//------------------------------// // One Last Mission... // Story: Family Relics: Adventures of the Past and Present // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// One Last Mission... "Yearling, so good to see you! Loved your last novel!" "A. K., Darling! So glad you could make the Gala! Congrats on your retirement!" Wandering around among the various well-to-do ponies in the Canterlot royal ballroom, Anita Karmyne Yearling realized just how out of place she was among this wealthy crowd. Spoiled, rich brats who drank punch and talked about pointless things of trivial importance. Oh, there were a few among this crowd that were worth something- Fancy Pants, the hero and veteran of the Griffon wars, for instance. But most of these foolish equines... had they ever known the terror of being chased by fanged cats thirsty for their blood? Had they ever stared death in the face, and laughed to hide how truly scared they were? Yearling had little in common with these ponies, and not for the first time the mare wondered what she was doing here. "Amy, there you are! So wonderful to see you here!" A a pale blue stallion with a blonde mane trotted up, wading through the crowd to come and kiss her hoof. ""I'm actually surprised to accepted Princess Celestia's invitation, you never did like fancy shindigs like the Gala!" "Well, you know me, I'd never miss a party." She smiled dryly, trotting up beside him. "Hello, Storm. It's so wonderful to see you again." A pony from her younger days, Stormfeather Dazzle was a minor noble that had been in and out of A.K's life more times than she could count. She had first met him after burning down his tavern during her search for the griffin's goblet. She had saved his life from Dr. Cabellerion, this dashing rouge had stumbled his way into so many of her little 'adventures'. True, Yearling had gone though quite a few stallions during her lifetime, but none of them were ever quite like this stallion with the shooting star cutie mark. "You're looking lovely this evening, my dear." He complimented her, as they trotted though the gossiping ponies. "I never expected to see you in a dress." "I know, can you believe it?" She chortled, looking down at the long yellow ballgown covered with satin and bows she was wearing. "Rainbow Dash's friend made this silly thing for me. It's like something on one of those dolls my mom got me as a filly that I never played with!" "It still makes you look lovely, Amy." The stallion replied, taking her out to the balcony. "But I can't believe you're finally giving up on your rather 'dangerous' lifestyle." "A pony has to grow up and start living sometime." Yearling replied with a sigh, looking out at the stars. "After my last little outing, I decided this author has written my last daring do book." "Well, it is about time you stopped putting your neck on the line every day of the week, and just settled down to a quieter lifestyle." He gasped out at the evening sky. "I am so happy you've finally decided to take me up on my offer." "Well you know how it gets." She laughed nervously, scratching her neck with the back of her hoof. "A girl's gotta make up her mind sometime, right?" The two ponies turned to stare at each other... only to hear another set of hooves trot out onto the balcony. "Excuse my, Miss Yearling?" A regal figure with wings and a horn greeted her, looking between the two ponies for a moment. "I do so hate to interrupt, but I would like to speak to the good author for a moment." "Ah, Princess Twilight, of course." He bowed politely, trotting back towards the doorway. "I'll be inside, if either of you need anything." "Greetings, Princess Sparkle." The mare sighed, adjusting her granny glasses. "How may I serve you? Another friend want me to autograph one of their books?" "No, it's not the services of A.K. Yearling the author I require." The purple mare replied, flexing her wings. "But rather the help of Daring Do, adventurer and treasure hunter extraordinaire." "I am truly sorry, my princess. But Daring Do doesn't exist." Yearling shook her head. "That's just a role a rebellious young pony played for years, before finally coming to her senses." "What? Is this the same mare who stood up to an alicorn princess when we first met?" Twilight Sparkle snorted, scowling at the Pegasus. "Rainbow Dash said you had turned tail and run away from your special talent, but I never would have believed my favorite adventuring hero would be one to give up her life so easily." "I didn't realize who you and your friends were the first time we met, my princess, and I've apologized for my behavior several times." The mare retorted, as she took her glasses off with her wings. "And My adventuring days are over now. I have retired after Dash and I's last little outing in the zebra desert, princess." A.K. closed her eyes. "All I am now is a middle aged writer and teacher, living a quiet life in Canterlot." "You heard of the Penna, correct?" Twilight continued, ignoring the other. "The ancient bird folk who lived in Equestria before we ponies came along?" "I should think so, Princess. They built most the temples I've found, and created most of the artifacts I've gone after." Yearling replied coldly, letting the alicorn continue. "Then you may also have heard of the enchanted necklace of King Ruff." Twilight replied. "The talisman is said to have been used by ruler of the Penna, to drive back the ocean that once covered these lands, and defeat the first great evil that once ruled Equestria." "The artifact that defeated Squirk, the eldritch horror from before pony history." Yearling continued, putting her glasses back on. "But that necklace is only a legend, princess." "We've heard that an old friend of yours is after that 'legend', as we speak." The princess gestured out the window. "Two of his feline lackeys recently broke into the royal library, and stole a translated manuscript with details on the myth of king Ruff." "Old Friend!?" Yearling's ears perked up. "You don't mean..." "If he recovers King Ruff's royal diadem, it could put all of Equestria in danger." The Princess looked off the balcony, up at the stars in the night sky. "Yearling... Daring...you were always my favorite heroine in all the books I've read. Is there nothing I can say to convince you to help?" Giving of a sigh of disgust, Yearling looked the other mare over. Princess Twilight...dear, sweet, ageless alicorn princess. Yearling had known her for twenty long years, and over all of that time she hadn't changed in the slightest. How does a pretty face who'll never know a wrinkle, understand a greying mane and and a body wracked with the pain of age? Even as she thought about it, the anger in the aging mare began to rise. "Tell me, your highness, haven't I done enough?""The look on the Pegasus's face turned dark. "I spent the best years of my life fighting bad guys, escaping death traps, and shivering on cold nights sleeping in the dirt. I've been stabbed, burned, electrocuted, and beaten and bruised within an inch of my life. And my doctors have told me with my injuries, I'll be lucky if I can ever have a foal of my own." She stepped up to look the royal princess in the eye. "I'm old, I'm tired... my time is over. I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle... but you'll have to get a younger pony to do your dirty work." A.K. turned to walk away, when the princess stepped in front of her. "Daring, please... all of ponykind needs your aid once again." The alicorn pleaded, shaking her mane. "If the ancient treasure of the Penna falls into the wrong hooves, you may not have a normal life to retire to." Yearling stood for a moment, lost in her own thoughts. looking back through the doorway at Stormfeather, and let out an audible sigh. "Tell Dash if she wants to share another adventure, to meet me out by the Canterlot fountain tomorrow morning." The mare trotted out the door, going to say her goodbyes to the stallion she had hoped to spend the evening with. "I shall stick my neck out for Equestria one final time.