Daring Hearts

Chapters

Chapter I: The Temple
Chapter II: Reality Check
Chapter III: Escape

Chapter I: The Temple

Daring Hearts

by Silent Pegasus

Chapter I

The Temple

The air was dry and filled with dust as Grant Doyle looked at his new surroundings; he could tell that he was laying on stone, but it was too dark to see anything further than three feet in front of his hands. His head rang like a church bell in St. Peter’s Square as he tried to stand up. Doyle stood at six foot one with a lean muscular tone, his hair was blonde with dark roots to contrast his dark green eyes, his skin was tan to show all his hours spent outdoors. The man had a dark brown collared shirt that complemented his dark brown boots and tan colored pants.

“I’m gonna feel that tomorrow.” He groaned as he cracked his back. Doyle got back on all fours and started looking for his bag that he had on prior to his arrival in the odd place. He felt his hand touch cloth and smiled in victory. He dove his hand through his leather messenger bag and started fishing for his flashlight. Doyle hit a rubber button and saw a bright circle light up in his bag. “Success! Now to find out where the hell I-” As he removed the device from his bag his eyes shrank to the size of pin tips as the light showed a long stone hallway with several statues lining each side.

The dust acted like fog that lightly covered the floor. “Nice one Grant. What’d you get yourself into this time?” He scolded as he started to move down the hallway. His shoes scuffed along the stone as he kept following the path. Grant turned his light on one of the statues. It was roughly the same height as him, wearing some weird armor that had a long spike coming out of it’s head, another thing was that there were no boots for the supposed soldier who once wore this armor.

On it’s back was a long bow, handcrafted with several markings etched into the fine wood. He took it off the statue and pulled it back. Nice and tight. I hope I remember how to use this thing. He thought as he put it over his shoulder and attached the matching quiver as well. The quiver only had a few arrows in it and they looked like they would break apart any second, still it was something. The pathway then came to a split, each leading down a dark tunnel.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an ordinary quarter and set it in on his thumb. Heads left, tails right. He flicked the coin up into the air and caught it as it came back into his palm. He then placed his hand on the back of his left hand and lifted his hand up to show the tails side facing up. With that he pocketed the coin and continued his trek further into the unknown.

After what felt like hours of walking and choosing random passageways that seemed to go on forever, Grant finally felt something, his foot had started to sink. He looked down just in time to see the floor open up beneath him. He felt himself falling into darkness as he screamed in a tone that if anyone would hear they’d think he was a girl. His butt hit a hard stone slab and he started sliding down as the opening closed up. In the confusion, he dropped his flashlight and cursed as he fumbled trying to catch his source of light.

As his hands wrapped around the stick he felt the incline end and he tumbled a bit before getting his bearings. “Fuck, that hurt. Can this day get any better?” Sarcasm covered his words like butter on popcorn. He fished out his flashlight and steadied himself on a hard wall as he stumbled down the corridor. As he pressed his hand against the wall he felt a stone he had his right hand on push into the wall and several clanks could be heard.

Oh great now what, a giant boulder? The portion of the wall ahead of him began to shake and the floor started to shift. The wall slowly slid down into the floor making air rush into the crypt. Grant sighed and pointed his flashlight into the crypt and his eyes widened. The light showed a massive room, piled with shelves occupied by scrolls, books, maps, an egghead’s wet dream. As he entered the room the door slammed shut behind him. He banged on the stone wall several times before continuing his search. Grant shined his light and saw something in the center of the room, a pedestal with something covering it.

The man slowly approached the small protrusion and removed the old cloth to show a glass case surrounding a gauntlet. The gauntlet looked like it covered the hand, wrist and fore arm and ended a bit bellow the elbow. It appeared to have a metal covering over leather, the metal had several glyphs and symbols carved into it. What Grant noticed the most was on the back of the glove portion of the artifact was a glowing white jewel.

His hands acted on their own as he reached forwards and removed the glass casing. His eyes seemed to be entranced by the shining jewel. As he reached forwards the gauntlet came alive and jumped out at him. The object fitted itself on his right hand and the man felt incredible pain circulating through his body. He was on the floor rolling around like someone had just dumped fire ants down his shirt. Soon the pain stopped and the man grunted as he examined the odd artifact.

“Fucking perfect.” He retrieved his flashlight and saw a large desk with a hooded figure sitting at it. “Oh shit.” He approached the desk and sighed. “Sorry about that man. I didn’t see you there.” No response came from the stranger. “Hey you wouldn’t happen to know what this place is would you?” Still nothing. “Are you okay?” As Grant gently nudged his shoulder the hood on the stranger fell back to show a perfectly preserved skeleton. The man fell over in shock and started panting heavily.

In the light he could see a bone protruding from it’s head and the skull looked misshaped. The skeleton fell out of the seat it was occupying and shattered into tiny bone fragments. “Oh man, I am SO going to hell for that.” He noticed something amongst the cloak and bones, a brown leather bound journal that had a few scratches across the face and had seen better days. Grant swiped the journal and opened it up to see a mess of letters and symbols he couldn’t understand. He did notice drawings of the gauntlet that had made a home on his arm sketched into the book.

Grant put the book in his bag and stood back up before he broke anything else. The man’s heart jumped into his throat as he heard what sounded like chains being pulled through a pulley. He cautiously followed the noise that was coming from the far end of the room where a large wooden door was standing. He slowly and quietly cracked the door open only to wince as light filled his eyes. He saw two chains hanging from the ceiling that lead down to a large wooden beam that something was shackled to.

Grant’s eyes shrank as he saw five human looking things surrounding the one that was being held by the chains. They were bi-pedal and wore clothes, so they had some intelligence. Instead of skin the four had a layer of fur of different colors. The one in chains looked like a light brown color with a grey head of hair and tail. Wait tail? At a second glance he saw that the other three had the same tuff of hair sticking out through their cloths just above their rear ends.

The subdued one looked different than the other four, from this angle he guessed it was female due to it’s chest size and it had wings. The leader of the gang had dark brown fur and a combed back jet black mane and tail.

“Well, well, well now. Such a pleasure to see you again Ms. Do.” He had a suave accent and a cocky grin on his face. The woman struggled in her restraints and wanted to yell but she had a gag over her mouth. “Still have some fight in you no? That’s good, then you can answer my questions.” He reached a hand out and one of the goons handed him a large machete used to cut through thick foliage.

The creature removed the gag only to get a wad of spit in his eye. “So unsanitary.” He said as he wiped his face with a red polka dotted ascot. He reached up and grabbed her by the cheeks. “Where is the gauntlet?” Grant gulped as he looked down at his armored right arm. The woman remained silent and stared back at him with angry magenta eyes. “I don’t have all day Ms. Do.”

“Go buck a hydra.” The interrogator sighed and slapped her across the face with the back of his hand. That made Grant’s blood boil, he was never sure why he always got so angry when someone mistreats women. The interrogator put the gag back on her mouth and nodded to one of his henchmen. The minion moved behind the woman to where her wings were restrained, he grabbed the right wing and yanked it down making a popping noise.

The woman’s muffled cried echoed through the halls and tears filled her eyes as she thrashed in her restraints. The chains rattled against one another and she was panting as she felt her wing dislocate. “I won’t ask again Ms. Do.” The woman still gave him the death glare. The waved the blade in front of her face.

“If you won’t tell me, then I will have to search you.” Her eyes shrank as he reached for her dirty tan shirt and started unbuttoning it and moved his hands across her fur. “I always admired you for your body Ms. Do.” He said as he licked his lips and grabbed her right breast. She closed her eyes and prayed that something, anything would happen.

Grant couldn’t take any more of this. He didn’t care who they were, no one deserves that. He pulled out his newly acquired bow and loaded an arrow. He pulled back the cord and steadied his aim. Remember, deep breaths. In and out. In and out. He slowed his breath and focused on the one in the center. He felt a burning sensation in his right hand and released the arrow. The bolt shot through the air like a crimson spear and struck the interrogator in the arm before exploding. Holy shit!

The male cried out in pain as he clutched his arm as he put the flames out. The group then all turned around looking for where the shot came from. All they saw was the walls lit by torchlight. “Come out and fight like a stallion!” One of them yelled.

Stallion? Grant thought as an idea hatched in his mind.

“FOOLS!” He made his voice echo through the stone walls thanks to the architecture of the building. “YOU HAVE DISTURBED MY SLUMBER AND I SHALL NOW FEAST UPON YOUR BONES!”

“Wh-who’s th-there?” The four were shaking like children trapped in one of those Halloween fun houses at carnivals.

“I AM THE SPIRIT THAT HAUNTS THESE HALLS. THOSE WHO WAKE ME NEVER LIVE TO TELL THE TALE!” Grant fired another arrow that stuck one of them in the shoulder. “LEAVE NOW, OR DEATH AWAITS YOU WITH SHARP POINTY TEETH!” That was all the convincing the four stallions needed to make themselves scarce. The leader pushed two of the thugs out of the way and dropped the weapon along with something shiny from his pocket.

The mare was awestruck at what she just witnessed, four of the toughest thugs she’s come across running and screaming like a bunch of frightened bunny rabbits. If she weren’t in chains then she’d be on the floor laughing until her lungs gave out. So she settled for a chuckle. “I can’t believe that worked.” Her fun would have to wait as she heard a male voice from the balcony that overlooked the room. “Either I’m a better actor than I thought, or they’re idiots.”

Do couldn’t move her head due to the restraints but she heard grunting noises as Grant climbed down from the balcony, using the carvings in the wall as footholds. “Damn, Ezio makes this look easy.” His right foot slipped and he fell a good ten feet before hitting the hard floor. “Fuck me.” He groaned as he slowly got up and shook his head. Grant saw the creature from the back and saw that she had hooves instead of feet and she was wearing a pair of tan shorts that went down to her mid thigh.

The mare’s eyes shrank as she saw a bald ape standing six feet tall with a bow on his back and wearing clothes. He reached towards her and she closed her eyes. She opened her eyes when she felt the gag coming loose and he removed the cloth and stuffed it in his pocket. “Are you okay?”

“My wing is busted and I’m chained up. What do you think?” She deadpanned.

“You’re welcome.” Grant rolled his eyes. Daring grunted and looked him over. Her eyes shrank when she saw his right arm.

“The gauntlet of Artemis! Where did you find that?” Grant looked down at his arm and shrugged.

“Found it in some dead guy’s office.” He pointed up to the balcony.

“How did you unlock the door?” Here eyes were like two burning embers as she gritted her teeth. Grant folded his arms.

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because I’ll beat you into the ground if you don’t.”

“I think you’re the last person who should be making threats.” He said as he eyed the chains. She thrashed in them and saw that the thug dropped the keys to her locks.

“The keys are over there.” She motioned with her head. “Get me down from here.”

“You just threatened to beat me to pulp. Why should I?” She gritted her teeth at the words. “I just saved your ass and all you’ve done is insult and yell at me. I could leave you here to rot ya know.” Do started chuckling at the words. “Something funny? It’s been a tough day, I could use a laugh.”

“This place has thousands of tunnels running through it. Take a wrong turn and you’ll never get out.” Grant had to admit it was only dumb luck that got him this far and he knew everyone’s luck runs out eventually. “I can read ancient Equestrian, so I know the way out.” She said in a cocky tone.

“It seems we’re at an impasse.” Grant scratched his chin as he thought. He walked over to the keys and picked them up in his hand. “I’ll make a deal with you Ms...”

“Do. Daring Do.”

“Right.” He said as he raised an eyebrow at the name. “Tell you what, I’ll let you down if you tell me where I am and what you are.” She frowned at the words. “When you lead me out of this crazy Indiana Jones set, I’ll give you this.” He pointed to the gauntlet. “Deal?” Daring bit her lip and weighed her options.

“Deal.” Grant unshackled her wrists, wings and hooves before helping her down off the restraints. Daring stood at only a few inches shorter than Grant. Daring walked over to the corner where a safari hat sat. She dusted it off and set it atop her grey mane. “Let’s go.”

“Okay two things I should point out,” Daring turned to look at him with a groan. “since we’re going to be working together temporarily, name’s Grant Doyle.”

“And the second?” Grant crossed his arms and chuckled.

“You sure you wanna go adventuring like that?” He pointed at her. Daring followed his finger and looked down. Her eyes shrank and her face turned scarlet when she saw that her shirt was still unbuttoned showing off her bra covered chest. She covered herself with her left hand and slapped him across the face with the other.

“Pervert!” She yelled as she buttoned up her shirt and stormed off into the tomb with the human following close behind.

“This is gonna be fun I can already tell.”

Author's Note

In honor of my 700 follower milestone! Enjoy!

Chapter II: Reality Check

Chapter II

Reality Check

“So you’re telling me that this whole world is run by anthropomorphic ponies that can fy and some can use magic?” Grant said as he and Daring made their way through the caverns of old.

“For the tenth time, yes.” She groaned.

“And this Princess Celestia person-”

“Pony.”

“Whatever. She sent you on some crazy quest to get this gauntlet?” Daring nodded. “And you’re a grave robber that-” She spun around and glared at him with her magenta eyes of death.

“I’m an explorer, not grave robber. There’s a difference and if you don’t shut up then I’ll put you in a grave.” Grant backed off the subject as he put his flashlight forwards.

“So where exactly are we?”

“Temple of Artemis the Wise.” Daring said as she took the flashlight from him and stepped ahead of the man. “He was one of the most powerful Unicorns of his era, he was on par with Starswirl the Bearded, possibly even Celestia.”

“Was he good or bad?

“Records show that he was in a moral grey area, he’d help out whenever he could but the means weren’t always the best.”

“Sounds a bit like batman.”

“Who?” Grant face palmed.

“Okay, when we get out of this stink hole, I gotta introduce you to DC comics.”

“No, because as soon as we’re out, you’re giving me that gauntlet and I’m out of here.”

“Whatever you say Lara Croft.” Daring gritted her teeth at the name the human gave her.

“So what the hell are you anyway?”

“I’m a human, or homo sapien if you want the scientific term.”

“Huh?” Daring asked.

“We’re an advanced form of apes, at least that’s what some people believe.” He rolled his eyes as Daring chuckled. “At least I’m not some over groan farm animal with an attitude problem.” Daring shined the light in his face and frowned.

“What was that?” She said in a threatening tone. As she was about to put the beat down on the man another wave of pain came from her back. “Damn it.”

“You okay?”

“Just my wing.” She groaned.

“Is it broken?”

“No, doesn’t hurt bad enough to be broken, butI think it’s dislocated.” As Daring continued ahead she felt a force slam her up against the wall and guessed it was the human. “What the hell are you-”

“Pipe down and hold still.” He grabbed her injured wing as she struggled. “I said hold still!” He wiggled it and the mare cried out in pain as she heard another popping noise and pain shot through her back. “There now-” The mare elbowed the man in the stomach and tackled him to the ground and held a rock in her hand.

“Touch me again and I’ll bash your face in!”

“Before you go swinging, try moving your wing.” Daring stood up and moved her wing around. It still stung, but not as much as before.

“What did you-”

“I’ve dislocated my arm enough times to know how to fix it.”

“So you just go and tackle me?”

“Would you have really let me put it back in if I asked?” Daring was about to yell but found no argument.

“Touch me again and I’ll beat you into the ground.”

“Fine, but mind getting off me?” Daring realized that she was straddling the creature. Had somepony saw them like this they’d get ideas. “I mean I usually like to have dinner first, but-” Daring pulled out the large machete one of the goons had dropped when they ran away.

“Try anything funny and you’ll regret it.” Grant didn’t dare gulp for fear of the blade slicing his skin. “Got it?”

“Y-yes.”

“What was that?”

“I mean, yes ma’am.” Daring smiled wickedly and sheathed her blade before getting off the man. He got to his feet and stuck his tongue out as they trekked through the old ruins. “So who were those four charming chaps that had you chained up?”

“The one with the annoying accent is Dr. Caballeron. He’s a lowlife scoundrel out to steal ancient treasure and sell it to the highest bidder for his own personal gain.”

“Isn’t that what you-” A pair of magenta eyes cut him off.

“I’m on orders from Princess Celestia herself to make sure that dangerous artifacts like that,” She pointed to the gauntlet. “don’t end up in the wrong hands. Who knows what things like that could do if they’re misused?”

“I see. So if he’s as dumb as you say, then how’d he even find this place? I mean, you’ve obviously done your homework.”

“He must be working for Ahuizotl.”

“Who?”

“He’s my biggest competitor and want’s nothing more than to rule the world using ancient artifacts like the one you’ve got on your hand.” Grant’s eye twitched and started laughing. “You think this is funny!?” Daring yelled.

“I’m sorry, but this whole situation sounds like a bad Indiana Jones/Lara Croft fan-fic.” He said as he calmed down. “Okay, I’m good.” He ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. “So that’s why does he want this thing?” He held up the glove.

“That’s only a piece of the puzzle. Now could you please shut up and let me translate the glyphs so we don’t take a wrong turn?” Grant backed off and fell silent as the mare led the way through the halls. A nagging voice in her head kept chanting that she shouldn’t be so cold towards the creature. “How did you do that thing with the arrow?”

“Well, I was captain of my school’s archery team.” He said with confidence.

“I meant the explosion.” She deadpanned. Grant looked at the gauntlet and shrugged.

“Beats the hell out of me. Must have been this thing.” Something made the man stop in his tracks. Call it a sixth sense, gut feeling or what have you. A shiver went down the man’s spine and he gulped. “Um Daring,” The Pegasus turned to see the man stop walking and shaking? “I think we’d better-” The ground started to rumble and shake as the two tried to keep their balance. “Running time!” He yelled as the two ran like mad men.

Grant was right behind Daring and didn’t dare look back as the hallway seemed to be swallowed up by the darkness.

“The exit should be just up here!” Grant rounded a corner and saw light at the far end of the tunnel. The two kept running as fast as their legs could carry them. Daring could smell the fresh air and the moisture against her dirty coat. As she got to the ledge, she stopped dead in her tracks. There was no path out, just a straight drop into the surrounding forest. She then felt something blunt crash into her, sending herself and the human over the edge. The human saw the drop and went pale.

“I HATE HEIGHTS!” He yelled as he plummeted towards the ground. Daring flexed her wing and grunted in pain as she flapped it. She grabbed the man by the shirt and managed to control their crash into a deep pool being fed by a waterfall. Grant felt the cold water splash against him and felt his clothes become heavy. He looked to his left and saw that the mare was out cold from the collision. He hooked his arm around her midsection and started to swim towards the surface.

The added weight was making it much more difficult than it normally would be. He reached up with his right hand as he felt the last of his air leave his lungs. The gauntlet started glowing again. An ethereal claw shot from the gauntlet and sank into a tree trunk. Grant blinked in surprise as he felt the bark as if he were touching it with his bare palm.

He didn’t have time to wonder how or why, he instinctively pulled back and felt water crashing against him as he felt his body going towards the surface. As he broke the water’s surface he gasped for sweet air. Grant flew onto the shore line and threw up the water he had swallowed. The human then turned his attention to the unconscious explorer. He put an ear to her chest and heard no heart beat.

Oh shit! This is bad! Really, really bad! He scratched his head frantically as he tried to remember the steps of CPR he’d learned in Health class. He placed his hands on her chest and started pumping. He pressed his lips against her and filled her lungs with air. He compressed again, still nothing. As he Delivered another batch of air Daring’s eyes shot open and she coughed up the water.

“And she’s back!” He yelled in an announcer like voice. “I am awesome!” Daring then delivered a punch to the man’s head. “What the fuck was that for?” He grabbed his scalp and felt the bump forming.

“You pushed me off the side of the temple ass-hole!” She said as she shook her hand in pain.

“Hey it was either jump or get crushed by falling debris.” He said as he got in her face. “That’s twice now I’ve saved your neck bitch. A little appreciation would be nice.” Daring’s anger sky rocketed but as much as she would have liked to shut him up, but she didn’t have time.

“Whatever, I held up my end of the bargain.” She stuck her hand out. “Now hand over the gauntlet.” Grant groaned and looked at the glove.

“Fine.” He said as he grabbed the metal and pulled. It didn’t budge. He tried again, harder this time but he was met with the same result.

“Stop kidding around.”

“I’m not! The damn thing is stuck!” Daring latched both her hands on the metal and pulled with all her might while the man pulled opposite from her.

“Wait a minute!” He yelled. Daring let go sending the human crashing to the ground. Grant got up and hooked his left arm around a small tree. “Okay now try.” The mare grabbed the glove and pulled as hard as she could. She added some more strength from her wings and fought through the pain. Grant’s arm felt like it was going to be ripped out of it’s socket and felt his grip falter.

In a split second, the man toppled forwards and landed on the mare. His face landed in between two fuzzy and somewhat perky pillows. His face went bright red as he opened his eyes and saw that he had just motor-boated the angriest woman he’d ever met. “I am so s-” He was cut off as the mare flipped their positions and pinned him to the forest floor making his blush levels increase ten fold. Daring reached for her machete and brought the blade down on the man’s arm just above the gauntlet.

There was a flash and a cracking sound. Grant opened one eye and felt no pain from the blow. Daring was staring in confusion as she held the handle of her broken knife. The shattered metal was against a bright blue ethereal shield that covered the man’s arm. Daring gritted her teeth and threw the handle away before grabbing the man by the collar and shaking him violently.

“This is all your fault you bucking stupid ape!” She yelled. “If you hadn’t come and royally screwed things up I would have that gauntlet and be halfway back to Equestria by now, but then you show up and screw the pooch!” Grant’s brain was knocking around in his skull like an M&M inside one of those plastic eggs, you know the ones that split into a top and bottom half. The human frowned and had had enough.

He gripped the mare’s wrists and flipped their positions so she was on the bottom. He pinned her arms and glared down at her.

“Excuse me? You think that this is my fault!?” Daring only glared at him. “You know what? I’m done. You have got to be the biggest bitch I have ever met!”

The surrounding animals were chased off by the volume. “You think I want to be here? I don’t! All I was doing was poking around in my old man’s things and then poof! I’m in some crazy Dungeons and Dragons set up with the most annoying woman I’ve ever met, and let me tell you, I know a lot of annoying girls.” She still glared at him. “Time for a reality check lil miss adventurer, If I hadn’t shown up, you know what would have happened? Those four punks would have had their fun with you and gotten this thing anyway.” Daring bit her lip and frowned.

“If this Ahuizotl guy is as bad as you say, then do you really think he would have let you live after he got what he wanted?” His eyes were like two green flamed burning into the mare. “Not to mention that I just saved your neck for a goddamn second time from the water! Okay, I’ll admit that I accidentally crashed into you, but I wasn’t gonna stand around to become a human pancake.” He then gestured to the gauntlet on his arm.

“I’m sorry that this damn thing is stuck on me. If I had it my way then you’d have it and we’d both be focused on getting back to our respective homes, but no. I am now stuck with the most ungrateful and unpleasant mutant horse bitch thing in the goddamn universe, stranded in some forest in the middle of god knows where! So if you think you’re the only one that’s had a bad day then let me tell you something sweetheart,” He got in close to her face and the mare felt his breath on her lips. “Suck. It. Up.”

A long silence fell over the two and the man felt the fight leave the mare’s body. He got to his feet and brushed himself off. “I’d usually say, ‘see you around,’ but right now I think an enraged tiger would be better company than you.” He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to find a way out of this crazy forest.” Daring stared down at the ground and clenched her fist in the dirt. She didn’t want to admit it, but the creature had gotten her out of a tough situation. She swallowed her pride, rather painfully and stood up.

“Island.” She stated blankly. The man turned his head to look at the mare. “There’s at least a hundred miles of ocean in every direction surrounding this island.”

“I’ve seen Cast Away and Pirates of the Caribbean dozens of times. All I need is some rum, logs and sea turtles.”

“The sea is filled with rip tides, whirlpools and lots of aggressive sea life. I doubt sea turtles are gonna help in that situation. The only way off this rock is by boat, which I just so happen to have docked not too far from here. We’ll use that to get to a ship anchored just off the coast.” She started walking towards him.

“I think I’ll take my chances with the sharks.”

“I may not know how to get that thing off you, but I’m sure the Princess does.” The man still had an unimpressed look on his face. “She might even know a way to get you home.” That got his attention.

“How?”

“How should I know? Maybe she knows a spell or something. She is the Princess after all.” The mare put her hands on her hips.

“And what does this ‘Princess’” He made quotation marks with his fingers. “do exactly?”

“She can raise the sun and the moon with her mind. Since she can manage that, I’m fairly sure she can find you a way home.” The man’s eye twitched at the words. “It’s a win-win. I get the gauntlet and you get a ride home. Deal?” Grant weighed his options and bit his lip.

“Tone down the attitude a bit and you got a deal.” He shook her hand. What happened next shocked the man. The mare’s face was contorting as she tried to force some words out of her lips.

“Thank you for helping me out back there, and I know I can be...difficult to work with.” She said with a sigh. Grant chuckled.

“Not the best apology, but I’ll take it.” He said as he cracked his neck. “So where’s this boat of yours?” Daring reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out a compass. She moved a bit to the right and nodded.

“About a few miles that way.” She pocketed the tool. “We’d better hurry before-ow!” She grabbed her neck and pulled out what looked like a small dart. “Oh buck.” Her eyes slammed shut and she started to fall forwards, Grant caught her and laid her on the ground.

“Daring?” He lightly slapped her face. He felt a stinging sensation in his neck and saw something shifting in the brush before passing out.

Chapter III: Escape

Chapter III

Escape

The man was lying in a very comfortable bed as the sun shined through his window. He heard a groaning noise and weight on his naked chest. He looked down to see a tuff of messy black hair and soft snoring sounds. The woman was stunningly beautiful and had her arms wrapped around his torso as she nuzzled his chest. “Morning already?” She asked in an annoyed tone.

“Yep.” He said as he gently kissed her head. “C’mon, we gotta go.”

“Don’t wanna.” She furrowed her brow. “Too comfy.” He removed the woman’s arms from his body and stood up.

“Fine. I guess I’ll eat all the pancakes then.” That got the woman’s attention and she sprang up.

“Over my dead body!” The man felt the room shift to the left and the whole house seemed to jump three feet into the air. As he landed face down on the floor he saw cracks starting to form on the walls and the floor before falling into darkness.

~~~

Grant felt like throwing up as he slowly opened his eyes to see the ground moving underneath him. He shook his head and his vision cleared. Grant looked up to see that his hands and legs were bound to a long pole that was being carried by two masked creatures. Judging by their features, they too were of the same race as Daring, only lacked the wings and attitude. They both appeared to be female, judging by their bust which was covered by nothing more than two triangles of dirty cloth, while their downstairs was covered by a longer piece that stretched down close to their hooves. Grant looked ahead and saw two more carrying an unconscious Daring. He saw what looked like a wooden gate lit with torches that contrasted against the orange afternoon sky.

Damn, how long was I out for? One of the masked creatures noticed him stirring and glared at him through the mask. “Um, hi?” He said with a gulp. The mare spoke some odd language the man had no hope of understanding.

As they got into camp, the man noticed several of the locals staring at him. He noticed that there were many women and children, while the males didn’t seem to be in abundance. The two were cut down, but found themselves still bound. The falling sensation made the Pegasus stir and sit up. She scrambled to sit up right and gulped.

“We are so bucked.” She said as the two were brought before a large tent.

“Who are these guys?”

“They’re the Sun Hoof Tribe. They have lived here for centuries and they hate outsiders.” The two were thrown to the ground and a crowd gathered around the tent. One of the masked ponies spoke in a commanding tone and the other tribe members all got to one knee. The tent’s flaps open to show a pony wearing a ceremonial headdress and a long cloak that covered her dark grey body. The two were put on their knees and one of the masked ones stepped forwards and started speaking some odd language.

“Um, subtitles would be appreciated.”

“She’s saying they found us near the Pool of Wisdom. It’s a holy place for their people.” Daring stated.

“You understood that gibberish?”

“I’m an adventurer, you tend to learn a few things.” The leader of the tribe and put her face in front of Daring. She grabbed daring by the cheeks and pressed her lips against hers. Grant’s jaw dropped.

Okay, I’ve seen enough porn to know where this is going.

“Bow chick a bow wow!!” The chief broke the kiss and glared at the man.

“If you want to keep your tongue, I suggest you close your mouth.”

“You speak English?”

“Our tribe can speak any language through lip contact.” She then pointed her stick at the man. “Now speak your case creature.”

“My case?”

“It’s a trial moron!” Daring said.

“What are my crimes?” He was hit with the stick silencing him. “Ow!”

“You have entered our domain and bathed in the Pool of Wisdom, such a crime is punishable by death.” She glared at him with her dark brown eyes. “We are a fair tribe and we will judge you accordingly. If you are innocent, you will go free, guilty and you will die.” Grant looked at Daring who just gave him a nervous shrug.

“Fair enough.” The man started his tale when he arrived in the ruins, he left the part out about the gauntlet and skipped to the part where they were on the shore. “Then I got knocked out and found myself here.” The chief raised an eyebrow and sighed.

“Kill them.”

“What!?” Both of them yelled.

“The mare first.” Two of the tribe ponies grabbed the golden mare and set her head on a chopping block.

“Let her go, she’s my ticket off this rock!” Daring snarled at the words. One of the masked ponies was holding a large bladed axe that had dried blood on it. Grant’s rage was boiling and he felt a urning sensation in his right hand. He felt the restraints coming loose and broke free. He charged towards the chopping block as the axe was coming down.

He extended his right arm and the same shield appeared and shattered the axe before it could touch the mare’s fur. The executioner was flung back by the force and Grant ripped the ties off the mare’s wrists. The tribe ponies saw the glowing gauntlet and all gasped as they whispered to one another. They all got on their knees and started bowing to the man. “Um what?” He said as they started chanting.

“We apologize my lord.” The chief said as she got down on her knees. “We had no idea it was you, please spare us.” Grant only raised an eyebrow as Daring pulled him aside and whispered.

“They think you’re some sort of Deity.”

“Say what?” Daring kicked his shin and threw on a fake grin.

“C’mon your holiness. Use some of that divine influence to get us out of here.” She said through gritted teeth. Grant cleared his throat and hoped this speech would go better than the one he botched when he tried out for the debate team.

“I have risen from the ashes, across sands of time good ponies. I apologize for any transgressions I caused your tribe. Much has changed since I once walked among you. My hand maiden-”

“Excuse me?” Daring glared. She then noticed some of the ponies gripping their spears.

“My hand maiden here, had just summoned me for a matter all to complex for mortal ears. I will overlook the insult this time.” The chief nodded. “Alas, we cannot stay, for we must be spirited away over the great lake that makes waves.” Some ponies looked at one another in shock. “We will leave you now.”

“But my lord we must release you from your mortal prison so you can ascend.” A long silence fell over the group. Grant’s eye twitched and he leaned towards daring.

“Translation?”

“They’re gonna kill us both so we can move onto the after life.”

“Thought so.” He walked over to where his bag was resting and put it on his back. “Very well, but first hear my words.” The tribe ponies listened intently. Daring gulped and primed her legs for a sprint. “Meep meep!” He said in a roadrunner type voice before taking off like a bullet into the jungle with Daring running behind him.

“That was your plan?” She yelled.

“You got a better idea? Now where’s this boat?” The two saw a few arrows fly over their head and gulped as they heard the tribe ponies closing in on them. Daring took the lead and the two ran as the arrows continued to fly. The two came to high rope bridge suspended above a raging river. As Daring started running across the man froze.

“What in the name of the moon are you doing?” He looked stunned and he was shaking. The man’s vision was blurring and he felt sick to his stomach. He forced his legs forward onto the rope bridge.

Damn it Grant, pull yourself together! The tribe ponies caught up to them as he reached the half way point. Daring looked ahead and saw more of the tribe ponies. Her wing was still aching and she couldn’t fly away, not to mention the human was too heavy to fly with. The ponies started hacking away at the ropes and the bridge started to sway. The two heard a series of snaps and started to fall towards the water. Daring managed to slow her descent, while the human hit the water at full speed.

The cold water brought the man back to his senses and reached the surface of the water. He gasped for air as he saw Daring glaring at him. More arrows shot at them and the two felt the current picking up speed. They clung to a large floating log as the river led them back into the jungle.

“What the hell was that?” Daring yelled as she and the human climbed on top of the log.

“That was a tribe of angry locals.” He said as the mare started shaking her hat dry.

“I meant on the bridge!” Grant lowered his head and sighed.

“Nothing, a fluke.” Daring turned around and kept a look out for the ponies while Grant looked ahead and saw the afternoon sun on the horizon. Something made his blood run cold and he gulped. “Uh-oh.”

“Don’t tell me, we’re about to go over a huge water fall?” Daring dead panned.

“Yup.”

“Sharp rocks at the bottom?”

“Most likely.” Daring sighed and fixed her hat to her head.

“Bring. It. On!”

“Geronimo!” He yelled before the rumbling of the falls took them.

~~~

At the edge of the Forgotten Rainforest, there sat a small steam boat docked and camouflaged by the foliage. The captain was a dark brown Earth Pony stallion with a grey mane and tail. He was sitting on the deck of his boat with a pipe between his lips and a fishing rod in his hands. His line gave a tug and he quickly reeled in the line.

“C’mon you son-of-a-bitch!” A catfish had been taunting him since he started fishing hours ago, now it was his. His smile shattered when he saw a he reeled in a tan safari hat with a few holes in it. “You’re not my fish.”

“Oh for the love of the creator just throw down the rope!” A familiar female voice yelled. The stallion looked over the edge to see a familiar Pegasus mare and some unknown creature.

“Uh Daring, what did you bring-”

“Less talking! More rope throwing!” He threw down a rope ladder and the two climbed before collapsing on the wooden deck.

“Okay, note to self. Fire Sven as my travel agent.” The human said as he spat up some of the river water. He looked to see the stallion pointing a harpoon at him. “Hey, carful man you could hurt someone-” His body started to wiggle and a large catfish came out of the man’s pant leg. “Hoy shit!” The stallion stabbed the fish with his knife and roared in victory.

“Yes! Got you, after seven bucking hours I finally got you!” As he held the fish over his head in victory, an arrow ripped the fish from his grip and it fell into the water. “NO! I worked so hard!”

“Rusty. Drive now!” The stallion nodded and got on the steam engine and threw in a bucket load of wood. Daring and the human took cover to avoid the arrows. “Can’t you do something?” Daring eyed the human.

“Like what? My bow broke before we got captured by that tribe. Do you have a gun?”

“A what?” The mare ducked as an arrow almost hit her. Soon the steam engine started chugging along and the three soon made their way out of the river into the vast open ocean. Daring sat down on an empty crate and let out the breath she was holding.

“Will they follow us?” Grant asked.

“No, it’s forbidden for their tribe to leave the island, not to mention the currents are too strong for them to paddle through.” The brown stallion let out a sigh and looked at Daring.

“I’m getting to old for this crap.” He then set his sights on the human. “What kind of thing did you bring back this time Daring?”

“Hey, I ain’t no thing!” Grant snapped.

“I’ll explain when we get on the Bell.”

“The what?” Daring pointed out towards the sea and the human saw a silhouette of an old ship. It was another forty-five minutes before the trio found themselves along side the hull of the ship named Midnight Bell. It looked like an old Navy boat from the man’s world. A rope ladder was thrown down and the three climbed. Daring was the first, followed by the man. As they climbed, Grant couldn’t help but stare at the mare’s well defines ass, not to mention the end of her tail was constantly brushing across his face.

“Ah Daring!” A slightly Scottish accented voice said. “I trust everything went okay?”

“Aside from one annoying issue, just another day at the office.”

“Okay, now that hurts.” The man said as he got over the ledge. The captain was a rusty orange Earth Pony stallion with a dark brown mane, tail and beard. A corncob pipe fell from his lips when he saw the man.

“What in the name of Luna’s royal arse is that!?” He pointed to the man who was immediately grabbed by two deck hands.

“Hey same team! Same team!” Grant yeled as he struggled.

“Looks like we got a stow away.” The sailor on the right said.

“Over the side he goes.”

“Oh come on! Daring help me out here!” He looked at the mare. The mare sighed and rolled her eyes.

“You can’t throw him over board. He’s got something I need, so he’s going back with us.” The man sighed in relief. “Put him in the brig until we dock.”

“What!?”

“Ya heard the lass. To the brig!” The two stallions dragged the human down bellow the deck of the massive ship and threw him in a cage.

“C’mon fellas, let’s be reasonable!” The two closed the cage door on him. “Can I at least have my bag?” The two sailors shrugged and threw him his messenger bag. “Thank you.” He said as the two walked away. Grant sat in the back of the cell where a filthy cot was laid out. The man groaned as he sat down and rifled through his things before pulling out a harmonica and started playing. After an hour’s worth of music, he pulled out a hard cover book and a pen.

Monday, July 26, 2014.

I. Am. Screwed.