After the jubilation you experienced upon arriving at a more than adequate sleeping grounds, the two of you took appropriate measures to make a half-decent camp.

You suggested making tents, but Daring did not believe that would be necessary. She has apparently traveled in countless jungles, not unlike this one, and informed you that taking the time and energy to actually construct a tent without any materials is pointless. She prefers to just lie under the stars, and if it rains, she just moves under a tree. Simple as that.

You don’t think you’ve ever gone camping. Maybe you have? Maybe not. But it doesn’t matter considering you can’t remember your own name. You decide that listening to Do, who probably has significant experience with this type of thing, is for the best.

You also thought about building a fire because that’s what usually happens when one makes camp. Daring disagreed with you, though. It’s too hot to build a fire, and the stars and the moon will provide sufficient light.

“And I don’t want anything to know we’re here,” she adds, leaning against a tree.

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“Remember? I said I have competitors, right?”

“Oh yeah. So? What are they going to do? You already have the elephant.”

She shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter. These guys will do anything to get their paws on this. Anything.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

You’re not sure how to respond to this, so you don’t. Daring must have some aggressive competitors. You just lean against your tree in the small clearing and listen to the miniature waterfall and the insects all around you.

Considering camp doesn’t need to be made, there really isn’t anything that you have to do. Daring dropped all her supplies, and you’re not making a fire or shelter.

You’re bored.

And dirty and sticky.

“I’m going to go take a shower in that pond,” you gesture towards the small body of water adjacent to you. “I’m gonna wash my clothes too. They’re a little... filthy.”

“Alright, cool. Oh! You can wash this too.”

She begins to undo the knot of your shirt/ makeshift bandage with her teeth. The shirt falls from her leg and onto the grass. She has a cut on her leg, but it’s closed and not bleeding anymore. However, there is a decent amount of dried blood stained on her yellow fur.

She bites the shirt, flicks her head up, and you catch it in your hand.

“Thanks,” she says smiling, before observing her legs.

“Thanks for the bloodstain,” you say, looking at your previously white shirt.

“You’re welcome,” she laughs.

You think that’s the first time you’ve heard her laugh. The sound is strangely... adorable.

You would ask to wash Daring’s shirt as well, but you don’t know how she would respond. She’s an animal, so clothes aren’t necessary. But she can talk and think like a human, so maybe the clothes are necessary.

You’re not sure, and you’re not willing to find out right now.

“Alright, sweet. I’m good. I’ll try to find something edible for the both of us.”

“Like what? A squirrel? Or a bird?” You don’t know anyone who has been in a forest before, so you don’t know what people eat when they’re here. Squirrel doesn’t sound like the most appetizing thing, but you’re so hungry right now you’ll eat just about anything.

Daring looks at you a little uncomfortably. “Um... No. I was thinking more along the lines of berries or leaves or something. Not... squirrels.”

“Well alright. Sounds good. I’m sure whatever you get is fine.”

She just looks at you. Like she’s studying you. Did you say something wrong? You know she likes birds. Did suggesting you eat one upset her?

“Can I help you?” you ask, looking back at her.

“Do you usually eat squirrels?” she ask genuinely.

You chuckle. “No. At least, I highly doubt it. But I’m so hungry right now I’ll eat anything.”

An even more inquisitive look overcomes her face as she looks at you. “Anything?”

“It’s a figure of speech, Daring.”

She tilts her head to the side a little and looks you up and down. “OK...”

She turns around and walks into the forest.

Well that was strange.

It was probably nothing. Daring is a little weird, but that’s to be expected, you guess. She’s a horse, after all, and horses usually don’t talk. Or have wings. Or red eyes

Turning your attention to the pond, you decide now is a lovely time for that shower.

Checking once more to make sure Daring is gone, you strip down to your birthday suit and get in the water.

The water is pretty cold, but you were just in it splashing around a couple minutes ago, so it’s not bad. It actually feels great, considering the scalding temperature of the forest.

You wade over to the far end of the pond with the miniature waterfall.

The water in some parts of the pond almost touches your waist, and in others it only goes to your ankles. It depends where you’re standing.

There is large pile of stones next to the pond where water runs off, creating the waterfall. A stream runs on top of the pile of stones and drops off and into the pond. The stones are about 7 or 8 feet high, perfect for a shower.

The water underneath the waterfall only goes to your knees, leaving your genitals exposed to the world. And Daring.

You look back over to the patch of grass that is your camp to make sure Daring has not yet returned.

Satisfied that the only sentient being in the general vicinity is you, you begin your shower.

==========

The shower was nothing special. You didn’t have any soap, so you basically just got yourself wet while washing yourself with your hands. You’re probably still a little dirty, but because you’re wet, you look clean.

Now that you’re done though, you decide it is appropriate to dry yourself and your clothes.

You already jumped into the water earlier wearing all of your clothes, so that’s probably about as clean as they will get. Except for your shirt that Daring gave back.

You wade back over to the edge of the pond and grab your bloody shirt. You dunk it under the water, wring it out, and repeat dozens of times. But the blood stain still remains.

You sigh and give up. Without the use of tide or other various laundry detergents you have no hope of getting the stain out.

You spot a felled tree at one end of the pond and think that will be a good spot to dry your clothes.

Wading over to another end of the pond yet again, you climb out and put your “clean” clothing along the log for it to dry. You sit behind the log and wait for yourself to air dry. There are no towels around. You haven’t seen a Bed Bath and Beyond anywhere in the forest so far, so you doubt there is anywhere to get a towel.

“All done, Daring!” you call out, settling into a comfortable position behind the log. You assume that Daring would want to bathe after you finished.

“Alright!” she calls back, but you can’t see her.

You debate with yourself over whether or not you should take a nap. Your pretty tired, and that would certainly help pass the time and allow you to dry off, but...

Yeah, you’re definitely going to take a nap.

You lean your head against the trunk off the fallen tree and close your eyes, allowing your thoughts to wander.

==========

You open your eyes.

You’re not sure if you actually fell asleep or not, but considering the sun is still barely out, you probably didn’t. It was nice to close your eyes for a few minutes, though. After all you’ve been through today, you can’t wait to eat and sleep.

You take your time to check to see if your clothes are dry yet. Which they are not.

You flip each article of clothing over and to a new part of the dry tree to hopefully quicken the drying process. As great as it is to be sitting naked behind a tree, you would like to return to camp and eat.

You take a brief moment to lean against the tree and think.

Alright. You can do this... Name... Name... Name!

You concentrate as hard as possible on something simple, like your name, but nothing seems to be coming to mind. A few words float through your thoughts, but you don’t think any of those is your name.

Let’s try something else. Uhm. Address... Address...

A few images, words, and numbers come across your subconscious, but none seem to stand out from another. None of the words or numbers or pictures seem to have any personal significance to you.

You take a deep breath. You’re so frustrated you could cry.

I’m going to be stuck here forever!

Well, maybe not, now that you think about it. Daring has been nice enough to help you out with everything you have been through, thus far. Granted, it hasn’t been a full 24 hours, and there is a chance she will run off in the middle of the night, but you don’t think she will. She’s been with you for like, 12 hours now, and though you may not get along most of the time, it’s gradually getting better. At least, you think so.

Have you even properly thanked Do yet? You don’t think so. You should probably get on that once your clothes are dry.

You try to think again.

Family... Family...

A noise in the water takes you from your thoughts.

You look over to the grass clearing that is your campsite. Daring is not over there, but something is.

Her wing bandage, her helmet, and her crumpled shirt are lying at the edge of the pond. So if her clothes are there, than where is she?

You don’t have to search for long.

Standing under the waterfall with her eyes closed and a soft smile, is Daring Do. Her mane is flat and her tail hangs straight down, and for the first time, you see both of her wings.

When did she get here?!

You glance away, your face heating up, but soon find yourself looking at the mare again. She doesn’t seem to notice you.

She stands on her hind legs and puts a forehoof against the stone pile that is the waterfall while extending her long wings out to either side of her.

The sight is literally breathtaking. You’ve never seen anything like it. You temporarily forget how to breathe as you gaze at the wondrous sight before you.

You feel strange looking at her, like you are. Not only is your face warm, but the rest of your body is too, and it’s not because of the natural environment.

Finally tearing your gaze from the yellow-ish pony in front of you and rapidly shaking your head to clear your thoughts, you check your clothes to see if they are dry. For the most part, they seem fine. A little damp, but not soaked like they were earlier.

You guess now is a proper time to get dressed and head back to camp. You wouldn’t want Daring to think you were spying on her.

You slip on your boxers and glance up at Daring again.

Who has chosen that precise moment to glance up as well.

“Gah!” she yelps, falling backwards into the water.

You gasp in surprise at the sudden noise and almost fall backwards, yourself, but catch yourself with a hand.

“Hey!” she shouts at you. “What do you think you are doing?!” She sinks a little into the water, concealing her body from the neck down.

“I’m just drying my clothes, what does it look like?”

“While watching me undress and shower?”

Your face gets a little warmer, but you try to play it off as nothing. “Don’t flatter yourself. I was just waiting for my clothes to dry.”

“Right next to the waterfall?”

“Where else would I do it? This is the perfect spot. Not my fault you didn’t see me. And be more careful next time, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

“You could’ve told me you were here.”

“I didn’t even know you were here. I was napping. Like I said, not my fault you didn’t see me.”

“Whatever.” She goes back over to the edge of the pond to get dressed.

You put on your underwear and pants and gather the rest of your clothing before walking back to the campsite.

==========

The both of you have settled down for the evening. Daring went into the jungle and found a whole mess of berries and leaves which she described as ‘edible.’ So it will probably taste like crap, but you’re too hungry to care.

You both lie down in the grass and eat what is in front of you, glancing around at the scenery and occasionally having a brief conversation.

“So where are we going after this?” you ask, chewing on some berries. “If you don’t have a map, then where do we go?”

“Wherever my gut tells me,” she replies.

“Is that the best idea?” you reply uncertainly.

She shrugs. “It’s worked for me in the past. I’ve got a sixth sense about these kinds of things.”

“About what kind of things?”

“Treasure hunting, of course! What do you think I’m doing here?”

“Grave-”

“Don’t even think about finishing that word,” she cuts you off, making you laugh. “You see this?” she asks, pointing a hoof at her tattoo.

You don’t know if it is a trick question. If you look at her tattoo, it’s basically like looking at her butt, and then she might think you’re some kind of pervert who was spying on her. But if she is being serious, then you look like some kind of bashful, nervous, awkward guy.

Your face suddenly feels like it’s on fire.

Throwing caution to the wind, you look down at her tattoo.

You clear your throat. “Wh-What about it? It’s just a tattoo.”

“No, no, this is a cutie mark.”

“I’m sure it is.”

“This is a symbol of what I’m meant to do in life.”

“It’s a compass. Are you destined to be stuck in this forest forever?”

She rolls her eyes. “No. It means I’m a great adventurer with an impeccable sense of direction. There’s no need to worry, we’ll be fine. As long as I listen to my heart, we’ll get what we need.”

“Yeah. I’m sure we will.”

You put a handful of berries in your mouth.

“How is your wing doing?” you ask, chewing. She hasn’t put the bandage back on since she got out of the pond, or her helmet. But now she is wearing her shirt.

She extends her previously injured wing and flaps it. “Pretty good, actually. It’s a little stiff, but that’s to be expected.”

“How did you injure it?”

“Eh heh,” she chuckles nervously. “Pretty stupid, actually. I was flying above the trees and I thought I spotted that temple we were in this morning. So I fly down to get a good look, but it’s not actually a temple, it’s just a giant rock pile or something. I pull up to continue flying but I didn’t see the tree in front of me. Luckily, only my wing hit the tree, and not my face, but it hurt pretty bad.”

“When did this happen?” you ask.

“Just a few days ago. I hit the ground pretty fast and felt a pop in my wing.” She flaps her wing again. “So I bandaged it up, and now I’m fine. It happens all the time.”

“What? Getting injured?”

“That, and flying accidents in general. I’ve never been the best flyer anyway, so I just try to stay on the ground.”

“But you have wings. If I had wings, I’d be flying around all the time.”

“It’s easier to say than do.”

You suppose that is true.

==========

“Why do you wear clothes?” you ask her, still not able to understand why a pony would need to wear a shirt and hat.

“Why do you wear clothes?” she asks in response.

“...Touche.”

You leave it at that.

==========

Do finishes eating, rubs her hooves together to get any remnants of berry and leaves off her, and gets up. She trots over to a tree before taking out the blue elephant.

“What are you doing?” you ask, taking a bite from another dry, disgusting leaf.

“Hiding the elephant,” she responds, placing the relic in a snake hole underneath the tree.

You tilt your head to the side. “Why?”

“Just in case.”

“In case of what? No one knows we’re here. You really think someone could find us?”

She shrugs. “Maybe. You can never be too careful. If an animal comes through here, I don’t want it to take the elephant.”

Did she say if an ‘animal’ comes through here? That doesn’t make any sense. She is an animal.

Things just keep making sense.

“Better to be safe than sorry.”

==========

The sun has long since set and the forest is now pitch black; the stars and the moon doing little to light up your clearing. The only sounds you can hear are the waterfall and the insects who never seem to sleep.

You look up at the stars. You can’t remember the last time you’ve seen so many stars in the sky. Well, you can’t really remember much of anything, but seeing the countless number of stars above you is astonishing.

“Psst... hey? You awake?” a voice asks from next to you.

You turn your head to see Daring lying on her stomach, looking over at you. She looks pretty uncomfortable, for whatever reason. You don’t know why. The grass feels just fine.

“I’m awake,” you respond simply.

There is a brief moment of silence.

“Did you need something?” you ask.

She takes a deep breath. “Uhm. I just wanted to thank you, you know? For saving me and all. I’ve been acting like a foal about it, so... thank you.”

You smile. “It’s no problem, Daring. Sorry I had to threaten you to help me. I shouldn’t have done that.”

She nods. “That’s fine.”

“And for helping me out. You didn’t have to do that, but you are, so thank you. It’s good to have a friend.”

“Yeah,” she breathes. “A friend.”

You look back up to the stars and quarter moon that shines this night.

There is another brief moment of silence. “So we’re cool?” she asks.

“Yeah. We’re cool.”

Her hoof lightly punches your shoulder. “G’night.”

“Night, Daring,” you respond, smiling and closing your eyes. “Sweet dreams,” you yawn.

After a few minutes, light snoring can be heard from next to you, which is soon joined by yours.

==========

“Hey! Get off me!” a female voice shouts from nearby.

“Hmm?” you grunt, still half-asleep.

The voice grunts. “Get your hooves off of me!” You hear rustling next to you, but don’t look over.

You open your eyes to see the sun has risen above the clearing in which you lie. You yawn and stretch your arms and legs, feeling and hearing a satisfying pop.

“I’m hungry,” you observe out loud, still looking up.

You look down at your feet and are surprised to see Daring Do wrestling with three angry looking zebras. And by the looks of things, she is losing.

One zebra manages to pick her up and slam her down on the ground on her stomach while the other two jump on top of the pile.

“Hey!” Daring shouts at you. “Help me!”

You jolt to your feet in a second only to be pushed down by another zebra. Before he has the chance to jump on you as well, you extend a fist which connects with his snout.

Feeling something snap under your fist and watching the black and white individual fall backwards into the water is strangely satisfying.

Rising to your feet once more, you charge over to Daring and kick a zebra in his side. He lets go to grab his side and you take the opportunity to pull and throw him off of Do.

Daring extends her wings at the speed of light, knocking one zebra off before bucking the other in a foreleg and then his face.

Daring looks at you and gasps. “Watch out!”

You turn, only to see a hoof rapidly approaching your nose.

It connects and you collapse.

Everything goes dark.

Author's Notes:

Hope you're liking it so far!
Comment and such.
Love you guys.

For those waiting for TMM, know I'm working, and it's looking better and better. Expect an update soon!