Adventure, hijinx, witticisms, and bees, all in this latest book by A. K. Yearling.
Daring Do explores the Everfree Forest, and the ancient castle that lies within. Things happen, followed by some more stuff, and a shenanigan or two, ending with a lost relic from the age of discord.
What you're getting into: Indiana Jones meets Tintin meets Seabiscuit, written in the style of Douglas Adams. Don't say I didn't warn you.
A fluffy cloud drifted lazily over the Everfree forest. Like most clouds, it was lazy by nature, drifting about here and there, nary a goal in sight, as though it were reflecting on its life. Were it gifted with the capacity to do so, it might have wondered why those odd little meat beasts were disturbed by it. Is it really so frightening that water should condense outside of a factory, or that these drops should fall from the sky without getting bounced upon by these creatures? Needless to say, it wondered none of these things. It was, after all, a cloud.
If the light gold meat creature in the forest could hear this cloud's thoughts, she would likely be in a hospital for the disturbed. In the unlikely event that she'd broken out, and concealed herself from the authorities in the most dangerous forest in the vicinity, she'd hear the cloud wondering what that creature was doing, fighting a manticore, instead of running for help.
Daring Do could hear no such thing; for all her talents, she does not hear clouds talk, and for all their talents, clouds don't talk. As for the manticore, Daring Do is fighting him because that's what Daring does.
The beast roared, spittle flying from its hoof long fangs, as he raised a hefty paw for a mighty blow. He could have just killed his prey, but, like any cat, he liked to turn his meals into a game of "chase it around for a bit, then smack it around until you're bored enough to just eat it already," and so, the claws remained sheathed.
As his paw swung down, Daring Do skipped back daintily, avoiding the blow.
"All according to plan," the manticore thought, "now it turns and runs!"
Turn and run Daring didn't. Daring Do sprang forward, and dug her front hooves into the soft floor of the Everfree. Her momentum carried her haunches around, pivoting 180 degrees. With expert timing, she unloaded a fierce bucking to the Manticore's chin.
The manticore yowled, as its smaller feline bretheren so frequently do when some unthinking brute sets hoof on their tails. "ROOOOOWWR!!!!!" Fortunately for the manticore, having an armored scorpion tail, it had never had that experience. Unfortunately, it remembered it had an armored scorpion tail just as Daring landed on his maned head. THWAP!!
The manticore roared angrily, murder in his eyes. He was immune to his own poison, but it still hurt, dammit! What's more, the little monster had the nerve to quip at him!
"Ooh, that must've stung!" said a smirking Daring Do. "Well, much as I hate to turn tail and run..."
"RAWWWR!" The manticore's paw came down again, narrowly missing Daring Do. She turned and flew off. The manticore unfurled massive bat wings, and took off after her.
"Wassamatter, too catty?" Daring shouted to the beast, as she slalomed between the trees.
Were Daring gifted instead with the ability to hear cats talk, she would, worldly as she was, likely have blushed at the stream of obscenities flying from the great cat's mouth. Not having this ability, she only heard "RAAAAAAAAAAAAWWRR!"
"This's been fun, but maybe you better... BUZZ OFF!" As Daring passed a tree, she kicked out with one of her back legs. The hornet's nest she'd spotted promptly dropped directly onto the Manticore's snout.
There was a crack, and a sharp blow.
There was a stickiness, and the sweet taste of honey.
There were wasps. There were many wasps.
When a pony's home is spontaneously destroyed, he is, needless to say, upset. It is, therefore, easy to understand the hornets' position.
They were pissed.
"HURAAAWR!" The manticore's cry was now all panic. How had his day ever gone so very wrong? He flew off, pursued by a cloud of volatile vexed vespine vagrants.
Daring do smiled, took off her pith helmet, and wiped sweat from her grey streaked mane. Having flown frantically through the forest, Daring Do had lost her position. She could get her bearings easily enough, but she needed her exact position. Daring Do had a goal in mind.
Daring Do flew carefully to the tree canopy, and poked her head out. She didn't dare fly too high, she might get spotted by another manticore, or, Celestia forbid, the same manticore. Turning eastward, she spotted the crumbling towers of the castle of the two sisters. "There we go..." she said.
Between Daring Do and her destination was a break in the trees... perhaps a path, or, more likely, a river. There weren't many paths, ponies didn't come into the Everfree too often, particularly not so deep. Most ponies had only ever heard of timber wolves, manticores, and star spiders. The clouds were enough to keep them away.
Daring Do wasn't frightened by the clouds of the Everfree. Spending most of her life outside civilization, condensation didn't bother her, nor did water falling completely unbounced upon. She certainly wasn't frightened by rivers, but then, most ponies weren't.
Most ponies, however, hadn't explored the Everfree, owing largely to stories of wooden wolves, huge hydras, and cumulous clouds that drifted lazily across the sky unescorted. If they had, rivers might frighten them, for reasons other than their not being made of breathable gases.
The waters of the Everfree were fortunately not home to the Piranha Daring Do was used to seeing. Fortunate for the piranhas, at least, because their mouths were too small and weak to harm the massive alligators, crocodiles, crocogators, and moustachioed sea serpents that inhabited the Everfree river; doubly so since all of these would find piranha a delicious, albeit small, hors d'oeuvre.
And so, as Daring Do hopped from stone to stone, avoiding the water and all that might lurk within, she was caught completely off guard by the sudden wave.
Naturally, waves are very large, and a difficult thing to be caught off guard by. Of course, when one suddenly appears behind your back, miles from the nearest ocean, they can be known to startle.
FWOOOSH! The wave easily swept Daring Do off the stone, as a tremendous snake-like figure rose from the waters. Water dripped from his immense form to the river, as he opened his mouth in a gaping "HRAAAAAAAW!"
The sea serpent, towering over the nearby trees, finished yawning, stretched, and glanced around his surroundings, no doubt looking for the clopping noise that had woken him from his afternoon siesta. His eyes, each the size of a pony's head, settled on Daring Do. She tensed up, ready to bolt.
"Well hello there!" the huge creature said, in a friendly manner huge creatures rarely take when speaking with their food, "my name's Steve! Welcome to the Everfree forest!"
"Um..." said Daring Do, not sure what to think of being addressed by a Sea Serpent as though she weren't edible, "hi, I'm Daring Do." Still ready to flee, she took in his strange appearance.
Besides having an enormously long, snake-like body, he was covered in sharp purple scales, had long, slender front legs, ending in claws, a gator-like snout, and, curiously enough, a large, well groomed golden mane, and a large, well groomed golden mustache. From his left... ear? fin? Whatever it was, from it hung his sole piece of apparel, an earring, that included, curiously enough, a dangling bit of wavy indigo hair.
"Well look at you," eying Daring Do as though she were less an intrepid pony adventurer, and more a plaintively mewing kitten, "you're a little explorer, aren't you? But you're missing..." Steven glanced a little down river, and quickly snatched up Daring Do's pith helmet, which, borne by the wave, was making an escape from its danger-prone owner. "There you go!" He set the wet hat upon Daring Do's substantially wetter head. "A perfect little explorer! So, are you exploring the forest? There's plenty to see here!"
"Perhaps later," Daring Do said, relaxing her guard only the slightest bit, "I'm looking for the castle of the royal sisters."
"Ohhh," Steve said as flamboyantly, "that's the first place I'd recommend! That place has so much history behind it!"
"Excellent," said Daring Do, "history is what I'm after."
Steve the Sea Serpent delicately lifted Daring Do out of the water, and onto the other shore. "It's just over that way," Steve said, pointing in what was almost the right direction. "It seems everypony who comes this way is headed there," Steve said, twirling the hair on his earring idly.
"Other ponies have come this way recently?" Daring asked, her eyebrow arched quizzically.
"Yes," Steve said, "there was a little group of ponies who passed by earlier today, and the one who did the talking had the cutest little accent! Before that, was that one time when the sun seemed a little late to rise."
"Huh," said Daring, familiar with the story of the Nightmare's defeat, "you met the elements?"
"The what?" Steve asked, a confused look on his face, "all I know is, one of them helped me out of a terrible situation! A black cloud had flown by, and mutilated my moostahsh!"
"Uh... huh..." Daring Do said, processing what she'd just heard, "You said some ponies headed up to the castle. Have they come back yet?"
"Not yet," said Steve.
"Well then, it's been fun, but I really must dash." Quietly, Daring added in her head. Daring dashed quietly towards the castle.
"Have fun!" Steve's shout was as loud as it was cheerful, as he waved goodbye.
Ahead, the trees began to thin, allowing the sun to shine through. The sole cloud in the sky was growing somewhat dark. It was not, despite appearances, depressed to not be invited to join the mist covering the bottom of the chasm next to the castle. It was just thicker than it was before, having picked up moisture.
Daring looked down into the mist, then back up to the rickety bridge that appeared to be held up by a knot tied with somepony's mouth. This might have caused some ponies dismay, even one so daring as Daring. Fortunately for her, though, Daring was a pegasus, with two freshly mended wings. She paused a moment, feeling gratitude that her wings had healed since being broken in her last adventure. (Buy Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue to read more!) She hopped into the air, flapped her wings twice, and paused a moment, feeling shocked by the sudden attack as a mighty paw connected with her face.
HROOOOAAAAR! The manticore sounded less like a lion, and more like a dragon.
As Daring was flung back toward the treeline, she regained her senses. She flipped in midair, and bucked the tree she was about to collide with, allowing her to spring back above the manticore. Facing the creature, she could see that his face was puffy, badly matted with something sticky, and covered in dirt and leaves. He looked as though the beast had lost a fight, badly, and the rage in his eyes did not speak well for his sanity. This cat wasn't even hungry at this point. He wanted blood.
The manticore's momentum carried it towards the tree Daring had bounced off of. He failed to bounce off the tree. He was just too mad. Rather, the manticore reached forward, and dug his massive claws into the tree, swung his body around, and pointed himself at Daring Do. The force with which he threw himself towards her shredded the tree's bark, and the manticore flew towards Daring at a ludicrous speed.
Knowing she could not hope to outrun the manticore, Daring Do's wings snapped shut, allowing her to plummet to safety.
The manticore sailed past Daring Do, swinging its powerful claws just over her head in a manner that would be comical if not for the look on his face. He'd been utterly silent, since announcing his presence, concentrating solely on catching his victim. With a flare of his wings, the manticore stopped, and stooped into a steep swoop.
Unfortunately for the massive cat, Daring's fall had turned her altitude into a speed most pegasi would find frightening, especially while headed straight for a dark and crowded forest.
She tried slaloming between the trees again, but this time, despite their velocity, the manticore was having none of it. As he flew, the manticore left a swathe of destruction, using his claws to rip into nearby trees for more speed, hardly slowing down as he crashed through brambles, branches, and low flying squirrels. Daring began to grow tired, as the speed from her descent tapered off, and with one last hope, she bucked the ground as hard as she could, sending herself into the air just as the manticore ripped past her and buried his face in a tree.
With an effort of will, Daring Do made for the sky. The manticore pulled its head from the tree. His face was bloody, battered, puffy, and, despite the clear insanity, now looked substantially concussed. He shook the cobwebs from his brain, and looked upwards, where he'd last seen her tail disappearing from his field of vision.
As he looked, Daring Do was flying, exhausted though she was, against gravity, towards the one cloud floating in the sky. The cloud was ominously dark. Fitting, the manticore thought. It's going to hide behind that cloud, he thought to himself. I'll burst through the cloud dramatically, right in front of it. Me, popping out of the darkness, claws spread, mouth open, eyes triumphant. The look on its face will be priceless. I wonder how many times I can cut it open as it falls? On second thought, maybe I should preserve its hide, wear it as a mask to cover my face. Maybe then my food will still fear me.
If a cloud were able to talk, it would, no doubt, express its shock at the sudden attack when a manticore suddenly flies into it.
Daring Do bucked the cloud.
The cloud expressed its shock at the sudden attack.
The smoking manticore hurtled down towards the castle courtyard.
Daring flew for the back of the castle. Steve the giant sea serpent told her there were ponies here. Until she knew more about them, Daring Do decided it would be better if she remained unseen, and that there could be nothing better than a two ton cat crashing into the castle to distract these ponies from her entry.
As she flew, Daring's eyes followed the manticore down. An instant before the cat struck, however, he halted in midair, spun around, landed on his feet, and promptly collapsed in a heap.
All Daring Do could think to say was "what."
Setting her confusion aside, Daring looked down at the castle beneath her. Reading the lines of architecture of the ruined castle, she could catch a glimpse of Equestria's past. It seems that, even so long ago, this castle was built in a time of peace. While the castle was defended, its defenses were passive. Roofs too steep for a pegasus to land on, a gorge too long for an earth pony to jump. While the castle did have crenelated battlements, and archer slots, they were placed in a manner that, while aesthetically pleasing, was not practical for fighting.
Daring Could see a throne glittering in gold through a gaping hole in the roof of the hall. Turning to her left, she saw, through a hole in the keep, the throne of the two sister's court. Since Luna held night court, and Celestia took the days, they only had need of one throne. It was here that Nightmare moon was defeated, and Luna redeemed, here in the halls of judgement.
Through yet another hole, Daring Do saw shelves of books. The library, she thought. The books were magically intact, for being 1000 years old. Starswirl, she thought, was a blessing to archaeologists everywhere. So much history, preserved from fire, insects, and moisture. Little wonder that so much seemed to happen 1,000 years ago, and so little before that. With the lack of "Starswirl's book preservation" enchantment, undoubtedly the knowledge of what had come before was lost to the ravages of time.
What little found its way into history books spoke of a "time of discord, ended by the two princesses." It was widely believed that pony society was similar to what it is today, save with many smaller kingdoms, which were later united. The "discord" suggests that there was a lot of fighting.
While exploring the history section of Canterlot's Starswirl the Bearded wing, Daring Do found, in a journal of Clover the Clever, references to artifacts from this time, that were being studied by Starswirl, her mentor. Neither his notes, nor any other reference to these objects, were to be found in Canterlot's library, which suggested that they were never transferred. This was Daring Do's mission: to find these artifacts, and Starswirl's notes, and bring them to Canterlot museum of Archaeology, where they could be studied by professors as dusty as the antiques, and gawked at by bored young fillies and colts.
She drifted quietly down to the library. As she'd thought, there were ponies here; she heard two voices bickering, through the hole in the ceiling, and Daring Do listened in.