Daring Do
and her number one fan
by tio aka truekry
With the creepy trees behind them, followed by another stop thanks to Daring, they were on the road again. In that small break she wrote once again one of her not so true little parts. It was actually Daring who shrieked every time the flashlight of their helmets hit one of the big old things you could hardly call a plant.
When Rainbow had asked her about it she just shrugged it off and packed her stuff back in the saddlebags. And now Rainbows nerves were on the edge. "I don't even know which parts of your books are true and which ones are only lies!"
"I'm sorry for destroying you precious little fantasy world, but if I would only write whats actually happened none of my books would ever have been published. I made that mistake with my first book. My real first book. It was never published but it contains what really took place back in the jungle and my meeting with Ahuizotl." Rainbow calmed down a bit. So there was enough truth in her stories to fill a book. That was at least something.
"So... Ahuizotl is real? I never heard of a creature like him." Then again, she never heard of Discord ether before meeting him.
"Oh, well yes." Daring tried again to avoid her gaze, but failed and sighted. "But Ahuizotl is not his real name. I made this up to keep his true identity secret. Also he didn't left me in a trap with snakes, sand and closing walls. He just... tricked me." In Rainbows opinion she sounded a bit embarrassed. If her slight blush was any indication.
Rainbow was no one who caught things like subtle hints normally, but now even she knew it was time to change the subject. At least for now. "So what else do you have in you bags? It was kinda cool when you pulled out the helmets for us." That reminded her that she was still caring hers under her wing and she handed it back. "It felt like I was a real explorer."
Daring Do giggled and stuffed it in her bag. "Well, I'm at least a real explorer. So I always go prepared. Going to explore a dark old castle? Maybe it is a good idea to have light and protection. Who knows if you open a door the whole place collapses or something like that." She had a point. The castle was mostly hold together by the ivy that grew around it.
Rainbow could not ignore the fact that Daring started to opening up. When they met a few hours back she only answered in short but precise sentences. That meant she was on the best way to became friends with Daring Do. By now she was sure Twilight wouldn't only get jelly, she also would've to be proud of her too. After all, she was the princess of friendship now. "In my bags are also a lot other things beside cool helmets. Some rope, rations, maps, stuff to write, binoculars, a tent and a sleeping bag, change of clothes and at least some bits of course. Always organized and prepared."
Rainbow could only blink. Again she sounded more like her purple friend than like the adventures mare from the books she loved so much. She always was kind of jumpy and easy to scare. It was like she lied about her whole personality. Disappointed she hung her head low and got a step ahead by double up the speed of her trot. Rainbow heard Daring call out to her if she done something wrong, but she didn't answer. For a moment, just merely a second, she thought about leaving Daring as soon they reached their target. Shaking her head quickly she dismissed the idea completely. Even if Daring wasn't truthful to her fans, she would be. And she never wanted to tell someone like young Scootaloo that she left a pony in the dark forest she swore to protect.
Sometimes she wondered if whoever assigned the elements messed up with her and Applejack. Her orange friend was dependable, like the most dependable pony ever. She on the other hoof simply wasn't. But when she tried to lie to her friends about liking books the hell broke loose like Discord had changed her back then too.
"Watch out!" Was all warning Rainbow got before something hit her in the back and she tumbled together with her attacker on the ground. She looked around and found a big bear towering above her. "Leave her alone!" She heard scream Daring. Rainbow in the mean time was focused on the sharp teeth in the maw of the big brown beast. She tried to get her hooves under the bear but he was to strong and kept pushing her down, still roaring at her. For just an moment she thought her live was over, right here and now. Not through a big heroic act, not in the biggest and risky stunt ever done. But it was not be. In slow motion a rope caught around the neck of the big animal and it stopped. The other end of said rope hung in Darings snout and she kept pulling.
The bear looked around, rolled his eyes and pulled back. Like she was nothing Daring took to the air and flew past the big animal and Rainbow. With some rustling she landed in a few bushes on the side of the road who lead through the forest. Then his attention changed back to Rainbow. A mighty paw was stretched out and the blue Pegasus closed her eyes. But nothing happened except she heard the bear growl with what had to be annoyance. She opened her eyes again and looked up. The bear was pointing on the way and Rainbow followed his gaze. The path right in front of them lead through a big patch of poison joke. She must have been in such a hurry that she didn't even notice the danger in front of her own snout.
She gulped and looked back to the bear. Now, in the right light there was something about him she recognized. "Berry? Is that you?" The bear only nodded and got off her. Slightly embarrassed Rainbow also back to her hooves with a fast flap of her wings and started dusting of. "Thanks Berry. You saved us a lot of trouble. But next time try not to sound so... you know, like a bear. You really scared Daring." With mentioning her name she remembered that her newest friend was still in the bushes. "Stay here!" she ordered the bear and jumped in where Daring flew through.
The sandy coated mare was lying on the ground, mouth rolled out of her mouth and was not breathing. "Daring!" Rainbow dashed over to her and picked her up in her front hooves. "Daring? Are you OK?" She held one of her ears near her snout.
"Is he gone?" Rainbow blinked. She was playing dead and she took the bait? Without warning she dropped the author who let out a small yelp and started rubbing the back of her head. "What was that for?"
Rainbow stepped back to Berry. The bear was waiting for her return. As he spotted her he started growling again. "Sorry Berry, I'm no Fluttershy. But if you want to know, she is OK. But I'm curios. Why are you even out here? Shouldn't you be back at the cottage?" The bear started to make some motions with his paws and growled along. "Yeah, I had to ask." The second time today he rolled his eyes at her and stretched his had out, followed by putting a paw behind his ear. Rainbow started listening and then she heard it. "Oh! The river. You were going fishing!" She said happy that she understood the animal. "Ewww... You were going fishing." And again the bear rolled his eyes.