Chapter 9: "The Village."
Daring Do arrived at her destination in a bright flash of light, that left her dazed for a second. As her vision cleared she saw she was now standing in a small, jungle village, that appeared to be have been built on a mountain top, high above the island. Oracle was standing beside her, looking at Daring with concern.
"Are you alright? The first trip using the Roads Of Dhartan is....uneasy, I know." she said, tucking the strange blue stone back into her cloak.
Daring nodded. "Believe it or not, that wasn't my first trip through magical means." Daring said simply. "Where are we?"
Oracle bowed as she led Daring into the village. All around them, were ponies dressed in yellow robes and shawls, just like Oracle. They were all surprisingly young, about Daring's age. They whispered to one another as Oracle stopped before a large bonfire, with strange glowing blue flames. "Welcome to Oloya." she said with grandeur. "My village. And home to me and my people."
The ponies smiled warmly at Daring. some bowed, others waved. A few were making up theories as to what that thing on her head was. But all them greeted her, all the same. Including one, who was clearly the shaman of the village. He was the only old pony of the group. A wise looking brown earth pony, with red tribal tattoos on his face and hooves. The large crown he wore was made of leaves and carved tree bark, adorned with many colored stones. He wore a shawl that hid the lower half of his body, as he bowed to Daring.
"Hello, Daring Do." he said in an intelligent voice. "Welcome."
"Uh...thanks. But, why am I here? I thought I was going to learn about the Heart Of Oceana?"
At the mention of this, many ponies began whispering excitedly. Others prayed. The rest merely looked surprised or skeptical, like Daring apparently didn't know what she was talking about.
The shaman put a hoof up to calm the crowd, and in a second they all fell silent. "It is answers you seek, yes?" he asked Daring calmly.
"Yes."
"Then sit. And I shall tell you the story of our Island. And how it was saved."
Daring took a seat beside the fire, as she was instructed, and the shaman took a hooful of powder from his cloak and threw it onto the fire. It sprang to life as smoke weaved through the air, drawing a story for all to see.
As Daring sat and watched in awe, the shaman began the story.
"Many years ago, the great god, Quetzalcoatl was defeated by trickery and deceit. His enemy, Tezcatlipoca took his place as leader of the Mayan ponies and demanded terrible sacrifices in his name. The Mayan empire became a haven for bloodshed and fear, and hope, as it seemed, was lost.
But then a group of loyal priests from our village, went to the Mayan ponies to help them defeat the mad god king. Together, with a powerful stone as blue as the ocean and vibrant and alive as the sky, they used its power to imprison Tezcatlipoca beneath the Keyes, trapping him for eternity beneath the earth's crust. But his powers were so great, they knew he would not remain trapped forever. His time in incarceration would end with the Lunar Eclipse, that marked the close of the fifth age. To prevent this, our predecessors sought the aid of a mighty sorcerer and his apprentice, who helped us discover that the blue stone had the power not only to imprison him but to destroy Tezcatlipoca, when he would make his inevitable return. And so the stone remained here. It, and its bearer, protected by us for generations. It keeps us and the island safe. And when Tezcatlipoca returns....we will be ready."
The smoke faded into nothing as the fire dimmed back to normal. Then all was quiet. The shaman turned to Daring. "Any questions?"
Daring had a few. "How'd they manage to trap him though? I'm pretty sure an ancient Mayan death god wouldn't surrender so easily."
"They built a pyramid which they told Tezcatlipoca was dedicated to him." The shaman explained. "Luring him into the pyramid with praise and flattery, they used the stone to magically seal away the entire pyramid miles beneath the island."
Daring scratched her head as she asked her next question. "And what about this Lunar Eclipse? I thought all the big, world ending stuff was supposed to be centered around a Solar Eclipse. Like the one that happened in Mareiposa!"
The shaman nodded. "True. Except Tezcatlipoca is a terrible, vile monster, and Celestia's sunlight burns him. It is why he only acted at night and stayed within the walls of his temple when it was day. If he was to return, he would only do so willingly at night. Thus, a Lunar Eclipse will be his message to the world that he has returned. And that our age of happiness and magic is over."
Daring had gone up against quite a bit in her long and storied career. But never an actual living god. She began to think of ways that she and Morning could stop this thing.
But then another question hit her. Possibly the most important one of all. "Wait. You said you were keeping the stone and it's bearer protected. What do you mean by that? Is there somepony else here?"
The shaman did not answer but instead asked Daring a question back. "What is your interest in the Heart Of Oceana?" he asked sternly.
"My father was looking for it. He said in his journal it was one of the keys to something much bigger. And that he would find it soon." Daring stood up and took her helmet off in respect. "I have no interest in the stone itself. I just want to see if there is anything about it that can help me find my father." Daring said calmly. "And to make sure it's safe."
The shaman looked at her with wise, searching eyes. Then he spoke. "You wish to see the stone?"
"Yes. If you don't mind sir."
The shaman got up from his seat. "The stone is sealed away. And it will only be unsealed by Tezcatlipoca's return to our world, as was foretold in the prophecy." he stated clearly. "But, if it's for no other purpose then finding your lost father....I shall allow you to see it. Just this once."
With that the shaman got up from his seat and motioned for Daring to follow him to the back of the village, where a large stone temple was built into the mountainside. Taking a torch for light, the shaman led Daring into it's depths.
Temple Of Tezcatlipoca
There was no light save for the dim light of the shaman's torch, as he and Daring journeyed deep into the crumbling caverns that once made up a grand temple. They came upon a large rotunda with no visible way of moving forward. Odd runic symbols that Daring didn't recognize outlined the circular floor, and a strange glow emanated from the cracks in the stone that made it up.
The shaman doused the torch and led Daring over to stand in the center of the room with him. "I'm afraid traditional magic is useless in getting to the very end of the caves. We will have to use this to get there." He held out his hoof. "Take my hoof, Daring. And do not let go. I have no idea what would happen if you would, and it's best we don't find out." he joked.
Daring took the old pony's hoof and gripped it tightly. At once there was a horrible sensation, like she was being squeezed through a thick rubber tube; she could not draw breath, nor even speak. This was not unicorn magic they were using. No. Older, much more powerful, but far less....forgiving. Every part of her was being squeezed, and just as she thought she would begin to suffocate, the invisible bands seemed to burst open, and she was standing in cool darkness, breathing in lungfuls of fresh, salty air.
The Chamber Of Oceana
Daring could smell salt and hear rushing waves; a light chilly breeze ruffled her mane, as she looked out at a moonlit sea and a star-lit sky. Or at least a very good impression of it. The vast sea caves she found herself in were lit up by a massive blue crystal that stood in the center glowing brightly, bathing everything in blue light, and making the already blue sea, that rushed through the caves, even bluer. Small blue lights glowed on the black cave ceiling making up their own version of a night sky.
Daring was taken in by the splendor and unspoken serenity of the place, but it did not stop her from noticing that there didn't seem to be any visible path to the small outcrop of rocks that the crystal resided on. The sea was the floor of the cave, with no footholds seen anywhere along the cave walls.
"Um....how do we get there? Teleport magic?" Daring asked, glancing around.
"Are you a unicorn?"
Daring looked at him surprised. "Uh.....not the last time I checked."
"Neither am I." And with the sudden agility of a younger stallion, the shaman leaped from the rock, landed into the sea, and began to swim, with a perfect breaststroke, towards the outcropping where the crystal awaited.
Daring, after shaking away her disbelief, quickly followed, diving into the sea, and swimming after the shaman, who had already made it to the crystal by the time she made it herself. Pulling herself up onto the rock, her wet shirt felt heavy as she stood up and looked at the massive crystal that strangely seemed to have dimmed, despite her now being this close to it.
It was a large pillar of blue, ice-like crystal with strange ripples of energy circulating through invisible veins along it's surface. Within it, was the figure of a mare, unseen save for her silhouette, and holding a large odd looking sapphire. It was as if somepony had taken three diamond shaped sapphires and fused them together at the bottom, resulting in a shape like a three pronged, jagged blue diamond. Both it and the mysterious mare was frozen in the crystal, untouched by the outside world. As she looked at it more closely, Daring noticed a faint blue glow, pulsing slowly from within. Like a heartbeat.
Daring put her face to the crystal to get a better look at the mare within, but it was like looking through a fogged up glass. She could only make up the silhouette of the mysterious pony inside. "Who is she?" Daring asked without looking away.
"The apprentice of the wizard who showed us the power of the stone. She stayed here and froze herself and the stone in this strange blue crystal to protect it from falling into the wrong hooves."
"Can we get her out?" Daring asked, looking back to the shaman.
"She will awaken, when Tezcatlipoca makes his inevitable return. Then we will use the stone to destroy him."
Daring gave him a look. "Um. Wouldn't it be a better idea to get her out now, and have the sapphire to use when he returns, rather then wait for him to pop up?" she asked skeptically.
"You have your traditions. We have ours."
Daring's eyes went wide as she quickly dropped her polite tone. "If I were you I would forget about traditions for a minute. Cause Tezcatlipoca is already on his way back!"
"What do you mean?"
"There's this cult called the Setting Sun, and we think they are planning on bringing Tezcatlipoca back somehow! You have to get the sapphire out now, so we can beat him."
The shaman suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Who is we? I thought you were here alone."
"Me and my friend are investigating what these guys are up to, and why they wanted to find these caves so bad. And now I think I found out! They want to get to this thing so they can destroy the sapphire. Then there will be nothing to stop Tezcatlipoca." Daring said gravely.
The shaman continued to glare at her. "The stone is safe where it is. If what you say is true, then it will remain here until it is needed."
"You don't understand, we-
"Enough!" The shaman's voice boomed in the echo of the cave. "You have seen the sapphire. And you know it is safe. Now go."
Daring narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not going anywhere." she said seriously. "This whole island, the entire world is at stake, and you have the way to save it, right here. Yet, you'll just sit back and do nothing for the sake of tradition? How can you be so narrow minded?!"
The shaman rounded on Daring. "I have told you all you need to. You have seen our greatest secret and now you know it is safe. Now you know your father was never here. And you have been told to leave our village." He warned. "And yet here you stand."
Daring locked eyes with him. "And here, I will continue to stand." she said with a hint of malice. "I'm not letting the world end because of you."
"Then you leave me no choice."
With lightning fast speed, the shaman withdrew a small dart and stabbed Daring in the neck with it, catching her off guard. She pulled the dart from her neck, but the toxins were already at work, as her vision grew hazy. The scenery around her became a menagerie of churning, spinning colors.
"Dang it.....
"Not again....
"Stupid.....darts...."
She fell to the floor, unconscious.