Chapter Fourteen: Back To The Buisness At Hand

Ascending from the depths of the temple, we heard some noise from above, as though something else was inside the building. Sure enough, when we got to the surface chamber, a number of treasure hunters were in the room. Some were bickering, a few were even fighting, and all of them were confused to some degree about who found this place first, why so many ponies were there, and such. I recognized these ponies. They had been the ones trapped in the time barrier.

"They're alive!" exclaimed Twilight.

"Yeah! They are!" Daring exclaimed, similarly.

"Wow, that was awesome! It was so awesome going on an adventure with you, Daring Do!" Rainbow's excitement and pride had caught up with her. "I can't believe I helped Daring Do!" The palette-swapped pegasus chuckled at the other pegasus' excitement.

"Yes, yes, you helped Daring Do. Can we leave this place now?" Trixie was impatient, and probably sick of this place. After all, one does not stay in one little place for so long without contracting even a mild form of cabin fever.

"Yes, perhaps we should. It's going to get awfully busy around here soon," I said. I was ready to go. Twilight and Rainbow had their fun, and our actual task might be achievable now that Luna had been given some time to search. Yet a bit more pressing was that it was the middle of the night and I hadn't returned home yet.

"Alright, then let's go," Daring instructed.

We managed to slip by the crowds, and back into 'regular' Equestria so we could traverse the forest safely.

"Daring, are you interested in coming with us on our journeys? I know we could use you," Twilight offered. I was, however, against the idea. Having a team of individuals from three separate universes could get complicated, and Daring was one of the more iconic ponies to surround ourselves with should we venture into another Equestria-based universe, and could draw a ton of attention. That, and Rainbow Dash was nearly identical to the pony. They would eventually start competing, and, knowing Rainbow's nature, that could end badly. I always liked having control over a situation, and I thought incorporating both ponies into the same team for any significant period of time would disrupt what control I had over the team. Then it occurred to me; there was no team leader.

"You three sure helped me out a lot, it would've taken me much longer to go through that by myself... I'll have to think about it," the pegasus replied.

"Oh, please-please-please come with us!" Rainbow floated in front of the treasure hunter, making sure she was paying attention to her pleas. From the look on her face, she was getting a little bit annoyed, but still found the other pegasus' disposition amusing.

"I don't think you should come with us, really. I'm just not sure this type of adventure is cut out for you," I said.

"What do you mean, Zach?" Twilight inquired. Of course, I didn't really have a solid point to push, but I couldn't really tell them that two Rainbow Dashes was too many, could I?

"Uh, we're not going to be doing much treasure hunting, we're just going to these universes to save people. You might find it boring."

"Boring? Not a chance! The last universe we went to wasn't boring at all! Sure it was dangerous and not that fun, but it was definitely not boring!" Rainbow had a point, and my counter-point was far weaker.

"But not all human universes are like that, for example, this one, as we see it, came from humans just as Fallout did. We could be going anywhere, and there are pretty boring universes out there to go to."

"It seems clear that Zach doesn't want you around, Daring," Trixie observed.

"Yeah, I think she's right everypony, Zach doesn't want me around. Why is that, Zach?" Daring asked, confused somewhat.

"Well, you're just like Rainbow Dash in so many ways, and I'm afraid you'd compete and that you'd get us in danger, or something. No offense to either of you, of course. I do like you both as individuals." So I spilled the beans. The group had stopped by then on the overgrown trail as the conversation occupied our minds.

"Why are you so worried? This is a serious matter, saving your fellow humans. We don't have time to occupy ourselves with such petty things as competition," Twilight said. That set me off.

"We have the time to occupy ourselves with a fantastical adventure with a fictional treasure hunter, don't we?! Who, exactly, leads this team, anyway?" I was getting angry. I didn't get angry much, but when my sense of control was threatened, I tended to have a short fuse.

"Hey! Standing right here!" Daring said, annoyed. I ignored her.

"Uh, I don't really know, it seems to depend on where we are, doesn't it?" Twilight answered, with some uncertainty.

"In fact, why are you helping me, anyway? You don't have to do that! I didn't ask for your company, Luna assigned you to go with me. I couldn't have done this alone, I admit this readily, but I don't like being in charge of anybody in any way, or bringing them into dangerous situations because they wanted to help me, not at all! I just don't want any one of you to get hurt, and I especially don't want any of you to die! I almost got you, Spike and Rainbow Dash killed by my stupid plan to infiltrate The Master's base! I've gotten an idea of what danger feels like, and I don't like the feeling, not one bit! That's why I don't want Daring to come with us; I don't want one of us to die because of some stupid plan or competition! And no matter what, It'd be my fault!" I burst, laying my feelings bare.

"But your plan worked, Zach, and that entire world is a little bit safer now because of what we did there that day! Remember what you said about the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few? That human, lost out there in some universe somewhere, needs our help, and the people of that universe might, too! We're helping you because you helped us, not to mention that you're our friend, in fact, this entire universe owes their very existence to you, Zach! I've led the Elements of Harmony through hardships before, and I know how you feel, and from that I know that you can't let this stop you from achieving your goals," Twilight said, in her lecturing tone. The unicorn's words were very reassuring, and made a lot of sense, like everything else she'd said.

"You're... Absolutely right, Twilight, I can't let that get in the way. But I must insist. Daring, Trixie, you should go back to your universe, that's where you belong. There are plenty of tombs and temples still waiting for you to explore them, Daring, and Trixie, you're good enough to traverse that entire temple by yourself. You two would make a great team," I said.

"Yeah, you're really quite good, aren't you, Trixie? I think that's a good idea, maybe you can restore your reputation!" Daring turned to the blue unicorn.

"Yes, I do believe I could. Very well, the former Great and Powerful Trixie, and the great explorer, Daring Do, shall work together," she said. I nodded in agreement.

"Good, now that this is settled, let's get out of this forest, I'm tired."

"I agree. I'm beat!" Rainbow Dash agreed.

*****

We exited the forest some time later. I checked my watch, finding it to be 1:00 AM.

"Well, I think it's time for us to part ways for now," I said, and opened the portal for Trixie and Daring.

"Thanks for your help, Zach, good luck!" Daring and Trixie left this universe, leaving Twilight, Rainbow and I.

"Well, that was fun! Thanks for taking us there, Zach!" Rainbow seemed to forget all about not having Daring on the team.

"It certainly was thrilling," Twilight said, "I'll write Luna straight away about any progress."

"I'll see you both tomorrow, then, about four o'clock?" I thought of home, to summon my portal.

"You bet! See you then, Zach," Rainbow said, and they started on their way to their respective homes. I opened the portal, then turned around, to face Twilight.

"Hey, Twilight!" I called to her. She turned around. "Thank you."

*****

My parents were asleep when I returned home. I grabbed a bite to eat and went to bed, as discreetly as possible. It was time to get back to the buisness at hand, which was, for the moment, getting to school tomorrow morning.

End of part II