The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds

by Kamahido


Chapter 13 - Late Night Endeavors (Part 5)

Daring Do narrows her eyes.

“What did you have in mind?”

“An apology.”

Daring Do chuckles. “Is that all? I can give you that right now if it’ll make you feel…”

Auriel interrupts. “For Arc.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You have to admit that you told him to do something you knew could be potentially dangerous.”

“But he’s used to danger!”

“And because of you now he’s in it!”

Daring Do groans. “Look, OBVIOUSLY I wouldn’t have told him to do that if I had known something bad was going to happen!”

“Well, that doesn’t really help him, now does it?”

“I guess not. But I CAN’T apologize!”

“Why not?”

“Because he already doesn’t like me!”

Auriel folds her arms over her chest. “Considering what you did in his room, I can understand that.”

Daring Do rolls her eyes. “I already explained my rational behind that!”

“Believe me when I say that he’s very forgiving.”

“But…!”

“Look… you have my word that I’ll see to it he doesn’t try to arrest you.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring.”

Auriel shrugs. “It’s the best I can do.”

“So just to be sure I have this straight… all you want is an apology for your stallionfriend?”

“Not the best way to put it, but yes.”

Daring Do sighs as she gestures to the torch tied vines “Fine. But only if you can get this up there.”

“Deal.”

Taking the torches, Auriel looks up at the hole in the bars. Twirling the vine a few times, she lets it fly. It sails through the air and through the hole. Auriel grins.

“I got it!”

“Now all you have to do is give it a solid pull to make sure it’s secure. Just be careful, as it’ll fly back at you if it isn’t.”

Giving the vine a few firm tugs, Auriel nods triumphantly.

“Solid as a rock.”

Daring Do shrugs. “Want to go first?”

“Aren’t you worried that I’ll just leave you here?”

“You wouldn’t make it too far without me.”

Auriel rolls her eyes. “Fine. Let’s get moving.”

Grabbing the vine, Auriel slowly climbs up toward the hole. Reaching the bars, she grabs onto one and pulls herself inside. Peeking out, she looks back down at Daring Do and gives her a thumbs up.

“Nothing to it!”

“Okay. My turn next.”

Grabbing the vine with her front hooves, Daring Do begins her climb. As she tires however she instinctively crosses her rear fetlocks for extra support. Crying out in pain she drops toward the floor below. Auriel cries out.

“NO!”

Daring Do plummets down and lands hard on her back. Screaming in agony from her broken bones she moans for some time as Auriel calls out to her.

“Are you alright?!”

“DO I SOUND ALRIGHT?!”

“I can come down there and help you climb!”

Daring Do shakes her head. “No way! You had a hard enough time going up yourself! There’s no way you could do it again AND help me!”

“We could try it!”

“Those vines aren’t thick enough to carry us both at the same time either!”

“So what are we going to do then?!”

Daring Do rubs her fetlocks and grimaces. “Give me a minute! I’ll think of something!”

They are silent for a time. A short time later Auriel calls out.

“I have an idea!”

Daring Do looks up and sighs. “What is it?!”

A few minutes later Daring Do slowly ascends with the vine carefully tied around her belly in such a way as to not cause her undue pain. She groans.

“This is humiliating.”

Auriel giggles as she pulls. “Look on the bright side. At least no one is here to see it.”

“Except you.”

“Can’t have everything.”

Daring Do looks up and grimaces. “And I have your word that you won’t tell ANYPONY about this?!”

Auriel nods. “Sure. As long as you hold up your end of the bargain.”

“A favor for a favor. I’m still a bit nervous about what exactly you want from me.”

“I already explained it. You do me a favor sometime in the future and I’ll help you out now.”

“Why do I feel like I’m taking out a high interest loan?”

“Think about it this way. At least you’re not indebted to my father.”

“The demon king?!”

“Yup.”

Daring Do groans. “Kinda am.”

“He doesn’t need to know about this part either.”

“Um… silly question.”

“What is it?”

“You’re not going to ask me to do anything… weird, are you?”

“Like what?”

Daring Do frowns as she looks up and holds out a hoof as she reaches the top. “I’m not going to give you any ideas.”

Carefully pulling the mare over the bars, Auriel leans back and breathes heavily.

“Now THAT was a workout!”

Daring Do frowns as she lays unceremoniously on the vines. “It was no picnic for me either.”

“Give me a minute to catch my breath and I’ll untie you.”

“I can do that myself.”

Auriel smiles weakly as she leans against the bars opposite the mare. “Fine. I’ll just rest until you do then.”

A short time later Daring Do steps out from the vines. She turns around and brushes them aside as Auriel looks to her.

“What are you doing?”

“Seeing if any of these torches is still usable.”

Looking them over, she sighs and shakes her head.

“They’re all pretty messed up from being used as rigging equipment.”

Auriel sighs. “Is that why you had me grab a few extra?”

Daring Do nods. “Yeah. I had planned to tie them to the end of the vine and pull them up here once we reached the top originally.”

Auriel looks down at the torches lying on the ground far below. “But that didn’t work out.”

“Nope.”

“Guess we’re back to the old Light Spell method, eh?”

“Maybe not. Let me see what I can come up with.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

Daring Do shakes her head as she looks around. “Nah. You just rest.”

Auriel does so as Daring Do gets to work. Breaking off the ruined torch tops she picks up the vines used to pull her up and unties them. Wrapping them around the ends of several broken torch tops she carefully fashions them into a single usable torch. Turning to Auriel she grins and points to the top.

“Can I get a light?”

“Sure.”

Casting a small Fire Spell, Auriel lights the torch end before diffusing her flame. Daring Do holds the torch up to her.

“Think you can carry this for me?”

Auriel takes the torch. “Sure. But what about you?”

Daring Do slowly gets to her hooves. “I’ll manage.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very.”

Taking a few unsteady steps, she winces with each one. Sighing, Auriel shakes her head and calls out to her.

“So what’s our next move?”

“We need some information.”

“On this building?”

“Not exactly. But rest assured, I know where to get it from.”

Making her way over to a nearby chest, Daring Do sits down on her haunches and pushes it open. A stallion leaps out and looks to her, clearly nervous. Turning to run away, he spies Auriel’s face in the light of the torch. Backing away he turns back and forth trying to decide whom to face. Auriel rolls her eyes.

“Will you stop that?!”

“Wha… what do you want from me?!”

Daring Do scoffs. “Information, numb nuts! Now spill!”

“On what?!”

“You know!”

“I can’t tell you about that!”

Auriel appears confused. “Why not?”

“Because Doctor Caballeron would KILL ME!”

Daring Do looks to the now empty chest. “I think he was already planning to do that.”

“He would have come back for me!”

“How sure are you of that?”

“Pretty sure!”

“Then how about we test that theory?”

“Wha… what do you mean?!”

Daring Do turns to Auriel. “Put him back in there.”

The stallions gasps. “WHAT?!”

Daring Do grins wickedly. “Oh, don’t worry. If you’re right the good doctor will be back soon to let you out.”

Auriel shrugs. “And if you’re not, well…”

Daring Do looks around. “Doesn’t appear anypony’s been in here for centuries. “

Auriel turns to Daring Do. “I wonder if his bones will still be intact by the time they’re found.”

“One way to find out.”

“No, no! Please! I have a family to think about!”

Daring Do glares at him. “Then think about them and TALK!”

“What do you want to know?”

“How about what Caballeron’s up to?”

“He’s looking for something called the ‘Idol of Boreas’.”

Auriel gasps. “What?!”

Daring Do turns to Auriel. “You’ve heard of it?”

“Yes, I have.”

The stallion continues. “Doctor Caballeron wants to find it for some big shot. Says he’ll pay a fortune if he can get his hooves on it.”

“Who’s the client?”

“I can’t say.”

Daring Do stomps the floor with a hoof. “Come on! Give!”

“I can’t because I don’t know!”

Auriel frowns. “What do they want with it?”

“No clue. We were just supposed to help Doctor Caballeron find it so we could get paid.”

Daring Do puts a hoof on the chest. “Then why’d he lock you up in there?”

“I dunno.”

“So he didn’t have to split the reward with you, idiot.”

“But why would he…?”

Auriel holds up a claw as she subtracts one. “It’s simple math, really. Less minions to pay means a bigger share for him and the others.”

“He wouldn’t do that to me though!”

Daring Do rolls her eyes. “Right. Just like he wouldn’t leave you locked in a chest in an ancient ruins.”

The stallion’s pupils shrink as he puts two and two together (yeah, a math pun).

“I’m getting out of here then!”

Auriel turns to Daring Do. “Should we let him go?”

“Yeah. I got what I wanted.”

She turns to the stallion before continuing.

“Beat it, punk!”

Nodding fearfully the stallion turns and runs the other way. Daring Do looks to Auriel.

“So what do you know about this idol?”

“My father told me some time ago that he gave it away.”

“What?! When?!”

“Centuries ago actually.”

“And it does what exactly?”

“I don’t really think it does anything.”

Daring Do raises an eyebrow. “Then why would somepony want it?”

“Supposedly it’s a source of great pride. My father gave it to a griffon a long time ago as a gift for rendering aid to our citizens.”

“So it’s in the Griffon Kingdom then?”

Auriel shrugs. “It was reportedly stolen years ago.”

“Then why would Caballeron be here?!”

“I can only theorize.”

“Please do.”

“It is likely that the news of the artifact’s existence as well as its departure is not well known outside of the Griffon Kingdom.”

“So you’re saying that Caballeron just didn’t hear that it was given away?”

“I can’t really think of any other explanation. But one thing doesn’t make sense about that though.”

“What’s that?”

“If he’s supposed to be an intelligent stallion, how did he now hear about this previously?”

Daring Do rolls her eyes. “Caballeron is an archeologist, and not much for current events. How long ago did the idol disappear from the Griffon Kingdom?”

“Decades ago I’m told. Which is why I’m so confused about his lack of knowledge on the subject.”

“I bet I can explain it.”

“Oh?”

“His client, whomever that is, told him about the existence of the item. They probably didn’t know anything else about it themselves, so Caballeron did what anypony would have done. He hit the library.”

“A wise choice.”

“I know that nopony’s written anything on demons, or their artifacts, for quite some time.”

“At least not since the fall of our kingdom.”

“The tomes that do exist have extremely outdated information in them. But Caballeron, being the short-sighted fool he is, just took it at face value.”

Auriel shrugs. “Well, it’s not like he had anything else to go on.”

Daring Do chuckles as she gestures in the direction Caballeron went with his followers. “Well then, let’s go see how he’s faring.”

“Um… won’t that be dangerous?”

“Probably. But I’m sure you want to know as much as I do how much he’s failing as well as see if he can help us find your stallionfriend.”

Auriel nods soberly. “That I do.”

Making their way down the caged corridor, the pair continue on together. Daring Do gasps and winces as Auriel turns to her.

“Your leg again?”

Daring Do nods fervently as sweat pours down her face from the pain. “Y-yeah. It’s getting worse. A lot worse.”

“Want me to scout out ahead? You could rest here.”

“You need me to watch out for traps!”

Auriel frowns. “I’m sure if there were any, Caballeron and his cohorts would have set them off already.”

“Trust me, you need an experienced guide.”

“Well, you can’t walk.”

“I’ll think of something.”

Auriel puts a claw on her chin thoughtfully. “I think I already have.”

“Do tell.”

A short time later the pair step out into a large room. Shelves line every wall containing any number of magical artifacts. Looking ahead, the pair spot Caballeron and his gang looking over a large door straight ahead. Auriel looks up to Daring Do.

“What should we do?”

Daring Do smirks. “Let’s go say ‘hello’.”

“Very well. Um… want me to put you down first.”

“Nah. Let’s go.”

Nodding, Auriel walks forward. Approaching the group they hear her and turn around. Caballeron looks at them for a few moments, clearly confused.

“Daring Do?!”

“In the flesh!”

“How…? How did you…? What are you DOING?!”

Auriel frowns. “Haven’t you ever seen a piggy back ride before?”

“A… what?”

Daring Do points a hoof as she sits on Auriel’s shoulders. “Never mind that. I’m here to tell you that you’re wasting your time.”

Caballeron raises an eyebrow as he chuckles. “Am I now?”

Daring Do nods as she looks down at Auriel. “Tell him.”

“That which you seek is not here.”

Caballeron laughs throatily. “I can only assume my abandoned little underling talked. A shame, really. Good help is SO hard to find.”

He looks Auriel up and down before continuing.

“But it looks like you’ve done well for yourself, Daring Do.”

“Thank you.”

“Tell me something. What does she have that I don’t?”

Daring Do narrows her eyes. “For starters, a spine.”

Caballeron glares at her. “Yet here I am ahead of the game yet again, old friend!”

“We are NOT friends!”

“Rivals then.”

Daring Do scoffs. “You’re not even in my league!”

“Says the mare being carried by a beast.”

“Think what you want, Caballeron. I just need one thing from you and I’ll be on my way.”

Caballeron looks to the mare leeringly. “My, my… so forward.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I just want your half of the map from earlier.”

Caballeron rolls his eyes. “You may be beautiful, my dear, but it appears your memory may need some jogging. In case you don’t recall, I burned it earlier.”

“Yes, I do remember you burning it. But there’s just one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I know for a fact that YOUR memory isn’t infallible either.”

“Your point?”

“There’s no way you’d have burned the map showing all the traps without making a copy first.”

Caballeron chuckles and pulls out another paper. “Very good, my former associate.”

“We’ve never worked together!”

“Maybe one day I’ll take you on as a… what is the term… baggage handler.”

“You wish!”

“In any case, you can’t have this.”

“Oh really?”

Caballeron nods wickedly as he holds a torch close to the paper. “I certainly can’t have you upstaging me yet again, my dear.”

Daring Do grits her teeth. “Would you STOP calling me that?!”

“Resist all you want, Daring Do. But one day I will show YOU who is the REAL treasure hunter among us!”

“Whatever. Just give me that paper and I’ll leave you to your devices.”

“You must really be slipping to need THIS to get out of here.”

“Hardly. In reality I just need it to find a way to retrieve the Hero of Light for my little red friend here.”

Caballeron raises an eyebrow. “How patriotic of you. Stooping to helping one of Celestia’s stooges.”

Daring Do shrugs. “What can I say? I’m just a big softie at heart. So… are you going to give it to me, or not?”

Caballeron shakes his head. “Not a chance. However, I am not completely without mercy. If you’ll be a good little mare and let me and my associates finish our work here I’ll allow you and your pack mule to accompany us back to the surface. No need to worry about pesky traps or getting turned around then.”

“I’ll take my chances without you, thanks.”

“Your loss then. But in any case, it does not appear either of you is currently… how does one say it… fighting fit.”

He looks Auriel over and smiles wickedly.

“I can think of a few customers in the Griffon Kingdom or Abyssinia whom would LOVE to add your crimson companion to their exotic pets collection.”

Auriel frowns. “I am NOT a…!”

Daring Do interrupts her. “Auriel, I think we’ve wasted enough time trying to do it your way.”

“So do I.”

Caballeron narrows his eyes. “What are you…?!”

Without another word, Auriel stretches out a claw. The paper flies out of Caballeron’s hoof and toward the pair. With a grin Daring Do catches it.

“Thank you, doctor. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have a human to save.”

Caballeron growls at them. “You’re going nowhere!”

Daring Do turns to him with a look of mock confusion. “I’m not?”

“Not with that map anyways! Return it and I may yet be lenient with you! Refuse and I make no promises for you and your companion’s safety!”

Auriel clears her throat loudly. “Excuse me, sir.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“I can’t help but notice that you’re group is comprised of mostly Earth Ponies and a couple Pegasi.”

“What of it?”

Daring Do shrugs. “He’s not much for Unicorns.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“I don’t know for sure. But I’m guessing it’s due to his paranoia.”

Auriel smiles slyly. “Do tell.”

Caballeron groans. “You do realize I’m still standing right here?!”

Daring Do waves a hoof dismissively. “Yeah, yeah. One sec.”

She looks back to Auriel before continuing.

“You see, he doesn’t exactly treat his employees very well. So there’s always the chance they’ll turn on him.”

“And a unicorn could do some serious harm.”

Daring Do nods. “Right. But he can outrun an Earth Pony or outsmart a Pegasus. He’s had to do so in the past too.”

Caballeron scoffs. “That is entirely false!”

Daring Do sneers. “Oh, is it?”

“Yes!”

“What about the whole fiasco in Marapore?”

“A simple misunderstanding!”

“And the mutiny in Abyssinia?”

“You can’t prove…!”

Daring Do interrupts him. “Oh, and one can’t forget what happened in the Forbidden City of Clouds.”

Auriel grins. “I’d like to hear about that last one.”

Daring Do looks down at her. “Well, what happened was…!”

Caballeron turns to his cohorts, angrily. “Get those two! But don’t hurt them TOO bad. They’re worth a lot of money to…!”

He stops talking as his gang glares at him. Chuckling nervously he turns back to Daring Do.

“You know… I think you’re right.”

“About what?”

“That my treasure is in another temple.”

He looks around for a few moments before slowly backing toward a wall.

“Goodbye for now, chumps!”

Grabbing a statue’s head, he pulls it to open a secret passage. Running through, he is followed by his rather upset entourage. Auriel looks up to Daring Do as the door closes behind them.

“That went… okay, I suppose.”

Daring Do grins as she holds up the paper in her hooves. “Yeah, well… we got this at least.”

“Does it say anything about where to find Arc?”

Daring Do looks the paper over carefully. “Let’s see here…”