Treasure hunters of Equestria

Chapter 2 - Fated

   As I entered town, there were two things I immediately found to be odd. First of all, there were a lot of ponies outside, which is unusual considering how early it was, or maybe I just like to sleep in. The second thing I noticed was that they were all heading the same direction, and not paying much attention to me, which was incredibly odd because usually when I entered town with a saddlebag full of treasure I got crowded around pretty quickly. I nudged an older stallion and asked him about it.

"What's going on? Where's everypony going?" The stallion looked shocked.

"To see Daring Do of course! She just came back from her latest adventure?"

I frowned. "Daring who?"

The stallion seemed to nearly faint of shock. "You don't know DARING DO?" I shook my head. "She's famous for bringing back famous artifacts that were lost long ago and giving them to museums!" I rolled my eyes. I used to be interested in certain celebrity treasure hunters when I was a little colt, but most of them had turned out to be fake. A question came to mind.

"So how does she make a living if she doesn't sell the treasure?"

"I'm sure the museums pay a nice price, why?"

"Well I've got an attic full of this crap and I-" The stallion cut me off.

"Sorry! I'm going to be late! I've got to go!" And with that, he ran off towards the middle of town. I shrugged and figured I'd follow him.

   I must say I was quite shocked at what I found. First of all, I expected she'd have some giant bag of fake treasures, maybe some bead necklaces to throw to the kids like a parade. She actually didn't seem to have any treasure on her. Second of all, she was soaking wet. And finally, she was really hot, even though her grey mane and yellow coat were completely drenched. As I approached, she had been in the middle of telling the crowd what happened.

"-and I was just about to pack up and leave when suddenly water came gushing in from nowhere. It was already flooded in the cave, so the water came by at top speeds and washed away all my loot!" The crowd gasped. It didn't take me very long to understand what happened, and I chuckled to myself.

"Hey you!" She yelled, it didn't take me long to figure out she has a pretty short temper. "What's so funny?!"  I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Sorry! My bad! I've got some extra treasure if you want some!" She raised one eyebrow. I stepped up on to the stage. Some of the ponies in the crowd recognized me from when I brought huge piles of treasure to town, and began to stomp like it was a performance or something. One pony yelled: "Make out!"

"Sorry!" I repeated. "I was in that mine too, I went right at the split path."

"That's impossible" She changed her voice to the kind of tone you would use to talk to a little filly or a crazy pony. "There was a cave-in to the right, and I've checked it out before. There's nothing there." I put on my triumphant face.

"Cave-in's always have cool stuff behind them. You just need some dynamite."

"Dynamite!? Are you crazy!? I knew I heard an explosion!"

"Yeah it was awesome, I found some neat stuff."

   I retrieved the gemstones from my saddlebags. Various 'ooh!'s and 'Ah!'s came from the audience. Daring fell over backwards onto her plot, a look of complete and utter awe on her face. I grinned.

"There's more. I found a trap-door that led to the magma chamber of the dormant volcano, and it was filled to the brim with treasure." At this point she leaped back up and nearly bucked me in the process, getting right in my face.

"Now that's GOT to be a lie! Who puts a secret door in a mine shaft!?" I shrugged.

"Manticores?" I suggested. She face-hoofed.

"Alright then Mr. Show stealer, where is this treasure? All I see are some rainbow colored rocks you probably found at a toy store." I was hoping she'd say that. I emptied out my saddlebag.

"This is all I could grab before I set the manticore on fire and he caused a flood." She ignored me and dove for the amulet I found.

"I was looking for this! This is the missing amulet! I was supposed to bring this back to the museum!" I blushed a little, that sparkle in her magenta eyes when she was focused on the amulet was more priceless than the trinket itself.

"You uh...you can keep it." She suddenly realized that she was laying on the ground in front of an audience, and jumped up.

"Well ponies, looks like my adventure was a success!" The audience stomped loudly.

   This made me remember just where I was, and I stepped off the stage. I was here for the cute mare, not the publicity. Daring realized how bad she'd look if she just took the amulet free of charge in front of all these ponies, and called after me.

"Hey, I owe you one, alright?!" I turned around for a second, then continued walking.

"No you don't. Later."

"What's your name?" She yelled after me, but I was already too far away to hear her.

About a week later:

    I had been saving this adventure for end of the year. Finally, it was hearth's warming eve, and I couldn't think of a better time. This was the most promising adventure I'd ever found. Supposedly 60 feet under my very hooves was an ancient temple to the god of chaos, Discord. Traps? Definitely. Hidden doors and clever puzzles? No doubt. Some of them might not even make sense, due to the whole chaos theme. After some walking, I came upon the entrance. A small stone door in the side of a large boulder. Anyone could have missed it while flying by, and there were no roads for chariots nearby. The temple was cleverly hidden since it was built after the age of discord's rule, when some of his underlings thought he would rise again. Of course, that would never happen. He's trapped in stone in a garden in Canterlot, that would be completely impossible. But that wasn't important. Every bone in my body told me that this adventure was going to be awesome. I skipped up to the door with delight and tried to open it. Locked, no big surprise there. I bucked it as hard as I could. The door didn't budge. I figured it was time to just use the dynamite.

     I pulled a stick out of my saddlebag, and backed up slowly while laying the fuse. I had to be really careful...........bump. I walked right into something. Then, a voice.

"Hey, watch where you're.....hey! I know you!" I nearly jumped out of surprise, and turned around. It was Daring Do herself. Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten about her.

"You do?"

"Yeah! You're that guy who flooded the mine I was exploring!" Suddenly, it all came back to me. I grinned remembering my awesome adventure in the mine, then said: "Oh, yeah." Daring grinned just as wide.

"Looks like I'll be able to pay you back for that amulet! You were about to explore these ruins right? Let's search together!" I snapped back to reality.

"I uh....no."

She frowned. "No?" I nodded. "Why not?"

"Well I usually work alone and it's going to be really dangerous in there and-" She scowled at me.

"It's because I'm a mare, isn't it!? You think I can't handle myself in there because I'm a mare!"

"That's not what I said."

"It's what you're implying. You sexist son of a bitch!"

"No no no, I'm sure you'd do fine in there, I just-" Suddenly her scowl disappeared.

"Okay! Then let's go!" She started walking towards the door. She tricked me!

"Hey wait! There's dynamite set up! Back up a bit!" She stopped in her tracks.

"What is with you and dynamite!?" I shrugged. She rolled her eyes. "And besides! This is a pretty safe distance, just set it off!"

   She was telling ME it's a safe distance!? She was hardly 30 feet away! She'd get blown backwards!

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea!" I called out to her, but she ignored me. Finally, I gave in and pulled the switch. BOOM. The explosion seemed to pour out a lot of smoke, but I only had a split second to think before something rammed into me at full speed. It was her of course.

"Nice catch."

"Don't mention it." She giggled, her face was completely black from the smoke. To my relief, she got off of me, and dusted herself off.

"See? It was perfectly safe! I'm fine!"

"You could have hit a rock instead of me, that wouldn't have ended well." She only grinned at this.

"Don't be silly, danger is like my middle name!....." She made a sudden realization. "And Daring IS my first name! Let's go!"

There was no fighting it at this point. It was time for a treasure hunt, annoying tag-a-long or not.

   It's time for a treasure hunt! I drop my saddlebag and begin my usual routine.

"What are you doing?" She asks, like being prepared is some crazy foreign concept to her.

"Just making sure I have everything." I pull out my checklist, and she peers over my shoulder as I go through it. I ignore her.

Torch? Check.

Map? Check.

Rope? Check. I suddenly come across a memo to myself NOT to bring dynamite, as the entire temple is a historical site. Guess I blew that one. No check. Daring is trying to suppress a laugh, but doing a miserable job. I have everything, so it's time to get started. We enter the doorway without another word. I light a nearby torch and some enchantment causes all of the others to light, showing us a seemingly endless staircase. This could take a while. Daring groans behind me. As we're walking, she begins to interview me.

"Hey, I never caught your name. What is it?"

"It's Dart. Dart Dash."

"That's a strange name. What does it mean? Usually it has to do with your talent, but I can't see how Dart relates to treasure chests." Again with the treasure, such an unfitting cutie mark.

"I figure it's because I'm good at dodging traps." She nods. I guess she can relate to this.

"Hey, what's up with your hooves? Is that normal?" My hooves? What's wrong with my....oh right. I forgot about that. I wonder if that stupid curse is going to act up today.

"Oh right, I was exploring an ancient Romane rui-" As if the curse knew I had just been thinking about it, it suddenly gives me the uncontrollable urge to fall down the stairs. I comply immediately.

"Hey wait!" She yells after me, but I'm a little too busy painfully falling down the stairs to answer. Finally, I hit the bottom. However, I can't say I was expecting what I find. A pony completely garbed in a red hooded robe with strange symbols on it approaches me.

"Who dares interrupt the cult of Discord!?" I take a look around, there's at least 14 of these guys scattered around the room holding candles. This is not going to be fun.