Daring do and the quest for the phoenix gem

by Starry Hope

Chapter 1 The golden eye of Mount Aris

Author's Note:

If any of you are wondering about where this chapter takes place upon the prologue.
This chapter takes place 2 months after the prologue. (So a LOT of times has passed)

Enjoy either way.

If there is 1 thing about the daring adventurous named Daring Do. She was either hoof deep in a abandoned temple, in search of ancient long forgotten relics. Or she was in search of something new to do at her ol’ place she called home. But for Daring during the warm summer days she was beginning her search on for the golden eye of the long forgotten Hippogriffs on top of Mount Aris they lived before they disappeared. How or why was a mystery that daring wished to answer with this newest discovery she was about to make. All her leads and preparations lead her to believe that it was inside of the old home of Queen Novo. If that wasn’t her name she wouldn’t know clearly what her name was. The ancient monuments from the howling depths of Griffonstone were over 4,000 years old. If they were even properly deciphered or possible to see cause of the age was gonna be very slim for her. Daring ate the last apple in her ration bag and sighed at the

sight of not having anything else to eat. Though satisfied to have ate something to quell her stomach from grumbling. She had nothing else to eat if she got hungry or even to last her on the trip back. Sighing she put her mind to ease and began to focus on the bigger matter at hoof, to find the relic she was so happy to finally find. Venturing past the rocky waves and high clouds she made it to the entrance and walked inside. The place was as it said in the old books, it was abandoned with what looked like no pony had set a hoof here since before they “disappeared” Daring set her eyes on a golden statue of a queen lying in the middle of the courtyard that she predicted was where she was. Upon walking closer and clearing the shrubbery that covered it. She noticed a name inscribed into it in golden letters. “Here lies Queen Novo, a wonder to all and a courageous leader to the very end.” The statue finished its quote right at the word end and she let out a quick chuckle. “I

was right!” She said jumping up and down yelling not caring on who or what would’ve heard her. For once the clues pointed right and the name Queen Novo was here. Many ponies and archeologists told her that the name was a griffon and to hear that for a good time her gut was right was a relief. She began her journey trotting through the endless buildings and abandoned shops, until she passed and noticed a large stone building a good distance away. Upon getting a closer look she noticed the building to be a old ruins. Daring walked inside not sure on what awaited her and began to observe her surroundings from. the walls to even the floor. The one thing that caught her was another statue of the queen standing at other side of the room.

The golden colours were dimmed and made the already beautiful statue looking less than what it would if it was in the light. The idea of it being here and just being at the end posed a idea for daring that this place was a puzzle. (Or something that needed protecting.) Upon this daring walked one step and then heard a creaking noise and then when she looked down a loud gust of wind passed her ears and than a loud clang came next. Upon daring looking up she noticed a axe the size of her wing spread out edged into the wall leaving a good mark on the wall. Daring got off the plate that she stepped on and upon that heard a metallic noise and the plate shot back up again. “It’s a trap.” Daring said and then grabbed her composer and then tried to look for anything that could mark a way forward. Every slab was tainted and didn’t pose any clues… they were just old regular slabs that you would find in any home. But one thing stuck to her mind and it was

something she read back during her investigation. The hippogriffs were known for their excellent acrobatics and even their agility. She knew that each slab looked more spaced out upon looking ahead and thought that maybe “this” was the answer to not getting a axe to her face and becoming a darekabob. But finding out which one was the right one and the wrong was another problem she had to find the answer to. She took her thoughts and looked and then noticed that the lights were dimmed on the end then here with it was brighter. And upon a clear look with squinted eyes, she noticed claw scratches on different ones. Curious she turned off the lights by using her hat as a means to knock the torches out and then the room became dark. But then a light appeared and it was a blueish Colour one that illuminated everything else. Then daring could see what looked like a bunch of scratches on different slabs and taking a leap of faith (literally) jumped and landed on one

of the slabs and expected the worse. To her amazement nothing happened and she was safe. “Right, now to continue with this… careful on each step.” Daring said sweating as she jumped for each step and then making her way over to it using both her front and back hooves to gallantly make her way across. When she reached the end of the tunnel she sighed and then came to the statue and upon closer inspection noticed that it lost all of it's color. Daring then used her hoof to dust off it and then notices a message carved into it. "The queen will protect us, from the one of storms." Daring read as she wrote it down in her notes and as she moved her hoof she heard a click sound and the statue moved. She turned around and noticed the statue had a opening underneath and her not knowing this made Daring feel a little naïve at first. She began her decent into the unknown in search of a possible clue or even the treasure she was bent on finding.

As she made her down the stairs and past the endless hallways that surrounded her new surroundings. Daring came across a golden door and upon examining it, noticed that the door required a key to open it. Daring pulled out a little machine which was meant to pick locks, that had costed her 20 bits and a couple of her rations but at this moment she knew that it was worth it. Daring inserted it inside the keyhole and watched as it did the job it was designed for opening it. Upon it clicking and the door opening daring walked inside to find whatever secrets lied in front of her. But to her shock. she found herself in the once place that made her entire trip here worth it.

Gems, gold, historic books and even old portraits. It was a archeologist dream as Daring stared up and down excited to be the first to read or even find any of this stuff. She began to look at the many books unaffected by the age of time or decay and scrolled through the pages enticed in the contents that they held. But nothing of these caliber could change than the bright object that was held by 2 wings of what looked Pegasus's or even Hippogriffs. Upon closer inspection the item appeared to be a orb a golden orb incased with inscriptions and even markings. Daring took her notebook out and began to draw the marks and even what it looked like in order to make sure that she knew what it was in case this was the last time. She tried to pull it out and upon that she could feel it begin to vibrate and the shock caught Daring off and it fell out of her hooves onto the floor.

BANG! That was the first noise that caught to Daring and when she opened her eyes from it she saw the orb on the ground and when she was about to grab it, a torch fell and the orb lit on fire. "NO!" Daring yelled in fear as she tried to smother the flames to preserve the relic, only to see a bright orange light appear above her. Daring observed the light as it began to form what looked like stars, but not ones you would see in the sky at night. The stars looked almost like a message engraved within as many texts that daring used to read within the old text books before she began her search for the Sapphire Stone about 4 years ago.