After a full day of walking through the humid, unnamed jungle, the both of you reached the outskirts of a large, bright, populated city. The city is comprised of a pleasant mix of zebras, ponies, camels, and flying bird-lion things (Or whatever they’re called, you didn’t ask), among other things.

The sight was not surprising. The only creatures you have seen in the past couple days have been talking animals, so a giant city full of them seems legit.

You walk through the city as the sun was just barely hovering over the horizon, about to set. Seeing this, and bordering on starving, you begin conversation once again with Daring.

“Should we stop for the night?” you ask, gesturing to a small motel on the side of the road. The sides of the roads are lined with small stores and stands with small animals trying to sell various trinkets and vegetables and whatnot. “I’m exhausted.” You stomach grumbles loudly and painfully. “And hungry. Those zebras only gave me a cup of tea.”

But it was good tea.

“No way!” Daring shouts, almost shocked by your recommendation to stop and not die of exhaustion or starvation. She pulls out the bag of bits you stole that morning and jingles it in her hoof. “There are thousands of bits in this bag,” she continues quietly, not wanting any fellow pedestrians to overhear, ignoring the fact that she took out the bag and is shaking it for all to see in the first place. “We don’t need to stay in some shit motel and eat disgusting peasant food that’ll give us the trots.”

“Then where are we going?”

“The ‘Vakaa’! One of the most famous hotels in the world!”

“Never heard of it.”

Why can’t anything be in English?

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I know. But trust me, it’s a ridiculously nice hotel. Princess Celestia stayed there on vacation once, so if it’s fit for royalty, it’s gotta be alright for us.”

“Yeah, ‘cause we’re royalty, right? Why not just stay in a motel?” Your stomach growls in anger at not receiving food in hours. “It’s convenient. And I’m hungry.”

“We’ll eat at the hotel. It’s a five star hotel, with five star dining. Do you know how many stars that is?” She turns her head to look you in the eyes, continuing to walk. “That’s all the stars. All.”

“All?”

“All.”

“Gee, Daring. It’s tough to argue with all those stars,” you say sarcastically. “But you’re right. It’s a good thing we are in such a friendly place, too, right? There definitely weren’t any zebras yesterday trying to carve me up like a pumpkin so they could find an elephant statue. And there definitely aren’t-”

“OK! OK!” Daring cuts you off. “I got it. But don’t worry. Anypony you meet in the forest is bound to be creepy or psychotic.”

“I met you in the forest.”

“Besides me, dummy,” she waves a dismissive forehoof.

“Besides you,” you breathe.

The streets are paved nicely and there are miniature creatures milling about all over the place, on the sidewalks and on the street and high above your head.

The rest of the long walk is made in relative silence, only broken when Daring wants to point something out or explain something to you.

==========

The hotel lobby is breathtaking. The air is cool and refreshing, offering a pleasant relief from the hot air of the world outside.

The lobby is extraordinarily large. The ceiling is high above your head; 20 or 30 feet at least! It’s way more spacious than the claustrophobic, cramped spaces in the jungle. And the ceiling is even painted!

The crowded room is packed with various well-dressed creatures, most of whom are probably the hotel staff.

You just now notice that every living being that is capable of doing so is looking right at you. And Daring. Who is completely oblivious to her surroundings.

Daring is wearing the biggest smile you have ever seen as she glances around excitedly, clearly excited at being able to sleep inside.

Wondering why everyone has stopped to stare at the both of you, you suddenly remember what you have been doing the past couple of days.

The both of you smell awful, are covered in sweat, look exhausted and probably on the verge of death, and are wearing clothes soaked in blood.

“I’mma see if they got a room open. ‘K?” Daring asks, looking up at you with a smile.

“Uh, yeah. You do that,” you respond, still gazing around at all of those staring back at you. “And do it quickly,” you add, but Daring is already out of earshot.

In an attempt to distract yourself from the strangers around you, you look around.

The lobby sparkles brightly, everything spotless. The floors, the walls, the giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room, and even the various small busts of unknown ponies and animals that line the room.

No wonder this place has 5 stars. The lobby is made of gold!

At least, it seems that way, especially after you spent the last few days in hell.

“Hey!” Daring exclaims, popping up next to you. “We got a room with a nice view on the 15th floor! This is gonna be so awesome!” She tosses a golden key up in the air, which you catch and put into your pocket.

Everyone is still looking at you as they slowly begin to return to their duties. “Yeah, that’s great Daring, what d’ya say about heading up? Now.”

She laughs. “Alright! Let’s do it! Oh! And get this, the guy at the counter offered to wash our clothes for free! Ha! I love this place!”

“Yeah it’s great,” you say, speed walking towards the elevators.

==========

After taking the crowded elevator up 15 stories, you arrive at your desired floor.

Taking a left and going down the long, luxuriously decorated hallway, you move towards room 1556 with Daring literally bouncing next to you.

She looks around. “If this is what the halls look like, just imagine what the room is like!” She squees excitedly.

You smile, seeing how happy she is. For whatever reason, her happiness is rubbing off on you.

“You seem excited,” you calmly observe.

“You bet! Usually I’m sleeping in a cave or on the ground or in a tree or something. But just look at this place!” She jumps into the air, turning her body a complete 360 degrees. “Fit for royalty!”

Coming up to the room on your right, you remove the assigned key from your pocket and stick it into the door. Turning it all the way to the right, you hear a click, turn the handle, and push it open.

Before you can set a foot inside the dark room, Daring literally flies past you.

“Ha ha!” She laughs from inside. “Just look at this place! Oh my gosh! Get in here, already!”

You take your first steps into the cool room, briefly relishing in the fresh, cold air the hotel provides. It feels much better than the humid atmosphere outside the building.

Taking a few steps through the small hallway, you pass the door to the bathroom and reach the main room...

Where you see Daring hopping from place to place in excitement.

In the large room, there is a small kitchen area with a polished counter, a sink, a microwave, a stove, a refrigerator, and various cabinets.

Next to the kitchen area sits a large table, assumingly used for eating with whomever one shares their room with. Above the table, an elaborate chandelier hangs down from the ceiling and glows brightly, easily lighting the room.

At the far end of the long room, sits one queen sized bed.

One.

And on that bed, Daring is bouncing up and down and glancing around, her eyes not coming to rest on one thing for longer than a second or two.

You have to admit, this is the nicest hotel you’ve ever been to.

Well, it probably is, at least. You can’t exactly remember anything involving fancy hotels, but this seems fantastic!

At the far end of the room, behind the bed, are glass doors that lead out to a balcony, sitting high above the city. Taking a moment to peek out there, you see the city far below you, and see miles in the distance.

The hotel is easily one of the tallest buildings in this city, which is great for you because you can see everything. In the direction you’re facing out of, you can see the jungle that you and Daring recently emerged from.

“Look at that! Look at that!” Daring yells, jumping next to you and pointing a hoof out the doors.

You chuckle. “Yes, Daring, I see it.”

Your stomach rumbles, and Daring stops her bouncing.

“Hungry?” she asks smiling.

“Yes. Feed me.”

She laughs and turns around, walking to the table. “I told you I would, and I’m gonna do it.” She picks up a small leather-bound book with her teeth and tosses it to you. You catch it and open to the first page.

Room Service

Ooh! Food!

You were unaware that this hotel had room service, but you are very grateful for it. You’re too tired to actually leave the hotel room and go get something yourself, so to have someone deliver you food sounds great.

“You want anything from room service?” Daring asks, jingling the bag of gold coins in her hoof. “I’m buying!” She laughs.

You scan the menu rapidly, eager to find something you think you’ll like. “Oh, I’m starving!... No offense, but those berries you got the other day sucked.”

She scoffs. “Well duh! What did you expect from me? A gourmet meal? We were in the middle of the jungle.”

After a few moments of scanning the page, you see they offer steak. A really expensive steak.

You hear hoofsteps on the floor.

“Hey,” Daring calls, getting your attention. “I saw a drugstore on the way here. I’m gonna pick up some supplies right quick, so you can order dinner. Get me the house salad and we’ll split a bottle of wine. I should be back by the time they deliver it. Oh! And here’s the money.”

She tosses you the bag of golden coins.

The way the steak is described on the menu sounds very appetizing, and your stomach is urging you to get that.

“Hey Daring, can I get the steak?”

She stops walking and looks at the wall. She just looks at it, as though she is thinking of something. Before you can ask her what’s wrong, she turns back to you.

“You kidding? After all you’ve done for me? Hell! Get five steaks! Get whatever you want!”

She smiles back at you and pauses for a moment, not moving. You return the smile, and after a few seconds of silence, she turns and leaves.

==========

Almost an hour after placing your order, the food finally arrives. It was a long time to wait, but you can’t rush perfection, and your steak is perfection.

Despite Daring’s offer, you only got one, as opposed to five. It was tempting to get five, as you were very hungry, but looking at your food now, you’re glad you only got the one.

On the tray sits a massive steak, almost the size of the plate itself. Around the steak is a generous amount of mashed potatoes and green beans.

In addition to the delicious smelling meat and vegetables on your tray is a very large bottle of wine, and you fill your glass.

Daring came back to the room a few seconds before the food was delivered, as she said she would, and recommended the both of you eat outside in order to feel the cool afternoon air and watch the sunset.

And that is where you are now; sitting on the balcony, relaxing into your chair and eating off the small outdoor table with Daring across from you, nibbling on her massive salad.

She also brought back multiple bags of... something. You’re not sure what she got, but as long as she knows what they are, you don’t have to.

Cutting into your steak as the sun descends for the first and last time today, some strange idea comes to your mind which you feel the need to discuss.

“Hey Daring?” you ask, getting her attention. Her red eyes connect with yours as she looks up from her salad, a piece of lettuce stuck to her chin. “Uh... You got something... right here...” You point a finger at your face.

She rubs a hoof over her chin, removing the piece of lettuce. Her cheeks flush red as she puts the leaf back onto her plate.

“Thanks,” she says.

“No problem. Anyway, I got a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Is this what you do for a living?”

“What? Eating?” She takes a bite from her salad.

“No, no. This whole, uh, ‘treasure hunting’ thing.”

“No, actually. Well, not entirely. See, I’m a professor at Hoofvard University.”

You suddenly get the feeling that a terrible pun has been made. But that just leads you back to what you were thinking earlier.

“Alright,” you begin, “let me guess... The university pays you to get these artifacts so they can study them, and then donate them to a museum?”

“No...” she says slowly. “I am paid by Princess Celestia to get them. The Equestrian government funds all these adventures I go on... What was all that about the university and a museum?”

“Just from a movie I saw once.”

“Really?” she asks.

You nod.

“That’s awesome!”

You nod again, taking a sip from your drink. “Yeah, it was a great movie. A classic.”

“No! No! Not that! You’re remembering!”

I am?

“I am?”

You gasp.

“Holy shit! I am!” Your heart beats faster and faster as you begin to feel very excited. “Ask me something else! Ask me something else!”

“OK! Uhm... What’s your name?”

“I don’t know.” Your smile falls. “I don’t know.”

You suddenly feel very depressed.

“I don’t know.” You put your head in your hands.

You feel a hoof on your shoulder.

“Hey,” Daring says soothingly. “It’s alright. Don’t beat yourself up. You just gotta take this one step at a time. It’s great that you remembered that movie!”

“Yeah,” you sigh. “I guess... Can’t remember the name of it, though.”

She puts a hoof under your chin and forces you to look up at her. “Like I said, one step at a time.”

The two of you eat your meals as the sun sets.

==========

After completing dinner, you place your empty trays and bottle outside the door, as the maid service will be around later to pick it up.

Daring instructed you to remove your stained shirt and lay on the bed, much to your confusion. Your perverse mind begins coming up with all kinds of scenarios of why Daring would tell you to do such a thing.

Despite your confusion, you obey her command, discarding your shirt, and only your shirt, before laying face-down on the mattress.

You close your eyes and wait.

After a few short moments, Daring joins you on the mattress, hopping up and walking towards where you lay.

Your face heats up as you feel Daring straddle your rump. Before you can stammer out a question, she speaks.

“Now, this gonna sting real bad, but it’ll help,” she says, uncapping some bottle with an audible ‘click.’ You cannot see what the bottle is, though.

“What are you doing?” you ask, wiggling yourself into a more comfortable position, adjusting the unexpected weight on your backside.

“I picked this up at the drugstore. Ah! Will you stop moving? I’m going to fall off. “

“Sorry.”

“It’s all good. This’ll keep your wounds from getting infected, I think.”

“You think?”

“I think. I’m a professor of archaeology, not a doctor.”

Grabbing onto the sheets, you brace yourself for the possible incoming pain.

The first few drops of liquid fall from the bottle and onto your back, which stings a little, but it’s not bad. More drops of the liquid are distributed across your back, stinging and partially numbing your extremity.

You hear the top of the bottle close once more before Daring sets it aside.

“Alright... this is gonna hurt,” she says honestly. Her truthfulness is astounding.

Before you can respond, her hooves push the liquid into your recent wounds.

You bite your lip hard, muffling a cry of pain and tuck your chin into your chest.

Daring was right about the stinging you should be feeling. It is most unpleasant, and the feeling spreads to the far reaches of all your limbs, tingling your fingers and toes. Your grip on the sheets becomes tighter and tighter before your back begins to numb, and the unpleasantness you feel slowly begins to fade.

Wanting to distract yourself from the unpleasant burning sensation in your back, you try to start up conversation.

“What was it you said about being a teacher?” you ask, your voice strained and your eyes shut tightly.

“No. Not teacher. ‘Professor.’ I’m a professor. I get paid more than teachers, I have more expertise than teachers, and I am way smarter than some ‘teacher’.”

“Sorry. Didn’t know you felt so strongly about it.” You resist the urge to roll over.

“Nah. Didn’t mean to sound so mean about it. I actually haven’t been to school since I was six.”

That surprises you. “And you’re a professor?”

“Yep!” She exclaims, probably with a big smile on her face. “A gal who didn’t finish elementary school is teaching snot-nosed college brats about shit they don’t care about. And I’m doing it at a school I’d never be able to get into. Hell, if I didn’t teach there, they probably wouldn’t even let me on campus!” She chuckles at her own joke.

She continues to rub her soft hooves over your back. The massage has the potential to be euphoric and relaxing were it not for the burning.

She continues. “All the stallions just stare at my flank and drool like morons. So the mares stare at the stallions and the stallions stare at me... kids, I swear. I put my heart into teaching, but most ponies take it as a joke.”

“But not you.”

“Oh hay no! I love teaching and I love being here! Deserts and jungles? Now that’s my true home.”

“So you’re a professor and an adventurer?”

“Yep!” She proclaims proudly. “But that’s not all!”

“What else could there possibly be?”

“I’m a writer!”

“... a writer?”

“Mm-hmm. Make a lot of money off that too.”

“How? You just said you never finished elementary school. And your speech is tantamount to that of a toothless hobo.”

“Hey!”

“How could you write a book? And who in their right mind would read it?”

She chuckles. “You kidding? Everypony who’s anypony reads my books! All of Equestria knows me.”

“Which brings me back to my first question: How are you writing books if you’ve never learned to read?”

She scoffs. “I know how to read, smartass. Hey! There’s an idea! You can’t remember your name, so maybe I should call you ‘Smartass!’”

You both share a brief laugh, despite the pain you’re in.

She continues. “I don’t actually write the books. I tell my adventures to a very good friend of mine who knows how to keep a secret, and she writes the books for me. But I help her write them!”

“So everypony knows about you, then?”

“You bet!”

You doubt Daring’s story. The chances of her being a famous writer, professor, and adventurer are little to none. But you play along anyway.

“Then are paparazzi around you all the time? How do you do these secret missions if everyone is always trying to get pictures of you?”

“‘Daring Do’ is my birth name. But I use a fake name when I teach and at social events and such, so no one knows who I really am. Everypony thinks that ‘Daring Do’ is just based on me, because I look like her. But I actually am her!”

You sneeze.

“Gesundheit.”

“Thanks.”

“All the books in the ‘Daring Do’ series are adventure books. And most of the things that happen to me are so crazy that everypony just assumes it’s fiction. For example, what are the chances of me meeting you in the middle of some jungle? It sounds like fiction to me.”

“But it’s not.”

“I know it! But that’s good. If everypony knew who I was, I’d never get anything done.”

You think for a second. “So is this particular adventure going to be turned into a book?”

“Eh...” she thinks, her rubbing of your back slowing slightly. “Maybe... It depends on how it all plays out.”

“What do you mean?”

“... nothing...”

You leave it at that.

==========

“You’re lucky, you know,” Daring says as her hooves continue to trace over your back.

“In what way?” you ask, still flinching slightly at the sudden jolts of pain you feel. Thankfully, now your back is beginning to get numb, so you feel less and less.

“He used a clean knife.”

“He used a hook,” you correct.

“He used a clean hook.”

You suppose that does make you lucky.

==========

The rest of the ‘massage’ was spent in tremendous pain. If you didn’t have any scars on your back then it would’ve been the most relaxing experience that your 3-day old memory would have, but you did, so it was painful and terrible.

Just like everything else you can remember. You don’t think one single memory in your brain is a pleasant one, as the last few days have sucked a big one, but it’s getting better.

Once the liquid soaked in, Daring wrapped you up in gauze, which covers your back wounds and wraps around your chest. It’s not much, but you’re already feeling better.

Now the two of you are sitting outside once more, observing the nightlife of the city far below.

“Isn’t that beautiful?” she asks, looking up.

“What? The ceiling?”

“Tch. No. The stars.” She points a hoof towards the sky.

You look up and see the night sky. You suppose it is rather pretty.

“I guess it is,” you respond.

“It’s awesome, really. I’ve been all over the world, but no matter where I go, the sky is the same. The stars are always in the same place. It reminds me of Equestria.”

You feel homesick. Despite not knowing where home is exactly, you do know you really want to go back, and having Daring talk about it isn’t helping much.

“What’s your family like, Daring?” you ask, curious.

“Wh-What?” she stammers, looking at you. “Why?”

You shrug. “No reason, I guess. Just wondering what they thought about you going on all these secret adventures.”

“That all?”

“That, and I can’t remember my family, so I guess it’d be nice to hear about yours’.”

“Uh...” She seems reluctant to tell you anything. You actually don’t know anything about Daring’s personal life. Sure, you know how she makes a living, but that’s basically it. “I don’t think you’ll want to hear about it.”

“Well sure I do.”

“I’ve never actually told anypony before.”

“Told anyone what?” you ask, curiosity getting the best of you.

“I’m an orphan.”

There is a moment of silence.

Daring just looks over the city, no readable expression on her face.

You look at Daring, certainly not expecting that she was an orphan.

She continues. “I was never adopted... See, when I was a filly, I had a bad habit of running off; running away from the orphanage. It’s not like there was anything wrong with the place, it just wasn’t for me, you know?”

You don’t know.

“That eventually leads to how I got my cutie mark, but that’s a longer story.”

She looks over at you, and you continue to look at her.

“I’ll tell you the story later, if you want to hear it. It’s just late...” She takes a deep breath. “Welp, better get ready for bed.”

She gets up, slides the glass door open, and walks inside.

You don’t know what to do. Should you follow her? Should you stay put? She doesn’t seem to want to talk about it, and you certainly don’t want to force her to.

You get up and go inside anyway, at least just to make sure she’s alright.

Daring is pacing around the room, moving bags and putting some things in the refrigerator.

“I never had a family...” she says. She does not appear to be talking to you, but you suppose she is, as you are the only sentient being in the room.

You don’t say a word, but you don’t have to, as she continues to talk as though she is speaking to an audience.

“My ‘parents’, I suppose you could call ‘em, left me outside at the front door of an orphanage in Fillydelphia,” she says walking around the room, unable to stay in one place for longer than a second or two.

You don’t say anything. You just listen and take a seat on the bed, allowing her to continue speaking.

She chuckles dryly to herself. “The doorstep...” She smiles a little and looks down. “The doorstep...”

She stops moving. You can tell she’s getting more emotional about this.

“They didn’t even have the decency to walk inside...” She sniffles. “They couldn’t even show their pathetic faces. They just left me. Outside.”

She spins around, glaring at everything around her.

“Why am I an orphan?!” She shouts, asking no one in particular. “Why me?! The two ponies that chose to have me and carry me for months just decide to give me up? Like I’m some piece of trash?!”

You swear you see smoke come out of her nostrils as her breathing gets heavier.

“Why does everypony else get a family? Huh?! How come I didn’t get one?!” She kicks the wall hard, making a small hole. “What kind of worthless piles of crap do my parents have to be to do that?!”

You stand up.

Before you can make your way over to Daring, she kicks the wall again in the same spot as before and begins knocking over whatever she sees.

“How worthless am I that my parents didn’t even want me when I was only a few days old?!”

You can’t answer any of these questions.

She grabs the lamp next to your bed with her forehooves and smashes it against the wall, causing it to shatter and break into dozens of pieces and scatter across the floor.

Before she can cause anymore mayhem, you grab onto her midsection tightly.

“Let me go!” she shouts, kicking and flailing in your arms.

You try to shush and calm her down, but it’s hardly working.

“Let me go!” She kicks your thigh very hard, causing you to grunt, but you don’t let go. “Get off me-e!” Her voice cracks, and the tears begin to fall.

You grab her tighter as she begins flapping her wings to propel herself away from you.

“G-Get off me...” she whispers, her voice continuing to break.

She buries her face in your shoulder and sobs, her voice breaking and cracking, her breath quick and uncontrollable, and her tears falling onto your shoulder.

Her wings fall limply to her sides and her muscles relax, except for her forelegs, which she wraps around your neck.

You sit down on the bed with Daring in your lap, move a hand to rub her back consolingly, and gently rock back and forth.

==========

Written by- ScatMan2001

Edited by- A Renegade Time Lord

That's right, I have an editor now. And we are unstoppable!

Author's Notes:

Ten points to "Night_Gale" for finding the reference in the last chapter!
For those who are wondering, the "Ravenwood" table, that was the reference. Get it? Ravenwood? It's not a real type of wood. Har Har.
For those waiting for This Magic Moment, work on the next chapter will begin tomorrow.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!