As they sat next by the campfire the mare made for this chilly morning, Daring Do finished eating a pineapple while her, DK, and Dixie watched Diddy jumping about. The two kongs were laughing and cheering at the simian's acrobatic skills and chanting dialogue. The pony couldn't understand the monkey, but she did find some amusement at how he swung on branches with the use of his hands, feet, and tail.

Diddy did a flip and snagged a banana hanging on a tree. The moment he landed, he began talking into it like a microphone. He walked over to the mare while he spoke to the other two with the fruit.

"Ah ah ha ah?" he extended the banana to Daring's mouth, like he was expecting her to say something into it.

She darted her eye to the side, uncertain at what he wanted, ".....from Equestria?"

Daring felt like she was just made a monkey from this primate, "Okay, hotshot." the mare said to Diddy, "Since you're acting like the top banana around here, why don't you show me where I can find the next temple."

"A fiery place, something like that," Daring pointed to the campfire, "but everywhere."

"A very hot place," she fanned herself with her wings to imply an intense heat she's describing.

"AH!" the little primate jumped as he recalled a place that fitted the description. Diddy flipped the hat onto his head and gested her to follow him through the jungle.

He hopped away and the pony followed, "OH!" but stopped for a moment. "Just a sec," Daring flew up to a bushel of bananas and circled around the hanging fruits. The pegasus plucked one of them and viewed it intensely. She tossed it lightly in her hooves, analyzing the weight of it. "Okay," she placed the banana in her backpack, "let's head out."

The two of them continued deeper into the tropical ecosystem, waving goodbye to DK and Dixie that stayed to guard the banana hoard.

The tropical flora of the jungle soon began to grow fewer and fewer the farther the two travelers walked through the valley they found themselves in. The dirt path they walked transitioned into a black stone road made of tuff; leading up to a cavern engraved into the hill ahead. The leading kong walked in without so much as a pause in his pacing, but Daring was slowing her steps as she looked around. The path of tuff was one thing, but a heat she was feeling coming out of the cave was making her more alert of her surroundings.

She stepped into the dark cavern, her pupils dilated to the dim surroundings. Her hooves glazed along the wall's surface, feeling nothing but bumps on an otherwise smooth surface. The floor itself was also very flat; no rock to bash your knee against, no cracks to trip over, nothing but an isolated pathway. It was bland, making it much more easier for the pony to see that a dim red light shined at the other end of the cave. The closer she got to it though, the warmer she was getting.

Exiting the tunnel, she sees that she was in a dimly lit room with the kong she was following standing at a cliff up ahead, pointing a finger over the edge.

Daring pulled her vest's collar to let some air circulate through her clothes. "What's up?" she asked as she approached next to him.

The two explorers suddenly lurched forward at an unexpected angle they took as the cliff broke under their weight. The rubble slammed down on a slope and was carrying the pony and kong team towards something that didn't agree with them. They jumped off, rolling to a halt as the broken cliff splashed into a pool of hot molten lava. Getting up from the roll-out, they viewed the chunk of rock floating on the surface of magma. There were lakes of lava here and there, casting a red shade of light to the room. The ceiling wasn't visible in the large cavern, too high from the lava to be shined by the illuminating glow.

"It feels like a sauna in here." the pony said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her eyes could see the haze of the heat, distorting her vision around the two of them. Steam was actually coming out from the lava as well in the form of thermals, which made Daring concerned on a possible issue. The pegasus stretched out her wing to the hot air and immediately pulled back from an intense sting that it gave. Pegasi wings are meant to withstand the icy cold temperature of the wind, not the volcanic heated steam from lava. The humidity of the place didn't help much for her either as she brushed her hoof across her forehead. "I'll be frying my wings if I go flying over the lava." Daring tucked her wings into her vest for protection.

"No creature in their right mind would consider entering this boiling cave." the pony looked over to the monkey, "Is there really a temple here?"

Daring followed him, watching the kong and the dangerous pools around her. The lava bubbled and popped small explosions of molten rock that sprinkled the side of the path. Their efforts through the humid environment only got tougher as they began to ascend up a hill. It kept going and it started to show some effect on the two of them as their breathing was getting heavier from the lack of oxygen within the volcanic environment.

The eyes of the pony's started to see a vague image within the distorting heat that looked unnatural within this cavern oven. A giant face was coming into her vision up ahead, resembling that of a Kremling's. It didn't notice her, it didn't even move. And when the two of them made it to the top of the hill, the face was actually a statue standing on top of a stone flat marquee to a granite structured temple.

"First mine-rails over lava, now temples in volcanic areas." Daring thought, "I'm starting to think these Kremlings aren't really gators, but actually Dragons."

They walked along the fancy entrance and under the marquee that was being supported by five arched columns along its edges. Diddy entered the temple in a nonchalantly manner while the pony took more caution in her surroundings. She noticed two Kremling statues that guarded the entrance looking different from the other ones she's met on her journey. They held spears like the others, but they were also standing up with a shield in their claw. It was a long-narrow shield that stretched down to the gator's knees in a sharp curve and up to the chin with a round end.

Daring's focus glazed into the entrance chamber. The room was illuminated with small streams of lava that made up the floor. Short stone bridges allowed the pony and kong duo to walk to the other side effortlessly, yet Daring kept her eyes to the ground to avoid any missteps into the molting liquid. The stone floor was set in a pattern of large tiles that didn't bring out anything grand about the place, but one section appeared different to the other tiles. The stone surface in front of the next room had an engraving of words chiseled into it.

Fire, the embodiment of life.

Beautiful when dancing, frightening as it devours.

Coursing through the veins, the blaze empowers.

Those who live with burning desire, push forward until they acquire.

The pegasus put a hoof to her mouth, "Sounds like the third line is a reference to the god Ifrit; who was known to bleed fire and to have powerful muscles. This sounds like it'll be a series of trials that'll involve more physique in order to overcome." Her thoughts were broken from suddenly feeling some weight on her back. Daring glanced back and saw Diddy standing on her with anticipation. "I take it that you're going to be the monkey that you are and refuse to get off my back to stay here, aren't ya?"

She groaned, "Fine." Looking ahead, there was a gap on the floor within the doorway. The mare jumped over it with the kong riding her, "At least you won't trigger any traps this way."

Landing on the other-side, the floor suddenly sank and an intense heat was felt behind both of them. She jumped forward, doing a spin, and planted her hooves to see a stream of lava falling into the door's gap. The trap floor panel began to rise up to an even level, making the lava flow to dissipate and the path to the entrance available.

"Strange." thought Daring Do, "Traps are usually activated for something ahead for us to accidentally walk into. Why would a trap like this be activated behind us instead?"

She was coming up with an explanation, so she placed it at the back of her mind and headed deeper into the temple. Her pathway was narrow, illuminated only by the lava flowing in the gaps of the hall's corners. It reminded the pegasus of the runway at the flight school she went to when she was little, but it also felt like a mocking from the structure's behalf at the wings she'll have to avoid using.

Daring Do stopped her pacing as she approached the first set of trials, "What the?"

The next room was wider, but the floor was separated by a series of platforms that alternated between left and right the farther ahead the room went. The platforms themselves were slanted at an angle that could cause anypony a sense of unbalance and cause them to tumble into the pool of lava that splayed across the room.

"Temples are usually more seclusive about their traps and trials. This honestly looks like an obstacle course." The pony rotated her shoulders, "Okay, get off." she told Diddy and he rolled backwards as Daring stood on her hind legs. "I'm going to need to be light and nimble to get through this."

With a few more stretches, Daring crouched down. She tightened her muscles and charged into the room, jumping to the platform on the left. Her left legs bent at the joints and sprung her off to the next platform on the right. She repeated the process with her right legs and continued until she passed five more platforms and landed safely on the other side.

"There. That wasn't so hard." The mare said, ending it with a 'whew'. She looked back at the kong on the other side, "Think you'll be able to make it?"

Diddy tightened his cap with a tough look on his face and ran towards the pool of lava. He leapt to the left platform and bounced off it with a front flip. He landed on the right one and sprang off it doing a twirl. He landed on the next one with a hand stand and pushed himself forward.

As he bounced from left to right, so did the mare's head, slowly becoming slack-jawed at how easy he made it look.

Bouncing off the last one with his tail, Diddy rolled into a cartwheel and stopped on a hand, clapping his feet together at the success of his accomplishment. Daring took a moment to take in what just transpired and continued forward while shaking her head. "Sometimes you scare me." she told the spider monkey.

Approaching the next room, the two of them find another area with a plunge into one of two pools of lava; separated only by a single narrow pathway to the room ahead.

"It's going to be like walking a tightrope without a safety net." Daring commented aloud, "You ready for this, Di-" she looked behind herself, but the little primate was gone.

She looked up ahead and saw that Diddy was already skipping along the path. The mare huffed, "Jumping into a dangerous situation like this." The kong reached the other side and waved back to Daring to hurry up, ".....he reminds me of myself." she thought with a small smirk on her face.

With a steady pace, Daring Do moved along the narrow walkway. Instincts kept nipping at the back of her head to get her to use her wings for balance, but she was doing fine without them. She was halfway there, she placed another hoof forward and felt her legs shaking. Her entire body soon followed in a violent vibration. The mare panicked, she crouched low and gripped the edges of the path.

A rumbling sound twitched Daring's ears and the sound of loose gravel was heard around her. She looked around, seeing that Diddy and even the lava shaking about. The kong laid on the wall for support while the rumbling began to settle down. The adventurers paused a few seconds when the rumbling finally stopped.

"Was that an earthquake?" pondered the pony, "I'm not staying around here to see if there's going to be an aftershock." She stayed low to the floor and quickly made it to the other side where a rambunctious Diddy awaited.

Daring took some deep breaths to settle herself down from the unexpected tremor.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she guessed, "Come on, the key for this temple can't be that much farther." She continued down the hall with the kong; her nerves settled, yet her heavy breathing stayed the same.

The pony-kong duo viewed at the next trial, uncertain on how to approach it. The trial wasn't in a room of its own, but in fact, within the narrow hallway. There were no blades, no spikes, or guardians. It was just a pool of steaming lava, one that was too far to jump over.

Daring was rubbing her chin with her hoof, "Any ideas on how to get over this?" she asked the little kong.

Diddy was imitating with his own chin rub, "Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh." the monkey thought aloud.

"Yeah, me too. Usually I would just fly over these kinds of obstacles, but my wings..." she eyed the steam coming from the molten liquid. "Even if I could, my wings wouldn't be able to spread far enough in this tight space."

The pony observed the kong approach the edge of the pool. He widened his stance and bent his knees. Springing up into the air, the monkey planted his hands and feet on the walls beside him. He was suspended in the air, putting pressure on the walls as if he were trying to push them apart. With his feet secured, he stretched his arms forward and stuck them to the wall. Doing the same thing with his feet, Diddy began to make slow progress across the boiling lava below.

Daring shivers at the performance, "Something about that maneuver just creeps me out, but if it works..." Pulling her backpack tighter around on her body, she placed a hoof on the left wall and her right on the other, soon realizing that she had a problem. Looking at Diddy, his arm length is a little bit longer than the width of the hall. Looking back at her own, she was a little bit longer than her leg joints. But this awkward setup wouldn't stop her pursuit and pressed her legs up against the wall with all her strength.

Slowly, Daring shimmied herself forward; first the front legs, then the back. She felt like a caterpillar inching her way further. Before she knew it, she found herself suspended over the boiling pit of lava. The mare's legs were starting to get irritated under the pressure of squeezing them against the narrow hallway.

With the spring in his limbs, Diddy jumped to the other side of the magma. He watched the mare inch her way closer at a steady pace. "Ah, ha, ah, ha, ah, ha!" the kong cheered her on in a 'One, Two' fashion.

The pegasus felt the imprints forming on her skin by the wall's rigid surface, yet she persisted. Listening to the primate's chanting, she moved to the rhythm and soon found herself at the other side with him.

Daring landed on her hooves, "That was exhausting," she wiped the sweat from her forehead, "It's like I'm training for the Equestria Games with these obstacles." The mare rubbed her legs to ease the tension she gave them. Looking at the kong she noted out loud, "You don't seem to be having any trouble though. I guess living in the jungle all your life can be quite a workout, huh?"

Daring paced herself forward and steadily entered into a round room with pouring streams of lava dripping down the walls. Everywhere she turned, there was nothing but smoldering lava pouring into the corner gaps; all except for a Kremling statue at the center of the room. It was standing on a stone-cube pedestal, standing strong with a shield in one claw and a javelin in the other, posing like it was going to throw the weapon.

The mare had a twitch in her eye from finding such a barren room, "Oh no no no no no. After all of that hassle, we better find something in this place!" She looked over at Diddy, "You agree with me, right?"

"Right." Her attention returned to the puzzling room. ".....what did that engraving from earlier say again?" She tapped her head, it was getting harder to think inside the heated temple, ".......those who live with burning desire, push forward until they acquire."

Daring gazed at the statue with the words in mind. Looking at how it was posed, how it appeared as if it was planning to charge into the lava, and how the arm stretched out the shield at an angle. Like it was meant to divert whatever poured on it.

A grinding sound suddenly echoed within the chamber. It surprised her, but it didn't take long before Daring saw the cause. It was the statue; it was sliding forward, scraping across the gravel as it was being pushed by Diddy.

Her attention was then drawn to the statue's shield, watching as it began to dip into the lava flow. The magma that fell upon it was starting to slide down along the protective gear's face at an angle, diverting the pouring liquid like she assumed it would. It was then that a hallway revealed itself on the other side; now that the statue was covering the opening from lava.

Diddy patted his hands at the successful job he did, while Daring gazed completely flabbergasted at the situation. "So it really was that easy. What this place has at testing one's endurance, lacks greatly at testing one's wisdom. I mean, that was so simple that even a monkey could sol....."

She noticed what she was saying and looked at the clever primate. He was grinning his teeth and chuckling at the comparison.

"Did I just accidentally make a monkey joke? In fact, I think I've been making a lot of monkey jokes as of late." she groaned at her choice of words, "These kongs are starting to leave an impression on me." Daring pushed the thought aside, "Let's go before you start driving me completely bananas." He started to bellow in laughter and Daring slapped her face at the fact that she was also making bananas jokes.

The two adventurers headed down the hall to the next room and were surprised that it was scattered with piles of gold; three times their height. The treasure consisted of pearls, shields, gems, vases, but the majority of the mounds were nothing but gold coins.

"The last temple had a magic trap, could this place also have one?" Scanning her eyes about, Daring couldn't see any glowing orb flying around. Still... "Keep your eyes peeled," she told Diddy, "I don't know what to expect in here. But for now, try and find a fang in here."

They went their separate ways in search for the next key. Daring walked softly with every step through the room, walking around treasure mounds that could set anypony up for life. As tempting as it was to take some of these for archaeology and wealth, the mare focused on only finding the key and getting out of this steaming cauldron as fast as she could. Hesitant at first, she paused at the sight of a golden Kremling idol. I was holding a platter, modeled as if it was trying to give her whatever was on it; and that's where she found it, the second key! Glowing in a warm ruby red, the fang for the next keyhole rested and on a round golden platter.

She evaluated the expression the statue gave at presenting her with the key and came to one conclusion, "An offering plate? Is this a sign that I should just take it like the last key?" the mare rubbed the back of her head, "......nuh-uh."

She dropped her backpack and rummaged through it before pulling out the banana she took with her earlier. Looking back and forth between the fruit and the keystone, the pegasus analysed the shape, size, and with luck, weight correctly. "I'll stick to the original plan." Daring placed the banana on the back of her right fore-hoof, balancing it evenly on its center. She slowly moved her hoof over the ruby and gently laid it down on it, making sure not to put any pressure on it while her left fore-hoof was hanging under the edge of the plate. She looked over at Diddy, making sure he wasn't going to startle her with anything.

Daring's focus returned back to the gem, and slowed down her breathing. Easing her thoughts and tensing up her body, she psyched herself up.

Daring tilted her hoof down around the ruby and the banana began rolling down the back of her hoof. She yanked her right hoof back and slid the gem off the plate into her left hoof while the banana fell where the ruby was a moment ago.

Smiling with a proud smirk, Daring tossed the gem in her hoof, "Ha! Who needs digits?" When the fang fell back down, it bounced off her hoof and clanged on the ground. Daring grumbled as she bent down, "Diddy, we're leaving."

He readjusted his hat and straightened his shirt, but he also noticed that some of the coins had slid back down near his feet. Diddy picked up the five gold pieces and tossed them back.

He nodded that the coins returned. but more of the pieces slid down near his feet. The monkey grunted, picked up the nine gold coins, pulled back his arm and...

Diddy paused. He still had the coins in his grip when he heard the sound of metal clicking against each other. He hopped over to Daring, who was tucking away the ruby into her backpack, and tugged at her vest to get the mare's attention.

"Hmm? What's up?" She swung the bag on with a look at him. Daring saw the monkey appearing a bit stammered as he watched the gold pile. The pony viewed the mound of loot and joined her simian friend at sensing the unsettling atmosphere building in the room.

The coins continued to slide down and the pile started to rumble. Like the environment the adventurers found themselves in, the stack erupted like a volcano and rained coins everywhere.

Daring Do covered her face from the speckles of gold falling at her; and something stood out, she saw some silver heading right at her. She couldn't tell what it was amongst the coins and sprung back as It embedded itself into the very spot where Daring stood moments ago, narrowly avoiding a sharp steel sword.

She stared at the tip that curved to one side of the edge. Her gaze went along the metal until she met the face of a kremling skull with crossbones behind it and a handle going through it's missing jaw. "It looks like a cleaver. Who throws a sword instead of wielding it?" the mare noted before wiping off some sweat from the close shave she nearly received.

Diddy bounced to the collapsed pile to inspect the cause. "Careful," the mare cautioned the kong as she approached, "We're not alone in here." Daring was certain, it had to be a guardian this time. With the piles of gold everywhere, hiding behind one of them would be obvious; but... "What creature are we dealing with?"

The monkey looked back, "AHH AAAHH!" he frantically screeched and pointed a finger at the mare.

His response made Daring hear a series of bells going off in her head. "That expression. That's the same expression he made when we first met. Just moments before the hornet queen tried to...!!!!!!"

She rolled to the left and felt her heart jump at the sight of the cleaver flying right past her; seeing the kremling skull shine red glowing eyes at her.

Daring skidded on the coins to a halt and Diddy cartwheeled out of the way of the blade. The sword spun around at the skull to face the two intruders. It hovered in the air, analyzing them as they did with the enchanted weapon.

"A sword? The guardian is a sword?" Daring was confused, she never faced a magical weapon before. "How are we going to get rid of it? It's not like we can throw punches at a sharp blade."

The cleaver leered at the pegasus and soared at her with slices. Daring hopped back with each swing, what else could she do other than to dance around each strike?

"Haa HAA!!!" Diddy gripped on the handle of the sword and began to fight it to gain control. All that accomplished was a rodeo ride for the simian, as the blade was now more focused on flicking him off.

Daring Do scanned around herself for something to use, "Fighting it will be pointless. We need to stop its movement, or break its blade, or..... or....." she searched, but nothing could be really that effective. That is until her eyes studied the end of the hallway they came in; the hall that has a statue redirecting the flow of lava.

The monkey heard her call and launched himself off the cleaver's handle. The blade flipped around and followed them down the hall at a steady pace. They could easily outrun it and the two of them made it to the sculpture with plenty of time to spare.

Daring and Diddy pushed the stone forward, feeling the heat of lava coming from behind and barely missing their tails. The stone kept getting lighter as it had lesser lava poured on it until it was as light as it could get; leaving the lava to flow naturally once again.

Both of them looked back at the solid curtain of molten liquid. Diddy wiped his forehead and Daring collapsed on the statue to recover her strength. "There...." said the pony between deep breaths, ".....easy."

They bolted their heads around and saw the cleaver bursting through the lava, dripping the boiling liquid on the floor. The heated sweat the two had on them suddenly felt cold as the sword vibrated with a heated red blade. It pulled back and spun around, flinging the lava all over the place.

"There's nothing much we can do now, but..." Daring looked down the hallway that they traveled, "RUN!"

Daring and Diddy hightailed it back to the third trial, with the cleaver following at a jogging pace.

First was the stretched pool of lava and the close walls that held it. Diddy leapt up and planted his hands and feet on the wall, followed by quick movements forward, one pair of limbs at a time. Daring placed her legs on the wall as well and was going as fast as she could, but signs of her struggling were showing. Her breathing was getting heavier with each inch closer and sweat fell over her fur to drop into the lava below. If it wasn't the heat that was making her sweat, then it was the amount of strain she was putting on herself through this obstetrical. Her right hind leg started to slip down the wall. Gritting her teeth, she pushed harder against the walls, feeling even the tiniest of gravel leaving imprints on her.

Diddy made it over, and coached Daring to push forward. One, two, one, two, and she dropped to the other side. Her time to rest was cut short that very moment when the monkey pointed to the cleaver ten feet away. He ran ahead and she followed while rubbing her legs from the soreness.

The narrow walkway was next. The buddy duo started down at the path, though this was much easier than the other trials, it started to feel more difficult than the last time they crossed it. The panting in the mare's voice only got more suspenseful. It started to look like to her that the path was wobbling. Daring quickened the pace before things got too disorienting and safely made it over with Diddy, but she still felt a bit unbalanced. The cleaver has yet to enter the room, so they took this difficult moment to try and cool off. Diddy pulled the collar of his shirt and flapped the bottom of it.

Daring laid up against the frame of the door, the heat was getting to her. And that's when it finally hit her, "This heated environment, these athletic trials, the guardian slowly chasing us. This is what the kremlings that built this place were planning, they wanted a temple that exhausted intruders to the point of collapsing. Making them fall into the pits of lava around here or to be easily chopped up without a fight." The floating sword entered the room and pointed the tip of its blade at the pony. "....hurry." she told the kong and continued with him.

The altering platforms, they seemed like a cinch to cross for the pony an hour ago; now they seem like an impossible feat for her. Diddy pounded his chest, ran forward and began hopping between surfaces, too exhausted to show any pizzazz this time. He landed on the other side, now it was Daring Do's turn. She took a deep breath and looked back, the sword just entered the hallway. The mare returned her sight on the platforms, ran to the first one and bounced to the second. Every jump just kept getting more and more harder to find the strength to continue. She leapt off the fifth, shot from the sixth, and with one last jump, she landed on the other side, toppling to the floor in a slide.

The mare felt as though she was being boiled in a cauldron under her own sweat. Wheezing, trying to get any oxygen within the humid environment, Her head was spinning, she could feel her legs pulsing from the strain she's putting them through, and Diddy's screeches only sounded muffled to her. She lifted her head up to see that the monkey was pointing at the entrance; they were almost out.

Diddy pulled Daring to her hooves and led the way with the mare galloping close behind; leaving the cleaver to miss them a few seconds later. Their hearts felt like they were burning as they ran on through the insufferable temperature, but their spirits were getting higher with each second, making them run faster to end this heated ordeal. It wasn't the outside air, but getting out of the tight space they were in would help cool them down. The mare could see it; through the next room, beyond the chiseled inscription, and over the gap within the doorway laid her salvation.

She snapped onto Diddy's tail with her teeth and pulled him back just as the floor started to sink below him, stopping him from walking through a stream of pouring lava.

Daring yanked back the primate, too stunned at the near fatal miss to move on his own, and the trap floor panel began to rise. Slowly the pouring lava that separated them from outside began to dissipate. The mare glanced back to the sword; it was seconds away.

"Come on!" she scooped Diddy up on her back. The lava was gone and the cleaver pulled back as it loomed over them.

She threw herself over the panel and gap; only losing a bit of her tail hairs from the blade's swing. The loss of hair meant nothing to her, she only focused on getting out of there. Galloping out of the temple, past the shield holding statues, and around the pillars that held up the marquee with the large golden statue.

Daring felt more cooler now that she was out of there. Cool-headed on the other hand...

Daring skidded to a halt, the path the duo took getting here was gone; covered in a sea of molten lava. They were trapped, lava had risen up to the point where they were practically stranded on an island. She walked backwards and bumped against the center column.

Diddy got off the mare as the two of them looked around to see what caused this sudden rise of lava. Their attention was caught by the stream of molten liquid pouring into the dome from the right. "That wasn't there before!" Daring remarked, "I'm certain of it. That shouldn't be........ unless....... that earthquake from earlier! It must've shifted a gap for more lava to flow in!" But knowing that wasn't going to help her situation.

They looked towards the entrance to the outside world, taking into account that lava was pouring out of it. They had to get over there somehow,
Frantically wondering how to make it over there, the two of them darted their eyes for a solution. The only thing that could possibly help them was floating on the magma; the broken cliff.

It dawned on the pony, "We could ride on that to get out of here!" The only problem, it was at the other end of the dome. "It's too far for us to get to. We need to find ano-"

As if on cue, Daring ducked her head as the cleaver's blade just missed her neck; as it jammed itself into the center column. The mare quickly kicked her hind legs at the sword to wedge itself even further into the stone pillar. She watched it jiggle about, trying to free itself, and from the corners of her eye; she saw the answer at getting out of here. "The statues!"

Daring galloped to the left sculpture, "Diddy!" she points to the right statue, "Break off the spear that one is holding!"

While he was working on his own statue by gripping and tugging at the narrow weapon, Daring Do was determined to break off the shield from her own statue. She positioned herself between the shield and the Kremling that held it and began pushing them apart. It wasn't budging. She tried kicking at the wrist instead. She struck again and again with all the strength she could find in herself. Her ears flopped at the subtle sound of crumpling gravel. After a few more firm strikes, she pushed the shield one more time and it went falling to the floor; wobbling on its front.

Daring was halfway done with the necessary tools she needed for her plan, "Did you get the spear, Di-"

The sound of crumbling gravel brought her attention towards the monkey. He grabbed two pieces of a complete spear and carried them over to her, leaving behind a tipped over and crumbled statue. She wasn't expecting him to break the whole sculpture, but she honestly didn't care at this point.

"Help me with this," Daring requested from the kong. She began pushing the faced down shield towards the lava, "This just has to work."

Diddy tossed the broken spear pieces on the shield's back and helped her along. Passing the cleaver rattling for freedom and slid it into the molten liquid with a splash. The chunk of rock, splayed out to look like the shield it is, balanced itself from the help of buoyancy.

"We'll use this to get out of here," spoke the mare before they lept onto their new boat. It gave a stiff bounce; implying that riding on this would be like sailing through mud. Daring sighed in both frustration and relief; frustrated because they'll have to work extra hard to get through the lava and relieved because they wouldn't have to worry about lava splashing onto the temporary boat; not as long as they go at a steady calm pace. "Alright, grab a spear piece and start paddling." Diddy sat up front with the head half of the spear in his grip, leaving Daring in the back with the bottom end of the spear. It was awkward for her to grip with her hooves, but she couldn't let her wings out just yet; so she had to cope with it and practically wrapped her forelegs around it.

As they started to make their way across boiling magma, the cleaver was starting to vibrate the pillar; shaking harder and harder to gain freedom from it. The efforts began showing as the pillar was forming large cracks.

Daring's ears twitched, "Did you hear something?" she asked Diddy, who shook his head. They looked about, "It sounded a bit distant, but I swear tha-!!!" that's when she noticed the sword. It sliced itself through the pillar, leaving a collapsed pile of rubble. The blade turned towards the two of them, showing the skull's red eyes shining like a beacon for the fury it had in store for them.

"OH MONKEY TRUMPETS!!!" yelled the pony. She told Diddy to speed up through a series of 'GOs' and they paddled harder. The fatigue was returning to them as they dug into the molten liquid, but sadly, they weren't getting to the exit fast enough and the cleaver was catching up to them.

The sound frightened the two to screech. Viewing back, beyond the sword, the pillars were collapsing. The canopy that the pillars were holding was breaking apart and the large golden idol that rested on top was sliding towards them. The ridge of the golden idol's bottom splashed into the lava pool and kept sliding down the now undermagma hill that the adventures took earlier. More importantly was that the statue was causing an effect on the lava; it's forming a wave that was heading straight towards all three of them.

Daring and Diddy paddled harder for the exit, but their extra efforts were doing very little difference than before. The approaching wave caught the cleaver within its boiling tide; melting it under the pressure of the powerful lava current.

The adventurers didn't look back from their impending doom, but they could feel that something was off the moment they began accelerating. Diddy couldn't feel any more resistance in his paddling, and looking over the edge of the shield explained everything. "Ah haha ahha....AH!" he told his partner with a wave of his spear, but he suddenly pointed behind Daring.

With a curious look, she turned and nearly fell off to see that they were riding on the wall of a wave of lava. The shield wobbled, causing the two riders to stand up in surprise. Daring's legs began to swivel as she battled to gain control of the shield while Diddy held on to the edges and watched where they were heading. The experience was all new to her, she never surfed before in her life; and yet, it felt natural. The air brushing across her face, the small suspended feeling of the shield being in the air, her surroundings sweeping passed her. It felt almost like flying to the pegasus.

At their current height, they would crash into the wall above it. Daring quickly thought of an idea, "If this is like flying..." she smirked and lurched forward, "Then I need to dive!" The shield flattened on the surface and zipped forward to a lower altitude, entering the tunnel in time. They were surfing with limited visibility in the dark cave. Nothing but the glow of lava shined for them; however, a familiar glow up ahead of them was approaching fast. They're launched out of the cavern and into the fresh air of the jungle. The shield bounced and crashed into the dirt, causing the two of them to fall off into a roll on the cool soil.

Finally outside, Daring simply laid there from the exhausting experience; feeling the brushing drop of temperature course through her body. As for Diddy...

He was up on his feet in a matter of moments, pounding his chest from the excitement of the wild ride and bouncing around at the energy he still had left in him.

"Diddy," the mare said tiredly, "If the occasion ever happens, remind me to never compete with you in any kind of race."

Daring Do and the Tie Wearing Kong

by Amereep

Fire Temple's Pool