Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1)

by Barrobroadcaster

The Last Thing Daring Would Do

3 weeks ago
Badlands, Southern Equestria
Restricted Area #7

Reed's goons were still behind her. Daring could hear them; thankfully, the one good thing about the mobsters was that they didn't know the meaning of the word subtle. In the middle of the cold, desert night, the dog mafia goons tailing her made no attempt to try and sneak up on her. Their search-and-destroy tactics made evading them easy, for the most part but when they were so close to her, it made it difficult to get away as well. They were searching frantically, scanning the area with flashlights and spot lamps from their vehicles. More than once, they even tossed road flares to illuminate the land scape and fired their machine guns at anything they saw that moved.

She had to stop and catch her breath. The only thing nearby to hide behind were the cactuses but it was no time to be choosy. Mimicking the shape of the cactus, she hid behind it just as the lights panned over it. When she was finally covered in the safety of the darkness again, she exhaled.

Flying wasn't an option, not with the way all the lamps kept scanning the sky. They were waiting for her to take the chance to make for the air so they could gun her down. And on the ground, they had her scent: being dogs, they were expert trackers. But wielding machine guns, body armor and belts of ammunition made them slow, especially in the desert. She could lose them if she was smart. Being stuck in this situation, however, made her question her own intelligence.

Reed "Big Rover" Roamer was Equestria's corpulent canine crime lord kingpin. Even Daring had to admit the criminal had a singular cunning; with crooks of all stripe being taken down, Reed Roamer remained on top, seemingly untouchable by any form of law enforcement. Nicknamed Big Rover because of his supposed "love of travel", Reed developed ways to corner the black market that put every other criminal gang out of business, mostly by being able to set up and close shop very quickly. When the heat was turned on, Reed Roamer was gone along with anything he was involved with. The only crooks left holding the bag were those who didn't answer to him.

Equestria did not have many criminals. Reed Roamer was pretty much the only one worth merit and rightly so; he'd been doing it the longest. In fact, Reed Roamer had been running crime for so long, most of his illegitimate businesses had become fully legitimate. After decades or dodging the cops and even Princess Celestia's royal guards, rumors were that Reed Roamer wanted out of crime. Whether it was true or not, most of Reed's businesses today were not involved in the trade or transport of the contraband that had made him so rich. Most thought of him today as the respected leader of Equestria's biggest labor union and a wealthy philanthropist. But Daring knew otherwise.

The only illegal business Reed Roamer was into today was the one that paid off the most, one that put him in direct conflict with the legendary Daring Do. Reed had expanded into stealing artifacts, robbing graves and tombs and museums for the treasures they hid. Priceless historical pieces of art like paintings and sculptures, sacred scrolls and carvings, things a pony couldn't buy on Amazon.com, to Reed, they were the last game he was interested in. Illegal goods, contraband, those things didn't last but if you find something that's "priceless" well, it's called that for a reason. Which is one of the reasons why Daring Do had ripped him off.

Daring Do had a secret: her flank was flat broke. Most of her books were free, published with money collected by commissions from museums. And she received those commissions from the donation of rare artifacts she found. Unfortunately, she hadn't found sh*t lately, which meant no commission from the museums and no money to go exploring. So, she figured she'd do the next-best thing and rob her old crime boss 'buddy' and hightail it back to Equestria. She'd outwitted Reed enough times to know how to lose track of him.

The lights passed over her again. Several of the hounds began to approach the cactus, sniffing. What Daring hadn't realized is that beating Reed to an artifact was one thing, stealing from his safe was another entirely. She clutched a small bag of jewels in her jacket pocket, enough maybe to finance another expedition, if she was lucky. If she made it out alive.

The dogs were closing in. It was now or never- she had to make a break for it or they'd find her. She knew what she had to do... and she knew the risk she was about to take. Would this be how her story ended? Is this quest the book A.K Yearling never writes? Questions like these entered her mind all the time; it was natural in her line of work. She always wondered if this trip would be her last, if the next move would be the last daredevil trick she pulled. But, for the first time since she was a filly, this time, the thought of failure actually scared her.

This time, if Daring Do didn't make it, she wouldn't be remembered as famed explorer/archaeologist Daring Do. She wouldn't be Daring Do, the adventurer, the inspiration to ponies everywhere to explore the world, to seek the answers, to find the truth. They'd remember her as Daring Do- thief and petty criminal who tried to steal from honest businessman, Reed Roamer. For a brief moment, her legs froze in place, back almost against the cactus, unable to move.

This could be it for her. She took off her pith helmet and held it in her hooves. Ever since her father, Dr. I.J Yearling, gave it to her, she'd worn it on every expedition she'd ever been on. It was as much a part of her as her own wings. What would her parents think when they heard about this? She looked past it, at the sky.

What would the world think of Daring Do? She thought of her parents, of her father, of her friends... and even her fans. What would they think of Daring Do? She realized she did not have an answer to that question. But in that instant, she did make a decision. She placed the helmet on her back.

She didn't know what they'd think of her. But they wouldn't find her shot dead behind a cactus. Jumping up, she plunged her legs into the pith helmet and pressed down as hard as she could on the prickly plant behind her. She pressed it until she felt the pinpricks of the needles in her hooves, until it hurt, until she couldn't bend it back any more. And then, she let go.

The cactus spring-launched her through the air, propelling her skyward. She immediately dove, doing her best to gain as much speed as possible. The white beam of the spot lam crossed her path, just barely catching her as she flew.

Then, came the shouting. Then the firing. The pounding, stinging slam of the bullets as they clipped her and then finally caught her. She saw the light cast her own silhouette on the clouds in front of her, punctured by the rippling machine gun fire far below her. In those few seconds though, she didn't feel any pain. She just remembered the surprise as they hit her, knocked the air out of her lungs and the strength out of her wings and limbs, and then the world turning on its side. After that, all she felt was the sensation of falling. The pouch, still clutched to her, was now slowly beginning to get soaked in her own blood.

Her helmet fell after her, following her all the way to the ground. It landed close to her, impacting softly. The helmet rolled just a bit, digging a groove into the cold sand until it came to a stop next to her. A small, crimson trickle, made silver in the light of Luna's sphere, quickly dripped out of her and hit the rim of her helmet and ran around it. With the last of her strength, Daring reached out, hoof shaking and vision fading, and grabbed her father's helmet. She put it on one last time and her head hit the sand. It would be the last thing Daring would do.

The lights scanning for her came across the edge of her body but no dogs investigated. The search was called off just before they found her; the dogs figured she had already escaped. They left her in the silence and cold of the desert night.

But, she was not left alone. In the pitch-black darkness, another pair of eyes crept out from the shadows to find her.

"*gasp!*"

Comments

[Dustchu]

7665890
That's awesome!

[Dustchu]

Aaaaahhhhhgg! Cliffhanger... and poor Daring..
She needs hugs.

Nice job man!

[Razzy]

Fluffle to the rescue!

[Traveling Soul]

7666909
I think she going to get some realy flufy hugs real sone.

[Dustchu]

7667160
Yay!

[Fire Flyer]

Dr. I.J Yearling

...I see what you did there.

[Booster Spice]

Mashes to mashies, mush to mush, this is the word of Dog.

[LadyLeomon]

Nooo! I'm sorry Dan-nificent one for not seeing this update sooner, even if Dan isn't in it

This was awe-some! Note that little line I added to draw out the word, it is that cool :D

So this was before Daring met Dan and co? Cool flashback, damn those dogs don't mess around! I gotta say I was half expecting that pugly-looking Diamond Dog to be there when I read Daring had abscond with a bunch of gems ... Tut-tut Miss Do!

But that ending ... Is that a relation to my fav adorable pink puffball? I hope so! Please tell me, please? Pretty please with PokePuffs on top? (I can endure the suspense till next week I just wanted to get that outta my system)

Aside from Dan whooping Daring's flank (we never did get that titular battle btw) I'm drooling over the thought of meeting Flufflepuff's kin, especially her very tall, very scary big sis

Awesome as always and see you next chapter Brony Barro ^_^

[Warrior Kitten]

The world in this story is super dark, lol.