Prelude
Yakyakistan 17, 4, 998
My journey to reach the nigh mythical Furthest North has taken me to the lands of the Yaks. North of Canterlot, north even of the lands once said to be occupied by the mysterious 'Crystal Empire' of foals' tales, Yakyakistan is (not putting things lightly) a sty. It lacks most of those conveniences that an Equestrian would take for granted, and their chosen diet is a simple and plain fare. My hosts however have for the most part been gracious and have been integral to assisting me in my future successes. Despite their own thick and heavy coats they still sell warm garments and travel gear for equine visitors such as myself. That is not to say that I didn't come prepared for the frigid wastes of the north, but having one last final rest stop in which to acclimatize and stock up on necessary supplies has proven to be invaluable.
The locals have expressed little interest in assisting me in my journey, neither the promise of bits nor fame swaying them in their resolve. It is not some strange cultural or religious belief that the Yaks possess that prevents them from venturing north of their homelands, no, it seems to be some shared knowledge that there is simply nothing there that is worth exploring. It is no great loss, I have never really brought companions with me on my other adventures, still, a guide for the first leg of the journey would certainly have been useful. The Yaks have shown me no particular animosity, indeed if anything I have been met with curiosity and fascination, the locals wishing me well in my adventure and showing their desire to speak to me again when I return. I do note though that many of them speculate my quest will be a failure, that I shall return empty hooved, having never reached my destination and having gained nothing for my troubles.
For many long years I have aspired to make a name for myself, and under my chosen pseudonym I have managed to partially fulfill this dream. The truth remains though that in all my adventures I have never explored anything that might truly be considered 'new'. Whether it be rediscovering ruins in the supposedly Undiscovered West, or thwarting villains in the Forbidden Jungles, my exploits have largely been those of an adventurer as opposed to an explorer. They make for fine reading in the stories of my supposedly fictitious life, and have potentially saved Equestria from danger a dozen times over, but when I am dead and gone I would like there to be some singular achievement that stands above the rest, one momentous discovery that generations to come will remember me for, my hope is that my current venture shall put that feather in my cap. The first mare to reach the Furthest North. The idea has been floating about my head for perhaps some six years now, inspired by tales of similar expeditions that have met with disaster and failure, only to have the participants return to the praise of their peers for the audacity of their attempt. My hope is that by trying my luck with the land bridge north of Mount Everhoof I can avoid the storms and rough sailing through the channels along the edge of the Yaket Range, that have ended many of my Predecessors journeys. Traveling by hoof will certainly be slower than traveling by sea, but if the weather is kind to me then I may well be able to fly a portion of the journey.
My own observations and the records of others indicate that this will be the most favorable time of year to attempt my journey. The storms that ravage the north should be at their weakest and the ice should be relatively stable in those places where there is no land beneath it. I am thankful that as a pegasus I am naturally resistant to the cold as even here in Yakyakistan I am starting to feel the chill of the north, I can only imagine how biting the temperatures must feel to members of the other tribes. With my provisions packed and ready I plan to leave the lands of the Yaks tomorrow morning, my hope being that the journey should take me a little over a month, perhaps close to two at the most.
-Daring Do
Yakyakistan 09, 5, 998
Disaster seems to haunt my every effort! My first attempt at reaching the Furthest North has met with disgraceful failure. Despite forecasts of favorable weather and light storms I found myself constantly contending with blizzards and Whiteouts. I was forced to spend an entire week entrenched in a makeshift dwelling to avoid the increasingly bitter cold of the North. An entire week without any advancement towards my goal! If this is what the storms are like during their lightest seasons of the year then I dread to think of the danger that would present itself to an explorer in the cold seasons! I am undaunted by my initial failure though and have returned to Yakyakistan to resupply and better prepare myself for my next attempt. Sled dogs will be a necessity it seems, as I see no other way in which I could possibly hope to carry all the food I will likely need if I am to make the journey there and back. Assuming that my travel will be marred by similar obstacles as to on my first attempt, I have drastically reassessed my estimates of how much I will need to pack and how long the journey will take me.
-Daring Do
North 25, 5, 998
Over a month after my first attempt at reaching the North began, my second already appears to be meeting with much greater success. The dog sled has drastically improved the speed of my progress and the weather has been substantially better than what I experienced during my first attempt. The North has a strange beauty of its own, its frozen majesty different from anything else I have seen in Equestria, or am likely to ever see again. I am allowing myself the time to appreciate it now while my spirits are still good, I doubt after a week or so of travel I will be able to speak of it quite so fondly.
On a more somber tone it has occurred to me since the failure of my first attempt that I might not return alive. Perhaps even if I do reach The Furthest North I will not survive the return journey. This being the case I intend to record my progress within this journal for prosperity, if it should be found then at least those who came after me shall know how close I came to achieving my goal.
-Daring Do
North 01, 6, 998
As expected I have quickly grown tired of the desolate white landscape of the North. Those initial few days of clear skies and safe travel have quickly given way to storms and the harshest cold I have ever known. The dogs make for good company but are poor conversationalists. Though they display much affection for me it is quickly dawning that should I die up here it will be alone.
At present I am situated due north of Mount Everhoof, near the coastline of the northernmost edge of the Yaket Range. The following week should see me to the land bridge that will take me into the unknown and onward to The Furthest North.
-Daring Do
North 18, 6, 998
If it wasn't for the great extent of my own worldly experiences then I wouldn't have believed the events of the past day, instead disregarding them as the fever dream of my lonely mind. The physical evidence of my encounter lies warming herself by my fire though and assures me that I am no longer alone in the North.
To start at the beginning, my trek across the ice was interrupted when I saw a figure on the horizon. The mist of the day was thick, but thankfully I had not had to suffer the storms or blizzards that have plagued much of my journey. Even with a thick layer of mist though, I swore that I could see a great figure striding across the ice, a pegasus of gigantic proportions. It was too far away to call to, but retrieving my spyglass from the sled I managed to watch them for a time before they finally disappeared into the mist, northward bound. I could make out no traveling companions assisting the figure but from their silhouette I judged that it was likely a stallion due to their immense build. Beyond this, all I could really tell was that it was a pegasus, as their wings were clearly visible protruding from their sides.
This first discovery opened up strange new possibilities within my mind. Perhaps some other explorer also sought the North, in which case the journey might now be considered a race. Or perhaps there was some hitherto unknown civilization that dwelt in those untouched lands beyond the northernmost horizon? Regardless of the nature of my mysterious companion in the North, it was clear to me that I would gain no answers unless I continued on my journey. The figure had fled in the direction I had been intending to travel anyway and so it made sense to follow them.
Scarcely three hours after this sight I came across another, confounding my notion that the North was a barren wasteland devoid of life. As my sled skidded across the ice I spotted a dark shape nestled amid a crevasse in the ice and found on closer examination that it was a sled similar to my own. The dogs for this sled had expired however and I briefly considered that it had belonged to the figure that had been proceeding north on hoof, until I saw a mare strapped into it. Her mane was ragged, her coat wretched, her hooves appeared half frozen and her body was emaciated to the point of appearing starved to death. Her fetlocks were overgrown and it was only due to the slow and steady rise and fall of her barrel that I knew she was alive. She was a unicorn with an amber coat and a red and yellow mane, but all other details were obscured by the warm winter clothes that coated most of her body. As I attempted to assist her in escaping the crevasse, I was surprised to hear her speak.
"Where are you going? North or south?" There was no real emotion to the voice, no thanks or pain. The question was a simple one, said in a simple manner, with all the ease that you would ask somepony the time. I confirmed that my journey was taking me north and she simply nodded, accepting my aid in helping her escape from her predicament and then requesting a lift upon my sled, stating that she was traveling the same direction. I asked her many questions, what she was doing there? What did she hope to find in the North? What was her name? Where had she come from? She answered none of them, instead opting to remain mute and dismiss my inquiries as 'things that could wait till she had recovered her strength'. She was terse and aloof with me, and normally I would have dismissed her from my company then and there, but having not seen another pony for over a month and being unwilling to let her die from exposure I agreed to bring her with me. At present she lies by the fire I have set up for the night, sleeping beneath the blankets she salvaged from her own sledge.
-Daring Do
North 27, 5, 998
It has been two days since I saw the mysterious equine on the horizon and still I have seen neither hide nor hair of them again. My new traveling companion has however begun to open up to me about her own situation. I haven't pried too deep into her personal affairs and she has rewarded me by volunteering the information herself.
"My name is Sunset Shimmer," she started, startling my attention away from the dogs as we traveled. "Perhaps you have heard of me? I was once the personal student to Princess Celestia herself, but those days are behind me now. As for my purpose in the North, it is in relation to the horrors that plagued the city of Canterlot a few years back. I doubt you haven't heard of them?" Who hadn't? A series of grisly and unexpected crimes had come to the city, and to this day remained partially unsolved. I seemed to recall the name Sunset having been briefly mentioned in relation to those events, but never had she been accused of any involvement in the murders.
"I traveled north seeking out an equine who even now flees from justice! She is a singularly evil mare, a monster not fit to walk beneath the radiance of Celestia's Sun!" She ranted at me.
"A pegasus? I think I might have seen them the day I found you but they looked like a stallion, not a mare," as I informed Sunset of this detail her face lit up.
"It was a mare actually," she corrected, "but from her girth and height it's unsurprising that you mistook her for a stallion. Did you see where she went?"
"North, the same as us." I replied.
"Then I shall continue north with you." As before she spoke in a matter of fact manner, as though my own opinion on the matter was immaterial. I briefly debated persuading her to return south with me to seek some medical aid, but I ultimately decided it would be a fruitless endeavor. It would render the current success of my own journey void, and the mare seemed adamant in pursuing her own quarry.
-Daring Do
North 30 5, 998
The past few days I have come to appreciate the presence of my new companion. Sunset speaks little of her own past beyond what she has already divulged to me, but she makes for good conversation. We have shared stories of some of our past exploits, and though she doesn't speak of her troubled past, Sunset does mention the various places she has been to. Her own journeys are not quite so extensive as my own, but judging from some of her anecdotes it would seem as though she has traveled the length and breadth of Equestria in the span of a few short years. She is at times arrogant, but is otherwise amusing and passionate, her desire to reach the north rivaling my own. When asked why she seeks to travel north, though, she clams up, refusing to say much more than that it is in the pursuit of a villain. It would seem though that she intends to change this arrangement shortly, as during our most recent conversations she seemed to suggest a desire to speak about her own history.
"Why are you traveling northward, Daring?" she came to ask me as we traveled. As we had for the past few days, I controlled the dogs while Sunset scanned the horizon for any sight of her prey.
"Fame, I want to achieve something the likes of which nopony has ever done before. Other ponies have scaled Mount Everhoof, they've sailed to Zebrica and beyond, but never before in the history of ponykind has someone reached the Furthest North," she shook her head and laughed, a morose, pitying laugh.
"I can relate to that feeling. Once upon a time I was possessed by similar ambitions. I had the grandest desires, I thought I would make my mark upon Equestria, that nopony would ever again speak the name 'Sunset Shimmer' and not be filled with admiration! I thought I'd revolutionize medicine, that with one swing of my hoof I would rewrite a thousand years of knowledge." She turned to the sky and sighed in remorse, a sigh so heartfelt that I could only begin to imagine what troubles weighed upon her heart. "And now look at me," she whispered. "A wreck, a ruin. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you, Daring. Destiny is a powerful force," she said, glancing at her flank, "and a cruel one. We can't escape from its grasp, no matter how hard we try."
"It can't be that bad," I hazarded, but from the unparalleled grief that spread across her face I gathered she disagreed.
"I once had it all," she muttered beneath her breath. "Wealth, comfort, friendship, an opportunity for love." She sighed with remorse, as though all of Equestria was dead to her. "You're a mare of ambition aren't you, Daring? Well be careful with that ambition, don't let it swallow you up like it swallowed me. My life is over, done, finished. At the moment I can see perhaps two tasks left ahead of me. The first being to bring my enemy to justice, the second being to keep you from making the same mistakes as me. After that...after that I'm done." There was a sense of finality to her words and I began to appreciate that her own journey northward had not been one made with the intention of returning to Equestria.
"Hey now, I'm sure when all this done there will be something waiting for you back in Equestria," I barely knew the mare, but over the past two weeks I had come to enjoy her company and it hurt me to see her in such evident pain.
"No," she shook her head. "No, everything I had is ashes now, burnt up by my own pathetic ambitions," she spat the words like they were poison in her mouth. "My enemy may be a monster, but I'm not entirely guiltless myself. Call it penance, call it divine justice, call it karma, call it whatever you will, my own past is hardly clean. But if I can make sure that this...thing... is brought to justice before I die, then perhaps I will have at least partially atoned for my own transgressions." With another remorseful look towards the Sun she went silent, not speaking another word for the remainder of the day.
-Daring Do
North 31, 5, 998
This morning, before we set out on the next leg of our journey, Sunset approached me and spoke these few words.
"It's become clear to me these last few days, Daring, that you are curious about my past. I have decided that tonight I shall relate to you the exact nature of the crimes that have brought me to this place today. My health is fragile at the moment and I'm a little worried that I might not live to see my revenge completed, but perhaps if you know the truth behind my story you might be able to aid me in seeing justice done and perhaps be turned away from your own foalish little dream. Now, some of the things I'm going to tell you will defy reason, I imagine you will scarcely believe what I have to say, but I assure they are all true, every word. I won't paint myself as something I'm not, I'm no hero, Daring, but perhaps you will appreciate that much of what I did was done with the best of intentions. Thank you, for helping me, for aiding me when I might have otherwise met my end. I hope you don't think poorly of me after tonight." She paused there and hasn't spoken since.
As we begin to rest for the night and Sunset sees to setting up a fire to keep us warm, I grow increasingly curious as to the nature of what she has to tell me. It is clear that she has lived a troubled life, but from what she has told me already and the way in which she speaks it is clear that she had a rich upbringing. I cut off my current entry here, but with her permission I shall record Sunset's story within these pages for posterity, in case neither of us ever returns to Equestria alive.
-Daring Do
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So... who's Elizabeth? Do we even want to know?
And I still think Sunny should be the Creature and Starlight the titular character. Glim Glam is a much better title.
A shorter preamble could do the same job, but it's consistently well written, and you honestly had me at 'Frankenstein'.
This is everything that I ever wanted to read and I didn't knew it
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The preamble in particular is heavily based off of the opening of Frankenstein. I suppose I could have cut down the length a bit but I wanted a full length chapter before getting onto the story proper.
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Glad you're enjoying the concept.