Treasure hunters of Equestria

Chapter 4 - Together

(From the perspective of Dart)

      We'd spent the rest of the night making appointments for museums to see if the treasure we found was legitimate, and the sun was just beginning to rise when Daring knocked on my door and dragged me out of bed. She didn't explain very much as we flew towards our new hide-out.

     "Here we are!" Announced Daring as we landed. "It's not much, but with a bit of.... renovation, it could be our office!" I examined the moldy old building in front of me. Daring didn't lie, it really wasn't much. It was a small two story cottage on the outskirts of ponyville. The walls had cracks in them, and the door had a hole the size of my hoof in it. There was a broken mailbox, and a little path over a river. There were a lot of animals too, but they tried to stayed away from the cottage. Probably due to the cobwebs.

   Without warning she took to the air, flapping her wings just enough to stay in place. "Hey, I'm going to go buy some stuff to fix this place up, wait here!" Before I could object, she gave me a wink and flew off.

    .....So why was I still here? I sat on the ground in front of the cottage. I've never really felt attached to anypony before, and any mare-friend I'd ever had broke up with me because I spent more time in the library or ruins then with them. I hadn't even contacted my family in at least 7 months, but I have a lot of younger siblings and my parents were probably busy raising them. After about half an hour of waiting, Daring reappeared with a small wagon full of supplies. She tossed me a hammer and a signpost that read: "Office of the Daring Duo!"

"Get up! It's time to get working! Plant that next to the mailbox!" I yawned, and got up.

"Gah, who are you? My mother?"  I regretted saying it as soon as I did, as an evil grin came upon her face.

"No, I'm the mare who's going to kick your plot if you don't get moving! Now hurry up!" I gave her a lazy salute, and obeyed.

   As we worked, she began to make small talk.

"So...how did you get your cutie mark?" She asked as she was fixing a crack in the wall.

"I stole a shiny rock from a lion." I said casually as I tore the door down to put in the new one. It had a heart shaped window. I decided to ignore it.

"Seriously?" She asked. "That's kind of odd. Do you just really like shiny rocks?"

"Nah, it was the lion. I've never felt as excited as when I was running through his cave, dodging his cubs." Daring gave a knowing nod, I figured she knew the feeling. "How about you? How did you get your cutie mark?" I finished the door, and took a step back, admiring my work. She threw a paint brush at me and pointed at the wall. I sighed and obeyed.

"My cutie mark means adventure! I got it when I stowed away on a cruise ship and uncovered an evil plot (the idea kind) to commit mutiny! I warned the captain and he rewarded me by letting me stay. The cruise was pretty good too I guess." I laughed. Daring dusted away a cobweb. "So what's up with the hooves? You never finished telling me." She picked up a paintbrush and started painting alongside me.

"I don't really know, I stole a ring from an ancient Romane temple and when I put it on, my hooves turned black and metallic." She groaned.

"Curses," She spat. "The bane of all treasure hunters." I nodded in agreement. Finally, we finished painting, and entered the house.

"There's no furniture." I pointed out. She stepped back outside for a moment, and came back with an axe.

"Let's go make some! There's plenty of trees nearby to use for wood."

"And the beds? We don't have any mattresses."

"Actually I brought a mattress."

"Well then I don't have one. I'll have to go to town and get one later." She had that evil look on her face again.

"Or we could just share." I turned red.

"No."

"It's a pretty big mattress you know."

"No."

"Are you sure? We could-"

"NO." She leaned on the axe.

"Too bad. You're really missing out." I grabbed the axe from under her, almost causing her to fall, then I stormed out the door and ran for the trees.

   Once I was alone gathering wood, I returned to my normal shade of orange. I began to chop down the largest tree I could find. After it fell, I decided it wasn't QUITE enough wood, and chopped down two smaller trees. This should be plenty, with enough leftover to build anything we'd need. My mind wouldn't stray from what had just happened though, why had I said no again? Wait no. I can't think like that. I HAD to say no. First off, I'm pretty bad with mares. Second, that would be really awkward. Third, I wouldn't be able to focus whenever I go treasure hunting with her.......wait a minute, who said I was going to stick around!? It's not like we're married anyways! I could leave anytime!......But it would be a real shame if these trees were just left in the woods. I guess I should take them back.

    I knew I was making excuses, but I was still happy to have one. I attached a rope from my back to the logs. Normally this would be hard to haul without a cart, but I could handle it.... Actually it took no effort at all, it seemed like all the weight just disappeared in my....hooves. It's the curse! What is up with that anyways, one moment it makes me fall down the stairs and the next It makes me some kind of super pony! That is just weird!

   When I returned to the office, she was waiting for me in the doorway. I blushed.

"You..your coat...?" She rolled her eyes.

"Dart, you're always naked."

"Oh...right." I gave a joking smile. She stepped out, closing the door behind her.

"All right! Let's make some furniture!"

"Aren't we going to hire a carpenter or something? I'm bad at arts and crafts." She looked at me funny.

"Nope. We're going to hoof-make these. It's getting kind of late, so let's just make a table today. I'll start on the top, you make the legs." I grabbed a saw, how hard could it be?

  Carpentry was pretty hard. I looked over at Daring. She already had almost completed the table-top, I had one deformed leg. She stepped over to see how I was doing. She saw the look on my face and smiled.

"C'mon, it can't be THAT bad." Reluctantly, I held out the table leg.

"Oh." Her expression changed to a perfect poker face.

"What?" I snapped at her. She tried to make me feel better.

"It's like.....modern art!" I groaned and let myself fall over backwards.

"All right, you can do the carpentry. I'm going to go get us some food and a mattress." Daring looked disappointed. "Oh don't look at me like that, we're not a couple." She leaned in towards me.

"We could be."

"Nope. I'm going to go now! Bye!" And with that, I flew off towards the market.

"Out of mattresses!?" I yelled. "How could you be out of mattresses!? You only sell two things!" The worker at quills and mattresses shrugged.

"Want to buy a quill?" I ignored him and walked to the market. Apparently the news about last night in Canterlot got out because a few ponies crowded around me.

"Look! It's Daring's colt-friend!"

"I am not-....oh whatever. Do you happen to know where I can get a mattress? Mattresses and quills is out."  The ponies shook their heads, then proceeded to ask all kinds of annoying questions about Daring. I pranced right by them and bought some apples before heading back.

(From Daring's point of view)

    I was beyond relieved when Dart came back in the door, for a second I thought he had left for good, and was worried that I had come on a little too strong. He looked a little angry, but I had some news I knew could cheer him up.

"Hey, Dart! Guess what?" I said enthusiastically.

"What?" He said, not so enthusiastically.

"Princess Celestia wants to-.....hey! You don't have a mattress! Change your mind?" He muttered something about them being out. I batted my eyelashes at him. He quickly changed the subject.

"What were you saying about Princess Celestia?"

"Oh right, she wanted to see us, apparently those guys were serious about summoning Discord and she wanted to congratulate us." Dart went silent for a bit. I shuddered to think what would have happened had we not come along, and I bet he was thinking the same thing. I decided to lighten the mood a little. "Wipe off the grim face! That's a good thing! We stopped Discord!" Dart put on a satisfied smirk.

"Yeah, I guess we did."

"Yep, we're heroes. Now toss me an apple, I'm starving." He launched an apple at me with his wing, and I caught it with my mouth and ate it whole.

"The apples here are delicious! Did you know ponyville was founded by apple farmers? I love it here." I feigned being surprised.

"Oh! So you are going to stay then?" This caught him off guard.

"I uh....."

"Because I'm not going to force you to make any decisions." He could tell this was a lie, but my point was made.

"Well.....yeah okay. I'll stay for a little while." I beamed with delight, and he didn't seem too unhappy himself.

"Alright, let's get some sleep. We can plan a new adventure tomorrow."

"Treasure hunt." He corrected.

"It's the same thing really." He almost considered this, but his mind snapped back to the mattress.

"So...I guess I'm sleeping on the floor."

"Well you don't HAVE to." He looked at the cold wood. Our fire-place wasn't in working order yet.

"....Fine." I tried to hide my amusement, but I could tell I wasn't doing very well. "But we're not...doing anything, alright?"

"Aaaw, not even a snuggle?" He definitely spent a moment considering this, which was a victory in itself.

"No." He decided.

"If you say so." I kissed him, and he didn't protest too much this time. We walked up the stairs to bed. I'd like to say we snuggled or something but he must have been really tired, and was out cold within a minute. I yawned, and decided that wasn't such a bad idea.