It was dark. It was always dark; everywhere she went the darkness seemed to greet her. The light of her lantern barely pierced through the shadows as she made her way through the tomb. Alone, in a horrible tomb filled with Celestia knows what. How did she manage to get herself into this situation? The thought swirled around in her head as she looked around the tomb, the shadows moving across the walls in reaction to her lantern. They had an almost unnatural feeling about them, it wasn’t darkness like you get when the sun goes down. No, the darkness here evoked feelings of dread, her heart thumped in her chest and she found herself breathing heavily as she moved through the hallways leading to the inner chamber. At least, that’s where she hoped they would lead her; she didn’t want to think about being lost. The sandy brown colored pegasus moved ever deeper into the tomb, through one hallway after another, anxiety building every second she was in that place.
After what seemed like an eternity, she reached a large door with a symbol of the moon on it. She looked over it, then at the stone slabs in front of it. She had read about traps being placed to kill grave robbers in university, the thought of her being crushed by a boulder out of the blue made her stomach churn. Besides the moon, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and with a deep breath to calm her nerves, she hesitantly approached the door. Carefully, she inspected the moon on the door. It was a crescent moon, carved into the stone that made the door. She admired the work they put into the carving, the tomb appeared to have been built by earth ponies, so it was no easy feat to create this. “There must be some way to open it, a crescent moon…what does a crescent moon have to do with this?” she sighed in frustration as she scanned the hallway around her leading up to the door. She giggled to herself, “Heh, who am I talking to? There’s nopony here…oh well.” In a moment of pure absent mindedness, she leaned on the door. As her weight was pushed on it, the door simply fell and slammed into the ground shattering with a horribly loud noise. The pegasus cringed as the sound echoed through the tomb. “At least nopony saw that…” she laughed nervously as she looked down at the fragments of the door. Satisfied that no traps were triggered from her carelessness, she started moving down into the room through the doorway.
A dim glow danced across the smooth stone of the tomb from the light of her lantern as she moved into the inner chamber. A feeling of triumph filled her as she entered it, but that feeling was quickly snuffed out as a horrible growl echoed across the walls of the tomb. The pegasus felt her blood run cold at the sound of it, and quickly took her lantern off her vest, and blew it out. The sound of claws scraping against stone filled her mind as she moved with a surreal sense of calm into a corner. She felt her heart pounding again as she heard the sounds coming closer. One thought out of many recurred in her mind as she waited for what seemed to be her inevitable demise. “Daring Do, how did this happen? What did you do to get caught up in this?” As she huddled in the corner, the source of the horrible sounds entered the room. It’s horribly disfigured eyes spotted the pegasus, and it rushed towards her. The only thing Daring could think to do as the creature attacked was to close her eyes and hope that she wouldn’t feel anything.
Suddenly, the sounds were gone, replaced by the light hum of a fan and birds chirping. Daring opened her eyes slowly; sweat covering her face as she looked around. The fan rested on her dresser by her bed as it blew cool air onto her face. The air felt comforting after the horrid dream she just experienced. Sounds of her parents chatting in the living room served to bring her back to reality. “What a dream”, Daring sighed as she got up out of bed and moved across her room, careful to avoid stepping on the plethora of ancient history books and novels that were strewn across the floor. She entered her bathroom and closed the door behind her. Still uneasy from her dream; she trotted over to the shower and turned on the water. After a few seconds to let the water warm up, she entered the shower and pulled the curtain. The hot water pouring over her felt divine and her muscles relaxed as she enjoyed herself. “I’ve never had a dream like that…it felt so real.” Daring frowned at the thought of that, she really felt like she was there in the dream. She shook her head and cleared the thoughts away, “Come on Daring, don’t let a stupid dream get you down, no matter how real it felt, a dream is a dream. It’s not real. You got an important meeting with your professor today.” Feeling like her old self again, she proceeded to finish washing up.
After her shower, she dried off and went to pick out a vest from her closet. As she looked through a wide assortment of clothes, she found several dresses her mom had given her. She was never into dresses; her magenta eyes rolled at the memories of her mom making her wear them to high school dances. They felt cumbersome on her, and were a pain to fly in. Of course her parents wouldn’t know anything about flying, they were earth ponies. She had a lot more in common with her aunt when it came to pegasus things; her aunt was the one to teach her how to fly and she was always there to give advice when Daring needed it. Her father was a lawyer, so he was usually busy and when he wasn’t, he was tired. Her mother was an agent for some DJ, Daring never cared enough to inquire for his or her name. The two of them had very little time for things a young mare was troubled with, even if she was their daughter. Daring came to terms with that long ago, and simply accepted it. She knew her parents loved her, and that was enough. After a short debate between two vests, she settled on a jet black one and slipped into it. The black complimented her grayscale colored mane, and made her eyes stand out as she admired herself in the mirror of her bathroom. With one final stretch to get her ready for the day, she headed out into the living room to greet her parents.
As Daring entered the living room, she heard the sound of her fathers voice speaking quickly to somepony. Daring trotted through the living room and into the kitchen, doing her best not to make any noise just in case her father was on the phone, which turned out to be the case. Her mother smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek as she left for work, Daring returned the smile and went to open the pantry. After a light breakfast of cereal and listening to her father speak to who she presumed to be a client, she set her bowl in the sink and started to head out. As Daring went to leave however, her father motioned for her to wait. Curious, she sat down on one of the three couches they had in the living room as her father finished. Minutes past, and finally her father set down the phone. He then trotted over and sat on a couch across from Daring. She stared at her dad, anxious for him to explain what he wanted. His long black mane and gray coat gave him an imposing presence, but his red eyes sealed the deal. Her father met her gaze, "I was speaking to one of your professors, he said you have some sort of event coming up?" The tone of his voice sounded worried, something Daring did not expect. "Yeah, he said he was going to have me come along for a visit to a site, I am not certain on the exact location but I figure i'll be gone for a month at least." Her father tapped his hoof on the couch for a few moments, then, got up and trotted over to Daring. To her surprise, her father hugged her. "Be careful when you go okay? You will be with the university, so I am sure you are in good hooves, but, don't do anything stupid okay?" Her father pulled away, and Daring could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She choked out the words, her voice shaky, "Ill be careful dad, don't worry about me." Her father smiled at her then looked at the clock, quickly he gathered up his suitcase in his mouth and mumbled "Have a nice day" as he headed out the door.
With a sigh, Daring recomposed herself and headed for the door a few minutes after her father left. With a full stomach and the affection of her mother and father reinforced in her, she was in good spirits. After exiting the house she stretched quickly and took off into the skies towards the university. As she flew, many thoughts roamed through her head. Her parents, the coming trip, and that horrible dream that still lurked at the back of her mind.
The flight to the university was easy; it was a trip that had become routine for Daring. Today, however, was going to be very different from her normal visits to the university. She was to meet with her professor, Dr. Antique, and discuss the plans for her upcoming trip. It’s going to be amazing, Daring thought as she flew through the streets of Manehattan with great speed and ease. Maybe I’ll get to see something nopony has seen for centuries, or discover some sort of lost relic. Lost in her thoughts of grandeur, she almost barreled into a fruit cart that had pulled out of an alley. Snapping back to reality, she swerved to the side, calling back an apology to the startled pony pulling the cart as she continued on her way. But, I must remember I am only an apprentice. At best I will probably be helping the professor with his logs as we document the temple. Daring quickly turned down a street and flew upwards, diving back down to accelerate as she neared the university. Still, the opportunity for discovery is there, I can dream can’t I? Daring smiled as she landed at the front doors of the university. Her mind flashed back to the tomb in her dream, and the horrible creature that appeared in it. Daring sighed and pushed through the doors. “Goddesses, I can dream alright…”
The stuffy air that filled the university was something Daring had grown accustomed to over the year she had studied there. The smell of old books mixed with the smell of fresh coffee permeated through the building as she made her way to her professor’s room. She recalled back to when she first started out at the university, how nervous she was as she introduced herself to the professor. She had feared that Dr. Antique was going to be the incarnation of all the professor horror stories she heard during her senior year of high school. In truth, he was completely different from what Daring had expected. He was incredibly polite and kind, always willing to help a student understand something or to flesh out a topic in greater detail. His mane was solid white with a mustache that always gave him an amused look, and fit well with his tawny colored coat. Sometimes he seemed a bit scatter brained, not focusing too long on one idea or topic. His lectures were always interesting to Daring and many other students, as nopony knew what tangent he could go off on while discussing a time period. Despite his personality however, his classes were very strict. He demanded a lot from his students, but only because he believed they were capable of doing the work. To say that every student met his expectations would be false; in fact some students left his classes after the first few weeks. Daring was enthralled by his knowledge of past civilizations and conflicts in pony history, and quickly became one of his favorite students.
Trotting through the hallways, she reached her professor’s room. Outside of the room however, was somepony Daring did not recognize. A stallion, with a charcoal colored mane and light red coat. The thing that captured Daring’s attention however, was his eyes. They were a brilliant gold color that seemed to almost glow. The stallion took notice of Daring, and trotted slowly over to her. Every move he made brimmed with the self confidence of a king; like he knew exactly where he was in the world and that nopony else’s opinion mattered to him. Daring backed up self consciously, to say that she was intimated would have been an understatement. She had the same problem in high school, always being dwarfed by anypony that was larger than her. The stallion chuckled as he saw her shrink back and stopped his advance. “I do apologize if I made you nervous; I only wanted to introduce myself.” His voice was brimmed with a thick accent that Daring could not place. She gave him a small smile as she relaxed a little and said, “Uhh, well, umm, my name is Daring Do.” Way to go Daring, you sound incredibly cool right now, she thought as she awaited his response. His ears perked at her name, and the stallion bowed graciously, “My name is Avarice, my full title is Baron von Avarice, but there is no need for formalities, especially not between myself and a pretty mare such as you.”
His words seemed coated in honey; Daring surmised that it was a skill he must have acquired from being a baron, but his less then subtle advance was something Daring wanted nothing to do with. She wanted to simply leave it at that and run into her professor’s room, but curiosity took over in Daring’s mind. “What brings you to the university Mr. Avarice?” Daring said as she tried her best to maintain her composure. Avarice seemed to contemplate the question, his eyes scanning over Daring making her feel more then uncomfortable. He trotted slowly around her as he answered, with Daring’s eyes following him as he moved. “Oh, I am one of the sponsors in the excavation of the newly discovered temple out in the Everfree Forest. I was simply checking in with Dr. Antique on how the preparations for the site were coming along.” Daring’s ears perked at the mention of the temple, but found it odd that a baron would take interest in something as expensive as an excavation. Carefully, she asked, “You said you are a Baron, so why help sponsor an excavation? I don’t see what you gain from it.” Avarice gave her an amused look and Daring quickly added, “Not that I’m ungrateful that you helped fund something that can help further our understanding of history of course. It’s just that I figured there must be some sort of motive behind a Baron taking part in the university’s research.” Avarice chuckled, and then moved closer to her until their faces were inches apart. Her heart thumped in her chest as his golden eyes seemed to hypnotize her. She wanted to move away, but she found her body not responding to any of her commands. Slowly, Avarice moved a hoof through her mane, a playful grin spread across his face as her wings unfolded involuntarily. “It seems I still have an effect on mares, as to why I helped fund the site? The temple is bound to have some…interesting things to reveal to us. It’s a win-win situation, you see. The university gets to document and study some ancient historical objects, write some more books, and I get credit for funding such a wonderful project. I do hope you have fun on your visit, maybe we will meet again. Time will most certainly tell.” Avarice pulled away from her, and with that, made his way out of the building. Sweet Celestia what a creep, Daring thought as she let out a sigh of relief at seeing him go, blushing as she folded her wings. Such an intrusion into her personal space was something she wasn’t prepared for, especially an intrusion by a stallion. It’s not like I can report him if he is funding the dig site, Daring thought bitterly as she trotted into her professor’s classroom. In any case I hope he is wrong, I don’t want to see him again, ever.
Daring looked around the classroom as she trotted in to find that her professor was missing. Based on the noise coming from the back rooms she guessed he was looking through the nightmare that he liked to call his file cabinets. “Hello?” Daring said as she trotted over to his desk. A cheerful voice called out to her from one of the back rooms, “Ah, I hear somepony, just a minute; I am looking through some files real quick.” Daring smiled, it was good to hear his voice after meeting the “Baron” and responded, “It’s just me Sir; you wanted to talk about the trip and get the details worked out.” The sounds of several books falling echoed throughout the classroom, as well as the sound of Dr. Antique swearing. Daring giggled as she glanced over the books on his desk. Most were basic history textbooks, probably left behind by his students. One book caught Daring’s eye, The Everfree Forest: A Complete Collection of Folktales and Legends. The author wasn’t one Daring was familiar with, but before she could look through it further Dr. Antique emerged from the back room, looking a bit frustrated from his recent encounter with his file cabinets.
“Ah, Daring my dear, so very nice to see you.” Dr. Antique said as he made his way over to her. His trademark safari helmet bobbed up and down as he trotted across the room, giving him a comical appearance that Daring tried hard not to giggle at. “Yes I do believe we have some things to discuss.” He said as he adjusted his hat to stop it from bouncing. “We will probably be gone a month, perhaps a bit longer. Make sure you pack accordingly; it will be in the Everfree Forest. There will be lots of shade from the trees so you might not want to worry about bringing a hat.” Daring laughed, not bringing a hat sounded so ironic coming from him. Dr. Antique always wore that safari helmet, indoors and outdoors. Daring had once asked him about it, and received the simple response of “It’s like a lucky charm, it has stayed with me through some tough situations in life and I wouldn’t dream of not wearing it.” Dr. Antique gave her an amused look and said, “What’s so funny Miss Daring?” Daring smiled at him and moved to a map on the wall behind his desk, then responded, a playful tone in her voice. “You always wear that hat sir; I just thought it was funny that you were telling me not to bring a hat when you are never without that silly thing.” Dr. Antique simply chuckled, an amused glint in his eyes as he said, “Yes well, you cannot deny that I look dashing in this hat, it brings me back to my days of youth. I was quite popular with mares back in the day.” Daring rolled her eyes and examined the map, looking for the location of the temple. “Whatever you say sir”, Daring responded as she found the place she was looking for. Marked by a red circle was the location of the temple inside the vastly uncharted Everfree Forest. In her mind she could already picture the trip to the temple, lots of carts with scholars and apprentices like her anxious to reach their destination. “When will we be leaving sir?” Daring asked as she calculated the distance on the map in her head. “Three days, we are still waiting on some experts to arrive before we start heading out for the temple.” Dr. Antique said as he gathered up a few books of his desk to take back to the file room. Daring stared at the map and then tapped it with her hoof. Anticipation built up in her, this was her chance to show the professor she was made for this. She was going to finally be able to put what she learned to use. She was going to be out and exploring a piece of pony history, not just reading books about it. She was going to be independent, going out on her own accord without having to come back to her parent’s house. She was going to be surrounded by those who shared the same fascinations as she did, in a place steeped in pony history.
With a happy smile on her face, she said farewell to her professor, who was once again wrestling with his files, and proceeded to head out of the classroom and towards the front of the university. The sun was high in the sky as she approached the glass doors to leave. It was a bright, sunny day for Daring to enjoy now that she had finished her business with the professor. Rumbling in her stomach reminded her that she only had cereal for breakfast; she would need to swing by her house to get money for lunch. Three days until we depart, for now though I think a nice salad sandwich would hit the spot, Daring thought cheerfully as she pushed through the doors of the university and back out into the city air of Manehattan.