Daring Do and the Temple of Ra(pe)

"You... you found Ra. He does exist."

Blackbeak turned to Daring, his face beaming with happiness. "Daring, how in Equestria did you manage to find this place?" he asked.

Daring Do proudly explained her deductions and observations in the room far above them that led to her finding the trap door. "Absolutely fascinating." Blackbeak said once she was done. "You have no idea how extraordinary this is! This... this rewrites pre-Nightmare Moon history completely!"

"This is so awesome! I can't wait to tell everypony what we found!" Daring said excitedly.

Blackbeak's enthusiasm quickly fell. "Now hold on one moment, Miss Do." he said. "A find like this needs to be unveiled very carefully to avoid any panic or overwhelming."

Daring thought about his words and eventually nodded in agreement. "So what do we do?" she asked.

"Come by my tent later tonight after dinner. I'll draw up a plan and go over it with you, and tomorrow we can reveal this find." he said.

Daring nodded again, trusting Blackbeak's superior experience in such matters. They extinguished her torch in the sand and ascended back up the shaft, reemerging back in the tomb where Deep Thinker was still waiting for them.

"So? What did you find? Huh?" he asked eagerly. Being a unicorn, there was no way he could have gone down without breaking his neck.

Blackbeak motioned for Daring to leave. "Go on and get some rest, Miss Do. I'll talk to Deep Thinker and make sure he's on the same page as us."

Daring zipped back to her tent. Unable to calm her excitement from her amazing find, she forgot all about the extreme heat outside her tent and inside her body. Dinner couldn't come soon enough, and for the first time since her arrival she joined the other ponies in mess tent for dinner. Everypony around her was talking excitedly over their progress in deciphering the various inscriptions on the walls, and despite her amazing find Daring managed to keep her muzzle shut and avoid letting slip what lay beneath the temple.

Quickly finishing her food, Daring made her way over to Professor Blackbeak's tent to discuss how to reveal Ra's final resting place. "Professor?" she called out once she reached his large tent.

"Come in, come in!" he called out.

Daring entered the large tent, finding herself in Blackbeak's field office. The griffon professor was sitting at a desk looking over some papers but put them down once he saw his student enter.

"Ah, Daring. Please, please, have a seat. We have much to discuss. Yes, quite a bit." he said, motioning for her to sit down in one of the vacant chairs.

"So did you come up with a plan? Are we unveiling my discovery tomorrow?" she asked excitedly.

Blackbeak chuckled. "Slow down, Miss Do. Let's go over everything I came up with, shall we?" he said, pushing the papers towards her.

Daring picked up the papers and read the first page. Her eyes widened in wonder as she read the contents of the paper. "P-Professor... are you serious? Would I really..."

"Work with me? Of course." Blackbeak confirmed. "You've proved to be quite the detective and explorer, and I think you would make a great addition to my team. Doctor Dig Down agrees with me, especially since he is not as fond of exploring the unknown as you are."

"Wow. This is... wow." Daring said. She knew very well that many of Professor Blackbeak's students could only dream of working for the famed archaeologist, and here she was already getting a job offer from him before she even graduated college. Flipping to the next page she saw the breakdown of her potential pay and benefits; a generous salary accompanied by a free apartment in Canterlot, not to mention getting to travel all across Equestria for free as assigned by Professor Blackbeak. She desperately wanted to sign her name on the last page but she managed to control herself, remembering the important lesson of always reading a contract the entire way through that her father had taught her. However, temptation was getting the better of her...

"I assure you, Miss Do, you'll find that I take care of my team." he said reassuringly. "I'll admit, I don't want you to say no, so I gave you a bit more than I usually start most ponies. Please, Daring Do... don't break my heart and say no."

Hearing her idol begging her to join him was enough. Quickly flipping to the last page she eagerly signed her name on the dotted line, sealing the deal. Professor Blackbeak's eyes seemed to glimmer with joy as he watched her sign her name, and once she was done he quickly signed his name next to hers, sealing the deal.

"Congratulations, Miss Daring Do! You do not know how happy you have made me today." he praised her. "Now, on to the big reveal! Yes, yes... it will be a spectacular reveal, though we'll have to cut out expedition here short. But don't worry, you'll be spending the entire summer traveling with me!"

Getting up from his seat, Blackbeak escorted Daring back to the tent's entrance. "Go and get some rest, Miss Do. Tomorrow I want you looking your best, like a true adventurer. Tomorrow, your life changes forever."

Daring's face couldn't stop smiling, and without thinking she embraced her professor tightly. It wasn't until both of her hooves were wrapped around the griffon's feathery neck that she realized that she may have gone too far, but her fears quickly dissipated as not only did she feel him return the hug but he then gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. Daring's wings shot up erect and her face turned beet red as she felt the kiss, and as soon as Blackbeak moved his head back she bolted from the tent, yelling a quick goodbye. "Thank you see you tomorrorow bye!"

Professor Blackbeak laughed at her reaction and returned to his desk. Looking down at her signature, he smiled even wider. "Very happy indeed."

Daring Do couldn't sleep at all; whether it was from the excitement of revealing Ra's final resting place, her new job with Professor Blackbeak, or the kiss he gave her, she had no idea. However, the kiss did rekindle her heat slightly, and though she would never, EVER admit to it she made herself cum seven times to the thought of her and her teacher alone in bed together.

Thankfully, morning finally did come as well, and after making sure she was presentable she made her way to the exterior of the Temple of Ra. All the ponies working at the camp were present, as well as a few reporters who had been called in for an emergency press release of the greatest proportions. As soon as he saw her, Professor Blackbeak motioned for Daring to join him and quickly ushered her to one of the seats on the stage. She shook hooves with the rest of Blackbeak's immediate team and took a seat next to Doctor Dig Down while Blackbeak took his position at the podium and began to speak.

"Welcome, everypony. Thank you all for coming out here on such short notice." he began, mostly talking to the cameras. "As you all know, I discovered the Temple of Ra a few years back, and since then we have slowly been uncovering the secrets that lay inside, lost to all of Equestria for the past millennium. I will admit, I was close to officially confirming that the story of Ra was simply a myth, a legend. Noony would ever know how the sun rose and fell each day before our wonderful Princess Celestia defeated Discord and took upon such a great task by herself.

"But now... now, everypony, I have a definitive answer for you all. Through countless hours of research, studying, and years of experience, I have uncovered the truth. I have found Ra."

Daring sat in shock as Professor Blackbeak went on to explain how he had discovered the hidden passage after deducing that the mummified bodies in one chamber were in fact the guards for the tomb entrance, not priests as previously thought. Turning to Doctor Dig Down, Daring Do tried to find the words to express her disbelief at what she was hearing. "You... I... he's lying!" she managed to say.

Her words were loud enough to be heard by the audience but they began cheering at the exact moment Daring spoke, leaving Dig Down as the only pony to hear her. "Shush, not so loud! What are you talking about?" he asked her.

"He didn't do those things, I did! He's taking credit for the find completely for himself!" she hissed.

Dig Down looked at her slightly confused. "Well of course he did. You signed the contract with him last night, right? That's part of the deal working with him. I thought you knew."

A knot formed in Daring's stomach. "What?" she asked, more in depression than anger.

"We all signed that agreement; in exchange for our substantial pay and benefits we allow Professor Blackbeak to be the face of our group. Besides, he has a much more extensive network of contacts to sell the artifacts to than any of us." he explained.

"Wait a second, what do you mean sell the artifacts?!" Daring exclaimed.

"You didn't know we sell what we find to private collectors? I thought Professor Blackbeak explained all of this to you." the doctor said.

Fuming, Daring got up and stormed off. Blackbeak noticed his newest employee leaving the press conference early and cut his question session short, promising the reporters a more in-depth interview once they have explored Ra's tomb. The news ponies had more than enough information for a juicy news story and rushed off to make the train back to the nearest city to relay their reports while Blackbeak returned to his tent.

He was not surprised to find Daring Do waiting for him in his tent. "What the buck?! You sell your findings to private collectors for a profit?!" she shouted as soon as he entered.

"Woah, woah. Calm down, Miss Do. Why are you so upset? I thought you knew." he said. "It was all spelled out in the contract you signed."

Daring felt like she had been kicked in the gut as she realized that not reading her contract truly was a grave mistake. "It's still not right! And what about this whole thing of stealing credit for our finds? I found Ra's tomb, not you!"

"Miss Do, please, there's a method to my ways." Blackbeak said calmly. "By allowing me to take credit for my team's discoveries we eliminate the potential for my buyers to go to other freelance archaeologists or try to hire just the pony responsible for other expeditions. I'm able to charge a much higher fee for the whole team, you see, and as you saw you will be compensated quite handsomely for your work."

Daring felt sickened by this explanation. Never had she thought her mentor, her teacher, her hero, could come up with something so... greedy. Self centered. Corrupt.

"I'm not taking part in your corrupt game. I want out." she said.

Blackbeak was shocked by her decision. "Daring, don't decide so hastily. Look, why don't you take tonight to think about it. I'll even give you a five hundred bit bonus for this little misunderstanding. You're my favorite student, and I really like you."

"No." Daring said flat out. "I'm not reducing my level of integrity to scum like you. I want out, and that's final." she said. Not wanting to hear any more excuses or bribes from Blackbeak, she ran back to her tent, trying her best to hide her tears of disappointment and betrayal.

Blackbeak sat down on his chair, surprisingly stunned by Daring's reaction to his operation. Everypony else he hired was happy with the arrangement he had set up, so why wasn't she? What mainly concerned him was that she definitely had raw talent in exploration, and if she didn't wish to stay under his wing then she posed a threat as competition to him.

Not sure how he could either appease Daring or keep her quiet, Blackbeak decided to go to the mess tent and get a cup of coffee to think things over. However, the first pony he saw gave him a quick, crude plan to possibly make Daring change her mind.

"Excuse me, Mr. Deep Thinker. Can I see you in my tent, please?" Blackbeak called out.