4.
Daring tapped her hoof impatiently. A heavy cloak hid her identity while Trixie spoke with the townsfolk. Trixie now fancied herself as a detective extraordinaire, taking it upon herself to find clues and determine the source of the terrifying events of the previous night. Well at least I didn't have any trouble getting to sleep after that, Daring thought optimistically. In fact it had been harder for her to stay awake, her brave deeds had sucked away all the energy, hitting her head against the wall and being knocked unconscious might have played a small role as well. Her rest, however, was not long. She woke up in bed; somepony must have carried her up there, to the sounds of ruckus and commotion downstairs.
The ruined bar was packed with ponies, some attempting to rebuild, and others staring in awe at the destruction that had been wrote in their sleepy little town. The kindly barkeep sat in the corner looking tired and melancholy. Daring could not imagine how he had managed to sleep through the commotion last night going on in his own bar. The destruction of his bar and his livelihood had hit him hard, but the community was there to help him get back on his feet. Friends gathered around him in a vain attempt to comfort him, he just cradled his head in his hands and mumbled about a hangover.
"I still don't understand what happened here," proclaimed a mare nudging a piece of rubble with her foot.
"Yea," exclaimed a colt angrily, "who's to blame for all of this."
The muddled murmurs and hushed voices died down as Trixie cleared her throat with flamboyant exaggeration, "Ahem, I can shed some light on this situation."
"Than please," a pony motioned rudely, "Tell us."
"Last night we were assaulted here by a terrifying creature worthy of the pits of Tartarus." There was a collective intake of breath from the nervous audience as Trixie continued. "It was tall with beady little eyes."
"Was it strong?"
"The strongest."
"Was...was it tall?"
"Gigantic"
"Did it have sharp teeth?"
"Sharp as aged provolone."
"Did it have claws?"
"Claws the size of Bananas, and almost as dangerous." The crowd whispered nervously amongst themselves. "But never fear, I, The Great and Powerful Trixie am here to protect you from this monstrosity."
"Why didn't you stop the beast last night."
"I...well."
"Were doomed!" the crowd suddenly broke out in hysterics. "It will kill us all."
"Wait!" Daring stepped up still in disguise.
"Whose that?" the crowd whispered questioningly amongst themselves as she continued .
"The beast we saw last night was definitely big and strong, but it certainly did not have sharp teeth or claws. I think I know what it was and how we can defeat it." Daring's heart was racing, she struggled to control her involuntary shivers. Like many things, public speaking made the mare very nervous. "I have done a lot of research in my time and I believe that the beast is some type of Werehorse."
"You were attacked by a warehouse?"
"No a Werehorse!"
"A werewhore!" piped in a young colt.
"No no a were-," Daring was suddenly interrupted by Trixie.
"She said pearhorse."
"No a," Daring stepped forward with annoyance. Her hoof slipped into a large crack in the floor, her momentum was enough to send her careening forward, throwing the cloak off her shoulders.
"Look everypony it's Daring Do, We are saved!" The crowd was suddenly very excited.
"Look look, Daring Do."
"Is it really her?"
"Cant be."
"Isn't that the adventuring mare from the books?"
"She'll be able to fight that beast." The comments continued as such making Daring Do very uncomfortable, and Trixie very jealous.
The truth was that Daring Do was an absolute fraud. She was a brilliant writer yes, but a brave adventurer? She was clueless on the outside. She had once bought a piece of sandpaper thinking it was a map of the desert.
Compass Rose was a very intelligent young mare, but when it came to social matters and street situations she was not the shrewdest. She had studied hard at university and began publishing books when still very young, but they just weren't selling as well as she hoped. So she hatched a plan, she would become a brave adventurer, change her name and become appealing to the general populace. Thus Daring Do was born.
Suddenly ponies just couldn't get enough of her. She was in every magazine, her fake exploits made it to every newspaper, her books were being sold faster than they could be printed. Many distinguished members of society begged her to come to their events. But Compass Rose, or as she was now known; Daring Do, had to remain aloof. She believed that if everypony knew that she was not nearly as daring as she pretended, her books would not sell as well. So she casually refused all the invitations, saying she was needed out on some obscure location or at some far off village. It wasn't really lying, Daring had never really outright said that she was the mare from her best selling books, but everypony had jumped to the conclusion just as she had planned. And besides a good novel tells you the truth about its hero, while a bad novel tells the truth about its author. And Compass Rose was a very good author.
The unusual silence brought Daring back to reality. Everypony was looking at her expectantly, except Trixie who glared green with envy. "Um, what was that?" said daring meekly as she attempted to regain her composure.
"What's the plan to fight the chairhorse?" asked a pony hopefully.
"First of all it is called a Werehorse." Daring cleared her throat. "Well this is only an educated guess but I believe that the Werehorse is a pony within the village who was turned into a beast through magical means. Probably an artifact of some kind." An awkward silence fell over the room and the towns ponies blinked. Daring was relieved as Trixie seized the opportunity to steal the spotlight away from her.
"So what she means is that somepony in this village is the hairhorse!"
"Werehorse."
"That's what I said, anyways, I have to perform a full interview of everypony in the village to find out who it is and save the day," Trixie did her most dashing heroic grin.
"That...might not work," interjected Daring. "You see if it really is a Werehorse it would not remember ever turning. The culprit might not even be aware of what they had done." Everypony suddenly seemed very nervous, worried that their neighbors, families or even that they could be the monster. "But maybe," Daring Do was thinking so hard that she had forgotten to be afraid of speaking, "We could look for some other evidence, physical evidence that could point to the culprit. When Trixie blew the bar up with her magic-."
"Heh," Trixie smiled uneasily.
"The blast must have caused the Werehorse some kind of injury or concussion. I would be willing to bet that the one responsible would have a pretty bad headache right now."
"Huu!" An innocent looking mare in the crowd suddenly touched her forehead worriedly. Trixie pounced on her.
"Have any head problems lately, hmm?"
"Uh...no, no of course not," the mare giggled hysterically. "I'm just fine, just fine."
"What's your name dear," said Daring as she pulled Trixie off the poor mare.
"Chai...Cahi Spice."
"Listen miss spice, you could be putting your family and friends at risk. If you have some reason to think that you could be the Werehorse it would be best to speak up."
"Well..." the mare squirmed uncomfortably, "I have been having these bad headaches lately, but that's all! Nothing else, just headaches."
"And what about you," burst out Trixie suddenly turning to a young colt who had a bandage wrapped around his head.
"Did you get that injury recently?" Daring asked politely.
"Oh this, I've had this for about two weeks now." He smiled anxiously.
"Do you have any proof, any alibi for last night, hm?" Trixie's horn glowed threateningly without her noticing it.
"Now Trixie I think your being a little too aggressive."
"AHA! I know the answer," Trixie suddenly burst out. "That mysterious pony from the other night. What was his name? Solomon Colt, that's right. Has anypony seen him lately?" The ponies looked amongst themselves and shrugged, none of them had seen him since last night when he interrupted Trixie at the bar. "I knew he was shady from the moment I laid eyes on him. He is the Werehorse, but don't worry everypony I will take care of this." The crowd looked indifferent until Trixie grabbed Daring and put her arm around her shoulder." Me and Daring here will vanquish the monster and save all of Equestria."
"Yea!" shouted Chai Spice enthusiastically. "Three cheers for the Daring Do and Trixie the great."
"How the heck are we supposed to beat that thing." Daring whispered out of the side of her mouth.
"You better start thinking, I sure don't know." Trixie whispered back as she waved to the crowd beaming.
5.
The sun was shinning bright in Gaskinville but a pall shadow had fallen over most its residence. Mothers locked their little ones inside and many boarded up their windows, fearing the Werehorse. Today was market day but the turnout was considerably less than usual. Ponies ambled about the few stalls around town square that had set up to sell their wares. And at the center of it all, in a brightly colored gazebo, sat the duo of liars; Daring Do and Trixie Lulamoon.
"What were you thinking! We don't have the experience to deal with this kind of thing. You saw how well it worked out last night." Daring pleaded.
"Experience is something you don't get until right after you need it, and besides we were taken by surprise last night."
Daring put her head in her hands and moaned. "Lets just run away, we can run away right?"
"Not after we promised, you and I both have reputations to keep up." Trixie replied curtly. "And I cant do it alone."
"Are you asking me for help?" Daring looked up expectantly.
"Yes, I am."
"That's very modest of you." Daring Do was very surprised. She had never know Trixie to ask for help from anypony, unless she was asking for a volunteer for a magic trick.
"I'm very proud of my modesty," Trixie replied. Daring giggled at the statement.
"Doesn't really make a difference. Were going to die tonight I just know it. What if we can't come up with a plan in time, what if the beast just comes up and snaps our necks before we can put a plan into action?"
"Just try to imagine a world without hypothetical situations." Trixie replied comfortingly. Trixie was acting surprisingly noble, at least for Trixie that is, and Daring was quite moved. For once Trixie was actually listening to what Daring was saying, and not only that but she was replying, even comforting. It was then that Daring resolved that she would stay and fight the beast with Trixie no matter what. Between the both of them Daring was sure that they could come up with something. With a determined sigh Daring spread a pile of old leather bound books on the table.
"What's all this?" asked Trixie.
"Um, Demonology, myths, legends and monster manual version eight," Daring massaged her temples.
"Should I even ask?"
"Nope you probably don't want to know," Daring pushed a purple tome toward Trixie "Try and see if you can find anything about Werehorses in there." Daring pulled up a hefty volume for herself and slid her glasses onto her nose. They thumbed through the book for the next hour until Trixie suddenly interjected.
"Aha I found something. Looks like Werehorses are attracted to salt."
"Really, to salt? Let me see." Daring edged close to Trixie and looked where she was pointing. "Hmm your right. We could use salt to lay a trap for the Werehorse. You wouldn't happen to have any salt on you.
"Na." Replied Trixie, " I don't have any. I will go and find some right now." Trixie jumped up suddenly and trotted off. She didn't like reading for so long, it reminded her of her days at magic school. She was happy for the most part when she had been at magic school but she was sometimes reminded of the unfortunate events that had happened in her senior year. Trixie shook her head, she did not want to think about it anymore.
A large salt block behind the counter of a stall caught Trixie's eye. She trotted up to it the stallion who was just closing shop and putting his thing away.
"Norm and Cooper's Livestock, at your service. I am Cooper, can I get anything for you?" The stallion smiled wide.
"Yes, The Great and Powerful Trixie requires that salt block in order to save all of Equestria from a great evil that would ravage the lands." She pointed at the heavy salt block behind the counter.
"That can be arranged for twenty bits."
"Twenty bits!? Trixie should not have to pay that. And besides, I am using it to save your town."
"No bits, No biz." Cooper glowered at her.
"You won't give it to me for free, and you won't trade it either?" Trixie asked.
"No bits, No biz," he turned his back rudely on her.
"Well then I guess I have no choice then." Trixie looked around to make sure nopony was watching, then ignited her horn with a powerful glow. Cooper turned around and threw up his hooves to shield his face before the spell washed over him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trixie trotted back to the gazebo whistling merrily, the salt block levitating behind her. "How did you get that?" asked Daring as Trixie dropped the block onto the table with a thud.
"Well I guess you can just say that I'm a very charming fellow." Trixie grinned mischievously.
"Should I even ask?"
"Nope you probably don't want to know."
"Anyways I found something else that could help us. Look here it says that the source of the Werehorse's transformation stems from some sort of magical artifact somewhere on their body." She pointed to a picture," Which means that the Werehorse is being caused by some kind of tiara, or necklace, or earring or even a horseshoe that the pony is wearing. If we can find that, then we can stop the transformation."
"That's what I'm talking about," Trixie slapped Daring on the back, "I knew you would think of something, with my help of course."
"We can use the salt block to lure it out into the open."
"And then I can use my magic to stun the thing."
"Which will give me enough to incapacitate it."
"Than I will...no WE will take the artifact and save the day."
"Sounds like a plan."
"The best!"
"Its going to fail miserably."
"Yep, most likely."
"Perfect, lets give it a shot." Trixie held out a hoof and Daring looked at it confused.
"Come on." Daring bumped her hoof against Trixie's. "Lets go vanquish a rarehorse."
"Its called a Werehorse."
(Final part coming soon, watch and comment for more)