Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapore

by G. M. Berrow

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  For my grandmares—Eunice, Floy, and Rita.

  The best things come in threes.

  PROLOGUE

  The colossal silver Unicorn glanced back at his mud-smeared flank and cringed. The dirt didn’t cover his hideous scar entirely, but hopefully the blanket of the midnight darkness would dim the monstrosity.

  “GRRRRRRAW!” He growled in anger, pacing the steep edge of a vast fiery pit. “Let them see my scar.” The pony hung his head in shame as a familiar mix of regret and longing overtook him. It seemed like eons since the incident, yet there he was, back in the very villages he had once sworn to protect. Except this time, he would destroy them.

  It was true that without his cutie mark, the stallion had become a mere shadow of his former self. For where there was once joy, there was now endless melancholy. Resentment had replaced kindness, and deep in his heart, cowardice took up residence instead of valor. But the worst part of all was that the inimitable magic that had made him so special in the first place had been damaged beyond repair. Or so he had thought before learning of the Vehoovius Hex. All it required were a few small sacrifices: some ancient relics, a captive audience, and a little golden pony. Relatively nothing when one considered the reward.

  If the hex succeeded, the silver stallion would gain everything back and more. He might even become the most powerful Unicorn in Equestria! He smiled deviously, thinking of all the ways he might use his newfound power. Things were finally looking up now that he had a plan.

  He stole one last look at himself in the reflection of a large glass vial. Between his unruly green-and-black mane, bloodshot eyes, and the scar on his flank, he was unrecognizable. What would the villagers think of their celebrated hero now?

  “That statue in the center of town should be destroyed. The Stalwart Stallion of Neighples…” The pony sneered as he strode back and forth, watching the molten lava bubble up and fold over into sizzling creases. “Such a venerated champion. It makes me sick!” He tore off a piece of a rusty steel bridle lying nearby and tossed it into the fiery goop. Satisfaction surged through his veins as the metal turned a glowing red and melted into an unrecognizable blob. It sank under the liquid and disappeared, never to be seen again. All that was left was the rising steam.

  It was time.

  The stallion took one last look at his lair and took off in a canter up a narrow dirt tunnel, his mane and tail billowing behind him. Tonight, he would strike again to get closer to his prize. And there was nopony in all of Equestria who could stop him.

  CHAPTER 1

  On the High Seas

  As Daring Do riffled through her saddlebag, she began to feel queasy. And it wasn’t from the rocking of the great ship upon the choppy, churning sea. It was from the realization that all that was left of her rations—which had once been a carefully selected bounty of dried apples, salted carrots, and seed-crusted loaf—was one stale piece of bread. It wasn’t enough to feed a filly.

  If only her supplies hadn’t been depleted during the storm over the Fillyppine Sea, Daring could have held out longer here on board the SS Blue Peter. But a life on the water was an unpredictable one, and the currents had thrown the ship far off course. As a result, the adventurer hadn’t been able to sneak off board at any port, let alone into a general store to replenish her provisions. The entire crew was starting to run low on necessary supplies.

  Of course, borrowing from the ship’s galley again was always an option. But that endeavor would be risky. The sailors took careful inventory of their commodities, and if something went missing, Daring Do would soon be discovered. Three days prior, she’d given into temptation and pilfered a potpie from a tall stack about to be served to the crew for supper. Nopony had noticed. Daring had bitten into the flaky, buttery crust and gooey center with satisfaction.

  But later that evening, when she was full-bellied and poring over her tattered map of Deep Unknown—a rare guide to the Submerged Temples of Tehuti—Daring Do overheard the cook, Greasy Spoon, chiding his helper, Square Meal, for eating more than his fair share. Greasy had threatened Square that if he didn’t fess up, he’d go without meals for the entirety of the next week. Square Meal lied out of sheer desperation and said he’d eaten two pies, chalking it up to Greasy’s amazing cooking skills. That seemed to satisfy his boss.

  Daring had felt dreadful for the poor colt during the whole episode, but there was no chance she was going to reveal herself now. Daring had heard many a tall tale in seaside cafés of the consequences for stowing away on Captain Pony the Elder’s ship, but they were not something she wished to confirm or deny. Although the captain was no pirate, the military stallion had a reputation for treating stowaways worse than Hoofbeard.

  Suddenly, the ship lurched. Dirty pots piled in the washbasin clanked against one another, and Greasy Spoon hollered a curse. Daring’s already weakened body slammed against the splintered wooden door, squashing her right wing. She groaned in agony. That wing had never been the same since her nasty crash landing in the jungle near the Yucatán Ponynsula. It vexed her more than anything to have an injury.

  “Grrrr.” Daring gritted her teeth as she inspected the aching appendage. It hurt like mad. Maybe she didn’t want to admit it to herself, but Daring Do was becoming fatigued by her many weeks at sea in search of the Crystal Sphere of Khumn. Legend said that the magical item could be found in one of the Submerged Temples of Tehuti, located one hundred fathoms below the surface, held by a statue between two golden hooves, beneath a shining metal rod. It was believed that the Sphere had the power to heal anypony who touched it, no matter the ailment. Too bad the fabled ancient city was even harder to find than the Gallopinghost Islands! Like with most treasures, Daring Do felt an intense hunger to find it and make it hers. Or at the very least, stop it from falling into the wrong hooves or claws.

  Though she’d been unsuccessful in her quest thus far, she wasn’t giving up forever. Daring just needed to do more research, delving deeper into the murky mysteries of Tehuti and Khumn. Then she’d immediately set out on the open seas again. Next time, with more provisions—maybe even dried peppered pears, a few apple tarts, and a small pillow.

  A strong gust of cold air blew into the cabin closet where she was crammed. The rickety old mahogany had splintered off in areas, leaving several gaping holes. It was perfect for spying on Captain Pony and his seafaring ruffians (known as the Royal Navy) on board the Blue Peter. Not quite ideal for warmth on the high seas, though.

  Daring massaged her tender wing. The high winds on board had been rough—too strong for flying. Even so, Daring would never have risked being seen. Not for just a little stretch. She’d surely have been dumped at the nearest port, which was hundreds of miles away from home. By keeping out of sight, Daring had made it all the way to her destination in one piece.

  She thought of her warm bed back in her little cottage in the woods. Daring racked her brain, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept there. Before she’d taken off to find the Crystal Sphere of Khumn, she’d been busy searching for the Talisman of Tenochtitlan. And before that, she was waylaid in the jungle with the injured wing, hunting for Ahuizot
l’s temple. Things never seemed to slow down for Daring Do, but that was the way she preferred it. As far as she was concerned, an idle life was a boring life. There were always treasures to discover and ponies in distress to rescue!

  The boatswain, a strong yellow stallion known as Steel Anchor, passed by the tiny porthole in the door of Daring’s hideout. She could tell it was Steel by the way his hooves clunked heavily against the ship’s wooden deck planks. In fact, Daring could recognize most of the crew now just from weeks of eavesdropping and paying close attention to their little quirks.

  “Hey!” Steel Anchor stopped just outside the closet porthole. “Did you hear about old Mo? He turned…”

  “That so? Darn shame…” added Sea Storm, a junior deck cadet. The pony lowered his voice to a murmur. Daring pressed her ear against the glass so she didn’t miss a word. She wasn’t sure who Mo was and what he had turned to, but information was precious—no matter what it was. It sounded like the faint glimmer of something intriguing. Sea Storm continued on, “Always had it in ’im, though. Poor chap had been through a lot with his flank situation and all. Nasty thing. Too bad he couldn’t—”

  But the conversation was abruptly halted by the call of “Land ho!” It was soon followed by another series of shouts from the rest of the crew, bustling around getting the ship ready to dock. They had finally reached port.

  “About time,” Daring grumbled to herself. She tossed her map, piece of stale bread, and a stolen flagon of cider into her bag and prepared to disembark. If Daring’s calculations were correct, the Blue Peter was currently docked at Horseshoe Bay, a sparkling little sapphire inlet on the east coast of Greater Equestria. Once she had successfully escaped the boat, the journey would take about a day to get home—as the Pegasus flies. The thought of stretching her wings made her feathers itch with anticipation.

  It was always strange to walk on land after so much time at sea. But at least she had other options. It was going to be wonderful to be on solid ground again, even if it meant that every step she took was going to make Daring’s hooves feel like lead. Ouch! she mouthed silently as she tried in vain to stretch her wings. The massage hadn’t really helped. Apparently, even flying was going to be a struggle.

  Here goes nothing, she thought, and hoped for the best. She tore out of the galley, leaped off the ship, and flew as fast as she could into the chilly azure sky. All but one of the crew was too busy to notice her.

  Square Meal, the cook’s scrawny assistant, stood dumbfounded, scratching his mane, as the stowaway Pegasus became a tiny speck in the distance. Had he really just seen a gold pony with a gray-and-black mane fly out of the kitchen closet? Square Meal then remembered the missing pie and frowned.

  “Playtime’s over, Captain Pony!” Daring laughed as the ship became increasingly tiny beneath her, its little sails rolling up like the whole craft was about to be stashed in a filly’s wooden toy box next to the blocks and dolls. “Thanks for the free ride!” Daring called out with a tip of her pith helmet, though the seafarer didn’t hear it. She was already well out of earshot, swooping through gusts and breezes, feeling as free as a dragon during its first migration season.

  Even though she was starving, exhausted, and sore, the golden pony couldn’t help but smile as she veered her course homeward. She let the fresh, salty air fill her lungs and thought about what would happen next. Whatever it was, Daring Do couldn’t wait to figure it out. There was no time for anything else when adventure was calling your name.

  CHAPTER 2

  A Cloaked Stranger

  When Daring Do finally arrived in the woods the next day, she saw somepony pacing back and forth in front of her humble abode. The tiny two-story cottage had a yellow thatched roof and a little brown polka-dot chimney. It wasn’t much, but it was home. For the few days a year she wasn’t out searching for lost treasures and stolen amulets, at least. The main reason Daring Do liked the place was because it was unassuming—nopony would ever guess that a world-renowned treasure hunter lived there. Nopony, apparently, except this stallion.

  The golden Pegasus scurried behind a nearby rock, narrowly avoiding the visitor’s attention. She’d had enough experience to know that a random pony was not always a good sign. It could be sinister, some sort of trap. Naturally, Daring wasn’t afraid of traps, but observing a situation first gave her the upper hoof. “Watch and learn,” she always used to tell A. B. Ravenhoof. “Ponies give away more information about themselves just by existing than you could ever pry out of them.”

  The cloaked pony knocked on the door again, this time a little louder. He was getting impatient. The stallion pushed his green velvet hood back to reveal an unruly golden mane, deep-set eyes, and broad features. His yellow coat was so grimy, he looked like he’d crawled through a gopher tunnel to get there. Clumps of mud and leaves clung to his mane. He smelled strongly of sweet peppered pears, which was incongruous with his dirty, rumpled appearance. He frowned and trotted over to one of the front windows.

  Daring Do craned to see his cutie mark. If she could catch a glimpse, maybe she could identify him as either friend or foe. Luckily, his green cloak kept bunching up and sliding into the arch of his back. When the velvet finally cleared away from his flank, Daring saw that the mark was shaped like a yellow rectangle, with black marks along one side. It was a ruler, the kind used in a classroom. Considering Daring Do’s photographic memory for cutie marks, she knew instantly that she had never laid eyes on this pony before. Which made him a wild card, a potential loose cannon. Not to be trusted—only to be observed.

  Maybe he was one of Dr. Caballeron’s lackeys. The jilted Caballeron had never quite gotten over Daring’s refusal to work with him as a team, searching for ancient relics and keeping all realms of Equestria safe from the evil designs of the gargantuan blue dog monster Ahuizotl. Now Caballeron took every chance he got to throw obstacles in Daring’s path. If there was something Daring Do was searching for, it was guaranteed that Caballeron would be two trots behind her, picking up the clues left in her wake and trying to make sense of it all so he could take the prize for himself. He needed her, but the feeling was not mutual. Daring Do worked alone—except under extremely rare circumstances. The Rings of Scorchero were proof that much was true.

  But who was this mysterious, bedraggled stranger standing in front of her secret woodland cottage? His odd clothing and distinct, foreign features implied that he had traveled quite a distance to find her.

  Daring Do recalled meeting a group of ponies with similar-style cloaks on a journey to the Tenochtitlan Basin in the southern latitudes. Daring Do had been en route for weeks, on her way to ransack the camp of the Ketztwctl Empress, hoping to stop her dark magic from ever controlling the Amulet of Atonement again. However, the landmark Daring had chosen happened to be a wandering tree, and she had unwittingly been traveling farther from her destination every day! Luckily, three young mares from a village called Lusitano, down near the Appleloosan Trail, had found her. They’d noticed the distinctive tree dancing in the distance and guessed it had found a target on whom to play its cruel joke. Daring Do was embarrassed at her ignorance of the species of tree, but she thanked them for their kindness. The ponies had also been generous enough to guide her to the empress, even though it put them at great personal risk. Nopony wanted to go near the empress, for she was known to bewitch random passersby and use them for her dark and twisted plots.

  With his similar look, this blond pony could have been one of the noble residents of the same region, but he was still untrustworthy until proven otherwise. Daring Do sensed something was off. Especially with the smell of those peppered pears.

  “Daring Do!” he bellowed into the clearing. His voice fell flat against the dense thicket of trees. “If you are anywhere in the vicinity—and I hope you are—it would do you well to visit the village Marapore. Before it’s too late!” He turned and looked right at her hiding rock, his eyes boring into it as if it were transparent. Daring Do sucked in her breath. His voice
was heavy with regret. “It may well be too late already.”

  “Something to help you study,” the pony said, bending down to the porch. He sighed, lingering for a few more moments, his eyes searching the trees. “I wish I could explain more, but we’re going to need that brilliant mind of yours if you’re going to save us from him. Please, come save us, Daring Do.” Then he galloped off into the forest with his golden mane flowing and cloak streaming out behind him.

  Study hard? Save them? What in the Unicorn Mountain Range was he talking about? Daring emerged from her hiding place and trotted to her front door, her brain working overtime trying to make sense of the newfound puzzle.

  “Ooof!” Daring cried out as something on the stoop caught her hoof. The pony could hardly believe her eyes when she saw it. She had just stumbled over an item she’d been trying to find for years. It was more precious to her than any gem-studded relics or magical healing crystal spheres. It was a book!

  CHAPTER 3

  Brought to Light

  Daring Do smoothed the leather spine and slid Encyclopedia Equestria: Rare Gems and Relics of the Known World, Volume E–F onto the shelf with the twelve other volumes she already had in her collection. “Together at last,” she marveled out loud. As far as she knew, her books were the only surviving copies of the ancient texts. Up until now, Daring’s set had been incomplete. She had started to believe that she’d never find the elusive Volume E–F. But here it was, in perfect condition. The books seemed to take on a new life now that they were united.

  Each individual volume was a different vibrant shade of the rainbow. The new addition was the color of a fiery daybreak—the last shade of orange before turning into an effervescent yellow. It bridged the color gap between the familiar volumes: the persimmon hue of Volume C–D and the bold canary shade of Volume G–H. Each spine bore two letters of the alphabet. The golden swirls and stars that adorned them danced as an excited family joined together once more.