Cadence's Crackship Collection

Deep in the Everfree Forest, where few would dare tread alone, lived a zebra in a rather extravagant tree hut. It was such a lively and dangerous environment, and yet inside the tree, Zecora was laying in bed, lonely and bored out of her mind.

A low, dissatisfied hum left her lips as her focus hadn’t left the ceiling for what may have been hours at this point.

Last time that Twilight Sparkle had visited, the princess made a passing remark that every time the two crossed paths, the zebra was either brewing a potion or at least preparing to do so.

It was something that evidently struck a nerve with Zecora. She had more aspirations than just potion making and ingredient gathering for potion making.

She just wished she currently had the drive to do any of them right now.

She went back to staring at the ceiling. Perhaps there was some merit in doing nothing for the rest of the day…

Before the boredom and loneliness set in again, she heard a knocking sound.

Zecora yawned and rolled out of bed, trudging towards the door, wondering who would be paying her a visit.

When she opened up, she immediately regretted taking her sweet time.

At her entrance was Daring Do, looking absolutely worn down. Her clothes had rips and holes and burns and bloodstains Zecora only hoped weren’t of hers, her hat was riddled with arrow holes and caked with mud. And though her clothes were damaged, her physical body was in even worse shape. Whatever part of her wasn’t wrapped up in gauze had some sort of scratch or bruise otherwise. Her wing was hastily wrapped up at her side, her trembling hooves were scuffed and scraped, there were dark markings under her eyes that were either the result of an injury, lack of sleep, or both.

“Hey…I’m back…” Daring weakly said with a smile that was missing a tooth and a wave that was clearly hurting her to do.

Zecora’s jaw dropped in absolute horror. “By the stars! Miss Daring Do! What in Equestria HAPPENED to you?!”

“Oh, you know…the usual dungeon adventure…heh heh-ow…” Daring Do let out a dry laugh followed by a wince as she hunched over from the pain.

“This hardly seems like your usual quest!” Zecora started out angry, but calmed herself with a deep breath. “No, not the time. You need your rest.”

Zecora helped Daring Do over to her bed, gently laying her down while trying not to agitate any of the bruises.

“T-Thanks, I’ll just be a…minute…” Daring leaned her head against the pillow, and was out cold in no time.

Zecora frowned as she looked down at Daring, examining all the injuries she sustained.

She went to her cauldron and started up the fire, it was time to make a lot of brews.

As her cauldron heated up, she gingerly opened up Daring’s shirt to see the extent of all the injuries. She needed to make sure to not accidentally move anything that was bruised or might be broken, and Daring desperately needed the sleep. She had no idea how long the pegasus might be unconscious, but as long as she woke up eventually, that’s all she needed.

With a groggy groan, Daring Do eventually opened her eyes. “Rrgh…ah…! Ow! Ow ow ow ow…!” She tried to sit up, but the pain forced her back down.

Zecora’s ears perked up as she was stirring her cauldron. “Ah, it appears you’re finally awake. Do not move, for your own sake.” Though her words seemed stern, internally, Zecora let out a huge sigh of relief.

With what little movements that didn’t cause her pain, Daring looked around. Her clothes had been removed, all her wrappings were replaced with new bandages, and her body was covered with a cooling, funky-smelling salve. Everything still felt painfully sore, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was before she came to Zecora’s.

Zecora walked over to the bed, giving Daring a vial filled with pink liquid. “For your missing tooth, take this drink, it’ll be repaired for you in a blink.”

Through the pain, Daring brought the vial to her lips and chugged it down, gagging at the taste.Bit within seconds Daring could feel a brand new tooth growing to full size right from the gums.

Daring ran her tongue across her newly regrown tooth, it was almost like she never lost it. “Heh, neat!”

“Now that you’re finally awake, there’s many more potions for you to take.” Zecora gave the bedridden pegasus a tray full of potions of different colors. “Soon the aches and pains will stop, once you finish every last drop.”

“Thanks, Zecora, what would I do without you?” Daring got started with the potions, downing them one at a time, though she shuddered as each one went down her throat. But with each one she drank, she could feel the excruciating pain dull a little bit.

Zecora let out a heavy sigh. “You need to be a more careful mare, your wounds gave me a terrible scare!”

Daring let out a short laugh. “Hah! I’ve been through worse.”

“I’m quite aware, Miss Daring Do. I’ve had to mend those injuries, too!” Zecora’s tone got stern again as she held up a silver necklace adorned with rubies and sapphires, the latest bounty from Daring’s adventure. “And all this for one little necklace! Why do you insist on being so reckless?!”

“Cause I know that no matter how bad things get, I know you’ll be here to make it all better again,” Daring smiled as much as she could through the pain.

“And if I weren’t home today? You’d be passed out at my doorway!”

Daring’s smirk quickly faded. “Yeah, but-”

Zecora’s voice started to waver with frustration. “I would never stop you from your quests. But the more you’re hurt, the more I’m stressed!”

“Zecora, I-”

“As I continue to be your nurse, your injuries get worse and worse!” Zecora stamped her front hooves on the ground, tears welling in her eyes. “At this rate, you might never return! Is your safety really of no concern?”

“Zecora…No, y-you’re right.” Daring tilted her head down in shame. “I’ve been getting a lot more reckless on my adventures, and it’s not fair to you that I make you worry so much. I…I’m sorry.”

Zecora blinked as the tears fell down her cheeks. She tried to calm herself down, but her breathing was still heavy. Her mind was still racing with possibilities, timelines where she went out to town today, or something more grievous happened to Daring Do, all with the same conclusion that she wasn’t around to save her.

Daring took a deep breath as she downed another potion. “Ugh…Yeah, my latest outings have been getting more dangerous, and I may have been…taking more risks than usual, but it’s because of you that I’m able to pull off more risky stunts.”

Zecora was taken aback. “Have you had a head collision? How do I make you make rash decisions?”

Daring smiled sheepishly. “Well, like I said before, you’re able to make things all better again no matter how bad things get. Like, say an arrow clips my wing. If it was just me on my own, I wouldn’t be able to fly for a week, but you’re able to get me back in the skies in a couple days. I’m able to get back into exploring much faster because I know you’ll be there to patch me up. You’re my strength, Zecora.”

Zecora’s expression started to soften and her heart started to swell.

“Plus, knowing you’ll be able to fix me up means I can make riskier moves against the bad guys and finish my adventure quicker. It’s a better story for my books, and I get to come home faster to a lovely zebra who’ll take care of me for however long it’ll take until I’m better again.”

There was a small blush showing on Zecora’s cheeks, but she still furrowed her brows with concern. “But what good would it do to see you torn to shreds? I’d rather you spend time here instead!”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing right now? Spending time together?” Daring smirked. “I mean…I really like having you take care of me. All these potions you mix up are like miracles, and I can feel the love you put into making them. Having you near, making sure I’m comfortable sure beats being all alone trying to wrap my own bandages. I just…like knowing I have a place to go to now, where someone will care for me.”

Zecora finally allowed herself to smile a bit. “...While I am glad to help you recover, there’s much more I’d rather do as your lover. Toiling and worrying about your fate is not my ideal choice for a date.”

“Heh, point taken. If you’re that concerned about my safety, you could always tag along on my adventures,” Daring Do suggested. “You wouldn’t be so worried about me if you could heal me the moment I got hurt, right?”

It sounded like a reasonable proposal, but Zecora still shook her head. “I lack your athletics and agility. If I got hurt, who’d take care of me?”

Daring sheepishly looked off to the side. “Mmh, got me there…”

Zecora gently put a hoof under Daring’s chin. “I know where you go, danger is abound, but can you try to come home safe and sound?”

Daring nodded. “Next outing, I’ll try my best to come home unscathed, I promise. For you.”

Zecora smiled and leaned forward, bumping her forehead against Daring’s. “A bit of caution is all I ask…” She nudged the tray of potions towards the mare. “Now finish up the rest of your flask.”

With an almost childish pout, Daring brought the next potion bottle to her lips, grimacing as it went down. “Eugh, can’t you figure out a way to make your potions taste sweeter while I’m away?”

“When you come home safe and not defaced, then I’ll consider improving the taste,” Zecora winked.

“Aw, c’mon, that defeats the whole purpose!”

The two shared a laugh. After exchanging a few warm smiles, Zecora held up the necklace from Daring’s adventure again.

“It’s a real beaut, huh?” Daring smiled, proudly nodding her head.

“I admit that I admire it, how’d you manage to acquire it?”

“Well, it wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. Turns out, once I got to the town, it was already stolen! I thought it was the work of one of my usual suspects, but turns out, it was a local smuggling ring! I wanted to know more so I could try and get it without causing a huge disruption, but if I just asked around, I’d be inviting more suspicion on myself, so…”

Daring started to recount the tale of her adventure from the beginning, detailing the members of her journey, the town she visited and its locals by their names and faces, the nearby flora and fauna, the smuggling ring members, and how she got each injury that Zecora helped to heal.

To Zecora, it was fascinating that she could remember everything in such detail, though it wasn’t surprising, she had to write it all down to publish it later after all. Zecora listened intently, but she saw the stars twinkling in Daring’s eyes as she recounted her adventure, so passionate that she seemed to forget about all the pain, so beautiful when she was happy.

“Wasn’t easy, but I still managed to slip away with it all the way back to Ponyville,” Daring smirked, twirling the necklace around her hoof.

“Your storytelling is always stellar. I’m sure it’ll be another best seller,” Zecora smiled.

“After what I’ve been through, I hope so!” Daring laughed.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the pegasus sheepishly tapped her hooves together. “So…I still have to write for my book, but…what if I took a month off so I can stay by your side?”

Zecora’s eyes widened. “That’s quite the hiatus for you to take. What would we do on a month-long break?”

“Well, we could travel to anywhere in Equestria or beyond, or we could just stay here. Whatever you want, and I promise I’ll be by your side for all of it.”

Zecora softly chuckled. “Daring Do, you have a deal. I’d love to take you out for a meal.”

“Hah, it’s the least I can do, gotta show that I love you too.”

Zecora put her hooves on the mattress. “But for now, I have a mare, who’s in dire need of my loving care.”

Before Daring Do knew it, Zecora was peppering her neck and cheeks with kisses. “Ack! H-Hey!” she giggled.

Zecora pulled the sheets down. “You may be in athletic shape, but this is one trap you can’t escape! And now that I have you caught, I won’t stop until I’ve kissed every injured spot!”

Daring’s winced or flinched with each kiss as Zecora went all over her body, though she wasn’t protesting at all. All the potions and salve that Zecora whipped up already did enough to lessen the pain, which was what helped allow all of this to happen in the first place. But it was fun to imagine that the zebra’s kisses also had magical healing properties.

Despite all her prior frustrations, this form of bedside care was something Zecora always looked forward to whenever Daring Do came back from her adventures. It was like making up for weeks or months of her absence, and to finally have the mare all to herself, with no way to escape all the love she wanted to give her.

Daring Do felt her cheeks burn up with blush as she felt Zecora’s lips on her chest, her hooves, and her belly. Her entire body still felt aches and stiffness, but with Zecora tenderly kissing her, she felt like she could fly for miles.

Zecora moved back up, firmly planting the last kiss on Daring’s lips. Both mares closed their eyes as Daring sank back onto the pillow. Daring wrapped her hooves around Zecora’s neck, but Zecora made sure that she didn’t accidentally lay down on top of her.

After breaking off the kiss, Daring Do looked lovingly into Zecora’s eyes. “Heh, what would I do without you, love?”

“I’m grateful I have you to adore.” Zecora tenderly stroked Daring’s cheek with her hoof. “Now pucker up and kiss me once more!”