Chapter 1 of 2
Daring Don't Chapter 1
The Canterlot Convention Center (or C3 as many called it) was jam-packed with ponies attending BooKon: Equestria’s single largest convention for fictional literature. Everywhere one looked, ponies were milling around dressed as their favorite fictional characters buying merchandise at booths, meeting the various big name authors and generally enjoying themselves.
None of these great sights mattered to Rainbow Dash as she flew down the vast hall at a speed that would be illegal on most streets. The rainbow maned pegasus was dressed in the trademark green jacket and safari hat of the titular hero of her favorite book series: Daring Do.
“C’mon Twilight! I want to get at least somewhat decent seats to the Daring Do panel!” She exclaimed, weaving and dodging around countless costumed ponies.
“The panel’s not for another hour and a half Rainbow!” Twilight panted as she did her best to keep up with her speedy friend. The purple alicorn was wearing a similar tan jacket, a pair of red half moon glasses and had her mane done up in a bun. She was dressed as Pyrite Ruby, one of the sidekicks of Daring Do whose main role in the books was to provide scientific exposition that Rainbow usually skimmed over. “I’m sure we’ll have no trouble getting seats!”
Twilight ate her words as they turned the corner and saw the entrance to the auditorium where the panel was to take place: and the line of eager fans (Daring Doers as they were known by) stretching along the wall. Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight to give the purple mare her practiced “told you so” glare.
Nevertheless, the two friends got in line together and began the process of waiting. Twilight reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a book with her magic that she packed, knowing how much time they’d be spending in lines at the convention. Rainbow Dash started a conversation with one of the Daring Doers in line which quickly turned into a heated debate over which of Daring’s sidekicks would make a better romantic partner for the heroine.
Eventually, the auditorium doors opened and the line of ponies began shuffling in. Soon, Twilight and Rainbow found themselves sitting back in the forty fifth row as ponies began appearing on stage.
One by one, an announcer introduced each pony on Daring Do’s team: Gold Digger, Topaz, Iron Pyrite (who the character of Pyrite Ruby was based on).
“And now finally, the mare of the hour!” The announcer exclaimed. “The hero and the author of the Daring Do series. Famed archaeologist and novelist! Daring Daring Daring… “ The announcer provided his own reverb “Do! Do Do…”
With deafening applause from the crowd of Daring Doers, the mare herself entered the stage wearing her famous safari hat and jacket and raised her forelegs in the air, encouraging more applause from the excited crowd.
“I can’t believe it! It’s really her! In the flesh!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “The scourge of Ahuizotl! The savior of rare and powerful artifacts!”
“You know there’s a difference between the Daring Do in the books and the one on stage now, right?” Twilight asked.
“Twilight, Daring Do based her books on her actual adventures! Everypony knows that!” Rainbow Dash then returned to cheering enthusiastically for the only pony she worshipped as much as the Wonderbolts.
After thanking all of her loyal fans for coming and describing how pleased she was to be in Canterlot, Daring Do took a seat at the table with the other members of her team that the crowd had all but forgotten once she appeared on stage. The panel then started with a Q&A session. Most questions were directed to Daring Do, but Twilight made sure to ask Iron Pyrite how much she had in common with Pyrite Ruby in the books.
For the next half hour, Daring Do and the other panelists engaged in a live reading of a chapter from the soon to be released next book in the series: Daring Do and the Legend of the Crystal Stars. It was a lot of fun, and a few lucky fans even got to participate in the readings, but before Rainbow Dash knew it the panel was approaching an end.
“We have one more item of business before the panel is over.” Daring Do announced. “You may remember Topaz or somepony mentioning a contest at the beginning of the panel.” One of her assistants handed Daring a small box. “We have all of your ticket stubs here and we’re going to do a random draw. One lucky pony in this audience is going to win the chance to tag along with me and my team on our next expedition!”
A chorus of gasps and murmuring erupted from the crowd. Twilight Sparkle saw Rainbow Dash pull out her ticket faster than a gunslinger in the old west.
“I thought you might like that” Daring Do grinned smugly as she reached into the box and pulled out a ticket stub. “And the winning seat is…” Daring paused and allowed the suspense to build. “45C!”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!” It took Rainbow Dash a moment to realize that the loud high-pitched squeal that transcended the auditorium and likely was heard from other panels had come from her. The rainbow maned mare cheeks heated up as she sheepishly looked around and saw that all eyes in the room were on her. Rainbow Dash desperately tried to salvage the situation by casually leaning an elbow on her armrest and adopting a neutral expression.
“Oh. I won. That’s cool, I guess.”
Over the past few days, Rainbow Dash had kept herself very busy preparing for the big trip. She spent most of her down time packing and signing all of the tedious legal documents, which were mostly forms stating that Daring Do was not responsible for any injuries or death that may occur while on the expedition. Rainbow also had to make sure Tank was looked after and that she was covered at work (incidentally, she made it a point to get Fluttershy and Cloud Kicker cool souvenirs for when she got back). Now, she was finally standing on Canterlot’s airship loading docks, looking up at the impressive E.S Dungeon Crawler; the airship Daring Do’s team used on all of their expeditions.
The ship itself was about the size of a decently large building in Canterlot, with five levels not including the top deck. The massive tan balloon with the emblem of Daring Do’s compass cutie mark on the side utterly dwarfed the ship itself, well over twice its size. Sure, Rainbow Dash probably could fly to their destination; Pegaguay in half the time, but she had to admit she was looking forward to embarking on the expedition in style.
The airship loading docks were full of busy ponies loading and unloading cargo, running checks to make sure the ships were in good working condition and generally running back and forth trying to appear busy. The ships, the activity and the view of the morning sun rising over the Equestrian countryside from Canterlot’s perch on the mountainside made for a spectacular view.
“I can’t believe Dashie’s going on an adventure with Daring Do!” An all too familiar high-pitched voice behind Rainbow exclaimed. The pegasus turned around to see her five best friends on the loading dock making their way toward her.
“I’m so super-duper excited that I’m going to pass out and then I’m going to be sad because Rainbow Dash will have to leave but I’ll be passed out so I won’t get to say ‘goodbye’ or ‘see ya later alligator’ or any of my other variations but then Dashie’ll be back and she’ll have all these awesome stories to tell and maybe an awesome present for her bestest pink friend and then…”
“If yer so worried about passin’ out, it might help to stop yammerin’ fer a few seconds to breathe!” Applejack said.
“Just don’t do anything, um... dangerous… or scary… or scary and dangerous…” Fluttershy said as she gave Rainbow Dash a goodbye nuzzle.
“Remember to maintain proper hygiene while you’re gone. Pegaguay sounds like a simply filthy place!” Rarity said.
“I still can’t believe you won out of all the ponies at the panel that day!” Twilight exclaimed, giving her wings a restless shuffle. Nevertheless, she was grinning ear to ear.
“Of course I won! I was the most awesome pony in that room!” Rainbow boasted. “Those other ponies didn’t have a chance!”
“Except for the little detail that winning a random draw doesn’t involve skill…”
“Twilight, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re just jealous that you didn’t win that draw!”
The alicorn princess in question opened her mouth to protest, but hesitated when she made a realization. “... Okay, so maybe I’m just a tiny bit jealous that you’re traveling with the author I’ve admired since before you even liked reading, but still! That doesn’t change the fact that a random draw is entirely luck based!”
“Yeah well… I guess that just makes me awesome and lucky, so there!” Rainbow Dash turned and looked whimsically at the airship she was about to board. “Either way, I still get to hang out with Daring Do!”
“Rainbow Dash, I mean it when I say I’m really happy for you and hope you have a great time…” Twilight started with a sincere yet concerned look on her face. “But I just want you to remember that Daring Do is not the same pony as the character in her books.”
“I know, you said that at the convention Twilight!”
“That’s because it’s true!” Twilight sighed, “I know you have this image in your head of who Daring Do is, and I don’t want you to cling too tightly to that. She’s probably a perfectly good pony who’s really good at what she does, but… I don’t want you to build her up on this pedestal only to have it crumble when you see that she’s not everything you think she is! Do you understand what I mean?”
After a moment, Rainbow Dash glanced at Twilight over her shoulder. “Hmm? Sorry Twi, kinda zoned out there. That kinda happens whenever you go full lecture mode.”
“The E.S Dungeon Crawler is ready for departure! All passengers please commence boarding!” The loud announcement nearly drowned out Twilight Sparkle’s frustrated groan.
“Well, looks like this is it!” Rainbow exclaimed, unable to hide the excited grin on her face, “Next time you see me, I’ll be a certified adventurer!”
Twilight held back a comment about how assisting a world famous archeologist on one expedition doesn’t give you a degree in archeology and simply settled for a pleasant goodbye. After bidding farewell to each of her friends, Rainbow Dash boarded the airship. The ship shortly disembarked from the Canterlot docks and began its journey south to Pegaguay.
A single red line originating from Canterlot on the brown, colorless map of Equestria slowly made its way south. The red line traced the flight path of the Dungeon Crawler all the way down to the destination: Sao Pono, Pegaguay.
Rainbow Dash spat the red pen out of her mouth and looked down at the map in front of her that now had a slightly curved red line connecting Canterlot to Sao Pono.
“Well that killed about five seconds.” Rainbow Dash grumbled.
Canterlot hadn’t even disappeared over the horizon before boredom already set in over Rainbow Dash. The rainbow mare had left the deck and soon found herself in her quarters. The room was a bit small for Rainbow’s tastes, but the bed was comfortable and she had a desk that she could turn into part of a blanket fort later. She considered getting to work on it now, but decided it was better to wait so she’d have something to do later. Instead, Rainbow Dash just sat at the desk in her room staring at the colorless map (save for the red line she added) and listening to the low hum of the airship’s engines.
With a groan, Rainbow Dash got up and headed out of her quarters, hoping she could pass the time by exploring the ship. Most of the crew either ignored her or brushed her away, saying they were too busy to talk or that she was getting in their way. Rainbow did have a pleasant conversation with the ship’s doctor; Soar Heart.
As a former emergency paramedic, the purple pegasus claimed to be a pretty speedy flier, but he declined Rainbow’s challenge to a race around the airship on account of the work he had to do. Rainbow Dash left Soar Heart to his work, really only interested in talking to one pony on the ship, but she hadn’t seen hide or mane of Daring Do aside from a passing glance as she boarded.
Rainbow spotted a door labeled “communication” and decided with a lack of anything better to do, to open the door and go in. She was immediately greeted with a startled shriek from a mare in the room.
“Sweet Celestia! Does nopony knock around here?”
The unicorn mare was currently standing upright against a wall of shelves on the right side of the room with a hoof on her chest, likely to keep her heart from jumping out of it. She had a red coat and a white mane that she wore in a bun. A pair of small half moon glasses adorned her face. Rainbow Dash didn’t need to see the book and quill cutie mark on her flank to recognize her.
“Hey! You were at the panel a few days ago! You’re Pyrite… Pyrite something…”
“Iron Pyrite.” The older mare lowered herself back down to all four hooves. Well, three hooves as she was protectively holding a scroll in one of them.
“Right. Pyrite. Sorry for scaring ya!” Rainbow took a couple of steps into the room and looked around “What are you doing in here anyway?”
The communication room was only marginally bigger than Rainbow Dash’s own quarters. There was a table with a quill and ink for writing letters to the left and the wall of shelves full of meticulously sorted paper to the right.
“Just… relaying messages.” Pyrite explained as she quickly walked to the large open window at the end of the room. It was then that Rainbow Dash noticed the lantern hanging just in front of the open window, or rather the green fire that was in said lantern.
“You have dragonfire? That’s cool.” Rainbow Dash said as Pyrite hastily threw the rolled up parchment into the green flame as quickly as if the parchment itself was going to burn her. Green fire then shot out the other end of the lantern and disappeared in the noon air out the window.
As Rainbow Dash understood, dragonfire was an incredibly rare commodity for instantaneous communication. So rare in fact, that the only two ponies she knew had access to it were both princesses. She should have expected that Equestria’s most famous writer/archaeologist would also have the elusive substance.
“So, what did you just send?”
“Nothing. Personal stuff. None of your business!” Pyrite answered immediately.
Rainbow Dash raised her front hooves defensively. “Okay, okay. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s cool.” Rainbow then stuck out a foreleg. “I’m Rainbow Dash by the way.”
Iron Pyrite finally gave a smile, “The kid who won the contest huh?” She took Rainbow Dash’s foreleg in her own and gave it a single polite shake. “Nice to meet you. Why don’t you join me in the cafeteria? I’m sure the rest of the team would like to meet you!”
Rainbow suppressed a squee as she followed Pyrite out of the room. If she was going to meet the whole team, it probably included Daring Do herself!
Once they arrived at the cafeteria, Rainbow Dash immediately scanned the tables, but was disappointed when she didn’t see Daring Do sitting at any of them. Nevertheless, Rainbow continued to follow Pyrite as the two of them filled up their trays with a variety of fruits and vegetables. Pyrite then lead Rainbow to a table where three other ponies were eating.
“Hey guys, I want you all to meet Rainbow Dash, the fan who will be helping out on this expedition!” As the pair of them sat down, Pyrite gestured to the first pony at the table: a dark green earth pony with a blonde mane, a lot of stubble and a pair of bright, if droopy blue eyes. His cutie mark was a shovel and a pickaxe crossed together. “This is Gold Digger. He leads the dig team.”
Gold Digger gave a casual nod. “‘Sup.”
Pyrite moved to the other earth pony sitting across from him. “This is Topaz, our geologist.” The mare in question had a blue coat, short red bangs and bright orange eyes. Her cutie mark was three different rocks that Rainbow guessed all had unnecessarily long, egghead-y names.
“Hello.” She greeted in a voice that may have been just louder than Fluttershy’s normal voice.
Finally, Pyrite moved to the smaller than average orange unicorn stallion with a brown, poofy mane. His cutie mark was a scroll covered in various markings Rainbow Dash could not identify. “And this is Ancient Rune, expert in ancient cultures and history.” This one hadn’t been at the Daring Do panel.
“Salutations!” The little stallion’s high pitched greeting made Rainbow Dash wonder just how often he got beat up in school when he was a foal.
“And I’m the team’s science and magic expert.” Pyrite explained, neatly finishing the round of introductions.
“Cool. Nice to meet you all.” Rainbow Dash said, starting on her carrots. “So… is Daring Do going to join us?”
Gold Digger looked at her with his half-lidded eyes and gave a casual shrug. “I’unno. It’d be the first time if she did.” He said around the food in his mouth.
“Daring… keeps to herself most of the time.” Pyrite explained.
“She usually summons food to her quarters via members of the airship crew.” Ancient Rune stated.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of chances to meet her once we arrive.” Topaz said in her small voice. On further evaluation, Topaz’s voice wasn’t as soft as Fluttershy’s, but it was definitely as quiet.
Rainbow just nodded and took another bite of her lunch. She didn’t really know what to think of the fact that Daring Do rarely came out to mingle with her team. She figured it was simply because Daring was always busy pouring over tomes of lore regarding their latest escapade.
“Hey, so you probably want to know more about what we’ll be looking for in our little expedition right?” Pyrite asked, as if reading Rainbow’s mind.
Rainbow Dash’s ears immediately perked up when she realized she was going to hear about some amazing lost artifact that they were going to find. Who knows? Maybe Ahuizotl might try to steal whatever it was they were after and she’d have the chance to hit him with her patented “Rainbow Dash Kick.” The blue pegasus then realized she was nodding enthusiastically for quite some time now and was starting to get dizzy.
“Okay, well we’re looking for an ancient artifact called the Moonstone from the Lunar War one thousand years ago.”
“Wait, you mean that one time Nightmare Moon was all like ‘I’m gonna make the night last forever!’ And then Celestia was all like ‘not today you ain’t!’ And hit her in the face with the Elements of Harmony?”
The other ponies all stared at Rainbow Dash, who was currently frozen mid-dramatic pose.
“Never heard the Lunar War described like that…” Gold Digger muttered as he went back to eating.
“Yes, during the Lunar War, it’s been said that Nightmare Moon created a powerful weapon and locked it away in a place called the Lunar Sanctum.” Ancient Rune explained. “The Moonstone acts as a means of locating the Lunar Sanctum and unlocking the weapon within. The legend goes that before being banished, Nightmare Moon gave the Moonstone to the ponies that followed her during the war so that they may use it should she be defeated. But they never had the chance and when Celestia’s army defeated them they didn’t even have it anymore.
“However, on our last expedition to the Griffon Kingdom, we found records of a group of Griffon thieves from the Lunar War originating from Pegaguay. This group allegedly attacked a platoon of Nightmare Moon’s forces and made off with a variety of treasures including one matching the description of the Moonstone.”
“So pretty much, we’re gonna see if we can find a place the Griffons would’ve used as a hideout and hopefully find the Moonstone perhaps.” Gold said. Listening to his half-hearted rambling right after Ancient Rune’s excited and detailed descriptions was surreal.
“Okay. So basically, the Moonstone is a magical artifact that leads to a place where Nightmare Moon kept a secret weapon one thousand years ago?” Rainbow Dash asked, liking the sound of this adventure already.
“Of course, whether the Moonstone has any magical properties and the existence of the Lunar Sanctum and the legendary weapon is entirely a myth.” Pyrite explained. “Technically the magic existed to create ‘beacon artifacts’ like the Moonstone back then, but such enchantments would have worn off many years ago.”
“Also, the idea of a ‘Lunar Sanctum’ existing somewhere in Equestria having been undiscovered for a millenium is next to impossible.” Ancient Rune explained, “It’s more likely that this ‘Lunar Sanctum’ is nothing more than an old fortress used by Luna’s armies and the ‘weapon’ mentioned in the legend was nothing more than a cache of standard weapons and armor.”
“We believe the Moonstone however is real enough. It’s just nothing more than a rock” Pyrite said.
“A really nice rock!” Topaz’s tiny voice added optimistically.
“Oh. Okay. We’re at this part of the story!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Uh… what?” Gold ineloquently asked.
“Yeah, I get it guys. ‘It’s only a legend. There’s nothing magical or world ending about this artifact at all!’” Dash rolled her eyes. “I think that after all the other times Daring Do’s found a legendary, potentially world-ending artifact you guys should just assume all legends are true.”
Gold Digger gave a loud laugh, “Good one, bud!”
Gold continued his hearty, if obnoxious laughter while Rainbow Dash was confused. She hadn’t made any joke. She decided to ignore Gold and keep on eating her meal.
The rest of lunch carried on in a fairly lighthearted manner. Rainbow made casual conversation with Daring Do’s team and the team engaged in lighthearted banter between each other that reminded Rainbow Dash a lot of her own friends. After lunch, Rainbow spent time switching between hanging out with each member of the team.
Iron Pyrite and Ancient Rune told her about some of the highlights of their most recent expeditions, while Rainbow regaled them with some stories of her own adventures. Gold Digger introduced her to the members of his digging crew and showed her a bunch of the tools they used. Finally, Rainbow Dash managed to get Topaz out of her shell by letting her show off her rock collection. The quiet mare talked about her rocks with the same enthusiasm Fluttershy had with her animals. She even had names for them all.
Before Rainbow Dash knew it, an announcement from the pilot came over the airship stating they were approaching Sao Pono.
The one thought that kept going through Rainbow Dash’s mind as she walked the streets of Sao Pono was “Rarity would hate this place.” Not that Rainbow minded the muddy roads and the worn out buildings stacked on top of each other the way a child with no regard for structural integrity might stack blocks. The hustle and bustle of the South Equestrian town seemed like the perfect starting point for adventure. The weary sigh that escaped Gold Digger indicated the dark green stallion was not inclined to agree.
Truthfully, Rainbow Dash was a little disappointed in how her adventure with Daring Do was starting out. Mainly because of Daring’s general lack of involvement in said adventure. Not that Rainbow Dash hadn’t had a chance to see the mare herself since departing Canterlot. Quite the contrary, after the Dungeon Crawler had landed on the airstrip just outside the city, Daring Do herself had rallied the team together before entering the town proper.
“Alright! Gather round, team! GATHER. ROUND.” Daring Do had proclaimed, beckoning the others to her with exaggerated hoof gestures.
Rainbow Dash remembered looking around, noticing that the entire team had already been gathered before Daring Do.
“Now, today marks the beginning of our latest expedition: Daring Do and the Search For the Moonshine!”
“Moonstone.” Iron Pyrite corrected.
“Though I wouldn’t mind searching for some moonshine while we’re here…” Gold muttered.
“Now, the plan is simple: we’re all going to split up and ask anyone we meet what they know about the Moonstone or any of the local dragon clans…” Daring Do explained.
“Uh, dragon clans?” Gold Digger asked skeptically.
“Are we not trying to locate possible Lunar Era hideouts belonging to griffon thieves?” Ancient Rune asked.
Daring Do bit her lip and looked around, “Yes. Those too! Especially those!”
Rainbow Dash had cautiously decided to voice something that had been bothering her since Daring Do summoned them all outside of town, “Uh, Daring Do? Not that I think you aren’t awesome and don’t know what you’re doing or anything, but are you okay? You kinda look like how I feel whenever I haven’t studied for a big test at Flight School.”
“I’m fine kid. Just… when you’ve been on as many adventures as I have sometimes they kinda merge together, you know?”
Rainbow Dash didn’t know, but Daring Do was the world famous explorer, not her.
“Now, I want Iron Pyrite and Ancient Rune to cover the east end. Gold Digger and Topaz, see what you can find in the west end. The kid and I will go investigate town hall and the north end.” Rainbow Dash’s smile had grown as wide as Pinkie Pie’s on a normal day when Daring Do gestured to her.
“Heh heh! I’m the kid!” She squealed.
“We’ll all meet in the central market place in the south part of town at sundown, clear?”
“Yes m’am!” Rainbow Dash saluted before bouncing over to Daring Do. “This is going to be so awesome! You can tell me stories of your adventures, not that I don’t know all of them, of course. Oh! And I can tell you about some of my ideas for your books! See there’s this one character I was thinking of with a rainbow mane…”
“Okay! Change of plan! Ancient Rune, you’re with me! Kid, you’re with Iron Pyrite.”
Rainbow Dash’s heart sank a little as she had left Daring Do’s side and switched places with Ancient Rune. While Rainbow hadn’t been totally unhappy about being with Pyrite (she was pretty nice to her so far), it still wasn’t the same as being with Daring Do. However, the red unicorn mare had told her shortly after Daring Do and Ancient Rune departed for the north end of town that she had business to attend to on her own, setting Rainbow up with Gold Digger and Topaz. Now, Rainbow Dash walked along side the two earth ponies feeling very much like a ball in the archeologists’ game of hot potato.
They had spent what was left of the afternoon asking around their end of town for any information they could find about the Moonstone and nearby Griffon fortresses. Now, the sun was beginning to set and they hadn’t found any leads.
Rainbow Dash glanced around the quickly emptying street. All of the townsfolk were either heading back to their homes or going to the marketplace in the center of town for some last minute shopping before it closed. However, Rainbow Dash noticed at least one pony who lingered. Unsettlingly, the white-coated stranger was staring right at them. The stallion was big and muscular, and an ugly scar cut across his snout. He looked like a guard or former guard who had seen plenty of action. Rainbow then realized that she had seen the pony before. She was certain that she’d seen that same scar on a pony they had asked about the Moonstone in a completely different part of town. What was he doing here?
“Hey guys,” Rainbow Dash said in a low whisper, turning to Gold Digger and Topaz, “Don’t look now, but I think we’re being followed!”
“Pfft. That’s stupid. Who would waste their time following us?” Gold Digger asked.
“Maybe, I don’t know, one of Ahuizotl’s spies?” Rainbow declared, her tone implying the obviousness of her answer.
“Okay seriously bud, the first joke was funny, but making fun of the boss’s dumb books is starting to get old.”
Rainbow Dash had to do a double take, “What? Dumb books? How can you say that about the retellings of Daring Do’s amazing exploits?”
Gold let out another obnoxious laugh, “Okay, one more joke. But that’s it! The boss might find out!”
Topaz gave Gold an uncertain look. “Uh, I don’t think she’s joking…”
Gold’s laughter suddenly petered out like a vehicle that had run out of fuel. “Oh…” He turned to address Rainbow Dash again, “Yeah, hey bud? When we get back to the ship, we gotta have a talk.”
Before Rainbow Dash could comment further, she heard the “psst” sound of someone trying to get her attention. Gold Digger and Topaz apparently heard it too, as all three travelers looked to the source of the noise, and saw a cloaked figure standing in the shadows of an alleyway beckoning to them with a hoof. As the group approached the mysterious stranger, Rainbow Dash noticed familiar black and white stripes on the parts of them not obscured by the brown cloak.
“I could not help but notice that you and your other companions have been asking around about the Moonstone.” The stranger was male and spoke in a deep, exotic voice.
“Oh yeah! Y’know anything about it?” Gold asked.
The strange zebra nodded. “Come with me. We can’t be sure of who else may be listening out here.”
Without another word, the zebra turned and entered the alleyway as the three ponies exchanged an uncertain glance.
“Well… my mom always warned me about going into dark alleys with strange ponies.” Topaz said meekly.
“Did she say anything about strange zebras?” Rainbow asked.
“Well... no, but…”
“Then we’re good!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, leading the way into the alley followed closely by Gold Digger and after some hesitation, Topaz.
The zebra led the ponies through the alleyway to a door partially hidden by a pile of crates. Through the door, the ponies found themselves in a cozy room with an expensive looking rug and a variety of vases and other old looking trinkets deliberately placed throughout. Rainbow Dash was surprised to find so many expensive looking decorations in a home as tucked away as this one.
The stranger removed his hood and gestured to a soft green couch on one end of the room, inviting his guests to take a seat. Rainbow Dash and Gold Digger wasted no time on accepting the zebra’s offer, while Topaz settled for awkwardly standing beside the couch. The zebra made his way to an arched doorway on the other end of the room.
“I’m going to open up a bottle of moonshine. Would any of you like some?”
“Well, we’re not supposed to drink while we’re working…” Topaz started.
“Yeah, I’m down for a drink!” Gold casually said.
“Yeah, me too!” Rainbow Dash said, taking Gold’s lead.
Their zebra companion was gone for only a moment before he returned with three mugs of the beverage. Even his mugs looked like priceless artifacts.
Once Rainbow Dash had her drink in her hoof and the zebra took a seat across from her and the others, she was able to get a good look at him. The first thing she noticed was that he had no mane. The zebra also had far less jewelery than the only other zebra she knew, a single gold earring being the only ornament on his person.
“I believe introductions are in order. My name is Zestafa.” He said with a bow of his head.
“Zestafa, huh? And you can help us find the Moonstone?” Gold asked.
Zestafa nodded. “I work with people here whose main goal is the preservation of historical artifacts. I am something of a collector myself, my most prized possession of course being the Crimson Flare.” The zebra indicated a model of an airship on the table between them. The airship would have been much smaller than the Dungeon Crawler, possessing only one deck. A purple balloon with the emblem of Celestia’s sun held the vessel up.
“Wait, you have the actual E.S Crimson Flare?” Gold asked in disbelief. “As in, the fastest ship in Princess Celestia’s fleet during the Lunar War? Ancient Rune told me it was lost when it was shot down somewhere over the Badlands.”
Zestafa nodded. “And he is correct. Shot down, lost, found by my people, repaired and brought back here!”
Rainbow Dash promptly raised her hoof as if she was in class. “Can I ask you a quick question? Why aren’t you speaking in rhyme?”
It took several seconds for everyone in the room to register what Rainbow Dash had just asked. “Um… because that would be difficult and unnecessary.” Zastafa said.
“It’s just that… I know this zebra back in Ponyville, and she always…”
“And how many other zebras do you know?”
Rainbow Dash could only soundlessly open and close her mouth a few times.
“That many, huh?”
Gold Digger sighed and shook his head while Topaz looked sympathetically in Rainbow’s direction.
“Yeah… sorry.” Rainbow Dash awkwardly scratched at the back of her neck and stared at the ceiling.
“A word of advice: Don’t let one strange case tell you about an entire race.” Zestafa’s eyes widened when he realized what he just did. “Hmm… That’s never happened before.”
“Uh… we’ve gotten kind of sidetracked. Weren’t you going to tell us about the Moonstone?” Topaz asked politely.
“Yes.” Zestafa got up and went over to a desk. Pulling out a folded up piece of paper, Zestafa returned to the three ponies and unfolded it on the table beside the model airship, revealing a detailed map of the region.
“Many years ago, a group of Griffin thieves once made their hideout where this very town rests now, but they were raided by the tribal pegasi who lived in the mountains to the West, taking all the thieves had stolen. Nowadays, the tribesponies are long gone but the ruins of their society remain.”
Zestafa pointed to a pair of mountains on the western side of the map. “Between the Padre y Hijo Mountains far to the west is the temple where the tribes would make their offerings to the heavens. I have no doubt that you will find what you seek there.”
“Wow! Thanks! That’s totally awesome info!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“I’m guessing there’s a catch though huh?” Gold Digger asked. “How much we payin’ for this information?”
At this, Zestafa gave the ponies a warm smile. “No payment necessary my friends. I consider it my duty to keep the treasures of the world from falling into the wrong hooves. If you are with the legendary Daring Do, I can rest easy knowing the artifacts of that temple will be well looked after!”
“Sweet!”
“The moonshine however, is ten bits each!”
Rainbow Dash and Gold Digger both looked down at their half empty cups and carefully set them on the table, suddenly no longer thirsty. After negotiating down to five bits for the drinks (based on the fact that they only drank half) the ponies all shook hooves with Zestafa and began making their way out. Before they could get out the door however, Zestafa stopped them.
“Be very careful out there my friends.” Zestafa gave them a grim look. “I am not the only one who noticed you asking around about the Moonstone…”
“Alright, gather around team!” Daring Do boldly waved Rainbow Dash and the others over to where she was standing in the middle of town square. Rainbow practically skipped over to her favorite archaeologist while Gold Digger and Topaz plodded along behind her.
Despite the recent absence of Celestia’s sun in the sky, the main square of Sao Pono was still bustling with activity. Ponies, griffons, and many other creatures Rainbow Dash had never seen before ran to and fro, trying to finish all of their shopping before the various stalls closed up for the day. The market was surrounded on all sides by tall stacks of buildings, and looking straight up gave Rainbow the feeling of being at the bottom of a deep, wood and concrete pit. The stars in the night sky were very nearly obscured by the criss-crossing clotheslines extending between structures like a spider web.
Daring Do looked around at the four gathered researchers around her. Rainbow Dash arrived in front of her with Gold Digger and Topaz, and Ancient Rune had been with her the whole time.
“Where’s Iron Pyrite?” Daring asked.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I dunno. She said she had some things to do before dumping me with Gold and Topaz. Just said she’d catch up with us later.”
“Must be conducting her own research. She’s always working on her little pet projects!” Daring said before getting back to the matter at hoof. “Anyway, you will all be thrilled to know that thanks to my amazing relic finding skills, I was able to discover the location of the Moonstone!” Daring Do held her head up proudly, “But, don’t let that discourage any of you from sharing any of the information you may have found!”
“Ooh! Can I tell her about the stuff?” Rainbow whirled around and was in Gold Digger’s face faster than the lazy-eyed stallion could blink.
“Knock yourself out…”
Rainbow Dash suppressed a squee as her grin grew even wider and she turned to face Daring Do.
“Gold, Topaz and me: the awesome Rainbow Dash gathered some pretty sweet info on the location of the Moonstone. Pretty much: it’s in a temple between these two mountains.”
“The Padre y Hijo.” Gold added. “The temple was used by tribal pegasi who stole the Moonstone from the griffon thieves.”
Daring Do placed a hoof on her chin as she considered this information. “That’s fine work Rainbow Dash. Even though Ancient Rune and I had already uncovered the very same info during our own search…”
“We did?” Ancient Rune asked. The small orange stallion’s question quickly became a whimper as Daring Do silenced anything else he had to say with a harsh stamp of her hoof on his own.
“Of course! And don’t worry Rainbow Dash, even though what you uncovered turned out to be totally redundant, it’s still useful! You helped confirm that what I discovered is accurate!”
This time, Rainbow Dash couldn’t quite suppress a squee as she turned back to Gold and Topaz. “I’m helping!”
Even Topaz rolled her eyes.
“Now, let’s return to the Dungeon Crawler! I’ll set a course for the uh… for the mountains we’re going to and we can explore the temple tomorrow!” Daring Do adjusted her hat and turned to begin her trek through the crowd back to the airstrip.
“Uh… do you want us to show you the Padre y Hijo on the map?” Topaz asked quietly.
Daring Do stopped and looked back at her team, “Please Topaz, I already know everything I need to know about the Paddy Hijacallit… But if it’ll make you feel better I guess you can point it out to me on the map when we get back to the ship!”
“Before we all depart, I must inform you all on some rather unsettling information that Daring and I had obtained whilst asking around about the Moonstone…” Ancient Rune started.
“Please Ancient Rune, that cult is hardly relevant to our search.” Daring Do waved a dismissive hoof, eager to get going.
“What cult?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“How can you say it isn’t relevant?” Ancient Rune ignored Rainbow Dash as he argued Daring Do’s point. “This... ‘Foals of the Moon’ group is after the same artifact we are! They could be dangerous!”
Daring Do turned back around and approached Ancient Rune and the others. Along the way, she bumped into a white pony in the crowd.
“Excuse me.”
“Sorry.”
Just like that, Daring Do returned her attention to her team as she and the other pony passed like ships in the night.
“Ancient Rune, you can’t always concern yourself with everything that ‘could’ be dangerous! If you want to be a great adventurer like me, you have to fin th tursur bfor yusay ‘nuther dey… ‘nuther dunjon.”
All four other ponies stared at their leader with confused expressions. “What?”
Said leader’s eyes were starting to get as half-lidded as Gold Digger’s were normally. “Fin th tursur! Wus won wit yu poonies?”
“Uh… can you say that in a language we all speak?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Oh jeepers!” Topaz’s hoof shot up in front of her mouth, “Daring, you’re bleeding!” Topaz removed her hoof from in front of her face and pointed down at one of her leader’s forelegs.
All of the ponies including Daring looked down at her forelegs. Sure enough, a small crimson trail of liquid made its way down through the fur from a small incision on Daring’s leg.
“Now when did that occur?” Ancient Rune asked.
Daring Do stared drunkenly into space before she gave a slurred gasp and her eyes went as wide as they could. Or, one of them did. The other just kind of lazily swam around in its socket.
“DAT GYE! WER’S DAT GYE’T BMP’D INNA ME?” Daring Do then stared straight ahead, her eyes cloudy and unfocused. “I dun fel s’gud… ‘M gunna lye doun now...” With that, Daring Do collapsed to the ground like a wet rag. The archaeologist’s four companions all gathered around her.
“Oh golly! What’s happening to her?” Topaz said, panic overtaking her small voice.
“I dunno, she was fine a few seconds ago!” Gold exclaimed.
“It seems highly possible that Daring’s been poisoned.” Ancient Rune deduced, resulting in anxious looks among the rest of the team. “She got that cut around the same time she started showing symptoms. Whatever cut her must have been laced with some kind of neurotoxin!”
“SOMPOONY HALP! DUH GROUN’S TRYIN TA EAT MEH!” Daring called out from her spot on the ground.
“Okay quick, let’s get her back to the ship and have Doctor Soar Heart fix her!” Rainbow Dash said, grabbing one of Daring Do’s hooves and trying to hoist the incapacitated mare onto her back. Ancient Rune quickly moved to help with his magic.
“Who could have done this?” Topaz asked, looking over at Gold. The stallion however, was turned around looking in the opposite direction.
“Just a hunch, but I’m gonna guess those scary looking ponies heading towards us have something to do with it!”
The rest of the team looked in the direction Gold Digger was indicating and saw a group of dark, grim-faced ponies heading straight for them.
“Let’s get out of here!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, Daring Do now filling the role of Rainbow’s knapsack.
The first thought the rainbow-maned pegasus had was to fly away, but another look up made her realize that would be a bad idea. The cramped nature of the buildings and the clotheslines crossing every which way would have made it impossible for even her to maneuver, let alone with a poisoned Daring Do sprawled across her back. Instead, Rainbow Dash just settled for running, the rest of Daring’s team right behind her.
The dark ponies that were making their way towards them stopped and watched Rainbow Dash and Daring’s group flee into the crowd. One of the strange ponies turned to another.
“See? I told you they didn’t need our help.”
“WEEEEEEE S’LIKE FLYIN! WISH I CUD FLY…”
Rainbow Dash just kept galloping through the streets, weaving around clueless passersby, trying to keep Daring Do from falling off her back in the process.
“Are they still chasing us?” Topaz called out. She and the others were running right behind Rainbow.
“I dunno! I can’t look back and run forward at the same time!” Gold answered.
“Perhaps it would be prudent to separate!” Ancient Rune suggested, as usual in an overly complex way.
“I don’t know what you just said, but we might shake ‘em if we split up!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
The fleeing ponies approached an intersection and did exactly that upon reaching it. Gold Digger, Topaz, and Ancient Rune turned right and ran down another cramped street while Rainbow Dash carried Daring Do left into a tunnel underneath a large structure.
Rainbow checked behind her only to find out she’d been the only one to run left. “Seriously?”
Regardless, Rainbow pressed forward through the tunnel until she emerged in a small courtyard. The rainbow maned mare skidded to a stop when she saw that a large stallion was blocking the exit on the other side of the yard. The familiar white scarred visage glared at her from across the fountain that served as the courtyard’s centerpiece.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Rainbow questioned the mysterious pony, glaring right back at him.
The only response the white-coated stranger gave was to raise his right foreleg, Which Rainbow Dash noticed had some kind of metal ring around it. With a metallic click, a small blade emerged from the metal hoof ring. Rainbow immediately noticed a speck of red on the tip of the otherwise spotless metal blade, and soon made the connection to the poisoned cut on Daring Do’s leg.
“Oh. I see how it is! Fine, let’s go!” Rainbow Dash leaned forward to assume a fighting stance, but a heavy weight on her back reminded her of a very important detail, “Uh, lemme just put down Daring Do first!”
The other pony gave her no such chance, clearing the fountain with an impressive leap and closing the distance between himself and Rainbow Dash faster then she would have been able to safely discard her passenger. Right before the scarred stallion could land his blow, he was hit by a white blast of magic and landed on the ground in a mess of sprawled limbs. Rainbow Dash stared down at her would-be assailant for a moment before turning around to find the source of the magical blast that very well may have saved her life.
“Iron Pyrite?”
The red spectacled unicorn stepped out of the shadows of the tunnel Rainbow Dash had entered from. “C’mon, let’s get her back to the Dungeon Crawler quickly. That paralysis spell I just used only lasts a short while.”
Rainbow Dash looked back down at the felled white assassin and saw the same hard face with the scar bridging his snout staring up at her from his position on the ground. He was fully conscious, and his stare was still unnerving even if he couldn’t move. Rainbow just followed Pyrite to the courtyard’s exit, giving the downed assailant a wide berth.
“Who was that? Why did he poison Daring Do?” Rainbow asked as she and Pyrite made their way through more dark side streets in the direction of the airstrip.
“He’s probably a member of ‘The Foals of the Moon.’ They’re an insane cult that worships Princess Luna. Or rather, Princess Luna when she was Nightmare Moon.” Iron Pyrite explained.
“You mean there’s a group of ponies that actually want eternal night?”
“Did I not mention the insane part?”
As the two ponies continued their urgent gallop ahead, Rainbow Dash thought of something.
"Hey Iron... what have you been doing till now?"
Iron Pyrite hesitated before answering, "That's none of your business..."
Rainbow Dash walked down a hallway on board the Dungeon Crawler, feeling drained. It had only been a few minutes since they had received the news on Daring Do’s status.
Gold Digger, Topaz and Ancient Rune had already been back at the Dungeon Crawler when Rainbow Dash and Iron Pyrite arrived with the unconscious Daring Do. After a quick trip to the infirmary and a few tense minutes of waiting that may as well have been hours, Dr. Soar Heart emerged with the news.
“She’s going to be okay,” the purple pegasus doctor had reported. Rainbow Dash and the rest of the team breathed a collective sigh of relief. “You got her back in the nick of time Rainbow Dash. We were able to administer medicine that should restore her higher brain functions. After that it’s only a matter of expelling the remaining poison from her system.” Dr. Soar Heart had then looked away uncomfortably, “Yeah… Daring’s in for a rough night.”
With that sorted out, Iron Pyrite had told the pilot to set a course for the Padre y Hijo and then immediately went to the communication room. Gold Digger declared his intentions to go to the cafeteria and see what was for dinner. Topaz and Ancient Rune said they’d join him after going to their rooms to wash up. Feeling no need to do the same, Rainbow Dash had decided to go with Gold.
“I wasn’t worried at all! I knew she would be okay!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed as she and Gold walked side by side down the featureless corridor. The dark green stallion just stared ahead with his pair of perpetually lazy eyes.
“Daring Do’s survived way worse than a little poison, am I right?” Rainbow Dash nudged Gold Digger a couple of times, whose response was to stop walking and sigh.
“Alright look. You know the difference between fiction and reality right?” he asked.
Rainbow Dash shrugged her wings. “Sure!”
“Then you should know that everything that happens in Daring Do’s books is exactly that: fiction.”
Rainbow Dash paused as she tried to comprehend what Gold was trying to tell her. “Well, I guess she had to exaggerate some of the stuff she did…”
“No, you don’t understand. Every single thing that happens in every one of those books is entirely made up.” Gold spoke slowly and deliberately. The lazy, slacker attitude that always permeated his voice before was now replaced with calm resolve. “Her books are nothing but over the top, glorified versions of our actual expeditions where she’s made out to be the big hero!”
“No. The books are based on stuff Daring’s actually done!” Rainbow was starting to get annoyed with this stallion trying to smear the good name of her heroine, “She said on multiple occasions that those were all real adventures she had!” She then got right into Gold’s face, giving him a challenging stare. “Are you calling Daring Do a liar?”
Gold Digger stared right back into Rainbow’s magenta eyes. “I am.” Rainbow Dash just stared at him harder, as if her look alone would get him to admit that he was wrong. “Of the two of us, who’s actually been on most of Daring’s quote unquote ‘adventures?’”
Rainbow backed off slightly when she realized that Gold had a point. “I’m telling you, Daring’s more than just a liar, she’s an all around bad pony! And I’m not the only one on the team who thinks that either! She’s incredibly self-centered, never gives any of us credit for all of the hard work we do for her! Not even our characters in her books get any recognition! Even worse, she doesn’t care at all about any of us as ponies!”
Gold then looked away, all of the momentum from his angry rant taken away. “Not even those of us she’s known her whole life…”
Rainbow Dash stared at Gold Digger in disbelief. “I get it now…”
Gold looked back up at her and smiled. “Thanks. I knew you’d come to realize…”
“You’re jealous!”
Gold’s smile disappeared in an instant as Rainbow continued. “You and Daring were childhood friends, weren’t you? She went on to do great things, and what are you? Just one of her lackeys!” Rainbow concluded with a cocky grin. “I can almost get why you’d want other ponies to think she’s not that great!”
Gold ground his teeth together so hard Rainbow thought they might turn to dust. “FINE! Believe whatever you want! I don’t care anymore! I was trying to save you a bunch of pain and disappointment, but forget it!” Gold started walking away, leaving Rainbow standing in the middle of the hallway. “Just don’t come crying to me once you find out just how pathetic your hero really is!”
The rest of the night aboard the Dungeon Crawler had been uneventful and a little awkward. Rainbow Dash decided not to join Gold Digger in the cafeteria right away, instead hanging out in her quarters until she figured Iron Pyrite and the others would be there. Rainbow wasn’t sure if they were wondering why Gold was so quiet and why she and him hadn’t said a word to each other over the course of the entire meal.
Soon the team all left the cafeteria, having finished their meals and Rainbow Dash and Iron Pyrite were the last two at the table.
“Hey Pyrite. What’s your opinion of Daring Do?” Rainbow had asked.
Pyrite looked around and shrugged. “She’s an alright boss, I guess. The pay could be better though… I’d really like to be able to afford to send my...”
The red unicorn mare trailed off, stopping what could have been a bitter rant with a shrug. When she asked Rainbow why she asked, the pegasus just made up an excuse to leave.
Rainbow Dash had then spent the rest of the night flying laps around outside of the airship. It had been a while since she’d flown using her own wings, and flying was always a reliable way to keep herself from thinking too much. Between concentrating on her various tricks and making sure the Dungeon Crawler didn’t leave her line of sight, Rainbow Dash didn’t get many chances to think about whether Gold Digger really was right about Daring Do. By the time she got back on board, Rainbow Dash was tired enough to pass out as soon as she got in her bed.
The next morning was mostly spent going around the ship helping out the team with whatever odd jobs they needed done before the Dungeon Crawler touched down in a valley between a moderately sized mountain and a huge mountain twice its size: The Padre y Hijo.
“Here you go, Daring Do!” Rainbow Dash gave the archaeologist a still steaming cup of coffee with gluten free milk like she asked.
She took the beverage thanklessly and sipped from it. A bandage was wrapped around her foreleg where the cut had been and she still looked a little green, but otherwise she was on her hooves and standing tall outside the Dungeon Crawler, waiting for an update from her team on the location of the temple.
The valley between the two large mountains was fairly wide open, with only a few trees here and there populating the grassy expanse. The thick, South Equestrian jungle surrounded the clearing on all sides and continued up the pair of mountains that formed the valley’s walls.
Looking over at the beige mare in the safari hat, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but think back to her conversation with Gold Digger.
“Hey, Daring…?” Rainbow started.
Daring Do looked at her, indicating the blue pegasus had her attention. “What’s on your mind, kid?”
Rainbow Dash struggled with her words for a bit. She didn’t know what exactly she wanted to say. “You and Gold Digger were friends for a long time right?”
Daring Do nodded, traces of a smile creeping up on her face. “He’s been there for me more times than I could count. I don’t think I ever told him though...” Rainbow Dash nodded as Daring Do stared ahead, lost in thought.
Rainbow Dash wanted to tell her all about the terrible slander Gold had said about her. For some reason though, the words never came. Rainbow Dash shook her head once and tried thinking of something else. Gold Digger was approaching them, and there was no way she was going to let him figure out she was starting to have doubts about Daring Do… because she wasn’t having doubts on Daring Do. Daring Do was still awesome!
“Hey boss. My team found something that looks like it could be the entrance to that temple. It’s up on the Padre Mountain.” Gold reported. “That’s the big one by the way.”
Gold glanced in Rainbow’s direction. She gave him her best smug smile to let him know that his bored, uncaring attitude wasn’t fooling her. He knew Daring Do was awesome, even if he wouldn’t admit it!
Daring simply smiled and nodded in response. “Alright. Gather up Ancient Rune, Iron Pyrite and Topaz and have them all meet me at the foot of the Paddy mountain!”
“Sure thing, boss.” Gold Digger sighed, turning to go do the task Daring set for him.
Daring downed the rest of her coffee at a pace that impressed even Rainbow Dash and motioned for her to follow her to the base of the smaller of the two mountains.
“C’mon kid! Let’s go! Another day, another dungeon right?”
“Uh, Daring? No disrespect, but you’re going toward the wrong mountain.”
Daring Do stopped and turned around. “I knew that. I was just taking a less direct path!”
Soon, the six ponies were gathered just outside the tropical forest at the edge of the valley saddled with bags of gear. The group then began the trek up the mountain to where Gold Digger’s team had found the temple. Rainbow Dash suggested that she and Daring just fly up to the temple on the mountain but the others shot down the idea on the basis that they didn’t have wings.
So, the group spent the next few hours trotting up a steadily steepening slope, pushing through thick jungle foliage that blocked the way forward and covered the sky above. The songs of exotic birds and a myriad of other unseen creatures provided the soundtrack to the ponies’ trek. After a while, the thick brush gave way to increasingly sharp inclines. Eventually Rainbow Dash and Daring Do would have to fly up to the harder to reach ledges and lower ropes for the others to climb.
It was late afternoon by the time the group were high enough on the mountain for the trees and bushes of the jungle to completely vanish, replaced with ivy covered rocks and boulders. Looking back, Rainbow could see the enormous compass-crested balloon of the Dungeon Crawler in the valley far below. It looked no bigger than the model in Zestafa’s home from where they were on the mountain.
Rainbow’s head was down, keeping both eyes on her footing when the uneven, jagged rocks suddenly became stairs. Looking up, Rainbow saw that a long flight of stairs had been carved into the side of the mountain, leading up to a dark opening.
“Hey! There it is!” Rainbow called out excitedly.
Behind her, Daring Do and her team climbed onto the ledge and looked up at the sight in front of them.
“Yep. The architecture definitely matches that of the regional pegasus tribes!” Ancient Rune stated, already taking notes.
“Well that’s not at all creepy…” Pyrite muttered.
Rainbow Dash took another look at the face of the temple to find something she hadn’t noticed the first time she saw it: a literal face. The entrance was carved to look like a giant pony skull, with the dark opening forming an unnaturally large mouth.
“Oh golly. Why do these ancient tribes have to make their temples so scary?” Topaz whimpered as the six of them made their way up the stairs.
Once the team made it to the top, they pulled torches out of their bags and began lighting them for their investigation inside.
“Alright, which one of us do you want to send out in front this time?” Gold asked an uneasy looking Daring Do.
“What do you mean? Doesn’t Daring Do always go into dungeons head first?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea! Let’s send the kid in first!” Daring exclaimed.
“What?” Rainbow Dash looked between Daring Do and the dark foreboding entrance to the temple.
“How about it, kid? You want to be our pathfinder?” Daring asked, giving Rainbow a winning smile.
Rainbow looked between the dark temple and Daring Do one more time before putting on a confident grin. “That would be awesome!”
“You do realize how much trouble we’ll be in if something happens to her right?” Pyrite whispered to Daring through the corner of her mouth as Rainbow Dash obliviously turned and started walking into the temple, torch in mouth.
“I know exactly how much trouble we’ll be in: none. That’s why we got her to sign all those legal forms!” Daring whispered back through the corner of her own mouth.
Rainbow Dash lead the way through the dark, dusty confines of the ancient temple. Cobwebs and overgrown plants covered every surface and much of the patterned walls were completely faded away. The whole structure was like a corpse destroyed by time.
All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash stopped to survey her surroundings, holding a hoof up to signal the others to do the same. She eyed the various floor panels apprehensively. Several small holes in the walls suddenly drew her eyes, and the ceiling seemed suspiciously big enough to hold a lot of hungry crocodiles.
“Why have you ceased forward movement, Rainbow?” Ancient Rune asked.
Rainbow Dash spat out her torch and caught it in her hoof. “Because I know what’s coming…”
“W-what’s coming?” Topaz nervously asked.
Rainbow Dash placed her torch back in her mouth. “Juth watch!”
With that, the rainbow pegasus dove forward. She performed a series of impressive acrobatic leaps, cartwheels and somersaults, trying to minimize her contact with the ground as much as possible. She then ran forward as fast as she could, knowing full well that speed meant the difference between life and death. She finished with a dramatic dive forward and made it to the end of the room with a series of rolls on the ground, only stopping to catch her breath once she was safe on the other side.
“Wow… that was impressive.” Rainbow Dash looked back at the sound of Daring Do’s voice to see that the inside of the ancient temple looked exactly the same as it did when she entered, and that Daring Do and her team were staring at her with wide-eyed, confused expressions.
“So… why did you cross the room like that?”
Rainbow Dash looked around the room she had just crossed once more. The floor panels hadn’t given way to lava, there were no deadly poisonous darts sticking out of the walls and no crocodiles had fallen from the ceiling.
Rainbow Dash calmly brushed herself off. “Because... it’s cooler than walking!”
With a shrug, Daring Do calmly crossed the very much not trap filled corridor, followed by her team. In a few short steps, the six exploring ponies entered the next room, and found a large altar surrounded by various treasures. Most of it was old currency that no country even used anymore, but there were a few gems and priceless vases scattered around as well.
“That’s it! On the altar!” Pyrite exclaimed, pointing a hoof at the altar in the center of the room.
Daring Do calmly approached it and Rainbow Dash curiously followed, eager to see what Daring would do. Sure enough, on the pedestal in the middle of the altar was a white rock about as big as her hoof, shaped like a crescent moon. The rock seemed to sparkle in what little sunlight came through the place. Daring Do promptly picked the artifact up and looked at it.
Rainbow Dash had half a mind to grab one of the vases in the room, place it on the pedestal where the Moonstone had been and ask Daring if she’d learned nothing. After her unnecessary performance in the other hallway though, she decided against it.
“Alright, we got it! An easy find this time!” Daring said, placing the Moonstone in one of her saddlebags. “Unless anyone else has anything they want to do, I say we head on back and send in the post excavation team to clean up the minor artifacts!”
“Well, there are some really nice rocks in here.” Topaz said, holding something that Rainbow Dash thought looked no different than an ordinary rock.
“Okay, you can meet us back at the ship once you’re done here.” Daring said as she and the others started making their way out.
“B-by myself?” Topaz looked frantically around the room a couple of times before putting the one rock she picked up away and running to catch up with the others. Soon, the six ponies were back in the long corridor.
“Hey bud, do ya wanna backflip across the room this time?” Gold snickered in Rainbow’s direction.
“Nah. I’m good.” Rainbow Dash nearly bumped into Daring Do’s flank as the archaeologist suddenly stopped.
“Does anypony else hear that?” Daring asked before anypony could question why she stopped.
“Hear what?” But then Rainbow Dash heard it too. A series of unrelenting low booms in the distance. The sounds reminded Rainbow Dash of a distant storm, which struck her as odd.
“It sounds like atmospheric discharges…” Ancient Rune said.
“Bud, you could’ve just said ‘thunder’ and saved yourself like, five syllables.” Gold deadpanned.
“But the skies were clear…” Rainbow Dash pointed out. She remembered because as a weather pegasus back in Ponyville she was impressed by how clear the sky over the mountains was, even though someone on the ship had mentioned this place had its own weather much like the Everfree Forest.
The ponies all exchanged concerned looks except for Iron Pyrite, who just stared grimly ahead. Without any further words, the six ponies ran to the entrance of the temple. The sun was disappearing behind Hijo Mountain opposite to them, but that wasn’t the first thing they noticed. The valley below glowed a slight orange as Daring Do’s airship burned, smoke filling the air above.
“Oh no! The Dungeon Crawler!” Daring Do exclaimed, holding her hooves to her temples, “We’d just finished paying it off!”
“Please tell me you got the extended warranty like I asked you to,” said Iron Pyrite.
The way Daring’s snout suddenly scrunched up indicated that wasn’t the case.
The sun was nearly gone from the sky when the six ponies took cover in the brush just outside of the valley, silent as cats. When Rainbow Dash had flown ahead to see what was going on, she had spotted dozens of hooded ponies in black robes rounding up the surviving members of the ship’s crew. Those same mysterious ponies were still patrolling the valley in force when Daring Do and her team arrived. The crew of the Dungeon Crawler were corralled a few feet away from the ship’s burning remains.
Now that she was closer, Rainbow Dash could make out white crescent moon and stars insignias on the black robes that the attackers wore. She immediately knew who they were up against.
“Cultists… I hate these guys!” Rainbow Dash whispered, grinning like a foal despite the situation.
“This is not the time for more references!” Gold Digger whispered back.
“How did they find us?” Daring asked, “The Dungeon Crawler is… or was one of the fastest ships around!”
“I’d like to know how they were able to incinerate the entire ship as quickly as they did.” Ancient Rune said.
“Maybe those unicorns over there have something to do with it?” Topaz suggested, pointing a noticeably shaking hoof over at a group of robed unicorns. Their horns all glowed various colors as they focused their magic on… something. None of the hiding ponies could see what the cultist unicorns were casting on.
A faint green glowing speck next to one of the black robed ponies caught Rainbow Dash’s eye. It didn’t take her long to identify the lantern of dragonfire from the communication room.
“Hey, look! They were able to save the dragonfire!” Rainbow Dash quietly exclaimed. Her ears suddenly perked up as she thought of something. “That’s it! If we can sneak over to the dragonfire we can send a message for help!”
“Uh oh. I think I see the leader. Twelve o’clock!” Daring Do pointed out another of the robed ponies. This one however wore purple robes with gold detail. He also had darker purple guard’s armor underneath his robes with the same crescent moon insignia on it.
The purple-robed cultist slowly and deliberately strode up to the huddled gathering of the captive crew, flanked by two of his black-robed brethren. The intimidating cultist looked down at a trembling purple pony that Rainbow Dash recognized as Dr. Soar Heart.
“Uh… I g-guess you’re going to ask me w-where the artifact is.” The doctor stuttered, “W-well I can assure you I don’t know anything! I’m just a d-doctor!”
The purple-robed cultist responded with a deep, resonant chuckle. “Oh, I vas not planning on asking you about any artifact. I vas actually planning on asking Daring Do and her companions once my ponies have retrieved them from their hiding spot in the bushes over there!”
Six gasps filled the air as the lead cultist gestured in the direction of Daring Do and her team. The six ponies turned in an attempt to flee only to find that about a dozen of the robed cultists had managed to sneak around behind them. Rainbow Dash then heard a familiar metal click, and saw that the robed pony at the center of the formation had produced a hoof mounted blade just like the one she saw in Sao Pono. She then realized it was the one she saw in Sao Pono as she looked at the face of the pony wielding it and saw a familiar scar cutting across a white snout.
“Fine. You got us.”
Daring Do and the others were all lead out of the brush and towards the purple-robed pony, who turned and met them halfway. Rainbow Dash noticed a pair of wings protruding from holes in the side of his robes.
“Fine work, Lightning Strike!” He complimented the scarred white pony in his deep accented voice. The cultist leader got no response from his subordinate, but a pregnant pause indicated he was expecting one.
“Vell then. Daring Do, I presume?” The cultist continued, “I am Von Umbrae, leader of the Foals of the Moon.”
Von Umbrae removed his hood, revealing a dark gray coat and a long black mane that looked like silk. The cult leader looked at them with pale blue eyes.
Daring Do set the record for the most nervous, awkward laugh ever uttered. “Uh… pleasure’s all mine!”
Von Umbrae grinned. A tiny gasp from Topaz confirmed that Rainbow wasn’t just seeing things: a pair of large fangs glistened in Von Umbrae’s mouth. Rainbow then noticed how his wings weren’t pegasus wings. They were dark and leathery like a bat. Standing there with the Dungeon Crawler in flames behind him, Von Umbrae resembled a creature from Tartarus itself.
“I vas hoping ve could come to an arrangement that vould be mutually beneficial to us...” Von Umbrae rumbled.
Despite the unpleasant sensation of butterflies in her stomach that she normally associated with flying, Rainbow Dash stomped a hoof on the ground and gave the cult leader her best indignant glare.
“Ha! Daring Do doesn’t make deals with cultist scum like you! I don’t see why I don’t just introduce my hoof to your face!”
Rainbow Dash took a step forward, intending to do exactly that when she was suddenly overcome by a strange sensation. It was as if a gust of cold wind had assaulted her, passing through the very fibre of her being. She then tried to take another step forward and found that she couldn’t. She tried moving her legs, her wings and even her tail but to no avail. Rainbow Dash next tried yelling at the very unimpressed looking Von Umbrae, demanding to know what he did to her but she couldn’t even speak. Finally, Rainbow Dash tried to stop herself from keeling over like a rootless tree but she couldn’t even do that. She hit the ground with a painful thud.
“Thank you, Iron Pyrite.” Von Umbrae said. “You did a fine job leading us here as well. You’ve definitely earned your keep!”
“WHAT?” Four ponies cried simultaneously. Rainbow Dash would have done the same, but all she could do was watch helplessly from her position on the ground as Iron Pyrite powered down her horn and went to stand beside Von Umbrae.
“So Daring Do, here is your choice...” Von Umbrae slowly strode up to the four archaeologists.
Topaz was crouched to the ground behind Daring, covering her face with her forelegs. Ancient Rune knelt beside the blue mare with a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, but looked equally as terrified. Gold Digger took a protective step closer to Daring, who stood frozen in place. Iron Pyrite stood off to the side, a solemn expression on her face.
“You can give me the Moonstone now and I’ll leave you and your team unharmed. Or, you can be like the legendary hero of your books, in which case you vill have a very… unpleasant experience. Isn’t that right, Lightning Strike?” Von Umbrae again looked to his subordinate with the scar on his face and gave an annoyed frown when the white pony remained stoically still. The cult leader then returned his attention to Daring Do. “Vell? Are you going to give me the Moonstone currently in your left saddlebag?”
Rainbow Dash watched the whole scene play out at a sideways angle from where she lay under Iron Pyrite’s paralysis spell. Even now, with the intimidating cult leader’s face mere inches from hers, Daring Do didn’t back down, staring right back at Von Umbrae with wide eyes and tiny pupils. She was also shaking increasingly violently. Rainbow Dash figured it wasn’t a big deal, it was kind of cold out anyway. It was either that or she was charging up for a super attack of some kind. Daring Do was so busy shaking bravely that she didn’t even care that her hind legs were in a puddle… which was weird because as Rainbow Dash established earlier, the skies were clear.
Naturally, Rainbow Dash was surprised when Daring Do, who seemed so ready to bravely defy the villain like she always did, collapsed to the ground and held the Moonstone up in front of Von Umbrae’s face with a heavily trembling hoof.
“YES! TAKE IT! PLEASE! JUST PLEASE DON’T KILL ME! I STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO DO! SO MANY DUNGEONS TO EXPLORE! SO MANY AUTOGRAPHS TO SIGN! SO MANY FOODS TO TASTE!”
Von Umbrae calmly took the Moonstone from Daring Do’s raised hoof and tucked it away in his robes. Daring Do returned her hoof to her face the instant Von Umbrae relieved it of the Moonstone and commenced frantic sobbing into the appendage, incoherently rambling on about hugging her fans and how she'd never tasted watermelon.
The sinister cult leader appeared to have half a mind to thank Daring Do, or say anything to conclude their transaction but instead he awkwardly bit his lip. With one last look down at the sobbing mess of a mare with what looked like genuine pity, Von Umbrae turned and began walking away, barking an order at the gathering of cultist unicorns who were still channeling magic into something.
Looking up at the sky with slowly recovering mobility, Rainbow Dash saw what it was those unicorns were doing. Above the burning wreckage of the Dungeon Crawler, the darkening sky briefly distorted as if it had been turned liquid. The distortion then took a shape, and shortly after color. Another huge airship now hovered above the valley.
The lower decks of the recently appeared airship were lined with row after row of cannons protruding from various openings. The massive balloon holding the ship was painted with stars to resemble the night sky. The words E.S Eclipse adorned the hull.
Von Umbrae disappeared into the jungle, heading in the direction of the large airship. Lightning Strike and the rest of the cultists all followed suit, Iron Pyrite only stopping to gather the lantern of dragonfire in her telekinesis before doing the same.
As feeling started to return to Rainbow Dash’s body, she felt a pair of hooves lift her into a sitting position. Rainbow looked up into the face of Gold Digger, the green stallion holding her in his hooves and looking at her through his half closed eyes. After he seemed sure that Rainbow Dash was going to be okay, a slight grin crept across his face to the soundtrack of Daring Do’s rambling sobs. Gold’s look was one Rainbow herself had given many times. It said one thing: “Told you so.”