Daring Do and the Black Mare

by UnidentifiedFlyinPegasus

Chapter 1

Daring Do raced through the marketplace of Saddle Arabia, knocking down ponies and stalls in her desperation to escape. The black-coated mare was somewhere behind her, her burly stallion guards ready to capture her at any given moment.

She shifted the cotton shirt over her wings as she ran, hoping that nopony had seen the feathers that stuck out for just a moment. Around here, so far from CloudsDale, any pegasus would stand out like a cat in a room full of dogs.

She ducked quickly into a dark alley, diving behind a pile of crates. The black mare ran past, her guards following closely behind.

Daring Do allowed herself a moment of rest and breathed a sigh of relief. The black mare probably expected her to go back to the museum to look for the map. Daring smiled to herself and reached into the pocket of her explorer jacket, gently pulling out a brittle, yellowed piece of paper. It unrolled on the ground in front of her, displaying it's ancient information in front of her eyes.

It was the map. Showing a portion of the desert, the paper showed a clear trail, one that lead straight to-

"The lost treasure of Mindalin Ramidad." Daring Do knew the words by heart, but now, reading them aloud from the map, she found herself in a wondrous awe. Hundreds of explorers had set out to find the undiscovered treasure of Mindalin the Great, but nopony had come as close as she was now. To see his own map, to read his very words... it was better than she could have ever imagined.

"I found her! She's over here!"

The stallion's rough voice jolted Daring out of her stupor. She quickly rolled up the map and stuffed it back in her pocket. Looking down at the mouth of the alley, Daring Do saw two large stallions racing towards her with a dark determination. Behind her, a tall brick wall brought her to a dead stop.

The only way out was up.

Daring leapt up onto the pile of crates and spread her wings. She tensed her muscles and jumped, flapping her wings a few times before alighting on the roof of the building. She looked back triumphantly, only to see the stallions jump up with mighty leaps, landing hard on the roof behind her. She had underestimated them.

Daring Do ran as hard as she could, building up speed before she launched herself into the sky. The guards glared after her, unable to fly, but something in their gazes unnerved her.

She was so distracted that she almost didn't see the net flying towards her.