The Feather of Fire

by nerothewizard

Chapter 14

A groan escaped Daring Do's lips as she lay prone on the grassy ground next to the History building. A spasm of pain jolted through her spine, and she winced and instinctively tucked her wings close to her body, which only led to another little shock of discomfort. She lifted her head from its resting place on the grass and looked ahead, then sighed in relief when she saw a familiar form covered in purple sprawled out on the ground only a few feet away. Next to Mare-Do-Well, Daring also saw the container that had only a few seconds ago been clutched between her teeth. With great effort, she managed to get her hooves underneath herself and stand up on legs that screamed in protest. She shook her head to clear the fuzz that permeated her mind, though one thought did manage to rise to the forefront: I definitely pictured that going a little differently in my head.

Fortunately for her, Daring had not been struck by the blast that had burst forth from the unicorn's horn, though she certainly felt the shockwave as it blew past her. Mare-Do-Well hadn't been so lucky, and Daring had snatched the container with the artifact and looked up just in time to see the two mares fly in opposite directions, the pony in purple pushed back by the force of the magic while the unicorn fell back through the open door and into the hallway. It seemed like slow motion as Daring watched her companion hurtle through the air toward her window, but her instincts sprang into action after only a heartbeat's delay. Even as Mare-Do-Well broke through the window, the glass shattering around her speeding body, Daring had already flared out her wings and leaped off the floor, ready to follow.

She imagined that it would look like a scene from an adventure film, where the heroic pegasus swoops in just in the nick of time to snatch a falling comrade from a deadly meeting with the ground, then soars off into the sunset as an epic musical score plays in the background. That definitely wasn't what happened. First of all, the sun had vanished from the sky long ago; it was likely closer to rising at this point anyway. Second, no random pony orchestras were passing by with instruments in hoof to provide her with the appropriate accompaniment. Third, and most importantly, there was enough of a time difference between Mare-Do-Well crashing through the window and Daring leaping over the sill that by the time the pegasus had spread her wings, the other pony was already starting to fall. Even though the upward angle of Mare-Do-Well's flight path had meant that she would be in the air for a fraction of a second longer, her trip to the ground below was going to be swift and unforgiving. Daring had to act fast.

She had tried to dip underneath the plummeting mare, but the speed of the other pony's fall made her misjudge the timing. Instead of taking the brunt of the impact on her back, as she'd planned, Daring ended up performing more of a head-butt, barreling into Mare-Do-Well's midsection. Her forward momentum carried both ponies to the ground; thankfully, it wasn't a straight-on collision, but rather, they hit at an angle, tumbling forward a few feet across the grass before coming to a stop. The roll on the landing helped a great deal, but it still hurt. A lot.

After she had regained her footing, Daring limped toward her fallen companion, grimacing as her body let her know exactly how much discomfort it was experiencing and that she probably shouldn't pull a crazy stunt like that again. While she couldn't argue with that sentiment, at this moment, she had to be sure that her action hadn't been in vain, and she watched the other mare's body closely, desperate for any sign of life. A sigh of breath she didn't realize she'd been holding came from Daring when she saw Mare-Do-Well's chest rise and fall, and when she was within reach, she leaned down and nosed against Mare-Do-Well's shoulder. “Hey,” she said, “you okay?”

The initial response was a groan laden with pain, and that was soon followed by a few words croaked out. “I think I'll live. Ugh...” Mare-Do-Well stirred and rolled so that she was crouched down on all fours, almost like a panther ready to spring, but her voice made her sound much less like a predator and more like the prey. “Hurts like everything.”

“Yeah, me too,” Daring said, slumping to the ground next to Mare-Do-Well. Her legs were simultaneously happy for the reprieve and crying out their disapproval at being bent; it seemed that no matter what position Daring took, some part of her body would be in pain, so she gave up trying to relieve it and moved on to ignoring it as best she could. She did a quick visual survey of Mare-Do-Well, and apart from a few small tears on the other mare's cape and the brim of her hat, she looked none the worse for wear. Daring briefly wondered how the mare had managed to keep her hat on even while falling out of a building, but decided to save that question for later.

For now, it was Mare-Do-Well's turn to start inquiring, and the costumed pony turned her head toward Daring and said, “So, maybe you can tell me: Who the buck was that up there?”

In all the excitement of saving her companion, Daring had nearly forgotten about the unicorn, but at Mare-Do-Well's mention of the intruder, Daring's eyes snapped open. “Illusion!” She spread her wings, winced, then gritted her teeth and fought through the little spasms of pain that shot through her body as she lifted off and flew back up to her office, now accessible from both inside and out. It was only when she reached the windowsill that she realized that if the unicorn was, in fact, still present, she was completely defenseless and exposed.

That, however, was not an issue, as the room was devoid of any magic users. Daring did, however, linger for a moment to take a look at the new arrangement of her office. Only one picture still hung on the wall; the rest had been torn from their hooks and hurled to the carpet. There was now no space between her desk and the bookcase beneath the window, and the chairs had been tossed aside as well. Her face fell as she beheld the disaster area that used to be her private sanctuary, but her ears perked up when she remembered that there had been two stallions in the room with them. One was still visible: Night Watch didn't look like he had moved an inch, and Daring honestly didn't know if he would any time soon. She didn't know what had caused his sudden paralysis, but she could only assume Illusion was behind it.

Illusion. The name stuck in her mind like an unwelcome guest. She'd known the unicorn for years, though they were more acquaintances than anything else. To Daring, Illusion was the most qualified unicorn to perform a Magic and Enchantment Analysis, one of the most useful tools at the disposal of her archaeological teams when dealing with finds that were of a mysterious and magical nature. She had run tests on several of Daring's finds, and the information gleaned had proved valuable, certainly, but tonight had changed all that. The instant Daring saw Illusion stride into the room with that smug, ferocious smile, she knew that the unicorn was much more than she seemed, and the thought of such a powerful magic-user working against them made her cringe. The sight of Night Watch's immobile body made her blood boil, but she diverted her thoughts away from fantasies of revenge and back to the task at hand. Only one stallion had been accounted for thus far.

As for the other male, she didn't see any sign of Brier at first glance, but when she looked down and inspected more closely, she noticed a hoof sticking out from beneath her desk. She hopped carefully into the wrecked room, fluttering down to the floor, then turned to check on Brier. When she caught sight of him, she jerked her eyes away quickly and drew in a sharp hiss of breath, but returned her gaze to the damaged dean after only a moment.

Unlike Daring, it appeared that poor Brier had taken the full brunt of the magical burst as well, though she was unsure if his unconsciousness – quite obvious from his shut eyes and unmoving body – was due to his impact with the desk against which his head rested or the strike delivered to his cranium by the levitated nightstick. She had seen Night Watch's implement make contact with Brier out of the corner of her eye, and it had looked and sounded incredibly painful. Now, it appeared that the dean had slipped into a forced sleep again, though she was relieved to see him still breathing. His rear left leg, however, was what had drawn her attention; she was quite sure that pony legs weren't supposed to bend at that angle. She stepped close to Brier, but was interrupted by a faint shout from below. “Daring! What the hay's going on up there?”

Upon hearing Mare-Do-Well's voice, Daring jumped back up onto the desk that now served as an extension for her windowsill and looked down. The other mare was at least on her hooves, though she was rubbing the side of her head, clearly still in some discomfort. Daring called down, “Brier's hurt bad! Get up here quick!”

Mare-Do-Well turned her head to inspect her own back, then looked back up at Daring. “How?”

Oh. Right. “Um...never mind, just stay there!” Daring went back inside the room and glanced at Brier again, wincing as she caught sight of his broken limb once more. She could only imagine how tired the poor dean was of getting knocked unconscious this evening, and that damaged leg was only going to add to his unpleasant experiences. For one of the first times in her life, Daring felt a small pang of sympathy for the pony in whose presence she had often felt intimidated, and even tonight, she had accused him of being a murderer before Mare-Do-Well's revelation had shed light on the fact that Brier was just a pawn. Her lips formed into a soft smile, and she patted the stallion's head gently. “Sorry about all this, Brier,” she whispered before turning and trotting out into the hallway, stepping over the prone body of Night Watch.

Only a few steps down the hall, Daring found what she sought. Across the entire campus, an alarm system had been installed, one that could (rather sensibly) be activated by any pony with the simple pull of a lever sealed behind safety glass, and just such a lever was right down the hall from her office. With a quick flick, she used the hanging metal rod to break the glass, noting in the back of her mind that there had been an inordinate amount of property damage on the campus tonight as she reached in and pulled down. A magical siren blared through the building with a deafening whine, and Daring scampered back down the hall and into her office again.

She glanced down at Night Watch and was surprised to see his eyes staring back at hers; he was apparently awake and alert, despite being frozen in place. A thought crossed her mind, and she leaned down close to the guard and shouted to be heard over the blaring siren. “I pulled the alarm! Help should be here soon!” He gazed back at her with a pained expression, and she cocked her head in confusion. Why wouldn't he be happy about that? It took two more screeches of the siren echoing through the building to make her realize why Night Watch was uncomfortable. Thinking quickly, Daring grasped the guard's vest with her teeth and tore out two small strips of fabric, then gently stuffed the material into the helpless pony's ears. His eyes lit up with gratitude, and she gave him a smile and a nod before hopping over him again.

Despite all the noise, Brier hadn't stirred, and Daring's heart froze for a moment before she saw him exhale. You'll be all right, Brier, she thought as she jumped up onto the desk and spread her wings out wide. I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Fighting through the pain that still coursed through her with every movement, Daring glided to the grassy ground below and rejoined Mare-Do-Well. The costumed pony tilted her head and said, “Was it really necessary to pull that alarm?”

Daring shrugged. “Somepony's got to take care of Brier and Night Watch.”

“They all right?”

“Watch still hasn't moved, but he's alert at least. Brier...well, let's just say he's gonna feel it in the morning.”

“Almost feel sorry for the old guy. What about the unicorn? Any sign of her?”

Daring sighed. “I didn't see her. She must've ran off after her spell went wrong.”

“You're welcome for that,” Mare-Do-Well said smugly, but before Daring could get angry at her, the costumed pony continued in a slightly softer tone, “And thanks, by the way, for the whole 'saving me' thing.”

“Not a problem,” Daring replied with a smile. “I figured I kinda owed you one after earlier.”

There was a moment of silence between the two mares before Mare-Do-Well said, “Look, as nice as this little moment is, how about we get out of her before somepony shows up and sees us standing out here in the open next to a building with a siren going off?”

As much as she wanted to stick around and make sure that Brier was all right, Daring knew that the authorities would already be on their way to the scene, and there would be far too many suspicious things to explain if she wished to avoid another trip to a police precinct. Right now, she needed to get the artifact someplace safe, and she and Mare-Do-Well definitely needed some time to recover. “Back to my place, then,” Daring said, then picked up the container in her teeth and bounded off, Mare-Do-Well hot on her tail.

The two mares galloped away from the building where the siren still blared, though this time, their pace was not nearly as fast as it had been earlier that night. Each step was met with a little twinge of pain, almost like individual notes in a discordant symphony that was playing full bore all throughout Daring's body. Her legs hurt, her wings ached, but most of all, her head throbbed both from physical discomfort and mental overload. The lack of sleep didn't help matters. Even as she and Mare-Do-Well finally cleared the campus grounds, the echoes of the siren fading away, her vision swam a little and her eyelids drooped heavily.

Daring soldiered on, determined to make it back to her house. She kept running for as long as she could, fighting against the relentless fatigue, but all it took was a brief stumble on the sidewalk for her body to throw in the towel. With a dull thud, she crumpled to the pavement, too tired to even try to catch herself. The last sight she saw was Mare-Do-Well stopping in her tracks and turning back to come to her aid before her eyelids closed, and she finally, finally succumbed to slumber.

***

Daring didn't dream; her brain simply shut down for a while.

When her eyes finally fluttered open, she had to turn her head to avert her gaze from a blinding light. It took several seconds of blinking and breathing for Daring to come to her senses and shake the fog of sleep, and as she wearily raised her head, she recognized the décor of her own abode around her. Slowly but surely, the gaps in her memory began to connect. Last night...Annals...Mare-Do-Well...Brier...Illusion...but how did I end up here? She looked back toward the light that had so rudely stirred her from her rest; it was the sun, finally making its presence known by shining a beam directly through Daring's window and into her eyes. Normally, that wouldn't have been a problem if her curtains were drawn, but she soon realized that this wasn't a possibility, considering that she wasn't in her bedroom. Rather, she was on her couch in the living room, with no blankets and only a small throw pillow as an accessory.

And she wasn't alone. In the chair facing her sat Mare-Do-Well, still dressed in her disguise, the costumed pony's mask looking straight at Daring with its expressionless eyes. Out of instinct, Daring lurched backwards against the couch cushions and gasped at the sight of the strange mare just sitting, like a vulture above a barren desert, and Mare-Do-Well followed suit, recoiling at Daring's sudden movement. For a moment, there was only tense silence between the two of them before Daring spoke. “How'd I get back here?”

Mare-Do-Well pointed at herself. “Earth pony, stamina for days.” She then aimed her hoof at Daring. “Pegasus, light as a feather...pun intended.”

Daring chuckled, as much to acknowledge the terrible joke as to provide a calmer atmosphere. She brought a hoof up to rub the sleep out of her eyes and said, “So, did you sleep at all?”

A low laugh came from the pony in purple. “A few hours. I'm tough, not invincible.”

“That's fair,” Daring said with a yawn. She slowly rose to a sitting position, grunting as the pains from last night made themselves known again. It would probably be some time before she fully recovered, so for now, she resolved to just get used to the aches.

Mare-Do-Well, however, didn't seem to be in the mood for breakfast and a friendly chat. “You still haven't answered my question, you know.”

There were too many details about last night for Daring's muddled mind to sort through, so she cut right to the chase. “Which question?”

“In your office, last night. The unicorn. Brier obviously knew her, and something tells me you do too.”

“Illusion,” Daring whispered softly, gazing out the window as her memory flooded with images of the unicorn using her magic to inflict pain and mayhem, nearly killing both Brier and Mare-Do-Well. She still had no idea what had happened to poor Night Watch, and she shuddered as she revisited his shocked face and his unnerving collapse to the floor. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and looked back at Mare-Do-Well. “Her name is Illusion.”

“I got that much from Brier,” the masked mare replied.

Ignoring the sarcasm, Daring continued, “She's one of the lab technicians working in the history department. Her specialty is a test called the MEA, which stands for 'Magical and Enchantment Analysis.' It's a way for us to determine if a find has had any sort of spell cast on it, or to see if a piece has any kind of unusual magical properties.”

Mare-Do-Well nodded toward the other chair. “Kind of like this little number here?”

Daring looked in the direction of the other mare's nod, and much to her relief, she saw the artifact container, safe and sound. A strong urge arose within her; she wanted to jump off the couch, run over, and throw open the lid, just so she could see the little pegasus inside and stare at it for a while. Annals' admonishment aboard the airship resurfaced in her mind, and she resisted the compulsion to indulge in the sight of the artifact that was still vying for her attention, even after all these weeks. Returning to the present, Daring replied, “Yes, exactly, although we never had a chance to run an MEA on the pegasus. Illusion was out of town on business, or at least that's what I heard.”

“She must have had a short trip,” Mare-Do-Well spat.

Daring sighed. “It certainly does look that way.” A stray thought popped in her head, and she asked, “Did you see if her eyes had any color in them? She might have been under a mind magic spell last night.”

“She wasn't,” Mare-Do-Well said quickly. “I saw her eyes clearly, and they didn't look like they had a hint of gray in them. I won't forget that any time soon.” She put a hoof to her chin. “In fact, I'd say it's likely that she's the one who put the spell on Brier in the first place.”

It all started to add up in Daring's head. “It was Illusion. She was the one, not Brier. She's working for the Collector, and she told him about the artifacts. That's how they knew to come after Annals and me, and she used Brier so that he would take the fall once they found out the pegasus was missing. If we hadn't gotten there when we did...”

“Then they would have the artifact,” Mare-Do-Well finished. “Likely, they'd have two of them, seeing as how the earth pony's already been taken.” She paused. “One thing still gets me, though. What's the point of stealing all these specific artifacts?”

Daring shook her head. “I don't know. Maybe they're just planning to sell them? They would certainly fetch a high price.”

“I don't think it's that,” Mare-Do-Well said, and Daring found herself agreeing with that statement. From the details she had observed, along with what she had gleaned from the other mare's tales, she knew that there was more behind these thefts and assaults than either she or Mare-Do-Well knew. The costumed pony continued, “There's something a lot bigger going on here, and I feel like the sooner we find out what that is, the sooner we'll be able to figure out how we can stop these guys.”

“But I've talked with everypony I know in the department about it,” Daring said, an edge of frustration in her voice. “None of them have ever seen anything like it before, and nopony has a clue as to where it might come...from...” She trailed off as a piece, forgotten until now, slid neatly into the puzzle of her thoughts. “Trowel!” she shouted suddenly, causing her companion to flinch.

After regaining her composure, Mare-Do-Well asked, “You mean the guy that found that other artifact in Cameland?”

“Yes! Exactly!” Daring hopped off the couch and winced as pain shot through her, but she pushed it aside, desperately clinging to this revelation and the potential answers it held. “He's the only other pony to have found something like this; maybe we can ask him about his discovery, see if he can tell us what's going on.”

Mare-Do-Well didn't seem to share the pegasus' excitement. “Wait a minute, Daring. Didn't you say earlier that you've already talked to him about his trip, and he didn't mention anything about the earth pony figurine?”

“He didn't, that's true,” Daring said, her voice wavering a little before a new idea struck her. “But if we talk to him, maybe show him our figurine, he might open up!”

“Open up? Do you really think he's hiding something?” Mare-Do-Well held up a hoof. “You remember how eager you were to accuse Brier of being in on all this, and he turned out to be on the up-and-up.”

“I know, I know,” Daring admitted, ashamed of her brash conclusions the night before. Then again, after experiencing an attack by mysterious ponies, the death of a close friend, and the sudden companionship of a mare whose face she had yet to see, she felt that she probably had a good excuse. “I'm not trying to jump to conclusions this time. It's just that...well, I think we're running out of options other than just running away.”

“Heh, now there's something I'm good at,” Mare-Do-Well said with a chuckle. Daring furrowed her brows at the other pony, who cleared her throat and elaborated further. “But yes, you're right. This city is big, but from what I've seen, the Collector's influence is all over the place. It'll be hard for us to find anywhere safe before too long, unless we can stop him.” The costumed mare hopped off the chair and stepped closer to Daring. “Who knows? Trowel may just have the answer we need.”

“Then that's what we'll do,” Daring declared with a firm stomp. She held her head high and proud, taking a moment to mull over her current situation. While accompanied by a mare in a full-body costume, I'm about to question a colleague and friend of mine about a mysterious artifact in hopes of stopping a mad crime lord who wants to get his hooves on it, and I have absolutely no idea if anything will even come of it. She blinked, trying to process all the information, and simply shrugged. At least I can't say my life is boring right now. She started to walk toward the door, saying over her shoulder, “We'd better get going if we want to get to Trowel's place before-”

Daring's speech was cut off by a low grumbling coming from her stomach. As Mare-Do-Well barely stifled a snicker, the pegasus' cheeks flushed a slight shade of red, and she added in a timid voice, “Or we can go after breakfast.”

Comments

[Firebirdbtops]

Don't underestimate the dangers of breakfast. There could be... Instant haymeal! You'll need all your wits to survive.

[Otsdarva]

Awesome update. I'm liking where this is going!

Oh and the pun was funny, Daring. Sheesh.

[Borg]

Look, as nice as this little moment is, how about we get out of her before somepony shows up and sees us standing out here in the open next to a building with a siren going off?

The authorities are going to arrive, and Night Watch is going to tell them what happened, and then they're going to wonder why those who left the scene left. I can see why you'd want to avoid them, since I doubt your vigilante activities are strictly legal, and nopony knows who you are so the police can't track you down, but Daring's only going to make her inevitable second questioning more unpleasant by running off. It would also help to have somepony around who can give a relatively full story of the night's events without having to wait for Brier to wake up again. And even he only knows about it secondhoof.

Let's hope we can trust Trowel. It probably wouldn't make sense for him to call Brier's attention to the statue if he was in the Collector's pocket, since he'd probably suspect it was an artifact well worth stealing, so that's a good sign.