Chapter Ten
The sound of her hoof falls echoed loudly in her ears and through the tunnels, but Daring was no longer worried about subtly. They all knew she was here now and it seemed that every cat in the mine and a few more had all decided to jump in on the chase to catch her. With no other ideas and at this point no other real choices, Daring had continued her way upward and simply prayed to Celestia that most of the cats were working somewhere in the tunnels below.
She rounded another corner without even slowing down, her rear hooves skidding over the stone floor as she scrambled to redirect her momentum. She felt one hoof meet nothing but air as she finally got her self under control and plowed on. The next corner was walled by actual stone instead of empty space, and Daring took advantage of it as best as she could, her hooves traveling up and along the side of the wall, all four briefly leaving the floor as she practically flew through the curve and came out the other side just as another pack of cats emptied into the hall in front of her. “Out of the way fur-balls!” Daring shouted as she gave the wall one final kick and arced through the air and straight into the lead cat. The cat gave a startled yelp as he went down under Daring's hooves while she used him as a spring board and continued on down the hall without so much as skipping a beat. The cats behind her that were still standing simply stared at her as she sped away in slack-jawed, stunned silence before staring down at their now groaning compatriot. They all glanced at each other one final time before letting out a series of roars and speeding down the hall after her.
All around her, Daring could see cats pouring out of the wood work – well, stone work – to take a shot at her, some armed with ropes or spears but most simply with their bare claws. Claws which, Daring noted to herself, were more then up to the job of taking her out for good. Cats were climbing their way up every piece of scaffolding that hadn't been torn down already while some were simply crawling their way up the ropes that hung from above like a bunch of over-sized spiders.
Daring tore around another corner, finding herself in front of a long stretch of disused wooden walkway, built straight into the side of the cavern wall and secured with ropes that let it seem to just hang over the chasm below. Daring didn't have time to hesitate, biting back a curse as she ran across the haphazard bridge and tried to ignore the groans and protests that the structure seemed to make with every hoof fall. Behind her she could hear the wood creak and flex as her pursuers started across the bridge after her. Up ahead, another trio of cats were bearing down on her from the other side. Daring didn't stop. She didn't slow down. She was badly outnumbered – her only real chance was to hit them hard and fast and break through and be gone before they can figure out what happened.
Daring lowered her head and charged forward just as one of the cats leapt at her. Unfortunately for the cat he had misjudged his timing, and Daring shot right under him as he crashed into and then through the bridge. The rest of the felines couldn't help but pause as they watched their fellow cat fall through the air, yowling and screaming the entire way before unceremoniously crashing into a collection of ropes and tarps that had been for moving equipment. That far down, the faint twitching of the fallen cats legs was just barely visible, the involuntary motions the only sign of the cats survival aside from a low groaning sound that could have been the structure as much as the cat. The cats remained frozen and fixated on the sight below until Daring bull rushed through them, knocking several of them onto their rumps and finally breaking them out of their brief trance. A cacophony of roars and yowls spread across the bridge as the cats ran of the bridge, as many simply trying to get off the rickety thing as trying to give chase.
The delay, brief as it was, had finally given Daring a bit of breathing room as she opened up the distance between herself and the pursuers. Not that she could afford to stop and take a break at this point. She barreled around another corner and found herself headed straight for a dead-end, with nothing but stone front and left and open space to her right. She didn't even bother to slow down as she veered right, throwing herself through the air before snagging one of the hanging by both front hooves. She spat out a quick curse as she slid down the rope several meters before coming to a stop. She resisted the urge to rub at her hooves to try and alleviate the rope burn and instead turned her attentions to slowly pulling her way upward. She grabbed the rope in her forelegs as best she could, pulling herself up while her hind legs did her best to assist and some part of her brain busied itself by pointing out how much easier this would be if she had only been born a griffon instead of a pony.
She had made it nearly half way up when she felt the rope shake. She glanced down below to see several cats now hanging from her rope, and all of them were making their way upward far faster then she could hope to. Once again looking for a way out, Daring quickly looked about, but the only real options were yet more ropes hanging about and none of them would leave her any better off then she was doing right now. Running, it seemed, was no longer an option. “Alright then,” Daring said to herself. “Plan B.”
Plan B, as it turned out, was a seven story free-fall.
Daring began to shift her weight back and forth, building up some momentum before letting her self go at the top of her arc. She once again found her self soaring through the air at an alarmingly steep angle before, after the multi-story fall, she reached the second rope.
She didn't try taking a firm hold of it immediately like last time. Instead she hooked the rope with one foreleg, stopping her forward course and spinning her around the rope in a tight circle even as she descended several more meters to where one of the cats was climbing upward. The full grunt of her gathered momentum was concentrated into her two rear hooves as they met the off-guard feline, knocking him well clear of the rope before gravity asserted itself and pulled him downward. The other cats scowled as they started moving, intent on finally taking out the pesky pegasus once and for all, but Daring had other plans.
The cats set their ropes swinging, steadily edging themselves closer to their prey as the went. Two finally got within reach of Daring's rope, quickly sinking their claws into it as they shifted from one rope to the next. Both felines looked upward to take in their preys look of despair only to find that the pegasus had vanished. Daring grinned as she swung away on the same rope one of the cats had swung in on, but quickly turned her attention back to the issue at hoof. Several of the cats weren't even bothering with a chase, and instead were lining themselves up to attack her straight-on, many armed with knives or swords in jaw or claw.
The first one to draw close enough to strike swung at her with a sword but Daring ducked under it, thankful that the felines were to focused on her to try and target the rope. The cat's missed swing left it over extended, leaving it open to a swift kick from Daring that parted cat from rope and sword from cat, the sword tumbling in the air briefly before Daring managed to catch it with her teeth. “Thank you,” Daring managed around the sword hilt before she swung the blade at the nearest rope, sending it and the cats clinging to it crashing to the ground below. Two more ropes quickly followed suit as Daring finally managed to gain the advantage. Things were going well until she felt the rope jerk and glanced upward. Her rope was fraying now, and almost directly across from it she could just make out a cat as it hefted another spear, ready to throw.
“Darn.” Daring managed before the rope finally snapped and she dropped. She had just enough distance to build up some decent momentum before she crashed back first into a hanging mining cart, her breath rushing out in a pained gasp. She struggled to catch he breath as the soft thud of a spear impacting on the metal around here made the over-sized bucket she was stuck in ring like a bell. Daring finally got her lungs working enough to let out a pained groan as she rolled over, splaying out across the bottom of the cart. “Sweet Celestia that hurt.” she managed as another spear bounced off the cart with a ring. Daring waited a moment and, when no other spears came, cautiously started to peak her head over the edge. She ducked down almost immediately as a spear sped through the space where her head had been a moment before. Daring ran a hoof over her pith helmet to check it for damage before blowing a loose strand of her mane out of her eyes. “Okay then...”
Daring weighed her options for a moment before something caught her eye – a little lock and ratchet mechanism at where the ropes met the bucket, the supporting lines winding through it before looping back upward to the pulley and weight systems. Daring took one more quick glance over the edge, seeing the cat starting to heft another spear, before she gave the ratchet a swift kick. The rope screamed through the mechanism as a weight somewhere above was finally allowed to obey gravity, and the bucket shot upward with Daring inside. The cat was mid-throw when the cart shot by and sent him stumbling back. He recovered quickly, throwing the spear with a shout but the cart was moving to fast and all it managed to hit was the bottom of the basket. The cat roared in frustration as it took its anger out on his weaponry, quickly reducing his remaining spears to little more then tinder as Daring sped away.
Daring couldn't help but grin as she watched the cats temper tantrum, but a glance upward quickly swept the smile off her face as she noticed the roof quickly approaching and her improvised ride did not seem inclined to slow down any time soon.
“Come on, come on, come on...” Daring scrambled for a way out but quickly realized that her only choice was one that was quickly becoming annoyingly familiar to her. She gathered herself on one side of the cart before taking a deep breath. “Son of a...” Daring cut off her own curse as she took two steps before throwing herself through space again before crashing into the nearest ledge, rolling over a couple of times and wincing as the weight on her injured wing sent pain shooting through her before she skidded and stumbled to a stop. Daring gave her head a quick shake as she pulled herself back to her hooves. She was, finally, away from all of the cats. From her new vantage point she could see the cats rushing about further below in a panic as the mining cart finally came crashing down into the machinery below, sending metal flying and kicking up a massive cloud of dust as it ripped the side out of one of the tanks they had been moving, letting loose a torrent of coal oil that quickly began to pool around the remaining machinery and sending cats running to the surrounding lamps as they rushed to douse the open flames.
“Well, there's an idea.” Daring thought out loud as she started to smirk. She took a quick look around and trotted to one of the nearest lamps, the candle inside still burning away merrily. Daring unhooked it and trotted over to the edge before simply tossing over the side and watching it fall. The lamp's candle puttered out before crashing into the puddle of oil below. Daring stared at it for a moment before bringing a hoof up to her face. “Darn it.”
Daring turned and started trotting away. She could already make out the light from the exit at the top of the path, but she soon slowed back down to a stop. Even if she managed to get the statue back from Ahuizotl – who she was still hoping was just waiting a little further above – he would still have the rest of the gems. He would have more then enough funds to run more of the operations Daring usually found her self stopping. Ahuizotl wouldn't exactly be winning this time around, but what about the next one? “Come on, Daring.” she said to herself. “It'll be easy – just have to figure out a way to destroy a few thousand pounds of mining equipment and all of the gems they've dug out. No big deal.” Right.
Then again, Daring realized, she already had a way to destroy everything – the coal oil. She just needed a way to light all of it. From all the way up here. Without getting caught. Piece of cake.
Daring turned and started trotting back in the direction she'd come from as she started looking for a way to get some sort of flame down to the ground below. Just throwing a flame over the side wouldn't work – she needed something more substantial. But her only real advantage was quick to evaporate as she saw more cats making their way up and around toward her. Daring let out an annoyed groan as she picked up her pace and tried to ignore the fact that she was, in fact, running toward the cats that wanted trample her hide to dust at the moment and focus on finding something really, really flammable. All she was finding instead was a lot of wooden crates and ropes laying around – plenty of fuel, but she doubted any of it would burn long enough the reach the bottom and the waiting pool. Not unless she lit the whole place on fire.
She was moment from running into the cats when she spotted what could be her only hope – a thick tube bending its way around supports and winding downward toward the ground. It looked a lot like the hoses that had been hooked up to those fuel tanks they had been moving at the bottom of the cave. If they were full of fuel, they would burn very nicely.
She rounded the last corner, finding herself at the opposite end of the hall from the cats. The entire horde started to grin as the saw the pegasus charging at them, the lot of them letting out a cries of deafening roars as they matched her charge. So it was to their great confusion when Daring suddenly broke to her right and disappeared into the stacks of crates that seemed to clutter the entirety of the mine. The cats paused, taking a moment to stare at each other, before giving a collective shrug and once again gave chase. Daring did her best to ignore them as much as she could, focusing instead on trying to follow the hose as it wormed its way over, around and through piles of crates and pieces of the structure. It seemed that the haphazard construction of the place was systemic – the hose meandered and snaked its way around like whoever had laid it had simply tossed it across whatever open path or through whatever gap was handy at the moment. Time and again she was forced to detour around an obstacle like a stack of crates and double back before scouring the area for the hose before she could continue her search. And every time Daring had to retrace or steps or try and fin the hose again, she could hear the cats chasing her getting closer. In the maze of crates and with a busted wing, if she got herself cornered she was done for.
She followed the hose until it finally exited the labyrinth of crates, and Daring momentarily congratulated herself until she noticed another pair of cats loitering just ahead, the hose curling upward and hooking into a massive copper basin behind them that was likely their reason for being stationed there. “Out of the way boys!” The cats had just enough time to glance upward as the heard Daring yell before her hooves crashed into the pair of them, knocking them both backward into the copper tank and crashing into it with a muted ring. Whatever the tank was used for holding, at least she was sure it was fairly full of it.
“Now I just need a light...” Daring started rifling through the now comatose felines pockets, and though she found nothing worthwhile on the first one, the second one had a pack of matches and a half crushed carton of cigarettes. “These are bad for you, you know.” Daring admonished the cat before tossing the carton aside and fishing one of the matches out of the pack. She had already started decoupling the hose from the spigot as the rest of the felines finally showed up. “Sorry boys,” Daring struck the match on the side of the tank, the small flame making shadows dance across her face. “But too little, too late.” She bucked the loosened hose of the tank, sending it clattering to the ground and letting a torrent of fluid pour out. The foul spell of old, stagnant water met her nostrils as the liquid started to pool near who hooves. Daring stared at the tank for a moment before her expression fouled. “Oh, come on!”
Daring ducked and dodged to the side as the cats attacked, the still lit match flying off to somewhere as she avoided the gaggle of angry felines piled onto where she had just been. Daring scrambled back to her hooves and galloped off as the cats started to untangle themselves as they tried to give chase. Daring once again found herself winding her way through stacks of crates. She was not enjoying the repeat experience at this point. By now she wasn't even sure if she was heading back toward the cave edge. She was a little preoccupied by the angry balls of fut and claws that were trying to eviscerate her at the moment.
It was only as she found herself faced with a dead end and trying to work out if she could climb over the stack of crates that she finally noticed the change in the air. It was growing warmer and smelled... smokey?
The cats wheeled around the corner and caught site of her, getting ready to charge a moment before one of the overhead rafters crashed into the ground between them, a shower of embers flying out as both sides were caught off guard. “Well,” Daring said as she considered the still slowly burning timber. “Up and over it is.”
She started clamoring over the crates, working her way upward until she found her pith helmet scraping at the stone roof above. She paused for a moment at the top and surveyed what was around her.
Whatever had caught fire, it had allowed the flames to spread and a frightening pace. Stacks of crates and parts of the support structures were aflame, embers and tongues of fire jumping and leaping from stacks, finding their way to new stacks which quickly began to smolder and ignite under the intense heat. If she could get the material down, some of it would likely make it down at least. But how?
A sudden tremor seemed to answer her question as she glanced down and saw a small fissure grow through the ground below as fast as lightning. “Sweet Celestia,” Daring said out loud. “It got to the support beams!” The fires had found a way onto the floor below and was evidently working its way a fair bit faster through the supports below then the ones up here. She quickly started to clamor down the other side of the stacks as smoke began to collect in the space above, covering everything in a thick, choking blanket of ash and soot. Her hooves made a splash as they finally returned to the ground, the water from the tank she had misidentified spreading out across the floor for a yards before finally getting soaked into the dirt and debris around it. That, at least, explained part of the reason this floor wasn't seeming to burn as fast as the one below it. The ground gave another startling shift as Daring felt it begin to canter underneath her – a sharp reminder of exactly the sort of mess she had somehow managed to find herself into, after everything else on this insanely problematic island.
Daring tore her way through the stacks as she tried to find her way back to the edge and some more familiar ground, but the smoke had began to creep lower and lower, forcing her to duck her head low in a vain attempt to reach clean air as it reduced the terrain before her to little more then vague shapes at best and, more often, something only to be noticed when she ran into it face first. Her pace was slowed down to a crawl as she crashed into a stack for the third time and realized that in this smoke she could run right of the edge and not notice until she started falling. One hoof felt along at her side, keeping in touch with the wood side of a crate or the rough stone of the cave, as she tried to maintain her bearings. She could occasionally hear the roars and yowls of some cat or another nearby, but she could never work out where exactly. Likewise for the occasional blurs that would speed by, cats rushing off and speeding past their prey without even realizing it.
The closest any of the cats came, during that fire, to catching her was when one actually ran straight into her. Neither had been able to see the other in the smoke and the crash sent both of them reeling, though Daring managed to recover a bit faster. The cat was clutching at his head with one paw, likely trying to clear the stars from his vision, as a bucket swung from his jaws. Daring wasted little time, acting almost on reflex and most certainly on a fair bit of adrenaline as she charged forward and drove one shoulder into the cat, knocking it onto its back before bringing one hoof up and swinging it across its jaw. The single blow was enough to knock the cat clean out, and Daring soon found herself rolling the cat over and dragging it off the path before she caught herself. The place was burning down around her – hiding bodies was the least of her problems for the time being. She dropped the cat by the scruff of its neck and, after giving the cat one final glance, trotted back off. Surely, one of the other cats would find it – right?
Daring did her best to push those thoughts to the back of her mind as she pushed forward and, finally, arrived at the edge overlooking the cavern proper. The smoke quickly rose upward, drawn away by whatever mechanism they were using to keep fresh air circulating through the mine shafts. Below her she could feel as much as see the flames that were spreading through the levels, flames licking their way up and down the ropes that explained how the flames got down so fast. The rope bridges that hadn't already been taken down in the packing process were now serving as routes for the fire to spread, igniting otherwise separate sections even as it left the cats stranded in isolated pockets of safety surrounded by flames. Far below, she caught glimpses of cartloads of gems crashing over, precious stones spilling across the floor as the cats ran for their lives from the slowly spreading flames.
The ground shifted again and Daring decided it was time to start moving again. With the spreading flames, the cats that she did come across paid her little mind as they rushed about trying to save their own coats. Flaming bits of wreckage fell around her, much of it tumbling over toward the ground and Daring soon found her hoof-steps quickening. She was just reaching the ramp leading upward to what seemed to be the final level and her freedom when a massive blast echoed through the cave and knocked her off her hooves. She stumbled back to her hooves and carefully moved to look over the edge. Down below, she could see one of the tanks had exploded, its sides peeled back like a banana peel as smoke poured from the smoldering wreckage even as flames licked at its for the moment intact neighbors. Daring doubted they would stay that way for long.
A low groan from closer by drew her attention from the smoking fuel tank as she turned to stare back at the cliff space she had just cleared out of. Sharp, deafening cracks that could be heard even over the sound of the roaring fires was the only warning before the entire ledge finally succumbed to the ravages of the fire and in what seemed like slow motion started the tilt forward and started to fall to the level below. The force of the crash was enough to finally cause the next level down to collapse as well, cats jumping or scrambling up the quickly tilting stone floors to reach safety before they tumbled downward int0 the abyss, crates and cargo falling away as they went. So the floors went, crashing down to the ones below in a chain reaction that quickly pancaked its way downward and destroyed everything in its path.
Daring couldn't help but let her jaw drop at the level of destruction that was being wrought. This was way more then anything she had intended. Still, she couldn't question its effectiveness. The fire was doing little far more than taking out that mining equipment and whatever gems they had managed to dig up and yet to drag out of the over-sized hole. What should have been a quick bit of sabotage and a nice distraction was turning into a full blown unmitigated disaster. Luckily, she was fairly sure it couldn't happen to a more deserving... whatever the hay Ahuizotl was.
Another tremor rocked the cavern. “Okay, really time to go now.” Daring started upward again, keeping one hoof on the rock face as she tried to keep an eye on the path in front of her. Further ahead, she could just make out the so-called light at the end of the tunnel. In this case, it was somewhat more literal. The sunlight streaming in from the cavern exit was diffused into a dull orange glow in the smoky gloom. Behind her she could hear the whole place falling to pieces as another explosion ripped its way up through the cave, probably the last of the fuel tanks finally cooking off and exploding. Up ahead she could make out a few figures through the smoke, cats that had likely been guarding the cave entrance. Both were currently busy coughing up their lungs as they stumbled their way out, neither of them in any condition to try and stop the pegasus as she ripped past them and finally burst back into the fresh air, her lungs greedily sucking in as much of the clean air as she could. “Oh sweet Celestia that feels good.” Daring thought out loud as she simply enjoyed being back outside again for the first time in what felt like ages.
She took one more deep breath before turning the look at the cave she had just come out off, smoke billowing out of it and drifting upward before being pulled away by the gentle, steady breeze. Even with all the chaos that she was certain was still unfolding down that hole, all she could here up here was the rustling of the nearby trees. “Just one past problem to take care then.” Daring gave her pith helmet one final adjustment before she started toward the nearby cliff edge.
Daring dropped into a crawl as she closed the last few paces. Down below were the remains of what might have been a walled garden a few hundred or so years ago and was now covered with crawling vines and plant life while trees overhung the open space. And in the middle of that open space, sitting in what seemed to be the sole surviving throne and flanked by a tiger and a panther with a kitten on his lap, Ahuizotl cackled while he studied the sapphire statue held in his paw. “With Daring Do out of the way, the world will suffer mightily at my hands. I am victorious!”
Daring had other ideas. She grabbed hold of one of the hanging vines, whispered a quick prayer to Celestia, and leapt of the ledge. Ahuizotl was still cackling as Daring swept past, snatching the statue straight of his grasp. “I'll take that!”
“Huh? Wha—?” Ahuizotl sputtered as he leapt to his feet, just as the first of the tremors started to reach his little retreat. “Noooooooo!”
Daring alighted onto a ledge on the far side of the garden, giving the statue a taunting little toss before she caught it again. “Better luck next time, Ahuizotl!”
Ahuizotl's face contorted through shock and rage even as the walls of the garden began to crumble around him and his arch rival ran off into the jungle. Finally, he reared his head back and let loose all his fury in a single cry. “Curse you, Daring Do!”
And so, with Ahuizotl defeated, and the sapphire statue secured the world was safe and sound once again – thanks to Daring Do!
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4918333
I don't exactly have a monopoly - Polo house and T. Roper have no issues with other author's doing adaptions of the vast majority of the stories. Don't let me stop you from writing your own version.
This is the best Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone fiction I ever read, it's just epic ! It deserves to be a published book ! It kept me hooked from the beginning to the end !
5240645
Well, thank you - as an author, there is no higher praise then such a comment.
I have yet to read this but I just got the daring doo box set and I'm looking for the other books on the list if this is good enough would you do me the honor of allowing me to print this out and make it into a book be warned I probably can't do it first thing I'm still learning and have a few other ones infront of it but hey like I said if you'd let me I'd be honored.
Oh but one condition I use the actual cover not the one you have there.
5305415
Tell me if I can buy one....
though I've spotted some spelling errors (autocorrect type ones) so a proofing may be in order first.
5305415
I would prefer you read this version before deciding on investing any personal resources into such a project - but if you still wish to do so, be my guest - I would be honored. Only caveat is that I (through Polo House) reserve rights for Epub and PDF version distribution and that it be a non-profit venture.
5309597 lol I have no idea what your talking about and these won't be for sale if anything I'd give them away first
5309540
Lol just realized you wouldn't see that other part so like I said if anything I'd give them away before selling them.
5309597
Oh and like I said only once it's done and I have others set before this so odds are I wouldn't be able to do this one.
Hehe. Its on my list now.
Seems promising.
7548241
Read the Just For Fun Daring Do characters page for more information.
Or just read my copy paste:
Chocolat' Jasmina (Coco) Pie
An incredibly eccentric mint green earth pony who is Daring Do's go-to mare for anything from rare items to street gossip and even the occasional airplane. She is a traveling Sales Pony and is often seen at the bazaars and markets hawking whatever strange and interesting items come across her way, and she's also known for making killer sugary desserts. Her unlimited energy and kooky asides are things that Daring Do eventually got used to.