//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 of 2 // Story: Daring Don't // by Flynt Coal //------------------------------// Daring Don’t Chapter 2 The atmosphere in the night-covered valley between the Padre y Hijo Mountains was sombre and filled with lingering fear. Dr. Soar Heart tended to the ponies injured in the cultists’ initial attack while everypony still capable of work was attempting to salvage what they could from the smouldering remains of the E.S Dungeon Crawler. As soon as Dr. Soar Heart had confirmed that the effects of Iron Pyrite’s paralysis spell was no longer on Rainbow Dash, the blue pegasus stormed off, looking to have a few words with a certain other pegasus. Daring Do sat alone next to a small campfire made from burning airship debris. The famous archaeologist and self-proclaimed hero was still shaking violently and had a small plushie of herself tightly clutched to her chest. Daring stroked her tiny, stuffed self’s mane while staring blankly ahead. Rainbow Dash realized she had the very same plushie back home, and made a point to dispose of it as soon as she got back. In fact, she wasn't even sure she was going to read Daring Do and the Legend of the Crystal Stars when it came out. As Rainbow got closer to the target of her frustration, Gold Digger approached the traumatized explorer from behind with a blanket in his mouth. “Y’know, there are times when I regret working for you,” the dark green stallion sighed as he placed the blanket over Daring’s shoulders. “Specifically: during times like this.” Despite his words, there was a level of tender care in the way Gold adjusted the blanket around Daring’s shoulders. Having reached her target, Rainbow began her offensive. “WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT? YOU JUST GAVE THAT MANIAC THE MOONSTONE LIKE IT WAS NOTHING! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” Daring Do snapped out of her trance and looked up at Rainbow Dash, “I-I… I was thinking I didn’t want to die!” “But you’re Daring Do! You’re supposed to stand up to evil!” “You tell her, bud!” Gold remarked. The droopy-eyed stallion had lain down in the grass between Rainbow and Daring and was roasting a marshmallow over the fire, watching the scene with an amused smirk. “You stay out of this!” Rainbow shouted before rounding back on Daring Do. “You’ve beaten Ahuizotl time and time again! How could you just lay down for some two-bit cultist?” “Yeah, how could you?” Gold smugly added, receiving a glare from Rainbow Dash. “Because…” Daring Do sighed. “Because there is no Ahuizotl. I made him up. I made it all up.” Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches, unable to stand up anymore. The worst part was, she’d kind of known all along. Ever since her argument with Gold Digger. “I tried to tell you…” Gold Digger sighed. Rainbow would have decked him in the face right there if it weren’t for the inconvenient fact that he was right. She’d been a fool for ignoring him. “Why?” The question came from Rainbow Dash’s throat like a croak. Daring Do set down her plushie and stared somberly into the embers before her. “Well… I didn’t make it all up. I… I needed funding for my next expedition, so I tried writing a book about my first one to get some extra bits. My publisher said that it wasn’t interesting enough, so I added Ahuizotl and a bunch of other stuff and it got published. “Thing was, I kinda forgot to take out the little disclaimer at the beginning stating that everything in the book was an accurate retelling of my expedition.” Daring gave a weak smile before continuing. “So… I guess you can imagine my surprise when I found out that Daring Do and the Quest For the Sapphire Stone made it to the top of the bestsellers’ list. I got all the funding I needed, but… ponies only liked it because they thought all of that stuff really happened, so... I decided to leave out the little detail where it didn’t. “That little lie led me down a pretty slippery slope. I kept writing more books to get additional funding. So I could buy stuff like my airship…” Daring glanced up at what little was left of the vessel. “Soon, I had all the bits I could ever need, but by then it wasn’t about bits. I had already lied so much through my books that my credibility as an archaeologist would be destroyed if ponies found out just how much in my books is false, so…” Daring Do tugged the blanket tighter around herself, “I guess you can see how the whole thing kind of got out of control…” Gold Digger stepped in to give his two bits. “And let’s not forget the little detail of the fame and fortune going to your head and turning you into a total flank…” “Look, none of that matters now!” Rainbow said, shutting down Gold, “What’s important is that some crazy cultist is going to find whatever weapon Nightmare Moon thought up one thousand years ago and we have you to thank for that.” At this, Daring Do rolled her eyes. “Please kid, the Lunar Sanctum and Nightmare Moon’s legendary weapon is a myth! Even the rest of my team agrees with me on that!” Gold nodded his head in affirmation. “Yeah, even if the legend really is true, that… Von Umbrae guy won’t be able find anything! Remember what Iron Pyrite said: any enchantments on the Moonstone to turn it into a beacon would've burned out centuries ago!” “Unless it’s made of lunerock!” Rainbow Dash turned at the sound of the small voice and saw Topaz and Ancient Rune standing there. “Lunerock, Topaz?” Daring Do asked. Topaz nodded, taking a deep breathe, “lunerock is a rare mineral that was most commonly found in the northern provinces around the Late Lunar Era. It was commonly sought after because of its innate magical properties that allowed any magical enchantments connected to it to be recharged by exposure to moonlight.” Rainbow Dash, Daring Do and Gold Digger all stared at Topaz, mouths agape. “So what you’re saying is, those cultists could actually have a way to find the Lunar Sanctum?” Rainbow asked and Topaz nodded. “Which may not even exist!” Gold pointed out. Rainbow turned to face the stallion. “How can we know for sure? Do you really want to take that chance? I mean, you saw Von Umbrae. The guy was intense! Do you really think a pony like that would go through all of the trouble to steal the Moonstone from us if he didn’t know exactly what he was doing?” The other ponies all took a moment to consider Rainbow Dash’s point. “Okay, so let’s assume that there really is a Lunar Sanctum that holds a powerful weapon. What are we supposed to do about it?” Daring asked. “We saw what direction their ship went. We chase ‘em and we stop ‘em!” Rainbow Dash pounded her hooves together, a determined gleam in her eye. “Uh, how? We don’t have a ship anymore.” “Hello? We have these!” Rainbow opened her wings and gave them a few flaps. “Oh yeah…” Daring sighed, unable to keep the trepidation from her voice. “Look, like it or not, you’re coming with me!” Rainbow Dash removed the blanket from Daring Do’s shoulders, “this is your mess we’re cleaning up here!” Rainbow then turned to Gold Digger, Topaz and Ancient Rune. “What about you three? You ready to stop some bad guys?” The three other archaeologists looked uneasily at each other. “May I point out that we are not in possession of a pair of wings?” Ancient Rune said. Rainbow Dash bit her lip and glanced around when she remembered that inconvenient fact. “So... you can just follow us on the ground and catch up with us when we get there!” “Oh… I don’t know… those cultists were really scary…” Topaz whimpered. “Yeah bud, I’m gonna say that fighting evil cultist ponies ain’t in my job description!” Gold Digger said. “This is not our mess to clean up. We had no impact on Daring Do’s decision to give the Moonstone to the enemy.” Ancient Rune said. “But you’re Daring Do’s team! You’ve gotta help out!” Rainbow Dash persisted. “We don’t have to do anything, bud!” Gold argued, “And Daring Do hasn’t exactly been much of a team player!” The archaeologist in question gave no reaction to Gold’s statement. Rainbow Dash looked at the faces of the three ponies before her and saw no resolve to help. “I’m sorry, but after everything that’s happened… after Iron Pyrite betrayed us… yeah, we just want to go home,” the pain was obvious in Topaz’s little voice. Rainbow Dash gave a resigned sigh, “Fine, have it your way. C’mon Daring Do!” Rainbow pulled a reluctant Daring Do by the hoof and like a dog on a leash, the famous archaeologist followed. As Rainbow prepared to take off with Daring Do in tow, she glanced back at the other three. Gold Digger was watching them with a sad look on his face that Rainbow Dash suddenly realized she’d seen on the lazy-eyed stallion before. He’d had it during their argument the other day: the look of a pony who’d lost something precious to him. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what compelled her to say what she said next, on account that she hated apologizing. Regardless… “Hey Gold? Look, I-I’m sorry about yesterday. I should’ve listened to you, and stuff. But look: if you want recognition from the pony you care about… well, you’re not gonna get it by abandoning her when she needs you.” With that, Rainbow Dash took off, Daring Do not far behind her. Gold Digger stayed and watched the two pegasi fly away until they disappeared over the trees surrounding the valley. He didn’t even notice when Dr. Soar Heart approached him. “Excuse me? Uh, I finished taking care of all the wounded. They should be fine until we can get them to a proper medical facility.” The purple pegasus reported, “Do you want me to fly over to Sao Pono to get help?” Gold Digger stared off into the darkness where Rainbow Dash and Daring Do disappeared, “what am I doing…” He sighed before turning to face Dr. Soar Heart. “You were a paramedic pegasus once, right? Are you still a fast flier?” “I’m a little rusty, but if the wind’s blowing with me I can probably make pretty good time!” Gold Digger galloped to the area where the crew had gathered supplies from the wreckage of the Dungeon Crawler and quickly found a pen and paper. Using a partially burned crate as support, he began scribbling out a note as fast as he could, giving it to Soar Heart when he was finished. “Take this to Sao Pono as fast as equinely possible. Find a zebra named Zestafa. He’s pretty big in the west end of town. Ask around and you’ll find him. Give him this. It says I need to borrow something of his. After that you can do whatever you have to to get help for all of these injured ponies.” “What do I do if this… Zestafa refuses?” Gold Digger gave a slight grin, “Just tell him that Daring Do needs it to keep some treasure out of the wrong hooves!” Rainbow Dash and Daring Do traveled the dark skies east for a few hours, following the last known course of the cultists’ airship: the Eclipse. Daring Do was nowhere near as strong a flier as Rainbow Dash, and the archaeologist had to stop and rest on clouds a few times along the way. Rainbow would let her have a few minutes of respite from their flight before pushing her to keep going again, and Daring would continue without arguing. The explorer who throughout the whole expedition had done nothing but make empty claims to greatness no longer had any of that vigor. She just went along with Rainbow Dash like a pony in a trance, seeming to not be fully aware of what she was doing or what was happening. This didn’t matter to Rainbow Dash. All that mattered was that Daring Do would go through with this and become the hero she was supposed to be. Eventually, Rainbow caught a glimpse of a series of lights attached to a dark shape in the distant sky. It wasn’t long before the two pegasi were crouched on a cloud overlooking the dark behemoth that was the E.S Eclipse. “Okay, we need an awesome plan to go in there and stop those creeps!” Rainbow Dash said in a low tone. “Look, Rainbow… I’m not sure…” a blue hoof abruptly entered Daring Do’s mouth before she could get another word out. “Ah buh buh buh buh buh. You can’t afford to have doubts now, Daring!” Daring made a few noises that likely were meant to be words, but were made unintelligible by Rainbow’s hoof in her mouth. Rainbow put her other hoof to her chin as she tried to think of a plan. Thinking and planning were not Rainbow Dash’s strong suits. When she was with her friends, Rainbow preferred to let Twilight do all of the tedious thinking. Things were different now, though. Like it or not, Rainbow was the one taking the leadership role. “I saw Iron Pyrite take the dragonfire with her when she left with the other cultists, so it’s probably on board their ship. That means we can probably still go with my original plan of calling for backup!” Rainbow leaned forward, squinting hard at the passing vessel, “The problem is, the place is probably crawling with cultists. We’re going to need an awesome way to distract them!” Iron Pyrite stood silently on the command bridge of the Eclipse, looking calmly at her employer. Von Umbrae was standing at a desk overlooking the rest of the bridge, Lightning Strike and a couple more of the black robed cultists behind him. The helmspony operated the ship’s wheel on the lower deck of the bridge. The large glass half-dome covering the bridge in its entirety gave a breathtaking view of the partly cloudy night sky. Von Umbrae smiled when the clouds moved aside to allow light from the moon to shine down through the glass dome and onto the bridge. Reaching into his purple robes, Von Umbrae produced the Moonstone and placed it on the desk in front of him. Iron Pyrite noticed that the sparkling stone appeared to be glowing brighter in the moonlight. The curious artifact suddenly released a beam of white light no bigger than a thread. The tiny beam passed through the glass dome at a downward angle to the left of the airship’s current trajectory, disappearing over the horizon. Iron Pyrite’s jaw hung open while Von Umbrae addressed the mare at the helm below. “Helmsmare! Ve have our heading!” The robed mare at the helm spun the wheel and the Eclipse turned until the thin beam of light was shining out the center of the glass dome. Von Umbrae then noticed the way Iron Pyrite was staring at the active Moonstone and gave an amused chuckle. “Why so shocked, Ms. Pyrite?” Von Umbrae reached over and gently closed the unicorn’s agape jaw. He kept his hoof there, his lifeless blue eyes boring into Iron Pyrite “You didn’t think I vas paying you all of this money to lead me to a useless rock, did you?” Iron Pyrite was unable to form words under Von Umbrae’s intense, icy glare. The cultist didn’t seem inclined to wait for an answer, removing his hoof from the mare’s chin and returning his attention to the sky ahead. Iron Pyrite received the message behind the gesture loud and clear: he didn't trust her. He was right not to as well. Pyrite had been operating on the assurance that no pony would be hurt. That her team would remain unharmed, she would get her pay and the Foals of the Moon would have what she had always assumed to be nothing but a mere trinket. Pyrite took another look at the glowing Moonstone as another cloud passed in front of the moon and the beam of light vanished. “So… it’s real then? The Lunar Sanctum?” She asked. Von Umbrae grunted in affirmation, “you know, my ancestors served under Nightmare Moon during the Lunar War. Lord Umbrae, the First of his name vas entrusted with the Moonstone by the Goddess herself and he lost it. Not to Celestia or her forces, but to common thieves!” Von Umbrae stared ahead, letting the anger leave his voice before continuing. “The Lunar Sanctum is real! If it isn’t, then generations of searching it out to regain our family’s honor vas wasted.” “So… what are you going to do once you find it?” Iron Pyrite nervously asked. Von Umbrae smiled at her as pleasantly as if he was telling her about his vacation plans, “why, use it against Celestia, of course!” Von Umbrae then turned his head in the direction of his right-hoof stallion. “Isn’t that right, Lightning Strike?” Von Umbrae waited patiently for a response, but Lightning Strike remained as stoic as always. With a sigh, Von Umbrae grabbed a piece of paper from the desk he was standing at, crumpled it up into a ball and chucked it at the scarred pony. The crumpled ball nailed Lightning Strike right between the eyes. He didn’t so much as blink. “Nothing? I’d have better conversation with a brick vall…” Von Umbrae muttered. The ponies stood in silence for a while as the Eclipse continued its journey in the direction of the elusive Lunar Sanctum. The silence was interrupted by a soft thunk on the glass dome covering the bridge. Iron Pyrite, Von Umbrae and each of the cultists on the bridge slowly looked up to see a blue, rainbow-maned pegasus sprawled out against the glass outside the bridge, looking down on its occupants with a goofy, cocky grin. “Who in Equestria is that?” Von Umbrae asked incredulously as the pegasus in question pressed her face against the glass and mocked them with a variety of twisted faces. “Rainbow Dash…” Iron Pyrite said, “She’s the fan that won Daring Do’s stupid contest.” “So an Element of Harmony is trying to stop us? Interesting,” Von Umbrae mused as Rainbow Dash exhaled hard on the glass, fogging up a small portion of the dome. She then wrote the message “kcus u” in the fogged up glass before sticking her tongue out and flying away. Von Umbrae turned and briskly trotted off the bridge. Iron Pyrite and Lightning Strike followed him. Soon, the three of them emerged on the top deck of the Eclipse. The wide open deck was covered from above by the giant balloon holding the ship aloft and cannons lined the edges, pointing out into the dark abyss. Rainbow Dash flew along the right side of the Eclipse and swerved away, partially illuminated by the airship’s lights. “All hooves to the starboard guns!” Von Umbrae shouted. He wasn’t loud, but he didn’t have to be. All of the ponies on deck scrambled to their posts at the sound of their leader’s deep voice. The decks below opened their gunports and row after row of cannons showed their barrels and adjusted their trajectory to aim at the distant pegasus pony. Rainbow Dash circled around and began flying straight toward the heavily armed side of the Eclipse. Von Umbrae raised his hoof at the rapidly growing rainbow speck. “Fire!” A chorus of booms accompanied by bright flashes broke like thunder and lightning as the guns unleashed their volley. Their target proved to be too agile, weaving and rolling around the fiery balls of iron as they passed. The cultists did not have enough time to reload for a second volley, as Rainbow Dash reached them. Without slowing down, Rainbow Dash threaded the needle between the top deck of the Eclipse and the balloon holding it up, knocking over any cultists in her path that weren’t quick enough to duck. Von Umbrae turned, his gaze tracking the rainbow-maned interloper as she flew out from the left side of the airship. “Ponies to the port guns!” Von Umbrae shouted much louder this time, and the cultists under his command doubled their efforts, abandoning the starboard cannons to man the port guns. Rainbow Dash circled around again and began flying towards the left side of the Eclipse in a horizontal arc. Von Umbrae waited for Rainbow to fly within range of the guns before giving the order to fire again. Rainbow Dash dodged the volley of artillery with ease, performing aereon rolls and somersaults as she flew along the airship’s width. She stretched her mouth open with her hooves and stuck her tongue out at the black-robed ponies before circling around for another attack run from the left side. “Vhere is unicorn team Alpha? Bring them up here now!” Von Umbrae ordered Lightning Strike, who moved without hesitation to the lower decks. As she watched the cultists reload their cannons for another volley, Iron Pyrite tried to analyze Rainbow Dash’s attack. She was perplexed, because not only did Rainbow Dash not possess the means to do any damage to their ship on her own, she didn’t even seem to be trying anything offensive. Iron Pyrite had been expecting Rainbow Dash to make an effort to stop them, specifically remembering her plan to use the dragonfire they now had in the hold below. Rainbow Dash however, didn’t appear to be trying to get to the dragon fire. As another volley of cannon fire on the port side once again failed to hit the blue pegasus, Iron Pyrite noticed that she didn’t even seem interested in “attacking” from any other direction other than the left. It seemed as if she was only showing off to keep their attention on her… … And away from the right side of the ship. Iron Pyrite looked back over to the starboard side of the Eclipse just in time to catch a glimpse of a dark, pony shaped figure fly out of sight below the top deck. “Hmm…” She grunted as she looked back at Von Umbrae. The bat-like cult leader appeared to have his full attention on Rainbow Dash, the hyper-awareness he demonstrated earlier having not alerted him to the true nature of Rainbow Dash’s little attack runs. The better part of her conscience made Iron Pyrite consider not mentioning anything to Von Umbrae. After learning that the Lunar Sanctum was real, and what the insane cultist wanted to do with the weapon within, she certainly felt worse about helping him. On the other hoof, she had already betrayed Daring Do and by extension, Equestria. Even if she stopped him herself, she would still be put away for treason. Either way, she needed her pay. That was the most important thing. Whatever happened to her afterward didn’t matter. Iron Pyrite knew what she had to do. The mare marched purposefully below decks, unaware of Von Umbrae curiously watching her from the corner of his eye. Rainbow Dash weaved and rolled around various multicolored blasts of magical energy. It hadn’t been too long after she started her little diversion that the cultists had given up on trying to shoot her down with the airship’s cannons and instead tried using a group of unicorn mages to bring her down. The magic blasts were infinitely better suited for taking down an agile flier like her, but Rainbow Dash managed to dodge them all the same. Still, she was starting to tire and the homing magical projectiles had nearly gotten her a few times. Rainbow could only hope that Daring Do could complete her part of the plan quickly. As she ascended straight up past the top deck of the Eclipse, Rainbow Dash noticed that both Iron Pyrite and Von Umbrae were no longer standing on it. Had they caught on to her plan? Rainbow Dash shook her head. There was no way they could have guessed what she was doing. Rainbow decided to concentrate on distracting the cultists on the deck. She ascended high above the Eclipse, the wind on her face and the smell of burning hair in the air. Rainbow Dash’s eyes grew wide. She stopped to hover in place and looked behind herself at her own tail. She saw rainbow colored hair being consumed by a small orange flame, likely where one of the cultists’ incendiary spells had grazed her. With a yelp, Rainbow Dash frantically beat at her burning tail with her hooves until the flame was put out. The rainbow hair coming out of her posterior was now much shorter than it previously was and was partly black where the flame had been. “Great. That’ll take a month to grow back!” Rainbow looked back down at the airship below and dodged to the side just in time to avoid several more offensive spells. Rainbow Dash decided it was time to get more aggressive with these cultists. She dove down towards the airship at a slight angle, aiming right for the top deck under the massive balloon where the unicorn cultists were firing at her. Performing more aereon rolls to dodge the oncoming salvos of magical attacks, Rainbow Dash maintained her speed as she continued her dive bomb straight down and quickly picked out a target. Rainbow Dash landed front hooves first on top of one of the cultists shooting magic at her, crushing the hapless pony under the speed of her impact and weight alone. Before any more of the black robed ponies on the deck could do anything, Rainbow Dash took off again, flying straight out the other side. She heard frustrated shouting as she flew away, but wasn’t able to make out anything apart from the words “change plans.” Rainbow Dash looped around and started another dive bomb towards the Eclipse. Something was different about it this time though. Soon, Rainbow Dash realized that the cultist unicorns weren’t firing magical blasts at her anymore. For a moment, Rainbow allowed herself to relax, thinking that things were finally starting to get easier. However, she then noticed that the horns of the black-robed unicorns were still glowing. Before she could even begin to wonder what they were up to, Rainbow noticed that she could partially see the mountains far below through the Eclipse. Soon, the dark airship was replaced by an intangible distortion in the air and then just like that, the vessel was gone. Rainbow Dash sharply pulled up and forced herself to a stop. Fluttering in the air, Rainbow looked around at the space where the great airship had once been, the cacophony of battle mere moments ago suddenly silenced. Rainbow felt like she was completely alone hovering there in the night sky, but she knew the ship was still there. An idea suddenly formed in Rainbow Dash’s mind and she turned around and took off straight up into the sky. She kept climbing higher and higher until she emerged high above a sea of clouds, the moon and stars suddenly dominating the sky above her. Then, she looped around and dove straight down. Between the force of gravity and her own rapidly flapping wings, Rainbow Dash gathered speed quickly. She could feel the intense g-forces pulling at her face as a cone of energy started to form around her by the time she passed back under the layer of clouds. She aimed straight towards the area where she last remembered the Eclipse being. Daring Do carefully crept through the shadows of the airship’s hold at the back of the Eclipse. Not much more than a few minutes ago, the booms of the cannons had stopped. Daring didn’t think about what this could mean. Whether Rainbow Dash had been hit or had simply flown away didn’t even cross Daring’s mind. The archaeologist wasn’t thinking about anything as she slowly crept forward. Her mind had been distant from the entire ordeal since she left the Padre y Hijo with Rainbow Dash. She was disconnected from the whole world like it was nothing more than one of the fictions she made millions on. All she could think about was how sooner or later she was going to wake up back in her quarters on the Dungeon Crawler and continue her search for the Moonstone. Her mind was so far away that Daring Do hadn’t even noticed the green glow illuminating the darkness of the hold until she was standing right in front of the lantern of dragonfire. What had Rainbow Dash said she was supposed to do? That’s right: send a message for help. Daring found a box full of paper, a pen and hastily scribbled out a note. She wasn’t sure what it said or who she addressed it to. Just that she explained the situation briefly and most likely addressed it to the Captain of the Royal Guard in Canterlot. Daring rolled up the letter she had written and headed back toward the dragonfire, picking the lantern of green fire up and hovering over to the nearest window. She opened the window and set the lantern down on the sill, but before Daring could do anything else, an unseen force picked her up and tossed her across the room, colliding painfully with a pile of crates. Suffice to say, the painful crash brought Daring’s mind back into focus on the present, and the sight of Iron Pyrite walking up to her with a still glowing horn made Daring remember that this was real. “Why couldn’t you just stay with Gold Digger and the others like the coward you’ve always been?” Pyrite asked. “Is it because of Rainbow Dash? Afraid of letting down your number one fan? Or… is she the one pushing you to live up to the name you made for yourself?” Looking up at the unicorn mare that was once her loyal companion, Daring Do was suddenly filled with a hot sensation filling her very being. She remembered the humiliation she suffered thanks to Pyrite’s betrayal and was able to identify the sensation consuming her: indignant rage. Daring Do shot up off the ground and flew towards Iron Pyrite ready to bring a hoof down on her annoyingly calm, indifferent face. But she never got the chance, as Pyrite’s horn lit up and Daring was knocked back by a blast of white magic. Daring Do coughed, struggling to regain her breath after it had been knocked out of her. “H-how could you? Why did you betray us?” “Why? Are you really asking me why?” Pyrite indignantly exclaimed, picking Daring Do up with her telekinesis and holding her former employer up in front of her. “Well for starters, I don’t like you! I really, really, really dislike you!” Daring Do felt the invisible force closing around her neck and soon found herself struggling to breathe. “But the simple answer? I’m doing it for the bits!” “You… sold us out… just for bits?” Daring rasped. The archaeologist felt the magical grip around her neck release, but she was then flung up into the ceiling above. She felt like her brain had been bashed into the inside of her skull, her vision clouding as she fell back down to the floor. By this point, her whole body felt like one big ache. “Of course! With what you pay us, what did you expect?” Iron Pyrite then looked down, her angry scowl evaporating as quickly as it had appeared. “The bits aren’t for me, though. My son… he’s gifted, Daring! It’s amazing… he’s leagues ahead of where I was when I was his age. I want to send him to Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. I just want him to be able to reach his full potential, but I can’t afford to on what I make working for you!” Daring Do felt a pressure on her throat, but this time Iron Pyrite’s horn wasn’t glowing. “I-I’m sorry Iron! I didn’t know…” “Because you didn’t care!” Iron Pyrite spat, her voice noticeably cracking. “It wasn’t enough that you wouldn’t hear me out whenever I’d ask for a raise! You never took the time to get to know any of us or what was going on in our lives!” Iron Pyrite lowered her head so that her spiteful face was all Daring Do could see. “You must be the most self-centered pony in Equestria!” Iron Pyrite raised her head back up and ignited her horn once again. Daring Do clamped her eyes shut, expecting another blow. Several seconds passed, but no blow came. Daring chanced opening an eye and looked up at Iron Pyrite. The unicorn’s horn was still glowing, but a rolled up piece of paper floated beside her: the distress message Daring had written. “That being said, I can't just let the Foals of the Moon go through with what they're planning,” Iron Pyrite turned without saying another word, levitating Daring’s distress message over to the open window and the lantern of dragonfire sitting on its sill. The message was hastily tossed into the green flame, which spat a burst of green embers out the window and into the night sky. “Unfortunate…” A familiar deep voice resonated through the hold, “and you were doing so vell too…” The unicorn and half beaten pegasus both turned to the source of the voice and saw the dark form of Von Umbrae step out of the shadows. The cultist gave an unimpressed glance over at the battered and bruised Daring Do. “I must say I’m surprised you’re here. After your… breakdown in the valley, I half expected you to retire right then and there!” Von Umbrae must have noticed the way Daring Do kept glancing over at the lantern of green fire, as a knowing smile crossed his face. “It doesn’t matter, you know. By the time Celestia’s forces catch up to us I vill already have reached my goal, and Canterlot vill be ashes. Your foolish efforts have done nothing to stop the Eclipse from reaching the Lunar Sanctum!” No more than a second after Von Umbrae’s speech did a bright flash of light and a loud boom dominate the hold. This rumbling blast was more drawn out than the sounds of cannonfire that pervaded earlier. The three ponies in the hold soon realized that there was still a bright light filling the hold as the whole airship continued to rumble. Von Umbrae, Iron Pyrite and Daring Do all looked out the open window just in time to see the massive rainbow explosion overtake the Eclipse and send everything and everyone on board flying. Rainbow Dash heard the sounds of burning wood before she could see anything else. The world slowly came into focus as her head felt like it was some percussionist’s instrument. Rainbow climbed to her aching hooves and looked around. She was standing on a small ledge jutting out of the side of a large mountain. Looking over the edge, Rainbow Dash suddenly remembered what had happened when she saw the burning remnants of the Eclipse at the foot of the mountain below. She had successfully pulled off the sonic rainboom in an attempt to flush out the cultists’ cloaked airship only for the thing to appear directly above her as she pulled up. The rainboom had knocked the balloon suspending the ship clear off and the no longer aerodynamic vessel had all but fallen on top of Rainbow Dash as she tried to avoid crashing into the side of a mountain. Given where she was standing now, the effort was clearly in vain. Rainbow Dash shook off the disorientation as best she could before taking to her wings and gliding down to investigate the aircraft rubble. Her right wing throbbed on every flap. She hoped nothing was broken. After spending some time digging through the debris with no luck finding the Moonstone or anypony at all, Rainbow paced towards the edge of the jungle surrounding the clearing at the mountain’s base. Sitting down in the dirt, Rainbow stared at the ground, trying to figure out her next move. Her eyes went wide when she saw the distinct shape of a hoof imprinted in the ground, illuminated by the glow of the burning airship. And another, and another. Rainbow was hoping that the tracks were a sign that Daring was okay, but another look confirmed that there were many sets of tracks, at least a dozen, and they were all headed the same direction into the jungle. Von Umbrae and his ponies were still on the move. Rainbow stood up, ready to track them into the jungle, when she heard something shift in the airship rubble behind her. Rainbow turned around and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the familiar green and beige sight emerge from one of the least damaged parts of the ship, dusting off her safari hat and putting it on her black and gray head. Rainbow Dash ran over to the archaeologist as fast as her aching hooves could carry her. “Hey Daring! Daring, you’re okay!” Daring Do looked over at Rainbow Dash with a steadily growing frown. When Rainbow got close enough to have a proper conversation with the explorer, she noticed many bruises and scrapes all over her body. “Wow, two wrecked airships in one night! That’s gotta be some kinda record right?” Rainbow said. “Ugh… What happened?” Daring Do groaned. “Oh yeah, the cultists tried to trip me up by turning their ship invisible, so I hit ‘em with one of my patented sonic rainbooms!” Rainbow Dash patted herself on the chest proudly. “Did it not occur to you that setting off a giant rainbow explosion might, oh I don’t know, crash the airship?” “Not really, otherwise I would’ve done it sooner!” “While I was still on board?” Rainbow Dash’s snout abruptly scrunched up when she remembered that little detail, “right, guess I kinda forgot about that. But it doesn’t matter! You’re okay now and more importantly Von Umbrae is still heading for the Lunar Sanctum!” “Look, Rainbow…” “C’mon! We don’t know how much of a head start he has on us!” Rainbow grabbed Daring by the hoof and tried to pull her along, but the formerly compliant mare refused to give an inch. “No! Rainbow, I’m not going!” Rainbow Dash turned back around to face Daring Do and found the explorer's magenta eyes staring back into hers with calm resolve. “But… we have to stop Von Umbrae!” “No, we don’t have to do anything! You can go chase cultists if you want, but I’m staying here!” The sound of more shifting rubble caused both mares to look in that direction. They saw the distinct red form of Iron Pyrite, but the mare didn’t so much as glance in their direction as she carefully dragged a wounded pony in black robes out of the wreckage. She either didn’t notice they were there, or didn’t care. “The distress message was sent. In a few hours, a Guard ship will be here to help and when it does, I’m going home!” Daring continued. Rainbow Dash returned her attention to the uncooperative mare in front of her, “but… what about your duty?” “You just don’t get it! I don’t have some Celestia-given duty to protect all artifacts from evil, that’s just what my character did!” Daring Do exclaimed, taking a step towards Rainbow Dash as she continued her tirade. “Why are you really dragging me along with you to fight these guys? Is it really just to quote unquote ‘make things right’ for giving them the Moonstone? Or, could it be that you can’t stand the fact that you spent so much time worshipping a false idle? That’s it isn’t it? You don’t like that I’m not who you thought I was so you’re going to make me be the hero that you think I should be! Me being a huge phony was as much a shot to your pride as those cultists outsmarting you with an invisible ship! You weren’t thinking about anypony but yourself in both instances!” By this point, Daring Do’s spiteful face was all that Rainbow Dash could see. “You must be the most self-centered pony in Equestria!” As soon as the words left her mouth, Daring Do’s eyes widened and her pupils became pinpricks. Her mouth curved even further down than it already had been and a look of pure despair crossed Daring’s face as she took a few steps backwards, away from Rainbow Dash, and sat down on the ground. For a reason unknown to Rainbow Dash, Daring looked back over to Iron Pyrite tending to wounded ponies in the distance when she spoke next. Her voice was no more than a whisper. “Oh Celestia… I’ve been such a jerk…” Daring’s eyes started to glisten, “no wonder they all hate me…” “None of that matters, Daring. Those cultists are going to hurt a lot of ponies, my friends and your team included, unless we stop them. If you care at all about your team then you’ll help me.” “Of course I care about my team, but… that doesn’t make me any more qualified to be a hero.” Daring gestured to her own bruised and bloodied body, “I mean, look at me! I got my flank handed to me when I tried to sneak on board their ship to send that note. The only reason the message even got sent was because Iron Pyrite decided to help me in the end.” Daring sighed and looked at Rainbow with a weak smile, “you’re one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony right? You’ve already saved Equestria like what? Three times now?” “Four if you count the Crystal Empire!” “Exactly. The fact is, of the two of us, you’re the one who’s more cut out for heroics. Saving the world is your thing, Rainbow.” Daring Do looked down steadily, “All I seem to be good at is lying and being horrible to everypony I care about.” Rainbow Dash looked at the pony she once idolized. She didn’t think anything could be worse than seeing her scared to tears, but Rainbow was once again proven wrong. Nothing was worse than the sight of the self-hating mare in front of her. Looking at Daring’s slumped posture and pained frown, one would think she believed that she was the single worst creature in existence. “Fine. Guess there’s no convincing you.” Rainbow Dash sighed. She made to turn around to leave but stopped part way, turning back to face Daring Do. “For the record, I don’t think you’re a bad pony.” Daring Do looked up at Rainbow Dash and gave a bitter laugh, “what makes you say that?” “Your books.” Daring tilted her head in confusion as Rainbow Dash continued, “I think the reason why I fell in love with Daring Do in the first place was because she believed in a lot of the same stuff that I do. She was loyal to her friends, she believed in standing up to evil whenever it threatened harmony, and no matter how bad things got, she stayed true to what she believed in: doing the right thing.” “I know now that there’s a big difference between fiction and real life, but I can’t help but think that maybe… you wouldn’t have been able to create such a memorable character if you didn’t believe in some of those things yourself!” Standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking a vast expanse of grassy plains, Rainbow Dash finally spotted them. The group of a couple dozen robed cultists were marching across the plains in the distance, the moonlight both illuminating them and drawing out the thin beam of light from the Moonstone. Disturbingly, the Moonstone’s beacon didn’t disappear over the horizon like it had when she saw it coming from the Eclipse hours ago. It stopped when it reached a circular formation of six pillars on stone not too far from the group of cultists. It didn’t look like more than the ruins of some small place of worship, but Rainbow knew that the entrance to the Lunar Sanctum had to be there. Out of habit Rainbow Dash glanced beside herself to discuss a plan of action with her companion, but she didn’t see Daring Do beside her. She was as alone as she had been when she left Daring with the burning remains of the Eclipse. Rainbow Dash typically believed that there was nothing she couldn’t do, but she wasn’t a fool either. She knew when the odds were heavily stacked against her. She also knew that she couldn’t just let Von Umbrae get his hooves on Nightmare Moon’s ancient weapon, so after taking a deep breath Rainbow Dash spread her wings and leapt off the cliff, her right wing complaining the whole time as she flew down. By the time she landed behind the platoon of robed ponies, they had already made it to the formation of stones. Under the vines overtaking them, Rainbow could make out Princess Luna’s crescent moon emblem engraved on the pillars along the stone circle’s perimeter. “Not so fast cultist scum!” Rainbow Dash boldly proclaimed, immediately feeling embarrassed over saying something so cheesy. In hindsight, she should have worked out what she was going to say before flying over to confront them. The entire group of cultists turned to face Rainbow Dash, their black hoods concealing any surprise their faces might have shown. The group of robed ponies parted for Von Umbrae to step through. “Vell this is certainly a surprise. Hello Rainbow Dash. Vhere’s the bold and heroic Daring Do?” “Shut up and give me the Moonstone!” Rainbow Dash demanded, “Also, forget that I said ‘not so fast cultist scum.’ Pretend I said something cooler. Like: ‘you’d better pack your bags, because I’m sending you on a one way trip to Tartarus!’” “I’ll make a note of it. For now though, I don’t have time to trade quips with you. I have an ancient weapon to find! Do not vorry though. My little ponies here vill… take care of you in my absence,” Von Umbrae turned to one of his subordinates, “isn’t that right, Lightning Strike?” The pony beside Von Umbrae removed his hood, revealing his stoic, scarred face. Von Umbrae once again paused, waiting for a response from his silent subordinate. To the surprise of everypony, Lightning Strike dropped his intimidating guard act and turned to Von Umbrae. “If I answer will you stop throwing things at my face?” Just as Lightning Strike had previously met all words addressed to him with silence, so had every pony present done the same when the scarred pony spoke. “Uh… sure thing brother!” Von Umbrae said, giving Lightning Strike a pat on the shoulder before turning around and walking to a small pedestal in the center of the stone circle. Von Umbrae removed the Moonstone from his robes and placed it in a perfectly shaped indentation on the stone pedestal. The moment the Moonstone was snugly inserted the stone pedestal began to glow a vivid white. A web of glowing white lines expanded from the base of the pedestal, tracing the various cracks in the cobblestone as they snaked their way to the pillars on the circle’s edge. Soon, all six pillars were glowing brightly, the entire circle of stone emitting a beam of light into the sky above. Rainbow Dash realized that she had to act immediately, so with a couple of scuffs of her hoof the pegasus charged toward the gathered cultists. She clocked the first robed mare in the face with a hoof but as she made her way to the next cultist in her path, two of them grabbed her from both sides and held her back. Rainbow Dash watched Von Umbrae stand in the center of the circle of stone, except he wasn’t standing. An invisible force was slowly lifting the purple robed cultist off of his hooves and into the air. Then with a sinister smile and a mockery of a friendly wave, Von Umbrae disappeared in a bright flash of light. Immediately after, the scarred visage of Lightning Strike filled Rainbow Dash’s vision. The white stallion raised his right hoof and Rainbow Dash heard a familiar “click” as he once again drew his poisoned blade. Acting fast, Rainbow spread her wings and took off straight up into the air, immediately knocking off one of the robed ponies holding her in place. The other cultist managed to hold onto her as Rainbow ascended, but a swift kick sent him falling back to the ground. Rainbow looked at the glowing stone circle ahead of her. If she could just touch down in the center of the circle of bright light she could probably follow Von Umbrae to the Lunar Sanctum. Six robed pegasi rose into the air in front of Rainbow Dash, spread out to create a barrier of cultists between her and her glowing destination. Sharp pain was still shooting through her right wing, and her left was cramping up after having been flying for so many hours. Rainbow exhaled hard. She did not like her odds of making it past these guys. That was when she heard the sound. It was like the hum of the Dungeon Crawler or the Eclipse’s engines, but it wasn’t as low. And it was getting louder. The group of cultist pegasi facing down Rainbow Dash turned to the source of the noise just in time to see an airship bearing down on them. The speedy vessel broke up the airborne cultists’ formation, creaming two of them against the bow in the process. The cultists on the ground looked up as the airship with Celestia’s sun emblazoned on the balloon suspending it turned and headed back towards them. Rainbow’s eyes widened across her face when she saw the words E.G Crimson Flare emblazoned across the purple hull. A grin crept across her face when she saw four familiar figures standing on the deck. “‘Sup?” Gold Digger’s familiar lazy voice called out. “SUCK ROCK FOOLS!” Rainbow had to do a double take when she heard the surprisingly loud voice of Topaz, who was reaching into her saddlebag and throwing rock after rock at the remaining cultist pegasi, nailing one in the head and sending him spiraling out toward the ground. Just then, a quill surrounded by green magical energy flew past Rainbow Dash and started furiously attacking a black robed pegasi trying to sneak up on her. “Ha ha! The quill is mightier!” Exclaimed Ancient Rune, his horn glowing as he continued to will his writing utensil to jab at the cultist pegasus. Rainbow Dash flew down and landed on the deck beside Gold Digger. “Gold? How did you…?” “It was kinda hard to miss the giant rainbow explosion in the distance!” Gold said, “after that it was a simple matter of following Iron Pyrite’s directions!” Another pegasus in black robes landed on the deck behind Rainbow Dash and Gold Digger, but before she could attack either of them the cultist mare was hit by a blast of white magical energy and sent sailing over the side of the ship. Rainbow Dash looked over to her left and saw Iron Pyrite standing there. The older mare gave her a simple nod. “So what’s the plan, bud?” Gold asked. Rainbow Dash looked down over the side of the ship at the column of light shooting out of the glowing white stone circle and the cultists gathered on the ground below. “Just keep those cultists out of the Lunar Sanctum. I’ll go in after Von Umbrae!” Gold nodded before looking up at the helm, “hey Zestafa! Bring her down!” Rainbow Dash followed his gaze and sure enough, the zebra was standing on his hind legs behind the wheel. Zestafa nodded and with a swift turn of the wheel and adeptly pulling a few lines, he brought the Crimson Flare down to the ground just in front of the glowing circle of stone, effectively creating a wall between it and the cultists. “C’mon guys! Let’s show these cultists why they shouldn’t mess with ponies with PhDs!” Gold shouted before pulling out a shovel he had strapped to his back with his mouth and leaping off the deck of the Crimson Flare, screaming dramatically as he did so. “Is the battle cry necessary?” Iron Pyrite asked as she followed him. “Only when you’re THROWING ROCKS!” Topaz cried as she leapt off the deck, managing to get off a few shots with her rocks while she flipped through the air. “I always wondered how I would rate in combat,” Ancient Rune mused as he joined the fray. Ancient Rune and Iron Pyrite brought up defensive spells to protect the team from magical attacks launched by the unicorn cultists before counterattacking with offensive spells of their own. Topaz continued chucking rocks from the seemingly endless supply in her saddlebag like a pony possessed, while Gold Digger smacked the first cultist he encountered in the head with the end of his shovel, his eyes remaining half-lidded all the while. Lightning Strike then attacked Gold with his poisoned blade, but Gold expertly blocked the attack with his shovel, beginning an eloquent fencing match. Certain that her companions had themselves handled, Rainbow Dash turned and leapt off the other side of the Crimson Flare. “Good luck, my friend!” Zestafa called out from his place at the helm as Rainbow Dash landed. Rainbow Dash stood in the center of the stone circle of pillars beside the altar where the Moonstone was embedded. After a couple of seconds, Rainbow Dash felt a sensation of weightlessness throughout her body as she slowly began to rise off the ground. Taking one last look at the Crimson Flare and the battle raging behind it, blinding light consumed Rainbow Dash’s entire being and then she was gone. As the archaeologists and cultists continued their battle, they failed to notice the pony watching from atop the cliff a great distance away. Adjusting the hat on her head, the pegasus pony stretched her wings. The white light that dominated Rainbow Dash’s vision disappeared, and soon she felt her own weight again as she touched solid ground. She was standing on a glowing stone circle identical to the one out on the vast South Equestrian plain, but now she was in an expansive cavern. Pale rock made up the distant walls and towering ceiling overhead and large rings of enchanted metal adorned the cavern, overlapping each other like chainmail along the cavernous walls. Each ring was covered in glowing white runes that acted as very effective light sources. Ahead of her, Rainbow Dash could see what appeared to be a round metal table with a massive colorless hologram of their planet looming over it, a small holographic moon orbiting it. Beyond the magical hologram was the centerpiece of the vast cavern: something that Rainbow Dash could not identify. It looked like a massive metal stalactite pointing at an equally as large metal stalagmite. Hundreds of fat cords ran like snakes from the base of the strange machine to every corner of the cavernous space, disappearing into the walls. “This… is the Lunar Sanctum?” Rainbow Dash’s voice echoed as she walked further into the alien expanse, looking around in wonder. “Where in Equestria is this?” “Oh, Ve are not in Equestria.” At the sound of the deep voice reverberating through the cavern, Rainbow Dash looked directly ahead of herself and found that she was so busy taking in her grand surroundings that she didn’t even notice the purple robed pony facing away from her. Von Umbrae was standing at a control console in front of the looming hologram of their planet, meticulously pressing multicolored gemstones set into the metal device. He didn’t acknowledge Rainbow Dash’s presence with so much as a head gesture, but the heavily concentrating cultist clearly knew she was there “So… where are we?” Rainbow asked. She then took another look at her surroundings. Her eyes once again found the giant holographic planet dominating her vision. More specifically, she noticed the infinitely more detailed holographic moon. A thought suddenly occurred to Rainbow about their current location, but it couldn’t be true. There was just no way that was where they were! “You know, it must have been so frustrating for the poor Princess,” Von Umbrae gave a lamenting sigh, “to be sealed away on this rock for one thousand years with the means to destroy her sister right underneath her hooves! So close, yet completely unattainable without her powers…” “Okay, so where’s this weapon, then?” Von Umbrae gave an ominous chuckle. What was so unsettling about it this time though, was that it wasn’t just a patronizing sound. There was genuine mirth behind it. “For a pony who claims to be Equestria’s fastest, you are remarkably slow!” With a flourish, Von Umbrae pushed a final gemstone on the console and the once silent cavern began to shake violently as he turned to face Rainbow Dash with a satisfied smirk on his face. The glowing runes on the metal rings on the walls began flashing wildly and a blinding burst of lightning arced between the great artificial stalactite and stalagmite that Rainbow Dash realized was a pair of big, ancient power generators. The snaking cords on the ground began flashing at regular intervals as magical energy was transferred from the generator to the rest of the Lunar Sanctum. Rainbow Dash finally realized what was happening when she took another look up at the holographic moon. The center of the moon’s face was opening up like an iris, and inside Rainbow saw the first color on the white and gray hologram. The inside of the tiny moon was as red as the fires of Tartarus. The Lunar Sanctum… no, the moon itself was the weapon! Rainbow cursed herself for not just attacking Von Umbrae as soon as she saw him. Instead, she had to ask all those questions and give him time to finish activating the weapon. Rainbow growled as she crouched, spread her wings and scuffed her hoof along the floor. Better late than never. “I hope you’re ready for a face bucking, punk! You’ve had it coming for a while!” “Whatever happens beyond now is meaningless. The firing sequence is irreversible. In a few short minutes Celestia and her precious capital vill be dust and ashes. Righteously smited by the very moon they opposed!” Von Umbrae reached up and unfastened his cloak. With another dramatic flourish, he tossed the purple and gold fabric into the air behind him. His dark purple Lunar Guard’s armor was fully visible now and his bat-like wings extended. “Nevertheless, I suppose I can humor you!” Needing no further incentive, Rainbow Dash shot towards her opponent, her tired, battered wings giving everything they had. Von Umbrae did the same and the two combatants met in mid air, locking their hooves together as the whole cavern shook around them. They stayed like that for several seconds, spinning in the air as they wrestled for control. The whole thing resembled a tango performed in midair. Eventually, Rainbow Dash kicked off of Von Umbrae and circled around, coming at the batpony again. This time, she unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at her opponent. Rainbow Dash had been in her fair share of fights throughout her young life, and always preferred to fight like a brawler, letting her attacks come ineloquently spilling out of her. Von Umbrae however, was a practiced Lunar Guard with years of combat training behind him. Rainbow Dash only managed to land a couple of useless hits to his armored midriff. The bat-like cultist blocked and deflected the rest with ease. After growing bored of letting Rainbow Dash lead, Von Umbrae brought a leathery wing to the mare’s face with the speed of a whip. The strike disoriented Rainbow long enough for Von Umbrae to deliver a series of precise hits to her stomach before finishing up with an uppercut to Rainbow’s chin, sending her flying unevenly backwards. Rainbow took a small amount of satisfaction in the look of surprise on Von Umbrae’s face when she recovered in the air and shook off the pain from the attack. Nevertheless, Rainbow quickly realized she didn’t have the upper hoof and decided to press her attack more aggressively. She flew straight at Von Umbrae focusing everything on speed. Rainbow performed a textbook midair tackle, wrapping her forelegs around the cultist’s waist, intending to crush him against the wall. With a remarkable show of strength however, Von Umbrae managed to completely stop her momentum. He then delivered a knee to her face and an elbow to her spine before turning to grab Rainbow by her own waist and throw her face first into the intertwining metal rings along the wall. Her face, stomach and back pounding, Rainbow Dash turned around in the nick of time to dodge Von Umbrae’s right hoof. The blow resonated through the rune covered metal rings along the wall and Von Umbrae noticeably winced as he shook his right hoof a couple of times. Now, it was Von Umbrae’s turn to go on the offensive, attacking Rainbow Dash with his own flurry of punches, forcing the mare on the defensive and driving her back towards the center of the room. Unlike Rainbow Dash though, Von Umbrae’s storm of punches wasn’t random. Each attack was a deliberate and methodical effort to fake her out and get through her defenses. Rainbow would continually move to block a punch only to open herself up to a follow up attack to the face. After having taken many punches and approaching the end of her rope, Rainbow Dash saw an opportunity to attack and tried a final, desperate uppercut. But Von Umbrae caught her foreleg in his own, turned and flipped her over his shoulder, delivering a final hard kick to her chest and sending Rainbow Dash straight down to the floor below. Slowly and groggily she tried to get back up, but was stopped when Von Umbrae touched down beside her and pinned her to the floor. “Vell, that vas fun!” Von Umbrae said, smiling down at Rainbow Dash, who couldn't stop staring at his large white fangs. “Are you gonna… drink my blood… or something?” Rainbow Dash asked through burning lungs. At this, Von Umbrae reared his head back in confusion and then rolled his eyes, “ugh, why does everypony think us bat ponies are vampires? Just because ve have fangs doesn’t mean ve drink blood!” Von Umbrae then looked up and put a contemplative hoof to his chin, using his other one to keep Rainbow Dash pinned. “Although, I must admit I’ve always wondered what pony meat tastes like!” Von Umbrae looked back down at Rainbow Dash with a sadistic smile, “Hey, as long as I’m about to destroy Celestia, I might as well cross another thing off my bucket list!” Rainbow Dash failed to suppress a totally uncool whimper and closed one eye as Von Umbrae leaned forward with his jaws wide open, but before he could sink his fangs into blue flesh, a sudden brief flash of light off to the left caused him to stop. Sure, glowing runes were flashing and the central generators were arcing magical lighting between each other, but all of that was happening on the right. Von Umbrae slowly turned to look in the direction of the flash of light just in time to be greeted by a beige hoof to his face. The blow sent the dark stallion stumbling off of Rainbow Dash, who turned and looked up at the face of Daring Do, smiling down at her. Daring offered Rainbow a hoof and Rainbow took it, returning her hero’s smile as Daring pulled her to her hooves. “Vell, look who came back!” Von Umbrae lowered his hoof from his face to glare at Daring, revealing that she’d actually left a mark, “perhaps you’ll stick around this time? I’d say that your friends miss having you around, but unlike one of us, I don’t make a habit out of lying!” Daring Do and Von Umbrae were once again facing each other, inches apart. This time though, Daring didn’t show any signs of weakness. She just glared right back into Von Umbrae’s pale dead eyes. “You’re right. I have made a career out of making mistakes, but I won’t let that stop me from doing the right thing!” “Oh, so you’re playing the part of the hero again? Too bad this isn’t like one of your books!” Von Umbrae scoffed. Daring Do’s ears perked up at Von Umbrae’s last statement and a sly grin crept across her face. She spread her wings and Von Umbrae assumed a combat stance, but Daring didn’t attack the cultist. Instead, she flew straight up and looked across the chamber at the generators on the ground and ceiling. Rainbow Dash glanced over at the holographic moon, it’s face now fully open, it’s red interior glowing brighter and brighter. It seemed ready to fire at any moment. It was then that Daring Do took off her safari hat, wound it up and threw it across the cavern. Her trademark headgear flew straight and true right into the lightning arcing between the generators. Magical lighting surged into the hat, keeping it in place between the generators while simultaneously ricocheting across the cavern in every direction, the famous headgear keeping the lightning from going where it was supposed to. Stray bolts hit many of the metal, rune covered rings lining the walls, sending them crashing to the ground. Finally, a quick succession of loud booms and fiery explosions brought the ceiling generator crashing down to the one below it, sending Daring’s hat flying back in the general direction of the three ponies. All of the glowing runes on the metal rings lining the walls that had been providing light across the cavern had turned a dim red and the whole chamber grew significantly darker. “You… have got to be kidding…” Von Umbrae stared in awe at the destroyed magical power generators in the center of the chamber. Daring Do landed beside Rainbow Dash and shrugged, “throwing my hat always worked in the books!” Rainbow Dash’s attention however, was on the dimly glowing red runes throughout the chamber that were flickering and dying, shrouding the cavern in complete darkness one space at a time. The giant hologram of the planet and the moon flickered a few times before shattering into a million tiny holographic pieces as the glowing runes continued going out. “Yeah, Daring? I think we should get out of here!” She said, her voice shaking. Daring Do nodded, and together the two pegasi flew back across the vast cavern towards the still brightly glowing cobblestone circle that had teleported them there, Rainbow Dash stopping briefly to pick something up off the ground. They raced against the the darkness brought on by the dying runes and landed on the glowing stone circle. Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at the sound of an angry, feral cry and saw the nightmarish form of Von Umbrae swooping down out of the darkness on demonic wings, his fang filled mouth wide open. Rainbow Dash crouched and with a powerful buck that would have made Applejack proud, she intercepted Von Umbrae’s attack, sending the insane cultist sprawling on the ground. As she felt the sensation of weightlessness begin to overtake her body, Rainbow turned around to get one last look at her enemy. Von Umbrae slowly lifted his head from the ground and looked up at Rainbow Dash and Daring Do, his eyes widening as the horror of what was happening dawned on him. As Von Umbrae was consumed in darkness, Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were enveloped in light. The bright light faded away and Daring Do found herself standing with Rainbow Dash on the expansive plains of Pegaguay, South Equestria. The first light from Celestia’s sun was beginning to come in over the horizon. The stone circle of pillars were no longer glowing in bright white light. Daring Do turned around and trotted to the altar in the center, removing the very ordinary looking Moonstone from the indentation it was set in. “Hey! Boss! Rainbow Dash! You guys both made it!” Daring Do turned around to see Gold Digger, Topaz and Ancient Rune all standing there. “We were just about to go in after you!” Topaz said. “We noticed some… strange lunar activity whilst we were battling the cultists,” Ancient Rune said, “might I inquire as to the whereabouts of their leader?” “Von Umbrae? Let’s just say he followed in the hoofsteps of the alicorn he worshipped,” Daring said, looking up at the moon in the sky. The celestial body was nothing more than the beautiful white satellite it had always been. Daring Do reached up to put the Moonstone under her hat and immediately remembered that it was no longer on her head. “Forgetting something?” Rainbow Dash walked up to Daring Do, the archaeologist’s trademark hat on her head. It was charred and torn in several places, but it was intact. Daring Do moved to retrieve the hat, but Rainbow Dash stood up on her hind legs so she could adjust the hat on her head with her front hooves, apparently not quite willing to give it up yet. Daring just gave Rainbow a patient stare. “I think it looks kinda good on me,” Rainbow Dash then removed the hat and held it towards Daring, “but you keep it. It’s a pretty special hat, considering it pretty much saved the world!” Daring smiled and took back her headgear from Rainbow Dash. She placed the Moonstone inside and then put it back on her head. “It must be made out of pretty tough stuff,” Rainbow said. Daring knew she wasn't just referring to the hat. Daring turned back to face her teammates. It didn’t take her long to notice there were other ponies on the grassy plain with them. A whole regiment of pegasi in the gold armor of the Royal Guard were rounding up bloodied and beaten ponies in black robes and loading them into sky chariots. Two of them were carrying off Lightning Strike on a stretcher. The scarred white pony didn’t appear to have any injuries save for a single cut on one of his forelegs. The zebra who had lent her team the Crimson Flare was sharing drinks and light conversation with a few of the guards. Finally, Daring saw Iron Pyrite loaded onto a sky chariot with the rest of the cultists. She made a mental note to put in a good word to the Guard on Pyrite’s behalf. She was sure Rainbow Dash would do the same to Princess Celestia. Daring Do closed her eyes and let out a content sigh, glad for the whole ordeal to finally be over. “Another day…” “Another dungeon…” Rainbow Dash finished. The cafeteria table on board the E.S Solar Ray was silent as the ponies sitting around it ate. Every other table in the mess hall was filled with guards in gold armor save for this one. It was occupied by three archaeologists and one loyal fan. Rainbow Dash was disappointed that Daring Do hadn’t joined her and the rest of the team for what would be the last meal they’d probably share together as they approached Canterlot. It would seem that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. When Rainbow Dash boarded the Guardship Solar Ray for the journey home, she had been pretty quick to crash in a nice bed. Chasing cultists all night had left her pretty exhausted. She hadn’t even considered at the time that she may not see Daring Do again after that. Additionally, the empty seat across from her next to Gold Digger only served to remind Rainbow Dash of Iron Pyrite. She’d sent a letter to Princess Celestia requesting that she not get punished too hard for her crimes. Rainbow Dash took another bite out of her hayfries when she heard somepony clear their throat off to her side. Rainbow Dash turned and almost didn’t recognize the beige mare standing there, holding a tray of food and smiling nervously at them. There was a certain vulnerable, honest look to Daring Do when she wasn’t wearing her jacket and safari hat. “Hey guys,” Daring greeted in a very subdued voice, “Do you… mind if I join you?” Rainbow Dash gave a simple smile and a nod and Gold Digger patted the seat beside him, not taking his half open eyes off of the gargantuan amount of food he was eating. Daring sat down and began taking tiny bites of her food. Every once in a while she would open her mouth like she wanted to say something but then she would stop herself, using her mouth to eat instead. “I-I…” Daring started after a while, “Listen guys… I owe you a lot and… and I’ve been kind of… I kind of let success go to my head and… I just want to say…” “Ah buh buh buh buh! Not another word,” Gold Digger waved a hoof in Daring Do’s face, “you don’t have to say anything,” the stallion then put a foreleg around Daring and pulled her into an affectionate embrace, “we’re just glad to have you with us, boss.” Daring Do gave a roll of her eyes, but smiled as she leaned into the hug, “you know, you don’t have to call me ‘boss,’ Goldie.” “Whatever you say… sis.” Rainbow Dash wasn’t aware it was possible to choke on a liquid until she started coughing up her water all over the table. Daring Do, Gold Digger, Topaz and Ancient Rune all had a good natured laugh at her expense. Rainbow Dash tried to tell them all it wasn't that funny as her face heated up, but sooner or later she couldn’t keep herself from joining in. The rest of the meal carried on at that pace, with each of the ponies at the table sharing humorous anecdotes that brought the others to giggling laughter. Daring Do told the others about Iron Pyrite, and how she was going to pull a few strings to help her son get into Celestia’s School. Rainbow Dash was enjoying spending time with her new friends so much that a small lump appeared in her throat when the announcement came through the airship stating that they were approaching Canterlot. Rainbow Dash made each one of the archaeologists Pinkie Promise to write to her. Before Rainbow Dash knew it, she was stepping off of the Solar Ray onto the Canterlot airship docks. The sight of Twilight Sparkle and all of her friends waiting to greet her was bittersweet. Before Rainbow Dash could go to meet them, someone stopped her by putting a hoof on her shoulder. Rainbow Dash turned around to see Gold Digger standing there, Ancient Rune and Topaz just behind him. “Welp, this sure has been a thing!” Gold Digger said as he gave Rainbow Dash a hoof bump, “see ya around, bud!” “Farewell, Ms. Dash!” Ancient Rune stated. “B-bye…” Topaz said. It looked like anything more would reduce her to tears. Rainbow Dash repeated their goodbyes and turned to leave only to nearly bump into Daring Do. The two of them just stood there for a couple of seconds, neither sure how to close off their adventure together. “Y’know, when Topaz first proposed the prize for the contest, I thought it was a terrible idea,” Daring Do then wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow, giving her an affectionate little squeeze. Rainbow returned her hero’s hug just as tightly, “Thanks for proving me wrong!” Rainbow Dash closed the book. Daring Do and the Legend of the Crystal Stars had become one of her favorites in the series. As she sat at the table in the center of the tree library, she opened the book from the beginning and began rereading the prologue. Not only was it a fun adventure, but the sidekick characters were a lot more… focused on. She was sure Twilight had some kind of egghead writing term for it, but the other characters besides Daring each had their own moments where they showed just how important to Daring's adventures they were. Spike sighed and continued to sort through scrolls as Rainbow Dash hugged the book to herself and gave a happy little squee. It was around that moment that a loud gasp filled the library. Rainbow looked over at the source of the noise and saw Twilight Sparkle staring at the newspaper in her hooves with a gleam in her eyes. “Daring Do just announced the next book in the series: Daring Do and the Search For the Lunar Sanctum!” Twilight levitated the newspaper over to Rainbow Dash and set it down on the table in front of her, “and look at this: she’s introducing a new character!” Twilight gave Rainbow Dash a knowing smile, “a pegasus with a rainbow mane!” “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!” The sound that escaped Rainbow Dash went all the way into ultrasonic. Miles away at Sweet Apple Acres, Winona stopped herding sheep to tilt her head in the direction of Central Ponyville. Rainbow Dash’s cheeks heated up when she noticed Twilight and Spike both staring at her with amused expressions. Rainbow Dash desperately tried to salvage the situation by casually leaning an elbow on the table and adopting a neutral expression. “Oh. That’s cool. Whatever.” Fin.