The Band of Loyalty

"Hurry up," grumbled Daring Do. "I don't want to be out here after dark."

Just behind her and to the left, Rainbow Dash followed. "Are you sure this is the right way?" she asked. "We've been out here for two days with no sign of it."

"It's called 'the hidden temple' for a reason, kid. We're not just going to stumble across it. We have to actively look for it."

"I'm just saying, how sure are you that it's in this area? That cartographer was super cryptic."

Daring Do rolled her eyes. "Longitude is always cryptic, but his charts are always right. You just have to know how to read them, and you're golden."

As they swerved around a small hill, Rainbow caught a glimpse of yellow stone, tucked away beneath the canopy of the subtropical trees. "I think I saw something," she called out. "I'm going to try for a closer look." Rainbow descended to the trees, with Daring Do following close behind. As they dipped below the trees, the leaves gave way to carved stone, revealing a large building that was overgrown with plant life. It looked to be very small at first glance, but the interior was likely much larger, and underground.

Daring Do tousled Rainbow's mane. "Good eye, Dash. This matches the description. Shall we go inside and see if the artifact is still here?"

"Absolutely," chuckled Rainbow. "I can't believe we actually found it."

Daring ducked through the entrance. "Don't go all cocky on me now, kid," she smiled. "We've only just begun. We still have to survive the traps that will invariably go off while we're in there."

Inside the door, they found a long spiral staircase going down. It wasn't a tight spiral, but instead very wide. After a two hundred and seventy degree turn to the right, they were down the equivalent of three floors. After that, there was a long corridor leading to the first chamber. Taking a torch from a sconce on the wall, Daring lit it, illuminating the room.

"Whoa..." Rainbow looked around the room, awestruck by the paintings covering the walls. "What is all of this?"

"Histories," answered Daring. "The ponies who built this temple recorded what it was for. If we had the time to read it, I'd tell you what it says, but it's possible that we're already being pursued." She found what she was looking for, a few runic markings along a door panel. "We're definitely in the right place. The markings on this archway read 'the Band of Loyalty.' That's precisely what we're here to find."

Rainbow followed Daring through the archway into the next corridor, which descended at a gentle slope. "So, exactly what is the Band of Loyalty? What does it do?"

"As far as I've read, it doesn't really do anything. It was an ornamental piece of jewelry worn by an ancient king. Apparently, he was a really persuasive ruler, as he convinced countless hordes to not only stop attacking his citizens, but to outwardly defend his kingdom. Once they were under his command, they apparently stayed for very little coaxing. Nopony is around to remember how or why, and after his death, the kingdom fell apart."

"And this belt was just something he wore?" inquired Rainbow. "Do you think his crown might be down here, as well?"

Daring shook her head. "He only ever wore the belt. No crown, no jewelry, not even any clothing. Though, based on what ponies of this area wear now, I doubt the ancient ones wore very much, either."

The corridor split, with the right path leading to a large room filled with shelves cluttered with amphorae. They took the left path instead, coming to a large chamber. Dipping the torch into a basin of oil, the fire spread around the room, illuminating it. At the far end of the room, there was another doorway, between two massive canid statues. The oil from the sconces lit up their eyes and mouths, indicating that the statues were mostly hollow on the inside.

"This architecture is awesome," chuckled Rainbow. "I thought there'd be a lot more vines and roots."

"The sun doesn't reach this deep," grumbled Daring. "There's no light, so plants don't try to grow down here."

As Rainbow took a step, she activated a rolling blade trap, which only just shaved off a part of her mane. She thanked her training for her lightning-fast reflexes, but Daring Do wasn't impressed. "You have to be more careful. There are probably booby traps all over this room."

With a leap into the air, Daring soared across to the other side of the room, tipping her hat as she landed. Rainbow followed suit, landing next to Daring Do. "I suppose the builders were expecting us to just walk over here. Guess they never encountered a pegasus."

Through the doorway, they came to another chamber, this one housing a throne. Learning from the room prior, they flew over the floor, not bothering to check for traps, as they wouldn't be triggering any. On the throne, they found a skeleton slumped down and in pieces.

"It's very likely that this was the king," scowled Daring. "So where's his belt? Allegedly, he never took it off."

Rainbow looked over the body, and saw no belt. She looked around, and none of the other skeletons in the room wore anything. There were a handful of rotted out weapons, but no armor, and no clothing. There had to be something they were missing.

"I don't understand," growled Daring, her feathers ruffling. "Did somepony beat us to it?"

Rainbow frowned. "I'm sorry, Daring Do. I was really hoping that we'd find something useful." She placed a hand on the arm of the throne, which proved to be a mistake. Despite the fact that the throne was made of wood that had rotted all the way through, it had remained undisturbed for centuries, and was only just holding itself up. With the extra weight of Rainbow's hand, the arm broke off, collapsing the entire throne.

As the dust settled, Daring glared at Rainbow. "Nice going, kid. You broke the chair. Don't you know you're supposed to be careful with this stuff?"

Rainbow looked down, dejected. As she did, she noticed a box that had been hidden beneath the throne. She pulled it out of the wreckage, opening it as she did so. Inside was a wide belt, made from some kind of exceptionally durable leather, which had somehow survived all these years. Riveted to it were several golden scales, and at either end was a metal buckle half. Each side was a piece that fit together perfectly with the other.

"Is this the Band of Loyalty?" Rainbow asked, picking it up.

Daring looked it over, inspecting it. "The very same. This is what we came for."