Daring Do and the Adventure of the X'ibian Vase

Daring Do
and the Adventure of the X'ibian Vase
by
De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)
And
Carmen Pondiego

///////////////////////

Daring Do was sitting at the bar of the Adventurer's Guild, sipping her coconut milk and pineapple juice. She was still steaming about the Royal Museum's Acquisition Committee trying to put her last find, the Golden Necklace of Pharow Underrock, through “the routine process.”

The routine process gave them the possession of the neckalce for over a year before she could see any return on the difficult, expensive, and dangerous expedition to obtain the priceless artifact.

Her recovery of it from Count Umber had involved a physical altercation. The memory made her sweet drink taste sour.

Glancing into the back bar mirror, she casually placed a hoof on her pith helmet. A business suited pony approached her, proffering a card. Instead of taking the card, Daring Do swiftly lifted her pith helmet. A knife, aimed at the suited pony stood quivering in her hat, sunk deep into the cork.

She pulled the knife out and flipped it casually back. The thump of it striking hilt first was followed by the collapse of the silken robed pony who had thrown it.

She turned toward the shaken business suited pony who had just paled three shades of yellow green lighter. Brightly, she said, “Well, that was a few moments of rollicking fun! What do you have for me?”

With a shaking hoof, he proffered a card. “Please call us at your earliest convenience. If you wish, I can take you to the appointment.

Daring Do raised an eyebrow. “Appointment? You would make an appointment without asking me? A bit arrogant, aren't you? I have some personal business to take care of first. I will call later, after it is done.” She turned her back and pointedly resumed her drink.

It tasted better, for some reason.

She sat at the bar until she was sure that he was gone, sipping her drink, the case with the Golden Necklace of Pharow Underrock safely in her saddlebag. Daring Do hated what she had to do next.

She and her mother, Carmen Pondiego, master thief and head of V.I.L.E., did not see eye to eye on ANYTHING. However, her mom's advice was the best that she was going to find. Daring Do steeled herself and pulled out her magic net mirror. She tapped the code that she could not forget and hated.

The glass shimmered before a dark, redheaded figure with a gleaming grin answered the call. "City Morgue, you kill 'em, we chill 'em. Oooh! Look who is finally dropping a line."

Answering in a gritty voice, Daring Do spoke low. "Uncle M, I'm trying to get a hold of-" "Yeah yeah, I know. Don't go ruffling your feathers. Hey Red! Yer kid is on the line!"

Daring rolled her eyes as the view shakily changed to the beaming visage of a khaki colored unicorn mare dressed in red, her pale green eyes throwing a piercing glance at Daring Do. "Adora!! I am so glad you called! How was your trip? I hope you haven't come across too much trouble. You know I will send some agents to help you if you ever need it."

Daring Do rubbed her brow, "Mother, you know I hate that name, and no I don't need your lawless agents. I. . . I just need some advice."

A soft chuckle arose, "Of course, Daring dear. Now what seems to be the trouble?" Carmen lifted her brows as she calmly smiled, and the young pegasus held back a scoff. The thief seemed too friendly and eager to help, but why?

"Listen, its not trouble, I just want your -honest- opinion."

Carmen pouted playfully, "My dear, you wound me, I have always been truthful to you."

Sourly, Daring Do replied, “I do know that, Mother. That is the only reason that I am calling you now.

“The expedition went well. I even got the legendary Golden Necklace of Pharow Underrock. The assorted traps didn't even cause much damage to the Pyramid of Keychops.

“The Royal University would not and will not underwrite the expedition but they want me to DONATE the necklace. They even threatened my tenure in the Chair of Antiquities to get it for free. The Royal Museum was almost worse.”

The face of Carmen in the mirror nearly lost it with hilarity. “The Royal Museum!? It takes over a year to sell them a glass bead! Then they will try to push you into letting it go for less than half of your price!”

Resisting a twitch in her eye, Daring Do cleared her throat, “Listen, Ma, what… Would you LEGALLY do if you didn't get paid for a job that you did over a year ago?”

The thief took a moment to think. “Do you really want to go through the whole legal mess of suing said offender? Of course it would make it easier if you actually had a written contract.

“Heavens knows you don't use the office here that I gave you and you bounce around from location to location so often without a home base so I don't have any idea where you would keep such a document anyway...”

Daring’s grip on the mirror tightened. “Mother… I DO have an office. It is in the Royal University! I am the Chair of Antiquities!”

“Right. Well, I would collect whatever you agreed on selling and take it elsewhere.. Are you needing my help with that?”

Daring Do’s grip on the mirror tightened even more. “Mother . . . Mother. I have already taken it back! I also know that V.I.L.E. makes a ton of money on the, um, resale of assorted goods.”

Dryly, Carmen pointed out, “In spite of our REPUTATION, we have NEVER been caught doing or been convicted of ANY CRIME.” Her face twisted to a cheerfully sideways smile as she added, “Give me a few moments to check our inventory of PERFECTLY LEGAL buyers.”

Instead of “hold music” the recorded image of her uncle Marehem appeared with a commercial message, “Allstable Insurance, You are in good hooves with Allstable! Please feel free to inquire about our customized policies and truly reasonable rates!”

Daring Do's teeth grinding together would have been sweet music to any dentist!

Carmen's cheerful face came back to the mirror in time to save it from being tossed across the room!

One eyebrow raised in amusement, she poked, “Adora, my sweet. I COULD move the necklace for you. V.I.L.E. does have to be paid for their efforts, of course. How does 20 percent sound? I am only offering such a good rate because you are family, no matter that SOMEPONY managed totally destroy all records of her connection to her MOTHER.”

Carmen grinned as Daring Do's teeth ground together again. Regaining her control, she asked her mother, “Oh, another thing. Do you know anything about the ROT law offices? They offered a card, I think they want me to find something for them.”

Silence came over the mirror.

“Mom?”

Carmen sighed, “Daring, if being an outlaw taught me anything, its presentation. If you are shady, you pick a shady name for intimidation, for greater intimidation one would use a completely harmless and cheerful name, though that is rare.

“I don't know much of them but if their name means anything, I would use extreme caution if dealing with them. It could be a bluff or it could simply be an acronym, it could mean that they are rotten to the bone. Are you sure you don't want me to send someone…?”

“I AM FINE BY MYSELF, MOTHER. Thank you.”

“Alright, Adora, dear. If you are in the area, we’re having lasagna at 7:00,” Carmen shrugged, blowing a motherly kiss.

“I’ll be sure to miss it..” Daring Do groaned, turning off the mirror. She rubbed her forehead, fingers running through her monotone mane.

Daring Do was just getting ready to leave when the unconscious pony in the silken robes started to stir. He fumbled for and recovered his knife.

Setting eyes on her he got up, made a formal Far Eastern bow and said, “Miss Do, if I may be permitted to say so, that was most ill done. That pony and a few others with him are treacherous liars and wish to steal a priceless thing to which they have no right.”

Daring Do returned quietly, “It was very bad form of you to try murdering him here, in this club. The alley or even the street outside would have been better.

“As for his character, I already know that much of him and his associates. What more can you tell me?”

Haughtily he dodged her question. “You knew of his evil ways and still chose to listen to him? Perhaps I have misjudged you.”

She made a formal Far Eastern bow to him and replied in perfect X'ibian with an ancient proverb. “The failure to listen is the greatest cause of Ignorance.”

The pony's eyes flew wide and his face fell. “I have erred greatly by my precipitous action. Be sure to listen with wisdom.”

He took his leave, robes making a slight swishing sound against the carpet of the Club floor.

Daring Do followed him out but he was nowhere to be seen. Consulting the card, she trotted up the street.

The building itself was not even hard to locate. It had a flagpole hanging over the street with a flag of pale off green with gray letters outlined in brownish red. “The Legal Team of ROT, for all of your legal needs!” was flapping in the breeze.

She entered, thinking ironically of the old joke, “pony walked down the street and turned into a drug store. After five sales, he bought what he wanted and turned back into a pony!”

She walked up to the receptionist and proffered the card. The receptionist looked down her nose at Daring Do and pronounced, “You are late for your appointment. You will have to wait for at least an hour.”

Daring Do gave her a return snooty stare and retorted, “No, I do not. THEY made the appointment without consulting me. I informed them that they would have to wait until my business was done.

“I am only marginally interested in whatever they want me for. You may inform them that they can call me at their earliest convenience to set a mutually agreeable appointment.” She tipped her pith helmet and turned to leave.

Frantically, the receptionist called after her, “Miss Do! Please take the elevator with the bronze doors! The Partners will see you immediately!”

“That is better, Horstense!” Daring Do entered the elevator, which had an earth pony operator. She serenely pulled a large, double edged knife and began to carefully trim her left hoof. Conversationally, she mentioned, “If this car gets stuck between floors, you get stuck too. Not seriously, of course. You will become qualified for a higher paid job, though. Castrato in the Fallen Pony Choir.” He paled at the thought. The elevator ride was uneventful.

She stepped out into a foyer with big glass doors at the far end. They had black and gilt letters proclaiming, ROT, the firm for all Legal Work.” Beyond the doors was an office with three desks placed in a U shape with a single hard chair at the focus of the U. The desks were not occupied, so Daring Do checked to see if the doors were unlocked.

They were. With a grin, Daring Do entered and quickly leaped across the desk at the center. She first lifted the comfortable, padded swivel chair out and replaced it with the hard chair. Checking the desk itself, she found a large flagon of expensive pomegranate juice and a snifter. There was only one door that they could enter from. She took their waste baskets and put them where the door swinging in would just miss them. Checking the other desks yielded an assortment of documents, a number of them were maps with X'ibian characters instead of Equestrian words.

She settled herself comfortably, far back, near the doors, away from the focus of the desks. She leaned back, smiling, and poured a healthy shot. While studying the maps, she started sipping.

Looking closely at two of the documents caused her to pull out her Magic Net mirror and make several urgent calls.

The partners opened the door to enter impressively. They tripped headlong on their own wastebaskets! She made a point of looking up disapprovingly and said sternly, “Please be seated. I will be with you momentarily.”

She continued to study and sip the expensive juice. Shaking her head in mock frustration, she glared up at the dismayed partners. “You really do need a better translator for X'ibian. This farrago is nearly hopeless.”

Before any of them could respond to the multiple outrages that they were experiencing, Daring Do snorted, “Don't like it when the intimidation is happening to you? Neither do I. The difference is this. I DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT IF I GET BORED!

“To business. Now.”

“Um, that is my chair, Miss Do.”

“And you may have it back as soon as the conference is over, Mister Tyranny. Along with it, you may have the juice, if any is left. The longer that this takes, the less you get.” She pointedly sipped more from the snifter.

“The FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS will be the payment of the sum of fifty thousand golden bits directly to my account at Equestrian National Bank. This is repayment for your clumsy break-in of my office.”

“Now, Miss Do, you are making wild accusations that cannot be proved at all!”

Raising her eyebrows in amusement, Daring Do retorted, “Really, Mister Overthrow? I know that this will not hold up in court because no warrant was used to obtain it. Trust me, I have more. Enough to put both you and Mister Robber into jail.”

She shuffled through the stack of purloined documents and held up a map and a parchment, both sealed by chop and brush written. The parchment was in Chineighese and the map notes written in X'ibian.

“Besides these, I have your accomplice who used a key to open my door, already in custody under the Royal Wing. In Celestia and Luna's Evidence are certain other things that can be traced to you both.”

Outraged, Mister Tyranny demanded, “What puts a minor break in at the University under the Royal Wing?”

Smiling sadly, Daring Do replied, “The fact that the broken figurines that were on my shelves were genuine antiques belonging to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They were gifts that I gave them and are formally recorded in the Royal Register. That is where the bulk of the damages come from.”

Hardening to solid steel, her voice demanded, “NO CHECKS OR DRAFTS ON YOUR FIRM! No PERSONAL ONES, either. Irrevocable gold transfer orders to the Bank, now! The Princesses have already given the Bank their authorization for the size of the sum.”

“We will need to confer on this!”

“Confer away! Just do not take too long nor leave this room for any reason. The building is already surrounded by units of the Royal Guards backed up by the 23rd Airborne Armored Pegassi and the 4th Royal Armored Heavy Infantry. Don't believe me? Just look out the window at the streets.”

They looked. And shuddered. “What happens if we do the transfer, Miss Do?”

“It will reduce the issue to an out of court damage settlement. The evidence will be kept in the case of violation or future charges from other misconduct.”

Glumly, Tyranny tapped codes into the Magic Net mirror built into his desk. He spoke briefly and bitterly. A few minutes later, Overthrow reported, “The armor is pulling back.”

There was a signal from Daring Do's mirror. She spoke briefly. Looking up brightly, she reported, “The transfer is done and the military units will withdraw completely after our business is done and I am safely out of the building.”

Tyranny's brow clouded with fury. “We have paid! Don't you trust us?”

With an angelic smile, Daring do returned, “You are LAWYERS. NOBODY in their right mind trusts you!

“Now, about this business that you wanted to hire me for.”

The three partners glared at each other first and then unified their hateful stares at Daring Do, who responded by by pouring another shot into the snifter and sipping appreciatively.

It was Robber who snapped, “After this extortion, why would we even consider you for anything?”

“You broke into my office, faking the breaking of the dead bolt and the frame to obtain information that you have totally failed to get. You did find this map which you could have got a copy of for only five silver bits from the Antique Sites Registry. You also stole a letter from my friend and guide, Sang He. I suspect that you took it because it was in something looking like Chineighese. It's not. This is modern X'ibian written with Chineighese characters. Sorry.”

Sourly, Tyranny said, “That map has the exact location of the artifact that we are looking for. It is at the X.”

Daring Do almost spit out her juice, she was laughing so hard. “You have marked the ancient Imperial city of Hong Wa! Do you have any idea what the scale of this map is? Your X marking the exact spot covers a radius of 15 kilometers from Hong Wa!”

Glaring at Daring Do, sitting in HIS chair, sipping His expensive juice, and laughing at him was not to be borne! He haughtily informed her, “It is buried in the necropolis, a graveyard, just out of the city. All that is needed is to find the appropriate tomb or grave and dig it up!”

Daring Do stopped laughing. She was staring at Mister Tyranny as if she was looking at a retarded colt. Jaw dropped, she asked, “Are you serious? You should have bought the map from the Antiquities Site Registry. You would have gotten the main site list along with it.

“Inside the radius of the X on the map, there are 14 necropoli, each housing over 2000 tombs and shaft graves. This does not count the simple burials. If you extend the search radius only a little, you also include the cliff burials. We cataloged over 300 caves, both natural and carved into the stone. The caves that we sampled had upwards of five hundred skeletons each.”

It was Mister Overthrow who dropped the bomb, so to speak. “It should be easy to locate. It is in the tomb of Im Farst, the founding emperor of the X'ibian Empire.”

Daring Do put a hoof over her eyes. “You do know that that Im Farst is basically a partly documented legend, don't you? His tomb is RUMORED to be somewhere within three days walk of Hong Wa! It has never been found. Over a hundred legal expeditions have spent more than 3.5 million golden bits trying to locate it without success. Luna alone knows how many illegal ones there have been.

“Among the over 2,000 artifacts that are supposed to have been interred with Im Farst, what precisely do you want found?”

Mister Robber growled as he held out a picture. “This. The small blue, green and white vase in the corner of this wall painting.”

Daring Do took one look and nearly fell out of the chair, laughing. When she got herself under control, she chugged a big slug of juice before snickering, “The Heart of Discord!? You want that!? That wall painting is the ONLY record of its existence from the Ancient X'ibian Empire! All of the mentions of it and claims about it and its mystical powers date from just after the Second Nightmare War, over 750 years after the Heart was supposedly buried and lost for all time!”

Tyranny gave Daring Do a squinty eyed stare. “IF you can find it, we will not quibble the cost. Let us know how much you will need to mount the expedition and we will give you 50 percent up front and not worry about the recovery of it if you fail. We do know your record for finding things that others have sought and failed to locate.

“If the Heart is found, we will pay the full balance and add 1/2 million gold for your service. Just sign this payment agreement and non disclosure document and we will be in business.

Daring Do took the papers and neatly folded them. “I will keep things confidential, gentleponies. I will have MY lawyer look them over and advise me about proceeding or not.

“If I go ahead with this, I will deliver this and my expedition workup to Horsetense, the receptionist in the lobby. Please please be prompt with the payment.”

Getting up and leaving, she said over her shoulder, “Your chair, Mister Tyranny. I am afraid that there is little of the juice left. It was excellent.”

Down in the lobby, Daring Do asked a shaken receptionist, “I do hope that the Armored Infantry were polite to you? I told them to be!”

“They were totally polite, except for setting up the sixty mm Mage-Mortars over in the park. That was not too reassuring.”

“I can see that.”

Daring Do left the building and sauntered up to the Colonel in charge. “Very well done, Sir. I will see that the Princesses get a truly favorable report of this action.”

He nodded with a smile. “Thank you, Miss Do. If all is in order, we shall withdraw at once.”

A while later Daring Do was staring at her mother's Canterlot Headquarters. She shook her head. The building itself, in the poor light of evening was nearly black. It loomed above the street. No other word would do; it loomed. There was a relatively huge planter/light box on the front of the building. It was a pale purple, almost white. The lights in the box illuminated huge letters spelling out, V.I.L.E. The V was red over a gray circle with an off white interior. The remaining letters were the same purplish off white as the circle's interior.

Steeling herself, she approached the entrance. As the black glass doors opened, they revealed a confidant looking khaki colored unicorn mare dressed in a stylish, near form fitting red outfit. Carmen Pondiego. Her true mother.

Carmen smiled that sideways smile that she always used when she was about to pull Daring Do's chain by calling her by her birth name. Daring Do beat her to it.

“Adora hasn't been home in a long time, Mother. Things have changed a lot. You really meant that about hiding in the open, didn't you?”

Carmen's mouth dropped open. Feeling behind her for support, Carmen settled into one of the comfortable overstuffed leather chairs in the VILE foyer.

Softly, she replied, “Yes, dear. I did mean it.” She took a shaking breath and added, “You are in time for the lasagna. I remember how much you used to enjoy it, Adora.”

Daring Do nodded and sat on the arm of the chair. “I did, mom. I still do. I don't order it often . . . It reminds me of you.

“I am going to admit that I am really conflicted about the name . . . and you . . . and VILE. It is hard but I am here.” She reached down and took Carmen's hoof.

They sat in silence for several minutes. “Mother, I am not going to ask you for forgiveness. There is too much that I have not forgiven yet.”

Carmen patted the hoof of her estranged daughter and said, “I do understand, Adora. At least you are here and letting me call you by the name that I gave you. That is a first step. I hope, one of many.”

Daring Do nodded slowly. In the Chineighese of Cantron she quoted the proverb, “The journey of a thousand Li begins with a single step.”

Without hesitation, Carmen replied in the same language, “Whether the journey be a thousand Li or a thousand of thousands, the welcoming door of home is the best place for it to end.”

Taking a deep breath, Carmen suggested, “Let's go see if the lasagna is ready! I had it out, cooling.”

“Now that is something that I hoped you would say, mother.”

They wended their way through the maze of the big building. As they made yet another zig, Daring Do reflected that the Canterlot HQ of VILE was not the biggest nor most impressive of her mother's organizational HQs. The true nerve center of VILE was the enormous floating island.

They finally entered a comfortable common room with a nice but not fancy dining table and chairs. It was pretty big, which made sense. The whole family was there. Daring Do's biological father, the alicorn Baron Von Nighthoof sat at one end of the table, space for her mother at the OTHER end showed that they were on the “outs” romantically . . . Again.

She and her step brother Blendin were next to each other at Carmen's end of the table. Her Uncle Marehem, or M for short, was down at the end by the Baron. Next to him, at Carmen's end was Kiros. Technically, Kiros was not family, the others were some form of pony, or at least passing themselves off as one. Kiros was a wolf hybrid with wings. M was a changeling even if he was also Daring Do's uncle.

This was the only part of VILE that Daring Do could accept, even marginally. Family. And she knew what was coming besides lasagna. Snark.

She was just reaching for her first big slab of some of the best lasagna in Canterlot when she felt it. Virtually by reflex, Daring Do slammed an elbow back just above her saddle bag at the same time that she made a grab with her other hoof as she spun about. The move nailed her half brother Blendin, with her map only half out of her bag.

Smiling sweetly she said, “Be glad that you are family, Blendin. I use the hoof of the last pony to try that as a paperweight!”

Ignoring the comment, which Blendin knew to be perfectly true, he finished removing the map. “Why would you have one of these cheap five silver X'ibian site maps?”

He spread it out and his jaw dropped. “This is the original that you made when you were searching for the Darkling's Tomb!

“Now it really makes no sense at all! Why did you put that red X on top of Hong Wa? Do you want me to remove it? It is a really simple bit of Librarian's Magic?”

Daring Do laid a gentle hoof over Blendin's and said, “No, Blendin. Thank you for the offer but that has become a delightful keepsake to the stupidity of ponies. They broke into my office at the RU and STOLE this. They also broke many of the figurines of the Royal Darkling Collection being kept for study in my office.”

Baron Von Nighthoof's brows almost hit his horn, they went up so far. He clicked on the big Magic Net mirror for the evening news! The story was not hard to locate.

“Agnes Wordspreader here with This Just IN! Three divisions of the the Royal Guards, the Royal Heavy Armored Infantry and the Royal Armored Pegassi were mobilized today in DOWNTOWN Canterlot! They surrounded the building of the lawfirm Robber, Overthrow, and Tyranny for a short while.

“When the Royal Negotiator emerged, she appeared to be none other than the world famous Antiquities Expert, Daring Do. She spoke briefly with the Commander of the Royal Armored Infantry who, along with the rest of the military and Guard units, then withdrew.”

There were many pictures of the action, including Daring Do emerging from the R.O.T building.

Carmen, a bemused look on her face, pointed her horn at Daring Do and asked, “What were they looking for in your office, Adora, Darling?”

Wincing at the name, Daring Do ate a fork full of her mother's absolutely heavenly lasagna before speaking. “They expected to find the location of the tomb of Im Farst. That X on the map? It is the EXACT location of it!

“All that I have to do is go to the Necropolis,” Daring raised her eyebrows and made a fair imitation of Tyranny's voice as she added, “That's like a graveyard, locate the appropriate tomb and dig it up!”

Blendin, like all the others around the table, was giggling so hard that it was difficult to speak. At last he got out, “The only thing that could make that funnier would be if the 'IT' that they want is the Heart of Discord!”

In a swiftly planned tactical strike, Daring Do said, “It IS! They do want the Heart of Discord!”

As the whole table exploded in laughter, Daring Do craftily snagged the last two pieces of lasagna.

Uncle M was wiping tears from his eyes and commenting, “I blew lasagna out my nose!”

Sounding almost innocent, Daring Do offered, “Uncle M, I have something else here for your amusement!” She hoofed over the folded sheets of R.O.T.'s offer.

M unfolded them and nearly choked. Tears of joy in his eyes, he implored, “May I make a copy of this? At Allstable we make custom policies all the time. Some of this is the finest pure legal worm slime that I have ever read! Really good stuff!

“There is no way that you can win with this. Even if you fulfill all the terms, the whole expedition cost to them is to be deducted from your payment. You could end up owing R.O.T. thousands in gold.”

Daring Do smiled around her latest forkful of lasagna and swallowed. “Feel free to copy it, M. What I need from you is a copy that actually says what this one purports to.”

M grinned and promised, “Piece of Lasagna, Adora . . . My seconds! You are eating my seconds!”

Carmen smiled. “That gives you more room for the frozen Pomegranate Gelatto that I fixed for dessert.”

Relaxing with a few candied figs to fill up corners, Daring Do asked, “How did the bidding go for the Golden Necklace of Pharow Underrock?”

Carmen leaned back in a comfortably padded chair and steepled her hooves. “We really only had a little time, Adora. we could do better with more time. The best that I could do on short notice was 1.5 million golden bits.”

She pointed an admonitiory hoof and went on, “THAT is BEFORE V.I.L.E.'s 20% cut. That leaves 1.2 million for you. The money can be deposited in your Equestrian National account by noon tomorrow, if that is satisfactory to you?”

Daring Do nodded, “The money is quite satisfactory. Thank you. I did mention that I had a concern about where the necklace was going. What will happen to it?”

Carmen's grin was huge. “Our buyer has a project that needs a Royal sanction. He will gift the necklace to Princess Luna for immediate permanent display in the Royal Museum with proper provenance and finder's credit!”

Her own grin almost as wide as her mother's at the neatly done cutting out of the Acquisition Committee and Count Umber, Daring Do handed over the simple but perfect wooden case of unmistakable Rom workmanship. Carmen opened it reverently. Her drawn breath was ample reward, really. Daring Do knew that sound and expression on her mother's face since infancy.

Baron Von Nighthoof leaned over to see it and suggested, “We could duplicate that. Honor requires that the original be given as promised. I can think of no neck in all of Equestria that such a copy would grace better than your own, Carmen.”

Daring Do knew that all would be done as promised. Her mother would kill before breaking the trust of her family. She discreetly took her leave.

The next morning, Daring Do emerged from her room at the Adventurer's Guild and took a refreshing dip in the Guild's pool and a quick workout in the gym, followed by a few assorted practice workouts in the projectile weapons range.

Her appetite whetted by the light workout, she sat in the Guild's dining room and ordered a modest breakfast. The waiter who brought it was familiar. She stopped him and said in X'ibian, “Listening to those with whom you disagree is the first step on the journey of understanding.

“I have listened with care to those whom you and I agree are evil. Now I wish to learn all that you will share. It is clear that you know much more than you have said.”

The waiter stared carefully about before he bowed a formal Eastern bow and replied in X'ibian, “You are most observant. You are also correct. Sadly, most of what I wish to tell is proscribed by ancient oaths.

“I will tell you this. We would far sooner trust you to seek that ancient thing than any other. We know that you will treat where it lies with the respect that is due to our ancient land. Not even we know where it lies any longer.

The Chineighese invasion and conquest a thousand years past destroyed many scholars and their libraries. The hidden location of the tomb of Im Farst was lost and has not been refound.”

Daring Do nodded thoughtfully and divided her bowl of mixed fruits with him. “Share with me the meal of friendship.

“I seek no harm to any ancient thing. I try to find what is lost and restore it to living memory. Sadly, some things need to stay lost but NEVER destroyed. I have provision made for that eventuality.”

He sat and ate his portion while Daring Do ate hers. She divided her Alfalfa Waffle with him too.

Now deeply puzzled, she returned to the building of the R.O.T. lawfirm. Greeting Horsetense, she spoke cheerfully, “I have the expedition agreement ready for the signatures of the partners!”

Horsetense looked up from reading a romance novel, to judge by the cover art. Smiling, she replied, “I really did not expect to see you again, after yesterday's little upsets! Here, let me send it up!”

She took Daring Do's envelope and put it into a vacuum cartridge and dropped it into a tube. With a whoosh, it was gone. In a few minutes there was a whoosh and clunk as a cartridge returned. It held a copy of the original document and a note:

“This is the ONLY acceptable agreement. We will not back you at all if you do not sign!

Isa Robber

Mystic Overthrow

Crule Tyranny”

Reading the note, Daring smiled and wrote across the Document in deep soaking indelible marker, “These terms are the sort of toxic trash that the composting facilities will refuse! I do too! Find another sucker! D.D.”

Horsetense looked sour as she returned the document with a clack and whoosh. She observed, “The Partners won't like that!”

Daring Do patted her hoof and replied, “They don't seem to like anything that is honest. I hope that you find a better position than this one soon.”

She turned on her hoof and was leaving when the system did its whoosh-clack. The note in it said:

“Our generous offer is withdrawn.

Good luck in your year long wait to sell your latest major find to the Royal Museum! R.O.T.”

Daring Do smiled serenely, showed the receptionist the note and told Horsetense, “See this? You might find the noon news amusing!”

She sauntered out, the note safely in her saddle bag.

She was about to return to the Adventurer's Guild for a nice luncheon when her brows drew down in a V of concentration. Not only the waiter's news but many other things began to fall out of their accustomed places, making a mess of her orderly mind.\

It was a feeling that she knew well. It had led her to almost all of past expeditions. When things are not as they should be, the first stop is the Royal Library.

As she climbed the steps, she admired the allegorical carving of the doors. The sun and moon arising together over the field of knowledge. The doors, obeying an ancient spell, opened impressively for her.

Inside, she was greeted by the wonderful odor of books, scrolls, manuscripts, codices of many sorts. This was the scent of her true heart.

Lurking in the overall scent, was the recent addition of fire proofing and extinguishing spells. They were a wise precaution whose necessity was shown by the Golden Oak Library disaster of Ponyville. Some still wondered how one of the most magically powerful beings of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle, could have forgotten something so basic as fire suppression spells, just when she most needed them. That, however, was not germane to her visit.

She walked up to the research desk and presented her Royal Pass, personally sealed by both Luna and Celestia. “I need full access to the Closed and Sealed Stacks, please,” she smiled at the young librarian.

Wide eyed, after staring at the pass, she turned and almost galloped to a Senior Librarian. She whispered, pointing back at Daring Do.

The senior came over and asked, “Reason for your visit, Antiquarian Do?”

“I have come across some discrepancies in research concerning the ancient X'ibian Empire. I already know, from previous work here, that the answers are not to be found in the ordinary open or closed stacks.”

The senior took Daring Do's pass and inserted it into a spell reader. It chimed. The four nearest Closed Research Stacks simply faded away leaving a huge pair of doors appearing to be iron bound ancient oak. Daring Do was not deceived. She knew that the reality behind the glamor spell was four tonne Military Armor Grade steel, sealed from forced entry or exit. She also knew that there were excellent reasons for being sealed against both! This was not a library for the faint of heart!

Resuming her pass, she asked, “May I have Apprentice Librarian Blendin to assist my studies, please? He and I have worked together before this. I have found him to be an excellent assistant.”

Before setting the opening spell, the Senior Librarian made a note and called over a Magic Net system, “Apprentice Librarian Blendin to the Canterlot Main Doors, please.”

It took a few minutes before the signal that he was present lit. The Senior Librarian tapped the opening spell. The great doors did not swing or retract, as one might expect. They became a thin seeming vapor.

Daring Do trotted through it without any problem. She smiled at her half brother and said, “We have a fun one! The Heart of Discord not only might be real, it might even be something that belongs here or in the Warehouse!”

Blendin's brows shot up. “I would be laughing right now, Sis, if it was anypony but you who said that. What brings this on?”

Daring Do snickered and replied, “Disorder in what I thought I knew and a conversation with somepony from an organization that I ran into while searching for the Darkling's Tomb.”

Showing a side that was rarely seen when he was off work, Blendin promptly asked, “The Ancient Guardians?”

“Exactly. One told me today that they lost the location of Im Farst's tomb during the Chineighese invasions of a thousand years ago. In short, THEY are certain that the Heart of Discord is there. They just don't know any longer, where, exactly.”

Blendin's eyes got a far-away look to them as he dug through the encyclopedic knowledge that even an Apprentice Librarian needed.

“Where do you want to start, Sis?”

“At the beginning. With the death and funeral of Im Farst.”

Blendin nodded briskly. “That is easy, then. There are only three contemporary documents of it. They are followed by the wall painting but it is later. It will take a few to access them. Are you willing to use a Twilight Closed Reading spell to keep from disturbing the actual documents. They are very fragile.”

“If you recommend it, Blendin, yes. What are they?”

“One is an actual scroll painting on lotus root paper. It is likely the most delicate. It is a traditional X'ibian landscape with a weeping dragon and a eulogy to Im Farst. The eulogy is signed Wisdom. The other two are thin sliced bamboo fold books, both with fire damage.”

He actually went to an OLD physical card file and leafed gently. Puzzled, he checked again. “I wonder how long ago this happened?” he inquired of empty air. “There are FOUR things here. I found two cards stuck together. I will have to speak to a Senior Librarian about that.”

Daring Do overheard him and looked up from her magically generated pages of perfectly duplicated documents. They WERE fascinating in their own right.

“What did you find, Blendin?”

“A carved stone inventory made at the time of interment. It is cracked across but otherwise intact. I assume that you want it?”

“Absolutely! Also, any provenance or location of finding! Not only the stone, but everything known of it!”

Blendin smiled sadly and gave her a thin file. “The stone was found in a Chineighese open air market about eight hundred years ago and given into Royal Care. Not much help there.”

He did develop the copy spell, giving Daring Do all of the visible surfaces of the stone, top, thin sides and back.

Daring Do began to scan the stone, her brows knitting now and again as she found and solved an ideogram that was new to her. She pulled out a magnifier for much of it. The ancient engraving was surprisingly small and tightly compacted.

Blendin watched his half sister's reading with awe. “How can you do that, Sis? I know at least a hundred scholars of Ancient X'ibian and not one of them can just snap out the meaning of a new ideogram like that!”

She looked up for a moment. “It's really not too hard, Blendin. The construction of ancient X'ibian ideograms follows a rigidly logical system from about a hundred bases. Once you know those, the rest follows, except for bad handwriting, of course.” She grinned. “That is nothing new at all.”

Blendin nodded agreement and then brightened up. “I need to do an advancement paper in the Library. Mind if I take that tip and develop it?”

Absently muttering, “Be my guest,” Daring Do returned to her study.

“Pardon, Sis. I need more space for you.” Blendin grabbed the end of the Library table and pulled. It stretched out another three meters, growing extra legs as it did so.

Daring Do raised her eyebrows as she watched. “Handy trick, that!”

“You know it, Sis. I needed the space to set out the more modern works, you know, from four hundred PNW to the End of Exile.”

“Four hundred Post Nightmare Wars? Nothing earlier?”

“According to the Master Index, nope. A long dry spell there. Then the litter-ature explodes. All the mystical shit and such.”

She nodded and returned to deciphering the fold books and the painting. She was nearly done with the painting when she asked, “Can I get modern paper copies of these old documents? I just spotted something curious.”

“Not a problem, Sis. I will do a contagion duplication on them. You will be able to take those copies if they pass the Security of Information checks. I did not bother looking at that info when I set them up for you.”

Blendin was systematically setting out the later documents by date when he stopped cold.

“This makes no sense at all, Sis. Check me on this. When Im Farst was buried in his hidden tomb there was no trace of the Heart of Discord.

“Then, IN EQUESTRIA, the tales of the Heart of Discord begin to show up in print about four hundred PNW. The wall painting that is the only known documentation of it was not found until 653 PNW.

“It gets worse. The tomb that the painting is in dates quite exactly. It was made 150 years after the death of Im Farst but not found until 653 PNW.”

Daring Do stared at Blendin's work in rising excitement.

“It makes perfect sense after all! Who was the wife of Im Farst?”

Blendin actually took time to consult the Index again. “Her name was Wisdom. Legend says that she was a dragon. How does that make any sense at all?”

Daring Do took a sheet of paper and a writing brush. Inking it professionally, she wrote a character.

“First, remember that there were no male or female names in ancient X'ibian. This thing called a SHI was added to a surname or single name to indicate female and left off for male names! It was silent in ancient X'ibian.

“Now look at this!” She quickly drew another character. “That is the ancient character for Wisdom. This one is Discord, the draconequis. Add a Shi to Discord and what do you see?”

Blendin stared at the two characters in consternation. “Wisdom! Discord with a Shi and Wisdom look the same!”

“Right! Im Farst really was married to a dragon. Eris, the female form of Discord.

“The Vase of Wisdom is in all of these inventories! A hundred and fifty years later, on a tomb wall, the vase was named without the Shi and the Heart of Discord was born!”

Blendin looked carefully at his time-line of publications and written down tales. He thoughtfully accessed the Index again.

He added a whole selection of more material from the Last Nightmare War onward.

Softly, he said, “Here she is. It all begins with the Tales of Aleax the Blind. This dates to only 115 PNW. Eris, the draconequis, is asked if ever she knew love. Her reply is, 'In a land far to the East, I left my love a vase that I made. I left my Heart in his tomb. Im Farst was his name.' She shed a few tears and asked what reward was wanted for bringing her that memory.”

Daring Do sadly offered, “That explains so much. Blendin, I need these inventories, including the stone's upper surface and that landscape painting with the Im Farst eulogy on it.”

Blendin went to the Index and lifted a very modern Magic Net mirror up from a concealed pocket. He tapped codes and looked carefully at the results. Grinning, he tapped a whole set of new codes.

“They will accept my paper on the reading of Ancient X'ibian ideograms! They also cleared modern paper copies of the things you asked for. They are now locked to the papers that they are on. Feel free to take them, Sis!”

Returning, Daring Do saw the enormous steel doors simply go to mist again. She paused long enough to say, “Best of fortune on the paper, Blendin. It is going to keep you busy, I promise it.”

With a grin, he replied, “I know, Sis. I do know. Thanks for the tip.”

Daring Do walked out to the Research Desk and Logged out, showing her copies to the Senior Librarian. There was no sign behind her of the massive secret doors. Just the ordinary closed stacks.

If Daring Do was walking like nothing of any importance had changed, her mind was racing! It WAS real! The Vase, the Heart of ERIS, rather than Discord, was there. The tomb of Im Farst was a fact!

She was pretty sure how to find it too! That, she had failed to mention to her half brother, Blendin. Best not to give any possible rumor a root to grow.

Ensconced in the Adventurer's Guild's secure communication room, Daring Do tapped up codes on the Secure Magic Net Mirror there. She was greeted by the surly face of Count Umber. He still had a plaster on the bruise over his right eye from their earlier altercation. He reached to cut off the call.

With a smile that could have flash frozen a polar bear, Daring Do said serenely, “Please do, Count. Princess Luna audits all incoming calls. When she finds that you cut off a Private Antiquities Emergency call, you will be in so much hot water that you will be lucky to retain your County. Luna herself gave me this code after the debacle of the Golden Necklace of Pharow Underrock.”

Putting the knife in deeper and twisting, she added, “That was at the same time that she gave you your present work. It is amazing how much better the Museum Acquisition Policy has become. I have already been paid for the balance of the Pharow Underrock Collection.”

With a growl that would have done credit to hungry bear, Count Umber put her through. Princess Luna was sitting in a bath up to her withers, gently fanning her wings in the warm water. There was a squadron of blue bath duckies hidden by lumps of bubble foam. They were preparing to ambush a similar squadron of yellow bath duckies.

She looked up from her bath game and said, “What is the problem with the Underrock Collection? Umber has noted that you are calling about it.”

“With due respect, your Highness, he is absolutely wrong. I am calling about a thing connected to the legal firm of R.O.T.”

Princess Luna sat up suddenly, water cascading off her shoulders. “COUNT UMBER! GET OFF THIS LINE! ALL CALLS ON THIS CODE GROUP ARE ABSOLUTELY PRIVATE! You were given strict instructions about the call system. YOU HAVE VIOLATED ONE OF THE MOST BASIC ONES! We will discuss your position in Canterlot when this call is done!”

She tapped a few codes in her bathroom mirror. “There. The nuisance is removed. By Royal Guards. Now we are private. What do you need to discuss?”

“R.O.T. is mounting an expedition to X'ibia, in the far desert regions of the Chineighese Empire. They are searching for the Heart of Discord. Their care with priceless antiquities was shown during the break in at my University office.”

“There have been many expeditions to search for the Heart of Discord, Daring Do. None has ever succeeded, lending much credence to the notion that it is legendary. Why are you so concerned now?”

“Because, your Highness, today, doing research at the Great Library, I discovered that the Vase of Wisdom is perfectly real. Wisdom was Im Farst's wife, the Dragon Queen of ancient X'ibia.

“How well do you know the writing of that ancient land?”

“Excellently, my dear. So, what you found is the connection between Eris now and Wisdom, the Dragon Queen then?”

“You do not seem surprised, your Highness.”

“Only saddened that it will arouse such heartbreaking memories in my friend. We must tell her that the secret is out. How much more do you know of this matter?”

“I believe that I know where Im Farst's tomb is. Wisdom painted a landscape with a weeping dragon and inscribed her eulogy to him. I have a copy from the Library. I am fairly sure that it shows the tomb's hidden location.”

Luna sort of sank into her bath. “You are correct. We must tell her. Now. Together. I cried with her for many nights when he died.”

Stiffing up, Luna tapped some other codes to the mirror.

The call was answered by an amazingly lovely pony with one perfectly centered cyclops like eye. “ERIS, Inc.! How may I direct your call please, Princess Luna?”

“Hello, Cy. I hate to interrupt whatever Eris is doing but I have urgent news for her. Just tell her that Wisdom has been found. She will know what I mean.”

“Wisdom has been found. I will tell her.”

Almost instantly, the mirror switched to show Eris, wearing the silken robes of the Chineighese. An eye as trained as Daring Do's saw that they were in the style of ancient X'ibia.

There was a copy of the Wisdom Eulogy to Im Farst hung to the wall and both incense and tea being offered before it on an ornate, low table of black wood, richly inlaid with natural woods of many colors.

Eris asked mildly, “Luna, if it was any but you calling, I would have required them to wait. What do you mean that Wisdom has been found?”

Daring Do spoke up. “A Shi is supposed to be silent and only indicate gender. A Shi added to Discord, the draconequis, makes Eris, that is you. It also turns the ideogram into Wisdom, the name that you used when you lived your life with Im Farst, whom I see that you still love.”

There was a small tear at Eris' eye. “That is true, all of it. What do I need to know beyond the fact that you found it out?”

“The law firm of R.O.T. is mounting an expedition to X'ibia to locate the Heart of Discord. Of course, THAT really is legendary, the result of twisting the words of Aleax the Blind to say that you left a Vase, your heart, in his tomb. That is where the legends of the Heart of Discord come from.

“Even with the trickery that they use, they have begun to set up the expedition. R.O.T. could find the tomb.”

Eris said softly, “Their care with Antiquities is amply shown by the break in at your office. I see. What do you need from me?”

Daring Do smiled and replied, “Two sorts of things. One is your permission to open the tomb and conserve the things in it. The other is a little more personal. Anything that you can think of that might mess up the R.O.T. expedition and throw them off the trail.”

Eris began to smile hugely around her fang. “Doctor Do, I know your reputation in detail. I will trust you to open my love's tomb and conserve all as well as it can be done. Expect my document of permission within the hour. Cy will deliver it in person.

“As for your other request, let us say that I will consider it favorably.

“Now, I have much to attend to, including letting my love know that you are coming.” The mirror blanked.

Luna's bath duckies were all joined into a large squadron, attacking the bath bubble foam furiously! She looked up with a serious face. “While you were talking to Eris, I set it up with my sister, Celestia. We are putting your Expedition under the Royal Wing.

“You mentioned being able to manage the cost. You will not have to. We will cover it all with letters of credit and passage permissions that are being prepared now. Celestia has summoned the Chineighese Ambassador to prepare your documents for free travel and official assistance. All the papers should arrive in a few hours. They are addressed to you at the Adventurer's Guild.”

“Thank you, your Highness.” Daring Do blanked the mirror and emerged from the room. The waiter from this morning was there, tears in his eyes. “Our long Guardianship is over. We have heard from the most exalted one. Wisdom herself has put us at your disposal. What then shall we do for you?”

Daring Do gave him a deep formal bow and replied, “We will need you still. There are more than Im Farst to guard. If you will come with me, I will show you what I mean.”

Deepest concern in his voice, brows drawn in honest worry, he asked, “What will become of Im Farst and all of his things?”

Daring Do replied honestly, “I do not know. I will gather him and all of those things and they will be given to the Most Exalted Wisdom. She will then decide what may be kept for study, placed in museums on display and what she will keep for her own. All will be a gift of my Princesses to Wisdom. This plan has been made and will be kept.”

He needed no thought. “This is the best that can be hoped for. He will be reunited with Wisdom. May they find all the joy that can be between Mortal and the Dragon.”

Down in the comfortable lounge, with its dark, almost cave like atmosphere, she relaxed and had the waiter sit with her. They were quietly chatting in X'ibian while watching the front doors, over in the area of the lounge open to the public.

Soon the doors opened and a confident young looking mare with a forelock, mane and tail of an amazing blue that was almost black walked in. She had a single eye, centered in her forehead. She was carrying a document case.

Two big earth ponies, easily half again her size got up from a table and stated, “Just hand over the papers, Miss. We are Doctor Do's personal secretaries and we will give them to her.”

“No. My orders are to put them directly into Daring Do's hooves ONLY.”

One edged behind her, pulling a knife. The other pulling threatening hoof, ready to punch, demanded, “Hand over the papers or we are going to have to get REAL rough, got it?”

Her smile of sheer delight should have been a warning.

She dropped the dispatch case and backed hard. That slammed the one behind her into the stout doors of the club. Reaching back and grabbing, she had the thug's foreleg. She lifted it to her shoulder and snapped down, while driving forward with her hind legs. With an audible snapping and rending of the joint, he flipped up, horror on his face. She slammed him down like a big meaty hammer on top of his fellow thug!

That unfortunate was trying to make a grab for the case when he was flattened. The mare, an expression of pure joy on her face, hauled her “hammer” back and whipped him over again. He not only hit his fallen comrade, his head flopped back as he came down. The shattering of his neck could be heard throughout the room.

She hoof rolled the corpse off his buddy and leaped almost to the ceiling, landing on one hoof, putting the full weight and force of her body on the last one's spine. The splintering of ribs and the softer snapping of his spine announced the death of the second thug.

He twitched once and lay still. The cyclops eyed mare, simply glowing with delight, carefully rolled both bodies to the tiled part of the entryway. She examined the carpets and gave a high hoof!

Speaking at last, she exclaimed, “Perfect! Not one drop of blood on the carpet!”

With her face composed to a light professional smile, she came to Daring Do's table.

She placed the case on the table. Daring Do smiled up at her and said, “Thank you, Cyrene. It is an honor that Eris sent her documents in the company of her best bodyguard. That was amazing to watch.”

Cy replied, “The honor is mine, Doctor Daring Do. In here are not only Eris' releases and other documents, I have the honor of delivering the Royal documents and a formal notice that your expedition is under the Royal Wing.”

Turning to the Guadian, she made a deep formal X'ibian court bow and said, “I thank you, Guardian. I saw you draw your knife to throwing position but withhold your strike.”

He returned the bow and replied, “I saw that you did not need my assistance, Watcher of the Exalted One. We of the Guardians have been given the honor of watching recordings of your many actions on Her behalf.”

Cy replied, “I began by watching the works of your ponies on Her behalf. I learned much. I am pleased to be able to thank one of you in person.”

He put his hooves together and bowed his head. “The greatest compliment that a teacher may receive is a student who excels. The Student has far surpassed the teacher. We are proud.”

Daring Do, ignoring the nearly frantic police at the club entrance, opened the case and began to inventory the contents.

She was delighted at what she found. Expedition clearances, of course. Letters of credit. Travel documents from Equestria and the Chineighese Empire. There were even documents for X'ibia, even though it was technically a province of the Chineighese Empire. Her eyebrows rose at PRE CLEARED Chineighese Artifact transportation and export.

She muttered to herself, “They must not want a repeat of the Darkling collection fiasco.”

To her surprise, her comment brought a smile from both the normally impassive Guardian and Cy.

She had just packed it all back and sealed the case when a pony in the uniform of a Canterlot Police Sargent Major strutted up self-importantly and made a grab for the case, snapping, “This is evidence in a double murder!”

Cy's blindingly fast move snapped his foreleg away from the case. She said in an utterly level voice, “Sargent Major Haystring, I would think that you wold remember the last time that we met. It only took you five years to recover your rank.

“This is a formal legal statement in regard to the present double ponycide. I, Cyrene Yvonne Clopes, was given detached duty from Eris, Inc. My duty, given under the Royal Wing, was to deliver a case containing documents for Doctor of Antiquities, Daring Do.

“Entering the Adventurer's Guild, I was accosted by two thugs attempting to steal the case and documents. They first tried the ruse of being Doctor Daring Do's secretaries. When that failed they attacked me. I killed them both and delivered the documents properly.

“This whole event is legally protected by the Royal Wing of Equestria.”

Sargent Major Haystring sourly examined the ID's offered by both Cy and Daring Do. Smarting under the memory of a five year dent in his career, he handed them back.

Truculently he demanded of Cy, “Don't you ever let anypony live?”

To his surprise, she replied promptly, “Of course I do, if they have useful information for Eris or the Princesses. Otherwise, no. Where is the fun in letting slime ooze away?”

Defeated, he retreated to his fellow officers and held a conference of whispers with much hoof pointing at Cy and Daring Do.

The Guardian smiled serenely and offered, “If your personages will be so good as to follow me, we can avoid further foolishness on the part of these most unwise police.”

They both followed him into the tidy service areas of the Adventurer's Guild. They passed through the surprisingly busy kitchen and on to a service elevator.

They went down two levels and got out in a big underground service tunnel filled with heavy cables, mains for water and other things that Daring Do did not have time to identify.

Cy did, though. She happily twirled several handwheels and pried open a big gray box. She pushed the button inside and neatly shut the box again. The Guardian watched with sparkling eyes. He quit trying to maintain an impassive face and started to chortle as he led them down the dusty and spider webbed service tunnel.

Cyrene, smiling angelically, explained, “The police were setting up a hard point in front of the Guild. They use the ponyholes for the electric and gas when they do it. Those all have emergency fire fighting pressure spray systems in them nowadays. I just routed the sewer into the fire fighting line and set off the sprinklers!”

Daring Do joined into the merriment as they trotted away down the rarely used tunnels. They emerged near the Canterlot Central Railroad Station. Daring Do bought them all tickets.

Almost as an anticlimax, the ride to the modest seaport of Milestago was uneventful. They enjoyed the scenery along the way and dark had fallen by the time that they arrived, but that was the worst of it.

Soon they were all relaxing around a table in the Rusty Barnacle. Their rooms were paid and a modest meal of the locally famous sea-grass, harvested only days before, was in front of them. Daring Do was studying the ship schedules and docking reservations.

Cy pushed back from the table and said, “Doctor Daring Do, It has been an honor to deliver the documents to you.” She paused and her face took on a grin that was paradoxically both savage and serene at once. “It was FUN, too! I am so glad that it did not upset you like it does so many others.”

Daring Do looked up from her schedules and asked, “Has been? Are you leaving us?”

“I will be with you until time to sail, Daring Do. Then I have duties for my Mistress, Eris.”

The next morning, they were assembled about the scarred and battered table in the Rusty Barnacle. With daylight, the delightfully tacky decor of the place stood out starkly in view. There were the usual nets festooned about, antique looking whale spears, phony treasure chests and, though it was easy to miss, in the corner, enmeshed in the net, dangled a lovely fake skeleton of Sea Unicorn.

Daring Do did take the time to admire the place once again. She had started many expeditions here and the management used that knowledge in their marketing.

Daring Do was picking at her breakfast while making many Magic Net mirror calls. Finally she sat to eat seriously.

She snickered as they all set out to examine the many assorted goods that she had ordered from the many Chandlers of Milestago. “Never turn your back on food. Who knows when you will get the chance to eat again?”

Their expedition's supplies finally seen to, they reported to the ship that she had engaged. The Captain met them at the gangplank. He had a phony smile pasted onto his face. “I am sorry, Miss Daring Do. We have been otherwise engaged. They paid twice the lading deposit that you did. I have your deposit right here.”

He started to hand her a check. Before he could complete the action, Cy had him down, one hoof on his back, his foreleg bent up at an unnatural angle.

Over his yelps of pain, Cy said clearly, “GOLD ONLY. You were paid in gold. I do recognize the name that check is drawn on. R.O.T. will not honor it.

“Get Doctor Do the coin NOW. If you do not, you will be known as Captain Svien the three legged. If you survive.”

Perhaps it was the sheer happiness that was radiating from his assailant that caused the Captain to fold at once. “Nicor! Get the bag of coin from my quarters now!”

When Nicor showed up with the bag, he handed it over promptly.

Cy said cheerfully, “Count it, Doctor Do! It is five gold short, to make it look like a miscount of stacks. The good Captain has the missing five right here in his pocket!”

Betraying himself, the Captain demanded, “How could you know that?”

Daring Do instantly replied, “She is Eris' personal bodyguard. Where there is anything amiss, Eris lets her know. Not sure how that works, but I've seen it happen often enough.”

They took the gold and left the Captain trying to rise on his twisted foreleg.

Sitting in the Rusty Barnacle, they were approached by an elderly faded red sea-pony with a wooden stump replacing part of his left hind leg. He had a battered captain's cap worn around the stump of a horn. His eyes, though, nothing old about them.

Daring Do, being a pegasus, really had little magic. It was all small and strictly practical. Truth testing, safe grip that allowed the picking up of cracked or damaged things without losing any parts or causing further damage, fast read (handy but you had to know the language fairly well first) and a few other spells of that sort. They were all Non Equine Magic learned from the Non Equine University.

Truth testing was simple and unobtrusive. First, it showed her that what they saw was real. She could have sworn it was staged for effect!

“I am Captain Getsthere, of the Sea Sage. Ship's a bit obsolete, mixed sail and steam paddle wheeler. She is sound, though, and will get you there. I hear that you want to get to the Chineignese Empire. Main port at Singapone and then up the Dunn See river to Cantrot.”

The Guardian said quietly, “Not to cast a doubt on your honorable self but all the docks are occupied by ships with Lading Deposits. None are loading, however.”

Captain Getsthere smiled, showing yellowed teeth, some with gold or silver crowns. “Legal trick there, Honorable One. If we have cargo to load and a paid Lading Deposit, the Harbor Master HAS to move a vessel that is not loading out to the roadstead and let us have the dock space.”

Daring Do invited Captain Getsthere to sit and said, “Order what you wish. We have the Lading Deposit in Gold and the cargo is in Dock Warehouse #4. So, you can get us to Singapone? What about river barge connections to Cantrot?”

The Captain was briefly busy with the waiter and then replied, “Sea Sage is shallow enough draft that we've been up to Cantrot six times. At low water, too. Make that whole run for you without transshipping once.”

Truth testing passed him completely, to Daring Do's amazement. She saw Cy nodding approval. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the bag of gold that was the deposit for the previous vessel.

Captain Getsthere carefully counted it out. He shoved back a substantial sum. “Sea Sage's Lading Deposit is well known. Won't overcharge you first thing.”

Daring Do considered carefully. “Make us a proper receipt. Make us another for any refits that you think good. We want the ship under us to be as sound as possible.”

At that he nodded acceptance. “I can do that. Got a list, in fact. Was going to use the deposit money to get it.”

He left to make arrangements with the Harbor Master and order his refitting supplies from the chandlers.

The group of them were sitting outside, watching the gulls fly and the coming and going of smaller boats. The docks were full of idle ships. Most of them had the wisp of smoke at the stack that indicated operational steam up. That was required by the Royal Maritime Commission. It let docks be cleared quickly for emergencies, a precaution that had paid off handsomely in the past.

“Look!” Cy exclaimed. “They are bringing up a tug to Dock and Warehouse 4!”

The Guardian said softly, “The Rising Whale does not have steam up as required. They are pulling her out. Her captain is protesting. From the looks of the longshore ponies with axes to cut the hawser lines it will be a useless protest.”

He was right. The captain had to get a gig to catch up to his idle ship, being towed out to the roadstead.

The Sea Sage was in place and ready to load in only a half hour or so. Maneuvering a ship, even a smaller one, near a dock is tricky business and has to be done with care.

Their supplies were being loaded and the Sea Sage was taking on coal while they watched. Daring Do called on her Magic Net mirror. Looking up, she explained, “We will have three others from the Royal University joining us in a short time. I sent them ahead and told them where to wait. They are all experts in conservation and collection of delicate artifacts.”

Sure enough the three came trotting up in a little while. One, a pale mauve pony, introduced himself, “I am Senior Graduate Student Horace. These others are Jeremy, the orange guy there, and the big white mare is Soree Bea Shann. She is a Saddle Arabian exchange student.

“I don't know why they are along. Jeremy barely made the cut for the program and HER? Her folks back in the desert are RICH. Her only qualification.”

The two were about to protest when Daring Do cut in, “THEY are along because I personally sent for them. YOU muscled your way onto the team without my consent. I am most curious as to WHY?”

Cy simply pounced. She used a right foreleg thrust to the side of Horace's neck. He was not only knocked down, he was driven over a meter from where he had been standing a fraction of a second ago. Cy was sitting on his neck to keep him down while she explained, “Horace, here, is in ROT's pay. He was smart enough to demand gold up front and no written contract.

“His job is to report your expedition's progress and the exact location of the tomb. ROT will then swoop in and steal anything of value. If a few ponies have to die, including you, Doctor Do, no big deal, as he sees it. He will have money and perhaps fame.”

Daring Do considered for a moment. “How can you know these things? I have noticed other times that you knew what you really had no way of knowing.”

Going perfectly serious, Cy replied, “That is a matter of ERIS Supreme security, Doctor. The Guardian knows. In a private setting, he may tell you what he deems fit.”

With a pluck of her sleeve, the Guardian led her inside the Rusty Barnacle. Looking about to be sure of not being overheard, he told her, “You have seen her eye and mane. More was changed in her inheritance after the Mage Weapon Blast of two generations past than only her body. The Watcher of the Most Exalted One can read minds. More it is unwise to say.”

Daring Do, thinking back saw answers to many things. “Her precise combat moves. She knows were the enemy is without looking. The trick with the sewers and fire fighting mains. She was near enough to somepony who knew it! I am glad that she is a Watcher for Eris. So many try to harm her.”

They went back out where Cy was passing time by lightly popping Horace's head against the ground. She looked up brightly as Daring Do approached. “Can I? Please? We know everything that he is aware of about the plot. I would love to kill him!”

The eager puppy look to her single eye left no doubt about Cy's sincerity. Daring Do hated to disappoint her. “I am afraid not, Cy. I do believe you. One test, though. How was he to communicate with ROT?”

“Empty his left saddle bag. There is a hidden flap on the inside. Lifting it will reveal the pocket holding a World Wide Magic Net mirror. A small one but with plenty of reach. We at ERIS cracked that algorithm about two years ago. That type of mirror was still in development when we got it.”

Horace sort of gave up. “Those are supposed to be totally private. You heard my signals when I called them to say we were going to the ship.”

Cy looked down at him. “Something of that sort. I waited to be sure that I had what you knew before I moved, that is all.”

Slumped even flatter, Horace asked, “Since I am not going along, can't you just let me go? I can't hurt you now.”

Serenely digging out the mirror, Cy poked some codes. “Hello, are you Mister Robber or Mister Overthrow? Oh, you are Mister Tyrrany! I am Cyrene Clopes. I work for ERIS, Inc. I just wanted you to know that we have taken your spy for Doctor Do's expedition.

“What? No. We are letting him go for now. The Royal Road Police will be handling the charge of Criminal Taking of Royal Funds. We thought that since you are a law firm and have him on retainer, that you would likely want to defend him in the courts.

“This was purely a courtesy call, you understand. Good bye.” She closed the mirror and handed it back to Horace.

“Do be so good as to pack your things and leave, young pony. We really don't want you along.”

As Daring Do watched Horace go, she had a pang of conscience. She turned to Cy and said softly, “They will kill him, won't they?”

Cy smiled calmly, watching gulls wheel overhead. “Almost certainly, Doctor Do. I might have handled things differently if this was the only bad thing that he has done. It is not. He has cheated and trampled others for most of his life.”

Soon they were all picking staterooms aboard the Sea Sage. They all rushed up to the deck to wave good bye to Cy, staying behind on the dock as the ship was towed free and the huge, nearly antique paddles began to churn the harbor's water. Her big whistle let loose a piercing scream and crewponies worked to unfurl the sails.

Heeling gracefully, the Sea Sage rounded the breakwater and swept out onto the swells of the open sea.

Soree, the Saddle Arabian, who had never been to sea before, was happily trotting all over, looking at all of the wonderful new sights! She drew in deep breaths of the amazing salt air, the scent of smoke and lubricants from the massive two cylinder walking beam engine and the pitch on the rigging ropes.

Poor orange Jeremy was hanging his head over the rail and wishing that his heaving tummy would stop. It was emptied long ago!

Daring Do and the Guardian had a low table set up on the poop deck and were happily playing Mah Jongg, to the rattle of dice and the clacking of tiles.

Daring Do felt a deep contentment. She was on the way; another expedition to find the unknown and learn the secrets of the ancient past.

The weather, which at sea, was native and wild, untamed by Cloudsdale or any other such authority, held fine. Jeremy got over his sea-sickness. Both he and Soree began to learn the ins and outs of Mah Jongg. It is an excellent four hoof game.

The weather did not prove to be a problem. The pirates, on the other hoof . . .

Captain Getsthere approached the players. Gruffly, he informed them, “We have company. Looks like one of Queen Qushi's fleet. They have a cannon thing. No magic at all, so I hear. It was a shot from one like that took my leg.”

Daring Do nodded solemnly and took up a pair of field glasses. Studying the the approaching vessel, she observed, “One of Queen Qushi's for sure. They are flying her Cash and Crossed Bones banner. That looks like a twelve pound swivel gun.”

She bounded down the stairs to a companion way and out of sight. She returned shortly with an awkward looking long rifle.

Loading the weapon's magazine with longish cartridges, she brought the gun over to the rail and braced it against her shoulder.

Muttering, “I wish that the ship would stop rolling. Messes up my aim!” she started making continual adjustments of position to keep the gun level.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Soree looking over the rail, fascinated by the other ship. Daring Do called, “Soree! Get down! Go below decks! If they shoot that big gun it could kill you!”

At that moment, the big swivel gun on the pirate fired with a huge flare of flame and billowing cloud of smoke. The projectile blasted a hole in the mizzen gaff sail, about a meter from Soree. She stared at it for a second, paralyzed by fear. Then she ran for the safety of below decks.

Daring Do remained at her post, adjusting her aim to the rocking of ship. The pirates swabbed out the barrel of their gun and started to lift a bag into the barrel.

Daring Do touched off her rifle, which also released a blast of flame but far less smoke. The recoil lifted the weapon up and drove Daring Do back a few steps. She was already working the action as she brought the gun back to the rail.

On the pirate, havoc ruled! Their sack of gunpowder erupted in flame and smoke! Daring Do's shot pierced one of the gun crew! He dropped the slow match as he flailed and fell! It hit the powder sack which exploded at once!

Daring Do changed her point of aim. She could see the junk's wheel now. Her next shot fractured the wheel itself, shattering the cable housing! The ship, out of control, swerved wildly away, her sails losing the wind.

Jeremy got up from where he had plastered himself to the deck and whooped, “You beat them!”

Daring Do kicked his legs from under him and snapped, “No. They are not beaten. They are still faster than we are and only need to clear a few cables from the whipstaff to regain control. They will be steering from below decks by called commands.

“It is clumsy but it works. I've done it myself!”

Looking over the rail, Jeremy saw that it was true. They were clearing away the dead and wounded from the swivel gun and the ship was turning toward them again.

Daring Do was moving forward along the rail. Jeremy crawled after her. “Why are you moving? That was a good spot!”

Daring Do retorted, “And a great target as soon as they get that gun back into action!” At her new place, she took the time to shove two more cartridges into the magazine of the massive rifle.

Jeremy stared at the stock of the weapon. Incredulously, he asked, “What kind of pony was that made for?”

Daring Do was taking aim again and muttered, “Not a pony. Dromedary.”

They were reloading the swivel gun and filling powder bags from a cask to make shooting faster. Daring Do touched off her shot. The exploding cask and powder bags tore a great hole in the foredeck and ripped the gun loose from its mount. There were no visible bodies to clear away, this time.

Her next shot took down the captain who was calling the orders. His replacement never got to complete his first command.

There was smoke starting to rise from the gaping wound forward. The junk fell off the wind and her crew, when last seen, were frantically pouring buckets of sea water into the hole.

The rest of the voyage to Singapone was uneventful except for the thunderstorm. It was not too big or violent, as such storms go. It let down rain in buckets and barrels, though. All that could be spared were staying dry below decks. All except for Soree!

She was gleefully cantering all over the deck, looking at the water cascading from the sails and running down the rigging!

Soree was getting totally soaked and loving every second of it!

Jeremy commented sourly, “She is nuts. She is like this every time that it rains.”

Daring Do looked up, glaring severely at Jeremy. “She is not. She is celebrating rainfall because it is a rare event in Saddle Arabia where she comes from. All of the horses are like this when it rains.”

Jeremy snorted. “She needs to learn that she's not in the desert anymore!”

Daring Do smiled at that. Then pointed out, “And Hong Wa, the ruins of the Imperial City are where?”

“X'ibia.”

“And X'ibia is?”

“A Desert! OK, I get it!”

Saree bounced happily down the companionway and went into her stateroom to towel off. Emerging, she was all smiles and delight!

“It was falling everywhere! Only the cooks and quartermaster were out filling barrels! I helped! It was ever so much fun!”

Daring Do greeted the news with smiles. “I am glad that your celebration went so well, Soree.”

In two more days they began to see smaller fishing junks and sampans out in increasing numbers. Daring Do, scanning the northern and westerns horizons with her field glasses nodded to herself.

Captain Getsthere saw and came over beside her at at the rail. He commented quietly, “I missed our shadow this morning too. I saw them keeping an eye on us at or near the horizon ever since the attack. Wonder where they are now?”

Daring Do replied with some worry, “Getting clear of us while we come into port. Queen Qushi's ships may be old, and many are, but she has the best Magic Net mirrors on every one of them. She already knows that something happened.

“If she is still the same sort that I remember meeting before, our issues with her will be settled at dockside.”

Not long after, they saw the tall twin stone towers with their traditional signal fires that marked the opening to the great hidden bay of Singapone, one of the Empire's two busiest harbors.

The harbor pilot came to take the wheel, leaving the small motor sampan to return on its own.

He guided the Sea Sage, under engines alone, into the harbor proper. The bay opened out into a huge complex surrounded on all sides by docks in all stages of repair, warehouses, drydocks and even palaces whose walls came right down to the water.

There were more palaces and exclusive residences on two large islands somewhat off center to the port as they followed the shipping channels deeper into the harbor.

Soree was in a transport of delight at the sight of so many boats of all sizes and designs. The many sea birds were an absolute fascination. Besides just watching, and expressing her joy at every new thing, she was writing down all of her observations in a voluminous notebook, complete with many detailed sketches.

Jeremy commented sourly, “That's not worth much! No pony can read scratches like that!”

Daring Do overheard him and leaned over Soree's shoulder to read from the notebook. “You have a lovely hoof for the Language of the Endless Sky, my dear. That expression of yours, 'Wheeling in the distance, like a whirlwind of pearls,' describes the gulls over some food so beautifully.”

Jeremy got the point. He was skulking away when he noticed something wrong up ahead. He came galloping back down the deck, calling out, “There is some other ship in our dock space!”

Captain Getsthere intercepted him. “We already know that. The pilot told us some time ago. That water-screw motor ship got here first and paid the Harbor Master a big bribe to get OUR reserved dock.

“We have been offered a free complimentary docking by Qushi Trading Company. We will be there shortly.”

Jeremy skidded to a stop, nearly tripping over a big tub holding a coiled sail line. “Qushi, the Priate Queen! Why would you be stupid enough to take an offer like that?”

Captain Getsthere looked out at the many small boats about them and pointed to six. He snorted, “Those are equipped with pure tech incendiary rocket launchers. It is called an invitation that is unwise to refuse.”

Soon, heavy twelve oared pulling boats were easing the Sea Sage to a dock in a walled complex under a flag, blue, with a Golden, square holed Cash as a device. It was remarkably similar to the pirate flag that was black and had added crossed bones.

Waiting on the dock was a middle aged mare in the finest of silken robes, her coat, tail and mane, a yellow that could only be described as golden. Her mane and forelock were complexly braided and held by long pins and tall combs of pure pearl shell.

The Pirate Queen Qushi Han Le was accompanied by an elderly gray stallion, equipped with document saddle bags. He wore the robes of a scribe. The observant might also see the seven sharpshooters with aimed weapons spaced about the dock and warehouse.

Jeremy was not among the observant. He was snorting, “That is the fearsome Pirate Queen? I have some choice words for HER!”

Daring Do and Captain Getsthere exchanged a glance and both nodded. In mere moments, two burly crew ponies appeared. “Where are you taking me? I . . .” His words and the sound of his dragging hooves were cut off by a cargo hatch, which they sealed with a thump.

Captain Getsthere had the gangway run out to the dock and the bosun's whistle piped Qushi Han Le aboard with the call reserved for higher ranking royalty.

When she put her forehooves together and bowed respect to Daring Do, Daring Do returned the formal bow, grave of face. Soree saw what Daring Do did and set aside her notebook. She too bowed, as she had seen it done.

Qushi Han Le gave a return bow of lesser magnitude. As she straightened, she observed in Equestrian with a lilting accent, “You are keeping a journal, Honorable One. May I see that book?”

Soree promptly handed it over, commenting in broken Chineighese, “Please excuse my failure to grasp your ways of speaking. I am studying but I find your language to be difficult.”

Qushi Han Le accepted the book with a smile that showed, under the meticulous grooming of her face's fur, several scars. She replied, “You share with Daring Do the willingness to admit ignorance and seek to repair it. Now, let me see . . .

“Your drawings are meticulous. I can recognize the Khansi by her lines alone. I see that you recorded the big explosion forward. Do you know the cause of it?”

Qushe glanced through the lines of complex Saddle Arabian. Frowning, she asked, “What is this part? I have never seen this before.”

Soree examined the part that was being pointed to. “It says that the Janissary was struck and thrown over the side by the shot. I do not know a proper word for Sea Captain in Saddle Arabian. We are a landlocked desert kingdom. A Janissary in Saddle Arabia is a leader of a military troop.”

Qushi nodded, “That makes sense of the passage. This is a very clear account of the attack. The drawings are excellent. May my scribe duplicate these pages, please?”

Soree put her hooves together and bowed, “If they will serve any good purpose, even to the fulfilling of your curiosity, please copy what you wish.”

The book was handed to Qushi's scribe who examined it carefully and withdrew a stack of fine, lotus root paper. He gently opened the book, so that the covers did not interfere and pressed the written pages of the book to the stack of paper. How he did it, did not show, but every page of Soree's journal was duplicated perfectly. With the greatest of respect, he returned Soree's journal.

With a bow Daring Do invited, “Qushi Han Le, will you honor us by sharing tea with us?”

She bowed and replied, “Please call me Han Le, and the honor is mine.”

Soree, catching on quickly, bowed too and offered, “My name is Soree Bea Shann. I would be honored if you were to call me Soree.”

They all retired to the Great Cabin, reserved for the most important business when the Captain was not using it for his own cabin.

Daring Do brought out a porcelain tea set with a traditional decoration of Clouds and Mountains. Han Le drew a breath of admiration. “Doctor Do, is that truly a Mon Dynasty set that is complete?”

“It is. I have it in my personal Lading List. Here, see for yourself.” Daring Do handed Han Le a paper sealed by the harbor master of Milestago.

Han Le read, “Tea set in the style of Mon, carried as gift to Qushi.” Looking up, she said, “A Gift to me? This is priceless. Where did you come by it?”

“As part of the Darkling Expedition, I had Imperial permission to excavate the tomb of Nira Ba Han, favorite concubine of Emperor Quan, founder of the Quan Dynasty of about 1200 years past. I found in the tomb four complete sets.

“As you do know, that expedition was under the Royal Wing. At the decree of Princess Luna, one set was gifted to the present Emperor. One was given to the Non Equine University Museum. One I was allowed to keep for myself and, as you had told me of your wish to have such a set, the last time that we met, I was allowed to bring this one to you.”

Soree was listening with care and ventured in her broken Chineighese, “A fitting gift. From the lovliest mare of ancient times to the lovely Han Le.”

While the tea was steeping, Han Le said, “Sadly, I have reports from the Khansi that you used a weapon of magical power against them. The amount of damage to the ship almost backs that up. There are some problems with the tale. What can you tell me of the attack?”

Daring Do replied, “I personally used a rifle of a sort that I had designed for the Dromedaries that served me so well during the Darkling Expedition. It is a repeating rifle that shoots a caseless ammunition of .75 caliber.

“After the Khansi fired their swivel gun at us without provocation when we were slowing to pay them the Passage and receive our Document of Passage, I took one weapon from storage and returned fire.

My first shot wounded the Gunner who lost his slow match. It caught the powder bag that was ready to load. That was the first explosion. The second shot hit the cable housing of the wheel and shattered it. When they cleared wreckage and bodies, they pursued, using whipstaff steering.

I shot the Captain, whose body was knocked overboard. The first mate, I guess tried to take over and I shot him also.

The replacement gunners brought up a whole cask of powder from the armory and were loading powder bags for quicker firing. That carelessness gave me the cask for a target. That was the second explosion. It was the one that wrecked the gun mount and started the fire. The last that we saw of them, they were fighting the fire in the forecastle.”

Grimly, Han Le nodded, “If it is not secret, I should like to see how these rifles and ammunition are made. I now understand the whole of the Khansi incident. There was one thing that I withheld from you.”

She held out a hoof. The scribe put a business card in it. “Besides this card from an Equestrian law firm, a bag of Equesrian gold was found in the Captain's cabin. He failed to report the bribe, as required by our rules. If he had, he would have been allowed to keep the money but forbidden to attack any vessel that properly paid the Passage.” She shook her head sadly. “We have those rules about bribes for a purpose.”

Daring Do nodded and poured the tea. As she hoofed over the cup to Han Le, she said softly, “I know that. There is little more honest than the fleet of the famous Pirate Queen Qushi Han Le.”

Soree smiled around her tea. “That sounds so backwards until you understand how and why it works. Then it makes perfect sense.”

Soon they were discussing the expedition and much of what they hoped to find in the lesser parts of the “Weeping Dragon” complex.

They did not finish the tea until nearly dark. The precious tea set carefully packed, Han Le offered, “So long as you are near to the Dunn See river, I shall offer you full protection. I have monitor ships near the full length of the river. If you have trouble, make for the river. I cannot give you more.

“I have now fully cleared your run to Cantrot. Captain Getsthere, I would have you wait and return Daring Do to Equestria. To keep you from loss while sitting idle, I have much cargo to move between Cantrot and Singapone. You will be paid your full usual rates. Is that a fair arrangement?”

He practically fell over his hooves saying, “It is indeed! It would be my honor.”

“Good. Expect my coal loaders to refill your bunkers at my expense. I have learned much and received a priceless gift as well.”

Jeremy was fuming when he was let out of the hold. He stomped to the rail and pointed to modest sized twin turret iron clad ship, clearly made for river work. It was fairly broad and shallow of draft. It was flying the Imperial flag and had a blue pennon below it.

“Look there! The Imperial Navy is about to take down this cheap collection junks that you call the Pirate Queen!”

Soree tapped his shoulder and pointed to the blue pennon. “That is the pennon of Qushi Han Le. It is one of her River Monitors. It has been assigned to escort us to Cantrot.”

Jeremy stopped cold, like he had run headfirst into a solid brick wall. “How could that happen? That is the Imperial Naval ensign.”

Soree chuckled. “Qushi Han Le OWNS the entire Imperial Navy. How could you have missed reading about it in our expedition information on cultures, customs and lands that we will need to deal with along the route?”

“What! That is insane! How could some pirate own the navy?”

Soree gave Jeremy a deeply troubled gaze. “It is in the material that you were given for the expedition. You did not read it or you could not ask that.

“I must let Doctor Do know at once. You have nearly got us killed at least twice since we arrived. In the Empire, NEVER assume that because somepony is polite or seems harmless that you can insult them or push them around verbally. That can get you killed on the spot. They put a very high premium on courtesy.”

“What? Was she carrying a gun or something?”

“No, Jeremy. She had seven snipers with modern rifles aimed at us. She only needed to signal and we would have been shot down.”

Jeremy shook his head. “Makes no sense. We are from EQUESTRIA. They HAVE to treat us with respect. Even you, in spite of being from an inferior . . .”

He was talking to empty air. The sound of her hooves clattering on the companionway steps was all that was left. He realized that he was not totally alone. Daring Do was sitting on a line tub next to the Sea Sage's main mast, watching.

Soree emerged carrying two talwars, swords ornately made and curved, though not as much as most scimitars. The tips were widened out to nearly twice the width of the rest of the blade and came to a wicked point. These weapons were, in spite of the rich ornamentation, businesslike blades made for both slashing and point work.

Soree held them out, hilts first. “Choose the weapon. I am challenging you to a duel. I have had enough of your superiority and insults.

“These swords are practice spelled. They will not cut or bruise living flesh nor break any bone. They WILL hurt severely if edge or point touches living flesh.

“Choose!”

Jeremy sneered, “I don't have to . . .”

Daring Do cut across his words with, “Yes, Jeremy. You do. When you insult members of the expedition you put the whole enterprise at risk. I will not allow it. That is in the expedition profile that you were given.

“Fight Soree now or spend the rest of the time until we return waiting for us in one of Qushi Han Le's prison cells.”

Jeremy tried to divert the demand by snorting, “I hear that bribes go a long way around here! You bribed that ignorant pirate with a cheap imitation tea set!”

Daring Do's face froze. “Jeremy. Retract that at once.

“Qushi Han Le holds TWO advanced degrees from the Royal University of Equestria. One is in Antiquities which she studied under me. She was a better student than you!

“Her other degree is in naval architecture, weapons and strategy.

“Both were granted Summa Cum Laude. She speaks and writes six languages fluently.

“The tea set is genuine and part of the things recovered during the Darkling Expedition. It was a promised gift in return for her freely
given assistance on that expedition.”

“So what? A bribe is a bribe!”

Daring Do's backhoofed slap across his face nearly took him from his feet. “Soree is not the only one you will fight! I challenge you too! You have just called me a liar. I gave my FRIEND AND FORMER STUDENT a gift from PRINCESS LUNA and myself for ASSISTANCE ALREADY GIVEN!”

Turning to Soree, Daring Do offered, “The many insults to you and your culture have precedence. Your duel shall be first.”

Soree grimly held out the swords again, hilt first. “If you refuse to choose, I have the choice. If you refuse to fight, you go to the jail cell, as Doctor Do has ordered.”

Jeremy reached and made a fast grab and swing, striking at Soree without warning. Her block was so fast that his weapon did not even get close.

Her words cut to the bone. “I expected that sort of cowardice from one so low as yourself. I was not disappointed.”

Instead of striking back, she stepped back, weapon at guard.

Jeremy slowly realized that she was waiting for him to strike again. He paused and then made an actual pass of arms, striking high, and allowing the rebound from her block to add speed and power to low line cut. It was stopped cold. She had let her weapon drive back some, taking energy from his attack.

Her riposte slithered up along his blade toward his chest.

A blinding pain dropped him to his knees, sword falling to the deck.

He got up slowly, panting as the pain receded. Daring Do had recovered the sword. Soree hoofed over hers.

In a few moments the pain was only a memory. It was intended to teach, not disable. He faced a grim Daring Do, holding out the weapons hilt first.

He was far more cautious this time. Taking the sword, he backed off. Daring Do nodded to herself as she hefted the blade that she had. She swept it through several practice cuts and made a trial lunge.

Jeremy made a sweeping cut attack while Daring Do was extended from her lunge. Her block deflected his sword, letting it swing on past her. Her own stroke paralleled his out of control cut. The blinding pain in his shoulder forced him to drop his sword again!

Daring Do picked it up and suggested, “Go below and READ. Read the expedition materials that you were given. Read the the Daring Do and the Adventure of the Darkling's Tomb.

“It is a popularization, true. It is also totally accurate. Everything in it happened just as told. Much of the customs that we will be running into, and the consequences of breaking them are explained in it.”

He stared at her incredulously. “Those things really did happen like that?”

“Yes, Jeremy, they did.”

It was a chastened Jeremy who went below. As he was descending the companionway, he heard, “These are lovely weapons, Soree! I never used a talwar before! Can we work out together?”

That was followed almost immediately by the swift clashing of steel on steel!

It was completely dark outside of his stateroom when he heard Soree and Daring Do saunter past. “That was a wonderful workout, Doctor Do! I have not had a real challenge in simply ages! You scored on me three times already! That is amazing for learning the Talwar!”

“It was great, Soree! I love that safety spell on the blades! It is far superior to the one I use at the Adventurer's Guild! It really pushes
me to learn about how that extra tip weight works! I would have said blade heavy before I found out how to use it!”

A closing stateroom door cut off the conversation.

It was not long before there was a knock at his door. Expecting Soree or Daring Do, Jeremy opened it.

Dressed in black from head to hooves was the golden mare, Qushi Han Le. Trembling, he backed up a step. She entered so silently that she might as well have been a ghost.

She signed for silence and suggested softly, “Sit. We need to talk privately. For her own reasons, Doctor Do values you or you would not be here. It is of respect to her that I wish you to live. That is what this conversation is about.”

Jeremy realized that his door, which always creaked, had shut silently. He sat.

So did Qushi Han Le. “We must talk of two things or you will die in this land. The first is of bribes. The second is of courtesy.

“So, first. Bribes. I know that you have a low opinion of bribes where you come from. I have lived years in Equestria, studying at your Great Universities.

“Therefore I must ask you, what is a bribe for and what purpose does it serve?”

Jeremy was deeply puzzled by the question. He shook his head, “As far as I know, a bribe is to make the one who demands it richer for doing something that he or she was supposed to do in the first place.”

Sadly, Qushi Han Le replied, “That way of thought will get you killed here. In your land, you are totally correct. Here you could not be more wrong if you tried. Let me give you an example.

“Here, beggars are licensed. The license fee is small and in exigency may be paid later, after the beggar has earned enough copper cash to pay it. Along with the fee he may pay the tribunal a bribe of some few coppers and receive for his bribe greater consideration from the Justice than a wealthy merchant seeking a license for trade and paying a whole string of silver cash. Do you know why?”

Jeremy shook his head. “I don't understand that at all. Why would the beggar get more for so much less?”

Qushi Han Le smiled at him. “The admission of ignorance is the first step on the path of wisdom.”

She paused while footfalls passed in the corridor outside. “The bribe is a recognition of the importance of the person bribed. It has no thing to do with the amount at all. Thus, the wealthy merchant may be offering a trivial amount with his large bribe while the beggar may be offering all that he has.

“Our fees and taxes are low and are always paid to the purpose intended by our Magistrates, Justices and others. They will NEVER demand a bribe nor set the amount. It is our custom to make them the offer which shows them proper respect. That bribe is for them and them alone.

“Do you grasp this principle?”

Jeremy thought deeply before nodding. “I believe so. This sort of sets my world on edge, if you follow. I will need to study the idea for a while before I am comfortable with it.”

“You have taken the second step on the path of wisdom.

“Now we must discuss courtesy. You lack it greatly. That lack can be fatal here. First, the bow and second, restraint of speech.

“I know that you have seen our people bowing to each other. I know that you have made fun of it or dismissed it. Your Soree put her hoof squarely on it. We place a very high premium upon courtesy. The bow is the first and very important part of that courtesy.

“There are three grades of bow. Those who are of higher station may bow by a mere inclination of the head. Equals bow some from the waist. Those of low station bow deeply from the waist.

“Your first bow to a stranger whose station you do not know or are unsure of should be the bow of equals. Their return bow will set their station. Thereafter you will bow to them accordingly. Few will falsely bow a higher station than they properly have. They die quickly. Do you understand?”

Jeremy thought carefully and Qushi Han Le let him.

“Um, I think so. Do you need to keep bowing every time that you have something to say?”

“Once precedence is established, you may, if you are equals use the bob of high station between you FOR THAT CONVERSATION. Use a slightly deeper one than a head bob if the one you speak to is higher.

“These rules make our society run more smoothly.”

Jeremy sat among his papers and the open book, staring at it with new eyes.

“Now, Jeremy, we come to restraint of your tongue. I have heard some of what you called me. I had to restrain my sharpshooters three times from killing you on the deck of this ship. They were deeply offended by your words about me and my culture.”

Jeremy paused and then tried a deep bow, saying, “I thank you for giving this unworthy one the chance to live and learn. I will likely find this the hardest of the lessons of this land.”

Thinking very deeply, Jeremy offered, “If you will deign to accept it, I have something for you.”

He rummaged in his luggage and removed a small, carefully wrapped object. He handed it over to the Pirate Queen. Delicately she unwrapped it. Her breath drew in admiringly.

Examining it minutely, she finally said, “How did you get so perfect a copy of this figurine from the Darkling Collection? Ordinary museum and study copies are never this well done.”

Jeremy nodded. “I know. This is my talent. I can take almost any ancient thing and make a copy of it so good that if I do not mark it, it can be taken for an original. I can often, but not always, fill in missing parts. This is one of five that Doctor Do had me reproduce back at the Royal University.

“She wanted them for surface studies and then returned them to me.”

Bowing to Jeremy the bow of an equal, Qushi Han Le wrapped the figurine and left as silently as she came.

Jeremy had out a small telescope and was scanning the shore as the Sea Sage and her escort river monitor pulled into the channel leading to the Dunn See. He was focusing on the dock that should have been theirs. Cranes aboard the motor ship were lowering modern looking motor trucks to the dock.

They had no trouble getting the trucks to the dock. It was the other cargo that was already unloaded that was the problem. There was no room for the trucks to get clear of the dock.

Jeremy was chuckling as he watched a pony from the ship stride confidently up to the Longshore Pony in charge, a bulging sack in hoof.

There was an altercation. The dockworkers began to shift the cargo about so that as much was moved to a warehouse as possible while still blocking the trucks from moving.

As their position blocked the view, Soree, standing beside Jeremy, and using field glasses, said, “I can tell by how you chuckled, that you were expecting something like that. Why?”

Without hesitation, Jeremy said, “I was given lessons last night in the etiquette of bribery and some other issues of courtesy. Especially of the bowing.

“I was dead wrong about everything. Qushi Han Le set me straight on it. I got my first practical lesson by watching Mister Overthrow try to bribe the Dockworkers.

“He started off by not bowing at all. That is bad. Then he publicly asked the lead pony to name his price! That finished THAT. There is courtesy involved. ROT seems really short of it. Even shorter than I was!”

Daring Do had silently joined them. “That is for sure. So, Qushi paid you a visit?”

“Yes. I am alive right now because of you, Doctor Do. She could have killed me herself and let me know it. She spared me because she respects you and, by bringing me along, you showed her that you valued me.

“Instead of killing me, she taught me about bribes and bowing. It put a lot of what you recommended for reading into sharp perspective.”

The busy shoreline and waters of the port were falling behind, to be replaced by the busy waterfront of the residential parts of Singapone. The shipping channel was clear of any but the proper river cargo traffic but over in the shallows by the many homes and estates of the well to do, was what appeared to be a mad house of dinghies, sampans and other craft too numerous and tightly packed to sort out.

Soree was having delightful time sketching and writing in her journal. “Look! The ponies that live near the water don't have to go shopping! Those boats are ALL selling things!”

Jeremy watched with wonder as a rickety dock crowded with buyers was swarmed about with small boats selling everything from seaweeds, hay and grain from up river, to fish, crafts, pots and pans and other goods beyond number.

His eye now alerted to the courtesy issues, Jeremy saw how a boat with the goods that a buyer wanted was signaled for and a bow offered at the same time.

Daring Do looked on and listened as he muttered, “I see. Wave is I want you, bow is for respect to merchant. Return bow recognizes and pays respect to the buyer. It all flows from that.”

Daring Do nodded agreement and said, “Soree, are you following what Jeremy is pointing out? This is important to know.”

Soree held up her pen and replied, “What Qushi Han Le thought important enough to teach in that way, I have been recording most carefully.”

Jeremy paused, embarrassed.

The Sea Sage forged on up river accompanied by the iron clad river monitor with its massive, slope sided turrets carrying two guns each. Jeremy pointed to the characters painted on its bow and stern. “Do those really mean 'Flower of Peace?'” he asked, incredulously.

Soree looked up from her latest sketch and nodded. “They really do mean that. Peaceful Flower would be a good reading too. It is an example of the Chineighese ironic thought.”

Daring Do looked on with a smile, proud of her students and their developing skills. Down close to the water's edge, there was a road. That drew Soree's eye. “If there is a road, wouldn't it be faster to take it rather than ride the ship up stream?”

Daring Do smiled almost evilly as she replied, “If you were from Equestria, where roads are the main transportation arteries, you might think so. Those roads are for river bank maintenance and for salvage gear transport in the event of a river or canal accident.

“The Chineighese Empire is held together by the most modern and advanced system of river, canal and railroad transport that I am aware of.” She made a fluttering gesture with her hoof. “Roads, except near cities, not so much. They only feed the harvest, mine and factory goods to the canals and railroads.

“I suspect that ROT will be finding out all about that, really soon.”

Her brows drawn down in vee of thought and concentration, Soree asked, “Why would they make a blunder like that? Your book on the Darkling Expedition and your official reports make it clear that you really couldn't manage with modern trucks.”

Daring Do tried and failed to look innocent as she stared over the rail at the road along the shoreline. “It MIGHT have something to do with the expedition proposal that I gave them as part of the negotiations before we agreed to disagree.”

Lights dawned in the expressions of both Jeremy and Soree. With a giggle, Soree put it into words. “You knew that you weren't going to work for them so you set them up!”

A quiet nod was her only answer.

Jeremy was watching the shoreline scene more carefully now. “Look! There are the trucks of the ROT expedition! They are going to pass us really soon. What will slow them down?”

Soree pointed ahead a fair ways up river, where a canal came down through a lock to the river. The bridge, at the lock, was a high, steeply arched affair. They could all see foot traffic crossing the bridge in both directions.

While they watched, a cart rose up from the far side of the bridge and descended slowly to the road by the canal. There, a pair of Chineighese ponies in flat, conical hats, hitched to it and pulled it to a waiting warehouse. While they were doing that, another, seemingly identical cart came across the bridge. It too, was pulled to the warehouse.

Jeremy, watching closely, pointed out, “There is a rail spur leading to the warehouse!”

Soree retorted, “I am more interested in how those carts are crossing the bridge without anypony pulling them!”

That was answered as the Sea Sage drew nearer to the lock. Alongside the canal was a heavy water mill that was driving the the cargo moving mechanism. A cart was pulled from where the canal boat was being unloaded. The ponies pulling it hauled it into guides and unhitched. The mechanism, driven by the water mill, snagged the cart and carried it up and over the steep arch of the bridge to similar guides that freed the cart to be hauled away.

Suddenly Jeremy brayed laughter. “That bridge isn't made for trucks at all!”

That simple prophecy was borne out by the arrival of ROT's trucks. There was nothing that those on the ship could hear, but plenty to see! The swarm of ponies in their flat conical straw hats, the obviously important lock officials and the drivers of the trucks all in a right tangle!

The mess disappeared astern as the small convoy sailed serenely upriver! Dining on the afterdeck later, Jeremy snorted his amusement. “If their bribing skills are as good as they were at the dock, they are still going to be there tomorrow!”

Soree giggled at the memory of the trucks being neatly blocked by cargo.

Nearly to the busy river port of Cantrot the Flower of Peace suddenly accelerated! A steam siren blasting for emergency right of way, the iron clad roared upriver, her wake smashing in waves on the shore and putting smaller craft at risk.

The Sea Sage was being pulled into her dock when the echoing reports of heavy gunfire came rolling faintly back downriver.
Emergency boats, that always had steam up, blasted a cacophony of warning whistles and cast off, charging up river toward the sounds of battle.

The port went about its business as if nothing was happening.

The Sea Sage safely secured to the dock, Daring Do led the way down the gangplank and into a port office.

Jeremy and Soree were watching curiously as Daring Do approached the official behind the desk. She bowed the bow of equals as she offered, “Good sir, while I do know that we must pay the proper fees for our port clearance and further travel permits, I would first ask your assistance.” She hoofed over a golden cash and the first few of a substantial sheaf of papers. “I have learned that wherever paper work is involved, there are subtleties that one such as myself does not grasp. What I would have of your great experience, is to explain these to me in detail so that I make no error of ignorance in the future.”

Smiling broadly, he gave a small duck of his head and began. He laid out the papers before him on the shabby desk blotter and began to go through them in detail.

Each new batch of papers was preceded by its coin. At the end of the exchange, the official smiled up at Soree and Jeremy and asked, “I hope that the lesson given you by Doctor Do was well learned?”

Surprised, but having had a powerful lesson already, Jeremy bowed deeply from the waist, and Soree, seeing him do so, did herself. “We did learn well, good Port Master. You were a teacher of excellent wisdom.”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Robber was getting upset. The fool Lock Keeper was not paying any attention to the importance of getting these five motor trucks across the canal!

“SIR! I must speak to you!” he demanded imperiously.

Signaling the line of peasants to halt, the Lock Keeper stepped around his counter and glared at Robber. He gave the slight inclination of the head of one of great importance to one of little value and snapped, “We HAVE SPOKEN! You are rude. Your trucks cannot use this bridge in ANY CASE. They will not fit. You must find better courtesy and a different way to cross the canal!”

A watching pegasus in the same cotton robes and flat conical hat as the other watching peasants stepped out of the line for the bridge, courteously yielding his place to the mare behind him. He stepped behind some bushes nearer to the Dunn See and a poor young beggar came out. He had dark blue fur with an orange mane and tail. His robe, though clean, was much worn. His flat conical straw hat had straws fraying away from one side.

He approached Robber imperiously, and offered only the slightest of nods. Robber might be a slow learner, and he was, but he had sorted out that he needed to fix whatever it was that had gone wrong. He returned a bow of equals to the beggar.

“What do you want, umm . . . Sir?”

The beggar gave back another bow of superiority, though not quite so great. “It is rather what YOU want. Also, what you need. Your greatest need is courtesy, especially your bow. Being foreigners here gives you no special privilege. The importance of the one you face is not in his social station, but in whether he can aid you or not. Recognize that in your bow to him or suffer the consequence.

“All the ponies here know Shun Yu. As the Master of the Lock, he is vital to all who wish to cross the canal, bring cargoes to the canal, unload cargoes from canal boats, ship or receive goods from the rail line. You treated him worse than a beggar like myself. He will not even accept a bribe from you, so badly have you done this.”

Robber nearly ground his teeth at the rebuke from so lowly a pony. The only reason that he did not was his already spectacular failure. As a prominent lawyer, he was used to listening only for the purpose of gaining information to use in a case.

“What of bribes? We have heard that this whole place runs on bribes but if they do take ours they act as if insulted!”

“They were. You do not understand the bribe at all. For that I will not help you. All that is needed is to look, think deeply of what you see and learn from it.”

The blue and orange beggar held out a hoof. “For an alms reasonable to the importance of the information, I can help you to pass this canal.”

Robber was about to offer a few of the odd copper cash used in the Empire. Thinking like a lawyer, he reviewed what he had just been told and instead offered the same twelve golden cash, with their funny square holes, that he had tried to offer to Shun Yu, the Lock Keeper.

The beggar smiled as he made the coins disappear. “Come back up the road a little. It is not marked but this side path down to the river's edge is your answer. It leads to a tether barge for large equipment and other awkward objects.”

Robber turned to inform the others of the development. The beggar passed behind some bushes. An old earth pony, also blue and orange, trotted down to the empty barge toll house.

It took some serious effort but Robber did negotiate their passage. One at a time, the first three of ROT's motor trucks was loaded, chocked, strapped and hauled upstream to the other side of the canal. It took over an hour each.

Overthrow grew impatient at the slow pace. “It is just past noon already! We have not got all day to do this trifling chore! Here! Put both of our remaining trucks on the barge! There is plenty of deck space!”

He thrust five more cash into the blue pony's hoof. The coin vanished. “This is most unwise. You must load, place them, and secure them. I will see to the pulling as I have already. The consequence of your action is upon you alone.”

The old pony stood by while both vehicles were placed on the barge and tied by Overthrow, with Robber's help. None of their hired ponies would go near the task.

The old pony, staying on the downriver side, managed the pulling gear for the tether barge from his toll house.

ROT's team cheered as the barge settled into its dock. Now that the barge was across, ROT's hirelings swarmed aboard and untied both trucks. With the roar of its mage/tech engine, the first truck inched forward to the barge's exit ramp. It was about half on the dock when the barge began to tip away from the dock. The untended truck, free of its ties, was rolling slowly toward the river side of the barge.

With a loud gurgling hiss of escaping air, the tipping barge started to take water! The roll of the barge pulled the ramp free of the dock. Both truck and ramp fell into the gap with a huge splash and more burbling. Free of the nearly balancing weight, the barge flipped up almost on edge, dropping the second truck into the muddy water. Free of the pesky, mismanaged loads, the barge flopped back to upright, neatly covering both trucks!

The horrified hirelings managed to rescue the pony driver of the first truck by throwing ropes and dragging him to a maintenance ladder.

In the toll house, the blue pony neatly set the controls and left. Passing behind some bushes he seemed to vanish.

By nightfall, the barge had been pumped out and removed. The salvage cranes meant to handle river wrecks had hold of the first truck and lines secured to the second one.

All was being managed by a furious Shun Yu, whose lock facilities had been seriously damaged by these bungling foreign amateurs!

He was not buying any tale of mysterious blue and orange ponies, either.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

As word of amusing disasters will, the tale of ROT's trucks falling from the barge and the ghastly salvage situation that the idiot foreigners caused, ran up the river Dunn See like a wind driven wild fire.

Daring Do and her two students were sitting at an outdoor restaurant enjoying noodles, stir fried veggies and tea when the table next to them erupted in gales of laughter.

Soree, who was better at understanding Chineighese than Jeremy, got it first! Holding her sides, she told Jeremy, “ROT really fouled up! They were trying to bypass the end of the canal back there with a barge. They miss loaded it and dropped two of their five trucks right into the river! They were still lifting them out by salvage crane this morning!”

Jeremy, giggling like mad, turned to Daring Do and suggested, “Remind me not to get on your bad pony list! Did you know that they would run into something like that if they tried to use trucks?”

Failing miserably at looking innocent, Daring Do replied around a mouth full of excellent stir fry, “Not in detail, no. I did know that they would not do bribes correctly and I was sure that the bows of courtesy would not be done right.

“That is certain to anger anypony important to them. Especially officials like Canal Lock supervisors. That pretty well guarantees that they will have trouble at such places.

“I am wondering about something else. The mysterious blue barge keeper with the orange mane.”

“Why?” asked Jeremy.

“Because that color pattern is extremely rare in the Empire. It is believed to be the worst sort of bad luck. There is a long history of the worst pony caused disasters in the Empire being caused or connected to ponies of those colors.”

Soree said thoughtfully, “That sounds like a superstition. Is there any reason to think otherwise?”

Daring Do nodded. “The most recent of them was Admiral Wong Weigh. He led over 90% of the Empire's Naval forces in the attack against Qushi Han Le's Formasa Archipelago headquarters base.”

Suddenly Jeremy remembered a thing that he had been told about the Pirate Queen. “Qushi had a major in Naval Architecture, Strategy and Weaponry, right?”

Daring Do nodded as she sucked in more noodles.

“How bad was it?”

“The Admiral ordered no surrender to all ships before the attack. They followed orders. All Imperial Navy ships in the attack were sunk. Qushi lost about ten of her fleet. They rescued almost 45% of the Imperial Navy sailors.”

Jeremy winced. “How did she wind up owning the Imperial Navy?”

Daring Do returned to her narrative. “There is a big difference between being an outlaw and being disloyal to your nation. The attempted Nippony invasion brought home to her the magnitude of the disaster to the Navy.

“She hit the Nippony fleet from behind and, working together with the Imperial Army on land, crushed them. She used that victory to arrange a truce to speak to the Emperor and his advisors. She offered to BE the Navy to make amends for the loss to the Empire.

“She remains based in the Formasa Archipelago and PAYS the Empire a percentage of her travel duties and other incomes. The Empire has REFUSED offers by other nations to replace the fleet because the Navy was a huge drain on the Imperial coffers. The present arrangement gives better defense and PAYS the Empire to boot.”

Jeremy and Soree grinned. Suddenly, Jeremy got it. “It was a blue pony with an orange mane and tail that lost the Empire's navy! Any other examples?”

Daring Do nodded as she mopped up the last of her luncheon with a steamed bun. “Lots of them, going all the way back to the gate keeper who let the Mong barbarians through the Great Northern Wall. Blue ponies with orange mane and tail are all through the Empire's history. Connected to disasters.”

Soree gave Daring Do a sort of admiring gaze as she asked, “Is there anything in history that you DON'T know about?”

Daring Do looked up soberly and replied, “Far too much. This whole expedition would have been unnecessary if I knew enough.” She sighed, “Eris was so unhappy about having to open her love's tomb.”

Jeremy's brows pulled down in puzzlement as he asked, “What does Eris have to do with Im Farst's tomb? Her love? Are you serious?”

Daring Do looked about to be sure that no pony was listening in before answering, “She has EVERYTHING to do with it.”

Soree sucked in a breath of surprise. She said softly, “The Dragon Queen. That was Eris? That was way back before the Nightmare Wars.”

Daring Do nodded slowly. “It was. Never forget how OLD Eris, Discord, is. The draconequis was made in the earliest days of the world's creation. She is older than Celestia and Luna. I know from both experience and being told by Luna herself that Eris prefers her female form and is only male when that is needed to accomplish her mysterious purposes.”

Jeremy sort of snorted, “And SHE loved Im Farst? How could an Immortal being like her love anypony?”

Daring Do gave him a bleak stare that sent shivers down Jeremy's spine. “I don't know, Jeremy. I do know this. Eris spends time in Memorial Meditation to this day. She has a shrine with the ORIGINAL Weeping Dragon painting that you have a copy of in your materials and offers incense and tea. And still weeps for him.”

Jeremy suddenly sat up and looked about in puzzlement. “Where is Guardian? Come to think, I have not seen him since Singapone.”

Daring Do smiled. “You are the observant one, aren't you? This is his land. The Guardians have more work than keeping an eye on us. Though I do believe that his replacement is not far away.”

Jeremy paused. “Would it be impolite to try to see who he is?”

Daring Do grinned at his suddenly found caution. She replied, “It would be REALLY HARD to see HIM. She is here, though. And yes, it would be rude.”

Soree was happily filling her notebook with details of the Inn that they were rooming at. She looked up from her task and commented, “Since we are going to Hong Wa, and this is where you met the Dromedaries that were such good support on the Darkling Expedition, I guess that is why we are waiting here, now?”

Daring Do nodded affirmatively. ”That is correct, Soree. We are specifically waiting for Sang He and her herd. I am really anxious to see her reaction to the new rifles that I had made for her and her followers.”

It was just then that there was a slight commotion at the front of the Inn. A big Dromedary mare was seeking entry. The top of the door only reached as high as her shoulder. There were six more mares out in the Inn's courtyard. They had bared swords that were only slightly curved, maintaining a uniform width almost their full length and clipped to sharp, angled chisel point. There were fullers running most of the length of each blade. These were sometimes calld “blood gutters” by those whose imaginations ran wild. Their real purpose was to both lighten and stiffen the blade.

Daring Do called out in delight, “Sang He!” She ran out, bowing the bow of equals to the enormous dromedary.

As Sang He bowed back, Jeremy got a rough idea of just how gigantic a dromedary was. Suddenly, thinking back to the pirate attack on the Sea Sage, Jeremy appreciated the design of the huge rifle that Daring Do had used.

Soree was in an utter transport as she sketched the scene of Sang He, hugging Daring Do, and in the process, lifting her hooves over a meter above the ground.

Daring Do bowed as one seeking a favor to the Inn keeper. “An open tab for my friends, please, good Inn keep.” She bowed a second time, offering three of the Empire's square holed golden cash. With a pleased smile, the coins vanished into the Inn Keeper's big sleeves.

A Wok big enough for a pony bathtub was set out in the courtyard. It had its own fire box with a big fire of charcoal lit in it. Oil was poured in by the gallon. From the kitchen came the near machine like hammering of cleavers chopping vegetables. They were brought out by the basket load and stirred into the oil to fry swiftly. The stir/strainers were the size of shovels. And needed. Cooked vegetables were lifted up to draining racks, ready to serve.

Using platters, instead of plates, the Sang He's herd lined up, getting huge rice beds first, loading up on the vegetables and then pouring sauces over the whole thing.

As they sat to eat, the Inn's wait staff became even busier filling four-liter sized mugs with water and tea.

Jeremy was about to comment that this did not look like the kind of help needed for a desert journey, when Soree pointed out, “It was in the Adventure of the Darkling's Tomb. They will fill up now and won't need food or water for a week or more.”

Jeremy nodded, “That was a part that I found hard to believe. I think that I understand it better now.”

“Listen, Jeremy! They aren't speaking Chineighese at all! We are hearing our first X'ibian!”

It was obvious from his reaction that Jeremy had not been paying attention. Again. He was looking at the fact that all seven of the dromedaries' swords had been sheathed and the Inn had set out the huge seeming feast.

He growled, “So much for the courtesy of bows and bribes! They just walk in here brandishing swords and get treated like royalty. Nobody mentioned Threats!”

Soree and Daring Do stared at him in shock. Soree shook her head sadly, “Doctor Do, is it too late to leave him in one of Qushi Han Le's prison cells?”

Picking at batter fried broccoli with her chopsticks, Daring Do nodded glumly, “I am afraid so.”

Turning to Jeremy, she demanded, “HOW could you not know that the X'ibian dromedary herds declare peaceful intent by displaying their weapons in a non threatening stance? It is mentioned many times in the Darkling's Tomb, which you told me that you have now read, after the Qushi Han Le debacle.”

Sullenly, Jeremy muttered, “X'ibia is part of the Chineighese Empire. I read the part about the Chineighese bowing and bribes carefully. Since it is all the same country, I sort of skimmed the rest.”

Daring Do put a hoof over her eyes. “Jeremy, do you even understand what an Empire IS?”

“It is a big country built on conquest of smaller ones, obviously.”

Daring Do said bluntly, “If you gave me that answer in the RU's class on Ethnological Geography I would flunk you.

“An Empire is built mostly by conquest but it is a conglomerate of states held together by common political and economic interests as well as force.

“The Chineighese Empire has existed for 1500 years. It has fifty two individual states, each with a unique spoken language and dialects. Each one has been allowed great cultural autonomy as well. They share a common written language. Chineighese Ideographic representation.

“A poet in X'ibia can be read in any state of the Empire. Likewise, anything written anywhere else can be read in X'ibia.”

Jeremy was looking sick. “I did get a D in that class. I never dreamed that it could be important. I mean, why waste time studying inferior cultures? We have Celestia and Luna. We are the oldest culture on the planet.”

Soree's eyes flew wide. “That is insane! Equestrian culture and society were so shattered by the Nightmare Wars that even the official dating places the year zero at 250 PNW.

“The Empire is roughly equally old. Saddle Arabia is older, though not much. The Nippony Isles are the oldest culture that I know of from my studies in that same class.”

Daring Do pointed out, “We are seeking a tomb that dates to only 224 years after the founding of Fortress Canterlot. That makes its date roughly 1000 years BEFORE the Nightmare Wars.

“The X'ibian Empire lasted about 2000 years. A thousand years ago, it was taken by the Chineighese Empire. Following the successful practices of 1500 years of conquest, they allowed much autonomy, local language and culture to flourish. We are going to a place where the local culture is nearly 3000 years old.”

Feeling cornered, Jeremy snapped, “And still nomads!”

Soree sweetly pointed out, “Just like the Rom? You know, the nomads of the Equestrian Roads that Celestia and Luna both join whenever they can? The ones who invented the first Mage/Tech engine? The same who made the first successful heavier than air aircraft? Who invented the Magic Net that we all use? Those nomads?”

The discussion was ended by Sang He putting her head under the door frame, bowing as an equal, and saying in perfect Equestrian, “As fascinating as your discussion is, Doctor Do, we do have your expedition to get under way. We have been examining your bills of lading to divide up our loads.

“We found listed rifles and ammunition that we wondered about, since there appears to be seven of them.”

Daring Do returned the bow and grinned. “Seven rifles and seven in your herd. It seemed to be about the right number of weapons for you!”

Sang He called back over her shoulder in X'ibian and her words were greeted by cheers. The other six of her herd made an orderly stampede for the warehouse where the expedition's equipment was stored.

Soon a very impressed Jeremy was looking at the loaded dromedaries. It had taken little time at all. They all knew which boxes of supplies that they wanted. Most of their time was spent examining the rifles and ammunition. The literally small books of care and specifications. They were happily pointing out the features and field stripping the weapons. It was obvious that this was something that they knew how to do well.

Sang He gave some orders and the whole expedition put up the rifles and assumed their loads. Sang He knelt and said, “Friend Daring Do, and lady Soree, it would be my pleasure to carry you. Sadly, we will not make good time across the desert.

“We are limited by the pace that your Jeremy can set. After his offensive remarks and demonstrated willful ignorance, none of us will carry him.”

Jeremy bowed to them all the bow of an inferior seeking a favor of one of importance. “I do not wish to delay the expedition for Doctor Do's sake. Is there no way to remedy my errors?”

Sang He thought that over and conferred with her herd. “We will carry you, but only if you study what Daring Do assigns. At each stop, you will be questioned by her about your progress. For each question that you answer wrongly you must walk for an hour. We know that Doctor Do would not have you along if you were stupid. We hope that this will assist your learning.”

One of the dromedaries knelt for Jeremy. Before she would get up, she demanded with distaste, “Doctor Do, I do not carry this insect willingly. Please assign him his lesson to study.”

Daring Do nodded and showed Jeremy pages of The Darkling's Tomb and several pages of expedition materials as well. “Master these, Jeremy, or walk. They are perfectly serious.”

The expedition set out at the kilometer devouring pace that only a dromedary can maintain in the desert. The Dunn See and its fertile valley fell behind. Ridges of bare stone and small, scrubby brush rose ahead. They were entering the highlands of X'ibia. Soree was having a wonderful time sketching and writing.

Jeremy stole occasional glances at the rugged land that these sure footed dromedaries were passing so swiftly. He shuddered at the thought of trying to keep up with them and returned to his studies with renewed vigor.

Shortly after noon, the whole herd swung away from the line that they had been following. Coming to an overhanging cliff edge, the herd settled down, kneeling and easing down to the ground.

Daring Do and Soree dismounted, first stretching cramped legs and then setting up a small charcoal fired stove. They quickly had water heating for tea and rice.

The dromedary mare that was carrying Jeremy said, with the slightest bob of her head, “Please dismount, Insect. I do not carry you because it is my wish. The less that we are together the better.”

With ill grace, Jeremy dismounted. He saw that Sang He was cheerfully familiarizing herself with her new rifle. Daring Do was conferring with her over the ammunition. “We included the molds for the bullets. Henea San should have no difficulty in preparing the charges. The explosive is simply melted and poured into the bullets. It hardens to a safe waterproof form quickly.

“As soon as it does, it is ready to shoot.”

“These are excellent for us, Daring Do, my friend. Our artisans will have no trouble at all making more of these, if you will give us permission.”

Daring Do frowned, “There should be an assignment of rights document with them. Let me see.” She dug through the manuals and found a paper. “Yes. Here it is. We only need to sign it together and get an official chop on it for it to be done.”

Soree cheerfully announced, “Noon Rice and tea!”

Saying, “Eat when you can! Who knows when you will see food again!” Sang He gently pushed Daring Do to the stove. Jeremy was about to reach for a rice ball when he was stopped.

“Your studies, Jeremy. Tell me of the X'ibian weapons display.”

Jeremy began to mumble.

“Speak clearly or be counted wrong.”

Jeremy explained the various things that a visitor could say to a host by what was done with the weapon after a non threatening, “I come in peace,” display.

Daring Do nodded. “You will be checked on this again. This is life and death information. You may have a rice ball and tea.”

He sullenly took his rice ball and commented sourly, “Why can't we have decent civilized bread?”

Soree looked up from nibbling on hers to say, “For the same reason that we don't have bread on journeys in Saddle Arabia. It either spoils or goes stale hard in only a day or so. The rice, being a grain, will keep indefinitely. It is easily fixed when wanted to provide both nourishment and hydration. I would think that you already figured that out.”

“I do know it! It was a rhetorical question!”

Daring Do nodded, “It was also an insult. Including the words decent and civilized was utterly uncalled for. It was saying that these friends of mine are somehow uncivilized simply because they are nomads.”

Jeremy glared down at the ground at his hooves as if the clay and stones were somehow at fault. He finished his rice ball in sullen silence.

~~ ~~ ~~

Robber was feeling aggravated. The other two were doing nothing to help. They were sitting in comfort in the cabs of the trucks. HE was stuck with trying to negotiate their passage around yet ANOTHER canal.

While their trucks were being pulled from the river at the last one, it had dawned slowly on him that trucks were not suitable for long distance travel in the Empire. Careful talk with some of the salvage crew leaders, imitating their customs of bowing and the like, had proved it.

“No, indeed, Sir. There are no through roads to X'ibia. This road that you are following will take you as far up the Dunn See as Can Chow. It is at the X'ibian Frontier.

“I believe that you will have eight more canals and nine railroad lines to cross before you get there.”

He was as politely as possible waiting his turn to speak to this lock supervisor. While he was waiting, he was taking the advice of the beggar to watch and think deeply about bribes.

He bowed deeply to the Lock Keeper and said, “Sir, this honorable but unworthy one seeks your assistance. We are an authorized party in search of Antiquities. We were led astray as to the best transportation means and that has caused us and the good Shun Yu much trouble.

“Seeking to avoid any more such problems, I put the whole of our trust in your knowledge and skills to get us past this canal.”

He discreetly offered twelve golden cash.

The Lock Keeper took his money and returned the bow of one highly placed as he replied, “I have heard already of these matters. That you do admit fault is to your credit.

“Wishing to prevent any further disaster, we shall move your trucks by the barge as soon as we may. The grain transport Gula Nu is being unloaded and that work must go first. As soon as it is done, my crew will see to the safe passage of your trucks.”

Robber, remembering to bow again, said, “I shall await your workers at the barge road junction. I hope that it will not be too much longer.”

He was told, “An hour, perhaps an hour and a half. Please wait as you have said.” The Lock Keeper turned to the next pony and resumed his business.

Tyranny and Overthrow did not greet his news well. Tyranny demanded, “Why did you not seek immediate passage?”

Robber said dryly, “Because I could see out the window into the canal lock.”

“So?”

They have two more grain barges sitting in the lock waiting their turn to be unloaded. We could have been put last, especially after Overthrow's bungle at the last lock.

“As it stands, the Lock Keeper wants us gone as swiftly as possible. For them, this is it.”

Overthrow, disliking the reminder that the river disaster was his fault, snapped, “We can take the trucks down to the loading area, at least!”

Imperturbably, Robber said, “Only if you want to have them order us back here. We are wanted HERE to be visible from the office windows. The Lock Keeper does not trust us.”

They all settled back and began to play cards to pass the time. A knock at the cab door got their attention. An elderly pony led them down to the loading area and saw to the loading of their first truck onto the barge.

Overthrow kept his mouth shut. It took time, but all five trucks passed the end of the canal safely. The barge was removed back to the downstream dock.

The truck engines were just beginning to roar to life again when there was the scream of a steam whistle. Up at the top of the embankment a huge 4-8-4 locomotive was pulling a string of rail cars slowly across the exit road. It stopped with three cars blocking the road. There was the loud clatter of the huge couplings being freed from the engine.

The dark blue engineer with his orange mane waived cheerfully at them as he proceeded up the siding, switched to the mainline and backed his engine up to pull more cars up from the warehouse.

Tyranny cursed and drove his truck right up to the rail crossing. Robber put a hoof across Overthrow and said, “DON'T follow him. That puts us all onto a steep slope. After being in the river like they were, I don't trust the brakes to hold.”

The big locomotive pulled the new cars up past the siding switch. The switch threw and the cars were backed to the siding to latch onto the cars already parked there.

Robber and Overthrow watched in horror as the coupling failed to catch and the cars buckled outward, off the track! One derailed car broke loose of the wreck entirely and burst down on top of Tyranny's vehicle! The smashed and tangled wreckage tumbled down almost to the river.

Robber and Overthrow raced to the wreckage and found that the truck's cab was only slightly damaged. They had to smash out an amazingly still intact windshield to get to Tryanny. At first he was dazed but quickly regained his senses. He was able to release his safety harness and, with help, crawl out of the mangled remains of the truck.

They were attempting to see if any of the truck's load could be saved when, with a groan of tortured metal, the whole mass, truck and rail car together, slid, caught on something for a moment and splashed into the river. Only part of the rail car showed above water.

Robber simply pointed to the submerged truck and observed, “If we had followed you, that would be all of us drowning right now.”

It was only moments before the ponies of the lock work crew were on the scene. Almost immediately after, the Lock Keeper himself showed up to inspect the disaster in person.

To Robber's surprise, he was obviously enraged but was being seriously courteous to them. He bowed to Robber as an equal and asked, “We most urgently wish to know all that you can tell us of this happening. I must say that in this, you are not at fault and my report shall say so clearly.”

Robber, too shaken to remember his bowing, told the Lock Keeper all that he could remember.

“You are forgiven your lapse of bowing, Mister Robber. Did you see this engine driver? We want most urgently to lay hooves on him. He appears to have vanished.”

Bowing, now that he was reminded, Robber said, “The distance was too great for any clear view but he had a dark blue coat and orange mane that I did see.”

The Lock Keeper glanced up sharply and inquired, “The same as the barge tender that you reported to Shun Yu?”

“Now that you mention it, yes. Is it a common pattern here?”

“No, it is not. It is not only rare, we count it as connected to all manner of bad luck.” The Lock Keeper gestured up at the train wreck and out to the barely visible wreckage in river. “Can you guess why?”

~~ ~~ ~~

After they ate, the charcoal was carefully put out and the ashes and unburned parts were stored to a tightly close metal can. Daring Do gave Jeremy a hard look.

“You passed my questions on what you just studied. You failed entirely on lesson retention. You were willfully rude to my friends, whose help we do need. You were warned of the necessity for courtesy by Qushi Han Le, and later by me as well. Courtesy is necessary to survive here.

“As promised, you will walk for the next hour.”

She and Soree were allowed to mount to their carrying saddles and Sang He's herd got to their big padded hooves. Sang He inquired, “Would you please continue telling us of your adventure on the Forgotten River?”

Soree leaned forward eagerly in her saddle and asked, “Please do, Daring Do! How did it come to be called the Forgotten River if it was so large?”

Jeremy was about to grumble about something again when the voice of the dromedary behind him, the one that had carried him, cut across his potential blunder. “If you have complaint of me, Insect, my name is Sehang Shu. If you do not have complaint, please be silent so that I may hear Doctor Do and learn more of the Forgotten River. I, at least, wish to learn while we travel.”

Daring Do glanced back at Jeremy and nodded. She answered Soree, “The region was not found and explored by ponies from Equestria until about six hundred years ago. An early cartographer, working from written notes forgot to put it into his map!

“Another map maker gleefully put out his own edition with the river in it and labeled it the Forgotten River of Gulio Anponi!” The name Forgotten River stuck because the joke made it memorable.”

Jeremy actually joined into the laughter provoked by the tale. Then his brow furrowed in thought. “May I ask a question, Doctor Do?”

“Certainly, Jeremy. What is it?”

“If Equestria was made by the Creator Titans to be a home to ponies everywhere, why are there so many ruins and abandoned civilizations in almost impenetrable jungles or deserts like this one?”

From behind Jeremy, where she was following to encourage him to keep pace, Sehang Shu asked, “You really do not know? Doctor Do, may I educate the Insect?”

Daring Do glanced back, giving Sehang Shu a slit eyed look as she replied, “Please do, Sehang, but only if you can extend to him the courtesy that you properly demand. His name is Jeremy.”

Sehang Shu bowed her head the bow of equals and replied, “It shall be so.

“Jeremy, this was not a desert when the X'ibian Empire was founded. The civilizations abandoned to other forms of wilderness were not poorly placed either. The various forms of desert and jungle that overwhelmed them all came from a single source.

“Your Equestria. These disasters of climate that forced ponies world wide to abandon ancestral homelands occurred because your Princesses Celestia and Luna fought the Nightmare Wars. Weather was one weapon used by both sides.

“Meaning only to battle each other, they disrupted the weather patterns of the whole world. After the Wars were over, your Princess Celestia had the Weather Authority created to fix Equestrian weather. It grew into Cloudsdale.”

Jeremy thought that over before asking, “Sehang Shu, why didn't other places set up Weather Authorities too?”

The big dromedary answered, “Eventually, most of them did. The weather disasters destroyed more than crops. Civil authority and entire civilizations collapsed. Whole populations migrated over large distances, seeking safe new homes. Wars were fought over the best lands. It took what became the Chineighese Empire over two hundred years to re form. Their Imperial Weather Authority uses this hot, high desert part of X'ibia as a driver for their famous controlled monsoon system.

“Most of what was lost, world wide, has been replaced by later civilizations that formed in better locations. Thus, we now have the abandoned cities and many ruins that Doctor Do is such an authority on and you know why they are now in such awkward places.”

Jeremy bowed his head and replied, “Thank you, Sehang Shu. I nearly failed the class in Ethnological Geography. I could not see why it was important. You have just showed me why I need to re take it and do better.”

Daring Do and Soree overheard and shared a nod of satisfaction.

Sehang Shu looked down and bowed a bow of equals to Jeremy. “Really, Jeremey? If you will have me as an instructor, I will be pleased to teach you.”

The surprised Jeremy nearly stumbled on a stone as he replied, “I would be honored. How much do you know of it? You have clearly showed me that you know more than I.”

Sehang Shu bowed the bow of one more highly placed. “I have had the honor of a degree in Ethnographical Geography. It was granted by the Imperial College of Bejin How after completing courses taught by extension from the Equestrian Royal University. Doctor Do was my favorite instructor.”

Jeremy looked shocked at first, then gave the rest of the herd a careful inspection. Eyebrows raised in surprise, he inquired, “All of you?”

Sehang Shu nodded. “All of us. At least one degree in something. On long desert nights we have little else to do. We used to and still do sing and sometimes dance. We tell tales. Now we study and try to explain what we are studying to our herd mates. It is fun.”

Quietly Sehang Shu made a low, carrying tone, modulated in a way that Jeremy could not grasp at all.

Sang He replied, “We see them, Sehang. They have given the counter sign to Doctor Do. They are the Ancient Guardians, joining us at a distance. When we pause for next rest, give them Port Arms.”

Jeremy recognized that as meaning, “We will fight with you,” from his recent lesson on X'ibian weapons courtesy.

Letting things go because they were no longer a threat, Sehang Shu suggested, “To assist your study by pointing it at both parts of interest, and your known weaknesses, we could make our study a colloquium. Is that satisfactory?”

“That sounds great, Sehang Shu!”

She knelt. “I know that your hour of walking is not up, Jeremy, but it will be easier for us to decide the subjects and order of them if you are riding. Please mount your saddle. We will be able to hear each other far better.”

Up in the front of the caravan, Soree's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

~~ ~~ ~~

Fuming at having yet another delay, this one enforced by the simple fact that there were derailed railroad cars blocking the only road out, Tyranny sat in the cab of one of their remaining four trucks. His rage was covering a far deeper fear.

Robber and Overthrow gave it voice. “That was close. If we had been even a few moments slower in freeing him, he would be drowned right now.

“Overthrow, I was talking to the Lock Keeper. That blue coat and orange mane is very rare here. They are thought to be bad luck. The dock hand who delayed our unloading was one. Both the beggar and the pony who handled the barge were, too. The engine driver who caused this wreck and nearly killed Tyranny was another.”

Overthrow, brow wrinkled in concentration, noted, “You almost make it sound like some malign being or force is aligned against us.”

“I do fear it. What if Discord has heard of our purpose somehow? The draconequis will not take lightly to being chained by another's will.”

There was a rap at the truck door.

Robber turned and instantly bowed the bow he had seen done so often. The bow of equals. “What may we do for you, good Lock Keeper?”

Returning the bow, the Lock Keeper asked, “Would you please put the trucks as close to the embankment as possible? We have a salvage crane coming to lift the car from the river. It will also retrieve your vehicle at no charge, of course.” To Robber's surprise, he was offered a silver cash. He took it without comment, as he had seen the custom done.

He remembered to bow again as he replied, “We shall do as you request at once.”

He went down the line and instructed the two Chineighese drivers, who backed their trucks without incident. Robber's truck parked well back safely. Overthrow backed his, guided by a pony from the work crew. He accidentally struck the stone rip-rap on the slope. He left a little paint on the stones but no serious harm to his truck.

Tyranny self-importantly gestured that the way was clear. The Lock Crew and the River Salvage Team worked carefully for nearly half an hour to get the huge crane off the barge and onto solid dock. They inched the big crawler up the road only a little way. Test swings were made to be sure that loads could be placed safely on the flat unloading and staging area.

Robber was watching with a raised consciousness the care and skill being demonstrated. Overthrow was paying close attention to the whole operation.

Tyranny was watching the slow pace with impatience. He was muttering, “An Equestrian work gang would be done by now!”

Robber interrupted him. “Please be quiet. Some of these Chineighese understand Equestrian.” Tyranny subsided but with ill grace.

Divers went out in boats and surveyed the tangled wreckage. One slid over the side and returned after an impressive amount of time under on one breath. A conference followed. Shortly, the boat returned to shore and returned with a buoy and a set of heavy cables. The diver made several dives before he was satisfied.

The boat let the buoy go and returned paying out the cable, with more smaller buoys attached to it. The crane let down a big hook and the cable was secured to it. The cable pulled taut as the crane lifted the hook.

The rail car pulled toward shore and plunged underwater entirely. The marker buoy stayed where it was. When the crane had pulled as far as it could, the cable was secured to it and the hook let down again. The cable was refastened and the pull repeated. It took five long pulls for the main part of the rail car to be up more or less under the big crane's hook. More cables were wrapped about it and fastened to the hook.

The crane lifted only a little. Workers shifted the massive load and it was let down while the cables were re set. Finally, the wrecked rail car was set down on the staging area.

While that was all happening, unnoticed by any, a large blue rat with an orange head was industriously digging away at the already loosened dirt around several stones of the rip-rap wall. They bore paint scraped off of Overthrow's truck.

Robber, watching the whole salvage operation with real interest, walked behind their lead truck on his way to look at the damage on the rail car. Glancing into the back of the truck he muttered, “We need to have that load restacked as soon as we can. Tyranny just does not understand how to load a truck!”

He went on over and respectfully bowed to the strange pony inspecting the failed coupling on the wrecked car. “Pardon my asking, but has this sort of failure happened often before?”

The pony looked up from where he was on his back looking up at the fractured metal. He managed a bow even from that position and replied, “Not in my twenty years of rail incident inspecting. I have never seen one fail in this fashion and today, in one accident, we have two. It is very strange and very rare.”

Robber nodded politely and returned to the trucks. He saw that the crane was now doing its short pulls to retrieve their truck. It was soon sitting beside the rail car that had turned it into totally twisted and crushed scrap.

Tyranny, seeing the remains of the cab, shuddered. He would not have had a chance to drown. They salvaged all that they could from the smashed and broken crates and loaded it into the rearmost truck because it was closest.

The way above, at the crossing, was now cleared. Tyranny leaped into the cab of the lead truck and fired up the Mage/Tech engine with a roar that shook the whole loading area. In his impatience, he shoved the throttle over full and released the clutch! As the truck lunged forward, the blue and orange rat, behind the stones gave a tiny shove.

Stones, bearing the paint of the truck that had scraped into them earlier, fell into the road. The truck's front wheel hit a biggish stone and lifted up, tilting the vehicle. It would not have been a serious angle but for the sound of sliding crates and the thumps of them hitting the truckside! The truck tilted, almost fell back onto its wheels! The still driving rear wheels combined with Tyranny's panicked steering pushed it past recovery. The big truck teetered, falling onto its side with a screech of tortured metal, a splintering crunch, and the shattering of glass!

A dazed and bruised Tyranny managed to push open the upper side door and climb out of the overturned vehicle. The Lock Keeper came up, shaking his head. He gestured to all three partners to come close.

“I have two things to say. Mister Tyranny, I have observed your driving during this. This entire accident here and your involvement in the rail accident were both the result of your poor driving. Your permit to drive on any road of the Empire is Revoked. The permit please.” He held out a hoof in a no nonsense way.

Tyranny glumly produced the document. The Lock Keeper took out a writing kit, inked a brush in red and wrote the character for REVOKED across it. He added a line of characters bearing his name and work title. He sealed it with a chop.

After making a copy by regular clerical contagion magic, he returned the revoked permit. “This will be sent to all road stations and Locks along the Dunn See. If you are found driving any vehicle, it and all of its contents will be impounded by the State. If you have broken any of our driving laws or been in an accident regardless of severity, you will be beheaded. Is this clear?”

Tyranny was starting to say something about too severe, but Robber stopped him. “Tyranny, just yes or no. Is it clear or not? You are entitled at this time to understand the consequences. Nothing else. You should have looked over those law pamphlets that I gave you.”

The Lock Keeper nodded. “Very well put Mister Robber.”

“You speak Equestrian?”

“I do. Does he need the consequences of breaking our law spoken in Equestrian?”

Tyranny glumly replied, “No you don't, and yes, I do understand. How does your law handle such a thing?”

Bowing as a superior to an inferior, the Lock Keeper replied, “Your sentence will be made by a local magistrate. If it is a capital one, it will be reviewed by the District Magistrate within five days, during which you will be kept in confinement. If the District review goes against you, you will be executed on the spot. If it does not, your case may still go to the Provincial Magistrate. A capital case must be heard and decided in seven more days. That decision will be final.

“One other thing. You must keep the revoked permit as identification. It is still valid for that purpose.”

“I see.” Tyranny sourly replaced his revoked permit in his wallet and put it into his saddle bag.

The Lock Keeper turned to Robber. “You have been learning much and admitting your errors. One, that was thought to be error or foolishness was not. My eye drawn by the noise of the truck, I saw it. The fall of the stones, which would not have been serious to a properly laden or driven truck, was caused by a rat-like creature. It was blue and had an orange head.

“You are being dogged by a demon or a changeling. Pray to your ancestors that it is only a demon. They are easily exorcised and are not too bright. Changelings cannot be exorcised and can be deadly in their mischief.”

~~ ~~ ~~

Relaxing on a chaise lounge beside the delightful pool that used to be the bath of an Emperor, Carmen adjusted her dark glasses against the glare of the sun on the letter. She was wearing only a skimpy bikini of bright red and her trademark hat.

The floating island of VILE's headquarters was presently in the tropics and that suited her perfectly.

She skimmed through the Chineighese characters with utter familiarity. Her brother in law, Marehem, was having the time of his life, bedeviling the ROT expedition. She was chucking at the recent double disaster with the railroad cars and flipping ROT's truck. (He insisted on using the character of poison toadstool for them).

Done with the letter, she handed it to Blendin, who was visiting. He was chuckling himself as his mother hit the pool. Her hat and glasses sat on the lounge. She was a red and khaki torpedo swimming underwater to the other end of the pool.

She shot back, underwater again, the whole length of the pool and surfaced like a one horned porpoise. “What do you think, Blendin?”

“I think that Adora would be furious if she knew but she really has no grounds to be. She did ask Eris to see what she could do to mess up ROT's expedition. It was Eris' idea to send Uncle M!

“After all, he has had so much fun with the Empire over the ages. Simply amazing how much chaos VILE'S temporal transport device can cause in the right hooves and his are as wrong as they can get!” They both shared a giggle.

Baron Von Nighthoof leaned down and took Carmen's arm, lifting her effortlessly from the pool. He was smiling warmly at her. He hugged her closely and stepped back a single pace.

He offered her a flat case of the darkest wood, inlaid with his cutie mark. Carmen took the case and opened it. Her gasp of sheer pleasure was almost more reward than the Baron expected.

He nodded, “The copy of Pharow Underrock's Golden necklace. It is ready to grace the only neck on this whole world that can outshine its beauty.” He reached forward and lifted the golden wonder out of its case and set it around Carmen's neck, pulling her close as he fastened it.

She snuggled up to him and whispered, “You are not only evil, you are wicked! And I love it!”

~~ ~~ ~~

Jeremy was riding in the carry saddle of Sehang Shu while they discussed his knowledge of Ethnological Geography. After several hours, she said thoughtfully, “You actually do know more than your prior testing revealed, Jeremy. I do wonder why you did so poorly when it came to the tests.”

Glumly, Jeremy stared out at the bleak landscape about them and replied, “It sounds like an excuse. Blame my family. They are old Equestrian Military Service and proud of it. When I tried to study around them, they always interrupted it. Celestia forbid that I complain about it, either.”

“Did they not finance your education at the Royal University?”

“No, Sehang, they did not. I was entirely dependent on grants and scholarships. I have earned my way through my schooling.”

“I see, Jeremy. I have earned my way also. It is sad that such a family could not see fit to support so worthy a goal as education.

“Surely, though, with you at the University and they in Service or on the Family Estates, they had little opportunity to disrupt your studies?”

Jeremy snorted bitterly. “I wish it was true, Sehang. They had a nice townhouse in Canterlot, too. They made such a career of “visiting” the U to noisily interrupt my studies that, at the end, Princess Luna, as the Chancellor of the U had to forbid them entry to the property of the University at all.

“My uncle, Colonel Broadhoof, spoke out against her interference in a family matter. The Princess pointed out that it went beyond family, when they upset the other students' studies.

“He called her a pustulent creature of nightmare, to her face.”

Sehang Shu commented, “That sounds as unwise as telling the Emperor to shove one up his ass!”

Jeremy smiled a little at the humor and went on, “The suddenly Sargent Broadhoof found that out! He was broken, forbidden any Canterlot Mustering and given a month of nightmares as punishment.”

“Bad dreams for a month is a severe punishment?”

Jeremy sucked his lips as he thought of a way to explain. “Let me put it this way. Somewhat over two thousand years ago, the Nightmare Wars got named that BECAUSE of Princess Luna's use of nightmares as a weapon. Almost 20% of the unicorns attacking the Fortress of Nightmare committed suicide within five days of coming to the battle front.”

Very softly, Sehang Shu said, “I see. And she has had over two thousand years since to perfect that craft. Did he survive?”

Soberly, Jeremy replied, “Yes. Sort of. They released him from the Asylum about six months ago. He is still under treatment. The family blames me. They say that it would not have happened, if I had not chosen the University over a military career.”

Sehang Shu nodded sadly. “Some other herds view us in a similar manner. I am sorry, Jeremy.

“I have a question though. With a military background, how did you miss Qushi Han Le's sharpshooters at the dock in Singapone?”

Grimly, Jeremy replied, “That was my fault. I was thinking of everything wrongly, and so did not even look for them. I have only realized today from talking to you, that I had any problem. Equestrian Superiority was an unquestioned value in my family. I did not even realize that it had soaked into me since my foalhood. I may still lapse but ask your forgiveness now. I will do my best to sort this mess out.”

Sehang Shu nodded thoughtfully. “The most important part of education, Jeremy, is not the learning of facts, as important as that is. It is the admission of ignorance and error accompanied by the effort to remedy them.

“That is what Ethnological Geography is all about. Our ignorance and erroneous knowledge of past civilization and the effort to remedy it is the whole foundation of the discipline.”

They revised their discussion of the subjects to be tackled in the colloquium. Jeremy found the conversation fascinating.

He actually regretted it when it was time to dismount for making dinner. After stretching out the kinks in his legs from the saddle, Jeremy wandered over to the cook stove.

He was mildly surprised when Soree made room for him. “How can I help, Soree?

“Measure the water into that pot to the third line, please.”

Measuring in the water, Jeremy commented, “It seems unfair for us to eat and none of the herd to have any.”

Sang He's voice replied, “In the desert, we need only drink once in seven days. That will be a large drink, but it will do. We need only eat once in ten days, though we can eat or drink any time that the opportunity presents itself.

“Our ancestors were made for mountain and desert lands.”

“It still seems unfair! I presume that you do know what you are doing, after all, this is your home!”

He was surprised by the chuckle from the herd.

Dinner preparations were interrupted by the bellow of a musket and a cry from Sehang Shu!

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Tyranny was fuming. “They had no business seizing our truck! Wasn't it bad enough that their recklessness had already cost us one truck and most of the load?”

Overthrow, speaking from behind the wheel of the truck that they were in snapped, “That was your fault, Tyranny! So was getting into that train wreck! You disobeyed clearly posted signs about staying off the slope while the crossing was in use.”

Robber, sitting in the back of the cab put in, “How come, in the name of Discord, did you not read the traffic law pamphlets that I gave you? It was the Lock Keeper finding that out that you got your permit without taking their knowledge test that cost us the truck! Their rules are very clear and blunt. They seize vehicles that are used in deliberate violation of their driving rules.”

Tyranny glared out the window of the truck at the passing rice paddies and neatly laid out farms. His teeth ground. The worst of it was that they were both right.

All that he could do was growl under his breath about injustice, so he did. He sourly commented, “At least we have now got past the last two canals and what? Four railroad crossings without any further problems.”

Robber consulted their map. “See those bluffs up ahead? We will be going through an area of mountains. When we clear them, it will only be about twenty kilometers to Cantrot. We will have two rail crossings and one canal between us and the city.”

Ignoring Robber's comments, Tyranny snarled, “That so-called Antiquarian, Daring Do, set us up! I have found out that she did not even take a single truck on her expedition! The expedition proposal that she gave us, before she quit on us, is why we came this way!”

Overthrow said dryly, “So, you finally figured that out? It took you long enough. I knew that she took us to the cleaners on the proposal as soon as I saw them go on upriver, without even transshipping.”

He suddenly applied the brakes hard, jolting them all. They were stopped only a few meters from a water buffalo on the road.

The two trucks behind them, driven by experienced Chineighese drivers, stopped without incident. Tyranny was reaching for the horn button when Overthrow knocked his hoof away.

“Stop trying to interfere! Tyranny, sounding the horn at domestic livestock is illegal. All that we can do is wait for it to move or try to ease around it. The law pamphlet suggests waiting in the case of water buffalo.”

He snarled, “Why should we wait? We can drive around it!”

Outside, over a tonne and a half of highly irritated domestic water buffalo was pawing the roadway and lowering its head to charging position. A peasant in plain cotton robes and flat conical hat was toiling up the road embankment toward the beast that was easily three times taller than he was. He had a long wooden switch to herd the loose animal away.

He barked some command at the buffalo. It turned its head and regarded its master briefly. Tyranny chose that moment to lean out the side window and make shooing gestures at it. The distraction caused the enormous brute to snap its head about and focus entirely on the truck! It charged.

The impact shoved the truck back and sideways almost a meter! It was accompanied by the shattering of glass night driving lamps and the crunch of metal. The buffalo backed off, shaking its head.

The peasant's switch got its attention and it started to walk sedately away, guided by taps of the long wand. Tyranny, seeing it waking away, yelled, “Shoo! Get out of our way!”

The transition from walking away to charging was almost instantaneous! The huge heavy horns and thick skull of the enormous animal slammed into the right hand door of the truck. It was almost perfectly centered, smashing and folding the door inward hard enough to bounce the dazed Tyranny almost entirely off his seat!

The very upset peasant used his switch and fanning motions of his hat to steer the water buffalo away, successfully, this time! Robber shuddered as he saw the peasant's orange mane and blue fur for the first time.

The steering still worked properly. Overthrow got the truck back on course and they were cautiously back underway.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Jeremy's reaction was instantaneous. He charged across the camp and knocked Sehang off her feet. She was bleeding profusely from her right shoulder. Jeremy told her, “Stay down! We will tend the wound as soon as we can!”

He took her rifle, huge in his hooves, and began to cover the eastern desert.

At his yell of, “Take cover! Watch to the east! Shoot anything that shows itself!” the herd dove for cover. Daring Do pushed Soree down and behind a large boulder.

Staying low, she crawled back to Sang He and freed her own rifle from Sang He's load. She returned to the shelter of the boulder and handed Soree her combat talwar. “Leave the shooting to us, Soree. If it gets to close quarters, you will be better equipped than we are!”

Daring Do was scanning the area to the east. She was looking around the lower part of the boulder side. She took careful aim and fired.

The heavier blasts of Sang He and her herd, firing their new rifles rebounded from the hillside.

Jeremy called out, “Hold fire! Wait for targets! I will take point and move up on them! Keep me covered!”

He ran forward toward another large shielding stone. Two of Sang He's herd fired past him, keeping the enemy down while he took his safe position.

He called back, “Sang He, Mon Leiu! You advance next. Henea San, Kanya Ama, you follow. Then Corba Jai, come up to me. Once everybody is advanced and under cover, Corba Jai and I will move up to the next advance point. We will follow this pattern to advance on them as safely as we can for us.

“Our objective is to capture at least two alive.”

Under the steady cover fire organized by Jeremy, they advanced on the rag-tag band of outlaws.

When all were rounded up, Jeremy shook his head at what he saw. Antique design muzzle loaded muskets were the best that they had. Three of the nine in the band lay dead. Four more were wounded.

Sang He took over the questioning of them in X'ibian. She looked up at the end. “They were the remnant of War Lord Quchee Ban's army. He tried to set up a strong fortress overlooking the Dunn See to force tolls from river trade.”

Skeptically, Jeremy asked, “What happened to cause them to be here?”

After a brief exchange, Sang He replied with a grin, “Qushi Han Le happened to them. The river monitor Peaceful Flower's guns destroyed the fortress and many of the War Lord's followers. Marines from the ship took care of the rest. These are the only survivors. They fled with almost nothing. They found us by accident. The rest, you know.”

Jeremy turned to Daring Do, who had come up after the battle was over. “Doctor Do, you know these ponies better than I. What should we do with them?”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

The caravan of trucks was advancing up the road with only one problem. Dusk was falling and a test of the controls showed that the night driving lamps were no longer working.

Overthrow was at the wheel, guiding their truck and watching anxiously ahead. They were well into the big bluffs that flanked the river. They were coming to a wide turnout that was sheltered from the drafts and chill.

For once, Tyranny was not blaming either of his cohorts. “I will be so glad to stop here, Overthrow. That crazed animal breaking this door is making it uncomfortably drafty.”

Robber noticed that Tyranny was still not taking any responsibility for the severe damage to their expedition that he had caused. Overthrow, without words, agreeing about the condition of the truck, pulled over into the wide turnout.

He parked with care, a distance from the bluff itself. The Chineighese drivers parked their trucks together, close under the bluff.

Robber took a careful look about the turn out in the fading light. He nodded to himself and said, “Good choice of a parking place, Overthrow. This will make it easier to rig a tarp or something over the door to keep out drafts. Gives us better access to the engine too. We need to inspect it before we go much further.”

“Thanks, Robber. I was a little worried about those bluffs too. Those clouds look like they might dump some rain on us and the gullies could run some water or mud out onto the paving.”

Tyranny overheard and snorted, “They have a weather authority, just like Equestria does. They would never allow such a thing!”

Robber and Overthrow looked at each other, as they rummaged for a tarp to go over the smashed door. “He doesn't get it, does he, Overthrow? This IS NOT EQUESTRIA. Their weather authority is very careful with the annual monsoon. They keep an eye on larger storms to stop them if they will cause problems for crops. Otherwise they allow the weather to be natural.”

Overthrow, having found the tarp, was rummaging for the ropes that they would need. Over his shoulder, he commented, “It is something to do with their philosophical system. They prefer things to be as natural as practical.

“I have to wonder how somepony as learned in the Lore of the Heart of Discord, could miss that.”

Robber nodded thoughtfully. They took the ropes and tarp to begin covering the damaged door of the truck. As they worked, Robber commented, “I am worrying about that too. This whole expedition to gain the Heart of Discord and use it to create an Empire of our own was his idea.”

The rain that Overthrow feared began to fall along with a strong wind, driving it solidly into the hillsides above them.

Robber was drying himself off. “We finished setting that tarp just in time, Overthrow.”

Tyranny was studiously ignoring them. He had out a modern copy of an old X'ibian fold book and was carefully writing a translation of the text. Overthrow, peeking over Tyranny's shoulder, pointed and was saying, “That's wrong. Dromedary in that context means elegant or grace . . .”

The rumble of sliding mud and stone interrupted him.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Jeremy had Sehang Shu down and was expertly probing her wound. The big dromedary had craned her neck about and was watching him with interest. The others were crouched at a respectful distance, even Daring Do and Soree were staying back. It needed no expertise to see that he knew exactly what he was doing.

Sehang Shu offered, “Really, Jeremy, we could just leave it there. The musket ball stopped in muscle.”

Jeremy looked up and nodded. “We could do that. It is a very bad idea, but we could do that.”

Trying to hold still for him, Sehang asked, “Why is it a bad idea?”

Still working to get the ball out of his friend, Jeremy replied, “This ball is almost pure lead. Your kind are very long lived. For years, no harm would show, but it would be building. The lead of the ball will work into your system and very slowly poison you.

“It will lead to early senility first. If you have good care, the poisoning will progress to muscle weakness, loss of control, convulsions and death. That is why it is important to get this out now.”

“I see. Thank you, Jeremy. I did not know that.

“May I say that, though you had me stay back during the firefight, you handled that very professionally. I thought that you did not like military things.”

Jeremy gave a sort of sad, sideways grin as he replied, “I don't. That does not mean that I am not good at them. Part of the reason that my family was so disappointed in me was that I turned down a fully paid Hurricane Fellowship to the Equestrian Military College to study Antiquities.”

Daring Do sucked in a surprised breath. “A Hurricane Fellowship? That means that if you graduated at all, you would have been a major, at least. I can understand their disappointment, if not their sabotage of your chosen studies.”

Jeremy, in the meanwhile, got forceps on the ball and pulled the bloody thing out of Sehang Shu's shoulder. He mopped blood from the wound, examined it closely, and went in with a small needle and gut held in different forceps.

Finally, satisfied, with his work on the deeper part of the wound, he asked, “Sehang, do you want a scar that will show on your skin?”

“No, Jeremy, I do not. Why would you ask?”

“I am not familiar with the ways of your kind in regard to scars. A Diamond Dog would absolutely want a Scar of Honor. Some ponies in the Equestrian Military Services do and some don't. I thought it polite to ask.”

He pulled the last of his stitches tight, bound up the wound and stepped back. He advised, “Hard as it is to keep up, I will walk for the next few days. You must allow the others to each take a share of your load for now. It is necessary after a deep penetrating wound like that one.”

Sehang Shu gave Jeremy the bow of lower station to higher. “It shall be so, Jeremy. Since you will walk with me, may we continue our Colloquium? If so, I would like to arrange one with you, as well.

“I saw how you managed that small battle. It was far superior to how we would have done it. I would like to cover the tactics and strategy of small engagements. When we have any problems, here in the desert, they are mostly small ones, like that one.”

Jeremy gave her a precise bow of equals and replied, “It would be my honor. I am glad of the opportunity to return knowledge of value for the knowledge that I am getting from you.”

The group settled down. Daring Do, Soree and Jeremy finished their interrupted dinner and everyone found comfortable spots for the night.

The first light of the next day showed Jeremy sleeping beside Sehang Shu.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

The three partners felt the impacts of multiple stones striking their truck. A wash of mud roaring down the slope caused the vehicle to sway and shift, though not far.

Robber was the first one out of their vehicle, even though the rain was still slashing down. Running back to where the other two trucks were now shoved far out of place. One had rolled over at least once. The other, seemed to be in fair shape.

Mixed with the still shifting mud, much of the expedition's equipage was scattered from the wrecked vehicle. Ignoring the expedition's damaged gear, Robber pried open a door of the wreck. He reached in and felt the desperate grasp of the Chineighese driver.

Over the din of wind driven rain, he called, “Can you free yourself?”

That was followed by the sound of things being shifted. He plainly heard the ripping of fabric, the creak of damaged seat parts being pressed and driven out of the way. At last, the driver, clearly severely bruised, at least, got his head out the door. Robber, without hesitation, began to work him free.

Overthrow joined him and they soon had the driver out. He was limping, but nothing seemed broken. Working together, they found heavy ropes among the scattered supplies.

They hitched the ropes to the remaining vehicle, trapped in mud, but not apparently harmed, and fastened them to the buffalo damaged truck that still worked. With Overthrow at the wheel, they managed to free the other slide trapped truck from the grasp of the mud.

Robber, Overthrow and the Chineighese drivers began to gather as much as they could find of the ruined truck's load. It was a challenge, fitting it all into the remaining trucks. The wind whipping the canvas and lines about as they secured the loads did not help at all.

Neither did Tyranny. As they reentered the relative security of the cab of their damaged truck, he sulked, “Watch it! You are all wet! Muddy too!” He pulled back in distaste.

The other two looked at Tyranny in a distaste of their own. “We wouldn't want to inconvenience so great a scholar as yourself.”

Overthrow said, “Imagine, Robber, doing a translation from X'ibian and not knowing that they consider the dromedary to be the embodiment of elegance and grace.”

Robber nodded, “I have been looking over some of the basic work that we have based this expedition on. Daring Do was right, back in our office. Tyranny was using pony based thinking to translate work that uses dromedary as an image or metaphor. And old X'ibian uses a lot of them.

“I have straightened out at least some of the worst errors. It still appears that Tyranny's basic notion about using the Heart of Discord ought to work.”

Tyranny, to change the subject away from his many shortcomings, pointed out, “There was no real hurry about the damaged supplies. I bought us a full coverage insurance policy for the entire expedition. It is through Allstable Insurance, an Equestrian firm doing business in the Empire. They have an office in Cantrot. We should be able to reach there tomorrow.”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Jeremy ignored Soree's grin as she put away her sketchbook. He turned to Sehang Shu and asked, “How is your shoulder this morning? I am sure that it aches. Is there acute pain anywhere in the wound?”

She replied, “You are correct, Jeremy. It aches. Other than that, no. There is no sharp pain. I thank you for going to such trouble to get the ball out and fix the wound.”

Jeremy replied, “It was no trouble, Sehang. Now that it has had overnight to begin healing, you must begin to move it gently. Nothing faster than a slow walk at first. This will allow it to finish healing without scars binding muscles together. If that happens, it will always be painful to move. I do not want that for you.”

With a grin, Sehang Shu replied, “Neither do I, Jeremy. Please, though, call me Shu. That is my given name.”

She got up and walked slowly with Jeremy to where breakfast was being prepared. The rest of Sang He's herd watched in amusement.

Jeremy was in time to make the tea. Soree already had the rice mixed with some dried vegetables on.

Breakfast past, whole group set out at a gentle walk for a dromedary. Jeremy only had to canter to keep up.

The whole herd was listening quietly as Jeremy began to explain, “For small engagements, there are four basic types of advance in force . . .”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

The remains of ROT's expedition pulled up in front of an unimpressive brick building with a paned glass front window. The Allstable Insurance Group emblem was posted on a placard inside the dusty glass.

To the surprise of the partners, there was a pony standing outside waiting for them. He had a small skull cap and wore a orange and blue silken robe. He bowed to them the bow of equals as they dismounted from the bufallo damaged truck.

Speaking heavily accented but clear Equestrian, “Good day. Which of you is Mister Tyranny? He alone signed your policy, of which I do have a copy, should yours be lost or misplaced in the various accidents that I have heard of.”

Robber bowed in return and said, “He is Mister Tyranny. If it is permitted, I have a better grasp of custom and would speak for us all.”

“I see. It is often so with foreign parties. If he assents, it shall be so.”

Overthrow had to nudge the arrogant Tyranny to bow and say, “He does seem to get along better with you ponies.”

Nodding and bowing back, the Agent said, “I shall take that as assent.” Turning to Robber he continued, “I have only the official reports for a few events and it is clear that far more damage has occurred than is in them. May I first assess the present vehicles and ask what has happened to the other one?”

Robber bowed deeply and said, “It was a storm last night. We were parked in the hills to the south and east of here, on the Dunn See river road. A slide of mud and stone wrecked one truck completely and entrapped one. We were able to free the entrapped truck but the other was rolled over and its underworks broken by the stones to where it could not proceed.

“No pony was injured beyond a few bruises.” His bow was accompanied by the presentation of five golden cash.

The watching Tryanny nudged Overthrow and commented loudly, “We should get a good settlement now that the wheels are greased!” Overthrow just put his hoof over his eyes and groaned.

The Agent's face froze. Bowing as one of high station to a lower, he said, “I see why you speak for that fool. I am sorry for you that you must put up with him.”

Turning to the lead truck, he pointed at the front end and side door. “Please tell me of these damages which are also not in the reports.”

Robber bowed deeply again and said, “Thank you for your sympathy. It is welcome.”

Tyranny ground his teeth in outrage but held his tongue now that the damage was already done.

Robber went on, “We were somewhat short of the hills where we were forced to stop for the night. There was a water buffalo on the road. We stopped as advised in the manual of driving. The water buffalo did not.”

The Agent smiled at the jest and replied with a bow of equals, “That is an all too common tale. It charged you twice?”

Robber, following the lead of the Agent bowed as an equal and agreed, “It did.”

Before Overthrow could shut him up, Tyranny grumped out loud, “All that I did was try to shoo the creature out of our way!”

The Agent overheard and turned to Robber with a severe glance. “Did that unworthy person indeed provoke the water buffalo?”

Glumly, Robber agreed, “He did. Both times. The owner came up with a long light switch or wand. He tapped the beast and started to direct it away. Mister Tyranny flapped a hoof at it and shouted to shoo it away. It charged at once, damaging our night driving lamps. The owner got its attention and was driving it off when our unwise leader foolishly did the same. Except that it hit the door, the result was identical.

“The beast was then driven off by light taps of the wand and a few flaps of the owner's hat.”

“I see. You must all come inside. There we will consult the actual policy in both Equestrian and Chineighese. Your settlement will be determined by what is written in it. I do see that it is a custom policy drawn for this expedition.

“It is signed by Mister Tyranny and Senior Partner and Agent, Marehem.”

Overthrow's jaw dropped. Barely remembering to bow, he exclaimed, “Marehem? Is that the same blue and orange maned pony in the Allstable advertising?”

The Agent bowed to Overthrow and replied, “He is indeed. Since his colors are thought by the superstitious to be a sign of bad fortune, and his parts in advertising connect him to disasters, it has a most favorable effect. Our Insurance is widely sought.”

Overthrow, under better control, pointed out, “As Senior Partner of Allstable, he owns more than half of the company. I wonder who owns the rest?”

The Agent, not even pausing in his search of the files for their policy, replied, “An Equestrian firm. Its initials are V.I.L.E.

“Here is the policy, in both languages. We shall be generous in allowing the Equestrian version to rule.”

As they were parking the trucks in a repair garage's lot, Overthrow growled at Tyranny, “How could you possibly have signed that!? Didn't you recognize those whole sections that might as well have been lifted directly from our expedition funding offer for Daring Do?”

Robber counting the cash on the string, snickered sadly, “Eighteen copper cash! I am amazed that we got this much!”

Shortly, the pony in the garage office presented his estimate. Robber read it to the other two. “Sadly, the details are right. So is the three hundred gold cash estimate. It may run a little more than that.”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

The dromedaries of Sang He's herd were amazed at Jeremy's ability to keep up by maintaining a steady canter to their walking. They shifted the walking order to put the double colloquium at the center, where they could all hear. Most of what Sehang Shu was telling and responding to was material that was interesting but pretty well known to them.

What Jeremy was explaining about small unit military operations was both new and fascinating. Sehang Shu spoke for them all as she offered, “So that is how to advance against a superior force? I would not have expected that we would have any option but retreat.”

Nodding, Jeremy cantered alongside his friend and pointed out, “Retreat makes perfect sense sometimes. When you must, do not simply flee. A well done retreat in force makes it too costly for the enemy to follow. Another option often overlooked in active situations is harassment. That goes far beyond simply being irritating if properly done.”

The whole group nodded understanding.

The questions came thick and fast as they continued on toward Hong Wa. It was time for noon rice all too soon, as Jeremy counted it.

While they gathered about the stove, fixing the meal, Soree said softly, “You are an excellent teacher, Jeremy. The horses of Saddle Arabia could use your knowledge and skills.”

Daring Do acknowledged, “It is easy to see how you could be deserving of a Hurricane Fellowship, Jeremy. I have to say, though, that I am glad that you chose Antiquities instead.”

Sehang Shu nodded, “In only a few hours, I have learned more of these matters than in my whole life before this. I have lived in these deserts and faced these situations many times.” She shuddered a little, emotion getting the better of her as she went on, “I have lost too many friends to the ignorance of what you spoke of so clearly this morning.

“Jeremy, why are you crying?”

He looked up from his rice, vegetables and tea. “I am not used to this, Shu. My family never treated me with much respect at all. My older brother and sister both went to the Equestrian Military Academy. The family was proud of them, even if they did not qualify for the College.

“When I did, they tried to drive me unmercifully to be the best. No respect, though. Always called me dummy or stupid if I made any mistake at all. Never said anything of praise when I was right because if I was going to E.M. College, being right was expected. I hated it.”

To his surprise, Sehang Shu gave him a hug. “These are not bad tears, Jeremy. Let them out. Let the old venom flow out with them. We here, not only respect you, we are in your debit. You have saved lives yesterday and likely more this morning. Ignorance is the deadliest of enemies.”

Daring Do watched in thoughtful silence and then offered, “Jeremy, continue your colloquium of Ethnological Geography. I have been auditing your progress. If you continue to learn as well as what I have been hearing, I will correct your grade when we return to the Royal University.”

The party continued to work their way through the vast X'ibian Highlands toward the ancient and long abandoned Imperial Capital city of Hong Wa.

Cresting a low pass in a sharp sided defile of stone, they got their first view of their goal. Jeremy took one look and dived for cover. Without waiting to ask why, the whole party went for shelter.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Some days previous, in Cantrot, the partners examined what their 385 gold cash had bought in the way of repairs.

Robber philosophically observed, “At least both trucks are now fully operational and all systems required by law are working correctly.”

Tyranny snarled, “Why didn't they fix that door?”

Overthrow retorted, “You know why! Besides insulting the Shop Master, you got it hit by a water buffalo! They had no parts that would fit! At least it is secure and weather tight!”

“Drat it, Overthrow, all that I did was bribe the Shop Master to put our trucks ahead of those other vehicles! Mere farm working things!”

Robber shook his head sadly, “That is not how bribes here work, Tyranny. I have explained that to you before. They are to the person as a recognition of his importance to you. They are NEVER to get your work or things put ahead of other work. We had already taken care of the problem and had only to wait our turn until you breached all social etiquette here by trying to get him to rearrange his shop schedules for us.”

Overthrow, trying to get a developing argument derailed, inquired with real interest, “How are the ancient X'ibian translations going,
Tyranny?”

Frustrated, he snapped, “I can find NOTHING about the Heart of Discord, no matter how old the manuscript! I have found some that date to the reign of Im Farst and the Dragon Queen, but NOTHING about the Heart of Discord!

“We have OLDER references to it in Old Middle Equestrian from shortly after the Nightmare Wars than any from here!”

While mulling that over, they got into the trucks. Overthrow grunted sourly, “I wish that our drivers had not abandoned us. At least the desert should not offer much difficulty to our travel!”

Robber, mounting the driver's seat of his truck, replied, “All that we need is to take the cross river barge and we will be headed to Hong Wa.”

He shoved Tyranny into the back of the cab. “Just stay there and let us deal with the barge. The last thing that we need is you sticking a hoof up the rump of our passage!”

Sullen, Tyranny settled back and busied himself pretending to study old manuscripts.

Cantrot was covered by the dust raised by the trucks heading out into the desert. Tyranny watched from the passenger seat of the lead truck as they came to the end of the road that they had been following.

“I thought that you said that this was the way to Hong Wa, Robber! This is the end of the road. Where is Hong Wa?”

Robber shrugged, his frustration with Tyranny utterly expressive of total contempt. “Sometimes I wonder if you listen to anything but your own voice, Tyranny.

“I said that this road will take us closest to Hong Wa! From here on, we will be driving across the desert. I do have good maps.”

Robber got out and began to scout the best way for the trucks to leave the road's end.

Overthrow joined him. “Tyranny has gone completely mad, Overthrow. He seems to think that there is a regular road going to a city abandoned a thousand years ago. After I got it into his head that there was no road, he spouted garbage about just driving across the desert at night, steering by the stars! He seems to think that the desert is FLAT!”

Overthrow nodded glumly. “Last meal break he told me to be watching out for the dust of Daring Do's expedition. I tried to tell him that they are taking an ancient dromedary route, completely different from ours.

“I tried to cash a credit letter in Cantrot before we left. It was refused. The firm's capital is gone. If this plan does not work, we do not have enough money to get home.”

Robber stopped, stunned. “Broke? What has happened to it?”

Overthrow aimed a hoof at the truck with Tyranny in it. “He did. Those new manuscripts that he has been studying? Over two million golden bits by themselves. Add in our expedition costs, which are simply enormous, and there is not enough capital left to even pay the staff at home.”

Robber accepted the news glumly. “Look, a vulture circling up there! Not an omen, I hope!”

Both chuckled at the feeble jest. After locating the best way to get the trucks off the road, they returned to the vehicles and backed down the road to the chosen spot. They bumped and bounced across the margin and set out, following landmarks shown on Robber's map.

Tyranny was fretting, “We are going too slow! We need to be swift! We must get there first!”

Robber, as they hit a big bump, slamming Tyranny's head to the ceiling, replied offhandedly, “Why? If Daring Do gets there first, we let her find the tomb and do the heavy digging for us.

“If we get there first, we can still use HER and her cohorts to do the digging for us. That tomb is not in any of the fourteen necropoli shown in the site map. Only she knows where it is, so we will let her find it for us.”

He waited, grinning that Tyranny had not fastened his safety harness, and deliberately hit another series of bumps, jouncing Tyranny about like a dried pea in a can. “Are you sure that we need to go faster? We are already making over four times the best walking pace of a dromedary. We are nearly certain to be there first, ready and waiting for Daring Do's expedition to show itself.”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Jeremy signaled for them all to keep their heads down and retreat back into the pass. When they were all safely back, he recovered his hooves and led them further back yet. Satisfied, he told them all, “Wait here until I get back.”

He rummaged a pair of binoculars out of his saddle bag and sneaked back, going from cover to cover. Watching him go, Soree made a few swift sketches and many notes.

She observed, “I think that Jeremy believes that somepony is there before us.”

Daring Do nodded and offered, “Any bets about WHO it might be?” Silence greeted her offer. “I thought not.”

Jeremy returned silently. “ROT got here first, with two trucks. There seem to only be three of them, all Equestrians by the look of them. Our problem is simple.

“They have a pair of obsolete MT81 quick fire guns and what appears to be two ammo cases for them.

“Those guns nearly caused the overthrow the Empress of the Gryphon Empire back during their Civil War, years ago. Luckily for us, Doctor Do gave you those new semi automatic rifles. The 81s still have the range on us and may have either solid or explosive rounds.

“Doctor Do, how accurate is your map of this area?”

“Perhaps main features could be off by as much as two meters. Nothing worse. Is it good enough?”

Jeremy nodded and gestured them close to study the map, remarking, “A good map is more deadly than a cannon.

“See this tongue of rock going down into the valley of Hong Wa? If we can get behind it, they will not see our advance if we are careful. From here on, we will be in rifle range of the guns. Do not worry about the ponies. We need to stop those guns. Out in the open like that, their ammo cases are a weakness.”

Corba Jai suggested, “I have been from this pass to the blind canyon the leads to that ridge of stone. I scouted it for Doctor Do during the search for cave burials.”

Jeremy nodded acceptance at once. “That is good, Corba Jai. Would you please guide us all through to it?”

Nodding silently, Corba Jai led them further back up the defile. She pointed to a steep but climbable slope. “We need to go up here. Bear to the right of that rock needle. Getting down into the canyon will not be easy either but we can do it.”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Robber and Overthrow were scanning the two passes that the maps showed as the only approaches to ancient Hong Wa. Their binoculars showed only narrow, stony notches with no vegetation at all.

“Any luck, Robber?”

“No. It is hard to be sure of details with all the heat shimmering but nothing the size of a dromedary has showed up at all. I wonder if something has happened to them?”

Tyranny was crouched behind one of the MT81 quick fire cannon, pretending to aim and fire up the gorges.

Overthrow shook his head sadly. “He was a sharp and prudent lawyer before he got this obsession with the Heart of Discord and world domination. Look at him. He threw away the firm's entire capital on this one throw of the dice.

“He does not even seem to understand that we need to capture them all ALIVE, if we can! Daring Do, especially. I overheard him last night. He was muttering to himself about torturing her to death. That is bad enough. He was not even thinking about the fact that only she has any actual chance of FINDING the Heart of Discord.”

Robber agreed glumly as he sweated under the merciless X'ibian sun. “I would have given up. I can't. If this does not work, we are bankrupt. I don't want to start over from nothing.”

Overthrow sat on a stone and asked, “Taken up mind reading, Robber? Those are my thoughts, exactly.”

Tyranny was laughing in a twisted fantasy. “Just wait until they show their heads! These guns will tear them to shreds!”

Robber stepped up behind Tyranny and pulled him away from the weapon. “Fine! Blow them to pieces! THEN HOW ARE WE GOING TO FIND THE TOMB?”

Tyranny blinked several times. In a puzzled voice he pointed out, “That nearest necropolis is the oldest of them. We just go down there and look for the marker. Im Farst was an emperor, so the marker on the grave must be huge.”

In the gentle voice reserved for trying to reason with a child, Robber suggested, “Think it through, Tyranny. If it was that simple, one of the many previous expeditions would have found it. Besides, IT IS NOT A GRAVE. It is a BIG tomb. Somehow, it was hidden so well that over the ages, MILLIONS have been spent trying to find it. NOPONY ever has.

“Daring Do must not be harmed. SHE it very sure that she has solved the problem. She is not the only one. BOTH Celestia and Luna are backing her expedition. THEY are sure that she is right.”

From the low stone ridge off to the left of them, a rifle boomed, echoes bouncing back from the ancient wall of Hong Wa. Dirt flew up about two feet from one of the ammunition boxes. A second shot blasted from a different part of the ridge. The bullet made a screaming whine as it ricocheted from a stone near the tripod of one of the guns.

Before either of the partners could stop him, Tyranny leaped to one of the MT81s and began to blast away along the ridge, swinging the weapon on its mount like a fire hose! The noise was a deafening, rolling thunder!

The bits and chunks of rock flying from the ridge told of bad aim. He was not even hitting near the crest where his opponents had to be.

Robber simply clubbed him down and hurled him away from the gun. Taking the handles, he waited until the next rifle shot's noise and smoke revealed where to shoot. He sent an economical three round burst at the spot. It shattered stone and threw up dirt right on target. He waited quietly for the next shot to reveal the location of a shooter.

That shot came quickly, and Robber's return fire splintered stone there too. Not hearing their other MT81, he spared a glance. Overthrow was bleeding from a leg but worse, the gun's ammo box was a shattered ruin. Single shells were thrown about like nine-pins when a strike is rolled. Overthrow was attempting to clear the wreckage and feed the weapon single bullets.

There was another shot from the ridge! Robber aimed and fired. His gun blasted once and clicked. His ammunition box was empty. He raised his hooves and stood well back from the useless MT81.

He saw that Overthrow was following his example. Tyranny was frozen with terror. Dromedaries were coming across the ridge. Robber recognized the advance method and shook his head. Somepony had trained these fighters.

Seven dromedaries under arms, accompanied by two ponies with rifles and one horse with a wicked looking sword came up and seized the three.

A large dromedary bared a sword and held it in a threatening position. Robber had read enough to know that was a bad sign with X'ibians. The dromedary mare spoke mildly enough. “I am Sang He. This could have been an interesting fight if that idiot,” she pointed to Tyranny, “had not wasted your ammunition. You used what you had very well.”

Robber shrugged, “Not a lot that I could do to stop him, in time. He was 'playing' gunner when the first shot was fired. I knocked him off the gun as swiftly as I could.

“This whole expedition has been his idea. He thought that we could just go to the necropolis and dig up relics of Im Farst.

“The whole expedition was not too bad, financially. He bankrupted us, buying old manuscripts of the earliest X'ibian Empire. He thought that those relics would be fabulously valuable and allow us to recover our huge expenses. There is only one problem. We made a foray into the nearby necropolis. It is the wrong age entirely.

“Then he thought that maybe we could force Daring Do to reveal the location of Im Farst's tomb. That was another piece of stupidity on his part.

“Here at the last, Overthrow and I were following him because we had no other choice. I mentioned that we are bankrupt? If it helps any, I was shooting only in defense.”

Sang He regarded Robber with mild disdain. “You told us only some of the truth. You are after a single relic. The legendary Heart of Discord. Daring Do was dispatched, not to prevent you from it, but to study and preserve the rest of the tomb.”

“She wasn't to prevent us from getting the Heart of Discord?”

Daring Do, a bit of wind whipping her mane impressively, inquired, “Do you have any idea at all how old the Princesses Luna and Celestia are? They KNEW Im Farst and the Dragon Queen. They do not want the tomb of a friend despoiled for a single relic.”

Tyranny leaped on what Daring Do had said. “So! They gave you a map to the tomb! If you don't hand it over right now, I will . . .” He hit the ground with a thump and a cloud of dust flaring out in all directions! Overthrow, leg wound still bleeding a bit, knocked him down and was sitting on him.

From his perch on Tyranny, he offered, “Excuse this, please. Our senior partner is more than a tiny bit unhinged. It did not show until we were committed to this business.”

Jeremy giggled. “It sure showed when he was shooting! Are you SURE that he is on YOUR side?”

Daring Do glanced skeptically at the three. “I had in mind allowing you to help us to excavate the tomb entrance as soon as we find it. You must realize that any three thousand year old guide or map will not be too accurate today. Even some hills move in that span of time. We will have our work cut out for us, just to locate the tomb and determine the correct method of entry.”

Tyranny, from his place flat on the ground, demanded, “What is so complex about it? Once we find the tomb, we just dig in and get what we need!”

Daring Do looked down incredulously. With all seven dromedaries doubled up with laughter and Soree giggling, she pointed out, “In my career, I have opened thirty eight significant ancient tombs. Every one has had at least two lethal traps that still functioned.

“Now I am certain that it will be YOU digging in, when we find the entrance!”

Robber chuckled sourly, “Tyranny, are you even beginning to grasp how stupid you are sounding?”

Daring Do shrugged. “Let him up. I have had to deal with grave robbing idiots before. “Mister Tyranny, you will not be allowed to enter the tomb at all. When we locate the artifact or any complication connected with it, you will be informed. If you try to enter without our specific permission, Sang He and her Dromedaries will shoot to kill without warning, is that clear?”

Tyranny regained his feet, snarling, “How can we possibly trust YOU?”

That caused Daring Do to double up laughing. When she regained her composure, she replied, “Not only are you still alive when we could have easily killed you, we are allowing you to stay with us. Consider, you are bankrupt. You cannot buy enough of fuel or supplies to get home but we are taking you in.

“It is we who have no cause to trust you!”

Soree went to Kanya Ama and asked, “May I get out the stove and fuel? We are now past our noon meal, due the presence of certain venomous insects.”

Kanya Ama knelt and allowed Soree to open her big pack panniers. Soree got out the stove, charcoal, and rice with dried vegetables already chopped and mixed in, needing only cooking to make them a meal.

Jeremy and Sehang Shu joined her in preparing the meal. Sehang Shu quietly offered, “Jeremy, you were very courageous in this event. Without your lead, we could have been killed.

“My given name is Shu. I wish that you would use it from now on.”

Lifting his eyes from the task of measuring the noon rice, Jeremy questioned, “I have made many mistakes of understanding so far, due to both prejudice and not grasping what I have been presented to study. From my reading, that offer has more meaning than simply letting me call you by your given name. Is that correct?”

Shehang Shu nodded, her face serious. “That is true, Jeremy. It is an offer of more than simply friendship.”

Jeremy returned to her the bow of one of low station to one of high. “I would be most honored, Shu. If I may say so, I have rarely ever met one that I respect more.” He hesitated before giving her a gentle hug.

Her return hug lifted him a good half meter off the ground!

She let him down and suggested with a giggle, “We can follow this up later. Just now, your lunch needs to be fixed!”

Soree grinned ear to ear as she commented, “We had better give you seconds, Jeremy! You are going to need your strength!”

Tyranny wandered close and demanded, “Never mind messing with the servants! When will my noon meal be ready?”

Tyranny promptly discovered two things about dromedaries. The first was that they can deliver a full power kick from any angle, using any leg. The other was that full power for a dromedary is very powerful indeed!

He picked himself up, cautiously, checking for broken bones. He had landed two meters away from where Sehang Shu's hoof caught him. He snarled, “That is it! You are fired! Get out of here!”

That was met by a sudden clacking sound as all seven of the large bore dromedary rifles that Daring Do gave the herd were brought to bear and cocked, safeties off. He was surrounded by a herd of grim faced dromedaries staring down the sights of their weapons.

Sang He said in such a gentle voice that it took a moment for the meaning to penetrate, “You will abase yourself. Grovel before Sehang Shu and beg her for your life. If you do not, we will destroy you.”

Tyranny turned to Daring Do, who was staring in consternation at a sheaf of papers, and demanded, “Do something! Your servants are in revolt!”

Daring Do gave him a pained look. She patiently explained, “There is nothing for me to do. They are being very forbearing in allowing this conversation before firing.”

She pointed sweepingly to the desert horizon about them. “If you examine your surroundings with the utmost care, you might notice a tiny detail. You are not in Equestria. Equestrian law does not run here. What Sang He's herd is about to do is TOTALLY LEGAL HERE.”

Tyranny's brows drew down in puzzled shock. “All of this over firing a servant?”

Daring Do pointed out, “In the first place, NOT YOUR SERVANT! In the second place, not my servant, either. Sang He's herd was engaged for their known and proven expertise in all aspects of the documentation, conservation and proper handling of antiquities.

“They have worked with me before. They are partners splitting a twenty percent share of the value of the total find as assessed by consultation between my Royal backers and the X'ibian Provincial Department of Antiquities. If the expedition fails, they will receive an already agreed to per diem.”

He gestured at the herd, with unwavering guns aimed at him. “These crude beasts, expert at anything? Ridiculous.”

There was another clacking of a rifle being cocked and brought to bear. Jeremy had joined the herd in steady, utterly calm aim at Tyranny. Soree was off to one side, out of the line of fire, sketching the scene into her notebook!

Daring Do observed, “Your mouth is digging you a grave that you will not get. By custom, your body will be put into an exposed location for desert scavengers to eat.”

It slowly percolated through Tyranny's consciousness that what he was hearing was perfectly serious. He got down to his belly, head extended toward Sehang Shu. “Please spare my life! I did not understand what I was doing.” He frowned in concentration and added, “I am not sure that I do now. I will do my best to understand and behave.

“I am a scholar of the ancient form of your language. Perhaps I can assist the work coming by that means.”

Sehang Shu gave a millimetric nod from the Bow of one of highest station and slung her rifle. She pulled her sword and held it in a low guard position, edge toward Tyranny.

In a voice so cold that it should have frozen him, she stated, “We are on the same road. We ask no thing of you and you, none from us. The path is all that is shared.”

She sheathed her sword and turned her back on him. The others all released the cock and slung their rifles too. Even Jeremy turned his back on the shivering Tyranny.

Soree and Jeremy returned to fixing their delayed noon meal.

Daring Do stirred the still shuddering Tyranny with her hoof. “We need to talk about this translation. I told you, back in your office in Canterlot, that your X'ibian translation was near hopeless. It does not seem to have improved.”

That got Tyranny's attention. “Nonsense. I have even used your lexicon of X'ibian Ideograms! I got every one exactly right!”

Daring Do nodded briskly. “You did. You also totally missed the meaning! All references to Dromedary are superlatives. They are the epitome of beauty, grace, elegance and deep thought. They are NEVER negatives or symbols of clumsiness, stupidity or ugliness.”

Incredulous, Tyranny gestured at the herd and exclaimed, “Impossible! Just look at them!”

Jeremy had quietly joined them and said, “Yes, just look at them through THEIR EYES. Didn't you know that the whole X'ibian first Empire was founded and carried on by dromedaries? Im Farst, whose tomb we are seeking, was a dromedary.

“His wife, the legendary Dragon Queen, named Wisdom, was actually a dragon, as the X'ibians understood such creatures. We hope to find out more about Wisdom herself, in the exploration of this tomb, assuming that we can find it.”

Tyranny, ears stinging from the multiple rebukes, snapped, “What about HER MAP? How could you fail to find it unless you are really stupid?” He pointed dramatically at Daring Do, who yawned.

Sehang Shu loftily informed him, “If you were a student, you would be removed from the class. I believe the term I want here is flunked.

“You were informed already that landmarks can change a great deal in three thousand years. You have failed to consider the information given you.”

Jeremy quietly added, “Besides, Doctor Do does not have a map. That is a conclusion that you jumped on and have accepted without question since. That is faulty reasoning that not even the military of any nation will accept. I am amazed that you, as a lawyer, would be guilty of such a basic failure of logic.”

Daring Do agreed, “I do not have a map. I do know how to find the tomb. It will not be easy. We must begin inside Hong Wa.”

Overthrow cautiously inquired, “If the tomb is outside the city, why do we need to begin inside it?”

Robber acidly pointed out, “If Daring Do has no map, she has a chain of clues that begin inside the city somewhere, obviously.”

Sang He politely herded Daring Do away from the lawyers. “Doctor Do, your delayed noon meal is now ready. Why you would wish to associate with such low creatures as they is beyond me.”

Daring Do chided gently, “My friend, do not discriminate with them because they are ponies.”

“I did not. I have placed them in the station that they have earned by their behavior. We honor you and those you have brought, because you and they have earned our respect. Those back there have gone so far the other way that I am glad that we did not shoot.

“Scavengers are a needful part of the ecology of the desert. I would not wish to poison them with that creature's carcass.”

Daring Do, the matter cleared up, sat with the others to eat. “After dinner, we will go into Hong Wa. We need to see if the ancient palace is still standing.”

Sehang Shu thoughtfully suggested, “I have been inside before, Doctor Do. Little enough remains standing except for the ancient Tower of Wisdom and the Library at its base. The library is empty, though. The Chineighese invaders of a thousand years past, emptied it and burned what they did not take.”

Over in the ROT camp, Tyranny angrily hurled down a dry, stale crust. He demanded, “Why don't we have any decent rations left?”

Robber silently held up a mirror to him. Overthrow pointed out, “We sent you to get us rice and dried vegetables. You bought the bread and cheese instead. If we don't have decent rations, it is YOUR fault.”

Robber took his dried crust of bread and crumbly dried out cheese and put them in a small pot with some water and steamed them over the fire. It made a gooey mess but it was softened and edible. Overthrow, seeing the success of Robber's effort, did the same to his.

Tyranny petulantly snapped, “Fix me some!”

Robber hoofed over the pot and pointed to Tyranny's bread, laying in the dirt. “Here. Fix your own. I don't know what you did with your cheese but all that you need to do is boil the crust until it is soft. Save and drink the water, we have none to spare.”

“That crust is all dirty!”

“And WHO threw it down? Not us. Eat it or not at all. We have locked and secured all of the remaining provisions to protect ourselves from your foolishness!”

Over in Daring Do's camp, their small stove was now cooled, the ashes saved in an airtight tin and all was put away except for the cups that they were using to savor the warm tea against the chill breeze of the desert.

They got up and walked away toward the ruined gates of Hong Wa. They left no scrap of anything behind.

Robber watched them go toward the ancient ruin of the city with some real interest. “They have stopped short and are taking some sort of measures, Overthrow.”

Tyranny, without asking, took the binoculars and sneered, “They are just getting out one of those little telescope things that surveyors use! Now they are setting up some sort of table, too! Why don't they just go to wherever they need to get for their clues to the tomb?”

Overthrow nodded to himself and replied, “It is likely that is precisely what they are doing. Finding some starting point. Mapping these fallen gates might be a part of that.”

Robber nodded slowly. “It might be that. It could be that they are mapping the condition of the gates for another reason connected to their specialties in Antiquities.”

Daring Do was drawing careful reference points on the paper sheet secured to the map table. Sang He, on the theodolite, was calling out angles and elevations as the rest of the herd, except for two armed guards, held vertical poles with graduated slides that they shifted up or down to Sang He's command. Daring Do's notes on the map sheet grew, as did a drawing of site, incorporating the measures that she was given.

Soree was detailing their work in drawings and notes. Jeremy was studying the wreckage of the gates intently, and making some notes of his own.

Both he and Soree were consulting with Daring Do at the map table frequently. Often, what Daring Do was working on underwent revisions as a result.

After a while of this work, the map table was moved to the middle of the city's northern wall. The obviously skilled survey continued. By early evening, they were back around to the starting place. They all began to work on a new drawing with rising excitement. Every one of them was pointing out features on the surveys of the outside walls and the new drawing, of the aerial view of the city began to take shape.

Robber, maintaining a respectful distance, listened in on the discourse. Tyranny tried to barge past him to get a look. The Senior Partner picked himself up out of the dust and sand as Robber withdrew the hoof that had tripped him.

Robber pointed to three drawn swords in the hooves of angry looking dromedaries and suggested, “You could thank me for saving your life.”

Over at the map table, the swords sheathed, the dromedaries and the ponies were working something out with mathematician's sliding rules and swift addition and subtraction.

Robber felt himself vindicated when he overheard, “Oh, subtle! No wonder that nobody has ever found it!”

Tyranny picked himself up from the dust, sand and small stones that the wind left behind. Robber pulled back the hoof that had tripped him. “No, Tyranny. Do not go to try and find out what they have found. In case it has not penetrated, they were perfectly serious about not sharing anything with us. That is what they mean by sharing only the path. They nearly killed you only a few hours ago. If you stick your nose into this, it is likely that they will go ahead and do it.”

Over at the map table, the observant Sehang Shu slid her sword back into its sheath. She observed, “So it lies on a line from the auspicious South window of Wisdom's personal quarters. Wisdom, weeping in the painting is the second guide point. That has been seen before by others. Her location in the Weeping Dragon painting has been dug to a visible crater!

“Your insight, Doctor Do, was in realizing that the city walls are not truly square. Extending the East wall and the West wall give a far different point along that line. There is a modest hill there, too.”

Daring Do smiled. “Right. Wisdom was cunning enough to use the whole city as a marker in placing the tomb of its founder.”

Soree and Jeremy looked on in something like awe. Reading about finding a major discovery by subtle clues is one thing. Being there and helping it to happen is quite another.

Daring Do turned unfriendly eyes to the trucks and their occupants. Nodding to herself, she suggested, “We have our evening meal due soon. It is also nearly time for you, my friends, to get your drink and perhaps some food. The South Gate is well cleared because your dromedaries have used that opening to get to the Well of Hong Wa for generations.

“I suggest that we leave those three to their own devices for now and move our camp to the South Gate. That gives us all access to the water of Hong Wa.”

Sang He nodded and gave the ancient, long abandoned, city a sad stare. “It is a shame that Great Wells of Hong Wa no longer have enough water to serve any fixed community. For us, this would still be a good place to live, were there water enough.”

All of their gear packed compactly away, Daring Do and her friends set out around the aged stone and mud brick walls that once guarded the seat of an empire.

Robber watched them go. Tyranny was climbing into the driver's seat of one of the trucks when Overthrow grabbed him and cast him down. “You idiot! If you try following them without permission, those rifles of theirs will not only kill you, they will destroy our trucks! We need them to get back to civilization when this is over!”

Robber stirred their fallen leader with a hoof. “Besides, we don't need to follow them yet. Not only has Daring Do promised us access to the Heart of Discord, she has promised that we can help to dig for it! Let them go. Perhaps, they will cool off towards you if you give them time.”

Overthrow slammed and locked the truck doors. He rummaged the enraged Tyranny and removed his keys. He looked about at the scattered trash and destroyed guns. Shaking his head, he pointed out, “If we do not clean up this mess, our license to be here states that we can be put to five years at hard labor.”

Overthrow began to break down the MT81s and prepare them for re crating. Robber started picking up the empty shell casings and stowing them in a biggish bag that had once held rations for them. Besides the shell casings he was picking up the scattered parts of the links that originally held the ammo and allowed it to feed into the weapons.

Looking up, Robber snarled, “Get off your useless ass, Tyranny, and start picking up the camp trash! I don't want to spend five years at labor because YOU are to dumb to follow license instructions!”

Tyranny snapped, “I am the leader! You do the menial task! Besides, once we have the Heart of Discord, none of that crap will matter! We will be kings of the world!”

Overthrow sourly finished sealing the gun crates and observed, “We both doubt that, Tyranny! After your many massive bungles in translating ancient X'ibian, we do not believe that the ritual can possibly work. We are only going through with it because it is our only chance to avoid the ruin that you have caused us.

“You are no leader! You have only led us to total bankruptcy. We are so bankrupt that we will need to find an Equestrian Embassy and use a Royal Benefice just to get home!

“Get to cleaning up or don't eat dinner!”

Around on the other side of Hong Wa, Daring Do, Soree and Jeremy were happily tucking into their rice and vegetables, fixed with a sweet/sour sauce.

They were watching as Sang He and her herd, deep in the ruins, were pulling up big fabric buckets of water from the ancient well. They wasted hardly a drop as the thirsty dromedaries drank their fill. At the last, they filled up the water bags for their friends, the ponies and horse.

They paced out of the city, passing under the still standing arch of the Great South Gate with dignity and grace. Setting aside their burdens, they took up their guns. Three stayed behind and four set out into the apparently empty desert.

Daring Do explained, “The nomad dromedaries have secret places where they find browse while in the desert.”

Jeremy nodded, “That makes perfect sense. The three left behind are not only to guard us, but to keep us from following. What we do not know, we cannot tell.”

Sehang Shu nodded gravely, “I am glad that you understand, Jeremy. Here in this desert, such knowledge can be the stuff of life or death.”

Soree brought a box out of her luggage. As she opened it, she asked, “Mahjongg, anyone?”

Daring Do was far ahead on points when the first four dromedaries returned, around midnight. Sehang Shu took her leave, returning her counters to the bank.

The next morning found Jeremy sleeping along side Sehang Shu and the others all returned. A quick breakfast, and the whole expedition was on the way to see if a certain hill hid the legendary lost tomb of Im Farst, first Emperor of the ancient X'ibian Empire.

Robber, watching them go with binoculars, from a hidden location, nodded to himself. “The tomb is three days walk from Hong Wa. No wonder that nopony has found it! It was three day's walk for a dromedary, not a pony! Look at how fast they are going!”

Tyranny, past angry at the mutiny of the others, belly still grumbling from the loss of his dinner, grumped, “So they walk fast? How does that signify anything?”

Overthrow chuckled, “And you can claim to be any sort of leader? Nopony looked in the right place because it was further away than anypony expected! Just like you, they assumed that the distance was as the pony walked, not as the dromedary paced.”

Tyranny, now feeling humiliated as well, snapped, “You could have let me have some breakfast, at least!”

In an acid voice, Overthrow pointed out, “We will, just as soon as you do your share of the camp clean up.”

Out in the desert, Sang He led the party wide of an invitingly easy looking patch of bare sand. Jeremy and Sehang Shu paused in their colloquium on the merits of different types of weapons in small unit engagements. Jeremy pointed to the sand patch and asked, “Why are we avoiding that area, Shu? It looks easier to go across it.”

Pleased that Jeremy was using her given name, she replied, “It would indeed be easier, Jeremy. There is only one reason to avoid it. Sand Lions. They are not too common, fortunately.”

“I have never heard of them, Shu. What are they like?”

“They have a smooth skin that is pretty tough. Their jaws are lined with many sharp fangs. They lie in wait, just under the sand and feel for the vibration of prey. They then burst up out of hiding and race down the prey. They are always voracious. Rarely, one will lurk in among rocks or some other such place to ambush their prey.”

Jeremy nodded, watching alertly about as they passed the large sandy area. “Um, Shu, you did not mention how large the sand lions are.”

“True, Jeremy. They average about the size of you ponies but can run a good deal faster, especially on sand. They are very well adapted to the desert life. They are a light to medium brown in color to better hide in the desert sands.”

Jeremy nodded. “I see. A carnivore like that could be quite dangerous. I am glad that your herd is so well versed in things like this. That could have posed a real danger to us.”

Shu nodded slowly in time to her pacing. “It still is a danger, Jeremy, at least until we are well past the sand area.”

They passed the last of the sand uneventfully around noon of that day. Daring Do pointed out, “This desert is not as empty as it appears. Among other things, somewhere there is enough plant life to support a herd like Sang He's. The recent reminder that there is enough prey to support creatures like the Sand Lions shows that amply as well. Besides the tomb of Im Farst, this desert is a place of many secrets.”

Soree made more notes in her journal.

The party came suddenly to the very brink of a nearly unseen precipice. Standing close to the edge of the cliff allowed them to see, exactly on their line of march, a small hill. On the windward side, it was bare, windworn sandstone. The downwind side made it almost drop shaped. In the low sunlight of the late afternoon, it could be seen to be partly surrounded by symmetrical ripples in the windblown earth.

Daring Do nodded to herself. After a careful examination of the ancient structures, hidden by ages of dry dust and sand filled wind, she pronounced, “I think that we have found it. Behold, the tomb of Im Farst, first Emperor of X'ibia.”

Soree dismounted to get a steadier brace as she carefully drew the first picture of the tomb of Im Farst ever made in the modern age. Only the low light made it possible to even see it as a structure built by intelligent beings, ages past. It was a sobering thought that if they had been earlier in the day, they could easily have missed the signs of the ancient works.

Sang He pointed out, “As much as was put into this tomb, according to the old inventories, there has to be an easy way to get down this cliff. Unless, of course, it has fallen to some natural disaster.”

Jeremy pointed to the South of their position. “Shu, do you see what I think that I see?”

She thoughtfully took out a telescope and focused it. “That is the way down, Jeremy. It only has one tiny flaw. I can make out at least two traps from here, in this bad light.”

Daring Do grinned at the news. “Very good, Sehang Shu! I think that we will camp up here, perhaps closer to the road-head but up here. I will want the best possible light to try getting past the surprises that were left for the unwary.”

Soree tended the camp stove, fixing dinner while the dromedaries looked on. The top of the road down was not far off. She kept glancing over at it, her brow furrowed. At last, she ventured, “It has been over three thousand years since the road down to the tomb was built. It cannot have had any maintenance for at least a thousand years, since the Chineighese conquest. How likely is it that any of those traps still work?”

Kanya Ama spoke up, “We helped Doctor Do to make the survey of significant sites. In surveying over 1500 major tombs nearly as old as this, we found only two that did not have traps that were still functional.”

“I see. Thank you, Kanya Ama. Did you disarm any of them?”

Shocked, the dromedary pulled her head back on her long neck. “Absolutely not! They are among the priceless antiques in the tomb and need to be most carefully conserved and inventoried!”

Soree grinned. “I had no idea what I was letting myself in for when I decided to study Antiquities!”

Daring Do put in, “It is often that way, Soree. Ponies and others are thinking of the quiet museum life, not what goes into the field work to get things to the museum.”

With the coming dawn, they saw Daring Do flying out over the site, clearly making sketches as she flew. She returned to the expedition shortly. Laying out her drawings and checking them against Soree's from the previous evening, when the light was from the opposite direction, she pointed.

“There. On the Auspicious South side, is the original entrance. I am glad that we will have the help of ROT in digging it out! It is pretty well buried!”

Sang He, brows raised in surprise, asked, “You were serious about letting those vandals help us?”

Daring Do's lips skinned back from her teeth in a mirthless grin as she replied, “Who better to find the entrance traps? Besides, Eris herself asked me to let them try their ritual. It should be fun to watch – from a distance!

“Besides that, I saw them approaching in their trucks while I was flying.”

Sang He, counting slowly, muttered to herself, “Let me see, the Darkling's tomb had how many . . . You are wise and subtle, Doctor Do.”

The peace of the desert was interrupted by the distant roar of the trucks' mage/tech engines.

Sang He and Sehang Shu watched the trucks charging toward the cliff edge with total interest! The sudden squall of brakes as Robber and Overthrow realized, almost too late, that they were in danger caused several of the herd to clap hooves in delight!

The trucks skidded to a stop only meters from the edge of the cliff! They carefully reversed and backed away to a safe distance before parking.

Robber got out of the cab of his vehicle. He was visibly shaken by the near disaster. He came directly to Daring Do and asked, “How do we get down there? I assume that the tomb is down there somewhere.”

Sang He, showing that she had some trace of respect for Robber, if none at all for Tyranny, gave him the bow of one of higher station and replied, “There is a causeway to the bottom that still survives from ancient times. We have, so far, located seven potentially deadly traps on the causeway. We are still conducting our survey at this time.”

Overthrow, holding Tyranny back physically, suggested, “Can't you jam or destroy them as you locate them?”

He had wit enough to realize that he had somehow suggested something totally wrong. Daring Do and all of the dromedaries of the herd were staring at him in total shock! Soree frowned for only a moment before adding her disapproval to the rest.

Jeremy thought for a bit longer before pointing out, “No, we can't. The idea has already been suggested. The traps are an important part of an ancient site. They must be carefully documented and preserved, if possible. They are among the priceless antiquities of the complex.”

Tyranny would not stay shut up. “How likely are they to work? They are THOUSANDS of years old!”

Baring her lips in a smile that never reached her eyes, Sehang Shu waived towards the top of the causeway and invited, “Please precede us. Thus, you will show us how age has rendered them ineffectual. Or not.

“If any of them DO work, after all of this time, we will take careful notes of what kills you.”

Tyranny, almost to the top of the causeway, stopped cold. Craning his neck, he stared down the empty seeming stones of the antique path. “I see no traps.”

That brought an amused chuckle from Jeremy. “A trap that you can see easily would only be used to steer you to the one that you DO NOT see! Daring Do and these dromedaries are experts in this field. Sehang Shu told me of seven, but I personally only find six.”

Shu gently took Jeremy's shoulder and led him to a vantage point. She extended a hoof downward. “There. See them now, Jeremy? In the sand between the tomb and the foot of the causeway.”

Jeremy stared for a moment. Nodding slowly, he commented, “So that is what they look like. Very well camouflaged. Thank you for showing me, Shu.”

Soon the party began to work their way down the old stonework. Daring Do was leading the way, pausing now and again to mark particular stones. “Do not step on these, whatever you do.”

Robber yanked Tyranny back, fractions of a second too late!

Sharp bronze blades shot out from the wall! One sliced lightly across the skin of Tyranny's neck and cut the top of his extended foreleg, causing him to squall in pain!

“I can't get away from this! Somepony help me!”

A little further down the causeway, Daring Do was struggling! A blade driven through, high up, lifting her from the pave!

~~ ~~ ~~

In the deeply hidden control room of VILE's floating island headquarters, Carmen was shaking Marehem like he was a rag doll! Dropping him, she pointed to the Mirror of Distant Sight where Daring Do could be seen struggling, supported by the antique bronze blade.

“I told you to KEEP HER SAFE! Do you call that SAFE?”

Marehem picked himself up and studied the image showing in the Mirror.

Nodding in his cheerfully annoying way, he snarked back, “Yes!”

Carmen stopped like she'd hit a brick wall. “How?”

Pointing carefully, Marehem suggested, “Take a CLOSE look.”

Carmen examined the scene carefully and nodded slowly. The scene in the mirror shifted to the darkened interior of a vault. “Let's see, the Ruby Rose of the West is guarded by . . .”

The notes for her next heist, er, exploit, grew.

~~ ~~ ~~

While the others were still staring in shock at the apparent disaster that Tyranny had triggered, Jeremy called out, “Stay still, Doctor Do! I am on my way!”

Daring Do ceased her struggles, hanging limply from the extended blade of the trap. Jeremy took a grapnel from his saddle pack and twirled the multi pronged hook, letting it fly expertly to the top of the wall that concealed the deadly mechanism. After assuring himself that it was securely hooked, Jeremy pulled himself up and traversed the blades by carefully stepping on them. At the end of the trap, he let himself down to the pave. He gave the grapnel rope a flip that freed the hook.

Coiling the rope, he asked Daring Do, “Do you know how to reset this trap? If the blade can simply pull back into the wall, that will be the safest way to get it out of your pack.”

Daring Do pointed to a tall stone. “I think that hides the reset for the blade mechanism.”

Nodding, Jeremy checked the stone over with care. There was a quiet click and it pulled open like a cabinet, revealing a long lever. He cautiously pulled it back. As he did, the blades pulled back into the wall, hidden as before. The blade carrying Daring Do pulled back, sliding out of her pack, as it went into the wall to await the next victim.

She leaned against the wall and asked in a shaken voice, “How did it go off? I thought that I marked all the triggers with the chalk dust. Did I miss one?”

Grimly Sang He pointed to Tyranny, who was trying to stanch the blood from his cut foreleg. “That one. He deliberately hit one of the triggers. The only reason that he lives is the one called Robber, who tried to stop his idiocy by pulling him back.”

Robber literally sat on Tyranny and said gently but with absolute conviction, “You asked how likely it was that such ancient traps could work. You have your answer. If you do one more thing that you are not supposed to do, I will push you off this causeway myself. I want to stay alive. That is even more important than any ritual, no matter what reward it may give.”

He got up and left Tyranny to limp to his feet. “At least bandage up my cuts!”

Overthrow responded, “No. The pain and occasional bleeding will remind you that you are in a very dangerous place and MUST do exactly as told.”

Sehang Shu suggested with a grin, “That unworthy dung beetle has showed us his talent! Let him go ahead of us down the causeway. He is sure to set off EVERY trap, greatly simplifying our task of getting to the bottom safely! Of course, after the next one that he springs, we will have to roll his corpse the rest of the way down.”

Sang He, joining in, suggested, “Perhaps we should not do that. If something hit his head, a valuable antique could be seriously damaged!”

Daring Do was inventorying her damaged pack. She sadly examined her shredded notes and drawings. Jeremy leaned over her shoulder to see. “I believe that I can fix those, Doctor Do. Will you let me try?”

She looked up at him. “Jeremy, I thought that your talent lay in restoring antiquities.”

Glancing over at Robber, Overthrow and Tyranny, Jeremy nodded, “That is primarily what it is good for, Doctor Do. It can also restore that which is damaged, if it has to do with antiques. That is what all of your notes here are about.”

To be sure that no breeze stole any precious fragment, Daring Do gave Jeremy her whole pack. To the displeasure of Tyranny, Jeremy sat where he could shield the contents of the pack and set to work, sorting torn and sliced parts. As fast as he found any two that fit together, he ran a skilled hoof across the fitted edges. Each page that he did it to was restored as if it had never had an ancient bronze blade driven forcefully through it.

Without a word, he handed the entire batch of repaired notes and drawings back to Daring Do, both the precious papers and her pack were perfectly restored.

Daring Do shouldered her pack with a smile of thanks to Jeremy. She worked her way slowly down the the causeway, her loosely woven bag of fine chalk dust leaving many marked stones on both the road and the cliff wall!

They came to one place where she stopped cold. Very carefully, watching each foot placement, she slowly backed away.

She was almost back to the others when there was the tiniest of clicking sounds. Sang He lunged forward, hitting the pave with her body spreadeagled. Kanya Ama and Sehang Shu leaped forward and grabbed their herd leader's hind legs as Sang He wrapped Daring Do in a solid grip. The paving under both of them fell away!

With Daring Do held securely in her grip, Sang He lay bent down at the waist, kept from falling by her two herdmates. The rest of the herd moved almost as one to lower ropes and secure them about their friends. The sheer power and strength of the dromedaries was easily apparent as they heaved, lifting the two to the relative safety of the causeway with its known traps!

Soree, knowing exactly what was expected of her, also leaped forward and stared down into the trap. She began to sketch rapidly, concentrating on her work. Soon, done with her drawing, she made swift notes in her native Saddle Arabian.

Jeremy asked the still shaking Daring Do, “Is it safe to use the grapnel in that iron loop up there on the wall about half way across?”

It was Sehang Shu who answered, “No, Jeremy. That is, as you suspected, just another way land on those spikes, one hundred meters down there at the bottom.”

He nodded, “It has been used enough that I noticed that there are movement marks under it. I was not sure, though. This is my first expedition into the field.”

Soree held out her sketchbook and pointed. “These four of the eighteen skeletons down there tried to swing across. They all landed in that one place, indicating that they were all released at the exact same point in their swing.”

Robber joined them quietly and respectfully asked, “How do you know that those four tried to swing across? For that matter, how do you know that there are eighteen of them down there? I only see a big tangled mass of bones.”

Jeremy, still examining Soree's excellent sketch, replied, “Those four, all landing in the same place, are a simple trajectory solution.

“For the total, if you look at the drawing, she counted the skulls. Those are big enough to see and unique to each single individual.”

“I see. Thank you.” Robber returned to the others, watching his steps with care.

Jeremy swung his grapnel and released it with precision. The hook sailed up over the top of the old stonework and clattered on the opposite side. He gave several experimental tugs on the line.

Turning to Sehang Shu, he gave her a hug. “I will see you on the other side, Shu.”

With some humor, she replied, “Of the trap, Jeremy. Not the other Other Side!”

Jeremy wrapped the line securely about his hoof and swung out, over the yawning abyss.

He had to lift his hooves some to clear the stones on the other edge of the ancient trap. Expertly, he set his hooves and caught himself. Searching about a little, he found a loose stone that had dropped to the causeway surface sometime in the last three thousand years.

Knotting the stone into a secure cage of rope, Jeremy swung it back across the abyss. Daring Do caught the pendulum of rope and stone. She gave a tug to be sure that it was still secure and, with the confidence of long experience, she leaped out over the yawning pit of death.

Her landing was assisted by Jeremy. Soree came next, calling, “Whee!” as if the rope swing was a fair thrill ride!

Sang He caught the swinging stone and called across the gap, “Jeremy, will this be safe for us of herd?”

He called back, “Yes! It has working load of three tonnes. That is with a safety factor of two.”

The big dromedary simply nodded, secured her grip and leaped. The rest of the herd followed, one by one. Finally, all that were left was Robber, Overthrow and Tyranny.

Tyranny petulantly demanded, “I want a safety line in case this one breaks!”

Sang He called back derisively, “What? You weigh over three tonnes? The way that you eat, I could almost believe that!”

Sehang Shu grinned as she pointed out, “Even if your whole brain was igneous stone, and I am not sure that it is not, you would not weigh that much. Perhaps it is your fear that you cannot grip the rope properly? It will not be a loss to us if you do fall!”

Robber had been watching how the other ponies and the dromedaries had wrapped the rope about their forelegs. He grabbed Tyranny by the foreleg and cast two quick overlapping loops about it. Tyranny was about to shake off the rope when Robber and Overthrow shoved him forcefully off the safety of stone. Screaming, Tyranny swung out over the spikes at the pit's bottom.

The whole herd stood back aloof and offered no assistance. Daring Do and Jeremy caught his flailing hind legs and pulled Tyranny to 1safety.

Robber showed Overthrow how the loops were properly done. With some trepidation, he swung across to safety, assisted in his landing by Daring Do and Jeremy.

As Robber made his swing, Sehang Shu led Kanya Ama in catching him. As she set him safely onto solid stone, Sehang Shu said, “You keep poor company but have earned our respect. YOU have a welcome in our camp.”

Robber bowed the bow of an inferior to a person of importance and replied, “This one is most grateful for your respect. I shall try to uphold your good opinion.”

Tyranny, looking back saw the impossible. The causeway was fully intact again. He pointed and exclaimed, “We had no need of that deadly risk! All we had to do was wait!”

Daring Do actually rolled on the stone, laughing. When she got herself under control, she said, “It would have stayed down as long as we were there! It is a trap operated by magic!”

Tyranny scoffed, “True magic dies with the pony that cast it! This is thousands of years old!”

Wearing the most condescending expression possible, Sehang Shu crouched to his level to look Tyranny in the eye. Patting him on the top of he head, she said, “Dung Beetle, trivial pony cast magic, it is true, dies with the pony. This was cast by OUR ancestors. It appears to have slipped your notice that WE ARE NOT PONIES. Our magic WORKS.”

Chuckling, she turned her back on the fuming Tyranny.

The party began to descend the causeway, Daring Do in the lead. She carefully sifted chalk powder on trap trigger stones in both causeway and the wall. Tyranny, seeing that Robber had out a large knife, did not even try to touch any of them.

They reached the stone platform at the bottom of the causeway without further incident. If you do not count the three small trickles of blood on Tyranny's coat where Robber poked him with the knife as incidents, that is.

Unappologetic, Robber just said, “I thought that he was starting to put a hoof where he should not.

“It looks like an easy walk to the place where we can begin uncovering the tomb door. That makes me suspect that it is not safe at all.”

Sang He nodded agreement. “You alone of your compatriots, Mister Robber, appear to have learned some wisdom. You are correct. That easy appearing patch of sand between here and the tomb of Im Farst is quite dangerous.

“Doctor Do is preparing to take to the air to scout whether the sand lions that we know are here can be coped with.”

As Daring Do was stripping away her pack, saddle bags and anything else that might slow or interfere with her flight, Tyranny snorted, “Sand lions! Those are a myth! They have never been documented by any reputable scientific authority.”

Sang He and the rest of her herd ignored him, while efficiently readying their rifles. They began to aim them out over the seemingly empty sand. Daring Do lifted off to the flutter of strong wings.

Moderately high up, she circled, scrutinizing the sand below. She stooped into a dive, like a striking hawk! She hit the sand, bunched and leaped high, wings driving for all that they were worth!

Only a few meters from her striking point, the sand erupted in a fury of raking claws, snapping fangs and a leaping blotched tan and white monster. Daring Do was up, out of its reach ~ barely!

As Daring Do swept up and about, the now revealed sand lion kept pace beneath her. Robber commented sarcastically, “That looks like a real myth to me! At least as real as the Heart of Discord.”

Gaining on the pursuing beast, Daring Do dived again! Her thump as she hit this time drew, not one, but three of the hidden monsters! Soon she was leading a ravening pack away from the causeway and the expedition.

Tyranny tried to self-importantly bustle out onto the now “safe” sands. Bullets blasted past him! The sand lion that did not follow Daring Do was ripped by flying lead! It emitted an unearthly roaring scream as it collapsed in a pool of its own gore. The thirsty sand soaked up its leaking blood as the beast died, half out of the sand that had hidden it from sight.

Jeremy, a smoking rifle in his own in hoof, was hugging a dromedary. “That was wonderful shooting, Shu! You took out its spine right through its open mouth!”

Shu was returning the hug, delighting in his praise.

Tyranny saw the hug and curled a lip. “Can't you stop disgusting us by your perversion?”

Soree and the entire herd all froze. As one, they turned their backs on him. Shocked, Tyranny saw that Robber had joined them and Ovethrow was refusing to meet his eye.

Shu, still holding Jeremy, observed, “I must offer my apologies to the dung beetles. That unworthy creature has not earned their august company.”

Sang He, turned to Tyranny, rifle lowered to aim directly at him. All of the others followed suit. Jeremy, standing beside Sehang Shu, had his rifle aimed too. Soree pulled her talwar and even Robber had his knife aimed at him.

Sang He demanded, “Precede us across the sands or die here and now.”

Quaking with fear, Tyranny asked, “What if there is another one like that?”

Sang He half lidded her eyes and replied, “Then we will kill it. If it kills you first or not is of no importance at all. GO!”

The rest followed Tyranny at a small distance as they made their way across the sands. The passage was made without any further problem beyond maintaining footing in the slippery sands.

They were climbing onto the outcrops of sandstone that shielded the ruins of the ancient complex. Jeremy's rifle barked once. The sand lion that was up in the rocks a bit above them tumbled down to flop in a blotched heap of short tan and whitish fur at their hooves.

There was a flurry of wings as Daring Do landed among the party. She paused to examine the kill at close range. She shifted the massive head and examined the structure of the jaws and fangs. “Soree, dear. I need good sketches of this. See how these fangs are set in the jaws? See how these ears work to keep the sand out while it is below the surface? We need this documented very carefully.”

Soree began to make many sketches of the dead beast.

Daring Do turned her attention to the stones ahead of them and smiled. Taking Jeremy by the hoof, she pointed. “See that, Jeremy? It was made to look natural but it is not at all! We are at the outskirts of the tomb complex!”

The others fell back and let their acknowledged expert check out the way ahead. Daring Do led the way, her wings slightly raised. A short ways into a defile, they were faced with fallen rubble partly covering a ancient lintel over what appeared to be a door.

Standing in the small defile, Daring Do took out a paper and compared the time worn characters carved on the lintel piece to what she had. Nodding in deep thought, she began to back out with the greatest care.

Tyranny demanded, “What is the hold up? All that we have to do is pry and dig out those fallen rocks and force the door!”

Kanya Ama put a hoof over her eyes in frustration as she suggested, “Eater of dung beetle leavings, please go and jump about on the sand. We would like to see if those 'mythical' sand lions have returned.”

Sehang Shu condescendingly offered, “If Doctor Do is getting away from there, one may presume an excellent reason. This could be trapped, a false entrance, or both. Please tell us where your brain was buried when it died. We need a latrine.”

Robber joined in the general chuckle. Tyranny fumed.

Daring Do, out of the slot, commented, “Note this place well, Soree. I want your best sketches. We will return here later. This is where the tomb's workforce was interred. The stones here are not trapped. They were merely meant to be sure that any who survived the drug could not escape.”

Sang He and the rest of the herd bowed their heads in respect.

After the moment of silence, Sang He suggested, “So, shall we search around on this bluff to find the true Auspicious South where the entrance most likely is?”

Daring Do nodded. “Yes, my friend. That is what we must do.”

As the party worked their way through a maze of broken and fallen stone, it was the sharp eyes of Kanya Ama who spotted it. “Look! Up there! They must have had some sort of bridge that was removed after the doors were sealed.”

She was pointing up. There was a ledge with barely visible stone works to its back. Daring Do spread her wings and flew up near to it, verifying that it was indeed the place that they were searching for.

She landed in a jubilant mood. “That is it! We have the true entrance to the tomb! Thanks, Kanya Ama!” Daring Do hugged the big dromedary.

Using Jeremy's grapnels and ropes, it did not take long to rig a rope ladder up to the ledge. Tyranny watched, mouth agape, as the clumsy seeming dromedaries swarmed up the ladder without effort. Jeremy and Soree followed, showing an agility that he had never imagined. Robber and Overthrow worked their way up without undue problems, though they were clearly not comfortable with the task.

Tyranny began his climb. He struggled to find his footing on the loose, dangling ropes of the ladder. Several times he missed with a hoof and had to feel about to get secure. Looking down, he froze.

His terrified screams caused the others to put their heads over the ledge to watch. Sang He observed, “It is obstructing our ladder! Perhaps if we shake the ladder, the bug will come loose so that we can use it.”

Sehang Shu pointed out, “The splatter of its fluids could contaminate the site. Since we are being paid a share of the value estimate, that could lower our income!”

There was a flurry of other, similar commentary, punctuated by laughter. It was the laughter that reached Tyranny. Gritting his teeth against his fear, he struggled and fought his way to the top.

Now he could see what the others already had. The tomb entrance was carved with a female Draconequis as one pillar of the doorway and a dromedary was the other. The dromedary's bearing was so noble that even Tyranny could feel it. Together, they upheld what could only be a representation of the sky itself.

Soree, ignoring all of the byplay, was working on careful sketches both of the whole and detail copies of various portions.

Seeing the unguarded doors of the tomb proper, Tyranny began to stride confidently forward to push them open. The realization that ALL of the others were silently taking cover stopped him!

As he turned to say, “What are you afraid of?” a missile shot past him, just barely scratching the skin of his neck! The missile did not clatter on the stone below. It silently vanished when it failed of its target. That, more than the trap itself caused Tyranny to stop in wide eyed shock.

Sehang Shu called derisively, “I told you, OUR MAGIC WORKS! Please go toward the doors again! We have a betting pool on how many traps you will trigger before you are killed!”

Shaken, he backed away from the deadly doors.

The others emerged from their cover. Shu set up the portable stove and began to fix rice and dried vegetables for Jeremy, Soree and Daring Do. She called quietly, “Mister Robber, would you care for a portion too? You have earned my respect and may share our camp if you wish.”

Robber paused, bowed deeply and asked, “What of the rest of your herd? What do they say?”

Sang He spoke for the rest, giving him a bow of equals, “The affront was to Sehang Shu. If she has forgiven you so far as to share with you, then so shall we.”

Robber then returned her bow, replying, “It would be my honor to share food with you. I have little to offer in return, only a single ration of cheese that dried out and has crumbled to small lumps. The dried bread crusts that we had, Tyranny abandoned somewhere along the way.”

Sehang Shu invited, “Share what you may. The cheese will rehydrate along with the rice and vegetables. It will add an excellent flavor for my dear and his friends.”

Without further comment, Robber handed over the small packet of crumbled cheese. Sehang Shu stirred it into the rice and vegetables.

Robber was surprised when Daring Do and Jeremy moved aside to make room for him.

Jeremy, studying the doors, asked Daring Do, “How many traps have you spotted so far? I count six.”

Robber stared at the innocent seeming doors and shook his head. “I am glad that your group is here. Tyranny would have got us all killed before we ever got this far. I can't even see the one that shot the missile at Tyranny and I know that it is there.”

Sehang Shu nodded, “They are difficult to detect. Doctor Do's class, Temple and Tomb Guardians 406, is a great help. We took it by Magic Net after assisting her with the Darkling's Tomb and the area survey. Our ancestors were very ingenious.”

Daring Do nodded acknowledgment. “They were indeed, Sehang Shu. Jeremy, there are in fact six. You spotted them all. There is one for each of the cardinal points of the ancient X'ibian compass.

“At least these are not as dangerous as the ancient Rune Work of Baratted the Goat during the Nightmare Wars. Those are deadly.”

Jeremy shuddered. “I know. Circle Lake and Crescent Lake in central Equestria were his work. They are just over thirty kilometers across.”

Sehang Shu interrupted. Smiling, she announced, “The meal is ready! Mister Robber, your cheese addition smells good! Thank you!”
She began to serve out four bowls, one for each of the ponies and the horse before her. Smiling happily, she served Jeremy his bowl first.

Daring Do smiled as she watched Jeremy get his bowl from Sehang Shu. She and Soree were next. Robber waited to last and took his bowl with a bow of thanks.

As Robber sat to eat, Tyranny stomped over and demanded, “You have to share that with . . .” His demand was silenced by a meaty thud! Sehang Shu pulled her leg back calmly from the hard strike that took Tyranny off his hooves and sent him tumbling to a wall. Robber, eyes wide, bowed to her, “I thank you, Sehang Shu. He was carrying our dried crusts and other rations. He left them somewhere on the way. He has no right to any of your food. I have no right either but that of your invitation.”

Sehang Shu nodded. “That is so, Mister Robber. We have a saying that goes, he who casts away what he has, has no right to what others may have.”

Daring Do was looking at the whole problem of the door traps. Suddenly she smiled. Taking out a piece of paper, she sketched a few things and made quick notes. Jeremy realized that her quick notes were in ancient X'ibian!

She showed her notes to Sang He. The dromedary's eyes flew open in surprise. “Of course! There are six cardinal points to the ancient compass. They all meet at the center!”

As swiftly as their luncheon was done, Kanya Ama began to creep forward on her belly. It was amazing how close to the ground so large a being as she could get.

Sang He and Daring Do were coaching her, “A bit to the left! Not quite so much! There! Perfect! Now raise the target!”

Kanya Ama hesitated before raising a cut out on a stick. Robber giggled. The cut out was a quite good likeness of Tyranny's silhouette.
It was suddenly shredded as a stabbing blade trap, a missile trap, a falling stone, a swinging weight, a slashing blade and a pit opening all happened at once!

Kanya Ama was laying in the only spot not struck, slashed, smashed or dropped! All of the ancient traps slammed into each other and fell into the pit. Seconds later, the pit closed.

With a groan like the weight of millennia was holding them back, the tomb doors yawned wide. There, exposed to the light of day for the first time in three thousand years, was a long corridor leading downward into the depths of the burial complex.

Tyranny started for the opening. The multiple clacks of rifles behind him being cocked and safeties released stopped him.

Daring Do, looking at him over the sights of her rifle, snapped, “Back! You are not permitted inside for any reason! We were instructed to bring you the Heart of Discord, if we are able to find it. We are to tell you of any complication or problem with the Heart, should there be any.

“We are to use ANY force necessary to prevent you from entering the tomb itself.”

Smirking, he retorted, “Fire away! Your bullets will damage the tomb!”

There was a whisper of steel sliding out of a sheath as Soree pulled her big talwar. Cheerfully, she pointed out, “He is right, you know! Sword time!”

Daring Do lowered her rifle as Sang He and the rest of the herd all set down their rifles and pulled their swords!

It penetrated even Tyranny's consciousness that there were EIGHT drawn swords behind him and the bearers all wanted him dead. He stopped and slowly turned. Immediately, he wished that he hadn't. Dromedaries with swords at the ready looked like a slaughter house ready to start!

The dromedaries parted, giving him a lane of escape. Robber was waiting for him at the end of the lane of bared steel. He gestured, “Come back, Tyranny. Let them do the work that they are here to do. We will get what we came for too. We only have to wait. Come, we can play cards while they are busy.”

As Tyranny sourly returned, he demanded, “How long will it take you to find the Heart of Discord, Do?”

Standing in the shade of the portico, Daring Do replied as if she had been asked politely, “No idea at all, yet. It could be within a few days or take a few months, assuming that it exists at all.

“The Heart of Discord is a fascinating study. The Heart of Discord legends ALL trace back to Equestria, not long after the end of the Second Nightmare War. NO document of ancient X'ibia refers to it at all. The only example known from X'ibia is the tomb of Unsan Ities. That is the well known wall painting picture that you showed to me.

“As it happens, the character for Discord, the Draconequis, and the character for Wisdom, both as the name of the Dragon Queen and the word itself, are quite similar. Among scholars the question of the painting simply being a mistake due to haste is still hotly debated.

“Remember, that tomb has been precisely dated. Unsan Ities tomb was sealed about 150 years AFTER the death and burial of Im Farst. Documented in other parts of the wall paintings is that he died suddenly from a disease of pox. They were in a hurry to get him interred.”

Overthrow was eyeing Tyranny skeptically. “What are the chances of reselling those old X'ibian documents that you blew our firm's capital on, Tyranny? You said it yourself. None of them mentions the Heart of Discord. The first mentions of it appear in Equestria, just as both you and Daring Do have said.

“Perhaps we can recover some of our lost capital if we can sell them, since they are useless to our quest.”

Robber pointed out, “That is for a later discussion, Overthrow. Right now, we are going to need those provisions that Tyranny ditched. Our time while we wait will be better spent going back and seeing if we can find and save them.”

The expedition entered the yawning passageway with caution.

“Those stupid antiquarians don't know the importance of what we need! So what if a few things get broken or shoved out of place? We NEED the Heart of Discord soon! Days? Weeks? Maybe months? They have plenty of good rations! We have nothing to eat and those hogs won't share!”

Robber snapped, “And WHOSE fault is that? You have stupidly alienated them at every turn! Who was carrying OUR rations? Where are they?”

Tyranny ignored Robber. He waited until the dromedaries were lost to the gloom of shadows and started in the direction of the entrance. Robber and Overthrow both reached for him to hold him back. The senior partner contemptuously shook them off.

As he began to enter the portal, Robber took something small from his saddle bag. He pressed it. It made a small but clear metallic click!

Tyranny, hearing the noise, wheeled and ran back in terror!

“I thought that they found all of those traps! What was it?”

Robber put away the small clicker as he said, “I am not sure. It was so fast! It must have been something that reset after the others went past.

“If we want to eat, we had better find those provisions that you lost.”

In a sour mood, gesturing at Overthrow, Tyranny demanded, “US, you mean! They are feeding you! Why won't they feed Overthrow or I?”

Overthrow glared at him. “You know why! You have tried to push them around and treat them like inferiors. If you had been watching and paying attention, you would have seen that Daring Do, who is an expert, respects and works with them.

“That is how they found this place that nopony has located for three thousand years. They work together. You have broken every rule of courtesy that this society has. It is a wonder that you are still alive to complain.

“Now, unless you are a total coward, let us go back along the trail and get our food back. It may only be crumbly dried out cheese and bread crusts but that is YOUR FAULT TOO. We sent you to get rations suitable for dessert travel. YOU bought cheese and bread. We were lucky that it dried out rather than developed mold.”

Robber pointed at the rope ladder. “You need that food. I might too. My welcome with them is purely at the whim of Sehang Shu. We need to find it.

”They have a proverb that goes, who casts away what he has, has no right to what others have. They KNOW that you ditched our food. They won't share with you because of it, no matter how hungry you are.”

Tyranny, shuddering, began to put hooves to the flimsy seeming ladder. By not looking down, he manged to reach the bottom safely. Overthrow was next. He too made it without incident. Robber had no trouble at all. He joined the other two and, using his drawn knife, gestured back along the way that they had come.

They were almost to the dangerous area of sand before Tyranny led them to a cleft of stone. The missing packs of provisions were hidden well back, out of sight.

Tyranny drew back in disgust. “I can't eat that! It is crawling with ants!”

Overthrow grimly started opening packages and shaking the bugs off of crusts and out of the packaging. Sparing a glare at the senior partner, he growled, “Then be hungry. The only reason that we have ANY of our problems is YOU. You do not seem able to THINK any longer. What you do out here has real consequences. Nobody is going to help you if you bungle things. And you have been doing just that.”

Finished ridding the provisions of ants as well as he could, Overthrow repacked it all. He demanded, “Carry it back to the camp at the entrance or do not eat at all!”

Well down in the depths of the tomb, Daring Do was checking a doorway for traps. As usual, there was one. She cautioned, “Watch out for that needle. I do not know what the poison is. It might still be deadly!”

Soree added the location of the door and the nature of the trap to her voluminous notes. She double checked her notes and drawings.
“Doctor Do, we should be very near to the center of the whole complex, if what I saw from the cliff top was even most of its extent.”

Sang He nodded agreement. “I have been counting paces, Soree. I believe that you are correct.”

Daring Do made a brighter light, using one of her few non equine magic spells. She stopped cold, drawing her breath in a way that anyone who knew her mother, Carmen Pondiego, would recognize!

“My friends, we have found him. This is the door to the final resting place of Im Farst.”

Sang He and the rest of the herd all bowed their heads in deepest respect. In the softest of voices she said, “Forgive our intrusion, First Lord and Emperor. We shall do all that can be done to preserve your memory and deeds. Such is the desire of your still living and loving wife, the Exalted Wisdom.”

Gazing through the now open door, Jeremy gasped, “There is practically no dust! Not even spider webs!” Pausing, he panted, “No bugs or dust! That was a big charcoal burner there! … Get out! Now! Back up the passage to good air!”

Without waiting, Daring Do, Sang He and her whole herd turned and began to work their way up the passage. Soree was sketching and did not go as promptly.

Her legs starting to buckle, she called out, “Help! What is happening? I . . . I can't stand!”

Corba Jai turned, dashed back, and gathered both Soree and her precious notes before wheeling and fleeing up the tunnel!

Near the entrance, they paused. Soree was still unable to stand. Sehang Shu turned to Jeremy. “What was it, Jeremy? Some sort of magic that we did not spot?”

Jeremy shook his head. “No, Shu. It was just deadly bad air. We learned to trap bunkers with it during my military training, before I took up Antiquites. You just light a good fire, shut the place up tight, and close the flue damper before you retreat. The fire uses up all of the good part of the air and causes what happened to Soree and nearly to the rest of us.”

Daring Do, holding Soree's head, asked, “Will she recover?”

Jeremy nodded. “It will take a while to clear the bad air out of her system but she will be fine.”

Shu nodded slowly as she concentrated on her breathing. “It has got us some, hasn't it? I am breathing faster than usual. Soree is panting swiftly.”

Daring Do swiftly watched the others by turns. “It did get us all, at least some. We are all breathing faster than we should. What tipped you off to the danger, Jeremy?”

He took the moment to lean up to Shu, who was kneeling, and hug her about the neck. “There was a big charcoal burner in the chamber. It still had charcoal in it. There was not enough good air in there to burn it all. I saw it and remembered my training.”

Shu gently kissed Jeremy. “You may have saved us all from Soree's difficulties or even death. Thank you, My Heart.”

Soree looked up and managed a smile as she offered, “It would have been an awful blot on my student records if I died on my first serious field expedition! Thanks, Jeremy.”

Daring Do grinned, her spirits lifted. She pretended to pull out a big grading book and made an imaginary check mark.

Soree mocked horror. “Not the dreaded red check mark!”

The whole group giggled at the byplay.

It was Sang He who thoughtfully pointed out, “The bad air is heavier that our good air. We need to find a way to flush out the bad air or we cannot do our work down there at all.”

Daring Do was quietly reaching for her rifle when Sehang Shu gently stopped her. The dromedary gave a false smile to Tyranny, who was frowning at them as he approached.

He snapped, “What are you lot lazing about for? If your Antiquarian work has to come before OUR important work, then get to it!”

Sehang serenely offered, “Leavings of a dung beetle, we are working. We are trying to figure out a way past the last trap to the final resting place of Im Farst. As your work is so vital, please precede us to the chamber. We have succeeded in unsealing the door.

“As you go down, exercise your famous skill at triggering traps. We have already found and marked the trigger stones and other devices. All that you will need to do is tramp firmly on the marked stones!”

Tyranny got a sick look as it penetrated that Sehang Shu had given him permission to go on down because she expected him to die there. He retreated, grumbling under his breath.

Kanya Ama suggested, “Could we modify our spell to counter sand storm winds to waft the bad air out of here?”

Daring Do thought over what she knew of non Equine magic. “Tell me how that spell goes, Kanya Ama. Perhaps that could be just what we need.”

They all put their heads together over modifying the spell, which was normally only good for a few feet around the spell caster. It was only intended to slow air enough that it would drop the dust and sand, rendering it safe to breathe.

Daring Do, as a pegasus, managed to sort out the spell and get it to apply, if only weakly to considerably longer distances. It still needed a relay of ponies and dromedaries to cause the bad air to move up just a single side of the ancient corridor. That let the good air come down into the tomb as the bad air exhausted.

Daring Do was needed down in the lowermost part of the passageway to get the air started to moving. At the top, by the entrance, Sehang Shu was guiding the bad air out. With cheerful malice, she was shifting the flow to keep Tyranny enveloped in bad air from down below.

He began to breathe swiftly at first. His legs went rubbery. As he collapsed, he whined, “What is happening?”

Sehang Shu replied mildy, “This is what we were lazing about trying to solve. Now you know what waited down there to catch the unwary.” Since he was down, she directed the flow away from him to let him recover.

As he finally began to stir, she pointedly spoke to Robber only as she suggested, “Now the leavings of a dung beetle has experienced a small part of what was there. Tell him that. Let him know that he may NOT interfere with how WE run this expedition. It is CERTAIN that there are other dangers that we have not yet uncovered.”

Somewhat later, Daring Do's voice called up the passage, “We have good air in here now! I need Soree to make sketches before we disturb anything! Jeremy, we are going to need the big bag of restoration paste. Some things will need your expert touch!”

Tyranny sat bolt upright when he heard her! He wobbled and fell over again! Still panting swiftly, he demanded, “What have those fools broken?”

Robber placed a hoof to keep him down and retorted, “Think, Tyranny! How old is this place? THREE THOUSAND years? How many earthquakes has it had? Daring Do is not known for breaking things.”

Down in the tomb, the still surprisingly well preserved body of Im Farst lay in what had been a sumptuous bed. Cradled by his dessicated right foreleg was a smallish blue, green and white vase, perhaps fifteen centimeters tall and nine wide.

The graceful curves of the vase were perfectly accented by the decoration of clouds and mountains. The vertical lines of ancient X'ibian script fitted the design to perfection.

Daring Do waited for Soree's sketches to be done before examining the vase and the foreleg that had held it faithfully for three thousand years. Exercising the greatest of care and using the bits of Non Equine magic that she knew, she extracted the ceramic treasure with out harm to either the vase or Im Farst himself.

Jeremy, Soree, and the whole of Sang He's herd gathered about, staring in awe. Daring Do read the inscription in a hushed voice. “May this, from the heart of Wisdom here rest beside your heart forever, Im Farst, My Love.”

Eyes filled with tears, Daring Do looked up. “This is the one tomb, of all the tombs there are, that I would most wish to leave intact and undisturbed.”

Sang He nodded slowly in agreement. “We also would not, if it could be avoided. It must be done, so let us do it well.”

Daring Do turned to Jeremy and said, “I did not tell you this before now, so that it could not fall into the hooves of ROT. I want you to make me FOUR copies of this vase. One will bear a slightly different inscription from the rest.”

Jeremy nodded, his face taking a near diabolic grin as he sorted out what Daring Do had in mind!

Moving out to the corridor, he set out a cloth made to resist water and catch stray bits. Taking the Heart of Wisdom, he began to work with the paste and colors. A second Heart of Wisdom grew under his skilled hooves. A second followed. A third. The last one was almost the same. Jeremy consulted what Daring Do had written but what went on the vase could not be told from the original inscription by style. Only by content.

Sang He watched in amazement. She dubiously asked, “You can tell them apart, can't you, Jeremy? I do hope so.”

Jeremy snickered as he looked up at Sang He and replied, “Tell them apart? I am supposed to do that too? I wish somepony or dromedary had mentioned that!” Letting the suspense build for a moment, he added, “Of course I can. I marked the copies, though it does not show.”

Daring Do grinned as she carefully gathered all the copies. “Let's let Im Farst hold Eris' heart a bit longer.”

Sang He reverently put the original Heart of Wisdom vase back into its place next to Im Farst's heart.

Daring Do and the others, acting as if they were carrying treasures, took the copies up to the entrance and the impatiently waiting Tyranny.

They all carefully set their burdens down in the tomb entrance. Tyranny glared at Daring Do and demanded, “What is the meaning of this?”

She shrugged. “My orders from Princess Luna were to let you have the Heart of Discord, if I found it. Otherwise, I would not let you near these. It appears that Wisdom, the Dragon Queen was not a total fool. One of these may be what you are looking for. Be careful not to damage any of them because they are all documented and worth more than your lawfirm ever was.”

Tyranny pulled his copy of the tomb wall painting and began to examine the vases, comparing them to the ancient painting.

Both Robber and Overthrow held their breath as Tyranny carried out his scrutiny. Finally, he pointed. “That one! That is the Heart of Discord!”

With more care than any of the party expected, Tyranny picked up the chosen vase.

Robber let out a sigh of near sorrow as he said, “So, the Heart of Discord is real after all.”

Overthrow sort of gloated, “I had my doubts but this changes everything! Soon we will be Masters of the Whole World!”

Tyranny squinted as he stared about the space, declaring, “We need more room! The Draconequis is not so small as a mere pony or even a dromedary. It was cunning of the monster to hide his heart in so difficult to find a place but now we have it!”

He led the way to the rope ladder and began to make his way down with a confidence that had not showed before. The partners soon found a space among the jumbled stones that clear enough, flat enough and big enough to suit Tyranny.

He drew a great circle of two lines about the vase. Between the lines he added many mystic signs and ideograms, each one with its particular little ritual.

While he was doing that, Robber came over to Sehang Shu and bowed deeply. “I have appreciated the respect that you have shown me. I wish it known that I respect you and yours as well.

“I have promises long made that I must keep. I fear that the keeping of those promises will sunder us. I hope not. Your respect is the greatest of treasures.”

Sehang Shu nodded the bow of equals as she responded, “That was well and gracefully said, Mister Robber. I shall try to maintain that respect. May fortune smile upon you.”

Robber went and took his place for the ritual. Tyranny began his incantation. He ended with, “Come forth, Being of Evil!”

A smoke like cloud swirled up, staying within the circle. The cloud settled away and there stood . . .

Daring Do exclaimed, “Uncle M! What are you doing here?”

A blue hoof scratching his orange mane, Marehem replied, “Not really sure, Ador . . . Daring Do! Perhaps Mister Tyranny wants to buy more insurance?” He grinned, ear to ear.

Tyranny interrupted, “Begone, foul creature!”

M remained right where he was. “No. This looks like fun. I want to watch!”

Tyranny tried his invocation a second time, ending with, “Creature who steals the order from lives!”

Once again the smoke swirled about! As it dissipated, a crouching form was revealed. She was a khaki colored unicorn dressed in bright red. She had a burglar's pry bar in one hoof and a set of alarm bypass leads in the other!

The (in)famous thief Carmen Pondiego straightened up, radiating innocence, in spite of the gear in hoof! She pocketed the leads and pry and swept off her wide brimmed hat.

“Really, dearest, I was busy, just then. You could have checked with Uncle M before you . . .” She caught sight of Tyranny and the others. “Oh, them!”

Tyranny, beginning to feel that he had lost control of the situation, snapped, “Begone, foul creature!”

Carmen cocked her head at Uncle Marehem. “Should I go?”

He was sitting there chortling. “Staying and watching is way more fun! Maybe after this mess, I can sell him some more insurance! Assuming that he is still alive, that is.”

Carmen promptly sat by M.

Sang He and her herd were rolling on the ground, laughing and pounding the dirt with their hooves!

Tyranny howled forth his invocation once more, ending with, “Come forth, Draconequis, ruler of Chaos! By your heart, which I command, Do my bidding!”

The smoke arose in a near whirlwind! Settling, it revealed a perfectly lovely mare with a single, centered eye, a mane and tail of an amazing dark blue, almost black. She was wearing the simple work uniform of Eris, Inc.

Ignoring Tyranny, she called out in delight, “Doctor Do! I am delighted to see you! These others must be your wonderful friends from the Darkling Expedition!” She made a formal X'ibian bow holding a big dagger, produced from a hidden sheath. It was held in the non threatening, point down position.

The whole herd instantly rolled to their feet, returning the bow.

Daring Do replied, “They are indeed! This is Sang He's herd! I did not expect to see you so soon, Cy!”

Cy replied happily, “Some lunk called on my Mistress! I had to scout the way. Can't have just any idiot trying to order her about!”

The frustrated Tyranny was being ignored.

Cy simply called out, “The way is safe, Mistress!”

With no smoke, no flashy effect at all, Eris stood beside her friend and bodyguard, Cy. Eris was dressed in the robes of ancient X'ibian royalty. To Daring Do and Sang He's herd, she gave the formal bow of equals.

The whole herd went to one knee, holding their swords vertically down, points touching the ground. They bowed deeply in return.
Sang He reported, “Most Exalted Wisdom, we have done all that can be done to assure the safety of your love's tomb.”

Eris nodded gravely. “This I know, Sang He. For this service, you shall be most richly rewarded.”

Tyranny interrupted, “Never mind the flunkies! You have to do as I say! Understand?”

Turning toward him, Eris replied serenely, “Not really. Would you care to elaborate?”

Carmen, M and all of the rest of the watchers gave a suppressed giggle.

Tyranny snapped, “I have your Heart! If you don't do as I demand, I can smash it and destroy you!”

She nodded, “I can see where that might be considered a reason to do as you say. Not a good one, mind you. I mean, preserving an antique is pretty important to some. Of course, this thing here is a copy.

“Besides that, it was Im Farst that I loved. He was my heart. That is what I told Aleax. I told her that I left my love a vase that I made. I left my heart in his tomb. That was figurative. I meant that his death devastated me.

“Never mind the poppycock! Get me something to eat!”

Cy whispered into Eris's ear. “With pleasure!” She snapped her claws together. There, in front of Tyranny, were crumbly dried cheese and hard crusts of bread. A few ants that had been missed earlier, were actively crawling about on it.

Tyranny nearly choked when he saw it. “I can't eat this! There is nothing to drink! I want a feast!”

Almost primly, Eris drew herself up and snapped back, “He who casts away what he has, has no right to what others have! Besides, you did not ask for anything to drink!”

Carmen was doubled up, laughing. Marehem was leaning on her to keep from falling over. Between giggles, Carmen asked, “Are we stuck inside these circles?”

Cy answered in cheerful tones, “Not at all! Since he went to all the trouble to draw them, it just seemed polite to stay in them!”

Tyranny growled, “I want to rule the world! Wherever I go, I want to be absolute ruler of all that I see!”

Eris stopped cold. “Are you sure that is what you want, Mister Tyranny? To rule all that you see, no matter where in the world that you go?”

“Yes! I have some serious scores to settle once I run things!”

“Too easy, Mister Tyranny.” Eris snapped her claws.

Tyranny screamed. “The light! What happened to the light!?”

Eris said gently, “You rule all that you can see, no matter where you may go. You see nothing and rule nothing. You are blind!”

Cy grinned. “Darn, Mistress, I did not get to kill anypony this time!”

Gently ruffling her murderously happy bodyguard's amazing mane, Eris said, “I know, Cy. I know. You just can't win them all.” Together, they simply vanished.

Overthrow was watching his boss with something like horror.

Robber quietly came over to Sehang Shu. He bowed deeply while saying, “My promises have been kept. I am free of those two. Have I kept your good opinion?”

She bowed the bow of equals to him and replied, “You have. You remain welcome in our camp.”

Carmen was examining the “Heart of Discord” with the delight of a true connoisseur. She turned to Daring Do and asked, “What a delightful forgery! This is the only one like it in the whole world, isn't it?”

Almost choking on the word, Daring Do replied, “Yes, um, Mother, it is.”

Sang He grinned hugely! “Mother! Your mother is Carmen Pondiego? No wonder you are so good at finding and acquiring things!”

Turning to Carmen, Sang He bowed low. “We are deeply in your debit, Madam Carmen. We have been blessed to know your daughter. This is obviously a family secret and we shall keep it! Unless we need to blackmail her for some reason!”

Daring Do smiled and turned her back. Pointing, she said, “Oh look! A Distraction!”

All of the others turned to look where she was pointing. When they turned back, Carmen, Marehem and the “Heart of Discord” were gone.

Jeremy snickered, “You just had to let her steal it, didn't you?”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

All of Cantrot was abuzz with the news! The legendary tomb of Im Farst, First Emperor of the ancient X'ibian Empire had been found! It was now a recorded site.

The expedition's carefully crated artifacts and materials were being loaded with great care by Captain Getsthere's crew. This was possibly the most valuable and irreplaceable cargo that the Sea Sage ever carried.

Sang He and her herd were bidding farewell for now to Daring Do's ponies. There was not a dry eye in the lot. Sehang Shu and Jeremy were holding each other and trying to find the words to express how they were feeling.

Daring Do came over to them and took them both into a hug. She suddenly smiled impishly as she told them, “I am not really blind, like Tyranny wound up being!”

Shu paused long enough to observe, “That poor pony was blind all along. What the Exalted Wisdom, the Draconequis, did only matched his sight to his ambition.”

Daring Do agreed, “I know! However, I have seen what it is like for a dromedary to try living among ponies. It is near impossible. Not only is everything too small for you, the customs of ponies are utterly alien. It leads to great misery.”

Shu's eyes were filling with tears. “I do know that, Doctor Do. And leaving my herd is a deadly pain to the heart as well. How else can it be, though?”

Daring Do hugged tighter the neck of her friend. “Ponies can far more easily live with dromedaries than the other way about. I have showed the Imperial Museum Jeremy's restoration and conservation work. They were impressed, to say the least.

“They are willing to give him a field and museum based position with the X'ibian Provincial Museum. If he accepts, he can stay with you. After the Darkling expedition and now this one, the Herd will be given a permanent task of field work and find conservation.

“That is on top of your expedition share. All that remains is for Jeremy to accept the Empire's offer and Sang He's herd to accept Jeremy as a member.”

Sang He, who had been listening from a distance interposed, “If the others won't accept Jeremy, I will start a new Herd!”

Jeremy looked up to Shu and pulled her head into reach. He kissed her. Eyes sparkling, Shu pulled Jeremy into a hug. She asked, “What of your folk, Jeremy? What will they say?”

Jeremy replied, “They already said it, when I chose Antiquities over the military college. The only family that I really have is this Herd.”

Daring Do grinned and held up a clip board. “Thought so! Here. Get started on your paperwork! I already took care of your Immigration things. They have both the Equestrian Royal Seals, they have the Emperor's Chop. The bureaucrats can't interfere with that!”

Jeremy fondly suggested, “Put me down, Shu. It is hard to write on this application!”

~~THE END~~