“So you’re Neighland!” Daring shouted as she glared at the pony standing a few feet away from her.

“Why, yes. And you, of course, are the famous Daring Do from the popular stories. I can say I knew that you did exist, but never would have I imagined I would have the privilege to meet face to face with such an extraordinary pony.” Neighland smirked. He looked over to one of the masked ponies and ordered, “Search that saddlebag, they might be carrying what we are after.”

The pony saluted before making his way over to bag set on the ground. Daring struggled as the pony searched the bag on top of her back. She tried to rise up on her hooves, only to feel another sharp pain to the back of her head. Yelping in pain, she clutched the back of her head, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Opening her eyes again, a shadow flashed by, followed by a hoof to her face.

“Hey!” Roughneck yelled, but then gasped as a leg made contact with his stomach, causing him to grab his barrel and cough up blood. A hoof moved within his line of sight followed by a sharp sting to the side of his head.

Neighland shook his head at the sight before turning to face the pony searching the saddlebag. The stallion retrieved the briefcase from the bag before standing to walk over to give it to Neighland. Taking it from the hooves of the pony, he nodded his thanks and looked to the two ponies on the ground.

“It seems you two brought me exactly what I wanted. I would thank you both for your help, but I have more pressing matters to attend to.” Handing it off to a pony at his right, he leaned closer to whisper his instructions, “Take this to the facility.”

Daring watched the mare holding the briefcase nod to Neighland before waving some of the masked ponies over. The mare disappeared into the thicket of brush, rustling the branches as she left. “No!” The adventurer yelled out. A clicking noise resonated from the right side of her head as she felt the tip of a crossbow bolt prod the side of her face. Sitting still, she swiveled her eyes, seeing the masked pony behind the crossbow.

One of the ponies moved next to Neighland. “Sir, what shall we do with them?” The masked stallion asked.

The business pony looked over to the two captives for a brief moment before turning back to the stallion. “Do what you will with them.” He gave a curt nod to the ponies behind her. A sudden pain shot up her body as she felt a hoof hit the side of her face.

“Leave her alone!” Roughneck yelled as he sprung up from the ground, punching one of the Neighland ponies. One of the masked thugs retaliated by hitting him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him as he fell back to the ground. Roughneck kneeled, gasping for air before the butt of a crossbow made contact with his head, three other guards charged in to pummel him further as he slumped in a heap.

“Now if you two will excuse me, I must depart for a meeting back at Neighland Industries. The company Yupony and I will be working out a deal on a merger.” With those words, Neighland disappeared through a group of the masked guards, leaving the brutal scene.

Daring shielded herself with her forelegs, feeling hooves hit her stomach and sides. Every hit she took seared with pain, making her cry out. She felt herself being heaved from ground before roughly being sat back on her haunches. She looked up at a uniformed stallion in front of her and swung a hoof at him, striking his face. He backed off, swearing in pain, but before she could swing at him again, her forelegs were pulled back by another two guards. “Well, isn’t this precious. Mare thinks she stands a chance.” One of the guards joked.

“Oooh, a feisty one.” The guard she struck cruelly grinned, rubbing his sore jaw. He spat out a tooth she had knocked loose and stared at it as it laid on the grass in a mixture of blood and spit. He nodded as he leered over her again. Leaning close, he whispered, “That’ll cost ya, and I think I know how you can make up for it.” He smiled before pushing his lips into hers. The mare gasped, but desperately struggled against the masked pony. A warm and slimy appendage wormed its way into her mouth, her eyes widening in disgust as she fought back, her screams of anger muffled by the stallion’s mouth. Thinking fast, she bit down with all her force, nearly gagging on the warm, viscous liquid that poured into her mouth.

The stallion screamed in pain, struggling to free his tongue. She let go as his friends helped to pull him back, causing them to fall into a heap on the ground. Another of the masked ponies watching the scene rushed over, but as she heard his hoofsteps coming from her right, she brought her right hind leg back and kicked him in the groin. With a howl of pain, the stallion dropped to the jungle floor, holding his wounded pride as he rolled about on the ground. Running to Roughneck’s side, she punched one of the assaulting guards, knocking him aside and freeing Roughneck to strike one of the guards as he finally got to his hooves.

Before they could make a break for the trees, Daring felt another hoof hit her and saw Roughneck go down as well. More hooves gripped her as she felt something around her forelegs, tying them together. Looking around, she gasped as she saw Roughneck, bruised with blood slowly trickling out of his mouth. The stallion chuckled lightly, murmuring weakly, “Is… th-that all you got?” A hoof greeted his jaw with a spurt of blood.

“Oooh, you’re gonna pay for that.” Threatened the stallion that she bit. He spat blood at her hooves before looking behind her, smirking at what he saw. “Tie them up to that.”

Daring growled, looking at the other ponies with a scowl of pure hatred. She felt the ground slide underneath her legs. Looking back, a pony was dragging her to a fallen tree. The light gold pegasus turned to see Roughneck dragged as well, drooping over slightly.

The sound of water grew ever closer as it echoed behind her. Though she couldn’t see it, she knew that a river must be behind her. Fumbling with the rope tied around her hooves, she tried to loosen the bindings. She watched as a couple more ponies moved in front of her, holding more rope. She felt the pony dragging her push her against the fallen tree as the other two handed the rope off to one of her captors. Daring watched as they circled them three times before she felt the rope tighten around her forelegs and chest. She tried to break free, but the ropes were too tight.

“Push them in!” One of the stallions shouted. Everything turned upside down as she and Roughneck plunged into the cold river, the chilling waters stinging their cuts and bruises as they were washed along.

The log burst from the water, the mare gasping for air as the log finally settled. Hearing the stallion coughing from the other side of the log, she asked, “Hey… are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Roughneck weakly said between coughs.

“Well… that could have gone better…”

“I guess… we did just get pummeled there.” The gray earth pony noted, shivering as the log bobbed in the freezing river.

“Hey… at least we aren’t in the clutches of those guys anymore.” Grunting with effort, she struggled with the rope, gasping for breath in her already weakened state. “I don’t know about you or anypony else… but I think I’m getting all funned out.”

“You think this is fun?” Roughneck furrowed his brow.

“Oh, sure... being beaten half-to-death and thrown into a river is a hoot.” Daring rolled her eyes.

A long pause quieted the conversation before Roughneck murmured. “Oh no…”

“What… what’s the matter?” Daring swiveled her ears, only to hear the sound of roaring water. Sighing, she closed her eyes before opening them with a deadpanned expression as she rhetorically asked, “Don’t tell me… we’re about to go over a waterfall… right?”

“Yep.”

“And I’m guessing there are sharp rocks at the bottom?”

“Umm… most likely.”

A faint smile crept along her features, reopening a few of the cuts of her muzzle. Even with the pummeling she received from those Neighland guards, she couldn’t help but chuckle a little from the roaring falls behind them, looming ever closer. “...Bring it on.”

Her world once again spun around her as the log crested the waterfall. The mare yelling in excitement as they went over. “Booyahahaha!”

The log disappeared into the misty river below, the roaring of the falls engulfed them. Underneath the water, Daring had finally broken free from her bindings and smiled at her success. She watched the log turn over, but Roughneck was nowhere to be found. Her eyes widened as she scanned the dark depths of the water, desperately trying to find where the stallion disappeared to.

Bubbles escaped from her mouth as she gasped, seeing the young earth pony floating motionlessly in the water. Swimming towards Roughneck, she wrapped a hoof around his barrel and swam up to the surface. She broke through, gasping for air as she pushed the dark gray pony onto the muddy shore above them.

The light gold mare pushed herself up, flopping onto her back. She breathed heavily, trying to regain the air in her lungs that she lost. Looking over to Roughneck, she saw the stallion’s motionless body. Hurrying over to him, she yelled, “Roughneck! Don’t you dare do this to me!” Putting her hooves on his chest, Daring pushed into him, trying to pump his heart. “Come on, breath, Roughneck… breath!”

Leaning over his muzzle, she pressed her lips to his, breathing into his mouth. She went back to his chest and pushed into him again, her breathing ragged as panicked tears threatened to escape her eyes. “No… no!” She closed her eyes and shouted in frustration. She pressed her mouth against his once more and exhaled.

She felt her body lower as the stallion moved a hoof over the back of her neck to pull her closer until she felt their lips meet once more. She gasped in surprise, pushing up slightly until she broke away from him. As she sat up, she saw him chuckling, coughing up water between each laugh.

Moving her foreleg from her side, she punched his face, absolutely livid. The stallion yelped in surprise, rubbing the area she hit. “Ow! What the heck was that for?” Roughneck complained.

“That was for scaring me.” Moving back down, she kissed him, her eyes closing and her face blushing a little. It was a moment before she broke away again, whispering gently this time. “And that… was for you.”

Roughneck smiled before pulling the mare close and hugging her. Daring didn’t hesitate and gladly accepted his gentle embrace. Her limbs wobbled as what little strength she had left her. She fell and rolled to his side. Both of them panted, exhausted from the ordeal. Daring tried to move, but her legs felt as though they were made of lead. She then decided to give up on standing for the time being. As long as Neighland’s grunts thought they were dead, they wouldn’t come after them. For now, they were safe.

Just as she closed her eyes and sighed in relief, she gasped in surprise as a sudden pressure hit her chest before she was lifted off the ground. Daring tried to fight back, but couldn’t make out what held her in its grasp. Her eyes widened at the blurry figure that loomed over her with an iron-like grip. A wave of blue electricity danced across the towering creature, her mouth agape as she stared.

There, standing in front of her, the creature’s silver mask shined in the frail light of the darkening gray sky. It’s body appeared to be a pale yellow at the chest area with the rest being a mottled dark brown and black. A tight black mesh covered its muscular body and it wore plated armor on its left breast, thighs, and shoulders. On its back, a mechanical turret was aimed at her over its left shoulder. Both of its forearms were adorned with twin-bladed gauntlets. Across its chest was a bandolier of skulls, most from creatures that she had never seen in any of her many adventures. However, a few of them did resemble a pony’s skull, and her eyes stopped as she looked at the largest one, still covered with a thin sheen of blood. ‘This must be what had killed and skinned those ponies the other day.’

“Let her go!” Roughneck yelled as he tried to get up, but flopped back down in the mud when his legs failed him. The monster looked to the pony sluggishly squirming at its feet and kicked it away with an annoyed snarl, sending the dark grey earth stallion tumbling along the ground.

“Roughneck!” Daring yelled as she reached a hoof towards him. The creature turned to face the mare in its grasp and slammed her into a nearby tree, pressing her against the bark as she struggled in its grasp. It tilted its head, clicking as it looked over the mare. It switched its mask’s vision to x-ray as it looked into her saddlebag. Looking back to the stallion on the ground, it did the same and did not see what it was after in his saddlebag either; there was no case, and no Serpent to be found. It roared in anger and tossed her aside, throwing her against Roughneck with a thud. It could have easily killed them, but there would be no sport in it. They were too weak to defend themselves or to even stand. Besides, they didn’t have what it was looking for anymore. Pressing a button on its left gauntlet, it disappeared in a ripple of shimmering light and leaped to the trees above the ponies. Daring watched the leaves rustle as the creature crashed from tree to tree as it continued its search.

Daring groaned in pain as Roughneck put a hoof on her, “Are you okay?”

“Ye-yeah… I’m fine.” She looked up, staring in the direction the creature took off in. ‘That… was too close.’ Groaning in pain, she tried to stand, but fell back to the ground.

“Don’t try to move… we both need to rest…” Roughneck panted, nuzzling the mare gently.

She looked back and nodded weakly, nuzzling the stallion. She laid down on the ground, staring up at the trees. The world seemed to spin around her, the trees above her swirling in her vision. Her eyes flickered and started to droop as her sight dimmed. In her fatigue, time lost all meaning and she barely noticed the sky darkening as the sun started to set. Her eyes continued to grow heavy and despite her best efforts, she couldn’t stay awake.

When she woke back up, she discovered that the sky had grown darker. What seemed to be only moments had actually been hours. The clouds above them had finally floated away, revealing Luna’s moon glowing in the night sky. She realized that she must had fallen asleep, a risky thing to do in the jungle. An animal could have come upon them and ate them or they could have been discovered by Neighland’s crew, Ahuizotl, or Rune and Black Arrow. She looked over to Roughneck and saw that he was snoring. She tried to reach over to wake him up, but her body screamed in protest. She moaned as she could feel all the places Neighland’s thugs had beat her throb in pain. Her eyes still felt heavy with sleep, but she couldn’t black out again, not without somepony keeping watch.

Her eyes widened as she heard the bushes a few feet from them rustle. Trying to stand up, she flopped back to the ground, gasping as she hit a bruise on her side. Looking up, she watched as the foliage was brushed aside. She glared as she saw Crystal Rune and Black Arrow walking out from the treeline.

The dark green unicorn moved over to them, standing over the two exhausted ponies. The light gold pegasus knew she and Roughneck were done for. Tired and badly beaten, she was about to say something before feeling a pressure wrap around them. She breathed silently, her eyes widening in surprise as she found herself in Rune’s oddly warm embrace. It took her a moment to realize that the unicorn was hugging her.

“I’m so glad you guys are okay.” Rune exclaimed before lifting herself up, still keeping contact with their shoulders. She looked over to Roughneck and scolded. “Don’t you ever do something like this ever again! You two should count yourselves lucky for escaping with only bruises and cuts.” She looked back over to Black Arrow and nodded. The maroon pegasus quickly trotted over to Roughneck and helped him up, supporting the gray pony on his shoulder before walking back into the forest.

Daring looked up to see Crystal stare down at her, before she murmured. “Roughneck told you about my plan, didn’t he? Is that why you two took off?” The bruised mare nodded, her frown still apparent. The dark green unicorn moved a hoof over to Daring, “I thought about it… and discussed it with Black Arrow.” Lifting the mare up, she let her lean on her shoulder and continued. “I just couldn’t do it. I don’t care how much I was being paid. Besides, I couldn’t leave a friend out here. Not after what we’ve been through.”

Daring looked in awe. Was this the same pony she had met before? She was different, her smile more apparent on her features. “I’m sorry… but who are you and what have you done with Crystal Rune? Because the last time I checked, she barely ever smiled. Are you changeling or something?”

Crystal giggled a little, making Daring raise an eyebrow. “I’m not a changeling. I am certainly the same mare I was before. I’ve just… improved my outlook on everypony else, that’s all.”

The adventurer had seen quite a few interesting moments in the life she lived, but this sure did surprise her. A smile formed on her lips as she looked to the mare on her right. Slowly, Rune led Daring back into the treeline, the group disappearing into the thicket.

Some time had passed before the group moved into an open clearing. Black Arrow and Crystal gently laid the two injured ponies on the ground. Arrow looked around and noticed a few branches lying around. Gathering them up, he set them in a pile before nodding over to Rune. The unicorn nodded back and lit her magic, sending a small ball of flames to the pile of wood. It wouldn’t last for long, but she knew it would at least keep them warm.

Crystal Rune opened her saddlebag with her magic still active, pulling out a medikit. Opening the case, she pulled out a small bottle, clear liquid sloshed inside as she took the cap off. Taking a small rag out, she poured the liquid onto the cloth and then moved over to Roughneck to press it onto his jaw. The stallion recoiled in pain, but stood firm, groaning as the liquid stung his wounds. After looking over the stallion, she poured more of the liquid on the cloth and went over to Daring. Pressing it over her foreleg, the light gold pegasus gasped, closing her eyes as the alcohol seeped into her bruises and cuts.

“How did you two end up like this?” Rune asked, looking down at the bruises the mare had.

“It was a pony named Neighland.” She saw Rune look up, her eyes drooping a little. “He and his thugs pummeled us.”

“I would say beaten about half-to-death would be more like it.” Roughneck piped up, looking over to Rune.

Crystal noticed a faint red mark, seeing dried blood seeping from Daring lips. “What happened there?” The dark green unicorn asked.

The light gold pegasus looked away, a frown forming on her features. “One of those… goons, tried to… I guess you can say he tried to get fresh with me.” She smirked at the memory of biting his tongue. “I made sure to leave him something to remember me by.”

The unicorn smiled, before dressing her other wounds. “Did anything else happen? Because I can guess they tossed you two into the river, considering how wet your clothes are.”

Daring frowned, remembering the creature that had almost killed her. “We… Roughneck and I found out what killed Rugged Muzzle.”

Rune stopped dressing her bruises and stared at the adventurer. Daring looked up and continued, “It was… it was pretty tall, I’d say it matched the height of a minotaur, yet there wasn’t any fur on it. It wore a mask and it seemed to be carrying these weird looking devices. It was looking for something… the case! Neighland has the case!”

“What!?” Rune yelled, standing up in surprise. Crystal looked away, cursing under her breath. “Well that complicates matters even more. Where did he go?”

“Neighland said he was off back to his headquarters somewhere else. He gave the case to another one of his goons. He said something about a facility.” Daring answered, looking up at the Rune.

Turning to Black Arrow, Rune asked. “Do you think we can track down where the ponies were headed?” He nodded. “Good, we’re going to find that case and when we do…”

“When we do, are you going to destroy it?” Daring inquired, raising an eyebrow as she waited for the mare to answer her. Rune looked away but Daring continued, “You know what’s inside that case. If anypony get’s their hooves on that thing, it means big trouble for the rest of the world. Do you realize what that monster did to Ponyville, much less what it did to the Element Bearers? It almost killed three of them, and it killed about thirty-two ponies in a three-day period. I don’t think that Equestria would last a month with those things running around, less than a year for the other nations.”

The mission had always been important, Rune knew that better than anypony, but what Daring said was right. If she took it to the client who wanted it alive, she didn’t know what they would do with such a creature. Closing her eyes, she thought for a moment before opening them again. Turning to face Daring, she said, “I do realize how dangerous the creature is, and I do know how much the client wanted it for… but you’re right.” Smiling, she added, “The creature must be destroyed. In the wrong hooves, it could be used to do terrible things.”

Daring nodded, smiling as the unicorn listened to reason. Crystal looked through her saddlebags before handing something back to Roughneck. He looked into her hooves and smiled as he saw his two daggers. “Thought you might need these.” Rune murmured, watching the stallion take them from her hooves before settling them back in their respective sheaths.

“Thanks, Crystal. I really owe yah on this one.” Roughneck smiled.

“Don’t mention it.” Crystal said before smiling back at the stallion.

“You know, I’ve never seen you this nice to anypony else before.” The gray earth pony teased, chuckling slightly.

“Well… Daring reminded me of something pretty important, something that I once thought was a lost cause.” Rune said, resting a hoof on his shoulder. She looked back to the others, “Alright, everypony. Neighland and his thugs have stolen the creature from us. We’re going to get it back.”

“And destroy it.” Daring added, looking to the others. “I think everypony here is familiar with what happened over in Ponyville.” A silence wrapped the ponies as they thought back to the day it made the headlines.

“Our new plan is to retrieve the creature from said facility that may be hiding somewhere in the Tenochtitlan Basin. When we do retrieve it, we shall destroy it. No amount of bits is worth over the lives of other ponies.” The others nodded in agreement. With their plan set, Rune moved over to the two injured ponies, “You two need to rest. Judging by the light of the moon, I’d say its close to midnight.” Daring tried to interrupt but the unicorn waved her off. “I know how important acquiring the creature is, but we won’t be able to pull it off with you two in this condition.”

Daring reluctantly nodded, Rune pulled a blanket out from her saddlebag, laying it over the mare. The dark unicorn smiled before pulling another out for Roughneck. The light gold pegasus smiled, happy to see that Crystal really had opened up. Turning on her side, she closed her eyes and felt the weariness of sleep take hold, locking her in the darkness of her mind.

Author's Notes:

Hey there everypony. Sorry about the wait there, but chapter ten has finally been completed. Oh and of course, the contest that I talked about is about to be closed. When chapter eleven is released, all voting is off. So, better cast your votes in the comment section, because like I said, votes on who you think will survive will be canceled on the eleventh chapter. So if you want an OC showcased in the third story of The True Nightmare Series, cast your votes for who you think will survive. Again, thanks to Diablo Guapo and TehSporkBandit for their amazing work.

As always, have a good morning, afternoon, evening, night and remember... sweet dreams...

Characters that you'll vote for who you think will survive.

Daring Do
Ahuizotl
Crystal Rune
Roughneck
Black Arrow
Good luck...