Daring Do and the Amulet of Graveeda

Daring Do and the Amulet of Graveeda

Part 2

Daring woke up feeling absolutely wonderful. She wasn’t exactly sure why, mind you, but that didn't mean she couldn't bask in the inexplicable goodness. She yawned and stretched her limbs around her mammoth gut, letting her legs gently caress its sides as her hooves softly stroked it. She moaned softly and opened her eyes to the gorgeously gravid girth. Slowly the haze of her sleep disappeared and her senses returned…

...and that’s when the sight of her body made her recoil.

“Wha... what!?” The memories of last night slowly returned. “No... oh no, this is bad!” Daring slapped her hooves over her eyes. “Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad!”

Slowly she lifted her hooves up, her eyes gradually taking in her profound stomach once again. It almost seemed unreal to her as she watched her gut slowly rise and fall with her slightly labored breathing. The warmth of its immense mass washed over her, slowly bathing her in its radiance and maternal glow. She gently prodded it, and feeling the mass of her gut moving created a wonderful tickle deep within. She slowly retracted her curious touch, but then something within her womb stirred, gently shaking it about and causing a familiar feeling to explode through her. She let out a long, low moan from the sudden burst of activity, and her belly moved rhythmically about.

Daring was at a loss for words. This situation didn't make any sense to her, not one hoofing bit. She understood she was pregnant, obviously, but being pregnant wasn't supposed to feel like this! Or at least, she didn’t think so. She hadn't exactly ever planned on having kids before.

Daring pursed her lips. How in the world did this happen? This just reeked of magic of some kind, or a curse, or a hex, or maybe even—

Daring smacked her forehead. “The shock from the amulet… argh! Of course the ancient relic is cursed! It's always, always cursed! Smooth move, Daring. Real smooth, freaking move! This is Treasure Hunting 101, and you went and bucked it up like some amateur!”

She fumed for a while as the situation seemed set in. The rising sun was peeking in from the kitchen window, and she realized she’d slept through the entire night. She’d rather not have done it on the kitchen floor, as she was now going to be quite sore, but at least today she could get some work done.

“Gotta do some research,” she muttered. “I don’t even know if this kid is mine! And if it’s not, I’m gonna have to find who the parents are… somehow.”

Daring almost felt bad about referring to the life in her as something annoying, but she pushed those feelings aside for now. At least she believed it was actually alive and not some kind of weird illusion, which meant she wasn’t gonna be doing anything reckless for the time being. If there was a real live foal resting in her womb, she was gonna have to take care of it… whether she liked it or not.

Meh, it could be worse. This wasn’t even the worst thing that’d happened to her before on an adventure; not by a long shot. Better to play foalsitter for a while than to be constantly fearing for one’s life, for instance.

Daring slowly got up off the floor, needing to make use of some wingpower to lift herself over her gut. As she’d feared, sleeping on the floor hadn’t been kind to her wings, and they were sore as Tartarus. It didn’t seem like she’d be doing much flying today, but then again, she probably wouldn’t have anyway. Luckily she seemed to only have one foal on the way (although it seemed to be a rather big one) so she could still walk with little trouble.

Daring started to trot slowly to the bathroom, taking her time to get used to the new weight firmly placed between her legs. She needed a shower something fierce, and research could wait until after she’d tended to herself. She did her best to ignore the new feelings coursing through her, as every stride caused her legs to brush up against the sides of her womb, the child within rolling about as it tried to return to a more comfortable position.

Daring sighed. “For Celestia’s sake. If just walking is this damn distracting...”

She shut the bathroom door behind her with a slam. It was gonna be a long day.

()()()()()

“We've been to almost all the prior candidate's households already,” a young mare reported. “There's no sign they had a delayed reaction to the Amulet. We don’t think it’s any one of them.”

The Headmaster sighed deeply. “And we don't have enough time to go checking every mare in town… horseapples! The Amulet doesn't act spontaneously! It's power was already almost drained before this, and it can’t have provided much energy now.”

“This new Godmother isn’t going to last if we don’t hurry,” the old stallion said from beside him. “The boon from the awakening will fade, and the curse will return in full.”

Another member of the small group spoke up. “Sirs, um… I was thinking… what if the new Godmother isn't a candidate?”

The two stallions turned to her. “What are you suggesting?”

The mare shifted on her hooves. “What if the Godmother is an outsider? You know, somepony who doesn't live here? The Amulet’s almost always on display. It could’ve been touched or brushed against by somepony.”

The Headmaster considered that for a moment. Then, after exchanging a glance with his elder, cleared his throat and spoke in a loud voice. “Alright, I want the city locked down. Lie if you have to about the reasons, but no tourist, and I mean NO TOURIST is leaving until we find the Godmother! Swift Bell, go send for Showcase. She's the one who’s been giving tours for the last month.”

One of the young initiates saluted and disappeared from his sight.

The Headmaster then turned to a pony standing over by the window. “Quick Fix.”

Quick Fix perked up. He was a pegasus stallion with a silver mane and tail, his coat was a soft shade of white, and his eyes were pale blue. His cutie mark was a wrench with a white snake wrapped around it, and his wings occasionally twitched from a nervous tick.

“Yes, sir?” Quick Fix said.

“Start sending teams to visit families that have signed for well wishes in the Godmother book.” The Headmaster’s voice grew more emphatic. “And please, please be discreet. We're not trying to open old wounds, here. You just need to find a mare who's happy to have her foals back. It shouldn't be a hard thing to spot.”

Quick Fix nodded. “I’m on it.”

()()()()()

Daring quietly poked her head out around the alleyway corner. She’d been cautious about avoiding attention, but years of adventuring had left her with a lingering paranoia. She didn't want to be seen so suddenly heavy with foal, although she had to admit to herself it probably wouldn’t be a big deal. Who was going to know? It wasn't like she was well known around here. She probably could've gotten away with walking down the street without much of a fuss, but instead she’d opted to be careful, staying to alleyways and rooftops.

Even gliding was becoming a chore. She could barely manage the small distance between two buildings, much less flying across a street if need be. Daring really hoped that the answer to her problems wouldn’t require much use of her woefully sore wings, as she doubted she’d be able to manage it. She rolled her shoulders and poked her head out once again, wondering where the hay that librarian was. It was still relatively early in the morning, but well past the time she was supposed to open.

“Hope she didn’t decide to stay—huh?”

Daring heard whistling from down the street. She almost ducked back into hiding, but then she noticed who it was. It was the librarian, that sad sulking mess of a pony from last night... jaunting down the street whistling Cranky Doodle Donkey. She was even wearing a new-looking dress, although it looked to be a little loose around her waist.

“What the...” Daring just stood there staring dumbfounded at the mare. Of course, doing so allowed the front half of her body to stand clearly out from the alley, and being like that, it didn't take long for the librarian to notice her.

“Oh, hello!” the librarian said brightly. “Waiting on me? Sorry about that. I just had to pick out a dress to mark the happy occasion.”

Daring raised an eyebrow. “But yesterday—”

“Oh, phooey about yesterday,” she said with a giggle. She entered her business and left Daring to follow. “Come on in.”

Going inside the library almost seemed like a sanctuary to the dreary atmosphere outside. There wasn’t even a passing tourist amongst all the locked doors and shutter-closed windows, and the empty streets were downright eerie. She gratefully crossed the threshold and noticed that the librarian had gone behind the front desk to check some files. This was good, as the librarian was probably the only pony who would remember that she wasn't pregnant the day before. Now was her chance to close the distance between them so she could keep her little ‘problem’ out of sight.

Finally at a range close enough to not rouse suspicion at her unseen cargo, Daring wet her lips and spoke up. “So, uh... about those books on history that I wanted to get yesterday. You wouldn’t happen to have anything about the…” she coughed. “...the A-Amulet of Graveeda, would you?”

The librarian looked up from her work. “The Amulet? Hmm, I think that… maybe in the older... yeah… yeah! Okay, you should be able to find books about the Amulet in our history section. Check the encyclopedias about obscure Equestrian history first. They’re over in that room there.”

She pointed to a doorway close by, which thankfully, was at such an angle that Daring wouldn't need worry about being spotted on her way over.

“Alright. Thanks.”

Daring waited for the librarian to return to her work, and had just started walking toward the room mentioned when a kick suddenly rocked her belly. She managed to suppress any noises she may have made, but strangely enough, she instead heard... giggling?

Daring looked toward the librarian, who was blushing and apparently didn't realize she was still there. She started moving again before anything else weird could happen, but then the kid kicked again. The feelings were maddening, but didn’t have time to dwell on them, as she was distracted again by another loud chuckle from the mare behind the desk.

This time the librarian seemed to realize she was being stared at, and she carefully cleared her throat before turning away from Daring. Daring kept an eye out as she continued onto her destination and managed to spot the librarian looking downward. She seemed to be mumbling to something, but she couldn't tell what, as the desk just as good a screen for her as it was for Daring.

Daring shrugged and pushed it out of her mind. She had to find the answer to her problems right now, not wonder why some librarian liked to talk to herself.

()()()()()

Daring had been looking through volumes of dry textbooks for the last hour, and had just only found something that might help. A small section with a heading 'The Amulet of Graveeda' mentioned the relic in small detail, although it didn’t help her much.

“Sacred artifact… held in high regard by the ponies of Prodigal Point… silver disc of platinum etched with the likeness of Graveeda… blah, blah, blah.” Daring rolled her eyes and crossed her hooves. “Well, not much help there. Seems like another dead—wait, what’s this?”

There was a small footnote at the end of the article. In tiny text it said, “For more information, see The Founding of Prodigal Point, Volume Twelve.”

Daring groaned at reading that. She’d actually seen that collection of volumes while browsing around in here, and they were all placed up on one of the higher shelves. There was a stepladder in the room, but she couldn't really use it thanks to a certain package lodged between her legs.

“Damn it.” Daring snapped the book shut and chewed on her lip. She really didn’t want to climb a ladder right now. There were no other leads, though, and she was getting impatient. She decided she’d go for it, although she decided she’d be doing it in a special way. Despite the soreness in her wings, she could fly while using the step ladder as a kind of guide rail, kinda like back at flight camp when she was a filly. It was a pretty rudimentary thing, and she was confident it would work.

“Here goes.” Up the ladder Daring went, slowly flapping without aggravating her tired muscles too much. Her wings protested with every beat, but still she kept on. It didn't take long her long to do this, thankfully, but now she’d encountered a new problem. The stepladder wasn’t high enough to reach the shelf she was trying to get to, which meant she was going to have to fly solo.

“It’s never easy.” Daring pursed her lips and swallowed her fear. She took the final length toward the book, and snatched in her grasp.

“Ha!” she said. “Got it!”

Then one of her wings seized up in a cramp.

“GAH!” She lost stability and collided into the book case. In a span of luck she managed to correct herself just before she landed, but not before the disturbed stepladder fell over in a loud BOOM and buried her in a small avalanche of books.

Daring stared up at the ceiling taking heavy gasps of air. She was on her back, panting heavily, and the world spinning was around in circles. She was fine, hadn’t even landed hard, really, but that little exertion had left her feeling lightheaded. She lifted her head up and saw that her belly was covered by a thin layer of books, which caused a brief flutter of panic. She hoped that the foal wasn’t hurt, but a curious wiggle and kick allayed her worries.

“Sorry about that,” Daring murmured to the little one. “I’m not usually this clumsy, I swear.”

“You alright in there?” the librarian called.

Uh-oh.

“I’m fine!” Daring said quickly. “Just some books fell over, that's all!”

“Oh, well I can help with that!”

Crap. Daring tried to sit up, but her overly large belly made it considerably difficult. “No, no! It’s fine, really! I just—”

“Oh, dear...”

Daring froze. The librarian was standing at the entrance with a look of concern. Thankfully there was still a thin layer of books covering her, but her gut was so large that it looked like she was covered up to her chest in a considerably large pile. She didn't really know what to say as the librarian trotted over in a hurry, and all Daring could really do was lay back and wait for the inevitable.

“Oh, you poor dear!” The librarian said. “Let me... help...”

Daring wasn't looking, but she was pretty sure that the lack of speech was followed by a jaw that’d dropped to the floor. When she did look to make sure the mare hadn't passed out, she saw the librarian easing herself down to the floor to sit, as she seemed unable to take her eyes off Daring's awe-inspiring size.

Daring didn't really know what to do. Whatcould she do? How many times had she had to explain away a sudden pregnancy before? How many times had anypony?

“It's you.”

Daring cocked her head. Of all the things she was expecting to hear, that certainly wasn’t one of them. “What?”

The librarian's voice was filled with wonder. “I d-didn't even think you were real, but here you.. are...”

Daring watched as the librarian tried to hide her emotion behind one of her hooves, the other drifting down to rest on her own stomach. She barely hid a smile as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Oh, thank you,” she whispered in a thick voice. “Thank you… th-thank you so much…”

“Thank you?” Daring repeated? She didn't know how to take that. “Thanks for what?” She did her best to pull herself out of the book pile, which went easier thanks to the librarian's magic.

The librarian frowned. “But you're... you're the Godmother, right? You have to be! You saved my child!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up!” Daring barely managed to sit herself upright. “I don't even know what a Godmother is! And how would I save anypony with this watermelon dragging me down?”

Recognition dawned in the librarian’s eyes. “You… you don't even know what you are, do you?”

“Pfft! Of course I do! I'm Daring Do, adventurer extraordinaire! It’s okay if you haven’t heard of me; I'm not from around here. I only just came to Prodigal Point a few days ago.” She tried to get up but found herself grounded, as the cramped muscle in her back made flapping her wings nearly impossible. She dragged her hooves over her face in a prolonged groan. “Do you know why is this happening to me?”

After a long silence, the librarian spoke. “I might.”

Daring just shifted about, trying to get comfortable. “I’m all ears.”

The librarian’s eyes grew distant as she looked off at the far wall. “My mother used to tell me a story when I was younger. I always thought it was a fairytale, but apparently it’s quite real. It was about a curse that would steal away foals from a mother's womb before they were born.”

“Long ago, there was a cruel, powerful spirit who terrorized this town for many years,” the librarian said. “Her name was Apate, and she was a master of trickery, fraud, and deception. She treated the ponies of Prodigal Point like they were her slaves, and she was especially was hateful towards young children and their mothers.”

“Why?” Daring asked. “That seems like a strange demographic to single out.”

“When Apate was brought into this world, she was given a vision,” the librarian explained. “She would be free to sow mischief and sorrow wherever she went, and her power would go unchallenged in all things. However, her downfall would ultimately be brought about by the meek, and her death would be delivered by the nurturers of the meek. Apate interpreted this as any mares who had young children, and so out of paranoia, she singled them out and treated them the worst of all.”

Daring resisted the urge to facehoof. That sounded about typical for the plot of a fairytale, but if it were actually true, then this Apate was an utter idiot. You didn’t beat down the ones who were prophesied to take you down. All that did was give them all the more reason to hate you. It seemed that no matter where she went in the world, one constant remained the same: bad guys were really, really stupid.

“So what happened?” Daring asked.

The librarian hung her head. “Apate wandered the world for a time causing misery and strife before coming to Prodigal Point. She claimed it as her own, then began to spread her tyranny to other nearby towns. However, over time, murmurs of unrest began to arise, and acts of rebellion began springing up. The ponies gradually grew more and more defiant, until finally a mare named Graveeda stepped up and formed a proper resistance. Plans were made to overthrow Apate, but unfortunately, Apate learned of the resistance before they could make a move. Apate decided to break the spirits of the rebels, and since the group was primarily composed of mares, she laid a curse on the town that would steal away foals from a mother's womb before they were born.”

Daring could now see how all these pieces were fitting together. “And let me guess, that didn’t break their spirits. It just pushed them over the edge into total rebellion.”

The librarian nodded. “The entire town flew into an unholy rage. They abandoned all pretenses and swarmed Apate’s palace in a mob, overwhelming her defenses and bringing her down with brute force. They demanded that she remove the curse, but she refused and instead tried to slay them all with a powerful spell.”

Daring nodded. “Sounds about right. Never works, though.”

“And this case was no different,” the librarian continued. “Graveeda was the one who stopped her, running her through with an enchanted spear. As Apate was in her death throes, however, she shattered the spear to pieces, intending to make the weapon overload and take her killer with her. But instead of killing Graveeda, Apate’s energy flowed into the mare, turning her into a powerful spirit in her own right. In the years that followed she devoted herself to protecting the town from other threats similar to Apate, as well as trying to undo the curse that kept stealing away the town’s foals. It proved to be too difficult for Graveeda, though, and the best she could do was come up with a sort of band-aid fix.”

Daring looked down at her swollen belly. “Which is this Godmother thing.”

The librarian began undoing the buttons on her dress. And as she did, she began to recite a poem that sent a chill up Daring’s spine.

“No mother may now bear their young, for cruel Apate’s trap is sprung.

Upon the fourth month’s final day, black mist will steal the foals away

and lost forever they will be, their faces never shall the parents see.

But through Graveeda’s chosen one, the cruel curse can be undone

Between two wombs safe they will stay, until they can come out to play.

Oh Godmother, to you we pray, save us from doom and disarray

Your blessings do our fears allay, and keep Apate’s curse at bay.

Share in our love and in our life

Shield us from sorrow and foul strife.

Long may you live, free be you of woe

and healthy may our unborn grow.”

With the last button undone she opened the front of her dress, and this time Daring was the one who felt her jaw drop. The librarian’s stomach, which had been flat last night, had slightly swollen to the size of a large grapefruit. Nowhere near the size of her own belly, of course, but seeing it nevertheless had Daring in a daze.

“I always knew that the Godmother shared in the mother's progeny as it still grew within them to provide protection from Apate’s curse,” the librarian said, smiling. “I just didn't know she could bring them back, too.”

A million questions flew through Daring's head, but the one that seemed to ring loudest sprang forth first.

“H-hang on, back up! I didn't bring your kid back! I don’t even know how anypony could do that to begin with! What makes you think that—”

Daring was cut short as the librarian leaned forward and gently rubbed her enormous belly. A feeling of warmth welled up in her gut, and while she had a sudden temptation to be rather indecent, she managed to hold her urges in check. The librarian then leaned forward and kissed Daring's stomach where she’d been stroking, and the warmth seemed to magnify even more.

“I-I…” Daring couldn't hold back a slight moan as a tingle spread across her girth, her eyes unbelieving as a slight shimmer rippled across her skin. Her gut began to radiate with a warm glow alongside a soft throbbing sensation, and an identical one reciprocated itself in the librarian's own womb. A slight kick rock their wombs together, a single disturbance both simultaneous and mirrored on the same location on both their paunches.

The librarian spoke up past Daring's awe as the glow began to fade. “My mother also said that rubbing the Godmother's belly brings good luck.”

Daring could hardly believe what she’d just seen. “B-but, how? How did you know?”

The librarian blushed as she put a hoof on her own pregnant stomach. “Sometimes a mother just... does.”

If Daring hadn't left home without her hat, it would be pulled over her face by now. “Oh, man… this is weird. This is almost too weird, even for me.”

“No, it’s alright!” the librarian insisted. “Nopony around here will think differently of you, and belief in the Godmother is common enough that your appearance will—”

“Urgh! I can’t do this!” Daring held her head in her hooves. “I’m sorry, but I can’t be your fertility goddess or whatever! I have a life of my own, dreams, a career, all that stuff! I'm not ready to put down roots and become some kind of broodmother!”

“You don't understand,” the librarian said with pleading eyes. “I didn't believe my friends until I saw them, and I still thought it was a hoax until it happened to me! You have no idea what kind of pain this town is going through! You can fix it all! You can give everypony back what the curse has taken from them!”

Daring wasn't going to listen. This was all crazy, and she wanted nothing to do with any of it. She never even wanted kids in the first place! How was she expected to carry around an entire town's expected generation in her stomach!? The panic seemed to rise like a tidal wave in her mind, threatening to bear down and destroy everything, and her breathing and heart rate were beginning to pick up.

It was then that a voice entered her mind, soft and pure. It spoke but a single word, but it carried all the force of a hammerblow.

See.

A strange force rushed through Daring’s mind, and the world disappeared in a flash of light.

()()()()()

Daring’s legs were moving on their own. Her wings were gone, and she couldn't help but feel like something was protruding from her skull. Something else was pestering her, too, like a sickness or strange nausea that was constricting her gut. She barged her way into a room that looked like a bathroom, and as she looked in the mirror, she abruptly realized who she was.

The librarian was hyperventilating. The pain in her belly was increasing, and it was beginning to feel like a firestorm of glass raging inside her. She let out a gasp as a particularly strong stab drove her to her knees, and she caught a glimpse of a black smoke oozing out of her bellybutton.

“NO!” The librarian cried. “PLEASE, NO!”

The pain in their stomach increased dramatically as something invisible constricted it, its size slowly fading with a bone-chilling coldness. The black smoke now began pouring out of her mouth as well, cutting her screams short and making her cough.

Then in an instant it all stopped, and the librarian simply lay there on the cold, tile floor, weak and exhausted from the attack.

She noticed the strange emptiness that now pervaded their womb.

She let out a tiny whimper, the tears instantly welling up in her eyes.

“No... nononononononono...” she finally opened her eyes and dared look, her gaze slowly looked upon what she feared.

Her eyes fell upon her flattened stomach.

She screamed.