You blink yourself awake in the early hours of the morning, but keep your eyes closed. Surprisingly, you’re not feeling as sleepy as you probably should.

Last night was pretty tiring. In fact, yesterday as a whole was pretty tiring.

With a combination of not eating, getting attacked by a room-service pony, killing said room-service pony, fleeing the crime, walking across the entire city, being chased out of a bar, and the extraordinary awkwardness that occurred last night, you should be exhausted.

But you’re not.

You feel pretty good actually. The bed is incredibly uncomfortable, so your muscles feel a little sore, but other than that, you’re alright.

You lie on your stomach on top of the old spring mattress, silently praying that the bed will suddenly become comfortable and force you back to sleep.

For the first time in your life, or what you can remember to be your ‘life,’ you think that the room is a little chilly.

The general area of where you woke up a few days ago seems to be located on the equator, or on a plant dangerously close to the sun, as it is the hottest you believe you have ever felt. But now, inside a room with no air conditioning, you shiver.

Just once. Only once. It’s a little chilly, not freezing.

The answer is obvious, though. You feel nothing resting on your back.

You open your eyes and glance for a quick second over the side of the bed, where the blanket lies, crumpled up on the dirty floor.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Numerous bad things have happened to you in a very short amount of time.

You would move to grab it, but it’s not worth it. You have no motivation to make such an action, so you just lie there and stare at the floor, wishing the blanket would magically levitate over to you.

Surprisingly enough, such a thing would be possible if Daring was a unicorn. But she isn’t. She’s just a pegasus that can barely fly.

When you think that, it’s not meant to be with contempt. Not at all. It’s merely an observation. She mustn’t be a very good flyer if she hurt her wing by crashing into a tree when no outside forces acted on her.

She flew into a tree.

She has the entire sky to fly in, an almost endless expanse, and she hits a damn tree.

Well, you probably shouldn’t think that her flying is all bad. Yesterday, she flew through a glass door while carry another being, and dropped them.

That was impressive.

Who knows? Maybe her flying will actually be useful for more than dropping ponies to their deaths one day.

You feel something soft and scruffy rub up against your side.

You know what it is, but you turn your head to face the other end of the bed, anyway.

Surely enough, there is Daring Do, world’s most notorious graverobber, famous writer, and ingenious professor, lying with her back rubbing against your side, her wings and legs tucked into her body.

Daring is incredibly soft. Her short fur feels funny against your skin, but for a pony that travels through jungles for a living, and as a result, rarely bathes, her fur is really soft!

Because she is facing the other way, you cannot see her face, but you just assume that she is asleep. It’s a safe assumption.

She mumbles something incoherent and kicks a foreleg before scooting herself backwards further into you.

Which is…

Well, adorable, really.

Despite how tough she appears to be, she is strangely adorable. But you would never call her that. You wouldn’t even think of calling her such a thing.

You have a feeling that if you were to, then you would end up like that stallion in the bar last night.

You enjoy your genitals very much. Very, very much.

The last thing you want is for a talking horse to kick them off of you because you gave her a compliment that she didn’t take kindly to.

You can just imagine that scenario in your head, and you subconsciously flinch at the thought.

You enjoy having genitals, and you plan on keeping them for a very long time.

Forever, actually.

So you best be careful what you say to the mare. She has recently proven just how dangerous she really is.

Getting on her bad side would be a huge mistake, especially considering she is your only current friend.

Though ‘friend’ could be used loosely.

You’re not sure exactly how much she really likes you. You wouldn’t imagine she likes you a lot.

Just the other day she was about to rip your throat out when the both of you ventured through the temple. And the both of you argue like you’re being paid for it.

You don’t know. Maybe she likes you? It’s a hopeful thought, you think, but it could be true. Stranger things have happened.

You think it’s safe to say that you like her. She has helped you out more than anyone in their right mind should, and she appears to be willing to continue to help.

She manages to get on every nerve you have multiple times a day for no more of a reason than that she simply can, but it’s kind of fun. What fun would it be if you agreed on everything all time?

Of course, you have yet to actually agree on anything, but you’ll get there one day.

You think back to last night, as it is among the only memories you have.

… Wow…

That’s your response to last night.

With the combination of the drinking (mainly done on Daring’s part), Marley’s comments, and the two ponies banging away next door, last night was…

Awkward.

You’re glad it’s over, though. Wouldn’t want to relive last night. Of all the memories you have acquired over the past few days, last night was not the best.

Definitely not the worst, but not the best either.

Now you don’t want the pegasus mare to wake up, lest you are forced to experience the awkwardness from the previous night all over again.

It’s like a nightmare. An awkward, not scary, never ending nightmare.

And who would want that? No one. No one at all.

You see the sun slowly rising over the horizon, thanks to the fact that the Earth spins. You witness such an event occurring thanks to the fact that you do not have a window.

Piece of shit motel.

Daring rolls onto her back, wiggling around in order to get comfortable, her wing rubbing against your side.

The feeling of all of those feathers against you tickles, but you don’t move away. You just lie there and look at her for a while.

Daring’s mouth is hanging wide open, and some drool is slowly sliding down her cheek, staining her fur.

Adorable.

You wish you had a camera. Surely such a photo would surely embarrass the sleeping mare.

But you don’t have one. You don’t have much of anything. The only things you actually possess are the clothes you are wearing right now and that’s it.

Oh well.

There will be times to embarrass her later.

May as well shower.

You slowly scoot yourself away from the sleeping pegasus, not wanting to wake her up for multiple reasons.

She does look kinda cute when she’s sleeping.

…

Hold up a second. Where did that thought come from?

…

Well, you can’t really argue with it, can you? She is cute when she’s not pissing you off.

…

Yeah, it’s shower time.

You attempt to get out of bed quicker than you originally wanted to, but the faster you go to bathe, the sooner you don’t have to be in the same room as Daring.

However, you don’t quite make it out.

“Noo,” Daring groans, rolling over and placing a foreleg loosely on your back, as though such an action is enough to keep you from going anywhere.

You stop moving and look at her.

Her face is a lot closer to yours all of a sudden, and you feel your cheeks warm up a little. She exhales and you feel her breath run over your face.

Her eyes are closed and her breathing is even, so you assume she is still sleeping.

You slowly move out of bed and allow her leg to slide across your scarred back and fall softly onto the mattress.

Without looking back, you walk into the bathroom.

==========

Well that was, without a doubt, the most disgusting shower you have ever had the displeasure of seeing.

At least you think it was. You’re memory is only a few days old.

You feel more dirty now than you did before you got in the shower, and that’s saying something.

The water was cold, the water pressure was pitiful, the shampoo probably wasn’t actually shampoo, and the towels smelled weird.

You hate this place.

If Daring didn’t kill that guy, you could be sleeping on a nice, soft mattress and eating room service in a well air conditioned room.

But no.

You walk back into the bedroom, towel around your waist.

Not surprisingly, Daring is still sleeping. Only this time, she is clutching a pillow in her forelegs and holding it tightly against her chest.

And she is snoring.

She wasn’t snoring earlier, which is strange, but whatever.

You open the door to your room and peek out into the hallway. Which is deserted.

However, there is a newspaper on the ground, which you decide to pick up. May as well read until Daring wakes up.

There is a chair at the desk on the other side of the room, so you may as well sit over there. You don’t want to sit on the bed and risk waking Daring up.

You take a seat and get comfortable.

The newspaper is two weeks old, but that doesn’t matter right now. You may as well read for a while.

==========

There is a nice, long article about the World Cup, which appears to be coming up. Many countries, it seems, still need to qualify, and the race is close, but you don’t care.

You’ve never heard of any of these countries.

But the article is pretty interesting, and it’s in english, so you read it.

You hear a sharp intake of air, commonly known as a ‘gasp,’ sound from the other side of the room.

Your heart jumps, being a little startled, and you drop the newspaper and look over at the bed.

Daring is sitting up, still on the mattress, panting, chest heaving, and her red eyes are very big.

“Are you okay?” you ask, debating with yourself if you should get up or stay where you are.

You could get up, but is that the best idea? Who knows what she could be thinking after last night?

Not you, that’s for sure.

But if you just sit here, she may take it as you not caring. And you care, of course. She’s your only friend.

Your indecisiveness causes you to simply remain seated as Daring responds.

“Y-Yeah,” she stammers, looking at you and blinking a few times. “Yeah. Fine.”

“You sure?” you ask, not believing her. People, or ponies, rather, don’t usually wake up from a good night’s rest sweating and out of breath.

She nods her head. “Bad dream, I guess…” she chuckles. “I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

Something feels off about that response, but you let it go.

“Sleep well?” You bend over to pick up the newspaper.

“Mm-hmm… It was alright. It’s nice to have a bed. How about you?”

You shrug. “Not too bad. It could be worse.” That certainly isn’t a lie. Spending time in a cell sucked a lot more than sleeping at Marley’s hotel.

“Heh heh,” she chuckles nervously. “Yeah. Could be worse.”

There is a moment of silence.

You wonder why she isn’t saying more. She usually has a lot to say, and she isn’t one to hold back, either. If she wants to say something, then she’s going to say it, and nothing will stop her.

If she’s angry, everyone around her is going to know one way or another. Same thing goes with if she’s happy, or if she is displaying any emotion at all. She’s not particularly subtle.

While you’re thinking about it, you may as well talk about last night. You have a lot of questions that need to be answered, and the sooner you get it over with, the better. If you wait too long, you’ll never be able to talk about it ever again.

“Daring?” you ask, breaking the silence.

The pegasus’ ears perk up and her wings ruffle as she looks back at you, her eyes getting a little smaller.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Uh, sure. Yeah, go ahead.” She shifts around a little bit on the mattress before settling down.

“Can we talk about last night?”

You wanted to further elaborate on that question, but before you got the chance to do so, Daring hops up and starts talking.

“Oh yeah!” she exclaims, standing up on the bed. “Last night was crazy, huh? We were drinking and running…” She looks away from you for a second before looking back, this time with a smile on her face. “In fact, I must have drank so much, I can’t remember a thing!”

You quirk an eyebrow suspiciously. “Really? Nothing?”

She chuckles a little and clears her throat, looking down at the ground. “A-ha. Nope! Not a thing.” She quickly hops out of bed and down onto the floor. “Oh well!”

She moves to get dressed for the morning. She puts on her shirt faster than one may expect a horse to be able to and flips her hat/helmet onto her head with the flick of a foreleg.

“I must have drank too much. It happens, you know.” She flips her helmet off from the floor and onto the top of her head. “I’m not used to drinking. And I’m a pegasus! And pegasi have a lower alcohol tolerance, so…”

Well shit. You wanted to talk about last night. You especially wanted to ask why she was drinking in the first place, but it’s a lost cause. You won’t get anywhere if she can’t remember.

“Why?” Daring asks, looking nervous and raising a foreleg slightly in the air. “Did… you want to talk about something that happened?”

You sigh. “No. I guess not.”

“Are you sure?”

“I guess so,” you nod after a moment of thinking.

“Well… alright.”

There is another moment of silence.

You still want to know why Daring was acting so strange. You can’t think of a particular reason why she would drink so much and act all weird when you got back here. It’s completely out of character for the grave-robbing mare.

You could still try to bring it up, but if she can’t remember, than the entire process will just make you more frustrated.

“Want some breakfast?” Daring asks, breaking the silence.

You remember you did not eat yesterday. All of yesterday, the entire day, nothing was consumed by you other than a small amount of alcohol.

All thoughts about Daring suddenly fly out of your head.

“Yes,” you respond simply.

Daring laughs at your quick and simple response.

“I thought so. Get dressed and follow me!”

==========

“Bon appetite!”

A few pancakes already drenched in syrup flop onto your plate, causing the sticky substance to fly out in all directions, including getting a little on you.

An old camel takes a couple step to where Daring is sitting and drops a few pancakes on her plate as well, with similar results. Marley then walks to the back of the room and disappears behind a door.

The room you are in is most likely the motel’s dining room. Though, ‘dining room’ is too generous of a term, it seems. There is only table in the entire room with four chairs. And two of those chairs are broken.

You take a moment to look down at your plate. The pancakes look pretty good, and they smell like pancakes too.

Which genuinely surprises you.

You look up at Daring, who is curiously gazing at her plate, seemingly lost in thought. Probably wondering if it’s safe to eat or not. Probably.

You’re thinking the same thing. Marley does not seem like the most stable of individuals, so him making you food does not seem like the best of ideas.

“I thought we weren’t eating here,” you say, causing the pegasus to look up at you. For some reason, when her big red eyes connect with yours, your heart feels heavy. But only for a second.

“Well, we don’t really have any choices, do we?” she asks.

You sigh. “No. Guess not. Which is entirely your fault, by the way.”

“My fault?”

Before you can elaborate further on your point, which you have had plenty of times to mull over in your head due to the long day yesterday and lack of food, Marley comes back in, carrying a tray on his back.

“Now, I wants you two ta eat up, now!” he yells, placing a glass of orange juice in front of you and and then Daring. “An’ don’t’cha think about leaving this here table ‘til all your food is gone.”

Daring chuckles. “Well, I certainly won’t turn down on offer for food!” She glances at you out of the corner of her eye. “And I know he won’t either?” she exclaims, gesturing to you.

Fuck

Any plans you may have had of avoiding Marley’s pancakes in favor of going literally anywhere else for breakfast have been shot.

You swallow nervously. “Yeah, Marey. This looks great! Thank you.”

“Aww,” Marley says bashfully. “No need ta thank me, young ‘in. It’s the least I could do after y’all gave me that money.”

Daring waves a hoof in the air. “Don’t sweat it, Marley. It was a gift, alright? Don’t feel like you need to repay us.”

“Shucks, Ms. Do. Breakfast is the least I could do!”

Your stomach rumbles, and you know that if you don’t begin eating soon, your body will eat itself. And who would want that to happen?

You take a big mouthful of pancake and swallow.

The taste is actually pretty good. It’s better than most food you have eaten since you woke up in the forest, so you have no room to complain.

“Mmm!” Daring says with a mouthful of pancakes, syrup dripping off of her chin. She swallows. “These are great, Marley, but there are so many! Why do you want us to finish them all?” She takes another bite.

“Oh-ho!” Marley laughs. “Don’t ya try ‘n be sly with me now, Ms. Do. Mm-hmm. I heard yas last night in there!” He points in the general direction of your room.

Your face suddenly lights itself on fire as Daring begins choking on her food. She picks up her juice and starts drinking quickly, but Marley continues without a care.

“Y’all were up very late ‘n must’ve exhausted yourselves!”

Sweet merciful Jesus take me now!

Unfortunately, you know exactly what he is referring to. Of course, there is a small chance he heard Daring yelling at you last night, but you doubt that is what he is referring to.

“Why, the two of yas were up so darn late, making all sorts o’ ruckus, I was con-sid-rin gettin’ the hose!”

He laughs to himself. Loudly. And bangs a hoof on the table.

You swallow and look at Daring, who is already looking back at you. Her eyes are the smallest you’ve ever seen them, her ears are flat, her wings are extended to either side of her, and her face is entirely red.

Well… looks like I didn’t have to embarrass Daring after all. Marley did it for me.

Daring suddenly snaps out of her stupor and turns frantically to Marley. “M-Marley, no! No! That wasn’t us!”

“Aww, now don’t be shy now, darlin’! You’re young and in love. It’s only natural!”

Your face is unreasonably warm. Maybe you’re sick?

“But that wasn’t us! There were these ponies next door, see? And they-”

“Now don’t you try ‘n lie ta me Ms. Do. I may be old, but I can hear just fine. ‘Sides, you two’s the only guests in this entire buildin’. Now, you two eat up!” He begins to walk away. “Be a shame to let that there food go to the rats again.”

Marley walks to the back and disappears out the back door.

You are now officially aware that Marley’s sole purpose, the only reason for that camel’s existence in this world, is to make every situation he is involved in as awkward as physically and emotionally possible.

It’s like he was born without common sense. Who the hell in their right mind would bring something like that up?!

Even if he did hear the two of you… doing that, there is no reason to bring it up! Especially not at the breakfast table!

You look at Daring, who is already looking back at you. In the next second, the both of you look down at your plates, faces red.

You begin to eat again, and hear Daring resume as well.

“Heh,” she chuckles nervously after a few moments of silence, “Marley… that crazy old camel…”

“Ha,” you fake-laugh back, “yeah.”

There is no more talking for the rest of breakfast.

==========

You’re back in the bedroom, gathering any personables you may have with you.

Which is nothing. Only Daring brought stuff. But she told you to carry the bag with the idols in it, so you do.

They’re heavier than they look. They’re not even a foot tall, and definitely not a foot wide. They look like they could weigh five pounds at most.

But if feels like you’re carrying at least thirty pounds worth of magical shit over your shoulder.

Not that you particularly mind. Getting these idols back to Daring’s boss means that you get to go home, so carrying them for a while is something you can suffer through.

The both of you walk out of the room and into the lobby.

“Hey Marley!” Daring yells, standing up on her hind legs and leaning on his desk. “Get out here, you old geezer!”

“Wassat?” you hear him yell back, along with what sounds like a pan drop to the floor and spin around. “Who dat, there?”

Daring rolls her eyes. “The only guests you’ve ever had! We’re checking out!”

The old camel hobbles out of the back room, and you wonder what he’s always doing back there. And then you decide that it is best you don’t know.

“Checkin’ out? Y’all jus’ got here!”

Daring nods. “Yeah, well, we’re leaving. Probably won’t be back, either. Not for a while, anyway. We really gotta get going.”

“Well alright, child. I won’t keep ya! Good luck with whatever it is you kids do these days.”

“Thanks, Marley.” Daring places the room key on the desk. “As long as everything goes according to plan, it should be smooth sailing.”

Daring has a plan?

Well that’s good. You didn’t know she had one, as she doesn’t usually seem to have one. She seems just to tackle things as they come along, but this is a good change of pace.

“You two lovebirds run along, now!” Marley yells, laughing.

You roll your eyes and assume Daring does as well, though you don’t look to check.

“It was great seeing you, Marley. It’s about time we hit the road.”

“Well alright. Come back and visit, now! Y’hear?”

“We will! Bye, Marley!”

The both of you turn to leave the motel and prepare to go out in public once more. It probably wouldn’t be the best idea to just waltz along the main roads, as you are easily distinguishable in a crowd.

“And you be good to Ms. Do, now!” Marley calls after you.

“I will!” you respond, not wanting to argue anymore and just wanting to leave.

The second you step out of the building you feel excitement course through you. One step closer to going home and getting the hell out of here. Just the thought of it makes you want to jump for joy!

Daring knows the location of the last artifact, presumably, so all you have to do is go and pick it up! Easy!

You got the elephant and donkey, now it’s time for the eagle of… whatever. You can’t remember it’s official name, but who cares?!

Your nightmare is almost over!

You smile.

“Hey! Hurry up!” you hear. You look down and see Daring trot in front of you. “We have a zeppelin to catch!”

You chuckle, still smiling, on your little emotional high. “Alright!

…

…

Your smile falls.

Did she say ‘zeppelin?’

Author's Notes:

Damn guys I'm sorry it's been so long.
I have not given up! I never will, as I have said multiple times. It's just hard to right, especially now.
But I cranked this out, and I got the next two chapters for this story outlined.
Along with the next chapter of TMM outlined. It's hard to write sometimes.
Sorry if there are mistakes, I have no editor.
Let me know what you guys think!
I need feedback!
Love you guys!