Daring Do and the Diamond Compass

With a deep breath, Daring began her descent of the cold, twisting staircase. As she descended deeper and deeper underground, the walls seemed to become more confined and the stairs became narrower. The adventuring pony could not afford to be claustrophobic, for obvious elements within her occupation. Still, she tried to avoid small spaces as much as she could, always allowing herself breathing space. The endeavouring darkness seemed to creep up on Daring as she progressed, and before she knew it, was in complete blackness. The now blinded pony gingerly carried on the rest of the walk, being careful not to trip and get to the bottom by falling the rest of the way. She felt uneasy of how exposed she felt with even one of her senses impaired, as to perform her best she always relied on every single one of senses. Anypony’s word against Daring’s instincts would be dismissed with the wave of her hoof.

The pegasus suddenly felt an almost burning sensation gnawing into her chest. It was not painful, but it was still powerful enough to gain the pony’s attention. She stopped for a moment in the lightless spiral staircase and reached for the source of the aura, her top right pocket. In her hoof shone the magnificent Diamond compass, bestowing the same, captivating golden light that Daring had witnessed throughout her ownership of it. It was as if the compass was calling to her when it was needed, shining for her to help fight away the enveloping shadows.

For that brief moment, as Daring stared deeply behind the flawless glass of the dazzling instrument, she felt an attraction towards the compass, a bond between her and the strange device. It astounded her to have ever felt such a thing, but in a way, Daring felt as if the compass was really alive. She considered that perhaps Caves Gallant had not sent her alone on this task, he had sent her with a companion. She shook her head, getting rid of such silly thoughts. Such ideas were not of Daring’s concerns and would only slow her progress, her only burden for the time being was getting to the bottom of the stone staircase.

The pegasus pony held the compass in her mouth and continued her trek down the musky path. Not too long after she had continued walking, Daring could hear the faint trickling of water, she smiled at the thought of ridding herself of all the dust she had accumulated on her under the steady, smooth flow of pure cave water. Light began to return to her dingy descent and the salvation of an exit was close at hoof.

Daring skidded to a halt when she finally reached the mouth of the exit. The Diamond compass clattered to the floor as Daring Do’s mouth hung open in shock. She was standing on an ancient bridge around 20 metres long, inscribed with the same vibrant runes and symbols she’d seen earlier in the tomb. Below her was a gaping bottomless hole, cutting deep inside the bowels of the earth. Two breathtaking waterfalls roared at both sides of the bridge, falling so far into the pit below the water dispersed into mist. The pulsating drawings on the bridge provided the light source for the whole cave, the ceiling being composed of jagged, dampened stalactites which sparkled with the reflected light below. Daring Do decided there and then that this was definitely not the home of cave-trolls.

The baffled pegasus recovered the compass off of the floor and checked for any damage that she may have accidentally caused, rotating it in her hoof to examine every inch of it.co

‘Not a scratch,’ Daring said, her lips pursing into a small grin.

Upon taking her first few steps onto the bridge, the runes of light brightened further wherever she placed her hoof, as if the symbols of gold were able to sense her presence. Intoxicated by the splendor of the place, Daring failed to notice a trap that she was all too familiar with, a hidden stone pressure plate. She stumbled as the plate sunk into the bridge, the sound of grinding stone causing Daring to shudder. As stone brick fell through the bottom of the bridge the whole place erupted in a violent rumble, bricks beginning to fall into the endless hungry abyss. Bricks around the small hole began falling after it, the giant chasm beneath Daring devouring them all as they tumbled into the dark void. Daring began galloping across the descending bridge, but soon it came apparent to her that she wouldn’t be able to keep up. Just as the last brick gave way beneath her hoof, she leapt into the air and unfolded her wings, gliding the remaining distance as the ancient structure crumbled away into nothingness.

Daring flew to the opposing platform, stumbling slightly upon landing. She turned to face where the wondrous relic was once situated. The air was teeming with thick, black dust. The light from the glimmering characters danced on the dust particles, creating strands of light that almost seemed to be produced by the sun itself. Unfortunately for Daring, beyond the beautiful light show, the sudden quake had sealed the entrance she’d came from with a large pile of rubble, completely covering the destroyed archway.

With a sigh Daring Do turned to face 2 passages, one of them collapsed and unusable, the other being a lengthy passage that cut deeply into the side of the wall. The rim of the arch had the same, unmistakable markings she had previously seen, but something was amiss. Unlike her prior encounters, these symbols were not glowing, they were merely engraved into the side of the stone. They still maintained the same, mysterious foreign style than before, but they simply did not glow. Thickly stemmed, glowing mushrooms were protruding from the cracks in the ancient bricks of the hallway, filling the damp corridor with an ominous green shine. At the end of the hallway, Daring noticed a more prominent light, that of a tree of some sort. She decided to progress further, finding herself once again driven by curiosity to continue.

A loose object got caught under Daring’s hooves and caused her to collapse. Daring cursed herself for being so clumsy, this being the pony’s second slip up. With hooves planted on the ground, she turned to find a shattered skeleton sprawled against the mossy tunnel wall. Vines and other greenery twisted around the old bones and held them in place, moss and other fungus clung to the outside of the skull, proving this body had been here a while. The only abnormality present was that the rib cage was brutally caved in, as if there was an impact of some sort. It belonged to a pony, she was sure of that, a pegasus in fact. Upon surveying the pony further she realised something was tucked underneath the remnants of a wing, a satchel.

It was blue in colour, a faded blue at that, and had simply the embroidery of an ‘L’ stitched onto the side. It was an expensive looking satchel, whoever it belonged to was surely wealthy. The bag contained but 3 items, an empty water sack, a broken pair of glasses and a crimson hardback diary. Most of the inserts appeared to be ravaged by the wearing of time, yet there was one passage on the last page of the book that Daring could comprehend.

I am not certain of today’s date, for I know not how much time has passed since my last entry.

The majority of my energy has been consumed by avoiding sleep, for I fear my next slumber may be eternal. The pain in my chest is fading, the damage, unfortunately, is still very much present. My right wing seems to have been broken from that ghastly creature I encountered, its terrible blue eyes will be remembered for as long as I live, however long that may be. Death is imminent, I accept this now, yet I instinctively cling to life for the sake of living.

My body grows numb, my eyelids heavy, even now I am struggling to keep this pencil held in my mouth. To anypony who may stumble across my defeated, dormant body, let this be a warning.
Run, turn back, escape if you can. Make certain the monster that robbed my life does not take another...

The handwriting trailed off the paper in the form of a crooked line, giving evidence that the mysterious traveller had slipped away. Daring tucked the satchel back under the wing of the mysterious ‘L’, hesitating a moment to gaze thoughtfully at what was left of the traveller. She carefully removed her pith and held it to her chest, drooping her head in respect for the fallen pony. After a brief pause, she returned her hat to the comfort of her head and continued onwards through the long tunnel.

“Seeing as I can’t turn back,” Daring told herself, “only way out is forward.”
The ceiling of the room opened up into a magnificent dome, a golden tree being the main centerpiece. The ceiling was tainted a teal colour, various patterns that consisted of golden swirls and curves dominated the outer rim. Strange, yet beautiful flowers were scattered throughout the room, being heavily focused beside the great tree. All plant life there shared the same qualities as the mushrooms, yet it was still unlike any she had seen in Equestria, or any other place for that matter. The tree had a thick, wavering trunk that seemed as if it was pulsating. It had long, twisted branches that came down in spirals almost to ground level. Some of the branches even held delicate looking fruit from the end of their spindly peaks.

It was while gawking at the beautiful flora that Daring Do noticed how much she was sweating. It seemed the humidity fueled by the waterfall created the perfect greenhouse in this specific room, allowing plant life to thrive and blossom. She began to approach the tree to further inspect the fruit, when she heard a faint rustle from above. Daring froze and cautiously looked up, being aware that the slight the rustle she heard could mean a possible threat. The branches above daring suddenly parted and a furry creature landed on Daring’s face, obscuring her vision. The startled pony began writhing and bucking, trying to free herself from this creature’s grasp. With a swift sweep of her neck she managed to free the animal’s hold, the creature then bouncing to the floor and scampering to the far wall.

Daring turned to face her attacker, planting her hind legs firmly into the ground and lowering her head, ready to charge. To Daring’s surprise, the tiny creature did not behave as she had predetermined. It simply sat quivering against the wall it was huddled against, occasionally letting out a feeble squeak or two. The confused pony lowered her guard and slowly approached her timorous attacker. When she was within a metre of the creature it quickly recoiled further against the wall, emitting muffled whimpers with its face against the smooth stone. The pony smiled, lowering her head and posture to seem less confronting. She delicately nudged the animal with her nose, warmly grinning as it cautiously turned to face her.

The small, fuzzy creature’s large blue eyes stared inquisitively into Daring’s, its head tilting slightly in the process.

“Blue eyes...”
Daring turned her attention to the tunnel from where she entered, surely this harmless creature couldn’t be the one written in the journal, though it did match the description. She turned back to the furry ball of an animal in front of her, which was now slowly edging closer. Daring was reluctant at first, but eventually allowed it to make contact with the side of her front leg. It began brushing itself against her, purring quietly as it did. From this she could get a better view of the fuzz ball. It appeared bipedal, though under the thick layer of snow-white fluff it was hard to tell if a second pair of legs were being concealed. It’s deep blue eyes had small tints of turquoise, the texture of its hide being being that of cotton. A small horn protruded from the top of its head from beneath the lush fur, greatly resembling that of a unicorn’s.Was it possible this creature was capable of magic?

Daring made the doubted decision to allow the timid beast to clamber up her tail and nestle on her back. She briefly glanced back at the furry lump rested on her.
‘I’m gunna call you Lapis,’ she giggled.