//------------------------------//
// 206: The Party Must Wait 
// Story: Thirty-Minute Pony Stories 
// by Silvernis 
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206: THE PARTY MUST WAIT




As parties went, the one in the back corner of the campus pub was a simple affair: a dozen ponies around a few pushed-together tables, a platter of sandwiches, a basket of hay fries, and a large bottle of vintage Chardonneigh that had been finagled from the college cellars. The only music was some scratchy ragtime coming from the old phonograph over by the bar.

Daring loved it. She didn’t mind going to the fancy receptions the college held whenever she returned with some long-lost artifact—nopony in her right mind would turn down free booze, gushing colleagues, and the chance to find an unattached stallion or mare to keep her bed warm for the night—but they weren’t really fun. They certainly weren’t the celebrations she looked forward to when she crawled back to Manehattan after delving into temples full of traps and monsters and terrifying close calls. (Not that she would ever admit to being terrified; she had a reputation to maintain, after all.) 

No, when she came back from an expedition, what she really wanted—aside from a hot shower—was some time with her friends. They were always genuinely glad to see her, and she them. They didn’t want elegant speeches; they wanted the swashbuckling (mostly true) yarns she loved to tell. Their quiet little get-togethers in the pub felt right, like she was coming home. 

Well, quiet might not have been most accurate term.

“So there I was,” she cried, jumping onto the table and dramatically flinging a hoof out, “caught between Manephistopheles and his pet minotaurs.”

“Minotaurs?” said Professor Codex. The old unicorn peered skeptically through his monocle at her. “I’ve never heard of minotaurs living that far west.”

“I assure you, they were minotaurs, and they were not happy that I’d retrieved the medallion from the treasure room.”

“So how did you escape?” asked Professor Datum from the other side of the table, leaning forward eagerly.

Daring grinned. “I got Manephistopheles to help me. I dared him to come get the medallion if he wanted it so badly, so that’s just what he did. Fortunately for me, he didn’t know there were pressure plates under the stones. When he ran towards me, he triggered the traps.” She paused to take another sip of wine. “I managed to dodge the spears, but he and the minotaurs weren’t so lucky. After that, it was just a matter of retracing my steps through the temple and getting out before the doors sealed forever.”

Her audience applauded good-naturedly, and Daring bowed with a flourish of her wings.

“Professor Do!”

There was a commotion at the door of the pub, and Daring looked up to see an out-of-breath earth pony stallion rushing towards her table.

“Fidelis? What is it?” she asked.

“Trouble in the east,” wheezed the stallion. “Griffon cartel . . . found some kind of . . . amulet. News . . . just came in.”

Daring scowled. “Beaklock?”

Fidelis nodded.

“Damn that feathery beasty.” She sighed and hopped off the table, turning to her friends. “Sorry, but it looks like I’m heading out again.”

“But you’ve only just gotten back!” protested Codex, looking scandalized.

Daring shrugged, grinning again. “Such is the life of Daring Do. Now hold onto that wine for me, will you?” she called as she flew towards the door. “I want to celebrate properly when I get back with this amulet thingy.”