When I wake from my slumber, Daring Do is sitting on my open windowsill, staring at the starry sky. I practically leap out of my blankets. When she doesn’t move, I sink backwards, hiding in the shadows. My breath grows quiet and strained. She turns her head, and I freeze, squeezing my eyes shut. There’s a thump, and seconds later I hear the creaking of the bed as she sits on the other end. I reopen my eyes. She’s still there, of course. She’s smiling, but not in the brave way I’m used to. Instead, her eyes point downwards, and she swallows heavily. [i]Okay, Wild Ace. You’ve just woken up and Daring Do the fictional hero is sitting two feet away from you. What do you do?[/i] “Are you a changeling?” Her smile grows a little. “No.” I squint. “Is this a dream?” She chuckles wistfully. “Who knows. Maybe it is.” “Okay then,” I say, shrugging. “So why are you in my bedroom?” She ignores my question, but looks me straight in the eyes. “Little filly, what do you think about me?” I shrug again. “Well, I mean you’re... you. You are Daring Do, right? The mare who’s always looking for adventure, and who always beats the bad guys to it?” Her smile fades a little. “I sure am. Want a souvenir?” She doesn’t wait for a response, fishing something out of a pocket and tossing it in my direction. “Here.” I pick it up, and my breath stops. It’s an orange gem, perfectly cut, and on the inside, there’s a gentle pulsing of light from every color of the rainbow. “I... wow,” I whisper. “This is so cool. Are you sure you don’t want it?” She shakes her head. “Nah. It’s just something I picked up from my latest travels.” She pauses. “And if it’s a dream, I guess neither of us will be able to keep it anyways.” “That’s okay,” I say. “Thank you.” All of a sudden, my eyes brighten, and I gasp. “Wait, if you’ve been travelling, that means you’ve got something even cooler, right? Will there be a new book?” She stays silent and hops off my bed, walking back over to the windowsill. “Maybe,” she finally responds. “Probably not. I don’t really want to bother you with the details.” “So why are you here?” I repeat. “If I’m real, I’d say that sometimes I just like visiting fans,” she says levelly. “There’s something nice about that, don’t you think? Just coming and going in the middle of the night, like a whisper.” She pauses again. “But of course, if I’m part of a dream, I’d say that Princess Luna probably put me here.” I raise an eyebrow. “That’s cool. I think you’re cool too, by the way. But I mean you probably get that a lot. If you’re real, of course.” I frown. “I still don’t get why you’re visiting me now, or even why Princess Luna would put you here.” She gives me a terse smile. “Well, like I said, I just like visiting fans. And I...” Her smile turns into frustration. She groans. “Buck it,” she mutters to herself. “Just tell him.” She turns back towards me. “What’s your name, little filly?” “Wild Ace.” “That’s a nice name. Say, Wild Ace, does the Daring Do you know mess up?” “Sure,” I reply. “Plenty of times. Like the time she almost lost the Amulet of Plades in the pit of lava.” “Okay,” she continues. “Does the Daring Do you know ever fail?” “Also yeah,” I say. “Like the time she got stranded in the forest after getting all her magical artifacts stolen, or the time she almost got tricked by Dr. Caballeron into giving up adventuring. But she always wins in the end. She found the bad guys’ secret hideout and took the artifacts back. Then she found out about Dr. Caballeron’s plans and exposed him.” Daring Do shifts her wings nervously. “Tell me more about that second thing. The one where she almost gave up.” I look at her confusedly. “I mean, you’re Daring Do. Don’t you already know what happened?” I ask. Her lips purse. “Maybe. I just want to know what you think about it, I guess.” “Well,” I say, “Daring Do, well... you, almost quit adventuring because you thought you were messing up other ponies’ lives too much. But then it turned out to be a big set up, and you got back your confidence and saved the day.” She slowly nods. “Yeah. That sounds about right.” There’s a much longer pause this time. I watch as she puts a hoof on her chest, takes a deep breath in, points her hoof outwards, and slowly exhales. “Anyways, I have one last question for you. Does the Daring Do you know ever screw up so badly that she can’t possibly blame anypony but herself?” “Of course not!” I exclaim. “Daring Do always wins eventually, no matter what.” I lean forward, concerned. “This doesn’t have anything to do with your latest travels, does it?” “N-no. Well, maybe,” she stammers. “But maybe not. Maybe it’s just the dream talking, and --” “I don’t think this is a dream,” I interrupt, and she shrinks. I pick up the gem again, examining the light’s ebb and flow. “So where’d the gem come from?” She peers into its core, relaxing as she notices the gentle colors. “You see that rainbow?” she begins. “That’s the emotion inside of you. There’s enthusiasm, and joy, and kindness, and... hope. Here, let me hold it real quick.” She stretches out a hoof, and I pass it over. Instantly, there’s a change. The colors twist and stretch, transforming into erratically moving shades of blue, purple, and black. “That’s the emotion inside me right now,” she says. “There’s a lot of despair and sadness. Maybe if you squint, there’s only a little hope at the middle. When I got this gem, I was utterly defeated by somepony I’d never seen before. They stole something really, really powerful. As their final act, they spared my life and gave me this gem, as if to rub it in. Now you know why I don’t want it.” Tears began to well in her eyes. “Hey,” I say. “Maybe I don’t know as much about life as you, but yesterday in school I learned about Ponedora’s Box. There were all these negative emotions being released, but at the bottom of the box, there was a little bit of hope. I don’t think you’ve lost. The Daring Do I know always wins, even if she loses at first.” Daring Do wipes her eyes and sniffs. “It’s just that simple, huh?” “Yeah!” I say. “You can’t give up now. At least now you know that there’ll be at least one filly cheering you on.” She sighs and smiles. “Thanks, I needed that. Well, back to the front lines I go, I guess, and someday I’ll return with a little less blue inside me.” Her face turns serious. “Listen. In the case that something goes wrong, you take your family and book it to the Crystal Empire, okay? I don’t want anything bad happening to you.” She fluffs her wings, preparing for flight. “You’re Daring Do,” I say. “I believe in you. You can save the day!” For the first time, I see that brave smile. She gives me a salute. “Yessir!” Then, she takes off. I watch as she goes and wave, looking towards a brighter tomorrow.