//------------------------------// // Daring Do and the Compass of Desire part 1 // Story: Daring Do and the Compass of Desire // by Shahrazad //------------------------------// Daring Do and the Compass of Desire By Shahrazad Cover art by n1de =====*****===== Rainbow Dash entered her house with jittery energy. She had a tome clutched under her wing which she held near and dear to her heart. She bucked the door closed and bound into her bedroom over the rainbow waterfall in her living room. She was ready to leap into bed when the floor suddenly rushed up to meet her. WHUMP She gasped and watched in slow motion as the book flew forward, tumbling slowly end over end. Its image was reflected in her eyes, her every muscle as frozen as her heart. The book landed on her bed with a soft plop making the sheets billow outward from the impact. She exhaled a deep breath as her heart returned control of her body. She got her hooves back underneath her and looked down at the rock like lump that had tripped her. Tank stared up at her with an empty food bowl in his mouth. He looked up at her with doleful eyes and blinked once with a wet sound. “Heh, sorry Tank I forgot to feed you today didn’t I?” She snatched the bowl from him, filled it with greens, set it down in the corner of the room, landed on her bed, pulled the covers up, turned the reading light on, and opened the book. At the same time Tank turned around and took one step toward his food bowl. Rainbow Dash’s heart beat faster at the smell of fresh paper when she flipped to the first page. She began to read, Daring Do and the Compass of Desire. =====*****===== Daring Do sat in her study, the tick of the clock like a metronome and the soft shuffle of papers the only sounds in the plush study. Several framed newspaper clippings hung on the walls detailing her many adventures. Her pith helmet and olive green jacket were hung on the coat rack- you never knew when adventure would call. Various and exotic trinkets covered the walls and shelves of her Manehatten study. Her exploits allowed her to live in a very nice part of outer Manehatten but she spent more time on the road than here. It was a shame really, the house was so comfortable it was almost a luxury item but she couldn’t justify anything more without spending more time here. Truth be told, she did enjoy relaxing at home, but she had no special somepony and no foals. Her wanderlust conspired with the size of the home causing her to become agitated in short order when she spent more than a few weeks here. She had no idea what she would do next, until she opened the letter at the bottom of her mail stack. She often had a backlog of mail when she returned home and it took time to get through it all. She read the letter again, the smile began to creep up her face and an inner light could be seen in her ruby eyes. Dear Daring Do, Allow me to introduce myself. I am Gold Bar, owner of Manehatten Precious Metals Inc. I am writing to you in order to retain your services. At a recent mining expedition a certain item of interest was uncovered. I do not wish to explain more in a letter but suffice to say I require the services of an archeologist such as you. If you agree, I will meet you on Thursday the 23rd, at Manehatten Tower, suite 6565, at eight O’clock in the morning. I will explain everything then if you agree to our terms. If all goes well we will soon be adding a fabulous new addition to the Manehatten Ancient History Museum. Sincerely, Gold Bar The letter was printed on the official letter head of “Manehatten Precious Metals Inc.” Daring Do usually didn’t get tips from wealthy business magnates like Gold Bar. Wait a minute that name sounds familiar. She opened the Manehatten Times and flipped to the business section. There was an article written about “Manehatten Precious Metals Inc.” According to the article the business was involved in several prospective mines all along the west and north edges of Equestria. None of them had panned out for years and it seemed as if the curtains were drawing to a close for Manehatten Precious Metals. Still, Gold Bar’s net worth in bits was best expressed in scientific notation. This made his story plausible, but what could they have found that was so valuable? Perhaps he’s just desperate and is grasping at straws, hoping to strike it rich selling the relic to the Museum. Then again, relic hunts often start by grasping at straws. Daring Do brushed a charcoal colored lock of mane out of her eyes and leaned back into the leather chair making it creak softly. She tossed the reading material onto the desk just as the clock on the mantel began to chime ten times. She stretched and trotted upstairs to bed with a smile. Tomorrow just might be a red letter day. =====*****===== Snubbing the earth ponies and unicorns that had to take the stairs, Daring Do landed on the roof of Manehatten Tower with the letter in hoof. Ever since that stint in the jungle with a broken wing she really appreciated the ability to fly. She was already dressed in her jacket and helmet, sometimes it helped to make the right impression with philanthropists if it looked like you were ready to go exploring immediately. It was ridiculous of course, the logistics often took weeks or months but if Gold Bar was going to hoof over thousands of bits he might feel better if she was dressed for the job. She opened the door and trotted down stairs. She was on the top floor and wasn’t surprised to find a receptionist here. It was a fat mare with a grey coat and a brown mane, she scratched into the log book with a quill, a pair of half-moon spectacles perched on her nose. She glanced up over them with a bored expression and said a well-rehearsed sentence, “welcome-to-Manehatten-Precious-Metals, just-a-moment.” She must have said that sentence thousands of times a day. Daring Do was not a mare to be made waiting. “I am here to see Gold Bar.” She walked around the reception desk, a dark granite slab that easily weighed a ton, “he’s expecting me at eight sharp.” Daring Do pushed into her personal space and pushed the letter into her spectacles much too close for comfort. She leaned back and her eyes scanned the page, growing larger with each word. “M-My apologies right this way Ms. Do.” Daring Do’s toothy smile reflected her victory over red tape. The smell of pencil shavings and ink permeated the space. She passed by several cubicles, each with a “worker bee” stuffed into them. She didn’t envy them, while their lives and jobs might be safe Daring Do lived for excitement and she wouldn’t give it up for all the bits or safety in the world. The double doors at the end of the hall of cubicles lead to the main office. They were made of a rich mahogany wood and inlaid with what Daring guessed was real gold leaf. I guess the stories of the company’s troubles are a bit over stated. She pushed the doors open and stepped into the grand office alone, the receptionist bowing as she scurried away. The doors closed behind her with a dull boom, leaving her in the room with two stallions and a magnificent view of the Manehatten skyline from the floor to ceiling windows that served as the opposite wall. The room smelled faintly of lilacs and cigar smoke. Standing in front of the windows on the other side of a large oak desk, looking out over the city was a dark brown earth pony with a blond mane and three stacked gold bars for a cutie mark. Gold Bar himself Daring Do recognized him from the papers. The other pony was a muscular specimen, with a pale coat and a mane the color of tar. His mark wasn’t visible as his barrel and flanks were covered with thick security barding. Attached to the barding by various straps were a number of implements that could easily hurt or restrain, it made him look brutish in the otherwise refined office. He stood unmoving but tensed when Daring took a step closer to Gold Bar. She stopped and spoke simply, “good morning.” Gold Bar shook slightly as his attention was pulled back into the room. He plucked the cigar out of his mouth and set it down in a crystalline ash tray, a thin trail of smoke rose from the ashes. He waved a hoof to the pale coated stallion and said, “wait outside Hard Hoof, I wish to speak with Ms. Do alone.” Hard Hoof trotted out giving Daring Do something akin to the stare. Fortunately for Daring Do it was only an imitation. Daring breathed a little easier after the great doors closed granting them privacy. “Please forgive him he’s very thorough when it comes to my personal protection. However I see no reason for alarm in your company Ms. Do you have a stellar reputation.” She trotted around the heavy oak desk and stood beside him as they both looked out over the city. “Magnificent isn’t it? The things we build.” “Yeah, they are pretty awesome, but I prefer to see the older buildings. Especially the ones that can withstand the test of time. You can always tell what buildings are most important to a civilization because they’re the ones that last the longest, like this building for example.” She hoped the flattery wasn’t too overt. “Very perceptive Ms. Do, I think you will do nicely. If you will just sign this retainer we can get started.” Gold Bar withdrew a sheaf of papers from his desk, along with a quill and ink. Daring took a moment to scan the contract, but she could already tell it was quite generous. She signed it and slapped it onto the desk. She turned to him trying to keep her heart from bursting through her chest. A myth or legend was how every adventure started, and she couldn’t wait to hear this one. “So what did you find?” Gold Bar walked over to a painting hung on the wall depicting an ancient mare with a pale coat wearing an extravagant dress. She wore a stern expression and a great deal of gold jewelry, Daring Do could see the resemblance to the stallion in front of her. He paused for a moment looking at the picture. “My mother, bless her soul. She passed on a few years ago.” Daring Do saw another painting next to this one, a family portrait from many years ago as the Gold Bar in this picture was little more than a colt. His mother and father held stern expressions which they bequeathed to their offspring. She didn’t see any other pictures of foals, either of Gold Bar himself or his own foals. He swung the painting aside revealing a dull metallic wall safe. After a few deft turns of the dial it opened, the contents seemed plain: a few stacks of paper, a large quantity of bits, and a very old book. The book instantly drew Daring Do’s eyes. Gold Bar took out the book and carefully hoofed it to Daring Do, she could smell the age and dust on the thing. “I will try to give you the short version. We found this in a dig site so far north your local cartographer probably doesn’t have a map of the place. It’s a miserable frozen wasteland, but it’s an excellent place to hide. This is probably why the author of this book decided to hide there.” “Why would the author want to hide?” “I don’t want to get ahead of myself so I’ll start at the beginning. Our little story begins before there was an Equestria, when the three tribes were still split. You know the story, right?” Daring Do and every other foal knew the story of the founding of Equestria and she nodded. “As it happens there is a legend that one day a star fell from the sky. A pegasus who happened to be lost in a blizzard, found the fallen star. It was just a burning hot chip of rock when he found it but it helped keep him from freezing to death. His compass was broken but he found that the little shard that fell from the sky was a good fit for his lost compass needle once it cooled down.” “Wait...why would he use a bit of rock for a compass needle?” “I don’t know, it’s an old legend and I suspect some of the details have been lost, but I digress. The new compass pointed him in a direction but it was not north. He was lost and afraid and not knowing what else to do he simply followed it.” “That’s…risky.” Daring Do didn’t want to admit out loud that she would have done the same thing just to see where the compass would lead her. Gold Bar snorted at the interruption but continued, “It led him to a cave where he was warm and safe until the blizzard passed. When he awoke the next morning he found the needle pointed a different direction. Following this one led him home to his family.” “Well that’s a nice story. Do we know where this compass is?” Daring Do started to smile, a compass that pointed right to where you needed to go was beyond perfect. “Sadly the story doesn’t end well for our unnamed pegasus, as he told his friends who told their friends and soon everyone knew about his magic compass. That’s when our author, a small time thief, stole it one night. He found the compass always pointed him where he needed to go. He used it to evade the law for over two decades before he was caught if you are to believe his journal. By the time he was caught he had built up quite a fortune of now lost art. None of it or the compass was ever recovered.” “How do you know all this?” Daring Do was ready to burst out the window with the book in hoof. She wanted to start this adventure so badly. “Because that book you are holding is his encrypted journal. My top consultants have been able to decipher the first half, but he changed his encryption scheme half way through the book. The first half tells the story I just told you in some detail, and the second half should tell us where he hid all of his ill-gotten gains. Just think of it, pegasus works of art from the pre-Equestrian era and what I can only describe as a magic compass! Ms. Do, can you-“ she was already trotting away from him with huge smile on her face. “I’ll tell you what I find, gotta get started!” She didn’t see the look on Gold Bar’s face, so enraptured by the journal in her possession. She pushed open the great doors and trotted past Hard Hooves who was standing like a statue just outside the office. At the sight of her with the book he took one menacing step towards her before Gold Bar put a hoof on him. “Let her go, she’s on the case.” He smiled at her retreating form, “and I have full confidence in the abilities of my contractors.” =====*****===== The candle was burning low. Daring Do rubbed her temples, trying to take in the glyphs of the journal. It had been over a week in the Manehatten public library and still nothing. She had given regular status updates to Gold Bar but so far she had made little progress. The first half of the book was so tantalizing but the second half was encrypted with a cypher that defied any modern analysis. She had spent the first few days trying a few quick and dirty tricks in order to break the cypher. She had spent every night hunched over a desk in the middle of the great library while others walked around her like ghosts. She was friends with the librarian and was allowed to stay after the library closed each night. Each night the candles she lit burned until there was nothing left but a puddle of wax and a trail of smoke drifting to the ceiling. That was her cue it was time to go home and try again the next day. So far she had nothing to show for her aching back and bleary eyes. It was on this night, after the library had closed, that her frayed nerves finally started to get the better of her. Her mind started to drift to wild and fantastic guesses to break the cypher. Nothing seemed to give her any meaningful results. She began to wonder if the rest of the text was just gobbledygook. She tossed the dry quill across the desk and threw her hooves in the air. “How can a pony over a thousand years ago create a cypher so complex that modern-“ she stopped as she said it. Of course. She had been trying modern techniques to break a modern cypher. This pony wasn’t a mathematician or cryptologist, he was a thief for crying out loud! She tried a simpler method and her heart quickened in her chest. The code started to break, word fragments began to spill out across the page with each stroke of the quill. Feverishly she scrawled across the paper, the quill dipped into the ink well again and again with such speed that it splattered drops of ink across the page after every dip. It was so simple, it didn’t need modern linguistic analysis, it needed a filly’s decoder ring! Something you could find in a cereal box. She smiled as she looked at the page and held it up to the light, “and done!” SWISH Daring Do blinked, the paper and journal were gone, and the candle’s flame fluttered in the turbulent air. She franticly looked around the library for the cause. It was empty at this time or should have been. She spied a small white cat standing on top of a book shelf with her translated text in its mouth. “Hey, give that back!” She spread her wings and stood, knocking the chair away as she prepared to dart after the feline. Tweet The sharp sound of a whistle floated through the library distracting Daring Do and causing the little white cat to jump away. I know the sound of that whistle. “ha ha ha ha ha. So nice to meet you again, Ms. Do.” Ahuizotl stood on the balcony overlooking the main floor of the library, stroking the white cat absent mindedly. He held both the journal and Daring Do’s text with his tail, a vile grin peaking from beneath his beady eyes. Those eyes were perched on the end of a long snout but clearly showed joy at the moment. What happens if he needs to sneeze? Does he cry? Daring Do thought to herself, but her eyes focused on the end of Ahuizotl’s tail and the precious text. “You never could hack it as an archeologist could you Ahuizotl. You just steal my work at the last possible moment.” Ahuizotl’s smile was replaced by a grimace, “I will not need to waste my time with foolish research after I acquire my next treasure.” His smile returned, “And I think you will be out of a job, Buenos Noches, Daring Do! HA HA HA HA HA.” His laugher made Daring Do explode into the air, her wings pushing her higher. In less than a second she snatched at the texts in his grip. Ahuizotl was too fast he had enough time to react from Daring Do’s short flight. He danced away as she landed with four hooves on the floor, crouched like a tiger ready to pounce upon him again. The tiger pounced. “Gyahhh.” The breath was squeezed out of Daring Do, the heavy orange and black jungle cat had landed on her with all of its weight. She hadn’t even glimpsed it hidden in the alcove behind her. There was a growl and she could feel its breath on the back of her neck through her mane, it was ready to bite down and snap her neck! She bucked as hard as she could and the weight on her back flew away. The tiger landed against a bookshelf with a resounding crash, valuable tomes landing on top of the upside down predator in a heap. The bookcase groaned and teetered dangerously. It slowly started to tip and with a dull crunch slammed into the bookcase behind it. Ahuizotl was already at the opposite end of the hallway, his silhouette against the full moon, framed in a huge circular window. The dark silhouette brought an object to its mouth. TWEET The tiger snarled and burst out of the pile of books shaking like it was coming out of a dream. It crouched and growled from the pit of its stomach. Other growls followed from different directions. Daring Do’s eyes shot around her environment, catching a glimpse of large feline shapes moving around her. The second bookcase continued the domino effect when Daring Do heard the scrap of a claw on stone behind her. Using her wings she shot to her left and landed on the balcony railing, her hooves resting on the post, her wings keeping her balanced. A stinging pain stretched along her cheek and one of her bangs fluttered. An inky black panther landed where she was a moment ago, a few dark hairs caught in its front claw. Daring Do wiped her cheek and saw her hoof was stained with a crimson smear. “Kill her!” Daring Do had no time to think, she took off towards the hallway and the moon but another large predator darted from underneath a bookshelf that was about to crash down. Daring Do flapped her wings hard and ran along and up the wall, then the ceiling. It was an acrobatic trick she used to evade traps in old temples, but this time the trap was a living breathing predator. The lynx leapt high into the air and she heard the snap of its jaws just behind her ears. She knew her pith helmet was no longer on her head. That’s the last straw! No one takes my hat! Ahuizotl threw himself backwards with a crash, shattering the window outward and letting the wind rush in down the hallway to push against Daring Do. She continued her wall run, and came down on the other side of hallway. The crash of falling bookcases echoed behind her with rising fury. She was almost there, the terrifying snarls of the jungle cats right behind her, death by tooth and claw a mere breath away. She exploded out of the open window with the bookcases crashing behind her making the building shudder. Books and debris blocked the window with a resounding crunch. The roar of the tiger trapped behind the debris allowed Daring Do a moment of reprieve. She floated over the Manehatten street frantically searching for him. The sounds of the city assaulted her making it hard to think. So many voices and machines making sound all at once, she preferred the sounds of the wild or the quite of the library. She saw a tail clutching an old book disappear around a corner a block away, several ponies along the street looking shocked and a few of them had been knocked sprawling on the road. Daring Do flew down the street and continued to pick up speed as she banked left and raced down the boulevard. She beat her wings faster and faster, she could hear another whistle blast over the sounds of the late night city. Police sirens were blaring down the road towards the library, but she knew they would be too late. Where is he? Then she saw him, he hadn’t darted down a side street. He had run straight, he was just over two blocks away, and now he was waving at her. He was standing on the caboose of an outbound train that was just now lurching forward with a metallic hiss and another blast of its whistle. She raced at him, but by the time she got there the train was moving down the tracks and was picking up speed. I’ll never catch him if the train leaves the city. I have to- Ahuizotl laughed and called out to her, “don’t lose this Ms. Do.” He held the text in his paw and with a flourish opened it to the air. It fluttered about the tracks like a white butterfly, caught in the turbulent wake of the train. Her eyes went wide as she dove after it. The train was a vanishing speck in the distance when she finally caught the paper. “What an idiot, he’s never going to break the cypher on his own. I’ve finally got a head start on that dumb-“ she looked at the paper. The empty blank white paper. She groaned. Idiot. She had spent so much time trying to decipher the text she had almost memorized it by now. She knew where to go, but Ahuizotl would be going to the same place the moment he stepped off of that train. The race was on. =====*****===== Daring Do arrived breathless at the top of Manehatten Tower less than thirty minutes later. She stormed past the fat receptionist and went straight for Gold Bar’s office. There was no time for pleasantries. Hard Hoof was standing outside the massive doors looking at Daring Do with a long line of paper pushers leaning out of their cubicles to watch the scene. Apparently pushing papers around your desk all day made watching a powerful stallion subdue an interloper qualify as entertainment. Daring Do shouted as she walked towards him and the beautiful doors but tried to keep her voice non-threatening, “I need to speak with Gold Bar NOW! It’s important!” Hard Hoof just gazed at her unblinking. She started to get frustrated and was about to shout at him to move when he bucked the door open with a single hind hoof. It didn’t disturb his balance in the slightest, the movement was extremely efficient. She paused for a moment as she stepped around him and spoke in a normal tone, “thanks.” It was a bit unexpected, but everything was moving so fast. Adrenaline was pumping in her veins after the incident at the library. When she paused beside him she caught her breath and it seemed as if the events earlier this evening were catching up with her. She suddenly felt very tired, and the room seemed to be getting darker. The Manehatten skyline was even more beautiful with the city lights. She tried to focus. She still needed to report to Gold Bar and then take the next train north, it left in less than one hour. Gold Bar was sitting at his desk, a cigar in his mouth and the carcasses of several more in the crystal ash tray. He was reading a report of some kind when he looked up at her. His mouth fell open causing the cigar to tumble to the desk. He gasped out, “Ms. Do are you alright?!” She cut him off, “We don’t have much time. A greedy relic hunter by the name of Ahuizotl has stolen the journal and my notes after I finished the decryption.” She yawned, I can’t rest now. “The journal spoke of a mountain range called the Dragon’s Spine; the treasures should be hidden at the summit.” Gold Bar’s mouth was hanging open, but this utterance didn’t seem to affect him further. She yawned again, wider this time. Odd, is somepony turning down the lights? The room was getting darker all the time. “Ms. Do, I must say I am quite pleased with your dedication and your results. We can leave tonight but perhaps you should sit down first.” “Why would I-“ the plush carpet rushed up to meet her. Somepony finally succeeded in turning the lights out.