Daring took a slow sip of tea, trying not to spill the hot liquid. Her hoof jittered as the returned the cup to the table.
Sun shone down on her through the storefront window and she closed her eyes, enjoying its warmth.
“Your food will be ready in a moment, Miss Do,” the waiter said cheerfully.
Daring jumped and sent the cup skittering off the table. It hit the linoleum floor and shattered, sending a swash of brown liquid across the tile. “Don’t do that!” she scolded, taking a panicked breath.
The mare who had spoken hurried over and began to sweep up the broken porcelain. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
Daring looked around the diner at the many ponies situated there. Every one of them had their gaze fixed on her. It was quiet enough to hear a pin stop. “No,” she replied quietly. “Everything’s fine.”
The diner employee finished sweeping up the remnants of the shattered cup. “Would you like a new beverage?”
Daring shook her head slowly. “No.”
The waiter shot her a curious look and trotted away.
Daring propped her forehooves on the table and stared at the ring-stained wood. She didn’t like it; the color was too close to beige. She removed her hat and set it beside her and slowly, she removed the two items hanging around her neck. One was a golden medallion, the other a square silver case.
She set the two objects on the table in front of her and examined them. The talisman she had grabbed back in the… back there, gleamed brightly in the late morning sun. Molded on the front, was a peaceful-looking pegasus, lying on her belly, her head turned up towards the sun. Daring allowed herself a small smile.
A series of dark images ran through her mind and she grasped her head as a searing pain filled her skull. It passed as quickly as it had come leaving only with the dull irritation from her left wing. Daring looked back, just to make sure it was alright. Her wing was set and bandaged, and had been fitted in a sling. She would be able to fly again, eventually.
Daring turned her attention to the silver case. It was maybe only about half an inch thick. The other dimensions were four inches by two. A metal clasp held the two ends together. She wasn’t sure if she really wanted to open it. Her mind wandered away, gazing blankly at the smooth case.
She was back in the tunnels. A blue mare cowered in front of her. Gold, gold everywhere. Screams, anger, fear. Rocks. Running. A blue mare led her by a rope, pulling her towards the light. Light…
Daring thumped herself on the head with a hoof. She refocused on the small metal rectangle in front of her. With a readying breath, she undid the small clasp and slowly lifted one end. Her hoof brought it up to a ninety degree angle on the hinge. Gravity took over on the side she had lifted and it fell to the table with a faint clack.
An organized clutter of papers filled the inside of the case. Daring reached down and with her mouth, removed the top one. It was an archeologist’s degree. Rivers’ face could be seen on the front.
Martson, Rivers
Degree of archeological occupation.
Issued, June 19th 1967.
Daring couldn’t believe what she was reading. The document was over fifty years old. But the picture on the front was clearly Rivers. The mare smiled up from the yellowed piece of paper, young and happy. Pinned to the back of that was a picture of the blue mare in an embrace with a light blue filly, both smiling playfully at Daring from the paper.
“I’m so sorry,” Daring whispered.
She set the license aside and looked at what remained in the case. There was a folded piece of parchment, sealed at the edges. On the front it read.
'To my little Stream'
Daring set it aside. She would handle that one later. There was one more piece of parchment. Buried under a few folded papers on field notes, she found one last paper relevant.
'Daring'
Slowly, she unfolded the piece of parchment, heart rate inclined for reasons unknown.
'If you’re reading this, that means you made it out. But that also means I’m in pretty bad shape right about now. You were never supposed to come back. I did everything I could to get you to leave. Everything. You just had to be stubborn and make things difficult for both of us. But you’ve given us something else. Hope. We can stand up to it now. And although we were left here so long ago. We may just find a way out ourselves. Make sure you get that letter where it’s meant to go.'
Rivers
There was much smaller writing a little way below the inscribed name.
p.s. I really wish I’d met you in high school. We could have been something.
Daring re-read the letter another seven times. Finally, she folded the parchment back up and returned it to the case, along with the other contents.
She left the diner, procuring a glare from the waiter who had been making his way to her table with her food. This mess wasn’t wrapped up yet.
* * *
Daring stood on the walkway leading up to the small cottage. She had managed to fly here on her own. She furled her wings, wincing at the little twinge of pain in her mostly-healed wing.
She had read every microfilm in every library this side of Canterlot to find this place. Rivers didn’t have much for family ties. There were times when Daring had doubted that the mare had any records at all.
She took a deep breath and started up the narrow path, her hooves clopping lightly on the cobbled stone. She tried to ignore the menacing sound, instead, focusing on the flowers that filled the decorative yard. She reached the door and paused. What if this wasn’t the right place? This was her last lead.
Tentatively, Daring reached out a hoof and knocked three times. Waiting for the door, she examined the silver case hung around her neck. The chain was slightly longer than that of the golden medallion, so as the two never collided on her front. She never took the two decorations off, not even to sleep.
Daring had this silly thought she had conjured in her mind. She knew it was crazy but she couldn’t shake it. She felt as if the golden medallion of the explorer pegasus was her only anchor to the real world; and if she took it off she would find herself back in the tunnels. Ever since she had left the diner, she never took it off.
The door cracked open and a cautious face peeked out. The chain remained bolted as the mare examined Daring. “Who is it?” the mare asked in an elderly voice, raspy from lack of use.
“My name is Daring Do,” she replied. She peered through the cracked door at the mare. Not much could be seen other than her muzzle. Her coat, from what Daring could tell, was light-blue.
“What do you want?” she asked worriedly. “I don’t want to buy anything. Go away.”
The mare made to close the door but Daring stuck her hoof in the way. “Wait,” she said. “Is your name Cool Stream?”
The mare froze. Her eyes widened in shock and she pushed Daring’s hoof out of the way. The door slammed. “Wait!” Daring protested.
She heard the sound of the chain being undone and the door swung open a moment later. The light blue mare stood fully in the doorway. Her coat was wrinkled with age and her face sagged, lacking any smile lines. Her mane may have once been some other color; but now it was a dull gray. “How do you know my name?” she asked suspiciously.
Daring took a step forward. The mare moved in the doorway, as if protecting her domain. “I’ve spent a long time looking for you,” Daring stated.
The mare glared at Daring. “What do you want?”
She hesitated. This was it. “Do you know a mare named Rivers Martson?”
The old mare’s mouth opened but no sound came out. Instead, she nodded. She gulped heavily and took a deep breath. “She was my mother.”
Daring nodded. “I have something for you.” She snapped open the silver case around her neck and produced the folded piece of parchment left for the mare. She passed it to the old mare, who took it absently. “She… wanted you to have this.”
The mare read the name on the front. “This is her writing.” Her eyes began to tear up. “She left when I was just a filly. She left me.” The mare sat down hard and gazed at Daring. “Do you know how hard I looked for her!?” she sobbed. “My mother left me all alone! I had no father. One day, she just got up and left!”
Daring gazed into the mare’s deep blue eyes. Hurt shone deep within their depths. “She didn’t leave.”
The mare set the letter down and unfolded the parchment.
Daring couldn’t see the words the mare was reading; but they were having an effect on Rivers’ child. The mare blinked tears from her eyes that landed on the yellow parchment as she read.
After a moment, she looked up at Daring. “Thank you,” she said happily. “Thank you so much. Where did you find this?”
Daring was quiet for a long time; but the mare didn’t speak or press. Instead she sat patiently and observed as the pegasus became lost in her own thoughts. Finally, Daring came to. “Someplace… that I will never speak of again.”
There was a soft wisp of air and the surrounding world froze. The bees stopped buzzing, the birds no longer chirped. The blue form of Rivers materialized next to Daring.
Daring had no idea why, but she wasn’t surprised to see the mare. “You did it,” Rivers said cheerfully. This wasn’t the tired and worn Rivers she had met in the tunnels; her coat was a pretty blue and it shone magnificently in the sunlight. Her eyes sparkled with a mother’s joy that Daring had seen in the eyes of ponies before.
Daring nodded. “It was the least I could do. So you found your way out?”
The blue mare gave Daring a friendly nuzzle. “We all did.”
Daring returned the embrace. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
Rivers gazed passionately at the elderly blue mare poised in the doorway, a light smile frozen on her face. “Trust me, I have.”
Rivers’ form began to fade and world around them returned to life once more. In a moment, the blue mare was gone, the only remnants of her existence, memories and a few pictures inside a metal case.
That reminded Daring. She removed the letter to her from Rivers from the case, then she removed the case from around her neck and passed it to the elderly mare. “This was hers,” Daring stated. “You should have it.”
The mare took it thankfully. “Would you like to come in? I have tea boiling,” she asked generously.
Daring shook her head. “No, there’s something I still need to do.”
“Well, good luck,” the old pony replied.
Daring made a bow of farewell and turned to leave. She stopped and turned back. “Oh, and one more thing,” she asked. “Do you know if there’s a place around here where I can buy explosives?”