Damn, my head… was her first thought as she slowly rose out of unconsciousness. Her second was Wait, where the heck am I?
Slowly but surely, her senses began to respond to her stimulating brain. Her two ears began to hear again, and picked up the sound of distant conversation. Her skin now felt, and they felt the cold, flat sheet of metal that she was lying backside on, with her wings gently folded to the sides of her body. And her eyes… she just needed to open them. So she did, and she was met with white brightness shining down on her face that forced her to squint so as to not be blinded. Her eyes adjusted in a short time luckily, and she was able to survey her surroundings.
But it did not look good.
She appeared to be in some sort of small, barren room with everything bleached in white. It looked kind of like a doctor’s office, with various tables with scary looking instruments that are used for medical purposes.The voices she had heard waking up belonged to some figures standing at the opposite side of the room from where she lie, and though she could not make them out completely, she did see enough of the outline of their bodies and conclude that they were ponies like her. Their voices still seemed faint, however, and her own vision was still mostly blinded by the intense light, which turned out to be a giant lamp seen in operating rooms.
I have… to try and talk to them, the tired pony thought, and opened her mouth to speak. Unfortunately, all that managed to come through were some dry coughs. The ponies on the other side of the room heard and calmly walked over to the table she was sitting at. From there, she was able to get a closer look at them.
There were four of them, varying colors and manes. She couldn’t see what kind of ponies they were, as their white lab coats covered most of their bodies. They all wore big goggles that blocked the pony from seeing their eyes.
Immediately, they crowded around the table with the recovering pony and began to work. The pegasus had not yet seen the equipment that lied around her, but they also ignored it and focused on her instead. One colt pulled out a pen and notepad as the others began inspecting the pony on the table.
“Subject 1207 appears to be awaking and gaining consciousness. No noticeable errors as of right now.” One of the ponies pulled out a strange cushion-like object and wrapped it around her leg. It expanded with air and squeezed her leg a bit before retracting again. “Blood pressure is stable.” Another pony pulled out a miniature hammer and tapped it against one of the knees of her hind-legs. The leg responded by twitching at the disturbance of the funny bone, and her wings also flared out in response. “Reflexes seem to be in check. Alright, that about does it for the initial inspection. Moving onto the conversational inspection.”
Three of the ponies proceeded to leave the room through a door that was located to the right of the pony. The mare with the notepad and pen stayed behind, jotting down a few more notes after the door had closed. Eventually, she directed her attention to recovering pony and gave a calm smile before proceeded to speak.
“Hello there, my name is Opal. I would like to ask you a few questions, since we’re just talking and all. First of all, can you manage to speak?”
What a nice lady, the fatigued pony thought to herself. Her throat was still dry, but she managed to get out a “Yes”.
“Oh, are you thirsty? I’m sorry, let me get you some water.” With that, Opal hurried out of the room and returned with a cup. After a nice long swig of water, the pony cleared her throat and nodded to the mare. “Better,” she said.
“Good. Now, can you tell me how you feel right now?”
She thought a bit before starting, not noticing Opal frantically jotting down notes, “Pretty bad, to be honest. I can barely move most of my body and I have this huge headache right now.” She began to get worried and turned to the likeable mare. “Am I gonna be okay? I mean, I must’ve gone through a pretty big procedure, right?”
Opal stopped writing down notes to speak to the mare, “Of course, honey, everything will be alright. The procedure worked with great success, and pretty soon, you’ll gain back control of your body.” She gave the pegasus another gentle smile, and in her heart, she knew she would be alright.
“Now, before I go, I just want to ask you one last question. Is that alright?” The mare nodded and smiled. “Do you remember what your name is?”
“Of course I do,” the mare responded confidently, laughing in her mind at how silly of a question it sounded, “It’s… it’s… uggh…”
It was only then that she realized she had know idea who she is.
… No… No, this can’t be, she thought to herself, horrified at her lack of memory. She tried desperately to remember anything about her life or her identity, but her mind was blank. She had amnesia.
“No, I don’t,” she said shakily after a while.
She looked up at the nice mare, expecting some sort of sad response. But Opal gave no real response and only proceeded to jot down more notes. “Good, good. Alright 1207, that will be all for today. Other ponies will be with you shortly to lead you along with the others to the bunkers. Hope you feel better soon.” With that, she began to walk towards the door.
The mare was at a loss for words. “B-but,” she stammered out, “I have no memories; I don’t remember who I am. Please, who am I?”
Opal looked back and smiled, “Silly mare. That’s perfectly normal around here. You are a part of us now. Enjoy your time here.”
The pegasus lied on the table, too confused and scared to speak. How could she have amnesia? Who was she? Where was she? Why was she here?
No point in trying to figure all that out right now, the confused mare told herself, Right now, I need to get out of here. Something strange was happening, she could feel it. What it was... she had no idea what it was, but her instincts told her that whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
First off, my body. She tried to lift her head and found that she could only lift so far; she still had not gained full control of her bodily functions. But it was enough; she smiled to herself and tried to lift her legs as well.
But they were restrained by metal latches that attached themselves to the table.
Oh no… she pulled and struggled with all her might, but the restraints held and she was stuck there, lying on the cold metal table. Okay, this is officially a bad thing. Stuck in an room where ponies normally gained amnesia. Just great.
…No… no, I won’t let this happen to me! All the emotional energy was building up in her body as she thought to herself, I will get out of here! I WILL!
What happened next could was very unexpected. She once again pulled on the metal restraints, and heard the loud noise of crunching metal before she discovered that she was free. She hopped off the table and looked down at her legs. The restraints were still wrapped around her ankles, but the part that had connected to the table had been ripped off.
Did I really just do that? She quietly shook the thought from her head, seeing as how she had more important things to deal with. Like trying to find out how to get out of this… place.
Suddenly, the door behind her opened and there stood the same ponies that had examined her earlier. Before she could react, the two larger ones rushed at her and tackled her to the ground, pinning her down. The one called Opal quickly turned to the colt next to her and told him, “Hurry! Alert the security! Subject 1207 has escaped! RUN YOU FOOL!”
The coated-pony bolted out the door, leaving Opal to deal with the detained mare. “Now please, 1207, if you just calm down and take it easy, we can explain…”
“NO! Let me go! What have you done with me?” the struggling mare shouted. The two colts were still holding her down, but it was becoming harder and harder as the mare became more angry and violent.
“There is no need for this. All you need to do is…”
“TO GET AWAY FROM YOU CRAZY MOTHERBUCKERS!” With all her confusion and anger boiling within her, she let out a mighty scream and threw the two colts off of her. They each slammed into the walls of the room and slumped to the floor. Opal, now worried and scared, ran out of the door, leaving the mare inside with two unconscious ponies. Not wanting to stay for any longer, the mare also left through the same door.
Now she found herself in long hallway, with multiple doors on either side. In her panicked state, she picked a direction and ran for it. The doors on either side of her ran on for what seemed like an eternity, all the while she galloped with the greatest of ease down the corridor. The early fatigue and weariness that had hindered her earlier were gone; they were replaced by sheer adrenaline. I wonder… how am I not tired yet? This thought flashed very briefly in her head, but she pushed it back out. Escape now, answers later.
After a long while, she finally broke out of the long hallway out into a larger room. The room was shaped like a giant dome, with multiple hallways branching in eight directions opposite of one another. Are those hallways like the one I just ran through? she wondered. Covering the dome was a glass ceiling, with a clear vantage point of the Equestrian sky. An escape. But how in the world was she gonna…?
“Stop right there, young mare!”
The pony turned around to find her warden, Opal, followed by about five tough-looking stallions close behind her. Definitely look like the types of ponies I would not want to mess with. She backed up instinctively, making sure that she kept her assailants in her sights. It’s almost as if she had been in this type of situation before…
Opal smiled and calmly walked out in front of the stallions. “Please, don’t try this game with us. You know perfectly well that your chances of… leaving are very slim. If you just come with us, we can explain everything.” With that, she held her hoof in an act of friendship, the same smug smile spread across her face.
“And how can I know I can trust you?” the mare asked suspiciously. There is no way she could trust somepony who tied others down and ignored their amnesia, right?
The smile only grew wider as Opal replied, “Because if you go out there alone, you will be alone forever. Your amnesia will not go away; this I can assure you. You will not be able to remember anything about your past. About your family. Friends. Anypony. You will be completely alone.” Tears began to run down the pony’s cheek as Opal kept on talking. “That’s why if you stay here, with us, we can help you. You will be cared for, treated well, and socializing with the others. All that we ask of you is for you to open up to us so that we can help you overcome your problem.”
A pause, and then, “What do you say, Daring Do?”
The crying pony’s ears popped up. “What did you call me?”
“Daring Do,” Opal said plainly, “That is your name, after all.”
Daring Do… My name… A sense of joy overcame her. Maybe staying here wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.
Daring looked up to reply to the unicorn in front of her. But upon looking up, she noticed that Opal wasn’t looking at her, rather she was looking behind her. With her ears perked up, Daring could faintly hear hoofsteps right behind her.
Oh no, YOU DON’T! Her instincts took over and she kicked out her hind legs to buck the stallion behind her right in the snout. He fell in pain, dropping the syringe he was carrying. She looked angrily at Opal, whose devilish smiling face had now turned once again panicked. The unicorn backed away as the much buffer stallions rushed at Daring.
Time to have some fun, she thought to herself. The first stallion rushed swinging blindly. Daring was able to duck down below his bucks and swept him off his hooves, sending him sprawling onto the floor. The second was just as easy to sidestep, and she effectively bucked him right in the flank. The others, seeing their comrades taken out so easily, hesitated a bit, giving the quick mare enough time to run up to them and apply a barrage of quick jabs to them in the span of a second or so.
All five stallions lied on the within five seconds. In all honesty, Daring was just as surprised as Opal was. Did I really just do that? Utter disbelief, however, soon turned to pride. Oh man, I am so awesome! I can kick some serious flank! She now turned her attention to the stunned unicorn who was just about to turn and run herself. With the greatest of ease, Daring managed to run past the retreating mares and effectively cut off her escape route. Opal now had no hope of running away from this super-pony.
“Now, tell me,” said Daring, her voice filled with rage that she could only barely contain, “Who am I and how did I get here?”
Opal opened her mouth to answer, but another voice behind them beat her to the punch. “Poor, poor Daring Do.”
Daring Do turned around, unsure what to expect. Behind her, she found a tall green earth pony with a trimmed black mane. He wore nothing but big sunglasses. A quick glance at the side of his flank revealed a rather peculiar Cutie Mark, a gavel used in some of Equestria’s higher courts. He stood behind her with a very calm appearance, seemingly not caring that Daring had just taken out five stallions in one fell swoop.
The pegasus bared down in an offensive position. “Who are you and what do you want? Stay back, I’m warning you!”
The stallion, however, did not seem afraid as he approached the hunched over escapee in a stroll. “I’m sorry, are you upset? Then again, I would be upset too if my memory had been taken away from me. Such poor times call for desperate measures, don’t you think?” He smiled, hoping to get some empathy from Daring Do, but all he got was a deep growl. He frowned, “You truly don’t get it, do you?”
“Oh, I get everything!” she screamed out, her repressed anger now starting to show, “I get how you most likely foal-napped me from my home and did something with my brain! And I definitely get that you’re planning to hold me against my will just so that you could do… whatever with me! And I. Don’t. LIKE IT!”
Surprisingly, he still wasn’t intimidated. He only sighed and shook his head, “Such cruel things you are accusing us of, Mrs. Do. Well, sorry to burst your stubborn bubble, but we aren’t the ones that did this to you.” The young buck pulled out a sheet of paper from behind his back and held it out to the confused mare.
“What are you…” Slowly, she began to read the paper over, which was actually a form of some sort. It read:
Extensive Skills Training Facility
E.S.T.F requires all participants to undergo intense surgery before beginning physical and mental training. This surgery is a result of the latest medical and chemical advances that will prepare the equine body for extensive training and enhancing. There are no guarantees that the surgery will occur without incident, which is incidentally why E.S.T.F requires every pony to sign into their care and give their consents. We hope you choose the right choice.
Below the inscription was a signature line. On that line was a very sloppy and large signature from someone who clearly did not have the best handwriting in the world. It read Daring Do.
This name, she thought, was written by me. Except I had all my memories when I wrote it. But they’re gone now… No, this can’t be mine! I-it just can’t! Her subdued anger was building up again, just like when she broke out of her bonds.Strength once again filled her muscles, and with a mighty shout, she leapt into the air and spread her wings, beginning her ascension upwards. The glass barrier zoomed towards her, but only shattered as she broke through it. Daring Do flew off into the distance, not looking back to the place of her departure.
The calm stallion watched as she flew up and broke through the glass dome, not even flinching as tiny glass shreds rained down on them. Opal, recovering from her shock, walked over to her boss, whose expression she could not read. Hesitantly, she asked, “Should we give pursuit, Swirling Bay?”
He turned to look at her, his expression lighting up once again. “No. Let her go,” he said calmly as he began to walk away. “Don’t forget we’re in the middle of nowhere, Opal. She’ll be dead within the next three days. Shame, I really wanted to keep her here. She would’ve done great things for us.”
And he left the room, leaving Opal to deal with the shattered ceiling and unconscious ponies.
Author's Note
**PLEASE READ: IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW**
Now let me explain a few things. I came up with this idea before the premiere of Season Four, thus I was actually in the process of writing this when "Daring Don't" aired in the US. And I was one of the people who didn't like the concept of Daring Do as an actual canon character. To me, she is and always will be an extension of Rainbow Dash's design and not a real pony. So for this story, I will be fore-going the canon MLP and sticking with the original canon that Daring Do was a fictional character in that world.
Daring Do lost track of time as she soared past the endless amounts of sky and clouds. When she had broken free of the glass, she had found herself in the middle of some sort of desert, with no particular landscapes around her. Not wanting to be caught by her potential pursuers, she chose a random direction and stuck to it, expanding the limits of her wings to carry her away from her prison.
Now, after who-knows-how-long, she was absolutely exhausted. Her wings were sore and barely flapping, and she was losing altitude quickly. Deciding enough was enough, she found a nice elevated piece of Earth and aimed to land on it. She didn’t drop at a good enough angle, however, and landed pretty roughly on her front legs, rolling over a few times.
Okay, that could’ve gone better. After adjusting herself and making sure she hadn’t sustained any serious injuries, Daring surveyed the land around her. She was no longer in the desert, which was good for her. She now seemed to be in a sprawling grass field with lots of trees. No signs of civilization, though.
She spotted a small pool of water nearby where she had landed. Relieved beyond words, she trotted over anxious to cool her hot and dry throat. Just as she reached the water’s edge and lowered her head to sip up the water, she stopped and saw her reflection in the water. The bright violet eyes of herself stared back. It was the first time she had seen herself since waking up.
No clothes or accessories covered the pale, yellow fur that coated her entire equine body, including the tall and muscular wings that sat folded on both her sides. Her mane and tail, stripes of varying shades of grey stretching across them, seemed short and streamlined, almost perfectly designed for not getting in the way while flying. On her flank lay a mark the shape of a compass of sorts, pointing to the four directions: North, South, East, and West. Daring could easily remember what that was called: a cutie mark, a sign of her special talent. But she couldn’t well enough recall how she had gotten it, or what it even meant.
“So this is me, huh?” she asked aloud, though she knew nopony was around to hear her, “Daring Do. Nice to meet you, even though this isn’t the first time we’ve met.” Her reflection copied her every move. Not surprising. She sighed, “But I’m sure I’ll find out more about you. I promise, we will make it out of this okay.” She tenderly sat on the cool grass next to the water and closed for eyes, instantly knocking herself out due to exhaustion.
“Poor, poor Daring Do. If only you knew who you really were, you wouldn’t be so quick to say that…”
Upon waking up, Daring Do felt much better than the night before, so she once again took to the sky in the same direction she had been headed before. She had earlier grazed on some of the grass surrounding where she was, although it was only because she needed the nutrition and she had no equipment on her that could help her find food anyway. She was especially sad about leaving the pool as well without even a small bottle to store some precious liquid for later. She was confident, however, that she could locate water another location.
Flying through the air at what seemed like a comfortable cruising distance was pretty sweet, she couldn’t lie about that. Especially when you weren’t worrying about being captured. Now that she had a clear head in the air, she could truly think about the situation she was and make reflections.
Although she really had no idea where she was truly, she figured that as long as she stuck to a due course, she would be bound to find some sort of civilization and from there… then what? What if she ended up somewhere where nopony could help her, or worse, what if she couldn’t find anypony at all? How did she know she wasn’t flying towards the the massive Pegacific Ocean? And besides, even if she did reach civilization, how could she ever track down her beloved if she couldn’t even figure out who she was?
The more she thought about how much of a pickle she was in, however, the more determined she became. So what if I can’t find anyone to help me right away? At least I’ll be alive.
Alive. The ponies back at the underground prison said that they would keep her alive, and they didn’t seem to be joking. Heck, they even said they would protect her and care for her. Maybe she should’ve stayed with them. At least then she wouldn’t have to deal with surviving.
Daring shook her head. No, she thought, I shouldn’t be thinking stuff like that. Just because they said something doesn’t mean that they will do it. That kind of thinking gets ponies killed, Daring.
Yes, but what about the signature? Wait… Yeah, the signature. The one that was clearly signed by Daring Do. Surely, if the real Daring Do had signed over her life to those ponies, then she would’ve been okay with it. She might’ve even…
NO! STOP THINKING LIKE THAT, DAMNIT! I’M THE REAL DARING DO AND I KNOW IT!
…
…
…
Daring sighed, erasing the morbid thoughts from her head as she flew in the direction of her choice. She may have had no idea on where she was going, but at least it would be somewhere of her own choice. A choice that would lead to either life or death.
Author's Note
A bit on the shorter side, I know, but I didn't want to go too much into detail about Daring's Journey. I want this fic to be as short as possible because I'm afraid that if I take too much time on it, I'll eventually lose interest and would want to go on to other projects.
That being said, though, next chapter will have Daring finding civilization, and guess what? She just so happens to stumble upon a little town by the name of Ponyville. How convenient...
If you like what you've read so far, leave a comment, like the story, maybe even add this to your favorites so you could keep up with the updates. Until next chapter, see you later!
