Daring Do unpacked a crisp shirt out of her suitcase. With some help from Audacity’s cash and connections through Dusty Shelves they had been able to score a nice little hotel in a city by the coast. According to what evidence they had obtained, it should be rather close to the marker. Indeed some of the locals had stories of some ruins that they had been told not to venture near as children outside the city limits and to the north. It was Daring’s intention to go there that very afternoon.
“Hey, has anypony seen my razor blade?” a voice called from the restroom. Daring rummaged through the suitcase. There wasn’t a razor blade, but there was some shaving cream. Not that that was any good.
“Sorry Audacity... no can do,” she called back. Burly happened to be awake at that moment, and tipped his hat up from his position in the corner or the room sprawled out in a chair.
“Audacity, just let it stay there. Live a little, keep the scruffy chin.”
Daring was trying to focus. She wanted to make a run to the marketplace and pick up some supplies she was lacking. Despite them having gotten her bag loaded with the bare minimum off the zeppelin safely, her stuff she had brought to Stalliongrad had been left behind and had not gone with them to the north. All she had was her whip, helmet, shirts and bag. She needed to get a replacement canteen, as well as a new journal to write notes in. She was having a hard time keeping track of little details all in her head.
Even as she ran through a shopping list for the marketplace, Daring thought back to the conversation she had had with Dusty Shelves over the telephone in Shetland. He had some interesting developments for her that was slowly starting to warp how she wanted to approach the task of finding the lost king’s tomb as well as dealing with CAP.
“Daring I’m so glad you’re still alive and well,” he had said, “Have I got the juicy tidbits for you!” Of course, she had been intrigued and had wanted him to continue.
“It turns out that there is no such pony as ‘Elise Stiflehock’. Not surprising, given her odd name. It always struck me as unusual for a name like ‘Elise’ to come first. Those are usually middle names... but I digress. No, that was an alias. We can’t seem to find out where she’s really been living since that incident in ‘34, nor do we know if she’s had any other names.”
They had gone on and on about the Coalition and how corrupt it was, Dusty being shocked by some of the experiences Daring had relayed to him. He was ready to report the organization to the federal authorities then and there. The conversation had gradually digressed from CAP and it’s dealings with street gangs and shady crime rings around the world to the nature of the quest itself.
“I’ve been talking to some of my scholarly buddies, and they’re ecstatic over the idea that we could be on the verge of discovering a pre-Arabian empire, lost from history for millennia. The prospect has them all jumping to go and document the sites you’ve visited in the Black Forest and over in Stalliongrad. Of course, the big prize is the remains of the actual empire and the King’s tomb. What’s your progress?”
Daring had explained that she was on the verge of discovering the location of the tomb itself.
“That’s excellent! Great great! Though I think we should make it perfectly clear that your job is to document and explore the tomb and the ruins, not to take stuff away. I know it’s your specialty to recover individual artifacts, but this is important. It must not be meddled with and artifacts must not be removed until we can organize a full expedition”
Daring slung the strap over her waist that held her whip to her side, then slid her shirt up and over it. It was a great way to conceal the whip’s presence and allow her to roam about with it by her side. She clipped the coiled weapon to it’s holster quietly, and got to work fixing the liner inside her pith helmet.
“Daring, can you pick up razor blade when you go to market?” Audacity asked, stepping out of the room’s bathroom while scratching the scraggly growth on his chin.
“No. I’ve got my own list to get. If you want to come with me you can though,”
“Where are you going, Dr. Do?” Scootaround asked, yawning. She had been sleeping on the balcony porch, which had a wonderful view of the surrounding city and it’s white clay buildings spread out into the distance.
“Market, I’ll be back in a while. Stay here. Burly’s in charge.”
****
Audacity trotted a short distance behind the mare, trailing her through the crowded, bustling streets of the marketplace. It was outdoors in the center of the city, with vendors standing around with tents, carts, and other temporary shops selling everything from fruit to clothing to souvenirs. Some of the more well-established shops were bordered on actual buildings constructed out of stone and clay, and had shopfronts tended by the children of the shop keeps themselves. A variety of ponies could be seen milling about, and even a few camels who craned their longer necks to see up over the crowd.
“Daring, what’s the name of this city anyhow?” Audacity asked. Daring was half-listening, running through her own mental checklist of what she needed to buy for food and supplies. She didn’t respond to him until he asked again.
“Earth to Daring, where are we exactly?”
“Er... I don’t actually know. The sign says Al-Souq over there...”
“That means ‘the market’. That’s just saying whereabouts in town we are,”
“I don’t know,” Daring admitted, “I think I’d remember if this place wasn’t so confusing at the moment.” She was right. One could hardly hear themselves think over the din of the crowd going about their activities. In the distance a pony sitting down in the sandy roads played a song on a woodwind instrument of some kind. The tune sounded oddly familiar to Audacity, and he moved closer, away from Daring to check it out.
“Excuse me, sir, could you play that song again?” he asked. From across the street Daring shot him a disapproving look, but he stood by and listened as the old pony picked up his instrument and played again. Audacity listened and cracked a grin as the familiar melody came out of the end. He nodded his head from side to side, following the flow of the tune. The musician’s pace was a little bit off, and his tempo picked up even more than the normal flow of the song required. Despite this, it was unmistakably the most famous part of the song 1812 Overture by Tchaikhoofsky.
“Huh, how about that. How do you know that song?” Audacity inquired after the musician had finished.
“Very famous. Many ask,” was his simple reply. He probably didn’t know very much of the language, so he spoke in broken sentences to communicate to Audacity.
“Great, great, well thank you, it sounded very good,” Audacity said, dropping a couple of bits into an upturned fez sitting next to the musician. He grinned a toothy smile at Audacity as he left to go back to where Daring was waiting.
“Great, isn’t he?” Audacity asked Daring. The pony rolled her eyes.
“I don’t have a problem with charity or anything...” Daring murmured, “but we’re not here to go and check out every performer we pass. It’s a waste of time and money, we’ve got important work to do today and we need to get a move on.”
“Alright, alright, sheesh.”
The pair maneuvered through a heavy-traffic area of town, having to squeeze through a packed crowd that was lined up to various stands selling produce and bread.
“I need to grab some food for the others,” Daring leaned over to say to Audacity, “go and see if that shop over behind us has some kind of razor blade but do it fast.”
****
As Daring and Audacity did their shopping, a threat brewed not too far from their spot. In the shadows a few ponies pointed to Daring , whispering among themselves.
“Is that the one?”
“Yeah, it is.”
A grayish mare stepped in front of the group of cloaked stallions, looking at each of them in turn.
“It’s time,” she stated, “remember what we discussed.”
****
“I wasn’t able to find any razors at all,” Audacity complained. Daring was up next in line at the melon stand, and he stood idly by her. He had the brim of his fedora pulled down over his eyes to protect against the glaring sun of midday. Daring had positioned the brim of her pith helmet similarly.
“I don’t know about where you can find some,” Daring said to Audacity. She picked up a melon and was satisfied with the size of it. The vendor motioned for payment, and she placed several bits onto the wooden counter top of the fruit stand. It wasn’t quite enough, as the vendor made a shaking motion with her hooves. Daring turned towards Audacity to ask for some spare change, and her face paled.
“What is-”
“DUCK!” she yelled, and Audacity threw himself to the ground just as a sword sliced through the air. Daring bolted into action, hurling the melon into the face of the cloaked stallion wielding the sword. The vendor began to yell in protest, but not before the stallion armed with a sword righted himself, wiping the fruit guts off from his brownish cloak.
“Get out of here, Audacity! It’s a street gang!” Daring yelled, shoving the aggressor up against a stone wall before he could draw his weapon again. He promptly dropped the sword as it was swooped up by Audacity. He ran off around the corner with it as several more ponies sprang out of the crowd, drawing swords and pursuing him.
Audacity turned around sharply as he saw more cloaked ponies rushing from the opposite end. He was trapped in the middle of a crowded marketplace, with armed ponies on either side of him. The closest one attacked, swiping at his midsection. Audacity brought his stolen blade to counter, and the steel struck steel with a loud clanking sound. With another swipe the attacker tried to get at him again, and this time Audacity countered slightly too late, losing balance and being forced to the ground. As the attacker tried to stab at him he kicked sand up into his face, causing him to reel back
Audacity regained himself and turned to run just as a pony from the other group of cloaked attackers struck at him. He ducked under the sweeping blade and returned with a counterstrike. The two blades locked together for a moment
He shoved his weight against the attacker, throwing him off balance and allowing him to jump out of the way of the next attack, bolting down a side street. Now both approaching groups of attackers converged into one, chasing him down a sand-swept side street
****
Daring was thrown violently to the ground as the cloaked stallion struck her with his front hooves. He snarled and jumped at her, but she lifted her back legs and kicked hard. The stallion was thrown back this time, collapsing on the ground and wheezing.
Daring ran out and around the corner, into a wider open section of the market where rugs were being sold. A thick mob of ponies were gathered, but as Daring approached they split away from her suddenly. At another point in the same area about ten yards away the ponies split up, forming a circle and a wide open center in which Daring stood opposite from a black-cloaked stallion. It was almost like a fight arena. As the stallion drew a sword Daring gulped. It WAS a fight arena, and there was the challenger!
The stallion had a scar running across his left eye and had a rather pale complexion, though most of his face was hidden behind a hood. He swung his sword threateningly, taking a few steps towards Daring. She grimaced, realizing she did not have a sword of her own to defend herself with. Audacity had taken the other one.
A piercing battle cry echoed through the air as the cloaked warrior charged. Daring thought fast and drew her whip, bringing it up in a lightning-fast motion and cracking it midair. The whip cracked right in front of the charging fighter, making him stop the charge short and back off for a moment in a defensive posture. They circled each other for a moment as the surrounding crowd cheered on with a chant. It must have been like a ring match, only much more deadly.
Daring went on the offensive, lashing out with the drawn whip and cracking it towards the pale stallion. He swatted at the dangerous whip’s end with the end of his sword. His teeth were gritted, and Daring could have sworn she heard a low growl.
He lunged again. Daring swung the whip horizontally, catching the drawn blade by the handle clutched in the pony’s hooves. She tugged at it to try to wrench the weapon from the attacker’s hooves, but he resisted. The whip’s end released suddenly, sooner than expected and Daring fell back onto the sandy ground with a plume of dust around her.
Sensing the opportunity to strike, the stallion cried out and rushed at the defenseless Daring, plunging his sword downwards in an attempt to stab through the mare’s throat. Daring rolled sideways and the blade barely missed her, slicing off part of her mane and embedding itself in the cracked, sandy soil.
Daring tugged and pulled, freeing herself but also ripping tufts of black mane hair. The assassin pulled at his sword, but Daring was quick with a sideways smack to the jaw with her front hoof, lunging in with a punch and then bringing it back the other way in a backwards smack. The assassin was taken aback and momentarily stunned, so she repeated the motion, only harder. After having struck the pony’s jaw four consecutive times she finished by digging the back of her leg’s joint into his forehead. Witch a gargled gasp he fell back, bleeding from the mouth and nose and collapsing on the ground, clutching his bloodied face.
Daring seized the chance, pulling at the sword dug into the soil. It came free and she almost tumbled back. Steadying herself, the pony hung on to the sword as she tore off down the sandy streets. She needed to find out where Audacity was, and if he was alright.
****
“Hya!” grunted Audacity, striking sword against sword against his opposition. He had taken the time to actually learn how to fence to make the duel in Hooflet seem more realistic, and it was paying off. He was able to effectively block, parry, beat, and counter attack. This was no Gaitspeare play though. This was real. Unlike the play, if he got hit it would kill for real.
The swordspony lunged at him and he moved to block, but the lunge had merely been a feint, tricking him into leaving his left side exposed. The sword swept around and Audacity leaped backwards to avoid being stabbed, sweeping his blade to force his opponent to counter.
The pony Audacity was fighting became more aggressive, striking faster and harder. Try as he might, Audacity couldn’t keep up with the mounted onslaught of sword strikes. They locked swords with a loud clank, and suddenly he found himself thrown backwards, spread on his back in the sand.
Audacity was quick to try to get back onto his hooves, but was met with a sword pointed right at his jugular. His eyes widened as he stared up into the eyes of his soon-to-be killer. He had a fixed glare staring right into Audacity’s eyes. He smiled, and opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He just stood there, mouth open. A trickle of red blood began to ooze out of the attacker’s mouth as his eyes rolled back into his skull. Another sword had pierced him and was poking out through the front of his chest.
The corspe slumped to the side, blood mixing into the sand. Above where he had stood was a golden yellow mare with a very sweaty face.
“How many were chasing you?” Daring asked, helping Audacity back up onto his hooves.
“I dunno. A lot. I have no clue where the others went...”
“They might be anywhere,”
Almost on cue, four different ponies came from each direction of the sandswept market road, surrounding Daring and audacity both, swords drawn. The two ponies were now helplessly stuck, surrounded and outnumbered.
“Drop your weapons,” called one of the assassins, “we won’t kill.”
“Yeah, right,” Audacity snapped, “Your buddy just tried to do me in!”
“The boss wants to speak to you,” the assassin said, “come with me.”
Daring and Audacity exchanged glances quickly. It would be best to do as they said.
****
They were led through the streets and to a rather obscure restaurant with outdoor seating. It was almost like a cafe, nice and open. It was relatively empty, and there were several tables that did not have anypony sitting at them at all. The one that they were forced to sit down at was occupied however. The smug gray mare on the other side grinned at Daring and Audacity both in turn.
“Dr. Daring Do, so we meet again.”
“Elise... why I oughta...”
“Not a very wise Idea, I assure you,” Elise said, motioning to the two armed ponies that had remained nearby at other tables.
“Something to drink?” asked a waiter, dressed in a typical vest but sporting a rather thick beard and a fez.
“A bottle of fine grape wine, three glasses,” Elise answered curtly. The waiter stood there for a moment, as if waiting for Daring and Audacity to ask for something when they didn’t, he turned and left back into the main restaurant building.
“Now where was I?” Elise began, “Oh yeah, the pendant.”
“What about the pendant?” Daring asked in a low voice.
“Well, it’s simple really. I want it.”
“Why should I give it to you?”
“Simply because you don’t have a choice. Really Daring, I wish you would embrace the idea of my team going to excavate this site. We’d be much better at it. Broken Bank has a whole team, several hundred ponies with digging tools, vehicles, and bulldozers standing by. All we need is a location to start.”
“You’d bulldoze a whole hillside looking for a china cup,” Daring retorted. Audacity stood by watching the two have at it, not saying a word.
“Come now Daring, it’s not like you don’t want to see the lost empire found and preserved as much as I.”
“Found and preserved, yes,” Daring said, “pillaged and stripmined, no. That’s exactly the kind of treatment you’d give it, don’t lie to me Elise.”
“You know Daring, there was a time I was like you,” Elise said after a brief pause, “We’re not that different. I’m simply a more intense version of yourself. I’m willing to go further to get results.”
“Going further- is that what cutting throats and selling out means nowadays?”
“We are not that much different, I think you’ll find. Granted, you tend to go headstrong into traps and thwart them. I deconstruct them. You sell the items you retrieve to a museum. I sell them to museums and other private buyers. At the core we’re essentially the same; two mares trying to make it in the world, doing whatever it takes.”
“Now you’re getting nasty.”
“You think you’ve fooled me, Daring. Why don’t you get off the high saddle and admit that, at it’s core this version of archaeology you engage in isn’t ethical to begin with. It’s flat-out stealing.”
“Stealing from who? Civilizations that have been extinct for centuries?”
“Your wine,” the waiter said, promptly delivering the wine and three glasses on the table. Elise smirked and began to pour three glasses of the reddish liquid as the waiter departed.
“Dr. Do, wine?”
“No thanks, I don’t drink.”
Elise moved a glass over to Audacity, who eyed it suspiciously and refused to drink it.
“It’s not poisoned,” Elise said to him. Audacity pushed the glass back to her.
“Fine, suit yourself. Boys...”
The two armed ponies stood up, collecting the unused glasses of wine and downing them in one sloppy gulp. They returned to their seats and Elise went back to eyeing Daring with that same hateful grin, sipping at the wine glass every now and then.
“Do you have any idea how big this is? A whole civilization we didn’t even believe existed! This will change history! Imagine being the pony responsible for bringing something as major as that to light! Now tell me you don’t want that, Daring.”
“That’s fine,” Daring said, “But we both know you and your buddies just want to loot the place.”
“All in good time, all in good time,” Elise nodded with a smile, “Now about that pendant of yours... It seems to me that you don’t have a choice.”
“How so?”
“Well, our guys have swords. Either you give us the pendant and we let you live, or they kill you both, and then take the pendant.”
“Sounds like a choice to me,”
“For Celestia’s sake, don’t be thick Daring,” Audacity chimed in. Daring turned her head to look at him with a face that was cold as ice.
“Daring... even given your feelings I’d hate to see you die for something so trivial. I mean, where else would I find an enemy so close to my own level?” Elise said with a slanted frown, pouring more wine for herself.
“You could start with the slime at the bottom of that bottle,” Daring murmured. Elise’s expression sharpened and she tilted her head back.
“Insulting me and making me cross isn’t going to help your case you know,” she snapped, “If anything, it’s rushing my decision! I’ll give you one last chance... Daring, give me the pendant, and I’ll spare your lives.”
“I’m not helping you on your looting spree, so don’t even try.”
“Daring,” Audacity started, sounding worried.
“Very well.... If that’s the way you want it....” Elise said with a stammer. She motioned for the two assasins to stand up. They looked at each other and then to her confusedly, almost as if they weren’t sure how to go about killing them.
Daring saw her chance. With a sudden motion she flipped the table over, pinning Elise down underneath against the sandy soil. The assassins drew their swords on her and Audacity swiftly as Elise began shrieking. Daring grabbed the stool she had been sitting on with both of her front hooves and swung it, slamming the hindquarters-rest into his skull before he could try to dodge it. The assassin fell onto the ground in a slump.
At the same time, the other cried out and rushed at Audacity, who fell backwards trying to get out of the way. He ducked underneath the swing of the sword before Daring landed a swift kick with her back hooves into the assassin's gut. He doubled over, and she followed the kick up with a jab to the back of the head. He too fell down in a heap, unconscious and out like a light.
“Let’s get out of here!” Audacity yelled over Elsie’s shrieks. She was trying to free herself from under the table and failing miserably. Daring nodded, and tore off down the sandy streets, Audacity following close behind.
****
“So you were trying to get her to give the order to kill us? Why?” Audacity asked with a bemused look as they rested behind a corner some distance away.
“They weren’t planning on actually having to do it,” Daring sputtered amid heavy panting. They had run all over the market first before coming to this spot, and she needed some water to cool off.
“Did you see how confused they were?” she breathed after taking a swig of her metal canteen, “They didn’t even have a plan in place, she didn’t tell them what to do in case she did give the order.”
She lent the canteen to Audacity so that he could drink as well. It refreshed their parched throats. Looking out around the corner, Daring could see what looked like a pony dressed in the same robes as the ones that had attacked them earlier, but he or she was some distance away, and not heading in their direction.
“Those ponies in the robes?” Audacity asked, peering over with her.
“Some kind of indigenous gang, maybe even a fraternity. They were all stallions as far as I could tell.”
“Why are they after us?”
“My guess is that the Coalition pulled some strings, made some bribes. Maybe they even put prices on our heads. Did you see the way they called Elise boss?”
“I noticed that too. They’re being paid off for sure....”
Daring blinked. Her pith helmet must’ve been showing or something, or perhaps somepony who had seen them run by had tipped this new wave of assassins off. They gesticulated in their direction and began to gallop rapidly.
They were coming.
“We have to leave, quick!” exclaimed Daring, wheeling about and galloping off down a side alley, Audacity following suit. The pair of them kept close on each other’s back as the streets winded and congested with regular traffic. Ponies pulling cartloads of fruits and vegetables, old stallions and mares sitting on their stoops watching the bustle idly. It slowed them down and drew a lot of attention. After all, it wasn’t everyday that one saw a mare with a battered and sand-blasted pith helmet dart down the street with a younger stallion following in pursuit, much less one that was being pursued by several sword-wielding assassins in broad daylight.
Daring heard a loud crash, and some angry shouting. Looking back, she saw a shopkeep berating an assassin who had knocked over a set of pottery, breaking the merchandise and costing the vendor much money. It was one less that could follow her.
Out from the crowd burst another assassin, much closer than the previous and almost within slashing distance. Daring pressed her hooves down and dug into the sand, sliding to a halt and wheeling to face the assassin. His eyes widened as her face contorted angrily, but at the same time he raised the sword, bringing it to bear as the distance was closed.
With a sudden, swift motion Daring brought the whip up with a thunderous crack, slicing into the fetlocks around the stallion’s hoof. Yelping in pain, he dropped the sword to the ground and collapsed, nursing the bleeding cut the whip’s end had inflicted.
Scooping the sword up and tossing it sideways to Audacity’s waiting hooves, Daring prepared herself for the sight of a brute. Hulking and muscular, this stallion meant business. He stood before them as the ponies lining the street ducked out of the way, once again forming something like an arena in the middle of a dusty marketplace.
The heavyset swordspony possessed a weapon that was heavier, longer, and considerably more dangerous looking than the previous assassins had. Letting out a low growl, he raised his sword level to Audacity’s while squaring off.
“Careful Audacity! He means business!” Daring called out. As she did so, something wrenched at the whip, tearing it off from around her hoof. She went to grab it again but only succeeding in faceplanting into the sand forcefully. The pony she had disarmed was now equipped with her own bullwhip, and stood above her with the weapon slid over his own hoof.
Giving his sword a swing, Audacity tried to fake the brute by feigning right. He then swung left, expecting him to leave that side open. To his surprise the brute’s reflexes were very sharp, and he countered the sweep with a forceful blow to counter. It threw Audacity off balance, and he had to quickly put his guard up on his own exposed shoulder to counter the assassin’s blow. The weapons clanged together, and Audacity found himself awkwardly retreating from this fighter as he was forced to defend against every swing. Unable to get a strike in edgewise, Audacity was forced to be on the defensive constantly.
“Yeowch!” cried Daring as her own whip lashed out at her, striking her shoulder and tearing a hole through the fabric of her shirt and leaving a cut. Dashing at her attacker, she kicked a bunch of sand into his face. He simply jumped to the side, raising the whip and cracking it back down again. It was noisy and dangerous, but he was not skillful at all in the art of whip-cracking. Half of his swings almost ended in him nicking his chin by accident, and his perplexed faces and startled jumps showed it.
Taking advantage of his inexperience, Daring spread her wings and bolted skywards, knowing that he would not be able to strike her from the ground as she looped over his head. The pony raised the whip, but a tad too late as Daring had completed the circle. His face jerked with a blow from her back hooves.
“I’ll take that!” she jeered, slamming her front hooves down and pinning the would-be assassin to the ground. She leaned her head down, headbutting with the top of her helmet. What resulted was a crunching sound and a surely broken nose as the assassin rolled on the ground, clutching at his face as blood spurted out of his nostrils.
Daring slid the whip into her holster again and whirled around to get a bearing on Audacity vs the big brute. Her face paled suddenly as the unmistakable sound of a young stallion screaming out in agony was heard. He dropped to the ground, sobbing and clutching at his own front leg as something red spewed out. His sword lie helplessly on the ground. Above him, the brute was raising his own weapon high, preparing for a downwards thrust into his back, a move that would surely end his life.
“No!” Daring shouted, laying a sucker punch into the brute’s jaw and causing him to drop his own weapon to the ground. The reeling was only temporary as he retaliated in force, uppercutting the mare and knocking her back onto the ground backwards. She felt a tooth chip and her jaw was awfully sore from the blow. Daring peered up, seeing the stallion over her. He grabbed at the cuff of her shirt, picking her up and laying a thick punch into the side of her face. Her back legs were actually lifted off the ground, and she flapped hard to try to free herself from the brutish thug. She was partially successful and gained a bit of loose space, loose space that was promptly employed in striking at his exposed belly.
The effect was immediate. The brute doubled over, and Daring landed another sideways strike to the face as he did so. He fell over backwards, taking the struggling broken-nose assassin (who was attempting to get back up) with him. Daring stood above the two, panting and feeling her heart beat rapidly. When they did not get up, she noted them down for the count.
Turning her attention to Audacity, Daring was immediately concerned. She could see a significant amount of blood spilling out from his leg, and his face was beet red with anguish.
“What happened, where are you hurt?” Daring asked. She could see other ponies that were onlooking start to disperse, some mumbling and murmuring. Many remained staring at what was going on. Audacity was little help to himself, he simply continued to sob.
Daring snapped her head up, looking at the crowd. She searched the unfamiliar faces, looking for somepony with wings. She found a pegasus mare that stood out. She pointed her hoof at the mare and spoke strongly.
“You! Fly and get a doctor! Fast!”
The mare seemed not to understand, cocking her head to one side.
“Doctor!” Daring insisted, making a sign with her hooves clapped to her ears, then placing one on her own heart to indicate a stethoscope. She wasn’t sure exactly what tools the doctors around here used, but the pegasus mare nodded and took to the skies quickly.
“Audacity, can you hear me!?” Daring insisted, rolling him over and spreading his hooves apart. She caught a glimpse of a nasty slash that the brute must have inflicted. It didn’t look fatal, but it would be if he bled out much more. She had to stop the bleeding, and fast.
Daring had no medical tape left in her bag, so she tore her own shirt off. The fabric was dirty and sandy, so she gave it a shake to try to get most of the sediments off. It would have to do for now.
“Audacity, I need to apply pressure. This might hurt, but it will stop the bleeding,” Daring warned the stallion. He nodded, and she pressed the balled up fabric of her shirt down onto his wound. He gasped and winced, biting his lower lip. Daring pressed down strongly to apply pressure on the shirt, holding it firmly to the wound.
“Lift your hoof into the air, if you can get it above your heart it won’t bleed as much. The heart has to work harder to pump blood up,” Daring suggested. Audacity brought himself up to a sitting position, with his back legs on the sandy soil and his affected hoof in the air. Daring helped him raise it, continuing to hold the shirt firmly to his hurt leg.
“Daring!” Audacity stammered with clarity rather suddenly, “Daring, don’t worry about me after the medics come... I’ll have to recover in the... but don’t sit around waiting for me! Go ahead and do whatever you can...” Daring let out a heavy sigh. The afternoon had not gone as planned, and now they were short an ally as he would have to recover elsewhere. She felt the sudden weight and soreness of the various blows she had been dealt, particularly to her jaw.