Twilight Sparkle was out of the loop.
 
It started with a letter summoning her to Canterlot for some “important business.” Not expecting anything longer than a simple day-long meeting, she left her castle in a rush, leaving Spike as the man of the house. No sooner did she arrive in Canterlot and settle into her room in Princess Celestia’s castle, however, than her mother burst through the doors. Sparkle was no stranger to her mother’s diregard for common Canterlot courtesy, especially when it came to doors, but this time was different. Twilight Velvet wore a saddlebag and a black hooded jacket. She then told Sparkle—more like urged—her to follow her lead.
 
The two ponies walked down the corridors of the vibrantly painted Canterlot Castle as the morning sun shone through the windows. After a few wooden doors, however, the vibrant paint gave way to gray brick walls and cement floors, some which had fallen off to reveal loose soil. The windows had disappeared, with only Velvet’s magic lighting the way. The echoes of leaking sewer pipes echoed throughout the tunnels. Despite the gloom, Velvet kept her chin up, sometimes humming a tune or two as she continued leading Sparkle into Celestia-Knows-Where. Sparkle hung her head downwards and tailed her mother, suppressing the urge to whimper at the drafty atmosphere and the constant echoing of sounds. Every time she asked her mother what in Equestria they were doing, Velvet would simply brush it off with a “It’ll make sense later.
 
“Well, it was already “later.” What was her mother trying to hide?
 
(A small scene I made for an audiobook teaser I released several days back. Hope it intrigues you!)
 
The audiobook teaser can be found here.
 

 
Part of a collection of concept art for
 
Daring Did 
Tales of an Adventurer’s Companion
 
By Seriff Pilcrow and AdmiralKew
 
Theme music created by The L-Train
 
Daring Did: Tales of an Adventurer’s Companion is an upcoming fanfiction series that aims to breathe new life into a once popular headcanon: that Twilight Velvet—Twilight Sparkle’s mother—was directly involved with Daring Do and her adventures. Travel with Daring Do and Twilight Velvet across Equestria and beyond as the discover treasures of old, battle dangerous foes, and unearth the knowledge the world’s past has to offer. Drawing inspiration from real-world archeology, locales, and cultures; auxiliary MLP material like the IDW comics and G.M. Berrow chapter books; and standard action-adventure fare like Uncharted and Indiana Jones, Daring Did aims to create an immersive, yet flexible narrative with its main premise, allowing fans to weave their own stories into the universe.
 
More information on Daring Did can be found here.
 
Credits found in deviantART source