Daring Do & The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well: Canterlot Crisis

by Canon Fodder

Chapter 13: Incognito

Spectrum Incorporated: Cloudsdale Headquarters, 2:47 am, September 29th

Trekking through the heart of operations in H.U.R.R.I.C.A.N.E. was not expected to be an easy task, and without her magic Mysterious Mare-Do-Well was at even more of a disadvantage. With magic exhausted, her ability to proceed would be left to her quick-thinking strategies and pure physical capabilities. She knew for a fact she didn’t need her horn to accomplish missions, but just being able to use magic gave the unicorn a bit of mental security. However, the use of magic was the least of her concerns. As she quietly sneaked down the hallways of the factory, she would frequently find herself creeping into the nearest open room or dark corner to evade passing guards. The corridors themselves weren’t fully illuminated by the ambient lighting due to the lack of regular business, allowing only enough light for the late-working ponies to see where he or she was going during a night shift. The dimmed lighting gave the masked mare a useful blending into the shadows with her dark violet attire. However she knew it would take more than a camouflage to achieve her objectives. Sooner or later she would have to confront Union Jack and find out how the parasprites are going to be distributed.

Eventually, her long and stealthy infiltration brought her to what looked to be the expected fork in the road she remembered from the directory map, but there was no distinct indication from what Mare-Do-Well could see that would lead her towards the right direction. There were no signs, no special lighting or décor whatsoever that seemed to fair any path more convincing than the other; It was simply either the left or right corridor. She decided to take a chance on the left path, when suddenly the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well heard heavy panting from behind her. She thought quickly and took shelter behind a nearby rickety desk that seemed to be on its way out, poking her head over just enough to find out who it was. To her surprise, it turned out to be the Alpha Team Commander. However, the once proud and domineering demeanor was now replaced by a frightened, panicking one. She watched him gallop down the hall, passing her and galloping down the path on the right…

Meanwhile, Daring Do’s adventure was going far differently. The further she made progress through the factory, the busier it became with guards all around, and soon there was never an instance where she was alone. Thankfully the guard uniform she was dressed in was doing its job: Disguising her. Every now and again she would receive a side-glance from another guard, but nothing more. The bottom-floor sector of the building had little to no offices whatsoever, save for the offices of the factory chief, but all in all it was pretty much regular factory business. She eventually found herself in a small plaza filled with dozens of other guards walking around, conversing, eating, drinking coffee, and even sleeping. “This must be acting as some sort of break room,” the pegasus mare muttered to herself.

As she walked around, she tried to search for another map or sign to point her in the right direction. But her search was brought to halt by the hoof of another guard blocking her. She looked up and saw the hard eyes of a burly stallion staring down at her. The expressionless face he wore gave Daring a cold sweat. She swallowed a lump in her throat as her eyes fell upon his strong physique. He was a turquoise pegasus with a short black mane and tail. His uniform was just the same as the others except for his gold crest that gleamed off his helmet. Finally after a chilling stare-down, the stallion burst out with a heavy laugh. “Don’t think you can fool me for a second there, Squirt!” he exclaimed.

“Whatever do you mean, Sir?” The adventuress asked in a nervous and deeper undertone, trying to keep uncover and her head low.

The large stallion then began to walk around the undercover mare, “You can’t fool me; I’m Commander Jet Stream of Beta Team! I don’t know why you’re trying to hide it.”

Daring swallowed another heavy lump, feeling a slight quiver in her hooves, “H-H-Hide what, Sir?”

“…Your uniform is all wrong!” he answered, slapping the pegasus hard on the back, “What idiot sized you up and put you in that?”

While she tried to collect the words to reply, she was suddenly pushed and fell on her flank, skidding across while the Beta Team Commander moved her with ease. “C’mon,” he insisted, “I’ll take you down the hall to the guards’ storage. Take whatever suit that fits you and toss that one aside.”

Daring breathed a heavy sigh of relief then picked herself up, walking side by side with the bigger guard. “Uhh… Sounds good… Thanks.”

The burly Jet Stream led Daring Do out of the guards’ plaza and down the hall to a door labelled: Dressing Room: Spectrum Security Personnel Only. Before she entered, the stallion turned her around. “Be quick, President Jack is going to be addressing everypony on the factory floor at three.”

The archaeologist paused with a sly grin on her face before she saluted to the Commander. “Yes, Sir!”

When she walked into the dressing room, she was sure to close the door behind her. The room contained two sinks, three changing stalls, and was lined wall to wall with suits of guard attire; hats, jumpsuits, boots and even the modified horseshoes. She began to browse through the many suits and came across one that looked about her size. Daring took it off the hanger and proceeded to the nearest changing stall. When she had entered it and closed the door, she unzipped her current attire and began to shuffle out of it. Before she tossed the suit aside, Daring shoved her hoof into one of the pockets and retrieved her shrunken helmet and slid it into her new uniform. Just then, the adventuress heard the sound of hoofsteps outside the stall. Then she heard the room door open as two ponies trotted through, carrying a conversation. Daring removed her helmet and pressed her ear against the stall door to listen in.

“What a night! I can’t wait ‘til we’re all out of here,” one pony yawned.

The other pony laughed, “I know what you mean. Union’s got us overworked, I think.”

Then Daring heard the sound of rushing water from one of the sinks, followed by a sigh of relief. “Ah, that’s better…Your turn, Iron.”

The pony named, Iron, sipped the water, also letting out a satisfied breath after he shut off the sink. “Hey, what are you doing? We have to get back out there!”

“I’m just taking a break, Iron. Relax!” Iron’s friend replied.

“No. 4’s gonna be down here in just a little while, Buck, and if he catches you in here-“

“He isn’t going to; he’s probably off frisking that secretary of his,” Buck interjected, “He’ll probably be about fifteen minutes late like he always is.”

“I don’t know. He’s been pretty on edge lately. He had Nimble Stratus dispatch Alpha Team.”

“Really? What for?” asked Buck.

Iron breathed an annoyed sigh. “Didn’t you hear Commander Jet Stream out there earlier? Daring Do and the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well were spotted just outside the city. Everypony is supposed to stay on high alert. Those parasprites are the top priority. The scientists are finishing the last bit of testing now and then it’ll be packed and Phase 4 will be underway… Just as soon as No. 7 and No. 12 get here anyway.”

“Just how do they expect to get that machine into Canterlot, anyway? Security’s gone sky-high since what happened at the University of Canterlot.”

“A little birdy told me Stratus, No. 7 and No. 12 are going to be hiding at this place called Feldspar Valley. No. 4 and No. 1 recently purchased a bit of land there. It’s behind Canterlot Mountain where they used to run the crystal mines until it was shut down about fifty years ago. It’s going to be used for Spectrum to conduct a long-term research project on, but when nopony is looking, it’ll be our base of operations just like the other Spectrum HQs.”

Hmmm, Feldspar Valley… Do thought to herself. I remember doing some research there when I did my degree…Shyster must be looking to get a few of those gems in the caves.

“Excellent!” Buck sarcastically praised. “That didn’t answer the how they’re smuggling it into Canterlot.”

“That’s the thing; No. 1 will have to wait until security levels drop before he makes the next move.”

“Splendid,” came a sarcastic response, “Another waiting game.”

“Buck, this is huge. One false step and the Hierarchy could be exposed. I mean, No. 4’s got the best of the best working on those parasprites right now. If even one of those glass tubes were cracked; that’ll spell disaster for the whole lot of us.”

“What happens if they set the parasprites loose too early?”

“I’m not sure,” Iron sighed, “I think I recalled seeing something about an abort feature in the blueprints but I could be wrong.”

Daring’s eyes suddenly lit up in excitement. Of course! There has to be a way to avert it if there’s a problem with the design. It makes all the sense in the world! I gotta find a way to deactivate it…

“Well, come on, Buck,” Iron insisted, “We have to go.”

“Alright, alright, quit kicking me, I’m getting up,” the vexed Buck answered, “I can’t wait to get some sleep…”

Finally, after the two guards returned to duty, Daring Do finished fitting herself into the more suitable uniform. She slowly poked her head out from the changing stall to assure everypony was gone before she re-emerged. Then she allowed herself to venture her thoughts while she explored the room. If I can find a way to that factory floor, I’ll be able to have access to that distributor…But there will be too many guards around for me to even attempt to deactivate that thing. Hmm…Unless I can sneak aboard that ship that’s coming to pick it up…

Daring Do left the change room shortly after and found herself once again heading into the open plaza. This time, however, everypony’s attention was brought to the middle of the room where a brown pegasus stallion with a black vest, yellow hardhat, and a badge was making an announcement. He spoke with a loud, commanding voice, and the title on his badge read: Factory Chief. “ALRIGHT! Listen up! Your ten-minute breaks are over! President Union Jack will be coming down momentarily and he wants to see that parasprite distributor sealed and packed. Needless to say, he also wants to see his security forces at their best! Some of you may be aware that H.U.R.R.I.C.A.N.E. enemies, Daring Do and the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well have been spotted near the premises. Whatever happens, we cannot draw any outdoor attention. I received word not too long ago that the ‘Spectrum Notus’ will be docking in forty minutes with No. 7 and No. 12. So get off your asses and get back to your stations!”

“Yes, Sir!” everypony saluted, catching the undercover archaeologist off guard.

All at once, the abundance of security guards began to spread throughout the room, heading in the direction of their posts. This left Daring with the difficult task of keeping her eye on the Chief without losing him in the crowd. With no space to spread her wings, she stood up on the edge of her hooves and tried to catch a glimpse of where he was heading. She made an effort to push her way through the strong current of ponies, eventually making her way out of the busy plaza and into a wide corridor where she, the Factory Chief, and many other guards were following. This must be the way to the factory. I got’em now…

Upstairs, the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well was keeping her distance from the distressed Alpha Team Commander while she continued to follow him to what she could guess to be Union’s office, or at least Stratus. She gracefully stalked through the shadows, her steps silenced by the cloth around her hooves. She seemed undetectable and the Commander never turned back once. Then, finally, Mare-Do-Well saw a door up ahead with a translucent window that bore the words: U. Jack – Public Office in bold black letters.

The Commander increased his pace, trotting through the door and into where he found Union’s secretary sorting paperwork at her desk. “Miss Dewpoint, is No. 4 in his office?” he asked in a tone.

The mare shot up in fright before nodding. “Yes he is, Commander.”

“Good,” he said as he quickly approached the door before him.

“You can’t go in there!” Dewpoint intercepted, blocking his path with her hoof. “He and No. 9 are in a meeting. Just a take seat over there-“

“I don’t have time for this foolishness!” the Commander vented as he shoved the small form of the mare out of his way, storming into the office, “No. 4!”

The Commander could definitely tell the tensions were high. As he entered the office, Stratus jumped up from his seat into a prepared fighting stance while Union forced his chair back against the wall. However, when the two executives recognized the stallion in front of them, Stratus settled back into his seat and Union took a deep breath and fixed his eye patch before he scolded the Commander, “What is the meaning of this, Commander Mistral?”

Mistral shut the door behind him then approached his superiors, “I apologize for the intrusion, No. 4. I have returned from a battle.”

“…Ah, excellent!” the red unicorn suddenly beamed. He began to levitate a bottle from his desk. “You have defeated the two miscreants at last!”

The Commander didn’t want to answer that question, but he knew hesitance would only expose his fears of failure. “On the contrary, No. 4,” he spoke despondently, “I must inform you that Alpha Teams’ efforts to stop Daring Do and the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well was… Less than satisfactory.”

Union’s movement of the liquor bottle seized almost instantly, as did his sole eye in a wide stare of disbelief. The magical glow around the wine disappeared and it was returned to its spot on the desk shortly after; however, the mad glint in Jack’s eye remained, striking an unpleasant feeling in Commander Mistral’s gut. No. 4 was prepared to toast the ending of their problem, but had learned that it had escalated instead. In his mind, Union recollected the horrific vision of his bleak future if he failed No. 1 a second time. At last, he slowly rested his elbows on his desk as he cupped his forehooves together and held them over his mouth as he tried to collect his thoughts on the next move.

Alpha’s Commander threw Stratus a puzzled glance over Union’s silence. After what seemed like minutes, Mistral spoke up, “No. 4? What are we going to do?”

“Less than satisfactory, Commander?” Union repeated, ignoring Mistral’s query. “You mean to say you’ve failed, correct?”

Commander Mistral regretfully nodded in embarrassment, “Yes, No. 4.”

Then Union Jack locked eyes with the nervous pony. “It doesn’t matter how you sugar-coat it, Commander. The fact of the matter is you’ve failed! You’ve failed, dammit!”

The air in the room suddenly felt colder, or at least to the Commander. Union’s glare was haunting and fearful. “…I have reason to believe Daring Do and the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well may be on their way.”

“May be on their way, Commander?” Union mocked, waving his hoof at Stratus, “What kind of morons are you training, No. 9?”

Nimble sighed, glaring up at Mistral in disappointment. The Commander took a step back nervously from his angered superiors, suddenly feeling his heart thumping within and a bead of sweat drip down the side of his face. “I apologize…I guess the two mares were a little more than I expected.”

Union Jack was urged to retort to his excuse, but instead calmly reached into one of his desk drawers and rummaged through the filing until he pulled out a folder and began to search through its many pages of detailed notes. Finally, Jack came across one that caused him to look up at Commander Mistral with a smug grin. “This is a message that was distributed earlier today that I instructed everypony to listen well on. I was especially serious on this part right here…And I quote: ’Those of the Hierarchy who may come into contact with either Daring Do and/or the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well must use extreme vigilance. The two are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous, and are advised to be dealt with extreme force.’ You understand you have violated No. 1’s orders?”

“…I understand and take complete responsibility for the fault. But, what are we going to do?” the Commander asked again.

At first the Hurricane Agent was stolid, simply shaking his head and using his magic to put back the folder and its contents into the drawer. After that, Union relaxed himself with another drink of the same wine he shared with Dewpoint; however, instead of pouring into the glass, he sipped from the bottle itself, his hooves noticeably shaking as he did so.

Nimble Stratus could easily tell what was on No. 4’s mind after hearing that sort of news. He recalled the psychological torture induced on his colleague, the sweat pouring from his brow. He knew his next penalty would not be shown mercy, and the especially long drink and quivering hooves revealed his inner turmoil. Eventually he knocked on Union’s desk to catch his attention, “Ahem…”

Union Jack opened his eye to the Head of Atrocity, lowering the bottle slowly from his lips until he put it back on the desk with a hollow thud. Then, he sat back in his chair and let the alcohol settle in his stomach, feeling the dry sting in his throat cascade down his body and melt his senses. If that was to be his final relaxing moment, he wanted to milk it down to every last drop. He looked back and forth between Mistral and Nimble, grinning furtively. At last he let out a sigh, patting his belly. “…Now that’s a vintage wine.”

Peeved by Union’s dawdling, Commander Mistral pushed further, “What are we going to do, Sir? They’ll be here soon, if they already haven’t arrived.”

“Shut up, you bloody yank!” he demanded in a sudden switch of demeanor, raising his hoof at him. Then Union looked back at the green pegasus on his right and shrugged, “I suppose we should sound for a Lockdown alert until the ‘Spectrum Notus’ docks.”

Nimble Stratus promptly nodded and the two rose from their seats as Commander Mistral continued to lock eyes with Union. He stood at attention and took a deep breath. “Is there anything I can do?”

As No. 4 fixed his suit and tie, he levitated a rose from a vase on his desk and placed it in his lapel, rearranging its petals neatly to fit his liking. After he pushed-in his chair, the stallion walked around his desk and stopped in front of the Commander, shaking his head as he placed his hooves on Mistral’s shoulders. “Commander Mistral, I’m afraid in light of Alpha Team’s unfortunate disbandment, I will be relieving you of your duties.”

Feeling puzzled, the pegasus cocked an eyebrow at his boss. “Does that mean I’m fired?”

“You got it!” Jack chuckled. “But I’m not heartless…Here’s your severance pay.”

“Severence pay?” he repeated slowly. Then before he could say anything else, Mistral could only widen his eyes in shock as a burst of gas shot out at his face, sending an immediate pain up his nose as he coiled back, uttering a surprised shout while he covered his face.

Union took little hesitance; he wrapped the rose in another telekinetic aura and removed it from his lapel with its wicked stinger exposed beneath the stem. Then in one swift movement he clutched the head of Mistral and held him close to his body as he could feel him trying to struggle away, muffling inaudible disparity while he feared for his life. Union Jack levitated the spike to his eyes to gaze at its sheen silver glow before he drove it into the neck flailing Commander. The unicorn continued to grasp onto Mistral while he felt every bit of life force begin to drain off. The cyanide was working and the tension was getting weaker and weaker.

Union’s face showed no emotion during the execution, totally stone-faced, yet from Nimble’s perspective, he could feel the presence of a sociopath radiate from the usually suave social pony. He looked into No. 4’s cold eyes and could tell he was wishing for it to be Daring or the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well he was holding right now.

As for Commander Mistral, he could feel himself beginning to let go, the power in his limbs were ceasing, he grew colder, and in his dying breath Union Jack pushed him away, allowing his near-lifeless body to fall to the floor. He used every last of his strength to look his superior in the face one more time.

“I didn’t want to kill you, but…” Union took the moment to extract the poisonous rose with his magic, “Failure in this business is only punishable by death, Mistral…No. 1’s orders.” At last the eyes of Commander Mistral rolled up, and white foam spurted from the side of his lips as he finally perished. Jack levitated another rose into his lapel from the same vase and then turned to face Stratus and then started for the door, “Come, we must get to the factory floor at once.”

Stratus complied and took one more glance at the lifeless body of Mistral before following along. The two of them left the office and shut the door, crossing the threshold into the waiting room of Union’s office where they spotted Miss Dewpoint still at her desk.

“Where’s the Commander?” she asked, waiting for another pony to follow.

Nonchalantly, Union Jack fixed his tie and brushed down his suit before approaching his secretary, “I’m afraid I had to set him free and release him from his contract. Poor bugger said the job was toxic to his health.”

“…Okay?” the mare replied.

But, before she could say anything else, Union Jack turned away and walked over to the door with Stratus as he explained the situation, “It also seems that our predicament with the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well and Daring Do is more serious than I thought.”

“Really?”

He nodded, “Yes. Listen here, No. 9 and I are heading down to the factory floor. I want you to stay here and lock the door behind us. If you see anything out of the ordinary, report to me immediately.”

After Union and Nimble left, Dewpoint remained still in her seat, a deadpan expression glued to her face as she placed her hooves on her desk. “They’re gone now.” Carefully, she pushed her chair away from her desk, allowing the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well to appear from beneath the desk, pointing a spear gun at the secretary as she stood up.

“Good,” the masked mare said as she hurried across the room to lock the door Union exited through, “Better lock this door then. Wouldn’t want me or Daring to find this place,” she mused.

The threatened Dewpoint rolled her eyes. “Alright, I didn’t blow your cover so will you stop pointing that thing at me?”

“Soon,” she answered back. Mare-Do-Well approached the other mare and prompted her to get up with a gesture with the spear gun. Dewpoint let out a heavy sigh, walking in front of the mare as they trotted closer to Union’s private office.

“Seriously, how much longer are you going to keep this gun to my head?” Dewpoint complained. Not a moment later, the secretary received a clean chop to the head from the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, knocking her out instantly.

“Floozy secretary,” Mare-Do-Well scoffed, returning the spear gun to its holster. She stepped aside and pulled on the door handle. Mare-Do-Well opened the door slightly ajar as she scanned the room through the crack. Everything seemed normal; a desk, some filing cabinets, bookshelf, and décor. But the normality left as soon as her eyes fell upon the back end of a pony lying on the floor. To quell her curiosity, she opened the door all the way to discover the body of the Commander. After she shut the door, the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well cautiously neared the seemingly lifeless stallion. Knowing H.U.R.R.I.C.A.N.E., she expected some sort of trap. However, when the masked mare put her hoof to the Commanders neck, her concern disappeared when there was no sign of a pulse. She continued to examine him and found the white foam dripping from the corner of his mouth, “Cyanide.”

The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well stood up; her curiosity growing further as she looked over Union’s desk. There were a few pieces of paperwork, two wine glasses, a vase of roses and one empty wine bottle. Mare-Do-Well could only guess Union Jack’s nervousness was getting the better of him. But, what really harnessed her interest were the roses. Carefully, Mare-Do-Well approached one of them lying on the desk. With her hoof, she pressed down on the flower at mid-stem and as she expected, there was a cloud of gas shooting from the anthers followed by a thin needle exposing from beneath it. The masked mare was taken aback by the toxic mist, “Union’s cyanide-laced roses…Now there’s a scent to die for!” she mused.

The hooded heroine set the ‘rose’ down on the desk; she remembered time was of the essence. She quickly scanned through the papers left astray on top the desk but it seemed to be irrelevant to H.U.R.R.I.C.A.N.E. business. Then she looked behind her and saw of a couple filing cabinets she first noticed when entering the room. Mare-Do-Well pulled open one of the drawers, flicking through dividers and other files that seemed to be nothing more than archival weather data and reports filled out by other Spectrum agents. Again, she could find nothing on the Hierarchy. Then she shifted her focus to Union’s desk. She had only seen what was left on top of it, she never checked any of his drawers. With that thought, the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well made her way over and pulled out the chair from behind Jack’s desk and sat down. There were three drawers; the first two containing various office utensils and manuals while the third drawer on the bottom held another array of folders. She bent down to begin another search but stopped for a moment to take notice of something; in a sea of brown document folders, there was a sole red one tucked away in the back. It prodded her curiosity and Mare-Do-Well bit down and grabbed it. Then as she shut the drawer, she spit it out on the desk and looked at its label that read: ‘CONFIDENTIAL’. She slowly turned it open, and what she saw put a keen smile spread across her face. Paydirt

To be continued