Rainbow's Lonesome Road

by Centurion Pike-Wall

Daring

Sure enough, it was the good doctor. Under his poncho were his signature tan duster and red and white neck scarf. Which meant that those three behind him were some of his henchponies. Withers, rouge, and biff, she believed. However, she now was certainly curious.

"Depends. Just what do you want?" She asked.

"Oh, a few things. The first would be some shelter. May, we trouble you for that?"

She cocked her head, thinking. On one hand, the books had portrayed a clear picture of Dr. Caballerons character. He was opportunistic, greedy, and ready to betray somepony if it suited him. However, she had nothing he could want. She had no money, and She doubted he wanted what was in those crates. Also, she figured she could take them if things got out of hand.

"Ok. But if you touch anything, threaten me, or do anything to annoy me, I'll kill you. Capish?"

He grinned. "Of course, madame. Come, boys."

With that, they followed her in. They removed their hoods, and the henchponies gathered around the still out fire. As they warmed themselves, Caballeron gestured for her to come over to a corner. When she got over to him, he flashed her his signature, untrustworthy grin.

"Well, madame. I just thank you for providing me and my stallions shelter."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, what else do you want? You mentioned you wanted multiple things."

"A keen ear." She chuckled. "You would be correct. I need some information. Are you familiar with the surrounding area."

"No, not really. I fell off an airship. All I know is you follow the road for a distance, you'll find Kells keep."

His grin turned into a frown at the news. "I see. Well then, I just ask if you have seen one, Daring Do."

Void figured this was coming. She also figured that it Daring was near here, then She was looking for something. And Caballeron was following her. However, she grinned at this realization. She could get something out of the good Doctor.

"Well, you see. Information is, a very valuable commodity down here. And it ain't cheap. So, I will be needing some, compensation."

"Name your price."

Now she was showing her grin. "500, storm bucks. Bits aren't worth s*** down here."

The tan earth pony said, "What!? Then why don't I just have my boys pry the information out of you!?!" As it to prove his point, the various thugs stood up. Void just chuckled.

"Several reasons. One, none of you have weapons. Two, if you try to attack me, I can either outfight you, or just outrun you. Three, I've been torn apart, been the prisoner of a pony with medical skill and a pain fetish, and fell from an airship. I'm not scared of a few thugs. So, 500, or I will not be making a peep."

He growled like a animal, but eventually lowered his offensive posture. He turned to one of the stallions, and barked, "Get it for her."

The gray one came out, holding a small box in his teeth. She set it down and flung it open, revealing a bunch of the paper money. Void took her promised amount, turning and placing it next to the tools.

Caballeron then said, "There. You got your pay. Now, awnser me. Where is Daring do?"

She let loose a laugh. "Ha ha ha ha!! I said I'd tell you what I knew. But...well...I've never heard of her! Ha ha!" That last part was a lie. But, of course, he didn't need to know that. Not that he wasn't angry.

"You thief! I should-" before he could finish, Void pressed her sword to his neck. The thugs moved to move her away, but he gestured for them not to. "Very well. I suppose I did stumble into that. Now, since you have nothing to offer me, I will take my leave. Just, he careful. My, other associate, is not as kind to this kind of stuff, as I am. Good day." And with that, he and his thugs pulled back up their hoods, and left.

When they had left, Void began to think. I didn't find out what had made that noise earlier. Dr. Caballeron was looking for Daring Do. Plus, she is quite sneaky..... Void decided to test her little theory. At worst, she was just paranoid. And at best, then Daring Do was in the cave with her. Either way, no harm could come of it.

Casting her gaze across the cave, she finally settled on a patch of shadow in a corner. "You can come out now. Unless you give me a reason, I won't attack you."

For a few seconds, she got no reply. Then, a figure emerged from said corner. It was a female pegasus, with two toned gray mane and tail, ran coat, and a compass for a Cutie mark. She wore a poncho, also over her signature outfit: a olive green shirt and pith helmet. A satchel was doing over her shoulder, and a canteen hung from her belt.

She looked at her, sizing her up. When her gaze drifted to the crates of stuff, Void caught on with her train of thought. "And no. Before you ask, I'm not a bandit. I just found all that when I first came in." As she waited for a reaction , she barely kept in her giddiness. This was THE Daring Do! Even if Rainbow Dash was little more then a memory, Void still loved the books. Just because she couldn't fly, that didn't affect her new life. She could still like it. And, boy, like it She did.

"I wasn't going to. I was going to ask you, well....Why? Why'd you do that to Caballeron? He is ruthless, and won't take this insult as lightly as you think." She said.

"Well, Ms. Do. I figured I could get something out of him. Plus, someone had to teach that high and mighty S*** a lesson."

At this, her eyes narrowed. "Wait, I never said what my name was. And you said you've never heard of me."

Void got a sudden interest in the ground. "Well, you see, I lied."

"So you have heard of me?"

"Yeah. In fact.......I'm a big fan!" She said, dropping the sword and waking toward her, a wide grin on her face and her hoof extended for a shake. A gestured she received reluctantly.She

"Huh. I didn't know southlanders read my books." At this, Voids wide grin broke.

"Um. I'm, not from around here. As I'm assuming you heard from my talk with Caballeron, I just fell off an airship. I....Don't want to talk about it, but all you need to know is I've read, and really like them." As she spoke, her smile slowly returned. She had met Daring do, one of her dreams. One she could still achieve.

Daring seemed to warm up at this. "So, you won't betray me, and then me into Caballeron?"

"No. Traitors are one of the worst thing to blight this world. Trust me. If I wanted to make some money and turn you in, I would have just told Caballeron to stay, or just call after him. Now, can I help you?"

Darings expression finally turned kind. Internally, Void was squealing like a little filly. She was being smiled at by Daring Do! Daring said, "Well, I don't suppose you were also lying about knowing information about the area."

Void shook her head. "No, can't say I do. I was truthful about that. Sorry. Anyway, hungry?" She said, gesturing to the cooked meat resting on a rock slab. Daring recoiled, before trying to put on a kind smile. It didn't work, coming off more as strained.

"Uhh, no thanks."

"Heh. Suit yourself. Just saying though, it's all I got."

Daring sat down across from her, removing her poncho and warming herself by the fire. "Don't worry, I plan to leave in the morning. I may have thrown Caballeron off my tail, but he will still be looking for the artifact."

Ok, if Void wasn't interested before, she was now. "What artifact? Maybe I can help with that. I haven't been here long, but I've heard a few things from my old job."

"Old job? Nevermind. It's called the Stormcallers Gauntlets. They were supposedly used by Commander Hurricane during ancient times."

Void considered what she had been told. She had been told stories while working for Iron Plow. But, she didn't recall anything called the Stormcallers Gauntlets. "Sorry. Can't say I've heard of it. So, how many other adventures have you been on. I haven't seen a new one of your books in almost a year."

The two began to talk. They drifted from topic to topic, never staying on one for too long. They talked about all sorts of things; Darings adventures, what voids been doing, a few personal things. However, Void was still cautious; she didn't want her to have too much advantage over her. She knew she was probably being paranoid, but it was a bit of a habit. Eventually, the two grew tired, and fell to sleep.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As she said, when Void awoke, she was that Daring was gone. She also saw that the rain had stopped, and the sun shined down on the mud on the caves edge. Good, She thought. Now I can get some stuff to eat beside this meat. She would eat meat, of course. But some flowers and berries would be better. As she picked up her sword, her thoughts came to a point. A very, important, problem.

Oh, f*** me!

Comments

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

okay, what's the problem?

[Venerable Ro]

9113605
There's going to be a Daring Do book featuring a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane coming out now? That could be a problem...

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

9113769
they already know she's out there.

[Centurion Pike-Wall]

9114107
Well, yes they do. But now, they would have a more specific area to search.

[Texus]

9114891

9113769

9113605
I already said it somewhere, but they replaced her already it seems, normally they don't have a reason to look for her. I only image Twilight and her friends to search her and then Celestia would be bitchy again maybe.
I don't thinks it's interessting for Celestia at the moment.

However she could might as well be somewhere else again by the time they come back and we are again back to "she's out there somewhere".