Daring Do and the Silver Star

Chapter 2: The Temple of Lupenstein

Daring and the sheriff galloped all the way to the museum and it began to rain. They approached the museum and it began raining even harder. Daring skipped up the steps leading to the front doors of the museum. Daring banged on the ornate door knocker as hard as she could. She heard the slow trotting of Dry Pages coming to the door. The multiple locks were being undone. Dry Pages ripped open the door and rushed them in. The lightning crashed outside.

“Daring, what is the meaning of this late night visit?” questioned Dry Pages.

“Dry, I have captured a werewolf and I believe that werewolves are the cause of all the missing meat and silver items. What can you tell me about the Temple of Lupenstein?”

“A werewolf? Temple of Lupenstein? These words haven’t crossed my lips for some time. It sends a shudder down my spine knowing werewolves have been released into our world again. Follow me.”

Dry Pages lead them into a deep part of the museum. Daring has never been to this part of the museum before. The shelves of books were dusty and falling apart. All of the glass cases on the exhibits were scratched and some were broken. The exhibits were decaying and disheveled. They continued walking through many exhibits and endless book cases. Dry Pages stopped in front of a stone door set into the wall behind a statue of a proud looking guard dog. Dry Pages threw a switch and the stone door shifted in its place and slid back into the wall. Dry Pages entered the corridor and motioned for them to follow. They walked down a few flights of stairs and many long hallways before they reached a dimly lit room far below the main part of the museum. The room smelled of mildew and decay, like wet papers that have been sitting in the mud for a long time. The numerous cobwebs show that Dry Pages or anyone hasn’t been down her in a while. Around the outside of the room there were bookshelves filled with gold leafed books with beautiful spines. The books seemed to almost be alive and emanating the information they contained. In the center of the room was a pedestal with a single tattered book laying open upon it. Dry Pages begin flipping through the book until he stopped on a page with a gruesome black beast on it.

“I have read this tale many times and can tell it from heart. A long time ago, before harmony was established in this land, there was disorder in every corner you looked. Disorder brought forth war, and war brought forth further disorder. There were creatures of good and evil, the most evil of creatures being the werewolves of the far eastern reaches of the land. They swarmed the west and wreaked havoc on every town they came upon. The werewolves were the vilest of all creatures and enslaved all they didn’t eradicate. One small village, however, fought back. They called all able bodied ponies into service and put them through rigorous training. After a few weeks of secret training, the ponies had their army. They fought the werewolves in the most fearsome war ponykind has ever seen. Ponies drove the werewolves back eastward. The unicorns summoned a spell together to lock the werewolves up in an impenetrable fortress. This fortress, you know as the Temple of Lupenstein, was created from the sands of the eastern desert. The earth ponies created an elaborate labyrinth to eliminate all trespassers that happen to find the temple along with a complex array of booby traps triggered by the Idol of Canines. The pegasi whipped up an eternal sandstorm to hide the temple deep under the blazing sands. The temple was long forgotten. The threat of werewolves reduced to zero. Life went on with order and harmony in the land of ponies.”

“Personally I haven’t a clue how they got out, but you, Daring, need to send them back to where they came. My only guess is they removed the Idol of Canines and dug their way out. You must retrieve the idol and put it back into place. This will reconstruct the temple, enable the labyrinth system and brew up the sandstorm once again throw the werewolves into exile. Go Daring, you must do this before more of them enter our world.”

As daring runs towards the door, Dry Pages shouted “The first place the idol would have been taken is The Mansion of Hounds. Go there first to retrieve the idol. Be careful Daring, the fate of the world lies in your hands.” Dry Pages voice is lost to the wind and Daring began traveling towards The Mansion of Hounds.