Chapter 4 – Once a Myth
Chapter 4
“She will cast her light upon the earth, and every life will be under her wings.”
— Unknown, ancient temple manuscript
48 Hours Earlier
Forbidden Jungle
The cries of the evening creatures created a harmonious sound throughout all the jungle. Birds and insects and other animals—either discovered or not—filled the falling sunlight, praising and welcoming the coming twilight and, eventually, night itself. With that dying of the light, the jungle would be home to many beasts and creatures hunting for their dinner soon.
Which meant Daring Do would have to set up camp or find some shelter even sooner.
The adventurous Pegasus steadily made her way through the brush and flora, using her hoof as a guide that pushed aside vines and cleared her path. Upon her back, she carried all the essentials needed when embarking on an adventure such as hers. Plenty of food, canteens full of fresh river water, knives and other proper hunting tools, her trusty whip, a sleeping bag, and much, much more all compacted into several knapsacks resting on her. Normally, she would not be traveling so heavily. A lighter load meant less to lose in case a daring escape from a collapsing tomb was necessary, or running away from ghouls, henchponies, or even monsters of the unknown. Unfortunately, Daring Do did not have to worry over such dangers anymore.
The thrill of the treasure hunt had all but become extinct.
As she pressed on through the winding vines and branches, snuck underneath the towering trees, and avoided as many potential cautions as possible, Daring Do could only imagine how easy it had become. How… dull and lifeless her adventures had transformed into since Princess Twilight Sparkle took over as the ruler of Equestria. Not that Twilight had anything to do with her misfortunes, but more so… the sudden shift in power and following peace spreading throughout all the land.
Also… the promises she made.
No more life-threatening competition. That peace Princess Twilight brought actually held weight, as even Daring Do seemed to settle any bad blood between herself and her enemies. Dr. Caballeron and his goons took an early retirement. Turns out, Caballeron found more thrill and joy about writing his adventures than embarking on them. Daring Do smiled weakly at the thought. Their first co-written novel managed to get his alias out there, and allowed him to begin his writing career. He had quite the growing and supportive fanbase. Plus, the profit he made from his new career was almost enough to rival her own novels. Almost.
No more hunting for treasure, either. Though she believed she was committing a noble cause by protecting the artifacts, she was, in fact, stealing them from Ahuizotl and the other guardian creatures whose sole purposes were to actually protect the artifacts. Ahuizotl made it specifically clear to her never again to seek out riches within Tenochtitlan Basin. So, she didn’t. The Forbidden Jungle was big enough as it was, and as long as she stayed away from Tenochtitlan, everything else was fair game in her eyes.
However, the thought of other guardian creatures being tormented because of her actions made Daring Do think twice. Perhaps treasure hunting was in and of itself a relic of the past. Ancient civilizations and undiscovered temples were still fresh for the taking, though. As long as she didn’t take anything from them, she was free to explore and discover as much as her heart desired.
Besides, finding lost civilizations was more than enough of an adventure, one for the books and one her fans would adore.
Yet the lack of a formidable rival gang attempting to be the first to discover lost civilizations before her made her adventures seem empty in a sense. Of course, she hadn’t even run into said gang yet, and there was still the possibility that gang was still out there, waiting for that competition. Waiting for her. Daring Do still sighed at her constant, nagging thoughts. Sometimes she should just look at the positives. No competition meant no danger to her safety, health, or life. All she really had to worry about were the dangers of nature itself, and that was always something she could never predict.
Still, the competition would be exciting. Maybe she could call Caballeron and his goons out of retirement, tease him with the idea of one last ancient temple or pyramid or civilization they could try to discover before her.
But that moment had long passed. Now, it was just her, her wits, and a seemingly endless jungle filled with all sorts of terrors. Terrors that only amplified once the sun fell, so her chances of survival were dipping quicker by the minute. Daring Do returned to the idea of finding a safe place to camp or maybe even finding some shelter, the Pegasus spreading her wings and flying up beyond the tree tops.
Breaking out from the jungle’s hold on her, Daring Do kept a steady beat in her wings to remain hovering. Despite the weight placed upon her, she was still strong and athletic enough to hold her flight for a short moment. A moment was all she needed, the mare raising her foreleg above her eyes and scanning the jungle around her. The sun’s glare still burned against her vision, but it wouldn’t be long before even that light would vanish and she would thus be trapped in perpetual darkness. Then, the dangers and the thrill of the unknown would hit her like a freight train.
From her experience, the Forbidden Jungle was unforgiving, and being in uncharted territory meant there were a lot more unknowns to be wary of. Daring Do grumbled at the fading light, gazing back down to the forest floor. With a sigh, she made her decision.
“Might as well set up camp,” she whispered to herself. It was not her first choice, but her time window was running dangerously low. She still needed a fire to cook her meal, and she would rather start prepping the fire in whatever light was left rather than in total blackness.
Just as she dove down to begin her descent, a glimmer caught her eye. Daring Do flinched to it, blinking a few times and pausing in mid-air. She hesitated, wondered if what had struck her was real. Curiosity infecting her, Daring Do flew back skyward, slow and steady, gazing in the same direction where the glimmer had flashed by. The remaining rays of the sun gave her that chance to see it again, the quick glimmer of light blinding her vision.
Narrowing her eyes, Daring Do followed that glimmer and saw it deep within the jungle’s embrace, a few hundred feet ahead of her and almost completely inconspicuous. Almost.
Daring smirked. She flew directly towards it.
She had caught similar shimmers of light in the past. Her first instinct was to deem it as a jewel of some kind, or some rare rock unearthed to be taken by whomever should come across its path. Time and time again, the advantages of exploring uncharted territory kept rising against Daring’s waning worries. No competition. A whole world fresh for discovery. So much for her to plant her flag upon and boldly declare herself as an adventurous, archaeological master in her field.
By the time she broke through the trees and reached the earth below, she found the source of the glimmer of light. And curiously enough, it startled her all the more. More so, it made the pony have a short double take before her breath was quickly and assuredly ripped from her lungs.
The glimmer had indeed come from a jewel. The jewel itself was embedded within a stone pillar. At least, she thought it was stone. It was so old and decrepit that it made it difficult to analyze what it truly was. The rock itself was graying and lopsided, several vines curling around it while moss filled in the damaging cracks. Despite its age, the pillar remained standing. It was decorated with numerous crystals and jewels of unknown but obvious ancient origin.
Daring Do took a brave step forward, hoof rising to caress her chin while her eyes caressed the stone pillar. She studied the carvings, the damage, any signs of potential origin or whatever race had created such a monolith. Whatever it was, it wasn’t alone. Another pillar joined it, trying to remain hidden in the overwhelming and devouring vines within the canopy on her far left. Several more went even deeper ahead of her, forming what appeared to be a decorated pathway into the unknown darkness and depths of the Forbidden Jungle. An unsettling fog filled the jungle onward, the wind sounding more and more like haunting whispers brushing against her ears.
Whispers that told her to press onwards.
Daring Do wanted to believe it was herself that pushed her on, that it was her intuition and instinct as a treasure hunter and explorer. But it was that tiniest, unknown breath in the wind that earned the adventuress' interests. Her hoof grazed the jewel—an easy find—and eventually tore away from it. The fog itself seemed to follow the same pathway, slinking away like serpents into the blackness. Seeing the obvious signs of intelligent design, with the hope of some kind of civilization and shelter further off into the jungle, Daring Do counted her choices and narrowed them down to two.
Either follow it… or set up camp in the wilderness.
Daring tightened her hat and entered onto the path.
The first few steps were nothing to be worried about. Her hooves stomped over what was obviously dirt, mud, grass, and twigs. Nothing too important. However, as she passed over a path of nothing but vines, her next few steps made her heart leap and stole the floor directly beneath her.
The vines snapped and she fell directly below. Daring Do only had a chance to gasp, not to scream. The weak jungle flooring had given in to her weight, the vines tangling around her wings and the weight from her knapsacks forcing Daring Do to tumble down, down, down into the hollow earth that she never knew existed beneath her. She crashed and rolled, spewing her camping supplies all throughout the darkness until she eventually came to a stop upon a hardened dirt floor.
Gasping and coughing, Daring Do moaned and grumbled several incoherent statements. Some of which were curses upon herself for not being more vigilant, and the others cursing her surroundings and the possibility that she may have just lost her only means of survival within the darkness surrounding her. That was another problem entirely. Her main predicament was cutting herself loose from the vines that had practically strangled her on her descent into the unknown cavern.
Reaching down with her teeth, Daring bit onto the handle of her combat knife, using it to saw at the vines and eventually cut herself free. Once she was able to move her limbs and wings once more, Daring Do sighed contently before sitting back up with a pained groan following her.
The second she lifted her eyes, she was met with a warmth unlike any other.
She wanted to back off, crawl away, create as much distance between her and the anomaly as possible. But for some reason she could not explain, the warmth was not to be feared. It was not to be wary of. The light accompanying the warmth was to be welcomed.
At first, Daring believed it to be a firefly, a little lightning bug that hovered in front of her with its alluring turquoise glow. It illuminated that hue, filling the darkness around the pony with light and warmth that she simply could not get enough of it. Daring Do had bathed in the finest Saddle Arabian bubble baths, had warmed herself by the most comforting of Yakyakistanian bonfires, but never before had she seen or felt such an overwhelming power. The light created all sorts of alluring images and thoughts within her mind. The warmth had birthed countless heavenly feelings within her heart, soul, and body. That was the most pressing of all feelings within it. She felt at ease. She felt truly at peace.
She felt… heavenly.
“Hey there… little guy…” she whispered.
And before she could even raise her hoof to grace it, the light broke off. In that moment, Daring Do was back trapped in that earthly darkness, surrounded by a hellish cold deep beneath the ground. She caught her breath, spinning around and watching that turquoise light flutter on deeper into the catacombs. Shaking her head, Daring Do collected herself and brought her instincts back to the forefront of her situation.
She didn’t want to be distracted, but she also didn’t want to be lost in the dark. Her only hope to navigate her way was the firefly. Or… whatever it was shimmering within the black.
Rising up and dusting herself off, Daring Do quickly took off after the turquoise glow. She practically abandoned her supplies, keeping close only her knife and whip attached to her belt. As for her surroundings, Daring made sure she was at least keeping close to a wall of some sort. She needed some sort of assurance that her path was built to be supported. Her hoof grazed the stone wall to her left, keeping it close and seeing the intricate engravings and designs paved across the wall. Her eyes flicked away from the light for a second, seeing the turquoise lighting up the wall and illuminating the familiar carvings before her. The same carvings on the pillars outside.
Daring Do’s curiosity was boiling at that point. Her heartbeat was increasing by the second. The firefly was lighting her path to an unknown destination and Daring continued to blindly follow it. Her instincts should have warned her of her choices, they should have noticed the threat that was laid before her, but… there was nothing. What she felt told her all she needed to know. There was no need to worry. There was no need to fear. The hovering light guided her path and assured Daring Do without even a word… that she would be safe.
And then… the light stopped.
Deep within the hollow earth, lost in the darkened cavern, through the labyrinth of catacombs, the glow of the otherworldly firefly had led Daring Do to a dead end.
That was what it appeared to be at first, but Daring Do wouldn’t have that. By the glow of the firefly, Daring stared to the wall and noticed the streaks against the solid stone floor beneath her. Though the dust and dirt tried to conceal it, her years of experience knew exactly what to look for when faced with what could have been a dead end. The streaks against the stone, indicating that the wall before her had been moved once before. Long, long ago, back when life still existed within the halls she now traversed. The wall had been moved and could very well be moved again. It was not a wall at all.
The light of the firefly unveiled to Daring Do the entirety of the gargantuan door. A door decorated with the same engravings she had seen before on the pillars and against the walls of the ancient, abandoned temple.
The same carvings of a great moth.
Artwork by Shrekzilla
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Ah, soon enter Mothra.
The Queen of the Monsters is here! Oh, and don't worry Daring, things are going to get exciting very soon.
The Queen of the Monsters everyone and the true queen of Equestria.
Me:
i.imgur.com/HfxGqqG.jpg
The Queen of the Monsters will make her presence known…
I fear for the ponies’ eventual encounter with the devil from the stars…
Thanks for reminding me Daring Doubt happen.
PS, good work.
10575359
Friendship won’t save them when that time comes. Only the King of the Monsters and God of Destruction can do that.
Ah, Titanus mosura.
I'm hoping that the girls arrive in time to witness Mothra's birth. I imagine, out of all of them, Fluttershy would be the most in awe of the giant larva.
Oh boy. Fifty bucks says there's a giant cocoon behind that door.
I knew at the quote of that chapter that Mothra would be its star, but I'll be damned if I said I expected such buildup.
Tho it was interesting to see Daring Do's perspective of the post-show in this story and even nicer to see that even after changing radically her adventures due to various reasons, she still goes on them.
That aside, I find it ironic that Mothra got a whole chapter of buildup for a simple carving in stone while Godzilla and even his atomic breath appeared in the first chapter. Not saying it's bad, just that the main Kaiju having less buildup than a "secondary" one is funny.
And after all, it does fit the Kaijus: Godzilla is a force of nature that does not care about what you think of him, he just does his job no matter if you like it or not, explaining the strong but brief appearance he got. Mothra is a divine moth that was venerated by the humans at some point and is much more "holy" in nature than Godzilla, which explains the much slower and calm entrance she has.
So overall, great choice of writing for those two's entrance in the story (even if technically, Mothra still hasn't appeared but you get me).
Was literally given chills down my spine with the realization of who Daring was close to finding.
...hello again My Queen. Also, props for making Daring Doubt work within the narrative, was one of my least favorite episodes of the show and you made it somehow make sense!
10574931 Soon comes the queen.
10574935 The very same track I listened to when writing this chapter.
10575057 True queen of Equestria? I like that...
10575061 i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/029/043/Shaq_Tries_to_Not_Make_a_Face_While_Eating_Spicy_Wings___Hot_Ones_11-21_screenshot.png
10575303 pbs.twimg.com/media/D8NuUlnUIAA73VJ.jpg
The King and his Queen.
10575359 Oh, but don't you know? The Devil has three heads...
10575633 I think that's a high probability.
10575533 Trust me, I wish Daring Doubt didn't happen.
10575869 A cocoon... or an egg?
10576124 That's a great way of explaining the dynamic entrances of these two monsters. I agree with that! I also wanted to bring a really good hook in the first chapter (also, the atomic breath does play a part later on down the story. You'll see
).
10576299 Thanks! Though not the preferred ending to Daring Do's story in the show that I would have liked, it still gave me a unique opportunity to work with her considering she's no longer hunting for treasure.
Make way for the queen for her awakening is soon, to fight with her king against the golden evil. Long live the queen!
Ah yeah the Queen of the monsters. Loved how King of the Monsters portrayed her. She honestly did look like a god in her scenes.
10581754 She was perfect in her first American film.
Bold yet rewarding choice using Daring Do to discover Mothra ruins.
10586152 I always wanted to write Daring Do. Finally found my opportunity.
Great chapter from Daring Do's point of view!
Aaah, the Queen of the monsters. Really dig this built up for her and like reading how Daring is doing post her last episode( which was.... honestly really bad
) and post series finale.
good so far
The build up is intense
Mothra, Queen of the Monsters. If and when the Equestrians find the real Mothra maybe it will be good to try to make friends with the friendlier Titans as soon as possible.
On another note, sounds like Daring Do has still been doing well for herself, and honoring her promise to Ahuizotl.