Daring Do and Trixie and the Armband of the Coatl

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: From Past to Dust
Chapter 2: Flight Home
Chapter 3: Adventure is on the Horizon!
Chapter 4: Friends or Enemies?
Chapter 5 Out to Sea or Sky
Chapter 6 Song of the Dragons
Chapter 7: Battle of Steel and Teeth

Prologue

Author's Note

So here we are with a new fic and what do we have here?

Daring Do? What the what?! I know many of you might know of the brash pegasus who is more prideful than Rainbow-Trixie-Dash-Lulamoon. So what will she do about life as she's forced to make decisions she'd rather not? To find out read on readers/viewers! Hope you enjoy it!

I know I am.

Prologue

Late one night a pony was hard at work. She was Daring Do, archaeologist, professor, writer, and adventurer. She was working on grading papers from her students on the subject of Meso-pony cultures. These were some of the brightest minds she'd ever known. One in particular stood out. Wonder Breeze. A young stallion with a heart for adventure, he accompanied world famous archaeologist Rosemary Joyride on her ground breaking tour of the ancient temple of Cholula where he assisted her in translating the ancient scripts within the temple.

The knowledge gained that day was ground breaking and shook the archaeology world. Even Daring found herself gripped with envy by this. But that was how the world worked. She was proud of him when she heard of his part in the discovery. Now here she was grading his paper on that very discovery for his final term paper. It was insightful.

The information gathered was priceless for her work as well as many others in her field of work. In fact it had helped her to find the Ring of Destiny. That was a truly trying day it was. That fan Rainbow Dash almost caused the destruction of an entire nation and her own pride contributed to it greatly. She hated asking for help. hated having to rely on others. No, she loathed it. That day, she realized after a long time she needed the help of others to succeed. She wasn't getting any younger and her rivals weren't either. The difference was they changed with the times, and their bodies, she hadn't.

It was foolish of her to think she could take on the world alone, but one heart break after another and one too many betrayals had steeled her heart. She found herself becoming reclusive as time went on finding it harder to trust in others. Ponies were vile greedy things and only cared for themselves in the end, she would tell herself. How wrong she had been. If it weren't for Rainbow Dash she very well might have been dead now. The damage Ahuizotal could have done would have been extensive had she not helped along with her friends. I really should find a way to thank them sometime. she thought.

She continued to write with a quill in her hoof scribbling notes down as she read on. The paper and the information was good, but poor Breeze suffered from terrible writing. I need to teach him the finer points to writing. she thought as she scribbled a last note on it before writing a A- on the paper. Once finished she placed the quill in her inkwell and placed all the graded papers into her 'Graded' folder to take to the university to give the students after break was over.

Daring stretched loosening her tight limbs from sitting all day at her desk. She felt better knowing she had no more papers to grade and she could submit her latest book to her editor. Bless her editors heart, had he not been there her books would have been rejected by even the most prestigious of editors and publishers alike. She was actually a terrible writer. Her ideas were great if she didn't suck at following grammatical rules. She looked over at her clock which read 1am.

"Man I was up all night?" she groaned flapping her wings lifting herself off the ground.

She flew into the kitchen in her mansion. It was a massive estate with over eighty rooms and a private training room where she trained to stay in top physical shape, much to the disdain of the female population at the university. She always managed to turn heads of stallions everywhere she went, even getting a few looks from mares over time.

She poured herself a glass of water, gulping it down quickly.

She washed the cup and placed it in a dry rack and flew off to her room. Unlike most pegasi she didn't like clouds and how soft they were. She instead had her mansion built like an earth pony or unicorn mansion with stone and wood. Earth tones were her style. Golds and dark browns lined her walls and she had several antique clocks about it. Paintings of her family doned the halls and her favorite artifact findings were placed on her trophy wall. She flew past a set of double doors before doubling back. She opened them to reveal a weapon room.

It was a small room compared to the others. A single light lit he entire room revealing several firearms along the walls. Ponies didn't use guns often, mostly because the didn't know how to , but Daring learned a few things over the years. And though she never used one before in aggression, she did know how to use them effectively. Her favorite was her Tactical P-4 Carbine (M-4). It was a flat black color and had a laser on the right side and a foregrip and nothing more than a basic looking carbine. She only had to use it once to scare off a few locals from one of her adventures in the frozen tundras of Stalliongrand, she had yet to use it since.

It was mounted on the wall above the rest. It had a special grip made for hooves, making it possible for her to use. and underneath was her Stalliongrand ballistic knife. That she did use, often. Only once did she use it to take a life and it was by accident no less. She lifted it from the wall mount and unsheathed it. She ran a hoof along the silver blade, reminiscing of times long past. Memories of her former lover, and how she ended his life after he turned on her gripped at her heart and she quickly sheathed the taunting blade.

She put it back on the wall and turned to leave. At the door she glanced one last time back at it before turning off the lights and closing the door behind her.

After the little detour Daring made her way back to her room. She showered and washed the day away. Her mane hung over her eyes while she stood on her hind legs using her arms as support against the wall. She allowed the water to pour on her as thoughts of her lover came rushing back into her head.

"Ace." she sighed.

She once thought that they'd be together forever. the two met long ago during an excavation at a pyramid in Saddle Arabia. That was her first job as an assistant to another archaeologist. She was fresh from Canterlot University and was eager to help fulfill her life long passion.That was also the first time she fell in love.

She had met an pegasus named Ace Wind and she fell for him the moment she laid eyes on him. They were friends at first but as the first week rolled on he really started to take notice of her. She was smart and eager to please. Had she known what he truly was, she'd had never let herself get so close. Turned out he was working with freelance mercenaries to steal the treasures within the pyramid.

When they go to the main chamber he revealed who he had been working with. That was when Daring met her arch enemy known as Ahuizotl. Ace had been working for him for over a year and was one of his most trusted treasure hunters. He'd defied Ahuizotl's orders by letting her and the others live which lead to their defeat in the end. In the end he gave his life to protect her from becoming a monster. It was a tough lesson for her but one that made a lasting impression on her for years to come.

She sighed as a old itch made its way to her. Thoughts of her first night of passion brought old feeling back, and she felt herself succumbing to her based desires for pleasure. She reached down between her legs and with slow rhythmic motions she rubbed herself. She slowly picked up the pace, panting as she felt was rising feeling deep in her crotch building up. She was sweating under the water and her own body heat built up making her pant from the overexerting heat.

"Ace." she moaned as tears formed in her eyes mixing with the water. "I'm so sorry." she sobbed.

She fell to the floor of her shower her wings flew open while she arched her back rubbing herself as quickly as possible with both her hooves. She moaned as the water rained down on her adding her pleasure. She arched her back as a final push made her scream releasing her fluids into the shower.

She laid there as the water pooled around her. She was enjoying the aftermath of her first orgasm after years. It wasn't much but it was something. Her mind still on Ace, she forced herself to wipe her tears away, the shower did but it made her feel better, and she forced herself up.

Drying herself off she wrapped the towel on her head to dry her mane. She then brushed herself and replaced the towel after about ten minutes of drying her mane and tail. Once she finished she retreated to her bed, her shower leaving her more drained than her actual work did. Her eyes became heavy as she rested under the thick covers. She thought about choices she made and how they'd affected her. What if she'd done things differently? Would Ace still be here? Would she be here? What if? that was the question she often wondered.

slowly her eyes shut and she fell into a deep sleep too exhausted to contemplate her place in the universe. The world would be there in the morning she reasoned.

Chapter 1: From Past to Dust

Daring awoke to the sound of her alarm clock ringing in her ears. Startled from it, she glared at the offending device before ramming her hoof down silencing it. She snuggled under the covers tempted to rest longer. Ultimately she decided to awaken to start her day. She got up not bothering with her mane, pulled on her favorite pink robe, and set off to the kitchen to make her breakfast.

After a quick meal of oat cereal and celery she picked up her mail at her mailbox. Standing at the gate she flipped through her letters until she came across a package on the floor. It was titled to Daring Do. "Oh, no.."

She quickly grabbed the package, her eyes darted side to side seeing if anypony was watching. Seeing no one around she made a bee line to her mansion and slammed the door shut. She panted wondering who could have sent the package to her. only a few ponies knew her alter persona and even fewer knew where she lived. She flew to her kitchen placing the package down on the table, eyeing it suspiciously.

There was no return address only a mark of a star tipped wand and a blue swirl of some kind. Daring racked her brain to remember where she'd seen the symbol before. It was at the tip of her tongue. An old friend? A fan? Obsessed student maybe? She couldn't for the life of her remember where she'd seen the mark before.

She ventured a guess thinking it was an old acquaintance of hers who she long forgot. Throwing caution to the wind she opened the package. Inside was a lot of paper packing something down in the center, and on top was a set of notes and a letter. Taking the letter in hoof, Daring unfolded it to see what it said.

Dear Daring Do,

You probably don't remember me but we use to know each other back in school while at Canterlot University. It was our second year in Ancient Cultures and Dialects with Professor Velvet Sparkle. Anyways, it took some time but I recently came across an artifact of great power and it slowly drove me to madness. Thankfully a rival close friend help me out of that and I'm doing better now.

While I was under its influence I heard whispers of another powerful device south of the Badlands and decided to take a journey to see if I was going crazy or not. Turns our I wasn't crazy. I found what I had thought existed for years! The couatl-pony civilization really did exist!

I know you might think I'm crazy so I sent you a small tablet from the site I found and hoped you could authenticate it. If it is the genuine article then it could change the history of pegasi and dragons! If you care, please tell me if it is the real deal and not a cheap fake. I'll be in Manehatten in a few days so I left my arcane sigil so you could send me a message quickly.

I know this is a lot to take in from somepony you probably don't remember but please, if you can help me with this I'd be eternally grateful. We use to be a good team back in school! Hope to hear from you soon!

Sincerely,

Trixie Lulamoon

Daring stared at the paper with a mixture of shock and anger. Now she remembered where she saw the symbol on the box before, Trixie. Loud, obnoxious, prideful little bitch. Daring hated her when they met and she really hated her after she came up with this crackpot theory that couatls were real and were the birth from the union of dragons and pegasi.

The unicorn was so sure of it based off an old text book her father owned that she went on a month long excavation to find the truth. The effort proved fruitless as she came back in shameful defeat. Daring remembered that day. Trixie rolled up to the University and was mocked by her peers and the professors alike, especially the pegasi. Daring didn't.

She felt the mare was being harassed for trying to find the facts. And the fact was she found nothing and she was mocked for it all throughout the years until she graduated. After her humiliation Daring opened up to Trixie becoming her friend when no one else would. The two shared stories and ideas regarding history and how ancient cultures influenced them. Trixie seemed fixated on the couatl-pony theory to the point it made Daring a bit upset. She gave good support to her theories based on a single account of a dragon and pegasus having a child with scales and feathers, but no documentation existed beside a paper written by a house nurse who was present which wasn't much to go off of.

She'd kept up with Trixie until two years ago when she seemed to drop from the face of the planet. At that point in her life, Daring was having trouble adjusting to her new classes with rowdy students, many of which were vying for her affections/attention, and she had no time to keep up on current events. What had she meant by being possessed from an evil artifact?

"I don't know what you've been up to Trixie, but I hope you're OK." she said pulling out the paper from the box.

Inside was a half complete stone tablet. It was old and weathered greatly. It was sandstone, early pegasi text from before the pre-classical era. From what the pegasus could gather it was random gibberish that made no sense. She decided to ask Trixie once she verified this tablet was indeed an ancient stone from long ago.

"Alright then. Let's see what my old colleague has for me this time." she said placing a rubber 'glove' over her hoof.

She took it down to her lab along with the box and letter placing it on a large table. She came back with a large device called a digital microscope. She ran it over to the table and pulled up an computer and prepared to take detailed pictures of the tablet. She placed the stone tablet under the scope and ran a series of tests and scans. Eventually she came up with several 3D images of the carvings in the sandstone tablet. All of which were weathered indicating they were all aged and none were made recently, except for a test scratch at the base. A technique used by geologists to help determine the age of a carving in stone by comparing a new carved scratch versus the old ones to help give a estimate on the age of the writings.

After some time and a series of tests Daring came to the conclusion that the tablet was indeed old and of ancient origin. Just to make sure though, she wanted it to be tested by someone familiar with this field. Trixie made a good call giving me this, anyone else might have thought it was trash. she thought placing the tablet in a silk cloth.

She then placed it in a pair of saddlebags along with all the notes Trixie had made with it. After quickly making herself presentable she put on her favorite adventure clothing and hat that she was iconic for and placed on her saddle bags. Pulling tightly on the straps she flew off into the city of Manehatten to seek out an old professor of geology she knew. He'd be able to tell her how old the tablet was.

After an hour of flying, Daring came upon an old museum called the Manehatten Museum of the Ancient World. Landing in front of the building she pushed open the large double doors leading in side. The museum was massive. It was three city blocks wide and two long. It had artifacts dating back thousands of years back before the founding of Equestria. It also had fossils of ancient beasts that made dragons seem tame and small.

Daring wandered the halls for a few minutes heading into the back of the museum. There she entered a door marked [employees only]. Inside she found the only she was looking for. A fat old unicorn stallion looked under a microscope inspecting. He hadn't notice her enter, he was fixated on his work. His eyes never left the scope but his horn glowed bright blue as a quill scribbled notes down on a paper beside him.

She put on a sly grin tip toeing closer to him like a silent ninja, she snuck behind the working stallion. she inhaled filling her lungs to capacity before screaming, "Yo RAGGY HOW'S IT GOING!?"

The stallion jumped screaming at the top of his lungs dropping his quill and spilling his ink all over the floor.

"Damnit Daring! Why do you do that?!" he scolded the pegasus, who was rolling on the floor gripping her sides with laughter. "You'll be the death of me I swear!" he yelled gripping his chest, his heart racing.

He rolled up a newspaper and swatted the golden pegasus with it. She squeaked rolling over bolting up into the air just out of reach.

"Aww, come on Professor Raggedy Bones! It was funny!"

"Not if you give me a heart attack it won't!" he said throwing the paper at her.

The paper bounced off her chest as she feigned agony. "Ah! My heart!" she gagged rolling on the floor, careful not to roll on the tablet in her saddlebags.

The stallion rolled his eyes at the mares antics. "Just what are you doing here you marechild? Honestly, you're like a kid that never grew up."

"Well at least I didn't grow as old as you." she rebutted.

"What do you want Daring?" he said with an exasperated sigh.

"Oh, right!" She jumped up picking into her bags pulling out the covered tablet. "Got a sandstone tablet in need of carbon dating sir." she said hoofing it over to him. He inspected the tablet for a minute before placing it on his desk.

"What's this?"

"A friend of mine found it and wanted it to be tested to determine it's age."

'Well this could take a while." he rolled the tablet over inspecting it. "What is this? Draconic from the pre-classical era?"

"My friend was researching a mythical ancient culture related to- wait did you say draconic? That's an old pegasus dialect it makes no sense." She said sternly.

The professor inspected it again before he scribbled something down. "No this IS draconic script." He said writing something down. He used his magic to levitate the paper to Daring so she could read it. "This here is the root word for power, tiranu, which in this script from what I can gather from it is done in a pegasus style of writing."

"That makes no sense!" daring darted over to the tablet poking it with her hoof. "I read it in pegasus script! It doesn't say anything!"

"It's draconic in a pegasus style. There's a difference." He wrote down more on the paper. Daring hovered over his shoulder to see. "The tablet reads something about an object but the half we need is missing. So of course I can't make sense of it without the other half. The tablet seems to be done in a Pre-classical era metaphorical style which requires the whole thing to be intact or the meaning is lost."

"You mean like a, what's it called, a cipher key or something?" she ventured a guess.

"Not exactly Daring." Raggedy replied. "A cipher only requires a word or key phrase. This style of writing is done so the whole text is the cipher in a way. That's the best I can do to explain it. Take for example I say, Juliet jumped from her balcony. Without the rest of the story, the context of Juliet and why she jumped is lost. Yes, we know she jumped but the finer point are lost because the rest is not there."

Daring nodded in understanding.

"By the way," Scraggy began his testing of the tablet. "Who found this? This is really amazing a discovery!"

"First off you mean, ' really an amazing discovery', second do you remember Trixie from a few years back in my class?"

The professor stopped dead in his tracks at the thought of the arrogant blue mare. Trixie was so prideful to the point it aggravated others. "I recall. Why?"

"She found this." Daring said in a serious tone. "She thinks it may very well be a clue to her father's journal from all those years ago."

"Interesting. Well, I'll know more by tomorrow. Come back and see me then." he said, shoving the mare out of his office. "And don't scare me with your antics again!" he yelled swatting her over the head with his newspaper.

"Gee, thanks Raggedy." she scoffed rubbing her sore head. Stallion had a nasty back swing with his magic. "Guess I better let Trixie know."

With that the mare flew back home leaving the stone tablet behind.

Later that night as Raggedy worked late into the night a silent predator slinked into this office unnoticed. He heard a noise turning to see his door open. The stallion stood up and walked over closing it. But before he could turn around, a striped hoof smacked it shut and he felt a pair of arms pinning him to the door. He managed to turn his head to see a pair of masked zebra mares holding him down wearing white Saddle Arabian garbs for desert traveling consisting of white clothes and capes with hoods and masks. Beside them was Daring's most hated rival.

"Ahuizotl." Raggedy sneered.

"Ah, the famous Professor Raggedy Bones." The blue beast exclaimed in heavy sarcasm. He clapped his hands together giving him a wicked smile. "So glad you stayed behind to help me!"

The stallion snorted. "Like I'd ever help a scum bag like you."

Thwack! The zebra mare holding him elbowed the back of his head, thrusting it into the door. He glared back at her with a bloody muzzle. She smirked at him. She was much taller than him, easily the size of Princess Luna, and was a massive bulk of muscles. The other was smaller and slimmer. Ahuizotl laughed using his tail to lift the tablet up from the table.

"Well, regardless your are instrumental in my plans." he snapped his fingered paw and the zebras tied and gagged him. "Take him to the ship. We set forth in the morning once we've acquired the other half of the tablet. Now, off we go!"

As they set off leaving the door open, Ahuizotal cackled. His laugh echoed all throughout the museums halls as the sun rose over Manehatten.

Chapter 2: Flight Home

[Shortly after Daring left the museum]

Daring had just left the museum and was heading towards home. She flew over the tall buildings heading to the south end of the city. She greatly enjoyed flying. Then again so did every pegasus that wasn't scared of heights. Yes, those exist it was rare but some pegasi had a phobia of heights for varied reasons.

As the wind blew into her mane she closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling of freedom. This was true freedom. No restrictions to movement, she could go anywhere she wanted. She was empowered. Nothing could stop her. She flew as fast as legally possible reaching neck breaking speeds that would have put Rainbow Dash to the test. She zigzagged between the towering buildings with ease like she were water completely unhindered by the large obstructions.

Daring thought back to Trixie as she passed over her mansion. She decided at that moment to take a detour around her property to see how it looked. Even though she was a pegasus, she never really flew anywhere. She always preferred to walk like a unicorn or earth pony. Flying was still one of her favorite pastimes none the less.

Along the way she thought back to her school days with Trixie. The mare was very obnoxious back then she wondered how she was now these days. She was so sure of herself and her self wort,h like she was Celestia's gift to the world. So prideful and arrogant. The only time she showed any signs of being humble were the times she talked bout the coatl-pony civilization she was obsessed about. Now, Daring was open to any idea as long as there was evidence to support it but even she had to admit Trixie's theories on such a civilization were a bit on the wild side. That was putting it mildly.

According to Trixie, and her fathers journal, there once existed a powerful civilization of dragon/pony hybrids called the coatls. They were strange creatures with two distinct types. The first were pony shaped beings roughly 5 feet in height with scales and fur that had long serpent like tails and horns of dragons. She claimed they were able to breath fire and use magic at the same level of a average unicorn.

The second were ten to twenty foot long serpents with scales as strong as diamonds, and had majestic bird like wings and two long arms with five claws on them. These coatls were able to fly, breath fire, and use magic but their fire breath was far better than their magic using pony like counterparts.

To Daring it sounded like somepony was hitting the salt a little hard one day while high off sugar. Never the less she heard the unicorns "theories" and was very supportive of her horned friend. Even though she didn't believe in the things Trixie was saying she even helped her translate lines of text in the unicorn's journal. It was hard work translating text of ancient cultures but the knowledge they revealed was worth the effort, if it was done correctly.

The journal was amazing in the details it had about the supposed coatl-ponies. Apparently they were a very advanced civilization for the time dating back thousands of years. They had an advanced understanding of the stars and the cosmos, especially celestial navigation, and unlike many cultures they were a solar calendar based civilization. They revered the sun as a goddess, and had temples throughout their territory dedicated to the sun. It mentioned that these temples were essential to the worlds survival and how every summer solstice the coatl-ponies would make a live sacrifice at each temple to postpone the end of days until the next solstice.

It was truly fascinating to read but Daring never took it to heart. Trixie on the other hoof was convinced of the authenticity of the content within the journal to the point of absurdity in Daring's eyes. She couldn't recall much beyond that.

Eager to see her old, friend again she hurried home remembering she had a means to contact Trixie. After a few minutes Daring arrived home. She landed within the massive gates surrounding her mansion. Stone walls surrounded the property and at the front was a massive gate made of iron bars that lead to a fountain. She opened her large double doors entering the mansion. Once she was inside she flapped her wings gently just so she could hover, and slowly made her way down the halls until she reached her study.

ON the desk she worked at the previous night was the package Trixie sent her. The letter was on the top of a pile of papers with the box off to the side of the desk. She flew over her desk, adjusting herself, she landed in her chair. It was her favorite, a red velvet seat with extra cushions for added comfort. She reached for a drawer pulling it out revealing a pile of blank paper. Taking one out Daring took a quill and began to write.

Dear Trixie,

Daring here. I remember you from our classes at CU. How have you been? Haven't seen you in a while. Hoping everything is alright with what happened to you regarding that thing you mentioned before. I had a friend look at the tablet you brought me and I think you may have something of worth here.

He should be done later tonight or tomorrow, so if you want you can come to my place. I'd like the chance to catch up with you since we haven't seen each other over a few years. Honestly I didn't think you'd remember me. Sorry, that was rude of me. Anyways I live on 1110 Pinetree Ave. the big mansion on the street. well, more like the only mansion you can't miss it.

If you have any trouble finding it send back a letter and I'll come find you if you get lost. I'm looking forward to seeing my long lost friend again!

Best wishes,

Daring

Once the letter was written Daring put it in a nice brown envelop and applied the sigil Trixie sent with her letter as the seal. Daring used this kind of letter system before. It was called the flash fire system. Unicorns would often use it to send letters far distances to one another without the need for the slow paced mail service. All one had to do was apply the unicorns personal sigil and place it into a flame and off it went in a smokey wisp. This is what Daring did. The wisp of her letter flew off into the distance like a serpent in a sea of blue.

It reminded her of her last great adventure into the Everfree Forest. She fought a mighty serpent in a river to get the golden ring. It was a hard battle. The best was strong and its grip was sound. She nearly died trying to escape the serpents grasp. As it turned out he didn't know Daring was even there. The serpent had been napping when she happened to pass by and he stretched accidentally grappling her into a death grip hold to use her as a pillow.

The giant serpent awoke to the sound of her struggling releasing her instantly. The poor guy was so sorry he hurt her and offered to give her directions since she had been lost at the time.

"huh, such a nice guy he was." she sighed thinking it was ironic that such a peaceful beast was the thing that early did her in.Just as she finished her thoughts a wisp came into sight rolling into itself before popping into a scroll sealed with a ribbon.

"Wow, that was fast." she said taking the scroll and unbinding it.

Dear Daring,

Glad to hear you remember Trixie! I was afraid you wouldn't remember me. Anyways I'll be passing by Manehatten tomorrow so I'll stop by then. We can talk and catch up while we wait for your friend to finish with the tablet I sent you. I'll hurry over as fast as I can!

See you soon!

Trixie

Daring smiled rolling up the scroll and set it aside. She leaned back in her chair resting her back, which had been awfully sore these last few days, allowing it to recover. She sighed as relief came over her back and wings. After a good minutes rest she got up and walked the halls of her home inspecting everything along the way. She made her way to her room which was still a mess. A musky smell lingered in the room forcing her to cough.

"Ugh, it reeks in here!" she exclaimed dashing to a window and opening it.

A breeze of fresh air blew in taking the smell out of the room. She sighed in relief. Daring looked around her room, piles of clothes laid on the floor among papers and several books/journals. Many o them had writing scribbled on the sides of pages with details she wrote or personal thoughts to whatever she had been reading at the time.

"Guess i better clean up." she said picking up a book to start organizing the mess she had. "I really shouldn't be so lazy, but I think I'll hire a maid. Maybe a cute Prench mare."

She cracked a smile as she piled the books and journals to the side when something caught her eye. An old text book from her CU days laid open on the floor with a picture of her and Trixie. Daring was as she is now except she wore a brown jacket instead of her signature adventure outfit and Trixie was in a frilly pink dress with her hair in a ponytail.

"I remember this. We had this taken shortly after we became friends." The pegasus smiled at the happy memory of her friend. "We really were a good team that one time." she sighed placing the photo on her desk. As she cleaned she occasionally looked over to the photo hoping that Trixie was safe where ever she was.

Chapter 3: Adventure is on the Horizon!

The day after professor Raggedy was taken, a cloaked mare walked the streets of Manehatten pulling a cart behind her. It was a familiar cart that anyone who read the paper would recognize. Trixie. She walked the streets of Manehatten searching for her friends place of residence. Following the instructions provided to her by the letter Daring sent she found her way to Pinetree Ave. Off in the distance she saw the aforementioned mansion where Daring Do lived or A. K. Yearling as she preferred to be called. She didn't need it but it was nice of Daring to offer her address openly.

Some ponies avoided her, other shot her nasty looks or comments. A few, but not many, threw things at her forcing her to erect a protective barrier around her and her cart. She paid them no mind for she had redeemed herself in the eyes of the only pony that mattered and that pony was Twilight Sparkle.

Being friends with the personal student of Princess Celestia would go a long way to regaining her ruined reputation. From the letter it sounded like Daring either didn't know of her bad rep or she didn't care. Either way it would be nice to feel welcome for a change. She made her way down Pinestreet Ave and it didn't take long for her to arrive at Daring's mansion. True to her word it was easy to find, being the only one on the entire block. She pulled up to the front gate and stood in awe of the sight before her.

It is huge! She thought taking a step back to get a whole view as best she could. After spending a few minutes inspecting the great wall before her she approached the gate, and with a gentle nude she opened it and pulled her cart inside. She followed a stone brick path that circled around a massive water feature at the center of the property between the gate and the mansion itself. She parked her cart next to the water feature. Unhinging herself she approached the two large double doors and gave a firm knock on the with her hoof.

After waiting a good minute the doors clicked and slowly the left door began to slide inwards revealing a golden hoof. A golden pegasus mare with a black and grey streaked mane stuck her head out. The two ponies grinned at the sight of the other. Trixie was the first to speak up.

"Good to see you again Daring." she said haughty tone. "Still stuffing it with mummies older than you?"

"Great to see you too Trixie." Daring replied with a smile. "Still bloated from all that hot air in your ego I see."

"Ouch." Trixie gave a mock hurt look.

Both mares laughed and hugged each other.

"Oh Trixie you're a riot!" the golden mare bellowed in amusement. "How have things been?"

The blue mare fidgeted at the question, averting her gaze from her friend.

"It's been a very long trying few weeks." she said lowering her head in shame.

The golden mare opened the door beckoning Trixie entry. "Why don't you come inside and we can talk over a cup of tea?" she said standing to the side allowing her friend to pass.

"Thanks."

Daring closed the door behind her and joined Trixie in the main hall of her home. The two walked the halls of the mansion leading to Daring Do's study/library. Along the way Trixie told her about her misadventures in Ponyville and how she came across an ancient artifact that made her enslave the same town. Daring all the while listened intently.

"-and that's how Twilight saved Trixie from that horrible amulet." she finished telling her tale.

Trixie looked over to the golden pegasus trying to asses what she was thinking. Daring was deep in thought. She knew of the alicorn amulet, powerful dark and turned anyone who possessed it evil. Any sane pony would have to be mad to seek it out and Trixie was clearly no madmare. At the same time she seemed ignorant of the side effects until it was too late. Once again Trixie acted on the fly and nearly got herself in trouble along the way.

She shook her head at the unicorn with a look of disappointment.

"Oh, Trixie."

"What?" Trixie asked irritated. "Are you going to lecture me too? Oh Trixie why didn't you think of the consequences of your actions? Why this? Why that?" she asked in a aggravated tone.

"I'm not going to lecture you. Nor am I going to judge you. You've had enough of that for as long as I've known you." Daring replied in a calm tone wrapping her wing around Trixie. "I'm your friend. Always was. Always will be."

Trixie blushed from the comment. This was the second time Daring had said that and by the heavens above she meant it. Trixie knew she did. This was the second time she told her. The first time was back in Canterlot University. She felt welcome in Daring's embrace instead of the outcast she was to the outside world. Here she was welcome. Here she was safe.

The two ponies entered the study and sat at the large desk Daring had been grading papers the night before. Daring sat at the center of the desk with Trixie at her side. Daring folded her arms leaning back in her chair as Trixie dug through her saddlebags.

"So, what you got for me Trix?" Daring asked in a sly tone.

Trixie stopped for a moment glaring at the pegasus, who smiled innocently.

"Har, har, you dare to mock Trixie?"

Daring facehooved at the terrible pun on her name. "Trixie! Why?! It hurts my brain!"

"You need one in order for it to hurt." she replied continuing to dig in her bags.

"Ouch. That hurt deep Trix." Daring clenched her heart dramatically. "I think I'll die from the ache you put on my old heart!"

Trixie giggled at the concept of an old decrepit Daring still running around on adventures with her arch enemy. Trixie pulled out an object out covered in brown leather. Placing it to the side she gave Daring a quizzical look. Daring, can Trixie ask you a question of a personal nature?" The pegasus nodded. "Why do you write about your adventures?"

Daring thought about this. No one ever asked her what she wrote them for. Was it fame? No she didn't need it being famous at school with her students was enough. Fortune? Nope, she lived off her parents fortune and the royalties from her books. In the end she could only think of one reason.

"I honestly don't know, I guess for fun? I never really had anything before I became a teacher and adventurer. I love my students and my job but I need the adventure to keep me going. Its-"

"Your motivation in life isn't it?" Trixie finished.

"Yes!" Daring exclaimed grabbing her hooves. "You understand?! The need for the thrills the adrenaline! A simple life is nice and all but it's not the same as living."

"Trixie understands." she unwrapped the leather revealing a small green leather journal. "This belonged to my father. It catalogs everything he discovered on the ancient coatl-pony civilization. Every clue, every secret, every translation he made, it's all here."

Daring inspected the book flipping all the pages seeing several pages full f text and diagrams. A few pictures were taped inside and several were full of draconic text. She picked a random one opening it up.

"Day 387. Found a temple ruin and blah blah blah... found the remains of a pony serpent hybrid?"

Trixie nodded. She glanced around the room. There was large cases full of books ranging from archaeology to mythology and beyond. It was fascinating to read.

"So how did you find the tablet, and where did you find it?" Daring asked Trixie handing the journal over to her.

The blue mare set it down on the desk opening it to a page with a map of Equestria with a red pen mark leading to a place deep in the Badlands. Trixie pointed to the end of the line.

"There. And that's where we'll find the answers we need." she looked over to her friend. "How's it going with the tablet Trixie gave you?"

The golden pegasus looked at the clock. It was nearly time to go meet the professor. She folded up the book handing it back to Trixie. She nodded to the clock not taking her eyes off her. "we're going to meet him in about thirty minutes. Let's talk about this later, for now let's just catch up for old times sake." the pegasus said standing up.

Trixie followed suit after placing her journal back in her saddlebag. The two left the mansion but not before Daring went to her personal armory and got her Buck-18 sidearm. She holstered it under her signature coat and gathered a whip she had taken a shine to in her last adventure. Lastly she donned her adventures hat feeling complete. She struck a heroic pose admiring herself in a mirror when she heard a voice that wasn't hers.

"Ah, Trixie sees she isn't the only one to bask in her own glory. How fitting of somepony of your caliber." Trixie said smugly at the now blushing pegasus.

Daring Do, hunched over trying to become as small as possible. she glared at the blue unicorn before huffing past her. Trixie broke into a fit of giggles as she followed her mocking her all the way to the front gate. The two walked in the streets heading for the museum.

The two shared stories about their lives over the last few years. Daring told her story of her most recent adventure with Rainbow Dash and the Elements of Harmony. The two shared stories all the way up to the museum. Once there Daring showed Trixie around while heading for Dr. Raggedy's office.

When they came up to the door Daring went to knock. As her hoof made contact with the door it slid open. She slowly opened it peeking inside.

Raggedy?" she called out. "Raggedy you here?"

No response came. She pushed open the door and took a look around. She glanced around the room nothing seemed out of place. Trixie gasped pointing to the floor.By her hoof was a speckle of red. Daring looked over it and realized it was blood.

"Raggedy."

She stood up rubbing the blood on the floor. Trixie came over looking at the red smudge. She scrunched her nose at it. "Do you think it belongs to your friend?"

"One way to find out." she said walking to the security room. The two went through the surveillance footage of the museum until they found the time and place where Raggedy was taken. They observed his abduction and the ponies involved. The one that Daring took the most notice of was the blue fuzzball she knew most of her life. The evil cackle that sent chills down as her reared up to mock his prey staring right at the camera pointing at it as he left with his accomplices and Raggedy, flipping off the camera with his tail as he did.

"Ahuizotal." she bared her teeth punching the monitor.

"Trixie?"

"Hmm?"

"We're going to meet an old school friend."

"Is it anypony Trixie knows?"

"Oh you do. She was the one who mocked you since the start of your little venture." Trixie frowned. This pony was hard to deal with and she knew exactly who it was too. Dairng noticed this and hugged her blue friend. "Don't worry this has nothing to do with the past. But Ahuizotal took Raggedy, he's... kind of a father to me in a way." she said with a hushed tone like she was afraid someone would hear.

"Don't worry Daring." Trixie hugged her with one arm. "Trixie understands. Let's go see her. Let's go see Fleur de Lis."

Chapter 4: Friends or Enemies?

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 5 Out to Sea or Sky

Author's Note

Another day, another adventure!

Welcome back friends and readers alike!

So now the epic quest of Daring Do and Trixie Lulamoon continues after a short rest. Now we begin the epic quest i promised from so long ago!
\Sorry for the delay, just wanted to finish a few other fics before continuing.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 5 Out to Sea or Sky

As Daring ran through the streets of Manehatten, her eyes burned with righteous fury that rivaled that of Celestia's sun. She thought of how she would make Fleur beg and plead before delivering her to Death himself. Oh, she was mad, and in her mind rightfully so. She plowed through groups of ponies and shoved carts out of her way as she made a bee line to the docks.

Trixie had trouble keeping up with the golden pegasus. While very fit and athletic, she was still a showmare first and athlete second. Even in her peek condition Daring had years more experience in physical fitness. Her little hate filled rage also helped.

Trixie apologized to everypony Daring plowed to the ground as she past, earning some confused looks from the ponies she assisted.

As she finally reached her friend, Daring made a mighty leap into the air over a cart as Trixie skidded right into the side of it. The cart toppled over as Trixie flew over it like she was catapulted over it, landing in a mares cabbage stand.

"You fiend! You monster!" the green mare yelled at her face. "Yo-you destroyed my cabbages!"

"Ma'am, Trixie apologizes for your cabbages, but-"

"TRIXIE LET'S GO!" Daring swooped down, taking hold of the blue unicorn flying off without missing so much as a beat. "WE HAVE To GET TO THE DOCKS! QUIT SCREWING AROUND!"

As she lifted up over the city, the ponies turned to the size of ants as they soared through the sky. A few minutes later, Trixie spotted Fleur dashing down the street with a set of saddlebags on her. Pointing to the fleeing unicorn, Trixie called to get Daring's attention.

"Down there! I see Fleur!"

"Where!?"

"She turned left heading towards the south docks!" Trixie affirmed pointing, making daring turn to peruse. "If we hurry we might be able to catch her!"

Daring darted down towards the alley where Fleur fled down. She landed placing Trixie a few steps back and hid around the corner, Trixie stayed close behind. The golden pegasus took a quick glance down the alley, spying on the tall unicorn mare as she glanced around to get her bearings before darting down another alley towards the docks.

There they saw her board a large ferry as it departed for the open sea. Daring could have easily caught up with it but remembered she had Trixie to carry if she did. Going to the designated dock area the two mars came across a younger mare pegasus. She was sky blue with a white mane and wore a leather flight jacket.

The mare was sleeping on a small chair leaning back against the wall of a building with the number 12 on it in big yellow numbers. Daring fluttered over to the mare and tapped her on the chest. When the mare didn't respond she tapped her rising chest, again no response. Finally having enough the golden pegasus gave Trixie a mischievous grin she put her back leg behind one of the supporting legs and pushed it from under the other fall.

The young mare flailed and gave a high pitched squeal. "Dah hell dis?!"

"Hey wake up sun shine." Daring said looming over her.

"Ugh. I's doo early." she groaned rubbing her head groggily.

Trixie glared at her golden friend, walking over an d helping the mare up.

"Tanks friend." she said to Trixie.

"Think nothing of it miss." Trixie dusted her off. "We need help."

"Aye and help is what I can do! How can I help you?" the pegasus jumped straight up her wing tips fluttering as she gently glided to the floor with a big happy grin.

Daring stepped forward shoving the paper Fancy Pants gave her into the pegasus face. The mare went cross eyed trying to read it but only saw a blur of paper and black. "What's this?" she took the paper in hoof reading it. Once again she donned a big smile nodding. "Oh! I'd be glad ta help! Come! Come! Let me show you my fa- I mean my ship!"

The pegasus led Daring and Trixie into a large warehouse. It was very worn and torn from years of abuse and weathering with no real maintenance done to it. The mare opened two large doors that were as tall as the warehouse at about fifty feet tall, but one got stuck halfway.

"Damn these old doors!" she swore kicking the stuck door, rattling it loudly.

Trixie rolled her eyes and used her magic to assist the struggling pegasus, easily opening the doors. As the door flew open, the mare fell to the ground completely unaware the unicorn helped opening it.

"Ha! That'll show you door!" she flew up striking a cocky pose looking at the offending door. "That'll teach you to mess with Skyhook!" she declared laughing before flying into the darkened warehouse.

Trixie and Daring stood at the entrance to the warehouse wondering what the little pegasus was doing. Not more than a few seconds later they got their answer. From the back of the warehouse, a row of lights lit up in a row, followed by the next row, then the next, so on and so forth, until the whole warehouse was lit up revealing a large airship.

Trixie and Daring had seen airships before, but this one was like no other. It was as long as the entire warehouse and just as tall, but one part, a large fin like section at the rear of the ship was submerged in water. The hull was shaped like a tuning fork with the bridge clarey on the top 'prong' and the other below just above the water line. It had a midsection where the fork like structure attached to two massive engines in the back with giant shield like structures on each one. Along the hull was a series of several smaller structures that covered every angle of the ship, they looked like cannons but weren't traditional cannons by the look of them.

The two ponies stared in awe of the ship as Skyhook, came flying down beside them looking up at the ship with pride.

"Nice ins't it? It's my pride and joy! The most advanced airship in the world!" She flew up to a long bone colored structure that ran through the center of the ship like a claw pierced it. "This here is the main gas chamber! Made of reinforced steel! No longer will birds come flying by piercing it and spelling certain doom to us!" she then flew to the window of the warehouse glaring at a seagull perched atop a wooden dock pillar. "That's right! I'm talking to you, you shithawks!"

"Squaw!"

"BAH!"

She retreated to the two mares who finally found their voices. "So, you like?"

"Are you sure it'll fly?" Daring asked looking at the metal behemoth. She ran a hoof over the surface feeling the cold steel. "It most weigh a ton!"

"Actually it weighs more along the range of 600 tons. It's all steel!" she said proudly.

"How's that possible!?"

"Magic." she whispered waving her hooves in a mysterious manner sliding down a ramp into Daring's face.

"Sounds good enough for Trixie. now about Ahuizotl?"

That snapped Daring out of her stupor. "Right! yes! We need to launch immediately!"

"Nope! We aren't leaving until we discuss payment!" Skyhook said cutting them off.

"But we need to stop Ahuizotl! He's going to destroy the world!" Daring yelled at her shoving her to the side. She then felt a tug on her tail. She turned to see Trixie holding her back with her aura.

"Daring... How much?" the unicorn asked.

"How much? Let's see..." she trailed off for a few seconds thinking. "How about 50?"

"50?"

"50 thousand." Skyhook clarified.

"50 THOUSAND!?! What kind of shit rate is that?!" Daring leapt for the pegsus but came short due to Trixie's hold on her.

The showmare stepped forward, pulling out a large bag of bits and throwing them to the ground near Shykooh. "We can pay you 30 thousand now, plus another 30, when we get back."

The young pegasi's eyes went wide seeing the bag before her. She knelt down and lifted up the bag counting the bits inside. After a minute she closed the bag grinning. "Alright ladies you got yourselves a ship. Welcome aboard the Prometheus." she shook Trixie's hoof.

Skyhook then put the bag in her jacket and lead them up a ramp and into the airship. From outside the ship was massive, but being inside made one respect the giant metal behemoth. The corridors were simple metal surfaces with large windows on the hull to see outside, and the supports were so close that they had to walk in a line to get by.

There were ten crew ponies running about the ship doing various tasks until they reached the bridge. It too was very simple and bare. The bridge was semi circular in shape, with the rounded edge serving as the front with a larger glass dome and the pilot seat was at the front on a suspended frame where the dome went beneath him.

To the left was a communication station, and to the right was a navigator station, and in the center was a large chair where Skyhook took a seat. Trixie and Daring took positions beside the young pegasus. As she barked orders to the crew.

"Alrighty then everypony! Let's get the show on the road! Or in this case the sky!"

With that the Prometheus was up in the sky in seconds following the smokey trail of a large ferry heading out to sea.

Trixie and Daring knew this was it. It was time to face Ahuizotl and save the world, but neither could predict what the outcome could be....

Chapter 6 Song of the Dragons

Three days. For three days the crew of the Prometheus followed the ferry out to sea. There was no doubt Ahuizotl knew they were following close behind. Anypony on the deck would be able to see the hulking airship following them.

On the Prometheus, Trixie was hard at work on studying her fathers journal. Well, more like rereading it. The truth was she'd memorized the leather bound journal years ago and could see the pages in perfect detail in her sleep. It was nighttime and well past the midnight hour going into the third day and Trixie hardly said a word the entire time.

Obsessive? Yes, but it made her happy. Daring watched the blue mare study her fathers journal from her bed inside one of the guest bedrooms on the Prometheus. It was a simple room. Wooden floors with steel walls and ceiling, two beds on either side of the room and the door between them. At the head of the room opposite of the door was a desk with a window to the outside. The desk was a dark wood and had a single candle lighting the area, and Trixie was hunched over the desk with some reading glasses on and her hair tied back in a ponytail.

Daring just watched her read and taking notes for over an hour before she decided to see what the mare was doing. She did a few quick stretches and flexed her wings then with a few flaps she lifted off the bed and hovered over Trixie. The mare was scribbling a note down then stopped hearing her pegasus roommate hovering over her.

She paused placing the pen down and lit her horn again to lift a nearby pillow over the golden mare. Not noticing it, being too interested in what the unicorn wrote, Daring never saw the pillow loom over her with ill intent. There was a loud PHOMP! as the pillow struck down on her head making her look around wildly to see a pillow over her head. She flipped over to he side of the room just as the pillow struck again but missing her completely, Instead it hit Trixie in the face. A cloud of feathers flutter helplessly to the ground and the pillow slipped off revealing a feather cover faves with an angry scowl.

The blue mare glared at her friend who snickered at the sight.

"Oh, Har har, laugh it up while you can, Daring."

The pony in question slid down the wall and onto the bed her favorite hat falling to the floor. She grinned playfully at Trixie who gave her a confused look. "What?" the blue mare asked.

Daring looked at Trixie with a dumb look, specifically her eyes. "You have very pretty eyes Trixie. Has anypony told you that?"

"What? No! Why are you saying such things dummy?!" she asked flustered by the compliment.

Daring got a playful grin jumping on Trixie when she was too flustered to pay attention to what was going on around her.

The two laughed and continued their bout until they were to exhausted to continue. They fell back on their beds and panted the room littered with pillow feathers. For several minutes they just laid in bed staring at the ceiling of the metal hull. Outside the moon shined brightly over the open ocean.

The sight was beautiful. And both mares couldn't help but be captivated by the sight. With no lights to tarnish the view, the moon slight was at full power to mesmerize all who looked upon it with wonder.

They watched as the ship flew in pursuit of the ferry where Ahuizotl was. The one bad thing about this airship was it wasn't much faster than a yacht. It was an impressive ship but had little engine power to move its hulking mass. The the captain, Skyhook was very proud of her ship and commanded it with extreme care. She deeply cared for the ship and her crew.

Trixie loved the view of the ocean. Despite never being able to fly she always got a kick out of flying. She'd never speak of it openly but to her, flying was the ultimate freedom. She wished she was born a pegasus.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Daring sat beside her and wrapped her wings around her, like a coat.

"What's wrong, Trixie?" she asked her friend.

Trixie gave a weak grin. "I'm just reminiscing."

"About what?"

"My father. My life. How things could have been different." the unicorn answered.

"You're worried about Ahuizotl getting away with Fleur?"

"Yes." Trixie said bitterly. "All my life I was ridiculed for my failures and now I lost a close friend to a monster."

Trixie leaned back into the mares chest feeling her pull on her with her wings. She felt herself becoming sleepy from the long day she had studying her fathers journal for the last three days with little sleep.

Daring allowed her friend to rest. She herself was tired not sleeping well since her friend Candid was murdered by Fleur de Lis. She was also worried about Bones. He was an old stallion and had no place out in the wilderness. He often scolded Daring for being to daring. Heh, daring. she thought, giving a light chuckle.

While Trixie slept Daring stared out the viewport at the sea.

"It's so lovely, isn't it Trixie?"

"Mmmm...." Trixie wriggled into the mares chest in deep slumber.

Daring smiled pressing her nose against the sleeping mares cheek. "And so are you."

They laid together in bed for hours until the moon had reached its peak. Then as time went on they heard singing. It was very soft at first but then got a bit louder as time progressed on. Daring's ear twitched slightly to the right like a small radar homing in on a signal of harmonious music and voices.

Trixie awoke from her slumber hearing the same singing that daring did. It sang in the native tongue of Stalliongrand. Accompanied by a musical chorus and instrumental. They looked at each other wondering who it could have been that was singing. Al during the journey nopony sang, this was the first time they ever heard singing.

Getting up they followed the voices of the song deeper into the ship. Halfway through they realized they were't heading in the right direction and doubled back heading outwards of the ship center. Eventually the reached one of the main hallways that lead to a large observation deck closed off to non-personnel.

They slipped in when no one was around and closed the door behind them. Inside was a room on the starboard side of the ship with a large domed window that was actually a large water tank filled about 2/3rds. Inside was a blue/purple pony-fish like hybrid swimming around inside singing as he gazed up at the star with a sextant, and wrote something down on a waterproof parchment. He was three times the length of a pony and as tall as Celestia herself. He had two arms and hooves with smaller fins about halfway down his body. A large dorsal fin stood tall upon his head and went down his scaled back.

After a few notes he'd submerge and swim to the other side of his room sized tank and resurface to scribble another note down. He continued this until he finished his song along with his small music box at the side of his tank. Several bookcases lined the room along with a large oval bed with plush red pillows on it. It was rather lavish compared to the spartan confines of the ship.

Trixie and Daring entered the room knocking as they did getting his attention. He turned quickly and stared at them for a minute before he donned a silly grin.

"Welcome! Please come in!" he greeted his visitors. "Please make yourselves at home. I've been expecting you two!"

He swam around in his water tank while Trixie and Daring sat on the nearby floor looking at each other with curious looks. They knew they were thinking the same thing.

Moments later the aqua pony leapt out from his tank and began flying about the cabin to his books. With his long flipper ended arms he flipped through pages of several books before discarding them behind him like they were garbage.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to come find me. I was expecting to go find you." he said throwing another book into a large pile behind him. "Ah, here we are!"

He flew down in front of Daring and Trixie shoving a large leather bound tome into Trixie's face. The unicorn took the book in her hooves looking it over. It was a anatomy book about Coatls and other pony dragon hybrids, with detailed diagrams on their hybrid offspring. Daring was interested by the book and its contents. She'd never believed in the Coatls before and she was still wrapping her head around this but the loss of her friends still weighed heavily on her heart.

She still swore she would not rest until both Fleur and Ahuizotl both paid for the deaths of her friends. But Trixie seemed to be excited about the book.

"Is this all real?!" the unicorn asked excited before staring awkwardly at the pony floating over her. "What are you if you don't mind Trixie asking?"

He floated there staring at the mares, never losing his silly grin until a voice cut through the silence.

"His name is Echo, and he's a siren." the voice of Skyhook said as she entered the room.

The pegasus sauntered over to the floating siren wrapping her arm around his neck pulling him until they were cheek to cheek. The siren smiled, his large fin folded down against his neck as he blushed trying to look away. Skyhook grinned mischievously at him.

"He's the best navigator this side of the Great Ocean. He's also an expert on pony hybrids." she leaned closer to the two mares and whispered, "He's obsessed with them. Like you two."

But Daring was having none of that. "I am not obsessed." she said in mock annoyance nudging Trixie.

"But she is."

That made Trixie scoff in an annoyed tone.

"Well, excccuusse Trixie for following in her fathers hoofsteps!" she said with a huff.

Everyone laughed at the mares haughty attitude. She too joined in the laughter. Once composed Daring turned to the male siren inquisitively. "So, what were you singing a moment ago?"

He broke free from Skyhook, making her frown, and flew up beside Daring. "It's an old war hymn from Stalliongrand. As old as the seas themselves." he claimed waving his finned hoof dramatically. "I sing all the time too. Wanna hear another song?"

"Echo stop pestering our guests." Skyhook warned the siren. "Anyways, Ahuizotls' ship is heading south now we should be able to catch them soon."

While the mares conversed, Echo's ear twitched to the side after he heard a soft hissing noise. He quickly shot up into his tank and pressed his face against the domed glass and watch the motionless ocean. A long rippled came across the surface as a long body emerged only to quickly submerge into the water.

The mares realized he was watching outside intently and walked up to his tank. Skyhook tapped his tank, but his gaze never left the ocean. irritated from being ignored Skyhook tapped the glass again.

"Echo! What are you doing?" she asked. "Do you see something?"

Just then a loud hissing roar echoed throughout the ship. From the ocean a large serpent emerged from the water with a large saber tooth maw. Its scales were layered like plate armor down its back and had a large beak like snout with a tan underbelly. Long scale hair like follicles stuck out from the under armor plates of its scales. It let out one massive roar making everyone cover their ears.

Skyhook quickly dashed to the door and flew down the halls like a madmare screaming, "A hooves to battle stations! Sea serpent off port!"

Chapter 7: Battle of Steel and Teeth

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.