//------------------------------//
// For Those In Need 
// Story: The Things We Do 
// by Frostbytten 
//------------------------------//


Unknown time, Unknown Day
Daring Do's House


Daring stared down at the unmoving body of the creature, whose name she had learned was James King. There had been many things in the strange bag by him. She had almost had a heart attack when the strange tablet had begun to talk! It had explained everything to her, including what had to be done. She had passed out multiple times when she had had to cut off the arm, and thrown up many more during that. At the end she'd just been dry-retching. James wasn't even breathing anymore. She'd failed, and now he was dead. She began to move the sheets over his face, when he suddenly took a sharp breath. Slowly, his chest began to rise and fall. He wasn't healed, in fact he was still far from it. But, he was alive. That had to count for something.


2 days later


I sat up suddenly to find myself in a dark room. I sighed in relief, and sank back down into my bed. Just a nightmare, that's all. Just a nightmare. I ran my left hand through my hair, and shuddered at how cold it was. I began to rub my hands together, to try to warm up....and stopped when instead of flesh, my right hand touched metal. I began to feel along the length of my arm. I hadn't been dreaming at all. It had all been real. I began to move my new arm, to familiarize myself with it. It moved smoothly, as if I'd always had it. As it moved, it made slight whirring and clicking noises. As I sat there, the sun began to rise. I was not, as I had previously thought, in my house. Nor was I in the shelter I had made. I heard the sound of hooves and voices nearby. One of the voices was familiar. As they got closer, I was able to hear them. One was my A.I., Mal. The other I knew I knew from something, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what.
"I'm telling you, he'll wake up soon enough." That was Mal. I still had no idea [how, when, or even why I'd programmed him into my data-slate, but I had. "Don't worry. He's tougher than he looks."
"Are you sure? He didn't look so good last night." The new voice said. Wait....AHA! Now I remembered where I'd heard the voice. It was Daring Do from Season 2, Episode 16. Yeah, I was a brony. It was one of the few things left that the Corporations hadn't twisted and corrupted. It gave life to a dead world. The door opened, and immediately I turned towards it, unconsciously reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. I almost immediately relaxed, too.
"Oh, thank Celestia you're awake! I thought you were dead!" Daring seemed overjoyed at the fact that I was, indeed, not dead. I still wasn't thinking straight, because I said the first thing on my mind.
"I think...for a little bit there.....I was." She stepped back, shocked at the flat tone in my voice, I think. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm..."
"James King, I know. Your robot friend told me." The tan pegasus cut me off. "I'm..."
"Daring Do, adventurer, I know." I smirked at the confused expression she had. "Also, don't call Mal a robot. He doesn't like that." At that point the A.I. spoke up.
"Damn right, I don't! I, for your information, am an A.I., or Artificial Intelligence, named Malcolm, or Mal for short." He had a tendency to be rude to people who called him "robot".
"MAL!" I snapped at him. "Manners!" He emitted an electronic sigh.
"Sorry, boss. You know how I..." At that point I cut him off.
"Yes, I do, but that's no reason to...hng!" A sudden pain rushed through my arm. Immediately, Daring was at my side.
"Are you OK?" I looked at her dark pink eyes, which were filled with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine." My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, reminding me that I hadn't eaten for a while now. "Uhhh....On second thought, some food would be nice." I turned and put my feet on the ground. When I tried to stand up, though, blood rushed to my head, and I almost lost my balance. Luckily, I caught myself on a dresser next to the bed. "Do you have a bathroom?"
"Uh... Yeah," the pegasus answered. "Here, I'll take you there."
"Thanks."


7:00 A.M., Day 12
Daring Do's House, Equestrian Jungle
Recovery Day 1


After she lead James to the shower, Daring went to her kitchen to make them some breakfast, still carrying Mal under her wing. As they went, she tried to talk to the strange being.
"Soooooo...." she began, but trailed off, unsure of what to say. After all, what did one ask an Artificial Intelligence?
"Mmmmyyeeeeeeeesss?" The A.I. replied, drawing out the yes, not in an uninterested manner, but rather in a way that implied that he had the answer to any question the adventurous pegasus might have.
"Ummmm....well....I-I, uhhh..." Finally, Mal just sighed and interrupted Daring.
"Oh, get on with it!" He snapped.
"What should I make to eat?" Daring said, putting on an excellent poker face. Mal could tell that that hadn't been what she had wanted to ask, however, he didn't push her. At that point, James, who had been sitting there for the last few seconds spoke up, startling them both.
"Weeelll, eggs would be nice. And maybe pancakes, too." Daring gasped and jumped up when the young human spoke up. She almost immediately turned towards him angrily, getting a good look at him for the first time. He stood at around 5' tall, he wore a black hoodie with a strange logo on it, a blue t-shirt with flames emblazoned on it, and baggy jeans that were faded and looked just about ready to die. He smiled warmly at her. "I'll answer any other questions over breakfast."