“Why is it always me?” you groan openly, rolling around the sand in the hole you just fell into.

“You alright?” Daring coughs, flying above you. She’s slowly becoming more and more visible as all the dust and sand clear out that you unsettled with your brief fall.

“Mm-hmm,” you groan, rolling onto your side, feeling very tired, in spite of what Daring just announced.

You have somehow managed to find the lost tomb of Vitun Mies. You should be happy. All you have to do now is grab the eagle and leave. This is all over.

But you’re not happy, not one bit. How in the name of fuck did you actually find this place when it was lost for hundreds of years? Why was there an earthquake that lasted five seconds that sent you down here?

How is it that you, you of all beings, found this place when no one else ever could? How? What? How?!

Things make less and less sense the more you think about them. Holy shit. You assume it’s all Daring’s fault somehow. What else are you to think? She’s the only one who has been around when bad things happen to you.

Some may think that she’s also been around when good things have happened to you as well, but nothing good has ever happened to you. Ever.

That fall really calmed you down. You almost choked Daring to death about 25 seconds ago.

You were really pissed, but that’s because Daring is acting like a complete fuck. That’s not to say that you have suddenly forgiven her because of the fall, but you are very tired and not physically able to attack Daring, even if you wanted to.

You don’t want to fight anymore. You don’t want to fight anyone ever again, especially Daring. It has gotten very tiring.

Daring lands hesitantly on the ground almost right next to you, which is surprising as you did just attack her. She isn’t afraid of much.

“I’m always right,” she wheezes, rubbing her throat before having a bit of a coughing fit.

“You okay?” you ask, though you don’t really care whether she is or not.

“What? You mean after you attacked me? Or after I got to watch you fall twenty feet into a hole?”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Not like it hasn’t happened before. But if you try that again, I’ll beat the shit out of you, Jay. Don’t think I won’t.”

“Yeah? You gonna beat me up?” you ask, gradually rising to your feet.

“Yeah!”

“Sure, Daring, sure. That worked so well for you a few minutes ago.” You cough a few times.

“You caught me off guard, jackass! If you fought like a real man, I would’ve broken your scrawny neck.”

“Ha! Okay. You’re lucky I can control myself, Do, or I probably would’ve choked you to death.”

“Pfft! I was in control the entire time. You couldn’t hurt me even if you tried, Jay.”

“I didn’t hurt you at all?”

“Of course not, you pussy! An infant has a stronger grip than you!”

“That coughing fit you had a second ago says otherwise.”

“It’s dusty in here! It’s hard to breathe.”

“I know you like to think you’re a complete badass, Daring, but you’re not. You’re just a cocky asshole who steals things from dead people.”

She narrows her eyes and glares angrily up at you. “And what does that make you? A stupid, amnesiatic, paranoid bitch!”

You take a step towards from the small, angry pegasus, towering over her though she refuses to back down. She matches your intensity and doesn’t break eye contact with you for a second. She steps up to you, as well, and now there isn't even an inch of space between you both.

She only comes up to the middle of chest height wise, but she isn't backing down. She's glaring at you like she's about to attack. You're not going to back down, but you really can't fight her again. Not because you're physically unable to, as you aren't, but because it's just not mentally healthy. You're going to have a breakdown.

“I’m not going to fight you again, Daring!”

“I’m not gonna fight you either!” she shouts, bouncing on her legs a bit, bringing her face just that much closer to yours.

“Good!”

“Fine!”

You both turn and walk to separate ends of the underground tomb, trying to calm down. Why is Daring intentionally trying to piss you off now? Does she think she has something to prove because you attacked her and kept her down?

Probably.

And you aren’t helping yourself any by talking back to her. It’d be for the best if you just stopped doing that for a while, but you just can’t help it. It’s so hot out here.

“Let’s just find the eagle and get out of here.”

You nod, not wanting to verbally respond to your partner. Technically, you’re both still partners, though that will certainly change soon.

Simply being together when you first met was a pain in the ass, but now it’s simply impossible. Everything she says to you manages to upset you. Everything you say to her seems to piss her off as well.

The thought of you two only being together for the next few hours is a pleasurable one, and the only happy thought you’ve had in your entire life. You suppose you and Daring never should have spent more than a few days together.

She is very disagreeable. You assume she feels the same about you.

When was the last time either of you said anything decent to one another? Has that ever happened?

You can’t even remember anymore.

The constant back and forth sarcasm battles you have on an hourly basis has deteriorated your partnership into whatever it is now.

The sooner the eagle is found, the sooner you have fulfilled your part of the deal and all this bullshit is over. Now, you just have to find the stupid thing.

What you should have done, back at the hotel, is taken the bar of soap from the shower and sculpted it into an eagle with your fingernails. Maybe Daring would’ve bought it and you could have left already.

Just the constant frustration of everything that is happening is making you want to give up, check into a hotel, and sleep forever.

Just lay down, and sleep forever.

Or die. You wouldn’t be opposed to that really, but that would make everything you’ve done up until now worthless.

And so, you trudge on.

With your injured back and tired legs, you slowly search about the spacious grave of an ancient zebra king for an eagle. The dust and heat in this room make it difficult to breathe as is, but because of your recent fall, you are really struggling.

Apparently, Vitun Mies, right before he died, said something along the lines of “Okay everybody, listen up. When I die, you bitches are gonna bury me in this giant room under the sand. I don’t how you’re going to do it, but get it done. Once you got that big ass room all ready, I want you to get every clay pot you can find and just put it down there. Even if you find a useless, empty clay pot, I want it down there with me. Oh yeah, and put the eagle down there too. Thanks guys. Deuces.”

And then he died.

What a tool bag. There are more empty pots and chests and jars down here than you even thought imaginable. Was there anything ever inside these things?

You would ask Daring, but you’re still not talking to her. You’re both giving each other the silent treatment.

So, not knowing what else to do, you walk around and check every pot you find.

==========

Pot number 45, empty. Pot number 46, empty. Oh! Pot number 47!

Empty.

You pick up what you are calling pot number 47 and throw it against the stone wall, shattering it.

This is the biggest load of bullshit you’ve dealt with in the past 32 minutes.

Daring is still on the opposite side of the room, doing exactly what you are doing: picking up pots, finding nothing, and getting pissed.

You’re guessing you will know what the eagle looks like when you find it, but you have to find it. Or something. You haven’t even found anything! All the pots are empty!

Could someone have already come in here and stolen everything?

You think so.

Oh, look at that. Another empty pot. You can’t take a step without touching another empty pot.

This is the most pointless task you have ever undertaken.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Daring loudly sighs/groans from across the room. You turn to face her and notice she is looking over at you, her helmet on the ground, her ears back, and wings ruffled. “It’s hot as shit out here. I didn’t think it would take more than two days to find all this bullshit, and it’s taken us almost two weeks. I’ve got a lot of my old enemies randomly popping up all over the place and I don’t know why. I’ve been dealing with a lot of shit and I’m just tired, okay? I know we aren’t really ‘friends,’ in the strictest way, but we’re in too deep to be falling apart now. So… sorry!”

Daring’s pseudo apology has made you feel bad. Perhaps it’s the heat getting to you, but you now regret having choked the pegasus. She may have deserved it to some extent, but violence shouldn’t be the way you deal with friends.

Or business partners.

Or associates.

Or whatever you two are.

Eventually, you figure, you two will hate each other. You two can hate each other all you want, but not until you find the eagle. Until then, it’s best to just pretend to get along, if nothing else.

Daring continues. “We seriously aren’t going to get anywhere if we can’t even talk to each other. It’s been a long couple of weeks, it’s been really hot, really frustrating, really strange, I know. And I know we fight all the time, and I egg you on, but that’s just our relationship. I don’t mean half of what I say, you know?”

She looks down, takes a deep breath, and scratches at her foreleg with her other foreleg.

“You’re a good guy and have been an above average partner for a while. I don’t want us to start hating each other now… I don’t want us to ever hate each other, Jay. So, once again… I’m… sorry.”

Wow.

Did Daring just say all that? Or has she been possessed by the ghost of Vitun Mies?

You bite your tongue in order to not say that out loud. She’s being an adult in this situation, and you need to be as well.

“Jay, I just apologized. You gonna say something?”

Well, she’s sorta being the adult in this situation.

“I’m sorry, too,” you say, clearing your throat. “I really am. I know I give you a lot of shit, but I honestly just thought it was funny. Most of the time anyway. Recently it hasn’t been funny. We didn’t exactly meet in the most normal of circumstances.”

“Tch! Yeah, I remember. You were going to let me fall to my death unless I helped you.”

You scratch the back of your head. “I like to think that regardless of what you decided I still wouldn’t let you die. I was just scared and needed someone to help me… And nothing’s changed.” You laugh.

She does too, clearing much of the awkwardness from the air. “Regardless, I agreed. I’m a mare of my word, remember?”

“This world just feels so strange to me,” you continue. “I mean, I can’t remember my old one or anything, but this one just feels weird. I still haven’t remembered anything from my old world. Not even my name. For all I know, Jay is my real name.”

“That’d be a lucky guess on my part.”

“I still don’t understand anything we’re doing anyway. Everything I said when I… attacked you… I honestly meant. I just don’t get it. I'm so confused and it's driving me insane.”

“I understand that, and like I said, I can explain. Just not right now and not right here. Believe me, once I get these artifacts to Princess Celestia, I’ll tell you everything and then some.”

“And how long will I have to wait for that?”

“If we find the eagle now, 4 days tops.”

You think you can wait that long. What’s another few days?

“What happened up there, anyway?” you ask. “I mean, why did I just fall into this hole?” You point up to the hole now above you.

“It felt like an earthquake to me,” Daring says, but you aren’t satisfied with that answer.

“What are the odds of that happening, though? It only lasted seven seconds! Just long enough for me to fall into a hole. And not just any hole, it was the exact hole we set out to look for! Everything just happens too conveniently.”

“There is no such thing as convenience in this business. Everything happens for a reason.”

Maybe the eagle wants to be found? And it caused an earthquake to get you down here?

Eh. It’s possible. But then why can’t you find the eagle now? You’ve been looking for like twenty minutes and still don’t know exactly where it is.

This is the tomb of Vitun Mies, so it ought to be down here somewhere. Right?

“Are you sure this guy was buried with the thing?”

“The eagle? All my research says yep. It’s here.”

“What if somepony else already took it? All the pots and shit are empty.”

“If somepony took it, they’d be ruling the world or obscenely rich. I would’ve heard about that by now.”

“What if someone else found the eagle, took it, and then hid it somewhere else?”

She looks at you like you’re an idiot, as she frequently does. “Who the hell would do that? Why would anypony find a valuable artifact and then hide it again? That wouldn’t happen. Besides, Jay, look around!”

You do.

“See how it’s all dusty and shit? Nopony has been anywhere near this place in centuries. We’re in the middle of nowhere, in a hole. The eagle has to be here because it can’t be anywhere else. And as far as I can tell, the eagle can’t just move around on its own.”

“Then where is it, exactly? Like I said, the pots are empty.”

“Uh, I don’t know exactly. Most of these ‘pots,’ as you call them, are decorative or were gifts from the zebras he ruled over.”

“Everyone in this guy’s kingdom got him a pot when he died?” you ask incredulously.

“I know it sounds stupid, but yeah, they did. The ancient zebras in this area believed that when a king died, they would become rich with heavenly gold in the afterlife. And if the king was rich, then so was his kingdom in the afterlife. So, they buried him with pots and jars and shit so he could hold all that wealth.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t matter if it makes sense or not, that’s just how they did things.”

No wonder they all died. “So the eagle isn’t in any of the pots?”

She shrugs, kicking over a jar with her foreleg. “I can’t say. It could be. He valued the eagle greatly, so it might be in there. Or…”

“Or what?”

“Let’s check Vitun Mies’ coffin.”

“Uh…” you begin, not sure how to respond. “Doesn’t that seem wrong?”

“Doesn’t what seem wrong?” Daring asks, already trotting over and standing with her forelegs on top of a coffin, ready to remove the lid.

“Disturbing the dead?”

“Disturbing them from what? You think he’s busy in there?” She bangs a few times on the lid. “Excuse me! Mr. Mies! Can we come in?”

She bangs a few more times on the lid before looking over at you with a fake surprised expression.

“Huh! No response! I guess he isn’t busy then. Or, maybe, just maybe, he is really really dead.”

“I didn’t mean it literally, Daring. I take it you’re not superstitious?”

“Only idiots are superstitious. The only being controlling your fate is you. Some dead zebra can’t do anything to me, no matter who he used to be. Now help me get the lid off already, the dust is fucking up my sinuses.”

Grudgingly, you get on the other end of the coffin and look down at the dusty lid. It’s flat and bare, with nothing written on it that you can immediately see. It’s a very simply coffin for a king.

“Ready, Jay?” Daring asks, seemingly very eager to take a look inside.

“As I’ll ever be.”

“One… Two… Three, and lift!”

At Daring’s command, you pick the lid up, which is lighter than you thought. However, Daring, without having fingers, doesn’t lift up her side at all. Almost as soon as you have raised the lid, you toss it away, revealing the inside.

“Thanks for the help,” you say sarcastically, just now remembering you’re supposed to be nice to her.

Daring doesn’t seem to hear you, though, as her attention is turned entirely to the inside of the coffin.

You look inside, seeing the pile of bones that was once a zebra king. But that’s all that’s inside.

“No eagle?” Daring asks rhetorically. “Fuck! Where is it?”

Your pegasus companion grabs the semi-mummified Vitun Mies and literally throws him out of his own coffin, leaving him to shatter and crumble as he hits the floor. The coffin is now entirely empty. No eagle.

No eagle.

“Fuck! Fuck!” Daring stomps on the ground with her forelegs. “Where is this stupid thing?!”

Daring turns around and starts kicking through bowls and pots and jars, breaking anything in her path, paying no respect for the dead. Something just seems wrong about that.

While Daring goes on her mini tirade, you begin collecting the pieces of Vitun Mies. Some pieces of bone smashed into such small bits that you will never be able to pick them all up.

So, you take the big ones and put them back in his coffin. Meanwhile, you hear Daring yell “Fuck” a few more times.

It’s odd. Seeing Daring so pissed off calms you down significantly. You don’t know why, but right now you feel content. Very strange.

You don’t take too much care with the remnants of Vitun Mies, but you do put most of him back in his box and put the lid back on. The last thing you need is Vitun Mies’ pissed off ghost flying around and fucking shit up.

But with your luck, that’s exactly what would happen.

Now that you’re feeling paranoid again, you decide to sit on top of Vitun Mies’ coffin to prevent him from getting out and to try and relax.

“If I ever see another pot ever again I’m going to hang myself,” Daring crankily mumbles, climbing atop of Vintun Mies’ coffin to sit next to you. “No joke, I’m going to kill myself in like 20 minutes.”

“Why don’t you just lie down for a bit, Daring?” you suggest. “Just take a breath.”

She glares at you.

“I wasn’t being sarcastic!” you say in order to stop her from attacking you. “We’re both tired. Let’s just take a break for a bit. I’ll get the water.”

==========

The eagle is nowhere to be found. Personally, you don’t believe it’s even in here. It might not even exist. And if it does exist, how big is it? It should be as big as the other statues, but what if it’s 300 times smaller.

Daring is now lying on her back on top of Vitun Mies’ coffin, staring up at the ceiling. Sometimes her eyes are open, sometimes they aren’t.

In the silence of the tomb, you begin to genuinely empathize with your tiny companion. Clearly, nothing has gone the way she anticipated.

You doubt she ever intended to be working with someone on this journey. She probably meant to do it all alone. So far, the only artifact that has been where she thought it was is the first statue. And she got that a long time ago.

It’s all been downhill from there for her.

She clearly isn’t having the best of times. For someone who claims to be such an expert at these sort of things, she isn’t very good. But if she is as good as she pretends to be, then you can understand why this has been so frustrating.

Truthfully, you haven’t been the best of companions for her, but you never wanted to be here in the first place. Neither of you want to be here anymore.

You grab a bottle of water and take a long swig out of it. The water is hot, but at this point you’ll drink anything. You kick over a few pots on the way over to Daring.

“Daring,” you say, shaking her a bit. “Here, drink.”

The red eyed pony sits up a bit and takes the water from you, chugging nearly the entire bottle.

“Thirsty?” you ask, but she doesn’t respond. Instead, she wipes her mouth with a foreleg and spits on the ground.

Right before flopping back down on Vitun Mies’ coffin. She puts her forelegs over her head and groans.

“It’s so hot,” she pants.

“If you’re overheating then take off your shirt, Daring,” you reasonably suggest. “And your hat.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she tiredly replies, barely loud enough for you to hear.

“We’ve slept in the same bed for days. I’ve seen you without your clothes on.”

Has Daring ever seen you without your clothes on? You don’t actually think so.

She doesn’t respond, she just continues lying there, slowly dying of heat stroke. You best leave her to it.

==========

After a few more moments of unsuccessfully trying to find the eagle, you turn to Daring, who is still lying on the coffin.

“Why are we here?” you ask, causing her ears to stand up, but that’s it. “We have the other two artifacts, right? Do we really need all three? I think having two out of three is really good.”

“We gotta get all three,” she responds, still not moving. “Individually, they are powerful enough to take over a reasonably sized country. Put together, whoever controls them would be virtually unstoppable.”

That still makes you wonder then as to why everyone is only just looking for these things now, if they’re hundreds of years old. But you don’t ask. You’ve asked that before and didn’t get an answer.

Daring says, “One major problem I expect we will have very shortly is the lack of water we have. I didn’t think it would be quite this hot out here. And I really didn’t think it would take us this long to find the thing. We have enough water for another day, but probably not enough for the journey back to civilization.”

“So what are you saying? That we should leave?”

She sits up, rubs her eyes and tiredly looks over at you. “Well, here’s what I was thinking. I take half the water and fly back to the city and you stay here. You look for the eagle, and I return with more supplies.”

“How do I know you’re not just gonna leave me here?” you ask genuinely.

“Jay, again, if I was going to kill you, I would have done it a long long time ago. I’ll even leave the other artifacts here if you want me to. I can’t take you with me because you can’t fly, and walking back to the city would take two days. We don’t have enough water for a two day walk.”

Daring does make a valid point, but that doesn’t help your paranoia. In fact, nothing does. It is your entire life’s purpose to be paranoid and angry.

“If you think that’s best, then fine,” you say. “I trust you.”

Do you trust her?

Eh.

“Good,” she says, standing up and gathering some water for herself. “I will be back tomorrow. Presumably in the morning.”

“Wait, how are you gonna get supplies if we don’t have anymore money?”

“Pfft! Good one.”

You were being serious, but you assume she’s just going to steal whatever it is she needs.

“Alright.” She stretches out her wings and prepares to take off. “I’m going to leave you down here. It’s cooler during the day and might be warmer at night, I don’t know. I left you a blanket in the saddlebags when you go to sleep, so don’t freeze to death. Keep looking for the eagle, too.”

“Yep. Got it.”

“Hopefully you can find it tonight so we can just start the walk back tomorrow. The sooner the better.”

That it is.

“Alright. I’m off, Jay. Don’t wander off.”

“I won’t. Not that I could anyway. I’m in a hole.”

“Ha! Good. Alright, Jay, I’m going. And yes, before you ask, I will be back, I promise.”

You don’t think you were going to ask.

And with that, Daring flies through the hole in the ceiling and off to wherever she pleases. Hopefully with the intention of returning, but you can never be too sure.

For a while, you sit and contemplate your new life. If Daring decides not to come back, you will be stuck in this hole until you dehydrate to death. If something happens to Daring, you will be stuck in this hole until you dehydrate to death.

Perhaps you should’ve thought of this sooner.

Your entire life, as it basically has been for the past two weeks, rests completely on Daring’s shoulders. It’s been working relatively fine up until now, but things can change.

You would like to wait up top, but it’s too hot. You’re in a bad situation regardless of exactly where in this desert you are.

And who knows who is out there currently searching for you. Hopefully Daring doesn’t cause too much trouble in town. The last thing you need now is unwanted visitors, especially in such a remote area where they could theoretically do whatever they wanted to you.

Daring does have to steal whatever supplies she can, though. She’s probably good at that, she’s been stealing things her entire life.

But if she is caught, she goes to jail, and you die.

Assuming you can’t get back out of this hole again. You don’t know how you would, but you would try something.

Probably by building a makeshift ladder out of pots. You’d just pile all the pots in the center of the room underneath the hole in the ceiling and starts climbing.

However, by the time you do that, you would’ve wasted so much energy getting out of the hole that you’d just die up top.

All for an eagle statue.

What a load of shit.

==========

This is the first time you haven’t been with Daring for more than 20 minutes. You actually miss her.

The constant back and forth may be exhausting, but it was always entertaining to some extent. And familiar. It always gave you both something to do or focus on.

Maybe Daring has been so obsessed with coming up with things to say to you that she loses focus as to why you’re both out here in the first place.

Maybe that’s why the eagle still remains missing. The eagle could by right in front of your faces, but you’d never know because you’re too busy thinking of something clever to say.

And now that she’s gone, and there is nothing but silence, you just want to lie down and sleep for a few days. Where are you supposed to lie down? Most of the floor is stone, but there are a few sandy patches.

The sun hasn’t even gone down yet. Perhaps you should search for a while?

You decide not to drink anymore water until you absolutely have to, lest Daring actually does die and never returns. In the meantime, you kick over a few pots and overturn a few jars and bowls, finding nothing but hot air and sand.

What a magical place.

It’ll take you most of tomorrow to look through all these pots and shit, assuming you stop looking now and relax for the rest of the day.

Which is exactly what you decide to do.

It’s probably only late afternoon, but you decide to call it a day. You wouldn’t want to keep searching only to find nothing and have to go through the rest of the water.

You’re hungry.

How long can one go without food? You know it’s a couple weeks at least, so that’s good, but if you’re not going to eat at all, you’ll need a lot more water than you currently possess.

Working means getting hot. Getting hot means sweating. Sweating means losing water. Losing water means needing to drink.

That will lead you to drinking. Which will ultimately lead you to death.

This whole adventure of yours would suck even more so if you died at the end. What would have been the point of all this shit if you just died?

Not only that, but dehydrating to death is a horrendous way to die. Like, seriously, it's disgusting, and then your body would be left to gradually decay and potentially eaten by birds if they happened by.

Unlike Daring, you have some degree of respect for the dead, so you’re not going to sit anywhere near Vitun Mies. The guy may have been a psychotic doucheface in his lifetime, but you’re going to leave him alone now.

How great could that guys’ kingdom have been if it was all the way out here? Has this area ever been anything else but desert? What a crappy place to rule.

No wonder he started a genocide. It was the only thing for him to do. Boredom kills.

How powerful can this eagle be? If Vitun Mies had it and was killed by an army of camels, then how powerful can the thing really be? What did the camels use to kill him with? Who buried him down here?

As much fun as it is to ask questions and never receive any answers ever, you think you’ll stop for a while. How many questions have you asked in the past couple weeks?

At least 1,000. At least.

But, in all fairness, that’s all you can do. The only things you know are the things you experience or what you are told by Daring. And you don’t think half of what she says is true.

No need to think about that. Perhaps you should think about something that you haven’t before…

Maybe you should contemplate what life will be like when you get back to wherever it is you’re from.

Can you fly a zeppelin back to wherever you used to live?

Probably. Once you get back to the city, you should just find the general area of where you ought to have been from and immediately fly there. The sooner the better. As great as it is to be around mini animals all the time, it’s gotten tiresome.

You always have to look down when walking lest you trip or run someone over. It’s annoying more than anything else. Even if these animals are adorable.

If they just took more care of their hygiene, you’re positive they would look wonderful. Daring might even look like a girl if she took a bath and didn’t smell like sweat all the time.

She’s the only being, aside from yourself, who wears clothing. It’s just odd. No other mini horse thing wears clothes, but she always is.

Just interesting to think about. You wonder when she got into that habit. And how no one else did. Did her friends ever tease her for wearing clothes when no one else was?

No, no, of course not. She doesn’t have any friends.

As you sit and think, staring at the coffin of the once great zebra king, you notice the sun is setting and the air is cooling.

Now beginning to feel cold, you go to the bags in which the donkey and elephant are being held. The artifacts have a small blanket wrapped around them, which will now be wrapped around you.

There isn’t really a place down here to lie down and be legitimately comfortable. There are shards of what were once clay pots absolutely everywhere. Perhaps it was a bad idea to just start breaking everything.

You scrape together as much sand as you can into a cozy corner and lie down. It’s not what may be described as “comfortable,” but it’ll do. Soon enough, you will be lying in your very own bed. Everything will be worth it. Soon enough.

And with that happy thought, you turn in for the night, wondering if Daring is all right. You hope she is.

Not only because you depend on her for survival, but because you do actually seem to care about her to some extent, whether you want to or not. Sure you choked the shit out of her earlier, but she had it coming.

Surely everyone has someone in their lives they’d love to choke for a few seconds sometimes.

And she has always been around for you. Physically and mentally speaking, you’re not doing incredibly well, but through all of that, Daring has been around.

Daring could be a much worse partner if she wanted to be. Thankfully, she has kept her word when she said she would. So far.

She’s dragged you all over the world, it seems, but she’s still here. You ought to be thankful for that much. Anyone with half a brain would’ve left your giant ass a long time ago.

So either Daring has less than half a brain or she’s actually a good pony. Which one is more likely?

Deciding not to answer until she potentially comes back for you, you go to sleep.

==========

The sun has risen at some point, but because you’re in such a deep hole, you can’t see the sun and can’t determine the time of day. The sun could’ve just risen, or maybe you slept all day and it’s now about to set. Who knows.

Either way, Daring hasn’t returned yet.

There are still a million and a half pots that have not yet been searched, so you suppose you can do that while you wait for Daring.

Hopefully she returns very soon.

And with that hope, you begin your quest again.

==========

Just as you expected. Nothing.

Nothing has been found and nothing will ever be found. This hole is the grave of Vitun Mies, and it will be yours very soon.

You take a long drink of water before taking a seat on the ground once again. What’d be the use in finding the eagle if you couldn’t get out of the hole anyway? You’d find it, then die with it.

Thus, not much of a point in really looking for it.

“Jay!” you hear your friend yell down from the top of the hole. “You still alive down there?!”

Huzzah! She’s alive and has thankfully returned! Perhaps there is a god after all. You hope she brought a lot of water back.

“Yeah, Daring!” you yell back, rising to your feet and staring at the hole, waiting for her to come down. “Come down!”

“No, I need you to come up!” she says, though you still can’t see her.

Why does she need you to go up? Did she find the eagle up there?

“Why?” you ask.

Instead of verbally responding, one end of a long rope is thrown down, and you assume you’re supposed to climb it.

“You find the eagle up there or something?” you ask, but receive no response again. “Daring?”

After waiting a moment and not getting a single word in reply, you decide to just do as you’re told and climb the thing. You’re not sure if you’re good at climbing ropes, but it never hurts to try.

Unless you fall or it breaks.

Nevertheless, you grip the rope and begin climbing. Surprisingly, it’s easier than it looks, and you find yourself making good time.

Initially anyway, as you get closer to the top and the sun starts to blind you, climbing becomes more difficult. Instead of looking straight up the hole now, you have to squint your eyes and look straight ahead or down.

The sun can be such a pain in the ass.

After climbing for an eternity, and feeling very proud for having pulled yourself up so far, you keep one hand on the rope while putting another hand on the tiles that make up the ceiling of the tomb.

“I could use a hand, Daring,” you say, still unable to see anything. You didn’t know you could climb rope so well. What a useful skill.

Daring doesn’t appear to be coming to help. Odd.

“Daring?!” you call for her, but there is no response. What? Did she suddenly disappear or something? Why isn’t she answering you? Is she still mad about yesterday?

This would be a really mean prank to play just because she’s a little upset. Even if you did physically attack her…

Ugh. Right now you really regret doing that.

“Daring! I can’t see!”

Looks like you will have to just climb the final two feet on your own then.

Your grip tightens and you make one final lunge upwards, getting your upper body firmly on the hot sand of the surface of the desert. Good, you have reached the top.

Before fully climbing out of the hole, you take a look ahead of you, about to sarcastically thank Daring for the help.

It takes a few seconds, but your eyes manage to adjust.

Not only do you immediately see Daring, but you see some old, familiar faces.

Oh shit.

“Get out of there, right now!” barks one zebra, pointing a spear at you. Your heart immediately starts racing as this scene is all too familiar in your head.

Behind said zebra is Daring with a rope leash tied tightly around her neck. She appears injured, but you don’t have enough time to observe her before multiple zebras come at you.

“Don’t even think of going back down!” yells the same zebra with the spear. “If you try, we will cut the rope.”

You can either climb out or fall back down in the hole. Where would you hide if you went back down? You’d only piss them off.

You climb the rest of the way out and are instantly grabbed by multiple spear wielding zebras, who are quick to put a rope leash around your neck and force to your knees.

With a quick look around, there are at least a dozen zebras all around you. How did they get here? How did they find you?

They were hundreds of miles away! In a forest! You’re now in a desert! How in the fuck did they get here?

It’s really hard to breathe. Not just because of the rope, but because of the heat and your less than pleasant memories of these guys.

Daring, as you are now able to see, has a bloody nose and a few bruises but appears mostly okay. You hope they didn’t hurt her too much.

She won’t make eye contact with you.

“Daring,” you say, trying to get her attention.

She doesn’t look at you. Instead, her gaze remains focused completely on the ground in front of her.

“Daring!” you say again, clearly loud enough for her to hear. “Daring? Are you alright?”

“Shut up, you!” a zebra commands, hitting you hard on the back of the head, causing you to fall forward on your chest and face.

With another peek up at Daring, she still isn’t looking at you. Now she has her eyes closed tightly, with a look of pain now on her face.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you last!” a familiar voice booms, getting everyone to stop moving instantly.

Oh no. You remember that voice. You won’t ever forget it.

Why is he here?! Why now?! So close to the end, and this happens?! No!

“Hello, my old friend,” Kiduttaa exclaims with a large smile on his face, now standing before you. “It took a long time, but I have finally made it… I’m very happy to have found you.”

Oh fuck.