Daring Do and the Idol of Evil
Prologue
Daring Do dodged behind a corner just ahead of a hail of arrows. She continued on a dead run as pawsteps thundered behind her. An instinct made her jump and glide over the clawed hand of a diamond dog thug that emerged from the ground, but she forced herself to return back to earth, knowing that taking flight would only make her easier to keep track of. She had to protect the Sapphire Rose! Daring made another turn, hoping to lose her pursuers in the labyrinthine streets of the old city, when suddenly a door opened on her left and a pair of hooves pulled her in.
She spun, ready to fight for her life, but her attacker pulled the hood of her filthy and patched robe back. It was Ditzy Do, Daring's lovely assistant and the chronicler of her adventures. Ditzy closed the door and quickly urged Daring under a pile of rugs in the corner, quickly arranging them to look like carelessly discarded laundry. Daring heard hoofsteps, then the sound of a door being kicked open.
"WHERE IS DARING DO?" The voice belonged to Ahuizotl!
"Muffins?" Ditzy asked in a voice oozing mindlessness.
"I ASKED: WHERE. IS. DARING. DO?"
Daring tensed, ready to jump to her love's defence.
"Muffins?" asked a completely unaffected voice. Daring could had sworn it belonged to someone who's mind was already in Heaven and unconcerned with worldly affairs.
A growl, then a door was slammed shut, and the beat of steps receding at a run. Then Ditzy threw the rags away and kissed her spouse. The adventurer quickly disguised herself as a beggar, and the two slipped out, disappearing into the throngs of people on the streets who had emerged from hiding now that the pursuit had moved on.
*****
"Well, that was a nice pay for an easy job like that." said Daring, leaning back against her pillow. She laid on the bed while watched lazily as Ditzy finished writing the last page of how she had recovered and delivered the Sapphire Rose to Sparhawk Museum. "So, what's next on the agenda?"
"Well," began the blond, "we've been asked to retrieve this stone idol - some kind of religious artifact. It should be hidden in a dungeon somewhere beneath Canterlot Castle."
"Canterlot?" Daring grinned. "Doesn't your sister live near there? Finally gonna introduce us?"
Ditzy nodded. "Yes, she lives in the nearby town of Ponyville. And it seems her girlfriend is a fan of you - and thinks you're fictional." The blond snickered. "They even think I fly all around the world just because I have no sense of direction." Daring scoffed at the absurdity of the claim. "So... should I tell Derpy we're coming?"
Daring rolled to her feet with the agility born of a thousand narrow escapes. "Nah, let's surprise them. Nothing like having something out of a fantasy sneak on you to spice up your life." She paused to put her hat on, and turned her head to look at Ditzy. "So, what's this idol look like?"
"I dunno. The letter just said it's a statue with parts of every kind of living thing and you'd know it when you saw it. It's supposed to symbolize 'all possibilities being equal' or something."
"All possibilities being equal, eh? Sounds like chaos to me." Daring stretched her back and spread her wings. "But what the heck, what harm can it do?"
And with that, they set out to distant Ponyville.
Daring Do and the Idol of Evil
Chapter 1
Rainbow Dash would soon be hers again, and everything would be cool. The Mare in Black had promised Gilda that. She had been sceptical at first, of course, but there was no denying the power and connections of the spymaster. The Royal Canterlot Seal on the letter sitting on the table in front of her was proof enough of that. All she had to do was rely the details of the plan to the adventurer when she came. And of course there was that other thing.
Speaking of which, she'd better practice. She was getting better, but it still took a moment of concentration to activate her new gift. The griffon focused, her anger at having her friend stolen tore asunder the order of the universe, and the letter flew to her hand. Gilda squashed the strange desire to strangle the inanimate object, threw it back on the table, and repeated the excersize.
***
Rainbow Dash woke feeling like someone was dancing on her grave. It was not a pleasant feeling, especially at the early hour of before noon. She tried to go back to sleep, but the voices from the kitchen didn't let her. Why was Derpy talking to herself, anyway?
Oh great, now she was curious. With a heavy sigh Rainbow gave in and rolled from her double cloud bed to the floor. Tank pushed his head out of his shell, and she briefly petted the little guy. Still half asleep, she made her way to the kitchen, then rubbed her eyes to make the twin Derpys focus into one. They didn't, and she rubbed harder. Harder. HARDER! Lazy eye wasn't contagious, or was it?
"Dash, what are you doing?" came the concerned voice of her marefriend. "Is there something wrong with your eyes?" came an almost identical voice from the other side of the kitchen table. That was not normal. Rainbow opened her now stinging eyes and looked through her tears at the still double Derpys, both looking at her concernedly.
Her brain finally kicked into gear. "Ditzy?" One of the Derpys nodded. Well, that explained it. She hadn't seen Derpy's twin since before they started dating. "Coffee?" the other one offered, and Dash gratefully accepted. The black elixir of vitality poured down her throat and slowly began compensating for mere 10 hours of sleep.
As Dash neared the land of the living again, Ditzy picked a book from her saddlepack and put it on table in front of Dash. The blue mare read the title. Daring Do and the Sapphire Rose?
"Hey, where did you get this? It's not supposed to come out for weeks!"
Ditzy smiled. "Oh, Derpy told me you like the series, and since I am the author, I picked the first copy from the print on the way here."
Dash's gaze fell back to the cover. The words "by Ditzy Doo" were beneath the title. But this clever pen name was no longer capable of fooling the awesome pegasus. She whirled to face Derpy. "Hey, why didn't you tell me your sister writes Daring Do?"
"You never asked."
"Besides, I'm more like a biographer." interjected the blond author. "We figured we could make some extra cash if I kept a journal and polished it up a bit." She smiled. "Who would have thought that so many people liked to read about someone roaming old tombs?"
Rainbow blinked. "What, you're saying this stuff is real?"
"Well, I put in a few things here and there and polished it up just a litte bit." Ditzy made an extremely bad attempt to look humble.
"Right." Dash deadpanned. "And the next you tell me Daring Do is coming for dinner?"
"Of course not, silly." Derpy said. "We're meeting her at a diner."
"What?"
Derpy glanced at the wall, and suddenly her eyes crossed in shock. "Oh no, we're late already! Come on Dash!" She flew right at Rainbow, grapped her and continued towards a window, missing it by inches and pushing them through a thankfully soft cloudwall. Dash, who was faced backwards, saw the other gray pegasus follow them through the new opening in her house, and realised that this was going to be another surreal - or should she say derped? -day.
But then again, love of excitement was what had drawn her to Derpy in the first place. Sleepiness banished, Rainbow twisted out of Derpy's hooves, spred her wings and after a quick aerial sommersault was flying towards yet another adventure next to her lover.
***
Daring Do inspected the letter. It seemed legit, written in Princess Celestia's hornwriting and bearing the royal seal. So it was the Princess who wanted her to retrieve the artifact all quiet-like.
She looked from the letter up to the griffon on the other side of the table. "And why doesn't Her Royal Highness just get the thing herself? Traps aren't a match for alicorn magic."
"The statue's warded with magic detection of some kind." The griffon shrugged. "Look, all I know is that if you use magic near it, it could be destroyed. So we need someone who can get past the traps without needing to."
"And that means me." The adventurer pushed the letter back. "So why does she want this idol anyway?"
"It's the key component for releasing some kind of powerful magic. I was told state security depends on the outcome of this mission. The details are all very hush-hush." She inspected her claw. "They don't want anyone to get any ideas. Like getting the idol for themselves."
Daring thought about that for a moment, then shrugged. All seemed to be in order, and her insincts told her that "Agent G" was honest, if a bit too much in love with her "cool" codename.
"Okay then." She thought for a moment. "I heard there's some kind of state function over in the Griffon Kingdom in a week, so that would probably be the best time to do this. Anyone who might be after this thing will be following her, so it'll act as a distraction." Daring looked at the griffon. "So I'll meet your people at Canterlot railway station in a week?"
The griffon nodded, and Daring turned and took flight. She rose above the treetops of Everfree Forest and headed towards Ponyville. She'd need help if she was supposed to move a heavy statue. Ditzy and at least two other pegasi. Someone used to hauling large things, and maybe an agile flier to supplement her own acrobatics. But where would she find such specialists?
Oh well, it could wait until tomorrow. Today she looked forward to seeing Derpy again - they hadn't met since she and Ditzy had tied the knot - and this "Rainbow Dash" she was seeing. Coming to think of it... hadn't someone named Rainbow Something won the best young flier competition a while ago? And Ditzy had said something about her sister working for a moving company. Wouldn't it be a weird coincidence if they'd like to go on an adventure?
***
It was dark when Gilda landed near the cave entrance. She had waited for hours to be sure she could make the trip unobserved. She stepped next to the entrance and spoke the passcode, then waited. In the moonlight her keen griffon eyes could see darker patches on stone, like lightning had struck it repeatedly. But that was silly, it would have needed to come from inside the cave.
"Report." said the Mare in Black from shadows. Her very voice oozed self-assurance.
"The mission was a success." Gilda replied. "Daring Do agreed on the job. I'll meet her in Canterlot in a week."
"Excellent." The Mare sounded pleased. "Everything is proceeding according to the plan."
After Gilda had taken flight, the Mare in Black pulled her hood off. A luxurious silver mane fell on her blue coat. Soon, the power exceeding even the Princesses would be hers to command, and none could deny that she was indeed Great and Powerful and deserving of adoration. Especially certain lavender unicorn. And only two beings stood between her and her destiny.
Dreaming of power and the love it would surely bring, Trixie gazed at the distant lights of Ponyville and behind that, on the mountainside, Canterlot and what laid beneath.
***
"Sir, we are nearing the border and I need to inspect your passport."
The feline gentleman rised his gaze from his book and smiled. It was a friendly enough smile, despite showing a row of razor-sharp teeth.
"Of course." He handed it over.
"Thank you, Mr. Ahuizotl. Everything seems to be in order. Enjoy your stay in Equestria."
"Thank you." He tucked the document away. "I will make sure I will."
