[Scene Writing] The Pillar of Bronze Steam · 10:01pm Oct 19th, 2015
Oceans away from the coasts of Equestria lied a desolate land of sand and sun, where nothing stood except for a gleaming bronze tower of cogs and gears. It was an imposing landmark, casting a long shadow over the sands while its tangerine armor glistens under Celestia's light. Nothing much was known about this peculiar tower, which made the trip all more exciting for the world renowned Daring Do.
Heavily cloaked with nothing but a camel companion by her side, she stood facing the tower entrance in its shade, a fifty feet tall archway sealed by a bronze wall. Taking its place in the middle of of the wall was a large metallic bronze beetle, a scarab adorned with feathered wings that stretched across from one side of the archway to the other at a length of thirty feet. With it's long legs above it gripped a round red jewel and with two more legs below it, a smaller round blue jewel.
"A grand sight, isn't it Ms. Do?"
Daring Do turned to her companion. "The trip was worthwhile. Thanks for carrying me across the desert, Vale."
"It is of no problem. After all it is my job."
Daring Do flew above Vale's two humped back and grabbed a pair of saddle bags containing the bare essentials she needed for her quest. "I'm also paying you to wait for my return."
"Yes, yes of course! Time is no worry for me. I have enough water inside me to last for weeks on end," he grinned as he bent his knees and dug his legs into the sand, his belly settling on the soft surface.
"Good to know, but I won't be gone for long."
Daring strapped the bags' belt around her midsection and began her ascension towards the scarab. Up close, the metal icon was much larger than it had appeared and she was able to even stand atop parts of it. As she tiptoed along the upper edge of its left wing, she noticed a gold ring encircled the red jewel. Upon closer inspection, she grinned as she saw inscriptions carved on the ring. Out of her bag she took out a blank sandstone tablet with a blue sapphire on the back of it. She held the tablet out towards the words of unknown nature with the sapphire side facing it. Soon the gem on the back glowed like a star and tiny lasers scattered out of it, their light running across the scriptures and leaving behind smoke in their wake. Slowly but surely, blue glowing words started to write themselves on the blank side of the tablet in the Equestrian language. One by one, Daring read them out loud.
"Still the great scarab shall not yield... forever shall its secrets be sealed... but it may choose to have its stores revealed... once a touch of true divine has been wield." Daring Do scratched her chin.
True divine wield. She thought back to her studies about the land surrounding her. Back in the glory days, a great civilization had stretched across the land as far as the sun can reach. They're known for being one of the first of many greats to come, people who strives forward in the name of their gods and knowledge. One of their gods was indeed a scarab beetle that went by the name of Khepri, a force of nature that pushed the sun above the horizon into the morning dawn. Perhaps the light of the sun is the 'true divine' referred to?
"But how am I supposed to get light to touch this?" she asked herself.
Problem is that the tower entrance was facing away from the sun, looking towards the north. It was positioned perfectly enough so that the sun would never touch the door, so long as the tower casts its shadow over it. However after thinking it over, a simple solution came to mind. Reaching into her bag once more, Daring replaced her stone tablet with a small, glass hand mirror. It was a beautiful one, crafted with a gold rim around it. She had bought it as a gift for her mother, but perhaps it could prove to be even more useful here.
Flying out from the tower's shadow, Daring held the mirror up towards the shining yellow sun and aimed its reflected ray with precision. She thanked her ancestors for inheriting the common pegasi trait of incredible depth perception that can be compared to that of a falcon. Upon connecting the light to the red jewel, the beam suddenly glowed with intensity and strangely also began to vibrate violently! Daring struggled to keep the mirror steady, keeping the light beam on the jewel for as long as possible. After a few long, agonizing seconds, the mirror finally shattered under pressure and at the same time a fiery light burned from within the red jewel.
The blue jewel of the scarab beetle also began to glow and then its wings started to open up, revealing the true entrance to the tower behind them. The jewels then began to direct rays of red and blue light and from their light, a glistening, semi-transparent staircase of purple hues was unraveled, leading all the way from the dark entrance to the sands below.
Vale whistled. "Wow Ms. Do. That's pretty impressive."
"This is nothing compared to what else I've done," she called back, smiling all the while. She then noticed there were some small cuts across her fore hooves, bleeding slightly. "Damn it all. Must have been when the glass mirror shattered," she said to herself.
She flew down to meet with Vale, sitting upon the red saddle on his back while dishing out the medical aid. As she applied the stinging alcohol on the wounds, the camel hummed with concern. "That doesn't look very good. You sure you'll be alright, Ms. Do?"
"I'm flattered you're worried about me, but it's alright. Like I've said, I dealt with worse situations." She tightened the bandage wrap around her right hoof and went to work on the left. Once done, she rubbed them together to test the pain. She could still feel it, but at least it was dulled. "Alright, ready to head in."
"Do be careful, Ms. Do."
"Will do!" she shouted as she soared high into the air, making a beeline towards the open wings of the scarab and with nothing on her mind except wonderment and enthusiasm.
notes to self: could do better. perhaps describe scents as well (such as the alcohol. Although personally I don't know what it smells like)