After the insane rescue plan and its unlikely success, Dust and Fuse had detached themselves from the Daring as it impacted with the ground. While Fuse had retained landing gear, and managed to land safely on the desolate field beside the crash-landed airship, Dust had been required to find a more suitable mode of landing. Circling in the air, she had spotted a nearby river in which she could crash-land safely. Upon making her way back across the empty fields and dense clumps of forest to the landed Daring, she regrouped with the Captain and crew, all of whom were setting up in tents and trucks around the crashed airship. The balloon itself was apparently being dismantled, used as tent material and sheets to cover equipment from the rain which had returned in force. The body of the crashed airship was still mostly intact, save for some hull damage and sections of plating which had fallen away on impact. The Captain smiled as Dust approached, a noticable bruise on her head and blood trickling from her lip.
"Welcome back, Miss Dust." The Captain smirked. "I knew you could be trusted to save the day." Dust simply looked down at the floor, kicking the dirt with a hoof.
"It was actually Mr Fuse that had the idea for it.." She mumbled. The Captain nodded.
"I see. Well, he will also be rewarded for this, as I reward you now. Miss Desert Dust, I promote you to the rank of Senior Expedition Commander." She chuckled. "I would have given you the place of number one after Roughneck's little fiasco, but seeing as the ship is down.." She looked mournfully back at the Daring, which somewhat resembled a beached metallic whale. A collosal spectacle, and quite dead.
"I must go and check on some things.. I'll be out soon, Captain." Dust respectfully stated, before dashing off toward the wreck and climbing up into the now-sideways entry bay.
Inside, it was quite chaotic. The walls had become the floor and ceiling, while the former had switched jobs. Some broken pipes spewed steam, and a majority of the electric lighting inside was flickering or completely broken. Crew members were transporting crates of supplies and equipment off the ship through the now-vertical corridors, having to step over doorframes and avoid pitfalls into rooms below. Dust dodged past a unicorn trooper carrying a huge ammunition box, and darted down the corridor beyond. She stopped at the doorway to the storeroom, and peered down into the dimly-lit room below. Cistern was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm up here." Came a familiar, grating voice. Dust looked up, and spotted Cistern staring down at her through the doorway on the ceiling. The old mare gave a smirk. "What, did ya think I was dead or somethin'? Wouldn't blame ya." She chuckled a dry chuckle, and Dust merely shifted uncomfortably at the thought. Looking back up, she inquired,
"So why are you up there? Your room's down here." Cistern shrugged.
"I got shook around a bit when we crashed down. Fell onto the floor and rolled across to the room opposite. When I woke up, the whole damn world was sideways." Dust couldn't help but giggle a little. "Anyway, I've been stuck up here for a while.. Little help?" She reached up, grabbing hold of Cistern and helping her down onto the floor. She nursed her head with a hoof.
"Are you okay?" Dust asked. "Your head.." Cistern shrugged it off instantly.
"Naa, I'm fine.. Say, could you get something from my room? It's, ah.. My photo. The frame's probably broke, but I need it. Got a lotta value." She grunted. Dust nodded, clambering down into the cleaning-mare's room. Crushed under a pile of mugs and a kettle, was a smashed picture frame. Slipping the photo out, Dust examined it for a moment before starting the climb back up onto the corridor. A faded, sepia-toned photograph of Cistern in her younger years, with a little filly sat next to her, wrapped in an embrace. Both were smiling at the camera. A ghost of a smile fell over Dust's face as she clambered out onto the corridor, handing Cistern the photo.
Climbing down into her sideways room, Dust began sorting through the pile of fallen belongings on the floor. Rooting around, she found her saddlebags and began packing equipment into them. Pistol, maps, notes, and her mother's journal. Some clothes were stuffed into a large leather case; thin vests, rugged pants, thick fur coats, waterproof cloaks.. Anything that might be of use, or have value. Last but not least, Dust changed into a clean outfit - khaki shirt and matching trousers, a dark blue bow-tie, a rough duster coat.. And her mother's pith helmet, battered and dented as it was from the crash. Clambering back out of her room, she rejoined the Captain and the team. But, upon reaching the entry bay, she was met with a problem. Outside, the changelings had caught up with them.
"State your intention, or we will open fire!" The Captain's voice called out. All around, the noise of chittering and wingbeats saturated the air, and changelings zoomed about, relaying messages as some readied themselves for battle. At the edge of the encampment, some armoured cars and trucks had pulled up, driven by yet more changelings. A familiar voice replied.
"Game's over, Captain. We'll be taking the Cask, once you lead us to it." Dust crept across the ground, laying low in a tent and peering out. The voice that had replied.. Was impossible. But there he stood, scorched and battered, beak curled into a grim smirk. Roughneck. "We outnumber you ten to one, Captain. And as if that wasn't enough.." He clicked his talons together. "We have an ace up our sleeve." There was movement from one of the trucks. A shuffling, the sound of hoof on flesh, and a thud.
"Get off me, you scumbag.." A voice came from behind the truck. Dust's heart leapt up, caught in her throat. That voice was even more familiar. Aged, but still recognizable. Her eyes widened as she realised its source. Half-led, half-dragged from behind the truck and into view was a battered, scruffy specimen of a mare. Wearing somewhat torn and slightly blood-stained adventurer's attire, her greyscale mane was stringy and matted with sweat. Magenta eyes burned out proudly as she swept the hair from her face with a flourish.
Daring Do, in the flesh.
"Mother.." Dust mouthed silently, feeling her heart sink again as she realised what was happening. Daring was shoved down into the dirt, and held down as Roughneck withdrew a pistol from his combat gear casually. He aimed the gun at her head.
"You give in to our demands, or I put this mare down." He gave a wicked smile. "And I know there's a kid somewhere around here who would hate to have to bring her mom back home in a box." Dust bit her lip, rage and fear and despair welling up inside as she tried to form some coherent plan of action. Giving up, she stood up and walked slowly out into the open to join the rest of the crew and the Captain, who was now realising the hopelessness of the situation.
"Fine.. Fine. Just don't shoot." She finally concluded, upon seeing Dust pushing toward the front of the crowd. Roughneck nodded, holstering his gun.
"Mount up, we're heading for the coast in two hours." As the crowd dispersed and loaded up supplies onto their vehicles under the watchful eyes of the changelings, Dust galloped over and reunited with her mother. The mare raised her face up out of the dirt, and for the first time in years, the mother's magenta eyes locked with those of her child's. Daring sighed shakily.
An hour later, Dust sat across from her mother in the back of an otherwise-empty supply truck. The noise of the crew outside had died down, and the interior of the truck was in an almost-reverent hush. Dust raised her head, looking over at her mother.
"I understand why you left. I read your journal." Dust stated tonelessly. Daring did not look up, but stayed silent for a good few minutes before Dust began again. "I dont blame.."
"You're my daughter, and I should have been there for you when you needed me most. I was naive to run away and leave." Daring finally spoke up, raising her head to meet Dust's gaze.
"You were doing it to try and find a way to bring dad back, you needn't apolo-"
"It wasn't just that." Daring cut her off again. Dust felt a pang of some imperceptible, sad emotion rise inside her as her mother explained. "It wasn't only because I wanted to bring him back. Without him, looking after you was hard. Life was moving so fast, and I felt like I wasn't ready to keep going like this." She hung her head again. "The search for the Cask was an escape from my life. Another getaway from what really mattered." Tears had begun to well up in Dust's eyes and, looking up, Daring noticed the shimmering drops as they fell from Dust's face.
"You didn't want me." Her daughter concluded. "You couldn't handle being a mother, and you didn't want to take care of me.. You just wanted to go off on another adventure."
"It's not like that, I.." Daring's apology died away as Dust climbed to her hooves and trotted silently to the back of the truck, hopping out and disappearing outside. Daring was left alone inside the truck, head hung low. "I don't know what it was like." She whispered to nobody.
As soon as all had been made ready, the convoy of trucks and cars set off from the crashed airship, down toward the coast. Sitting in the back of an armoured car with Fuse for the second time on the expedition, now under the cold gaze of an armed changeling, she stared wistfully out across the landscape as the convoy reached the desolate sands of the beach. The sun had begun to set, and a fiery haze lit the sky.
"Are you okay, Dust?" Fuse asked with genuine concern.
"I'm fine." She responded, not turning to face him for fear that he might notice her pained eyes and question further. She simply pulled the pith helmet down lower on her head and stared at the darkening sky. Fuse silently raised a hoof up, patting her gently.
"You tell me if you wanna talk about anything, 'kay?" He offered. Turning to him, she smiled.
"Thanks." She replied, as the convoy came to a grinding halt. Having been looking the other way, Dust had not noticed the relatively small cargo ship pulled up near the water's edge, ready to transport the expedition team to deeper waters, and to Tali.