Fallen

Chapter Two

Eden

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Daring followed the pegasus stallion across a meadow to where a simple wooden cottage sat, surrounded by fruit bearing trees and a vegetable garden. The cottage, Daring realized as they drew closer was massive in size, much larger than a pony should need. The stallion set himself down on in the shade of a tree that had the most peculiar fruits Daring had ever seen. The fruits were round and purple, about as large as an apple, and their fragrance hung in the air even from a distance.

Daring's mouth began to water but she steeled herself and instead decided to sate her appetite for knowledge, "What kind of fruits are those?"

The stallion followed where Daring pointed with a hoof to above his head before meeting her gaze and replying, "They are the forbidden fruit. To eat of this tree is to give up the right to stay here in this safe haven, and it would mean giving up your chance at obtaining what you seek."

Daring realized the game he was playing, he brought her to where the temptation to eat would be the greatest. She would not be bested however, and decided to set to work at setting up her tent. As much as the cottage piqued her interest, Daring was not going to trust it.

"So, that cottage seems a little large for a lone pony to live in." Daring stated as she began to attach tent poles together, making the skeleton of the tent.

"I do not live in it, and it is off limits. Inside there are many treasures, one of which will be yours when you leave should you succeed." The stallion stated simply as he watched a few clouds lazily float on by.

Daring after finishing setting up her tent watched the sky as well until something dawned on her. She looked around and really paid attention to the serenity of the land.

"Why is it so peaceful here? I understand the shrine is here and all and the animals stay out, but even the weather. This land is like a chunk of paradise..." Daring said with her eyes still on the sky.

"This area is called the Garden of Eden. In this very spot all life was born and started. It was once the spot where all creatures prospered, but sin overtook the garden, and all the creatures were cast out to save the garden from corruption. Only after the fall of man did the garden reopen, but before a new life had taken its roots into the world the shrine was built and rules were set. So the garden was lost to the world again." The stallion never once broke his gaze with the clouds.

"Huh, but does it get lonely here then? Or even boring?" Daring pressed on.

"There are always things to do should one seek it here, I usually tend to different flower gardens I started, or even do some landscaping. As for loneliness..." The stallion finally looked towards Daring, "If you keep an open mind and a light heart you will find company here."

At this Daring was about to raise a question as to what he meant but a sound startled her, from inside the cottage a metallic *clank* could be heard. Daring stared at the cottage for a time, peering into the darkened windows for a minute or so until she wrote the noise off as something shifting or falling inside.

"By the way, I am Daring Do, and I never caught your name..." Daring said awkwardly.

"That is because I did not give it." The stallion stated simply.

"Well... can I have your name please?" Daring said, her nerves beginning to act up.

"Of course, all you needed to do was ask, I am called Icarus." He replied.

"That... Is a very strange name..." Daring said.

"The master gave it to me after he found me in the garden." Icarus stated.

"Wait, what master?" Daring said suddenly shifting her gaze to the cottage again.

"The angel that lives in this place, he found me broken upon the ground, for I had fallen from the sky after being chased by beasts from the forest long ago. He told me my name was from a story of a human who constructed wings of wax and flew too close to the sun, causing the wings to melt, and for him to plummet to his death." Icarus said, no emotion on his face.

Daring took in everything the stallion said bit by bit, processing all of the story before responding, "Icarus... How long have you been here?"

"I first came to the garden almost two thousand years ago during the reign of Discord. I fled as far as I could in hopes of escaping his madness. But in an attempt to get away from a harpy I flew too high, and passed out from the altitude." Icarus finished his own tale.

"T-Two thousand years?!" Daring exclaimed, taking a new light to the pony before her.

"That is correct" Icarus said with his signature lacking of emotion.

The first two days were not so bad, the fragrance of the forbidden fruit grew heavy on Daring however. But every day under the supervision of Icarus the guardian, Daring inspected the temple and the surrounding area, taking notes and sketches of what she found interesting. But as the day wound to a close, and the sun began to set over the horizon the two pegasi made their way back to the cottage.

Daring had been sleeping in her tent, while Icarus merely lay on the ground under the forbidden tree. If she had not felt how soft the ground was the sight would make her call him crazy, but even Daring had to hoof it to the place, everything was comfortable.

As they drew nearer Daring could hear the sound of music drifting on the light breeze coming from the direction of the cottage. The tune was sad, and Daring could hear singing as well. Drawing closer Daring found that the sound came from within the cabin. She shot a questioning look to Icarus.

"Who is in there?" Daring inquired.

"The master, he is singing for it is the anniversary of his brother's death."

"By the way Icarus... Do you mind me asking about your personal past?" Daring asked as they walked closer to the cottage.

"Go ahead, I will tell you what I remember. Do you wish to know of how life was like during Discord's reign on the world?" Icarus said in return.

"No, I want to know if you had family before you came here." Daring said as she stopped and looked at Icarus.

"Yes, I had a wife and two young fillies." Icarus answered.

"What happened to them?" Daring asked.

"I can not say for sure, when I was found broken in the garden, the master forbid me from ever leaving. For if I do, the spell on me will fail and I will die as I was meant to before he saved me." He returned.

Daring gasped at this, Icarus not only gave up his own life to the garden, but also his family, "Does this place mean that much to you that you are okay with all of this?"

"No, I care not for Eden to be honest..." Icarus for once expressed emotion in his voice, "Sometimes I wonder if I would have been better off dying. Perhaps then I could have seen my little girls and my beloved in the afterlife..."

"Well, if you miss them, why have you not... left the garden and accepted your fate? Why have you stayed so long?"

"I was afraid of what would await me after death. The master often spoke of his exploits into the underworld. And by the time I had worked up the courage to move on, I realized that many centuries had passed and my family had probably all but forgotten me in the afterlife..."

Daring stared at the Stallion before her, and she looked at him in a new light. She had thought him to be merely callous and reserved, but she now realized he was merely broken. He had nothing to live for, but he feared death more than the everlasting servitude in this garden.

Daring gathered her feelings and pushed them down however. She still had to make it through the rest of the night before she could collect her prize and escape from this realm of sorrow. The pair then moved onwards again to the cottage to take their rest for the night.

As Daring got to her tent she noticed the music had stopped playing as she entered and unrolled her sleeping bag. Daring lay down on top however, for it was too warm to be bundled. Daring began to doze off in the peaceful silence. Only the sound of her growling stomach stopped her from falling completely into slumber.

Daring sat up with a start however as she heard a creaking noise outside her tent. She opened the tent flap and looked outside only to realize she must have dozed off for ti was nearly pitch black out now. The only light came from the moon that hung in the sky behind the cottage. But Daring's eyes were drawn to a silhouette against the moon. A large creature with wings that stood on its hind legs stood on the roof of the cottage, its back to her.

The silhouette strongly resembled the statue in the shrine, only this being had long hair that waved in the light breeze. There was no doubt in Daring's mind, this was the angel who lived here in the Garden of Eden.

Daring took a step outside of the tent, but despite her not making a single noise the angel slowly turned towards her. Daring froze as it faced her, and she slowly worked at her courage to call out to the being. Before she even uttered a single noise however the angel's eyes opened to reveal glowing crimson eyes that seemed to draw in the world before them. All Daring could think about was the fierce look in those crimson eyes as she fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

Daring awoke to the sensation of being shaken. She stood up slowly and steadied herself against the pegasus stallion she had spent the last three days with.

"You have endured the fast Daring, but before you can have your prize you must fulfill the other part of the bargain." Icarus said.

"Wha-what happened last night... I heard something outside the tent and..." Daring started.

"You saw the master, he can be a little much for mortals to take in sometimes. Especially when he is in a foul mood like he is every anniversary." Icarus said, an actual note of sympathy on his voice.

"Oh my... Those eyes..." Daring shuddered as she remembered her last sight before fainting,

"But back to business, the last part of the bargain, what had you learned after putting your faith in me and fasting for three days without breaking any of the rules?" Icarus pressed on.

Daring took a couple of minutes to gather her thoughts before finally responding to the question, "I have learned that even though at first glance this is paradise. This garden is a hell of its own, a place of sorrow and self pity for those who wish to wallow in it."

Icarus was taken back by the strength in Daring's voice. He stared open mouthed at her for a moment, before smiling at her.

"Very well done, I shall retrieve your gift so that you may have proof of your find here. But do warn other ponies of the sorrow this once grand garden now holds." Icarus said as he moved towards the cottage door.

"You spoke of this place being a pure paradise in the past, was it the brothers that corrupted it?" Daring asked sadly.

"Yes and no, while it was the actions of the brothers that caused this garden to be corrupted, it was the immortal gods who set in motion the events that led to this. At least the master has stopped the spread though..." Icarus said as he opened the cottage door and stepped inside.

Minutes passed and Daring could hear rummaging from within, until Icarus finally emerged with a long bundle in his mouth. He set it before Daring, and then he moved over to a pear tree and picked one of its fruits.

"Eat this blessed fruit, and it shall sustain you for days to come, spill not a drip of its juices and your thirst will be quenched as well. And after you are sated and slaked, take the gift I have for you." Icarus said in a cryptic tone.

Daring graciously dug into the pear, being careful not to let even a drop drip down her chin, and true to his words she was completely satisfied and refreshed. She then looked to the bundleon the ground and then back up to the stallion before her.

"Thank you for this, while not as dangerous as my other quests, this has truly been an interesting one indeed." Daring said with a smile.

"Farewell Daring, I will miss your company, but let us both pray our paths never again cross." Icarus said solemnly.

Daring reached down and picked up the bundle in her mouth, it was bigger than she was, but felt strangely weightless. As she looked up to give an inquiring glance to Icarus, what she saw made her jaw drop open, and the bundle fell to the ground.

Daring was once again at the edge of the Everfree Forest, now looking over to Ponyville. She looked around incredulously, unable to believe that she was suddenly out of the forest. Were it not for the bundle she now bore at her hooves she would not believe where she had been herself. Daring moved to pick up the bundle again, but this time she strained against the weight, it was as if it was a giant hunk of metal inside of it now.

"Darn... thing..." Daring said with gritted teeth as she dragged it into Ponyville.

It had been three days since Daring had left Ponyville for Canterlot, and the bundle Icarus gave her still remained unopened. There was a magical enchantment upon the bundle, and it refused to open. Currently however, she was waiting in the Canterlot royal museum for the two princesses to arrive. She had sent word to them telling of an artifact that was magically sealed that not even Twilight Sparkle could open.

"You are Daring Do I presume?" A regal sounding voice asked behind Daring.

Daring turned to behold both Celestia and Luna before her. Daring bowed low before addressing them.

"Yes, and thank you for coming. It has been bugging me that I have been unable to open this when it contains the proof of my most recent expedition." Daring said, motioning with a hoof at the wrapped bundle.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at the size of the item in question, but it was Luna who spoke, "Thou speaketh of finding this deep in the Everfree yes? Where did you acquire a wrapped bundle if you knoweth not of what is inside?"

"The place I visited had a guardian, and it was he who gave this to me after I passed his test of fasting and then a question. He did not tell me what it was, merely gave it to me, and when I picked it up I found myself outside of the forest." Daring explained.

"Hmm, interesting... Well sister shall we give it a try?" Celestia said to Luna who nodded in return.

The sisters then combined their magic and slowly but surely they pried the cloth wrapping from the bundle. Once the cloth was free the sisters gasped at what was inside, for there, now floating off of the ground was a massive sword whose blade was sheathed in flames. Immediately the princesses felt the magical energy bleeding from the sword. Being in it's presence was almost choking at first, but the flames calmed after a moment, and the magic stopped trying to choke them, and instead merely pulsed in the back of their minds.

"Daring Do, you appear to have been given a powerful gift by this guardian... What do you intend on doing with it?" Celestia asked with a hint of concern on her face.

"To be honest I was going to donate it to the museum here, but... I think you may want to watch over it... If this belongs to the master of the garden then I do not think it is safe in public..." Daring said nervously.

"Master of what garden?" Luna asked.

"I got this from the ancient Garden of Eden... It's master is an angel who lives there. I only saw him once though, and I uh... Passed out when I met him." Daring said rubbing the back of her head and blushing slightly in embarrassment.

Celestia and Luna froze at the mention of an angel. They had only heard tales themselves of the ancient beings, but there were not supposed to be that many of them left. But Celestia unlike Luna had also recognized the  name of the garden, for she had heard Discord speak of it once long ago. It was apparently the one place that he feared.

"We will keep watch over this Daring, and fear not. We will keep it on display in our castle for any who question your finds. Your journey will not be for nothing, but I believe it will be safest to keep it locked up for now until we can be sure that it can not harm anypony." Celestia said as she levitated the sword in front of her.

"I will take it to the vault sister." Luna said as she took the sword in her own field of magic.

Celestia nodded at this and began to ask Daring about her adventure as Luna teleported away with the sword.

Luna had teleported to the vaults that held the Elements of Harmony, among other things, and placed the sword on a pedestal where it then dropped and sank into the stone, embedding itself a few feet in until it stopped. Luna stepped back and watched the flames burn for a minute. She then with a flash of her horn teleported to rejoin her sister and Daring, she did not want to miss much of the tale about this angel's home.

After Luna left, the sword's flame turned from a bright orange, do a deep crimson. A dark chuckle could be heard from within the blade, only nopony was around to witness it.