The sun shone brightly down on the cloud homes of many of the pegasi who lived in Ponyville. One such pegasus was in her home on a lazy day, reading one of her favorite books and casually munching on celery sticks as she did.
A crash at her doorstep jolted her from her adventure fantasy, bringing her suddenly back to the real world. She stood and stretched, twice flicking her rainbow colored tail as she walked to the door.
Just on the other side was a gray pony with a blonde mane and eyes that never quite looked the same direction. “Package for you, Rainbow Dash.” She happily said as she righted herself and picked the package up from the cloud.
“Thanks Derpy. Take care on the rest of your route.” Rainbow Dash took the package and walked back inside. She wasn't expecting anything, but wasn't one to question a spontaneous delivery. Especially once she saw that it was from her favorite author: A. K. Yearling.
She eagerly tore the package open and hidden within the packing material she found a strange, cracked, sun idol made of gold. Attached to the opposite side was a hastily written note.
“Rainbow Dash, ran into some trouble with Caballeron and had to lose this thing quick. If I'm not there to pick this up in a few days I'm in bigger trouble than I thought. Whatever you do, keep this hidden!”
She pranced in place realizing that an adventure had been delivered to her door. She quickly found a spot amongst her trophies to hide the idol and rushed to her door. She was so excited, she had to tell someone about this!
***
The morning sun beamed in through the window of the diner Rainbow Dash and her friend sat in as they talked over their meals. Rainbow Dash was having her dinner while her friend ate breakfast. This wasn't unusual for them, there was a massive time difference between their worlds that they worked around.
That wasn't the only difference either, as who she sat across from was no pony. Since she met him she had come to know many new creatures, not that she really cared what he was. He had once told her that he was technically a saiyan. When she asked what he meant by “technically,” he tried to explain it, but she had zoned out and realized that it wasn't important.
“So,” she said after swallowing another bite of her dinner. “After I told Twilight, she looked super disappointed. Saying that Daring Do is just asking me to keep an eye on the idol. Yeah, right. Like she'd go to all the trouble to send a package and a message saying that she's in trouble and not be asking for help. I mean, why else would she say that?”
Her friend nodded. He had just finished his own meal and smiled as he listened to her talking. Every regular guest to the diner was used to the two, but any new guests would likely find the cyan pegasus pony with her multicolored hair less surprising than the large man she sat with. Not from his six foot six stature, large endomorphic build topped with his long, wavy, dark blonde hair. Not even from his unusual clothes: His black hakamashita and haori weren't common, but not unheard of. He stood out because it was well known that this was James Glastos, the King of New Guardia.
“You did bring the idol with you, right?” James asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
Rainbow Dash sat back and stared at him for a minute. “Uh, no. Why?”
“Last Crusade.” He simply answered as he paid for the meal before leaving with his guest.
“What do you mean, “Last Crusade”?” It wasn't long after she finished asking her question that she realized what he was implying and shot off towards the woods that stood between them and the castle, forcing James to push himself to keep up with her.
***
James floated above the clouds, supported by his ki, beside Rainbow Dash as they approached her door. Carefully, she reached out her hoof and pushed the door open.
“Unlocked.” James whispered. “That's not a good sign.”
“Nah.” She whispered casually. “I leave it unlocked all the time. If you'd stop knocking you'd know this.”
“Comforting …” He deadpanned.
The inside of the home was unusually orderly, but that didn't mean that nobody was there.
“It's too clean,” he whispered, “almost makes me think that somebody didbreak in just to tidy up.”
“Ha ha.” She grumbled.
“Maybe Twilight.” He persisted.
“Will you shut up!” She hissed.
“So where did you put it?” He whispered, checking behind some of the larger furniture.
“With my trophies,” she answered as they continued to inspect the front room, “where nopony could tell it wasn't supposed to be there.”
“Rainbow Dash,” he whispered, turning to her, “you've got your trophies everywhere. You even keep a few at my place.” She looked to him and grimaced slightly, he just grinned back. “Hey, I'm just saying you've won a lot of trophies.”
“You know what I mean.” She said quietly as she opened the door to her main trophy room. Among the trophies, one in particular appeared just slightly different. The sun idol blended in well enough to appear as if it were part of the trophy itself, the cracks only being apparent should one take a closer than passing look. She sighed in relief that nothing had happened after James had made her worry about its safety.
“This is it,” she said with a grin, giving it over to James. “Now, if we're not hiding it you should hold onto it. You've got your bag after all.”
James looked to his hip and cocked an eyebrow at her as he looked back, slowly taking the idol and dropping it into his bag of holding. “I don't like that you're right about me having my bag.”
“Embarrassed about your stallion purse?” She teased.
He whipped his head, throwing his hair to the side. “You're just jealous,” he said in a falsely haughty manner.
They both held their composure for only a few moments before laughing.
“By the way.” Rainbow Dash said as she finished laughing. “You're coming with me. I tried to get Twilight as well, but she's too busy.”
“I figured as much. Unless you just wanted me to hold onto it.” He said as they both walked back to her living room.
As she reread the note that had come with the idol, she remembered that she had been asked to wait for Daring Do to come and get the idol. “Except we might not be going anywhere. Daring Do wants me to wait here for her.”
James shook his head as he listened to her. “Come on. We've both read her books. By now she's probably chained up and struggling to get free.”
Rainbow Dash knew better than he did that he was probably right. “Okay, but where do we start looking?”
He sat on her couch and held his hands out. “Let's take a minute and think.”
Immediately she began to go through her encyclopedic knowledge of Daring Do adventures as she paced around the room. “Alright, so her adventures are usually in the south in the jungles, but she's gone as far as Somnambula in a couple books. It has to be somewhere susceptible to drought and that would use gold in a ceremonial idol. The area of Saddle Arabia used gems more often than gold, but …”
“Rainbow Dash.” James said calmly with an amused smile. “I meant let's check the return address. That's the last place we can say without a doubt she was. She did mail it to you after all.”
“Oh,” she said while blushing slightly.
“Just let me check my ‘Stallion Purse’ to make sure we've got whatever we might need,” James said with a grin.
***
Once ready, they hurried to buy train tickets and found themselves on an overnight train to Saddle Arabia where they could then go one town over to begin their search. The ride itself was pleasant at first as they talked, Rainbow Dash happily telling him about her own adventures with Daring Do. After the third stop, however, James began to act strangely. Slipping out of the conversation, looking past her, and even long pauses where he seemed to ignore her completely. Eventually she had enough of this and asked him what he was doing.
“Those guys a few seats behind you haven't stopped looking at us for half an hour now,” he answered in a low voice. She squinted and began to slowly turn her head. “Don't look!” He hissed. “Don't you have a mirror to check with?”
“I'm not Rarity, I don't always carry a mirror around,” she whispered back.
“So just when you visit me?”
“It's easier to check around corners so I can get you when you're distracted,” she said with a grin.
James sighed and reached into his bag and pulled out a small steel mirror and discreetly handed it to her.
“Make it look like you're checking your make-up or something,” he whispered.
“I'm not wearing make-up,” she whispered back.
“And there's women the world over jealous of you for it. Now please check the mirror.”
She blushed a bit as she held the mirror up in her wing, while it was mostly filled with her own reflection, she still saw the ponies behind her and recognized them easily enough. “Caballeron's colts,” she whispered as she gave the mirror back, “but why would they be here?”
“My guess: you're a known associate of Daring Do. If they were right behind her they probably knew she was going to mail the idol and were coming to reclaim it. No idea how though, they're both Earth Ponies.” Suddenly he stiffened in his seat and whispered again. “They're on their way over.”
Rainbow Dash smirked. “It's crowded in here.”
“You just want to fight on top of a train.” James said, matching her smirk and standing up and holding his hand out for her.
She let him help her up, then followed him towards the back of the car and exited. James took out a pair of sunglasses before he climbed up behind Rainbow Dash.
The roar of the wind was deafening and much stronger than either had suspected. However, his training and her experience with the Wonderbolts helped them remain steady on the speeding train. They were traveling north at the moment and the sun was low in the west, much of the scenery nearby was a blur, not that there was much beyond the coming sunset to look at.
James shook his head as he realized that he was the only one prepared at all for this trip and removed his sunglasses, placing them on her face instead.
“What about you?” Rainbow Dash shouted, hoping he could hear her over the howling of the wind.
He just shook his head and pointed to his ears before placing his closed fist atop his head. She smiled and placed her hoof on her head telling him that she was okay as the first henchman climbed to the roof.
Rainbow Dash and James moved away as the second henchman climbed up. The henchmen smiled as they saw James's eyes closed against the wind blowing in his face. Likely Rainbow Dash would be the only challenge. He said something to his partner, but neither heard what he said.
James touched Rainbow Dash's wing lightly, when she looked he pointed her to the henchman across from him before he pointed to himself then the henchman across from her. She nodded moments before they crossed each other's path.
It didn't take long for the henchmen to understand the tactic, but by that time they were already under attack.
Rainbow Dash's target ducked beneath her strike while James grabbed his target and rolled backwards to toss him.
Rainbow Dash jumped over the henchman and mule kicked him, sending him sliding backwards towards his companion. Everyone turned to face each other, the henchmen now squinting into the wind as they had effectively changed places. James and Rainbow Dash wasted no time in pressing the attack, rushing the targets immediately before them.
Now expecting the push, the henchmen blindly struck out, missing terribly.
Rainbow Dash struck her target, knocking him back slightly. James blocked the strike and turned the attack, and pony, to the side.
Not wasting his opportunity, he struck out at Rainbow Dash only to get a hoof to the face for his effort. His companion had recovered and attempted to strike her, however she easily dodged the sloppy attack.
Dazed from Rainbow Dash’s kick but still conscious of the fight, the henchman turned his attention back to James with a mule kick that solidly connected. When James didn't react he realized that he had made a huge mistake. This was reinforced when James's vice like grip held his hind legs where they were. In moments he found himself sliding across the roof yet again. He was already getting frustrated at the back and forth.
He growled as he got back to his hooves and watched Rainbow Dash push his accomplice back with her assault. Rainbow Dash held her wings out as her target swung, the wind caught her and pulled her safely away from the attack.
In the distance Rainbow Dash could see that the train was quickly approaching a bridge over a river. With a grin she nudged James with her wing, gesturing ahead of them and crouched slightly. James looked ahead and his eyes shot open from their squint as he dropped into a low crouch.
Assuming there was no time to check, the henchmen both dropped into a crouch and waited for something to pass overhead. They were so concerned about being hit from behind that they didn't expect James and Rainbow Dash rushing them and were shoved off the train into the river below without any real opposition.
The fight over, James held his hand low where Rainbow Dash smacked it with her hoof.
“Aw yeah!” Rainbow Dash hooted once they were back in the train car. “That was awesome!”
“I've never fought on top of a train before.” James said with a chuckle.
“Really?” She asked, astonished that in his long life this hadn't happened before.
“Plenty of other things, but not a train.” He clarified, taking a seat on a nearby bench.
Rainbow Dash plopped down next to him and looked out the window. “The rest of the trip is going to feel boring now.”
“Well, not that it's going to help much, but I've got some books.” He offered.
“Which ones?” She asked as she leaned against him and closed her eyes.
He smiled and partially stood to remove his haori and drape it over her before picking a story and reading aloud.
***
“Babou!”
The shout abruptly jolted Rainbow Dash from her sleep as the tan earth pony with chiseled features, a short black mane, and martini glass cutie mark came into the car. “Hey, have you seen an ocelot come through here?”
“No … No ocelots.” James said as his omnitool blinked off.
“I gotta find him.” The earth pony said before shouting again. “Babou!”
Their journey wasn't finished yet as they still had to get to the next town over, on their walk they discussed the best options for finding Daring Do. Deciding to split up and ask around once they got to the town the package was mailed from.
***
The blazing sun beat down from it's zenith when the two finally met back up to compare progress.
“Nothing!” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she paced in front of James. “Nopony I asked knew anything about her or had even seen her!”
“I can't confirm whether she was with them, but Caballeron left late yesterday heading towards Neighsoura.” James said.
“Why were you looking for Caballeron? We're here to find Daring Do,” she chastised.
“And he's after her, if he hasn't caught up to her already. We find him and we're at least on the right track,” he explained.
Rainbow Dash stalked up to him and jabbed his chest with an outstretched wing, “That's …” She began before taking a moment to think about it. “… actually a good idea.” She turned and began to walk off before coming back in a hurry, jabbing him with her wing once more. “Stop showing me up.” She said before grinning at him.
James gently pushed the cyan wing away and returned her smile. “We're a team, shared success. Besides, there's bad news too.”
“What's that?” She asked as they both began to walk off.
From his Bag of Holding, James pulled a familiar looking can, opened it and took a drink. “The town is at least a day's travel through the desert.”
“Let's get going then. If Caballeron has caught Daring Do we've got to help her.” Rainbow Dash insisted.
Without more than a nod James began to follow the pegasus into the desert, at first on foot before remembering that because of his training he could rise above it. He took a moment to concentrate his ki around himself and lift off the ground, following Rainbow Dash higher into the sky where it was cooler.
It wasn't until after dark that they finally spotted any sign of life. It took the form of a campfire far below.
“Wait here,” Rainbow Dash instructed as she flew back a little ways to collect a cloud she could use to hide herself from any lookouts.
She carefully positioned the cloud and lay on it before carefully sticking her head through it and getting a look at the camp. There were a couple tents, and judging by the snoring, their occupants were sleeping. She could see several packs of supplies, ropes, shovels, chain … She looked again as the rope seemed to move.
Bound head to hoof in the rope was a tan pegasus with a multi-tone gray mane beneath a worn pith helmet.
Rainbow Dash was astonished, this was overkill for tying Daring Do up, normally they just tied her up in a few loops of rope. She pulled her head back up and dragged the cloud with her back towards James and told him about the situation.
***
It wasn't difficult for Daring Do to realize that a pegasus was approaching her as the cloud descended.
Her suspicion about who had come for her was confirmed as the rainbow maned head popped out of the puff, glancing around quickly before moving the rest of the way towards her.
“Glad to see you, Dash.” She whispered at her friend.
However Rainbow Dash wasn't alone, what left the cloud behind her twisted Daring Do's insides with anger the moment she saw it. Something about this creature disgusted her, and she hated that she didn't know why.
It only got worse as James approached and crouched down to loosen the rope. Don't you dare touch me! Immediately went through her head.
Once she was loose, Daring Do crawled out and rushed to Rainbow Dash's side. She tried to rationalize her dislike of the creature that had freed her, but had to settle on she just didn't trust him. Maybe once she got to know him better she might get to a neutral point.
“Hurry.” Rainbow Dash whispered as she began to fly and moved to the cloud. Daring Do followed closely behind before marveling at the sight of James joining them despite not having wings. There were more important things for her to worry about at the moment as she followed her fan, and friend, away from Caballeron's camp, only stopping once it was long behind them.
Daring Do turned on Rainbow Dash right away. “I told you to wait for me” she said.
“You also said that you were being hunted.” James cut in.
Daring Do turned an angry glare on him before bringing her attention back to Rainbow Dash. “Now who, and what, is that?”
“He's my friend, James.” She answered confused about her hero's apparent anger.
Daring Do suddenly understood why she immediately disliked him. “So you're James.” She growled as she stalked forward, glaring daggers at him. She flapped her wings and got nose-to-nose with him. “Nopony messes with my memories!”
James cleared his throat while Daring Do backed off. “I'm sorry.” He calmly said, remembering that years back Tenyo had recruited several individuals for an investigation. Daring Do mush have been one of them. “But you did agree to it.”
“I don't remember agreeing to it.” She countered.
“Which is why you were given a copy of the agreement with your signature,” James tried to say calmly.
She humphed as she landed and began walking off towards a large rock. “Yeah, I got it with the payment. I still don't like it.”
“Where are you going?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I've been tied up for hours! What do you think?!” She called back, irritated.
James reached into his bag and collected a small box of capsules. “Give me a second and you'll have a better option.” He found the larger capsule he was looking for and clicked the button on top and tossing it a ways away from them. With what sounded like a muffled blast a large dome structure stood where the capsule had just been.
Daring Do looked between James, Rainbow Dash, and the structure before rushing inside and throwing open the doors until she found the bathroom.
Rainbow Dash and James were already in the front room when she came out. Now that she had a moment to look at James, she noticed that his eyes were half closed and he looked disheveled. They were sitting on the couch and there was a pillow and blanket at one end. The room itself wasn't large, for incorporating a living room, kitchen, and dining room. She decided it was only about as large as a decent hotel room.
In addition to the couch was a small armchair and coffee table that constituted the entirety of the living room part. The kitchen and dining room were simply a small table with room for four and a counter with a couple small appliances, cupboards, and an empty shelf.
“Thanks.” She muttered, before sitting in the armchair.
“Do you want the couch of the bed? I'm taking the floor out here.” James calmly, or sleepily (she couldn't tell), asked.
“If you're out here, I'll take the couch.” Rainbow Dash spoke up, not giving Daring Do a chance to answer.
James shrugged. “I guess it's settled.”
Daring Do didn't like that all the decisions were being made without her. “Let's break camp at first light, we've got a lot of work to do tomorrow to stay ahead of Caballeron.” Having said her part, she got up and walked into the bedroom.
“She's much nicer when she warms up to you,” Rainbow Dash said uncomfortably.
“She'd have to to be as awesome as you gush on about.” He said with a grin. “Now turn around for a moment.”
“Uh, what for?” She asked, turning around like he asked her to do.
“We've been flying for hours, if you go right to sleep I bet your wings will be sore tomorrow.” James said as he began to gently rub her right wing at the base and started to work his way up. “See? Your wings are already stiff.”
Rainbow Dash blushed as she cleared her throat. “Yeah.”
***
James had used a spell on himself to muffle his snoring, making it easy to hear the quiet music playing when Rainbow Dash actually remembered that there was music playing.
She was getting frustrated as she was having trouble staying asleep. Within minutes of drifting off, something jolted her awake and she would look around the dark room, wondering just what had woken her.
Her gaze drifted over to James, laying uncovered on the floor as he had given up the couch and the only spare pillow and blanket to her. He'd argued that he couldn't justify using any of that and leave her without.
As she looked at him she realized why she couldn't stay asleep. She felt guilty that he would be on the cold floor while she had every comfort he could give her. He'd even massaged her before he went to lay on the floor. She took the blanket and pillow and climbed down from the couch.
Better that they both be a little uncomfortable than him being needlessly uncomfortable. “Hey.” Rainbow Dash whispered as she nudged James. “Lift your head.”
He moaned a moment before he did just that and she hurried and shoved the pillow underneath his head.
“Okay.” The moment she spoke his head dropped onto the pillow and he smiled as he adjusted his head and got comfortable. Even though she knew he couldn't see her, she returned the smile. With a flourish she spread the blanket mostly over the James, leaving his right side uncovered.
She was hesitant for what she was going to do next, but she argued to herself that it would be alright. Carefully she lay down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder and used her wing to finish pulling the blanket over them both, resting her foreleg across his chest.
He moaned comfortably and adjusted his arm slightly, wrapping it around her with his hand gently resting on her belly. That wasn't all either, without waking up, he rolled his head to the side and kissed the top of hers.
She blushed as she made herself more comfortable against him, and soon drifted off to sleep herself.
***
The sun was just barely lighting up the shelter as the door to the bedroom opened and Daring Do was greeted with the sight of Rainbow Dash curled up on the floor with the creature that made her angry just by looking at it. “Am I … interrupting?” She asked as her eye twitched.
Rainbow Dash was up and away from James before her eyes finished opening. “Nope. Nothing's happening!”
“I'll get us some breakfast.” James calmly said as he climbed to his feet, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
While James was in the tiny kitchenette area, Daring Do walked over to Rainbow Dash. “So when you said friend, did you mean …?” She allowed the question to go unfinished, knowing that Rainbow Dash understood what she was asking.
Rainbow Dash looked to James for a moment, once again asking herself every uncomfortable question she had. James had given her his answer and they'd been closer than ever since then, but she didn't answer him. She hadn't answered herself either. “I don't … It's complicated.” She eventually answered.
“It's not much of a breakfast but as I understand it, we're in a hurry.” James said as he pulled out the chairs from the table.
***
“So what's the story with the idol?” Rainbow Dash eagerly asked as they walked through the desert.
Daring Do gave James a dirty look before she began to talk. “Fifteen hundred years ago the ponies that lived in this area, before the town of Neighsoura was built, couldn't create weather like we do today. They had to rely on whatever weather came in without pegasi assistance. Unfortunately that meant that they had to suffer droughts frequently. They may not have had pegasi help, but they did have magic. They built an altar and two idols (a sun and a cloud idol) to work in conjunction to make it rain in years of drought, and stop the rain in years of flood.”
“It was the unusual weather that tipped me off that something was wrong. Reports of rain clouds drying up in the sky and the like. When I showed up I found that water was magically drying up, even my canteen was almost empty. They've had to bring in food from other towns as all of their crops dried up.”
“And what does Caballeron have to do with this?” James asked, as he reached into his bag of holding for his decanter.
“He's taking advantage of the situation, buying food cheap and charging ludicrous prices. He's even charging for water that they can only get by leaving the area and they can't bring it back with them. This drought is clearly magical, and Caballeron had the sun idol.”
“So we need the cloud idol to beat Caballeron.” Rainbow Dash reasoned.
“At least he can't do it again next year.” James commented.
“Tell that to the ponies of Neighsoura!” Daring Do snapped. “He's extorting them for every bit and gem they have!”
“Hey, we've got this,” Rainbow Dash confidently said as she pressed on.
***
The sun had reached its apex when they arrived at the outskirts of Neighsoura, the dried and dead plants clearly showing how devastating the magical drought had been in such a short time. Even when fixed, this town would have to rely on the help of its neighbors to make it through to the next growing season.
The dying farms were bad enough, but watching the suffering ponies was too much.
James pulled a metal decanter from his bag and pulled the top. “Trickle.” As he whispered, water flowed out from the top of the decanter, yet never did any of the spilled water reach the ground.
Daring Do stared wide eyed at the overflowing water before checking her empty canteen. “How's that thing not dry?”
“It's a Decanter of Endless Water. A magical item I picked up from Sigil.” James explained as he walked over to a unicorn panting in the shade. “Here, drink as much as you like.” He offered. “Just be sure this gets to everyone in town.”
The unicorn happily drank from the decanter, never once questioning his unknown benefactor. Once he had enough, he rushed into town to do as instructed and ensure that everyone got a drink.
Daring Do couldn't bring herself to trust him. She felt like she'd seen this side of him before, this had to be a cover for who he really was. She knew it was.
“So where are we going?” Rainbow Dash asked as James watered the unicorn.
“We've got to get to the pyramid, it's a couple miles out of town. I saw some pictographs about the cloud idol while I was inside but had to cut it short as Caballeron had found the sun idol … Is he always like this?”
“James? Yeah. He's got problems, but he's a good guy.”
Daring Do sighed. “I want to like him. I mean, you care about him.”
“We've been friends for years.” Rainbow Dash cut in.
Daring Do gave her a cold stare before continuing. “But something about him gives me a bad feeling. Worse than Ahuizotl. I just don't think we should trust him.”
“I know he's rough at first, but you should give him a chance.”
“Last time I did, I lost my memory,” she countered.
As Rainbow Dash and Daring Do talked, James found the well near the edge of town. He cast a simple light spell and tossed the ball into the depths. The ground at the bottom of the well was dry as the ground he stood on now. With a shrug he jumped forward into the well to look around.
The air down here was humid, yet there was no moisture on the walls or ground. It was a curious sensation to feel the moisture in the air but not anywhere else. He began to hum to himself in the silence of the dry cistern, fighting off his growing anxiety.
Something along the wall in the distance caught his attention, and he moved his ball of light to illuminate what he saw. This was interesting.
“Girls! You might want to see this,” came the distant sounding call from the well.
“James?” Rainbow Dash called as she looked around where she heard him. “Where are you?”
“Pulled a Timmy.” Came the reply, followed by a low chuckle.
“What?” Daring Do asked as she approached.
“He means that he's down the well. I don't know, it's one of his weird jokes,” Rainbow Dash explained.
“What's he doing down there?” Daring Do groaned.
“Asking you two to join me,” came his response followed by another chuckle.
Rainbow Dash shrugged and jumped down the well. Daring Do just shook her head before going down the well herself.
Rainbow Dash gasped as she saw what James had found, and Daring Do began to smile. Along the walls were pictographs that seemed to tell a story. “Bring the light closer,” Daring Do instructed as she walked closer to the wall.
“They built in a safety for the idols.” She began to explain. “They anticipated somepony using them like Caballeron did. Should somepony use the sun idol during a drought or the cloud idol while there's flooding the guardian will be released to punish them. Hopefully to get them so set things right.”
She began to pace back and forth along the wall, clearly looking for something. “They wouldn't put this at the bottom of a well.” She declared. “It doesn't make any sense. There has to be a reason.”
Rainbow Dash's attention was grabbed by a shadow cast by James's light spell. “A lever.” She happily said before flying up and pulling at what looked more like a rock jutting from the wall. “What?” She asked in response to the looks from her partners, James smiled, amused, while Daring Do shook her head.
“Look, an opening.” She flew past them both towards an opening just past the pictographs.
The opening led to a twisting, rough tunnel that they followed for some time. Eventually James's light shown an opening into a massive cavern.
“Whoa.” Daring do said awestruck as she looked into the cavern. Massive stones acted like pillars holding the roof above their head, shadows obscured much beyond the twenty feet the light reached but already they could see crumbled sections of buildings.
“This is so awesome!” Rainbow Dash announced as they walked further into the cavern, James silently smiling as he followed the two pegasus mares.
There were two buildings intact enough for them to investigate, and between them another rough tunnel going even further in.
“One of these buildings may have the idol in it.” Daring Do reasoned as she gestured for them to follow her into the nearest building.
As they approached the opening to the building there was a curious, yet very familiar howling.
Daring Do looked around as she climbed over a collapsed pillar to get inside, not sure just what to expect. “Where's all this wind coming from?”
“Feels like it's coming up from that hole.” Rainbow Dash said, walking over to a nearby tile. Without warning the tile gave way and collapsed into the pit beneath. Rainbow Dash dropping beneath the view of her friends with the tile.
James flung himself forward, throwing most of his body over the ledge after her, in his fingers he gripped the end of her tail. “Spread your wings!” He shouted over the din of the wind.
“Are you kidding?!” Rainbow Dash called back. “If I do that the wind will slam me into the wall. No Pegasus can fly with this resistance.”
“I can't lift you up by your tail alone!”
Daring Do hated that she was considering getting his help but Rainbow Dash was more important than her unexplained disgust. She reached into her bag and pulled out a length of rope, quickly tying it around a nearby stone.
“I'll get her tail,” she shouted to James, laying down beside him before slowly moving over the edge, keeping as close to the wall as she could. “You move in closer and grab her hoof! We'll pull her out together.” Without waiting for a response from James, she bit down on Rainbow Dash's tail and held her in place.
Even as she watched his hand reach out to Rainbow Dash's hoof she couldn't help but want to smack it away, but she knew that would be a mistake. Soon the three of them were back on solid ground, getting their bearings and trying to evaluate what to do next.
Daring Do looked to Rainbow Dash, who was even now sitting next to James as a pale white light appeared to almost fall over her from James' hand. “What color was the tile that you stepped on?”
Rainbow Dash looked over to her and shrugged. “Dunno.”
Daring Do sighed as she walked towards the stone she had tied the rope around. They may yet need to use it again after all. As she worked her quick knot she noticed some color beneath the rope. “James, bring that light over here.”
Soon she could clearly make out the pictographs and began to read. “As the sun dries our land and throats, we look to the sky to for reprieve.” she muttered.
“What on earth could that mean?” James mumbled to himself.
Even though she had requested the light he was far to close to her for her comfort and she quickly moved away. “I don't know, give me a minute to figure it out. For all we know it could just be telling us that the storm idol is here,” she snapped.
She left James at the stone, she'd learned everything she could from it and it's not like he was going to find anything new. Back at the pit, she once again examined the tiles, there had to be some pattern as to which would fall and which wouldn't.
She could put a bit of weight on the tile, but anything resembling a step and it collapsed. That meant that there had to be some kind of support structure holding the tiles up. Glancing into the pit below she couldn't see any bottom, but the crash of the tile she had just knocked loose told her that it was very much there.
She wanted a better look, but really didn't want to call James again.
She laid herself on the ground at the edge and tried to angle herself to get a look as to what, if anything, would be holding the tile up.
As she did her pith helmet slid from her head. Try as she did to catch it, soon it was tumbling away from her. However, it was tumbling upwards, caught in a powerful updraft.
At least I didn't lose it. She thought to herself as she watched it clatter against the brightly painted ceiling.
It a flash of color Rainbow Dash swooped through and reclaimed the hat, though her landing wasn't as graceful as she would have liked.
“Wow, good thing for this wind, huh?” Rainbow Dash commented as she held the helmet out to Daring Do.
Daring Do, however, was distracted by the pattern she saw. Looking up and down several times it certainly appeared as if the ceiling were intended to be mirrored. But there was one obvious difference, on the ceiling was what could only be a marked path that didn't exist on the tiled floor.
“We look to the sky for reprieve.” Daring Do quietly quoted to herself.
Quickly, she looked down and from what she could see it seemed that the path itself was still intact. The beginning wasn't far off and she rushed over to it. Carefully she reached her hoof out and pressed on the tile, ready for it to give way like the others. However it didn't budge. She tested it further with a tentative step and it still held.
“Over here, Rainbow Dash,” she said as she turned to the other pegasus. “The path is marked out on the ceiling.”
“Awesome. Hay James, she found it!”
Daring Do didn't like that Rainbow Dash was so comfortable with this guy. She couldn't rationalize it beyond a gut feeling, but she knew there was a reason she didn't like him. And her gut was telling her that this creature was dangerous.
Shaking the feeling off, she looked up to the ceiling and began walking the path the old earth ponies of this land walked centuries ago.
The path wound and Daring Do kept her eyes up to make sure they didn't go walking off onto the trapped floor. She stopped suddenly at a harsh tug of her shirt.
It didn't take a moment for her to realize just who it was.
“Let go of me.” She growled at James.
“You two almost walked right off the edge here,” he answered.
As Daring Do looked down she realized that they had, in fact, run out of tiles to walk on.
Rainbow Dash carefully plucked a feather and spat it at the area directly in front of them. The feather whipped around violently before being dragged out of their field of vision. “Ah man, now how are we going to get to the other side?”
“Look.” Daring Do said, her tone more even and controlled. “The path keeps going, we just need to jump.”
“What about the wind?” Rainbow Dash asked, memories of the Abysmal Abyss flooding her mind.
“Keep your wings tight to your back. Just like regular wind, don't let it pull you where you don't want to go.” Daring Do adjusted herself and pulled her wings in at tightly as she could, and with a few quick steps flung herself forward, landing cleanly on the next tile.
“Okay. Just jump it.” Rainbow Dash said, psyching herself up. With a quick breath and nod she leaped over to the tile and skidded to a stop. “Awesome!” She happily said as she turned to looks back. “Alright James. Come on.”
“You two should move back,” James called, “I weigh a lot more than two fit mares.”
“Ugh,” Daring Do groaned, “is he trying to flirt?” As she turned to look to Rainbow Dash her stomach nearly flipped as she noticed the smile and blush on her friend's muzzle.
Rainbow Dash nodded as she tried to suppress her smile.
Once the tile was cleared James took a step back and hurled himself across the gap. Landing on his side and gripping the edge of the tile to stop his slide short. Once he stood up the three of them continued to move forward, James stopping them as more sections of fallen floor necessitated another jump.
Rainbow Dash was very animated as the end of the path came into view, leading into a dark chamber that promised to her the idol they sought. Daring Do was much more sedate, but couldn't help but be pleased with their progress towards their goal. Maybe she wasn't too late to help, after all.
Inside the room, however, they found only disappointment. It appeared to be empty of everything save an ornate fountain of earth ponies carrying large jars that likely freely flowed with water in better times.
And a single lever.
Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up as she rushed towards the lever and she eagerly pulled. It offered no resistance, and after moving a loud screeching could be heard just over the howl of the wind. The three of them immediately covered their ears to the noise and Rainbow Dash hurried and kicked the lever to it's earlier position.
James managed a smile as he looked to the eager pony. “No lever left un-pulled, I see.”
“Well, it's obviously not here,” Daring Do commented, “let's go check that other building.”
Returning to the beginning was a much easier trek as they knew what lay before them. And soon they found themselves looking at a similarly destroyed room, however, there was no longer any semblance of a path for them, only the yawning windy chasm.
“Even if we had the tools to get across this, we don't have the time.” Daring Do said as she approached the pit. “We've got to move on. If it's here we're far too late already.”
Beyond the further tunnel they found what could easily pass as a small town that lay in ruins. Something happened that had been lost to time, or the realm of legend. This area itself was an amazing archeological find but they had more important work to do at the moment. Tunnels spread out in several directions from the walls, and with James' lighting spell many were quickly explored to their quick ends.
The last tunnel ended as quickly as the others, however it was blocked by a fallen boulder rather than a solid wall, leaving only a small opening at the top that might be able to fit a single pony. Daring Do flew up and tried to squeeze in, and while she got as far as her shoulders, once her wings got to the opening she was unable to move any further. James and Rainbow Dash watched as she twisted and struggled to get inside.
Minutes later she pushed herself out and began looking around. “Okay, let's go back and get to the pyramid. This is a dead end.”
“Let me try.” James offered as he walked forward.
Daring Do gave him a skeptical glance as he walked past, the creature was larger than her in every respect, what hope did he have of squeezing through the small hole? She turned around and began to walk off. “We don't have time to …” Her words came to an abrupt halt as she heard the scraping of stone on stone, turning back to find that James had pushed the stone just enough to the side to allow the trio to enter.
“Haha!” Rainbow Dash happily exclaimed. “Awesome! Let's go see what's in there.” She didn't waste any time in walking into the new opening.
Inside, the three of them could clearly see that this was a structure, there were empty sconces on the walls, smooth and even floors, and regular angles. There were occasional cobwebs in the corners and the hall was covered in a thick layer of dust.
Rainbow Dash led the group forward into the darkness, James's light casting shadows along the walls and floor. Without any warning James lunged forward, throwing his arm in front of her as Daring Do held her tail tightly in her teeth.
“Sorry,” James said calmly as Rainbow Dash gave him a confused look. “But …” He knelt down and pressed down on a stone still a couple steps in front of her. With the sound of decompressing air a barrage of darts shot out from the left side of the wall and clattered off the right side. Followed shortly by a similar barrage going from right to left.
Daring Do nodded as she took over leading the group, stepping over the trapped stone and continuing onward. “Keep your eyes open Rainbow Dash. Or at least get a helmet.”
“How'd you notice that?” Rainbow Dash asked as she walked next to James.
“Think about it like when we were playing Dark Souls, if you look at the walls, there's scratches at regular points and several small holes in the mortar work. The pressure plate had a distinct outline in the dust while the others were not so obvious. There was nothing in the seam between the plate and the floor so the dust just fell right through.” He explained.
Rainbow Dash looked at the walls as they walked past. “You're right. Awesome!” She nudged James before hurrying off ahead to catch up to Daring Do.
A turn brought them to a hexagonal room with four prominent doors, one depicting a desert, another with an ocean, the third depicted a flowering field, and the last showed a rainstorm with the sun showing through the clouds.
“Again, huh?” Daring Do mumbled to herself. “Let's take a moment to figure this out.” She said aloud before turning to James. “Unless you think you know it already.” She growled.
“I'm not trying to steal your thunder.” He mumbled as he walked away from the door.
Daring Do just shook her head, she had more important things to consider at the moment.
Rainbow Dash was torn, she really wanted to work with one of her heroes, but at the same time they seemed to irrationally hate her friend. With a sigh, she walked over to James.
“You got any ideas? I'm tempted to just flip a bit and start opening doors.” James asked as she approached.
“No, but I haven't thought about it yet.”
“ … I should apologize to her.” James quietly said to her.
“No.” Rainbow Dash said, patiently. “It just takes her a while to warm up to somepony. It'll be okay once she does.”
“It just feels like I'm only making her angry,” James quietly said, no longer paying attention to the doors. “It would be nice if I could get your friends to like me.”
Daring Do was focused, she knew that at least three of the doors had to be traps. She was standing in front of the flowering field door. While that would be ideal for those who had to deal with regular droughts, it didn't seem realistic in this area.
The desert door that James stood in front of seemed accurate for the area, and would make sense for them to go through if they needed to use the cloud idol. But then they'd want to use the sun idol during a flood and that would follow through the ocean door.
She quickly dismissed the idea, that would imply that the two idols would be stored in the same location and the legends never spoke of them being kept away from the altar. They alluded to the idols always being together, and the sun idol had been found in the pyramid. The more she thought about it the more convinced she was that this was the true base of the pyramid. The trap at the beginning and the distance they had walked underground seemed to put them in the right area.
So if this was the pyramid, then the altar would probably be past the right door and they wouldn't have two paths to the altar if they were going to booby trap any of them.
That's when she realized it was obvious, the door with the sun coming out from behind the cloud was depicting both idols, that had to be the right one. Standing to the side, she used her wing to open the door and waited for some kind of roar or other trap. When nothing happened, she peaked around the edge and found an old corridor.
There were a lot of low hanging cobwebs along almost every square inch of the corridor. “If you're done, I've found the way forward.” She called back as she walked through the door, casually brushing aside the webs sticking to her.
Rainbow Dash easily caught up as the two pegasi pressed forward. James swallowed hard as he looked at the cobwebs.
Daring Do turned back at the noise and glared at him. “What's keeping you?”
Rainbow Dash knew, and had to give the strangely hostile pegasus a sour look as she turned around as well. “What's wrong with you? He's afraid of spiders.” She hissed, not recognizing the adventurer at all at the moment.
Rainbow Dash jerked her head for James to follow. “It's okay, they're just cobwebs. I haven't seen any spiders.”
“Great.” Daring Do moaned. “We're being held up by an oversized baby.”
James forced an uncomfortable chuckle as he crouched and slowly moved towards them. “Sorry. You'd think after a few hundred years I could get over a phobia.” He slowly advanced, still dodging cobwebs and avoiding the walls.
“It's okay.” Rainbow Dash quietly said as he got close. “Nopony's awesome at everything. Even I can't cook.”
“We're getting close to where I got into the pyramid last time.” Daring Do said as they continued to advance.
“The pyramid? I thought we had to leave the well for that.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Yeah, I thought so too. But I realized where we were shortly after that first trap. Either the cloud idol is in here or we're out of luck.” Daring Do said as they continued into the structure.
“Oh you are certainly out of luck, Daring Do,” came the confident boast in a vaguely Columbian accent.
The trio stopped as Doctor Caballeron came around the corner with two of his henchmen, his demeanor matching his confidence perfectly. “I knew that once you had escaped, you would come right here.”
“Even for you this plan is evil, Caballeron!” Daring Do accused as she crouched down, more than ready for a fight. At least if there was one she could vent some of this stress she'd been feeling all day.
Doctor Caballeron shrugged as he smirked. “It's simplicity. Supply and demand. Since I have the supply, I demand a price.” He explained, lavishing in his own voice. “And without the cloud idol you cannot stop me even if you chase me away.”
“You haven't won yet.” Daring Do said, defiant.
“Ah, but I have.” Doctor Caballeron continued as he stepped forward. “With only until sundown to counter the sun idol, you cannot possibly hope to pull it off in time.”
“What about the guardian?” Rainbow Dash asked with a grin.
“I do not believe it exists,” Doctor Caballeron said, shaking his head.
Daring Do's smile said it all. You said it.
James's blood ran cold as he heard the skittering of many legs on stone. “Was this guardian …?”
“A spider.” Daring Do said with more than a little amusement.
The color drained from James's face as a long hairy spider leg came down behind him. Without thinking he took a step forward and grabbed a pegasus under each arm. In the same motion he rushed forward, bowling over the team of earth ponies as he passed.
Daring Do recognized the passage they were in now, she had come through here earlier and had even gotten trapped for a while. And right now that very trap could prove to be an asset. “James! Take the next left.” She instructed.
James blindly followed her instructions, unheeding anything of their situation beyond the knowledge that there was an impossibly large spider chasing them.
“Right!” She called as they approached another split in the corridor, and again James blindly followed. They hadn't heard anything from Caballeron since knocking him and his henchmen over at the beginning of James's mad dash.
“Another right, then put me down.” She said as she fought her revulsion, he was useful at the moment. Besides, he was important to Rainbow Dash for whatever reason. “There's a ceiling drop trap we can use to hide from it.”
James blindly turned the corner and nearly hit the low stone, avoiding it only by sliding underneath it. Once on the other side he released both ponies and moved to the corner. Crouching and pushing himself as far into the corner as he could.
Daring Do walked over to the improvised pillar she had slowly constructed to escape the first time and bucked it to drop the massive stone once more, sealing them into the dark room. A dim light brought some illumination to the room as James's omnitool lit up.
Rainbow Dash looked to James and couldn't help but feel sorry for how scared he was. Even if it was a pointless fear, it was one he had no control of. She walked over to him and gently placed her wing across his back. She remembered a time where she would have once made jokes about this, but it didn't feel right to do that here.
Daring Do used her wing to gesture for Rainbow Dash. “Look.” She whispered as Rainbow Dash got close. “I get that he's your boyfriend, but he's a total wimp. And I know that he's not a good guy.”
Rainbow Dash stepped closer to Daring Do and glared at her. “He's not my boyfriend! And not anything else you've said he is either. You don't even know him!”
“Well if he hadn't erased my memories, I could tell you just how I know he's as bad as I say he is.”
“You want to know what happened.” Rainbow Dash growled. “You investigated a crime for him, and during that you saw something horrible. Tenyo told me that you were happy to lose those memories. He was helping you. Just like he's been trying to do here.”
“I wanted to lose those memories?” Daring Do asked skeptically.
“Yes.”
Daring Do looked around a moment. She trusted Rainbow Dash, even if it seemed like her judgment in boyfriends was off. But right now, trust was all she had. With a sigh she spoke again. “I'm sorry. I live by my memory, and finding a big chunk of it missing is … troubling.”
Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded. “I've seen him far worse, he'd never do that to somepony without good reason.” She looked back to James a moment. “You should give him another chance. Trust me, it's worth it.”
As Rainbow Dash finished speaking they heard the spider skitter past and continue down the corridor. James shivered a moment as he listened, only stopping once the sound ended.
Daring Do swallowed her dislike of James and approached him. “Come on, let's find a way out of here.” She calmly said, offering her hoof to him.
He took her hoof and carefully stood, taking a steadying breath as he did.
Daring Do began to search around for several stones she could once again use to start building up a pillar to hold the ceiling drop trap for them to escape. She had more important things to worry about than a hatred she couldn't even fully place. She had just started to collect some wide stones when she heard a scraping coming from the direction of their entrance.
Thinking that they had come to the same conclusion she had, she turned around to find James lifting the massive stone barehanded. Once it was high enough for him to duck under he did, holding the block up on his back.
“Okay, let's go.” He quietly said.
***
The topmost chamber of the pyramid was large enough for a group of about ten ponies to stand in a circle around the altar. The altar itself was golden with teardrop sapphires randomly placed around it. The walls were decorated with images of earth ponies carrying the idols, the sun idol along the right side and the cloud idol along the left. In the center there was a single window with a focusing lens in the center that projected a beam onto the floor. Centuries of light moving along the same pattern had left a clear path that was even now acting as a clock to the point of no return.
Daring Do sighed as she looked around the room, there wasn't much to see, and certainly not what she was hoping to find. “Caballeron was right.” She said eventually. “Even if we find out where the cloud idol is, there's no time to get it and use it before it's too late.”
“Seriously?!” Rainbow Dash asked, unbelieving. “You're giving up?”
“What can we do?” Daring Do asked.
“Figure this out! That's what we can do!”
Daring Do didn't have much hope, but she couldn't leave the cloud idol for Caballeron to find for later abuse or even to sell. She began examining the pictures of the ponies along the walls, hoping to find something out about where the idols would be kept. In the distance she could hear a faint skittering.
The two ponies by the front seemed to be holding two idols, neither the sun nor cloud idol. They looked remarkably similar, as if they could be the same idol from different angles. As she looked back and forth between the images on the walls it became more and more clear.
James began to look twitchy as he glanced out into the corridor.
“It's the same idol.” She said as she looked around the images one more time. The sun and cloud idols are the same idol! It's a puzzle!” She smiled wide as she looked to Rainbow Dash. As quickly as the smile spread across her face, it fell away. She had sent the idol to Rainbow Dash and told her to hide it. It was all the way in Ponyville. “And I sent it away.”
Rainbow Dash grinned as she nudged James with her wing. “I knew we would probably need it so I had James bring it.”
James turned back to the two pegasi and looked around them before realizing what Rainbow Dash was talking about. “Oh, yeah.” He said as he reached into his Bag of Holding and brought out the sun idol.
Daring Do's face lit up as he saw the golden stylized sun. She flew over and snatched it from his hands and immediately began to twist and prod the golden puzzle. As she worked, James and Rainbow Dash heard the skittering clearly getting closer.
“It's coming back!” Rainbow Dash called urgently.
“Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” James began to say rapid-fire as his eyes went wide and he backed away from the doorway.
“Not helping!” Daring Do growled as she tried to concentrate on her task.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! James continued in his mind.
“We have to block the door!” Rainbow Dash said as she shook James, trying to get him back to them.
In response, James reached into his bag and fished out his capsule container. He flipped it open and pulled the first one he touched, tossing it into the doorway.
With a whoosh and a metallic crunch a destroyed container now blocked the entrance.
Daring Do jumped at the noise, briefly looking at the mess before forcing herself to continue working on the puzzle. If she was able to solve this soon she could set everything right again.
The next distraction came shortly after in the form of a shriek from James. She looked back and saw James pressed against the wall, staring wide eyed towards the doorway. Turning just a little more she saw Rainbow Dash dodging around a couple long hairy spider legs sticking in from the gaps around the destroyed container. Occasionally she'd get a glimpse of a spider eye or its mandible snapping. She needed to solve this immediately!
“I bet Fluttershy could handle this thing.” Rainbow Dash called as she found a rock to buck at the spider.
***
While James cowered and Rainbow Dash attempted to fight the spider guardian Daring Do's real battle was against time. She continued to glance to the light slowly working its way towards and eventually up the altar. While she was still making progress, every other action seemed to put her two back.
She wiped the sweat from her face as she grit her teeth and doubled down on her furious work, determinedly ignoring all of the distractions around her.
Then it was done. She looked to the idol and the image of it on the wall. It matched perfectly.
“Got it!” Daring Do shouted, holding the cloud idol high before slamming it onto the altar.
The beam of light hit the idol and dimmed immediately as a low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. The guardian's legs slowly faded out as the sounds of rain replaced the thunder.
Rainbow Dash smiled wide. “Ah-ha yeah!” She began to fly and dance in the air. “Oh, yeah! We did it! Saved the day! Uh huh-uh! We're awesome!”
James's breath was still shaky, and he still shivered from the memory of the giant spider, but he couldn't help but smile at Rainbow Dash's celebration.
***
Caballeron looked down from his silk cocoon as his henchmen approached him. “You may have won this time Daring Do, but you haven't beaten me yet!”
“Sorry it took so long boss,” the henchman said, shaking the water off his hat. “It's been raining for more'n an hour now.”
“Just hurry and get me down you fools!” Caballeron shouted.
***
There was a familiar crash at the doorstep of Rainbow Dash's home. She smiled and shook her head as she opened her door to once again find the hapless mail pony recovering from her crash. “Sorry Rainbow Dash.” Derpy said, blushing as she stood up.
“That's okay. Take care.” She answered as she collected the package that had been delivered.
Once inside her heart began to race as she saw the package was from A. K. Yearling, Daring Do's public persona. Just a couple weeks earlier she had an adventure delivered to her in the same manner.
However, this time the package didn't contain any mystical object. Beyond the letter, it contained two signed books. Still excited, Rainbow Dash began to read the letter.
Hi Rainbow Dash, I wanted to send you a thanks for your help in my most recent endeavor. Also, you were right: I didn't give James a chance. Obviously I trusted him once, so I'm going to try again. I still don't know just what bothers me about him, but I'll try to get over it. And honestly, I think I gave him fair treatment in my book. I may have played up his stallion purse a bit though. Your friend (and his), A. K. Yearling
She'd have to take the other book to its intended recipient later, but before that she was going to read at least one chapter.
Daring Do and the Idol of Neighsoura
Author's Note
I've had this one on the back burner for a little while but felt I should finish posting The Line Between Fire and Light before posting this one.
I didn't want Daring Do to come across as hating him for no reason. Or even be wrong for not liking him. She does have good reason to not like him even if she doesn't truly remember what she found. But it was pretty hard for me to write that with having her memory wiped earlier. I do try to be consistent with memory in my story. Even if they completely forget there would still be a feeling if nothing else.
Thanks flutterJackdash for editing this for me, I needed the help.
