Daring couldn’t believe how much her prep work had been set back, how could anypony work on attire for nine hours with almost no breaks and not feel tired? Nine hours, Daring had spent almost all of it with nothing on beyond the test outfits, and even those weren’t on her for more than a couple of minutes. Daring had been fine with stallion type underpants, she’d been wearing them for years, but Rarity would have none of that. Panties, seriously, were not her style. Daring Do took the tomcolt style to an extreme even Rainbow hadn’t gone, her formal attire before all this was just her same outfit with a much higher thread count and quality.

Rarity had nearly bowled Daring over when she admitted all that, so in addition a collection of outfits that could basically dress an army of her she also had to stand around in the lingerie Rarity had made from scratch just for her as the white unicorn made her five formal dresses that were clearly designed to show off her figure to anypony that wasn’t blind. So now, Daring was heading back to the castle with a set of overly large shopping bags, also custom made by Rarity for her, filled with her new garments along with her wearing her wearing one of her new informal outfits, with a set of her custom undergarments beneath it all.

Daring wasn’t really one for these sorts of undergarments, she usually would forego undergarments when in the field since they would usually get removed by some nutcase trying to use her body for some esoteric ritual or just the environment in general as she moved through regions and areas that were clearly designed to kill lesser ponies. And to make matters worse, she couldn’t fit into some of the places she used to due to her new figure.

As soon as she got back to her room she would begin packing for the trip, maybe if they were lucky she could cut the hike by a few days. The fact that Princess Twilight Sparkle was insisting she take Spike with her on the return trip was a little irksome, but still understandable. Spike was more knowledgeable about dragon things, and she had brought back the idol of an ancient dragon deity. The fact she was going to be going to a potential Fertility temple started to excite her in a way she wasn’t used to, her bosom felt warm and lighter than she thought they could be when she thought of spending an extended period time with Spike. Damn that dragoness, getting her hot and heavy for the very dragon she would be traveling with.

As she was about to get the castle door it opened to reveal a shirtless Spike with an annoyed look on his face and a small collection of what seemed to be rags of different colors in one of his arms, she started thinking he looked cute with that determined look in his eye. She also started thinking about how nummy his figure was.

__________________________________________

Spike was not happy, his unshredded shirts were all ones that he kept around but no longer fit him for various reasons. The only reason he kept them in his wardrobe anymore was nostalgia, on the plus side some of them might be able to fit somepony with a noticeably lighter frame than him. A few unbidden thoughts of Daring Do in his old shirts came to his mind as he thought about that, he shook his head to clear it.

Spike was angry with Rarity, it would do him no good to lose his focus. On his way out he saw Daring with what looked like overstuffed shopping bags, likely Rarity’s fault, on her way in. She was in something that looked similar to her usual attire, just darker shade with her cutie mark on the shoulders and right breast region of the shirt. The aesthetic would likely follow through to the rear of the shorts, which she filled out really good. No, bad Spike, you’re angry with Rarity not trying to catch risque glances of Twilight’s guest. Spike really didn’t like how his mind seemed to be wandering as of late.

When he arrived at Carousel Boutique it seemed Rarity had been expecting him, made all the more evident by her statement, “So good to see you again, darling. I was actually expecting you a bit earlier, you just missed Daring’s little fashion show.”

“Looks like you overloaded her,” said Spike, “I just passed her on my way in.”

“Well, she needed an entirely new wardrobe, which included some genuine formal attire.”

Spike let out a heavy sigh, “Rares,” she perked at the use of her old nickname, “you went and overdid it again, you have a problem with that. On another note,” he presented his torn shirts, “was it really necessary to have your cat shred all shirts that still fit me? Don’t try to deny it, I found her hair on all of the torn articles of clothing.”

“I’ll get on making you some new shirts as soon as possible, Spikey.” Spike perked at the use of her old nickname for him, he hadn’t heard that particular nickname in what felt like ages. Standing on the pedestal while Rarity worked her special brand of magic, Spike almost found himself chuckling as the fashionista got right back into talking to herself as she got to work on measuring him and making his new clothing. “Any preferences I should know about?” inquired Rarity as she finished taking down notes on his new measurements.

“You already know what my preferences are, they haven’t really changed since you last measured me. Although, I’ll probably need some expedition outfits. Twilight has me going with Daring to investigate the temple in which she found the artifact she brought back with her. I noticed her figure is a bit more defined than it was when she started getting settled in yesterday, did she tell you why that is?”

“Sadly, no,” huffed Rarity, “how am I supposed to engage in gossip regarding her when she won’t give me some juicy tidbits, all good gossip needs some pieces of fact to act as a base.”

“I’m surprised you’re still so interested in gossip, seeing as how you’re married with a foal already. Speaking of which, how is your little girl these days?”

“Aubretia Glide... she’s visiting the Apples for the weekend, she’ll be back this afternoon. At least, I hope so. That filly seems to channel the old Rainbow Dash sometimes.”

“I can see how that would be annoying, I just need a dozen or so standard shirts.”

“Of this I am aware,” said Rarity, “but if we’re making you traveling attire I’ll have to your waist and everything below again.”

Spike groaned as he took off his pants, thankfully his underpants were doing some semblance of protecting what was left of his modesty. Rarity started to measure the dimensions of Spike’s lower region when the bell above the door jingled. Then the sound of an eight-year-old filly with a voice that reminded Spike of Sweetie Belle’s primary school days entered the room, “Mom, just how busy are you?”

“Helping an old friend prepare for a trip they’re going on soon, dear,” responded Rarity, “he’s currently not publicly presentable, it will be a while before that happens.”

The sound of young pony hooves could be heard as a pegasus filly with coat color that matched Rarity’s mane and silvery blue mane entered the room in a black and green riding dress, “Sorry about not being back sooner, Mister Soarin gave me a ride over,” it was at this point Spike and Rarity noticed a bandage on the filly’s left wing indicating some sort of damage.

“Is it serious?” Spike asked in a gentle tone.

“No, just a sprain from bumping into the doorframe at the wrong angle," said Aubretia, "I wasn’t watching where I was going in the excitement to get outside yesterday after lunch, they said I should be ‘right as rain’ by this time tomorrow.”

“Good to hear, dear,” said Rarity with a smile, “think you could get a bolt of the black fabric with a fireproofing spell for me?”

“Sure,” said the Aubretia, “should I get a bolt of the green and blue as well?”

“That would be lovely, thank you,” said Rarity. It was at this point Spike realized he would be here for a while, especially with Rarity and her daughter drawing out the visiting time. Spike wasn’t going to be happy, especially since Ember had finally arrived and wanted to spend some time with him.

____________________________________________

The first thing to meet Daring, oddly enough, was a well-endowed dragoness with blue scales, her bust size was an E-cup. Said dragoness introduced herself as Dragonlord Ember, and attire was more akin to a set of plate armor than actual clothing. Ember seemed to be drawing a number of stares, but she seemed to not really care about that for some reason.

“So, you’re Daring Do,” said the dragoness after she introduced herself, “I expected a bit less from such an old idol, you look like you’re pretty close to how you probably were in your prime. How did it feel to have your youth restored?”

“I didn’t notice it until Spike pointed out,” said Daring, “all I really noticed was some the pains and aches I’ve had the past few years seemed to be gone. Is there a reason you are meeting me here?”

“I just wanted to meet the pony responsible for finding such an intact tool of worship from the history of dragons.”

“Actually, from the looks of the temple it was in, it was actually ponies worshiping her. I also got dragged into a conversation with her last night, it was an interesting experience.”

“Wait, you actually met her? She’s real?” the two made their way to some empty seats

“Very much so,” said Daring with a hint of annoyance in her voice, “she apparently gained enough energy from restoration ritual Spike and I inadvertently performed to actually do that sort of thing for a short period of time, she also thought it would be amusing to give me a more voluptuous body and direct the sexual desires of myself and Spike towards each other.”

Ember snickered, “That sounds like she’s a bit of trickster. Spike needs to get over his obsession with Rarity, he’s only partially done that, he needs to go the whole way. I find it somewhat amusing and gratifying that literal divine intervention is being instituted in his life. When it comes to things like this, he’s a bit too dense for anything short of that to work. And I guess she also wanted to ‘reward’ you, I guess the best way to think of was giving you a sexy body.”

Daring elected to keep quiet about the offer to be Zelshirska’s highest ranking Priestess. She didn’t think it mattered that the dragons knew about her having the first interaction with one of their ancient deities after so many years, but she did figure it was currently for the best if she omitted most information from what they knew she had at her disposal.

“Did she say anything else?” The pony scholars started gathering around them, likely hoping to get tidbits for their research. Even Twilight seemed to be getting ahead of herself with the research, seeing as she was the closest scholar to them.

“Not much, something about how she and her sisters were the only goddesses in a pantheon that had a few dozen deities,” Ember showed some displeasure at that news, “also, she gave me an open invite to be her priestess, I’m still mulling over that one. She also alluded to potentially having the answer to a question that I’ve been chasing for a very long time.”

“Sounds like you’re going to be busy.”

“Yes, I am, now if you will excuse me,” Daring got up with her bags, “I have to go pack for the return expedition, I’ll fill out a report that I will hand over to the princesses afterward. Which, in the spirit of continued amicable relations between our two nations, they will likely hand you a copy of.”

“With some parts that are clearly omitted,” said Ember with an eye roll, “if I were in the same position I would as well.”

Daring excused herself, with her bags, and headed to her room to begin packing for her trip. She had a lot to pack, clothes, food provisions, a small camping set, her archaeologist kit, and a few other items of note. Daring was annoyed with her new features, immensely. A noticeable bust, a bigger plot, and wider hips were all contributing to her annoyance. Thankfully, she didn’t have full hourglass figure just yet, her waist was the same it had been when she was younger, said waist was a rather toned from her regular activities to keep in shape. That all said, she was pretty sure that her waist wasn’t what many would call ‘model quality’ or anything of similar frivolousness.

Even in her early years, when her sister had still been around, she was the kind of filly that didn’t really like things clearly defined as feminine, she was much more geared towards defined masculine things. Here clothes from when she was filly looked more like something you would get a colt, she liked to roughhouse over spending time on the porch talking about the latest gossip, and preferred doing things over writing them down. Star Log had some of those same properties, but she actually enjoyed the more feminine activities and attire more than Daring ever did. Star Log was always excited to meet new ponies, she used every opportunity in their younger days to drag Daring to parties so they could meet new ponies.

Daring Chuckled to herself as she set her bags down and thought about her sister, and all the good times they had. Star Log was energetic and outgoing like Pinkie Pie, was studious and academic like Twilight Sparkle, had her finger on the pulse of fashion like Rarity, was a bit too soft-spoken like Fluttershy and as honorable and upright as ponies like Soarin or most of Equestria’s Royal Guard. Daring was a major contrast to her sister in terms of personality, but in a way that complimented her sister. In those early days, she was brash like the younger Rainbow Dash, stubborn but dependable like Applejack, and very protective of her older sister. Despite Star Log being three years older than her, Daring and Star actually were similar height for most of their time together.

Star Log had some pretty unhealthy eating habits, especially when she was engrossed in something that interested her, which usually was a scientific journal or mystery novel. It was actually Daring’s proclamations in those early days that she would be a great adventurer that had Star Log stating she would be the one to document all those incredible adventures and share them with the world. Those where the idea for the Daring Do book series came from, but before they could implement any of it Star Log had just vanished like a wisp on the wind without even a note giving a clue as to her condition or whereabouts. It was that disappearance that had kickstarted Daring’s adventures the following year.

She quickly realized she would need funds to continue the adventuring life as she made discoveries and tried to find the one pony that meant more to her than anything else, thus the moniker she created for herself and beginning of the Daring Do book series as Equestria knew about came to be. Her moniker of A.K. Yearling was a bit of a joke and nod at the same time, pulled from her the names of her parents and the fact she had been a yearling when she talked about the plans for the series with her sister.

Daring hadn’t even noticed how she had practically overstuffed her travel bag while reminiscing.

_________________________________________________

Spike was now heading home, in his new “Power Ponies” shirt and pants from that morning, with a few bags of new attire. Rarity went overboard, again. She hadn’t just made him new shirts and expedition wear, she had also made him a bunch of new casual wear pants and four formal suits.

Spike was not happy, he just wanted to get out of the shop as fast as possible. That turned into a massive pipe dream almost as soon as Rarity’s daughter had arrived. Chances were all the guests at the castle were calling it a night, even Ember.

Spike was surprised to see Twilight and Ember chatting together at the table with cups of tea between them when he got back to the castle. Twilight seemed to know exactly how to destroy his chances at legitimate excuses, seeing as the bags were immediately teleported from his claws. “Don’t worry,” said Twilight, “they’re already in your room, you can get to packing after you spend some time with us.”

Spike let out a groan, he just wanted to get all packed and ready to go so he could get things out of the way, then get back and complain about his lack of having a space all his own. But right now, he had to have a “chat” with two females for who knows how long. “Just make it quick, I want to get this task Twilight practically forced on me out of the way.”

“Sorry, but you’re the only one I can trust with this task, everyone else just has too many responsibilities to drop and go on this errand. We all know Rainbow Dash would more than love to do so, but things aren’t like they were those first few years we started living in Ponyville.”

“This is an important undertaking for both Equestria and the Dragonlands,” said Ember, “Daring Do recovered an artifact that is of great importance to the cultural history of dragonkind, as the representative of dragons to Equestria the task Twilight called upon you to perform is one I would as well.”

“Glad to know you both are on the same page with this,” said Spike, “but the sooner we get on this the sooner it gets done.” With that he headed up to his room, muttering under his breath how the meeting he just ended up getting in and out of was mostly pointless. Once he was in his room he started packing for the trip, to keep things simple he tried to keep it to only one overnight bag.

Spike’s packing attempts went about as well as Daring’s, which basically means he ended up overstuffing his bag for some reason. Spike really didn’t want to start taking packing cues from Rarity, that could prove problematic.

He carefully emptied his bag and got out two spares and began packing again, he’d see how much of his bags his plans actually had him filling up and work out from there. After that, he would hit the hay and hope for the best tomorrow. He really hoped things went well, also that he didn’t have any weird dreams. He did not want to have any potentially embarrassing chats with Luna, especially if they turned out to contain content that wasn’t entirely family friendly.

Author's Notes:

So yeah, a little more of look at Daring in her younger days happened. I would love to see some of this stuff show up as art, but I don’t really have the resources for funding commissions at the moment, if I did I would be sending out requests left and right to all the artists I know for renderings of images to use as the covers for my stories.

Also, it looks like Daring and Spike are still a little awkward around each other. I find it a little adorable, not sure what the rest of you think.

As always, you know my policies.