by G. M. Berrow
That wasn’t all she’d learned from her uncle’s writings. The stallion had left no stone unturned and no book unread in his search for the Eternal Flower. Daring was just grateful she didn’t have to start from scratch. Compared to what her uncle had done, the information she’d gathered herself was the tip of the iceberg.
Every page was packed with scratchy hoofwritten notes and drawings done by Gallant himself. Doodles of vines and trees grew through the words as if True had been watering them with his thought process, watching his theory grow and bloom into something tangible.
Each note had also been laboriously categorized: field studies, renderings, theories, location leads. There was one section in particular that seemed especially important. Among the hastily drawn scribbles of various types of flowers and etchings of ancient engravings, there was an elaborate two-page color illustration of what appeared to be plant roots. The top of the page showed the surface of the soil, and the wiry arms of the plant reached down to the bottom.
But something was different about these roots. Instead of continuing to stretch down farther into the ground, each tip curled and folded back into itself, climbing back up toward the surface. The entire effect was an intricate pattern of braided infinity symbols, like organic lace or a delicate piece of jewelry, only the precious pendant was a live flower that provided immortality, not a shiny diamond. Gallant had written along the side: The Infinity Root—This distinct curved root is the only unchanging element of the Eternal Flower. All other characteristics change each time the flower is seen by pony eyes.
A flickering light caught Daring’s attention. Puffs of black smoke rose up in wavy pillars. A shadowed outline of a pony paced around in front of it. The silhouette was, without a doubt, the villain she had been looking for. The Pegasus bore left, circling back and descending into the thick canopy of forest leaves.
Daring burst onto the scene, wings spread wide and a menacing look on her face. “Hand it over, Caballeron!” She planted her hooves on the cold ground right in front of a henchpony. The stocky stallion had a cropped orange mane and bushy sideburns that traced the line of his strong jaw. He had changed out of his formal outfit from the banquet and was now wearing his usual getup of a brown vest, exposing his cutie mark of a swirl, a star, a sparkle, and a crosshatch on his slate-colored hide. He frowned back at her and scratched his head.
“Rogue!” Caballeron shouted at the confused oaf. “Out of the way! I’ll handle this.” He sauntered over to Daring, a wicked grin on his face. The dancing flames of the campfire were reflected in his eyes. “Small world, Daring Do.”
“Not big enough for the both of us, Caballeron.” The Pegasus widened her stance, bared her teeth, and let out a low, rumbling growl. “Give. Me. The. Leaf!”
“I’m afraid you’re too late.…” Caballeron replied, motioning to a silver henchpony with a shaggy mop of a black mane. Even though it was nighttime, he was still wearing dark sunglasses. The pony trotted over, carrying a heavy brown sack that clinked and clanged. The sound of bits. He tossed it to Caballeron, who opened the drawstring, took a look inside, and snickered. “Thank you, Withers.” He turned back to Daring, who was still on the defensive. “I already sold it to my best customer: Ahuizotl!”
Daring felt the anger start to bubble up inside her. What a fool! Now that the leaf was in Ahuizotl’s possession, it would be ten times harder to retrieve. And it confirmed one detail that she’d suspected but hoped wasn’t true—Ahuizotl, a giant doglike beast and her number one enemy, wanted to find the Eternal Flower. That could only mean one thing. He wanted to become immortal.
“Don’t you realize what you’ve done?” Daring replied, keeping an eye on Caballeron’s four henchponies. The way they were lurking around behind him made Daring nervous. Daring knew three of them as Withers, Outlaw, and Rogue, but she didn’t recognize the fourth. The new recruit, a light blue Pegasus mare with a slicked-back orange mane and tail, looked especially suspicious. She was a pretty pony with almond-shaped eyes heavily lined in black. Her cutie mark was a white rose with prickly thorns, which implied that she was pure sweetness laced with danger. In other words, the worst kind of mare.
Daring Do took a step closer to Caballeron and narrowed her eyes. “Ahuizotl is going to use that leaf to seek out the Eternal Flower and gain the ultimate prize—immortality! Do you really want that monster to live forever? You’re cursing Equestria to an eternity of a beast who terrorizes ponykind for his own personal evil plots!”
“Doesn’t really make much difference to me, Do.” Caballeron raised a brow. “I plan to spend my days living in luxury thanks to my benefactor. He even paid me extra for hoof-delivering a certain pony of particular use—”
“Where has Ahuizotl taken my uncle?!” Daring roared.
The sky let out a thundering crack, and giant drops of rain began to pour down on them. The campfire went out with a hiss. Withers, Outlaw, and Rogue dived for cover underneath one of the canvas tent awnings, but the light blue Pegasus inched closer, listening to every word of the conversation. Daring shot her a look to stay back. This was not her fight. She avoided Daring’s eyes and dropped hers to the ground.
“My, my,” Caballeron drawled, brushing the wet locks of his salt-and-pepper mane back from his thick black eyebrows. “Did somepony just get so worked up that she summoned the Curse of the Pegasus Tzacol? What is that saying again… ‘Forceful showers bring Eternal Flowers’?” He laughed, looking back to the mare for approval on his humorless joke. “No, no. That would be far too lucky for you, Ms. Do.”
“You’re ridiculous, Caballeron.” Daring Do rolled her eyes. She was now soaked to the hide from the freezing downpour and becoming impatient. At least the wide brim of her helmet had kept her face and mane dry. “And you’re wasting my time. I don’t care about the flower; I care about going to find my uncle!”
The adventurer took off into the darkness at top speed, letting the rain pelt her. A normal storm she could contend with by bucking her hind legs against any angry cloud in her path, but this was something different. These clouds wouldn’t disappear.
There was no other way.
Daring Do spread her wings and flapped them against the gale-force winds. It was a struggle to stay in the air, let alone resist getting tossed about. Her body was heavy from the water, and there were only about ten hooves of visibility in which to navigate where she was even flying. Conditions had never been worse, but Daring Do wasn’t afraid. She pushed forward, imagining Gallant’s face in her mind.
The sky shook again, and a massive white bolt of lightning hit a tree below, frying its branches and narrowly missing Daring’s left wing. She darted out of the way as several more rods shot down from the sky.
“Hey! Wait up!” A muffled voice fought against the noisy clash of thunder.
Daring Do whipped her head around. Caballeron’s light blue mare was hot on her tail, struggling against the elements to catch up to Daring. “Back off!”
“I’m trying… to… help you!” she shouted back over the whistling wind, eyes squinting to shut out the torrential rain. “My name is Rosy Thorn!” She picked up her speed, doing a full barrel roll to catch up. Impressive, thought Daring. It didn’t change anything, though. Daring Do had a strict “no sidekicks” rule. Especially for former cronies of her foes.
“I work alone!” Daring yelled. “Hasn’t your boss told you that?”
Rosy caught up to Daring Do. “He’s not my boss!”
“It sure looked that way.”
“Well, not anymore! I was strapped for cash and he needed extra ponies,” Rosy admitted. “It was just a job! But I want to help you!”
“And I’m supposed to trust you now? Please leave me alone!” Daring swerved around, changing her course toward the coast. She remembered something in Gallant True’s diary about the Eternal Flower being reported in several instances throughout history growing near large bodies of water. It was unlikely that Ahuizotl would have come to this conclusion himself, but
now that he had possession of Gallant True, Daring Do had to consider the gut-wrenching possibility that the information had been pried out of him. What else would the monster want with the aging scholar?
“You have no idea where you’re going, do you?” Rosy Thorn shouted. She was still managing to keep pace with Daring Do. The blue Pegasus was right, but Daring was too proud to ever admit that.
“I have a plan,” Daring bluffed. She would come up with something once she could shake this bothersome pony.
The misty outline of a mountain came into view at the same moment the two Pegasi burst through the last rain cloud. The pink-tinged hue of the horizon reached up into the gray sky, signaling the dawn. Once daylight came, Ahuizotl and his ponies would be on the move.
“Go. Away,” Daring warned, staring the young Pegasus down. “I’m not going to say it a—”
“But I know where your uncle is!” Rosy blurted out. “I can take you there.”
Well, that was a different story.
CHAPTER 7
A Fortress on the Edge of the World
“There it is!” Rosy Thorn pulled back the branches of a palm tree to reveal a great temple perched atop a cliff, overlooking the cerulean sea. Vibrant shafts of sunlight broke through the clouds, highlighting the structure in an angelic glow. Gentle waves rhythmically splashed up against the cliff’s edge. It would have been an idyllic scene, if it weren’t for the sinister activities going on within the temple walls.
The towering building was made of massive stone blocks built into a pyramid. The square base was wider at the bottom, similar to the Fortress of Talacon—the ominous citadel that had crumbled to the ground after Daring Do removed the Rings of Scorchero from the ancient Pillar of Burnination in order to save the region from eight hundred years of unrelenting heat.
“I don’t see anypony.…” Daring Do leaned forward for a better look, causing the trunk of the tree to sway forward. She squinted through the viewfinder of her trusty binoculars. No movement in any direction. “You’re positive this is where Ahuizotl is keeping Gallant True captive?”
“Absolutely. I heard him mention it during the exchange of goods back in the forest.” Rosy nodded, her brown almond-shaped eyes growing wide with excitement. After the downpour, her orange mane and tail had dried into a frizzy mess instead of their normal sleek style. She smoothed a hoof over them in vain and pointed at a rectangular opening on the perimeter of the temple. “Watch that side door. It’s the only one that’s open.”
It definitely looked like one of Ahuizotl’s hideouts, but that didn’t explain why or how Rosy Thorn knew where to find it. Daring Do didn’t entirely trust her, but so far the blue Pegasus hadn’t done anything suspicious. Well, other than cavorting with Dr. Caballeron, but that could be chalked up to inexperience.
Daring kept one eye on Thorn as she reached inside the secret pocket of her saddlebag. Gallant’s diary and the Everleaf were both still there. She gave them a reassuring little pat and looked through the binoculars again. Daring panned over the glittering sea and crystal-clear blue horizon. A couple of gulls were circling the cliffs, squawking. “Well, it is near a large body of water, which goes along with what my uncle theorized about the flower’s location.”
“So… when did he say that?” Rosy inquired. She was trying to hide her curiosity by sounding casual. “Did he say anything else about the Eternal Flower? What it looks like or—”
“What do you care? I thought it was ‘just a job’?” Daring raised an eyebrow at the nosy tagalong. Nice try, Thorn. Like I’m going to reveal all my secrets to a stranger.
“Oh yeah, it was.” Rosy Thorn’s smile dropped, and she turned away, retreating into her own thoughts. She spit on her hooves and tried to smooth back her mane again. “I just thought it would be interesting to hear more about this thing that everypony wants so badly. Must be pretty special.”
“The only thing you need to know about it is that it’s powerful. The Eternal Flower must be destroyed so that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hooves… or claws, as it were.”
Rosy scoffed. “Do you think your uncle would agree with that?”
“Some of it,” Daring Do replied. “But that’s of little consequence to you.”
The two ponies turned back to keeping watch. A few minutes passed.
“Look! Over there! What did I tell you?” Rosy whispered. Her face was written with smug delight. “The place is crawling with Ahuizotl’s guards.”
Through the viewfinder, Daring could see that the mare was right. Approximately eight ponies wearing feathered hoofcuffs and necklaces filed out the door, carrying weapons and heavy bags. Provisions for an extensive journey, perhaps? The stern gang of stallions trotted down the steps one after another.
A red pony with a white mane called out a command from the front, and the group came to a screeching halt. They turned on their hooves and stood at attention in a straight line facing the door, waiting for their next order, poised with wooden spears at the ready.
They were waiting for somepony, or something.
Suddenly, Ahuizotl appeared at the door! His furry, dark blue body towered over his pony guards, making the strong stallions look feeble. The beast stretched out one of his sky-blue claws, pointing toward the trees where Daring and Rosy were hiding, though it was obvious that he hadn’t spotted the pair. He was too distracted with his own evil plot to notice subtleties in the landscape such as one palm tree that swayed more than the rest.
Flickers of sunlight glinted off his golden zigzag armbands and armored collar. A smile formed on his elongated doglike face and exposed his rows of sharp white teeth. The monster looked down, and the smile grew wider. Ahuizotl was clutching an item in his left claw. Daring Do could guess what it was: the Everleaf.
As soon as he unclenched his fist, her suspicions were confirmed. The Everleaf he’d bought from Caballeron—the one that Daring Do and Gallant True needed in order to find the Eternal Flower—was right there in his paw. Ahuizotl pulled the leaf from its vial and laid it flat on a small wooden slab. The green oval spun around in a circle, like the needle on a compass, until its pointed tip faced the direction of the trees, rather than the sea. Ahuizotl said something inaudible, and the ponies all started marching into the jungle.
Ahuizotl picked the leaf back up and waited.
A second wave of henchponies trotted out in formation, each holding a rope that was tied to a pony at the center of the group. Daring Do peered through her binoculars and immediately recognized her uncle, Gallant True. She would know that pony anywhere.
“There he is!” Daring Do exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that he was in need of aid. She was overjoyed to see her uncle. Everything about him was the same as she remembered, except for the deep wrinkles under his eyes. Same old Uncle Adventure, with his cocoa-colored hide, graying yellow hair, and mustache extending up along his jawline. The familiar sight of his cutie mark—a locked treasure chest with two crossed golden keys on the front—brought Daring Do back to her formative years.
Gallant still wore his favorite tan sweater, but one of the leather elbow patches was falling off. It could have been from years of wear and tear, but judging by the soot and dirt covering his whole body, it was more likely from the arduous journey to the fortress and the recent time spent in its grimy dungeons. At least the professor’s signature blue scarf folded into his white shirt collar and the glasses on the bridge of his muzzle were intact.
The ponies tugged on the ropes, and Gallant True walked forward, head slumped down, following the procession of thirty ponies and one gigantic blue beast.
“They’re moving him to another location,” said Daring. Or, more likely, they were moving him until they found the location—of the Eternal Flower. Ahuizotl was using him as a personal guide. “The Everleaf is pointing them straight this way. Which means it’s wrong, of course.”
“I told you he’d be here,” Rosy said with a satisfied smirk. “Do you trust me now?”
“No,�
�� Daring replied, snatching the wind of satisfaction from underneath Rosy’s wings. “But it’s progress.” The adventurer didn’t have the time nor the patience for petty pats on the back. Rosy deflated.
“So what do we do?” asked Rosy. She spread her blue wings and shifted her body forward, ready to spring off and soar to Gallant’s rescue. “I have an idea! Let’s soar down and—”
“We wait!” Daring ordered. “You don’t go until I say to go.” Daring Do frowned and stuck her nose right in the pony’s face. “Got it, Thorn?” The last thing Daring needed right now was some overeager sidekick messing up an ambush. She’d dealt with that in the past and learned from her mistakes. If Rosy Thorn was going to be a part of this, it was on Daring Do’s terms or not at all. It was just the way things had to be.
“All right…” Rosy conceded, folding her wings back into her body. She propped her chin on her right hoof and let out a sigh. “But we should move soon.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Daring shot her a look. She brought the binoculars back up to her eyes. “Let me see what we’re dealing with before we go in blind.”
Gallant’s hooves were each tied to a rope, and his horn was covered with a Horavian Unichain, a metal cylinder made from interlocking steel chains. So that’s why the stallion hadn’t been able to use magic to escape! His powers were rendered completely useless while he was wearing the contraption. It was an evil move, even for Ahuizotl. Covering a Unicorn’s horn with a Unichain was one of the cruelest, most humiliating punishments known to ponykind. But the beast would stop at nothing to cause trouble, it seemed. Daring shuddered as she imagined a world in which Ahuizotl was immortal. An eternity of chaos and disturbance for ponies everywhere? There was no reality in which she would let that happen.
“They have him wearing a Horavian Unichain. One of these ponies must have the key to it.…” Daring Do panned over, searching the rope-wielding red, blue, and orange henchponies. She singled out a particularly large blue stallion wearing more golden adornments than the others. In his left ear, there were four earrings instead of the normal two. Across his eyes was a slash of orange war paint. Definitely a high-ranking henchpony. “Him.” Daring gestured. “He’s the one.” Rosy nodded that she understood.