//------------------------------//
// 5) Daring Do and the Trail of the Old Stone 
// Story: Series 2) Daring Do and the Caballeron Chronicles 
// by AlmanacP 
//------------------------------//

Daring Do and the Trail of the Old Stone 



The stars twinkled in the sky above. Soft wisps of white clouds slowly drifted across the surface of the sky, obscuring a few stars here and there, their edges bathed silver in the moons glow. The sight was accompanied by the soft twittering of nocturnal birds nearby, and the hoot of owls from a distance.
All manner of creatures called the night ‘home’. They swam and slithered, crawled and climbed, walked and scampered through the underbrush in search of nourishment, companionship, and family.
Family.
Daring Do didn’t have any family now. She had tried to make a family out of those around her, her friends. Caffeine Kick, Swiftcall… Cloud Zapper.
So many had passed through her life and touched upon her heart, that she felt the ache of their absence now. Reaching up her hoof, she slowly traced the constellations in the sky; first Canis Major, then Canis Minor. Her musings were interrupted by a colony of bats that flew above, passing between her, the moon and the stars. She followed their path with her eyes, lowering her hoof as she listened to their calls that sang out into the night.
Daring Do sighed to herself and rolled over, turning her attention away from the skies above. The earth below was cold enough and the air frigid enough that she shivered, and considered pitching up her tent… but it was an early start tomorrow, and she didn’t want to have to waste time putting it away again in the morning.
Daring Do was in a forest, north of the Canterlot mountains and far away from anything life threatening, or trying to take over Equestria. The world could do without her for a week. She needed the solitude. In an effort to get her mind off things, she’d taken a boring job that involved a little trekking and excavation in a region of little interest. It was only a three-day trek and then a little temple excavation, and likely wouldn’t be very exciting; but after what had happened recently, Daring Do could use a little ‘boring’ for a while.
She wasn’t quite sure when sleep had taken her, one moment she had been thinking about things back home, and the next thing she knew birds were twittering in the tree’s as mornings glow bathed the area in the warmth of Celestia’s light.
Rolling to her hooves, Daring Do stretched and yawned. She grabbed her belongings and slipped the bags over her back before pulling out her compass and map, she checked her location and the direction on the compass and then nodded to herself in satisfaction. Daring rolled up the map, stowed it and the compass away, spread her wings and took off.
The wind soared through her mane as she flew up through the tree’s and into the sky. She didn’t go very high, barely flying above the treetops as she flew northward. The trees were cramped together, their branches intertwining and their leaves dense enough that seeing the floor of the forest was difficult majority of the time, save a few small gaps here and there. It was the perfect place for ruins to remain undiscovered for centuries, and in fact, these forests had yielded more than one discovery in the recent years. The latest place that had been found was an old ritual temple. Thankfully, this one didn’t seem to be home to more than pyramid steps, a stained alter, and an underground cavern that had yet to be explored. No monsters or spells of ancient power, or world threatening artefacts to yet be found per the reports. It was positively mundane. And that made Daring Do smile.
Daring let her mind wander as she flew, thinking about the measurements she’d have to take when she got to the temple. She needed to date the temple of course, for that she’d need to measure the stone blocks used to make the pyramid, and check what material they’d- her train of thought stopped.
Diving down into the tree’s, she plummeted, zigzagging through the branches, spinning in the air and landing on all hooves, skidding through the dirt leaving a trail of upturned earth in her wake before coming to a posed stop. Daring Do looked around frantically
She had seen him! She knew she had. Where did he go? Why was he here? That flash of purple, that paw-print cutiemark… she had definitely seen him below the tree’s. Shadow.
Looking around herself and listening carefully, she saw and heard nothing. Only the natural sound of the forest met her ears; the distant rustling of animals, the twittering of birds, the far-off calls of other creatures. But not a hint of hooves on dirt.
She turned to her left and ran through the underbrush to the spot she had saw him in. The place was slightly muddy, that was good… but as she looked around her on the ground, there were no hoof-prints to be seen. Had she imagined it? Shadow was supposed to be in the Badlands… was she so stressed she was seeing things now?
Shaking her head, Daring Do decided to put it out of her mind. If he was here, she’d see him again. If not… she’d rather not think about it.
Daring Do flew back up above the tree’s and continued her journey. She reached the temple in just under half an hour. The main building, despite being large, barely poked above the tree’s. Leaves scrapped the top in a fashion that almost covered it, and only the breeze that swayed the tops of those branches revealed the Temples tip. Made sense why it hadn’t been found for so long, you had to really be looking for it to find it.
She slipped below the tree line and glided herself to the forest floor. Pushing herself through the foliage, Daring stepped out onto a large clearing below the base of a tall step pyramid. What immediately struck her as weird… was the clearing itself. It was entirely spare of any trees in what she could only describe as a ‘perfect circle’ on the forest floor. The treetops she’d seen before were of the tree’s circling the large clearing, for some reason they were bent to form a dome of branches that hid the temple from view.
Okay… so maybe this place did have a few secrets… she was going to have words with her informants. This was probably a detail they should have mentioned before her trip began.
“This better not be another world threatening… thing.” She grumbled aloud to herself, looking sourly at the temple. Though, she had to admit, she was curious as to what had made the trees grow in that fashion.
Stepping forward, she trotted up to the base of the temple. Littered around the clearing were a few large limestone pillars that were rooted into the ground. She approached one and looked over the imagery depicted. A smile spread across her features. “Ah, good.”
The pictures showed ponies bending the branches and shaping the trees over time with hooves and telekinesis. So, it wasn’t created by a device of amazing power, just some skilful design. That made Daring Do feel much better about the place.
Smiling to herself, Daring Do began her work. Pulling out a tape measure, she measured one of the base stones and made a note in a little book about its length.


*


THIS was real archaeology. None of the death defying adventure, none of the villains, just Daring Do and the old stone.
Daring Do stood beside such a stone that she’d been looking over for the better part of an hour. She’d made a rubbing of the markings, she’d measured it, weighed it, checked how solid and strong it was, and measured the angle of its placement in comparison to nearby stones. All of which told her these were at least six thousand years old. The building techniques matched those of the period, and matched references to other discoveries in the area. Maybe this had been a thriving populace once and the many temples had been part of one big city.
Celestia this was boring work. But so therapeutic. Daring hadn’t felt this relaxed in a very long time. She smiled to herself, letting out a happy sigh before turning to work on the next stone. Until she stopped…
There was a susurrus. A rustling. A whisper. The smallest hint of a hoof on soil. The distant sound of shallow breath. Daring Do was not alone.
Daring turned on the spot and lashed out, her whip slipping from her saddlebag, the handle in her maw and the cord lashing towards the tree’s. There was a yelp, a firm tug, and then Daring was yanking. From the depths of the foliage tumbled a stallion with a bright purple coat and a dishevelled blond mane, his hooves and wings bound tightly to his body from the cord of the whip.
“Swiftcall?”
The stallion looked up with a pained expression before giving her a nervous smile. “Oh... erm… hi Diane.”


*


“Don’t care.”
“But Diane...”
“Don’t ‘Diane’ me,” she said firmly, “I’m not having it. I needed to get away, and that’s what I’m doing. And it’s ‘Daring’.”
“But what about the-”
“That’s what the guards are there for.” She countered, knowing what he was going to say. “They need to protect people from this kind of thing, I can’t always do it on my own! Now stop wriggling.” She looked over his wing, her hooves gently feeling over the appendage, noting the swelling. Her whip had bound it to his body at an odd angle, and she was worried it’d been damaged when she’d tugged on the cord.
“You weren’t alone until you chose to be.” Said Swiftcall sombrely.
His words sent a flash of pain through her chest and Daring looked away quickly. She took a deep breath, thinking about what to say next before turning back to her companion. His red eyes looked over his shoulder at her pleadingly. He really wanted her to help them. Caballeron had been sending hench-ponies into towns to shake them down for bits. Likely to fund whatever nefarious scheme Ahuizotl had planned. But Daring Do didn’t want to deal with the big brute just to solve some theft issues. The guards were there for that very reason.
“I’m a hero.” Daring began, her tone of voice as soft and gentle as she could make it. She wanted Swiftcall to understand. “That means I have to be strong. And relying on others was making me… not as strong as I needed to be.” Daring let out a soft sigh. “But that doesn’t mean I can take care of every problem. The Guards need to be able to do their jobs, and I need time to not always have to do mine, or at least, what everyone thinks mine is.”
“What do you mean?” Swiftcall asked. His voice was soft and filled with worry. He had always been a sensitive stallion, enough that it worried her sometimes. He turned around, his wing now bound with the hope that it’d feel better in the morning.
“I’m an archaeologist. I’m adventurous, and good at solving puzzles, I can fight with the best of them and I want to save Equestria from the likes of Ahuizotl and I always will. I’ll never abandon ponies in need… but… I am just an archaeologist, and sometimes I just wanna put my hooves in dirt and dig up something cool.
“It’s hard always being a hero. I deserve a break once in a while, ya know?” She said, giving him a soft, hopeful smile.
After a moment of silence, Swiftcall nodded in understanding. Daring breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back on her hooves.
“Your wing alright?” She asked softly. He nodded, his lips drawn into a pout. “Ya know, you panicked me back there.”
Swiftcall raised his brow. “When?”
“About three hours ago, flying through the forest. I saw you through the trees. The shade must have made your coat look a darker shade, because you looked a lot like Shadow and scared me to Tartarus.”
“I didn’t fly through the forest.” He replied, looking confused. “I flew above it, I landed in the bushes only a minute before you found me.” The Pegasus fluttered his good wing a little.
“Oh…” Daring said, feeling weird about this revelation. “I guess I was seeing things.” She grinned. “Maybe I’ve taken too many knocks to the head in my days.”
Swiftcall managed a nervous chuckle, “y-yeah.”
Glancing up at the sky as it dulled to an afternoon glow, Daring yawned and stretched. “Well, we can crash early if you want.” She said, grabbing her sleeping bag from her saddle-bags. “Oh, Swiftcall, I’ve been meaning to ask.” She began, laying the sleeping bag down and nestling herself inside as Swiftcall did the same with his own, giving light grunts whenever his wing got caught a little uncomfortably.
“Yeah?”
“Back when we last spoke. I know it was months ago, but it was when I was looking for Ahuizotl and you told me they were in the Alps… why were you so jittery and illusive when I spoke to you? You seemed terrified.”
“What?” He replied, scratching behind his head nervously. “No I didn’t, nothing was wrong, it’s fine.” He flipped himself over and looked away from her, staring at the forest.
Daring wasn’t sure how to take his skittish nature so she turned around, curled herself up and let sleep take her. It was early, but they had a very early start waiting for them in the morning, they were gonna need plenty of sleep.


*


Swiftcall woke up to the smell of food as Daring laboured over a camping pot. She hummed to herself as she chopped up some onions. “Good morning.” She greeted, dropping them into the pot that already housed some sweet potatoes. “How’s the wing?”
Swiftcall stood up and rubbed his eyes. “M-morning, and erm… eeek.” He seethed as he tried to flex his wing and found it too painful. “Not good. It’s not broken, I don’t think… but hurts.”
Daring Do sighed before giving him a dismissive shrug. “Guess you’ll be sticking around.”
“Aren’t you gonna apologise?” He asked curiously, eyeing her from head to hoof.
“Hey, you should have announced yourself. I was only protecting myself, and I will not apologise for that.” She dropped a bowl of stew down in front of him. “Now eat, we got a lot of work to do.”
Swiftcall almost choked on his first bite of the food. “We do?”
Daring chuckled and nodded, “of course. If you have to stick around you can at least help me out here.”
“B-but… my wing…”
“Your hooves are fine.” Daring smirked, downing the last of her own stew. “I’ll get started, meet me when you’ve finished.”
With that, Daring Do stood up and trotted to the base of the step-pyramid temple. The birds overhead cawed and whistled their morning songs as the bright morning light permeated the canopy cover, bathing the ground in bright colours of golds and greens. Daring Do ran her hoof over one of the stones and began taking a rubbing of the images it depicted. Her hoof ran the charcoal over the paper expertly, the patterns and shapes showing up on the page. The image was of a pony figure, with a swirl over them that seemed to follow them everywhere they went. Every action the pony took, the swirl got larger in each picture, until at the bottom of the stone, the pony figure seemed to fall into a chasm, to its death. Interesting imagery.
Daring Do grabbed her measuring wheel and began running it along the outside of the pyramid. It was one-hundred-eighty-one feet across on each side. By the time she had finished measuring all sides of it, Swiftcall was finally done with his stew. Together, he and Daring Do spent the next two hours measuring the angle of the temples corners, and the height all the way to the top. When Swiftcall saw the alter at the top, he didn’t want to go near it. Daring had to assure him that according to the markings, this alter had not been used for sacrifices. In fact, it had been used to prepare ponies to go on what she could only find being referred to as ‘The Pilgrimage’. Which involved them traveling under the temple to never be seen from again.
She showed him the ‘Well’, as it had been called. It was a set of narrow stairs on the left side of the pyramid that went under it. It was so dark down there that the light of the morning sun could only reach the fourth step down.
“Are we going in there?” Swiftcall asked, looking worried.
“Yup.” Daring smirked, her grin stretching from ear-to-ear as she grabbed her pith helmet and sat it on her head, she attached a torch to it and flicked it on.
“Do I have to come with?”
Daring Do shrugged. “If you want.” She stepped forward into the darkness, her torch lighting the way.
Swiftcall looked around himself, alone by the temple, the forest surrounding the area and the distant yowls and cries of creatures greeting the mornings light. “Wait for me!” He yelped and bound after the rapidly fading light of Daring Do’s torch in the darkness. Daring Do could only chuckle as he caught up.
The darkness engulfed them both. Critters scurried in the dark, long forgotten bones crunched under-hoof and Daring Do pressed forward, eager to see where this all led. The walls were stone, marred by the ancient inscriptions of civilisations long since dead. The images represented an ancient passage, a test that would befall any that entered the inner parts of the temple. From what she could read, it was known as the ‘Trail of the Old Stone’.
Daring Do made a note of that in a notebook before she stashed it away, walking ever deeper into the depths of the passage.
“S-so… what do you usually do in these kinds of places?” Swiftcall asked, glancing around him, ducking under overgrown roots that had somehow grown through the stone above them in various places. It was as though the forest had attempted to reclaim the temple back into the earth from whence the stone came.
“I map it.” She said simply, showing him her notepad that had their current route plotted. “I explore it all, check out the finds and map it. Then we call an excavation team to round up the artefacts.”
“I thought you handed artefacts yourself?”
“Only if they’re extremely valuable and in danger of being stolen. Or magical, those I get too because the big-wigs at the university don’t want to get too close to them.” She chuckled. “This one likely won’t be either.”
“What makes you so sure?” He asked, looking over some of the images inscribed deep into the stone walls.
“Because if it were in danger of being stolen, we wouldn’t be the only ones here.”
The sound of laughing echoed around them. The voice was strong and confident; it was a voice she’d heard before, the sound made Daring Do stiffen as a shiver ran down her spine.
“Diane? What’s going on?” Swiftcall’s expression was one of concern.
Daring narrowed her eyes as she looked around her. The subtle change in the air pressure, the way the sound reverberated off the walls… they were not alone.
“Shadow.”


*


“Who’s Shadow?” Swiftcall’s voice echoed around her, it was filled with worry.
“He’s a thief. And a good one.” She replied, looking around her, the beam of light from her torch shining into the darkness. But all it revealed were the dark stone walls and ceilings.
Swiftcall stepped up close, looking around himself, seemingly hoping his eyes alone could pierce the dark and see the danger. “He’s here?”
“Don’t worry, I can deal with him.” Daring said, allowing a small smirk to ride its way along her features.
Daring Do stepped forward into the darkness, remembering the previous times she had faced Shadow. She wished she could be as confident in her own abilities against him as she assured Swiftcall she was. The truth of the matter was; she’d never fought him. Cloud Zapper, her Royal Pegasus friend had always taken that honour. She had no idea what Shadow was capable of.
The darkness swallowed them both as they stepped deeper into the tunnels. They came to an intersection, directly ahead of them led to more darkness, the right led around a corner, and the left led downwards. A cold breeze was coming from down there. Daring Do decided to follow it.
“We’re going deeper?” Swiftcall whimpered behind her. Daring Do couldn’t help but role her eyes, this made her wish for Cloud Zapper’s company rather than Swiftcall’s. At least Cloud never complained.
The steps finally touched down after several meters of decent. The flicker of some glinting light was in the distance whenever she shined her torch down into the darkness. Daring Do stepped forward and into the mouth of an archway. Her torch struck the far wall, it was so shiny that it reflected the light all around, revealing the chamber. The walls were a polished stone that reflected the light of her torch around like mirrors. The floors were tiles and embedded into the tiles were tall mirrors. In the centre of the room, on a stone pedestal, was Shadow.
“What are you doing here, Shadow?!” Daring Do demanded, stamping her hoof.
That wide cocky smile spread itself across the dark purple stallion, his coat looking almost black in the darkness. “Why Daring Do, funny I should be seeing you here.”
“Diane?” Swiftcall looked at Daring, his face plastered with worry. “What’s going on?”
Daring Do snorted, “that’s just what I want to know.”
Shadow could only chuckle, “oh I can see this is going to be fun.” He smirked, “come on then, catch me if you can.” He rolled off the stone and into the maze of mirrors and away from view.
“Come on!”
Swiftcall let out a squeak as he was yanked by Daring Do into the mirrors.
Daring headed down the first set of mirrors and turned right, all the while pulling Swiftcall in her wake. She moved left, and then to the second right, only to come to a dead end. She backtracked, turned left, then went right, then right again, and then left again. But it was another dead end. No matter how she tried, Daring Do kept finding dead ends. The adventurous mare attempted to map the maze in her head, but it was becoming increasingly confusing.
As Daring Do backtracked around a corridor, she found herself facing yet another dead-end. “Didn’t we just come this way?” Commented Swiftcall behind her. Daring had to agree, they had definitely come this way. It was like the maze was… moving.
“What’s wrong Daring Do, can’t find your way?” Shadow’s voice called out from the other end of the room. The smug laughter that followed grated on her nerves. 
“I am so gonna kick his flank.” Daring Do said, gritting her teeth as she spoke.
“Diane, are you okay?” The concern in Swiftcall’s voice was palpable. It was enough to make Daring Do pause and take a deep breath. She turned to him and gave what she hoped was a warm smile.
“Hey, relax Swift. I’m alright, I’m just a little frustrated with this bozo. He’s throwing me off my game a little.” She said, trying a light-hearted chuckle.
He didn’t look convinced. She turned back to the maze and looked around curiously. She moved to a corner, looked around it, before turning away and walking back towards Swift for a moment. She paused, before suddenly rushing around the corner again.
“Aha!”
Swiftcall ran to join her and yelped as he almost galloped headfirst into a wall. “W-when did this get here?”
“It’s changing based on observation!” Daring Do looked to Swiftcall with a wide grin that made him feel uncomfortable. “When we see something and look away, it changes immediately. This entire place is magically made to be impossible to navigate!”
“So…” Swiftcall began, “how ARE we supposed to navigate it?”
“By not observing it.”
Swiftcall wasn’t sure he liked her tone of voice. She dipped her head into her bag and pulled out a strip of cloth. She tore it with her hooves and teeth and fashioned some rags that she then began to tie around Swiftcall’s head as a makeshift blindfold.
“D-Diane… Daring… are you sure about this? What if it’s that Shadow guy you keep talking about? What if he’s controlling the walls, or what if it’s just changing randomly?” He didn’t much like the thought of running into a wall.
“I got a good look at the maze before we slipped down into it. I mapped out a basic route but we met a dead end, and when we backtracked, the route back had changed. And when I checked around the corner, it had changed again, but only in specific ways. Ways that had opened before, showing other paths, showed me that the only places that had changed were the paths that I had mapped out. Everything else was staying the same. Trust me on this, I know what I’m doing.” Daring said, grinning broadly as she wrapped the blindfold over her own eyes, blinding herself.
She reached out and took Swiftcall’s hoof and guided him forward. She walked in the direction of the exit, and in the direction of what had been a dead-end before they’d put the blindfold on.
Two steps, three steps, five steps, eight steps… they should have met the wall by now. Daring Do smirked as they walked forward, meeting no resistance from the maze.
The echo of their hooves sounded different as they stepped up near the end of the room. She could tell by the echo bounce they were right next to a wall. Slowly and carefully, she reached up and lifted her blindfold, glancing back at the maze.
It was still there, solid as ever, but she was now on the other side of it.
She nudged Swiftcall with a smirk and watched as he lifted his own blindfold. “Wow… it worked.”
“Told ya.” She grinned, “trust me, this is what I do.” She took the make-shift blindfolds and shoved them into her saddlebags before looking around. “Now where did he go.”
She looked around the room, but couldn’t find Shadow anywhere. No sign or trace of him. The ground was dusty from centuries of isolation and their hooves scuffed the dirt as they trod forward. However, just like in the forest, no hoofprints belonging to Shadow were found. She couldn’t track him if she couldn’t find a trace of him, her only option was to keep moving and hope he’d either make a mistake, or voluntarily make himself known again. 
The walls around them both were smooth apart from an archway that led into a dark set of stairs descending downwards. Daring Do began walking, her hoof-steps echoing out around them as they ventured further into the black.
The darkness encompassed them completely like thick tendrils that clung to their coats. Daring Do tried activating her torch, but its bright beam could not penetrate the thick blackness that encroached on them, the beam meeting neither floor nor wall. The dark felt thick, like the air was heavy. Daring wondered if this was another test of the temple. She looked to her right and pressed her torch almost up to the walls entirely, the smallest feints of light showed marking, and a touch of her hooves proved the walls were littered with them. From what she could tell they weren’t pictures but symbols made up of many lines, and each step she took down was followed by a new symbol.
“D-Diane… I don’t like this place.” Swiftcall was crouched on the stairs nearby, his outline barely visible in the black at all. In fright, he seemed to be standing stiffly, sweat was visible on his brow, his wings flat against his back as he looked to Daring Do with an expression of concern. She too was starting to get worried. This place was getting heavier and harder to move through, the further they went down the heavier it got… like they were wading through syrup.
Daring tried moving lower, her hooves stepping from step to step as her companion did his best to keep pace with her. But he was starting to fall behind. The descent had begun to feel like tar, and it was becoming hard to breathe as the pressure on her body and chest increased.
Daring let out a groan from the effort, trying to push herself down, but the mare was quickly reaching her limit. This tar like atmosphere was threatening to drown her.
The darkness seemed closer… somehow. Daring Do couldn’t help but stumble. She collapsed to her right, leaning against the wall for support. As her hoof moved over the surface, she felt the symbols and noticed a significant difference.
“D-Diane, please... can we go back.” He was shaking and panting now; this was harder for him than it was for her. She was at least hardened by her own adventures; he was just a messenger, and the look in his eyes told her he was afraid for his life.
“Wait…” She began, looking closer to the wall, trying to see the symbols. “The marks. Less lines.”
“What?”
“They’re numbers. They’re counting down. We’re almost to the bottom I promise!”
She heard him whimper at her words as she steeled herself to keep moving, forcing herself to take another step… and then another… and then another. She kept her hoof on the symbols, fumbling to mark the number of lines in each one.
Twelve lines… ten lines… eight lines… five lines…
“Almost there….”
Swiftcall collapsed with a thud. His unconscious form began to fall forward on the stairs. He barely made it a step before Daring Do managed to catch him, not wanting him to fall into the darkness. She sighed to herself, biting her lip hard enough to break the skin as she hoisted him onto her back, aiming to carry him. He was clammy and sweaty, this had taken a big toll on him.
Daring Do, friend on her back and darkness surrounding her, the pressure of sludge and tar in the air pressing down at her enough to stifle her breath and movements… she moved. The adventurous mare began walking.
Needing all hooves for balance, she could no longer keep track of the number of lines on each symbol. She could only work with memory. Each two steps were another line gone. Daring Do counted under her breath.
“Three lines… two lines… one last line…”
Immediately everything changed. One minute Daring Do was struggling, on the verge of passing out as the weight and pressure encompassed her… and then it was over.
The change was sudden enough that Daring Do fell. The air pressure was normal again, and with her breath no longer constructed, she let out a heavy gasp, a gasp that was forced out of her lungs sharply when she fell to the floor. Coughing and sputtering, Daring Do curled up, shaking as she tried to breathe normally.
Daring laid there for a moment, and when her breathing had calmed, she looked to where Swiftcall had fallen from her back. Thankfully he was stirring, so he was alright.
Trying to push themselves to their hooves, both groaned from their bruises. Swiftcall hissed at the feeling of his damaged wing which had been hurt more in the fall.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded, rubbing his head with his left hoof in discomfort, probably from the same headache she was experiencing.
A piercing laughter pulled them from the moment.
Daring Do turned quickly and stood between Swiftcall and the entrance to the next room. The stairs they had descended were to their right, and a quick glance shocked her. They were brightly lit and she could see all the way up them… no darkness.
Before the adventurous mare was a large stone archway in the wall, the room beyond was a large corridor, pillars on either side and a set of doors awaited them at the end. The walls were made from orange stone, much like the temple above. Daring had no idea how far down they were, or how far down it would reach by the end.
Stepping forward into the room, Daring Do looked carefully for any sign of her foe. The air was so thick with dust she could see it swirling in the rays of light that lit the room. Keeping her breath shallow, she moved forward into the middle of the room.
“Are we okay?” Said Swiftcall from behind her, having pulling himself up and moved over to join her in the room.
Daring mumbled, “I think so.”
“OUCH!”
Daring Do turned to see Swiftcall looking down at his hoof. The ground seems to have cracked open and locked onto his hoof, probably just an accident. “Come here.” She sighed, reaching for his hoof. She began pulling it, but he seemed to be stuck. “How did you do this to yourself?”
“Sorry.” He mumbled looking down at his hoof in shame.
Daring Do could only chuckle, “It’s alright, on my first ever adventure, I got captured by pirates.” She said, giving him a small smirk, trying to wriggle his hoof free.
A sound behind her made her pause. She heard hoof-steps.
“Daring?” Swiftcall asked curiously as Daring Do turned around. They were no longer alone in the room, and the presence of the other pony made a shiver run down her spine.
Shadow.
He stood a few feet from her, looking at her with a wide smirk. “Hello Diane.”
Daring stepped away from Swiftcall, glaring at Shadow as she moved into a better position. She tried her best to stay somewhat close to Swiftcall though, in case Shadow chose him as a target. She had forgotten how dark his coat was. The stallion had a dark purple mane and coat, a pawprint cutiemark, and his mane and tail harboured a darker purple streak that slid through with a colour that looked almost black in the dull flickering light of the torches. His eyes were a bright violet and they shone with a cocky malevolence that stiffened the fur on the back of Daring’s neck.
“Shadow.” She said under her breath, his name like a hiss from her mouth.
“Diane?” Swiftcall asked, looking confused.
“Stay out of this, I’ll protect you.” She said firmly, glancing to Swiftcall as she spoke. He looked worriedly at her, and somewhat confused.
Shadow began chuckling before he turned and walked to the edge of the room casually, as though she were no threat. “It’s so nice of you to drop in here, and to have found the entrance for me, but I’m afraid it’s going to have to come to an end now.” His hoof reached out and pushed in a stone on the wall. Everything began to shake.
“AH! Snake!” Swiftcall yelled.
‘Darn right he’s a snake!’ Daring thought venomously as she dived forward towards Shadow. The ground cracked open beneath her, the tiles of the floor starting to separate and boiling hot lava suddenly erupted from below.
Daring Do yelled out as she felt hot burning pain sear over her back leg as she hit the ground and rolled. The floor was in pieces now, islands of floating stone floor in a sea of molten rock. She glanced to Swiftcall and saw him yelling as he looked down at the floor, his area still gratefully secure above the lava.
Shadow looked to her and smiled. “This is where your adventure ends Daring Do.”
“Not yet!” She yelled, diving at Shadow. She tried to use the hot air to lift her as her wings stretched wide, but found herself having to flap harder than she expected. Figuring she must still be tired from the staircase, she forced herself forward at break-neck speeds, Daring Do struck Shadow and forced him back against the far wall, pinning him. “Why are you here?!”
Shadow could only laugh. “To see you suffer of course.”
“DIANE!” Swiftcall yelled out in terror. Daring Do turned to see the rock of his perch starting to melt away under the extreme heat.
“What’s it going to be, Diane?” Shadow asked with a wide smirk, “stop me, or save your friend?”
Daring turned to him and glared before she dived away, Shadow cackling as she dove for her friend. Just as the floor swallowed up the last inch of his perch, she scooped him up and pulled him away. The heat rose, Daring Do found herself losing altitude. She must have been more tired than she thought. They looped and flew towards a stone arch on the opposite end of the room, the door of the arch slowly starting to lower, threatening to trap them in with the lava that would surely spell their demise before long. Daring through Swiftcall as hard as she could, sending him yelping as he landed on the floor and skidded under the arch, Daring Do striking the floor and rolling fast just as the door came down.
They made it through, Daring Do lying on her back, bruised and panting, sweat pouring from her brow as she stared at the ceiling.
Daring Do laid there for a moment, trying to regain her breath. This room was nice and cool; it was a little drafty in fact, which was good in her opinion. It soothed her singed coat… well, not singed, she seemed to be unharmed, but dehydrated for sure.
She turned her head and watched as Swiftcall stood up shakily, holding his wing.
“Is your wing okay?” She asked, hoping throwing him hadn’t hurt it even more.
“Is my wing okay?” He asked, looking at her confused. “WHAT DO YOU THINK?!”
Daring Do’s eyes widened at his sudden outburst. “What-”
“WHAT HAPPENED IN THERE?!” He seemed furious, Daring watched as tears filled the stallion’s eyes as his gaze turned into an expression of hurt and betrayal.
“What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” He let out a bark of laughter. “How about you tell me what’s wrong with you!? How dare you fly off and around the room like a maniac and leave me to deal with the snakes! You know I hate snakes!”
Snakes?
“W-what-” She began to say.
“Screaming about some guy named ‘Shadow’! Talking to yourself!”
Talking to herself?
“What are you talking about?” She yelled back, standing up. “What snakes?”
Swiftcall looked at her as though she were crazy. “THE SNAKES! The room was filled with snakes! They almost had me before you pulled me out and threw me in here! And they wouldn’t have even gotten close if you had of just yelped me get my hoof unstuck in the beginning!”
“There was lava… and there was Shadow…”
“WHO IS SHADOW?!”
Daring Do’s eyes widened and she took a step back, shaking her head. “This… this is all wrong… I… we… Shadow was there… he pressed a button and the ground broke up, and there was lots of lava. And I tried to stop him but he got away when I had to save you…” Daring Do was visually distressed. Nothing was making any sense.
“Diane.” Swiftcall said, looking at her with accusing eyes. “There was no Shadow. And there was no lava. There was just you, and me, and a lot of snakes. And between the snakes and those burning stairs, I’ve had quite enough of this adventure.”
“Burning?” She asked softly, “the stares were dark and… heavy… not hot.”
Swiftcall looked just as confused, “they weren’t dark… they were just very hot.”
Daring Do sat down, leaning against a wall as she collected her thoughts. “So… you’ve never seen Shadow? Back in the other room with the maze?” She paused, “it WAS a maze for you, right?”
He nodded, “yeah… it was a maze, and it changed because of how we saw it. You figured that out.” He spoke sullenly, but he’d at least calmed down now. He was idly stroking his damaged wing.
“So, the maze played on our perceptions, and then we found the stairs and I saw darkness and pressure, and for you it was hot. And in that room, I saw lava and Shadow, and you saw snakes. We’ve been experiencing different things. And Shadow…”
“I haven’t seen him,” said Swiftcall, sighing softly, “I don’t think he’s been here at all.”
“But, he felt real. He felt there. I touched him.” She shook her head.
“The heat of the stairs felt real for me too.”
She nodded to him. “This place… I don’t like it.”
“Me neither.”
Daring Do sighed and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “So, all this time he hasn’t been here at all.” She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. “I guess that’s one last problem I have to deal with.” She said, trying to give Swiftcall a confident smile. He returned with a soft smile of his own, though it still held the slightest vestige of a grimace.
“Well we know one thing; I’m not burned at all, so the lava definitely wasn’t real, no matter how real it felt. So, we can’t be hurt by these things, if we keep moving and just remember that what we see isn’t real, I’m sure we can make it out of here.” Said Daring, speaking with a tone of confidence.
He smiled to her. “I hope you’re right.”
‘So do I,’ she thought to herself as they stood up and looked around.
Daring Do and Swiftcall were in a corridor that led down and to the left. Following it slowly, Daring Do kept her eyes out for anything that might be dangerous. Even if this place WAS playing tricks on them, it was still best to be vigilant. But Daring Do had to wonder. What was the purpose of this place? If the lava couldn’t hurt her and her enemy wasn’t there, why be shown it at all? Why force infiltrators to fight something that isn’t there? Maybe it was just to drive them both mad.
Daring Do and her trusted companion stepped from the corridor into a small room. The flame of two torches bathed the area in a golden glow, highlighting the markings over the walls and the gold trimmings of the archway that stood before them. The archway was blocked off with sheer stone. The stone was smooth to the touch, and would likely require a puzzle to open the path. Daring Do turned to Swiftcall and raised a brow.
“You seeing an archway with a big slab of stone blocking the way?”
He nodded in reply.
Satisfied that this was real, she reached out and ran her hoof over the stone carefully. It was smoother than she had expected, but just from the texture she could tell it was heavy. Breaking through it was likely not going to be an option.
Turning to the depictions she began to look for any clues. Instead she found something that was… obvious. Keys.
Embedded into the walls were a set of three keys. A light touch of them freed them from the walls. She looked them over, turned back to the slab of stone, and there in the middle right hoof corner was a keyhole that she was sure had not been there before.
“Which one?” Swiftcall asked, looking over the keys curiously.
“That’s a good question,” said Daring Do, inspecting them. The keys looked the same. They were made of stone, but still smooth despite the centuries passing them by. The keyhole look standard as well, and from what she could visually tell, there wasn’t any difference from one key to the next. “We can’t just try them one by one. Two of them are likely traps.” She mumbled.
“What if they’re not?” Swiftcall ventured.
“What?”
“What if all three work.”
“Why would they do that?” She asked, giving him a raised brow at his suggestion.
“Well think about it, what else in this place has been expected?”
He had a point. She’d usually argue that there was no point to giving three keys that all worked. Because whoever was breaking in would get to enter regardless of which one they chose… but then she thought back to the traps and tests. None of them were fatal. Uncomfortable, for sure, but never fatal. None of them had hindered their passage, or in any way tried to harm them. It wasn’t like they were being hindered, more like they were being tested.
Daring Do looked to her friend, shrugged and picked a key at random. Slipping it into the lock she turned the key and the sound of ancient gears turning shook dust from the ceiling. Slowly but surely, the door began to rise.
“Good call.”
Swiftcall smiled at her words and followed her inside as they stepped through the now open archway.
The room beyond was quiet.
Daring Do stepped into the room and looked around. Pillars of stone ran from floor to ceiling in grand arches, the walls intricately designed, and in the centre of the room stood a single grey stone. A monolithic rock that was raw and natural in shape.
Stepping up to the rock she looked around its built base curiously. The rock seemed to be natural to the location, and the floor was built around it… or maybe the entire temple was built around the stone.
“This is interesting… Swift, what do you think?” Daring asked curiously, only to be met with silence. “Swift?” She turned to find herself alone.
A creepy chill ran up her spine as she looked around, finding no sign of her companion anywhere.
“Hello Diane.”
Daring turned on the spot, coming face to face with Shadow. The stallion leaned forward and gave her the smallest kiss on the lips. The contact froze her for a moment before she jumped back and spat on the ground. “What the…!?”
Shadow chuckled, grinning at her with a lecherous and villainous gaze. “Our first kiss, and by torchlight no less. Who says romance is dead?”
“You aren’t real!” Daring accused, closing her eyes. “Swift, I’m seeing him again…”
“You’re seeing me now?” Shadow asked, circling her slowly. “Does that mean we’re dating?”
Daring Do grit her teeth. “Shut up, and go away.”
The stallion pouted playfully at her words. “You don’t really mean that, do you?”
“You aren’t real,” she repeated, “you’re just this place getting into my head.”
“How do you know?” He asked curiously. “This place can make you hear me, and see me. How do you know Swiftcall was telling the truth? How do you know he even said that at all? Or better yet… how do you know he was ever here to begin with.”
Daring’s breath caught in her throat. Did she really have any proof? Had Swiftcall done anything? Pressed any buttons? Saved her from anything? Had he done anything other than stand there? she’d touched him, but she’d felt the lava too… real or not, it felt real to her. Did she have any solid evidence that anything she was seeing was real?
“This place really messes with ya, doesn’t it?” Shadow said, grinning. He was by the rock now, tapping on it. “It’s all this things fault.”
“It is?” Daring Do asked, looking at him cautiously, not sure about anything anymore.
“Of course, you know that. You’re at the deepest level of the Temple, and they built the whole thing around a big old rock. No pony ever does that unless its special.” He grinned at her.
He was right. In her experience, the stone was certain to be the cause.
“How do I know you’re real?” She asked with a glare, refusing to look away for a second. She knew that if she did, and he WAS real, it would be dangerous to let her guard down.
“You don’t.” Well that was anti-climactic. “But you can’t take the risk, can you?” He smirked and approached her confidently, forcing her to take a few steps back. She felt a stone pillar against her back. His hooves pressed either side of her head and he leaned in close, grinning broadly. “Maybe we should kiss again, maybe you’ll be able to tell then.” He said, leaning in. Her head snapped forward. She headbutted him hard, sending him falling onto his back.
“Ouch.” He grunted, rubbing his head. “Well... looks like you still got some fight in you!”
Suddenly he was up, his hoof lashing out. Daring Do reacted instinctively, ducking low under his blow and snapping her forehoof up into his ribs. The moment he stumbled from the blow, she turned and bucked out hard. The stallion grunted and flew back into a wall before falling to the floor, coughing. “Wow… you’re good.”
“Too good for you.” Daring Do said, glaring as she approached him. “I don’t know if you’re real or not, but I’m not gonna let you mess with my head.”
Shadow stood up on shaky legs and grinned, “haven’t you heard? That’s my speciality.” He snapped forward and struck out again. Daring Do’s head snapped to the side, her hoof came up and wrapped around his own, she twisted hard. His other hoof snapped out and struck her in the jaw though, the force sending her sprawling to the floor.
“Whoop! Dramatic!” Shadow said, grinning. “I can see why Cloud respected you. You fight as well as any Royal Guard, and they have all the cool toys and training.”
“I have toys too.” Daring said, spitting a little blood to the floor from her split lip. She reached into her saddlebag and lashed out with her whip. Shadow yelped as it wrapped around his leg and with a sharp tug, sent him sprawling to the floor.
Daring Do was on him quickly, binding his legs together. He struggled and snapped at her with his teeth, laughing as he did so. Daring moved away from the bites and struck him with her hooves hard, only to watch his dark purple coat flash to lighter shade and his dark mane turn to bright yellow.
“D-Diane…” Swiftcall said, looking bruised from the fight, looking up at her in fear.
Daring stepped back quickly, “Swift!” She looked down at her hooves and back to her friend, realising what she had done. But the moment her despair burned up in her chest, suddenly it was Shadow again, cackling loudly. Her chest tightened as the laughing continued, even as Swift lay there once again, looking at her as though she had betrayed him.
Daring Do turned away and clutched her head, shaking from head to hoof. “No, no, NO!” She yelled, slamming her hooves against her own temple to bore out the confusion somehow. This made no sense, was Shadow here or Swift? Were neither of them here at all?!
Her eyes turned to the stone. No more.
She ran up to it, turned and bucked out hard. Her hooves struck the rock and with a deafening crack, it split open.
A glow came from within the hollow interior. The world turned into a dark shade of grey, as though all colour drained from it. The stone had etchings along the inside, and there in the centre, held by a small metal holder, was a glowing blue stone, its ethereal visage the only mote of colour she could see. Daring Do scanned the inscriptions and found ancient equestrian words. She’d learned more since her last mess of translating things, so this she read easily:

“Perceptions heart, and ancients might,
From within the realm of mind they fight.
From darkest tales and courage shown,
Equestrian fall will soon be known.
Stripes of black, and stripes of white,
A reveal of those from out of sight.
Protection sought to hide the minds,
Cut through the dark and fog that blinds.
A trail of old stone to show the way,
A journey to test and seize the day.
Ready be ye, for what’s to come,
For the hardest days are yet begun.”


Daring Do, really hated prophesies.
Reaching out with her hoof, she grasped the stone and pulled it from its holding. A flash blinded her for a moment, and suddenly she was plunged into darkness. Not total darkness though. The room looked… different. The ground was cracked, vines and reeds were growing through everything, the walls where ancient intricate carvings had been were now crumbling, and the only light source was a large oculus hole in the ceiling. Because of course there had to be an oculus hole.
She looked around, and found herself very much alone. The place looked… as she had expected it to look before coming down here. Old.
Looking up to the Oculus, she spread her wings and flapped hard to soar towards it, only for hooves to grasp onto her leg. She yelped and looked down, seeing a bruised and hurt Swift.
“Diane!”
She yelped and flew up hard, pulling him with her. She almost made it through the hole, only to almost be dragged down again. She reached down to pry herself free, but Swift grasped her forehoof instead.
“You aren’t real!” She yelled, trying to shake him off.
“I am… I am… please... trust me… Shadow isn’t real but I am… Diane… Daring!”
Daring Do looked down into the eyes of her friend and bit her lip again. She needed to make a decision. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled hard.
She pulled her friend up and together the rolled onto their backs, staring up at the canopy above.
They laid there in silence, getting their breath back, just watching the clouds drift over the blue sky from behind the reeds and branches that coloured their world with greens and golds.
“Diane?” Began Swiftcall.
“Huh?”
“Remind me never to join you on an adventure, ever again.”
Daring Do chuckled.


*


Daring Do thought about everything that had happened on the adventure. From what she could understand, the stone had been testing her, or preparing her for something. It seemed these prophesises were all about her and the trials she was to face in the future. She could tell something was missing, something beneath the surface, but she knew digging for it wouldn’t help.
Daring Do flew to the nearest encampment with Swiftcall holding onto her back, it took her two hours to reach it with the extra weight. As she landed, she saw in the distance, a group of ponies talking to a messenger. He noticed her and trotted over quickly. He had a light blue coat and pink eyes. He pulled out a letter and placed it by her hooves as he panted to catch his breath.
“Daring Do?” He enquired as he approached. “We have news!”
“What news?”
“Ahuizotl has gathered almost all the Rings of Scorchero. We managed to rescue one from your holdings.” He brought out the lockbox that had been crafted to hold the ring. “We need to keep this safe.”
Daring Do nodded in agreement.
There were plenty of trials ahead, and some things in the shadows that she needed to be wary of. But Daring Do knew one thing was certain.
This adventure wasn’t over, and there was a long road ahead to saving Equestria.