//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Audacity // Story: Daring Do and the Curse of the Lost Tomb // by Fedora //------------------------------// With a screech the train rolled to a stop at Fillydelphia’s train station. Daring Do stepped out, followed closely by Scootaround. Daring was wearing a black fedora atop her head and a dark colored bowtie, as custom for when she was out and about doing business. She had been teaching earlier in the day, but now she had to make a call to an old friend. The sun was high in the sky of the early afternoon, and for a moment Daring wished she had gotten some kind of sunglasses. She shrugged. It didn’t really matter a whole lot, as she was going straight to see Edgewise momentarily. The two ponies trotted up the cobblestone streets of the city near the train depot, and then turned a block up onto a different section of town that was paved with asphalt instead. They kept to the sidewalks, occasionally making remarks about items for sale in the windows of shops that they found intriguing. She felt a tad restless, and that was due to the fact that for every night since claiming the pendant she had tried to sleep, her dreams were plagued by terrible visions. It was like being dragged against her will, forcing her to continue in her quest to find the tomb. It had escalated beyond mere academic curiosity (though she wanted to play it off as such to her peers). In her mid Daring found the subject of the pendant and the tomb distressing, and felt compelled to find a way to return it to its rightful place as soon as possible. She was trying hard to think of something else, and was moderately successful because of her more immediate concerns. She had to consider what she was going to say to Edgewise. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure how to approach him about this situation. He had always been a friend and a mentor to her, even after she was no longer his student. However, the two had not seen each other for a couple of years, and Daring felt that it would be rude to jump in from the get-go and demand his help. After all, he was a very old and venerable pony by now. She would need to visit first for some time, catch up with each other and exchange stories. She was looking forward to that, as she was sure he would be ready with an off-color tale that would make her sides hurt from laughing. That was the part she liked most about Edgewise, his charm. Despite being an old stallion whose position in society was that of a teacher and therefore held to a set of standards, it was not hard for anypony to approach him and become good friends. They arrived at the mansion after about 20 minutes of walking. The house looked the same as ever to Daring. It was well-maintained. The stepping stones leading up to the front door had had the grass clipped around them, and the lawn had been mowed in a distinct criss-cross pattern recently, perhaps even earlier that same day. “Is he gonna be home?” asked Scootaround as they approached the large double doors. Daring shrugged. She pulled on the large brass knocker and knocked on the doors three times before standing back and waiting for a response. After a minute or so, the door was opened by a mare dressed in a maid’s outfit and wearing the matching headdress. She spoke softly. “May I help you, sir?” “M’am, actually. I’m Daring Do,” Daring responded, “I’m looking for Edgewise, is he available?” “Oh, sorry for the confusion, I’m not very good at seeing things at a distance- I just saw the hat,” said the mare, adjusting the glasses atop her snout and squinting. “What did you say your name was?” “I’m Daring Do. Edgewise had me as a student back in the early 1920’s. Is he home?” “Oh...” trailed the maid, frowning, “I’m sorry honey, but Master Edgewise is deceased. Only a couple of weeks ago, too.” “Oh,” was all Daring could say. She felt something pounding in her chest, a kind of throb of grievance for Edgewise. She was now regretting not having come to visit him earlier, to have been able to see him at least once more before he passed away. “Do you wish to speak to Master Audacity instead? He is the stallion of the house now,” offered the maid. Daring bit her lower lip and nodded, not wanting to say anything for fear of breaking down. The news of Edgewise’s death had hit her like a train, it was so sudden, so unexpected. She hadn’t counted on him being gone like this. The three ponies entered the entrance hall of the mansion, and Scootaround gasped. She was taken aback by the size of it all. As a kid who had grown up in Carpathia on the streets, she wasn’t used to houses this size at all. Even after Daring had found her trying to pick her pocket (and subsequently became her guardian) she had only been to places in Canterlot such as the school, the museum, and Daring’s house. The museum was similar in size, but it wasn’t a placed that belonged to just one pony. This was huge. The chandeliers hung from the ceiling, there were portraits of ponies standing in front of the Equestrian banner, and even a set of armor mounted and on display. A noise echoed from a room nearby and caught Daring’s attention. She heard a clanging of sorts, like metal striking metal. It was swift, sharp, and had been repeated several times. “What’s that?” Scootaround asked, hearing the sound as well. “Fencing, sounds like. C’mon, let’s check it out. Maybe Edgewise’s kid Audacity is there.” **** “Come, for the third, Laertes: you but dally; I pray you, pass with your best violence; I am afeard you make a wanton of me!” shouted a voice, unaware of Daring opening the doorway to the room. It was a little less spacious and more cramped, mainly due to the crowded nature of the room’s clutter. There was an antique piano in one corner, a pile of old jackets and props in another. A stage sat on the far end, on which two ponies were positioned opposite each other, dressed in fencing outfits and holding rapiers aloft. “Say you so? Come on!” projected a second voice, belonging to the other pony. His rapier had a greenish tinge to the tip of it. “....and then Osric says his line....” “Have at you!” The pony with the green-tipped rapier charged and slashed at the other before he was ready to defend himself. He staggered back, wounded. Letting out a rageful yell, the pony with the normal rapier went on the offensive, and they exchanged blows once more. He appeared to be putting more power into his slices, and then with a push he knocked the other down, as both swords slid out onto the floor. They made a dash for their respective weapons, but the weapons ended up in the opposite hooves. Now the green-tipped rapier was in the other’s hooves, and he attacked his opponent before he could get his guard up, wounding him and sending him reeling. “Are they alright?” Scootaround gasped, her voice carrying. The two onstage must have heard it, for they stopped and placed their rapiers aside. “Hello? Who’s there?” “Hey, Audacity? It’s me, Daring! You two are doing a pretty good job at Act 5 scene 2. Tell me, where is everypony?” “Oh, we’re just choreographing the duel,” said the stallion. He was rather young, and had a vibrant yellowish coat with a darker orange mane. “ We’re putting Hooflet on in a month, better to get this stuff down now... wait a second, DARING?! DARING DO?!” “The same.” His face lit up with an excited expression as he closed the few stairs between them and warmly shook Daring's hoof. The other pony collected the props and began placing them in their proper places. "Hey Daring! Remember me? How have things been for you? Things have been good for me, I'm getting good grades, I have a fianceé , and I'm almost ready to complete my studies and go out into the field! How have you been again, didn't catch that. Do you know anypony who I could talk to at the museum in canterlot about getting a position? I've been majoring in Equine histor-" "Woah woah woah, slow down," Daring said, and the stallion stopped shaking her hoof. "Sorry, was I talking too fast? I do that when I get excited." "Nice to see you again, Audacity... to get to the point, is there any chance I could make use of your father's library while I'm here?" "Yeah, come with me," Audacity said. He made a motion to the other stallion. “Go get yourself something to drink down the street,” he said, “I’m gonna go and do some stuff.” “Alright. How long do you think you’ll be?” “I dunno. Maybe an hour or more. Knowing Daring, it’s important.” **** The library was up the stairs and to the right, and what a magnificent library it was! Bookshelves upon bookshelves, a large stained glass window and an expansive studying area. This was an epicenter of knowledge that Scootaround had not seen before, and rivaled the library of the museum back in Canterlot! Daring and Audacity sat down across the table from each other to catch up a bit, and so Scootaround wandered about to look at the books. "So I'm sorry to hear about your father. It must be a terrible loss," expressed Daring. Audacity sat across the table and nodded grimly. "We're still in a bit of shock here. My mom still cries at night in grief. I feel kind of lonely without him to talk to. The fillies and colts I act with have been pretty major support. They’re my friends. You should have been at the funeral Daring, he would've appreciated that." "I wish I had known," Daring said remorsefully, "I would've made a point of attending. He was a great pony, your father. His amassed wealth and knowledge was always put to use to better ponykind." "I know," Audacity responded, "In his will he left his house and his property to me, and he also requested that his works here in this library be used for the education of ponies everywhere. He wanted the knowledge to be free for anypony." There was a moment of silence as the two ponies contemplated Edgewise, before Audacity broke the silence. "Well Daring, I must say that I'm surprised to see you. What brings you here? What's been going on in your life? I haven't seen you since you showed up to my high school graduation a few years back." "Well, I was starting as a professor then, and I've continued in that field. I teach Equine History at the University of Canterlot," she began, "I've also been promoted to the head of the Equine History department at the museum. You said something about seeking employment there, possibly?" "Yeah," Audacity said, nodding, "I've been very interested in our history, not just Equestria but equines in general. I majored in that stuff in college, you know." "Oh really?" responded Daring, "Well, who knows, you could be speaking to your future boss. I handle the applications for new employment in that department, don't you know?" "Oh, well, heh," mumbled Audacity, blushing. "You'll be fine," Daring continued.They sat in silence for a moment, before Audacity broached the question. "So what brings you here, Daring?" "Well," began Daring, "As you may or may not be aware, I also do field work for the institute, and so I have been travelling around some ruins that have to do with an old arabian legend..." "The legend of the greedy sultan?" "Yes, you've heard of it?" "Yeah, it's not that obscure," said Audacity, "Dad told it to me as a bedtime story when I was a foal. You think there's some truth behind it, then?" "Yeah, I went to some ruins down south in the black forest, near to where it meets the badlands," "Uh huh," "I found a crude map in one of the chambers, and some very old text. I think I recognize the language, but it's not one that I know myself. I was thinking there might be something here that I could refer to." "So you were hoping that my dad could help you?" "Pretty much," Daring said, "Is it alright if I use the library? I have the rubbings with me." "Oh, sure," said Audacity, pressing the brim of his fedora up so he could see better, "I'll actually stay to help you. I'm hoping to work more in the field than as an academic. I’ve read all about ponies that go adventuring like you do or like Bravado or Burly Withers... so I'd love to see what this is all about." "Oh trust me," replied Daring, smiling at Audacity, "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into with that line of work." **** Scootaround peered at book titles from a stack of books that had not been put away. They were sitting on a small table next to a rather large chair, as if they had been placed down haphazardly. She also noticed that there were two hats sitting on each arm of the large seat, one of which was dark gray and the other a sable brown. They both had the same color ribbon on them, and the hats were shaped similarly. One of the book titles was titled Fedora Care, Styling, and Custom Bashes. No doubt belonging to Audacity. That particular type of hat seemed to be one that he was rather enthused about. She had seen the stallion look into a mirror on their way up, grinning to himself as he saw the reflection of the hat sitting atop his head. She peered back towards the two adults, stuck in a book as they were. Daring had the rubbings out, and was referring to a book that Audacity had propped open as the stallion scribbled down notes onto a separate paper with the pencil he held in his mouth. The filly took a few steps closer, and began circling the table while listening to the two adults working. "So these aren't so much the same alphanumeric symbols as they are placeholders for entire words?" Daring asked. Audacity nodded. "That makes sense, most languages from this time period were like that," She squinted, looking sideways at one of the symbols. They looked similar to one of the symbols on the rubbing, but the side of the symbol in the translation book had a different curve on the outer right edge. "No good," mumbled Audacity through the pencil, before spitting it out so he could speak clearly. "That means north. The symbol on the rubbing means something different," he said, reaching over to pull the edge of the book towards him. Daring raised her eyebrows and her hooves. Clearly this young stallion knew his way around the reference material enough to correct her. "The symbol you're looking for is this one," he pointed after turning the page a few times, "It's a glyphic. You can kind of see that it looks like a ground level, and then there's this depression beneath it where the curve turns..." "Audacity," Daring snapped at him in a moment of frustration, "What's the translation?" "Underground." he replied, looking unsettled at being interrupted. Daring shook her head, and motioned for him to write it down. "Sorry," he said simply, picking up the pencil again. Daring squinted at the pages, and then back to the rubbing. "No, I'm sorry," she said, "I just got a little.... a little frustrated. It's been a long week for me." "Oh yeah?" Audacity tried to say through the pencil, "How so?" "Well, we had to get this, and then CAP was there, and there were raptors that tried to-" "Woah woah woah," Audacity interrupted, spitting the pencil out once more, "Did you say CAP?" "Yeah," Daring replied, "You know them?" "I signed a petition to try to get them banned in Equestrian commerce. You should sign it too," began Audacity, speaking quickly, "CAP is this international group that goes and does Archaeological stuff. They examine sites and stuff on behalf on institutions, and then document them with photographs. At least, that's what they'd want you to think." "What do they really do?" blurted Scootaround, who had been listening to the conversation the entire time. Audacity peered over at her, eyes widening as he thought of CAP. "It's the Coalition for Archaeological Procurement. That's literally what they do. Get artifacts that the institutions aren't going to display, and pretty much ransack the whole place. Taking artifacts, selling them on the market," "That's illegal," Daring stated, frowning. "It is," assured Audacity, straightening his fedora, "but they don't document it. The artifacts are removed before they take pictures. The sales are done in secret, or behind closed doors. They don't actually do it 'officially', if you catch my drift." "Sounds sleazy," Scootaround commented. Audacity nodded, and Daring sighed. "I hate that type," she said, "I really do. Honestly, why would anypony do that? It's robbing the advancement of knowledge completely." They turned back to look at the books in front of them Daring was nearing the end of the text, and referred to Audacity's notes. She skimmed down the text, making adjustments herself and additions to the end based on what she had just read. What resulted was a mostly-complete translation of the old inscription that she had copied with the rubbing. "What've we got, Professor?" asked Audacity. Daring raised her eyebrows, looking impressed with the work. "Get a load of this," she said as she began to read, "Sojourners who find themselves with no home to return take root. Under the ground one keeps their heritage, while above one pays tribute. The legend to find the tomb begins with the search within one's self. The cleansing waters open the gate..." Her voice trailed off. There was a symbol she hadn't translated properly, and she was realizing it just now. Flipping the eraser end down, she took the incorrect word off the paper, and then replaced it. "...Open the gates to see the truth," she finished. Audacity looked impressed. "Wow, you translated that better than I could've!" "Now comes the hard part," Daring assured him, "Let's figure out what it means." **** "Sojourners who find themselves with no home to return take root...." repeated Daring. She had taken her hat off and was pacing about the library, thinking out loud. Audacity watched her, eyebrows raised as she made the most obscure of connections. "Well, there were ponies from the south that traveled north, I can only assume. That would've been long before the Hoofiet Union days though,long before anything imperial either. Their own settlement...." "What does this have to do with the Hoofiet Union?" asked Audacity. Daring wheeled around and tapped the crude map rubbing, and he understood. He had been wondering why there was a circle on that spot. "Sojourners who find themselves with no home to return take root. Take root? No home to return to? Perhaps it means that they moved to escape the devastation?" "Possibly," Audacity interjected, and I think there's historical records to prove that there was a sizeable exodus from that area around that time period. Thousands of years in the past, of course, but still." "...Under the ground they build, while above they pray to the gods. The legend to find the tomb begins with the search within one's self," mumbled Daring, "It sounds like some kind of religious colony almost. They work to build their town, and also pray regularly..." "But it said they build underground..." "Audacity, I'm trying to think here," Daring stated, rubbing her temples. She blinked. "Actually, keep doing that. You just gave me an idea." "What?" "Well, perhaps the colony wasn't religious in its nature, but the area where they were digging under was a church, or a temple of some sort?" "Like the temple on that island?" piped up Scootaround. She was referring to the temple that was built by miners who joined Bloodhorn's cult of chaos down on an island in South Equestria the continent. Daring didn't seem to think so, as she shook her head. "No kid, that was something different. This is talking about a temple that's placed above somewhere that they dug out underneath..." "The legend to find the tomb begins with the search within one's self," said Audacity, tapping his hoof, "Search for oneself... like in a church or a temple..." "Okay, so it's beneath a temple or a church," Daring noted, "but what one? We're given a clue as to a specific location, but what landmarks are there that are old enough that fit the description?" The three ponies thought about that for a moment. It was Audacity who finally came up with a solution, wordlessly getting up and climbing up a staircase to the library's second level. He remained up there for several minutes before returning with a large volume entitled Historic Sites of the Eastern Hoofiets. He flipped it open and scanned through the pages. Each page had a ink drawing of the site itself, often old cathedrals or battlefields from bygone years. The page would have the name of the site, and give its date, along with a paragraph or so explaining its significance. "Alrighty, so we've got the Cathedral of St..." "Too recent," Daring interrupted, "Way too recent. Those are all within the last couple hundred years. Plus, I doubt ancient arabian ponies would have worshiped in a cathedral." "OK, well how about the Temple of the Risi- oh wait, that's not an actual temple, that's a restaurant in which one of the former emperors was assassinated." He flipped through more pages, getting frustrated as he went. "There's the Imperial Palace," he offered, "They built that on top of another site that was older," "What site?" Daring asked, looking over Audacity's shoulder. She skimmed the text. ... built in the imperial era, the Palace was home to both the Emperor and Empress up until the revolution in 1917 that brought about the Hoofiet Union. The building is now used as a public facility, including museum and archives. The grand hall and the ballroom are also used for gala events annually in late September. "Where does it say it was built over an existing site?" "Down towards the bottom of the next paragraph," ...and then in the 19th century the Emperor decided to level the old temple, save for the ornate fountain gardens. He kept those and made use of them in the courtyard of his new palace. The same fountains that were part of the old temple can still be found at the palace to this day. "Wait a second..." Daring said, pausing, "Fountains? They kept the fountains?" "The cleansing waters open the gate..." suggested Audacity. Daring thought about that for a moment, and then beamed. "That's it! Whatever the old ponies built is still intact because it was under the temple, and the way to access it is still there! Audacity, you're a genius!" "Well shuck, Dr. Do," the young stallion said, "It's nothing more than a simple observation," "It's Daring Do, not Doctor," she corrected him, "I don't like ponies calling me by my professional title if I actually know them. Except for Scootaround, because she likes saying it." "So does this mean you're going?" asked Audacity, looking very excited. He began speaking very quickly as Daring stood up to gather her things and put the books away, following her around. "It said something about an annual gala. That would be coming up pretty soon! Are you going to go? Are you going to try to get under the palace? Are you taking anypony with you? Can I come? I've always wanted to go on an expedit-" "Quiet!" demanded Daring, and Audacity realized that he had made a foal out of himself again, and so he shrank back. "Sorry," he stated simply. "It's alright..." Daring said, "But I think I'd prefer to go alone this time." "Awww, come on Dr. Do!" Scootaround interjected, looking upset. "Sorry, but I already know what's going to happen. If it's not dangerous and filled with death traps, then I'm still going to have to worry about the Hoofiets. That, or CAP." "I'll come with you!" chorused Audacity and Scootaround, intrigued by the mention of danger. "No!" Daring said, a little stronger, "Scootaround, I'm the boss, and I'm telling you, it's going to be too dangerous. I'll get a foalsitter for you.” “Audacity,” she added, “I can't really force you to stay here. You're a grown stallion, you can make those decisions for yourself. I'm not going to take you along with me, though. You'd be on your own." Audacity's ears flopped down, and he looked dejected. Daring tried to think of something to say. "Look, I'll be gone for maybe three days tops. I'm going to go in there, find whatever clue there is to the tomb's location, and get out. If there's dangerous traps or antagonistic ponies, having a filly with me or a stallion who, no offense, hasn't been in the field that much is only going to slow things down. I don't want to have to spend the entire time watching your backs as well as my own. I just want to return this stupid pendant so it can stop bothering- er, you get the point." "We understand," Audacity said. He adjusted his fedora. "Anyways, thank you for your help this afternoon," Daring offered, "Can I count on you in case there's more riddles to unravel?" "You can count on me, Daring."