“This ritual is going to request something from her, soon,” Dangers cousin explained, “and whatever it is, I am sure Danger won’t be able to fulfill it.” She gave me a suspicious look. “That is, if this kirin really is my cousin.”

I snorted at her suspicion. When I told her who this kirin was, she had made a real fuss about how this was not possible and that I was lying and all that. We have wasted a good amount of time with that, but in the end, she had accepted that I may be speaking the truth, and therefore, we had to act.

Though, obviously, her suspicion was still there.

“It is Fluffy, end of story.” I shook my head, “but what did you mean by, it is going to end soon?”

Her eyes remained slits for a moment, not even being subtle with her deep seeded misgivings before she returned her gaze to the scene below us. “I mean that these creatures have nearly completed their dance. And from my experience with native tribes rituals and cultures, I’m assuming that at the end of it, the leader, Danger in this case, has to play their part.”

“And?” I was perplexed by her concerned tone. “Why couldn’t she be able to play her part?”

“Because she is not a real kirin? Duh?” She pointed at her. “She doesn’t have a horn, so she can’t cast any magic, and from what I know, the rituals from the ancient kirin empire always included some.” She looked back at me. “That means, even if she had a clue what these creatures would demand from her, which she doesn’t, she couldn’t do it. So, when these creatures have completed their ritual and Danger won’t be able to fulfill her role then, they will get angry, I mean, really angry!”

Now my eyebrows furrowed. “Then it may be the best to take them out first, right?”

I was already rising to make my way down there, ready to get rid of these primitive creatures, when Dangers cousin held me back.

By the way, I obviously haven’t learned her name by this point in the tail. I overheard her name later when Fluffy began complaining, though after talking about her for so long it's getting rather tedious to not use it. You might know her already since she is quite famous from some books, her name is, Daring Do. Anyway, with that out of the way, I can use her name now to tell you who I mean or who was speaking.

So, Daring quickly rushed over to me and placed a hoof on my side, trying to pull me back down. Of course she failed, she simply was not strong enough, but I stopped myself.

“What?” I asked impatiently.

“You can’t simply go down there and kill every creature!” She looked appalled. “That is horrible!”

“As if you have any better ideas. Besides, it would prevent any future problems we would have with them.”

“Yeah, but don’t forget, Danger’s going to be getting a front row seat of how you slaughter some harmless creatures. I’m sure she would love to see that.” Daring said sarcastically.

I growled. I had to admit, she had a point, even if I didn’t like it. Pony sensibility in matters of good old violence was a hindrance sometimes. Though, their cuteness and cuddliness seemed to be worth it.

“Fine!” I grumbled. “What is your idea then?”

She rubbed her chin. “Let me think of something, I need a moment.”

“Alright… “ I said, deceptively calm… and when she turned around to walk around the room while thinking, I grabbed her and pressed her against my chest. I simply ignored the annoyed ‘Hey’ she half yelled. “Take your time,” I said when she started to struggle, “but keep in mind, that is your cousin down there that needs your help.”

Her struggling stopped. I, of course, took that as permission to cuddle her. It was a wonder how fast she came up with a plan all of the sudden.

***

The dancing got faster and faster as the screams of joy and happiness were progressively infused with an expectant undertone. The circle around the fire got closer, the rhythm more quick, and more than one fist or spear was shaken towards the ceiling.

Gradually, it came to Danger Do’s mind that she was possibly in trouble now. She still sat on her stone throne, observing the ritual from above, though, things were becoming more serious with every passing second. She should have flown away when she had the chance, but no, she had stayed. Surely, her transformation had offered a nice opportunity to get the next artifact, but she had had some trouble on her way before getting to that point.

Danger threw a regretful look at her wing. Like her older cousin always wrote in her books, she had hurt it. Must be some kind of family curse she thought. Of course, these creatures had apologized after she had turned into a kirin, at least that was what she thought they did, since she didn’t speak their language, but that didn’t change the fact that her wing was now hurt.

Suddenly Danger was pulled out of her thoughts when all of the creature screamed at once, “Mar-gie! Zai-bear!”

While doing so, they turned around to her and raised one open claw each, to praise her. No, not to praise her, to demand something.

Dangers first reaction however was to freeze in shock. With the seconds passing, the silence laid heavy on all of them, till one lizard like creature moved forward, speaking, or yelling, in their harsh voice.

“Zai-bear!” It demanded, moved another step forward and making the same gesture with its claw then before, repeating, “Zai-bear!”

Dangers ears flinched back, “I, I don’t know what you want from me,” she explained. But it only seemed to make the creature more angry.

“Zai-bear!” it screamed. “Zai-bear! Nun!” Soon, the other creatures followed, screaming the same words over and over again while coming closer to the throne.

Rising from her throne, Danger lifted her burning hooves to calm them down. “I am pretty sure you guys have a very good reason to demand something, but I have honestly no clue what that is.”

They came closer.

“Really,” a nervous giggle escaped her lips while she clambered over the backrest, “I am very thankful for your welcome, but I think I should go now!” She turned around, but instantly stopped when she saw the group that had carried her here waiting behind her throne with raised spears.

“Or, not?” She quietly asked.

“Zai-bear!” The creatures had surrounded her and were still moving closer.

“He-hey,” another nervous giggle, “we can talk about this, right?”

It didn’t seemed so, the creatures were now right around her throne, pointing their spears at her, and then…

***

A mighty roar from me echoed through the cave, reaching even the farest corner and drawing all of the creatures attention towards me. The fear they showed when they heard the roar of a dragon was only increased when they actually saw me. Black as death, twice as tall as them and enveloped in fire. A little circumstance that was owed to the lamp oil that Daring had spilled all over me.

It was purrfect!

While they were still paralyzed in shock, I made my way down to them, leaving burning claw steps as I proceeded down the stairs. When I finally had the room to spread my wings I glided down the remaining distance, leaving a trail of burning oil behind me.

I can only imagine how scary I must have looked!

Mere seconds before I reached the group, they finally overcame their paralysis, spreading out in all directions. Quickly, spears were raised, ranks formed, though, I could see them shiver in fear, shrinking back.

And the cute little kirin? Almost forgotten.

I landed heavily right in front of the throne, kicking up some dust and roaring again at the crowd of fearful creatures, pushing them back even further.

Only the little kirin, who was now hiding behind the backrest of the throne was still unable to move it seems, so I gave her another, very personal roar.

I could only hope that Daring’s plan worked and Danger was clever enough to understand the situation. Otherwise I may have to kill some of these creatures, even with her present.

Finally, Danger gulped and made an attempt to stand up.

I bared my fangs and growled, challenging her.

She threw a look at the fearful creatures behind her and then back to me. I saw she recognized me, despite the lamp oil and everything, though my entrance left her unsure about me.

Come on, you can get this figured out!

She hesitated, and I quickly spread my wings, intimidating everyone by the sound and the burning drops I splashed all over the place, leaving burned spots on the ground and also on some creatures. I supported the atmosphere of fear with a threatening hiss.

First, Danger ducked behind her throne once more, but then something clicked for her, and I saw in her eyes that she began to understand.

She gulped, then straightened up and jumped out from behind her throne, hissing back at me.

Now she was talking!

I lowered my head and roared at her once more. This time without effect, besides her feathers and mane waving.

Like a brave hero, she stood her ground and even moved towards me, slowly, step by step.

I added some fire to the mix, spitting it at her, but she just turned her face away and took it. She was fireproof after all.

Now I acted crazy, hissing, scratching the ground with my claws, even whipping the ground with my tail. The ring of creatures fearfully stepped back once more, but Danger was unimpressed.

Unwaveringly, she made her way over to me, only to stop a few steps aways from me when a fearful cry shouted for her from the back. One of the lizard like creatures, the same one that had stepped forward when she was unable to play her part, had raised its claw, obvious trying to hold her back, seeing the danger I presented.

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this!” Fluffy said confidently and underlined it with the appropriate gestures. Though, he didn’t understand her words, he got what she was saying anyway. With awe, he knelt and looked at the event that was about to transpire.

Returning her gaze to me, she raised a hoof, holding it up and spoke in a loud clear voice. “Hey, my overgrown Lizard, I am sooo thankful that you showed up! These freaks were going to make a kirin shish kabob out of me!”

I hissed, loud and threatening.

“Woah!” Now she got a bit worried. “Easy there, you came to my aid, right?”

I couldn’t speak with her now, it had to look like she was using some sort of power or magic to calm me down, not a civilized discussion. Otherwise, these creatures wouldn’t buy it. Though they may not be able to understand us, it doesn’t mean they were completely stupid.

So I roared and scratched the floor once more, sending small pebbles flying towards her.

“You are my overgrown Lizard, right?” Doubt mixed into her voice. She lifted her other hoof too. “Right?”

This wasn’t the time for doubt Fluffy! I had to act before she really started to fear me and back off.

For a moment, a very short one, I added a purr into my growling. Not enough to make the creatures suspicious, but enough for Fluffy to understand.

With new confidence she took another step forward and kept only one hoof up.

“Come here,” she said.

I refused and repeated my threatening actions.

“Come here!” she now demanded in a strong and confident tone.

I lowered my hissing and folded my wings a bit, trying to appear less threatening, before I slowly moved forward. Like a wild creature, I lowered my head when I reached her and only hesitated right before I pressed it against her hoof, hissing once more, before I really touched it. Sounds of surprise and disbelief were heard from the creatures in the background when I allowed her hoof to wander from my nostrils, along my snout and finally come to rest on top of my head.

And like a good dragon, once it was there, I rubbed my head against it, demanding more caresses from her.

She was so generous to give it. Softly her hoof scratched over my scales, while she whispered sweet little nonsense into my ear. I mean I was not a dog or something, but her calming sweet words did work somehow. Not for me, but for the creatures who were watching.

More than one lowered their weapon and stood there, watching us with open snouts. A little kirin, not only calming down an angry dragon, but now not more than a step away from cuddling with it.

Everything was going well, until I moved my head to her wing, wanting to play with, from what I remembered, her playfully acting feathers and enjoy the warmth of the fire on her marginal coverts. Only to see her flinch back and make a noise of pain when I touched it.

It took me a moment to realise what that meant. I tilted my head and made an requesting noise, demanding to be allowed to play with her wing, but she pulled it back even further.

Then, it struck me what this had to mean.

With a mighty roar, I raised my head again, facing the creatures, which were now significantly startled. Oh no, I wasn’t playing the angry dragon anymore, now I was pissed! These fools had dared to hurt my pegasus! I would end them, right now!

My wings sprung open, my fangs bared. Only seconds until I would bounce, reach them, and tear them apart.

I didn’t know why my sudden anger was so strong, so overwhelming, but surely not a single one of them would survive… had it not been for Fluffy.

Quickly, she jumped between me and them, hissing loudly, demanding my attention to come back on her.

I ignored her mostly, just turning to a different direction and the creatures there, but she always jumped in between us, remaining between me and them.

With my blood still boiling, I was not in the mood to pay her any mind until I had taken care of the origin of my rage. In this case, it just so happened to be the lizard like creatures.

I gave her a hiss, which she only returned. More so, she lowered her head and chest, giving me a real roar.

Even if I didn’t see her as a threat, the gesture was clear. I had to respond to it, one predator to the other.

I lowered my head again, bringing it to the same level as hers. She bared her fangs and hissed. I returned the favour, though I was a bit louder.

I didn’t want to fight with her, but she didn’t allow me to ignore her either. Though, in hindsight, I admit this show got her far more respect and attention then what I had in mind.

So we stood there, looking at each other, threatening each other, even though neither of us really mean it. This was until the point I remembered what had made me so angry in the first place and turned my attention back to our spectators.

Before I could do something they would regret though, Fluffy took the initiative and pushed forward. That caught me off guard, I wasn’t expecting an attack by her, and, it didn’t really count as one. She indeed bounced at me, which caused me to rise on my feet, but it was nothing dangerous, instead, she grabbed ahold of my neck and supported her stand with her rear hooves on my left claw and chest while she licked over my throat.

This hadn’t been an attack, it had been a form of flirting!

Clever little pony indeed. Surely I wasn’t listening to reasonable talk, but this, I was more than willing to listen too.

More so, I hoped her cousin Daring would have an excellent view of this from her position. I was fortunate Fluffy didn’t seem to know she was around too.

On the other claw, like I told you before, I was not the type of dragon to have this kind of action with spectators around. So I did purr a bit and grabbed her tighter, but I did not try anything funny myself. At least not now.

I enjoyed her tender caresses a bit more, but then I dropped her on the ground, softly.

“You will not be able to solve every problem by licking over my throat in the future,” I informed her whispering, though, far calmer than a moment before.

She smiled and replied in the same volume, “It’s worked so far.”

I gave her a half approving, half warning growl and rubbed my head against hers. Soon my growl turned into a purr and I moved closer to her to rub my chest against hers too.

She let it happen and also moved herself to cuddle along my side. When she was finally standing next to me, she turned and jumped on my back.

That was a bit much, even for her. I turned my head to her and hissed, but she simply made herself comfortable on my back and used her softness against me.

She was good, but I wasn’t going to let go of this so easily, I am no mount dammit, I am a dragon! I am… the rest of my thoughts got covered in a deep purr when her hooves started to do their magic on my back again.

I had forgotten about these massage things! Her secret Pony weapon! Now I was under its spell, I had fallen into her trap with open eyes, not knowing what hit me!

Like butter, I melted under her hooves, purring and moving my wings into the right position to allow her to reach the best spots.

I don’t know what this view must be like for the primitive creatures, but I didn’t care anyway. I sunk down on my belly and made myself comfortable on the ground, allowing Fluffy to proceed with her evil, unfair pony magic.

“Look who is a good dragon.” She mocked at me and scratched along my spine. “A really good dragon, huh?”

“I’m not going to fetch a stick for you.” I protested weak, still purring.

“We’ll see about that.”

I shivered a bit out of joy, before I responded. “I hope your cousin doesn’t see this.”

Fluffy’s massaging of my back stopped. “My cousin?”

“Yeah,” I growled a bit at her suddenly stopping, but she quickly resumed her magic before I would stand up again. “I met her upstairs, in the ruin. Though, she is far less fluffy then you, more of a fighter. She also got kind of angry when I told her I slept with you.”

“You did what?!” Now she sprung up on my back and I could almost feel the panic that rose inside her.

I turned my head to her and explained, “Well, she asked me where I had seen you last…” I shrugged, smiled, and made a vague gesture at the primitives. “Also she was the one who came up with the plan that I should rescue you this way instead of just slaughtering all of them. You know, grab you, get you out of here and she would use the distraction to get the artifact in the process.”

Now a mixture of emotions came and left her face. She was clearly ashamed that I told her cousin about our funtime, though, a bit of anger was with in the mix. Why? That became clear after she had gathered some confidence again.

“I can’t believe you would do this to me, again!”

“I?” I wondered.

She turned to me. “No, not you! Daring! She tries to snatch the artifact from me!” Fluffy stomped with her hoof, sadly right on my back. “Oh no cousin, not this time!” Now she pointed her hoof at me. “You are not going to fly me out of here!”

“No?”

“No! You and I are going for the artifact ourselves!”

I rose from the ground and lifted her with me. “I am not sure, I am not so much in the mood for an artifact heist.” I gave her a smirk and rubbed my head against her side. “I can think of something far better to spend our time with.”

A angry hiss was her response.

“Oh come on,” I purred. But she didn’t listen.

“No way you get that,” she slapped my head, “while Daring is snatching my artifact! Directly before my snout!”

I lifted my tail to play with hers, stroking over her fluffy burning tail tip and purred even louer.

“No means no!” she yelled and whipped my tail with hers.

Now it was on me to growl.

“You’re already late with my ‘payment’!” I reminded her while my growling intensified. “And you stole my Candle of Inspiration too!”

Fluffy moved a step forward and grabbed my snout with her hoof, pushing it up on her level. “If you want your payment, you will help me to get the artifact!”

Well, I don’t take orders so well, and even though I admit that I like her, that was a step to far. After all, I was The Black Death! Now my growl turned into a hiss and my whole body language changed into a more aggressive stance.

Of course, this didn’t go unnoticed by Fluffy, who just realized who she was giving orders to.

Quickly, she placed a kiss on my lips. Though, my anger stayed, a simple kiss wouldn’t do it this time.

“I mean,” she rubbed her head against my snout, letting her cozy mane play with my scales, “I would really appreciate your help here.”

I caught her gaze. “And I would prefer to just get you outta here and get paid.”

“But our deal was that you help me get the other…” she stopped, then smiled. “Pacta su…”

I roared and threw her off. “Don’t you dare!” I screamed at her. “You ungrateful pony!”

My reaction had taken her by surprise and she now looked up to me with wide eyes.

I turned my body around and approached her. “Not only did I save your life three times already, I also spared you in the tavern! Not to mention you thanked me and my kindness by stealing from my lair. Nooo, none of that was enough, you also felt the need to demand my help by using a deal we made before you repaid my kindness with a theft!” Now my voice had become really loud and full of anger. My fangs were bared and my claws scratched over the ground in lack of something to fight with.

Well, that changed quickly when one of the creatures behind me stormed forward with a spear raised. Of course, they couldn’t understand our words, for them, the situation was quite clear though. Fluffy had made a mistake in the process of calming me down, and now, I was going to kill her.

Stupid fool! I was already pissed, looking for something to smash and this fool presented itself! Only a bowtie was missing from this present.

When it had gotten close enough, I whipped it with my tail, sending it flying back to where it came from. I was more than thankful for something to release my anger on, and a group of primitive was just the right thing.

I turned around, spread my wings and was about to attack them, when suddenly something fluffy rushed to my side and hugged me.

“I am sorry!” she yelled hecticly. “I am sorry, really I am sorry!” Her hug got tighter. “Don’t harm them, please!”

I was pissed enough to kick her off, and I already raised my feet to do so, when she continued. “Please, don’t hurt them, it was me who annoyed you, not them. I am sorry for stealing from you!”

I let my feet hang in the air, hesitating. I tell you, these ponies do have a weapon. Forget what I said before about cuteness and fluffiness being useless in a fight, despite how annoyed I still was, she had managed to calm me down.

Though, I didn’t showed it completely, better let her keep trying. You know, see where this was going.

Oh but I underestimated the cleverness of her. Instead of begging for me to spare the creature, she approached the topic form a different angle.

She stroke over my side with her healthy wing and said, “You’ll get your payment, don’t worry.” She started to rub her head against me too. “Though, if we leave now, our little adventure is over. If Daring gets the artifact, she will find Shakirin-La, not us, which means you don’t get any further payment.”

I placed my feet on the ground again. I hadn’t thought about this before.

“We would leave,” she said and moved towards my front, caressing my side with her wing on the way, “and after you get your,” she touched my throat with her hoof, sliding upwards, “‘payment’ we would separate.” At the last words her voice had a regretful, almost sad tone.

My eyebrows furrowed, I didn’t like that line of thinking.

“On the other hoof, if you help me get the artifact… well,” she licked over my throat, “I’ll make sure to put a little extra on your ‘paycheck’. She moved her hoof to my neck and implied a little massage there. “And I am sure you would like it.” Now she gave me her best fluffy look. “Not to mention that it would mean our adventure could last a bit longer that way, resulting in more ‘paytimes’.”

She had a point, a really good point! My anger lowered and I slowly returned to a less aggressive stance. I hadn’t thought about it this way before. So funny it is to have a good fight, like the one that presented itself here to me, but I couldn’t argue with the idea that having her around for longer was going to be worth holding back for the moment.

I clicked my claw on the ground for a moment, until I made a decision. “Hop on,” I said.

She did as I told her, making sure she rubbed her fluffy body against me in the process. A clever choice given how angry I was a few seconds before.

When Fluffy had taken a seat, and extinguished the rest of the fire on my back with a swift move, I asked, “And where is this artifact?”

“From what I know, it is in a chamber at the side of this cave,” she pointed in a direction, I didn’t know which it was. “That way.”

Without further delay, I headed in said direction. The creatures didn’t bother us, actually they made a passage for us between them. The reason? Who knows, be it that they feared me, or had respect for their leader, who had not only calmed down a dragon right in front of them, but also was now riding said angry dragon. A few of them actually kneeled and bowed before Fluffy.

I mean, for them, without knowing what we talked about, it must have looked very impressive what she did, more so after I whipped away one of their comrades so easily.

Anyway, we made our way to said chamber, or better said, to the huge door that led to it. Once there, Fluffy hopped off.

“I came till this point, before the natives noticed me the first time,” she explained. “Whatever I had tried, the door didn’t open.”

I gave it a look, the door was made of some shimmering metal, not enough to shine, but kind of dull gloss. In the middle was a series of symbols, nearly faded away over time, but I thought I saw what they once represented.

In the center was a golden horseshoe, above it some colorful curved lines. The colours had mostly vanished, but there was a hint of blue, green and red left. This was surrounded by a ring of several little four clover leaves.

Strangely I remembered this symbols from somewhere, though, I couldn’t remember where.

“You see, this door was all that stopped me from snatching the artifact and leaving safe and sound.” Fluffy said.

“Well, good thing someone had opened it for us already.”

“What?” Fluffy rushed next to me, giving the door a disbelieving look. Indeed, by a closer look, it was to see that the door was open a tiny gap.

“Daring…!” Fluffy mumbled.

“Mhh, we will know any moment.” I commented and placed my talon between the door and it’s frame, pushing it open.

Well, what we saw when the door was open was a picture of a lifetime. Behind the door was a medium sized cave, which had a little puddle of water in its center, right behind a stone panel. Growing from out of the puddle was a tree, or bush, from which the water ran down in streams. On the plant however, was a shiny, silver bracelet with some blue gemstones in it, right next to a light golden pegasus, tangled up in the branches.

“Daring!” Fluffy shouted and galloped forward. “Got you red hooved!”

Daring Do struggled, trying to get free, without success. “Danger!” she looked at her cousin, “What are you doing here?” Now her gaze wandered to me. “You were supposed to get her out of here!”

Before I could answer, Fluffy spoke up. “So you can steal my artifact, huh? I can’t believe you tried to do that to me!”

“I don’t steal your artifact, I recover an artifact for the public! And I told you this would be to dangerous for you in the first place!”

“And how often have I told you, you are not my mom?”

“Urg!” Daring groaned, “just wait till I get off this bad behaving plant, then I tell you something, Threaty!

That must have been some insulting nickname from their childhood, since Fluffy’s head turned red and her voice got a good bit louder.

“Don’t call me that!” Fluffy stomped, “This time I am the heroic adventurer and you have to sit in the second line! This treasure belongs to me!”

“Not if I can get my hooves on it first!”

“I don’t like to interrupt your little family reunion,” I dropped in, “but I would suggest th…”

“You keep your snout shut!” Daring yelled at me. “I haven’t forget what you did to my little cousin!”

I couldn’t suppress a little smirk, though, Fluffy turned even more red, only this time from shame.

“That is none of your business, Daring!” she yelled.

“Oh, yes?” Daring gave her a angry look. “Wait till I tell your mom about it!”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh I would!”

“Then I tell your father about your affair with Ahuizotl!” Fluffy shouted back.

That silenced Daring for a moment.

“Oh yes, cousin, I know about it! And if you tell my mom, I tell your dad!”

“Hmpf!” Daring said sulky. “How did you know?”

“I have eyes in my head, Daring, I saw you two hanging out at your cottage, with him cooking dinner while you cuddled against him!”

“You spied on me?”

“No, I was going to visit you, but after I saw you two, I turned around and returned home. I didn’t think that much about it, till I read your books and found out who he really was though.” Fluffy set up a angry face. “I am sure you fans will be highly disappointed if they find out you have an affair with who was supposedly your arch enemy from your books!”

“That was years ago! Long before the incident with the golden rings, we are no longer seeing each other!” Daring defended herself. “We are enemies now!”

“I won’t say anything, if you don’t say anything!” Fluffy suggested.

Thinking about it for a moment, and, with a final angry look at me, Daring agreed. “Fine.”

“Still, keep your hooves off my artifact.” Fluffy demanded.

“It is not your artifact.” Daring repeated.

This little banter continued for a while and I used the time to get closer and throw an eye on the panel. Not that I was uninterested in their little family fight, but my curiosity sprung in. I knew I had seen the symbols on the door somewhere and maybe the engraving here would bring light to my memory.

It did, and also put a big smile on my face. It was big enough that even Danger noticed it when I stepped next to her.

“You think this is funny?” she asked angry, assuming I was still grinning about their little fight.

“Yes,” I gave her a warm rub with my head, “but that is not what I am grinning about.” I moved my snout next to her ear and whispered. “Let her have the bracelet, it is not what we came here for.”

Her head sprung around to me. “How do you think you know that?”

“Not so loud, or do you want your cousin to know either?”

“Why do you think it is not the bracelet? You know what is in stacks for you, this is not the time for joking,” she whispered.

“I know exactly what is in the stacks,” I said and tenderly stroked her flank with my tail.

“Keep your tail at yourself!” Daring shouted down to us. “I’ll break every bone in your body if you touch her in my presence again!”

I was more than willing to risk that, but Fluffy held me back. “What did you know about this bracelet that I don’t know?”

“Nothing, but this bracelet is not the treasure here, it is just some random bracelet, nothing more. The pond is the treasure.”

“The pond? You mean this paltry puddle?”

“Hmm hmm.”

“How do you know?” Fluffy asked curious, also a bit suspicious.

“Because…” a new voice echoed through the cave, “he is able to read what is engraved on the panel.”

Shocked, all three of us turned around to the origin of the voice, me ready to attack, Daring and Danger more ready to defend themselves. Though, Daring still was tangled up in the plant.

In the door stood now a glowing female dragon. Her scales were golden, her wings shimmering in all colours of the rainbow and her eyes were made of starlight, giving a glimpse into the void of the universe.

“Welcome to my temple,” the dragoness said. “It has been a long time since I last had visitors.”

“Who are you?” Danger asked, moving closer to her cousin, ready to protect her.

“Who I am?” The dragoness giggled. “Hmm, I guess you could call me a friend.”

“I am used to knowing who I call a friend.” Danger replied.

Another giggle. “Then just ask your friend here,” the dragoness pointed at me, “he knows who I am.”

“You do?” Danger asked with a confused look at me.

Oh yes, I did. At least I thought I did, though, I was right. The symbols on the door were a very good indicator, also, her appearance and the engravings on the stone was more than a good hint.

I made a deep respectful bow, something I very rarely did, but here it was appropriate. “Danger Do, Daring Do, may I introduce you to lady Fortuna, the goddess of luck.”

“The goddess of luck?!” they both shouted in disbelief.

They threw a look at her, between each other, back to her, and finally at me again.

“There is no goddess of luck.” Daring Do said.

“Effortney,” the dragoness shouted and the cave shook by the force behind her words. “you of all ponies should be very well aware that I do exist!”

“Whoa, Daring,” Fluffy thickly said while she moved closer to me, giving the ceiling a worried look “even if you don’t believe her, don’t make her angry, I don’t want this cave to collapse on us.”

“Don’t you worry filly,” Fortuna said, now in her normal voice again. “Luck protects the Do’s,” her voice turned a bit derogatory, “even if some still have doubts about it. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here in the first place.”

“How is that?” I asked curious.

Honestly, Fortuna didn’t scared me, even though she had shown that she was easily offended. She was one of the gods you only hear good stuff from, not the ones who fly around and kill people or hatchnap their children. Yes, I did say I don’t care much for religion, but with Fortuna it was less religion, and more dealing with a very mighty magical creature. If she calls herself a goddess, I am not stupid enough to argue with her about it.

“Only those who carry my blessing are able to open the door to this inner sanctuary of my temple.” Fortuna explained while she made her way over to us. “And Daring here,” she made a gesture and the plant let go of the pegasus, causing Daring to fall on the ground, “is one of my favorites.” She now looked a bit displeased, “even if she doubts my existence.”

“I don’t doubt that luck exist,” Daring said and rubbed her back while she rose, “but I doubt that there is a goddess behind it.”

“Daring!” Fluffy whispered sharply, “don’t make her angry!”

“So, you think luck is like a force of nature? Randomly, driven by Happenstance, my brother?” Fortuna asked.

“Well…”

“It is not! I am the goddess of luck, Daring Do, and without me, you would have died long time ago. You would be either crushed, impaled, drowned, eaten, or any other of the many many horrible ways to die. More so, you wouldn’t have made it even out of my temple in the forbidden jungle in the first place, back in, what you call, Equestria.”

“Your temple?” Daring asked. “What do you mean?”

“The temple, or now a ruin, you explored when you were not more than a young inexperienced filly, in the hoofsteps of your dad? The one with the giant tree in the central room, surrounded by statues of arlmaspis, with a little pond like this one here?” She pointed at the puddle at the bottom of the tree.

“How do you know?” Daring asked surprised. “That was years ago and no one besides me know how the inside of that ruin looked, it was sealed.”

“Oh, I did filly, I did.” She turned her back on Daring and made a requesting gesture with her wing at me and Fluffy. “Go ahead, tell them what you did then, Daring Do.”

“Well, I explored the ruin, I was cur…”

“Not that,” Fortuna interrupted, “what you did with the pond.”

“Uhm, I was thirsty and drank from it?”

Fortuna nodded. “Yes, you drank from the pond, my…” she turned around again and took a step towards Daring, “ blessed…” another step, “pond…” right in front of her she stopped. “And what happened then?”

Daring looked up to her, obviously a bit shy now. “The temple collapsed, burring me under it.”

“And who was excavated from it a few days later by some natives who had heard the collapse? Not only unharmed, but also with the spear of Archhooves, hero of the Royal Legion? An artifact that set the way for you to become the adventurer you are today?”

Now Daring took a seat, astonished. “Me,” she said quietly.

“You…” Fortuna agreed, though, her voice had become a bit accusing. “You took the last bit of luck-magic from my temple and absorbed it, causing the temple to collapse.” She growled, but only for a second. “Anyway,” she sighed, “just let the past be the past, I had some fun watching you going on adventures from then on, it was a kind of... reparation.”

“Uhm, I am, uhm, I am sorry about your temple.” Daring said. “I didn’t know it would collapse just because I drank some water.” She turned to the pond behind her. “Then we better not drink from that.”

“Oh, don’t you worry filly, this pond is far less important for the integrity of this temple than the one you drank from, though, only one of you are allowed to drink it, and I am afraid that is not you this time, you are already blessed.”

Now Fortuna’s gaze wandered on me and Fluffy. “One of you will have the honour, just be aware, it is not a pond of pure luck, like Daring here drank from. This pond grands luck too, but since this was the kirin version of my temple, it also grants wisdom. Though, not necessary the wisdom you are looking for.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Not the one we are looking for?”

“My pond here, reveals three things to whoever drinks from it, one about what you desire, one about what could be, and one, well... one depends on your luck.” She giggled again, be careful what you want to know.

I exchanged a unsure look with Fluffy, we both were unsure what to do. In all honesty, this pond now kept causing a shiver to run down my spine.

Author's Note

And again thanks to Drache Schatten for his great editing and also this time for the title of the chapter, it was his nice suggestion.

As always, comments are more than welcome, Feedback is great