Treasure hunters of Equestria

Chapter 8 - Element of Honesty

(From the perspective of Daring Do)

    I woke up at noon to Dart entering the room and sitting on the bed next to me to read a book. He didn't notice that I was awake yet, so I rolled over to him and said good morning, but it was muffled by my dry mouth and the pillow that I forgot to remove from my face.

"Good morning, Daring," He replied in a monotone without looking up from his book. "Oh yeah, you got a letter from the princess. It's downstairs on the table."

"The princess? What does she want?"

"Something about finding the elements of harmony because Discord could break out, nothing too important." I sighed.

"I guess we'd better do that, huh?"

"Ayup." Dart still wasn't looking up from his book. I took a closer look at the cover, it was titled: 'Sherlock hooves and the red diamond'. Just another one of his lame mystery novels. I got out of bed and retrieved the letter from downstairs. As I had just finished reading it and was preparing to write a response, Dart descended the stairs and got himself a bowl of cereal, then sat down next to me.

"Hey, don't you have one of those elements in your attic?" Dart grinned as if he was remembering old adventures.

"I sure do. I found it the same day I was cursed in those ruins."

"You were cursed by the element of loyalty?

"No, I was cursed by a ring in a box next to the element of loyalty. It baffles me to this day why they were next to each other in a temple." I pondered this for a moment. It was odd that the ancients would do that. I began to write a response to the princess while Dart ate his cereal.

Dear Princess Celestia,

With the help of Dart, I will reacquire the elements as you have requested. Do you have any suggestions as to where I could start looking?

-Daring Do

    I licked the envelope and sealed it, then stuck it in the mailbox and put up the flag. I returned to Dart as he was washing his bowl in the sink and humming loudly.

"So, what should we do today while we wait for advice on where to find the elements?" I asked.

"Actually, I'm a little busy today."

"Busy? What did you plan?"

"I'm going to visit my cousin Rosemary in Fillydelphia today, I'll be back sometime tonight."

"The cute filly in the picture?"

"That's the one."

"Can I come?" Dart pondered this a moment.

"No offense Daring, but I haven't seen her forever and I don't want her to feel like a third wheel." It seemed reasonable to me, so I let him go.

"That's understandable. So when are you leaving?"

"Right now actually. Try not to burn anything while I'm gone, okay?" I grinned.

"Not even a little?"

"See you later, Daring."

"Alright, later." He waved one final time, then left and closed the door behind him, leaving me all alone. I meandered back to bed and rolled up in the blankets, assuming the rest of the day would be uneventful. I would soon figure out just how wrong I was.

(From Dart's point of view)

     I soon arrived by train in Fillydelphia, the third largest city in Equestria. Supposedly it had a lot of Earth pony history behind it, since it used to be the capitol of Equestria during the great changeling war, but not many ponies know about that stuff, and it's now famous for the statues that remain around the city from ancient times. I was looking forward to seeing them almost as much as I was to seeing Rosemary.

   Rosemary is my father's sister's daughter, and the closest thing I had to a friend throughout my colt-hood. She was always the only filly who had the patience to at least try to not lose track of me when I wandered off to go explore whatever caught my eye. Occasionally, she was even known to follow me on one of my crazy adventures, and was present when I got my cutie mark.

   As I exited the train, I already noticed one of the many famous statues of the city, a depiction of two earth pony settlers back-to-back, holding pitchforks. One was looking over his shoulder with glaring eyes at the other, who was staring into the distance. This was probably to signify that he was a changeling. Despite all the large buildings and pavement, they do a pretty good job of keeping the city green, and I noticed a lot of large patches of grass, usually with a bench or two in them. I was supposed to meet Rosemary in the central park in 10 minutes, so I took to the sky and flew towards the center of the city.

     I was surprised to see how much Rosemary had grown when I spotted her from the sky. She was almost as tall as me, though besides that her tan fur and green mane were exactly the same. Her cutie mark portrayed an actual piece of rosemary over a cooking pot, to portray her culinary talent.

"Hey! How late am I?" I asked as I swooped in from the sky, coming to a landing right next to her. She looked down at her watch.

"6 minutes and 23 seconds, which by your standards is on time!" We shared a quick laugh then sat at the nearest bench and began to talk about our recent lives.

"Anything new with you?" I asked casually.

"Well nothing too extraordinary, life's been quiet without you always dragging me to the darkest corners of Equestria. I've got a job cooking at a nice restaurant on Mane st, and I've become pretty wealthy. How's your treasure hunting business?"

"How'd you know I was making money off of treasure hunting?" She shrugged.

"I can't imagine you working a day in your life."

"Fair enough. The business is going great though, and along with the money it got me a nice filly-friend as well."

"You!? With a mare? I never thought the day would come!" Much to my embarrassment, she started laughing hysterically.

"You could as least PRETEND it's not that surprising...."

"Sorry, it's just funny to see little Dart all grown up."

"I'm older than you!" She ignored me and scooted closer to me on the bench, then leaned over so her face was in front of mine.

"So? Who is she? Do I know her?"

"Oh, I think you know her." I tried to act cool about it but on the inside I couldn't wait to tell her.

"What's her name?"

"Daring Do." I was expecting her to be impressed, but instead she just stared at me for a split second to make sure I was being serious, then laughed so hard she fell off of the bench. I groaned as I waited for her to finish.

"Ha! For a moment there I thought you had actually taken some time away from your adventures to talk to a mare! But you picked out a mare that can just go with you!" I blushed a bit, she had me completely figured out.

"But that's a good thing, right?" I felt the need to make sure.

"Yeah, 'cause no other mare would put up with you." I rolled my eyes at her.

"I'm hungry, let's go get lunch."

"Alright, I know a good place not far from here."

(From Daring Do's point of view)

    The sound of knocking boomed around the walls of the cottage. I groaned and lifted myself from bed, then shuffled down the stairs to the door. The knocking did not cease up until the very moment I opened the door to see two royal guards accompanied by princess Celestia herself.

     My jaw dropped. She didn't wait for greetings, but immediately began to explain.

"The situation has become dire, it seems that somepony is chipping away at Discord's prison, and he will be free by April. You need to begin the search, now." I grabbed my hat from the coat hanger by the door, and slipped it on.

"I'll get to it right away, where do you suggest I begin?" The princess magically materialized a scroll, which unraveled itself in front of me, and she began to read aloud.

"The element of Magic is hidden in the Everfree ruins,

The element of Laughter is deep in the southern jungle,

The element of Generosity is on the tip of the tallest mountain in Equestria,

The element of Kindness was entrusted to the sea ponies of old, I do not know where it could be now,

I've heard the element of Loyalty is within your own care already,

and finally, the element of Honesty is buried under the modern day city of-"

(From Dart's point of view)

    Fillydelphia, the city of delicious pizza and soft pretzels. Rosemary and I were seated soon after entering a restaurant simply titled 'Pizza and pretzels', and what did we order? Pizza and pretzels of course. As we were waiting for our pizza and pretzels, Rosemary began to tell about her life here.

"-so that's when I found out it was Susan who had eaten all of the icing."

"Uh-huh." I pretended to be interested, but she saw through it.

"Okay, so what have you been up to?" I got excited just talking about it, recently life hadn't had a dull moment.

"Well I fought a manticore, met my filly-friend, saved the world, became a legendary hero then broke the prophecy, and destroyed an ancient temple."

Rosemary sighed. "I miss those adventures."

My eyes lit up and an idea hit me. "Why don't you come with me on one? You might miss a day or two of your job but the treasure will pay it off."

"Oh, I couldn't do that. Your adventures have become a little too dangerous for me. Besides, you'll be with your filly-friend, and I don't want to intrude."

"Daring wouldn't mind! I'm sure you two would get along great!"

"I don't think I could-"

   Without warning, the door slammed open and the mare in question herself, Daring Do, rushed into the restaurant.

"Has anypony here seen an orange pegasus with black hoofs?"

"Daring!" I called out. "I'm over here!" She let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought I would never find you! This city is ginormous! Oh! Is that your cousin?" Rosemary raised an eyebrow at me.

"Your cousin?"

"Huh?" Said me and Daring in unison.

"Wait," Said Rosemary. "You told her that I'm your cousin?"

Daring sat down and glared at me. "You mean she's not your cousin?"

I turned questioningly at Rosemary, I was just as confused as Daring. "You're not my cousin?"

"You really thought that I'm your cousin?" Said Rosemary, her jaw agape.

"You're not my cousin!?" I repeated.

"Well that explains a lot." She almost lost herself in thought.

"You told me we were cousins!"

"I said we were LIKE cousins! Who's daughter did you think I was?"

"My aunt, I always saw you with her!" She shook her head at this.

"Your aunt was my foalsitter! I can't believe you thought we were related!"

"Are you serious!?"

"Wait, that means that the one time that I asked you-" I instantly knew what she was about to say.

"And I said no because we're cousins!"

"But we're not cousins!"

  It was at this point that Daring got fed up with this and cut in, slamming her hoof on the table.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, but what the hay is going on?!"

"I uh....she's not my cousin I guess." I responded awkwardly.

"Come on, Dart. We're leaving now," She declared, then left the building.

I turned towards Rosemary. "I'll uh, be right back, Rosemary." She gave me an understanding nod, and motioned for me to get going.

   Once we were outside, I began to interrogate Daring.

"So what are you doing here? What happened?"

"Well it just so happens that Discord is going to be back a little ahead of schedule, and one of the elements of harmony is somewhere below Fillydelphia."

"And how ahead of schedule is that?"

"He's expected to be back by April."

"Well, no time to lose then. I'll go get Rosemary."

"Huh? Why her?" Daring seemed to be a little unnerved by Rosemary, but I choose to ignore it.

"She knows her way around the city, she can lead us to a library or something." Daring groaned.

"Another library? Can't we just check the sewers or something?" I shook my head.

"The sewers and underground tunnels expand throughout the entire city, we'd have no idea where to begin." Daring tried her hardest to think of a reason to not read more books, but to no avail.

"Fine. Go get your mare-friend."

"Daring, YOU are my mare-friend."

She rolled her eyes. "Just go get her out of the restaurant and we'll figure things out from there," She said, almost coldly.

    After explaining the situation to Rosemary and leaving the restaurant, Rosemary tried to strike up a conversation with Daring while walking to the library.

"So how's Dart been treating you?" I wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that, but Daring treated it as a perfectly normal question, and her mood lightened a little.

"Oh he's great, but he can be a little annoyingly shy."

"I'm right here you know," I reminded her. The two of them ignored me.

"Shy? I've never seen him care about anypony's opinion before! This I've got to see!" Rosemary enthusiastically responded. Daring nodded.

"Here, watch this," She turned to face me. "Dart, give me a kiss." My face turned red.

"What? Here? Now?" Instead of pestering me or making faces like I had expected her too, Daring and Rosemary both began to laugh hysterically. I started to realize they had been making fun of me. I will never understand mares.

"Oh that's nothing!" Rosemary bragged. "Just wait until you hear about the kind of stuff he's done back in school." I groaned.

"You're only going to tell the embarrassing stories aren't you?"

"Of course!" She smiled.

    Just as she was finishing up the story about how I went to the forest looking for treasure and came running back in less than 5 minutes with a baby timberwolf that had bitten my leg and refused to let go, we arrived at the library. I had had enough of these stories, and was relieved to finally have some work to get done to escape from hearing them again. Daring, on the other hoof, had listened intently and laughed loudly to each and every one of them. At least they were getting along. I ran into the library, and grabbed the blueprints for the tunnels and sewers under Fillydelphia. While I was searching for any oddity, Daring and Rosemary continued to talk to each other loudly about me, and I ignored them. Finally, I discovered something that seemed incredibly out of place, and interrupted their chat session.

"-And that's when Dart threw up in the middle of science class," Finished Rosemary. Daring giggled a little.

"Sorry to interrupt you girls, but I've found our destination." I think it was actually pretty clear that I wasn't sorry. I didn't wait for them to respond.. "Look, the sewers curve upwards here like they're trying to avoid something. I have a hunch that if this thing is underground it's got to be right there." Rosemary nodded.

"That is odd. We'll have to check it out."

"Wait. What do you mean WE?" I questioned.

"Well you offered for me to go on an adventure with you, now that you're here I think it would be the perfect time," She explained. I turned to Daring for help, but she pretended not to notice.

"But it's dangerous! We're looking for the elements of harmony! Last time we ran into somepony who was trying to resurrect Discord, they had spears!"

"Well you had better protect me then."

  I continued to beg and plead Rosemary to stay behind, partly because I was worried for her well-being, but mostly because I was sick of re-hearing those stories, and it was weird being around her knowing that we were never really cousins. No matter how much I attempted to persuade her to stay, she remained firm. Daring seemed to be neutral on the idea, still a little annoyed about earlier for whatever reason, but also wanting to hear more of those stories. I gave up.

"Fine," I reluctantly allowed.

"Oh don't be like that, it'll be fun!" She assured me.

(From Daring Do's point of view)

    It was pretty clear when Dart gave up that this adventure would be run by Rosemary. I felt a little bad for the stallion, but Rosemary really wanted to come along, and if she was coming, it was pretty clear that Dart would just follow us quietly, as he had on the way to the library.

   I must have underestimated Dart's sense of adventure though, because as we arrived in the sewer tunnel, Dart immediately seemed to forget our very existence as he began to search around excitedly for some way into the hidden chamber. It was Rosemary, however, who found it in the end.

"Dart! Daring! Over here!" She pointed a hood towards a rusty old lever covered in cobwebs. Dart was skeptical though, and responded without even looking at her.

"That's probably just part of the sewer systems, it wouldn't be so obvious." Rosemary rolled her eyes.

"Sewer systems? What kind of sewer systems would need a big lever? Sewers are just big pipes."

"Oh.....I guess your right. What are you waiting for then? Give it a pull."

  Without wasting any more time, Rosemary gave the lever a hard pull, which took a few seconds because it was so rusted. Sure enough, the stones in the wall behind the lever began to slide back, and then to the side, revealing a spiraling stair case. It reminded me of the stair case Dart and I went down on our very first adventure. Much to my annoyance, it was only wide enough for two ponies to walk side by side, and somehow I got stuck behind Rosemary and Dart, and was forced to listen to their conversation on the way down.

"It really feels like old times, right Dart?" Asked Rosemary.

"Yeah I guess it does. It took me a while to get used to treasure hunting without you. I always forgot to bring supplies, and I constantly found myself without torches or ropes. Boy, that was a nightmare."

Rosemary giggled. "Somehow I don't have any trouble imagining that. I used to bring the things I told you to bring because I always knew you would forget."

"Yeah, too bad you didn't earn a cutie mark in treasure hunting. You could still be helping me out."

"Oh don't talk like that, it's only because of our treasure hunts that I got my cutie mark!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

Rosemary's eyes narrowed. "You forgot about that day?"

Dart was quick to correct himself, as if this was a big mistake. "No! I mean....of course not! I just forgot that one detail, that's all."

"Honestly Dart, you'd forget your own hooves if they weren't attached to your legs. Speaking of which, why are they black now? Is it some new weird Canterlot fashion?"

Dart laughed, then proceeded to tell the same thing he told me. "I got cursed in some ancient Romane ruins, it still doesn't make much sense to me."

Rosemary didn't seem very surprised, but more annoyed. "A curse? I leave you to adventure alone for less than 2 years, and you've already gotten yourself a curse?"

"Hey! It was in a really big shiny box! How could I have resisted?"

Rosemary ignored him, and instead slowed down a bit so she was side by side with me.

   "So, I didn't have time to ask Dart, but I want to hear your side of the story first. How did you two meet?"

"Well first he almost drowned me, then he made me look like an idiot in front of an entire crowd of ponies, then he left without even telling me his name." I shot him a glare after that last part.

"Wow," Said Dart. "I hadn't really thought of it that way."

"Okay," Said Rosemary. "Now you tell me the next part." I perked up, wondering how Dart would tell it.

"Isn't that kind of a weird way to hear the story?"

"No, it's way more fun this way."

Dart sighed. "Well," He started. "We met again by coincidence in the middle of nowhere, then I fell down a long flight of stairs and got captured by Discordian cultists. Daring appeared about 4 minutes later, and tried to stab me with a spear-"

"I was saving your life!" I interrupted.

"With a spear!" He exaggerated. "Anyways, she saved me with a spear and then we returned to Canterlot and in return for saving me she forced me to be her colt-friend."

"Forced?" Questioned Rosemary.

"Oh c'mon, it's not that bad," I commented.

"It's not," He agreed.

"Alright Daring, you finish off the story," Ordered Rosemary.

"Okay, I see some the stairs ending up ahead so I'll make it quick. We moved in together to a nice place in ponyville, decided on the solar desert for an exploration, met up with my arch-rival Ahuizotl, then Dart wrecked a temple and we went on a date."

"Man," Said Dart. "It is really weird to hear that out of context."

"Don't worry," Said Rosemary. "I'll make sure to pry every last detail out of you later."

After a little bit more of descending the stairs, we entered a pitch-black chamber.

"Rosemary, you didn't happen to bring any torches, did you?" Asked Dart innocently.

Rosemary groaned. I didn't know about Dart and Rosemary, but all I could think at that moment was: 'There is no way I am climbing and descending those stairs again!'

"Don't we have ANYTHING?" I asked hopefully.

Dart stamped a hoof in frustration. "Sorry Daring but it looks like we forgot to-"

  Before he could finish his sentence, Dart's hooves begin to glow eerily, then suddenly the intensity of the glow increases little by little until it forms a blindingly bright beam of light in front of him, like a flashlight.

"Well that's new," He comments. I let out a sigh of relief. Curse or not, I don't care as long as we don't have to go all the way up and down the stairs again. Dart looks like he was about to say something else, but then decides not to. As I examine the room around me, I notice a whole bunch of ancient Equestrian designs and writings all around us on the walls and ceiling. To this day, ancient Equestrian language hasn't been deciphered yet, and princess Celestia herself claims to never have known the language very well. It all just looks like a bunch of scribbles to me. Dart, on the other hoof, seems fascinated. He quickly shines his light on the writing (much to the annoyance of Rosemary who is now left in the dark) and begins to study it. Something seems different though, he usually doesn't take nearly this long. I examine it myself. It looks something like: עבור שמאלה, ימינה היא מלכודת

At one point he even seemed to flicker to an angry expression, then returned to his normal adventurous grin.

"We have to go left up ahead, the right is a trap," He suddenly declares.

"Huh?" Rosemary and I ask in unison. He repeats himself.

"But how do you know that?" I ask.

"I uh....deciphered part of this."

I give him a skeptical look. "Dart, nopony has been able to read ancient equestrian for years, don't tell me you just suddenly, magically figured it out."

He shrugs, not really knowing how to respond to that, and leads the way down the passageway, and sure enough, there's a fork in the path. Without hesitation, he heads down the right corridor, and Rosemary and I follow quietly. Something is definitely wrong with him, usually he likes the way with the traps.

(From Dart's point of view)

   The voice in my head began to bug me a little after the lights started coming from my hoofs. It has been giving me all this stupid advice about the dungeon that I've been trying to tune out. I've been trying to disregard it, but I can hear it's advice loud and clear. The first thing it did to tick me off was surprise me. I almost made a fool of myself by calling out to it, but then noticed that Daring and Rosemary hadn't seemed to have heard anything, so I kept quiet and let the voice talk. Then, it turned out to not even be the curse in my hoofs! It's calling me the chosen Solar hero just like that stupid serpent had, and it keeps deciphering symbols on the walls for me, ruining all of the fun of the adventure. It seems like somehow the powers in that stupid amulet I smashed have made their way into the very hoofs I used to smash it.

  Adventuring is just no fun when you know where every trap is from reading ahead, and knowing what they do just by looking at them. It has the same feeling of reading a mystery novel where you already know the culprit, or playing battleship without the screen that stops you from seeing the other player's board. Either way, it's just boring. I HAVE to get this thing out of my hoofs before it causes some serious damage to my entertainment. Apparently it can read my thoughts because it responds to that.

Why so sad, chosen one? Is this guidance not what you seek?

Not even remotely. An arrow flies at me, but I was warned about it earlier, and block it with my steel hoof.

I apologize, but when the chosen one wears the talisman, he must have my guidance.

Well first of all I don't really want to be the chosen one. Second of all, I'm not wearing your silly talisman.

  "Dart, are you okay?" Asks Daring. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," I reply. "This adventure is just too easy. Let's finish it up quickly."

"Well it wouldn't be easy without you magically knowing where the traps are! How are you doing that?"

I don't want to sound crazy, so I lie. "These traps are just obvious." Daring looks at me strange, but doesn't respond.

     Suddenly, the entire dungeon flickers to life and all sorts of new traps I've never even imagined would work appear everywhere. Traps such as a poisonous bat cage that releases the bats when you go near, and machines that rise from the ground and throw razor blades. Daring, Rosemary, and I retreat to the last hallway, which is just as safe as we left it.

You shouldn't have lied, Says the voice. You have angered the element of honesty. Not even I can guide you through this new maze.

Awesome. Now this might actually be some fun!

I do not understand you, hero, but your end will come soon if you continue to act this way. The lights on my hooves turn off and the voice vanishes. Alone at last, albeit the room just got a good bit darker. There are a few light enchantments coming from further down the road, so we can still see fairly well.

    "Dangerous enough for you NOW, Dart?" Asks Rosemary. My new found excitement vanishes. Maybe it would be fun for me to navigate this new dungeon, but could Rosemary and Daring find their own ways through?

"Eeyup." Is the only response I can manage. I grab a large decorative staff off of a nearby wall, the hallway is full of all kinds of symbols and treasures I had ignored due to that stupid voice. I figure having a poking stick would be handy to get through the traps, as sometimes I can't find a way to get past the traps without setting them off. I'm about to run into the maze headfirst when it occurs to me that Daring has been strangely quiet. I turn back to face her, and for the first time I see that she looks kind of freaked out. Rosemary looks equally scared, but trying hard not to show it. I calm down a bit, and realize that I have a lot of time and don't need to just charge in there right this moment. I sit down on the floor in front of them.

   "Are you really going in there, Dart?" Asks Daring.

"Yeah, I've got to get the element. Why don't you stay here with Rosemary? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Daring shakes her head. "You're the one scaring me Dart, not the traps."

"Huh? What did I do?"

Rosemary cuts in."You look really distressed, it's kind of freaking us out."

"That goofy look you always get on your face when you go adventuring is gone," Agrees Daring.

   It occurs to me that I've begun to think of this entire adventure as more of an annoyance, and I've hardly been looking around at all the cool stuff on the walls around me. It's time I had some more fun with this, I'm here on an awesome adventure with brand new traps and my two favorite mares in the world. I put my 'goofy look' back on, and Daring grins in return.

"That's the spirit! Now let's do this!"

"Actually," Interrupts Rosemary. "I'm allergic to razor blades, so I'll stay back here."

   The maze wasn't all that bad, but it did take a while and a lot of traps so I'll abridge the story a bit. We must have been in the maze for at least 2 or 3 hours, as both Daring and I both have a terrible sense of direction, and found ourselves in dead ends more than often. On the other hoof, dead ends also meant treasure rooms, and we stuffed our saddlebags with all sorts of neat stuff. Every so often I had to find a new trap-poking stick, as mine was constantly cut in half, smashed, and even once stolen by a really big bat. All-in-all both Daring and I got through mostly unscathed, though I obtained a large cut on my back right leg from an arrow that came a little too close for comfort. It was amazing to think that this entire labyrinth was below Fillydelphia, maybe some day I would come back and explore it more thoroughly. Since we would occasionally find some sort of sign that meant we were going the correct way to the element and there were many other symbols I could only guess the meaning of, I imagined that there must be much more to the maze then we were seeing.

   Eventually, our saddlebags were too full of treasure, and we decided we needed to stop exploring the interesting side routes and follow only the ones with the symbol of 3 apples, as so far those passages had led us forwards. I enjoyed Daring's company, though for the most part we only talked to say things like: 'Watch out for that spear!' or 'Hey, check out what I found over here!'. Slowly but surely, we found our way to the element of honesty, which was placed atop a pedestal in a well lit room surrounded by statues of old Earth pony royalty. Despite all the legends about the elements of harmony being powerful gems, and just like the element of loyalty, it was just a round stone with a carving of a jewel in it, and no obvious powers besides being heavy.

"It looks.....useless," Commented Daring when she saw that it was no different than our other element.

"Yeah," I agreed. "They might as well be called the bowling balls of harmony."

  We made our way back to Rosemary, using traps we'd already set off as a guide to where we've already been. Instead of Rosemary waiting for us as we expected, instead we found a note stuck to the wall written in blue pen. Daring walked up to read it first, and I figured it just said that Rosemary had gotten tired of waiting, but Daring looked angry, and threw the note to the ground, and stomped on it. I walked over and read what remained of it after Daring finished her tantrum.

If you want the mare back, bring your elements of harmony to me in Appleoosa on the first day of February.

-Ahuizotl the great

      I could feel myself falling forwards to my knees. How could I have let Rosemary get kidnapped? It was all my fault, I had suggested that she come on an adventure with me, and I had put her in danger.

  Daring noticed my distress, and attempted to comfort me, rubbing her hoof on my back.

"We'll find her, Dart. I promise."

"Buck yeah we will."