Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone

  "My eyes have seen the glory of the power of Friendship...

  "My eyes have seen the glory of the power of Friendship...

  "My eyes have seen the glory of the power of Friendship...

  "Its magic will last forever...

  "Ugh, I can never remember the next part!"

  Daring Do's voice reverberated off of the concrete walls of the sweltering prison cell. As always, it was a frigid one hundred and twelve degrees in Manehico City, and there was a plethora of wonderful summer activities for Daring in her jail cell, including playing wall ball with crumpled-up paper, counting to a million, and singing the song she's had stuck in head since she was unjustly arrested by militants two weeks ago.

  "Its magic will last foreeeeeeveeeeeeer..."

  "Has anyone ever told you that you have a wonderful voice? You sound just like your sister!"

  Daring sprang up from her downward-facing position on her cot. "Flamington! It's about time!"

  Two guards that flanked the dragon unlocked the door of the cell, allowing Daring to accost her savior. "How many pages this time?" she asked Flamington.

  "I lost count around two fifty, and that doesn't even count the forms the lawyers had to fill out, and the pardons from Celestia's desk."

  "Jeez, that's gotta be some sort of record."

  "What can I say? Manehico's always been pretty screwed up, don't you think?"

  The freed pegasus laughed amid the dirty looks from the guards resulting from Flamington's comment. She really had no idea what she would do without her trusty secretary; he was the Trotson to her Sherlock Horse, the loyal realist to her idealistic ambition. And now he had aided in her release from political prisonerhood for the sixth time. Daring shrugged when he revealed this figure to her as they left the prison grounds, saying, "Hey, that's what happens when you try to take photo essays in the middle of war zones!"

  She was referring to the reason she came to Manehico in the first place: she was reporting on political instability in the nation for the publication she worked for, Equestrian Geographic. She was just a writer now, but she knew that if she worked hard and wrote great stories, she could succeed Globetrotter as Editor-In-Chief one day!

  Of course, before that could happen they had to get out of Manehico City. They hailed a wagon-taxi pulled by two chupacabras and climbed in. The streets were full of wagons pulled by chupacabras (also known as just chupas), as that demographic made up most of the population of Manehico ever since ponies withdrew their influence nearly a decade ago. They really didn't want to, but corrupt politicians had convinced the populace that ponies were evil in order to win votes, and it quickly became dangerous for ponies to stay in the country. These days most chupas didn't hate ponies anymore, but some still did, which was why Daring found herself being barraged by hateful stares as the wagon-taxi pulled along.

  "You see all these chupas staring at us? It's creeping me out!" said Daring.

  "If I were you," said Flamington, "I'd be worried about the ones that are following us, especially the guys with the rifles."

  Daring's blood ran cold as she turned to face the stalkers behind them. Chupas only used weapons for one reason: to blow ponies to smithereens. Daring had felt that "I'm going to die today" feeling a few times prior, but this was even more dire, especially since she recognized the pursuers as not only the chupas that wrongfully arrested her two weeks prior, but the others that captured her the six other times and their cronies.

  Daring was so wrapped up in her trepidation that she didn't realize that the convoy was now actively chasing them and that Flamington, ever vigilant, had ordered the drivers to run like crazy. She was brought back to reality by the sound of gunfire ringing through the city streets and by Flamington's screams.

  "Great Celestia! The drivers got hit!"

  The wagon-taxi came to a sudden halt as the injured drivers collapsed. The two darted from the immobile vehicle like hooves from boiling water, Flamington taking care to leave a hundred bits in the cab as an apology.

  The pair could actually go faster by flying, but they couldn't go for too long before their wings wore out, and their exposed forms were easy targets for the shooters.

  "There's a balloon waiting for us just outside the city," said Flamington, breathless. "If we can get there in time we're safe."

  "So what are you saying?" Daring breathed. "We have to keep dodging bullets until we either reach this balloon or our wings give up?"

  "Do you have a better idea?!" he retorted.

  "Actually, I do!" she said.

  With Daring leading, they zipped into an alleyway, and as soon as they came upon a wall they shot into the sky at a ninety-degree angle, leaving the flightless chupas to hopelessly aim at two shrinking dots in the sky.

  They could see the balloon from their vantage point, and zoomed toward it as fast as their abilities would allow. "This is a great idea," he said, "But now instead of dying from gunshot wounds I'm going to die when my wings give out and I hit the ground."

  "Don't talk like that!" she encouraged. "I know you can make it!"

  "Except I can't," said Flamington, who dropped out of the sky like a bowling ball when his unexcercised asthmatic bookworm's wings gave a one last push and finally ran out of energy.