Author's Note

Please note that this takes place before 'Daring Don't' and Twilight's transformation.
There will be some sexual innuendos in this, but no clop.
Maybe in a sidestory

Prologue

Prologue

It was a cold and lonely night, plagued by lightning and rain. As another beam of light flashed through the air, a large building was illuminated in the brief flash. a variety of ropes could be seen tangled around it, and in front of it stood a shadow, his face hidden, in his hoof a scepter. He was pointing towards the building with it, causing lightning to strike at the top.

The building shuddered while the top opened, revealing a small monument shaped like a crystal. The shadow approached, each step accelerating until he reached it. His dark, cold hooves stretched to grab the ancient treasure. His expression turned into a wicked smirk as a laugh came from his unseen face, sounding even deeper than the thunder around them. He had achieved his goal, the sacrifice wasn’t for nothing.

Just as he cheered his victory, a sudden swipe of gold passed him, and his hooves were suddenly empty. Angrily, he looked around, just to see a certain pegasus standing on a hill next to him.

“Better luck next time!” The mare teased him and sprinted down the other side, followed closely by the shadow.

The shadow howled his anger, coming closer and closer while the mare tried to escape with all her power. As soon as she realized that running wouldn’t be enough to get away, she unfolded her wings and shot into the air, just to be grounded seconds later by trails of lightning searching for her wings. Flying was not an option.

Looking at her side, Daring Do noticed her blackened wing tips, making flying impossible even if the sky were clear. As she looked back, the shadow came closer and closer. Her escape would fail unless she had an idea in the next few moments.

Daring tried to gain more speed, looking around for any way to escape or possibilities for a distraction. To her left was the decrepit, ancient temple that usually protected the small monument that was now in her saddlebags. To her right was the endless jungle. In front of her, nothing besides a wide range of desert. Behind her was the shadow, howling his anger after her while coming closer.

While running through her options in her mind, she decided that the labyrinth of halls and traps inside the temple would be the best way to get rid of the shadow. Daring turned to the left and focused all of her power to approach it as quickly as possible. She entered the temple and stopped for a second, noticing that something was wrong.

It was too late, however. The entrance closed behind her, trapping her inside. Daring pushed and pulled, but to no avail. A thick, heavy stone block was halting her access to freedom, and the laugh that followed caused her fur to stand up. The shadow had planned this. With a hiss, the torches along the wall ignited, revealing a straight path to follow. It would lead into another trap, the golden mare was sure about that, but she had no choice, and started her way, slowly walking and watching out for any traps.

As she inspected the ground, she found a somehow familiar pattern. A pattern that was too familiar, and Daring gasped, knowing who the temple likely belonged to.

“Great, another job without a correct description! This is one of Ahuizotl’s temples. Just great! The damn predator pattern on the ground is the same, and that means that sneaky villain is not far away. What luck,” she muttered, stomping onto the ground.

“Ohh, ho ho ho. I don’t think that you could describe any of this as some luck, Daring Do,” came a voice behind her, and the pattern under her hooves blurred, revealing a cage that slid up and trapped her.

“Argh, damn it! I knew that you would join this game, Ahuizotl!” Daring shouted, bucking against the wooden bars of the cage, but they held.

With an evil laugh, Ahuizotl jumped down from the column he was hiding on, starting to pace around the cage.

“Oh, Daring, there’s no need to be so prudish. After all, I saved you from my shadow,” Ahuizotl said, grinning noticeably.

“Your shadow?” Daring gasped, “You used the scepter! Are you mad? You just opened the portal to things that are even worse than this shadow!” The golden mare growled, “Great, just great.”

“Do you think I am a fool? Of course, I added some security measures to ensure that the shadow was the only visitor, and he gets enough food as a reward, trust me,” Ahuizotl laughed and turned, his gaze meeting Daring’s, “I would really like you to meet him, but unfortunately you will not be among the living in a few more minutes. This temple will destroy itself once I take the eternal crystal from it. Another relic you are searching for, I presume? Die well, Daring Do.”

Ahuizotl bowed awkwardly and neared the cage, grabbing for Daring’s saddlebags and ripping them from her body. He opened them and took the monument out of them, smiling evilly. After making sure that it was the real crystal, he turned and left, leaving Daring alone in the cage, still trying to escape. Looking around, she found nothing to unlock the cage. No lever, switch, nothing.

“Urgh, I guess he learned from last time. He hid it for sure!” Daring muttered, looking closer at the surroundings.

It was no use. Time ran by, and soon she could hear a rumble as the destruction began, the temple slowly tearing itself apart. Daring desperately tried to buck her hind legs against the cage, but it held.

The columns around her creaked and began to fall, one after another. It was Daring’s luck that one column decided to fall on the side of the cage, smashing the wood, and Daring was free.

Looking around, she hastily made her way in the opposite direction from whence she came, knowing the entrance would still be closed. Maybe there was another way out of the temple and she just had to find it. While running, she noticed that most of the traps were deactivated, and she was glad for that. However, she soon reached a dead end.

Daring Do tried to gather herself, despite the walls and ceilings crashing down next to her. She found a source of light rather quickly, jumping for it over the crashing columns until the sun greeted her.

“Uhm, Rainbow Dash? Are you in here?” the sun slowly greeted her and…

Rainbow jumped off her bed, being startled by the yellow pegasus next to her, touching her gently.

“Excuse me, Rainbow, but we were searching for you all day,” Fluttershy said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“What? Oh, Fluttershy, it’s you,” Rainbow scratched her head with her hoof, “I was in the middle of reading, can’t it wait?”

“Please don’t take it personally, but you keep hiding in here every Hearts and Hooves day. Twilight wants you to come to the library as soon as possible,” Fluttershy said before backing out of the cyan mare’s bedroom.

Rainbow looked out of the window. It was true, she nearly spent the whole day reading. A bit of flying would also do well for her wings. She marked the passage in her Daring Do book and closed it, laying it down on her nightstand.

I guess I could take a look at what the egghead is up to.

With a frown, Rainbow stood up and left her cloudhome, wings unfolding and heading for the library distinctly shaped like a tree.