Prelude - Genesis
Prelude:
Genesis
She was floating. That much she knew.
Trixie could feel her limbs limply floating at her sides as she steadily regained consciousness.
Wh--where am I? Was the first thought to properly form in her mind, slowly surfacing out of the swirling muck of bitter memories and hyper charged emotions. Mere seconds ago, it had been complete chaos and desolation for her. Her world--and heart--had shattered, and she’d found herself plummeting through a gravity well into a swirling cavern of pure darkness.
Now she was surrounded by darkness. Pure, visceral darkness. Darkness so total and complete, that she swore she could feel it cling to her like slime, oozing steadily over her body, enveloping her in it’s icy, coldly numbing grip.
“Oh my dear little lost creature,” came a Voice that slithered as if it were made of the Darkness itself, it’s frigidness echoing within the very confines of Trixie’s mind. “There’s no need to worry yourself. For I am here.”
Despite the Voice’s placating, Trixie instantly felt unnerved. She tried to verbalize, tried to rebuke whatever was beginning to claim her mind and body, but no help materialized. Instead, the Voice merely chuckled; a low, throaty sound that made Trixie imagine some perverse parody of a cat purring.
“My lost creature, you cannot fight me. I am Darkness, I am Power.” As the Voice spoke, Trixie felt the Darkness enveloping entire body. Before she was completely submerged, a pair of glowing, purple eyes, with pupils sharply slitted, materialized before her.
“I am Nightmare Moon.”
And with those words, Trixie knew no more.
/////////////////////
Daring calmly took a sip of her morning coffee, eyes lazily scanning the morning’s paper. Across from her, absorbed in a comic book, was Comet Tail, and next to him, contently reading her own comic, was Scootaloo.
It had been perhaps six months or so since Rainbow Dash had arrived and turned their lives upside down, but thankfully, since then, things had become much calmer. Sure, things had changed, but it had been good changes. For one thing, Scootaloo no longer kept herself as insulated from the outside world, and had managed to actually make a friend or two in town. Admittedly, most of her day was spent paling around with Fenrir, who had taken to the role of “magical mentor” for Scootaloo, but still, a friend was a friend, and that was a relief for Daring.
“Auntie, can I go study with Fenrir now?” Came Scootaloo’s voice, and Daring peered over the edge of the newspaper. She glanced down at the half eaten bowl of cereal, and then back up at Scootaloo, arching her eyebrow slightly.
“Finish your breakfast first,” she answered, giving Scootaloo a half smile. “Gotta have a full stomach if you’re going to spend the day learning magic, right?”
Scootaloo glanced down at her bowl of cereal, her expectant look fading slightly. “Umm...yeah, I guess.”
“The faster you eat, the faster you’ll be able to go get tutored. Think of it that way,” Daring replied, putting her newspaper down to give Scootaloo an affectionate ruffle of the mane. Scootaloo made a show of squirming under Daring’s hoof, but her smile remained.
“Fine, Auntie, fine,” she replied, playfully shoving Daring’s hoof off her head and fixing her mane, before she picked up her spoon and began to eat in earnest.
Daring smiled warmly, simply happy to see her niece happy. It’d been so long since Scootaloo was so persistently happy, and while even Daring could admit that the young pegasus could be a hassle, she wouldn’t trade it for the world.
With that thought in mind, Daring returned to her newspaper reading, looking forward to a nice, relaxing day at home, with her finally being able to fully appreciate all that retirement had to offer.
And then the phone rang.
The way her ears pinned down to the back of her head was involuntary, but the grimace wasn’t quite as reflexive.
Just ignore it, it’s probably a wrong number or something, Daring thought, turning to the next page of the paper, determined not to let a random phone ringing disrupt her relaxation.
*RING-RING-RING-RING*
Daring’s eyebrows lowered. “Comet, check who’s calling,” She muttered, taking a moment to adjust her reading glasses.
“Why me?” Comet complained, looking up from his comic with an irritated expression.
“Because I’m the retired one,” Daring replied with a touch of sarcasm.
Comet let out a huff, getting up from his place at the table and muttering all the while. He could be heard picking up the phone, and answering it with a droning tone.
“Hello, this is the Do residence, to whom am I speaking?”
There was a pause as the other end no doubt was answering.
“Hey, Daring, do you know an ‘Agent Spike’? He says he wants to talk with you.”
“Agent Spike? You mean the spy?!” Scootaloo asked excitedly, her ears perking up so fast Daring could have sworn they were on springs. Daring herself turned around, giving Comet a questioning look.
“Agent Spike? From SHIELD?”
Comet nodded. “Yeah, he says he wants to talk with you.”
Daring and Scootaloo shared a look. Scootaloo’s eyes were wide as saucers and her mouth was a brilliant grin.
“Oooh! Maybe he needs you for some super secret spy thing!” she clapped her hooves together in excitement.
Daring shook her head slightly. “If it was so secret he would probably come personally,” she began, getting up and walking over to the phone. “Anyways, what does SHIELD need with an old archeologist like me?” she continued as she took the phone from Comet.
“Hello, this is Professor Do, how may I help you?”
“Hello, Professor,” came Spike’s voice from the other end, carrying with it an aura of professional familiarity. “How are you and Scootaloo doing?”
Daring shrugged. “Fine, just fine. Why did you call? Is this about Fenrir?”
Spike chuckled in response. “No, this isn’t about Fenrir. Rather, it turns out that Director Shining Armor wants you to come down to one of our facilities.”
Daring arched an eyebrow. “Might I ask why?”
“Sorry, but that’s classified,” Spike replied tactfully. “I know that this seems short notice, but what I can say is that we need to study something we found. Your expertise in Asgardian mythology will no doubt come in handy.”
Daring sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. She looked over her shoulder at Scootaloo and Comet, both of whom were looking at her expectantly.
“Are you sure you need me? I mean, aren’t there any other archeologists who can help? I’m retired.”
Spike could be heard clicking his tongue slightly. “Shining insists it be you. Says you have ‘a unique degree of experience’.”
Daring let out a long sigh, her eyes sliding shut. She was enjoying the peace and quiet. It felt good to be able to sit on the front porch, relaxing. Heck, she was even thinking of perhaps cracking open her old journals and seeing what adventures she could write down in an autobiography. But, even in spite of her contentment, she could feel that itch for adventure. It had always been there, jumping at opportunities to explore a new place, or study a new archeological find. Even now her mind was replaying memories of Rainbow’s visit, and, despite all the tumult and emotions that had come with it, with six months of hindsight, Daring found it almost fun.
“Are you absolutely sure?” she finally asked, only to get an affirmative sound from Spike.
“Yes, ma’am, I’m sure. I understand that you’re retired, but if you’re worried about Scootaloo, I can easily make sure she’s taken care of. And, we’ll make sure you yourself are properly compensated.”
Well that’s certainly tempting, Daring thought. She inhaled and exhaled steadily, before clearing her throat.
“Do you want me to come to you, or will you pick me up?” she asked.
“We can send someone to pick you up, Professor. And, no need to worry. Shining says you’ll probably be back home soon. We’ll even make sure you can contact Scootaloo and Comet.”
Daring let out a long sigh. “Okay then...if you insist.”
/////////////////////
The trip over to wherever this SHIELD base was had been a quiet one. Daring had been seated in the back seat of a black SUV, which drove her to the local airport, where she had boarded a small plane, and was flown to a third location. The entire trip had been less than a day, and now, here she was, sitting in a chair in a rather non-descript office.
She shuffled her wings slightly, her hoof moving to gently tug at the collar of her khaki shirt. She’d never met this Shining Armor stallion, so she wasn’t exactly sure what she was getting into. All she knew was that he was Agent Spike’s boss.
And Spike seems nice enough. No reason to get paranoid, Daring. Anyways, you’ve met with SHIELD...like, back in ‘76...it’ll probably be just like that. Just read a book, look at a picture. No biggie.
The door across from her opened, and Daring made a conscious effort to sit up a tad straighter. However, instead of Shining Armor, in walked a cream colored unicorn mare with a tri-color mane of purple, lavender and pink, who wore a pair of black rimmed glasses. Held aloft in her magic was a small bundle of folders, which she dutifully laid out on the desk, before turning to face Daring, extending a hoof in a cordial, if noticeably aloof, manner.
“Good day, my name is Moon Dancer. I’m Director Armor’s second, and I will be briefing you on your assignment,” as she spoke, she took Daring’s hoof and gave a stern shake, as Daring rose her eyebrows slightly.
“Well, I’m Professor Daring Do, and I believe Director Armor wanted me to see something?” she asked, giving Moon Dancer an inquisitive look. Moon Dancer gave a nod, motioning for Daring to sit down again.
“Indeed he did. Take a seat,” Moon Dancer took her own seat behind the desk, her magic reaching over and opening one of the folders, her eyes peering down at its contents clinically through her glasses. She briefly glanced towards Daring. “It says here that you’ve had contact with the Asgardians who had a skirmish in Appoloosia not six months ago. Is that correct?”
Daring nodded. “You mean Rainbow Dash, right? She stayed at my house for her time here, yes,” she scrunched up her eyebrows. “Why do you ask? I already filed all the necessary paperwork and everything.”
“Simply wishing to confirm, Professor,” Moon Dancer replied, flipping through the folder. “It also says that you aided SHIELD in the acquirement of the Fire Star, back in 1976,” she paused, her eyes glancing up at Daring questioningly.
Daring nodded again. “Uh, yeah, but that was more of my dad’s work then mine, I mean I was just ten--”
“Well, regardless, that at least confirms Director Armor’s hunches,” Moon Dancer replied, cutting Daring off. Her tone seemed to grow slightly terse, as if she were mildly irritated. She nudged her glasses up the bridge of her muzzle slightly, before slapping the folder shut. She then levitated another folder.
“Tell me, Professor, what is the sum total of your knowledge of Asgardian magic and its implements?” She floated the folder towards Daring as she spoke, her tone remaining professional and stiff.
“Well, I taught ancient history at Canterlot University, and at Manehattan University,” Daring answered, taking the folder from Moon Dancer’s magic and opening it to look inside. Her eyebrows rose slightly as she saw the complex series of documents and diagrams, all focusing on a large crystal carved into the shape of a heart. She looked back up at Moon Dancer with a perplexed look. “Is this what I think it is?”
“The Crystal Heart, Professor Daring? I would say, yes, yes it is.”
Both Daring and Moon Dancer turned towards the sound of the male voice, Daring jolting in surprise as a tall, well built white unicorn with an eyepatch strode into the room from the same door that Moon Dancer had come from.
Moon Dancer acknowledged the stallion with a nod, but her expression was somewhat nonplussed. “Director Armor, glad to see you. Maybe knock next time?” Moon Dancer said, her voice taking on a slightly sarcastic, vaguely exasperated edge to it.
The stallion, who Daring took to be this ‘Director Armor’, gave Moon Dancer a friendly smile. “Oh don’t be such a stick in the mud, Moon Dancer,” he chuckled, as he took a seat behind the large desk. Floating behind him in a halo of rose magic was a large suitcase, which he placed on the desk. He then leaned forward in his seat slightly, giving Daring a welcoming look and extending a hoof in greeting.
“Hello, Professor Daring, I’m Shining Armor, Director of SHIELD.”
Daring took the hoof, her eyes widening as the name fired a spark of recognition in her mind. “You’re Director Armor?”
Shining merely nodded, keeping his smile aimable. “Yes, yes I am, Professor. Why? Surprised?”
Daring blinked, her intended response coming out more as an awkward stammer. “Well, I don’t know, I sorta expected some grizzled David Hafflehoof type.”
“Don’t worry, I get that a lot.” Shining replied casually. “Might I say that you yourself look quite good.” He stated in a professional, businessman like manner.
Daring blushed slightly. “Oh well, I mean--”
“Can we please get down to business, Director Armor?” Moon Dancer cut in curtly, glancing down at Daring with a look of noticeable exasperation. “We have a very busy day ahead, and I’d like to keep it on schedule.”
Shining gave Moon Dancer a nod agreement, shrugging slightly. “My apologies, Agent Dancer, I was simply being a proper host.”
Moon Dancer merely rolled her eyes in response, clearly not the type for banter. She took a seat next to Shining, keeping her eyes trained on Daring with a skeptical glare. Shining meanwhile, motioned towards the half open manilla folder in Daring’s hooves.
“Ah, I see that Agent Dancer has brought you up to speed on why we brought you here.”
Daring looked down at the documents before looking back at Shining, nodding. “Uh, I suppose so, yes. Now, I must ask...is this really the Crystal Heart?” she leaned forward, an expectant look on her face. “As in the magical artifact that the Asgardians used to travel between worlds?” She could feel that old spark of excitement at a possible groundbreaking discovery begin to flame up inside of her once again.
Shining merely smiled proudly. “Well, Professor Do, take a look for yourself,” as he spoke, his magic reached towards the complex series of locks that were on the suitcase, unlocking the series in quick secession and opening the suitcase. As it opened, a noticeable blue, ethereal shimmer of light peered through, before it illuminated Daring’s eyes, which were now wide as saucers.
Sitting the suitcase on a small metal stand, and glowing brilliantly as if it contained a star, was a large, carefully carved heart shaped crystal. Daring could feel her coat begin to prickle with pins and needles from the sheer amount of raw mana that was ebbing from the stone, and her eyes slowly tracked up to Shining.
“It is real,” she whispered, her voice now overcome with reverent wonder.
“Yes, Professor, it is quite real,” Shining answered, standing from his position and walking to join Daring at gazing at the crystal. “And, as you can no doubt tell, quite powerful. Who knows how many discoveries or magical innovations we can derive from it.”
Daring nodded her head, her eyes still fixed on the stone. “Oh I can imagine,” she said, almost dreamily. She then scrunched her eyebrows slightly, turning to Shining and giving him a quizzical look. “But, why choose me? This is a magical artifact, and I’m just a pegasus. I don’t really know spellcraft, or mana like a unicorn would.”
Shining gave her a nod. “Well, Professor Do, like Moon Dancer has no doubt told you, you’ve already had firsthand experience with actual Asgardian magic. None of our unicorn scientists can boast that. Plus, you were Professor of Mythology and History at Canterlot University, so you know all the background information that we could possibly need. You stand at a huge advantage to the rest of us. We really do need your knowledge. And don’t worry, think of yourself more as a manager. We’ll give you a laboratory, and the best unicorn scientists and mages we can supply. You provide the knowledge, we provide the tools,” he then arched an eyebrow. “So, how does that sound?”
Daring slowly turned her gaze back to the Crystal. This was a true one in a billion opportunity. A once in a lifetime chance to not only study, but have complete and total access to what was possibly the most important archeological find of the past century.
She could have sworn she heard a voice whisper something to her, but her only response was a slight flick of the ear.
“Well,” she began, an expectant grin spreading across her face. “I think that’s worth a look.”
Unbeknownst to any of the ponies in the room, there stood, obscured by counterspells and illusions of the highest order, an astral projection of a blue coated unicorn. Around her neck, pulsing a malevolent red, was an ornately carved necklace in the shape of an alicorn. The same pulsing, volcanic red shimmered in the unicorn’s eyes, and a sly, darkly mischievous grin slowly spread across her muzzle.
“Yes,” the unicorn whispered, her voice silky and low, happy that her suggestions were so easily taken to heart. “That is indeed worth a look.”
And, with none of the other ponies the wiser, the unicorn vanished into a swirl of purplish smoke.