Daring Do and the Diamond Catchers

It turned out that trying to buy a plane ticket at 10:30 PM was not the easiest thing to do. Most of the secretaries just wanted to go home and let the night attendants take over, but they took over at 11, so this was the waiting period that seemed to take forever. Of course, these secretaries believed their shift was already over and they didn't want to do anything. No one in Baltimare ever wanted to do anything.

"I need to buy a one-way ticket to Saddle Arabia, please." Daring said after finally getting the attendant's attention.

"Saddle Arabia? Why would you want to go there?" The attendant wondered, levitating a drink and taking a sip.

"I'm going there to-"

"Why one way? Are you moving there? That's weird. Isn't it, like, really hot there?" She asked, drinking more.

"No, it's-"

"Won't you want more stuff? That's like, only 2 suitcases, and we didn't get a truck with furniture or anything in today. We don't get many ponies visiting there, certainly not one-way. If they do then they book in advance. I don't know if we have a flight straight there. What are you going there for?" The attendant said with curiosity, blinking.

"I'm going to see a friend."

"Well, in that case, shouldn't you want a two-way ticket? If you're coming back, I mean. Right?"

"I don't know how long I'll be there."

"Then you'll need more stuff, right?"

"No. Look, I just need a ticket to Saddle Arabia." Daring facehoofed and swished her tail in frustration.

"Are you sure you're not interested in some place like Mareami? Like, I know if I was trying to go somewhere I'd much rather be there than somewhere, like, a desert. Ditch the friend and go, girl. I think I could get you a discount if you-"

"Hey! Hello? Can you listen for once?" Daring shouted, and the mare straightened in surprise. "A one way ticket to Saddle Arabia. No questions asked."

The mare's eyes narrowed as she leaned forward, glancing around to make sure nopony else was listening. "Miss." She whispered hurriedly. "Are you trying to get away from something? Did you commit a crime? Because if you did-"

"I swear, I didn't do anything wrong. I'm trying to get to this friend to prevent bad things from happening. So please, please, please give me a ticket to Saddle Arabia, one way." Daring pleaded, rustling around in her saddle bag for some bits.

"Okay, okay." The mare rolled her eyes, starting to punch in some numbers on the computer. "I was just joking," she said, but Daring got the idea that she probably wasn't.

"150 bits."

"Are you serious?!" Daring exclaimed, her mouth dropping open.

"Yeah. Sorry sweetie, we don't get a lot of traffic from Baltimare to Saddle Arabia. Gotta charge extra." The mare smiled, continuing to type and print out a ticket.

"Whatever." Daring sighed, not wanting to argue any further. She got the money and tossed it on the counter. "When does the flight leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, 9 AM." The mare answered, then promptly stood and walked into the back room to get the ticket. She returned shortly, gathered the money, and then placed the ticket on the counter. "Don't miss it."

"Know of any nice hotels around here?" Daring Dae inquired, but the mare was already heading back into the break room to relax until her shift was over. With a sigh, Daring stuffed the ticket into her bag and trotted out of the airport and into the chilly night air. The lights of the city could be seen even though she was on the outskirts, and she could almost hear the nightlife going on. Out here, however, it was deserted, and the feathers on her wings ruffled to keep her warmer. She yawned, reminded again of how tired she was, and took off into the sky. There had to be a hotel around here somewhere for tourists to stay at.

As she flew along, she thought of the letter she'd received. Who were these so called 'Diamond Catchers'? And what did they want with the king? As far as she knew, he'd only ever been caring to the ponies of Saddle Arabia. He could be stubborn, but he was sweet and honest with everypony. Daring wondered how long the letter had taken to get to her, and if Veiled Leaf was even okay anymore. Something bad might have happened. Although if it had, she probably would have heard something about it, but maybe they were keeping it quiet.

Her mind was still racing when she landed at a motel just outside of the airport's lot. She walked through the doors and headed to the desk. A nice stallion was sitting in what looked to be a comfy chair and was quick to help her. He gave her the key to an empty room and charged her the right amount before directing her to the facilities and then to her room.

As she unpacked some necessities, she couldn't stop worrying about her friend, and how crazy this was! How could she be doing this? She was a normal pony. She had no experience in fighting or spying or anything like that. Well, she used to sneak around the house and eavesdrop as a filly, but she wasn't sure that counted. It never ended well anyway. How was she supposed to save a country?

She supposed that she knew, deep down, she wanted to save her friend and be famous for something other than her wealthy parents. She wanted adventure. Something more to her life than just living in a crappy, rundown apartment with a low-class job that she hated. She wanted her life to mean something more than what it did right then. This was a spur of the moment decision, and she wasn't entirely sure it was the right one. She was almost certain she'd regret it.

But Veiled Leaf needed her. She knew not many ponies liked the King there. He was sweet to his own ponies, but brutally honest to everyone. Other countries like Equestria saw him as ridiculous and hard to get along with. He was in it to save his own people, and didn't like to appear weak. He didn't help other countries, so Daring Dae knew they wouldn't receive help of their own. She had to try, at least. Do something for once.

She took a short shower, washing her mane with one of the tiny shampoo bottles. She stuffed the rest of them in her bag, intending to take them with her on her adventure: hygiene was important, after all. She brushed her teeth and her wet mane, staring at herself in the mirror. She had a feeling that after this trip, she would never be the same.

Her hooves felt heavy as she crawled into bed. It wasn't the comfiest, but the motel wasn't as bad as her apartment. The shower had been warm, the sheets were clean, and the floor was vacuumed. She didn't see a single piece of trash in her room. It was very neat and orderly, and compared to her own home, it was heaven. She knew it'd be hard to get up in the morning.

Setting the alarm on the clock for 7:30 AM, she yawned and dropped her head on the pillow. She had felt so tired before, but now her mind was racing again, and she couldn't fall asleep. Her eyelids were heavy, but no matter how much she closed them, her mind would not shut off. With a groan, she tossed and turned before huffing and staring up at the dark ceiling.

9 AM felt worlds away.