The Quest for the Ultimate Treasure
Derpy Daring Do
Jumping over pits of fire, running through death traps, and being chased by giant boulders. Daring Do loved it all. The wild rush of an adventure is what she longed for the most; one after another. It all started with a letter. Daring Do was standing high on a mountain top looking over to the cave that lied in the dark valley in front of her. She had called for backup, but nopony had come to help. Normally, she would never call for backup; her pride was very important to her, but this treasure was one of the biggest loots that she has ever heard of. With a deep breath, she started to take small steps forward, until she heard a voice.
“Daring Doooo!”
Daring turned around, and with a facial expression of hope and joy, soon turned to disappointment and sorrow. Derpy Hooves was her only assistant; her only hope for finding this treasure. The golden-like pony shook her head left and right as she focused on Derpy one more time.
“I’ve heard of you. You’re Derpy. This is just great. Is anypony else with you?”
Derpy shook her head and flew down just a few inches away from Daring Do’s Hooves. Daring tried not to laugh at the site of a “not so bright” pony. Trying to ignore her presence, Daring Do started to trot along the rocky gravel, heading towards the mysterious cave. She got to the entrance and looked up. It was bigger than she thought it would be. The opening reached up to 40 ft. high and 30 ft. wide.
“Alright, let’s go inside,” Daring said bravely with a giant smirk on her face.
Without hearing Derpy’s voice for a few seconds, she turned around and saw that she was trying to climb the cave to get to the top.
“Get over here!” Daring yelled.
Derpy jumped, and flew quickly inside the cave as she hit Daring on the butt. Reunited, they both walked into the cave as Daring sighed. It smelled of urine and road kill, and there wasn’t much visible light. With each step forward, light from the outside grew dimmer and dimmer. Both ponies walked a few more feet until they couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black, yet they still continued to progress forward.
“Watch where you st-“ Daring was cut off by the sound of the ground starting to descend. She looked over at Derpy who had stepped down on a switch.
“Umm, I think I stepped on something Dooo,” Derpy said.
“Let’s go!” Daring yelled.
Both ponies started to run as the floor beneath them sunk with every step they took. Daring Do kept looking behind her to make sure Derpy was keeping up. To her surprise, she was. They galloped as fast as they could. The floor was sinking fast, and Daring wasn’t sure if they would make it. They were almost at the end. Derpy and Daring looked up and could see an opening; a light coming from somewhere. Daring jumped as high as she could and made it onto the ledge. With a smile she turned around and noticed that Derpy was still a little behind. Her smile faded as the floor collapsed beneath the pony.
“No!” Daring yelled.
“Don’t worry Daring Dooo, I’m coming.”
Derpy had used her wings to fly above the collapsed floor. She flew over to Daring Do and stood right next to her as she let out a huge smile.
Daring slapped herself in the face and rubbed her hoof down to her chin.
“That’s right; you could have flown…this ENTIRE TIME!” Daring yelled. “I was worried about you! Let’s just move on.”
“Okaaay!” Derpy said proudly.
They both turned around and noticed that the light they had seen was actually lit torches. They were lined along the cave walls going several feet down. Both ponies made their way down the cave lit tunnel until they reached an area with two paths. One path led to the left, and the other, to the right. Daring Do thought about which path to take for a few minutes.
“What do you think, Derpy?” She asked. “Derpy? H-Hey!”
Derpy had already begun making her way down the path that led to the left.
“Hey! Wait for me!” Daring Do yelled as she caught up with the gray pony. Daring glared over at Derpy who was trotting down the path without worry.
“Hasn’t it ever crossed your mind, that just MAYBE, we might set off another trap!?” Daring said loudly with a worried expression on her face. Derpy stopped and let Daring go ahead of her. Daring proudly trotted in front of her as Derpy followed close behind. The lights from the torches gave them enough sight to see their surroundings. For what seemed to take forever, Daring and Derpy walked and walked. Finally, Daring spotted something. There was a tripwire on the ground, and she had almost stepped right on it.
“Hah! You think something like that will stop me, Daring Do!?” She said with self-confidence. “Alright Derpy, let-“ She was cut off again by Derpy who had blindly walked straight through the tripwire.
“Aaaah! Derpy! Not again...” Daring said as she shook her head.
Daring Do waited for the effects of the tripwire. She could only hear a faint noise coming from far away. Soon, she realized it wasn’t the classic giant boulder rolling down. Her eyes widened; she saw what was coming towards them. Multiple spikes were rising from the ground and reached the top of the cave with lighting fast speed. She turned to Derpy and held her face close to hers.
“Use your wings. Fly as fast as you can. I will be right behind you. And do NOT look back; it will only slow you down. Understand?”
Derpy nodded and they both bolted off, flying and running at full speed. At full speed, the spikes were still gaining on them. Daring quickly glanced behind her and looked straight ahead. They could see another small opening. They had no idea where it led to, but wherever it was, it had to be better than here. As they got closer, they could see that it was a pit. On the other side of the pit was the other opening. They both saw it, and Derpy flew down to the other side with ease. Daring was scared. She took two steps back, and before the spikes caught up, ran as fast as she could and leaped forward. She didn’t look down, just straight ahead. The cave entrance was only a few feet away from her. She started to fall, and managed to grab the edge of the gravel as she pulled herself up.
“That… was a close one,” Daring said while panting heavily.
“Nice going Dooo,” Derpy said.
Daring looked over and sighed. “Please, Derpy, next time, try your best to not set off any more traps alright? We need to get to the treasure in one piece.”
Derpy nodded and smiled. They continued on, praying that there weren’t any more traps. Daring Do only had one thing in mind; the treasure. The next room wasn’t far at all from here.
“If I am correct, we only have a few more rooms to go until we can find the treasure. Let’s do this!” Daring yelled with enthusiasm.
“We can do it!” Derpy happily announced.
They both trotted until they came across the next room. Both of their eyes widened in awe at the scenery of the magnificent scenery. It was a 5 ft. drop down. The bottom of the room was filled with lucent water that sparkled. The sun peaked through the holes of the cave and lit up the ground. There were plenty of green plants that surrounded the water as if in an oasis.
“Well, the room seems safe. Nothing that looks too dangerous,” Daring said with a skeptical look on her face. “And it is quite beautiful.”
Derpy flew down to the ground as Daring Do jumped. They both looked around and saw nothing that posed a threat. They could already see the other door that connected the rooms. Skeptical, and uneasy, Daring and Derpy walked towards the next room that would get them closer to their destination. Once Daring had reached the door with no problems at all, it slammed shut. Startled, she quickly turned around, to see Derpy sitting down and drinking from the water. In this room, the trap was touch sensitive.
“Please, oh please, why did she have to be my backup?” Daring said to herself.
The water started to rise, inch after inch. With the other door closed, Daring looked around the room, looking for an escape route. The water was rising fast, and neither pony knew what to do. The room was already half full with water.
“No. There is NO way I am going to give up here,” Daring said as she bit her lip.
The ponies swam, trying to find openings, but it was hopeless. They couldn’t see the ground anymore. The water had almost pushed them to the top of the cave, where they would drown. Then, Daring spotted something. Looking through the water, she spoke to Derpy.
“Derpy, grab my hoof and don’t let go. I see a faint black hole. I think it might be an opening. This is our only chance. Are you ready!?”
“I’m ready Daring Do,” Derpy said as she held on tightly and closed her eyes.
Daring dashed through the water, swimming as fast as she could. The black opening got closer and closer. There was no turning back now; the water had filled the entire room. She closed her eyes and rammed through the opening. Derpy and Daring could finally breathe again. The water from the other room had passed on to this one causing a sort of water ride. They slid down the water, left and right, and at the end, there was a drop off. Daring fell first, as Derpy fell on her back. Squirming, Daring Do pushed Derpy to the side of her and rubbed her head.
“Sorry Daring Do,” Derpy apologized.
“Don’t worry about it. We just have to find out where we are now,” Daring do said.
The room was vacant, except for the little water that trickled in. It was dark, and the only visible objects were a few boulders, and another opening, yet it was pretty far away. From there past few experiences, both of them were very skeptical about the place. To stay, or to move? Trap or no trap? Daring Do took a few steps forward as Derpy followed behind. Daring’s ears twitched as she heard a low growling sound. It was faint at first, but soon got a little louder.
“Derpy, are you that hungry?” Daring asked with a curious look.
“Umm, that’s not me. I hear it to.” Derpy said.
Surprised, she quickly turned around and waited. The growling got closer and closer. Daring grabbed Derpy and pulled back quickly. The low growling they had heard soon turned into a ferocious roar. A figure started to come out of the other entrance; and it was gigantic. The horns came out first. They were white, razor sharp, and they curved upwards. Then the rest of the body approached them. The dragon stepped out and let out a petrifying yell. The body was red, and his eyes were jade green. His tail had 7 spikes at the end, making it a deadly weapon. The dragon laughed and glared at the two ponies.
“So, it seems you two have found my lair. Don’t worry; you won’t be getting the treasure. It’s all mine, and you will die here.”
The dragon swung his tail at the scared ponies. Derpy shuddered and flew off, trying to find a place to hide. Daring was left alone.
“What!? Don’t leave me alone like this!” She yelled as she ran for her life.
“I have to think of something. I have to defeat this dragon. But this room is so empty. There’s nothing here,” Daring Do thought to herself. With each swing, it was getting closer and closer.
“And I better think of something fast,” Daring said under her breath.
As she turned a corner, the dragon had jumped in front of her, pinning her in one area. Smiling, the dragon ran at full speed. Daring looked closely, and ran forwards, sliding under his legs. The red monster hid the wall hard. Derpy jumped, for the impact had startled her. She was hiding behind one of the boulders that were next to the wall. Closing her eyes she bolted forward and accidentally hit the dragon once more causing his face to smash into the wall a second time. The dragon rubbed his forehead as he closed his eyes. Then a rumbling sound was heard. The top part of the cave the dragon had run into collapsed and fell on top of him, knocking him out cold.
“Yes! We did it!” Daring Do yelled excitedly.
She ran as fast as she could into the room where the dragon had come from. Inside, was a tremendous amount of gold and of course, jewels, ranging from every color.
“I have to hand it to you Derpy; I thought you would be of absolutely no help at all. But you managed to knock out that dragon. You’re not so bad.”
Daring Do gave Derpy a hug as they both smiled.
“You’re not so bad either Dooo,” Derpy said with a bright smile.
They both shared the treasure equally. Daring Do went on to buy some equipment she desperately needed for the next hunt she might go on. Derpy on the other hand, went back to Ponyville, and was praised for her hard work and bravery. Her money was mostly spent on sweets and upgrading some of the buildings such as Sweet Apple Acres and Sugarcube Corner. This was one adventure that neither pony would ever forget for the rest of their lives.
