Before you were able to question Daring further she disappeared into a back room; probably to change out of that uniform before someone who actually works here realizes what’s going on.

While she is gone, the zeppelin finally begins to take off. The giant blimp slowly ascends into the sky, all the while you’re staring down at the ground at the unicorn who was recently thrown out of the window.

Good. He still hasn’t moved.

Maybe he’s dead?

You shrug. Who cares? Better him than you, anyway.

After a few moments, the zeppelin is gliding high above the city. Looking down, you can see all the of giant buildings and little specks which you assume are various creatures going on about their day. You can see the upscale part of town, and the slums, both of which you have visited.

It’s much nicer to be as high as you are right now. It feels safe, and the view is fantastic! What a beautiful day.

If you were Daring, or a pegasus in general, you would fly all the time. Being up here, breathing in the air… it’s just nice. It’s relaxing for some reason.

Even though you are terrified of heights, it seems, you feel safe in this giant metal box. You definitely feel safer in here than you did while Daring was carrying you.

Nobody else seems to be admiring the view, though. It appears that you are the only one looking out the window.

In fact, no one is sitting anywhere near you. But that is probably due to the fact that your companion threw someone out of the open window a few minutes ago.

It’s hard for you to make friends.

The crowd on this zeppelin seems rather high-class. Every pony or zebra or whatever you see is wearing clothes, which, with the exception of Daring, seems to be a sign of class and worth.

You don’t know why Daring feels the need to wear clothes. She certainly doesn’t wear them because she is ‘classy’.

She could be wearing clothes for the same reasons you do, for all you know. It’s just weird, is all.

You really don’t know why Daring wears a shirt and a hat all the time. Not that you’re complaining! If Daring wants to wear clothes, that’s all right. If she doesn’t, that’s just fine too.

Surveying the rest of the room, you see tables and sofas filled with clothed equines politely conversing with one another, sharing bottles of white wine.

How fancy.

You don’t think you would describe yourself as ‘fancy’ or ‘classy,’ either. You don’t particularly care for any of this kind of stuff.

Sure, it’s nice to be in a first-class death machine with nice food and wine, but it makes you a little uncomfortable.

“Anything to drink, sir?” a zebra, wearing a white tuxedo asks from next to you. You didn’t even see the dude. Sneaky bastard.

“Uh…” you think for a second. “Can I get a coke?” You don’t want to drink any alcohol on this trip. As Daring claims, best to be sober.

“Of course,” the zebra nods his head and turns away, walking back to wherever the hell he came from.

Should you have gotten Daring something?

Guess not. If Daring wants something then she’ll just steal it, like she does everything else.

You chuckle to yourself. What a funny joke! Maybe you used to be a comedian.

“Your beverage, sir,” the zebra says, holding a tray with a single glass on it.

“Thank you,” you respond, surprised with how quick that was. You ordered the thing like 7 seconds ago.

You take the glass and set it on the table in front of you and you are left in peace once again.

Hopefully this trip won’t take very long. It shouldn’t.

Think about it for a sec. You already got two of the three idol things, and that took like two days to do. Now all you gotta do is land this bitch, pick up the last idol in some sketchy temple or whatever, and you can go home!

By this time in a day or two, you will be back to wherever the hell you came from.

And that is a cause for celebration!

But not quite yet. Once you get that last idol, you and Daring are gonna get hammered, then you are out of here.

Speaking of the little yellow mare, she is spotted walking through the throngs of equines and back over to you.

She looks uncomfortable.

“God damn!” Daring whispers to herself, walking back over to you. “That thing was itchy as hell! How do those ponies wear that?”

“Hey, Daring.”

“Sup.”

“You good?” you ask, taking a sip of your soda.

“Yeah.” She shakes her mane out and ruffles her wings. “Just got this itch.”

“Where?”

“Right in between my wings.” She takes a seat next to you and rubs her back against the back of the couch. “This blows.”

You notice a few ponies looking over and staring at Daring’s uncouth display. It probably is not socially acceptable to rub oneself against furniture. At least, not in public.

“Daring, Daring,” you say, putting your drink down and sitting up. “Stop. Here, just let me get it.”

“Pfft,” she spits. “Don’t need ya, Jay. I got this.” She scrunches her face up in concentration, and she now looks more ridiculous than you have ever seen her.

“Daring, just sit up.”

“Make me.”

“Stop. You’re making a scene.”

“You’re making a scene!” She proceeds to aggressively move against the back of the couch. She is doing it so hard you think she is going to permanently damage the upholstery.

And you are not going to pay for a new couch.

You grab Daring with both of your hands and pull her forcefully into your chest. She yells about how she isn’t done yet and calls you a rather inappropriate name.

You ignore her, as you have gotten used to doing, and put a hand behind her back, in between her wings, and begin scratching.

Immediately, she melts into you and releases a loud, happy sigh, drawing even more attention over to you.

You look up at all the other ponies who are already staring at you. When they see you looking right back at them, they turn and go back to whatever it is they were doing.

Dealing with Daring takes a lot of effort. She is practically a 4 year old who can kick your ass.

“A little lower?” she requests quietly, and you oblige by moving your hand further down her back.

“That good?” you ask, making sure you’re getting the right spot.

“Ohh yeah,” she coos. “You should do this for a living, dude. You’re better at this than being an adventurer.”

“Graverobber.”

You can’t see her eyes, but you know she rolled them. “Whatever. I’m not getting into that right now. Maybe later I’ll explain the difference again.”

“I’d like for you to explain the difference once.”

She shakes her head instead of verbally responding, probably too relaxed to actually want to put effort into arguing.

You gaze out the window and look at the sky around you. It’s blue, just as you thought it should be. There are a few scattered clouds, but not many. They’re pretty.

==========

At some point, without you even realizing it, Daring has lowered herself down and her head is now resting on your lap. And you are still scratching her back.

Given her gentle breathing, though, you assume that she has fallen asleep.

You straight up do not know what to do. Some other ponies are looking over at the both of you, you know it.

You stop scratching her and relax your body. Perhaps it’s best if you just let her sleep. It’s not like you’re uncomfortable or anything.

You actually enjoy this feeling.

Daring lets out a loud snore, which you know got quite a few ponies’ attention.

Fantastic.

You just decide to look out the window for a while and let Daring rest. She needs it.

==========

Daring woke up a little while ago, and to avoid any potential awkward conversation, you pretended you were asleep too. You’ve had enough with that kind of talk.

You open your eyes, pretending that you just awoke and see Daring gazing out the window, thinking.

You grab your drink and take a long sip, hoping the caffeine will get you going.

“Riddle me this, Daring,” you say, putting your drink down.

“Shoot.” She turns towards you with a little bounce and leans back against the sofa.

“All of these idols are hundreds of years old, right?”

She nods.

“If they’re that old, then how come everyone is out looking for them now? I mean, why is it that everyone unanimously chose this moment in time to find the damn things?”

“Jay,” she begins, “everypony has been looking for these things for hundreds of years, but me and you actually found one. Word got out that we found one and greedy bastards from all over the world are out to find the other ones or us. Whatever comes first.”

“How did you find the first one, Daring?” you ask. “I woke up in that forest and I saw you. How did you know where that first idol was and no one else did?”

“I…” she looks like she want to continue, but stops herself. She glances at the sofa a couple of times before continuing. “I-I don’t know? I just got lucky, I guess.”

You don’t fully buy that, but you don’t question her any further. Daring is your only friend, so if she says something, then you will believe her.

“All right,” you say. “Tell me a bit more about these competitors of yours.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything. You just threw some guy out of the window not too long ago. And that was some horse I haven’t even seen before, Daring. How many enemies do you have?”

She smiles. “I got more enemies than I have feathers.”

“That’s not something to brag about.”

“It is to me.”

“Of course it is. I just want to know what I should be expecting when we get off this thing in a few hours.”

She thinks for a moment. “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s best to simply expect the unexpected in this business. I could tell you that we will walk right off this thing and find the idol and go home, but that might not happen.”

“With how our luck has been going, I guarantee that won’t happen.”

She chuckles. “I know, right? But seriously, we’re gonna get off this thing and there will probably be a lot of ponies that will want to attack us.”

“Fantastic, Daring. That’s just great.”

“Well it’s not my fault, is it?”

“Of course it’s your fault. Who else could be at fault here?”

“You.”

“Me? I’m not the one who has spent my entire life pissing off the most ruthless grave robbers in the world.”

“There are so many things wrong with what you just said, I don’t even know where to begin.”

“I just want to know more about your competitors,” you say. “Who should we be worried about?”

“I’m not worried about anyone.”

“Good. Now let’s be realistic for a second. Who should we be worried about?”

“God you make me want to drink until I pass out,” she complains, sitting forward. “The biggest one we need to keep in mind is Ahuizotl.”

You nod, making a mental list of whatever names she’s going to be giving you.

“Okay?” she asks. “He is mean, greedy, but pretty stupid. He could’ve killed me years ago, but he always tries too hard. He’s got thugs and animals at his disposal, and he will probably be willing to throw everything he’s got at us.

“He never finds any of these artifacts himself. He just waits for me to get them and then tries to steal it. Too bad he sucks at that too.”

“How long have you known him?” you ask.

She smiles. “Years, man. Years. Me and him go way back.”

“Him and I,” you correct her grammar. This mare should not be a professor or a writer because she speaks like an illiterate moron.

“Why do you have to make everything about you?” she deadpans.

You shake your head and roll your eyes. “Just… who else should I know? Who was that guy you threw out of the zeppelin earlier?”

“Oh! You mean Lieutenant Douchebag?” she laughs at the name, and you assume it isn’t his real name. “I’ve known him for a long time. Years ago, he tried to hire me to find artifacts for his “master race.” Him and the rest of those psychos want everypony to be a white coated unicorn. Crazy shit, am I right?”

You guess it is. That all sounds familiar to you for some reason.

“I don’t think we have to worry about zebras where we are going. Not a lot of them there. Mostly gryphons, camels, and ponies. Camels are known for being weak a dumb. Gryphons are known for being undyingly loyal and strong, but I can’t think of a gryphon we should be worried about.”

“Do you have any friends over there?”

She laughs. “Yeah. Good one, Jay.”

It wasn’t a joke, but alright.

“There are a lot of ponies that are just like Lieutenant Douchebag where we’re heading, but they’re always in uniform and easy to spot. Just keep an eye open and you’ll be fine.”

“Doesn’t sound especially difficult.”

“That’s really all I can think of,” she yawns.

“We good?”

“Yeah, Jay,” she sighs, leaning back against the sofa and putting her hind legs on the table, “this will be the easiest part of the trip.”

And you can’t shake the feeling that she is incredibly wrong.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long delay!
I know it's a short chapter, but I just wanted to put something out there for you guys.
Comment! I love your comments!