The Life and Times of Everypony

by Leafdoggy

Kingdom of the Cutie Mark, Part 2

The jungle was a hot, loud, sticky, miserable place. The ponies could hardly hear themselves think over the sounds of nature all around, screeching and growling animals of untold shapes and sizes, mysterious things that danced through their imaginations. The path was so overgrown they could barely follow it. They were all itchy, covered in scrapes and scratches from the unkempt wildlife. It felt like they could become hopelessly lost at any moment.

So, naturally, the children were having the time of their lives.

They were on a real adventure. Not being guided along by their sisters, or kept away from anything even remotely dangerous. This was a journey to rival those of Daring Do herself, and the excitement from that thought was infectious. Once it caught on, it overpowered any negativity the group had as they pressed on through the weeds.

“So where do you think this path even goes?” Scootaloo asked at one point.

“Some kinda town, probably,” Sweetie Belle said. “Hey, didn’t the Kirin live somewhere like this?”

“I don’t think they were in the jungle,” Applebloom said.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said, “but this could be something like that. What if we find a whole new kind of creature ponies have never met before?”

“Oh, we’ll be famous!” Diamond Tiara said excitedly. “I bet they’ll make us ambassadors.”

“I dunno if I want all that responsibility,” Applebloom replied.

“Oh, pssh,” Diamond Tiara said. “Being an ambassador doesn’t have responsibilities. Once you’re that high up, you’re too important to work.”

“Then what’s the point?” Scootaloo asked.

“The point is that we’d be famous! Everypony will know who we are,” Diamond Tiara said.

“I don’t get it,” Scootaloo told her.

“What would jungle ponies even be like?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Maybe bats?” Applebloom suggested. “Like Fluttershy.”

“Nah, it’s too hot for that,” Scootaloo said. “Plus, why live in a jungle if you can fly? If anything you’d live on top of the jungle, and we’d know about them then.”

“Unless they can hide from us,” Diamond Tiara said. “Maybe they can turn invisible, or—”

Just then, the brush ahead of them exploded, and a massive, jet black wildcat flew out onto the path. It had its eyes trained on them fiercely, and was baring its long, sharp fangs as it growled.

Diamond Tiara leapt back and screamed, colliding into the others behind her. They all cowered back, their legs shaking and their teeth chattering.

“I-It’s a p-p-panther,” Sweetie Belle whispered. “Scootaloo, do something!”

“Me?” Scootaloo took a step away. “What am I supposed to do? That thing’s huge!”

Then, Diamond Tiara huffed and got a sour look on her face. She stood up straight, raised her head high, and took a confident step forward.

“Bad kitty,” she said. The other three stared at her in shock.

The cat snarled back at her, crouching down as if to pounce.

“Hey!” Diamond Tiara stamped her hoof on the ground. “No!”

“What are you doing?” Applebloom whispered. “It’s gonna eat you!”

The panther roared at her.

“Oh, be quiet,” Diamond Tiara told it. “You are being a very naughty kitty.”

The panther growled again, but this time is was quieter, less sure of itself.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Diamond Tiara said. “Now sit down and be a good kitty.”

The cat stopped growling, but didn’t sit, just looking at her quizzically.

“Sit,” Diamond Tiara repeated.

Slowly, cautiously, the panther sat down.

“Wh- How did you do that?” Scootaloo asked.

“That was incredible!” Applebloom added.

Diamond Tiara looked at them with a proud grin. “Heh, that was nothing compared to getting my mother to back down on something. I didn’t get my cutie mark for nothing, you know.”

Applebloom took a few careful steps toward the cat, which just regarded her curiously. “So, now what?”

“Hmm…” Diamond Tiara walked up to the cat and crouched down in front of it. “Hey, kitty, we’re kinda lost. Is there anypony around here?”

The panther made a deep, rumbling noise of some sort.

“I have no idea what that means,” Diamond Tiara said.

“I guess bein able to get them to quiet down doesn’t mean you can talk to animals,” Applebloom said.

Diamond Tiara sighed. “Yes, sadly. Okay, kitty, just… Lead us somewhere we can get help, alright?”

Silently, the panther got up and started walking slowly into the jungle.

The ponies all looked at each other, and then Applebloom shrugged and started to follow it. Shortly after, the others tagged along.

The cat didn’t seem to have any need for pathways, and so it was leading them straight through the jungle. Luckily, it seemed to know to go slow so they could keep up, but the rougher terrain meant wading through more weeds, pushing past bushes, and occasionally navigating very carefully through thorny plants. They didn’t talk much, all concentrating too hard on just walking, making it a very quiet, awkward trek.

Before long, though, they broke into a clearing. The panther looked back at them as they climbed out of the trees, then looked towards the center of the little field. There stood a tiny, run down shack. The walls were missing planks of wood, the roof was missing tiles, and the house was missing a door entirely. Still, it was clearly in use. Rows of well cared for greenery surrounded the house, curtains hung in the windows, and smoke billowed from the chimney.

“Who could live in a place like this?” Diamond Tiara wondered.

“I dunno,” Applebloom said, “it seems kinda homey.”

“More like drafty,” Diamond Tiara replied.

As they talked back and forth, the panther roared loudly, making them all jump back in shock.

There was a blur of movement from the house. First, a strange hand grasped the top of the doorframe. Then it yanked its owner out, and a whirling blue shape flew through the air at a blinding speed. It hit the ground with a dreadful thud, like a cannonball had been dropped in the dirt, and the creature snarled.

The children couldn’t help but step away in shock as, before them, a strange blue being glared down at them.

Then he stopped snarling, and his eyes went wide. “Wh- Children? Explain yourself, Bubbles.”

The fillies looked at each other in confusion as the panther growled and roared back to the creature.

“Lost?” The creature responded to the cat. “How does a group of children get lost and end up in the middle of Tenochtitlan?”

“U-Um, excuse me,” Diamond Tiara said meekly.

The creature shifted its attention to her. “Yes?”

“Are you going to, um… Eat us, or something?”

“What? No!” The creature groaned. “Really, those books give ponies such strange ideas.”

“Books?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yes, the Daring Do books. I imagine you have read them?”

The kids all looked at Scootaloo.

She looked back, and her eyes went wide. “What? Just cuz Rainbow Dash likes the books doesn’t mean I have to.”

“So you don’t?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I haven’t read them,” Scootaloo said. She frowned. “Daring Do just makes me think of my parents.”

“So none of you know who I am?” The creature asked.

They all shook their heads.

“Hah! Wow, it has been a very long time since I last met ponies who did not despise me. Have you at least heard the name Ahuizotl?”

“Wait, like, Daring Do’s arch enemy?” Applebloom asked.

“That is me, yes!”

The ponies huddled together a bit closer. “U-Um,” Sweetie Belle muttered, “does that mean you’re going to throw us in a volcano or something?”

Ahuizotl sighed. “It’s going to take me a millenia to fix the damage those books have done. Look, just come inside and I can give you some food. You can ask me all the questions you want then.”

The ponies were hesitant, but the offer of food was hard to ignore. It took a while, each of them prodding the others trying to get them to go first, but eventually Sweetie Belle mustered up the courage to go inside, and the other three followed shortly after, trailed by Bubbles the panther.

The inside of the shack was plain and simple. There was a small stone fireplace, flames crackling inside it, and beside it was a bed that looked far too small. There were a few cabinets for storage, and there was a low table, short enough to reach without chairs. The only thing that approached actual decoration was a proud looking stuffed panther in one corner of the room, which Bubbles trodded over and laid down under.

After looking around, then glancing at each other, the fillies found places to sit around the table, waiting as Ahuizotl rummaged around in cabinets. A moment later, he dropped a few old, chipped bowls in front of them, along with a box of cereal.

“I don’t actually have any milk,” he said, “but these are probably not stale.”

The ponies eyed the cereal suspiciously, but in the end their hunger won out, and they poured themselves some meager helpings. They ate quietly and awkwardly, not knowing how to act in a situation like this.

Ahuizotl sat heavily on his bed, and it let out a painful creak. “So, what are four pony children doing in my jungle?”

“We, um… We wanted to go on an adventure,” Applebloom said.

“Of course,” Ahuizotl said bleakly.

“What do you mean, your jungle?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Well, it isn’t actually mine,” Ahuizotl told her. “I merely guard it from those who would do it wrong.”

“What? Hang on,” Scootaloo said. “I haven’t read the books, but I have heard what you did when Rainbow Dash was here. You were going to use those rings to destroy everything!”

Ahuizotl scoffed. “Yes, of course, because Daring Do knows everything there is to know about the artifacts kept here. A pony younger than some of my cats, clearly she could not have been wrong about what the artifacts were to do.”

“But then why do you fight her?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Because the artifacts in this jungle do not belong in her museums! Those who lived here did not do so in order for their legacy to one day be used as cheap wonderment for wealthy ponies in some far off land.”

“Why don’t you just tell her that?” Scootaloo asked.

“Bah. Ponies like her will never listen when you tell them they are wrong.”

“You don’t know that!” Scootaloo argued. “You have to at least try, otherwise you—”

Suddenly, an ear piercing roar rang through the air.

“No!” Ahuizotl sprang up and flung himself over to the door. “You see? Here she is, plundering once more. You children stay here. I must take care of this.”

“Wait!” Scootaloo said, but he didn’t listen. Ahuizotl flipped out the door and vanished into the jungle. Scootaloo growled in frustration. “Why are grownups so stubborn?”

“I mean, I dunno if he’s really wrong,” Applebloom said. “There’s a lot of those books.”

“That’s not the point,” Scootaloo grumbled. “If Daring Do, the greatest adventurer to ever live, really can’t accept that she might be wrong, then… I just have to believe she’ll listen, okay?”

“Well, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do about it,” Applebloom said.

“Why don’t we go after him?” Diamond Tiara suggested.

“How?” Applebloom asked.

Diamond Tiara pointed to Bubbles, half asleep in the corner. “We’ve got a guide!”

It didn’t take much convincing. A minute later, the four of them were clinging onto the massive cat’s back as it bounded through the trees at dizzying speeds. Branches whizzed past them on all sides, just barely missing them, but Bubbles knew what he was doing. The trip was disorienting and terrifying, but none of them got a single scratch as the cat carried them along.

Soon, the sound of yelling could be heard ahead.

“Outta my way, Ahuizotl!”

“I think not, Daring Do! Today, I put an end to your reign.”

The two of them were flipping through the air, struggling against one another, as the panther burst out of the jungle. They were fighting at the base of a massive stone staircase, cats surrounding them on all sides, and Daring Do had a glittering golden necklace strung over her neck.

Scootaloo didn’t wait to have their attention. As soon as Bubbles stopped, she leapt off his back and ran straight for the two of them, yelling “Stop!”

Daring Do and Ahuizotl broke apart, landing several feet away from each other, and stared in shock at the little orange pony darting towards them. The other children were still climbing off of the cat’s back, and went running after Scootaloo soon after.

“Stop it!” Scootaloo repeated.

“Kid, get outta here!” Daring Do ordered. “Can’t you see that it’s dangerous?”

“For once, I agree,” Ahuizotl said. “Child, I do not want you caught in our melee.”

“I don’t care,” Scootaloo said as she skidded to a stop between them. “You have to stop.”

“She is going to escape!” Ahuizotl said.

“Hah!” Daring Do laughed. “As if I ever don’t escape.”

“Quit it!” Scootaloo shouted as the other three crowded in beside her. “Why can’t you just stop fighting?”

“I have to keep this stuff out of his hands,” Daring Do said. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“That one doesn’t even do anything!” Ahuizotl told her.

“Yeah, right,” Daring Do replied. “I saw your cats prowling around this place. You wouldn’t have your eye on it if it wasn’t powerful.”

“Stop it, Daring Do,” Scootaloo said. “He’s only trying to keep them away from you!”

“Kid, I don’t know what kinda malarkey he fed you, but he’s full of it.”

“What has he ever even done?” Scootaloo asked.

“He tries to kill me all the time!”

“Yeah, he goes way too far with it, but he only ever gets in your way,” Scootaloo said. “You just…” She clenched her eyes shut, trying to hold her emotions in check. “You’re just like them. You hate anything that gets in the way of your adventure.”

“You don’t know a thing about me,” Daring Do said. “I’m outta here.”

“Wait!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Please, Ms Daring Do, even if you won’t listen… We’re lost. Can you go get Rainbow Dash? She’s her sister, and… We have to get home.”

“...Yeah,” Daring Do said, and she took off into the sky.

Ahuizotl crouched down, preparing to jump after her, but then thought twice and decided against it. Instead, he walked over and sat on the ground near Scootaloo.

“You should not have come here,” Ahuizotl said.

Scootaloo sniffed and turned away from him. “I know.” Sweetie Belle nuzzled her affectionately.

“Rainbow Dash is your sister?” he asked.

Scootaloo nodded.

“Daring Do respects her greatly. If your words can reach Rainbow Dash, they will find their way to Daring Do.”

Scootaloo sniffed again and wiped her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Daring Do does not know where I live,” he said, “so I will wait here with you until your sister arrives.”

Scootaloo nodded, and Ahuizotl plodded away to go sit on the stone steps and give the fillies some space.

“You okay, Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked quietly once he seemed out of earshot.

“I think so,” Scootaloo said.

“I’m sorry for making you come out here,” Diamond Tiara said.

Scootaloo shook her head. “It wasn’t the trip, it was just… Her.”

“Well, still,” Diamond Tiara said. “I… Know what it’s like, kind of. You deserve better.”

Scootaloo nodded weakly.

The group sat down to wait, and Bubbles came up and sat with them. It was a long wait, made all the worse by the lack of conversation, but none of them knew what to say. Ahuizotl was able to busy himself with his cats, but all the children could do was sit and wait, and so that’s what they did.

Eventually, the silence was broken by a loud pop. Not far from where they were seated, a sphere of purple magic appeared, only to vanish a second later, leaving a group of ponies in its place. Twilight was in the center, and she was flanked by the girls’ sisters. Applejack and Rarity looked furious, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t manage anything more than a look of deep concern.

Rainbow Dash flew over to Scootaloo and sat down beside her, wrapping her in a wing. Scootaloo graciously pressed up against her, and closed her eyes as she felt tears threatening to well up again. Meanwhile, Rarity and Applejack pulled the other three aside, and Twilight spotted Ahuizotl and walked over to him.

“Daring Do told me what you said,” Rainbow Dash said quietly.

“Sorry,” Scootaloo replied. “I know she’s your hero, but…”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Don’t be sorry. Just because I like somepony doesn’t mean you have to.”

“She’s a jerk,” Scootaloo said.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “I can’t really argue with you there. She’s not really the nicest pony.”

“Why is she your hero, then?”

“Well, not for that part,” Rainbow Dash said. “The nice thing about having a hero is that you can see where they messed up and be better than them.”

“Mm…” Scootaloo sighed. “I’m sorry for leaving without asking.”

“We can talk about that later,” Rainbow Dash said. “After we get you home.” Scootaloo nodded, and Rainbow Dash gave her a gentle squeeze.

Over at the stone steps, a leopard lying beside Ahuizotl growled as Twilight Sparkle walked up to him, but he hushed it with a touch.

“Can’t say I expected to see you here,” Twilight said.

“Yes, well, I could not leave these children to fend for themselves in the jungle, now could I?” Ahuizotl replied.

“I appreciate that,” Twilight said. “Daring Do didn’t explain much, but she said something about you brainwashing fillies?”

Ahuizotl scoffed. “She would say that. I simply told them the truth.”

“Which is?”

“That I protect this jungle from interlopers like Daring Do.”

“What about the rings?” Twilight asked. “I was there for that.”

“What kind of a civilization would make an artifact solely to destroy their own home?” Ahuizotl rolled his eyes. “The rings could control the weather. Do you have any idea how much rain a jungle needs?”

“You realize I can’t just take you at your word about this, right?” Twilight asked.

“Of course I realize that,” Ahuizotl said. “If I thought ponies might actually listen, I would have reached out to your Princess Celestia eons ago.”

“I’m going to look into this,” Twilight said. “If I decide I can trust you, you have my word as Princess that I’ll take steps to protect this jungle from further… Incursion.”

“And the artifacts pilfered by Daring Do and her ilk?”

“If we can guarantee the jungle is safe, we’ll take every step to put them in their rightful place,” Twilight said. “I’ll probably still want to get some sort of documentation, but that’s a matter for another time.”

“I’ll see you at that other time, then,” Ahuizotl said.

“Yes you will,” Twilight said. “Thanks again for helping with the kids.”

She waved goodbye, then turned around to rejoin the others, who had finished their various talked and were waiting on her. Rainbow Dash still had Scootaloo wrapped under her wing, while Rarity looked after Sweetie Belle and Applejack kept a stern eye on Applebloom and Diamond Tiara. Twilight smiled at the sight of them all and lit up her horn to send them home.