The Death of Daring Do: The Engine of Eternity

by DuncanR

Part 17: "Thus died Derring-Do."

Rainbow Dash flew through the corridors and Derring-Do sprinted close behind her. The sounds of clashing metal and screaming voices faded into the distance.

"What is wrong with you!?" Derring shouted. "You could see the sky! You could have just flown out of there!"

"I can't just leave you behind! We're a team, and we'll stick together no matter what!"

"Professor Walski is about to gain control of a machine that can create an army of immortal, invincible ponies! We have to warn the princess, no matter what happens to us!"

"I've got a plan." Dash tapped the side of her head. "It's all up here. Trust me, it's a good one."

Derring glared at her, furious. "You! Can! Fly! Just leave me behind and go back to Canterlot!"

"I don't have to leave you! If we can get to the zeppelin and steal a plane, you can fly it back with me. You’re a pilot!"

"And what if the soldiers on the zeppelin capture us? What then!?"

"Zweibrücker's troops are all in the temple," she said, "so there'll only be a few guards left. We can take 'em by surprise!"

"Except for the minor insignificant detail that I can't get to the zeppelin because I can't fly, and you can't carry me!"

"Relax, okay? I'm still figuring that out! Maybe you can use one of those grapple guns!"

"Aargh!" Derring-Do skidded to a halt. "Would you just let go!?"

Dash came to a halt and looked back at her, wide eyed. "W-what?"

Derring pointed at her and opened her mouth to speak, but a sudden rumbling cut her off. The corridor snapped apart in the middle and exposed them to the open air. Dash hovered in place, but Derring-Do went tumbling over the edge: she scrambled to grab hold of something, but fell down.

Dash dove down and snatched her legs, straining to keep aloft. She glided down to a platform below and they landed in a heap.

Dash looked around. "Why is everything moving again?"

"Look out!"

Derring-Do tackled Dash from the side and knocked her out of the way as a massive bronze pendulum swung towards them: it missed them by several inches and scraped the floor of the platform with a shrieking spray of sparks.

Dash shook her head, and a glint of silver caught her eye. She looked up at the grid of shafts and mechanisms above and saw the cult leader standing in the mouth of a corridor. He peered down at them, offered a bored little wave, and turned to examine a nearby set of switches.

"Ohh... that's not good."

"What are you waiting for?" Derring said. "Fly up there and kick his flank!"

"After we've gotten you to safety!"

Derring took off her helmet and smacked it against Dash's jaw. "You're like a dog with a bone, aren't you!? You're so obsessed over this one little thing that you're totally blind to the big picture!"

Rainbow Dash stamped a hoof. "No! I won't let you go! Not like this!"

"You represent loyalty, don't you? Well you need to figure out where your loyalties truly lie: with me, or the entire nation! You can't have it both ways!"

"No, I... no!" Dash took a step back. "There has to be a way! There always is!"

The platform they were standing on gave way and swung down, hanging from one edge. Derring let out a yelp as she fell down, and Dash darted down and grabbed her front leg. This time, there were no other platforms below them: nowhere to glide to. Dash slid down the platform with her and hooked her free foreleg around a stone strut. They dangled in the air together, thousands of yards up.

Dash clenched her teeth and struggled to keep hold of Derring-Do. "Too... heavy!"

Derring Do unclasped her saddlebags and watched them vanish into the expanse of clouds below. She looked up at Dash, terrified. "I don't have anything else!"

"Climb up me! Quickly!"

Derring reached up with her free foreleg. There was a flash of light and a searing bolt of purple lightning smashed against a nearby wall. They looked up at the cult leader, chanting and waving his hooves. A vortex of dark, chaotic energy gathered around the headpiece of his staff.

Sweat trickled down Dash's face. "Hurry! There's not much time!"

Derring-Do looked up at her. Her voice was soft. "All this time, you've been holding me up... and I've just been holding you back."

"What!?"

"Please, Dash... find my sister. You have to tell her--"

"You'll tell her yourself!"

"I'll be fine, Dash. Really." Derring-Do smiled up at her. "I've always wanted to fly again."

Derring-Do's foreleg went limp. Rainbow Dash watched her tumble through the air... there was no thrashing or screaming. The sheer force of wind stretched her wings open, like the instinctive reflex of a newborn pegasus being lifted into the air, but her feathers failed to catch the air.

Before she even knew what she was doing Rainbow Dash braced her hind legs against the underside of the platform and kicked against it, hurtling herself straight down. She tucked her wings close and dove like a peregrine falcon. She could hear herself screaming, furiously, but the sound of her voice was distant and detached. The distance between them closed, and they fell into the thick white clouds together. Dash saw the faint silhouette of Derring's body directly ahead of her, haunting and hazy. She could see her tousled grey hair whipping in the wind. Her eyes were closed.

She reached out for her, bracing for impact, but collided with a puff of moisture instead. She burst from the underside of the cloud and scanned the ground below: a bleak, glacial wasteland as far as the eye could see. She darted back and forth, searching for the slightest sign of motion. She flew in a wide circle and searched the ground below, but the heavy snow obscured all.

"Derring?" she said. Her voice was warbled and twisted. She cupped her hooves around her mouth and raised her voice. "Derring-Do! Can you hear me!"

She hovered in place, perfectly still, and listened to the hushed whistle of the wind. There was nothing left to see.

Rainbow Dash streaked up at a breakneck pace, her throat raw and bloody from screaming. She burst out of the top of the cloud and rippled the air with a disc of shattered sound, and arced towards the side of the airborne temple: even at this distance, her eagle's eyes caught the high priest without error. She streaked towards him, a living missile, unthinking of the hard stone obstacle behind him.

"You!!" she roared.

The high priest took a single step backwards and moved a nearby switch: a grid of heavy bronze bars slid down between them, and Dash slammed against the metal with a deafening clang. She leaped to her feet and rammed the bars repeatedly, kicking her hind legs against them with the weight and strength of her entire body. The bars yielded not, and she collapsed against them.

The priest watched her, patiently, as she gasped for breath.

"Thus died Derring-Do."

Rainbow Dash snapped her head up and looked at him: her rich, purple eyes flashed with volcanic fury. "How could anypony do such a thing!?" she yelled. "You don't even know what you've done, do you!? You don't even care!"

"The caged bird sings with a fearful trill," he said, "of things unknown but longed for still. And his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings... of freedom."

"You shut your mouth!"

"You have my condolences... truly. But comfort yourself with the knowledge that your friend's sacrifice was not in vain: she allowed herself to die so that you might live, and—because I lack the prowess to end you here and now—I have no choice but to let you escape. But I do hope the knowledge that you were responsible for her death will keep you warm and cozy at night, throughout the rest of your living days."

Rainbow Dash stood up and braced herself, despite the burning pain in her muscles... but a chill ran through her as she saw movement behind the high priest: a trickle of fine sand falling from between the blocks in the ceiling, glittering like gold dust in the light of day. Her eyes opened wide and she took a step backwards.

"That's more like it," he said. "Much as I would love to sit and chat, I have a professor to kill... we can't allow Miss Walski to waltz off with the prize, can we?"

Dash watched the pile of sand gathering on the floor behind him, and saw strips of cloth slithering out of it. "Look behind you! There's—"

He frowned at her. "You don't honestly expect me to fall prey to such a primitive ruse, do you? Please give me some credit, at least."

"This isn't a trick, you dweeb!" Dash pressed up against the bar, frantically. "You're gonna want to open the door real soon now, I swear!"

He let out a derisive snort. "Do give my regards to your beloved princess. We'll be visiting her—and her sister—very soon."

He pulled a lever and a thick stone slab slid down in front of the bronze bars. Just before it closed off completely, Dash saw a set of dainty, feminine hooves approaching the high priest from behind. She stumbled away from the door and spread her wings. She flinched as a shrill, terrified scream came from behind her, barely audible through the heavy stone door.

This has to stop.

She took to the air and flew up high.

Professor Walski scowled at the engine of eternity through her dark goggles, adjusting the levers one at a time. The prism was still suffused with light, but far less brightly than before. The pulsing was slower: less like a heartbeat, and more like the breath of a slumbering pony.

"Princess walski!"

She spun around to look at the robed underling. "What is it now!?"

He bowed his head. "Our agents report that the primary etherium chamber is still at near-full capacity, and the release valve is open."

"Then why isn't the engine working!?" she snapped. "The machine is calibrated, the prism is positioned, and the energy beam is flowing into the core at full strength. There must be a problem with the valves! Look again!"

"We have searched the chambers three times already," he said, "but found no sign of damage or malfunction. Are you sure the engine is—"

"Yes, I'm certain! The engine is my problem to worry about!" She turned back to the prism. "What about the secondary etherium chambers? What condition are they in?"

"Most of them are functional," he said.

She turned back to him. "Most of them?" she said. "What about the rest?"

"Forgive us, princess, but many of Zweibrücker's guards fled into the lower chambers. Their attempts to recapture the temple have made things... difficult."

Perez let out a strangled cry. "Clear them out, and check the secondary chambers! Do whatever it takes!"

"Yes, my princ—"

"Just go!" she snapped. "And somepony find the high priest! He was supposed to be back here ten minutes ago!"

The underling gave her a brief little bow and sprinted to the nearest exit.

"What an idiot I am," she muttered to herself. "This machine takes forever to make a single drop of elixir, and I wasted it on Zeibrucker! I should have just shoved him off a ledge or something."

She threw a switch and watched as the intense beam of light struck a facet of the prism and reflected onto one of several mirrors build into the gyroscopic rings. The beam shone as before, but the prism's glow remained soft.

She lowered her goggles, scrunched her eyes shut and tapped her hoof against the bridge of her nose. I can figure this out. It's only a matter of—

She heard something clatter behind her, like a discarded stone. She looked around the room for several seconds: a few of her guards continued to stand watch by the doors, and a few others patrolled around the platform. Nothing was out of place.

She turned back the the engine. A moment later, she heard a faint rustle. She looked up just as a silver spear fell to the floor with a clatter. The guard was nowhere to be seen.

Perez pursed her lips. "Hm. Probably nothing," she said as she turned back to the engine.

She spun around, quick as lightning, and fired a crossbow pistol across the room just as a rainbow-colored trail zipped behind a stone pillar. There were several thumps and a strangled yelp: a pair of guards flew out from behind the pillar and landed on the ground, unconscious. She glanced left and right, and saw no other guards left standing.

She re-drew the steel cable of her crossbow pistol and squinted at the far wall. "I know you're there, Miss Dash. There's no sense in drawing this out any further."

Rainbow Dash pressed her back against the stone column. A tiny drip of blood dripped onto the side of her head, and she looked up in shock: there was a nick in her ear. She looked to the side and saw the crossbow bolt stuck in the wall. It had pierced through three inches of solid stone.

"You're pretty good with that thing, aren't you?"

"A crack shot," Perez called back, "even at six hundred yards. You're fast, I'll give you that, but I doubt even you can out-fly an arrow. Not from a standing start, at least."

"You wanna find out for sure?"

Dash heard a light, wooden thump beside her, and a hissing sparkle lit up the floor. She glanced down at a bright red rod with a cord sticking out of it. She dove out from behind the pillar and streaked towards the next nearest obstacle. A whistle slipped past her, and something shaved a few hairs off her mane. She landed behind a section of broken wall just as a stick of dynamite landed on the floor: she flew past it and skidded to a halt on the floor. She looked left and right, frantically, but there was no cover on this side of the room. Nowhere to hide.

"Are you quite finished, miss Dash?"

She looked up at Perez, pistol at the ready.

Dash stood up, cautiously, and stroked the back of her hoof against her mouth. "She's dead because of you. You know that, right?"

Perez sighed. "I tried sending you back home without a fuss. But you just couldn't keep your nose out of somepony else's business, could you? This is the real world, little filly: you can't expect to get all your marbles back at the end."

"You could have stopped this from the very beginning!" Dash shouted. "She'd still be alive if it weren't for you! Do you think her family will be satisfied with that answer!?"

"Don't talk to me about loss!" Perez shouted. "I had a son once, do you hear me!? You don't know what it's like to bring life into this world! You can't imagine the pain! No mother should have to outlive their child!"

Robed guards began filing into the room, spears at the ready. Dash's eyes darted left and right as they surrounded her completely. "I'm sorry, Perez... I didn't know."

"You didn't know!" Perez shouted. "Never again, I swore! Never again! The princesses live forever, don't they? They were born with eternal life given to them on a silver platter, but I've earned this! I've worked long and hard for this!" Perez pointed at the heart of the engine. "And with the stars as my witness, nopony in equestria will take it from me!"

Something whipped through the air—a faint grey blur that flitted too quickly for the eye to follow—and there was an explosion of raw, untempered light. Everypony spun to look, awestruck, as an undirected beam of energy streamed up from the base of the engine and bored a hole through the ceiling.

"The prism!" Perez shouted. "Where is it? Where!?"

"...Take a wild guess."

Everypony looked up at open balcony to the ring of stone columns that supported the domed ceiling. Looming above them, against the backdrop of cloudy skies, was Daring Do: hanging onto the side of a pillar with one hoof and proudly holding up the prism with the other.

Rainbow Dash gasped. "You're alive!"

"Daring Do!" shouted Perez. "How many times do I have to kill you, mare!?"

"Just once oughta do it." Daring tossed the prism to herself and snatched it as it fell, as casually as one would flip a coin. "Seriously... dunno what your problem is."

Perez's face twisted with rage. "Destroy her!"

The robed guards let loose with a volley of heavy javelins. Daring Do kicked off against the column and leaped out of the way, tumbling and somersaulting along. She leaped and ducked and spun, and the gleaming missiles slipped past her harmlessly.

"What are you incompetent fools doing!?" Perez shouted. "Get up there and finish the job!"

Several of the cultists took up the heavy launchers they'd taken from Zweibrücker's troops, and fired a volley of grapple-chains at the base of the balcony. As soon as they attached, the horde began climbing up the chains like a horde of ants. Daring Do snatched up a discarded javelin and swung it down, slicing through the steel links like butter and sending half of her pursuers crashing to the floor below.

The other half swarmed up onto the balcony beside her, and she charged at them without a moment's hesitation: she reared up and pummeled them with a barrage of lightning fast kicks. She fought like a whirlwind, without mercy: grabbing robes, tripping hooves, throwing sand and dirt. They came at her with spears and daggers and she snatched up one of the severed grapple chains, whirling it around like a ball and chain. They scattered before her, slamming into the pillars and tumbling off the balcony. She hurled the end of her chain at a nearby stallion, and the grapple claw clamped tight around his neck and pulled him close: she reared up and threw him over her shoulder, sending him flailing through the air to crash into three other foes.

One of the cultists dropped his spear and staggered backwards. "The death-curse has given her power!" He turned and ran for the exit.

"She knows not fear!" another cried out. "Until the curse claims her, she cannot die!!"

"What is wrong with you incompetent fools!?" Perez shouted. "She's just one mare!"

The cultists cast aside their weapons and scrambled towards the various exits. Daring Do managed to beat a few of them senseless before they could escape, but soon she was the last pony standing.

She glanced around, panting from exhaustion. "Is that all? I guess they don't make cults like they used to."

Perez shouted up at her. "Give me the prism!"

"What, this?" Daring Do said with a smirk. "I'm sure I'll find a use for it. Paperweight, probably. It's a shame I don't have a pair: they'd make great bookends."

Perez pointed her crossbow at her.

"Ut-ut-ut!" Daring held the prism in front of herself. "You wouldn't risk damaging it, would you?"

"You think you can stop me?" Perez snarled. "What do you think this little interruption of yours will accomplish?"

"It's called a distraction," said Rainbow Dash.

Perez whipped around, but Dash slammed a hoof against her head. She staggered back from the blow and her crossbow fell to the floor below the platform.

Dash bounced back and for the slightly. "Whaddya think of that, huh? Where’re your bodyguards now, Perez?"

Perez leapt upright and delivered a left jab to Dash's jaw, instantly following it with a right cross: she'd moved quick as lightning. Dash reeled backwards, both eyes spinning.

Perez tossed her hat aside and assumed the solid stance of a professional boxer. "They were Zweibrücker's bodyguards," she said. "Bloody waste of time and money, if you ask me."

Perez stamped a hoof against Rainbow Dash's ribs and held her firmly in place. Her eyes bulged, and she struggled to push it off.

"What do you say, Daring? Give me the prism, and I'll let your friend live. Sound like a fair trade to you?"

Daring Do adjusted her helmet. "Are you kidding? She's Rainbow Dash. She can take care of herself just fine."

Perez took a second crossbow pistol out of her coat and pointed it between Rainbow Dash's eyes. Her struggling intensified. "This isn't a bluff, miss Do. I swear, I will kill her if nessecary."

Daring Do blew a lock of hair out of her face and rolled her eyes expansively. "What, like you killed me? You don't exactly have an impressive track record with this sort of thing."

"You wouldn't let her die." Perez's voice lowered to a guttural growl. "You wouldn't dare."

"I don't dare, Professor Walski." She hunkered down and smirked at her, eager. "I do!"

She leaped off the balcony with her wings outstretched and flew towards the central platform. Perez gasped in shock and swung her crossbow towards the new threat. Rainbow Dash immediately kicked her leg and knocked her off balance, just in time for Daring toslam into her: the two professors tumbled backwards in a tangle, thrashing frantically for control of the pistol crossbow.

"You impudent little upstart!" Perez scramed. "Do you have any idea what you've done!? I've waited thirty years for this day! You've ruined a lifetime of work!"

"You brought this ruin down on yourself!" shouted Daring. "You don't want to live forever! You don't want immortality! You're just afraid of dying! You already squandered one lifetime on this vain and selfish pursuit: what makes you think you'll do any better with a hundred thousand more!?"

Dash stared in awe as the two ponies shot to their feet, rearing up to slash at each other with their front hooves while the engine of eternity whirled above them. They traded a barrage of lightning quick blows, blocking and weaving like professional boxers. Perez's earth pony build gave her a crushing strength in spite of her age, but Daring Do moved with the quickness of a mongoose. Only a few of Perez's blows got through, but that was enough: Daring's face was soon badly bruised and there was a small bloody split in her lip.

Daring Do ducked down for a deceptive low blow, and Perez lowered down to block the attack... but the blow never came. Daring's right wing darted out like a scorpion’s tail, and the broad edge of it’s joint slammed into Perez's jaw like a sledgehammer. She fell over backwards, clutching at her cheek.

"Boxing with your wing!?" She looked up at her in a daze. "...That's against the rules!"

"Then I guess that makes me a cheater," Daring said. She leaped off the platform and flew towards the balcony. "Kindly move your flank, Miss Dash. We're in a bit of a hurry here."

Dash flew after her, smiling joyfully. "You can fly!? You can fly!"

"Let's not—whoop!" Daring's wing trembled, and she flew off kilter for a short distance. she landed on the balcony with an agonized wince.

Dash landed next to her. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," she said. "I can fly a little but, but it hurts like you wouldn't believe. It doesn't help that I have no idea how to fly."

"You coward!" Perez shouted after them. “Come back here and finish this!”

Daring looked back at the platform and winked at her. "Better luck next time, oldtimer! I'll send you a postcard from Canterlot!"

"Aaaurhg! I have had enough of you!!"

Professor Walski reared up and grabbed hold of a large strut sticking out of the side of the machine. She pulled it with all her strength and part of the engine swung wildly around: the beam of light served sideways and lanced through the air, slicing straight through a massive stone pillar just beside them. They dove out of the way in a panic, and the pillar fell to the floor in pieces. The shorn surfaces were perfectly smooth and glowed cherry red.

Dash and Daring flew through the air, weaving and cavorting as the deadly beam swept towards them. Daring struggled constantly to stay aloft, and whipped her severed grapple-chain against the domed ceiling above: it clamped against the surface tightly and she swung on it hard, building enough momentum to keep her aloft. She somersaulted through the air repeatedly, whipping the chain back and forth as needed. Whenever she drew near to an open patch of sky, the beam cut across her path and sent her into a desperate dive.

Perez continued to haul the engine around, slicing through each of the supporting columns in turn. When the engine finally came full circle, the massive domed roof fell with a deafening crash and sealed the room off like the lid of a pot. With the sun blotted out, the beam of annihilation cast the interior with sharp, jagged shadows. The ceiling crumbled and cracked and an avalanche of razor-sharp stone rain down around them. A huge block fell on the engine itself, shattering the delicate machinery and knocking the array of rings off kilter. The metal components clanged like the pipes of a church organ.

Perez dove out of the way, then looked up at the ruined machine in horror. "No! Noooo!"

Dash streaked for the nearest corridor. "This place is done for! We gotta get outta here!"

Daring Do landed on the floor and sprinted towards the nearest corridor. She glanced back at Perez: the elderly mare was scrambling to reach the controls of the machine, heedless of the avalanche around her. A heavy stone block landed beside her and the impact knocked her to the floor. The stone tilted on it's side and landed on Perez's hind leg: she let out a cry of pain.

"Hurry!" Dash shouted. "We don't have any time to waste!"

Derring started back, slack-jawed, as Perez struggled to free her hoof from under the massive slab. Her eyes were wide with panic.

Derring turned and strolled back towards the machine, dreamily.

Dash grabbed her tail and tried to pull her back "What's wrong with you!? Hurry!"

"No... no!" Derring pulled her tail free and quickened her pace.

"There's nothing we can do!"

Rainbow Dash grabbed her tail in her mouth and dragged her back down the corridor. Derring scraped her hooves against the stone floor frantically, locking eyes with Perez... her bitter rival's lower lip trembled and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Noooo!"

Derring-Do broke free at last and charged back towards the collapsing chamber, but a heap of stone rubble crashed against the archway and blocked off the entrance. She scrambled to clear the wreckage, moving stones out of the way at a pitiful rate.

"It's over!" said Dash. "If you don't let go, we'll—"

"No!" she shouted. "We... we can't just leave her in there! She's trapped all alone!"

Dash set a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up at her, eyes wide and and wet. They paid no mind as the catacombs quaked and shuddered all around them more violently than ever.

"She... she didn't deserve to..." Derring straightened up and took a deep breath. "You're right. We're not out of the frying pan ourselves, just yet."

They bolted down the corridor together, side by side.

"What happened to the prism?" said Dash. "Was it smashed or something?"

Derring scowled. "I don't know, and I don't care to know."

"Don't you think it belongs in a museum somewhere?"

"I think it belongs at the bottom of the ocean," she said. "All it'd do for us now is weigh us down. Let's focus on getting the heck out of this wretched maze."

Dash nodded. "I don't suppose you still have that map on you?"

She shook her head. "I lost everything when I dropped my saddlebags. I might be able to remember some of it, though. There should be a tee-junction somewhere—"

They skidded to a halt as the corridor came to a dead-end. They stared at the wall for several long seconds. They turned back to look over their shoulders, their motions perfectly synchronized.

"That's it?" muttered Dash. "That's all we get?"

Derring glanced around. "Do you see any switches or levers? Anything at all?"

"Not that I can see." Dash frowned. "This isn't how a book would end. This is a terrible ending!"

"Keep looking. There's got to be some sort of—"

The wall of the dead-end shook, and something lifted it into the ceiling all at once. The blinding light of day washed over them and a silhouette stood in the doorway between them and the setting sun.

"Sain baina uu."

Dash and Derring leaned back slightly, jaws clenched.

"Now that's a dramatic ending," Dash muttered. "Not a happy one, mind you."

The mummified filly stepped closer, still holding the massive stone slab above her head with a single hoof. She turned to one side and revealed a decorative platter resting on her back. There was a breathtaking gold decanter balanced on it: a sealed urn sculpted with artistic pictures and encrusted with a rainbow of massive jewels. There were two slender gold goblets sitting on the platter beside it.

"Tsangaj," she said.

Derring leaned towards to Dash. "Are we still thirsty?" she whispered.

"Uhm..."

Youmgui nodded to them. "Buruu oilgoltschih shig bolloo."

"What's that mean?"

"She says... it was a misunderstanding."

Dash and Derring crept towards her, hesitant. Youmgui took the edge of the platter in her mouth and set it on the floor, then nudged it towards them.

"Whaddya think?" said Dash. "Poison? Acid? Lava?"

Derring stared at the two cups, apprehensively... then shrugged. "Eh. What the heck." She took one of the goblets in her mouth and lifted it up, drinking the contents in a single gulp.

Dash watched her for any sign of spontaneous combustion. "So? How do you feel?"

"Fine," she said. "It was just plain water. Pretty refreshing, too."

There was a faint hiss and Dash turned to look at Derring's cutie mark: the ugly black mark faded away before their eyes.

Derring looked up at Youmgui, smiling hesitantly. "Thank you. I... Bayarlalaa."

Youmgui nodded, graceful and gentle. They walked past her, but Derring's eyes lingered on the golden, jewel encrusted pitcher.

"Hey, d'you think..."

Youmgui nudged the platter towards them again and nodded. Derring took up the decanter and secured it to her back, grinning brightly. "Thanks!"

"Bayartai."

Derring secured her helmet and turned to the open air beyond. They were much closer to the ground now, and there were several mountain peaks in view. She and Dash spread their wings together and leapt to freedom. They wheeled away from the collapsing temple, pausing momentarily to watch the coral-like structure dissolve and collapse. Several plumes of white fire burst out across it's surface, and the heavy bronze gears and pendulums crackled with arcs of purple lightning. Youmgui watched them serenely from the mouth of the corridor. She eventually turned and walked back into the temple, heedless of the destruction.

Rainbow Dash hovered next to Derring-Do. "Do you think we'll ever find out who she really was?"

Derring-Do looked down at the artwork sculpted into the surface of the decanter: the pictures of ponies seemed to recount a story, or perhaps a historic event.

"She was nothing at all," she said. "When the ancient Dzunturans were building the machine, they must have spent a long time trying to get it to work... and I think they tested the elixir on slaves and criminals. They had to be absolutely certain it worked before they gave it to kings and queens."

Dash's eyes widened. "You mean... she was a failed experiement!?"

"No... I think she was the first success. The first pony in the world that was cursed to live forever, and she was a lowly slave."

Dash watched the catacombs slowly sink under the clouds, shaking itself apart. "I'm glad the whole place is gone." She turned to Derring. "What about you? There were probably all sorts of archeological secrets back there. Are you sad to see it all go down the drain like this?"

"It's all the same to me... what's done is done." Derring scrunched her nose and cricked her neck side to side. She looked back over her shoulder, inadvertently striking a dramatic pose. "But that's sure a sight for sore eyes."

Dash turned around and saw the HMS Imbrium looming nearby, with trails of white mist streaming back along its outriggers. As they watched, the midnight blue banners came loose and fluttered down through the air. A series of gold-and-white banners unfurled in their place, all emblazoned with a shining sun. The crewponies they'd met long ago were all leaning out the windows, smiling and waving their hats. Skyworthy himself gave them a brisk salute, then held out a semaphore flag and signaled for them to approach at their leisure.

"You're right about that," said Dash. "Hey! Wanna race me to the—"

Derring let out a yelp of pain and her right wing clenched up. She dropped several yards, and Dash swooped down to support her.

"Whoa, steady there! It's just a few hundred meters to go!"

Derring winced. "I know... I can make it on my own. I'll be fine."

"Yeah... sure." Dash backed away. "I know what it feels like to fly again after a really long time on the ground. It feels good to have the skies all to yourself, with nopony but yourself to rely on."

"Sure it does." Derring bit her lower lip, teary-eyed from the pain. "But d'you think you could help me back anyways? Just this once?"

"What? Really? Well of course!" Dash rushed over and leaned against her weak side, holding her up. "Here... just lean on me a little. We'll be home before you know it!"

They turned their backs on crumbling temple and flew towards the zeppelin, weary and limping. The sunset ahead of them cast the silver airship with a palette of rich autumn colors. As they drew nearer, the joyful cheers of the crewponies drifted towards them.

Comments

[torrentialCAM]

The way you changed her name to Daring during the part when she basically became indistinguishable from the hero of the books...that was brilliant.

[Randomreader-001]

I can only say one thing about this chapter.

Fantastic!

[BlueNinja]

"Princess walski!"

*Walski

"Hm. Probably nothing," she said as she turned back to the engine.

Nice GenreSavvy moment.

Daring Do

Something doesn't match up here. ... Ah, glad to see I was wrong. Carry on then!

just in time for Daring toslam into her

*to slam