Daring Do and the Eyes of the Demon

by PegasusKlondike

Higher Power

The chirp of crickets outside of the hut and the calls of night birds would have normally soothed Daring into a decent rest. But not tonight. She rolled over in the cot provided to her in Zecora's hut, staring out the round window as the moonlight poured in. She sighed with apprehension, with the sun's fall on the next day she would face something she had never prepared herself for, religion.

She doubted that some kind of a god would sweep down from on high, give her a quick once-over and throw a sticker of approval of her cosmic file. Things like that just didn't happen in a logical world. And Daring's world, no matter how steeped in the mysticisms of an earlier age and the shrouds of mystery, was a logical one. In her life, there was no room for gods or angels, and the closest she had ever come to believing in one had been seeing Princess Celestia raise the sun when she was a little filly.

But as she lay here in Zecora's hut, staring out that window, she couldn't help but wonder why she was so adamant about not believing. Perhaps it was because she had seen what belief in divinity had done to so many normally intelligent and reasonable creatures. They seemed perfectly logical, until their zealotry had them chasing after Daring, screaming for her blood as a sacrifice to a snake statue.

Maybe it was because she never needed one. She had always done things for herself, never asking anypony for anything and taking each obstacle as a challenge. She never asked for help, Daring always helped herself.

But what kept her awake was that she had no control of the outcome of what was to happen. No matter how tomorrow's ritual ended, Daring would get the short end of the stick. If nothing happened, her personal dogma would be validated. Her entire life would just stay the way it still was, Daring Do alone against the world and all of its evils. But if nothing happened, the Din'Jaro would judge her to be a failure and impure, and no matter how much she searched for the Eyes, she would never find them. Death and chaos would reign supreme as N'dutu marched across the continent, his violence and slavery spilling over into other nations and eventually the whole world.

That thought chilled her, everypony she knew dying and being enslaved because she had been judged to be impure by some wacky cult of zebras. But what chilled her more, what if something does happen? During her audience with the High Chief, Zitali had said that many few had ever sought the favor of their god in such a way, and only a handful of them had survived the experience.

Timur said his god was a loving one, but by no means a gentle one.

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Having slept not a wink, Daring rolled out of her cot, stretching first her hind legs, then her front legs, and finally her wings. With a wince of pain she recollected that her wings were in a very pained and sensitive state. Hopefully her feathers would start growing back in a few weeks, and then it was about another week before they would be strong enough to fly again. That is, if N'dutu's pets hadn't damaged her wings so extensively. She might not be a doctor, but she knew her own body. And with the way her wings were acting, the damage might be permanent. Walking out onto Zecora's porch, she rubbed her eyes as the blazing warmth of the rising sun struck her face.

As Daring stretched her back and yawned, she noticed Zecora off behind her, meditating atop a slender pole, facing towards the rising sun. Stifling her yawn, Daring tried to be quiet, lest she make the zebra lose her balance and plunge eighty feet to her death. After a minute, Zecora finished her meditations, neatly flipping down her meditation pole. She noticed Daring for the first time, giving her a smile.

"Good morning Ms Daring Do, I trust your energy is renewed?"

Running a hoof through her charcoal mane, Daring tried to hide her apprehension and nervousness for what was to happen tonight. "Yeah, I slept good," she lied to Zecora.

Zecora looked at her with an air of concern. "You need not lie to me. Your weariness is plain to see."

Daring shook her head and sighed, sitting down by the edge of the platform. "I'm just nervous about tonight. What happens if I fail the test?"

Zecora sat down next to her, laying a comforting hoof on Daring's shoulder. "Then nothing changes for us. Take comfort that I will be performing the ceremony thus."

"But Zitali said that nopony has survived the test. What if I die like the rest of those foals who tried?"

"What Zitali meant was that nopony has come back the same. They are a different person, even choosing different names. The presence of a god can do that. Is that you worry at?"

Daring stared out over the great expanse of savanna, trying desperately to hold in her apprehension. The farmers of the Din'Jaro diligently worked their fields before the heat of midday drove them under shade. The colts and fillies of the tribe played a little game before their chores. They seemed so happy, yet that would change when the warlord marched his army through here. "I'm not sure. I would sacrifice myself if it meant that those people down there got to live a free and happy life. But....if I fail...." Daring swallowed the knot in her throat, vividly remembering the hopelessness and despair she had seen on the faces of the slaves in N'dutu's camp.

"Do not let it bother you, Ms Daring Do. You shall be fine. Come, let us go dine." Zecora stood, helping Daring up and escorting her across the rope walkways to a communal dining hut. Timur had arisen early, and after he changed his bandages he had meandered to the dining hall and saved two additional seats in the corner. Though most of the red clad warriors glared at the Gochano Prince, they fell completely silent as Daring walked in.

Whispers passed between the warriors of the Din'Jaro, wondering if this pony was the one who dared stand before their chief and demand that he allow her to profane their most sacred rite. Seating herself with her guide, Daring had a realization as she pulled a bowl to herself.

Smiling mischievously, she tapped Timur on the shoulder. "Morning, cousin."

Timur rolled his eyes and slapped a hoof against his face, remembering that had indeed adopted Daring in his haste last night. "By all technicality, Ms Do, you're my daughter now. But that does not mean you get any special privileges."

Daring leapt into his lap, throwing her forelegs around his neck. "Oh Daddy! You finally came home after going out to buy smokes when I was a filly. Wait till I tell mom!" She gave him a daughterly smooch on the cheek and gave the cutest little filly smile that she could. "But that does mean I'm a member of your tribe now, and that I can partake in your rituals."

Shoving the pegasus off his lap, Timur acted as though nothing had happened and continued to eat his bowl of grains. Around him, the red clad Din'Jaro snickered at the Gochano Prince. Zecora managed a grin, seeing that her friend had relieved herself of some of her stress and was now acting (somewhat) normal again. Daring caught her grin, then gave a huge smile. "If you're Daddy's fiance, that means you're Mom now, Zecora."

Zecora's eyes shot wide open as Daring threw a pair of forelegs around her neck. Zecora reached with a hoof and oddly patted her on the back. The zebra mare glanced over at Timur, whispering in Din'Jaro, wondering if this was just a quirk of Daring, or if all Equestrians behaved this way.

Timur glanced at Daring, then shifted back to Zecora. "Just her," he whispered, pointing a hoof at Daring.

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Though the warriors and farmers of the tribe would normally have spent the day training or tending to their fields and herds, today was spent in preparation for the ceremony that night. The stallions were down at ground level, dragging in logs to build a council ring and the great bonfire which would act as a centerpiece. The mares prepared their outfits and their tribal paints for the ceremony.

Daring and Timur sat in Zecora's hut, mostly to stay out of the way of the workers. Timur sat at a table, grinding herbs with a mortar and pestle.

Setting down a book on herbology, Daring curiously inspected the contents of the bowl. "Whatcha makin' there, pa?"

Timur added a splash of water, turning the brown mess of ground herbs into a white paste. "Stop calling me fatherly euphemisms. This is the ceremonial paint of the Gochano, and since you have been adopted as a member, both you and I will wear it tonight."

"How long is this ceremony going to last?"

Timur set down his pestle, sitting back on a stool. "Well, though your ritual will be the focus at the end, this is going to be a regular Din'Jaro full moon ceremony. First they will start with the stories of ancient lore, then move on to courtship dances, then they will ask for the blessing of the spirits in battle and in farming. And finally, your ritual will complete the ceremony."

Daring wiped her brow with a hoof. "Whew, at least it won't be all about me."

"On the contrary, Ms Do, or should I say 'Ms Duan!ziti'. This is a rare rite that comes only once a decade or so, your askance of Yeye will almost completely overshadow everything else."

"Yeah, thanks for heaping the pressure back onto me to perform."

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Zecora and Timur slowly and methodically painted Daring Do with the symbols of her new tribe, tracing stripes and swirls across her golden pelt. Zecora focused more on the protective runes to be painted on her face and chest, making sure each one was perfect, lest the pegasus come to harm. Both zebras wore their paints with familiarity, covered head to hoof in dots, swirls, and stripes that seemed to compliment their natural coloration.

Her heart beat furiously, and Daring took deep, deliberate breaths to calm herself. Timur sat down in front of her. "Be still, be calm. Think of happiness and pleasant memories. Remember what you love, Daring. Think of these things, and Yeye may show you greater sympathy."

Still the thought of having her heart judged made the pegasus quiver. "What if she doesn't? What if she doesn't even come at all?"

Zecora placed a painted hoof on her shoulder. "Just relax," Zecora said in a comforting tone. Daring took a deep breath and nodded. Standing with her escorts and sponsors, Daring began the walk out the door and over the rope bridges to the winding ramp to the ground.

The ancient Din'Jaro High Chief sat at the head of the ring of zebra all painted in their colors. He wore a great headdress of ivory and shining lightning bird feathers. As Daring and her companions entered the ring, Timur and Daring sat down near the chief. Zecora however, walked out into the ring.

With the moon rising on the far eastern horizon, she stood on her hind legs and began to shout in her native tongue. Daring leaned over to Timur. "What's she saying?"

Timur nodded and began to translate Zecora's story. "Here this tale, my kin of heart and blood. This is the tale of our creation, and the fall of Wale Mrefu."

Daring whipped her head over to Timur as he said the last words. "Wale Mrefu? You mean she's gonna tell us the story of the demons?" She could barely contain her excitement, and wondered if she could write it all down.

"Yes, Daring Do. A story that the shaman of Zebrica have passed down since the ancient days. Listen carefully, for this is our true history." As Zecora began her story, a few zebra dressed in strange outfits and ape like masks walked into the council ring on their hind legs, dancing and stepping with Zecora's words. "Wale Mrefu were a powerful race, so strong in their ways that it is said they could conquer death itself. But Wale Mrefu were a hateful and war-like race, scorning one another in their quest for power over the world." A few of the costumed zebras pulled out long sticks, flicking them at one another like wands. When one felt the flick, he would stumble and fall.

"Yeye ya Kupigwa Wote felt their anger and their hate for one another. She felt the pain of Wale Mrefu, and knew that their power was growing too great. With each generation they learned to kill with greater efficiency. It is said that Wale Mrefu were not above destroying entire nations for a simple disagreement." The costumed dancers raised their arms high, then brought them down. Falling back, they lay 'dead' on the ground, as if a great explosion had destroyed them.

"And Yeye decided that Wale Mrefu had to be punished for their arrogance and their hate. She sent her touch to this world and gave us the power to fight them." Several zebra warriors smothered in war paints stomped into the ring to confront the dancers disguised as Tall Ones. They traded mock spear blows with the masked demons, falling whenever a Wale Mrefu would flick his strange wand. Eventually the warriors lay on the ground, the Tall Ones victorious over their petty revolt.

"But Yeye would not accept defeat, she sent her touch again to this world, bringing about the greatest beasts of nature to fight the lost ones. Great was the war waged for control, neither side managing to get the upper hoof over the other." As Timur continued his translation, a group of zebra dressed roughly as various beasts paraded into the ring with more zebra dressed as warriors. Again the Wale Mrefu would flick their wands, felling some beasts, but themselves getting felled by the onslaught.

"But the Tall Ones held their ground and clutched onto the hatred that bedecked their hearts. And after a great battle, Yeye sent her touch once again to aid the creatures of her creation. But not only her touch, Yeye sent her very daughters to this world to destroy the last of Wale Mrefu's evil." As the beasts and the Wale Mrefu traded blows, two more zebra dressed in great shawls, flowing gowns and massive fake wings stepped into the ring, the creatures bowing before them and the Wale Mrefu cringing. With the wave of a hoof, the zebra actor in a rainbow gown banished the Tall Ones from the ring.

The more Daring looked at the strange figure in a pastel gown, the details began to strike her. "That's Princess Celestia," she said out loud. The actor in black and blue was a strange figure to her, but she somehow seemed to be an equal to her own ruler. A name from ancient mythology of the Classical era came to mind. With a hoof she nudged Timur. "Is that other figure Princess Luna?"

"She is the Moon Daughter of Yeye, and that is her." Timur pointed to the rising full moon, the dark figure of the Mare in the Moon standing out in the light as the moon shined in its fullness. Shifting his attention back to Zecora, he continued with the story. "And the Sun and Moon Daughters came to this world from Yeye's mind to quell the rage within Wale Mrefu's hearts. And the Tall Ones knew humility in the face of the Goddess." The masked figures of Wale Mrefu dropped their weapons and fell to their knees before the Princesses. The actors of the Princesses bade them to rise, and Wale Mrefu stood and joined with the zebra and the beasts, accepting harmony.

Daring raised an eyebrow. "Is that it? We made peace with the demons and the great war was over?" she whispered to Timur.

"No, Daring Do. Wale Mrefu lived peacefully with us for years, until something more wicked than they ever were came and stole their souls." An actor in a strange outfit came into the council ring, a serpentine creature with a hodge podge body and wicked yellow eyes. The figure danced over to the Wale Mrefu in the crowd, twisting and weaving as he chose his targets. With a claw he would touch their face, and the Wale Mrefu would clutch their heads and fall to the ground, the strange creature growing bolder in his movement with each one that he consumed.

Eventually all that stood were the creatures, cowering in fear of the strange monster that had consumed the souls of Wale Mrefu. But again the two alicorn actors stepped forward, bearing a shield with a great emblem on it. Five gemstones in a pentagon shape, with a sixth stone in the center, interlaced with gold. The creature cringed at the emblem as the Princesses advanced on him. The creature froze in place, and a gray shroud was thrown on him by another actor.

"And so harmony was brought to the world by the Daughters. But it was too late for the ones it was meant for. And since then, most creatures that even remember them say that they are no more. Others cling to the hope that somewhere out there, Wale Mrefu still exist and will return to us one day. And that when they return, we can atone for our sins that were done in the fires of the Great War."

At last Zecora finished her story, raising her hooves and proclaiming loudly, "Kamwe kusahau wale wa kabla. Kwa kuwa wao ni sababu yetu kwa kuwa."

All the zebra in the council ring responded, Timur included. "Kamwe kusahau wale wa kabla. Kwa kuwa wao ni sababu yetu kwa kuwa."

Leaning over to her guide, she whispered to him, "What's that mean?"

"Never forget those who came before. For they are the key to us," Timur responded reverently, bowing his head to the symbol of the six gemstones on the shield as it made its way around the ring.

A feeling of having seen that symbol somewhere before plagued Daring. Then it hit her, that symbol was everywhere in the history texts of Equestria and even on a few of the stain glass windows in Canterlot Castle. That was the Royal Seal, the placard of the Elements of Harmony.

Zecora fell back to all fours and walked over to Daring, taking a seat next to her and drinking from a gourd.

"That was an interesting story," Daring said to Zecora.

"That was no story, that was history," replied the zebra mare.

As the dressed actors left the council ring, a group of young stallions replaced them. Stripped of any paint, their bodies were oiled to glow in the flickering firelight. The young mares of the tribe moved forward in the crowd, taking seats in a ring around the fire and in front of the young stallions. "What's going on here?" Daring asked to Timur.

"Courtship dance, you'll see."

A line of drums and shakers began to beat a tune. The young stallions leapt into their poses, slowly and rhythmically twisting their bodies to the beat of the drum. Stepping closer to the mares, they flexed their muscles as they danced, giving a small jump and a change of pose with the heaviest beats of the largest drum.

The young mares watching looked disinterested in this show of physique by the young stallions, their glances laced heavily with a discerning judgement. With a beat of the large drum, the stallions all leapt to their left, displaying their physique to a new possible partner.

Daring couldn't see how the mares maintained such disinterest, normally she had to pay for that kind of treatment back in Canterlot or Manehattan. The slow, rhythmic dance of those hard, oiled young bodies. Daring felt very warm, very suddenly. Fighting off the urge to step forward and sit with the eligible mares, Daring contemplated the fact that the next ritual involved her almost exclusively.

The courtship dance ended with only two mares standing and accepting a young stallion as a partner. After pairing off, they would adjourn to outside of the council ring. The drum beaters took a short break, and Zecora once more stood. But this time she turned back to Daring, holding out a hoof for her. The pegasus stood, and with Zecora guiding her to the center of the ring, she turned back to the chief.

Zecora boldly announced to the chief that one sought the favor of Yeye. The chief responded in his loudest voice that he would host her in his bower to seek the favor of a god. Zecora nodded and turned back to Daring. "Daring Do of the Gochano people and the Equestrian land, you have come to seek favor and bless our humble band. Yeye ya Kupigwa Wote smile upon you, and send her blessing to you."

Daring sat down, facing the fire. The drums around her began to beat a cadence, rising in their strength as Zecora took her position before the head of the ring. "Yeye Ya Kupigwa Wote! Mama wa maisha na malkia wa roho! Sisi, watoto wako, unyenyekevu, kuomba kwa ajili ya hukumu juu ya roho yako hii!"

"Sisi ni watoto wako," the entire tribe chanted together. As the drums beat their tune, something felt different about Daring. She felt light, and the runes on her skin began to tingle.

"Mahitaji yetu ni mbaya sana, na tunawaomba ya kutuma kugusa yako ya hii!" Zecora continued to chant, the entire tribe around her raising their chants to the sky.

"Sisi ni watoto wako."

Something was definitely in the air, the whole atmosphere seemed to distort and change. Standing up, Daring felt the beat of the drums become her master. And she began to dance slowly. It was a dance with no practiced motion, yet it felt right to her. She gave in to the entrancing thunder of the drums of the tribe, the voices of the Din'Jaro becoming a distant murmur.

Stepping lightly as she danced and gyrated, she suddenly understood. She understood why some ponies and creatures chose to believe in a god. This feeling inside of her, of connection with everything and of safety and protection from somepony greater than them self. It was what many sought for in life, as her head lazily rolled along her shoulders, she realized that she understood the fogged words of Zecora.

"Great queen of this world, Mother of the Daughters, Keeper of Souls and Walker of Dreams. We ask of you to send your blessing to your humble child, so that she may enact your will and end the curse upon our lands."

"We are your children."

"She of all Colors, you who knows all and is a part of all. Guide her soul through temptation and weakness. Guide us all through darkness and into Paradise everlasting! Your children seek harmony in the chaos, as you have done throughout time!"

Daring was fully caught in her trance, swaying in her dance. She felt something else present, something that had been watching her. Opening her eyes from her trance, she looked around to see the world waver, strange tendrils emerging from everything to lightly touch her. From the crackling roar of the fire flickered spirit orbs, floating down to the pegasus they began to trace the markings and runes upon her body. A pleasant warmth came from the spirit orbs, and her markings tingled with their energy.

Standing slowly on her hind legs, Daring finished her dance, spreading her arms and closing her eyes to embrace the invisible presence that drew the spirits. With each sweet breath time slowed, and Daring was enveloped by complete silence, only broken by the sound of her own heartbeat. Cracking open her eyes, a great light stood before her, gently drawing her in.

Daring stepped into the light.

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A shadow passed over her eyes, Daring wrenched them open to see the bright blue sky and the blazing sun glaring down at her. Her skull felt like it was on fire, and as she tried to reach up with a hoof, it felt harder than it should have. Looking around herself, she noticed she was flat on her back, laying buried up to her neck in soil.

Twisting her head around, she saw she was in a clearing, near a watering hole in Zebrica. But all around her sat birds on every branch of every tree. Predatory raptors sat next to songbirds. Vultures shared space with great eagles and even a pair of lightning birds all stared down at Daring. They seemed enamored of her, and when she shifted her gaze to the birds, they seemed to bow their heads.

"What the buck happened?" Daring asked herself.