Prologue
The Equine Sea, 1934 B.L.R
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The water smashed against the sides of the freighter, spilling and splashing over the side and onto the deck. As crew members struggled to keep the supplies from being thrown into the salty depths, one large, bulky specimen of a stallion walked up behind a tall, commanding figure and tapped him on the back with a hoof. As the figure turned, the lanterns on deck illuminated the face of a thin, gaunt, pure black pony with frighteningly deep eyes and a thin mouth, drawn in a slight frown.
“Yes?” he asked in a tone that seemed to say, You'd better have good news.
Without even speaking, the muscled pony held up two mares, both in one hoof. The first, a yellow pegasus with a pith helmet and a scruffy gray-black mane, raised her head, showing that, while bruised and beaten-up, she could still give him a cocky smirk. “What's up, doc?” she inquired mockingly.
The tall stallion smiled. “Daring Do. How coincidental that I meet you and your...” he tilted up the head of the second mare, a far less happy unicorn with a blue color to her mane and coat. “...'dignified' little friend.” He chuckled and let her head drop. “Oh, Ms. Papyrus. Why would you give up your own well paying job for six months just to follow this riffraff across the planet?”
The unicorn muttered, “Whatever you're trying to do, it isn't working, Balearic.”
The tall pony laughed heartily. “Balearic? I figured you'd be far more formal. A simple 'Professor' would be very much your usual style.”
Daring looked at him angrily. “Like you deserve to be called a professor. You're hardly worth your doctorate, you criminal.”
Balearic turned away. “Criminal...that's new. No one's ever called me that before...”As he spoke, he drew a long, sharp blade from his scabbard. “The Blade of the Templar,” the professor said calmly. “Forged by a master blacksmith in the year 3860 BNM for the hooves of the great warrior, Hearthstone. A most valued treasure in your own museum, Madam Scroll?”
Papyrus lifted her head to look at the beautiful sword, which was embedded with gemstones of almost every imaginable color. “Yes, it was,” she answered.
Balearic turned the weapon slowly. “The sword that slit the throat of Skull Darkspine, the weapon forged by the fires of Oblivion and cooled in the waters of Heaven...” he swung it to the left and just barely missed cutting into the throat of the stallion who brought the two mares to him.
“...the blade forged to kill anything upon this planet,” he finished. “Such a dangerous thing to have in just a simple museum, eh?”
The yellowish pegasus retorted, “Yes, but FAR too dangerous to be in your hooves.”
Balearic spun to face her. “Charming to the last, I see.” He slipped the blade back into the scabbard. “I see I shall have to fix that.” He then nodded to the muscled pony, who dropped both mares onto the deck carelessly.
“If you will tell me its secret, I'll let you and your friend go.” He drew the sword and lifted Daring's face by the chin with it. “So. Where is the medallion, Ms. Do?”
She smirked and replied, “I'm sorry, pal, but I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Yes. You do. Either you do, or you did no research on the blade, which I know is entirely impossible. There is a silver medallion and a golden medallion, both made to fit the sword. On their own, they give longevity and strength, but TOGETHER, when placed into the sword's hilt and crosstree, they make you entirely untouchable. Now, I have the silver medallion, so where is the golden one?” He pushed his blade a bit harder, causing a small trickle of blood to leak from the archaeologist's neck.
She winced, but still held up. “So I studied better than you did, Balearic? That's impressive.”
The black stallion angrily swung the ancient brand to the side, and Daring's head hit the deck again. “I see. Still as intolerable as before. There are so many things about you that never cease to amaze.” He reached over with a hoof and lifted her up so that she was eye level with him and said, “But the game's still getting old, Daring Do. I think it's time we stopped playing and got serious.”
Then he swung his other hoof and knocked her unconscious.
“Daring!” Papyrus shouted in shock.
“Gentlemen, get me a sheet of wood and a life preserver,” Balearic commanded the crew members, who struggled through the waves and water to get the requested supplies. “And put her in my cabin,” he added, pointing toward the unicorn curator. Struggling and fighting, she was picked up by two hulking sailors and dragged away.
When he received the items he asked for, the black pony strapped the life preserver to the bottom of the wood, placed the archaeologist on the makeshift raft, and said in her ear, “I do hate to see you off like this, dearest rival, but you know how business is.” Once he had finished, he smiled and gleefully tossed the whole thing, pegasus and all, over the side.
Watching the mare float away into the distance, Balearic called the smallest hand and calmly told him, “Pinpoint, set our course for the nearby islands.”
“Sir?”
The stallion smirked and pulled a map from his pocket, which showed a large island and a circular symbol. “We'll still need our little unicorn friend, but for now, the path is set.” He began to laugh. “Soon enough, I will take what I desire, and Daring Do will be too far to defeat me.”
He turned and shouted to the winds, “DO YOU HEAR ME, DARING DO? I, PROFESSOR BALEARIC, HAVE FINALLY BEATEN YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!”
As the freighter sailed away, the mad professor's laughter could be heard echoing across the sea for miles, and, floating in the shifting, crashing waves, Daring Do was washed out of sight across the lonely waters, never knowing what strange happenings would befall her when she landed...
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