Vines that grew across the ancient path were swiftly cut down and the intrepid explorer walked through the fierce jungle with a confident smirk. Dozens of insect swarms mugged up the air with high pitched squeals and she pricked her well trained ears to the bushes. A low growl warned her of the monstrous predator that lurked in the leaves and she crouched in a defensive stance.
“What are we gonna do?” Her assistant asked with wide eyes as the growling continued.
She smirked and tipped her pith helmet forward “We’re gonna do what all adventurers do.”
Her assistant took a step forward and whispered “What?”
She yelled and ran into the bush “ATTAAAACK!!!” She leaped into the bush and grappled with the huge jungle beast, dodging every swipe and bite with ease.
“DITZY!”
Ditzy’s face fell and she looked up at her mom with a shocked expression. She untangled herself from the pile of blankets, toys, and pillows that was her fierce jungle just a second ago and looked up sheepishly at her mom’s stern face.
“Hi Mom.” She grinned and took off her cardboard pith helmet.
Her mom sighed “Ditzy, it’s almost nine thirty, why aren’t you asleep?”
“Well…Um, Daring wanted to play really, really, reeeeallly badly so I thought it would be okay for a little while…”
Ditzy’s little sister Daring shook her head “Nu uh! Ditzy asked me to play with her, Momma! I was her assistant!”
Ditzy shook her head and raised her hooves “No I didn’t! Daring wanted to play!”
Their mom let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of her muzzle with a hoof “Look girls, it doesn’t matter who wanted to play first. You both need to go to sleep. Now.”
Ditzy pouted “But Moooom, I was just about to find the temple!” Her mom frowned slightly and Ditzy put on the best puppy dog eyes she could muster “Just a few more minutes? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaase?”
“No. It’s time for every little filly-”
“Adventurer!”
“Adventurer, to get some shut eye.”
Both fillies pouted and nodded and Ditzy spoke “Yes Mom.”
Their mom nodded and turned off the lights before Daring yelled “Wait! Momma!”
“Yes Daring?”
Daring smiled “Can you tuck me in?”
Their mom smiled and nodded “Of course Sweetie.” She walked over to Daring’s little bed and used her hooves to pull the blankets tight around her daughter while Ditzy curled up in her own bed. She kissed Daring and Ditzy on the forehead before she walked out into the hall.
“Goodnight girls.”
“Goodnight Momma.”
“G’night Mom.” Their mom nodded and shut the door almost all the way to let some of the hall light into the room and the fillies were quiet.
A few minutes passed in silence before Daring whispered “Ditzy? You awake?”
“Yeah. Are you?”
“Uh huh. Ditzy?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you really gonna be an adventurer when you grow up?”
Ditzy smiled up at the ceiling “I’m not just gonna be an adventurer, I’m gonna be the greatest archaeologist adventurer that ever lived!”
Daring smiled and nuzzled her stuffed falcon “Can I come?”
Ditzy nodded “Sure. But not on the really dangerous stuff, okay?”
“Okay.” Daring yawned “Goodnight Ditzy.”
“Goodnight Daring.”
Daring struggled to keep her eyes open as the steady beep of the heart monitor started to lull her to sleep. She jerked awake and shook her head to banish the urge to take a nap. Her mom had told her to get some sleep but she didn’t want to take the chance of being asleep when Ditzy woke up. Daring stood and stretched her wings a couple times as she quietly paced in front of her big sister’s hospital bed. She snapped her head towards the door when she heard hoofsteps in the hall. Her mom came in holding a tray of food and Daring looked away.
“Come on Daring, you have to eat something.” Mrs. Do nudged the tray towards Daring with a small but tired smile.
Daring shook her head “I’m not hungry.”
Her mom walked over to her “Sweetie, you’ve been in this room for the last three days.”
“And?”
“Refusing to eat or sleep isn’t going to make her better faster.”
Daring sighed and rolled her eyes “Mom, I don’t want to be asleep when she wakes up. I’m fine, really.”
Her mom sighed and shook her head before she grabbed a bottle of water off the tray “Then at least drink some water.”
Daring huffed in exasperation “Okay, okay.” She took the bottled water and took a sip before she guzzled down the entire bottle in a matter of seconds, she really did forget how thirsty she was. Her mom managed a small smile and sat down on one of the chairs next to Ditzy’s bed.
Daring sat down next to her mom and frowned “Mom?”
“Yes Sweetie?”
Daring looked at Ditzy with a few tears in her eyes “Ditzy’s gonna be okay, right?”
Mrs. Do wrapped a wing around her daughter’s back and stroked her mane. “I…I don’t know Daring. The doctors are doing everything they can but…The accident was…”
Daring nodded and wiped a tear from her face “I know. I…I wish it was me instead of her. I mean, I was there too, I should have stopped her, I should have done something!”
“And if you had, Ditzy would never forgive herself. You know how much she loves you.”
Daring nodded and nuzzled her face into her mom’s shoulder as she scrunched her eyes shut tight. Mrs. Do stroked Daring’s back and wished there was something she could do to help Ditzy but couldn’t think of anything. Somepony knocked on the door frame and Daring and Mrs. Do looked up. Both mares smiled when Daring and Ditzy’s father walked in with a bouquet of flowers he put on the bedside table
He walked over to Daring and gave her a hug “Hey Daring.” He turned to his wife and gave her a quick peck on the cheek “Hey Darling. Sorry I’m late, work was really rough.”
Darling Do smiled and stroked Dun-did Do’s shoulder “It’s okay Dunny.”
Dun-did smiled sadly and put a hoof on Daring’s shoulder “How’re you holding up, Hun?”
Daring shrugged “Okay, I guess. I’m just…I don’t know, Dad.”
Dun-did nodded and sat down on the other side of Daring as he put his wing around her back. “I know, I know. But remember that no matter what happens Ditzy will always be your big sister.”
Ditzy’s doctor cleared his throat and smiled softly at the weary family. Daring leapt out of her chair and ran to the doctor. “Doctor Hoof! Is Ditzy going to be okay?”
Doctor Steady Hoof smiled weakly at the eager young mare and cleared his throat again “Well, Miss Do, until your sister wakes up we can’t perform a proper examination but our resident neurologist is optimistic.”
Dun-did stood “When do you think she’ll wake up?”
Doctor Steady Hoof walked over to Ditzy’s bed and checked her chart “I can’t say for certain. The last response test was good but I’ll check again.”
He walked over to Ditzy’s head and grabbed a small flashlight from his coat pocket. He gently opened each of Ditzy’s eyes and flicked the flashlight over her irises as the Do family watched nervously. Doctor Hoof wrote a few notes on Ditzy’s chart and smiled.
Darling Do asked nervously “How is she?”
Doctor Hoof nodded “She’s very responsive, so with luck she should wake up soon.” His face fell slightly “Unfortunately it’s impossible to say whether or not there will be any permanent brain damage.”
Daring raised her eyebrow “What does that mean?”
Doctor Hoof glanced questioningly at Darling and Dun-did Do. They looked at each other for a second before Dun-did nodded and Doctor Hoof continued “Well, Daring, Ditzy suffered serious head trauma in the accident and it may have had an effect on her mental function. Now we can’t be sure how much damage has been done or how long it may last, but we will do everything we can to help your sister.”
Daring nodded and Doctor Hoof patted her shoulder reassuringly. He turned towards the door and nodded to Daring’s parents “I’ll be back in a while to check up on her.” He shut the door and Daring walked over to Ditzy.
She weakly smiled and put her hoof on Ditzy’s fetlock. “Ditzy? I don’t know if you can hear me but I’m…I’m still here Big Sis. No matter what, I’m always gonna be here for you.”
Ditzy started moving slightly and Daring gasped as her sister’s eyes started fluttering open. Dun-did, Darling, and Daring gathered around Ditzy while they held their breath. Daring inched closer and whispered “D-Ditzy?”
Ditzy opened her eyes and looked at Daring “Daring? Mom? Dad?” Ditzy’s parents looked at each other with confused expressions and Daring raised her eyebrow. “What’s…” Ditzy was suddenly aware that it was oddly difficult to speak “What’s…Wrong?”
Dun-did walked over to Ditzy and put a wing in front of her face “Ditzy, Honey? How many feathers am I holding up?” He separated his primary feathers to leave two up in the air.
Ditzy tried hard to focus on her father’s wing but it was like her eyes were pointed in different directions. “Ummm…” She squinted her eyes and stuck her tongue out a little “Four?”
Dun-did looked at Darling and she nodded “I’ll go get the doctor.”
Ditzy looked around nervously until she saw Daring, well, sort of saw her. “Daring? What’s wrong with me?”
Daring’s eyes widened slightly and she bit her lip nervously “Um, Ditzy? Your eyes are kinda…Crooked.”
Later that night Dun-did and Darling Do had gone down to the hospital’s family room to get some sleep but Daring had refused to leave Ditzy. The doctors had done a complete examination of Ditzy and they discovered that the accident had left her with brain damage. They said that it wasn’t too serious and it could have been a lot worse but it was definitely probable that Ditzy would never completely recover.
Ditzy was still having a really hard time focusing on anything and when she had tried to walk on the way to her tests she had fallen down half a dozen times before the nurses gave her a wheelchair. Her wings didn’t do anything her brain told them to do but the doctors said that with practice and time she would get better at it.
But that didn’t matter to Ditzy right then. She stared up at the ceiling and tried to focus as she thought about how she was going to live like this. Daring was trying to read but she hadn’t turned the page in over an hour and a half and she kept glancing at her sister. Daring was starting to nod off when Ditzy suddenly spoke.
“Daring?”
Daring straightened up “Yeah Ditzy?”
“I’m not going to be able to do it.”
Daring’s eyes widened and she walked over to Ditzy’s bed “Of course you are! Don’t you worry Ditzy, you’re gonna be all better before you know it.” Daring tried to smile but Ditzy shook her head.
“No I’m not. I can feel it in my heart, or my brain, I don’t know. I just know that I’m never gonna be all better.”
Daring shook her head and lightly punched her sister’s fore leg “Come on, Ditzy. You’re going to be the greatest archaeologist adventurer of all time! And I’m going to make all the maps of the places you find.”
Ditzy looked at Daring with tears in her eyes “Daring…You saw me walk down that hall.”
Daring shrugged “Well yeah but you’ll get better, this was just one day!”
“I don’t think so. If I can’t even focus on one spot how am I going to traverse a jungle filled with predators and booby traps?”
“I can help you! I’ll be your assistant like when we were little!” Daring wiped some moisture from her eyes “Please don’t give up, Ditzy.”
Ditzy weakly smiled at Daring and put a hoof on her sister’s shoulder “I’m not giving up, Daring. I’m just passing on my dream.”
Daring raised an eyebrow “What do you mean?”
Ditzy swallowed the lump in her throat and wiped her eyes “Daring…I’ve been thinking about this ever since the doctor told me about my brain damage. I can’t go adventuring and find ancient treasures but you can.”
“Me? But-”
Ditzy took Daring’s hoof in her own “You always wanted to be the adventurer, Daring. And now that you’ve got your cutie mark in cartography I know you’ll be amazing at it.”
“Ditzy…” Daring was on the verge of sobbing and she tightened her grip on Ditzy’s hoof “I want to do it, but not without you…”
“But you can do it for me.” Tears ran down Ditzy’s cheeks as she tried even harder to focus her eyes on her sister “Ditzy Do won’t be the greatest archaeologist adventurer that ever lived but Daring Do can be.” She swallowed a lump in her throat “Daring, I…I wouldn’t ask you to do this, but…I know in my heart that you will be great.”
Daring wiped some tears off her face and nodded “O-Okay Ditzy. I’ll do it. I’ll be the greatest treasure hunter in history. And I’ll do it for you, Big Sis.”
Ditzy smiled and hugged Daring “Thank you, Daring. Thank you so much.” She whispered and leaned back into her pillows. Daring kept stroking Ditzy’s hoof as Ditzy finally fell asleep. Daring walked over to her saddlebags and pulled out Ditzy’s old cardboard pith helmet.
Daring put it on Ditzy’s bed and wiped a few more tears off her face. “I’m going to be the best, Ditzy. I’m going to make you proud. And I’m going to write everything down so you can be there too.”
Ditzy shook her head slightly and opened the door to her house. She walked into the living room and set the package she was carrying onto the coffee table. She kept herself from stumbling and looked around with a small smile.
“Dinky! Where are you Muffin?”
“I’m in my room, Momma!” Ditzy smiled at her daughter’s voice and took off her work saddlebags, shaking her head at the misspelling once again. She hadn’t meant to put two “o”s at the end of her name but she had gotten a little mixed up on the application. And on Dinky’s birth certificate, but that didn’t matter.
“Can you come down for a minute?”
“Aww, but I’m drawing, Momma!”
Ditzy smirked and shrugged “Okay, I guess I’ll just take the package for you back to work!” Ditzy cocked her head towards the stairs and nodded with a satisfied smile as tiny hooves bounded down the stairs and Dinky rushed to her mother.
“A package? What is it?! Is it from Auntie Daring?!” Dinky started hopping up and down and looking around excitedly.
Ditzy laughed “Calm down, Muffin.” Dinky held her breath and tried to stay still. Ditzy turned to the table and opened it. Ditzy smiled warmly and held the book wrapped in brown paper in front of Dinky.
Dinky quickly snatched the book out of Ditzy’s mouth and tore the paper off, revealing the latest and yet unreleased Daring Do book. Dinky squealed excitedly and ran up to her room to read it. Ditzy laughed at her daughter’s antics and turned back to the box. She smiled warmly as she pulled out a worn leather journal with a piece of parchment taped to the front.
Ditzy sat down on the couch and unfolded the piece of parchment with her baby sister’s distinct hoofwriting.
Dear Ditzy,
I think you’ll like this one; it’s a doozy of an adventure. Don’t you worry; I didn’t leave a thing out of my journal although my editors cut out a bunch for the book, as usual. I don’t have any leads on any other ancient treasures so I was thinking I could come by Ponyville for a visit. I’ve got some nice little trinkets I think Dinky would really like and some interesting stuff for you as well. I’ll send you a letter once I figure out when exactly I can come. Give Dinky my best, I’ll see you soon Big Sis.
Lots of Love,
~Daring.
Ditzy smiled warmly and picked up the journal. She opened the cover and softly caressed the words on the first page with her hoof. Her eyes grew moist and she read the title aloud.
“Ditzy Do, the Greatest Archaeologist Adventurer that Ever Lived, and the Search for the Zebrican Amulet.” Her smile grew wider as her eyes found the words at the bottom of the page. “Written by Daring Do, her Trusty Assistant.”
