Chapter 1- Celebrations and beginnings
Daring- Do
And the Legend of the Ruby Knight.
Chapter 1:
Celebrations and Beginnings
Daring Do flapped her wings excitedly as she awaited the caretaker of the museum to return with the news. She had managed to retrieve the Sapphire Stone from the hidden temple and escape with her life intact (though not for a lack of trying by certain parties) and had finally handed her prize over to the Curator of the Museum; Dry Pages. They had an unspoken agreement; Daring Do would travel over the world collecting relics and in return she would receive the museum’s entire acquisition fund.
It was cold in the museum, the lights low in the late hour when Dry and Daring would conduct their business. She found it extremely soothing in comparison to the Amazon humidity that had been weighing her down like a hammer. Each moment in the sun had been like a dry blast against her body; so the dull glow of Luna’s brilliant moon reflecting through the cold marble halls made the dare-devil extremely satisfied.
A hollow cough pulled the ecstatic mare back to the present. Dry was carrying two heavy sacks on his back, his old legs wobbling under the weight. “Here you go Daring…” he wheezed in his aged way, lifting the bags of coin onto her with more than a little help from Daring herself. The old stallion shook his beige coat to get out the ruffles caused by the saddle straps on the heavy money bags; his mane was a faded grey and brown his eyes the same lack-luster color of an old and weathered page. Daring gave him an encouraging smile and wink as she always did when she completed a job for the Museum.
“Anytime at all Mr. Pages, always looking forward to expanding the Canterlot Museum,” Daring said with a turn moving to get out of the darkness and back to the light; time to celebrate.
“Ohhhh….?” The old stallion said raising a hoof to adjust his half-moon glasses so that he could better see the mare before him. “Going celebrating are we?” he smiled, the laugh lines on his face as he did accenting a small trifecta of freckles just below his right eye that had always been a stand out point for Daring.
She gave an enthusiastic flap of her wings, enjoying the weight on her back of the sacks of coin; it would help her muscles workout after being unable to fly for so long. “You bet I am,” she called back in her enthusiastic voice. "think I’ll go down to the Leaky Barrel and buy everypony a round of that delicious honey-dew apple-cider of theirs!” she called cheeringly, not noticing the look of deep thought on the old stallion’s face as she flew off.
___________________________________________________________________
“This round of cider is on me everypony!” Daring Do cheered after her second belt of the hot, tingling liquid which she had been craving since her last job started. Daring had a soft spot for apple cider, especially if it was mixed with just a drop of honey-dew juice; it almost made her want to live in a bar and never look outside again. Almost. The resounding cheer of the ponies in the pub was deafening as they called out her name; chanted and hollered… “This is the life!” Daring thought, chugging down another pint, the limelight had always suited Daring.
The mare’s cheered her on, and the Stallions would try to get too close just to be pushed aside; there was hardly time for that in her life, for there was always the next adventure. This pub was always a good starting point for such adventures.
It was on the outskirts of the city and with very little guard presence, a common gathering place for people with less than honest intentions. Tonight would be no different Daring do would find.
Drinking deep from her mug, so deep in fact that her hat fell down over her eyes after pushing against her chair; hiding her eyes from the rest of the crowd the way she liked it. The clock ticked away and the crowd got louder and quieter with the passing of the hour, the way it always did at the Leaking Barrel. It wasn’t until almost two hours since she had arrived that Daring had noticed the first interesting development of the evening.
A stallion she had never seen before came into the bar looking around worryingly, his eyes squinted tight to see through the crowd. Daring watched him, her keen lavender eyes taking in every detail of his body; wings spasming as she rhymed them off subconsciously: “jet black coat, grey and blond mane, nervous twitch in the left fore-hoof, eyes never rest in place for more than three seconds, odd discoloration on his cheek; possible birthmark.” It was a cold and methodic way of thinking that the brash Pegasus had perfected; it would only take her a totally of five seconds, flat, to interpret all the small physical nuances of a pony.
This was a pony that didn’t want to be seen, or heard. Tilting her ears masterfully beneath her wide brim hat; a deceitful tool she used to amplify nearby sounds, Daring chugged another cider and stalked her prey audibly.
“You couldn’t have picked a quitter placed!” a brute, Rockstone Turnpike, a local thug who ran a “construction business” out in Manehatten bellowed loudly over the crowd who’s crescendo was rising.
“Quiet you fool! I picked it so no one would be able to hear us!” the jittery stallion whispered in a hurried manner; pulling a seat opposite the large brick coloured earth pony.
“If we could hear ourselves!” Rockstone bellowed, yelping as the smaller earth pony delivered a sharp kick to his legs.
“Silence.” The smaller one barked looking around nervously, at which Daring averted her eyes the other way and burrowed her nuzzle in her a warm mug of cider. “We finally found it!” the small one whispered excitingly as Rockstone leaned in tight to the small stallion to listen to his every word. “We found the location of the set, are your men ready to move?”
“Are you sure? The last time you had me chasing this legend of yours I lost four good stallions to a tunnel collapse.” The burly thug growled.
“Absolutely! We were searching in the wrong part of the desert you see? The fires in Calimare had changed the climate slightly the flames burned with such fervor that they damaged the atmosphere protecting the nearby lands from the sun! The desert expanded into the forests at its edge and that’s where we’ll find it, you see?” he rambled, the sciency mombo-jumbo
lost on both Rockstone and Daring but she understood the inflection.
“So we have it then…” Rockstone chuckled in his deep penetrating baritone. “The Armour of the Ruby Knight….”
“Sh!” the small said putting a hoof in the others mouth looking around frantically at the other patrons who were enjoying a rowdy night of cider and pie. A waitress came by and they separated sharply. Ordering their drinks and sending her away the two of them got in close to continue their conversation.
“Yes, and when the armour is ours…think of the money… The princesses themselves would pay more than half the royal treasury I’m willing to bet.” The seedy one said rubbing his hooves together with palpable greed.
“But what I don’t understand is why this armour is so valuable?” Rockstone grunted, pushing a nut from the bowel on the table into his mouth; crunching so loud it made Daring’s ear twitch with pain. “Besides the Ruby part…”
“The legends all agree on one thing…” the slim man leaned forward his eyes alight with the thrill of possible glory and treasure; it was a look Daring was all too used to. “that it makes the wearer completely indestructible…” he said mutedly his eyes jumping now as if the Ruby Armour was in the room just jumping out of his sight every time he attempted to focus on it. “It absorbs magic and turns it into strength for the wearer, with it we could be unstoppable!” it was then that their drinks arrived and they split from their hushed conversation to cheer and chug away.
Realizing that their conversation had officially ended Daring leaned back in her chair and unfocused her ears on the two suspicious ne’er do wells. Chuckling to herself she finished the last of her cider and got up with a stretch of her wings. There was a light in Daring’s eyes that everypony in the bar, if they took the time to look, would notice; a firy passion. Untamed and wild it was a look of someone who’s blood had been set a flame and they were about to do everything they could to scratch the itch.
Daring could wait till the morning to hunt down Dry Pages and learn all that she could about this “Legend of the Ruby Knight”. Then it would be another adventure just waiting around the bend.
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I might read this, it seems somewhat interesting
Congratz on being the first one so far!
Sheeze... Took you long enough
It's alright, could use some work.
You, my man, are on the brink of something interesting, but I am very tired, and may not be appreciating it for what it is right now.
AWESOME!!!
Like i said during the new episode
BRING ON THE FANON
and did anybody else feel strange while watching this EP
Saw this coming a mile away.
And the daring doo fic's begin. I like the beginning and i wait for more.
i was excited for daring do fics. and here they come. as a powerful pink pony with a sword once said,
"Brace yourself. The Daring Do fics are coming."
and brace myself i shall.
Final Boss status stuff.
I'm surprised that this is the first Daring-Do fic so far. I like the beginning and I'll definitely be tracking this!
Interesting, but I think you need help with the word quiet. "the crowd got louder and quitter with the passing of the hour" should be "the crowd got louder and quieter with the passing of the hour". "Quite you fool!" Should be "Quiet you fool!". I also noticed some repetition that just makes the sentence sound funny in the beginning: "Each moment in the sun had been like a dry blast against her body by the sun". I would suggest reading what you write out loud, so you can hear how it sounds. Other than those things, you've got a good start. Looking forward to seeing more!
189057 Thank you for pointing those out, I'll fix them after work this morning.
"And thus...the first Daring Do fic has been born"
Minor typo: "This was a pony that didn’t want to be scene." Should be 'seen', other than that great setup. Can't wait for more.
*Grabs popcorn*
This is gonna be good!
haha, just watched the episode, went to check fimfiction immidiatly after
now let me read this while falling asleep
Well, we got a new kind of story now. Might as well enjoy the Daring Do flood.
"the crowd got louder and quieter with the passing of the hour"
Is this some ancient Zen riddle or something?
I thought i was the first
i was wrong
Nice story though
YES!
Looking forward to a lot more of Daring Do. Good start!
Definitely on my track/favories :D looks very promising
I remeber that
When RD was reading the sequel at the end of the episode I was like, "HASBRO WHY U NO MAKE DARING DO BOOKS?!"
You, kind sir, have done a great thing.
This is a nice concept, although there are still a whole ton of proofreading and formatting errors. To be honest, those are so thick that it's pretty hard for me to enjoy the story. I did still enjoy it, though, but you should get some editor / reviewer people to help you revise the hell out of this one. Until then, I'll hold off with the stars.
>there was hardly time for that in her life, for there was always the next adventure.
Booooooooooo... This had better change in later chapters and/or stories! *shakes paw*
May i use Dry Pages in my stories and may i make a story that begins where this one ends?
After spending 6 years at University maintaining a 4.0 GPA whilst pursuing Secondary Education majors in both Theatre/Speech Communications and English, I would love to help you edit and revise your work. You have a vivid and exciting voice and I am available to help you take your writing to the next level, if you choose. Do let me know if you would like my help. If I were to even edit and do slight revisions on this first bit with you, you would likely be able to continue on with much less initial feedback by following a few essential rules for five-star writing. I can see, beneath some choppy or awkward phrases, what it is you're trying to bring to life. You're SO very close. Let me know if I may lend you an unbiased and well educated hand! Best to you and KEEP WRITING!
Listen to Tristfish, you can use the assistance.