Ch. 17 - Showdown
Chapter Seventeen: Showdown
The stars looked quite extravagant tonight. They twinkled amidst a sea of darkness like lanterns upon the horizon. But while Spitfire wished she could take the time to admire the grandiose view, lounging on one’s backside was not the best choice when an angry, heartbroken pegasus was looming over you. She had to admit that it was a sobering experience to be, for a change, on the receiving end of an unprovoked bout of hot-tempered hostility. The blow had left her mind reeling, and it took several seconds for her to regain her focus. As expected, her own volatile temper was beginning to flare up. The only thing that stayed her hoof was the thought of Applejack’s reaction if she arrived upon the scene to find the two of them brawling like a couple of a schoolyard fillies.
“Okay, we can say that makes us even,” Spitfire grumbled as she got back to her hooves. On the bright side, she no longer felt a need to apologize to Rainbow Dash for hitting her back in the hospital. But while Spitfire had hoped that the incident at the hospital had settled everything, it appeared as though there were still outstanding issues between the two pegasi.
“That’s just a taste and a warning!” Her body was couched low, wings were stretched high, and limbs tensed like coiled springs.
To Spitfire, Dash looked like a cougar ready to pounce, and one poorly-phrased utterance could turn that analogy into reality. It was tempting for the Wonderbolt Captain to meet aggression with her own, but she couldn’t screw this up. For Applejack’s sake, she had to keep her temper in check.
“You know, I had everything planned out! It was going to be perfect!” Rainbow continued. She accentuated each word with a forward step, which forced Spitfire back towards the ledge. “And then you had to show up with all your money and all your fame. You ruined all my hard work!”
“You make it sound like I swooped in and stole her out of your hooves,” the Wonderbolt fired back. She knew getting into a verbal fight was marginally better than a physical one, but her pride and ego would not permit her to just stand there and take the abuse. “It was an open auction, Rainbow! Anypony could have waltzed in there and won the auction.”
“Yeah...well, they didn’t. You were the only one who had the money to beat me.” Though Rainbow Dash was faltering in the argument, Spitfire did not want to press her advantage. She was just trying to defend herself, not provoke another kick to the face. “That was so unfair! You could have had any other pony in the world. Why do this to me?”
“This isn’t about you, Rainbow Dash! Try thinking about her for a change!” Sadly, what Spitfire wanted to accomplish in this conversation and what was transpiring were diverging to a great degree. Calm, rational confrontations were not her strong suit. Where was Soarin’ when you needed him? Despite his sometimes goofball nature, he had always been the more level-headed of the pair. “Gotta keep calm. This is for Applejack.” Spitfire had to bite down on her tongue before she said something she was going to regret.
“I am thinking about her. It’s all I’ve been doing for the past ten hours,” Rainbow said once she had the Wonderbolt up against the building’s ledge. “Applejack’s been the best friend a pony could ask for. So if you and I are going to be bumping into each other, I’ve got to make one thing clear with you.” The pounce never came; instead, the pegasus relaxed slightly and pointed an accusatory hoof towards the Wonderbolt Captain. “If you do anything to hurt Applejack, I will find you and I will make you regret it!”
Spitfire found herself torn between relief and confusion. Was she really getting the ‘hurt her and I hurt you’ speech from Rainbow Dash? If this had been coming from that big red stallion Applejack called her brother then this conversation would have made more sense. The pegasus’ approach made it seem like she was going to jump her, not give a stern lecture.
“Does this pony do anything in half-measures?” Spitfire wondered as she tried to contain the evident confusion on her face, which involved picking her jaw off the floor. Maybe keeping Rainbow Dash busy was not going to be as arduous a task as she had feared. “I’m fairly confident that Applejack is more than tough enough to handle anything I could possibly do,” she replied.
“You might think that, but I’ve known Applejack way longer than you have,” Rainbow insisted with a firm prod. “She puts on the tough, cowgirl routine, but it’s like a...uh, a hard caramel shell. It’s really sweet, but the more you enjoy it, the more brittle it becomes. And underneath it all is like a, um, soft, chocolate center. That chocolate is delicious too; it’s soft and rich and just melts in your mouth-”
“I think your analogy is getting side-tracked,” Spitfire deadpanned.
Indeed, Rainbow Dash had lost track of her train of thought, and the pony had to shake her head to get her thoughts in line again. “What I mean to say is that she’s got a vulnerable side, too, and you need to be careful with it. It’s like a, um, banana nut muffin - tender and delicious but if you’re not careful you’ll chomp down on a hard nut and accidentally chip a tooth.”
Spitfire quirked an eyebrow. “What’s with the food analogies?”
“I haven’t eaten all day.”
“Anyways, it sounds like you’ve got her pretty figured out,” Spitfire replied after a terse chortle. “You know, at first I thought this was just some little puppy-love infatuation, but you’re really smitten with her, aren’t you?”
Bringing this fact to light did little to help Rainbow’s self-confidence. Unaware of what had transpired at the arena, to Rainbow this seemed only adding insult to injury. “Y-yeah, well what does it matter, hm? You’ve already won. You’ve got the fame, the money, the looks, the moves, and the charm! What does it matter how I feel? What the hay do I have to offer her?”
Once again, Spitfire couldn’t help but stifle another rising chuckle, which only served to irk Rainbow further. More salt to the wound, it seemed. However, Spitfire soon made the source of amusement clear.
“If you want to know the answer to that, you should just ask her yourself,” she said as her eyes drifted to something past the other pegasus.
The implications hit Rainbow like a pebble to the head, and she spun about-face to see Soarin’ lowering Applejack onto the roof. While the urge to take flight rose in her, what power she had left in her wings became disarmed by a single, heartfelt smile from her friend.
“Thanks for the lift.”
“Anytime, AJ,” Soarin’ replied before he swooped over to touch down alongside his captain.
Once bold and confident, Rainbow Dash felt sapped of her usual bravado. She managed only a weary, half-hearted smiling upon seeing her friend. “H-hey, Applejack. How was the show?”
“It was...good,” the earth pony replied. It was strange how she spent so long tracking the wayward pegasus down, but now that she had found Rainbow Dash, she had trouble finding the right words. “Spitfire and Soarin’ flew together. It really knocked the crowd off their hooves. The Wonderbolts actually stand a good chance to make a comeback.”
“They did what?” Rainbow exclaimed as she was taken aback by the news. “Awww! I missed the two greatest fliers of our generation performing a sky dance together? Could my life get any worse?”
“Worse?” Applejack repeated. Her friend’s sorrow struck her as odd until she realized the obvious. “Spitfire didn’t tell you what happened after the show did she?”
“Let me guess, she swept you off your hooves and kissed you before the crowd?” Rainbow replied in bitter sarcasm. “Listen, I know I said that I’m okay with you and Spitfire being together and that I wasn’t going to interfere any further, but that’s not an invitation to start parading it in front of me.”
“Rainbow, we broke up.”
“And also yo-wait, what?” The bewildered pegasus stared in stunned silence at her friend, who was holding back her apparent amusement. “But I...how did...that can’t be possible.”
Applejack dissipated any doubt by directing her friends gaze towards the two Wonderbolts, who were in the middle of an amorous embrace. Their hooves were intertwined around each other’s shoulders with Soarin’ swinging his cherished captain to the side until he held her back just inches above the ground. Applejack wouldn’t have been surprised if the two were intentionally hamming it up for Rainbow Dash’s sake.
“Get a room, you two!” the farmer finally called out.
The Wonderbolts pried their lips from the embrace and flashed an apologetic smile. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” Soarin’ said.
“I don’t get it,” Rainbow Dash mused. Despite the self-evident truth, she had trouble believing this to be true. “You two were so happy together. You gave her cider and fritters and everything!”
“Wait a tick, you saw that?”
“O-only a bit before I left,” Rainbow sheepishly admitted. “But why wouldn’t you want to be with her? She’s rich and famous and gorgeous!”
Rainbow would have gone on but a hoof set upon her lips stopped the train of thought from departing. “Because she ain’t you.” Given that her friend was staring at her slack-jawed as though Celestia herself had dropped in to pay a visit, Applejack used the opportunity to get what she wanted to say off her chest. “Rainbow, you’ve always been there for me when Ah’ve needed you, and Ah care about you more than any other pony Ah know. But Ah always thought you’d be more interested in ponies like Spitfire - y’know, high-flying and daring. Y’always seem so bored when yer helping in the orchard.”
“That’s because it’s apple-bucking,” Rainbow replied. “You kick trees and pick fruit off the ground for, like, four hours straight. That is practically the textbook definition of boring!”
“That’s not helping your case, Dash,” Spitfire commented from the sidelines. She knew it wasn’t the best idea for the peanut gallery to be making comments, but she felt compelled to help her fellow pegasus out. And Spitfire was correct, as evident in Applejack’s souring expression.
“But boring work doesn’t mean I find you boring,” Rainbow Dash quickly added to recover from the verbal tailspin. “I know how much the farm means to you, and that makes me want to help. Seeing you smile after we’ve cleared off the last tree always made the effort worth it. Plus, helping you get your work done faster meant you’d have more time to spend with me.” She hadn’t felt this degree of nervousness since the Best Young Flier’s Competition. Everything counted on expressing how she felt without sounding crazy or desperate. She needed to make Applejack understand how she felt.
Oddly enough, the exact same concerns were running through Applejack’s mind as well. She had an idea of how her friend felt, but she also knew how hurt she was. If the situation were reversed, Applejack might’ve rejected the approach just for the sake of wounded pride. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash didn’t have the same degree of stubbornness as she did. Nonetheless, Applejack didn’t want her friend to think that she was taking pity on her.
“Guess Ah sorta took your help for granted,” Applejack said with humility and shame. “Ah had always told mahself that you were just being a good friend. Ah know Ah should’ve said something but Ah was...scared of making things awkward or, worse, losing yer friendship. When it seemed like you had gone through so much trouble to set me up with Spitfire, Ah was convinced that it was all just in mah head.” She felt like a fool for having kept quiet for so long, but she imagined that Rainbow felt equally foolish for the same reasons.
“That doesn’t excuse what I did, though.” Rainbow Dash hung her head under the weight of her own shame. “I betrayed your trust, and your friendship. I only thought about what I wanted, and not about yours. I’d make a lousy girlfriend. You deserve better than me.”
Compelled to uplift her friend’s spirit, Applejack stepped closer and placed a hoof around her shoulder. “Don’t think like that, Dashie. A relationship ain’t about who deserves what; it’s about choice and commitment. As long as we’re willing to stay committed to each other, there ain’t nothing we can’t fix.” Seeing her friend’s spirits, and gaze, lift back up, Applejack decided to take it a step further. “Besides, who was the pony who taught a workaholic shut-in about the magic of friendship?”
“That was...me,” Rainbow replied. She had known that Applejack hadn’t been the most sociable pony before they met, but she hadn’t imagined that her friendship had that much of an effect on the farmer.
“And who was it that got me dating again after a five year drought?”
“Me.” Despite the date being with the wrong pony, she had succeeded in setting her friend up with someone. That was no minor feat considering Applejack’s prior reluctance towards the subject.
“And who flew all the way to Manehattan to be mah friend even if it made their heart ache?”
“Also me.”
“You see? You have been there for me every step of the way,” Applejack explained as she placed her hoof upon her friend's chest. “Ah was so wrapped up in what Ah thought Ah wanted while all along what Ah really needed was right here.”
Between the heartache, the fatigue, and the hunger pains, Rainbow Dash was almost certain that she was hallucinating or passed out in an alleyway somewhere. This was too good to be real. However, the growing growing tightness in her stomach and the warmth of the pony sitting beside her was enough to convince her that this was as real as the love in her heart.
“You really mean that?” It was a silly question for Rainbow to ask after everything her friend had confessed, but she felt compelled to humour that last lingering vestiges of doubt. It felt as though that last doubt would not let go without hearing those exact words she yearned for.
Applejack leaned over and planted a small kiss on her cheek. “Would Ah ever lie?”
Close enough.
“Awww yeah!” the pegasus cheered without restraint or reservations. Like the joy in her heart, Rainbow rocketed skywards. “Woo-hoo-hoo!” After a few backflips through the air, she finally realized that she might not have been handling the good news in the most mature or sensible of fashions. With an embarrassed grin and a sheepish chuckle, Rainbow set her hooves back on the rooftop. “He-heh, sorry.”
To her relief, Applejack was more amused than anything else and was in the midst of a hearty laugh by the time Rainbow apologized. “Yer one of a kind, Rainbow Dash.”
There was little need for words at this point as both ponies finally knew what lay in the other’s heart. Once the giggles had died down, both mares fell silent as they gazed into each other’s eyes.
“Wow, that was just like the scenes out of my favourite books,” Spitfire whispered to her compatriot while tightening her hooves around him. The longtime romantic had trouble restraining her delight as she watched the two mares partake in a tender embrace. A part of her felt a small twinge of sadness knowing that she would never be on the receiving end of Applejack’s displays of affection, but it took only a quick glance to the stallion beside her to remember the love she had regained that night.
“At least that’s one less thing to worry about tomorrow,” Soarin’ added.
It was a sentiment that Spitfire could agree with as the prospects of tomorrow’s competitions did not look that great for the Wonderbolts. Rapid Fire was still in the ‘maybe’ category for flying tomorrow evening, but even in that scenario he would not be at his best. If only she had a pony she could call in to act as a substitute for the evening. But all her best reservists and alternates were elsewhere doing their own performances. They wouldn’t arrive in time to help. If only they were faster.
“Faster...” The word lingered on Spitfire’s mind as she pondered the issue. When her eyes drifted over the affectionate couple before her, the solution fell upon her like a tonne of bricks. “I’ve got it!”
To no surprise, her exclamation drew confused looks from everyone else.
“Got what?” Soarin’ asked.
“The solution to our problem.”
“You’re finally going to take anger management courses?”
“I meant with the competition,” Spitfire deadpanned. If she had been expecting anyone present to understand what she was implying, she would be disappointed. When all she got were more puzzled stares, she could only grin and motion her head in Rainbow Dash’s direction. Her partner continued the blank, dumbfounded stare, which did not surprise Spitfire at all, but after panning between the Wonderbolt Captain and the rainbow-maned pegasus a few times, the implications finally sunk in.
“That’s crazy.”
“Extra crazy,” Spitfire beamed with such excitement that she was almost bouncing on the spot. “It’s the perfect plan!”
“What’s she going on about?” Applejack interjected upon noticing that the pegasus beside her was now sporting an ear-to-ear grin. It soon became evident that Applejack was the only pony present left in the dark.
Rather than answer the question outright, Spitfire went along with her plan knowing that it would soon become obvious even to the clueless farmer. “So Rainbow Dash, how would-”
“YESYESYESOHSWEETCELESTIAYESPLEASEYESYESOHYESOHYES!”
“Could you at least let me finish?” Spitfire asked in order to calm down the over-enthusiastic Rainbow Dash. After gently pushing the pegasus, who had almost jumped the Wonderbolt Captain in her zeal, Spitfire gave it another shot. “Rainbow Dash, how would you-” This time it was Spitfire who cut herself off. Asking it like a question just seemed silly at this point. “Rainbow, you’ll take Rapid Fire’s position for the competition tomorrow night.”
“I still think this is an insane idea,” Soarin’ voiced his objections once again. “Rainbow’s never flown with us, at least not in a competitive sense. And it’s still too early to say that Rapid Fire won’t be able to fly.”
“Even if Rapid Fire is able to fly, he won’t be at his best,” the Wonderbolt Captain insisted. Her previous enthusiasm had been replaced with the assured assertiveness that came from her position and experience. “A talented, amateur stunt-flier stands a much better chance than a professional missing half his feathers.”
“Don’t forget awesome!” Dash chimed in.
“All we need to do is get the paperwork filled out, make Rainbow a reservist, and do some practise runs tomorrow,” Spitfire continued, ignoring Dash’s comments. “Rules state we need a minimum of five to fly. The Wonderbolts might have to withdraw if we don’t try this. Besides, what have we got to lose?”
“Our dignity?”
“You don’t have any left,” Spitfire quipped. “Remember what happened at the Los Pegasus Air Show? Those little blue pills you thought were for headaches?”
“How can I forget when you never let me?” Soarin’ figured there was no point in further debating with his Captain. She had made up her mind, and nothing short of another fiery crash was going to change it. Plus, she did argue her case well, and of all the random, amateur pegasus to choose from, Rainbow Dash was the most promising.
“You want Rainbow to fly with you?” Applejack questioned as she finally caught up to the conversation. “Is that even allowed? Ah mean, don’t these competitions have rules and such?” She didn’t want to be the wet blanket that dampened everyone’s hopes, especially Rainbow’s, but she knew it couldn’t be as simple as slapping the pegasus into a Wonderbolt uniform and hoping nobody noticed the rainbow-coloured mane.
“There’s a bit of paperwork that’ll need to get filled out,” Spitfire answered as her lips pursed and eyes rolled up in recollection. “Most of the rules are so one team can’t poach high-valued members of non-participating teams. I think so long as Rainbow isn’t part of any professional aerobatics team or an associated minor league team then we’re in the clear.” If Spitfire had been trying to bring in a retired high-flying ace then she would be more worried about what others would say. In this case, however, she was bringing in a pegasus almost unknown to the aerobatics community. She imagined her competition would be daring her to go along with this plan.
“The Captain of the Wonderbolts wants me to fly with them,” Rainbow Dash mused as the gravity of the situation began to sink in. “Best night ever!” In her exuberance, she wrapped her hooves around the pony beside her with an almost vice-like grip. “This is going to be so awesome!”
“Ah’m happy for ya, Rainbow, but you don’t have to squeeze so hard.”
Once again, Rainbow had to tone down her excitement and offer further apologies with a sheepish grin. Before she could say the words proper, though, a low-grumble cut through the air. Applejack noted immediately that the strange noises seemed to emanate from her friend.
“Somepony sounds hungry,” she commented with a small chuckle afterwards.
“Hey Spitfire,” Rainbow said as she turned to the Wonderbolt. “Don’t suppose you know of any place to get some grub that’s still open?”
“Are you kidding?” Spitfire laughed. “This is Manehattan - the city that never sleeps. You can’t throw an apple without hitting a twenty-four hour diner. Come by the arena in the morning and we’ll get started on training. You just be sure to eat and rest up because, come tomorrow, I will run you into the ground if you can’t keep up.”
As to be expected, Rainbow Dash was up for the challenge, or at least so she claimed. “Just be sure not to get too jealous when I steal the show tomorrow.” The rest just took Rainbow Dash’s boisterous response as a sign that she was feeling back to her usual self, which came as a relief to Applejack most of all.
“You know, I’m kind of hungry too,” Soarin’ commented as he turned to his Captain. “Wanna go hit the diners as well? There this one on Mane Street that serves pie all night long.”
“Oh? But I was thinking we could go back to the hotel,” Spitfire replied with a sultry little curl upon her lips. “We could order up some room service and then...” She stepped closer to her partner and whispered the rest of her suggestion into his ear.
Wings and ears perked a second later.
“Oh! That’s much better than pie.”
*****************************
“Watch out, Blondie!” Daring’s shouts from the top of the water were hardly necessary as the veteran gunslinger knew a bad situation when she saw it. Large numbers of poorly led thugs and ruffians were one thing, but a vengeful minotaur sporting a gatling gun was another altogether. Blondie hated to admit it, but the goat had actually pulled out a trump card.
“Just try and hide from this, pony!” the minotaur bellowed as he readied his weapon. As he turned the handle on the side of the weapon, the bundle of steel barrels began to rotate and unleash their deadly torrent. The precious few seconds between turning the handling and firing was enough for Blondie to get a running start towards a nearby shop. The nameless mare dove headlong through the front window just as bullets began to pepper the wood siding. Even inside, Blondie had to continue scrambling for safety as the bullets pierced through the wood, tearing apart the furniture and shattering the dinnerware.
After what felt like an eternity of listening to wood splinter and glass shatter, there was a lull in the gunfire. The minotaur had run out of bullets. Using the time to march forward, the minotaur kept a steady pace as he reached into the large backpack he was carrying and grabbed a new magazine to load into his weapon’s hopper.
Atop of the water tower, Daring watched helplessly as the minotaur resumed his assault. Blondie had already used the lull in the bulletstorm to sprint for fresh cover. How she managed to make it across the street while bullets kicked up sand and rock was a mystery to the pegasus, but she figured it had something to do with that ‘Lucky’ nickname the nameless mare had also carried.
“Okay, enough spectating,” Daring muttered to herself as she aimed her rifle. She wasn’t sure if a simple lever-action rifle was going to have enough power to even slow down a massive, muscle-bound monstrosity. The first round fell short, kicking up a small cloud of sand at the minotaur’s hoof. The next couple of shots hit the body of the gun, which caused a few sparks but succeeded only in getting the beast’s attention. Spotting the shooter atop the tower, the minotaur changed targets and opened fire. “Oh horse feathers!” Daring yelped as the bullets began to shred the top of the water tower. The wooden planks and tin roofing offered little resistance for the bullets. In her spastic flailing to avoid eating a lead sandwich, Daring lost hold of her rifle, which tumbled over the edge, and almost joined in as well but managed to catch a hold of a loose edge of sheet metal.
“That’ll teach you,” the minotaur self-congratulated before returning to his original quarry. Unfortunately, Blondie had no qualms about using the time Daring had given her to put more distance between her and the minotaur. “Now where are you, Blondie?” he shouted as his eyes scanned across the townscape. “Come on out! I’ll promise I’ll make it quick!”
A flash of movement across one of the rooftops caught his attention. His eyes turned upwards, followed a few moments later by the barrels of his gun, just in time to see a stick of red tumbling through the air. The stick happened to be explosives and when the minotaur opened fire, the mid-air explosion was close enough to cause him to stagger back. Alas, he had been quick enough that the explosions was still far enough way to be no more than a nuisance to him. When a second stick was thrown, the minotaur was ready and shot it out of the air a safe distance away.
“Is that the best you’ve got?” the minotaur taunted. If Blondie was on the rooftop hurling explosives, then there would be a supply of them close by. With this knowledge, and a large supply of bullets available, the minotaur began peppering the offending rooftop. Like the other wooden and tin structures, the small cabin folded faster than a lousy poker hand. And somewhere in the hail of hot lead, a bullet struck the stash of explosives, detonating in a deafening bang that send wood and shrapnel flying across the town. Just seconds before the blast, a pony flung themselves off the rooftop. The blast had given the fleeing pony a small boost, resulting in a nasty face-plant into the sand just a few feet from where the minotaur stood. However, the singed and unconscious pony sprawled across the ground was not Blondie but one of the townsfolk.
Just another distraction.
But the time that the pony bought for Blondie was all the time she needed. A sharp whistle drew the minotaur’s attention up to the second story balcony of the nearby saloon. As the minotaur turned to once again bear multi-barreled mayhem upon the gunslinger, Blondie hurled another explosive towards him. The minotaur’s quick reflexes sent a spray of bullets towards the projectile before he even had a chance to realize what it was. Rather than just a stick of high explosives, the nameless mare’s weapon of choice was a bottle of hard liquor with a lit rag stuffed down the neck. The shattering glass bottle blossomed into a cascading wave of fire that soon enveloped the monster.
Subjected to a liquor-based flame once again, the minotaur roared in his fury but did not succumb to panic like the time before. Driven by his murderous rage, the flaming minotaur continued his assault with another barrage of gunfire. Blondie was caught off-guard by the minotaur’s sudden display of resiliency. She tried to scramble for safety as bullets began to tear apart the balcony around her, but a sudden pain shot up her leg and caused her to collapse the ground. She wasn’t sure if it had been a bullet, or a ricochet, or a splinter of wood, but the surge of pain was intense.
“Rotten, son of a-” Blondie cursed under her breath as she struggled to get back onto her good legs. Her lower profile afforded her better concealment, but her adversary had other plans. Another barrage tore apart the balcony around the nameless mare. It weakened the balcony enough that a single charge into one of the supports caused the entire section to collapse. Spewing another mouthful of un-mare-like profanities, Blondie fell to the earth beneath a heap of broken planks.
With the last simmers of the alcohol flames dying out, the minotaur loomed over the fallen gunslinger. Half-conscious beneath a pile of lumber, he had the pony right where he wanted her. After much insult and humiliation, he was finally going to have his revenge.
Or so he thought until a bullet struck one of his horns, shattering it into tiny fragments. Daring had been aiming for the back of his head, but she was willing to settle with getting his attention. A small tinge of worry overcame the archaeologist when the minotaur took aim against her. Standing below the water tower did not offer her a great deal of protection, or any at all. Maintaining her poise, Daring Do cycled the next round into the chamber and fired again. The next bullet hit the gun, resulting in the same, harmless splash of sparks as all the previous times. How in the world was the going to stop a minotaur when almost every inch of him was either thick muscle or solid steel? But then Daring spotted a vulnerability. Adjusting her aim, she fired a round that pierced through the leather sling that was supporting the gatling gun’s weight.
Without the sling, the enormous heft of the weapon was too much for the minotaur to keep steady. The bullets began to fly wildly in all directions, hitting everything from the ground to the sky while still straying as far as possible from Daring Do. The minotaur was tenacious, she had to give him that, but it would take more than just raw stubbornness to get the best of her. She put the next round into the gatling gun’s front handle. She had been aiming for his hand but the effects were almost the same. The shattered bullet fragments hit his hand, causing him to drop the weapon into the sand with a resonating thump.
“Smile for the birdie,” Daring said with a sly grin. Without the hail of bullets to distract her, she could level her rifle one last time with the iron sights square between his eyes. Now she had him where she wanted him.
Click!
“Uh-oh.”
In her haste to aid her fellow adventurer, Daring had forgotten an important caveat of gunfights - keep count of how many bullets you’ve used. She quickly cocked the lever again with the faint hope that she had only suffered from a misfire, but that hope turned out to be as empty as the rifle. Though she may have had spare bullets on her, there was no time to search as the minotaur decided to do what they were most famous for and charged. Thankfully, a rampaging minotaur was all too similar to the innumerable other hazards Daring Do has had to circumvent during her years of travel. If she could avoid a ten-tonne boulder, a volley of arrows, and alligators launched from trebuchets, a single minotaur was barely noteworthy.
“Olé!” she taunted as she dove to the side.
The rampaging beast whisked past the pegasus, carried by his momentum to the far side of the water tower. Daring Do knew that she couldn’t rely upon dodging the minotaur forever. Sooner or later he would get fed up and turn his attention back to Blondie. She needed to put a stop to him, but that would need something big to hit him with. Fortunately for Daring, she knew just what to use.
“What’s the matter? Can’t hit one little pony?” Daring Do flew to a spot under the water tower and proceeded to taunt the minotaur by waving her hindquarter at him.
The tantalizing tail swings proved to be too much for the minotaur’s pride. He roared and stomped in his outrage, vowing to see Daring Do reduced to an unsightly mess beneath his hooves. It was nothing that she hadn’t heard a hundred times before from those who had opposed in her in the past. And as predictable as the rising sun, the minotaur barreled full-tilt towards the pegasus. In case his reflexes had improved since the last attempt, Daring decided to wait a split-second longer before she dove out of the way. She wanted to ensure that the monstrous being ran head-first into the water tower’s support column.
The thick wooden beam took the brunt of the impact, buckling and splintering only slightly from the sheer brute force. However, the shock that traveled up the beam had a far more drastic effect on the dynamite bundles above. While normally safe and stable, poor storage and hot desert weather had caused the dynamite to sweat some of its nitroglycerin content. The impact was enough to agitate the dynamite bundles, resulting in a rapid chain of explosions that took out all of the water tower’s supports. Several hundred pounds of water and wood came crashing to the earth.
Despite dodging the minotaur moments earlier, Daring Do was still caught in the wake of the resulting impact. A torrent of water and broken timbers flew out in all directions and swept the pegasus off her hooves. On the bright side, a bit of water helped to battle the desert heat.
“I make it look easy,” Daring complemented herself as she retrieved her hat. She dumped the excess water out before returning it to its rightful perch. “Now where did that goat get off to?”
Daring did not have to wait long to solve that mystery as the answer hit her soon thereafter. With both horns. The water-logged pegasus barely had time to pull her face out of the dirt before getting hit again, which sent her tumbling across the muddy road.
“Ask a stupid question,” Daring groaned through the pain. She didn’t get a chance to finish her complaint as the goat grabbed her by the shirt collar and dragged her over to a sizable puddle. One didn’t need a doctorate to realize that Billy did not develop a sudden concern for dehydration.
“Hey Blondie! You might wanna show yourself,” Billy called out before pushing the pegasus’ face into the puddle. “I think your little friend might be in a bit of trouble.”
Between the bruised ribs and the face full of water and mud, Daring’s lungs were soon screaming for air. She tried to fight back but her hooves kept slipping in the mud. While Daring had never been one to mull over her preferred method of death, she had envisioned for something more glorious than ‘drowned in a puddle.’ Perhaps something involving sultry ponies with insatiable appetites. But such dreams were irrelevant as Daring struggled in vain to get a breath of fresh air.
Daring Do was given a brief moment of reprieve when Billy pulled her head from the water. However, he only did so in order to bide more time as Blondie had yet to show herself and he didn’t want the bait expiring too soon.
“Hey little missy, got anything to say to your friend?” Billy asked in the hopes that Daring would plead for help.
“Blondie, would you please kick the arse of this son-of-a-mppphhfff!” Her eloquent words came to an abrupt halt after she was shoved back into the muddy depths.
Kicking anybody, however, was a difficult proposition for Blondie. Battered by new wounds to accompany all her previous aches and pains, the nameless mare was still regaining her senses after falling through the balcony. It wasn’t until the second round of the facial cleansing that Blondie heard the commotion.
“Get yer filthy hooves off her!” Blondie shouted, although it came out as more of a pained groan. The nameless mare was still half-buried under lumber, but she soon wormed her way free.
Both Billy and Daring, once her face had been pulled out of the water again, could see the gunslinger was in poor form. Her breathing was laboured, and she was visibly keeping weight off one of her hind legs. To top it all off, a falling piece of timber had reopened the wound on her head, which now trickled blood into her eye.
“Leave her out of this!” Blondie shouted as she took a painstaking step forward. “Yer fight is with me. Let’s end this now - one bullet, one victor!”
Billy gave a triumphant grin as though he had already won. He tossed the gasping Daring Do to the side and stepped towards the gunslinger pony. “About time you came to your senses. We can have an good ol’ fashion Trotsican stand-off!”
Blondie rolled her eyes in disdain but refrained from making any verbal remarks. Why Billy was so keen on something so needlessly dramatic was beyond her. He probably wanted something worth telling to others even though he’d leave out the parts where Blondie was a half-bloodied wreck.
As she was still coughing up muddied water, Daring Do could do nothing but stay on the sidelines and watch. The duelists trotted over to a clearing between the remnants of the water tower and the door to the saloon. With great pain and reluctance, Blondie reared onto her hind legs. Her hoof hovered just inches above her revolver while her eyes fixated on the goat whose actions mirrored hers. She flexed her fetlocks as the tension grew. Their gazes met with each gunslinger scrutinizing the other, looking for an opening. A flinch; a momentary lapse in concentration; even the slightest of hesitation was all one needed. But when a water-logged Daring let out another cough, revolvers flew from their holsters and a single gunshot echoed through the town.
The two gunslingers stood motionless as if frozen in time. Only the gentle breeze against the back of her neck told Daring that time still soldiered on. The gunslingers had drawn with such speed that she couldn’t tell which had fired. Even the gunsmoke could not tell her as the breeze whisked it away before it coalesce into visible contrails. When she finally saw movement, Daring felt her heart tighten in her chest. The silence had become so pervasive that the gentle thump when a revolver fell to the sand echoed like a thunderous roar.
However, Daring could not believe her eyes and wanted to cry out at what she saw. Blondie stood there, empty-hoofed, with one fore leg curled up against her chest as if trying to hold her heart in. As the nameless mare collapsed to the ground, the outlaw goat let out a triumphant laugh.
“Ha! I did it! I finally did it!” The outlaw was so busy trumpeting his own victory that he didn’t notice that the gunslinger was not quite beaten.
Slowly, the nameless mare was pushing herself back onto her hooves. She still had one hoof pressed over her now heaving chest, but her stubbornness refused to yield. But she couldn’t get back onto her hooves before Billy noticed what was going on.
He scoffed with restrained amusement as he watched Blondie’s efforts. “Seems like some ponies just don’t know when to quit,” he said as he brought his revolver up once more.
“No, you don’t!” Unable to tolerate inaction any further, Daring had mustered up what strength she could. She dove at the gunslinger and tackled him to the ground. The two rolled across the muddy road as they struggled for control of the gun. The gun went off near her head, which made her reel from the noise alone. Billy eventually overpowered her and wrested the revolver from her. With a sharp kick, he dislodged the bothersome pegasus.
“That’s enough of you,” Billy growled before he snapped off a quick shot. There was a loud pang as the bullet struck the helmet. Her head snapped back like a candy dispenser, followed by the rest of her body as she thrown to the ground. “Ain’t nobody going to take my victory from me,” he added. With Daring down, he turned back to Blondie, but only to find the gunslinger had managed to limp her way over to the saloon. He only caught a glimpse of her tail disappearing through the door.
Determined not to let his prize slip away, Billy gave chase. He screamed for the gunslinger’s blood as he barreled towards the door. Just when he reached the first step leading to the door, the unexpected occurred. Without warning, the saloon exploded with a thunderous fury so powerful it felt as though the earth itself were splitting open. The entire bottom floor of the building erupted in an expanding sphere of fire and fury, rocketing the outlaw several meters before crashing into the splintered remnants of the water tower. Gallons of hard liquor ignited, setting what remained of the building aflame. Within moments, the weight of the top floor brought it crashing down and bringing about the total annihilation of the entire building. All that remained was a burning pile of timber.
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OH COME ON!
fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/166/d/9/oh_come_on__by_pinkiepiiiie-d53mnnt.png
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/166/d/9/oh_come_on__by_pinkiepiiiie-d53mnnt.png
I love it, though.
DEATH BY SNU SNU
img242.echo.cx/img242/8871/snoosnoo9si.jpg
Dammit, still incomplete.
I want moar
But booo cliffhanger daring/blondie chapter!
This cliffhanger....I am pretty sure this kind of torture is some kind of warcrime!
And yet another awesome chapter. I'm too much asleep to write anything else
Great chapter, but you suck so much.
Good chapter.
...but that imagery,
Y U KILL BLONDIE!!!
Not difficult to realise that Blondie managed to get out.
I actually hate spitfire in this story and think she got off far too easy.
And damn you for this cliffhanger.
(Joke) Alt. Title: Just Daring Don't, 'K?
aww man i was really hoping to see a small tussle between RD and SF.
You're far too good at these cliffhangers. Incredible as always!
So... something like this?
military.discovery.com/technology/vehicles/fighters/images/p-51d-mustang-625x450.jpg
Note the protuberance under the fuselage.
Dat mental image.
Damn you and your cliffhangers D:
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!? If Blondie's dead, I'm gonna cry so bad D8
Daaaaaamn....
Well, fuck. And now, another waiting game.
WHY CLIFFHANGER WHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!!
.... Why... Why does AJ keep calling Rainbow Dashy?! "Dashie" is a nickname that only Pinkie ever uses, and if anything, AJ'd call her "Dash." Excuse me while I go flip another table. Thank goodness I have twenty in my basement alone.
Other than that, great chapter.
Drowning in a puddle...
Is that a Once Upon A Time In The West reference?
Keep going, keep going!
Corrections:
“I’m fairly confident that Applejack is more than tough enough to handle anything I could possible do,” she replied. = possibly
“An talented, amateur stunt-flier stands a much better chance than a professional missing half his feathers.” = A talented
I better not have to wait an entire chapter to find out what happens to DD/Blondie like you seem to be so fond of doing.
Aw crap. I don't know how Blondie could still be alive after all that. I was hoping she wouldn't die, but...
In other news, awesome Appledash has reached maximum levels! And Dash gets to fly with the Wonderbolts next chapter (probably) so that's pretty great too. Another excellent installment - I can't wait for the next one, and even though I hope Daring and Blondie will get a happy ending, I somehow just don't see it... until next time, then
GAH! That's how you end it?! Why are you so good at cliff hangers?! Stop it! Stop it right now! Great chapter though, I can't wait to see how this all plays out. I really hope that Blondie lives and she and Daring Do have many sexy adventures together! That'd make for a good future story, you should look into this.
thesecularity.com/download/file.php?id=7457 Brilliant. Just brilliant
What I kept repeating after reading the ending of this chapter: DAMN IT, BLONDIE! DON'T DIE ON ME NOW!
.... 
Ouh, dat cliffhanger! I'm hoping for some beautiful closure in the next chapter. Something that brings the two plot lines together. Something like RD/AJ and DD/blondie watching the sunset together in parallel scenes (cheesy, I know)
Today was the first time I had a chance to actually log in and read the latest chapter. So I fired it up, and was immediately confused to see a quote from Eisenhower. And then the story began in first person. Dafuuuuuq?
Then I realized that I had clicked the wrong link, and I had opened a different Chapter 17 from a different story that was released within a couple days of this story's chapter 17. DEERRRRRPPP!!
The other story was "A Long Way from Afghanistan", btw: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/62454/a-long-way-from-afghanistan
Anyways, *starts reading what I came here to read*
And then suddenly THE MOTHER OF ALL CLIFFHANGERS!
DON'T DIE BLONDE!!!
will admit have been skipping all the Daring Do sections will treat as a separate story love the rest of the fic so far
Damn. That Daring cliffhanger has to be one of the best I've ever seen.
I am so glad that I took time off of reading so I can see what happens without having to wait.
So why do I still dread the outcome...
Edit: ...
I'm forced to wait anyway.
That's what I get for getting my hopes up.
Good fight!
There were plenty of things in it that led me to think that the battle couldn't go on any longer, but each and every blow from both sides only escalated it. Not to mention the extreme explosions in it!!
And just as I was thinking things would be wrapping up in a simple way there's still the competition to be finished! I wonder what routine Spitfire will concoct for Rainbow Dash and herself
*Nods*
1828724 Thank you for the useless info! (Sorry, I've always wanted to say that)
No...please don't kill off Blondie. You seem to be misleading us with the lack of a "sad" tag. This story is incredible!