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So Very Daring Ch2 (side project)

By: ShinobiPony on Dec 10th, 2012  |  syntax: None  |  size: 17.31 KB  |  hits: 83  |  expires: Never
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  2.  
  3. “Did we have to get up this earlyyyyy?” you whine tiredly as you walk along side Daring on a road leading through the noisy jungle
  4. >The sun has hardly even made it over the horizon and you’ve been on the road for an hour now
  5. >And by god do your feet hurt…
  6. >Daring rolls her eyes with a sigh before looking back up at you
  7. >”You know, we could have left at noon maybe? When it’s hot enough to fry your brain and make it nice and humid, want that next time?” she asks with a condescending look
  8. >Heat?
  9. >Fuck that noise
  10. >But there has to be a way to get the better of this argument
  11. >Right?
  12. >Right..?
  13. >…You just can’t win can you?
  14. >You cross your arms in irritation and grumble while the beige mare grins triumphantly, putting a bit more spring in her step
  15. >So far, this whole “Live an Indiana Jones movie” thing has been boring and tedious
  16. >The heat…
  17. >The jungle…
  18. >The effort…
  19. >The spiders that are so big that they can eat dogs…
  20. >Oh wait, they had those at home in Ohio
  21. >Still hate them, hairy dickweeds  
  22. >Almost half an hour is spent with no talking, the crunching of the gravel road and the sounds of the jungle wildlife providing background noise while the sun rises higher into the sky
  23. >Time to break that
  24. “Say Daring” you say, not breaking your stride
  25. >”Hmm?”    
  26. “Where are we going anyway?”
  27. >”To mount Kracontonis of course!” She exclaims as if the fact were as obvious as the wings on her back
  28. >Oh
  29. >Now if only you knew where that was
  30. >You let out a short laugh
  31. “Where?” you repeat with a grin, knowing it’ll get on her nerves
  32. >Daring groans
  33. >She takes off her pith hat and pulls a slightly crinkled map from it
  34. >Replacing her hat, she opens the map
  35. >You bend down some to get a better look and to hold the map for her
  36. >”We” Daring points a hoof near the green printed middle of the map ”Are here.”
  37. >”Kracontonis,” she drags her hoof up to the top of the map, where the land was brown and mountain filled, one standing taller than the others “Is here”
  38. >That’s…
  39. >You look at the distance scale on the map
  40. >Oh wait, you can’t read p0ny
  41. >Funny writing it is, flowing script and what you swear is hieroglyphs blended together seamlessly, at first glance one would think the spoken language would flow like crystal clear water and sound melodic from whoever spoke it, unlike the english that it’s really associated with    
  42. >Still SOL when it comes to reading it however
  43. ”What’s the scale say?”
  44. >She glances at it “About 10 miles an inch”
  45. >You take your thumb and measure the distance on the map with it
  46. >1
  47. >3
  48. >6     
  49. >8…
  50. >9…
  51. >She’s joking
  52. >She’s joking right?
  53. “We…are going to walk 90 miles to this place?”
  54. >”Mmhm at the rate we’re going it should only take, don’t give me that look!” she says when she sees your disbelieving face
  55. >Walking 90 FUCKING miles?
  56. >In the jungle no less?
  57. “You really expect us to make it there on foot?”
  58. >”Anon don’t be such a wuss. It’s not like we’re going to do it all in one go, we’ll stop once or twice”
  59. >No
  60. >What sort of fresh hell is this?
  61. “Once…or twice?” you squeak out “Across 90 miles..?”
  62. >Daring looks up at you, annoyed “Didn’t I already say that?”
  63. >She did this for a living, you didn’t
  64. >And she expected you to do this?
  65. >The nerve
  66. >But you are out of options, leave the mare and you’re on your own in an unfamiliar world  
  67. >You sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose as you hand her the map back, which she stuffs back into her hat  
  68. >Here we go…
  69. ~~~~~~~~~
  70. >Nearly 6 long, grueling, sweaty hours later at high noon, you and Daring have come to what seems to be a turbulent river crossing the road
  71. >…With no bridge
  72. >Ahead of you slightly is a brown earth p0ny stallion with a map cutie mark wearing a full pack eyeing some rocks sticking out of the rushing water
  73. >He’s not going to do it is he?
  74. “Hey buddy!”
  75. >Both he and Daring look at you
  76. “There are easier ways to kill yourself you know.”
  77. >The stallion frowns
  78. >“I was going to jump it!” he calls back
  79. “Exactly”
  80. >His frown morphs into a scowl while Daring facehoofs
  81. >The stallion trots up to you
  82. >”Look buddy I don’t know what your problem is but-Daring?!” you cuts himself off mid sentence, looking wide eyed at your travel partner
  83. >Said mare looks at him confusedly
  84. >”Urm, do I know you?”
  85. >”Yeah! Don’t you remember? It’s me! Land Mark!”
  86. >Daring blinks, then looks around awkwardly
  87. >”Oh, hey Mark…”
  88. >He trots up and nuzzles her, happy as can be
  89. >Daring just forces a smile and bears with it
  90. >Ha, who is this guy? A fanboy?
  91. >You stifle a snicker at her discomfort
  92. >He pulls back and looks at you “So, who’s your weird friend?”
  93. >Weird?
  94. >No Anon, no kicking p0nies in the face, that what got you in trouble last time
  95. >Daring glances at your now frowning face “Mark, this is Anonymous. Anon, this is Mark”
  96. >Land Mark sticks out a hoof “Nice to meet you”
  97. >You smile and take the hoof in your hand, giving it a shake
  98. “I almost wish I could say the same”
  99. >The small smile on his face dies
  100. >He pulls his hoof from you and looks back to Daring, twiddling his hooves
  101. >”So erm Daring? I was thinking…um, maybe you would want to get back together sometime?” Mark says, practically tripping over his words
  102. >Wait, get BACK together?
  103. >That’s too fucking rich!
  104. >You turn around with a hand clamped around your mouth, trying your hardest not to laugh
  105. >Turning back around, you’re just in time to see Daring give him a sympathetic look so fake that she may as well have been wearing a mask
  106. >”Mark, you’re sweet and all but it just won’t work out, you know that”
  107. >He falters but bounces back quickly “Please?”     
  108. >Wow he sounds pathetic
  109. >Reminds you of yourself in junior high…
  110. >Never again did you go to prom…      
  111. >The pegasus mare drops any pretence of kindness, giving Land Mark a glare
  112. >”I said no, why don’t you go try your luck with the river rocks?”
  113. >Ow…poor guy…
  114. >What a crock of shit, you really didn’t think that
  115. “OOOOHHHHHH! REJECTED!”
  116. >Land Mark reels back, looking almost ready to cry
  117. >Turning around, he raises his nose and trots back to the rocks
  118. >Out of the corner of your eye, you see a large shadow in the water lethargically making it’s way to the rocks
  119. >With surprising deftness, Land Mark hops several of the rocks, landing on one near the middle of the water before turning to look at you and Daring
  120. >The shadow is getting faster…
  121. >You nudge Daring and point to the water
  122. >She raises an eyebrow
  123. >”I know you’re just playing hard to get!” Mark yells from the rock, oblivious to the danger heading his way
  124. >”And when I discover all the stuff in the mountain, I know you’ll-
  125. SPLASH!
  126. CHOMP!
  127. >In a fount of water a fish the size of an SUV jumps out of the water and swallows Land Mark whole before diving back into the river
  128. >Holy shit…did that just happen?
  129. >Face frozen in shock you look at Daring to see…
  130. >Her looking like nothing had happened?
  131. >Whoa damn
  132. “Um Daring? Your ex just got eaten”
  133. >She gives you a deadpan look
  134. >”Trust me, He’ll be back… now, let’s get across the river”
  135. >What?
  136. “Whoa whoa whoa, you’re not serious”
  137. >”Anon this river runs across the whole continent, we’re going over it” she says in a tone that leaves no room for argument
  138. >…
  139. “Ooooooh ho ho hoooo, how about no?”
  140. >She raises an eyebrow, smirking “Scared?”
  141. “Well…”
  142. >You give a clap of your hands and point at the rocks in the river
  143. “After watching your weenie ex boyfriend get wasted by a fish, yes I am”
  144. >”Wuss!”
  145. “I thought we went over this?”
  146. >Daring lets out a noise of frustration “It’s not even hard!”
  147. >Without waiting for a response, she runs to the riverbank and jumps halfway across, landing on a pointy rock and hopping the others to the opposite die of the water in hardly a second
  148. >”Come on!” She yells over the sound of the rushing water
  149. >Fuck
  150. >Walking to the edge of the water, it almost seems to be going faster now…
  151. “Aaraha haaa...! I don’t wanna do this!”
  152. >Calm down Anon, you can do this…”
  153. >Taking a deep breath, you hold your hands up face height and psych yourself up
  154. “It’s cool, I’ve got this, the only thing that can happen if I mess up is a watery grave…shit”
  155. >Well that backfired   
  156. >Time for plan B
  157. >Just do it
  158. >With a running start, you jump to the closest rock, flailing like plucked chicken
  159. >You land and almost slip on the slippery thing
  160. >You watch the water rage around your rocky perch, carrying away anything unlucky enough to get caught in it
  161. >Damn this water is menacing up close…
  162. >Ok, one down, a whole lot to go…
  163. >”Comon Anon! you can do it!”
  164. >Nice to see that one of you thinks so
  165. >Slowly, you make your way across one jump at a time with all the grace of a retarded kangaroo, almost taking a permanent drink more the once
  166. >Halfway, another shadow down the river begins making it’s way to you…
  167. “Oh shit!”
  168. >It get larger, and larger, until a crocodile the size of a small apartment breaks the surface, it’s beady yellow eyes trained on you
  169. >It opens it’s mouth, showing off sword like teeth and growling loud enough to make your bones rattle
  170. >”ANON HURRY!”
  171. >Don’t need to be told that twice
  172. >You practically fly across the rocks as the croc thunders through the water at ridiculous speed, determined not to let it’s exotic meal escape
  173. >Then the worst possible thing happens
  174. >You slip…
  175. >You let out a short yell as you fall into the cold water
  176. >Vision at almost zero, you latch onto the nearest rock, your fingernails being ripped back from the force of your fear induced grip
  177. >The croc sees you in the water and doubles it’s pace, eyes gleaming with hunger
  178. >Oh dear god…
  179. >You’re going to die
  180. “No no nononono! Not like this!”
  181. >”ANON GET OUT OF THERE!” Daring screams as she rushes to you
  182. >On your rock in a flash, she reaches out a hoof
  183. >You grab it and hold on for dear life
  184. >Face screwed up in concentration, Daring pulls with all her might, bringing you slowly up out of the water
  185. >You look over your saviors shoulder to see the croc jump out of the water in a titanic torrent of water, mouth turned to the side to snap both of you up
  186. “DARING!!”
  187. >She looks and sees, her eyes widening in alarm
  188. >With one final pull, she bring you to the rock and you both jump to the next one
  189. >The croc’s jaws close around the old rock, pulverizing it in a cloud of stone shards and dust
  190. >It lands back in the water in a huge splash, surfacing and glaring balefully at you both before swimming away unfulfilled
  191. >With another jump. You and the beige mare land on the gravel road, Daring landing heavily on her side right before you both collapse, panting
  192. >You sit for a moment and shake, the harsh reality that you almost died making you think
  193. >This…this is no game
  194. >Those were real teeth that almost killed you
  195. >That water was fast enough to take you away
  196. >But did you have much choice on where you could go?
  197. >Not really, traveling with Daring is probably your only chance at making a life here
  198. >You bring a hand to your head, grimacing as your broken nails get jostled
  199. >And to think… first near death experience and you hadn’t even gotten to a temple or something yet
  200. >Fucking Christ man…
  201. >You turn to Daring, who looks just as worn out as you
  202. >She’s known you for hardly 2 weeks yet she saved your life…
  203. >You scoop a surprised Daring up into a hug
  204. “Holy…shit, Daring you’re the best you know that?”
  205. >She chuckles “Oh I know, but could you let me go?... I think I messed up my wing…”
  206. >?
  207. >You release her and she steps back
  208. >Flexing her left wing, Daring winces and puts it back down
  209. >”Sprained… Comon, lets find a town and rest,”
  210. >”Gotcha”
  211. >You smirk
  212. “Wuss”
  213. >You get a hoof to the head for that
  214. ~~~~~~~~~~~~
  215. “So what’s the damage?” you ask as Daring walks into the small and rather bland hotel room you both rented in some small border town
  216. >She shows you her wrapped up wing “Sprained, like I said, the doctor seemed a little unprofessional but this was pretty basic”
  217. “That sucks, oh well! Looks like we can’t head into any dangerous temples, cursed tombs, dragon dens, or the lairs of eldritch abominations any time soon huh?”
  218. >Ha, beat that one
  219. >She snorts with a grin “You act like I haven’t done this stuff while injured before”
  220. >Dammit
  221. >So much for that
  222. >You sigh
  223. “So still going to the mountain place?”
  224. >”Yup so you better rest up” She says cheerfully as she hangs up her shirt and hat, before heading into the bathroom, where you hear the shower start
  225. >You fall back onto your bed, hands on your face
  226. >After today you’re still on the fence about this
  227. >Pulling your hands away from your face, you look at the bandaged ends of your fingers
  228. >This is nothing compared to what could have happened
  229. >But…
  230. >The adrenaline…it felt good
  231. >And the chance for treasure and fame, a childhood dream of yours, it all just fell into your lap
  232. >What to do…
  233. >You need some time to clear your mind
  234. >Getting up out of the bed, you head for the door
  235. “Daring! I’m heading into town!” you call through the bathroom wall
  236. >”Alright! Don’t get lost!”
  237. >With a nod, you head out
  238. >Out of the room and though the lobby, you walk out into the small, currently twilit town
  239. >Walking about at a sedate pace, you look at the various shops and such, seeing some interesting items and other things among the exotic shop keepers
  240. >A black plumed griffin selling “Dominion specialty” mead
  241. >A zebra giving a demonstration on his many colored potions
  242. >A pair of bipedal dogs hawking well made jewelry in rough speech
  243. >Always something new here
  244. >Passing one of the few shops with an actual building though, you see something in the window that catches your eye
  245. >Getting close to the window, you see a large kukri knife on display
  246. “Ohhhh, so…edgy”
  247. >Looking down, you see the price tag and wince, 100 gold bits  
  248. >If you remembered right, there are 10 copper bits to a silver, and 10 silver to a gold
  249. >Digging in your pockets you find…
  250. >2 silvers and a U.S. quarter
  251. >Shitballs
  252. >Wait…
  253. >You look at the quarter and think…could you get the knife for almost free?
  254. >…Yes, yes you could
  255. >With a face splitting grin, you walk into the shop
  256. >Dodging around shelves of curios and other customers who give you looks, you come to the end of the shop where a zebra stallion decked out in gold jewelry is looking over a p0ny statuette with a magnifying glass
  257. >He looks up at you and puts his things down “Something I can help you with my tall friend?” he asks with an airy tone
  258. >Ok, bullshit time
  259. >This is what you went to law school for
  260. >You school your face into a mask of udder indifference
  261. “Yes, I saw the curved knife in your window and found my interest piqued, care to tell me about it?” you say in a droning monotone voice
  262. >He nods with an oily smile “Yes, fine thing it is, griffin work, high grade steel, very durable and it even come with an upkeep kit”
  263. >Interesting   
  264. >You glance back at it
  265. “I see, but there is one problem…I do not have 100 gold”
  266. >The zebra shakes his head “Then no sale can be made”
  267. >You raise a hand
  268. “I’m not done, I do believe I can offer something more valuable however”
  269. >”Go on…”
  270. >You pull the quarter from your pocket and offer it to him
  271. >He looks it over with a scrutinizing eye
  272. >”A well struck coin no doubt, but what is it?”
  273. >Here we go, time for some improvising
  274. “A token from my lord, he owes anyone who owns it one favor, no matter what it is”
  275. >”Oh really? And just who is this lord?”
  276. >Think fast!
  277. “Fortinbras Ophelia  Rosenkranz, high sovereign of the nation of America” you say, thinking of the most complicated name you could
  278. >Now the shop keeper seems interested “And what is within his power?”
  279. >This could be a stretch, but…
  280. “Anything” you say, still remaining monotone
  281. >”Anything?”
  282. >You nod  
  283. “Riches, power, America is the most powerful nation in the wartorn human world, and for good reason”
  284. >”Human world?”
  285. >Home stretch, here we go!
  286. “Indeed, I was brought to this world by accident, and when a rescue party arrives, I can direct them to you”
  287. >He narrows his eyes
  288. “If you suspect me of lying then ask yourself this, have you ever seen something like me?”
  289. >He sighs, looking between the coin and you
  290. >“Anything…” he mumbles
  291. >”Why would you trade something like this for a knife?”
  292. >Easy
  293. “Immediate survival, supplies don’t get more basic than a good knife”
  294. >Again he thinks
  295. >Comon take it…
  296. >Then a grin comes to his face
  297. >”Deal”
  298. ~~~~~~~~~~~~
  299. >You make it back to the hotel room with your prize strapped to your belt to find Daring drying herself
  300. >”Hey Anon what…where did you get that?” she says, pointing at your belted knife
  301. “Well I may or may not have conned some shopkeeper
  302. >She blinks
  303. >“Anon?”
  304. “Hmm?” you ask, heading to take your own shower
  305. >”P0nies get strung up around here for that”
  306. >You stop dead
  307. “W-what?”
  308. >”No joke” she says, her voice even
  309. >Silence rules for several seconds, then
  310. “So, up and out first thing tomorrow?”
  311. >”Sounds like a plan”  
  312.  
  313. Here we are, SVD Chapter 2
  314.  
  315. Comments? Questions? Things I can fix?
  316.  
  317. Good? Bad? Meh?
  318.  
  319. Paste will be updated shortly
  320.  
  321. http://pastebin.com/u/ShinobiPony