Traitors, Adventures, and Pirates

Poppy woke up the next morning to freezing cold. She felt her body shivering from head to hoof. Looking around through her still gorgy morning vision, she found that the fire had gone out sometime during the night, Poppy also noticed that Daring was gone. Poppy figured that Daring must have got up before her and had gone out to get more firewood and after about thirty minutes Daring reappeared with two wings full of firewood. With the new firewood it was not long before the two were enjoying the crackling of the fire again.

Poppy insisted that they could not leave the crew of the Crystal Palace in the hooves of the pirates. The problem was they weren't exactly armed to take on a whole fortress of pirates. Daring had her lasso and a revolver. Poppy unfortunately only had her sword after losing her own revolver. The two ponies talked through the afternoon trying to formulate a plan. They decided that the best course of action was to go on a scouting mission. They both knew that the information Poppy had gathered during the first rescue attempt was worthless. The captain would have undoubtably changed the positions and rotation of the guards. The plan they came up with would have Poppy carried by Daring Do fly just above the juggle before dropping her inside the fortress walls. Daring would then take off to scout from the air while covering Poppy as she watched the guard's movements from within the fortress's walls. When it came to escaping Poppy planned on jumping from the fortress walls again knowing that she could make the leap. Every part of their plan required stealth. If either of them was to be seen, then the captain would just change the rotation of the guards again. The two would wait till night fall to set off so for now they continued to refine their plans.

As the sun set below the beyond the horizon Poppy totted back into the cave. She had been out foraging for some specific plants. The plants she had recovered were called nightshades. Daring watched as Poppy used one of pans in her survival kit and a rock to help her grind the leaves of the plants into a kind of paste.

“What are you doing?” Daring asked.

“I am grinding up nightshade leaves to use in a tea that will help us sea in the dark.” Poppy answered.

“Did you say nightshade? As in the plant that if you eat it will cause instant death. That nightshade.”

“Yes, that nightshade. I am surprised that my cutie mark did not give you a hint that I am good with plants. And in this case, I learned this trick in practice when I was working with a bat pony awhile back.”

Poppy added some water from Daring's canteen to the ground up leaves before placing the whole thing over the fire. The water was soon boiling. Poppy stirred the mixture for a few moments before pouring a little of the mixture into two bowls, one for each of them.

“Are you sure it's safe to drink?” Daring asked poking at the steaming bowl with her hoof.

Poppy nodded her head that it was safe before gesturing to drink it. Daring picked up the bowl, bringing it up to her nose. She took a sniff and was surprised to find it smelled good. With the smell check complete Daring brought the bowl to her lips. With one last look of encouragement from Poppy Daring took a large swig from the bowl. When nothing bad happened, Daring finished off her serving. Daring looked over to find Poppy staring at her with a big smile on her face.

“What?” Daring asked.

“You'll see.” Came Poppy answered.

After a moment Daring felt something odd. The feeling of warmth started in her stomach. The feeling was pleasant and soon she began to feel flush. The heat made her feel uncomfortable and before long the feeling of pleasure was replaced with a burning sensation. With the burning continuing to grow Daring grabbed her canteen and drank the whole thing down in a few gulps. Daring could feel the cold fresh water running down her throat cooling her off. Finally, the heat was gone, and Daring felt like herself again. Daring looked over at Poppy who was sitting on the log by the fire slowly sipping her own tea. Looking at Poppy Daring noticed that Poppy looked much more colorful in the dim light of the fire. Daring looked around noticing that as promised her vision had changed and she could now see the dark edges of the cave. Feeling better, Daring sat backdown beside Poppy waiting for her to feel ill from drinking her own nightshade tea. When nothing happened, Daring looked a little put out. Not so much for Poppy not feeling ill but because she had.

Poppy could feel Daring staring at her.

“I can feel you staring.” Poppy said.

“I am staring at you wondering why you did not warn me about the tea.” Poppy laughed.

“Well, if I had told you would not have drunk it.” She said.

Daring had to emit that she would not have. The unpleasantness was still fresh in her mind and the feeling of heat filling her up made her flush again.

“So.” She asked.

“Why didn’t you get sick?”

Poppy looked down at her mug swirling the contents around a few times.

“I spent a lot of time with a thestral mare named Blood Moon. She was the one who showed me how to make the tea and I guess at this point I am just use to the unpleasant feelings it creates.”

The adventurer could tell there was more to the story but by the way Poppy continued to stare at her empty bowl she decided not to press for more.
Daring snuffed out the fire by throwing sand over it. This startled Poppy from her thoughts. Looking around Poppy realized that the sun was beginning to go down and they needed to get moving. Stepping out of the cave the two ponies looked up into the rapidly darkening sky. The moon was only a sliver in the sky, hopefully this would help conceal their flight over the jungle. Turning to face Daring, Poppy found Daring looking back at her. The pegasus was crouching close to the ground. Poppy walked over to Daring before carefully climbing onto her back. Daring groaned a little under her weight but soon straightened up. Poppy held on tightly as Daring kept their altitude just above tree level. Poppy closed her eyes feeling the wind whip her mane as Daring sped through the sky. Poppy listened to Darings breathing as she flapped her wings increasing her speed with each flap.

The fortress rapidly came into view. Its menacing black walls absorbing what little moonlight that shone down on its surface A few hundred yards short of the fortress Daring slowed her flight. The two ponies looked for a clearing for her to land in. When they found a spot Daring dove down coming up just short of the ground. With a final flap of her wings, they landed. The next few hundred yards the two would have to walk on hoof. Daring took the lead as they trotted through the jungle. The small pegasus easily made it through the jungle's vegetation.

Daring could sense Poppy staring at her. Looking back over her shoulder she noticed Poppy eyes glued to her flank. A flash of crimson spread across her muzzle at seeing Poppy nearly trip over a root from staring at her rather than paying attention to where she was walking. Daring snickered at Poppy whose eyes met Darings for a second before quickly looking away.

“I noticed you taking in the view.” Daring said laughing just a bit.

“Well, the views on this island are spectacular.” Poppy said with a smirk.
The banter between the two did not last along as the black stone walls of the pirate fortress began to rise in front of them. Finding a thick spot of brush, the two stopped and knelt down both scanning the perimeter wall for any guards. The wall had several guards positioned at regular intervals. It appeared that Captain Compass had not beefed up security like Poppy had thought, she figured this was probably because he did not think she would come back alone. The two ponies turned to each other, Poppy mouthed stay safe. Daring nodded before she took to the air above the fortress. Poppy watched as Daring hovered high above the ground searching for anyway in that they could exploit.

Poppy continued to wait her heartbeats quicken every time a guard walked under where Daring was hovering. After what seemed like an eternity to Poppy Daring finally landed back by her side. Speaking in a hushed voice Daring explained that she found a place that was secluded inside the fortress walls where she could drop her off.
Poppy nodded her acknowledgement.

Daring lowered herself again to allow Poppy to get back on her back again. With a few beats of her wings the two ponies were over the wall before Daring landed near some metal drums. On the ground Poppy quickly scrambled off Daring taking up a position behind the drums. Daring took off again into the night again leaving Poppy all alone inside the fortress walls. For the next few hours Poppy sat only moving on occasion to a different vantage point. She sat and watched as the guards moved about the fortress walls. Poppy watched each of the guard's movements trying to find a hole in their patrols. All this time Daring had been watching from above. With the sun just about to peak over the horizon it was time for Poppy to signal Daring to pick her up. With the help of her night vision Daring was able to easily see Poppy when she began to wave her hoof in the air to signal her. Daring landed next to Poppy the two exchanged a few brief words before Poppy once again got on Darings back.

Once the two had settled back into the quiet of their hideout and the fire was lit they began to share what they had seen. Poppy used a stick to draw out a map of the routes of the guards before long a picture started to take shape. The pirates had for the most part covered every inch of the parameter with guards but as a flaw in their patterns became obvious. The flaw happened when the guards would walk by each other there would not be a short moment where a portion of the wall was not watched. The hole was large enough that the two could land on the wall without being seen. They figured that they would have enough time then to gain access to the guard tower that Poppy had used the day before to gain access to the fortress grounds. The other thing they had discovered during Daring's reconnaissance was that the pirates had no ponies in the sky. With the information they had they fine-tuned their plans. They still did not know where the pirates had everyone stashed but they figured that they had to be in the main structure. With their plan worked out the two decided to get some shut eye.

It was hard for Poppy to find sleep that night. The two had decided not to take a chance lighting a fire so the cave had become frigid. Poppy's mind was especially hard pressed to find sleep as she tossed and turned on the hard damp floor of the cave. The two mares had decided to share their only blanket, but it provided little warmth. Daring seemed to take notice of the shivering mare next to her inching closer she unfurled one of her golden wings and draped it over Poppy body. Poppy tensed at the contact for a moment. The horrible memory of Contrails death flashed through her mind. Poppy still felt the wound at what had happened, but it was cold, and freezing would not help anyone so instead of pulling away from Daring Poppy leaned into it letting the warmth help warm her. When Daring felt Poppy wiggle a little closer after draping her wing Daring decided to pull Poppy even closer, their chests now pressing together. A blush started to spread over Poppy's cheeks. The heat of their mingling bodies gave Poppy's heart flutters. They laid together for a while feeling each other's hearts flutter. For a brief second Poppy felt like she was in one of those romance novels her mom would read where the hero and the princess would get intimate when all seemed lost and sure enough Daring made a move towards her pressing their lips together. Startled by Darings sudden forwardness Poppy's mind went blank. Daring's kiss was long and deep. The heat in Poppy's cheeks felt warm. Closing her eyes, she leaned into the kiss showing her affection for the adventurer. Daring's lips tasted sweet as the moment made time stand still with the coldness of the cave long forgotten replaced by their heat. Their kiss only ended as the two mares finally needed to come up for air. Finally pulling away Poppy took a few deep breaths before opening her eyes. When she opened them, she saw Daring, her cheeks were flushed with heat. The kiss had been incredible and not wanting the moment to end Poppy wrapped her forehooves around the back of Darings head pulling her back in for another kiss. While the first one had some hesitation on her part this time Poppy embraced the moment. The kiss continued as Poppy cradled Daring's head with her hooves slowly stroking her mane. The two mares continued kissing and caressing each other, neither wanting the moment to end. It of course had to, both knew they needed to be ready for tomorrow and so with a sign they fell back into each other's embrace and drifted off to sleep.