Daring Do and the Idol of Evil

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.