Daring Do and The Reign of King Caballeron

by Zee The Freeman

A Cold Starry Night

The adventuring pair exited Daring's cottage, through the door this time. A trot started their journey as they headed toward town. Some food wouldn't go amiss during this adventure, especially with Rainbow around. Daring miles out in the country, mostly for privacy. She had to admit though, the isolation in raw nature held a grand beauty. Their journey to Vanhoover brought them to a path of trees that housed rainbows in the foliage. The colors were amazing, such vibrant reds and oranges, yellow like Celestia's sun, there even floated by a few cute purple and blue leaves, just like Rainbow's, er..just like the royal dresses of the alicorn sisters. A simple dirt path served as their only guide toward Vanhoover, which still felt miles out after an hour or so of running. The path soon cut off, halting them within the mass of wonderfully colored leaves as more departed from their trees.

"The path cuts off here, strange. We must've taken a wrong turn. This way always led me back to Vanhoover." Daring examined the path, poking surrounding dirt and grass with her hoof. Rainbow watched her hero, smiling bound in enchantment by her actions. She never noticed how Daring trotted with such grace and agility, completely focused on her mission. "We'll have to fly from here. Dash, you ready?" She turned around to find her companion dreamily staring at her. "Rainbow!" She shouted, which shook the fantasy from Rainbow, who quickly nodded her head. They simultaneously unfurled their wings and took flight, searching for the correct path to Vanhoover. "Ah, I did take a wrong turn. We were heading north, not north-east. That would explain it." The view from higher up made the city of Vanhoover plain as the nose on her face. The flight wouldn't take long, so they commenced at once to not waste time. Why they didn't begin their journey with flight, both being pegasi, was beyond Daring. Maybe her adventuring instincts weren't what they used to be anymore. Was age actually catching up with her?

"Daring Do, I just want to thank you again for letting me come along. Even though it's just started, this has been the most awesome time I've had in months!" Rainbow said while blush slowly filled her cheeks. Daring didn't bother to look over, but maybe Rainbow had a point. Adventuring was her life, after all. It's not something easily forgotten. Though she was just a nutty fanmare, her visits during the month did help keep the loneliness at bay. Rainbow had every single book she wrote, and was impressed by every little adventure Daring embarked on. It felt good to have her around, she thought to herself. Usually keeping her missions and her life solo, having somepony else around wasn't a regular thing. Considering Rainbow, it might not turn out all that- "So Daring, what do you think is going on in the Changeling Kingdom?" Rainbow dammed Daring's stream of thought, but she opened another with her question.

"Well, I'd say you know more about it than I do, but I could guess a few things. Maybe Ahuizotl found some artifact there and is holding the place hostage for power or something."

"You make it sound like that's a common thing."

"I've known Ahuizotl for a while now. There's not much else on his mind."

Rainbow laughed at Daring's remark, and before she could reply they finally arrived in Vanhoover. The outskirts of it, at least. A quaint orchard sat ahead of them, it looked to be growing mostly apples. Each tree emitted a healthy glow in the sunlight, though most were empty because of harvest season. Only a select few initiated their color shift, mostly turning red. A few of the leaves were such a bright red they could be mistaken for the plump apples they shared a home with. "Maybe some of Applejack's relatives live here! They'd help us for sure!" Rainbow grinned at the thought of her friend, and started off towards the door. Daring descended to the ground, hesitant to trust her partner's 'connection'. She watched the door creak open, a crimson-maned mare stepped out and spoke with Rainbow for a while. During their conversation, Daring strode into the orchard. She approached the two mares as they spoke, "Apple Bumpkin, I'd like you to meet THE Daring Do! I know right? It's so awesome I can barely contain myself. She wanted me to go an adventure with her!" Rainbow faced her hero wearing the largest grin as Apple Bumpkin greeted the newcomer.

"Daring Do, eh? Rainbow Dash says you're an explorer pony at large. She also told me that you're a bit low on supplies."

"If you can't spare any, that's fine. We can always go-"

"Don't be silly! We here at the orchard have plenty to spare! Especially since you're a friend of the family." Apple Bumpkin said, and waved both of the ponies to come inside. The inside of the home matched the overall 'apple farm' theme they sported. Apple clock, apple striped wallpaper, apple this, apple that. How could ponies live in a place so crazed over apples? "Lucky for you ponies, I was just experimenting with a new apple recipe. It's called an apple-pack!" Just as Daring was about to speak, Apple continued explaining, "Since there's a lot of travelers that go through Vanhoover. I figured I'd make something that'd be easy to store with lots of apple-y goodness!" She showed her guests the apple-packs she recently whipped up. For lack of a better term, they were dried apple slices packed together with honey. When she offered a sample to the pair, Rainbow snatched them all up and shoved them in her face, chewing happily. Both Apple and Daring watched as Rainbow finished the samples.

"Sorry about that. I did say I didn't have breakfast." Rainbow chuckled nervously. "I'm sure Daring would probably like to get going, right?" She peered back to her adventure buddy.

Daring acted innocent, "Who, me? You're the one who said it. If you want to leave that badly..."

"Well, I know you two have some great adventures ahead. Just make sure not all of Equestria is destroyed, eh?" Apple chuckled at her own joke, knowing enough about Applejack and the history with her friends. The mare packed dried apple slices into each adventurer's saddlebag, most of it ended up in Rainbow's. "That's all I made for today, I'm sure it'll be enough to get you where you need to go. If you like, you can stay a while and regain your-"

"We'll be alright, daylight's burning as it is. Thank you for the supplies. Come on Rainbow Dash, time's wasting." Daring burst out of the door and adjusted her pith helmet outside. The sun blinded more than usual today, which Rainbow quickly noticed flying next to her hero.

"You got an extra helmet? I can barely see it's so bright."

"We'll be heading north soon enough, we just need a good bit of height. Watch for any troublemakers." Dash shielded her eyes with her hoof, and groaned at the explanation. Then again, it was for Daring, so not everything's all bad. Flying behind her got Rainbow a decent view of her...her flying technique. Higher they soared, until at last Daring could poke at the highest clouds. "This should be high enough. Ready for a little race, Dashie?"

"A race? You bet your flank on it! Wait..Dashie-" Rainbow hesitated for a moment, and her hero dart off to the north at full speed, leaving the pony of speed in her dust. It had been ages since somepony last called her Dashie, she forgot she even answered to the name. Daring disappeared, but the roar of pegasus thunder directed her north. She was going get to the bottom of this, Daring couldn't be more than a few miles ahead, a short jog for her abilities. Rainbow closed her eyes and focused herself for a moment, her wings charged and flapped. A great mass of energy formed within her, and she injected it into her wings. As she opened her eyes, she saw only a blur of sky and earth, passing the world by faster and faster with each flap of her wings.

Daring pressed herself onward, confident the spatial gap ensured her victory in the race. She shifted an ear behind her when a strange rumble erupted in the distance. Maintaining her speed, she peered behind her to see a rainbow beam shoot directly for her. It comprised of pure energy, with a familiar mare heading it. Only having time to blink, Daring collided with the energy beam, knocking her off balance and plummeting to the earth. Was such a thing possible? She knew of Rainbow's athletics, but this had to break some sort of speed threshold. Nopony could go that fast, evidently nopony except Rainbow Dash. Something like this didn't quite concern Daring at the time, since she found herself falling out of the sky about to become a pony pancake. Her left wing 'surprisingly' fractured, leaving her unable to level herself.

The thundering sound trailed her, covering distance faster than she could fall. The rainbow beam grabbed her, and shot further north. Daring stopped questioning how Rainbow managed to fly that fast, and just gripped her tightly for the ride. Very little of the rich scenery could be seen since they traveled so quickly, but Rainbow eventually slowed down due to the extra weight. Time also seemed to shift while they occupied rainbow speed, exiting it caused birds and trees to resume their normal movement and activities. Rainbow grew more labored in her flight as hours passed. The sun waned in the sky giving way to dusk when she spotted a clearing in the forest below. Resting Daring down gently, Rainbow flopped to the ground in exhaustion. Deep breathing of sleep emitted from her.

"I should probably get camp set up so you have somewhere better to sleep." Daring spoke softly, smiling at her sleeping Dashie. It took only a few moments for her auto-tent to open from her saddlebag, a rather handy investment for her occupation. Luckily, the tent was roomy enough for both to sleep comfortably. Neither needed to worry about invading each other's personal space. Once the tent stood proud, Daring gathered some rocks and branches, making a crude fire pit. Chills nipped at Daring's ears, hastening her preparation of the camp. The firewood stood prepared in its fire-bearing position. Daring retrieved a special item she recovered from a dragon's den long ago. A cylindrical object, it bore intricate engravings of fire, dragons, and a few unrecognizable symbols. She knew it only as the 'dragon's tongue', which heated itself when activated. To activate it, she lodged the tongue between her hooves and shook it vigorously for a few moments. Quickly she tossed it into the fire pit, remembering past times of hesitation with the artifact. The tongue growled softly as it grew bright red, shifting for a short time to a light blue color, bringing fire to the sticks and creating the fire. Dusk's chills held no ground by this fire as it burned heartily next to the adventure pony and her dozing companion. Daring spent a good deal of moonlight exchanging stares at the fire and watching Rainbow. The fire crackled and hissed, burning away the wood to providing a thoughtful flame. Rainbow snored every few minutes, occasionally twitching her back leg towards the fire. The night served as Daring's restaurant, the fire her waiter and a rock her table. She fetched a large chunk of Apple Bumpkin's apple concoction, biting off small chunks to preserve the sweet and addicting flavor.

The night slowly lulled Daring Do into a shallow slumber. She dozed for a few moments, only to shake herself from sleep's grasp for a moment to lower the fire. A charred stick served well to beat the fire down to embers and soft flickering flames and with some careful prodding she retrieved the dragon's tongue, cool as a stone despite its previous environment. Hiding the tongue inside her bag, now came the difficult part. She needed to haul Rainbow in the tent, despite being half awake herself. Probably a lapse in judgement in hindsight, though she couldn't help but keep Rainbow in close range to watch her sleep. By now she rested in a peaceful slumber, rarely moving a muscle. Daring unsteadily brought herself upon her hind legs, and scooped up her travel partner, carrying her into the tent. The tent sat near the fire through the night, and entering it surrounded her with a comfortable soft warmth. She carefully rested Rainbow at her end of the tent, covering her with a soft blanket. It was well that the tent held warmth so well, since that blanket was the only one she had. Traveling with someone else entailed sharing, right? Daring barely managed the thought from her mind before sleep overtook her, and she flopped down upon her side.

Luna didn't provide any dreams for Daring that night, though she appeared before Daring woke with one simple word, "Surprise." Daring's eyes slowly opened as the world became tangible once more. She felt warm, much warmer than the tent would've kept her, especially considering she accidentally left the flap unzipped. She tiredly peering behind her, only to bump something with her face. The thing she bumped snorted in response, shuffling itself and pulling closer to Daring. Her vision finally focused to reveal Rainbow Dash snuggled close, a hoof extended over Daring. A few minutes she hesitated to act, not wanting to wake her travel friend and also finding this snuggling thing to be quite enjoyable. She even turned to face her sleeping snuggler, closing her eyes and pretending to sleep. Rainbow stirred, and she opened her eyes to find the pony of adventure sleeping right in her face. She nudged Daring, who feigned waking up. They exchanged a look as they sat up and regained their wits.

"Were we sleeping that close the whole night?"

Daring shrugged, "I put you on your side of the tent. Must've been you who moved over."

"But we're in the middle of the tent. The flap is right in front of us." Rainbow retorted. She wasn't wrong either, the open flap stared directly at both of them. It was a straight shot out.

"You probably pulled me over, then."

"In my sleep?"

"If you saw what you do in your sleep, you wouldn't be surprised at that." Daring grinned, "Don't you think it's about time for some food?" The very mention of breakfast pulled Rainbow out of the tent, and she quickly dragged both saddlebags back inside. They sat within the auto-tent chatting and chewing on their apple-y breakfast. Not about their mission, but mostly about Rainbow and Ponyville, since Daring Do didn't travel that-a-ways unless something valuable was discovered.

After breakfast concluded, Daring pulled her friend out of the tent, and flipped a switch on it, causing it to repack itself back to its original compact form.

"How in Equestria did you do that?!" Rainbow exclaimed, unaware of its initial setup.

"It's a special made tent for travelers and explorers, its quick, easy, and comfortable."

"Not as much without me in there with you, hmm?" Rainbow prodded, grinning at Daring.

"You helped the fire with the warming...situation." Daring hid the blush gathering at her cheeks by tending to the ashes of the fire. She dumped a fair helping of water upon them, ensuring they wouldn't revive in her absence. The duo gathered their bags, and set out once more, this time on foot. Daring forgot about her wing until now, though it seemed to be healing on its own.

Rainbow chuckled nervously, "I'm sorry about your wing, Daring. I didn't mean to blast you out of the sky like that."

"You didn't blow me out of the sky. I was..." She trailed off, attempting to conjure a bad-ass excuse. None were found, so she kept silent and moved toward their destination. Rainbow blabbed quite a bit along the way, but now it wasn't as annoying as Daring found it before.

Hours passed, and now the sun approached its descent once again, nighttime would arrive soon. They at long last arrived at their destination. They passed beyond the shining lands of Equestria, and set out towards their final destination, the heart of The Changeling Kingdom.

Author's Note:

Finally our two favorite adventuring friends reach their destination. What will the Kingdom throw at the pony that aided the downfall of their Canterlot takeover? Perhaps the initial distress signal received wasn't all it's cracked up to be.