Daring-Do and the Griffon's Goblet

by Creative Charmer

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, Daring Do, Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 20959

Daring-Do goes on a quest to locate a precious goblet from a greedy griffon.

Behold the continuing adventures of Daring-Do! Daring learns from her friend of a goblet that is owned by a griffon, whom is the self-proclaimed "king" of where he lives. His goblet is a very beautiful artifact, and dates back to the time of the griffon's ancestor, whom was the original owner of the goblet. Now daring-Do has to get to the griffon's mountain and obtain the goblet, but she'd better be careful, because this griffon isn't prepared to let his most prized possession get taken.

Published 2012-02-22 17:14:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-30 22:40:46 UTC

Chapter 1

"Hmm..." The researcher looked the tablet over and over to try and understand the language inscribed on it. She looked at her guide to dead languages which she had written herself so she could get each letter perfectly right. "According to my guide, the translated text on the tablet is saying that Quetacotl was revered as a great leader, and was loved by his people. It also says that—"

"Hey, Inquirer!!" Daring-Do shouted as she bursts into the room, surprising the researcher and making her drop her magnifying glass. "Oh, whoops! Sorry about that," Daring said sheepishly.

"Oh, it's quite all right," Inquirer used her magic to pick the magnifying glass back up. "It's not broken, so no harm done."

"Phew! That's good. So, how's everything going?"

"Well, I was in the middle of translating this tablet that came from the ruins of Qoatlesi. It has some very intriguing information on the city's greatest leader."

"Qoatlesi, huh? I remember that place. It had some pretty cool architecture. It was too bad there weren't any treasures for me to get, though."

"Well, Daring, treasure for you may be in the form of an item or any such thing, but treasure for me is the knowledge and history behind all these ancient civilizations. It is truly fascinating to know so much about these different places."

"Well, I still personally prefer treasure hunting and discovering lost civilizations, but I do enjoy bringing the items back to you since you enjoy studying them so much. And I also don't mind getting paid for the artifacts, either," Daring chuckled.

Inquirer chuckled as well. "Well, it's worth it to get new additions to the museum. Especially because the items you bring are always the best we ever get."

"Well, only the best items should be given to the museum of my good friend!" Daring exclaimed as she put her hoof around Inquirer's shoulder.

Inquirer smiled. "Well, I'm glad you think so, because I've just learned of a new artifact that would be perfect for the museum!"

"Well, lay it on me! I'm ready for another adventure!"

"Okay. Follow me," Inquirer led Daring over to her desk, and she used her magic to pull out a book on her desk and open it up. She flipped through the pages quickly. "Hmmm...here it is!" Inquirer stopped the pages and pointed her hoof at a picture in the book.

"A golden cup?"

"This isn't just your average everyday golden cup, Daring. This is the Griffon's Goblet!"

"What's the Griffon's Goblet?"

"Well, let me tell you the history of the goblet," Inquirer began to read the passage of the book out loud to Daring-Do. "Over 300 years ago, there lived a griffon in a far-off land. His name was Griifious, and he lived on a mountain named Griifious Mountain."

"The mountain was named after him?"

"Yes. That is because he thought he was the highest of all creatures in the land, so he thought of himself as a king, and acted like he was better than everyone else, belittling them and making them feel inferior to him."

"Boy, what a rude guy. I'd hate to live near him."

"Everyone living around the mountain felt the same way. And to make himself seem even more superior to all others, Griifious demanded that a special drinking cup be made for him, as he thought he deserved to drink out of only the best, most magnificent cup. He called upon a very talented pony blacksmith, who was named Blacksmith, to make him a truly superlative drinking cup. Blacksmith worked for many weeks to make the cup just right. He chose the goblet design to be best one to use. The goblet was made out of pure gold, and it was studded with one of each type of precious jewel: diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and aquamarine. Griifious was quite pleased with Blacksmith's work, and said this goblet was the perfect cup for someone of Griifious' 'stature'. Griifious paid Blacksmith for his work, and then sent him off. Griifious adored his goblet, and loved to drink out of it whenever he could. It became his most prized possession; more prized than anything, whether it be an object or living creature, could be."

"Wow...makes me wonder how he could part with it?"

"Well, that's what Griifious thought of. He knew he couldn't' live forever, so he had to have a child that would inherit the goblet, because he did not want it in the hands of anyone who was not in his bloodline. Unfortunately for Griifious, he was the only griffon on his mountain, so he called out for a female griffon to come to his mountain, and one did: Grifielle. Together they had one son, Grofion. When Grofion got old enough, Griifious told him to cherish the goblet with his life once Griifious could no longer do so. And he also told Grofion to make sure to do the same with his own children, so the goblet will always belong to a member of the family. And over the centuries, the children of each bearer of the goblet passed on the instructions of what to do with the goblet to their own children, and it's been that way ever since."

"Wow, that is one incredible story, Inquirer. So where is the goblet now?"

"Unfortunately, this book didn't catalog the current owner of the goblet, as this book stopped at the previous owner of the goblet. I had to send one of our pegasi, Pryer, to ask around the mountain to find out who it is."

"Well then, who's owner this time around?"

"According to what Pryer told me when she came back, the goblet is in the possession of a griffon named Griison, Griifious' most recent grandson."

"Does he have any other family members with him?"

"No; he is the only griffon on the mountain, so it doesn't look like he's decided to look for a female griffon yet; which is good, because it means you only have to deal with one griffon."

"That won't be a problem for me!" Daring said as she tipped her hat forward.

"Well, don't get too overconfident; remember, griffons are much stronger than ponies."

"Don't worry, I won't forget," Daring said smugly. "So, where is this guy's mountain?"

"Here, let me show you," Inquirer took out one of her maps and showed Daring the exact location of Griifious Mountain.

Daring studied the map carefully. "Okay, got it! I can get there myself now!"

"Very good, Daring," Inquirer said as she put the map back. "Let's go outside so you can get ready." Daring agreed, and the both of them headed to the outside of the museum.

Outside, in the back of the museum, Daring-DO was all ready to take off.

"Everything ready, Daring?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Is there something troubling you?"

"Well, I've just been thinking: doesn't it seem like actual stealing to take an artifact from someone who's still alive? I mean, I know I've taken artifacts from other places, but those were from civilizations that didn't exist anymore."

"I thought you might ask that, Daring, and I'll tell you all about it," Inquirer cleared her throat. "When Pryer went to the mountain to learn about Griison, she mentioned to the inhabitants how we wanted the goblet, and the inhabitants around the mountain told her that they wanted us to take the goblet, so then Griison would have no reason to live at the mountain and would leave them all in peace. So you see, it'll be doing good for everyone if we get the goblet. We'll have an artifact, and the inhabitants will have their peace. Nobody loses."

"Oh, I see. Well, you can count on me!"

"I know I always can!" Inquirer said optimistically. "Good luck, Daring-Do!" Daring saluted Inquirer, and she took off into the sky as fast as she could, with Inquirer waving until Daring was out of sight. and then she returned to her study room in the museum.

As Daring was flying, she thought to herself, "Inquirer said nobody loses if I get the goblet; I just hope that getting the goblet won't hurt Griison too bad..."

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.

Chapter 3 - 1/3

It was early afternoon, and the ponies at the Akion River were trying to have a relaxing time. Some ponies were eating their lunch while most of the younger ones played around on the riverbank and in the river. Some of the fillies and colts were even playing in the trees. One of the pegasus fillies, a cyan-colored pony with a blue mane, was playing hide-and-seek with a few other pegasi children. The pegasus' name was Blue Skies, and she was the one who was "it". She was looking for the other pegasi kids hiding amongst the foliage, but they were evading her well.

One of the pegasi colts, who was light brown-colored, had a dark brown mane, and whose name was Fig, was hiding underneath the roots of a tree. As he looked out from under the tree, he could see Blue Skies searching around the hiding ponies. "She's getting too close," Fig thought to himself. "I don't want to be caught! I have to find a better hiding spot!" Fig looked around at what he could see from beneath the tree. He noticed that Blue Skies wasn't flying too high, so he decided the best place to hide would be high up in the trees. First, he waited for Blue Skies to move to a point where she couldn't see him, then he quickly moved out from under the tree and flew up towards the trees. He went up higher until he came out over the tops of the trees. "She'll never find me up here," Fig chuckled to himself. He then landed on the top of a palm tree and sat down to wait. As Fig looked around, he saw something in the distance. He leaned his head forward, squinted his eyes, and put his hoof over his eyes to block out the sun so he could see better. It looked like two figures coming towards him, "Hmm...that looks like two pegasi," the figures then got a bit closer. "That one on the left looks like Fern, but who's that other pegasi she's with? Hmm..."

"Found you!!" Fig then yelped in fright as he fell over on the tree he was standing on. He turned over onto his back and saw Blue Skies sticking her head out from under another tree next to the one he was on. "You thought you could hide from me up here, but I found you!" Blue Skies gleefully cheered for herself.

"Okay, fine! But look over there!" Fig pointed towards Fern and Daring-Do, who were still flying towards Fig and Blue Skies.

"Who is that?' Blue Skies asked as she leaned forward and squinted her eyes.

"I know that one on the left is Fern, but who's that other pegasus?"

"I'm not sure...I don't believe I've seen them before."

"Me neither," Fig and Blue Skies looked at each other in puzzlement.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait until they get here," Blue Skies said.

"Yeah.," Fig then thought for a few moments. "Oh, wait! Aren't we still in the middle of 'hide-and-seek'?"

"Oh, right! I forgot! I still have to find all the other pegasi!" Blue Skies then flew down from the treetops to begin searching.

"I'll just wait by the river!" Fig shouted. He then flew off towards the Akion River.

"We're almost there," Fern said to Daring-Do as they continued flying.

"Are you sure your friends will want to help?" Daring asked. "You said Griison was dangerous, after all."

"Trust me, everypony around here will be willing to do anything to get rid of Griison so peace will finally return to this land," Fern replied, sounding very determined to get rid of Griison.

Daring-Do could tell how much Fern disliked Griison, although she still didn't like the idea of not getting the goblet by herself. Still, she decided to go along with Fern for now just so she could learn more about Griison's mountain.

Fern then looked ahead and saw a clearing in the trees. "That's it!" she said as she pointed at the clearing. "That's the area near Akion River where the other ponies live! Let's go!" Fern then flew off as fast as she could towards the river.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Daring shouted, and she flew after Fern to try and catch up with her.

At the riverbank, the other ponies were gathering around Fig, who had told them what he saw. The other ponies talked amongst themselves about who this new pegasus could be, but none of them could figure it out.

As Fig was talking to the other ponies, Blue Skies had just returned, having found all of the other pegasi children. The others had returned once they were found, so Blue Skies returned after she had found the last pegasus. Blue Skies flew over to Fig and landed next to him. "It looks like you've got everypony talking about whoever that new pegasus is."

"I know!" he replied as he turned his head towards Blue Skies. "I thought it would be important to let them know ahead of time, so they won't be surprised when the new pony shows up."

"I guess so," Blue Skies looked around at the other ponies. "But I just hope that the new pony won't feel too bothered by all these ponies who want to meet her."

"Well, it looks like we're about to find out about that!" Fig said as he pointed up towards the sky. Blue Skies turned towards where he was pointing, and she saw Fern and Daring-Do, who had just flown above the clearing in the trees that was above everypony. Everypony looked up and saw the two of them, and they all started talking to each other about Daring and pointing at her.

Chapter 3 - 2/3

Daring-Do looked around at all the ponies below her. "Why are they all pointing at me and talking like that?" she asked Fern in puzzled way.

"Well, they've never seen you before, so they must be wondering what you're doing with me.”

“Then I’d better hurry and introduce myself!” Daring said as she tipped her hat. She and Fern then flew down and landed on the ground, with all of the other ponies gathering around them. Everypony was talking at the same time, so Daring and Fern couldn’t get in a word themselves.

"Everypony! Please be quiet!" Fern suddenly shouted, making everypony stop talking. "Thank you," she then turned towards Daring-Do, and turned her head towards the crowd of ponies. "I'd like to introduce you all to Daring-Do. She has come to out land so she can seize Griison's goblet!" Everypony was struck with awe at hearing this.

"Really??"

"She is??"

"I don't believe it!"

The ponies all started chattering again, all amazed and ecstatic because of Daring's mission. "They sure do talk a lot, huh?" Daring said to Fern.

"Well, we don't normally get visitors around here, so that already excited them. And because of what you want to do, that just made them more excited than ever!"

"I guess I can understand that," Daring looked back at the chattering ponies. "But can you make them stop talking again so I can get in a word myself?"

"Oh sure, sure," Fern shouted for the ponies to stop talking and listen to what Daring-Do had to say. She then stepped aside so as to give Daring everypony's full attention.

"Thank you, Fern," Daring turned her head towards the crowd. "Now then, everypony, I know how much you care about my mission, but before I go to take the goblet, I want to know more about the mountain," she pointed at Griifious Mountain, and then she looked back at the crowd. "And I want to know more about Griison. I want to know what he’s like, and if I should consider him a real danger.”

“Oh, he’s a real danger, all right,” Daring looked to see an earth pony stallion who just stepped out of the crowd of ponies. “Griison is a very protective guy, and he’s very serious about keeping his grandfather’s goblet safe. He'll chase away anypony who comes even near the base of the mountain."

"He's really scary..." A pegasus mare said, cowering.

"You certainly make him sound tough," Daring-Do responded.

"Tough is what he's made of," a pegasus stallion added. "That's why he built up new additions to the mountain so his goblet would be even more protected," he said as he pointed at the mountain. "And he did it all by himself because he didn't trust anyone else to build the additions for him!"

“He certainly does care for that goblet,” Daring-Do replied. She then started to ponder these new thoughts. She thought back to what she said to Inquirer about taking an artifact that still belonged to someone. After hearing how much Griison cared for the goblet, Daring felt even worse about having to take it. She started wondering if she should still go through with it.

"Is everything okay, miss Daring-Do?" one of the stallion earth ponies asked.

"Oh...yeah, everything's fine," Daring got her mind back together. "It's just...even though I told you I came here to take Griison's goblet, part of me doesn't want to."

"Why not??" asked a surprised pegasus mare, with the rest of the ponies feeling surprised as well.

"You see, explorers like me take artifacts from lost civilizations so that we may learn from them and share them with the rest of the world. But the goblet doesn't belong to a lost civilization; it belongs to someone who is still alive. And if I take the goblet, then I'll feel like a real thief for hurting someone by stealing something so precious to them.." Daring turned her head and closed her eyes, feeling a bit distraught.

The other ponies looked sad, and they sympathized with Daring's feelings. But, one pegasus stallion walked up to Daring-Do. "Look, Daring," Daring turned her head and looked at him. "I'm very sorry that you feel this way, and I'm sure we all understand how you feel," he said as he motioned his hoof towards the other ponies. "But you must take the goblet from Griison. It's not as bad as you think, because Griison isn't some innocent creature; he's a mean, cruel griffon, and it would be better for everypony if he was gone."

"But how would me taking the goblet get rid of Griison?"

"Because the goblet is Griison's sole reason for being here, and nothing else."

"What do you mean?" Daring asked, looking a bit confused.

"Well, Daring," Fern suddenly interjected. "Griison truly does care about his grandfather's goblet, but some time ago we learned that Griison cares only about the goblet, and not the mountain."

"Really?" Daring asked, surprised.

"Yes, she nodded her head. "I mentioned it earlier, after you and I first met, that you might be our way of getting rid of Griison."

"Oh, yes, I believe I remember that," Daring said as she thought back to that moment. "Anyways, go on."

"Well, a few months ago I overheard Griison when he was getting water at the river. He—"

"Wait a minute," Daring interrupted. "He was getting a drink at the river? Was he using the goblet to do it?"

"Oh, no he wasn't. You see, Griison protects the goblet, but he doesn't use it. He doesn't want to soil it by drinking from it."

"Oh, I see now. Sorry to interrupt you," Daring then sat down to prepare listening once more.

"Okay then," Fern then started telling her tale once more...

Chapter 4 - 1/2

Daring was flying smoothly towards Griifious Mountain, still feeling very confident in herself. "I'm really glad I met all of those ponies. They really helped me feel more like I can do this," Daring thought more about her mission, and her smile went away. "But, I can't help but still feel a bit bad about taking Griison's goblet, no matter how evil he may be," Daring slowed to a stop and began hovering in midair. "Ugh...why does this have to be so hard for me?? I'd rather deal with deadly traps and evil villains than this kind of turmoil!" Daring paced back and forth while flying, mulling over her thoughts on taking the goblet. She then stopped in midair again, and looked at her right hoof. "On one hoof, I'll be doing good by helping the inhabitants around this mountain," she then turned her head towards her left hoof. "But on the other hoof, I'll still be stealing from someone, and that just feels wrong," Daring sighed, and she placed her right hoof on her face and her left hoof behind her back. "I mean, it's not like he's doing anything evil with the goblet; then I would want to take it from him so he can't hurt anypony!" Daring sighed again and hung her head and front legs down in sadness. "But he's not doing anything evil with it. It's just a family heirloom that he's looking after, which makes it even more wrong to steal it..." Daring was feeling so distraught, she flew down and landed on a nearby boulder, and she sat down. "Such a hard decision...much too hard for somepony like me to decide...but what should I decide? What??" she stamped her hoof on the boulder in frustration. Daring looked very frustrated, and she looked up at Griifious Mountain. Slowly, Daring's angry face went away, and her face became calmer. She then decided to take a few moments to collect herself, taking a few cleansing breaths so as to set her mind at ease. Daring thought long and hard about what she should do; what the right thing to do was. She looked at the mountain the whole time she was pondering these ideas. She finally came to a conclusion, and made one last unhappy sigh. "Griison may not be doing anything evil with the goblet, but he himself is still evil. Regardless of what he may think, he does not have the right to treat the ponies of this mountain so badly," Daring started to sound more irate as she talked, and she got up on all four legs. "If he's not going to be nice to those ponies, then he doesn't deserve to live here!" Daring flew a few feet straight up into the air. "I now know what I must do! For the greater good of all other inhabitants of this mountain, I must take the goblet from Griison! No matter what the risk!" Daring, now feeling very determined, turned towards Griifious Mountain and flew towards it as fast as she could. Although, as she was flying towards the mountain, there were thoughts stirring in the back of her mind. These thoughts were of Daring not feeling entirely convinced of what she just said. Even with all that she had said, there was still a tiny part of her that truly believed that stealing Griison's goblet was wrong. But, Daring, trying to convince herself it was the right thing, ignored these thoughts as best she could, although they were not going to leave her head anytime soon.

After a short time of flying, Daring had finally arrived at the base of the mountain. She landed on a ledge of the base of the mountain and looked up, feeling awed by the large magnitude of this mountain. "This mountain sure is big! I'm glad I'm not an Earth Pony, since I don't think anypony could climb a mountain like this," Daring then opened her wings and flew up alongside the mountain. "There has to be an entrance around here somewhere," Daring started flying more to the right, but up a little bit at the same time, trying to find some kind of entrance to the mountain. After a few minutes had passed, Daring finally came upon what appeared to be a large steel door embedded inside the side of the mountain. Daring stopped in front of the door and flew in place. She scanned the door for a door handle, but it had no means of a handle anywhere on it. "Hmm..." Daring though as she rubbed her chin. "Now how am I gonna get in there?" She flew closer to the door, flying near every part of it, examining every detail to see if there was some way to bypass the door, but she found nothing.

Daring crossed her front legs and she looked very frustrated. "This doesn't make any sense to me. I know this is a door," she said as she motioned to the door with her right hoof, then crossed her front legs again. "Which means there has to be a way to open it; Otherwise, how would Griison get inside?" she asked herself as she made a quizzical gesture with her hooves. After a few moments, Daring's eyes sparked with a sudden thought. "That's it!" she said with eagerness. "Griison must have created a special way to open the door so nopony else would be able to get in!" Daring felt absolutely positive that her notion was correct, but there was still the problem of figuring out how to get the door open. Daring flew down and sat on the ledge in front of the door to mull this over.

Daring-Do kept thinking for a little while, and she looked around at the surrounding valley. As she looked around, she noticed something, so she stopped moving her head and looked back in the direction where she noticed something. Daring's eyes then widened with fear and her pupils got smaller. Far off in the distance, Daring could see Griison flying right to where she was sitting! Daring stood up on the ledge as she kept looking at Griison. She knew she had to hide herself from Griison, or else her plan of sneaking in would no longer work, and she might never get the goblet! She frantically looked around, trying to think of some way to hide, but she was running out of time, as Griison would soon be close enough to be able to spot her. Unfortunately, Daring-Do was unable to see any hiding spot from where she was at. She then looked at Griison again, and when she saw him closer than he was before, she panicked and flew straight up into the air.

Chapter 4 - 2/2

Griison arrived at the front door and landed on the edge, with his legs and arms all on the ground. He then looked around, as he felt like he was not alone. "Hmm..." he mumbled as he looked around.

While he was looking around, Daring-Do was sweating with extreme nervousness. She was on top of a ledge that was right above the door. Daring did not notice the ledge earlier because she couldn't see it from where she was standing, and she only saw the door from below when she flew to it in the first place. When she flew upwards in panic, she saw the ledge and quickly landed on it, lying as flat as possible so Griison couldn't see her, and luckily he didn't. But she wasn't out of the woods yet, as Griison was still looking around from in front of the door.

"Okay, Daring, just stay calm," Daring thought to herself. "Don't make any sudden moves or sounds, and everything will go smoothly. Once he's gone, you can go back to trying to find a way inside," Daring then stopped thinking, and her face became blank. "Wait," she thought as she started pondering an idea in her head. "If Griison is here now, then he'll have to use the door to get inside. If I watch him, I'll know how to open the door!" Daring smiled at this new idea, but then her smile turned back into a frown. "This is definitely dangerous, as he still might see me," Daring gulped, then made her determined look again. "But I might never get inside if I don't watch now. I've been through worse! I can do this!" Daring then slowly turned left on her side towards the ledge. "Be careful Daring. No sudden moves or noise," She placed her right hoof on the ledge and slightly poked her head about over the side.

Griison continued looking, but soon he decided that nobody was around, so he turned back around and faced the door. Daring watched intently, making sure she wasn't going to miss a thing. Griison stood up straight while facing the door, then bent down and grabbed the bottom of the door, and started pulling up on the door. Daring couldn't believe her eyes. Griison kept pulling until he lifted the door all the way up to its stopping point. Griison let go of the door, walked through the doorway, then turned around, which made Daring move back onto the ledge entirely so as not to be seen. Griison then grabbed a handle on the inside of the door, and pulled the door all the way shut.

Daring-Do was still lying on her back on the ledge, sweating and trying to catch her breath. "Urgh!" she said in frustration as she pounded her left hoof on the ledge. "I can't believe that's how he gets in!" she slapped both her hooves on her face. "I'll never be able to open the door that way! I'm not even close to strong enough!" Daring slammed both her front legs back down on the ground, and continued to lie there in frustrated silence. Although she was upset, Daring was not one to give up so easily. She looked up at the sky as she lie on the ledge, and thought about what she should do now. "There has to be some other way to get into the mountain; or at least another way to get through that door! Think, Daring!" Daring shut her eyes and placed her left hoof on her forehead as she thought long and hard about what to do.

The minutes ticked by, and Daring's mind was completely empty on ideas. She sighed in a defeated way as she took her hoof off her head. "I just can't think of anything. This has never happened to me before. Whenever I'm in a temple or some ruins, there's always something around I can use to help me, but not this time!" she started talking louder as she sat upright. "It's just one door on the side of a mountain, and also unlike temples or ruins, it doesn't have some kind of switch for me to use!" Daring then flopped back onto her back in frustration, shut her eyes, and became silent for a few moments. "...if only Griison could hold the door open for me," she said sarcastically. Daring lie there and stayed silent for a few more moments, but then her eyes opened instantaneously and widened, as she was just struck with divine inspiration. She very quickly sat upright again. "...that's it..." she said in a mostly quiet voice. "...that's it!" she said in a louder voice, now starting to look more excited. "That's how I'll get inside!" Daring flew two feet above the ledge, looking more confident than ever. "All I have to do is wait here for Griison to open his door again, and when he comes out, I'll be able to slip in when he isn't looking!" Daring looked very proud of this plan, but then the thought of a new problem made her proud expression disappear. "Oh..wait...Griison will probably close the door right after he goes through it. There's no way I could by him unnoticed if he's standing right in front of the doorway," Daring looked frustrated all over again, but not as much as before. "There has to be some way for me to get by him...hmm..." Daring pondered a little while longer. "I have to think of a way for him to keep the door open, but he has to be out of the concave part of the entrance, too, or else he'll see me," Daring pondered some more. "...maybe if I distract him somehow, he'll forget about the door long enough for me to sneak inside...but what kind of distraction to do..?" Daring looked around at the ledge, with her back facing the wall, as she tried to see what and where would make the best distraction for Griison. She noticed a rock lying on the ground to the left of where she was standing, so she walked over and picked up the rock with her wing and began examining it. She then looked at the part of the ledge that the rock was closest to. "..maybe I can distract him using this—yeah, that's it!" Daring said with excitement. "I can wait on the other side of the ledge, and when Griison comes out, I'll toss this rock to this side of the ledge. When Griison hears the noise, he'll go to investigate, and then I can sneak by him and enter the mountain!" Daring-Do felt truly confident that this plan was foolproof. She finally has a way to enter Griifious Mountain, find the goblet, complete her mission, and most importantly: get rid of Griison so the ponies can regain their freedom!

"Now all I need to do is wait for Griison," Daring said in an upbeat way. She then laid herself on her back and began waiting for Griison to depart from the mountain.

Chapter 5

Daring-Do was getting tired and incredibly hot. She had been waiting hours in the hot sun for Griison to exit the mountain, but she had not heard a single sound nor has she seen any sign of Griison.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Daring shouted in frustration as she sat up. "I've been waiting here for hours, and I haven't seen head or tail of Griison!" Daring groaned in frustration, and then she went over to the edge of the ledge and peered underneath it to look at the door. "Griison must not leave the mountain that often," she lifted her head back up. "I guess it's my luck that he doesn't come out when I want him to," Daring slumped down on her bottom and sighed. She looked at the sun, and could see it was getting close to sunset. "I guess there's no use waiting now, since I doubt he leaves at night," Daring laid herself down on the ledge. "So I should just get some sleep so I won't be tired while I infiltrate the mountain," Daring yawned, and she soon fell fast asleep.

Daring-Do's eyes opened. She looked all around, and could not see Griifious Mountain, or even the valley. Everything was dark, and Daring seemed to be floating in the darkness. "Where am I? What is this place?"

As Daring looked around, she suddenly saw a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head, and was shocked to see that Griison's goblet was floating in a beam of light a short distance away from her! "The goblet!" Daring said, overjoyed. She then quickly flew over to the goblet and grabbed it. Right when she pulled the goblet out of the beam of light, she suddenly heard a loud voice in front of her.

"Hey!!" Daring looked, and saw a darkened Griison flying towards her! Daring looked terrified at the sight of him. "What do you think you're doing with my goblet?" he asked with anger as he stopped in front of Daring-Do.

Daring quickly changed her expression to show she wasn't scared of Griison. "I'm taking it!" she shouted back at him.

"You dare steal my grandfather's beloved goblet?"

"W...well," Daring thought back to how she had felt that stealing the goblet was wrong, but quickly changed her mind. "You don't deserve to have it! Not after all you've done to the ponies who live around this mountain!"

"You think just because I'm not nice to those ponies you can just steal my sacred family relics?? You're just a thief!" he shouted as he pointed at Daring.

"No! No I'm not!" Daring shouted back. "It's not wrong to steal things from evil people!"

"Yes it is! You're a thief! A thief!" Griison's words echoed all around Daring-Do.

Daring clutched the goblet firmly. She started looking scared again as she looked around her. Multiple Griison's appeared all around her, calling her a thief. She kept saying she wasn't a thief, but the Griison's would not relent calling her a thief. They kept on doing it as they got closer to her, surrounding her more and more. Daring looked more scared than ever as she shut her eyes tight. The Griison's got closer to her, and closer, and closer, and then...!

Daring-Do was abruptly awakened by the sound of metal clanking. It was late morning, as the sun was still low in the sky. Daring was still a bit freaked out from the dream, so she didn't know what was going on at first. When Daring finally got herself together, she realized what the sound was and gasped. "Griison!" she shouted. "He's coming!" she shouted in a more quiet tone. Daring quickly grabbed the rock she found yesterday and flew to the left side of the ledge and made sure she stayed hidden from view. Daring waited anxiously for the door to open completely. When Daring heard the sound of the door stopping, and when there was absolute silence, she very quickly threw her rock to the opposite side of the ledge. Before Griison could step through the doorway, he heard the sound of the rock hitting the ledge. Feeling suspicious, Griison walked out of the doorway without closing the door and flew to the side of the ledge that was opposite of where Daring was. Right when he flew up, Daring quickly and quietly flew down and through the doorway, being careful as to not make a sound. After she flew inside, Daring-Do pressed her back flat against a wall that was out of view of the doorway. She waited quietly for Griison to close the door so she could move further into the mountain.

Outside, Griison had looked all around the ledge, and he had looked out at the surrounding area for any sign of movement, but he saw nobody. Griison decided that it was nothing, so he flew back to his doorway, grabbed the bottom of the door, and pulled the door downwards, letting go of the door right before it shut completely. He then turned around and flew off into the valley, unknowing of Daring's intrusion in his mountain.

Chapter 6

After the door had shut, Daring-Do began moving down the tunnel and further into the mountain. "All right, Daring. You're in. Now you've just gotta find out where that goblet is," Daring said as she snuck through the tunnel, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Daring then came upon a section of the tunnel that split into three more tunnels. Daring looked down each tunnel, unsure of which one to take. "Hmm..." Daring thought for a moment, and then she decided to go down the left tunnel. After only walking a few feet, Daring walked into a thin, barely-visible wire she tripped and fell down towards the ground. But, right when she tripped on the wire, metal spikes came out of the ground, right where she was falling. Daring opened her wings and stopped herself right before she hit the spikes, thanks to her lightning-fast reflexes. Daring hovered for a few moments, staring at the spikes right in front of her face. She then flew up off the ground, away from the spikes, and back down onto the ground. "Looks like I underestimated Griison. I never would have guessed there were traps built into this mountain. I will have to be on my guard while I'm here," Daring then looked up ahead of the spikes, and could see the tunnel actually led to a dead end. "I guess Griison didn't want anypony cluttering up his usable tunnels. I'll have to go back and find which way is the right way to go," Daring then turned around and went back to where the hallways separated.

When Daring-Do came back to the hallway intersection, she looked at the two remaining hallways, again deciding which to take. "Hmm...I can't see anything distinct about either of these other tunnels, so I'll just have to check them out myself," Daring then walked into the tunnel that was across from where she was. As Daring walked through the tunnel, she kept an eye out for anything that looked like a trigger for a trap, and she also looked ahead to see if the tunnel was a dead end as the first one was. As she walked along, Daring suddenly stumbled on her right front leg. She looked down to see she had stepped on a switch disguised as a stone tile. Daring then heard a noise coming from above her, and looked up to see part of the ceiling open up right above her, and rocks started falling out of it down towards her! Using her lightning-fast reflexes once more, Daring opened her wings and flapped them forwards, propelling herself backwards, right before the rocks crashed onto the ground where she just was. Daring skidded to a stop, and then she looked at the pile of rocks on the ground. She paused for a moment. “…well, I guess that means the last tunnel is the right one. That figures,” Daring then turned around and went back to the intersection, and she went into the last tunnel, although she was still wary of any traps that might appear along the way.

As Daring-Do continued through the mountain, she came across many more tunnels, with many more traps inside them.

In one tunnel, Daring had stepped on another stone switch, causing the floor to open up underneath Daring. Daring fell into the hole and down towards a bed of spikes. Daring began flapping her wings and stopped herself just before she hit the spikes. When she opened her eyes and saw where she was, she went "phew" in relief. She then flew up and out of the hole to try another tunnel.

A short time after that, Daring-Do went into another tunnel, where after walking for a short time, she saw the end of the tunnel. But then she stepped on a wire, and three spears shot out of holes at the end of the tunnel. with all of them heading straight for Daring! Daring looked frightened when she saw this, and immediately turned around and ran back towards the tunnel entrance. When she got to the entrance, she quickly moved to the right and pressed her back flat against the wall next to the tunnel entrance. The instant Daring had moved out of the way, the three spears flew out of the tunnel and impaled the wall opposite of the tunnel. Daring stayed still a moment to catch her breath, and then she wiped some sweat from her forehead and tried another tunnel.

A while later, Daring went down another tunnel, and was surprised to see that it ended with a statue of Griifious that was facing Daring-Do. The room that statue was in had an opening in the ceiling right above and behind the statue, with light shining through it and onto the statue. The statue of Griifious was on all fours, with his wings folded backwards. Daring looked perplexed, as there seemed to be no trap this time. She looked around to see if there was a door or switch to open a secret door, but saw nothing. Daring kept looking as she walked further into the room, and closer to the statue. Just as she walked in front of the statue, she stepped on a switch, but this switch didn't go down until after she had taken her hoof off of it, so she hadn't noticed that she had stepped on anything. Daring stopped and looked around, and then turned around with her back facing the statue. Right then, the wings on the statue started to move. The part where the wings attached to the body slowly began to spin around counterclockwise, with the ends of the wings about to be swung down like axes onto Daring-Do! Daring heard no noise whatsoever, but she did see something. When Daring was looking at the ground, she saw two shadows moving behind her. Rather than taking the time to turn around, Daring-Do quickly bent down towards the ground and rolled out of the way, just narrowly avoiding the wings axing the ground where she just stood. Daring got back up on her hooves and looked back at the statue. "Very clever, Griifious," she then went back down the tunnel and continued searching for the right exit.

After wandering through the different corridors of the mountain for a long time, going up many staircases, and triggering so many traps, Daring-Do finally came upon a tunnel that was much longer than any of the others she had come across. Naturally, Daring was suspicious. "Either this is another trap, or I may have finally found the end tunnel," She looked off in the distance, where she could make out the faint image of a door at the end of the tunnel. "Looks like there's only one way to find out."

Daring-Do began her careful pace down the tunnel. She was moving as slow as possible, ready to move if she felt the slightest sinking of her hoof or the touch of a tripwire. After walking for only a few moments, Daring stopped."Hold on a second...why don't I just fly there? I'm less likely to trigger any traps that way!" Daring placed her hoof on her face. "I should have been doing this the whole time. Ugh..." she slid her hoof off her face, stretching her face along with it. "But, then again, it wouldn't have been as much fun. But now is the time the fun ends! I'm going to get to the goblet right now!"

Daring-Do stomped her hoof one step forward. But when she did this, the stone she stepped on lowered, activating another trap!

Daring looked down at the stone switch. "...of course. It's never that easy for me—just the way I like it!"

At that point, the walls around Daring started to slowly close in on her. Daring looked at the walls, then at the door. She tilted her had forward, and she flew for the door as fast as her wings could carry her. The tunnel was long, and the walls kept getting closer, but Daring did not hold back; she continuously flapped her wings, enduring the great aching and pain coming from her weary wings. But she kept on enduring, confident that she would be able to fly past the walls in time.

But, Daring's confidence was soon shattered, as at that moment, the walls had closed in enough to where they could touch her wings. The moment her wings struck against the walls, Daring plummeted towards the floor. She landed hard on the ground, scraping up the bottom of her body as she slid across the ground. Despite this new predicament, Daring did not give up. She quickly got back on her hooves and made a run for the door. The walls progressed closer, and the space for Daring to move in was growing ever tighter. Still, Daring kept moving.

She looked and could see the end of the tunnel was only 15 feet away! Instead of attempting to run the rest of the way, Daring used the rest of her strength and made a leap for the end of the tunnel. But, to Daring's dismay, her leap was not far enough and she landed hard on the ground, but then she began sliding across the ground towards the tunnel end.

With her speed decreasing and the tunnel tightening around her body, Daring felt like she was not going to make it. Then, Daring opened her wings straight upwards and flapped them both backwards, giving her a slight boost in speed that was enough to get her past the walls!

She slid to a stop at the end of the tunnels just as the walls closed in on each other. She looked back at the walls, then stood up, with a quite smug expression on her face. "Ha! Not a scratch on me!"

Unbeknownst to Daring, however, the walls had closed in on the tip of her tail, which was now stuck in between the walls. She stood up and began to run towards the door, but in doing so, she ripped the hair on the tip of her tail from pulling it out of the walls.

"Ouch!" Daring instantly came to a stop when she felt the pull of the hair on her tail. She looked back and saw some of her tail hair still caught in the wall, and some lying scattered along the ground.

"Well, maybe one scratch..."

Daring then faced the doorway once more. She was glad that she had finally reached her destination, but also feeling a pang of nervousness, as she was still unsure as to what lied ahead. Was it going to be easy? Hard? Were there more dangers or was her quest finally going to come to an end? She stared at the doorway with these thoughts racing through her mind. Whatever lied ahead may or may not be easy, but Daring-Do was an adventurer, and it was her duty to find the treasure that lay beyond the door.

She took a deep cleansing breath, and took a long, hard look at the double doors. "Well, here we go," Daring-Do walked up to the doors and pushed against them, which proved to be harder than she thought as the doors were quite large and heavy. Still, she continued pushing against the doors until she heard the creaking of the doors moving. As the doors slowly opened wider, light began shining through the space between the doors, covering the doorway with light as Daring-Do passed through to the other side.

Chapter 7 - 1/2

Daring-Do took a second to catch her breath after opening those heavy doors. She then looked up to see where she had entered.

The room contained several types of furniture, all of which was crudely made from either wood or stone. However, the room was also filled with many pieces of griffon-related objects, such as statues, carvings, and even some drawings. "This must be where Griison lives. Definitely not what I expected, though."

As she wandered around the room more, she could see that each of the different griffon paraphernalia looked different from each other; except that most of the art in the room resembled Griifious. "Wow, Griifious was even more full of himself than I thought. And it looks like his family was, too."

Daring looked at more of the art, and that's when she noticed something. Out of all the griffon artwork in this room, there was not a single piece that resembled Griison. "That's strange; I wonder why Griison doesn't have any art of himself here? It looks like everyone other member of his family had at least one piece made for themselves. Very odd..."

She then came upon a door on the other side of the room from where she started. "I wonder where this goes?" She peered through the doorway, and could see a staircase going down and then twisting to the left. "Hmm..."

Daring pondered for a bit, but then her eye caught an item that lay on an adjacent table to the right of the doorway. The item was a rolled-up scroll, and Daring picked it up to read it and see if it said anything of interest.

On the scroll, it said:

For all my future offspring, let it be known to you that the doorway that stands on the right side of this room in my elegant domicile will take you down a tunnel that will bypass each and every trap that lie within my grand mountain, attaching the mountain entrance to this room, thus making it so none of my future kin will be harmed, and shall stand guard over my mountain for the remainder of their own life, until the next griffon in the line shall take their place, so my mountain will always have a griffon of my own bloodline to watch over it, as it shall for all time.

-The High and Mighty Griifious

Daring lowered the scroll down, having a combination of a blank and perturbed look on her face. "Looks like that's another thing that figures for me. I know I said I like adventures when they're not easy, but sometimes I think easy wouldn't be so bad," she sighed pensively.

She tossed the scroll back onto the table. "Well, I guess I shouldn't let myself get too upset over this little impediment. After all, I made it, I'm here, and it's high time that I find what I came for."

Daring began to search around for the goblet, although she wasn't sure where to begin. She thought to herself, wondering what Griifious would have done with an object so precious to himself. "Hmm...if I were Griifious, I would have placed the goblet in an area that would be befitting to an object of such vast importance. A place that shows everyone that the vast and incredible grandeur of the goblet. So I would most likely place it on a pedestal."

With these new thoughts in her head, Daring-Do started searching around the room for the goblet or a pedestal. After looking the room over for several minutes, Daring came up empty-hooved.

"Where could that goblet be? I've looked everywhere in this room!" she sighed as she walked over to the wall. "Griifious must have really went all-out to hide his goblet. He's even stumped me!"

Daring leaned against the wall with her hoof to think more about what to do, when she felt herself unexpectedly budge, and she heard a clanking noise. She looked to see a square piece of the wall had been pushed in from where she had placed her hoof on the wall. More clanking noises were head, so Daring backed away from the wall to see what was happening.

Part of the wall next to the switch lifted up, revealing an upwards staircase behind it. Daring looked up the staircase, seeing it went a long ways up.

"Of course, why didn't I think of this before? With an object so valuable, Griifious would definitely want it hidden from prying eyes. Too bad he didn't count on my eyes prying a bit harder," she confidently began to ascend the stairs, curious as to what she would behold ahead.

As Daring-Do reached the top of the staircase, she came upon yet another tunnel, but this one was different from all the others she had seen. It was much shorter than the other tunnels, and the end could easily be seen, with a light shining through the doorway. The walls were adorned with torches, and the architecture of the tunnel was of an superb quality, with columns up against the wall, and arches connecting the tops of each of the parallel facing columns. Daring scanned the whole of the tunnel. "With something so fancy, I doubt Griifious would want any traps in here to ruin it," she laughed to herself, but still she proceeded with caution down the tunnel.

After passing through the tunnel, with no complications whatsoever, Daring-Do finds herself on a walkway—on the outside of the mountain. She could not believe her eyes as she looked around.

"You're telling me that I didn't have to go through all of that to get to the goblet? That if I had just flown higher I could have found it easily? Why would Griifious do such a thing??" Daring slumped down and placed her hoof on her face in humiliation.

After a few seconds, she uncovered her face, looking quite peeved. She then proceeded to look around at the surrounding area. First she looked down at the base of the mountain, and could see she was up quite high. Next, she turned around and looked up at the top of the mountain, which was very close to her position. She then situated herself back into her upright position to get her thoughts together.

"Well, from what I know about Griifious, he must have placed the goblet out here so he could easily leave to go use it; and for a goblet with such magnificence, he would want it to be placed in the one location that was best suited for it; namely, a pedestal on a ledge on the outside of the mountain, so the beauty of nature would increase the magnificence of the goblet to even vaster amounts. He also must have thought that nopony would ever fly up this high, since the valley ponies are afraid of even getting close to the mountain, let alone investigating it. It was the most perfect spot he could have found—but that still doesn't change how aggravated I am to find all of this out!"

Daring let out a sigh of frustration. After just sitting and feeling mad for a few seconds, she looked at the goblet again. "Well, even though I'm still annoyed for finding the goblet in this easy-to-get-to spot, at the same time I'm glad because it means I'll be able to leave with it without having to go all the way back down through the mountain, even if I could just use that secret tunnel. Although, I'm not sure why there would be a doorway at the bottom of the mountain when Griison could just use this area to fly in and out, but there's no time to figure it out now. I have to retrieve the goblet and get the hay out of here before Griison gets back."

Daring slowly started to walk along the walkway. It took only moments of her to reach the pedestal sitting on the ledge at the end of the walkway. Finally, Daring-Do was face-to-face with the golden goblet, marveling at its incredible magnificence. It looked more incredible than she could have imagined, the light reflecting off its gold surface and many jewels encrusted within its body. "I can see why Griifious cared for this goblet so much; it's so beautiful," she seemed mesmerized with the chalice, unable to take her eyes off of it.

While Daring-Do had all her attention focused on the goblet, she was completely unaware of the large shadowy figure that had just appeared at the entrance to the walkway. Slowly and silently, the figure began sneaking up on Daring, its footsteps complete inaudible. As the figure stepped out of the shadows, its full form was shown, showing it was none other than Griison. As Griison got closer, he began to stand up on his hind legs as he walked, also raising his arms into the air. He went completely unnoticed as he stopped behind Daring-Do, raising his large arms high into the air, preparing to strike the unknowing pegasus...

Chapter 7 - 2/2

Daring-Do's eyes shifted away from the goblet for a second, as she noticed the area around the goblet had gotten darker. In that instant, she knew that there was someone behind her. Not wasting any time, she leapt up into the air, just out of the way of Griison's talons. She landed on the opposite side of the goblet pedestal, and faced her attacker, whom, to her moderate surprise, was Griison.

"Who are you?" Griison exclaimed in great anger. "What are you doing here? Answer me!!"

Daring gulped, feeling intimidated by Griison's presence and harsh tone. But, she knew she had a duty to fulfill, so she mustered up as much of her boldness as she could, and prepared herself to face down Griison.

"My name is Daring-Do. I am a pony adventurer from a faraway land, and I have been sent here to retrieve this very goblet so it can be displayed in my museum."

Griison still looked quite angry. "I may not know what this 'museum' you speak of is, but if you think my goblet is going to be moved from that spot, you have made a very erroneous choice. Just the mere mention of seizing my goblet is a greatly punishable crime in my mountain!" Griison stopped talking for a moment, staring at Daring-Do with his menacing gaze, whilst Daring was trying as hard as she could to not look frightened of him.

"So, little pony; are you going to leave here and never return? Or do I have to personally rid my perfect mountain of the imperfection that is you?" As Griison said this, he took a few steps towards Daring, and, in turn, she took a few steps back, showing her fearfulness to Griison. She turned her head back and looked down over the ledge. She actually started to contemplate flying away, with fear taking over every fraction of her being. She then looked back at Griison, whom was still staring intently at her with the same frightening look.

Thoughts were racing through Daring-Do's mind: Should she run away? That felt like what she wanted to do..but..she would be letting everypony down; and not just Inquirer; every single pony, young and old, who lived in the valley would be denied their freedom from tyranny, and would feel betrayed by Daring's cowardice. No...she could not do that. She would not do that. She would never do a thing such as that! Daring was suddenly struck with a whole new level of tenacity. This new confidence inspired her not to give up on those ponies, as helping them was far too important to go and quit on them. She had to stand up to Griison right here and now, and nothing he would do or say would make her leave!

"No!" Daring shouted as she stood up. "I won't do it! I won't leave and I won't be intimidated by the likes of you!"

Griison looked absolutely astonished to hear Daring-Do talk in such a way to him, since she had not sounded nearly so valiant before. "H—how dare you! You can't speak to me in such a way!"

"Oh, yes I can! For it's not just my voice that is speaking out against you, but the voice of every single pony down in that valley! It is for them that I am taking your goblet! For every time you terrified them! For every time any of your ancestors tormented any of the ancestors of those ponies! And nothing you do shall prevent me from taking this goblet so that you will leave this mountain and never bother the valley ponies again!!"

Griison was supremely flabbergasted. He could not think of any kind of a response, as there was not a single other being whom had ever talked to him like that before. He had actually felt a tiny bit intimidated by Daring-Do. But then, he realized something: Is he going to let himself be frightened by some little pony? Why should he? She was just a pony, and he is a griffon. She was small, and he was big. He had great strength, and she had nothing. Griison was the most powerful creature in the whole entire valley, and he was going to let this little pony know that, once and for all.

Griison pulled himself back into his previous intimidating stance. "Do you really think I'm going to be scared by the likes of you? I am Griison!" he exclaimed as he pounded one fist on his chest. "A descendant of the mighty Griifious, an all-powerful griffon! And griffons don't let themselves be told what to do by pitiful little ponies."

During this onslaught of daunting words, Daring-Do did not let herself back down, even a smidgen. She was still strongly firm in her desire to help the valley ponies, and was still not going to let them down.

Griison paused for a few moments to see if Daring would show a fearful response in any way. "So, what say you, pony?"

"...I say...this goblet's mine!!" Daring-Do suddenly leapt towards the goblet to try and make a grab for it. At that instant, Griison roared in anger and flew at Daring to stop her. With fleet speed, Daring closed and her wings and landed on the ground, ducking under Griison as he flew over her and down over the ledge. After watching him go over, Daring flew up and grabbed the goblet. After flying upwards a few feet, she stopped in midair and looked at the goblet, admiring every part of it and feeling very proud of herself for finally obtaining the treasure. But this moment of satisfaction didn't last long, as right then, Griison came smashing up through the walkway's ledge, heading straight for Daring-Do! Now, Daring was frightened, so she took off flying, would Griison hot on her hooves.

"You cannot flee from me! I will get you and I will regain what is rightfully mine!" Griison hollered adamantly. And with those words, the chase was truly on.

Chapter 8 - 1/2

Daring-Do began flying up higher, more towards the top of the mountain, with Griison close behind. She flew in closer to the rocky side of the summit, getting as close as she could without colliding with the wall of stone. She turned her head back to see if Griison had crashed into the mountain, but to her surprise, he was still flying flawlessly, and was actually closer to her than before. While Daring's size may make her smaller and lighter, thusly increasing her flight speed, Griison's bulky and brawny wings made him fast enough to keep up with her.

It looked like it wasn't going to be as easy as Daring thought to get rid of this unremitting griffon. She needed a new plan, and she needed it fast. She needed a good idea: something clever; something that Griison couldn't outdo her in; and that's when she got the perfect plan. Daring quickly made a sharp turn downwards, making Griison halt in surprise, but then he immediately started after her again. Daring was now flying down the mountain at a 90-degree angle and moving to the right. She scanned the side of the mountain for the opening she was looking for, and soon she found it; the opening to the tunnel that led to the goblet was the perfect place in which to lead Griison, and it was the only place in the surrounding area that she knew she could count on—she hoped. With Griison closing in on her, Daring knew she had no other choice. She curved quickly and made a straight shot towards the tunnel. Griison did not seem aware of where Daring was going, as his sole intent was only catching her and retrieving his property. As Daring neared the tunnel, she shut her eyes and flew clean through. However, since Griison wasn't playing attention, when flew into the tunnel, his wings collided with both sides of the entrance, causing his wings to be knocked out of their flying position, which in turn sent Griison crashing to the floor. He skidded across the ground to a stop, while Daring made a clean getaway back into the mountain.

After going back through the tunnel and down the staircase, Daring-Do stopped in Griison's main room to catch her breath. "Well, that certainly worked out well," she said as she wiped some sweat from her forehead. "Now, I've just got to get back to the valley ponies to show them my triumph," she started towards the secret tunnel to the bottom of the mountain. "Looks like one of my adventures finally went off without a hitch—mostly."

"Is that so?"

Daring instantly stopped as a chill ran up her spine. She slowly turned her head around to see Griison standing at the entrance to the upper mountain! "Wha..?! H—How did you..??"

"Did you really think it would be that easy to slow me down? I said I would get back what's rightfully mine, and I have every intention of doing so!" Griison spoke these words as he slowly began to walk towards Daring-Do. "So, don't think that any of your measly little pony tricks are going to work on me!"

"...well..how about this??" Daring swiftly flew towards the door, but Griison, with his powerful legs, sprang up over Daring, accompanied by the strength of his wings, and landed right in front of the doorway, beating Daring to it. Daring skidded to a stop, and Griison turned around to face her. "Like I said: none of your little tricks are going to work on me, pony," he then reached down to grab the frightened pony, but Daring quickly jumped up out of the way, making Griison stumble forward from after missing her. She then came back down, landed hard on his head, and pushed against his head to propel herself into the air, where she began flying for another way out. Once again fueled by rage, Griison flew after her, chasing her all around the room.

Daring ducked and weaved around every piece of furniture and griffon art to evade Griison. Griison paid no mind to dodging any of the objects in the room, and instead smashed right through each object that he flew by. Furniture was knocked over, paintings and drawings were torn to shreds, and statues fell and shattered to pieces upon the floor. Griison's mind was focused purely on Daring-Do, and he wasn't going to let anything get in his way.

Daring was shocked by Griison's actions. What would compel Griison to not care about his other ancestor's possessions, but to care so much about the goblet? Whatever the reason, it certainly wasn't making things easier for her to have Griison plowing through every obstacle to get to her. She needed a new plan—a plan where she could get away from Griison with him unable to follow her. As she was flying, she looked around the room for anything that could aid in her escape. She suddenly saw something that gave her a plan—albeit, it wasn't much different from her first escape plan, but it was all she had right now, so she had no choice but to go for it. Daring quickly made a 90-degree turn and flew directly towards one of the walls. Just before she collided with the wall, she turned her body around, stamped her hooves against the wall, and sprang herself back in the direction the she had came. In the midst of all this, Griison, distracted by her sudden maneuver, inadvertently slammed into the wall that Daring had ricocheted off of. He fell to the ground, momentarily hindered by this incident. Seizing this unforeseen opportunity, Daring-Do flew down the secret tunnel. "I hope this works," she said to herself as she continued down her path to the end of the tunnel.

Shortly after Daring-Do's departure, Griison struggled to get himself back up. He clasped the wall to hold himself upright, also clutching his head, which was still throbbing with pain. He shook his head to purge himself of the pain and get his mind back on track. "Urrgh! That little bane's suffering will be greater than what any pony has ever endured! I will see to that..." Griison then sped off flying towards the secret tunnel entrance, but quickly stopped himself before he entered. Remembering the mishap with the other tunnel, he decided to run down this tunnel instead, so there would be nothing to slow him down. Griison then hoofed it through the tunnel, hot in pursuit of the thieving little pegasus.

Chapter 8 - 2/2

Immediately after his arrival to the end of the tunnel, Griison scanned the area around him. He looked around the main tunnel and the mountain entrance, but found no trace of Daring-Do. "Where could that meddlesome little pony have gotten to?" he then looked towards the main tunnel again. "Could she have gone that way?" he pondered this idea. "She could have, but I don't know if she has been through here before," Griison then turned his attention towards the mountain door. "I know she couldn't have gotten out that way, since no pony is strong enough to lift such a dense door all by themselves," he looked back at the tunnel again. "This means she could have only gone through this way," he thought about this circumstance. "She could be stopped by one of my traps—but I wouldn't count on a pony like her being taken down so easily," Griison felt frustrated, and began considering the best course of action to take.

"No matter which path she takes, she'll no doubt end up at the top of the mountain again. My only chance is to try and beat her to the top," he looked over to the secret tunnel. "But that pony's fast. I won't be able to run up the side tunnel as fast as she flies through the trap tunnels," Griison mulled over how he could get to the top faster, getting more and more impatient as each passing moment gave Daring-Do more time to reach the top first. "Urrgh! If only I could fly to the top! I know I would beat her that way!" he clasped his face with his hands, distressed over the whole situation. Griison then ceased his self-anguish. He lifted his head up, looking to be currently in thought. "Fly...? Fly? That's it!!" Griison swiftly ran towards the mountain entrance and grabbed onto the handles at the bottom of the door. "I can't believe I hadn't thought of this sooner," he began to lift the door. "I'll just go outside and fly into the main room through the goblet tunnel! And then she'll be right where I want her..." he said with a devious smile.

Griison continued to lift the door. "That pony thinks she's so clever! Well, she's about to know what it feels like to get outsmarted by a superior being!" Griison had finally completed opening the door. He was finally feeling ready and confident after being shamefully outsmarted by Daring-Do on so many occasions. But this time it was his turn to get the better of Daring, and he would at last retrieve his abducted property, and give the pony the punishment she deserves.

Whoosh! Griison froze when a mustard-colored blur zoomed by him and out the doorway. He was in such surprise that he was unable to know how to react. The blur stopped at the top of the door, and that's when it was shown to be none other than Daring-Do. Griison looked up at her, still in such a shock that he couldn't make a response. Daring then turned around and kicked the bottom of the door as hard as she could. This in turn made the door slide down and slam shut into place. "Thanks for the help, Griison!" after this, she flew away from the mountain, feeling victorious. "That should buy me a bit of time while I take this goblet back to the valley ponies and—"

Daring suddenly stopped flying when she heard a loud banging sound coming from behind her. She turned herself around and looked at the source of the noise, which was the mountain door. As she looked onwards, she saw that the door was getting smashed in from the other side, with large dents forming where the door was getting hit. "What in the hay?" Then, with one last smash, the door was forced out the doorway, falling down over the side of the mountain and crashing into the jungle below. After watching that take place, Daring looked back up at the doorway and became aghast.

Standing in the doorway, was a Griison looking more enraged than ever before. His teeth bared and his eyes swelled with fiery anger, Griison looked and saw Daring hovering not too far away from his position. Without hesitation, Griison took off like a lightning bolt and made a straight shot for the flabbergasted pegasus.

"Woah!" Daring hurriedly took off herself, with Griison in hot pursuit. She couldn't believe that Griison busted that door down so quickly. She'd never thought he was this strong. But that was the least of her worries, as Griison was already closing in on her fast: much faster than he had ever flown before. Daring knew she'd never be able to outfly him this time. Another new strategy was needed, but unfortunately, there wasn't much she had at her disposal out in the open sky. She then looked down at the jungle below, which was the only cover around for her to use. Daring swiftly made a dive down towards the jungle right before Griison grabbed her. Without delay, Griison also flew down, following her into the foliage.

While this was going on, the valley ponies were at the Akion riverbank, enjoying their peaceful day. Fern was amongst the ponies that were currently there, chatting with some of her friends.

"So, Fern, how do you think that friend of yours is doing?"

"Daring-Do? I'm sure she's doing just perfectly. After all, she said she was a pony who doesn't give up. I wouldn't be surprised if she was on her way here with the goblet right now," Just then, Daring-Do zoomed by, flying right over the ponies as she flew past the riverbank, making everypony look in her direction as she passed by.

"Wasn't that Daring-Do?"

"I think it was!" Fern responded. "What's she doing flying by so fast?" Her question was soon answered as Griison sped by, still hot on the trail of Daring-Do.

"And was that Griison??"

Fern looked just as shocked as everypony else. "Was...was she fleeing from Griison..?

Everypony was looking confused by what they just saw, and they were all chattering about it, wondering what was going on. Soon, everypony had gathered around Fern to solve this puzzling dilemma.

"What's going on here?"

"Why was she flying away from Griison?"

"Did she get the goblet or not?"

With all this babbling going on, Fern was looking more and more discomfited. Then, the pony standing next to her turned towards her. "It looks like this 'hero' of yours isn't as heroic as she said she was," After hearing those words, Fern, feeling quite dejected, hung her head down, feeling that she had made a big mistake.

Chapter 9

Through the twists and turns of the endless jungle, Daring-Do tried every trick and maneuver she could muster up as a way of getting Griison off her tail, but he wasn't falling for any one of her stunts. Daring had never seen someone so Tartarus-bent on getting back what was taken from them. Anyone else would have given up long ago, but this guy was more serious than she had given him credit for, and now she was the one paying the price.

"You can fly wherever you want!" Griison shouted. "But nothing you do will make me relent my everlasting pursuit of my grandfather's goblet!!"

"This guy's crazy!" Daring exclaimed. She then looked back at Griison's enraged, snarling face. "But he's still a pretty big threat! I can't outfly him forever; but I don't know what else I can do to lose him!"

Just when things looked hopeless for Daring-Do, she suddenly and unexpectedly flew into an open area of the jungle. "Oh, great..without any trees, I don't even have a way of slowing him down!" And she was quite correct, as when Griison flew into the open area, his speed picked up, and he was gaining on Daring once more. "Now what do I do?" Daring thought frantically. Just then, she noticed that a short distance ahead of her, was a large pile of rocks and boulders lying on the ground. At the sight of this rock heap, Daring-Do was struck with inspiration. "Griison won't be able to chase me if he can't get where I'm going!" she said smugly, and she took off for the rock pile, with Griison still in pursuit and gaining.

When Daring made it to the rock pile, she turned her head around towards Griison, "Try and follow this, Griison!" she then made a dive towards an opening between two large boulders. When Griison tried to go after her, he smashed his body right into the rock, with his head being the only part that fit through the space. Griison pushed against the rock with his arms and feet, and pulled his head out of the hole. Griison looked at the large boulders, and could see that his strength wasn't good enough to get past these immense rocks, so he knew he had no choice but to go around them. He quickly flew up to the top of the rock, and looked around to see where Daring-Do had fled. "That pony has to be around here somewhere," As Griison scanned the area, Daring was hiding behind a smaller rock, completely absent from Griison's view.

"I can't stay here forever," Daring thought to herself. "I'll have to make a break for it," she peeked her head out a tiny bit from behind the rock to see where Griison was looking. When he turned his head away from Daring's location, she took off as fast as she could. As Griison turned his head in Daring's direction, he saw her speeding away, and sped after her himself. Daring saw Griison catching up to her again, so she had to go through another small space to lose him; although this time, she would do things a bit differently. As she zoomed through the space, Griison slowed himself down enough to keep from colliding with the rock. He quickly flew over the rock to the other side, where he located the opposite end of the space and waited for Daring to come out so he could capture her. Griison remained where he was for a short time, getting more and more impatient, perplexed as to why she had not emerged from the stone. Griison then glanced through the space, and saw straight through to the other side, but Daring-Do was entirely absent from his view. This was when Griison realized Daring's trick; she had flown back out the way she had came in, causing Griison to linger for that which would not happen. Griison's anger grew to even greater levels, and he flew off over the rock to search for Daring-Do.

Daring had been ducking behind rock after rock after she fooled Griison. Every time she hid behind a rock, she checked to see if she was being followed, then went to the next rock to hide. "Not much farther. I only have to hide behind a few more rocks, and then I'll make a break for the tree line!" But, before she could enact this plan any further, she was halted by the sight of a shadow moving along the ground. She fearfully lifted her head up, and her thoughts were confirmed when she saw Griison was the only flying overhead. Luckily, he did not see Daring-Do, but then he landed on the ground, only a short distance away from Daring's hiding spot. He still did not notice Daring, as his back was facing her, but Daring knew it was only a matter of time until he turned around. She stood as still as she could, not wanting to make any type of noise that would alert Griison to her presence. Daring's thoughts raced through her head: What should she do in this situation? Should she stay where she was and wait to see if Griison would leave? Or should she just make a break for it and attempt to outfly Griison? Making such a decision was quite strenuous for Daring-Do, and the nervousness that was encompassing her caused her body to begin shaking.

As her body shook, the loose rocks beneath her hooves were being shaken even more loose, and one rock slid out of the pile and started falling down the slanted hill of loose rocks she was currently standing on. Daring's fear became amplified when she saw this stone come loose, as it was heading straight for Griison! She watched in dismay as the rock rolled to a stop behind Griison. The clacking sound formed from the stone colliding with the others stones behind Griison was loud enough for Griison to become aware of its presence. He turned around, first looking down at the rock, and then he moved his head upwards to locate the source of what shifted the rock to roll downhill, and saw that it was none other than Daring-Do! Fear shot up Daring's spine at the time Griison saw her, and feared as to what would happen next.

Griison was surprised to see Daring, but this feeling did not last long as after seeing Daring, Griison promptly flew towards her at top speed. With the same promptness as Griison, Daring flew straight upwards, with Griison nearly missing her and crashing into the boulder she had been leaning up against. Without hesitation, Griison shook off the pain and looked up at Daring-Do. After which, he started to crawl up the rock with great haste, much to Daring's surprise. After dodging Griison's swipe at her, she flew away fast, with Griison following close behind.

Griison was almost instantly upon Daring-Do, and it looked like Daring wouldn't get away this time, but all of a sudden, Daring flew right through another space between several boulders without noticing, and Griison, with all his attention on Daring, crashed into yet another the rock wall. Unfortunately, things did not go so smoothly for Daring, either, as she did not notice the space in the rocks before going through, so she did not see that the space was so small, and her open wings collided with the sides of the rock wall, causing her to fall and crash inside the space between the boulders.

Daring-Do moaned from the soreness and aching her body was feeling right now. She struggled as she pulled herself up off the ground, trying to get perfectly balanced on her hooves. "Oh, that hurt...I really should have watched where I was going," When Daring was finally upright, she moved her wings, but immediately cringed with pain at the slightest movement. "Oh, my wings...I can hardly move them," She examined her wings closely, seeing that they were covered with scratches and cuts, her pinions were rather bruised, and it felt like several of her bones were broken in different places on both wings. "Doesn't look like I'm going to be able to fly anytime soon. I guess I'm gonna have to—" Daring's words were cut short by the sound of rock being struck behind her. She turned around sharply to see one of Griison's arms poking through the entrance hole, with him flailing his arm around and scratching against the rock wall as he grasped at whatever he could feel. Daring was anxious at first, but then she realized that if Griison could only fit his arm through the hole, then he was unable to get to her. This insight gave Daring a great deal of relief, for she knew she was finally safe from the clutching talons of that insidious griffon. Now feeling quite overconfident, Daring decided it was time for her to taunt Griison."Ha! You think you're such a strong griffon?" Griison stopped flailing his arm around once Daring began speaking. "Well, it looks like there's one thing that you won't be able to brute force your way through this time! Just try and get through that wall now, Griison!"

Griison was motionless for a few moments. He then pulled his arm back out of the hole, and for several seconds, there was silence. Daring stared intently at the hole, waiting for some variety of event to occur. Suddenly, the silence was shattered when a large smashing sound was heard against the entrance wall. Daring-Do was frightened when this happened, not knowing what was going on. After more smashing was done, Daring quickly realized what was happening. "Oh, right," she said in a monotonous tone. "Inquirer said that Griison's were much stronger than ponies."

As the barrage continued, Daring-Do became increasingly panicked. It was only a matter of time before Griison broke down that wall, and then there would be no longer any obstruction between him and her! "I've gotta get out of here!" Daring sharply turned around to get out of the room another way. After looking around the room for another exit, she suddenly realized that which she had not noticed before: there were no other ways in or out of the room. The only opening was the way she had came in, and there was no way she could get past Griison while he continued his battering down of the rock wall. Daring was now at her highest level of panic, as each sound of the wall receiving its blows from Griison was sounding like the countdown to Daring's doom.

During this time of uncertainty, Daring thought back to the valley ponies again, and how let down they would be because of her failure. This is when she realized that giving up was not an option, and letting down others was especially not an option. She knew that even though she was trapped within this stone prison, she could not give up on those ponies, as she was their only chance for absolute freedom. With these new thoughts in her head, Daring-Do hurriedly began searching the other walls of the room for even the slimmest sense of a loosened rock or boulder. After sliding her hooves along the wall for a short time, she suddenly felt a cool sensation on her right hoof, causing her to immediately cease her movement. She lifted her hoof from the wall and shifted her face towards a slit in the wall. She was now feeling the coolness with a greater sense than before, and could now determine that the cool sensation was indeed a breeze of cool air from the outside. She peered through the opening, and could see a sliver of light emanating through. Daring knew this was her one and only shot at escape, because by the sight and sound of the entrance wall, Griison was almost through. Daring them mustered up every ounce of strength in her body, and rammed herself against the loose boulder, pushing with all her might and not letting up for even the slightest moment, and soon she could feel a small amount of movement from the boulder, causing her confidence to rise higher in knowing that her plan was working effectively. She continued to shove the boulder as hard as was within her strength, and could sense the increased movement of the boulder the longer she pushed against it. The boulder budged more and more, until finally, with one last big push, Daring dislodged the boulder from the wall, freeing herself at last.

Even though Daring-Do was feeling very delighted with her newfound freedom, she knew there was no time to waste: she fleetly ran out of the room just before she heard the sound of the entrance wall come crashing down, thus showing she made it out just in time.

Another problem for Daring was still floating about her mind; even though she was free to run away, she still could not use her wings, but Griison still could use his, and would catch up t her in no time, so she had to be even faster to find a hiding place to duck out for some time until she could make her final escape.

After running downwards amongst the rocks and boulders, Daring-Do stopped on a ledge, looking down at an opening directly below her, with this opening being much larger than any of the others she had gone through previously. But this was not a time to be picky, as Griison was sure to fly by at any moment, so Daring jumped down from the ledge and hastily ran into the stone cave; but not long after she entered the cave did she come to a halt, seeing that she had come into yet another dead end, albeit smaller than the last one, and more in the shape of a tunnel.

"I don't know if I want to risk being trapped again," she elucidated to herself. "Especially since there'll be nothing holding Griison back this time; I'd better try for another place."

"I think it's a bit too late for that."

Daring-Do froze with apprehension. At first she felt that she could not move one muscle in her body, but then, very slowly, turned her head around to see the terrifying sight that was Griison, standing right in the entrance to the cave, with a spread of resentment across his face as he glared at the thieving pony, ready to finally carry out his retribution.

Chapter 10

Even though there were numerous other times where Daring-Do thought things were hopeless, this time rose above them all; there was absolutely no escape at all for her now, and she knew she wouldn't be able to fight her way out of this. All Daring could do was back up against the dead end of the cave as Griison marched towards her, his arms extended outwards to seize Daring, an enraged expression on his face all the while.

He stopped right in front of Daring, with her fearfully lingering to see what Griison would do next. Griison felt so ready and anxious to finally take his revenge on Daring, but wanted to let her know what he wanted to declare to her for all she's done to him first.

"You thought you could outfox me with all your little tricks, but now there will be no more tricks from you," he stated with much malice. "I've put up with all of your thieving and conniving ways for long enough, and now you are going to pay for what you have done to me, my ancestors, and my grandfather!!" Daring looked to be more frightened with each word Griison spoke. "You should have heeded my warning from the beginning, pony: nobody, and I mean nobody takes my property!!! But did you listen? No!! You stole what is rightfully mine and tried to fly off with it! "And met me tell you: that goblet is enough of a burden on me without me needing to take all this time to get it back, so I am going to reclaim it right now!!!"

Daring's copious sweating suddenly ceased at the sound of those words. Her fear had vanished, and was now replaced by utter perplexity. "Did you say...that the goblet was a burden on you?"

Griison became blank-faced in response to Daring' question, all rage and anger having disappeared from his face. He was silent and motionless for several moments, looking to be in deep thought. He then abruptly switched back to his standard state of mind, also looked quite mad again. "So what if I did say that?"

"Well, it sounds to me like you're not so happy with protecting the goblet."

"...that is none of your business!!" he bellowed furiously, causing an echo that shook the tunnel for a few moments. Daring gave the appearance that she was unfazed by this, as she was still focused on talking this out with Griison.

"It may not be my business, but I still wonder why you would be so willing to guard something if you don't enjoy guarding it?"

"Because it's my duty! Every one of my past ancestors guarded the goblet to honor my grandfather's wish that it be forever safe, and I for one will not be the one to diverge from that sacred tradition!"

"I can see that you really do care about maintaining your family's history, but does that still mean you can't run your life the way you want?"

"Of course it..! I mean...I..." Griison felt it difficult to think up the proper response. Conflicting thoughts were floating throughout the griffon's mind, with him in utter confusion on which way was the right way to think. He sat down upon the ground, looking to be deep in thought. Daring could see how hard he was reflecting on her previous statement, and felt that she should assist in nudging Griison in the right direction.

"Look, Griison," she said as she put her hoof on his shoulder. "Nobody in your family is around to tell you what to do, so there is nothing that is really forcing you to continue to live at the mountain, right?"

"...yeah...?" Griison sounded a bit in agreement with Daring-Do.

"Nor is there anything forcing you to guard the goblet for the rest of your life, right?"

"...yeah...but...but my grandfather..."

"I know your grandfather would have wanted you to carry out this job, but is that what you want?"

Griison remained silent, utterly conflicted between what seemed right and what seemed wrong.

"Isn't there anything else you would rather do with your life? Something that will seem much more fulfilling for you?"

Griison was still thinking. "...well...ever since I was a kid...I've always wanted to go out and see what the rest of the world is like."

"Uh-huh," Daring smiled lightly, knowing she had finally gotten through to him.

"I want to see what lies out there; what other creatures there are to meet and what else there is to explore."

"Sounds great!" she responded enthusiastically.

"I just want to get out of that mountain, because being cooped up there for so long, having to do the same thing, day in, day out of every day, was far too much for me to bear!!" Griison exclaimed with disparagement.

"Well then, go and see the world! Nothing's holding you back! It's all yours to explore!"

"Yes!!" Griison sounded intensely fervent with this decision. But, this enthusiasm only lasted momentarily, as his troubling thoughts had not yet ceased. "..but...what about my ancestral home and my grandfather's cherished goblet? I can't just leave all that behind, can I?"

"I know it may be hard to give up your family's history, but I think it would be better for you to leave it all behind you and begin anew—to start a new line in your family that doesn't force its descendants to do work against their own will and deny them of their freedom," Griison again looked to be in agreement with Daring-Do. "Your grandfather may have been a griffon who gave himself the appearance of an evil mountain ruler who looks upon all others with utter contempt, but that does not mean that you have to keep that appearance for yourself. Remember, Griison: you are not your grandfather; you are your own griffon, and there's nobody else around to tell you otherwise."

There was a long pause of silence, with Griison sitting motionless whilst Daring waited for what his response would be.

"...you're right," Daring's head perked up when she heard him speak. "I am my own griffon, and it's high time that I choose the way I desire to live my life!!"

"Yes!" Daring cheered.

"No longer shall I abide by the rules of my arrogant grandfather. Now is the day I leave the mountain once and for all!"

"All right!" Daring-Do took off her hat in a celebratory fashion, and the goblet falls off her head, colliding with the ground. Daring peered down at the goblet, having just remembered that she had placed it in her hat. She shifted her eyes towards Griison, whom was also staring at the goblet, with Daring fearfully wondering how he would react. Griison reached down and picked up the goblet, examining it closely. He then looked at Daring, and stepped towards her. As she looked up at Griison with slight terror in her eyes, Griison reached down and took her hoof, lifted it up so the bottom of her hoof faced upright, and then placed the goblet squarely on her hoof.

Daring stared at the goblet; bewildered by Griison's actions. She then looked up at him with a surprised look of puzzlement. "You're...you're giving this to me?"

Griison nodded. "It is a gift for showing me the way. I know we were enemies when this all started, but because of all your benign assistance, you deserve to keep what you had came here for in the first place."

Daring couldn't believe it, even after Griison had said he didn't want to look after the goblet anymore. His generosity showed that he had indeed changed greatly from how he was before, and Daring felt pleased that she could help him in this way, and felt even better that her quest had come to its end at last.

"Thank you, Griison. It's certainly great to finally have this load off my mind."

"Well, I'm glad I could help."

Daring-Do not only noticed the change in Griison's character, but also in the way he spoke. "You know, when you're not trying to be intimidating, you can sound pretty pleasant."

"That's because I always tried to scare ponies by making myself sound as big and intimidating as I could; but I will no longer have any need to do that now."

"That's good to hear," Daring replied, smiling contentedly.

Chapter 3 - 3/3

It was a hot day, and Fern was tired and thirsty, especially after flying so much. She flew down into the jungle to get some shade from the sun, and she made her way to a bank of the Akion River. She came to a tree line, and through it she could see a riverbank of the Akion. Fern took a step out of the trees, but then stopped when she heard a sound coming from nearby; somewhere above the trees. Fern looked up at the opening in the trees to see what was making the sound. Soon, the sound got louder, and a figure appeared near the opening, to which a look of horror appeared on Fern's face. Flying right above the opening was none other than Griison. Fern quickly backed away into the trees so Griison would not see her. Not having noticed Fern, Griison flew down and landed on the ground, then walked over to the riverbank and began to drink from the river. Fern watched, not wanting to move because she didn't want to accidentally make any noise that Griison would hear. Griison then finished drinking, and lifted up his wings to prepare to fly away. Right before he was about to take off, Griison looked down at the river, and saw his reflection. He stood motionless as he stared at his reflection, seeming to be deep in thought. Griison then folded his wings back up and sat down, without breaking his eye contact with his reflection. Fern looked quite perplexed at Griison's actions. She moved a bit closer to the tree line to get a better view of Griison.

Griison kept looking at his reflection, and then he let out a deep sigh. "Look at me. What am I doing? What am I doing here?" Fern looked quite perplexed at hearing this. Griison shut his eyes hard and made a grimace with his face. "I wish I didn't have to live here—in this jungle, in this land," he looked up at the mountain, which could be seen through the opening in the trees. "Or even on that mountain..."

"Oh, my," Fern thought, looking very surprised. "I've never known Griison to have this side to him before..." Fern decided to stay where she was so she could continue to listen to Griison.

Griison clenched his fists tightly, making the same face as he did before. Then, Griison, slowly stopped looking angry and unclenched his fists, and made another deep sigh. "...but I can't let down my grandfather...I could never diminish his memory by not guarding his goblet. No matter what..." Griison sighed one more time, and then he spread his wings open to get ready to fly away. "Sometimes I wish that the goblet would disappear; then I could finally leave this dreaded place...but I know that could never happen..." he sighed one last time, and then he flew up through the opening in the trees and back to the mountain.

Fern was taken aback by what she had just heard. Thoughts raced through her head, wondering what she should do. Suddenly, Fern's eyes sparked with an idea, and she flew out of the trees, up through the opening in the trees, and back to her home with the other ponies.

"...and that's when I came back here," Fern said, having nearly finished her story. "I had decided to come back here to tell everypony what I had heard to see if we could come up with a plan."

"Well?" Daring asked, with her eyebrow raised inquisitively. "What was the plan you came up with?"

Fern looked silent, as she didn't want to answer Daring's question. "...well, we didn't actually come up with a plan."

"What??" Daring exclaimed, surprised. "You didn't come up with a plan??"

Fern looked embarrassed. "Well, you see, we really couldn't think of a plan at all. We're all afraid of Griison," she gestured to the other ponies. "So we were too afraid to try and take the goblet from his mountain, even after knowing he doesn't like it here."

"He's way too tough and scary!"

"None of us could possibly stand a chance against him!"

"We don't want anypony here to get hurt!"

Daring thought for a moment. "Wait! Aren't there any unicorns here that can help?"

"Actually, no unicorns live around here," Fern responded. "Only Earth ponies and pegasi. That's why we know we aren't strong enough to stand up against Griison. We all know that somepony will get hurt, and we aren't willing to risk that, even though it means being tormented by Griison forever..." Fern sighed sadly as she hung her head down.

Daring looked around at all the other ponies, seeing their sad faces. Daring felt very sorry for these ponies, having to see them suffer through the hands of Griison. It was then that Daring knew that taking the goblet was now important than it was before. Giving these ponies back their freedom was more than worth stealing the goblet, even if she still felt bad about it. But still Daring knew what she had to do, and a look of determination appeared on her face. "Everypony! Listen up!" she shouted, which grabbed the attention of everypony there. "I can now see how important getting rid of Griison is to you!" she exclaimed as she flew up into the air. "So that is why I am making it my sole duty to go to Griifious Mountain and get that goblet, so that you all may be able to finally live in peace!"

Everypony stared at Daring-Do in awe, rendered speechless by her agreement to help them. After a short period of silence, Fern decided to be the first one to speak. "Do you hear that, everypony??" she exclaimed as she flew up next to Daring. "Daring-Do has agreed to help rid us of Griison once and for all! Let us all cheer for her noble deed!" Everypony then started cheering and stamping their hooves in applause for Daring.

Daring looked quite happy and proud of herself to see everypony glad for what she was doing. This made her feel even more like she was doing the right thing by taking Griison’s goblet, so she didn’t feel like she was stealing anymore. “Thank you, everypony!” she exclaimed as she raised her front legs up above her head. "I am grateful for your words, and I want to let you know that I will not fail you! I will retrieve the goblet, and Griison will bother you no longer!" Everypony cheered even more for Daring. She smiled, and then she partially turned her body towards the mountain. "Well, I'm off!" and with that, she flew off towards Griifious Mountain.

Everypony kept cheering after she had gone, with the mares and stallions feeling very excited for Daring's mission and the fillies and colts all thinking Daring-Do was great for doing this. Fern smiled as she watched Daring fly away. Blue Skies then walked up next to Fern. "Do you really think she'll be able to get Griison's goblet?" she asked Fern.

Fern turned her head towards Blue Skies, and she smiled. "I am quite confident that Daring-Do will succeed and give us back our freedom, Blue Skies. That's something that you can count on," she patted Blue Skies on the head, who smiled back her, and they both turned their heads towards Griifious Mountain, both smiling and feeling very proud of Daring-Do.

Chapter 11

Daring-Do and Griison had both walked to the outside of the tunnel entrance. Griison looked up at the clear sky, and took a deep, cleansing breath. Coming out of that tunnel made Grison feel like he was coming out of his mountain; and this time, he would not be going back inside.

"I've never felt so happy to look up at the sky. In fact, I don't think I've ever taken much time to admire the natural splendor of this valley, what with the duties of my guardian lifestyle taking up my mind so often."

"Well, now you'll be able to admire the natural splendor of the whole world!"

Griison smiled. "Indeed; and again, I thank you—say, I don't believe I ever got your name?"

"It's Daring-Do: pony explorer extraordinaire!"

Griison chuckled. "So I see. Well, Daring-Do, this is where I bid you farewell. I know not if we shall cross paths again, but if we do, I know I will be a much more contented griffon than during our first meeting."

Daring snickered. "That's for sure."

Griison gave a single, tiny chuckle. "Farewell, my pony friend," Griison then spread his wings and took to the air.

Daring-Do smiled as she watched him fly off, fulfilled to have not only gotten the treasure, but to have helped improve the lives of everyone in the valley. Daring was certainly fervent in her desire to tell all that has happened to Inquirer, and prepared herself for the long flight back home. This was when she abruptly realized something. She then looked out towards Griison who was still in eyesight, and she called out to him as loud as she could. He indeed heard Daring's cry, and turned around, facing her.

"Yes??" he shouted back.

"Do you think you could give me a lift? My wings are still sprained!" she yelled, sounding a bit embarrassed in having to ask for help.

Some time later, Daring-Do was at the bank of the Akion river, having been brought there by Griison, and she was currently having her wings restored by the valley ponies. They had poured some cool water on Daring's wings, then rubbed some herbs on each of the sprains to help them heal quicker. Lastly, they wrapped up her wings with several large leaves, so as to protect the herbal mixtures from coming off.

While Daring-Do was receiving her treatment, Griison was doing what no griffon in his family had ever accomplished before: mingling with the valley ponies.

When Griison first arrived at the riverbank, the other ponies all fled in fright. But after he landed on the ground, and they saw Daring-Do on his back, waving to them all, the ponies came out from hiding to figure out what had happened. Daring explained to the ponies what happened at they tended to her injuries, letting them know that Griison was perfectly trustworthy now. At first they were dubious of her claim, but after showing them the goblet Griison let Daring have, they believed her in an instant.

"That's incredible!"

"Amazing!"

"And pretty unbelievable!" Everypony laughed at this response, with several humorously agreeing that Daring's whole story seemed implausible.

Fern approached Daring-Do. "I want to thank you, Miss Daring. You have performed a great deed for us, and we are forever indebted to you," she bowed, as did several others.

"Hey, you fixed up my wings. I say that's pretty even," she winked as the valley ponies chuckled in conjunction.

"One thing I must say," said one male Earth pony. "I never thought I'd see the day where we would be associating with Griison as neighbors."

"Well, we won't be neighbors any longer," said Griison as he walked up. "Since I'll be taking my leave soon."

"So you're going to go out and see the world?"

"Precisely; although, before I begin my venture, I must first drop Daring-Do off at her town, as she requested. But immediately afterward I will be off to see what there is to see in this vast world of ours."

"Well, that is great to know," Fern said encouragingly. "It is too bad you have to leave before we had a chance to get to know you better."

"Yes, I suppose that is rather unfortunate. I would have been very willing to make up for all you ponies have been though while I made your lives so hard."

"Yeah, but it's all right. What's most important is that you won't be mean to anypony anymore," several of the other ponies nodded in agreement with Fern.

Griison felt glad that nopony felt too disappointed with his lack of reparations, albeit he still wished he could have thought of a way to compensate for the valley ponies; and then, suddenly, his eyes sparked with the formation of an idea.

"You know...if you ponies want..."

"Yes?" everypony looked towards Griison inquisitively.

"...you can all take over ownership of my mountain."

All the valley ponies instantly became encompassed by shock, and even Daring-Do was stunned to hear this sudden proposition.

“What are you saying??”

“I’m saying that because I won’t be using my mountain any longer, you ponies are free to use it as you wish—after I disarm all the traps, that is.”

The ponies were still agape from this incredible offer.

“I don’t believe it!”

“Me neither!”

As the valley ponies continued chattering over this unexpected turn of events, Fern walked up to Griison, not having the appearance of shock, but rather mild surprise. "You’ll really do that for us?" she asked.

“Hey, it’s the least I could do after all the troubles you’ve all accumulated over the years because of me; not to mention all that’s happened between our ancestors.”

All of the valley ponies were in awe by this grand gesture, including Fern, who was having trouble with creating a response to Griison’s proposal.

“Well…I…” Fern stuttered for a bit, but regained her composure quickly, clearing her throat promptly. “Griison, this is truly an incredible show of generosity by you to us. “We can’t thank you enough for this great deed you have performed,” she bowed her head down, as did many of the other valley ponies.

“That’s not necessary. Just the fact that all is well between us now is the only thanks I need,” Griison was indeed happy with only receiving the thanks of the valley ponies, and they in turn were happy to have gained an invaluable companion in Griison.

As Griison and the ponies has finished burying the hatchet, the ponies wrapping up Daring-Do’s wings had finally finished with their mending.

“There you go!”

“Good as new! Well, after they heal, they will be,” the male pony laughed a bit, with Daring and the other helping pony doing the same.

"So, how does it feel?"

In a way of checking how tightly her wings were wrapped up, Daring tried expanding her wingspan, only to see that the leaves held together, thusly passing the inspection.

“Feels pretty good to me! Well, as good as they can be in the state that they’re in.”

“Don’t worry, Miss Daring: your wings should be properly healed in a few days, and then you may get right back to flying normally once again!

“That’s some good news right there! Thank you guys for fixing up my wings!” she said as she wrapped her hooves around each of the ponies’ heads, pulling them right next to her as an act of friendliness.

“Hey, it was our pleasure, Miss Daring.”

“It certainly was.”

The two ponies then hugged Daring-Do like normal, much to her minor embarrassment.

“Well…ahem…thanks, you two. You’re both very helpful ponies.”

Just then, Griison walked up to Daring-Do. “So, Daring-Do: are you all set to go?”

“Oh, sure!” Daring slid out of the hug she was receiving and speedily trotted over to Griison.

“Well then, let’s get a move on,” Griison turned to his side and lowered his wings down. Daring leapt up onto his back and positioned herself so she would be able to stay put on Griison’s back without falling off.

Daring turned her head and looked around at all of the valley ponies. Everypony! It is time that I take my leave! But remember that I will never forget you all! I’ll forever remember all that I have done for you, and all that you have done for me!” Everypony cheered for the heroic Daring-Do as they listened on to her speech.

“When I first began my quest for the goblet, I never expected to have gotten tangled within the long history of an antagonistic griffon family and the plight of the ponies they so maltreated. But I am elated to have known that I had assisted in relieving you ponies of that burden, and for relieving Griison of his own personal burden,” Griison looked quite pleased as he looked back at Daring. “As I leave your valley, I am filled with gratitude for having known each and every pony here, and for all that you have done for me!”

The valley ponies cheered and stamped their hooves as a show of their own gratitude for everything Daring-Do has done for them, feeling as happy to know her as she was to have known them. She then turned her head towards Griison, whom was looking back at her.

“Ready to go?”

“Ready,” she nodded.

And on those words, Griison spread his mighty wings, flapping them repeatedly as he floated straight up into the air. Daring waved a kindly farewell to the valley ponies as they did the same. Once Griison was above the trees, he took off in the direction of Daring’s home.

Daring-Do looked back as several of the pegasus ponies, including Fern had flown up above the trees, continuous in their waving goodbye to the adventurous pony, showing her how boundless their gratitude truly was.

As Daring-Do and Griison left the valley, Daring thought back on all that had occurred during her time here: she had obtained the goblet she sought after, helped a once bad griffon choose the right path in life, and freed a whole society of ponies from what was thought to be an endless tyranny.

“Yep,” she thought to herself. “That seems like a pretty good day to me.”

THE END