Rainbow Dash shook her head, having to do a double take, to make certain she wasn't seeing things. Daring Do? Here of all places? Why?

“Daring Do?” questioned Rainbow Dash, lunging forward to assist her fellow pegasi out of the rumble.

Daring Do grumbled and muttered under her breath. Ugh! Her again. She didn't have time for games.

“I certainly ain't no statue Rainbow.” replied Daring Do with a slight sigh. “Listen, I don't have time to explain things, just try to stay out of my way. Okay?” and with that Daring tried to move on, finding herself to be rather sore from her fall. She groaned mentally.

“I think you could use a hoof, and I wouldn't be the Princess of Friendship, if I didn't offer to help a pony in need.” replied Twilight Sparkle finally speaking up.

“Listen, I work alone. There is no need to involve either of you two in this.” sighed Daring, though she truly doubted Rainbow Dash would listen she rarely did. She didn't know as much about Twilight Sparkle admittedly. Now her mother on the other hoof....that was an entirely different story, one she'd rather not think about right now.

“Come on, Daring just tell us what is going on. I'm sure we can help.” smiled Rainbow Dash softly. Man this was so cool! She never imagined her hero to just show up so suddenly. Even though it did kind of ruin the mood, she was certain she'd have plenty time to actually confess her feelings to Twilight. Her eyes darted over to Twilight with a bit of worry that she might feel a little left out, seeing that she knew Daring Do a lot more than Twilight from their time together.

Daring Do only groaned. She knew she was never going to hear the end of this, but she wasn't about to drag innocent ponies into her problems. She already trotted off as though there was nothing wrong, however it was easy for them both to see her limping in her steps.

“Listen, you need help.” spoke Twilight Sparkle, stopping in front of her. “At least let us bandage up that hoof.”

“Fine...” grumbled Daring Do, lifting her rear left hoof, it looked like it had been stuck somewhere, and was quite scuffed up. Dried blood ran down her hind leg, and she tried her best to lean on her forehooves, even if the position was difficult to keep for an extended period of time. Daring held her composure admirably.

Twilight Sparkle didn't have a lot to work with, but she knew all proper museum's had a medical kit for any pony that might get hurt. She just had to study the map, and remember where it was located.

“You keep an eye on Daring, I'll go look for the medical kit.” explained Twilight Sparkle as she trotted off.

Rainbow Dash was sad to see her go, but knew she'd be back. So she looked to Daring. “So what kind of crazy artifact is he after this time?”

“None of your business Rainbow.” groaned Daring Do with a heavy sigh.

“Come on, you know any second now, a bunch of hench ponies are going to come chasing after you and then you'll have no choice but to accept my help, whether you want it or not.” replied Rainbow Dash with a slightly annoyed huff. She thought Daring and her were close friends by now, but she was still playing the “I work alone” card. Some ponies never learn do they?

Daring Do didn't speak, she simply rolled her eyes. She could see Twilight Sparkle returning with the medical kit, good. She could put all of this behind her once she was patched up a bit.

“Thanks.” she managed, lifting her gaze towards Twilight. After all, she was certain that she might understand more than Rainbow Dash about how dangerous it was to involve other ponies in her problems. More often than not, some pony could get hurt or worse.

“You're welcome, but I do agree with Rainbow Dash, you should tell us what’s going on, maybe there’s some way we could help.” spoke Twilight as she unrolled a patch of gauze, got out rubbing alcohol and applied it directly to the wound on Daring's rear hind leg, which caused Daring to immediately whimper, clenching her jaw at just how much it stung. Twilight Sparkle then carefully used her magic to wrap the bandages around her hoof. It covered most of it, but left her foot bare so she could walk.

“There, now I wouldn't recommend doing anything crazy for the next few days, and you should be back to normal.”

“Yeah...” replied Daring Do. She noticed it in the distance. The sacred artifact said to be able to shape time itself. It certainly looked like it was protected by a good amount of security, but she just knew that Dr. Caballeron was after it once again, and she was here to ensure it didn't fall into the wrong hooves.

Rainbow Dash fidgeted in place, rolled her eyes and sighed, simply waiting for Daring to clue them in on what was going on. "But, just as Daring was about to tell them, an all too familiar voice, accompanied by the sound of armor clanking down the hall caught the groups attention.

"You! How dare you case me such Mayhem!" Spoke Dr.Caballeron, his muzzle lowered, almost snarling towards Daring Do as four heavily armed ponies marched alongside him. [Tab]

On his far right being a light brown Earth pony stallion with deep black mane and tail, green eye, part of his one eye was covered by his mane to hide a scar. He wore a simple vest, and belt around his waist, that held his rapier at his side, a long scar that ran down his covered eye. Drawing his rapier and pointing it directly towards Daring Do
and it was clear why. The stallion in the front shouted at Daring.

“You! How dare you cause me such mayhem!” spoke Dr. Caballeron his muzzle lowered, almost snarling towards Daring Do.

There was just a silent look between Dash and Daring, before everything erupted into chaos.

Rainbow Dash immediately leaped into action attempting to tackle Dr. Caballeron to the ground, but as she leaped forward, the one solo unicorn among the group stood in his defense and wrestled Rainbow Dash to the ground.

Twilight Sparkle merely had time to blink before this all happened. She knew there was likely no discussing things with Dr. Caballeron, so she illuminated her horn

and simultaneously as she did so, the female Pegasus shot an arrow right towards Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash attempted to leap out of the way, but the arrow clipped at her wing. Causing Rainbow Dash to yelp and collapsed onto her belly, looking up only to find two earth pony stallions pointing their blades at her.

“Now...If I were you I wouldn't try anything funny.” spoke Dr. Caballeron looking to Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight Sparkle could see the distress Rainbow Dash was under. She sighed, and stopped the spell. She merely glanced over towards Rainbow Dash, a expression of concern crossing her hues. Twilight Sparkle wasn't about to give up, but she wasn't about to risk the safety of her friend either.

Doctor Caballeron smirked a mischievous grin. “Now that's a good girl. Tie them up! I don't want either of them interfering with my plans.” he spoke giving orders to his Hench ponies.

Rainbow Dash grunted as she felt the ponies pointing their blades even closer to her chest, and wings ensuring she didn't have any funny ideas running through her head. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but glance over towards Twilight, as the two of them were tied tightly against one another.

Doctor Caballeron seemed to pause in thought, and Rainbow Dash knew he was already planning on how to get rid of them once and for all. At the very least, maybe Daring Do had managed to escape.

“Now...what to do about you two.” spoke Doctor Caballeron pausing in thought as he lifted his hoof to his chin. He looked around the museum at the different displays, then he saw a particular display with fossils of snakes and had an evil idea.

“Hang the two of them up towards the ceiling in that pit. I'm going to have you use your magic and animate these statues to life.” he spoke to one of his unicorn henchmen. He even found an artifact for the snakes in particular that would bring them to life.

Rainbow Dash gave them all a dirty scowl. How dare they think they could do this to her! Not only that, but they were endangering the very pony she loved.

Rainbow Dash could only struggle against the ropes that bound her and Twilight as the hench ponies went to tie a rope to the ropes around them, and dangle them both from the ceiling. They wouldn't be able to fly with how tightly the ropes were wound around their bodies. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but lower her ears a bit, feeling as though she had failed Twilight, by not being able to stop this from happening in the first place, but she knew it wasn't over yet. Doctor Caballeron would leave them to their deaths, and then they'd be able to make a grand escape.

Daring Do had been keeping an eye on them the entire time, merely watching it all as it occurred. As much as she wanted to bomb rush in and give Doctor Caballeron a piece of her mind, she cringed in pain. She was still hurt from their last encounter, and all she could do was watch. It seemed as much as she hated it Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash had gotten mixed up in her problems.

“Now, we must find Daring Do. She shall not escape me this time.” spoke Doctor Caballeron laughing menacingly.

Daring Do hurried to hide herself among-est one of the statues of the Wonderbolts, it was all she could do to hold her breath. She felt a twinge of a sweatdrop running down her cheeks and onto the floor. She could hear their footsteps as they searched the area for her. Damn it all.

“Hey, Doctor Caballeron, how stupid are you?” questioned Rainbow Dash. “You honestly think you'll catch Daring Do? She's long gone by now.”

“Shut up.” he replied hitting his front left fore hoof against the ground. Ugh! This stupid pony just made him so frustrated. He simply tried ignoring her and continued his search for Daring Do further into the museum.

“We've gotta get out of here before he finds her.” whispered Twilight, low enough that no one but them could hear.

Rainbow Dash struggled a bit against the bindings, causing the ropes spring more downwards the more she struggled, bringing them closer to the pit of dangerous, poisonous snakes.

“Why is it always snakes?” questioned Rainbow Dash, groaning a bit. Man, if she was tied up with Twilight in a less dangerous sense, it might be kinda hot, but this? This wasn't hot at all! She wasn't about to get defeated by such an annoying villain like Caballeron she had to figure out how to get them both out of this, and figure out where Daring Do ran off too. She had to think. What would Daring Do in this situation? There had to be a way out of this, even if it seemed like they were at the end of their ropes. Literally.

Twilight was probably already going through every possible solution to their situation in her head. Rainbow had always teased Twilight about being an egghead, but right now, her knowledge would be what saved their lives. She was not about to let snakes be the end of her. No one would ever respect her if that happened!

“Rainbow! Stop moving. I'm trying to focus!” snapped Twilight, illuminating her horn and teleporting the two of them next to the broken statue Daring Do had showed up under. The statue was still a crumbling mess, but Twilight used her magic to restore her back to normal again.

Rainbow Dash had frozen in place, when Twilight had suddenly shouted at her. Her ears lowered a bit, and she whimpered. She certainly didn't like the tone Twilight had just taken with her.

“Listen, Rainbow, what all do you know about that guy? We need to stop him before he ends up endangering the ponies of Equestria.

“Because endangering us wasn't bad enough? Don't worry, once we find Daring Do, she'll put a stop to all of this, but I have no idea where she went. Knowing how scuffed up she was, she couldn't have gotten very far.” replied Rainbow Dash with a slight sigh. She knew Twilight was concerned about the safety of Equestria, but all Doctor Caballeron cared about was defeating Daring Do once and for all.

This wasn't about them anymore and she had to help her hero fix this mess. On top of that, she had to fix things with Twilight, even if Twilight still had no idea why she had wanted to come here in the first place. Man...why did love have to be so complicated?

Author's Note

Well, every pony it's finally here. Sorry it took a while. You know how things are with real life. I hope you will enjoy the new chapter, and welcome my new editor to the team! What do you think might happen now? Will Rainbow Dash finally be able to confess her feelings, or will her love of Daring Do get in the way of true love?