The journey to the temple was not an easy one for Daring Do, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. First being the map they had procured from Ahuizotl being hundreds of years old, making it difficult to navigate hundreds of years of continuous expanding jungle. The next problem they faced was that Applejack could not fly, which meant making the journey on hoof. Having to deal with the mud, the heat, sudden showers from passing rain clouds, more mud, thorny bushes, maze like trails, more mud, bugs, and even a shrubbery or two. Each pony took a turn lugging the ruby through the jungle, no pony was happy to have it be their turn but the pony handing it over was more than happy.
"How much further?" Rainbow Dash asked with a whine; dragging her hooves as she walked.
"I'll check the map." Daring Do replied; noticeably fed up with the jungle. "Take five every pony."
Applejack, the unfortunate pony whose turn it was to carry the ruby, slumped against a tree; fanning herself with her hat. Rainbow Dash opted to simply collapse on the ground to take her breather. Daring Do unrolled the map, trying to determine their starting point at the river, and to where they could be right now.
"If I'm reading this right, we should be on the other side of a large rock arch that connects to the mountain, and nearing a waterfall to the west." Daring Do stated.
Glancing over her shoulder, Daring Do could see that neither Rainbow Dash nor Applejack seemed willing or able to check their location. Daring Do was used to this sort of exploring, the rough and tough lifestyle that she had gotten used to over the years; it was too much to ask from non-veteran explorers.
"You ponies stay here; I'll fly up and see where we're at." Daring Do said, getting a nod from both of them.
Leaping up towards the jungle canopy, Daring Do weaved through the branches of the trees before clearing the leaves into the open air. Soaring higher, Daring Do looked around to get an idea of where they were. To her amusement, her map reading skills had not dimmed, for they were on the other side of stone arch that branched out from the mountain. Looking towards the west, a large cliff spouted a waterfall in the far off distance.
Soaring a bit higher, Daring Do scanned the jungle canopy looking for any sign of the temple. From her height, she could make out something that looked to be stone amongst the trees, but without moving closer there was no way to tell if it was the temple. Not wanting to risk losing Applejack and Rainbow Dash in the jungle and go exploring on her own, Daring Do soared back towards the jungle floor.
"Good news every pony, we're nearly there. Just half a day's hike from here." Daring Do reported to them.
"That's great." Applejack said, sounding more tired than excited.
"Yea… great." Rainbow Dash mumbled, looking none too happy.
"But… we can make camp here for tonight." Daring Do added, seeing as it would be best to have them rested.
Nighttime in the jungle was not too different from it being day. It still rained off and on without much warning, bugs, mud, ambient jungle noises, but it was rather dark from the jungle canopy blocking the starlight from getting through. It was difficult for Daring Do to start a campfire for them; everything in the jungle was so healthy and green that there wasn't anything to really burn. Luckily, Daring Do had used the last bit of daylight to make an awning out of branches and leaves; placed across two large roots at the base of a tree. It provided them with a makeshift shelter for the night.
The three ponies helped clear the ground of rocks and sticks, before laying down some leaves to make it even mildly more comfortable. With no fire, and some wild fruit Daring Do said was okay to eat, every pony crowded under the awning to get some sleep.
"Can't say that this has been one of my more enjoyable camping experiences." Applejack mentioned.
"I'll say." Rainbow Dash muttered, tossing a missed rock out from under the awning.
"You get used to it." Daring Do replied, laying on her side; holding onto the ruby.
A couple of minutes went by. Silence amongst them, the jungle was very much alive at night as it was during the day.
"So… Daring Do, have you started writing another book yet?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Sorry, Rainbow Dash, I haven't had time to start writing another one. I've been busy looking for Floe's Obelisks." Daring Do replied apologetically.
"How long have you been in this jungle?" Applejack asked, from the other side of Applejack.
"It's been almost two weeks. I haven't found anything yet." Daring Do answered, sounding a bit annoyed by her own shortcoming.
The three ponies fell silent again. This time, it was Daring Do who found herself wanting to talk.
"Why did Floe send the two of you out here anyways?" Daring Do asked curiously.
"He got grounded." Rainbow Dash replied.
"What?" Daring Do asked, sounding confused.
"To be honest, it was Princess Sapphire's idea to split us up and search for these Obelisks. Floe was kind enough to let us take his place; aside from being grounded by the Queen." Applejack explained it a bit more in detail.
"Yeah… but why?" Daring Do asked, still not making a connection.
"We're trying to rescue a friend of ours." Rainbow Dash said, trying to roll onto her side.
"With the Obelisks?" Daring Do asked, sounding even more confused.
"These Obelisks hold some sort of power that can open a portal to a place called the Void. The King of the Flame Ponies, our friend Smolder, is trapped in there and we're trying to get him out." Applejack explained again, going into more detail.
"He's a King?" Daring Do asked curiously.
"For like a day." Rainbow Dash added.
"A day?" Daring Do asked in surprise.
"That's when the dumb Orc attacked with an army of spiders and a really, really, really big dragon." Rainbow Dash mentioned.
Daring Do rolled over, her face looking very confused if not unconvinced that they were being serious.
"I was underground searching for an Obelisk in the Lair of Spiders." Applejack mumbled.
"It's a whole thing; we can talk about it over breakfast tomorrow." Rainbow Dash said, becoming noticeably sleepy.
Daring Do rolled back over. She was almost wide awake now, imagining a giant dragon attacking a castle, the army of spiders that swarmed across the battlefield, visualizing Rainbow and Applejack along with the rest of their friends on the front line ready to battle this threat.
"So… you and your friends are traveling all over Equestria to find these missing Obelisks, all just to save one pony?" Daring Do asked trying to sum up their mission.
"He's our friend; of course we're going to save him." Rainbow Dash replied with a yawn.
Daring Do smiled to herself. She couldn't explain it, but there was just something magical about the whole idea.
"You ponies are really something, you know that?" Daring Do asked with admiration.
Instead of a response, Daring Do could hear the soft snoring coming from the two of them. Chuckling to herself, Daring Do did her best to get comfortable before shutting her eyes to fall asleep.
"No pony sleeps until we find Daring Do and her thieving friends!" Ahuizotl shouted.
In another part of the jungle, Ahuizotl and the henchponies were trekking their way through the night; searching under every rock, leaf, and root for the missing ruby. The torches from henchponies hooves casted shadows of the foliage around them against the dense trees while they looked for Daring Do; making it look like some dark figures were ducking from tree to tree.
"The next time we try and steal something, it better be on some nice sandy beach or something. I've had just about enough of this jungle." A henchpony remarked, swatting away a cluster of flies buzzing round his head.
"We find that ruby and we can buy our own island with all the sandy beaches we want." Ahuizotl replied, hoping to peak his interest.
The henchponies searched on, having followed the trail up to a cliff earlier in the day, only to find it leading right off its edge. The climb down from the cliff face had taken time, and it had taken several hours more to find the trail once more. Unfortunately for Ahuizotl, Daring Do had masked her trail a ways after the river, forcing him to fan out to cover more of the jungle for any signs of where they might have gone.
"How are we supposed to find Daring Do? Even if we did pick up her trail, she'll have run off to put it in some museum somewhere by now." A henchpony mentioned.
"If that were the case, she would not have stolen our map. She means to find the Heart of the Jungle before us." Ahuizotl explained, rubbing his jaw; still feeling the hoof kick to his face.
"Good bye to our bonuses." Mumbled a discouraged henchpony.
"Fear not my subordinates! Daring Do may have the map, but she does not have my keen sense of smell." Ahuizotl declared to them, pointing to his nose.
"Sir?" Mugsy asked, looking confused.
"Daring Do left behind her disguise, which is more than enough for me to hunt her scent." Ahuizotl explained, revealing a headband from his hand tail.
The morning sunlight broke over the ridge, illuminating the jungle canopy, reflecting the misty droplets like stars. Daring Do was first to rise from the sudden bellowing of a monkey's call echoing through the jungle. Night had come and gone for faster than Daring Do would have liked, wishing for another couple hour's sleep, but the large ruby beside her was a big reminder of the necessity of getting an early start. Rising to her hooves, Daring Do stretched out, feeling several joints cracking, giving her an instant sense of relief. Glancing over at the snoozing Applejack and Rainbow Dash, Daring Do felt bad to wake them so early but their mission took priority.
"Maybe… next time we can… bring some sleeping bags or something." Rainbow Dash asked, yawning periodically.
"Or at least some snacks." Applejack mentioned, having only a hoof full of wild berries Daring Do had managed to scrounge up.
"We're getting close to the temple, every pony, we don't know what we'll find but we need to have our wits about us." Daring Do stated, the roar of the waterfall echoing in the distance.
It had only been about three hours' worth of a hike, the terrain more forgiving then yesterday. Stepping through the brush, Daring Do's hoof stepped upon solid rock, a pony made path, covered by the overgrowth of the trees around it. Taking it as a good sign, Daring Do led them down the stone path that seemed to have had quite a bit of vines and foliage obscuring from years of neglect. Stepping through, Daring Do, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash found themselves at the perimeter of a large stone temple of the ancient Jungle Ponies. At least five layers of the structure, stacked upon one another, each a size smaller than the last, giving it a pyramid shape look. The stone path leading to the base of the temple were lined with several marble obelisks, several dome shaped building spotted the edges around the temple, while the entire area seemed splotched with foliage; the jungle slowly taking back the temple.
"Are we the first ponies to discover this?" Rainbow Dash asked in amazement.
"Technically, we'd be the ponies who re-discovered this place." Daring Do corrected her.
"Do we get to name it?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.
"It doesn't work like that, Rainbow." Daring Do replied.
"So where do we go from here?" Applejack asked, looking towards the temple.
"Let's start by exploring those domes, and learn whatever we can before tackling the temple." Daring Do instructed.
"Right." Applejack and Rainbow Dash said together.
The temple was abandoned long ago, that so much plant life was taking root and growing among the ground was enough for any pony to see that no pony had been here in years. The first domed building was completely flat on the inside, several pillars that held up the dome were all that kept a pony from entering; spacious to say the least. Drawing their eyes towards the ceiling, the underside of the dome, every pony could see an immense mural drawn above her. Aged considerably, due to the elements, but the paintings were rich and colorful giving them some idea to what was left.
This dome depicted several different looking Jungle Pony tribes, each having distinct features and markings that separated them from the others. Gold rings sectioned them off, while the rest of the mural depicted the jungle. Large splotches of stone were visible, bare of any paint, having been lost to time.
"What do you think it is?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I believe it depicts the different tribes of ancient Jungle Ponies, before the Heart of the Jungle came to be." Daring Do remarked, admiring the murals.
"Does it tell us anything useful?" Applejack asked curiously.
"Nothing that we need to know." Daring Do remarked.
Dropping her gaze to the next dome building, several yards away, Daring Do had a good guess that the next dome would have another mural waiting for her.
Reaching the second dome took only minutes, again the building was empty, but the mural underneath was still visible to her. The painting upon this one was less weathered then the other, depicting several battles amongst the tribes of Jungle Ponies, sectioned off by great bolts of lightning that stemmed from the center of the of the dome. The three ponies looked at it curiously.
"This one is pretty straight forward." Daring Do stated, gazing up the ceiling.
"Looks like they were at war with each other." Rainbow Dash remarked.
"I guess so." Applejack remarked; was wondering if Twilight would have been the better choice for this sort of thing.
Turning to the third dome building off to the side, knowing that the next would probably be continue this story, the three ponies hurried over to see what that one would tell.
Entering the third dome, every pony looked towards the ceiling to be completely baffled by what it held. The mural was the worst of the three, probably for good reason, for the mural depicted a large mess of black and purple that seemed to cover the whole underside of the ceiling. Splotches of bare stone were present but none that seemed to give more information than this blackness.
"I guess some pony got tired of painting." Applejack mumbled.
"This doesn't make any sense." Daring Do remarked, sounding a bit confused and annoyed.
"You can say that again." Rainbow Dash added.
"It looks like they intentionally painted over this mural." Daring Do stated.
"Maybe the other last one will give us a better clue." Applejack offered.
Looking towards the fourth dome, every pony was shocked to see it smashed. Rushing over to see the extent of the damage, it appeared that a large tree had fallen over in past years, smashing the dome, leaving it in pieces; making it nearly impossible to know what it held without a team of archeology ponies here to restore it.
"Well this is some rotten luck." Rainbow Dash remarked.
"We're right back to where we started." Daring Do said bitterly.
"It seems like even the Jungle Ponies wanted to keep this Heart a secret." Applejack said.
"Well, we're going to need uncover this secret if we want to stop the Hom Dai." Daring Do replied, heading towards the temple.
The temple was extremely large. The five tiers had four staircases that led up to very top of the temple. Climbing the steps was extremely hard, due to the steps being unnecessarily narrow, causing each pony to slip every now and again. Nearing the top of the temple, every pony could see a small platform in the center; flat like a table. It had no real markings, just weathered from the elements from the years that had passed. Above it was a large clear golden crystal that was embedded into the ceiling that covered the small platform. Needless to say, the crystal itself looked very valuable if not heavy.
"Rarity is never going to believe this." Rainbow Dash mumbled, floating up to the crystal and tapping it with her hoof.
"What do you think it's for?" Applejack asked curiously; running her hoof over the platform.
"I'm not sure." Daring Do remarked examining it.
Stepping back to get a better look at it, Daring Do felt her hoof sink into the stone. Lifting her hoof, the stone proceeded to rise back up; acting like a button. Quickly stepping to the right of the platform, Daring Do looked for what she believed to be another button, and to her excitement she found another.
"Rainbow Dash, Applejack, come here and stand on one of these buttons." Daring Do instructed.
Doing as they were told, Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood on their respective buttons, while Daring Do stood upon one herself. Unfortunately, they seemed one pony short to press the last button.
"Now what?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.
Daring Do thought for a moment. Her face lit up from the idea she just had, removing the ruby from her pouch, Daring Do placed it upon the last button before returning to her own. With all the buttons pressed, the temple shook for a moment. The sounds of stone sliding against one another, loud thumps of stones dropping from within the temple could be heard as the platform started to slide down before them. Just as the platform reached the floor, a larger platform around them started to lower itself into temple below.
"This is so cool." Rainbow Dash said, clearly enjoying herself.
The inside of the temple was expansive. The tiers were not floors, merely shelves in which the Jungle Ponies used to store their vast history in the form of statues and decorations. More murals lined the walls, history painted like timelines that depicted the different tribes of the Jungle Ponies. Yet the platform continued to lower itself to the ground level. The stone slid within one another, the platform coming to a stop as the lower tier had been reached. The buttons beneath their hooves clicked up, the platform suddenly starting to rotate, each set of stones rotating in different directions, causing every pony to lose balance. Desperately trying to stay on their hooves, the center platform began to rise once more. A metal frame, rusted and old rose up out of the ground, it held a base for which something needed to be placed. The rotating stones topped with a loud thud that echoed through the temple, Daring Do, Applejack and Rainbow Dash approaching the metal basin to get a better look.
"So what gives?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously
"I'm not sure, but I got a feeling that this is where the ruby comes into play." Daring Do remarked.
Scooping up the ruby off the ground, Daring Do heaved it up onto the basin, noticing the metal basin start click due to the weight. The metal prongs sprang up around the ruby, holding it in place as it sunk into the stone, leaving not but the tip exposed. With a loud click, there came a sudden flow of black liquid that ran from the sides of the metal basin.
"Step back every pony!" Daring Do declared.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack took a few steps back as told. Daring Do lightly tapped the liquid with her hoof, bringing it to her nose to sniff it.
"Oil." Daring Do reported.
"Oil?" Applejack asked in surprise.
"Oil." Daring Do said with a smile.
Retrieving her flint and steel from her pocket, she motioned for Applejack and Rainbow Dash to stand clear of the liquid. With a few strikes, the sparks ignited the oil. A trail of fire illuminating the groves of the platform they stood upon, and streaking up into the basin of the ruby. The fire illuminated the ruby, causing to glow something fierce, a sudden red beam of light shot towards the ceiling, striking the large golden crystal near the top.
"It's a beacon!" Daring Do shouted in excitement.
Leaping into the air, Daring Do soared up towards the ceiling, to see what was happening. Rainbow Dash and Applejack remained at the bottom of the platform, watching her sail up and out of the top temple.
"Can you see anything?" Rainbow Dash asked, shouting her question up to her.
Daring Do flew around the top of the temple; the top tier had nine circular golden gems facing in every direction, dusty and old. Using the side of her arm, Daring Do started to polish each one, but none seemed to do anything. Nearing the last one though, beam of red light emerged from behind the crystal, nearly blinding Daring Do. Floating to the side, she could it shooting towards the west side of the mountain. Excited at this development, Daring Do quickly returned to the edge of the hole to shout down to them.
"It is a beacon! It's pointing us to where we need to go!" Daring Do shouted down to them.
"Does that mean we're going to be hiking some more?" Rainbow Dash asked, sounding rather disappointed.
"Don't worry! I think that we-HEY!" Daring Do cut herself short after suddenly being pulled from view.
"Daring Do!" Rainbow Dash shouted in panic.
Blasting off towards the opening of the top of the temple, Rainbow Dash was suddenly met with a large tarp being thrown over the top. Colliding with the tarp, Rainbow Dash got herself wrapped up into as she was pulled out of sight as well.
"What's going on up there?" Applejack shouted, sounding worried.
A loud obnoxious laugh could be heard echoing into the temple as Ahuizotl stepped into view near the top of the temple's opening. Several henchponies poked their heads over the side to laugh along with Ahuizotl.
"Let me go!" Daring Do shouted, struggling against Ahuizotl's tail hand.
"This handsome face isn't just the ladies, you thought you were being clever but I got one over on you this time, Daring Dolt." Ahuizotl said, lightly slapping her headband from her disguise atop her head.
"Let my friends go!" Applejack demanded, stomping her hoof.
"Sorry, but you're in no position to make demands, eh… um… what is your name again?" Ahuizotl asked curiously, looking down into the temple.
"Applejack." Applejack stated.
"Right, Applejack. Well thanks for all your help, but we really must be off. Heart of the Jungle and all that jazz. I hope you like your new home, I'm sure you'll be staying here for quite some time." Ahuizotl stated.
"Come down here and say that you blue baboon!" Applejack shouted angrily.
"Loved to, can't, I have a world to conquer. Goodbye, Apple Snacks." Ahuizotl replied.
"It's Applejack." Applejack mumbled, sitting down in defeat.
Ahuizotl laughed aloud, his voice slowly trailing away, mixed with the laughs of the henchponies. Applejack sat at the bottom of the temple, looking around, watching the fire start to burn out. Without wings, getting out was going to be a problem, especially since she didn't know how to make this platform go in reverse, but worst of all her friends were in trouble and she couldn't do anything to help them.
"There's got to be another way out of here." Applejack stated defiantly.
Several hours had passed. Applejack had explored every inch of the bottom of the temple, looking for a way out; finding nothing, not so much as a crack that led to the outside. Trying everything from removing the ruby, to pressing in all the buttons, the platform would not move and the hopes of escaping started to fade away. Sitting down, up against the platform, the ruby at her side, Applejack sighed remorsefully wondering what she was going to do now.
"What am I going to do now?" Applejack asked herself.
A sudden lurch from the stone beneath her caused Applejack to flinch, the platform started to revolve once more, and lifting back up towards the top of the temple. Applejack clung to the ruby, riding the platform all the way up, feeling a sense of relief and wonder about her predicament. With the platform reaching the top, Applejack looked around to see no pony waiting for her.
"H-H-Hello?" Applejack called out.
"Ooga-Chaka! Ooga-Ooga! Ooga- Chaka!" An all too familiar chant reached her ears.
Nervously peering over the side of the temple, Applejack could see dozen upon dozen of the ghoulish masks climbing the temple towards her. Back pedaling quickly, Applejack rushed over to the opposite side to try and get away and nearly ran right into one of the Hom Dai. Backing away, Applejack could see that the Hom Dai surrounding her, blocking every escape she had.
"H-H-Hey there, partners." Applejack mumbled, nervously.
"Ooga-Chaka! Ooga-Ooga! Ooga- Chaka!"