DARING DO and the ADVENTURE of the X'IBIAN VASE! : MLP Fan Fiction : Part 3 of 21
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DARING DO and the
ADVENTURE of the X'IBIAN VASE!
by
De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck) @ask-de-writer
And
Carmen Pondiego @askcarmenpondiego
Cover Art by
Doctor Dimension
52630 words
© 2020 by Glen Ten-Eyck
Writing begun 08/26/15
All rights reserved. This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.
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Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users
Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions, provided that such things are done without charge. I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.
All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fictions is actively encouraged.
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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!”
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