• Published 16th Feb 2012
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What Would Daring Do? - CommissarAJ



There are two types of ponies; those that read love stories and those who write their own...

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Ch. 9 - Pony of the East

Chapter Nine: Pony of the East

It wasn’t until her tossing and turning knocked over an empty stein that Applejack was roused from her slumber. There was a brief moment of listless staring before her brain finally woke up with the rest of her. The first major thing she noticed was the conspicuous absence of the warm body that had been beside her the night before.

“Where’d she go?” Applejack wondered as she staggered back to her feet, two of which had failed to wake up along with the rest of her. “Ugh...mental note for later: don’t sleep on the floor again.” There was no sign of the Wonderbolt captain in the den - only scattered cider steins, a blanket in a heap next to her, and the long-extinguished remains of a wood fire. Taking a quick trot through the homestead failed to reveal the pegasus’ whereabouts. Had she taken off already? It was a troubling thought but one that Applejack didn’t want to harbour. It seemed far too rude of Spitfire to leave without even saying so much as a good-bye. And Applejack’s stubborn refusal to give up the search would reward the farmer when she overheard familiar chatter coming from outside.

Though the storm had since passed, the grass was still damp and the scent of the freshly-fallen rain still clung to the air. There were few things as invigorating first thing in the morning like the smell of the orchard after a rainstorm - it smelled like renewal and the promises of a brighter day ahead. Spurred on by the fresh spring in her step, Applejack hurried over to the source of the nearby chatter and discovered both Spitfire and Applebloom.

“So you were last to get your cutie mark in your class?” Applebloom remarked with mixed surprise and admiration. Whether it was because of the revelation or the fact that Spitfire was juggling three apples with her wings whilst balancing two more on her head was an uncertainty to the older sibling.

“Well, I never got many opportunities to discover my talent in flying until I started going to flight camp,” Spitfire answered. “But before flight camp, my blank backside got me a lotta teasing.”

“So how’d you get yours?”

“Brazen stupidity,” the pegasus said with a dry chuckle. When the filly farmer replied with a quizzical stare, Spitfire figured it would be best to better explain how she got the fiery wing-pattern that adorned her thigh. “It was during my third year of flight camp. As I said before, I got teased a lot and I went by the nickname of ‘Dirt Nap’ for most of it.”

“Why ‘Dirt Nap?’”

“I...didn’t like sleeping in the clouds as a filly. I was so used to solid earth that I would always fly down when I needed a nap,” Spitfire admitted with an embarrassed chuckle. “Anyways, after losing my temper several times, most of the others kept their distance, but there was this one colt that never eased up.” Amazingly, Spitfire was able to recount her tale while still maintaining her balance and precision in keeping the apples from touching the ground. Applejack decided to refrain from interrupting just yet, and opted instead to listen in on the story. “Since my temper didn’t dissuade him, I decided to challenge him to a ‘Dead Pony’s Drop.’”

“And what is that?”

“A very stupid thing that nopony should ever do.” It was a moment of ‘do as I say, not as I do’ when the pegasus advised against that challenge. It was the kind of activity that the older Spitfire would’ve chastised her younger self for just even considering it. “But basically you fly up to the highest cloud you can find, dive off, and the first pony to pull up loses. We flew up so high that by the time we came close to the ground we were both on the verge of breaking the sound barrier. He had guts but I refused to yield, even as I went screaming towards the ground. I kid you not, when I pulled up I was so close to the ground that I felt the blades of grass against my underside.”

“How did that translate to your cutie mark?” inquired the filly as she took a second to examine the pegasus’ flaming thunderbolt.

“You’ve seen the Wonderbolts fly, right? You’ve seen the way we have stormcloud contours when we fly? Well I discovered I can make a flaming contrail! The ponies below reported seeing a fireball streaking towards the earth, and when I pulled up I left a trail of scorched grass in my wake!”

“Wow! That’s amazing,” Applebloom gasped.

“And incredibly dangerous,” Applejack decided to cut in as she trotted over to the pair. “Ah don’t want to see you trying anything that crazy for yer cutie mark, got it?” However, in consideration of the antics Applebloom had pulled already in her cutie mark quest, Applejack figured her instructions would be heeded for all of five seconds. “Why in blazes would a flight camp even allow that kind of stunt?”

“Oh, they don’t,” Spitfire reassured the farmer with a dismissive chuckle. “I was pretty close to getting expelled, but the colt I challenged had a well-connected family. He even stopped teasing me after that. Well, he mostly stopped.”

“That was Soarin’ wasn’t it?”

“Awww, you ruined the surprise!” Spitfire pouted as she let the apples fall to the grass to accentuate her disappointment. “That was the best part of the story - I get to reveal that the once bitter enemies are now best of friends, and how one incredibly stupid act of bravado cemented a lifelong friendship.”

“You hit him with a pineapple two nights ago.”

“You should’ve seen the time when I dropped a watermelon on his head. Actually, maybe not. It wasn’t really that funny at the time.” Applejack wasn’t sure whether to laugh or shake her head in dismay. That uncertainty was short-lived, however, as the pegasus leaned in to plant a kiss on the farmer’s cheek. “G’morning to you, by the way. Did you sleep well?”

The crisp morning air made for a sharp contrast to the sudden flash of heat that rose to her face. Caught by surprise, Applejack only managed a sheepish smile in response. And the triumphant grin plastered across her little sister’s face did not escape her notice. “Good, though the floor ain’t the best place to sleep,” Applejack replied. “Why didn’t you wake me up when you did?”

The pegasus said nothing at first, and instead scooped the fallen apples back up with one wing and resumed her juggling.

“You looked so peaceful sleeping - I didn’t want to disturb you,” Spitfire answered without breaking eye contact with the farmer. Applejack found it rather impressive that she was paying more attention to the apples than the pegasus was. “Besides, I have a morning routine to maintain. I have to keep my skills razor sharp, especially with the big competition coming up.”

“Is that why you’re juggling mah produce?”


“Aerobatics is all about maintaining perfect control over every aspect of your body,” the Wonderbolt elaborated. “Juggling is a great way to maintain wing coordination and focus. Then I usually do a follow up with a bit of weight training, a few laps around Cloudsdale, and a bit of yoga to wind down at the end.”

“Yo-what?” chimed the nearby filly.

The pegasus merely gave a knowing chuckle as she expected the confusion.

“Yoga,” she repeated. “I picked it up when the team went to the far east for some team building exercises. It’s...hard to describe. It’s about posture and body control. And there’s stuff about meditation too but I sort of ignored that part.”

“Sounds kinda boring,” Applebloom concluded.

“I’ll admit it lacks the adrenaline rush, but I can’t argue with how it’s helped me out. Here - check this out.” Shifting the apples to balance them upon the length of her neck, the pegasus bent over and swung her hind legs up over her head until she was holding herself up with one hoof.

“And this helps with flying?” Applejack asked.

Easing herself back onto all fours, the pegasus resumed her previous juggling exercise before answering, “A bit. Helps in other things too...like last night.”

“Ya mind not bringing that up in front of the young’uns.” While the sultry reminder of the previous night’s activities sparked warm memories in the mare, it wasn’t the kind of conversation she wanted to be having in front of others, least of all her sister.

“Oh, right...uh, sorry ‘bout that,” Spitfire apologized with a sheepish grin. The pegasus made a mental note to rein in her enthusiasm. It was hard for her not to be excited, but she recognized that not everypony shared the same outlook towards relationships. “Sooooo got anything planned for later today?”

“Well we’ve still got that pie to make if yer interested.”

“Oh yeah, the pie! I completely forgot about that.” As it had been the original reason she came to the farm in the first place, it seemed silly to leave the task unfinished. The fact that it had been a convenient excuse did not change the fact that it was meant to patch her friendship up with her fellow Wonderbolt. And any time with the farmer was well-spent in her opinion.

“Ah’m heading out into the orchard to get some apples if ya wanna tag along,” Applejack invited.

For a moment, the invitation gave Spitfire pause. While she relished the opportunity to spend time with Applejack, this would cut into her morning routine. However, her morning routine also lasted several hours and could, in theory, be made up at a later time. After some thought, the pegasus let the apples drop back to the ground and hopped over to the farmer’s side.

“It’s a date!”

*****************************

Daring didn’t wake until the afternoon sun had reached the appropriate angle in the sky to send a piercing ray of light through the shuttered windows that landed right across her eyes. Over a hundred million miles away and the sun could still land a inch-wide beam of light right into her eyes without any effort. Instinctively, the pegasus let out a pained grumble as she rolled over in her bed and pulled the sheets over her face. It wasn’t until a second later that the realization went off in her mind like the stick of dynamite that occupied the last moments of her memory. There were no beds or shuttered windows anywhere on that train as she recalled, nor could her ears pick up any indication she was on a train.

The archeologist shot upright in the bed, and was immediately rewarded with sharp pains through her chest. Her body was clearly letting her know that quick movements were ill-advised. The presence of the brass-framed bed and rustic wooden furniture suggested she was in someone’s bedroom, though that prompted the question of whose bedroom. Whoever it was, they had the courtesy of tending to Daring’s injuries as she found herself partially covered with several bandage-wraps. Her clothes were even sitting on a nearby table having been mended, washed, and neatly folded with her hat sitting on top. It was safe to conclude that she was not with any outlaw goats at the moment.

Though her head still throbbed, the pegasus clambered out of bed and stumbled over to the nearby window. Pushing aside the shutters revealed a small, dusty little town. There wasn’t even a paved road unless one counted the railway tracks on the far side of town. Daring knew not where she was, though this was not helped by the fact that every town she’s been to since coming out to the Mild West looked exactly the same as the others. The only thing she knew for certain was that she was not in the town she had been in last as there was a colossal water tower in the town center that she did not recognize.

“How did I get here?” Daring murmured to herself.

“You were carried in.” An unfamiliar voice drew her attention to the doorway where a cyan-hued unicorn was standing. Judging by the tray of clean dressings the unicorn was carrying, Daring was willing to guess that he had played a part in patching up her injuries. “It’s quite a relief to see you on your hooves. I was a bit worried when you and your friend were brought in.”

The obvious questions from Daring came first. “Who are you, and where am I?”

“Ponies around here call me Doc Tenderhoof,” the unicorn replied. His voice was calm and polite, carrying with it the refined polish that came from the modern education needed to become a doctor. “And you’re in the town of Dusty Trails.” The name didn’t mean anything to Daring but at the very least it would help her out once she got her hooves on a map of the area. Daring tried to take a few steps towards the doctor but a sudden dizzy spell forced the pegasus to retreat back to the stability of the bed. “You really should take it easy there miss,” the concerned doctor advised. “You were in pretty bad shape when you were brought in, and the extra sun baking didn’t help you much either. You should take it easy for a while”

While smart enough to recognize that the doctor spoke the truth, stubbornness demanded that she press on. Blondie, Billy, and the amulet could be anywhere and she wasn’t going to be confined to a bed over a little dizziness.

“Do you know which way Blondie went?”

“Your friend?” Tenderhoof replied. Daring confirmed as such even though ‘friend’ was a rather loose way of describing their relationship. “I’m afraid your friend was arguably in worse shape than you. She had yet to regain consciousness when I checked on her a few minutes ago.”

Anger towards the nameless mare, under the believe she had been left behind once again, evaporated at the news. Overtaken instead by concern, Daring stumbled her way past the doctor and into the hallway. Lucky for the pegasus, she spotted her ‘friend’ through the open doorway across the hall. As the doctor had described, the earth pony was in bad shape - thick bandages were wrapped around her head and body, and her face was flushed with fever.

“Blondie...”

“One of the farmers saw her staggering into town with you on her back,” Doc Tenderhoof explained from his spot in the doorway. “She managed to get to my office door before passing out.”

“How bad is it, doc?”

“Hard to say.” Tenderhoof gave an honest answer as he trotted over to the Blondie’s side and checked the thermometer wedged between her teeth. “On their own, her injuries aren’t life-threatening, but combined with the strain of carrying you Celestia-knows-how-far it’s another story altogether.”

Daring felt strangely humbled by this revelation. All this time, she had pegged the earth pony as a greedy, self-centered gun-for-hire, more prone to ignorance and violence than acts of compassion. It made no sense to her for the other pony to have taken on such extreme risk for her sake. It didn’t just fly in the face of logic but kicked it in the hindquarter on its way past. However, any further contemplations on the subject would have to wait as the doctor insisted that Daring give his patient a quiet atmosphere to recover.

With a reluctant sigh, Daring Do retreated to the relative comfort of her bed. She hated the idea of resting while the amulet was still unaccounted for, but Blondie was the only lead she had at the moment so she was stuck until the gunslinger recovered. Tracking priceless artifacts was a lot easier when they were sitting in an ancient ruin rather than the saddlebag of some wandering outlaw. Left alone to her thoughts, Daring entertained the notion that perhaps she was a bit out of her element, but that didn’t change her resolve. With or without Blondie, she wasn’t going to let Billy get away with her prize. She would think of something, eventually.

Alas, thinking would been easier were she not still recovering from a minor concussion.

“So how did you get tangled up with Lucky? You don’t look her usual sort of company,” Tenderhoof asked. This time, the doctor was carrying a tray with a pitcher of water and a glass, which he set down on the bedside table.

Snapped out of her train of thought, the pegasus was at a bit of a loss of how to best explain her situation.

"We’re tracking a stolen artifact.” It was a bit of an oversimplification since that only explained what they were doing and not how they wound up getting stuck together doing it. Nonetheless, her answer appeared to sate the doctor’s curiosity. “Wait, did you just call her Lucky?”

“That’s just how we’ve come to know her ‘round these parts,” he explained while pouring for the pegasus a glass of water. “I hear over in Pony Creek they call her ‘Bulls-eye.’ The mare’s got a bit of a reputation, but I imagine you’ve already seen that for yourself.”

“And then some,” she agreed with a soft, tired sigh.

“Lucky’s actually sort of a hero in this town.”

“A hero? Really?” Daring replied incredulously. “In the short time I’ve known her I’ve almost been trampled by buffalo, knocked out and left behind in a tomb, left to wander a desert, assaulted by a minotaur, nearly executed by a goat, and almost blown to smithereens! That pony is a walking natural disaster!”

It shouldn’t have surprised the archaeologist that the doctor’s first reaction was just to laugh. If Blondie did indeed have a history with the town, then it stood to reason that he was well aware of the nameless mare’s destructive tendencies. It felt as though she was the last one to realize this otherwise universally-known fact.

“You saw that big water tower in the middle of town, right?” the doctor asked once he had stopped chuckling at Daring’s expense. “We used to have two great things in town - a big gold mine, and an even bigger water reservoir. Both were built and own by this big-shot banker. Things were fine for a while but then the gold mine ran out. The banker started charging ridiculous fees for access to the water. It darn well near squeezed the town dry of every bit it had.”

Tenderhoof then gave the glass of water over to Daring.

“And how does Blo-er, I mean Lucky fit into this?”

“She came into town and tried to get a glass of water.”

Daring didn’t know where this story was leading to, but without any other distractions to occupy her time she figured she may as well hear the doctor out. “What happened after that?”

“Well the banker and his goons didn’t like the idea of somepony just helping themselves to the water without paying. They tried to make an example out of her and then things escalated out of hoof.” Now that sounded more like the nameless mare than she knew. “I’ll spare you the details but by the end of it, the banker’s mansion was wrecked and he was pleading with Lucky not to kill ‘im. He said he’d give her whatever she wanted.”

“And what did Lucky want?”

“A glass of water.”

Daring just stared at the doctor in absolute silence. “You’re kidding me.” But by the shaking of his head, it was clear that the doctor was not. “I can’t tell if the headache I’m getting is because of how ridiculous that was, or just because of the head injury.”

“Yeah, that was the banker’s reaction too,” the doctor said with a grin. “Anyways, Lucky told the banker to get lost, and the water tower’s been free to the public ever since.”

“And Lucky?”

“She took her water and left.”

The doctor's story cast the nameless mare in a conflicting light. At first glance, it did not sound like the self-centered, money-driven pony that she had been shackled to for the past day and a half. However, escalating a simple conflict of interest into a full-blown fight sounded exactly like the sort of thing Blondie would do. Maybe the wandering gunslinger wasn't as bad a pony as she had thought. Perhaps, Daring thought, she should owe the mare an apology once Blondie was awake - she hadn't been very fair to her since they crossed paths. In the meantime, though, Daring resigned to resting her weary body. It had been a hectic few days, and it felt like it had been ages since she last got a decent night's rest.

*****************************

When Daring stirred back to the world of the waking, the pervasive chill that greeted her was her first clue that several hours had passed and night had fallen. A small kerosene lantern provided a faint glow from a nearby table. But it was not the light from the lamp that had roused Daring from her sleep; rather, it was the commotion outside that drew her attention. Still limping from her injuries, the pegasus staggered over to the window to see what was going on.

What she saw made the archaeologist almost drop to floor just to stay out of sight. Standing outside, arguing with Doc Tenderhoof, was a very familiar and very angry-looking goat. Thankfully, being on the second floor kept Daring out of sight and far enough away that nobody heard her startled gasp. No doubt the goat was still hell-bent on his personal vendetta against the nameless mare. While Daring had lamented losing track of the goat, this was not how she wanted to find her quarry.

With great care, Daring eased the window open so she could better hear what was happening outside.

“For the last time, mister, we ain't got no Blonds or Derring duds around here!” For a doctor named Tenderhoof, he was being quite firm-hoofed with the goat. Billy was stomping about in a fury, shouting and bleating at the doctor, but failed to get even the slightest reaction from him.

“Her name is Blondie, and this is the only town for miles! There ain't no other place for them to be!" Billy snapped back.

“Then I don’t know what else to say, except your friend is probably lost out there. Now if you want, you can ask around and try to rustle up a search party-”

“Don’t patronize me!” the goat interrupted. “I know you’re hiding them!”

“As you already stated, this is the only town for miles, and I’m the only doctor in town.” Even as the goat’s temper continued to escalate, the doctor remained unflappable. “It would be very hard for me to hide anyone given those parameters. Now please stop yelling - I have patients that are trying to rest.”

Daring wasn’t sure why the doctor was so willing to stick his neck out, but she had a feeling that it had to do with some sense of a debt owed to the nameless mare. She just hoped the doctor knew who he was dealing with.

“Well if y’ain’t got nothing to hide then you won’t mind if I take a look around.” Before Tenderhoof could insist otherwise, the goat forced his way past the doctor and into the building. Realizing how bad a situation she would be in were Billy to find her, Daring rushed to douse the lantern. Shrouded in darkness, Daring positioned herself near the door, ready to strike should any goat dare to enter with the only object she had available - the lantern. She did not dare to even breathe as hoofsteps began to draw close.

“I have sick patients that need their rest,” sounded the doctor’s voice from the lower level. “I want you to leave, now!”

“Oh, don’t get yer knickers in a bunch; I’ll be real quiet,” the goat said dismissively. Judging by the single set of approach hoofsteps, it sounded as though the doctor had yielded to the goat, which wasn’t surprising given that nothing short of physical confrontation seemed capable of deterring the outlaw.

As she didn’t know whether the goat was armed or not, Daring’s best hope was to catch him off-guard and pray that he didn’t go into Blondie’s room first. She got the impression that Billy’s thirst for revenge would have no qualms about smothering a pony in their sleep. Her muscles tensed and her heartrate soared as the steps ceased just outside her door.

"Who dares, wins," Daring silently reminded herself. The pegasus crouched low and braced herself as she watched the door handle begin to turn.

“I’m not going to ask you again,” the doctor’s voice perked up once again. The goat now found himself standing at the wrong end of a very large shotgun and a doctor whose patience has worn thin. “Now you can choose to walk out or you can be dragged out, but either way you’re leaving.”

“Well, well, looks like the little colt has some buck to him after all,” Billy said with veiled contempt. Given the odds, he backed away from the door and headed for the exit. “You win this round doc, but I’ll be back tomorrow with some friends of mine. And if I don’t find what I’m looking for then let’s just say we’ll have a little outdoor barbeque.”

“Count of ten, mister.”

The gradual fade of the hoofsteps into the distance eased the archaeologist’s heart back into a calm rhythm. Daring relaxed her posture and set the lantern back onto its perch.

“You awake, Ms. Daring?” the doctor whispered as he crept the door open just an inch.

“Yeah, and I heard most of your conversation,” she answered before opening the door. It was one of the few occasions where seeing a shotgun-toting stallion brought a great sense of reassurance to her. “I suppose that’s two I owe you now.”

“You don’t owe me anything, miss,” Tenderhoof reassured her. “I swore an oath to help those in need and always do what’s in the best interests of my patients.”

“So what are you going to do when he comes back tomorrow?”

“I’ll think of something.” Daring caught the brief flicker of concern that washed over the doctor’s face. He said nothing after that, and instead just headed back into the hallway. That was not the kind of reaction that she had been hoping for - that was the reaction of a pony who knew he was in the rapids without a paddle. While Daring had no qualms about allowing somepony else to take a risk for her, she was not going to let Tenderhoof get killed just to protect her. If Billy was going to return, which Daring was willing to bet her life upon, then she was going to need the help of the only pony in town who’s dealt with that goat.

Barging into Blondie’s room, the pegasus skidded to a halt upon seeing the nameless mare already up and gathering her things together.

“Y-you’re awake?”

“No thanks to you lot with all that dang ruckus,” the gunslinger grumbled in response. “How is anypony supposed to get any rest around here?”

“Well if you’ve been awake then you know what’s happening. We can get the drop on Billy when he returns to town.”

“If that’s what you wanna do then go right ahead,” Blondie replied with surprising indifference. It wasn’t until that the nameless mare slung her weapon over her shoulder and started heading for the door that Daring realized that the other pony had no intent on staying. She also noted that the nameless mare was favouring her right hind leg by a considerable margin.

“Wait, you’re ditching us?” Daring exclaimed.

“Yer a perceptive one there, kiddo. Did you learn that at yer fancy college?”

“You’re leaving after everything we’ve gone through?” Daring had trouble believing that the pony that had chased down a train across a barren wasteland, that had played chicken with lit dynamite, was willing to walk away so easily. “What about Billy? The doc? Hay, what about the amulet you were so bent on retrieving?”

Frowning like a teacher would at an unruly student, Blondie straightened her duster before drawing her revolver. She swung the cylinder out so that Daring could see the six bullets in the gun.

“That’s all the ammunition I’ve got. I ain’t fighting Billy with a bad leg and six bullets. Especially, when I can just as easily walk away,” she explained to the pegasus. “Fighting Billy doesn’t do me any good.”

“But Doctor Tenderhoof-”

“Tenderhoof hasn’t fired that shotgun in all the years I’ve known him. He doesn’t even have any shots for it, let alone a clue how to use it properly.”

Now this was sounding even less like the Blondie she had known for the past few days. The pony she had accompanied was absolutely daring and reckless. That pony never would’ve considered the odds too stacked against her. The nameless mare went against close to a dozen of Billy’s goons without hesitation, but all of a sudden now it was too risky. Blondie didn’t strike her as the kind that was afraid to die. There was only one explanation that came to mind.

“You’ve already got it.”

“Whaddya mean?” Blondie replied as she became evasive all of a sudden. Seeing this as an indication she was close to the mark, Daring confronted the nameless mare and began sifting and running her hooves through the other pony’s clothes. “Get yer dang hooves off me!”

Blondie’s complaints went unheeded, and the pegasus was able to take advantage of her wounded condition to worm past all her attempts to push Daring away. After some scuffling and a fair amount of un-mare-like profanity, Daring was able to pull open the nameless mare’s shirt, which revealed a pair of shimmering amulets hanging from her neck.

“A-ha!” Daring proclaimed. “You’ve had the amulets this whole time!”

“Fine! So what?” Blondie snapped back as she pulled away. Fortunately for the gunslinger, Daring was so fixated on the pendants that she failed to notice the bright fluster across her face. “Billy was so darn concerned about saving his own hide that he left them behind. Since getting this blasted thing was the whole point, I’ve got no reason to stick around and risk my neck for no reason. And if you were as smart as your fancy college education suggests, you’d do the same.”

Blondie did present a valid argument, Daring realized. The mission was for the amulet, not Billy himself, which meant they were done. Mission accomplished. Or at least it was mission accomplished for Blondie as the archaeologist would have preferred to take the amulets back to the museum in Canterlot rather than a private collector. All sense and reason suggested that leaving town as soon as possible was the wisest course of action. But Daring didn’t need to even mull it over for a second to know that it wasn’t the right choice. Amulet or not, she couldn’t abandon Tenderhoof to the whims of a outlaw goat with a violent and volatile temper. Daring may not be an exemplar of noble selflessness, but that didn’t mean she was a heartless pony.

“We can’t just leave Tenderhoof now. When Billy comes back and doesn’t find us, there’s no telling what he’ll do to the doctor. We owe him!”

“I don’t owe nopony anything!” Blondie shouted as her temper began to flare up. “If anything, he and I are even after what I did to save this dustball of a town!”

“You’re just a coward!”

“I ain’t no coward,” the nameless mare snarled. The two ponies leaned in to the point where they were butting heads, adding a physical element to their confrontation. “I fight when I need to or when I have an advantage. Thanks to yer stupidity on the train, I’ve got almost no bullets and my hindquarter is killing me!”

“You’re the one who pulled out the dynamite. What in the hay were you even thinking?”

“Well because somepony took my gun, I had nothing else once my rifle ran dry!” Blondie shouted as she pushed hard against Daring, forcing her back a few steps. “This ain’t like your fancy cities out east or silly fairy tales. Out here it’s everypony for themselves and nopony cares who lives or dies. The only thing heroes like the doc get is an early grave.”

Refusing to back down, Daring decided to step up her offensive and pushed back hard.

“You’re a heartless coward if there ever was one!” she accused once more. “You’re willing to run through a gauntlet over money, but when it comes to actually doing what’s right, to show real courage, all of a sudden it’s ‘too risky?’” Being in better condition than the gunslinger, Daring was able to force the mare against the wall with little effort. “You know what I think? I think you’re more scared of things than you’ll admit! That’s why nopony knows your real name - you’re too scared to even let somepony get to know you a bit.”

“I don’t tell ponies my name cause I don’t care! I don’t care about anyone or anything but myself!”

“Then why did you carry me all the way to town?” Daring knew she had the mare right where she wanted her when Blondie fell uncharacteristically silent. The stone-like visage began to crack under the astute archaeologist’s pressure. “You had what you needed. You could have easily just walked the other way without me.”

“Y-yer talking nonsense,” Blondie answered after regaining her composure. Feeling a growing sense of unease with the archaeologist’s intrusiveness, the nameless mare slipped out from their head-butting contest. But with Daring between her and the exit, Blondie had to opt with putting some distance between them, which took her back over in the direction of the bed. “I just wanted to see the look on yer face when I rubbed it in that I got the amulets, that’s all.”

“Don’t give me that rubbish; you were trying to hide them from me just a moment ago,” Daring was quick to retort. She refused to give the gunslinger any breathing room and kept close even as Blondie retreated across the room. “Tenderhoof saves your hide and you won’t even lift a hoof to help. But I nearly get you blown up and you haul my unconscious flank across the desert. So what’s the reason, hm? What made me worth giving a darn about?”

“Has anyone ever mentioned what an annoying pain in the hindquarters you are?” Blondie replied as she grew more defensive and evasive.

“And you’re an infuriating, hoof-dragging, dinohippus!”

“I don’t even know what that last one means! I hate it when you talk like some stuck-up little filly!”

“I hate how your solution to problems has always involved wanton destruction!” Daring’s own temper was beginning to flare up. A mixture of raw emotions began to churn inside her like an unstable concoction. The two ponies were shouting into each other’s faces at this point with complete disregard to the off-chance that a certain outlaw goat could potential wander back and overhear them.

“And I can’t stand your stupid, pretty little face!”

“Well I can’t stand your stupid, reckless heroics!”

“Self-righteous nancy!”

“Self-centered philistine!”

Daring's anger had hit a boiling point. She could no longer tolerate just shouting at the other mare. For better or for worse, the nameless mare had been a constant source of confusion and obsession for her. Equal parts admiration and hate had melded together with such intensity it left only one feeling in its wake: lust. Without another thought, Daring closed the gap, kissing the nameless mare deeply as she hooked her hooves around her neck.

“I hate you,” Daring’s words were muffled through the embrace.

“I hate you more.” Hot-blood rage transformed in an instant to heated passion as tongues and hooves entwined. It took little force for the pegasus to guide them over to the bed, at which point a gentle shove threw the gunslinger onto her back.

Daring parted the coat and shirt, revealing a scarred chest and neck. It was a good thing she had a thing for scars - they were like badges of honour to an adventurer like her. Slowly, the pegasus climbed atop the nameless, which caused the pony beneath to wince from the pressure against her injuries. What pain she felt, though, was washed away seconds later by the hooves caressing her chest.

“You and your stupid morality,” Blondie said between heavy breaths.

“Just shut up and kiss me.”