//------------------------------// // Beneath the Waves // Story: Daring Do and the Crown of Ages // by Fedora //------------------------------// "Dr. Do! Dr. Do get up! Quickly!" Daring groggily sat upright, rubbing her eyes with her hooves. "We there already?" Daring asked, stretching and yawning wide. "Dr. Do, We made it to the ocean, but there's a Gryphon submarine following us!" Once she said that, Daring bolted to her feet, grabbing her pith helmet and throwing it over her head. Scootaround was wearing her acquired gryphon war helmet rather than her newspony hat, and had a serious look on her face. Daring stormed out of the cabin, into bright sunlight. The first thing she noticed was the expanse of the saltwater ocean ahead of her. She looked behind and saw the thin green line of the mainland far in the distance behind them, and a gargantuan steel ship rising from the depths. Daring quickly ascended the steps to where Dusty was, still steering the ship. "How recently did they appear?" said Daring. "Just a moment ago," Dusty said, "I sent Scootaround in to get you up. What do we do now, Daring? This is much beyond the patrol craft I thought they'd send. This is a full-blown submarine!" "I saw that." She bit her lower lip. Outrunning them wasn't much of an option. They had torpedoes on that ship, and she was sure that Gwindor was not afraid to use them if they tried to run. While she was trying to think of something to do, the submarine pulled up alongside of their small vessel. "ATTENTION DARING DO AND SUPPORTERS. SURRENDER AT ONCE. WE WILL BE LANDING TROOPS MOMENTARILY, DO NOT RETALIATE OR WE WILL DESTROY YOU AND YOUR SHIP. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED." Immediately, a number of gryphons landed on the deck of the small boat, guns at the ready. Dusty Shelves, Daring Do and Scootaround raised their hooves into the air, and a moment later Gwindor himself landed on the deck of the boat, decked out in full uniform. "So, Dr. Daring Do, we meet again,” Gwindor said, "You seem to have an... annoying habit of not only running away, but wreaking havoc on our property.” He brandished a document before Daring with a very official look to it. "I have here in my talons an order from none other than the Emperor of Gryphony himself. Your sabotage actions and spying will not be tolerated any longer, Dr. Do. In fact, he has requested you three to appear for a hearing on the charges of theft, sabotage, vandalism, and assault. Not to mention the murder of Colonel Gratzer and several Gryphon officers aboard the..." "He did that to himself!" shouted Daring, glaring at the Gryphon standing before her, "He's the one who summoned the spirit of Starswirl the Bearded, not me! Theft? I only reclaimed artifacts from that castle that belongs to Equestria. It's rightfully ours!" "Tell it to the jury. I hear they're very upset with you. Turns out that Gratzer was an admired hero of the Great War. I imagine being charged with his murder rests heavy on your conscience, doesn't it?" "I told you- he did that to himself!" "I've had enough of pointless bickering. Grigory, take these three on board and lock them in the brig." **** As Daring Do looked towards the other wall, she couldn't help but feel a sense of defeat. The cells in the brig of this submarine were cramped, and all three of them had to squeeze close together. The bars on the side of the cell kept them contained as the submarine dove underneath the current. They had been sitting in complete silence, listening to nothing but the distant chugging of the engines. Scootaround had been allowed to keep wearing her helmet, which was odd since it was indeed a gryphon's war helmet. The silence was broken by Scootaround. "What's the plan, Dr. Do?" Scootaround asked, looking eagerly towards Daring. "What do you mean, kid?" Daring said, still staring at the blank sheet of metal that was the opposite wall. "What plan?" "Your next big escape!" Daring sighed, and pulled her pith helmet over her face. She didn't really feel like talking to anypony at the moment. "What's the matter Daring? Come on, we can do it! Remember how we got out of that castle?" "That was different, kid,” Daring said, in a low tone. She still didn't take her gaze off of the metal wall. "I dunno.... I just can't think of a way this time. No way out." "Face it, kid," said Dusty Shelves, "We're finished." Scootaround looked hurt hearing this, and hung her head. She even went so far as to pull off the helmet and hold it in her hooves upside down. "Scootaround... I just want to say that I'm sorry," Daring said, "I'm sorry that you got dragged into this. You would've been better off on the streets then getting involved in all of this." Scootaround's gaze dropped. She considered dropping her head face-first into the helmet she held in her hooves, but as she looked down into it to do so, she stopped. She blinked a couple of times, clearing away the built up tears. "You know what, Dr. Do? You're wrong.” "I beg your pardon?" replied Daring, still not looking back. "I said you're wrong. You said that I'd be better off on the streets. For what, a life of crime? Robbing ponies? No, what you've given me is a chance. A chance to be somepony. You made me see that even if something looks bad, it doesn't have to stay that way- that there's a way out of every bind, no matter how hopeless things seem. You think things are hopeless right now? Well I'm about to prove you wrong again." With that, Scootaround turned her helmet upside-down, and a small piece of twisted metal fell out onto the floor of the cell. Scootaround picked it up with her teeth, and placed her helmet onto the ground. Daring turned her head, finally, and her jaw dropped as she saw what Scootaround was doing. She was halfway through the bars of the cell, her flank end being just a tad wider than the bars. Daring stood up, and leaned against the back of Scootaround, who was forced through the bars all the way. Once out of the cell, Scootaround took her device and got to work on the lock. This time, she had to adjust it three times before it finally slid into place with a click, and she turned her head to the left. "The lockpick! Oh, I had forgotten about that completely!" Daring said, her frown turning into a big grin. The lock clicked off, and with a tug on the weighted end, it fell onto the floor outside. Daring couldn't believe what had just happened, it seemed like a miracle. As the door swung open, she saw Scootaround standing there with a smug look on her face. "Kid...." started Daring, in a state of awe, "Don't ever let me try to convince you that something is impossible. You go right on being the awesome little filly you are, you hear?" "Okie Dokie Dr. Do!" "You're all crazy ponies, that's what you are," muttered Dusty Shelves, fixing his glasses. "We don't even have what we came for!" "And to think you two were ready to just give up," Scootaround said, with another grin on her face. She looked up onto the wall, where a platinum crown hung by a peg. "We're in business." **** As the three ponies walked down the cramped hallway, Daring Do knew that going out the main hatch wasn't an option. All of them were on the lookout for some kind of emergency escape hatch. Scootaround had closed the door and hitched the lock back, making it less obvious that they were escaping. The key to them being able to pull this off was to get out without the Gryphons noticing. Daring Do was at the head of the group, and she was surprised to see a Gryphon standing just around the first corner. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the three, but Daring slammed her hoof into his gut, causing the Gryphon to double over as she brought an uppercut to the beak, knocking him down to the floor with little fuss. The three escapees stepped over the form of the Gryphon, and into another empty room. This had several chambers, and seemed to be the divider between the brig and the engineering section. Daring didn't want to go into the engine room, as she knew there were other Gryphons in there, and- "Dr. Do! Look!" Scootaround excitedly pointed. Daring looked to see a release valve embossed with the word "ESCAPE" "Bingo," said Daring, reaching up and twisting it to the left. Immediately the hatch was flung open, and water began rushing into the compartment. Daring pulled her pith helmet tightly down over her head, and mounted the ladder. "Alright, take deep breath everypony, last one out close the hatch!" With that, Daring pulled herself up the ladder, through the torrent of water rushing in and up onto the deck of the submarine. Immediately she began kicking hard with her back hooves. Scootaround came right up behind her, and Dusty Shelves last, closing the hatch and securing it from the outside. Daring pointed upwards towards the surface of the water, and Scootaround nodded. She began kicking hard too, moving closer and closer to the surface. Daring prodded her along, looking back to make sure that Dusty Shelves was alright. Dusty's eyes bulged halfway out, as a guard from within the submarine began to pull him back inside. Daring kicked her hooves hard, reaching the hatch before the gryphons could slam it shut and coming in with the torrent of water, back into the half-flooded compartment. In the confusion, she could see the guard holding Dusty and attempting to wrangle the stallion over to the prison block. She dove under the rising level of water, grabbing the legs out from under the guard and giving Dusty a break for it. The stallion made his way out through the hatch. The guard choked on water, and rose up, striking Daring and slamming her against the wall, into a pipe. Daring winced as her barely-healing wing was beaten. She slammed her weight against him, but the burly-armed guard had her in a tight headlock, trying to twist her neck. Daring bit down hard in his army muscle, causing the guard to cry out. She used the moment of surprise to kick the guard as hard as she could. Right between the legs. The guard shrieked, and fell down beneath the rising water. Daring took one last breath of air, and dove out through the hatch, slamming it shut behind her. Scootaround was the first to break the surface, the Daring, and then Dusty. Dusty sputtered and choked, and was trying to tread water frantically. It seemed that he was not a very strong swimmer. "Easy there, don't tire yourself out treading water,” Daring said, spitting out a mouthful of seawater. "We've got to get to some kind of land mass so we can get the heck out of here." "You call this archaeology?" Dusty Shelves sputtered, "This is lunacy!" "Sure does beat the last run-in with the Gryphons, that's for sure, though I'm glad that part's over. They know we escaped, so we should make tracks ASAP. As I see it, we're... all...." Her words faded and one could see her complexion pale as Daring looked in the direction they needed to travel. Scootaround looked over and saw it too. Dusty Shelves, who had lost his glasses, was unaware of what was happening. "What's going on? Dr. Daring, what is it you two see?" Dusty asked, an edge of concern in his voice. As soon as he had finished his sentence, he too saw the fin. A triangular dorsal fin sliced through the blue water in a straight line. It seemed drawn towards something, three ponies treading water quite a ways offshore. The fin rose from the depths, and began moving closer and closer to the group of ponies. Soon, though, it slid back beneath the surface of the water. All three ponies looked about themselves, trying to see where the fin would come up again, but it didn't. "I've got a bad feeling about this." She had heard stories of horrific things that sharks had done to swimming creatures, and ponies were no exception. Granted, as a terrestrial being they weren't as high up on their preferred foods list, but she didn't know how picky this particular shark- Suddenly, Daring felt a great pressure clamp down on her tail. She yelped out loud, moments before she was violently jerked under the water, much to the horror of the other ponies. Daring began thrashing, fighting to get free of the shark's grasp. She managed to thrust her head above the water long enough to take a big gasp of air, but was once again dragged down into the depths by the tail. Daring Do squirmed around, trying to see the shark that had her. She felt as if the follicles of her tail were being ripped right out, and it hurt. Daring looked up, seeing the forms of Scootaround and Dusty Shelves growing smaller and smaller against the lit backdrop, and around her the water grew darker and darker, and it had a chill to it where the sun had not warmed yet. Daring twisted around to try and see between her legs where the form of the shark was. She could see a gargantuan greyish blob, and where her tail had been were gnawing serrated teeth. Daring kicked hard with her back hoof, striking the shark on the snout, and it shook it's head angrily. This motion brought Daring twisting around in a very uncomfortable way, and she felt a searing pain. She tried to struggle against the power that held her, and surprisingly she found herself free. She twisted around to see the shark trying to get rid of half a ripped-out tail stuck in it's jaws. Seeing her, it rushed forward, jaws outstretched. Daring could see her attacker, though, and she punched hard with her front hooves, jabbing the beast in one of it's eyes. The shark reeled back, and seemed to question whether it should try charging again. It seemed to make up it's mind, however, and turned itself around and fled into the abyss. Now that she was free of the Shark's grasp, Daring Do kicked again, propelling herself upwards. She had spent a lot of energy trying to break free of the shark, and she could feel the lack of fresh air getting to her. Her head pounded with pain, and her pulse quickened. She was aware of one thing she needed to do- and that was to get oxygen. Fast. With a valiant struggle, Daring pushed herself onwards and upwards. The water wasn't so cold closer to the top. The divider between the air and the water was much closer now. With a final push, Daring's head broke the surface, and she inhaled deeply. Perhaps a little too deeply, as her headache worsened. However, she was out of the danger of drowning. Daring took a couple of seconds to take deep breaths and allow her heart to slow down, before looking around her. She could see Scootaround and Dusty Shelves cheering several meters away, and she took large strokes to bring herself closer to them. "I hate sharks," sputtered Daring, "Now let's get to land before the guys on the sub decide to come after us again." EPILOGUE Daring Do strolled through the halls of the museum. She was wearing a white button-up shirt with a red bowtie, a pair of wire-rimmed glasses, and had her mane tied up in the back. She was standing in front of a display board, which contained the crown she had secured on her recent trip to Carpathia. Daring Do actually led two lives. She was a professor at the University of Canterlot, with her subject field being Archaeology. Since she had a doctorate in that field, she put her extensive knowledge to use training the next generation of young ponies. She was also a correspondent for the museum- which happened to be the largest and most expansive museum in the Equestria, quite possibly the entire hemisphere. Since she had quite a reputation with the museum's staff for her correspondent work (which consisted of various adventures the reader should be familiar with) her afternoon class often would take field trips to the museum, and Daring would speak about several iconic pieces. "Does anypony recognize the crown in this display case? Anypony? Yes- you in the back," said Daring, calling on a student who raised her hoof. "Isn't it the crown of that unicorn princess from the Hearth's Warming pageant?" she answered. "Correct, what you are looking at, fillies and gentlecolts, is the actual Crown of Princess Platinum herself. Anypony willing to hazard a guess as to when and where this was found?" Another pony raised his hoof, and Daring pointed towards him. "In an old attic stashed away? That's how they found some of the Earth Pony regalia from that time period." answered the colt. "Not quite." said Daring, "Actually, this item was found only a few weeks ago, in one of the mountain villages of Carpathia. It was actually inside of an old castle that had been re purposed by Gryphony. I suppose a few of you might have seen it on the news? Now, is anypony willing to guess how such an old artifact tied in with our nation's history ended up across the sea on another continent?" As the teaching carried on, a young orange filly stepped into the hall that held the artifacts from pre-Equestria. She stuck her head around the corner, and saw that Dr. Do was busy talking to her class, so she decided to poke around and wait for her in her office. Scootaround was enjoying life in Equestria. She had more rights than she did in Carpathia, and the ponies were indeed much friendlier. There had been talk of sending her to an orphanage when the courts were deciding what to do with her, but Dr. Do had stepped in and volunteered to take care of her, rather than shipping her off to an orphanage. Daring Do was not only Scootaround's guardian, but a mentor to her as well. Ponies who Scootaround had talked to (especially the adult ones) had told her that there was no better role model for a young filly such as herself than Dr. Daring Do. Scootaround had just gotten out of her classes. She didn't take general education with the other Equestrian ponies, and was instead being taught by a private tutor. The goal behind this was to get her up to speed with the culture and get her up to the grade level she should have been at by this age. It was indeed working, she felt she had learned more in the past two weeks than she had in years prior. The orange filly stepped into Daring's office, looking it over. Daring's pith helmet sat on the desk, which was cluttered with trinkets and scraps of paper. A map of the world was pinned up against the wall with several tacks, and had pencil marks scribbled onto it, tracing over routes and circling possible areas of interest. Scootaround looked up and saw a photograph of her and Daring getting off the plane in Equestria, which Daring had stuck to the wall above her wooden desk. On the coat rack were several jackets and hats. There was a thicker black jacket that looked like it was for winter use, several khaki colored ones and a few variants with a pickle-colored tinge. An old helmet was hung over one of the hooks, and looked like it hadn't been worn in some time. It had a shallow circular crown with a wide brim around the edge, a leather liner, and a leather chinstrap. Scootaround also noticed several vests, four matching boots, and a well-used bullwhip lying around the base of the coat rack. Scootaround turned her attention to Daring's desk. She knew that Daring's classes that travelled to the museum would dismiss from there, and that when they did Daring would return to her office to pick up Scootaround. It was a mundane habit that had formed and that Scootaround had gotten used to by now. She sat herself down in Daring's chair, and pulled a book out of the sack she had been carrying from her tutor. She leafed through it with one hoof, until she got to the page she had been reading, but then she stopped. She lifted up her book to see what was on the desk underneath. There were two crisp forms made out with official lettering and signatures. Two tickets to South Equestria.