There is no alarm alarm clock in this hotel, for whatever reason, but you have no need of one; Daring’s snoring and other antics is enough to keep you awake for most of the night.

The bed isn’t comfortable anyway.

Perhaps you would’ve gotten up to read or sit on the balcony for a bit if it wasn’t for your business partner resting on half of your body. She does manage to take up a lot of space for a little thing.

There were several times throughout the night when Daring was snoring directly into the side of your face. Most would find that irritating, and you did for a while, but mostly thought it was cute.

But after an hour of it you were ready to bludgeon her to death.

Daring acts all tough when she’s awake, but no one can act tough while they sleep. That’s one of the only times when you can see someone for who they are.

And Daring is just adorable.

In short, you didn’t wake her up. You looked at her for a while, tried to fall asleep, and sat with your thoughts for most of the night, which is never good. Your thoughts are driving you mad. If this feeling continues you will check yourself into the loony bin. It’s only a matter of time, honestly.

There is an ordinary clock on the wall (no alarm attached), that eventually reads 5 a.m. This ought to be a suitable time to wake up. Daring said you needed to start the day early, and this is early.

Should you wake up Daring directly? Or try to be sneaky about it?

Daring woke up by herself the last time this happened, right? You were never the one to wake her up.

Oh who gives a shit. You are 400% done with this.

“Wake up, Do,” you say, shaking her a bit and wondering why you called her ‘Do.’ Have you done that before?

“Stoooop,” she groans, not opening her eyes and readjusting herself on you a bit. “Stop.”

“Shouldn’t we be going somewhere?”

“Mm-hmm,” Daring stretches, almost hitting your face with her forelegs. She checks the clock before rolling on top of you and onto the side of the bed that she initially fell asleep on. She stretches again before getting out of bed.

“You all right?” you ask, remembering her actions from last night. She wasn’t too happy.

That’s not to say that she’s typically happy in general, but she’s not sad. She’s usually just a little irritated or pissed off.

“Yep.”

She sounds irritated and pissed off. Most people would leave someone who felt that way alone, but you aren’t most people, and Daring isn’t either.

“No you’re not,” you claim.

“Why would I lie about that?”

“I don’t know what you lie about.”

“You think I lie to you?” she asks, looking back towards you in the dark. You can still see her fairly well, but her eyes seem to glow in the dark. It’s weird. Daring’s just a pair of red eyes, ten feet away.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you know?”

You shrug. She got you on that one, you think. Eventually your memory ought to be coming back to ya.

Eventually…

“Get dressed,” Daring commands, putting on her own shirt. She manages to do the buttons with incredible ease, especially for a creature who lacks fingers.

You turn on the lamp from the nightstand, illuminating part of the room adequately before looking back to Daring.

She glances at you before turning away and gathering her things.

You notice that both of her eyes are almost entirely red. The whites of her eyes are now a pretty dark pink. Or, not white.

“You alright, Daring?” you ask again, a bit more concerned.

“Yes, Jay, shut up.”

She isn’t feeling too hot, for whatever reason. She’s not one for talking about her problems, for the most part. It’d be easier if she did, but that’s not really her.

Maybe she’s just tired. You’re tired.

You get up and get dressed, making sure you get all of your things together, which is easy because you have almost nothing. Just clothes and statues.

Daring gets whatever else you need and puts them in her own bags.

“Let’s do it,” Daring says, moving towards the door.

You do a quick double check over yourself, making sure you got everything, and follow her out the door.

The hallway is brighter than you anticipated, but as you’ve been awake for a while it doesn’t bother you all too much. Daring, however, squints and slowly trudges through the hallway, looking as happy as she ever does.

==========

There is basically no one outside the hotel at this time in the morning. The only beings out here are those who work at the hotel.

Comically enough, the night manager was the only pony in the lobby, and guess what he was doing.

Guess.

He was sleeping, obviously. Daring just left the keys next to him. You expected her to rudely wake him up, but she didn’t.

It’s pretty cold outside, surprisingly, but once the sun comes up you’re sure the temperature will skyrocket.

Damn deserts.

The only beings immediately outside the hotel are a few taxis. All of the taxis are run by regular looking ponies or camels. There is only one that is manned by a gryphon, who’s smoking a cigarette, so that’s where you’re going.

“We need a lift,” Daring says, causing the gryphon to look up and throw down her cigarette. Your companion pulls out her map and points to a spot on it. “This is where we need to get. How much?”

The gryphon squints at the map, before saying a multi-syllable number in another language. It must’ve been a big one, as Daring empties the rest of your gold coins into her talons before climbing into the seat.

Calling this object a “taxi” is pretty generous. It’s a buggy, but not even not. It’s basically a sofa attached to two bars that attach to a harness that the gryphons wears. It looks like a piece of shit.

“This thing is a piece of shit,” you say, always feeling the need to voice your opinion.

“We can walk the 30 miles if you really want to.”

“It’ll be better than falling to our deaths.”

“That’s what you think now,” Daring retorts, relaxing into her seat. “We could make it there, no problem, but how about the journey back? How much water do you think I can carry? Water is heavy and we would go through it real fast. We would die, and it wouldn’t be cool at all. It’d be disgusting. Daring Do will not die of dehydration.”

You still don’t know if you want to get in.

“You got a choice, Jay,” she says, and you imagine this is the first time you’ve ever had a choice in your life. “We either risk dehydration or falling to our deaths. You pick.”

“That’s easy for you. You can fly. If this thing breaks, I fall and you watch.”

“Don’t think I could catch you?”

“You can’t even get me 15 feet off the ground, so no, I don’t.”

“Choice is still yours, Jay. Walking or flying, you’ll probably die, but if you didn’t expect that since day 1 that you’re a moron.”

You climb onto the sofa, or “taxi,” or whatever, and the gryphon starts moving. She gets off to a good run before flaring out her wings and beating them hard, propelling you off the ground.

You grab onto the armrests and seat hard, already anticipating falling off. Even if this thing doesn’t break, you’ll probably fall off.

“See? Not so bad.”

You would roll your eyes but you can’t stop looking down. The city is getting smaller and smaller. You thought after that zeppelin ride that you would never have to fly ever again, but that was a stupid thought.

“This is awful,” you observe, the wind blowing hard against your face.

“Well, ‘awful’ is the best you’re gonna get.”

“Story of my life.”

“I’m gonna go back to sleep for a bit,” Daring says, leaning on your shoulder.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, Jay. Stop asking before I throw up.”

Well, you certainly wouldn’t want that to happen, now that you are both confined to this small space for at least the next hour.

By the end of this journey, however long it’s supposed to be, you know your hair is gonna be ruined. This wind crazy.

On your right, where Daring is sitting and sleeping, you can see the beginnings of a sunrise. At this point, the city is behind you, so the sun is raising only over the desert. It’s moderately pretty, but kind of scary, as you have the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere.

In the middle of nowhere, with your only friend, just as you have been all week. Nothing has really changed.

Only difference is, as Daring said, if you take too long, you’ll die of dehydration.

Wait a minute…

How are you supposed to make it all the way back to civilization after this? Do they have a taxi service in hell?

“Daring,” you say, “how are we supposed to get back? After we find the thing.”

She nudges herself a bit further back against your shoulder. “I got water and stuff. We’ll just walk back.”

“How long will that take?”

“I don’t know. Like, two days tops.”

“What if it takes us longer than expected to find the idol?”

Daring laughs, and it’s the first time she’s laughed all day. It makes you nervous and angry, how she’s so careless about this completely serious situation.

“It won’t.”

God! God why! Of all the beings in this world that had to have found you, why did it have to be this one? Why? Have you no heart?

She just doesn’t care! Either that, or she knows something you don’t!

And both of those options piss you off. If she’s keeping secrets, you want to know them. She shouldn’t be hiding anything from you. That’s not fair. And if she doesn’t care, she should. You haven’t stopped taking this whole situation seriously since day 1.

Of course, it’s a little hard for you not to take this situation seriously. You’re the one getting hurt, not her. Your back may be magically healed somehow, but it still hurts. The physical scars are gone but the mental ones grow every time Daring does something you don’t approve of.

“How do you know it won’t?” you ask, unable to pretend to be calm.

“Relax, Jay.”

Relax, Jay. Relax, Jay. Relax, Jay. Relax, Jay. Relax, Jay. Relax, Jay. Relax, Jay. Relax, Jay. Relax, Jay.

That sentence isn’t helping. She’s said those words more than anything else since you’ve met her. And if she says them one more time, just once more, you’re gonna punch her in the face. You can’t help it anymore.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. In and out, slowly.

“I’ve got a feeling everything will be just fine,” she says.

Her feelings. Her feelings have guided your entire journey. While semi-successful, you also haven’t stopped getting injured.

“How expensive is this ride?” you ask. “Couldn’t help but notice how we’re suddenly broke.”

“Do you know what it takes to get a gryphon to fly out here?”

“No.”

“All of our money, apparently. Nothing flies out here. When we land, look into the sky and count the birds. If the number is greater than 0 then you’re hallucinating.”

“Then why was there a civilization out there?”

“No idea. I’m not a zebra. There must’ve been something out here they liked… Or maybe there wasn’t. They didn’t last too long out there. Camels killed ‘em all pretty quick.”

“Where did these artifacts come from anyway? Someone had to make them.”

“I can’t believe you’re just now asking that.”

“I never really thought it mattered much. Those statues are just my ticket home, I don’t care much for what they do.”

“Nobody does now, but if they fall into the wrong hooves or talons or claws, everybody will.”

“What do they do exactly?”

“Kill things. Anything. Whatever you want.”

“How? They’re statues.”

“It’s magic, idiot.”

Oh, yeah. Saying ‘it’s magic’ suddenly makes everything crystal clear. Good. You thought there was a reasonable explanation to things, but no. It’s magic, idiot.

“Why do you want it?” you ask.

“So nopony else can use it for whatever evil plan they got. I don’t want someone using these things to hurt ponies.”

“So you want the statues so you can save the world?”

“Huh. Yeah, actually.”

“Aww, Daring, you’re my hero!”

“Fuck off, Jay.”

“How do you use them?”

“What?”

“How do you use the things?” you repeat. “We’ve had two of the statues for a while now and haven’t killed anything, as far as I know. Not with the statues, anyway.”

“I’m sure there’s someway to activate them.”

“You don’t know how?”

“No. And I don’t want to. These things are dangerous. Better for us to find them and keep them safe.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why not just let them stay hidden?”

“‘Cause everypony is out looking for them.”

“Yeah, but why? If they’ve been hidden for hundreds of years, why does everyone and their mother think now is the time to find them?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Holy shit.

You’re about to say something else, but think better of it. You’re not feeling well, and haven’t for some time, so maybe you should just be quiet for a while.

Daring doesn’t seem to mind that you’ve stopped talking, so you just keep quiet. You close your eyes for a few seconds but get scared that if you can’t see where you’re going then you will fall off the carriage sofa taxi thing.

So you just sit and wait.

==========

This is the new worst experience of your life.

Well, no, it’s not as bad as spending an afternoon with Kiduttaa, but this has got to be the next worse thing. Daring is casually sleeping on your shoulder while you clutch onto the couch for dear life.

You’ve been doing this for like an hour, too scared to let go.

You thought you’d nap, but you’re wide awake now.

How the hell are you supposed to know when you get to this place? It’s the desert. This particular section of the desert looks absolutely identical to every other part of this sandy hell hole.

“Daring,” you say, shaking your shoulder to wake her up. “Daring wake up.”

“What?” she asks sleepily, sitting up and looking down. “Are we there yet?”

“No. How do we know when we get there?”

“You woke me up for that?” she whines, putting her head back on your shoulder. “The gryphon will know. She’s counting the miles.”

“How?”

“Jeez, Jay, I don’t know, she is so just relax.”

“If you say so… Hey, Daring.”

“Hmm?” she hums, and you can feel her head vibrate on your shoulder.

“What’s your name?”

“What?”

“What’s your name?”

“Daring Do.”

“And that’s your real name?”

“That’s the one I supposedly got at birth. I was there at the time, but it was a while ago, so I can’t exactly recall firsthand.”

“What other names do you have?”

“My pen name is A.K. Yearling, when my books get published.”

“Why?” you ask, thinking that is an interesting choice for a fake name.

“Don’t know. It sounds cool.”

You nod, silently agreeing. You don’t know where all these questions are coming from all of a sudden. You guess you can’t sleep, so may as well find out as much about Daring as possible for a time.

Oddly enough, that’s not something you’ve attempted until now.

“How old are you?” you ask.

“What’s with all these questions, Jay?”

“I’m curious is all. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want.”

“I don’t have to do anything I don’t want. I’ll be 33 this fall.”

You do a double take. She isn’t old by any means, but she doesn’t seem to be that old. You would’ve guessed mid 20s tops.

“What?” Daring asks, noticing your strange reaction.

“Nothing, I just didn’t think you were that old.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Sorry, I guess I did mean it as a compliment. You look pretty young.”

“Well, I’ve been doing this for a while. I’ve written who knows how many books and have been exploring in and outside of Equestria hundreds of times. I keep busy. With age comes experience, I’ve been saying.”

“You just sounded like an old lady.”

“Shut up, Jay,” she laughs. “I move around better than ever. I’m in the prime of my career.”

“I believe you,” you say, half lying. “You ever gonna retire?”

“At some point. I don’t look that far down the road, Jay, you should know that.”

You do.

“I don’t know,” she continues. “I know this won’t last forever, but I love it, so I may as well keep doing it while I can. One day it could all come to an end.”

“I get the feeling that the only way you will ever retire from this is when you die,” you say honestly.

“Heh,” she chuckles. “Hard to say. Don’t look to far into the future, Jay, you might not like what you see. Just live in the present for a bit, life’s a lot less stressful that way.”

Yes, but that doesn’t seem to be the kind of person you are. If there is one thing that amnesia cannot change, it’s who you are.

You think.

“You’re seriously 32 years old?” you ask.

“Yep. It’s not even old, Jay.”

“God, you are like an old lady.”

“Shut up,” she laughs. “How old are you then, if I’m so old?”

“Great question.”

“Oh yeah,” she says, apparently just remembering that you are physically unable to recall anything from your life, including age. “My bad.”

“No worries. I’m bound to remember eventually.”

“You will, Jay. Don’t worry about it.”

Daring has been trying to fall back asleep for quite a while now, and you have been preventing that with your talking, so you shut back up. It should be only a matter of minutes before you guys land anyways.

==========

The landing was even less fun than the actual 2 hour flight. No one alerted you that when the carriage landed, it stopped almost instantly and without warning.

As a result, you fell out and landed on your face. The sand was a relatively comfortable surface to land on, but now you have sand all over the place. It’s scratchy and not very pleasant.

You cursed a bit, and asked Daring why she didn’t warn you.

“What’d you think would happen?” she responded. “We’re landing on sand, not concrete. You think there’s an airport out here?”

You didn’t know the surface of the landing area played such a large role upon the impact of landing, but in hindsight, you should have.

Right after dropping you both off, the gryphon departs.

By this time, the sun has officially gotten its entire self over the horizon.

“It’s only a matter of time before this sand gets hot as fuck,” Daring says. “Try not to be touching it with exposed skin for very long. It’ll burn you up.”

“What about you?”

“I can fly,” she says, flapping her wings while remaining on the ground, just reminding you that she does have wings.

“Right.” You look around, seeing absolutely nothing in all directions except sand. “Where to now?”

“No idea. This should be around the right spot though.”

“How do you figure? This spot looks just like every other spot.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

There she goes again. For the love of all that is holy-

“Take the lead, Jay.”

“What?” you ask.

“I don’t know where to go, so why don’t you give it a shot. Just walk around a bit.”

“Why me? How are we gonna know when we find anything? We don’t have digging tools.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Holy shit. She keeps saying that. If she says it again you’re going to murder her, honestly, you can’t take it anymore.

“Everything always works out,” she says. “So just listen to what I say and we’ll find this thing. Now, lead the way.”

You don’t know what she’s talking about. Lead the way? To what?

“Where should I go?” you ask.

She facehooves. “If I have to tell you where to go, you wouldn’t be leading, would you? Just go wherever you want.”

Fine. You turn to your left and walk in that direction, and Daring follows without audibly judging you.

There is silence for a while, you waiting for Daring to tell you that you fucked up somehow, but she never does.

“Feel anything yet?” she asks.

“I feel sweaty.”

“No, like, do you feel like you’re moving closer to the eagle?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know where the stupid thing is.”

“Damn, Jay, you’re not even trying! We’re never gonna find this thing unless you use your gut feelings. I know you don’t know where it is, just feel around for it.”

“Is that what you do?”

“Sometimes.”

“Well, you’re the expert here, why don’t you do it?”

“You’ve only been trying for 20 seconds!”

“Which is a wasted 20 seconds. C’mon, Daring, seriously, this is stupid. You just do whatever it is you do and we can leave.”

“No, Jay! Just-”

“You’ve been talking non stop all week about how you’re the greatest adventurer ever! So put your money where your mouth is and get this thing.”

“Jay, this is part of my plan.”

“This place sucks.”

“I just need you to give this a shot.”

“It’s sandy as fuck.”

“This is exactly what we’re supposed to be doing.”

“And hot as balls.”

“If you do this, we’ll get this thing, and that’ll be that.”

It’s gotten really hot really fast. There is no shade for miles. It’s gotta be over 100 degrees, or it feels like it. If you weren’t wearing shoes then the bottoms of your feet would have burnt off.

You’re already dehydrated.

It’s hot. You’re sweating. You covered in sand. Daring refuses to give you explanations on anything. You haven’t slept for what appears to be 48 hours now.

You continue to wander around as your shirt gets heavier and heavier due to your sweating, and your limbs threaten to give out.

The entire time you search, you complain and ask Daring questions, which she characteristically dodges and doesn’t answer.

==========

Hours must have passed. You don’t have a watch or anything but the sun was barely over the horizon when you started, and now it’s right above you.

Daring refuses to let either of you drink any water until the eagle is found. She wants to save it for the walk back.

You would kill for a bottle of water. Or a nap. Definitely a nap.

“Keep moving, Jay,” Daring orders upon seeing you standing still. “Not gonna find the eagle standing around like that.”

“Then how exactly are we going to find the stupid fucking thing?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

You want to punch her right in her pony face. You would double your efforts into finding the ancient statue if it meant you could smack Daring. The fact that she seems perfectly composed in this hot, terrible environment is making you incredibly upset.

“Jay, keep walking,” she says again, like you didn’t hear her the first time.

Perhaps it’s just the frustration that has been building up since you two first met, but this incredible wave of energy suddenly rushes over you, and you immediately want to find a way to expel it.

All day, Daring has been saying and doing things without a single explanation. You, not being able to remember anything anyway, have felt even more lost than usual, and it’s not only angering you, but it’s scaring you.

And all that anger and fear have built up into what you are right now.

As Daring turns away from you, you see red. The desert and the cloudless sky become red and you act.

You physically grab ahold of Daring, tightly gripping your hands onto her before lifting her up and slamming her to the ground. In an instant, you are on top of her.

Her eyes get real small again as she looks up at you, and for the first time since you’ve met she looks genuinely nervous… and afraid.

Her expression doesn’t help you calm down any. If anything, it’s making you feel even more aggressive, as you now truly believe she’s hiding something.

“I’ve fucking had it, Daring!” you shout, keeping her firmly pinned to the ground. “I have no idea what’s happening to me! But I guarantee you know what’s happening! And you still won’t tell me! You’re not telling me anything!”

Daring puts her forelegs against your neck, just trying to force you away, but you’re way bigger than she is, and she’s a very light pony. If she doesn’t have space to utilize in order to fight back, she’s helpless.

“You’ve been keeping me in the dark about everything! Who were you talking to in the bar? Why are these artifacts in such random places? I can’t believe I ever trusted you in the first place! I only met you a week ago!”

She puts her forelegs against your chest and attempts to shove you off, but that fails. She manages to get a hind leg under your stomach and tries pushing you off, attempting to distance herself from you.

“Don’t even think about it!” you yell, smacking her hind leg off of you before you straddle her barrel, now fully on top of her. As she struggles, you pin her forelegs to the ground with your arms and squeeze your legs around her, still keeping her wings from spreading.

“Jay, stop!” the pegasus yells from beneath you, but you’re not listening.

“That’s not even my name! You live this double life out here, daring, but what is it that you do back home? Teaching? That’s original. How long did it take for you to make that up?”

“I didn’t make it up, J-Jay, it’s true! I’m not lying to you!” She tries to free her forelegs from your grip but you’re too strong. She tries to lift herself off the ground with her hind legs, but you’re too heavy.

“Why are you lying to me, Daring?! What are you hiding?”

“I’m not lying or hiding anything!”

“Then why do you keep fighting back?” you ask, keeping a firm grip upon her.

“Because you’re attacking me, you dick!” She tries to headbutt your arm in order to free her foreleg, but that’s not working either. “Jay, please stop, please. I’m not lying! I’m not lying! I can explain everything.”

You release her forelegs and wrap your hands around her throat, keeping them loose enough for her to breathe, but tight enough to know who’s in control. “Then start with why my wounds have all disappeared.”

She pushes her forelegs against your arms in a futile effort to make you let go. “I… can’t really,” she chokes out. “But wait! It’s because I’m genuinely unsure.”

“Yeah? You’re unsure? Really?”

“Yes, Jay!”

“No you’re not. You know why. Remember what you said when you saw how all of my scars were gone? Do you remember?”

She doesn’t say anything. She just struggles.

“You said, and I quote, ‘So it is true.’ Remember that? I do. That’s what you said. You didn’t tell me what you meant then, and you’re not telling me now.”

“J-Jay… I-I never said that.”

“Stop lying to me! Have you ever told me anything that’s true? Have you ever said one thing to me that wasn’t a lie? Have you ever said ‘Good morning’ to me and meant it?”

“Jay, stop this, you’re just tired. Let’s just take a break-”

“You fall asleep every night, and when I wake up, you’re fucking laying on me! Every! Single! Night! What are you trying to do?!”

“Nothing! That’s… nothing.” She wiggles under you, just trying to get comfortable under your weight as you slightly tighten your grip.

“You have these crazy mood swings, Do,” you say. “One second you’re making fun of me, the next you’re sleeping on me. One minute you’re yelling, the next you’re crying! What are you trying to do to me?”

She doesn’t answer. She simply looks up at you, waiting for you to do something.

Your vision starts coming back to you and your heart beat slows. You feel yourself becoming calmer after having released all of your built up angry energy.

You look down at Daring, who is still looking up at you, her eyes still small, hear ears at attention.

Her heart is beating fast and you can feel it bumping through your legs. Both of you are sweating now.

You’re angry, but you don’t mean her any harm. Removing your hands from her throat, you sit up, separating yourself from her a bit.

You stand up and take a few steps away from her as she turns over and coughs into the sand.

Daring remains lying in the sand. You look away from her but you feel her eyes following you as she tries to compose herself.

You take a few steps away, breathing deep and trying to calm down. Who would’ve thought you would attack your only friend?

But you can’t be so sure that she really is your friend. Can you?

You don’t know anymore. You just want to vomit.

“We aren’t even close to the end, are we?” you ask to whoever is listening.

The ground begins shaking, as if part of the desert wants to go one way and another part wants to go another way. At first you think it’s in your head until Daring flies into the air and shouts “Earthquake!”

The very same second she says that you fall onto your back. The Earth seems to get angrier and angrier and you can feel yourself being tossed around.

As soon as it came, it stops.

You are left lying on your back, staring straight up into the sky, wondering what just happened. How common are earthquakes around here?

You aren’t left thinking for very long, as again, you find yourself falling again. The ground gives way beneath you and sends you what feels like 30 feet downwards, below the surface of the earth.

Despite the seemingly lengthy fall, and landing hard onto your back, you remain conscious and apparently uninjured.

Looking up again, you can see the surface of the desert through which there is now a hole in which you just fell through. Beyond that is the blue sky that you were just looking at.

You fell in a hole. Lucky you.

“Jay?” you hear Daring call. “Are you okay?”

The wind has been absolutely knocked out of you, so responding is out of the question. But even if you could physically call back to her, you don’t think you would.

Just look where you are.

To your left continues the expansive room into which you have fallen. It is full of vases and jars and… what looks like dusty, sandy gold.

To your right is much of the same. Where are you?

“The tomb of Vitun Mies,” Daring almost whispers as her silhouette flies in. It is difficult to see her through all the dust and shit that’s flying around because you flopped onto the ground. “Infamously remembered as the keeper of the white eagle.”

What?

Did you seriously fall into a hole…

And that hole has the eagle in it?

What-

How-

What?!

“See,” Daring says, out of breath and rubbing her neck. “I told you everything would work out.”