring Do as much as she deserved. Well, half as much because she deserved so much more! Yearling knew it too, the sheer awesomeness of the idea so overpowering and incredible that she had to hold her head in her hooves. Pathfinder had done that a few hundred times as well when her brain was hurting. For Pathfinder it was because of many instances of head trauma. For Yearling it was having to contend with such a brilliant display of creativity that every nerve in her amazing brain was on full fire mode, rendering her incapable of putting to speech just how much she loved Pathfinder's idea!

Speaking of love, the guard told her to leave and this time Pathfinder heard. Silly restraining orders! And poor Yearling being forced to contend with the Equestrian legal system when she did not have the slightest bit of desire to distance herself from her best friend Pathfinder. Wasn't the Guard's fault either, just doing his job. Of course the other part of his job description was protecting Equestria and the Crystal Empire but, like most Guards, he was always caught with his armor off when the real trouble hit. Pathfinder was always out in the muck, having to duck the blows of creatures greater in height, weight, skill, intelligence, capability, and experience and getting through it because that's how the story of adventure is written. One she recognized the voice though, Pathfinder's voice cracked with excitement and she pulled the guard in for a hug.

"Flashy! Flash bashy!" She squealed, pulling him in and giving his helmet a few taps, squeezing him tightly for a few seconds, "I'm so happy you got this gig! Who knew that the writer of the epic romantic fanfiction masterpiece, 'Daring Love' would get so lucky!" She let him go and turned to Yearling, "he wrote the definitive Bravado-slash-Daring Do love story. Very romantic! No wondered they have him stationed next to the Princess of love!" She laughed at her own joke, then cleared her throat.

"Anywho, I've got some spelunking- oh, and a present!" She reached into her bag and pulled out a gem that had different symbols carved into it and she placed it in front of the author.

"Pretty cool! The symbols shift to be where they are at all times no matter which way you turn the gem. I found it in some burning lava at the end of a cave a few weeks ago, but Snowy can't use it or sell it. It's still cool though, and it's alllllll yours! Yay! Well, once you sign the book!"

[QuickLime]

Pip was pretty excited, eagerly waiting in line, one of his books tucked in his saddle bag, the small pony bounded up and down eagerly "Oh boy, oh, boy, Oh BOY! AK Yearling is my favorite writer EVA!" The small Trottingham pony announced to nopony in particular, looking forward to his book being signed, and enjoying the new book as well! He'd stayed up for EVERY book release that had come out since he was old enough to and this time his parents let him come solo! He couldn't be more excited about an Author marking up a book that he had just purchased!

The small child was practically vibrating as the line got shorter and shorter, trying to not squee, though he could hear PathFinder's shenanigins and snickered "Some ponies here are REALLY over the top by codger!"

Pip wasn't the only one in line, standing behind him was a adventurer with a ginger colored mane, and a smile on his face, Daring Do had been an inspiration for a while, and he did very much want to meet the Author! Globe Trotter had set aside time and his much beloved exploring to come and get a bit of history signed, granted his book wasn't history YET but it would be some day, and he could possibly sell the signed book to a museum! Well after it sat in his home in a glass shelf after he read the book of course! He was such a fan...

Seemed someone else was too, he could hear PathFinder's babble all the way from back here, wrinkling his nose slightly...Oh dear fangirls.

[Lux]

As Tankena played balalaika, which quickly turned into a full blown song, Lore Weaver was for a brief moment lost in the spell of the earth pony's music. The stallion had an ear for music and loved listening to anything new that he happened to find. The enjoyment, however, was short lived as the droning sound of Pathfinder snapped him back to reality. To his horror, he could see A.K. Yearling slumped in her chair covering her ears.

"Well miss Pathfinder, I can see that you have a lot of good ideas," he said trying to prevent the situation from getting out of hand, "Have you thought about writing perhaps an adventure series like Miss Yearling does? I'm sure your ideas would make for a great tale."

He turned to gauge the extent of the line, hoping that it wasn't getting to unruly as the ponies waited for Pathfinder. Just then two more ponies entered, one a cute little colt who was giddy with excitement and another a stallion.

"Hello and welcome to my shop," Lore said to the two guests, acting as the host for the event once again.

[Solaria]

Spitfire was watching the Daring Do lookalike with mild amusement on her face, apparently unlike anyone else in the shop. Yeah, overzealous fans could get scary fast, but this one just genuinely seemed to be in love with everything Yearling. She quirked an eyebrow as she thought about how she would deal with a starry-eyed mare like Pathfinder. Challenge her to find something in the middle of somewhere far away to earn her place in the annals of adventuring history? Sounded about right. Her stomach grumbled. Or maybe just finding Ponyville's best chili apple fries.

Her pointless reverie was broken by the tiny filly from before, asking about her mane. With a smirk she bent her legs a little so as not to be looking down on Wind Walker.

"Well, what's the fun in having a name like 'Spitfire' if you aren't going to look the part, right?" she responded, shaking her head a bit to wave the flame-like pattern in her hair. "And that's right, when I wake up it doesn't look anything like this. I just get lucky with my bad mane days," the captain added with a wink.

Casting an observant eye back to the commotion at the head of the line, she noted that it was still mostly under control and returned her attention to her pegasus companion.

"As for Fleetfoot, she is faster," the mare admitted. "But, being a Wonderbolt isn't all about speed. You need control, technique. All that speed is no good if you can't do anything with it. Let's see her pull a triple mare's tail into a chimera drop followed by a blazing halo while going that fast. I'll tell you, isn't going to happen," Spitfire laughed. "If you want to learn to fly at a higher level, keep that in mind before anything else. Balance is everything, learn the fundamentals. Speed will come." She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled a tiny pin shaped like the Wonderbolts crest. "Here. Show this to your brother and tell him that you're going to be faster than both Spitfire and Fleetfoot someday."

At that, the Wonderbolt stood straight and returned to watching Pathfinder and Yearling. If it continued, she'd move forward and ask the adventuring pony to come with her for a drink to talk about everything Daring Do. After all, one drink couldn't last that long. But for now, it seemed the fan was content to wait for her signature before moving on. It was up to her, really...

[Pretzelparty]

“Sorry ma’am, I’m on duty.”

In response the guardstallion the mare gave a nod,"RIght, I'll talk ta ya later on if ya get the chance, 'kay?" At this Presteza would welcome the chance to chat with anypony to keep from keeping a sustained conversation with an overbearing mother. Lucky for her it seemed that her friend, Fire was willing to give a short window to grant her wish.

Er..Oh yeah. Manehattan has the best pizza. Ah..", she lowered her voice, "Miss Presteza, I need your help. If things start to get a little crazy with our fan over there, I need you to get little Wind and your mother out of here quickly and safely. There are some things she doesn't need to see especially after the whole 'Nightmare Night' mess."

Presteza gave a wry chuckle,"Pathfinder may be kinda crazy, but I don' think she'd try n' hurt Miss Yearling... but then again I've never seen how she is at these book signings..." somehow the normally more enthusiastic and peppy tone in the mare's voice seemed to change to a slightly more formal tone and speech pattern, perhaps a side effect from being in the company of her mother. "If stuff does start goin' south I'll take care o' wind. Mum can take care o' herself."

The grey mare chuckled playfully at her daughter,"What's wrong, Tizzy? aren't you worried about your sweet, old mother?" she said levitating the tannish mare's hat off and placing it on her head. "By the way... what number hat is this? Number eight right?"

Presteza rolled her at her mother, apparently not realizing her hat had been taken just,"No, Mum... It's actually number eleven..." she said in a slightly defeated tone. "I swear, Tizzy you go through these things faster than ya went through pudding as a filly." retorted the painter's mother. Pressy simply blushed and grumbled,"I'll have ya know that these hats are very healthy ta eat... And would ya stop callin' me 'Tizzy'?!"

[Bellosh]

Not only did that guard acted powerless towards Pathfinder, but they apparently knew one another. A.K. Yearling intended on having her publisher file a complaint to the Royal Guard reprimanding them for their poor pick once this was all over. Sweet Celestia, if she had to ward off these stalkers, the very least she could ask for is a guard who knew the meaning of the word ‘assertive’.

Groaning as Pathfinder brought her a gift, the author simply tuned out all the fanatic said and looked away. Yearling could have told off Pathfinder right there and then, but that dimwit of a guard just had to place an unsigned book on the table. So with unintelligible mumbling, she hastily wrote in the sloppiest manner possible:

​

Yearling

Pathfinder would not be rewarded with a special message like the others. In fact, now was the time to leave her sight, or face the consequences… that obviously entailed Pvt. Century politely asking the obsessed fanfilly to leave for a third time. Lacking any energy, A.K. Yearling joylessly summoned the next pegasus mare in line; “Ugggh, next.....”

​

No member of Cloudsdale’s local Daring Do fan club ever wanted to admit that Pathfinder was a fellow member, let alone their president. Flash Sentry knew the founder and former president of the local club well enough, but real-life caught up with her, and that Pathfinder snatched up the reins before anypony voiced an objection. Fortunately, the cosplayer never had much time to actually run her club, so silver linings existed. In Flash’s case, his service in the Royal Equestrian Army made him even forget for some time that Pathfinder existed.

But not only did that illusion shatter, but the young mare brought up something even more regrettable. “For the last time,” the blushing stallion poorly fought off the unwelcome hug, grumbling with the tiniest hint of anger; “That was a set of scrapped song lyrics.” Flash Sentry shipped Daring Do and Bravado back in the day, before his Daring Do fandom music took off. Daring Love could have very well been his very first released fan composition, but decided against it at the last minute out of avoiding the connotations of being a shipper instead of a general fan. Considering the nastiness of the shipping side of the fanbase, Flash’s decision probably worked out for the best.

Luckily, Pathfinder got bored easily, deciding to pester A.K. Yearling for a final time. With no real alternate options, Pvt. Sentry shrugged and gave the author a copy of Ring of Destiny to sign.....

[SteelEagle]

Yearling knew all sorts of scripts and fonts and manner of writing. Pathfinder knew it- her little collection of autographs was filled with dozens upon dozens of examples of the author showcasing her eclectic artistry on paper. Some of them were in long, flowing cursive that somehow ended in hangponies and short messages that Pathfinder chuckled at- Yearling was such a kidder. Others were short and aggressively lettered. All were unique, all were special. And as Yearling used her incredibly creative mind to come up with another great and unique signature, Pathfinder waited with the most baited of all the breaths. She loved herself some good old fashioned Yearling kookiness and love and today was just another example of how loving and special Equestria's favorite author was with her beloved Daries fanfillies and fancolts! Maybe Yearling would dedicate her next work to the instead of her legal team, who admittedly did a good job of sending out a lot of funny court orders and cease and desists.

And then the autograph came. "ThankyouverymuchohmyCelestiayay!" Pathfinder blazed out of her mouth a stream of words in a single sylable, grabbing the signed book and taking to hovering above the line as she sorta just flew around aimlessly for a few seconds, examining her new prize dillgently. It was written haphazardly and swiftly, a sure sign of great character work ahoof. Pathfinder fluttered down to her friend Pressy and gave her a nice rub on the head before almost shoving the book in her face in the GREAT EXCITEMENT.

"Look at it! This looks like Saddle Arabian cavescript! Y'know, from Daring Do and the City of Fire!" Pathfinder gasped, hoof to her mouth, "she must read all the fanfiction because that is an obscure text only found under Fandom Galore's mattress! He'll be so excited to see that Yearling reads his stories. You'd think the Derrin-Bravado shippers would be more in the open, but you know how those sillies go, right?" She laughed, tossing the Ring of Destiny into her full backpack, kissing Presteza on the cheek in her excitement. IT WAS A DARING DAY. She then trotted joyfully about for a few seconds, ending up next to the store owner who asked about Pathfinder's desire to write ALL THE STORIES.

"Wow, let me tell you something- I have written over eighty-seven full length Daring Do novels, and two hundred and twelve short stories! I send them to the publishers to see if they want any part of it, but I guess my stuff is too RAW and RAD for them. I even have tips and hints and tricks and stuff for getting arrows out of your bones without doing more damage to them! Maybe that was it. Or because Daring and I manage to get married in all of them, but in any case, I brought a lot of them here! I could give you them. I have many copies- y'know, in case they keep sending cease and desists. Wanna read them? Wanna read all of them?" Pathfinder said before opening up her saddlebag and reaching her hooves in- both forelegs completely in!

[Lux]

To his relief, A.K. Yearling was able to pull through with flying colors in dealing with the overzealous fan. Of course the stallion was more than ready to step in just in case, but the last thing he wanted to be was some strict pony spoiling the fun. Having the guard there was a relieving thought for the store owner, although thankfully not likely that the guard would be needed.

Then surprisingly Pathfinder upon finishing getting her signature from the author decided to take Lore up on his inquiry of her work. His eyes went wide upon hearing the sheer amount of novels and short stories the mare made. There was a little hint of worry when she mentioned how they were all related to Daring Do in some form and even stranger that all involved her marriage to the title character. There was a little voice telling, no, pleading with him not to go any further than this point, just to send the fan obsessed mare along her way. Sometimes though, Lore didn't hear that voice clear enough...

"Um... I guess i can read a couple of them after the book signing is over."

[Mojo]

As Tankena continued to 'try out' the sheet music she found at the store on her ballilaika, much to the probable dismay of those in the store who didn't like that kind of music, Professor Krashkop patiently continued to wait in line for his turn to have the famous A.K. Yearling sign his copy of her latest book. The elderly Pegasus stallion was getting quite an education on how NOT to act in front of the famous author from the actions and ramblings of Pathfinder. The Professor could see how A.K. was becoming a bit annoyed with the Daring Do costumed mare's antics. Although he was very excited about meeting A.K. in person, Professor Krashkop now tempered his emotions so as to not cause more discomfort for the famous author. For now, he'd continue to wait for his turn to come, trying not to interfere with the actions going on at the front of the line.

[tacobob]

The little filly let out a single gasp as Spitfire pulled out the small pin and hoofed it over. “Holy Moley!”, she stared at the Wonderbolts crest while it rested in the center of her hoof for just a moment, "Thank you Captain Spitfire!", she gave the mare a quick hug before her older sister was able to peel herself away from the drama that was happening. Fire Walker's face quickly shifted into a smile as she let out a relieved sigh, "I'll have to thank you as well Captain. You've made a special day for her even more special.", she carefully pinned the crest on Wind Walker's collar and turned her attention back to Presteza.

Presteza gave a wry chuckle,"Pathfinder may be kinda crazy, but I don' think she'd try n' hurt Miss Yearling... but then again I've never seen how she is at these book signings..." somehow the normally more enthusiastic and peppy tone in the mare's voice seemed to change to a slightly more formal tone and speech pattern, perhaps a side effect from being in the company of her mother. "If stuff does start goin' south I'll take care o' wind. Mum can take care o' herself."

"Restraining orders are no laughing manner, the judge that...", Fire Walker whispered, "Wait. Pathfinder?", she had heard that name before, but where? It took the mare a few moments before she remembered hearing tales of an adventurer with the same name while spending a night at one of her favorite clubs. "Oh. How odd. Guess we can see what inspired her the most.", the red mare decided to venture away towards a lighter subject, "So after this, what do you two ladies have planned for the day?"

As Captain Spitfire and her own sister were both distracted with other concerns, Wind Walker glanced back at the cutest colt she had seen, "Yeah!", she waved her hoof at Pipsqueak to get his attention, "I mean, huh? What's an codger? Isn't that an really old stallion?"

[Corsair]

Snips felt like bouncing down the street, like Pinkie Pie would. Like many colts and fillies his age, Snips loved the Daring Do adventure novels. Why, he'd even gone to the Daring Do convention when it had come to Ponyville. But the convention had bee missing one big thing: The author of all the books, J.K. Yearling, had not been there. But now, Miss Yearling was right here in Ponyville, signing her new book!

Snips' dad had surprised him with a copy of "The Ring of Destiny" the day it had come out. Snips had stayed up all night and read the entire thing. Of course, he'd failed a test the next day at school, but it was worth it! Well, almost worth it...

The colt was very surprised that Daring Do had taken a side-kick in the newest book. Generally, the adventurer prided herself on working alone, but this time another pegasus had helped her, even gotten Daring out of a trap! There'd also been something very familiar about the new character, but he couldn't put his hoof on what...

Anyway, the colt was galloping across town as fast as his short legs could take him, the book sealed in his saddle bags like a treasure. This was going to be great! He'd be able to get A.K. Yearling's signature in the book, then show it off to all his classmates! He grinned, thinking about how jealous Snails would be.

As he sped up to the book store, he took in the line of ponies that were already waiting. Many of them were adults, but there were a couple of other foals in line too. He skidded to a stop, then quickly got into line behind a taller pony. He bobbed and weaved his head around, trying to get a look at the author. Mentally, he was going over what he was going to say. Should he just say how awesome Daring Do was? Should he ask when the next book would be out? Should he try to amaze her with all the Daring Do trivia he knew? In his excited state, the words ran together, even in his own head. This was going to be so... awesome...

​