Daring Do: Shadows Over Equestria

by PonyJosiah13

Enigma of the Everfree Expedition Part Two: The Stones of the Everfree

The first day of spring break dawned cool and crisp over Ponyville, a brisk wind making the crop fields to the south shudder and whisper. Even with the sun barely cresting the horizon, workers were already tending to the apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres, bucking the trees and ferrying baskets of crimson apples to and fro between the larger wagons.

A trail of dust marked the path of a Jeep down Winesap River Road, which ran parallel to its namesake, the crystalline waters babbling their way to the south. Within the boundary marked by the river, there was a stretch of untended land, overgrown weeds waving in the wind.

And beyond that, a dense wall of trees and shadows beneath a canopy of dark green leaves that never fell even in winter.

Daring Do stared at the Everfree Forest through the windshield of Caballeron’s Jeep, her heart pattering against her chest with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

“Evidence of a previous civilization in the Everfree Forest!” Caballeron was saying. “Even a new language to translate and transcribe! Ay, I cannot wait to see Dean Paper’s face when we return from spring break with a new discovery!” He laughed. “And of course, I’m sure having our names splashed across the Ponyville Chronicle’s front page again will be a nice bonus.”

“Let’s find it first,” Daring smiled. “This still could be no more exciting than that fresco in the Fillypines that you were sure was a treasure map. We did learn a bit about the previous cultures there, but it wasn’t exactly front-page material.”

Caballeron frowned. “Yes, we at least had something to make up for that farce,” he grumbled. “All that time and effort wasted on a false lead, another blow to my reputation...”

“Hey, at least it wasn’t more embarrassing than me wiping out trying kiteboarding!” Daring grinned.

Caballeron’s stony expression didn’t change. Daring sighed and returned to looking out the windshield.

“There they are,” she said, pointing.

Twilight, Spike, and Zecora were waiting on the opposite side of an old stone bridge that crossed the Winesap River, both of them bearing saddlebags and backpacks. Twilight waved as they approached, beaming in delight.

“Ah, and so we begin,” Caballeron smiled as he drove across the bridge and parked the Jeep in the weed-encrusted remnants of a small lot.

“Good morning!” Twilight chirped as Daring and Caballeron disembarked.

“Morning,” Daring nodded as she and Caballeron began to haul their own bags from the back of the vehicle. “You sure you’re all packed up?”

“I have everything we need!” Twilight declared. “I triple-checked the list and prepared for every scenario!”

“Even the lack of sleep from being up all night packing, unpacking, and repacking everything?” Spike grumbled, blinking heavily.

“You have any weapons?” Daring asked, pulling the case for her .38 from the bag and pulling out the revolver and holster, securing it to her body.

“Well, I do have a knife,” Twilight said after a moment of hesitation, pulling a pocketknife out of a holster on her saddlebag holder.

Caballeron blinked at the small knife, then at the sawed-off Whinnychester Model 1901 he had pulled out of the back of his Jeep. “I doubt that that will deter a timberwolf, chica,” he pointed out, slinging the shotgun over his shoulder.

“I’m a graduate of the Royal Academy of Magic. I can handle myself,” Twilight declared defensively.

“And she’s got a flying, fire-breathing dragon with her,” Spike declared, spreading his wings, though Daring noted that his smile was rather forced.

Daring and Caballeron frowned at each other but shrugged after a moment of consideration. “All right, just stay close to us,” Daring instructed as they finished hauling out bags.

“Of course, Professor,” Twilight nodded.

“If we’re ready, then we’ll depart,” Zecora said. “At my hut is where we’ll start. Follow close and soon we’ll see if we can reach the end of this mystery.”

The group trooped to the edge of the forest, the trees towering over them like the watchtowers of a castle. Zecora pushed a couple of bushes aside, revealing a well-beaten path through the woods.

Spike let out a nervous chuckle, eyes darting into every shadow. “Oh, Spike, relax,” Twilight scoffed. “You’ve been down this way plenty of times.”

“Just because nothing happens five times doesn’t mean nothing will ever happen,” Spike pointed out, leaning down as Twilight entered the path, with Caballeron and Daring behind her.

“How far is your hut, Zecora?” Caballeron asked, rushing up to the zebra.

“Very close, a mere few minutes’ walk,” Zecora reported. “We should have some time to talk.”

“Excelente. How did you find these stones?”

“We were doing a survey of the flora and soil, and spotted the stones amid our toil,” Zecora explained. “The stone was of an unnatural shape and upon its marks did Twilight gape.”

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!” Twilight squeed. “Proof of an established civilization, deep within the Everfree Forest!”

“It could’ve just been one pony who made it,” Daring pointed out.

“I don’t think so,” Twilight countered. “A single creature wouldn’t have felt the need or necessarily could move stones that large and carve it by themselves.”

“Everything will soon be told,” Zecora declared, pushing aside a bush. “But for now, welcome to my abode.”

Zecora’s hut was illuminated by a pair of torches, their bright orange flames smelling of sweetgrass. Jars of various colors dangled from the branches, and a large carved mask placed next to the door greeted them as they arrived.

“Those are Everlast Torches, aren’t they?” Twilight asked, admiring the torches. “Did you make them yourself?”

“Some ground mushrooms and a base of loam, and now I have a light to guide me home,” Zecora smiled.

“You’re from the western Zebrican tribes, right?” Daring asked, examining the mask, which depicted a large white face with pupilless eyes, no mouth, and crowned with lightning. “I recognize this style.”

“Yes, I am from the Farasi tribe,” Zecora confirmed. “It is to their beliefs that I ascribe. This mask is for the arusi of thunder, whose gaze we are all under. It is him we thank for the wind and the rain and invoke to avenge an innocent’s pain.”

“Arusi? So you’re a dibia?” Daring asked, taking note of the gourd swinging from Zecora’s staff.

Zecora’s face briefly twisted into a frown. “I was called that formerly, but am no longer one formally. The reasons for these are mine, and answers for that I will decline.”

“I see,” Daring nodded, slowly.

“Shall we proceed?” Caballeron asked. “Where is the monolith, Twilight?”

Twilight checked her map and compass. “It’s this way!” she declared, pointing to the southeast, already setting forth.

The others fell in line behind her, proceeding through the dense forest in a single line. They weaved around trees, clambered over tangled roots as thick as a pony’s foreleg, and skirted around enormous rocks that Caballeron paused to study, only to walk away disappointed when they showed no evidence of having been tooled. Daring kept her camera out, periodically snapping photographs of their progress.

After a few hours of trekking, they paused beside a pool of crystal blue water to take a breather. Zecora trickled some white powder into the pool and when there was no change, announced that the water was safe to drink.

“This pond wasn’t here last time the last time we went through here,” Twilight mused, pulling out a test tube and taking a sample of the water. She swirled it around with a frown, then pulled out her map and started making adjustments. “At this rate, I’m gonna run out of erasers,” she mumbled.

Daring took her camera out and snapped a photograph of the group at rest; Twilight at her map, Zecora sitting with her hooves clasped in meditation, Spike waving at the camera, and Caballeron pouring the contents of his canteen onto his bandana and tying it back around his neck. “That’s a keeper,” she smiled, taking a long draught from her own canteen.

“How much farther to the stones?” Caballeron asked.

“Assuming they haven’t moved,” Spike mumbled to himself as he pulled out a couple of topaz gems and munched them down.

“Not much farther,” Twilight reassured him. “No more than an hour’s walk.”

“Then we should continue,” Caballeron declared, screwing the cap of his canteen back on and shouldering it. “This discovery should not be kept wait–”

“Watch it!” Daring shouted, jumping back as she spotted movement beneath a tangle of tree roots. A long dark green and brown serpent, thick as a steel pipe and long enough to wind its length around a car, slithered across the leaves and roots. It turned an amber eye upon the explorers, its massive tongue flicking in and out of its mouth as the vertical pupil regarded them impassionately.

“SNAKE!” Twilight screamed, backpedaling away until her back struck a tree, which she clung to. Spike flapped out of reach, watching the snake with wide eyes.

“Be calm, be still, don’t make such ado,” Zecora chuckled. “Our serpentine friend is just passing through.”

Indeed, the snake seemed to decide that the intruders weren’t anything to be concerned with, as it wrapped its formidable form around a tree and slithered up it without a backward glance, disappearing into the canopy.

Daring smirked at Twilight and Spike, who both deflated in relief and sheepishly returned to the group. “So…should we get going?” Twilight asked through a forced grin.

“Sí, vamonos,” Caballeron declared, already setting off.

“Doctor Caballeron, wait! Not that way!” Twilight protested, chasing after him.

Daring Do sighed as she screwed the cap back onto her full canteen and holstered it, taking off after the others. “Your friend seems rather impatient,” Zecora commented, falling into step next to Daring. “Though at least he is not complacent.”

“He’s been like that for years,” Daring admitted. “Always rushing off to try and find the next treasure, always certain that he’s one great discovery away from striking it rich and becoming the next big name in archaeology.”

“If he is such a glory hog, then why do you follow along?” Zecora asked.

“He’s been my mentor since I became a student at the Golden Oaks University,” Daring replied with a fond smile. “He taught me a lot and was my biggest advocate when I applied to be a professor. And even if he’s got a swollen head, he’s a damn good archaeologist.” Her smile turned mischievous. “Maybe Cabbie’s just a bit worried that us younger archaeologists will steal his thunder!”

Caballeron’s ears flattened slightly, then he turned around and shot Daring a smug grin in reply. “As if, ¡chica! The only way I’d be worried is if Compass Rose got off the page and–”

A distant howl suddenly reverberated through the woods, causing everyone to freeze. For several seconds, all was still and silent in the woods.

“What was that?” Caballeron whispered.

“A timberwolf,” Twilight replied. “One of the native fauna of the Everfree Forest.”

“Our friend is thankfully far away,” Zecora said, relaxing. “But in this place we should not–”

Another howl sounded, this one much louder and closer. The distorted sound made the hairs on the back of Daring’s neck stand up, ice running down her spine.

“Oh, no,” Twilight whispered, her eyes widening.

“They’re coming,” Zecora glared, gripping her staff with both hooves.

Daring Do drew her revolver from its holster, securing the strap with her teeth; with her right hoof, she drew her stockwhip, letting it uncoil loosely by her side. Caballeron pulled out the shotgun, rising up onto his hind legs. Twilight’s horn lit up bright violet and she crouched down, her breath coming heavy and rapid through her nostrils; Spike stood at her side, licking his lips as his wide eyes stared into the coming darkness.

A venomous green glow shone from the darkness, accompanied by a low growl that Daring felt in her gut. Caballeron turned and fired at the glow, the deafening gunshot echoing through the forest. The glowing eyes vanished with a snarl.

Too late, Daring felt movement behind them. She whirled around in time to see a set of wooden fangs lunging at her face. Fangs that were connected to a massive body of sticks and bark haphazardly slapped together in a rough pastiche that only vaguely resembled the shape of a wolf.

“BACK!” she roared, dropping backward and snapping her wings at her foe in a motion that she’d practiced a thousand times since she was ten. A powerful gust of wind rushed from her wings and slammed into the timberwolf like a cannonball. It tumbled through the air with a snarl, slamming to the ground as Daring rolled back to her hooves, already snapping her revolver to the target.

The timberwolf scrambled to its paws, glaring at her and snarling. The unnatural way its motley body moved, like a masterfully manipulated puppet, was both fascinating and unsettling to watch; by any measure, the impossible thing should not be able to move at all, and yet it did, with a strange, almost mechanical movement. It fixed its glowing gaze on Daring, thick sap running from its snout.

Daring pressed down on the stirrup trigger twice and the revolver kicked, one after the other. The timberwolf shrieked as both rounds struck it in the eye, splinters flying from the wound, but it determinedly lunged at Daring, heavy steps crashing against the ground.

“He-yah!” Zecora shouted, dashing in and whirling her staff around. Her strike slammed into the knee of one of the timberwolf’s hind legs. The leg shattered into splinters and the timberwolf howled as it crashed to the ground, throwing up dirt.

Bright purple chains manifested in midair and wrapped around the timberwolf’s flailing limbs, pinning it to the ground. “I got it!” Twilight cried between grunts of effort, the strain on her face illuminated by the glow of her horn.

Zecora’s hoof darted into her bag and she whipped out a small green ceramic jar, freeing the top with a pop. She dumped a glowing white liquid on the monster’s forehead; the liquid spread across the beast’s body like mercury running from a shattered thermometer, almost as though it had a mind of its own.

The timberwolf shuddered, and then the glow faded from its uninjured eye. The heap of wood collapsed on itself, animate no more.

“Watch out!” Twilight screamed, pointing.

Daring spun to face the second timberwolf as it charged from behind, but another thunderclap shook the forest and the monster fell onto its side as its shoulder and part of its torso were suddenly shredded.

Caballeron spun the lever of his Whinnychester around his hoof as he approached the beast, his expression as calm as one who was simply disposing of the trash. The timberwolf raised a head in time for Caballeron to press the muzzle of the gun against his forehead and pull the trigger. The timberwolf’s head flew apart with another flash of fire and thunder and the pile of wood spilled across the forest floor, small fires flickering at some of the splinters.

“Anyone hurt?” Caballeron asked, reloading his shotgun.

“I’m fine,” Daring replied.

“I am luckily unhurt, thanks for being alert,” Zecora reported.

“I-I’m fine,” Twilight stammered, slowly relaxing. “Wait…where’s Spike?”

Spike popped his head out of a nearby bush. “Are they gone?” he asked.

Daring snorted. “Brave dragon, huh?”

Spike blushed, cringing as he made his way back to Twilight’s side.

“It’s best not to stick around,” Zecora said. “Come, let us tread more ground.”

“Right. This way,” Twilight said, turning and leading them back on the trail.

“Where’d you learn to do that wind attack?” Caballeron asked.

“When I was ten, my uncle brought me on a trip to Nippony,” Daring explained. “I made friends with the daughter of a local sensei of kaze-do, a pegasus martial art that uses wind and weather magic to fight. She taught me a few tricks.”

“Such a varied education you have had, amiga,” Caballeron commented.

“Life’s about learning, Cabbie,” Daring replied. “Whenever and whatever you can.”

“Yes, knowledge is power, after all,” Caballeron replied.

Sciencia sit potentia. The motto flashed across Daring’s mind, accompanied by the vision of a golden sphinx glaring down at her, and she flinched at the image.

“Daring? What’s wrong?” Caballeron asked.

Daring shook the vision off, letting out a self-recriminating growl. “I’m okay,” she said.

“Zecora, that potion of yours was most intriguing,” Caballeron commented to the zebra.

“A mixture to dispel the magic animating that bark,” Zecora answered. “My own invention, I’m sure you will mark. After many years living among these trees, I’ve learned it’s best to be prepared, see?”

“Too true,” Caballeron admitted. “But as I am not a master alchemist like you, I will stick to the Whinnychester.”

“We’re almost there!” Twilight called from up ahead.

A brief scramble over a line of boulders with trees growing from the cracks and Daring Do paused, staring in amazement. The photographs that Twilight had shown her did not do the standing stones true justice; before her stood the ruined stela, three feet high, the gray of the stone harshly contrasting against the greens and browns of the trees and vines. Behind were the massive menhirs, each twenty feet tall at the least, with the massive slabs within, their surfaces smoothed like tables.

“There you are,” Caballeron breathed, darting for the artifacts. He circled the stone, examining it from every angle. “We should begin with this.”

Daring snapped some pictures up close, frowning. “Hmm…the angles where the stone came off are too sharp. It doesn’t look like this fell apart due to erosion.”

“You’re right,” Caballeron frowned. “This looks more like this stela was…smashed apart.”

“If that’s the case, there might be other pieces nearby,” Daring theorized. “We should look around and see if we can find any pieces of the stela.”

“Brilliant!” Twilight cried, lighting up her horn. A grid of purple lines appeared, hovering over the ground. “We’ll do an organized search, grid by grid, in a true archaeological fashion! We’ll search them one by one; it could take hours! We’ll leave no stone unturned!”

She grinned at the others, who all simply stared back at her. “Get it? Because we’re looking for…ugh, never mind,” she grumbled.

“Let’s get some photographs first,” Daring said, setting up her camera tripod. “Then we can start digging.”

“Great. That gives me some time to work on this,” Twilight said, extracting some copper wire and a set of mirrors from her pack.

“What’s that?” Daring asked.

“Equipment for a teleport beacon,” Twilight explained, lining the wire in a circle on the ground nearby. “I didn’t think to bring it last time we came this way, but now, I’ll be able to teleport right to the stones from almost anywhere else, and I can bring ponies back and forth with me! Much more efficient!”

“And safer,” Spike admitted as Twilight started placing the mirrors at equidistant points around the circle.

Zecora placed her saddlebag down and took out a small incense burner on a tripod, which she loaded with several green sticks and lit with a match while whispering incantations beneath her breath. Smoke began to gently waft from the burner, carrying a sharp, sweet aroma that reminded Daring of citrus and pine sap.

“This enchanted smell will all monsters repel,” Zecora reported. “From my home comes this collection which is useful for protection.”

Daring shifted to make sure that her revolver was still in easy reach, briefly pausing to listen to the constant chorus of insects and birds around them. From somewhere in the distance, there came a long ululation of a hungry beast. “I sure hope it works,” she commented, adjusting the focus on her camera.

The sun slowly traveled across the sky, the shadows amidst the forest slowly crawling across the ground as they worked. One by one, they cleared each square, scraping away at the ground with trowels and brushes. Yet, despite hours of work, they failed to find any traces of the granite.

“Is this your normal toil?” Zecora asked, dusting off another rock. “Digging around in the soil?”

“Archaeology is a lot of work,” Daring admitted. “But yeah, it involves a lot of digging around.”

“It’s just like searching for buried treasure,” Caballeron beamed.

“If you count pottery shards, scraps of fabric, and rusty tools as treasure,” Spike commented, flexing his dirt-covered claws.

“They are treasure, Spike,” Daring answered. “Even the littlest pieces can give us valuable clues on how ancient cultures lived. You find pieces of porcelain from Nippony in a site in Griffonia, for example, that would tell you that they had trade routes.”

“Of course, one does occasionally find actual treasure,” Caballeron smiled. “Such as the crown of King Summer Stream that we found in the Hawklands Archipelago, Daring.”

“Ah, pina coladas on the white beaches after searching for clues in caves teeming with snakes and swimming through a coral reef infested with barracuda,” Daring grinned back.

“Wow,” Spike gasped, eyes wide. “That sounds like something out of a Compass Rose novel!”

“You must have many adventurous stories from your time outside of laboratories,” Zecora remarked.

Daring looked back down at the dirt to try to hide her flushing cheeks. As she brushed away more dirt, a flash of unnatural gray caught her eye. Heart leaping, she excitedly scraped away more detritus and was rewarded by a chunk of unnaturally smooth granite, faint etchings of letters, and what looked like part of a circle still visible upon it.

“Here!” she called, pulling away more dirt to fully expose her prize. Everyone gathered around, gaping at the little stone.

“Hooray, we found one!” Twilight cheered, marking the find with a small violet dot of light floating over the stone.

“There must be more nearby!” Caballeron declared, seizing his trowel and practically diving back into the dirt. “Venga, venga, we have work to do!”

As if Daring’s discovery had been a push, they quickly began discovering more and more fragments of granite, each of which was carefully marked, photographed, and excavated.

Twilight paused to examine the pattern of the floating purple orbs around them. “Hmm…it looks like the stones are just scattered around. Like whoever smashed it just threw the pieces around.”

“We might have enough to start to rebuild the stela!” Caballeron declared as he took a photograph of the latest one.

Daring looked up through the canopy at the setting sun. “That might have to wait until tomorrow, Cabbie. It’s getting dark. We should probably set up camp for the night and start in the morning.”

“Does that mean we get to break for dinner?” Spike groaned.

“Once we get the tents all set up,” Daring said, stretching her wings out and looking around. “There’s a good place to set up,” she declared, nodding towards a nearby patch of flat grass.

The sun was starting to fully sink beneath the horizon by the time they finished setting up the tents. Beneath the glow of enchanted lanterns, Daring watched in mild amusement as Twilight painstakingly tested each bit of kindling to ensure that it wasn’t green.

“Optimally, we should build it in this direction,” Twilight declared, crafting a fire pit of stones upwind of the camp. She pulled out a package of prepackaged tinder made of sawdust and paper and set it in the center of the circle, then began to painstakingly construct a teepee of kindling around it.

Daring snickered. “You haven’t been camping before, have you?” she asked.

“Well, no,” Twilight admitted. “But I did read a lot of books about it! This is the optimal design for creating a campfire. We just need to–”

There was a sharp cough and suddenly the campfire was ablaze with crackling emerald flames. Spike raised an eyebrow at Twilight, then returned to his comic book.

“Bring a dragon, apparently,” Daring commented as she, Caballeron, and Zecora all laughed.

Zecora pulled out a small bag of seeds and a vial of glowing blue liquid with a dropper. She planted the seeds in the ground around her, then added a drop of the liquid to each with the dropper. The seeds sprouted and bloomed in moments, some turning into onion stalks, others growing vines that drooped with ripe bell peppers.

“Fantastico,” Caballeron breathed as Twilight grabbed a notebook and eagerly scribbled down notes. “And all I’ve ever managed with my own magic are some tiny flowers.”

“A lot of work does the harvest prelude,” Zecora admitted, picking the fruits of her labors. “But a prepared alchemist will always have food.”

While Zecora started work on dinner, boiling a stew on a pot over the campfire, Daring went into her one-mare tent. She dug around in the bags carefully stacked in the corner and extracted a small, battered suitcase. “There you are,” she grinned, opening it up and revealing a small portable typewriter and a stack of paper. Briefly making sure that the others were occupied with their own tasks, Daring inserted a sheet of clean paper, stretched her hooves out, and began to type.

A chorus of night birds and insects continued to sound from the darkness around Compass Rose. She shivered and huddled up against the monolith, clinging to her blanket as she stared into the shadows. While it was hardly a lullaby, the ambiance was, in a way, comforting. It meant that there weren’t any predators or mercenaries around.

“Thanks for the matches, Bellicose,” she muttered, taking the half-empty box out of her saddlebags and striking a single match. The fragile little flame seemed blindingly bright in the darkness of the jungle; Compass set it to the wicks of her survival candle, the only source of heat and light for the night as long as her rival’s mooks were on the hunt for her.

But before she tucked the candle beneath the blanket, Compass couldn’t help but look up at the etchings on the stone. The curling script tantalized her with the promise of mystery and discovery; even as exhausted as she was, Compass’ mind buzzed with the possibilities of what the strange stone was saying. She reached up a hoof and ran it over a central carving of a dog-like creature with another paw on its tail.

“What are you?” Daring Do whispered.

Daring Do paused, blinking. How did that happen?

“What’re you writing, Professor?” Twilight called from the circle of books where she was jotting down notes of their excavation.

“Schoolwork,” Daring Do replied. “Just wrapping up a couple of other things and working on reports for this trip.”

A wondrous aroma of stewed vegetables and fish intruded on her senses and made her mouth water. “Wow, Zecora, that smells great,” Daring smiled, turning to the zebra happily stirring the bubbling pot.

“Efo riro, made from bell peppers, onions, and crayfish,” Zecora beamed. “I hope, my friends, that you will find it delish.”

“It sure smells delish!” Spike declared, dropping his comic book and hurrying over, joined by Twilight and Caballeron.

Daring looked down at the page that she had just written, then sighed and grabbed a roll of white-out. She rubbed out the last two sentences and rolled the page back to write it over.

Buried isn’t the same as gone, Daring.

“Not now, Uncle Ad,” Daring grumbled as she joined the others for dinner.

Author's Note:

Ah, it's good to be writing Zecora! I've waited a long time to include her in these stories, and my chance is here at last. She'll have a lot of important roles to play in the future, I assure you!

As of now, Daring has a leg up on Lara Croft and Indiana Jones: she does actual archaeology! It might not be that exciting, but it certainly does set up a good mystery. I hope that you're looking forward to more!