//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: The Daring Do Convention // Story: Tiger Lily's Friendship Adventures // by Pinkie Pie Sweets //------------------------------// At an entrance to a cave is blocked by rocks and large boulders. The rocks from the middle has peen pushed away, and a pegasus mare known as Daring Do head inside. Daring walks through the tunnel of the cave until she reaches a stone bridge. Daring Do begins to walk on the bridge, until one cracks and almost falls over. She looks at the cracked part to see that it's unstable. Daring Do then looks up ahead to see the treasure she is seeking, a crocodile shaped key with gems for eyes and one under it's mouth known as the Amulet of Culiacan. Daring walk over, but is unaware that the bridge is collapsing behind her. She finds out the hard way when she almost falls over. She pulls herself up and leap to the other side when the whole bridge collapse to the abuis. Daring Do looks up to see the prize she is seeking, but a cobra comes out and hisses at her. She is shocked to see a whole group of blue cobra have her cornered. Starlight voice comes over and says, "Snakes." Tiger Lily looks at Starlight with a concern look with her suitcase in front of her. "I do not like snakes," Starlight replies, shuttering with worried. "I know some snakes can be a bit scary, and dangerous, but they're not all bad," Tiger Lily reassures. "If you say so," Starlight replies. Tiger Lily has just finish packing her costume, her Daring Do books, and ome of the bits she has. Tiger Lily is going to the Daring Do Convention with Rainbow Dash and will be seeing her friend Daring Do there as well. "You must be pretty excited about going to the Daring Do Convention with Rainbow," Starlight says. Tiger Lily nods her head, and answers, "I am, and she told me A.K Yearling is going to be there. I can't wait to see her again." "That's the author that turned out to be Daring Do the famous treasure hunter?" Starlight asks. "That's the one," Tiger Lily answers. She levitates Snowdrop to Starlight as she asks with concern, "Are you sure you'll be fine with Snowdrop?" "Are you kidding, I think Snowdrop and I are going to have a wonderful time together. I already have idea on what we can do, what and when she'll eat, and etc. I'm pretty much prepared," Starlight answers with pride and levitates a list in front of Tiger Lily, and holds Snowdrop. Then Starlight says, "Make sure you bring me a picture of you and Rainbow in your costumes. I really want to get a good picture." "Yeah. I can't wait to try it on, and I'm sure Rainbow will be excited too," Tiger Lily says with glee. A while later, Tiger Lily and Rainbow Dash are at the Daring Do convention, and the two are excited. Especially Rainbow Dash who is a huge fan. "So excited!" Rainbow squeals with sparkles in her eyes. Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily are walking down on the aisle, and are amazed on what they're seeing. Daring Do products, ponies wearing costumes of characters from the books, and other kinds of Daring Do displays. Just hen a while earth pony stallion, holds out a brochure and says, "You look like a pony who'd be up for an all-inclusive one-of-a-kind adventu-cation, where you can get to live the Daring Do experience!" "No thanks. Did that already," Rainbow Dash declines. Then TigerLily asks, "Can I have one, please?" "Sure,"The sales pony says, and gives her one. TigerLily then puts the paper in her saddlebag, and follows Rainbow Dash. The two come across a chamber that is a replica to the chamber where the Sapphire stone is. Rainbow steps on one of the tiles and stems and streamers comes out of the holes. "Eep!" Tiger Lily states hearing the noise, and falls over on her back. Rainow helps her up as she says, "Woah girl, take it easy!" "Sorry, it kinda startled me," Tiger Lily apologizes. Don't worry, this is part of the display," Rainbow replies. After helping getting TigerLily up, Rainbow presses the button again. Tiger Lily then presses another one, and feels better now. Rainbow happily shouts, "This is the…" "...awesomest thing ever!" Rainbow adds, and hears another pony's voice. Rainbow and tiger Lily hear that they're not alone, and turn to see a earth pony stallion that has a slight orange fur with the same color mane and tail as Daring Do. He is also wearing a Daring Do costume. "Now this is something that only a true fan can appreciate," the stallion says looking a the display. Rainbow looks at the tiles and says, "They even put the tiles in the right order," "She's right, there's an eagle, a cat, a rat, a lion, and a wolf," Tiger Lily agrees, and naming the animals on it. "Huh. Good catch." The stallion says, looking impressed. Then then introduces himself, "Oh, I'm Quibble Pants. Nice to meet you." "Rainbow Dash," Rainbow says. Tiger Lily shyly says, "My name is Tiger Lily." Quibble Pants notices Tiger Lily's costume and exclaims, "Woah! You look just like Princess Water Lily, the Princess of Florendelle." "Thank you, my friend Rarity helped me make the costume," Tiger Lily replies, blushing a bit. "You look amazing," Quibble Pants complements. "Hey, you have a nice costume yourself,"Rainbow remarks. "You, too," Quibble replies. "Thanks. The hard part was figuring out the right…" Rainbow says, taking off of her hat. "...number of arrow holes." She and Quibble say at the same time. Then Quibble says as he takes off his hat, "B-B-Because on page 84 of Sapphire Stone, i-it describes her dodging a, quote, "score of arrows shooting forth from holes in the very walls," unquote, but then on page 107, Daring Do says she, quote, "barely made it past the traps' barrage of arrows," unquote, but clearly, Daring Do is embellishing and the correct number of arrows is... "Twenty!" The two Daring Do cosplayers say at the sametime. Tiger Lily looks at the two with a astonished look, and says, "Wow, I'm surprised that Daring Do was able to dodge that many arrows and only managed to get them on the hat." "You can say that again," Rainbow remarks with a grin. With that, Quibble Pants decide to hang out with Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily, and the two mare agree. First they take a picture at the head in hole picture. Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants make crazy and funny faces. After that, the two climb on a fun obstacle course and landed in a poll of soft toy boulders. Tiger Lily feels a bit nervous at first, but builds up the courage to dive in. The three friends then look at the stuff the stands have. Tiger Lily and Rainbow Dash feeling a bit uncomfortable that a pillow has Daring Do tied up. Quibble shakes his head while shrugging his shoulders. Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants end up buying small Daring Do figures. While Tiger Lily buys herself a Daring Do saddle bag for herself, and a Daring Do doll for Snowdrop. After the fun they have, the three friends are sitting at one of the tables close to the food stands having some drinks. Tiger Lily happily says, "We are so glad we ran into you." "Yeah. Even though I knew the convention would be totally awesome, it's more fun when you're with someone who really knows Daring Do," Rainbow says with excitement. "I know what you mean. It's so hard to find a pony who really gets it." Quibble happily adds. Rainbow and Tiger Lily look a bit confused about it. "That does seem a bit strange," Tiger Lily replies. Then Rainbow looks at a small book and says, "Huh, that's weird? We've only done stuff from the first trilogy. After lunch, we should probably start working our way back through the other books." "I do like to talk about the Eternal Flower, that's one of my favorite," Tiger Lily suggests. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. There are no other books." "Of course there are. Daring Do and the Trek of the Terrifying Towers…" Rainbow Dash's says with pride. "Daring Do and the Eternal Flower, DAring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapore…" Tiger Lily adds. "Daring Do and the Many Faces of… " Rainbow Dash is about to say the next book. But Quibble cuts her off and says, "Uh, p-please, please don't. Just don't even mention the titles. I-I'm not saying those books don't exist. I'm saying that I refuse to acknowledge them." Then he thinks about it, and says, "Of course, I do like the Eternal Flower one," Tiger Lily asks, "How come you didn't want us to mention it?" "'Cause they're horrible! I mean, there isn't a single thing after Ring of Destiny that is even remotely in the realm of the possible!" Quibble explains. Then he calmly says, "EXcept the book with Eternal Flower, and Elemental Staff with the reincarnation of Princess Water Lily, those are good ones." Tiger Lily feels a bit embarrassed about hearing it. However, she is worried about telling him that she is Water Lily's reincarnation, and about her using the staff. Rainbow is shocked and says, "What?! I know for a fact that everything in every one of those books is one hundred percent possible!" "Uh, and how could you possibly know that?" Quibble asks. "Gyuh, uh," Rainbow tries to find an answers, but sees Tiger Lily feeling a bit uneasy about her adventure in one of the books Then she firmly says, "I just... do!" "Well, that's a compelling argument." Quibble bluntly replies. Then TigerLily calmly says, "Well Quibble, there are sometimes that ponies are able to do thing that you don't expect them to. Take Rainbow for example, she and the others told me how they were able to help ponies and save Equestria from trouble." "She's got you there," Rainbow says with a smirk on her face. Then she firmly asks Quibble, "Why would you even come to this convention if you hate Daring Do so much?" "I don't hate Daring Do. The first series was smart and cool and an amazing nod to old-time serialized adventure books, that somehow manages to be self-reflective and ironic while at the same time celebrating the art form without a hint of cynicism. Which is why I came here to ask A. K. Yearling muzzle-to-muzzle why she sold out and dumbed down the rest of her books into just a series of impossible action sequences!" Quibble answers, sounding not happy. "Okay, now I know you're crazy. A. K. Yearling is awesome, and every Daring Do book that comes out is better than the last!" Rainbow protests back. Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants are beginning to argue over the Daring Do books leaving Tiger Lily by herself, and is witnessing it. Their argument has catched the attention on the other ponies. Tiger Lily is not sure what to do about it. Tiger Lily sighs sadly and says, "I guess some ponies get a bit testy when it comes to their own interest about the book." Tiger Lily looks what's in front of her while feeling a bit sad about her two friends arguing. Just then Tiger Lily notices something. However her eyes widen in fear and gasps in shock. Tiger lily looks to see five earth stallions with serious looks on their faces. Regretfully Tiger Lily recognized the leader of it. Seeing the stallion again terrifies her, especially since the last time he has seen him and what he and his hench ponies do to her. Tiger Lily scaredly says in her thoughts, "It… it's Dr. Caballeron and his hench ponies! Why are they here?!" Tiger Lily feels so scared, the she is able to grab hold of Rainbow's hoof and uses her own hooves to hug it very tight. This catches both Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pant's attention. "Rainbow, is Tiger Lily doing okay?" Quibble asks. "I… I don't know," Rainbow answers, unsure. She then turns to Tiger Lily and asks with concern, "Tiger Lily, what's wrong?" Tiger Lily doesn't answer right away, and begins to shudder in fear. "She is able to look at Rainbow and quietly answers so only Rainbow can hear, "Rainbow, he's here. Caballeron is here!" Rainbow Dash eyes widen and quietly exclaims, "What?!" "They're over there," Tiger Lily scaredly adds pointing her hoof to the destination. Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants look to where Tiger Lily is pointing at. Rainbow becomes shocked to see that Caballeron and his hench ponies are at the convention. Quibble is shocked too, but for a different reason. "Wow, that looks very realistic! They even made themselves look like Caballeron and his hench ponies," Quibble says, looking excited. "Yeah. Listen, I think Tiger Lily is not feeling very well. I'm going to take her back to the hotel room," Rainbow says, looking a bit worried. Quibble shrugs his shoulders and answers, "Okay." Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily leave the table, and leave to go find the only ponies who they can tell about it. The two are at the front desk talking to the desk clerk of the hotel. Tiger Lily is still feeling cared about what happened, so Rainbow decides to do the talking. Rainbow says, "Listen sir, Tiger Lily and I really need to talk to her, it's an emergency and she's the only one who can help us. Plus she needs to prove to this ponies that he stories are 100% possible." But the clerk is not saying a word. Rainbow and Tiger Lily are not going to get anywhere at this rate. Just then, they hear somepony questionably whispers, "Rainbow Dash? Tiger Lily?" The two turn to see A.K Yearling walking towards them. "A. K.! We gotta talk to you. It's an emergency!" Rainow says, even though she is excited to see her again. A.K Yearling looks around to see if nopony suspicious is around. She then firmly whispers, "Not here!" A.K Yearling then drags Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily to a place where they can talk. The three ponies walk into the room she is staying is. When they get in he door A.K looks through the eye hole while Tiger Lily runs to the closest corner and sits on the round with her head on the ground. A.K who is Daring Do turns to the two mares and asks, "Now tell me, what's going on? Is it Caballeron? Did you see him?" "That's just it, Tiger Lily saw him and I saw him too. I can imagine why Tiger Lily feels a bit startled because of last time," Rainbow says, looking at Tiger Lily who is at the corner of the room. Daring Do sadly says, "I can imagine after her first encounter with him." "Don't worry Tiger Lily, I'm sure Caballeron and his hench ponies are not after you this time," Daring Do reassures. Tiger Lily looks up at Daring Do and asks, "Are you sure?" Rainbow comes over, and says, "Of course not, he's not going to use you for anything. Not when I'm around you, if I might add." Tiger Lily starts to feel a bit better after hearing it. Then Rainbow says, "But there's also a pony downstairs who thinks everything you've written after the first trilogy is totally unrealistic and terrible. And I need you to help me prove to him that it's all totally possible." "I've got bigger problems on my hooves than dissatisfied fans ponies," Daring Do says. Daring Do then pull out a crocodile shaped amulet from her cloak. Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily are astonished to see the amulet before them. "Whoa!" Rainbow replies, in amazement. "It's pretty," Tiger Lily complement. Then Daring Do explains, "The Amulet of Culiacan, and Caballeron wants it. But the amulet's only a key." "The real treasure is hidden in a lost temple. The Seven-Sided Chest of Chicomoztoc. Caballeron wants to sell it to the highest bidder, of course," Daring Do adds, as she shows Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily the map. "Which is why you need to find before he does," Tiger Lily suspects. "Exactly," Daring Do says. "Yes! Sounds like another awesome Daring Do adventure!" Rainbow Dash shouts with excitement and does a loop deloop. She lands on the ground and questionably asks, "But... what are you doing here?" "Since I haven't found the temple yet, it's the safest place for me and the amulet. It's crawling with security, and if I get into trouble…" Daring Do explains. Daring Do then removes her cloak and hat, revealing her treasure hunting clothes. Daring Do adjusts her hat, and says, "...I can just blend in with all the Daring Do cosplayers." "I think that's quite clever," Tiger Lily, says amazement ot the idea. "Thank you," Tiger Lily replies feeling pleased. Then Rainbow asks, "How can we help?" "Just keep your eyes out for anything suspicious," Daring Do infors. "Got it!" Rainbow agrees, and zooms out of the room. "Um sure," Tiger Lily calmly says, nodding her head. Then she happily says, "It's very nice to see you again." "Glad to see you and Rainbow too. Only wished it will be a normal meeting," Daring Do says. "I agree," TigerLily replies. She walks away to follow Rainbow Dash, and says, "We'll see you later." "See you later," Daring Do says rolling up the map. Just then, she hears a knock on the door, and Rainbow sticks her head out of it. Rainbow ten firmly asks, "Does a pony who only likes your first trilogy qualify as suspicious?" Daring Do makes a stern look on her face, meaning that is not suspicious at all. "Heh, just checking," Rainbow replies. Then Rainbow closes the door behind her. Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily goes to their room, remove their costumes, and head back to the convention to find the ponies. However, it's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack today. The reason why is because ponies are dressed like him, so it's going to be difficult to tell who is who. They are unaware that they walk past Caballeron and his ponies who are at one of the booths. The problem is that being around ponies who supposedly Daring Do is making him a feel a bit… uncomfortable. Caballeron facehoof with a groan, and says, "I find all this fanfare around my archenemy… Disturbing." The five stallions come across a sales pony presenting him a brochure, but Caballeron throws it to the ground. "I mean, where is the booth for Caballeron?" Caballeron complains. The sales pony points them to the destination. They turn to see a tent like booth with his cutie mark on it, and ponies who are dressed up like him. This is no making him feeling any better. "I do not see the likeness," Caballeron bluntly says, not very amused. He then sees one of his hench ponies with a Daring Do pillow, and pushes it on the ground. Caballeron becomes a bit frustrated as he says, "Come, let us find Daring Do and the Amulet of Culiacan. I don't want to spend any more time in this place than I have to!" Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily has walk past them as they look for the ponies, but it's not easy. Rainbow notices the cutie marks and look to check it out, but it's a girl pony. Tiger Lily walks the opposite direction and ends up bumping into somepony. She looks to see Quibble pants. Tiger Lily helps him up, as he says, "Oh, I'm… I'm sorry Quibble." "It's alright. How are you feeling?" Quibble asks. "I'm feeling a much better," Tiger Lily says with a shy smile. "That's good. I was a bit worried there, but glad to see that' you're okay," Quibble replies. Then Quibble says, "Since you're here, I wondering if you and I can talk about the reincarnation of Princess Water Lily was able to tap into the Elemental Staff's powers." Hearin it, makes Tiger Lily a little embarrassed since this is about her little adventure. Rainbow comes over, "Sorry, Quibble, we've got more important things to do than argue with a pony who thinks awesome means unrealistic." Rainbow then takes Tiger Lily by the hoof and the two walk away. Tiger Lily can see that Rainbow is still not pleased with Quibble's opinion about the books. "No, wait!" Quibble calls out. He speeds up to catch up with the two mares as he says, "I was hoping we can talk more about The Curse of the Jungle Queen, Daring Do could survive a sixty-story drop from the top of a waterfall after sustaining a broken wing in a category-six rapid!" Tiger Lily questionably says, "Really, I thought Daring Do's wing wasn't that broken in that book?" "Exactly what I think," Quibble replies. "Hey me too, but let's…" Rainbow is about to says something. But her eyes widen, and quietly exclaims, "Caballeron!" Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily hide behind one of the booth hoping to spy on the two ponies. However, Quibble says with adoration, "See, now that's a great character. Solid backstory, good motivations…" And he is not aware that Caballeron and his hench ponies are heading in their direction "No-no-no-no! Caballeron is right there!" Tiger Lily scaredly says, pushing Quibble's face to were the ponies are. But Quibble rolls his eyes, and says, "Of course he is." "He's also over there... Over there… Ooh, ooh, over there, And and over there," Quibble adds as he points to ponies who are dressed like him. However, the last one he is pointing to is the real Caballeron and his hench ponies as they walk by. Rainbow and Tiger Lil decide to follow him and see where he is going. Quibble sees the two leaving as he asks, "Where are you guys going?" Rainbow Dash and Tiger Lily go out of the back door and are trying to look for the treasure hunter and his crew. Qubble follows them outside and bluntly asks, "And we're out here because...?" "Daring Do told us that Caballeron came to this convention to steal the Amulet of Culiacan, and I just saw him and his hench ponies come this way!" Rainbow explains with a serious look on her face. Not believing the story, Quibble bluntly says, "Okay. I'm gonna head back inside. There's just a little too much crazy out here for the both of us," "But Quibble, it's true. Unfortunately I had an unpleasant experience with Caballeron and his hench ponies before," Tiger Lily explains, but ends up becoming bit scared. "What do you mean?" Quibble asks, noticing the scared look on Tiger Lily's face. Before Tiger Lily can answer, two large bags are put over both Tiger Lily and Quibble Pants. Rainbow Dash gasped seeing the event, and that Caballeron and his stallions are behind them. Two of them put the same bag over Rainbow Dash with no trouble. Everything has gone black soon after that.