The Beginning of A New Adventure
It was a very dark day for Equestria, and the weather seemed to consciously reflect that.
The heavy rain began to pour from stormy black clouds like a thousand falling stars, drumming a repetitive beat that endlessly thumped into the manes of the mourners. A rumble of thunder and a bright flash of lightening signalled the beginning of the service, leaving a cold, bitter hollow hole in their hearts. A dozen ponies - all especially invited to the event looked on with emotions ranging from simple sorrow to agonizing grief. There was a sudden flurry of activity as the pallbearers who were lowering the coffin - which was simple in its design, but was completely swamped in letters from various well-wishers and flowers - into the ground sped up their work, to avoid flooding the grave before the coffin was in place.
In front of the small group, a pegasi and a unicorn were staring at the descending coffin with teary eyes. They were mother and daughter – two ponies comforting each other in a storm of grief and disbelief. The younger – Ditzy – was hugging a safari hat to her front as if it was a life preserver, while her mother– Dinky – simply stood and stared, one of her wings folded protectively over her younger sibling.
The loss of their third family member had completely ruined the two of them, and at the moment of mourning it felt as if nothing was going to be the same ever again. Another Pegasi - this one with a violently colourful rainbow mane - was standing quietly some distance from the rest of the group. Her expression was that of stone, as if she was determined to be brave for her hero – to refuse to show any kind of weakness. But the redness of her eyes betrayed her, and the pelting rain seemed to drain the very colour out of her mane.
After the four stallions – each dressed in simple black fabric - had finally finished burying the coffin, they went to the truck to bring a heavy marble stone slab that read:
"Daring Doo”
“Adventure will forever have a special place in our souls"
A few more words were said, and all the ponies left the funeral at a slow march. The knowledge that their beloved adventurer had passed away seemed to weigh them down. Only the two other Dos and the rainbow Pegasus remained, despite the blast of cold air that was spearing through their coat and was prickling along their skin; sinking down to their very bones.
As a final tribute, between deep heavy sobs, Ditzy managed to place her sister's tan hat on the top of her grave. She was unable to speak, due to the surprise Daring Do had brought.
Daring had arrived at her home the day before the funeral, completely unannounced and covered in deep wounds that wept rivers of warm blood over her bright fur. Her last words had been:
"The lost sapphire statue... Dinky... must... before Ahuitzotl..." Before she could get it all out, her words gave way to fits of pained coughs, giving her last breath. That was only the second time in her life Dinky had ever seen her aunt. Ditzy would never forgive her sister for doing that to her.
The Rainbow Pegasus left the funeral before the other two Dos without a single word to the other mourners. She left with tears in her eyes flying above the thick grey cloud mantle to make a hole in the cloud just above Daring's tomb, so that some rays of sunshine could brighten up her hero's grave, as the daring adventurer had with her heart.
It was too painful for Ditzy to stay there, looking at her older sister like that. If it hadn't been for her daughter, she wouldn't be able to continue – Probably just collapsing in the rain and screaming her heart out - But, she had to keep going. Without needing to say a single word, with a heavy burden weighting her soul the grey mare left - as silent as when the service had started, words not being able to express her true sadness and pain.
Dinky remained far behind her mother, throwing a last look at the cross. She never expected it to end like this. Her Aunt would always send her souvenirs from all around Equestria, from all the places she would wander off to in search for hidden treasures.. Now, all the stories of her Aunt's adventures were all gone. A tear trickled down the filly's cheek, falling on the muddy ground, as she turned back to her mother.
______________
Days passed, and Equestria was as silent as ever. The impact of Daring Do's death was deep. It was said that even the Royal Princess' were in mourning for her death. The sun and moon seemed a little duller than they normally were. The aftermath of Daring Doo’s untimely demise seemed to have put everything to a stand still.
Ditzy's house was still quiet, even though everypony else had slowly started to move on with their lives.
In the morning of the sixth day after the burial, a mail mare stopped by Ditzy's house, delivering her a package. It was small, but bulky – and Ditzy did not seem pleased at all to receive it. In fact, at first she made several attempts to hide it from Dinky’s curious eyes but finally buckled that evening under Dinky’s constant questioning.
A single tear trickled down her cheek, but she smiled weakly at her daughter. "It's ... for you."
Dinky’s eyes widened in shock and excitement as Ditzy slowly placed the small package on the table, along with an accompanying note. Dinky examined the note first, stretching her neck over the table to read it.
"To Dinky Do. I hope you will find this useful. From your auntie, Daring Doo.”
“This is…”
Slowly, with caution, Dinky worked her magic to unwrap the package. Inside there was a small, rusty steel box. A small lock was protecting it from being opened by unwanted people, but it had no hole for a key. Instead there was a note taped to the top of the box. It looked like a fragment from a poem.
"Make war upon themselves brother to brother
Blood to blood, self against self."
The mares looked at each other quizzically. Neither one of them knew what the note could mean, until...
Suddenly, an idea struck Ditzy. She remembered that when she and her older sister Daring were younger, they made a…. what was it called? A Blood pact. They swore that they would always stick by each other's side, for better or worse.
Without raising her eyes from the floor, Ditzy headed directly to the kitchen where her daughter heard a short, suppressed scream. The grey mail mare had cut herself with a knife. Limping, Ditzy returned to her daughter, handing her the knife.
“Mother!” Dinky rose to her hooves quickly and rushed to Ditzy’s side, grabbing her wounded leg and inspecting it.
“Why did you-“
"Try this." She said simply.
Without asking, but shaking from the fear produced by her Mom's act, she grabbed the knife with her magic, positioning it over the lock to let a few drops of blood fall on top of it. The metallic lock soon fell, landing with a clang that echoed throughout the room. The box glowed with a bluish tint, and Dinky could sense the powerful magic that was in play. It caused her to shiver.
The thick cover of the box opened, revealing a set of papers, and a compass. The mares knew where the compass was from. Dinky levitated it, turning it so they could check. They were right. It was Daring's compass, as it was signed with the knife on its back.
Dinky began scrabbling desperately through the box, hungry for answers. After a few moments of feverish activity, she placed the contents she had found neatly on the table. There were three maps, all of them different, yet looking familiar, and there was also a letter. The letter was written by Daring Do herself. "Dear Dinky," She skipped a breath.
"If you’re reading this then I am dead. It feels a little strange putting these words to paper, but even I can’t out run fate forever. I can only apologise for what I must be putting you and your mother through due to my own stupid mistakes. Be strong for her and tell her I’m sorry.”
Dinky stopped reading for a while, listening to her mother, crying in the other room.
"I’m sorry I haven't been there for her like the older sister I was supposed to be. It was my duty to take care of her, but I failed in that duty. I will not fail in this one. If my young friend Derpy has delivered this message as she promised she would, then it has been six days since my passing. The time is fast approaching that my final plan is put into motion. There is a creature – Ahuitzotl - He is my eternal nemesis and at this very moment is attempting to find something called the Sapphire Statue. He will not get it.
It is something I swore to protect, and this is the only way I can think of stopping him. The power of the sapphire statue is immense. Ahuitzotl would become unstoppable – But the power is tied to mine as its guardian. If the Statue comes into contact with my tomb then its magic will perish, rendering it useless.
Truth wakens in the darkness,
Wielding its sword alone,
To slay the mighty dragon
Whose heart is made of stone."
Dinky was shocked. She was breathing heavily as she read the letter again.
After a while, Ditzy came back into the kitchen – her wounded leg now wrapped in a bandage - to see with her own eyes what her sister sent her. Dinky was reading the passage with Daring's apology, depressing Ditzy even more.
"Why?" the grey mail mare kept repeating, barely whispering. She didn't expect those words to come from her sister. She always thought that Daring was hard headed, only after her death realizing how wrong she was. "I, forgive you..." She mumbled.
After Dinky was done reading the letter, both mares started looking over the maps. On the corner of each map, there was written something. Dinky started to read each of them out loud. "Truth is the sword that does not rust over time." After reading a few times, Dinky started reading the poem on the next map.
"I have the heart of a dragon, for I fear none,
From the morning till night I will not run.
I have the heart of a dragon, I will fight,
I will fight, i will stand up for what is right."
The mares were confused, but Dinky kept reading the note on the last map. "The key to the treasure lies within your heart."
Dinky had no clue what was she supposed to do. The maps weren't complete. All of them had trails, but none of them were complete. The poem kept echoing in her head: "Truth wakens in the darkness". After a long while, Dinky finally realized something. The truth awakens in the darkness. That would mean that the truth rises? "Wielding its sword alone, / to slay the mighty dragon, / whose heart is made of stone." The word "stone" had a special meaning.
"Hard as stone?"
"Heavy as stone?" Dinky kept asking herself. "But, if it's heavy, then it's beneath."
Having linked all the notes from the maps to a part of the poem, she placed all of them on top of one another. But she couldn't find a place for the one with the dedication for her.
"The key to the treasure lies within your heart". A key? To open something? Would that mean that that map should be in between the other two maps? Dinky tried to place the piece of the map between the other two. After she aligned all the margins, she finally formed a map, that would show a route filled with red signs and warnings, leading to the Temple where was hidden the sapphire statue.
At that moment both mares skipped a breath. "The sapphire statue" kept resonating from Dinky's mouth.
At that moment, Dinky ran to her room, leaving her Mom alone, overlooking the content of the box.
"You never cared about us; you never gave a buck about me or your niece… And now you do this to us? How could you…?"
Ditzy said barely whispering, with tears flowing over her checks, on the table.
After a while, Dinky came back, her luggage floating beside her. Seeing her daughter prepared for the road, Ditzy turned to her with a fierce glare.
"You're not going."
“But-“
“You’re not going.”
Those were the only words Ditzy said, in a tone from which it could be inferred that she won't change her mind. She had already lost her sister, and she was not going to lose her daughter too.
They never talked to each other again that evening, plunging the house into a gravelike silence. The two only saw each other for lunch, not once looking each other in the eye.
At night, the mares went to sleep. What Ditzy didn't know was that her daughter never gave up her idea of leaving. Silently, Dinky levitated her luggage by her side, and she left the house. She was very anxious to begin her very first adventure.
As Dinky was trotting down the trail leading to Ponyville's train station, Ditzy was looking over the window at her, praying at the sky.
"She's all grown up now, and she is as hot blooded as you were. I remember that you went in you very first adventure too at eighteen years old. Please, watch over her, sister."
