Fortune Favours the Bold

Of Pyreflies, Sky-pirates and Ponies
Fortune Favours the Bold
Author: Draconis187

The town of Ponyville was a tight-knit community of ponies who lived relatively monotonous lives. But their lives got a lot more interesting the moment Celestia’s personal student, Twilight Sparkle, took over the Golden Oaks Library a day before the Summer Sun Celebration.

The purple unicorn had turned the community on its head from the moment she arrived, from the return of Nightmare Moon and helping to restore her back to her former self to her dragon assistant turning into a gargantuan monster and wrecking the town on his birthday. There was never a dull moment anymore and yet the locals seemed content with it.

Twilight sat in front of her desk inside Golden Oaks, on the second floor, reading a few notes about the Timberwolves as they were getting bolder as of late, raiding the town in search for food. This behaviour resulted in a contingent of guards setting up an impromptu outpost near the entrance of the Everfree to stop them from attacking again.

It was just past lunch time as Twilight finally tore herself from her little world that consisted of only her and her book. After rubbing her eyes she walked down the steps to head for the local café for something light to eat. Usually Spike would have brought her something to nibble on whilst reading but he had gone gem-hunting again with Rarity.

Twilight would have made herself something to eat but she felt she had been inside for long enough. Two days cooped up in the Library was more than enough and if it reached three, Pinkie Pie would have broken down her door looking for her out of worry. A chill ran down her spine as she recollected the last time Pinkie broke down her door with her signature Party Cannon.

The day was overcast but no rain was in the forecast, giving the town a very gloomy look. The streets were unusually quiet, most likely due to the recent Timberwolf attack. It had been less than a day since they struck and took several herbs. Why Timberwolves were after ginseng, ginger, parsley and thyme was anypony’s guess as none of them knew what they ate. They just assumed it was ponies.

Twilight soon arrived at the café and frowned, “‘Closed?’ Why? It’s the middle of the day.”

She gazed into the window and found not one single pony inside. It was strange, nopony would keep their place of business closed for pretty much anything. Not even the Parasprite attack they suffered a while back stopped them. They just repaired the damage and carried on as if nothing ever happened.

Twilight did see the odd pony walking down the street but she could see the fear in Roseluck’s eyes, the look many had. Giving up on having a normal lunch, Twilight made for Sugarcube Corner instead. Pinkie Pie would be sure to have some freshly-baked cupcakes or muffins for her and several crazy theories about the town’s current state.

She turned a corner around a pony's home and saw her destination. Sugarcube Corner was a diabetics’ nightmare given life. There was not one piece of timber or plaster that was not made from some form of sweet. Pinkie swore that the Cakes made it from real sweets despite the fact that even the Cakes said it wasn’t real.

As she got closer to the bakery, a pony shot past her, making her spin on the spot and disorientating her for a minute. By the time she collected herself, the pony had vanished and Twilight was staring down the street the pony came from. At first she wondered what could have made whoever it was that shot past her act that way but a small, growing rumbling noise began to get closer to her location, answering her question for her.

She expected it to be a group of Timberwolves but was surprised when she was only half-right. They were wolf-like in shape but it was of flesh and bone rather than wood. They also resembled Diamond Dogs with their short muzzles. They were covered in golden-orange fur with a red symbol on their foreheads that Twilight had never seen before.

Now, ponies are herbivores and as such when approached by a group of hungry predators, it triggers the age-old ‘fight or flight’ mechanism. Twilight instead opted for option three: none of the above and stood stock-still as the hungry pack of creatures barrelled down the street towards her.

Twilight hunkered down and threw her forehooves over her eyes, prepared for the worst. She felt something tug at her body and her mind thought it was the creatures trying to tear her body apart. But it wrapped around her midriff and soon Twilight felt light-headed. She removed her forehooves from her eyes and was evidently shocked at the fact that she still lived.

“Wh-wha!?” Twilight exclaimed as the ground was now moving away from her at a steady pace.

Her first thought was to thank Rainbow Dash for the speedy rescue but the grey hooves that were holding onto her purged that from her thoughts. Looking up she saw the smiling face of the wall-eyed mailmare: Derpy Hooves.

“Thanks, Derpy. That was a little too close for comfort,” Twilight thanked as Derpy landed a few blocks away from the creatures, placing Twilight down first.

Derpy’s smile grew broader, making her show her white teeth, “Thanks. Doctor? I brought her.”

Twilight was stunned as Derpy looked to the side where a brown stallion approached them. The stallion had a swept back mane and an hourglass for a cutie mark as well as piercing blue eyes. Twilight recognised it as Time Turner, the local clocksmith. He looked somewhat disapprovingly at Derpy.

“Derpy, how many times do I need to tell you not to call me that when we’re in Ponyville?” Turner asked.

“Oops… my bad,” Derpy replied, looking dejected.

“It’s alright, it’s only Twilight anyway,” Turner smiled at Twilight who just looked confused. “Come with me, Miss Sparkle. There is something you need to see.”

“And why should I follow you?” Twilight inquired.

“Because you are going to see something that is going to make you question everything you’ve ever learned,” Turner answered back with a smile.

“Ugh… fine,” Twilight said as she followed Turner and Derpy through the streets. “Do you know what these creatures are?”

“’fraid not, Miss Sparkle. But they are fascinating aren’t they?” Turner answered happily. “These creatures aren’t native to the Everfree, not that I know of really, and yet here they are.”

“Do- I mean, Turner, I thought you said you could track them?” Derpy asked, looking as confused as ever.

“You’re taking what I said out of context again, Derpy. What I said was: ‘If I can get a hold of a sample from them, I may be able to trace their point of origin and ascertain what is bringing them here.’ That’s what I said,” Turner replied to an even more confused Derpy.

“What do you need?” Twilight asked.

“Anything really. Hair, saliva, tooth or – ah! Come on! This is the interesting part!” Turner exclaimed as the sound of howling reached their hearing, making their ears fall flat.

Derpy and Twilight looked frightened but Turner looked like a colt that had just been given the latest Joyboy. He broke into a gallop, heading for the source and leaving the mares a couple of metres behind, running after him.

“Just wha-” Twilight didn’t manage to finish her sentence as she saw the guards had finally arrived on the scene and were fighting the creatures.

The four stallions were fighting the creatures one-on-one with swords, halberds and one guard even had a large, metal club. The one pierced the monster’s skull with the halberd, tearing it in half but, there was no blood to speak of. As the monster howled, it faded away and several brightly coloured lights of various hues burst from its body.

“Twilight, I need you to grab one and bring it here. Derpy, get something to put it in,” Turner asked, sounding more like an order to be followed than a request. Derpy quickly flew off after saluting Turner.

Twilight was confused but if it was going to give her a straight answer from Turner, she’d do it. Her horn lit up as a bright magenta glow encapsulated it and around one of the glowing, multicoloured lights. It resisted her attempts at first but gave in after a minute of struggling, making Twilight sweat from the exertion as she poured more magic into her attempt at pulling it towards the two of them.

Derpy returned with an empty jam jar and scooped the light in it, sealing it as the top was screwed on. She hoofed it to Turner who simply nodded his head at it.

“Yes, this will do. Most peculiar it would die in such fashion. Thank you for your assistance, Miss Sparkle but this is where we depart,” Turner said with a broad grin. “Come along, Derpy.”

Twilight ran in front of Turner, livid, “now see here, Turner. I am not just walking away from this. What you have could be the biggest mystery to science since the Zebrican Triangle!”

“Alright then if you insist,” Turner replied, “but we must make haste if we are to stop this from spreading.”

“Just like that?” Twilight asked, bewildered.

“I know for a fact you mares do not take ‘no’ for an answer very easily and I’d rather get this ordeal sorted before it escalates,” Turner answered.

The three walked through the streets as the sounds of battle died out slowly, the pained shouts of the guards met with the agonising howls of the beasts as they continued to fight.

The trio stopped inside one of the orchards at Sweet Apple Acres. Smack dab in the centre of the orchard, near the base of an old, rotten stump was a tall blue box that stood taller than the average household door. It had the word ‘police’ repeated on a black strip along the sides, near the top and a pair of really small windows just below it on each side of the box.

“I don’t think this will fit all three of us,” Twilight said but Turner opened the door and both he and Derpy walked in. Twilight sighed and walked in.

Twilight’s mouth was agape as she stared at the inside of the box. The inside was wrought of metal with a large bright pillar of light, contained within some transparent glass or plastic in the centre. Around it was a large console with a series of buttons, dials, readouts and levers just asking to be used.

“Shut the door would you, Derpy?” Turner asked. Derpy nodded her head as she shut the door behind Twilight, “now this is all to take in at the moment but we are going to get to the bottom of all this with our glowing friend here.”

“This place is bigger on the inside! That’s not possible… it’s not scientifically possible,” Twilight said, a few strands of her mane separating from her mane and pointing in different directions.

“Yes it is quite roomy in here and you’ll find that science was the cause of this but that is another story for a day when your home is not beset by monsters that do not belong there,” Turner replied as he vanished behind the console with the jar.

“So… where are we going, Doctor?” Derpy asked.

“Wherever this item takes us,” Turner replied, not responding to Derpy’s change in name for him.

“‘Doctor,’ ‘Turner,’ just which are you?” Twilight asked in exasperation.

“Since we’re no longer near other ponies, feel free to call me ‘The Doctor’ or ‘Doctor Whooves,’ it doesn’t matter to me which you choose,” Turner replied.

“‘The Doctor?’ Doctor of what exactly?” Twilight responded.

“Just ‘The Doctor,’” He answered with a smile.

“Uh-huh… what is Derpy talking about though? What does she mean by ‘where are we going?’ This thing doesn’t seem capable of moving,” Twilight pointed out. “No wheels or propeller, no form of propulsion. It just does not make sense to me.”

Derpy giggled, “oh, you’ll see, Twilight.”

“Just wha-ah!” Twilight fell onto her side as the box lurched violently. Struggling to regain her hoofing, a loud noise pierced the room, assaulting her ears as if something was grinding against something.

The other two ponies in the room didn’t seem to be as affected as she was. The Doctor was humming a small tune to himself while Derpy found a blueberry muffin to snack on. Twilight felt like her stomach wanted to vacate her body as the box stopped shaking about. She was a very unhealthy-looking shade of purple as she got up.

“None of that. If you’re going to be sick, do it outside the TARDIS,” Doctor Whooves said, waving his hoof to the door, “thank you for your cooperation.”

Twilight didn’t respond but got up as Derpy opened the door for her. Twilight stumbled around as she got out, throwing up within minutes of breathing in the fresh air.

It took her a number of minutes after that to take a look around herself and at her surroundings. She was leaning over a fallen tree in the middle of a lush, dense jungle, near the edge of a sheer cliff which was only high enough to cause death if she were to leap off of it. Not that she was daft enough to tempt fate and the strength of her bones. The humidity was high enough to lightly saturate Twilight’s coat.

The sun could barely be seen in the distance, mainly due to the forest’s thick canopy. Vines of differing length and thickness hung loosely from the trees whilst a plethora of small plants littered the forest floor. Rotting wood and other dead plant matter made up the rest of the forest floor that was not soft soil.

“Where in Equestria are we?” Twilight asked as she saw Whooves get out of the ‘TARDIS.’

“Not Equestria,” The Doctor answered as he sat next to Twilight and looked out, “nice place this. See there? That temple is roughly two thousand and eighty-six years old. Give or take a decade.”

“Why bring that up?” Twilight asked as she made out the temple he was referring to in the distance. The colossal stone structure was visible as the apex of the flat-surfaced, pyramid-styled temple broke the canopy, allowing those with a high enough vantage point to spot it from miles away.

“It’s interesting isn’t it?” The Doctor answered with a grin, “it’s all alone out here in the middle of nowhere, just begging to be explored. Don’t you think so?”

“Not really, ancient civilisations like whosoever built that temple are usually found in overgrown areas, abandoned and dilapidated or at the very least a decent distance away from modern society otherwise it would not be a ruin. Residents would normally try to maintain their heritage and culture. I can’t be too sure from this distance but I d-” Twilight was interrupted as Doctor Whooves walked off, seemingly ignoring her.

“Twilight, mind if you keep an eye on the TARDIS for me? I’m going to go explore that temple with Derpy. You already seem to not be interested in delving into a maze of corridors to learn about an ancient civilisation wh-” This time it was Whooves’ turn to get interrupted as Twilight’s hoof found itself pressed against his muzzle, shutting him up.

“Fine, I’ll go…” Twilight replied, her curiosity getting the better of her and wanting to stop Doctor Whooves’ encouraging.

“Excellent! Wait here and I’ll ask Derpy to lock up the TARDIS and we’ll all go,” Whooves said with a smile.

“I think I’ll stay here,” Twilight said uncertainly.

Doctor Whooves nodded his head and walked back to the TARDIS. Twilight sighed and looked out into the distance. ‘How did I get myself involved in this again? Oh, right. I wanted to find out where these things were coming from and now he’s somehow taken me to some jungle in the middle of Celestia knows where and the first thing he wants to do is explore a ruin!’

The sound of hooves approaching made Twilight’s ears perk up and swivel a little to find the source. It sounded like they came from only one pony. Twilight first thought it was The Doctor coming to say that Derpy wasn’t coming but that flew out the proverbial window as she found the source barrelling into her.

It was a pony wearing a tan pith helmet and a dark-olive jacket. The pony got off Twilight’s dirt-covered, dishevelled body and she found out it was a Pegasus mare with a light-gold coloured coat. The mare’s most striking feature was her mane and tail colouration. It was a greyscale rainbow, reminiscent of Twilight’s friend, Rainbow Dash.

“Sorry, got no time. Gotta run!” She said as she bolted into the undergrowth.

Now a rational, calm and collected mind would have said it was better to wait for Derpy and The Doctor to arrive before giving chase to the mystery mare. Sadly common sense and rational thinking seemed to have fallen off the cliff nearby as Twilight gave chase.

Twilight could have tried to teleport in front of the mare but with so many objects in the way, she feared teleporting into one of them and getting stuck. Low branches and sharp thorns brushed past Twilight’s body, scratching her slightly as she kept running.

Leaves slapped her in the face and a branch became very close friends with her nose very quickly as Twilight was slowly losing the mare. Twilight racked her brain for a clue as to the mare’s identity. She had a nagging feeling she knew the mare’s identity but it was impossible in every sense of the word.

She skidded to a halt as she found the mare on the other side of a ravine. The fact that there was a big, gaping crevice in the earth in the middle of a dense jungle made absolutely no sense to Twilight but the smirking mare on the opposite end irked her.

“Let’s see you keep up now!” She called out playfully. It wasn’t often the mare met another pony on her ventures, let alone one stupid or brave enough to try keep up with her.

Twilight surveyed her side of the ravine, searching for something akin to a bridge for her to use. Her search proved fruitless in the end as she could not see what the mare used. Not willing to admit defeat, her horn began to glow as she saw her destination in her mind’s eye, charging up her magic within her horn. When the required amount of magic reached its apex, she vanished in a burst of light.

“That’s just cheating,” The mare said in irritation as Twilight reappeared just inches from her face.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked with some force behind her voice, indicating she wanted a straight answer.

“I’m Daring Do, of course!” She replied with an air of superiority in her voice.

Twilight’s eye twitched, “D-Daring Do? That’s no-”

“Hey Twilight! So this is where you ran off to!” Twilight turned around to find The Doctor and Derpy exiting the undergrowth and walking up to the edge of the ravine, “Derpy, if you would be so kind?”

Derpy looked at Whooves with a confused look for a few seconds as her brain processed the vague request. She looked at the Doctor, then to the ravine before looking back at him again. Her face scrunched up as she pieced together the situation. Her face lit up as if having an epiphany and she flew up, grabbing The Doctor by wrapping her hooves around his waist and flying across the ravine.

The Doctor soon landed on all fours, three steps from Twilight. “Thank you Derpy.”

Derpy landed beside The Doctor and smiled, “welcome.”

“Doctor… did you transport us into a book?!” Twilight asked, several strands of her mane were splayed out, no longer conforming to the rest of her mane.

“Shh!” The Doctor said, clasping Twilight’s mouth with his hoof, “no one here knows they're in a book. I would ask for you to not mention that to anyone in here. Ok?”

Twilight was still slowly losing her composure but refrained from shouting, “Why?”

“Have you ever heard of ‘existential crises’?” Whooves answered.

“Y-yeah?” Twilight remembered reading about such things in novels, “it’s where a pony realises they are not what they thought they are and – depending on how devastating the news is – can cause the pony to have a massive mental breakdown.”

“That is why you must refrain from telling Daring anything regarding her world being fictional,” The Doctor warned hastily, “that goes for anyone else we may encounter here.”

“Aren’t we going back to that TARDIS?” Twilight asked.

“Nope. Daring ran off towards that temple and we’re going to go find out why,” The Doctor replied with another smile.

‘Celestia give me strength,’ Twilight thought as her eye twitched again.

“Do you have a problem with your eye?” Derpy asked innocently, “maybe you should see a doctor. Or maybe The Doctor can look at it.”

The Doctor facehoofed, “Derpy, I am not an optometrist.”

“What is your doctorate in then, Doctor?” Twilight inquired.

“I’m not that kind of doctor either, Twilight. It’s just a name that I went with a very long time ago,” The Doctor answered, “my real name could destroy the very fabric of the universe.”

Twilight’s eye twitched once again, “w-what?”

“Looks like Daring took advantage and scarpered,” The Doctor pointed out, ignoring Twilight entirely. “Let’s find her, shall we?”

“Yay, adventure!” Derpy cried gleefully as she hovered in the air.

“Then let’s not dally and get going,” The Doctor said as he and Derpy began to walk into the undergrowth again, “we know her destination anyway. Coming, Miss Sparkle?”

Twilight sighed. “It’s not like I have a choice…”

The trio began to trek through the dense forestation. The sun was still very high in the air, making Twilight sweat a little while Derpy and The Doctor didn’t seem to pay it any mind.

The humidity of the forest, coupled with annoying bugs that tried to make a feast of Twilight’s blood and possibly give her some disease – she subsequently gripped them with her magic and threw them with enough force to kill them on impact with the ground or some form of flora a short distance away – was quickly getting on Twilight’s fragile nerves.

“How far is this temple?” Twilight asked, finally deciding to voice her irritation at the length of time it was taking them to reach the temple.

“Derpy?” The Doctor asked, looking up into the eyes of his wall-eyed assistant.

“On it!” She saluted and flew upwards, through the canopy, leaving a hole in her wake. Her voice was faint but audible enough to be heard clearly, “not far, just past a few more trees.”

“Thank you, Derpy,” Twilight said as she gently landed on a small open patch of soil, avoiding any potentially hazardous, local flora.

Derpy smiled a little at Twilight as the trio kept going. It wasn’t until twenty minutes later that they finally arrived at the temple’s outskirts.

The stone-hewn outer sections of the temple had been overrun by creeping vines as they hung over the low walls while other sections lay about on the floor, a testament to the power of the elements and erosion. The geometrically laid stone flooring had cracked in several places while some pieces had long since perished as the forest reclaimed most of the ancient temple.

They entered through what Twilight assumed was the temple’s old garden. She passed a wooden bench, or more specifically what remained of a bench. Most of it had rotted away, fragments barely noticeable amongst the dirt, stone and invading flora.

“Interesting isn’t it?” The Doctor asked as he smirked slyly at Twilight.

Twilight sighed, “alright, fine. I’ll admit this place has some intriguing aspects to it but it’s not real.”

Derpy flew up to Twilight with a scowl on her face. Twilight was unsure if whether she was looking at her or not due to her eyes, “The Doctor already said not to mention that. Even I know not to mention it!”

Twilight was taken aback by Derpy’s outburst and simply nodded her understanding. Derpy’s expression flipped almost instantly as she smiled and walked off with a spring in her step. Twilight’s eye twitched as she tried to piece together what had just happened to the ditzy mailmare’s mood.

“Don’t mind her, Twilight,” The Doctor said apologetically, “she tends to be rather over-protective at times. She means well and makes a great bunch of muffins but… you saw how she acted.”

Derpy’s ears were flat against her head as she looked at Twilight with a self-hating frown, “sorry…”

“N-no. It’s fine, really. I guess I need to get used to this whole ‘travelling with a blue box’ thing,” Twilight said, trying to make Derpy happy again.

Somehow it appeared to work as Derpy’s ears perked up and she smiled innocently.‘And I thought Pinkie had mood swings,’ Twilight thought.

The trio walked past a section of the ageing, temple grounds that looked like an earthquake had hit, several times. Piles of stone were broken and laid scattered across the floor. The jungle had reclaimed this section as well as a few small monkeys ran off into the jungle when they saw the group.

“What was this place?” Twilight asked as she cautiously looked around.

“If I recall this was some sort of living area,” The Doctor answered as he stood on a pile of rubble, “Priests, pilgrims and the sort would live out here while the temple itself would only have the highest ranking priest at that time living there. Given how the temple still stands with only the exterior in such disarray, it stands to reason that this place was added as an afterthought.”

Twilight looked at some of the rubble and found some sections of stone to be rather thin. If they had been a part of load-bearing walls, it would confirm Whooves’ statement. The temple loomed over the group, towering above them as the only visible entrance was at the peak.

“Let’s get cracking then shall we?” The Doctor said cheerfully as he began to climb up the eroded, broken staircase with nary a care.

Derpy flew next to him, humming a small tune reminding Twilight of one of Pinkie’s songs while she brought up the rear, observing the temple’s exterior.

It was just as she saw it earlier from the small cliff. The flat surfaces gave it a block-like shape as if a foal used his building blocks to make it, stacking them in squares of decreasing length and breadth. It was nearly symmetrically designed with the staircase running up the middle of the structure with a low – albeit broken in multiple places and covered with some vines – wall on either side, almost reaching Twilight’s withers.

Twilight was sure she and the others were going to end up meeting Daring once again, it was only a matter of time since she was drawn to places such as these. Who knew what treasures were stored within the temple? Maybe she would find an item of great monetary value or maybe of great cultural and historical importance. Twilight had read that some of her adventures didn’t result in a big payoff but ended up benefiting the world as a whole as she gave the item to a museum.

The summit of the temple was finally reached and the trio walked into the main hall that stood before them. Pillars were cracked and broken in some places. The walls had a few holes in them as the torches that had once hung from them were now on the floor, rusted and broken. The jungle had not reclaimed much of the temple as only a few creeping vines hung from the holes and along the floor, like a network of capillaries.

The hall had a small dais in the centre, where the high priest would preach to the others or for other ceremonies. A large stone block nearby made Twilight’s stomach turn as the faded brown colour that ran along the sides from the massive spot on the top indicated a sacrificial table. The thought of another animal being mercilessly slaughtered to appease a god made Twilight’s stomach tie up in knots.

“Down this way,” The Doctor said as he pointed to an open doorway leading into a pitch black passage that went downwards into the temple.

Trying to throw the images in her mind away and preoccupying her thoughts with a simple illumination spell, Twilight lead the trio into the passage. Their every step echoed through the passage as the staircase ended in a large, circular room that branched off with several passages to choose from. It had a high ceiling but the still air made it much harder on Derpy to keep aloft so she opted to walk like the rest of the group.

“Now where?” Twilight asked as Whooves walked up to the wall near one of the passages and placed his hoof against it.

Twilight and Derpy walked up to him and the only Unicorn noticed he was looking at an ‘X’ engraved into the wall. Twilight stepped back and concentrated more energy into her spell and fired it up into the air. The spell whistled like a firework before exploding like a flare, illuminating the entire room. More careful observation showed several more crosses next to a few more tunnels.

“It’s safe to say that Daring has been doing most of the work for us and has made it quite simple to find her,” The Doctor said as he walked around the room, examining the wall intently, “here we go!”

There was only one last tunnel – except for the one that lead to the staircase out – that did not have a cross next to it. Twilight used the illumination spell once more as her flare flickered away. The group picked up their pace to a brisk trot as they walked down the tunnel.

“I still don’t see why we are after Daring Do. Why can’t we just go find whatever it is we were supposed to find?” Twilight asked.

“Well since we came all the way here, why not see it to the end and maybe get her to come too?” The Doctor replied as they navigated a bunch of traps that had already been triggered, “they really didn’t want ponies absconding with their things, did they?”

“Why should we bring her?” Twilight asked again, slightly confused with The Doctor’s reasoning.

“Just for the thrill of adventure and shaking things up of course!” The Doctor answered cheerfully.

Twilight was not sure whether to respond to that or not but kept up with The Doctor and Derpy as the tunnel opened up into a large square room with an extremely high ceiling. The walls were covered in pictures, depicting zebras and griffons engaged in some form of ritual but most of it had faded and weathered away.

Above them was an opening, illuminating the room somewhat as the light bounced off an old system of mirrors. Most of them had lost their lustre as rust had settled in. The hole above them had suffered from time and the elements as it was considerably larger than when it was first made, letting in sufficient enough light for Twilight to stop using her artificial light spell.

“This place is amazing…” Twilight muttered under her breath as she observed her surroundings.

“It is isn’t it?” Daring said from across the room, standing at the threshold of another room, “now why are you three following me?”

Daring Do was every bit as depicted on the covers of her iconic book series, complete with the wrapped up wing. Twilight noticed the adventurer carried a revolver and a bullwhip, making her think that they’ve arrived somewhere after the events in the first two books in the series. Daring scrutinised the group under a poker-face gaze as they all stared back at her. She stopped herself from reeling backwards when the wall-eyed mailmare looked at her.

“We were already on our way here. Twilight’s chance meeting with you was a mere coincidence,” The Doctor answered, walking up to her. He extended his hoof to her, “I’m The Doctor. That’s Derpy Hooves and you already met Twilight Sparkle.”

Daring just looked at him and didn’t touch his hoof, taking three steps backwards instead as her paranoia acted up a little, “charmed I’m sure…”

Daring had been betrayed once before in the past, a scuffle ensued and she ended up killing the party responsible. She hated it since she could hardly sleep some nights, forever seeing her revolver in her hoof, the smoke softly hissing from the barrel and the four wounds in his bleeding chest. It was a harsh life lesson.

She shook her head as she turned around and ran into the room behind her. The group looked to each other for a moment before following, their hoofsteps echoing though room.

Daring stood at the base of a stone statue. The statue itself was a massive griffon, its one claw pressing against the ceiling, as if holding it up. The other claw was outstretched, open with the palm facing upwards at an angle perfectly parallel to the ceiling. The tail swept to the side with the tuft a metre above the ground. Resting on a pedestal on top of the hand was a large topaz, easily the size of Twilight’s head.

The trio of dimension-hoppers watched as Daring crouched a little and leapt upwards, aiming for the tuft. She landed loudly as her hooves made contact with the slightly-weathered, sandstone statue. She ran up the tail, reaching the griffon’s backside and walked along the back.

She reached to her side and pulled out her bullwhip. In one movement it lashed out, cracking as the long whip made contact with the statue’s thumb, wrapping around it. She ran and leapt off, using her momentum to carry her like a pendulum. As her swing neared its apex, almost above the claw, her speed slowed to the point where she fell towards the claw.

Landing slightly uncomfortably on the palm with her bad side, she got up to take her prize… which had vanished. She rubbed her eyes, hoping it was some illusion. She placed her hoof on the empty pedestal, hoping it just became invisible, no matter how ridiculous it sounded in her own head.

“Miss Do, would you kindly look down here?” Daring looked over the edge and almost burst a blood vessel as she saw Whooves, Twilight and Derpy… who was holding the large gemstone.

Daring swung herself back to where she had previously leapt off and placed her bullwhip back by her side as she came charging off the statue’s tuft, landing with a thud and her expression livid.

As Daring briskly walked up to the trio, Derpy walked up to her and gave the topaz to her with a smile on her face. The Doctor walked up to the two mares and cleared his throat gently.

“Miss Do? Mind if I speak with you?” The Doctor asked.

With her prize in hoof, she had half a mind to hightail it out of the temple and be done with the three but common sense had other plans. For one Twilight could easily take the topaz away from her and two, they had a Pegasus that could fly even if it looked like she couldn’t tell up from down.

“Why did you give back the Eye of Helios? You could easily have just left,” Daring asked with a slightly confused look.

“Because it belongs to you, so to speak,” The Doctor replied cheerfully, “we need you to come with us and returning that object is more of a gesture of goodwill if you will.”

“Huh?” Daring was now thoroughly confused, “You followed me, took my prize and then returned it to me to get me to come with you? What the buck?”

“Please refrain from using such coarse language, Miss Do. It’s unladylike,” The Doctor gently scolded.

Daring huffed in annoyance but ceded her opinion. Still her mind was trying to wrap around the fact that they just gave back a gem worth millions without a fight and… with a smile. It made her paranoia reach newer heights as she tried to analyse them.

“We need your powers of deduction and reasoning in order to help in our mission,” The Doctor explained, “will you help us? We’ll be going on quite the adventure, I’m sure of it.”

Daring was apprehensive as she took a step back, “I’ll think about it.”

‘Don’t places like these collapse when Daring gets what she wants?’ Twilight thought, ‘ I guess since we’re here, we are rewriting her story… maybe.’

Daring brushed past Twilight with a small scowl on her face. Unicorns and their magic made everything simpler but it gave her more reasons not to trust them. She knew the stereotype about Unicorns being manipulative and sneaky. No doubt she was the one actually pulling the strings as far as Daring was concerned.

She walked through the hallway, retracing her steps through the bowels of the temple as she headed for the only exit which was also the entrance. The trio walked several paces behind her, keeping their distance to allow the adventurer to process The Doctor’s proposal.

Daring’s sense of adventure told her to buck thinking and just run headlong into whatever trouble the three would undoubtedly get themselves into. Trouble always went hoof-in-hoof with adventure, just like night worked with the day. They completed each other. It made sense they wanted a pony with experience in that line of work to help them.

Daring got to the top of the stairs leading into the main hall before she felt something hard make contact with the back of her head, making her black out.

Twilight was the first of the three to reach the top of the staircase and observe the scene unfolding before her. Two burly, tall deep-red Minotaurs flanked a pale green Griffon, who was clutching the Eye of Helios. He wore a dark beige suit with a small bowler hat of the same colour atop his feathered head. He was lean in build, looking more like an aristocrat than an adventurer. He even wore black gloves on his claws. He just looked at the three new entries as Daring laid unconscious on the floor in front of him.

“I’d love to stay and chat but I really must be going,” The griffon said in an accent Twilight thought sounded akin to a Canterlot noble. “Ta!”

“Now see here yo-” The Doctor was cut off as the Griffon and the Minotaurs left the room as Derpy and Twilight ran up to Daring, brushing past him. Daring’s health was a more pressing matter.

“Daring are you alright?!” Twilight exclaimed, flipping the mare along her good side onto her back and pressed her ear against her chest. Breathing a sigh of relief she stepped back, “I think she’ll be fine. Bruised but there is a heartbeat and it is regular so she should be fine… hopefully.”

“That’s good,” Derpy said with a small smile.

As The Doctor moved towards the entrance he spotted a long deep-red cylinder near the base of the entrance. His eyes went wide as he saw the wick sticking out of the top hissing softly as it burnt away.

“Ev-” The Doctor failed to realise that it was not the first as one had been placed above the entrance. It detonated early, sending shockwaves and debris crashing to the floor.

Twilight picked Daring up and placed her on her back as the trio fled back into the bowels of the temple. The area rocked as the rest of the explosives detonated, sending shockwaves through the decrepit temple and kicking up dust that had been undisturbed for many years into the air.

Hacking and trying to maintain their hoofing, they managed to stumble into the central branching room, far enough for the effects of the explosives to become negligible. The group laid on the floor, trying to get semi-clean air into their dust-lined lungs.

Daring groaned as she slid off Twilight’s back, trying to regain her thoughts. “What hit me?”

“Unsure but we can’t leave the way we came,” The Doctor replied, looking back up at the staircase, making out the top of the staircase. He could see it had collapsed, stopping them from exiting.

“Yeah and a green Griffon took your Eye thing,” Derpy said woefully, unable to look at Daring in the eyes.

“That was the only way out as far as I saw… we’re stuck here for the rest of our days!” Twilight lamented, her nerves finally giving out and insanity settling in.

“Now don’t get your tail in a knot,” Daring said as she got up, “I think I know of a way out.”

Daring slowly made her way to the mirror room before the Statue of Helios where the Eye was located and looked up. A small smile grew into a look of determination as she looked back at Derpy. A plan became to form right in front of her, clear as day. They were not trapped, merely delayed from retrieving Daring’s prize.

“Think you can fly?” She asked, eying Derpy’s wings with curiosity.

Derpy flexed her wings a little and took off, hovering in the air for ten seconds before landing. This made a nasty-looking smile appear on the adventurer’s face, “then how about we go say ‘hi’ to Reginald Highwind?”

Author's Note:

Okay, first chapter of my rewrite. There were only three chapters of this fic but now I should hopefully have cleared up any and all mistakes as far as the story goes. Same characters will be joining such as Balthier and Auron. Other than that, this fic has been completely revamped. Enjoy!

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