The Changelings Have a King

by Jade Ring

Overture: Descent

Daring Do would never admit it, but she was terrified of the dark.

She reflected on how silly the idea of Equestria’s most famous explorer being afraid of something as innocent as the dark was. Would the sales of her books suffer, she wondered, if the truth ever came to the proverbial light? Would her millions of loyal fans suddenly leave her in droves? Would she be reduced to a bitter shut-in, reflecting for all time on a life that might have been?

She’d been afraid of the dark since her days as just A.K. Yearling, the dedicated book reader who always thirsted for adventure. She had done many amazing things since taking on the Daring Do role (with the Sparkle family’s permission, of course.) She had climbed mountains, battled villains…

…but she was still afraid of the dark.

Her assistant’s lantern finally brightened and all her thoughts were washed away by new ones of amazement.

The fabled crystal caverns of Canterlot glittered and refracted the light from Violet’s oil lantern, their very image successfully magnifying their already incredible size. Crystal prisms taller than some mountains loomed ahead, their tops lost in the darkness above. The only sound was the steady drip of water from some unknown source. The ambient noise and beautiful scenery started to carry Daring Do away…

“Miz Do?”

Violet’s harsh Appleachian mountain accent pulled the famous pegasus from her moment of serenity. “Yes?”

“We ‘bout there?”

Daring Do shrugged. “That’s a question for our guide, isn’t it?”

Their guide, a strongly built member of the Royal Guard named Joust, stepped forward and gestured ahead. “Nearly there. That’s the dead center of the mountain.”

Daring Do nodded and headed on, Violet on her heels with the lantern clutched in her teeth.

It had been months since Daring Do had found the secret message hidden in Starswirl the Bearded’s lost diary. The message spoke of a secret Starswirl had hidden away in the dead center of the mountain that held Canterlot above it. It had taken a month to secure a permit to explore the caves and a further two to find a suitable guide; a pony who had been down in the crystal caverns before. It was all going to be worth it, though. Just ahead was a message nopony knew about, a treasure that didn’t even have a description in Starswirl’s journal.

The rush of discovery filled her and Daring Do began to race ahead.

Violet loosed a small squawk of surprise and tried to pick up her own pace… only to go falling after a trip over her spindly legs. The lantern clanged loudly off the floor and bounced twice before settling. Now also on the ground, Violet reached for the fallen lantern…

…and shrieked in horror at the beast staring back at her.

“Easy, miss.” Joust chuckled as he pulled Violet back to her hooves. “It’s frozen solid in ice. Has been since the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.”

Daring Do followed the lantern’s light and took in the titanic monstrosity. It was a deep purple color and it’s jellied, un-shaped form was covered in eyes of various sizes. “What is it?” she asked.

Joust cleared his throat. “According to legend, it was a great beast summoned into the world by a trio of witches before the three tribes founded Equestria. It grew beyond their control and soon started to devour everything in its path… including the three witches. In the end, the beast was defeated by the magic of the three tribe’s friendship.” He smirked. “But they only weakened it. It retreated here, to these caves, surviving on the flesh of anypony stupid enough to come down here alone. Princess Luna found it about to devour the false Princess Cadance’s bridesmaids. To save them, she froze it solid.”

Violet swallowed hard, her stick legs shaking noticeably. “Why didn’t she just get rid of it? Ya know… permanently?”

Joust shook his head. “Not that simple. No, I’m afraid nothing can stop the Smooze.”

The ridiculous name made Daring Do snap out of the spell the story had cast and stare incredulously at the royal guard. “The Smooze? Really?”

Joust looked embarrassed. “It’s, uh, what the guards call it…”

Daring Do rolled her eyes and continued forward, her path illuminated by the lantern’s flame.

Minutes later, and the trio reached their destination.

Daring Do stared at the shrine in awe, wanting to do a million things at once. Should she sketch the impressive mason work, the architecture almost impossible to describe? Should she set to work on figuring out the origin of the large bust of a stallion that adorned the shrine’s front? Should she measure the height of the thing, surely nearly as tall as the cavern itself?

Should she simply jump for joy like a school-filly?

The stone tablet at the shrine’s center became her focus. Snatching the lantern from the protesting mouth of her country-born assistant, the explorer rushed forward to read the words etched on the stone surface. “Damn…” she muttered.

“What’sa matter?” Violet asked, catching up at last.

“Ancient unicorn. It’s written in ancient unicorn.”

“And ya cain’t read ancient unicorn?”

“Of course I can read ancient unicorn!” Daring Do snapped as she lowered the lantern to the ground and grabbed a notepad, quill, inkwell, and a small jeweled bottle from her pack. “But this is some kind of code. Luckily, I know just the pony for a situation like this.” She set about copying the tablet’s message. “He’s a professor in Fillydelphia. If anyone can read this, he can.”

Violet noticed the bottle. “What’s that?”

“A gift from a big fan. Bottled transportation spell, diluted from dragon fire.” Daring Do gave the paper a final once over and, satisfied, rolled it up. She uncorked the bottle and prepared to send the letter…

…when a hiss came from the darkness.

“Did… did ya’ll hear that?”

“Yes.” Joust had joined the mares on the shrine proper. “I think we should leave.”

“Leave?” Daring Do laughed. “There’s so much to do. We need to organize these artifacts and…”

“Miz Do?”

“…not to mention getting this tablet up to the surface and…”

“Miz Do?”

Daring Do sighed heavily. “What, Violet?”

“Ah… ah think ah mighta chipped that ice with the lantern.”

“Why do you say th…?” Daring Do bit her tongue as she faced her assistant and saw the fear in her eyes. “Violet?”

“Some… something’s touchin’ my leg.” She stammered.

Three pairs of eyes trailed down Violet’s body to find a thick cylinder of purple slime prodding the assistant’s hoof.

“What in Equestria…?” Joust started.

The tentacle suddenly lashed around Violet’s leg and yanked her into the darkness. She screamed once, and then was gone.
A moment of silence, and then the pair of pegasi panicked.

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Daring Do screamed, still trying to wrap her mind around the apparent demise of her assistant.

“It must be the Smooze. It got out of the ice somehow!” Joust spread his wings and looked back at the tan explorer. “I’ll handle this. Get out of here!” He blasted off into the darkness with a battle cry…

…that became a scream before the voice was no more.

Daring Do took a step back and recoiled as she stepped on the lantern. It shattered, its flame racing out with the spilling oil. “No!” she cried as the flames licked the parchment bearing Starswirl’s last secret. She stamped the paper clear and tossed it in the air. Without a second thought, she poured the spell into her mouth and blew it at the paper, willing it to her professor friend.

In the flash of light that transported the paper away, Daring Do caught a glimpse of the vast monstrosity that now surrounded her, all purple jelly and gaping eyes. She saw its many arms reaching towards her. It hissed a challenge.

She bared her teeth in a defiant grin as the last flame burned out. “Sorry, but Daring Do doesn’t go out that easy.” With a cry of her own, the brave pegasus launched herself straight up towards the cavern’s roof.

She never considered that the beast might have coated itself on every surface of the cave.

Daring Do had always been secretly afraid of the dark.

But one should not fear the dark.

One should fear the monsters that lurk within it.

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Ah, I should have seen this coming at some point.
Nice and creepy.

[Brocky]

images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/27100000/got-game-of-thrones-27189282-1920-1200.jpg

Apparently daring never saw season two

Great use of a callback with the smooze