It had been a month since we came back with Swagger. We introduced him to the town and surprisingly enough they took it well, though we had to forgo telling them about his past. Seeing as Twilight was giving him room and board, I thought I'd help him by giving him a job. Seeing as how I wanted my army to have a few snipers in the mix, I put Swagger in charge of training a few recruits in the art of sniping.

Lately, though, I've had to deal with Rainbow Dash constantly bugging me about the release date of the new Daring Do book. I pretended to give a rats ass while I was around her, but truth be told, I couldn't stand that book series, I felt it was plagiarizing Indiana Jones. I know Miss Yearling doesn't mean to do that, but I also don't have the heart to write to her and tell her what's going on.

Right now though, the wives, kids, and I were heading over to Twilight's place for some form of holiday. Which is where we head to now.

" So let me get this straight, We're heading to Twilight's to celebrate what now?"

" I believe the invite said it was for ' National Random Holiday Party Day'. I was unaware of such a thing, perhaps it is a recent holiday?" Luna pondered while we kept walking towards the library.

" No, I think Pinkie just wanted an excuse to throw a party not that I'm complaining," Jackie explained to Luna and me before we made it to the door. Jackie opened the door and made our presence known. " Howdy, y'all!" We were greeted Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, and off in the corner of the library, sat Swagger with a cup of punch and they were all wearing different hats.

" Glad you could make it." Pinkie appeared in front of us and stuck a hat on all of us. Luna's tiara was replaced with a fake queens crown. Jackie's stetson was replaced with a foam stetson with an apple pattern. The boys were both given a top hat while Scootaloo was given an old Yankees baseball cap. Finally, Pinkie plopped a brown fedora on me. " Welcome to the party."

" Wouldn't dream of missing one of your parties." I went passed the others and plopped myself next to Swagger who had an Eagles cap on. " So, how's living with the walking talking encyclopedia?"

" It's not that bad actually. For the most part, she's studying or pleasure reading, though I do get the odd question from time to time. As for the town, it's nice enough, though there are times when I feel like I'm being watched."

" Yeah, they'll do that, they're just curious about you is all. Give it a week, you'll feel right at home." I then remembered why I came over. " So, you find someone that catches your eye?" Swagger nearly did a spit-take at my enquire. " Hahaha, I'm just messing with ya."

A moment later, Dash came through the door, still talking about the release date for the next Daring Do book. " Hey, Twilight, aren't you excited that-" Pinkie interrupted her with a noise-maker.

While Dash saw us all having a good time, Twilight came over to greet her. " So glad you finally made it."

Dash looked at all of us and asked the question, " What's everybody doing here?" I decided to answer.

" We are celebrating a random holiday party. I'm surprised you didn't have it marked on your calendar." I told her while adding some whiskey to my punch.

" Why didn't anyone tell me?"

" Jack, Orion, and I've been knocking on your door for an hour trying to invite you to this but you didn't answer," Scootaloo told her while adjusting her cap over her headband.

" Oh, sorry about that Squirt, I was too busy reading the last Daring Do book, because, in three months and twenty-six days, I'll get to read the new one." She then went and chugged down a glass of punch.

" Ooh, haven't you heard? The release of the next book got pushed back another two months." Once Twilight told her that, she spat her punch right in her face.

" Two more months! I've been waiting soo long already." She started to visible shake at this point. " I don't think I can take another two months. I'll never make it." She then went and flopped down onto the floor, where Pinkie went and plopped a party hat on her.

" I don't get it, why don't you just pick another book series, it'll certainly help pass the time until the next book." Swagger suggested while watching all this unfold.

" I've already tried, but nothing can compete with the action Daring Do brings to the table. They're just too boring."

" What about that series I suggested to you?"

" Sorry, giant sharks just don't do it for me." Before I could tell her any details about the MEG series, she went back to Twilight about the Daring Do book. " Did they give a reason why the book's being delayed?"

" The publisher just said that author A.K. Yearling won't be able to finish the book for another two months. Cupcakes?" She offered up a plate of cupcakes where Pinkie went and gobbled up one.

Dash looked pissed at hearing that. " How could you know that before me? I'm the series biggest fan!" Pretty sure anyone who buys a newspaper can figure that out.

" I'm just a big a fan as you are, in fact, I was the one who introduced you to the series." Burn! " A.K. Yearling is my favorite author, I know pretty much everything about her, where she grew up, where she studied literature, where she wrote the first book."

" Her sexual orientation," Swagger whispered behind Twilight's ear.

" Her sexual orientation...hey!" Swagger and I both shared a laugh at that.

When we were done laughing our ass off, Rainbow looked ready to ask a question. " Do you by chance know where she lives?"

" Uh, no, though I could probably figure it out somehow. Why?" Because we need to start off a wacky adventure somehow.

" The book is obviously being delayed because the author is too busy dealing with everyday nonsense, that she doesn't have time to spend her every waking, breathing moment writing. So that I...I mean fans like me, can get to read the next book ASAP."

" Dash, you can't rush the writing process, you might wind up getting a crappy story. Besides, the author might just have writers-block, and you can't really help with that."

" So if we find where she lives, we can offer to do her laundry, cook her meals, you know just whatever. Who wouldn't appreciate that?" People with dignity.

" I don't know Rainbow, I think what she wants most is respect for her privacy," Twilight told her after rolling her eyes.

" She could always just say no." Yeah, but will you honor that or just keep pestering her till she says yes.

When I looked at everyone, they all seemed to be on board with this. Not wanting to be left out, I joined them. " Alright, let's do this. I want to know how she rips off Indiana Jones." Once I said that the only ones who didn't look at me funny were my wives and kids.

" Who the heck is Indiana Jones?" Dash asked while taking off her party hat.

" Only the best archeologist and adventurer that's ever been created for both literature and film." Dash raised an eye thinking I was lying. " Don't believe me? Here, I'll show you." I put up a screen and the kids grabbed some snacks to enjoy the little show.

https://youtu.be/yqQD8sVtfA4

After they got over the shock of seeing a real adventurer, I clapped my hand on Twilight's shoulder. " So, how's about getting that address?"

https://youtu.be/IgncJgSbbck

Once Twilight was able to get the address from the publisher, one of the perks to being royalty, we made our way to A.K. Yearling's home and for some reason, Pinkie was dragging a red paintbrush behind us. Luna decided to stay behind with the kids while the rest of us went for an adventure. After going through forests and mountains, Swagger and I realized that Miss Yearling must be a recluse. " If she's this far off from the rest of the world, then she definitely doesn't want any company."

" How would you know that Bob?" Twilight asked.

" Because that's what I did for the past three years." We made our way past a bit of brush to see the small cottage that's owned by Miss Yearling, but when we found it, we saw that it had been ransacked. " It would seem that someone has already met with our author." We all went inside the house to see that the inside was just as bad as the outside. Furniture was overturned, books were off the shelves, there was even a sink in the middle of the living room. " Damn, looks worse than my old dorm room from college."

" Someone certainly made a mess in here." Jackie pointed out while turning the table right-side up.

" Hmmm, maybe, or maybe A.K. Yearling is a terrible horrible unbelievable slob!" Pinkie told us while appearing in different places of the house all at once.

Swagger leaned over and whispered, " How the hell does she do that?"

I whispered back, " My working theory is that she can do mind over matter, but she doesn't realize she's doing it. Either that or she has the same ability as the Animaniacs." Swagger kept looking at me weird while I just shrugged and turned to the girls. " It would seem that someone was looking for something."

Swagger examined the damage himself. " No real sign of a struggle, so Miss Yearling wasn't home. Though I can't really say if the intruders found what they were looking for."

Twilight started cleaning up the mess. " You don't think something terrible happened to her, do you?"

Rainbow popped herself from the junkpile in the middle of the room and looked on the verge of panic. " I know, there might be no more books!" She then saw all our facial expressions and saw that we were not amused. " But of course, I'd be worried about her too."

Before we could call her out on her selfishness, a new voice brought our attention to the front door. " What are you all doing here?" The figure to enter the house was a mare with a purple cloak, red frame glasses, and some sort of bonnet. This could only be A.K. Yearling.

The moment Dash saw her, she unleashed her inner fangirl. " A...A...K...Yearling?" I had no idea ponies could do duck-face.

Swagger was the first to explain our being here. " I know this may look bad, but we had nothing to do with the state of your house."

Yearling came into her house looking around at all the damage. " What happened in here, and why are there three royals standing in my living room?"

" That's actually a good question, and it all started a few hours ago." I started walking around the room while explaining the situation. " My friend over here was complaining about the book being delayed and wanted to pretty much become your serving monkey. After she explained that, I thought she was crazy, but then it occurred to me, this would be my chance to ask why your character Daring Do, is so similar to Indiana Jones. Of course, I'm not one to criticize your work, I think it's pretty cool, just need to know how you came up with the idea." When my explanation was done, I turned to Miss Yearling, only to find her pulling a golden ring out of a fake book, not listening to a thing I just said.

" Hah, it's safe." She put the ring under her cloak before turning to me. " I'm sorry your highness, you were saying something."

" Hmm, just that we had nothing to do with this mess and we're here to see about the book being delayed. But, I can see you're busy with cleaning this place up, so we'll be on our way." I led the others out of the house and over to some shrubs. Once we were behind the foliage Swagger and I hid from the view of the house while the girls watched us with curiosity.

" Why did we leave the house just so you two can watch the outside? I wanted to see if we can help speed the book up but-" I held up a hand to keep her quiet.

" You need to keep quiet Skittles, it's time for a stake-out." Swagger told her while keeping an eye on the house.

" Stake-out? Why would we need to stake-out A.K's house when we know she's already in there?" Twilight asked while pointing over at the house.

" I'm aware that she's in there, and I'm also aware that whatever she had hidden is still there," I told them while indicating the gold ring from earlier.

" Which means the ones that trashed the house will be coming back for it," Swagger went and finished the explanation.

" What makes you think that'll happen?" Pinkie asked while petting a squirrel that came out of the bushes. I pointed over to the top window where three very shady looking ponies, just entered. " Ooh, you guys are good." Pinkie pronked over to the house while we followed.

We made it to the back window to see Yearling start cleaning her living room when the three intruders started to corner her. The girls, Swagger and I were about to go in and bust a nut in someone's ass.......I mean, bust a cap in someone's ass, but our busting was stopped when Yearling started using her own clothes to attack her attackers. As she kept attacking the three ponies with her clothes, the ones she wore underneath revealed a shocking secret. Underneath the baggy cloak, Yearling had on an explorers outfit and a pit helmet, in short, she looked like the Daring Do character in her books.

As we saw the reveal, Twilight and Dash couldn't believe what they were seeing. " A.K. Yearling is Daring Do!" They both said in unison.

" Damn, and I thought I had a dual personality."

" A.K. Yearling and Daring Do are one and the same, my mind is officially blown." Twilight was gushing over this development.

Dash tried to act nonchalant about this new development. " Eh, I knew it all along." My ass! After a while, we watched as Daring started kicking the collective asses of those three intruders. When she got cornered, Dash did something stupid. " Daring Do!" The noise caused Daring to let her guard down long enough for her attackers to get the jump on her.

During the scuffle, the ring that caused the fight sailed through the air before making its way toward the front door. I expected one of the three intruders to go after it, but then a new face made themselves known. The pony was dressed in a white shirt and had a red ascot around his neck and his Cutiemark was a golden skull with jeweled eyes. " Many thanks, Daring Do, you have no idea how happy I am to see that you kept my finding in such a fine condition," The new guy mocked while Daring was having some trouble standing up.

Daring tried to face him, but then her right fore-leg gave off a crack and she collapsed. " Give it back Caballeron!"

" That's Dr. Caballeron to you."

Dash got even more excited and grabbed Twilight. " He's from book four. Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams, he wanted to partner with Daring on her adventures."

Twilight answered, " I know but she refused. I can't believe it, the real Daring Do and the real Caballeron."

" Not the most shocking reveal, but it's certainly up there." Swagger brought out his knife while Daring was shooting some exposition to the Doc. " So...are we going to help her out, or are we just going to keep standing here gawking?"

" Yeah, this has gone on long enough," I unsheathed Frostbite and made my way to the front to confront the four ponies. When the guys made their exit, they ran smack-dab right into me, and they looked ready to piss themselves. " Hi fellas. Going somewhere?" Before I could teach them the error of their ways, Caballeron pulled out a golden crystal and smashed it in the middle of his group, making the whole party disappear. " Dammit, next time, attack first ask questions later. or better yet never." When I went in to see what the others were doing, I saw Swagger applying a splint to her broken leg.

When she saw me, a glimmer of hope graced her eyes. " Did you stop them, your highness?"

" First, call me Joe. Second, no, those sons of bitches used some kind of crystal to teleport there ass's to who knows where."

" Caballeron used one of his homing crystals for you? He only uses those to get out of the direst situations, you must be better than what the papers suggest." She pointed over to one of her open books that were filled with newspaper clippings, all of them surrounding me and my adventures.

" Wow, someone famous has a scrapbook of me, I'm flattered. Also, I guess I can't fault you for your likeness to Indiana Jones since you're just living your life."

" Umm, who's Indiana Jones?"

" He's a human, like my friend here, and he lives a double life. A college professor and an international archeologist, I'd show you something but I believe the clock is running against us." I pointed out the door where the four nitwits made their escape.

She got up from the floor and made her way to the door. " Then I haven't a moment to lose." She went out the door and headed off to where the thieves were. Before she made it very far, she turned toward Swagger and me. " You two coming or what?" To say that we were surprised would be putting it lightly. Dash, on the other hand.

" You want them to come with you, what about us!?" I could feel the tension building here.

" I usually work alone during these adventures, but since Caballeron has the final Ring of Scorchero, he'll try and sell it to Ahuizotil so he can bring eight-hundred years worth of unrelenting heat to the valley."

Swagger looked over at me. " So this a normal day for you?"

" Nah, this is a bit weird even for me."

Daring continued. " So I would appreciate it if you two would help me get it back."

" Okay, we'll go with you, but only if they come with us." This caused Dash to squeal like a girl.

" No chance, they'll screw everything up." She pointed toward the girls, more accurately, Rainbow Dash.

Swagger offered this. " They'll observe, not participate. If you don't like it, then you can get the ring on your own." Daring didn't look too happy about the offer, but she accepted none the less. " Good, now the first thing we gotta do, is figuring out where the guys who stole the ring would regroup."

Dash saw this as her moment to shine. " That's easy, they're obviously heading for the Tenochtitlan Basin. Ahuizotil needs the last ring to take control of the dark tower, and that will the perfect place to make the trade-off."

" Perfect, lead the way, Miss Do." She took the lead and we followed her through the forest.

On the way to the drop-off, I would tell her about a few of mine and the girl's adventures. To say she was impressed would be an accurate statement. " Wow, I can't believe you take advice from a severed head."

" Mimir is more than just a severed head, he is the wisest of all the Aesir gods. In fact, I should get him and the others to join our little adventure." Before Daring could protest, I opened a portal to my living room. I stuck my head in to see Luna and the kids watching a movie. " Hey, babe, you doing alright?"

Luna and the kids were a little surprised to see me, but they quickly got over it and came through the portal with Mimir in tow. " Hello dear, how'd the visit with Miss Yearling go?"

" It took a weird turn from visiting an author to going on an adventure with Daring Do herself." I pointed beside me to show them the one and only Daring Do.

When Luna caught sight of her, she was a little surprised to see her. When the kids saw her, they went nuts. They crowded around her and started gushing around her. " You're the real Daring Do?" Scootaloo asked with wonder.

" Can I see your whip?" Orion asked while pointing at her side.

" Why didn't you switch the treasure with something else in the first book?" Jack asked while comparing her to Jones.

Recovering from the barrage of questions, Daring answered. " Yes, I am. No, you can not. And I didn't think about that."

As the kids kept pestering her, I brought Mimir over for a little talk. " Head, do you have any information about the ten Rings of Scorchero?"

" Yes, I do brother. Scorchero was a fire giant blacksmith that crafted Surtr's sword. When he had on his rings, his hands became his own forge."

" So...the rings could, I don't know, heat up a valley for eight centuries."

" Give or take a decade." With this information, I put Mimir around my belt and told Daring what I was told. She was surprised by the information, then high-tailed it down to where Caballeron would make camp. It was night when we came upon their camp at the edge of a large fortress and saw them eating hay. " So, these are the bad guys? Gotta say they don't make bad guys like they used to."

" Give it time Head, we might just come across a bigger threat." I turned over to Swagger and Daring, only to see Daring applying a beard made of foliage. " Uh, what are you doing?"

" What? You never heard of a disguise?"

" We're very well aware of a disguise. What you have is a beard made of leaves," Swagger told her while getting my Garand ready. " Here's how it's going to be, you'll confront those guys and demand that ring back. When they refuse, Joe comes in to convince them to give it to you." Swagger then went over to the nearest tree. " I'll provide cover from the trees." He made his way up the branches while Daring watched him.

" Commanding guy your friend."

" He just has more military knowledge than I do. Now come on, let's go get that ring back." Daring and I made our way to the edge of the camp where I stayed behind while she made herself known.

" Caballeron! I believe you have something of mine, and I want it back!" Initially, the Doc and his goons were surprised to see her so soon if at all. But, their surprise was quickly replaced with a smug sense of overconfidence.

The Doc was the one to boast for the group. " What makes you think I'd ever give you this ring?"

" Why, Caballeron, I thought you had the decency to offer jewels to a lady freely." Okay, I'll give her props for that one. Caballeron's smug expression changed to slightly annoyed. " Well, you could always just talk to him?" She pointed over to the bushes where I was hiding. Time for round two.

When their eyes were on the bushes that hid me, I made myself into the wolf and let the fire illuminate my eyes. Once the goons saw the glow of my eyes I let loose a low growl before slowly revealing myself to them. As they started shaking in their horseshoes, I bared my teeth to them. " The ring. Now!" The Doc trembled from the sight of me and threw the ring at my head before running off with his crew. " Well, that was rude." I removed the ring from around my neck and stared at it with a growing need to keep it all to myself. " My Precious."

This did not go unnoticed by Daring. " Joe, are you okay?" The question brought me back to reality.

I shook the cobwebs from my head and looked over to Daring. " Yeah, yeah just... admiring the ring." I made to give her the ring, but, I was blindsided by a massive hand and sent into the forest while dropping the ring and Frostbite. As I sailed through the trees, I collided with Swagger, knocking both him and me out of his sniper's nest. When we landed on the ground, the girls and the kids surrounded us with Lulu and Jackie holding my head and Twilight checking on Swagger.

Swagger was the first to come around. " Did anybody get the license plate number on that thing?"

I got up from the ground and saw that a creature had emerged from the trees and started for Daring. The creature resembled a large dog with a cat's head and monkey paws at the end of each limb including the tail, not to mention he was wearing jewels from what looked like Aztec origin.

The creature started to advance on Daring. " Daring Do, give the ring to me. Now!" He slammed his fists against the ground hoping to squash Daring for good. Luckily for the adventurer, she was quick on her hooves and avoided his attack.

" Now Ahuizotl, you know I love you, but I can't give you the ring till I've properly proposed." She taunted towards him while securing the ring around her neck.

The creature, known as Ahuizotl, got up and brushed the dust from himself. " Interesting. Because my friends here have a proposal of their own." With the snap of his fingers from his tail, a pack of jungle cats lept from behind him ranging from a tiger, panther, cheetah, bobcat, and even a little house-cat that let out a small hiss. The cats caused Daring to back herself into a corner and get ready for the inevitable attack.

I saw this as my chance to help out and lept into the middle. I landed in a kneeling position and hid with my wings covering me. The cats stopped their advance and stared at the new figure before them. With their focus on me, I slowly stood, revealing my feral glory, making them shake with fear. Standing at my full height, I let out a low growl while brandishing my claws. " Hello, pussies. Roooooaaaaarrr!" All the big cats let out a loud yowl before running in whatever direction they could, leaving the little white cat alone to face me. The cat looked at me and expected me to maul him. Instead, I did this. " Boo." The cat was gone before I had time to blink.

With Ahuizotl's feline minions gone, I faced the blue monkey-dog. " So. Was it you that sucker-punched me?" He gave me a death glare before pulling out a dagger made of obsidian. " Alright, you want a piece of me? You come and get it!" With a primal scream, Ahuizotl charged me with his dagger. He went for an overhead strike on my head but it was blocked by my left arm while I delivered a right hook to his jaw. Before he could recover from the hit, I grappled him to the ground and kept him pinned down. " So, you ready to give up?"

While he struggled on the ground, his tail grabbed his blade and sliced my stomach open. While I was putting my guts back in place, Ahuizotl grabbed Daring by the ring and knocked her ass out. Before he left, he caught sight of the rest of our group heading towards us. He brings up the knife to Daring's neck and halts their advance. " Unless you want the ground to drink her blood, I suggest you back away." Everyone started backing away in hopes of saving Daring while my stomach started to heal from the wound. " That's good and just so I know you won't follow." He grabbed the dagger by the blade and threw it towards the group before bolting for the Fortress in the distance.

The blade flipped through the air and made it's way right for Twilight. They all saw the blade coming, but they were like deer in headlights and it looked like Twilight was doomed. Lucky for her, she was with a trained marine scout-sniper who pushed her out of the way. Twilight lands on her side but quickly picks herself up. " Thank you, Bob, I don't know why I didn't through up a shield? I guess I was just a bit...Swagger!" Her scream was the result of seeing Swagger hunched over on the ground, with the knife sticking out of his left ribcage.

We gathered around him to see if the damage wasn't as bad as it seemed, but we've never been that lucky before. Swagger made an attempt to pull out the knife but a spray of blood started gushing out, so he had to put it back in. " Damn, this is really going to spoil my weekend." The girls and kids were freaking out about Swagger's injury. " Any chance of getting to a hospital?"

Seeing that my parts were back in place, I helped him to his feet. " Say no more, just let me get the door." I opened a portal to Ponyville General and turned to the others. " Okay, I need one of you to make sure he gets in safe."

Twilight immediately stepped forward. " I'll do it. I'm the reason he's hurt, I'll make sure he gets better." Twilight grabbed Swagger in her magic and went through the portal with him.

With Swagger in good hands, I turn back to the rest of our party. " Okay, we need a game plan on what needs to be done. Dash, any thoughts?" At first, she was surprised to even be considered on being called for a plan. " Come on Dash, you probably know more about what Ahuizotl's up to and what he'd do with Daring if he ever caught her, so come on, let's hear it."

Finding my words to be true, her confidence came back. " Alright, here's the plan." We listened intently on how to save Daring and foul the bad guy's plan.

Sunrise.

I wandered through the fortress with the others while Dash went to find Daring. We could easily go with her, but you know what they say about too many wheels, plus she wanted a chance to prove herself to her idol. While she was doing that, we searched for where they would perform the ceremony. I rounded a corner and bumped into Dash and Daring, startling the two out of their skins. " Relax will ya, it's only us."

They sighed in relief before Daring spoke. " It's nice to see that I have others to watch my back, especially Rainbow Dash here." This got Dash to squeal in delight before composing herself. When Daring looked at our group, she noticed we were missing two members. " Hey, what happened to Princess Twilight and Swagger?"

" While you were sleeping on the job, Ahuizotl sent that knife over to Twilight, and Swagger wasn't going to have any of that. She's with him at the hospital in Ponyville." Before more could be said, a rhythmic beat could be heard further down the hallway. " It sounds like they're starting the party without us, and I know Pinkie hates being late to a party."

" Damn right I do." She then pulled out her party shotgun, a new model to her party canon, and gave it a pump. " Let's make them smile."

" She scares me when she gets that way brother."

" And here I thought you had a sense of adventure?" We crept along the hall to come to a room with Ahuizotl and a bunch of ponies that reminded me of the ancient Aztecs. The center of the room had a golden spire under an open part of the roof and at the base of the spire were nine gold rings, waiting for their lost brother to join them. " Alright, what do we need to do?"

" I need you all to distract Ahuizotl's followers while I remove the rings from the spire," Daring told us while pointing at the opposition.

" Alright. Dash, help Daring with the rings. Scoots, take your mothers and aunts, and distract the guards. Boys, we'll take on the big guy." Everyone nodded their agreement and we stormed into the room.

Our presence startled the ponies in their spear banging and made them charge at us. Scoots led the charge against the Aztec ponies with the girls while the boys and I went for the big guy while wolfing out. " You! How are you still alive?"

" What, you think that little toy of yours was enough to put me down? Well think again!" The boys flanked the monkey dog while I went for the frontal assault. Ahuizotl made to avoid the boys but in doing so, became wide open for my fist. I punched him right in the gut, sending him to the other side of the room. " That's for slicing open my stomach!"

While he picked himself up, Jack came over with Earthquake and smashed it on his hand-tail, making him holler in pain. " That's for taking Daring Do!"

While he was holding his tail, Orion sliced his nose off with Nightfall, giving him a new look. " And that's for uncle Swagger!" Orion then went and grabbed him by his ponytail, and sent him hurling through the open ceiling. With him gone, we regrouped near the spire. " How did we do dad?"

" Not bad boys. Though, maybe next time, don't throw the bad guy away from the fight." They nodded their heads at my fatherly advice. When I turned toward the Aztec horde, I saw that they were unconscious and piled high with Scoots standing atop them. " That's my girl, give 'em hell Scoots!"

" Thanks Dad." One of the guys started to wake up from the bottom of the pile. Scoots just hopped off the top and landed on his head, knocking him out. " Back to bed."

" Thatta girl." I felt a body bump into me and saw that it was Dash helping Daring with the rings. " You two ain't done with that yet?"

Dash had this to say. " Hey, this is harder than it looks."

" Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know, lifting a few gold rings over a spire was so difficult? I guess beating up someone else's bad guy and his followers is a cakewalk?" Both of them rolled their eyes before going back to the rings. " Wouldn't it help if the spire was destroyed?" They both looked to each other before dropping the rings so they could do a facehoof.

Jack pushed passed us and lifted his hammer. " I got this." He placed the hammer where the top of the rings stopped on the spire and pulled back. After a couple of seconds, he let his hammer smash across the spire, breaking it into two halves. " There, problem solved." As soon as my boy said that, the whole temple started shaking. " I hate it when that happens."

" We gotta get out of here, now!" Daring told us as the ceiling started collapsing around us.

" I got this." I slashed open a portal back to Daring's house. " Alright, everybody, let's go!" The girls and kids went first while Daring and I made sure no one was left behind. When they all made it through, Daring and I went through just as the fortress collapsed. After we had a chance to catch our breath, I looked to Daring. " Well, that was fun."

" It was. Thanks for helping me out with Ahuizotl, and I'm sorry about your friend." She went over to Dash and held out her hoof. " Thank you, Rainbow Dash, for showing me that I don't always have to adventure alone." Instead of shaking her hoof, Dash grabbed Daring around the waist and started squeezing her like a python. " Okay, I'm feeling the love. Now please let me go." Dash let her go while her cheeks became red. " Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book to finish." With that, she went back inside to finish her book. As she disappeared into her hovel, I couldn't help but think about how Swagger is doing.

Ponyville General. Swaggers POV.

https://youtu.be/mXQVKx0IKN4

I woke up in my room in the hospital after they patched me up. When I got here, a lot of the doctors and nurses had no idea what was going on, seems they don't get a lot of patience with stab wounds and had to get a retired military doctor to do the job. After they were done with me, they said they wanted me to stay overnight so the stitches could heal properly.

I made to sit up from my bed, but a weight on my chest made me pause. When I looked down, I saw that Twilight was fast asleep atop my chest, seems she came in after I fell asleep. When I looked at her face, I saw tear stains on her fur under her eyes as well as my hospital gown. It seems she still blames herself for me getting hurt. Not wanting to wake her, I leaned back on my pillow and gently stroked her mane, making her smile in her sleep.

A few minutes of bliss passed for what seemed like hours as we stayed that way. Finally, Twilight stirred from her sleep. " Good morning." This made her get up with a start and accidentally bump against my stitches. " Aah, easy."

" Oh my gosh, Swagger, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that!" She scampered off the bed and started acting hysterical.

I sat up in my bed and gestured for her to calm down. " Calm down Twi, you just brushed against it, the stitches are still in place." This seemed to calm her down greatly. " How long you been here?"

" Ever since the doctors left. Listen, I wanted to thank you for saving me from that blade." I saw that her eyes were darting all over the room and her hooves were fidgeting. " I also wanted to apologize. If I had done something, anything, you wouldn't have been hurt." I saw that her eyes started to tear up again.

I got up from the bed and brought her in for a hug. " Don't do that to yourself. A lot of people would freeze while having a weapon thrown at them."

" But you didn't! You put yourself in the knife's path and got hurt, whereas I could've teleported us out of the way, or throw up a shield, or hell just about anything but I didn't! I just stood there and watched someone I care about get hurt. All because I didn't react fast enough." She started bawling her eyes out and shook in my arms. Not knowing what else to do, I decided to do what I usually do when Sam was upset or scared, I started scratching behind her ears. This seemed to have the desired effect and her crying subsided. " Thank you, I needed that."

" Anytime." Twilight stopped shaking and started nuzzling into my chest. " Listen, you don't need to apologize for what happened, you weren't the one who threw the knife." I pulled her back a bit so I could look her in the eye. " Look, if you still feel bad, I can always teach you how to react quickly in situations like the one we were in. Would that make you feel better?"

Twilight wiped a few tears away before giving me a smile. " I'd like that very much." What happened next caught me completely off guard, she leaned over and kissed my cheek. It must've been just as surprising to her as it was for me, 'cause the next I know, Twilight's recoiling at what she did. " Oh my gosh! Swagger, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over-" I stopped her babbling by bringing her in for a proper kiss.

After a minute, we broke the kiss. Twilight was speechless on what just happened. " That should make up for the knife." That got her to let out a giggle before nuzzling up to my chest.

While we were enjoying the moment, the door opened to reveal Tex. " Hey Swagger, just thought I'd-" His words caught in his throat when he saw Twilight nuzzling up to my chest. He kept starring at us for a while before backing out of the room, and shutting the door. Twilight and I looked at each other for a bit before breaking out in a fit of laughter over what just happened.

Author's Notes:

And so ends the Wolfman's adventure with Daring Do. Also, as I said before in my other notes, you guys help the story along in the comments. It's one of the reasons that Swagger and Twilight are becoming a thing.

Anyway, now it's time for another chapter involving the kids.

Time for some clips.

https://youtu.be/5I0YCnvN8nI

https://youtu.be/-lp1GdVuvFU