Daring Do and the temple of Earth

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 0.5

Chapter 1

When I was looking for the library that morning, everypony I came across moved out of the way. I assumed that it was just because I was new in town, but then I saw a young pegasus orphan being pushed around for no good reason. It dawned on me that my kind was not welcome here. The ponies that pushed her around didn't have cutiemarks, but she did. I leaned my ear towards them to hear what they were saying. " Why don't you just get out of here freak!". One gray earth pony said before pushing her.

"Just because you have a cutiemark doesn't make you special!". Another said also pushing her in another direction. This manner continued for several seconds.

"Stop." The one voice rang out clearly above all others. All other voices hushed. The group then parted to reveal a large brown pony, also without his mark. He was older than the others and seemed to be the superior of this gang. The pegasus stood there, trembling fearing what was going to happen next. When he came up to her, he started to pet her like a brother would when his sister got hurt. She seemed to relax and a spark of hope shined in here eyes. The filly then hugged him, and he hugged her back. Boo's rang out across the area and the group seemed to be disgusted. SMACK! The pegasus was thrown across the ring and landed on the ground. The leader snickered, alone at first before the others did. Her weak legs trembled as she tried to stand. I could see now that she was starving. Her entire rib cage was showing through. One of her hooves was twisted at an awkward angle, broken on purpose. I couldn't watch this fight any longer.

"STOP!" I shouted flying towards the filly. " Why are you doing this to her, she didn't do anything to you!". I trembled in rage, I almost attack them. One threw a pebble at me. Then the other rocks joined. I was being pelted by rocks. It rained down on me like a hail storm. Flapping my wings, I picked up the filly, and flew straight to the train station.

There was lone female pegasus that stood with her suitcase by her side. " Excuse me miss, but can you take this filly with you, and then to the nearest hospital?" I asked placing the filly in front of her.

"Y-yes, of course," The pegasus stammered,"What happened to her?". I could never hear her because I already took off.

There was a small breeze in my face, causing my mane to flap. A stray hair blew across my face, before it quickly got blown back again. Where it that library... I checked almost everywhere. My eyes scanned across the town, seeing all the ponies. Squinting my eyes to get a better a look at the ponies, it then dawned on me. They are all earth ponies, no a single pegasus or unicorn in sight. I looked over to my left and then I saw it, the library! Of course, out of all places, it was right across the school. Ugh, why did I miss it so many times? I crept down to the library. On the front steps, I landed. I put my wings against my sides, hoping none of the other ponies notice Upon opening the door I shouted,"Excuse me but can you find 'The Art of Crystals', I really need it."

"Sure I'll get it for you, my Name if Miss Pages, so just give a holler if you need something else" The Librarian picked up the book I asked for and skimmed through it. The book was so old. 100 years ago, it would have looked like a leather book, bound by the strongest twine, pages were whiter then snow and ink was one of the finest there was. But now the leather was crumbling and the twine now slowly rotting. The ink words painted across the page were now fading from old age. The paper has yellowed over the years and some of the pages were starting to come undone. "Are you sure you want that one?" The librarian asked. She seemed happy to help, a small, yellow pony with a light gray mane that was in a messy bun. Her cutiemark was an open book with the pages flipping. "It's Old Equestrian so it is going to be hard to read". I stepped forward and took the book from her magical aurora.

"I assure you, Miss Pages, that Old Equestrian is one of the many languages I have learned." I put the ancient book in my pouch and then tied it closed. Then patting it to make sure that it was secure.

"The Art of Crystals is one of our oldest books here, but I can tell you are a careful pony. I should warn you that Pegasi are not welcome in this place," Leather Pages warned. "Even unicorns are ostracized from society". A dark look came across the unicorn's face. This was probably a touchy subject for her. "I would be surprised if you could find some place to stay. Bad place to be a pegasus or unicorn, especially after dark." I dipped my head in acknowledgement, knowing of this earlier today. That poor pegasus filly, I sure hope she is okay. Ma-

The sound of a door slamming awoken me from my thoughts, I glanced over to see who disrupted them. It was a yellow pegasus mare with a gray mane. She was wearing a pith helmet and a tan shirt. Her cutiemark was a compass, probably an adventurer. "Hey, do you have 'The Art of Crystals', I need it for research," The mare asked.

"Sorry, but this young lady is already taken it." the librarian stated, pointing her hoof towards me. The mare turned to me, a look of pleading came across her face. No, please don't tell me she going to the puppy eyes. Please don't do the puppy eyes. I silently pleaded. Oh man, she is doing the puppy eyes. Can't. Resist. Too. Sad. "Please, stop, I can't take it anymore," I cried, defeated, my hooves up in the air like I was about to be arrested.

"What do you need it for?". The mare seemed like she was going to protest at this, but she came clean and told me.

"I need it because I am excavating a lost temple, and it speaks of a crown made of pure gold with crystals that give special powers," She said, now pawing at the ground, waiting for my answer. "My name is Crystal Light, so crystals are my special talent," I said, nervous at first.

"R-really, forget that stupid book, you are coming with me," She the proceeded to gradually drag me out the door.

"No! I don't wanna go!," I whined, desperately scraping at the ground with my hoofs. The librarian, just stood there, giggling at me. "Do something, use your unicorn magic stuff," I whined desperately. But that mare was persistent, she dragged me all the way to the train station.

"Crystal, meet your team! You better start learning their names because you are going to be here for a while," She said,"Oh! By the way, my name is Daring, Daring Do". She stuck out a hoof for me to shake. I shook it Darings hoof, before looking at the others, an earth pony and a unicorn.

The earth pony looked like she was had an obsession with tea. Her cutiemark had to do with tea, she even had a headband with an actual tea cup that she could drink from. The unicorn was a light gray pony with a dull red mane, her cutie mark were a bunch of weapons, so I assume that she is good with a weapon. She looks at me and smiles warmly, she held out her hoof for me to shake it. "My name is Silver Slash, and the tea crazed pony is called Tea Cup". Tea Cup looks up for the first time like she has noticed me for the first time.

"Do you like tea? I like tea, my favorite is a all of them," The tea crazed pony came up to me.

"Uhh... I do like tea an-,"

"Oh oh, what's your favorite kind of tea, mine is a-,"

"Crystal tea, it is a special kind of tea made only in the Crystal Empire... and my house," I said, looking at her," I have some leaves on me right now, so I can brew it for you,"

"Sure, that you be-,"

The train whistle roared, blowing steam."ALLL ABOARD!" the pony cried. We quickly got our stuff and leaped on the already moving train. I was the last one to jump in after helping Tea Cup on.

Chapter 2

We all went to Darings private train car. It was furnished with some simple, yet elegant red bench/couch on both sides. The walls were like had a dull white wall with a gold leaf design. In the end of train car, there was a small kitchen. Tea Cup looked like she was about to explode from the variety of teas, with an Neighish* Breakfast, and Hay tea, Rose Lavender, Orange Cinnamon, and so much more. We sat down on the bench. Every once and a while the train would rattle and the whistle would cry. For most of the ride, we sat in silence. Daring looked like she was going to burst. Every few seconds she would shift from one side to the other. Silver just played with her pocket knife. Doing fancy tricks here and there, tossing it up into the air and catching it. Tea Cup leaned towards my ear whispered,"There is somepony following us, you go tell Dr. Do". I stood up and walked towards Daring, but she winked, also knowing this. I rolled my eyes and still walked towards her. I sat down beside her and whispered, "Act normal". Daring nodded. I stood up and sat by Tea Cup.

"Hey Tea Cup, do you want help brew that Crystal tea?" I asked loudly, giving the watchers the slip. We got up and started brewing the tea. "Okay now, can you get me my strainer? It's a crystal one, and you can brew the crystal with that, no. It's left. No your left, yes there it is," I ordered. She handed me the strainer, and I started to strain the tea. A few minutes later and I was done.

"Mmm... That is good tea," Daring said after I poured her a cup, the others were drinking tea when they convinced her to try it. It took us a while but after Silver threatened to forcefully shoved it down her throat, she gave in. Silver's left ear twitched. She could her them with her heightened senses. The train suddenly jerked to a stop, throwing us and our bags forward. Silver clopped to the window and looked outside. They were in a desert, only some dead grass was there.

"That's weird, we are nowhere near the next train stop? What's going on?," Silver said

"ATTENTION PASSENGERS, WE ARE HOLDING YOU HOSTAGE UNTIL DARING DO AND HER TEAM COMES FORWARD. IF THEY DO NOT SURRENDER, WE WILL KILL EVERYPONY ON THIS TRAIN. DARING DO, YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES TO DECIDE," the Train intercom shouted. We all looked at each other, got our stuff and then going up to the front of the train. We glanced to our left to see a mother with her two young fillies, on our right was an elderly couple having no idea what was going on. In the front of the car, there were three unicorns. The parted for us to go, but they followed us throughout the walk up to the front of the train. Tea Cup stumbled, tripping on a bag the went askew.

"Get up, or you will be punished for resisting," The leader of the trio said in a deep gruff voice. He kicked her, hard. Tea Cup stifled a cry, that was going to be a bad bruise.

"HEY, she tripped you idiot, now, you will bucking apologize to her," I yelled at him, poking him square in the chest. I immediately regretted my moment of courage. When I looked up at his face, he grinned.

"I said no resisting, and you are resisting. Usually, I would beat you, but, a pretty mare such as yourself," he leaned toward my face," I like them, but still, I will punish you. Tie her up," The two henchmen lit up their horns and tied me up with some rope. The leader picked me up and threw me on his back. The rest of the team giggled at the sight of me, forgetting that we were captured. Every now and then they would look back and giggle at me. I only rolled my eyes.

We walk through six train cars before reaching the front. In the engine room, there were six more ponies and the mastermind behind it all. He turned around and I recognize him almost instantly. The one terrorist in all of Equestria that had the nerve to stand up to the princesses. Adolf Hoofler.

Chapter 3

I glared at him. I saw him before... but where? I thought some more about it, not noticing that he had walked up to me."You're the mare that hurt my son," he said, I could hear the anger in his voice. I then recognized why he looked so familiar. He was the father of that colt that hurt the pegasus filly.

" I didn't hurt your son. I was defending a filly, that your son hurt," I yelled stomping my hoof on the floor to show my anger. The memory of her being hurt came back to me. Hoofler rolled his eyes, obviously not believing my story. Some colts could be such idiots.

"Sir, I would like to take this mare into my custody, I am sure she could be of some use to us. I have been looking at her ancestors and I have discovered that they helped create the Crystal Empire," One of the goons said. Hoofler looked interested.

"Pfft. I knew that already, it's no big deal. Besides, the art of making crystals is long lost," I said trying not to look desperate.

"Please don't lie to me, can't we all just get along," Hoofler tried to look innocent. I replied by spitting at him. Then, I pushed him towards the hot coals that created the steam. All of them were shocked. All of them rushed towards him. Then everypony in the engine room was helping him up. He was the only one who saw us escape.

We started to run away, but Silver came up with a better idea. We unhooked the train car with all the goons in it. Then, we rolled it over to this abandoned outpost. Tea Cup hacked into the interface so that we could make an announcement to the entire train. "ATTENTION PONIES, THIS IS YOUR SAVIORS SPEAKING, CAN ANY STRONG EARTH PONIES OR PEGUSI COME UP TO THE MAIN ENGINE ROOM TO HELP US PULL THE TRAIN. ALSO, WOULD ANY UNICORNS THAT KNOW THE FEATHER WEIGHT SPELL PLEASE CAST IT. THANK YOU. ALSO DO YOU HAVE ROPE? WE MAY NEED IT, SO IF YOU HAVE ANY, ALSO, COME UP FRONT. HAVE A NICE AFTERNOON."

Tea Cup then slammed down the speaker. A loud screeching could be heard throughout the train. We all covered our ears. "TEACUP," I shouted. She looked at me a saw my face. My anger was 100% directed at her.

"Uh oh," was all she said before I leapt on to her. I held her down and snarled. Tea Cup's face was so scared, it was hilarious. I stifled a laugh, but then Daring, Silver, and I started laughing like there was no tomorrow.

"You should have seen your face. Bwaaahaaaaa*," Daring giggled before rolling on the floor. Tea Cup just rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny,"

~3 hours of yelling at stallions later~

"I can't believe we did it. I am so tuckered out." Tea Cup wiped some sweat off her face. "Well all you did was yell, while we did the pulling. That was so hard, but we finally reached Ponyville. I says on the map here the old castle is nearby. That is where the map to the crown is being held." Daring said. We all walked towards the main area of the town.

"Maybe we should get some supplies while we are here," Silver suggested pointing to a Forest Survival stand. We all started to walk towards it. There was a Cliff Stix energy bar advertisement beside the entrance. "Ok. we should split up to get some necessities," Silver suggested. "3, 2, 1, GO!". We all galloped off in different directions in the store. I grabbed an all weather tent fit for four and some Cliff Stixs' for us to eat.

We met up at the entrance of the store. We all piled up our findings. Daring brought rope, carabiners, four backpacks, and a map. Silver brought a hammer, some tanks of vaseline, an attachment for the vaseline, and food to last about two weeks. Tea Cup brought a cast iron pan, a regular pan, forks and spoons, four cans of soup, and some thermoses. I brought a tent, four sleeping bags, two lanterns. We were ready.

"That will be 200 bits ma'am," The sales pony said. He was an earth pony with a light brown coat and a dark brown mane. My wings flared. 200 bits was way too much, I estimated 125 bits.

"100 bits," Daring argued.

"175," Said the sales pony with his gruff voice.

"135 bits and no more. I can always find a better store," Daring said, trying to get him to agree.

"Fine, 135 bits it is," He said. Daring got out her purse and counted out the bits. She placed 135 before him. He took the bits and gave us our items. Silver grabbed a backpack and placed all the items she got in a backpack. We copied her example. We put the things we found and put them into our packs

"I am renting a house from one of my good friends in Ponyville. Her name is Applejack and she run Sweet Apple Acres. We'll be sleeping in her barn. Also, we are going to eat dinner with her family," Daring said. We trotted in the general direction of the farm. On our way there, we saw a big red stallion with a green apple cutiemark.

"Hey. Big Mac, it's me A.K.," She shouted waving to him. "I am heading to S.A.A. and I was wondering if you could help carry our stuff." Daring pointed to me and Tea Cup.

"Eeyup," Big Mac came over and took of mine and Tea Cups pack. He placed them on his back like it was nothing.

It was five minutes before we reached Sweet Apple Acres. I heard a quiet buzzing before I saw a trio of fillies tackle me. They looked pleased that they had 'captured' me. "Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, Scootalo, why are you tacklin' our guest. She and er friends are very busy," A yellowish tan pony said, trotting up to us. "Ah am so sorry 'bout their behavior. Ah don't know what got into em," She said with a thick southern accent. "Now y'all scat," She shooed away the fillies. She held out her hoof for me to grab. I took hold of her hoof and she pulled me up without breaking into sweat. "My name is Applejack, and ah see you already met Big Macintosh, but most just call em Big Mac. The fillies the tackled ya here were the, what were they called again? The Cutiemark Crusaders? That bunch of fillies are always gitten into trouble," She said.

"That's all right," I said, opening my wings. I started to take off, flying into the darkening sky. In the west was the warm sun setting. To the east was the moon rising. Above me were the stars of the night. I loved flying in the night. It helped calm me when I was in a new place, and this wasn't any ordinary house. This was Applejacks house, she is an Element of Harmony. She and her friends were famous. They stopped Nightmare Moon, they saved Equestria from eternal chaos with Discord. The Tree of Harmony, they found it after they saved Celestia and Luna. My parents told me the legend about it, saying that we were responsible for the Element of Harmony.

"Crystal dear, we are about to tell the story of the Tree of Harmony,"

"OK!," I flapped my little wings and landed in front of the warm fire. Mom handed me a crystal mug filled with hot chocolate. I took a sip, afraid that I would burn my tongue again. But I didn't, the temperature was just right.

"Long ago, before the time of Celestia and Luna, before Discord, there was a small kingdom made of crystals. It was known as the Crystal Empire. As the rulers of the Kingdom, our ancestors had to help fix housing and made the currency. Making crystals was their talent. Soon they were no longer needed. They stepped down and made way for a new ruler. A few days later, the new ruler disappeared, and a new pony was elected. His name was Sombra. A gray coat with a black mane, he had a gray horn that was tipped red. After a few days of his rule, he showed his true nature. His eyes were green with purple smoke coming out of each eye. He drove everypony into slavery and-,"

"Get to the part about us creating the tree," I interrupted. "I don't like the part about the father dying, it's too sad."

"Okay," She paused before clearing her throat and starting again. "When the son was reunited with his mother, they decided to create a powerful weapon to protect all life and keep harmony. They wanted a powerful device to help defend things from evil and to represent harmony. It took six long days before they finally finished it. But to make it powerful, they needed six lives to power it. One pony was as honest as could be. Another was loyal to the bitter end, leaving no pony behind. The third showed compassion to all things big and small. The fourths' generosity was so great, that she was willing to give all her things to others who needed them more. A pony who brought smiles to all gave herself up, so that the smile would last forever. A unicorn unlike no other was the last. Her magic ability was unmeasurable. Uniting them all, they gave up their lives for the good of all. They called it, the Tree of Harmony."

I landed on the ground and went towards the barn too sleep. I got my sleeping bag an placed on the ground. I was not hungry, only tired. A chorus of "goodnights and sweet dreams" came out. I laid my head on the makeshift pillow. Closing my eyes, I started to come to the land of dreams. A new day will bring new strength.

Chapter 4

I woke up to a loud banging at the barn door. "Applejack, I need to get some hay for Fluttershy," the mysterious voice said.

"Ah can do it later." I could hear Applejack's southern accent argue.

"But she need it now, or else some of her animals will starve," a bang echoed in the barn.

"Pretty sure what's left can last,"

"Nope, I am going to get some now," A louder bang.

"Ah said I will do it later,"

"She needs it now," The voice said. Another bang was heard. "If you won't let me in, I will just let myself in," A few seconds later, a loud bang came and the barn doors opened. Whoever that was crashed in the hay. I looked over at the site of the crash. A rainbow mane popped up, then the rest of the pony came out. She was a cyan blue with a rainbow mane. There was only one mare in Equestria that was like that. Rainbow Daring Dash. The only pony to do a Sonic Boom without magic. Princess Twilight did one, but she used magic to do so.

Rainbow Dash looked over at me, then at Daring Do. Her jaw dropped. If it could stretch, it would probably reach the floor. Her wing flared out and she flew towards Daring. She was going to attack her while Daring while she was sleeping. That was a low move. I flapped my wings until I was off the ground. "Oh no you don't," I raced towards her. I flew in her direction till I was next to her. She was good, but not great. I swung my hoof at her, and missed. I moved away and then slammed into her with all I got. We started to head towards the hay stack, but I stopped myself just in time. Rainbow, however, crash landed in the hay behind Daring.

"What was that for!?," She shouted, brushing the hay in her mane out.

"I can't let you hurt A.K.," I shouted back to her, using her fake name that I heard from yesterday.

"A.K. is Daring Do,"

"I know that already. Why are you trying attack Daring. Who are you. Are you some infiltrator of sorts," I interrogated. I flew down and pinned her to the floor. She wriggled, trying to escape from under my hoof

"Crystal, who is that. Is it an enemy,"

"Daring," I flew over to her,"You are awake. That pony over there tried to attack you," I pointed to the fake Rainbow Dash. "She is an imposter,"

"No, she isn't. Crystal, meet my good friend Rainbow Dash," She flew over to Rainbow.

"What in Celestia happened to you?" Daring asked. Rainbow had straw in every place possible. She was a mess. Her mane had pieces of straw in it. Her tail was just as bad as her mane. She shook herself like a dog shaking off water.

"Hey Daring, who is that," Silver asked. Tea Cup came over next to the faker.

"It's Rainbow Dash," Tea Cup answered. She looked at me, then at Rainbow. "Did I miss something," Daring nodded.

"Crystal attacked her thinking that she was trying to attack me,"

Tea Cup rolled her head while saying, "Oooohhhhh."

"I'd love to chit chat and all, but I got to save Equestria... again.... from a national enemy of the country," Daring sighed. "Look Rainbow, we can talk later OK," She put her wing on top over Rainbow. "Besides, you always get the first copy of my book. It'll be like your there with me," She took her wing off Rainbow and walked toward us. She stood next to us and turned to face Rainbow. "See you later, you Rainbow headache," Daring saluted her and then flew off. She then came back to get her stuff. Her face had a silly smirk, the kind of face that says 'whoops, I forgot'. Daring gathered her stuff and placed it on her back. Sliver, Tea Cup and I had already got our packs on. We then walked out of the Barn.

When we walked outside, we got a chorus of goodbyes from the Apple family. The eldest, I think her name was Granny Smith, had a jar of the famous zap-apple jam and an apple pie. She gave them to us as a gift. I ruffled through my bag and got out an apple. But not just an ordinary apple, a crystal apple. They stared at it like it was a newborn filly. "Ah can't take this, ah just can't," Applejack said trying to give it back to me.

"I insist, besides, it's no ordinary apple. When planted, it will grow into a grand tree, only perfect apples grow and only blood relatives or a pony that has a pure heart may pick an apple." Applejack brought her hoof back to her side, her mouth agape. A light-hearted laugh escaped from my lips. Granny joined in and soon everypony was laughing. The air felt slightly warmer and the sun shone ever brighter. I took a deep breath in, and then sighed, I felt as though I could take on the world. I could do anything. "I'm sorry but I think my friends and I should be going," I said. I waved my hoof goodbye and we journeyed to the Everfree.

After we passed Fluttershy's cottage. It was surrounded by bird houses and nests of other small creatures. With a thatch roof and with a small garden, her home looked very welcoming. "Find you got the music. Got the music in you," A small sweet alto voice sang. The voice was like a warm breeze on a sunny day. A yawn emerged from Tea Cup and several others followed. Silvers was trying not too fall asleep, but I could see her eyes were starting to droop. We followed the voice to see a yellow pegasus with a light pink mane. "Oh!" Her soft voice talked normally. That is probably shouting for her. "You startled me," she said to us, lowering her voice.

"That's OK," I said. "Also do you have an animal that can show us the way to the Castle of the Two Sisters?" We needed a guide, not a map.

"Uhh... no sorry, the Everfree is-is dangerous. I don't want any of my animals to go in there. It's where planets and animals... untamed,"

Fluttershy seemed really freaked out about this. I decided not to push her. We turned and left her to her singing.

We walked on the path for a little while before a spooky mist appeared. It was then followed by animal noises, when at last we reached the edge of Ponyville. The town line was marked by a line of twisted trees. We all stopped in front of it. Silver was the first to go in. She walked very slowly, carefully placing a hoof one after the other. "It's looks good," Silver said, waving her hoof to us to follow. Here we go, into the Everfree forest. I shivered. This place was cold.

Chapter 5

The darkness of the forest had encircled us. It was midday, yet, it looked like night time in here. It was so unnatural, from the trees, to the animals, to the weather. Tea Cup looked the worst, even a twig snap would cause her to leap up in fright. Venturing deeper in the forest was quite scary at some points, luckily, we haven't seen a single Timberwolf. Those horrific beasts were made with magic and broken twigs. Yet, they can rip off a ponys' flesh in seconds. The death toll caused by these thing were unimaginable. Cockatrices were another big problem. One glance at their eyes and you would be stone.

A bush rustled, and Tea Cup gave a shout and wrapped her entire body around Silver like a scaredy cat. Silver struggled to get her off. That pony has quite a tight grip, to my surprise. Clucking came out of the bush (*and then a Scootalo appeared* A joke i found, not to be mean. I like Scootalo) and then a chickens head appeared.

"Oh look a chicken," Tea Cup said, leaving Silver and went to take a closer look at the chicken.

"Tea Cup, I don't think that is a chicken," Silver said nervously. The rest of us nodded in agreement.

"Nope, chicken. I will prove it to you," Tea Cup began to grab the chicken

"TEA CUP, NOOOOO!!!" We shouted but it was too late. Tea Cup grabbed the chicken head and pulled it out of the bush. Turns out, we were stupid an it actually was a chicken. For about 5 minutes of having it we met a very hungry crocodile. Silver did the reasonable thing and gave the croc the chicken. Poor Tea Cup cried for about 30 seconds before becoming her happy, unusual self.

We stopped at a rotting bridge. The twine was falling apart and the wooden planks were soggy with some mold. "How are we going to get across?" asked Tea Cup. "It looks unstable, we should probably turn back," She laughed nervously.

"Duh, wings," Daring flared her wings, grabbed Tea Cup and flew across with her. Tea screamed the entire way, flailing her hooves in all direction. While flying she had her eyes shut. She squirmed, she wriggled, she did everything she could to get on the precious ground again. "We're here, you can let go of me now," Daring said. Tea Cup looked down and saw that she was only a few inches above ground.

"Oh... hehe," Tea grinned sheepishly.

"Your turn," I said, unfurling my wings.

"I got a better idea. Tie this rope on the other side, and do a hitch knot and an eight knot," Silver directed. I flew over and tied one end of the rope to a tree that wasn't rotting. Silver tied the other end to another tree. She then pulled out a simple harness and a pulley. She was going to zip line across. Putting on her harness and placing on the pulley to the rope, she first flicked it to see if it was secure. A few steps back, then, she ran a fast a her legs could carry her and zipped (no pun intended) across one

side of the gap to the other.

"Why couldn't I do that," Tea whined.

"Because you haven't been zip lining before," Silver replied. Then, she took of the pulley and then took off the harness. Tea Cup pouted.

"Come on, that castle is only a few feet!," Daring galloped into the mist. Silver followed her towards the abandoned castle. Looking at Tea Cup, I motioned her to follow me. She quickly shook her head no. I grunted and pointed my head towards the castle. Tea Cup latched herself on a tree, not going to budge.

"Tea Cup, you know, I am going to the castle with the others. That means you will be alone," I commented, trotting into the mist.

"NO WAIT! COMEBACK! DON'T LEAVE MEEEEEE!" Tea Cup whined. I trotted back to the mist.

"Come on, be a good solider," I said to the pony hugging the tree. "Or do you want to be left there?"

"But I don't want to be a good solider. I'm not even a solider," She stated. I did the only thing that could possibly get her off the tree. I brewed tea.

I sat down, and then called Silver and Daring. We all circled around. Daring made a fire and Silver gathered more fuel. I look around for a plant that was good for tea. I looked around, mostly, I saw poison ivy and poison oak. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted lavender. I walked over to it and plucked some of its' blossoms. All that I needed now was some chamomile, it's good for the mind. I did a 180 turn and scoured for them. Green tree, brown tree, yellow, brown, black, pink, green, brown, yell-. Pink! I turned to face the tree, I walked towards it looking at it closely. Is that a cherry blossom? It is a cherry blossom. But why would it be here. Doesn't matter, cherry blossom was still a good tea component. I flapped my wings and got some of the trees soft pink petals. I landed back on the dirty earth. I guess this will have to do. On the way back, I saw some chamomile. Yes! I hastily grabbed some leaves and flew all the way back to the small campfire.

Silver had just poured a cup of hot water. I placed the ingredients into the tin cup. "Are you sure this is going to-,"

"TEAAAAAAAAA!!! GIVE IT TO ME." Tea Cup shouted aloud. A blur came over and took our makeshift tea pot/cup.

"Hey that was our tea!"

"IT'S MINE, ALL MINE!," The crazy mare shouted, galloping in the distance

"I can't believe it worked," Silver whispered. Daring and I nodded.

"Tea Cup, since you took our tea, you have to do us a favor." Daring Do said.

"What kind of a favor?" She appeared from behind and scared the daylights out of us. "Lemme guess... I KNOW! You want me to come into the Castle where the could be giant spiders that could eat your face or changelings that could impersonate us! OKAY! I shall do it for TEA!" Placing her hoof over her heart she swore that she would do this favor-no matter how scary it was-to go into the Castle.

"I swear, she is related to Pinkie Pie."

The mist enveloped us once again as we traveled into the mysterious Castle of the Two Sisters

Chapter 0.5

"Are you sure about this Daring. You just came back from your last adventure,"Dusty said,"I cannot keep teaching your history class forever. They are already wondering about where you have been off to for three months".

"Your complaining never ceases to amaze me," I said, rolling my eyes.

"One day, Daring. One day." He chuckled lightly. I sat down on the chair and leaned back in my teacher getup. "I don't even know why you bother on teaching, you have enough bits to buy the Canterlot Castle tenfold," He sat down in the chair across from me. Leaning forward and crossing his legs like he was a good for nothing noble, he listened to what I was going to say.

"I enjoy teaching my students, and Compass Rose is very good with location-the blah blah stuff-and she has a similar cutiemark to that of mine. As a bonus, Compass is quick with a sword and has a cute little dagger that she tries to hide from me most every day. She would be very helpful and maybe become my full time partner," I snorted. Leaning back in my leather chair, I let a sigh out. Surprising really, most every day he either tells me to quit teaching or adventuring. I said no to him many times and yet, he still asks. He can be a pain in the butt sometimes.

Dusty glanced at the clock. "Tick-Tock Ms. Dial, you have a class to teach," He said with a smirk. I sighed and stood up from the chair. Placing my hoof on the door knob I opened it to see my classroom.

A simple room with a class of sixteen ponies. The desks were neat an clean, like they were brand new, though they were six years of wear and tear. A small bookshelf was filled with many history book and some banned. I didn't care about them being banned- the parents who decided to do that were whiny foals that didn't know a good book when they saw one. The walls were plastered with maps and a Daring Do book. "Ms. Dial! You're back!" A student exclaimed. Soon a bunch of 'Welcome back' and 'Where were you' were said.

"I was on a exclusive trip to Saddle Arabia. Now back to your seats," I said. The class sat down at their seats immediately and I began the lesson. "Today we are going to review the Discordian Era. We will start when the three tribes had united as one empire," I then paused and drew the three types of pony and a draconequus, "After they united and became a single empire, all was sound. One day a draconequus appeared. The ponies welcomed him to Equestria and wanted to become friends with him. He had no name and soon began to play nasty jokes on other ponies. One day, he got caught after playing a prank that went too far. The ponies demanded why he would do such cruel things after they had helped him and now a little foal had died because of it. He thought nothing of it and kept on doing the pranks- each one crueler than the next. Unicorns cast a spell over every house hoping that it would protect ponies in their homes but came with no avail. Soon he terrorized all the ponies in Equestria, and many of them starved. A pony started calling him 'Discord' and soon the name caught on giving him the name of Discord. One day while he was terrorizing a village, two alicorns came and used the Elements of Harmony on him. Discord was turned to stone, thus ending the Discordian Era," I paused for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing,"Now tell me what is that," I asked the class, pointing to the draconequus. One pony raised their hoof tentatively. "Yes, Razor,"

"A draconequus. There is only one know draconequus which is Discord," Razor said.

"Nice job Razor. If we were in kindergarten, I would give you a gold star. But guess what-we're not in kindergarten. Even though I taught you this in the year earlier, I still want you to know this and remember it. Finals are in a month and I want every one of you to pass". The entire class groaned. "Yes. Finals is a wonderful thing an-". The bell rang loudly, ending the class. "Now your homework is to study for finals," I told the class I waved them goodbye.

Once the door closed, I turned around and began to gather my stuff to return to my house. Then, a loud banging came on the door. "Come in!" I yelled. The door opened slowly, creaking with each movement. I heard the creaking of three ponies hoofsteps coming in. "What can I do for you," I said turning around to see whom had entered my room. Three burly earth ponies were in there, each of them with a weapon and a few scars. "So," I said cracking my neck and wings, "Is this going to be the easy way or the hard way." The bunch snickered, like just said a joke. "What am I, a comedian," I cocked my head to the side.

"Oh no, it is just that they think they finally caught you," A voice spoke outside the room," And they did. I recommend you go quietly, but I doubt that you would listen to me. Why you are just an arrogant buffoon who thinks that she is amazing just because you think you play hero every once and a while."

I growled under my breath.

"Come up and say that to my face. Or are you too scared to try. I would run away now if i were you," I said with a smirk on my face.

"But the thing is Daring, I am not you. I am something more superior," He said, stepping into the room.

"So the scaredy mare finally comes out into the light," I taunted.

"You look like you could use some glasses. You must becoming blind with your old age. I am Adolf Hoofler, the most feared terrorist in the world. And I am about to bomb Canterlot." Adolf sneered. I rolled my eyes.

"More like the most feared in your puny brain," I snickered. "Oh my goodness," I threw up my hooves in mock fear,"I am soooo scared. Please don't kill me." One of the muscles guffawed. The brain glared at me. "Buh bye," I smiled and waved them goodbye.

"What does even that mean?" Adolf looked at me.

"This," I said as I flew up to him and gave a him sucker punch in the nose,"So much talked for one who can't even defend himself." I quickly flew back, grabbed my stuff, and did my least favorite thing. I jumped through a window.

Flying as fast as I could, I went threw another window. This time, I entered Celestia's throne room at an important meeting with ambassadors from different countries. All heads were turned towards me. Most of them looked shocked, but Celestia's was as calm as ever. "Mrs. Do," She said before talking a sip of tea,"What do have to warn me about today." I flew down next to her throne.

"I have collected some information that Canterlot is going to be bombed. I have learned this from the colt,"-I then lowered my voice-,"named Adolf Hoofler. He thought that he had captured me and he told me- like all other villain failures- his evil plan to bomb Canterlot. I would suggest an evacuation. A subtle quiet one. So that anything that plans this city harm will not notice a thing," I told her.

Celestia nodded slowly, her face too serious, I was positive that she was hiding something from me. The sun goddess then leaned towards my ear and said,"I got it covered. I have know for a while and has already done so. You needn't worry. This meeting itself is a decoy. We were just communicating in our homes- other than me- and are talking about a party for Luna. You and I are the only real ponies here right now."

"How did- you know what, I am not going to ask that," I concluded with myself.

My body sagged with relief before straitening up again."Princess, I must get you out of here," I protested. Celestia giggled.

"I can teleport us out in a flash. I wonder how surprised Twilight will be when we pay her a visit. Now let us go, the bomb will explode soon." Celestia then lit up her horn-"Seriously," I said-and teleported us straight to the Ponyville library.