Daring Do pulled the aged lever and gasped. The layers of dust and dirt coating the slab fell in a cascade of fog as it began to move, withdrawing into the wall like a door. Through the dark hallway beyond, a single light shown down on her prize—the Mask of Gymkhana. Its surface silver and its eyes black and cold, it stared back at Daring with a haunting expression. After hours of working through traps in the Temple of Gymkhana within the Badlands, Daring Do had finally layed eyes upon the silver mask.
The longer she stared, the more it seemed to beckon her, encouraging her to traverse the dark and take it. But as Daring took a step, her breath left her body in a frantic heartbeat. The mask began to move, and out from the darkness did two massive claws emerge, gripping the edges of the doorway.
Daring Do looked back to Dr Caballeron and his hench ponies. They looked to each other in a concerned fashion. Daring Do would do a gesture to them. The massive claws inched forward, leaving slight scratches on the doorway. As they looked closer, they could see the claws were made out of shadows. The shadows began to swirl around the mask.
A dark feminine voice would sound from the shadows, "It would be wise of you to flee at once, we wouldn't want any pony getting hurt, now would we?" the voice would chuckle darkly.
"You will not retrieve the mask for your dark deeds again, Shadowbinder." Daring Do would respond in defiance. Caballeron would look on with a disturbed, yet defiant glare.
The voice would chuckle again as the massive claws of shadow would lurch forth into the room, revealing a writhing shadowy mass that was flowing and swirling with viscosity. "Shadowbinder? Is that what they call me these days? I will not allow your futile attempts to stop me. Enough pleasantries." the voice would say in a warning, enraged tone.
Daring Do would then suddenly fly forward in an attempt to grab the mask while the shadow being was distracted. While she was able to grab onto it momentarily and feel its smooth silver surface, she was suddenly thrown up against the wall. Caballeron and his hench ponies wasted no time, and began to engage the shadow being in combat. One of them fired a laser from some sort of a laser pointer.
Daring Do would huff in pain as she was thrown up against the wall and was left to drop down onto the floor. She quickly got up and dusted herself off while Caballeron and his hench ponies were engaging in combat with the shadow being. She joined them in the combat, the shadow being soon smacking them away with its large claws which began to transform into that of tendrils.
The black tendrils began to wrap around the mask, lifting it high above. Daring Do would fly upwards it. "Wait!" Caballeron would call out to her. Daring Do was so focused on retrieving the mask that she didn't see another black tendril forming. It wrapped itself around her quickly and began to constrict around her tightly. Daring Do would growl as this occured.
Caballeron would whip out a blade and jump up, then slicing the tendril around Daring Do apart from where it was grabbing her. The tendril that had wrapped around Daring Do would vanish and Daring Do would fall to the ground yet again. "Ugh..." she'd pant in pain.
The voice chuckled again. "You are so focused on your heroism, yet...you forget so easily." the voice would say, waving the mask high up in the air with its tendrils. Then, the shadows began to transform and swirl. The hench ponies, Caballeron and Daring Do could only back up in intrigue, yet also horror at the transformation.
The shadows swirled and changed shape, revealing a white unicorn mare with a mane and tail of various shades of blue. The mask was lowered down onto her face and there was expressions of shock drawn across the faces of the ponies in the room. Daring do and Caballeron would run forward at a fast sprint towards her, backed up by Caballeron's hench ponies. Daring Do would manage to land a punch onto the unicorn mare, while Caballeron would remove the mask from her head.
The hench ponies would quickly pull out rope and begin tying up the strange unicorn mare. Strangely enough she did not seem to resist as a wide menacing grin would form across her face. ["You really think that will work? Think again." she'd say as the shadows behind them would begin to swell in size and take monstrous forms.
"Oh yes it will, now lets get out of here." Daring Do would say and they would begin to walk out of the room. They were all unaware of the presence of the silent shadow monsters. The mare then grinned wider as all of them felt themselves lifted into the air by them, and promptly thrown against the wall. Dizzying them a bit, they all grunted.
Daring Do and Caballeron's determination would not falter. Caballeron would look to his second in command, Biff. Caballeron would nod and Biff would fire a laser with his device at the unicorn. It left a mark on her and the mare would growl in the pain caused by the laser. The shadows would promptly tear her loose from the rope and surround Daring Do and the others.
An idea crossed Daring Do's mind, and she brought out her flashlight. The shadows seemed to writhe in pain and diminish. The Unicorn mare would growl at this. "You will pay for that, heathens!" she'd say. They would notice an amulet around the mare's neck. It began to light up.
"I have a feeling we shouldn't stick around..." Biff would say, while the other hench ponies began to get nervous. "No, we are retrieving that mask!" Daring Do would say determined. She would run foward at the mare, while Caballeron would do the same.
The mare would stand there and not move, the mask now put on her head. Nothing seemed to happen with the mask, yet the amulet around her neck would continue getting brighter...and brighter...
Just before Caballeron and Daring Do would reach the mare's mask, there would be a large flash of green energy. Caballeron would shove Daring Do aside. "W-what are you doing?!" Daring Do would shout. "Saving y-" Caballeron would speak and then was cut off. To the horror of all of them, the green flash had apparently turned Caballeron into stone.
"BOSS!" Biff would scream. "No! Doc!" another would shout, while the others were too caught up in the moment to say anything. Daring Do would stagger and her mouth was drawn agape by the horrifying sight of Caballeron hitting the floor with a loud THUD, as stone as a statue. Caballeron was jumping midair, shouting as he was turned to stone. His emotions and features were frozen in time.
The unicorn would then promptly run down the hall with the mask. Quickly they would look to each other.
"Biff, you are with me! Withers, Pickpocket, carry Caballeron outside! We cannot risk him staying in here, you know the way back, it is safe! We'll come up with a plan with for him later!" Daring Do would quickly say quietly to them, so the unicorn who was running away wouldn't hear them. With one final nod, Daring Do and Biff ran off after the unicorn.
Meanwhile, Pickpocket and Withers would begin the long process of hauling Caballeron's stone form outside of the temple. They knew the way back, but the stone Caballeron was quite heavy and they with all their might would push him. They had already dealt with all the possible traps on the way in so all they had to do was push him outside. It was going to take a while.
Daring Do and Biff would chase the unicorn down the hall. They caught sight of the unicorn taking a turn to the right, and followed. There were some traps layed up ahead resembling pressure plates. Quickly, Daring Do and Biff guessed the right ones to step on and had managed to evade any trouble. The unicorn was heading for the other exit.
"Who is this pony again, Daring Do?" Biff would ask quickly.
"We do not entirely know, but her real name is Magnolia. From what I know, she is after artifacts of power. We must stop her from getting away with the mask!" Daring Do would huff as she ran faster, Biff would keep up.
"With the mask, she will be able to...to overpower the guardians...and claim the badlands for her own! We cannot allow that!" Biff would reply, Daring Do would only nod as they would continue.
More twists, and turns, a long with more traps being avoided would eventually lead way to the outside. While they had seen Magnolia running out the door, they did not see her outside. Outside, the landscape was that of a vast orange desert. It was barren, with various ruins of structures about that once stood here. The sun was at high noon. They both could feel the wave of heat as they approached the exit.
"Wow...Holy shit. I had forgotten exactly where we were..." Biff would huff, while Daring Do remained in her firm resolve and silently press forward carefully. They began to sweat at the extreme heat of the desert, and their eyes would adjust upon looking up at the pale orange sky above.
Daring Do whispers to Biff. "She couldn't have gone far. She is likely waiting outside, ready to pounce. This heat would have stunned her for a bit, though. We are only exiting a few moments after she left. Be on your guard." Daring do warned. Biff would silently nod as they cautiously began to walk outside. They felt the sun beaming down on them, making them sweat more. They looked all around carefully, Magnolia was nowhere to be seen.
They continued to search, walking to the outside of the temple. It was a stepped temple. With stairs that had went all the way down. They up quite a ways, and looked over the ledge while Biff turned to make sure Magnolia wouldn't push them over the ledge. Down a ways they could see Magnolia resting with some sort of shadow swirling around her passively. It seemed she was cooling off and resting.
"There she is." said Daring Do in a whisper.
"Now how will we go about this? Will you fly down there to strike at her? What will I do?" Biff would ask quietly.
"You will serve as a distraction, while I will hide. When she sees you, I will strike from behind and take the mask off her if I can. If that fails, then we will reverse that plan." Daring Do stated tactfully.
Biff would gulp. "...Sounds like a plan. If that fails, then I'll pull out my rope and lasso her." Biff would state.
"Lasso her? We can do that as well. After I have the mask, you lasso her from behind. I see why Caballeron would pick you for his second in command...while we've had our differences in the past he has proved a worthy adversary and now, a trusted ally." Daring Do would smile slightly.
"Well the thing is, Caballeron is no longer with us. Nor are the others. I hope they managed to get him outside. It will take days to haul him back to base camp. And then after that, we will have to find someone to undo the spell. They know what to do, even if we fail here they will still be able hopefully return to base camp and call for help." Biff would reply, having total confidence in their other allies.
"Well first things first, we have to take the mask back. On my cue, there is a rock over there. Act like you tripped over it and the rock will be sent flying over the edge, while I will go down the stairs before you do so and hide at an adjacent angle and strike from behind." Daring Do had commanded, Biff would go over and get into position.
Daring Do would quietly walk down the stairs, constantly observing where Magnolia was. Magnolia did not hear of Daring Do's step down the stairs. She'd give a hoof gesture to Biff, who pushed the rock over the edge. The rock hit the next level below with a loud crashing sound, Magnolia instantly snapped into action and looked up to see where Biff was.
"Oh you little shit! You are too far clumsy for your own good! Let me show you what happens to those clumsy." she'd grin maliciously. From her back, wings of shadow would sprout and then solidify. Biff began backing up when he saw that in clear terror. Then, Magnolia flared her wings and flew straight up to where Biff was.
Daring Do smirked, her plan was working. She flew up quietly, and quickly. She carefully flew behind Magnolia as she was flying at Biff, placing her hooves close to her head and then...she took the mask right off and kicked Magnolia down to the ground below.
Magnolia growled. "A trick!? You will pay for that, scum!" Daring Do would not reply, and only smirk as she herself slid the mask of Gymkhana right onto her face. Daring Do felt a wash of other worldy power wash through her. She felt in touch with her surroundings to a much higher degree. Her vision had felt like it had increased by a factor of one hundred. She hovered there for a split second, processing what had just happend.
As she was processing what had happened, Biff had quickly ran down the stairs and lassoed Magnolia up. Magnolia would growl. Due to the beaming sun down on her, her shadow magic was far weakened than it would normally be. But the sun was no longer at a perfect apex above the temple, giving rise to small shadows at certain angles. With these shadows, she formed tendris that lurched forth and knocked Biff over. Biff had fallen down the stairs somewhat, before stopping his fall. His jaw began to bleed from that.
Daring Do glared down at Magnolia. "You will not get away with what you have done here today, I will not allow you to get away unanswered for your crimes." she'd say with a harsh but triumphant glare.
"Oh but you see, I can...and I will!" Magnolia would chuckle as the tendrils broke the rope that surrounded her. After the rope was broken, they began to zoom forth towards Daring Do. They wrapped around Daring Do's legs and pulled her down. Daring Do would struggle, feeling the tendrils constricting her legs. But still, her wings would keep her...perfectly still in the air. It was not what Daring Do had expected, and she figured the mask had given her the power to resist Magnolia's attempts to drag her down.
In the distance, a statue of a monkey began to transform. Daring Do, Magnolia, and Biff could only watch in amazement. A deep green magic would burst forth from the monkey statue. The statue was partially buried in the sand at the foot of the temple. It seemed to...unpetrify itself.
A large, monkey like beast with intricate flower designs was revealed. It must have been four times the size of your average pony. It had two tails, with hands on either. It's fur was a deep green color, its eyes a deep orange. The creature would look up to the fight scene above. And then, began to bound up at the steps. Magnolia had proceeded to release Daring Do upon the sight of the creature.
"NEITHER OF YOU WILL ESCAPE WITH THE MASK OF GYMKHANA!" the creature roared, the words seemed to shake the very air and structure around the place. It had sent chills through all of their spines. Including Magnolia.
Soon enough, the creature drew closer before standing before them with a harsh glare across its face. It looked to Daring Do, and seemed to tilt its head at sensing something within her.
Daring Do looked to the creature, almost at a loss for words. "...I was sent here by one of the guardians to retrieve the mask, and put it in a safer place so...she would not be able to reach it." she pointed to Magnolia, speaking truthfully.
The beast chuckled. "That will not be necessary, for I, am a guardian myself. Guardian of the badlands to be specific. Now, give me the mask. I will take it to its rightful place." the guardian would smile honourably.
Daring Do would slightly smile to what was spoken. "That is what I was planning on doing anyways. I did not know there was a guardian here." she'd gracefully take the mask off and give to the guardian.
"My name is Xochchi. And as for your little friend..." he pointed to Magnolia. "She won't be retrieving this from me again. Go warn the other guardians. I have a feeling your friend hadn't gotten what she wanted." he would smile knowingly and would turn to enter the temple.
Daring Do would suddenly pipe up and say, "She froze one of our others into stone! Can you help us with that?" she'd ask and Xochchi shook his head.
When the others were distracted, Magnolia prepared a spell. "This isn't the last any of you have seen of me. While you may have foiled me this time, next time you will will be MINE, Daring Do!" she shouts and with a blue flash, she teleported away to an area they couldn't see.
Xochchi seemed to not pay mind to that. "I cannot. My purpose is to guard this temple. I am sorry to say, but your quarrels are your own. Not mine. Good luck." he'd give some sort of gesture to Daring Do and Biff. Then, he'd vanish into the temple and bound away in the dark.
Daring Do and Biff sighed.
"We couldn't capture Magnolia...but we stopped her." Biff forced a grin.
"We now have a long...long way back. Let us find the others." Daring Do said tiredly and smiled, thinking of Xochchi. She wanted to see him again, but now they had to get back.
Later on, Biff and Daring Do met with the others who were hauling Cabelleron's stone form out of the entrance just as they approached. A long conversation about the events had happened had passed, and they began to haul the stone statue off into the desert.
Just like that, they forged on. Like them, Magnolia had forged onward too.