Previous Chapters
Close
Daring Do and the Scroll of Geniology3,910 words
Daring Do and the One-sided Conversation2,153 words
Daring Do and the Morally Questionable Work Environment1,782 words
Daring Do and the Military Research Base2,802 words
Daring Do and the Secret of Winter's Lance2,447 words

Daring Do and the Secret of Winter's Lance

Daring Do took a step back, her hooves scraping over the red rock of the uneven terrain. Very hastily her mind went over her options. One, run away.

She was up against the Knight of the Dawn. Yeah, scratch running away. Not gonna happen.

Two, talk her way out of the situation. She took one look at the the stance the knight had taken, crouched low to the ground, her wings spread in an aggressive demeanor. Not really the kind of position you assume when you consider maybe talking things through.

That left her with number three. Fight.

She was bruised and exhausted. She had lost her amulet and had dropped half her bodyarmour.

She had three flashbang grenades, three more smoke grenades, some wire cutters (not very helpful) and a knife. The knight had her years of battle experience, incredible strength and speed, as well as a mask that could probably filter any pollutants out of the air and a suit designed for extra aerodynamics.

Her visor was cracked and shattered to her right side, also she had already used her most powerful technique once. Her physical abilities would be extremely diminished, but that wasn't really saying much in regards to a knight.

Daring decided to take a gamble. She dropped three grenades, pulling the pin out of one of them. As soon as she moved, the knight sped forwards. As expected, she had slowed down considerably, so now the adventurer could actually follow her movements. As expected, the knight went for the grenades as soon as she saw them. She managed to grab two and hurl them into the distance. As her hoof neared the third, the flashbang went off. Daring had covered her ears and pulled her pith helmet from her bag in front of her eyes, so she was mostly fine. But as she opened her eyes again, the knight was standing before her, clearly blind and disoriented. However, the hooves lowering from her ears indicated that she could still hear quite well.

Daring didn't hesitate. She pulled the knife from under her body armour and immediately went for her opponent's wings. She would only have to injure one to guarantee her escape.

But the knight's hoof intercepted her strike, turning it away with ease. Somehow, though still blind, she averted every single one of Daring's furious strikes.

The adventurer gritted her teeth in desperate frustration. "How in the..."

The knight's free hoof slid forward just a bit and into Daring's stance. then she was suddenly knocked off that leg and her opponent's other hoof came straight for her face. In her panic, she threw the knife, which was batted aside by one muscularw wing. There was a deafening crunch as the knight's hoof smashed right through the combat helmet, ripping it away from Daring's face. She staggered back, grabbed her pith helmet from where she had dropped it on the ground and threw it. Again, a wing intercepted, but this time the projectile didn't just bounce off the wing. It began to ricochet around the pillars of red rock, coming at the knight from all angles.

Just as Daring Do managed to regain her stance, she heard a chomping sound. "Wow. The hell is that thing made of?" she mumbled through the pith helmet she held in her mouth. Daring decided it was time for another flash grenade, but an angry growl from the direction of the knight stopped her. "Don't. You're only delaying the inevitable." The knight removed the mask from where it hung loosely around her neck, and Daring could shee the contemptous sneer on her golden lips. "Pull something like that again and you're really gonna get it."

"So what do you expect me to do?" Daring asked, trying to buy time thinking. "Should I just bend over and..."

"Oh come on!" the knight yelled at her. "I mean, how dim must you be? There's no way you're getting out of this one, Daring!"

"Oh, so you're a fan?"

"Not quite," the other mare spat. Her orange eye opened slowly, blinking a few times before fixing onto Daring. "Let's say I read up on you. You have no idea what you stole. I don't know who put you up to it, but..." The knight stopped herself in her tirade and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's start again. I'm going to take you before the princesses, and it'll be up to you whether I drag you kicking and screaming, or if we're civil about this."

Daring thought about that for a moment. It was true, she couldn't hope to beat the knight in her state. However, there was one secret weapon the pony that had provided the distraction had advised her to bring along. "Alright," Daring agreed, reluctantly. "But we'll do it on my terms, okay?"

"State them."

Daring stuck a hoof into her duffle bag and immediately the knight went combat reflexes on her again. She darted forwards and grabbed Daring's leg, twisting it behind her back as she pushed her face-first into the dirt.

"Hey!" the adventurer protested. "I'm just reaching for the canteen!"

The knight shot her a look, let go of her opponent and took the duffle bag with her as she stepped back. She kept a close eye on Daring, who in turn carefully moved her leg. Her shoulder felt as though it had been broken, but apparently that had just been the pain of the sudden movement added to her injuries. Meanwhile, the knight began to rummage through the contents of the bag until she produced the dulled silver of the canteen. She opened it, cautious, and smelled on it. Her eyes widened slightly.

"Hackman's Spirit?" she asked.

"Of course!" Daring scoffed. "What, just 'cause I'm not a fancy knight like you, you think I have no taste?"

The knight smirked at that remark. "Oh, the way you just said that..." She trailed off, then her voice died down. Her grin vanished as she held the bottle closer to Daring. "You first."

Daring rolled her eyes as she took it into her own hooves, filling the cap with a good amount of the strong alcohol and swiveling it, forming a small whirlpool. "It's not poisoned, if that's what you're afraid of!" She downed the drink, the Spirit burning like fire in her sore throat. "Ah~! That hit the spot!" She grinned and handed the canteen back to the knight. "So, do you want some or not?"

The other mare looked at the bottle and seemed hesitant, then, probably against better judgement, accepted it. "Fine," she said right before she took a long gulp, then wiped her mouth. "But you won't get away with that stupid pain in the ass, even if you get me drunk."

"What, this thing?" Daring said, casually nodding towards the case that had slipped out from under her helmet.

"Yes. That." The knight snickered. "Man, you have no idea what exactly that is, do you?" She passed the bottle back to Daring who then filled another cup full of alcohol. Again, she observed the knight for a few seconds before downing her drink.

"Not really, no. So, care to enlighten me?"

Another snicker. "Winter's Lance used to be the name of a pony, you know?" She leaned in closer, her vibrant orange eye gleaming. She placed her muzzle right next to Daring's ear and whispered, "It's the core of a Spectral Knight!"

Daring Do, the most renowned adventurer in Equestria, a mare who had faced near-death situations on a daily basis for the last sixteen years, choked on her booze. She coughed and her whole body shook violently as she tried to get the alcohol out of her respiratory system. The gently patting on the back delivered by the knight helped a bit. "You're telling me that is a Spectral Knight?!" she then yelled.

"Shh!" The other mare placed a hoof an Daring's lips. "It's a secret! Beside, she's been dead for a while now. Wouldn't want anypony to revive her, though. She was a royal pain in the flank to get rid of."

"Winter's Lance..." Daring sat down, suddenly feeling very tired. "Holy hell. So they actually exist..."

"Indeed, they do." The knight golped down another mouthful of alcohol. "And since we can't just go around killing them, we have to keep a constant eye on them. However, this one..." She stepped closer and lifted the case to strap it to her chest in a custom made pouch, "... this one was just too dangerous. So the Knights of the Dawn had to kill her. And now I'm the only one left. That should tell you just about how difficult she was to deal with..." The knight cleared her throat. "Alright, enough dillydallying. We better get going. And no more stalling, Daring Do!"

Daring sighed. "Alright, fine..." She picked up her duffle bag, making the movement seem as harmless as possible. "But, there's one last thing..." She reached inside her bag and pulled out her journal. "I want to write a letter."

"What for?" The knight asked, lifting the canteen, to take another sip, but then thought better of it and handed it over to Daring who put the cap back on and dropped it into her duffle bag.

"I told my little sister that I'd be in contact with her by tomorrow. I don't think that's going to happen, so I'd like to just write her a quick note explaining that she shouldn't worry. Or do anything stupid."

She could've sworn the knight had just raised an eyebrow, even though it was hard to tell with the mask and the visor. "Your sister? The pony who punched my visor?"

Daring chuckled. "That's her alright." As the knight didn't object, she took a pen from her bag and began to write. Then, she tore out the page and folded it once with her hooves, putting pen and journal back in their place. She followed the knight as she motioned her to come along. The golden silver clad mare now strode beside her, rubbing her dry throat. "You see, I only found out that she's my sister a couple of months ago. And I care deeply about her."

"Yet you let her tag along on missions like these?" A suppressed cough.

A nervous laugh. "Well, what can I say?" Daring rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

"That you're a terrible role model?"

"Aside from that, maybe?"

"You're impulsive, reckless, and just don't know when to quit?"

"Not quite what I meant."

"You let being a literary heroine go to your head and now you're in way over your head?"

"I don't think - "

"Or that you were just so desperate for a good smacking that you broke into one of Equestria's secret labs?"

"We - "

"Though in your opinion, this is probably alright, since it's not technically within equestrian borders."

"Okay, now you're just taking the piss!"

The knight shrugged. "Hey, you know it's true." Another cough form her.

Just then, they began to round a massive red stone pillar that obscured them from view in direction of the lab. Daring placed a hoof on the knight's shoulder, who'se ears were laid back flat against her head. "Here," Daring said, handing her the note she had written for Dash. "Give this to my sister."

"What? No! Do it yourself!"

Daring rolled her eyes. "And how, pray tell, am I supposed to do that before tomorrow? She's going to throw a fit! Please!" She pressed herself up against the knight, wedging them between herself and the rock, holding the letter close to the other mare's chest. "You're the only one I can ask for help!" She looked at her beggingly.

The knight was clearly uncomfortable, but eventually she sighed and took the letter into her hoof. "Fine. What's your sister's name?"

"Her name?" Daring squeaked. "I-It's Dashie..." she mumbled.

"What's that?" the knight asked, growing irritated.

"Dager! Her name's Danger. That's my little sister," she smirked.

The knight looked at the note, and her gaze softened somewhat. "Daring Danger..." she repeated as Daring stepped back a bit. "What a nice name..." She unfolded the note. For a moment, her eyes strained to read in the dark, then they widened in shock. Her gaze darted up to meet Daring's. "What is this?!" she hissed.

Daring looked at the paper. "Sorry, I lied! :P," was written on it in bold letters. "Remember how I said that alcohol wasn't poinsoned?" she said with a smirk.

The knight's pupils grew as small as pinpricks as she clawed at her throat. By now, breathing should be nigh-on impossible for her. The poison would not kill her, of course, only limit her breathing until her body functions indicated that she was unconcious, but Daring was fine with that. She moved closer to the immobilized knight to grab hold of the pouch, but suddenly the other mare's hooves jerked up to meet her face.

Her head was violently forced sideways and into the red pillar. There was an audible crack and Daring felt something warm dribbling down her neck. She stared at the pool of blood forming on her forehoof in surprise. Trembling, she fell against the pillar and her vision went black.

Author's Note:

Soooooo. Daring is up against the Knight of the Dawn. And it doesn't end well for her. Huh.

Anime freaks can probably place both the fight scene and the "Sorry, I lied :P" note. Oh well. This is MLP, right? Right. Referrence central ahoy!