//------------------------------//
// 14: By the Numbers 
// Story: Daring Do and the Throne of Ouroboros 
// by Tolerance 
//------------------------------//

	After Aaron revealed that he was in possession of the Gateway, Daring demanded to see it, unable to believe the Canine's insistence that the artifact was, in fact, secure.

Taking the same rail system that they'd employed during Daring's last visit, only this time without the guards, Aaron approached Daring's side of the otherwise empty car.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"You just did, didn't you?” Daring quipped. ”What's up?"

"What do you think of this world? Of it's people?"

"Like, something specific, or in a general sense?" Daring asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Just humor me."

"Oookay... Well, I mean, what's not to like? The weather's fine for the most part, even when you leave the cultivated cloud zones. The people are friendly enough amongst themselves, I suppose. Sure there are a few bad apples here and there, and as you've witnessed they can try to end the world as we know it on a seemingly constant basis. But you know what? They never do. Not just because they suck at being evil or whatever, but because there'll always be a pony, or a griffon, or someone who will eventually stand up for what's right. Although, if I think about it, if nothing bad ever happened, I guess I'd be out of a job, more or less, so I'm even grateful for the bad guys in a twisted sense." Daring thought back to all of the adventures she's been on, and in the end, she felt that her words mirrored her feelings exactly. "There's a sort of balance to the world, so you have to take the good with the bad."

Aaron contemplated the pegasus's speech. "Well said, my friend."

"What's with the solemn expression then? Does this have something to do with the throne?"

"In a roundabout way, I suppose. Discovering what the throne is, and how it functions, is only one small piece of the larger game I've been mulling over as of late. A much, much larger game..."

Daring stared down at the gleaming walls of the Deep Ward as they passed by below, their full majesty revealed with the rays of direct sunlight passing through the gems above. "Well, whatever it is you're working on, don't let it weigh you down too much, okay? If you ever feel like talking about it, you can always come to me, or Sunny, you know that. Besides, Sunny'd have my head if I let you get all gloomy while she was away."

"Thanks, Daring. Really. I appreciate your perspective more than you know, and depending upon how the meeting with your leaders goes, maybe more than you'll ever know." Aaron finished cryptically, which, at this point, didn't phase Daring Do in the slightest.

The rest of the trip was filled with silence, until eventually, the cart slowed to a stop, their destination now within walking distance.

Forced out of her own thoughts, Daring was once again reminded just how different her own society was from the Canis. But not because of the differences she'd noticed the last time she stood before the Deep Ward's University, the Kahsso Arkerros. This time there was a very noticeable addition of changelings moving about while assisting with a multitude of tasks. 

"Umm, Aaron?" Daring pulled Aaron close. "What. Are. They. Doing. Here." She whispered forcefully. The bugs weren’t even trying to hide.

"Oh, right. Remember that game I mentioned earlier? These guests are a part of the pilot program."

Daring Do suddenly felt that, whatever plan it was that Aaron was cooking up, crazy would not even begin to describe it.

"Wait, you're not planning to, I don't know, invade anything anywhere are you?"

"One day, you might wish that you'd have phrased that question differently, Daring. You don't know how accurate, yet wrong, that assumption may be."  Aaron said whilst shaking his head, a predatory grin occupying his face.

"As enigmatic as ever..." Daring observed.

~~~~~

Reaching their destination with minimal distractions, Daring found herself standing on the ground floor of one of central university wings, staring at none other than the striking display of the very artifact that very nearly endangered everyone only a few months ago.

"But-"

"Ah, don't start that now. The actual Throne is located below. As is what's left of the Beta Console that was used to activate it. This is a replica we made of it. The subtle intricacies of this device are inspiring to look at in my opinion, so I resisted the urge to keep it, well, entirely hidden." Aaron paused for a moment. "That is what one of your museums would do, is it not?"

"Well, yeah, I guess." Daring replied, relieved that Aaron was at least being partly serious for once. "Does that mean you've discovered what the throne is for?"

Aaron motioned for the pegasus to follow him as he made his way deeper into the research wing. "It is as the changeling queen explained. The Throne is more or less a gateway, but it doesn't connect to anything local. And it certainly didn’t connect to Tartaru as she was led to believe."

"Then where?"

"The answer to that particular inquiry is a bit more difficult to explain. This world is but one of many, just as the Unicorn, Starswirl, predicted. From what I can tell, once upon a time, these gateways were initially used by humans from different domains to travel here from some very vast distances. There’s likely one on every one of the other worlds as well."

"So Ahuizotle was trying to reconnect with a human world?"

"Not exactly. This is where the Beta console comes in. It's existence is far older than this world. How they uncovered it, I'll never know, but regardless, it was never supposed to exist after the world was created, let alone actually used. Even more disturbing is the fact that the Four Stars were able to both, remotely power, and override, the console's security, thereby activating the nearby gate, which has similar architecture." 

Aaron escorted Daring Do past security and into the chamber that housed the actual Throne. Unlike the Eye of Canis, there were far more dogs working on, and around, the gateway. All holding onto some small hope of discovering its secrets.

Daring walked to the fragmented slate that Aaron had called the Beta Console. Its surface drained of all magical power, only a set of fractured, undecipherable runes remained. "Wait, where'd you get that info? Were you able to translate this?"

Thinking of how to avoid the question, Aaron scratched his neck in discomfort. "Remember how I said that you may regret asking some questions. This is one of those."

"And you don't think I deserve an honest answer?"

"It's not that. If it's any consolation, I'd like nothing more than to tell you outright. It's just that, well, there are a great many things that cannot be communicated without substantial changes to your worldview. Some things no-one has discovered a term or a concept which would help you understand. Other things just aren't comprehensible unless you decide to forget everything you know about how your world works. I'm sorry, Daring, but until the people of this world reach the next era of their civilisation, I'm just not comfortable with sharing that info just yet."

The meaning of the words 'just yet' rang inside of Daring head. Simply put, Aaron would eventually tell her everything, just not at this very moment. That didn't mean, however, that she wouldn't try to pry something out of him. "Fine then. But come on, can't you give me a hint, or something, at least?"

Aaron thought about it for a minute. "Well, maybe there is one thing..."

"Please? Pretty please?" Daring pleaded.

"Okay, fine! Just stop doing that thing with your eyes." Aaron picked Daring up and turned her towards the stone ring. "Did you ever wonder why they referred to this gateway as the Throne of Ouroboros?"

To be completely honest, Daring hadn't really thought about it. Most artifacts had names that only referred to the power of some lost god in an ancient, lost language. If anything, she'd thought that the 'Throne of Ouroboros' was just mistranslated by Ahuizohtle. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd managed that. "Not really, why?"

"Because the entity that controls all connections that used this kind of gateway has terrible taste in avatars." Aaron said in a serious tone.

Daring just laughed. "Okay fine, don't tell me. But mark my words, Aaron. I'll get the truth out of you someday."

"If you say so. In the meantime, I say we leave this to the experts. The Throne is only a small piece of the greater game, after all."

As Daring followed Aaron out of the room, she glanced back at the destroyed console. Suddenly remembering her conversation with Sunny, she noticed that the fracture pattern of the pieces all radiated from one central location, as if the console itself was stuck with something at that one particular spot. Neither a rock wall, nor an earthquake, would have caused that damage. 

What she asked next drained every ounce of elated mood that the Canis's leader had built up that day. And for the first time since she could remember, Daring was truly sorry that she had asked.