Daring Do and the Stigma of Fear

by Witchfinder General

Twilight On The Streets Of Hell

Daring Do and the Stigma of Fear
Ch. 5
Twilight on the Streets of Hell

"Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost."
Dante's Inferno I, lines 1-3

"Why? Why me?"

Three sharply-dressed, but chaotic-appearing, mares stormed into the kitchen in search of their panic-stricken friend, who had no more than a minute ago fled a ruined ball fearing for her life. A number of the kitchen staff were noticeably startled by their appearance, but continued on with their work. Yelling by the brown archeologist pony could be heard echoing in the kitchen, followed by the strangled cry of a stallion.

A door slammed before they reached the back of the kitchen, and they walked in on a group of ponies (And one donkey) surrounding a wounded unicorn. He had a deep gash in his front leg and was writing in pain while he was being tended to by a female earth pony that treated his wounds with a small med kit.

"What happened?" Asked Twilight to either one of the ponies.

"Some crazy bitch came rushing through here." The unicorn groaned out. "I tried to stop her but she... took my knife and stabbed me with it. She ran out that way." He pointed to the door.

Outside, the door leads to a dark alleyway. The alleyway was partially illuminated by the bright lights of Canterlot streetlights and buildings. Of course it was going to be bright. They were in the entertainment district. The problem was its size... and the number of ponies walking around.

"Damn it." Spitfire cursed. "Where is she?"

"Wherever she is, we gotta find her." Said Rainbow, as distressed as the other two. "If she didn't have a problem with stabbing that one stallion just for trying to stop her from leaving, who knows how she'll act around other ponies?"

"I don't deserve this. I'm a good pony."

Fancypants was pacing backstage. Waiting for his benefactor who would surely be irritated at the turn of the night's events, and perhaps just as curious as he himself was at his former employee's sudden hallucination attack. He heard the familiar sounds of his benefactor's cane tapping against the hardwood flooring of the stage.

"What the hell happened?" Strained the worn voice of Fancypants' benefactor, irate on the night's events which included the premature end of Frank Sinatrot's performance. Fancypants figured he wanted to be shouting but couldn't go beyond straining.

"I have no idea! It looked like she was hallucinating. It must have been some side effect of the drug we gave her. I tried to give the order to restrain her but she got away too fast." He wasn't nervous about his benefactor being angry with him. What could the old man do, honestly? Aside from curiosity, the main brimming feeling he possessed was annoyance. All that planning of tonight for nothing.

"That was no side effect. Even if it was, I don't care what happened. I want her found. No excuses!"

"Bad things don't happen to good ponies."

*3 years ago*

Daring wiped the sweat from her brow. She moved the brim of her hat over her eyes, and had long since abandoned the heavy jacket she wore for fear of heatstroke. She just couldn't believe how hot it was as she and her team of five ponies were uncovering the mysteries (provided there were any) in rather large temple just outside of a small rural town. She didn't catch its name.

The temple loomed over her in a monolithic glory; shadows of the sun fading away any detail it would've presented were Celestia's legacy not behind it. She was relieved to get under its large shadow and into the landmark, despite being no cooler than it was out there. Three ponies clad in khaki gear stood on an altar, quite possibly a sacrificial ritual altar. Okay, she lied. The grim remains of many pony carcasses made this obviously a sacrificial altar.

She walked in just in time to see one of her colleagues (One obviously new to the field) rip a knife out of a pile of bones.

"What the buck are you doing?!"

Everypony turned to Daring at the sound of her sudden outburst. Daring remained still, as if waiting for something. When nothing happened, she sighed relief and walked over, climbing the altar. She grabbed the knife out of her colleague’s hoof.

"Did you comprehend anything I taught you these past few weeks? You don't go grabbing things off of strange altars, especially on an altar covered in pony skeletons! For one thing, that knife could have crumbled to dust in your hooves and we could've lost the possible archaeological discovery of a lifetime. Or you could've set off a spiked ceiling or giant boulder or goddess-know-what! You got extremely lucky this time, but any other situation you and anypony else here would've been killed, and not just by me for destroying a piece of valuable history." She looked to the group as a whole. "And remember, any idiots here are expendable. Got it?" The (proverbially) green pony nodded so hard Daring was sure he'd get whiplash. The remaining group nodded with less vigor. She looked at the knife she forgot she was holding. It looked like a typical kitchen knife, save for the turquoise symbols on the wooden handle.

"Use some bucking common sense." She spoke.

She put the knife in her sack and walked back to her tent. She was sure she had a book in her pack that could identify the symbols on it. A copy of some edition detailing arcane symbols given to her by a friend at the Canterlot National Archives. She walked out looking around the excavation site, inwardly complaining about the heat once more, when she heard a voice.

"Daring?"

She turned to see Ruby, a friend since college and the only pony who dared to volunteer of the assignment. Well, the only one to volunteer for reasons beside the nice publicity. Daring was vexed in seeing the event in the paper, and told herself to have a nice word with the fanboyish editor after the excavation.

"What was that?" She went on.

"What?"

"That. I know you're not the nicest pony in Equestria, but cut him some slack. It's his first day on the field. Don't tell me you didn't make the same mistake when you started."

"No, as a matter of fact, I didn't. My mentor had the damned decently to teach me not to make stupid mistakes that could've injured or killed my teammates. I trained him exactly the same as my mentor trained me. Guess I'm not as good as him."

"You're not him at all, Daring. I'm glad you’re not, either. He was a class five jackass hell-bent on becoming the Gunnery Sargent Hartmane of archaeological field." Daring couldn't help but smirk at the comparison. "'Idiots are expendable?' Hell, you're starting to sound like him."

"Which one? Hartmane or my mentor?"

"If you want a direct answer: Hartmane."

"Shit." She rubbed the back of her neck. It was hot to the touch. "Fine. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for my outburst and I promise I’ll try to calm down for the rest of the excavation. Happy?"

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to him."

"Hell no! I'm not gonna give that rookie the satisfaction of seeing his superior and mentor crawl up on her knees and beg forgiveness. Just tell him I've been in the sun too long and to be more careful next time."

"Whatever you say, boss." She mocked a salute and left. Daring rolled her eyes and went to her tent. It was so much cooler in here, as she left the fan running. Accidently, no less. She took off her hat, wiped the sweat off her brow and threw it on the makeshift cot. Digging her blue pack out, she took out a thick tome. She didn't bother looking at the table of contents. She just skimmed through the pages until she found...

What the hell is that supposed to be?

"Twilight... Rainbow... Spitfire... help me..."

They can't help you, Daring. You're far beyond saving.

Daring jumped at the sudden sounding of the hollow, yet enticingly familiar, voice. Next to her stood the familiar form of her Wonderbolt friend. There was not a doubt in her mind that the voice was Spitfire. It couldn't be Spitfire, though. This was not her foalhood friend. This Spitfire was evil, sinister. She used all her willpower to ignore it and kept walking.

Daring was at her wit's end. She was still being swept up in a wave of mental anguish and traumatic memories came crashing down on her like a barrage of asteroids against a small moon. Her moon was about ready to explode from the impact force. Various voices in her mind were talking to her, and she didn't know who to answer first. Scenes flashed about in her head flicker as if shown on a busted film projector. The temple, the knife, the bloody corpses of her coworkers and mysterious symbols. Her head was spinning and she felt nauseous.

She so desperately wanted to take the knife she held in her hoof and slit her own throat with it. She wanted to be done with it all, but couldn't find the nerve.

Maybe you can find a nice substitute among this collection of innocents. I bet they scream nicely.

"Get away from me!" She screamed hoarsely to the evil presence. She knew that was pointless, though. Daring may have been losing her mind, but the smart rationality of her mind remained in touch and provided her with a miniscule amount of comfort. This was not Spitfire, it wasn't even a living pony. It was a figment of her distressed mind created to seek reasoning and, if necessary, forgiveness. She didn't need to apologize, though. There was nothing she needed to be forgiven for. She didn't murder those ponies.

She would have a much easier time believing that if she weren't running around the streets of Canterlot in a hallucinating frenzy while holding a butcher knife. Ponies around her were avoiding her like the plague. What did they think she was going to do?

Oh, you'd be surprised. Imagine the things you could do with that knife. To yourself... and to others.

"SHUT UP!" She shrieked, finally losing whatever patience she had. "I don't know who or what you are, but you better get the buck away from me!" Ponies were staring at her. Spitfire remained resolute, a confident smirk on her face. Daring was about to yell more hollow and vulgar threats when she realized the number of ponies staring at her. She turned and walked off, red in the face.

"I don't believe this. I'm actually insane. I've completely and utterly lost it." She mumbled to herself in a self-deprecating tone.

Did you ever have it in the first place?

"Drop dead!"

Like those ponies you murdered?

"Oh, for the love of--!" She could feel the evil Spitfire grinning triumphantly at her. She bit back tears of frustration, as if it mattered anyway considering how many were already falling out of her, and walked in silence. Well, not total silence: She was grinding her teeth.

---

"Daring?! Daring!" Twilight called out through the crowd, ignoring the ponies looking at her. "Excuse me, sir. Have you seen a brownish pegasus walk by here?" He shook his head. "Thanks, anyways." She flagged down another mare. "Excuse me, miss. Have you seen a short-haired pony with a compass cutie-mark?" She didn't. "Sorry for bothering you."

They were out of the entertainment district. They wandered into a less-populated district. Less neon lighting illuminated the area, and ponies were walking less and preoccupied with other interests such as a food stand. Spitfire and Rainbow took to the skies in search of their shell-shocked friend. Twilight saw their silhouettes in the night sky. Well, she saw Spitfire's. Rainbow's cyan coat blended into the night sky quite impressively.

"Well?" Twilight asked the pegasi.

"Nothing." Spitfire went first.

"She's fast." Followed by Rainbow Dash.

"Don't forget that she's a pegasus, too. She could've flown out of the city by now." Said Spitfire, voice filled with worry for her foalhood friend. Twilight scolded herself for completely for getting that trait. "Why won't you tell me what's wrong with her?" Spitfire sounded both confused and angry. "Does this have anything to do with the... you know, what I read in the paper? Did that really happen? There's no way she could--" Rainbow Dash silenced the Wonderbolt could go into further detail.

"Spitfire, I’m sure it's a bit more complicated than that."

"...And I promise you'll have an explanation as soon as possible, but we gotta find Daring before she hurts herself or anypony else."

"There are over 100,000 ponies in this city, Twilight." Dash informed. "Maybe thirty percent of the population is pegasi. Finding her's gonna like finding a needle in a haystack,"

Twilight knew that. She had lived her for years. She paced on the sidewalk, running guesses where she would go and what could be running through her head. She scolded herself again for forgetting something basic.

"Where does a former shut-in alone in the world go to get away from it all?" She mused aloud for Rainbow and Spitfire to hear.

"Her home." Said Rainbow lucidly. "She's going back to her apartment."

"'Former shut-in?' What...?"

"Like I said, we'll explain later, Spitfire. Right now, we gotta hurry and beat her there or she'll lock us out."

---

Daring wandered the by now empty streets with knife in mouth, constantly watching her back and occasionally jumping at shadows. The night's chilling air cut to her bone and made her shiver. She was sure that wasn't the main factor of her shivering, though.

The worst of her attack seemed to be over. She was running on pure adrenaline and felt like she would crash at any moment. Her hooves were sore and her leg tendons felt like paper strained to rip after being pulled. Blackness appeared on the side of her vision. Her throat hurt. She wanted nothing more than to sleep it off, but at this rate she felt like she wouldn't sleep for weeks.

Her relief upon seeing her apartment was almost palpable.

Almost home. So close.

She barged into the lobby. Empty. Even the desk attendant was gone. Good, nothing to stop her. She made for the stairs.

"So close..."

...And yet so far.

Daring stopped at the sound of the dreadful whisper. She looked up, finding Spitfire stood at the top of the stairs, slowly descending it to the sound of creaking wood and never taking her eyes off Daring. Daring backed away on instinct, taking the knife out of mouth and arming herself.

"No... no... stay back. I'm warning you." Daring backed away from the slowly approached her with a sinister gleam on her face. "Stop. Stop!" The waved the knife in a futile show of defense. The figure said nothing, continuing to corner the frightened mare. A grim silence filled the air with impending doom. Nothing but the ambient sound of a droning ceiling fan.

Daring was backed against the door she came in. She could feel Spitfire's breath on her face, her evil eyes boring into her soul.

Condemned to hell.

Like a cornered animal, Daring finally struck back. Her blade pierced the flesh of the yellow pony in front of her in rapid succession. Blood raged from her victim and landed on Daring, the carpet and her dress. She yanked the knife out once she felt the body go limp in her hooves, dead eyes staring into her own.

She dropped the body, horrified at what she just did. It landed with a repulsing sound against the small rug covering the hardwood floor.

I... I... I am a murderer!

She wanted to take the time to freak out about the hideous revelation, but whatever shred of rationality she had left decided to speak out. She had to hide the body and dispose of the evidence.

She rolled the fresh corpse up in the bloodstained throw rug, trying to keep the contents of her stomach down while doing so. She dragged the rug over to a storage room full of dusty and worn furniture. Shoving the cadaver-filled rug behind an upright piano, she was making for the door when she was startled by her reflection in a dirty mirror.

Besides being outright petrified what she looked like after seeing her eye to eye for the first time in quite a while, she was terror-stricken to see her pale and sickly form in a ruined dress (her only dress) covered in blood and wielding an equally bloody knife.

She looked like something out of a cheap horror flick she saw as a teenager.

Is this truly what you've become?

"I AM NOT A MURDERER!" She screamed, sobbed and stabbed the incriminating reflection, creating large web-like cracks and a jarring screech as she scraped her knife against the glass. "I'M NOT A BUCKING KILLER! I'M A BUCKING ARCHAEOLOGIST! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!" She stared at her colorless reflection on the shattered glass. Her face resembled an avant guarde face portrait. "ANSWER ME!"

The mirror stayed silent, but she heard laughing. Demonic laughter from all over. She covered her ears, looking at the accusing reflection.

Past her desperately covered ears, she could see her own surreal reflection laugh at her, but she could many other laughs. The harsh and young-blooded laugh of Rainbow Dash, the subtle but venomous laugh of Twilight Sparkle, the core-shattering familiar laugh of Spitfire and a million others in between. She closed her eyes until the laughing stopped. She dared a look in the mirror. It looked back at her. She looked back at her. Her ears still covered, she read its moving lips.

Welcome to Hell.

"NOOOOOO!"

Daring screamed and smashed whatever remained of the cracked glass with her hooves in a berserk rampage of overloading emotions, ignoring the sharp bursts of pain and the feeling of something lukewarm run down her legs. As shards of the mirror fell to the floor. Once the last piece of capable shard fell, silence lingered. She curled herself with her head in her hooves once more until she finally went limp against her will.

She felt her sharp anger evolve into dull misery. Her seething temper forged into cold bitterness. During the whiplash of emotions, whatever rationality and logic she had decided to overcome. Daring took off her dress, emptied the pockets (finding nothing in them, not even the apartment key she brought with her) wiped the knife clean with it, and jammed it inside the piano. Putting the knife in her mouth, she stormed out of the dark and dreary room. She stole one last look at the destroyed mirror.

On the one half of the mirror that wasn't replaced by a wooden backdrop, her scowling, completely colorless face looked back.

That was the time the mirror chose to respond.

---

The two pegasi and only unicorn stormed into the apartment. As expected near midnight, the apartment was devoid of life. Ponies in this apartment were likely asleep by now.

"She lives here?" Spitfire broke the tense silence with a surprised exclamation. "What a dump! Her pay can't be that bad. She graduated from Hoofvard, for Pete's sake."

Awkwardly chuckling despite the intense situation, Rainbow followed Twilight as she and Spitfire moved to the stairs. She slipped on something but barely noticed it as she climbed the stairs. They climbed three flights until they reached a dark hall. The same dark hall Daring's room resided in.

The hall was no darker than it was when they left it. The full moon shined in place of the sun. The only sign of life was a curled-up figure against a door, shaking like leaf in a typhoon. The trio of ponies slowly approached the figure, stopping when she turned her head. Her glaring eyes gleamed in the dark. Her pupils were still shrunk to infinitesimal spheres. Her knife was clenched in both her hooves, poised to strike. The three ponies kept their distance.

"Daring?" Twilight called out gently to her. Daring didn't answer past her continued stare. "Do you recognize us?"

"I know who you are." She snared. She sounded distrusting, spiteful and above all... tired. "You know who you are, but do you know who I really am?"

"I... don't follow."

"Do you think my mind is the only thing that I've slain? The only thing that has had blood spilled for tyrants to drink from as it weeps from the cracks in the ruins of their crumbled empire? Do you know why so much blood has been slipped over by my own hooves?" An unnerving smile appeared on her face.

Twilight was still trying to comprehend the "blood for tyrants" bit Daring brought up. Thinking she was just being dramatic, she also thought over her vague question, assuming the 'blood' she spilled was referencing the other ponies at the temple. "Sacrifice?"

---

It hungers. One must quench its thirst to control it.

"It hungers. One must quench its thirst to control it."

For when its payment has made its due, is when power beyond the wildest pony's imagination is given in return.

"For when its payment has made its due, is when power beyond the wildest pony's imagination is given in return."

She who wields the knife will be granted the power... at the cost of an insatiable bloodlust that will only end once the knife has been fed. Once blood hath been shed and souls are released from their mortal temple.

"She who wields the knife will be granted the power... at the cost of an insatiable bloodlust that will only end once the knife has been fed. Once blood hath been shed and souls are released from their mortal temple."

---

"This power." Twilight spoke cautiously after Daring paused. "How many souls must be 'released' to obtain it?"

Daring ran a hoof along the butcher knife's blade, tracing the face of the silver blade and minding the edge.

"Six. And once we reach that number, the pony you knew as Daring shall be no more."

Daring murdered five ponies. Thought Twilight. The knife she held had no blood on it. One more and...

"We won't let that happen!" Shouted Rainbow, breaking Twilight's foreboding train of thought.

"We shall see, Rainbow Dash." The smile on Daring's face became almost feral. "There's no preventing the inevitable, and what will happen to me is only the beginning of something bigger. Heavens will burn. The earth will die. The sun and the moon will fall as fast as their empires. Only one true empire will reign supreme... when steel and bone meet."

Daring gasped loudly, startling the other ponies in the hallway. Daring struggled against something only she could see, and fell limp. She stirred as if waking from a deep slumber, clutching her head and holding her body close. She threw the knife, which slid across the floor over to the bewildered group of ponies. Spitfire picked it up while Rainbow ran over to the convulsing pony.

"Daring? Daring!"

"I'm sorry! I couldn't-- I didn't want to! Murder! I'M NOT A MURDERER!" She struggled against the multi-colored pony. A tired and mental frustrated Rainbow couldn't find a way to react to Daring's continued outburst, so she took refuge in audacity by slapping the mare in the muzzle hard enough to jerk her head to the right. She heard Twilight and possibly Spitfire gasp behind her. Daring quieted down, a shocked expression frozen on her face. Momentarily, she came to, looking at Rainbow.

"You don't look so good." Daring made no smirk or grin upon saying this, nor did anypony else.

"You all right?" Rainbow moved the tip of her cowlick away from her face.

"No, I'm not all right. I have a splitting headache, my legs are sore, I'm tired, cold and I can't remember what I was doing ten seconds ago!"

"You don't?" Daring turned at Spitfire and Twilight walking to her current position.

"No, I don't. What happened? Did I do anything?" Spitfire looked about ready to start a rant, but was cut-off by Twilight.

"No. Nothing happened. Come on, let's head in to your apartment."

"I... dropped my key somewhere." Daring bashfully admitted.

"No prob." Said Rainbow confidently. "I've picked this lock before. I can do it again." Rainbow got to work, ignoring a sighing Twilight and a misplaced Spitfire who turned their attention to Daring.

"Can you walk?" Asked Spitfire, helping Daring to her hooves.

"Yes, I can walk! I don't know what the hell just happened to me, but it wasn't a stroke." Spitfire, despite the hostility behind the comment, chuckled.

"Oh, you crybaby. You're fine."

"Bite me."

The door was opened into the apartment. Spitfire helped Daring in, followed by the other pair of friends.. Like the gloomy hallway, the room remained no more or less depressing than they left it.

"Need anything, Daring?" Asked Twilight finally breaking the short but awkward silence, shutting the door and locking it.

"All I want is some aspirin for my headache. After that I just wanna get the hell to bed." Daring groaned once Spitfire helped her to the worn sofa.

"I'll go get your bed ready." Spoke Rainbow.

"We should really call a doctor for this." reasoned Twilight.

"I don't need a damn doctor. I told you: I just need something for my headache and some sleep."

"Don't blame you." Said Spitfire, shedding her ruined dress. There goes my deposit. Damn it. "It was a rough night for all of us. Mind if I use your phone? I gotta call the other 'Bolts." Daring gestured her to the phone on her kitchen wall. Spitfire spoke in a hushed tone into the receiver.

"What happened to your dress?" Asked Rainbow, who came in from Daring's bedroom and took a seat on the sofa next to suddenly jumpy Daring.

"I... uh, ripped it off. It was getting so dang annoying tripping over it as I ran. I... threw it into a... lake." Twilight peeked her head out from the cabinet in the kitchen.

"We don't have lakes in Canterlot."

"Did I say lake? I meant 'water fountain.' It was a big, grand water fountain with a marble statue of Celestia urinating into-- Where the hell is that aspirin?!" Dash flinched away from her sharp and sudden outburst. Spitfire looked away from her conversation and apologized to the other line.

"You don't have any. You got other pain relievers, but I don't--"

"Just give me them all, and I'll try not to OD on them."

"You're getting 200 Mg. of Ibuprofen and that's it." Lectured Twilight, using her best "stern voice."

"Yes, mother." Twilight levitated the pills and a glass of water over to the tired pegasus. She swallowed the pills and more than half the glass. Rainbow rubbed the area between her wings tenderly in slow circles. Daring secretly enjoyed the feeling, but refused to show any indication of it. Once she downed her pills, Rainbow gingerly grabbed her hoof, revealing the deep gashes with blood saturated into her coat.

"When the heck did these happen?" Daring ripped her hooves out of Rainbow's own.

"I fell." Geez, her water fountain excuse was more convincing.

"On what? A combine harvester?" Rainbow cracked disbelieving. Daring refused to respond.

Twilight had noticed the conflict and moved from the kitchen to inspect Daring's wounds. Daring didn't rip them from her grasp this time, fearing it would only cause unneeded issues between them.

"Eh, you don't need to worry. They look worse than they actually are. Let's patch them up, though. Better safe than sorry."

"There should be some bandages in that cupboard." Daring pointed out, indifferent. Twilight strolled over to said cupboard, pulling out a half-empty tin of gauze bandages and a disinfectant. Rainbow got up from her seat, switching places with Twilight. Rainbow watched as Twilight treated Daring's superficial wounds. She flinched at the sting of the disinfectant, and looked outright uncomfortable while Twilight rolled the bandages.

Rainbow noticed that while Twilight patched her up, she studied the troubled pony. The cyan Pegasus could see why: Unlike mere hours ago where Daring's color could be merely described as muted, Daring now had virtually no tint of life on her whatsoever. After looking her pale form over, the purple unicorn looked face-to-face at Daring. Daring was visibly annoyed, likely at the treatment for taking longer than it should have.

"Daring... how are you feeling?" A long and noticeably cynical pause was done by Daring.

"Fine."

"No complains? No troubles?"

"Aside from an annoying unicorn asking stupid questions in my face? Nope." Twilight was not fazed by the biting response, unlike a vexed Rainbow. She was able to bite her tongue.

"You don't feel any different?"

"Different, how?" Daring sighed.

"Like a bunch of negative emotions are building up within you trying to take over your dominant personality?"

Daring stared at Twilight, a slew of emotions relating to confusion written on her face.

"...no? Should I?"

"Just checking."

Twilight left the baffled pony to her own self-healing, although not much healing was done voluntarily. Aside from Spitfire's barely audible conversation, the apartment was quiet for a while. Daring stared at her half-empty glass She drank the rest of her water with her mind as silent as the room. Almost silent, really, with Spitfire's talking in the background. She finished her conversation on the phone, hung it up and went to talk to Twilight. Daring listened in on the conversation.

"Now, where's that explanation you owe me?" Twilight nodded and led Spitfire into Daring's room. Daring wondered what the point of that was. What was the unicorn gonna tell her that the doomed pegasus didn't already know?

Daring looked from her bedroom door, to her now-empty glass, to Rainbow.

"Can I get a refill, please?" Rainbow nodded, took the cup and went in the kitchen. Daring sat with her back slouched. She moved her hooves to her mane. It felt disheveled, unkempt and dry. It looked just as gray and lifeless as the rest of her. She looked at her hooves. The looked duller. They felt duller, like they were covered with something that wouldn't just wash off. Blood, for example.

But she did wash it off, proverbially and literally. She shed it along with her blood-riddled dress.

This isn't just gonna go away.

She wasn't sure if that was her own voice or... hers. She killed her, and the way she looked, imagination or not, she was not coming back.

She heard something click, then the familiar sound of a doorknob turning. She looked at the front door as it opened.

Daring walked in, frustrated. She backed against the door she just slammed, falling to the floor. Tears trickled down her face, finally breaking out after being pent up for hrs. She rocked herself back and forth.

This can't be happening. This can't--

Two knocks on her door broke her out of her denial. She wiped the tears off her face, adjusted her chain lock and opened the door as far as the chain would permit. Outside the door, a balding green pony stood with a curious expression.

"You all right, ma'am?" He asked with an accent Daring couldn't place. Neigh Orleans?

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm the desk attendant." He introduced himself politely and with firm confidence.

"No, you're not."

"The new desk attendant."

"Fine, what the hell do you want?" Daring was close to slamming the door in his face. The green pony remained composed.

"You just seemed terribly distressed running up here. Is something wrong?" Daring felt a snide remark travel on her tongue, but it didn't come out. She paused.

"Yes. Yes, there is something wrong with me now. Yes, I am 'terribly distressed'. In fact, 'terribly distressed' is a massive understatement. There are no words for what I'm feeling right now. I've had a horrible day... and an even worse week. Yes, there is something so wrong. So horribly, devastatingly, mind-numbingly, unforgivably wrong. Yes, I am so goddess-damned, mother bucking distressed. No, I don't want to talk about it." The "new" desk pony seemed caught off-guard by the explicit response, but regained his composure.

"I understand. Do you want me to get you anything, though?"

"Yes. Two things: One, call the Meals On Wheels ponies. Direct them to this apartment."

"Might I ask 'why?'"

"Second..." Daring ignored him as she reached into her coat pocket, pulling out a numbered key. "Take this, do what you want with it."

"You're giving me your key? How're you gonna--?"

"I won't need it. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." She closed the door, but not before letting out a soft "thank you." The pony turned to leave, stopping only momentarily after hearing a soft sobbing.......

....

....daring?

It was Rainbow who called her name, blocking the empty view of her apartment wall that Daring was previously staring at. Daring regained her senses, looking at Rainbow with no expression to be found and no words to be heard. Rainbow was about to respond when Daring finally did say something vacantly.

"I'm going to bed." She got up and left the room, leaving the concerned rainbow pegasus behind. Shortly after, Twilight and Spitfire came stumbling out of the room behind a slamming door. They each had a curious expression on their face.

"So..." Rainbow said, feeling the need to lighten the mood. "We gonna draw straws on who's sleeping on the couch?"

Comments

[Rust]

Oh, my. The gradual psychological downspin is accelerating, so it seems. Poor Daring, she just can't catch a break, what with the crippling guilt, being hunted down by a mysterious organization, and now apparent demonic possesion. I feel for the gal.

[kanothepegasus44]

no daring wouldnt kill another pony it cant be true but love the story it really caught my interest please keep write more

[Alue14]

The Star of Chaos... Are you gonna try to put some Warhammer 40K in this story? If so, that would be Awesome!

[Dozy Dreamer]

An eight pointed star...
Yeah, cause _that_ never has bad connotations.
And now she's completely flipped. Good going, girls. The mare was actually resisting posession, and you push her over the edge. Bravo.

[Bloodpool]

1183968 I suppose they could try an exorcisim of some kind, but that usually just serves to irritate the demon within the possesed. If it's a particulary powerful demon, daring will most likely be killed as a result of it being exorcised

[Witchfinder General]

1180410
I don't care for Warhammer.

[Niklashg]

"She curled herself with her head in her -->hands<-- once more until she finally went limp against her will." Pony = hoofs.