//------------------------------// // Daring // Story: A Guardsman in Equestria // by Guardsman_Sparky //------------------------------// Alexander stared out the window of the Intercontinental Airship Aurora at the azure seas below. Opening the manila folder in his lap, he shuffled through the papers there until he found the files he was looking for. Looking at the photo on the first, he considered the pegasus mare smirking cockily at the photographer. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that he was looking at a black and white pic of the Element of Loyalty. Hell, even the eyes were the same. Alexander looked at the header of the file. Daring Do. Archaeologist and a professor at Canterlot University, discoverer of the Sapphire Statue and the Griffin's Goblet, amongst other things. Alexander held a quiet respect for explorators like this Daring Do. They had the unenviable position of exploring the unknown beyond the safety of the known. However, Daring Do may have remained just a name to Alexander had it not been for her latest discovery deep in the jungles of South Amareica. Alexander flipped to the next file. A blurry photo of a newly familiar wheel carved into an ancient stone wall. When he had shown the pictogram to the princesses several weeks back, both Celestia and Luna recognized the symbol, but could not remember where or when in their millennia spanning lifetimes they had seen it. Nor had they been able to find or recall any references to 'four horses.' Their investigation into those behind the Ponyville Bombings had ground to a halt. Until this symbol had shown up in a report from Dr. Do for the princesses. Maybe the ruins that contained it would have the answers they were looking for. An announcement that the airship would soon be docking drew Alexander from his thoughts. Hot, muggy air hit Alexander like a brick wall as the external bulkhead swung open. Alexander walked down the gangplank to meet the mustard yellow Pegasus mare with the compass cutie mark. "Dr. Do, I presume?" "Please, call me Daring. I only go by Doctor at the University." She looked at the empty gangplank behind the human. "You come alone?" Alexander nodded. Rain and the other guardsponies had been unable to travel with him due to political...issues between Equestria and the nations of South Amareica. Cog had been knee-deep in his research, and Syrette had said he had something he needed to do on some holiday known as 'Hearts and...something day.' So, Alexander had come alone. Daring tilted her head as she pursed her lips. "Well, I hope you're as good as the rumors say you are." "So," Alexander walked alongside the adventurer, remembering the briefing files he had perused. "Why didn't you go into the temple ruins?" "Well, I was going to, but..." Daring trailed off with a shiver. "Then I saw that pictogram, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies. That, and all my porters galloped off, screaming about golems and evil spirits." Alexander nodded, having had some experience with a race of undead golems of metal himself. "I don't blame them." He had barely survived that experience, only because the Harlech 501st had been on the first evac transport off that accursed ball of ice. He heard that some crazy commissar had blown up the promethium plant and mines there to cover the escape. He dragged himself back to the present as Daring continued talking. "We'll be taking a boat up the river till we get to the point closest to the ruins. Ah, here we go." Daring came to a stop before a dilapidated old vessel that looked like it would fall apart on land, much less float. "This thing? It's a piece of junk!" "Hey, I'll have you know that the Neighvarra has gone farther than any other vessel afloat today." A large, slightly portly bearded yellow earth pony wearing a fez emerged from the cabin. Daring trotted onto the boat and was glomped by the older stallion. "Salad, how are you?" Daring was barely able to squeak out a greeting. "I am well, Daring. So," Salad examined the human carefully, releasing Do from the bear hug. "Is this our passenger?" He glanced at Daring. "He's quite heavily armed. Are we expecting trouble? A certain...ape maybe?" Daring shivered as she looked at the unfamiliar, yet deadly looking weapons on Alexander's back as he looked through some crates of supplies. "It's...possible. The only reason I didn't go into those ruins is because of that symbol I showed you. I haven't been so scared since that encounter with the False Alicorn." "Hmm. I see. For something to have scared you, of all ponies. Well, no sense in delaying the inevitable, shall we be shoving off?" "Let's." A shrill shriek filled the air as the Neighvarra pulled away from the docks. Alexander slashed away another particularly stubborn clump of vines, the graviton field around his blade causing the severed ends of the vines to sizzle. Only four hours ago had the sentinel and the archaeologist left the river, and they had barely made any progress into the thick underbrush. "How is it you haven't taken a single break since we got started, and you're still going like a freight train?" Alexander looked over his shoulder at the befuddled mare and smirked. "I eat my spinach." "Uh-huh." Shrugging, Daring watched as the sentinel swung his left arm at some more obstinate brush. She had to admit, it was taking only half as long as it had taken her to get this far as it had the last time she went to the temple ruins. Several hours later, They stopped to set up camp. Daring looked like she was ready to burst with excitement. "I can't believe we made it this far into the jungle in one day! At this rate, we should get there in only three hours tomorrow." Alexander grunted as he set up his tent. Daring tilted her head at him. "I'm kind of surprised that you haven't asked why we're stopping when we're so close." Alexander looked up from the last peg stomped into the dirt. "Hey, not my first time in a jungle. I almost learned the hard way that it isn't safe to move at night in places like this. Although, it's not even half as bad as that overgrown hellhole." "Almost learned the hard way?" "Yeah. Somebody beat me to the punch." "What happened?" "New Lieutenant, wanted to keep going after dark. Got eaten by a red plant flower with white-spots and teeth." "Oohh..." Alexander gave a wry smile. "Yup. Then it retracted into the ground, LT in, er, mouth. Heard the poor bastard screaming all night." Daring looked like she wanted to forget she heard that. "So, I've told you one of my stories. Now you tell me one of yours." Daring frowned at him. "You haven't read my books?" "Your what?" "My books. Every time I find a new artifact, I write a slightly fictionalized account and send it off to a publisher to distribute it. Almost all of my adventures are in book form." Daring looked down at her hooves with a sigh. "All except for my adventures with my sister." "You have a sister?" "Yeah, look nothing alike though." "Why isn't she with you now?" "It was our last adventure together." Daring picked up a stick in her hoof and began to draw in the dirt of the clearing. "We were exploring a temple complex to the north of Marexico City. It had taken us forever to find it. The clues leading to the lost city of Alpaca-poco were very vague. Well, to me anyways. Ditzy always was better at the whole puzzle thing than I was. Anyways, we were searching the lost city for an obsidian dagger rumored to have dark properties. After searching for days and bypassing countless booby-traps, we finally came to the inner sanctum of the Temple of the Moon. The obsidian dagger was almost in our grasp. But then he showed up. "Ahuizotl. The bane of my existence. That bastard followed us into the temple and let us spring all of the traps and lead him straight to the dagger. Just before I could lay a hoof on the dagger, one of his thugs bashed Ditzy on the head with a rock. That monster just started laughing and took the dagger when I went to help my sis. He said that I could follow him and try to get the dagger, or I could save my sister. I chose Ditzy. "Ditz was never quite the same after that. The blow to her head messed up her eyes. But that wasn't the worst. Ditzy had never been very good with directions, but that rock just completely screwed up her internal compass. Her eyes didn't help any. She was in a coma for a month before she woke up. Fortunately, she was still the same Ditzy as before. Ahuizotl couldn't take that from her. Ditzy retired from exploration after that. Last I heard, she met a nice earth pony stallion, had a kid, and moved to a nice little town where she got a job as mailmare." "That town wouldn't happen to be Ponyville, would it?" "Umm...yeah, I think it was." "I think I know your sister. She keeps bringing me muffins after she ran me over my first day there." Daring giggled. "Yeah, that's her, she never was good at landings. Still, Ditzy's the reason I started writing. I felt responsible for getting her hurt, so, I've been sending her half of the proceeds from the book sales. But it just doesn't feel enough." "I...know what you mean." "Oh?" "Yeah." Alexander looked up at the stars barely visible through the canopy above. "Let's just say...I had to save my brother from himself." Alexander stood with a grunt and went to his tent. "I'll take the second and third shifts. Never did need much sleep. 'Night." "'Night." Neither human nor pony noticed the pair of yellow eyes watching from the brush. Alexander slashed the last vines out of the way to behold the ancient ruins that had brought him to this bug-infested jungle. Daring squeezed by the human. "Yup. we're here." Alexander examined the large stone with that accursed symbol standing before the entrance. "It's almost like it's a...warning not to enter." Daring swallowed as she stared deep into the dark depths of the temple. "Legend has it that a golem guards this temple. But, I've never heard of a golem lasting that long." "Golem?" Alexander cycled between thermals and night vision in an attempt to pierce the darkness, but to no avail. "A golem is a magical construct that was once used to conduct heavy duty or dangerous tasks. Unfortunately, the art of making golems has been lost to the point that only a very few artisans know how to properly make one that lasts." "I see." That sounded a lot like a servitor in nature. Interesting. Alexander pondered the darkness briefly, before striding purposefully into the darkness. Daring, not wanting to be outdone, raced after him. "Hey, wait up!" Daring Do caught up with Alexander as he came to a halt in a very large room. She looked up at what Alexander was staring at. "That's...a very big golem." "That isn't a golem...that's a dreadnought." Indeed, standing majestically on a stone dais before the pair was a hulking dreadnought, one of the walking tombs of a fallen Space Marine. However, this dreadnought was different from every other dreadnought Alexander had seen before. Instead of the boxy walking bunker the sentinel was accustomed to, this dreadnought was more humanoid in form and appearance, like it was a massive suit of armor for a fallen warrior. A millennium's worth of grime and dirt prevented Alexander from identifying any chapter markings. Daring Do looked back and forth between human and dreadnought, confusion written on her features. "A what?" A slow clapping stopped Alexander from answering. He spun around, sword drawn. Standing before the pair was a dark-blue furred thing that looked to be the bastard son of a monkey and a dog. Daring stepped forward with a snarl. "Ahuizotl." The dog-monkey acknowledged the irate black-maned pegasus. "Once again, what was yours is now mine." Several large cats and pony mercenaries sidled up behind the mutant, armed with clubs and crossbows. "I should be able to get quite the price for a golem of this size, even if it no longer is functional." Alexander held his sword before him. "I'm afraid that this belongs to me. You want it, you'll have to go through me." Ahuizotl smiled cruelly. "Very well. Mauler, if you don't mind." A large tiger the size of a minotaur stepped forth with a cackle. "With pleasure, boss." With a roar, the big cat charged on two legs at the human. Planting his feet, Alexander tensed his legs, coiling like a spring. The tiger bore down at him. At the last second, Alexander leapt into the air, flipping over the swiping claws and landing on the tiger's back. Stiffening his bionic fingers into a flat spade shape, Alexander stabbed into the beast's back and pulled. The tiger yowled in unholy pain before collapsing bonelessly underneath the human. Tossing aside the gory length of spine, Alexander faced the dumbstruck dog-monkey and his remaining minions. "Alright. Who's next?" Ahuizotl shook with rage. "Kill them both!" At the mutant's command, the remaining cats and mercenaries opened up with a volley of crossbow bolts and magic. Alexander intercepted a charging lion with his sword, dropping the lifeless feline to the ground minus a head before ducking behind a fallen column. Sheathing his sword, Alexander reached over his shoulder and pulled out a hellgun. Bracing the souped-up lasgun on the column, Alexander sent a spray of laser-fire into the attackers. Alarmed at the sudden and spectacular display of unfamiliar gunfire, the mercenaries scattered, taking cover themselves, but not before several more fell to Alexander's accurate gunfire. However well armed Alexander was though, Ahuizotl's forces held the numerical advantage. Alexander snarled in pain as a well aimed bolt sank into his right shoulder through a gap in his armor. The shooter didn't have time to celebrate though, as a well-aimed rock bucked by Daring splattered his brains across the mossy floor. Turning to thank Daring, the human saw a unicorn that had outflanked them. Time seemed to slow and speed up simultaneously as Alexander saw the unicorn aiming a spell into the back of Daring's head. Unthinking, Alexander shoved the pegasus aside, the bolt of destructive magics slamming into Alexander's helmet instead and ricocheting off to impact on the dormant dreadnought. Through the agonizing pain and ringing ears, Alexander vaguely heard Ahuizotl screaming at his goons not to damage the golem. He tried to stand and fire at the unicorn that had shot him through the nauseating dizziness, but a crossbow bolt thunked into the flesh of his thigh, sending him back to the ground. As the room spun drunkenly around him, Alexander heard Daring gasp in pain. Trying still to stand, Alexander managed to get to his hands and knees before a loud hum began to shake him to his core. He looked up. The dreadnought's once dark eyes came to life with a crackle of energy, glowing red in the gloom of the temple. Ancient servomotors and hydraulics hissed to life as a booming artificial voice filled the cavernous room. Ahuizotl and his thugs gaped in horror as the dreadnought stepped off its pedestal with a resounding thud. The dreadnought lifted its left arm, twin six-barreled assault cannons cycling up. The dreadnought played its arm across the room. BZRRRRRRRRRRRRRT A wall of lead obliterated half of the remaining mercenaries as Alexander checked on the unconscious Daring Do. A crossbow bolt was lodged just below her cutie mark, blood oozing from the wound. A burn on her pith helmet showed that a spell similar to the one that had hit him had knocked her out. Satisfied that she wasn't going to die, Alexander yanked out the bolt and dressed her wound before attending to himself. Grimacing in pain, Alexander pulled out the bolts stuck in his leg and shoulder, the heads red with blood. Filling the wounds with medical foam, Alexander retrieved his hellgun and opened fire on the remaining mercenaries. Between the buzzing assault cannons and blitzing lasers, the mercenaries that didn't have the sense to flee lay dead on the ground within minutes. Daring Do began to regain consciousness as the hulking dreadnought lumbered over to stand before the human and pegasus.