Dr. Caballeron was having a lovely dream about teaching history while sitting on a golden throne when he was startled awake by a loud panting. He opened his eyes and looked around for the source. On the other side of the clearing they had spent the night in Tempest was doing pushups. She was breathing heavily and had worked up a lather. Dr. Caballeron looked up at the sky. It was beginning to lighten but dawn had yet to arrive. He had wanted to sleep in today but the look of sheer determination on the mare's face made him decide against it. She seemed like the sort who would rather run herself into the ground then take a break, and he didn't want her deciding to go without him.
He got up and dusted himself off. "Go ahead and grab some more of those berries. It could be a while before we get to the flowers."
"Yes sir," Tempest said as she stopped doing pushups and went over to the bush.
"How many pushups did you do?" he asked as he began collecting fruits he knew were good to eat. It would be nice to pin down the capabilities of this headstrong young mare.
"Fifty two. I've been doing fifty five every morning for a while now."
That meant she was probably stronger than him, despite being an underfed unicorn. "Alright, I think we have enough food. Why don't you go unblock the entrance?" Dr. Caballeron took a long stick and wrapped some vines around it. Then he lit it in the campfire. No point in exploring a dark tunnel without a source of light.
Tempest walked into the cave. Then there was a bright blue flash that shifted into purple before fading away. Dr. Caballeron ran over to the entrance. The pile of rocks which had been blocking the way were smashed to smaller pieces and knocked over so the way was cleared. "How's that?"
"Perhaps a bit much, but the roof seems to be holding. Let's get going." And with that he raised the torch and led the way further into the tunnel.
"So, how much do you know about the Flowers of Life?" asked Caballeron after they had been walking for about five minutes.
"Not much. I know they need to be eaten to be effective, and that they can heal any injury or disease."
"Both true, but not complete. They must be made into tea which is then to be drunk, petals and water alike. And they don't just heal, they can also raise the dead, according to some legends. And they only grow in partial shade. Which is why they are in the caldera."
"What's a caldera?"
"A caldera is the depression in the top of a volcano. The edges would keep the flower in the shade most of the day, but it would get sunlight in the middle of the day."
"Wait, this is a volcano? Then where's all the lava?"
"Volcanoes normally don't have any lava. That only happens right before an eruption. I doubt this volcano will ever erupt again, and I know it hasn't done so since I was born. We have nothing to fear from the fact it is a volcano, only the traps it may possess."
Tempest Shadow and Caballeron were standing at the edge of a glassy stretch of rock about thirty feet across looking at a pool of lava beneath it. "Let's see. It's full of traps, lava only happens right before an eruption, you doubt the volcano will ever erupt, and 'We have nothing to fear from the fact it is a volcano, only the traps it may possess'. I haven't seen any traps and yet here is a pool of lava. I thought you were a rock doctor."
"The traps will be further in. This pool presents no obstacle, we can walk right over it. And this isn't lava, it's magma. Lava is what it's called only once it reaches the surface."
'If it's the same thing, why does it need two names?' thought Tempest. 'It sounds like he just can't admit he made a mistake. I wonder if he's making that whole magma concept up.'
After they rounded a bend they saw that the floor ahead transitioned from smooth unbroken rock to cobblestones. Caballeron stopped moving and held his torch, which was now only about two thirds as long as when he had made it, out in a sweeping motion. "Here are the traps! I told you they would be further in."
"I don't see any traps."
"Of course not," said Caballeron with a sigh. "Look, just watch my steps and don't step on any cobblestones I don't step on, ok?"
"Alright, lead away." Tempest followed Caballeron. It took them several times longer than Tempest felt was necessary, but eventually they reached a large set of doors. They had a set of circles of various sizes in the center. Each circle had symbols engraved on it.
Caballeron took a piece of paper out of his tan jacket and looked at it. Then he started turning each of the circles. Tempest didn't notice any sort of pattern, but he must have known what he was doing because after about three minutes the doors opened towards them. "We're getting close. Keep following my hoofsteps, there might be more traps." Tempest noticed the doors appeared to have the same circles and symbols on the back. After a faster walk than the one leading up to the door they found another cave in. This one had bits of light peeking through. "I believe this is your department. You can walk freely here."
Tempest walked up to the blockage. This was it. The last obstacle. After this she would finally have a way to restore what she had lost. She let loose a peal of bursts from her jagged horn. The blockage shattered to pieces and Tempest stepped into the afternoon sun. She looked at the rocky caldera before her. There were chunks of rock and lots of ash. And in the center lay the treasure she had been seeking for months. A beautiful golden flower with crisp green leaves. That's when two things hit her. One was that there was only one flower. The other was a head sized rock held by Caballeron. As she blacked out she heard him say "Thank you so much for your assistance, but I regret I must inform you the legends speak of one flower, not one type of flower. A pity, I rather liked you."
Dr. Caballeron stepped around the prone form of Tempest. It really was too bad they couldn't both get what they wanted, she had proven herself more capable then the rest of his team. Alas, it looked like their partnership would end here. At least he had the Flower of Life. It would make all the effort and betrayal worth it in the end. He took the base of the flower in his teeth and pulled. The lower stem snapped and he tucked the flower into his jacket, its head just barely poking out like a bowtie. He headed off at a quick trot, grabbing the torch on his way into the tunnel. He didn't want to be around when Tempest came to.
Once he reached the doors he pushed them closed behind him. Then he spun the circles into a random position. He was confident that Tempest had not memorized the key and did not understand the symbols. The lock would buy him enough time to escape easily before Tempest escaped, either by checking every solution to the circle puzzle or by climbing out the steep caldera walls.
When Tempest woke she knew she hadn't been out long. The sun was still beating down on her and she wasn't thirsty. She looked over at the place she had seen the flower but all that remained was the lower stem. That traitor Caballeron must have taken it. She stood up and ran back into the tunnel, heedless of any traps, making her horn spark and snap so she could see.
Fortunately for her there didn't appear to be any traps until she saw the circle doors up ahead. One of the circles stopped moving as she approached, so she knew Caballeron was right behind it.
Dr. Caballeron was almost to a bend in the tunnel when he heard a tremendous crash. He looked behind him and saw the doors flying off their hinges and Tempest standing in the doorway, sparking and seething. He put his torch in his mouth and took off at a run. He triggered every trap he saw, hoping they were all designed to take out ponies heading into the temple, rather than those fleeing it.
Tempest saw Caballeron turn to see her and then run away. She ran after him dodging a spear that shot out of the ceiling. Once she reached the corner he had disappeared around she saw that there were traps springing out everywhere. She blasted a swinging axe in her path and ran through a section where darts had riddled both walls. She leaped over a pit full of spikes and kept pushing forward, trying to close the distance between her and Caballeron.
Dr. Caballeron would have been impressed if he wasn't so terrified. Tempest was mowing through the traps almost as fast as he could spring them. Then he hit the edge of the cobblestone. He could still hear explosions coming from behind him as he stopped looking for traps, dropped his torch, and just ran as fast as he could towards the exit.
After about a minute the explosions stopped and he heard Tempest shout "Caballeron! If you don't stop right now and hand that flower back I will kill you!" He had no breath to answer her with, yet somehow he found within himself the strength to run faster than ever before.
In another minute he heard her hoofsteps round a corner, giving her a straight shot at him. He heard her horn send off a bolt, and for a moment he thought he was a goner. Then he saw the bolt hit the ceiling in front of him and start a cave in. He barely made it under the first rock, and the rest fell on top of it forming a wall between him and Tempest. He didn't stop though. He had already underestimated her once, he wouldn't survive doing it again. In just moments he heard an explosion behind him, but he was already out of the straightaway.
After several more minutes he had escaped several smaller bolts that had hit the walls, ceiling, and floor around him. Tempest must have decided to lessen her power to avoid causing another collapse that would slow her more than him. He had just made it to the glassy stretch when another bolt shot by. This one hit the glassy rock and made it begin to shatter. He made it to the halfway point and leaped just as the rock began to fall away beneath him. He barely made it to the far side, his back hooves mere inches from the open air behind him. He continued running in case she tried to shoot him again, but there was no way she could clear the gap.
Once he reached the next curve he dove behind it and peered around to see what Tempest would do. He saw her approach the pit without slowing. Sure she was strong, but nopony could jump that far, except for Princess Celestia. Tempest took a flying leap and fell below the lip of the pit, but her front hooves latched onto the edge. Dr. Caballeron took off running once again. Just who was this Tempest Shadow? She had the most powerful magic of any unicorn he had ever seen, she could jump further than anypony he'd ever met, she woke in minutes from a blow that would've killed an ordinary unicorn, and she flew through every trap in the temple like a specter of death. He had thought he could outpace her in the jungle, since she was clearly out of her element. But as the chase had continued he was beginning to doubt both if that was true and whether he would last long enough to find out.
After a few more minutes of running Dr. Caballeron began to see light up ahead. But just as he made it into the clearing a bolt of Tempest's magic hit him in his left back leg and sent him tumbling to the ground. He tried to stand up but his body would not move. Too exhausted to flee, he looked back at his pursuer. Tempest Shadow was panting heavily, but she was still on her feet, slowly walking toward Dr. Caballeron.
"You really shouldn't have betrayed me. I just wanted the flower, but now? Now I'm going to make you pay for your treachery!" Tempest lowered her sparking horn and Dr. Caballeron closed his eyes and waited for death.
But then something strange happened. He felt something pull the flower from his pocket and heard Tempest shout, "NO!"
He opened his eyes to see Tempest leap into a nearby tree after a monkey holding the Flower of Life in one of its paws. Dr. Caballeron began crawling away while Tempest was distracted. Nothing, no matter how richly he would be paid for it, was worth fighting that mare. He only hoped the monkey would last long enough for him to escape.
Tempest Shadow never did catch the monkey. She had followed it for about a minute before it lost her among the trees. After about an hour trying to find it she started trying to catch Caballeron, but he too had eluded her. She had spent so long in the jungle, and now she had nothing to show for it. No, not nothing, she realized. She had learned to fight. She had grown strong. And most importantly, she had learned not to care about anypony but herself. She would find another way to restore her horn. And then she could track down this 'Dr. Caballeron'. As she sat alone in the remnants of the camp they had once shared as allies, she swore she would recover both her horn and her dignity. Nopony would best her like this again.
Two days later Dr. Caballeron found his way back into the village he and his team had left on their ill fated expedition. He had found a series of arrows pointing towards town dug in the mud and followed them. Once in the small village he found Biff sitting next to the road with all the gear.
"Dr. C! I'm glad you made it back! Did you find the arrows I made to guide you here?"
"Yes Biff. They were quite helpful."
"You look awful down. Didn't find the temple?"
"Oh I did. I found the temple. I found the flower. I even brought the flower back out into the jungle."
"Then why are you upset?"
"Because a unicorn with the strength of a yak and the speed of Daring Do took it! She tried to kill me and I barely survived!"
"That sounds really bad, all right."
"Where are the others?"
"They all quit around noon yesterday. But I stayed loyal! I even kept the gear safe."
"Biff. How would you like to be my official second in charge?"
"Do you mean it sir?"
"Yes. There's just two things you must always do. Make sure I can find the team, and warn me if you ever see a purple unicorn with a broken horn."