Back in her apartment in Canterlot, Daring looked out from her bedroom balcony. The city was always lit, even during the twilight hours. Most people who lived here seemed used to it, but she always felt a bit uneasy looking out at night and seeing the streets so bright. Perhaps it was because she usually slept out of doors and far away from city streets, making any light or sounds not germane to the forest seem disturbing.
This night was like any other she spent while in the city, most of the time she was either trying to sleep or trying to wake up for her job in the morning. Adventuring may be good for your collection of stories but it rarely was good for your collection of bits. Teaching was how she paid the bills and remained a respectable member of society.
Tomorrow, or rather today she would be teaching the fundamentals of pony history to a bunch of bored rich nobles who secretly despised her for being in such an esteemed position. Still, at least she had an interesting exhibit.
Morning would come soon enough, so she might as well start preparations. Rolling out of bed she cantered over to the kitchen and started mixing up some trail mix for lunch when she heard the sound of scratching at the front door. Cocking her ear toward the telltale sound her lips started to lift in a grin.
Stealthily creeping forward she unlocked the door and shoved it open with a resounding smack and the sound of choking as the pony who had been trying to pick the lock almost swallowed his lock pick.
Looking out she smiled sweetly and said “Why hello there Bravado. Fancy actually meeting you here.“
“Hey, you think you could possibly not do that next time? I survived countless death traps and even managed to survive an attack by the Platypus of Despair. I don’t want to have my epitaph say ‘Death By Lock Pick.’”
“Hey, you were breaking in. It’s the middle of the night and I’m living alone and a strange pony is trying to break in. What’s a mare supposed to think?” Daring Do said. “One could easily get the wrong impression.”
“Whoa, hey now. I just didn’t know you were in. I needed a place to crash, figured you wouldn’t mind since you weren’t in town.”
“Just got in last night. Sorry, hotel is closed. I can offer you a muffin to go if you like,” Daring Do said.
“No, thanks. Say, did you find anything interesting when you passed through the Impenetrable Lands?” Bravado asked casually.
“Well I...hey, is this the real reason you were trying to break in? To get your hooves on my discovery?” the tan mare said, glaring.
“I? I would never do such a dastardly thing! Have you no trust? I give you my word as a Montoyan, I had no such intentions!” he protested hotly.
“Mhm. Pull one of the others, they have bells on,” Daring Do said, barely holding back a grin. “You’ve never been able to pass up a chance at a treasure. I’ve always had to count the grains of sand on my hooves, the hairs on my mane and more than anything the change in my wallet.”
“Madam, you wound me. You impugn my honour! I would never steal so much as---”
“Save it for the locals. I’m going to bed. Go find a hotel and stay out of my apartment if you don’t want to have your epitaph read: ‘Long overdue, he went out as glue,’” she said, yanking her door shut. Just to be sure, she also barred it. It wouldn’t stop anypony, but it would make a lot of noise if somepony tried to get in.
***
Later that morning after Daring Do finished unpacking she set off for the Canterlot University. With the sapphire statuette, the University would be able to raise funds quite quickly for another expedition. Shards of pottery and glass may be fascinating to the erudite professors, but to the mildly interested onlooker they looked like meaningless junk.
To find a perfectly preserved relic like this was an archaeologist's dream.
Flying to the University was a joy in and of itself. Daring Do had just recently regained full use of her injured wing and it still was a bit stiff. ‘Who cares,’ she thought. ‘As long as I’m flying, nothing else matters.’ A few twinges wouldn’t ground her. Arriving with time to spare she carefully unloaded her precious cargo at the storage facility and signed the six forms needed to admit new archaeological trappings.
Going to her office she felt her jaw sag open at the mound of paperwork that had accumulated during her absence. With a sigh she sidled over to her desk and started going through the papers, discarding the majority. “Oh, look, a 0.4% salary increase for all non-tenured professors. How exciting,” she said grumpily, still filing it away for future reference.
Nearing the end of the pile she froze in shock. Rereading the wording to make sure she was not mistaken she did a double take. Professor Codex was retiring? When did he plan on telling her? He wasn’t just another colleague to her, they had worked together for years, decades even. He had been her father’s best friend, and had acted almost as a second father to her since she joined the faculty.
Leaving the rest of the papers where they were she grabbed the page and stormed out of the room, trying to keep the page out of her face.
Reaching Professor Codex’s office she paused a minute to calm herself before slamming open the door and stomping in. “Codex! What in blue blazes got into you?” she said angrily, spitting out the memo.
“Ah, Miss Do. How nice to see you back, safe and sound. Have some apple tea,” the unflappable professor said.
“Now, don’t you ‘Miss Do’ me. I’ve known you for a long time. I go away for a couple of weeks and suddenly you’re talking about callin’ it quits? That doesn’t set right with me.”
“I see you read last week’s missive from the paperwork factory. It’s simply fascinating how much the manage to churn out in a week. I also see you didn’t read the latest publication. It would have explained a great deal. I’ve decided to retire now before ponies start calling me ‘that kind old fool’ behind my back. I’m going to retire when I can pick my replacement. In short, you,” he said, face neutral.
“I...what?” Daring Do stammered, train of thought derailed.
“If I retire now, I get to choose who will replace me. I’ll have the time to turn over the reins, so to speak.”
“I can’t take over the department! I’ll always have to be here. I’m a field archaeologist, I don’t want to be stuck in a classroom all the time!” Daring Do said, still in a state of shock.
“That’s why you get assistants. They handle most of your workload. You are the lecturer. You also will have more freedom to set up expeditions and manipulate your schedule.”
Shocked, Daring Do dropped to her haunches. She was practically being offered the keys to the city. “I’m going to need some time to think this over,” she said, as she massaged her aching head.
“Very well. I’ll expect an answer by the end of the week. That’s when my ship sails to the beautiful Visula Isles,” he said with a smile.
***
Going for a fly through the Canterlot University gardens helped to clear her head. Looking down she saw the proud trees surrounding the pond. As she dipped and soared she felt the stress float away. Making a banked turn and angling for a steep dive she narrowed her eyes as the wind whipped past her. Pulling up at the last second she skimmed across the pond, hooves barely touching the surface.
As she spiralled up over the university she thought she saw somepony moving around from one of the storage room windows. Swooping down she peered in. Nothing. Suspiciously she went around to the nearest entrance and called the security agent, Rigid Stone, over. A powerful earth pony with a dour demeanor that matched his dark grey coat came over. “What can I help you with Professor?” he asked politely.
“Is there anypony scheduled to be in there?” Daring asked urgently.
“Nopony, Professor.” Selecting a key from a band around his neck, the security pony carefully pushed the door inward, sweeping the room with his gaze.
All manner of items were in this room, most of them securely packaged. Some larger items were just covered with a sheet to keep the dust and sun off. A statue of a griffin king from antiquity stood with its cover pooled around its stony ankles.
Nothing stirred in the room. Breaking the silence, Rigid Stone commented “You probably saw the sheet falling off the statue. From outside it would look like somepony was in here.”
Unconvinced but not wanting to get into argument about it Daring Do just nodded and moved out of the room.
***
Reaching her classroom with time to spare, Daring-do started setting up the display of the sapphire statuette she had just brought back for her next class. As the time for the session to start, ponies and the odd griffin or two trickled in. Today’s class went smoothly as she was able to hold the class’s attention with the narrative of the adventure in recovering the treasure. Finally dismissing the class, Daring Do started to pack up her display. One straggler, a griffin named Scoundrel, paused and winked before sauntering out the door. Rolling her eyes she finished packing her saddlebags and headed for the door.
On her way to the exit she stopped by Professor Codex’s office, only to find it locked and empty. “Huh, I guess he’s already on vacation mode,” she said, looking through the window at the darkened office.
***
Next morning, as she flew into the sun she thought she saw a pair of dark spots up in front of her. Squinting she made out what looked like two pegasi of the Royal Guard. ‘Was Celestia paying the university an unannounced visit?’ Daring Do wondered idly. Of course, that was highly unlikely. Even spontaneous visits gave some advanced warning.
Her idle curiosity turned to worry as she saw them bearing down onto her at breakneck speeds. Trying to angle out of their way to let them past she noticed they seem to change their angle of flight to match hers.
Slowing down to a hover she waited for them to reach her.
“Halt! You cannot pass, this is a restricted area,” said the one on the right. His near-identical partner remained stoic and continued to scan the area.
“Since when? I work here!” Daring Do asked, frowning.
“Name?” queried the talkative one.
“Daring Do, Professor in Equine History and Archaeology,” she said, using her full title.
Faces passive, both Guards looked at each other. The silent one motioned for her to follow him while the other one remained at his station.
Flying to the University they landed at the front gates, which were guarded by four more pegasi. Nodding to them, her ‘guide’ lead her forward into the school toward the main auditorium. Along the way they passed empty hallways and classrooms. Something was up, there should be a plethora of ponies passing through these halls by this time.
Knocking on the door, the silent Guard waited for the permission to enter before pushing it in. Daring Do felt her breath catch as she saw who was standing in the room. ‘By the Stars and the Moon, Celestia herself!’ Daring Do almost exclaimed, only just managing to hold back the words.
Bowing low, Daring Do tried to dredge up her lessons she had been drilled in proper protocol by her older sister as a child. “How may I be of service to your Highness?” Daring Do managed, hoping that was the correct protocol.
“My dear Daring Do, such formality is needless on this occasion. Please, rise. As it stands, we do require your assistance in this matter. I understand you are the pony that discovered the sapphire jackal statuette. What can you tell us about its history?” Celestia asked.
“Not much, I just had started researching the piece’s background. What I did learn was very limited. The temple where I found it in was thought to be a former site of...” here Daring Do hesitated and lowered her voice, “...Moon worship.”
While the Guards were normally undisposed to needless noise, the silence that spread across the room was so palpable that it could have been sliced up and sold as sound insulation to fill every wall in Canterlot.
“Commander Root,” Standing stiffly, Celestia looked at the Guard who had brought Daring Do in. “Please clear the room and guard the door personally. I wish for us to not be disturbed.”
With a salute, the Commander quickly ushered everypony else out of the room and closed the door behind him.
When the door clicked shut Celestia’s horn glowed, casting a silence spell around the room. Turning to the nervous tan pony before her she smiled kindly and said “I’m sorry for having to resort to these measures, but they are necessary. Why I had you brought here was that there was a break-in today at dawn. Two items, seemingly unrelated, were found to be missing and the pony who we usually would go to for information is missing. One of the pieces missing is of course the statuette you recovered recently, the other...what do you know of the Mare in the Moon?”
“Well, the Mare of the Moon is a figure prominent in a number of myths, legends, and pony’s tales. The general opinion of the historians, loremasters and storytellers is that the Mare of the Moon or Nightmare Moon is some form of evil entity that you imprisoned on the Moon. Some say it is a roaming creature who came to attack us that you vanquished. Others claim it is your sister who went rogue. Still others insist it is your dark side that you expunged and cast out, sealing it on the Moon.”
Through the whole dissertation, the Princess remained impassive. “You are mainly correct. Much of what you have heard, though distorted through time and fable was at one point based in fact. I try to keep interest in the Mare on the Moon to a minimum to prevent ponies from having an unhealthy interest in her. Still, there is a link between what was stolen, and you should know of it. The other item that was taken was reportedly the breastplate of Nightmare Moon herself. Now that we know that there is a link between sapphire statuette you found and the Moon, this whole theft takes on an even darker spectre. Do you know anypony who have stolen the statuette?”
“Ahuizotl springs to mind, but even at night he would draw much attention getting here. He would have sent somepony.” Thinking back to the many run-ins with the blue fiend, she could definitely see him wanting what was taken, but not really actually doing it himself. Ever since he tried to disguise himself as a donkey to avoid detection and had ended up being hitched to a mule train he let others do the sneaky work. “Have you checked with Professor Codex to see if he knew of anypony who would be interested in these items? He was at the University for much more of the year than I.”
Celestia’s calm face creased in a frown. “Normally we would, however he appears to be missing.”