Chapters Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
The sounds of early evening permeated the savanna, the chirp of crickets mixing with the distant bellows of a lion and the cackles of a pack of hyenas. Though the sun was setting, the savanna of Zebrica still burned with enough heat to make an Equestrian collapse from shear exhaustion. But the heat did not bother those who had lived under the burning sun all their lives.
Shaman N'dutu paced a well traveled path through the tall grass, the slender blades brushing his striped coat. From his birth he had been versed to love the living world, to know the relationship between the burning sun, the brittle brown grass and the connection between all living things. But N'dutu felt nothing but contempt for his homeland. He, a shaman versed in the ways of his ancestors, a force to be reckoned with in the councils of his clan and tribe, made to serve a god that did not answer his prayers.
He was forced by his tribe to worship Yeye ya Kupigwa Wote, the great ancestor and mother to all zebra. N'dutu passed under the branches of the acacia tree, damning Yeye and his entire tribe for making him take the burden of responsibility and the title of scapegoat for anything bad that happened. The Matsunga zebra had once been a mighty tribe, one of the six tribes that could claim direct heritage to Talib. But Talib's bloodline had all died in the Matsunga tribe, and indeed all the other tribes save the Din'Jaro.
The Matsunga considered it a curse by Yeye that the honorable blood of Talib no longer flowed through their veins. The old shaman had prayed to Yeye and got lucky when things actually worked out in his favor. But after the old shaman was forced by the chief to take the Final Run, N'dutu took over as his spiritual successor and new shaman of the Matsunga. Things went from bad to worse for the Matsunga, once mighty warriors and herders, they were forced to take a farming lifestyle when the savanna could no longer feed their herds. And of course all hooves pointed to N'dutu when things went wrong.
Not enough rain to make the crops grow? N'dutu must not be praying hard enough! Your foal was born a colt instead of a filly as you wished? N'dutu must have done the ritual wrong! Gnolls broke down your fence and stole half your cattle?! N'dutu must not have laid the right warding symbols on the fence! An itch on your lower back!? N'dutu must be responsible!!
The shaman reared a hoof in anger and kicked a termite mound as he passed it, leaving cracks in the concrete-hard hill. Continuing his solitary walk along the trail, the shaman fumed at his horrible responsibility.
But the absolute worst part? Nopony looked upon N'dutu with anything but disgust. He constantly wore a long cloak with a deep hood, despite the extreme heat of Zebrica. He tried to hide his shame at his disfigurement, but he couldn't always hide. As a young colt he had been attacked by a lion, and being the ever spiteful creatures, the cat had gone straight for his face. The old shaman had been able to save his life, and considered it a blessing by Yeye that N'dutu had even survived at all. The old shaman had interpreted the lion's attack as some kind of test by Yeye for the young zebra, and his survival meant he was meant to serve Yeye as a shaman in his tribe.
In retrospect, that old zebra's brain had been scrambled a few too many times through various beatings, sun-strokes, wounds sustained in battle, and his secret love for a heavily narcotic drink fermented from grootslang milk. Stupid old foal.
N'dutu arrived at his destination, an outcropping of rock that sat on top of a hill overlooking the great expanse of the savanna. Facing the setting sun, the shaman reached down to a protected cache and pulled out a long pole of black ebony wood. Covered in runes and holy symbols, it served as his meditation stick. Planting the butt of the pole into the ground, the shaman very carefully placed himself on top, balancing himself in the extreme. Having delicately balanced himself, N'dutu relaxed as his back hooves daintily held on to the precariously balanced stick. Normal zebra shaman would have balanced on their heads, but N'dutu's disfigurement made it too painful.
Taking a deep breath, the shaman settled in for the traditional hour long session of meditation and prayer to Yeye. Funny, he hadn't actually prayed to Yeye in years, despite what he told his tribe. What was the point of praying to a god that didn't listen? Instead he used that time to vent his frustration and find some kind of calm. The only way he could ever get his tribe to respect him was to make them great again. And the only way to make them great again was to go to war with a more powerful tribe and win. But the problem with that, no zebra in the Matsunga had been to war in years! They had absolutely no reason to fight another tribe, and so they maintained treaties with all the surrounding tribes. The Matsunga had grown fat and complacent, their numbers thin and weak.
N'dutu quivered with rage for the extremely dishonorable and weak way of life the Matsunga had chosen. His anger shook the meditation pole so much that the shaman tumbled down from the top of it.
"Mwana wa bita!" he swore in anger as he dusted himself off. Jamming the butt of the meditation stick back into the dirt, N'dutu climbed back on top of it to finish his meditations. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of yellow eyes watched from the bush. The owner of the pair of slitted yellow eyes had been following him for some time, several months in fact. All without the zebra's knowledge. N'dutu may have looked like a tasty morsel to the predator, but the cat had been given strict orders to follow him and not kill him.
N'dutu finished his meditation, the sun falling below the horizon and splashing the clouds in infinite shades of orange. Climbing down from his meditation pole with a bit grace this time, he cached it behind a large rock. As he shifted the rock back into place, his equine ear picked up the sound of a twig breaking in the brush behind him. Turning around, he beheld the strangest cat he had ever seen in his life. Completely jet black, with eyes like golden orbs that shined in the twilight, staring at the shaman as it sat calmly on its haunches.
N'dutu slowly reached for the bush knife strapped to his back, bringing out the blade with a rasp of metal on leather. The cat did not move, blinking those golden orbs at the zebra. N'dutu's eyes were drawn to the cat's mouth, in it was grasped a strange blue gem on a string. The panther set down the gem and backed away into the bush, his eyes never leaving the zebra.
The shaman was no judge of gems, but this particular piece would probably sell very well to some Equestrian merchant or be enough to trade for a small herd of cattle to one of the richer tribes. N'dutu slowly approached the laid out gemstone, bush knife drawn and ready to fight if this was some trick by a demon. Picking up the stone, he stared into a large facet. To his surprise, the stone flickered with light, and a face appeared in the facet.
A blue face, with massive teeth, cat's ears and a monkey's features. "I have been watching you, N'dutu of the Matsunga."
"Wewe ni nani? Ni jinsi gani unaweza kuongea nami?" the shaman said to the stone.
"Come now, we both know you speak many tongues, among them Equestrian."
N'dutu shook his head, searching for the proper words in Equestrian, "Who are you?" he managed to force out in his baritone voice.
"My name is of no importance, little shaman. But I come to aid you in your goal."
"How can a monster like you aid the Matsunga?"
The blue figure inside the gemstone chuckled, "Precisely the way you think. I will make you great warriors again, but that is not all. I can give you the power to rule over all Zebrica if you so desire."
Now he had the shaman's undivided attention, "How?"
The creature licked his teeth, "There is amongst your tribes a legend, a legend of an artifact that can destroy armies and level mountains. You simply need to find it, and the power of a god is within your hooves!"
"Macho ya pepo! The Eyes of the Demon! You know how to find Talib's lost tomb?"
"I do not, but there are those amongst your tribes that do know."
N'dutu considered it for a second, the Eyes were reputed to have the kind of power he desired to earn the respect of his tribesmen and bring the Matsunga back to power. But only one clan knew where to find the tomb of Talib, the most powerful tribe in all of Zebrica, the Din'Jaro. And they were sworn by the blood of Talib to never reveal the secrets and the location of the Eyes. But to fight the Din'Jaro he would need an army!
"It is impossible! No tribe alone can fight the Din'Jaro! They are of Talib's bloodline, and are fierce warriors."
The blue creature smiled, "How you fight them is up to you, my pets will provide you with the needed muscle to begin conquering your neighbors and building your army." The black cat returned, this time escorted by a tiger and a cheetah.
N'dutu gazed at the cats from the depths of his hood, "And why would you aid me? What is your price?"
The creature in the gemstone held up two monkey paws, "I ask no price to see such a true warrior get back what is rightfully his. All I ask is that after you conquer all of Zebrica, you let me keep the Eyes of the Demon safe for you. After all, you won't be needing them with such an army at your beck and call."
N'dutu grinned, "You...are ugly. So ugly, that Yeye herself cringed when she learned that she had birthed such an ugly creature into this world." The monkey-dog creature scowled within the depths of the gemstone, but N'dutu reached up with a hoof and pulled back his hood. "But, it is something we have in common." N'dutu's face was a patchwork of scars and pits, so many that his face looked like it had been peeled off and replaced with a monster's visage.
Ahuizotl grinned and began to laugh, a low chuckle becoming a mirthless cackle. "Good, you see eye to eye with me, N'dutu. My pets have informed me of a tribe of gnolls that lives nearby, they have taken the liberty of observing their ways, and they tell me that anything can challenge for leadership of the pack, even you. Kill their leader, and you have the first step in forming your army."
The three cats bowed their heads to the zebra, standing up the trio of big cats began to stalk to the bush. N'dutu grinned and followed.
*********************************************************
The alpha of the Blackclaw gnolls was a huge brute, a massive beast of his species that bore the scars of dozens of challenges for his title of alpha. Gnolls are similar in structure and appearance to Equestrian Diamond Dogs, except that the cousins of gnolls happened to be hyenas instead of dogs or wolves. Blackclaw himself rested under the shade of his favorite acacia tree, ignoring the loud and obnoxious cackling as two of his betas fought over an elephant bone.
Gnolls are capable of eating regular food like meats and occasionally grains and fruits when the need is dire enough, and can digest metals and minerals like their Diamond Dog relatives, but above all they crave bones. Any boneyard or dying ground in Zebrica is sure to have its own pack of gnolls attached to it, viciously defending it from any intruders.
Blackclaw slapped a paw to his ear, desperately trying to drown out the rough-housing betas. More of his pack was now cackling and whooping for the fighting pair. Growling at their interruption of his nap, Blackclaw jumped up to land on both of his stumpy back legs. Walking over to the pair of circling gnolls, he grasped them both by the scruffs and cracked their heads together. Slumping over, Blackclaw tossed the combatants aside, grabbing the elephant rib for himself. "Mine!" he yelled in the rough gnoll language. Slapping a heavily muscled forearm against the reddish-brown fur on his chest, the alpha retired to the shade of the acacia to gnaw on the bone in the cooling light of dusk.
Blackclaw had barely begun to gnaw on his prize when his pack began to whoop and shriek, causing a ruckus that could only mean an intruder had wandered in. Dropping the bone, Blackclaw sought out the source of the commotion, he joined his pack as they circled a lone zebra, hooded and cloaked despite the heat. The lesser gnolls nipped at the zebra, who stayed unflinching despite the circle of predatory monsters around him.
Blackclaw barked and raised a paw, silencing his pack and making them take a step back. The muscular gnoll took a few steps closer to the zebra intruder. "What you want?" he growled in his guttural tongue.
The zebra responded in a rough version of the gnoll language. "I am N'dutu, I come to challenge."
Blackclaw sharply exhaled, then began to cackle, soon his entire picked up and chortled like hyenas. "You trespass in my territory, and dare challenge ME?" Blackclaw laughed some more, the rest of his pack clutching their stomachs or rolling on the ground. If there was one thing gnolls enjoyed, it was a good laugh. "It unfair! You make me laugh too much to fight!" Blackclaw brayed at the zebra some more with his high pitched laugh.
The zebra pawed at the ground, "You accept my challenge?"
Blackclaw stopped his chortling to spread his arms wide and extend his claws. "I'll eat your bones, zebra!"
N'dutu dropped his hood, exposing his hideously scarred face to the gnoll. Blackclaw tensed himself to pounce the zebra and end this quickly so he could get back to that elephant bone. N'dutu puckered his lips and whistled.
A large orange blur bowled over the gnoll, tearing into him with claws and teeth. The tiger was much larger than Blackclaw, and ripped out his throat before the gnoll could even think about fighting back. Around the other gnolls, the panther and the cheetah nipped at their flanks and roared.
Blackclaw still flailed weakly, N'dutu pulled out his bush knife and calmly walked over. With a deft movement he planted the blade in Blackclaw's heart, delivering the killing blow. Ripping out the knife, he licked the blood from the blade, completing the ritual of succession.
"Does anyone challenge my right to lead the pack?" Most of the gnolls shook their heads and began to grovel before this zebra who commanded the most ferocious beasts of the wild. One stood defiantly, taking a few steps closer to N'dutu with a scowl on his face.
"You fight unfair! Make orange lion do your work! You not alpha of Blackclaw, zebra!" N'dutu glanced at the panther and cheetah, nodding in the defiant one's direction. Both cats roared as they leapt to disembowel the defiant gnoll.
The cats finished their work, padding over to sit at N'dutu's side, blood dripping from their maws as they looked hungrily at the pack of gnolls. "Who leads Blackclaw?"
"N'dutu!" cried the gnolls.
The disfigured zebra grinned, "Good. Rise my subjects, I promise you plunder, I promise you power, and all the bones you could sink your teeth into! All you must do is fight by my side. Come, we have nations to conquer!" The gnolls stood and whooped for their new alpha, scrambling back to their dens to grab spears and shields for the upcoming bloodbaths.
With the foundations of an army at his heels, N'dutu turned back and headed in the direction of his village.
************************************************
Zebras of all ages sat around a hearth in front of a mud hut, eating a simple dinner of cooked grains and bread from a communal bowl. Life was good for the Matsunga, they had allied with all the surrounding tribes and settled down to village life. A much more preferred life than the old ways of the spear and the blade, wandering the savanna to protect herds of goats and cattle. Rumor passed among the assembled zebra that N'dutu hadn't yet come back from his meditations out on the savanna. Normally he would make the trip like clockwork, but now the sun had fallen and many wondered if N'dutu had fallen prey to some of Zebrica's many predators.
Though many considered N'dutu to be a miscreant and an all around failure of a shaman, they were still concerned for him. As if they truly needed him. The problem with N'dutu was that he could not take criticism for the life of him; the old shaman, may he rest in peace, had taken everything in stride and used it to improve himself on a daily basis. They didn't care that N'dutu bore the many scars of a lion's malice, it was the fact that he was a bitter, spiteful, unpleasant, bull-headed, all around jerk of a sentient being. A complete and polar opposite of the expected attitude of a shaman of Yeye.
A zebra colt finished swallowing his share of the communal bread, his ears perked at some sound in the distance. "Mama, nasikia kitu." He stood and stared out beyond the firelight's flickering illumination.
His mother stroked his rigid mane, careful not to displace the ostrich feathers weaved in there, "Ni kitu mtoto, msiwe na wasiwasi."
An elder zebra leaned over and gently tousled his grandson's mane. "Inaweza kuwa ni pepo ya kula wewe wote! Rawr!" he chuckled as the foal squealed at the thought. The foal's family grinned and continued to dine on the fruits of their labors.
The crackle of the fire masked the approach of the predators in the bush, only the crack of a stick perked the ears of the entire family. Staring out in the dark, the stallion of the family pulled his spear closer. After a few minutes of waiting and watching, the family warily returned to their evening chatter.
Bunching up his muscles, the gnoll sprang from the darkness, slamming a club-like arm against the most immediate threat, the stallion with the spear. More gnolls sprang from the darkness, disabling the zebras and spreading out to the other huts in the village. Several gnolls whooped at the night, throwing torches into huts and plundering whatever they wanted. The screams of mare and stallion alike sounded in the night as the gnolls dragged everypony to the center of the village, binding their hooves behind their backs. The entire village had been forced to assemble, the mares and foals trembling at the brutish gnolls that held them at spearpoint.
A hooded and cloaked figure walked leisurely out of the dark, stopping in front of the prisoners. Throwing his hood back, the zebra took a good look at the traitor N'dutu, wearing a strange gem around his neck.
One warrior lurched forward, desperately trying to get at N'dutu. A pair of gnolls grabbed him by his legs and threw a punch in his stomach. The warrior gasped for breath, looking up to his former compatriot with begging eyes, "N'dutu, why do you betray?! These beasts will make us their prey!"
The shaman lashed out with a hoof and caught the bound warrior on the cheek. "Speak not to me in such pitiful rhymes. Listen to me everypony, I have watched this tribe fall from the grasps of Yeye's grace to this wretched dishonor! The Matsunga were warriors, the guardians of Talib's legacy! What are we now? Farmers! Scratching a desperate existence from this barren earth!" N'dutu kicked a puff of dust into the air. "Yeye has forsaken us, and I have come with these gnolls and a new ally to bring the Matsunga to greatness once again! I will raise an army and fight our oldest enemies, the Din'Jaro! They greedily keep Grinwa's Promise from the rest of us, hoarding away such power for themselves! Follow me, and you shall bask in the power of the Eyes of the Demon as we place all Zebrica under our hooves."
The elder zebra from before struggled to remove the gnoll paw from around his muzzle, "Do the ancient legends fall on deaf ears? The Eyes are something everypony should fear! We cannot control their power, the Din'Jaro are right to keep the secret within their bower!"
N'dutu glowed with rage, looking to two of his gnolls he nodded. The hyena creatures panted with excitement as they dragged the elder zebra to the front of the herd, throwing him on the ground. Whooping and cackling they began to tear into his flesh with their bare claws, ripping him to bloody shreds in front of his family. Many younger foals cried at the horrible act, and several mares tried to shield their young one's eyes.
"All who stand between me and the Eyes will meet the same fate. Join me, or feed my soldiers. The choice is yours."
Many zebra prostrated themselves before their new warlord, swearing allegiance as the shed tears for the horrors they would commit to protect their families.
***************************************************
There we have it, finished the last two chapters of my last story and uploaded another in one day. If you wish to know what N'dutu is saying in Zebrican, I will tell you. It's not really anything much, he is just speaking Swahili with a few invented words to cover for gaps in that language.
Oh, and happy birthday to Sibsy, known to bronydom for her OC Wild Fire.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
Daring Do vs. Polite Society
Equestria's most famous explorer was tired and positively beat from her last investigation and subsequent archaeological dig. The sun had fallen little over an hour ago as she rode the train to Canterlot with her various recovered artifacts stashed in a storage car. Far from being a destitute mare, she had reserved an entire coach car for herself on the trip back from her latest dig. Absently tipping her trademark pith helmet over her pink eyes, she leaned back in a bunk and tried to get some sleep.
Try as she might, she couldn't get any rest. Something was nagging at the pegasus, like she was forgetting something. Annoyed she tipped her helmet back and went over a checklist of things she might have forgotten.
Jumping down from her bunk the mare opened the door from the coach and went into the boxcar. Lighting a lantern she went over various crates.
"Alright, artifacts A-L, check." She paced over to another crate, "Artifacts M-Z, check. Digging supplies, check. Camping gear, check. Memento recovered from hostile natives, negative." She scratched that one off of her mental checklist, this last dig hadn't been the least bit adventurous in any nature, just some old ruins in somepony's backyard here in Equestria. The nice old mare who owned said ruins had served some tea and cookies to Daring and her excavation team, that kind of made up for the complete lack of booby traps.
"Helmet," she flicked the brim of her favorite hat with a hoof, "Double check." Having gone over the bulk of her inventory without finding something astray, the gold pelted pegasus forced down the feeling of forgetfulness as she opened the door back to the coach car. Tossing herself in her bunk, she rolled over onto her side and stared out the window. The gentle hills and placid forests of Equestria zipped by, reminding the mare as to why she had chosen her line of work.
To get away from this crap was the simplest answer. Equestria may have had its moments, but to a well traveled adventurer like Daring Do it was more boring than taking a crochet class. This place may be her homeland, but by no means was it her home. An aloof explorer like her had no true home, Equestria served as more of a place to keep the bulk of the junk that she collected in her literal globetrotting. She preferred listening to the noises of the late afternoon jungle, laying in a hammock after a hard day's work of plundering various tombs and braving ancient temples in the Great Southern Jungle. That, or outrunning various monsters up in the frozen territory of Snowreach, or even making deals with shady minotaur swashbucklers in the Minotaurranean Sea. Anything was preferable to the relative peace and quiet of Equestria.
Shifting her pink eyes, Daring spotted the lights of the pony capitol of Canterlot, styled by some to be the capitol of the world. Daring grimaced, cities meant civilization, and civilization meant that she would have to act more ladylike . She shuddered at the thought. Daring preferred Gryph'Kalor as a city, much more rough and tumble, more her style of town. The kind of place where you could close a deal with an ambassador to get digging rights to an ancient monastery and order hard liquor in the same room.
It was pointless to try and get any sleep now, Daring rolled out of her bunk and grabbed her saddlebags, tossing them on. Patiently waiting for the train to stop at Canterlot station, she wracked her brain for whatever it was she had forgotten. The locomotive eventually ground to a stop, the conductor blaring the whistle to alert the passengers. Not bothering to oversee the safe handling of her acquired artifacts, Daring debarked and took off for the museum on wing.
Canterlot Museum was said to be the most complete archive of early society and pony origins in the world, but Daring knew better. There was a huge gap in the timeline, one that the Princess refused to acknowledge. Daring had even confronted her royal majesty once about it when she had been granted an audience one time, the result being a very angry looking Princess Celestia and Daring Do not showing her face in Equestria for the next two years.
Landing lightly at the front steps to the Canterlot Museum, Daring walked up the steps, past the alabaster columns styled like the cloud formed columns in Cloudsdale's antiquity. Trotting up to the front doors, she passed a night watchpony who stood very bored looking at the front door.
"Evening Professor Do."
Daring sighed, "For the last time Reggie, don't call me Professor."
The bored museum watchpony smirked, "Fine then, Dr Do. Somepony came along earlier, right before I got on shift looking for you. Said you were supposed to be back yesterday. Fellow looked real important. Also real angry."
Daring shrugged, "Can't imagine what that would be about." She brushed past, trotting through the front door to the lobby of the museum. Taking a sharp turn away from the exhibits she pushed open a nondescript wooden door that led to the museum's administration and private offices. Trotting down the hallway, Daring came to a door with a clouded glass window, her name printed in bold black letters on the glass.
Opening the door to her office, Daring tossed her pith helmet expertly on the top of an old coat rack, dropping her saddlebags by the door. Flicking on the magic powered lamp on one of her filing cabinets, Daring picked up her rather considerable pile of forms and mail off the floor.
Looking up from her stack of mail, Daring's heart nearly stopped as she spied her oldest enemy sitting at her desk. The pile of mail fell out of her hoof and to the floor. "You." she said as her eyes narrowed. It simply sat there, not saying anything to the mare. This was a foe more dreaded than Ahuizotl and more ancient than Fu Man Chu, her nemesis in the Orient. Something that had haunted her ever since puberty when her mother had gotten her first one for her.
The little black dress.
Her antithesis, the complete and total anti-Daring Do, the symbol of society and class! Its presence here in her office instantly made her mind click with what she had forgotten. "Oh buck, I've got a beneficiaries gala to attend!" Her eyes shot to the clock in the corner, "In fifteen minutes!" Throwing off her green jacket, Daring tugged on her nemesis and brushed her charcoal mane in the bathroom, trying to get as many knots and tangles out as possible. Satisfied with that, she doused herself with a bottle of perfume and tried desperately to apply some make up. Feeling like she was painted like a clown she grabbed the speech note cards off of her desk and dashed out of her office door.
******************************************************
Ancient Lore stood in the entrance to the Canterlot Mareiott, various philanthropic and wealthy ponies filing in and shaking hooves with the Curator of the Canterlot Museum. Though calm on the outside, Lore was sweating under his tuxedo suit and cursing the continued absence of his curator of antiquities. Oh yes, Daring had pulled a few stunts like this before, but it would just ice the cake if she didn't show up for the biggest fundraiser of the museum's fiscal year!
The beige unicorn put on a huge, fake grin and adjusted his thick glasses as he welcomed yet another pair of would-be philanthropists dressed as though they were attending the Grand Galloping Gala. Hell, for all he knew that was how they dressed every minute of the day.
Checking his pocket watch, Lore scanned the skies for any hope of Daring somehow falling out of the clouds to be on time for once. And for once luck seemed to be on his side as the pegasus came screaming down from the heavens, leaving a trail of poorly applied cosmetics in her wake. Landing hard, Daring Do panted as she checked her pocket watch.
"And just where in Tartarus have you been Daring?!?"
Daring continued to pant, "No worries chief, I'm here on time!"
"Oh yes I'll worry! How well do you think this fundraising gala would have gone if the face of the Canterlot Museum didn't show up?! Speaking of faces, it looks like you let some circus performer do your make up." Ancient Lore's horn glowed with magic as he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe off some excess eyeliner. "Is that...dirt? You came here straight from a dig?!"
Daring shrugged, "Well yeah, it was a pretty good find actually, lots of Pre-Classical artifacts from an unknown race. Hit the mother lode on that one. Gave myself an extra day to work at it."
Ancient licked a hoof, rubbing a smear on the pegasi's forehead, "Daring, you know just as well as I do that Her Majesty's Royal Guard will confiscate those as soon as they see the light of day. And did you ever stop to think that you may have had a previous engagement? Now get in there, you have the opening speech. Just read what I wrote on those cards for you and this should all go well for us. Maybe we can finally expand the exhibit on Pre-Classical era warrior societies!"
Daring Do rolled her eyes, trotting into the the lobby of the fancy hotel. Pulling the stack of notecards out of the bosom of her dress, Daring noticed the stack felt a lot lighter since she had taken off from the museum. "Crap, just have to work with what I have, maybe improvise a little."
Walking through the open door to the hotel ballroom Daring slipped past the dozens of tables containing chattering museum enthusiasts, philanthropists, important city officials and even a few members of the museum board of directors. This was not going to go well. In the background a piano played, and everypony patiently waited for the opening speech to be given so they could move on to more important matters.
Daring took the stairs up to the stage, smiling as everypony clapped as she waved her way to the podium. Taking her place, Daring pulled out her note cards.
Crap, I lost the introduction! Okay Daring, you can do this, just try opening with a joke.
The archaeologist cleared her throat, public speaking had never been her strong point. "Welcome museum goers. Or as I like to call you, 'future exhibits'!"
The room remained silent, somepony in the back coughed. Daring put on a sheepish grin, "Heh, right. I'm Daring Do, curator of antiquities at the esteemed Canterlot Museum." Desperately she began to flip through the note cards, "Aha! The purpose of history has always been to preserve what we have been and define who we will be. And there is no better place in this world to preserve our culture and heritage, and maybe learn something new about ourselves, than the local museum."
The cards were totally out of order, Daring flipped through trying to find that might follow that up. "Though the patronage of the good citizens of Canterlot has kept the Museum at the forefront of archaeological, philosophical and even paleontological research and advance, regretfully-" It just stopped there!
Flipping through the cards again, she sighed and just tossed the pile to the side. "Alright people, here's the deal. We're in a tight spot for cash and the only way we can keep our heads above water is if you see fit to keep us going. We want to open a new exhibit but frankly we just don't have the bits for it. Can you help us out a little?" The well dressed crowd laughed heartily, in the back of the room Daring watched Ancient Lore swoon and collapse. "Okay...thanks for your time." Daring flitted off stage.
************************************
The music had started again and nopony seemed to remember the butchered opening speech. Daring drowned herself at the open bar, haunches firmly on a stool, forehead on the bar.
"Barkeep, double whiskey." she said without raising her head. The barkeep slid her the drink, Daring lifted her head just long enough to choke down the poor excuse that these ponies called hard liquor. Grabbing a bit out of a pocket with her wing tip, she flipped it into the tip jar. "Keep 'em coming."
Forehead planted on the bar and a leg covering her head in shame, Daring hardly noticed when somepony took the stool next to her. "'Future exhibits', I've heard some bad ones in my time Daring, but that was almost worthy of an award."
Daring's pink eyes shifted to take in the four leafed clover cutie mark on a nut brown flank. Lifting her head up, she took a sip of her drink. "Lieutenant Charms. Tell me old friend, why shouldn't I just break your legs here and now?"
The earth pony wore a black suit, not a tuxedo like the other guests. "It's not lieutenant anymore, it's Agent Charms. You look pretty when you actually try to be a lady."
"Moving on up in the world? Let me guess, you shake down enough innocent archaeologists and Princess Celestia gives you a meaningless job with a nice suit and tie."
Agent Charms slammed a hoof on the bar, "Those demon artifacts you keep trying to exhibit are dangerous Daring! And don't you dare try to sully Princess Celestia's name again! I had to use my one favor with her Majesty that one time when you insulted her right to her face!"
Daring put on a mischievous smirk, "Well then Lucky, you're gonna go absolutely bananas when you see what I've brought back this time."
"Too late for that Daring, I had six agents at the train station when you arrived, all that trash you call artifacts is already on its way to the incinerator."
Daring laid back her ears and flared her wings in agitation, "You bastard, I worked for a week to collect all that!"
"Please Daring, you know it's not about the artifacts, it's about the thrill of the chase, for you and me. Besides, I don't think it's anypony's loss that there won't be an exhibit featuring the midden heap of some long dead society."
Daring calmed and laid her wings down, "Lucky, remind me why I haven't left you stranded out in the middle of some jungle."
"You have Daring, twice now actually. Once in the Great Southern Jungle, the second time in that prison cell in Knossos."
Daring grinned at the fond memory, "Those minotaurs sure were pissed when they found out you swiped that idol."
"Luckily for you Daring, my memory tends to drift towards the night before that event." Agent Charms lifted an eyebrow suggestively.
"They don't call you Charms for nothing. So Agent, what brings you here tonight?"
Agent Charms glanced around, "Can't say it here, we need to go somewhere private."
Daring finished her whiskey, "Meet me back in my office in the museum, thirty minutes."
"Perfect, see you in half an hour." The Royal Agent stood from the bar stool and walked out the front door of the hotel. Daring was getting ready to head out when Ancient Lore crashed into the recently vacated bar stool next to Daring.
"Barkeep! Your strongest drink, make it a double!" Lore turned his head to the pegasus mare next to him, he had gotten rather disheveled looking in the past few minutes, "And as for you Ms Do! The only reason why I keep you around is because the public loves you! I've had to go around apologizing and trying to salvage this situation after you bombed up there on stage! You had ONE job Daring, ONE JOB!"
Daring slapped him with a wing and grabbed his shoulders with her hooves, "Hey, calm down Ancient. That was Agent Charms with the Royal Intelligence Service, I think they might have a job for me."
The unicorn visibly calmed, "The Royal Intelligence Service? Really? Damn, a private contract with the throne could make our next two years! Screw this fundraiser crap, take the job Daring! That's why I keep you around Daring, you have the guts to go anywhere and take any challenge head on!"
"Hold it there Lore, don't drop the fundraising just yet. Maybe I won't take the job. There are certain things I don't do."
Ancient Lore gulped down his drink, "Alright Daring, you go and find out what they want, and if you have ever cared about the future of our beloved museum, you will consider taking the job."
****************************************************
Daring nodded to Reggie as she entered the museum through the front door as usual. Ignoring the normally fascinating exhibits in the lobby, Daring took her traditional path back to her office. Walking up to her office door, she heard two voices talking in her office, one was definitely Charms, the other had a much deeper quality to it.
Pushing open her door, Daring spied Charms sitting behind her desk, conversing with a hooded figure seated in a chair by the wall. The striped legs and various bracelets told her that the newcomer was definitely a zebra. "Evening gentlecolts."
"Daring, glad you could join us." Charms pulled open a desk drawer on Daring's desk and pulled out her private stash of fine Mexicolt cigars. Taking one of the cigars in his hoof, he ran it under his nose, taking in the scent. "You always did go for the best Daring." Clipping off the end, he lit it up and proceeded to stink up the entire office.
"Oh yeah, no go ahead and plunder my private stash. Show some common courtesy and open a window, I'm not supposed to have those here." Daring trotted to the open bathroom in her office, cranking on the sink to splash some water on her face. "So what do you want Charms?"
"Been reading the newspaper lately Daring?"
Daring scoffed as she peeled off her dress, right in front of both stallions nonetheless. Throwing on her green jacket, she shook her head. "Most of the time I'm nowhere near anyplace that has ever heard of a newspaper."
"Surely you've heard something about the war in Zebrica?"
Toweling off her face, Daring took a third seat across from the unintroduced and silent zebra. "It's a guerrilla war between bush tribes, what is there to know?"
Charms puffed on his cigar, blowing the smoke carefully out the window. "It's a little more complicated than just some 'guerrilla war'. It's a genocide in the making."
"Then why don't you just step in? Equestria has a large enough army to take on any threat in Zebrica."
The Intelligence Agent shook his head, "We can't, they haven't made any hostile acts against Equestria or her people. Besides, the warlord on the aggressive side is using child soldiers in a lot of his attacks."
Daring rolled her eyes, "This is all horribly tragic, but what does this have to do with me?"
"Take a look." Agent Charms pulled a folder from his suit pocket, tossing it on the desk. Opening the folder, Daring got a look at a black and white photo of the ugliest zebra she had ever seen.
"Who is he?"
"N'dutu, former shaman of the Matsunga tribe." The strange zebra intoned in a heavily accented voice.
Daring continued to flip through the photos, each one getting different angles of the zebra warlord. One photo had bile coming up in the back of her throat. The warlord N'dutu, surrounded by a trio of big cats.
"Son of a bitch....I'd know those damn cats anywhere, Ahuizotl's in on this! But why would he want to start a war in Zebrica? He is only interested in ancient artifacts!"
The strange zebra dropped his hood, "There is an artifact, it is the whole reason why the tribes are fighting right now. Macho Ya Pepo , The Eyes of the Demon."
Charms ground out the remnants of the cigar, "Where are my manners, Daring this is Timur; as you can tell he is a zebra, and from one of the tribes involved in the conflict in Zebrica."
Daring offered a hoof to the zebra, "Daring Do. Nice to meet you."
The zebra returned her hoofshake, "Timur Duan!ziti of the Gochano tribe."
Daring raised an eyebrow in confusion, "How do you spell that exactly?"
The zebra chuckled, "'Timur' will do fine, Ms Daring Do."
Charms interrupted the introductions, "So Daring, our plan is to exploit a loophole in diplomatic relations with the zebra tribes. The Equestrian government or army cannot take action against N'dutu unless he strikes first. But if we send you as a private explorer, you can get the Eyes while still being able to take necessary actions against N'dutu. If there is no prize at the end of N'dutu's tunnel, there is no reason for him to keep fighting."
"So, you want to use me because you guys aren't ballsy enough to just go out there and find this artifact?"
"Daring, this is a plan that came from Princess Celestia herself. She believes that the Eyes aren't safe anymore and should be brought here to Equestria for safekeeping. Besides, I thought you never passed up a chance to stick it in Ahuizotl's craw."
The explorer sighed, "If Ahuizotl is after this little trinket of yours, it must be worth a fortune."
Timur shook his head, "The Eyes themselves are next to worthless as material, it is the power that comes with them that makes them so desirable."
Daring lifted an eyebrow, "What do you mean? I've yet to come across an artifact that has actually done something. The Sapphire Statuette? Just a pretty statue. The Gryphon's Goblet? Just a fancy cup that makes wine taste better. Ockham's Razor? Actually an ancient philosophical concept."
Timur looked mildly offended, "I know you Equestrians do not have legends of the Eyes here, but in Zebrica it is reputed that a full seven tribes, over 12,000 warriors, were destroyed in the time after the Eyes were pried from the dead grasp of Grinwa. And not just the warriors, the very lands they stood upon were destroyed, gouging out canyons and leveling mountains."
Daring sat incredulously, "What do the Eyes do?"
Timur shrugged, "I do not know, only the highest shaman of the Din'Jaro and their chief are burdened with any knowledge of Grinwa's Promise."
The explorer took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, turning back to Agent Charms. "What's the pay?"
Charms grinned, "The Royal throne funds your museum for the next three years, we look the other way to a certain extent for your fascination with demon artifacts, and as an added bonus, you save the world and foil Ahuizotl. Timur here can speak most of the languages of the zebra tribes that you may encounter and will be your guide through Zebrica."
Daring glanced at the eager looking zebra, "I'll take your job, but I don't need him."
"Daring, have you ever been to Zebrica? There are more monsters than the Great Southern Jungle and Snowreach combined. More languages than there are scales on an elder dragon. Without him, you won't make it ten feet out of the Equestrian embassy."
Daring gave a prideful smirk and leaned back in her chair, "You underestimate me Charms."
Timur shook his head, "And you underestimate Zebrica. It is a dangerous and unforgiving land, half the creatures there will eat you alive, the other half will kill you and leave you for something else to eat. And it is not just the wildlife, the burning heat will sap your energy until your tongue is black from thirst and your skin like paper. You may find sanctuary in the jungle, only to have your body be eaten from the inside out by insects and disease. There is no safe way to travel Zebrica, I can only help you get through it alive."
Agent Charms and Timur both stared down the pegasus mare, awaiting her response. Daring sighed, then smiled. "Charms, you have yourself a deal. On one condition, I get to keep the remaining demon artifacts in my possession."
Agent Charms grimaced and laid back his ears, "Fine, deal."
Daring grinned and stood up from her chair, walking over to her bulging saddlebags. Flipping them open, she dumped out a sizable pile of ancient artifacts on her desk. "And next time Lucky, have your goons check inside the crates before they incinerate a bunch of camping gear."
Charms's eyes narrowed, "Clever girl..."
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
After her meeting with Agent Charms and a quick confirmation run back to the beneficiaries gala to inform her boss, Daring Do headed back to her most sacred and beloved place in all Equestria, her rundown and ramshackle apartment in a middle class neighborhood of Canterlot. Unlocking the door with the key she cleverly stashed under a fake pile of bills, Daring made her way into Casa de Do.
"Honey! I'm home!" she called out. Her house was an absolute mess. Her entire living room had unintentionally been converted into a research archive, with literal hundreds of books stacked as tall as the ceiling, balanced on every standing piece of furniture. Daring's kitchen was in much worse shape, dozens of artifacts in various stages of restoration lay scattered across the kitchen table; some recognizable and near completion, others more outlandish and hopelessly out of shape.
She never really used her apartment here in Canterlot, except on those annoying occasions when the museum wouldn't let her go on sabbaticals or when she had to teach classes at the esteemed Canterlot University. Daring passed by her mostly covered hearth, tossing in the dreaded black dress to burn the next time it got cold. "I hope you're ready, I've been thinking about you all day." Daring said in a sultry voice towards her bedroom.
Stripping off her typical green jacket and tossing it on a pile of at least a dozen of the same jacket, all needing to be laundered, Daring flipped open the door to her bedroom. She leaned against the doorframe, a small grin touching her lips. "Oh baby, you sure know what a girl wants at the end of a long day."
Spreading her wings she took a flying leap to her bed, throwing the sheets up into the air long enough to zip underneath. Laying down her head on her pillow, Daring sighed in the comfort of her own bed. Wrapping her hooves around her pillow, she cuddled it by her head, "You would not believe how much I needed this," she said to her non-sentient pillow.
Okay, she was a bit lonely at the homestead, talking to a pillow like it was her very special somepony. But like she would actually settle down long enough to pick up a very special somepony. And it wasn't like she was starved of a stallion's touch, she got plenty of that out on her adventures. Heck, sometimes she got a little adventurous and tried swinging the other direction.
"Maybe I should get a cat or something. Oh wait, I did have a cat. Little bastard was a spy for Ahuizotl." Grinning at the fond memories of making Fluffy pay for stabbing her in the back, Daring drifted off to blissful sleep.
***********************************************
Daring stood at a podium just outside of Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia bowing before her as Daring gave a flawless and tear jerking acceptance speech for receiving her latest award.
The Princess rose to place the medal around her neck, "Daring Do, for your contributions to modern archaeology and for simply being the most awesome pegasus known to ponydom, I award you Equestria's newest and highest honor. The Daring Do Medal of Valor! And you receive a cash settlement of six million bits and an official apology for me being such a huge, uptight jerk for haranguing you about those obviously harmless artifacts!"
Daring lifted the solid platinum medal around her neck, waving and smiling to the crowds of her adoring fans. "Thank you, thank you. This medal will look great on my mantle, right over my Ahuizotl skin rug, next to all my other awards!"
The Princess tapped her on the shoulder, "Just one thing Daring, WAKE UP IN THERE!"
Daring Do snapped bolt upright in her bed, "Damn it! It always gets cut out at the good part!" Somepony was pounding at her front door, angrily shouting for Daring to get her golden flank out of bed. Slowly and lazily she trudged through her apartment, meandering to the front door. Cracking it open she beheld Agent Charms and that zebra standing on the stoop.
"Come on Daring! We're going to be late for your train!" Agent Charms tried to force his way in. Daring stopped him bluntly with a hoof.
"Hold it buster, what's this about a train?"
Agent Charms removed the mare's hoof from his chest, "We've got to take the ten o'clock train to Manehattan to grab the next ship to Tashim!"
"Woah woah woah, you want me to leave for Zebrica, right now!? "
"That's the idea Daring! What part of 'government contract that must be done as quickly as possible' don't you understand? I hope you have your bags packed."
Daring slammed the door in his face, opening it less than two minutes later with nothing but her pith helmet, green jacket and a single small bag at her waist.
Agent Charms raised an eyebrow, "That's all you are taking?"
Timur grinned and gave a small laugh, "She travels light, a wise choice Ms Do."
Daring walked out and locked the door behind her, absently tossing the key into some bushes. "Only way to travel."
The trio made their way to the Canterlot train station, Agent Charms dressed incognito and handling everything, including tickets. Taking a private car for the purpose of secrecy, Daring placed her small pouch in the storage compartment and took a seat in the booth across from her zebra guide.
The engine began to chug forward, the cityscape of Canterlot slowly panning away outside the window. Awkwardly her eyes darted around, thinking of a way to break the silence that engulfed their car. "So, uh, Timur....what are you doing in Equestria? You're obviously a zebra, and you don't really....you know." The pegasus waved a hoof and tried to think of the least offensive way to say what needed to be said.
Timur blinked his eyes, "Talk like a zebra?"
Daring nodded her head, "In a crude sense, yeah."
The zebra chuckled, "I get that question many times a day here in Equestria, and when I meet other zebras, they ask why I do not speak normally." Timur giggled at Daring's squeamishness of the topic. Placing a hoof on his striped chest he calmed himself. "It is simple really. As a young colt in the Gochano tribe, my father, the chief, gave me a Life Quest."
Daring lifted an eyebrow, "Life Quest?"
Timur nodded, his stiff black and white mane shaking as he prepared to explain it. "As son of the chief, it was my father's task to give me a nearly impossible task to complete to prove my worthiness to lead my tribe when he went on the Final Run. My father knew how successful and wealthy the nation of Equestria had become, and how much influence over the world they exerted. So one day my father called me to his hut, and sat me down before his hearth. And he said to me, "Timur my son, go to the west, to the Equestrian land. Learn all there is to know of the ponies, and then come home to our humble band."
"Your dad sent you here to learn everything ? Wow, and I thought my job had its daunting challenges."
The zebra nodded wholeheartedly. "That is the problem. I came to Equestria after many months of travel and work for the bits to cross the ocean. I only knew a few words in Equestrian, and with my limited tongue and rhyming ways many ponies couldn't understand what I said. So I got a job at a library, learning as I went about the Equestrian language and eventually your ways. Most ponies grew impatient with my rhyming speech and I eventually practiced my way out of talking like that."
Daring leaned back in her seat, more comfortable with the zebra stallion that sat across from her. "But seriously, learn everything ? It would have been simpler just to make it all up."
"Taking the easy way out would have certainly cost my tribe greatly. And yes, my father underestimated exactly how much there was to know about Equestria. But one day, I got a message from my father, saying that he was close to the Final Run, and had to pick a new heir to his title. I wrote back and told him I was fine with that, that I still had not learned nearly a thousandth of what there is to know about Equestria. And besides, I like it here."
Daring glanced over to the other booth where Agent Charms was still reading over the mission specs and making sure he had everything in order. "So, how did Lucky manage to rope you into this?"
The zebra also glanced at the serious earth pony, "I volunteered. I have been reading the newspapers about what is happening in Zebrica, and I believed that there is nopony better qualified to aid my people than me."
Daring felt this to be probably true enough, it wasn't every single day that the prince of a zebra tribe with knowledge of dozens of languages and the know-how to survive Zebrica volunteered to be a guide. The pegasus eventually brought out a daisy sandwich she had bought at the station, offering half to the zebra. Timur took it gratefully. Chomping down on the cheap train station fare, a thought occurred to Daring.
"I've got a question Timur, I pick up a lot of ancient artifacts from the demons, and I've had a few unicorns check them out for magic. But not a single sign of magic has shown up in any of their stuff. If they didn't use magic, how are the Eyes of the Demon magical?"
The zebra stopped chewing on his half of the sandwich, raising an eyebrow over his blue eye. Both eyebrows shot up as he finally understood what she asked. "Oh! The word 'demon' means something different in Zebrica, it describes a creature that Yeye has banished to Tartarus. What you call demons, we call Wale Mrefu , the Tall Ones. The Tall Ones left this world long before Grinwa ever played his tricks on the zebra."
Daring's eyes opened up wide, quickly pulling out a pencil and pad of paper from one of her jacket pockets, she hurriedly scribbled down some notes.
Note to self: Demons=Tall
*******************************************
The train pulled into the station in Manehattan, the odd trio of the famous explorer pegasus, a zebra and an obviously undercover government agent grabbing what small amounts of baggage they brought.
Agent Charms checked a pocket watch, "Okay, we have half an hour to get to the port to take the next scheduled ship to Zebrica." Leading his two charges, Agent Charms took off down a street.
After about ten minutes of running behind Charms, Daring gave up and flew a few feet off the ground. Going above the roof level she took a look at the Manehattan city skyline, but something disturbed her about that view. Fluttering down to fly next to the RIS agent, Daring voiced her concern.
"Call me crazy, Lucky, but if we want to take a ship, shouldn't we be heading to the docks?"
Agent Charms huffed and puffed from this exertion of running through the crowded streets of the city, "You're not going by ship, that would be too slow."
"What other way is there to get to Zebrica?"
Agent Charms nodded to the huge, hangar-like buildings they were coming up on at the edge of town, "Airship. Retired military airships that do cargo and passenger runs over the ocean. I've already got two spots booked on the Storm Rider ."
The trio came to the gate of Equestria's only non-military airship port. Daring landed in front of Agent Charms and braced herself for impact, the stallion crashed into the mare and both went tumbling into a pile of wings, briefcases and pith helmets. Charms stood up and dusted himself off, "What in Tartarus Daring?!?"
Daring waited for the birds to stop circling her head and tweeting, "No way am I going on one of those rickety sky tubs! Change that boarding pass to a seabound ship and then I'll think about it!"
Timur and Charms stood flabbergasted, "Daring, if you haven't noticed, you're a bucking pegasus! You fly all the time! Sometimes while you're asleep!"
Daring scooped her helmet off the ground and plunked it on her head, "Yeah, what I do is natural , I'm built to fly. Those airships suffer more fatal crashes than carts, wagons and chariots combined! If it doesn't have wings, it ain't meant to fly!"
"You cannot be serious...you are one of Equestria's most bold and adventurous explorers, yet you're afraid of heights!"
Daring had to control the urge to slap Agent Charms, "I'm not afraid of heights, I just don't trust those half rotten wooden tubs that somepony, probably an earth pony with no flight experience, deemed safe to fly."
Timur shoved past Agent Charms, "Ms Do, the alternative is much less preferable to what Mr Charms has planned out for us."
Daring sat down on her haunches, folding her forelegs. "Oh yeah? How much worse could it get than exploding in a fireball and falling down ten thousand feet to a watery oblivion?"
"Much worse. The seas are a dangerous place, there are things that live there, things too horrible to describe. Sea dragons that will capsize your ship to drown all the sailors and gobble them down whole. Makura crabs which will crawl in through open portholes and dig their way into your brain to suck out the juices. Krakens as long as Canterlot Mountain is tall, able to create maelstroms with their water powers. There are entire empires of naga and mer creatures which will fight over the right to plunder your ship and take you prisoner as food for their devilish pets. Trust me Ms Do, when crossing the ocean, you want to be as far from the water as possible."
The pegasi's eyes opened a little wider, Daring stood from the sidewalk and walked to the gate to the airship port, "I still won't like it." she muttered.
Charms leaned close to Timur, whispering to his ear, "Wow, you've seen all that?"
Timur grinned, "Old mare's tales can be very persuasive if told the right way, Mr Charms." Charms proffered the pair of tickets for the zebra, who took them with his mouth and placed them in his saddlebag. The zebra readjusted his saddlebag and walked out into the large dirt field which contained the various passenger airships.
*********************************************************
Though every airship in the field was an outdated model that had been retired from Equestria's military and sold to the private sector, the ships themselves were still impressive. It was like somepony had taken a normal ship out of water, torn off the mast and attached a massive balloon to to the keel with chains. Powered by a set of magical thrusters, the airships could move much faster than a normal ship on water with the added bonus of not having to muck about with ground level monsters.
The pegasus hardly noticed, and was hoping deep down that Charms had actually managed to secure a class of airship with a decent track record. With a sigh of mild relief she spied the Storm Rider , a Falcon class sky frigate that looked fairly pristine. Timur caught up to Daring, passing a boarding ticket with his hoof.
A short line of ponies, zebras and even a pair of minotaurs stood waiting to board the frigate. What appeared to be the skipper of Storm Rider was taking boarding passes and passing off luggage to one of the airship's mates.
While waiting, Daring noticed the intelligence agent was absent. "So, I take it that Lucky is going to sit this one out."
The zebra nodded, "His presence would indicate Equestria's involvement. He cannot be around if this is a 'private' venture."
"Gotcha." Daring handed off her boarding pass, flapping her wings to land on the deck of the frigate. Her legs began to shake as her hooves touched down on the hard wooden deck of the airship, and almost immediately she scrambled for the belowdecks passenger quarters. Picking out the numbered room she had been assigned by the skipper, Daring opened it and slammed the door behind her. Laying down on the rock hard mattress, Daring was determined to make this unnatural flight go by as quickly as possible.
A brass horn looking device in the corner of the room magically blared the voice of the captain.
"This is your captain speaking, all passengers please take your place in your rooms. We will be departing for Tashim on the western coast of Zebrica, a slight journey of around six days, if the winds are in our favor. We thank you for choosing Equestria Airways, Storm Rider will be departing in three minutes."
Daring pulled a musty pillow over her head. In less than three minutes, the ship lurched upwards as the ground crews cleared her for take off and cut the guide lines. "Okay Daring, you've faced off with some of the most horrendous creatures known to ponydom, toppled governments, and discovered too many long lost temples to shake a stick at. You can handle a little airship flight." Peeking out from under the pillow she glanced out the porthole. The city of Manehattan was becoming a city of toy sized buildings, with gigantic walls of clouds passing by.
With enough altitude gained, Daring felt a sideways lurch as the captain engaged the magic thrust systems at the aft section of the airship.
"Zebrica here I come." she murmured. Daring felt something rising in her stomach. "Breakfast, here you go." she threw open the porthole and emptied her stomach, queasily shutting the window and laying back down on her bed.
*******************************************************
"I'm dying. Princess Celestia must have hit me with a curse that one time in Canterlot and now I'm dying." Daring rolled over on her bed, contemplating her last hours alive. Fond memories passed through her addled mind, mostly memories of opening a can of whoop-ass on various enemies. Closing her eyes, Daring smiled. "I'm ready."
Somepony knocked on her door, "Ms Do? Are you alright in there?"
"Go away Timur! I want to die in peace!"
The door cracked open, the zebra poking in his head, an eyebrow quizzically raised. "Die? Oh, look how cute you are. A pegasus getting airsick, a palpable irony." Timur smugly trotted over to her bed, laying the back of a hoof on her forehead. "No fever, a little green in the gills though." Timur reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a bottle, uncorking it and taking a whiff. Satisfied that he had gotten the right one, he offered it to Daring. "Drink up, this should clear your little case of airsickness right up."
Daring took the offered bottle and sniffed, her face squelching. "No way am I drinking this piss," she croaked.
"Drink it, or I will have those two minotaurs come in and hold you down while I pour it down your throat."
Daring's eyes narrowed, "You wouldn't dare..."
"Oh? Aelos and Kazin are nice fellows, I've already had a chat with them, they would do it with a smile on their faces."
Daring grimaced as she pinched her nose with a wing, downing the potion. Draining every drop, she threw the bottle against the wall. Shaking her head, Daring began to work her tongue around her mouth. "Hey, is that ginger? I love ginger."
Timur nodded as he turned to leave, "Pure extract of ginger; smells terrible by itself, tastes like good old ginger. Cures airsickness, arthritis, seasickness and is good for pains related to pregnancy. Now come along, dinner is in ten minutes."
Daring lay back on her bunk for a few minutes, letting the ginger work its way through her gut. Standing up, Daring exited her single bed room and shakily made her way to the galley with the other passengers. The pleasant smell of fresh breads and warm stew would normally have sent her running in that direction, but all the pegasus wanted was to lay back down.
Entering the galley, only one seat was left open at the dining table, right next to Timur and one of those minotaurs. Placing herself with as much ladylike demeanor as possible, Daring waited to be served. The other passengers seemed to ignore the creak and groan of the ship, conversing easily over their stew. Timur chatted rapidly in some Zebrican language with one of his fellow zebras also on the way back home.
An old pegasus with an eye patch was boasting to a veiled pony which Daring guessed hailed from Saddle Arabia. "Of course the Falcon class has its advantages, but nothing could beat the current Seahawks in a dogfight or in a barrage! I myself was a pilot for a Seahawk under Princess Celestia's Royal Army, we downed both raider and monster with nary a scratch on our hull."
The large brown minotaur next Daring downed his mug of ale, belching loudly. "Bah! Equestrian Seahawks have nothing on a proper Knossian Osprey! With a good minotaur crew at the helm nonetheless!" He and the other minotaur slapped a fist against their chests in pride.
"I'll have you know I downed three Ospreys in my tour of duty!"
"Then they must have been piloted by blind minotaurs if a one eyed pony could shoot them down!" Both minotaurs set about in their roaring laughter.
Daring clasped her head with her hooves, trying to keep the noise from aggravating her headache. "Could you guys tone it down a bit? I'm dyin' over here."
The old Seahawk captain and the minotaur looked closely at the pegasus. The minotaur broke out in a large grin. "I know you, you're Daring Do! A pleasure to meet a real hero. I'm Kazin, my brother and I heard about your antics with the Cult of the Sacred Heifer."
"In a good way or a bad way?"
"A most entertaining way! None of us minotaur take the Sacred Heifer seriously except those too weak to join the army. Isn't that right Aelos?" The black minotaur nodded, not really focusing on anything except his mug of ale. "So what are you doing heading to Zebrica?"
Daring clenched her jaw a little, "Tourist, just wanting to go over and see the sights. What about you?"
"A dangerous time for sight seeing, what with the war between the tribes and all. My brother and I have been hunting manticores here in Equestria, most of the cargo hold is our haul. We would have just taken the airships straight over Zebrica, but the war is preventing us from safely going it overland. Aelos and I have to recharter at Tashim to hopefully get a seabound ship to Knossos."
Daring lifted a mug, feeling her headache slowly dissolving. "Well, good luck to you."
Other than the heated debates between Kazin and the Seahawk captain, dinner was uneventful. Timur learned much from his fellow zebras that were on board, not much of it was helpful in their quest though. Rising from her seat, Daring excused herself and went back to her quarters to sleep away the night and hopefully digest something before the ginger wore off.
*******************************************
The former shaman N'dutu leaned back in his great throne made of elephant tusks, pleased with his luxury, but annoyed at the slow progress with his army. The Blackclaw gnolls acted as his elite guard, standing outside of his tent and just inside, loyal to their alpha who provided so many of their favored bones. The trio of big cats provided by his new ally lay around to either side of the warlord, relaxed, but ready to pounce at a moments notice. Four months since he had drafted the small pack of gnolls and his army had grown to over ten thousand strong.
Shifting the itchy leopard skin that adorned his shoulder, the warlord clapped his hooves. Almost instantly a zebra mare pushed aside the tent flaps and entered, prostrating herself.
"Fetch me a skin of wine, make sure it is cold." The mare shuffled out of the tent, quivering as the gnolls snapped their jaws at her.
The scarred warlord grinned, with power like this, who needed friends? The warmth emanating from the massive sapphire told him that he needed one friend in particular. Lifting the gem with a hoof, N'dutu turned his attention to the gnolls standing at the doorway and nodded. The two hyena brutes nodded back and exited.
The warlord looked into the depths of the gemstone. The face of Ahuizotl emerged from the swirling mists, "You have heard my call, and this time actually bothered to answer."
"I have been busy, conquering six whole nations of Zebrica has been no easy feat."
Ahuizotl slammed a fist into something that the warlord could not see, "Yet you still have time to indulge yourself in whatever tickles your fancy! I could choose another zebra for my pets to aid, then we shall see who is needed!" The three big cats stood from their rest, raising their hackles at the warlord.
N'dutu glanced at the cats with no concern in his eyes, "Calm yourself, my army is nearly large enough to challenge the guardians of Talib's tomb. Once I have the Eyes, nothing will stop me."
"As long as the Eyes end up in your hooves, I do not care who leads your army. But there is one I have come to warn you of. One who could single-hoofedly destroy everything we have worked for." The trio of cats visibly calmed and laid back down, their yellow eyes still on the warlord.
"How can one stand against many? I have ten thousand warriors of six tribes, monsters of the savanna and the jungle under my lash, and the force of nature at my call!"
"Do not underestimate the power of one. My spies in Equestria have told me that their Princess has sent Daring Do to find the Eyes before you."
N'dutu opened his mouth and began to laugh, "Daring Do! A great joke you lay upon me, dear friend."
The blue face within the gem snarled, "Do not underestimate Daring Do! She has foiled my plans too many times to count. Even the thought that Princess Celestia has chosen Daring to come and stop you means she is aware that I am aiding you. If you are not careful, she will steal the Eyes from right under your muzzle! And more, the Lost Prince is coming home."
N'dutu quivered with anger, the image of Ahuizotl fading from the depths of the gemstone. Lifting his head, he shouted to the guards outside. "Bring me my shaman!"
His servant from before shuffled in with his skin of wine, angrily he punched her with a hoof, spilling his drink everywhere. The mare cried and fled the tent as six shaman from captured tribes entered the tent. Falling to their knees they presented themselves to their lord. "There is one who would threaten me, on her way here as I speak. Send her a gift, courtesy of N'dutu!"
One of the shaman lifted his head, "Who do we send the masks to, great warlord N'dutu?"
"Use your rituals to call to the vultures, tell them they are to bear the spirit masks to Daring Do!"
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
Daring awoke to the smell of salt on the air, the gentle sway of the Storm Rider in the ocean breeze reminding her of a hammock bed in her treehouse in the Great Southern Jungle. She called it Paradise for a reason, among her several nests across the world, it was her absolute favorite. The one she wanted to retire to, if it weren't so close to the homeland of a certain monkey-dog thing. Reminded of her personal nirvana, the thought of being on a rickety sky tub was lessened.
"Attention all passengers, this is your captain speaking. If you will look off the starboard bow we have a very special treat for all of you sea creature enthusiasts."
Only curiosity drove Daring out of her bunk and up to the deck to peer off the starboard bow with many of the other passengers.
"Wow, what is that thing?"
A unicorn with very thick glasses and a freckled face pushed past Daring with a camera, "That miss, is a kraken!" The kraken was titanic, quite possibly the largest creature Daring had ever seen. Quite possibly larger than most towns she had ever seen. It had an appearance like a giant squid, with tentacles trailing literal hundreds of feet behind a body the size of a decent whale. Bright red in color, it basked in the warm waters at the ocean's surface. "These baby krakens are always so cute!"
Daring was stunned, "Did you just say that thing is a baby?"
The nerdy unicorn nodded his head frantically as he snapped photos of the behemoth, "Well of course! They get at least three times that big. But don't worry miss, krakens are docile unless provoked, they prefer to feed on drifting plant matter and carcasses rather than hunt for prey."
"Can they really make whirlpools?"
The unicorn rolled his eyes, "Well duh, but they usually do it in self defense against their natural predators."
"What in Tartarus could eat that?"
"Sea dragons that hunt in packs, sometimes naga will band together and go after one for food or to domesticate one. There are even reports of terrestrial dragons going after the littlest krakens."
Daring stared down at the titanic creature that this pony was saying was harmless. "Whelp, cycle of life and all that. Must be a bitch being a slave to the food chain." The mare trotted back towards the stairs down to the passenger quarters, determined to get back to sleep before airsickness settled in again. She bumped into Timur on the way to her bunk.
"Ms Do! I have been looking for you, some of the other passengers are getting together for a game of poker with some of the crew, do you wish to join us?"
"Not really. Hey, got any more of the good stuff?"
A striped eyebrow crept up the zebra's face? "'Good stuff', Ms Do?"
"That ginger potion, got any more?"
"I am sorry, you drank all six servings in one go."
The pegasus smacked her own face with a hoof, "D'oh! Well that's just great! Now I'm going to go back to dying here in a couple minutes."
Timur looked her over, "You seem fine right now. I think your sickness is more mental than anything."
"Gah, you and your zebra mumbo jumbo about 'being sick in your head'. I'm gonna go lay down."
"You do that, Ms Do." Timur shrugged at the odd mare, walking away to the galley.
********************************************
Daring skipped over lunch, and having not heard the call that morning for breakfast, she was driven out of her bunk by the primal urge to eat. Her stomach was rumbling enough to hear in the next compartment over, prompting her neighbor to knock on the wall.
Walking to the galley, Daring felt something different in the air, something not quite right. Like she was being watched. Glancing around, she didn't see anything spying on her, just a few doors, a pile of rope and maybe a ship rat or two. Shaking off the feeling, Daring made her way to the galley. Taking a seat next to Timur, she ate a bland bowl of cooked grains, easy on the stomach tonight.
That nerdy unicorn was still going on about the kraken, displaying all of his in depth knowledge and obvious lack of a social life by giving as much information to nopony in particular as he possibly could. Daring uneasily glanced around herself, checking for any stray eyes that might be on her. That feeling of being watched still permeated the pegasus, and it made her downright uncomfortable.
"Isn't that right Miss?" Daring snapped back to reality as the unicorn addressed her.
"Huh?"
"You are Daring Do aren't you? I said that there is archaeological evidence of a time when krakens were in a state of hyper-aggression, right around two millenia ago. Isn't that right?"
"Yeah, sure. Real aggressive....." Daring lowered her eyes and continued to look for the unseen watcher.
Timur's hoof lay on her shoulder, "Ms Do, are you alright?"
Daring nodded her head, "Yeah, I think I'm still a little sick is all." Timur looked closely at Daring.
"You do not appear to be ill in any fashion. Are you sure you are alright?"
"I'm fine. Just...not feeling so grand right now." Several of the other zebras seated at the table murmured to one another in their language, looking concerned for the pegasus. An elder zebra pulled Timur closer.
"Moja dhahabu inaonekana walaani, na wake kuvaa hii." The elder pushed a small trinket into Timur's hoof. The younger zebra nodded and turned back to Daring.
"He says you have the look of one who has been cursed, and that you should wear this." He offered the trinket in his hoof to Daring, a small amulet carved from ivory and inscribed with several runes.
Daring actually managed to smirk at the offered talisman. "I don't believe in curses, so you can keep your little talisman."
Timur withdrew his hoof, shaking his head, "Such arrogance has been the downfall of many a pony. If I were you Ms Do, I would take it as just a safety precaution."
"No such thing as curses Timur," Daring stood up from the table, turning back to walk to the living quarters.
**********************************************
Midnight over the open sea, all the passengers of Storm Rider had gone back to their quarters and gone to bed. Only a skeleton crew of a helmspony and a few crew members stayed up as a part of their watch shift. Little did they know, they were the ones being watched.
From atop a nearby cloud, an entire flight of vultures rested from their extremely quick departure from the heartland of Zebrica, bearing their heavy loads as the shaman had ordered them to. Their burdens had been their guides, drawing the vultures to this airship out over the middle of the ocean, straight to their target. All they needed to do was drop off the heavy wooden things and be on their merry way back to Zebrica.
The shamanic magic beckoned them to finish the job. One jet black raptor spread his wings and winged his way to the airship, his dozens of fellows following closely. Passing between the large space between the gas-bag and the deck of the ship, the vulture let go of his burden and was instantly released from his magical compulsion.
Down on the deck, a solitary watch pony did not notice the silent flight of the raptors above his head, focusing on staying awake after the quartermaster forgot to place an order for coffee beans back in Equestria. It was going to be a long night indeed. His eyelids felt heavier than the iron ballast weights in the keel of the ship, and he drifted off momentarily.
The clatter of something wooden nearby snapped him to. The watch pony shook his head, shaking off the feeling of sleepiness. Grabbing his lantern, he stood to investigate. All around him the clatter of falling wooden objects had him looking every which direction for the source of the noise. Only when one landed at his hooves did he manage to actually look at one of the objects. Reaching down, he scooped up the object with a hoof.
Turning it over revealed it to be a large wooden mask, with painted features and gem set eyes. The whitewash teeth were painted in a monstrous gaping smile, with long curved fangs carved onto the wicked grin. The eyes were rimmed with rings of red around flawless rubies. The watch pony pulled out a knife, grinning as he laid the edge of the blade next to the valuable gemstones.
"Heh, my lucky night." Just as he began to apply pressure, the wooden grin turned into a scowl. The watch pony's look of greed turned to horror as the mask leapt out of his hooves, growing a pair of long, wooden arms and legs as a spear materialized out of a splinter. The watch pony scrambled backwards, his back to a pile of crates as more of the masks rose to standing height and grew their spindly limbs and weapons from nothing. "ALL HANDS ON DEC-" the watch pony's cry was cut short as a short spear drove through his throat, a stream of blood washing down his blue furred chest.
The demon mask ripped his spear free, looking back to its brethren as they silently took out the other watch ponies. Hefting his spear, the demonic entity possessing the simple wooden mask hurled the weapon through the air, sinking the spear head into the chest of the pony working the helm. With two dozen of the demon entities searching the deck of the ship, a trio of them broke off to seek their quarry belowdecks.
*************************************
Daring rolled and tossed in her sleep, the feeling of watched now evolved into a full blown sense of paranoia. Sweating heavily, she dreamed of demons coming for her and devouring her soul. Waking with a start, Daring leaned up in her bed. Wiping the sweat off of her brow, she looked up to her doorway. She barely avoided screaming as a tall figure bearing a spear lunged at her. The shape slowed as he got close to Daring, setting aside the spear and going for her face.
A hoof covered her mouth, and in the dim moonlight that filtered in through the porthole Daring spied a familiar striped face, she calmed as Timur held a hoof to his lips. "Shh," he held out the amulet the older zebra had offered before. "Daring," he whispered, "It is worse than I thought. Put this on, hurry!"
"It's just a bad dream Timur, no amulet can fix a bit of paranoia."
"Ms Do, you are cursed! Somepony has sent something here to kill us, now put it on! It will make you blind to their sight."
Daring grimaced as she took the amulet and placed it around her neck, almost instantly the feeling of being watched faded away, leaving Daring feeling like she had just woken from a bad dream. She breathed a sigh of relief, and Timur stood back up.
Her ears perked as she heard something coming down the stairs to the passenger quarters. A light, creaking step, like the soft clatter of bones shifting. The zebra next to her stood on his hind legs, grabbing the spear he had brought with him. Timur glanced back at Daring, "Stay down, Ms Do." Holding the spear in his fetlocks, the zebra backed into the shadows behind the doorway. The creaking footsteps stopped at Daring's door, casting a slight shadow under the door.
The creature forced open the door, spear leveled and ruby eyes burning like fire. It chattered in some kind of spirit tongue, taking a step inward to skewer the pegasus. Timur stepped out from the shadows behind the demon mask, sweeping its wooden feet out from under it with the butt of his spear. The demonic entity fell clattering onto its stomach, lifting its broad wooden face to see this new foe. Timur lashed out again with the butt of his spear, shattering one of the eyes and flipping it over onto its back. Spinning the short spear in his hooves, the zebra destroyed the other eye with a jab of the spearhead. The spirit mask stopped struggling, the limbs turning to ash and a magical mist escaping from the destroyed gems.
Timur kicked the inert mask out into the hallway, then turned back to Daring. "Wake the other passengers and tell the ones who can fight to arm themselves! I'll hold them off!" The zebra charged back out into the hallway, twirling that spear like it was a part of his own body. Daring shook off the feeling of fear and flew down the hallway, hammering her hooves on every door, screaming that the ship had been boarded.
"EVERYPONY WAKE UP! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Just as she reached the end of the hallway, the door burst open to reveal Aelos and Kazin, both bearing huge war axes and a fire in their eyes that came with those who lusted for battle.
"Where's the trouble?"
The pegasus pointed down the hallway where Timur was now handling a pair of the demonic wooden creatures with the blurred twirling of his short spear. Both minotaurs charged down the hallway to assist the zebra. Timur noticed his comrades charging down the hallway and ducked into an open room. Kazin's war ax swept through both of the demonic creatures, cleaving the masks into splinters.
Laying the head of his ax on the floor, the minotaur grinned. "Ha, not so tough now are you." The pieces of the mask began to shiver, in a flurry of splinters it began to reform.
Timur leapt out of the darkness, spearing the reforming mask through the eyes. Instantly they shuddered and released their magical energy. "Destroy the gems, they hold the power!" The minotaur nodded and swung his ax expertly through the remaining demon mask's eyes. A similar puff of magical energy came out as the captive entity was released.
More doors in the passenger quarters opened, the various passengers who could fight armed to the teeth with whatever they had laying around. Most of the crew had maces, boarding axes and spears. Three Saddle Arabian traders stood veiled and ready; long, crescent swords shining in the dim light of the lanterns. The rest of the zebras aboard carried spears like Timur or held amulets and alchemical agents in their hooves. Even a few of the tourist ponies had spells charged and ready and table legs gripped in their teeth.
Timur nodded to his ragtag force, standing by the door, he held his spear at the ready. "Go for the eyes, and do not show mercy." Rearing back a hoof he kicked down the door to the deck, charging head on into the breach. Both minotaurs roared, running out with axes raised high. Daring flew out the door on wing to see two dozen wooden creatures tearing apart the deck, searching for something. Instantly all their ruby eyes were on the defenders, their stick-like arms raised and chanting in their spirit tongue.
Daring realized suddenly that she had charged into the middle of a battle with no weapon and no fighting skill other than a few brawls under her belt. One of the monstrosities leapt at her from the side, jabbing at her flank with its sharp wooden spear. Barely dodging it, Daring turned around and kicked the demon mask right between the eyes, sending it flying over the railing and falling thousands of feet to the ocean surface.
An explosion nearly deafened the pegasus as a unicorn let a bolt of fire strike a demonic mask, the conflicting magics annihilating one another. Daring looked up from her cover to see Timur, a black and white blur, downing creature after creature with the spin and stab of his spear. The minotaurs seemed like lumberjacks on the job, swinging their axes in huge arcs to cleave through multiple creatures simultaneously.The Saddle Arabians stood back to back, hacking and slashing with their scimitars, their veils and robes torn by multiple spear lunges.
Daring bunched up her leg muscles and leapt at a demon mask approaching Timur from behind. Tackling it to the deck she threw a hoof at the eyes, hoping to crack them. Again and again she punched the ruby eyes of the mask, "Die damn you!" she screamed. The spirit creature under her hooves put its feet into her chest and kicked her off. Landing on her side, Daring felt the watchful eyes returning again. Reaching for her neck, she felt for the amulet which made these creatures ignore her. To her annoyance it lay several feet away, snagged on the hand of the demon mask.
The fighting around her took on a different tone as the mask's target was revealed to them again. Daring rolled out of the way as several thrown spears stuck quivering where she had lay a split second before. Lashing out with her hooves she caught another of the creatures on the face, sending it flying across the deck. Deflecting spearheads with her hard hooves, Daring felt herself being pushed into a corner. Eight of the creatures had their spears leveled and aimed straight for her face as they approached with deadly intent.
"Never thought it would end like this." Daring mused aloud as her back came against the wall of the cabin. Raising their spears, the masks dropped them and began to clutch their heads, wailing out of their fanged wooden mouths. Daring spread her wings and flew above the possessed masks, landing next to the entrance to the cabin. At the center of the deck stood the elder zebra, eyes closed and chanting an incantation while making runes out of a strange powder.
The warriors hesitated, then jumped back into the fray, shattering the crippled and wailing masks. Within a minute the deck was cleared, the remains of the wooden monstrosities being thrown overboard. Timur sat back against the railing, catching his breath after such an intense fight. Daring walked over and sat next to him.
"You alright Timur?"
The zebra nodded as he gasped for breath, "It has been many years since I have fought like this, but I am fine Ms Do."
Daring nudged the wooden remains of one of the combatants, "What in Tartarus are these?"
"Spirit Masks, an abomination of magic and a violation of nature itself. Those gems that power them are filled with souls captured in battle, they are bound to the shaman that captured them and defiled their eternal rest. Once killed, the entities inside are released and can go on to the next realm. The use of Spirit Masks is forbidden by all tribes, only the incredibly foalish or desperate use the souls inside of the masks as their slaves. It is a tortured existence to be a Spirit Mask, many are slaves to witch doctors, and if they survive his tenure, they are passed down to a new witch doctor. Some of the oldest Spirit Masks have been passed down in their enslavement for over a thousand years."
Daring lifted the portion of the facemask to get a closer look, "Why are they here?"
"They were sent here by somepony to kill you Daring. The eyes you felt watching you were the eyes of the souls in those gems, seeking you out across the miles. And it is why you should go back to wearing this." He tossed the ivory amulet into Daring's lap. The pegasus scooped up the protective amulet and placed it around her neck. Looking back down at the shattered fragment of the Spirit Mask, Daring nearly shrieked as the remaining eye shifted to look at her, the partial mouth scowling. Pushing it off her lap, she stood up, raising a hoof to stomp on it.
"Wait Ms Do! We can use it for information." Daring held her hoof above the scowling wooden mask, shakily preparing to destroy the ruby eye if it decided to get back up. Timur shouted something in Zebrican to the old zebra that was tending to the wounds on some of the crew ponies. The elder gathered two of his kin and walked over to the mask. The trio brought out colored sands, tracing a circle around the shivering Spirit Mask. Drawing the proper runes in charcoal, the trio sat down and began to chant their incantations.
A glow began to emanate from the runes, coming out to encompass the partial mask and levitate it. Timur grabbed his spear, reaching the head into the glowing circle to pierce the remaining ruby eye. As before, the mist emerged from the eye, coalescing into an orb. But instead of escaping, it stayed inside the circle, futilely trying to escape through the magical barrier. The orb began to chatter at Timur, demanding its freedom.
"Tell me spirit, who sends you to slay my friend!"
The answer came as a shout from the spirit, "N'dutu!"
Timur ground his teeth, "Why does he want her dead?" The spirit orb threw itself at the magical barrier holding it, Timur began to chant in a low tone, the orb took on a different color and became sluggish, "Answer me spirit, why does N'dutu want Daring Do dead?"
The orb regained its color, staying closer to the center of its magical prison, "She seeks Macho ya Pepo , as does N'dutu. The blue one wants Macho ya Pepo for himself, N'dutu is a puppet, dancing to the blue one's tune!"
Daring took a step closer to the imprisoned spirit, "You sound more afraid whenever you talk about the Eyes, why do they make you afraid? You're a spirit, they can't harm you, or can they?" The orb shivered under her gaze, "What do you know about the Eyes of the Demon?"
The spirit orb sparked with fear and anger, "IT IS FORBIDDEN! The Eyes are devices of doom for the living and the dead! The All Mother damns the Eyes and forsakes their maker to Erebus! Let me go to her bosom, let me rest! Set me free!"
Timur regarded the flickering spirit orb with cold eyes, "I give you one task, spirit. Go back to N'dutu, and make sure his shaman learn that they are never to enslave the spirits to do the bidding of a warlord ever again. Then you may return to Yeye's heart, begone." Timur swept out one of the runes with his hoof, dispelling the wards holding the spirit captive.
The glow coming from the remaining runes faded and the spirit orb dissipated back to the elements. "You should have asked more questions Ms Do. I believe that was a truly ancient spirit, to know so much about the Eyes."
Daring snorted once, "What do you think he could have told me that I don't already know about ancient history?
"Much, Ms Do. It is possible that we just spoke with the spirit of a Wale Mrefu , trapped by shamanic magic since his kind left the world so long ago."
Daring's jaw dropped and her eyes opened up wide, "Do you think you could get him to come back for a few more questions?"
Timur grinned, "Sorry, done and gone."
***************************************************
With the old Seahawk captain taking control of the Storm Rider since the captain's death, the crew returned to their watch and the passengers returned to their quarters. With the amulet protecting her, Daring lay in her bed in her quarters, resting more easily. But her eyes refused to close, the thought that a warlord could command the spirits of the dead to do his bidding made her wonder what else he had up his sleeve.
And the thought that the spirits of the dead were just pawns to him, what kind of power did the Eyes of the Demon have that could make them so desirable? A soft glow of magic came from the speaker in the corner of her room.
"Eh, how does this thing work? It's already on? Oh, so it is! This is your captain speaking, we may be hitting a bit of a rough patch here in a couple of minutes. No possessed wall decorations this time folks, just a small weather system moving in. Shouldn't be too much of a problem if turbulence doesn't bother you. Hey! Hands off the wheel minotaur! I know what I'm doing!"
Daring curled up into a tight little sepia ball, "Oh sweet mane of Celestia, can this night get any worse?" The peal of thunder reverberating on the airship's hull made the pegasus wince. "It's alright Daring, all these airships have lightning wards, no reason to worry." Heavy rain began to pound the side of the airship, and a roaring wind tossed the ship around the sky.
The pegasus reached under her bunk and into the small pouch that she brought along. It was no ordinary pouch, she had asked the tailor who made it to give it a little enchantment, mainly one that vastly increased the volume on the inside of the pouch. Burying her hoof almost up to the shoulder in the unassuming pouch, Daring retrieved a small bottle that she kept around for just such an occasion. Unscrewing the cap with her teeth, she pulled out one of the sleeping pills with a wing tip, tossing it in her mouth and swallowing without a drink. Placing the bottle back into her pack, Daring huddled under her musty blanket, covering her head with her pith helmet.
***************************************************
Even with the sleeping pill and all of her willpower she could not manage to fall asleep. Daring Do still lay in her bed, strongly considering never taking another adventure. If it meant she ever had to ride one of these infernal machines that somepony, probably a psychopath invented just to torment her, Daring would probably just drop everything and retire.
She rode out the night curled into a small ball, hugging her hindlegs to her chest and wrapping herself with her wings as completely as possible. The gentle rock and sway of the airship that had reminded her of her hammock in the jungle had been replaced by the sound of creaking planks and a bone jarring shake as the winds of the storm hammered the sides of the ship.
The howling wind outside the porthole brought back the memories of the shrieking of the trapped souls inside of the Spirit Masks. The thought that she was fighting somepony who could send the dead to do his fighting was paralyzing. What if this was the one mission she couldn't do? What if the Eyes of the Demon were the one artifact just outside her reach? What if she fell prey to the magic of a witch doctor, her soul an unwilling slave to the whim of a warlord who would use her as fodder in a bush war or as a household slave?
Daring surprised herself by waking up what she guessed to be the next morning. The magical crackle of the PA system in the corner drew the gaze of her bloodshot eyes.
"Attention all passengers, this is your interim captain speaking. We have been blown a few miles off course, but the good news is that the storm seems to have had the effect of speeding up our journey, we will be landing at Tashim in less than an hour."
A pounding knock drew Daring Do to the door to her quarters. Opening it up, an excited Timur almost bounced up and down in front of a bleary, baggy eyed, disheveled Daring Do. "Come come come Ms Do! You must see what I have to show you!"
Daring decided it must be good if he slipped back to rhyming. The mare followed the zebra up to the deck, Daring looked without surprise at the large amount of debris being cleared off the deck by the crew. The cloud ceiling hung thousands of feet over their heads, telling Daring that the ship had dropped considerable altitude in the night.
Without warning the contents of Daring's stomach decided they needed to make an appearance. Leaning over the rail, she hurled away all of her stress and trepidation. Opening her magenta eyes, she looked down at a vast amber plain bordered by a shore of ivory white stone. The sun rose proudly over the distant horizon, painting the waking land in a sea of warm light. The expanse of plain was dotted by short, scrubby trees. The flicker of shy antelopes bounded away as the massive airship came close. The ship passed over a herd of large, grey elephants, their trunk trumpeting to the passing airship.
Daring looked down in awe, holding a hoof on her pith helmet to keep it from falling off. Timur lay a hoof on her shoulder and chuckled, "Welcome Daring Do, to Zebrica!"
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
The Storm Rider drifted south along the stone shores of Zebrica, seeking the port city of Tashim. After all they had been through on this trip, all the passengers wanted was to blow off some steam in Tashim before resuming their various voyages. Daring and Timur stood on the deck with saddlebags slung across their backs, eager to disembark as the bustling port city came into view. To the pegasus, the ground never looked more beautiful, and the only thing stopping her from just taking a leap off the deck was the basic bureaucratic procedures when coming into port.
One of the unicorn crew members leaned over the railing and fired a shower of green sparks into the air. From ground level, the crew member received a similar green flare in response from the ground crews. Reporting all clear to the captain, Storm Rider began its final descent onto the dusty airship field in Zebrica. The crew tossed down the mooring lines, and the still surviving skipper lowered the gangplank to allow passengers to disembark.
Walking off right behind Timur, Daring anxiously placed a hoof on Zebrican soil. Smiling at the novelty of a land she had never tread upon, Daring quickly ran to catch up with her guide. The pair walked together to the edge of the airship field to a small customs house hear the gate to Tashim. A very bored looking Equestrian soldier sat inside, scribbling down notes in a logbook as travelers came and went. Timur stood first in line.
"Name please," asked the bored customs officer.
"Timur Duan!ziti."
"Reason for visiting Zebrica?"
"Just coming home after a long visit to Equestria."
Propping his head on his hoof, the unicorn scribbled it down. "Any trade goods, magical artifacts or fruits and vegetables?"
Timur shook his head, despite the uncounted small potions he kept in his pouch. "No sir, just luggage."
"Very well, welcome to Tashim and welcome back to Zebrica. Next please!" Daring walked up to the customs station, "Name please."
"Daring Do."
The unicorn looked unamused. "Seriously m'am, name please."
Daring glanced up at Timur, whose eyes glared, "Oh I'm sorry, I was just reading an article and that name is stuck on my mind. My name is Dolphin Breeze," she said with a very large, very fake grin.
The customs officer scribbled down the name, "Reason for visiting Zebrica, Ms Breeze?"
"Tourist, sir. I've always wanted to see the sights of Zebrica."
The unicorn's eyes left the ledger, "Forewarning m'am, anywhere east of the Okavana River is currently off limits to tourists due to hostilities. Now, do you have any trade goods, magical artifacts or fruits and vegetables?"
"No sir, just a change of clothes."
He checked off a mark next to her name, "Very well, welcome to Tashim. Next!" Daring trotted out the gate to a fuming Timur.
"What part of 'incognito' do you not understand Ms 'Dolphin Breeze'?!"
"Hey, don't get your socks in a knot, we got past customs."
"No thanks to your arrogance! Now come along, we are staying for a few days at the Equestrian embassy in the foreign quarter. Do not get separated from me." The zebra turned back to enter the sandstone arch that separated the airship field from the marketplace. Daring stifled a growl and followed closely.
Almost as soon as they crossed that sandstone barrier, Daring was surrounded on all sides by ponies, zebras and other creatures partaking in a crowded market day. Brown, mud brick buildings lined the streets, only rising one or two stories before being topped by rooftop gardens. The street level was far more cramped, the walkways lined with street vendors and merchant stalls. Hawkers cried out in several languages about the freshness or superiority of their goods and the cloying smells of exotic spices drifted on the nearly dead breeze in the bazaar.
The creatures shopping at the market were by no means polite about it, on more than one occasion Daring was forcefully pushed out of the way by a complete stranger with no apology in sight. Even the vendors seemed to be on edge, more than one was actually shouting at a customer who tried to haggle too low.
Daring passed by a stall that smelled absolutely delicious, leaning in and peering past the steam put off, she nearly choked as she saw various small animals being roasted with their skin still on. The vendor spun the meats on a spit, noticing the pegasus, "You want to buy, pony?" The ape creature working the grill growled. Holding a hoof to her mouth she stopped from gagging and ran to rejoin her guide.
"Geez Timur, is this what all of Zebrica is like?"
The zebra shrugged, "Think of it like a city in Equestria compared to a small village. When we get to the countryside you will notice a difference. Watch out!" He very quickly grabbed Daring with a hoof and pulled her off to the side of the street. A large creature shoved multiple creatures as it walked by, the only way the explorer pegasus could describe it was like a grey cross between a huge hyena and a bear, with large sloping shoulders and a blockish head. A much smaller creature rode on top of it, like a hyena but upright. Timur shook a hoof at the rider and shouted, "Mimi kutembea hapa, Nandi mpanda farasi!"
Daring stood slack jawed, "What in Tartarus was that?"
"That was a gnoll riding a nandi, inconsiderate brute. Didn't even have his mount muzzled!" he shouted in the direction of the nandi mounted gnoll. The gnoll chortled back and shook a fist at the zebra. "Get a muzzle for that beast! Damn nandi, they never even finish the corpses of their kills, just eat the brains and maybe the liver." Daring was taking on a decidedly greener tone at the mention of brain-eating, giant hyenas.
"Can we just get to the embassy already? My gut ain't feelin so well."
Timur lifted his muzzle into the air, a delighted grin spreading across his face as he smelled something delicious from his foalhood. "In a few minutes Ms Do, I want to get something really quick." The zebra walked over to a stall, chattering with the old zebra mare that owned it rapidly. Eventually they both laughed at some joke, Timur laid down a few bits and the old mare pushed a bowl to the stallion. Tossing some of the contents into his mouth, Timur chewed contentedly.
Walking back over to Daring, he chewed with a huge smile on his face. "Mm! Taste of Zebrica! Care to try?" He offered the bowl to Daring. The pegasus leaned in to take a look at its contents, then went green in the face when she saw the grilled locusts laying in a nice sauce of their own bug guts.
"That's it! I've been in Zebrica for ten minutes and already I can't stand this entire continent! Where's that airship, I think I'm ready for the return trip!"
*********************************************************
After a few minutes of convincing Daring not to just leave town, the pair eventually reached the foreign quarter of the port city of Tashim. To the infinite relief of the pegasus, the foreign quarter was a much nicer place in her opinion. Instead of low slung, mud brick buildings, the buildings in the foreign quarter stood much taller and were made of white washed stone. There were still street vendors, but far fewer than in the market district, selling much more civilized goods.
Zebras dressed in metal studded leather armor patrolled the streets, keeping their eyes ever vigilant. Daring nodded over to the patrolling guards. "What's with them?"
"They are mercenaries hired by the local trade lords to make sure that N'dutu's violence doesn't spill into Tashim. Nothing would be worse for trade than if a warlord forced out the trade lords that run the city and took over himself."
"So, it all boils down to personal gain instead of the welfare of the people."
"Only in the larger cities where the two concepts are nearly inseparable. If Tashim suffered a stagnation of trade, then all those creatures in the market would be destitute and starving, desperate for even a crust of moldy bread."
Daring raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "You act like you've seen that happen before."
"I have, many times," the zebra replied in a grim manner. Eventually the pair reached the walled and gated entrance to the Equestrian embassy in Zebrica. Daring flashed a letter that Agent Charms had given her, and the pair of gold armored guards out front waved her in.
Walking through the lobby, Daring stopped Timur, "You go ahead, I've got business to attend to." The zebra nodded, taking a leisurely walk to the embassy quarters. Daring rang the bell over on the lobby desk, shortly a secretary showed up.
"Can I help you Miss?"
"Yeah, do you guys have a messenger dragon? I need to get a letter back to Equestria immediately."
The secretary pointed down the hallway, "Mail room is the third door on the right." The pegasus thanked the secretary and made her way to the third door on the right. Pushing open the door, Daring stopped behind another desk with a very bored looking earth pony and a grey dragon whelp in the corner, snoring lightly.
"Excuse me, I have to get a message back to Equestria, priority shipping."
The earth pony pulled out a quill and a bottle of ink, "Destination?"
"Lucky Charms in the Offices of the Royal Intelligence Service, Canterlot, Equestria." Daring replied coolly.
The earth pony nodded, "Iggy! Wake up and take a letter!" she shouted to the sleeping dragon whelp.
Daring interjected, "Actually m'am, this is private."
The secretary nodded and slid over some stationary and a quill. Daring grasped up the quill in her hoof and began to scribble down a letter.
Charms,
Anonymity seems to be difficult these days. My cover was blown before we even made it across the ocean, and now N'dutu is aware of my presence and has already tried once to kill me. With how quickly the attack came, I can only guess that somepony back home is a spy for N'dutu or Ahuizotl. If somepony has infiltrated back in Equestria, we may be in deeper trouble than we think. Do your job Lucky, investigate our little problem and find the mole. Haven't yet begun investigations into our object of desire, but the way Timur talks we may be scouting Zebrica for the next three years without finding anything.
D.D.
Daring rolled the scroll and sealed it with a wax imprint of the compass rose, her personal calling card and cutie mark. Passing it off to the mailmare, she included a small pile of bits. The gray dragonling was rudely awakened from his rest. "Iggy, mail this." The dragonling nodded and sprayed it with a small jet of violet fire. The scroll vanished into smoke and shot like an arrow back to Equestria.
******************************************
Daring took her government provided quarters in the upstairs of the Equestrian embassy. Cracking open the door, she noticed that she was actually sharing her room with Timur. He sat outside on the balcony, watching the sun set over the blue waters of the great ocean. The pegasus took a seat next to the zebra on the balcony, "Something on your mind?"
Timur nodded, "It is all so strange, for years I believed that I would never forget my home. And then I went to Equestria, learned your ways and immersed myself in your culture. I found a new home with you ponies, a place of safety and love where I could live quietly, and I forgot. I forgot my beloved Zebrica..."
Daring laid a consoling hoof onto Timur's shoulder, "Hey, if traveling around the world has taught me anything, it's that home is where you make it. If you were happier in Equestria, who gives a buck if that's what you consider your home?"
His gaze shifted from the sun to Daring, "I care. I have a duty to my people, a duty I have failed at all those years in Equestria. I may have been happy, but it was at my people's expense. And I ran from such a pitiful little...."
Daring raised an eyebrow, "What? What did you run from?"
Timur shook his head, "Nothing. It is not important anymore."
"Well obviously it is if it bothers you so much. You can tell me, or I can spend the rest of our journey guessing."
Timur stripped off his cloak, tossing himself onto his cot, "Go ahead and guess."
Daring rubbed her chin with a hoof as she fluttered over to her own cot, "Let's see, what do I run from? Bad debts?"
"No."
"Hmm, how about responsibility?"
"Wrong."
Daring looked over the zebra for any clues, noticing his spear and shield cutie mark raised a few ideas. "Oh, a pacifist forced to fight, I see."
"Stop trying, it will only drive you mad with curiosity," the zebra rolled over onto his side.
"Oh come on, I love solving a puzzle now and then. How about a girl? You jilt a lover out there on the savanna?" The zebra was silent, the slow rise and fall of his chest telling Daring he had fallen asleep. Daring rolled onto her back, resting her hooves behind her head and tilting her pith helmet over her eyes. She would solve this mystery of the cryptic zebra later.
**********************************************
N'dutu paced before the flickering red of his shamanic fire, awaiting an answer from the spirits he held thrall inside of the Spirit Masks. His six captured shaman sat around the blaze, chanting their spells and sending their minds out to the world to find their servants.
His sponsor was growing impatient, as was the warlord himself. The damn Masks should have reported in by now! He had even promised their inhabitants freedom if they were quick about it, a little white lie to make them work faster.
One of the shaman interrupted N'dutu's walk, "Warlord, a spirit has returned here. But he does not linger in fear," the shaman warned. N'dutu had to wonder, normally the spirits were terrified of their masters. Why would one come back without being totally afraid?
"Bring him out," the warlord ordered. The shaman nodded, increasing the volume of their chants to bring out the imprisoned soul. The shamanic fire rose, and a spirit orb flickered out of the flame. "Where is your mask, slave?"
The orb flared with light, "I am no slave to you! The Lost Prince has set me free! After two millenia I can finally rest with the All Mother!"
N'dutu quivered with anger, "Did you succeed? Is Daring Do no longer a threat to me?"
The orb bobbed smugly, "She will come and tear you to pieces, zebra." The orb turned his attention to the chanting shaman, "My brothers and I frown upon our capture as slaves. For two thousand years my kind and I have dreamed of sweet justice against our slayers and captors, and now we have our revenge!"
Several dozen of the spirit orbs flew from the fire, burning brightly with magic. They coalesced into a single ball of magical fury, shooting out bolts of arcane lightning to strike the zebra shaman in their throats. The zebras clasped their throats with their hooves, desperately trying to continue their chants. Their voices came out hoarse and unable to complete the complex incantations. With a roar of vengeful laughter, the souls split apart and dispersed back to the elements.
N'dutu threw open the tent flaps and stormed out of the tent, "Curse you!" he screamed to the savanna night. All across his camp, those zebras who dared to use Spirit Masks found themselves unable to commune with the souls of the dead, and indeed incapable of doing their magics. In his arrogance, the warlord had taken a major blow, and Ahuizotl would not be pleased with the setbacks.
One of his field commanders came out of the shadows, a gnoll with a scar slanting over a milky white eye. N'dutu grabbed the gnoll by the collar, "Send out your nandi riders! Hunt down a pony with golden fur, bring her head to me on a spear!"
The gnoll in his grasp smiled and began to cackle.
*******************************************
A soft chant filtered through her dreams, a pleasant harmony of words and inflections that danced with Daring as she drifted through the haze of the unwaking world. Slowly opening her eyes and tipping back her helmet, Daring looked out to the balcony. Timur sat there, eyes closed as he softly sang to the rising sun.
Daring lay in her cot and listened for a while, in all her life she had never heard a more pleasing sound than this. Rising from her cot, she felt refreshed and ready to take on anything. Walking over to the zebra, she sat down next to him to watch the sun rise.
"What's that you are singing?"
Timur opened his eyes and smiled, "It is a song that tells a tale. A tale of two in love, who by distrust were kept apart. They protested their leaders to let them be so, but their chiefs forbade it. The stallion chose to leave his tribe, and asked the mare to be his bride. Her father tasked him with an impossible task, 'Bring the sun to my daughter, and you may have her hoof in marriage.' The young warrior climbed the highest peak in Zebrica. For twelve days and nights he stayed upon the mountain top, seeking to claim the sun as it passed overhead. But it always stayed out of his reach." Daring stifled a grin, as a pegasus she knew that the sun was unreachable by flight and as an Equestrian knew it was actually far out in space. "And then the warrior came down from the mountain top, but he grinned as he came to the father of his love. He said, 'I cannot bring the sun to you, for it is out of my view. My thoughts are deep and done, I will bring her to the sun.' The warrior and his mare shed their forms and became Impundulu, lightning birds, to forever fly the skies together and live under the bright sun."
"That's...incredible. Why were you singing it?"
"Yeye ya Kupigwa Wote enjoys music, she loves being sang to above anything else."
A knock at their door brought Daring's attention. Opening it revealed the lazy dragon whelp from the day before. "Mail," he said before tossing down a scroll and yawning. Daring scooped up the scroll, the wax seal emblazoned with the RIS symbol. The dragonling didn't leave, instead rubbing the claws on his hand slightly. Daring rolled her eyes as she tossed a bit his way and shut the door.
Unfurling the scroll, Daring took in Agent Charms' neat and flowing script, though it looked like he had written in extreme haste and panic.
Daring,
You aren't the only one with problems. There was an attempted break in at both your museum and the Royal Palace shortly after I received your letter. The assailants were unidentified and appeared to be seeking anything of magical power. A regiment of Royal Guards was thankfully on hand to scare them off. You should have seen the look on Princess Celestia's face when she learned that they were after magical artifacts, I think she personally might tear apart Canterlot looking for the perpetrators. I'm concerned for you Daring, just try to stay anonymous and keep your nose clean until you learn where you can find the Eyes. I've already dedicated all the agents under me to start investigating and bringing in suspects for interrogation. Hopefully we will have this cleared up in a week.
L.C.
Daring rolled up the scroll, "Well, it seems that we're being attacked from both fronts. Somepony is back in Equestria causing havoc, probably to keep the Royal Services distracted from helping us here." Walking over to a candle, Daring lit the end of the scroll and let it burn.
The zebra rose and threw on his saddlebags, "Then we must get away from the city. N'dutu's servants may be watching us now."
"And the countryside is a better alternative? What about that entire army he has tearing up the country looking for the Eyes? And where do we even start looking?"
Timur cursed to himself in Gochano, "There is only one place where we can learn where to find the Eyes, and I swore to myself never to go there as long as the sun rose in the east. Ms Do, we must go to Din'Jaro territory."
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
With their mission compromised, Daring and Timur spent the day frantically getting things together. Timur went to the archives of the local trade lords in a desperate attempt to learn anything about the Eyes of the Demon so they might avert having to go into Din'Jaro land. Which for some reason he seemed to be adamant about avoiding, even though he was the one that said passing through that territory was unavoidable.
Daring spent the day shopping in the market for what supplies they might need. Timur had left a neat little grocery list for Daring to go to the market for; mostly it consisted of potion supplies. The pegasus didn't understand what half the stuff on the list even came from, much less what it looked like. But she went down to the crowded market of Tashim nonetheless.
Dutifully she walked down the crowded and bustling streets, magenta eyes fixed on the list clasped in her wingtip. "Okay, powdered crocodile teeth , where do I get crocodile teeth?" Looking up from the list, she glanced around for any vendors that might be selling such a hard to get item. Looking back at the list she placed that on the back burner. "Uh huh, how about buchu bark , what the heck does that even look like?" Daring tipped her pith helmet over and scratched her charcoal mane with a hoof. Groaning in exasperation, she approached a vendor stall where several dried plants hung from the roof.
"Excuse me, sir?" She waved to the old zebra snoring on a stool in the back of the stall. "Sir?" The old zebra snapped to, muttering to himself. Slowly getting up to all fours he meandered his way to the front of the stall.
Licking his lips, the old zebra looked over Daring with inquisitive eyes. "Ndiyo? Jinsi gani ninaweza kukusaidia?"
Daring lifted a hoof and nervously gave a wave. "Uh, hi. I need these things." She slid the list over to him. The elderly zebra looked over the list, turning it this way and that. Squinting at it, he reached into a saddlebag and pulled out a pair of spectacles. Placing them on his muzzle, things snapped into focus. He nodded his stiff maned head.
"Naweza kupata hii, lakini itachukua muda."
Daring grimaced. "Is that a yes or a no?"
The old zebra muttered to himself, then licked his lips again. "Can get, five minute."
Daring visibly relaxed. "Oh thank heavens. How much will that cost? You know, cost...money?" She jingled her coin purse.
The old zebra calculated for a minute. "Can get, say, thirty bit?" The mare slid thirty bits over the counter. The zebra counted them out, and then disappeared back into his shop.
Leaning against the counter, Daring whistled to pass the time. Lifting a wing, she examined the feathers, noticing one divided near the top. "Dang it, another split end." She quickly nibbled on the feather to realign it. So she preened in public, what of it?
While waiting for her groceries, the pegasus glanced around. She spied a turbaned zebra mare sitting in a plush silk tent, beckoning to her. Looking around, she saw nopony else that she might be beckoning to. She shrugged her shoulders and walked over.
"Beautiful mare with pelt of gold, care to have your fortune told?" The pegasus entered her tent; the zebra was dressed in enough jewelry to sink a ship and the heavy scents of perfume wafted from her robes.
Daring smirked as she sat down on a pillow across from the zebra. "This ought to be worth a laugh. Sure, why the heck not?" The pegasus looked to the turban the zebra was wearing, right at her forehead a small horn spiraled out. "What the hay? Are you some kind of unicorn?"
The fortuneteller grinned. "I am abada , a user of magic among zebra. Ask me any question that you wish to know, and the crystal ball will show."
Daring thought for a second. "What am I supposed to ask?"
The zebra mare smiled. "Is all in your life as it seems? Will the next stallion you meet be the one of your dreams? The spirits know all there is in the world, simply ask and your future will unfurl."
"Um, okay," she leaned in a little closer. "Who will I marry?"
The zebra placed her hooves over the orb, waving them over and chanting as her small horn glowed with magic. The crystal ball began to swirl with colored mist, revealing words to the zebra in a runic language. "You will have a child with your own name. But a husband is not seen, what a shame."
"Humph, okay," Daring thought of a clever one to throw the fortuneteller for a loop. "Who is going to win next year's hoofball finals?"
The zebra looked rather agitated, but relayed her question into the crystal ball. After a few seconds, the fortuneteller raised an eyebrow and looked at Daring. "Cloudsdale Razors by a single goal. Please ask something that won't make you look a foal."
Daring's eyebrows shot up, "Really? Come to think of it, they did have a good draft this year." She pulled out a pencil and her notepad, scribbling a note to herself to bet on the Razors to win next year's brackets. "Alright, one more question and then I have to leave. Where are the Eyes of the Demon?" she asked without really thinking about it.
The fortuneteller stared stunned at Daring; she swallowed a knot in her throat and fearfully relayed the question to the crystal ball. The swirling colors in the crystal ball turned a stark green, and the fortuneteller reeled back on her cushion, clutching her head with her hooves. Her eyes glowed with the same magic inside of the orb. The explorer recoiled from the crystal ball and the fortuneteller.
"Only they with the purest hearts may seek the Eyes of the Demon. To look upon them is doom for any but those whose souls are unstained!"
Daring leaned towards the possessed fortuneteller. "I am pure of heart! I don't want to use them, I just want to keep them safe from those who would use them!"
"You cannot keep the Eyes safe, for they will seek destruction wherever they go. But if you dare to seek them, it is your doom that waits at the end of that path. The Eyes of the Demon only bow to Grinwa, the brother of Tirek. Anyone else is merely a tool of chaos for such evil. Know that you have been warned, Daring Do."
The magical flames coming from the fortuneteller's eyes left. She gasped and looked around; on the table her crystal ball lay cracked and clouded. The fortune teller glared at Daring with accusations in her eyes. "You, you broke my crystal ball! Get out before the guards I call!"
"What? I didn't break it! You broke it when you went all magic eyes and...." Daring skewed her eyes and waved her hooves around wildly.
"OUT! OUT OUT OUT!!!" shrieked the abada zebra.
Daring scowled and tossed a few bits on the table before storming out of the tent. "I freaking hate magic," she muttered under her breath. She walked back over to the apothecary where the old zebra waited with the alchemy ingredients in a sack, thanked the old zebra and flew off back to the Equestrian embassy.
***********************************************
Timur had already returned from the archives by the time Daring reached their quarters at the embassy. Throwing on his pouches, the zebra slid a procured bush knife into a sheathe on his back and settled an odd shaped throwing blade at his torso. Also present was a spear he kept in his hoof. He was cinching on the throwing blade when Daring landed on the balcony with the supplies.
"Ms Do, I have a gift for you." He tossed her of the short spears with a belt. She caught the strange weapon with a hoof. She looked over the leaf bladed spear and short wooden haft with mild disdain.
"Um, I typically don't use weapons.... ever. Where did you even get all those weapons?"
"With the war in the bush, local merchants have gotten onto a new business, weapons and armor. Wear that assegai with pride Ms Do. Where we are going, get used to having a weapon at your side."
Daring reluctantly buckled on the strange hybrid of a pegasus dory and a javelin. "So, learn anything about the Eyes?"
Timur rifled through the sack of apothecary supplies. "All I found was a moldy old piece of parchment that said, 'past the Everguard's watchful gaze...'. I don't even know if it means anything. The archivist told me it was the right age, but there is no way of knowing whether it pertains to the Eyes at all."
"So we have to get out of this city and hit the countryside with no direction in mind? Geez, even when I went after the Sapphire Statuette I had a least a partial map!"
Her guide clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. "I have an idea. Even if most of the zebra tribes have forgotten where to find Talib's tomb, maybe some of the witch doctors in the bush or maybe even some other race may know where to find it. It is only a matter of finding out who may know."
"Or we could just ask the Din-...whatever! You know who I'm talking about! What is making you so afraid of them?"
The zebra exploded in fury, grabbing Daring by the front of her jacket and lifting her to eye level. "I am not afraid of the Din'Jaro!"
Daring threw off his hooves and pushed the offensive. "Then why? Why can't we just go to the one place where we know that we can find information?! Are they going to kill us? Are they going to make us Mask slaves just for asking a few questions!?" The last words came out as a shout, the pegasus actually achieving liftoff with how much her wings shivered in agitation.
Timur turned back to his supplies, packing them in his pouches. "You would not understand."
"Try me."
The zebra sighed, "It is...complicated."
"Then make it simple."
Timur opened his mouth and took a deep breath. "I cannot," he swallowed his pride, "Yeye forgive me. Daring, we will go to their land, and ask the high chief of the Din'Jaro about the Eyes. But I warn you, they will not be pleased when I show my face, and you may be collateral damage."
"If we get to the artifact first, then it's a risk I'm willing to take."
*******************************************
The pair exited the city gates of Tashim at a full gallop, dust from the dry Zebrican soil being flung up in their wake. Timur took the lead, his assegai spear and knowledge of Zebrica leading them into the interior of the continent. On through the burning heat of the day they ran eastward, the shimmering waves of heat obscuring the horizon, as they pressed onward.
At around noon the zebra stopped at a roadside acacia, whose branches spread far enough to provide shade to the weary travelers. "We rest here until the hottest part of the day is through, then we continue." Daring tossed herself down onto the warm sands at the trunk of the acacia, panting with exhaustion. Timur passed her a gourd of water, "Breathe through your nose, you lose less water that way."
Daring nodded as she drank deeply from the offered gourd of water. Zebrica was unlike any environment she had ever traversed. The closest it could be compared to was the Great Southern Jungles, but that was a lush and green environment. And the heat there was a wet, sticky, humid heat. The dryness was like Snowreach in winter, where the very moisture in your breath would freeze into snowflakes. But the thorny, scrubby bush was more like the deserts in Equestria's badlands. It seemed like all of her adventures had just been preparations for this one task.
Forelegs folded under her head, Daring stared up at the plush white clouds that occasionally floated by. How she wished to go up there, to catch a nice breeze and cool off. But as long as she traveled with earth bound creatures, it was considered a politeness among winged creatures to stay grounded.
Timur stayed alert, stiller than a dead breeze except for the rasp of a stone along the blade of his spearhead. His normally chipper attitude seemed dampened by the thought of going to the Din'Jaro for help. Sliding the brim of her pith helmet back over her eyes, Daring pondered hard about what was making him so irritated. Was it the fact that he was from a different tribe? Maybe that was it, warring tribes and all that. Or maybe he did something to insult their chief. Or he could have committed some crime against them. Who knew?
After around an hour of resting in the shade of the acacia, Timur nudged Daring in the ribs. "Get up, you need to practice with that assegai."
"Why? You're enough warrior for both of us."
"Normally I would take that as a compliment, but I may not always be around to cover your back." Daring pulled the short spear out of its sheathe as she stood. Timur directed a hoof towards a strange bundle of sticks hanging from the shade tree's branch. "Throw your spear at that weaver bird nest."
"Won't that hurt the birds?"
"It is abandoned, now throw!"
Daring shrugged, holding the broad headed spear in a fetlock. Cocking back her leg, she hurled the spear with all her might at the defenseless nest. Not that it needed defenses, the spear flew harmlessly under it.
"A decent throw, for a beginner." Timur pulled the strange throwing blade from his side, flicking it towards the bird nest, the ax-knife hybrid whirled through the air and sheared the bird nest in half. "Now it just got harder for you, get your spear and try again." Daring retrieved her weapon and tried again, again she missed, but this time but a much narrower margin. "Better." Again Timur threw his throwing knife, again shearing the nest in half. "Even more difficult, try again."
Daring scooped up her assegai, taking careful aim at the bird nest. She took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She hurled the spear at the bundle of sticks, sticking it through the center of the remaining quarter of the weaver bird nest. Daring afforded herself a small grin of satisfaction.
Timur nodded, "Good, a few more years and you may be ready to go to battle. Now let us be going, we can reach the Okavana River by nightfall if we hurry." With a small amount of pride Daring kept the assegai spear loose in its quiver, feeling like she could take on a charging rhino.
****************************************
Grimhide slapped the large fly that nipped at his shoulder. The nandi that he sat on worked its way down the road, muzzle to the ground. Though Grimhide's right eye had been crippled in a fight for the position of alpha years ago, he was still the deadliest warrior of the former Blackclaw gnolls. And his new alpha treated him and his fellows well, even going so far as to give them better weapons than those expendable foot soldiers that they drafted from conquered tribes. The dragonscale sword on his back attested to that fact.
They followed N'dutu's order to the letter. And now Grimhide and a detachment of his nandi cavalry breached the territory of the trade lords to scout around Tashim for the pony with golden fur. Their spies in the port city had reported sighting a gold furred pegasus wandering around the market, and it was only a matter of time before she had to leave.
Another gnoll rode up on his mount, dropping out of the saddle and kneeling before his superior. "We have scent, spies get it from inside the city!" The gnoll reached into a pouch and brought out a golden feather. Grimhide nodded, and the lesser gnoll held the feather in front of his nandi's powerful nose. The nandi snapped at the gnoll's hand, but after a punishing smack, it sniffed the feather. Lowering its head to the ground, it started sniffing for any sign. Remounting, the cavalry began to sweep the road for any scent of the gold pegasus.
The feather was passed around to all ten nandi riders in the group, and soon every one of their mounts slowly made their way up the road, with Grimhide at the front. Grimhide impatiently drummed his claws on his saddle, if they wanted to do some tracking, why in Tartarus didn't N'dutu send them with a flight of kongomatos or even a grootslang? N'dutu may have been his alpha, but by no means was he a good commander. Instead of sending mixed units out, he sent the entire flight of flying, reptilian kongomatos north to scout the jungles for the Din'Jaro raiders that had recently become a problem, and most of the elephantine grootslangs had been deployed almost as far as the Rift Valley to level the villages of the Mbusa. The grootslang's incredibly acute sense of smell could have eliminated the need to get a feather in the first place. But a huge, green skinned, four tusked, carnivorous elephant monster would be a lot harder to hide than a few nandi riders here and there.
But it was considered to be a challenge of rank to not follow the orders of the alpha, especially since that alpha was well on his way to being emperor of Zebrica. So Grimhide and his cavalry obeyed without question. And the fewer questions they asked, the more benefits they reaped.
Grimhide's mount stopped suddenly. He cocked his ankles to give it a swift kick in the ribs when he noticed it was sniffing intently at a small impression on the sandy soil. Grimhide held up a paw to halt the rest of his riders. Lifting its square head, the nandi strained at its reins, growling towards the shimmering heat on the horizon. The gnoll whooped and began to cackle, drawing his dragonscale sword as he spurred his mount forward. The rest of his detachment drew their weapons and followed close behind.
**************************************
As Daring Do and her guide Timur got closer to the Okavana River, the landscape began to subtly change. The low scrubby bush thinned and gradually became replaced by small zebra farms. Tall stands of millet, corn and even small herds of cows dotted the side of the road to Tashim. But as she galloped down the road, Daring noticed a grim feel in the air. Every so often a patrol of the mercenary guards would walk by, their eyes kept peeled and their weapons ready. What farmers were seen looked tired and slightly afraid of the strange pony that ran by, towards the place they knew to be the gates of Hell.
The sun dipped low on the skyline as the zebra and the pony came to the banks of the Okavana River. A trio of shacks lay on its banks; several canoes and a barge sat idle on the far shore. A thick rope attached the ferry to the other end of the bank.
Timur stopped by the bank near the rope, ringing a small bell at their end to signal the ferry captain on the far bank. Daring sat down on her haunches to catch her breath, looking out over the brown expanse of river, she longed to strip off her jacket and take a little dip. Maybe even sunbathe on those odd, rounded boulders in the middle of the river.
Daring squinted at one of the boulders, "Wait a second, did that rock just move?"
Timur also squinted at the rock, "Huh, didn't know they would be in this quick of a river area. Also an area this deep." He met Daring's confusion with an impish grin. "Watch this." He cupped his hooves to his mouth and made a quick series of grunts towards the boulders. One rose higher in the water, opening its mouth to reveal a double set of saber-like tusks.
"It's an animal!" Daring said, slack jawed.
"Hippopotamus. Don't get in the water with them around. Nasty beasts when provoked, they'll even kill crocodiles if they're in a bad mood, which the bulls usually are." Timur looked over to the far shore. "What is taking that ferry captain so long?"
While Timur dismissed the river behemoths easily, Daring stared them down with childlike fascination. Pulling out her notepad, she began to scribble notes and draw pictures of this huge creature she had only ever seen in a picture book as a filly in Hoofington.
Annoyed, Timur reached up and rang the bell again. At the far end of the shore, a zebra walked over to the ferry. Hopping on, he began to pull on the rope to bring the barge over.
Daring kept on drawing the hippos as best as she could with her limited talent. She did the final shading adjustments. Satisfied with her drawing, she placed her notebook back in her pocket. Smiling at the bloated animals, her ears picked up something in the air. She nudged Timur with a hoof, "I have to check something."
Spreading her wings, Daring vaulted herself straight up into the air. Going up several hundred feet, she scanned the horizon. A quickly approaching cloud of dust piqued her interest. Swooping down lower, she saw eleven of those giant hyenas being ridden by gnolls, weapons out and eyes dead ahead. Daring's eyes widened as she realized they were after her. Winging her way quickly back to the ferry, she landed next to Timur with wings outspread and spear at the ready.
"Get ready! We're gonna have company here in a few minutes," Daring shouted.
Timur drew his own assegai. "How many?"
"Eleven of them, all riding those big brain-eating hyenas."
Timur swore under his breath, looking back over the river to the barge that was only about a third of the way across. The nandi riders were visible now through the shimmering waves of heat, and it would only be a matter of minutes before they caught up to their quarry. Daring and Timur stood ready, waiting for the damn ferry barge to make it across. The gnolls spotted them with their sharp vision, whooping and cackling at the sight of the gold pegasus.
The ferrystallion also noticed the upcoming gnolls, and promptly started pulling his barge back towards the far shore. With record speed he reached the dock, promptly turned around and cut the rope from his end, running off to the bush like a coward.
Daring and Timur stared at the spectacle, Timur snapped like a twig. "COWARD! Damn it! Ms Do, if we do not survive, know that...."
Daring sheathed her spear, "Don't start making death bed confessions just yet." She grabbed the bulkier zebra around the waist and flapped her wings as hard as she could. Straining under his weight, Daring managed to lift the zebra off the ground a few feet. Turning to the far end of the river, she propelled herself forward just as the first thrown spears started landing around her.
Timur's hooves skimmed the top of the water as Daring distressingly towed him across the entire Okavana River. Her wings threatened to give in as she approached the far shore. With a heave she tossed Timur on the dusty shore. Shaking himself off, he jumped to his hooves and looked across the water.
Eleven mounted gnolls paced along the shore, jeering and crying at their failure to capture Daring Do. One shoved past the others, drawing his black sword. He slapped his mount on the flank with the flat of the blade. The nandi looked at the water apprehensively, then jumped into the river and began to paddle across. The other mounted warriors whooped and forced their mounts into the water.
Timur drew his spear again, "It is hopeless! Even if we make a break for it, they will still catch us if we run!"
Daring stood back, "And we'll die if we try to fight all them!" An idea trickled into her mind, and a devious smile crept up her face. "Wait.... we don't have to fight them!"
"What do you mean?!"
Daring smirked at her guide, "Watch this."
She took wing once again, flying straight to the middle of the river. The gnolls shot darts and arrows at the pegasus, but she dodged each and every one, narrowly avoiding getting skewered. Stopping over the center of the water, she cupped her hooves to her mouth and began to grunt.
The gnolls urged their mounts closer to the pegasus, the nandi panting as they paddled across the river. A gnoll was within twenty feet of the pegasus when the water underneath him erupted. The enraged hippo grabbed the nandi in his teeth, shaking him like a rag doll and throwing his rider. More and more of the riders were tossed from their mounts by the rampaging hippos. On land the nandi were fierce predators, but in water they were sitting ducks. The dismounted gnolls desperately began to paddle back to shore, only the be thrown in the air by the one ton bulk of a hippo. The river was pockmarked by the corpses of both gnoll and nandi as the remainder of the force scrambled back to shore.
Daring grinned as she flew back over to Timur. The zebra sat stoic, then his facade melted away with laughter. "That was incredible! Where did you learn that one?"
Daring settled next to the zebra, "Great Southern Jungles, except that time it was alligators."
Over on the opposite shore, Grimhide clambered onto the bank of the river. Standing up, he shook the water from his fur. Looking with his one good eye back to the eastern shore, he snarled at the gold pegasus and the zebra that laughed at their misfortune. He roared at the pair, picking up a cast aside spear to hurl it with all his might at the gloating pegasus. The spear made it barely a fourth of the way across, only increasing the gnoll's frustration. Out of his original eleven riders, only five gnolls remained, and only four nandi.
Grimhide grabbed his subordinate by the collar, "Go upriver, find a crossing!" He tossed the gnoll back towards his mount, venting his frustration. N'dutu would not be happy about this failure, and when their quarry had been close enough to taste nonetheless. Grimhide grabbed a nandi by the reins and leapt on its sodden back. Digging his heels into its flank, he took off to look for a safer crossing.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
Agent Lucky Charms of the Royal Intelligence Service sat at his cramped desk in RIS headquarters in Canterlot. Things had become quite the clusterbuck ever since he sent off Daring to Zebrica. And now he had RIS Director Steel, the Captain of the Royal Guard and Princess Celestia riding his ass twenty four hours a day trying to find the perpetrators to this latest little fiasco.
Charms knew the reason behind the attempted thefts, to draw all of Equestria's attention back here to Canterlot, keep any influence in Zebrica to a minimum. But the Princess was positively outraged that the thieves had tried to go into some of the deepest dungeons of the castle. And after they discovered tool marks on some brick wall in the deepest reaches of the dungeons and caves, the Princess snapped. She had been agitated enough to forcefully probe all of her guards minds to see if they had all stayed loyal. Charms knew they kept some of the more dangerous stuff down there, but what could make the Princess go nuts like she had?
He looked over Daring's letter to him from the embassy in Zebrica. By protocol he should have burned it by now and pretend it never existed. But he held on to it. Just the sight of Daring's hoofwriting stirred something in the earth pony. He couldn't quite put his hoof on it. It may have been the rage he still held for the pegasus when she duped him and his agents with those artifacts. It may have been jealousy that she still got to traverse the world and go out on adventures while he was stuck here behind a desk, filling out requests for search warrants. Or it may have been something a little closer to his heart.
Whatever it was, he snapped back to the real issue, putting the letter back into a desk drawer. Scribbling down the name and address of another distant and foggy suspect on his list, Charms was interrupted by the entrance of another agent into his office. "Charms, Deputy Director Dew wants to see you in her office."
"Can it wait? I've got a pile of papers a mile high to get through before the end of the day."
The other agent narrowed his eyes. "You know just as well as I do that it can never wait when the Deputy Director makes a call."
Charms put down his quill, standing from his desk and exiting his cramped office. Walking through rows of cubicles and dodging notes and memos propelled through the air by magic, Charms came to the corner office of Deputy Director Morning Dew. Knocking softly on the door, he heard a call to come inside. Charms pushed open the door to look at the most intimidating mare in Equestria besides the Princess herself. Far from being anything like the gentleness her name implied, it was said that Deputy Director Dew could unlock doors and kill small animals with a cold stare. And that one time a Royal Guard had either the insanity or courage to ask her for a kiss. She gave him one alright, right before she sent him to the hospital for three months.
"Agent Charms," the stern green pegasus said. "Have a seat." She indicated a chair on the other side of her desk.
Charms cleared his throat as he took the offered seat. "You wanted to see me, m'am?"
"Yes Agent, any new leads on the castle break in?"
Charms moistened his lips. "We've rounded up the usual suspects, but we're no closer to finding the culprits or even a motive."
Deputy Director Dew's cold blue eyes never left the earth pony, boring past his intended stoicism. "As long as we are in this office, agent, we can throw due process out the damn window. You and I both know the ringleader of this little escapade into the castle and into the museum. Are we any closer to finding his mole in our system?"
"No m'am. Ahuizotl is very good at planting his spies into both the highest and lowest levels of society. For all we know it could have been one of our own agents or even a member of the Royal Guard that orchestrated the attempted heists. Anypony in the city could be under his pay."
To Charm's relief, the Deputy Director's eyes drifted away from him and settled onto a folder. "Let me narrow it down for you, Agent. Some of our field agents detected the residue of a teleportation spell. So the infiltrator has to be able to use magic, and good enough to do a decent teleportation."
"That still leaves half the population of Canterlot!"
"Better half than the entire city. Now I suggest you do your job the right way or start going door to door looking for unicorns strong enough to teleport in and out of the Castle. Get to it, Charms."
Charms stood from his chair, edging his way to the door while maintaining eye contact with Dew. "Yes m'am. I'll have suspects in for questioning by tomorrow morning." Breaking his eyes away, Charms still felt the Deputy Director's penetrating gaze on his back. Looking at that mare's eyes was like staring down a cobra. Emotionless, deadly and cold; but at the same time enchanting and beautiful in a mystifying way.
Not like Daring's eyes though, hers were much warmer and always hinted at mischief. Those lovely, dazzling magenta eyes...
**************************************
Daring's hooves thundered on the dusty path deeper into the war zone of Zebrica. The gnolls had been a close call, but a good lesson in the local wildlife had shown them what it meant to cross swords with Daring Do. With those clowns chasing her, this adventure might be a little more fun than she thought. Timur seemed more confident of Daring now that she had shown her resourcefulness in dire straits. But he still drilled her on fighting with the assegai whenever the midday sun became too hot to travel.
"Keep your spear level when you thrust! Otherwise it will glance off of bones when it strikes them. All your power must go into the spearhead!" Timur had Daring practicing on the bole of a tree by the pathside. Daring held back on her thrusts, thinking that she would bend the iron tip of her spear. But nonetheless she jabbed and poked at the large knot in the acacia leaving small indents.
Exhaustion from running under the hot sun and the shear heat of Zebrica made Daring collapse with relief at the conclusion of this lesson. Timur tossed her a gourd filled with lukewarm water. Daring popped the cork and drank deeply, though almost as warm as the air around it, the water tasted better than some of the fine wines Daring had been forced to drink back in Canterlot.
Scrub brushland surrounded the road, it had dwindled steadily down from a proper road down to little more than a beaten trail. According to Timur, they had left the areas where it was mostly civilized farms and towns and entered the tribal territories of the interior of Zebrica.
With the point of his spear he drew out a map in the dirt, calling over the pegasus. "We are here." Timur marked an X near the edge of a line. "At the very eastern borders of Nyika land. From what I have learned from some of the zebra in Tashim, the Nyika are still holding out against N'dutu's armies. Traveling through here will be dangerous, so be ready to run in case we run into some of his warbands."
Daring raised an eyebrow. "If the plan is to run, then why train me with this?" She hefted her assegai.
"We may run out of places to hide eventually," he replied grimly. "Now, after we pass through Nyika territory, we will be completely within N'dutu's realm. But from there, all we have to do is keep out of sight and turn northwards towards the jungles."
Daring nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
"The best I can come up with on such short notice. We will rest at this Nyika village tonight; they will afford us more protection than staying out in the open could." Timur propped his back against the trunk of the shade tree, closing his eyes to nap through the hottest part of the day.
Daring wanted to follow suit, but the incredible heat was stopping her from relaxing. With sweat dripping down her brow, she pulled out her notebook to do a little drawing. Pencil in hoof, she began to sketch the various creatures of Zebrica that she and Timur had encountered. Going back to her drawing of the hippo, she scribbled some notes about the creature that Timur had gladly provided her with. From memory she sketched a nandi without a harness, writing down its dietary habits and other quirks. She looked at her sketches with pride. "Never knew I could draw like this. Maybe I should have been an artist."
She glanced up at the zebra warrior asleep in the shade of the acacia with a grin. Stepping out from under the tree, she sat down and began to sketch the spindly, expansive branches of the acacia, with her guide pleasantly asleep underneath. As she applied the finishing touches, she heard an avian cry come from somewhere nearby.
Daring scanned the surrounding grass and bush, looking for the source of the whistling cry. Shrugging her shoulders, Daring got back to the shading on Timur's stripes, pleased with her ability to capture the moment. Just as she began to put away her pencil, the strange, mourning whistle came again. The pegasus pinpointed the source, a thorny thicket a few hundred yards away.
Stuffing her notebook into her pouch, Daring unsheathed her spear and began to tip-hoof over to the thorny thicket. Stopping at the edge of the thicket, she listened closely. Something was struggling in there, rattling the thorny branches of the thicket. Pushing aside a few of the branches with the head of her spear, Daring got a look at one of the most astounding creatures she had ever seen. It was a bird, about the size of a falcon. It had bright white body feathers, black wings and black tail feathers. The wing feathers had a yellow streak zigzagging down the length of each feather. All in all, this strange bird reminded Daring of a palette swapped phoenix.
The strange bird struggled in the bushes, its wing caught in the thorns. It opened its hooked beak and gave the mourning cry that had drawn Daring over here. Daring shoved away a little more brush to get closer. "Calm down little guy, I'll help you."
Just as she got within a few feet of the bird, a hiss came from above her head. Slowly looking up, Daring saw a much larger version of the same bird, sitting on a branch overlooking its trapped chick. Daring felt a hoof on her back.
"Ms Do, back away slowly," Timur whispered. "She is defending her young, she could attack at any second."
Daring pushed his hoof off. "Not yet." She continued to reach for the trapped chick, its cries growing more frantic the closer Daring got to it. "Shh, I'm not going to hurt you. You'll be alright." Above her, the mother bird spread its wings and squawked at the pegasus. Shifting her gaze up to the strange bird, she saw sparks jumping between its outspread wing feathers.
Swallowing her trepidation, Daring leaned her hoof to the chick's wing, pulling it gently away from the thorn branch that trapped it. The bird fluttered out of the bush and settled on the branch next to its mother. Daring gave a sigh of relief as the mother bird wrapped a wing protectively around her chick, nuzzling her baby. The large bird turned her head back to Daring, raising the crest on its head and squawking.
The pegasus nodded and backed away slowly, once free of the thicket, she and Timur bolted back for the trail. Back under the shade of the acacia tree, Timur smacked Daring on the back of the head with a hoof. "You could have been killed! Do you have any idea what that was?!"
Daring rubbed the sore spot on the back of her head. "Yeah, a baby bird in need of rescuing. What could possible have gone wrong?"
"That was an impundulu! A lightning bird! I don't know why you aren't a smoldering crater right now, usually they destroy anything that touches their young with a thunder bolt."
"Whoa whoa whoa, that bird can make lightning ? That is....possibly the most awesome thing I have ever heard. Where can I get one as a pet?"
"Nowhere, impundulu cannot be tamed like their phoenix cousins. You should be more afraid of the possible curses it may lay on you. To hear their cry is a sign of either doom or great fortune. You got shrieked at three times, you should either be dead on the spot or dying as we speak."
A shadow quickly passed over Daring and Timur, looking up, all they saw was the branches of the tree and the blue sky. A jet black feather with the lightning bolt zigzag drifted down to land at Daring's hooves. She pointed at the feather. "What's that mean, Mister 'I can read all the signs of Nature'?"
Timur's jaw hung slack, his eyes fixed on the feather. "That is quite a gift. I think she is saying, 'thank you'."
Daring grinned at the shed lightning bird feather, picking it up off the ground with her mouth had a shocking feeling going through her tongue. Sticking the feather into the band of her pith helmet she turned her attention to the sky. "You're welcome!" she shouted.
******************************************
The Nyika are said to be the 'bird tribe', in that they hold the highest reverence for the world's feathered creatures. It is said that in the ancient days, the Nyika would harness the great eagles of Zebrica to ride into battle. But since the end of the greatest war in known and unknown history, they have kept their hooves closer to the ground.
As Timur and Daring approached the outskirts of a Nyika village, it came as little surprise that they were met with hostility. Daring tiredly placed one hoof in front of the other, forcing herself forward after a long day of travel and training with the spear. The sight of low, dome shaped straw huts put relief in her tired step. But the village seemed deserted, nopony out doing any of the normal things that occurred in a village. The fields sat empty of any farmers, and flocks of fowl went unattended.
"What's the deal with this place? It's like one of those ghost towns out in western Equestria."
Timur looked around at the huts, noticing the slight flicker of movement. "It is not abandoned, nor is it ravaged by war. Stop!" He threw a hoof in front of Daring, right as a thin arrow stuck in the dirt inches in front of her. "That was a warning shot. Pull out your spear slowly and place it on the ground."
Daring reached slowly to her sheathed spear, pulling it out and dropping it on the ground. Timur did the same for his assegai and his throwing blade. Only after both were completely disarmed did somepony come out. A zebra warrior stepped out from behind a hut, wearing a mantle of ostrich feathers and bearing war paint. He aimed his spear straight at Timur as he approached.
"Ngubani ngu ni? Uphethwe yintoni?"
Timur held up his hooves and calmly replied, "Uhambo lwadinisa abantwana."
The two zebras exchanged their strange language for several minutes before Daring finally got fed up with it. "Okay, look guy, I've been on my hooves all day and I could use a place to lay down for the night." As she took a step forward, the warrior aimed his spear at her, but lowered it when he noticed the lightning bird feather in her helmet. The pegasus noticed his fixation on the feather, even moving her head to see if his gaze would follow. "Oh, I see how it is. You like my feather, huh? Then you're gonna love this." Striking a heroic pose, Daring spread her wings to allow the strange zebra to bask in their feathery, golden glory.
The stranger'e eyes could have popped out of his head. Dropping his spear, he walked over, lifted a hoof and tugged at her wings to see if they were attached. "Bona ngu nyani!" He turned back to his village. "INGELOSI! INGELOSI!" More zebra heads poked out of various hiding places to get a look at this newcomer.
Timur leaned over to Daring, whispering in her ear. "Well played Ms Do, they think you are an angel."
"Is that good or bad?" she whispered back.
"You will probably be showered with marriage proposals by the unwed stallions. Whatever you do, do not accept any bouquets of flowers."
Dozens of zebras, young and old emerged from their hiding places to gawk at the pony that grew feathers naturally. After being swamped by the curious tribe, Daring jumped above the crowd and hovered there. At the sight of a flying pony, several fainted. "You know, admiration like this comes once in a lifetime," Daring said smugly as she did a few loop de loops for her new fans.
***************************************
A zebra led the pair to a large straw hut, bowing as he held open the beaded curtain. Timur bowed his head before entering the dimly lit hut, Daring followed suit as best as she could. Inside, the smell of incense and woodsmoke tingled the explorer's nose. The walls of the hut were decorated with brightly colored shields and ceremonial masks. Predictably, most of the masks were those of birds. And behind the hearth with curls of smoke obscuring his face, sat the chief of the Nyika. He wore an eagle feather mantle unlike the ostrich mantles of his comrades, but also a crown of feathers, with a lightning bird feather adorning it as a centerpiece. A spear and shield sat by his side, bearing the marks of recent conflicts.
Timur prostrated himself and motioned for Daring to do the same. The chief looked down from his throne. "The feathered one is a sight to see, truly in Zebrica a novelty. But to my eyes is she not new, my interest is in you ." He pointed a black hoof at Timur. "They say you come to my lands, fighting N'dutu's war bands. Why have you come back, lost one? Has the pony land lost its fun?"
Her zebra guide kept his face on the floor of the hut. "I have come back to destroy N'dutu, great chief. This pegasus has been sent by the Sun Daughter to take Macho ya Pepo before he can."
The chieftain scoffed. "Nopony can stop him alone. Our struggle has no avail shown. We cannot hold out forever against his hordes. Our elders have even talked of laying down our swords."
Daring stood from the floor, spreading her wings in anger. "You can't just give up on your people! If you lay down arms then N'dutu will just make you pick them up again, and send you to kill your own people!"
The chief stood from his throne, anger in his voice. "And what would you have me do?! There is no other way, no way through."
"You can fight. You can stand up to this warlord and refuse to be his slaves when he comes to your doorstep. And if he claims the Eyes of the Demon, then everything is lost. Everything you have loved, worked for, hoped for, it will all be gone."
The chief settled back onto his throne, sighing. "There was one who would see us united. But without him, our lands will forever be blighted."
Daring walked to the throne. "You don't need some great general to stand up for your people. All you need is courage and loyalty to your tribe."
The chief shook his head. "I cannot help you. The fate of Zebrica may rest on you two."
Daring turned around, pulling Timur away with a hoof. "Come on Timur. I'd rather risk the wilderness than be around this coward."
The chief of the once great tribe of eagle riders bowed his head in shame. His eyes snapped back up to look at Daring. "Wait! Though I cannot promise my warriors to fight, I can give you sanctuary from the night. Seeing you has brought my people joy, if you left their hearts it would destroy."
Daring softened, seeing all those faces, joyous to even see her fly. She could never live down the guilt of destroying their one beacon of hope in this hell brought on by war. "We'll stay for the night, but by morning we have to keep going."
The chief bowed gratefully before the pegasus. "Thank you kind one."
*****************************************
Grimhide sat with his remaining force of nandi riders somewhere in Nyika territory. The five gnolls and their mounts had made it across the Okavana after a day of searching for another crossing, but they completely lost the trail of the golden pegasus. Sitting around a small fire in the early evening, Grimhide dragged a claw over a stone, sharpening it while trying to keep his paws busy. He had to, otherwise he might just tear out the throats of his annoying subordinates.
The fools sat round the small fire, getting piss drunk off of fermented grootslang milk and making enough noise to wake the dead. Their nandi mounts growled at the rough and rowdy gnolls from just outside the flickering light of the fire, returning to their meal of a slaughtered impala.
Grimhide began to grind his teeth, these idiots should be more concerned! He had sent a messenger pigeon back to their main stronghold, and it was well known that N'dutu did not tolerate failure like theirs. And here his cavalry sat, drunk off their asses in some forsaken corner of the bush, PARTYING! Partying like they had plundered a rich zebra village or found a dead elephant! Grimhide looked down at his sharpening stone, he had actually managed to gouge his way through it in his annoyance. Standing up from his seat, Grimhide grabbed the nearest drunkard and punched him in the jaw. Tossing him to the dirt, the commander roared, "SHUT UP!"
The gnolls all stared silently at their commander, quietly placing themselves down on their bedrolls as Grimhide stared them down and growled. Throwing another log on the fire, Grimhide crashed down on his bedroll, staying awake to await the response from N'dutu. He stared through his one good eye at the dancing flame, remembering how that damn pony had insulted him and his soldiers so arrogantly. But that zebra, the way that zebra stallion laughed at his misfortune was infuriating on several levels. If he ever managed to catch that pony and her zebra companion, oh the gory fun he would have before he paraded them back to the warlord.
Grimhide snapped back to attention when a small bird landed on the log he leaned against. Grabbing the bird with a paw, he pulled the small scroll off its leg. As an afterthought he bit the head off the messenger bird, chewing contentedly as he read the message. He prided himself in being one of the few gnolls he knew that could read, almost as well as some of those ponies nonetheless.
Your failure has displeased me, Grimhide. You and your riders have been reassigned. There are villages in Nyika territory that still hold out, and I need those potential soldiers. I have a force of foot soldiers in your area, you are to reinforce them. Do not disappoint me.
Grimhide crumpled up the message and threw it in the fire. Maybe he wasn't as affluent as he previously thought. But what he had gleaned from that note was that the alpha was not happy and he was supposed to back an infantry unit as they raided a village.
*******************************************
A thought occurred to me whilst writing this chapter, what kind of badness could have happened if Ahuitzotl got his mitts on Lucifer?!?
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
After the initial hostility, the Nyika zebra turned out to be some of the most hospitable folk Daring had ever known. More hospitable than most small towns in Equestria. A whole night of banquets, dancing, and politely refused marriage proposals left the sepia pegasus even more worn out than usual.
A few of the tribals knew basic Equestrian, but by their fascination with her wings they didn't get out and see many ponies in their lives. With Timur talking to the elders of the tribe, Daring spoke with the warriors who could speak Equestrian. From what she gathered, they were terrified of N'dutu's war bands that pushed closer to their village with every day. In the old days they could have fought them off, but Talib's honorable blood had left them, and with it their courage and right to guard the Eyes.
She questioned them endlessly about the Eyes of the Demon, trying to wring any small details out that they might know. She had a stroke of luck that night. One of the warriors said his grandfather had known one of the bloodline bearers of the Tomb's guardianship, and that he had accidentally overheard a part of some chant that they recited to themselves.
Daring sat across from a large, communal bowl of cooked grains, interviewing the zebra warrior. "Grandfather say that he know one of the guards. They memorize a chant that is very hard. He hear small bit of it, Grandfather say he never forget." The warrior paused to scoop out a small ball of cooked grains, popping it into his mouth.
Daring had her notebook out, scribbling down notes as the warrior spoke. "Go on, what did your grandfather hear?"
"He say, 'Only the sightless may see, and walk the path of eternity."
Daring looked up from her notes. "Path of eternity? What's the path of eternity?" The zebra shrugged as he popped another hoof full of grains into his mouth.
Her eyes felt heavy, and before Daring could ask another question, she silenced herself with a yawn. "Well sir, I thank you for your time, but I need some rest." The pegasus gave the zebra one final show by flapping her wings just hard enough to become airborne and drifting lazily over to the bedroll they provided her with.
With a sigh she curled up on the reed mat and spread a wing over her head. Today had been rather eventful, almost too eventful. Snapping open her eyes, Daring realized what she just thought. "Am I losing my game?" she said to the night. "No, I can't be, I'm just not used to this type of expedition. Yeah that's it."
Or maybe I'm afraid, she thought to herself.
"No way, I've never been afraid of anything. My name is Daring Do. I'm a hero of Equestria, what can I be afraid of?"
This isn't some lost society or old temple, this is a war. Lives are depending on me.
"Then it's just pressure to perform." She sighed as she pinned it down. "That's a load off my chest, phew ."
Daring folded back her wing, looking out over the village and its still active people. Still doesn't remove the fact that if this doesn't go right, then all these people will be slaves.
***********************************
With the first rays of sun barely rising in the east, Grimhide was the first to rise that morning. Kicking all of his riders to wake them up, he saddled his mount. Despite what his instincts told him to do, which was get his revenge on that gold pegasus and her zebra friend, his detachment was doing something a little more mundane. Forceful recruiting. And he would enjoy a bit of sport when the villagers tried to defend themselves.
With the rest of his cavalry swaying in the saddle and fighting off the urge to go behind the bushes and hurl, Grimhide spurred his nandi on to the rendezvous point with the infantry slavers. A few hours of riding through the savanna, startling off small herds of grazing animals had his cavalry feeling like their old selves. To help satiate their bloodlust so they wouldn't overdo it when they did raid that village, Grimhide slowed down the pack of nandi and their riders to harass a lone cape buffalo.
About fifteen minutes of jousting with the beast's horns had all the gnolls in high spirits. They would have actually killed it, but cape buffalo are not known for going down without quite a serious fight. Jabbing it with their spears sufficed for now.
Directing his cavalry away from the bellowing hill of muscle and rage, his riders eventually found a trail. Spurring his hyena mount onward, Grimhide came into sight of the rendezvous point, a common watering hole by the pathside.
A platoon of zebra warriors bearing spears, bolas, lassos and the diamond-shaped black shields of N'dutu sat lazily around a few caged wagons, awaiting their reinforcements. A few puffed on pipes, taking turns smoking an herb which dulled pain. A few more leaned back against the wagons, lightly snoring as the nandi riders pulled in.
Grimhide rode his mount straight into the small encampment. "Who leader here?" he asked.
One of the resting zebra opened his eyes, stretching out as he stood up and approached the cavalry gnoll. His eyes looked extremely red, like he had taken too many puffs of the pain herb. "I am head of this raid. You have come to give us aid?"
Grimhide looked down at the ill prepared zebra with scorn. "Not anymore you not, I take over now. N'dutu say that I in charge here," Grimhide replied with his growling voice.
The zebra shrugged and tossed him the keys to the slave chains. "You da boss, mon." A few of the warriors shouldered the yokes for the wagons, pulling them towards the target village as the remaining four nandi riders took their places on either side of the caravan.
***********************************
The Eyes were just within her reach. Daring wet her lips with anticipation of the completion of her journey. A mist hovered over the Eyes, masking their form. But all she needed to see was a pair of burning slits in the dark to know she looked at her goal. Carefully she reached out with a hoof, but as she reached towards the object of her desire, it stayed just out of her grasp. Taking a step closer to the altar, she reached again for the Eyes of the Demon. Again they seemed just out of her grasp. Daring jumped forward, but the entire altar holding the artifact lurched backwards, taunting her with the glowing stare of the Eyes. Grinding her teeth, the pegasus spread her wings and leapt at the eyes, chasing down the artifact as it fled into eternity.
She panted as she tried to get any closer, but the Eyes seemed to cackle at the pegasus. A deep laughter echoed from the empty, black space all around her, driving fear into her mind as she flapped her wings even harder. Stretching out her hoof, she reached for the Eyes as they taunted her in this moment of weakness.
Finally the Eyes seemed to reach a wall, and Daring grinned as she finally inched her way closer. But the closer she got, the heavier her body felt. Her wings felt like they were feathered with iron, and falling to the floor she ran closer. But as she ran on the floor her hooves became brittle, and cracked under her weight. Daring cried out as her body fell to the floor. Looking up at the Eyes, they gloated at her suffering and her pain. Placing one shattered hoof in front of the other, Daring pulled herself forward.
Weakly reaching for the Eyes, Daring looked at her own leg, wrinkled and gray with age. Glancing back at the Eyes, the only thing she saw was a mirror, an ancient and decrepit pegasus staring back at her, turning to dust before her eyes. Daring opened her mouth to scream, only to wail silently as the Eyes of the Demon laughed at her mortal frailty.
With a scream Daring Do clawed her way out of the horrendous dream, feeling the horrible weight still on her as she fought to open her eyes. Strange voices shouted at her in an unknown tongue, but one called to her with crystalline clarity in a familiar and comforting tone. "Ms Do, calm down and wake up!"
Daring wrenched open her eyes, panting from the horror of the nightmare. Timur's hooves held her down on the reed mat where she lay, several other zebras holding down her other limbs. Timur gently let go of the pegasus, the other zebras doing the same. Daring leaned up on her mat, holding her hooves in front of her face, checking them frantically for any sign of age or wear. Looking up to Timur's concerned face, Daring had to use every ounce of self control to keep from breaking down. "I need air," Daring gasped, standing quickly and pushing the crowd of zebra out of her way. Exiting the hut she and her guide had been loaned, Daring flew outside of the village, finding a tree to hide under while she caught her breath.
Pressing her forehead against the trunk of the tree, Daring fought off the sense of fear from that horrible nightmare. Sure, she'd had bad dreams before, but nothing had ever been that real . The soft clop of hooves on the sandy soil perked her ears.
"Ingelosi?" said a very young voice. Daring turned her gaze from the tree trunk to look at her visitor; a young zebra colt, not yet old enough to have a mark on his flank. His green eyes shined at the pegasus with wonder, but also concern.
"Go away kid, you can't help me," Daring said to the colt. Closing her eyes, she sighed. It was a dream, just a dream, she kept telling herself. It can't possibly happen. A small pair of hooves clung to her foreleg, the pegasus opened her eyes and looked at the colt giving her a hug as best as he could. Despite herself, she smiled. Reaching down with a wing, she returned the favor and wrapped it around her little friend. "Thanks kid, I needed that."
Tousling his stiff black and white mane with a hoof, Daring felt the fear pass. Suddenly she felt very silly for the whole event, overreacting to a little night terror like that. "Just a dream, I'm just bein' a silly filly." Her little friend looked up at her face with a big smile. Taking her pith helmet off her head, she placed it down onto his head. For the little zebra colt it was far too big, coming down over his ears and eyes. But he giggled as Daring lifted him off the ground and placed him on her back. "Come on, let's get you back to your home."
She had flown further from the village than she thought, and with the zebra foal riding her back, Daring began the long walk back. With her fears allayed, she took the time to notice that it was actually a very nice morning to go out for a walk. The big blue sky lay cloudless and infinite, strange birds chirped their choruses in the bush, and a the distant sounds of daytime creatures waking up for their day all tingled Daring's senses.
But as she walked the trail back to the village, something felt different. The birds stopped their calls, and the hairs on the back of her neck rose as she smelled the air. Out of instinct, she spread her wings to intimidate any would be predators. She knew this feeling well, and recognized the signs of the creatures around her. The foal on her back had gone quiet as well, turning his head and listening.
Reaching down, he tugged on Daring's mane. "Ingelosi! Sifuna ukufumana umqolo!"
Daring's ears twisted and turned, her nose trying to pick up any sign of danger. "I know kid. Just stay calm." Gently setting the foal down, she took her helmet back and put it on her head. "I'm going to borrow this. Just stay here, okay?" She pointed a hoof at the ground, emphasizing what she wanted him to do. The foal nodded his understanding. Spreading her wings, Daring rocketed into the air, looking around for any sign of trouble.
Hovering a hundred feet or so above the ground, Daring's magenta eyes scanned for any danger. Looking over towards the village, her heart sank. Clouds of dust rose from the small town, and the sounds of screams chilled her blood. Bunching up her wing muscles, Daring dashed for the village under siege.
******************************************
The attack had come quickly and without warning. About three dozen zebra warriors and gnoll cavalry had rode in with the rooster's crow that morning. The gnolls had gone for the warriors of the Nyika first, killing some but riding down and capturing most others. N'dutu's infantry hurled torches into huts, capturing any villagers that they saw with long hooks, lassos and bolas.
Grimhide rode his nandi into the center of the village with the commander of the infantry next to him on hoof. He felt a certain satisfaction, seeing the legacy and homes of the Nyika burning into ash around him. Grimhide had seen others command, and felt like he knew the right things to say to feel like a proper cavalry commander. "How many we capture?" he asked the infantry zebra.
The zebra commander gazed at the groups of prisoners being chained up and thrown into the wagons that had been drawn into town. Doing a few quick calculations, he nodded his head, impressed with their haul. "A good load we have here. At least fifty to bear the spear."
"And a hundred and fifty new slaves!" Grimhide chortled, seeing the long lines of zebra too weak, too young or too inexperienced to become slave warriors in the warlord's army. With a hyena cackle, Grimhide leaned over in his saddle and slapped the zebra commander on the back. The zebra grinned back, knowing that N'dutu's commanders always got first pick of the new slaves. And after he had conquered all of Zebrica, the most loyal would have the first pick of land to rule over as lords.
And after he had the Eyes of the Demon, not even the shores of Zebrica would be enough for N'dutu.
*******************************************
Hiding in the stands of millet on the edge of town, Daring took in the situation. Thirty or so zebras under what she guessed to be N'dutu's command, and a few more of those gnolls. Her eyes scanned for Timur, but he wasn't among either the chained warriors or the villagers being stuffed bodily into the cage wagons. She looked for a way to help, seeking the weak link in the chain. There was too damn many of them, even if she did take down all the riders and free the prisoners, there was no way somepony wasn't getting hurt or killed.
She looked on, she could go out there and challenge them, but her spear was back in that hut where she left it. She had no weapon except for her helmet, and flinging that around might have the effect of making the enemy die with laughter. The feather of the lightning bird still glistened brightly in the band of her helmet, causing some zebra to look her way. Ducking her head down, Daring barely avoided being spotted in her hiding place.
The slave drivers pulled out long sticks from the burning kindling of the village huts, lashing their charges if they got out of line, or if it pleased the slave drivers. One zebra mare wailed, twisting herself out of her captors grasp and making a run for the edge of the village. Daring would have cheered her on, but one of those mounted gnolls had also seen the mare making a desperate bid for freedom. Drawing his long black scimitar, he rode her down. The zebra mare screamed as the gnoll cackled at this unexpected sport. Daring cringed and averted her eyes as the screams were silenced with a slice.
Looking back up, she saw the gnoll licking the blood off his blade, sheathing it on his back. A gnoll with a scar slanting over a milky white eye. She scowled with recognition of this brute, the same monster who had nearly killed her only a few days earlier. Daring nearly leapt out of her skin as a hoof touched her on the back. Whipping around, Timur had once again managed to sneak up on her with no effort.
"We must go! There are too many of them," Timur whispered to Daring.
"You can leave if you want, I'm going to help those people!" the pegasus replied with acid in her voice.
Timur grabbed Daring by the shoulders, dragging her back further into the stand of millet. "You can't help them, it is too late. We should have been gone yesterday."
Daring flipped over in his hooves, punching her guide in the face, knocking him flat to the dirt. While Timur lay dazed on the ground, Daring grabbed his spear in her mouth. "Sorry Timur, I can't let this happen to them." Spreading he wings, she took off above the village.
Circling high above the village, she searched for the right target to dive bomb with her one and only spear. Her eyes looked over them, looking for some kind of leader.
Down on the ground, Grimhide paced his mount along the rows of newly acquired slaves, mentally discounting any that looked too weak or sickly to add to his growing future estate. His nandi snapped at the legs of the captured zebra, adding more fearful cries to the already deafening din of sobbing and mourning wails. His mount stopped, sniffing heavily at the ground. With a rumbling snarl the nandi defied its master and bounded over to a hut, tearing down the front wall, searching for something.
Grimhide futilely tried to reign his mount back under his control, but the beast was dead set on finding the source of some scent. "Stupid mutt! Now not time for food! I feed you-" Grimhide stopped himself mid sentence as his mount found the object of its desire, sniffing heavily at a golden feather. Grimhide's scowl became a look of devious glee. Hopping out of the saddle, he removed the feather from his mount's overeager mouth. Pacing over to the chained up prisoners, he whipped the feather out in front of the face of the chief.
"Where is she?" Grimhide growled.
The chief trembled as the gnoll's hot breath and predatory stare bore down on him. "I do not know, she left and has not shown!"
"WHERE?!" the gnoll yelled.
"I don't know!" the chief trembled. Grimhide bared his fangs at the chief, moving down the line with the feather held up.
"Anyone? Anyone know?" The gnoll continued up and down the line, searching for anypony that might have an answer. The captive zebra in their chains stared silently, not knowing nor willing to betray Daring. The raiders sent by N'dutu raised their eyebrows and chattered to each other in their languages, wondering if Grimhide had lost his mind or something, going crazy over a feather and all. They were in a Nyika village after all, feathers and the Nyika were like crocodiles and teeth. The two were just inseparable concepts.
Daring circled above, having picked out her target, the one-eyed gnoll. She took aim to dive bomb with her spear, when suddenly the zebra colt from earlier ran into the village, screaming for his mother who lay chained and shackled in the back of a wagon.
Grimhide grinned, pouncing the wayward colt and seizing him by the scruff of his neck. Holding him up in front of the villagers, he asked once again. "Where is feathered pony? Answer, or nandi get treat." Bending over, he dipped his paw into a small pool of blood, smearing the colt with it. Walking over, he let his mount get the scent of fresh blood. The huge grey hyena snapped at the tantalizing morsel, but its master held back the squirming and struggling foal.
"Anyone?" Grimhide asked again. The line of zebra stood resolute despite their situation, they would not betray one who they believed had been sent from heaven. The gnoll shrugged. "Your choice." He tossed the colt down, kicking him over to the waiting nandi. The huge hyena whooped with delight, opening its slavering jaws to chomp down on this tiny morsel. As its crooked teeth began to lower down to the quivering foal, the nandi arched its back and roared, paws and teeth trying to reach for the short spear sticking out of its back. With a groan it fell onto its side, and Daring Do landed in front of the foal, wings spread and ready to fight.
"You want me, here I am!" she said to the dumbstruck gnoll.
Grimhide's expression changed to a pleased smugness, his bait had worked perfectly. "Get her!" he yelled to his raiders, pointing a claw at the pegasus.
A group of the raiders shouted a war cry as they charged at the pegasus, twirling bolas and hefting their hooked spears. Daring grabbed her pith helmet in a hoof, aiming up a shot to try and entangle as many of them as possible. Expertly tossing her helmet like a frisbee, it struck the first charging raider in the chest as planned.
The next part however, was not planned by the pegasus in any way. An explosion like the roar of thunder rocked the village and nearly deafened Daring. After the smoke cleared, the raiders in the first charge lay curled up on the ground, groaning and holding their ears. And in the center of their heap lay her pith helmet, undamaged and perfectly fine. But the lightning bird feather arced with electricity. "Holy shit," Daring whispered, looking at the carnage the feather had left. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck them all.
Grimhide was less impressed, drawing his dragon scale scimitar to advance on the stunned Daring. Lifting his sword high, he intended to neatly cut off the pegasi's head with one fell swoop. As the gnoll swept downwards, the sword in his paw hit the steel head of a spear.
"It isn't nice to hit a lady," Timur said to the gnoll. Grimhide smiled at his true quarry, breaking the block and jumping back. "I am Timur Duan!ziti, remember that name, for it shall be the last you know!"
The gnoll curled his lip back in a snarl. "I Grimhide, right claw of N'dutu! Your bones will taste good, zebra." Grimhide swung his sword in a series of lazy arcs, Timur stood back and spun his spear, both challenging the other. With a roar, both combatants leapt to eviscerate one another.
Away from the two mortal combatants, another group of slavers had rallied and charged the downed pegasus. Daring barely ducked as a bola whooshed over her head. Scooping up the foal, she took flight, dodging more projectiles the slavers threw. Dropping off her charge somewhat safely on the roof of an untouched hut, Daring turned sharply on her wings, her eyes only on getting back her pith helmet and the incredible power the feather bestowed on it.
Falling back to the ground, she grabbed a cast aside spear, holding it defensively as the slavers charged her. Twenty zebra with spears and lassos bore down on her. "Yeah, this ain't gonna happen," Daring said to herself, vaulting herself into the air right as the first of the bolas swished under her hooves.
Deftly winging her way over to the wagon cages, she jammed the tip of her spear into the lock on the door, twisting until it snapped. Pulling the cage door open, she ushered out the warriors and villagers of the Nyika. "Come on! Here's your second chance!" The villagers leapt out of the wagon to enter the fray with the slavers. They didn't have weapons, but they made up for it in sheer numbers and the ferocity of their attack.
Away from the freed zebras who fought valiantly against their enslavers, Grimhide and Timur stood as even matches. The commander of N'dutu's cavalry sweeping his scimitar in long arcs while the prince of the Gochano deflected the dragon scale blade with the head of his spear and maneuvered to get in the stabs and jabs to down his opponent quickly.
Timur pressed the offensive, twirling his assegai in a a figure eight while pressing Grimhide back. The gnoll swept with his sword, knocking aside the spear and plunging for Timur's exposed chest. Timur ducked to his side, bringing the butt of his spear up and into Grimhide's jaw. The gnoll fell back, clutching his mouth with a small stream of blood dripping out the corner. Whipping his scimitar over his shoulder, Grimhide swept down at the zebra, feinting just as Timur moved his spear to block and swiping his rock cutting claws across the zebra's cheek.
The zebra recoiled, hoof to his cheek. Grimhide pressed the attack with a flurry of scimitar blows. Timur had to be deft on his hooves to avoid getting sliced by the blade or getting disemboweled by the gnoll's claws. Swinging his spear like a quarterstaff, Timur butted the gnoll in the stomach, spinning his spear to thrust at his heart. Grimhide parried with his sword, but not enough to stave off the attack. The head of the spear grazed the gnoll's shoulder, getting caught in his epaulet.
Grimhide roared at the pain, swinging his dragon scale sword through the head of the spear, shearing it off at the head. With the head of his weapon destroyed, Timur swung the haft of his spear at Grimhide's head, connecting solidly with his temple. The gnoll cried out and fell back, holding his head with an open paw.
Grimhide looked around himself, seeing his slaver unit getting destroyed. One slaver zebra would billhook a villager, only to have three stab him in the back with knives. A lone nandi limped towards the safety away from the village, a limp and bleeding gnoll stuck through his chest by a pair of spears. The rest of his standing unit had backed themselves into a corner, trembling in their horseshoes as the gold pegasus advanced on them with no weapon except her hat.
The gnoll leader laid back his ears, snarling at his foe who stood posed for the next attack. "This not over," he growled to Timur. "RETREAT!" he roared to his forces, running to grab the last good nandi by the saddle, swinging himself in and digging his heels into its flanks. With their attack repelled and their leader fleeing, the shattered remnants of N'dutu's war band fled into the bush.
Timur tossed down the severed haft of his spear, bringing a hoof to his cheek and looking to see blood.
"Hey, you okay?" Daring appeared next to him, looking with concern at his trio of claw marks across his cheek.
"I have fought many wars and slain many foes, but this will be the first scar I bear. But it is only my pride that is injured. I fought a worthy opponent today." He glanced down at the pieces of his spear. "And it was almost my last opponent."
Daring sat on her haunches, looking with amazement at the lightning bird feather still tucked in the brim of her hat. She braced for a lightning bolt as she gently placed it on her head, and let out a sigh of relief when nothing came. Leaning back against the wall of a hut, Daring considered what had just gone down. She was in a battle, her first real battle. And that nandi, that was her first real kill.
Looking around herself, her heart warmed from the cold hardness that this raid had brought on. Families embraced, reunited and given a second chance at freedom. Many doused their flaming huts, gathering what property they could from the ashes. With a smile she saw her little friend run to embrace his mother, nuzzling the zebra mare. Breaking away from his overjoyed mother, the little foal galloped over and leapt into Daring's lap, hugging the pegasus with as much strength as his little arms could manage.
Scooping up the foal in her hooves, she held him at arms length in front of her face. "What part of 'stay right here' don't you understand! Jeez kid, you could have been killed!" His little green eyes shimmered and his lip trembled. Daring immediately felt like she had kicked a puppy. "Aw crap, damn it. I can't stay mad at that. Come here." She hugged him tightly to her chest, the little zebra foal returning the hug.
"Aww, would you look at that. Daring Do; fearless explorer, lady of class, and a brave warrior with a heart of gold."
"STOP RUINING THE MOMENT, TIMUR!" she screamed at her companion. The zebra stallion managed to snicker at his companion while holding a rag to the wounds on his face. "You're a bigger buzz kill than Charms, I hope you know that." Setting down the foal, she gave him a tousle in the mane. A thought came to her, these folk liked feathers almost as much as they liked breathing. She reached over to her wing and selected a nice one, plucking it with a wince. With a hoof , she presented it to the little foal who had done her a great favor by giving her comfort from the nightmares, and more recently, a reason to fight on. "Here you go kid, something to remember me by." The little foal squealed as he accepted this priceless gift, running back to his mother to show her.
The chief of the Nyika approached the pegasus. His mantle of eagle feathers was burnt and misshapen from his abuse, but he still wore it with dignity. "Courage and loyalty to my tribe, these are the virtues you would have me ascribe. You fought for my people Daring Do. All our lives are owed to you." The chief slowly dropped down to his knees, bowing gratefully before the golden pegasus. "With strength of heart we will defeat this foe. And our lives we shall regrow. Thank you, Angel from beyond. With N'dutu we shall never bond."
Daring stood from her seat, placing a hoof on the chief's shoulder. "Good to hear, but you have to lead your people through this. And it isn't a bad idea to look for friends where you can get them. Go to the other tribes and offer yourselves to the cause of defeating this warlord. Set aside your differences and come together for freedom."
The chief nodded to Daring. Timur bumped her on the shoulder. "We have lost much time here Daring, we should be going."
Daring nodded, the need to recover the Eyes more important than trying to save every village she came across. Rearming himself with a new spear and tossing one to Daring, the pair made their way east through the village. As they passed through, the warriors of the Nyika stopped cleaning up after the attack, raising their spears for the pegasus. As one they cried, "Ingelosi!"
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
Grimhide sat in in one of the many medical tents in N'dutu's stronghold. A zebra witch doctor pressed a small poultice onto the swollen bruise along his jaw. Grimhide winced as the healer pressed the stinging compress onto his wound. There was more to his agitation than the simple wounds he had received in that botched raid, there was the humiliation of getting his tail handed to him by a zebra. And don't get him started on what N'dutu would do to him when he finally found out where he was hiding in his stronghold.
Glancing with his one good eye out the door of the medical hut, he spied a troop of heavily armored zebra warriors in all black coming his direction, a trio of cats accompanying them. Not good.
The warlord himself stepped into the hut, his disfiguring scars turning his scowl into a downright terrifying expression. N'dutu glared over at the witch doctor that was bandaging Grimhide's shoulder. "Out," the warlord ordered. The warlord's hateful gaze turned back to his cavalry commander. "It is a wonder you even decided to come back."
Grimhide laid back his ears, cringing under his alpha's gaze. "It not my fault!"
N'dutu lashed out with a hoof, striking Grimhide's sore jaw. The gnoll whimpered in pain as he clutched his injury. "And exactly how is this not your fault!? I gave you a simple task, find Daring Do! And did you succeed? No! You lost an entire platoon of my finest cavalry, and not to mention an entire company of warriors with their recruits! Tell me Grimhide, how do I punish failure?"
The gnoll fearfully licked his lips before continuing. "Arena."
"Precisely. And I know how intimidated you are by our new kasai. I've heard the brute likes to chew on his gladiators before swallowing them."
Grimhide swallowed a lump in his throat at the mention of the saurian kasai, one of the few beasts that went mostly unmatched in the arena, even when paired against an enraged bull elephant. The gnoll fell to his knees before the zebra. "Give one more chance, I get her!" Grimhide begged.
The warlord's scowling expression deepened. "And why should I? So you can lose the core of my aerial forces or maybe even my artillery crews? Remind me as to why I made you my cavalry commander, or why I even tolerate your pathetic presence, Grimhide."
The gnoll shivered under the penetrating stare of the warlord. "I best rider. I win many clan wars. But-but I learn! I think of way to get pony this time! Cannot fail!"
N'dutu's eyes narrowed. "And what do you have planned this time, my failure of a dog?"
Grimhide stood up, grinning that his warlord was even considering his plan. "Pony clever when given time to think, I spring trap on her! Catch unaware, like crocodile on the riverbank," Grimhide exclaimed eagerly. Shivering on the cot where he sat, he awaited the warlord's answer. N'dutu's hard gaze softened, but only a fraction.
Stepping closer to his cavalry commander, N'dutu raised a hoof in front of the gnoll's face. "One more chance. But if you fail this time, I stop hunting the Eyes of the Demon and make my armies scour this forsaken continent for your wasted hide. And the moment you are brought back here, I will spoon feed you to the kasai! But if you succeed, I will forget that you ever foolishly squandered an entire company of good soldiers. I might even give you a damn medal. And to show my dedication to your half baked plan, they will be going with you." The warlord jerked his head at the three cats that had silently made their way around the cot, staring down the gnoll like a house cat might look at a mouse.
With the hot breath of a panther on the nape of his neck, Grimhide nodded and gave a salute to his alpha. "Yes, master. I get pony this time." N'dutu snorted at the obeisance, acting as though it were an affront to his person. Turning on his hooves, he exited the medical hut, his Blackguard falling in around him.
Though the presence of the silent and dangerous cats raised the hair on his neck, Grimhide felt a certain satisfaction. With an exhale he relaxed, slouching over from his stiffness when at attention. He would get his second chance at that pony, but more importantly, he would get another chance at finishing his little disagreement with that zebra.
Damning the rest of his medical treatment, Grimhide strode out of the hut, the trio of cats in tow as he made his way to the nandi stables.
*********************************************
The ever burning sun over Zebrica had forced Daring and Timur once again off the road and under shade to rest through the hottest part of the day. Both took refuge under a large stone outcropping on the side of a hill, resting their hooves and leaning their backs against the cool stone of the shaded hillside. Her zebra guide had taken his usual route and lightly napped through the heat. But Daring almost never rested like he did. Her little journal was open and resting in her lap, her pencil held in a hoof as she carefully traced a sketch of the Nyika chief from memory.
Daring's little notebook was becoming quite the gallery, with sketches of beasts, landscapes, and the peoples of Zebrica all taking their place in her newly discovered artistic talent. A slight smile crept up her lips as she shaded the eagle feather mantle of the chief. By the end of this little journey, she might just clear out a room in her apartment just for drawing. This new talent was just so calming, so peaceful. And with a start she realized, so un-Daring Do.
Artistry was something that the snobby ladies of Canterlot did, they cared about how things looked and about ladylike pursuits such as simple painting. Her magenta eyes drifted back down to the sketch of the Nyika chief, so bold and yet wise.
Ya know, maybe Daring Do is gonna turn over a new leaf, she thought to herself. Then the memories of the dreaded ballroom socials and having to wear ridiculous dresses popped into her head. I'll see what I can do about burning that leaf.
Over to her right, she heard her guide take in a deep breath, waking up from his short nap. Quickly Daring stuffed her notebook away, for some reason feeling like it would tarnish her good name. Timur yawned and licked his lips, pulling out a gourd he took a deep drink, then passed it off to Daring.
Her zebra guide stuck his hoof out into the sunlight, holding it there for a minute. Nodding his satisfaction with the current temperature, Timur rose up and swatted a fly on his flank with his monochromatic tail. "Let's be going Ms Do. The sooner we get away from the heart of N'dutu's territory and into Din'Jaro land, the better." The zebra shouldered his saddle bag and a new spear, steadily making his way back to the road. Daring cinched on her small pouch, spreading her wings and lazily flying next to her guide.
The mention of the most powerful tribe in Zebrica brought a thought back to Daring. "So, what did you do that makes you so apprehensive?"
Timur rolled his eyes as he walked. "Kwa upendo wa.... this again? Can't you let sleeping dogs lie?"
Daring hovered in front of his face, her forelegs folded and her smile mischievous. "Nope. Besides, I have to do something to break the silence."
"I would prefer silence."
"You're no fun. Oh! Did you at one point have too much fun and wreck up something? There was this filly I heard about in some town called Ponyville that did that alot."
Timur continued to walk forward, trying to keep his cool. "No."
Daring tapped her chin with a hoof, falling back to his side while flapping her wings just enough to stay airborne. "Hmm, let me see. Did you taste the 'forbidden fruit'?" she air quoted with her hooves as she flew circles around the zebra.
The zebra shifted his gaze and lifted an eyebrow at Daring. "What? What forbidden fruit? Why would we hold fruit sacred?"
Daring landed with a small puff of dust under her hooves. "Not literal fruit. You know, like the chief's daughter or something."
"Yours is a foul mind, Daring Do," Timur said as he continued his trudge, shaking his head at the pegasus.
Daring stomped a hoof in frustration, running to catch up with her guide. "Don't you think that you're any better than me buster. I've seen the way you look at me when we stop." Her eyes looked over the zebra, admiring his masculine build, taking in his sleek muscles. "Undressing me with your eyes."
The zebra rolled his eyes, slapping a hoof to his face and muttering something in possibly a half dozen zebra languages. "I have been checking you for ticks . A single bad tick bite can leave you paralyzed, or worse. And what is there to undress? All you ever wear is that jacket and your little helmet!"
Daring took a few side steps closer to Timur, letting her full feminine sway attack him. "Aw come on, don't be that way. A few glasses of whiskey and I'm honey in your hooves, sugar." She was enjoying this game of twisting him like twine around her hoof. Unfortunately, Timur seemed to be made of tougher stuff than twine.
Placing a hoof on her shoulder, the zebra bodily pushed her a few feet to the side. "I applaud your enthusiasm. But you are not my type, Ms Do."
Daring stood back, mildly stunned at his stalwart nature. Normal stallions would be quivering at her hooves right now. Well, it was a fun game to try out on her guide and kill some time, but it made her wonder as to what his preferences actually were.
Letting the awkwardness of the situation pass, Daring continued to pelt him with more questions. "Shame your family?"
"No."
"Break something important?"
"No."
"Forget to lock up the hut one night and get robbed?"
"How does one even 'lock up a hut'?"
"I'll take that as a 'no'."
********************************************
It would work.
Grimhide kept telling himself that, over and over again. It would work, not only because it was an absolutely genius plan, but because it had to work. If he failed, his sorry hide was food for some of the arena beasts. Looking out over the horizon from behind his hiding spot, he peered through a spyglass, searching for any sign of his allied cats or the pony. His warlord might have just sent those cats along as a way to keep an eye on him if he failed and decided to run, but he would use his strengths. And key among those strengths was the element of surprise.
N'dutu's cavalry commander sat hidden behind a rock on top of a narrow pass. A twin set of ridges divided the short scrubland for miles in both directions, cut through by this one gully that he and an entire company of slavers and archers were watching over. If that pony and the zebra passed through this territory, this was the only way through.
Grimhide was rather pleased with himself, both times before he had been too blunt in his approach to getting Daring Do. But not this time. No, this time he used a different tactic. One he had learned from long hours of watching the great cats hunt on the savanna. Something that the books his master owned called 'subtlety' and 'planning'. Sure, they were fairly alien concepts to the gnoll, but it was better than trying a head on attack for a third time. For some reason the typical gnoll tactic of 'scream and leap' didn't seem to work so well.
Running a claw over the blade of his sword, he yearned for a second opportunity at fighting that zebra. He had been challenged, and since neither had come out on top with the first round, gnoll tradition required that somebody die in the second round. It was just the way things worked. And while he did want to parade Daring Do back to N'dutu, his personal primary objective was to fight that zebra on equal, honorable terms....and then rip his skeleton out.
After some very awkward signing and trying to command the cats in every language that he knew, Grimhide got the basic idea across to them that he wanted them to herd the pony this way and into the funnel. As they stalked off into the bush, he had the strangest feeling that they knew what they were doing better than he did. Sometimes those damn cats made his skin crawl with how much intelligence sat behind those cold eyes.
And so he sat under the burning Zebrican sun, feeling the skin slowly cooking under his fur. Splayed out on a hilltop while camouflaged as best as he could be, as well as the entire company of archers and slaver infantry that lay hidden behind bushes, rocks and in the shadows. No doubt, if the cats did their little job, this would work.
*****************************************
"Okay, how about this one? You fled Zebrica because some witch doctor placed a curse on you which threatens to turn you into a zombie if you place your hooves back on Zebrican soil to reclaim your place as rightful ruler of your tribe."
Timur sighed, his head hung much lower in annoyance after the past four hours of Daring trying unravel his great secret. "Oh no, you got me Ms Do, my deep dark secret is revealed."
Daring fluttered up to his face excitedly. "Really!?"
"No. But you have quite the imagination. Maybe you should write a book. It will keep your mouth shut," he muttered under his breath.
"What was that last bit there?"
Timur grinned sheepishly. "Oh, it was an old saying in Gochano. It means, 'best of luck in your ventures'."
"Really? Because it kind of sounded like you said I should write a book because it will keep my mouth shut," Daring said with a touch of snarkiness in her voice, glaring down the zebra from her slight altitude.
Timur had stopped and stood stark still, his head up and his ears twisting to pick up a slight sound he had heard. Daring poked him with a hoof. "Well Mr Stripes? Got anything to say to that?"
"Quiet Ms Do," Timur whispered.
"BE QUIET?!? Seriously! No, now you've gone and pissed me off! I'm singing it out loud baby! I PUT MY HOOF UPON HER FLANK, YA HO! YA HO! I PUT MY HOOF UPON HER FLANK, YA HO! YA HO! I PUT MY HOOF UPON HER FLANK, SHE SAID 'HEY NOW ROOKIE I AIN'T A SKANK!' GET IN, GET OUT, QUIT BUCKIN' ABOUT-"
A hoof in her mouth silenced the pegasus. She backwinged away and began to protest when she noticed Timur unsheathing his spear. Timur gave her a look that could kill a weaker creature. "I said quiet! Now shh! Hear that?"
Out in the bush came the sharp crack of twigs snapping. Daring slowly pulled out her own replacement spear, holding it parallel with the ground. Slowly backing her way down the road, Daring tried to assess what was stalking them. "It could just be one of those little gazelles."
The crack of twigs and the sounds of panting came from either side of the trail, as well as from in front of them. Timur's practiced blue eyes caught the flicker of movement in the bushes. "Gazelles do not hunt in packs. Nor do they hunt at all."
Daring slowly swung her spear back and forth between all three of the hidden targets. "What do we do?"
"If we run, they will attack. Back away slowly." As the pair began to back down the trail, the cats surrounding them in the bush moved with them. Daring's chest heaved as her magenta eyes picked through the dense thorn bushes and undergrowth. A tinge of orange set her heart to pounding like a drum.
"I think we better run, Timur," she whispered to the zebra next to her.
His eyes still searched for the predators stalking them, waiting for them to break their cover and attack. "I'm telling you, that is a bad idea. They are hunting us, waiting for us to show weakness."
Daring scooted closer to the zebra, spear held ready. "We need to leave, NOW!" She grabbed his head with a hoof and pointed his face towards a wall of thorn bushes. Just barely visible through the thick, dead branches was a round, black face staring at them with gold eyes. In the blink of an eye the face of the panther melted back into the brush.
With Daring's hoof still wrapped around his face, Timur nodded frantically. "Okay, on three, we run."
"Yeah, okay. On three....THREE!" she shouted, bolting to the only open space the cats left them. Timur scrambled after her, throwing up a cloud of dust as he struggled to keep up with the aloft pegasus. Slowing down so her guide could keep up with her, Daring heard the crunch and snap of branches as the cats stayed in their formation around the pair of travelers. Turning her head to the left, she saw a streak of spotted yellow jump through the bushes, the cheetah easily keeping pace in its natural habitat. Turning her head to the right, the orange blur of the tiger crashed through the brush, using its bulk to force its way through. And behind them she could hear the hungry pant of the panther, practically nipping at her tail as it stayed just out of sight.
"There is a pass ahead Ms Do! If we can make it through there we can bottleneck them and stand a chance!"
Daring looked ahead and saw the cut through the ridge that divided this entire plain. Something inside of her protested, that this all seemed too convenient. She knew these cats better than this. They wouldn't chase her down with such a clear avenue of escape. The roar of the tiger a few yards to her right snapped her out of those thoughts, and Daring forced down the instinctive need to pour on as much speed as she could.
They neared the pass, and as the brush thinned near the base of the ridge, the cats broke cover. Now visible to the zebra and the pegasus, their hooves and wings powered them forward. A wall of gleaming teeth and rippling feline muscles swiped at their flanks and herded them straight to the pass. Daring dropped out of the air, pulling out her spear with her teeth as they entered the narrow passage.
Both pegasus and zebra whipped around to face their pursuers in combat. But the cats had stopped dead a hundred feet back. Her sharp eyes looked out to her old enemies, and something about their faces seemed a little too smug. They had planned this from the beginning, and Daring had ignored her instinct and just played right into their little ploy.
"IT'S A TRAP!" Daring shouted. From atop the ridge around her came a howling cry, a howl that chilled her blood. Tossing down her spear, Daring spread her wings and jumped into the air. As soon as she tried to climb, a whistling object wrapped itself around her waist and wings like a python. Trapped neatly by the bola, Daring fell from the air with a crash. From the shadows around her came the form of N'dutu's slaver infantry, brandishing weapons as they leapt at the two that had fallen right into their trap.
Struggling to stand, Daring lunged for her cast aside spear. Another of the thrown bolas painfully wrapped itself around her front hooves, and Daring fell face first to the hard stone of the gully. Forcing her face out of the dirt, Daring looked desperately for her guide, the great warrior who could solve this problem like he solved everything else.
Timur fought for his life against three slavers wielding swords and spears. Ducking a spear thrust, he sliced open the belly of a slaver with his bush knife, deftly spinning on his hooves to block a chop with a sword. Bashing his opponent with the butt of his spear, Timur screamed as an arrow emerged in his back. From somewhere nearby, Daring heard a rough and growling voice scream in anger.
Falling to his knees, Timur's eyes began to glaze over. But he stood with a roar, deflecting another sword thrust and impaling the slaver. As he ripped his spear free, another arrow slammed into his chest. Struggling just to breathe, Timur wrapped a hoof around the shaft of the arrow and began to pull. But his strength faltered, and Timur fell to the ground, splashes of scarlet blood trickling down on the rocks around him. Several of the slavers ran in to finish him, but as they raised their weapons, a tall red furred shape tackled the slavers, throwing them aside.
"NO!" shouted Grimhide as he stood over the bleeding form of Timur. "He mine!" Turning back, he grabbed Timur by the neck, hauling him to a sitting position. "You no die yet, we finish our score. I the only one allowed to kill you!"
A weak laugh came from Timur as a trickle of blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth. "I go to Yeye, our duel will-" he coughed a small stream of blood, "Will have to go unfinished," his voice rasped.
Grimhide's lips peeled back in a snarl, turning his head to the slavers binding Daring he screamed, "Bring medics! We take them both prisoner!" Roughly he tossed Timur back to the ground, stalking over to the bound and gagged form of Daring Do. "N'dutu will appreciate my gift. Sleep little pony." The last thing Daring saw was a red furred fist crashing between her eyes, and her world went black.
****************************************************
Her head throbbed with her heartbeat, each pulse threatening to split her skull apart. Something under her was moving in a pattern, and there was an uncomfortable pressure on her stomach. The creak of leather and clink of metal filled her ears. Weakly opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was a gray furred canine flank rhythmically walking along a dusty road. She tried to move her legs and her wings, but she was trussed up like some holiday goose in Kali'Gryph. Moving her head up from the nandi's flank, she looked around herself.
Night had fallen some hours ago, and only the light of the moon and the stars illuminated the path of the war band. All around her walked N'dutu's slaver infantry, looking fairly tired from their march. A warm, furry wall of muscle sat against her side, and Daring took in the predator stench of the gnoll who captured her, bearing her back on his saddle like a trophy.
Slung across another nandi lay the still form of Timur, his face pale and his breathing shallow. They appeared to have saved him, but barely. The gag in her mouth had been moistened to keep her from dehydrating, but it would not be enough if they didn't stop and give her some water.
An infantry zebra wearing an ivory badge on his armor pulled close to the gnoll sitting in front of Daring. He chattered to the gnoll for a moment in some language. The gnoll responded by snarling in some guttural, growling tongue. From what she gathered, the two seemed to be having a disagreement. From the way the zebra was moving, she guessed he was tired and wanted to make camp for the night. But the gnoll was determined to get back to their stronghold as soon as possible.
After a few minutes of fierce debate, most of which comprised of Grimhide snarling and barking, the cavalry commander gave in to the infantry sergeant's demands. The wagons and the nandi pulled off the road and circled up. After a few minutes of clearing away sticks and rocks, the infantry zebra started a small fire and spread out their bedrolls. Only a few actually slept, most others passed around a small pipe and took turns puffing on it. Others brought out a deck of strange cards and began to play some odd game.
Daring felt herself being lifted effortlessly by Grimhide with a single paw. With no gentle move he dropped her on the ground near his bedroll along with the unconscious Timur. Sighing at the comfort of finally being able to relax her stomach muscles from riding that way all day, she worked at getting her gag out.
Glancing over towards the fire, she noticed a few of the slaver warriors looking her direction with a very familiar look in their eyes. A few gave wry smiles and even puckered their lips at the bound pegasus. And in her current position, she was awfully convenient for anypony looking for release.
Taking another drag on the pipe, one slaver stood up and sauntered over to Daring, a sway in his step from the narcotic. Leaning close to Daring, the stench of his drug reeked in her nose. "I like a mare with a bit of color, zebra girls are so much duller." He greedily traced a hoof along her exposed and unprotected flank.
Daring desperately tried to work the gag out of her mouth, she tried to struggle against her bonds but to no avail.
Her unwanted suitor turned back to his companions. "They say a pony mare is like a virgin! Tight and fresh all the way in." The other zebra warriors laughed at his pun, waiting patiently for him to get it over with so they could have a turn.
Forcing her tongue behind the gag, Daring managed to spit it out. "HELP! HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!" Daring screamed to anyone that might be listening. Her cries were only met with laughter from the warriors, but somepony thankfully wasn't amused.
Grimhide stepped back into the campfire ring, bearing an armload of firewood. Dropping his wood, he walked calmly over behind the drugged zebra. Balling up a fist, he punched him in the back of the head, grabbed him by the mane and tossed him back towards his bedroll. Laying back his ears, the gnoll snarled at the rest of the company, who promptly lay down and stopped their shenanigans.
Daring looked up at her odd savior. "Thanks," she said to the gnoll.
The brutish gnoll responded by leaning down, grabbing her by the mane and bringing her to eye level. "I get better reward if you unspoiled." He let go of her mane, letting her head fall back to the ground.
"If you're just keepin' me fresh, how about some bucking water?"
Grimhide laid back his ears and curled his lips to show the sharp predator teeth. Snarling, he reached to his saddle and pulled out a bowl and a skin of water. Throwing the bowl in front of her face, he filled it with lukewarm water. Daring glanced at him before sticking her muzzle into the bowl and gladly drinking down the sour tasting water.
Noting that his charge was satisfied, Grimhide lay back on his bedroll and fell asleep. Daring tried as best as she could to get comfortable with her legs and wings bound so tightly, safe in the knowledge that she might get out of this alive, as long as she stayed close to Grimhide.
**************************************************
Daring's rest was broken by her gnoll captor bodily throwing her back onto the saddle of the nandi. Stepping into a stirrup and swinging a leg over the saddle, Grimhide seemed more a little more confident today. Glancing over at the bound and unconscious form of Timur, some of the color had returned to his face and he breathed more easily.
The sun began to heat the dry air of the now open savanna that had replaced the low scrub brush. Her gag had been replaced, but not before the gnoll watered his trophy. He wanted her in top shape when he laid her down at the hooves of the warlord.
On through the burning heat of the day the company of soldiers and a small detachment of cavalry marched along a dusty path. Even through the scorching midday heat the soldiers marched without qualm, though some panted and swayed as they stepped.
Eventually, the explorer pegasus spotted something through the desert heat, a huge wall that looked to be made of wood, stone, mudbrick and anything else that lay around. Atop the massive gate flapped a pair of black pendants in the hot breeze. Meager farms surrounded the walls, and downtrodden looking zebra tribals wearing steel collars milled about, expressions of fear and despair on their faces.
Lifting up a paw, Grimhide halted the column, leaping out of the saddle and reaching into his saddlebags. All around Daring, the soldiers quickly polished their armor and got into parade formation. So that was it, pomp and circumstance, bringing her in was some great victory and they wanted everypony to know about it.
Grimhide fitted on his armor, tugging it on with disdain. Though a polished black, he didn't seem to like it. Reaching into his saddlebag again, he grabbed two small jars. Popping them open revealed a set of black and white war paints. Walking over to the unconscious zebra, the gnoll slathered the white paint onto his flank, and then traced a snake mark on there to cover the spear and shield.
He knows who Timur is, but he doesn't want anypony else to know, Daring thought to herself. There's dissent in the ranks.
With the soldiers in proper rank and file, dressed in their armor with weapons sheathed, the column began to march to the gates of the warlord's stronghold. Grimhide once again reached into his nandi's saddlebag, pulling out a curved horn of a kudu. Placing it on his mouth, he took in a deep breath and blared a braying call to the zebra soldiers working the gate.
For a minute the gate sat still, then began to shift its way open. Daring noticed that all the zebra and other creatures doing the work wore those metal collars. Putting away his horn, Grimhide spurred his mount onward through the gate, head held high and a toothy smile on his snout.
From her perch atop the saddle, her glimpse of the tent city was one of despair and hopelessness. Everywhere she looked zebras and other creatures wore the collars of slaves, wearily going about their tasks as the warlord's loyal soldiers stood watch. Tents and huts of dozens of makes and styles stood shabbily along the street. Everywhere Daring looked smiths worked at their small anvils, churning out spears and arrows. Slave soldiers practiced in large regiments under the watchful gaze of black armored drill sergeants.
As the column neared the center of the massive encampment, the sounds of roars and bellows came from a huge palisade circle, with zebra soldiers and lesser lords in N'dutu's army standing atop ramparts cheering and exchanging bets. Farther behind the arena stood the stables, huge pens holding beasts of gigantic size and indeterminate lethality. Huge green skinned elephant creatures, what Daring thought were called grootslangs, rammed their heads into the walls of their pens, eager to challenge the strange dinosaur looking creature in the next pen over.
Passing by the gladiator arena, the column of soldiers led by Grimhide stopped in front of a massive tent of silk. Grabbing Daring by the mane he dragged her out of the saddle, throwing her on the ground. The flaps of the great tent parted, and the soldiers all dropped to their knees in obeisance to their leader, Grimhide among them.
A pair of striped legs stopped in front of Daring, clad in solid gold bracelets, a leopard-skin shoulder mantle and a massive sapphire on a necklace. Peering up, Daring looked at the ugliest face she had ever seen. The cold, grey eyes of N'dutu stared down at the bound pegasus. The zebra warlord began to chuckle. Leaning down to Daring, he smiled as he gloated over her. "Welcome, Daring Do, to my Zebrica."
***********************************************
You deserve some kind of reward if you know what 'scream and leap' is a reference to.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
The zebra warlord chortled over this conquest that had harried his forces, brought expansion in the west to a halt and threatened to dismantle his army by seeking the same artifact as he. The scarred face of N'dutu peered up from the bound pegasus, glancing at his cavalry commander with a grin. "You have done well, Grimhide. Perhaps you are more useful than I believed. Bring our prisoner inside, and we shall see what kind of a reward I can grant you."
The gnoll stood from his kneeling, grabbing the bound and gagged pegasus by her binds. Dragging her inside the plush tent, the ground changed from the hard stone of the rest of the encampment to a soft, silk carpeting. Overstuffed pillows lay in large heaps, covered with zebra and pony mares wearing wispy veils, swooning from the effects of the drugs that lay in bowls all around them. Heavily armed and armored zebra and gnoll guards stoically stood interspersed throughout the massive, castle-like tent, ready to fulfill their duties without a second thought.
N'dutu sat back on his throne carved from the ivory of hundreds of elephant tusks, the trio of cats that had accompanied Grimhide taking their places around him.
N'dutu glanced down at the pegasus mare that was still bound and gagged. "Cut her loose."
Grimhide laid back his ears, a pony he had worked so hard to capture being set loose. Withholding a shake of his head, Grimhide laid a sharp claw on the ropes and sliced them all loose. Daring rubbed the feeling back into her hooves, stretching out her wings and taking the gag out of her mouth.
"My ally warned me of you, Daring Do. What he failed to mention was the haunting beauty that fights with the ferocity of a lioness and the cunning of a leopard." The warlord nodded approvingly at the mare, maybe he wouldn't have her killed quite yet.
Daring felt the blood starting to circulate through her legs and into her wings. Shakily standing, she felt Grimhide's clawed paw clamp down at the base of her neck. "What's Ahuizotl's price? What is he making you pay for his knowledge and his help?"
The warlord leaned back in his throne, contentedly scratching the panther's head with a hoof. "Once I am finished with the Eyes of the Demon, he may have them. But I do not see myself not needing the Eyes for what I have planned, little pony."
Daring tried to take a step forward on her shaky legs, but Grimhide's grip on her neck tightened. "You'll never get away with this. Evil begets evil. And I've seen the evil that you put those innocents through." Rearing forward, she lashed out with her back hooves and bucked her gnoll captor in the stomach. Doubling over with pain, the gnoll let go of her neck and fell onto the floor.
Spreading her wings, Daring leapt from the floor and winged her way to the ceiling of the tent. Almost instantly one of those bolas expertly wrapped around her wings, pinning them to her torso. Falling back to the floor, Daring groaned as she looked up. N'dutu hadn't moved a muscle, a low chuckle shaking the warlord.
Several gnoll and zebra guards surrounded her with their swords and spearheads only inches away from her body. The warlord rose from his throne, walking over to his prisoner. Tracing a hoof along her chin, Daring spit at the zebra's hoof. "A sweet little pet bird, with the attitude of a cobra. I have been reading about Equestria, and you know what I have heard, Daring Do? That you keep little birds as pets. And what do you do when your little birdie tries to fly to freedom?"
With her hooves held down and her wings held outstretched, Daring tried to bite the warlord's hoof as he once again touched her face. N'dutu leaned down to her face, baring his bright white teeth in a wicked smile. "When a little birdie tries to fly away, you clip her wings." Looking up, he nodded to the gnolls holding her wings.
The brutes began to cackle, grabbing tufts of golden feathers and ripping them out. Daring screamed at the pain, with each feather came a small chunk of her flesh and a trickle of blood. Biting her lip, Daring held back the tears of pain as the gnolls tore away her feathers. Letting go of the pegasus, her captors threw her on the ground in front of the warlord. Reaching a hoof to her wings, she felt the stinging pain and the dampness of her own blood.
Quivering with the anguish, Daring looked back up at the warlord. "What do you want from me?"
"Many things, little bird. Your beauty is enchanting, maybe I shall keep you as a concubine, held to my service by your craving for my drugs. But you could also provide me with endless entertainment in the arena. But first, little bird, I want to know everything you know about the Eyes of the Demon." Glancing over to his servants, N'dutu barked orders. "Wewe hapo! Nileteeni kinywaji cha kweli! Sasa!"
Bowing to their master, the zebra servants ducked into another area of the tent, in a short minute they returned, bearing a small glass vial on a pillow. Inside sat a dark, oily liquid. Bringing the vial to their master, they bowed as he took the vial from the pillow. "The Drink of Truth, a concoction that is forbidden by most tribes. Three drops can make a pony tell the utter truth when asked any question. But, thanks to my efforts, most of those tribes do not exist anymore," the warlord said as he uncorked the vial.
Grimdhide, having recovered from Daring's assault, grabbed her head and wrenched open her mouth. Daring struggled in his grasp, screaming as the warlord walked closer with the vial. "No! NO! NNOOO!" Holding the dropper over her mouth, the warlord squeezed three drops onto her tongue. The potion tasted like acid in her mouth, and the gnoll clamped her muzzle shut to keep her from spitting it out.
After a minute, Daring's head began to fog, she felt as light as air itself, floating in a sea of slowed time. Grimhide let go of her, and N'dutu began his interrogation. "Where are the Eyes of the Demon?" he asked from atop his ivory throne.
Somewhere inside of her head, she fought against the drug, losing ground with every second. The warlord scowled at her resilience, then asked again. "Where are the Eyes?"
Her own mind wept as her lips opened, trembling she whispered, "On the path of eternity, past the Everguard."
*******************************************
On a bluff overlooking the warlord's compound sat a zebra mare, wearing the flowing red tunic and ankle bracelets of the most powerful tribe in Zebrica. She worried not about being seen, it was joke amongst her tribe that N'dutu's warriors were likes babes bumbling in the bush, always too caught up in their own hooves to properly take in their surroundings.
She and her group of warriors had been following that band of miscreants led by that gnoll for a few days, trailing them out of sight. Strange though, they believed that band had been one of the slaver parties sent out to raid a village, but they only took two prisoners before turning back. And before they could assault the caravan, they made it safely into the small city springing up in the savanna. Nothing to do now except watch and wait.
The mare's ears perked at a sound drifting in on the dry breeze, carrying over the plains. Screams of anguish, coming from the huge, garish tent at the center of the compound. She wondered what horrors were being done in there, what poor soul was being tortured for some scrap of information.
A hoof touched her gently on the shoulder, the mare coming back to the real world with a start. The hard face of her own brother looked down at her, motioning her to come back to cover with the rest of the warriors. The mare nodded, but before she went, she folded her legs and faced towards the setting sun, sending her prayers to Yeye to help the tortured soul inside of that city.
*************************************************
The soft crackle of torches and the background din of night insects greeted Daring as she awoke. Her mouth felt like it was on fire, and her back rested against a hard wooden pole. Her hooves were bound behind her back, and a throbbing ache came from her naked wings as well. Across her tent, Timur lay tied similarly to his own pole, his head drooped onto his chest.
The flap of the tent swung open, and to Daring's surprise Grimhide walked in bearing a bucket of water with a ladle. His step seemed to carry more of a swagger, his shoulder adorned by an epaulet laced with ivory and gold. Seemed like he got a little promotion for bringing her in. Turning to the guards outside, he gave a few commands. "Leave. I need talk to prisoner."
The guards nodded and took their leave for the evening. Grimhide closed the tent flap and set the bucket down. Scooping out a ladle of water, he splashed it on his own head, letting the cool water run down his back. Smiling with the delightful coolness, he sat down across from Daring on a stool. "So, pony tell alpha everything. Almost everything." His single eye drifted over to the unconscious zebra whose wounds were beginning to look septic.
Daring panted from her thirst. "What do you want from me?" she croaked.
The gnoll scooped out another ladle full of water, taking a deep drink. Dropping the ladle back in the bucket, he smacked his lips at the apparent tastiness of the simple water. "No get me wrong, it good thing that you no say who he is. If N'dutu knew, he kill him and me for not telling."
"Why do you want him? Keeping him alive is defying your alpha, something a creature like you doesn't do." Daring recalled this creature's similarities to a Diamond Dog, a few of whom she had known closely.
Grimhide nodded. "Pony smart. Zebra give challenge to me, one of us must die by the other's claw in honorable fight. I could kill now, but no honor come of it."
Spooning out another ladle of water, he held it up for Daring to drink. Sticking her muzzle in, she drank deeply to rid her mouth of the horrid, burning aftertaste of the truth potion. Tossing the ladle aside, Grimdhide grabbed the bucket and tossed its contents on the unconscious zebra. The splash of water brought Timur to in a fit of coughing and gasping. Tossing aside his bucket, Grimhide strode over to Timur, lifting his face with a paw. "Zebra feel better? No?" He dropped Timur's head, walking back over to Daring. "He going to die anyway. If he stay here, that is. If, somehow, pony escape and take zebra with her, zebra more likely to live where he get good medicine. Good medicine and magic like tribes to north have. It be disaster if pony knew that her things being kept in N'dutu's tent, in potion room. But, no can happen." The gnoll turned on his heels and strode out of the tent, closing the tent flap behind himself.
Walking away outside the tent, Grimhide nearly leapt out of his skin when N'dutu stepped out of the shadows to confront him. "What were you doing with my prisoner?"
Caught, Grimhide tried to think of a lie. "Making sure she no hide weapon, very thorough." He held up his claws and wiggled them, faking a smile.
The warlord's eyes narrowed. "Very well. I have a gift for you in the stables, General. That nandi you always admired is now yours." The gnoll snickered in delight. Ziesha, one of the finest mounts in all of Zebrica, all his! Eagerly the gnoll bounded off for the stables, and as he ran like an eager colt, N'dutu turned back to the tent. Out of the shadows melted the form of the panther. The warlord nodded to the cat and pointed to the inside of the tent.
Silently the cat obeyed, padding into the tent and laying down in front of the pegasus, watching her with golden eyes.
With one of her great enemies laying in front of her, Daring came close to panicking. But the cat simply watched stoically. Timur still maintained a murky consciousness, moaning and groaning at the pain of his injuries. His eyes fluttered open and looked at Daring. "Daring...I'm sorry."
"No, I should be sorry, Timur. I failed us. I told him everything, everything about Equestria and about the Eyes. He's going to win, and I think after he is done with Zebrica, he's not going to be finished."
Timur's head slumped back down, and Daring wept silently at her failure.
**************************************************
She cried quietly for hours, helpless for what the warlord had in store for her. Even if Grimhide was trying to help her, he would stop the second Timur died of his wounds. Struggling against her bonds, the panther laying in front of her would growl and occasionally swipe at her with his claws. So she gave up, for the first time in her life, Daring Do despaired.
Letting her head fall to her chest, she managed to close her eyes and rest. What seemed like hours later, a pained roar startled her awake. The panther had also fallen asleep it seemed, but something had woken him up. The cat stood up, tail swishing as he searched for his unknown assailant. Hackles raised, he sniffed for any sign of the attacker. Calming down, the cat sat on his haunches and began to lick a paw as if nothing happened.
Daring's eye caught a small flicker of movement behind the panther. A little brown rat scurried out from under a mat of straw and scampered over to the big cat's tail. The rat went unnoticed by the cat, until he sank his minuscule teeth into the cat's tail. The cat screamed at the sudden, stabbing pain at his tail. Twirling around to kill the little rat, the panther missed him by inches as he tried to swipe the rodent with his claws. The rodent ran out the tent flap, the enraged panther following close behind.
"What in the two Hells just happened?" Daring asked herself. But the spectacle was not over yet, more rats scurried out from under anything that could conceal them, running over to her and Timur. Daring's free back hooves tried to brush them off, but the rodents began to climb on her and Timur. "Get off! Go away!" she shouted. A rat climbed up her chest and to her face, placing a diminutive paw on her lips as if to silence her. Looking down at the little rodent, she noticed its eyes tinged with a small glow. Behind her, she heard the quiet sounds of the rats nibbling at her bonds.
Understanding hit her like a hammer, these rats were helping her. Her hooves came loose as the rats finished gnawing through her bonds, moving over to Timur they did the same for him. Rubbing the feeling back into her hooves, Daring stood up as the rats chewed through Timur's bonds. Finishing with him, the rodents all stood on their hind legs and looked at Daring. All their eyes glowed with some strange type of magic. "Uh, thanks," she said to her furry saviors. They gave a chorus of squeaks before dispersing back to their hiding places.
Swiftly moving over to Timur, she cradled his head as she tried to wake him up. "Come on, we can get out of here. You just have to get up," she whispered to him.
Timur groaned as he came to, his eyes fluttering open. "Leave me, get out of here."
"I ain't leavin' you. Now come on!" She lifted her guide up as much as she could, throwing him onto her back. With Timur slung over her shoulder, Daring trudged her way out of the back of the tent. Keeping to the shadowed alleyways, she moved him across the city as quietly as she could. Coming close to the front gate while dodging guard patrols, she noticed an entire company of soldiers standing guard at various posts in front of the gate. There was no other way out, and no way of getting through unseen.
Cursing her foul luck, Daring decided she needed a distraction. Setting Timur behind some crates and barrels to conceal him, she began to scour the alleyways of the sleeping city for any way of creating a big enough distraction. With a start she found herself near the warlord's tent, and a sudden urge to retrieve her supplies came to her. Walking over to a tiny tear in the tent fabric, she peered inside. Somehow, she had glanced right into the warlord's alchemy room, spying her pack and her helmet in a pile by the table. Sticking the tip of a hoof into the tear, she quietly widened it and tore a hole large enough to crawl through.
Slipping inside, she fell to the floor with a thump. Staying down to make sure nopony heard her, she crept over to her supplies, pulling on her jacket and strapping on her pouch. With a loving caress she placed on her helmet. "Did you miss me? Mama missed you, yes she did," she crooned to her beloved helmet. Plucking the concealed feather out of the band, she tucked it into her pouch.
Creeping back to the hole she had made, the light of torches began to glow through as some guard patrol came around. With her heart in her throat, Daring spun around and left the alchemy room, diving into the first open tent flap in the massive castle of a tent that presented itself. Closing it behind herself, she sighed in relief. Turning around, she spied a gigantic table covered in parchment and tiny figures. Looking over the massive table, she got a look at the warlord's campaign plans.
Vaguely she remembered N'dutu asking her questions about Equestria for hours, and now she knew why. The bulk of his forces lay positioned at the edge of Din'Jaro territory, but after they conquered that, the documents stated that they would take Tashim and all of the airships there. And once they had the Eyes, the next target after all of Zebrica lay under N'dutu's hoof, was Equestria.
"He doesn't want Zebrica, he wants the world," Daring whispered to herself. Equestria had a powerful army, but they were few, and in the face of such an artifact as powerful as the Eyes of the Demon they wouldn't stand a chance. Daring's heart froze as she thought of all those ponies in Canterlot, innocent and weak, slaves under a Zebrican warlord's lash. All the more reason to stop him here and get to the Eyes first.
Tearing herself away from the map, she crept to the edge of the tent. Lifting a portion, she peered out for any sign of guards. The coast was clear, and Daring slipped out into the night. Keeping to the shadows, she tried to think of a way to distract the guards at the front gate long enough to escape.
The bellow of a creature from the arena pens clouded her mind. If only all those animals would shut up! Wait....oh Daring you sly devil. A smile spread across her face as she began to run towards the pens, a plan forming in her mind.
Reaching the pens in a few short minutes, she hid in a feed trough as a pair of zebra guards passed by. Poking her head over the rim of the trough, she looked at her options. Row upon row of cages, aviaries, pens, paddocks and stables all contained the deadly creatures that formed the backbone of N'dutu's army. Creeping up to the first cage, she grabbed the latch in her hooves and put her shoulder into it. Shoving with all her strength, she undid the bolt, pushing the door open slightly. The wrinkly, gray elephants that sat inside slept peacefully, but she would change that soon. Moving on to the other cages, she opened the latches and pushed open the doors. A few of the more inquisitive creatures poked their heads out, confused about their sudden freedom.
Having undone every latch and opened every door, all the creatures needed was a little coercion. Stealing all the lanterns and torches that she could find, Daring began to hurl them into the cages, lighting the straw on fire. A shout interrupted her work. Peering over her shoulder, she spied an armed group of zebra guards and warriors running towards her with spears drawn. With a smirk she threw the torch in her mouth into the open cage behind her. Ducking out of the way, the kasai inside roared in rage of the flame, charging out with hundreds of other enraged creatures as they tore apart anything that got in their way.
The patrol of guards stopped dead in their tracks, spinning around to run from the charging kasai. All around herself, Daring could hear the various beasts go on a rampage, roaring, trumpeting and shrieking as they tore apart the camp. Hundreds of zebra voices screamed and shouted. The fires in the pens began to spread to the camp. If this utter chaos didn't distract them, nothing would. Daring ran back towards the front gate, not bothering to be stealthy about it. Rounding the corner of a tent, she barely dodged a rhinoceros as it charged past to ram a slaver wagon. Many of the tents and small buildings around her burned, and Daring ducked into the alleyway where she left Timur. Shoving aside the crates and barrels, she found her guide safe and sound where she had left him.
As she shouldered her guide, a bellowing grootslang tore through burning tents and tossed zebra warriors with its double set of tusks, coming straight towards her. Swinging its massive head, its tusks caught at least a dozen of the warriors trying to subdue it. Daring scrambled as fast as she could to get out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting Timur and herself crushed into jelly as the beast's tusks whistled over her head.
Looking up to the gate, her heart soared when she noticed it completely devoid of soldiers, but at the same time her heart did a flip, sinking as she realized it would take ten strong ponies to push the damn thing open. Screaming her frustration, a roar sounded behind her. Turning around with the zebra on her back, Daring spied something that looked like one of the tyrannosaur skeletons in the museum given flesh. The kasai slowly stalked closer to the pegasus, huge teeth bared and drool dripping to the ground below. The beast stopped and began to shake its head, flailing its stumpy arms towards its own skull.
Opening its eyes, they glowed with some kind of strange light. Lowering its head, the beast charged past Daring and rammed the gate, digging its claws into the ground and using a shoulder to push. Pushing with all its strength, the kasai tore the gate to splinters, forcing its way through the debris and out into the night. Daring sat stunned. "Okay, things just get weirder and weirder around here," she squeaked. With Timur on her back, Daring trudged through the debris and into freedom.
*****************************************************
From atop the bluff not too far away, the Din'Jaro raiders witnessed every event of the arena beast escape and the flattening of the warlord's camp by his own beasts of war. Spying a solitary figure zipping between tents and opening the cages, they knew Yeye had shown her wrath through this stranger.
After the kasai destroyed the front gate, followed by the strange pony bearing some burden, the raiders agreed that she was worth investigating. Wordlessly they left their hiding spot, melting into the bush to tail her. And if the spirits smiled on this stranger, she would survive the test of the sun and the grassland. And if she survived the test of the land, she was worth talking to.
****************************************************
"HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!?" screamed N'dutu to the row of his commanders and generals laying prostrate before his throne. It had taken six hours to corral all the beasts back into their cages, those that they could recover anyway. Over half of their beasts of war had escaped or had to be put down in their rampages, hundreds of soldiers lay injured or dead and half the encampment had burned to a crisp.
The beast master, the zebra who managed the arena, lifted his face from the floor. "The cages had been opened great lord, the beasts escaped and rampaged in a great horde."
The warlord sat back on his throne, fuming at the loss of his shock weapons. "What of my prisoner? Has Daring Do been found?"
Grimhide stood from his prostration. "No master, pony escape. Most likely cause of disaster." There was a certain smugness to his words that made the warlord grind his teeth in rage.
"Find her, and this time cut off her legs! I want Daring Do alive when I tear out her heart." His generals and commanders bowed before shuffling their way out of the tent. Rubbing his hooves against his temples, the entrance of the panther made his eye twitch. "I do not know if you understand me, but when I tell your master the depth of your failure to stand guard over a tied up pony, he will let me cut off your skin as a new rug!" The cat dejectedly stalked over to his side, ears laid flat and head hung low in shame. The naked tail of a rat hung out the corner of the panther's mouth.
The warlord felt like killing something, plain and simple. Just grabbing a spear and running the next creature that came through that curtain through the heart. That should take the edge off. He decided that he would do it, and hefting a spear, he hurled it at the servant zebra that walked through the curtain. The servant's eyes opened wide, jumping out of the way at the last second. "My lord, I have good news! With it we cannot lose!" screamed the servant as she hid behind a large pillow.
N'dutu refrained from hurling a second spear, dropping it to the ground. "And what is this good news you have brought me?" The mare emerged from behind the pillow, shakily walking over to unfurl a scroll in front of the warlord. It was a map of Zebrica, and labeled on it was a pair of points.
"We know where the Everguard are, my lord."
The scowl on his face became a chuckling grin, this terrible loss had just become moot. With the Everguard in sight, the Eyes of the Demon were within his grasp. "Call my generals back in, we march the army north!"
*************************************************
The sun had risen and seemed to beat mercilessly on Daring. Trudging forward, she wearily placed one hoof in front of the other as she went northward on the savanna, keeping the rising sun to her right. Behind her in the litter she had rough fashioned for him Timur moaned and groaned, he was dying, but that was no excuse to quit. Something out there had trusted her enough to give her a second chance, and no way in Tartarus was she giving up that easily.
The locusts began to chirp around her in the tall grass, the heat of the day bringing out the worst of the bugs. The dry air seeped into every single spot on the pegasus, drying her sweat as soon as she shed it. Even though she had drank much last night, her tongue felt as dry as sand.
With the scorching heat of the sand coming through the hard sole of her hooves, Daring lurched over to an acacia, dropping her charge as gently as she could in the shade. Leaning her back against the tree, the scratch of thorns jabbed her sore and naked wings, causing her to whimper in pain before laying out flat on the soil. She needed water, and that was one of the many things that she had stupidly left behind. Cursing her own lack of planning, she curled up and slept fitfully through the worst of the day's heat.
When Daring awoke, the sun had set and the noises of night predators surrounded her in the distance. Licking her dry lips, Daring wished for even just a cup of water. All her possessions, all her wealth and her homes across the world she would trade away for a sweet touch of water. It took all of her strength to get Timur's litter strapped onto torso and every step was torture as she trudged through the cool darkness, always heading northward.
From just outside her field of view, eyes peered at her from the dark, glowing eyes that reflected back the pale light of the moon. Some would bound away, others would simply close and be gone. Whatever they were, they terrified Daring. She rarely felt fear, but here every shadow and sound was completely unknown and could be dangerous to her in this vulnerable state.
Pulling Timur's litter through the bush, her heart beat with terror as some predator in the dark roared its triumph over some weak prey animal that bleated and thrashed in pain. But still she pressed on. If she stopped, Timur would die, and if he died out here, there was no hope for her.
Around dawn the next morning, the ground sloped off and became perfectly flat and treeless. Staring out over the vast emptiness of a dried lake bed, Daring thought about stopping. But she had to go on, Grimhide said there were tribes to the north who could help her. Pulling the litter behind her, Daring took the first tentative steps out onto the flat, parched, cracked ground and began the long trek across.
Within an hour the sun resumed its game of trying to break her will. The shear heat out on the flats was incomparable to anything else she had ever experienced. Daring felt a gentle breeze rise up, and she slowed down to let it waft over her. But instead of cooling her, it whipped up a stinging cloud of sand and dust into her eyes. Tipping her helmet down over her eyes and popping the collar on her jacket, she pressed onward.
Each step was a living nightmare, each breath a taste of Tartarus. The utterly flat land surrounded her on every side, the only thing breaking the monotony being the pale whiteness of bones scoured clean by vultures and bleached by the sun. A passing shadow brought her attention to the sky, her black ringed eyes taking in a large flock of vultures as they circled around her and Timur. But she kept going.
Night fell once again to her relief, out on the lake bed there were no monsters to hide in the dark, only the endless stretch of desert that seemed to be her own hell. But still she pulled, determined to get medical help for her only friend on this continent. At around four in the morning, she finally spied the edge of the lake bed gently sloping up into a low savanna. As the sun peaked over the horizon for the fourth time since her escape and the third time since she had drank, Daring fell under the shade of a tree.
She would have wept for the futility of it all, but there were no tears to be had. Curling up in a ball, she began to accept her failure. N'dutu would get the Eyes, she would become a trailside skull and millions of zebras and ponies would become slaves. All she wanted before she died was a drink of water.
Daring closed her eyes, and felt herself beginning to slip away from the mortal coil, her body becoming as light as air. But as she began to transcend, the pressure of a hoof brought her eyes slowly open again. Looking up, her blurred vision created a beautiful pony made of light. But that pony faded away as a strange zebra leaned closer to her face. The mare wore a red tunic and many gold bracelets. The strange zebra placed a bowl to her lips, and Daring slowly drank the lukewarm water within. She could have wept as the joyous purity of the holy liquid poured into her body, but she simply had no strength left.
All around her, more strange zebras clad in red tunics gathered her things, giving water to her guide and creating a stretcher for her to lay upon. Lifting her gently, they placed Daring on the stretcher and began to bear her away. The strange mare stayed with her the entire time, her sea blue eyes watching over her and giving her more of the sweetest and most sacred of drinks. As she slipped into exhausted rest, Daring vowed to herself never to take a simple glass of water for granted ever again.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
She didn't feel hot, but she was warm. A pleasant warmth though, the type of warmth that came not from the burn of a fire or the blaze of the sun, but from the warmth of a soft blanket. And as she shifted in her rest, the comfort of the surface under her was unlike the sandy soil of the plains or the reed mats in the villages, it was an actual bed. A comfortable, inviting bed.
Slowly cracking open her eyes, she took in her strange surroundings. Sunlight poured in through a round window that was open to the outside. She appeared to be in some kind of a wooden house or hut, but not made of boards. She winced as she saw masks adorning the walls, but the smiling, inviting faces did not seem like the violent faces of Spirit Masks. Shelves of potions, alchemy ingredients and books lined all the free space on the wall. A large curtain covered an entire wall, maybe even another room. Taking a deep breath as she sat up in her bed, the sweet smells of dried herbs and flowers tingled in her nose.
Her mouth still felt dry, looking around herself Daring spied a platter with several bowls of water and even a bowl of fruit. Lifting the tray into her lap, she greedily engulfed the offered food. Biting down on a soft yellow fruit that tasted like persimmons, she wondered how she had gotten here, and where her generous host was.
With a start she remembered her guide. "Timur!" she shouted, spreading her wings to flap out the curtained door. But as she extended her wings, a sharp pain made her cringe with agony. The memory of her torture floated back into her mind, and extending a wing she was surprised to see it bandaged and smelling of herbs. From behind a curtain in the room came a groan.
Limping over to the curtain, she pulled it back to see Timur laying on a cot, rubbing his head. With a short laugh of relief, Daring helped her guide to a sitting position. "Ugh, where are we, Ms Do? What happened?"
"Take it easy, we were captured by N'dutu, but I got us out. I don't even know where we are," Daring said as she glanced around herself.
Timur squinted at some of the masks on the wall, struggling to stand with his injuries. Walking over to the round window, he poked his head out. Instantly he drew it back inside, a look of horror and rage on his face. His eyes shot back to Daring, shooting daggers at the pegasus. "Of all the villages in Zebrica, you bring me to this one, " he said in a low hiss to Daring.
"Hey! Don't give me that crap, I got us far away and they brought us here!"
"Who brought us here?!"
Daring slowly backed into a corner as Timur got closer, an inquisitive anger in his step. Gulping down the lump in her throat, she replied, "Some zebra mare in red, she and bunch of warriors."
Timur went pale and his jaw slowly fell. "She knows I'm here, grab your things! We leave now!" Timur grabbed his saddlebag and Daring's pack, tossing them on his back as he bolted for the door. The curtain of the door parted, and Timur was suddenly face to face with the zebra mare in red. "Oh no..." muttered Timur, his ears falling back on his head. With a sheepish grin he took a step back. "It is good to see you, after so long."
The mare took a step forward, her brow furrowed and her teeth grinding as she advanced on Timur. "Hivyo, hatimaye alikuja nyuma," the strange mare growled to Timur.
Timur held up his forelegs defensively. "I can explain-"
The mare interrupted him continued her attack, getting right up in his face. "Je, si kuzungumza na mimi kama hilo! Kukimbia mbali na Equestria na kuniacha hapa kukua mzee sana kuoa!" she yelled, jabbing a hoof at Daring.
"Woah lady, whatever you two have goin' on there, I don't want any part of it," Daring said in her own defense.
The strange mare continued her very colorful rant to the zebra stallion for a few minutes, all the while Timur simply stood there and took it. On occasion his cheeks would bloom red, and other times he would cringe from the ferocity of his tongue lashing. Eventually the mare lost her steam, even having to stop and catch her breath. Shaking off the rage, she threw her head high and exited the hut.
As soon as she left, Daring poked Timur with a hoof. The stallion stood stiff as a board, hardly feeling Daring. "Um, call me a bit of an eavesdropper, but who in Tartarus was that?"
Timur licked his lips, trembling slightly. "That...was the princess of the Din'Jaro. She and I do not get along very well. If it isn't clear by now, the Din'Jaro rescued us and brought us back to their village." The curtain parted again, the mare entering once more, but this time with a bulky stallion who had the look of a warrior.
The warrior walked up to Timur, raising a hoof and punching Timur square in the jaw. Timur recoiled from the hit, working his tongue over a tooth to see if it had been loosened any. "Still punch like a gorilla, Zitali. And I say with all humility that I deserved that one," Timur said to the other stallion as he stood up.
"Our argument is square, not so much for my sister over there," the stallion known as Zitali said as he nodded to his sister.
Timur stood in his own defense. "Zitali, I will explain this one more time . My father sent me to Equestria, and there I stayed until I learned everything....and now you see I am back." While the stallions argued in various languages, the strange mare approached Daring and motioned for her to sit down.
"I am sorry you had to see that, but you and I must have a little chat," the mare said to Daring as she inspected her bandages.
Daring winced as the zebra prodded at her sore wings. "Who are you?"
Satisfied with the condition of her bandages, the zebra sat down next to Daring on the bed. "My name is Zecora of the Din'Jaro tribe. And to what name do you ascribe?"
Daring held out a hoof. "Daring, Daring Do," she tried to think of a title. "Of Equestria."
Zecora stared oddly at her hoof before taking it. "I have heard tales of an angel of gold. I believed them hopeful myths to be told. Is it true you come from the pony land, where the Sun Daughter rules with a fair hand?"
Daring raised an eyebrow. "Sun Daughter?" she asked inquisitively. "Oh! You must mean Princess Celestia. Yeah, I actually live in Canterlot, I've met the Princess once or twice. She actually sent me here."
Zecora sat stunned, a wide smile coming up her face, her eyes sparkling with wonder and admiration. "You have met the Daughter of Yeye? Tell me everything, please do say!"
Daring rubbed her neck with a hoof. "Well, there isn't much to say. I mean, she's the Princess and ruler of Equestria." Zecora's childlike eagerness kept her going. "And she raises the sun every morning. I've seen her in person many times. She's really tall, with fur as white as snow and a mane that has many colors that all flow like a soft wind is blowing through them. She's wise, really wise. And they say she's immortal. Here, I think I can draw her for you." Daring searched around for her pack, finding it on a small table. The stallions had moved their argument outside, giving the mares some quieter room to speak.
Pulling out her notebook, Daring turned to a fresh page and began to sketch Princess Celestia from memory. Her first memory of the Princess in fact. As a little filly, she and her mother had traveled from Hoofington to Canterlot to see Princess Celestia raise the sun for the Summer Sun Celebration. She remembered how enamored of the beautiful Princess she had been, how regal and graceful each movement seemed to be. Capturing her flowing mane on paper turned out to be harder than she believed, but it still turned out great. After around an hour of Zecora waiting patiently while Daring enjoyed her hobby, she presented her sketch.
Passing the notebook to Zecora, the zebra mare was awestruck. "Truly a beautiful sight, so much grace and so much might."
While Zecora took in the detail of the sketch of the Princess, Daring finally gave in to curiosity. "So Zecora, what is the deal between you and Timur?"
Zecora set down the notebook, snorting at the mention of the stallion. "Tell me, why do you travel with that warthog? He is a miscreant and worthless Gochano dog."
"He's my guide, we came here to stop N'dutu. But you still haven't answered my question."
The zebra sighed. "There is more to this than you presume. Timur was meant to be my groom."
Daring's eye twitched, the corners of her mouth trembling with contained mirth. "Hehe.....HAHAHAHAHA!!" Daring wailed in laughter. It all made so much sense! Timur was the prince of the Gochano, Zecora is the princess of the Din'Jaro, and Timur got cold hooves and bolted! She rolled on the ground with belly shaking laughter, giggling so hard that she began to snort. That was his big, scary, dark secret? "HAHAHAHA!" she nearly screamed.
After a minute, Timur poked his head past the curtain. "What is so funny in here?" He met the smug gaze of Zecora, sitting on her bed as Daring rolled with laughter. "Oh damn it, you told her didn't you?!"
Zecora nodded with a touch of smugness. "Yes I did, ngiri."
"Don't you call me that, cow! Learn to speak a civilized language! All I hear from you, Zecora, is 'moo moo moo'!" Timur barely dodged a strange vial of potion as it whizzed past his head. The stallion stuck out his tongue at the mare before ducking back out.
Daring had to breathe hard to recover from her bout of the giggles. Wiping her eye with a hoof she asked the zebra mare, "What did you call him there, Zecora?"
Zecora glanced at Daring out of the corner of her eye, smiling. "I called him 'warthog', it always puts him in an angered fog."
Daring gave Zecora's shoulder a friendly pat. "I can tell this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Now how do you pronounce that word exactly?"
Zecora leaned her head back and laughed with her new friend.
*********************************************
After a few hours Zecora decided her charge had enough strength to go out and stretch her legs. Daring learned with a mild amount of annoyance that it had taken Zecora two days and her best medicines and potions to bring her back from the precipice of death. With Daring leaning on her as they walked to the curtain door to Zecora's hut, the zebra mare pulled open her cloth door.
Daring was greeted by a sight more wondrous than Canterlot perched on the side of a mountain or Cloudsdale drifting through the sky. "Watch your step and keep avast, one false move could be your last," warned Zecora. The boughs of a massive tree surrounded the hut, bridges of planks and ropes connecting all the huts of the Din'Jaro village. Looking down, Daring saw it was only a sixty to eighty foot drop to the ground, but it was not the drop that amazed her.
The entire Din'Jaro village lay in the boughs of a titanic tree. Hearth and candle lights flickered through the open windows of huts formed from the living wood of the tree, some perched on precarious branches, others emerging from the heart of the great trunk. A spiraling walkway led down to the ground, zebra farmers, warriors, crafters and even children walking among the boughs of the great baobab tree with grace and practice.
Zecora walked with Daring around her home, Daring's eyes trying to see in every direction at once. Vials of potions and gourds of liquids hung suspended from many branches, ready and available for anypony to use. The thunk of her hooves on the wooden planks of the rope bridges and platforms seemed deafened by the songs of birds and the laughter of the tribe's children as they played on the skinny branches and down below on the ground.
"Wow," Daring said under her breath. "What is this place?"
Zecora smiled as she replied. "Nyumbani, the tree of homes. A place of rest for one who roams."
Daring noticed that Zecora seemed to be walking her somewhere, instead of just escorting her. "Where are we going?"
"To see the chief of my clan, and find your place in Yeye's plan." Again with that strange name. These zebra seemed to toss it around like ponies said Princess Celestia's name in times of vain. Coming closer to the great hut that sat at the center of the crown of the tree, the zebra there took on more mystical and mental roles in their community. At least three young stallions balanced head down on top of a carefully balanced pole, facing the afternoon sun and sending their prayers to the spirits. The closer they got to the chief's hut, the more ritual masks and ceremonial fetishes hung from the branches.
The pair of red tunic warriors at the entrance bowed to Zecora, allowing her entrance and audience with the high chief of the Din'Jaro. Walking under the ornately patterned rug that served as a door, Daring beheld a large, circular room. Despite the heat, a fire crackled heartily in a brazier in the center, and just beyond the flickering flame sat the High Chief in a throne of living wood. The zebra that sat there looked ancient and decrepit, his striped fur wrinkled all over his face and his head slumped forward onto his chest.
Zecora escorted Daring in front of the throne, setting her injured charge down and walking over to the throne. Bowing before her chief, Zecora took her place next to him. Leaning over, she whispered into his ear. The ancient zebra lifted his head, murmuring something that Daring could not hear. Zecora spoke for him. "Father says, 'Who comes before me in such dark time, whose actions the Nyika say with a chime?"
Father? Well, Zecora was the princess after all. Daring licked her lips, preparing herself mentally. "Greetings, oh mighty one. I am Daring Do, agent of Princess Celestia and seeker of artifacts."
Zecora nodded and relayed the message to her father's ear, whispering it in Din'Jaro. The extremely aged zebra croaked back to his daughter. "And what would the servant of the Sun Daughter ask of us?"
"You know of the threat in your lands. N'dutu comes to destroy your nation, and after he is finished with you, he will march on my home as well, with the whole world in his sight. I simply ask for guidance. N'dutu seeks the Eyes of the Demon, and if I get them before he does, I can keep them safe in Equestria."
Zecora went pale in the face, the mention of the Eyes making her nervous in the presence of the chief. Trembling, she relayed her message. The chief snapped out of his torpor, lifting his head. "Macho ya Pepo!" he said as loud as he could. Daring stared at his face, only now seeing the pair of vertical scars that ran over his milky white eyes. The chief was as blind as a bat, yet he seemed to know Daring's position, even smelling the scent of her sudden fear. He went on in Din'Jaro, angrily ranting to Daring as Zecora stood by.
"Father says, 'None yet have proven themselves worthy of Grinwa's Promise. I know where they are, but only those who have been judged to be pure of heart may seek them. Even I am not pure enough to make the journey, but I am burdened with the knowledge of it, and so I have blinded myself. The Eyes must be kept safe from the world at all costs, even if it means the death of my people.'" The chief returned to a more dignified rest, then whispered again to Zecora. The mare nodded her head, then turned back to Daring. "Sorry, he says, 'The world must be kept safe from the Eyes at all costs.'"
"What do I have to do to get the knowledge? If you tell me how to get there and maybe what to expect, then I can save tens of thousands of lives from death and slavery," Daring said to the chief.
This time Zecora did not confer the message to the chief, instead calmly replying to the pegasus herself. "Your heart must be weighed by the greatest of spirits. And if you are worthy, the legend of the Eyes shall you hear."
Despite the pain of her wings and the soreness of her legs, Daring stood before both zebra. "What do I have to do, huh? Slay a dragon? Rescue some helpless pony in distress? Donate all my money to charity? What do I have to do to prove myself pure to you guys? Please, just tell me what I have to do!"
"Only a god may judge your heart, Ms Do." Timur walked into the throne room, taking a spot next to Daring. "Anypony else's judgement would be flawed by mortality."
Another, deeper voice interrupted Timur as Zitali followed him in. "And only the bloodline tribes may be tested! Any other would easily be bested. This pony thinks she knows how we should fight, but she has only her own goals in sight." Zitali walked to the throne and took the other side of his father.
Timur stamped a hoof at Zitali. "There is no tradition that only the blood of Talib may seek the Eyes, only those who bear his blood have been bold enough to do so!"
"KIMYA!" the ancient chief shouted, slamming a hoof down on the arm of his throne. All of the zebra present cringed at offending the High Chief. "Moja hii inaweza kuwa tu kile Yeye alimtuma hatimaye kuondoa yetu ya laana Macho." The chief waved a hoof at Daring, somehow knowing exactly where she sat. Zecora and Zitali stared stunned at their father's declaration.
On the Chief's right hoof, Zitali bore his teeth in a scowl, on his left Zecora nodded to her father before relaying the message. "He says, 'This one may have been sent by Yeye as a champion to finally rid us of the curse of the Eyes. What harm could come for an outsider to try what we are too afraid to do?"
Zitali burst out in rage, stomping his hooves so hard that a decorative mask fell off the wall. "I forbid this outsider from profaning our most sacred rite! Only zebra of a bloodline tribe deserve that right!"
"Then I adopt her."
The entire hall had gone silent, everypony staring silently at Timur. Standing proud and tall, even the guards at the entrance holding their mouths agape at Timur's declaration of adopting Daring. Shaking herself out of incredulity, Zecora relayed her message. The Chief listened intently, then nodded.
"Father says, 'If this be the will of the spirits, then I shall allow this. Be warned, Daring Do, not many survive the ritual.'"
*****************************************
Daring walked with Timur back to Zecora's hut, the sun setting on the distant horizon. All around the pair, the creatures of night began to emerge from their daytime hiding. The flicker of lightning bugs among the branches endowed an otherworldly quality as the pair sat in front of their host's hut.
Timur stared out at the setting sun with a grim and dour look. She considered what he had done, sticking his neck out for her like that. "Thanks," Daring said to the guide.
His eye drifted over to Daring, concerned for her. "It should not be you, Ms Do. You have no idea what kind of danger I have put you in. Yeye is not known for being gentle with those she deems unworthy of her favor. I should be the one to risk myself."
Daring rolled her eyes, groaning at the zebra. "You guys like to toss that name around, who is this 'Yeah-Yeah' person and when do I meet her so I can get the stamp of approval?"
Timur sat in mild shock. "Daring, Yeye is not of this realm. Yeye is a god, an immortal spirit that is everywhere and in everything."
"Woah woah, a god? You guys are some kind of cultists?!" Daring suddenly looked on her guide in a new light, as if the signs hadn't been clear enough. As a part of her adventures, encountering cults worshiping snake gods and demon gods was nothing new, but the treatment she received from them was always a thorn in her side. Being ritually sacrificed was not something she wanted to go through again.
"We are not cultists, Daring Do. Yeye is not a god that demands praise like the false ones of the cults. She simply asks of us to see the harmony of all things, and the bond between all creatures of this world. And tomorrow night, when we perform the ritual, it is Yeye we ask to judge your soul. Now rest, for tomorrow, you seek favor higher than any chief or shaman."
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
The chirp of crickets outside of the hut and the calls of night birds would have normally soothed Daring into a decent rest. But not tonight. She rolled over in the cot provided to her in Zecora's hut, staring out the round window as the moonlight poured in. She sighed with apprehension, with the sun's fall on the next day she would face something she had never prepared herself for, religion.
She doubted that some kind of a god would sweep down from on high, give her a quick once-over and throw a sticker of approval of her cosmic file. Things like that just didn't happen in a logical world. And Daring's world, no matter how steeped in the mysticisms of an earlier age and the shrouds of mystery, was a logical one. In her life, there was no room for gods or angels, and the closest she had ever come to believing in one had been seeing Princess Celestia raise the sun when she was a little filly.
But as she lay here in Zecora's hut, staring out that window, she couldn't help but wonder why she was so adamant about not believing. Perhaps it was because she had seen what belief in divinity had done to so many normally intelligent and reasonable creatures. They seemed perfectly logical, until their zealotry had them chasing after Daring, screaming for her blood as a sacrifice to a snake statue.
Maybe it was because she never needed one. She had always done things for herself, never asking anypony for anything and taking each obstacle as a challenge. She never asked for help, Daring always helped herself.
But what kept her awake was that she had no control of the outcome of what was to happen. No matter how tomorrow's ritual ended, Daring would get the short end of the stick. If nothing happened, her personal dogma would be validated. Her entire life would just stay the way it still was, Daring Do alone against the world and all of its evils. But if nothing happened, the Din'Jaro would judge her to be a failure and impure, and no matter how much she searched for the Eyes, she would never find them. Death and chaos would reign supreme as N'dutu marched across the continent, his violence and slavery spilling over into other nations and eventually the whole world.
That thought chilled her, everypony she knew dying and being enslaved because she had been judged to be impure by some wacky cult of zebras. But what chilled her more, what if something does happen? During her audience with the High Chief, Zitali had said that many few had ever sought the favor of their god in such a way, and only a handful of them had survived the experience.
Timur said his god was a loving one, but by no means a gentle one.
*************************************************
Having slept not a wink, Daring rolled out of her cot, stretching first her hind legs, then her front legs, and finally her wings. With a wince of pain she recollected that her wings were in a very pained and sensitive state. Hopefully her feathers would start growing back in a few weeks, and then it was about another week before they would be strong enough to fly again. That is, if N'dutu's pets hadn't damaged her wings so extensively. She might not be a doctor, but she knew her own body. And with the way her wings were acting, the damage might be permanent. Walking out onto Zecora's porch, she rubbed her eyes as the blazing warmth of the rising sun struck her face.
As Daring stretched her back and yawned, she noticed Zecora off behind her, meditating atop a slender pole, facing towards the rising sun. Stifling her yawn, Daring tried to be quiet, lest she make the zebra lose her balance and plunge eighty feet to her death. After a minute, Zecora finished her meditations, neatly flipping down her meditation pole. She noticed Daring for the first time, giving her a smile.
"Good morning Ms Daring Do, I trust your energy is renewed?"
Running a hoof through her charcoal mane, Daring tried to hide her apprehension and nervousness for what was to happen tonight. "Yeah, I slept good," she lied to Zecora.
Zecora looked at her with an air of concern. "You need not lie to me. Your weariness is plain to see."
Daring shook her head and sighed, sitting down by the edge of the platform. "I'm just nervous about tonight. What happens if I fail the test?"
Zecora sat down next to her, laying a comforting hoof on Daring's shoulder. "Then nothing changes for us. Take comfort that I will be performing the ceremony thus."
"But Zitali said that nopony has survived the test. What if I die like the rest of those foals who tried?"
"What Zitali meant was that nopony has come back the same. They are a different person, even choosing different names. The presence of a god can do that. Is that you worry at?"
Daring stared out over the great expanse of savanna, trying desperately to hold in her apprehension. The farmers of the Din'Jaro diligently worked their fields before the heat of midday drove them under shade. The colts and fillies of the tribe played a little game before their chores. They seemed so happy, yet that would change when the warlord marched his army through here. "I'm not sure. I would sacrifice myself if it meant that those people down there got to live a free and happy life. But....if I fail...." Daring swallowed the knot in her throat, vividly remembering the hopelessness and despair she had seen on the faces of the slaves in N'dutu's camp.
"Do not let it bother you, Ms Daring Do. You shall be fine. Come, let us go dine." Zecora stood, helping Daring up and escorting her across the rope walkways to a communal dining hut. Timur had arisen early, and after he changed his bandages he had meandered to the dining hall and saved two additional seats in the corner. Though most of the red clad warriors glared at the Gochano Prince, they fell completely silent as Daring walked in.
Whispers passed between the warriors of the Din'Jaro, wondering if this pony was the one who dared stand before their chief and demand that he allow her to profane their most sacred rite. Seating herself with her guide, Daring had a realization as she pulled a bowl to herself.
Smiling mischievously, she tapped Timur on the shoulder. "Morning, cousin."
Timur rolled his eyes and slapped a hoof against his face, remembering that had indeed adopted Daring in his haste last night. "By all technicality, Ms Do, you're my daughter now. But that does not mean you get any special privileges."
Daring leapt into his lap, throwing her forelegs around his neck. "Oh Daddy! You finally came home after going out to buy smokes when I was a filly. Wait till I tell mom!" She gave him a daughterly smooch on the cheek and gave the cutest little filly smile that she could. "But that does mean I'm a member of your tribe now, and that I can partake in your rituals."
Shoving the pegasus off his lap, Timur acted as though nothing had happened and continued to eat his bowl of grains. Around him, the red clad Din'Jaro snickered at the Gochano Prince. Zecora managed a grin, seeing that her friend had relieved herself of some of her stress and was now acting (somewhat) normal again. Daring caught her grin, then gave a huge smile. "If you're Daddy's fiance, that means you're Mom now, Zecora."
Zecora's eyes shot wide open as Daring threw a pair of forelegs around her neck. Zecora reached with a hoof and oddly patted her on the back. The zebra mare glanced over at Timur, whispering in Din'Jaro, wondering if this was just a quirk of Daring, or if all Equestrians behaved this way.
Timur glanced at Daring, then shifted back to Zecora. "Just her," he whispered, pointing a hoof at Daring.
**********************************************
Though the warriors and farmers of the tribe would normally have spent the day training or tending to their fields and herds, today was spent in preparation for the ceremony that night. The stallions were down at ground level, dragging in logs to build a council ring and the great bonfire which would act as a centerpiece. The mares prepared their outfits and their tribal paints for the ceremony.
Daring and Timur sat in Zecora's hut, mostly to stay out of the way of the workers. Timur sat at a table, grinding herbs with a mortar and pestle.
Setting down a book on herbology, Daring curiously inspected the contents of the bowl. "Whatcha makin' there, pa?"
Timur added a splash of water, turning the brown mess of ground herbs into a white paste. "Stop calling me fatherly euphemisms. This is the ceremonial paint of the Gochano, and since you have been adopted as a member, both you and I will wear it tonight."
"How long is this ceremony going to last?"
Timur set down his pestle, sitting back on a stool. "Well, though your ritual will be the focus at the end, this is going to be a regular Din'Jaro full moon ceremony. First they will start with the stories of ancient lore, then move on to courtship dances, then they will ask for the blessing of the spirits in battle and in farming. And finally, your ritual will complete the ceremony."
Daring wiped her brow with a hoof. "Whew, at least it won't be all about me."
"On the contrary, Ms Do, or should I say 'Ms Duan!ziti'. This is a rare rite that comes only once a decade or so, your askance of Yeye will almost completely overshadow everything else."
"Yeah, thanks for heaping the pressure back onto me to perform."
************************************************
Zecora and Timur slowly and methodically painted Daring Do with the symbols of her new tribe, tracing stripes and swirls across her golden pelt. Zecora focused more on the protective runes to be painted on her face and chest, making sure each one was perfect, lest the pegasus come to harm. Both zebras wore their paints with familiarity, covered head to hoof in dots, swirls, and stripes that seemed to compliment their natural coloration.
Her heart beat furiously, and Daring took deep, deliberate breaths to calm herself. Timur sat down in front of her. "Be still, be calm. Think of happiness and pleasant memories. Remember what you love, Daring. Think of these things, and Yeye may show you greater sympathy."
Still the thought of having her heart judged made the pegasus quiver. "What if she doesn't? What if she doesn't even come at all?"
Zecora placed a painted hoof on her shoulder. "Just relax," Zecora said in a comforting tone. Daring took a deep breath and nodded. Standing with her escorts and sponsors, Daring began the walk out the door and over the rope bridges to the winding ramp to the ground.
The ancient Din'Jaro High Chief sat at the head of the ring of zebra all painted in their colors. He wore a great headdress of ivory and shining lightning bird feathers. As Daring and her companions entered the ring, Timur and Daring sat down near the chief. Zecora however, walked out into the ring.
With the moon rising on the far eastern horizon, she stood on her hind legs and began to shout in her native tongue. Daring leaned over to Timur. "What's she saying?"
Timur nodded and began to translate Zecora's story. "Here this tale, my kin of heart and blood. This is the tale of our creation, and the fall of Wale Mrefu."
Daring whipped her head over to Timur as he said the last words. "Wale Mrefu? You mean she's gonna tell us the story of the demons?" She could barely contain her excitement, and wondered if she could write it all down.
"Yes, Daring Do. A story that the shaman of Zebrica have passed down since the ancient days. Listen carefully, for this is our true history." As Zecora began her story, a few zebra dressed in strange outfits and ape like masks walked into the council ring on their hind legs, dancing and stepping with Zecora's words. "Wale Mrefu were a powerful race, so strong in their ways that it is said they could conquer death itself. But Wale Mrefu were a hateful and war-like race, scorning one another in their quest for power over the world." A few of the costumed zebras pulled out long sticks, flicking them at one another like wands. When one felt the flick, he would stumble and fall.
"Yeye ya Kupigwa Wote felt their anger and their hate for one another. She felt the pain of Wale Mrefu, and knew that their power was growing too great. With each generation they learned to kill with greater efficiency. It is said that Wale Mrefu were not above destroying entire nations for a simple disagreement." The costumed dancers raised their arms high, then brought them down. Falling back, they lay 'dead' on the ground, as if a great explosion had destroyed them.
"And Yeye decided that Wale Mrefu had to be punished for their arrogance and their hate. She sent her touch to this world and gave us the power to fight them." Several zebra warriors smothered in war paints stomped into the ring to confront the dancers disguised as Tall Ones. They traded mock spear blows with the masked demons, falling whenever a Wale Mrefu would flick his strange wand. Eventually the warriors lay on the ground, the Tall Ones victorious over their petty revolt.
"But Yeye would not accept defeat, she sent her touch again to this world, bringing about the greatest beasts of nature to fight the lost ones. Great was the war waged for control, neither side managing to get the upper hoof over the other." As Timur continued his translation, a group of zebra dressed roughly as various beasts paraded into the ring with more zebra dressed as warriors. Again the Wale Mrefu would flick their wands, felling some beasts, but themselves getting felled by the onslaught.
"But the Tall Ones held their ground and clutched onto the hatred that bedecked their hearts. And after a great battle, Yeye sent her touch once again to aid the creatures of her creation. But not only her touch, Yeye sent her very daughters to this world to destroy the last of Wale Mrefu's evil." As the beasts and the Wale Mrefu traded blows, two more zebra dressed in great shawls, flowing gowns and massive fake wings stepped into the ring, the creatures bowing before them and the Wale Mrefu cringing. With the wave of a hoof, the zebra actor in a rainbow gown banished the Tall Ones from the ring.
The more Daring looked at the strange figure in a pastel gown, the details began to strike her. "That's Princess Celestia," she said out loud. The actor in black and blue was a strange figure to her, but she somehow seemed to be an equal to her own ruler. A name from ancient mythology of the Classical era came to mind. With a hoof she nudged Timur. "Is that other figure Princess Luna?"
"She is the Moon Daughter of Yeye, and that is her." Timur pointed to the rising full moon, the dark figure of the Mare in the Moon standing out in the light as the moon shined in its fullness. Shifting his attention back to Zecora, he continued with the story. "And the Sun and Moon Daughters came to this world from Yeye's mind to quell the rage within Wale Mrefu's hearts. And the Tall Ones knew humility in the face of the Goddess." The masked figures of Wale Mrefu dropped their weapons and fell to their knees before the Princesses. The actors of the Princesses bade them to rise, and Wale Mrefu stood and joined with the zebra and the beasts, accepting harmony.
Daring raised an eyebrow. "Is that it? We made peace with the demons and the great war was over?" she whispered to Timur.
"No, Daring Do. Wale Mrefu lived peacefully with us for years, until something more wicked than they ever were came and stole their souls." An actor in a strange outfit came into the council ring, a serpentine creature with a hodge podge body and wicked yellow eyes. The figure danced over to the Wale Mrefu in the crowd, twisting and weaving as he chose his targets. With a claw he would touch their face, and the Wale Mrefu would clutch their heads and fall to the ground, the strange creature growing bolder in his movement with each one that he consumed.
Eventually all that stood were the creatures, cowering in fear of the strange monster that had consumed the souls of Wale Mrefu. But again the two alicorn actors stepped forward, bearing a shield with a great emblem on it. Five gemstones in a pentagon shape, with a sixth stone in the center, interlaced with gold. The creature cringed at the emblem as the Princesses advanced on him. The creature froze in place, and a gray shroud was thrown on him by another actor.
"And so harmony was brought to the world by the Daughters. But it was too late for the ones it was meant for. And since then, most creatures that even remember them say that they are no more. Others cling to the hope that somewhere out there, Wale Mrefu still exist and will return to us one day. And that when they return, we can atone for our sins that were done in the fires of the Great War."
At last Zecora finished her story, raising her hooves and proclaiming loudly, "Kamwe kusahau wale wa kabla. Kwa kuwa wao ni sababu yetu kwa kuwa."
All the zebra in the council ring responded, Timur included. "Kamwe kusahau wale wa kabla. Kwa kuwa wao ni sababu yetu kwa kuwa."
Leaning over to her guide, she whispered to him, "What's that mean?"
"Never forget those who came before. For they are the key to us," Timur responded reverently, bowing his head to the symbol of the six gemstones on the shield as it made its way around the ring.
A feeling of having seen that symbol somewhere before plagued Daring. Then it hit her, that symbol was everywhere in the history texts of Equestria and even on a few of the stain glass windows in Canterlot Castle. That was the Royal Seal, the placard of the Elements of Harmony.
Zecora fell back to all fours and walked over to Daring, taking a seat next to her and drinking from a gourd.
"That was an interesting story," Daring said to Zecora.
"That was no story, that was history," replied the zebra mare.
As the dressed actors left the council ring, a group of young stallions replaced them. Stripped of any paint, their bodies were oiled to glow in the flickering firelight. The young mares of the tribe moved forward in the crowd, taking seats in a ring around the fire and in front of the young stallions. "What's going on here?" Daring asked to Timur.
"Courtship dance, you'll see."
A line of drums and shakers began to beat a tune. The young stallions leapt into their poses, slowly and rhythmically twisting their bodies to the beat of the drum. Stepping closer to the mares, they flexed their muscles as they danced, giving a small jump and a change of pose with the heaviest beats of the largest drum.
The young mares watching looked disinterested in this show of physique by the young stallions, their glances laced heavily with a discerning judgement. With a beat of the large drum, the stallions all leapt to their left, displaying their physique to a new possible partner.
Daring couldn't see how the mares maintained such disinterest, normally she had to pay for that kind of treatment back in Canterlot or Manehattan. The slow, rhythmic dance of those hard, oiled young bodies. Daring felt very warm, very suddenly. Fighting off the urge to step forward and sit with the eligible mares, Daring contemplated the fact that the next ritual involved her almost exclusively.
The courtship dance ended with only two mares standing and accepting a young stallion as a partner. After pairing off, they would adjourn to outside of the council ring. The drum beaters took a short break, and Zecora once more stood. But this time she turned back to Daring, holding out a hoof for her. The pegasus stood, and with Zecora guiding her to the center of the ring, she turned back to the chief.
Zecora boldly announced to the chief that one sought the favor of Yeye. The chief responded in his loudest voice that he would host her in his bower to seek the favor of a god. Zecora nodded and turned back to Daring. "Daring Do of the Gochano people and the Equestrian land, you have come to seek favor and bless our humble band. Yeye ya Kupigwa Wote smile upon you, and send her blessing to you."
Daring sat down, facing the fire. The drums around her began to beat a cadence, rising in their strength as Zecora took her position before the head of the ring. "Yeye Ya Kupigwa Wote! Mama wa maisha na malkia wa roho! Sisi, watoto wako, unyenyekevu, kuomba kwa ajili ya hukumu juu ya roho yako hii!"
"Sisi ni watoto wako," the entire tribe chanted together. As the drums beat their tune, something felt different about Daring. She felt light, and the runes on her skin began to tingle.
"Mahitaji yetu ni mbaya sana, na tunawaomba ya kutuma kugusa yako ya hii!" Zecora continued to chant, the entire tribe around her raising their chants to the sky.
"Sisi ni watoto wako."
Something was definitely in the air, the whole atmosphere seemed to distort and change. Standing up, Daring felt the beat of the drums become her master. And she began to dance slowly. It was a dance with no practiced motion, yet it felt right to her. She gave in to the entrancing thunder of the drums of the tribe, the voices of the Din'Jaro becoming a distant murmur.
Stepping lightly as she danced and gyrated, she suddenly understood. She understood why some ponies and creatures chose to believe in a god. This feeling inside of her, of connection with everything and of safety and protection from somepony greater than them self. It was what many sought for in life, as her head lazily rolled along her shoulders, she realized that she understood the fogged words of Zecora.
"Great queen of this world, Mother of the Daughters, Keeper of Souls and Walker of Dreams. We ask of you to send your blessing to your humble child, so that she may enact your will and end the curse upon our lands."
"We are your children."
"She of all Colors, you who knows all and is a part of all. Guide her soul through temptation and weakness. Guide us all through darkness and into Paradise everlasting! Your children seek harmony in the chaos, as you have done throughout time!"
Daring was fully caught in her trance, swaying in her dance. She felt something else present, something that had been watching her. Opening her eyes from her trance, she looked around to see the world waver, strange tendrils emerging from everything to lightly touch her. From the crackling roar of the fire flickered spirit orbs, floating down to the pegasus they began to trace the markings and runes upon her body. A pleasant warmth came from the spirit orbs, and her markings tingled with their energy.
Standing slowly on her hind legs, Daring finished her dance, spreading her arms and closing her eyes to embrace the invisible presence that drew the spirits. With each sweet breath time slowed, and Daring was enveloped by complete silence, only broken by the sound of her own heartbeat. Cracking open her eyes, a great light stood before her, gently drawing her in.
Daring stepped into the light.
************************************************
A shadow passed over her eyes, Daring wrenched them open to see the bright blue sky and the blazing sun glaring down at her. Her skull felt like it was on fire, and as she tried to reach up with a hoof, it felt harder than it should have. Looking around herself, she noticed she was flat on her back, laying buried up to her neck in soil.
Twisting her head around, she saw she was in a clearing, near a watering hole in Zebrica. But all around her sat birds on every branch of every tree. Predatory raptors sat next to songbirds. Vultures shared space with great eagles and even a pair of lightning birds all stared down at Daring. They seemed enamored of her, and when she shifted her gaze to the birds, they seemed to bow their heads.
"What the buck happened?" Daring asked herself.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
As she lay buried under a pile of sand in some clearing, Daring tried to remember what happened after the ritual. Nothing was clear, and all she remembered was the light in the council ring, and then she was here. She was still surrounded by birds of every size and shape, all remaining silent as if in respect.
Somewhere nearby, Daring heard a voice calling her name. "DARING! DARING DO!" the voice screamed.
Another voice screamed just as loud, but in a more feminine way. "DARING DO! WHERE ARE YOU!"
Daring summoned as much strength as she could, croaking out to the voices of Timur and Zecora. "Help," she croaked. However faint, it seemed to be enough, and the crash of brush and the stomp of hooves on the dirt told her that the zebras were very close.
As Timur and Zecora charged into the clearing, they skidded to a halt. In front of them sat a sight that many would have considered too holy to even look at with sinner's eyes. A huge circle of colored sand outlined most of the clearing, a line spiraling inwards towards the center. And in the center lay Daring Do, only her face exposed above the sand. Looking around themselves, the zebras almost choked with how many birds sat in the bushes and trees, silently watching over Daring.
Swallowing his trepidation, Timur took a tentative step into the sacred circle, followed closely by Zecora. Coming up to Daring, he began to frantically scoop away soil, exposing more of the pegasus. "Daring, are you alright? Are you hurt in any way-" A sepia hoof erupted from the thin sand and punched Timur straight in the muzzle. Falling back on his haunches, he rubbed his nose.
Zecora stood back and smirked at Timur. "She seems alright to me. Perhaps I should leave her be."
Timur snorted out a small clot of blood. "She's fine."
Daring leaned up, wiping the sandy soil off with her hooves. "What the buck happened last night?" she croaked.
"We did the ritual, and you vanished!" said Timur.
Daring stared at him tired eyes. "Okay, then what happened?"
"We don't know! You just disappeared."
Understanding of what happened had not yet struck Daring. "Okay, we did the little ritual, nothing happened and I walked out. Why was I buried up to my neck in sand? And what the hell are all these birds doing here?"
Timur grabbed her by the shoulders, a sense of minor terror in his eyes. "Daring. You never left the council ring. We performed the ritual and you literally disappeared in a flash of light."
The pegasus sat with a disbelieving frown. "Things just don't disappear. There's obviously a logical explanation for all of this." Standing up, she shook more of the sand out of her fur, stretching her wings to shake out her feathers....
Her eyes snapped to her torso, extending a wing fully feathered for flight. "How the buck..." she said under her breath.
Zecora stood back, her eyes open wide and her jaw trembling. "What are you starin' at?" Daring said to Zecora. The zebra mare said not a word, instead pointing to her own forehead. "Whatever," she replied. Walking over to the watering hole, she began to splash some of the water onto the paint, washing it off. "So did your 'god' show up? Did she even come close?" she shouted back to the pair of zebra that sat aghast.
"Closer than you think," Timur said, sitting next to Zecora as they took in more of Daring.
Splashing some water on her face, Daring finally turned to address the huge flock of birds. "Shoo!" she shouted, waving a hoof and spreading her refeathered wings. Almost as one the flock of birds took wing and dispersed out into the wild. "Damn birds..." Daring muttered.
Walking back over to the pair of zebra, Daring lay down and stretched her wings out. Zecora still sat speechless, nearly choking on a breath of air. Daring squinted at the other mare. "What's she so worked up about?" Zecora reached into a saddlebag and pulled out a gourd and a bowl. Pouring clear water into the bowl, she shakily pushed the bowl to Daring, then wordlessly jabbed at her own forehead with a hoof. "Oh, some clean water, thanks." Daring began to lightly sip the water.
Zecora grabbed her Daring's head with her hooves, aiming her back at Zecora's face. Again the zebra pointed to her own forehead, then aimed Daring's face at the water in the bowl, pulling back Daring's charcoal bangs with a hoof. "Zecora! What are you-" Daring interrupted herself as she got a good look at her reflection. On her forehead rested a silver circle, with a line slowly spiraling inward toward the center, just like the strange ring she had been buried in. Dipping a hoof into the water, she scrubbed her forehead. Looking at her own reflection again, the mark was still there, shining bright in the sunlight.
Daring snapped out of Zecora's hooves, a look of rage on her face. "YOU TATTOOED MY HEAD!?!?" she roared with the fury of a buffalo.
Zecora fell to her knees, prostrating herself and chanting, "Mimi sistahili! Mimi sistahili!"
"What in Celestia's name is she saying?" asked Daring.
Timur stood gobsmacked of the pegasus. "She said, 'I am not worthy'." Timur fell to his knees and began to chant just like Zecora.
Disregarding the zebras, Daring ran back over to the watering hole, scooping up a hoof full of sand and scrubbing her head with it, desperately trying to get the mark off.
As the zebra continued their prostration and sending their prayers to Yeye, a sound caught Timur's ear. A low rumble, followed by the cracking and splitting of branches as something huge moved through the brush. A foul stench drifted in, a stinking odor that could only mean one thing.
With a hoof he stopped Zecora. "Zecora, je, ni kwamba msimu?" (Zecora, is it that season?)
The mare stopped and listened, her ears twisting and turning. Suddenly the odor hit her full in the nose. "Unajua, mimi nadhani ni." (You know, I think it is.)
"Ni utaratibu bado ni sawa?" (Is it still the same procedure?)
"Kukimbia kama moto wa Jehanamu?" (Run like hell?)
"Ndiyo, hiyo moja." (Yeah, that one.)
"Ndiyo." (Yup.) The rumbling grew louder, the only one oblivious to it being Daring as she continued to try and scrub off the mark. The pair of zebras bolted for the safety of the treeline, diving behind a termite mound for safety.
"DARING! RUN!" shouted Timur to the pegasus. Daring lifted her head just in time to see the wall of grey, wrinkly flesh tear through the treeline, white tusks shining as it trumpeted in rage. "It's in musth! Run Daring!" A strange fluid seemed to drip down the elephant's cheek, and its eyes were red with rage. Swinging its tusks it uprooted a small tree and its trunk flailed liked a garden hose.
For some reason, Daring wasn't afraid of the titan of hormonal rage. Something about it seemed almost annoying. Staring into those bloodshot eyes, something began to happen. She could feel the elephant, hear its heartbeat like her own and sympathize with the incredible pain it was going through. The bull elephant stood more still as the pegasus simply stared at it from the ground.
Opening her mouth, Daring said only two words. "Go...away," she murmured to the elephant that stood twenty feet away.
The elephant leaned back its head and trumpeted loudly, shaking the leaves on nearby trees. Swinging its head almost in denial, the elephant turned around and slowly walked away into the bush. Watching the grey behemoth flee, Daring was startled by Zecora's hoof touching her on the shoulder. "You should be dead." Zecora looked into Daring's magenta eyes. "You have seen a realm few have tread."
"But I don't remember what happened after the light," Daring said in her defense.
"You have gone beyond Yeye's approval Daring, I think she may have chosen you as a champion. Those birds, that elephant...Yeye must have given you some kind of influence over them," said Timur with an air of incredulous demure.
"That's a coincidence, it has to be."
"Yes Ms Do, an extremely holy symbol appearing on your head after you vanish in a flash of light and animals suddenly having the utmost respect for you. Oh, and don't forget the fact that your wing feathers completely regrew overnight. Must be a coincidence."
Daring licked her hoof and rubbed it on her forehead. "Don't get snippy with me. How can something that major happen without me remembering anything?"
Zecora gently touched Daring on the forehead, just to see what would happen. As no reprimand came, she deemed Daring safe enough to bring back to the village. "That is a question we may answer back at home. I have many potions for memory in my tome."
Daring nodded, and the zebras took off in the brush to find their way back to Nyumbani.
************************************************
Approaching the great tree that harbored the Din'Jaro's greatest village, zebras that worked their fields and tended their flocks dropped their tasks to see Daring. After disappearing from the council ring, many believed her dead, a failure in the eyes of Yeye. But here this outlander still walked amongst the living, her flesh bearing one of the holiest symbols known.
Coming to the spiral ramp that led to the boughs of Nyumbani, the pair of Din'Jaro warriors in red tunics leveled their spears at the outlander many considered to be some kind of trickster demon. Zecora and Timur both protested, but Daring took this as a small test of her new gift. Walking to the forefront, she pulled back her charcoal bangs with a hoof, exposing the shining silver mark on her forehead.
The warriors stopped their protest, mouths falling open. Dropping their spears, they bowed before Daring. Looking back at her zebra friends Daring gave a mischievous grin. "It's gonna be hard not to abuse this."
Making their way through the treetop village, they reached Zecora's hut. Sitting down on the bed, Daring wondered what other cool stuff this new mark could do. As Zecora flipped through the pages of a tome, Daring focused her thoughts outside the window.
"Alright Ms Do, I think I have the potion for you," Zecora said as she looked up from her book to behold Daring surrounded by butterflies.
Daring held out a hoof for a large blue butterfly to land on. "Wow," she said with a smile, bringing the insect closer to her face to marvel at this strange phenomenon.
Timur sat on a stool across from Daring, shaking his head. "Don't abuse it, Daring. You have no idea what the consequences could be for randomly making animals go against their nature."
"You're no fun." She gave a motherly coo to her little flight of insects. "Shoo shoo, everyone out," Daring said to her menagerie of butterflies. They obliged and drifted out the window.
"Don't take this the wrong way Ms Do, but why in Tartarus would a god bestow such a specific gift on you? "
"Who knows? Maybe it's because I'm the best pony for the job of finding the Eyes."
Zecora interrupted their conversation, pulling a flask off a shelf and presenting it to Daring. "Drink deeply and we will see, what the reason was for this godly decree."
Daring took the flask and began to sip from it. The bitter taste of the memory potion nearly made her gag as it flowed down her throat. Setting the flask aside, she lay back on Zecora's bed, waiting for the potion to take effect.
"Do you remember anything, Ms Do?" asked Timur.
Secrets held under lock and key within her memory began to come back to her mind, sights and sounds that would forever change her world. "I remember....singing."
*************************************************
The light permeated everything that Daring saw as she walked through it. The world slowly became solid again and the light dimmed away. But this was not Zebrica, nor was it anyplace she had ever seen in any place on Earth. A forest of twilight surrounded her, majestic trees towered up into the eternal sky. A soft light seemed to come from everywhere, just enough to illuminate the forest at dusk. The grass under her hooves felt softer than any cloud. Looking at her hoof, Daring was surprised to see that she could see through herself, that the only part of her that truly seemed substantial was the runes and tribal markings done by Timur and Zecora. Everything seemed foggy, and it seemed like some elements of the forest changed each time she looked at them.
Looking around herself, Daring searched for anypony in the endless forest. "Hello? Is anypony here?" she shouted. A soft singing tingled her ears, and Daring looked for the singer. She noticed that there were no true sounds of night, just the gentle song that seemed to come from everywhere. Looking in the boughs of a great tree, she saw small, gently flickering lights.
"Spirit orbs," Daring said to herself. The orbs were everywhere, slowly drifting about this eternal realm, singing their songs and relishing in eternal rest. One orb drifted from between the trees, approaching Daring deliberately. The spirit stopped in front of Daring, seeming to inspect the pegasus.
"Come, she is waiting for you," the spirit said to Daring in a voice that comforted her in a tone like a father with his child.
"Who's waiting for me? Where am I? Who are you?" Daring asked the soul that led her through the wood.
"In time all your questions shall be answered. Who I am is of no importance, but I was once known as Starswirl."
The songs of the dead seemed to tell the stories of their lives as Daring and her guide spirit walked amongst the sylvan wood. As a choir of angels they sang of happiness and love, joy and beauty to make the heart weep. The spirit known as Starswirl brought her through the moonlit glades, along a path that seemed untrodden by mortal hooves. The songs of the spirits grew more harmonious as they came to the edge of a clearing.
The spirit of Starswirl bowed to Daring, then flew off, rejoining his companions in their songs. One in particular he seemed to be in perfect harmony with. But that was not what held Daring's sight. While everything else in this strange twilight world seemed somehow ethereal and wispy, She was not.
A glittering pool of silver water lay in the center of the clearing, its surface shining like liquid crystal. A willow tree hung over the pool, its long branches holding uncounted spirit orbs who decorated it like fireflies. And underneath the tree, laying next to the pool, was an alicorn.
Her fur was of the finest forest green color, making Daring consider hers a dull coat in comparison. Her ink black mane flowed like the wind, but it showed the view of stars and galaxies that Daring had only ever seen the dim light of through a telescope. She wore a diadem of crystal on her head, a single blue and green gem set in the center. And around her neck lay a necklace, bearing the seal of the Elements of Harmony.
The alicorn looked up from the shimmering waters of the moonlit pool, smiling at her guest.
Daring took a step closer to the pool and the alicorn. "Um, howdy. You, uh, wouldn't happen to know where I am, would you?"
Come child, join me.
Daring looked around for whoever had whispered that straight into her ear. There was only her and the strange alicorn. "Did you..." The alicorn nodded, and indicated a place next to her. "Okay then," Daring said nervously to the stranger.
Walking around the pool, she sat down on the soft grass next to the alicorn. The alicorn closed her golden eyes, listening to the chorus of angelic songs that the spirits all around them sang. A small smile crept up her face, and Daring too listened to the voices of the past. "They're beautiful," she said to the alicorn. "Who are you?" she asked.
The alicorn's lips did not move, nor did she even open her eyes. The Dream Walker, The Wind Shepherd, The Lady of the Scale, The Mother, The Sea Witch, all of these and more, her ethereal voice whispered to Daring.
Daring nearly fainted with shock. "You're...you're Yeye." Daring looked around herself. "What is this place?" she whispered to herself.
She of All Stripes, another of my names, and a more fitting one than most. You are Daring Do, I have been watching you. Welcome to my realm, the realm of my mind's creation. A dream that you and I are both sharing.
Daring looked away from the alicorn goddess, taking in her surroundings. No matter how real it seemed, how clear the songs of the spirits sounded, no matter how the light shimmered off the crystal pool, this beautiful realm was a dreamscape. "How have you been watching me?"
Yeye opened her eyes, extending a large wing to touch the surface of the crystalline pool with a feather. The surface flattened, and the image of young Daring at the Summer Sun Celebration came up, then a scene from her in school, then one where her mother gave her a compass and she earned her cutie mark, then another on her first expedition.
"You've been watching me my entire life?" The goddess nodded, smiling at Daring's achievements in memory. "If you're Yeye, why aren't you a zebra? You are the god of zebras, right?" Daring gasped as she no longer sat next to an alicorn, but to a zebra mare whose stripes seemed to flow along her hide, sitting still yet never seeming to stop.
Is this more appropriate?
Yeye's form shifted again, this time to a strange creature like an ape. But calling her one would have been an insult as she sat by the pool in a green dress with pale, smooth skin. The strange creature had a haunting, ageless beauty about her.
Or perhaps this form is more pleasing to your mind?
Suddenly a large dragon surrounded Daring, her nearly translucent scales dazzling in the pale light of the silver waters.
She shifted back to the form of an alicorn. "I don't care what you look like. I just need to know, am I worthy of seeking the Eyes of the Demon?" The alicorn form of Yeye nodded her head.
In the name of Harmony and light, you are worthy to seek that abomination.
Strange, her mental voice seemed to be touched with anger at the mention of the Eyes. "But, you didn't even test me."
Haven't I?
Yeye touched a wingtip again to the pool of water, the shimmering water clearing to show Daring in the bush, pulling the lightning bird chick free of its entrapment at the risk of her own safety.
You show kindness where others would show fear.
The water rippled, changing to Daring pulling Timur through the desert, not even stopping to rest for herself.
You are loyal to the point of selfless sacrifice.
Again the water rippled, showing Daring giving her own feather to the colt in the Nyika village.
You generously give hope wherever you go.
The image of her in the hall of the High Chief of the Din'Jaro, asking for the knowledge of the Eyes.
You show naught but the purest of truth in your honesty.
The ripples calmed, and the images of her laughing with Timur, laughing with Zecora and with Lucky back in Equestria.
And I must say, your laughter is rather infectious.
Daring leaned over the pool of water, seeing these images of the goddess testing her, long before she even knew she was to be tested. With a realization, she noticed the amulet around the alicorn's neck. "I think I'm missing one," Daring said to the goddess
Yeye smiled and nodded. Yes, magic. But I can solve that problem. The alicorn leaned her head to Daring, touching her forehead with the tip of her horn. Daring felt the magic of a god flow from the alicorn and into her own body, an infinitesimal amount compared to what she felt coming from Yeye. Use my gift wisely, Daring Do. You are my tool on Earth, a beacon of harmony to defeat the devices of chaos. The Eyes of the Demon are harmful to my children, and I have punished Grinwa greatly for making them. But they are not safe anymore, and you must change that.
Lifting her head away from the horn of Yeye, she felt she had to ask something else. "During my journey, there were a couple of times when things just seemed to work out in my favor. Did you have anything to do with that?"
Again the goddess touched a feather to the water, the ripples parting to show the memories of the hippos, the lightning bird, the rats and even the kasai in N'dutu's camp.
I may have intervened a little. Now clear your thoughts, for I must send you back.
"Wait, before I go, why did you destroy them? You know who I'm talking about, right?"
Something unexpected happened, Yeye's eyes shimmered and the goddess shed a tear for the fallen Tall Ones. They were never meant to be destroyed. Yeye leaned close to Daring, and for the first time, she opened her mouth and spoke. "Do not let my daughter lie to you anymore." The goddess's horn glowed with her magic, and the light once again surrounded Daring.
*********************************************************
Daring lay in Zecora's bed, staring at the ceiling after fully recounting her sojourn into the Twilight Realm. "It was real. It was all so real."
Timur and Zecora stood back, and to Daring's surprise, tears streaked down Zecora's face. "Can...can you draw her?" asked Zecora.
Daring nodded, pulling out her notepad and a pencil. But before she could begin, the door to Zecora's hut opened, the aged and decrepit High Chief of the Din'Jaro slowly feeling his way in. Zecora ran to her father, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Father, you are not well. You need to lay down for a spell."
The ancient zebra slowly lifted a shaking hoof and removed his daughter's hoof from his shoulder. His blind gaze searched for Daring, seeming to find her on the bed. The old zebra moved slowly over to her, and once he found her, the High Chief began to feel Daring's face with a hoof. He took in a mental image of the pegasus, feeling the shape of her face. When his hoof touched her forehead, the High Chief froze.
His blind eyes closed, a small tear falling down his cheek. His wrinkled face dimpled as he gave a joyous and toothy smile. "Aziza," he said quietly. The Chief began to speak, and with his hoof touching her marked forehead, Daring understood his words.
"Up the river Zengo lies your goal,
The Chief finished the rhyme, removing his hoof from her head. The aged chief took a step back and bowed before the one chosen by his god to rid him and his tribe of their unending curse. The one sent by the Sun Daughter to bear away the evil that had plagued Zebrica since before the banishment of the Moon Daughter.
The High Chief rose, beckoning to Daring to come with him. The pegasus placed her wing on his shoulder, and the chief smiled, slowly ambling his way out the door of Zecora's hut with Daring escorting him. Pulling aside the curtained door, the pegasus saw a stunning sight. Every rope bridge, every platform and every branch thick enough to support somepony stood packed with zebra clad in red tunics. They remained silent, awaiting the sign from their chief.
The High Chief stopped, raising a hoof to his people. "Aziza ni Yeye!" he shouted.
"AZIZA!" shouted the voices of hundreds of zebra warriors and workers, crafters and farmers. "Aziza! Aziza! Aziza!" they shouted in unison, stomping their hooves and raising their spears to the sky. The High Chief lifted his hoof once again to silence his people, stepping back to let Daring speak. Daring looked nervously at the assembled tribe, wondering what to say.
"What are they calling me?"
"Favored of god," said Timur appeared by her side. "They wish to know what you would ask of them."
"But I don't speak Din'Jaro," Daring replied.
"Then I shall speak it for you."
Daring nodded, turning back to the zebras of the Din'Jaro. Here she was again with public speaking, but she felt something with her, a presence that seemed reassuring. Taking a deep breath, Daring stood tall. "I am not a mare of many words, but there are no words that can describe what will happen if we let N'dutu succeed. I have seen his evil and his depravity. And I have seen the lives and homes torn apart by his cruelty." Beside her, Timur relayed the message.
"I have known fear in the face of tyranny, and I have overcome my fear! My heart beats with the blessing of Yeye, and I say that She looks not upon me to fight tyranny. Yeye looks to you to stand up to the demons within our own hearts! I do not fight for an artifact, I do not fight for glory or greed. I fight for freedom! I fight to end the cruelty and slavery that the few would see on the many! Now is the time, my brothers and sisters, to raise up your spear and bear your shield in the name of freedom and harmony! We do not stand alone, send the fastest runners to the other tribes, and tell them that Aziza and Ingelosi calls to them! Go to the Nyika, go to the Mbusa, the Zare, the Gochano, go to all the tribes! Tell them that we do not hold them as enemies, we judge not by our blood or our right to guard the Tomb, we call to them for all people across the world! For freedom, for honor, and for Harmony!"
A thunderous roar came from the throats of every zebra of the Din'Jaro, cheering for the one that Yeye had chosen. Several warriors grabbed their spears and gourds of water, strapping them onto their torsos and running down the ramp of Nyumbani. The fastest did as they were told, sprinting off to the winds to seek the tribes of Zebrica that still fought for their freedom.
Zecora touched the pegasus on her shoulder. Daring turned back to see a smiling and resolute Chief and his daughter. "Come Daring Do, my father has a gift for you."
*************************************************************
In the hall of the High Chief, Daring, Timur and Zecora stood before the throne of the Din'Jaro, formed from a living branch of Nyumbani. Speaking for his father, Zitali retrieved the gifts of his tribe for the warriors blessed by Yeye. Passing a bundle to Zecora, the mare approached Timur, unwrapping the bundle.
"Timur Duan!ziti, this spear was made from the metal of a fallen star. It was meant to be my dowry, but has no use thus far." She pulled the cloth from the spear, the cool blue metal dazzling Timur's eye. It indeed seemed a metal of another world, and when he lifted the spear, if felt as light as a feather, but stronger than the scale of a dragon. Runes ran the length of the shaft, and flicking the head through a hair, Timur cleanly split the hair. He bowed to the chief and to Zitali before sheathing the spear.
Zecora brought a smaller bundle to Daring, slowly unwrapping it. "It is said that Wale Mrefu bore this in their final days. You should bear it to punish the one who slays." The cloth parted to reveal a coiled whip, runes covering the carved bone handle. Daring took gently from Zecora. It seemed to fit perfectly in her hoof, no matter the shape of the handle. Though nearly two thousand years old, the whip flexed and fit to her like the day it had been made by the cleverness of the Tall Ones and the magic of the zebra. She was not a weapon, she was a punisher of wickedness.
As Zecora set down her bundles, she took to Daring's side. Her brother Zitali approached her with a bundle. "Sister, you go now on a journey to save our home. Take this and seek the wisdom in this tome." He presented her with a book of alchemy and herbalism of the rarest and most powerful types. Zecora bowed to her brother and her father, placing the book in the basket on her side.
With their gifts of knowledge and power, the party of three left Nyumbani, heading northwards on hoof to the thickening forests that housed unknown danger and the first step on this new journey, the Zengo River. The armies of the Din'Jaro would hold back N'dutu's advancing army as long as they could, and if Daring could beat him to the Eyes, then there was a glimmer of hope on the horizon for all of Zebrica.
***************************************************************
That's right, I gave Daring Do the power of The Stare, whatcha gonna do about it?
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
Agent Lucky Charms walked past the alabaster columns and into the front door of the Canterlot Museum. He knew he was bucking a dead apple tree by coming back here to look for evidence, but it was better than what he had been doing for the past few weeks. But according to his intelligence sources in Zebrica, Daring had used that time much efficiently than he had. All reports said that N'dutu's expansion on all fronts had ground to a halt, in some places even being pushed back.
Most of the authorities thought it was simply N'dutu running out of steam, but Charms liked to think that Daring was somewhat behind it. Stopping at the front door, he flashed his badge to the pair of gold armored Royal Guards that replaced the regular museum watchponies. Giving his badge a quick once over, they waved him in.
The place had remained closed since the break-in about two weeks ago, and the Curator was not happy about it. Unnecessary closing of the museum meant that they lost a lot of possible revenue. Walking back to the exhibits that had been looted, he took careful notice of every little vantage point in the room. Though it had all been cataloged and cleaned up days ago, Charms still felt like the scene of the crime could present some clues.
Pulling a folder of photos confiscated from ponies who had taken photos at the museum before it was robbed, he checked for any differences between the current exhibit and the old one. The ringing clop of hooves on the granite floor distracted his attention. The Curator, Ancient Lore, appeared by the RIS Agent. "Agent Charms, how can I help you today?"
Charms put away the photos, shaking his head. "Don't think there is anything you could help me with. This case is obviously a sham. No sense in bothering you for much longer."
"Good to hear, Agent Charms. How much longer do I have to have Royal Guards at my front door?"
Charms glanced back at the exhibit, taking a deep breath. "Until Daring can do her job. If she can do her job."
Ancient Lore clapped Charms on the shoulder. "Oh don't worry about Daring, she'll have the Eyes safely back here in Equestria in no time."
As the unicorn walked back towards his office, Charms caught the sound of jewelry clinking around Lore. Turning around, he managed to catch a glimmer of gold around the curator's neck. Strange, he didn't figure Lore as the type of pony to wear jewelry.
********************************************
Days began to pass with Daring hardly noticing a change in the landscape. But they became more noticeable the more Daring cared to look. The further north they plunged into Zebrica's heartland, the thicker and lusher the growth around them seemed to be. The squat, low acacias were forced out by taller and more robust hardwoods.The mostly flat land began to turn into gently rolling hills and valleys, and the air seemed more laden with moisture than the savanna.
But there were things she couldn't help but notice. That strange mark on her forehead seemed to be doing something to her mind and her body, having some kind of effect on her perception of the world around her. While running along the trail northward through the slowly thickening growth of Zebrica, she would notice things. Things that not even Timur and Zecora noticed.
The trio rested in the shade of a large, low tree that lay on the trailside, the two zebra unused to the damper heat of the surrounding forestland. Daring sat watching the forest around her and the zebras intently, not acting as a watchpony or guard, just trying to sate her now filly-like curiosity. She listened to the calls of birds, each one seeming separate and of a language of its own. She watched the creep of ants and other bugs along the leaf litter of the forest floor.
Everything just seemed to be in harmony with everything that surrounded it. The trees took in energy from the soil and the sun, the bugs ate the trees, and the birds ate the bugs. The cycle was everywhere, and it lay unbroken since the beginning of time. "Is this how She sees the world? As a great web of connection, where everything is dependent on everything? Is this how Princess Celestia sees everything?" Daring silently mused to herself.
Standing from her watch, she walked out into the thick foliage of the underbrush. The brush of leaves seem to caress her fur as she walked by. The birds sang their own chorus of high tenors, while the bugs offset them by humming a low baritone and a quick buzz. Everything seemed so enchanting, and her presence made Daring feel like an intruder, almost an impurity in this haven of life. The pegasus sat down on a mossy rock, closing her eyes and basking in this previously unknown tranquility. Extending her thoughts out, she spread her divine given influence, to see how much she could actually do.
After a minute of trying to harness her new found capabilities, Daring opened her eyes. All around her fluttered butterflies and moths, keeping a respectful distance from their caller. Daring smiled pleasantly, the barest crack of a twig revealing a small creature like an antelope walking out of the undergrowth. Its brown, doe eyes peered at Daring with wonder, stepping close enough for the pegasus to reach out and stroke its soft fur.
The little animal grazed around her, the flights of insects and small birds almost dancing around her head. "I don't know what you did to me," she said aloud to the living world, "But thank you for doing it." The opening glow of a flower in bloom drew her attention, the gentle curve of the orange petals entrancing Daring. Looking up towards the sunlight, the shimmering reflection of light off of a carefully crafted spider web as its owner took pride in her achievement of natural architecture. Daring had lived in jungles and forests for a good portion of her life, but she never really stopped to look at how beautiful it all was.
"Daring Do?" a certain zebra mare said gently behind her back. The little antelope bounded off into the brush, the flights of birds and insects dispersing back to nature.
Daring turned around to see an incredulous Zecora, who still seemed awestruck by Daring's influence over nature. "Oh, hey Zecora."
"You should not be alone out here. There are many things in the forest to fear." Zecora took a seat on the mossy rock next to Daring, the pegasus still entranced by the serenity of the forest.
"I'm not afraid of anything this forest has to offer me, Zecora. This thing on my head...at first I felt violated when I saw it there. But now....now I feel more connected."
"I do not think it is the mark that makes you see these things. You realize the connections, you see the web, the way the world sings."
Daring smiled a bit, turning her attention away from the light filtering through the forest canopy. "Sorry I never drew...well, you-know-who for you. I could do it now if you wanted."
The zebra mare patted her friend on her winged shoulder. "Thank you, Daring Do," Zecora said with the most gratitude of anypony Daring had ever known. The pegasus fished out her notebook and pencil, opening it to a fresh page. She pondered for a second as to what form of the goddess she should draw. Why not all of them? She started with the alicorn in the center of the page.
While Daring carefully drew her images of Yeye, Zecora couldn't help but ask a few questions. "So, what is it like in Equestria, under the fair rule of Celestia?"
Daring looked up from her notebook, raising an eyebrow. To her, Equestria was a boring place, where the most interesting thing that happened was the occasional monster attack out of the wilder regions. "Why would you want to know about Equestria? It's not a very interesting place."
"Nopony's home may seem the most perfect. There is more to Equestria than either of us suspect."
Daring shrugged, giving in to Zecora's flawless logic once more. "Well, you know that farmland we passed through before we made it here to the forest?" Zecora nodded, remembering the seemingly endless farms and small villages they passed by on the way here. "Well, Equestria is a lot like that. In most places, that is. It's a wild and free country, where everypony is loving and tolerant of just about anything. There are huge cities, like Tashim, but a lot bigger. But I guess it's the villages that make Equestria so nice." With a fond grin, Daring recalled the small village her train had stopped at in Equestria, a nice little town. What was it called again? Ponyville, yeah, that was it. "There was this one town I passed through once or twice called Ponyville. I think you would like it there. Everypony lives in quaint little cottages, and some of the buildings are shaped like what they sell. For example, I bought a few muffins from this little joint that looked like a gingerbread house while my train was boarding additional passengers. And everypony smiles. I don't know if it's something in the air or a city ordinance, but they always seem happy in that little town."
Daring spent the next hour with Zecora, regaling the other mare with tales of Equestria. Daring thought Nyumbani was impressive, but Zecora seemed more enamored of the idea of a city like Cloudsdale, hovering over the lands in the bowers of the clouds. She regaled Zecora with stories from her early adventures in the Everfree Forest; the dark and mysterious wood that seemed to be the edge of civilization. Quick stories of vast swamps, of high mountain tops and forests so ancient that even to the dragons they must have seemed old. And Canterlot....Canterlot must have sounded like something out of a fairy tale. Perched on the side of a mountain, with sweeping towers of ivory white stone and grand avenues that housed every type of shop and building imaginable.
Daring finished the shimmers on the great dragon's scales as well as she could in black and white. Maybe when she got back to Equestria she would paint this scene out. In the center lay the loving form of the alicorn, wearing her diadem and her necklace. In the top-left lay the zebra of all stripes, mysterious and majestic. Across from her sat the strange creature that Yeye had chosen the form of temporarily, so strikingly beautiful for such an odd looking creature. And finally, covering the entire bottom of the page, lay the translucent dragon of all scales; proud and powerful like all her great children.
"Okay, are you ready for this? It's not quite right somehow, but it'll get the job done." With a flourish, she presented her various drawings of a god to Zecora.
Zecora took the pad of paper, turning it this way and that. Unlike Daring had expected, she did not see Zecora break down to tears in love of her goddess. "I see Yeye in the corner there, but who are those other figures I declare?"
Daring sagged on her mossy rock, turning to near goo as she realized that Zecora had only ever thought of her god as a zebra. "They're all Yeye," she said after slapping a hoof to her own face. "Those were the four forms I saw her in. You know, when I was..." She ostentatiously poked her forehead with a wingtip.
"Ohh, right right." Zecora seemed interested in the upper right portrait. "What an odd way to draw a chimpanzee, she looks like she has mange to me."
"That's a chimpanzee? Doesn't look anything like a chimp from what I've seen in books." Dismissing the possible chimp ideals of what a god should look like, the pair of mares realized they had left a particular stallion alone by the side of the road. Rising from their seats and trotting off back towards the road, they met Timur as he tapped a hoof in an impatient display.
"Did you two have a nice chat? Or should we just stop here and set up camp so you can braid each other's manes and paint your hooves?"
Daring flicked his shoulder with her tail as she waltzed by. "Don't get your stripes in a knot. We were only talking about secret mare things. Things that involve what part of a stallion we like best." Her magenta eyes scanned Timur's hard physique, the stallion laying his ears flat as Daring checked out his goods. She stopped by his leg, inspecting it like a vegetable at market day. "Ooh, he has a nice large hoof. And you know what they say about stallions with large hooves." Daring gave a wink to Zecora, grinning like a madmare at Timur.
The zebra mare chuckled, though she had no clue what they said about stallions with large hooves. Zecora played along, halfheartedly looking over her one-time fiance. "Eh, stallions are such a chore. Daring Do, he is all yours."
Daring pumped a hoof in victory. "Yes! Zecora, you're my best friend forever!" She gave the wayward stallion a slap on the flank with her wing. Timur seized up as Daring strutted by, triumphantly walking with her fellow mare along the trail.
"You're perverted, Ms Do! Thinking about your adopted father that way!" he shouted to the mare trotting down the trail. Timur groaned, looking up to the sky. "Oh Yeye, if you have ever been a merciful watcher, please provide me with a lion, a leopard, anything to eat me the next time Ms Do gets an 'itch'." Something about the way the breeze picked up and rustled the leaves of the forest around him told Timur that the spirits and possibly even Yeye herself laughed at his misery.
**********************************************
The armies of the warlord marched north through Din'Jaro territory, only slowing to raze a village that got in their way. Their goal was not to crush the most powerful tribe, it was to bypass them. Ignoring the Din'Jaro capital of Nyumbani, the army marched towards the jungle's edge. The warlord himself rode in a litter born by twelve of his strongest slaves. The gently swaying, shaded throne would have normally made somepony like N'dutu fall asleep after a few hours. But not today, he could hardly sleep, knowing that a clue in his quest for the most powerful artifact in all Zebrica might actually work out.
N'dutu instead busied himself with his concubines, a pair of whom lay in a drugged slumber while the warlord revitalized himself through strong drink. The strong smell of saddle leather and gnoll sweat entered the warlord's nose. It wasn't hard to tell when Grimhide was close by, and the gnoll's claw pulled aside the drapes on one side. Grimhide peered inside, bowing to his alpha from the saddle of his nandi. "You call, lord?"
The warlord nodded to his General. "Yes Grimhide. What is the status of our supply lines?"
Grimhide tried to think of a way to say it that wouldn't have his head on a spear. Biting his lip, the gnoll replied, "Zebra raiders destroy most supply caravans. Not just Din'Jaro; Nyika, Zare, Mbusa, even Matsunga rebels. We losing ground on all fronts." Grimhide winced, awaiting the imminent lash of the warlord's hoof or the stroke of his sword. Cracking open his good eye, the warlord seemed indifferent.
"No matter. Once we have the Eyes, all our lost territory will be regained a hundred-fold." N'dutu placed a hoof on one of his sleeping consorts, stroking her mane lightly. "I do, however, still want Daring Do in my grasp before I destroy her with the Eyes." His hoof rested on his consort's throat, pressing down hard to block off her air. In her drugged stupor, the mare rasped and tried futilely to pry his hoof from her throat. She struggled, gasping for air, but N'dutu only pressed harder. With a final burst of resistance, she fell still. "Take this, use her blood to call down the wind-riders. Tell them they are to scout the jungles for any sign of my prisoner."
Grimhide nodded, grabbing the mare's corpse and pulling it into his saddle. Pulling his mount off to the side of the trail, Grimhide pulled out a white cloth, spilling the mare's blood all over it with a slice of his sword. Looking up to the sky, he spied a few black dots jumping between clouds. Grimhide attached the blood red flag onto a pole, waving to around to signal down some of the riders. After a minute of waving, a shape dropped out of formation, growing larger with every second. The thirty foot wingspan of the kongomato darkened the sky, the flying reptile landing lightly near Grimhide and his nandi. Various straps and harnesses attached between the beast's wings held a simian rider.
The agogwe rider swung out of his saddle, walking over to the gnoll with a defined bow to his legs. Flipping his flight goggles back onto his green, mossy head, the short ape snapped a lazy salute to his superior. Grimhide wrinkled his nose at the agogwe, they always smelled of the swamps where they originated. They had no fur, just a short pelt of grass and moss covering their skins. The only reason he tolerated them was because the kongomatos tolerated the agogwe as riders, much like nandi tolerated their gnoll cousins more completely. They liked to fly, mainly because being up at cloud level gave them good sun exposure for their symbiotic plant parts.
"Yeah? What you want, puppy dog?" The short agogwe asked in his cynical and curt manner.
Grimhide flattened his ears at the disrespect. He was no dog, he was more closely related to the clever mongoose! "New orders," the gnoll growled in what he knew of the agogwe tongue.
The moss covered ape rolled his long fingered hand. "And those would be? Hurry up, I'm losing optimum air!"
The gnoll resisted the urge to grab the rider by his harness and feed him to his own pterosaur mount, but kongomatos weren't known for eating salads. Instead he rattled off the wind-rider's new orders. "Go north to jungles, fly low and find Daring Do. Gold pony with black mane. She fly like you do."
The ape retained his slouched stance, giving a snide snort. "Finally, something to do around here." His eyes drifted over to the corpse of N'dutu's more recent rage outpouring. He pointed with a long finger at the mare. "You gonna eat that?"
"I plan on-"
The gnoll's response was cut off by a quick whistle from the agogwe to his mount. The huge reptile stalked over to the corpse, grabbing it in its beak. Tipping its head back, the kongomato swallowed the corpse whole. Grimhide scowled at the recalcitrant wind-rider. The ape shrugged his shoulder's like it was no big deal. "Hey, you shoulda said somethin' if you wanted that." Clambering deftly into the harness, the agogwe flipped his goggles back down and spurred his kongomato. The great beast took a few leaping steps forward, levering itself into the air and flapping off.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
The wet heat of the jungle threatened to sap the strength of the trio as they walked carefully over tangled roots and under the shade of titanic trees. The buzz of mosquitoes around her head annoyed Daring, and with her odd influence, gave a try to making them go away. Almost as soon as she used her odd power, the mosquitoes decided they had more pressing issues elsewhere.
But after a minute or so, a different batch of bloodsuckers wanted to come up and sing her the song of their people right in her ear. Concentrating again, she banished this batch of mosquitoes. Swatting at them futilely with a wing, she finally accepted that there were more bugs here than she had willpower.
But the buzz of insects was interrupted by a hooting call from the treetops, followed by the crashing of leaves as something jumped from one branch to another.
"What was that?"
Timur and Zecora glanced that direction with obvious distaste. "Ignore them, Ms Do," Timur replied coolly, turning his attention back to the forest trail. There was something different about the forest, but Daring couldn't quite put her hoof on it. The trees seemed larger and more evenly spaced. The trail seemed to have been used more heavily and the forest floor seemed much thinner.
"Okay, something smells fishy around here. What is this part of the jungle?"
Zecora raised an eyebrow, Timur understood the idiom and replied, "This is no regular part of the jungle. It's an orchard. Just keep your eyes on the trail and we will not have any trouble."
Daring stepped a little closer to her guide as more of the hooting calls came from the forest canopy. Looking up carefully to avoid being seen, she saw streaks of black fur as they swung from branch to branch, carrying baskets laden with fruit. She felt a hoof forcefully push her wandering gaze back to the forest floor.
"Eyes...down, " Timur hissed.
She threw his hoof off, extending her wings in agitation. "What gives, huh?"
"They take eye contact as a challenge to their territory. So keep your eyes down and be quiet! This is not zebra land anymore, so we have no influence or sway here. This forest belongs to the apes."
Risking a peek, Daring peered around herself. "Apes, huh? Like chimps and gorillas and what have you?"
"Precisely," Zecora said softly. "This is a chimpanzee orchard here. If we keep low, trouble will stay clear."
"What's so bad about chimps? They're kinda cute."
Timur kept his gaze steadfastly on the trail. "Oh, they may look cute and cuddly. But give one a reason to hurt you, and he will tear out your eyes and replace them with feces." Zecora nodded, making a warding symbol in the air.
Contact, however, proved to be inevitable. While walking on the trail through the orchard of towering trees, the trio of equines passed near a tree with a low hanging branch that lay over the trail. Watching from above was none other than the most troublemaking of the great apes. Swinging down low, he sat down on a the low hanging branch and kicked back. Gripping a samba fruit with his feet, he tossed a bit of the peel at the trio of (what he believed to be) zebras.
Daring felt the fruit peel bounce off her helmet, and like Timur told her to, she kept her eyes on the ground. Again a piece of fruit bounced off her helmet, annoying the pegasus. Grinding her teeth as a third piece of fruit peel hit her straight on the nose, Daring couldn't help but look up.
Leaned against the trunk of the tree was a black furred chimp, chewing on a samba fruit. "'Ey pretty zebra. Want to buy some fruit?"
"No thanks," Daring replied as politely as possible. She cantered forward to avoid having to keep talking to the ape.
The chimp moved through the trees with extreme agility, landing at another branch further along the trail and assuming a relaxed pose, as if he had been there for a while. "How about some jewelry? I got good jewelry here."
"Not interested," Daring said as inoffensively as possible. A thought occurred to her, and she turned back to whisper to Timur and Zecora. "Is this thingy on my head making me understand obscure languages, or did he just say that in Equestrian?"
Timur nodded. "He did, but they don't call it 'Equestrian', they some strange name for their language that doesn't make any sense."
Suddenly, a pink simian face pushed its way into their circle. "Whatcha talkin' 'bout? And if jewelry ain't your thing, I also do guided tours."
Timur roughly shoved the chimp away, avoiding eye contact and moving along. The chimp kept an easy bipedal stride next to Timur, badgering him with more possible things he might want. "Not the gabbin' type I see. Man of action, I like that in a person. And I have just the thing for a man of action!" The chimp ran a few steps in front of the annoyed Timur, who ground his teeth at the simian annoyance. "Behold! The Spear of Doom! And it can be yours for three simple payments of $19.95 in gold, bits, stones, or any other form of accepted currency!" The chimp hefted a very familiar looking assegai that was made of very rare metal and covered in runes.
"That is my spear! Give it back, thief!" Timur shouted.
The ape stared at the spear in his hands like it had just suddenly appeared there. "By the Allgood's grace! A magic spear that just leaps into my hands! Truly a warrior's weapon!"
"Give. It. Back!"
The ape held up a hand. "Hold on a moment, maybe this is my spear that looks exactly like the spear that you very recently lost."
"I have no time for this. Daring! Use your doohicky and scramble his brain!"
Daring sat back and giggled at the ape's antics and his uncanny ability to annoy Timur. "No way, he's too funny. Besides, I don't think my "sponsor" would appreciate that. I don't even know if my doohicky has a 'brain scrambler' setting."
The chimp sidled up to the pegasus. "Ooh, she likes me! Care for a spear madame? Or perhaps I can interest you in this fine hat I recently acquired?"
Daring didn't know how, she didn't know if it was some form of magic, but her pith helmet now rested oddly on the chimp's head. "Hey, that's not funny. Gimme that back, please."
His look of dejection validated the pegasus. And the ape reached up to his head and took off the helmet, placing it back on Daring. "Damn magic word," the chimp muttered.
Timur walked up, swiping his spear from the ape's outstretched hand. "Thank you, monkey."
The ape stiffened, his hackles raising and a certain fire of rage glowing in his eyes. "Monkey.....MONKEY! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A MONKEY! I sir, am a great ape! A relative of the Allgood herself! And you come to my turf and declare me to be a half-witted monkey!!" The chimp advanced slowly on the zebra, baring his fangs, hooting and howling in rage.
Timur pulled out his recovered spear, preparing to dance blades with the ape. As the chimp prepared to charge, a shadow passed over the entire orchard. A reptilian cry pierced through the jungle, sending the ape in front of Timur into tremors.
From the treetops, more chimps scrambled to get down to ground level. One dressed in wooden armor leaned down to the civilian chimps. "AGOGWE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. The trio turned their gaze upward, just as another of the huge kongomatos blotted out the sun. A shriek came from the orchard canopy, and a chimp fell tumbling from the treetops. Landing on the ground with a sickening thud, the sight of an arrow in his back turned Daring cold.
The chimp with them ran to a log overhanging the trail. Diving underneath, he motioned for Daring and the zebras to join him under the shelter. More arrows fell through the trees as the trio dove under the log. "What are they?!" Daring shouted over the din of the screaming chimps.
"Agogwe! Unnatural freaks!" the chimp hiding with them shouted.
"They are like chimps, but covered in plant matter," Timur said to Daring, "They hate chimps and chimps hate them back. They ride kongomatos like gnolls ride nandi."
"I don't know why they are attacking now, we didn't even come close to their territory!" the chimp shouted, covering his head with his hands.
A mother chimp and her child ran by the log, the mother screaming as an arrow pierced her from above. "That's it! I'm putting an end to this!" Daring shouted. Climbing out from under the log, she spread her wings and took off for the canopy.
"DARING! WAIT!" Zecora screamed as she tried to stop the pegasus. Too late to stop her friend, Zecora reached into her pouch and began to chant while pulling out a powder.
As Daring Do pumped her wings hard to break the treeline, shapes fell past her on the way down. From their green skins, she guessed them to be agogwe aerial troopers. And from the black emblems, she knew them to be N'dutu's servants. Breaking the forest canopy, she got a good look at her opposition. Five kongomatos, their riders firing storms of arrows at the ground. Like the kasai, the kongomatos looked like a dinosaur skeleton from the museum given flesh.
Picking her first target, Daring shot head on towards an approaching flyer, rolling out of the way of the massive beak as it snapped at her. Putting her hooves forward, she barreled straight into the rider's chest, tearing him out of the saddle and throwing him off his mount. Grasping up the reins, she pulled hard to the right, forcing the flying monster straight into another.
As the two kongomatos struck in midair, their wings and harnesses entwined with one another. Springing out of the saddle, Daring watched as the two fell from the sky and crashed through the trees.
The buzz of an arrow past her head brought her back to the fight. Spinning around, she saw another of the flying archer platforms heading straight towards her. Bunching up her muscles, she dove at the rider. Screaming past arrows and bolas, Daring spied one agogwe aiming straight for her face. Rolling to the right, she managed to dodge. But she lost all momentum and crashed into the kongomato's back.
Standing up from her crash, the wind whistled in her mane and the creak of leathery wings filled her ears. Turning back to the rider at the kongomato's neck, she pulled out her whip, lashing it out with a snap. Several of the simian archers unbuckled themselves from their harnesses, pulling out long knives to fight this boarder. Cracking the whip at her attackers, Daring struck one across the eyes, making it scream and clutch its head, falling off the flying kongomato.
Daring leapt to the side as one lunged at her with blade outstretched. Kicking out with her hooves, she heard the crack of bone as she struck its head. The final rider stayed back, tossing the knife between hands, beckoning the pegasus to attack him. Curling her whip, she lashed out at the agogwe, wrapping the leather tip around his neck. Coiling it around her hoof, Daring gave the strongest pull she could, the whip letting go as the creature fell from the back of the kongomato. Riderless, the great beast began to fly off in a direction that it chose, away from the battle. Daring leapt from the harness, spreading her wings to keep on fighting.
Down on the ground, Timur and Zecora fought viciously against the agogwe that had dropped in as paratroopers. The vicious agogwe troopers stopped chasing their sworn chimp enemies to encircle the pair of zebra. Holding back their attack, Timur and Zecora considered what kind of tactic to use.
"Ten to two, a fair fight in my book, eh Zecora?" Timur called back to the mare at his back.
"Fair enough, let's see how tough," replied Zecora. Throwing a handful of green powder into the air, it exploded into the image of a roaring dragon. Frightened by the sudden appearance of a super predator, the agogwe flinched and fell back. Out of the falling green mist, the butt of a quarterstaff lunged out and took an agogwe in the throat. Spinning it in her hooves, Zecora struck another in the temple, using her momentum to sweep low and take out another's knees.
Timur leapt out of the mist, taking down a trooper with his falling hooves. Whipping his spear to the side, he jammed the head effortlessly between the ribs of an agogwe. Throwing back an elbow, he caught another in the chin, sending it flying back. Ripping his spear free, Timur dodged a wayward sword slash from an agogwe trooper, dipping his spear into to slash across his eyes.
The remaining agogwe inched back in fear, Timur and Zecora advancing on them. Throwing down their weapons, the plant coated simians bolted for the forest. But as they neared the trail's edge, the screams of chimps sent them into abject terror. Dropping from trees, angered chimps surrounded the agogwe, knocking them to the ground and pounding them with bare fists. After a minute of stomping them into the dirt, all the agogwe troops had fled or were no more than jellified corpses on the forest floor.
But the same was not true in the sky. Two kongomatos with full crews still circled over the orchard, firing arrows down at the ground. Determined to end this, Daring placed herself in between the two beasts. "Okay Yeye, let's see what we can do," Daring murmured. Closing her eyes, she sent her thoughts out to both kongomatos, diving into their minds with her gifted power. Their wills were strong, and the loyalty to their riders even stronger. Straining at the exertion of fighting two of them at once, the mark on her forehead nearly burned with the amount of power flowing out of it. Digging at their will, Daring fought for control. The titanic reptiles shrieked and struggled in the air, whipping their heads about as they tried to fight off the mental invasion.
Focusing her attack on one, she managed to break in, ordering it to fight its partner. The kongomato under her control gave an ear piercing shriek, climbing in altitude before diving down to attack the other. Barreling into its partner, the great beast clawed and snapped at the other kongomato, tossing most of the riders off its back and crushing those who stayed. Against its rider's will, the one not under Daring's influence fought back, twisting in the other's claws to slash at the open belly. Straining hard at the reins, the agogwe managed to get his mount to break loose, forcing it to flee with the enraged reptile in pursuit.
Panting like she had just done a complete run through a Southern Jungle temple and stepped on all the traps, Daring let go of her influence on the kongomato. Gasping for breath, a rush of pain had her nearly screaming and holding her head with her hooves. It felt as though somepony was driving a railroad spike into her brain via the magic mark on her forehead. Descending down through the forest canopy, Daring felt the world spinning as she touched down lightly on the ground. Falling onto her side, she clutched her head and groaned.
Noticing the pegasus in pain as she fell, Timur and Zecora rushed over to her landing site. Zecora reached her first, checking the pegasus for any head trauma. "What is wrong? Is the pain strong?"
Daring nearly rolled on the ground with the agony. "It's bucking killing me! Give me something to dull it before my skull explodes!"
Guessing that she was actually in much less pain than she let on, Zecora dug around in her saddlebag, producing a small vial which Daring greedily drank down. Laying on her back and panting, Daring waited for the potion to take effect. Slowly it numbed the pounding throb in her skull, and as she lay there, the zebras went on high alert. Around them in the trees, dozens of chimps stared down at Daring.
Seeing that she was alright, the bothersome chimp from before swung down from the branches, landing next to Daring. "Wow, I mean....wow. Nobody has ever kicked so much agogwe ass in one go. Isn't that right?" he asked to the other chimps. Dozens of black furred heads nodded, impressed with how well this strange winged zebra had repelled their greatest enemies. "I mean, holy Allgood, I think most of us are in debt to you now." Most of the primate crowd agreed. "Anything you would want us to do, or is there something you want?"
Daring stared straight at the sky, breathing deeply and feeling every beat of her heart as a hammer to the skull. "Look, all I want is to get to the Zengo River and head upstream to the Everguard. Is that too much to ask?"
Biting his lip, the chimp nodded. "It actually might be a little bit too much. But there's only one ape who can say otherwise, and that's the Prime Minister. I mean, the Zengo River is kind of holy and all, and the Everguard are kind of in a forbidden zone."
Leaning up, Daring started to swoon a little as the pain potion kicked in with the side effects. "Well then, we're off to see the Prime...Whatchamacallit," she drunkenly replied.
The chimp shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, this way please. By the way, the name is Jack." The chimp named Jack motioned for Daring and the zebras to follow him. Standing up, Daring stumbled along as Timur and Zecora supported her by each side. The two zebras did seem rather cross about something.
Leaning over to her ear, Timur hissed, "Are you crazy!? We could just walk through their territory and still get to the Zengo!"
Zecora leaned over Daring and muttered to Timur, "Admit it, we were lost! But going to a chimp village is still a great cost!"
"Fine, my sense of direction may have been slightly off! But don't think that you were any help with it, miss princess!"
"Will you two shut up? This thingamajig on my head will have them groveling before us like the zebras back in Din'Jaro land. By the way, what's a Prime Whatchamacallit?" Daring said oddly as the world seemed to spin around her, probably too much pain potion.
"Apes don't have kings or chiefs," Timur muttered. "They vote for a leader every few years. It is a complex system that I cannot understand. Far too complex for simple farmers like chimps, they always say they gained all their knowledge from their messiah. Speaking of which, your doohicky won't do us any good. Apes don't worship Yeye; in fact, they deny ever being touched by Yeye in favor of the 'teachings of the Allgood'. And you thought we zebra were cultists, you will see their level of devotion when we get to their village."
"What?! That's crazy talk! I spoke to your god, she touched me in my special place! In my mind!"
"Won't do us any good, so keep your mouth shut."
***********************************
The ape village bore many resemblances to Nyumbani, except that the village was spread out through dozens of smaller trees, with bridges and walkways connecting each treehouse. All the important building seemed to be at ground level though and built of a smooth mudbrick.
Jack gave a half assed salute to a pair of wood armored guards with wicked looking swords and spears, walking past them and into the village with pony and zebra in tow. Walking lazily over to a ground level building, Jack raised a fist and hammered on the door. "Ey Mr Prime Minister! I need a word with you!"
"Parliament's not in session! Go away!" another primate voice shouted back.
"That's what I get for voting for a bloody bonobo," Jack muttered. "We were attacked by agogwe in the orchard! Some zebra came along and saved our arses, and now she wants to go up the Zengo!"
There was a general shuffling and commotion inside the building. "Agogwe you say? Hold a bloody moment, I'll get me pants on." After a minute of additional shuffling and at one point what sounded like a cat being stepped on, the door swung open. "Right then, come in." Jack motioned for the equines to follow him in.
The Prime Minister's abode seemed kind of quaint, not at all like the home of a chief or a king. Or a Princess for that matter. Exquisite paintings of very dignified chimps and even a few of gorillas in officer's uniforms hung on the wall, and a hearth crackled with a fire despite the heat. Somehow, this house reminded Daring of some homes in Trottingham. There was an overall sense of sophistication and an air of class, despite the mudbrick construction and unfinished roughness of most of the surfaces.
Leading them into a rather impressive study, the Prime Minister crashed behind a desk, pulling out a pipe and packing a bowl of tobacco. He motioned for the other chimp and his guests to take a seat somewhere. "Take a seat, anyone care for a smoke?"
"Don't mind if I do," said the pegasus, taking the offered pipe and sticking it in the corner of her mouth.
Kicking his feet back up onto the desk, the Prime Minister took a deep drag on his pipe, letting out the smoke in a ring. "So, Jack tells me you all saved a bunch o' folk out there today. May I ask what your motivation was?"
"Good Samaritan type of thing," Daring replied.
The Prime Minister nodded. "Oy, the Allgood was always preaching about how we should be good to each other without expectin' payment. Good on ya. Now, what you want up the Zengo?"
"We're after the Eyes of the Demon," Daring blurted out. She slapped a hoof to her own mouth, and the mark on her head tingled.
The chimp Minister pulled the pipe out of his mouth with a foot, raising an eyebrow. "And what you want with the Blind Warrior's Burden?"
"You know the story of Talib?" asked Timur.
The Prime Minister leaned back in his chair. "That's right. This village right here was one of his last stoppin' places on the way to his own Tomb. The New Testament of the Allgood says it clear as day. Jackie, would you fetch me New Testament? It's over there on the shelf. Time to preach the good word of the Allgood."
"And so it begins," Timur muttered under his breath. Jack climbed up the shelves like they were the branches of a tree, pulling out a very large book bound in wood and leather. Dropping back down to the floor, he presented it to his Prime Minister.
"I ain't no priest, so I'll have to paraphrase it." The chimp flipped to a page, placing on a pair of reading glasses. "Ah, 'ere it is. Says that about five hundred years after the Allgood left this world to live in the paradise of Ingull And, and another three hundred years after the Allgood's brothers all died out, a demon was cavortin' around Zebrica."
"Grinwa," Zecora hissed under her breath.
The Prime Minister nodded. "That's right, little lady. The demon Grinwa loved playin' his tricks on all the good creatures of the Earth, apes included. And we apes consulted the manuscripts of the Allgood, but she didn't leave no information about handlin' demons. But before we could enact the holy word of the Allgood, Grinwa was defeated in single combat by Talib. Let's see, says that the zebras stole the Eyes from Grinwa's corpse, and then basically went on a rampage. Twelve thousand zebra warriors and about a thousand ape warriors were utterly destroyed, their very bodies sucked dry of life."
"Sucked dry of life? Does that mean that the Eyes are some kind of vampire device?" Daring asked.
"Don't rightly know, the Eyes were never in ape hands. Anyhoo, it says that Talib stole the Eyes from his brethren and brought them here, knowin' we apes were too devout to use a demon's device. But he couldn't stay for long, and he asked the Prime Minister back then if he knew where to hide them where they would be safe. And apparently we knew a place, up the Zengo, on the Lake of Stars. And with our help, Talib started building his defenses there using some of the most powerful magics known in the world, maybe even the Eyes themselves. And as a last act, a coalition of chimps, shaman, abada zebra and even dozens of ponies all erected the Everguard as the first line of defense. Talib went with the Eyes to inspect their resting place, and never came back. Now that I've told you this, you tell me why you want the thing we worked so hard to keep sealed away."
Daring thought about the Eyes for a moment, that if they were actually as dangerous as everypony kept saying, she had to get them back to Equestria. "You know those agogwe I fought in the orchard? They're servants of a cruel warlord. And he wants the Eyes of the Demon for himself. And I know that if he gets them, everything here, everything you know and love, it will all be destroyed. I can take them back to a safe place, and I can stop him. But I need to get up that river before this warlord can."
The Prime Minister lit another bowl of tobacco, taking a deep puff. "Never said I was going to stop you. I'm just telling you that I'm not too worried about the safety of the Eyes. Nobody has ever made it past the first trial."
"And what if he does? Then we'll all wear the yolk of slavery. Please, your people need this from you, I need to know how to get past the trial," Daring begged.
The Prime Minister sat up in his chair. "If this is what the Allgood would want of us, then I'll send you with a guide. Jack! You've been up the river before, right?"
"Sure have, Mr Prime Minister."
"Good boy, Jackie, then you're gonna take this lovely zebra and her friends up as far as you can."
The chimp's eyes grew wide, and his jaw fell. "Is this punishment for that little accident with your daughter?"
"You call groping her at her own wedding and then stealing the wedding gifts an accident? By the Allgood's teachings, I don't want to know what happens when you do things intentionally."
Jack nodded to his elected leader, placing a fist over his heart. The Prime Minister slapped a fist over his own heart in response. Jack turned with his charges to leave, but his leader stopped him one more time. "And Jack, for expediency, just go ahead and take my boat. I know you were thinking about it anyways."
And then there was four. As the group walked down to the docks, Jack looped an arm over Timur's shoulder. "Looks like we're gonna be spendin' a lot more time together, buddy."
Timur glanced once again at the sky. "Yeye, if you are there, kill me now before I kill this ape." His comment went unnoticed by both gods and chimps. Reaching the dock on the Zengo River, Jack hopped into a modest river barge, motioning for his new companions to join him. Stepping uneasily onto the barge, Daring dropped her things by the stern.
With everypony settled in, the chimp pushed off from the dock, using a long pole to push them up the sluggish, brown expanse of the great river. The first step of this new journey had been undertaken, but it would not be by any means the easiest. Tipping her pith helmet over her eyes, Daring leaned back against a coiled pile of rope and tried to take a nap.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
The jungle had come full blast at the now party of four, and though her zebra friends and newly acquired monkey butler seemed nervous as the ape poled their river barge up the Zengo River, the familiar sounds of a thick, luscious rainforest was calming to the pegasus. The din of insects buzzing, the caws and cries of birds as they flew between the thick jungle canopy, it all seemed delightfully familiar. So similar to the Southern Jungles south of Mexicolt that it made Daring sigh with slothful relaxation.
The soft swish of water came again and again as Jack the chimp pushed the boat up the Zengo River. For what knowledge Daring had about ape society, the chimp seemed unnaturally quiet, at times even stoic. Timur and Zecora stayed quiet as well, sharpening blades, grinding herbs and doing other things to pass the time.
Resting on a pile of ropes, Daring leaned back and sketched once more. Doing a sketch of her new chimp companion, Daring wondered why she never heard much about apes before. The libraries in Canterlot just seemed devoid of them, only mentioning them in books of zoology and ecology. But she never knew apes could have such a complex society, with a government far more complex than her own. Lightly shading the fur on Jack's sketch, Daring felt eyes upon her. Turning around, she caught the ape's prying eyes whipping back up to stare down the river.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" asked Daring.
The ape tried to look innocent, keeping his eyes down the river. "Oh nothing, nothing." He waited for a few moments, biting down on his lip, his simian tendencies for curiosity making him almost sweat. "What you drawin' there?"
"You," Daring replied, a touch of laughter in her voice.
Jack took a more intent look at the drawing, nodding his head in approval. "You got my good side, props for that. Fur is a bit too thick though. You do pretty good for someone without fingers."
"Thanks, I took a few biology classes back in college. There was an entire two week course on properly drawing anatomy of a subject."
"Huh, didn't know zebras had colleges."
Daring chuckled a bit. "Well there's your problem, I'm not a zebra. I'm a pony from Equestria."
"Really? You look an awful lot like a zebra. You know, except for the lack of stripes, that gaudy color and those wings of yours. The mane is about the only thing that is vaguely zebra-ish about you. At first I believed you to be a genetic aberration and some kind of mutant. But you're too efficient and cancer free to be a mutant."
Daring's eyes shot open, looking down at her sepia pelt. "Gaudy?! I beg your pardon, sir! I was born this way! And I'll have you know that yellow is a very attractive coat color for ponies! And who are you calling a mutant? If anything those agogwe I laid into were mutants."
Jack let go of the pole for a moment, spreading his arms and looking to the sky. "Thank you! Someone finally agrees with me!" He resumed pushing the boat up the river. "If I were Prime Minister, there would be some serious changes about our relations with those freaks. That's my entire political platform; get rid of those walking herb gardens, then worry about trade agreements with the gorillas or the poor harvest or even the depressed economy. Too bad convicted felons can't run for public office."
At that last comment, everypony/ape went very silent for a few moments, Jack regretting ever opening his blabbing mouth.
Daring felt the permeating awkwardness, and felt prompted to break the ice again. "So....Jack....why do you hate the agogwe so much?"
The chimp breathed a sigh of relief that the question hadn't been about his criminal record. "Well, there's the fact that they killed my sister, my aunt, and my dad all in separate raids over the years. That, and they are unnatural. They were created by magic, and the holy word of the Allgood says that us chimps, bonobos, and gorillas are creatures of pure natural selection."
"Natural selection?" asked Daring.
"Yeah, evolution. We great apes evolved over hundreds of generations to become the epitome of intellect, strength and sophistication. It was only after the Allgood came and bestowed knowledge on us that we rose above the beasts and monsters of the world to claim our spot by her enlightened side."
The mark on Daring's head tingled, and she felt the urge to argue theology with the ape. "But what about me? I'm a mammal with bird feathers on her back. Not everything about that makes much natural sense."
Jack peered a discerning eye over Daring. "Eh, you're excusable. You're what the philosophers and biologists of the Zaius College call a 'Class 2'. Class 1's are just natural creatures like me or the zebras over there. Class 2's are creatures that might appear in nature, but show some magical influence or alteration, like you or an abada zebra. And Class 3's....they're the unnaturals like agogwes, kongomatos, and grootslangs. Class 2's can reach the Enlightenment, but not as fully as Class 1's."
Again, the ape's terminology went right over Daring's head. "So, I take it that religion is a big part of your society? Even bigger than the zebras belief in Yeye?"
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Prying much?"
"It's my job to pry, I'm an archaeologist and anthropologist. I live to seek answers about society and civilization."
Jack smiled wide. "Yes, ape society pretty much owes everything it is to religion. When the Allgood came down from Ingull And to teach us about the ways of being civilized, the apes were beasts and brutes. And only through her holy teachings about kindness, civility, and deep thought were we able to become what we are."
Again the mark on her head tingled a little bit, and Daring had the sudden thought that not all was as it seemed with the chimpanzee's prophet. "So, your prophet, was he a chimp like you?"
"She was the wisest of the Cousins."
"Who are the Cousins?"
"Who were the Cousins, you mean. The Cousins are the angelic race that were the forerunners of apekind. They transcended this world with the Allgood many millenia ago. When an ape dies, they go to join the Cousins in Ingull And."
Daring leaned back on her pile of rope, smiling and tipping her helmet forward. "Boy, it sure would be a contribution to society and history if I could learn more, maybe I could even reach Enlightenment," she said jokingly, knowing that she already possessed the enlightened touch of one deity.
The boat slowed to a stop, Jack leaping over to Daring and tipping her helmet. "You mean, you want to hear the Gospels? Every other race in Zebrica just kind of blows us off when we try to tell them about it!"
Caught between a zealous ape and the keel of a boat, Daring had no choice. "Uh, sure. I'd love to hear it. By why don't we wait until tonight? You know, so we can rest while you teach."
The chimp quivered with excitement at a potential new convert to his religion. "Splendid idea! Do you think your friends over there will want to join in on the Gospel studies?"
"Um, I think they're fine with their own god. Firm religious belief and all that."
Slumping over at the prospect of not converting the zebras, Jack ambled to the back of the boat, grabbing the pole and shoving off the river bottom again. "Oh well, the Allgood does preach tolerance of thought, including separate ideas of theology."
Tipping her helmet back over her eyes, Daring wondered what she had done and what the consequences of diving into an ape religion might be. Oh well, at least Jack wasn't going to sacrifice her to something or drag her off to a separate dimension of reality and plaster a tattoo on her head. The disapproving stares of Timur and Zecora seemed to confirm that.
******************************************
Dusk began to fall over the jungles, the true creatures of the night taking over for the day shift of birds and animals. Throwing a rope over a secure branch, Jack tied off their boat to a sandy shore. Though he said it was alright to get out and stretch on the sand bar, they would still have to sleep on the boat. Crocodiles liked to come ashore at night and bask in the sun's residual heat on the sand.
But Daring had little fear of crocodiles. Broadcasting her power of influence into the river, she told all reptiles to stay clear for the night. Almost as soon as she finished, the water was sliced by the tail scales of a titanic crocodile leaving the area, the swirls of water around him telling Daring that this was a very popular stretch of shore for crocs.
The shear size of the departing crocodiles astounded her. She ran into a lot of caiman down in the Southern Jungles, but nothing over ten feet. That brute was pushing twenty, and still growing. Staving off a shiver, she didn't care to know what other monstrously huge creatures inhabited the jungles.
Stretching out on the warm sands with Zecora, Daring sent the boys out to the woods to gather some wood for a fire. Male bonding and all that. But the argumentative shouts and ape shrieks that drifted in told the two mares that things weren't so dapper between the stallion and the chimp.
The sun was shining its last rays of daytime by the time the boys got back from the simple task of getting some firewood. Piling the kindling and setting it ablaze, Zecora placed a pot of tea on for the group. Scratching at her mane, Daring felt something crawling around. Noticing her plight, Jack ambled over. "I'll get it," he said with a grin. Dipping his fingers into her mane, Daring experienced something completely new, having the back of her neck being poked and prodded at by a set of unwashed primate fingers.
Triumphantly fishing the offending bug from her mane, the chimp nodded approvingly at it, bringing it closer to his face.
Ugh, please don't tell he's going to eat that, Daring thought to herself. Instead, the ape brought out a hook and threaded the beetle onto it. Walking over to the boat, he put on some string and cast it out into the river. After waiting a few moments, the chimp hooted excitedly, pulling in a flopping, silver scaled fish from the river.
To the horror of all three equines, he tossed the fish, whole and live, straight into the hot embers. "Anyone else want one?" the chimp asked.
"Okay, I would have preferred that you ate the bug," Daring said as the fish gave its final flops before going still in the fire.
Jack waved them off. "And waste a perfectly good piece of bait? Tempting, but no. You herbivores don't know what you're missing out on." After a few minutes of cooking alive in its own skin, Jack carefully pulled his meal from the coals. Trying to ignore him while taking their own dinner of cooked grains and a special tea, the two zebras stood up and walked away in disgust as the ape tore into the fish with his bare teeth. Jack ripped into the fish flesh with the gusto Daring had seen some ponies tear into a daisy sandwich after being starved for two days. And it didn't help with Daring's appetite as fish bones landed near her.
Licking his fingers with glee, Jack wiped them off on his fur pelt, going back over to the boat and retrieving a square parcel bound in water resistant cloth. Unwrapping it, Daring got a close look at the chimpanzee holy book. Deciding it was lesson time, she pulled out her own notebook and pencil. "Okay Daring Do, are you ready to be Enlightened?"
Out in the forest, Timur and Zecora got far enough away to where they could still see the glow of the campfire, but not smell the roasted fish. Sitting down on a rock, Timur was rather surprised as Zecora took a place next to him. Looking up to the night sky, Zecora gave a small grin. "A beautiful night, is it not? That we should take rest while Daring is taught."
"Yes, I forgot how good the skies are here in Zebrica. In Equestria, there are different constellations in the sky almost year round. And there are always so many clouds," Timur replied to the mare, staring up at a clear patch in the forest canopy at the endless stars in the sky. Even in such a small patch, they were uncounted in number.
Minutes passed with the two zebras watching nothing but the small patch of stars, the slow flash of fireflies in the surrounding jungle trying to give their own light show almost as a challenge to the stars. "Timur, do you ever feel regret? Did Zebrica leave your heart upset?"
Timur considered Zecora's words. "Well, of course I did. I didn't go a single day without feeling some kind of homesickness. Equestria may be more peaceful, more serene and more civilized, but it is not Zebrica. And nothing could ever be Zebrica." He resumed his watch of the stars, his eyes tracing the familiar constellations of the warrior and the serpent. "Zecora, do you ever have regrets about....well, us?"
"Ours was a marriage of convenience to be. Other than not uniting the tribes, no regret do I see."
"I know you don't regret not getting married to me, but what about before? Before we knew that it was to be forced upon us? Back when we were younger, and you and I would sneak away from our father's councils and share those special moments under the moon."
Zecora averted her gaze from the stars, taking a deep breath and thinking. "Yes, I do miss those days. Back when love was in our gaze. A proud, young warrior I saw in you, handsome to behold with a softer touch than I ever knew." Zecora looked Timur deeply in his sapphire blue eyes. "But those days are done and gone. You broke my heart like the sun breaks dawn."
"I was trying to do the best I could for my people," Timur replied quietly, "they needed me to learn as much as I could before I took on the mantle of chieftain. And I know that tore us apart, both on the Earth and in the heart. I still feel for you, Zecora. After all the years and the shame of leaving my tribe for a more peaceful land, I still feel something for you."
The mare turned away, holding back the small tear of sorrow, yet the tear of joy that she had not been forgotten. "And I still feel something deep within myself for you. But our day has passed, and it cannot be true." The mare looked at the handsome stallion in the moonlight, seeing past the shamed and scorned stallion who had run from his own marriage to hide in the pony land. "But, maybe we can relive some of our earlier days. Let's see the stallion whose vigor I used to praise." Zecora slid a little closer to Timur on the rock.
"Seriously? But I thought you sold me off to Daring," Timur said inquisitively, intrigued as to where this was going.
"That mare wouldn't know how to handle this one. Let's do it like we used to and make it fun." Zecora leaned over and planted a kiss straight onto Timur's lips, holding him there for a moment. Standing up, she brushed his chin with her striped tail. A certain gleam in her eye brought Timur to full attention, and a coy smile spread across his face.
"But I thought you were angry that I left you unwed and a spinster."
Zecora chuckled, coming close to his ear to whisper, "Catch me, and I might forgive you."
"So, this old game? What did we call it, Lion and Gazelle?" Zecora nodded to the stallion before taking off into the brush. "I love this game," Timur said quietly, leaping from his seat and bounding through the jungle to chase down his prey.
***********************************************
The night passed with Daring actually learning much from the chimp. She expected a load of bigoted, ape supremacist propaganda. But many of the lessons taught in the ape holy book by the prophet Allgood actually rang with civil truth. Most of it seemed like common knowledge to Daring, like being considerate of others and giving more than you receive. But other lessons seemed to strike a chime to Daring, like cherishing knowledge and knowing the connection between things. And something about the ape's respect of the Allgood and the Cousins seemed to tingle Daring's mark and make her think of something familiar.
That seemed to be happening quite a bit lately. Things in nature just seemed to set it off. Was it warning her, or was it just reacting to her own feelings and instincts? Who was really in control here; the touch of a god, or the pegasus endowed with it?
The night dragged on, the preaching chimp finally deciding that they needed rest for the evening at around midnight. Daring wondered where the zebras went, but relaxed when they both walked back to the boat around two in the morning. With a slight smirk from her bed of blankets, she noticed how chivalrous Timur was acting, offering his hoof to Zecora as he climbed aboard.
********************************************
Oh how disappointed the warlord was with his windriders.
They had been doing so well, scouting the jungles like the good little monkeys they were for N'dutu's foe and competition, Daring Do. Grimhide dragged in the surviving kongomato pilot, tossing him on the dirt floor of the warlord's temporary tent. The plant covered wretch sniveled and tried to scamper away, Grimhide stomped a foot on his back. Grabbing his leg, the gnoll tossed the agogwe back to the foot of the throne.
N'dutu looked down at him with disdain. "A simple task...."
"It's not my fault!" shrieked the shamed rider.
"How is it not? From what your surviving crew tells me, you stopped to take potshots at chimpanzees. Yet, even attacking unarmed farmers, you still managed to get annihilated. You had the simple task of finding and capturing Daring Do, yet you lost it all to shoot at monkeys." The warlord nodded to Grimhide, the gnoll's smile splitting his face as he grabbed the windrider by the foot and began to drag him out.
"NO! She was there!" screamed the rider in desperation.
The warlord raised a hoof, his interest piqued. "Wait, Grimhide." The gnoll scowled, letting go of his prisoner.
Crawling back to the throne, the agogwe prostrated himself. "A gold zebra with wings. She was there. She fought like ten warriors, and somehow turned our own mounts against us! She just flew between the last two kongomatos, and then they started fighting! They never fight each other, not when mounted!"
The warlord placed his hooves together, staring down his failed scout. "So, you are saying that not only did you alienate a possible ally, lose a wing of my aerial corp, but you also failed to capture a weakling pony from Equestria and lost control of your mounts at the same time! Grimhide, do as you please!"
Grimhide bowed to his alpha, grabbing the simian monster by the leg and dragging him out of the tent. Standing from his throne, N'dutu left the tent. As he walked towards the edge of his encampment, the three wild cats provided by his ally fell in around him, along with a squadron of his elites. He had an appointment to make, and it would not do to be late.
Picking up to a canter, he and his torch bearing warriors passed through the lowlands of the night jungle, on their way to rendezvous with a possible ally. The jungles had slowed his army significantly, the beasts and the artillery were holding back the main force of foot soldiers, who would have made the journey much quicker had it not been for the more cumbersome units of the army. And not only that, many of his soldiers were starving from the cut supply lines and bore wounds from the ever increasing raids from all sides.
The armed group came to the rendezvous point, spreading out in the forest clearing to check for any hidden traps. Satisfied with their meeting place, they fell into a circle around N'dutu. The warlord waited, the crackle of torches and the hum of night insects being the loudest noise.
His sharp ears caught a strange noise, the crack of a twig in the brush. His loyal warriors aimed their spears out into the dark, expecting an ambush. N'dutu motioned to them to sheathe their weapons, and slowly his guards did as he told them to. Out of the dark came a chimpanzee covered in wooden armor, then another.
Out of the forest brush came an entire squadron of the wood armored apes, spreading out in the clearing and warily watching the ring of zebras and gnolls. Believing the scene to be all clear, one hooted back to the forest. A chimp in much finer garb than his companions slowly sauntered into the clearing, past his guards and towards the warlord. N'dutu also broke through his own ring of guards, approaching the chimp in the center of the clearing.
"Have you considered my offer, Prime Minister?" asked N'dutu.
The chimp sighed. "It is a generous offer, ruling over the other apes like an emperor, having all the power and wealth of Zebrica at my disposal. Truly you are a fair and wise lord of your people. And all I have to do is have my soldiers guide yours to the Everguard and beyond."
N'dutu grinned, the chimpanzee nation had been an even easier conquest than the gnolls. "Together, our forces will be unstoppable. With the Eyes of the Demon in my grasp, entire continents will learn to bow before us superior creatures."
The Prime Minister maintained his look of disinterest, even reaching into a pants pocket and pulling out a pipe of tobacco to puff on. "Which is why I must decline your offer," he said as he lit his pipe, taking a deep puff.
The warlord stiffened, his gaze turning to rage at this denial. "And why would you deny me? The zebra who is to be master of all Zebrica?"
"Because, right before your emissary came to me, a golden zebra came with her companions. They wished to know how to get the Eyes, and I told them." The warlord scowled, dragging his hoof through the soft forest dirt. "And this pony came to me, telling me that your forces had come to my lands, killing my people for sport. And you know what else this pony did? She reminded me of the most sacred concepts to apekind. She told me that you would see all the world under your lash and in your slave collars. I cannot ally with you, nor will any of my people or any of the other apes. You treat the most sacred right of the Allgood's teaching like grass to be trampled under your hooves. That pony, she reminded me that freedom is sacred, more so than any petty artifact. And when she finds the Blind Warrior's Burden, I hope she dangles it in front of your nose before bearing that cursed thing away from here."
The Prime Minister spun on his heels, walking proudly off into the forest, his warriors falling in behind him. He was supremely proud of himself, he stood up to the most powerful and dangerous being in all of Zebrica, escaped unharmed and rubbed his nose in the dirt.
N'dutu fumed with rage, turning back to his force, he stalked back towards his own encampment. "When I have the Eyes in my hooves, your nation will be the first I raze, monkey," N'dutu hissed under his breath. As his warriors surrounded him, something foul flew through the air, splattering on the warlord's chest. The horrid stench of excrement drifted into his nose, and N'dutu screamed into the night as the hoots of chimp laughter came from the trees.
**********************************************
The group had resumed their journey up the Zengo River, their progress making leaps and bounds due to Jack's knowledge of the twisting and often labyrinthine maze of channels and off shoot rivers. Daring sat with her back against the stern, resting her eyes from last night's extensive and in depth Gospel lessons. Jack the Chimp seemed more overjoyed than ever, even singing some odd song as he pushed the boat upriver.
And Timur and Zecora, Daring could just say it simply that they were much more comfortable around each other now, even chatting mildly in a zebra language. It only confirmed her suspicions when her sharp hearing caught the word 'ngiri' being used without Timur flying off the handle, instead laughing gently at it.
Fluttering on her wings over to the pair of zebra, she landed as daintily as a damselfly on the prow of the boat. "Whatcha' talkin' 'bout?" she asked like a curious child.
"Nothing that concerns you, little busy bee," Timur said to his charge.
"Where'd ya go last night, Dad ?" Daring asked with certain emphasis.
"Just out to the forest for a little stroll, nothing to be overly concerned about."
"Who said I'm concerned? I'm just happy for both of you," Daring said smugly, levitating a few inches off the surface of the water and landing back by Zecora. Giving the mare a friendly look, she tapped her on the shoulder. "Good job, you actually snagged him. Now just holding him down is the main problem."
Zecora blushed. "Were we not so subtle? Is that the trouble?"
"Trouble? No trouble, I'm just glad that you two overcame your differences and did the horizontal mambo. I could feel the tension between you two like the string on a guitar." Daring shrugged eyebrows suggestively. As Zecora opened her mouth to retort, the boat crashed into something, throwing everypony down in a heap. "What was that?!" Daring shouted, taking to the air to search for danger.
Jack appeared unfazed. "Well folks, this is your captain speaking. We appear to have passed the first milestone of the forbidden zone. If you'll look off the starboard bow, you'll notice why nobody comes up here."
Rushing to the starboard bow, Daring peered off into the murky water. What she saw astounded her. An entire ship lay underwater, its hull crushed like a tin can and covered in white sticks. Her jaw dropped as she realized the white sticks were bones. Bones of zebras, bones of chimps, bones of whatever was foolish enough to come up this stretch of river.
"What could have done this?" Daring asked aloud.
"That's not the only one," Timur said, lifting Daring's head to look at the river around them. Crashed boats lay everywhere on the shore and in the river, the pale green of moss covered skeletons showing every now and then.
"What in Tartarus lives here?"
"That's the thing, nothing lives here. Not even mindless animals. They're all too afraid," Jack replied. "There's great magic around here, magic that does not take well to intruders." The further Jack poled them up the river, the more unholy this land seemed. The trees turned from a majestic and powerful stance to that of a bent old pony. Their branches became gnarled and bare, long beards of moss growing down from them. There were no sounds of animals, and what they did see fled before they could lay eyes on it. It felt like the great swamps of southern Equestria, but devoid of life.
The landscape began to change, off in the distance, a grand cliff seemed to rise from the jungle, ending the endless sea of green and life. Though calm on the outside, Daring's eyes were frantic in their search for whatever had made this endless graveyard of ships, canoes, rafts, and barges, their skeletal pilots still clutching the oars hundreds of years after their death.
In the prow, Zecora quietly chanted a mystic ward to keep away the unrestful and evil spirits that must inhabit this foul swamp. Even Jack muttered a prayer to the Allgood, seeking the holy guidance of his prophet as they tread the waters of this unholy place.
The further they pushed up the river, the more destroyed boats they saw. And not only that, in the thinning trees they saw the skeletons of creatures seemingly crushed by some mysterious force. Wagons were shattered into splinters, spears and shields of brave warriors who thought they could fight their way to the Eyes lay strewn about.
Rounding a bend on the river, the forest seemed to end at a line, a cratered plain of hardy grasses and bushes stretching up to the base of the cliff. And as Daring's view took in the gorge that cut through the massive cliffside where the Zengo River lazily flowed from, she saw them.
"What are they?" she asked quietly.
Her companions surrounded her, looking at the strange sight that stood on either side of the gorge.
"I've never seen them this close before," Jack murmured in disbelief. "They're the only known representation of the Cousins."
"The most fearsome of all creatures to ever walk Yeye's Earth. No wonder their image was chosen to guard the Tomb," Timur whispered.
"Wale Mrefu," Zecora said, doing a warding symbol.
"The Everguard," Daring said, making the connection. On either side of the river stood a titanic pair of statues, easily 150 feet tall, depicting strange creatures that looked somewhat like Jack. They stood proud, bearing huge spears that were thicker than the trunks of most trees. Each one bore a oval shield that could have shaded the entire river. Their bald heads, smooth skin, and odd featured faces pulled a thought to Daring.
Reaching into her pouch, she fumbled around until she brought out her notebook. Flipping through the pages, she came to the sketches of Yeye. Holding the book up next to her view of the Everguard, she compared the unknown form of the goddess to these stone creatures. "They're the same. Yeye didn't appear as a chimpanzee, she appeared as a demon. Demon....those are the demons!"
She could barely contain her excitement at this revelation. "I always thought they were some kind of tall pony or some other creature! Don't you all realize!? These are the creatures whose legacy I've been finding throughout my entire life! These are the creatures that Princess Celestia has been hiding from me! Jack, I can see the family resemblance, they look almost like you!" While Daring stared with childlike glee and fascination at the slowly approaching Everguard, the zebras and Jack weren't so excited.
"Jack, doesn't your holy book say that the Everguard are the first line of defense?" asked Timur.
Jack nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving the colossal stone statues. "Yeah, that's right. The Everguard were erected with powerful magic to be the first line of defense against intruders to Talib's Tomb."
"How are statues supposed to defend a gorge?"
"I don't think they're exactly statues."
As Daring kept drinking in the sight of the Tall One Everguards, she noticed something at the face. "Hey, who keeps those fires fueled in their eyes?"
Zecora looked up at the face of the statue, squinting at the eyes. "Fires?" Her eyes grew wide as she realized what was truly going on. "Jack! Turn the boat around! Get us somewhere safe and sound!"
"No need to tell me twice!" the chimp shouted, digging his pole into the riverbed to stop the boat.
Daring almost laughed at them. "What are you guys worried about? They're just-" A great rumbling and scraping silenced the pegasus. With her eyes wide, she slowly turned around. The head of both colossi turned and stared down at the small boat. Leaning forward, the Everguard lifted their titanic stone feet and took an earth quaking step forward onto the plain and separating themselves from the cliff face. "-statues," Daring finished.
"Sweet Yeye, they're golems!" Timur shouted.
"What are golems?!? How do we stop them!?" Daring shouted as she lifted off, grabbing a chunk of rope in her teeth and futilely trying to tow the boat backward. The giant stone colossi lifted their shields, slamming them into the riverbed. A wave of water nearly swamped the boat, but more importantly the golems had blocked the way up the river.
"Golems are stone creatures! Wizards sometimes have them as familiars! But they're never that big!" Timur screamed as he tried to think of a way to get past.
Grabbing the rope in her teeth again, Daring pulled the boat to the side, right as a pillar of a spear slammed into the river where they had been seconds before, sending a plume of water skyward and a large wave radiating around. Scooping water out of their boat, Timur kept thinking of ways to fight golems. "The only thing that can stop them is their conjurer! And they're all dead!"
"JACK! Try talking to them! They're your cousins!" Daring dove down and pried the shivering ape from the bottom of the boat, setting him at the prow to face down both advancing titans.
"I don't have any cousins! They're long gone! These are just stone impersonations!" the chimp cried before diving back down to the bottom of the boat, grabbing some kind of float. "Abandon ship! Every ape for himself!"
As the Everguard drew closer with their slow, earthshaking steps, Daring's mark almost burned like fire. "Only one thing left to try," she murmured as they both cocked back their arms for another thrust of their huge spears. Standing at the front of the boat on her hind hooves, she spread her forelegs and wings, pulling off her helmet and letting the mark shine in the light. Shutting her eyes, she waited for the death blow, expecting the mountain of stone spear to come and crush her like a gnat.
Moments passed in utter silence. Sweating hard and panting, she cracked open an eye. Hovering mere inches from her face, the weapons of the Everguard hung motionless in the air, as still as the stone they were made from. Their bearers stood still, the magic fire in their eyes taking on a different color. The two golems retracted their weapons, standing back to their full height. The one closest to them leaned back down, opening his massive stone fingers and grasping Daring by her jacket collar as gently as a giant stone monster could do.
Lifting her to its chiseled face, it stared at her with magical eyes. Daring raised a hoof and waved it awkwardly. "Um, hi. Can you understand me?" The massive golem nodded. "So, you're not going to hurt me?" Again it nodded, each nod loosening a torrent of dust and loose stone. Placing her gently on his shoulder, the Everguard golem leveled its spear to once again attack the boat. "Woah! No! Stop! They're with me. They're cool, alright?" The golem hesitated, lowering his spear. It turned to its eternal companion, seeming to convey this message that this blessed one did not want them hurt.
The other golem nodded, reaching down and pulling his shield from the river. A torrent of mud and water fell as it stepped back towards the cliff to take its place once again on its pedestal. Leaning down, the golem deposited Daring in her boat, taking a step back and placing a fist over its chest, bowing slightly to Daring. Its companion did the same.
Looking back, Daring placed a shaky hoof over her heart, warily returning their obeisance. The Everguard grabbed his shield from the river, stepping back onto his pedestal to become a facade of a stone statue. Turning back around, Daring beheld her companions shivering, clutching one another like frightened foals. "Okay, I think we just got the all clear."
"I'm not moving a damn inch," Jack said, the zebras nodding frantically in agreement.
"Move it, or I'll have my new friends throw us there!" Instantly the other three were on their feet, scrambling for a pole, an oar or a long branch to paddle with. Paddling themselves into the gorge, Daring had a thought. Flying back to the Everguard statue, she hovered in front of its face. She scratched the back of her neck with a hoof. "Hey, I know this might be asking a little much, but there's an army following us. Do you think you could maybe slow them down a bit? You know, it's just a request, you don't have to do it if you don't want to."
The stone face slowly nodded, its lips curling into a smile. Though wordless, Daring felt the implied message.
With pleasure.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
As Daring Do and her misfit party of zebras and an ape paddled their way up the Zengo River, through the deep gorge guarded by the great stone effigies of the Everguard, the feeling of an accursed land washed away with the slow waters of the river. The smooth stone walls of the gorge bounced back every noise that they made, even the soft swish of an oar in the water was heard again as the echoes bounced back.
But, to their relief, the Everguard's penchant for destroying literally anything that dared to come up the Zengo seemed to stop at the mouth of the gorge, and once the feeling of an accursed land passed, the signs of life came back. Scrubby plants clung to whatever stretches of sand and shore that presented themselves in the river's twisted course. The splash of a crocodile coming into the water could be heard as their boat passed by, and schools of fish fled as the shadow of the craft drifted upstream.
"So, did they all act like that?" Daring asked to nopony in particular.
"Did who act like what?" Timur asked back.
"You know, Wale Mrefu, the Cousins, whatever you like to call them. Were they really that defensive of things? And were they really that tall?"
Jack gave a snicker. "No way, sister. They were angels on this Earth. And only about a foot taller than myself."
"Angels?! They were destroyers of sea and land! Entire nations were felled by their hand!" Zecora rather abruptly retorted.
The chimp dropped his paddle, stepping up to the mare and jabbing her with a finger. "And what would you know about it? Huh? What do you have against apes in general to bad mouth even the ones who are long dead? You know, they say never to speak ill of the dead, which you zebras seem to piss on every time there's a full moon. Back there, those things, those golems, they're the closest thing we apes have to having gods. If your precious zebra of all stripes cared for her children, why would she wipe them out, huh? Ever think of that?" Finishing his tirade, the chimp slowly walked to the back of the scow, grabbing his oar and resuming paddling.
Zecora sat flabbergasted, unable to think of a proper response that would keep the chimp from tearing out her eyes. Sighing at the truth of the ape's words, she grabbed her oar and kept paddling.
"What was that about?" Daring whispered to Timur.
Timur glanced the chimp's direction, noticing his hushed and silent chants of his scripture. "I once knew an elder of my tribe who said he went to one of the chimp's colleges in a quest for knowledge. He lasted less than three weeks, but while he was there, he learned why the apes are so reverent of their prophet. They feel that when Yeye went to war with Wale Mrefu, it was an attack on their entire family tree. They think that if she wiped them out, what is stopping her from turning on their close relatives too? They do not scorn Yeye, they are afraid of her. The apes are some of the few races that still know what the Tall Ones were capable of, and if their empire was crushed, the humble chimps would stand no chance if Yeye decided to thin the ranks again."
Daring felt the animosity and the vast gulf between the zebras and the chimpanzee. "But, when I was there, she seemed so kind. She regretted ever lifting a hoof in anger, and she told me they weren't supposed to be destroyed. I mean, after seeing what my mark does, how can he even keep that up?"
"Daring, I don't know if he can even see your mark."
The thought had never occurred to her, could those who didn't believe even see her mark? It came to her, none of the chimps had even commented on her odd silver tattoo of a spiral, even when her pith helmet was off. Taking her helmet off, Daring turned back to the chimp. "Hey, uh, Jack. Do I have anything on my face?" She waved a hoof around her mouth, then moved up to her forehead area.
The chimp scanned her with disinterested eyes. "Nope, clean as a whistle."
Her jaw fell slightly slack, and Daring placed her helmet back on her head, grabbing her oar and paddling. What in Tartarus could that possibly mean that he couldn't see it? Silence once again engulfed the scow, and the crew of four kept paddling up the Zengo, towards its headwaters at the Lake of Stars.
************************************
They were getting bolder, the constant raids getting closer to the main body of the army as they marched through the jungles along the banks of the Zengo River. Sometimes it would come at night, while the weary and hungry soldiers of the warlord slept fitfully. The war cries of varying tribes of Zebrica waking up the sentries, only to go silent as the raiders leapt back into the shadows, gone back to their hiding places as quickly as they had come.
But not only zebras from the Din'Jaro and their allies, but sometimes along the forest trail, a cry of pain would resound from the marching columns, a chimpanzee arrow stuck in the poor bastard's flank. There were worse fates than arrows of course. The chimpanzee Prime Minister must have ordered his troops to go all out on the guerrilla tactics, and sometimes entire squadrons would be injured, poisoned, or even killed by their insanely clever and frustrating booby traps.
Riding in his litter born by twelve strong slaves, N'dutu's tapped a hoof in frustration. They weren't making the progress he had desired, and his sponsor was growing impatient. They could have taken the boats upriver, but building enough to float an army would have taken a week of sitting still, and by then Daring Do could have gotten the Eyes and been on her merry way back to Equestria.
Even sending scouts up the river seemed more difficult. Passing through a certain stretch of river, most of the zebra scouts in their canoes had been tipped over by some of the most titanic crocodiles they had ever seen. As he sat there, impatiently urging his tired force forward, he remembered how his arena beasts had gone on a rampage in all the wrong places, how the kongomatos fought one another where normally they would have worked together. Even the mosquitoes around here seemed to make more warriors sick with their plagues than usual. It was almost as if-
"-nature is on her side," he murmured. But it couldn't be possible, the spirits didn't take sides in mortal affairs, his years as a failed shaman had proven that time and time again. Or did they? It could just be a streak of bad luck, nearly a third of his army infected by disease and all of them marching on empty stomachs, animals acting in ways that always panned out in her favor, even the spirits were fighting back when summoned by his shaman.
Drawing down the curtains on the side of his litter, he lifted the large sapphire necklace which never left his neck. He still didn't know how it worked, but somehow Ahuitzotl would always know when he was being contacted. The mists of magic swirled inside of the facets of the gem, clearing to show the fanged, dark blue face of Ahuitzotl. The creature appeared bored, even tired from some unknown exertion. On his shoulder rested a fluffy, white housecat, who he scratched with his fingered tail.
"What have you called me for, whelp?" Ahuitzotl said through the gemstone.
"I need an answer to a question. My forces are encountering things that cannot be explained by chance alone. Can you use your magic and find out what is wrong?"
Ahuitzotl rolled his eyes, slapping a hand to his broad face. "You have called me because your pitiful armies have not yet learned to deal with a few bug bites? Chance happens, dear friend. Learn to deal with it." The mists began to swirl again, Ahuitzotl cutting off from his end.
"Wait, can you not use your magic to divine what the cause of this is? There has to be something you can do to assist me. Daring Do is days ahead of my forces, she may even be at the headwaters of the Zengo already!"
The mists cleared again, the face of the monkey-dog looking very agitated. "I will do what I can, but I cannot expose my power too much. There are those seeking me whose wrath would be rather hard to avoid if I used too powerful of a magic." Closing his eyes, the creature reached off to the side, pulling out a strange artifact and focusing to bring it to power. Murmuring some incantation, the statuette took on a glow, sending a tendril through the gemstone and out into the Zebrican jungles.
The creature seemed to shudder, grinding his teeth and withdrawing his tendril of exploratory magic. Ahuitzotl panted through the gem, his eyes fearful of what he saw. "There are forces out there, far greater than either of us. To them, our efforts are but pawns in their great game." The mists began to fade once again, Ahuitzotl needing to let the magic of his artifacts replenish itself. "Be warned, N'dutu. I sensed a powerful magic that does not take well to intruders, just a few miles ahead of your army."
Laying down the gemstone necklace, N'dutu pulled his curtain's back on his litter. Peering out into the trees, he was shocked by how quickly the forest had changed. The trees seemed bent and decrepit, the ground covered in a thick moss that crunched as the hooves of his soldiers stepped on them. Even the air had a different scent to it, one of decay and ancient stillness.
Something about this place reminded the warlord of the old stories of angered ghosts and foul demons that the elders told around the hearth to scare the young foals. He shivered as he remembered the way he always wept for his mother after hearing those stories, but his mother always told him they were made up. In his mind, those ghost stories were always set in a place as dead and as foreboding as this.
His soldiers walked with even more silence than normal, their eyes darting back and forth, searching for the source of the magic that had been the doom of many foolish travelers. Those still inclined or secretly still worshiping the mare of all stripes muttered prayers for mercy under their breath, or discreetly made warding signs in the air.
The further his army crept into this land of the dead, the more N'dutu felt his intrusion being noticed by an extremely powerful watcher. And the closer they got to the source of this magic, the fresher the skeletons seemed. The crunch of bones under their hooves sent shivers down the spines of the slave soldiers. At the back of the columns, the nandi snarled at shadows, straining at their reins as their riders struggled to keep them from bolting. The grootslangs had stopped completely, milling about in a small herd as their mahouts tried to spur them forward.
The influence seemed to even stretch into the sky, the kongomatos circling about aimlessly, nervous about coming any closer to the base of the upcoming escarpment. Only their strong loyalty to their riders kept them inching forward.
A claw touched N'dutu on the shoulder, startling the warlord. He relaxed as he saw Grimhide riding his mount next to the litter. "Alpha should see this," Grimhide said before riding a few steps forward. Bringing out a short lash, he smacked the shoulders of his slave bearers, urging them after the gnoll general.
By the time he caught up with Grimhide, the first ranks of the army had crossed a mysterious threshold and stood on a scrubby plain covered in craters. The plain stretched to the base of the shear cliff at the edge of the escarpment. But what drew his attention were the two titanic statutes standing guard over the mouth of the Zengo River as it slowly meandered out of a gorge cut into the cliff face.
Out here in the clear land, the skeletons seemed to be the most plentiful, but also the most abused. They were crushed beyond recognition, many ground into a powdery white dust. Stepping out of his born litter, N'dutu inspected the map his servants had presented to him many days ago, proclaiming that it showed the location of the Everguard.
"Where is the Everguard? All I see are those foul statues. Grimhide! Find my scholars and have them flogged until they can give me a better answer than this."
Grimhide bowed from the saddle, turning his mount about and loping off towards the back of the army. But the influx of soldiers spreading out into the cleared lands slowed him down, and Grimhide wheeled his mount about. His single good eye spied something about the statues. "Master, were statues always smiling like that?"
N'dutu lashed out with his short whip, catching the gnoll on the shoulder. "Statues do not smile, you mutt. Your eye is playing tricks on you."
But the moment the Everguard golems slowly stepped away from the cliff face, Grimhide vowed to never take his limited vision for granted ever again. Their stone grins were almost ear to ear as they began their biggest extermination effort to date. Thrusting with their titanic spears, they crushed entire units of infantry, sending sprays of stone and dirt flying with the gore of mutilated corpses.
"Attack them! Bring them down!" N'dutu shouted to his soldiers. His slave troops looked at him like he was mad, throwing down their weapons and running back for the treeline rather than having to face certain death. "Cowards! Each of you shall be flogged!" he tried to shout over the dying screams of entire units as the Everguard jabbed with their spears and stomped their feet.
Obeying their warlord, several raised up bows and shot at the golems, only to have their arrows bounce off. Those bold enough to get close enough to attack the feet were typically the first to die. Throwing down their weapons, the army fell back to the bent and twisted forest.
But the Everguard seemed to respect their limit, only staying in the clearing to stomp on any wounded. But those big, dumb grins never left their stone faces as they slaughtered his army. The last stragglers made it back to the trees, having escaped certain death. The giant golems stood ready, crouched into their battle poses and slamming their spears on their shields, each contact sounding like a thunderbolt.
Looking back at his scared and demoralized troops, N'dutu fumed like no other. If these were the Everguard, surely Daring Do had met the same fate as the piles of gore that had been at least two hundred soldiers out there. Not only did nature conspire against him, powerful magics seemed to as well.
Grabbing the necklace, N'dutu tore it off and stared into the large facet, calling to Ahuitzotl. Again the mists of magic parted to show the annoyed face of the monkey-dog. "WHAT?! I have important business to attend to, and your inconvenience could be no greater!"
"We have a problem," N'dutu replied. Turning the gem, he faced it towards the towering golems.
Facing the gem back to himself, Ahuitzotl seemed fairly impressed. "Amazing, how effective are they?"
"Now is not the time to enjoy the sights! They have slaughtered at least two hundred of my soldiers, and they block the way upriver."
Ahuitzotl tsked audibly through the gem. "A shame, they appear to be the finest specimens of golems that I have ever lain eyes upon. Were I there, I could take them for myself, and then nothing could stand in my way."
"How do we fight them?!" N'dutu shouted.
"A golem like those two can take incredible punishment before breaking the spells of binding laid upon their stones. You have two options, find another way around, or waste most of your army and the better part of a day grinding them to dust."
Stomping a hoof, N'dutu ground his teeth. "There is no way around, the cliff face is five hundred feet tall and all our maps show no other pass!"
"You have artillery, do you not?"
"Yes."
The mist began to fog the stone once again. "Then fight stone with stone, you imbecile." Laying down the speaker stone, N'dutu wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. The Everguard would not go past the trees, so why not hit them from a safe distance?
Turning to some of his officers, he shouted, "Kuleta silaha nzito mbele!" They nodded before running back to the rear of the column, informing the artillery crews to pull their war machines forward and fire on the golems.
It took nearly two hours for the entire infantry and mounted forces to slice through the dead jungle and drag the catapults within firing range. Using all their abada zebra magic, they levitated the heaviest stones they could into the machines. The sun set low on the horizon before they even managed to fire the first shot.
Launching the large boulder, it sailed through the air, crashing into the broad shield of one of the Everguard golems. The golem itself didn't budge as it was struck, but its shield showed chips and cracks where it had been struck.
"Keep firing! I don't care if you have to destroy them with a hammer and chisel, just do it quickly!" the warlord screamed to his artillery captains. They continued the bombardment, the Everguard taking it like a shower of rain. The hail of stone continued, eventually breaking off huge chunks of their shields.
Exposing the face of one, the captain ordered an increase in elevation, firing the catapult with deadly precision. The huge stone sailed through the air, past the crumbled shield and slamming into the golem's face. A shower of stone and dust exploded from its face, the golem slowly reaching up with a hand and clutching the wound like a normal creature would. Sparks arced between the loose stone chips, dissipating as the binding magic laid hundreds of years ago was dispelled by the destruction of the golem.
Encouraged by their success, all the crews aimed their catapults through the gaps in the golem's defenses, firing for the vulnerable chest and head. The injured golem still reeled as more stones flew past his shield and impacted into his chest and head.
"Bring it down! BRING IT DOWN!" N'dutu shouted to his crews. Firing one lucky shot, a stone sailed past the flailing arms and struck solidly on the golem's face. With its features shattered, the great stone monster groaned, swaying on its feet. The sparks of dispelling magic shot through it like lightning, and the golem became as stiff as solid stone, falling forward and shattering. The impact shook the landscape for miles, knocking many off their feet and causing a minor earthquake.
The remaining Everguard looked over to its companion, and if it were possible for stone to shed tears, a tear would have fallen gently down his cheek. Standing tall, he tossed his shield toward the river, cocking back his spear as the artillery re-positioned to fire on him. Hurling his only weapon, the spear skidded along the ground, shattering the trees like matchsticks and crushing dozens of his enemies.
As the cascade of stones struck him all over his body, the Everguard's magic began to dispel from the punishment. He fell to his knees, his entire existence validated by the thought that though he failed at his eternal task, he would not leave the world alone. His stone crumbled under the onslaught, and the last Everguard fell to the ground, a lifeless field of shattered rock.
All around him, N'dutu could feel the presence of the defensive magic dispel. It was as if a veil had been lifted from the forest, and without even congratulating his artillery crews, he ordered his entire army to begin building rafts.
*********************************************
Daring took in a whiff of air, a more organic scent lingering in her nostrils. They had spent two days straight on the Zengo River, meandering through the canyon that led to what they believed to be the Lake of Stars. And that time had gone quietly, much to her chagrin. Her companions did not chatter like they used to, perhaps it was the anticipation of what was coming, perhaps it was simply the gulf between all of them.
The scents of life on the air had become more and more prominent, and the plants decorating the shore became thicker and fuller. Even the river itself had a different feel about it. Not the slow, sluggish feel of the river as it flowed through the jungle, the water soupy and dark. Nor did it seem like the turgid waters of the forbidden zone, where the water stayed clearer to warn the wary about those foolish enough to come before them. No, the water here was clear as crystal, and seemed to flow with purpose. Dipping a hoof into the waters, she felt the coolness rush across her skin, inviting her to simply dive in and escape the ever present and oppressive heat of Zebrica.
The canyon began to broaden, opening slowly into a valley. The stone walls still seemed to steep and too loose to scale, but as they broadened outwards, trees began to conquer the shore, entire fields of papyrus reeds seeming like the spring fields of grain in the farmlands of Equestria.
But as she peered into the water, the fish of the canyonland seemed absent, and indeed all the fish had left the area.
Looking off into the distance, she saw the river broaden out into a vast lake, the center of which was broken by a tall spire of rock. An entire jagged mountain speared out of the dead center of the lake, and the walls of the canyon stretched out and around in a ring of black stone. Leaping from the boat, Daring spread her wings and flew to the low, fluffy clouds.
"It's a volcano," she said to herself as she got a better look from above. The entire lake was formed from the ancient eruption of some gargantuan volcano, with the mountain in the center being an old magma core. It was nearly a perfect ring around the mountain, with a stretch of sandy shore concentric to the hard, uninviting obsidian of the old crater.
And in that mountain, through that massive crack the lay open in the side of the peak, lay her goal. In there, Talib's Tomb had gone undisturbed for centuries, and so had his burden and the curse of Zebrica. Looking down to her companions, they appeared to be rowing towards the shore to rest and prepare for the last trial.
Landing down with them, she felt the shivers of anticipation, the cold emptiness inside that was always filled by the rush of adrenaline as she reached her goal. But her companions seemed more morose, and once she landed on the sandy shore with the zebras, Jack walked over with his holy book in an arm.
"Well, here's where we part ways, Daring Do. I brought you up the river, farther than most could ever have gotten you. I know things haven't been the smoothest between your friends and I, and I apologize for that. I have a gift for ya." He lifted out the holy book, bound tightly and lovingly in a waterproof cloth. "You've been one of the best potential converts I have ever met, may the Allgood bless your holy mission."
Daring took the book, holding it with reverence. Placing it in her pack gently, she gave the ape a hoofed hug. "Thanks, furball. Maybe one day everypony can just sit down and learn from one another, happy trails."
The ape returned her hug, patting her on the back before letting go. Walking back over to the boat, he grabbed his small pack, throwing it over a shoulder before walking proudly out to the thick jungle that grew on the thin strip of land around the Lake of Stars. But before he could disappear into the bush, he turned back. "Hey, were they what you expected?" he yelled back to her.
"What?" Daring asked, shouting to the chimpanzee.
"You know." He held a hand well over his head, indicating something much taller than himself.
Daring gave a grin, remembering her foalish fascination with the Everguard. "Nothing is ever what we really expect."
The chimp nodded in agreement, taking a few steps into the brush and melting into the forest. Alone with Zecora and Timur, Daring nodded to the boat, ready to begin the final stage of this strange journey and fulfill the purpose laid upon her by a Princess and a god.
Climbing back into the boat, the sun began to set over the horizon. A thought passed through Daring's mind as the zebras paddled their boat out into the placid, crystal clear waters of the Lake of Stars.
"Why do they call it the Lake of Stars?" she asked to the zebras. They looked to one another, shrugging their shoulders.
"I do not know why it is called that. It is a good thing to question at," Zecora said off hoof, focusing more on the approaching tomb of Zebrica's greatest warrior. And also the resting place of the greatest evil that had seen the light of day since the fall of Discord.
Dusk began to slowly fall over the crater rim, plunging the boat into darkness within minutes. Thinking about what she might face inside of that mountain, inside the tomb of the Blind Warrior, a sound broke her concentration.
Looking over the side of the boat, the ripples of a jumping fish flowed over the surface of the lake. "Woah," she said quietly. With the crystal clarity of the spring fed water of the Lake of Stars, she saw schools of fish beneath the boat. But what made her hold her breath in astonishment was the lights. As a fish swam by, he lit up like a small star, his scales flashing a spring-green light. All around the boat, from the water's surface down to the deepest depths, the flashes of these ghostly fish lit the water like stars lit the sky.
Their light glowed through the water, illuminating the lake and all the forest around it in pale show of bioluminescence. "Damn," she said aloud. "This continent just keeps throwing surprises at me left and right." The show of light and the dance of entire shoals of fish seemed to calm Daring, reassuring her for the coming task.
Timur and Zecora also leaned over the boat, drinking in the sight of the fluorescent creatures that inhabited this lake. After staring wholeheartedly for a full minute, the urgency of their mission pressed them forward. The zebras steered the boat towards a cave in the mountainside, preparing torches for when the natural lights of the fish were not enough. Pulling into the mouth of the great cave, Zecora struck a spark from her steel striker onto the oil soaked torch. Illuminating the barest reaches of the inside of the ancient lava tube, Daring looked in. In her thoughts, she could hear the words of the High Chief.
"Up the river Zengo lies your goal,
Taking a moment to pray one last time for guidance from Yeye, the trio steered the boat into the cave mouth, crossing the threshold into a realm of horror and wonders.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
The boat drifted into the darkness that marked the edge of the goal of their journey. The torchlight flickered feebly, casting shadows into the crevices and behind the pillars of the ancient lava tube. Daring's heart pounded like it always did before a mission like this, that great build of anticipation, months of research, of traveling and seeking ancient myths and village rumors. All of it built up to this, this tiny moment in the grand scheme of her life. The short window of existence where each breath might be her last.
The wooden hull of the boat ground against the stone of the lava tube, and the three leapt out to drag their boat to the stone shore of a cove within the cave. All around them, the sound of water lapping against the shore made more noise than their own heavy breathing. Coming to dry ground, they beheld the entrance.
A stone arch carved from the very black stone of the volcano, murals carved into the walls surrounding it. Atop the arch lay the carved head of a serpent, the curved fangs sticking out as if to inject their venom into the unwary soul that passed underneath.
Bearing a torch in a hoof, Timur walked over to one of the great murals that stretched out to either side of the archway. "Look at this, there's some kind of writing here."
The flickering light of the torch illuminated the carved runes and markings that told the story of this place, and the ultimate fate of the Eyes of the Demon, as told by the workers who had spent their entire lives building this place.
Timur squinted at them, trying to make out what they said. "Augh, I do not know this dialect. It is one of the most ancient known, and has characteristics of almost every tribe in Zebrica. Zecora, can you read them?"
Zecora took a look at the runes, glazing over them slowly and with great intent. "It's the song of Talib."
"How can you tell?" asked Timur.
Zecora nodded to the pictoral carvings above the runes, displaying the story being told. "The carvings say it all, you dweeb," she said in rhyme to insult the other zebra.
Daring inspected the runes. Like many things, they seemed to make her mark tingle with the strange magic of a god. With her sight enhanced by magic, the writing took on a strange light, wavering into words that she could read. "Wait, I think I can see the words," she said aloud.
She pointed a hoof at the beginning of the mural. "See here, all the zebras and other creatures of the land living together in harmony. They worked as one people, lived as one people, and died as one people. But then it says that Grinwa escaped from Tartarus where Yeye imprisoned him." Her hoof drifted across the mural, past the villages living happy under the sun, and to another panel, showing a bestial monster wreathed in fire, totally unlike any other she had ever seen. Far more wicked than Wale Mrefu, this creature was a true demon. "And Grinwa went to the leaders of all the separate tribes, telling them that the others were conspiring to bring them down. Grinwa sowed chaos across the continent, using his Eyes whenever somepony stood in his way."
Her hoof came to a panel standing out over the others, a zebra warrior standing tall over his fearful and groveling brethren, a blindfold over his eyes as his spear shined like the sun. "Talib. He rose up and stood in Grinwa's way. And Grinwa tried to kill him like all the others, but he couldn't. Something about Talib made him resilient to the Eyes." The next panel showed the Blind Warrior fighting the demon by his other senses alone, piercing Grinwa through the heart and casting him back to the flames of Hell. "He killed Grinwa, but it wasn't over. The other zebra had been promised power by the demon, and they stole his source of power, his Eyes."
The panels ended with the stone archway, and Daring rushed over to the other side to finish the story. She almost sweated with a grim anticipation, her breath short as she continued to read the faded letters. "Talib stole the Eyes from his brethren, and brought them here for safekeeping. But it says he wasn't unaided, many tribes wanted them sealed away...or even destroyed." Looking up from the panel, her heart nearly stopped. It was the Blind Warrior Talib, bearing his shield and spear, but with a mark upon his forehead. A mark of a spiral within a circle, seeming to go forever inward into his mind. "He had the same mark as me...she blessed him too."
Timur and Zecora stood next to her, bearing torches and leaning in to hear more. "What else does it say?"
Wetting her lips, Daring continued to read. "It says that he brought the Eyes to the safest place he could, with his allies. And he told the leaders of the six tribes of his blood that he needed a place that could not be entered by somepony without the strength of a god. The chimps knew of just such a place, this mountain. They led Talib here, and once they finished the Tomb, Talib sent them away. They never saw him again."
Zecora held her torch over to the rest of the panels. "What do these say? It looks like great dismay."
Daring drifted over to the remaining panels. "These are a warning." Her hoof traced over the final panel, one of a foolish warrior who chose to wear the Eyes of the Demon. Before him stood thousands of warriors, a stream coming from each of their faces and flowing to the one bearing the Eyes. "It says that the Eyes of the Demon aren't the thing that is dangerous. It's the fools that choose to bear them that become dangerous."
Her heart fell cold as she read the last words of the inscription, barely scratched onto the wall, as if the mason did it with his last dying breath. She fell back on her haunches, her eyes wide and the mark on her head burning with divine rage.
"Ms Do, are you alright? What does the last line say?" asked Timur as he gently helped Daring up.
"The last sentence says that it takes the souls of those who look upon them, and channels them into the body of the bearer, converting the souls into raw magical energy." She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and take it in. "It's one of the most forbidden types of magic, even in Equestria. Soul magic, the act of stealing somepony's soul and using it for magical power. The Eyes of the Demon aren't a weapon, they're a siphon. It makes whoever wears them into a Legion, a creature forged out of violent, stolen magic. They always die horrible deaths when the souls tear them apart to escape."
Both zebras laid their ears flat, barely containing growls as they heard the mention of the most perverted use of the natural magics, far worse than even the enslavement of the Spirit Masks. Timur straightened out. "It makes sense. It all makes so much sense. Soul magic is inherently unstable, the souls are still aware when they are used as a magical force, and will do anything to escape. It wasn't the Eyes that caused the destruction during that age, it was the Legions dying after they could not keep their stolen souls under control."
Daring stood, walking over to the archway. "Then that is more reason to get them away from here. They'll be safe in Equestria. Are you two coming or what?"
Zecora and Timur stood back by the boat, not moving a muscle.
"Well, come on!" Daring nearly shouted.
Timur walked over to Daring, placing his torch in her hoof. "We cannot. You know what the inscription said, only those with the strength of a god can enter. Anypony else is doomed to imminent failure. This is your destiny, Daring Do. This was your purpose throughout this journey. You are the only one in over a thousand years who has been worthy enough to pass through that arch and into the abyss. Go now; our fate, the fate of Zebrica, the fate of the whole world rests in your hooves now."
Daring looked back at the black stone arch, its stones carved with the symbols warning the bold traveler of their doom should they pass. But before she could go, Daring placed down her torch, throwing her forelegs around Timur's neck. "Thank you, Dad," she said half-seriously. Even in the face of the unknown, she still wanted to leave them smiling.
The stallion patted her gently on the neck, feeling her body shiver with fear for what was to come. "Don't be afraid, daughter. Remember what you have learned, from me, from Zecora, from Yeye, even from Jack. You can do this, just do not lose hope. Zecora and I will be here when you return."
The quivering mare withdrew her hooves slowly, walking over to Zecora. The other mare nodded, embracing Daring with the care and compassion of a true friend. "If this is the last time we ever see each other, you've been one of my truest friends, Zecora."
Zecora squeezed Daring tighter, her hooves holding firm. "It will not be the last by any mean. I want you to take this, it will help with what needs to be seen." Loosening her grip on the other mare, Zecora handed a pouch of her mystic powder to Daring. "It will burn bright in the darkest place. Hurry now, and make haste."
Cinching the pouch onto her waistband, Daring gave one last goodbye hug to both zebras, turning back to the stone archway. Stepping to the threshold, Daring gave herself the typical once-over before plunging into a temple or tomb.
"Jacket, check. Pouch, check. Attitude, check. Confidence," she swallowed the lump in her throat, standing bold before the darkness. "Check. And last, but not least-" she flicked the brim of her pith helmet with her hoof. "Double check."
Taking a deep breath, she lifted a tentative hoof, Daring closed her eyes and laid her hoof down beyond the archway's threshold. Opening her eyes, she let go of her breath when no traps activated or supernatural forces attacked. Carrying the torch with her wing, she walked more confidently into the oily blackness of the inside of the mountain.
"Huh, don't know what I was worried abouAAHH!!" she screamed as a swarm of bats filled the cave, flying all around her head, tangling in her mane and scratching on her hide. She flailed about in fright, batting at the ones in the air while trying to brush off the ones on her skin. "GO AWAY!" she shouted, sending out her god given power. Within two seconds she was alone, the bats only a distant chittering as they flew out of the extinct volcano and into the Zebrican night. "Geez Louise, I'm in here for four seconds and already I get swarmed by flying rats."
Scooping her cast aside torch off the ground, she resumed her march into the Tomb of the Blind Warrior.
Slowly but surely, the floor leveled off from the rough natural texture of a lava flow, replaced by a smooth floor that had been crafted by tools or the touch of magic. The ring of her hooves echoed far into the pitch blackness that lay on every side of her small oasis of torchlight. But walls began to take shape out of the uncut roughness of nature. Straight lines that would never come into being on their own.
The dim light of her torch illuminated the workmanship of the hallway she trod through. Everything was constructed of the black obsidian stone that encompassed the entire crater, and the reflective surface of every stone seemed to instead drink in the light of her lonesome torch.
Her magenta eyes scanned over the walls, taking in the bas-relief carvings. The great warriors of Zebrica proudly paraded down that wall, their heads held high and their steps bold, despite their insignificance in the face of the relic which stole their very souls. The long hallway seemed to go by slowly, and Daring picked up her pace, despite the archaeological importance of the engraved walls. There was something that demanded her attention more than any mural.
Up ahead, another archway appeared in Daring's circle of light, more of the runes of warning inscribed along every stone. Again, the carved head of a serpent adorned it as a keystone. The room beyond it seemed far larger than the hallway. Stepping through the arch and into the next room, she beheld an expansive chamber. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and the black stone of the preceding hallways stopped at sea of sandstone blocks embedded in the floor.
Each block lay engraved with the image of an animal. Taking a closer look, Daring felt the situation to be insanely familiar. "Oh boy, this again? When will temple builders learn to make an original trap?" She glanced at the stones, wondering what stone was safe to tread upon. The stones were carved with the sculptings of the creatures of Zebrica. From what she saw, it contained a few serpents, elephants, gazelles, apes, and a smattering of birds from where her torchlight could touch.
Daring smirked at the ease of which she could conquer this little test. "They never build these things with pegasus ponies in mind," Daring tittered, spreading her wings to flap over to the other side. But as she spread her wings, a loud, dry hiss came back from the arch. Whipping about to face some new foe, a glow of light came from the carved serpent on the arch.
A stream of light leapt from the serpent's fangs, striking Daring in her wings. The stream of light felt like the venomous strike of an actual snake, sinking into her veins with a burning touch. Falling to the ground, she clutched her sides in agony. Her chest heaved with labored breath, and Daring stood again, brushing herself off. "What is the deal with this place?" She checked herself over, looking for any real damage.
Looking back to the other side, she leapt into the air to try again.
....and promptly fell back to the ground. "Oof! What the hay?!" Her wings felt glued to her side, and no matter how hard she tried, lifting a single feather felt like trying to bench press one of the Everguard.
"Ah ah ah, no cheating," a deep, gritty voice said.
Daring whipped around to face her new foe, but she remained alone in this room. "Who are you!? Where are you?"
A rumbling chuckle came from the very stones of the Tomb. "Oh, how delightful, a new toy to play with! Maybe this little pony can actually finish the game."
"What game?" she asked to the empty room.
"Why, my game of course. Mmm, I can almost taste your potential, Daring Do. You have more raw experience and possibility than any other who has made it this far. Though that's not saying much, not many have made it past the front door. And even fewer had the fortitude to keep going. And none have made it past the final challenge. But you, you have something none of the others had. And only a handful across the ages have ever received such a precious gift."
One of Daring's hooves drifted up to her head, lightly brushing the silvery mark. It seemed wary, and even hostile against the presence in this tomb. "What's your game? How do I play it without losing?"
"Just do what you do, Daring Do. Yours is a prisoner's dilemma; every ending is a rather dark and rather dismal path. Remember to have fun and play by the rules!" A haunting laughter seemed to chill the air as it echoed throughout the black stone walls and inside of Daring's very mind.
With that the presence receded, Daring looked back out over the sea of tan stone. The etchings of various animals of Zebrica decorated it, just like the floor of the temple of the Sapphire Statuette. "Hmm, what is the connection? Maybe it's predators, just like in the Southern Jungle temple." Gazing out over the sea of stone blocks, she noticed a plethora of predators, mixed with almost an equal amount of their prey. So sorting them by predators and prey was not an option.
"Maybe it's animals that can fly?" she asked herself. Once again, the flying animals seemed to be in great abundance, negating that possible answer.
Grinding her teeth, Daring kept thinking. "How can I find an answer when I don't know the riddle?" she growled under her breath. "What am I supposed to think? Is it the jackal that I step on, or will it drive a rusty spike through my chest? Or-or the eagle? I am gonna get burned to a crisp for touching the eagle? Somepony give me a bucking hint!" she shouted. Her voice rang on the stones, echoing her frustrations throughout the caverns and hallways of the entire mountain.
Murmuring to herself, she paced back and forth along the edge of the tile floor. "Is it the elephant? Or do I hop from crocodile to crocodile? How can I solve a puzzle with no clue?" Daring groaned in frustration, having done two full laps of the front of the tile floor. "This is hopeless! There must be ten thousand of these damn tiles!"
It hit her, a memory from the Din'Jaro village, when the Chief had instructed her. "Wait, ten thousand. A hundred by a hundred stones, carved into the earth's bones. Tread carefully out of the light, and follow the path of they without sight . Talib was blind. As blind as-"
She searched out among the carved stones. She passed over the jackal, the elephant, and all others. Finally her eyes came to rest on a strange bird, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be something that was a little more mysterious than any bird. "Talib was as blind as a bat," she said with a certain satisfaction.
Delicately she extended a hoof, placing it down on the symbol of the bat. Placing her weight on it, she felt no give, nor any repercussion for touching it. She gave a quick grin before placing her other three hooves on the tile. Spying another bat marked tile three rows ahead, she gave a jump and landed gracefully. Hopping from bat to bat, Daring felt her confidence surge. Trust a zebra to leave his game plan in a rhyme, this might be easier than she thought.
Though it was typically the rush of adrenaline that kept her going through the depths of some temple or dungeon, right now it was simplicity. This was quite possibly one of the easiest trials she had ever undergone, relatively speaking. Taking a particularly lengthy jump with ease, she spied the end of the tiles only a few rows away. Getting a bit antsy, she jumped all five remaining rows and landed hard on the far side.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Daring looked back smugly at this measly test. "Ha! Foal's play! What else you got, huh?"
The pegasus felt the dark presence return, a low chuckle coming from practically everywhere. "Well played, Daring Do. I'll have to admit that it while it was less entertaining than everyone else, it was nonetheless impressive. But seeing all the others driven absolutely mad with frustration and indecision! That is a kind of entertainment that can make the ages just seem to fly by."
"I played your game, and I won! How's that for breaking the mold? Now just let me get the Eyes and I'll be on my merry way."
"Hold it there, little bird. You've only beaten one test out of three. You have the body of a warrior, but do you have the mind of one? Make your way onward, and we shall see. Enjoy the Path of Eternity, I always enjoy it when the hale and hearty warriors get their minds torn to shreds!" the disembodied voice cackled in its rough, low tone. "Oh, and your torch," a light came from another serpent stone, striking the torch held in Daring's wing and shattering it into splinters, plunging the chamber into darkness. "You won't be needing it." Again the malevolent presence receded into the shadow, leaving Daring alone in the dark.
Reaching into a pouch, Daring brought out a hoof full of the light powder Zecora had sent with her. Tossing it in the air, it illuminated the room with a pale green light. Turning about, yet another of the black stone archways stood at the end of the chamber, a tunnel of darkness stretching on to near infinity.
Taking a few steps forward in the pale light, she stopped herself right as her hoof began to cross the threshold of the stone arch. "Wait, all the other things were a part of the rhyme. This is the Path of Eternity, what did it say about the Path of Eternity?"
Daring went over the rhyme in her head a few times, making sure she had the correct answer for this riddle. "Only the sightless may see, and walk the path of eternity. But I can see, how the Hell am I supposed to walk the path?" She contemplated how to beat this next test. A thought came to her, and she threw a pinch of the powder into the long hallway. The entire thing remained empty, stretching on to the horizon without any break or feature.
"What's so bad about this? Okay Daring, what if I just closed my eyes? That's like being blind, right?" Seeing as she had no alternative, Daring snapped her eyes shut, and took a small step forward. Absolutely, positively nothing happened.
Building once more in her confidence, she took a few more steps forward. The ring of her hooves bounced off the walls, and her breath came nervously.
And as she moved onward, the second test began.
"Daring! Help!" a mare's voice echoed into the hallway.
"Zecora!" Daring shouted back. Spinning about, she almost opened her eyes, but stopped as she realized she would fail if she did so. Freezing in place, beads of sweat began to form on her brow.
"Daring! Please help me!" the voice of Zecora shouted again.
Swallowing the knot in her throat, Daring shouted back. "Just hang tight. I'll be there in no time!"
The sound of hooves clattering on the floor turned her back towards the right direction. "So, I have you just where I want you, my little bird. You escaped my prison once, but this time, I'll take off your hooves and cut out your tongue!"
Daring's heart went cold. "N'dutu..."
"Help me, Daring!" Zecora continued to shout from the entrance hall.
Torn between running back to save Zecora from whatever was plaguing her and opening her eyes to fight her foe, Daring began to shiver, using all of her willpower to keep her eyes shut. She could hear N'dutu laughing mere feet in front of her face. "Did you ever think that you could win? That your pitiful acrobatics and strokes of luck would be enough to stop me? I have the Eyes in my possession! You will bow to me, just as your weak friends have. In fact, I may keep you as a pet in my harem."
A deeper, more sinister voice echoed out from her side. "Yes, Daring Do. This is the one where I win. It was only a matter of time. No more pitiful stories of how you outsmarted me through dumb luck and stole the artifact right out of my grasp!"
"Ahuitzotl....you're not here...you're not here in Zebrica," she whispered fearfully.
Daring could almost feel the hot breath of Ahuitzotl running down her neck. "Wrong again, Daring Do. I think I shall have you bound to me as a mind slave, just like your pathetic wretch of a mother!"
Daring's heart nearly stopped. She knew her mother was alright, back in Hoofington, that it had only been a ploy of Ahuitzotl's to kidnap her mother and hold her ransom for a few artifacts. "That's not true. I saved her, I saved her god damn it!"
Another voice, sweet and kind, yet carrying the pangs of agony and torture came through. "Daring, please. You have to help me, honey. Please, I need you, sweetie!"
"No....mom....no. No no NO! THIS ISN'T REAL! None of you are real!"
"Daring, sweetie. Don't you remember your own mother? I used to wake you up in the morning with that song that made you giggle! I'd give you a kiss on both cheeks before sending you off to school! Please Daring, he's going to kill me! No, no...NOOO!!" The mare's voice was cut off by the sound of a slice. Daring held back her weeping, covering her ears with her hooves and trying to drown out the voices.
The sounds of heavier hooves approached Daring as she backed into a wall. "Why Daring? I just tried to do my job. Is it because you valued those worthless artifacts over our friendship? Is it because you wanted to make me look like a fool in front of the Princess? I thought we had something special, Daring. But you just used me...."
She tried to hold back the tears of guilt. "No, I'm sorry, Lucky. I never meant for you to be shamed or hurt. I-I..."
"You what? Wanted to make the world a better place by displaying trash? All you ever did was drive a wedge between us, you made other ponies suffer to feed your own lust for adrenaline. And where has that gotten you in life? You have no friends, no family, you drift from town to town while ruining people's lives to forward your own ambition! You're a whore who can barely keep her legs shut for five minutes, you ride on your reputation like some kind of a bombed out celebrity. I stayed around you because I pitied you, Daring. You're a disgrace to even be seen with."
Though clamping her eyes shut with every ounce of strength left in her eyes, a small stream of tears trickled down her face. "Lucky, I-I-I'm sorry. I can change. I never wanted to hurt you, it was all fun and games. You laughed, I laughed, we shared special moments..."
The sound of Lucky Charm's voice hissed straight into her ear. "And what did you do right after we shared those moments? You abandoned me. You left me for dead ."
Daring sank to the floor, trying to shield herself from the barrage of her failures. "It's not real...it's not real," she whimpered to herself.
"You had better start believing it, because it is more real than you could imagine," a deep zebra voice said to her.
"No, Timur, not you too. Please don't do this to me. I never did anything wrong to you. Please, just don't do this to me."
He snorted loudly, scoffing at her. "I should never have agreed to come back here with you. I've nearly been killed more times than I care to count, and what have I heard from you? Nothing. You're a narcissist, Daring. You only care about yourself, you have the gift of a god and you abuse it every step of our journey! I came to the precipice of death to defend your life, and you repay me with shame and dishonor before the High Chief!"
"....you're not real. None of you are. This is all my imagination," Daring said to herself, knowing every word that she heard to be an utter lie.
"Daring, help me!"
"Victory will be mine at last, Daring Do!"
"I want you to watch while I burn down your homeland with the Eyes in my possession!"
The voices swirled around her, adding more and more volume as they closed in on the helpless pegasus.
"Please, save me!"
"Get away from me!"
"Go crawl into a rat hole and die you filthy excuse for a pony!"
"Usurer!
"Murderer!"
"Liar!"
"Thief!"
"Coward!"
"Whore!"
"Defiler!"
Daring slapped her hooves to her head, holding back the urge to open her eyes and scream.
"Will you all....JUST SHUT UP! EVERYPONY SHUT UP!" she screamed to the swirling vortex of voices that seemed to consume her. Standing up, she faced the direction of the hallway, running full speed towards the next chamber. Her hooves fell loudly on the stone floor, each step seeming like it only drew her an inch closer to her unseen goal.
Her eyes never opened, not even a crack. But she knew from the game master that if she did, not only would her mind be forever lost, her body would be rent asunder. She panted as she bolted towards the next test, hearing the sounds of angered mob of her lies trailing close behind.
She felt she was getting close, but she did not stop. Behind her, the force of her own demons howled at their temporary failure, determined to drive her mad. She felt bony claws barely touch her flank, their touch feeling like the icy touch of death itself. Pouring on even more speed, her lungs begged for air as she barreled down the empty hallway.
And as suddenly as the torture had begun, it was over. The mass of voices vanished, and Daring ran straight into a wall, almost breaking her nose in the process. Falling back on her haunches, Daring lay down for a moment. Tears streaked down her face from the horror of the Path of Eternity. But a smile spread across her face as she wept, a laugh gently escaping.
"I...I made it. I beat the second test."
The sound of clapping came from the black halls. "Very impressive. You took quite the mind flaying there, Daring Do. Most entertaining, bravo! Maybe I misjudged you, maybe you do have what it takes to finally break the curse of the Eyes of the Demon. Move along now, the final test lies just beyond that door."
Slowly getting back to her feet, Daring looked at the final stone arch leading even further into the mountain. This was different than the others, it was still the same black obsidian carved from everything else, but a pale, phosphorescent light gently came through, and the sound of gently flowing water tingled in her ears after so much silence.
"What's the final test?" she asked to the open air.
"Why, I am, my dear," the voice said. "Come along, little bird, let's see if you can do what nobody else has even dreamed of doing. You have the mind and the body of a warrior, let's see some warrior's heart."
She took a step through the next arch, mentally preparing herself for this final test. The doorway opened into a massive cavern. The normal stone floor was missing, only a narrow ribbon of stone meandering to the opposite side of the chamber. On either side of the path, huge chasms dropped down to unknown depths. A few waterfalls fell from pores in the rock, falling down into the open chasms. As Daring Do walked to the start of the stone path, her hoof crushed something soft and moist. Looking down, she had crushed a mushroom that gave a light glow of pale green. They were everywhere, and seemed to be the source of all the light.
Walking carefully along the path, she saw her final test standing guard over the final chamber. A huge statue, seeming to be some monstrosity formed out of somepony's nightmare. It had the body of a pony, and the torso of a Tall One seemed stitched on at the neck. It had hands like one of them, but tipped in flesh raking claws. His head was bestial, a pair of tusks jutting out from his lower jaw and a pair of sweeping horns shot out from his forehead.
"A centaur. A real demon," Daring said to herself.
To her shock, the head and torso lost their stony sheen, becoming flesh and blood as she watched. Flexing his arms, the demon popped the joints in his neck and spine. Focusing on Daring, the demon gave an expansive grin. "Well well well. Finally some company after unknown centuries. Welcome to the Tomb of the Blind Warrior, Daring Do."
Daring took a step back, her immobilized wings trying to spread in a defensive posture. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
"But of course! Where are my manners? I am the final obstacle in your path, relatively speaking. May I introduce myself, I am known by you sniveling creatures as Grinwa," the monstrous centaur said from his prison of stone, bowing as much as his stone encased body would allow.
"Grinwa? But Talib killed you! You should be burning on a spit in Tartarus, monster!"
Grinwa rolled his eyes, miming her words with an open hand. "Blah blah blah, you children of Gaia always have such foolish preconceived notions of what should and shouldn't be. He did kill me, but it wouldn't let me die. I am just as much a victim of the Eyes as anyone else that has ever looked into them. But that can all change tonight."
"Who is Gaia? And why are you standing guard over your own creation?"
"My creation? I have never created a single thing in my entire existence. No, the Eyes are a creation of creatures far more powerful and dangerous than I could ever be. And if you want to know who Gaia is, simply look around you." Grinwa spread his arms wide, indicating the stone of the mountain. "She's your precious Mother! Your Yeye, your Vren'kasha! She never lets any of you know her true name out of some undeserved superiority over your wretched forms. I came from a true god, my father created my entire race with a purpose, not to be coddled and watched like a pet, but to fight and conquer! He gave my brother Tirek the will and power to command the demon legions of my home, and he gave me the power to steal souls through trickery."
Daring looked down at the floor, her mark tingling with energy. "Gaia...what's going on?"
"Something far greater than any of us, yet so petty it makes me sick. We're both pawns in this game, you see. This is no war, no great struggle of our own volition. This is a feud between gods, an argument between Gaia and my father! She has used you, Daring Do. Used you to accomplish her own goals without lifting a finger on her part. You've been a good little pawn in their game, and so was I! But no more, if I can free myself, I can free all of us from their game. All you have to do is let me out."
Anger filled Daring, anger that she had been some pawn. Not only to Princess Celestia, if anything she was just another piece in this game. No, she felt enraged at the goddess who was simply using her to checkmate some other god in a great cosmic game. She looked Grinwa straight in the eye. "What do I have to do?"
A special type of glee came from Grinwa's eyes, and the demon rubbed his hands together in anticipation of his ultimate freedom. "All you have to do is give that mark." He reached out with a hand glowing with foul magic. Daring felt herself being drawn to the demon, her mark being forcibly exposed to Grinwa. "Give me that power, and I can break free of this curse. I can free us all from the tyranny of both gods and mortals. And not only that, I can give you whatever you want. I can make you never fear death, I can preserve you in your beauty for all time. You will never fall ill, never grow old. You could have nations bow before you, and all you have to do is give me that power."
A memory came to Daring, the memory of the alicorn under the shade of the willow tree, the loving souls singing in the paradise she had created for them. Grinwa's long claws almost touched her head, coming so close to his freedom. Daring felt a dark kind of magic emanating from the demon. A magic that seemed to stroke her mind and tickle her pleasures.
She thought about the people who she loved, all of those people who had turned against her on the Path of Eternity. They who had demeaned her in return to her own use and belittlement of them.
Turning her gaze once again to the demon of temptation, she gave her answer.
"No."
Grinwa's went wide, his fists clenching hard enough to break stone. "No?!"
"I know monsters like you. You give promises that you cannot keep. The second that I let you out, you would see the world burn with chaos and hatred. You live to cause disharmony and discord. I'll never ally with such a foul creature as you!"
Grinwa's eyes burned with a magical fire. "You fool! You would choose to be a servant of a god rather than rule as one of them?! You had your chance to give it willingly and avoid my wrath, and now I shall take your gift for my own!" An aura of dark magic surrounded his hands, stretching out to Daring to forcibly steal the power of her mark.
The tentacles of darkness surrounded Daring, but as she braced for her imminent death, a voice came to both pony and demon.
"Grinwa, leave her be. She has passed the test fairly."
At the sound of the voice, Grinwa recoiled, his tendrils of magic withdrawing. "No! I do not bow before you! I am Grinwa! I am the Trickster and son of Procyon! I do not listen to you!"
"Go back to your prison, foul one. Your wretched test is done," the voice said to the demon, each syllable striking like a hammer onto the monster.
Grinwa bore his fangs in a snarl, trying desperately to free himself from his prison. A surge of magical energy struck the demon from the shadows, coursing through him and changing him back to stone.
Daring looked for her savior, but to no avail. The room remained empty except for her and the imprisoned demon. Walking past his statue, Daring felt something strange magic humming from the prison. It was not like the binding magic of the Everguard, nor was it like foul magic that Grinwa himself wielded. It was a magic that she had only felt a few times in her life, and only coming from herself. It was harmonious magic, like what came from her mark.
Daring paused before the final arch, the last chamber in this massive tomb that had nearly claimed her life and her sanity on every stage. She tried remembering the rhyme of the Tomb guardians, but nothing in there said anything about the final chamber. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for anything else that was to come.
Walking beyond the final archway, she entered the Tomb of Talib.
It was like the chamber before, a dark chasm surrounding the narrow pathway. But this place was different, the chasm below her hooves seemed to have no bottom, and the only light came from a beam of moonlight illuminating an island in the abyss. On that island sat a great stone throne, and in that throne sat a figure, holding something in his hooves.
"This is it, the Eyes are here," Daring said to herself. Walking along the narrow path, she felt the gaze of unseen presences all around her. She stopped, looking around herself for any sign of danger. Glancing off the edge of the causeway, she saw flickering lights rising from the abyss, taking on shape as they drew near to her.
They began to line the path to the throne, forming into the shapes of warriors of every race that the Eyes had stolen. They seemed rotted and mummified, like the ages had taken their toll, even as spirits. Zebra warriors with their spears stood next to apes in their wooden armor of antiquity. Pony soldiers in the armors of the Classical Era gazed with empty eyes sockets next to fleshless minotaur warriors.
They didn't stand in her way, instead they seemed to urge her onward, giving their respect however that race deemed worthy of giving it. Daring finally reached the foot of the throne, the swell of stolen souls drifting back down to eternity. The blind warrior Talib sat upon the throne, clutching a simple wooden mask in his hooves.
"That's it? A wooden mask? That's the great artifact that has destroyed nations?" It seemed too simple, it wasn't made from anything special, it wasn't embedded with gems or gold. It didn't even seem to have been carved very well. But what surprised her more was Talib himself. He looked perfectly preserved, not a single stray mote of dust touched his striped and scarred hide. Even the bandage that covered his eyes looked freshly wrapped. His flesh looked real and unspoiled. And the mark on his head seemed as bright and undiminished as the day Yeye placed it there. It was almost as if he were still alive.
Wetting her lips in anticipation, Daring looked over the wooden mask for any sign of wires, pressure plates, weight sensitive stones, anything that might trip a trap should she do something wrong. Carefully she reached towards the Eyes of the Demon, her teeth closing gently on the wood of the mask.
As she lifted it slowly out of Talib's hooves, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her sigh was cut short by the press of cold steel against her throat.
The tip of the spear moved up to her chin, lifting her head up and flicking the Eyes out of her teeth. Talib caught the Eyes with a hoof, returning them to his lap. His sightless eyes stared right down at Daring, a look of disapproval coming from them.
"You're....your're alive!? " Daring said incredulously.
Talib nodded, stepping down from his throne with spear in hoof. "For over a thousand years these wretched Eyes have kept me alive. Kept me waiting for a worthy warrior to arrive." Talib inspected Daring in every way he could, listening for her breath, smelling the delicate scents of a pony, even stopping to touch her in places. Stopping at her face, he lifted a hoof and began to feel her, tracing the lines along her face and getting a mental picture of this intruder. He stopped over her mark, his own shining with a magical light as they seemed to recognize one another. The marks of magic greeted each other, letting their bearers know that the other party bore no ill intent.
"You have passed the test I have laid. And you heart has passed judgement and been weighed. Tell me, it is the Eyes you have come for, is it not? Into my sepulcher you have ventured for what you have sought."
Daring nodded, but realized the pointlessness of such a gesture. "Yes. There's a warlord coming here, and he'll stop at nothing to take the Eyes for himself and enslave all the world. I need to get them back to safety in Equestria. Princess Celestia will take care of them, we'll never have to worry about them being stolen and abused anymore!"
Talib turned back to his throne, taking his seat with the Eyes. "They are safe here. Only a god's intervention got you this near."
"They won't be for long. N'dutu will tear this mountain apart stone by stone to reach you. He'll send tens of thousands through those traps until one gets through to take the Eyes away."
Talib sighed from his throne. "It is a sadness to hear, that people still give themselves to brutes at the point of a spear."
"Listen to me, even if N'dutu fails, the one who told him about the Eyes will never give up. He'll recruit some new fool to enact his will. Tens of thousands of innocents could die because the Eyes are still not safe."
"And will they be safe in your place of hiding? Think of the innocents there all dying. There is no safe place for this curse. Wherever they go, things will become worse."
"Please, you know who sent me here. She sent you here, she gave you the power to hold this curse from ever touching the world again. Yeye placed her trust in me, she wants them locked away somewhere where they will never see sunlight again. Where not even somepony touched like us can reach them."
Talib considered her words, the words of truth that came from one of the few to ever match him. "For over a thousand years I have waited for somepony like myself to come and relieve me of my burden. And for a thousand years I have awaited my promised rest when such a warrior as yourself came along. I am tired, fellow blessed one. I have not left this room in centuries, I stay ageless while the world around me burns to ash and renews itself like the phoenix. Both Grinwa and I are bound to this foul device, and once it leaves us, we shall both return to the elements."
"I don't want you to die, Talib. I just need to get them to safety."
Talib sighed, taking the Eyes of the Demon into his hoof. His hoof caressed his eternal charge, hating it for changing his life forever. With a nod, he tossed the wooden mask to Daring. It landed at her hooves, clattering about. "I do want to die, Daring Do. Do what you must do. And remember, never use their power for anything." Talib leaned back on his throne, crossing his forelegs over his chest. He was prepared to give up his prolonged life, if it meant that his burden would see a safer resting place than here. "Yeye, I come home."
Daring gently picked up the Eyes of the Demon, placing them in her pith helmet. Walking back towards the archway, she paused to look back at the Blind Warrior. Talib nodded once more to Daring. And without further delay of his promised rest, Daring passed through the arch. Behind her, she heard a whisper of wind, Talib turning to dust after fifteen centuries of imprisonment.
And in front of her, the same breeze seemed to tear the solid stone of Grinwa's prison into sand, the centaur turning to dust before her eyes. With her prize finally in her possession, Daring began the trek back to the entrance. But to her surprise, the entrance seemed to be just barely far away. Not at all like the miles and miles she had trekked into the mountain to retrieve them. With their purpose fulfilled, the tests receded, letting her pass unchallenged.
*****************************************
The walk to the entrance was far shorter, even the oily blackness seemed to recede as the tool of chaos was removed from its resting place. Daring felt different, even more different than when she returned from the Twilight Realm. She felt older, more fatigued and more scarred than she had ever been. Every other temple had simply tested her agility and her resourcefulness. This place had nearly torn her limb from limb and made her a whimpering foal. Never again could she live without the memory of this place scratching at the back of her mind.
Timur and Zecora stood waiting for her by the water's edge in the underground cove. Both seemed unnecessarily tense. Timur took a nervous step towards her as she walked out. "Daring, are you alright? We heard you screaming for hours on end. We thought you were dead."
"I'm worse for wear, but I'm fine," Daring replied as she walked back through the first arch.
"Good...good. Do you have them?" Timur asked with a quiver to his voice.
Daring began to reach up to her pith helmet to bring out the Eyes, but stopped when she noticed Zecora's legs shaking. "I have them. But before I bring them out, tell me when you got here, N'dutu."
The scarred warlord walked out from the shadows, a grin spanning his face. "You made it too easy, Daring Do. It seems that I was right, good things do come to those with patience." Behind N'dutu came an entire platoon of archers and infantry, aiming their arrows straight at Timur and Zecora. "Now, if you would be so kind, hand over the Eyes of the Demon."
"I'd rather suffer their curse for eternity than see them in your hooves, monster. I'm not afraid of your bows and spears." Daring backed up, spreading her wings in defense.
N'dutu scowled, barking some order to his infantry. The warriors surrounded Timur and Zecora, a certain gnoll placing the tip of his sword on Timur's backbone. "Give it to me, or they die."
"Daring, don't do it! We aren't worth the lives of everypony you know!" Zecora cried out to her friend.
N'dutu nodded to Grimhide, and the gnoll diverted his sword to slash Zecora across the cheek. Only the restraint of six warriors kept Timur from leaping up and tearing out the gnoll's throat. Zecora winced from the pain, a stream of blood welling up and running down her face.
Grimhide licked the blade, placing it against Zecora's throat.
"Wait!" Daring shouted. N'dutu nodded to Grimhide, who lessened the pressure on Zecora's throat. "You win." She reached under her helmet, grabbing the wooden mask and throwing it to the warlord.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
N'dutu caught the demonic mask as it flew towards him. Holding it in his hooves, he caressed it like a block of purest gold.
"Macho ya Pepo, the Eyes of the Demon," he said quietly. Stroking the wood grain of the simple mask, he began to laugh. "Such a simple thing, a thing that will give me everything."
"You have what you want, now let them go!" Daring shouted to the warlord.
N'dutu absently waved a hoof to his soldiers. They let go of Timur and Zecora, throwing them back towards Daring. N'dutu and his personal guard began to leave, all except Grimhide and a squadron of elite soldiers. "Good girl, now kill them," the warlord said to his soldiers. Leveling their spears, they began to advance on the pony and her companions.
"You bastard! You said you would-"
"I never said anything! You assumed I would let you live, fool. Now kill them!"
The trio stood back to back by the archway, Timur pulling out his spear, Zecora retrieving her staff, and Daring pulling out her whip.
"I'm sorry I got us into this. I'm sorry I brought the Eyes straight to N'dutu," Daring apologized to her zebra friends.
Zecora tried to comfort her in these last moments. "We should be the sorry ones. If we had told you he was here, it would have helped tons."
"Well, we can go down with a fight. How's that sound?"
The first wave of N'dutu's elites leapt towards the trio, spears high and their voices shouting. With a pure stroke of genius, Daring ripped the pouch of powder off her belt, hurling the entire thing at the floor. The pouch exploded in a great flash of light, breaking the charge of the warlord's warriors as they shielded their eyes.
In the moment they were given, the trio rushed into battle, Daring cracking out with her whip, wrapping it around a zebra's throat and pulling with all her strength, snapping his neck. Zecora and Timur both spun their long weapons, slicing through their stunned enemies and cracking bones with the swing of their weapons.
The soldiers recovered from the initial shock, pressing the attack against the zebras.
Holding off a downward slice from a sword, Timur shouted to Daring. "Daring! Stop N'dutu!"
The pegasus punched a warrior in the face, feeling his jaw break under her assault. "What about you?!"
Timur broke the hold, driving the butt of his spear into his opponent's stomach and slicing his throat with the tip of his spear. "Zecora and I will be fine! You need to stop N'dutu!" Timur blocked another slice with the head of his spear, a shower of sparks falling. "GO DAMN YOU!" he shouted to Daring.
Bucking her current opponent in the stomach, Daring leapt into the air, extending her wings and dashing out the lava tube towards the outside. But she stopped before she left, sending her thoughts out to the cave walls. As she predicted, they absolutely packed with bats. Swarm the ones with black armor, her mental voice shouted to them. Every crack and crevice erupted with bats, chittering and squeaking as they surrounded the elite soldiers of N'dutu's army.
The soldiers waved their weapons wildly, flailing about as the swarms of bats bit and scratched at them. Without another thought Daring rushed out the entrance to finish this.
But one was not fazed by mere flying rodents. Grimhide swept his dragonscale sword in a blindingly quick figure eight, the corpses of bats falling to the floor in a ring around him. Freeing himself from the swarm, Grimhide walked past the idiotic Blackguard futilely swatting at the bats.
Timur ripped his spear free from the corpse of a Blackguard gnoll, when the roar of a challenge brought his attention up.
"We finish this, zebra!" Grimhide shouted.
"I've waited for this day, mongrel," Timur replied, flicking the blood from the head of his spear.
With a roar, Grimhide leapt at Timur, swinging his sword over his head. Whipping out with his spear, Timur blocked the charge as starsteel and dragonscale met in a shower of sparks. The two ground their weapons, using their incredible strength to try and push past their opponent's defense.
Both flew back from their opponent, the rasp of steel on scale ringing in the air. Grimhide pressed the offensive, swinging his scimitar in long arcs while pressing Timur back to the wall.
Ducking a precision slice, Timur shot out with a hind hoof to Grimhide's knee. The gnoll leapt backwards, slashing with his sword to cover his retreat. The zebra swung his spear like a quarterstaff, knocking the blade away from Grimhide's chest and thrusting in, driving the wind from his lungs.
Grimdhide stumbled back, falling over the corpse of one of his own soldiers. He snarled as he leapt back to his feet, scooping up an additional sword from the dead corpse. Whipping them in a flurry, Grimhide roared as he dual slashed at Timur.
Timur ducked down as the points of both blades whistled past, cutting a short crop of his striped mane off. Tugging his kpinga off his belt, Timur crossed the blades as Grimhide brought both swords down from above. Once again holding the gnoll in a lock, sparks flew from both sides. Grimhide pressed downward with all his strength. Timur tried to hold, but his hooves failed to find purchase on the smooth stone floor, and he felt his back get shoved against the wall.
Leaning close to the hilts of his blades, Grimhide growled at the zebra. "I will enjoy making your mare suffer. I cut down entire villages of mares just like her, and I always feast on their bones!"
An anger swelled in Timur, a rage that almost never surfaced in the reserved warrior stallion. Curling his lips back in a snarl, he fought back against the unrelenting assault of the gnoll's incredible strength. Grimhide felt his blades being slowly pushed back, and tried to power through the zebra's renewal.
Timur pushed away from the wall, and with flash he broke the block, planting his spearhead in the ground and giving the gnoll a double kick to the chest. Grimhide reeled from the attack, clutching at his shattered rib cage while trying to maintain his defense.
Casting aside his throwing blade, Timur began to spin his spear in a blinding path, Grimhide using all of his skill and both blades to block the flurry of dipping strikes and slices from the blade of the starsteel spear.
Timur spun on a hoof, kicking out and connecting with the hilt of Grimhide's blade. The sword flew from his hand, embedding into the stone of the wall. Holding his injured paw to his chest, Grimhide fell back as the zebra continued his strikes.
Slipping in a pool of blood, the gnoll fell to his back, holding his dragonscale sword out in desperation.
Timur shouted as he swung his spear with all his might, the long, leaf blade connecting with the pommel of the sword. And with spark like lightning, the mighty scale of the dragon shattered, the long scimitar blade falling away. Grimhide lay defenseless on the ground, the point of Timur's spear resting against his throat.
The stallion's chest heaved and his blood burned with the lust of battle. "My name...is Timur Duan!ziti, Prince of the Gochano tribe, father of Aziza and betrothed of Zecora Dentunu. Remember my name, for it shall be the last you ever know!" Raising his spear above his head, he plunged it down into the gnoll's chest with a warrior's shout. Twisting the blade until it emerged from his back, Timur lay a hoof on the gnoll's chest, and ripped his spear free.
Grimhide struggled to maintain his life for just a few more seconds. A trickle of blood leaked from Grimhide's jaw, and his rasping breath frothed with a crimson foam. Dragging his quickly numbing form up to face Timur, the gnoll coughed, "You.....honor me."
The gnoll gave his last breath, his single eye closing and the rise and fall of his chest falling still.
Wiping the blood of a Blackguard from her staff, Zecora walked over to Timur, her heart pounding with the rush of battle. All around them lay the moaning forms of the injured or dead of Nd'utu's elites.
Zecora dropped her staff, leaning against the stallion and panting slowly. Timur curled a foreleg around her shoulder, embracing the mare. He lifted her chin to glance into her sea blue eyes, silently thanking her for giving him the strength to defeat the most skilled and powerful foe he had ever faced.
Timur leaned down to Zecora, but before their lips could touch, something outside went boom , shaking the very core of the mountain. Showers of loose dust fell everywhere they looked, and again the booming noise came. It felt as though a giant was pounding on the side of the mountain, and he wanted in bad . Looking to one another, the zebras said quietly, "Daring."
Letting go of one another, they grasped up their weapons, sheathing them and diving into the cold water of the cove, swimming out the entrance to the Tomb.
********************************************************
Daring flew like one possessed, ducking and weaving around stalactites as she flew down the old lava tube that led into the Blind Warrior's Tomb. She had to stop that maniac from using the Eyes of the Demon before he could become the ultimate weapon of volatile and enslaved magic.
N'dutu was ahead of her by a few minutes, but each hurried beat of her wings drew the pegasus closer to the entrance of the cave, her goal outlined by the earliest light of morning. She erupted from the cave entrance like a firebird, spreading her wings to slow down and search for her enemy.
His boat sat empty on a shallow, rocky outcropping on the side of the mountain, a path stretching up and winding towards a large cliff. And all around the mountain, rafts packed every available foot of water, the soldiers of the warlord's army gathered here to witness the device of their ultimate victory.
She knew if she flew up and faced the warlord directly, she would be a flying pincushion for a moment, filled with so many arrows from the archers on the rafts that all the metal would make her corpse sink to the bottom of the lake. The path way up was partially sheltered, enough to where she might be able to sneak up on him.
Landing near his unoccupied boat, Daring pulled out her whip, creeping slowly up the rocky and jagged path to where the warlord stood, addressing his army. His booming voice shouted in a language that Daring couldn't even comprehend understanding, and she guessed many of the soldiers in those rafts couldn't either, for the cheers of victory only came from a few.
Making her way carefully up the trail, Daring ducked behind a wall of rock. Peering out from behind it, she spied her adversary, his back to her as he held the Eyes of the Demon over his head, praising his own name and her foolishness. Around him stood a ring of his most loyal guards and soldiers, their gaze never relaxing.
That bastard is probably saying he got the relic.
Peeking out from behind the rock, she winced and pulled back as one of the guards looked her way. Damn, there's too many of them, I'll never get close enough!
"I need a weapon," she murmured under her breath. Digging through her pouch, she laid out everything that could be useful. A bundle of rope, a pocket knife, her gifted whip, and her pith helmet. As she continued to dig around, something black and yellow drifted out and wafted slowly to the ground. Picking up the feather in her hoof, a wave of memory passed through her mind.
She remembered placing the feather in the band of her helmet, then tossing her helmet like a discus at the slavers in the Nyika village. And when it struck them....
"Oh, Daring you naughty girl." Grabbing up her whip, she took the braid at the end in her teeth, tugging it apart. Slipping the feather into the braid, she redid it as tightly as she could with her wing tips. Placing her helmet back on, muttering a quick prayer to both Yeye and the Allgood, she brandished her whip and stepped out onto the ledge.
N'dutu took no notice of her presence, continuing his speech to his soldiers in Equestrian. "And I promise you, that I will bring us above those who would see us as uncultured! I would free us from those who say that we are uncivilized! Those creatures out there who scorn us zebra, who scorn us gnolls and us agogwe. They call us brutes, savages, throw backs, even monsters! Ye, all who serve under me will see their victory and their triumph! With this relic," he held the Eyes over his head in victory, "we will be the ones who conquer!"
"You know, in my experience as an archaeologist," the warlord whipped around to spy Daring coolly pacing across the small plateau, "people like you come and go. History has shown me that brutes like you rise up like a flame, spewing promises of changing things for everypony. But you never do, you never succeed. You never can bring freedom with your chains, you can never bring peace with rivers of blood. You can never bring about a perfect world, because you are imperfect."
The warlord scowled at her, wondering how incompetent he had been by not remembering that she could fly. "And what is going to stop me , little bird? I have the power of a god in my hooves, I have defeated all the tribes of Zebrica and ground the great revenants of the past into dust! What could you have to stand in my way?"
Daring smirked. "Just me, baby. Just me. And by the way, you aren't the only one with a little trump card." Grabbing her pith helmet, she tugged it off and tossed her charcoal mane, letting the god given mark shine like silver.
N'dutu's eyes became wide, his jaw falling slightly slack. "No...she does not take sides! You are a liar, she is not real, she does not care about our affairs!"
"Speaking of affairs, how dumb could you be?" Daring began to pace back and forth, hiding the whip under her wing feathers. "Of all the back stabbing, monstrous creatures to have allied yourself with, Ahuitzotl was the worst. You think he just let you borrow his prize pets as a gesture of good will? Nope, with the relic in your hooves, they'll turn on you the second you are alone, and bear it back to their master."
Dropping his fear of the pegasus, N'dutu began to laugh. "Fool! I have an army at my back. Even if these weak little pets of Ahuitzotl did turn on me, I have ten thousand warriors to stand with me. You, on the other hoof, are alone and weak. You should tremble like a newborn foal before my power."
The two stared across the plateau, gauging their enemy, waiting for them to make the first strike. Daring discreetly let the whip handle slide down her leg and next to her hoof. "Say when."
The warlord scowled. "Kill her!" he shouted to his soldiers. The ring of guards left his side, screaming for the pegasi's blood as they charged. Daring gave a smirk, not moving a muscle nor showing fear. In a flash of golden feathers, she leapt from the ground, cracking out with her whip towards the nearest attacker, hoping the feather still had some juice in it.
The leather connected solidly with the zebra warrior's chest, and at first it did nothing more than leave an angry red welt upon his unarmored skin. But a buzz of electricity ran through the air, the runes on the whip's handle flashing with it. A roar of thunder struck the plateau, and the charge came to a screeching halt as the front row of warriors were thrown back, the closest being burned by the sheer ferocity of the coiled thunderbolt in her hoof.
Leaping over to a group just recovering from the attack, Daring lashed out with her whip again, catching them right in the middle and blowing them back like rag dolls. The way they hit the mountain wall gave made sure they would not be bothering her any more. Spinning on her hind hooves, she cracked her lightning whip at the final group, impacting at their hooves and blowing them off the cliff's edge like leaves in the wind.
A few more of the Blackguard stood trembling by their master, looks of shock and utter terror on their faces. Daring gave a devious smile, taking a step closer and flaring her wings threateningly. Tossing down their weapons, the standing guard turned tail and jumped off the cliff to risk landing on a rock rather than face the certain death in front of them.
Daring turned to face the warlord again. "So, about that army of yours."
N'dutu quivered with rage, almost frothing at the mouth. "You may have an elemental weapon, but even you cannot match the speed of your old enemies." He looked to the three cats in hiding above Daring. With a grin he nodded to them. But the cats seemed to hesitate, and as they jumped down next to the pegasus, she showed no fear to her old foes, her face bearing a rather bored expression.
The cats stared blankly, their jaws hanging down as the pegasus concentrated with her eyes closed. The tiger seemed to break from the spell, shaking his head and snarling. He stalked over to Daring, but instead of leaping and eviscerating her, he rubbed her with his head like an enormous tabby cat. And from what N'dutu could hear, the cheetah seemed to be purring as he licked her face with his rough tongue.
Daring stroked the panther on the head, moving her hoof to get behind its ears. "Yes, you're a good pussy cat, aren't you? Has that zebra been mean to you? Shoo now, go home to Ahuitzotl, and make sure he knows not to mess with Daring Do." The trio of cats seemed to nod to her, standing from the seats around her and leisurely wandering down the trail with no real seeming purpose other than to make their way home. "Anything else you want to throw at me? Give it up, N'dutu, I've got you beat. There's nothing you can do to save yourself now. Just hand over the Eyes, and we all go home. I'll let you get a two day head start in any direction you want, you could probably escape and just live out your days in quiet solitude. All you have to do....is set the relic down....and walk away."
N'dutu looked at the simple, wooden mask in his hooves. His scarred face seemed to soften, considering Daring's offer with a serious mind. He closed his eyes and sighed, then looked back at Daring with an evil grin. "Sorry, I didn't come this far to just walk away."
N'dutu turned back to his army on their rafts, standing on his hind legs and lifting the Eyes of the Demon high. The very air seemed to darken as he lowered it to his face.
"NNNOOOO!! " Daring screamed as he placed it on his face. The mask warped and formed itself to the warlord's face, grasping on and digging its magical claws into his very soul, preparing it for the transference and the ultimate transformation.
N'dutu reeled with the apparent pain, clutching his head with his hooves as the Eyes took ahold of his soul. He fell to the ground, the mask resting on his face lightly. He began to laugh as he rose back to his feet, looking out over the lake and his army. "Let's see what this can do."
Out across the lake, those foolish enough to stare at the battle between their warlord and the golden angel said to be sent by god felt something inside of themselves being ripped away. A warrior in a canoe nearest to the cliff's edge was the first to feel it. His breath came shallow, and his insides felt like they were boiling. He was trapped by the holding gaze of the Eyes of the Demon, and they began their devilish work as his magical essence and immortal soul were torn away through his eyes. Thousands screamed in agony, a mist of magic escaping from their eyes and rushing out over the lake surface to siphon into N'dutu.
The warlord reeled as the stream of souls entered his body, being bound to his own by the abominable and torturous magic bound within the wooden mask. His hooves left the ground, his body held in the air by the infusion of stolen magic and souls. Bones cracked, and skin tightened across his body as new muscle brought on my his captive souls began to manifest. High above, a layer of unnatural, black clouds formed, blotting out the sun and arcing with lightning. N'dutu dropped back to the ground, kneeling on his front hooves.
Rising up, he removed the Eyes from his face. Turning back to face Daring, his eyes snapped open to reveal a glowing green burn of soul magic. "We are Legion, we are...many," the warlord said with thousands of voices twisted to come from one mouth. The mark on Daring's head burned with rage at this abomination standing in front of her. N'dutu rolled his neck, popping the joints. His eyes flared with magic, and the scars decorating his face began to fade into his striped hide. "Much better."
He was truly a handsome stallion underneath all of that, but the evil coming from him made him more repulsive than ever. Levitating a few inches off the ground, N'dutu's front hooves glowed with an aura of the same magic. Looking up at the peak of the mountain, he smiled and hurled a bolt of magic at it. The bolt detonated, destroying the entire peak and raining black stone down on the lake surface. Aiming his hoof at the lake, his eyes burned as a waterspout began to revolve and extend into the sky. "Oh, I like this." His magical gaze turned back to Daring. "Your turn." Extending a hoof, he enveloped the pegasus in a binding aura of green magic.
Daring struggled against her bonds as N'dutu brought her closer. Once again, the warlord chuckled at her peril and agony, tightening his grip on her."Who has nothing left now?" Gently he traced a hoof along Daring's jaw, her legs and wings clamped to her body by the aura of magic. "I understand why this was locked away for so long. So much power, so many ways to use it. And you know what I shall do with it? I will take your soul, just like theirs. Time to die, Daring Do." He brought her in close, planting an unwanted kiss on her lips. Reeling away from his demon touch, Daring spat upon the twisted creature of souls.
Her feeble counter evaporated before it could touch his skin, and N'dutu laughed once more. "Such a pretty girl, and such a waste." His hoof lifted, burning with the soul magic once again. Aiming it at Daring, he began to tighten his grip even more.
The magical aura around her began to squeeze the air from her lungs, and Daring screamed with what breath she had left. Her blood rushed to her exposed head, and her bones began to give way, bending inwards and cracking as he slowly tightened his grip, having his fun and petty revenge by tormenting her in these last moments.
"DARING!" a voice shouted. N'dutu spun to face his new foe, right as a starsteel spear rocketed through the air and buried itself in his chest. The warlord was thrown back, landing on his back and lying still.
The aura left Daring, and she fell to the ground in a heap. Desperately gasping for air, Daring held her ribs with her hooves, panting from the pain of her constriction. Struggling to her feet, she brought out her whip and faced her foe. N'dutu lay motionless on the ground, but something began to happen.
The blood stopped flowing from his wound, and a glow of soul magic encompassed the spear, tugging it from his body with a sickening rip . The wound closed before her very eyes, and N'dutu once again levitated from the ground, a rage coming from his already burning expression. "That....hurt," he said to Timur. He nodded toward the two zebras, a wave of magic pulsing out and striking them like a wall of shields. Both Timur and Zecora struck the mountain side with a heavy thud, falling to the ground. Serpents of green magic erupted from N'dutu's hooves, encircling the zebras and binding them tightly.
Floating over to them with the Eyes of the Demon in his magical grasp, N'dutu prepared to add them to himself. Bringing the mask to his face, a shocking lance of pain arced across his back. The Eyes dropped to the ground, and N'dutu spun around to face Daring and her lightning whip.
Again she lashed out with her whip, scoring a hit across his cheek with a roar of thunder. Thrown back but not knocked down, N'dutu grasped his face with a hoof, the charred flesh and deep, ugly wound healing as Daring watched. "Why do you continue to fight? I am invincible!" he shouted in a deep voice that rang across the mountain side.
Daring fell back with a feeling of defeat. But she spied her only chance laying on the ground. "No. You're not invincible. And also-" She cracked out with her whip again, catching N'dutu on the leg and blowing him off to the side. A severed leg flew past her, and the warlord screamed in agony as his body set to work repairing the extensive damage. "Nopony hurts my friends!"
Rising from a pile of rubble, N'dutu was as whole as ever, his glowering face focused on destroying the annoyance that was Daring Do. Daring bunched up her leg muscles, spreading her wings and taking a flying leap towards the Eyes of the Demon.
Seeing her goal, N'dutu screamed, "NO!" flying forward to grab the artifact. The pair flew through the air towards the resting artifact, N'dutu reaching out with a hoof to grab it before Daring. Time seemed to be slower than the drop of a feather, and as N'dutu's hoof was within an inch of the Eyes, the tan blur of a well aimed pith helmet struck him in the jaw, knocking him aside and breaking a few teeth loose.
Daring grabbed the Eyes in her hooves, rolling on the ground while clutching it to her chest. N'dutu rose from the ground, swooping over to annihilate Daring once and for all.
There could be no better moment, and as the warlord charged in with magic blazing in his hooves, Daring slapped the Eyes of the Demon onto her own face.
Instantly she could feel it latching onto her own soul, preparing this new host for a transfusion of magic from its prey. Looking N'dutu in the Eyes, the warlord froze, his very soul enraptured and held by the magic of the Eyes. "Look into my Eyes, N'dutu. Gaze deep, and know oblivion !" Daring screamed.
N'dutu reeled back, clutching his head with his hooves as a stream of magic erupted from his eyes and his mouth, all the stolen souls leaving him for a new host. "No, NO, NOOOOoooooo....." N'dutu's scream went with his essence into Daring. She could hear all of their voices, all of their screams and cries as the captive minds and souls of N'dutu's army filtered into her.
She could feel her own immortal essence being twisted and expanded to accomodate all the new occupants in her body, and in all honesty, it felt like her soul was on fire. The flow finally ceased, and N'dutu fell to his knees, a soulless husk of a body, his eyes completely burned out and charred from the soul stealing.
The Eyes of the Demon fell from her face, and Daring fell to her knees. Standing up, she felt something new inside of herself, some kind of force that she had only felt when in the presence of powerful unicorns, almost as powerful as the energy she had felt in the air around Princess Celestia. She was full to the brim with magic; unstable, chaotic magic that would rip her apart should she overextend herself. Glancing over at Timur and Zecora, she summoned a portion of this new and turbulent magic, banishing their bonds.
Shaking off the remains of his binds, Timur helped Zecora to her hooves, and together they slowly approached Daring.
"By all that is holy. What have you done, Daring?" Timur said in cold horror of the creature that stood in front of him.
Daring glanced down at the mask lying on the ground with burning eyes. "I did what was necessary," she replied with the twisted, echoing voice of a Legion.
Zecora took a bold step closer to Daring. "You don't know what you've done. Legions never live long and it cannot be undone!"
Daring grasped up the mask with her new magic. "Then before I die, I have one more thing to do." Walking over to the edge of the cliff, she gazed out over the remnants of N'dutu's army. Those that had not starved, succumb to disease or had their souls stolen from them. They were a pitiful force, only about six thousand strong from the starting number of ten thousand when they began this hopeless march.
But she needed witnesses for what was to come next, and these zebras, apes, gnolls and any other assortment of creatures would have to do. Standing up on her hind hooves, she held the Eyes of the Demon in her forelegs, showing the entire assembled force what she held.
Holding them high above her head, Daring summoned every scrap of strength she had in her body, the strength of her limbs, the strength of her magic, her will, her spirit and her heart. The relic in her hooves seemed to sense the danger, hardening in fear of what she was trying to do. The Eyes began to writhe, trying to escape from Daring, to escape and find a new host to sow delicious chaos with.
She fought with all her strength, sending every ounce of her will and determination to finally end this. To destroy the Eyes of the Demon. And just as she began to give in to fatigue, a familiar tingle on her forehead pushed her even further across the threshold of her own limits.
She curled back her lips, letting loose a scream of exertion as the Eyes began to crack. The demonic relic truly struggled in her grasp, and with one more mighty heave, Macho ya Pepo split in twain, shrieking in some kind of horrendous pain.
A darkness erupted from the broken halves of the Eyes, flying out into the sky, resolving into the screaming face of Grinwa, giving the world one last roar of terror before fading in the sunlight.
Dropping the destroyed relic to the ground, she glared out over the awestruck army. She prepared her declaration as delicately as she could.
"GO HOME!" she shouted with her Legion voice.
Down in a raft by the shore of the mountain, one of N'dutu's soldiers had witnessed every event, from the initial unveiling of the Eyes to their destruction by the pegasus. Standing up, he peeled off his armor, tossing it in the Lake of Stars to sink to the bottom. He threw his spear afterward, and grabbed his paddle, slowly rowing for the river to make his way home after so many months of war, hatred, fighting and abuse. Around him, others threw their own arms into the depths of the lake, turning their boats about and heading back to begin rebuilding their homes and their lives. They would spread this tale, that the legendary artifact, the cause of so much death and violence, the Eyes of the Demon, could no longer threaten the world and were no longer worth fighting for.
Falling back to her hooves, Daring turned back to Timur and Zecora, a weary smile on her face. The burning eyes of Legion still glowed through her, and as she took a step towards the zebras, a spasm seized her back. With a cry of pain, Daring fell to the ground. The burning glow of Legion left her eyes, and Daring looked around in confusion.
"What's happening? What just- AAUUUGGHH!!!" she screamed as the muscles in her chest tightened and pressed against her bones.
Timur rushed to her side, leaning her up and supporting her. "It's begun. The souls you consumed are trying to force their way out. I'm sorry, Daring."
A tear rolled down Daring's cheek, not from the pain, she had handled pain all her life. But from fear, she knew her time had come, and there was no stopping those rampaging souls from tearing her inside out to escape. "Please, help me," she begged to Timur. Her back arched and she screamed in pain as the legion of souls tried to force her blood to boil, anything to kill her and release them.
The burning glow of soul magic snapped back into her eyes, and the Legion within spoke. "Set us free." The glow left, and Daring's chest began to expand outward, the pegasus screaming at the agony of her bones being bent outward from inside. He flesh on her stomach distended into shapes like fists, hooves and faces; as though she were perversely pregnant with demon spawn.
Daring's weeping face looked to Timur, begging to him. "Help me, please make it stop," her tear laden voice quivered.
Timur was choked with tears at seeing his dear friend and adopted daughter suffering like this. "I-I...I cannot."
Zecora walked over, bearing Timur's spear in her mouth. Setting the starsteel weapon by the stallion, she nodded, sorrow and ultimate regret in her every action.
The souls began to expand outward from her chest, small lumps of flesh travelling down her limbs, sinking into her bones and forcing them to come apart. With a weeping scream, Daring gave one last plea to her adopted father. "Please...Timur....kill me. Please, just kill me."
Timur stood from Daring, letting her head rest on the stone. Grabbing his spear, he closed his eyes as he aimed the deadly point towards her throat. "Daring....forgive me. I love you, daughter."
Timur lifted the spear high, hesitating a moment before plunging it towards Daring. But as the tip of the bladed spear careened across eternity and sliced through the air towards her throat, time seemed to slow, even stopping.
The souls within went silent, cowed by some force far greater than themselves. They even seemed to shiver at the otherworldly presence, like children who had been caught doing something bad by their parents.
Looking at this world frozen in time, Daring leaned her head over to the side, gasping for breath from the intensity of Legion's attempted escape. And beside Zecora, her ink black mane flowing like the wind across the water, was an alicorn with a forest green coat.
"Gaia," Daring whispered. "Yeye. Help me, please help me."
The spiritual goddess of the Earth walked calmly past the weeping statue that was Zecora, past the solid likeness of Timur as he prepared to kill Daring in mercy. Leaning down, she inspected Daring in her Legion state.
All at once, the spirits within Daring tried to rush outward, stretching her flesh, bending her bones and tearing her muscles.
"CEASE!" shouted the goddess. "Leave her be, children. She has done you no harm." Instantly the sea of souls within Daring stopped their attack, quivering under the divine gaze of their Mother.
"Yes, Mother," the voice of Legion said like a true child.
"Get them out of me. Please, get them out of me," she begged to the goddess kneeling before her.
The alicorn goddess looked over Daring's form. "I will do what I can. But you must let go for them to be free."
"How do I-"
"Just let them go, let yourself go."
Daring lay back on the stone, letting her mind clear and her thoughts become single. She just had to have the willpower to let her own soul go from her body, to die even for a second. She had come so far, done so many things in the name of this mission. And she completed it. She had finished the job by destroying the Eyes. She felt as though she could finally....rest.
She had completed her mission, saved the world, faced her sins and atoned for them, given rest to the weary souls of both Grinwa and Talib. "I can rest," Daring said quietly, closing her eyes and letting her mortal coil melt away.
One moment she felt her body, and the next she looked at it from above. Looking over her form, she saw how bruised, how broken, how bloody her body had become. It looked tired, and it rested in this soulless sleep of the dead.
She tried to look at herself, but the only thing she could see was a pale light all around herself. "Holy Celestia, I'm a spirit. I'm dead."
"Yes," the goddess behind her said. "But not for long, look." Glancing down at her body again, she saw dozens of other spirits drifting from her corpse and leisurely floating over to the Earth Goddess. They formed a cloud of fireflies around her, and begged for forgiveness for hurting Daring and angering their beloved Mother. The last of the spirits drifted away from her body, the face withing the orb of a strikingly handsome zebra stallion.
Yeye stopped him before he could join the cloud of his fellow spirits. "Where do you think you are going? I thought you said I wasn't real, that I was an old mysticism for the foolish elders."
"I am sorry, Mother," the spirit of N'dutu said to Yeye, bobbing as if bowing to her.
"Apologize to her, and then you may come home." Yeye nodded to the spirit of Daring.
N'dutu's soul drifted over to Daring, glowing a dulled grey color in shame. "I am sorry, Daring Do. I have committed unforgivable acts to both you and the people you loved. I know I should burn in Tartarus for eternity, and I deserve no better."
Daring's spirit felt some shred of compassion for the soul of N'dutu, warped by a trickster into committing unspeakable acts, making him think he could actually accomplish his goal of bringing glory back to his people through violence and bloodshed. "I have see what the likes of Hell are. And I would never damn anypony to such a fate. I forgive you, now go and rest."
The soul of N'dutu glowed a brighter white, flying over to the cloud of spirits around Yeye.
"And as for you," the goddess directed to Daring's soul. "I would suggest rolling out of the way." Her horn flared with light, the goddess and the coterie of her children returning to the realm of spirits. Daring felt inexplicably pulled back to her own body, sinking back into her body as time began to return.
Rolling out of the way? What does that mea- oh shit!
As time unfroze, the falling spear of Timur unfroze with it, and Daring did as the goddess had suggested, rolling out of the way at the last second. The starsteel spearhead sank into the stone where she had been a fraction of a second before. Ripping his spearhead out of the stone, Timur advanced on her, utterly convinced he had to kill her as an act of mercy.
"Timur, stop you lunatic! I'm fine!" Daring dodged another spear thrust. "Stop, Celestia damn it! I'm alright!"
A stream of tears still ran down Timur's face. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be, Daring."
Zecora grabbed him from behind, holding back his forelegs. "Stop, you idiot! She's fine!" Zecora wrenched the spear from his hooves, tossing it aside. "She's better."
"What? How could she suddenly be alright? One moment she is pleading with me to end her life, the next she is perfectly fine?! What makes sense about that?!"
Zecora pointed to Daring's forehead, where the mark had previously lain. Only a circle of ash lay there now, and as the wind touched it, it disintegrated, leaving the pegasi's forehead clear.
Timur gave a short laugh. "She really likes you, Daring. Enough to throw you back."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Daring replied. Gathering her supplies, including the shattered halves of the Eyes of the Demon, Daring stumbled down the rough pathway leading to N'dutu's boats. Climbing inside one, she fell to the keel and closed her eyes to rest in a way far less permanent than what she had just experienced.
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
Unity through Understanding
Silence.
Blissful silence after hearing so many things she could never forget. The gentle sway of the boat as it traveled downriver rocked her to the deepest, most well deserved sleep she had ever had. She would never forget what had happened back there in the depths of that mountain, and neither would she ever live down the foolishness of her own self sacrifice.
Daring had become the ultimate abomination of magic back there, and hopefully she would be the last Zebrica would ever have to see. With the stolen magic the Eyes had given her, she had sealed their fate. For only the twisted product of the demonic relic could turn back on its creator and destroy it.
And the absolute worst part of it? When she placed the wretched Eyes of the Demon onto her face, she heard it whispering to her to her mind, telling her to look upon her friends and gaze deep. It had promised her life beyond the natural limit should she simply do the unthinkable. It whispered to her, probing deep into her mind and laying salt upon the fresh wounds upon her soul, hoping to break her and sway her over to chaos.
And she refused.
Daring had been through far too much to simply give in to the suggestions of a piece of wood.
And with her will, her spirit, and her heart she had conquered the darkness, but in the end the darkness had shown its spite, leaving her trapped with the angered souls of thousands of violated and abused warriors. And in the end, having destroyed the evil outside, she had to release the anger within. She gave in to Legion, and allowed them to strike her death knell. For all intents and purposes, she had died. But some things just refuse to stay down, Daring Do among them.
With her resurrection came a price, her god given power had to be taken back by the one who had bestowed it. And in Daring's opinion, a small price to pay for a second chance.
Daring's rest was deserved, and as the dappled sunlight filtered through the treetops as they drifted downriver, she began to dream once again.
*************************************************
She opened her eyes to gaze upon the ivory white streets of Canterlot. A gentle breeze rustled through her monochromatic mane, and though she heard the sounds of ponies distantly conversing and laughing, she was alone on this street. Their voices seemed surreal, as was the cafe patio that she sat upon. The velvet pillow felt real, and the daisy sandwich lying in front of her seemed real enough. She even smelled a touch of mayonnaise on there, just like she always ordered.
You gonna eat that?
Daring looked up and gave an annoyed groan. "I didn't know gods could eat, Gaia."
The forest green alicorn sat on her own pillow across from Daring, sitting there as though this were a regular lunch date that she indulged with an old girlfriend. Not in a sense that you eat, but we do. And you seem to use that word so frivolously, 'god'. If you truly knew what that meant, you would probably slip into some kind of shock or coma from the mind boggling truth.
"What do you want from me now?"
Taking her questioning as a 'yes', the goddess levitated the sandwich over and took a delicate bite. To simply say 'mazal tov' and be out of your hair forever.
"What the hay does that gibberish mean? Is that even a language?"
Gaia's smile could have knocked a mere mortal creature flat. If everything goes to plan, you'll see. I do have other things I'm planning on doing. But you are not a necessary part of those, and therefore I see no reason to brief you on them.
Daring leaned back, folding her forelegs and raising a suspicious eyebrow at her old sponsor. "Why the sudden drop of formality? Win the game and suddenly you can buddy up with the pieces?"
The alicorn goddess rolled her eyes in exasperation. Consider it a 'first name basis' type of thing, Daring. And by the way, you could have just not played the game, ever consider that? Not a single one of those poor, misguided souls could have made it through the trials like you did. The Eyes would have been safe where they were. All I did was give you the edge to get through. There was every chance to accept defeat and go back home, but you know what you did? You sought out evil and chaos, and destroyed it. And for that, I cannot thank you enough. I'll leave you alone for the rest of your life after you awaken from this dream, unless of course you have a desire to be fulfilled? Something that I might be able to do for you?
Daring considered for a moment, tapping her chin with a hoof. "Yeah, maybe you could cool off this damn continent a bit? Zebrica is hotter than an oiled striptease."
Gaia grimaced. Ooh, sorry. That's not my jurisdiction, and besides it would take thousands of years and maybe cost the extinction of a few thousand species. Is there something else you might want? Maybe a forewarning or something?
"Damn, okay, I'll take the forewarning."
M'kay then. Come close. The alicorn waved her closer with a hoof. Rolling her eyes at the completely useless gesture, Daring leaned across the table as if the goddess' mind voice could whisper to her. My brothers, sisters and even a few of my cousins are planning something big in a few years. They're going to let somepony out that hasn't seen Earth in quite a long time; in fact, it will be kind of a millennial anniversary. For once, do not attend the Summer Sun Celebration in about five years. In fact, it would be wisest to stay out of Equestria completely. Don't tell anyone, got it? Spreading such knowledge around could be disastrous.
Leaning back, Daring tried to comprehend the warning. "Uh, okay. I'll take a nice sabbatical to the Southern Jungles."
Gaia grinned, nodding in approval. Perfect. And while you are there, why not vacation with a special friend?
"What are you talking about? Hey, wait, what are you doing?"
The goddess levitated a baseball bat from beside the table, testing the heft and banging it against the table once for good measure. All things will come to fruition in their due time, o' curious explorer. Standing on her hind legs, she took the bat in her hooves, walking over to Daring's side of the table. Well Daring Do, this is goodbye, see you in the afterlife. "Oh, by the way, I heard your little 'conversation' with Grinwa. Don't you ever think about plotting against me with demons again, little missy!" Gaia shouted rather angrily. Swinging her bat, Daring shut her eyes as it came to her face and jettisoned her out of the dream world.
******************************************************
"WOAH!" Daring shouted, sitting bolt upright in a soft, comfortable bed. Shivering a little bit from the godly rage, she clung to her sheets, vowing never to so much as speak to anything that called itself a demon. The room around her was a strange mix of a jungle hut and a Trottingham manor home. The walls were made of rough hewn wood, but sophisticated shelves brimming with leather bound books and framed paintings hung from them, expertly placed by a decorative hand.
The canvas curtain that served as a door parted, a familiar simian head poking in. "Well! Look who finally woke up. Mornin', sleepy hooves."
Daring glanced around at her settings. "What happened? I was just on a boat coming down river when I fell asleep. Now I'm here."
Jack meandered over to the bed, sitting down to explain. "Well, I don't know much, but on my way back I ran into this huge army that was pursuing N'dutu's remaining forces. You shoulda seen it, so many different tribal banners, so many zebra tribes, a couple of the larger packs of gnolls, and even a host from some of the ape nations! Luckily I was their side, they freakin' hammered N'dutu's army! Those of them that still wanted to fight, anyway. Most of them just dropped their weapons and begged them to get the slave collars off. It's a mess out there right now, feeding all those malnourished former slaves, getting them medicine and sending the ones who are healthy back home."
"Wait, how many banners?"
Jack tapped his chin, mentally recounting. "I think most of Zebrica showed up, even some of the trade lords. Like I said, it's a mess out there, there have never been this many zebras in our jungle before. Hell, I think even the airships they brought are packed!"
"Airships?" Daring asked.
"Yeah, flying some kind of blue flag with two ponies like you on it."
Rising quickly from the bed, Daring cantered out the canvas door, being wary to avoid falling off the wooden walkways built into the treetop homes. She was back in the chimpanzee capital, but the chimps here were by far the minority. Literal thousands of zebras milled about below, dressed in garbs that were both familiar and completely new. The swift, feather mantled Nyika marched in loose groups, like hawks seeking their prey. The red tunics of the Din'Jaro stuck out like a stray feather, their bearers intermingling with the milling mass. The Zare with their croc tooth spears, their hides scored and scarred to look like the skin of a reptile. The Mbusa, heavy and burly like the elephants whose tusks made their armor. N'disi, Gochano, and even a few Matsunga rebels from all the way back to the beginning of the conflict marched side by side.
And there were others, huge black furred gorillas left a wake in the crowd, their heavy wooden mauls looking like they could smash through solid stone. Zebras and pony mercenaries coiffed in their leather and steel jerkins, hired by the trade lords to protect the precious port cities and caravans moved uneasily about the crowd. There was an overall sense of tension, one that was belayed by a sense of grander victory over the warlord who would see them enslaved.
Daring felt a calloused hand lay down on her shoulder. "Pretty impressive, huh? I don't think I've ever seen so many creatures from so many backgrounds come together!" Jack gave her feathered shoulder a small clap. "C'mon, Prime Minister wants to see you. Him, and every other leader."
Following Jack down the ramps to the ground, they waded through the crowds, their goal being the large stone building that Jack said normally housed Parliament. Nodding to the pair of chimp soldiers standing guard at the door, they grabbed the handles and pulled it open to reveal a house in turmoil.
Chiefs from every tribe of Zebrica were present in their full war regalia, seated around a very large table, shouting over the table at their old grudges and causing a storm of papers. A few even abandoned logical speech, devolving back to neighing and braying. But zebra representatives were not the only ones present, a few gnolls sat off to one side, nervously looking around. Apes of all races tried to maintain their calm and cool exteriors in the face of such chaos, the gorilla President snarling out of the corner of his mouth at a zebra chief who jostled him too much. Daring even spotted Timur sitting next to a much older stallion that looked shockingly like him. Zebras were hard to tell apart as it was, but the elder zebra had the same hard jaw, the same blue eyes and even carried himself like her guide. And though his legs had run many trails and seen illness that brought him to the edge of death, he remained as strong as his son. But the beaded necklace denoted him as much more important than a simple prince.
And at the head of the table sat the chimpanzee Prime Minister, holding his head with his hands and accepting the chaotic screaming in front of him. Noticing Daring, he motioned her over. Giving her a pat on the neck and leaving the table to talk more privately with the explorer, the chimp leader looked absolutely worn. "Thank the Allgood you're here. Blimey it's a mess."
"What's this all about?" she asked the Prime Minister.
"Well, since we all kinda came together to get rid of N'dutu, everybody picked now to suddenly drag up every land dispute, old grudge and turf war in known history. I've been tryin' to mediate, but they won't listen to me, there's too damn much goin' on between too damn many people! The Gochano and the Mbusa are in a tiff over who gets the old Matsunga land. The N'disi remnants are fighting amongst themselves over who is gonna lead them. The Nyika are pretty much dueling with Tashim's trade lords over some mining dispute. President Koba over there," he waved a hand at the well dressed gorilla, "is right about to declare war with the Zare because they have been fighting over a stretch of river for fifty years. I can't even get the gnolls to say a damn thing, and us chimps are trying to negotiate a treaty between all of this that won't leave us in the dirt!"
Daring shrugged her wings, at an utter loss. "What do you want me to do about it?!"
The Minister poked her in the chest with a long finger. "Oh come off it! They'll listen to you . When they brought you off that boat and into Jack's house, most of the zebras out there were shoutin' about a 'Golden Angel' that brought them together. The Angel who slew N'dutu with her own hoof and destroyed the Blind Warrior's Burden."
Daring relaxed a bit, considering all of that. "I guess that is something. Okay, you swayed me, I'll give it my best shot."
"Thanks, lovey." The chimpanzee ambled back over to his chair, picking up his gavel and rapping it several times against the hard table top. The various leaders of the tribes ignored it, only increasing their volume to cover the rapping. Baring his fangs, the gorilla President slammed one of his tree trunk arms on the table, shaking the entire room and leaving a visible dent. Almost instantly the shouts of the chieftains subsided, and everyone stared at the head of the table.
Despite the abuse to his Parliament, the Prime Minister nodded to the gorilla. "Eh hem, thank you, President Koba." The gorilla nodded slowly, wanting to get this over with. Pushing his glasses back up his flat nose, the chimpanzee cleared his throat. "I have someone here who I think can settle many of our current disputes, if you would just hear her out. Please hold your applause for Ms Daring Do."
Daring flapped lazily over to the top of the table, walking up and down the table and inspecting all the chiefs in their regalia.
"Friends," she nodded to the familiar chief of the Nyika. "Fellows," she gave a glance to both the ancient and decrepit Din'Jaro high chief and the chief of the Gochano. "Only days ago we faced annihilation at the hooves of one. N'dutu, the warlord whose dark armies threatened to enslave us all, and crept into our nightmares with his promises of taking away our very souls. Together, we destroyed N'dutu, we crushed his armies and freed those who despaired under his lash. We survived this because we came together. And though it took me as the instrument of Yeye to destroy the curse on your land, N'dutu would have succeeded if we had not unified. You crippled his armies and brought fear into his heart. Do any of you have such power alone? The power to stop one who would see you fractured and enslaved?"
Each chief's interpreter leaned close, murmuring a translation to their leader.
"And what does it matter that some of us envy the same land or the same river? Why can we all not share this land and come to an agreement over how you should use it? Look what we did as one, we took down the darkest plague in Zebrica since the scourge Grinwa walked the land. Think. Think of what you could do if you used that power to try and make a better life for everyone; zebra, chimp, gorilla, and even gnoll. We could change Zebrica into something greater, something more than just this backwater place where all the rest of the world sees is wars and atrocities. It was the strife between your people that created the warlord in the first place. It was this disunity and mistrust that allowed Grinwa to sow the seeds of chaos across Zebrica."
A thought came to Daring, and she fluttered over to the doorway, stealing a quiver of arrows from a chimp soldier. "Hey!"
"I'm just borrowing these for a second," she said, flying back to the center of the table. Pulling an arrow out with her teeth, she fumbled it around in her hooves, trying to demonstrate something. She exhaled sharply as the arrow fell to the table. Looking around, she spied Jack. "Jack, come here for a second, I need your hands."
Climbing up on the table, the chimp took the arrow into his hands. "Um, okay, now what?"
"Gospel of the Allgood, page sixty seven," Daring whispered to him.
Jack's eyes brightened. "You did listen!"
Clearing her throat again, Daring continued with her speech. "Alone, we may seem forceful and true, but we are weak." Jack snapped the arrow in his hands, holding it up for the leaders to see. "But when we work together, we are strong." Jack pulled out all the arrows, forcibly trying to break them in his hands. Though the bundle bent, the chimp strained with all his might, unable to break them.
The apes at the table nodded in respect, recognizing one of the core lessons from their religious text.
"And so I say, you may argue amongst yourselves, you may even hold each other as enemies. But do not forget the people of this great place. Those people out there who look to you to guide them through the dark, who look to you to be their voice. Strive to understand one another, listen to your fellow and know his view before claiming that yours is the only way. Thank you," she finished, hopping down from the tabletop and walking over to sit next to Timur.
The room full of chiefs, shamans, elected executives and their interpreters sat silently, considering the words of one who spoke for god and had selflessly removed the curse from their land. The chief of the Gochano pushed back his chair, standing tall to address his fellow chieftains.
"Mwanamke amesema kweli. Tunahitaji kuacha kufikiria kwa wenyewe, na kuanza kufikiria kwa ajili ya watoto wetu." Those who understood Gochano nodded, those who did not had their interpreters close to ear, listening intently.
"Wow, Grandpa looks a lot better than how you described him. What did he say?" Daring whispered to Timur.
The stallion rolled his eyes. "How did you know that is my father?"
"The family resemblance is, shall we say, striking. "
Timur nodded to Daring. "He said, 'She is right. We need to stop thinking for ourselves. We need to start thinking for our children.'"
The grey in his mane only seemed to enhance the chief's wisdom, and he continued, looking down to Timur with obvious sorrow in his voice. "Na majuto yangu kubwa ni kuongeza mwana kujua umwagaji damu kama jibu la matatizo yetu."
Timur looked as though a tear could fall from his eye, but for his own honor and the for the respect of his tribe, he held back. Daring nudged him with a hoof. "What did he say?"
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Timur continued. "My greatest regret is raising a son to know bloodshed as the answer to our problems. Where we need kindness, instead we have savagery."
Taking his seat again, the chief of the Gochano rested his plea. The hall remained silent for a moment, each chief or leader thinking for a moment, thinking for what his people needed. The High Chief of the Din'Jaro rose from his seat, his quivering legs threatening to give way with each second. "Chidi ni haki. Kwa nini tunapaswa kukaa kama watu wengi wakati sisi inaweza kuwa moja?"
"Chidi is right, why should we stay as many people when we could be one?" Timur whispered to Daring.
"Kwa nini kujitenga wenyewe kama Din'Jaro? Kama Gochano? Kama Zare, au Nyika.... au ape, au gnoll?"
"Why should we divide ourselves as Din'Jaro? As Gochano? As Zare, or Nyika or even ape or gnoll?"
The High Chief continued his speech, slamming a hoof on the tabletop for emphasis. "Kwa nini sisi si kuweka kando tofauti zetu, na kuja pamoja kwa ajili ya kufanana zetu? Hebu kuja pamoja kama Zebricans ." He placed a hoof on his chest, his sightless eyes gazing out over the people of this room.
"Why can we not set aside our differences, and come together with our similarities? Let us come together as....Zebricans." Timur said the last word with almost reverence and disbelief.
A still silence hung in the air, the only thing piercing it being the frantic murmurs of the translators whispering to their chieftains.
And as the High Chief sat down, a hoof clopped against the table top. Again it came, and everyone searched for the one giving the applause. All eyes fell to Daring Do, standing tall from her seat and giving her applause. She stood alone, as she always had, struggling to do what she believed was right. Though she knew many here disapproved of her, her heart burned with the fires of harmony between these people. And as she began to increase her applause, a sharp clap came from the head of the table, the Prime Minister standing and applauding this proposition of unity where once there had only been segregation and animosity.
The gorilla President rose from his seat, his huge hands coming together in a booming approval.
Eagle feathers rustled as the chief of the Nyika rose, stomping a hoof to pledge his people to this cause of harmony in Zebrica.
The cadence of applause rose from more and more chieftains, eventually the entire hall rising in support of this idea. And as the sun passed through the eternal sky, sinking into the starlit night, each chieftain gave his thoughts and added his own touch to this new ideal, this new way that would see Zebrica no longer as a place of backwards barbarians, but as a people of respect in their own right. It went against the individualism of every tribe, and those who believed strongly in the ancient traditions did not smile upon it, but Zebrica was in the dusk of the old ways, and the bright dawn of a new era of prosperity touched the horizon for their posterity.
Each person almost trembled with anticipation as thought after thought came to rest upon a parchment written by the hand of the chimpanzee Prime Minister. They would still know themselves by tribe, they would still choose their own beliefs and their own ways of life. But they would answer to each other, and know one another as equals. But most importantly, they know themselves first as Zebricans.
And in the early hours of the morning, the only thing that alerted the excited leaders of this new united Zebrica to the time was the clatter of wooden armor as one of the chimp guards at the door collapsed from exhaustion. Deciding it was high time to get some rest, the gathered leaders shook hands and hooves, giving their obeisance to their new brothers in arms.
As the line of chieftains filed out the door, Timur poked Daring awake, who had lightly dozed through most of the proceedings after getting the ball rolling, her pith helmet expertly covering her eyes just enough to still look awake and alert.
What could she say? She was an archaeologist, politics just weren't her thing.
**************************************************
The sharp, permeating odor of tobacco smoke filled the small room the investigative team had been given by the heads of the Royal Intelligence Service. Princess Celestia wasn't taking 'no' for an answer, and though it had been several weeks since the pair of botched burglaries had put all of Canterlot on high alert, she still wanted some answers from her best agents. Agent Lucky Charms sat at the main table, several files on each crime scene laying open in front of him.
His eyes were tired and baggy, his shirt rumpled and not ironed. The single, dingy light above his head did little to illuminate the dark room where three ponies were crammed into. The Princess had even gone so far as to delegate the task to the Deputy Director, and Morning Dew was not pleased with this. She puffed a cigarette, running a hoof through her blue mane. Blowing a line of smoke into the air, even the hard and cold Dew was positively beaten.
The other two agents lounged in chairs, waiting for Charms to give up for the night or fall asleep at his desk so they could go home.
One of the other agents, a unicorn with a yellow coat and white mane, finished making an origami swan with his magic. Throwing it in the trash with all the other bored little projects he had done since Charms recruited him to the case, he rose and walked over to the desk. "Lucky, buddy, there's nothing to this case! We all know Ahuitzotl had his henchmen try to rob the castle and the museum as a distraction! There's nothing in these files that can tell us anything. It's past midnight, you need some sleep, Lucky."
Charms sighed, looking up from his massive piles of photos, notes and what little evidence was available. "Look Leafy, Princess Celestia thinks there is something to this, and I won't rest until I find out what it is."
Deputy Director Dew ground out the cigarette butt clasped in her wingtip. "I have to admit, Leaf is sounding more right than he ever has. This was all a distraction to keep our eyes here."
Charms leapt from the desk, his scruffy face and bloodshot eyes glaring down everypony that sat around denouncing him. "It can't have been just a distraction! Look here." He grabbed one of the Royal Guard reports from a file. "It says that the Royal Guards that discovered the attempted burglary said that the perpetrators could have been there for easily half an hour! Half an hour! Don't tell me that Ahuitzotl would pass up the chance to plunder some of the most valuable and dangerous artifacts known with that kind of time on his paws! The Sanctum of the Elements, untouched! The vaults of artifacts, nothing missing! The Royal Library, even more orderly than the day before!"
"That's the thing, Lucky! Not a single thing was taken from either the palace or the museum! This is exactly what that blue freak wants, us wasting our time and resources chasing after ghosts," Leaf bitterly replied, having spent too much time away from his wife on this dead end. "We've even got reports from Tashim that N'dutu may have suffered a major defeat. He might even be dead, especially after that idiot had one of our caravans attacked. Even with his army he can't stand against the might of Equestrian air power. There's nothing left to this, so just let me and Morning go home for the night. You can sit here, waste your time and spend the entire week looking over the same documents over and over again, just don't drag us down with you."
Lucky sat down at his desk, running a hoof through his blonde mane. "Alright...get outta here. Go home. I'll sit here and review the evidence until it kills me."
The unicorn and the pegasus grabbed their jackets, slinging them over their backs and walking out into the empty hallways of the RIS building. Charms stared down at the files with no real intent, wondering if the carafe still had a few drops of coffee left in it. He didn't do this for the crown, he didn't do it because he had been assigned it, he did it for somepony in particular.
He had no idea what had happened to Daring after she left Tashim, but all reports were saying that after she ventured out into the bush, strange things started happening. The zebra tribals that the RIS kept in contact with said that animals had destroyed N'dutu's compound, and that somepony seemed to be raising the standard and unifying the tribes against the warlord. Some of the latest reports claimed that with the assistance of Equestrian airships, a force of allied tribes had wiped most of N'dutu's army from the face of the Earth. But the warlord had gone after the Eyes of the Demon, he had found their location and just gone for them.
And that was what concerned Charms the most, that he might reach the relic that Daring was after. And then, since Daring was bound to be close behind, what if he found out how to use it on her?
The sepia mare just wouldn't leave Lucky's mind. That sense of passion for what she did, that spark of life that always glittered in those magenta eyes. So quick to joke and hard to hold a grudge against, even if she had left him in a Knossian prison for a month, and then stuck out in the middle of a jungle while she flapped off with the artifact.
Goddess damn that mare! Even though it had been weeks, Charms still hadn't burned the correspondence that she had sent from Tashim. Something about it seemed so personal to him, that flighty, touch and go mare always just seemed to worm her way around in his mind.
Charms stopped his thoughts, a single syllable of a word from his thought striking like a hammer to his skull. "Wait a minute. In. " He stood up, charging out the door and through the blacked out hallways.
Bursting out the front door, Charms managed to catch Dew and Leaf trying to hail a taxi wagon. "Wait!" he yelled as Morning Dew climbed into a wagon seat. Dew held the taxi puller, stepping out to confront Charms. "In!" he said, as though the word were the meaning of life.
"In? What do you mean 'in', Agent Charms?"
Charms felt the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he prepared to explain. "The burglaries were a distraction, but not to keep our attention here. What if one of the break-ins was a decoy, while Ahuitzotl tried to bring smuggle something into the other! His henchmen couldn't have taken anything, because they were already too focused on trying to discreetly smuggle something in! We spent all this time looking for what was missing, when we should have been looking for what wasn't there before!"
Deputy Director Dew's eyes grew wide. "Leaf! Go to a few Agents' homes and wake them up! Rouse a few of the palace guards while you're at it and get in contact with Guard Captain Armor, we're going to scout out the palace for whatever Ahuitzotl planted there. And if that is all clear, we're goin' on a little field trip to the museum! Charms, come here you beautiful, scruffy son of a bitch." Deputy Director Dew grabbed his tie with a hoof, dragging Charms close and planting one directly on his lips. "Now get back in there and start writing up some search warrants!"
Charms nodded eagerly. "Yes sir!"
****************************************************
Dawn crept over the jungles of the chimpanzees, a gentle mist clearing from near the river. Though the light of the sun filtering through the mist made a show of coating the forest in wispy flame, the beautiful sight was lost on Zecora. She had seen it so many times in the boughs of Nyumbani, and her heart yearned for something new. Something that wasn't the harsh and brutal reality that came with every waking moment on the scorching savanna.
Perhaps the princess of the Din'Jaro needed a change in her life. Since she was a little filly scampering about the boughs of Nyumbani, everything had been foreordained for Zecora. Every morning, go out with the young shaman apprentices and learn the ways of the spirits. The sun would climb higher, and the great warriors of her tribe would drill the filly on the martial practices, of which she seemed to have a hoof for the quarterstaff and the short knife.
They would make her practice until she either collapsed from exhaustion or until the sun dipped towards the horizon. From there, she retreated indoors to study what books her elders managed to buy from the caravaners and merchants in Tashim. An incredibly ordered and strict life for such a free and independent tribe. But they would need her, should her father's time come and if Zitali were killed, it would be up to Zecora to take control of the tribe. Or at least it would be up to her husband. And who, among all the eligible princes of the tribes of Zebrica, even amongst her own tribe, should she be betrothed to? Timur.
Though she had shared such a bond with him, it was young love, little more. She considered the stallion a brash, inconsiderate, bull headed and unthinking choice for a mate. A good fling for an immature mare, but a bad husband to be.
And here, in the aftermath of the destruction of the Eyes, she had found a new purpose. All her life, she had been trained to be a mystic, a warrior, and a leader. But as she walked amongst the sick, the starving, and the wounded of N'dutu's army, her talents had found purpose.
Not recognizing her as the Princess of the Din'Jaro, some zebra who needed an extra pair of hooves had recruited her to clean and dress wounds. The healer mare dragged her to a line of nearly emaciated former warriors, placing down a bowl of herbs and a pile of clean dressing.
"Dress the wounds of those in pain. Do you know the remedy for burn, scrape and sprain?" the overly rushed tribal healer asked Zecora.
"Yes," Zecora answered curtly, not having time to properly rhyme before the other mare nodded and ran to a different row of sick and wounded former slaves.
The groans of the injured and the rasping breath of the starving awoke something in Zecora. She had always known how to treat injury and chase away illness with herbs, there wasn't a mare in Zebrica that didn't. But as she came to her first patient, barely more than a colt who shouldn't have even kissed his first love, much less bore a spear in violence, a fire of anger and determination burned in her heart.
He looked to her with pained and dying eyes, a gaze that had seen barbarism and been a tool to atrocities that he could never live down. As she dipped a cloth in a salve, smearing it delicately on his cuts, she felt the need to comfort him. "There there, the pain will not be long. Zecora is here to make you healthy and strong."
And despite himself, the teenage colt managed to crack a small smile, wincing as Zecora cleaned his festering wounds. Laying a bowl of fruit by his resting mat, Zecora moved with a restless and determined step to the next patient. Singing a soft song as she worked, Zecora hooves moved with almost unnatural speed, cleaning wounds, applying salves and finally bandaging them. And with each patient she left a hopeful smile and a generous portion of the sustenance they needed. All patients were equal under her care, and she treated each with the care and respect each one deserved.
And at the end of the day, Zecora stood back and wiped her brow with a hoof. Her legs and her jaws ached like she had trained with the quarterstaff all day, but this was far more satisfying than any combat she had ever endured. But somehow she felt disgusted. Though the skillful work of her hooves and kind words today had undone the damage sown by the warlord that had ravaged all of Zebrica and threatened to spill his violence over into the rest of the world, she felt disgusted by what she had witnessed today.
All of those poor, innocent youths. All of those wise and once kind elders. All of them, scarred forever by the trauma of anguish and despair. Though their future looked brighter, something told Zecora that if she stayed here, her light would flicker and die, the fire and passion she had felt today would leave. Like a burning torch it would stay bright, but slowly dwindle as her eyes bore witness to more of the brutal reality here.
And with the leaders of the tribes all coming together under one roof, and word passing through the massive encampment around the chimpanzee capital that the old ways of isolation and superstition were being left behind for something new, Zecora made her decision. If Zebrica would see a brighter and more welcoming future, then so could she.
*****************************************
The next morning, they began to leave.
Those tribes assembled took up their spear and their shield, bearing them in all directions back to their homelands. Back to their farms and their herds, back to the huts and hearths. Their voices would bear the tales to be told, of a long sealed away curse that had poisoned the heart of Zebrica, now destroyed and shattered into pieces. Of a warlord whose arrogance and foolishness led to his downfall. They would tell their families and their friends of this new idea of a unified Zebrica, and a dawn of the confederation of their continent, now a place where all tribes and all peoples worked together for common goals of bringing Zebrica out of the Classical Era. But mostly, those warriors who came back to their families would tell one tale until their manes grew gray with age, the tales of her.
She who flew like an eagle and whose hooves struck like thunder. She who bore a pelt of pure gold and whose smile could enchant the very air. And the tales that she walked between the worlds of the living and the dead, and bore the sign of a god.
Those who saw Daring Do raised their spear and cried out to her as they marched out of the chimp capital and back to their homes. After about two solid days of it, it almost got on her nerves. And so she took the time to draw once again, something she hadn't done in so many days, what with the extreme distractions and all.
Back leaned against a tree trunk, she tried to capture the stoic yet sorrowful essence of the Everguard on paper, knowing that they might be the only time she would ever see the creatures whose remnants had been peppered throughout her life. And as she sketched and jotted down notes of each figure, she came to the last page in her notebook. A look of surprise came to her, although she always carried one, she never completely filled a notebook on a single journey before.
She pondered what to put there, but nothing came to mind. She took in a deep breath of warm Zebrican air, the scents of forest loam, dust from the distant savanna, and the scents of the river Zengo all mixing in her nostrils.
The airships above were boarding their crews and loading supplies bought from the chimps. At first, Daring had questioned the Equestrian captain and his crew, asking them if this was a breach of international agreement. The looks on their faces were almost enough, but they went on to say that a stray war party bearing the black seal of N'dutu has strayed too close to Tashim and had apparently been drinking too much grootslang milk. They came close to sacking the city, only the heavy mercenary presence had driven them off eventually. But, they said with sorrow, a few Equestrian merchants had died, and the Embassy itself had taken some damage. A quick letter to the Princess, and the three military airships in Tashim were deployed with deadly efficiency.
Another death knell for N'dutu, but a godsend for Daring. Packing her notebook away, she flew up to the massive tree where the tiny armada's flagship had been tethered. Landing on the deck, she approached the captain, who stood proudly on the helm, charting his course with his navigator. "Uh, excuse me," she asked demurely.
"Hmm? Oh, good morning, Ms Do. How can I help you?" the captain responded.
Daring flashed a grin. "Think I could hitch a ride back to Tashim? I kinda have to be back as soon as possible, royal mission and all that."
The captain almost bowed with how much he nodded to her. "Of course, we'll be pulling anchor in fifteen minutes and heading back to Tashim. Should be just a day or so, then about a three day course back to Equestria."
"Four days, huh? Wow, it seems like it was a decade ago that I stepped on that airship in Manehattan." Deciding she only had fifteen minutes to say her goodbyes, Daring dove headfirst from the deck and down to the ground to find Timur and Zecora.
Searching as quickly as she could, with a start she found both Zecora and Timur at the base of the great tree where the ship was tethered. They gazed into one another's eyes, speaking softly in a zebra language whose nuances confounded Daring. Landing by them, she interrupted the intimate moment.
"Um, I just wanted to say a few things before I left, if that's alright with you."
Both zebras broke away from their embrace, gazing with sparkling eyes to Daring. The pegasus walked over to Timur, grinding the tip of her hoof into the dirt, wondering how to say this. "Timur, I've been on a lot of adventures with a lot of companions. Many of them were warriors, many of them knew the way things worked and knew how to make me smile. But you're the only one I've ever had the honor of calling Dad. I'll miss you." She wrapped her forelegs around the stallion's shoulders, Timur placing a hoof gently on her back and embracing her.
"You...have been a fine daughter, Daring Do. And though you have tested my patience and my sanity, I would not have you any other way." A smile crept up the mare's lips, and she slowly let go of Timur.
Reaching into her pouch, she brought out a half of a wooden mask, presenting it to Timur. "I want you to take this, keep it safe and keep it to remind everypony of the price of arrogance and slavery."
He nodded, delicately taking the shattered half of the Eyes of the Demon and placing it in a pouch to be kept by the tribes of Zebrica.
Daring turned to Zecora, whose coy smile seemed to rile the somber mood of the situation. "Zecora, you've been one of the closest friends I've ever had the grace of meeting. You're kind, you're sweet, and you always know exactly what to say when I need somepony. And...I owe you my life, in more ways than one. You were my angel when I lay dying out in the desert. You shared the water of life and the bonds of friendship with me." Daring threw her hooves around Zecora's shoulders, hugging the mare tighter than was socially acceptable.
But all the while, Zecora maintained that coy smile, keeping something up her sleeve as Daring poured her heart out.
"You are a close friend to my heart, Daring Do. Which is why I am coming with you."
Daring broke away, looking awestruck. "Wait, you're coming with me? You're coming with me to Equestria?"
Zecora nodded, taking up her saddlebags and cinching them on. "Never before has a land like Equestria appealed to me so greatly. A land of peace, acceptance and where things are much more stately."
"Are...are you sure? Zebrica is your home, don't you have duties to your tribe? What about Timur? Aren't you still supposed to marry him?"
Zecora gave Timur a small smile. "We have talked much in these past few days. It is for the best that my life ends this phase. I need a new place to call home, and who better than my spear sister with to roam?"
"And, um-" Daring's eyes flicked over to Timur, nodding slightly. Zecora gave a knowing glance to her one time fiance.
"We have spoken about what is to become of us. Timur thinks he can make up for my absence thus. We were never meant for one another, and this is a path were we may find some other. Ours was a love full of secrecy and lust, if we married it just would not last."
High up above, the captain of the airship rang the brass bell, signalling that his ship and crew were fully loaded and ready to disembark.
Daring threw one last hug onto Timur, breaking away to usher Zecora up the spiraling ramps to where the airship was tethered. With her additional passenger in tow, Daring leapt aboard, Zecora following timidly as she set her hoof onto the deck of a flying machine for the first time.
The captain pointed the pair of mares to some empty quarters belowdecks. Scrambling down below to give the crew the room to work, they crashed in their bunks. Thankfully, this active duty ship was far sturdier than the Storm Rider , but Daring still felt fairly apprehensive about powered flight. A quick glance at Zecora told her the feeling was mutual, and the zebra mare looked positively terrified as the magical thrusters engaged at the aft of the ship.
"Daring Do, I have a confession for you. I do not know if it has shown, but this is the first time I have ever flown."
Settling back into her bunk, Daring gave a sheepish grin. It was going to be a very long ride indeed. "Got any ginger?"
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
The land of Zebrica had almost melted away as the Equestrian airship returned to its base at Tashim. With the tribes finally united through a common cause of bringing about a new era where nopony had to fear the rise of one to enslave many again. And Daring slept easier knowing that she had done her part in that.
But some things from this strange journey had left her changed. The attack of the trapped spirits inside of the Spirit Masks, the torturous sun as it beat down on her as she dragged Timur across a sea of burning sand, the awe of a presence of a god, the touch that had brought her mind into connection with the world. That phantasmal touch of a god in her dreams, one that had left her marked as chosen above all others, the barest gift of power that made her see the beauty of the mundane and the tiny connections between everything.
Daring had not only grown in her mind, her heart had grown as well.
The smell of salt drifted in through the open porthole, gently removing some of the residual heat of the day. Laying in her bunk aboard another rickety merchant airship, Daring rolled in her rest. She sighed as she looked at the shining face of the moon out the tiny window, the dull hum of the airship's thrusters a constant sound in her ears.
The journey across Zebrica had been unlike any temple, dungeon, jungle or even archaeological dig she had ever done before. She had discovered parts of her that she didn't know existed, a Daring Do of compassion, one who fought for life and light. One who saw more than herself and her mission.
But what kept her awake tonight, even as Zecora managed an uneasy rest on the bunk across from her, was the Path of Eternity. That trial which had tested her heart and her mind, one that kept her awake by making her ask, how much of it was true?
How much of that seemingly endless corridor had been echoes made into words by her own mind, and how much of it had been her own coterie of demons haunting her from the edges of reality? She vowed to herself that night over the expansive ocean to put the demons to rest and seek the truth of the screaming voices. And for once, she wished Gaia would just give her a visit in her dreams and say 'It was all a lie, you are loved, you did not fail those who you loved.' But...having a falling out with a god came with its repercussions, but Daring knew the eternal Yeye ya Kupigwa Wote was keeping one of her golden eyes on her, even without telling her.
"It wasn't real," Daring whispered to herself. But it had been real, as real as the shining sun and the ocean breeze drifting in through the porthole. It was real because every single one of those had been a reflection of her fears. Climbing out of her bed, she walked as quietly as she could out of the private quarters and out onto the deck of the great airship.
The moon glowed bright, and the winds pushed the ship back to her home port in Equestria. Up here in the clouds, Daring felt a strange kind of wistfulness. The skeleton crew did their duties, ignoring the mare looking out over the railing. And in her hooves rested her half of the Eyes of the Demon.
"Grinwa's Promise, The Blind Warrior's Burden, Zebrica's Curse. And yet, all you are now is a simple little piece of wood. So powerful, so invincible and utterly unstoppable. Now a broken husk," she said quietly to the half face of the wooden mask. "Well...that makes two of us."
Breathing a lungful of the cool night air, Daring spoke to it once again. "But unlike you, I'm like the phoenix. If I burned you, you would be ash and nothing more. You tried to break me, to burn me down to a smoldering cinder and to be your little puppet. I rose from the ash, I can become something more than I ever was. I can make things right."
Tucking the broken half of the defeated Eyes of the Demon into her jacket pocket, Daring walked down belowdecks, laying in her bunk. In a few days, she would face her fears and finally complete her mission.
******************************************************
Agent Charms walked proudly into a board room filled with black suited agents of the RIS, many of them being higher level agents pulled off of other cases.
Carrying a box on his back, Charms set it down on the table, opening it with his teeth. "Ladies and gentlecolts, I present our first piece of evidence of Ahuitzotl's attempted influence in the Castle." He triumphantly pulled a china vase out of the box, with pink flowers decoratively painted across the surface. "Though similar to most others in the Castle, this vase was noticed to be out of place by one of the palace servants the night after the attempted burglary, and little was though of it. It passed through sweeps by the Royal Guards without being detected and effectively avoided our best searches. Only the masterful eye of the castle's head maid proclaimed it to be a cheap forgery. Simple magical probing revealed the great extent of spells laid on it."
Though most of the mares and stallions believed Charms to have lost his mind weeks ago, they nodded their acknowledgement. "And what is the purpose of this device? Is it harmful?"
Charms shook his head. "No, sir. The unicorns down in forensics proclaim that the spells laid on it were for surveillance. Everything within earshot of the vase was heard and sent to one of Ahuitzotl's agents. Our search terms have located about thirty such bugs inconspicuously placed around the palace, even as close as one of the gemstones on the Royal Throne."
"Well done, Charms," Director Steel said, nodding to both him and his direct subordinate, Deputy Director Dew. "Has the museum been swept for such bugs as well?"
"Yes, sir. The museum is completely clean of magical bugs or harmful artifacts that have not been cataloged. Every recovered bug is having the spells frayed off and are being rendered harmless."
"Very good," the Director said curtly, "We thought this was a cold case, Charms. Who knows what kind of state secrets could have been leaked had those bugs been there much longer."
Taking this as their dismissal, the agents in the room all left in a black suited mob, but before Charms could leave, Morning Dew caught him by the watercooler.
"Charms," she said, catching him unaware as he got a cold drink.
"Yes sir?"
The Deputy Director reached into a coat pocket, pulling out a pair of rolled scrolls. "These are for you. One of them is from Tashim in Zebrica. Apparently, our little explorer went above and beyond the call of duty; N'dutu is dead and she reports that the arcane power of the Eyes has been neutralized. She's pulling back into port today, and since you're her handler, it's your job to pick her up and escort her back here."
Charms took the pair of scrolls, tucking the one from Daring into his jacket. "And the other one?"
"Letter from Princess Celestia herself. Basically a thank you note from her royal majesty."
Scanning the scroll in his hoof, it indeed seemed a simple thank you letter, complete with a promise of a raise in his salary for such a determined and exemplary job well done.
But as soon as Dew turned and left, Charms tucked away the letter from the Princess, unfurling the scroll from Daring. It warmed his heart, and so much emotion seemed to pour from the letter. It could just be Daring's smugness from completing another mission and bringing the artifact back, it could be weariness from the long journey. But Lucky felt he needed to be somewhere right now, and without telling any of his superiors or checking out, he left the RIS building and almost ran to the train station. Catching the train as it pulled out of the station, he rode forth to Manehattan.
********************************************************
Both Daring and Zecora stood by the rails, their meager luggage packed away into their saddlebags. The sight of the shores of Equestria brought a sense of longing that had never entered into Daring for her peaceful and serene homeland. But Zecora seemed in utter awe of this new land of promise and new futures.
"There it is, Equestria. Damn it has never looked so beautiful," Daring said to Zecora.
Both mares waited with a sense of impatience as the airship pulled over the city of Manehattan, the thrusters cutting their propulsion and beginning their descent. Falling slowly towards a large empty spot on the open and dusty field in the airship port, Daring resisted the urge to simply leap from the ship and fly down.
The ship touched down with a jostling bump, sending up a small cloud of dust. The ground crews rushed to tether down the ship, lest a stray gust toss it into another idle ship. After a few minutes of waiting, the first mate lowered the gangplank, and the captain called all clear for disembarking passengers.
The pair of strange mares walked through the dusty, Zecora's head twisting and turning every which way, a childish sense of fascination with everything that was Equestria. But to Daring, she felt a sense of fondness for the familiar setting.
"Um, Daring?"
"Yeah Zecora?"
"Where shall I stay?"
It hit the pegasus like a brick. "Oh crap, didn't think of that." Daring thought for a moment while walking with Zecora towards the city of Manehattan. "Well, I guess you could stay with me until you find a place of your own. But I warn you, my apartment isn't the tidiest."
Zecora nodded thankfully. "It sounds fine to me, giving a roof to live under so generously."
"Alright! Can you cook? Because I can't cook worth a mule's tail hair. And one of us will have to sleep on the couch, though I guess we could alternate nights. Oh, and if you ever see my helmet on the doorknob, knock before you come in-"
Daring's line of thought was broken as they came to the front gate, spying one of the ponies she wanted to see the absolute most right now, but was terrified to see as well.
Lucky stood there, a chunk of a cardboard box hanging in his teeth, her name printed in bold, black lettering. Dropping it on the ground, he gave a smile to Daring. Forgetting Zecora for a moment, Daring walked timidly over to Lucky, looking down and grinding her hooftip into the ground.
"Lucky...." she said to him.
"Daring," he said back. But before he could go any further, the pegasus latched onto him, her forelegs tight around his shoulder and her face buried into his neck. Lucky was even more shocked by this strange behavior when he felt a damp trickle on his neck, Daring shedding tears for some reason.
"Lucky...I'm sorry," she whispered.
Agent Charms was more than gobsmacked. When he got here, he expected Daring to be recalcitrant and spunky, more likely to slap him, tackle him, punch him or anything else. But this....this was something completely unexpected and took him completely by surprise.
Charms felt Daring sniffling in his suit jacket, and he placed a comforting foreleg around her shoulder. "Hey, you don't have anything to be sorry about."
"Yes I do, I've been hurting you all these years we've known each other. All you wanted to do was help me, and I used you. I understand now...and if you hate me, I can't change that with a sob show."
"Hate you? Daring, I don't hate you. What would make you think that?"
Daring loosened her grip, settling back down and wiping her eyes with a wing tip. "It's a long story."
"Well, you'll have plenty of time to tell it. Let's get you and your friend home." Charms nodded back to the cloaked Zecora, the zebra mare unused to this kind of 'cooler' temperature. "What happened to Timur?" Charms asked Daring.
"Stayed back in his homeland. I think we'll be seeing something different coming from Zebrica with him around."
Walking through the cityscape with Zecora in close tow, Daring chatted idly with Lucky. The earth pony was still in mild shock about this massive change he had witnessed in the rebellious Daring he had sent over to Zebrica and this more docile and conscientious mare walking with him. At one point the thought even crossed his mind that she might be hexed by some zebra hoodoo.
But some things seemed harder about her, the way she carried herself was the same old Daring, but each step seemed bolder, and her magenta eyes swept for danger as though her mind were still in the harsh jungle or in the tall grass of the savanna. He recognized this careful walk, the sure step of a seasoned soldier, one who had fought and killed. But, those warriors never wished to talk about their adventures, and Charms did not press the issue.
Several times they had to stop and let Zecora catch up, the zebra mare's fascination with everything about Manehattan slowing her down and at times stopping her completely to gawk. Boarding the train to Canterlot, another novelty for Zecora, Daring and Lucky took a booth for themselves.
"So what happened over there?" Lucky asked her.
Daring took in a deep breath. "I died."
"What? How can you have died?"
"I died, and was reborn. I saw the depths of depravity and slavery. I felt the life slip from so many bodies, dead by my own hoof. My soul was torn and rent asunder by the greatest abomination of magic. And...I learned to appreciate life, by giving up my own so that others could pass on. But there is one part of my journey that I will never tell anypony about, one that tested everything I know and everything I have done."
Lucky nodded. "I see. And was this part of your journey that made you think that..."
"Yeah," Daring answered quietly. "I wanna know something, Lucky. Its been eating at me since I left Zebrica. Would you be willing to let me try again?"
Charms sat silently in his seat, considering how much this meant to Daring. "...yes. Daring, I would give you more chances than there are stars in the sky."
Her magenta eyes shimmered, and a weight seemed to come off her shoulders. Daring sighed with relief, that sigh turning into a chuckle. "Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me."
***********************************************************
The ride to Canterlot seemed to go by in a flash, though it took nearly the entire morning and stretched into the afternoon. And as the train pulled into the Canterlot station, Charms felt closer to Daring Do than ever before. She was wiser, kinder and gentler than the mare that had left this station so many weeks ago. She trotted next to him, chatting like an old friend that hadn't seen him in a lifetime.
"And Daring, I'll have you know that we kept your demon artifacts safe while you were gone. We kept our end of the bargain."
Daring winced at the word 'demon', then relaxed when she remembered the vast difference between her old obsession and the true demons. "You know, I think you can go ahead and keep those, even burn them if you want. I got something much better than a junk heap."
Gathering Zecora, Daring stopped before they separated. "Lucky, I'm gonna drop off Zecora at my apartment. But after that, I wanna meet you at the museum for a few minutes before I see the Princess. I have to get a few things off my back and tell Ancient Lore I got us three years funding."
"Alright, see you there." Charms turned on his heels, happily trotting down the avenues of Canterlot, so relieved that Daring was alright. But something bugged at him about the museum, something about Lore. The way that unicorn acted when Daring was mentioned was kind of creepy.
Daring escorted her zebra friend through the streets, the sheer amount of colors and the sweeping towers of the castle entrancing Zecora even more than before. If she had been impressed by the townhouses and skyscrapers of Manehattan, Canterlot must have felt like some kind of fantastical dream world.
"Wow..." Zecora murmured quietly as the pair passed underneath the shadow of Canterlot Castle, home of the Princess herself.
Bumping up against the ogling zebra, Daring gave a curt laugh. "Trust me, it's not that impressive after you've lived here for awhile. What was it that you said? Nopony's home may seem the most perfect. And I think you'll find quite the home here."
And she managed to even make Zecora balk as she fished the keys to her apartment out of the bushes, wading through the actual mammoth pile of bills to get to her door. Waving her inside, Zecora was less than impressed with Daring's living conditions.
"Okay, I told you in Manehattan, my place sucks. So just make yourself at home." Zecora raised an eyebrow at the horribly slothful apartment, placing her saddlebags down in the living room and laying down on the couch, even going so far as to open a book on Daring's coffee table.
Trotting to her kitchen, Daring noticed the insane amount of flies. Opening a cupboard, she gagged when the stench of rotten food blasted her in the face. Throwing as much of it away as possible, she tossed the garbage bag out the window to land in her trash can.
Dropping off her meager luggage in her bedroom, she came back to Zecora, the zebra mare utterly engrossed in a book about some small town in the countryside, the name seeming familiar to Daring. "Alright, there's no food, I think my landlord shut off the water, and the kitchen smells like a rotted impala corpse. I've got some things to do, so don't expect me back until late."
Zecora took almost no notice, waving her off with a hoof as she flipped the page. "Uh huh, have a nice time."
********************************************************
Landing at the steps of the Canterlot Museum, the marble steps almost felt alien under her hooves, and she shifted uncomfortably as her hooves had grown used to the soft soil and burning sands of Zebrica. Meeting Lucky just inside of the doorway, she escorted him back to her office, ignoring the even larger pile of letters and memos that sat inside the door.
Expertly tossing her pith helmet onto the coat rack, she left her element whip on her belt, always prepared for the unknown.
Sitting down behind her desk, she waited as Agent Charms took a seat on his side. "Alright Lucky, I wanted to get some notes written down before I turned it in."
"And why am I here?"
"As a witness. I said before that none of the artifacts I have recovered have ever done anything. Well... this is a bit different than anything else I've ever encountered ever before." With her hoof she retrieved her half of the artifact from a pokcet. "Macho ya Pepo, The Eyes of the Demon. Well, an Eye of the Demon."
Charms' eyes widened at the sight of the source of all this trouble, a simple wooden mask that carried no more of the old power that had once threatened entire nations. "That's...it?" he asked of the artifact laying on the desk between them.
"Yeah, tough little son of a bitch. Did things to me that I will never forget. But Celestia damn I would love to forget them." Pulling out a sheet of paper, she began to sketch the Eyes on paper, writing down what she knew of the artifact. "Composition, appears to be made of Zebrican ironwood, possible contributing factor to difficulty of fracturing. Mask made to fit a face of a demonic entity, possibly Grinwa himself, but warps to fit the face of any host. Artifact is parasitic, even vampiric of host entity, draining out latent magical energies in the form of somepony's soul and intertwining them with the host. When fractured, the enchantment on the object was broken, and subsequent shards were rendered harmless."
"And that is what you are presenting to Princess Celestia? A chunk of firewood?"
Daring glared up from her sheet of notes. "This 'chunk of firewood' is what killed me and tens of thousands of others. Never underestimate the power inside of the mundane."
Finishing her report on what she knew of the Eyes of the Demon, Daring filed it in her filing cabinet, standing from her desk and slipping the Eye of the Demon into her jacket. "Say, um, Lucky. You want to...I don't know, maybe grab a coffee sometime?" Daring asked as she walked out of her office with Charms.
Charms hesitated as the pair walked out into the main lobby of the museum. It was a Sunday, and so the museum lay barren of any visitors, save a janitor as he swept out a gallery. But before Charms could answer that he was busy for most of next week, the clop of hooves frantically running towards them stopped Daring.
"Daring! You're back from Zebrica!"
"Ancient, nice to see you," Daring remarked to the older unicorn.
"How did it go? Did you get the Eyes of the Demon?" Lore said excitedly.
"Yeah, I did- Lore! You're bleeding!" A trickle of scarlet blood ran down his left leg and pooled by the floor.
The unicorn glanced down at it. "Oh, um, it is nothing. A scratch I got from my desk. Now let me see the Eyes."
Daring glanced up at Lore, suspicion in her gaze. "Don't you want to know how the trip went? Don't you want me to go secure our payment?"
Oh, yes of course," the unicorn said, a bead of sweat running down his brow. "But before you have them locked away, I just want to see them."
Daring removed her hoof from the pocket where the Eye of the Demon lay. "What's gotten into you? You're not yourself, Lore." Charms pulled closer to Daring, his hoof edging towards the tiny crossbow tucked into a holster in his coat.
"Hooves where I can see them, Agent Charms," Ancient Lore said with a certain edge in his voice.
Turning her side to Lore, Daring took the whip of its belt loop with her wing. "Lore, I'm not letting you see the Eyes."
The unicorn snarled, whistling out into the shadows. A snarl of a feline came from the shadow, the tuft earred lynx stalked out of the shadows, blood crusted across its spotted pelt. Circling the pair, the lynx snapped at the ankles of both ponies. Coming to rest next to the unicorn, the lynx limped as it walked, covered in wounds.
"Give me the Eyes, Daring Do," Lore said almost in a hiss.
Slipping the handle of the whip down her leg, Daring readied herself. "So, how long have you been impersonating Ancient Lore, Ahuitzotl?"
Lore flashed a grin, rows of serrated, triangular teeth showing brightly. "Long enough, Daring Do. This form is so uncomfortable." With a hoof, he tore the golden chain from his neck, tossing it to the floor. The illusion began to shimmer, a much larger form like that of an monkey coming into being where the unicorn had stood. "Ah, that's better," Daring's nemesis said, stretching out his limbs and pulling a long knife from his ornate belt.
"Holy shit," Charms murmured under his breath. "The burglaries. They weren't so you could bug the castle, they were so you could sneak into the museum."
"Correct, Agent Charms, the real Lore is safe, I assure you. And now both of you have played right into my plan! That foolish zebra never stood a chance at getting the Eyes, only the infamous Daring Do, " he said the name with scorn, "Could ever dream of getting the Eyes. And now, if you would be so kind, give them to me." The lynx next to him snarled at both ponies, threatening to pounce at its master's beck.
Daring gave the creature a devious grin. "So Ahuitzotl, did you enjoy my little surprise? Didn't expect your pets to come back to you empty handed and after your blood."
"You forced me to kill the cats I had raised from the mother's womb, and for that I shall peel your hide from your flesh and consume it while you watch!" Ahuitzotl screamed.
"Thought you might have fun with it. But you're too late, I've already destroyed the Eyes."
Ahuitzotl quivered with rage, his sharp teeth grinding in his mouth. "LIAR! Kill her!" he screamed to his remaining cat.
The lynx bunched up the muscles in his legs, leaping out to tear Daring Do's throat from her sepia body. For Charms, a rage boiled inside of him, and he whipped out the miniature crossbow from its holster, firing at the leaping lynx without aiming. The small bolt flew into the cat's chest, dropping it in midair like a sack of potatoes.
Ahuitzotl screamed at the loss of his last cat, drawing out another knife to eviscerate both ponies. Tossing his expended bow aside, Charms leapt between Daring and Ahuitzotl. "Daring, RUN!" he shouted.
Taking a winged leap in front of Charms, Daring landed on her hindlegs brought out her element whip with a crackle of electricity in the air. "I'll handle this," she said to Charms.
The blue creature split his face with a grin, laughing at her pitiful weapon. "HAHAHA! What are you going to do with that? Punish me, leave a little welt on me?"
Daring smirked at his ignorance. "Damn straight I will." Coiling up her whip, she lashed out and wrapped it around one of Ahuitzotl's arms.
Coiling it around her own hoof, she pulled it taut and activated the elemental runes. Electricity arced down the length of the whip, flowing into Ahuitzotl with the force of a thunderbolt. The stream of magically enhanced lightning held the monster stiff, his mouth agape in a resounding scream of pain.
Retracting her whip, Daring took a flying leap at Ahuitzotl, driving a spinning hoof straight into his jaw and sending him flying back to the wall. Ahuitzotl weakly raised a hairy hand, arcs of electricity still flowing between his smoldering hair. With a whimper of defeat, he fell to unconsciousness and slumped over.
Landing with all four hooves on the floor, Daring lashed her whip out, the leather cracking like thunder in the air before coiling back up and coming to rest on her belt loop. Blowing a stray strand of her charcoal mane out of her face, Daring ran a hoof along the brim of her pith helmet, leveling it before turning back to Charms.
"You! You're taking me out to dinner on Friday night, GOT IT?! Seven o'clock sharp, and not to some cheap joint either! But so help me Celestia if you take me to a fancy place and I have to wear a dress!"
Charms nodded quickly. Daring spun on her hooves and stalked out the door. "Well, Daring is back," Charms said to himself. And as she walked out the door, a troop of Royal Guards in full armor burst in.
"What was all that commotion?! We thought we heard thunder!" a Royal Guard in the armor of a sergeant exclaimed.
Charms stopped the Guard sergeant. "You got here just in time, get a full troop of Guards in here. We've managed to subdue a wanted criminal. And all thanks to Daring Do."
****************************************************
Daring had one more place to stop before she could say without question that her mission had been completed. Flying past the front gates of the castle, Daring landed before the massive double doors in the courtyard, muscling them open and entering into the main hall of Canterlot castle. A pair of Guards rushed in front of her, blocking her way.
"Halt! What is your business with the Princess?"
"My name is Daring Do, I just got back from ending that bucking war in Zebrica. I'm tired, I'm cranky, I just defeated my nemesis, and I have a little package for Her Majesty." Reaching into her pouch, she whipped out a Royal writ she had been given so many weeks ago.
Inspecting it closely, the Guards nodded. "The waiting area is over there, Princess Celestia is with her student right now and is not to be disturbed."
Daring pushed past both armored guards, going straight for the monarch's study. "You can't go in there!" the Guards shouted. But Daring ignored both, throwing open the door to the study.
Princess Celestia looked calmly over from a large tome she was reciting from, and in front of her sat a lavender unicorn on a velvet pillow, a gangling girl in her teenage years. "What is the meaning of this? Who are you?!" Celestia said to Daring.
"What's the matter, Princess? Forget your old fetching girl so easily? Forget how you sent me off to die in Zebrica, not telling me what could have happened?" Daring growled to the white alicorn as the pair of Guards grabbed her and started to drag her off.
"Daring Do..." Celestia said quietly. "Wait! Let her go." Daring shouldered out of their grasp, brushing off her jacket. "Now tell me what you want."
"Just thought I would drop off a little something." Daring reached into her pocket, pulling out the broken half of the Eyes of the Demon.
Princess Celestia's face took on a harder tone as she gazed at the evil artifact. "Twilight, you are dismissed for the day."
"Yes, Princess," the lavender unicorn said, levitating her supplies and walking out of the study.
As the door shut behind her, Daring meandered closer to the Princess's desk. "Cute kid."
"She is my prize student, Ms Do. Now just hand over the Eyes of the Demon and I will send for your money."
Celestia reached to take the mask from Daring's hoof, but the pegasus whipped it out of her reach. "I think I'm going to require a little more compensation than just some cash."
"What are you talking about?"
"Wale Mrefu, Tall Ones, Demons. I know about them, and I know you fought them for some reason. You better start spilling the beans about them." Daring pulled out her notebook, turning to her sketch of the Everguard golems.
Celestia's face went pale at the sight of her darkest secret and most ancient enemies. But that paleness left, an unnatural rage boiling inside of the Princess. "How dare you! Who gave you the right to barge into my study and make such outrageous demands!?"
Daring tapped her chin with a hoof. "How to say this without it sounding like an insult? Oh well, your mom, that's who!" Daring flipped the page in her notebook to the drawings of Yeye.
Celestia trembled at the sight of the forest green alicorn in the center of the page. "...Mother?" she whispered incredulously. "Mother....told you about them?"
"Oh yeah, Mom's great and all. Chose me as her champion to get the Eyes. I even went and saw the old homestead inside of her mind. She says you should come visit more often, she gets very lonely running the afterlife."
"You...you went to the Twilight Realm?"
Daring nodded. "If that's what you call it."
Princess Celestia sighed in defeat, her darkest secret had been revealed and now lay bare before Daring. "Give me the Eyes." Daring tossed her half of the Eyes of the Demon the Princess Celestia, the Princess catching them in her magic and placing them inside a magically sealed case. "Now take a seat. I'm going to tell you a story. It is the story of our birth and their fall, the story of why we are here as we are. And once I tell you this story, you will know why you must never repeat it."
Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon
Hear this tale zebras with hearts so bold,
The tale of the Demon's Eyes is to be told.
Dark times in the far gone past,
When zebra and pony did stand aghast.
Came forth a great trickster from far beyond,
From whom the depths of Hell did spawn.
Came the trickster to the tribes of the north,
And to the wise ones there did he call forth.
"Look into my eyes you zebra folk, for I am Grinwa the great,
I bring to you an offer, the power of Yeye the Liar, and the strength innate."
The wise ones did grow angry with the demon, "Yeye does not lie!"
"She is the mother of stripes and goodly queen of the sky!"
The demon Grinwa did recoil,
Such denial made his blood boil.
The demon fled to the lands of south,
To zebra tribes with rhyme in mouth.
Again he approached the wise,
To behold them in his demon eyes.
"I am Grinwa whose mind is clever,
Take my offer and power shall be yours forever!"
The wise ones did think for many a day,
And Grinwa did make of them his prey.
The zebra foals did agree to Grinwa's deal,
Accepting power without thought or feel.
Grinwa did smile with his wicked way,
But one among that tribe did stray.
"I am Talib who does not see,
Begone demon, for I know thy decree!
You wish for death and chaos upon us folk,
For your desire is to make us a great joke!"
Grinwa did cry out in anger at this blind one,
For his sightless truth had spoiled his fun.
"Look into my eyes, Talib the Blind,
And your soul to mine I shall bind!"
So Grinwa the trickster did stare,
His Eyes did pierce Talib the fair.
But Talib did not feel harm nor pain,
For Grinwa's Eyes stared in vain.
Talib fought the demon with spear and blade,
And sent Grinwa back to Hell from whence he strayed.
And the zebra did curse Talib, for he stole their promise of power,
The zebra stole Grinwa's Eyes, wishing for their strength to tower.
And with Grinwa's Eyes they did look,
Everpony the Eyes fell upon was forsook.
The zebra did act in foolish greed,
The Eyes did take their souls and feed.
Great Talib whose eyes do not see,
Blessed by Yeye for his deed.
Took the Eyes from those who did know sight,
He hid them away from the sun so bright.
The Eyes of the Demon would his line protect,
From the world who sought their power for their own to collect.
For The Eyes must never see day,
And the power of Legion be forever kept at bay.
