Far and away from the sprawling urban centres of Manehattan, Canterlot, and Fillydelphia sat the small but well-travelled town of Dodge Junction. Deep in the Equestrian Desert, it featured little more than a train station, rodeo grounds, and a cherry orchard. Or, depending on who you asked, the cherry orchard.
Compared to the many ponies that passed through on train, hoof, and stagecoach, relatively few called this bustling little town ‘home’. Every day, the single schoolhouse rang its bell, releasing its hoofful of foals to run and play down the one street as they made their ways home. The townsfolk who weren’t working in the orchard would sit on their verandas, waiting for the next train to bring their next round of customers.
The ponies that stayed lingered long enough to earn their share of bits at Cherry Hill Ranch or compete in the local rodeo. Others remained for long enough to sell their wares and carry the town’s famous red and yellow cherries across Equestria before moving on.
Most of them, however, came to Dodge Junction simply to go somewhere else. Train after train ran through the town. The piercing whistle of an engine and the heavy rumbling of wheels rolling on the tracks were little more than white noise to the ponies who lived there. Trains reaching as far north as the Crystal Empire and as far west as Lunar Bay passed by the little town that sprouted from the desert around the tracks.
All of this Daring Do knew. Tumbleweeds rolling down the sunbaked street were no foreign sight to her. She knew the single saloon and its owner well, almost as well as she knew the taste of Cherry Hill Ranch’s cherries.
What she didn’t know was what she was doing there.
The wooden boards of the train station platform creaked as she shifted her weight. An arid wind blew down the street and over the tracks, offering little respite from the sun that beat down overhead. Sweat trickled down her neck to her barrel and she pushed her red-rimmed glasses up her snout from where they slid. Her feathers bristled, pressing against the thick fabric of her shawl that covered her torso, wings, and cutie mark.
Anonymity came with a price, one she learned to pay long ago.
The pony next to her ruffled and shook out her wings. They cast long shadows over the platform of the train station. As she exhaled slowly, a light, contented sound, Daring drew her gaze from the town, along the shadows, to the mare herself—the very same mare to blame for the heat rippling along the side of her neck, the sand between her feathers, and the bafflement clouding her thoughts.
Rainbow Dash.
A wrinkle marred Daring’s brow. Her lips fell into a frown at a steady pace as she stared at the back of her friend’s head. Tresses of bright, summer green, sky blue, and shimmering purple fell down the length of her neck to be framed by the rippling muscles of her spread wings between her shoulders.
How did she get here? How did Daring Do, adventurer, author, and professional hermit, find herself so easily whisked away by a single mare’s knocking at her doorstep?
The promise of adventure was a certainty, or so Rainbow said. Everything would be explained on the way. And so, with naught more than her disguise, Daring followed her out of her house and to the nearest train station. She didn’t ask any questions. She didn’t need any details.
The fact of the matter was that her friend needed her help. More than that, Rainbow needed her, and Daring would go.
And yet, as she sat at the train station in Dodge Junction, Daring couldn’t help but frown. There was something about that mare, some odd, unique quality about her. It made her stand out from everypony else and made her shine like the Wonderbolt she was. Even compared to the rest of her colourful friends, it was as if she was a whole calibre of pony on her own.
Whatever it was, that strange quality, was something she tried to put to words. Every time she tried, she found herself staring at a blank page on her typewriter, trying to coalesce it into something tangible and coherent.
Draft after draft, scrap after scrap, Daring could only find two words that fit, and those words were ‘Rainbow Dash’.
Strange and curious, it drew her to Rainbow. She felt the pull in her gut, the yearning to dive in regardless of the risk. That’s what made her Daring Do. It called to her the same way a buried tomb or lost relic did, and left her with a yearning itch in her wings that she could never resist for long.
Only now, it called for her to follow Rainbow wherever she might go. As always, Daring was eager to answer.
So far, that led her on a train to Dodge Junction. And, as the sun reached its peak over the little dusty town, it led her to the little town’s even smaller train station. Perhaps it was time for answers, and perhaps it was time for Rainbow to give them.
Daring cleared her throat, casting her gaze in a panorama over the plank-roofed houses of Dodge Junction. “So,” she said, letting her eyes wander to the rows of cherry trees in the distance, “any plans on telling me what we’re doing?”
Rainbow’s glanced over her shoulder at her. Her lips pulled into an impish little grin, one that was far too immature for a Wonderbolt, but nevertheless fitting as it brought a bright little glimmer to her rose eyes. “Yeah, yeah, just as soon as we get on our next train.”
A furrow wrinkled Daring’s brow. The sight of it only roused a stirring in Rainbow’s feathers and swish of her tail. “Our next train?”
“Yup!” Rainbow nodded. The tips of her primaries brushed over Daring’s side, a sensation quite odd under the thick fabric of her shawl. “It should be getting here in the next couple minutes, so we’re actually pretty much right on time.”
One of the things Daring had learned about her friend and companion was her love of pranks. Teasing seemed to be the Wonderbolt way, and they were all no doubt a horrible influence on their newest flier. Again, all of this she knew, but it did nothing to stop her from rolling her eyes at the all-too-satisfied smile on Rainbow’s face.
“Our next train to where, Rainbow? The only place worth going to from here is Southern Equestria.”
A snickering giggle from her left made Daring perk her ear. “What makes you say that?”
“Because if we wanted to go anywhere else, we could have gotten there from Fillydelphia four hours ago.” Daring peered over her glasses, fixing Rainbow with a look both curious and intrigued. “Where are you taking me?”
Rainbow tossed her mane over her shoulder at the question, a show far more spectacular on her than on anypony else. In all of her travels in all corners of the world, Daring had never met somepony or something else that could quite literally shimmer like a rainbow over the crisp, blue sky of the Canterhorn Mountains when they wanted.
Rainbow wiggled her ears, an answer more than clear enough.
“You’re taking me to Southern Equestria?” Daring’s brow arched over her forehead. “Why?”
Why? What a silly question that was sometimes. How many adventures had she had in Southern Equestria? How many secrets lay in peace, waiting to be one day uncovered from underneath the shifting sands and rolling dunes that blanketed the country in a beautiful, glittering, and deadly gold? An entire trilogy had been written based her adventures there already, and there was so much more to discover.
Rainbow Dash promised an adventure, and Southern Equestria was nothing if not a land of adventure.
But yet, somehow, Daring couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different this time. It might have been the company she kept. It might have been the edge that sharpened Rainbow’s smile as she led the way, or the softness that touched her eyes when their gazes met, but this ‘adventure’ felt less and less like anything she was familiar with as the day wore on. The feeling weighed over her, making her feathers itch under her shawl and her insides churn with the thrill of the unknown.
Always a mare of instinct, Daring trusted her gut. Treading unfamiliar and foreign waters was her specialty. Today, her instincts told her this was something new. This was something different. It was something exciting, all manifested in the shape of the pegasus at her side and where she was leading her.
“Like I said, I’ll tell you when we’re on the train. Trust me, it’ll be good.” Their shoulders bumped together, drawing a flick of her feathers as Rainbow grinned her infuriating grin.
She smoothed over the thoughtful frown tugging at her lips with a sigh, drawing a snickering laugh from Rainbow. Affixing a dry smile to her face, Daring returned the bump. “You’re having fun with this, aren’t you?”
An engine whistle pierced the air, loud and sharp and shattering the air of quiet and peace that had fallen over the town. Rainbow’s ear flicked and her smile widened as she looked down the tracks. “Totally am, but you’re going to love it when we get there.” She stood up, stretching out her wings with a single flap that sent a rippling through the hem of Daring’s shawl. Feathers ghosted over her side in a light, brushing motion. “And you love it already, don’t you?”
Daring’s own feathers fluffed at the tickling sensation of the contact as the heavy thrumming of the train wheels rolling along the tracks reverberated through the air and sent vibrations running through the planks of the platform to her bones. Her eyes followed the single swish of Rainbow’s tail, and she followed without another word as the train pulled into the Dodge Junction station.
What was there to say? When Rainbow Dash was right, Rainbow Dash was right.
Not knowing something was half of the fun.
Trains that went across the border were few and far between. There was a reason that the name ‘A. K. Yearling’ was unheard in the villages and sprawling markets of Southern Equestria. The few trains that chugged along through the vast flatlands to the deserts under the golden sun every day brought little in terms of merchandise or goods.
What they did bring, however, were ponies. Researchers, scholars, and archaeologists alike flocked to Southern Equestria, eager to study a history so foreign to their own. While the founders banded together to stave off the Windigos and eternal winter, the pharaohs and rulers of the south guided their ponies through times of drought and isolation.
That kind of history, erected and made permanent in ruins, pyramids, and monuments of a time long forgotten except by the ponies of the land, also attracted tourists. The journey to Southern Equestria was a long and expensive one, and the trains that travelled the border were well equipped to serve the clientele that could afford such a trip.
What that meant for Daring was a nice, comfortable bed and a private compartment to share with Rainbow.
She followed her friend through the train, weaving around ponies as they boarded and found their compartment. Two beds sat on either side of the small room, each big enough for a single pony to stretch out and relax. A single end-table sat between the beds and beneath a window looking out over Dodge Junction as businessponies saw to the new wave of customers heralded by the train’s arrival.
A soft smile graced her lips as she walked into their compartment. She pressed her hoof into the mattress of one of the beds and nearly let out a content little sigh as its downy softness gave way under her weight. Travel, be it to a conference, book signing, or adventure halfway around the world, excited her. Already she felt a building anticipation swell in her chest, making her wings itch to be free from under her shawl and flutter in the open air.
Travel meant adventure. Travel meant she could plan and prepare for whatever lay ahead. Travel meant that she was on her way, ready to face whatever waited for her at a train station far and away from her little house in the middle of nowhere.
The door to their compartment slid shut behind her, and her smile grew another inch or two. Today, travel meant getting answers. She turned around, a question half-formed on her lips, but stopped short as Rainbow brushed past her. The younger mare’s feathers did little more than ghost over her side, and the sensation left Daring’s voice caught somewhere in her throat.
She caught the coy edge to Rainbow’s grin as the flier’s feathers ruffled and smoothed out along her body. A glimmer of amusement, bright and twinkling, shone in her eyes as she watched Daring over her shoulder.
Daring exhaled through her nose. Rubbing a hoof to the bridge of her muzzle, she fluffed out her own wings, dispelling the lingering tingling sensation that tickled up and down her side. Given the Wonderbolts’ reputations, it would seem as though they were horrible influences in more ways than one.
Slowly, a small, quirk of her lips formed a familiar smirk. Two could play at that game, and Rainbow Dash had never experienced the wiles of Saddle Arabian dancers. It would take more than a little feather show to tie Daring’s tongue.
With a flick of her tail and soft, stifled giggle, Rainbow unfurled her wings and jumped belly-first onto her bed. Daring heard the muted thwump of her body hitting the mattress and the long, relaxed sigh that followed, but found her gaze still on the door—the locked door, with their tickets sticking out from the crack to be collected.
The faint scent of ozone tickled her nose, and she followed it around to its source lying sprawled out on one of the beds. Rainbow’s wings fanned out, stretching wide over the sheets as she lay her head on her forelegs folded beneath her. Daring’s eyes flicked from the locked door to her companion, lying prone on her bed, and arched her brow, a silent question if there ever was one.
After a second or two, Rainbow’s eyes flickered up and met Daring’s gaze. A lazy smile spread over her muzzle as she propped her head up on her hoof. “I thought we could use some privacy for the trip.”
A swish of her cascading rainbow tail drew Daring’s eye downwards over the toned and taut muscles of Rainbow’s haunches and the fur as blue as the sky over the Canterhorn Mountains that covered them. A very most likely unintended result, but one that happened all the same.
Or, considering that bit of wing-play mere seconds ago, perhaps it was a very intended result.
Out in the train car behind the door to their compartment, the sound of hooves rumbled against the floor as the last ponies ran to find their seats. The booming, basso, and muffled voice of the conductor rose above it all in the silence that fell between them as Daring’s gaze glanced back up Rainbow’s figure, proud and on display, to the eyes that glimmered with the promises of mischief, adventure, and something that lay beneath the teasing, coy smile she wore.
Once their eyes met, Daring cleared her throat. “Privacy?”
“Yeah, I thought you’d like the chance to ditch the getup and spread your wings for a change, y’know?” Rainbow sat up, ruffling her feathers and regarding Daring with a smaller, simpler smile. “Tickets are in the door, so you don’t have to worry about being A. K. Yearling for anypony. You can just be you for a few hours.”
Daring hummed and felt her tail flick against her hind legs from side to side. The teasing, playful edge to Rainbow’s smile had softened, and with it went twinkle of mischief in her eyes. All that left was the something more, the something that lay beneath it all.
Curious, Daring offered a chuckle as she pushed her glasses up her snout. “That does sound pretty nice,” she said, easing her lips into a new, but well-worn smile. “It will be a pretty long train ride.”
“And you gotta relax.” The small, simple smile Dash wore lifted into a familiar smirk. “Good thing I’m a pro at that.”
The train lurched as it pulled out of the station. From within their compartment, Daring heard the car doors slam shut with the last bellows from the conductor travelling down the length of the train. A sharp whistle pierced the air, and the backdrop of Dodge Junction began its crawl by the window as the train began to build speed. A few ponies on the platform waved as the train moved away in slow, toddling motions that made the floorboards thrum in time with each cha-chunk of the wheels.
Daring returned the smirk as the street of Dodge Junction disappeared past the window. Row after row of pink cherry trees flourished in the landscape as she stepped further into their compartment, under the stream of sunlight pouring in.
“Thanks, Rainbow,” she said, tossing her hat to the floor and shaking her mane free from the stylized bob she kept it in. Tresses of grey fell around her face as she flicked her glasses from her muzzle. “I think I really need this.”
She reached for the drawstring of her shawl, ready to do away with the guise of A. K. Yearling for at least a few hours. Her hoof found the string and she pulled, loosening the garment around her shoulders. Unfurling her wings, she pushed and slid it off of her back and to the floor. At last free, a long, low, satisfied hum built up in the back of her throat as the beam of sunlight she found herself in warmed her coat from head to hoof—a much more pleasant sensation than stifling under her shawl.
Between her disguise as Yearling across Equestria and the jacket she wore as Daring Do, the chances when she could simply be were limited and infrequent. Her tail, free from the confines of her shawl, lashed from side to side as she leaned down. Wings flared, she stretched and drank up as much of the warmth from the sun as she could, relishing in how it felt against her coat. Every single one of her feathers fluffed, eager to taste the open air and feel the caress of the sun against it.
Content, Daring sighed and shook out her mane. A curtain of rainbow cast in grey fell over her shoulder as she straightened. It wasn’t as eye-catching as a proper rainbow, but it was something she had grown to appreciate in contrast to the smooth, tan colouring of her fur.
Exhaling, she blinked open her eyes in time to see Rainbow’s head dart to the side. The younger mare and Wonderbolt’s gaze roamed around the cabin, looking as far away from Daring as possible. The slightest bit of pink coloured her muzzle, and Daring couldn’t help but smirk.
It seemed that one didn’t need to be a Wonderbolt to put on a show.
A chuckle smoothed out her hum as she climbed into her bed across from Rainbow. The feeling of soft sheets against her bare coat drew another sigh as she lay down on her stomach and stretched her legs and wings wide.
Bedsprings creaked as Rainbow shifted her weight. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, nothing.” A wicked edge sharpened Daring’s smirk as she folded her hooves under her pillow and rested her chin down on it. Her eyes trained on Rainbow, and she couldn’t deny the little swish of her tail that came from the mare’s wrinkled snout. “It’s just that if you wanted a show, all you had to do was ask.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened by a hair. Not by much, but just enough for Daring to notice. The flier’s rose eyes, a perfect match for her own, shifted to look out the window, denying her the chance to see what a soft pink blush might have looked like over those cyan cheeks.
The chuckle that rumbled from Daring’s throat was more akin to a purr than a proper laugh. Some mares made it too easy.
A flicker of motion caught her eye as Rainbow’s tail swished and lashed to the side, falling over the lightning bolt adorning her flank. With languid ease, a smile spread over the mare’s face. When she rolled her eyes back to Daring, it was with a hooded gaze and a throaty laugh of her own. “Well, if I knew you were eager, I might’ve.”
For a moment, all Daring could do was stare. It was only when her lungs complained did she realize her breath caught. She cleared her throat, glancing to the compartment door as an insidious heat prickled at the nape of her neck. “Well—” she coughed and found herself rubbing her shin. “I. Um.”
It was not often that Daring Do found herself at a loss for words. Between verbal jousts with many a villain and her writing career, the perfect quip always found itself sharpened and ready on the tip of her tongue. Today, something was again different. There was something about the slow, almost lazy circling of Rainbow’s primary feather over her bedspread and the feeling of her gaze that brought the writer-turned-archaeologist to a sputtering stop.
As if sensing weakness, she showed her teeth in a wolfish grin. “But now we know for the ride back home.” Daring felt her gaze travel over her figure, wandering down over the soft arc of her neck, past her shoulders, along her wings, and lingering on the curve of her rump. Under Rainbow’s gaze and without her shawl or jacket, she felt quite literally naked. “I’ll make sure to ask.”
The tone of Rainbow’s voice might have been coy, but there was no hiding the intensity of her eyes. They flickered, bright and brilliant, with a fire Daring had come to associate with the mare. That, perhaps, went an inch or two beyond ‘teasing.’
Daring snorted, exhaling with a flap of her wings to banish the warmth before it could finish its climb up her neck to light her cheeks. A hoofful of ponies knew what she looked like when she blushed, and that was already a hoofful too many already. Hooves clutched around her pillow, she threw it across at the compartment at Rainbow, who only laughed as it soared over her head and hit the wall behind her.
And, Celestia damn it all, she couldn’t help the smirk that pulled on her lips. Rainbow’s laughter was infectious, stirring a string of giggles loose from her own chest.
Two could play, though, and nopony else had the last word when Daring Do was involved. “The least you could do is buy me dinner first. I thought the Wonderbolts had standards.”
Rainbow stuck her tongue out. “I bought your train tickets,” she said, grinning that little punk-filly smirk of hers. With a wink, she rolled onto her back, folded her hooves behind her neck, and lolled her head to the side to meet Daring’s gaze. That smirk was still there, and her eyes were alive with light and mischief. “This wasn’t cheap. I think that’s worth at least a bit of a show. Maybe you oughta give your feathers a shake, too. I should be getting my money’s worth!”
“Then it’s about time you learned you pay for what you get. The quality I provide costs a little more than your average mare.”
Rainbow laughed, a rough, scratchy sound, but still pleasing to the ears. “Wonderbolts get paid a pretty good salary. Name the price and I’ll meet it, Do.” Cocking her brow, she looked Daring up and down with what could only be an appraising look. “You’d be worth every bit.”
Licking her lips, Daring returned the laugh in kind, but hers was something softer. She still very much felt Rainbow’s eyes on her, roaming over her in a way few others had before. Between living in isolation, adventuring, and wearing her shawl everywhere she went north of the border, there were few chances to feel another’s admiring gaze send the fur on the back of her neck on end.
But now, here was Rainbow. Curious, odd, strange—much like this ‘adventure’ to Southern Equestria. And, perhaps like the adventure, the slightest bit intriguing.
She shook her head, she twisted her lips into a loose grin. “I’ll send you the bill,” she said, laying with her hooves folded underneath her. Her feathers ruffled and fluffed before settling down at her sides, and she let her gaze wander to the world passing by outside.
The endless expanse of blue of the Equestrian sky rolled by. It was the kind of sky the novelist in her would stare up at from her typewriter, freely losing herself to the cacophony of thoughts running through her head. What happened next? Where would she go from here? Similar thoughts percolated to the surface now, and she felt a familiar, thoughtful frown fall over her features like a well-worn saddle.
Flickering wisps of white clouds sped by, staining the sky for only fleeting seconds as the train sped to the Southern Equestria border. The last of the hills and cherry ranch trees gave way until all Daring could see from her skewed sight of the windowsill was blue. And, if she looked to her left, a splash of rainbow.
“So, just out of curiosity,” Rainbow said, drawing Daring away from the window. Brow quirked, she lifted her head and watched her friend and companion scooch up to rest against her headboard. “If buying your train tickets gets me a bit of a show, what would dinner get me?”
Daring’s brow rose, disappearing behind her bangs. The slightest ruffle of her feathers and the steady, rhythmic ca-chunk of the train punctuated the lapse of silence that fell after Rainbow’s question. “What?”
“What would dinner get me?” Primaries flicking, Rainbow wrinkled her snout as she hugged Daring’s thrown pillow to her stomach. “Like, y’know, if that happened instead of this.”
Angling her head to the side, Daring frowned. Eyes narrowed, she watched the mare across from her, from the errant flick of her rainbow-tipped tail to the odd ruffle of her feathers as she fiddled and kneaded the pillow in her lap. The confidence and mischief was gone, dropped away like the mask of ‘A. K. Yearling’ that lay on the compartment floor. In its place was something almost tentative.
Worry was there, carved into the way Rainbow shifted her shoulders, but so was hope, held in the contours of her features and in the softening of her eyes. A thought prickled at the back of Daring’s mind, one that put another furrow to her brow.
Curiouser and curiouser, but there was only one way to find out. “Are you still on about that?” Flicking her wing, she conjured a slow, steady chuckle and shook her head. “Why do you want to know?”
Rainbow shrugged as she started to pluck bits and pieces of lint from Daring’s pillow. “I don’t know. It’s a long train ride.” The smirk she gave didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Guess I’m just trying to make conversation?”
“Well then, Miss Conversation Expert, maybe you shouldn’t sound so interested when you ask.” With a dismissive snort, Daring stretched out her hind legs, spreading them to the edge of her bed. “You might give a mare the wrong idea.”
Rainbow’s brow furrowed, forcing her lips down into a frown. Her tail flicked, falling off the side of her bed as she lifted her eyes to Daring. For a moment, they simply held each other’s gazes as the train rumbled down the tracks. Dodge Junction would have been long behind them now, and soon all that would be around them would be the Southern Equestrian desert.
A flicker of Rainbow’s wings caught her eye as the flier sat up and set her pillow down at the foot of the bed. The wrinkle smoothed from her brow as the corner of her lips quirked up. “Why wouldn’t I be interested?”
Daring’s ears stood on end. Voice caught somewhere in her throat, she opened her mouth, accomplishing little more than gaping at the mare across from her. Interested. Why wouldn’t she be interested? After a career spent outsmarting dastardly villains, solving ancient riddles, and puzzling through questions lost to the centuries, there wasn’t a problem she couldn’t solve. But now, as the last of the cherry orchard trees passed by the window in a pinkish blur, she found herself at a loss.
“I mean,” Rainbow said, cocking her head to the side and regarding Daring with a smirk that, while playful, fell short of coy or teasing, “what sane mare wouldn’t be?”
Clearing her throat, Daring shrugged. “How should I know? I don’t hang out with a lot of sane mares.” Her feathers ruffled and shook as she shot a pointed grin at Rainbow. “Present company included.”
Rainbow’s smirk evened out into a soft smile, holding that same unfamiliar tenderness that warmed her eyes. Cocky Rainbow Dash, Daring knew. Fanfilly Rainbow Dash she could handle. Even a concerned, caring Rainbow Dash was something she grew to welcome, and something that brought her back to the pony she was meant to be. This Rainbow Dash, though? This was something different. It was uncharted territory. A familiar, buzzing sensation built up at the base of Daring’s wings at the thought. The unknown always brought with it a little thrill, enough to dull even her razor wit, if even for a moment.
“How would you know what a sane mare is? You live in a dingy little house in the middle of nowhere when you’re not running into things any sane pony would be running away from.” A soft chuckle fell from Rainbow’s lips. With a puff of air and quirk of her head, she blew the locks of orange, red, and yellow that fell over her eyes. “I think I’m pretty sane in comparison.”
“I don’t know, Rainbow. You’re friends with me.” Scratching her neck, Daring offered a helpless little smile. “I think that’s about as crazy as it gets.”
“If liking you means I’m crazy, then I guess I’m insane.” Wings unfurled, feathers of blue fluffed and stretched as Rainbow swivelled around. Grabbing Daring’s pillow in her hooves, she lay down on her stomach. Her hind legs kicked at the headboard while she kept their gazes locked with her head at the foot of her bed. “Why would that make me nuts, anyways? You’re, like, the definition of awesome.”
Rolling onto her back, Daring regarded the ceiling of their compartment with a snort and wrinkling of her muzzle. “Right, remember when we first met? Or the last Daring Do Convention? Or how about the last time we were in Southern Equestria?” Her tail lashed from side to side, snapping against the bedspread as the rolling motions of the train gently rocked her back and forth. “You’ve almost gotten seriously hurt every time we’ve been together. I may be pretty unfamiliar with this whole thing still, but I’m decently sure that’s not what ponies do when they hang out.”
Rainbow’s scoff came unbidden. Something soft hit Daring’s flank a mere second later, and when she lifted her head she found her pillow back on her bed. Brow quirked, she turned her quizzical scowl to her companion. “What was that for?”
“I’m a Wonderbolt, Daring,” Rainbow said, meeting Daring’s gaze with a fire that illuminated her eyes to a bright, brilliant, and shimmering rose. “Have you ever crashed at sonic rainboom speeds before? Well, I have, and it hurts. And, if you haven’t read a newspaper in, like, ever, I kind of go on adventures to save Equestria all the time.”
Brow wrinkled, Daring reclaimed her pillow and set it behind her head, though she kept her neck arched to hold Rainbow’s gaze. A feeling deep in her gut held their eyes fast together, and that same feeling told her she couldn’t break away if she wanted to. “What’s your point?”
Rainbow’s grin was a wicked, wolfish thing. “Danger’s kind of an occupational hazard. Besides, I know that if I’m ever in a tight spot, you’ll be there for me, right?”
Daring blinked. “Of course I would.” The words left her lips before her furrowed brow reformed over her forehead. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“See? That’s the thing.” Propping her head up on her hoof, Rainbow rolled on her side. While one wing may have been pinned under her body, her other wing traced slow, lazy circles over her torso. “You’re awesome, but not just because of all of the cool stuff you do or all of the bad guys you beat up. You’re awesome ‘cause of that.”
The soft, cushioning embrace of her pillow welcomed Daring as she let her neck relax and her head fall back. Her gaze drifted upwards once more, but still she watched Rainbow out of the corner of her eye. “Because I wouldn’t let anything happen to you?”
She saw Rainbow’s tail flick and fall over her cutie mark and haunches, draping it under a curtain of blue, green, and yellow. “Yeah! Well, kind of. I mean, that’s super sweet to hear, but not quite what I was going for, y’know?”
“Not really.” Daring shifted to her side, letting her cheek sink into her pillow. “What do you mean?”
“That you care!” Wings flared, Rainbow’s tail flicked again, falling over the outline of her hind leg. “Look, when we met, you weren’t exactly into working with others or making friends, right?”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“But you still cared, even then!” The smile Rainbow met her with was bright and dazzling. It was the sort of smile that was impossible not to return. “When Ahuizotl grabbed me, you sacrificed yourself to save me! Then, at the Daring Do Convention, you rushed in to save me and Quibble from Caballeron, and then you saved me again from that pyramid when Caballeron nabbed me!”
Daring fidgeted with the hem of her pillowcase as Rainbow’s praise washed over her. The feathers along her wings fluffed while her wings themselves ruffled and twitched. One of the benefits of a pseudonym and a hermit-like lifestyle was that she rarely ever had to manage the feelings such praise stirred. Now, confined to this little compartment on a moving train, there was no escaping the warm, bubbling feeling rising in her chest or the gentle churning of her insides. A bit of heat stung her cheeks as she bit her lip to hide the sheepish grin that threatened to expose itself.
They were matters of fact, yes, but that didn’t help her any when she was met with Rainbow’s beaming smile and the bright, shining, liveliness of her eyes. Chewing on the corner of her lip, she smoothed out a wrinkle on her sheets. “What’s your point, Rainbow?”
“That you’re totally amazing? Duh?” A light, airy giggle floated from Rainbow’s lips. “And that I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. Pinkie told me how you came running after me in Somnambula.”
“I care about you,” Daring said, finding her voice reduced to a lower, quiet mumbling under Rainbow’s beaming gaze. “I care about you way too much to let a slimeball like Caballeron get away with anything. He can tarnish my reputation all he likes, but he never should’ve involved you if he wanted to win for once.”
Rainbow’s smile was a soft, funny little thing as her tail wrapped around her hind leg. She fiddled with the tip of her wing as she glanced to the window. Then, turning back to Daring, she met her gaze with a warmth that seemed to fill their compartment. “I don’t think ponies would have to be that insane to be interested, Daring.”
A soft smile was all Daring could come up with in return. “Thanks, I guess. I don’t hear that sort of thing too often.”
“Hey, if you ever want a reminder, just let me know.” With a wink, Rainbow rolled to her back. The primaries of her wings continued their lazy tracings as a renewed silence fell between them.
Exhaling, Daring watched her friend as the train rumbled and rolled along. The warmth was still there, filling the room and sinking into the base of her stomach. It drew the faintest of smiles over her lips as she followed the odd little patterns Rainbow traced with her wings. The moment turned to minutes, and before long there was nothing left between them save for the gentle risings and fallings of their chests.
A question prickled at the back of Daring’s mind. They were on the train, and she still didn’t have any answers.
Slowly, her eyes roamed away from the window and to their cabin. They wandered from her shawl and hat, left discarded on the floor in a rumpled pile, to the door that separated them from the rest of the train, to the mare responsible for it all. “So, we’re on the train.”
“We are.” Rainbow nodded, cracking one eye open to grin at Daring. “And?”
With a grunt of effort, Daring pushed herself up to her haunches. Her tail curled around her hind leg as she leaned back, rolling with the gentle rocking motions of the train. “We’re on the train, we’re going to Southern Equestria, but all that sweet talk isn’t going to get you out of explaining yourself like you said you would.”
A heavy sigh came from Rainbow. The grin that usually coloured her features flattened into a thin line as she stared up at the ceiling. A moment passed in silence before she rolled over to her side and met Daring’s gaze head-on. “We’re going back to Somnambula.”
Ears perked, Daring sat up straighter. Shoulders squared and snout wrinkled, she tilted her head. “What’re we going back there for?”
Glancing away, Rainbow slowly pushed herself up. Hind legs dangling over the side of her bed, she chewed the corner of her lip and offered up a helpless shrug. “Something’s come up.”
Daring’s brows flatlined. “Yeah, I figured as much. What’s come up?”
“It’s hard to explain. You’ll see when we get there.” When Rainbow’s eyes met Daring’s again, they twinkled. A little grin quirked over her mouth. “And that’s all you’re getting out of me.”
“What? Oh, no you don’t. You don’t get to slip out of this one like that.” Nostrils flared, Daring tensed the muscles in her legs, ready to spring across the cabin. Her tail lashed behind her, and her mask of exasperation gave way to a fierce grin. A little playfulness went a long way, settling her stomach as her wings unfurled in challenge. “Details, Dash. I can make you talk.”
“I said I’d tell you where we were going, and I did.” An almost sing-song quality lifted Rainbow’s voice. The grin on her face made Daring want to pounce her even more. “And you can try it, but all I have to do is yell out your name and everypony on the train will come running. Who doesn’t want to see the famous Daring Do in the fur and feathers?”
Daring blinked, lips parted at the delightful, punishable insolence that rolled off of Rainbow in waves. “Did you just threaten me? I drop everything I’m doing at a moment’s notice for you, follow you across Equestria without an explanation, get myself stuck on a train bound for Southern Equestria, and you threaten me?” There was no denying the dark chuckle that rattled in her chest. Nor was there denying the fanciful flutter and fluff of her feathers, either. “This won’t end well for you.”
Rainbow shrugged and cocked her lips into a smirk, a challenge in its own right. “Maybe. Whatcha gonna do about it?”
Daring’s chuckle fell to a deeper, throatier purr. Hooding her gaze, she lay on her side, watching Rainbow with an intent few other mares got to enjoy. “Patience, Rainbow,” she said, tracing the tip of her wing over her compass rose cutie mark. Her grin sharpened as the mare across from her followed the wing and let her gaze linger where it led. “I know how to wait. You’ll get yours, sooner or later.”
Something not quite a hum but not quite a purr sounded in the back of Rainbow’s throat. She lay down, mirroring Daring’s pose and regarding her with the same look that sent something aflutter in the older mare’s chest. “Maybe. Probably, even, but you’re getting yours first.”
Now, how could Daring argue with that?
In all of her travels, nothing had quite managed to steal Daring’s breath away like a desert sunset. The sky, clearer and bluer than anywhere else, wove into shades of purples, golds, and reds more royal than any Saddle Arabian silk. The first bright, shimmering stars of the Southern Equestrian sky peeked out of the deeper, navy blues that heralded the coming of night.
The train station had long since been swallowed up behind the rolling dunes of the desert as she and Rainbow trotted through the last vestiges of the day. The pyramid of the Sphinx rose from the sand in the distance and the flat, stone-topped roofs of Somnambula sprawled around it. There was whatever promised adventure lay in wait for her.
As they walked, the sun met the horizon, painting the sky in its last, wavering golds. Soon enough, night would take hold, bringing with it all of the splendor of the field of stars that blanketed the sky and shone their light down on the desert.
The day was over. Daring’s home was long behind her, an entire country away. All of this, and she still had no idea what they were doing here.
Though her hooves ached for the relief and comfort of a soft bed instead of the coarse, shifting sand she waded through, she followed Rainbow into the little desert village. She had come this far. After everything, from leaving her home on naught more than a vague promise to those shared moments on the train, she could go a bit further. Her mind buzzed, grasping at bits and details of their conversation, the younger mare's body language—anything to fill in the blanks. As much as her body might have craved rest, she knew her heart and mind well enough to know it would be fleeting.
There were puzzles to solve, after all, and she was Daring Do.
Ponies filled the market surrounding the village proper. Even before walking through the archway separating Somnambula from the desert surrounding it, she heard the murmur of conversation and uproar of laughter coming from up and down the sandy streets. They wandered from stall to stall, lingering long enough to buy drink or food from the vendors or exchange a few words before moving along.
The vendors wore smiles far too bright for the time of day. Market, Daring knew, should have ended some time ago. And yet, here they were, greeting her with smiles and countertops lined with their goods and foods to purchase. Lanterns lined the streets, hanging from cords strung up between the tented roofs of the market and the taller stone dwellings the ponies of Somnambula called their homes.
Together, they wandered through the village, milling through the crowd of ponies. The sight of the pyramid loomed over them and only grew as they meandered to the centre of the village. As they walked, Daring felt herself scowl. Her ears flicked and swivelled about, catching bits and pieces of conversation while Rainbow led them on with a swish in her tail and a spring in her step.
None of this made any sense, which she knew was exactly what Rainbow wanted. Daring watched her glance over her shoulder, saw the catlike grin so smugly spread over her muzzle, and followed the shimmering swishes of her rainbow tail that such satisfaction brought.
As they neared another archway, this one leading to the village square, Rainbow slowed down enough to walk side-by-side with Daring. She felt their shoulders rub together through her shawl with each step as the late market crowd pushed in around them. It was an unfamiliar sensation, but not an entirely unwelcome one, either.
As their pace slowed to a crawl, Rainbow smirked that damnable little smirk of hers. She leaned in close enough to be heard over the growing din of the ponies around them and asked, “What’s up?”
“My thoughts exactly.” Daring’s scowl deepened as her gaze wandered over the bustling Somnambula marketplace. Her eyes followed the strings of lanterns, following each line as they all led to the village center. When at last she looked at Rainbow and the curious expression over the younger mare’s face, she felt her muzzle wrinkle underneath her glasses. “I know Somnambula. I know the ponies and their history and the culture around here.”
Rainbow cocked her head to the side, a playful gesture that matched the smile playing over her lips. “Okay. And?”
“And I know that things like this,” Daring said, waving her hoof in a wide arc over the market, “only happen for significant events.”
“Makes sense.” Wing outstretched, Rainbow poked a low-hanging lantern with the tip of her primary. “This is a pretty big show for such a small village.”
“Precisely.” A sigh pushed past Daring’s lips as they came to a gradual stop underneath the archway leading to the village centre. Slowly, ponies congregated there, gathering for whatever this all was. “The only problem is that there are no festivals, holidays, or celebrations coming up until the Harvest Moon two months from now.”
Rainbow leaned against the sandstone wall of the archway, leaving Daring to sit on her haunches. The Wonderbolt rubbed her chin, humming as if in thought. “Do you think they celebrate Hearth’s Warming this far down south?”
If it weren’t for the shawl covering her wings, Daring would have been more than tempted to swat her companion upside the head. Instead, she settled for rolling her eyes. Rainbow would get hers. Eventually.
“They do,” Daring said. “But that’s not the point.”
Rainbow giggled and wiggled her ears. “Then what is?”
Rubbing at her scalp through her hat, Daring exhaled through her nose. “All of this.” She dug a groove into the sand, watching ponies trot by them with food and drink in hoof to the village centre. “It feels like you brought me to a celebration, not an adventure. Why did you bring me here?”
Overhead, the lanterns bathed the hard and crusted sandstone walls in their warm and soft orange light. It spilled over Rainbow’s form, bending and twisting around her coat and curves as she took the first few slow steps to the village centre. The smile she wore was just as soft, something shared in the privacy of their train compartment and in the anonymity of a crowd of strangers.
She leaned in, bringing their sides together, separated only by the shawl that Daring wore. Her hoof found Daring’s, and with a gentle tug pulled her through the archway. “Would you like to find out?”
Daring chuffed, but followed, staring down at Rainbow’s hoof wrapped around her own. The tips of her primaries quivered as a frown settled over her features. A quick tug, and she could have her hoof back. A quick tug, and the reins, so to speak, would be hers. “Or, you could just tell me.”
Rainbow’s tail flicked, brushing over the hem of her shawl. Instinct took over, and Daring swished her own tail to the side to return the playful, teasing gesture. Her frown deepened as her tail met the confines of her garment. A growing, squirming, swelling sensation took hold in the base of her stomach as a low hum build up in her companion’s throat.
As they passed through the archway, the light from the lanterns above found themselves caught in Rainbow’s eyes. She looked at Daring, regarding her with a gaze bright and luminescent. “Nah,” she said with a smile that shone just as much. “We’ve made it this far. It’ll be easier if you see it for yourself.”
Forcing her lips into a thin line, Daring found herself very grateful for her shawl. With it on, nopony but her would know about the fluffing of her feathers that Rainbow sent a-stir. “Fine,” she said, dropping her voice to a low, grumbling growl that bought a snickering laugh from her companion and hid the smile threatening to brighten her muzzle. “Have it your way.”
Again, Rainbow’s tail swished over where Daring’s would be. The grip on her hoof tightened, the mare holding it chuckled, and she let herself be led to the village centre. Maybe for once, for perhaps just tonight, she could let another lead. “You’d be surprised how often I do.”
Rugs of interwoven deep burgundies and sandy, shimmering golds were spread out over the sand in the centre of the village. Cushions dotted each rug, and some ponies had already claimed some as their own. Those that stood milled around at the edge of the rugs, lost in their own conversations while others lay down, waiting for whatever this was to begin.
A small, wooden stage sat at the base of the statue of the village namesake. An even deeper, darker curtain of burgundy canvas hung as a backdrop behind the stage. Daring’s gaze wandered from the rugs and rows of cushions to the stage and statue of Somnambula herself. Care, warmth, and even a glimmer of hope carried through its stony expression, something she made sure the sculptor paid great attention to when she commissioned its creation.
Tonight, though, that smile on Somnambula’s carved face felt a little too knowing for Daring’s tastes as Rainbow led them across the rugs and between the cushions. Bits of sand clung to the rough fabric. The abrading sensation against her hooves deepened her frown. The clues were all around her. The ponies, the setup, the train ride, the mare at her side—all of them pointed to something, something on the tip of her tongue.
Perhaps it was the same something that made her chest tighten when Rainbow took her hoof, or the same something that kept her from snatching her hoof away.
Anypony would have felt the force of Daring’s frown on the back of their head, but Rainbow remained vigilant in her silence. They trotted to the corner of the rug the furthest away from the stage. A pair of unoccupied cushions lay there, waiting to be claimed.
Daring arched a brow as Rainbow let go of her hoof and lay down on one of the cushions. With a smile that bordered on confident, she stretched out her wing and patted the empty cushion at her side.
Torn between her frown and a small, fluttering thing of a smile, Daring acquiesced and settled down next to Rainbow. The cushion, she found, was soft and welcoming. It wasn’t cushy or plush by any means, but soft enough for her to spread out her weight and feel the subtle shifts of the sand beneath the rug they lay upon.
The murmur of conversation grew, filling the Somnambulan village square as ponies made their gradual migration away from the market. It was a low, rolling sound, a rumbling backdrop to the sharper plucking of the string instruments Southern Equestrians so loved to play from somewhere in the crowd. The last remnants of the sun’s light disappeared from the sky, leaving naught but the lamps strung around the village and pale moon for light, the cushions filled up until the whole square was filled with ponies.
All of them faced the stage. The instruments vanished, leaving only the dimming buzz of conversation that rolled over what was no doubt going to be an enraptured audience. Pushing her glasses up her snout, Daring wrinkled her muzzle as her gaze panned over the crowd. A rustle of movement next to her caught in the corner of her eye, and she looked over to find herself almost nose-to-nose with Rainbow.
The smile playing over Rainbow’s muzzle was soft while amusement danced and twinkled in her eye. Her feathers ruffled and fluffed, brushing against Daring’s side through her shawl. “You still haven’t figured it out.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement, one that Daring couldn’t piece together. She let a sigh blow past her lips and rubbed the bridge of her muzzle. “No, I haven’t. I know it’s a gathering of some kind. They’re celebrating something, but none of this looks like a traditional Somnambulan celebration.” Her tail snapped to the side, spraying a few grains of sand over the rug. She looked out over the crowd, a crowd far too big for the little village. “And I don’t think all of these ponies are from Somnambula in the first place.”
Rainbow nodded. Daring felt the motion as the younger mare leaned a little into her side. That strange tightening was back in her chest, something that made the tip of her tail twitch. “Uh huh. They’re not.”
“Which means that something’s brought ponies from at least a few of the neighbouring villages together, but I can’t think of anything that would do that.” A frown tugged on her lips, weighed down by the divide in her mind, torn between puzzling through the scene before her and focusing on the feeling of Rainbow leaning against her. The scent of ozone tickled her nose and something squirmed in her stomach, something far too similar to anticipation. “The only things ponies in this part of Southern Equestria celebrate together are major events, like the Harvest Moon or the Night of the Dead. Nothing on any of their calendars align to today.”
“Guess it’s something new, then.”
“But what?” Another’s tail swished over where Daring’s should have been, instead falling over the hem of her shawl. Regardless, her tail flicked in turn, acting on reflex to the return the playful little gesture.
Rainbow shrugged against her, and Daring felt the tip of her ear tickle underneath her chin. “No idea.”
Daring turned and fixed Rainbow with a look that earned her a devilish little smirk. She huffed, not bothering to hide her own smile as she turned back to the crowd and the stage. “Liar.”
The smile on Rainbow’s face was evident from the silence that followed. Then, as Daring surveyed the crowd, she blinked. Ponies of all sorts filled the village square, from earth ponies to pegasi and unicorns. By her wager, almost everypony in the surrounding three villages had gathered and were present.
Almost.
Ears perked, Daring’s neck stiffened. She straightened as her eyes darted across the crowd, from mare to mare and from stallion to stallion. “Wait.”
The snickering giggle at her side was almost muffled enough to not be heard. “What is it?”
“Where are all of the foals?” Squinting, Daring scanned the crowd again and again. Mares, stallions, young adults and old, filled the village square. Hardly a cushion was left for the taking, but there were no little heads poking up from between their parents. “They always come to these inter-village gatherings.”
A hush fell over the crowd as an elderly stallion took the stage. His tan coat nearly blended into the sand around him as he stepped onto the wooden platform. With one hoof, he stroked the muted red goatee that dangled from his chin as he peered out over the crowd through his blue eyes, no less brighter for his age. Daring would have known the apple salespony anywhere, and she only felt a small wriggling in her stomach as he cleared his throat.
She felt Rainbow’s hoof on her shoulder and heard her voice whisper into her ear, “Don’t worry about it.” A gentle squeeze brought Daring’s gaze around, only to be captured by the pair of soft, shining rose eyes that lay in wait. “They’re about to start. It’ll all make sense in a second.”
The warmth Rainbow’s eyes held sent a numbing pleasantness down the length of her spine, bringing her racing mind to a halt. Licking her lips, Daring brought herself to nod, feathers fluttering as the numbness gave way to something rising in her chest.
The stallion cleared his throat again, and the last dying mutterings of conversation petered out in the crowd. Once silence had fallen, he smiled and nodded his head. “Thank you, everypony, for being here tonight. And special thanks to our neighbours for making the journey to our little village.” Though his voice was soft, it carried with it a sharpness and confidence that carried out over the audience. “What we’re all about to witness tonight is the result of our villages’ foals coming together to celebrate a hero.”
A gentle nudge from Rainbow at her side made Daring’s eyes widen. She inhaled, holding the breath somewhere in her throat as the weight returned to her shoulder. With it came the soft bite of ozone and rain that released her breath in a gentle, slow exhale.
“We’re here to celebrate somepony who has risked her life to save us and our homes many times. Yes, she left a trail of destruction in her wake, and we called her a villain for that.” A low murmuring spread through the audience as the stallion paused to take a breath. Daring, for her part, resisted the urge to bite down on the corner of her lip. She could not, however, stop herself from fiddling with the edge of her shawl, at least not until Rainbow’s hoof rested over her own.
With a small, encouraging smile and short jerk of her head, Daring lifted her gaze back to the stage.
“After a recent turn of events,” the stallion said, chuckling deep in the bony confines of his chest, “I’m proud to say that we were wrong. And now, inspired by everything she’s done in each of our villages, we’ve come here to celebrate her. Or rather, our foals have.”
Bits of chuckling laughter sprung up through the audience while the stallion bowed his head and started his slow walk off of the stage. Daring, for her part, could only stare ahead at nothing and at everything at the same time. Somnambula’s statue smiled down at her from above the stage while she lay, back rigid, replaying the stallion’s words over and over.
A hero. Somepony who risked her life. Somepony called a villain, somepony once hated by everypony in Somnambula and across Southern Equestria.
Like a bolt from the heavens, it clicked. The pieces fit together, all except for one. She knew now why Rainbow brought her here, but that strange something still swelled in her chest, undaunted by the events unfolding before her eyes.
Rainbow’s breath, warm against her ear, brought her back to the present. “Get it now?”
Daring closed her mouth. As ponies applauded and stomped their hooves with the stallion’s departure, she brought her shawl higher up around her shoulders. Heat bristled at the nape of her neck, hot and biting like a spotlight, and she pressed the rim of her hat down over her eyes. “Me?”
A chuckle was Rainbow’s reply. She nodded against Daring’s shoulder, and the older mare felt the fluffing of feathers ghost along her side. “Yup. It’s all about you.”
With the stallion gone, a hush was slow to fall over the crowd again. Now that the sun had set, only the final vestiges of purples and blues remained before giving way to the darker, deeper, richer shades of night. Two torches, flickering brightly against the darkened sky, poured light over the stage.
Daring watched, her mouth dry and her throat like sandpaper. “But why?” she croaked. “How?”
“Pretty sure that old guy explained why,” Rainbow said, chuckling softly. “You’re a hero. The only difference is that these ponies now know it for a fact.”
Feeling the softness of Rainbow’s coat against her neck, Daring turned and focused her gaze on the younger mare. She looked over her with a sense of wonder that numbed the ballooning warmth in her chest however briefly. “How did you know about this?”
What little light reached them from the torches flickering above the stage danced over Rainbow’s muzzle, painting little amber wisps of light over the brighter, paler blue of her coat as she flicked her bangs out of her eyes. “You know how Pinkie makes friends, like, everywhere she goes?” she asked, speaking in hushed, quiet tones as a pregnant silence fell over the crowd. They were all waiting for it to begin.
And soon, it would.
Daring nodded, licking her lips as she shifted on her cushion. Desert nights were cool, but the heat she felt bristling under her collar was almost unbearable. Speaking out of the corner of her mouth, she said, “Yeah, that’s her thing, right?”
Rainbow’s shoulders shook. It was the only way Daring knew she laughed. “Yup, that’s Pinkie. She made friends with the innkeeper at the Get On Inn, who told her about it in a letter, and then Pinkie told me, and I knew I had to get you out here somehow.”
At last, a pony took the stage. A young pegasus filly, barely higher than Daring’s knee, bounded out from behind the canvas curtain. The pith helmet she wore fell over her eyes as she flapped her wings and buzzed through the air. The helmet rolled around her head as she landed, striking the stage with a resounding impact. With her shoulders squared, wings flared, and chin cocked to the heavens, she looked out at the audience as a dragon might look at its hoard—with confidence, no fear, and an unspoken dare to challenge her authority.
A familiar green jacket stretched over the filly’s frame, and Daring felt her heart skip a beat as she lashed her sandy brown tail to the side. “I am Daring Do, bravest adventurer in Southern Equestria!” Torchlight spilled over her straw-coloured coat. The pith helmet cast shadows over her teal eyes, but the fire that burned within shone all the fiercer for it. “Bad guys beware! You cannot hide from me! Ponies of Southern Equestria cheer my name!”
Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Daring found her gaze transfixed on the stage and the little filly that commanded the entire village square’s attention. “Why?”
She felt Rainbow shift on her cushion beside her. “Why what?”
“Why all of this? Why bring me out here?” Daring’s head swam. The filly on the stage pranced off to the side as the canvas dropped, revealing a backdrop of ancient, crumbling ruins and the Somnambulan pyramid in the distance. One hoof dug into the rug beneath her, grounding herself in something real and tangible. The other, it seemed, was found again by Rainbow, who gently squeezed it with her own.
And, as the warmth swelling her chest chipped away at the numbness that washed over her, she found herself squeezing back. “Why do all of this for me?”
“Oh, that.” A gentle scoff from Rainbow’s lips blew over loose strands of her mane. “Because you deserve to see how much you’re actually appreciated. I don’t just mean ponies not hating you for stuff that happens on your adventures.” Her voice dropped, softening to a low murmur, one that Daring strained her ears to catch. Celestia damn her, if she wasn’t hanging off of every word though. “I know you don’t like the spotlight. You still live in that shack in the middle of nowhere, for pony’s sake.”
Daring couldn’t help but snort. The corner of her lips twisted into a halfhearted half-smirk as she lay her other hoof over Rainbow’s. Intrigue gave way to revelation as she felt fur as soft as velvet against her own. “I value my privacy.”
“I know.” A little, trilling giggle tickled her ear as the show began in earnest. Foals cloaked in purple hoods prowled onto the stage, growling as fiercely as a desert coyote. “That’s why I thought this might go over a little better.”
“But these ponies don’t hate me anymore.” Brow wrinkled, Daring forced herself to tear her gaze away from the stage to watch the mare lying at her side. She traced the little, ephemeral patterns of light the torches cast over her slim shoulders and down along the smooth figure of her barrel and all of the curves that it revealed. “So why bother with all of this?”
“Because you deserve better than that.” The conviction that laced Rainbow’s tone was ironclad, brokering no room for argument. Her wings fluffed and bristled, trailing down Daring’s side as their owner’s nostrils flared. When their eyes met, a little shiver danced its way up and down her spine. There was new, fresh fire burning behind the younger mare’s eyes, glowing as they caught the torchlight from the stage.
As she worked through the last pieces of the puzzle and unravelled the last of the knot in her chest, she came to see it for the alluring glow that it was.
“Your books might not be sold down here,” Rainbow said, drawing Daring in with each soft but warmly spoken word, “but ponies are still hearing about your adventures. Foals are inspired by you. You’re a hero, Daring.” A hoof not her own squeezed her foreleg, and that strange something swelled, drawing errant flutters and fluffing of her feathers. How very, very curious and very, very intriguing.
The smile Rainbow wore was soft and nearly invisible in the torchlight. She leaned in, ever-so-slightly rubbing their cheeks together before pulling away. The touch sent chills down the nape of Daring’s neck, a stark contrast to the heat prickling under her coat. Who could have imagined that one little touch could have such an effect? Daring Do, adventurer, archaeologist, capable of wrestling a grizzly bear into a cage, brought down by a simple little nuzzle.
She swallowed, staring helplessly at the mare smiling up at her. Rainbow made to pull her hoof away, but Daring held firm. “These ponies know it now. I’m just not sure how much you do.”
A long moment of tender silence passed, undisrupted by the play and cheers from the audience around them. Slowly, Daring pulled Rainbow’s hoof closer to her chest and returned the nuzzle, gently nosing into the younger mare’s cheek.
And, with a soft, gentle laugh floating passed her lips, the moment ended. Lifting her gaze back to the stage, Daring let the smile and warmth wash over her muzzle. It was dark, after all, and they were in the back. Nopony would see her blush. Nopony except for Rainbow Dash.
And really, was that so bad?
Hero.
She leaned against Rainbow’s side, offering what thanks words could not. Her feathers fluffed, and with a little fidgeting, loosened the cord that held her shawl around her shoulders. Nopony saw or heard as her wings unfurled, lifting the garment from her back.
Rainbow quirked her brow, to which Daring replied with a soft smile. Shifting her wings, she lowered her shawl over them, draping it loosely around both of their backs. Desert nights were cold, after all, and warmth was a commodity worth sharing with certain someponies.
Their sides pressed flush together, and as Daring felt their feathers begin to mesh together, she sighed and leaned into Rainbow’s side, more than happy to return the warmth the younger pegasus filled her with. Enough had been said. For now, there was a play to watch. For now, all she needed to do was enjoy the company of the mare at her side. The rest would come later, under the privacy of the night sky and in the confines of a hotel room.
That strange something filled her chest, stretching a smile from ear to ear and flushing her muzzle with an addictive warmth. Only now, as Rainbow’s head rested on her shoulder, did she finally have a name for it.
She squeezed her hoof, relishing in the soft fur of her mare’s foreleg. A quiet, sudden intake of air at her side brought a grin to her face. Leaning in a little more to the side, nestling deep under the wing wrapping around her back, she brushed her lips over Rainbow’s ear. A tremble shook the Wonderbolt’s frame as she exhaled, parting with her last words before the play.
“Thank you,” Daring said.
For now, that would do. After the play, there would be more words. One mystery was solved, but there was so much to explore. A new adventure played itself out before her, one traversing down unknown roads and through waters untred. Where it would lead her, she did not know.
All she knew was that Rainbow Dash would be at her side throughout it all.
Despite enduring a day under the Southern Equestrian sun, the sand underneath Daring’s hooves was cool to the touch. It shifted and moulded around her weight with each step she took, rolling in dunes and an endless expanse that almost seemed to glitter in the bright, pale light of the moon. She followed a path well-trodden, one she could walk with her eyes closed as they left the little village of Somnambula behind.
The soft glow of the lanterns still shining over the flat, stone-topped roofs reached for the sky, bleeding a warm, inviting orange into the cooler, darker blues of the night. They rose no higher than the pyramid of the Sphinx, jutting out from the sand as a monument to all travellers passing by.
The rest of the sky, though, wasn’t swallowed up by darkness by any means. Out in the Southern Equestrian desert, so far away from the mountains, trees, and structures of civilization clawing for the heavens, the sky was clearer than anywhere else in Equestria. While the moon hung high above, blanketing the desert in its pale light, stars filled the sky, twinkling and bright and beautiful as they brought a silent kind of life to the night.
A low, steady hum built up in the back of her throat as her hooves carried her along the path to the Get On Inn. Food, drink, and a soft bed awaited her there, each more appealing than the last. Not that she was in any hurry, though. Now, away from the village and its ponies, the world was just her and Rainbow Dash. They walked together, side-by-side in a silence that let Daring bask in the newfound warmth that bloomed in her chest and kept the night’s chill at bay.
Her mind worked at a steady pace, savouring the time it took to process everything, from the new feelings that budded in her chest and brought a gentle, constant smile to her muzzle; to the new sensations of another’s tail flicking over her own and her shoulder brushing against another’s; to the new observations she found scarcely a few inches to her right. And oh, now that she could see them for what they were, they were quite the observations.
Bathed in the soft, pale light of the moon, Rainbow almost seemed to glow in the night. Moonlight spilled over her frame, rolling along the soft arc of her neck, over her slim shoulders, around the powerful, toned muscles of her wings, and framing the curve of her hips and cutie mark as it made intriguing little twisting motions with every step. Without the sun to make her mane shine with vibrancy and life, it still filled Princess Luna’s night with deeper, softer, and in many ways warmer tones.
Then, at long last, were her eyes. Did they always sparkle and shine, twinkling as if to reflect the night sky? It was all so obvious now, but isn’t that always how it was? Once a puzzle was put together and a mystery solved, it was all too easy to see everything for what it was.
As content as Daring was to continue their walk in silence, the sound of Rainbow clearing her throat perked her ears up underneath the confines of her hat.
When she looked to her side, she found Rainbow’s eyes flickering from the sand beneath them to the horizon. “So ...”
There was a tentative, uncertainty to her voice. The sound of it brought a small, fickle thing of a smile to Daring’s muzzle. “So.”
Rainbow lifted her head with a smile that matched the mare’s tone. It was demure, hardly reaching her eyes with the same confidence, amusement, and tenderness that Daring had come to expect after today. Yet there was still something there, something that made them glow and smolder from within. “That was some play, huh?”
A low, quiet chuckle shook Daring’s shoulders. “Uh huh.”
“And, um. Well, uh.” Shuffling to a gradual stop, Rainbow scratched her neck as her smile shifted from uncertain to sheepish. “I’m not too good with words sometimes.”
Daring hummed, tail flicking against the hem of her shawl. One hoof furrowed a line through the sand while the other rubbed her shin. A bubbling mixture swirled in her chest and fell to the base of her stomach. The electric tingle of excitement was there, rousing a ruffling of her feathers, but so too was a wariness that held her tongue. It was an old, familiar voice of doubt, one that made her insides squirm at the prospect of the unknown. After tonight, things would change. What lay next was a mystery to her, a road she had never travelled.
It was that same hesitancy that made her take that first leap every time.
“You seemed to do just fine on the train,” she said, meeting Rainbow with a smile just as tentative. “But maybe give me a shot first, then. Let me put that college degree in writing to use.”
Rainbow’s ears perked up before pinning flat against her head. Biting down on the corner of her lip, she slowly nodded in reply. “I guess I owe you that much, huh?”
“You mean for leading me on a merry chase across the country?” And, just like that, Daring’s smile sharpened to a comfortable, familiar smirk as she fluttered her eyes over her glasses. “What would give you that idea?”
A chuckle tumbled past Rainbow’s lips. “Yeah, right. So, um.” She shuffled her hooves, sinking down to her haunches as her tail swished over the sand. When she looked up, it was with a flicker of fire in her eyes and a rustle of her feathers. “I guess I don’t really need to explain?”
A rumbling laugh echoed in the back of Daring’s throat. At long last, after a day of stringing her along, teasing her, and making her fur bristle under her shawl, the sight of Rainbow’s nerves catching up with her was oh-so-satisfying.
Daring took a step closer, rubbing their shoulders together as she sat next to Rainbow. “No, I think I got the picture.” Grains of sand sprinkled over their tails, catching moonlight and making them sparkle in the pale light against the dunes of the desert floor. “But I’ve got something to say, Rainbow.”
Rainbow licked her lips. A flickering motion sent a wisp of sand flittering over Daring’s shawl as tails of rainbow and grey mingled and wove together. “Okay,” she said with a short, bobbing nod of her head. “I’m listening.”
Casting her gaze to the night sky, Daring sighed up into the cool, chilling air. She felt the silky strands of Rainbow’s tail twist and wrap around her own, a contact equal parts encouraging and hopeful. “Look, Rainbow,” she started, fighting against the frown tugging at her lips and the fluttering rustling her feathers at the same time, “you know I’m not a pony’s pony. I didn’t really invest a lot in the whole friendship thing before you barged into my life.”
The shadows cast by Rainbow’s frown darkened her expression even under the naked light of the moon and stars above. “Didn’t we already have this conversation on the train?”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” Plucking her hat from her head and flicking her glasses from her snout, Daring ran a hoof through her mane, letting it fall in loose tresses around her shoulders and neck. “I’m talking about this right here. Us.” Her wing unfurled, stretching out against the confines of her shawl and filling what little gap there was between them. “I’ve never done this. I’m still getting used to caring about you and wanting to be around you.”
Rainbow’s ears perked up, and Daring would have seen the light that shone in her eyes even in the darkest of nights. “You do?”
“But if this keeps on going where it’s going,” Daring continued, allowing herself a small, playful little grin at the feeling of Rainbow’s feathers fluff, reaching out to meet her own, “then there’s going to be so much more going on there.”
“Okay.” Despite the fluffing of her feathers, Rainbow’s frown deepened, etching lines over her brow. Then, just as her wing started to withdraw, she shook her head and lifted her eyes. “No, wait, not okay.” She met Daring’s gaze with the shadows pulled back from her muzzle and exposing the fire and conviction that lay underneath. “My turn to talk now.”
Daring arched a brow as Rainbow rose to her hooves. “I wasn’t done.”
“Tough. I’m going to explain myself.” Rainbow’s teeth flashed in the softer light of the moon and stars as she pivoted to stand snout-to-snout with Daring. Clearing her throat, she unfurled her wings, casting them in a pale silhouette framed by the moonlight beaming down over her. A gossamer glimmer of her tail flickered in and out of sight as her chest swelled. “I like you.”
The corner of Daring’s lips lifted as a short giggle reverberated in her chest. “Uh huh.”
“No, like, I really like you. And not just because you’re Daring Do, the legendary adventurer, or because you’re A. K. Yearling, the amazing writer, but because you’re you.” Rainbow’s hoof poked Daring’s chest as she took a step closer. Little wafts of air and the grains of sand it picked up brushed over the writer-turned-archaeologist’s fetlocks with each fluttered flap of her companion’s wings. “Do you know why I like you? Why I did all of this?”
Rainbow’s hoof held firm against her chest, strong but trembling ever so slightly. It was unyielding as its owner’s eyes captured Daring’s attention. They lit up a brilliant and breathtaking rose, fueled by a fire that flickered beneath the surface.
For the third time in the same day, Daring found herself at a loss for words. Slowly, she shook her head.
“When I first met you, I was star struck. You were my hero! And you were real! Sure, I messed up at first, but we were friends by the end of it! Do you have any idea how amazing that was? Or how totally awesome it was to see myself on the cover of your next book after that?” Rainbow’s voice filled the desert night. It scratched and broke as it went on, not that there was anyone around to hear it. Well, no one except for Daring.
A small, warm chuckle bubbled up from her chest. “Pretty awesome?”
“You have no idea. Then a little while after that there was the Daring Do Convention. I wish we got to spend more time hanging out there,” Rainbow said, tail lashing back and forth behind her as a bright smile stretched from ear to ear. “And then there was Somnambula.”
“And here we are,” Daring said, dropping her voice to little more than a murmur. “At Somnambula again.”
Rainbow sighed, plopping back to her haunches. The fire waned from her voice and from her eyes, leaving a softer, more tender warmth in its wake. “You know, when I saw that article in the paper about you, I was worried. Not because I’d have no more Daring Do books to read, but because I was worried about you.”
Without her hat, ducking her head to the side likely did little to hide the smile that played over Daring’s lips at the budding warmth that took root in the base of her stomach. “I remember.”
“I thought somepony was blackmailing you or something! I just—” A sharp exhale punctuated Rainbow’s words, followed soon by a soft groan. Her hoof dug into the sand, digging a small groove between them. “I guess that’s when I started to realize I liked you. Y’know, more than just ‘like.’”
Silence followed as Rainbow’s words were swallowed up into the empty night. Daring sat, a mere few inches away, watching as the mare waited for some kind of decision. As the seconds dragged by, her ears pinned further and further back until they disappeared behind locks of yellow, orange, and red that perched atop her head.
It was only after her wings started to droop to the ground that a slow, rumbling chuckle grow in the back of Daring’s throat. Warmth swelled her chest, rising to warm the smile that eased over her muzzle.
A thin line wrinkled Rainbow’s brow. “Did I say something funny?”
“Yes and no.” Scooching that last step closer, Daring brought them nose-to-nose. The fur coating Rainbow’s chest tickled her own, gently mingling and meshing with the rhythmic risings and fallings that came with each breath. The stars of the night sky disappeared as her vision was filled with a pair of rose eyes that matched her own that shone just as bright. A last, tentative shudder kept her hoof at bay before she swallowed past it and took the plunge.
Every adventure started with a single step. In this case, that step was taking Rainbow’s hoof. The smile came to Daring’s face naturally as her voice dropped so low that not even the desert could hear her as she leaned in and nosed against Rainbow’s cheek. “You never let me finish what I was saying, Rainbow.”
She watched as Rainbow’s tail lashed from side to side. The younger mare’s wings quivered and Daring heard her swallow. Her hoof squeezed back, grounding both of them to this moment. “Yeah,” she said, her voice hushed. “I guess that was pretty rude, huh?”
“Very.” Daring grinned and pulled back enough to find Rainbow’s eyes. She knew her answer. She knew it ever since she unravelled the mystery. It was an adventure she was ready to begin alongside the mare that held her hoof and blanketed her in warmth. “When we get back to Equestria, would you like to go to dinner?”
Rainbow’s ears perked and her grip around Daring’s hoof tightened. “You mean like a date?”
Lidding her gaze, Daring cocked her head to the side. “I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s called when one pony asks another out to dinner.”
The smile that split Rainbow’s face would have lit up the darkest of tombs and catacombs. Her wings thrummed with an energy to electric that it spread a grin almost as wide over Daring’s muzzle. “Oh my gosh, yes!”
“Good.” Leaning in, Daring closed her eyes and savoured the feeling of Rainbow’s coat against her own as she nuzzled down the length of her neck. The faint, lingering scent of ozone tickled her nose, stirring a fluff of her feathers and swish of her tail as she languidly rose to her hooves. “Then let’s get back to the inn. The sooner we get to bed, the sooner we get home.”
“And the sooner I get to take you out to dinner!” With a single flap of her wings, Rainbow was on her hooves and at Daring’s side.
Smooth, silky strands of her tail brushed over Daring’s hind legs and she arched a brow. “Who said you were taking me out?”
“Maybe if we’re ever in Saddle Arabia or Marapore or something you can pick where we eat. Until then, I think I know a bit more about the restaurants around Equestria, Miss Hermit.”
Rainbow’s wings buzzed as their hooves entwined once more. Their walked together, shoulder-to-shoulder, through the desert. Each step and each gentle caress of her feathers down Daring’s side fed the warmth in her chest that had steadily been building throughout the day.
Daring basked in that warmth, letting it carry into her smile as it kept the cooler bite of the night at bay. She felt Rainbow lean into her side as they walked, and without thought she returned the gesture, following the familiar trail to the inn. “Fine,” she murmured. “You can pick.”
“As if you had any choice in the first place.” Bright, yellow light peeked out over the next sand dune. The low, muffled, and rolling sound of conversation and music seeped into their quiet night as they neared the Get On Inn. “Oh, and one last thing.”
They crested the last dune, and only a short trot away sat the Get On Inn. A bouquet of spices wafted out from the open windows, tantalizing Daring’s stomach as she quirked her brow at her soon-to-be-girlfriend. “Yeah?”
Quick as a flash, Rainbow darted forward. Before Daring had a chance to blink, her breath caught in her throat as a pair of soft lips pressed against her own. The contact was brief, hardly more than a peck, but still she found her eyes wide and her wings flared out as the warmth in her chest rose, creeping up her neck and into her muzzle for the scarce second the kiss lasted.
Rainbow purred, a sound that fluffed the feathers along Daring’s wing, and she drew in a quick breath as she felt hot puffs of breath wash over her ear. A low, smoldering chuckle filled her hearing. “I’m paying for dinner, too.”
Then, just as it had started, Rainbow drew away. The tip of her tail flicked Daring’s snout as she sauntered off towards the inn.
Daring blinked, releasing the breath caged in her throat. Her eyes followed the gentle sway of Rainbow’s hips as she walked on ahead and the shimmering swishing of her tail from side to side.
A slow smile crept over her lips, and without another word she followed.
Though she may not have known where the next days, weeks, or months would lead her, she knew they would be spent in Rainbow’s company. She knew not where this new adventure would take her, or what trials or splendours she would find, but she followed all the same.
What kind of adventurer would she be if she didn’t?
Author's Note
Inspired after watching "Daring Done?", this piece was a lot of fun to write. I've said in a few places that Daring Do is my favourite side character for many, many reasons, and I guess it's about time I write something for her!
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below!
