***
Daring Do walked through the makeshift marketplace. The air was frigid but was filled with the chatter and deal-making of various ponies, griffins and hippogriffs, and even a few zebras here and there. Their wares reflected their nationality. Ponies would sell candy and hot chocolate along with saddles and boots for the cold. Griffins and hippogriffs were in the business of technology, with various things like typewriters, steam engines, automobiles, and even -despite the impracticality of ponies using them- guns. The few exotic wares like tonics and potions were just as exotic as the zebras selling them. Even their tents reflected them, with ponies camping in tents brightly colored and patterned, gryphs camping out from their automobiles and trucks, and zebras using desaturated dark sheets and wooden sticks to make their stores.
"Hey there, Missy!" A bright yellow stallion called from one of his booths, presenting a box of salt-water taffy, "How about some taffy?"
Daring shook her head to the Stallion and continued. A zebra called to her next, presenting some strange purple tonic.
"It makes you faster and stronger, believe it or not!" He started, "Go ahead and buy one, try a shot!"
She trotted on past, her athletics were just fine in her opinion. His rhyming was terrible too. The next offer however, was actually pretty darn tempting.
A crazy looking griffin yelled at her, "Hey kid! Wanna buy a submarine!?" Daring perked up at the offer and asked how much. The griffin replied, "Two hundred bits!"
Daring sighed and continued on. What would she do with a submarine, she thought. In her head though, she briefly imagined exploring the everfree depths of the sea with her own darn submarine and no one to tell her what to do. She knocked the image out of her head however. She was already dead set on what she was going to spend these bits on. She was visiting an old friend who just happened to be one of the best traveling salesponies in the land. A mint green earth pony with a brown mane was running a kiosk, behind that pony were huge stacks of wooden crates containing Celestia-knows-what.
"Hey, Coco," Daring greeted. Coco Pie looked back from opening one of her crates, and with an instant smile that shined like the stars in the sky, she hugged Daring over the counter.
"Daring Do! It's so great to see you! Haven't seen you since that thing down in Zebrica!" Coco said with near unlimited energy. Daring couldn't help but smile, Coco Pie's happiness must've been contagious, "So what's up, Daring? Oh wait don't tell me! It's Professor Storm Talon's birthday soon! You're going to get him a gift! Oh, you're buying a gift from me, which saves me the trouble of actually having to buy a gift because you're buying something from me to give to him so that means I technically gave him a gift but-"
"Yes, Coco," Daring sighed, "I'm here to get something for him. You wouldn't happen to have stuff sailors would enjoy?"
"I've got just the thing!" Coco's cutie mark was a crate with a question mark on it, and it showed with the monstrous amount of crates that she would carry with her. What they actually contained was just as big a mystery as Coco's mere existence, but they always seemed to have just what Daring needed. Because of this, she and Daring were pretty much fast friends. The only problem was that Daring never had enough money to spend on her stuff. Coco slammed a small crate, about half Daring's size, on the counter and lifted the lid away. The sides of the crate fell down onto the counter, revealing it's contents, a model ship.
Daring's eyes widened at the model. Normally, Daring's definition of "model ship" would be something like a small fisher or at best some trading ship with a few cannons. The thing that immediately caught Daring's attention however was the fact that this resembled an ancient Trireme, but without the oars and possessing two hulls. The sides were a shining green gray, indicating iron plates and on the bow were painted dragon eyes. The deck was enclosed with an iron ceiling as well, with holes on the sides allowing for marines and ballistas most likely if Daring could trace the era of the ship. What further sealed in Daring's curiosity was the presence of propellers attached to the rears of the dual hulls, which indicated the presence of an engine. She couldn't exactly tell the scale of it, but she mentally guessed that this ship must've been huge anyway.
"What..." Daring grinned, the propellers and the technical design would've indicated it being built in the last two or three hundred years. Yet the aesthetic of it would've indicated a few thousand years, "Where did you get this, Coco?"
"I don't know!" Coco knocked her hoof on the counter, smiling as she always did, "So you gonna buy this Daring? I'd buy it too if it was sold to me!"
Daring remembered that this was for Professor Storm Talon, her spirit dropping slightly, "Yeah, definitely, how much?"
"Forty bits!"
Daring pulled out her bag of bits and counted: Only twenty, "Uh, can I have a discount, Coco?"
"Anything for a friend, Daring! I'll give this ship to you for say..." Coco tapped the bottom of her chin, her face taking a rare moment of contemplation. It was immediately replaced by a beaming smile, "Thirty bits!"
"I only have twenty," Daring said, forcing a smile on her face. Coco shook her head.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Sorry, Daring," Coco hit the counter with a forehoof, causing the crate to reassemble and cover up the model ship. Anypony would have decided to simply walk away right then and there. Daring however, needed this thing. It was an awesome looking model for one thing, but it was potentially Professor Storm Talon's present as well. Daring grit her teeth.
"All I have is twenty!" Daring said. Coco shook her head, putting the box to the side.
"Sorry, it's thirty." Daring immediately thought of something.
"Twenty!" Daring raised her voice at Coco, slamming the counter with her hoof.
"Thirty!" Coco remained steadfast, holding up a sign with a picture of thirty bits.
"Twenty!" Daring threw the bag onto the counter. Coco responded by pushing the bag back.
"Thirty!" Coco shouted back.
"Thirty!" Daring pushed the bag towards Coco then back towards herself.
"Twenty!" Coco yelled, taking the bag back.
"I will give you thirty and no less!" Daring shouted into Coco's face.
"I will take twenty and no more!" Coco shouted back. Daring beamed and proceeded to kick the crate onto her back. There was a bit of rattling coming from inside the crate.
"Okay! Thanks, Coco!" Daring said as she began walking away. Coco nodded with a smile, but a few seconds later however.
"Hey!" Coco pointed at Daring, her jaw dropping at the dirty underhanded tactic she had used to acquire her merchandise, "Only I get to do stuff like that Daring! It's not special when other ponies do that!"
Daring however continued on walking satisfied. Coco would get over it anyway, because the sandy yellow pegasus was now in possession of a very amazing model ship. It was almost a shame that she had to give it away to Professor Storm Talon, but hopefully he would have it on display in the classroom. Right now, she was in possession of a very cool ship, somewhat scaled down of course.
A shady looking griffin walked up alongside Daring, "Excuse me," Daring looked over. This griffin had bags sagging under his exhausted looking brown eyes and his feathers were ruffled badly. He tipped his fedora hat towards the pegasus, "Couldn't help but notice you procured that model ship." He placed a claw on the crate, examining every nail and dent in the crate, "You realize what that ship is, Miss...?"
Daring sized him up, "Daring Do."
"Excellent name," The griffin responded, "Anyway, that model happens to be a model of the Ultima Thule, a very revolutionary ship," He glanced in the other direction briefly, "Belonged to one of the greatest heroes of Gryphonic history, Pytheas, used it to explore the entire world."
"Really?" Daring felt a smile creeping on her lips. The griffin gave a smile back.
"Really! Instead of oars he used a steam engine built by a friend of his, Heron. Could give the ship thirty knots on calm waters, revolutionary indeed! Plus, it was 130 or so meters in length, so I'd guess you could fit three-thousand gryphs on there comfortably if you'd wanted to. Also the first ship to use iron as part of its hull, or rather dull hulls considering its catamaran design but you get what I mean, ironclad and such," The griffin chuckled, "Now let me tell you, Pytheas was not one to spare expense. Explorers travel in them lighter, faster boats, get to places quicker, practicality! Pytheas traveled with prestige!"
"Wow!" Daring knocked the crate slightly, causing the griffin to flinch slightly, "That's cool!" Daring held out her hoof to the griffin, "Oh, sorry, didn't get your name."
"Fidelis," He shook her hoof firmly, "Now to the point however, how much did you pay for that ship?"
"Twenty- Thirty bits!" Daring nodded violently, "Yeah, thirty bits!" She sheepishly grinned.
The griffin raised an eyebrow, "Oh dear, it's definitely worth more than thirty bits, Miss Do." He reached under his wing, revealing a sizable carrying bag which looked just as worn down as he was. He pulled out a bag, which clinked with a very familiar sound, "I can give you sixty bits."
Daring's jaw dropped, "Sixty bits!?" Daring looked away from Fidelis for a moment, sixty bits was triple what she paid. She bit her lip, "I'm sorry, but this is for a friend of mine. It's a gift!"
"You can get your friend other gifts." Fidelis shook the bag, allowing the bits inside to clatter their harmonic sounds to Daring's ears. She quickly sighed, her breath turning to vapor in the cold air. Fidelis smirked, "Allow me to raise my price, Miss Do. Say..." He wouldn't be able to finish however.
"Stop right there, scum!" Fidelis was immediately shoved by a prestigious looking hippogriff. He looked over at Daring with his solid gray eyes and pointed his finger accusingly at the griffin, "This griffin here, Miss, is a con artist! He's trying to play you out of the real value of that model ship!"
Daring looked confusedly at Fidelis, "What?" He recovered from the shock of the shove, but was immediately silenced by the hippogriff grabbing his beak.
The hippogriff offered his hand, "I'm Ptolemy, archeologist and a hippogriff that knows the value of certain artifacts." Daring shook it after a moment's hesitation. Ptolemy looked far more well-fed and groomed than Fidelis, a bit ludicrously so, "You happen to have a model -unique I may add- of the Ultima Thule, I'm willing to pay you-" He pulled out a large satchel, which clattered from it's obvious contents, "-three-hundred bits."
"Three-hundred bits!" Daring stumbled, causing Fidelis and Ptolemy to jump on either side of her to keep the precious crate from falling, "I- I can't!"
Ptolemy scoffed, "Fine, double it, nine-hundred bits!" Daring lost her footing, causing the crate to stumble on her back. Ptolemy yelped and hovered his hands around it.
Fidelis yelled, "That's triple!" He wrapped an arm around Daring, who was struggling to even stand, and moved her aside, "Listen here, you can't trust a hippogriff, especially that one. Give me the ship and I'll actually pay you."
"Baw!" Ptolemy butted in, his movements tense and his eyebrows furrowed, "Lemme tell you, griffin! I happen to be an honorable person!"
"If you can call your parentage honorable!" Fidelis spat back, knocking Daring out of the way.
"You take that back you ornery chimera!" Ptolemy flared his wings, crossing his beak with Fidelis'.
Fidelis jabbed his finger into Ptolemy's gut, "Who you calling chimera you hybrid piece of-"
"Boys!" Daring cut off their argument. The two eyed Daring, not moving at all from their threatened positions. Daring forced herself to smile, "Listen, I appreciate the offers but..." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "I can't accept."
"What?" They both said, their expressions of anger turning into something resembling shock, fear, and confusion.
"It's a gift, I bought it with my own money, and dang it! I'm gonna deliver it." Daring walked past the two like a saloon door, leaving the two gryphs standing there. They watched as Daring disappeared into the crowd, but were more concerned with what she was carrying.
***
The Librarian, a lavender unicorn politely pointed Daring to her target. The Royal Canterlot University Library was an immense structure that defined the silhouette of the university. It was a huge white tower, big enough to fit a dragon and have enough room for kids, and within this space were hundreds of thousands of books filed into around thirty five floors. Although not the largest archive in Equestria-Luna's personal Library holds that honor-it certainly competes.
Normally, Daring would be in here to read up on amazing stories of extraordinary voyages-fictional of course-instead of studying. Her task at hoof however was finding her International Studies professor, Storm Talon. She grabbed the crate with her forehooves and flew up to the thirteenth floor, nopony would ever think to look there.
He was a griffin however, an old salty sailor of a griffin. Complete with a prosthetic hind leg and tail. He was pretty popular with his students for his rather vigorous language in his lectures and his no-nonsense style of teaching. Unsurprisingly, this put him at odds with Daring's sloppy cunctative style of studying. Considering Storm Talon was a griffin in a land almost exclusively of candy-colored miniature horses, he was easy to spot in a crowd. A dull colored library where nearly everything looks the same was no different. Daring spotted him at a table, a large stack of papers and books next to him and his face buried in an open book with the low rumbling of snoring.
Daring quietly floated next to him, "Hypocrite," she said quietly. The pegasus floated right over the table, then dropped the crate on it. The resultant bang caused Storm Talon to snap backwards out of his chair and to the floor.
"Bugger!" Storm Talon let out as he began making his way back to reality. He looked over at Daring, who was smiling with a face that said, gotcha. He rolled his eyes, "Daring, it's been years since the thing with the Dolphins but please be considering of my mental health!"
Daring chuckled, "Sorry, Professor, but I got you a present," Daring landed in a chair and tapped the crate. Storm Talon looked over at it with an air of caution.
"Does it have a platypus init?"
"No, why?"
"Do ye remember what ye got me last year?"
"Oh, it's not like anyone got hurt."
"I was innae hospital for two weeks."
"How was I supposed to know platypi were venomous?"
Storm Talon sighed, rubbing his face, "Well, I'm aware it is nearing my birthday," Daring slouched in her seat, kicking up her hindlegs on the table.
"Yeah, you're practically family to me!" The pegasus held out her forehooves, smiling. Storm Talon nodded, scratching the bottom of his beak.
Storm Talon muttered, "Well, ya dun choose family..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing." Storm Talon pointed to the crate, "Whassin this?"
"Open it and find out."
The dusty old griffin muttered something about platypi under his breath, then opened the lid. He exclaimed something in Gryphonic and gently lifted up the model Ultima Thule. His hands quivered, but not too much as to not drop it and his normally grumpy disposition was like that of a foal getting a gift on Hearth's Warming Eve. He quickly put it down, chuckling to himself.
"Okay, Daring, this- I gotta say- this is quite the gift!"
"I know! Quite the bargain too, Coco sold it to me for about twenty bits!" Storm Talon looked over at Daring, jaw dropped, "There were a couple of guys who wanted it too but I think they were just-"
Storm Talon immediately shoved his hand into her mouth, "Ya bought this for twenty bits? Daring, this model is far more than twenty bits!" Daring raised an eyebrow, cocking her head. Storm Talon buried his face into his hand, "There are only three models in existence, Daring! This is probably worth several hundred thousand bits!" Daring spat out Storm Talon's hand.
"Several-what? Thousand! But I- they- and ugh!" Daring slammed her face onto the table. Several hundred thousand bits, she thought, she should've seen that coming.
Storm Talon spoke up, "At the very least, you've gotten me an excellent present for my birthday, not like other people in the faculty who keep getting me nothing but pens," Storm Talon picked up the model ship again gently then placed it carefully into the crate, "Lemme tell ye Daring, the Ultima Thule is one thing every griffin cub learns about when they's growing up. The great explorer sailing off to parts unknown, battling enormous monsters an' discovering new worlds, conquering them too." Storm laughed, "I remember when I was a wee cub, me and my friends would always be bashing the ever loving daylights outta each other, pretending to be Pytheas and some savage natives."
Daring's face was still married to the table. Storm Talon walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Ah, dinnae beat yourself up Daring," Storm Talon snapped his talon, "Say, I know the only class ye ain't failing is Ancient History, so tell ya what: write up a report on Pytheas and the Ultima Thule- five pages or so- turn it inta me, I'll go about some extra credit for International Studies, eh?"
Daring popped up from the table, frowning, "Ah, during Winter Break?" Storm Talon nodded, the pegasus groaned, leaning back in the chair once more.
"Either that or you'll fail the Semester, Daring," Storm Talon began hobbling away, the crate underneath his arm, "Do try natta fall asleep though, eh? Good archeology is done in the library," With that, he quickly flew off out of the thirteenth floor.
Daring muttered, "Good archeology, my hoof..." if there was anything her father-before his untimely disappearance into thin air-told her, it was that good archeology was done in the field. Exploring the ruins of ancient civilizations long passed, the scent of the old mixing with the new, and the cool air of an once inhabited village or city, now long abandoned to mother nature, the stone and clay cracked and the wood long rotted. What civilizations had passed, survived only by their legacy, were just waiting to be found.
Regardless, Daring wasn't a unicorn, so she couldn't make the paper wasn't going to write itself. She quickly fished out a few books bearing Pytheas' name. It wasn't the hardest task, it seems Storm Talon was already doing a little research on the griffin explorer himself and left his books there. Considering he just assigned Daring some light work, it was most likely intentional. She placed a dusty old book in front of her and opened it to some random page. Reading she could do now, writing can come later-or in Daring's, and probably half the college's student body, at the last possible moment-
One of the many dangers involved with the Gondwanaland (now modern Zebrica) expedition was the presence of organisms unknown to the party. At one point, when Pytheas' flagship, the Ultima Thule was traveling in shallow waters, it was assaulted by a large swarm of what Pytheas described in his memoirs as, "Being a terrific cross of spiders and crabs and nearly the twice the size of the largest of my companions". These were mostly likely Giant Zebrican Spider Crabs. While mostly deep water dwellers, they have been reported setting up homes in shallower waters on Zebrica's beaches. They are a relatively docile specimen, yet extremely territorial-
Daring quickly flipped to another page, this was already going off on something that wasn't relevant.
Heron's design for the Drill mostly revolved around his revolutionary Steam Engine. Although slow and being the size of a mammoth, Pytheas was confident that the center of the earth could be breached-
She raised an eyebrow, but continued on to a different page. She felt her eyes beginning to struggle to stay open. However, they were shaken awake by the next passage.
The last voyage Pytheas led has baffled many historians. After leaving port in Gryphonia, he did not return for over a year. When he did, he came back with thirty of his crew of three-thousand, and lacking the Ultima Thule. After he returned, the hero of Gryphonia become a recluse, spending his last years designing and building his own tomb. The Tomb of Pytheas currently has not been found today, and even the fate of the Ultima Thule remains a mystery. Pytheas' memoirs end before the last voyage, and the remaining crew were sworn to silence, with rumors abound to the griffin having killed his navigator, Angelos, for breaking it.
Daring tapped her chin, "Nuts, this is actually getting interesting." She read began to read on further, sweeping a bit of her grayscale rainbow mane out of her eyes. She had to remember not to fall asleep now.