Daring Do jumped off the train at her stop, and looked up at the surrounding mountains. It was late afternoon and her breath misted as light snow began to fall. “Should have worn something warmer…” she muttered as she left the station and climbed an old pathway that led away from the small town, and into the mountains.
Daring Do smiled as she remembered last nights talk with the Well family, it was a shame no pony else came into her compartment, she did enjoy chatting to other ponies. It was the one thing she didn’t like about adventuring and saving Equestria, she never really stayed in one place enough to keep friends. That and she knew it was far too dangerous, if Ahuitzotle found out; he would use them against her.
She stopped to catch her breath once she was about half way up, and looked back down to the town below, she could see many of the houses had their lights on already. She watched her breath swirl for a moment, and found it all quite peaceful thinking about the families setting up for their evening meals.
She closed her eyes, and was a filly again, she had run into the house excited to find her mother, who she found in the office. Daring Do burst through the door of the office and shouted “Mom! Look!” But she never did, she didn’t even move her eyes from her diary. “In a moment Junior…” said Hoofrietta Do Senior as she carried on reading from her diary. Daring Do gaped. “But mom this is important! Daring Do pleaded.
Hoofrietta Do Senior turned a page and said “Take a breath and count to ten…in Griffon!” Daring Do sighed and closed her eyes in hard concentration to remember the ten numbers, she spoke them out slowly and deliberately and managed to get to the Griffon of seven when she heard one of her class mates knocking on the outside window, she opened her eyes and saw it was Apple Seed. “Hay Do! Everypony is waiting for you, come on you don’t want to be late!” She yelled through the closed window.
Daring Do looked to her mother; she hadn’t even noticed the other filly banging or shouting on the office window. “Okay I’ll be out soon!” Daring shouted back. she looked to her mother, who was still reading her diary. “We are celebrating at the school; you can come…please?” Daring Do said. Her mother seemed to be reading quietly from her diary, muttering what was written inside.
Daring Do knew that there was no reaching her at this point; once her mother started muttering the Griffon Gauntlet lore there was no reaching her. She stood expectantly in the office door. “Please come.” She said, and left her mother to study. It wasn’t until a week later that Hoofrietta Do Senior noticed that her daughter had got her cutie mark.
She shivered as the wind cut through her. She had been standing for a while now and was feeling stiff; she turned to Jastro’s shack, hoping for a good fire and a warm drink. As she walked, the light snow just hid the single tear Daring Do shed.
She finally reached the shack, the snow fall had stopped, but it was still bitterly cold. Daring Do banged on the old door. “Jastro! I’m freezing my plot out here!” Shouted Daring Do as she shivered. She swung the door open and went in, finding it empty and colder on the inside. Daring Do’s teeth chattered as she decided to put the logs in the burner and warmed herself up.
As she warmed up she looked out the window and saw outside there was a rope that went down a hole. “Maybe that’s where Jastro is?” Thought Daring Do, she looked around the shack for anything warm to wear, there was hardly any thing in the shack other than the burner and an old bed with lots of blankets. Annoyed at herself, Daring Do put more logs on the burner and went back out into the cold.
Daring Do followed the rope to the edge of the hole, she peaked over the edge. “Jastro! What you found?” Daring cried, her voice echoed down below. Hearing no reply, and worrying about Jastro, she opened her wings and hovered down into the hole. There was just enough light to see around, the hole was mainly rock and ice, Daring Do couldn’t see why Jastro would have come down here…
Daring Do gasped as she then traced the rope to the frozen body of Jastro hanging just below her. “Jastro!” Daring Do cried, but it was no use, he had been frozen for some time and the old timer would fall asleep when she was on the excavation with him, even as she looked at him now thorugh the ice he looked like he was having a peaceful doze. Daring Do idly flicked the sweat from her brow and noticed something clutched within Jastro’s arm. It was another Diamond Dog statuette with crystal spirals, Daring Do couldn’t believe her luck!
“Whew!” Said Daring Do as she wiped her brow a second time. Suddenly alarm bells rang in her head. She quickly bashed some of the ice around the statuette away and managed to wriggle it free. By this point she was sweating as if she was in a sauna. Natural underground springs were all over the mountains, and Daring Do was in was a geyser that was about to blow. Clutching the statuette in her fore hooves and flew up as quick as she could.
VWOOOOOOOOOOSH!
As soon as Daring Do cleared the hole, hot spring water fired out from behind her. The sheer force of water threw her off balance and she landed heavily in the snow. Daring Do was instantly freezing, with her teeth chattering and shivering like mad, she was thankful that she left a stockpile of logs to burn in Jastro’s hut as she walked back to it carrying the statuette with her.
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~Meanwhile at Canterlot University ~
A Mail Mare delivered Dean a letter. He was viably shaking when he recognised Daring Do’s hoof writing. He closed and locked the door of his office, and sat at his desk. He simply stared at the letter, not wanting to open it. With a deep sigh, he decided to get it over and done with and read the letter:
Dean,
I write this letter after my most recent discovery at Jastro’s hut. Jastro is dead, but his last find was another statuette. I send this letter ahead of me, and will shortly be getting back on the train to Canterlot and will be trying to discover what is inside. The statuette seems complex for no explainable reason, and the only way to reveal the interior is another key.
I hope to get back to Madame Dig-Good as she seems some kind of expert on this, she must know more places that have artefacts like this. I know you are still annoyed at me after what happened at the hospital, and I promise I will get my medical records up to-date at some point, I’ll even get it done at the University as it’ll be easier, plus I can discuss with you what my next move is.
I’ll see you at Univerity when I get there
Do.
Dean re read the letter before breathing a sigh of relief. She was safe! But Jastro’s death was concerning though, especially with his movement to take hold of these artefacts related to the Crystal Caves. Dean was now in deep thought, what exactly was wanted from the Crystal Caves so badly?
~ To Be Continued ~