Daring Do and the Diamond Compass

Daring Do and the Diamond Compass

Chapter one

Daring Do looked triumphantly at her newly collected prize; the Griffin’s Goblet. The sunlight that managed to escape through the gap in between Daring’s curtains reflected off its silver body, casting a brilliant white light throughout the small room. Daring squinted as she closed the curtains fully, relieved to be able to admire the goblet once more. The Goblet really was a sight to behold, yet it was one of a few dozen trophies Daring had accumulated over time. It was always satisfying to her when she added something new to her collection, yet it only progressed the craving of finding lost treasures even further. Her wing was fully healed now; she was still a bit rusty when it came to flying, but given time, Daring Do would soon be back to her old self.

She looked around her cluttered apartment: Maps lay stretched out on benches, clothes covered most of the floor and dust that had been laid dormant for months was still settled on the furniture. It wasn’t the classiest place to live, nor was it the most spacious. In reality, Daring had hardly even used the small apartment. It was merely a place to fall back on after each expedition. A sanctuary after weeks or possibly months trekking through a expansive tropical forest, a lonesome sandy desert or possibly even a bristling jungle, you name it. It didn’t matter to her, as long as she got her hooves on her prize.

The familiar sound of a grumbling stomach reminded Daring that she hadn’t eaten all day. She took off her white pith hat and laid it on a nearby bench, before trotting to her apartment door and heading into town. The sky was empty of clouds and was a rich light blue, allowing the sun to gleam down on Daring’s mane. She looked around at all the townsfolk, family businesses flourished everywhere, all carefully hoof painted by the ponies that lived there. In a way she envied them- she never had the chance to live the way they did. Her parents paid little or no attention to her and thought the best thing at the time for her was her education. To Daring’s satisfaction, they were horrified at what their daughter wanted to do for a living, but looking back on it, she didn’t regret it in the slightest.

Whilst wandering through the small town of North Gait, Daring walked past a cosy looking coffee shop and decided it would do. She partook in a slightly dry hay sandwich, but it’s what she had come to expect from hay. Even though it was not to her liking, it somewhat satisfied her before she began her trek back to her apartment.

It was midday by now, and by now it seemed that the sun was at its peak. Daring regretted leaving her faithful pith at home. As she trotted in a trance-like state through town, a small yellow unicorn strayed from a group of young ponies and called out to her. Her attention was brought to the pony in front of her, and her awareness of the world around her was reclaimed from the depths of thought.

‘Hey! You’re an explorer right? Go on adventures and stuff?’ the bright eyed pony asked.

‘Sure am, and I’m one of the best,’ Daring boasted, lifting her head high.

‘Well can you help me out with something? Some weird things have been happening…’

The explorer’s eyebrow raised as she listened to the filly. “Weird? How?’

‘Well every night I can see a light coming from inside the Rockfall Forest from my bedroom. Ma says I’m just seeing things but I swear I’m not! No pony will believe me!’

The group of fillies began to snicker and groan, obviously hearing of this tale before hoof. Daring’s attention snapped back to the filly in front of her , who was blushing slightly as she looked back towards her friends.

‘How long has this been happening?’

‘Umm…five days now, I think,’ the yellow filly looked down in thought. ‘Now that I think about it, it’s been happening ever since that earthquake.’

Daring raised a curious eyebrow, intrigued by the filly’s tale. She had known young foals to make up some pretty outlandish stories, even still, intuition was telling Daring that this filly was telling the truth.

“Didn’t hear about any earthquakes kid, must have happened while I was away… I’ll be sure to look into it though,” she said with a gentle smile. “I’ll be up and about tomorrow. If you see me, just give me a shout ‘kay?”

‘Great!’ the little pony giggled, bouncing off to rejoin her friends with a wide grin on her face.

Daring Do was indeed engrossed by this story, almost salivating at the thought of a new adventure that could result from it. There was the inevitable the possibility the filly was telling fibs or, if she really was seeing strange lights, the filly could merely be making a fuss over nothing. Either way, Daring now had a new hunger building inside her belly- one that could only be satisfied by adventure.

But that would have to wait. The urge to sleep was beginning to overcome the need to explore.

There was a sudden, brash knocking on Daring’s apartment door, shocking the brown pony out of her sleep. She yawned and rubbed her gritty eyes, agitated at the her rude awakening. After forcefully climbing out of her nurturing bed, Daring Do stumbled over to the door and opened it to find a dark orange stallion with a white mane panting for air on the other side.

‘Uhh…can I help you?’ Daring asked with furrowed brows as the pony at the door regained his composure.

‘It’s…It’s Caves! Caves Gallant! Somepony found him badly injured out in a forest not far from here, last thing he said before he passed out was…was that he wanted to see you,’ the orange pony exclaimed, huffing and puffing as he finished.

The startling news knocked Daring out of her tired state, suddenly being overcome by panic. She’d known Caves Gallant ever since she was a filly; he was her idol, her inspiration in becoming the fearless pony she was today.

‘Wh-Where is he? Is he okay?’

‘He’s…he’s at the local hospital…and I’m not sure how he’s doing, but it sounded urgent…I’m sorry I can’t be of more help, I’m just a messenger pony.’

Without wasting another second on conversation, Daring Do slipped past the orange stallion and through the open door. She broke into a full gallop and, without haste, sprung into the air and spread her wings wide. Caves had never failed an expedition before, nor had he ever returned empty hooved. He never once left her thoughts once whilst she flew to the hospital.

She stared at the sickly white door, wondering what to say when she walked in. Daring had never prepared herself for anything like this; she never expected somepony she thought to be invincible would ever be put in a hospital bed. It made Daring completely rethink the full dangers of her occupation. The grey maned pony sharply inhaled, and gently nudged the door open with her nose.

The reality of the situation struck her more when she saw him covered in multiple gashes and bruises stretched out on the hospital bed. He looked almost the same as Daring had last saw him, the only difference being he was in worse condition. Cave’s mane was still styled the same, his hair was swept to the side at the front, his long, flowing mane whipped around his shoulder. It was aged a light grey, and now Cave Gallant’s age was becoming all the more apparent to Daring. He had faint wrinkles in the corners of his eyes, his golden coat seeming less exuberant than it was in his youth.

The only sound which could be heard in the desolate room was the unnerving and steady beep of a heart monitor, that and the occasional murmur from Cave’s Gallent while he slept. She inched closer to the legendary adventuring pony, not knowing what Cave’s reaction would be, the stench of the jungle still lingering about him.

Caves Gallant’s eyes cracked open and a weak smile spread across his face. ‘If it isn’t my favourite filly explorer,’ he said softly.

Daring didn’t know how to respond, so she just gave a gentle smile.

‘I guess this day marks the last of my little excursions,’ Caves said with a heavy heart.

‘C’mon old-timer!’ Daring beamed, ’since when were you ever defeated by anything? You always taught me to never be afraid in the face of danger, and never give up no matter the odds!’

Caves Gallent’s silence told Daring more than words possibly could. The usual playful, cherry coloured eyes that Caves wore were shrouded with grief, an emotion Daring had never seen him portray.

‘Look Daring, I wouldn’t of called you down here if I didn’t have something important now would I? So I’ll just go ahead and cut to the chase. I want you to have this.’ He tucked his hoof into his top right pocket and fumbled for a bit, before revealing a masterfully crafted compass and gesturing it towards Daring Do. The compass was a rich golden colour, the rim of the glass was studded with diamonds and it seemed to expel a light from his very hoof.

‘I can’t take this…’ Daring answered, almost stunned by its beauty, ‘I can’t take your compass...This is the great Caves Gallant’s compass! It should be passed down through generations as a family heirloom, not given to me…’

‘This is not my compass.’ Caves face changed from peaceful, to very serious. ‘This is the long lost...’ He paused for a second. ‘...well, recently found, Diamond compass, you wouldn’t believe what I had to go through to get this.’

‘You ended up like this because of a compass?’ she asked confused.

‘No, don’t be silly. I already had the compass when this happened,’ Caves said quite gruffly.

Daring lifted the compass out of his hoof and compared it to hers. Her old faithful compass was a faded bronze colour- it looked like a piece of junk compared to the glimmering golden one in her hoof. But Daring’s compass was hardy and reliable, just like the pony who wielded it. The Diamond Compass suddenly seized to glow, and the arrow on the compass began to spin wildly.

‘Hey, no offence or anything, but I think it’s broken,’ Daring assumed. There were no markings where North, East, South and West should have been, just a single golden needle rapidly rotating behind the glass.

‘That’s because it doesn’t point in a specific direction. It doesn’t lead North or South. Oh no, it’s much more special than that…’ Cave’s head began to sway, his eyes grew heavy and colour began to drain from his face. ‘I don’t have the energy to stay awake much longer,’ Caves wheezed, ‘so let me just get to the reason you’re here. I’m and old pony Daring, I’ve done my fair share and I’m handing this on to you. Consider it more of a gift than a burden,’ he rasped grinning slightly. ‘Finish what I couldn’t Daring, what I failed to do, this pony’s adventuring days are over…’

‘Wha-what are you talking about?’

Caves Gallant’s eyes began to flutter and he seemed to sink further into the hospital bed.

‘Just do it for me Daring. I know you have it in you, follow the compass Daring, and hurry…only two days left …’

Caves Gallant drifted into unconsciousness, leaving Daring stood by his side with the Diamond Compass in her hoof. She looked down at the now sleeping pony, watching the rising and falling of his chest. She saw no point in staying and figured she should let Caves get his rest. Daring left the hospital, taking with her the mysterious Diamond Compass, and leaving only a single tear by Caves Gallant’s side.

As she walked home, she couldn’t stop thinking about the incident with Caves: The legendary stallion put in a hospital bed, the Diamond Compass... it all seemed too surreal to her. Caves Gallant wouldn’t lie to her, nor to anypony, even so, she still doubted the delirious Caves Gallant’s tellings. One thing Daring Do knew for certain though, was that if this treasure was real, she would be the pony to recover it.

Daring slowly opened her eyes, yet saw nothing but black. She could see nothing but herself in the lonely, dark void. She began to walk, but it seemed as if she was neither going anywhere, nor had anywhere to go. It was almost as if the explorer was walking on nothing, the usual ‘clip-clop’ of her hooves was absent in the endless oblivion, the eery silence putting Daring on edge.

Suddenly a jet black silhouette burst from the nonexistent ground, and began pursuing Daring Do. She tried to fly, but every time she spread her wings an invisible force would push her back to the ground. Daring could hear the smashing hooves of her en-shadowed pursuer, but couldn’t turn around. There was an abrupt flash and Daring’s vision was clouded with white. The shadowing silhouette reared up and let out a bellowing whinny, before slithering back into nothingness. The startled pegasus regained her sight, and looked upon what was in front of her.

A compass, almost the size of Daring herself, hung directly in front of her. The giant compass shone a miraculous golden light, and the needle on the other side of the glass was spinning at an unusual pace.

Daring Do looked closer at the glass, which had a reflected image of none other than Caves Gallant portrayed on the front of it. He had an almost defeated look on his face- there were blackened rings around his eyes, showing exhaustion as he stared blankly straight at Daring Do. She opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything, his aura was whipped into a somber cloud of black, before swiftly turning into the ghostly stallion from before. The shady creature shattered its hoof through the glass, and grabbed Daring Do pulling her inside…

Daring jolted upright in bed and gave a small yelp. It was the first nightmare she’d had in months. The familiar surroundings of her bedroom comforted her, and the face of reality slowly started to push away the bad memories from the dream.

“Follow the compass. Only two days left.” She could still hear it ringing from the recesses of her mind. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed a faint, eerie glow coming from under her bed covers. She drew the blanket back to find the source of the light, the Diamond Compass. Instead of it spinning like earlier it was focused on a single point. Once the weight of her sheets was off of it, the compass began to shake and it was being slowly drawn towards the direction it was pointing.

Daring snatched it off her bed before it went over the side, and held it to her face. She could feel the pull of the compass even when it was in her hoof. She wasn’t going to pass on this opportunity, even if she was sleep deprived. She grabbed her olive-green jacket and her pith from where they were left. The pull of the compass seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, to the point where there was actual effort needed to hold onto it. Daring rushed out of the door, slamming it behind her and quickly locking it. She lifted up the compass once again, radiating enough light now to make Daring squint. With no second thought she looked at direction the needle was facing, put the compass away and broke into a gallop towards where it was pointing.

She raced through town to the edge of North Gait, the compass shining so brightly by this point it could be seen glowing from inside her coat pocket. Daring’s vision was being impaired by the sheer darkness of the night, and she could barely see her surroundings. Daring stopped for a second, pulling out the Diamond Compass once again to check where to go. As soon as its brightness was not muffled by the fabric that concealed it, the compass fought back the shadows with a blinding golden light, making it impossible to see the pointer and forcing the grey maned pony to look away from the exuberant brightness.

Suddenly, the light from the compass died. It all seemed to be absorbed into the depths of the strange device, and it ceased to glow. Daring looked back at the needle, slightly confused. It was spinning again, just like it did at the hospital with Caves Gallant.

‘Ugh!’ Daring sighed, slightly frustrated, ‘I hope this thing is worth all the trouble it’s caused me…’

Just as Daring had finished talking, a similar light to that of the Diamond Compass suddenly exploded in front of her, the light pouring through the open woods. The light shone onto a close by sign making the words on it just readable. “Rockfall Forest” it read in bold letters.

‘So the little unicorn wasn’t just telling pony tales…’ Daring said quietly to herself.

The now visible forest didn’t look so sinister as it did when covered with the blanket of night. It was obvious nopony had been here in years, yet the lifeless wood still had an unmistakable presence within it. She followed the golden beacon into the thick green, almost being hypnotised by its unusual beauty. Wilted branches and roots of trees snagged her clothing and lashed at her exposed hide, yet Daring didn’t notice it, nor did she care. The bewildered pony’s attention was on the glimmering light in front of her. It beckoned to her. She finally reached the end of the forest, and was face to face with a rocky cliff almost four meters high. The rock formation had many cracks and edges jutting out from the side of it, but there was one thing in particular that stood out to Daring. One formation, resembling almost an archway, seeped a brilliant white light from in between its cracks.

Daring turned around, put all of her weight on her two front hooves and bucked the wall as hard as she could. The stone wall crumbled in on itself, the previous brilliant light from behind the rock disappearing on impact. The dust settled, and Daring Do looked inside the now uncovered archway. In front of her stretched a large passageway, the crumbling walls scarred with age. It was a different colour to that of the cliff-face- the walls were a dull grey colour, opposed to the rock outside being a brilliant orange. Daring winced slightly at her now aching hind legs, the stone wall being sturdier than she had previously thought.

Daring Do cautiously walked through the archway, her eyes fixed straight ahead rather than watching where she was going. A playful smile shot across her face as she delved deeper and deeper into the unknown. Eventually she noticed a narrow opening ahead and was relieved to escape the stuffy passageway. Before her lay a circular room with similar brickwork to that of the previous architecture. Trinkets, coins and other valuables lay scattered around at the far reaches of the room; Daring made quick note to salvage them later. Upon further inspection, she noticed the walls were marked with runes and symbols that Daring had never encountered before, most of the runes being focused on the five main pillars at different corners of room. It wasn’t the work of cave dwelling trolls, that much was clear. The scratchings were too complex for their usual primitive style, but nor was it the etchings of any intelligent life she had seen. Slightly stumped, the puzzled pony walked into the centre of the room where there stood a single, lustrous, golden pedestal. As she drew closer to the centerpiece, it became clear that it wasn’t a mere pedestal, but a glorified golden coffin.

Daring suddenly felt almost disrespectful. Breaking into a shrine that was dedicated to somepony, and even considering taking their possessions. Who ever it was inside the glorious casket would obviously want to stay there undisturbed. Even though the itch of adventure was irritating her beyond belief, Daring would have no second thought on turning tail and going home when it came to respecting the dead.

The slightly disappointed pegasus began her journey out of the tomb, feeling like this was almost a complete waste of time. Suddenly, Daring felt a pull on her clothing. Caught off guard, it managed to drag her a meter or so across the dusty floor before the she regained her footing. Even so, the relentless pull continued, which Daring noticed to be originating from one of her coat pockets. The Diamond Compass erupted out of her front pocket, tearing the pocket off of its seams. The compass flew through the almost empty room, before smashing against the golden sarcophagus with the unmistakable sound of colliding metal.

As Daring drew closer, she noticed There was a perfect imprint of the Diamond Compass on the side of the coffin, in which the compass was now embedded into. She reached out to touch it with her hoof, only to cringe back from the blinding light that followed. There was the teeth grinding sound of rough stone scraping together, then as abruptly as the light had appeared, it left. The covering of the coffin had been shifted aside, yet inside was not the deceased as Daring had first thought, but what seemed like an endless staircase that tunneled deep underground.

Even the amazing Daring Do, a mare of few words, managed to let a quiet ‘whoah’ escape her lips at the perplexing, way of passage somepony had left before her. The compass had now lost its unexplainable magnetism towards the underground entrance. Daring snatched it out of its holding place and put it in her other, unripped pocket.

Daring gazed at her surroundings. The runes on the wall were flickering with the lightest of yellows, directing figures of light that danced around the room. Something was off though, and it wasn’t the runes that were making Daring feel unsettled. She twisted her neck behind her to see a dark grey pony, made completely of stone. It stood there staring directly at Daring Do with eyes of Azure. Unblinking eyes that almost flickered with life. Eyes that seemed to pierce into her soul. She froze in her tracks- surely that statue was there before. It was possible she could have missed it when she was distracted by the tomb.

The statue still stood there, a guardian of the tomb, still glaring into Daring’s eyes with the same, cold eyes of blue. Daring tore her eyes away from the stone pony, focusing her attention back on the staircase, thinking it as nothing more than a stone model. Nothing more than a lifeless statue...