One Convention to Remember
Be Careful What You Wish For
Author's Note
Okay, so huge thanks to Boop for starting up this idea, and to everyone else for contributing chapters to it. Sure, it was over a year in the making, but I hope what we all came up with was worth it! Thoughts, comments, and critique are welcomed. Help us all improve, after all.
Be Careful What You Wish For
Fillydelphia: AdventureCon 1006
Quibble smiled as he breathed in the fresh air of the convention hall. He always got excited at these events, he could simply feel the enthusiasm filling the air as his fellow Daring Do fan and of adventure novels in general hustled and bustled past him. He smiled and let out a little whinny of excitement, hoping no one had heard that. SERIOUS fans did not geek out, no sir!
“Well, okay maybe they geek out a little.” Quibble thought to himself, a wistful smile creeping onto his face as he remembered the prismatic maned pegasus known as Rainbow Dash. He still was completely stunned that there was a pony out there that was of a big fan of the Daring Do books as he was. Mind you, she liked the later more action oriented books with completely improbable over the top scenes like crocodiles coming down from the ceiling or undead mummy monsters from Neighlantis coming back to life, but she was still a fan. He snorted, honestly he wouldn’t have believed those scenes in those books were real had he not met Daring Do for himself. (And if he was to be privately honest with himself, he still thought Daring embellished a little bit. All novelists did do that at one point or another just to add a bit more excitement to their work.)
“But still, undead mummy centaurs from a undersea city? Kind of stretching the suspension of disbelief a bit too far, don’t you think?” Quibble silently snarked as he entered the sea of stands, where various buyers sold their wares. He looked around and smiled where he saw a small pink filly wearing a pin fashioned after Dr. Caballeron’s golden skull Cutie Mark buy a plushie of the character.
“Bet she wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about him if she’d actually met him. I still have nightmares about being tied up by his men near The Temple of Chicomoztoc. And that Cipacti. Ugh, that thing has a face only a mother could love. Wonder what kind of crocodile had that thing for a baby? What, was it exposed to radioactive water or something like the Mothpony was supposedly said to have been?” Quibble mused to himself.
“Oh great, I’m rambling.” He said and mentally facehoofed. “If Rainbow heard me, she’d be laughing her head off.”
Quibble adjusted his pith and put on a smile. “Come on Quibs, you’re supposed to be here having fun, not snarking at things that evidently, do exist after all.”
He smiled at the sight of an animatronic Ahuizotl, which had its jaws moving up and down mechanically in a menacing way as if it were trying to make a meal out of the convention goers.
“Well, they got the proportions right, although I notice a slight difference in the shading of the eye color. Though, to be fair Daring was always inconsistent in the description of his eye shading.” Quibble mused aloud as he studied every little last detail of the Ahuizotl animatronic. “For example in one book she described him as having pure golden eyes but in another those eyes were more of a bronzish color. Then again, it is entirely possible this could be due to the shading of the light in the temple in the second instance. I’d have to meet Ahuizotl myself to know for sure. ...N-Not that’d I’d want to of course.” Quibble muttered to himself with a nervous chuckle. If Dr. Caballeron was real, it was a safe bet so was Ahuizotl. Just the thought of knowing those jaws clamped down on your futilely struggling body and that there was nothing you could do to get away was something that would keep you up at night, for sure!
“...Why am I constantly overthinking things? Guess that’s part of being an analyst for Daring Do books after all.” Quibble thought as he passed a booth themed after a giant black octopus-like creature with glowing green tendrils with a grape-colored pony doing a live signing of his book.
“Huh, may have to check that out one day. It may not be a Daring Do story, but I’ve heard good things about it such as it’s a thrilling adventure and good comedy. Doubt that’s true though, considering it’s coming from a amateur writer that no one’s ever heard of. Then again, so was “A. K. Yearling” before she came onto the scene and look what happened then...” Quibble thought. As he walked away with a chuckle, he missed a mare in a grey floppy hat, big red glasses and a cloak walk up to the booth and lay a pile of bits in front of the grape colored pony.
“Huh, speaking of A.K, I have got to get my copy of Daring Do and the Seven-Sided Chest signed while I’m here.” Quibble reminded himself as he held out his copy, which showed him, Daring and Rainbow on the cover. He couldn’t believe the lengths and bits he had to go through just to get a copy of it before it even went on sale. It was just like Daring Do and the Cove of Candles all over again!
“...Okay, that’s not entirely true. Daring gave both me and Rainbow copies as soon as she was done with them. Still, that’s what I’d like to say on how I got this book though. Much cooler.” Quibble thought. Then, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as the Earth Pony saw a strange figure dressed in a pure black cloak, almost as if he or she were the Grim Reaper walking around the Con. As far as he knew, there wasn’t a character in the books that was described in that way.
Quibble shrugged, it was probably nothing important. But another part of his mind said to him that it was entirely possible that it was another of Daring’s foes in disguise. After all, he now knew them to be real, and Dr. Caballeron had shown himself at the last convention, so who was to say this wasn’t somepony like Ambassador Hawkwings or Daring’s rather frankly nasty sister (In his opinion, some had given her a Dragon in Leather Pants treatment, the idiots.) Derring Do at the con for some insidious purpose?
“Looks like I’ll have to be keeping both eyes on that figure, and not on the figurines this time around.” Quibble thought and idly wondered to himself why he couldn’t just hop in a time machine and go back to the days when Daring Do was just fiction…
Fillydelphia, Adventure Con 1006, 3 hours before, outside the building.
A long sigh escaped from Skull Bane's lips as he took a glance at the building before him. He was a grayish unicorn with a brown mane and tail, his Cutie Mark being a potion fuming smoke that resembles a skull. However, he wore a somber cloak that did an excellent job hiding his features.
He rolled his eyes, Ugh, for all of the places in Equestria it had to be on a convention, he thought, maybe if I just... no, that would cause a scene and would ruin my cover. Crawling in vents would... be a bad idea since security would probably find out I didn't give a ticket. Oh well, to the entrance then... I guess. Before he trotted over to the end of the line, he glanced at the entrance and saw a pony gathering up tickets.
He stopped and lit up his horn, as he levitated a rock and replaced it in to an Adventure Con ticket. A simple illusion spell that would last for quite a while. Skull Bane then continued to advance at the end of the line. Fortunately, he was early and didn't have to wait long before he was at the front of the line.
"Ticket, please." The receiver eventually said, they raised an eyebrow and bore an expectant look.
"Here you go, miss." Skull Bane said, handing the "ticket" to the mare. He smiled as the mare let him in the building. He walked past her and tentatively took steps to the lobby.
He froze, eyes widened and a frown on his face as he realized something. After a moment, he smacked a hoof to his face and groaned.
Just when he thought his situation couldn't get worse, a pony trotted towards him and said, "Sir, would you like to buy our Harry Trotter figurines? I can guarantee they will look smashing wherever you put them!"
"Uhm, no thanks." Skull Bane replied, he then retreated and looked around his surroundings. Darn it, why couldn't she give me more details than just a "Dark hallway with an iron door." he thought, and kept on moving his legs as he examined the room.
"It's been 3 hours and I still can't find the dark hallway," Skull Bane grumbled, he was clearly upset he couldn't accomplish a simple task. He stopped looking at ponies some time ago and became more focused to the task at hoof. Skull completely ignored what the vendors said that may or may not be directed at him.
Deep breaths, Skull. Deep Breaths... Skull Bane thought, inhaling as much oxygen as he could before exhaling. "Alright, let's do this." As he calmed himself and started to walk, he eventually walked past Quibble Pants, who was there narrowing his eyes on him, but Skull Bane, way too focused, didn't notice. Nor did he notice Quibble Pants following him.
"Ah, yes... finally!" Skull said as he saw a promising dark hallway just 6 meters away from him. Unbeknownst to him though, a certain pony decided to follow his footsteps. Skull Bane didn't gallop to the hallway as it would cause a few ponies to look at him and would get suspicious.
Skull walked towards the iron door and stopped. He grabbed a key from... something, and levitated it towards the doorknob. Quibble was hiding inside a cardboard box and was watching the moment go on as Skull turned the key. There was a soft click before Skull Bane pushed the iron door. Light came out of the room as the door opened. Skull Bane went inside.
Quibble Pants was about to follow Skull inside the room but he stopped himself as Skull darted his eyes from left to right. His eyes narrowed when they laid upon a lone cardboard box at the side. For a second, Quibble Pants thought he was caught, but then the stallion shrugged and turned to go back inside. After the door was closed, Quibble Pants stood up and threw away the cardboard box. Huh, I can't believe I got away from them. That cardboard box was clearly not there. Either they're dumb or they knew all along. Quibble thought, but shook his head and quietly walked towards the door.
He put a hoof around the doorknob and slowly but firmly turned it. Surprisingly, it wasn't locked. Definitely dumb. Or did they do that on purpose?
Quibble Pants carefully slid inside the room, and was even more careful at closing the door. He turned around and saw a closet to the right of the door. Wait, what? Why would someone put their closet right next to the entrance? Who would even do that? Apparently this pony. Quibble thought and regained his focus back. He took a step, another step, and another. Quibble gulped and started walking normally.
Suddenly, Quibble heard a shatter of glass right behind him. Quibble froze and regretted turning around as somepony knocked him unconscious.
"Faint Steps! You didn't have to do that!" Skull Bane said as he galloped towards the victim and his attacker. Skull Bane looked down at the unconscious stallion then glared at Faint Steps.
"What? We can't have anypony snooping around our business," Faint Steps said while shrugging, she was a pale pegasus with a curly light blue mane. Her Cutie Mark was a gust of wind. "besides, it's your fault you were careless and got followed."
"Well I, uhh, whatever. You know we can't just leave him outside, right?" Faint Steps chuckled as Skull changed the subject.
"Of course I do. Which is why we're taking him to the cage."
Skull gasped and glared harder at Faint, "We're taking hostage!? No, we don't--"
"Do you have a better idea?" Faint Steps smirked, thinking she got him.
"Why yes, I do have one." Faint's smirk immediately disappeared.
Faint Steps sighed, "What did you have in mind?" she then embraced herself.
"How about we tie him up on a chair? We'll (mostly you) apologize to what happened, tell him the partial truth, patiently wait for him to trust us and... and..." Skull Bane stopped rambling, a thoughtful look on his face. He rubbed his chin.
Faint Steps raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what?"
"I... uhh... I..." Skull Bane stammered.
"You what?"
"I don't know?" Skull Bane answered, his face sheepish and his hoof at the back of his head. Faint Steps rolled her eyes and chuckled.
Fillydelphia, Adventure Con 1006: RIGHT FREAKING NOW!
Quibble groaned as his vision slowly came back into focus. Why did he seem to have the worst luck at conventions nowadays? First it was getting dragged into an adventure with Rainbow Dash and finding out all of Daring Do’s adventures were in fact, real and now this.
“Okay, it’s official. Worst. Convention. Experience. Ever.” Quibble thought to himself. He observed his surroundings. He was in a storehouse, the sun shining through broken glass windows in the roof with the shattered pieces covering the floor. In a corner to the far left, various cardboard cut-outs of all things nerdy lay stacked against each other near a brick wall. The sun had faded their coloring somewhat, but they were still recognizable to Quibble’s eyes. Some examples included Rei Ayanami from Neon… Well, Quibble knew the series started with Neon but he never cared enough to remember the rest of the name. Others included Captain Marvelous as Gokai Red from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger and an older animatronic of the titular character from the book “Moby Dick”.
Quibble grunted as he realized he had been tied to a chair by the waist and legs, and at about this time Quibble was really wishing he had been a colt scout as the knots were professionally done.
Just then, there was a creaking of wood as a door opened and in stepped a white pony with a light blue mane along with an ash grey unicorn by her side, knives in his saddlebags.
“Oh please tell me this isn’t going to turn into that one scene from that certain movie my sister “Talked” me into watching once. I swear, if that one song starts playing, knots or no knots, I’m getting out of here.” Quibble thought to himself.
“Hey… Uh, guys?” Quibble stuttered out nervously, in hopes of reasoning with the two ponies. "The whole knife thing and interrogating somepony to “Stuck in the Middle with You?” So overdone! So, uh, maybe you can just let me go and let bygones be bygones?”
Skull Bane turned to his partner and hissed out “How did he know that was going to be my second option?”
Faint rolled her eyes.
“...Because he’s right, it IS overdone. Ponies sorta expect that to happen whenever you put them in a situation like this nowadays. ...Honestly, I wish that movie had never been made at times.” She remarked with a dry tone of voice before turning to Quibble.
“As much as we’d like to let you go, you’ve seen and heard too much. So no, you’re staying right here.” Faint said.
“I swear, I’ll pretend I never met you guys!” Quibble yelped out, beginning to panic.
“You do realize I’m a mare right?” Faint asked, a little offended as Skull put his hoof to his muzzle and let it slowly slide down.
“Missing the point there.” He mused to himself before whispering “So, is my plan still on?”
“What, the one you didn’t entirely think through, the stupid one?” Faint hissed back, unaware that Quibble could hear both of them perfectly fine. “The one about mostly me apologizing for what’s just happened, tell him the truth but not entirely and see if he trusts us?”
She then yelled “HOW THICK ARE YOU!?!” right in Skull Bane’s ears before facehoofing herself and muttering “...This is what I get for hiring a hench-pony from an anonymous source.”
“Oh, you did not just tell me to hench!” Skull shouted, incredibly offended.
“Can’t believe it. Usually, in these cases, it’s the mare who’s the dumb one and the stallion being intelligent. But then again, that Queen of Neighlantis from that one book series with the undead mummies and centaurs was fairly intelligent.” Quibble mused to himself with a chuckle. Both of his captors heard him.
“What’s so funny?” Faint asked.
“Nothing, continue talking and arguing about your plan, or lack thereof, as if I’m not here.” Quibble remarked in a deadpan tone of voice quite enjoying the show in front of him. He had to admit, terrifying as it was, the situation unfolding in front of him was pretty amusing thanks to both of these ponies’ incompetence. “You do realize I’m pretty much hearing every word you say right?”
This time, it was both of his captors who face-hoofed.
“Lot of that going around lately.” Quibble silently snarked. “Pretty sure I’ll be doing it too sooner or later if this keeps up.”
“You know, just a thought, but I’d really reconsider your line of work.” Quibble continued, picking away at their plan by the very seams and undoing it masterfully. “I mean, I don’t even think you even have a plan thought out beyond tieing me up, which I can give you props for by the way, as this is colt scout level stuff, but beyond that…”
“S-Shut up!” Skull shouted. “We do have a plan, we just haven’t thought it out fully yet!”
This time the facehoofing came from Faint and Quibble. “See, what did I say? I knew this would happen sooner or later.”
“Got to distract them somehow, they made a major flaw in their plan. They didn’t tie my forelegs together. I can untie myself, given the proper time, I just need that.” Quibble thought before a lightbulb went off in his head.
“Hey, look! It’s Daring Do!” He suddenly shouted, pointing to the left at a Daring Do standee and both of his captors looked at the obvious fake. Faint realized the trick at once but for Skull, it took a little longer.
“Oh, ponyfeathers…” Skull muttered as he looked at the standee of Daring, which was crafted in such a way that it looked like she was swinging in on a vine. Faint smacked him over the head.
“Idiot! This is a storehouse, there’s not going to be any vines in… Here.” She shouted angrily before her voice slowed down and she realized what happened. Cursing loudly, she saw the chair empty and the ropes lying on the floor. As for Quibble, he had made a break for it through another door, screaming at the top of his lungs in pure terror...
“Alright calm down Quibble calm down. Clear there is only one thing to do in this situation. The only thing never done in any book or movie.” Quibble thought as he took deep breaths in a closet. He had managed to escape, but he doubted the two of them were smart enough to rethink their life choices and pick a better career. “I’m going to the authorities.”
“That’s a bad idea,” Somepony said on the other side of the door. Quibble’s heart stopped in his chest. This had to be the quickest recapture ever. The door opened, and the pony continued. “The police always get in the way. After all, they always know best. Really really annoying.” Daring held out a hoof to Quibble, and helped him back to his hoofs.
“What, but what’s going on is clearly illegal and the cops need to be told.” Daring rolled her eyes as the two of them started walking down the hall.
“Normally yes you’re right but in this situation, the cops are at best incompetent and at worse, they’re in the bad guys pocket.”
“That’s cliché.”
“It’s cliché for a reason Quibble,” Daring said as the two of them continued down the hall. “Trust me I’ve been doing this long enough to know that if there was a cop that could hold his own against a supervillain, then he would have been promoted into any number of secret agencies long before he’d be put on the streets.”
“Then what do you suggest we do?”
“Well, I was going to go home and relax until I saw you tailing the big guy in the cloak.”
“Wait you saw him and you were just going to go home?” Quibble pointed at her. “How could you just let some villain go like that?”
“Because for one, I have what they want so why should I try and stop them, they’ll see it’s gone and probably give up. I mean seriously these guys seem like amateurs.”
“First off Daring, I’m a mare,” Faint Steps came around the corner with a grin. “Second off thank you for hoof delivering the Ruby of Dhoruba. And lastly, you’re surrounded.” Skull Bane came around the corner.
“The Ruby is worthless without the staff, sapphire, and emerald.”
“Hey Faint, how do you reckon he’s making the cut-out talk?” The pale pegasus could just gap at his complete uselessness. Daring face hoofed.
“Four for four now.” Quibble thought to himself.
“Yep, total amateurs.” Daring took a battle stance Faint steps mirrored her. “I’ll take the pegasus, you get the unicorn.” The two pegasi charged each other clashing in mid-air. Quibble turned around and prepared to charge the unicorn who just watched the mares fight, in a complete daze.
“How are you making the cut-out move like that?” Quibble was completely routed by the stupidity of the question.
While the two stallions were engaging in a battle of wits the two mares were trying to one-up each other in more conventional and action-oriented way. The two pegasi maneuvered around the hall as though they had the whole sky. Both clearly experienced in flying in closed off spaces. Faint step moved in on Daring throwing quick jabs and pulling off. She was younger than her, and knew how to play her advantage.
Daring, however, would take the quick jabs from her hooves being sure to avoid the nastily pointed knife, and after taking the punches would close in on her opponent. Each time the space between them would get smaller. The second the space between them was small enough she knew she’d win. Her opponent was younger and faster, but she lacked the skills and experience that Daring had obtained over a lifetime.
Finally, Daring got close enough she threw a punch into Faint’s throat, briefly cutting off the other mare’s windpipe. She swatted the knife out of her mouth and slammed her to the ground. “Your boss really needs to hire better henchponies.”
“Oh I don’t know about that, she seems to have done an excellent job at distracting you.” Daring turned around and saw a cloaked zebra with a knife to Quibble’s throat. “Now Ms. Faint Steps, the ruby is in her pocket. Bring it to me. Faint step still gasping for breath did as she was told.
“Mtu Mbaya.” Daring spat. “Let him go.”
“I’m so glad that you haven’t changed Daring and you remember me I’m so very flattered.” Mtu Mbaya put his knife flush with his hostage’s throat. “It would seem though that you forgot that most valuable lesson I taught you those many years ago.” Quibble fought the impulse to gulp afraid that if he did he’d slit his own throat. “You should always work alone.” He pulled the knife from Quibble’s neck and pricked his right foreleg just enough to draw a little drop of blood. He threw Quibble into the charging Daring and ran down the hall, his two henchponies right behind him.
“Who was that?”
“Don’t worry we need to catch him!” Daring was racing down the halls after the fleeing zebra. Quibble chasing after her though he had no clue why. The two of them ran back into storehouse. The second they entered Daring was grabbed by a claw and slammed into the wall. Quibble could barely stand as he came face to face with Ahuizotl.
“Quibble get out of here.” She looked over to her shoulder and saw him collapsing to the floor. “No,” she thought to herself as he panted for breath between dry heaving.
“Poisoned, if you weren’t so busy trying to stop me you may have been able to get him to the convention floor in time. Maybe even save him. You still might be able to save him. If you wanted.”
“We’re just going to let her go?” Ahuizotl asked calmly.
“I need her for the ritual no one else will do, and I know that I can count on her.”
“Oh, you really are a devil.”
“Coming from you that is high praise indeed.” Ahuizotl slammed Daring against the walls several more times, before dropping her. She fell limply to the ground. “Time to go.”
“Ugh…” Quibble Pant groaned as he came to, the world slowly turning from an incomprehensible blur to a sharp image. “Ow… ow ow ow…” He shook his head out, a massive headache throbbing in his skull. “Ergh…” When he was finally able to get a look at the world around him, he realized he was still in the same storehouse he and Daring had chased those thieves into. Upon trying to move around, he found himself tied up, back to back with an unconscious Daring Do.
How original, Quibble thought sarcastically.
As he got a feel for his surroundings, he realized that Skull Bane and Faint Steps were sitting at a fold-out table playing cards. They were about thirty feet away and were barely keeping an eye on them.
Two clichés in a row, wonderful. Quibble flattened his brow and looked straight ahead. He then realized that he didn’t have time to dwell on how many clichés were being stuffed into this adventure. He had to figure a way out of here. Quibble looked behind him and saw that Daring was still out.
“Daring… pst, Daring.” He tried to get her attention. He tried bumping his arms into her back, but she only stirred slightly. He went for a full-on head butt to the back of her skull. That did the trick. Daring awoke with a snort looking around frantically.
“What? Huh?” She looked around confused.
“Shhh!” Quibble turned his head towards her. “Quiet!” he whispered urgently.
“Wha-” Daring was still confused until she realized she was in the same storehouse, tied up and had guards nearby. She quickly shut up. “Quibble?” Daring whispered back.
“It’s me.” He replied.
Daring sighed. “Good.” She looked over at the two hench ponies still playing cards. “We need to figure out how to get out of-” She stopped her sentence short as she heard the sound of a door opening and closing. She looked over to the source of the noise in time to see Mtu Mbaya trotting towards Skull and Faint.
The two hench ponies looked up at him, anticipating orders. He looked at them both and shot them an intimidating look.
“The boat is ready, and the Ruby is secure. We leave now.” He stated.
Skull nodded. “Alrighty, boss,” He got up and started gathering up the cards on the table. Faint glanced at Quibble and Daring, seeing that they weren’t knocked out.
“What should we do with them?” She asked. Both Quibble and Daring flinched at her question. They sat still and waited for Mtu’s answer.
Mtu followed Faints hoof and looked at both of his prisoners. He went over his options for a moment before looking around at an empty crate in a dusty corner of the warehouse. “Put them under with chloroform, and seal them in that crate.” He pointed his hoof at the wooden box.
Faint nodded. “Alright,” She replied, before turning back to Skull who was just finishing putting the cards back into their small box. “What did we do with the chloroform?”
Daring’s eyes widened. She looked around frantically at the ropes she and Quibble were bound to. “Ergh, come on!” She whispered urgently as she tried to shimmy out the ropes. Quibble did the same. “Quibble, see if you can reach under the ropes to my shirt pocket,” Daring instructed.
“Got it.” He whispered back. He started shifting his right hoof from his side to between Daring’s barrel and the ropes. It only got tighter and tighter as he moved his hoof towards her pocket. He looked back to where the table was, only to see Skull Bane walking towards them with a cloth damp in chloroform!
“Crap!” He whispered to himself, his face filling with dread. Daring noticed him approaching too… but… as Skull got closer, she picked up on the faint sound of Faint and Ztu’s voices in the background.
“Where are we going, again?”
“Saddle Arabia.”
That was all she heard before her sense of sound focussed back on Skull who was only five feet away. She grunted as she gave one last futile effort to escape. But as she gave up and sighed, accepting fate, a loud POW rang out and Skull dropped to the floor crying out pain as he held his cheek. But he wasn’t the only one near Quibble and Daring.
A mud brown stallion stood over Skull Bane. His mane and tail were black, his chin baring a light stubble. A wide-brimmed sable fedora sat on top of his head. He wore a light brown leather jacket and his cutie mark presented the image of a map.His barrel held a pair of saddlebags hugging his sides. He appeared set on the task at hoof and ready for action. His green eyes shaped into a glare, first aimed at Skull still groaning on the ground. Then at Mtu, whose own eyes were wide and shocked, his jaw hanging. Faint had a similar expression.
Quibble, while extremely surprised, was also confused. He had no idea who this mystery stallion was. When he glanced over his shoulder at Daring, she had a look that suggested she DID know who he was.
“Whinny!?” She exclaimed.
The stallion, or “Whinny”, as he had been called, glanced back at Daring for a moment. Their eyes locked for a solid second before he turned back and eyed Mtu again. Mtu by this time had regained his composure and chuckled.
“So… we meet again, Dr. Pones.” He smirked as if he owned the world on a silver platter. “It has been some time.”
“So it has, Mtu.” The stallion replied. His voice was rough and… aged. Not elderly aged. It sounded experienced. Like he had gone through this same type of dialogue a thousand times before. Like he knew exactly what he was doing. “I don’t think I need to tell you why I’m here.”
“So you can save your precious friends,” Mtu answered in a teasing, smug manner.
Whinny snorted. “I’ll give you one chance, hoof over the ruby, and I promise this won’t end badly for you.” He offered, knowing full well he would refuse.
“Mmm… pass.” Mtu chuckled, not surprising Whinny in the least.
“If you say so…” Whinny shrugged, hearing Skull start to regain his senses. He immediately delivered a hard buck to the side of Skull’s skull, knocking him out completely. He then turned around, pulling a machete out of his right saddle bag with his teeth. He swung it down hard onto the ropes binding Daring and Quibble. They both flinched at the moment, but relaxed as they felt the ropes droop to the legs, no longer restraining to two. They both got up and shook off the ropes, finally free. Whinny made a passing glance at Quibble, but held his eyes on Daring much longer. He finally did pull away from her gaze, causing her ears to droop slightly.
He looked back to where Mtu had been standing, only to see him running off through the warehouse door along with Faint. Whinny gritted his teeth.
“Move! Catch him!” He shouted as he started his pursuit. Daring immediately followed, Quibble being slightly startled. He quickly came to his senses however and also gave chase.
The three ponies burst through the double doors, only to see Faint starting up the motor on a boat. And Mtu was pulling something out a sack… it was a strange looking cannon. The cannon had a round, metal body. The end of the barrel glowed red, and a long hose crept from the bottom of it into a container on the boat. The bottom near the tip of the barrel had a grip being hugged by Mtu’s left hoof. His right hoof held a lever in it. The cannon began to grow brighter with each passing second.
“Pleasure making your acquaintance, Dr. Pones.” Mtu cackled loudly before pushing the lever forward. It fired a bright red beam that straight towards Whinny and the rest. His eyes widened as he turned right around, clotheslined both Quibble and Daring, and dove for the ground. The beam zipped by overhead colliding with the warehouse doors. They were knocked off their hinges with a loud BANG. They went flying through the warehouse, colliding with several crates and smashing them to pieces.
“Shit…” Whinny grumbled. He looked up to see the smoldering wreckage of the doorframe. He quickly looked back to see Mtu riding away on his motorboat with Faint. Whinny grumbled and shook his head out. “Damn!”
He got up and dusted himself off, sighing for a moment. By this time, Quibble and Daring had gotten themselves off the ground.
When Daring got her bearings back, she glanced at Whinny. She stared for a long moment, a wave of nostalgia flowing through her. And then… anger?
Quibble got up, and also starred at Whinny. He was EXTREMELY curious to know who this mystery stallion was. Whinny picked up on the two looking at him from opposite sides. He backed up and looked between the two. “What?” He asked sincerely, with a confused expression on his face.
Daring's face seemed to light up with anger and she stomped her hooves. “Hey!” She shouted, getting both Whinny and Quibble to stare at her. “What the HELL are you doing here, after all of this time of never talking to me!?” She ranted in his face. Whinny kept a cool composure.
Quibble, however, was extremely confused. “But… wait.” He tried getting their attention, but they were deadlocked in a staring contest.
Whinny finally broke the stare and looked away with a frustrated look. “I didn’t know you two would be here.” He explained, still looking away while gritting his teeth. “I had no intention of seeing you again.”
Daring’s expression seemed to loosen up a bit, and… sadden? Quibble couldn’t put his hoof on it, but he didn’t dwell on that question. “But hold on, Daring?” He asked, getting her attention. “Who is this?”
Daring huffed, and glanced back at Whinny.
“This… is Hayry Pones Jr., professor of Archaeology.” She explained with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “Or as many ponies know him by, Whinnyana Pones.”
Quibble’s jaw dropped and his brain ceased functioning momentarily as it tried processing this new-found information. For a good description of his head’s inner workings, it was like seeing a computer trying to compute a ton of information at once, and then fritzing out and overloading… With a possible explosion after catching fire afterwards. Okay, maybe not that bad but to put it simply, Quibble was in a state of shock due to information overload. He tried to form words in a mouth, but none came out. Well, no comprehensible ones anyways.
“Buh… Guh… Whut… Eh… Me…” Qubble garbled out incomprehensibly. Here, standing directly in front of him was a living legend! This was Whinnyana Pones, the stallion who had found the Crystal Skull in the depths of the jungles of Peru. This was the brave and possibly mad stallion who had infiltrated a temple run by a mad cult devoted to the demon Kail, led by Mola Ram in Neighsia. He’d freed hundreds of child slaves and faced off with said cult leader sword to sword atop a bridge over the raging, unforgiving waters of the Ganges River. Heck, Whinnyana had even supposedly found the Ark of the Covenant, where the ten commandments set down by the lady Faust herself were stored.
“Okay, even I have to admit he’s kinda cute when he stutters stuff out like that.” Daring mused privately.
“...I suppose he’ll be wanting my autograph next, given the way he’s fanboying out.” Whinnyana sighed and rolled his eyes. Celestia above, he hated fanboys like that. Or worse… Fangirls.
“Would not be surprised,” Daring muttered, none too happy to see her fellow adventurer/treasure hunter again. In the background, Quibble continued acting like a computer on the fritz. “Why are you here, I had this well in hoof!”
“Heard Ahuizotl was back at it again,” Whinnyana replied simply. “Thought you might need a helping hoof.”
Daring wasn’t amused, not in the slightest. She could tell when her old friend was lying out of his flank.
“Oh, just spit it out already! You were worried about me, you never thought I could handle myself!” Daring snapped. “Well, newsflash for you buster, I’ve been handling myself quite well ever since you… Gah! I swear, you’re worse than my mother!”
“Well, considering both your mother and me were old friends, I may have picked up a few of her traits from her…” Whinnyana admitted.
“W-Wait wait,” Quibble spoke up again, finally regaining the power of proper speech. “Whinnyana, you’re her mentor? This… This was never mentioned in any of the books!”
“...And for good reason,” Daring grumbled before she sighed. “But yes, Whinny here was my mentor. Taught me pretty much everything I know, when he wasn’t off on one of his “Archaeological Digs” with my mother.”
The way she phrased it led Quibble to believe that there was something more than just digging going on between Daring’s mom and Whinnyana.
“...Although Whinny here much prefers the name “Junior.” Daring snarked.
“I hate that name! Don’t call me Junior!” Whinnyana snapped.
“Well, it’s a much better name than the one you chose for yourself,” Daring remarked. “I mean, naming yourself after your pet dog you had as a child?”
Quibble burst out laughing as Whinnyana growled.
“Wait, wait,” Quibble laughed, wiping away tears from his eyes. “You named yourself after your childhood pet?”
“He was a good dog, very faithful!” Whinnyana snapped back. Quibble suddenly realized something.
“Uh, not to be the killjoy here, but shouldn’t we be going after a certain Zebra and his gang?” Quibble asked nervously, slapping himself mentally for forgetting something like that.
“Crap…” Daring trailed off. “You’re right! We need to get moving, fast!”
Daring lashed out with her whip and grabbed Quibble by the foreleg. She then rocketed out of the storehouse, Quibble screaming at the top of his lungs the entire time.
“Y-You know, this isn’t the best way to travel!” Quibble stammered out in fear, his eyes covered by his front hooves in fear.
“Sure it is, you get quite the view from up here Quibster, you get to see the rivers and everything.” Daring teased, hoping that he didn’t see her cheeks flushing red. “Did I seriously just give him a nickname? What the Tartarus is wrong with me?”
“Yeah, great, I’ll recommend this method to all my friends,” Quibble snarked. “Five star way of traveling.”
Within minutes, the two were above the powerful steam-powered riverboat that was transporting Mtu and his gang. Skull Bane suddenly looked behind him and his jaw dropped as he saw Daring rocketing towards them like a bird of prey, her outstretched wings creating wakes in the river below.
“U-Uh, Mtu, might want to make this rust-bucket go a little faster, i-if you can.” Skull stuttered out in fear, quite afraid of Daring.
“Why?” Mtu asked. “And lose that stutter would ya? Makes you sound like a cowardly fo-”
Skull then grabbed Mtu and whirled him around to show him what, or rather who was approaching. Mtu’s jaw dropped and he muttered “Aw kuzimu…”
He then pulled out the cannon and fired several large blasts of angry red magical energy at the twosome. Daring flew left and right to avoid the blasts before she grabbed Quibble and looked at him.
“You trust me right?”
“Y-Yeah, I suppose,” Quibble replied nervously, not sure where Daring was going with this. “Why?”
“First off, apologies. Secondly, word of advice, don’t get shot!” Daring shouted before she physically flung him at the cannon and Mtu. Mtu fired off blasts rapidly at Quibble but he was so scared of the oncoming Earth Pony rocketing towards him like a bullet his shots went wild. Quibble hit the zebra in the chest knocking him flat to the deck.
“Well, that wasn’t so hard was it?” Quibble remarked and laughed nervously before he looked up at Daring. “Didn’t even need a kiss for luck!”
“Well, maybe next time I’ll give you one!” Daring teased and Quibble flushed red.
“Oh, why’d I have to go and say that...?” He muttered to himself. Little did he know Daring was wondering the same thing about her own response...
Saddle Arabia: The Blue Nile: Mtu’s Steamship
So there Quibble was, sitting on his flank in a rather unceremonious fashion on Mtu’s steamship, with the aforementioned Zebra knocked out cold, cartoonish little birdies circling over his head. Strangely, he should be dead, but Quibble had noticed the ever-present magic that filled the air of Equestria often protected ponies in the strangest of ways.
And of course, Mtu’s henchmen (One a pride of the Marish Countryside, a pure white griffon named Daithi (Meaning swift if Quibble remembered correctly) clad in a black flak jacket. The other, he was even meaner looking if that was possible. A brown stallion, with one eye closed via one too many punches to the face Quibble suspected) were swift to join the fight to avenge their leader’s honor and save him from the disgrace he’d suffered.
Quibble swallowed as Daithi sharpened up his talons, flicking them out like a cat would. Which made a whole lot of sense really, Quibble supposed given griffons were part lion.
“Honestly mate, what were you thinking?” Daithi asked, somehow managing to come off as polite despite looking rather dangerous. A sharp green emerald danged around his neck, now that Quibble looked closer. “I do feel rather sorry for you, I really do, but needs must. I cannot let you cause any further trouble here.”
Suddenly, Quibble remembered something.
“Because one, I have what they want so why should I try and stop them, they’ll see it’s gone and probably give up. I mean seriously these guys seem like amateurs.”
“First off Daring I’m a mare.” Faint Steps came around the corner with a grin. “Second off thank you for hoof delivering the Ruby of Dhoruba. And lastly, you’re surrounded.” Skull Bane came around the corner.
“The Ruby is worthless without the staff, sapphire, and emerald.”
“I wonder…” Quibble pondered to himself before he narrowly dodged a swing from the stallion which would have probably smashed his face in, or at least broken his nose. He let out a rather girlish yelp -Which he’d later fervently deny- at the narrow miss and found himself stepping backwards, all the way back to the edge of the steamship.
The twin henchmen chuckled darkly amongst themselves, and Quibble swallowed hard.
“...I-I should warn you, I know Kung-Fu!” Quibble stammered out, admitting he was terrified. At least to himself anyways. But to his credit, even as the two flunkies laughed their heads off, he held up his hooves bravely.
“Oh, you do?” Daithi inquired. Quibble figured he was the one who did most of the talking, while his partner was the silent one who did most of the punching. “Show me.”
With that, Quibble let out a series of “Hi-yahs!” and various other bad sound effects while swinging wildly like a maniac, causing the two henchmen to fall to the floor laughing, and clutching their sides.
“Oh, more like Kung-Fool!” Daithi roared out in amusement as Quibble continuing swinging and shouting like an idiot. Daithi only laughed harder, if that was possible. “Oh, my gut hurts!” he laughed out.
“Oh… Oh, look at this!” Faint Steps laughed as she came into view watching the entire spectacle complete with Quibble knocking a crate of fish overboard in his frailing. “By the Creator! Sons of the pharaohs! Give me frogs, flies, locusts! Anything but you! Compared to you the other plagues were a joy!”
Quibble looked at the fish now swimming freely, and blushed sheepishly completely missing the insult entirely.
“So sorry, just an accident. ...Was that all you had to eat?” He asked nervously.
“Oh Quibble, when Sable Spirit destroyed her country due to her lust for beauty, that was an accident. You, are a catastrophe!”
Suddenly, a hoof came down and smacked Faint Steps in the face, sending her flying into a door. Daring smirked to herself as she stood in a rather heroic fashion, using her whip to knock out the two henchmen with quick swings.
“Yeah, but he’s my kind of catastrophe!” Daring smirked before she frowned. “...Oh god, did I really just say that?” she pondered aloud.
“Y-Yeah, you kinda did.” Quibble replied, and Daring facehoofed even as she used her wing to knock out a recovering Faint Steps -Not even bothering to look behind her as she did so- and sighed to herself. “But really, my kind of catastrophe? That’s so corny…”
“...That’s what he’s taking issue with?” Daring thought. “Me possibly having… feelings for him and expressing it with a corny line? And here I longed for the days when he just sent me letters about how badly my newer books/autobiographies sucked and criticized to my face how unrealistic they were. Give me a giant monster or a deadly trap any day over romance.”
“You honestly need better lines after saving my flank…” Quibble continued to well… quibble as he gave Daithi a swift kick to the side for good measure. “Seriously, I could write a hundred lines in any fanfiction about you and that assistant of yours, Blarney Stone that are way more flirtatious sounding. Seriously, didn’t you flirt with Ahuizotl in the Ring of Destiny saying and I quote: “Now, Ahuizotl, you know I love you, but I can't give you the ring 'til I've properly proposed.”? What happened to good lines like that? Good and extremely witty banter?” Quibble argued.
“Different situation here, Quibster.” Daring replied.
“Different how?” Quibble asked, eyebrow raised and using an inquisitive tone. Far too inquisitive for Daring’s liking.
“Just… different!” Daring replied, a little snappishly. “Can we change subjects. Like, to anything else? I mean…”
“Oh, fine… You know, maybe you should consider letting me write the next book, just a little eh?” Quibble asked. “Y-You see, there’s this side character. Huge fan of her. I don't want to kind of name her right now, because it's sort of this thing that I've already written a lot of fan fiction on. I don't want you to... Not that I'm saying that you would steal the idea! But I am saying this would totally go along my whole thing about puzzle-solving, except what if each puzzle that was solved, uh, unlocked a new karate move? Think of it that way, right? And I mean I'm kind of a "Yearlite" myself, so I'm sure you would…”
“Forget I said anything…” Daring grumbled to herself as she kept moving, muttering something rude to herself about “Overanalytic and unpleasable fans…”
“Yep, giant monster or a deadly trap any day over romance.” she thought.
❊ ❊ ❊
“So, what’s the plan?” Quibble asked, as the two strode through a small hallway inside the steamship itself. The walls themselves were a dark wood, and were lined with small little portholes coated with brassed metal. Outside, one could see the Great Pyramids and palm trees passing by, along with a little town Daring knew to be Somnambula. (Like it could be any other town, she snorted, given the giant statue of the town’s namesake) If Daring had the time, and a better boat, she admitted to herself at least she probably would be sitting on the deck with a pair of sunglasses getting a small tan. After all, even she could appreciate the sights of the desert and it’s long and storied history.
Uncovering history was one of the reasons she became an adventurer in the first place after all. Daring chuckled to herself and sighed, if not for Whinny or her mother giving her that extra push, she probably would have become just a simple teacher, possibly teaching rather dull classes. Biology or Home Economics, most likely. She shuddered at the thought. Well, she supposed she owed Whinny a thanks for that at least.
“...And does it involve you kicking anymore flank, because that was so totally hot. C-Can I just say that?” Quibble stammered out nervously, in fear of Daring’s wrath. Which was a fairly reasonable emotion to feel, given the small little growl Daring emitted soon after.
“Okay… Changing subjects then…” Quibble wisely decided. “Can I just ask, why do you have an assistant named Blarney Stone? ...Actually, better question to quibble back and forth about. Who names their daughter that? I mean, sure I know the story of the stone being part Marish on my mother’s side and all. So it goes, An early story involves the goddess Faust herself. Master Sword Cruach, the builder of Blarney Castle, so it goes he was involved in a lawsuit in the 15th century, appealed to Faust for her assistance. She told Sword to kiss the first stone he found in the morning on his way to court, and he did so, with the result that he pleaded his case with great eloquence and won. Thus the Blarney Stone is said to impart “the ability to deceive without offending” or so it goes. Sword then incorporated it into the castle’s parapet.”
“Well, least you’ve studied your history…” Daring smiled a little in approval.
“What can I say, history got me into your books in the first place. But seriously, who names their kid…?”
“Blarney Stone?” Daring finished. “Honestly, not sure on that. She won’t tell me herself why her parents named her that. Maybe they thought the name would embow her with the abilities of the stone itself. ...Which to be honestly fair, that could be sorta true… If she wasn’t such a bad liar. Almost reminds me of that Apple clan mare Rainbow mentioned once or twice to me. Couldn’t tell a lie to save her life. Or at least a good one. Makes one wonder if they’re related.”
“Well, a lot of Marish immigrants did come over to Equestria a few centuries back so it’s possible…” Quibble mused.
“You sure you didn’t study or at least want to teach history and family lineage at one point in your life, Quibble?” Daring asked.
“Okay, yeah, I admit, it has come up a few times in my thoughts. Just never really went through the plan. Stead, I’m stuck with a mediocre job at a comic shop in Manehatten...” he sighed.
“Can’t see how that of all things would be dull,” Daring replied, with a hint of surprise in her tone. “I mean, at least you’d have comics to read right?”
“Yeah, but hardly anyone comes into the shop as we only sell works of up and comers that nobody could give a damn about, and I get stuck with low pay to boot,” Quibble grumbled bitterly. “That’s why I revel in your books, and coming to conventions and writing fanfiction about your books. They offer me some sort of…”
“Escape?” Daring asked sympathetically. “Give it time Quibble, something good will come up for you, I know it. You’ve got a talent for writing, and you love history. So, you could do something that may one day earn you fame and fortune.”
“Yeah, I suppose I could…” Quibble smiled. “Thanks, Daring,”
“Anytime.” Daring winked before a thought struck Quibble.
“...Hey, how’d you know I have a talent for writing?” he asked, and Daring didn’t answer and just dodged the question outright.
“Oh look, here we are!” Daring stated, as they reached a door, and she used her hoof to grasp the small gold handle and push the door open, revealing to them the bridge of the ship. Skull Bane was at the helm, and Daring and Quibble quickly took cover behind some crates.
“Where’s Ahuizotl?” Daring whispered out, a trace of shock in her tone. “He should be here!”
“Probably has his own private boat…” Quibble thought. “He seems like the type to avoid being around his henchmen if possible…”
“True, he only loves his cats and nothing or nobody else for companionship. ...Well, except for me if you take all of those fanfictions about me and him together as romantic partners into account…” Daring replied and she shuddered at the sheer thought of it and them being… together in any sense. She didn’t hear it, but Quibble laughed a little nervously at that.
“Now, let’s take Skull Bane, More brawn than brains, so we can do it!” Quibble whispered back, a strange new urge of confidence filling him. With that, he rushed forwards and ignored Daring’s shout for him to hold up.
Predictably, Quibble’s recklessness had him grabbed by the throat by Skull Bane.
“Er… maybe we can come to some sort of agreement here?” Quibble wheezed out nervously. Skull gave him a look, as if to ask: “How stupid do you think I am?”
Suddenly, Quibble found himself on the floor as a familiar leather whip grabbed Skull by his left hind leg and dragged him away.
“Here I am, saving your flank… again.” Daring sighed to herself, rubbing her temples with a free hoof.
“You oughta to really think about changing your band of tools, Daring Do…” Skull laughed, and pulled out a small pistol.
Quibble, as he watched this was forced to reevaluate his opinion on how smart Skull really was. “More brawn than brains, eh? Had to open my mouth…” he thought, cursing himself.
Daring’s eyes widened, before they widened even further as a loud bang filled the room. The shot went into the wall, nearly missing her head. Quibble, just in the nick of time had tackled Skull Bane to the floor.
“...Yeah, this is the part where we may want to run,” Quibble trailed off as alarms started to blare. It seemed the bullet had pierced the boiler and an explosion was imminent. He and Daring shared a nod, before they leaped out the front window and into the waters swimming for the shore as an explosion came from behind them. Just as they felt the heat on the backs of their necks, they turned to see a huge fireball behind them from where the boat was and figures leaping away from it.
The smoke cleared away, and Skull Bane along with all the other henchmen on the boat stood on the shore opposite to them, along with who else but Ahuizotl himself, barely masked rage on his face. He probably wasn't too happy about his boat being blown up.
“Hey Daring, it looks to me like you’re stuck!” Ahuizotl laughed. Daring couldn’t resist a cocky smirk in return.
“Hey Ahuizotl, it looks to me like you’re stuck on the wrong side of the river and the temple is on my side!” Daring shouted back, and Ahuizotl roared in fury.
“Curse you Daring Do!” he snarled. “But rest assured, we’ll catch up quite soon. You can count on that!” he warned, before he and his henchmen turned and walked off. Daring knew they’d catch up eventually as they always somehow managed to do so, so she turned to Quibble.
“Come on Quibster, we best get moving,” she said, gesturing to a hoof. “Trust me, you really don’t want to be out in the desert at night. So, best we hoof it and hope we find a shelter of some sort…”
“Agreed…” Quibble replied, swallowing nervously at the prospect of just barely escaping the Ahuizotl himself, and knowing he wasn’t far behind...
The city that they come to is small. Aside from a few cloud houses on the outskirts of the city almost all of the buildings were made of sand stone. Many of the buildings were white washed, and while some looked to be newer, Quibble noticed that many had been here for centuries.
“What is this place?” Quibble trotted up to Daring Do’s side. “And what are we doing here. Shouldn’t we be heading off to stop Ahizohtl?”
“Relax Quibble. They’ll need more than just the ruby to power the staff.” Daring lead the two of them into the markets. “And this place is Thieves. Despite it’s name I promise it’s safe-ish.”
“Um they may or may already have the Emerald.”
“What?” Daring stopped in her tracks. “What, why do you think that they have the Emerald?” She looked over to Quibble. “You saw it didn’t you?” He nodded. “You didn’t take it did you?” He shook his head side to side. “Well that’s unfortunate, but we’re still fine. At least for a little bit.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure?” She trotted down the street. “Come on Quibble. I promise you that this isn’t place isn’t nearly as safe at night as it is during the day.” She led him to an inn. “We can spend the night here. It’ll take them a while to get here. Besides there isn’t a reason for us to hurry right now.”
The inn was well lit by several burning lamps. The room was filled with several shady ponies looked up from the bar at the two of them. “Daring Do. My old friend how good to see you. And look at that you brought somepony here. I assure you good sir you couldn’t have picked a better place to honeymoon.”
“I’m not.”
“We’re not.”
The two of them stammered as the inn keeper laughed. Throwing his hooves around Daring. He smiled and looked over at Quibble. “You caught a beautiful mare. Come now to the honeymoon suite.” He led the two of them into the inn. “It has a great view of the stars.”
“Right of course, come on Quibbs dearest we need to get to the honeymoon suit I so want to see the stars.” Daring hurried keeping pace with the slightly chubby innkeeper. Quibble quickly understood what was going on and followed the two of them out of the greeting area and into a room behind the his counter.
“Daring They were looking for you. I told them that you weren’t here. I don’t know if they’re still here.” The inn keeper looked at Daring with concern. “He was with them.”
“I know. I’m he’s not the least of my troubles.” She looked over at Quibble. “Can the two of us stay here tonight, in the secret room?”
“Of course my old friend this way, this way.” He opened a hidden passage in the wall. “I’ve even added an escape tunnel under the bed.” Daring nodded her thanks and headed into the room. Quibble followed her. The inn keeper lit one of the lambs and then shut the wall behind him.
“Come on Quibble sit lets get some sleep.” She pats the bed next to him. He crawls into bed next to her. “We can consider these the test run for our honeymoon.” She starts laughing as he Quibble starts freaking out. “Seriously though we need to get up early tomorrow.”
The sun was hot over the desert sands of southern Equestria. The two ponies made there way across the desert one a little more whiny than the other. "Why do we have to trot our way across the desert again?" Quibble asked for the thirteenth time that morning. He wiped his hoof across his forehead he flung off the sweat.
"The reason Quibble is because we can't allow Ahuizotl or Mtu Mbaya to have a fully functional Staff of Storms," Daring answers. "If either of them gets the staff the world could be in danger, and if they already have the emerald then I have no doubt that they also have the sapphire." Daring flew in front of Quibble. "So the two of us need to get to the pyramid before either of them can activate the staff."
"Do you think that the two of us will be able to do that?"
"Quibble, trust me, I can beat the two of them in my sleep. Having you along will just be icing on the cake."
"So, is this going to be a book?" Quibble asked, "Because I have a couple of ideas for the story. I know I've pitched this idea to you several times, but I think that if you do it right it would be really good." Daring rolled her eyes, and speed up. "Hey wait. Come on Daring." Quibble chased after the Pegasus. "We should conserve our energy."
"Come on Quibster, no we don't we're all most there the pyramid should become visible once we get to the top of this next dune. We'll have the staff and be headed back up the river before those guys even know what happened."
"Well, there's two problems with that plan Daring," A familiar voice called. "First we're already here. And second I'm a mare, not a guy!" Faint dived down on the two of them. "So what do you have to say about that?"
"I think you're an idiot and an amateur." Daring flew up to meet her, only to be tackled by Daithi before she could make contact. She kicked the griffon off of her just in time to be rammed into by the younger pegasus.
"Come on Daring you're not looking good in front of your stupid coltfriend." Faint Step taunted as she threw the pegasus into the dirt. "Aw did Dary do get hurt." She laughed.
"First of Quibble isn't stupid." Daring took the ground charging Faint. "Second I can take anything you can throw at me, runt." Quibble charged into the fray trying to keep the griffon on the ground to no prevail. Faint dodged Daring as the two of them continued their aerial showdown. The griffon threw Quibble off of him and took of into the air to aid in capturing the pegasus.
"Owe, you and me little guy," The brown stallion from the boat stood in front of Quibble. "Let's see those fancy little karate moves of your's silly little colt!" Quibble got ready for round two against the stallion. "Come on then," Quibble charged. The earth pony stallion threw a jab. Quibble ducked under it and grabbed him throwing the two of them down the dune. "You got better..." He said throwing Quibble off of him. "Not by much but still better."
"What is it with you guys don't you know the bad guys never win?"
"I'm payed by the hour, not the job, mate," Skullbane stood at the top of the dune his horn started to glow. Wrapping Daring in his magic as Faint and Daithi grabbed the pagasus and slammed her back down into the desert sand. "Besides it seems to me like we just won. Sorry mate, but I'm gonna have to knock you out now," Quibble's eyes went wide as the stallion's hoof caught him square in the face. He fell back into the sand. "I thought it would be harder than that..." He said walking away. The others already tying Daring's wings down.
"Quibble, you jerks are going to pay for this." Daring kept fighting as the pulled toward the pyramid.
"Oh shut it the bosses just want you. Your dumb coltfriend's fine you should be more concerned about yourself Daring, darling." Faint taunted as she pulled Daring away.
"Don't even see what you see in 'em he ain't exactly stud material," Quibble tried to get to his hooves to no avail. "Stubborn though. You three go on ahead. I don't feel right leaving him conscious like this. A true fight ain't over till somepony's lying flat out on their back."
"Fine just remember we're playing poker while the bosses do their monologue."
"Aye, Aye I know just deal me in it shouldn't be to hard to deal with this colt." The three of them lead Daring away to the pyramid while the brown earth pony stallion went down to finish his fight with Quibble.
Quibble swallowed nervously as Skullbane approached. He held up his hooves nervously, as Skullbane pulled out a knife.
“Oh, you gotta be kidding me. You’re- you’re kidding me right?” Skullbane asked, a mix derision and amusement in his tone. “You’re seriously going to try and fight me with your pathetic karate moves? Oh, don’t make me laugh!”
Quibble ducked below to avoid a slash from the small knife, hearing the swishing of the air as the knife cut through it like it was butter. Suddenly, he had an idea.
“Right, this isn’t going to be too big on dignity and a complete rip-off of that Marevel movie I saw once with those space crooks, but…” Quibble thought, before he began shuffling his hooves and broke out into a dance routine as music suddenly began to play in the background, coming from out of nowhere it seemed. Once again, Equus’s natural magic was in play. For whatever reason, whenever someone started to sing, music that somehow fit the song played along with it even if there were no instruments around.
“We've just got the day to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do
“We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to ignite the lights!
“Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail!”
“What the…” Skullbane trailed off.
“It’s a dance-off, you dimwit! Come on, seriously, don’t tell me you’ve don’t got the guts, and you can’t hear that beat a-poundin in your head?” Quibble asked.
“Er…” Skull trailed off, completely bewildered, and at a loss at what to do.
“Here, lemme help you!” Quibble replied before he continued.“So what you didn't get it right the first time?
Laugh it off, no one said it is a crime
Do your thing, you know you're an original
Your ideas are so funny that they're criminal!
By this point, Skullbane actually began tapping his hooves to the beat as Quibble actually broke off into a moonwalk and muttered: “Subtle, take it back! Oh yeah…”
“Ohhh-ahh!
We've just got the day to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
“So let's think of something fun to do
We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to ignite the lights!
“Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
“Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight!”
To his own surprise, Skullbane found himself clapping his hooves to Quibble’s singing and dance routine, dropping his knife to the sand, before next thing he knew, sand was kicked in his face, and as his eyes burned and he screamed out in rage, two hooves collided with his face, knocking him unconscious.
“Idiot…” Quibble muttered before he swallowed, mustering up his courage and looked towards the pyramid rising high into the distance. “Right… Time to rescue Daring. ...Sweet Celestia almighty, what am I thinking? I’m not a hero, just a nerd, and someone who’s only experience at helping people was one adventure with Daring and Rainbow, and my job as a salespony in a comic book shop!”
Then, he thought back to his conversation with Daring on Mtu’s steamboat…
“Okay, yeah, I admit, it has come up a few times in my thoughts. Just never really went through the plan. Stead, I’m stuck with a mediocre job at a comic shop in Manehatten...” he sighed.
“Can’t see how that of all things would be dull,” Daring replied, with a hint of surprise in her tone. “I mean, at least you’d have comics to read right?”
“Yeah, but hardly anyone comes into the shop as we only sell works of up and comers that nobody could give a damn about, and I get stuck with low pay to boot,” Quibble grumbled bitterly. “That’s why I revel in your books, and coming to conventions and writing fanfiction about your books. They offer me some sort of…”
“Escape?” Daring asked sympathetically. “Give it time Quibble, something good will come up for you, I know it. You’ve got a talent for writing, and you love history. So, you could do something that may one day earn you fame and fortune.”
“Yeah, I suppose I could…” Quibble smiled. “Thanks, Daring,”
“Anytime.” Daring winked…
Quibble’s resolve reaffirmed itself.
“She… she was one of the first ponies to actually ever show me any sort of kindness, and support, not mocking me for my nerdy habits like so many others have in the past… And for that alone, I’ve got to help her!” Quibble thought, as his heart began to beat a little faster, and he -To his own surprise- began to have images of him not just talking with Daring, but joining her on his adventures, and then at the end of one such adventure, being grabbed by Daring’s whip and pulled into a passionate kiss as the sun set behind them. A flash graced his cheeks at this, and he felt his lips, wondering how Daring’s own might feel on them. He shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts. No time for them now, and besides, what would Daring want with a lowly comic book salespony from Manehatten like himself when she could have far better mares or stallions to date? But all the same, he couldn’t leave her hanging in the dust.
His eyes fixed themselves to the pyramid beyond.
“Stay strong Daring, I’m coming to help you.” he thought, his eyes narrowing as he broke off into a sprint.
The Pyramid of the Storm/Setekh’s Domain
“You know Ahuizotl, as much as I love you…” Daring commented, hanging precariously by her back legs upside down over a pit of boiling hot lava. Her arch nemesis stood by, laughing all the while. “This really isn’t my sorta thing. Seriously, find some other mare… Really, it’d bring a whole lotta stress off my shoulders.”
“Ah, but Daring, you and I are-”
“Two parts of a whole or some other such crap?” Daring asked. “Yeah, heard that one before. Heck, even said it myself to my last coltfriend.”
Nearby, unknown to anyone, was Quibble creeping into the room. He’d winced at the hieroglyphs on the wall, each depicting a jackal-like creature doing horrific and unspeakable things to unsuspecting ponies. He knew the legend of course, Set, the god of chaos and storms, who ruled over this land until he was defeated by the pony Somnambula. His eyes widened as he then saw Ahuizotl take Daithi’s emerald from his neck, and combine it with the other three gemstones needed for the Staff of Storms’ creation. The gems swirled around in midair, and as this happened, the griffon seemed to gain a lick of common sense.
“Actually, you know what, I’m out of here. We all know how this goes. Daring Do beats us, and we end up with huge hospital bills… again. Well, not this time! I quit!” the snowy white griffon snapped, putting his hoof down and marching off.
“Ah, I never needed his help anyways…” Ahuizotl muttered before he turned his attentions back to Daring before a shout rang out as the gems glowed with a nearly blinding flash and formed a black staff, tipped off with a light blue gem that fell into Ahuizotl’s grip.
“Hey, boss, we’ve got an intruder!” Faint Steps shouted, pointing to Quibble, and all eyes now turned to him.
“Yes, I knew he’d come!” Daring mentally cheered.
“Well, look what we have here. An idiot, and his band of oafs.” Quibble said in a way he thought sounded heroic, though in reality coming out of his mouth, it sounded more like a squeak.
“Why would you ever want to save this world, you oaf? What has it ever done for you, you big fat idiot!” Faint Steps snapped, quite tired of this pony/Daring Do wannabe by now.
“Because, I’m one of the idiots who live on this world, that’s why!” Quibble retorted, turning Faint Step’s insult back on it’s head. “...Plus, I’ve got a nine-to-five job, that for the record, I really despise and brings low pay but it does bring others joy when I sell them the rare or obscure comic -No matter how bad it may be- they’ve been looking for practically forever!” Quibble said, almost sounding rather proud of himself. Daring, despite her position, actually smirked.
“Yeah, you tell her Quibster!” Daring said to herself, as she continued trying to undo her bindings. Ahuizotl meanwhile, smacked Mtu into a wall with one of his paws.
“Sorry, but your usefulness has ended. You brought me the jewels I needed, and so you’re no longer required…” Ahuizotl sneered, as Mtu gaped at him.
“W-Why?” he stammered out.
“Get with the program! I used you! It's kind of what I do…” Ahuizotl chuckled darkly as Mtu stared at him in shock, with Ahuizotl’s tail now gripping the now completed Staff of Storms. “Or, have you not read about me? Kinda in the evil supervillain memo to use their henchmen!” he laughed. “With this staff, I’m going to go for Equestria, and take all of the Princesses’ powers for myself, and put myself on the throne. Hmm, maybe I should have it in gilded gold…” he mused.
“Yeah, sorry, not going to let that happen,” Daring smirked, as Ahuizotl stared at her in shock before laughing once more.
“And how are you going to do that? I mean, here you are, tied up and I have the staff!”
“You know Ahuizotl, for a giant… well, I’m never quite sure what you are, but you’re really stupid at times you know that? It’s kinda cute actually…” Daring sneered.
At that, Ahuizotl flew into a rage.
“I don't like cute! I never did like cute! Doesn't really go with my whole ‘big bad powerful magic guy’ thing, does it?! Deliver the punchline, Daring Do, because this has gotta be a joke!” Ahuizotl snapped, and Daring simply smirked. Even dangling over a pit of lava, she still could get her archenemy’s goat.
“Oh, there’s a punchline, alright… And you’re about to feel it!” Daring laughed, as her bonds fell away, and before she could fall into the pit of broiling hot and bubbling lava below, her hoof reached for her whip, and she used to grab onto a part of the ceiling, and swing towards Ahuizotl punching him hard in the face before she landed on the ground, smirking.
“That was… awesome!” Quibble nearly squeed out.
“Only way I know how to do things,” Daring responded cockily, tossing him an almost flirtatious wink. Quibble actually blushed at that. He then regained his senses, and shocking even himself, ran towards Ahuizotl.
“This… This is a joke right? You’re not actually serious…” Ahuizotl stared as he saw Quibble gallop towards him, a determined look on his face. This time, he was going to be the hero. And then Quibble leaped, and before anyone could have the time to react, snatched the Staff of Storms right from Ahuizotl’s hand, before he tossed it aside into a darkened corridor.
As Ahuizotl let out a roar of rage, and Daring shouted “Come on Quibster, let’s beat it!”, Mtu made a bold move and ran for the staff, grabbing it and running down a corridor never to be seen again. Daring and Quibble meanwhile, made their own break for it down another corridor and out into the welcoming sunlight, evening just beginning to fall over the desert sands.
Behind them, they could hear Ahuizotl’s roars of rage.
“That… That was pretty awesome, I have to say.” Quibble panted out. “Oh… I think I’m going to faint! I took on Ahuizotl!”
“Yeah, it kinda was… for a nerd and a nigh unpleasable fan,” Daring joked, and Quibble chuckled. Supposed he deserved that one, really. “And you know what?” Daring asked, with the sun setting behind them.
“No, what?” Quibble asked.
“I’ve… I’ve been… having... Gah, why does this have to be so hard!?!” Daring groaned out in frustration, unable to even get the words out. She honestly wanted to scream, really.
“What is?” Quibble asked.
“Maybe this will answer things...” Daring replied seductively, before she lashed out with her whip once more, grabbed Quibble by a foreleg and pulled him into a passionate kiss, Quibble’s eyes widening before they closed as he melted into it.
“Wow…” Quibble whispered, as he was released.
“Oh, and Quibble?” Daring asked as she pulled away from the kiss.
“Yeah…?” Quibble asked in a dazed, dreamy fashion, eyes half closed. He looked as if he was about to fall over, honestly.
“Call me A.K.” Daring smirked.
Quibble’s eyes shot wide open at that as the gears began turning in his head, before they finally clicked into place upon this revelation. He sputtered out a few incoherent words, before at last:
“Wait…. WHHHHHHHHHHHAAAATTTTT!?!”
Mtu, on the other hoof, eventually found himself, Staff of Storms in his mouth far away from Equestria, in lands long forgotten by time. The lands known as Abyssinia. He continued running over muddy ground as a storm raged and rain pounded away at his fur, until he found himself right in front of a massive satyr-like creature, with dark gray fur, (No, armor he realized) and white facial features.
“And who are you… little Zebra?” the creature asked in an inquisitive tone, yet intimidating in nature making Mtu shiver and not from the cold rain.
“Mtu’s the name, and… And I’m a former servant of the conqueror Ahuizotl.”
“Friend of yours?” the massive monstrosity asked.
“Hardly… He used me. He doesn’t know anything about friendship…” Mtu muttered, and at this, the creature laughed.
“Good on him! Friendship is a weakness. A liability. Friends distract you. Make you weak. Friends can betray you, make you forget your goals. I havesoldiers, commanders, workers—but no friends. Which means nobody will ask me to sacrifice my ambitions. My goals are my own. Even you, my right-hand creature! Even you are not a friend. You are an agent of my will. You serve me not out of some misguided sentimentality or imagined camaraderie... but because you know I will win, in the end.”
“R-Right hand?” Mtu stuttered out in surprise.
“Yes, after all… You did bring me the fabled Staff of Storms, and believe me, I’ve been looking for that for a very long while indeed…” the creature said, leaning down to Mtu’s height.
“W-Who are you?” Mtu asked.
And at that, the creature smirked as he took the Staff of Storms from Mtu, and thunder cracked in the background, and lightning flashed illuminating the ruins of a once great kingdom as massive airships emerged from the broiling clouds. Mtu found himself in a mix of awe and fear.
“Just call me, the Storm King. You in, or are you out?” he said, laughing long and hard as he raised his staff skywards, before placing a finger on his chin. “Ooh, hey, that's good. I should trademark that…”
And then, Mtu bowed. “Yes… my King.”
