With one last slash, Daring Do severed the remaining statue’s arm and separated its chest from the rest of its body. As the last guardian of the chamber fell down, once again becoming unanimated rock - only this time, in pieces - the adventurous pegasus couldn’t help but admire her hoofwork, even though the merit wasn’t just hers.
Daring’s look slid from her surroundings to the daggers she held in her hooves, and the gentle, golden light surrounding both them and her. While she just marveled at the lethal beauty of those blades, she couldn’t deny that the aura around her body had the first place on her list of interests right now.
“So, this is the ‘Holy Light’, I take?” Daring called out to Sir Lightbringer.
It felt incredible. She was faster and stronger ever since the aura appeared around her, and it wasn’t just that. Her mind felt much clearer: she could think swiftly and her reactions were quicker. Most importantly, there was this strange warmth in her heart, making her feel safe, despite still having to deal with eleven statues then.
The pony sitting casually on top of the rubble that used to be the six-armed stone guardian nodded. “Paladins are able to channel the powers of the Light to aid them and their allies in battle, as well as heal and protect.”
Daring tried to not show the embarrassment at the memory from a few minutes earlier when a golden shield had formed around her, saving her from a nasty blow to her shoulder.
“Mind explaining why you were waiting until then to help me?” she asked flying towards the pedestal, hoping he hadn’t seen the slight blush.
“I was curious as to how skilled you exactly are,” Sir Lightbringer replied, jumping down from the rubble. “Forgive me, but I wondered if you hadn’t… embellished some things in your books.” He met her in front of the pedestal and bowed his head. “I’m sorry for ever thinking so; you’re an excellent fighter.”
Once again, his words caused her to blush. Even though the fight managed to take some of her tension, now that they were out of danger she once more began to feel the heat in certain parts of her body. That sensation had nothing to do with the Holy Light, which was starting to disperse anyway.
“Flattery will get you nowhere, big guy,” she lied as she turned to the pedestal, though she couldn’t help herself from flicking her tail in front of his muzzle. “Now, I need to take this tablet, and we can get going; wouldn’t want to stay down here forever, right?”
“Of course,” Sir Lightbringer agreed, taking a step back. “I’ll leave you to it, and in the meantime I shall check if our escape route had activated already.”
Daring noted absentmindedly, focusing on the tablet. It was about one and half hoof wide and twice as long. The gray stone was covered in symbols and letters that she had seen on some other diamond dog’s structures, but hadn’t got a clue as to how to read yet.
“All in good time,” she thought to herself, simply taking the tablet and placing it in her saddlebags. “Now then… how to get that hunk? I mean, I just flicked my tail in front of him and he hadn’t reacted, so he’s obviously as dull as every other decent stallion.”
She turned around as the ceiling began slowly coming down.
“I suppose I could just throw myself at him, have a fun night, then wake up the next day, start cuddling and see what comes next,” Daring pondered as she trotted back to the teleport platform, ignoring the concerned shouts of Sir Lightbringer. “Ugh, I hope he isn’t going to think that I’m some sort of tramp. But it’s not like I have the time for dating… Wait, when was I supposed to give that lecture at Canterlot University?!” she recalled with a bit of panic, but she quickly relaxed. “Phew, I still have two days.”
“Err, Daring?” Sir Lightbringer question caused her to look at him. She raised a brow. “The ceiling is coming down, and the teleport platform hadn’t reactivated yet.”
Glancing down to see that he was right, Daring, reached to her saddlebags, picked up a small shining gem, and scraped it against the floor. After a few seconds, the circles shone with light once more.
Winking at the stallion, Daring placed the gem back in her saddlebags and entered the platform, immediately appearing under the ruins of the shrine in the chamber above them. A heartbeat later Sir Lightbringer was standing next to her, looking both relieved and annoyed.
“On which book are you, exactly?” Daring asked, taking great amusement from this.
“On fourth,” he said, sitting down rubbing his temples. “Forgive me, but I hadn’t got too much free time as of late.”
“No prob, but just so you know, at some point I noticed that it doesn’t really matter how carefully you look, there is always some trap you’re going to miss,” she told him, smirking, as she began to trot up the stairs. “So instead I just carry with myself everything that could help in situations like those.”
“It’s a true relief to know that in advance,” the white stallion chided her, but there was a smirk on his face.
“Good,” the pegasus said. She stretched out alluringly as they reached the now unappealing ruins outside, courtesy of the hunk she was going to bang soon. “Say, do you know a place I could crash at?” she asked, glancing back.
To her disappointment, Sir Lightbringer’s eyes stopped at her flank for only a split second. “Am I losing it?”
“There are plenty of free quarters at the Everfree Abbey,” he replied, stepping outside of the passage. “You’re more then welcome to pick whichever you like and stay as long as you want.”
“Your place, then,” she smirked under her breath.
“Thanks, though I won’t be staying long, I have to be in Canterlot in two days,” she said, flexing her wings. It then suddenly hit her that the earth pony had no way of exiting the dungeon like she. “Hey, how do you plan to get out of here?”
Instead of replying, Sir Lightbringer grinned, lifted a hoof to his mouth, and whistled. The noise carried across the empty cave, bouncing off the walls.
“What, are you hoping to catch a cab?” Daring asked with sarcasm, though inside she was interested.
“Huh?” he questioned, looking at her with confusion. “What do you mean?”
Daring raised an eyebrow. “I mean-” she began, but trailed off as something bright emerged through the hole in the ceiling. Daring stared, being startled, as the big ball of light descended. She quickly managed to distinguish it figures, and she realized that what was coming down could only be a giant phoenix.
She took a cautious step back as the big bird of fire - literally - landed next to Sir Lightbringer. “Thank you for waiting so patiently, Al’ar,” the stallion said, bowing his head respectfully.
Despite her stupor, Daring managed to recall the name Sir Lightbringer had mentioned to Storm. She wondered how the gray pegasus felt telling the phoenix to wait.
Al’ar didn’t seemed interested in Sir Lightbringer’s greeting, as he cawed somewhat indifferently and turned his scorching ruby eye to her, making her slightly nervous.
“Daring, this is Al’ar, the Phoenix God,” the paladin introduced them. “Al’ar, this is Daring Do, Equestria’s greatest explorer.”
Daring quickly glanced at the stallion to see him smirk at her discomposure. Turning to Al’ar, she tipped her hat: “Charmed.”
“So, seeing how it’s quite the flight from here to the Abbey,” Matthias started as they soared through the sky above the Everfree Forest, him riding on Al’ar, “care to share some stories to pass the time? I told you about my world, you could return the favor.”
“Why?” Daring asked, flying beside Al’ar. Both of them were keeping a casual pace, as the pegasus had a priceless relic in her saddlebags. She smirked. “Do you want to spoil my books for yourself?”
Matthias rolled his eyes. It slipped his mind that he could just read about her adventures in her other books. “Then tell me something that you hadn’t written yet,” he said, with his mouth twisted into a grin. “Oh, please do that. I could torture a friend of mine that’s a huge fan of yours.”
His grin chipped off on Daring. “Heh, that sounds like a fun plan,” she said playfully. “Though nothing as exciting as tonight happened to me as of late… however, I can tell you what discoveries I made during summer. I think you will find it interesting, to say the least.” Looking at him more seriously, Daring added: “Though you will have to keep quiet about it. Aside from me, only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are privy to all the details.”
“Why? What were you researching?” Matthias asked, with a touch concerned.
“The history of ponies prior to Founding of Equestria,” Daring replied, crossing her forelegs as she grew serious. “Because of Discord, there is a lot of we don’t know about the period before the rule of Celestia and Luna, but compared with the time before that those lacks seem small. Though it’s understandable, really; when the Three Tribes journeyed to the land the Founders had found, they couldn’t carry much, so they left behind unnecessary excesses. Scrolls of lore and history were among those excesses. Granted, the unicorns did take a lot of documents, books and scrolls with them,” Daring amended with a roll of her eyes, “but those were mostly either about genealogy of various noble families, or spells books.”
Matthias facehoofed when he heard about the nobles’ concern, wondering just how it was possible for a certain social class to act exactly the same as its counterpart from a completely different species would.
“Anyway, for some time there were voices in Canterlot University’s circles about the need to launch an expedition to the Frozen North, and discover our forgotten past. Finally they got permission this year from the Princesses… provided that I would lead it,” the pegasus added with a wink.
“So you spent this summer searching for the traces of ponykind’s former homes?”
“Not just traces,” Daring corrected. “And not just searching. We found all three capitals and some bigger cities still intact. Well, to some extent; two thousand years among all that snow and ice did a number on them. But still, we were able to discover a lot!” she exclaimed in excitement, “Trade agreements in Stalliongrad, battle reports in Stormpolis, spellbooks in Unicolt, and including a few spellbooks written by Star Swirl the Bearded himself!”
“I didn’t take you for one to be so excited just about finding documents,” Matthias commented while thinking how Twilight would have reacted about the news.
Daring chuckled. “Well, yeah, if that was everything, I might have grown a bit bored there those few months, and I would have little to write about. However, there were some exciting moments; the windigoes might have been banished a long time ago, but there were some other dangerous critters that made their homes amongst the ruins. But still,” she shook, “what we found was amazing. And later, when we compared those documents with notes in the Crystal Empire’s library about the beginning of Equestria, we got answers to many intriguing questions.”
“Such as…?”
“Why on every painting or statue Commander Hurricane is portrayed he is wearing his armor,” the pegasus replied, and Matthias noticed, to his surprise, that her mood grew bitter. “Why there isn’t a single mention of him without it anywhere. Why nopony today knows how his cutie mark looked like. You see, there were some medical reports amongst our findings, including Hurricane’s.”
“And what in them?” he asked, intrigued.
“He didn’t have a cutie mark,” Daring said, her eyes becoming grim in the light of Al’ar’s body. “Griffons of the Snowfeather Tribe that enslaved him as a foal seared the skin on his flanks off.”
Matthias eyes grew wide. Being a pony for some time now, he grew to appreciate cutie marks; his was the symbol of the order he once belonged to, symbolizing that his destiny was tied with the Holy Light and the ways of the paladins. To hear that a pony was denied to not only have the mark of his destiny, but to ever know what it was, too…
“And his back was covered in scars,” Daring continued. “I suspect that’s why he always wore his armor: to spare the sight the other tribes, which were much less violent. They already had problems looking at his scarred face.”
“I recall reading that he had quite the record with the mares, though,” Matthias couldn’t help but point out.
“True, but most of them were pegasi, who perceived the scars as marks of the battles the pegasus fought. As for the rumors about him bedding the maids of Platinum…” she shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe the rumors weren’t true?”
Matthias shook his head. Truth to be told, he wasn’t really that interested in that information. “But still, what the griffons did to him… I’m kinda surprised that they didn’t also break his wings. If they were that cruel…”
“They did keep him in Griffenburg as a live training dummy for their kids,” Daring said more briskly. “The griffons needed him to be able to use his wings so that their youngsters could learn how to fight a pegasus. That most certainly backfired on them. In a few short years since they started those training sessions, he gained so much skills that they began to call him The Hurricane of Destruction, the name under which he became known to the entire world. When he had finally escaped - taking down Ulrich, the chieftain of the Snowfeather Tribe, and a number of elite warriors that went to chase after him - he put those skills to use.”
The stallion nodded; that part had been known to him. In fact, he found the similarities between Commander Hurricane and Thrall, the former Warchief of the Horde, to be amusing.
“We also found out about the battle he fought that made Commander Thunderbolt chose him as her second-in-command,” Daring Do continued, visibly excited to reveal historic information about the leader of the pegasi. “He was leading a recon team deep into the Snowfeather territory. They were discovered, however, and had to make their way back, but the griffons outnumbered them, and managed to surround them a few hours away from No Wings’ Land. To let his wounded and exhausted comrades get away, Hurricane stayed behind as a decoy and fought off the enemy.” She turned to him and smirked. “He fought with over a thousand griffons.”
Matthias had almost slide off Al’ar from the shock. “W-what?!” he exclaimed, pulling himself up, as the phoenix cawed, irritated. “You’re joking, right? A thousand enemies all by himself?! That’s impossible!”
“I didn’t say the records showed that he won,” Daring replied. “Although he did fight for hours until he collapsed from exhaustion. Luckily just then the reinforcements had arrived, led by Commander Thunderbolt.”
The paladin shook his head. Was such thing even possible? A mortal to fight against such odds… Sure, they weren’t much different from the odds Alexandros Mograine had faced at the gates of Stratholme, but he was a paladin armed with the Ashbringer. Hurricane had to fight against living opponents, who were predators by nature, without such weapon.
Was Commander Hurricane even a mortal? Suddenly, Matthias began to suspect that the tales of the legendary pegasus leader being the greatest warrior of all time amongst just ponies to be underestimating.
“Aaww!” Daring, smiling snidely. “Is somepony feeling threatened?”
Matthias pulled himself from his musing. “No, why would I feel threatened? In fact, I find it to be a pity that he lived so long ago; it would have been an honor to meet such a great warrior in person. You’d agree, I bet?” he asked with a smirk. “You seem to be really enjoying talking about Commander Hurricane.”
“Well, of course!” Daring beamed up. “I mean, him being a pegasus aside,” she wiggled her wings, causing her to lose some attitude and fall back before she leveled out her flight. Quickly catching up with Al’ar, she continued, “he was the most awesome - or, well, one of the two most awesome - pony of the six Founders of Equestria, and they were all amazing ponies. Take your pick!
“Puddinghead was the driving force between unifying the laws of all Three Tribes and writing of the first constitution,” the tan pegasus began to count the services of the Founders of Equestria. “Given how Commander Hurricane despised King Goldest, and how the unicorn leader believed himself to be the most important pony ever and was above compromises, any agreements between the three parties would have been impossible if it weren’t for the earth pony leader’s efforts. Also, according to the records we found, he was the first uncorrupted chancellor of the earth ponies in the last few decades, and the only one ever to be elected for a third tenure.
“When he had finally resigned, his former assistant, Smart Cookie, was chosen to be his successor, as the last chancellor prior to the writing of the second constitution that disestablished the Council of Equestria and gave full power over the country to Queen Platinum. Smart Cookie was also the only mare ever to hold the position. She served during the Equestrian-Griffonian War as quartermaster, and it was thanks to her organizing skills that Equestrian Army had supplies at every front. When mares in Equestria had begun to disappear under strange circumstances, it was her that led the investigation that pointed to Saddle Arabia as the culprit. Smart Cookie could also be praised that she and her husband were the first mixed couple in Equestria, and at that she was the only of the Founders to marry a pony of a different pony kind. Thought to be fair,” Daring amended with a roll of eyes, “other than her only Platinum had gotten married after Equestria was founded, and Puddinghead was married for many years prior.
“Pansy -whose name so unfairly became a slang word for… a not so brave pony- is widely believed to be the Founder who had the smallest impact on Equestria. Everypony underestimates how much her death had affected Commander Hurricane.”
“You know,” Matthias interrupted her, “I don’t think I saw anywhere mentioned how exactly she died.”
“That’s because nopony knows. It is said that her death was too horrifying for ponies to speak about it, and it filled the griffons with too much shame. The only thing that is known for sure is that she had fallen into an ambush laid by King Friedrich for Hurricane. To this day, Pansy’s remains are forbidden by a royal decree from performing autopsy on.”
For all his experience with the dead, Matthias shuddered to think just what exactly must have befallen Pansy to have her corpse forbidden to look at.
“Her death changed Hurricane,” Daring continued, her voice and face once again growing dark. “The ten years of peace after the tribes came to live in Equestria had made him less violent, and calmer. His relationship with Pansy had also contributed to it. When the war began, he concentrated on defensive and kept reaching out with peace offers. And bear in mind that King Friedrich, who unified the tribes of griffons, was the son of Ulrich, the one who had enslaved Hurricane as a foal. However, the griffon king rejected one peace offer after another, and after he murdered Pansy, there was no chance for peace until one - either Equestria or Griffonia - was crushed. Now, the chronicles of the war do not mention exactly those last few months of it, but…” the pegasus trailed off, “there are recorded orders for additional supplies for the prison camps. Well, apparently, the very next day after Pansy’s death every single griffon from thousands of prisoners had suddenly no need for food,” she shook with dread. “Hurricane was known among both griffons and pegasi as ‘Terror of the Skies’ even before he became the Commander of the Pegasi Armada, but since the last year of war he gained a new nickname: ‘Monster in Pony’s Skin’. To this day, griffons still fear him, and the tales of him are used to scare their cubs similarly how ponies use the stories about the Headless Horse.
“He must have been really devastated...” Matthias murmured, some part of him wondering how he would have reacted in his horseshoes.
What had hurt him more? That his beloved had died in such horrible way that nobody, even the griffons, wanted to make any records for history? That the ambush was laid for him? Or that if he had pressed for offensive from the beginning, things would have been different?
“Well, it’s not like he didn’t have any anger control issues before. In fact, I think that Pansy’s ability to calm him down should be counted amongst her feats… right next to establishing the Wonderbolts.”
It took Matthias a whole five seconds to understand just what he heard. When he did, his jaw dropped. “You’re pulling my tail on this one,” he said after his vocal functions returned.
“Nope,” Daring replied. “It’s really interesting how only few ponies know that despite having no heart for combat, Pansy was an excellent flier. She formed the Wonderbolts sometime after founding Equestria, so that the other tribes could see a different side of pegasi and not associate flying with just fighting and controlling the weather. Soon the group had begun to be called to perform on some events, shows, and they gradually evolved into what they are known today. Pansy, however, had quickly resigned from her position as their leader, as she wanted to remain at Hurricane’s side. Oh, and before you ask, she named the group after her mother, Wonderbolt, after whom she inherited her flying skills.”
“Huh,” Matthias thought, still in shock. “Can’t wait to tell Rainbow Dash that.”
Daring, on the other hoof, was brushing her chin in, pondering. “Who’s left… oh, right, Clover the Clever. Apprentice of Star Swirl the Bearded, she would have probably succeeded him as Archmage of Unicolt if it weren’t for her sex and parentage. She was a bastard,” the pegasus explained when Matthias shot her a confused look, “which is another bit of information we discovered this summer. Her father was King Goldest, making her and Platinum half-sisters. One of the reasons why Commander Hurricane despised him so much was the lack of attention he was paying to his daughter, as marriages and bastards were foreign matters to pegasi. During the war, Hurricane chose her to lead the newly established Magic Corps, despite Goldest protests. She developed many spells for the sake of war - as shooting magic beams was about the only offensive spell know prior to that - and the scrolls about them are mostly locked in secret vaults somewhere in Canterlot. Clover wasn't as powerful as her mentor, but she learned a precise magic control to let her cast spells with a minimal amount of magic. There are some records that say that she could fill in for the entire Arcane Council and raise the Sun or the Moon by herself. The full extent of her abilities is unknown, however, as she was never one for much attention, so Queen Platinum had probably made sure there weren’t many documentations regarding her.”
The pegasus took a small break to catch her break, before turning to him with a smirk. “Now…” Daring trailed off. “we are left with the two most important from the group, the ones that became rivals for the position neither of them really wanted: the sole ruler of Equestria.
“The ponies of Equestria grew tired with the Council that was established at the birth of the nation. The entire decision making was taking too long. Every member of the Council - which, in full attendance, counted fifteen members - wanted to present her or his thoughts on the matter, even though the voices of the three leaders carried most weight. Since the idea was somewhat based on the earth pony’s democracy, it’s really not that surprising there were some troubles with it; after all, a lot of chancellors before Puddinghead were corrupted and valued their wealth more than other ponies’ lives. And then there was also the matter of the inner politics in each tribe, especially troublesome in case of the unicorns. Due to the rules established in the first constitution, inner politics of each tribe were their own business, and the other two were not allowed to meddle, which a few times caused Council meetings to be delayed. If it weren’t for the Council naming Commander Hurricane the Supreme Commander of the Equestrian Army at the start of the war… well, you can imagine how it would have gone,” Daring shrugged. “The flaws of the Council were further more apparent during Saddle Arabia’s kidnappings, where Commander Hurricane resolve the issue in the matter of days after taking the matter into his own hooves. So it really didn’t come to a surprise of anypony when the ponies of Equestria demanded the change of the system.
“It was obvious that there were only two candidates for the position of the sole leader: Commander Hurricane and Queen Platinum. As you know, Platinum was the one that was ultimately given the seat. The only legitimate foal of King Goldest, she was the youngest of the six Founders; when they discovered Equestria, she was sixteen. And while the Hearth’s Warming Eve’s pageants portray her personality at that point of time rather well, she had quickly grown out of that snobbish attitude towards the other two tribes. She began to care about their well being as much as she did for the unicorns; which was another reason why her father didn’t want her to succeed him. Platinum was the first queen of the unicorns that had actual power; in fact, it was her husband, Prince Gembold, who had no power at all.
“And it wasn’t just ponies she cared about; after Hurricane defeated and captured King Friedrich - after Clover had barely stopped him from just killing him - she managed to convince the griffon king to a very advantageous peace treaty, giving Equestria the rich lands in Griffonia around equestrian forwards base, today’s Trottingham.”
Matthias couldn’t help but cut in: “It was really a stroke of luck that the Sundering of Griffonia hadn’t buried it under the sea.”
“Quite. Anyway, Platinum understood that killing Friedrich would prolong the war for many more years, so she chose to not seek vengeance for Pansy’s death. Hurricane and his pegasi were the only ones to oppose the peace treaty; the other Council members either shared Platinum sentiment, or had eyes on the profits. Either way, as the decision couldn’t be made with the entire third of the members opposing, Hurricane, after many pleas from the remaining Founders, had finally gave in, though it was clear that he did so unhappily.
“Platinum was also the pony responsible for treaties with the Crystal Empire, Aquestria, Saddle Arabia - aside for what happened after the kidnappings - the buffalo and zebra tribes. After becoming the Queen of Unicorns, she convinced the Council to back up financially Shattered Hoof, chieftain of one the minotaurs clans, to aid him in uniting his people, giving birth to the Minotaur Khanate, gaining them a loyal ally and a friend in the far south.” Daring paused to wink at him. “You can see why she had so quickly become loved by everypony: she worked for Equestria safety and happiness through peaceful ways, while almost every other unicorn on the Council was content to just bark around orders and fill their pockets.
“Commander Hurricane, on the other hoof, preferred to protect Equestria in… well, you get the idea. He was considered by everypony to be a hero for his victories over griffons, and praised for his actions against the Saddle Arabia. He not only protected Equestria from the enemies from outside, but also from within. On the night of King Goldest funeral, the unicorns’ Kingsguards planned a coup d'etat: to prevent Platinum, a mare, from becoming their new leader. Commander Hurricane ordered his troops to execute all of the members without any hesitation, despite knowing what repercussions he could meet for breaking the law and meddling into unicorns inner politics. He himself had killed, with his bare hooves, the twenty guards that attempted to assassinate Platinum and her husband. Once he was forgiven by the Council for overstepping his boundaries, he formed the Royal Guard, composed of the Magic Corps and elite warriors, to serve as guards for all members of the Council, further bringing the Three Tribes closer.
“As you can see, while both Hurricane and Platinum wanted what was best for Equestria, they had different ways of going about it. They were like two sides of the same coin, actually. It’s a pity they couldn’t get married,” Daring added with a sight. “That would have solved all their problems… But then,” she said, growing serious once more, “something happened that had decided the matter of who would become the leader of Equestria.
After living in Twilight’s library for so long, there was no question in Matthias mind as to what that “something” was.
“The Dragon Hunt,” he said.
“Yeah,” Daring nodded, “the ‘hunt’ which cost Hurricane his life. It almost began innocently; a travelling dragon stopped at Smokey Mountain and took a nap. Hurricane led a team to chase it away. A few days after that, a group of seven huge dragons attacked New Unicolt, the city furthest to the south. Luckily for its inhabitants, word spread quickly; Clover the Clever teleported there from Canterlot and shielded the city until Commander and his warriors took down the dragons.
“Hurricane was furious. Without waiting for the Council’s decision, he assembled all his pegasi warriors, and traveled south, the home of the dragons, the place now called: the Dread Wastes. It’s a place even more inhospitable than Badlands, especially due to the pockets of toxic air here and there. ” Daring paused to look at him. “There are no preserved records in Equestria why that was the home of the dragon, as those days they live alone safe for the time of their migration, when almost all travel to Dragon Crater, east of the Dread Wastes. All that is known is that only half of the forces Hurricane led had returned, and that the Commander himself had perished after slaying the matriarch of all dragons, a behemoth like no other. With the Crystal Empire’s return, however…”
“You now know why they lived there,” Matthias finished for her.
“Yeah… and when you recount today’s events, it might shed some light - no pun intended,” she stuck her tongue at him, “- on a few matters.”
As Matthias pondered just what exactly she was referring to, Daring resumed her tale: “The chronicles of the Crystal Empire describe the place the dragons lived as a paradise; the Valley of Life. It was a place filled with magic that nurtured everything that lived there. Plants that you could find nowhere else, gems more beautiful - and apparently tastier, which is why dragons lived there - intelligent animals… there were illustrations in the scroll, but describing them just doesn’t do justice the majesticness of the vale.”
“I will be sure to look for them the next time I’ll visit the Crystal Empire,” Matthias promised; he wondered if this Valley was a place similar to Azeroth’s Sholazar Basin or Un’goro Crater, where titans experimented with life.
“Anyway, in the middle of the vale rose a tree, bigger than any tree in Equestria; it was called Ashvattha. Within its roots was an enormous cave where the dragons dwelled, filled with gems.”
“A World Tree?” Matthias perked his ears in surprise. “I didn’t expect that one. While there are shamans among zebra and minotaurs, and shadow hunters and witch doctors among the former as well, I haven’t heard anything about any druids…”
“And Hurricane burned it all,” Daring continued, her eyes growing with sadness; clearly, despite being primarily interested in ancient cultures, she had an appreciation for nature. “To prevent a possible threat for Equestria, he destroyed one of the most beautiful places in this world, if not the most beautiful, and slaughtered nopony knows how many dragons.”
Matthias wasn’t too much surprised when he saw her raise a hoof to her eyes. He turned away politely as she wiped her tears, thinking over what she said earlier.
“What you meant earlier…” he began after a few seconds, “about today’s events… you think Hurricane was the pony from this legend that caused my knight to fly into this forest?”
“Yeah,” she replied in an even voice. “I read about some bard mentioning in the Crystal Empire during Equestrian-Griffonian War about Commander Hurricane ‘making a goddess moan’,” Daring snorted. “I suppose that fits with this ‘Soul of the Forest’, huh?”
“So you mean that the timberwolf that had ripped my close friend’s throat open is a descendant of one of the Founders of Equestria?” the paladin asked in disbelief; though from a technical point of view, if that spirit was a demigod, it could be true…
“Oh!” Daring shout brought him back to the conversation. “I-I’m so sorry-”
Realising the misunderstanding, Matthias quickly waved. “Oh, don’t worry, I managed to heal her just in time,” he calmed her down, though she looked at him uncertainly. “If you want, you can ask her tomorrow, she lives on a farm near the Abbey.”
Daring was still giving him a strange look, but she shook her head after a heartbeat. “Anyway… The Valley was burned to the ground, and the dragons fled from there. Hurricane perished in the flames that consumed the dragon matriarch and Ashvattha. Queen Platinum became the first Queen of Equestria, and her line ruled over our country since then. To this day, Platinum is considered to be the most powerful and influential monarch in history, not only of Equestria, but of the entire world. Only Celestia comes close, but she’s an alicorn, so that’s kinda cheating,” the pegasus smirked. “I mean, it’s comparing her over millennia long reign to Platinum’s fifteen year old reign. Even if you would discount the things she managed to accomplish alongside with Princess Luna, which still leaves her victory over Nightmare Moon, despite what it cost her, her defeat of Bane the Hippogriff, and all the centuries of peace. Platinum’s line ensured peace, stability that prospered for not only Equestria for over two millennia. Can you imagine how things would be different if it was Hurricane who became the sole ruler?”
Matthias pondered her question. Hurricane was a hero; of that, there was no doubt. But… if after Pansy’s death his answer to everything was violence, was he an appropriate pony to hold such position?
“For Equestria’s sake, it might have been better that things had turned out as they did,” the paladin answered Daring’s question. “Commander Hurricane was a great pony, but he was not without his flaws. I suspected that he might have waged another war with the griffons, or perhaps Saddle Arabia… It’s better that he is remembered as a hero, and as much as I think he deserved to live to a ripe old age in happiness, I suppose it’s better that he died in the Valley of Life.”
Daring nodded thoughtfully. “Or so they say.”
Matthias looked at her, confused. “What do you mean by that?” he asked, not sure if he understood her correctly.
The tan pegasus looked into his eyes sharply. “Listen,” she didn’t ask or say, but commanded, “what I am about to tell you is something that only myself, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know. You must not, under any circumstances, mention it to anypony. Do you understand?”
He quickly nodded, both interested and worried by seeing her so serious. What could be so important?
“That phoenix can’t talk, right?” she asked after a thought, looking at flying beside her Al’ar.
The Phoenix God gave a sound that Matthias came to understand as a mix of irritation, amusement, and anger. “No, he can’t,” he answered for him. “And even if he could, he would keep quiet.”
Al’ar cawed in agreement, though Matthias was fairly certain that the phoenix did not care in the slightest what they were talking about.
Daring, however, seemingly relaxed. “I found something,” she began, focusing on the flight path before them. “In the mountains that stand between the Dread Wastes and the forests surrounding the Dragon Crater, on the top of the tallest mountain where, due to the lack of oxygen, only a few pegasi could fly up so high, lies a skull.”
“A skull?”
The pegasus nodded. “A dragon skull,” she specified. “And a huge one at that. Its owner could have easily fought with that Ursa Major you nearly dropped on me and Storm.”
Matthias rolled his eyes at the faked pretense in her voice, more interested in hearing more about the skull.
“I doubt there is a dragon alive that could match the owner of the skull in size,” she continued. “But its size isn’t what makes it so interesting. What does is that there are letters carved into the skull.” Daring once again looked Matthias into eyes, “They read ‘The fate of Equestria’s enemies’. The skull is facing the Dragon Crater.”
It didn’t take much imagination to figure out what she was thinking. “You think that-”
Daring nodded. “Dragon scales are extremely durable, and their bones are most likely even sturdier. I don’t know of many blades other than Windtear that could be used to carve something on a skull like that. And Commander Hurricane was one of the few ponies- no, the only pony that would have been able to fly to the top of that mountain with a head of a dragon this big.”
“But then why the history believed him to perish during the Dragon Hunt?” Matthias asked. It didn’t make any sense-
His eyes shot wide. “Unless-!”
“You just said it yourself,” Daring reminded him. “‘For Equestria’s sake, it might have been better that things had turned out as they did’.”
“So… he was assassinated shortly after the Dragon Hunt? But by whom? Surely Platinum wouldn’t have her friend killed!”
He tried to not think of his old history lessons regarding the human kingdoms born from the Arathi Empire, how their kings and lords often resorted to such actions. This was Equestria, not Azeroth; Matthias just couldn’t think of ponies doing something so dishonoring, especially not Luna and Celestia’s ancestor.
“I didn’t say he was assassinated,” Daring retorted calmly. “And I most certainly didn’t say ‘shortly after the Dragon Hunt’. I talked with the Princesses for some time about it,” she confessed, and for once Matthias saw that she was as puzzled as he felt, “they were shocked at my discovery at first, but… they - especially Celestia - had quickly come to accept it. And when we talked, Celestia seemed convinced that Hurricane had returned from the Dragon Hunt safe and sound, though she didn’t explain why.”
“Huh, that…” Matthias trailed off; apparently, Princess Celestia had somehow suspected such possibility. Did she know of some clue? “And what about you? You seem sure that Commander Hurricane had returned safely. Why?”
Daring Do remained silent for a few moments. “Don’t you find it strange?” she finally asked. “The timing; the most terrifying pony disappeared from the pages of history… and a few months later, a cataclysm struck the homeland of his most hated enemy.”
He was certain that his heart skipped a beat once he realized what she was implying. “But that’s impossible!” he shouted; Azeroth’s pain from being ripped apart wasn’t yet forgotten by him. “The Sundering of Griffonia had shattered the entire continent! A single landmass was broken into smaller islands, and big extent of them was covered by waves! Almost the entire griffonkind had died out! I don’t care how powerful Commander Hurricane was, no mortal can accomplish something like this!”
“Commander Hurricane wasn’t just a mortal,” Daring countered. “Even before he was given the Windtear, he was regarded as a monster when on battlefield. He was stronger and faster than any pegasus alive, was a master of combat, and he could command powerful lightning from clouds with a minimal effort and use it to strike with great precision. His body possessed an insane amount of endurance and vitality; his medical record can attest to that. The only one that could match him in battle prowess was King of Griffonia, but that was only due to him being strengthened by the power of the earth elementals the griffons had enslaved somehow. And Windtear was the masterpiece of the Crystal Forge; a blade that could cut through everything, as long as it’s wielder’s foreleg had the necessary strength, and was able to absorb magic and blast it back at the attacker. Put him and that sword together…” Daring shook her head. “I’ll admit, it’s difficult for me to fathom, but at this point, when it comes to Commander Hurricane... I could belief just about anything.”
Matthias gulped heavily. “Could this be true?” he wondered. “Could a pony do something like this? To shatter a continent… he could give Deathwing a run for his bits.”
A change in the terrain under him caused him to look down. They’ve just passed the Everfree Forest’s border. Soon they would be within the Abbey.
“And I thought that the only secrets of Equestria I should be concerned about regards to what happened a thousand years ago,” Matthias thought, his eyes turning in the direction of the Chapel. “It turns out two thousand years ago things were as much interesting around here.”