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// Double Dare and the Changelings' Chagrin [part 2] 
// Story: The Amazing Adventures of Double Dare 
// by Fabricia Gearhart 
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	Each day as Double Dare made her way to the Manhatten Public Library to shelve books upon never-ending books, she would ponder upon why on Equestria she had never realized that her mother hadn't died or simply walked out on her father. She'd been told by her foal-sitter that her mother was probably just too busy to get back home in time for Dare to see her, stating that she worked throughout the day and was only home at night. This, of course, had led to many nights without sleep and several months worth of disappointment for the young foal. When her father asked why she was so tired and was practically sleepwalking, she never saw that foal-sitter again, much to her dismay. Then again, her father had then taken it up to himself to raise her instead of relying on other mares and ponies to do it for him.

At first, as she always remembered with a smile, he'd been a terrible cook and often had to go down to the local cafe in order to buy them some edible supper. It had taken him a long time before he realized that he'd turned the stove onto it's highest setting before he began to prepare somewhat decent meals. Dinner was never anything too special or extravagant, but it was always her favorite time of day. It wasn't until she was a filly that she learned how to make simple things like noodles and vegetables, but even when she had learned to cook, she had always looked forward to her father coming home and praising her for her attempts at making something worthy of his stomach. Her father had always worked so hard when he was able to leave her home alone and she was proud of him.

But now she was confused about whether she had been too weak to handle the news about her mother earlier or whether he had been holding it back in hopes of keeping her to himself for the rest of her life. He had told her that it was her duty to go out into the vast world to find the one pegasus that she had never once seen until just the day before on the cover of a book. It was a nearly impossible task, but the look in his eyes had told her that she was capable of anything if she truly tried. And she intended to give it her best shot, because not only did she want to meet her amazing mother, but also wanted to see her father smile with pride and joy. He doesn't understand that I'm not doing this for Mom, she thought to herself, but for him.

Just then a high-pitched shout brought Dare back out of her thoughts and into reality, "Double Dare! You have work to do! There's no room for slacking when all of the books are stacked a mile high!"

Dare sent a deadly glare at the librarian that was none other than her dreaded manager and slave driver, Book Smart, before she loaded up yet another cart of books and began to trek them throughout the monstrous library and place them in the right slots on the shelves. She had just placed a book about magic that was affected by the placement of stars on the shelf when she heard a small gasp behind her. The sandy pegasus turned and looked down at a blue unicorn filly with a silver mane and huge glasses. They simply stared at each other for a long moment before Double Dare burst into laughter at the sight of the giant, nerdy glasses. She snorted with laughter, "Those are priceless! They make you look like a total egghead!"

"I am not an egghead," the unicorn filly responded with huff, "I am the great and powerful Trixie! Give to me the book that you just put away without delay!" 

From the small unicorn's saddle pack she withdrew a large blanket with crudely drawn stars on it and used her teeth to tie it around her neck like a cloak. Then the filly put her muzzle in the air and closed her eyes with a haughty smile. Dare had to bite her lip in order to keep herself from bursting into another fit of laughter. When the filly opened her eyes and saw the pegasus' expression, she let out a sigh and looked down at the wooden floor of the library, shuffling her hoof in a nervous sort of fashion. "I mean," Trixie said in a small voice that was actually befitting of a small unicorn such as herself, "if you could get that book down for me, I'd be most grateful."

Dare took a deep breath to calm herself and once she had her laughter under control, she noted the look of disdain on the unicorn's face. Reaching up and retrieving the book she said in a hesitant sort of manner, "I didn't mean to offend you or anything. It's just that you looked so funny trying to act like a hotshot when you obviously don't fit the saddle." The pegasus then held out the book to the unicorn and when it was received with hurt pride, she couldn't help but ask, "Why on Equestria did you act as if you're so much better than me?"

"I... well..." the unicorn began as she slipped the book into her saddlebag, "... you wouldn't understand Trixie's problems."

"Oh," Dare said as if she understood, "are you sure that I wouldn't understand? I mean, eggheads always do better in school than the rest of us."

"The great and powerful Trixie is not an egghead!" The unicorn said with a stomp before sighing and admitting, "The other fillies at school say that Trixie is just a book-loving freak that will never receive her cutie mark."

Turning to the side, Dare moved her wing to expose her blank flank before stating, "You don't need a cutie mark to cool. See? I'm several years older than you and still don't have my cutie mark yet." That's when it was Trixie's turn to laugh, but it was in a sweet manner. The mare smiled a little before she folded her wing over her flank again and asked, "You just need to know what you want to do and whether you'll do anything to become what you want. I know, you've probably been told that it's what you're talented at, and that's partially true, but I think it's when you know in your heart that you want to become good at something and try your hardest to become so." She patted the unicorn on the head before turning back to her cart, glancing over her shoulder as she finished, "Just reach for the moon, and even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."

She trotted away with the cart before she could see the tiny unicorn begin to cry slightly. "The great and powerful Trixie will one day become the brightest star and it'll be thanks to you!"





Everyday after work, Dare would check out a book that had anything to do with geography, traveling, and most importantly: ancient artifacts, both real and fictional. She desired to know what sort of treasures her mother might be forced to retrieve for Mystic and soon began to lose hope of ever finding her mother. There were so many treasures out there and many were already in museums and in private collections that she knew would be of no help. Days turned to weeks, which soon turned into months, and she had nearly lost every ounce of hope that she'd felt when she'd first started her research. Of course, she'd worked so much that she rarely ate and it was obvious that she was very unhealthy. Her father began to worry for her and forced her to take a vacation from her job of re-shelving books and magazines

Much to his dismay after returning from another long day of work, she was sitting at the table with several books piled around her, each opened to a separate page of different artifacts, their locations, and even a travel guide for that specific location. He sighed and sat down across from her, gently taking the books from her and said, "Dear," his eyes were tired and showed that he was rather unhappy, "I know that you're doing your best to even figure out where you should start, but who knows where your mother is by now? I remember that she once told me that she wanted to go and uncover the secrets of the legendary creatures known as the Changelings. She also mentioned that their queen had a scepter that allowed her to control her people without question or hesitation."

"Do you think she's already been there?" Dare asked with pleading eyes that made Font's heart ache slightly. She was dead-set on finding her mother and he couldn't find it in his heart to tell her the full truth. Not yet, anyways. Then he shrugged as if he didn't know and she slammed her hoof on the table with a victorious laugh, "Then that's where I shall go, damn it!" 

She stepped away from the table and started towards the door, but her father was quick to block her path, "You can't just go without knowing where the Changeling's nest is!"

Dare simply stared up at him for a long moment before she pointed with her hoof to a map that had been pinned up on the fridge for the past several days and stated blankly, "It's in the northern mountain range, otherwise known as the Crystal Mountains; at least that's where I assume that it is by their basic body structure and rock traversing abilities." She then slipped past him and pulled on a small saddlebag that would serve as her suitcase for this mission. She then trotted to the pantry and began to stash her packs with plenty of snacks that would last out for several weeks as well as give her the proper nutrition that she required for long periods of walking. "And even if it's not where Mom is, then at least I'll have seen the Crystal Mountains for myself. Maybe I'll even get to study the Changelings a little before coming straight back home."

Just as she walked back to the hat rack and pulled on a vest with a compass in the front pocket, she heard her father clear his throat. She turned to see that he looked resigned and that there was nothing left for him to say or do... except for take off the sacred safari hat from the top of the hat rack and place it on her head. "You have your mother's heart and though I want nothing more than for you to stay here safely with me... I want you to fulfill your destiny and find your mother while doing so." Tears filled his eyes as he placed a kiss on her forehead and stepped back to admire the child that he had struggled to raise. "Remember never to give up, no matter how long it takes or how far you are forced to travel!" He then sighed and gave to her his wallet. "If you are quick, you might be able to make it to the midnight train on time."

The sandy brown mare felt tears spring up in her eyes as she simply turned and left before the tears would fall down her face. She didn't want him to know that she didn't want to leave her home, let alone Manehattan. She trotted quickly down the stairs to the streets below and pulled the hat down to cover the top part of her face as she made her way to the train station. She hated the feeling of tears running down her cheeks and the way that it made her sniffle like a little filly that was crying over misplacing a doll. Tears were pointless to her.

As she walked down the streets, she suddenly heard something in the sky above her. She looked up at the sky and saw one of the most ridiculous sights in her entire life. It was a pegasus stallion sporting a stormy grey pelt and a mane that was the color of the most dangerous of storm clouds. He soared above her and seemed to be watching her intently. She gave him a glare that told him to bug off, but he ignored the look and gave her a smug grin. It was as if he was rubbing salt on the wound and so she continued her short journey to the train station. What made things worse was the fact that he followed her the entire way.

When she reached the platform she stood there under one of the many lamps and pretended not to take note of him flying around above her like an annoying fly. After what seemed like ages, he suddenly plunged to the earth and crushed into the ground. She jumped with a yelp of surprise before asking in a dry tone, "Well, that was a smooth landing."

"It's my name, literally." He responded in a dazed tone of voice as he sat up and shook his head from side to side. Just then he gave her a cocky grin and asked in a coy format, "The name's Crash Landing. You?"

"My name is of no importance to you," the pegasus mare responded in a haughty fashion as she sat down and turned away from him, "so scram before I call the police."

Crash Landing pouted before sighing with defeat, "And why would they arrest me? It's not like I was stealing anything or even looked at you in a sexually harassing way for Celestia's sake."

"You followed me and frightened me." Dare said with sarcasm dripping from every word spoken. "Then you proceeded to harass me with your presence. That could be considered sexual harassment, I'm sure."

"You really thought this through, eh?" Crash asked and managed to receive a quiet chuckle from the mare. He was further surprised when she turned so that she was in profile view now. "The train's for earth ponies and unicorns. So why is a pegasus like you taking the train?"

"I can't fly."

For a moment there was nothing but silence. That single moment's silence hung so heavily in the air that Double Dare was sure that she could have cut it with a knife. Then came a little gurgle of a laugh from the stallion. Seconds later, it became a full-out laughing fit. To add onto it, he was rolling around on the ground like a manticore with a stomach ache. His laughter rang so loudly on the platform that she was sure that the entire city could hear it. 

"A pegasus that can't fly!" He said loudly whilst laughing. "That's the funniest thing that I've ever heard!"

He was laughing at her for her disability.
He was going to pay dearly.