"I do not appreciate having secrets being kept from me, Lieutenant," the head doctor complained to Lieutenant Coonhound as he used his magic to bind and heal Daring's shoulder. "Especially secrets involving assassins who might threaten my patients!"

"I would have told you if I could," Coonhound answered testily, the lateness of the hour and his frustration at the fruitless search evident in his tone.

The head doctor grunted in annoyance and tightened the bandages on Daring's shoulder, causing her to involuntarily yelp in pain. "Oh, sorry," he apologized, loosening the gauze a little. "All right, you need to keep that on for at least a day, and no heavy exertion for a couple of days at least. In the meantime, plenty of rest and aspirin."

"Thank you," Daring said, shrugging her shoulder.

"What about Dusty?" Phillip asked from the bed.

"He'll be fine. It was just a minor laceration," the doctor reassured him with a smile.

"And I can promise you, he'll be receiving a commendation for his actions tonight," Coonhound added.

"Good," Phillip replied.

"We need to find that hyena and stop it before somepony else dies," Coonhound said. "But I've had my Guards combing the city for days, and nothing."

"Maybe you've been looking in the wrong place," Phillip replied. "Have you checked the Whitestone River?"

"That was one of the first places we looked," Lieutenant Coonhound answered, rubbing his eyes. But Daring recognized the keen look in Phillip's eyes, the blazing eyes of a hunter who knows he's on a good trail.

"I was watching the hyena during the attack, and it displayed some interesting clues," Phillip explained. "You must have noticed them, Irene; excessive salivation and sweating, shifting as though its feet itched, clumsiness and lack of coordination."

Daring went over the fight in her mind, the memory still fresh. "You're right," she agreed.

"All of which are symptoms of acute mercury poisoning," Phillip continued. "That, combined with the distinct odor of its breath, likely means it's been eating a lot of fish recently. And that means it's been near the river; it's the only place in town where it could get a lot of fish."

Coonhound frowned. "Are you sure about this? I don't want to waste my Guard's time on guesses."

Phillip frowned at him. "I don't make guesses, Lieutenant. It's a bad habit. I make deductions."

Lieutenant Coonhound frowned in thought for a few moments more, then nodded. "I'll have three squads performing a sweep of the river and every boat on it by morning, to take advantage of the light."

"Good idea," Daring said, standing up.

"No, you're not joining us," Coonhound told her sternly. "I'm putting you in protective custody until this is over. Let the trained professionals deal with this."

"Like hell," Daring snarled, limping as she approached him. "I held that thing off on my own; I can take care of myself!"

"Irene."

The word was softly spoken, but the ill-concealed concern caused her to turn around and face Phillip, who seemed so pathetic in his bandages and cot, speaking to her in that gentle tone. "Don't get yourself killed because you made this personal," he whispered.

Daring gritted her teeth and fumed silently, but her anger defused itself when she found that she could not form a coherent argument. Slowly, she nodded in submission. A pair of stony-faced gray unicorn City Guards that appeared to be twin brothers strode forward and escorted her out of the hospital. She followed with all the willingness of a puppet on a string, feeling as though she were leaving her heart behind at the foot of Phillip's bed.

The Guards led Daring to an armored carriage waiting outside, a steel behemoth with inch-thick walls, slot-like windows with bars, and a single door that could only be unlocked from the outside. "Trottingham City Guard" was painted in white block letters on both sides. One of the Guards opened up the door for her and beckoned her into the dark interior, furnished with a metal bench on both sides. Daring stepped forward but stumbled, falling forward and catching herself on the door frame.

"Are you all right?" the Guard asked, helping her back up.

"I'm fine," Daring replied, lifting herself up into the carriage. The Guard shut the door behind her and locked it, and the twins hitched themselves up to the carriage front and hurried away, dragging the heavy carriage behind them.

"Say, Smoke," one of them asked his brother. "That mare look kind of familiar to you?"

Smoke frowned in thought for a moment. "Kind of," he admitted. "You think maybe we saw her in a movie, Mist?"

"Nah, not a movie," Mist replied. "I think maybe a comic book or a magazine or something. You sure you've never heard of Irene Alibi before?"

"Pretty sure," Smoke replied, turning around a corner of the deserted and darkened streets. "And have you noticed that she always wears that coat that covers up her cutie mark?"

Mist shrugged. "Maybe she just likes the coat."

"In any case, it's our job to keep her safe," Smoke said. "So we'd better hurry up and get to the precinct."

The two quickened their pace, hurrying down the empty roads, the carriage rattling behind them. Minutes later, they pulled into the lot in front of the closest City Guard precinct, a three-story white building, it's windows all brightly lit, with a set of marble stairs leading up to the main door, flanked by a pair of round lamps marked "City Guard." The lights stood sentinel against the darkness, providing a beacon to the wronged and a warning to the unjust. All was quiet and still...unnaturally so, even at this hour of the night.

"Let's get her inside," Mist said as the brothers hurried to unhitch themselves. Bustling around to the back of the carriage, they unlocked the door, opened it wide and stared in shock.

The interior of the carriage was completely empty. There was no trace at all of their charge. Turning to the lock, Smoke extracted something from inside: a pebble scooped up from the ground outside the hospital, small enough to fit in the lock but big enough to ensure that the door couldn't close properly.

Slowly, Mist turned to his brother. "Hey, I think I know why she looked so familiar."

Miles away, Daring Do flew high above the rooftops, making a beeline eastward for the Whitestone River. Her shoulder still throbbed with pain, but she ignored it; she had a trail to follow.

Deep inside her, a voice whispered that she was being foolish, that she ought to wait for morning so she would have the assistance of the Guard and the daylight. To go off on her own was suicidal; dying for the sake of vengeance would accomplish nothing.

She never listened to that voice.

She slowed to a stop, having reached her destination. Before her, the Whitestone River stretched across the horizon, the water smokey gray in the hazy pre-dawn light. The River provided a primary source of industry for the city, a useful source of power for mills and electricity and a consistent supply of fresh water, as well as a connection to nearby towns. The water ran from north to south, lazily lapping at the banks and at the sides of the boats docked at the various piers. Somewhere along its seven-mile length was her quarry.

Easy.

Swooping down, Daring began to fly low over the western bank, passing low over the ground. Pausing for a moment, she plucked a city map that she had picked up two days earlier from her coat pocket and unfolded it to ensure that she was in the right place. She knew that searching the entirety of the river would be an exercise in futility, but she did have an idea of where to look.

She had smelled more than the fish on the hyena's breath earlier. She had also detected the less-than-subtle odor of sewage, which gave rise to a theory on how the hyena was able to traverse the city without being seen: it used the sewer tunnels, the labyrinthine underground system of pipes, filters and treatment deposits. Therefore, she needed to concentrate on the sewer pipes where the cleansed and treated water was returned to the river.

Ensuring that she was near one of the marked positions, Daring returned the map to her pocket and took flight once more. She reached the tunnel, a large pipe that jutted out like an open mouth over the river, returning the clean water to the river from where it came. Swooping down, Daring began slowly panning across the bank, looking for some clue, some trace. But there was nothing here. Frowning, Daring consulted her map and flew off to the next scene.

Her second sweep proved fruitless, as did the third. All the while, the sky slowly brightened, reminding her of the irreconcilable passage of time, of things lost and never to be returned. She was aware of just how achingly tired she was, but she forced herself to keep going. There was vermin to be exterminated.

When she reached the fourth scene, her patience was finally rewarded. Hidden amongst the tall grass next to the pipe was a thick stick, to which was tied a rope made of tied grass that led into the river. There were a number of distinct pawprints in the muddy bank around the anchor, all of them leading from and to the pipe, which was missing the normal wire mesh on the end. Tugging up the rope, Daring Do discovered a funnel fish trap made of woven reeds. A few silvery-blue fish flopped within the trap's interior, struggling for air. Daring dumped them back into the water, then replaced the trap with a triumphant grin. "Got you, you bastard," she hissed.

Flapping up to the pipe, she peered into the dark interior. It was not, she decided, entirely unlike many of the tombs and caverns that she'd traversed in her past: dark, cramped, cold, damp, uninviting, and filled with danger. This called for the proper attire.

The long blue coat was removed, laid irreverently on the ground, and Irene Alibi completely disappeared, replaced by Daring Do in her trademark green shirt and folding pith helmet. Placing the helmet on her head, Daring felt courage fill her core. "Another day, another sewer," she said, shutting her eyes tight and rubbing the lids to help activate her natural night vision.

With a final breath, she entered the tunnel, flapping through the darkness just above the water, which trickled and gurgled beneath her, echoing against the walls. Before long, she reached the cavernous main sewer tunnel deep beneath the city surface. Taking out her flashlight, Daring clipped it to her shoulder and turned it on to its lowest setting, allowing a sliver of light through. She could see the deep river of water, already treated at the sewage plant, running beneath her, carried by both gravity and pumps. Alighting on the wet stone of the maintenance pathway, Daring turned from left to right, trying to determine which way to go.

"Daring!"

The distant voice, weak and desperate, echoed off the cavernous walls to her right and made Daring's heart leap to her throat. "Phillip?!" she called back.

"Help me!"

Panicked, Daring took flight again, chasing after the distant echoes of her friend's cries. She shouldn't have left him alone! For a brief moment, she was standing back in that jungle, the headless corpse hanging from the tree branches before her. With an extra burst of speed, she pushed through the memory and hurried forward, pursuing the distant feeble cries of pain.

"I'm coming, Phillip!" she shouted, rounding a corner and hurrying down another, thinner tunnel. The voice suddenly became quiet. Descending back down to the walkway, Daring began walking quickly down the tunnel, her hoofsteps echoing against the tightening walls. "Phillip?" she called out, to no response. A sudden chill went down Daring's spine and turned her flashlight on brighter to provide more illumination. What she saw made her freeze in shock.

She was staring right at the moss-covered brick wall of a dead end section. There was no sign of Phillip anywhere.

Suddenly, Daring remembered the encyclopedia entry: "...it is rumored that they are also able to mimic the voices of their prey..."

She leapt out of the way just in time. The hyena, clad in its black hooded cloak, leapt from the darkness behind her, its pounce missing by inches. Daring took to the air, flapping up above the dark water. Turning to the mouth of the tunnel, Daring saw that her only exit was now covered by a thick net, with thorns woven into it. No way out.

Slowly, she turned back to the hyena, who glared at her, its yellow eyes flashing and a grin spread across its teeth.

"Ask yourself," she asked it. "Is trapping yourself in here with me what you really wanted?" The canine replied by letting out a short giggle and raising a set of metal claws at her.

"That's what I'd hoped you say," Daring grinned, tilting her neck to the side and loosening the joints with a crack. "Let's go."

Like a bullet from a gun, she burst into motion, flying straight down at the hyena with a kick aimed at its face. The assassin sidestepped, slashing at her leg, but she dodged it, spinning into a backhoof strike to the head, but was forced to parry a counterattack. Back and forth the two dueled in the darkness, every blow deflected, every cut evaded, every grab knocked aside.

The hyena closed in and began swiping rapidly with its claws, aiming at Daring's left side, forcing her to use primarily her left foreleg to defend herself. Pain spread across Daring's recently-healed shoulder, fatigue slowing her reflexes.

Ducking beneath a double swipe at her head, Daring dodged around the hyena and seized it in a reverse bear hug, pinning its forelegs to its sides. With a flap of her wings, she flew up into the air, flipping around to drive the struggling canine headfirst back into the concrete with a very satisfying WHAM. Rolling away, Daring took the opportunity to catch her breath, massaging feeling back into her shoulder. Dazed by the suplex, the hyena got up, shaking its head and growling in pain. Daring leapt at it, but it jumped sideways, leaping into the water and disappearing beneath the darkness.

"If you think I'm going in after you, you're wrong," Daring said, flying up above the water. The ripples across the river's surface slowly dissipated, and the water became still again. Daring held her position, hovering above the surface. "You can't stay down there forever," she taunted.

The hyena didn't intend to. The surface of the water suddenly exploded outward. A pair of throwing knives flew right at Daring, forcing her to dodge to the side. The assassin leapt at the far wall, quickly climbed up it, and leapt off, seizing Daring in a bear hug and slamming her to the ground hard enough to stun her. Crushing her wings beneath its hind legs, it thrusted its head forward, aiming to tear her throat out. Daring pressed her forelegs against the hyena's neck, barely holding it off as it snapped furiously, sweat and drool flying everywhere. Its hot, stinking breath overwhelmed her senses as it slowly leaned closer and closer, its sharp teeth coming within inches of her neck...

Suddenly, the hyena leapt off her with a sudden yelp, rolling over to clutch a crossbow bolt in its side. Looking up, Daring saw a unicorn with steely gray eyes wearing silver and blue armor standing outside the net, holding a crossbow.

"You are one ugly motherbucker," Corporal Iron Shield growled at the hyena, firing off another shot. The hyena's reply was to catch the bolt out of the air and reply with a throwing knife, striking the Corporal in his chest armor hard enough to knock him down.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Daring twisted around, entangling the hyena's hind legs with her own and scissoring them together, smashing it facefirst into the wall. Flipping back to her hooves, Daring followed up by using her wing to splash some of the sewer water into the hyena's face, causing it to instinctively flinch, stumbling back. Seizing one of its forelegs, Daring wrapped her own leg around it and twisted powerfully. With a sound like a dead tree branch snapping, the hyena's shoulder and elbow broke. Its howl of agony echoed through the tunnel. Daring followed up by grabbing one of the hyena's hind legs, lifting it up and smashing its knee beneath her elbow. The hyena fell to the ground, yelling in pain, two of its limbs disabled. It glared up at Daring in hatred.

Spotting one of the discarded throwing knives nearby, Daring trotted over and picked it up in her hooves. The weapon was simple, but perfectly balanced for both holding and throwing. The silver blade was so sharp it seemed to cut the air as it passed through it. Taking the weapon tightly by the hilt, Daring felt the dark power of the bloodlust that forged this weapon fill her. The tables had fully turned from predator to prey.

Turning back to the hyena, the beast of her nightmares, she stepped forward, briefly considering her choice. Heart? Throat? Into the eye? Up underneath the jaw? Which one would be enough to make it pay?

She took a step forward and the hyena raised its good foreleg, pointing the metal claws right at her and clenching its paw. The spring-loaded blades flew right at Daring, who had no time to dodge. The blades sunk deep into her foreleg, causing her to collapse to the ground with a cry, dropping the knife into the water.

Grinning, the hyena reached underneath its cloak and pulled out a small round jar with a pin attached to the top. With its teeth, the hyena yanked the pin out. The fuse attached to the crude grenade began to hiss and spark, illuminating the hyena's face with an unearthly, flickering glow. Locking its eyes onto Daring's gaze, the hyena began to giggle, its shoulders shaking with hysterical laughter that echoed endlessly, the chorus of Daring Do's death. With a grunt, Daring tried to get back up, but her wounded leg refused to take her weight. Panting, she tried to crawl away from the laughing hunter, knowing she had just seconds left.

Then, impossibly, she felt herself being lifted up into the air. A moment later, she was placed down on somepony's back and hurried away. Corporal Shield raced through the hole he'd cut in the net and turned the corner, carrying Daring Do across his shoulders. The hyena's insane laughter chased after them for a brief moment, then...

BOOM!

The explosion sent shudders through the entire tunnel, knocking both ponies back to the ground, where they lay panting as concrete dust fell on them.

Finally, Daring caught her breath amidst the pain of her battle. "Thanks, Corporal," she said, turning to her rescuer.

Iron Shield managed a small smile as he slowly sat up against the wall. "Never expected to be the one to save Daring Do," he panted.

"You got here awful fast," Daring commented, pulling a roll of gauze from her shirt and winding it around her leg.

"Smart of you to leave your coat at the entrance to that tunnel," Shield replied. "We figured you were headed to the river as soon as we found your little disappearing act, and found it right away." Turning away from her for a moment, Shield reached up to his radio. "This is Corporal Shield. I need a medic to my location ASAP."

Daring sat up enough to look back towards the smoking tunnel that was now her hunter's grave, and was surprised to find that she felt nothing. She might have claimed to herself it was the exhaustion numbing her emotions, but deep down, she knew that it was because there was nothing to feel. They had fought, and she had won: there was no great victory, no triumphant returns. That only happened in storybooks.

"Now that," she finally muttered, for no other reason than she felt she had to say something to provide some finality. "Was a bad dog."

Author's Notes:

After battling schoolwork, schedules, the Internet and writer's block, I finally manage to write out the final battle between hunter and hunted.

One more chapter, and we'll be able to wrap this story up. The curse of the Taverneigh Blue has claimed it's last victims.