Bonds

“Damn...this bucking sucks.” Rainbow sighed as she glanced towards Twilight, who was stomping her forehoof against the pavement of the museum’s floor.

“We've got to find Daring before they do! Who knows what they'll do to her...” Twilight furrowed her eyebrows, biting her lip.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Right ahead of you!” She gritted her teeth and scowled. This was not how it was supposed to go. She looked back towards Twilight; a slight pout formed on her face as her ears drooped.

“Listen, Twilight, I came here for a reason.” She fidgeted around, lifting a forehoof and brushing it through her mane.

The soft crack of glass breaking drew Twilight’s attention towards one of the displays, a boulder slowly rolling off its pedestal.

“Rainbow! Look out!” Twilight tackled Rainbow just as the boulder smashed through the glass of the display, sending shards flying everywhere. The boulder thudded hard, rolling away from them. Twilight breathed heavily as she lay atop Rainbow Dash, using her magic to shield them both from the impact of the shattering glass.

Rainbow’s ears perked up. Was it Caballeron, or something far more sinister? Then she looked up from under Twilight. “Where’d that-” She suddenly felt Twilight's hoof against her lips.

“Shhh....not so loud. Do you want everypony in this place to find us?” Twilight scanned the surroundings, glared at Rainbow’s eyes, then let out a half-groan half-sigh of relief.

Rainbow moaned as Twilight removed her hoof, spreading out her wingtips a bit. She hesitated, groaning at the strain on her wings.

“I know I’m awesome but try to control yourself, Twi. There’s enough of me to go around.” Rainbow winked, fighting through the ache. Granted, she wasn't injured, but she felt like she had just gotten the wind knocked right out of her.

“Oh...sorry.” Twilight scrambled off Rainbow and helped her up off the cold, dusty floor.

Rainbow folded her wings in tightly to each side of her and shook her head. Was that another Twilight…?. She shook her neck from side to side, attempting to look for the doppelganger in the distance, but there was nothing but statues and other museum displays.

“I'm sure Daring’s still here. She couldn't have left so quickly with that injury. I mended it the best I could, but it's likely she'll be quite sore walking on it,” Twilight explained. She sighed a bit: if she had cast that spell a few seconds faster, they might not be in this mess. Her ears drooped slightly, as she cast her eyes towards Rainbow, hoping she hadn’t made a muck of things.

“Well why are we still standing here? Let’s go find her.” Rainbow grabbed Twilight and zoomed further into the depths of the museum. Her eyes darted around throughout the museum’s exhibits. She could see a lot of ancient statues of famous ponies. Their names escaped her at the moment, not that she cared to learn them in the first place. There were more pressing matters at hoof. Daring would be hiding somewhere in the museum.

A shadow zoomed at the corner of Rainbow’s vision. Their eyes tracked the cloaked figure as it retreated behind a statue—the only one Rainbow recognized as a statue of Flash Magnus, one of the ancient pillars of Equestria. Rainbow hurried to catch the figure, tackling them to the ground.

“Rainbow Dash!” shouted Daring, who raised her eyes up, glaring daggers. “Do you mind? How many times…” she began, when Rainbow Dash covered her mouth with her forehoof.

“Enough of that, Daring. We need to know what is going on. You can’t face everything alone. I mean seriously? Just tell us…” questioned Rainbow, who let go of the hold she had on her, and went over to Twilight.

“Wow, they really captured Flash Magnus’s look. It’s almost real,” stated Twilight, engrossed in the statue. Rainbow facehoofed.

“Twilight! We don’t have time to gaze at statues. We’ve got to help Daring…” sighed Rainbow. Of all the times, why now? She mumbled under her breath.

“Oh...sorry. I couldn’t help myself. It’s just so fascinating! I wonder what Maud would think of the rock structure used to create this. I’ll have to ask her, the next time I see her.”

Daring coughed into her forehoof. “Listen, I try very hard not to involve other ponies in my business because it’s dangerous. You ought to know that by now, Rainbow. However, I see now there’s no avoiding it. I found out that Doctor Callebron was trying to get his hooves on an artifact that could allow the user to travel in time. I couldn’t risk him getting a hold of it; Just in case he was going to try and use it to stop me from stopping him in the past!Thankfully, I managed to retrieve the artifact before he could, and keep it safe from him. However...it seems like he’s not about to give up so easily. If I can lose him here, I can finally to deliver this puppy to a safe location, so nopony else can chance upon it.” Daring explained, briefly flashing the small golden ornament before continuing. “then I must look into an artifact that supposedly allows the wielder to control all felines…” explained Daring.

“Oh dear, time travel is nothing but trouble. Believe me, I know!” Twilight coughed into her front forehoof her face flushed.

“Duh,” snorted Rainbow, her tail swaying back and forth. Her right eye twitched as her breath turned shallow, her muscles tensing. She raised an eyebrow. “Um...Fluttershy?”

“What about her?” Twilight glanced towards her friend, then covered her mouth with her hoof. “Oh!”

“You know, Daring, maybe if you weren’t so stubborn you wouldn’t have to do this all on your own.”

“I prefer being on my own. I’ve seen so many things you could only imagine, Rainbow. Believe me when I say it’s in your best interest to stay out of my adventures. Now come on, we’ve got an artifact to return.”

Rainbow’s tail flickered back and forth, eyes narrowed, watching Daring Do trot off with a limp in her steps. She grumbled under her breath. “Be nice if somepony didn’t show up just when I was about to tell Twilight I liked her!”

Twilight Sparkle trotted along after Daring, stopping for a brief moment to address her friend. “Don’t worry, Rainbow. We can always come back to the museum once this is all over.”

Rainbow Dash starred at Twilight, rolling her eyes. She let out a heavy sigh, scuffing her forehoof against floor. She followed alongside Twilight, biting her bottom lip.

“Is everything alright?” Twilight tilted her head towards Rainbow, noticing her friend seemed a bit stiff.

Rainbow’s lips parted to speak, but stopped as shook her head. She looked towards the hall; Twilight gently flicking her tail back and forth as she scanned the room ahead of her. Daring was only a few paces ahead of them. She clicked her teeth back and forth within her jaw.

“Seriously, Twilight, now’s not the time,” Rainbow muttered, giving a flap of her wings.

Twilight let out a sigh; she lifted her forehoof to speak when she heard Daring call.

“Are you two lovebirds coming or not? I don’t have all day,” snorted Daring, holding the artifact closely against her shirt before tucking it under her wingtip.

“Sheesh… we’re coming.” Rainbow stuttered, muttering. We were just discussing how to take down Doctor Callebron and his goons flanks, while you were...doing stuff.”

“We were?” Twilight furrowed a brow at Rainbow, but she felt her pushing her along, and the two mares followed closely behind the golden yellow pegasus with the gray mane and tail.

Once outside of the museum, Rainbow took a moment to stretch out her limbs, her wings especially. She cringed as a few loose feathers had gotten nicked up in the last exchange. She glanced over towards Twilight: Her coat almost sparkled, her mane a bit ruffled. But, as she studied her frame, it was clear to her of one thing: Twilight was as perfect as could be. She felt herself sigh, relieved. She folded her wings back against her body before stretching out her front forelegs, and then her back, getting the stiffness out of her joints.

Twilight turned her gaze back toward the museum. “It’s such a shame we have to leave so soon. I didn’t even get to see all the exhibits!”

“Hehehe. We can always come back later,” snorted Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow and giving her a look.

Daring Do trotted ahead of them, she occasionally glanced back at the pair of mares, making sure they were still behind her. Anything could happen on the road, and you could never be too cautious.

Rainbow huffed, whinnying harshly. She tilted her head towards Twilight, watching her walk. She fidgeted as she pressed forward. As much as she loved Daring Do adventures, now wasn’t really a good time for her to get caught up in one!

The walk to the temple was nothing really that interesting, at least not to her. Rainbow had just wanted to confess her feelings to the pony she cared about, and now here she was traveling through the thick of the brush of a jungle terrain. The wind whipped at her mane eliciting a shiver, her teeth chattering. She glanced over at Twilight, who seemed lost to the world amidst her own thoughts. Rainbow considered asking how she was holding up, but decided unless Twilight was complaining about the chill, there was no point.

Rainbow had lost all track of time as they pressed on. She didn’t remember if they passed ponyville on their way to the temple. Daring had briefly mentioned it wasn’t that far away, but Rainbow Dash felt like they had been traveling in the same direction for hours!

“Are we there yet?” Rainbow groaned.

“Just a bit further.” Daring sighed for the fifth time.

“Hey, Twilight? A-are you cold?” questioned Rainbow, her teeth chattering.

Twilight tilted her head towards Rainbow. “Cold? No, not really. The air is a bit bitter today. I wondered if the pegasi are calling for a storm, but the clouds aren’t dark at all.” Twilight pondered aloud, shrugging. Then she blinked, noticing how Rainbow shivered, and immediately went to wrap a wing around her.

“Are you cold?” Twilight gave a friendly smile.

“Me? Cold? Pfft! As if the weather would bother me!” Rainbow laughed, lifting her chin up with pride as her eyes darted from side to side; her wingtips tensed up against her frame and she clenched her jaw.

Twilight giggled, amused and bewildered.

“Rainbow, you are a terrible liar, you know that?” questioned Twilight towards her wing, keeping her wing around her fellow friend to help warm her up, she nuzzled her cheek against hers, noticing the red flush on Rainbow’s cheeks.

Twilight immediately illuminated her horn forming a shelter with the trees around them. Using the leaves to make a custom made tent. Twilight hurried under the comfort of the structure she had made, bringing Rainbow under her wings more securely. Trying to keep her warm.

Rainbow’s cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red, feeling how snugly she was to Twilight, she coughed against her wingtip, shivering.

Daring entered the tent not long afterwards, sitting down on her haunches. The golden pegasus glanced at the two of them all snuggled together.

“You know if you two wanted to make out I could form my own shelter elsewhere.”

“Make out! I don’t know what you’re implying Daring. This isn’t some kind of sappy romance novel!” snorted Rainbow, trying to hide her flushed face, her eyes lidding as she relaxed under Twilight’s embrace.

“Right...Twilight tell me have you read much about the Amulet of Roar? I’m not quite sure why Doctor Callebron wants it other than to gain more bits,” Daring huffed.

“I don’t recall many books on that artifact in particular, but I am certain there are books in my library about it. However, I don’t have access to it here,” Twilight retorted.

“There’s no time to waste. I need to find it before he does. It’s important he not gain anymore power over ponies,” Daring snorted.

*****8

The sun rose into the sky, bringing with it a new day, and it’s warmth spreading through the area. Rainbow’s lips curled upwards into a warm soft smile, content to just stay here under Twilight. She could lay like this forever.

“Good, the wind has died down. We can make it the rest of the way before dark. We will walk, flying is still too much of a risk.” Daring spoke aloud, almost to herself than to her fellow comrades.

“Ugh...it would be so much faster if we flew,” grunted Rainbow, rolling her eyes. Twilight put her wingtip in front of Rainbow.

“Daring’s got her reasons, we need to trust her, she knows more about this than we do,” Twilight stated calmly, sighing slightly. She could see Rainbow was frustrated, but this was something important. Twilight visibly cringed, her head swirling through every slight little thing that might go wrong, could very well end up with them captured or worse.

Rainbow huffed out in annoyance, nodding her head, her tail swishing back and forth.

“Yeah that doesn’t make it any less annoying,” Rainbow grunted. She felt Twilight using her wingtip to tilt her chin up to look into her lavender eyes. The cyan pegasus found herself staring, jaw dropped at the sight before her, a bit of saliva running down her lips.

“Think of it as an adventure of our own,” suggested Twilight as her lips rose upwards into a grin, lidding her eyes, tilting her head slightly to the right, and patting the top of Rainbow’s mane.

Rainbow muttered something under her breath, quickly coughing into her own hoof.

“Did you want to say something?” Twilight questioned. Rainbow was sighing heavily, ears drooping, muttering under her breath.and it puzzled Twilight that she didn’t know what “it” was.

Rainbow parted her lips to speak, when Daring interjetted.

“Are you two coming or not?” questioned Daring, sighing. With that said, the two ponies followed behind her. The path ahead wouldn’t be easy, they had a lot of ground to travel, and they never knew when danger might lurk right around the corner. Rainbow stayed close to Twilight, a slight possessive demeanor as she gazed from side to side, as they pressed further into the unknown. She didn’t know what lay ahead, or how far it would be, the one thing she did know, was that she was going to make sure Twilight was safe.

The road seemed to stretch on and on, and Rainbow was visibly showing her annoyance at how long it was taking for them to travel by hoof, muttering to herself.

Daring pushed a few loose hanging branches out of the way as they approached a jungle terrain. She could see the temple out of the corner of her eyes. She glanced back to the two ponies.

“We’re almost there, not much further now.” explained Daring as she trotted deeper into the jungle. The brush of the tall grass scraped against her hooves, but it didn’t seem to slow Daring down at all.

Twilight trotted forward, enjoying the feeling of the gentle breeze that was whipping through the air. She felt the front of her forehoof hit against something sharp and solid as she walked, causing her to trip up and stumble.

Rainbow leapt into action, immediately going to cushion her fall.

“Hey there, you don’t have to go and fall for me now.” teased Rainbow with a smug grin raising to her lips. Twilight just blushed slightly, letting out a chuckle.

“What? I’m not falling for you! Well maybe I literally fell, but I tripped!” snapped Twilight, her face flushing at Rainbow’s accusation.

“Uh-huh. Sure you weren’t, but here I am saving your flank again. Though I can’t say I mind the view from down here.” Rainbowspoke, grinning devilishly.

Twilight lifted herself up off of her friend, standing up to her full height, sighing. She eyed Rainbow who was already up and brushing off the dirt on her feathers of her wings.

“Are you two coming or not?” questioned Daring, narrowing her gaze, rolling her eyes, sighing. Daring was already trotting onwards. She held the artifact safely tucked under her wingtips. Glancing back one last time to ensure the other two weren’t too far behind.

Rainbow fought against the jungle with every step, but she finally could see the sunlight shining in. Twilight was right next to her as she held her breath in by the site ahead of them, dashing ahead, right past Rainbow and gazing upon the temple. Twilight had never seen anything quite like it before. Sure, she had seen plenty of things in books, but this was real!

“Oh just imagine the discoveries we could make.” Twilight stated gleefully, clapping her forehooves together, lidding her eyes, for a moment.

Rainbow came up the rear, and she gazed upon that beautiful...sexy…plot. She shook her head, hitting her hoof against her forehead. Daring Do was right there! Rainbow muttered under her breath.

“This was supposed to be my adventure, not another Daring Do story.” Rainbow hushed, snorting.

“You’ve got a bone to pick with me Rainbow?” questioned Daring, raising an eyebrow and turning to face her fellow pegasus.

“Yeah I do! You see Daring, I’ve been trying really hard to tell some pony important to me how I feel and then you just barge in and have to ruin all my carefully laid plans.”

“Wait, since when do you plan anything? No offense Dash, but thinking isn’t your strong suit. You’re friend here is much better at that. Stick to your strengths, not your faults, and maybe...just maybe she’ll understand what you are trying to say.” snapped Daring. Both ponies nose to nose with one another, bumping forehead to forehead.

Twilight had already trotted on ahead of the two ponies, admiring the structure of the temple. From the outside, it looked to be an old stone building. Twilight furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head from side to side. The entire front of it was covered in moss.

“Hmm...I don’t see any way in or out of this place. I wonder if there’s some kind of riddle or clue on how to open the passage.” Twilight muttered aloud. She hummed to herself as she stepped closer. She felt herself stepping on something. She lifted her hoof quickly, not wanting to set off a trap.

Twilight looked at what she had stepped upon, it looked like a simple square. However as she looked around here, there were many squares, so many she counted at least twelve rows with four squares each. Twilight lifted her left front forehoof to her chin pondering.

“There has to be a pattern. By simple math alone I have a three out of twelve chance of hitting a trap, and if I’m really lucky finding a way to open the passage.”

Daring trotted up beside Twilight, she felt the lavender alicorn, spreading out her wing fully to alert her to stop.

“There’s some kind of trap here. We need to be careful.”

“Twilight, are you forgetting we have wings?” questioned Rainbow trotting up on her right side, and going to spread her wings and lifted herself into the air.

“RAINBOW!” shouted Twilight Sparkle, hurrying to grab her by her tail, and using all her strength to pull her back.

Rainbow felt herself collapse to the ground, groaning as she shifted her wings back against her body, and scowled at Twilight.

“What was that?” questioned Rainbow pouting her arms folded across her chest as she sat on her haunches, tilting her head away from Twilight.

“Isn’t it obvious? There very well could be traps we can’t see in the sky to prevent a pegasi from just flying over these squares to access the secrets within the temple.” snorted Daring, rolling her eyes. Daring lifted her forehoof to her chin as she studied the hieroglyphics on each individual square.

“Do you know how to avoid the traps?” questioned Twilight.

“Hmm...these squares stand out to me, you can see the pattern if you look closely, though if you can’t read what they say it would be difficult to just blindly leap in.” Daring Do explained and would press her hoof to a square and as she did, Twilight swallowed a breath, a sweatdrop running down her face, but nothing happened.

“You both ought to know all this stuff from my previous adventures. When the bait is obvious, don’t take it.” snorted Daring as she made her way across the squares like it was second nature. She paused at the square in the center, pressing it down, and suddenly the ground shook beneath her hooves, and Daring grinned as the temple door began to open to reveal their path. She trotted into the ruins.

Twilight and Rainbow wasn't far behind, but Twilight was still cautious about the squares, carefully making her way across, Rainbow heaved a sigh, waiting.

Rainbow eyed Twilight up and down, her forehooves still crossed across her chest. “It’s about time you got here! I thought I’d be here all day.”

“Rainbow Dash…” muttered Twilight. “I didn’t take that long. I was just being careful.”

“Too much caution is just as bad as me just charging in without thinking! Daring showed us how to cross without setting off the traps, and you have an excellent memory. It you weren’t so busy worrying about setting off the traps, we’d be inside already.” snorted Rainbow standing up, and trotting inside with Twilight by her side.

“And here I thought you wanted some alone time with me before Daring Do showed up.” Twilight teased slightly.

“I...wait. What are you talking about?” questioned Rainbow fidgeting in place, her wings folded tightly against her frame as she tilted her head away from Twilight’s gaze, flushening. Now was her chance to admit things....She opened her lips to try to speak, when Daring shouted.

“Hurry up you two! The passage into the temple won’t stay open for more than a few minutes!”

“Gosh darn it. Daring Do, you really like interrupting me don’t you?” spat Rainbow grabbing Twilight and dashing inside just before the door to the temple began to lower blocking their exit. The three of them were now trapped together, in a place filled with mystery.

“Oh yeah. It’s my favorite past times.” snorted Daring with a mirthful grin, eyeing up Rainbow, and shaking her head. “This is why I work alone. Other ponies just complicate things.”

“Yeah, well, I would’ve loved to let you work alone this time! I was trying to do something important you know. Then you just show up out of the blue! I mean come on Daring! I love a good adventure and all...but I really wanted too…” her gaze fell to her good friend Twilight Sparkle, finding her lips feeling suddenly parched.

“Wow.” spoke Twilight as she gazed upon the inside of the ruins. There were many levels, they of course we’re on the top, but it seemed to descend deeper into a shadowy darkness. The lighting in the temple made it difficult to see, so Twilight illuminated her horn to see what she could make out. The whole area was filled with bats. She quickly seized with her magic, but it was already too late. The brief illumination caused the mass of seemingly hundreds of bats to move in hiss, as they started to awake, only to screech at the three intruders.

“Great first snakes now bats! How much worse can it get?” questioned Rainbow, grunting, and stomping her forehoof against the ground, feeling how it suddenly shook from under them.

“Hurry and move you fools!” Daring quickly leapt across the cavern over to the other side. Rainbow grabbed Twilight and flew them both safely to the other side. She looked at Twilight, and mumbling something incoherent, embraced her friend tightly. They were in this together and they had to work as a team if they wanted to get through this adventure in one piece. All she wanted to do was tell Twilight how she felt, but things kept getting in the way and it was frustrating!

“Don’t worry Rainbow, we’ll be okay. Just try not to be so brash.” stated Twilight wrapping a wing around Rainbow, causing her to flush darkly. If Daring wasn’t here, she’d just kiss her, then she could avoid telling her part and just show her how much she felt. Rainbow sighed, this was going to be harder than she thought, and it was difficult enough to think of something she and Twilight could enjoy. At least they both liked Daring Do, that was something right?