Treasure hunters of Equestria

Bonus chapter 1 - Time shift ((I usually only write about the explorations in present tense, but I wanted to try it for this entire side-story just to get the feel for it, I apologize in advance if it sounds awkward, and I'd love to know if I make any grammar mistakes, so leave a comment or something. Also, please note that this has no place in the story, and the chapter after this returns to the original story. The continuation of this will be labeled as Bonus chapter 2.))

(From Daring Do's point of view)

    A few days back Dart and I had received a letter from Celestia about how recently a team of pony archaeologists had uncovered a new section of the ancient castle in Everfree forest, and legends tell that inside is an artifact that will allow time travel. Dart shrugged it off as a simple legend, but I've seen my fair share of artifacts with weird powers, and I wanted to check it out. We didn't need to gather information or anything, since both of us had been through the Everfree before.

   As we enter the chamber, it certainly gives off the impression of being time related. There are clocks and sundials of various sizes all about the room, and in the center is a round platform with a picture of an hourglass carved into it. All the clocks seem to be broken or out of magic because they are all stuck on different times. Dart stood on the platform, using his usual method of standing in the center of the room and turning his head until he finds something of interest. I never really understand why he does that, since I like to be closer to whatever I'm examining. Dart seems to have taken interest in some sort of ancient clock, but something else catches my eye. A shiny gold rod is standing up at the other side of the room. I stroll over to it, and try to pick it up. It doesn't budge, and after moving some clocks and things around it's base, I realize it's a lever. I give it a tug, and suddenly all the clocks come to life, spinning at ridiculous speeds. As abruptly as they started, all of the clocks soon stop at the same time. Without turning my head, I call Dart over.

"Dart come over here! It's some kind of lever that controls the clocks!" .......Dart doesn't answer. "Dart! What are you-," I turn around and see that Dart is no longer standing on the platform, but somepony else entirely.

       24 year and 525,942 minutes later. (About six minutes less than 25 years)

(From the point of view of......Rainbow Dash! [Who I'm going to assume is 19 years old for the sake of the story, since she's old enough to live alone and have a job])

    I'm not sure why I had agreed to come along with Twilight when she entered her full egg-head mode. Somehow she had managed to get ME, (the coolest pony in all of Equestria!) to help her explore some ancient....room. The conversation had gone somewhere along the lines of:

Twilight: "Come with me on an egghead adventure!"

Me: "No, that sounds lame."

Twilight: "We're going to ancient ruins Daring Do has been to before!"

Me: "Daring Do is a character from a book."

Twilight: "No Rainbow, Daring Do is an actual pony."

Me: "Whaaaaaat."

Twilight: "She goes by a different name now and she's retired."

Me: "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat."

Twilight: "Also Rainbow Dash is the coolest pony ever."

       Yeah it definitely went like that.

       Anyways, before I knew it we were hiking through the Everfree forest on our way to this stupid clock room. It's kind of hard to see anything Daring Do would have possibly been interested because all these freaking clocks are in the way. I like to stand in the middle of things, so I can get a better view of everything, so I stand on a platform conveniently placed in the center of the room. Before long, I see something glimmer in the corner of my eye. It's a shiny rod-like thing.

"Hey Twilight, what's that?" I point a hoof at it. She saunters over there, and gives it a tug with her magic. Without warning, the clocks begin to turn backwards in unison, like Twilight's setting them or something, but she looks just as confused as I am so I guess that's not what's happening. A weird light begins to form around the thing I'm standing on, but I can't move and I'm sort of freaking out. The lights become blindingly bright. I try to call out, but I can't even hear myself, let alone any answer. Slowly, the lights fade and I'm back where I was.....but something's different.

(From Dart's point of view)

    All I can think about is how badly my head hurts, and those weird lights that caused it. I think I can hear somepony trying to talk to me, but my mind is kind of fuzzy and I can't really hear them. After a minute or so, I can think straight.

"Hey....Are you okay?" Who said that? It didn't sound like Daring, but nopony else is here. I turn around, and a purple unicorn is giving me a concerned look. I try to respond but it just comes out as:

"Owwwwwww."

"Oh my gosh! Do you need medical attention? Should I get help?!" She seems to be over-reacting a little, I'd better say something so she'll calm down.

"I'm fine." She lets out a sigh of relief, but still seems confused.

"So where's Rainbow?"

"Who?"

"Rainbow Dash. The pony who was standing there before you were?" Had she been in the ruins with her friend before I was? Maybe I fell unconscious and Daring is outside somewhere waiting for me to wake up, and this filly was here before us but her friend went missing so she came back to check for her, that had to be it.

"Sorry, I have no idea where she could be." The purple unicorn made a frustrated groaning noise.

"How is that even possible!? How could she be here one second, and I turn around, and you're there instead!" There goes my entire theory of what happened. Oh well, I still need to find Daring.

"Have you seen a yellow pony with a gray mane and a hat?"

"I don't think so.... what's her name?"

"Daring."

"Daring who?"

"Daring Do." The unicorn's eyes widen.

"You mean THE Daring Do?"

"I take it you haven't seen her then. Would you mind pulling that level again? I think I'm a time traveler and I really need to get back." The unicorn nods and pushes the lever back, then pulls it again. Nothing happens. That's just great.

"It's no use," Says the unicorn, "whatever happened, it only works once." The unicorn mare also frowns. I guess her friend is stuck in the past...or is it the future? What year am I in anyways?

"Hey uh....what year is this?"

"It's E.Q, 589. Where are you from?" I went forward 25 years? I guess that's not TOO far, maybe I can find Daring somewhere, or my little siblings.

"I'm from 564. Would you mind showing me around a bit?" Her frown disappears.

"You really are a time traveler! I knew it was possible but as far as I've seen it was only for a minute and you couldn't go back much further than three days! Does it feel weird? How did it happen? You really know Daring Do? I'm Twilight Sparkle by the way." Too many questions. I decide not to answer any of them, and just introduce myself instead.

"Nice to meet you Twilight, I'm Dart Dash." Twilight's eyes widened again, and she nearly faints this time.

"Dart Dash!? As in, Daring Do's lifetime partner Dart Dash?!"  Lifetime? Even by this time I should have known her for 25 years, it's not like we were childhood friends or something.

"Yeah that'd be the one. I'm kind of hungry, Ponyville is still nearby, right? Can we go there?" Twilight smiles.

"Sure! I'm sure it's changed a lot since you've been there though. C'mon!"

(From Daring Do's point of view, 25 years ago.)

   I'm not entirely sure how I got into this. Where Dart had just been standing, a rainbow colored filly appeared, and now she won't stop talking as we fly over the Everfree. I'm pretty sure out conversation went something like:

Me: "Hey, who are you?"

Her: "ow my head....oh my gosh is that Daring Do?"

Me: "yeah, where's Dart?"

Her: "Oh my gosh! I'm rainbow dash and I'm from the future and Daring Do is the coolest pony ever!"

  Yeah that sounds about right.

  She keeps trying to tell me about the wonder-bolts and how they're almost as cool as me, but no matter how many times I tell her that I know who the wonder-bolts are, she doesn't listen. My main focus right now is trying to figure out what happened to Dart, so we're currently heading to the office to see if Dart picked up a book about the ruins. Rainbow Dash tries to talk to me about one of my adventures, something about a sapphire stone and a broken wing, but I tell her it hasn't happened yet and I'd prefer not to have any spoilers.

"You look really different from how I imagined you from the books!" This catches my attention.

"There's books about me?"

"Yeah, I especially like the one about the solar talisman and the desert temple!" Now THERE'S an adventure I recognize.

"I remember that. Though how could the writer have possibly gotten Dart to talk about it for more than 5 minutes?" Rainbow dash blinks.

"Dart? Who's Dart?"

"My...erm....partner. The books don't mention him?" Rainbow shakes her head.

"Not even once." That's not too much of a surprise, Dart hates publicity.

"Alright, we're here. Make yourself at home, I'm going to see if Dart had a book about those ruins that might give us a clue."

"Hey, this is Fluttershy's house! Just without all the chicken coops."  I unlock the door, and we enter to the usual mess of papers and books of various ancient ruins scattered around the wooden furniture. "This is your office?" Asks Rainbow Dash. "I imagined it to be a little more neat, or with maps of foreign places and ancient artifacts you've found, not just a bunch of books." I shrug.

"I usually sell that stuff to museums, and anything they won't take goes to Dart's attic."

"You keep mentioning this Dart guy, does he live here with you?"

"Yeah."

"Then how come there's only one bed?" Uh-oh.

"Dart....likes to sleep outside! Under the stars!" It was a pretty obvious lie. She gives me a suspicious look, and I offer her an innocent enough smile. Better change the subject. "Well looks like we didn't get any books on the ruins, I guess since they seemed harmless enough to us at the time. Let's go check the library!" Rainbow dash groans.

(From Dart's point of view, 25 years later)

   "Hey! There's the office!" I take off towards the familiar cottage I had fixed up with Daring, it looks pretty much the same with the exception of a ridiculous amount of animals and animal houses/coops/nests/pens. Daring had told me she wanted a pet, maybe she had gone a little overboard. It didn't really matter to me either way, as long as I could see her again. Twilight calls out after me, but I'm already at the door. I give it a quick knock, and the door opens slowly. To my dismay, Daring is not the pony who opened it, but instead a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane.

"Um....hello." Her voice is so quiet I have to listen really closely to hear it over the birds chirping in the background.

"Oh...sorry. Wrong cottage I guess." Twilight catches up with me, and smiles when she sees the yellow mare.

"Fluttershy, this is Dart. He's from the past and we're trying to get him back."

"Oh um....that's nice. Um....if you don't mind me asking, what's wrong with your hooves?" I laugh at how shyly she asked the question, but that turns out to be a bad idea when she flinches like she thought I was making fun of her.

"This is a curse I got when exploring some ancient Romane ruins, it's harmless though." Her eyes widen.

"Do you mean this is THE Dart Dash? As in super-treasure-hunter-and-partners-with-Daring-Do Dart Dash?" Twilight nods. I hate publicity, but it's looking like I'm going to be pretty famous.

"That's the one." She responds.

Fluttershy dashes forward to me, nearly knocking Twilight into the river.

"What's is like being with Daring? How come you aren't in any of the books? Could you sign my copy of 'Daring Do and the Solar Desert'? How'd you get your cutie mark? What does your curse do? Is it bad? I don't think I could live with being cursed. I-" Twilight cut her off, though she had done nearly the same thing earlier. Are all mares like this in the future?

"Well Fluttershy, Dart and I need to go find a way to get him back home, then maybe he could send Rainbow Dash back to us in the future."

"Rainbow Dash is missing? Oh I hope she's ok." Fluttershy looks concerned, and I pat her head lightly with one hoof.

"She'll be fine! She's only with THE most amazing mare ever!" This cheers her up quite a bit.

"Ok then.....good luck."

   Once we arrive at the library, Twilight immediately begins to search for a book on the ancient ruins, but with no luck.

"I just KNOW there's a book about those ruins! I saw it in the library records the other day! Spike! Come here!" She calls, and a baby purple dragon appears in the doorway.

"You called, Twilight?....Who's this?"

"Spike, this is Dart. He needs a book about the hidden room in the Everfree ruins, could you check the records to see who borrowed it?"

"Alright, I'll have it in a jiffy!" Spike leaves the room and soon returns with a large dusty book labeled 'Library records'. He opens it up and begins frantically turning the pages. "Hey, Twilight, you're not going to believe this!"

"What?" She questions.

"It was borrowed and never returned 25 years ago by... Daring Do! Isn't that the adventure pony rainbow dash is always talking about?" I face-hoof.

(From the perspective of Daring Do, 25 years ago)

   Sure enough, the library contains a book on the ancient ruins, in-fact, the solution is so simple that it's rather silly. Rainbow grumbles something about eggheads as I read the passage. According to legend, it was more of a time switching machine than a time travelling machine. First of all, you have to wind all the clocks back before using it, which must have been why it wouldn't bring Dart back. Once you wind the clocks and pull the lever, it switches with whatever is on the platform next time the clocks are wound the opposite direction and the lever is pulled. The problem is that Dart needs to figure this out too. I guess I'll take the book and put it in the office so he'll find it 25 years in the future. I probably shouldn't tell the librarian that I don't plan to return it, but it's sort of an emergency so I'm sure it's alright.

   "C'mon Rainbow, we're going back to the ruins." Rainbow dash jumps out of her chair, and barrel rolls through the air over to me.

"About time! I thought I'd die in here!"

"We've only been here for 10 minutes."

"10 ENTIRE MINUTES!"

I sigh. "Let's just go."

After a really REALLY long time of winding clocks back, I explain the deal to Rainbow Dash.

"Alright," I started. "Here's the problem, if you stand on that platform, you could be sent to pretty much ANY TIME in the future if your friend and Dart don't figure this stuff out. Are you sure you want to try?"

"What? I'm leaving already? But we didn't get to go on any adventures!" It's kind of cute how she admires me so much, but Dart is gone and until he's back I just don't give a buck.

"Sorry, if somepony else activates this thing while we're out adventuring, you miss your chance to go back."

"...Okay. Let's do it then. It's been really great meeting you, Daring!" I smile, and shake her hoof.

"Likewise. Now stand on the platform when you're ready." Rainbow dash doesn't hesitate in the slightest, and jumps onto it.

I give her one last wave, and pull the lever. All the clocks spin to life, and a blinding blue light starts forming around her. I have to close my eyes to avoid going blind........then it disappears.

   I open my eyes, hardly being able to wait to see if it worked as the smoke clears, and standing before me is...

A very confused Rainbow Dash.

(From Dart's point of view, in 25 years.)

     I can't believe Daring would do that! I mean, I'm sure she needed the book so she could send Rainbow Dash back, but did she really not think to return it?! I love her and all, but sometimes I feel like she could really use a bit more common sense.

"Cheer up, Dart, maybe we can track down Daring Do and ask her where it is," Says Twilight. It looks to me like she's the one who needs cheering up though.

"Ok, where do we start?"

"Well.........." She goes silent.

"No clue, huh?" Twilight shakes her head. I guess I shouldn't have really expected much. This officially marks us being out of ideas, and I let myself slump down onto the ground. My stomach growls.

"Maybe I'll think better on a full stomach. Hey, is sugar cube corner still standing?"

"Yeah, c'mon, I'll take you there." I jump to my feet, and my metal hooves make a loud clanking noise against the wood. It sucks that I'm stuck in the future and all, but there is ALWAYS time for cupcakes.

    Sugar cube corner looks pretty different. The entire building seems to have turned into a ginger bread house, before it looked more like a diner. The future is weird. Upon entering the building, we are greeted by a very bouncy pink mare with a mane like cotton-candy. Standing beside her is an orange mare with a cowgirl hat and a cooking apron.

"Hi Twilight! Aj is helping me bake today! Who's this?" Says the pink one.

    She gasps, as if something really surprising and distressing had happened right in front of her. "I've never seen you around here before! I've got to throw a party!"

"Maybe later, Pinkie," Says Twilight, who struck me as all too used to this. "Actually, we're here for cupcakes, have any left?"

"I'll fix you up a batch lickety split." Says the orange mare, who then returns to the kitchen.

"So what's your name?" Says Pinkie, she doesn't wait for an answer. "I'm Pinkie Pie, I've got a welcoming wagon but it's not with me, though I could go get it if you want!" I turn my head to Twilight to see whether I should be excited about or scared of the welcome wagon, she shakes her head. No welcome wagon then.

"My name's Dart, and I feel welcome enough already, I can do without the wagon."

"Okie dokie lokie! Tell me if you change your mind!" At this point the orange pony returns from the kitchen holding a large batch of delicious looking cupcakes.

"Eat up, there's plenty for everypony!" She's right, while they do look like good cupcakes, I didn't even know anypony could make that many in such a short amount of time. I take a bite, and immediately fall in love with the taste.

"Wow, these are delicious. I've never had a cupcake this good," I comment.

"Aw shucks, Sugarcube, you're too kind, and besides, you just haven't had Pinkie's baking yet." Pinkie smiles at the mention of her name, and she looks like she's about to say something but the orange pony quickly resumes talking before Pinkie can get a word in. "And if you don't mind me askin', what's yer name?"

"I'm Dart Dash, it's a pleasure to meet you mrs....?"

"Applejack, and the pleasure's all mine. So where are ya from?" Twilight intervenes when she sees I don't know how to explain it.

"He's from the past, him and Rainbow switched places and now we're trying to switch them back." Applejack looks stunned, but doesn't question it. Pinkie pie doesn't seem the least bit surprised.

"Well I wish I could do more for ya, but that science-ey stuff is Twilight's thing." Twilight groans.

"I can't make heads or tails out of it! One second Rainbow is standing there and when I turn my head Dart just takes her place." Applejack thinks this over for a minute, and Pinkie cuts in.

"You should ask the princess! I'm sure she knows all about these time magics!" Twilight stands up,

"Pinkie! You're a genius! If anypony will know about it, it's got to be her!"

"No I'm not, I'm a pastry chef!" Twilight's moment of excitement ends.

"Yes, I suppose you are." Twilight magically acquires a pen and paper, and begins to write frantically.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Recently, Rainbow Dash and I were exploring an ancient room hidden in the Everfree forest containing powerful time magic, and she was sent back 25 years, and a stallion you've likely heard of by the name of Dart Dash appeared in her place, without a clue what happened. If you have any idea how to reverse the spell, or any theories I could work off of, please let me know.

-Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

"Is this okay, Dart?"

I shrug. "You're askin' me?"

"Good point. We'll send it when we get back to the library, let's go!" She turns towards her two friends. "Bye AppleJack, Bye Pinkie."

"Seeya later alligators!"

"Take care, Twilight. You too Dart, don't try any dangerous spells!" AJ warns.

"Hey, I'm not the one with the horn! I'll see you later, maybe!" I reply, then leave after Twilight.

(From Daring Do's point of view, 25 years ago)

     Well I guess the book was wrong, because Rainbow Dash is still in front of me, and not Dart. I turn towards the clocks and see that they didn't even finish turning, and are all stuck on different times. The only explanation I can think of is that this thing ran out of power, but I don't really know what to do about that. I fish the book out of my bag, and start reading the most helpful looking passage.

The time portal is powered by an ancient battery known as the star ruby, which contains the magical power of an alicorn. The ancients who used this machine were rumored to have similar gemstones powering their other amazing devices, such as the infamous rainbow factory (contrary to the popular legend that the ancients ground up fillies and colts, now that's just silly). While having a lot of power, incredible spells like the time portal are known to drain them out of power eventually.

Great, so it's just out of juice. Now what? Ask princess Celestia to power it? No, that would drain her power away, and I don't think anypony wants that. The only other option is to find a makeshift power source. But what could I use? The pegasi won't let me just borrow the core of the rainbow factory, so the only option is to look for one of their other ancient power sources.

"Well Rainbow," I decide. "Looks like we will be going on an adventure after all." Her eyes seem to sparkle the moment she hears me say the word 'adventure'

"Really? Where to?"

"To the temple on mount Everfree, I bet we can find a power source there."

"Wait, so we're not going to the library and doing planning this time?"

"Nope, that's Dart's way of doing things, and he's not here today."

"Alright! Let's go!"

   I retrieve a map of Equestria from my vest, the mountain is far north of ponyville, and by the looks of it that would be a 12 hour train ride and then a full day of flying. This is going to be one heck of an adventure, it's a shame Dart won't be here for it.

(From Dart's point of view in 25 years)

    As Twilight hoofs her letter to Spike, who sends it away with his fiery breath, I notice the sun beginning to go down and a question comes to mind.

"Twilight, where exactly am I spending the night again?"

Twilight's face pales. "Oh horse feathers, I completely forgot. There's no room in the library since we got rid of the extra bed....Maybe we can track down Applejack! ...No wait her family is in town for the Apple family reunion....maybe..."

  Twilight continues to mumble to herself, so I plop down on the sofa while I wait for her to think of something. Judging from Spike's un-amused reaction, Twilight probably does this a lot. Twilight's train of thought is cut short by a gentle knocking on the door, but she's upstairs going through a list of ponies in ponyville looking for someone who might have a spare room.

"Dart, could you get that for me?" She pleaded.

"Alright."

  The knocking may have been gentle, but it didn't stop. It's like whoever is knocking is just trying to say 'I'm really nice, but I know you're in there so don't keep me waiting.' I open the door to a beautiful white unicorn with a well kept blue mane, who is looking down at a dress she's carrying instead of at me.

"Twilight I got your dress all stitched up like you asked, sorry to deliver it so late but-" She looks up, and notices me for the first time. "Oh, I'm sorry, where's Twilight?"

At the sound of her name, Twilight rushes down the stairs to meet the visitor.

"Hello, Rarity! Thanks so much for fixing that for me! It looks great!"

"Oh it was no problem Darling. So who's the handsome stallion?"

Handsome? I don't think I've heard that one before. "My name's Dart Dash," I offer. "I'm visiting from out of town." She doesn't seem to react to my name, so I guess I'm not THAT famous.

"Oh!" Exclaims Rarity. "So you're the one that Pinkie is throwing a party for. My name's Rarity, and that reminds me, Twilight, Pinkie wanted me to take you to the party."

Twilight shakes her head. "Sorry, I'm a little busy. I'm doing a study on time travel right now and I need to finish it soon."

Rarity looks disappointed. "If you say so, just make sure you take a break every now and then. Can I take Dart with me?"

"Actually," Says Twilight. "Dart needs a place to stay tonight, you don't happen to have an extra bed do you?"

"Of course! There's always room for a friend in my boutique! It would be my pleasure."

"Great, you two go to the party, and I'm going to finish my studies."

    With that, Twilight nudges me out of the door, and closes it behind me. As we're leaving, Rarity notices my cutie mark.

"A treasure chest? Oh I can just tell just by our cutie marks that we will get along wonderfully!" We are already walking at this point, so I resist the urge to look at her cutie mark to avoid the awkwardness of stopping and staring at her plot. Noticing the look on my face, she just tells me what it is. "It's 3 diamonds, to represent my love for things that catch the eye."

"Actually, our talents are very different," I point out. "Mine stands for treasure hunting and the thrills that come with it."

Rarity looks at me like I'm completely insane. "Treasure hunting? That sounds...well I just hate getting dirty." It isn't hard to imagine that, but I pretend to be surprised. She continues. "And I didn't know there were any treasure hunters left since Daring Do retired." There it is again, what could possibly make us retire in 25 years? I just can't imagine it.

"Well, as far as I know, I'm the only treasure hunter left, but that doesn't make any problems, there will ALWAYS be plenty of treasure in Equestria." Rarity considers this a moment, then changes the subject.

"By the way, we need to get that black polish off of your hooves, nightmare night is later in the year."

"Actually, I don't think that'll work. This stuff doesn't come off."

"Oh don't be silly! There's nothing some hoof polish remover can't fix!"

I shrug, not really wanting to explain the curse. "Well, you're welcome to try."

   When we reach her boutique, I have to try incredibly hard to resist laughing at some of the ridiculous outfits on the mannequins scattered around. Future fashion sure is weird. Rarity attempts to remove the blackness from my hoofs with all kinds of hoof polish removers, but as I expected it doesn't make any difference.

"Sweet Celestia Dart, what did you get on your hooves?"

I can only shrug, and Rarity sighs in response.

"Oh right, I forgot to mention that my little sister and her friends are having a sleep-over here tonight, you like children, don't you?"

"Sure, I love kids." That was sort of a lie. In all truth, I'm terrible with kids, but kids love me. They always want me to tell them stories about treasure, and I always give in to their cute faces, and I'm bad at enforcing rules, since I never have to follow them myself. All in all, something always manages to catch fire when I'm around children.

"Good! You can be in charge of watching them, since I have work to do. We're going to pick them up from the party."

  Rarity dons one of her ridiculous dresses, and offers me a suit that looked about my size. I pass. If this is the same Pinkie I met earlier, this party will be anything but formal. On the way to the party, Rarity makes a very large deal of avoiding anything that could possibly stain her dress, and I follow along quietly.

   As we arrive at sugarcube corner, we're greeted by a very bouncy Pinkie Pie, carrying a very large tray of cupcakes.

"Hi guys! I'm so glad you could make it! I mean, what kind of party for Dart would it be without Dart? Hey! Where's Twilight?"

"Hello Pinkie. Twilight is a little busy tonight so she won't be joining us," Explains Rarity.

"Can I have a cupcake?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

"Of course!" Says Pinkie, happily tossing me a cupcake. I catch it with my mouth then remove the wrapping with my hoof. While I'm happily munching on it, Pinkie grabs me by the hoof and drags me to the middle of the room.

"Hey! Everypony! This is Dart Dash! He's staying in ponyville for now!" In return, I receive various 'Hi Dart!'s and 'Hello!'s from around the room. Some ponies look surprised, which I can only guess are the ones that have heard of me.

"Hello Everypony, it's nice to meet you all."

      Suddenly, a new voice calls to me, this time a loud filly with an orange coat and purple mane.

"Hey! You're that archaeologist who fell in love with Daring Do!"

"I-I am not! That's a different Dart Dash!" I stutter a bit at the beginning of the sentence. Also, I'm not an archaeologist.

"Yeah right!" Replies the filly. "And just how many ponies are there named Dart Dash with black hooves and a cutie mark of a treasure chest?"

    So much for hiding the fact that I'm a time traveler, and as far as I know I'm the ONLY pony with a treasure chest for a cutie mark. Fortunately, before I can think of something to say to get everypony's eyes off of me, the orange filly's friend, a tan filly with a red mane and a large mane-bow, brings up an argument.

"But Scootaloo! You told me that Dart Dash is like, 50 years old! How can he be that young?" This took the attention away from me, and the other ponies returned to their conversations and activities, though some began to ask me the usual questions about my cutie mark and stuff, which I answered to the best of my ability. The fillies kept arguing though.

"I bet he found some kind of special treasure that youngered him!"

"Youngered isn't a word!" Says a small white unicorn with a mane that is all different shades of purple. She sort of reminds me of Rarity, and I assume this must be her little sister.

"What are you, a dictionary?" Responds the one I now know is Scootaloo.

"You don't have to be to know-"

"Hey!" Says the red maned one. "That gives me an idea! We could get our cutie marks in treasure hunting!"

"Yeah!" Replies the white one enthusiastically. "We could be Cutie mark crusader treasure hunters!"

"Well what pony would be better to ask than THE Dart Dash?" Exclaims Scootaloo.

"Good idea!" Says the Red maned one. "Hey! Mister!"

"Yes?" I respond as if I hadn't been listening in on their unbelievably loud argument. It's hard to think that such little ponies could have such large voices.

"Could you show us how you got your cutie mark?"

"Yeah!" Yells Scootaloo. "We want to explore hidden temples!"

"And find lost artifacts!" Adds the red one.

"And...and....Yeah! What they said!" Says the white one, it's almost too adorable.

"Well I suppose I could- wait. You wouldn't happen to be Rarity's little sister would you?" I ask the small white one. She nods.

"Yeah! My name's Sweetie Bell! This is Scootaloo and Applebloom!"

"Hi!" Says Scootaloo.

"Howdy!" Says Applebloom.

"How do you know my sister?" Asks Sweetie bell.

"I'm staying at your house tonight, since I don't have a place here in ponyville."

"Awesome! I get to spend the night with Dart Dash!" Yells Scootaloo.

"How do you know so much about Dart anyways?" Applebloom asks Scootaloo with one eyebrow raised.

"Well I asked Twilight for all the Daring Do books that Rainbow Dash loves, and she also gave me this entire life story of Daring Do's treasure hunting days," Explains Scootaloo. It's more than tempting to get a look at that, but knowing my own future is probably not such a great idea. I spot Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity sitting at a table together out of the corner of my eye.

"Well it was nice meeting you fillies, but I'd like to go talk to some friends before the party ends."

"Aaaw," Says Applebloom. "But you were gonna tell us about treasure hunting."

"Don't worry," I assure her. "We'll have plenty of time to talk about it at Rarity's place later, you're the ones who are sleeping over, correct?"

"Yessir!" Says Scootaloo, saluting. She seems to have way more respect for me that I do myself. Maybe in the future I get to do something really impressive. I head over towards Rarity's table, and the three ponies wave me over.

"Is this seat taken?" I ask, not actually caring but still asking to be polite.

    "Go ahead and sit down, sugar-cube, we were just talkin' about ya." Replies the only pony who could possibly talk like that. I grab a glass of punch from the nearby counter, and sit down between Rarity and Fluttershy, and across from Applejack.

"Let me make sure that I understand this correctly," Says Rarity. "You're a time-travelling treasure hunter who's in love with the pony from the books that Rainbow Dash reads, and you've switched places with dear Rainbow somehow?"

"Yeah," I respond. "That sounds about right."

Before I can say anything else, something get's shoved under my nose, but it's so close to my face that I can't actually tell what it is.

"Um," Says Fluttershy. "Could you sign my book? That is....if that's ok with you."

Upon close inspection, (or further inspection, since I had to move my head back a bit to be able to read it,) it is indeed a book titled: "Daring Do and the Solar Desert". The cover depicts Daring herself standing in front of the giant sea serpent that had blocked my path. But that's not quite right....

"That's odd, I'm the one who saw the serpent, not Daring. Does anypony have a quill?" Rarity uses her magic to float a quill within reach of my mouth.

"Really!?" Exclaims Fluttershy. "But you aren't in these books at all....."

"Well that makes sense actually, I don't really like publicity. Being famous just doesn't appeal to me."

"We are COMPLETE opposites, you and I," Points out Rarity. Applejack chuckles.

"Tell us some more that we couldn't hear from the books, Dart. I'm mighty interested in what a treasure huntin' pony from the past like you could say."

It takes me a second to think of what to tell them, but a good story comes to mind.

"Have you ever heard of the elements of harmony?"

To my surprise all three mares laugh loudly, but Applejack is the first to respond. "Sorry about that, we've had some adventures of our own involving the elements. What were ya saying again?"

"Well I was going to tell you about how I discovered the element of loyalty in the deepest part of some ancient Romane ruins, but your story sounds more interesting, would you care to tell it?"

"Twi could tell it much better than I, but I'll give it a shot," Decides Rarity. "You're familiar with The Mare in the Moon, yes?"

(From Daring Do's point of view, 25 years ago)

    When our train arrived in the northern town of Neigshe, Rainbow and I decided to stay in a nearby motel for the night, due to an intense blizzard all around the mountain. Now we're just sitting in our room, and Rainbow is bouncing a rubber ball off of the wall from her bed, it's actually kind of impressive.

"So, Rainbow Dash, did your parents live in Ponyville? Maybe I know them."

"Well," Said Rainbow. "I'm pretty sure I was born in Ponyville, I don't remember it too well. My parents travel a lot and I had to beg them to let me go to flight camp instead of going with them."

"Really? What are their names?"

To my surprise, Rainbow Dash simply shrugs. "I'm not actually sure, they always referred to each other as 'Darling' and 'Sweetie', y'know, lame stuff like that. I always just called them 'Mom and Dad' and my aunt, the only pony who I remember ever visiting us called them 'Mr. and Mrs. Dash.'" As she talks I can feel her get less and less interested in talking about her own past, and eventually she asks to hear about mine. "Hey, I've read the books, but it would be pretty cool if I could hear about one of your adventures from you in person, would you mind telling me one? I need to get my mind off of this boring room."

That sounded like a pretty good way to pass time, so I agree. "Alright which one do you want to hear?"

"The coolest one you can think of, obviously." She says as if it was ridiculous for me to even ask.

"Okay, this was the first adventure I had after meeting Dart, my partner. I'll skip the boring details at the beginning, but basically he fell down a long staircase and landed in front of a group of Discordian cultists."

"Discordian cultists? Oh man, I met Discord once, it wasn't fun."

"You've met Discord?" I ask. She must have dreamed it or something because I can't imagine Discord ever coming back under the watchful eye of Celestia.

"Well yeah, me and my friends sort of represent the elements of harmony, but I do all the awesome fighting!"

"It looks like we've both got some neat stories for each other then."

Rainbow Dash's bored expression fades away, and she sits up straight.

"What were you saying about the stairs and the cultists?"

(From Dart's point of view, in 25 years)

    I arrive with Rarity back at her boutique with Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, and Scootaloo in tow. Rarity shows me to the room me and the fillies will be in, which is actually just Sweetie Bell's room with some sleeping bags on the floor. It's a pretty nice place though, and I can't imagine a filly ever needing a bed that large, not to mention some of the hats she keeps around her room, those things are just gigantic. Rarity asks if I could watch the girls while she works, and I accept since it's the least I can do for her since I'm staying in her house without pay. The girls are pretty excited about this, and shout a few things about being "Cutie mark crusader treasure hunters!" Rarity rolls her eyes.

"I simply CAN'T thank you enough for watching the girls. Just make sure they don't do anything.....dangerous, okay?"

"Alright, I'll keep a close eye on them."

"We'll behave!" Assures Sweetie Bell, but Rarity ignores her.

"You're sure you can watch them? Because I could call Fluttershy..."

"I'll just tell them some stories and send them to bed, don't worry."

"If you say so.... I'll see you in the morning, and don't disturb me unless it's an emergency, I hate to be rude but I do need to finish some dresses tonight. Good night, Dart, Sweetie, Applebloom, Scootaloo."

"Goodnight Rarity!" Chirp the fillies in unison.

"Goodnight, and thanks again for letting me stay at your place."

"Oh it's no trouble, anything for a friend."

  And with that, Rarity leaves the room, and also leaves me to deal with three hyperactive fillies who just had a lot of cupcakes and are looking at me like they're going to have the adventure of a lifetime. Hopefully a story or two will calm them down a bit.

"Okay," Announces Applebloom. "What's the first thing we have to do to be treasure hunters?" It takes me a moment to think of an answer. Get a rope? Nah, I don't want them tearing up the place in search of rope. Leave home? Maybe they wouldn't realize I'm joking and actually try to leave.... Oh, wait, duh.

"Obviously, you need to decide what treasure you're looking for." I say with pride.

"Obviously? But it took you like, a whole minute to think of that." Says Sweetie Bell. I ignore her.

"So what would three fillies like you want to search for?"

"Something we can sell!" Says Scootaloo.

"Something neat!" Says Sweetie Bell.

"Something lost that we can bring to a museum!" Says Applebloom.

"Those are all good answers," I divulge in the most professional voice I can manage. "But I usually look for something neat that I can sell to a museum." Applebloom and Sweetie bell face-hoof, but Scootaloo seems genuinely interested.

"You can sell things to a museum!?"

"Yeah, I didn't believe it either until Daring told me."

"So you really DO know Daring Do!" Accuses Applebloom.

"Well....yes." I admit.

"So you youngered yourself!" Claims Scootaloo, Sweetie Bells shakes her head, but remains silent.

"No. You see, actually, I time traveled. I'm from 25 years in the past." I probably shouldn't say anything about Rainbow Dash being trapped in my time.

"Really?" Says Applebloom in a suspicious voice.

"Really!?" Says Scootaloo, amazed.

"Wow!" Exclaims Sweetie bell. "I thought the only pony who could time travel was Twilight. How did you do it?"

"Well the details aren't important, but what matters is that you three want to be treasure hunters! Now, as I was saying, first you need to pick something specific to search for. So what would three fillies like yourselves be looking for?"

"Ancient ruins!" Yells Applebloon.

"No no no, it's what's IN the architecture, we should be looking for priceless artifacts!" Says Sweetie Bell.

"I just want treasure!" Scootaloo informs us.

"Good." I tell them. "Now where would you find those things? Specifically, do you know any places?"

"Of course not," Says Sweetie Bell. "Why would three normal fillies like us know where to find hidden treasure?"

   An idea enters my mind, tomorrow I could take them to a small buried temple in one of the safer areas of the Everfree forest. Hardly any dangerous creatures live in that area, and the temple itself only has a few traps. It would be like a little field trip, and a good way to waste time here while I wait for Twilight to find a way back to the past. Maybe one of the girls would even get a cutie mark, though none of them really strike me as the treasure hunter type.

  "I'll tell you what, I know of a buried temple we could visit tomorrow, if you really think you could get a cutie mark in treasure hunting, it would be a perfect place to go." All three pairs of eyes seem to light up.

"You really mean it?!" Asks Sweetie Bell enthusiastically.

"Of course. But in the mean time, since we're cooped up in here, would you be interested in hearing a story?"

"Tell us about the island of the manticores!" Demands Scootaloo. It sounds like a good story, but she must not have remembered the years in Daring's biography, because I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened yet.

"Tell us about your cutie mark!" Says Applebloom. I don't think I could tell that one either, Rarity probably doesn't want me putting crazy ideas in their head that a lion will help them get a cutie mark.

"I want to hear about you and Daring Do!" Says Sweetie Bell, her tone changing to the kind of voice you would use to mock a sibling or best friend about their filly friend when she says Daring's name.

"Alright, I like that one. It all started late at night in an abandoned mine shaft........"

    After two straight hours of telling stories to mesmerized fillies, I manage to convince them that they need to get some sleep before the treasure hunt tomorrow, and I finally get some time to myself......which is a short lived feeling due to the fact that there's nothing to do around here. I wish I had been wearing my saddlebag, I had a few books with me that I was still reading, but I guess Rainbow Dash can have them now. I guess the fact that Twilight had called me.....what was it? Daring Do's partner for life? Either way, it probably means that I find my way back....somehow. And that means that I should enjoy my time here while I can. After all, not many ponies get the chance to go to the future without taking the normal slow way! It's sort of an adventure in itself. Daring would love an adventure like this!........I miss her already.

((I know this chapter was kind of uneventful, but the second part to it will be entirely adventure, I swear! This was just setting up for it!))