//------------------------------//
// Chapter 30: The Aging Mare 
// Story: Daring Do and the Hand of Doom 
// by Unwhole Hole 
//------------------------------//

Farther down the mountain, a different pair of Pegasi were sitting together, watching a fire instead of a sunset. The nights on the mountain were prodigiously cold, and the lodgings that Daring Do had managed to purchase were poorly insulated. The wood of the strange dark trees burned warmly, though, and the area near the fire was comfortable and pleasant.
White sat beside her. She was still bundled in blankets like some manner of burrito, although she would occasionally lean over and lap from a cup of hot chocolate sitting on the edge of a rickety chair. It was a strange, cat-like behavior, and Daring Do found it amusing. 
Daring Do sipped her own hot chocolate. It was not the best; she had not had many ingredients to make it. A few high-mountain roots, the sap of a couple trees, and some hot water made something that was close enough. White certainly seemed to like it. 
Outside was dark and cold. The pair of them sat in silence; the only sound was the crackling of the fire. Daring Do was aware that the lack of conversation was her choice and her choice alone, as White could not talk.
When she finally grew bored of the quiet, she spoke. White immediately turned and listened attentively, the lenses of her artificial eyes reflecting the red glow of the smoky fire.  
“You know, this is so strange.”
White turned her head questioningly. She then sat eerily still in her blanket cocoon. Daring Do tried not to notice. 
“I don’t even like ponies,” she continued. “I mean…hmm.” She thought for a moment, and sipped her hot chocolate. “When I’m on adventures, it’s one thing. I have associates, contacts, recurring villains…but in my private life? I’m a recluse. For a reason.” 
White continued to stare. 
“I mean, it never made sense to be around other ponies. I had a secret identity to protect, and so much work to do. I mean, I tried.” A long time ago, she had. And she had given up quickly. “But I never had friends. Or a family.”
White moved. The tip of one of her white hooves poked out of the blanket near her face and pointed toward the peaks of Lyskymm. To where Rainbow Dash was. Daring Do felt a pang of remorse for having let the young Pegasus go all alone. “No,” she said. “Rainbow Dash isn’t my daughter. She just looks like me. I don’t know why. I never had children. At this point I’m not going to.” 
White shook her head and pointed again. 
Daring Do understood. “You mean she’s a friend, then.”
White nodded.
“I guess.” She sipped her chocolate. “But she’s really more like a sidekick! It’s not like we’re that close.”
White then pointed at herself. Daring Do sighed.
“I don’t know about you yet. Sure. It seems to me like you’re a good kid. But I don’t know that for sure. I don’t know if you’re going to turn on me or what. You have to understand that, right?”
White neither shook her head nor nodded. Her expression did not change, but Daring Do still felt a pang of sadness from her. 
“Besides. You have a family of your own, don’t you?”
White paused, and then very slowly nodded. This time she visibly looked sad. 
“Well, you should be with them.” Daring Do paused, considering. “Or…or maybe not. How old are you? Twelve, fourteen? And they sent you on a bombing run. Steeds.” 
A thin hoof emerged from beneath White’s blanket and poked Daring Do hard in the rump. Daring Do looked up to see White frowning. The albino Pegasus shook her head. 
“Still family, aren’t they? Fine. But just so you know? I saw the indicators on those bombs. The ones you don’t know how to read. And I saw your distance. They would have taken you out too.”
White stiffened, but then nodded. Daring Do felt her anger rising. She had already known- -and they had made her go anyway. 
“What did they do to you?” she asked quietly. One again, White just looked confused. Daring Do shook her head. “Of course. You can’t answer. Maybe that’s why I’m tolerating you. Because I’m a jerk. I can’t stand kids. Or maybe I understand.” 
White stared silently from under the blanket. 
“When I was your age, my father sent me to be trained in artifact training by the Perr-Synts. I spent most of my time with a unicorn who was twenty times my age. I dealt with it, but…” She sighed, and pulled her legs close to her. “Sometimes I wish I could have spent that time with my dad. If he wasn’t so obsessed with trading stolen artifacts, maybe I would have gotten more time with him. And now look at me. I’m doing the same thing. Obsessing with artifacts to the point where there’s nothing else for me. My life’s work, and what do I have to show for it? A broken body. A life where half the world thinks I’m not even real.” She sighed. “At least I didn’t have a daughter to mess up in the process.”
White suddenly slumped to one side. When she struck the floor, she inched her way across it, still wrapped in a pile of blankets. She reached Daring Do and curled up at her side, staring up unlikely with her silvery, multi-pupiled eyes. 
Daring Do sighed again and rubbed her hoof on White’s blanket-covered head. “Yeah,” she said. “I know it’s stupid. Thanks for listening, though. I can’t say this stuff to Rainbow Dash. She looks up me, so I have to be strong. And…well…”
There was a knock at the door. Daring Do sat up, and White turned from beneath her blanket. 
“Ha. Speak of the Luna. Well, do you want to take a bet? Is it Rainbow Dash or Sweetie Drops?”
White, of course, did not answer. The irises in her eyes widened, though, and she suddenly stiffened. She stood sharply from the blankets and backed away, breathing rapidly. Daring Do took this as a bad sign. White could see through the door, and already knew what was on the other side. 
“Don’t worry,” she said, softly, grabbing her whip from one of the tables. It still had a gash in it- -a gash that White had left- -but it would have to do. 
White did not respond. She did not shake her head or nod. She instead stood stiffly, staring wide-eyed at the door. 
Daring Do approached the door and grasped the handle. She took a deep breath. A sensation crept through her gut, and she tasted metal. Something bad was on the other side of that door, and she had a feeling that she should leave it closed. That whatever was on the other side would not try to force its way in, that it would leave them alone and in peace after a while. Still, she found herself turning the handle. She had to open it, because she had to know. 
She swung it open in a flash, raising her whip, only to be momentarily blinded by a pale orange glow in the darkness. A pony lurched through the door, nearly collapsing on Daring Do. She drew the whip back, but stopped herself. She saw a white mane with a pale green streak, a teal coat, and glasses sat atop an oxygen mask. 
“Dulcimer!” she cried.
Dulcimer looked up and staged into the room. He was not in good shape. His skin had grown pale, and his thick and frumpy cold-weather gear was scratched and clawed. One of his orange eyes was swollen shut and had turned an unpleasant shade of mauve.
“Your oxygen,” cried Daring Do, moving to his tank. “You’re low, you idiot- -”
“No,” he wheezed, putting one of his large hooves on hers to push it away. “It’s not the oxygen. Close the door. Please close the door.”
Daring Do did as he suggested, slamming it and locking it, knowing full well that she would have to open it again, for Rainbow Dash at least and probably again for Sweetie Drops when she arrived. With the state Dulcimer was in, she was starting to dread those moments. 
“Dulcimer, what happened? What are you even doing here?!”
Dulcimer held up a hoof and sat down. He took a moment to catch his breath and regain his  composure. Daring Do waited patiently, even though she was incredibly confused not only to why he had bothered to come here, but HOW he had managed to get to the top of the mountain without a pair of wings. 
“My…apologies,” he said, standing up. His eyes- -or rather the one eye that was not nearly swollen shut- -turned sharply toward White. “Oh my. Hello there,” he said, a smile crossing his face. “I didn’t know Ms. Do was working with anypony else.”
White did not respond, except to stand even more erect and stiffly. Her eyes were wide, and although it was difficult to tell from looking into a pair of mechanical devices, Daring Do could have sworn she was terrified. 
Dulcimer approached her. “Aren’t you adorable,” he said, his eyes drifting toward the barcode marked into her shoulder. “And interesting that you would be here. Very interesting indeed.”
“You’re making her nervous,” said Daring Do, grabbing White- -who had become deathly cold- -and pushing her out of the way. “She isn’t familiar with strangers.”
“Ah. A stranger, of course. My apologies miss…?”
“Her name is White.”
“White. What a pretty name. Again, my apologies, Ms. White. Oh, in the state I’m in I must have given you quite a fright!”
“Dulcimer, why are you even here? HOW are you even here?”
His demeanor changed instantly, and he seemed to grow more pale. ‘I had to find you. I had to warn you! Ms. Do, I’ve made a terrible mistake!” He breathed deeply and suddenly turned toward the windows. A black crow was sitting in one of them. Dulcimer cried out and slammed the shutters, causing it to caw loudly and fly away. 
“Stop that! Come on. Sit down. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Dulcimer sat down in the chair that Daring Do had been sitting in earlier. Daring Do poured him some hot chocolate, and he took it, levitating it in his magic. 
“Thank you,” he said, his magic shaking as he took a sip.
“Now. Can you please tell me. What happened to you?”
Dulcimer closed his eyes. “It was terrible. Thoroughly terrible. I barely made it out with my skin.”
“Okay. Let’s try again. This time from the beginning.”
Dulcimer took a sip and sighed deeply, turning up his oxygen concentration with his telekinesis. “I was working. Following the Exmoori leads. When we last spoke you mentioned the dark mage Gxurab Al’Hrabnaz. That gave me an idea, that I might be able to circumvent normal historical archives in favor of…well…arcane texts.”
“You’re kidding.” Daring Do groaned and put her hoof on her face. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“I’m afraid I’m not.”
“You’re not a mage! You can barely cast a stable shield spell! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!”
“I may not be a wizard,” snapped Dulcimer, “but I AM an academic! I understand how to treat sources properly, even ones that have unsavory origins.”
“Really. And did that ‘understanding’ give you that black eye?”
Dulcimer stared at his cocoa. “No.” He said. “It had nothing to do with the books. As it turns out, the Exmoori left no spells that were transferred into early unicorn works. Or nopony had interest in them apart from Sombra’s agent. That is not what I came to warn you about.” He looked up, and he appeared absolutely terrified. “I’ve made a mistake!” he repeated. “I should never have even looked into this, gone this deep!”
“I don’t understand.”
Dulcimer leaned forward suddenly and whispered. “I’m not the only one searching for information, for the Exmoori!”
“Ah,” said Daring Do. “You met the Questlords.”
Dulcimer pulled his head back, frowning. “Questlords? As in the Questlords of Inverness? The fictional characters from bard songs? No, they’re not even real.”
“Yeah. That’s the consensus on the Exmoori as well.”
“Well, those ponies are wrong. But I assure you, even if a band of knights called the ‘Questlords’ did exist, they’re long departed now. It’s a silly name anyway. No. I found something much, much worse.” He shivered and curled into a fetal position on the chair. As he was large and oddly muscular, the chair buckled and creaked in protest. 
“What did you find?”
“I don’t…I don’t know.” He shuddered again. “Something evil. It…it reeked. Not just physically, but magically as well. I think…I think it was a mage. A sorcerer, maybe, or an agent of one. A terrible beast!”
“What did you see?”
“I don’t know!” wailed Dulcimer, bursting out into tears. “It- -it was dark! I was in a private library, and it appeared out of nowhere. Crows…it came with the crows! And the eyes! Those horrible, horrible yellow eyes!” 
“Crows?” Daring Do looked to her window. Where a yellow-eyed crow had just been sitting.
“Crows and ravens. I- -I looked up, and there they were. In the library. On the shelves, sitting on the desks. All silent. All…oh Celestia, they were all watching me!  And then HE came…”
“Who?”
“The wizard. A dark mage. Horribly dark. I could sense it on his magic. He came to me…he…he beat me. He did things to me. I tried to resist, I tried! Daring Do, please believe me, I tried! But I’m an academic, not a soldier!” He went quiet. “I told him everything I knew. About the Exmoori. And about you. He…he wanted to know about them. The Exmoori.” Dulcimer looked up. “He’s looking for them.”
Daring Do sighed. “That’s not good.”
“No!” Dulcimer sat up suddenly. “You don’t understand the gravity of this! I was nearly slain! And on my way here, to warn you? He attacked me again! Look what he did to my coat!” He gestured to deep gashes torn in his clothing and scratches on his body, as well as small holes that looked like they may have been pecked in by beaks. “You’re in danger! The artifact I sent you to retrieve, it isn’t worth this! Not worth competing with things like THAT! Please, PLEASE! I recant my request! I retract it! I thought it would just be a matter of finding a tomb, retrieving an artifact. Oh, I would have been famous. My theories would be proven right! But- -but- -what good are papers if I’m not around to present them?!”
Daring Do sighed. “First rule of this: it’s never easy. For the record, Caballeron is in the competition too. And he’s got the backing of a group that at least calls themselves Questlords.”
Dulcimer’s eyes widened. “That settles it, then! Ms. Do- -Daring- -It’s too dangerous! For all of us!”
“I’m used to danger.”
“But I’m not! And I’m sure that your daughter or whatever she is isn’t either!”
Daring Do inhaled sharply, knowing that he was right. “Then what do you want me to do? Give up?”
“Of course! Look at me! This isn’t how academic research is supposed to function!”
“And yet it IS how it functions. Every. Single. Time.” 
“Then this is ludicrous! I had no idea that it would be this strenuous! Please, Daring, reconsider- -”
“No.”
“But you didn’t even reconsider- -”
“I’ve worked on the translation. That artifact, this Hand of Doom. If Caballeron gets it, all of Equestria will be in danger. And now you tell me there’s a crow-wizard after it too? Yeah, sure, it’s dangerous. But I need to take that risk. If either of those parties gets it…we’re done.” 
“Do you even know what this Hand of Doom does?”
Daring Do raised an eyebrow. “Do you?”
“No, of course not! But from everything I know about the Exmoori, it’s likely some ceremonial piece! They didn’t use magic, they didn’t trust it! There is almost no chance of it actually being dangerous, I only mentioned that to you at the start to get you to look for it!”
“That’s not what the rubbings say.”
“You can cover the rubbings in honey and paste them to Celestia’s rump!” cried Dulcimer, shrilly. “The only place they’re leading us is to the grave!” 
“Then YOU can back out of it. Go back to Canterlot. Or better yet, go to Ponyville. Nothing will bother looking for you there. I’m staying here. Caballeron already has the Spear of Extinction. I don’t know why but my gut says it’s bad, and I’m way behind.”
“Please, Daring Do, listen to me- -”
“I did listen. But you should know, I don’t back down. Especially when it’s important. And this is VERY important.”
Dulcimer stared at her, and then moaned loudly. “I should have known,” he said, quietly. “Well, then, if I can’t  change your mind, please let me beg for your forgiveness. For getting you into all of this. I’m so very sorry, Ms. Do.”
“Don’t be. It isn’t your fault. Besides. This is what I do.”
“Just watch out. Beware the raven mage. His magic is profoundly dark, and his methods are…cruel. Don’t trust a word he says.”
“You don’t have to worry. I’ve dealt with mages before. Dark ones, light ones, and every color in between.”
“Well then I hope you know what you’re doing.” Dulcimer stood up and set his cocoa down. He walked toward the door, but stopped in front of White. He looked over his shoulder at Daring Do. “And…I know I have no right to, but I must make one key request.”
“What?”
“Don’t tell anypony I was here.” He turned to White. “Don’t let anyone know you saw me. Or that you even knew who I was.” 
“Sure,” said Daring Do. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Trust me, Ms. Do, of all the things I’ll be worrying about, this will be one of the least. And…” He paused at the door. “Please be careful.”
Daring Do nodded as Dulcimer departed into the night, lighting his way with the orange glow of his horn. She closed the door behind him.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” she said, locking it. She turned toward White. “White, are you- -White, what’s wrong?”
White was shivering violently. She was no longer stiff, but appeared instead to be wobbling on her feet. She turned her eyes toward Daring Do, and it was clear that several tears had run down her cheeks. Then she ducked on the floor and darted under her pile of blankets. This time, she did not allow her head to be exposed. She just sat under the pile, quivering. 
Daring Do swore under her breath. “Cadence’s tail,” she whispered. “None of this is right. None of it at all.”
She walked back to the fire and sat down next to the vibrating lump that was White. She set her hoof on the girl, and she jerked back.
“Shh,” said Daring Do. “It’s me. It’s okay.”
The lump crawled closer and pushed itself against Daring Do. Daring Do stroked what she assumed was White’s head, and her shaking slowed. “It’s going to be alright. I promise.”
That, of course, was a lie, and Daring Do knew it. Deep in her gut, she knew that something was about to happen. Things were about to go horribly wrong- -and there was nothing any of them could do to stop it. It was already too late.