//------------------------------//
// Eight - Discoveries and Revelations 
// Story: Treasure in the West 
// by DiveBomb 
//------------------------------//

	Step by painful step, the beige stallion followed the gliding pegasus overhead. The sun was at its apex for the day, the previous breeze absent from the streets. Braeburn wondered how in Equestria the mare was able to take being even closer to the sun, as he was heavily perspiring at ground level. The ponies of Dodge Junction were out and about again, forming a fair amount of hoof-traffic in the dirt roads. The riflepony kept his head low, the brim of his Stetson veiling his eyes from passersby. For the past ten minutes, he had been bombarded by a veritable onslaught of appreciative ponies, all trying to get a word from the heroic stallion once again. While he was grateful for their kind words, Braeburn was in no condition to delay their departure from the dusty town. To his surprise, whenever they were stopped by an inquisitive pony, Daring hadn't hurried the process along like she had in Silver Snips' shop. Instead, she merely stood aside and waited patiently, giving him a covert grin from afar. 

Braeburn couldn't explain her sudden willingness to wait, but didn't take any advantage of it. Ever since they left the tattered saloon, he noticed a slow change in her personality. Usually Daring Do was restless and outspoken, but by now she seemed more relaxed, and even cut back on her familiar jibes and sarcasm. The mare even laughed a little more. It seemed that with every word they exchanged now, the previously seclusive archaeologist opened herself up more and more. Overall, she was simply happy, and Braeburn loved to see it in her. She was a pony that he had longed to befriend, and the feeling was easily enough to distract him from his injuries. 

"Sorry fer takin' so long Daring," he said, pacing slowly underneath her. The pegasus cast Braeburn an odd look before landing alongside him, folding her wings at her sides. 

"Don't be," she replied simply. "But I guess it is your hardheadedness keeping you going, so think what you want."

Braeburn shook his head with a grin as they crossed the outskirts of Dodge Junction. Ahead to the North was a vast expanse of desert, the horizon distorted from the sun's heat. To the West stood a long range of red and orange plateaus, opening into a thin valley down the line. 

"So through that valley, right?" Daring asked, pointing to the opening in the range. 

"Yup," he replied quietly, panting from his audacity to simply move. The pegasus shot him a concerned look. Braeburn quickly gathered himself, hiding his grunt of agony. 

"Braeburn please," she pleaded, taking a step toward him. "Just reconsider this."

"Ah have," he replied, composing his voice. "And Ah'm doin' this."

Daring searched him with her eyes, tapping an uncertain hoof to the dirt. She was conflicted, and he understood that. But in the end, even her pleading words wouldn't stop him. If Braeburn's body couldn't take any more, it would let him know. For now he could move, and the stallion planned to take every advantage of the opportunity. 

Finally, Daring uttered a snort, conceding. "Fine, but if you die out there, I'm not carrying your body back."

Braeburn smiled, taking lead toward the West. "Good to know."



      

With a resounding crack, a strong pair of hooves collided with a large tree, immediately rewarded with a hail of yellow Appleloosan fruits. The tall middle-aged stallion turned his neck with a snap, scowling at the poor ratio of healthy apples in the baskets around the thick trunk. It had been years since he had been forced to work in the orchard himself. As the farm grew, so did its profits, and in the end the future of their business depended on a mind able to direct its assets. Despite his entirely different way of life, Bullet Tyme had no choice but to be that pony. Unfortunately, every one of his usual workers were still incapacitated. As if that wasn't enough, Bullet had no other choice but to call for assistance. 

"Uncle B, are ya' sure yer able to buck the apples? Ya' look tired."

The sand-colored stallion shot his niece an off look. The orange mare was drenched in perspiration, her blonde mane matted to her forehead under a tilted Stetson. 

"O' course Ah can! What kinda' question is that?"

Applejack's brow furrowed, her head cocking back in surprise. "Now what was that all about?" 

Bullet Tyme turned his head away from the orange earth pony, kicking over an empty basket in frustration. He couldn't so much as look in her general direction, shame flooding his mind. He let out a slow breath, closing his eyes. As Bullet collected himself, Applejack waited patiently without another word. 

"Ah'm sorry AJ," he sighed. "Ah shouldn't be hagglin' ya'. Ah appreciate what yer doin' here."

The farmpony walked into his vision as Bullet opened his eyes. She curled her lips into an amused smirk, understanding his anger. "What's family for?"

"Why dontcha' ask that..." he trailed off, containing his words. Applejack exhaled through her nose.

"Ya' just can't take what he's doin' huh?"

"What he's doin' ain't right," Bullet seethed. "Takin' off with that mare on some sorta' blinded scheme, when he should be workin' like the rest o' us! Ah shouldn't have ta' call ya' back here after ya' just left!" 

"Whoa there!" she replied, making a calming gesture with a forehoof. "Ah get that yer mad Uncle B, but Braeburn's only doin' what's right by the farm!"

"By chasin' a foal's tale?" Bullet scoffed, his frustration returning. 

"You didn't see what that mare showed us," Applejack retorted, her tone level. 

"Ah don't care what a pony says, that doesn't make it true," Bullet said quietly, his nostrils flaring into a snarl. "Look, we ain't gonna make any progress on these apples by talkin'."

"Looks like you've underestimated the help," Applejack grinned, cocking her head toward the orchard. Bullet traced her gaze to the two mares from afar. One was a unicorn with a coat of light purple, controlling a fog of violet magic to yank the fruits loose from their branches. Ahead to the North side of the farm was another one of Applejack's friends, tearing through the trees in the form of a cyan blur, a trail of multiple colors behind her. Despite his desire to stick to the traditional means of apple-bucking, he couldn't argue with her friends' results. The orchard was nearly bare of any fruits, and would soon be sorted to find the limited healthy apples. 

Bullet Tyme sighed. "Well Ah'll be. Ah guess you were right. Ta' think Ah only called fer Big Mac."

"He ain't goin' nowhere with that bad ankle o' his," she replied. "But look here Uncle B, just don't be too hard on Braeburn. Ah'm sure he won't come back empty hoofed. Ya' know he only wants what's best fer the business."

The tall stallion exhaled, looking into the near-empty baskets on the ground. "Ah know he does. Ah just wish that boy had a clear head about it."

"I think that's it!" declared a voice. Bullet looked over to find the purple unicorn smiling over a full bushel of apples. She cast a glance to the North, calling to the pegasus: "How about you Rainbow?"

A pale blue head poked out from the branches of a particularly high tree, the mare's prismatic mane lined with twigs and leaves. "Waiting for you to be done Twilight! Looks like wings beat magic! Ha!"

Even from the distance between them, Bullet could see the violet unicorn roll her tired eyes, clearly spent from the heat. The stallion leaned his head down toward his niece, whispering: "They were havin' a contest?"

"Maybe in Rainbow's mind they were," Applejack snickered.

"Well whatever works," he replied. "Okay then, round them up fer lunch and meet me in the kitchen."

The orange mare raised her eyebrows. "But we still have the South fields to-"

"What'd Ah say AJ?" he interrupted, walking back toward the barn. "Ya'll did a good job today, and those two were kind enough ta' help us without even gettin' paid fer it. Least Ah can do is give 'em somethin' fer their time and work."  

"Alright, but one more thing," she said, catching the stallion's attention. "Whatever ya' do, don't mention the mare that Braeburn took off with in front o' Rainbow Dash."

Bullet Tyme raised an eyebrow, bewildered. "Why's that?"

Applejack uttered a small laugh. "Trust me Uncle B, ya' don't wanna know."





Braeburn reveled in the cooling shadow cast by the high walls of the valley, lines of red and orange tracing the plateaus' path in a stack of neat rows. It was as if the gods themselves had piled the two different colors of sedimentary rock atop each other, for their uniformed look was simply too magnificent for even mother nature herself to form. Daring was even able to take to the skies above a little more comfortably, soaring in excited circles as Braeburn limped below. The riflepony looked up to her with a sense of envy.

The earth pony had always wondered what it would be like to fly, even if for a moment. Yet another aspect of the archaeologist that he could find particularly interesting. He found that merely asking what the feeling was like was comparable to asking a fish what it was like to live underwater. Overall, such an inquiry would prove simply pointless. However, Braeburn still longed to know. A part of him wished that he wasn't so much taller and heavier than the pegasus, just so the endeavor would be at least possible if she were to carry him. But in the end, Braeburn was a pony meant for the ground, where he thrived like any other earth pony. From the skies above, Daring Do performed a few vertical loops in the air, turning in a rather messy corkscrew. Before he could so much as yelp in fright, the pegasus skidded across the dirt on her hooves in front of him, a bright smile on her face. 

"Whoaho! Did you see that? I almost got it that time!" she exclaimed, her rose eyes alight with elation.

"What's this all of a sudden?" Braeburn mused. "Tryin' to be some kind o' acrobat or somethin'?"

A bashful look came over the pegasus' face as she joined him in a slow walk. "Oh, well...no. It's just kind of a hobby I've been messing around with." 

"Anything in particular that inspired that? Seems like a heck of a contrast from archaeology."

Daring snorted a chuckle. "Well it wasn't exactly something. More like somepony."

"Oh yeah? A special somepony?" he teased, receiving an immediate punch to his uninjured shoulder. 

"Don't be fresh with me, you walking corpse," she chided. "No. It was actually some pegasus I read about in the newspaper a couple of years back. Do you follow those kinds of things?"

Braeburn gestured to his sides. "D'ya see any wings here?"

"Anyway," she sighed, wading through his sarcasm. "There was an article about some competition she won in Cloudsdale. There were a whole bunch of pictures of her stunts. It was pretty awesome. I guess I kind of use her as a sort of role model for my hobby. It's pretty stupid, I know."

The stallion's eyebrows twitched, a memory coming back to him. "Huh."

"What?"

"What was that pony's name?" he asked.

"Rainbow Dash, why?"

Braeburn barked out a painful laugh, recalling the rainbow-colored mare that accompanied his cousin to Appleloosa almost two years ago. Daring stopped in her tracks, a look of confusion forming on her face as he chuckled.

"What in the hay is so funny about that?" she asked, completely clueless. It may have taken a minute, but eventually Braeburn caught his haggard breath.

"Oh sweet Celestia. When this is all over, we gotta make a trip out to Ponyville," he grinned, returning to his slow pace. 

Daring trotted alongside him, tilting her head to one side. "Ponyville? What's in Ponyville?"

"Let's call it a surprise," he said, averting the conversation with another. "So there's somethin' I've been meanin' to ask ya'."

"Um...okay?" she replied. With her response, something came over her. Daring's pace slowed down a step, a sense of worry emanating from her. Braeburn guessed that she was still adjusting to opening up to another pony. Perhaps she was afraid that he was going to ask a question of her past. However, he couldn't find himself feeling comfortable with any more prying. She knew that she could trust him, and he would let Daring come clean when she was ready. 

"You said my name would be in the papers when we found Cunning's treasure," he started. "Where's yer name gonna be?"

"Oh," she sighed in relief. "That. Well, whenever one of my finds gets an article somewhere, my name gets withheld. Keeps the readers of those darned books off my back."

"Okay, here's my problem with that..." Braeburn said, preparing his counter. "Ya' said yer problem with the books was the reactions ya' got from ponies. Wouldn't being published prove that you were a real pony, and not some kinda fanfilly?" 

"So you're perceptive all of a sudden?" she smirked.

"Ah said that Ah've been meanin' to ask," he clarified. 

"Fair enough," Daring shrugged. "Well that was my...original reason. I guess I just got used to the idea over time."

"Why's that? Wouldn't ya' want ponies to know of yer work?"

"I don't do what I do for fame," she said smugly. "I do it because I love my work. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Sometimes things like having my name on a plaque or something just...doesn't matter to me. I sap every ounce of happiness I'll ever need out of what I do. I wish you knew what it's like to search through an ancient tomb, after trekking through miles of forest just to find it. It's just...exhilarating; the feeling when you find something nopony has stepped hoof in for hundreds, sometimes even thousands of years. I guess I can't really explain it accurately."

Braeburn didn't bother to tell Daring that she had stopped in her tracks, lost in thought. He merely kept his mouth shut and listened, taking the opportunity to sit in the shadow of the tall valley. The earth pony found himself enjoying her short monologue, settling down and letting his aching joints rest for a moment. 

The pegasus blinked a few times, looking around herself. "Oh, sorry. Got lost in thought I guess."

"Ah'm actually glad ya' did. If you can just gimme a few more minutes, that'd be just dandy," he said, cracking his neck in several places. Daring replied with yet another worried look. Knowing that her words would only be in vain, she sighed, plopping down on the ground next to him. "So when did ya' start...well, explorin' caves and tombs and things like that?"

"You mean archaeology?" she smiled, uncapping her canteen and taking a long swig. "Well I guess it started when I was a real little filly; about six-years-old. Me and my parents were taking a walk through the forest one day and we got separated. My Dad was always teaching me how to use the stars and the positions of the sun and moon to navigate by direction, even when I was that young. That night I made it back to our house, and when my parents came back they pointed out my cutie mark. I was so scared that night, I hadn't even noticed that it appeared."

In her recollection, Daring Do had curled herself into a ball on the ground, fondness in her eyes as she spoke.

"My Dad was actually a famed archaeologist," she continued, apparently lost in her memories. "After I got my mark, he took me all across Equestria on his searches, sometimes even outside the country. I think those were my favorite fillyhood memories right there. Adventuring with my father across uncharted territory, cataloging our finds..."

The pegasus sighed in content, raising her head to gaze off into the cloudless sky. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling I guess. I've just never really been able to share any of that with another pony before."

"Can't see why not," Braeburn replied. "Just seems like a fond memory is all."

"Well...it's not. Not really..." she said, her expression falling into something more sorrowful. But that didn't stop her from standing to her hooves, shaking the look off her face. "Now come on and get up. Those mines are just around that bend, right?"

Braeburn groaned inwardly, turning his head to the cornering valley ahead. "It sure as shoot is."

"Well let's go!" she exclaimed, pulling the stallion forcibly to his hooves. Braeburn choked back a cry of agony, his pride keeping his lips shut. Thankfully Daring hadn't noticed in her renewed excitement, and took the lead down the path. At least she's lettin' herself open up, he thought. Better than keepin' it bottled inside. But even still, Braeburn was eager to know more about her. He couldn't explain it to himself, but the stallion simply wished to know everything of the real Daring Do, especially of what had scarred her in the past. If he could just break that last barrier, Braeburn felt confident that he could...he could what? Why did he care so much about consoling her? Perhaps it was simply that jubilant air she had emanated since their talk in the saloon; the smile that brought him a such a deep sense of warmth. Maybe he was just trying too hard to be her friend. Companionship wasn't something the stallion was used to, so it made sense...right? 

Braeburn shook his head, returning his thoughts to the task at hoof: finding Cunning's last clue. He brought himself back to reality, finding that Daring had already disappeared around the bend. Before he could so much as raise a hoof to start ahead, he heard Daring cry out: "AHA!"

Alarmed, Braeburn limped as quick as he could around the corner of the valley. To his relief, he found that the pegasus had located the entrance to the mines. Ten yards down the path was a large wooden threshold built into the red stone around a dark tunnel. Several lengths of ancient wood blocked the way, nailed haphazardly to the frame. Despite Daring's elation, Braeburn immediately found that there wasn't an opening in the blockade large enough to accommodate either one of them. As he approached the entrance in the dead end, the mare started to inspect the old wood.

"Do you know when this was blocked off?" she asked absentmindedly.

"So the historian doesn't know a thing about Dodge Junction's past, huh?" he teased, being rewarded with a facetious scowl over her shoulder. "Okay, okay. It was shut down a year after it was completed."

"Why's that?"

"It was supposed to be a silver mine," he answered simply. "No silver down there though. The mines were built from the hopes of one single nugget somepony found. So fer the safety of others, the town blocked the entrance off."

"Hold on a second," she said, her face suspicious. "How do you know so much about this place?"

"What? Ya' think just 'cause Ah'm a farmer means Ah don't know shoot about my hometown's history? Dodge is a small town, so there's not much to learn about in school besides its past."

"Huh. Well thanks for paying attention in school then," she said. Braeburn stepped forward, taking a closer look at the blockade. Each plank of wood was cracked in several places along its length, showing hundreds of years of age. However, when he pushed a curious hoof against it, the planks held surprisingly well. Without the presence of ambient moisture in the air, the wood wasn't able to weaken with mold. The stallion felt confident that he would have been able to drive a rearing kick right through the old blockade, but in his current condition, it was nothing more than an idea. Part of him wished that Daring had his cousin's hearty build, but that required a lifetime of hard farm work. Not only did the archaeologist have a small frame, but any muscles she had were thin and toned, nowhere near enough to buck through something like this. 

"It's pretty solid. D'ya have a crowbar or somethin'?"

"Unfortunately not," she answered. "Can't you just shoot through it?"

Braeburn pursed his lips, nodding. "That's an idea. Stand back now."

The riflepony attempted to reach his hoof over his shoulder, grunting as his foreleg locked up in pain. Noticing his difficulty, Daring hovered above him and unsheathed Thumper. She placed it in his forehooves with a smile before landing several yards behind him, covering her ears. Braeburn carefully racked a cartridge into the chamber, moving the lever normally and without his usual flip. He leaned back onto his hindlegs in a crouch, and pointed the barrel to the center of the middle plank. He expected the round to shatter the cracked wood, but was surprised to see the results. When the rifle fired, all that happened to the old wood was a small round hole piercing through its center. 

"What the hay?" came Daring's voice. The mare walked over to the entrance of the tunnel and inspected the plank. "Waaaaiiiiit a second. Braeburn, lemme see one of those cartridges."

The stallion wordlessly complied, racking a smoldering shell from the top of the receiver and popping out a new round. Daring took the brass cartridge, throwing a hoof to her forehead when she looked at it. "Brae, what caliber is this?"

"Well the boxes said .30-30, so Ah guess that's it," he shrugged. 

The pegasus groaned. "And you didn't know that it was more of a piercing round?"

Braeburn raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Piercin' round? Ah dunno, is there some kinda difference?"

Daring groaned again. "Okay look, I may not know much about guns, but I do know about certain types of ammunition. How could you have grown up with a riflepony as a father and not know about this?"

"Ah never really listened to gun-talk as a colt. Wasn't interested," he answered truthfully. "So how do you know 'bout it?"

"I go to the saloon every other day Braeburn. In case you haven't noticed, guns have become quite popular in Dodge over the past few years. You tend to just hear ponies talking about it after going there for so long," she explained. "Regardless, this caliber is made for a little more penetration, not blunt force. You'd need something like a 12 gauge round for that, but that's more of a shotgun sort of thing."

"Well look at you," he laughed. "Lil' Miss Gunmare, aren't ya'?" 

"This is stuff you should know, Brae-Brae," she grinned smugly, knowing just how much he despised the nickname. "But no matter, we can still get through this. How many more rounds do you have on you?"

Braeburn checked the loops that lined the interior of his duster, finding three more cartridges besides the four that were already occupying Thumper's tubular magazine. "Seven."

Daring sucked in a nervous breath through her teeth. "Well let's hope nopony tries to attack us again once we get outta there. Anyway, if you aim for the ends of the planks where the wood is weaker, they'll have a better chance of breaking. Try it."

"Right'o," he answered as the pegasus backed away again. The stallion closed the lever of his rifle, loading another round. He set the iron sights where the nails had split the wood, and fired the weapon. Once the first bullet cracked the plank, Braeburn unloaded another further down the split. He grinned triumphantly once he saw the old wood splinter off the frame, allowing him to grab it with his teeth and yank it out. The stallion stifled another grunt of pain as he threw it aside. With Daring's help, they were able to remove two more parts of the blockade, giving them enough room to squeeze through the opening. Once on the other side, Braeburn stowed his final round through the rifle's cartridge gate, hoping to Celestia that he wouldn't need it in the future.

The tunnel was pitch-black ahead, the only light barely threading through the wooden blockade behind them. However, Daring immediately lit a compact lantern, small enough to clip onto her satchels. The torch illuminated a few yards ahead of them, casting a flickering orange light. Other than their excited breaths, Braeburn could make out the faint sound of dripping water deep within the cave. Under the sand-laden floor, he could feel the rails for a mine cart, buried over due to the years of neglect. Without the sun's rays bearing down upon them, the dark tunnel was cool and comfortable. Braeburn sighed in content, wiping the remainder of the sweat from his brow. The cold air seemed to numb his agonized nerves, allowing him to drive on further behind the trotting pegasus.

"Is there any sort of law against trespassing in here?" Daring asked. 

Braeburn stopped in his tracks, realization dawning upon him. "Uh...yeah. Actually there is."

"Ohhh really?" she replied, casting a bright grin over her shoulder. "Then this expedition just got a lot more fun in a real hurry."

"Um...how d'ya mean?" he asked awkwardly.

"You don't feel that?" she asked, her eyes bright. "The excitement, the elation and the adventure of it all? It's what keeps me going!"

"We don't even know fer sure that the last clue is here," he commented.

"Braeburn, don't kill this for me, okay? Be positive and just follow me. You had your time to shine in town, now it's my turn," she said, trotting back to his side and pushing him along. "Onward, valiant steed!"

As time passed, Braeburn and Daring Do stuck together through the mines, inspecting every turn and dead end in the narrow passages. It seemed the ponies that dug the caves hadn't gotten very far before they abandoned their hopes of striking silver, for the ends of the tunnels' reach didn't extend too far into the bedrock. Because of this, their search had only lasted for the better part of an hour. Despite the lack of immediate success, Daring had kept her head held high, determined that Cunning's final clue was somewhere in the mines. Braeburn, however, was not feeling quite as strong-willed at this point in time.

The earth pony had started to pant heavily, each step only bringing his sore neck and spine a jolt of pain. His back was starting to lock up, muscles stiffening without his consent. Holding back his gasps was no longer something that was possible, but Daring was so focused on her search that they never reached her ears. He silently scolded himself for being so foolhardy; running around Dodge Junction when any rationally-thinking pony would have went back home and healed. The cool air could only do so much, and his head was feeling lighter by the second. Braeburn kept liquids in his system by guzzling the warm water in his canteen. It wasn't dehydration slowing him down anymore; it was simply the pain. 

But even when Braeburn came to the conclusion that he needed to rest, his confession was interrupted by the excited call of the mare in the neighboring tunnel: "Ohmygosh! Braeburn! Get in here!"

The stallion whipped his head around at the sudden noise, receiving a fresh throb of soreness in his neck as a result. He limped wearily out of the tunnel he was searching through, turning a corner to find Daring beaming at the stone wall of a dead end. Braeburn extinguished the flame of his own lantern with a turn of its switch, grunting with every step as he approached the mare. She didn't turn her gaze away from the wall, but kept her eyes on something that she was pointing to. 

Inscribed into the orange rock was a faint picture, or at least some sort of illustration. On the left was a vertical rectangle with a small circle in its center. To its right was a long horizontal line, bent downward at a slight slope next to the rectangle. As he studied the engraving, Daring readied an ink-dipped quill, copying the image into a small notebook. Braeburn suddenly found it difficult to focus his eyes as their lids started to droop, his mind spinning. 

"It's not like Cunning's other clues, but this could still be something! Can you make anything of it Brae? Brae?" 

Daring gasped, catching the stallion before he could fall to the sandy cave floor. However, she had difficulty supporting his weight with the enormous height difference, and slowly placed him on his side. Braeburn panted, a cold chill rushing through his veins. His vision blurred again, Daring's form turning into a dark-yellow and green blob above him. 

"Braeburn! Oh no, are you alright?! Say something!"

"I can't..." he coughed, his throat dry despite the water he had been drinking. "I can't...move..."

"O-Okay. I'll go get some help!"

"No...Ah'll be fine in a bit," Braeburn wheezed. "Just...gimme a second."

"Are you kidding me?!" she exclaimed, her patience for his stubbornness coming to an end. "No Braeburn! I'm getting you out of here and you're going to rest!"

With her annoyed scream of protest, the pegasus absentmindedly bucked the wall behind her in frustration. But the sound of hooves colliding with stone was not what was heard. Instead, the sound of rock grinding on rock echoed throughout the tunnel. Braeburn forced his eyes to focus as he felt the floor trembled underneath them. The noise grew steadily louder, causing the two of them to traverse the dead end with wide, startled eyes. As soon as it came, the quake had ceased, and all that was heard was a pair of quickened breaths. 

"What the f-" 

With the sound of falling stone and sand, the ground beneath them split in two, opening like a pair of enormous barn doors. The two yelped in sheer fright, falling down a large, dark tunnel. Quicker than his mind could comprehend, Braeburn felt his body collide with something hard, smooth and at a sharp descending angle. He let out a cry of agony as he fell down what felt like a steep stone slide, Daring close behind. Gravity accelerated their descent at an alarming rate, quickly dumping them into complete blackness. Braeburn gasped as he felt himself fall freely, hearing the mare call out his name almost incoherently.

His brain didn't have time to register what was happening before he crashed into a frigid pool of stagnant water. Braeburn couldn't tell if his eyes were open or not, for the darkness surrounding him was all but impenetrable. His body had had enough. The earth pony's muscles locked up as he sank into the pool's depths. Before he could lose consciousness, Braeburn felt a pair of forelegs close around his chest. The stallion inhaled a mouthful of water in surprise as he was yanked upward. He gasped, filling his lungs with stale air as he surfaced. The earth pony grunted, his spine screaming in protest as he was dragged onto a dry, stone surface. 

"Brae...burn," Daring's voice panted. "Breathe, come on...just breathe and tell me you're okay."

Braeburn groaned wearily in response. 

"Is anything broken?"

"N-No...Ah don't...think so..." he panted, sprawling out on his side as a sudden light glared in front of him. Daring had flicked two stones together from her bags, igniting a small black rock into a bright flame.  

Daring Do knelt in front of him, studying Braeburn with large, worried eyes. Like him, the pegasus was soaked with stale water. Her mane was matted to her forehead and neck, dripping onto the stone underneath them. Her previously-torn sleeve had been completely ripped off, a thin line of crimson trickling down her foreleg. The white pith hat that usually rested atop Daring's head had been missing, allowing her ears to droop. "Can...can you move?"

"Not in...the foreseeable future...Ah reckon," he replied, taking in their surroundings. 

They had fallen into a tall alcove deep underground, the high ceiling veiled in a black shadow. To his left was a small pool of water, still rippling from their fall. But over to the right was something that made Braeburn gasp in shock. Set into the flat bedrock was a tall burgundy door. In the center of the structure was some sort of circular indentation, which he couldn't completely make out from his angle. What he could see, Daring had apparently saw as well. The two stared in awe at what was written upon the door, engraved in the same fashion that the first two clues were:

Unlock the Door. Three of Three: My legacy is the key. -C.T.C.