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Organised by
RogerDodger
Word limit
400–750
Daring Do and the Unsolved Adventure
It was the end and there was nothing she could do about it. Daring Do was going to die. She had to sacrifice herself to save the world.
A.K. Yearling gazed idly at her desk. On it was the unfinished manuscript for the newest Daring Do book. 'Daring Do and The Jewels of Death'. It was a fitting title for what would become her final adventure. She would end the story with Daring's "heroic sacrifice" and live out the rest of her days as A.K. Yearling. She started to write, recalling the events of the previous year.
"What are you going to do about me? You can't very well leave that in the story." The voice was a familiar one. But it was one that shouldn't be here, one that couldn't be here. She looked around, expecting to find the source. There wasn't one. It had to have been in her head. It had to.
She continued to write. But thoughts of that pony poisoned her. Was she even really a pony? Was her ludicrous story true? It didn't sound true. But the garden and its wonders had been real. And she had seen the remains of what very well could have been a ship. A ship for traveling through realities as easily as a regular ship traversed oceans. The voice was right. She couldn't leave that in the story. Not even the most gullible foal would believe a story like that.
Daring Do was only passing through the mountains on her way to the hiding-place of the sacred Jewels of Death. Her only companion was a smallish violet pegasus who liked to tell tales. The two had set out at about the same time. Neither of them was native to the region. And both of them were searching for something lost.
Daring Do had seen all sorts of strange things on her adventures. But she had never seen anything like this. A pony who claimed to have come from the "far left corner" of the multiverse. She knew there was more than one universe. That wasn't the strange part. It was how this pony claimed to travel. With a huge, metal ship. How would a ship travel through universes anyway? You had to have a magic portal, and even with one of those, you could only travel a few universes over. Not thousands, like her companion claimed.
And strangely enough, she claimed that her ancestors were from Equestria. That she had went on this journey to reclaim something. Something precious. It was hidden away in a secret garden in the mountains.
A.K. thought back to the garden. Should she return to it? Could she return to it?
[I]It had been days and neither had reached their destination. The mountains were hard to navigate, even for the two pegasi. Suddenly, Daring's companion, Violet Shade gestured to a cave.
"What's so special about that cave?" Daring asked.
"That's where I need to be. C'mon, you can trust me." The mare's sincerity could be seen on her smiling face. Daring followed her into the darkness... and suddenly, there was light. The walls of the cave glowed golden. Small enchanted lamps sprung to life as the two reached them. Eventually, they reached the end of the cave. There was a door, a huge, platinum door. It was covered in etchings of circles and lines, like the lost letters of a long-forgotten language. Daring had no idea what they might mean, and frankly, didn't care. She was far more curious about what was on the other side. Violet reached out and put her hoof to the door. It swung open. And suddenly Violet was glowing...
A.K. Yearling stopped typing. She decided that she would in fact return to the garden. She needed to see this again, needed proof that any of it had really happened. She grabbed her journals from the expedition and left her house, bringing nothing else with her but a few thousand bits. This time, she wasn't going as Daring Do. Her days as Daring Do were over.
She had left them behind in the garden.
A.K. Yearling gazed idly at her desk. On it was the unfinished manuscript for the newest Daring Do book. 'Daring Do and The Jewels of Death'. It was a fitting title for what would become her final adventure. She would end the story with Daring's "heroic sacrifice" and live out the rest of her days as A.K. Yearling. She started to write, recalling the events of the previous year.
"What are you going to do about me? You can't very well leave that in the story." The voice was a familiar one. But it was one that shouldn't be here, one that couldn't be here. She looked around, expecting to find the source. There wasn't one. It had to have been in her head. It had to.
She continued to write. But thoughts of that pony poisoned her. Was she even really a pony? Was her ludicrous story true? It didn't sound true. But the garden and its wonders had been real. And she had seen the remains of what very well could have been a ship. A ship for traveling through realities as easily as a regular ship traversed oceans. The voice was right. She couldn't leave that in the story. Not even the most gullible foal would believe a story like that.
Daring Do was only passing through the mountains on her way to the hiding-place of the sacred Jewels of Death. Her only companion was a smallish violet pegasus who liked to tell tales. The two had set out at about the same time. Neither of them was native to the region. And both of them were searching for something lost.
Daring Do had seen all sorts of strange things on her adventures. But she had never seen anything like this. A pony who claimed to have come from the "far left corner" of the multiverse. She knew there was more than one universe. That wasn't the strange part. It was how this pony claimed to travel. With a huge, metal ship. How would a ship travel through universes anyway? You had to have a magic portal, and even with one of those, you could only travel a few universes over. Not thousands, like her companion claimed.
And strangely enough, she claimed that her ancestors were from Equestria. That she had went on this journey to reclaim something. Something precious. It was hidden away in a secret garden in the mountains.
A.K. thought back to the garden. Should she return to it? Could she return to it?
[I]It had been days and neither had reached their destination. The mountains were hard to navigate, even for the two pegasi. Suddenly, Daring's companion, Violet Shade gestured to a cave.
"What's so special about that cave?" Daring asked.
"That's where I need to be. C'mon, you can trust me." The mare's sincerity could be seen on her smiling face. Daring followed her into the darkness... and suddenly, there was light. The walls of the cave glowed golden. Small enchanted lamps sprung to life as the two reached them. Eventually, they reached the end of the cave. There was a door, a huge, platinum door. It was covered in etchings of circles and lines, like the lost letters of a long-forgotten language. Daring had no idea what they might mean, and frankly, didn't care. She was far more curious about what was on the other side. Violet reached out and put her hoof to the door. It swung open. And suddenly Violet was glowing...
A.K. Yearling stopped typing. She decided that she would in fact return to the garden. She needed to see this again, needed proof that any of it had really happened. She grabbed her journals from the expedition and left her house, bringing nothing else with her but a few thousand bits. This time, she wasn't going as Daring Do. Her days as Daring Do were over.
She had left them behind in the garden.