Daring-Do and the Griffon's Goblet

by Creative Charmer

Chapter 2

"I'm sure tired," Daring-Do said to herself. She had been flying nonstop all day and half the night since she had started, but now she was tiring out. "Maybe I should find place to rest for the night. I can continue on in the morning," Unfortunately, Daring was over the ocean at the moment, so there was no place for her to land. "I really hope some piece of land comes up soon...I don't know how much longer my wings can hold out," suddenly, out in the distance, Daring saw land coming out from over the horizon. "Oh, thank goodness..just what I needed.." as Daring flew closer and more of the land came into view, she saw what looked like a mountain come out. "Wait...is that...is that Griifious Mountain?? I should remember the directions I studied on the map," Daring thought for a few moments, and then a blank expression appeared on her face. "I guess I thought I could remember the directions better..." she said sheepishly. Daring now wondered how she could find out if she was at the right mountain, since she couldn't very well go ALL the way back to the museum to ask Inquirer. "I'll have to think of what to do next in the morning. I'm sooooo tired..." Daring used all the strength she could to fly to the land. Once there, she flew down and landed in a tree, where she instantly fell asleep on one of the branches.

The next morning, Daring-Do was still asleep even after the sun had risen. She slept for a while more, and after it was past noon, she finally woke up. Daring yawned as she sat up on the tree branch. She then slowly opened her eyes only to see two eyes staring right back at her. Daring yelped and jumped backwards into the tree trunk the branch she was on was connected to. The figure who was looking at her yelped at the same time she did, and they jumped backwards into the air. Daring was a bit freaked out, but now she saw that it was a pegasus who had been looking back at her. The pegasus was a female; she had a green mane and tail, and her skin color was light brown. Her cutie mark was a fern. The pegasus had started flying in place when she had jumped backwards into the air, and looked as dazed as Daring was. "Wh—who are you?" Daring asked the pegasus.

"M...my name is Fern....who are you?"

“I’m Daring-Do,” Daring then shook off being startled and flew up in the air above Fern, so as not to seem feeble. “And I am an explorer! I’ve come from a far-off land to find a great treasure!” Daring then flew down to Fern and put her face right in front of Fern’s face, which made Fern a little nervous. “Now tell me, Fern, is this the mountain where Griison the griffon lives?”

Fern suddenly stopped feeling nervous. “Oh, Griison? Yeah, this is his mountain.”

“YES!! I knew it!!” Daring cheered as she flew higher up into the air. "I guess my sense of direction is better than I thought," Daring said as she breathed on her hoof and rubbed it on her shirt.

"Umm, excuse me?"

Daring turned around. "Oh, Fern! Sorry about that...,” Daring blushed in embarrassment. “I just get a little excited sometimes...," she said as she rubbed her hoof on the back of her head.

"Oh, I didn't want to ask about that. I want to know why you asked about Griison?"

"Oh, right! Well, I wanted to know if this was his mountain because I came here to get his goblet!"

Fern gasped in fright. "You...want to try and take Griison's most cherished possession..?" she gulped.

“Yes; why are you so nervous?”

“Well…it’s just that Griison is very protective of his grandfather’s goblet. He protects it with his life. He’s even made special additions to his mountain to make sure no one can get inside because he doesn’t want anyone even near the goblet."

Daring rubbed her chin. "I see..this is going to be a challenge indeed."

"You can't go to his mountain!!" Fern shouted as she flew up to Daring-Do, grabbed her, and started shaking her back and forth. "You have no idea how dangerous Griison is! You won't even be able to get by the front door!"

Daring then grabbed Fern's hooves and pulled them off of her. "Don't underestimate me, Fern," she said with a stern voice. "I'm not the kind of pony who gives up so easily. This guy may be tough, but I can be just as tough if I want to if it means getting that goblet!" Daring exclaimed as she flew up into the air, showing how she was firm in her decision and wasn't ready to be intimidated by Griison.

Fern looked in awe at Daring-Do's determination in her quest, and even though she thought Daring didn't stand much of a chance against Griison, she still admired Daring's great fortitude. "Well...if you really want to get into the mountain, you may need some help."

"Help? I couldn't ask you for help! You said he was dangerous!"

"Oh, no!" Fern said waving her hooves side to side. "I didn't mean from me! I meant help from others that live around here! I can take you to where the ponies around here live," Fern started to fly away, but then Daring-Do told her to wait, which made Fern stop.

"Why are you so intent on helping me if you and I'm guessing everyone else is afraid of Griison?" Daring asked, perplexed.

Fern turned her head back towards Daring. "Because we're all sick of Griison, and you might be our way of getting rid of him," she then started flying away again. "If you're interested, just follow me!" she shouted back at Daring.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Daring-Do shouted back. She then flew off after Fern and they were both on their way to the Akion River, where the ponies around Griifious Mountain lived at.