//------------------------------// // A Literal Adventure // Story: INTIMUS // by The Amateur //------------------------------// A cross pegasus mare.         Daring Do glared in my direction, a mix of disbelief and infuriation etched on her face. “What do you mean you have never heard of me? Equestria’s greatest explorer ring any bells?” If the venom in her voice was not a hint, I figured out right away this was not the kind of mare you wanted to make enemies with.         I really needed to tread carefully. “Well, I cannot really remember anything before-”         “Before you woke up in your luxury hotel prison with no recollection of your life before then? Yeah, I know all about it. This is just a dream, remember?” Daring pointed a hoof behind us, towards the foliage she jumped me from. A closer look revealed that the trees and plant life had become unfocused and blended together. It was as if the whole jungle was just a very realistic mirage.         “What? Where have I ended up now?”         Daring brushed the dirt with her hoof, eyes wandering to the treetops. The way she blatantly attempted to deviate her attention from me either meant two things: she had an apology to make or an awkward explanation was in order. I really hoped it was the former.         Daring sighed. “Yeah. Thing is... you are in a novel, probie.” Crabapples. It was an explanation. “This is going to sound weird, but I am a fictional character. Written up by some foals’ writer!” Her left eye twitched noticeably. “And you are currently in one of my adventures. Specifically, Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone. This story follows of course, me, on my treacherous hunt for the famed treasure and yadda yadda yah.” A twirl of her hoof emphasized the closing point. For a fictional character, she sure had an amazing lack of enthusiasm for the story she was starring in.         “...We are in a novel.” I looked straight into her eyes. She stared back with an unreadable mask.         “Yup.”         “And you are not real. Even outside of my dreams.”         That got an ear twitch out of her. The facade she wore began to show its cracks. “...Just fiction.”         “...I can believe that.” Honestly, after the whole waking up in a prison with no memories, escaping murderous shadows, and learning how to rewrite reality from a prudent pony, finding myself in an adventure story just could not surprise me. “Still does not explain the hazy stuff going on behind us.” Daring snorted as if I just asked her what color the sky was.         “Duh. It is a story about the adventurous, fierce, and undeniably, unquestionably, unstoppable Daring Do!” She threw her description out into the jungle with jubilant gestures using both of her forelegs. Daring let the words hang in the air for a little longer than comfortable, standing on her hindlegs. Once she closed off, she fell back down to all fours. “Did you think it would be centered around the shaky, anxious, filly-of-a-colt companion of Daring Do?”         “What companion? I don't see anypony else here except-” The snobbish glee etched on her face gave me the clue I needed. “Shut up.”         Still, Daring unsuccessfully hid a snicker from me behind a foreleg. “As the main character, the narrative is told from my perspective; therefore, it would make sense that nothing would be clearly defined outside of my perspective. If you tried to go ahead or turn back, you would probably end up walking off the edge of the world.” So, forced to follow the main character? At least I was paired with a pony who looked like she knew how to handle herself.         Before I could even try and sort out what else to say, Daring was shoving me towards the collapsed log in our path. “Alright, get a move on! We have to get to the temple before that beast, Ahuizotl, snatches the Sapphire Stone!” She crouched down next to the log, likely searching for something deadly, maneuvering inside the opaque bushes, hidden in plain sight to her. I entered this jungle straight from oblivion; I needed answers, and Daring could give them to me. It was time to take control back.         Her magenta eyes flicked back to me, impatience dancing in each pupil. “You hear me, probie? We cannot stay-”         “No, not until you answer a couple more questions. I deserve to at least know what I am getting into.” I impressed myself with how far I got from sounding like a foal to an impatient colt! “First of all, how could we be in a story if this is all taking place in my head?”         Daring sighed again. “Let me give you the short version then. When you read a book or watch a movie, the plot and characters of that book are copied into your head. It is just like walking on sand, your hooves make imprints and that story leaves its mark. Now every so often, your thoughts will eventually wander back to that Daring Do novel, and it will basically replay the narrative as you perceived it. The jungle, the conditions bearing down on you, and I are all based on how you saw us!” Okay, so that cleared up a lot. Everything I was experiencing right now is just how I grasped the story - including Daring herself...         My realization must have been blatantly etched on my face, because Daring Do beamed away her smug smile. “Even I am just your version of the actual character! You only have yourself to blame for making me as awesome as I am.” Great, I literally brought this upon myself.         “You know about my situation, your own existence, and how my dreams work. You are just a character from my head, so how can you know all of this?” Daring’s ears perked up. She began scanning the bushes, picking out even the slightest disturbances. If she heard my question, it seemed that she had more important matters to contend to.         She stood on all four legs. “We have to go. Now.”         “Why? Is something wrong?” A growl behind me answered my question. When I swung around, a jet black panther came into my vision. It scowled at me with its legs spread out, ready to tear me to shreds. In one of my finer moments, I froze right on the spot, gaping like a fool.         Fortunately, Daring pulled me onto the log before the panther could get its claws on me. To our right, a tiger leaped out of the foliage. It landed just a few hoofs short of our log. Immediately afterwards, a lynx materialized from the bushes as well, swiping the air with one paw. As if that were not enough, a cheetah entered the fray, growling in anticipation for the ambush.          There were hunters on all sides, each fixated with the two ponies stranded on their low-lying log. “Get a hold of yourself, probie!” What was she talking about? Oh. My forelegs were wrapped around her, hugging her in a death hug. With the most sheepish grin I could give her, I broke all physical contact with the adventurous mare.         “Ahuizotl’s goons. They must have snuck up on us while we were talking.” Each predator advanced gradually, closing the ring around us. Daring and I searched desperately for a way out, but it was apparent that Ahuizotl’s minions had every gap covered - except for the back! Behind us, there was a pathway left wide open with no jungle predator to block it.         However, soon that gap was soon blocked by... a white housecat. It hopped into view with an adorable smile on its face. Before I knew what to do, Daring catapulted past me and streamed past the housecat (admirably trying to be intimidating) with a olive green and grey spectrum trailing behind her.         With their target gone, Ahuizotl’s minions turned all their attention to the only prey left. Four pairs of belligerent eyes (and a pair of cuddly ones) all focused on me. Now was the time to run, Intimus!         As per usual, my legs required a little mental push before I was well on my way after Daring. The housecat screeched at me, but other than that there was nothing it could do as I sprinted past. It growled behind me, before letting out a shrill yell as the predators gave chase.         The path dropped in elevation and it became obvious that I was on my way downhill. Roots, trunks, boulders, and shrubbery littered the jungle floor. Thick leaves and vines seemed to jut out of every opening they could find. Up ahead, Daring weaved right past the thicket as though it were her backyard! On the other hoof, I was either stumbling on a rock or getting blinded by an unforeseen leaf. There was no thought to my speed; my legs and lungs knew what they needed to do.         Once the foliage thinned out and the path became clear, I snuck a glance back at the pursuers. Just in leaping distance of my tail was the pack, kicking up dirt as they trucked their way through all obstacles. On the back of the panther, a white housecat held on for dear life. A look of terror remained plastered on its face, not too far off from my own.         In the moments I chanced a look back at the predators, an elevated root popped up in the trail. In a split second, I went from staring my would-be killers in the face to tumbling face first down a steep hill. The jungle and dirt route became nothing more than colorful blots in my vision as the whole world spun. All I could do was hold my head as everything the jungle could throw at me struck me at any exposed body parts.         “Woah! Daring watch out!” The olive green and mustard blur could only stare with horror as I collided with her. We both rode the trail with our faces until we skidded to a stop next to a cliff. My insides churned from the roll down, and everything appeared unfocused in my eyes. Daring pushed herself off the ground and hurried over to me.         “The hay was that? We almost went over, you cluts! Now get up, we need to jump across.” She had to be joking, right? After confirming no bones had been broken, I lifted myself off the ground. A chasm stretched before us almost infinitely in both directions. There was no way a grounded pegasus and an earth pony could close the gap!         Luckily, my breathing was not even heavy at the slightest from the run. “Are you mad? We will not make it!” Behind us, the sounds of growling and paws scratching the ground grew louder. Daring frowned and turned her attention to the chasm. For crying out loud, the bottom of the ravine was not even visible! There had to be another way...         “Wait. I can make us a way across.” If I can will an apple to exist in the dream, then I could imagine up a bridge as well! I needed to concentrate. Closing my eyes in concentration, I thought of the length and the make-up of the bridge. Everything from the ropes holding it together down to the color of each plank.         “Wait, Intimus! Don’t imagine anything!” My eyes shot open, the final details of the bridge fresh in my mind. A new bridge appeared before us. Two stakes were dug in, each tied to ropes that ran down to another pair of stakes on the other side of the ravine. Stainless white planks lined up, held together by the bright yellow ropes. It was sturdy; I made sure of it.         “No harm done. Let’s get out of-” My sentence was cut short by a howl in the far distance. The ground shook and the jungle rustled from the sheer volume.         “Ah ah ah. No cheating in the story!” An insidious male voice with a notable accent bellowed from deep within the jungle. The cliff we stood on shook itself violently. Cracks rippled through the ground, and the wind picked up into tempest speeds. Even the predators behind us halted in their tracks, aware that the world was pulling itself apart. Daring and I dug in just to avoid being carried off by the relentless gusts. The powerful bouts of wind created projectiles out of rocks and the shrubbery. Ahuizotl’s minions retreated into the foliage, hoping to shield themselves from the barrage. The sound of roots being ripped from the ground pierced the wail of the wind. I looked up just in time to watch as the unseen force of nature lifted a fully grown tree like it was a foal’s toy. The roots splayed out from the bottom of the massive trunk, from which buried soil clung on in diffused blobs. There was not enough time to shout a warning. I crawled on my belly towards Daring, who somehow managed to hold onto her pith hat. The tree rotated several more times in the gust before letting gravity take its course. The behemoth with its thick canopy and ancient roots descended upon us. I clenched Daring’s tail in my teeth and reeled my head back as briskly as I could. She let out a silent gasp before flying off of her hooves back towards the jungle. At that exact moment, the tree fell with the force of a meteor, smashing into the bridge I just conjured up. The trunk smashed through the middle of the bridge, dragging the ropes and stakes with it. Planks split into millions of unidentifiable shards, sailing through the air with enough speed to penetrate flesh. Luckily, with both of our bodies hugging the ground, the projectiles flew right over us. However, our pursuers were not as lucky. Screams of wounded animals substituted the howling of the wind, which faded away with the bridge’s destruction. The frantic movement in the bushes did not cease though. It seemed that the splinters did no more than to infuriate the predators. Daring must have figured it out before I did. “Oh horseapples. Those guys are in a frenzy now! We have to jump, probie!” She propped herself back onto her hooves in record time; meanwhile, I did my best to untangle myself from my own legs. She grabbed me with a foreleg and trotted to the edge. “Just grab for anything you can!” “Are you crazy? Let me go, Daring! We won’t make it!” This mare has lost it! My hooves struggled against the hoof dragging me to the end of the precipice. “Daring, wait! Aaaaaaaah!” I was catapulted by Daring’s leg in an arc over the chasm. My legs flailed when they realized they were no longer on solid ground. My momentum did not last long. Soon, I was on my way down to the bottom of the ravine. Time generously slowed down in order for me to understand how I would die - Swinging my legs in thin air while screaming at the top of my lungs. Just as time quickened once again, something the color of moss green appeared in sight. It did not look even strong enough to support me, but there was nothing else to hold onto. With my forelegs stretched out, I fell right onto the vine. It was sturdy enough to stop my descent, which I could not be more grateful for. However, the vine carried the force of my impact and swung upwards, pulling me along for the ride. Instead of falling, I was flying! I rose from the depths of the chasm back to the cliffs. Only now I was within leaping distance of the other side! I waited until I hit the pinnacle of my flight before letting go of my overgrowth savior. I was at the level of the treetops when I released my grip, giving me a full view of the jungle. The trees and wildlife expanded outwards until a certain point in the distance, from which afterwards there was only empty darkness. So, Daring was right about the story. There was really no way of escaping the narrative. The real eye catcher was the golden temple that dwarfed its neighbors. The pyramid structure also featured an interesting entrance - interesting meaning a demonic face with haunting red eyes and bat ears! Its mouth opened all the way to the soil, revealing a barely visible staircase inside. That was the most I saw before I began to drop out of the sky - from the height of a lofty tree. Yeah, this was going to hurt. And boy did it hurt. It did not take long for me to pancake into the dirt face first. The sight of me flattened against the ground was probably a laughable sight; I will admit that much. Nevertheless, the agony of hitting Earth at the speed of an arrow was hardly something to find humor in. The feeling of having my whole form compressed into the Earth made me almost wish for death. And yet, I was still breathing (even if it was mostly dirt entering my lungs). The force of the impact managed to bound my legs underground, but a quick test on all four presented no broken bones or torn muscles. Thankfully, I could survive high falls on top of needing no oxygen to breathe. The only consequence was that I was probably going to be terribly sore when I woke up. The next step was freeing myself from the crater. One by one, I released each leg from their bondage. Once I had my hindlegs out, I could focus my efforts of pulling my muzzle out of its portion of the crater. Lifting my flank high, I gave a few test tugs. No use. My head only budged a pitiful inch, tossing some more grains of soil in my vision. There was a muffled thump ahead of me. “Wow. I honestly do not know what to say.” Out of the worst things to happen to me since imprisonment, letting Daring see me in this condition had the rest of the competition beat by a mile. Like some sort of deformed ostrich, I struggled to free my muzzle from the hole in the ground. Even though I could not see her, I could tell from the sudden vibration and muffled giggles that she was taking full pleasure in the sight. Eventually, I managed to yank my head back into fresh air. Never did the treacherous jungle look more divine! After coughing up the last mouthful of dirt, I turned to the hysterical pegasus on the ground, holding her guts from the laughter. I would take her reaction any day to the predators’ lethal desires. They continued to stare daggers in my direction, while splinters jutted out of their fur. Thankfully, the abyss also gave Daring and me a chance to catch our breaths. I waited using whatever patience I could still muster for Daring to recompose herself. After a few more laughs, she cleared her throat. “Oh, you should have seen yourself! Of course you could not... what with your head being in the ground!” She decided to spare me of anymore shame by holding back her snicker. I could see how demanding the effort was through her tightly puckered lips. It was only after the humor had grown stale that Daring allowed herself to speak again. “Anyways, are you okay?” Now she asks me. “Surprisingly, I am okay. Apparently, I must be quite durable in here.” “Trust me, there is a lot you can get away with in your dreams that would never work in real life.” Daring dusted off her pith hat and wiped her forehead dry of sweat. “There are some things, however, that you cannot get away with.” The fierce response to my bridge came to mind. “What exactly happened back there? Did I will a hurricane into existence as well?” Daring tossed a crossed look to the side. “He did not tell you, did he? Darnit. How careless can the Alchemist get?” She directed the baleful question to no one in particular. “You know the Alchemist?” I interrupted. “Yeah. He was the one who told me to help you out.” Daring continued to gaze aimlessly. The fact I was unaware bothered her for some reason. “And he was supposed to inform you of the extent of your power.” This put a damper on my perception of control over my situation. “Extent of my power?” Daring suddenly turned and grasped my face with both forelegs. Her hooves scrunched my cheeks into my skull and pulled them close to her face. “You need to listen very carefully. This knowledge is the difference between living and dying in here! Are you paying attention?” In my position, the best I could manage were rapid nods. “You are the dreamer. That means you can influence the dream however you find fit. Problem is, there is a price for what you will into existence. The nightmares penetrate further into your dream every time you do so. And the greater the advantage you give yourself, the harder the nightmares will try to kill you.” So much for being in control. “So when I created that bridge, it was a nightmare that threw a tempest upon us?” Perhaps it was the same force that nearly had me the previous night. “Actually, the nightmares have the power to do so, but it is the wielder that has the intent. And I have a feeling that Ahuizotl is the one wielding them. It would explain how he could interfere in the narrative like that.” Daring grimaced, most likely recalling her past experiences with him. Ahuizotl must have been the voice that spoke up when the bridge was destroyed. Not to mention, his minions had focused more on Daring than me, so it must mean that she and Ahuizotl were arch enemies. It made sense; after all, every protagonist has their antagonist. Daring released her grip on my cheeks. Her face was resolute, as if stopping Ahuizotl was the only thing that mattered now. “Alright, probie. The temple is straight ahead. If anything tries to stop us, start running.” Daring trotted down a beaten, stone-littered path into the foliage. After stretching a few terribly sore body parts, I was following her. In front of us, the top of the temple poked out of the canopy. Despite the fall I took earlier, I was still able to walk normally. Being incredibly durable must be part of the dream. My mind wandered back to the knife wound I suffered the other night. It dissipated when I woke up, but the pain did not - at least not all at once. I might be impervious to certain injuries, but that did not mean I could go off jumping off heights whenever I felt like it. While I was contemplating my survivability, Daring managed to get quite ahead of me. She was already far down the beaten path, her form disappearing behind the trees that sprouted up wherever they pleased. I ran after her and almost tripped right onto my face. My hoof struck something cold and firm. Beneath me, a sealed tin can was dug into the ground partway. On the side, the picture of carrots indicated exactly what product was inside the container. In the middle of a jungle, canned food was the last thing I expected to see. I tapped on it with the tip of my hoof. It resounded with a dull thud. As I lifted my head, a peculiar sight awaited me. The stones on the path were never stones to begin with. A closer examination revealed that they were all sorts of manufactured goods. There was a styrofoam cup popping out of a hole in a tree trunk. A wine glass, an open envelope, and a wheel belonging to a cart of some kind lied in a ditch. A vase upturned in a shrub. Scattered eating utensils cluttered one side of the route. Cardboard boxes lined the bushes, brand new as though somepony had placed them there just recently. Every kind of product you could find in a convenience store cluttered the trail with no evidence of how they ended up here. I quickened my pace into a gallop. As I ran, I constantly looked down in order to avoid stepping on some broken glass or a rake with its head pointed upwards. This was beyond bizarre. At this point, the dream must be toying with me as it was not even putting any effort in making sense. The sooner I got through with this storyline, the sooner I could get back to working on an escape plan. I did not focus on any of the materials that littered the route. It was all about closing the gap between me and Daring. Before I reached her, she slowed down to a halt. Maybe she noticed I was not behind her? That could not be right. She was staring straight ahead for some reason... I found out exactly what stopped Daring in her tracks when I caught up to her. Slightly above us, a snow white pegasus with a greased grey mane struggled in a mesh of vines. Somehow, the stallion managed to get himself entangled in a way that constricted his legs and wings so that he appeared to be a stiff ballerina. Just as we stumbled upon him, he was in the process of tediously chewing on a vine to cut it loose. His gold eyes fell upon me and Daring. “Oh hey there! I might have flown right into the canopy and gotten myself stuck in all of this. This is kind of embarrassing, but can you guys get me down from here?” The ensnared pegasus sheepishly grinned at us, hoping for help from two strangers in a jungle full of lethal predators. It made no sense why a pegasus would just fly into the canopy of a tree! However, Daring Do was also a pegasus. Somehow, she injured her wing and stranded herself in this jungle as well. Maybe she ended up flying into the trees like our newly acquainted pegasus. It did seem very much like her. Without even acknowledging the trapped pony, Daring focused her eyes back on the path and started trotting at a brisk pace. “Wait! You can’t just leave me here! Can you get me out of these vines first, please?” The stallion struggled in his bonds to turn his head towards the fleeting mare. Daring did not even chance a look back. “Remember, probie. Anything tries to stop us, start running.” "Hey! Oh, I knew I couldn't trust a mare to help me." The trapped stallion turned to me. “Don’t leave me like this. Please.” He puckered his lips and pleaded as hard as he could using only his eyes. They invoked every bit of my pity; I just could not turn my back on a defenseless soul and leave him for whatever carnivorous beast wanders around here. I had to help- A hoof pulled my chin and my gaze into a pair of magenta eyes. “Did you hear me? We stop for nothing.” Easy for her to say. She did not even glance at those pleading eyes. “If we leave him out here, some panther or leopard is going to have an easy dinner! Let’s at least get him down from there.” Trying to persuade Daring is just as difficult as trying to ask a mountain to move out of the way. I could guess that the only way this could end was with my half-conscious body being dragged to the temple. No clean knockout blow ever came. Instead, she just furrowed her brow and sighed for the umpteenth time. With half-lidded eyes, she finally looked at the stallion. She was met by the same pleading eyes that had me convinced. She turned back to me and surprised me. For the first time, there was no scowl or smirk across her face; any trace of her pompous ego was erased. It was a genuine and jaded expression of understanding. “He is not real. Even if he dies - he will just show up in another dream later on. We can leave him, and there will be no consequences.” Daring’s voice was even and deliberate. “I don’t care that he may not even exist. He is the third living being I have encountered that does not want to kill me! And you are asking me to leave him for dead. I will not leave him.” Also, I would not mind a little company. Considering the ratio of hostiles and friendlies I have met so far, having somepony to talk to would be fantastic - especially if they talked to me as though I was not just a liability! “You cannot be serious”, Daring uttered in complete deadpan. “I am serious. We cut him loose.” I tried not to budge under her piercing gaze. There was a shuffle in the vines above us. “I agree with him! That makes it two against one!” The pegasus eagerly voiced his view. Daring muttered something inaudible under her breath. She rolled her eyes and scanned the ground. Her hoof scooped up a broken broom handle and smashed it against a handheld mirror leaning against a tiny stone. The surface broke into several sharp pieces the size of my eye. She pressed the broom handle to my chest with more force than necessary. With the other foreleg, she reached into a pocket on her jacket. From it came an impressively sized roll of black duct tape. This was also thrust against my poor rib cage. “Wrap the mirror shards onto the broom with the duct tape. Use it to cut the vines holding his wings and legs.” Daring gave me my orders and proceeded to pick up a baseball bat that was sticking out of a nearby bush. Following her advice, I carefully slid one of the shards towards me. Next, I propped the broken end of the broom so that it pointed upwards. I could fit the mirror piece on top like a spearhead. The duct tape proved to be a little more difficult to manipulate. Without magic, there was no way for me to pull the strip off with my clumsy hooves. The roll fumbled around in my grip until I just let it drop to the soil. A shout caught my attention. Daring was balancing on her hindlegs, swinging the bat in her mouth vigorously. She was not making a sound save for the occasional grunt. The one shouting was the tangled pegasus, who was urging Daring to buffet the vines with less force. Of course, she did not even bother letting up on her barrage, bat clenched between her teeth. Wait, that gave me an idea! I brought the roll of duct tape to my muzzle and bit down on the strip. The roll relented as I tugged a piece off. Now, I had my means of connecting the mirror shard and the broom. Once the two materials were in place, a piece of duct tape wrapped around both of them was enough to hold the makeshift spear in place. I grasped the broom handle in my teeth and tried to stand on two legs just like Daring. I struggled to balance myself with the uneven structure of my body. My legs wobbled like noodles, but I was now able to reach the net. I tried to sort out which vine held the pegasus’ wings, but his constant thrashing was making it a tedious effort. “Ah! Stop, please. Ow! Just drop the bat, it is not working! Agh!” The baseball bat was ruthless in its pummeling. However, the vines refused to give way. Daring spat the bat out of her mouth and dropped down to all fours again. “This isn’t working. Go ahead and cut him out. Try and stay still alright buddy?” The trapped pegasus snorted. His wings were unnaturally flared out, because a tight noose held it up at the base. My shaky stance made it especially difficult to hold the spear steady. Nevertheless, the shard made contact with the vine. Inch by inch, I was able to seesaw through the plant by pulling the spear back and forth precisely. Eventually, the vine gave way and the wing folded back against the pegasus’ side. After a few more equally tedious cuts, the net broke apart and our new acquaintance was freed. “Oh, thank you! I don’t know how long I would have survived being entangled like that!” He flapped his wings excitedly and performed a few aerial loops under the canopy. He glided down back to us after he had his fill. “Ah, feels good to be flying again!” Off to the side, I caught Daring glowering at her bandaged wing. She did not linger for long on it; instead, she trotted right up to the untangled pegasus. “Alright, we got you out of there. Question is, who are you supposed to be? There was not supposed to be anypony else in this part of the story.” Nothing has dumbfounded Daring since I met her, yet the presence of this one pegasus colt seemed to unnerve her. It left me asking myself just who could this guy be? “Name’s Milky Way. You know, Daring Do’s cartographer?” He remarked with glee. His left eyebrow shifted upwards, making his perplexion all the more mischievous. “Cartographer?! I never had any cartographer in this novel!”         His grin just kept growing. “Well, I guess you didn’t study the narrative enough. I am an essential character in this chapter.”         “What? No, you are not even part of the Daring Do series. How do we know you-”         “-Are not one of Ahuizotl’s goons?” Milky Way completed her sentence for her, leaving her gaping in confusion. “If I was sent to stop both of you, I’m doing a pretty bad job of it. As you can see, no weapons on me!” He spread out his wings and exposed his full form. There was nothing to find except for his snow white feathers and fur. The only thing worth noting was the cutie mark he had: a bronze telescope.         Daring performed a pat-down anyways. Her hooves brushed over his mane, his neck, his back, his wings, and his tail. The search ended quickly; there was nothing on him. “Well, you are clean. But that does not prove that you are not just an agent sent to deceive us!” Daring’s dirt-stained leg accused him. Milky Way kept his composure and directed the leg away from him.         “Really now. Ahuizotl may be a demi-god, but his lack of foresight is really something you should be very familiar with. He would rather hit you head-on than send a spy and plan an ambush.” Not a word came out of Daring. She was too busy staring daggers into his head. Suddenly, Milky Way turned his attention to me. He dropped his grin and peered right into my eyes. “I know you must be the most confused of us. Just know this, Intimus - I am here as a friend.”         “But, how - How do know you know my name?”         “Really. Who doesn’t know your name here?” It was a valid point. Both the Alchemist and Daring knew who I was without introduction. What made Milky Way any different? His jolly attitude made him seem affable... and strangely familiar. Milky Way spun around and lifted a leg in the direction of the temple. By now, it was just a short jog away. “C’mon then! We have a Sapphire Stone to nab!” Without another word, he was merrily walking down the trail. Daring and I exchanged looks. I could tell Daring was seriously doubting the intentions of our new companion. Me? Honestly, I felt kind of relieved to see him. Although I have my suspicions, he does not appear to be someone who would stab me in the back. Besides, the alternative was getting bossed around by the heroine, Daring Do. I could make out the demonic structure in front of the pyramid that served as its entrance. Even in broad daylight, the ruby-crusted eyes pierced through the foliage. It sent a clear foreboding message to any who planned on entering through its mouth. Somewhere in there was some kind of treasure called the Sapphire Stone and the next part of the narrative.