The Shadows we Live

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This date had long been a blight on her calendar, one she had dreaded as it approached. She had awoken with a strange calm, an acceptance. She had known it wouldn't last long. Her aversion to others wasn't casual, it was ingrained. No one was allowed into her inner circle. But as much as she had trouble with other ponies in practice, in theory, she had a bit of a philanthropist's streak. When the charity organization had reached out to her through the university, she had begrudgingly obliged.

Not one month back, a charity raffle had promised a number of prizes. One of these prizes: A day with Daring Do. Part of her had hoped no one would pick it. A solid portion of the population didn't believe she was an actual pony. Plus, who would want to spend a day with someone they didn't know? Wasn't that really risky? Yet somepony had won and called her bet. Had things gone as she believed they would, they would have been sorely disappointed. She didn't defy death every day and never with a partner.

But a scrap of paper had changed everything.

The letter had no signature block. It referenced no shared past nor experiences, but still she knew who had sent it. No doubt that it had been sent to her with purpose and not by mistake or circumstance, a purpose irrelevant to today's docket. Its humble resting place had made it seem like an offer left by a part time worker for some restaurant or public servant. Despite its circular contents and strange references, it clearly was not such a frivolous document.

She continued to read it over as she stood at the prearranged meeting place, forgetting altogether why she was there as she continued to find clues within the text. This was a doozy.

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The sun was shining and it was a big day. The Pink Party Pony plopped her plot on a the train and made her way to Canterlot. She saw a charity raffle the last time she was here and bought a ticket withough worrying what it was actually for. It was bits for charity. And while she was no Rarity, she still livked to give back. It made ponies smile and she is all about that grin bout that grin bout that grin, no frowny. Walking down the street on her way to the Commons area from the train, she thought a bit. She was supposed to spend a day with Daring Do. Wasn't that that book series Twilight and Rainbow liked? Wasn't she a fictional character? Oh well, it's nice to meet a new pony. And to make her smile. Seeing a smile on some other face, especially a new one just made her feel like she was shining. OOh that's a song cue. "Once upon a time, You came into my world and made the stars align. Now I can see the signs. You pick me up when I get down so I can shine. Shine like rainbows. Shine like rainbows. Shine like rainbows. Shine like rainbows." While singing, she danced through the streets, hugging random unicrons and dancing a bit with a few that were more up beat. "Friends, you are in my life. And you can count on me to be there by your side. And when the music comes alive, you sing us songs to lift us up so we can shine." She joins in with a group of ponies, who seem to magically know the lines and rhythm of her song and the chorus. The sound reaching out to where it could be heard a few blocks away. "And the sound that we hear in our hearts makes a crescendo! And the light that ignites in the dark it makes us all glow!~ And shine like rainbows Whoa oh oh. We shine like rainb..." She ends up face to face with Daring Do suddenly and the song abruptly stops. Wow. She was real...Now if only she had read any of the books she might have had something to ask about.

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At first, the sounds around her were easy to block out. She was professional when it came to focusing on what was important. And then it was there, right on the edge of her consciousness. She gently tapping at her bubble of concentration. But it got louder and all at once, she was snatched away from the task she had put her mind toward. Her head snapped up, looking toward the source of the singing.

The voice apparently belonged to a pink colored Earth Pony. One who had remarkably stopped singing and was now standing in front of her. The intensity of the awkward feeling Daring felt was high. She had forgotten about the raffle, she had really forgotten about pretty much everything other than what was contained in the note. But it came back to her. She wasn't off, away from the world, doing what she did. She was here and promise bound to spend some time with a stranger who couldn't supply her with the information she needed.

”So... hi. I'm Daring Do, Adjunct Professor of Archeology and the subject of the popular Daring Do works,” she said clinically in introduction, quietly so that the ponies around them wouldn't try to get in on this. ”...Er... Congratulations on winning the raffle, thank you for supporting a good cause...”

Was she supposed to say things like that on behalf of the organization? It seemed like it.

”So what's your name and where are you from? That way I can get an idea of what might be most interesting to you.” It likely wouldn't help much. She was terrible with names and she wasn't sure that anyone would find most of the things she found interesting to be interesting. Ponies liked the acrobatics but not the sweet sight of an in tact piece of pottery.

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Ladies and gentlemen reading this. PLease mark this day on your calendars for you are witnessing something that had never happened before. Pinkie Pie was left speechless. There was a sudden awe sweeping through her, even though she didn't read any of the novels. She thought that it would be a look alike or maybe the Author. But no this sort of Gravity that came from an introduction only came from the real pony. She kind of lost focus for a bit. Then came the inquiry of her name. That snapped her out of the daze, but not to normal Pinkie levels. "I'm Pinkie Pie from Ponyville. Oh wow....you are actually the real deal aren't you?" What was she going to do. This was a real life adventurer. Just getting bits and peices of information from Rainbow Dash and Twilight when they talked about it, she faced evil and ancient badness almost constantly, by herself. Sure, Twilight had the six of them to back her up the few times they had to deal with it, but it had to be like almost everyday for a book series to be based on your life. Though her mouth was moving, she wasn't making a sound. It was like she was trying to find the right word to say. Oh Stallion...she could use some help from her friends right about now. Maybe she could channel them. Think and act a little like them. Because for somepony like this, Pinkie just wasn't going to cut it.

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Daring could see how somepony might not assume they were dealing with the real her. She did have a sort of excellence that transcended reality. And the widespread belief that she was solely a character within a book. Adults rarely took time to believe that they were going to meet story book characters. A solid policy, most of the time. She remembered a book that she had been required by her parents to read. A book report to fill in the gaps of the moderation board for “homeschooling.” If someone told her that she was meeting any of that cast, she'd assume it would be an actor.

But while that was understandable, the strange jaw flapping that followed was new. She waited for a moment, eyes wide in confusion, to see if there was anything coming from this.

”Uhhh uh-huh, I'm as real of a deal as it comes. From head to tail to wingtip, I'm the expert on the occult, and an obtainer of rare antiquities.”

She believed that was how Fossil tended to phrase it when he wrote about her.

”I may come off as a bit distracted... Things on the back burner calling for my attention. Did you say Ponyville? I met a gal from Ponyville, but then, it's not like you know everyone who lives there, I'm sure...” She said, remembering back to her two run ins with one Twilight Sparkle.

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Pinkie adjusted her stance and leaned while essentially standing on her back legs, trying to look cool. Blowing on a hoof, she seemed to have switched modes. Which to be honestShe did, she was now trying to be Rainbow Dash. One of her brightest points wasn knowing everypony in Ponyville and if anypony she knew could sell herself it was Rainbow. Too bad she couldn't fly. "Yeah I actually do know everypony in Ponyville. It's like my thing." As she went to do the pat her chest move like Dashie did when she bragged, she knocked herself off balance and went crashing down the the ground by the fountain. Knowing ponies was her thing, Standing on two legs for an extended time, not so much.

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Daring stopped when Pinkie's antics brought her to the ground, not attempting to stop the collision. She raised an eyebrow, taking a cursory look around as if there was someone or something she could appeal to about the strangeness of this pony. But when nothing appeared, she turned her attention back to the pink pony.

”If you say so. Her name was Twilight Sparkle.” Ponyville was a pretty small place relative to Canterlot, but not so small that she believed each pony who lived there could be connected. When it came to Twilight Sparkle in particular, it seemed as if the unicorn might not be one who got out too much. All in all, a bit of a long shot that Pinkie Pie would just so happen to know her.

"...Need a lift?" She asked, reaching out a hoof to try to help the other pony up.

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Well there goes Rainbow Dash. Even when she fell she did it cool. All Pinkie did was become squashed pie. When Daring mentioned Twilight, she shot up like a rocket.Janding on her feet. "TWILIGHT?! Twilight and I are Besties. We are like B.F.F.Y.T.O.I.E.W." Whoa nelly. that is way too much Pinkie Excitment. Daring was an action pony. A Creature of Real Excitment and Danger. But perhaps the que from Twilight. Blinking a bit she calmed down and Sort of took up Twilight's normal posture. Hooves together, back straight, eyes locked with whom she was speaking with. "What I mean to say is that Twilight and I are really good friends. We were together to Stop Nightmare Moon, she brought us with her to the Grand Galloping Gala, where I really enjoyed my time there, and we fought next to each other during the changeling invasion. There are few ponies I know better than Twilight." Ok good. Nice rhythm, excellent poise, Large words, no overbearign tone. Minus a horn, she figured she had a spot on Twilight going on. It wouddl be somepony that Daring apparently knew and could be comfortable with.

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So the bookish broad was friends with this twist, too? Was she just the universe’s go to gal or something? She had not portrayed herself that way, yet both this Pinkie Pie and her own brother, Fossil, had already met the one dame Daring had happened to come across in the last month. That was almost as crazy as the spasm this one was having and the cooky way she explained how she had come to know and love Twilight Sparkle. It was hard to believe that this one was one of Celestia’s poster fillies as well. She was all over the place and not at all what Daring would associate with a dependable pony.

”Alright, look, you gotta level with me, sweetheart. Believe it or not, I’m trying to play nice because I said I’d come do this. But you aren’t some wide eyed kid, so I’m hoping you can handle it when I tell you that I have traversed ancient mazes that were easier to navigate than you are,” Daring said, pointing a hoof at Pinkie Pie.

”Are you some kind of impressionist or do you actually have more than one personality? Because it’s great that you know Twilight and it’s no kidding incredible that you two and your other pals did all that high profile Equestria saving. But I cannot get a real read on you and not understanding things is not a fun time for me.” She knew the conversation hadn’t been going on for very long, but all the hopping around and… whatever else was going on was just confusing.

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"I have traversed ancient mazes that were easier to navigate than you are." Was she being tough to understand? Maybe Fluttershy, no she is way to quite to understand. Applejack? No countryisms could be misintrpreted in so many ways. Besides she was sure she would just flub it up. Rarity was so elegant with ehr speech, maybe trying to be her. Just as she was about to reply, the question of impressionist or multiple personalities came up. Great, now the amazing adventurer she only ever heard about thought she was crazy. Now she knew how Oatmeal felt. She shook her head to get rid of her other thoughts and sighed. Her smile came up in the regular Pinkie manner. "Sorry about that. I guess I got a little star sturck and didn't want to weird you out with my usual Pinkiness."

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Star struck

She was an archeologist and a professional. This mystique she had accumulated from novel sales helped her gather more funding for the university and it opened a lot of other doors. After the book series had attained popularity, her services had been called upon by dozens of socialites needing some project to use their wealth on. But it also meant that ponies didn’t believe they could be themselves around her.

”I’m not expert on meeting new ponies, but lady you gotta stick to who you are. Give me a chance to like you or not based on that pony. But hey, apology accepted. We all put on different masks depending on the company around us. But tell me about you. What’s the actual truth there?”

She was a scientist. The truth was what she strove to behold.

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And if she thought Pinkie was tough to understnad before, the Maze was about to become a Labyrinth of Minotauric proportions. "The actual truth? Well...." She took a deep breath, exhaled, and took a larger one before going into the quick 'short' explaination. "My full name is Pinkamenia Diane Pie. A Member of the Pie Family who own the Rock Farm to the South east of here. I am one of four sisters, one of a set of Triplets. My Balloon cutie mark symbolizes my love and enjoyment of throwing parties, from large extravagent events to small Hi how are you meetings. Through these I have made 5,197 friends. I know what they all like and thier birthdays. I never miss one. I live and work at Sugar Cube Corner with the Cakes who have taken care of me sicne I discovered my Cutie Mark and left the Rock farm. I first made firends with Twilight Sparkle with a gasp and quickly organized a wild party for her since she came to Ponyville to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration where Princess Celestia was kidnapped by Nightmare Moon and on our way to stop her we discovered our Destinies as the Elements through various things. Mine was by...." She ran out of breath and hard flopped onto the ground. Obviously there was more to tell but she was trying to catch her breath from trying to tell it all. Her eyes rolled up a little to see if Daring was still there. Ready for the other three One breath explainations.

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Daring hadn’t been sure what to expect, but this tell-all had not been in the neighborhood. This mare continued to operate outside of her guess at what normal was supposed to be. It was equal parts refreshing and confounding. It was an interesting story. One she had gotten a piece of before from their mutual acquaintance. Seemed it all was on the level. Though, last time it hadn’t ended with a bang.

”Hey girly, you have to breathe!”

She was at the pink mare’s side as soon as she had fallen. She leaned down low so that she could see if any damage had taken place as body had met ground. It didn’t seem like there was.

”Seriously you are gonna hurt yourself one way or another, aren’t you?” She asked in concern. This was nothing like what she had thought this would be. In honesty, it was a lot more diverting.

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Pinkie was in fact quite alright. A rant like this was nothing new. And at least she didn't start her life story normally, which included a dark and stormy night back in the barn. But after so many times at being stopped after she started all the way at the beginning. She figured she should start a little bit later. As she was helped up she just smiled. "It takes a lot to hurt me. I'm virtually made of bubblegum. Gum Gum no Rocket" Her front hoof shot forward way past what it should do and just snapped back into place as if nothing happened. "And with my Pinkie Sense, I can always be aware fo anything really dangerous."

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It was hard not to feel jerked around by this mare. The voices, the stage fainting, whatever this Pinkie Sense business was. She rarely took the time to get to know anyone outside of studying possible threats to her excursions. But this lady was a much higher difficulty than the general population. Of that, she was certain.

”A Pinkie Sense?” She asked flatly, not entirely sure she wanted to go down that rabbit hole. ”And what is that supposed to be, exactly?”

This was an Earth Pony, so Daring’s initial belief was that it was some type of superstitious mumbo jumbo. Granted, a lot of times such things had centers of truth to them, but small town Earth Ponies had a way of making mountains of mole hills with that type of thing.