Chapter 11
Daring Do
The ruin we discovered upon our first sighting of thunder lizards wasn’t the only one we ran across during our journey up the river. While badly dilapidated and often overgrown by the jungle, more stone ruins dotted the landscape. Most of the structures were the tall and narrow pyramids that seemed to be standard for the Empire of Giants, but there were some low-lying and common ones too. Whatever purposes they served had been eroded by time and the harsh environment: between the sweltering humidity and vegetation most objects just didn’t survive long enough an enterprising archeologist to find.
If we had had more time I would have loved to explore these more thoroughly, especially if I could get some artifacts to bring back to Equestria, but we had a bigger prize to find in Zihlius, the capital of the Empire of Giants. And the fact of the matter was that we only had so long in the jungle before our supplies ran out. Sure, we could probably forage for food if we had to, but that would have slowed down our expedition. Even before the supplies ran out, it was only a matter of time before the equipment wore down and broke from use, and not everything could be fixed or replaced deep within the jungle. For instance, we had brought with us magical talismans we set up every time we made camp that should keep the local animals from wandering in and eating all of us, such as the deadly skitterers that were said to prowl the jungle floor.
Puzzle let out a long sigh. “You’re only mentioning the skitterers because this one was nearly eaten by them, and to rub its face in the fact you were better prepared to deal with them.”
Daring flashed him a grin. “If you hadn’t signed up with an evil idiot like Ephemera then you wouldn’t have nearly gotten eaten by a bug even bigger than you, would you? Just saying, being properly prepared for the environment goes a long way in keeping yourself alive. I know having the right tool for the job saved my butt more times than I can remember, and Ephemera would rather save money than lives—even when her own life’s on the line.”
Puzzle rolled his eyes. “Yes yes, this one regrets many things. If this one could go back with what it knows now it would have done a great many things differently. But that’s what experience, hindsight, and wisdom will do to you. It’s not like you haven’t had your fair share of regrets over the years either.”
The moment we ventured into the jungle we had started a timer for how long we could stay. All we could do was make the best use of the time we had,. so I spent the time we took on breaks to look over the ruins that dotted the riverbank. My explorations weren’t nearly as thorough as I would have liked, but life is full of compromises.
That day, a relatively small pyramid sitting by the river had caught my attention. A quick examination revealed engravings along the side of the structure consisting of symbols I only half understood and some pictograms involving some sort of religious activity. I carefully cleaned them of the lichen and vines that covered them, I then started making a charcoal copy so that I could properly study them later. I was in the middle of that when I heard a rustle in the bushes behind me.
I spun around to face the sound, my wings snapping out as I prepared for a fight. “Who's out there?! Come on out, I’ve already heard you!”
For a long moment, nothing happened. The only sound was the cacophony of birds and bugs that always echoed through the jungle. But then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. My head snapped to the left just in time to see someone stepping out of the brushes right next to me as I caught sight of my very first Dromaed.
It was bipedal, a little taller than me, though with his tail he was longer than I was. He was covered in bright colorful feathers, ranging from blue feathers running down from the top of his head along his spine that flowed into black along his body, ending with white along his belly. He looked at me with pale yellow catlike eyes, and his serrated teeth showed themselves in a sneer. Both of his arms ended in long, dragon-like talons, and he carried a club that had shards of sharpened obsidian running up opposite sides of the weapon. His feet were much the same as his talons, though each foot had a single large hooked talon. He was also covered in leather armor.
“Hold, intruder,” he growled at me in heavily accented Zebrican. His voice was a deep hiss that came across as one used to having his commands followed.
“Who’re you?!” I demanded as I jumped into the air.
“I said hold.” The Dromaed made a strange gesture with his free hand and hissed something I didn’t understand. Suddenly vines hanging off the pyramid snapped out and grabbed me around my legs and barrel.
“Hey!” I spun around in the air, fighting against the vines in an attempt to either break them or squirm out of their hold, but they held me fast as I flapped my wings fiercely. “What’s the meaning of this?!”
“Hold still or I will kill you.” It was a cold pronouncement, and while I had trouble reading the Dromaed’s strange features, I believed he was telling the truth.
“I’d like to see you try,” I snapped back. I pulled a couple vines free of the pyramid, and would be free in a few more seconds if I could keep him talking.
“No you would not,” he announced calmly. He made another gesture like the last and more vines grabbed me.
“I've heard that one before: plenty of big, bad, and scary people have told me they were gonna be the end of me. But here I am. So why should I give up?” I struggled against the vines, but I was quickly getting entangled. “No reason for me to give up if you're just gonna club me in the back of the head when you have me at your mercy.”
“You mean besides the fact he had you captured?” Puzzle teased.
“I could have gotten out if I'd really needed to,” Daring groused. “I’ve gotten out of tighter spots in the past.”
Puzzle grinned. “Oh, no doubt.”
The Dromaed’s nostrils flared. “If I meant you harm, interloper, you would already be dead. This is me being gentle, and you do not want to see me when I am not so. We have already captured your companions, so do not make things difficult for them as well as yourself.”
My heart seized up. “You’re lying! I would have heard it if you did something to everyone in the camp.” I couldn’t see it from where I was tied up due to the pyramid blocking my view, but I definitely would have heard something if the camp had been attacked.
“I speak only the truth. Do not presume to know what happens in our lands. You are the last of the interlopers to remain free, and now I have you.” His lips pulled back to reveal his teeth. “Why are you here, intruder? Why do you defile our sacred lands?”
I stopped struggling since that didn’t seem to be working. Time to try my words instead.
Puzzle snickered. “This should be good.”
“Hey!” Daring sniffed. “I can talk my way out of trouble, you should know.”
“It’s a statistical possibility, yes,” Puzzle said with a wide grin.
“Don't doubt the Do-mare,” Kukri said. “She can do anything.”
Daring ruffled Kukri’s headcrest. “That’s right, kid.”
“I'm here on an archeological expedition,” I told him. “We all are.”
“Ark-eee-ah-lo-gee?” The Dromaed’s head tilted to the side, the words sounded unfamiliar on his lips.
Right, the Dromaed had probably never really had experience with archaeologists, or museums. “We're trying to learn about history by examining objects. Like how I’m studying this pyramid to see what it can tell me about the people who built it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Looking at them, or stealing them?”
I grit my teeth as I tried to keep my temper in check. More than one person had tried calling my work grave-robbing, but now wasn’t the time to get into a fight. “I'm taking historical artifacts and putting them in museums for people to study and learn from. Stuff people haven't seen or been in forever. I’m not hurting anyone here.”
“Our treasures and history are not yours to take,” he growled. “Many come here to steal from us, seeking power they have not earned or deserve. You seem no different to me.”
I shook my head. “I'm not seeking power or looking to make money. I'm only here to learn about history and help others do the same.”
The Dromaed pressed his lips together as he watched me. “Even if that history is one better left forgotten?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? I don’t see how just forgetting the past helps anyone. That just means people will make the same mistakes, and no one benefits from that.”
He growled from deep within his throat. “Did you think we let our cities fall to ruin by accident?”
“I don't know why you did,” I admitted. “That's part of what I wanted to find out. We don’t know much of anything about your people or this land. I’m trying to correct that.”
“So you seek wisdom, then?”
I nodded. “Among other things, yeah. I’m trying to learn about this land’s past so that I can teach others later.” That was roughly close enough to what I did, anyways. I was trying to pass along the concept of the whole field of archeology to someone who had never heard of it, after all.
Best to take it in steps until he got it.
He frowned in a way that showed his teeth. “Your words sound fine, but outsiders lie often and easily. Especially when they seek our treasures.”
I glowered, but couldn’t help but acknowledge his point. There were plenty out there who just looked at some old ruin and thought about what sort of loot they could ransack from the place. Either it was somepony like Ephemera who wanted to steal artifacts to make a quick bit or someone like Ahuizotl trying to find some sort of doomsday artifact. “Fair enough. That’s why we wanted to ask your greenseers if it'd be okay to look around. We didn’t want to look like a bunch of thieves—which we’re not, by the way.”
His head tilted back. “You seek the greenseers?”
“That’s why we're following this river.” I motioned to the water. “It's supposed to be the fastest way to get to Szuszushlui.”
The Dromaed considered that for a moment. “If that is true, then we will escort you and your companions there. The greenseers will decide your fate.”
I frowned as I studied him. That sounded like exactly what I wanted, but I’d been tricked before by people who said they would help me, and this wasn’t the most auspicious circumstances. “...alright then. Can I at least get assurances we'll get a fair hearing from your greenseer?”
He snorted. “The greenseers are always fair.”
“Uh-huh, we'll see about that.” I tried to pull myself out of the vines, to no success. “This better not be any kind of trick.”
“We do not lie.” He waved and the vines let me go. “Follow. If you stray from the path, you will die.”
I rubbed my arms where they had been painfully pinched. “Jeez, you're making me feel so welcome.”
He got behind me and motioned for me to start walking towards the camp. “Until the greenseers welcome you as a guest, you are a trespasser. Be happy it was me who found you first. Not all hristak are as merciful as I.”
I did as he said and started heading back to the camp. Not that I was intimidated by him, but working with him seemed best. Especially if there were more Dromaed out there, and they had in fact captured Capital and the others. “If you’re so worried about trespassers, then you probably want to know about someone else lurking around out here.”
The Dromaed turned his head to me. “Oh?”
I nodded. “Her name's Ephemera, and she’s got a small army of goons following her. She’s trouble, unlike me and my companions they’re not here to study history. They’ll steal everything they think is valuable and hurt anyone that stands in their way.”
He raised an eyebrow, or what passed for its feathery equivalent. “Tell me more.”
“That certainly could have gone worse,” Puzzle commented. “No one was hurt during your first meeting with the Dromaed.”
Daring grinned. “See? I told you I can talk with people if I have to.”
“And how did your first encounter with the Dromaed go?” I asked Puzzle.
Puzzle sighed as he rubbed his brow.
Puzzle Piece
Between our supplies running short, the jungle sapping our group’s strength, and the ongoing uncertainty of how close we were to meeting with the Ephemera-mare’s patron, this one’s morale was waning. The whole trip was making this one homesick. Necrocrats be damned, this one was starting to miss Port Nowhere. To think, this one had once longed to go on a grand adventure to someplace strange and exotic, and now after getting it all it wanted to do was be anywhere but there. It wasn’t even the location that was the problem. Sure, the climate was extremely unpleasant, the fauna and flora were extremely dangerous, and this one was far removed from anything that could reasonably be called civilization, but even all of that was tolerable compared to what truly made this one miserable.
The Ephemera-mare was at the center of this one’s discontent, and relations between us had only deteriorated since our encounter with the scurriers. She had taken it quite personally when this one had failed to help her, and this one had been reduced to a position of little importance within her retinue, with her refusing to even see this one since the incident. Her goons had picked up that this one was on the out with their employer and made a point of making this one and the Alya-mare’s discomforts worse in a variety of small petty ways. It had nearly resulted in several fights already, and only further fueled this one's brewing discontent.
Shame there wasn’t much of a choice on what this one could do about it unless this one wanted to break contract with the Ephemera-mare and make a break for it in the jungle. Even then, this one’s employer was petty enough that she might very well drop whatever she was doing just to hunt this one down for revenge for every perceived insult. No, this one would stick with the plan for now, even if it found the whole exercise to be increasingly intolerable. Thus this one marched alongside everyone else as we delved yet further into the forsaken jungle.
The Alya-mare growled as she slapped her neck. “Ugh, I swear, the bugs in this jungle are going to eat me alive.”
Despite the situation, this one grinned. “What? No potions to keep all the bugs off of you?”
“Oh I’m using them alright,” she groused as she slapped at another mosquito. “It just doesn’t seem to be working. Or a more terrifying thought, it is working, and it’s the only thing standing between me and getting all my blood sucked out.”
“Quite possibly. Especially when comparing you to everyone else.” This one looked up the column of goons and how many of them were suffering the ravages of the forest’s minor nuisances. Given how much they were slapping at themselves and the number of red sores on their bodies they were faring even worse than the Alya-mare. By and large, this one seemed to be immune to the various pests bothering everyone else. They must not have had much of a taste for changeling ichor, not that this one was about to complain.
“At least I have the cold satisfaction that everyone else is at least just as miserable as me.” The Alya-mare pulled out a salve from her bags and started smearing it onto her neck. “Any luck with figuring out how far we’ve got to go?”
This one shook its head. “No, no one else seems to know where our destination is either.”
“You sure they’re not just being difficult?”
“I don’t think so,” this one said. “They seem every bit as frustrated as we are about how long this is dragging on.” Yes, their frustration was growing. That and fear. This one wasn’t the only one who saw that the expedition wasn’t going well. They knew our supplies were dwindling faster than our numbers, and that this couldn’t last for long. Unless something changed really soon we were all going to be in deep trouble.
The Alya-mare glowered up the column and spoke to this one in a dark whisper. “Can’t say I’d be sorry to see a mutiny against Ephemera. But I don't like her help all that much either.”
This one leaned in to whisper back. “Be careful with talk like that. If it reaches the wrong ears it could be quite bad for us. At this point, Ephemera would barely need an excuse to vent some of her own frustrations. It’s best to keep such thoughts to yourself for now.”
She frowned but nodded. “Still, I can’t help but think I might have made a mistake.”
“You and me both.” This one noticed that the column was slowing down and tilted its head to try and get a better view. “But we’ll make it work out in the end, trust me.”
The Alya-mare put away her salve and let out a huff. “You’re not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?”
“I usually manage to land on my hooves, whatever the situation,” I explained. “It’s just a matter of making out as best you can with the situation you’re dealing with.”
The Alya-mare sniffed. “Easy to say, harder to put into practice.”
“You could say that about just about anything.”
I finally got a good look at what had slowed down the column. We now stood on one end of a rope bridge crossing a river. It was a good thing we found it too: on each side of the bridge was a three-story drop into a fast-flowing river with sharp rocks jutting out. It would have taken us days to find a means to cross the river if not for this bridge. Though this one had to wonder who had first built the bridge: the Dromaed seemed the most likely answer, but then that just raised the question of why they had built it here of all places. We hadn’t run across any Dromaed or a village that would need trade routes set up.
Was there something the Ephemera-mare knew that this one didn’t? It was quite possible. Near as this one had been able to tell we’d been going in a straight line through the jungle, though admittedly that was hard to tell for sure with how dense the vegetation was. Of course, we could have always run across the bridge on our own by dumb luck. Weirder things had happened, and the Ephemera-mare certainly seemed to have the favor of fortune given how far she had come in life despite her crippling shortcomings. Though luck was still an inherently insuccificent answer for this one.
No one seemed particularly anxious to try out the bridge first. It looked study enough, but it had been weathered by time and the elements, and the jungle was hard on anything within it. The Ephemera-mare finally ordered a pair of her goons to test the bridge by crossing it. The goons exchanged looks, clearly not sure about the idea, but their employer barked at them until they started crossing anyway. Having no other choice, they did as they were told and slowly picked their way across the bridge as the Ephemera-mare impatiently tapped her hoof on the ground. They got across without incident. The bridge declared safe, the Ephemera-mare waved for everyone to make their way across the bridge in groups.
As we waited for our turn to cross the bridge, a growing unease began to settle over this one, though it couldn’t quite place exactly what was bothering it. This one split its attention between the Ephemera-mare, the jungle, the bridge, and the goons, but nothing really stood out. Still...
“Is something the matter?” the Alya-mare whispered.
Her voice pulled this one out of its ruminations. “Hm? Why would there be?”
She corrected her glasses as she glanced around. “You’re frowning and looking around like something’s bothering you.”
Had this one been that obvious about its unease? “Just a feeling,” this one assured her.
“If you say so...” The Alya-mare didn’t sound convinced, but when it was our turn we started heading down the bridge nonetheless.
We were halfway down when there was movement on the far side. As though out of nothing, at least a dozen figures moved out of the jungle’s underbrush to appear before us. The Dromaed, this one quickly recognized. It wasn’t hard to guess; beneath the vegetation they were using for camouflage, each Dromaed was a riot of colorful feathers, each different from the next. What concerned this one far more was how each one of them was armed either with obsidian-tipped spears, bows, obsidian-lined clubs, or toxic blowdarts.
“Halt right there, interlopers!” the leader of the warband declared, loud enough even to be heard over the roaring river beneath us.
A quick examination of our predicament proved that the Dromaed had been careful in timing their trap: our column had been caught in the middle of its transit over the bridge, with people on both ends exposed, and more Dromaed had started appearing behind us in addition to the warriors before us. We were trapped in an extremely precarious position. If this one didn’t do something, our trip through the jungle was about to be cut drastically short.
“Wait here,” this one told the Alya-mare. Before she could voice a response, this one leapt over the side of the bridge and took flight, keeping close so as not to provoke the archers overwatching us ... this one hoped. At least three of the archers were tracking this one with their arrows, and this one didn’t doubt they would shoot if this one made a break for it.
The Ephemera-mare was standing on the far side of the bridge, glaring at the Dromaed standing before her. Her goons were glancing around, unsure how to proceed against this new threat, while her bodyguards stood impassively. Thus the guards barely reacted when this one came near, their muscles tightening ever so slightly as this one approached their master.
This one stopped next to the Ephemera-mare and spoke in the calmest but firmest voice it could manage. “We should try and talk with them.”
The Ephemera-mare snorted. “You think these savages intimidate me, Puzzle?”
This one ground its teeth together. As this one had feared, the Ephemera-mare was going to be stupid about this. “Whether they’re savages or not doesn’t matter. What does is that they have us surrounded and pinned on a bridge. This isn’t the time to get into a fight if we can avoid one.”
Her eyes narrowed. “So what are you suggesting? We surrender to them so that they can kill and eat us? I think not.”
“I’m suggesting we talk with them,” this one said, forcing itself to sound calm and reasonable. “Maybe we can convince them to let us continue through their territory, or at least arrange something to let us get off the bridge.”
The Ephemera-mare scoffed. “And you think they’d listen to us?”
“Let me talk with them.” This one nodded to the Dromaed’s leader. “I might be able to arrange something with them. It’s worth a try. If I fail then we can still fight.”
Not that this one expected us to actually win in a fight, given the circumstances. The Dromaed had picked just about the best possible spot to ambush us. It was a small surprise they hadn’t already gone ahead and attacked to wipe us out. But this one would seize any opportunity it could to survive this. If that meant negotiating with the Dromaed, then this one would be more than happy to do so.
The Ephemera-mare’s eyes narrowed. “I think not. I’m not about to let you negotiate with these savages where I can’t hear. No, I’m going to talk with them. You wait here while I sort out these overgrown feather dusters.”
This one shook its head, for it could imagine how well the Ephemera-mare’s negotiations with the Dromaed would go: very, very poorly. “I’m not sure that’s—”
“Shut up!” she snarled with bared teeth. “Not. Another. Word. You think you’re so clever, that you have the answers for everything, and know better than me. Well I’ll have you know that I’m in charge of this expedition, and I’m tired of listening to your condescension and undermining at every turn. We’re doing things my way, so you can sit down, shut up, and do as you're told. Am I clear?”
This one frowned. There was no talking to this mare. “Crystal.”
The Ephemera-mare didn’t bother to give this one another word as she pressed forward to talk with the warband’s leader, her bodyguards by her side. Though this one did its best to keep its expression neutral, that was proving quite difficult as the situation continued. The Ephemera-mare was going to start a fight, this one just knew it. It was clear she expected to get what she wanted, facts or consequences be damned. Though unlike her rank-and-file goons, this one wasn’t content with getting killed due to her idiocy.
This one flew back to the Alya-mare. She frowned, probably sensing this one’s mood as it landed on the bridge. “How did it go?” she asked. The nearest of the goons eavesdropped, one ear perked, even if they tried not to be obvious about it. Nothing to be done about it, there wasn’t time or space for it.
“Badly,” this one said bluntly. “Ephemera’s going to ‘talk’ with the warband’s leader, and I don’t think it’s going to end with us all having a picnic and trading stories with one another. Not when she seems to think they’re nothing but savages.”
The Alya-mare bit her lip as she glanced at both ends of the bridge and the Dromaed warriors just beyond. “What’re we going to do? There’s nowhere to run.”
This one examined the terrain and considered our options. Given the pandemonium that was bound to break out any minute now, trying to escape through either side of the bridge wasn’t likely to work out. We’d just run right into the warriors, which sounded like a great way to get killed. This one wasn’t bad in a fight, but it preferred when its opponents didn’t even know they were getting into a fight with this one until it was too late. Flying was out too with those archers in place. They would pick off anyone that tried to fly away, and there was no way this one could fly fast enough to escape if it was also carrying the Alya-mare. This one looked over the side of the bridge to the fast-moving river below.
“How good of a swimmer are you?” this one asked.
The Alya-mare raised an eyebrow. “I’m decent at it. Why?”
This one flashed her a grin that deep down it wasn’t feeling. “Because I’m thinking we should jump.”
The Alya-mare blinked. “Are you crazy?! That’ll get us killed for sure. If the fall doesn’t get us, then the rocks in the river will.”
This one shrugged. “Likely death is still better than certain death. I’ll catch you before we hit the water to slow our descent, but slowing us down a little bit is about all I can do. Otherwise, we’ll be pickings for the archers.”
She frowned as she took a long, hard look at the river well below us. “You sure know how to paint a rowdy picture.”
Just then the Ephemera-mare’s shouting echoed over us, and a quick visual check showed that the Dromaed were readying their weapons. In a few more moments the archers would start shooting everyone on the bridge. Given how close we were all crammed together, that’d be like shooting fish in a barrel.
This one braced itself on the rope railing. “If you want to die on this bridge then that’s your decision. I can’t make this choice for you, but I’m jumping and taking my chances. You can come with me if you want. Either way, make your decision quick.”
In truth, this one considered jumping and leaving the Alya-mare to her fate. That would improve this one’s chances for survival in the short-term, since then this one would only have to worry about itself in the raging river. But this one had made a compact with the Alya-mare, and going through the jungle alone didn’t particularly appeal to it either.
The Alya-mare sighed as she ran a hoof through her mane. “Fine. I don’t have any better ideas.” She pulled out a couple of potions and quickly downed them. “Though if I get killed doing this, I have the right to be mad at you.”
“Fair enough.” The shouting between the Ephemera-mare and the Dromaed was reaching a crescendo, and while this one couldn’t hear what they were saying, it wasn’t hard to tell that things were about to turn south. Deciding this was about as good a time as any, this one called to the Alya-mare. “Ready?! Three, two, one, and go!”
This one leapt over the side and plummeted. A pair of arrows whizzed past precariously close to this one as it fell, and it was only the fact that the Dromaed hadn’t expected us to jump off the bridge that kept this one alive. Tucking in its wings close, this one oriented itself to see the Alya-mare falling near it. With no time for errors, this one beat its wings to come alongside the merchant-alchemist and take hold of her. The river quickly filled this one’s vision, and this one spread its wings at the very last moment to slow our descent. This one wrenched itself up to keep us from hitting the water, with the Alya-mare’s rear hooves just touching the whites of the roiling water.
More arrows flew past us, coming much too close for this one’s comfort, and the sounds of fighting echoed behind this one, punctuated by an explosion that sent up fire and smoke from where the Ephemera-mare had last been standing.
This one dove into the water. It seized us and pulled us along with irresistible force, causing this one to become fully submerged. Before this one could even reorient itself, it painfully slammed into a rock, causing a flash of pain from its shoulder. This one fought against the pain to keep its senses and to think of what to do next. Swimming in the fast-moving river was indeed extremely dangerous, but thankfully this one could cheat a bit.
This one transformed its rear legs into a webbed tail, gills formed along its neck, and its forelegs shifted to have fins instead of hooves. Now in the form of a seapony, this one pumped with its tail to swim up to the Alya-mare, who was desperately splashing to try and avoid the rocks she was hurtling towards. This one took ahold of her from behind and, taking advantage of its new body, maneuvered our way through the rocks. It was still a damn near thing; there was no fighting the current while assisting the Alya-mare, only going along with it. But still, this one carefully swam and used its strong tail to thread the needle between the jutting rocks.
Soon this one got into a tempo for the process, gauging where it needed to be to avoid the rocks and other debris, and placing itself where it needed to be. Though it wasn’t long before this one’s tail started to ache from the effort, even though this one was pacing itself to conserve its stamina.
We needed to get out of the water and onto dry land. Pity this one didn’t know where a safe spot might be, since there were only sheer rock faces on either side of the river. It took a few more desperate minutes before an opportunity presented itself: one of the great jungle trees had grown up along the river, with its roots jutting down right into it.
“Grab onto those roots!” this one called out. This one swam as hard as it could towards the roots and then turned to slow us down in the foamy water, but despite this one’s best efforts we still slammed into the roots with jarring force. The Alya-mare clung onto the roots for dear life while this one snagged a root, and between the current and the slippery root this one nearly lost its grip.
Seeing this one’s plight the Alya-mare wrapped a couple legs around a root and hooked a hoof around this one’s saddle-bags. She grunted with effort as she dragged this one closer to the roots. Before this one was dragged out of the water it transformed back into a zony-pegasus, and between the two of us we got this one into a less precarious state.
This one looked up at the roots to judge our current predicament. The climb didn’t look particularly inviting, so this one thought through its options. “One second.” This one dragged itself up onto a shaky perch in the crook of a root, and then reached a hoof down to its companion. She took this one’s hoof, and this one dragged her up so that she was lying down on another root.
“What ... now?” she asked, panting from effort.
“Now we fly.” This one shook the water out of its wings and tested them. They were more tired than this one liked, but lingering in the drenching sprays of water wasn’t much of an option.
This one took to the air and carefully grabbed the Alya-mare, and soon we were back on drier land. After placing her on the ground, this one all but collapsed against a tree as it tried to catch its breath. The whole experience had been utterly draining, and this one wanted more than anything to just go to sleep forever.
The Alya-mare flicked droplets of water off of her leg. “So, it seems we’re still alive. That’s something.”
Despite this one’s fatigue, it grinned. “See, I knew what I was doing.”
She snorted with a grin. “Liar. We nearly died.”
This one shrugged. “Still, it was a better option than staying on that bridge. What, did you want to stick it out with Ephemera?”
The Alya-mare let out a short bark of a laugh. “Hardly! If I never see her again it’d be too soon.”
“Couldn’t agree more.”
“Think she managed to survive the Dromaed?” she asked as she stretched out tired muscles.
This one closed its eyes, leaning its head back against the tree as it shifted its thought process from short-term survival to analysis and planning for the future. “It seems unlikely. Given the way she was no doubt provoking them she would have made herself their primary target, and her goons weren’t in a good place to protect her. Maybe her bodyguards could have helped her fight through the ambush, and she might have a few magical tricks hidden away, but it seems unlikely.” This one rubbed its chin. “The Dromaed held all the cards since this is their territory, and they chose the ambush site. Even if she got away they’ll be hot on her trail, and again, they know their land much better than we do. It might just be the paranoid side of me, but I don’t take it for granted that someone is dead until I’ve seen the corpse myself.”
The Alya-mare sighed and ran a hoof through her mane as she tried futilely to correct it. “So what’re we gonna do? This little expedition hasn’t exactly been going the way I thought it would.”
“That is the question of the hour.” This one took a moment to think before answering. “How many of your seeds have you collected?”
The Alya-mare’s eyebrow raised. “About a quarter of what I was looking for. We need to head further inland before I find the more valuable ones. Why do you ask?”
This one grunted. That wasn’t exactly the news this one wanted to hear, but we would just have to make do. “Because I’m thinking we say to Tartarus with this expedition, this jungle, and especially Ephemera, and head back to the port. With some luck we’ll be able to get into the city and onto a ship without any major problems.”
Of course, getting back into the port would be a trick after the rather spectacular way we’d left it. Really, that whole incident made this one wonder how exactly the Ephemera-mare had planned to get out of Dromaed lands once she was done picking over the ruins of the City of Giants. People don’t tend to forgive and forget assaulting their town guards and setting their bar on fire, and especially not the type of stubborn and hard-bitten people that normally filled frontier settlements. But there were ways to manage such a risk, and this one had a lot of experience getting into places others didn’t want it to go.
“That’s it?” She frowned. “We’re just giving up like that?”
“What’s the alternative?” this one asked. “Continue on to the City of Giants by ourselves? We have limited supplies, no protection of a large group, and no magic compasses to guide us anymore? To be frank, that sounds like another great way to get ourselves killed.” This one shook its head. “No, sometimes it's best to just cut your losses and go home.”
The Alya-mare sighed and slumped against a tree opposite of this one. “You probably have a point. We can make some money off of what seeds we’ve gathered, anyways. And I can’t make a profit if I’m dead.”
“Exactly.” This one stretched its tired legs and felt the joints pop. “So we head back to the coast as quickly as we can while our supplies hold and forage where we can. If we’re lucky, the Dromaed will either think we’re dead or won’t bother us since we’re trying to get out of their territory.”
“And if they do decide to pursue us?”
This one stood up despite the groans of protest from its body. “Then we’d better get moving.” Beyond the river was the impenetrable jungle that had already nearly killed us multiple times, full of the promise of yet more horrible and exotic deaths. It wasn’t a journey this one relished. “We’re just going to have to take this one step at a time.”
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Yeah, there's no way Ephemera isn't dead yet. The question is how Puzzle will get roped back into the ongoing shenanigans. And the matter of Ephemera's patron still hangs in the air...
Still unreasonably pleased by feathery raptor people. I'll try not to wonder how they use blow guns with mouths like that. Blow guns are obligatory.
Yeah...Ephemera made it and she'll be pissed with Puzzle. Fleeing is the good option, though Puzzle's food supply may be an issue.
Speaking of, Alaya might have noticed being rescued by a seapony. Maybe she's keeping that Puzzle didn't get away with it to herself for now.
If nothing else, Alaya's seeds will be enough to fund a proper expedition NOT run by a lunatic...
Again, I have to wonder how the heck Ephemera hasn't gotten herself killed yet. And for that matter, who'd HIRE an idiot like her.
That crazy mare is still alive, but I'll be damned if I ever figure out how.
9254341
I suppose her persistence if nothing else could be considered attractive to an employer, particularly one who has enough influence to avoid being directly associated with their less subtle employees. Every toolkit needs a hammer and all that.
The more I read of Ephemera, the more puzzled I am that she's managed to survive this long.
Hmmm... you made raptors work in the mlp universe. Noice.
Glad to see Puzzle finally get away from that doomed expedition. I wish he could have run off earlier but Ephermera really would be petty enough to hunt him down and even changing identities might not be enough to shake off someone that vindictive. Well, that and better to have Ayra watching his back (too bad she probably doesn't have any really powerful alchemical potions) for the journey back.
How has Ephemera lasted this long anyway? Unless she's much more powerful than she seems (and/or her patron has given her a lot of powerful tools). I wonder if by the end Daring will agree with the Dromaed that their history should stay buried.
Still <3 Puzzle.
9255012
But she's a hammer that usually misses the nail and hits her own thumb.
I like the raptors.
At least it worked out better for Daring than it did for Muldoon here. Things are progressing very interestingly. Can't say I expected Puzzle and Alya to (rather literally) jump ship at this point, but can't say I blame them. Of course I think we all know that they're (also quite literally) not out of the woods yet.
Let's see ... you trespass in other nations and cultures lands; you go into their ruins, sacred sites and burial places and take things; then you send the things you take to another country - denying them to the people that the "artifacts" actually belong to; and you do all of this without the consent of the people who's "history" you are "preserving". (And Daring made in clear earlier that while she would like the Greenseers permission, she wasn't going to stop if they said "no".) Why yes, yes you are a grave-robber Daring, you're just more pretentious and self-righteous than most of your kind.
Truth. Not that Daring will ever listen.
Wise, Puzzle, very wise.
9259087
I'd have to agree with you. There's a fundamental difference between researching a dead culture and a living one that I do not think Daring really grasps. It's one thing to dig up the artifacts of a civilization that's dead and gone, but it's quite another to enter sites and take artifacts that have significant meaning and value to people still around today -- the Dromaed are absolutely right in being protective of their own property. It's the difference between excavating an ancient Roman temple complex and helping yourself to religious items from the Vatican, fundamentally. People's rights to their own cultural artifacts and property override others' rights to come along and cart them away.
Put another way: as much as she values the artifacts she collects, Daring seems to treat them as essentially things without actual personal, cultural or symbolic value attached -- it's a sort of cognitive dissonance you see a lot in historical archeological institutions, where the objects are recognized to have symbolic value in the context of us studying them but they aren't recognized as having that value in the context of the culture and people who use them.
And then she gets very angry and defensive when the Dromaed don't seem thrilled at the idea of her coming along, taking their stuff and shipping it to a museum halfway across the globe.
The thing I find most aggravating is that she puts a lot of emphasis on the argument that she needs access to the artifacts to learn about the Dromaed's history and why they did what they did, which would normally be a fair point but... the Dromaed are still around. She was talking to one. There's nothing stopping her from just skipping the relic-hunting bit and just finding someone knowledgeable about history and asking -- heck, it'd be a lot quicker, a lot more efficient and a lot less likely to turn up faulty or incomplete information!
I kind of put off this story as I was going through the Freeport Venture series, because Daring Do as a character and concept was never a particularly interesting part of the MLP universe to me, but as I've said to many other writers, I like what you did with her here. Well, I like the story you used her to tell, I mean. Getting to see a younger but still experienced Puzzle Piece going on an adventure like this is great. Like Sunset, I really appreciate this opportunity to learn more about his past, and I'm particularly curious about whatever business he was into that caused him to flee Freeport, especially since it promises to be relevant at some future point in this adventure.
It's also got a very unique style. I've seen stories told from multiple perspectives before, but I've never seen one told from three different first-person perspectives at once, which constantly switch mid-chapter. It feels like it really shouldn't work, but somehow it does. In fact, the frequent cut-backs to the present for Daring and Puzzle to banter, offer commentary, or answer questions have been some of my favourite parts of the story so far. They serve a similar function to the footnotes in Lunar Rebellion and Midnight's Shadow, but instead of just exposition, they can deliver character interaction at the same time. It's good.
And there's a lot of individual elements I also have to praise here. Firstly, thank you so much for acknowledging Daring's name similarity with Kukri in the prologue, because otherwise that would've been driving me crazy for the entire story. Secondly, I know it's practically a requirement for Winningverse stories to force in a duel somewhere, but Puzzle vs. Daring was actually a very well done fight that I found immensely entertaining. Thirdly, I'm loving Ephemera as the villain. It's such a rare novelty to see a villain that's just outright stupid but who keeps succeeding by luck despite doing her damnedest to fail. It's actually kind of hilarious. Fourthly, the cover art promises that we'll see Daring and Puzzle being chased by dinosaurs at some point, and that is just the best thing. And finally, Alya is such a minor character in the series that I didn't even recognise who she was until Pithos pointed her out, and yet you went to the trouble of writing her into this story and explaining how she and Puzzle met anyway. That's some great attention to detail.
Anyway, this is another ongoing, so I guess I'll be following along with this one too. Hope we get to see Ephemera's mysterious patron soon. I'm betting on Ahuizotl, personally.
9344957
I agree except for Ephemera, sure she's short-sighted, greedy, and self -sabotaging, but she's also cruel, driven, vindictive, determined, a survivor, and for the most-part uncompromising. Her idiocy is balanced by her drive and she has no moral compass and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. Combine that together and you get a very nasty person who will take any opportunity afforded to her to get one up on you, she will kill, maim and harm for the briefest slight. Her self sabotage is funny but underestimate her or write her off and you are probably going to die. There is also a saying "Beware the ingenuity of idiots" people do stupid shit all the time what's impressive is that they actually come up with ways to do it so yeah.
This is the legendary scraping of the Barrel lowest point
One step from dead. Two at the best... How will Puzzel overcome the love supply problem? No longer a group to nibbel on 
9254294
Probably personal shortage?
9254571
Plot armor plus lucky as fuck plus expandebel goons?
Otherwise... Universe try to balance all good out with one bat shit insane mare...
9255615
Poor hammer... Hope it recover from meeting her thumb than
Well, Daring MISSED her point. PUZZLE didn't talk first, the moron did. So, whatever HIS first attempt - it isn't this one.
The fact that it's now clear that dromaed means Dromaeosauridae does not in the least surprise me given the Tyrannosaurus rex in the cover and the description of the thunder lizards as clearly sauropod dinosaurs and Ankylosaurs.