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

by Canon Fodder

Chapter 3: Occupational Rivals

Canterlot Cemetery, 8:01pm, September 26th

Daring Do was released from the hospital. She had been diagnosed with a mild concussion days earlier but was now cleared to go free. She still had the bandages around her head and mild bruises over her body which were mostly covered over by her windbreaker and under her helmet. But she never cared about how badly she was beaten up, for it wasn't anything new to the adventuress. All she had on her mind was letting the assailant get the best of her and kidnapping the Prince. Do felt like a failure. "How could I let all of this happen?" She thought, letting her ears sink back as she trotted through the windy cemetery with the sun just beginning to settle behind the horizon overlooking the entire kingdom of Equestia. She gazed at it for the longest time and admired the beauty. It was the first natural thing she had seen in the past four days.

With the sun beginning to scorch her eyes, she looked away and let them fall on a sight just at the end of a walkway. A new grave. Daring took a deep breath and started walking towards it. But as she slowly approached the tombstone, she passed the ones along the same row and noticed each of them with the exact same time of death 'September 22nd'. Six ponies had passed away, including the one she was about sit across from on an old frail bench. She took off her saddlebags and laid them aside, then achingly lowered herself onto the bench. Daring reached down for one of her bags and opened it up to retrieve a bouquet of white roses. But before she could lay them down, the adventuress began to collect tears in her eyes and let her head fall into her hooves as she broke down in front of the grave reading 'Here lies Dr. White Collar. University Headmaster, Son, Father, Husband, Mentor...and Friend. Beloved husband of October Sky. February 24th, 2296 - September 22nd, 2352'.

To Daring, the Dean was like a father. He had been there for since her first day at the University. They shared laughs, cries, conversations, views, and even arguments but they still managed to find the best in one another. She cried her heart out before she could muster the strength to say something. "I never meant for this to happen. You know I tried my best." Daring Do wiped away some of her tears and looked at the flowers. "I-I-I picked these up for you about an hour ago. I'm sorry I missed the funeral yesterday but the stupid hospital wouldn't let me out until today."

Daring stood up and took a few steps to the lay down the white roses then fell back into her seat and snuffed. "I stopped in to see your wife after I left the hospital. I wanted to see how she was doing before I made my way down here. She says she misses you. Well, we all do. But...I guess there's nothing we can do about that now." She reached into the other pocket of her saddlebag and pulled out a handkerchief, then blew her nose into it, wiping her tears away with a corner. "I remember my first day at the University. Just another filly fresh out of high school." She chuckled weakly.

She blew her nose again and smiled through her tears. "I must say my first impression of you wasn't a good one. I figured you were just another stuck-up University Stiff but you weren't. You welcomed everypony with open hooves. You never showed stress, even in front of the Prince you showed no signs of being intimidated whatsoever. It still boggles me how you've managed to do it." Then she went back to her bag once more and took out an envelope to lay beside his grave. "A few of us from the staff decided to each write a farewell letter to you. They're all in that envelope there so whenever you're ready you can read what's inside."

Daring's heart pounded and she tried to swallow the thick lump in her throat. "You were more than a teacher to me, Mr. White Collar..." Her voice cracked and Do continued sobbing. "You were a dear friend, and I'm sorry for letting you and everypony down."

Her breaths convulsed through her cries and she couldn't think of anything else to say. Her usual peppy, lively and outgoing personality had been crushed by grief, sorrowful feelings. She finally let her head droop down and allowed the tears to trickle onto the stone slab walkway.

Soon she picked herself up and readied to leave. Daring was too hurt to stay. "I'm sorry, I just can't do this right now. I'll be back, I promise." Then she threw her saddlebags over her flank and paced quickly away from Collar's tombstone, still crying. Her overwhelming guilt made her unable to stay there any longer.

She had galloped all the way to the gates until she blindly ran into something that had the sturdiness of a wall. Daring rubbed her head and looked up, standing there were two of Celestia's royal guards staring down at her. One of them offered to help her up. "Are you Daring Do?" The other asked strongly.

Do nodded slowly and took the guards hoof. She rubbed her hoof over her nose, trying not to let the guards see her tears. "Why yes, I am. The one and only!" she announced gleefully, cleverly hiding her grief.

The guard reached into his saddlebag and passed Daring a letter. "Princess Celestia has requested that you come to the palace at once. She and the Captain of the Royal Guard wish to meet with you." They stepped aside to reveal their chariot behind them. "Her Majesty has even offered her personal carriage as transportation."

"Really?" Daring was left in astonishment. First a recommendation as a tour guide and now a meeting with her and the Captain of the Royal Guard. She was puzzled and somewhat nervous. "But why me?"

"Everything will be revealed at the meeting, Miss Do." He answered positively. They began to lead her to the gilded carrier. "Please get in."

Unknown Location (Canterlot), 8:16pm, September 26th

The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well opened her cybernetic doors to her room, then closed them behind when she crossed through. She looked around the dark room and took off her hat, then threw it over a nearby hat rack. She approached her a desk with some perplexing software on it and opened her saddlebag to lay a folder down. She moved on and made her way to another door.

The mare walked through and entered a small, dimly red lit room with various photos clipped to a hanging line. She shut the door and placed her bags down. Standing in front of a photo, Mare-Do-Well took off her hood momentarily to examine it. She lit a magical aura around her horn and levitated the photo down and took a closer inspection of what appeared to be a rooftop shot looking down at a griffon, three suited stallions and the cunning Union Jack just getting off of an airship in Canterlot.

She pondered and let her haunches drop to the floor to concentrate. She wondered who the griffon was. He looked middle-aged and wore a pair of glasses. His suit was hard to pick out from the quality of the photo but Mare-Do-Well guessed it was some sort of occupational specialty. He also had a baton tucked underneath his ruffled wing. But the unicorn shrugged and clipped the photo back up on the line.

She lowered the hood over her face again and stepped into the other room where this time she made sure to turn on the lights, revealing her entire lair. A wall of gadgets, a high powered computer, tonnes of digital equipment for deciphering audio files, translating texts, etc. Her floor was carpet but the walls and ceiling were all chrome.

Mare-Do-Well illuminated her horn and aimed her magic down at a remote on the desk that sat in the center of the large lair. She levitated it to herself and still held it in the magical bind as she pressed a button with her hoof. This caused a section of her wall to rotate, uncovering a large screen. She pressed another button and the screen projected a green line which Mare-Do-Well began talking to. "Computer, have you finished the DNA testing on that cufflink I found?"

The green line on the screen flickered as the machine replied to her question. "Affirmative," it said. The computer's voice was monotone and had no fluency in it's words. "I've made my conclusion, and the identity of this Equine is known as Union Jack." The mare continued to stare at the screen as a photo of Union popped up.

"That's great, Computer." She said sternly. "I already know his name. What can you tell me about him?" She pressed another button and full screened the image.

The computer took a minute to process the question on creating loud noises from the motherboard. "Union Jack. Birthplace: Trottingham. Age: 32. Tribe: Unicorn. Criminal Record: None. Occupation: Business (Company President)."

The answers confused the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well and she put a fetlock to her chin to think. "Hmmm No criminal record? A president? Quite interesting, Computer." Realization hit Mare-Do-Well. She laid the remote back down on her desk and lowered her flank into the rotating chair behind it. She reached down to open one of the desk drawers and hauled out a stack of paper and a fresh quill. "Now we're getting somewhere! Who's president is he?" She demanded as she laid the paper down and gripped the quill in her magic, ready to write.

As the computer browsed it's files for answers, the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well took down of what she already knew. "Let's see. Trottingham...Likes roses, 32 years old, red coat, gold mane, never arrested aaaaand a president. You got that file booted up?" She asked impatiently.

"Affirmative," it stated. The machine projected images of two different buildings but with the same massive logo on the front. The background showed a large rainbow while the foreground of the logo depicted a white shield. It was similar to a coat of arms with four sectors. A tornado, a snowflake, a lightning bolt, and the sun. Each side of the shield had a pegasus posed symmetrically. "Union Jack is the president of the company known as Spectrum Inc. This company was started recently, five years ago. Their primary task involved transmitting information from one branch to the other."

Mare-Do-Well held the paper still as her quill went mad writing down every little detail. "Uh Huh, good. Where are these two branches located and what kind of information are we talking about?"

"The ground branch is located in the industrial end of Canterlot. Spectrum is a company where 80% of its staff is made up of geographic analysts, who act as their agents. These agents are distributed all across Equestria where ever the weather pegasi are present. These ponies study the geographical conditions of a specific vicinity and file reports back to their headquarters in Canterlot which are soon mailed to their Cloudsdale branch. These reports may contain various bits of data such as drought conditions, soil tests, air pressure, pollution, wind speeds, topography, population of ponies, and anything else that could be applicable to the weather. After an agent's information has been read and processed up in Cloudsdale, it is summarized on a requisition form with numerous other reports filed by agents in other communities. This entire reading and summarizing process is done by those agents who are stationed at the headquarters until their next assignment. But the entity that controls and signs the forms is the Head GISA Agent, which stands for Geographic Information System Analyst Agent. He or she is hoofpicked by president Union Jack and is responsible for delivering the requisition form to the Weather Factory. From there, the weather pegasi process the suitable weather that will fit the conditions of the areas they will be covering. The Weather Factory accounts for 60% of Spectrum's profit, while 40% comes from the government to pay their operating expenses. As a means to gather secondary funds however, the company also manufactures weather equipment such as barometers, windsocks, rain gauges, anemometers, and weather balloons just to name a few...Has this answered your question, Mare-Do-Well?"

She nodded slowly while she finished taking the notes. "In full detail, yes. So we got a station here in Canterlot and an HQ up in Cloudsdale? Sounds good. But since I can't fly, I guess I'll just have to investigate the Canterlot branch for now." She stretched her forehooves behind her head and leaned back comfortably. But then she figured something she hadn't noticed until just then. "A weather based company...and H.U.R.R.I.C.A.N.E? We really are getting somewhere."

Canterlot Castle, 9:00pm, September 26th

As Daring Do walked through the castle, she couldn't help notice the heightened amount of security since the attack. Guards doubled around every corner, every hallway, and even on the stairwells. She was being escorted by the two guards that she had met with at the cemetery. They lead her to a large set of double doors being protected by not the usual two but four spear guards to ensure safety at it's highest. The standing guards allowed Daring to pass after they done a quick check over of her. "Standard procedure," said the guard. "We cannot risk anymore safety to the royal family."

They opened the doors and Daring walked through. When the doors shut behind her, she gazed ahead and saw the Princess's silhouette standing in front of the fireplace at the end of the long dinner table. She also notice another, more regular sized pony next to her. "Come in, my child." She said with a welcoming voice. "We have much to discuss."

"It truly is an honor, your Majesty." The adventuress greeted as she traveled down to the other end of the table. She bowed in front of the Princess then reached over the table to shake hooves with the Captain. "I'm Daring Do."

He was white unicorn with a deep blue mane and lighter streaks among it. His cutie mark adorned a dark blue shield with a pink-purple six-pointed star in the middle and three light blue stars above it. "Pleasure to meet you! I'm Shining Armor. Your Majesty, shall we begin?"

"Of course." Celestia nodded, allowing her subject to sit down before she did. She illuminated her horn and gripped a cup of tea in it's magical field, levitating it up to her lips for a sip. Then her eyes shifted over to Daring Do who appeared to sit normally, but underneath the table, her hooves were quaking. "First of all, I'd like to send my sincerest condolences to the families of Professor White Collar and the other victims...I can't believe it. Six lost, two in critical condition, and my nephew, kidnapped."

Daring's head sank into shame. "It is quite a mess. I'm sorry for letting this happen, Princess."

"You have done nothing, my child." Celestia assured strongly. "Nopony knew what was going to happen that day."

She shook her head in protest. "You don't understand, Princess Celestia. I was responsible for protecting the Prince inside that school. It was my personal duty and I failed to accomplish it...Let's just say it struck my pride."

Shining Armor was listening from across the table and he knocked on the table, dismissing her situation. "Miss Do--"

Daring Do cut him off. "You can call me Daring."

He grinned and continued. "Alright, Daring. After the kidnapping, Prince Blueblood's personal assistant gave us a description of what the criminal looked like, and we have the identity."

"Really?" Do inquired, utterly impressed. "That was fast! Who is he?"

Armor lifted his placemat and slid the document over to Daring who snatched it immediately. She flicked it open and there was the photo of the same aquamarine pegasus that kidnapped the Prince. Although the expression on her face was somewhat confused on why the outlined border of the photo said 'Property of the Royal Guard'. She looked up at Shining Armor. "He was a member of the Guard?"

Shining Armor bobbed his head and proceeded to explain. "This pegasi's name is Nimble Stratus. A Cloudsdale local, born to fight. When he was just a colt, his parents had enrolled him in martial arts classes. He took to it very quickly, climbing to the top of the ranks. Then as the years went by and he got more and more comfortable with fighting, Stratus eventually earned his black belt and began part taking in national competitions. But to his surprise, he never got his fame like he had hoped for. Although he did manage to win a small hoof-full."

"Interesting...So I'm guessing that he moved onto the Royal Guard shortly after?" Daring asked.

The Captain nodded again. "Yup. Since he couldn't wow the ponies at martial arts, he figured he'd sign up for the Guard. In fact, me and him enlisted on the same day. Eight years ago, we were Privates in training. I gotta say it took me some time to adjust to the constant hours of training but Nimble did it like it was nothing. He was absolutely astonishing to watch run the obstacle course. The other trainee's were even making bets with the Drill Sergeant on how fast he could complete it. He sure was a great athlete. I gotta say even I was jealous of him. Obviously he was promoted later on and was awarded his armor and Royal Guard duties. He was given position as a tower watch. That didn't go over to well with him but from what I seen he just accepted it."

Daring stared at the photograph for a long time, scanning the face of the pony that took the Dean from them. Nimble even had on a sly grin that made her scowl. Then something caught her eye on the next page when she turned over. "Wait, it says here that he was discharged on a dishonorable misconduct and arrested for conspiracy?"

"Correct," Armor answered with disgust. "About five months into his job, Stratus and his partner decided to pull off some sort of a robbery he'd been planning three months prior. You see, the tower he watching was the vault of the Royal Family. Holding many ancient documents and declarations that were centuries old, but that wasn't what Nimble and his accomplice was going for. The vault also contained the Equestrian tax bits. Billions upon billions stored in a well kept vault. Very few were acknowledged to run it. Only the Princess and about three other ponies that were hoofpicked by her were allowed admittance. It was pretty much one of the highest honors. But anyway, he had been watching these ponies go in and out every Friday afternoon to make deposits, and according to witnesses, Stratus had planned to incapacitate his fellow guards and assault the ponies when they opened the vault."

"Well how far did he get with it?" She asked laughing. "I mean that's an amateur if I ever saw one. He can't even make a good criminal!"

Shining Armor laughed as well. "Good one. Turns out his whole plan was foiled even before it began. Turns out his partner was having second thoughts about the operation and turned himself in before he could do so. So after the Captain of the Royal Guard at the time was brought in along with Princess Celestia here..."

Celestia raised her hoof to finish the rest. "Knowing he had no where to run, he confessed and then out of anger, struck his fellow guard who had finked on him. From there, I expelled him from the Royal Guard and ordered him to be brought to be court-martialed...But to our surprise, he disappeared the night before his trial." She levitated her cup once more and finished off what was left in her cup. "Finally we may be able to find some closure. We have a lead."

Daring Do shook her head. She didn't understand. "Already?"

Armor cut back in. "Yeah. A few nights ago, our headquarters in Manehatten had a visit from a very unexpected guest. Are you familiar with the name, Rusty Anchor?"

"Rusty Anchor?" She repeated slowly. "The notorious international smuggler pony? I heard the Royal Guard has been trying to find him for years. In fact I remember myself once coming into contact with him. I was in search of a rare artifact at the time and he had been chasing me for part of it...Did he have a white mane, blue coat and very muscular?"

"The same," Shining grinned. "We don't know how, but he was found tied up outside the front gates of the HQ. They brought him in for questioning and it turns out he had made a big deal before he was caught. We may not have been able to find him all these years but we were keeping track of the funds being subtracted from his various bank accounts. Apparently he spent six million bits on a single package before he was caught. The highest amount he had ever spent. He couldn't reveal the syndicate he was working for but we did manage to get a couple names out of him."

Finally, Daring had come to the conclusion that she wasn't there for questioning. She was there another reason. "Your Majesty, why have you summoned me?"

"Daring," she answered sternly. "We need your help. I have called upon you to find out what exactly is going on."

"But why me?" She asked again, puzzled even more than when she arrived. "I'm more experienced around archaeology myself. Not law and order."

The Captain's turquoise eyes lit up with confidence. "Because you are no stranger to danger, Miss Do. Also I think you'll consider helping us when you find out who one of the two suspects are."

Daring sat back in her chair then gave him a nod. "Go on."

"Our first suspect's name is Union Jack. A unicorn from Trottingham. But according to our records, he has never done or committed to anything that would jeopardize his credibility."

"I've never heard of the name."

Shining counted on that response and huffed. "Well maybe you've heard of this one...Are you familiar with the griffon known as Giovanni D'Angelo?"

Suddenly the adventuress felt like everything around froze in time. She slowly leaned forward and rested her hoof on the table, raising her brow with a noticeably wide grin. "Giovanni? As in the archaeologist, Giovanni?"

"The very same."

Do gave the Captain a slight chuckle then showcased her infamous smile that always went over so well with her adversaries over the years, including him. "Yeah I know him, and he knows me. When it comes to our professions, he's my nemesis. If not, THE nemesis. I last encountered him on my third previous expedition, in search of the lost scrolls of Ariladus. He put up a good chase but that bird brain had too much of an ego to tussle with me. He's always hated me since then. I actually can't wait to see him again...It's been too long. What's he planning this time?" Her smile grew wider when she pictured the griffon's disgruntlement in her head. It forced her to laugh.

At last Shining Armor rose from his seat and walked around to the chuckling mare. "We're not a hundred percent sure but if we get any where with Union Jack, Giovanni should fall right into place." He stood beside her with his head up high and offered his hoof. Daring halted her amusement and stared at him. Then when she knew what it meant, the pegasus stood up and shook with the Captain. He grinned back proudly. "Welcome aboard."

"I'm honored to be aboard." She thanked. "It'll feel good to save Equestria once again."

Then Princess Celestia took her stance and walked up to Daring. With her horn, she tilted her head and placed it on her right shoulder, then her left. "Good luck, my little pony. Your act of courage will not go unnoticed, I assure you."

"I won't let you down, Princess." She declared. "I never back down with the smell of adventure in the air."

To be continued

Comments

[Canon Fodder]

Chapter 3 is here! Finally Really sorry for the big delay. I had a lot on my plate this week. I hope you guys like the new chapter. If you can, please let me know about 'pacing', as that seems to be where my problems usually end up. Enjoy!

[BenRG]

So, it seems that an old enemy is, at the very least, an enabler in this matter. If he's anything like Rene Belloch in Raiders of the Lost Ark, then he's going to be a very, very unethical archaeologist who tells himself that he just does what it takes. Because of that, I'm betting that Blueblood may be needed to open a gateway to some archaeological treasure that is only accessible to one of the Unicorn Royal Family (and is weak-willed enough to either break at the mere threat of torture and stupid enough to believe Jack and D'Angelo when they promise him an equal share). D'Angelo just wouldn't be interested, no matter what the pay-off, if there wasn't any archaeology. If I'm right then this is likely going to start feeling like a Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie.

MDW is coming from the other direction. Union Jack strikes me as a possible theme master criminal. The corporation is likely just a front to help him fence stolen goods and launder funds. My bet is that he is the Big Bad with D'Angelo only being around for his practical skills. However, it is just possible that there is an as-yet-unseen Big Bad who is either manipulating or simply employing the other two to do his/her dirty work for them.

[Canon Fodder]

Chapter 4 is going under review! Really sorry for the long wait, trying to study for exams and everything, it's not all that easy. I can promise all you readers a next chapter as soon as possible.

[The Commandant]

Funny, I read this on September 26th!