//------------------------------//
// Initiation Day 
// Story: Daring Do and the Crown of Corruption 
// by Dr Dash 
//------------------------------//

Azure had finally passed out from sheer exhaustion. The young pegasus hadn’t stopped chattering excitedly since they first began the train journey to Baltimare, and didn’t succumb to sleep until almost 2AM on their overnight ride. Daring Do glanced over at her young apprentice fast asleep on the bench seat next to her, and smiled. She turned to Sirius, who was lost in thought watching the scenery roll by outside the window.

“So, Mr. Nightmare, what exactly are we going to need? Celestia was kind enough to give us some serious spending money, and I’m assuming there’s plenty of gear we’ll need to buy.”

Sirius nodded. His horn pulsed slightly, opening his saddlebag and removing a rolled-up list of supplies. He began to read, and Daring felt sleep rapidly approaching. Sirius never made it past the third item on his list before Daring slowly began to lean sideways. She rested her head on Azure’s chest and dozed off almost immediately. Sirius sighed as he re-rolled his list. His eyes returned to the window, and his gaze drifted towards the full moon that hung low in the night sky. A satisfied smile slowly spread on his face, and he drifted off into a dream.





Daring Do was back at home, or at least happy in a surrogate of her usual city. The hustle and bustle was comforting to her, and the crowds of ponies moving with purpose provided a welcome sense of urgency to their mission. They fought through the hive of activity to the nearest information kiosk. A lemon yellow pony with frizzy golden hair was distractedly reading a book behind the counter. Daring waited for her to notice them for several seconds, before slamming her hoof down onto the desk, causing the mare to jump in surprise. She shot them a dirty look.

“Sorry to interrupt your book,” said Daring sarcastically, “but are there any decent hotels around here? My...ah...husband and I are looking for a place to stay with our daughter for the night.” The yellow pony rolled her eyes and pulled out a map of the city.

“Der’s a bed n’ brekkie ‘few blocks north a ‘ere, ‘nd a few decent hotewls ‘bout tew blocks to da east. Anythin’ else I can help ya wit, hon?” she said impatiently. 

Daring shook her head, and Azure jumped up and grabbed the map between her teeth. “Frnk frew” she said with a smile, “Hrv a nrc deyy.” She followed Sirius and Daring out of the station, where Sirius hailed a passing carriage. They climbed up, and the stallion pulling it turned to face them.

“Where can I take you fowks?” he asked.

“The nearest hotel,” replied Daring, “We’re only going to be here for one night, so nothing fancy.”

The stallion nodded. “Der’s a lil’ place not too far ‘way, called Da O’chard Inn. It’s pre’ey cheap, but you get what you pay for so you’d be wise to warsh dem sheets befo’ you sleep. Off we go den.” They set off through the busy streets, and before long arrived in front of a squat, three-story brick building. THE ORCHARD INN: (NO) VACANCY, read the weathered neon sign above the door. They hopped out of the carriage, and after paying the stallion, walked inside. The door’s hinges squeaked in protest, and a small bell mounted to the frame gave a halfhearted tinkling. An elderly purple unicorn with a faint pink mane sat behind the counter, reading a magazine and smoking a cigarette. She glanced up as they came in.

“Wewcome to The O’chard Inn, Bawlmare’s finest hotel,” she said in a gravely voice. “How ma’y noits you gonna be stayin’?”

“Only one.” replied Daring.

“Tha’ll be twenny-five bits, hon” said the mare. She coughed a cloud of smoke out and her horn glowed slightly. A brass key floated off the peg board behind her and came to rest on the countertop. Daring piled the coins on the desk in front of the unicorn and Sirius levitated the key into the air. “Room twenny-free” said the mare as she returned to reading.





“This is the third camping store we’ve been to!” said Daring frustratedly, “We are not going to find freeze-dried mango chutney ANYWHERE, Sirius!” She grabbed the list out of the air in front of him. “And what is all this other stuff? A restaurant-grade knife set? A portable range? Pots and pans? ARE YOU RENOVATING A KITCHEN OR WHAT?!” Daring crumpled the list between her hooves and threw it at the nearest mannequin.

“Those are vital to survival!” said Sirius indignantly.

“Survival? I thought you were some sort of die-hard cultist, not a personal chef!” retorted Daring. “We need important things! Rope! Tents! Canteens!”

Azure popped out of the nearby changing rooms, wearing an identical set of khaki clothing as Daring. “Matching outfits!” she said happily. 

Daring sighed and raised her hoof to her face. “This is going to be a long day...”





“That’s the last of it” said Sirius, wiping the sweat from his forehead. A large pile of wooden crates dominated half of their tiny hotel room, and both beds had been pushed to one side to clear space for all of their purchases. Daring nodded, and Azure checked off the last item from her supply list before tossing it onto the nearest box. She turned to Daring and Sirius.

“THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME!” she yelled happily, “Also, I’m really hungry. Can we go get some dinner?” Sirius nodded and Azure bolted out of the room, followed by a highly amused Daring and Sirius. The trio wandered into the street, the city buzzing with nightlife. They flagged down another carriage, this time pulled by a stocky steel-grey pegasus.

“Where ya headed?” he asked as they climbed up.

“Know any good places to eat?” Daring asked, “We’re not from here.”

“‘Course I do! Great lil’ pubfew blocks down from ‘ere, The Drunken You’corn. I go ‘ere almust evry noit af’er werk, best grub this side of the Patapscah!”

“Sounds good to me.” said Sirius. The stallion nodded and set off into the night. After a startlingly fast run through the streets, and one near miss with a lamppost, they arrived without injury.

“Make sure you tell ol’ Bill dat Big Mike sent ya! He’ll cut ya a good deal!” the stallion said merrily as he went on his way. A wooden sign hung over the door of the one-story building, a unicorn and a stein of cider engraved into it. The open doorway breathed out the smell of cigarettes, beer, and fried food. They entered the dimly lit building, and were hit full-force by the dull roar of the crowded room. Sirius located three empty stools, and an elderly unicorn with a large handlebar mustache turned to help them.

“Evenin’ folks. Name’s Bill. What can I get for ya?”

“Hi!” said Azure enthusiastically. “I’m Azure! Your friend Big Mike just dropped us off here, he said to ask you what to eat.” She smiled.

“Well ain’t you just the cutest thing!” said Bill. “I make some mean mozzarella sticks, my mama always knew how to make the best, back in Manehattan. Hows three orders sound?” Azure nodded, and Bill disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later he returned, levitating three plates of steaming food and three frosty mugs. “Three orders of mozzarella sticks, two mugs of our house ale, and a root beer for the little lady,” he winked at Azure, “Lemme know if ya need anything else” They happily began eating as two black stallions in black suits sat down next to them at the bar. One lit up a cigarette, the other cleaned his glasses, as they both turned to face the trio.

“Daring Do, I presume.” said the smoker, matter-of-factly.

“Who wants to know?” said Daring, eyeing them with suspicion.

“The O Brothers.” he replied, blowing a smoke ring in Sirius’s face.

“Let me guess,” said Sirius, “You’re with T.R.O.T.T”

“And you my friend are not as stupid as you look.” replied the second stallion dryly.

“What do you jerkbags want?” asked Azure, “We’re trying to eat.”

“Only to talk. We know of your agreement with that kingdom-stealer, and we are prepared to propose a counter offer. Help us to retrieve the helm of Nightmare Moon instead.”

“And why in Celestia’s name would I do that?” asked Daring, “Last time I checked, you are the BAD GUYS.”

“Because,” replied the stallion, “We believe in a free Equestria. One ruled by a council of our peers, not by some deity-ified single monarch. And unlike those who sit idly by and complain, we will use whatever means necessary to accomplish our goal. Furthermore, we are prepared to make a sizeable monetary offer in return for your services. This is only valid here and now. If you choose to oppose us we will have no choice but to eliminate you.”

“Take a moment to think about it. Talk amongst yourselves.” said the smoker. Daring turned to face Azure and Sirius.

“Hey kid, remember what we talked about earlier today?” whispered Daring. Azure nodded. “Well, it’s time to go to work.” Daring turned back to the two stallions, while Azure and Sirius slowly got up from their stools.

“Have you reached a decision?” asked the stallions.

“Yeah, we have.” said Daring. “And you know what? Smoking kills.”

Azure, who had secretly snuck up behind the two stallions, jumped into the air and stabbed one in the shoulder with a fork. He screamed in pain and leapt from his seat, his partner right behind him. Before they could retaliate, Sirius hurled his mug of beer at the injured stallion, dousing him in liquor. Daring quickly snatched the cigarette out of the other’s mouth and tossed it at the soaked and surprised colt. The instant the coal struck his suit, he erupted into fire. Screaming in agony, he bolted from the bar, the flames glowing a molten orange against the night sky. His partner followed him towards the bay, where the burning agent blindly ran off the dock and into the ice cold water. Daring turned to the stunned bartender.

“Sorry about the mess.” she said, dropping several bits onto the counter before they left.





If Azure was energetic when they first arrived in Baltimare, it was nothing compared to her current state. She ran circles around Daring and Sirius on their way back to the hotel, dramatically recounting the night’s events. Daring listened for a moment and smirked.

“Not to kill your thunder, Kid,” she said as they entered the lobby, “But I don’t remember torching twenty armed thugs with a flamethrower.” Sirius laughed heartily as Azure blushed. They climbed the staircase to the second floor of the hotel, and proceeded down the dim hallway until Daring stopped dead in her tracks. Ahead of them, the door to room 23 was ajar, and the low light spilling from the doorway illuminated a shadow crossing back and forth. She motioned for them to back up against the wall, and slowly crept to the doorway. She poked her head sideways around the frame and saw a hooded figure rifling through one of the many smashed crates that now littered their room. She gasped slightly, and the figure whipped around at her, before bolting out the door and down the hallway.

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” she shouted and galloped after him. The figure dashed out the window and onto the fire escape, with Daring right behind him. She followed him to the roof of the building, where he took a running leap across the alleyway and onto the next rooftop. Daring eyed the drop for a moment, before sprinting across the roof and jumping after him. She landed hard and rolled into an air conditioning unit, before jumping back up and scanning for movement. The figure had already made it to the next building before she realized and shot after him. She leapt after him when a sudden blow to her helmet caused her to pause momentarily. A large throwing knife was embedded in the hardened material, a silver moon engraved on the handle. She set off after the figure again, as several more knives whizzed past her head. Thankfully, the concentration required to fling the knives at her caused the figure to momentarily ignore its surroundings. It plowed head first into a large vent unit, and Daring leapt on top of it, pinning its hooves down with her back legs on its chest. She threw the hood of the cloak back to reveal a deep purple unicorn with a white mane.

“WHO ARE YOU?!” she demanded, panting heavily. “WHY WERE YOU IN OUR ROOM?! ANSWER ME!” The unicorn stared determinedly back at Daring, her gaze unmoving. Her horn glowed white and the knife loosed itself from Daring’s helmet, before plunging itself into the mysterious unicorn’s chest. Her eyes rolled back and her eyelids closed, and a splatter of crimson shot onto Daring’s vest. Daring shook the unresponsive unicorn several times before swearing under her breath. As she stood, a glint of silver caught her eye. Around her neck, the unicorn wore a mysterious pendant, emblazoned with the likeness of a unicorn, trapped within what appeared to be the moon. She pulled the necklace off the dead mare and stuffed it into her pocket. She climbed down the fire escape and walked back to the hotel.

“OH CELESTIA ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!” yelled Azure as Daring walked into their room. She shot across the room but Daring waved her off.

“Don’t worry Kid, this ain’t my blood.” Daring turned to Sirius, who was busy cleaning up the disaster that had overtaken their room. “Hey Mr. Midnight, you ever seen something like this before?” She tossed the mysterious pendant onto the bed. He looked down, and uttered a heavy sigh.

“Then it is as I feared.” Sirius said as his horn glowed once again. His robes rustled slightly, and he produced an identical pendant, which he wore around his own neck. Daring and Azure gasped simultaneously.

“But that means...” Azure trailed off. Sirius nodded somberly.

“The Children of the Nightmare are after us. I feared they would attempt to rescue me, and now without the full story, fear we are coming to steal the Crown from them. We must take great caution the rest of the night.”

Daring turned around and her eyes fell upon a large bookcase. She walked over to it, and after pushing against it for several seconds, tipped it over in front of the door. She then crossed the room and sat down on one of the beds.

“Hopefully they don’t have any Minotaurs on their side,” she said with a yawn. “Now, I don’t know about you two, but I’m bushed.”





Daring awoke with a start, her previous night’s sleep having been fitful and somewhat uncomfortable. She immediately realized something was wrong. Her hooves had been bound and she was tied across the chest to a wooden chair. Sirius and Azure flanked her, both still fast asleep but restrained in the same fashion. Before she had a chance to survey her surroundings, she heard hoofprints coming towards them, and a hushed conversation. Daring immediately feigned sleep.

“I don’t understand why we have to keep these morons around,” said a familiar voice. “After what that Daring bitch did to my face, I’m all for shooting them and dumping them in the bay.”

The smell of cigarette smoke wafted into Daring’s nose. Another all-too-familiar voice rang out. “Now now Obsidian, if the commander wants them alive, we keep them alive. Besides, they’re too late to catch their ship anyhow.”

“Fine Onyx. Fine. But when we get the order, she’s mine. I have a few...special...plans for her.” Daring felt a hoof brush her mane to the side of her face.

“Leave her be. We have business to attend to.” replied Onyx. Daring heard their hoofprints fade away before a large door slammed shut. She threw her eyes open and realized they were in the middle of a large warehouse, the sunlight filtering through several broken windows.

“AZURE! SIRIUS! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!” she shouted. Her companions snapped awake.

“What the...” said Sirius. “Where are we?!”

“I’m scared Daring!” said Azure with a whimper.

“Cool it you two. I have a plan. Look over there.” she gestured forward with her nose. Several feet away was a card table with two folding chairs. Sitting at one end of the table, amidst several cigarette butts, was a jet black lighter emblazoned with a red O. “Think you can grab that with your magic?” she asked Sirius. He nodded and his horn glowed brightly as the lighter floated over. Sirius opened the cap and lit the flame, then held it to each of their ropes. The trio jumped up and galloped across the empty warehouse.

“What do we do, Daring?” asked Azure nervously. “We’re not gonna make it in time!”

“Kid, adventurers never give up without a fight!” she replied. Daring kicked the doors of the warehouse open, and they realized they were stuck in the middle of the docks district, several miles from where their ship was set to leave. The trio galloped at full tilt to the nearest street, looking for the closest carriage. A familiar grey pegasus stood out from the crowd.

“Hey, look!” shouted Azure, “It’s Big Mike! HEY! MIKE! OVER HERE!”

Mike pulled up to the curbside. “Oh thank Celestia you’re alright. Af’r Bill told me wha’appened at the You’nicorn last noit, I figured I’d stop by yer ‘otel to chyeck on you guys this mornin’. Yer room was trashed and you were nowher’ ta be found, and I noticed you’d left yer bags beehind.” He gestured to the back seat, where three sets of saddlebags rested under the seat. “I remembered you said you had a boat to catch, so I figured I might run into ya here.”

They jumped into the carriage. “No time to explain, Mike!” said Daring. “We got kidnapped last night and we’re gonna miss our boat if we don’t hurry! Can you get us to Pier 47, like, yesterday?”

Mike nodded. His shoulders tensed and he unfurled a massive pair of wings. “Ya’ll might wanna strap in, this could get bumpee!”

He took a running start and shot into the sky, carriage full of adventurers in tow. They shot towards the piers at a frightening pace, dodging low flying pegasi and warehouses left and right. They reached Pier 47 as the gangplank was being pulled aboard. Mike didn’t stop, instead he flew over the ship as it prepared to leave port. He turned to face them.

“Next time yer in town, you owe me a drink!” He reached back and unlatched his harness, dropping the carriage out of the sky and directly onto the deck of the ship. They landed with a crash, and after a few stunned seconds, got out of the destroyed carriage. Azure waved to Mike as he flew away, and Daring pulled out their tickets to show to the dumbfounded captain and crew. Sirius brushed himself off, and turned to Daring.

“...Always have to make an entrance, don’t you?”