Prologue

I walked into the bar and stopped in the door. There were only 7 ponies here, well 6 ponies and a griffin. Four stallions - all earth ponies - sitting in the corner booth with the griffin, while a brown pegasus mare, whose outfit i can only describe as stereotypical adventure wear, sits in front of the bar. She looks to be talking with the bartender, who noticed me as I walked up to sit down a few seats away from the mare.

"Steel? I'll be damned it is you!" Whiskey, the bartender, called out to me in a coarse, aged voice. He was one of few ponies I've made friends with in my travels.

"Yeah it is! Hard cider," I replied sitting down, "hows business?"

"It's a little slow right now, but I believe it'll pick up in a couple hours when everypony gets off work." I caught the bottle after Whiskey slid it towards me. I took a swig and embraced the cleansing fire as it rushed through esophagus. "I haven't seen hide nor hair of you in nearly two years, how have you been."

"pretty good." I could be better, but Whiskey is one of my friends and I won't weigh him down with my problems. I looked back as I heard shuffling. The group in the booth had gotten up and walked up to the mare, who I swear looks like she is right out of a Daring Do book, and began to hassle her. They didn't talk loud enough for me to make out what they said, but it couldn't have been polite. Whiskey took notice of the tone of their whispers, and walked over to deal with them.

This gave me some time alone to reflect on my thoughts as I would usually do when at a bar. My past proceeded to move to the front of my mind. I'm a unicorn born to two earth ponies. They were bakers in downtown Manehattan, and they hoped i would follow in their hoofsteps. They were a little surprised when I got my cutie mark, with it being gold and silver shield with an olive branch over it and not something baking related, but they were proud of what it meant. It shows my tenacity to protect those who can not protect themselves. That made them tear up, but at least they have my sister, Banana Bread, to help around the shop. I naturally moved to Canterlot after high school to join the royal guard.

My thoughts were interrupted when one of the earth pony hecklers tapped my shoulder. I looked up at him, he was a good foot taller than me.

"You should leave," he stated in a passive-aggressive tone of voice. I didn't like his attitude, so grabbed my cider and took another swig. The fact that i was ignoring him might have pissed him off a bit. He grabbed my shoulder and forced me to face him. "I said leave!"

I stood up and looked over his shoulder and saw the griffin 'escorting' Whiskey out of the watering hole. That made me simmer on the inside. I then noticed that the other 3 earth ponies and mare were talking a bit louder. My eyes connected with the asshole trying to ruin my good time. I inhaled the last bit hard cider in the bottle, and proceeded to introduce it to it's newest best friend, the earth pony's head.

He collapsed with a thud as the others turned to see what the loud DUNK was. I threw the bottle at the griffin ponyhandling my friend. It shattered on contact, knocking out the poor bastard. I may be a unicorn, but you can't protect royalty if you can't physically fight. The mare made use of the distraction by grabbing one of the earth ponies and slamming his head into the counter.

The first casualty decided it was time to get up. I promptly stopped him with my boot. I didn't, however, take into account the pony charging at me. He sent me to the floor and proceeded with a chain of punches to my head. I lifted my arms in a way that would guard my cranium from his assault while I developed a plan. I saw an opening, and sent my left fist into his throat. While he was stunned, I pulled him to the side so that I was over him. He was out by the third punch.

"GET OUT OF MY BAR!!" Whiskey was now holding the blunderbuss that hung over the counter. I stood up and pulled my two flintlocks from my coat and pointed it at the offenders still standing. The 3 remaining ponies, noticing their situation, quickly gathered their unconscious friends and left. I placed the pistols back into their respective holsters. "Who the fuck did they think they were making a mess in my bar?" Whiskey sighed as he grabbed a broom and mop to clean the mess.

"Sorry about that," the mare finally spoke in a raspy tone.

"To be fair, I through the first pu....uh... bottle." I interrupted, "did you know those stallions miss?"

"The names Daring, Daring Do, and no i didn't know them." yep I'm going nuts. "They wanted to stop me from finding the book.."

"Wait, did you say Daring Do?" She nodded. "As in the Daring Do from the books." She nodded again. Whiskey and I Swapped looks, then began laughing hysterically. "What in Cerberus's ass did you put in my drink Whiskey!?!"

"What are you laughing at?" She didn't looked amused. She couldn't be THE Daring Do. Those are just books, right? "You're Steel Aegis, am I correct?" The fact that she knew my full name didn't sit right. I ordered another cider and sat down.

"That would be me." I don't like where this is going.

"You wouldn't by any chance know where Fort Hoffen is would you?" Upon hearing that name, anger shot through my body causing me to clinch my fists. The bottle I was holding shattered and cut my hand, but the burn of alcohol on my wounds did not even compare to the fury radiating from my insides. She flinched, "I'll take that as a yes."

"WHY IN CELESTIA'S FAT SHINING ASS WOULD YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE THAT IS!" I lost a lot of friends at Fort Hoffen. It is in the ass end of nowhere, and overrun by monsters not even the creatures in the Everfree can hold a candle to in how disturbing and murderous they are. I am removed from my anger as Whiskey had grabbed a first aid kit and began doctoring my hand.

"I'm looking for The Book of Ethereal Secrets." She announced with an all too enthusiastic smile.

"Don't, That book caused every problem there was for Fort Hoffen," I said. Daring Do or not, going to Fort Hoffen is a bad idea. "That place is full to the brim with things that would make your skin crawl, figuratively and literally."

"Please tell me where it is, nopony else will." She pleaded.

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe they didn't tell you for a reason?" I asked. All that got from her was an adorable pout.

Whiskey finished wrapping my hand in bandages. I stood up and payed my tab and began walking to the door. "Thanks for drinks Whiskey, farewell."

"Stay safe, Steel, and good luck." Whiskey replied

I began walking down the streets of Trottingham to the hotel I was staying in. It wasn't fancy, but it was better then the street. Strange, I swear I could hear wings flapping. I looked around the airspace above the street but saw nothing. I finally arrived to the hotel and entered my room. It had one twin sized bed and a small bathroom, cozy.

Author's Note

This is my first story, so constructive criticism is appreciated.