//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Italian on Kaiser // by totallynotabrony //------------------------------// Lara’s life had in the last few minutes gone from no problems to, well, at least several.  For one, they weren’t getting the deposit back on their rental van, what with giant cat clawmarks all over it.  Also, she might very well be afoul of the Italian Police for discharging firearms for which she did not have a local permit.  Most pressing, however, was the arrival of a pony from another dimension. It was that last one that was most complicated.  While Lara considered herself a reasonable person, she’d had brushes with what most would describe as magic.  That might be the easiest explanation for why Daring Do was now human and in Lara’s world.   Brushing off further explanation was easy in the face of the more serious issue of Daring being injured.  Lara herself had survived quite a bit of punishment in her life, but she certainly hadn’t been so thoroughly impaled as Daring had. “We’re going to need a hospital!” she called to Jonah as he drove the van.  She reached up and turned on the light in the back so she could see more clearly.  Daring was absolutely drenched in blood. “Who is that?” he asked, glancing in the mirror. “Her name is Daring Do.  Long story.” “Does she have ID?  I didn’t see any pockets where she could keep it.” That was true.  Daring had arrived wearing a shirt, a necklace, her trademark pith helmet, and that was about it.  “We’ll have to put her down as a Jane Doe.” Daring’s teeth were grit against the pain, but she seemed fully aware.  “Lara...I think…” Lara looked at her and Daring seemed to find resolve and said what was on her mind.  “I don’t think it’s that bad.” “Well, you’re wrong,” said Lara, gesturing. “No, I mean…”  Daring started to sit up.  Lara put a hand on her chest to hold her down.  Daring settled for just raising her head. She clumsily raised one hand and clutched the stub of the wood that was stuck in her chest.  It had been there for hours now. “See?  I’m not even bleeding,” she pointed out.   For the first time, Lara realized that most of the blood was in fact dried.  “You’re lucky, then. It’s probably holding your wound closed.” “I really don’t think that’s it.”  Daring felt as if she was rambling, a kind of post-fatigue maniac second wind. “I really don’t think you’re in a position to judge.  Just lie back and-” Daring yanked it out. Lara grabbed for her bag to get something to stop up the wound, but paused as she saw that no blood came gushing out.  In fact, the wound seemed…merely damp. “Oh no,” murmored Daring, staring at the hole in her chest.  “That...doesn’t look right.” Lara stared at the wound, which was several inches deep and contained fragments of bone and slivers of wood.  And sure enough, it didn’t bleed. Well, it wasn’t the strangest thing that had happened today.  Lara swallowed and tore her eyes away from the cavity in Daring’s chest.  “Cancel the hospital, Jonah. But do stop by a pharmacy.” He stared hard into the rearview mirror, but went back to the road after a moment and didn’t say a word. Lara helped Daring into a sitting position, kneeling beside her in the back of the van.  Daring seemed lethargic, but overall remarkably composed for someone who until recently had been doing an impression of a shishkebab. “How did this happen?” Lara asked. Daring opened her mouth and then paused.  “Give me a second, I’m trying to decide how far back to start.” Lara had got most of the story from Daring by the time they arrived at the hotel.  Jonah had caught most of it, but had stopped to buy some medical supplies. He wore a look that suggested he didn’t particularly wish to hear what he had missed. “And so apparently I’m not dead,” Daring finished. Lara had given her some clothes to cover up and she and Jonah smuggled her upstairs in the hotel.  Lara nodded goodbye to him and took Daring with her. The first order of business was a shower.  The bathroom was proportioned for humans, but other than that was not too out of the ordinary to Daring.  She paused to look in the mirror. When she’d first met Lara, it had been in Daring’s world.  By now, they’d discussed what they knew about the mirror portals ad nauseum and there was no point further dwelling on the how.  Lara had experienced being a pony for a while before they’d gotten her home, taking one of the portable mirrors with her. Now, it was Daring’s turn to see Lara’s world.  Daring was a pegasus - or had been - and the mirror magic didn’t make any sense.  She wondered if it would to even Princess Twilight. She could at least see what the magic had done, even if she didn’t understand it. She actually recognized herself.  That helped stave off an identity crisis caused by the body dysphoria.  From discussions with Lara during the previous go-round, she knew humans were effectively naked apes.  The biggest change for her was definitely the hands. Feet to a lesser extent. She missed her wings, but as much time as she’d spent grounded, she could adjust. Daring got the feeling that the wealth of touch she experienced from her fingers was wasted on the current state of her body.  Aside from jungle dirt, she was still caked in dried, flaking patches of blood. Her own. She was still worried about how she just might have lost it all, leaving nothing left to continue bleeding out.  Lara had seemed concerned. That was apparently not something of which humans should have been capable, much less ponies. She tentatively raised a hand to touch her lips.  She’d already spit out the broken fragments of mirror, but the shards had left a few cuts. Daring turned away from the mirror to avoid looking at the crater in her chest any longer and stepped into the shower, turning on the water.  She was slow in washing, getting used to the new sensations and limbs. As the grime came off, Daring rediscovered the Mortal Amulet, still around her neck.  There was no place to put it, so she just left it on. She was well steamed and cleaned when she was finished.  If anything, the moisture seemed to have done her some good.  She tried not to think about how she was supposed to rehydrate herself without a functioning circulatory system. Stepping out of the bathroom, she found Lara sitting on the bed.  Lara averted her eyes and Daring remembered the human nudity taboo.  Lara certainly hadn’t let her forget it in the other world. There was a set of clothes on the bed beside Lara.  “These may fit.” Daring was slighter than Lara, but the size was close enough.  She started to get dressed. Before she finished buttoning the shirt, fingers struggling with the buttons, Lara stopped her.  “We should probably do something about...that.” Her chest wound hadn’t so much scabbed over as simply gone dry.  Daring had tentatively cleaned it in the shower and patted away the water.  The towels should probably be considered biohazard now. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know what to do about this,” said Lara.  She used the medical supplies Jonah had bought to disinfect and then pack the wound before covering it with a very large bandage. “That is one advantage to bare skin,” Daring observed as she worked.  “Adhesive bandages are no trouble.” “I’m still trying to figure out how it missed your heart.”  Lara paused, and then took hold of Daring’s wrist, putting her fingertips to the underside. After a moment, she said quietly, “It didn’t miss your heart, apparently.” “W-well, this is a problem,” said Daring.  She verbally stumbled on. “And so is me, a writer, being unable to say anything more eloquent and expressive than ‘this is a problem.’” She swallowed, not coming to terms, but trying to stay calm, and lifted the amulet.  “I’m going to climb out on a cirrus and say this thing is probably responsible.” “You said it might contain a curse,” Lara said, looking closer but not touching.  “What happens if you take it off?” Daring took a breath.  “I don’t know. That’s why I haven’t.”  She looked away. “My plan in coming here was because I didn’t have any other options, but it sure would be nice if you knew something about undead curses.” “Well,” said Lara, “maybe a little.” She got up and looked out the window, seeing that the sun had gone down.  Turning back to Daring, she said, “Other than that, how do you feel? Maybe some rest would help.” “Not sure if I could sleep,” Daring replied.  She moved a little, checking the bandage on her chest.  “I’m hungry, I guess.” “Why don’t we order some room service and have a night in?” Lara suggested.  “We can get started on your...issue tomorrow.” She picked up her tablet.  “How about a movie? Do you like musicals?” Daring lay awake that night.  Lara had slept on the sofa, insisting that Daring take the bed.  Aside from the sensations of being in a new body, her mind was still reeling from everything. They’d already had the talk about what humans ate when Lara appeared in Equestria, so Daring was prepared for the room service menu.  What she was not prepared for was how much her body wanted Lara’s steak, completely ignoring her own salad. “Well, if you want to try it-” Daring had done more than that, not pausing for silverware, and even licked the plate clean afterwards. Meat was a new experience, but based on Lara’s reaction, Daring had far overdone it.  She should have been disgusted, but it felt like she’d found an addicting drug. This, combined with her apparent lack of heartbeat… She tried very hard to go to sleep and not think about the first word for her condition that had come to mind. As she rolled over, the amulet fell against her.  She touched it in the darkness. How she was going to get out of this mess, whole again, and back to Equestria, she wasn’t sure.  Hopefully Lara knew a few good...necromancers? Was that what she needed? This was not helping her sleep. In the morning, Lara was up early.  Her back was bad enough despite her young age, and sleeping on the couch didn’t help.  Still, she tried to be quiet while Daring was still asleep. Her friend had changed.  There was the obvious, that she was no longer a tan pegasus, but both of them seemed taken aback by her reaction to eating flesh.  Lara grimaced. At least Daring seemed to still retain her mind, but without knowing anything about the curse, breaking it soonest was a good idea.  She couldn’t let Daring be...well, undead. Italy was not exactly a hotbed of monster mythology.  Combing what she remembered, Lara thought that she would have to go back to ancient Roman history before finding something like that.  That decreased their chances of success with some long-lost relic or spell to help Daring. Time erased all, and even stone ruins disappeared given enough years. Still, maybe Lara had overlooked something, so she did a few searches.  One early result was Laguna del Mort. However, despite its name, it was actually a nudist beach.  Broadening her search parameters turned up a few other leads. As Lara had suspected, most results were from older mythology.  Maybe they would have to do some diving in old dusty vaults. She’d been petitioning the Vatican Library for some time now, though now that there was an urgent need, she might have to take matters into her own hands. No, not break into the Vatican - the Swiss Guard was nothing to be trifled with - but she had a few contacts that might be of help. Lara looked up as Daring shifted in bed and sat up.  “How are you this morning?” “Hungry.”  Daring looked troubled, even as she said it. “We can do something about that,” Lara said.   She started to get up, but Daring said, “Could we…”  She paused, ducking her head. In a barely audible voice she said, “...try something raw?” Lara stared at her.  “I don’t know what your world’s pop culture had to say about things like this-” “Zombies?” Daring broke in, flatly. Lara hesitated, but reluctantly replied, “Zombies.” They were both quiet for a long moment.  Daring took a breath and straightened up.  “I don’t want to be ‘that’ pony who tries to hide it and dance around the issue.  Lara, if we can’t cure me, then I want you to know that I won’t resent you for putting a bullet in my brain.  Don’t let me be a monster.” This time, it was Lara’s turn to look away.  She didn’t reply, just nodded. They went to find Jonah and then the three of them went in search of a breakfast place that served steak tartare.