//------------------------------// // Daring Do and the Silent Struggle // Story: The Legend of Daring Do // by The Red Parade //------------------------------// “Your party quickly leaves the shadowy lands of the North Zone behind, boarding a train back towards civilization,” Twilight’s voice says. The world shifts around me again, until the mountains and valleys give way to a city. This one’s different than the one we met Redblood in. It’s a lot brighter here, and the buildings aren’t quite as tall. “Upon leaving the train, you enter a small restaurant to take a break.” Sure enough, the building comes into view. There’s several groups of ponies milling about, talking to one another as they head up and down the road. Every table around us looks to be occupied, with some uniformed waiters scurrying around and taking orders. We’re sitting at some sort of cafe, staring at a map spread out on the table. “So the first key was in the North Zone,” Daring’s saying. “The next key is supposed to be here, in Skyfall City.” She taps a hoof on the map. Redblood nods, taking a sip from the cup she’s holding in her hooves. “Sounds good. Gives me a chance to test out some of my stuff.” Minute Maker scoffs. “Shouldn’t be as dangerous as the North Zone anyways, right?” She reaches across the table and steals one of Redblood’s hay fries. “Hopefully,” Daring says. “Just in case we need help, I’ve arranged for another friend to help us out.” I sigh, glancing around the city. “So where are we right now?” “Spark City,” Daring replies, tapping another hoof on the map. “And we’ll set off right after this. I don’t want to stay here a second more than I have to.” That makes me raise an eyebrow. “What’s the rush?” Daring sighs. “Spark City isn’t exactly the safest place in the world.” “Better than Detrot,” Redblood mutters. Minute reaches over and steals another fry. “It was one bad day, Redblood, you can’t judge a city based on one day!” Redblood rolls her eyes. “Trust me, one day was enough.” She swats Minute’s hoof away from her food. “And stop taking my fries.” “Still,” Daring says, “there’s no point in wasting time here. We should get a move on as soon as possible.” “Well, well, well,” says a voice behind us. I turn around to see three pegasi lounging at a table near us. They’ve all got long manes that cover their eyes, but I can still feel them leering at us. “If it isn’t the nerd gang.” Daring blinks before tensing up. “Damnit,” she mutters, “I must have forgotten to take it out.” “What?” She sighs, eyes drifting down to the table. “Just leave them. They’re not supposed to be here.” The three pegasi just laugh. The tan one nudges the brown one. “Check it, looks like the nerd found a new friend.” The brown one whispers something in the ear of the black one, and the three laugh. I frown. That laugh sounds awfully familiar. “Sis, why are Hoops, Score, and Dumb-bell here?” Daring sinks her head into her hooves, whispering something under her breath. “...Should have known Twilight would do that…. Stupid, why didn’t I take it out…. Shouldn’t even be here….” The three bullies leave their seats and head over to us. “So tell me, you read any good books lately?” Score asks. “Yeah, I hear ‘How to Make Friends’ is a pretty good one.” Dumb-bell chuckles. “But I don’t know if she’s read that one.” Hoops laughs. “Please, a book that Daring Dumb hasn’t read? That’d be the day!” Redblood growls and stands up, but Daring shakes her head. “Don’t. It’s not worth it.” “Oh, bullshit it isn’t,” Redblood snaps. “Come on, Daring, what makes these idiots any different than changelings or Shadows?” “Because,” Daring replies tersely, “changelings and Shadows are actually dangerous.” Hoops suddenly scowls and spits on the ground. He walks over confidently and swipes a glass of water off the table. The sound of shattering glass kills the conversation, as all the other patrons suddenly stare at us. Hoops comes closer, sticking his muzzle right in her face. “What was that?” Minute Maker stands up as well, horn glowing. Daring makes eye contact with her and shakes her head before turning her attention to Hoops. “Look, just say your piece and get out of here.”  Hoops spits on the ground. “I don’t think you understand how this works. You don’t get to tell me what to do.” Daring just sighs. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” That’s when I decide to intervene. I stand up, slamming a hoof on the table. “Hey! Who do you think you are?” If they recognize me, they don’t show it. “Come on, you’re not seriously standing up for this nerd,” Hoops says. “This nerd is my sister,” I spit back. I lower my stance, spreading my wings defensively. “Is that going to be a problem?” “Rainbow,” Daring hisses at me, “it’s not worth it!” Redblood and Minute seem to disagree, as they move around the table to face the three. There’s nervous whispering and rustling as the other customers scramble to get to safety.  Score just smirks, cracking his neck. “Oh, look at this, the nerd has to get other ponies to stand up for her.” Daring gives a frustrated groan and stands up, facing Hoops. She shoves him backwards.  “Look, just say your piece and let us--” Before she can finish, Hoops suddenly swings a hoof at her. “You don’t get to touch me, you--” This time it’s my turn to cut him off with a hoof across the jaw. Hoops stumbles backwards in pain. “Bitch!” He snarls and recovers, charging at me again.  Hoops throws a clumsy punch at me that I easily dodge. His momentum sends him crashing into the table we were sitting at, spilling food and drink everywhere. I glance behind me to see Minute and Redblood taking on Score and Dumb-bell, leaving Hoops all to myself. As he struggles to his hooves, I advance on him. I deck him again before he can get up. Hoops goes crashing down to the floor again, scowling and cursing the entire time. He suddenly bucks at me with his hind legs, connecting with my face. I grunt and stumble backwards. Before I can fully recover he lands another cheap shot on me. “Hah! Take that,” he gloats. He throws another heavy punch, but this time I can dodge it. I grab his arm and yank hard, sending him falling to the ground. I’ve got him on his stomach now, gripping his leg tightly. Just as I’m about to break his foreleg, Daring grabs my shoulder. “What are you doing?” she hisses as she pulls me off of him. “What does it look like? He attacked you first!” Daring sighs angrily and pulls . “I had that under control--” “Watch out,” Redblood shouts. I whirl around to see that Hoops has picked himself off the floor and is throwing another punch at me. I try to dodge but can’t maneuver fast enough, and he clips me on the side of my face. Daring springs into action, hitting him once in the face and a few more times in the chest before giving him a kick to the groin. “Thanks,” I mutter, wincing as I feel the place he hit me. “Yeah, don’t mention it,” she mutters. To our right, Minute Maker sends Dumb-bell flying through the air with a blast of magic, while Redblood’s mechanical arm holds Score upside down by the tail. The other cafe customers have cleared out by now, screaming and yelling in panic. Dumb-bell struggles to his hooves before groaning and collapsing on the ground. After giving him a few good smacks, Redblood drops Score to the ground, giving him a kick in the chest for good measure. “Nice one.” I go over to where Hoops is lying and spit on his face, earning a chuckle from Redblood.  Daring however is less than pleased. “You idiots! I told you to leave them!” Redblood frowns at that. “Come on, Daring. They obviously weren’t going to leave.” “Yeah,” Minute agrees. “Besides, they did kind of start the fight.” Daring just shakes her head in disgust. “Why’s it so bad that we beat up a bunch of bullies?” I ask. My sister facehoofs. “That’s not the point,” she stresses. “The point is… Ugh. It doesn’t matter now,” she grumbles. “Let’s just get out of here.”  With that, Daring turns and leaves the wrecked cafe. I exchange a glance with Redblood and Minute before following. Daring sets a quick pace, leading us out of the city. For a long time she won’t talk to us. As the cityscape gives way to a well worn dirt path, the sun starts to break through the clouds. Even with the sun and chirping birds, the mood among us is still tense. “Come on, Daring,” Minute finally says. “You know those three had it coming.” Daring exhales in frustration. “Maybe they did, but that isn’t the point. Beating them up isn’t going to change anything.” “But it’s better than lying there and taking it,” Redblood argues. “I’ve been trying to tell you that for years.” I raise an eyebrow. “Years? Daring, how long has this been going on?” Daring doesn’t reply. “A while,” Minute answers sadly. “Those bullies just don’t know when to quit.” I freeze. “Daring, you were getting bullied by those idiots? Why didn’t you tell me?” My sister throws her hooves up in anger. “It wasn’t bullying, okay? Yeah, they were annoying and all, but they were just being idiots. I told you, I was handling it!” I stomp on the ground. “You still could have told me! I would have helped you!” “What would you have done? Beat them up? Throw them off a cloud somewhere? How would that have solved anything? Because yeah, you can get rid of them, but there will always be ponies like them, lurking in the corners, waiting for their chance!” Daring’s voice rises as she speaks until she’s practically yelling. I open my mouth to respond, but Minute shoves herself between us. “Hey! Both of you, that’s enough.”  Daring grunts, turning away from me. “Damn right it is,” she spits. She pushes ahead, picking up her pace. Redblood glances at Minute and trots to keep up with her. She whispers something to her which makes Daring frown. “What was that all about?” I ask Minute. “I’ve never seen her that angry before.” Minute chews her lip for a few seconds. “Rainbow, I think it’s mostly what you said, about her not telling you. I think she did tell you. You just weren’t listening.” She looks at me sadly. “Wait, what does that--” Before I can finish the sentence, the world around me fades away.