The Problem With Jewelry

by bahatumay

Chapter 4

Deep in the jungle, a preening bird looked down in surprise. The bird cocked its head, but still couldn’t make sense of this situation. It had never seen an animal like this before, and wasn’t sure what to make of it. After a few moments, it determined that the best course of action would be to squawk irritably at it.

The upside-down bright yellow lifeboat paid it no mind as it slowly trudged through the woods. Three ponies stood underneath it, carrying it on their heads.

“All things considered, this isn’t so bad,” Rainbow Dash said pleasantly.

“Speak for yourself,” Applejack said with just a hint of bitterness. “Could barely sleep a wink last night, what with all the rocking on the river. Give me good, solid earth any day of the week.”

“Look on the bright side,” Daring Do interjected. “At least with this, we’re protected from snakes falling on our heads.”

“Do snakes do that?” Applejack asked. She never had problems with snakes, but the thought of one dropping down from above did make her a bit uncomfortable.

Daring Do nodded grimly. “More times than I’d like to admit,” she said with a shudder.

They continued walking for most of the day. Every once in a while, Daring would stop (nearly making Rainbow Dash run into her), reorient herself, and then keep walking.

Rainbow leaned back to Applejack and whispered, “Daring Do never gets lost. Her talent is finding things.”

“Do you think she could find us a place to break for food?” Applejack whispered back.

“Heard that,” Daring Do called back. “We’ll stop soon. Hopefully we’ll make it to a town tomorrow. That little incident left us a good twenty miles behind where I wanted to be, but we’ll manage.”

“Little towns? In the jungle?” Applejack asked. She stepped over a brightly colored frog that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “They must be nuttier than a squirrel’s nest in winter.”

“In all fairness, we live right outside the Everfree Forest,” Rainbow pointed out.

Daring Do barked a laugh. “Yeah. The Everfree is a really scary place. Everything wants to eat you. You know, I once tried to go exploring in the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters. I almost didn’t make it out.”

“No!”

“Yes,” Daring said. “Timberwolf nearly had me for dinner.”

“What happened?” Rainbow asked eagerly.

Daring Do grinned, and Applejack could swear that she was swishing her hips a bit more as she got into storytelling mode. “So there I was, all alone in the Everfree…”

* * *

As much as Applejack didn't really want to admit it, the time passed quickly as Daring Do spoke. She seemed to be a natural storyteller, and more than once she found herself paying more attention to Daring Do than where she was going. This mare could talk for hours.

Finally, as the story ended, Daring Do slowed to a stop. “I think here’s good for now,” she said. “Settle down, but bring me any plants you see before you eat them. Lots of plants here look good but aren’t good for you.”

“I packed us plenty of food,” Applejack said, pulling off her saddlebag. She reached inside and started distributing food. “Dig in!”

Daring Do did so. She took a bite, and her eyes widened. “Wow,” she said, looking at Applejack with respect. “I should bring you along to all my excursions. The last trip I was on, the nicest thing that happened was I got this saddlebag.” She gestured at it. “I could swear the cook in our group was trying to poison us.” She cracked a smile. “Well, he was working for Caballeron, so I guess he was. But seriously. Make food for me and I’ll take you anywhere.”

Applejack was afraid Rainbow Dash was going to ask about the last journey. She wasn’t exactly keen on listening to another of Daring’s stories; they'd never get to sleep.

Thankfully, Rainbow’s mind was elsewhere. “That is a sweet bag. What’s in it that was so important?”

Daring Do unzipped it and opened it triumphantly. “Medicine,” she answered.

Applejack looked in and raised an eyebrow. “Looks like a bunch of dead bugs and snakes to me.”

Daring nodded. “Yeah, those too. Turns out some venom is good in small doses, if you know how to use it. That one slows down your heart. Good for if you need to play dead for a while. That one speeds up your heart. That's a numbing venom. Great for when you need to un-pincushion yourself.”

“Oh. So that's how you made it through the tunnel in the Temple of Veritis without trouble,” Rainbow Dash grinned.

Daring Do grinned impishly right back. “Didn't know about this stuff, then. I just bit down on a shaft and just powered through it.”

Rainbow sat back, impressed.

“How do you know all this?” Applejack had to ask.

Daring Do shrugged. “Good luck and guesswork, really.”

For some reason, Applejack did not find this particularly comforting.

“And we’ll probably need them,” Daring said grimly as she zipped her bag back up. “Jungle animals don’t particularly like strangers. I’ll take first watch tonight.”

“I’ve got second!” Rainbow volunteered.

Applejack grinned. “Third, then.”

“Great.” Daring Do grinned. “Let’s hope the rest of the trip goes as smoothly.”

* * *

Applejack whistled as she set out breakfast. She glanced down at the bracelets on her forelegs, and paused. The fur around the bracelet on her left leg seemed to be growing darker in color. “Heh,” she muttered, trying to calm herself. “Maybe it’s just the metal reacting to my coat.”

“Or maybe they’re strengthening their hold on you,” Daring suggested through a yawn.

Applejack flinched.

“Not helping,” Rainbow Dash hissed.

“Not lying,” Daring Do hissed back.

Applejack suddenly found her breakfast quite interesting.

Thankfully, aside from this, it seemed to be a smooth journey. With the exception of the presence of a few snakes, a couple frogs, and a spider approximately the size of Winona, it was fairly easy-going as they trekked through the jungle.

And then at around eleven came the sound of rushing water.

“Perfect!” Daring Do crowed, picking up the pace. “This’ll get us there a lot faster!”

They soon arrived at the river. Daring Do flipped the boat over. “Alright. Supplies in first, grab a few push-poles, and we’ll be on our way.”

Applejack nodded. She walked over to a nearby tree and reached up with her hoof. The bracelet she wore seemed to gleam in the light as she pulled.

And she nearly tore the tree in half.

Both pegasi spun around. Applejack looked down sheepishly at the tree branch in her hoof. “Heh… Oops?” she offered.

“Super strength. They are strengthening their hold on you,” Daring said grimly. “We’ve got to keep moving.”

It wasn’t long before they were sailing down the little river. If it weren’t for the fact that they were sailing to free Applejack from a curse, it really might have been a pleasant journey.

Finally, in the early afternoon, Daring Do sat up and threw aside the giant leaf she’d taken for shade. “I think we’re here,” she said.

“Where’s here?” Applejack asked.

Daring pushed the pole into the water and forced the boat over to the other shore. “We’ll see,” she answered cryptically.

Sure enough, there was a village here, probably a quarter of the size of Ponyville. Little foals wearing mud on their faces darted around, laughing and playing. They slowed to a stop and stared at them as they passed by.

“Is it your clothes?” Rainbow asked.

“More like my wings,” Daring replied. “They’re mostly earth ponies here.”

Rainbow nudged Applejack. “Good. Then we’ve got an in.”

“I’m your in,” Daring corrected. “And you’d better hope I do it right.”

“Huh?”

“There are two incompatible dialects here. Gotta make sure I use the right one when the mayor comes out to greet us.”

“Can’t you listen to them talk first?”

Daring shook her head grimly. “Visitors announce themselves first. It’s tradition.”

“I don’t think I like tradition,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

Sure enough, the mayor came out. Applejack was surprised to see that he looked like any other pony, aside from the long shaggy mane. Then again, it looked like everypony here wore their mane shaggy; she caught some of the others staring at her mane as if confused.

The mayor stood up, head held high.

Daring stepped forward, cleared her throat, and spoke.

There was a silence.

And then the mayor’s face curled up in an angry scowl.

“Ah, horseapples!” Daring swore under her breath.

“You used the wrong one?!” Rainbow hissed.

“Looks like it.”

“And that’s… bad?”

“Yeah. The respectful greeting in one dialect means the equivalent of a latrine in the other,” Daring explained grimly, eyes flicking around wildly as she took a step back.

“So basically you called him a poo-poo-head?” Rainbow guessed.

“More or less,” Daring confirmed. “Which is the equivalent in this culture of-”

But what exactly it was equivalent to, Rainbow never learned; an arrow whizzed by and embedded itself in a wooden post not an inch from her face. She yelped. “Let’s get out of here!”

“Good plan!” Applejack shouted, wheeling around.

* * *

Fleeing was chaos. The jungle was too cramped to allow for flying, so all three were on hoof. Arrows and rocks flew after them. Rainbow Dash found herself dipping, diving, ducking, and dodging flying rocks, trees, vines, snakes that looked like vines, and even a brightly colored bird.

Wait. That bird kinda looked like her.

She darted around and hid behind the tree where the bird was perched. Her pursuers neared, and caught sight of the bird. One laughed quietly, and another threw a rock up at her.

The bird squawked in protest and flew off in a flash of brightly-colored feathers. The ponies hesitated, but then kept moving, looking around for the elusive pegasus.

Rainbow Dash waited until the sounds of their hoofsteps had left before releasing the breath she’d been holding. She let out a little chuckle at her own cleverness.

That chuckle died as she realized that she was now all alone in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by bugs and creepy crawlies and who knew what else. She shuddered.

But she wasn’t about to give up. Daring Do wouldn’t give up! Neither would she! Straightening up, she… crouched back down, making sure to stay low and as out of sight as possible.

She grimaced as she realized that she had lost her bags in the confusion. Too late, she realized that her bright coat and multi-colored mane meant she stood out like a broken primary.

Still, she tried to use what she remembered from the Daring Do books. Staying low. Continually moving. And, most importantly-

“Psst!”

Never get caught.

Rainbow froze, and her ears pricked up. Her heart pounded as she readied herself for a fight.

“Psst!”

Wait. That had almost sounded like… She looked over, but saw nothing.

Oh!

Daring Do stood, pressed up against a nearby tree. Her coat allowed her to blend in almost seamlessly. She motioned Rainbow Dash down.

Rainbow dropped to the ground, and not a moment too soon. The villagers came back, growling. Their patience had run out, and they were back with a vengeance.

Rainbow watched as Daring Do slowly reached into her pocket, pulled out a rock, and tossed it over, away from where they were. She grinned as she heard the villagers hesitate, then walk over to where it had landed. Daring Do was so clever! Rainbow glanced down.

And then she froze. Crossing in front of her was a snake. A huge snake. Its tongue flicked out as it slithered closer. Rainbow Dash vaguely remembered Fluttershy saying that snakes couldn’t hear very well. That was good, because her heart was pounding so loud she was almost afraid she would be caught.

And then her heart nearly stopped as she remembered that snakes hunted more by their heat vision than anything else. And Rainbow Dash was sweating.

The snake slithered closer. Rainbow lifted a hoof and made a shooing motion, but the snake didn’t seem to be affected. If anything, its tongue flicked in and out even faster, and it drew closer.

Rainbow Dash realized that she was trapped between a thunderhead and the ground. If she moved, she’d be caught; if she stayed still, she’d be bitten.

She had almost determined to run and just hope that she was faster than the villagers when a rock flew by her head and clocked the snake in its head. The snake almost looked dizzy, and then a khaki-colored mouth bit down on its tail.

Daring Do flung the snake further away into the jungle. “Come on,” she whispered. “Let’s get out of here!”

“That was so cool!” Rainbow said excitedly. “You threw that rock right on!”

“Yeah. Snake was just curious. I’ll kill ‘em if I have to, but it usually doesn’t come to that,” Daring said. “Doesn’t usually make it into the book if I do, either. Let’s keep moving.”

“Sounds good. Wait.” Rainbow froze. “Where’s Applejack?”