Twilight had sent the bulk of the jars she had unearthed to Canterlot and Cloudsdale after getting the personal accounts out of them, but kept three for her own personal study. The items Daring had referred to as Storm Bottles were an incredible feat of work, Astra Showers was known as a weather expert but she also had a talent for glassblowing. Nopony really knew what her cutie mark was, mostly because Astra Showers had a habit of covering it up when out and about in addition not liking to display it for some reason. Keen Tone’s mark was on his grave marker at his burial site, a set of six different notes flowing along three pieces of sheet music, but Astra’s mark was suspiciously missing. Upon asking about it Daring provided a copy of the final requests of Keen Tone and Astra Showers, in which she specifically asked nopony be permitted to see her mark on her memorials of any kind.

Reading through Astra’s personal accounts Twilight had finally found it, and it was definitely something Rainbow Dash would approve of. Astra’s mark was a bottle and two of jars that each held one of three weather items. Maybe it was the cloud in a jar on her cutie mark that inspired her work on the Storm Bottles. Astra’s mark had literal lightning in a bottle next to a cloud in a jar and wind in the other jar. Once she found the mark she started looking through the genealogy records for a pony with that mark, which ran her into an annoying block. She sent a copy of her findings to Princess Celestia, hoping her old mentor might have better luck.

Since Daring was not available for questioning Twilight would have to wait, she realized that not once had Daring been asked details regarding the marks of her parents. Keen Tone’s was a lesser known mark until a few years prior, at least in the academic world, and ponies were still debating over what Astra Showers had for her mark. Twilight had finally found definitive proof to end the debate, and it was from the best source on the subject. Daring had been in Canterlot for the past two days, and Spike wasn’t happy he was not with her. Of all the applicants the best scores were from Mandible and Holly Belle, Jade Arrow had barely gotten passing grades after the sorting debacle that was the first test of practical abilities. Turned out Jade was good at a disadvantage due to her lack of discovering a talent yet.

Twilight wasn’t opposed to helping ponies discover their talents, she just wished Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were around to help with this. Normally, Apple Bloom would be on hand for something of this nature, but the last Twilight checked she was going around to various family properties and helping to improve on them while giving them a touchup. Not to mention, Sweetie Belle was on her music tour, which meant her next visit home might be too brief, and Scootaloo was busy with her traveling athletics training, and nopony knew when she would be getting back.

Besides, all the applicants were Spike’s problem for the moment. Twilight was more interested in spending some quality time with the diaries of Astra Showers; she’d send them to the other princesses to read later. Of course, due to the project that centered around getting her new assistants the castle’s library was out of the question. Actually, the whole of the castle was probably out of the question. Now, where to go in town without being randomly disturbed? It would have to be somewhere marginally safe from the weather, she doubted Rainbow would let her crash at her place for a few hours just so that a few diaries could be read.

Speaking of, the very mare she was just thinking about intruded on Twilight’s private thinking session. “Hey Twi, thought I’d drop by to check on things here. It looks like you’ve got Spike pretty busy for the day.”

“Yeah,” said Twilight, “the applicants are mostly not turning out as we hoped.”

“Bummer, what ya doing in here?”

“Trying to think of the best place to read these diaries, they were all written by Astra Showers.”

Rainbow looked at her with surprise, “Isn’t she the mare that was looked over until recently that also happened to be Equestria’s most underappreciated weather expert?”

“Yep,” said Twilight, “and I recently got confirmation from Princess Celestia that she also happened to be Daring Do’s biological mother. Daring has even mentioned growing up with her.”

Rainbow blinked at her friend a few times before saying, “So, these are all personal accounts written by Daring Do’s mother?”

“Yes,” said Twilight, “but as far as I can tell it all pertains to her research regarding weather. Also, please don’t play with the jars, they were made by Astra Showers to specifically hold in weather phenomena.”

“She was that much of a genius? Pegasi have been trying to develop effective ways of containing pieces of weather for ages, and there're no official accounts of any sort of success beyond an hour if we’re lucky.”

“Daring, and Atra’s notes, call these items Storm Bottles, and…”

“That’s an awesome name, I’m totally going to name one of my foals that when get around to having some,” said Rainbow.

Twilight huffed with annoyance and picked up where she was interrupted, “And the units we first encountered had been holding pieces of wild weather for years, not a single one of the Storm Bottles had an imperfection that allowed the weather inside to get out. You should know, the lab they were found in a house that belonged to the lesser-known musical expert Keen Tone. Who, by the way, is confirmed to be Daring’s biological father.”

“But he was an eggheaded unicorn,” said Rainbow with surprise.

“And Daring’s older sister also happened to be a unicorn,” said Twilight, “in addition to being the one pony she’s practically spent her whole adventuring career trying to find. Star Log, that’s the name of Daring’s sister if you missed it, was the one pony she made plans with before her life of adventure. The Daring Do book series was supposed to be a collaboration between Star and Daring; she’s been doing all she can to get some clue about Star Log’s whereabouts.”

“No wonder she’s so abrasive, I would be too if I spent decades looking for my sibling with no definite leads or clues. So, these are the notes Daring’s mom was working on, I guess I could help you out a bit. I am a bit more versed in the weather lingo than you, and I have a free weekend.”

“What?” Twilight said in surprise.

“It’s the first day of the weekend, you really have lost track of time.”

“But Daring went to Canterlot to see the princesses at the middle of the week, Spike and I were sure she would have her business concluded by now.”

“Must be serious if she’s been gone for days.”

“And that’s not even the worst of it, Spike gets antsy every hour he’s not in close proximity to Daring, after this much time it’s a miracle he hasn’t gone on a rampage through the town and countryside all the way to Canterlot.”

“That you know of,” said Rainbow with a snicker, “but don’t worry, last I saw him, he was evaluating the cleaning work of your recruits. How many applicants did you have you have earlier this week?”

“Five, and only two were getting passing grades.”

“Well, I saw Spike overseeing a dozen applicants doing some sort of organizing competition in the library.”

“We got more applicants?” Twilight gave a sigh of discontent, “I just hope they aren’t as messy as the ones that got here earlier.”

“That bad?”

“Yeah, the only two that earned full passing marks were a young changeling named Mandible and a unicorn Mare I met on our trip to Daring’s old publisher.”

“The nervous-looking green unicorn that was working the front desk you had us install for the library a few years ago?”

“Yes, her name is Holly Belle. Although, she seems to have self-worth issues that are similar to how Fluttershy used to be.”

“Flutters might of had a lot of confidence issues in the past,” said Rainbow, “but Holly Belle puts all Fluttershy’s moments to shame. How did that happen?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think it has something to do with how her prior employers exploited her. I’m having the temp agency she was part of investigated to see how they could make such an immense oversight regarding the social and mental well-being of those they were responsible.”

“Yeesh, on to other things. How’s the whole town project of Daring’s coming along?”

“Still in the early stages, they’re still planning and looking into who are the best specialists for the job. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have chosen some specialists and are having Daring do the same, Cadance is making sure the best materials from the Crystal Empire are part of this project. While they’ll be using local wood when and where it is advised the rest will be building materials provided by the Crystal Empire, Cadance wanted to assemble a team for the project as well but she realized how difficult it would be, especially with her position.”

“So, she just sent down dossiers for everypony to look through,” said Rainbow as she leafed through the diary in her hands.” She came across an image of a massive lodestone; she knew it was massive because of the image showing it half the size of a pony. “Um, Twi, did you find any lodestones in her lab?”

“No,” said Twilight in surprise, “why?”

“She has a theory her that says a lodestone charged by a lightning bolt could potentially draw in large magnetically sensitive items, I think she was trying to work a way to pull potentially dangerous debris from the ground with minimal effort, looks like she decided to scrap the lodestone plan though.”

“Does she explain why?”

“Something about not being fit for use in or near populated areas, she has a few notes here on the kinds of collateral damage that sort of thing could do based on her small-scale tests. She has a note here saying it's too dangerous, and another note saying processed metal that’s been magnetically charged could be worse.”

“Why would she be looking into lodestones in the first place?”

“She has a theory that magnetic fields can have an influence on extreme weather conditions, she doesn’t go into any further detail on that. Looks like she was looking into ways to apply magnetic fields in multiple aspects of life before testing the theory on any weather patterns. All it says here is she got the idea by seeing a wild lightning storm repeatedly strike a ridge made of lodestone and nothing else.”

“Well, that’s something. But I doubt magnetic fields would have much of an effect on any weather patterns. Lightning rods attract electricity and safely transfer it to the ground with guide cables, I’m guessing she got her idea before their use became a bit more widespread in Equestria. Although, it is an interesting theory. We’ll be able to test the theory in a secure environment once we figure out how she made her storm bottles.” She continued to leaf through her copy.

The sound of Rainbow leafing stopped, followed by the sound of Rainbow coming over, “Twi, Take a look at this,” said Rainbow as she handed an old photo, that was in surprisingly good condition to the violet alicorn. Twilight took the photo in her magic and stared at it, her surprise almost caused her magic to lose its grip on the photo. Within the old black and white photo were a pegasus mare, a unicorn stallion, a unicorn filly and a pegasus filly. The stallion was clearly Keen Tone, which was further substantiated by the fact his shirt bore his mark upon it. The pegasus mare was clearly Astra Showers, made all the more clear to Twilight by the shirt writing out “Proud Mother” in an art that resembled clouds. The pegasus filly was most definitely Daring, made clear by the adorable pith helmet she was wearing. Which meant the unicorn filly was Star Log, she was holding a book with its spine facing the camera, the book read “Basics of Astrocartography,” in addition the way she was holding the book looked strangely familiar to how Twilight was at that age.

But all that wasn’t what surprised her; it was the reflection of the one taking the picture in the dish cabinet behind them. The reflection she saw was a younger version of her mother, which meant Twilight Velvet had known the truth about Daring from the start. Twilight facepalmed, she hadn’t even considered asking her mother about things regarding Daring Do. Maybe Princess Celestia had, but to think somepony who could give further insight on Daring Do was literally within reach of her was annoying in that it had escaped her suppositions. The very idea that Daring Do’s older sister was similar to herself at that age was both endearing and surprising.

But why that book, there must be a reason. Twilight flipped the picture over to see if the back could give her any further leads, all she saw was a date and what looked like a set of random numbers. As she was setting it down, she remembered reading about Ottendorf Ciphers, a type of code that uses written materials as the key texts. Feeling she had no time to lose she yelled, “Spike, do we have a copy of ‘Basics of Astrocartography’ in our library?”

“Alright everyone, you heard the princess, see if that book is here," came Spike’s voice before he was seen exiting the library. Coming over and sitting next to Twilight he said, “Thanks, I was trying to figure out a way to test their ability to navigate the library after it had been newly organized.”

Twilight chuckled as she wrote down everything on the back of the picture on a piece of loose leaf paper, “I made the request because of this,” she handed him the photo.

“Daring looks so cute,” said Spike, “and I’m guessing the unicorn filly with her nose in the book is Star Log, looks like the two of you would have gotten along pretty great.”

“Take a look at the book,” said Twilight, “and I mean a really good look.”

“It’s the book you requested,” said Spike after inspecting the portion of the image he had been asked to examine, “looks like a printing from seventy years ago, Daring said she was a little over sixty years old when the whole incident with Zelshirska’s idol started. That would mean Daring was around ten when the photo was taken, and the book was only a few years old. Twilight, if you think the book might be a cipher key you’re going to have to verify the version you have is from the same year as the one Daring’s sister is reading.”

“How could you tell what year the book was?” Rainbow asked in confusion.

“There’s more than one way to tell the age of a book,” said Spike, “I practically grew up in a library thanks to Twilight, which means I was able to pick up on some of the nuances associated with publication dates and book covers.”

“Oh, good catch,” said Twilight with excitement, “I didn’t think take publication date into consideration, but new printings of older books tend to make adjustments to the wording, usually minor corrections.”

“But we’re talking about an entry-level book for astrocartography,” said Spike with almost as much enthusiasm as Twilight.

“Which means newer techniques for the practice would get incorporated into each new printing,” Twilight slapped her head just under her horn, “I missed something so basic,” she started giggling when she realized she used a word in the book to explain her lack of noticing things.

“I’ll never get the egghead jokes the two of you make,” said Rainbow, “all I did was find an old photo.”

“An old photo that might give us a hint regarding the rest of Astra’s work,” said Twilight.

“Sure her work is a tremendous legacy,” said Rainbow Dash, “but you’re forgetting she had at least two other legacies.” Twilight looked her prismatically maned friend with confusion, but Spike only smiled. “Come on egghead, you’re thinking only in terms of academics, that’s pretty narrow if you ask me.”

“Her daughters,” said Spike with insight, once again causing Twilight to smack herself, “children are always the legacy of their parents, whether they believe so or not.”

“We’ve still been looking into where your egg came from, and why somepony thought it would be a good idea to use as a testing material for an entrance exam,” said Twilight.

“Is that what Celestia told you? I’m surprised you haven’t learned about it already,” said Spike.

“What? Where did your egg come from?” Said Twilight and Rainbow in unison.

“They found my egg in the catacombs beneath Canterlot over a hundred years ago, dragon eggs can lay dormant for decades or centuries before they hatch, but they need the right catalyst. As to why someopony thought it would be a good idea to use my egg for an entrance exam, that was a clerical error on the school’s part. My egg was actually supposed to go to a classroom where they were learning about different creatures across Equestria; the examiners didn’t say anything because the eggs of more common types of dragons throughout Equestria had been used in the past. They were under the assumption my egg was from a more common stock than what it really was. The ponies involved in it all got a reprimand and lecture from Princess Celestia later that day because of it all. And the examiners got a stern lecture on paying attention on recognizing inventory.”

“When did you find out all of this?” Inquired Twilight.

“Four years ago,” said Spike nonchalantly, “the way Princess Celestia told it to me made it sound like she informed you of all this. She even made a comment about sending you a letter explaining all if it in a whole lot more detail than I provided, but she sent it through regular mail services because she wanted to have the conversation she had with me.”

“Oh, it must have gotten misplaced during delivery,” said Twilight with a bit of annoyance, “I wonder where it got sent.”

“Wow, never thought I would be the one to say that you were getting sidetracked,” said Rainbow. “We’re looking through Astra’s notes, it might be a while before they find your book.”

“And chances are the publication date won’t match,” whined Twilight, “and that’s assuming the book is the key to cipher, but there has to be a reason that book was in the picture.”

“Daring could tell us,” said Spike, “after she gets in, Celestia and Luna can’t keep her much longer. If I’m a squirming mess when not putting energy into calming myself, just think of what she could be like with her personality.”

“He has a point there,” said Rainbow. “I wonder what her mom would say.”

“Something about the two being good for each other,” said Twilight as she went back to her reading, “I came across a section of her notes that talked about what she would like to say to her daughters if she were still around. Astra Showers may have been a professional weather pony but that’s not entirely where her talent lied, she was also highly gifted in the art of making glassware.”

“Wait, that means she used her talent to make the Storm Bottles herself,” said Rainbow in awe. “If that is true, she must of had a workshop for doing her glasswork. She might have even been responsible for making all of the windows at the place she shared with Keen Tone.”

Twilight blinked a bit, then something dawned on her, “What if she’s the one responsible for storm-resistant windows? If she is then chances are ponies have been using her work without realizing it. This bears looking into, but after we’ve made it through these journals.”

“You sent her dad’s thesis to Celestia, right,” said Spike as he picked up a journal and began to leaf through it.

“Um, no,” said Twilight, “I haven’t even copied it yet, I’ve just been familiarizing myself with his writing.”

Spike gave her a stern look as he said, “Given what you’ve just realized here, do you really think that was smart? Celestia would want to know about that piece of work, seeing as it revolutionized music in Equestria as we know it.”

“Good point,” said Twilight, setting the diary she was reading down, “I’ll go and copy it and send the copy to Celestia right away.”

Rainbow just laughed at the sight of the Princess of Friendship getting scolded by her assistant.

Author's Notes:

Yeesh, I didn’t realize how stiffed Daring’s family was until now. No wonder her parents died in obscurity, just how much was her family cheated? I mean, seriously, first we learn her former publishers were taking advantage of her then we find out her parents were cheated out of being recognized for their work.

As always you know my policies.