Daring Do was in for a whole world of pain.
The native Mayabaras trotted past her hiding place, yelling at one another in their guttural language. The pain of the obsidian tipped darts embedded in her wing made her suppress another groan. From behind her, Lucky Dig tugged at her good wing.
“Face it Doc,” the earth pony hoarsely whispered, “We’re out numbered and out gunned. What chance do we have against all of them?”
“I know that,” Daring venomously hissed back, “But-”
The adventurer fell silent as a shadow loomed over them like some sort of vast, predatory bird. A hiss escaped Lucky’s mouth as she took a breath of air in too quickly. The shadow turned to the left, and then to the right, before its owner trotted off in another direction, muttering to itself.
“I think we got our opening,” Daring breathed, “Time we weren’t here.”
The adventurer quickly scanned that area, sure that there was no one else in the area. Satisfied, the mare crawled out of her hiding spot, brushing her wounded wing against several jagged, broken rocks. Ignoring the pain, she quickly motioned for her companion to follow her out. Lucky also managed to extract herself from the pair’s cramped quarters and the two attempted to silently sneak through the bush.
Suddenly something whizzed past Daring’s ear, embedding itself in a nearby tree branch. Daring didn’t have to turn around to realize that the two had been spotted.
“They saw us!” Lucky grimly yelled, abandoning any need for subtlety.
“I know that!” Daring yelled back, just keep running!”
The two ponies continued fleeing through the underbrush, ignoring the scraps and scratches given to them. Daring skidded to a halt as she realized where the trees ended: at the unbreachable side of Mount Xnuk Ek. As the horde of Mayabaras descended on the two, Daring Do gritted her teeth and turned to face them.
“Hhhn.” The mare defiantly grinned as the Mayabaras arrived, their macuahuitls out and brandished with fury, “Never did want to live forever.”
“- And that concludes today’s story time,” the yellow pegasus closed her copy of Daring Do and the Treasure of Jolja. A chorus of groans and cries of displeasure escaped the group of fillies and colts seated in front of her. The pegasus smiled, as she adjusted her pith hat.
“Now, now children, you’ll just have to comeback tomorrow. After all, the conclusion will be that much more satisfying, won’t it?”
The foals muttered in agreement as they slowly began to shuffle out of the library. As the pegasus turned to clean up behind her, she felt a tug on her khakis.
“Um…Missus Safari?” a filly’s voice asked.
The pegasus turned and looked down: a young grey coated earth pony with a rainbow mane looked up at her, then back down, averting the older pegasus’ gaze.
“What is it, Sonata?”
“My sister and I aren’t gonna be here tomorrow, ‘cause mom has to go back to Manehatten ‘cause she got a concert to do, and my other mom is still off in Cloudsdales ‘cause of grandma.” Sonata looked back up at the mare, “But I wanna know how the story ends.”
“Doesn’t your mom have a copy?”
“We left it out and Tempo ate it.” Sonata replied, “then we hadda take her to the vet ‘cause she had a stomach ach.”
“…Well…Here’s what I’ll do…”
Safari reached into her bag and pulled out a second copy of Daring Do and the Treasure of Jolja. The mare placed it Sonata’s own saddlebag.
“This is my extra copy. I’m going to lend it to you for now, but the next time you’re in Ponyville, I expect to get it back, alright?”
“OK!”
“Hey!” another voice called out. The two turned to the door to see a grey-blue mare’s head, “Natty, come on, mom’s waiting.”
“Uh-huh. Bye Missus Safari!” Sonata waved goodbye as she ran to the doorway and joined the other pony.
“Good work today Teddie.” Another voice thanked the mare. Teddie turned around and smiled at Cheerilee, “As usual, the children loved it.”
“No problem,” Teddie took off the pith helmet and ran a hoof through her hair, “I love doing it. Besides it lets me use the outfit I commissioned from Rarity.”
“Well, see you tomorrow.” Teddie nodded and placed her helmet back. The mare trotted out of the library. As the door slammed behind her, a waiting pegasus filly perked up. The filly’s orange mane bounced as she looked up and her little wings flittered as she smiled.
“They let you wait for me, Sheppard?” Teddie asked.
“Uh-huh. Miss Silver Spoon said I could wait here insteada going back to the school.” The filly nodded.
“Well that makes things a bit easier,” Teddie muttered to herself, “Well then, let’s go home.”
“OK!”
Sheppard leapt to her feet and followed Teddie down the road.
“So what did you all do before story time?”
“Well, Treble an’ Sonata were visiting from Canterlot, so we gotta talk an’ hang out. And then we accidently let all the hamsters out, so Missus Fluttershy had to go and round them up. So then Miss Silver Spoon decided to leave early.”
“…How did you accidentally let the hamsters out?”
“We were supposed to be cleaning out the hamster cages, but we forgot to put them in the safe area, so they were all running around and doin’ stuff.” Sheppard responded, “We only found out after one of the hamsters ate Apple Cake’s snack.”
“…Next time you need to be more responsible.”
“It was all Sonata’s fault.”
“You can’t blame everything on other ponies,” Teddie continued on, “You both had to clean the cages, so you have equal blame.”
“I have another question too.”
“What’s that?”
“When we found somma the hamsters, Greg and Dolly were doing some kind of weird hug,” Teddie froze in place as Sheppard continued.
“When we asked Miss Silver Spoon, she didn’t answer our question.”
“…Well…When two ponies, or hamsters really loved each other….They hug.”
“…I don’t get it.”
“You don’t have to,” Teddie replied as she caught up to her daughter, “at least not yet.” The mare muttered under her breath.
“What?” Sheppard turned around, a puzzled expression on her face.
“Nothing, let’s go home.”
Teddie pushed open the door, allowing Sheppard in first.
“Go put your things away and take care of Gummy. Then go take a bath.”
“Can I take Gummy with me?”
“Fine.”
“Woo-hoo!” Sheppard dumped her school bag onto the ground and took off, “Gummy!”
“Hey!” Teddie yelled after her daughter, “What did I just say?”
Teddie waited for a response. After several moments, a slow, dragging sound was heard. A large, wall-eyed alligator slowly shuffled into a room, with Sheppard perched on its back. The gator blinked, and snagged the discarded schoolbag it its toothless maw. Teddie watched in silence as the gator and Sheppard vanished into another room.
“…I’m never going to get use to that,” Teddie muttered to herself as she trotted down the hallway. The mare stopped at one of the rooms, and pushed open the door. She flicked on the light, and continued into the room towards the bed. Something stirred from underneath the covers and Teddie slowly pulled the covers down, revealing a weary Pinkie Pie, her normally fluffy mane, straightened out and droopy.
“Sheppard didn’t wake you did she?”
“No…” Pinkie sighed, “Couldn’t sleep.”
“How you feeling now anyway, Pinkie?” Teddie asked.
“Better, still not all there, though.”
“You hungry? I got some split pea in the fridge, I was gonna heat it up for Shep, but I think there’s enough for three…”
“Maybe later.”
“Alright then, I’m going to go make sure Shep really is-”
“Mom!” Sheppard called out from the bathroom, “Gummy at the shampoo bottle!”
“-After I make sure she is not going to kill Gummy.”
Pinkie chuckled slightly as Teddie spun around and left the room.
“I swear to Celestia, this gator is going to survive me,” Teddie grumbled as she dragged Gummy back to his pool. Finally reaching the pool, Teddie released the gator, allowing it to slide into the pool with a slight splash. Gummy blinked twice before vanishing under the fake island in his encampment.
Teddie closed the door behind her and trotted back towards the master bedroom. As she approached, the sounds of laughter became louder.
“Mom, I got a question. Miss Silver Spoon didn’t answer me, an’ mom didn’t either,” Sheppard asked.
“What is it?”
“When we found Greg and Dolly they were doing this weird hugging thing. Why were they doing that?”
“Well…” Teddie pushed the door in as Pinkie opened her mouth to speak.
“I think its somepony’s bed time.” Teddie interrupted.
“Aww….Can Gummy sleep in my bed tonight?” Sheppard asked.
“No, after the shampoo thing he needs to stay in the water.” Teddie replied, “Now go brush your teeth.”
“Aww…” Sheppard groaned as she trotted out. Once Sheppard had reached the bathroom, Teddie shot Pinkie a dirty look.
“You weren’t going to tell her, were you?”
“I was thinking about it,” Pinkie managed a smile, “Maybe something to do with Princess Cadance and the rainbow factory.”
“Please don’t. She still thinks that you got Gummy by fighting off chimeras at the bottom of Slughaven Swamp.”
“Well, at least part of that is true,” Pinkie chuckled.
“Anyway, you better get some sleep,” Teddie changed the topic, “You need to get better soon.”
“I’m fine,” Pinkie rolled her eyes, “I’ll be back to normal tomorrow, just watch.”
“Whatever you say.”
Teddie leaned forward and kissed Pinkie on the forehead.
“We still have an anniversary dinner to go to.”
“I still have to eat.” Pinkie reminded her, “Soup’s still hot?”
“Oh, right. Yeah, it is, be right back.”
Teddie quickly trotted out of the room, as Sheppard snuck back in. The filly’s wings flittered a bit, as she struggled to get onto the bed with Pinkie.
“What are you doing, sweetie?”
“Mom said I had to go to bed, but she didn’t say who’s bed I hadda sleep in,” Sheppard grinned.
“I heard that,” Teddie replied as she returned, balancing a tray on her wings, “You know which bed you need to be in.”
Sheppard pouted as she rolled off the bed and onto the floor. “I never get to have any fun,” the filly pouted as she left the room.
“If I had known kids would be this much trouble, I would have said yes to adopting the orhros.” Teddie muttered as she laid the tray next to Pinkie. The pegasus plopped onto a near by chair while using her wings to cool down the soup. As Teddie did that, Pinkie shifted into a more upright position. Teddie picked up a spoon and scooped up some soup. The mare moved her head closer to Pinkie, who giggled.
“Shnot fhunny,” Teddie’s muffled response made the pink mare laugh louder, “Shurry hup han thshak kit.”
Pinkie leaned forward and took the spoonful of soup. She quickly swallowed it and leaned further forward, planting a quick kiss on Teddie’s lips. Pinkie quickly pulled back, grinning as her hair slowly began to curl and reinflate.
“Told you I was feeling better.”
Teddie grinned back, dropping the spoon onto the bed.
“Good.”
The two leaned forward again, preparing to kiss.
“Ewwwww.”
The two broke off the kiss and turned towards the door. Sheppard made a retching noise as she stuck out her tongue.
“Gross. Sonata says her moms to the same thing, but I thought she was trying to gross me out.”
“…Sheppard, go to sleep,” Teddie sighed.
