Daring Do and the Curse of the Lost Tomb

Chapters

Chapter 1: Gryphony, 1937
Chapter 2: Professor Daring
Chapter 3: The Black Forest
Chapter 4: Meeting CAP
Chapter 5: Truck Chase
Chapter 6: Ravenous Raptors
Chapter 8: Stalliongrad
Chapter 9: Underground
Chapter 10: Escape from Stalliongrad
Chapter 11: The Frozen North
Chapter 12: Crystalline Caverns
Chapter 13: Zeppelin Escape
Chapter 14: Marketplace Madness
Chapter 15: The Final Marker
Chapter 16: Death Traps
Chapter 17: The Curse of the Lost Tomb
Chapter 7: Audacity

Chapter 1: Gryphony, 1937

A lone truck puttered down the empty road amidst the rolling thunder. A grassy meadow sat on either side, and the blades were swaying to and fro in the wind gust signaling the approach of a storm. The truck was beating a steady path towards a rather secluded facility. Just around the corner from the grassy meadow was a rather thick coniferous forest, the sunlight cutting through the thick trees intermittently to reflect off the green surface of the vehicle.

The driver looked through the windshield at the path ahead, which he had traveled many times in the past five years the facility had been open. He had taken many prisoners to their fate, sometime one at a time like this current shipment, sometimes in groups of up to twenty at once. He had taken different kinds of prisoners, too. Sometimes they were his own kind, the gryphons. Sometimes they were equines. Very rarely was there something other than those two species, but it had happened before.

In the woods another form trotted behind the truck, quite a ways away. Perhaps it desired to remain unseen, or perhaps it had a difficult time keeping up with the moving vehicle on the open road, or both. It was short and absolutely covered in dirt and grime. Some of it had been intentionally placed on the small pony's coat as a way to hide it from sharp eyes. Some of it was the result of having to hide in culverts, ditches, and in other odd places when following the truck. The pony was actually a filly, and she had been trailing the same truck all day, albeit with a growing distance all the time. She felt exhausted, but the thought of what might happen if she lost the truck kept her on her hooves constantly. The thickets of the forest were her current enemy and impeded her ability to follow greatly as the last sounds of the engine disappeared. She turned her head skyward, feeling the wind picking up and hearing the first rumblings of thunder. Rain would be arriving very soon.

In time the truck came to a stop at a set of gates, where a few Gryphon soldiers stood at attention as guards. The gate was opened up, and the truck passed onward towards the prison. The truck made its stop at the main prison center, and another guard opened the back door from the air, while another guarded the opening.

With a loaded gun pointed at her back, the prisoner was led out from the back of the truck. The pony glared at her captors through clenched teeth, but only received a swift kick to the flank to proceed. She was led up the concrete stairs in front of the main building, and then through a series of hallways. The pony looked up at the signs as she was led in, remembering the numbers. A1, A4, B3, B7, C2, and then finally C5. In hallway C5 she was abruptly stopped, and one of the guards opened a cell door on the left. This level was dark, damp, and cold due to its proximity to the outside. The pony was forcefully shoved into the cell, and the metal bars slid shut behind her.

****

Through the thickets and the brambles came the same filly that had been trailing the truck. Walking in the forest had slowed her down greatly, and she felt lost. All around her were thick woods and undergrowth, brambles and vines that seemed to choke up the light from the grayish sky.

She presses on, trying to flap her wings and make her way past a particularly overgrown bush. Her wings weren't strong enough for much more than a slight hovering, and so she too the long route around, losing more time and stumbling over roots.

For perhaps an entire half hour she struggled through the dense woods, until she came to a set of green bushes on the edge of a green lawn. She cautiously poked her head through, just enough to view the tall prison complex on the other side and the tremendous gate.

The filly watched from the bushes, trying to think of a way to get past the gate. Though a pegasus, her flying ability was hindered much like most pegasus foals her age. She couldn't walk right on in, as the gate was guarded by some very mean looking soldiers. There was a fence surrounding the perimeter, and she could very well get to that if she backtracked a bit and tried to go around, out of sight from the guards. She'd try to climb over it, or dig under if that wasn't possible.

"Hey George?" asked one of the guards, which made the filly freeze.

"Yeah?" the second responded.

"Who was that?"

"Some pony prisoner, didn't you see?"

"Yeah, she was all decked out like some kind of explorer."

The two guards looked at each other. The filly kept her ears attentive as they continued to chatter.

"I'm not getting a name. Some kinda fiasco happen?"

"Didn't you hear?"

"No...."

No doubt they meant the situation that had led to this whole mess. The filly started considering just trying to sneak past them if they were going to be this distracted.

"Well, I think she's in for graverobbing or something. They've got her on level C5 though, totally empty. You know, the one with that grate on the side?"

An open grate on the side, the filly thought to herself. She had a lead!

"Whoah," the guard exclaimed, "That's for the ones they can't trust with the other prisoners. I remember they put old Grizburn there, after he started riots...."

****

"Don't expect anything anytime soon. It's gonna be a long stay in solitary for you, pony."

The guards walked away, leaving the mare sitting in her prison cell. The only light came from the slotted grate on the wall of her cell, which was level with the ground. After sitting on her side for a few minutes on the cold stone floor, the pony stood up on her back hooves in an attempt to see through the grate. She caught a glimpse of the lawn, and a thick, brambly treeline in the distance. The cloudy sky darkened and rumbled, and the crash of thunder confirmed for her that it was indeed going to downpour.

Sighing, the pony sat back down on the floor. She had nothing to entertain herself with but her own thoughts. No other prisoners were being kept in this area, and the only sounds came from the rumbling sky and a single rat scurrying across the floor in the adjacent cell.

She took off her hat, and held it in her hooves for a few minutes, studying it in detail in the dim lighting. It was a pith helmet, one that was a light khaki in shade and had greenish trim on the sides. A few holes and scuffs were visible across the sides, from years of abuse in the harshest environments the world had to offer. The brim and the inside showed the telltale signs of heavy use and wear. Even the green cloth was stained in places where it had been drenched in sweat repeatedly over the years.

There was nothing to do at the moment, and so she laid her head against the cracked and dirty concrete and allowed her fatigue to wash over.

Outside, the steady pitter-patter tapping noises signaled the coming of the rain. The occasional wind gust would blow wet mist and vapor into the cell, and the pony sitting in it felt it moisten her face and mane. She didn't know how long she sat like this, eyes closed while feeling water droplets hit her face, but her attention was drawn to a figure crouching near the grate near the top of the wall that served as the pony's only window to the outside world. Turning her attention to the form, she was able to tell that it was a filly tapping on the bars in an attempt to get her attention. The filly had an orange coat and a grayish brown mane, though given her current state of dirtiness it would have been impossible to tell.

"Dr. Do, are you okay?" asked the filly in a quiet voice. The pony in the cell nodded, and stood up onto her hind legs again, bringing her face closer to the filly's.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Daring whispered, "What about you, kid? Didn't I tell you to lay low and get help later? How did you get here?"

"I couldn't just let them take you to some weird unknown place," answered the filly in a low voice.

"How did you get in?!"

"Tree branch went over the fence. They've got guards on the front and the corners, but not on the sides. I was small enough to get through their blind spot.... I've got some stuff with me in your bag. I've been following the truck all day. Well, most of the day, on account of I stopped to grab a couple of tools."

"Grab? How did you grab them?"

"Well, borrowed without permission might be more like it."

"Scootaround!" said Daring sternly, and then lowered her voice even more after realizing she had been a bit too loud, "What have I told you about thievery?! I thought you were better than that!"

"Calm down, Dr. Do," Scootaround said, raising a hoof, "I only took it from one of their mechanics at a checkpoint. Plus, are you gonna complain if it can get you out of this place?"

Daring considered that. She made a motion for Scootaround to open the bag slung over her shoulder, which she did. Inside it was a metalworking hacksaw, and though it was made for Gryphon claws it was capable of slicing through metal. Metal such as the bars on the grate.

"Bless you Scoots," Daring exclaimed quietly. Scootaround beamed, and proceeded to pass the bladed tool through to Daring, so that she could could apply pressure from one end while Scootaround did the same from the outside. The two ponies fit the small blade next to the first bar, and began working. And working. And working. Minutes turned into entire half-hours, and they had little more than three of the seven bars done after much work and spent effort. However, both knew that this was Daring's only shot.

She had been captured for trespassing on Gryphon military property, and though she was trying to reclaim an artifact that had been taken from her she was still able to be imprisoned under Gryphon military law, and so they had jumped at the opportunity to finally imprison Daring Do. It was a draconian punishment that stemmed from a long held mutual hatred, and it would be some time until leaders from Equestria would be able to negotiate her release. Unless they were willing to test the already tense relations between Equestria and Gryphony, they would not send in any kind of clandestine rescue team. Her getting out of there rested on whether or not she and her young charge could continue cutting despite their exhausted bodies' protests. And so they cut, and cut, and cut.

The last of the bars gave way well after nighttime had fallen. No one had come to give Daring any food. With the last of the bars eliminated, the way was clear for Daring to get out of her cell. The archaeologist pony squeezed through the tight space. Her head went through first, then her front legs and wings, and then finally her flanks and posterior. Once her grayish tail finally made it through, Daring stood up, panting after the struggle. Both she and Scootaround had extremely sore forelegs, but their ordeal was not over yet.

"They'll find out soon enough. Come on kid, let's get out of here," Daring said, bumping hoofs with the filly.

Daring's words would come true less than a minute later, as alarms all over the prison began howling into the dark. In the driving rain it was hard to see more than three feet in front of one's self, but Daring and Scootaround had to get out immediately.

"Get on my back!" yelled Daring, and the filly obediently got onto her back, being mindful of her wings. The pony reared back, and thundered forwards across the muddy ground. Though she slipped and slid, she picked up enough momentum to get airborne. Daring's wings spread, and together the two ponies flew up and over the fence, swooping back down to land among the trees as soon as they were clear of the prison. They landed not a moment too soon, as lightning struck nearby with a resounding crash that shook the earth. Sopping wet, Scootaround dismounted Daring's back, and the two ran through the forest. The trees shook in the storm's wind, and driving rain reached down past the tops of the trees to make both the ponies and the mud beneath their hooves wet and slippery.

"They're going to send teams out to comb the area for us," Daring said, having to project in order to be heard over the roar of the wind.

"Are we gonna hide or try to keep going?" asked Scootaround. Daring shook her head.

"We can't risk staying around here and being caught. They know this area, and where prisoners might try to hide out. If we keep going, we can outpace them."

And so they kept running, through the forest's muddy floor and through turbulent stream beds gorged with water from the ongoing storm. Through marsh, bog, and meadow they trekked, keeping a low profile when cover was sparse. Gradually the unforgiving severity of the storm died down, until it was little more than scattered showers and an ever-present drizzle. Mist and fog made it difficult to see, and night's darkness was on its way. It was then, after hours of running away, that Daring decided to find a place to hide.

"We need to sleep," she said, cutting a trail through grass that was much taller than either of them. The grassy meadow gave way to an unexpected sight. Where Daring had wagered on seeing another forest's edge, she saw the scattered pinpricks of light indicating a village. She was unsure whether to proceed, or to turn back. It was Scootaround who noticed the village sign, and read it aloud.

"Talonsville," the filly read, "Hey Dr. Do, isn't that the place you stayed this winter?"

Daring turned her head to look at the sign, eyes widening. She looked back to Scootaround, grinning.

"No, that was Talonsburg, but I do know somepony who lives in Talonsville. She'll help us out, I'm sure. C'mon, we shouldn't stay out here for too long."

****

A low thumping sound on the wooden door was barely distinguishable from the distant crash of thunder, but the keen-eared mare with the greenish coat sitting by the evening's fire was able to tell that there was somepony at the door. She stood up from her knitting, and stretched her legs out a bit before going and opening the door to her cozy little inn. She was very surprised to be greeted by Daring Do, an old friend of hers from years ago. She was not surprised to see Daring completely covered from head to hoof in mud.

"Daring! How long it's been!" she exclaimed, raising a hoof to bump with the archaeologist pony, "I would give you a hug or something, but I don't want to have to take another bath. Please, do come in, but wipe yourself off... if you can even get all that stuff off."

Her attention was turned to a small orange filly with a very messy mane, which still had sticky pine sap and dirt smeared into it. The greenish mare raised an eyebrow, looking at the filly.

"And who is this? Daring, forgive me for asking, but who is your charge? Is she your foal?"

"No, nothing like that," Daring said, her cheeks turning a little red, "I've yet to settle down with a stallion, and I'm not really actively looking for one. Still a little young to be starting a family, you know? No no no, this is Scootaround, she's.... well, introduce yourself kid!"

"I'm Scootaround, escape artist extraordinaire," Scootaround stated, "Pleased to meet you miss...."

"Mrs. Pasternson. My husband's asleep in his chair, his name is Gregory, or Greg for short. Please do come in."

She led them into the living room, which was small for a living room, but given that most of the space the house had had been used to convert it into a five-room inn, it was of little consequence. Daring and Scootaround sat themselves down on the stone floor, close to the fire in order to warm up and dry off. Daring's mane was still dripping every now and then, and Scootaround's was a complete mess.

"So how are you, Daring? Gosh, I haven't seen you since, what was it.... '32?" inquired Mrs. Pasternson. She had a slight accent, which had probably been acquired by speaking Gryphonese in her business. It was unclear whether or not the snoring bulk of a Gryphon laying in the corner could speak Equestrish or not. Daring smiled for a moment, realizing how hard it would be to compact the past five years of her life into a few sentences. She had done a LOT.

"I've been better, I suppose. I've spent the last... geez, it's been more than a decade that I've been doing this. Same old same old, you know. Another day, another dungeon," Daring answered. She was given a cup of some kind of liquid by the green mare, and after taking a sip she raised her eyebrows.

"Wow, this is pretty sweet. What is it?" Daring asked.

"Wine imported from Prance, dated 1929," the green mare responded. She poured herself a glass, and was about to pour a third when Daring stopped her.

"Scootaround will have something different, please," Daring requested. Mrs. Pasternson looked confused for a moment, and then clapped a hoof to her forehead.

"Oh, I'm very sorry. I forgot about Equestria's customs about..."

"It's fine," Daring said, cutting her friend off and smiling. Scootaround had a look of utter confusion on her face, not knowing what on earth was going on. A moment later she had a glass of water and was contented to drink that. Mrs. Pasternson settled down herself, and sighed.

"Well, what brings you two to our humble little village?" she asked, "I'd expect you to be somewhere off in the jungles right about now, Daring."

"Well," Daring started, frowning, "not everything I do is in the jungle. This was actually supposed to be a business trip, but things kind of fell apart."

"How so?" the mare asked, looking concerned.

"Well, let's just say that this 'Imperial Police Force' has some pretty stupid definitions of what is and isn't trespassing. I mean, I was trying to document some rather important structures that are at least 700 years old. There wasn't a sign saying that it was official Gryphony property, nor was there a sign saying that if they saw you trying to grab a tablet that you brought there with you to compare that they'd use it as an excuse to grab you up for thievery, drag you off to a prison far away and sit you down in solitary. Maybe it's just because I'm Daring Do, though. They probably were just using it as an excuse, now that I think about it."

"Woah," said Mrs. Pasternson, listening to Daring's rather passionate rant, "So wait, you two are fugitives?"

"Well, you might say that," Daring said, "but I was hoping that you could help us. May we stay here for the evening? They confiscated my currency, but I'll see to it you receive full payment."

"Daring, Daring," the mare said, clapping a hoof onto her shoulder, "Don't sweat it. The way I see it, I owe you one. After all, what's a few bits next to being alive today? Yeah, don't worry about paying me back. If anything, I need to pay YOU back. Anything else I can do?"

"Shucks," Daring blushed, "Well, if anyone asks, we're not here."

"Oh, so it's like that," noted the mare, "OK, why don't I give you two a little tour of our little inn here?

****

"This is one of our rooms, feel free to put your stuff in the cabinet if you wish," said Mrs. Pasternson. Both Daring and Scootaround looked into the small room, which was a quaint bedroom with a wooden desk, a bed that was large enough for a gryphon, and an oil lamp sitting on a shelf. The floor had a woven mat that was made from several colors and had a criss-cross design on it that was aesthetically pleasing.

"Thank you very much Grace, I do appreciate the hospitality," Daring said, "We don't have anything to put here, so I guess we'll just follow your lead and continue."

The mare nodded, and Daring and Scootaround followed her down the hallway. Small electric light bulbs illuminated the hallway with a dim light, and they could see that there were several other rooms just like the bedroom they had just been shown. One of the rooms, which Mrs. Pasternson told them was the bedroom used by herself and her husband, was locked.

Around the other side of the home was a kitchen, which despite being built as a house designed for Gryphonkind felt cramped to Daring. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she hadn't used her kitchen in several years. She was a busy pony, and she couldn't be bothered with cooking for herself, or even for Scootaround. Instead, she usually picked up breakfast for the pair of them on the go, and usually grabbed something quick to eat on the way home from the museum.

Occasionally the pair of them went to the restaurants in town, though that usually was accompanied with a meeting with some professional friends of Daring. Camp life, was much different, of course. What skills Daring lacked on a stovetop and griddle she made up for with her knowledge of camp cooking. Though using primitives stoves (and sometimes just the fire and a skillet) she was able to assist the party's assigned cook. Given the frequency of the major expeditions she was on (and sometimes led) she had gained a little bit of campfire cooking prowess.

In her own home the shelves, cabinets and stove tops were better used as storage for the extra junk that always ended up coming home with her, or that the museum didn't want for their archives or on display.

"Well, that's about it," Grace Pasternson finished, showing them back into the living room. The scruffy Gryphon in the corner had woken up by now, and was peering at them out of the corner of his eye. Daring stepped into the room, and was about to greet him when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, sitting on a bookshelf against the wall.

"Grace, who're these folks?" asked the Gryphon in a gruff voice. Daring wasn't paying attention to the conversation now, but was busy looking at the object. It looked like a pendant of some kind, with a thin gold chain meant to be worn about the neck. The pendant itself was circular, though it had raised edges around the circumference that had odd patterns on it. The surface had etchings on it, a writing style that Daring did not recognize. The center was a bright emerald gemstone, though it appeared to have accumulated a layer of dust from sitting on top of a stack of books for who knew how long.

"These are some friends dear," the mare answered, swooping in to give her husband a peck on the beak, "This is the one I've told you about before, Daring Do."

"Oh, so you're that one. How's it going?" the Gryphon asked, and stuck a clawed hand out in a friendly gesture, shaking Daring's hoof.

"I've been better," Daring said, "Scootaround her and I have been running all night, as you can imagine we're exhausted."

"What were you running for? Not much of a fan for this imperial bullshit either, huh?" said the Gryphon, not caring about his language at this hour of the night, despite his wife's glare.

"Well no, I can't say that I am, Mister...."

"Gregory."

"Yes, well, Mr. Gregory, I was actually taken captive for trespassing. They threw me in one of their jails, and-"

"You got sent to the detention center?" he asked, eyes widening, "You're a fugitive, huh?"

"Yeah, first thing tomorrow I plan on getting out of this country," Daring said, "Grace, I was actually wondering about that pendant on your book-"

A loud thumping sound uninterrupted her sentence.

"This is the secret police, open up immediately!" a harsh voice stammered from outside the front door. Gregory's eyes widened, and Grace turned towards the two other ponies sitting in her living room.

Under the stove. Now, she mouthed. Daring and Scootaround lost no time in scrambling back to the kitchen.

"What are we gonna do, Dr. Do?" whispered Scootaround. Daring paused, her heart throbbing with every single beat. She could hear the door opening in the other room, and hear several voices as the secret police filed into the living room.

"Oh, so there's an escapee out and about, huh?" said Gregory, in a jovial voice, "We don't have any customers sleeping here tonight, so Grace and I have been puttering around, trying to make sure everything was tidied up. I'm afraid we didn't catch the announcement on the radio if there was one."

"Move the stove aside," Daring said in a quiet voice, "They're going to search the place." Together, she and the filly pushed on one side of the metal stove, and pushed it aside. Underneath, the wooden planks had been sawed off, and there was a space underneath where somepony small could fit.

"After you," Scootaround said, placing a hoof to her side in a mockingly polite manner. Daring glared at her, trying to get the point across that now was not the time to be joking around. She got into the hole, wedging herself down into the very bottom of the crevice until she could push herself no further down. It was then Scootaround's turn to hide herself, trying not to step on Daring's face. It was cramped, though. Scootaround twisted to her side, but her tail kept brushing into Daring's face in a way she found very annoying.

Above them, Grace slid the stove back into its proper place. The dim lighting was cut off completely, plunging both Daring and Scootaround into complete darkness. The two waited as the search of the home continued above them, hoping and praying that the secret police wouldn't look for them in their search.

****

"So have you two had a long day?" asked Grace politely, walking over towards the bedrooms as the officers searched. The pair of them were dressed in plain clothes, including leather trench coats and black pinch-front fedoras. Neither answered the question but rather gave Mrs. Pasternson the cold shoulder, neither answering her nor acknowledging her presence.

Undoubtedly they did not approve of the thought of a pony being married to a gryphon, thought Daring. The voices were fading now, as the group entered one of the bedrooms. Perhaps they were simply not saying anything at all.

"Please, allow us to work in solitude," one of them asked, and both Greg and Grace returned to the kitchen. Grace peeked her head underneath the stove, and Scootaround gave her a weak smile, the best she could manage in the uncomfortably cramped hiding spot.

"Why don't you start a kettle, honey?" came Greg's voice, and the sound of a small metal pot being filled with water could be heard. Something in the stove hummed to life, and the kettle was placed on one of the burners. The underside didn't get very hot, but the sound of sizzling water droplets could be heard from their hiding spot.

This setting did not change, and Daring waited with baited breath as the officers slowly scouted out each individual room one by one. She was silently thankful that she had not sat on the bed or placed her wet clothes anywhere, for that would have given them away.

"There is water on the floor," one of the officers remarked. All of the ponies in the kitchen plus Gregory held their breath for a moment, wondering what would come next.

"Sorry about dripping on your floors, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Pasternson," said the other officer, still from the other room. One could almost hear the relief of four different beings as they let out a short breath.

"Can I interest either of you in anything to drink?" asked Grace, "I've put some water on, and it's nearly warm enough for a tea or maybe some coffee."

"We are fine, thank you," the first officer answered curtly, as both of them entered the kitchen. The tension in the room escalated, as both Gregory and Grace kept their calm and cheerful "loyal citizen" face on, and Daring and Scootaround froze still beneath the stove, not moving an inch nor making any kind of audible sounds. Daring was suddenly aware of how much noise she thought her heart beat made. But that had to be a trick, right? It must have been all up in her head.

"There's something under your stove," one of the officers said. Daring felt her heart skip a beat, and her mind began racing. They knew she and Scootaround were there. Any moment now they were going to move aside the stove and find them there. And then what? She and Scootaround would both be thrown in prison, and there wouldn't be much chance of escape. They'd have to wait for some kind of diplomatic action from Equestria, and who knew how long that would take? Not only that, but Gregory and Grace would be thrown in with them, for having harbored enemies of the state! She had endangered her friend and her friend's family by showing up!

A claw reached under the stove, and Scootaround's eyes bugged out. She clenched her teeth, and sweat droplets rolled off from her face. The claw probed around beneath the stove, mere inches from her snout until it had found what it was looking for.

"You ought to be more careful with your wooden spoons," the officer said, taking the utensil out from under the stove and handing it over to Mrs. Pasternson. She took it in both hooves, and smiled weakly.

"No need to be embarrassed, it'll be clean with a bit of scrubbing."

"Thank you, I've been wondering where I lost that spoon for a few days now," Grace said, in a friendly tone. Then the sound of floorboards creaking under the weight of the Gryphon's back paws left the kitchen, and it seemed that the officers were looking over the living room once before getting ready to leave the house.

Daring Do let out another sigh of relief, clutching a hoof to her chest. Scootaround remained completely frozen until she heard the sound of the door shutting, and then let out her breath all at once.

"Whew, that was too close," she said.

"I can agree with you there," Daring said, as she heard Grace and Gregory moving the stove aside so that they could climb out. Scootaround swung her back hooves up and out easily, but Daring needed a bit of help extricating herself from her position wedged inside the bottom of the hole.

"How close did they get?" Grace asked Scootaround.

"Any closer," started the filly, "and they would have been picking my nose."

****

"So Grace," Daring said, "I couldn't help but notice that pendant on your bookshelf."

They were all back inside the living room by now, and had unwound a little bit from the tension of just a few minutes before. Admittedly Daring still felt a little uneasy, but perhaps it was just from her mind settling down and slowly stopping its furious worrying cycle that it had been doing ever since the agents had entered the house. Scootaround seemed to have relaxed completely though, for she had curled upon the ground near the warm hearth. She appeared to be sleeping.

"Yes, isn't it lovely? Greg actually got that for me as a gift a year or so back," said Grace, picking the pendant up and blowing the dust off from it. Daring could more clearly see the emerald embedded in the center of it. She looked at it curiously, as if she recognized it. But then, what was it? She thought she had seen it in a book at some point, perhaps a long time ago. Whatever it was, she couldn't place it right now.

"Where did you get it?" Daring asked, picking it up and peering at it closely.

"Well, I went and picked it up from a vendor who was selling antique jewelry. I thought it was very nice, and it was eye catching for sure," answered Greg. He had a little bit of apprehension in his voice, as if he had his doubts about the item's origin, and Daring rolled her eyes to herself. It probably didn't make a bit of difference whether or not it had been stolen. If she was right, this pendant had to be about...

"You seem very interested in it," Grace said, taking a sip of some tea, "Do you think it's something important?"

"I'd say so," answered Daring, "Though I'd have to check my research notes to be sure. The writing here on the sides- right there, see? Those look like a manuscript that hasn't been used for hundreds of years, from a dead language. I’m not even familiar with it."

"Oh wow, so you mean that this hunk of jewelry is-"

"Yeah, it's an artifact of some kind," Daring guessed, "If I had to place it, I'd say somewhere around where modern day Saddle Arabia is."

"Wow," chorused Greg and Grace in unison.

"So do you want to take it with you?" asked Grace, and in the corner Gregory made a funny noise and shifted in his seat.

"Well, I suppose... it wouldn't be a problem, would it?" Daring said, looking warily at Greg. He seemed not to be a big fan of the idea of Daring taking the pendant with her, and Daring didn't want to make either of them upset after all they had done for her that evening.

"Well, I..." started Grace, trailing off after she saw Gregory's faces. The three of them that were still awake sat in silence for a moment, not wanting to say something that might upset Gregory.

"I really cannot believe this," he finally said, standing up. Daring took a step back, sensing the tone in his voice to mean that he was very upset about something. Gregory walked over to the other side of the room angrily, right past Daring and Grace. He made gestures at the ground, and even stomped his back paws in frustration. Daring turned her head to see what he was making a fuss about.

"Oh that's right, let me just tromp right on in to your house," he mumbled, grabbing a rag and placing it on the floor. It soaked up some moisture from a puddle on the floor, and was darkened with dirt that had been tracked in.

"That's right, let me just walk over to THEIR homes, and track dirt inside. Yeah, we'll see how they like it then, the overpaid pricks."

"It's okay dear, I'll get the mop," Grace said, rushing into the other room. She passed by Daring, mouthing the word "later". Now was not the time to talk about the item, it seemed. Daring contented herself to sit down near the hearth, next to Scootaround.

"Hey kid, you awake?" she asked, prodding the filly. She heard only a grumble, and then Scootaround continued to breath rhythmically. She was asleep alright.

"Alright, let's get you to bed," Daring said, yawning. She scooped the filly up in both hooves, and then staggered over to the bedroom on just her back hooves. She grunted, and placed the sleeping foal down on the bed, moving the covers up and over her body.

"I think it's about time we all got some rest," Daring said to herself as she walked back out into the living room. She'd go to bed herself in just a few minutes. Of course, she still had catching up to do with her friend she hadn't seen in years.

The stress from the entire day was catching up to her fast. A wave of exhaustion seemed to roll over her, and she felt incredibly fatigued. Collapsing onto one of the chairs, Daring's head flopped back, and her eyes closed.

She was snoring within the next minute.

Chapter 2: Professor Daring

"The Discordian era began over 2,000 years ago, though the exact date is not known. It began with a great battle and ended with another, but the space in between was several decades of chaos and disharmony," Daring lectured. She could see that some of her students were paying attention, while some had lost interest in what was being said.

She was currently teaching her last period class of the day. It was relatively early in the marking period, so they had only covered the basics of Equestrian History so far. They had started a few weeks ago with the formation of Equestria out from the three old empires. Most students had an idea of how it went, though there was also a lot of misconceptions to deal with due to the story of Hearth's Warming Eve, which tended to vary slightly depending on who was performing the pageant and was not entirely accurate. They had spent a week on that, and then had been talking about the way of life in very early Equestria.

Right now they were covering the rise of Discord, which occurred several hundred years after Equestria itself was formed, and immediately before the Alicornian Era

"Alright, I see you guys dozing off in the back," Daring said, "Here's an idea. Let's all stand up, right now, and be as random as possible. Come on, everypony up."

The class stood up, some of them scraping their chairs and others squirming out of them sideways. There wasn't much said, for they were waiting on a signal from their professor. Daring smiled at her class, pushing her glasses up onto her face. She rarely wore her glasses outside of the classroom, though academic work at the museum was an exception. She looked quite unlike her adventuring self; the pith helmet was abandoned and instead her grayish black mane was done up in a neat bun in the back. Her khaki shirt was exchanged for one that was white, and considerably cleaner. She had a reddish bow tie around the neck of this to complete the look, and the effect was a pony that looked nothing like the one seen crawling through dungeons.

"OK, now that you're all standing, turn to your neighbor and shout random gibberish at them. You've got to keep going for five minutes, so don't stop," Daring commanded, glancing at the clock on her wall.

"Ready? Go!"

Immediately the room erupted in a terrible ruckus. Young stallion and young mare alike were engaged in a heated match of verbal tennis. First one would say something off the wall and random, then the other would try to outdo the craziness. At first, many of the students thought it was a blast. They laughed, they said funny words, and made complete foals out of themselves.

Inevitably the fun came to an end less than two minutes later. What had started as silliness had devolved into a noisy banter that was annoying, and pony's ears were ringing from the noise. On top of that, everypony was running out of material to say. By the end of the five minutes they were all ready to sit down.

"How was that?" Daring asked her class, and received grumbles and moans. She lifted her head for a moment.

"By a show of hooves, can anypony tell me what got on your nerves?"

One young stallion in the middle of the left column raised his hoof first. Daring pointed.

"The problem was that it got old. It would have been fun for thirty seconds or even a minute," he said, "but for five whole minutes was just too long. It dragged on."

"Alright. Over here, in the scarf," Daring called, pointing over to a mare who wore a blue scarf around her neck that almost matched the color of her mane.

"It was kind of crazy and hectic, but it just went on and on and on until it wasn't so funny."

"Exactly," Daring said, and made a motion for them to put their hooves down. One mare in the back still had hers raised, so Daring pointed back to her.

"Professor Do, what relevance does this have to what we're studying? I feel like a bunch of ponies yelling at each other doesn't really relate..."

"Well," Daring started, pushing her glasses up, "I'm going to tell you."

"The Discordian Era in our own history was started when a being by the name of Discord- the embodiment of chaos- fought against Starswirl the Bearded. Before that Discord had troubled other nations gradually. His focus seemed to shift every several hundred years or so, and we were the next on the list. Starswirl was one of the few ponies left that could keep this spirit of chaos at bay. Starswirl lost the battle of magic because Discord cheated. Because he had lost, Discord was able to impose his rule on the land and banished Starswirl for many years. The activity I just had you do symbolizes the confusion and the chaotic atmosphere that engulfed Equestria. Imagine living your lives like that for decades. You probably can't, can you?"

"Professor," a student interrupted, raising his hoof as he spoke. Daring looked taken aback, since he had rudely interrupted her train of thought. The stallion grimaced once he noticed what he had done, but by now Daring would just as soon have him speak his piece.

"Just say it."

"Alright," he began, "You said that Discord's rule started when he fought Starswirl the bearded, correct? But in the museum, it shows some of his works from much later, a century later in fact. If he was alive all throughout this Discord stuff, and outlived it by many more years, just what did he do?"

"Ah, you've guessed exactly what we're going to cover immediately after this: The Fall of Discord. We'll cover this in a bit, but I'll give you a rundown right now," Daring said.

"In order to counter Discord's chaotic rule, Starswirl needed two things. First, he needed items of immense magic potential that could rival Discord's. While he and Discord were both formidable in their magic prowess, simple magic alone was not enough to defeat him. Starswirl needed to restore harmony, and to do that he would spend the entirety of his banishment searching for powerful stones to represent each Element of Harmony. He also needed to find two very powerful beings to wield their power, two alicorns of unmatched magic potential. However, I'll save that lecture for another class. Let's continue where we left off, shall we?"

****

With a terrified scream Daring awoke on her bed, panting and dripping with sweat. She had been having a nightmare of some kind, filled with horrific images and a foreboding sense of dread throughout it. She kept picturing the pendant that she had taken back to Equestria with her in her dream, and in her dream it was somehow the reason for all the terrible things happening.

"Dr. Do, Dr. Do!" came the high-pitched sound of Scootaround's voice. Daring flicked the lamp on next to her bed, and looked up to see the filly standing in the doorway of her room. She looked wide awake as well, and had a look on her face that showed that she was extremely worried.

"Dr. Do, are you okay?" Scootaround asked, sounding worried. Daring opened her mouth to speak but she still was out of breath. She took a few gulps of air before attempting to answer again.

"I just had a bad dream, kid," she answered, "It's alright though. Everypony had bad dreams every now and then."

"You woke me up when you started yelling something," Scootaround persisted, "You were yelling 'take it back!' and 'return it!'."

Daring paused for a moment. She didn't remember having said anything of the sort in her nightmare, but she was sure that she knew what she had been yelling about. It was the pendent. Something about it had plagued her dreams ever since returning to Equestria. It had started with an idle curiosity about its origin, but now it was full-blown terror. Something was very wrong with it, and Daring knew that she needed to act.

"What time is it?" Daring asked, and Scootaround stepped out into the other room to take a look at the large grandfather clock.

"It says that it's three o'clock," she stated. Daring sighed. It was much too early to try to research the pendant, but she felt compelled to. Her fatigue wasn't really present, and she felt that she could battle it off. No, she had to battle it off. Knowing was half the fight, and she needed to know.

"How tired are you?" asked Daring, eyeing Scootaround. The filly shrugged.

"I'm pretty wide awake right now," she said, "You did kind of scare the crap out of me with that screaming."

"Watch your mouth," Daring snapped, pointing at Scootaround with a hoof sternly.

"Sorry," she replied, shrinking lower and backing halfway back into the hallway.

Daring thought for a moment. It was far too early to go to the museum and to try to do some research. She really should be sleeping, but for some reason she just couldn't. She needed to know just what the pendant was, and why it had been bothering her ever since bringing it back. She thought about it for a moment, and then reached a decision.

"Okay kid, how do you feel about taking a little trip?" Daring asked.

"Isn't it a bit early to start walking around?" replied Scootaround, raising her eyebrows.

"Nah, but if it bothers you that much, you can bring your pillow. What's tomorrow?"

"Sunday."

"What? I thought today was Friday!"

"Dr. Do, it's three in the morning. It's early Saturday," Scootaround said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, right," Daring said. She thought to herself again.

Not worth it, she thought, better off waiting until tomorrow morning- well later this morning- to go.

"Alright," Daring said as she got back in her bed, "I'm going to try to get some more rest. First thing tomorrow morning..."

"This morning."

"... right, this morning, we'll make a trip down there. For right now let's try to sleep some more," Daring concluded.

"Alright. Goodnight Dr. Do," Scootaround said, a little worry showing in her voice.

****

"That'll be two bits please," the mare said. She received two small coins from Professor Do, and in exchange she placed two of the thin pancake-like treats onto two separate plates. Daring picked up one of them and gave it to Scootaround, while she took the other. After thanking the mare working at the crêpe stand she and Scootaround sat down at one of the cafe tables on the side of the cobblestone road.

"So what is this thing, Dr. Do?" asked Scootaround, prodding at the pancake curiously.

"It's a crêpe," Daring answered after taking a gulp of what she had been chewing on, "They're very popular in Prance. Of course everything that's popular in Prance is also popular in Canterlot too, don't you know?"

"Why is that?"

"Well, I think it's pretty obvious that everypony in Canterlot thinks of themselves as a little bit fancier than your average Equestrian. Prance is just one of those places that's looked at as 'fancy', that's all."

"Oh," Scootaround remarked. She didn't really seem all that interested, but was perfectly happy to chow down on the crêpe she had been given. There was a container of confectioner's sugar on the table that she reached over and shook onto her crêpe generously. This made Daring choke on her own meal for a moment as she tried not to laugh.

"What's the matter?" Scootaround asked, looking at Daring with a tilted head.

"Oh nothing," Daring said with one final cough, "I just choked on my bite. Got enough sugar there?"

"I don't know, do you think I should put more on?" asked Scootaround, which almost caused Daring another fit of laughter. The crêpe on the filly's plate was already completely white with sugar to the point that none of the actual pancake was showing.

"I think that's plenty, kid."

For the next two minutes the pair of ponies sat and ate their breakfast. Not a word was spoken about what had transpired during the early hours of the morning. Daring was dressed up in an odd cross between her professor's clothes and her adventuring clothes. She wore her khaki colored shirt with a blackish bow tie, but her shirt was crisp and clean rather than wrinkled and encrusted with her own sweat. Her mane was not done back in a tight bun, but was combed back and topped off with a grayish black fedora.

When it came time for them to continue they loaded up their garbage and placed it into a trash bin. Together the two ponies went further down the cobblestone street until they had reached the Museum of History at Canterlot. It was a large building that was constructed in an elaborate way to resemble royal spires. In a way it fit in with many of the other buildings in the city while retaining its own charm.

Daring went to place a key into the door, but was surprised to find that it was already unlocked. Pocketing the keys, she entered the museum's front entrance with Scootaround in tow.

"I think Dusty's probably here," Daring said to herself, peering up. The first chamber of the museum was a great hallway that almost resembled the inside of a castle. It had two different wings to it, one wing for natural history, and one for Equine history. Daring's main domain was in the Equine history wing, and that was also the larger of the two sections. Much of the museum was dark still, and the only light came from windows that were high up on the sides of the walls. There was a light on, however, in the natural history section.

"Looks like Dusty's over in natural history," Daring noted, "Let's check on him first."

The two traveled over to the other section of the museum, passing many of the items on display. Scootaround had been through this section only a few times due to the fact that she usually went straight to Daring's office after her school released her. Because of this she still looked up at the skeletal remains of creatures in awe. There was an impressive display of a Tyrannosaurus standing fully erect with its tail dragged on the ground behind it, poised ready to strike at another skeleton of a small sauropod rearing back on its hind legs. The bones seemed frozen in time to the filly, as if the animals had been stopped right at the crucial moment and had remained there ever since. Of course this wasn't true, but it still made little Scootaround gaze in wonder.

"There you are," Daring called over to the museum's curator. Dusty Shelves glanced up and smiled at the mare, giving her a curt nod.

"How goes things, Daring? I thought today was your day off to grade papers."

"Pretty good, all things considered," she replied, "I got that done last night. I'm actually trying to do a little research, but I wanted to check in and see what you were doing first."

"Oh," Dusty said, and pushed his wire-rimmed glasses up on his grayish blue face.

"Well you see this skeleton here?" he said, making a motion to the display he stood in front of. Daring glanced at the label, which read Velociraptor Equestriensis.

"This is a Velociraptor?" she remarked, tilting her head while looking at the skeleton. Daring didn't claim to be an expert in paleontology- that wasn't her field- but she seemed to remember that Velociraptors were much smaller than the skeleton on display. This skeleton was at least as tall as she was.

"No, it's a subspecies. Equestriensis. They found fossils a year or so ago when they broke ground for some of the outposts down south."

"Interesting," Daring remarked, and looked at Scootaround. She was looking at the bones in awe.

"Well, I suppose I'd better be off to researching," she said, but Dusty still had something to say.

"You know, there was actually a family that was vacationing down in the very south, around Haysead Swamps. They got close to the badlands, and they reported seeing monsters or something in the woods. Their description was similar to this species of Velociraptor. I wonder if..."

"Dusty," Daring interrupted, holding up a hoof, "That's ridiculous. That's like the ponies that say there's Manticores in the forests outside of some of the more rural towns. It's all superstition and urban legends."

"I don't know," Dusty thought aloud. Daring rolled her eyes. She had better things to do than argue over scaly legends. She had a legend of her own to worry about.

Leaving Dusty to continue working on replacing labels, Daring made her way over to her office.

****

She had been spending hours in the library, looking through books. She had Scootaround flip through books as well, looking for an illustration. In three hours, neither of them had found anything. The frustration of unsuccessful research was showing, and Daring could feel herself growing more and more impatient with every book she placed back on the shelf after finding no entries that were relevant.

She had placed the pendant on the table in the center of the library. In the depths of her memory she knew she had seen the pendant before in an illustration, and she seemed to recall that there was also an entry for it. Whatever the pendant was was of some importance, but it was also relatively unknown and undocumented.

"Alright, we've got absolutely nothing in Jewelry of Ancient Arabia," Daring announced, frowning. Scootaround was pouring over a large book that was way beyond her reading level. Not that that was saying much, since a regular fiction novel was also beyond the filly's reading level.

"What've you got over there, kid?" Daring asked, calling across the room to Scootaround. The filly blinked and raised her head, looking over at Daring.

"I've been looking at the pictures and the drawings. I actually think there's a picture of it in here, but it's a bit small."

Daring was over there next to her in a snap. She glanced at the spine of the book, which read: Legends and Stories of the Ancient East. Was that a reliable source?

"Where'd you say you saw it?" Daring prodded, and Scootaround flipped back a few pages and pointed with her hoof at the illustration above the chapter heading. It showed a tubby stallion with a beard-like growth on his neck. He wore three accessories: a crown, a cape, and a necklace-like pendant that....

It was the pendant.

"Woah, this is the exact same thing!" Daring exclaimed, bringing the pendant over. Indeed, it did match the illustration perfectly. The ridges having odd edges, the emerald in the center, even the appearance of the outdated script on the sides. But what was the significance of this image?

"Let's see," said Daring, "This is the story of the Greedy King. Oh great, so it's from a fable."

"What's that mean?"

"It's from one of those made-up stories. Like the Giant Beanstalk or something, one that's meant to tell you a story that teaches a lesson."

"Okay," Scootaround remarked, looking down at the book, "Can you tell me about it?"

"Well," began Daring, "Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a very rich stallion. He was the King of all he saw, of a vast empire in the middle-east. He considered himself to be a fair and a just ruler, but he was not."

"His greedy side far out balanced his conscience, and so he would order unspeakable things in order to keep his empire running and keep rebellion down. Ponies were enslaved, some were even executed if they dared to disagree. First all of the wealthy citizens were taxed heavily, and then when they were no longer wealthy, everypony living under his rule had to bear the burden of the king’s greed. One day, while walking through a street, the king demanded food from a lowly vendor. The vendor agreed, but asked for some kind of compensation, for he had no money to support his family."

"Outraged at the very thought of a lower pony asking him to give them money, the king ordered the execution of this lowly pony. As it turned out, this pony had been a magical spirit, almost like a genie of some kind. And when the king went through with this, the spirit inflicted a terrible curse."

"Uh oh," Scootaround interjected. Daring continued with the story.

"He had three months left to live, and he was made aware of it. All of his accumulated wealth that he took from others would become deadly to anypony because of the curse. If he changed his course of life and became generous, he could live. But he didn’t. He spent the remaining time ordering the construction of a great tomb, and filled it with his worldly possessions. Worried that it would become lost, he used his connections to arrange for a series of clues leading to his tomb to be left, and even crafted the pendant."

"This pendant?" asked Scootaround.

"Exactly, or so the story goes. When he died and was put into the tomb, not a word was spoken. As soon as his sarcophagus was in place, a terrible sandstorm enveloped his empire. Ponies fled to escape, and many did, but his palace, temple, and most importantly his treasure-filled tomb were completely buried by the sand, negating all of the work he had put into making the location known. The tomb has been lost for millennia, and many scholars question its existence, believing the story to just be a fabricated fable to warn of the dangers of greed."

The story sank in for a few moments as Scootaround tried to make sense of it all. She looked up at Daring and blinked a couple of times.

"So this guy was so greedy that a genie or something cursed all his stuff, and then he just tried to hide it all away for himself? Sounds like he's a big meanie."

"Well," Daring said, "To the story's credit, there actually is some evidence that there really was such an empire. It used to exist in what is now Saddle Arabia, but nopony knows what happened to the civilization."

"Sounds like they got buried in sand," Scootaround remarked simply. Daring frowned. She didn't think that all fables should be taken at face value, but here was an artifact before her very eyes that was supposedly an integral part of one. She felt inclined to dismiss the whole matter as stuff out of a bedtime story, but the way that the pendant had made her feel terrified in the night (and her urge to find where it belongs and return it) compelled her to dig a little deeper. Suppose that there really was a Lost Tomb of some kind?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a very angry sounding Dusty Shelves bursting into the room. His usually pale complexion was now tinted a deep red, and he seemed furious.

"A Disgrace to Archaeology everywhere! They'll ruin the name of all good archaeologists, mark my words!" he ranted. Daring gave him a quick glance over the top of the book. Dusty was clutching something in his hoof, and he had the appearance of somepony who needed to rant.

"Alright Dusty, what's got your goat this time?" Daring asked.

"Well, I just received a telegram from a friend of mine," he started, "There's a group of self-proclaimed 'archaeologists' that are going around places and looting artifacts. Then they go an sell them on the market for a profit. It's a total disgrace to the entire field I tell you!"

"That's horrible!" Daring muttered, looking almost as distraught as her colleague.

"Sorry for that little intrusion," Dusty said, taking a deep breath, "I guess I just got a little worked up. It's just.... I don't see how they can call themselves archaeologist when they're not much more than glorified grave robbers. Anyways, rant over. What have you got going on here?"

"Well," started Daring, glancing over at the stack of books that were dragged out, "I came across this pendant, it was given to me by a friend of mine in Gryphony. If I'm not mistaken, it's the pendant from the Greedy King tale. The old Arabian Empire of legend."

"What?" Dusty remarked, in semi-disbelief, "That's just a bedtime story. An old tale told to foals to teach them not to be greedy. Well actually..."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"The Black Forest ruins? On the edge of the badlands?"

"It's just speculation, nopony's actually been there to scope it out. We just know that the ruins exist,"

"What are you two talking about?" Scootaround finally interrupted, looking incredibly confused. Her head had been bobbing back and forth between the two and she looked completely lost.

"There's a possible lead on one of the four locations from the legend. Of course, it's probably just speculation, but..."

"You know Daring," Dusty remarked, "I believe that you have the first half of the next week free from classes at the University."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. Plus, the ruins in question have been on the list of possible sites to send a team to. Of course, we'd need a preliminary scouting of it."

"Are you saying you want me to go down there and check it out?" Daring asked. She and Scootaround exchanged glances.

"Why not? If on the off-chance the legend is something a little more than a bedtime story... just think of it! What a tremendous discovery!" Dusty exclaimed. He paused for a moment, his mood turning somber.

"There is one thing though," he said, "The ruins are only a few miles away from a failed town on the edge of the badlands. I'd suggest not going there."

Daring raised an eyebrow. Shrugging, she replied to Dusty's earlier challenge.

"I'm up to it. Even if it's not from the legend, it's still a piece of the history of this area, and it's worth documenting," Daring said, placing her hoof down on the table.

"That's the spirit!" Dusty remarked, smiling.

Chapter 3: The Black Forest

The train station at furthest south outpost on the border of Haysead Swamp was oddly deserted. The train stopped, and it was just Daring and Scootaround who exited, with a backpack of gear for each of them. No other ponies were on the platform, nor did any more disembark. The train left, leaving the two on the platform, alone.

"There's probably some ponies in the town," Daring said. She was dressed in her full adventure gear by now, though her shirt was crisp and clean and her pith helmet was relatively unscathed. She wore a greenish backpack on her back, while Scootaround wore one on hers that was much smaller. The pack contained supplies for the day such as emergency medicine, food, plus canvas parts in case they needed to construct shelter.

"Are we going into the town itself, Dr. Do?" asked Scootaround, lifting her cap's brim up slightly. It wasn't a particularly warm day out to begin with, and the sun was partially obscured behind rolling clouds.

"No, we've got to get going if we want to make it to the ruins and back before sunset," Daring replied. Scootaround looked confused, and raised an eyebrow.

"Sunset? It's only 9 am!"

"It'll take us most of the morning to get there," Daring replied, explaining it for the filly, "We'll break for lunch, and then study for a couple of hours. After that we can head on back here to the outpost and stay a night."

****

The cracked earth of the badlands contrasted greatly with the forest on the other side. Daring and Scootaround walked along a ridge that divided the two, and were at the highest elevation in the area. They talked and joked with each other as they traveled, occasionally taking a break to rest themselves and drink water, but within five minutes they were moving again.

There came a point after much traveling that the trees of the forest around Haysead Swamp grew much thicker. The swampy area was now past them, and they were almost at the southernmost part of North Equestria. Ahead the black forest stretched around , and the badlands extended to the west in a deep basin. The ridge they stood on had grown much higher compared to the forest floor on one side or the dry, dusty basin on the other. The ridge grew bumpier, and ahead they could see that it swooped up to form the craggy peaks of mountains.

"This should be the general location of the ruins," Daring said. She glanced around, and to her surprise there were buildings down in the dusty basin. They didn't appear very old, but they had a look about them that made her feel uneasy.

"Those the ruins we're after?" Scootaround asked, peering down the ridge. Daring tapped a hoof to her chin.

"Something's not right," she thought out loud, "Those buildings don't match the architecture of the period the ruins are from. They look like the kind of buildings that ponies used to live in when I was a filly, and maybe even my dad."

"So they're not the ruins?"

"Well, we'd better go and check them out anyways," Daring said. She tightened her pith helmet down around her head, and placed a hoof over the edge of the ridge. Scootaround grimaced, her legs looking wobbly beneath her. Obviously the filly was being intimidated by the steepness of the drop between their spot on the ridge and the bottom of the basin below.

"Look kid, it's alright," Daring said reassuringly. She even tapped the ground with her hoof to show the filly that it was strong and that it wasn't going to crumble away.

"We'll zig-zag down, okay?" she told the filly, pointing with one of her front hooves in a Z formation, "Nice and easy."

Scootaround seemed a little reassured by this, and slowly followed the adventurous mare. The little orange filly placed her hooves exactly where Daring had stepped moments before, and didn't bring her gaze up from where she was walking once.

****

This place gives me the spooks, Daring thought to herself. Indeed it was like something out of a creepy movie, only real. The grayish sky cast a dead light on a dead town, but for some reason Daring Do felt that she and Scootaround were not alone among the ruins.

It was similar to contemporary towns in its layout and architecture. Had it not been completely deserted and decaying in some parts, it could have passed for any other small town in Equestria.

"Where is everypony?" Scootaround wondered. Daring felt she knew the answer to the question, but there were two possibilities.

"Either they left the town here and ran off, or they died," Daring said grimly. She turned to look at the wide-eyed filly meaningfully.

"Kid, there's something very wrong here. Something very, very wrong. At the first sign of anything, let me know,"

"Okay," Scootaround said quietly. She gulped and fastened her cap more tightly around her head.

"Another thing," Daring began, "If you see anything suspicious, don't touch it."

"Why do you say that, Dr. Do?"

"Well," Daring explained, "I just have this feeling. We don't know all there is to know about illnesses and disease. I never read up on the old outpost like I should have, so I don't know what hit this area. Just... be careful, ok?"

They reached the road that ran through the center of the town. It didn't look any better up close. The plants and trees that had once grown around it were now hollow, rotted stumps that had long since withered and dried up in the badlands’ inhospitable climate.

The buildings were made of wood, and in some places the shingles of the roofs were coming off. Thatched roofs had caved in in some places, and the sides of the storefronts and houses were pitted and scarred. Boards were missing in some places, and what glass windows there were were broken. The doors swung ajar, some off their hinges completely.

Daring made a motion for Scootaround to stay while she poked her head inside a building. The filly remained put, sitting on her flank and digging a hoof into the cracked soil.

Daring Do's sense of unease about this place was heightened to the point that she was dreading what may be inside the buildings. She approached the nearest one, which had been a shop of some kind, or possibly a saloon. The doors were completely missing, and so she was able to walk right on in without having to open anything.

The light was much dimmer inside due to the overcast skies, but what the sky was able to illuminate was enough to creep the archaeologist pony out. Skeletons littered the floor of the building, picked clean to the bone. None were in the same position they had died in, and all were equine bones. Some were broken up, while some were more or less complete.

Mounds of dirt could be seen lying around on the floor of the saloon, and in them were pieces of white egg shells that had been there for several years by now, untouched. There were no other eggs, nor any evidence of what had come out of them.

Apparently the inside of this building was made into some kind of nest, Daring thought. She wondered if it was some kind of buzzard or vulture that had made the nests, but that didn't make sense. They didn't nest in dirt mounds, did they?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of jarring piano chords right next to her. Daring jumped in fright, but by the time she landed she saw that it was simply a rat scurrying across the keys. She shooed the animal away, and looked back at the scattered skeletons. The presence of equine remains usually didn't phase her like this, but then again she was used to dealing with long gone societies. In this case the bones were more recent, possibly from within the late 19th or even the early 20th century. They had to be at least a couple decades old, but it was still very recent.

"Dr. Do, I saw something up on the ridge!" came Scootaround's voice from near the entrance to the saloon. Daring quickly trotted over to the threshold and held up a hoof.

"Don't come in here," she warned. She herself exited the building a moment later, shaking her head to try to rid herself of the images of the broken skeletons lying about the room.

"What'd you see?" she asked, looking up to the ridge where Scootaround had claimed to have seen something.

"It was a truck and a cart of some kind," Scootaround said, "The cart was being pulled by some big burly stallion, but the truck was moving by its own. Can they do that?"

"Internal combustion engine," Daring noted, "They're fairly new, and extremely rare in Equestria. I don't think I've seen anypony in Equestria with an internal combustion machine before. I've seen a couple outside of the country, though."

"So they don't need somepony to pull it?" Scootaround asked, eyes widening.

"Did it say anything on the side of it?" asked Daring, "On the cart or on the truck?"

Scootaround thought for a moment, and then replied.

"The truck was unmarked. The cart that that stallion was pulling was marked with big black letters that spelled CAP."

Daring thought about this for a moment. She hadn't heard of any kind of organization with those initials, nor did she know of any major companies. Whoever it was must have been wealthy to have been able to afford a vehicle that propelled itself, unless they were part of some kind of military. Daring had seen a number of military vehicles that ran themselves, such as tanks and submarines. Of course boats had to run themselves unless they were sailing ships that harnessed the power of the wind.

"Where were they going?" Daring asked.

"They actually went down the other side of the ridge, into the forest." Scootaround answered. She heard a noise off in the direction of one of the other buildings in the abandoned town that made her jump. Daring heard it too. It was like a purring sound, but louder and more audible. There was a hint of a small hiss at the end of it.

Daring felt very uneasy about the town. The dead bodies, the nest, and the inescapable feeling of being watched made her want to leave immediately. On top of that, it wasn't the right set of ruins. They had come to look for ruins from an ancient culture, not a ghost town that had been killed off by a weird disease or some kind of horrific infestation of who-knew-what. Those egg shells were bad news.

"Alright, let's exit through the other side of town, the one we didn't come in through," Daring decided, "Then we'll hike up the side of the ridge, on the other side of that peak that's between where we were and where we're heading. If I'm not mistaken we'll have better luck finding the ruins we're after."

"What if we run into those other ponies?" Scootaround wondered, biting her lower lip.

"Well, I'm sure they have a reason for being out this far too. Who knows, maybe they know something we don't. If we run into them then we can just explain what we're doing here. I'm sure they'd understand."

****

Up and over the ridge they traveled, beyond the first craggy mountain peak and down into the dark forest below. The mosquitoes buzzed in the thick woods, and Daring swatted at the annoying insects.

The forest was dark and deep. It had earned its name as the Black Forest. It was one of the least explored places in Equestria, and while not tropical it was quite overgrown. Daring wished she had brought a machete of some kind to slice through the brambles and the brush that slowed her advance. Scootaround was having an even harder time climbing through the overgrown flora. It was the filly who broke the silence as the two of them ventured further into the jungle-like forest.

"I think this is some kind of building," Scootaround said, tugging at the back of Daring's shirt and pointing at something that resembled a thick, craggy tree. Daring turned to peer at what the filly was pointing to. She squinted at it for a moment before its edges became more clearly defined.

It was one wall of a structure that had long since collapsed. The stones used to construct it were now covered in leafy vines and plant growth that almost completely obscured them and gave the wall remnants the appearance of a haphazard tree.

"Good call kid," Daring remarked. She took a few steps towards the structure before looking around the area. She looked at it differently this time. She carefully observed each and every bush, every small rise in the forest floor where it appeared that there was a mound of dirt.

The archaeologist reached into her bag and produced a sketch of what appeared to be a primitive village. Hippologists had long theorized that a group of ponies had left from the Arabian Peninsula to the east and landed in this area centuries before the existence of Equestria. These ruins had been discovered earlier in the decade by an aerial photographer who noticed the top of a stone building. Sketches of the Arabian colony had been drawn, but nopony had ventured as close as Daring and Scootaround now were.

As a professor of Equine history, Daring had a lot of questions about this place. Was it really from Arabian travelers and not from a group of South Equestrian ponies that came north? Was it a small part of an even more complex civilization that developed from the colonists? What had happened to the colonists? Had they died out or had they moved on to blend in with the ponies that had come from the north to form Equestria? She also had a nagging question about the legend and the pendant's origin that she hoped to find some more clues about. On the off chance that the legend had a grain of truth, this place could well have been one of the four locations.

"One of green leaf, one of snow, one in the rocky ground below, one in the desert outside the gates, that tells of the resting of the king's fates," Daring recited faintly. Scootaround raised an eyebrow.

"It's from the legend," she explained, "There's four places where clues to the tomb were hidden. One in the desert, one in the snowy mountains, one underground, and one in the woods on another continent. This is a different continent than Arabia, and its forested."

"Seems legitimate," Scootaround said. She stepped up on top of a large plant's root. She saw a couple of stone structures up ahead, but what with the thick growth of the forest she couldn't see very well. She had to get higher.

Digging her little hooves into the bark of a nearby tree, Scootaround shimmied her way up and pushed off the trunk and onto the stalk of a much thicker plant. It was somewhat easier to climb, and at the top was a set of thick leaves that looked as if they could support her weight. She was about five feet off the ground, and once she had reached the top of the big plant she was a full six and a half feet up.

"Scootaround, check out this map," Daring said, holding the map out next to her. She paused for a moment, not understanding why Scootaround wasn't in the same place. She hadn't seen the filly climbing up the plant's stalk.

"Where'd you go?" Daring called, looking around in confusion.

"I'm up here," Scootaround called back. Daring peered up at the filly for a moment, and her face paled.

"Get down from there this instant! Don't you know what kind of plant that is? Quick, jump off!"

"Aww Dr. Do, I'm only trying to get a better look at-"

CHOMP

The broad leaves closed on the filly suddenly, and the huge carnivorous plant closed its jaws around her. Her muffled screams could be heard from the inside as she hit against the thick fibrous walls of the inside of the plant's head.

Daring's heart skipped a beat. Scootaround had just been eaten by a gigantic Bird-eating Trap-Jaw plant. The filly's shrill screams could barely be heard through the thick jaws.

"Hold on a second!" Daring yelled, unsure if she'd be able to hear her. She frantically began looking about for something sharp. Once again she wished that she had brought a machete. She had a cooking knife in her mess kit, but there was no time to dig that out. Left without a sharp edge, Daring had to resort to blunt force.

The pegasus took off and hovered a few feet off the ground, around the plant's midsection. She was breathing fast, knowing that she had only a few seconds to help the trapped filly. She turned around, reared back her legs, and kicked. The plant was shaken by it, but little had been done to break the stalk.

Frustrated, Daring kicked again. There was an indent in the stalk but nothing major. She growled and kicked back again, and again, and again. She put all of the force she could physically muster into a large backwards thrust, her legs smashing into the carnivorous plant's stalk. This time it struck home, bending the plant backwards and snapping it.

The head of the plant was thrown down to the forest floor and landed with a big thump. Being disconnected from its body, the jaws no longer had the force to remain closed. The struggling filly pressed against the side of one of the jaws, using the forest floor as something to push against with her back hooves. Daring rushed down to the severed head of the plant and pulled on the same jaw that Scootaround was pushing against, prying it open.

With a sudden pop the jaws sprung open, and Scootaround flopped out. She was covered in greenish gunk and her mane was all sticky and wet. On top of that she smelled quite flowery and fragrant.

"Eew, what is this stuff?" Scootaround exclaimed, trying to get the sticky greenish slime off from her mane.

"That's the stuff the plant uses to lure in its prey," Daring explained. She gave Scootaround a stern look.

"Usually they eat birds. The scent attracts butterflies and bugs that the birds eat, and so when the birds swoop in to grab the bugs they get caught in the sticky stuff. You on the other hand..."

"Yeah yeah, I know," Scootaround mumbled, but Daring clapped a hoof to her mouth.

"Now you listen," she said angrily, "You could have died right then and there, you know that? You could show a little respect for the fact that I intervened. Now I want you to promise me not to touch anything or climb on anything that you don't understand. Do you understand?"

Daring released her hoof from the filly's mouth. Scootaround's eyes started tearing up and she sniffed. Daring tried hard to keep a stern look on her face as she looked down at the filly, but something made her expression lighten. She crouched herself down onto the ground so that she was the same height as the smaller pony.

Crying, Scootaround threw her hooves around Daring and buried her face in her jacket. Daring could see her back heaving up and down and hear her rapid breaths, and so she tried to soothe the worked up filly by patting her back with her free hoof.

"There there, It's alright," she said calmly, "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. It's just... you gave me a terrible fright there. Just please... please try to be more careful. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Scoot."

"No, I-I'm sorry," sobbed Scootaround, "I almost got killed by that... that thing. I should've used my head."

"Hey," Daring said, lifting the filly's chin up, "It's okay. Let's wipe that gunk off and keep going. Are you going to be okay?"

"I think so," answered Scootaround, wiping her eyes off.

"Good," Daring replied. She stood up, looking back on the ground for the piece of paper that had fallen down when she had taken off.

"According to this, the main sections of the village were wooden. That's probably why there are these mounds of dirt scattered around- that's all that's left."

"So what about the stone stuff?"

"Well," answered Daring, "That's to the east a little from here. C'mon, let's go check it out."

****

The dirt mounds grew in size and shape, and scattered stone remnants cropped up between trees and clumps of shrubs. They were usually in very poor condition and barely resembled walls or foundations at all.

Scootaround's eyes darted around the forest. She kept thinking that she saw glimpses of movement, but whenever her eyes snapped to their target there was nothing there. She sighed and itched at her shoulder. Her mane was still sticky and the gunk was now irritating her skin beneath her coat. It itched something terrible, but as much as she scratched with her hooves she couldn't rid herself of the annoying sensation. Daring must have noticed.

"If you keep scratching you'll just spread it around more," Daring told the filly, "Wait until we come across some water and try rinsing it off there."

"But it itches!"

"You hear that?" said Daring, and the two ponies paused. The sounds of the forest could be heard around them from every direction. Scootaround raised her ears, trying to listen for specific sounds and pick them out. She could hear the chirping of birds far above their head, leaves rustling in the light breeze, a creek gurgling as it meandered through the forest, and bugs humming in the....

A creek. She heard a creek.

"I hear water," she replied. Daring nodded.

"Let's get that stuff cleaned off before anything else if it's bothering you that much," Daring decided. The two ponies turned left and went a bit deeper into the woods in the direction of the sound of flowing water.

The two reached the bubbling creek in a matter of minutes. Scootaround was the first to reach the water’s edge, and quickly climbed down the rocky bed until she could wade into the flow. Standing up to her belly in a shallow pool, she tossed her hat up on the bank and dunked her head. After rubbing her mane a few times and rinsing with the water the gunk started to come off. She worked the stuff out of her coat as well, though the flowery smell remained.

“This stuff is worse than tree sap,” she complained after encountering a particularly stubborn patch.

“Make sure you scrub behind your ears,” Daring joked, and received a splash of water in return. She laughed, and then took a moment to take in the immediate surroundings.

On the opposite shore of the creek was a small area where the tree coverage thinned out ever so slightly. A number of stone buildings lay scattered about in various stages of disrepair. Two of them were still mostly intact, and were rather sizeable. Daring held her sketch up and compared the locations of it all: the mounds they had passed, the stone buildings, the creek. According to the sketch based off the aerial photographs taken years ago they were close to the large stone building. In fact, the larger of the two intact buildings looked a lot like the one in the photograph. It had a flat top and sides that sloped ever so slightly down to the base. The stone was rough and jagged from weathering, but it was still standing.

Once the filly had cleaned herself off completely, both ponies crossed the stream and went towards the stone buildings. What remained of the stone buildings was largely overgrown with tangled vines and a few smaller specimens of the same plant that had tried to grab Scootaround as its meal. The filly purposely kept her distance from these plants despite their relatively diminutive size.

Daring began the long task of doing a full evaluation of the area. She had a journal with her that she had now taken out to jot notes on as she observed each section. Scootaround tried to follow what she was doing, but some of it seemed rather boring. At one point it looked like Daring was doing little more than counting stones in the wreck of a wall. Where was the point in that?

Slightly bored with watching Daring work on the evaluation of the ruins, Scootaround poked around herself. Daring had warned her not to touch anything, and she didn’t intend to. The filly skipped around a bit in the dirt, humming a song to herself. She didn’t know the lyrics well, but it was one that Dr. Do played in her office quite a bit. Perhaps it was just one of the few records she had multiple copies of and could bring and play in her office as well as at home, but she seemed to really like the song. Of course the tune kept getting stuck in the filly’s head.

At hearing the familiar tune being hummed by Scootaround as she hopped about, Daring smiled. It was Anything Goes by Colt Porter. She remembered having met the composer himself when he had performed in Fillydelphia back in ‘34. That one one of the early shows, and she remembered it well. The song itself was one of her favorites. She paused in her work, while waiting for Scootaround to finish a verse. Without missing a beat, Daring began singing for the next verse.

“Good authors too who once knew better words,

Now only use four letter words

Writing prose,

Anything Goes.

The world has gone mad today

And good's bad today,

And black's white today,

And day's night today,

When most guys today

That mares prize today

Are just studs, didn’t you know?

And though I'm not a great romancer

I know that I'm bound to answer

When you propose,

Anything goes.”

Scootaround stopped humming and Daring also stopped singing after that part, and both giggled for a second.

“What’s that song about, Dr. Do?” asked Scootaround. Daring thought for a second, picking up her journal in one hoof.

“Well, it’s mostly about the world today. It’s saying that in the olden days things were more uptight and restrictive, but nowadays ponies feel a bit more free and they act in a way that would be outrageous by older standards,” Daring explained.

“Like how The Princess made that stuff in wine and stuff against the law for a few years and then decided to make it alright to have it?”

“No, that’s something completely different,” Daring said, “It’s talking more about courtship, like mares and stallions. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

“Phooey,” Scootaround interjected, “Mushy gushy lovey dovey stuff. Yuck.”

Daring laughed for a moment, recalling a memory from the last time the filly had said something like that.

“Remember when you and I went to see that movie about the big huge gorilla that a group of explorers brought back from the island?”

“Yeah,” Scootaround answered, “What about it?”

“Remember when the main mare and the main stallion kissed and you yelled something in the movie theater?”

“Oh, right,” Scootaround remembered. She blushed at the thought of it. She had made a bit of a foal of herself then, and everypony had turned in their seats to look at her.

Daring rubbed Scootaround’s hat into her mane playfully. She then picked her pencil back up in her mouth and continued to write notes down in her journal.

Bored with nothing to do once more, Scootaround began wandering off to explore the ruins. She tried flapping her wings a bit to test them out, but they weren’t good enough to achieve flight or lift her higher than a foot or so. It was still fun to try to fly even if it wasn’t getting her anywhere.

“Hey Scootaround,” called Daring, “Don’t wander off!”

“Sorry!” Scootaround called back, trotting back to where Daring could see her.

“Just.. lean up against that wall or something for a second. I’m almost ready to come check stuff out with you, just hold your- just hold on.”

Scootaround shrugged, and backed up against the stone wall to a building that was still intact. The stone wasn’t very comfortable at all; it was jagged and rough. The filly squirmed a bit while trying to find a way to lean against the wall comfortably when something happened.

A stone block that had been loose was pushed back into place by her weight. As soon as it had slid into place, something happened inside the building. There was a slight rumbling, and some stones fell from a nearby wall and smashed onto the ground. One side of the back of the same building fell away, revealing steps leading down a level. Scootaround gasped. She had found an entrance to a hidden chamber!

“What’d you do?” Daring snapped, “I told you to lean up against a wall, and stuff starts falling over? You’ve got to be careful with-”

“I did just what you said!” Scootaround insisted, “Look over here! This rock moved into the wall, and stuff fell away. There’s a room or something that wasn’t there before!”

Daring paused for a moment. She placed her journal down and looked around the corner of the stone building where Scootaround said something had happened. Sure enough, there were stone steps leading down a level.

“Wow, nice find kid,” Daring remarked. She took a few steps back to scoop her journal up and then walked back towards the new chamber, taking a step inside.

“You going to check it out?”

“Yeah, why not?” reasoned Daring, “This may be something important. Here, hold this for me.”

She passed Scootaround her journal so that she could dig something out of her bag. The two ponies trotted into the chamber that had been revealed until they were completely inside the stone building. The lighting was a little dimmer, and the floors of the chamber were dusty and untrodden. The walls were damp and contained grooves in odd places. There was an indent in the center of the floor that Daring accidentally stepped on with her hoof. As soon as she did so a large stone fell into place over the opening with a loud crash and the two ponies were thrust into total darkness.

Chapter 4: Meeting CAP

They sat in darkness for a number of minutes. Scootaround began hyperventilating, and it took a bit of reassurance from Daring Do to calm her down enough. Though they couldn't see anything at all in the dark chamber, Daring felt around until she could discern the sides of the nearest wall. It was rather solid, but in places a few of the rocks were looser than the others.

Pressing against the looser rocks, Daring was able to create small holes in the wall to allow a bit of light in and to allow oxygen to flow more freely. She could not, however, create a space large enough for either pony to get out through.

"Alright, so we can breathe and see..." Scootaround mumbled, "But how are we going to get out?"

"I'm working on it," Daring replied exasperatedly. The gears in her head were turning as quickly as possible to find a solution, but she had few options.

The obvious choice would have been to search for a release of some sort, but a quick glance around the dimly lit room revealed no such lever. In fact there wasn't anything of interest at all. The entire chamber seemed devoid of any features save for one wall on the interior that had a depression in it. The depression was small and had odd grooves on the side of it. Daring raised a hoof to press against it, but little happened.

"That groove serves some kind of purpose," reasoned Daring, "I doubt they'd have a chamber devoted to simply trapping ponies inside. I bet it's to discourage anypony from going into whatever's past this wall with the groove."

"You think there's more?"

"Yes," Daring said. She felt as if a lightbulb had just gone off inside her head, for she had a sudden idea. She reached inside her shirt and pulled out the pendant. Even as she acknowledged the presence of the thing she felt the uncomfortable nagging start up again in the back of her head. It pulled at her subconscious, begging to be returned.

"Hey, have you been wearing that thing this whole time?" asked Scootaround.

"Yeah, check this out," Daring replied. She slid the pendant into the groove in the wall. As it slid in, it was clear to see that the protrusions around the edge of the circle of the pendant matched up with the grooves on the outside of the depression.

"Eureka!" exclaimed Daring. The pendant fit the space perfectly! Now all she had to do was give it a turn and....

The wall slid aside slowly, grating across the stone floor beneath them. Another chamber was revealed inside the building, but it was down another level and the light from the few holes in the wall that had been made did not penetrate the darkness of it. Fortunately there was a wooden shape resting on one of the steps leading down that gave off an odd odor at one tip.

Daring reached for the torch and placed it on the floor in front of her. She had the tools needed to light it aflame; a chunk of flint and a piece of high-carbon steel. Holding one in each of her front hooves, Daring set to work. The steel struck the flint in the other hoof, sending off a few stray sparks here and there. Daring repeated the motion one, two, three times before one of the sparks caught on the fuel-soaked tip of the torch. It spread to envelop the entire top of the stick, spreading a flickering glow throughout the entire chamber.

Ducking down into this new area, Daring and Scootaround found it to be a little more populated with various objects than the previous one. A primitive lever mechanism sat in one corner, and was presumably used to release the large stone blocking the exit. On the opposite wall was an old engraving of a world map, which had some major inaccuracies due to an incomplete knowledge of the western hemisphere. The other half of the world seemed to be more or less correct, and there was a certain spot in what was now the eastern part of the Great Hoofiet Union that had a circle etched into it.

"The other side of the world is right, but there are big mistakes in this side," Daring murmured. That was more evidence that whoever had made this settlement had come from another continent.

"There's something written over here," Scootaround noticed, tapping on the side of the engraving. Daring turned it over to look at what Scootaround had noticed, squinting. She recognized the language, but she wasn't well acquainted with it. She couldn't read what it said either.

"Can you read it?" asked the filly. Daring shook her head. She did, however, have an idea. Reaching into her bag, Daring produced a piece of thin paper and a wax crayon. She placed the paper over the writing and began to rub the crayon over the surface of it. As she did so the paper began turning brownish red with the crayon's wax, but it also had white lines on it where the wax skipped over the writing on the stone block. What resulted was a piece of paper that had a copy of the unknown text on its surface.

"I'll take this back and show it to somepony who can translate it," Daring explained. There was still a half sheet of the paper that didn't have any crayon on it. She turned the stone block back to where the map was engraved on it, and began rubbing the crayon on the paper while holding it over the section of the world that had a circle drawn on it.

"I have a feeling you see," Daring said, "That the text and the map are related. Wherever that circle is in real life probably hold something of interest, and the words have some kind of meaning as to a specific location."

"So it's a clue?" Scootaround asked, raising her eyebrows. Daring nodded, and the filly looked slightly disappointed.

"What were you expecting?"

"I thought there was gonna be a bunch of treasure or something," Scootaround replied, sighing.

"That's what you always find in these kind of places, right?"

"Well this is just one leg of the trip," Daring stated, "There's four of them according to legend. I bet that the other places have other clues and what was that?"

"I don't know, you said that the clues were-"

"No, what was that?" Daring insisted, motioning for Scootaround to be quiet. Both ponies listened for a moment. She heard it too.

There was an engine running, and the sound was coming closer.

****

"So what're we after here, B?" came a voice, followed by the slam of a metal door. Daring had extinguished the torch and motioned for Scootaround to keep quiet and still so that she could listen and peer through the loose stones in the upper chamber.

"These ruins haven't been explored at all yet," replied another voice, and Daring saw a stallion come into view. He was a little portly to say the least, and boasted an impressive gray beard to go with his dull yellow coat. He wore a bowler cap over his head that was beaten and scuffed. Daring saw that the truck had letters on the side of it- CAP.

"I know that, but what kind of loot do you think we'll get?" spoke the second voice. Daring thought it sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place the speaker. It belonged to a mare, whoever it was. The term 'loot' made her feel uncomfortable. Were these ponies here to pillage the place?

"I don't know, and I don't really care. We're in the hole about 200 bits and we need some kind of major haul to sell off to get it," said the bearded pony, "I don't care if it's paintings, carvings, gold, silver, little spears made by some important thing years ago, whatever. If it's old and if it'll sell on the market, grab it."

So they were thieves! That made Daring furious. She remembered Dusty's rant about some group that had taken to raiding various sites and selling what they could find. What a way to treat valuable pieces of history! Why, if she could get her hooves on them...

"Look," said the mare. Daring saw for a brief moment a grayish flank and a blonde tail as the other pony walked past the wall she was looking out from.

"There's hoof prints in this soil," the voice noted, "Somepony's been here. It leads up to this spot in the wall..."

There was a few seconds of pause, and then something slid into place. All around the inside of the chamber Daring heard things moving and fall into place. The slab that had descended to block the entrance to the chamber was moved aside, and sunlight poured into the chamber.

Oh no, Daring thought, This is bad.

"Hey, something opened up!" called the mare.

"Scootaround," Daring whispered, "When I say run, we run. Right for the bushes. Find a place to hide."

There were hoofsteps outside the wall, and the two ponies murmured for a second. The noises then moved around until they were at the back of the building, face to face with Daring Do and Scootaround. The four stared blankly at each other for a second until Daring suddenly recognized the mare and broke the awkward silence.

"You!" she exclaimed. The mare glared back at Daring. Enraged, the archaeologist pony threw herself at the mare, striking her with her hooves. The mare reeled back from the impact, but grabbed onto the nearest thing she could find with the end of her hoof- the pendant. The chain snapped from around daring's neck and the item fell onto the ground, along with the pony who had been wearing it.

Elise threw herself onto Daring, smashing into her back with a sudden ferocity. The stallion didn't quite know what to do, and just stood by. Scootaround leaped behind the back of Elise and began hitting her with her little hooves. At this point the stallion took action and kicked the little filly, sending her sprawling into the ground.

"You bastard!" Daring choked from underneath the mare. She threw Elsie off from her and lunged at the bearded stallion, but he dodged the blow and struck Daring with his back hooves.

Daring gasped as the hooves struck her right wing and she heard a sickening snap. Then the pain came. Shots of searing pain dug into her back as the broken bones were shifted around. The pony cried out, gritting her teeth.

"Run!"

With sudden vigor both she and Scootaround took off running.Every step Daring took sent shocks through her body, but she pressed on. The other two ponies stood by for a moment, unsure whether to pursue them or not. Elsie took off after around the side of the building with an angry look on her face, but they were gone.

"What in the name of good grace was that?!" demanded the stallion, looking incredulously at Elise. The blonde pony shook her now messy mane out of her face. A bit of eyeliner had started to run down the side of her face, and her lip was bleeding.

"That," she started, "That, Broken Bank, was Daring Do."

****

Daring kept a low profile behind the bush. It was large and thick enough to hide her from sight of the ponies that were still wandering about the ruins. With a stab of pain she felt her right wing flop down to her side uselessly. Something would have to be done about that.

Apparently Scootaround had the same idea, for she had scooped up Daring's bag that had been dropped on the ground in their haste. The filly produced a compact container that had a crude red cross painted onto the side of it- Daring's first aid kit. She passed it over, and Daring popped the container open. Inside were woven bandages, alcohol pads, and gauze strips on a roll. This kind of thing had happened to her before, repeatedly in fact. It was a wonder that her wing was able to heal after having been broken time and time again. She winced as she began wrapping the appendage, trying to keep it held in place so it wouldn't move around and get worse. She could hear the other ponies talking as she did so.

"Who's Daring Do?" asked the male voice, belonging to the pony Elise had called Broken Bank.

"She's one of those academic-oriented mares who focus on stuff from a knowledge base. Professor at the University of Canterlot and a department head at the museum in that city, too."

"Dr. Do," Scootaround whispered, interrupting Daring's eavesdropping session. The pony held a hoof to her mouth, making a small shushing noise. She was tryingg to listen to what the others were saying.

"So she's probably against the Coalition for Archaeological Procurement?" asked Broken Bank.

"Oh I'd imagine so," Elsie responded, "Though that's not why she charged me like that."

Daring furrowed her brow, knowing the inevitable question was going to be asked. She continued to wrap her wing up, holding the end of the strip in her teeth.

"Oh? Do explain."

"Well, a couple of years ago I was working on a dig with her. She thought I was going to steal something and got really mad at me. She's a little crazy. It blew up to the point where she had to be asked to leave. I don't think she's buried the hatchet yet."

Daring spat the end of the gauze out of her mouth, looking furious.

"That's a lie!" she mouthed, looking very upset.

In truth, what had really happened was a much different story. They had been on a team together, that much was true. However, a group of armed Gryphons had interrupted the expedition in South Equestria, and Daring had been separated from the group. She ran and hid from the Gryphons, and ended up in a set of ruins that was what they had been after in the first place. At one point she had met up with Elise, who assured her that there was an escape plan. Daring had trusted her, and wound up walking right into a trap. She had almost died, and she would have had she not realized what was going on with seconds to spare. Elise had been a double agent working for the Gryphons and had tried to kill her.That was the real reason why she had charged at Elise.

"Look what we've got here," Broken Bank declared. Daring's heart sank as she realized that she had forgotten to scoop up the pendant.

"What is it?"

"Whatever it is, It's made of gold, it's ornate, and it's got an emerald gemstone in the center. I reckon we can sell it on the market for a hefty price."

There were a few minutes of silence that followed. Daring heard hoofsteps as the ponies explored the ruins around them, and intermittent shutter clicks.

She had finished wrapping up her wing, and had gotten to work tending to the various cuts and scrapes on both herself and Scootaround. Scootaround was relatively unhurt except for a minor cut and a few bruises, but Daring had received a bad blow to her back right leg near the fetlock and hoof. Her skin had been opened and a steady ooze of blood trickled out from the wound. Though it stung, she had to sterilize it with what was available in the medical kit. The pony then began to wrap the remainder of the gauze strip that was leftover from wrapping her wing on the wound until it was completely covered.

"Scootaround," Daring whispered. The filly stuck her head up and crept over.

"Place your hoof on this part of the bandage and press down," she instructed. Scootaround looked concerned.

"Won't that hurt you, though?" she whispered, looking unsure.

"A little, but this needs pressure on it for a minute or two. Trust me on this."

"Alright, if you say so," Scootaround replied. She placed her hoof carefully over the spot on Daring's leg that she had been instructed to press down on and applied minimal force.

"A little harder," Daring instructed, "It needs pressure. That's how the bleeding is going to stop."

Scootaround pressed down a little harder and Daring twitched visibly. She took a sharp inhaling breath.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Daring replied through gritted teeth, forcing a smile. It twinged a bit, but it was necessary. The two ponies stood that way for several minutes, not speaking or whispering to each other. After about five minutes the CAP ponies began speaking again.

"Did you photograph everything?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good," Broken Bank said, "Did you find anything good?"

"Not really, though there was some kind of map and some writing in this one section. I photographed that, we can check it out later."

Daring groaned.

"No valuables?"

"None at all."

"Well shit," Broken Bank muttered. After a moment Daring heard two metal doors slam shut, and the engine roared to life. The sound of the sputtering vehicle grew fainter and fainter until it could no longer be heard.

It was then that Daring Do stood up all the way. Scootaround stretched as well, moving her neck from side to side to loosen her neck up. The pair of ponies walked back into the now-empty site of the ruins, where the two CAP ponies had been a few minutes before.

"Well, now what?" Scootaround asked, "Do we go back home?"

"No," replied Daring. She looked to the sky. The clouds had gone away a little bit by now, and the afternoon sun was out. By her estimation it was around five in the afternoon.

"So...."

"So we get that pendant back," Daring said, wincing with a sudden twinge of pain as her wing protested. The tire tracks had beaten a path through the woods through the dirt and the mud. Daring motioned for Scootaround to follow her, and the two began following the tire tracks.

****

Panting as she climbed over tree stumps and through bushes, Daring had finally made it to the perimeter of the camp. Scootaround followed not very far behind, hopping between tangled clumps of vine and downed tree branches. The pair of ponies had wandered off the makeshift road once they realized their proximity to the camp itself. They didn't want to run the risk of getting caught, after all.

The camp itself was made out of a series of canvas tents arranged in a circle around a campfire. There was an old stone wall next to one of the tents, perhaps the farthest outlying vestiges of the ruins. The truck was parked on the side, and it was just behind a group of carts that were a little heftier than the gas-powered vehicle. The reins on them suggested that they would be pulled by ponies. Currently one of the carts was being loaded up with various items of interest such as crates and packages.

"Alright, here's the plan," Daring said, beckoning for Scootaround to come closer.

"We'll hop over that wall, and ambush somepony. Drag him around to the other side of the tents and out of sight. Then we need to find out where in the camp the artifacts are being kept. That pendant is among the artifacts.

Scootaround nodded. She understood. Daring licked her lips, and approached the side of the stone wall that faced into the forest, away from the tents. There was a tree branch that hung down low close to the top of the wall about eight feet up. She could work with that.

Daring uncoiled something that had been at her side the entire time- a leather object resembling a rope. It had a small strap at one end of it that she could slide over her hoof, and tapered gradually to a thin tip over a length of 12 feet.

The whip.

Daring's whip was a hand-me down from her grandfather, who used to run a farm with a group of rather rowdy cattle. He had told stories of how the whip had a psychological effect on the bulls, and how sometimes all he would have to do was reach for his belt and they'd calm down. Most of the wear on it had come from Daring's use of the venerable farm tool. She had found that it was useful in a number of ways that most ponies usually wouldn't expect.

Such as getting up and over the top of this wall without use of her wings.

Daring made a sudden motion with her hoof that was strapped into the whip. The thin end soared skyward with a light cracking sound, and then proceeded to fall back to earth uselessly.

"Alright, let's try that again,"

The second time the crack was slightly louder. The end of the whip wrapped around the branch and held snugly. Daring gave a tentative tug on her end to see if it would hold. It held.

With a quick motion the pony ascended the wall vertically, her back hooves working against the side of it while her front hooves grasped the ends of the whip, hoisting herself up further. In no time she was up at the very top of the wall. Daring flipped the whip over onto the other side so that Scootaround could ascend as well.

The filly jumped up, trying to grab onto the thick end of the whip that Daring had left for her. She couldn't get a good grip with the bottom of her hooves very well. She jumped again, again, and again with no success. Finally she jumped and bit into the leather, holding on to the end of the whip with her teeth.

She probably looked real silly dangling from a tree branch by her teeth. That didn't matter, for a moment later she had slid her own hoof into the strap and was climbing up the side of the wall just like she had seen Daring ascend. Up and over the top she climbed, uncoiling the whip from the tree branch and jumping down into the side facing the camp.

She landed with a thump, and dusted herself off quickly. She couldn't see Daring at the moment but she found herself hidden behind one of the canvas tents. Deciding to wait, Scootaround coiled the whip up nice and neat for Dr. Do.

A moment later Daring reappeared, tumbling out of the back of the tent and landing with her back to the ground. A stallion with a small khaki hat covering his shock of orange hair was on top of her, and seemed intent on crushing her windpipe. Daring sputtered and tried to breathe, but the stallion pressed down to the point that she couldn't get a breath out at all.

A swift kick to the side of the face sent the stallion onto the ground himself, and this time it was Scootaround who stood on his chest, pinning him down.

Daring gasped for breath, rolling over and coughing into the soil. This sent up a cloud of dust around her face. The archaeologist recovered after a moment, taking deep breaths and regaining her orientation. She peered around and was surprised to see that Scootaround had immobilized the stallion and was standing literally on top of his chest. Daring brought her face up to see the pony and glared.

"Now that you're done struggling, perhaps you can answer some questions," Daring began with an interrogative voice.

"I'm not telling you anything!" the stallion shot back. Daring furrowed her eyebrows.

"Tell us what happened to that artifact Broken Bank brought in here. The pendant," demanded Daring sternly. Again the stallion shook his head, refusing to tell her. Daring bit her lower lip in frustration, and looked off to the side while shaking her head.

"Mister," Scootaround began, looking down into the face of the pinned pony, "You guys stole that from us, and we gotta get it back. Where'd you put it?"

"I'm not telling you two anyth-"

The stallion's words were cut off as Daring placed her hoof right over his trachea so that he couldn't speak. She had a very cross look on her face, and her eyes met the stallions as they bulged out.

"All I have to do is squeeze just a little harder," she said quietly, staring into the stallion's eyes.

"I'd suggest you answer the question."

She released from his throat and he gasped for breath for a moment, tears streaming from his bulging eyes.

"Alright, alright lady," he sputtered, "All the stuff's on a cart that's already left."

"It's already left?" asked Daring, eyes widening. If it was already gone then they were out of luck entirely. Unless...

****

"Dr. Do, normally I don't question your crazy ideas," muttered Scootaround, "but this is just ridiculous."

"Just follow my lead," Daring replied. The two ponies were crouched on the ground beneath the gas-powered truck, inches from the bottom of the vehicle and pressed right up against the dirt. Daring gave the signal to the filly, and simultaneously they both scooted out the sides and swung the doors open. With one smooth motion they righted themselves and entered the vehicle, slamming the doors shut.

"Hey, get away from that truck!" yelled a voice, and Scootaround saw several CAP ponies rushing at them from the other side of the camp.

"Here they come," she said. Daring grimaced from the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition. The vehicle's engine turned over and roared to life. Daring glanced at the various gears and levers inside the vehicle. There was one that had different letters on it: P, R, N, D, and L. There were two pedals beneath the seat and a wheel that she could steer with at torso height. Daring stepped on the pedal on the left, and nothing happened.

"Here they come!" Scootaround warned as the angry-looking ponies drew near. Daring pressed on the right pedal. She could hear the sound of the engine turning, but the vehicle didn't move. She pressed harder and harder and the sound got louder and louder, but still the vehicle remained put. Hooves clanged against the side of the vehicle and the driver's side door was thrown open. A stallion with the CAP logo on his hat stood in the opening, reaching in to throw Daring out. Daring turned and kicked him in the chin with her back hooves, sending the pony sprawling backwards while still holding the handle that opened the door. Scootaround yelled and slammed her hooves into the lever with the letters on it, moving it to "R". Immediately the vehicle sped up in reverse, springing the door wide open and dragging the CAP pony hanging onto it in the dirt. He still held on firmly however. Daring didn't ease up on the gas and the truck continued to accelerate backwards, crashing into one of the canvas tents. Daring took a moment to switch the lever to where it said "D", and them floored the pedal once more.

The truck took off at breakneck speed, and the door remained wide open as the pony held tight, intent on getting Daring out of the truck. Daring swerved and slammed the left side of the truck against the stone wall by accident. There was a terrible scraping sound and the door was torn clean off from the side of the vehicle, the pony with it. Both door and stallion were left in the dust as the truck took off into the forest, following the makeshift road after the cart loaded with stolen artifacts.

Chapter 5: Truck Chase

The metal screamed in protest as it was torn off from the speeding truck. Rivets popped and parts clanged as the roof was torn off the top like the skin off from a fruit. The branch narrowly missed Daring's head even as she ducked, and within a couple of seconds it had all passed. The roof of the truck clanged to the ground yards behind them, and all that was left was shards of metal on the truck's sides where it had been torn off.

"Whoops," Daring mumbled in an extreme understatement. Branches snapped and trees bent as they crashed down the hill and back onto the road. Daring had spotted a possible shortcut a minute ago that would cut off an entire loop and take them much closer to the cart's position, but it involved cutting through pure forest. She had done so, and as a consequence the truck's roof had been torn right off by a strong branch.

Now that they were back on the road, Daring floored the accelerator once more. The truck sped up gradually until it had reached an unsafe speed of eighty miles per hour through the forest.

"Whoo hoo, isn't this something?" Daring whooped. Scootaround's face paled as she watched the trees streak by in a greenish blur. The run-in with the tree branch had shaken the filly visibly.

"Dr. Do, look!" shouted the filly, snapping out of it and pointing ahead. As they swerved and turned a corner Daring saw it too. It was the end of a cart just ahead of them, growing larger and larger in their field of vision. Daring eased up on the gas, bringing them down in speed from eighty down to just over fifty- the speed the cart was traveling at. She feathered on the pedal to maintain a very close distance behind the cart. It was boxy in its shape and had a door at its aft end. The face of a very concerned looking pony poked around the side as one of the towers saw the approaching truck. The cart sped up significantly. Daring looked down at the controls of the vehicle.

"Alright kid, how do you feel about driving this thing?" she asked, having to yell over the sound of thundering hooves in front of them and the roar of the engine.

"Drive it, are you crazy?!" Scootaround shot back. She wasn't confident in Daring's driving ability, let alone her own.

"You're good with vehicles!"

"That's bicycles and scooters and stuff, not trucks!" Scootaround exclaimed, covering her face with the side of her leg, "This thing's got explosions going on inside of it!"

"Scoot, you need to listen," Daring said, "I need to get onto that cart. There's got to be somepony in control of this thing while I do that. Just keep a hoof on that pedal and steer so that you stay behind the cart."

With that, Daring scooted out of the driver's seat and out onto the side of the vehicle. Scootaround yelped and pushed herself over into the driver's seat, pressing down onto the accelerator and grabbing the steering wheel in both hooves. The truck sped up suddenly and swerved, its front end crashing into the back of the cart.

"Woah!" Daring yelled as she was thrown free from her position by the crash. She placed her hooves out in front of her and struck the back of the cart, crashing through the wooden door and into the compartment inside. She landed with a thud and groaned for a moment.

Daring picked herself up. The cart jostled around beneath her and the setting sun's light poured in through the hole where the door had just been. The same door now lay in the center of the inside of the cart below Daring.

The pony set to work immediately, scooping up items and rummaging around for the pendant. Where was it? She pried open a crate just as the cart sped over a bump, and the contents spilled out all over the place. Counterfeit bits, how typical of criminals! The pendant was not among the fake money, and so Daring pushed the box aside.

There was another bump, and Daring looked back to see how Scootaround was handling the truck. To her surprise and shock, the truck was no longer visible from behind the cart. With a sudden jolt Daring felt the cart move to the side and strike something- the truck!

"Knock it off!" Scootaround yelled, slamming the steering wheel sideways and slamming the cart back. She had pulled up alongside the cart by now as the road widened. They were outside the forest by this point and were in a clearing on a particularly wide ridge trail. There was a hill that went up with a slight climb, and that had made the ponies pulling the cart slow down a tad, and also forced her to use more gas to climb the hill while staying level with the cart.

Daring felt the ground shift as the cart climbed upwards. The box that she had opened up slid sideways and fell out the back of the cart, spreading bright silver and gold fakes out onto the cracked soil of the ridge. The pony opened up another box, hoping to find something other than more illegal coinage. She was lucky- the crate was full of items that had been stolen from the ruins, and sure enough there was the pendant sitting neatly on top.

It was at that moment that another pony opened the door to the front of the cart and stepped inside. Daring's eyebrows furrowed and she gritted her teeth as she recognized the pony as none other than Elise Stiflehock, the traitor.

The grayish mare rushed at Daring, reaching for the pendant. Daring sidestepped her, but the gravity changed again as the cart began its downhill descent. Daring lost her balance and fell, along with the pendant. The item dropped to the ground as Daring was slammed up against a stack of crates rather violently. Elise's eyes gleamed as she scooped up the item with one hoof and began to exit back the way she came. Daring wouldn't allow this, and jumped up to grab her back legs, forcing the mare back into the cart along with the pendant.

Scootaround's truck was out of control. The ponies driving the cart had slammed into her again just as she had reached the crest of the hill, and had sent her into an uncontrollable streak of skidding and swerving as she thundered down the hill. She didn't let up on the gas either, and so had gone further than the cart down the hill. The filly gave the steering wheel a turn to avoid crashing against the side of a rocky outcrop and the truck moved too far to the left, cutting across the cart's path. The cart's ponies turned to avoid crashing into the truck, but the side of the cart slammed into the truck and sent it careening off the road. Scootaround screamed as the truck began descending the side of the ridge down into the badlands below. There was no way she could avoid it now. She slammed on the other pedal- the brakes. It was no use, the truck was now falling out of control down the steep side of the slope.

Scootaround bailed out the side, crashing into the dusty side of the the slope and tumbling head over hooves and scraping herself up until she slid to a stop, panting. Below her the truck rolled and crashed, parts flying off and the front crumpling like a paper bag.

Daring struck the ground with a sudden thump and tumbled backwards. Elise had pushed her out the back of the cart and Daring struck the cracked earth. Hard.

After tumbling to a stop just on the edge of the steep slope, Daring took a moment to breath. The cart thundered away across the ridge and out of sight. Daring felt sore all over the place, feeling about a dozen new scrapes and cuts that would need to be tended to quickly. She took a deep breath, feeling a pain in her chest and coughed.

Panting, the pony dragged herself to the edge of the slope, looking for the truck. What she saw wasn't pretty.

Down below the edge of the slope, perhaps a hundred feet down, was the truck. It was immobile, and it was on its side. There was no Scootaround to be seen anywhere.

Daring got to her hooves quickly, looking up and down for the filly.

"Scootaround!" she called, listening for a response. She heard none.

"Scootaround!!" she called again, this time a little more desperately. She heard something this time, a bit of a weak coughing coming from somewhere below her.

"I'm over here!" came the weak voice of the filly. Daring galloped down the side of the slope immediately, following the direction of the voice. She could see her now; the filly was covered in dirt and was walking up the side of the slope towards her. She appeared visibly shaken, but was otherwise alright. Daring closed the gap between them quickly, scooping her up in a tight embrace.

"Are you hurt?" she demanded, looking worried.

"I think I'm ok," Scootaround coughed, "just a little dust in my throat. Other than that I'll be alright. Can't say the same about that truck."'

****

The truck was a lost cause. As the two ponies circled the form of the vehicle it was obvious. The wheels had come off, axles were bent, and the tank had been ruptured. Gasoline dripped out from it and soaked through the dry dirt, completely useless to them now.

"I can climb in and get some of the stuff inside," Scootaround offered. Daring nodded. They'd need their bags and the first aid kits Daring had stashed inside hers. The filly paused for a moment before re-entering the wreck.

"Did you get it?" asked Scootaround. Daring nodded lightly, and unbuttoned the top couple of buttons on her shirt, which was now torn and ripped in places. There around her neck was the pendant, looking as dazzling as ever.

"We've got to make haste towards that town or whatever," Daring coughed, "The sun's gonna be down very soon, and you don't want to get caught out in the open when night falls. We need to seek shelter fast."

"What are you so worried about?" asked the filly from inside the truck's wreck. She emerged a second later with Daring's bag. Daring slung the strap over herself and adjusted her pith helmet back into position.

"Predators," Daring replied grimly.

****

The town retained its eerie quality, and the darkening skies did little to lessen the oppressive atmosphere. Daring felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she walked down the streets lined with abandoned buildings. Of course, these had originally been built in a lush green area on the edge of the Black Forest when the town had been constructed. By now the badlands had crept onto the area, and the soil was cracked, dry, and devoid of life.

Just like the town itself, Daring thought to herself. As soon as the thoughts crossed her mind another one entered. What if it wasn't? She didn't believe in ghosts or haunting spirits that crept around the places they had died, but she had an inescapable feeling of being watched. She looked to the filly beside her and discovered that she was shivering.

"Scared?" Daring asked. Scootaround shook her head.

"No, it's getting chilly," she replied, her teeth chattering. Daring looked around at the buildings for a good candidate of a place to board up in until the morning. There was the saloon from earlier, but she didn't feel like going into that place again. There were several houses and storefronts, but the doors were wide open on most of them and Daring knew that the open doors were already a bad sign. She didn't want to go into a place littered with skeletons and whatever those creepy eggshells were if she didn't have to.

She finally saw a building that had a closed door- one that was latched shut, in fact. The sheriff's building. It was of a respectable size, and looked as if nopony had entered it as of yet. That was a good thing.

Daring opened the latch and pushed the door open. It was dark inside, and she was a little apprehensive about what she might find there. She couldn't see much of the inside of the building in the retreating light, and so she fumbled about looking for a light switch.

Wait a second, did this building even have electricity? It may have been abandoned since before the power source was extremely common. There didn't appear to be any power lines.

Scootaround was slightly more successful. She found an oil lantern that still had some fuel left in it sitting on a wooden shelf inside the dark building. She brought it over and showed it to Daring.

"Very good," approved Daring, patting the filly on the head. She took her flint and steel pieces out and struck them several times. Sparks flew about, but none landed on the lighting wick.

"Wait a second," Scootaround said, and produced a box of matches from the same spot she had gotten the lamp from. The lamp was a light in a matter of seconds after that, and illuminated the entire inside of the sheriff's building.

It wasn't as bad as Daring thought. In fact, it almost looked like it could have been in use to this day, albeit messily. There were keys laying down on the ground, and various shovels and pickaxes leaning against one side of the wall. The bars to a couple of jail cells swung wide open, and the drawers to the desk were missing completely. Other than that, the building was relatively clear of the creepiness that permeated the rest of the abandoned town. Daring swung the door shut behind her, and latched it from the inside. That was better.

She sat down in the chair behind the desk, which had presumably belonged to whoever had been the sheriff of this little community. It had a well-used feel to it, and Daring felt relaxed enough at this point to breath a sigh of relief. She sat in the chair with her eyes closed for a number of minutes, simply breathing and mulling things over in her head.

They had found text with the map inside that chamber, and the map had a spot marked out on it. Daring thought she knew whereabouts the spot corresponded in real life, but she would need to see what the text said in order to see if she could confirm her guess. To do that, she needed to talk to Edgewise. Edgewise had been her language professor in college, and was an older pony who had a knack for being able to decipher things. He had an impressive library in his mansion in Fillydelphia, which had reference material galore.

Daring was jealous of the amount of knowledge that her language professor had amassed in his collection, and had spent some time in his library on weekends pouring over some of the literature. During several of her breaks during sophomore year of college she had spent a week at a time at the mansion. Edgewise had decided to take a trip, and he was willing to pay her handsomely for watching his and his wife's son, who had been starting high school at the time. Daring made a mental note to speak to Edgewise as soon as possible. If anypony would be able to have a way to translate that text, it would be him.

Daring opened her eyes once again, glancing at Scootaround. The filly was rummaging through the various drawers and cabinets inside the building in a vain attempt to find something. Daring raided her eyebrows.

"What're you looking for?" she asked. Scootaround popped her head up from under a low cabinet.

"I'm looking for some food. I'm pretty hungry."

The mention of food reminded Daring of her own hunger. Either they'd be forced to tough it out and wait until they could trek back to the station and the outpost, or they'd have to find something to eat here.

Daring didn't know if she liked the sound of that. She highly doubted that anything in the saloons or restaurants were still safe to eat. The iceboxes would have melted out and all frozen goods would have gone bad years ago. Anything stored in cans would have spoiled a long time ago as well. There also wasn't trees of any kind in the immediate vicinity, so the chances of finding fruit was slim to none.

Wait a second. They had food. How could she have forgotten?

"Scoot, have some granola," Daring said. She dug a pair of wrapped bars of oats and honey, and gave one to Scootaround. The filly gladly accepted the food and began chewing on it happily. Daring nibbled at hers a little more slowly. It wasn't much, but it was better than going hungry.

And better than going out there, she thought. She didn't know what it was, but for some reason the thought of going outside was daunting. She had heard tales of ghosts and of evil spirits that would swoop down and grab foals at night as a kid. Of course, she was older now and knew that such stories were foolish, but there was still something about this place that gave Daring the creeps.

"We need water," Scootaround noted, looking about. Daring groaned. She knew the filly was right. She had drank the last few drops out of her canteen earlier in the day. She also knew where they could get water- no doubt there was a well of some kind at the end of the strip.

"Alright," Daring said, resigned. She stood up and looked around for something. Scootaround went and dragged a sizable wooden bucket out from the cabinet. It was small, but it would hold enough water for just the two of them. Daring thought she remembered where she had seen a pump earlier in the day. She picked the bucket up by the handle and opened the door with one hoof.

"Stay in here until I get back," Daring told Scootaround despite having a bucket handle in between her teeth.

****

Daring stretched her back, feeling the bones shift around and loosen up. It was now completely dark, and the moonlight shone down from the skies. Daring looked up to the floating orb for a few moments. The sky was relatively clear by now, as most of the clouds had moved away. She could see stars and constellations without the light pollution of big cities like Canterlot or Los Pegasus. It was better that way in her opinion. She took in the details of the surface of the moon, which was pockmarked with craters visible to her naked eye. There was a slight darkening on one side of it that bore the resemblance of a unicorn's head, and was spread across the entire hemisphere of the orbiting object.

Returning to the task at hoof, Daring searched around in the moonlight for the water spigot. She trotted down the empty streets quickly while trying to keep her mind busy thinking of the wondrous night sky, but the thoughts of the creepiness of her surroundings seeped into her consciousness once more. She shivered, more out of chill than out of being scared, though it may well have been.

She heard it. That sound from earlier. It was a slight purring, but not pleasant like a cat's. This purr was different. It was more of a deep, resonant grumble.

Daring shakily placed the bucket beneath the pump. She pulled on the lever, and was greeted by an unpleasant metallic screech as the rusted pump tried to work.

What was that? Out of the corner of her eye, Daring thought she could see motion. She caught a glimpse of something orange and black, but by the time she snapped her head up it had vanished. Back into the night.

I'm being hunted, she realized with a sickening feeling. Her terror was heightened with the realization that she was not safe. There was something else with them in this town, something that had already recognized her and selected her as its prey.

Daring's mind was racing. She needed not to act like the natural prey of whatever it was. What was it?

Think Daring, Think.

"Stay back!" she warned, puffing her chest out and standing tall. She had no idea what she was doing, but perhaps if she could intimidate it it would leave her alone, right?

Wrong. A second later Daring heard something scrape against a nearby rooftop. She glanced over just in time to see the animal's silhouette as it leaped down into the shadows. It was about as tall as she was, and had a powerful looking torso. Its back legs were connected to powerful hips and its front limbs were carried in front of it like arms. The long tail was the last part Daring saw of the creature as it disappeared.

There was more than one of them. In the moonlight Daring could see their eyes as they watched her, hidden from her sight.

There was a whole bloody pack.

With a sudden high-pitched shriek the first monster lunged at her from a totally unexpected location- to her exposed right flank. Daring caught a quick glimpse of powerful jaws and a streamlined body with a white underbelly and an orange and black tiger striped pattern as the raptor sprang into the air. Dual claws sprang out on the feet of the creature as it prepared to pounce on the pony. Daring bolted, and the creature struck the ground.

"Scootaround we've got company!" Daring yelled as she took off running.

Chapter 6: Ravenous Raptors

Daring dashed into the open door at breakneck speed, skidding on the ground and kicking the door closed behind her with her back legs. She leaned up against it as she panted, sweat dripping down her dust-covered face.

"What's going on?" asked a voice as Scootaround came out from around the corner, "I was trying to check out the toilet and then-"

"There's, there's..... THINGS out there!" Daring sputtered, motioning for Scootaround to help her keep the door shut. There were shrill shrieks that sounded like they belonged to some otherworldly monster as a pair of Raptors slammed their weight against the door. It held shut for the moment, but Daring had a feeling that the old wooden boards wouldn't hold for long.

"What are they?" Scootaround yelped. Almost immediately after a striped snout smashed through the boards on the very bottom of the wall to Daring's left. They could both see the rows of teeth as the creature opened it's mouth to snarl at them in frustration.

"Raptors of some kind," Daring said as she looked about frantically, "Guess not all the dinosaurs are dead after all."

The jail cells. That was the only place in this building that they could be safe from the raptors. With any luck, they could work a way to get out by punching through the roof shingles or...

SLAM!

The boards around the base of the wall became even further damaged, and the entire bulk of one of the striped raptors slid into the Sheriff's building. Scootaround shrieked in sudden terror, and Daring knew there was no time to waste. They were inside now.

"Into the cell!" shouted the pony, hurdling the frightened filly into the jail cell. Daring clicked the lock closed and began closing the door as the raptor regained its footing and charged at her, claws outstretched. The beast jumped into the air and scraped the ceiling, slamming itself into the bars of the cell and jamming them shut, with Daring and Scootaround inside.

"We're trapped!" Scootaround wailed in a state of panic. She was hyperventilating as she stared at the powerful jaws of the monster as they gnawed on the steel bars in frustration. The raptor could claw and bite the cell bars all it wanted, but it could not get to them there. The filly jumped once she had noticed the second snarling raptor as it entered through the hole in the wall made by the first.

The pair of beasts seemed to be working together. Pack hunters, Daring thought to herself, They coordinated this.

Indeed it appeared that way. Had the metal rods not afforded them temporary protection from the snarling carnivores, the two ponies would most certainly have been trapped together and had been easy prey. Daring didn't want to consider what would've happened, or what might happen if they failed to escape. It was clear the morbid reality of what the predators would do to them was reeling through Scootaround's mind. The filly was sweating and continued to stare at the raptors with widened eyes.

The yellowish green eyes of the raptor nearest them stared right back into hers. They weren't the cold, unfeeling eyes of reptiles. This was a darting, piercing gaze of an intelligent creature that had a plan. Even as the wheels in Daring's head turned as she considered how to get the two of them to safety, the wheels were turning in the head of the raptor as it considered a way to get to them.

It was then that the back raptor made a calling sound, a kind of cawing. It was deafening to hear up close, and a moment later it was answered by several others outside.

"Oh no," Daring murmured, "There are more of them out there."

"We'll never make it," squeaked Scootaround, "They'll catch us, and then they'll try to bite us or cut with those sharp claws. They'll try eating our-"

"Stop," said Daring, holding a hoof to the filly's mouth to stop her ranting.

"None of that's gonna happen, kid. We're going to be ok."

"But-"

"We're going to be okay," Daring assured her. She looked up at the ceiling above them inside the cramped cell. If she could boost Scootaround up...

"Hey," Daring said, "I need you to help me. Promise to calm down?"

"I-I-I," stuttered the frightened filly, her knees wobbling.

"We can do it,"

"Okay, what are we gonna do?"

"First," Daring began, recoiling as the pair of raptors took turns slamming up against the metal bars and denting them inwards, "First I need you to get up onto my back."

****

The pair of ponies clattered out onto the roof of the structure with a crash. Down below the raptors squealed in frustration at their prey potentially getting away from them. Wasting no time, Daring jumped from the roof of the building she was on to a nearby one, and Scootaround followed suit.

"Now that we're up here what are we gonna do?" asked Scootaround. Daring glanced about at her surroundings. Down over the side of the building was a group of about four snarling raptors bobbing their heads and looking right up at her.

"I'm working on it," Daring muttered. She backed away from the edge just as one of the raptors leaped up at her, claws raking the shingles on top of the roof where she had been moments before. The creature dug at the tiles in frustration, but they were coming loose and it had to let go.

They sure can jump Daring thought to herself. She was questioning the decision to bring the pair of them up here now if the raptors were able to get up onto the roof.

With a shriek Scootaround jumped back and Daring's head snapped up to see what was the matter. A large raptor was right in front of her, chasing the filly. It had been able to jump up and onto the roof from below and now was intent on getting the smaller of the two ponies.

Daring placed herself in front of Scootaround and kicked hard with her front hooves. The raptor dodged her attack and jumped into the air, sailing in an arc. Daring watched it as it drew nearer.

SLAM!

Another raptor had landed on the roof, this time right atop Daring herself, pinning the pony down. Daring cried out as it grasped her with sharp claws that dug at her skin below her coat. The thing's scaly face pressed in against hers. It opened its razor-sharp jaws and prepared to strike her, but a swift jab with a hoof to the neck sent the raptor's head back a bit. She then struck with her back legs at the ankles of the raptor, sending it sprawling back and right into the second raptor.

"We gotta get out of here!" Daring yelled. Both she and Scootaround got to their hooves and dashed towards the edge of the roof, jumping once again up and over to another building. They landed with a dull thump and took off running further. Behind her, Daring could hear the sound of claws clicking as the raptors ran across the roof and leaped onto the one they were on.

The claws. Daring had seen many creatures, and most of them she could handle with the exception of snakes. But those claws... something was wrong with them. They were retractable, over sized, and razor sharp. At any moment one could be poised to slash at her, and the result would bring a new definition to the word "gruesome".

"Dr. Do, over here!" shouted a voice. Daring could see Scootaround gaining distance ahead of her, and she saw that the filly had dashed into a hole in the top of the roof. No, not a hole, a hatch! Wasting no time, Daring descended the hatch into the building. She glanced up above her in time to see the orange and black face of a hissing raptor as it was about to stick its head down the hole to bite at her. She swung the wooden door closed in the creature's face and latched it.

The pair of ponies ran down the wooden stairs of the building. It was two stories, and the stairs leading tot he attic they had just come out of was in poor repair, and was missing some boards and some of the steps had broken over time.

They thundered into the bottom area, which appeared to be some kind of dining room. Daring noticed with a shock that the door was ajar. The raptors would have acess to this area from below! She had to get them both out of here quickly, unless...

There was a huge cabinet full of glassware and china that was taller than the door. Daring furrowed her eyebrows. This would do.

"Get on the other side, and fast," she said to Scootaround. The filly quickly complied and gulped. The two of them dug their hooves into the floor and pushed back. The china cabinet budged a bit, but it did not cover the door. Sighing, Daring pushed again with a little more oomph, hoping to make it budge faster. It slid another half meter, but stopped short.

"Another push!" Daring shouted, and threw her entire weight against the cabinet's side and gritting her teeth. The cabinet lurched to one side suddenly, and Daring cried out as it landed in front of the door with a loud crash, shattering all of the glass inside of it.

It blocked most of the door except for a small section at the top laying on its side, but Daring wasn't satisfied. She saw raptors on the other side, heard their frustrated snorts as they slammed up against the back of the cabinet, trying to enter the doorway.

The cabinet budged.

"That's not gonna stop them," Daring grimaced. She trotted around the room trying to find something to prop against the door. Something heavy. There were plates, an armchair, a table, and a piano. Daring moved the chair over by herself as Scootaround began trying to push the piano in futility.

"Come help me with this table!" Daring shouted. Together they moved the table over as well, propping it up on its side and blocking the door a little bit more. Daring then turned her attention to the piano. It had wheels on the bottom, so it would move easily if they both pushed it, but as far as stopping the raptors...

She had an idea.

"Help me move the piano next," Daring said. Scootaround got around behind the piano and pushed on it with her back. Daring joined her, and the large object wheeled over to the doorway. Daring tipped the end up a little bit, and Scootaround got the idea. Pushing the legs in, the two worked the piano up until it swayed, falling on its side with a great jarring chord and remaining there, against the cabinet, chair, and table.

Outside, the raptors shrieked and snarled in frustration. They were completely shut out and unable to reach the ponies that they knew were inside. They occasionally slammed their bodies against the pile of stuff blocking the door, but it wouldn't budge.

They were safe for the night in here.

Daring sighed in relief when the pile held, and sank down onto the floor. Her head hit the gritty wooden floorboards with a bang and she closed her eyes. She was incredibly tired. The day had worn her down, and now all she wanted to do was sleep. She didn't care about food, she didn't care about drinking water. They'd wait until tomorrow to do that, during the day when the raptors were asleep and they could get out of there.

She couldn't wait to get out of there.

"What are you gonna tell Dusty about all of that?" Scootaround yawned. Daring shrugged, her eyes still closed.

“I think it’s worth investigating. Dinosaurs supposedly died out millions of years ago. Plus, I’m surprised at their appearance.”

“Huh? What’s weird about it?”

“I’m not an expert, but he tiger stripes don’t make sense. Unless they live in the black forest, they shouldn’t have stripes like that.”

“Why?”

“Well, on a tiger the stripes are camouflage. The camouflage they have isn’t suited to sandy areas like this. They hide them in long grass, because the stripes look just like grass shadows to color blind animals. At least, that’s what I read.”

“Oh,” said Scootaround, looking confused nonetheless.

“Who knows, maybe they really do live in the forest. I’m not gonna worry about it though, time to get some shuteye.”

Truth be told, Daring was beginning to dread going to sleep a little more with each passing day. She had been experiencing nightmares of a horrific nature as of late, and they involved the pendant. Whatever it was about that thing creeped her out whenever she gazed at it directly. It was weird that her friend hadn’t mentioned the sensation at all. Daring tried to press it from her mind totally in hopes of having a pleasant rest. She needed to recharge.

The hissing and snarling trailed off as the raptors realized the futility of trying to break into the building. They sat outside, circling it and searching for a way to get in. They sat there all night long as the ponies slept within, their piercing eyes glaring at the junk piled in the doorway in the dark of the night. Finally with a resigned cawing sound the leader of the pack turned away. The alpha male had given up on these ponies, and soon the rest of the pack had, too. Daylight was coming, and there was better prey to the east on the edge of the forest.

Chapter 8: Stalliongrad

The waning sun of the late afternoon enhanced the red glow of the streets of Stalliongrad as Daring walked by. She had arrived earlier in the day by plane, and had to check in with customs for a considerable amount of time. She hadn't even reached her hotel yet.

She glanced at the posters lining every corner with disdain. They were propaganda, meant to advance the patriotism of the loyal Hoofiet citizens that read them. She could read and speak the language, and was appalled by the message. It was basically an encouragement to spy on one's neighbor, and report any anti-government sentiment. The reddish poster was illustrated with the white outline of a large mare with extended ears, while raising a hoof to her mouth in a silencing motion.

Daring had little respect for the Hoofiets and their totalitarian government, but realized her need to put a straight face on and pretend to be a happy visitor. She had acquired tickets to the gala through the goodness of Dusty's heart, and because he knew a pony in these parts that was a nut on the subject of the palace itself, and of the Imperial era.

"Daring," Dusty had said to her, "Had it been any other pony that approached me about getting tickets to a gala on the other side of the planet, I would have told them to forget it. However, having had you as a colleague and friend for several years, I'm confident that you have a very good reason." She had then explained what was going on to Dusty, who had been intrigued at the possibility of discovering the King's lost tomb. It had interrupted his fascination with the reports of raptors to the south, at any rate. He had made the arrangements, and had even helped to finance the cost of the plane trip over.

But that was more than a day ago. Now Daring was approaching her hotel, an elegant building done up with beautiful railings on the edges of each room's balcony. As Daring passed into the interior, she found the inside to be elegant as well, which was odd considering the whole "everypony shares the same wealth" mentality that was the Hoofiets. One wouldn't find many ponies of upper class at all who could afford such a place.

But maybe it was older, and retained it's use as a hotel for travelers or Hoofiet government officials. That made sense to her, and she felt a bit of confirmation after she got in line behind a very official-looking stallion dressed with a shirt and tie and a pin representing the logo of his party. Daring's turn came next.

"Комната тридцать три," said Daring, which translated to "Room thirty three." The mare sitting at the clerk's desk was surprised, and replied to her in heavily accented equestrish.

"Not bad for an Equestrian," she remarked, "Daring Do, is it?"

"The same."

"Your key-" said the clerk, handing Daring a metal loop to stick over her hoof, from which dangled a little key marked "Room 33". Daring thanked her, and proceeded up to her hotel room, dragging her suitcase with her gala dress and bullwhip behind her. She hadn’t brought her pith helmet or her adventuring shirt this time, but had left them at her home on her bed.

She didn't notice the pony with the graying beard watching her from behind the newspaper's edge, or the yellow-maned mare that wore a shawl over the top of her head and turned sharply to glance at the stallion.

****

The smooth sound of a harp being played by an older stallion contrasted with the reverberating voices of chatting ponies in the great hall of the palace. Daring stared at the view wide-eyed, reveling in the grandiose appearance and architecture. Around each doorway was a set of golden curls embossed around the edges, a style that Canterlot buildings had emulated during the Imperial period when this region was more culturally vibrant. While Canterlot buildings looked great, this was something much different. Great wasn’t adequate, the palace was simply marvelous, no, magnificent.

For her part, Daring’s appearance was much more grand than one might expect. The down-to-earth mare whom most ponies might expect to see drenched in sweat and smeared with caked mud was done up with makeup. Her eyelashes were heightened, her eyelids colored, and her complexion softened by powders. Her mane had been washed, combed, and neatly separated into different shades of grayish black all the way up to a steel color. The back of her mane was scrunched and wrapped in a ponytail, while her front mane was simply combed. It looked neat. Her dress was a light green, and was done up with whitish frills and lace around the edges, culminating in an ornate wrapping around her chest. She wore a pearl band around the top of her head, which had flowers placed on the side

As Daring noticed the other ponies, she could recognize the type. Here were the rich, the powerful and upper class (if an upper class can exist in a supposedly “classless” society) whose power and influence had been able to earn them favors with the corrupt Hoofiet government. Indeed, while the ideologies practiced by the Hoofiets were supposed to create an order that was based on common ownership and free of class rivalries, yet here was a group of the socially elite.

Daring recognized one of the older stallions from a picture she had been shown by Dusty Shelves. He beckoned her over with a wave of his hoof, and so Daring strolled up. The stallion wore a top hat and a monacle over his steel eyes, and had a stubbly white goatee protruding from his chin. The pony’s coat was of a creamy green color, but it had faded over the years.

“Здравствуйте, как дела ?” asked Daring, which translated to “Hello, how are you?” The stallion looked surprised, and nodded his head.

“I wasn’t aware you spoke my language, Miss Do,” he said, adjusting his monocle.

“Doctor, actually,” Daring corrected him, “I received my degree back in 1932, so I haven’t really gone by Miss Do for some time. You can call me Daring, though.”

“Ah, excuse me then Daring,” replied the stallion, “I’m Pavel, a friend of your very own Dusty Shelves from Canterlot.”

“Yes, Dusty did mention your name.”

“And how is old Dusty? Still in the books, still kicking around the museum rather than out and about? He usually prefers that.”

“Dusty’s been fine,” said Daring, blowing a strand of her hair out of her face after it had drooped down over her eye, “He’s still the curator, and what a great job he does at that, too. I can’t say that he’s been to the field that much, I’m usually his go-to mare for that sort of thing.”

“So what is it you’re in charge of, then?” asked Pavel, raising an eyebrow. He offered Daring a glass of vodka off from a platter that was passing by. She accepted the glass, taking a small sip before replying to his question.

“I’m the head of the Equine History division, as well as the research coordinator for field operations that fall under my domain. So when I’m not out on a field assignment to retrieve something or to go with an expedition and study an area I’m usually at the museum doing research and writing papers. That or grading papers.”

“Grading papers?”

“Yeah, I teach history at the local University. Almost everypony who attends as a freshman takes that class, and then there’s an Archeology class for the more advanced level students who have that as their major. I usually have them come to the museum’s conference room for that, so I can display objects or take them to see something. It’s only right down the street from the main classroom I’m given.”

“Well, your reputation precedes you, at any rate. I’ve heard all about your exploits.”

“Have you?”

“Yes, retrieving the Sapphire Statue, your back and forth conflicts with the Gryphons down with the underground cities and the goblet, that incident that almost caused an international crisis about a year or so ago...”

“That was.... that was a misunderstanding,” Daring said sheepishly, “Ahuizotl built a false site within their borders, and they didn’t realize I was there to remove the sphere -he took that from another site, mind you- and so I got pegged with false charges. It all got resolved, of course, they dropped each one of them.”

“So you usually go and take the artifacts out?” asked the stallion, “Excuse me if I seem like I’m barraging you with questions, it’s just that I’ve heard quite a bit...”

“No, no problem,” Daring said, “And as for your question, yes and no. According to the International Treaty for the Preservation of Archeological Artifacts, it is only ethical to remove items when the area is decayed to the point of near collapse, or if the area is unsafe. Believe it or not, a lot of civilizations used to booby-trap chambers so that nopony could take their valuables.”

“So you sell them... or do you put them in the museum?”

“Sell them? Heavens no, that’s against the law. The only exception is Historical Institutions, which is what the museum is. They fund the acquisitions, and they receive any artifacts I recover. They usually research or archive them, perhaps display them if they’re of high importance.”

“Ooooooh, who is this?” came a light and airy female voice thick with the accent typical of Hoofiet ponies trying to speak english. She was a heavyset mare who seemed to be trying too hard to look glamourous. She wore an elegant dress of course, but her garments had reached the point of “too many frills”. She wore a white feathery boa around her neck, which matched the ivory sheen of her coat. Daring couldn’t see her cutie mark, for it was obscured by the fabric of the mare’s frilly dress.

“Honey, this is Daring Do, an archeologist from Equestria,” Pavel answered the female, “Daring, this is my wife.”

“How do you do?” Daring offered politely, extending a hoof. The pony seemed reluctant to shake it, but did so anyways.

“So how are things in the land of capitalist Equestria?” she asked, and Daring nearly choked on her sip of vodka, as did Pavel.

“Dearest, must we engage in name calling? I know you don’t like the-”

“It’s fine,” Daring mumbled, “I’m not a politician, I’m not here to defend one economic policy over another.”

Actually, I’m here to try to find an underground chamber, thought Daring, Which these two are delaying... better find an excuse to go off by myself and scope things out.

****

A stallion stepped out from behind a street corner, observing the Imperial Palace from a distance. The sun had set by now, and with the descent of night the stars were now out and visible under the purplish haze of the sky.

For being in the middle of a street in the city of Stalliongrad, this pony stood out. For one, he wasn’t dressed in either dress clothes or common worker’s attire. He was clad in a leather vest, and wore a battered hat over his head. He had a light blue coat and a darkish brown mane that was a little longer in the front, but not quite enough to cover his piercing blue eyes. The week’s worth of stubble on his face added to his out-of placeness in the city of well-groomed individuals out for a night at the gala.

He didn’t mind the odd stares that he occasionally got. For him, his appearance was of little consequence. What mattered was the task at hand. This stallion was looking towards the gates and the outer stone walls that surrounded the perimeter of the Imperial Palace. They were tall, tall enough to prevent one pony from entering the property, unless they were a pegasus. He didn’t have that going for him, being a common earth pony.

“What do you think?” asked a second stallion, stepping out from around the corner and out into the full view of the moon’s light. This stallion was yellowish, and was thinner, clean cut, and much less burly than the other. He also had the unmistakable look of a young buck, a colt that had reached the age of maturity but lacked the years of experience. Stubble had not graced his chin, and despite the similarly shaped fedora he wore atop his head he could not achieve the same rugged look of his ally.

“Well Audacity, you sure got us into a hell of a place here,” grumbled the burly one. Indeed his name was Burly, Burly Withers. While not a true Archeologist, he was a self-professed treasure hunter and expert on rare items. He made his living working for other ponies, institutions, and occasionally governments.

A third pony came out into the light this time, a small filly with an orange coat and wearing a cap over her messy gray hair. She had a large grin on her face, as if she knew that they were going to be doing something awesome.

Scootaround regretted disobeying Daring the way she did, but at the moment all that was quickly melting away as she sized up the grand palace with its tall turrets and wide stained glass windows glowing in the night. Music drifted down from the palace to the streets, gala music played by stringed instruments and a harp.

“Ok, here’s the plan,” Burly began, pulling his battered old hat down over his forehead, “We’re gonna get over that there wall one at a time. I’ll be on bottom, then Audacity, then Scootaround. Kid, you’re gonna have a rope with you, tie it off to something so we can get up and over.”

“Got it,” Scootaround replied with a salute.

Audacity had been the one to come up with this crazy plan, and he smiled as things began to come together. Daring had specifically told him that she couldn’t force him to stay. In the week that had elapsed since their last conversation and her subsequent leaving, he had been busy making plans. He pushed the date for the performance of Gaitspeare’s Hooflet back a few weeks. He had gotten into contact with Burly Withers. Burly was in possession of a cargo plane and a load of “adventuring gear”. He was intrigued by the tale Audacity had told him in letter, and had agreed to help them help Daring Do, a pony that he respected. Of course, his assistance came with a price, but it was one Audacity had been able to field.

Scootaround had tagged along due to Daring’s inability to find a foalsitter at the last minute. As Audacity had told Daring he wasn’t going anywhere, she had placed Scootaround in his care for the weekend. And so she had come with them. Burly had assured them that they would be able to get in, and that he would be willing to work alongside Daring. Apparently the two knew each other, go figure.

With a jump, Scootaround pushed off from Audacity’s back, and somersaulted over the wall with a rope clenched in between sets of teeth. She was on the other side of the wall, inside the palace yards.

“I’m in,”

“Good,” instructed Burly, “Now tie it off...”

****

With a click of the wire-cutter’s blades meeting, the chain came undone in an instant. Three ponies entered through the now-unlocked gate, into a dimly lit greenhouse full of flowers. They wore black clothing that was befitting of burglars, which was essentially what they were doing.

The chief of this group sniffed the air, catching the scent of the flowers. He shuddered, and sneezed quickly into his hoof to dampen the sound. Pollen didn’t agree with him.

“So where do we go from here?” asked the third pony, closing the gate that had allowed them to enter through the greenhouse. It was really a fluke that they had been able to do this at all; had the gardener been working that evening, there would be somepony present to stop them from entering the palace grounds. As it was, they were able to waltz on in like they owned the place, and then all that stood in their way would be the palace doors, conveniently open for the gala.

In short, Broken Bank’s plan had come together better than he had expected. The aging pony was convinced that they were close to gaining another link in a short chain- a chain that would lead them to immeasurable riches. Yes, despite their early hardships in the Badlands of Equestria, the Coalition was on it’s way to prosperity. Blue skies and lazy days, that’s what Broken Bank dreamed of. He saw himself swimming in his own wealth, and things were now looking as if they could pull it off.

“You know the plan,” he instructed his two assistants, “Get underground, and find the clues to the next location. If you find Daring Do, dispatch her however you see fit. And above all else, don’t get caught.”

This might actually work, he thought to himself with a grin.

****

Daring hiccuped as she stepped into the restroom, using it as an excuse to get away from the conversation. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in the small talk, but she had a job to do. not only that, but these ponies were buying her drinks left and right, and becoming intoxicated on vodka and fine wine would ruin her chances of being able to make use of the evening to find that underground chamber. She had imposed a limit on how many drinks she would take, and she had reached that limit. The time for social engagement was past. It was time to get cracking.

After a few moments had elapsed and she was sure that nopony was still watching the empty corridor that contained the mare’s restroom, she left. Darting down the hallway, Daring reached a section that split into two directions. The crossroads of the hall was was marked by a rather elaborate portrait of a past ruler, perhaps of the 18th century judging by his attire. To the left was an exit, on the side of the building and leading out to the courtyard containing the gardens and the fountain itself. That was where she needed to go.

Trotting quickly, Daring reached the end of the hall and pressed the large door open with her hooves, breathing in the cool air of the evening. The light of the moon illuminated part of the fountain itself, constructed in the form of a rearing war horse and spouting a trickle of water from its mouth. The floral gardens, which were comprised of rows of hedges and various flowers, was shrouded by the shadow of the building itself. Daring paid little attention to the garden, for it was the fountain that interested her. This was it, the last remnant of the old structure that had been built centuries prior to the palace that now sat atop it, and beneath there somewhere was a clue that would lead to the lost tomb of the first arabian empire’s final ruler. She was going to find it.

Just as soon as she could figure out how to open the damn thing.

****

Burly winced as he landed on his side on the hard cobblestone surface of the courtyard. He had slipped on the rope and toppled down the rest of the way, crashing onto the stone with a dull thump and groaning.

“You alright?” asked Audacity, looking genuinely concerned for the treasure hunter. Burly nodded through gritted teeth, and attempted to right himself. He pushed against the ground and got up onto all four hooves, shaking his head.

“That felt wonderful,” he said sarcastically. At least they were all in the courtyard by now. Burly coiled up the rope behind them as Audacity observed the courtyard a little more closely. There were on the side of the palace, near to a well and a few stone sculptures that had been erected as part of an art exhibition. They all depicted strong ponies, mare and stallion alike. Strong ponies dressed in the uniform of the Hoofiet Union, with stoic expressions. Audacity sighed.

“What is it, kid?”

“Even art is propaganda in this place,” Audacity noted, pointing at the statues. Burly tipped up the edge of his own cap, and squinted. He glanced over the statues and shook his head slowly.

“Yeah, that’s nice,” he said, “but we’ve got other things to worry about.”

Scootaround was near the well, peering down into the watery depths and seeing her reflection. Burly trotted over to the well and peered down it next to the filly.

“What’s so interesting?” he asked. Scootaround shrugged.

“Where’s Dr. Do?” was the filly’s question, to which Burly shrugged his wide shoulders. She could be anywhere at this point, inside at the gala, inside the palace looking for something they had overlooked, or perhaps she had already made her way underground.

Burly paused, hearing something moving at the edge of the flower garden. Audacity heard it as well, for he straightened up and raised his ears to listen more carefully. It was a rustling, somepony walking through the hedges. Not just through the garden, but through the hedges.

“Shhh...” Burly motioned to the others to keep quiet by holding a hoof to his mouth. He moved towards the noise slowly, not wanting to make a sound. There was a chance that whatever it was was not friendly, and he wanted to be able to see them before they could see him.

****

Daring was frustrated. She had tried many different ways of opening the passage that she knew was there, but she had yet to succeed. Pressing on parts of the water-spitting statue, parts of the ring around the outer edge of the fountain’s pool, even pressing down on the various pedestals closeby that had busts of unicorn heads wearing ornate helmets.

She decided to look closely at the statue, in hopes to find something amiss that might give her a clue. It was simple in its form, despite being reared back. The pony’s legs seemed fine, and were not chipped or oddly shaped. It’s head seemed fine to her, both ears stood tall and the snout was fixed in a circular spitting gesture (from which water trickled). The eyes were simply engraved in, though there were circular holes in each where the pupil would have been. That struck Daring as odd. Perhaps it was significant?

Daring kept the odd lack of pupils in mind as she surveyed each of the statues. They were of a darker tone, being made out of a different kind of rock. Each statue had different expressions, and all wore the same exact helmet. The helmet was squarish and looked rather crudely made, but considering the extreme old age of them, Daring wasn’t surprised. They looked like common helmets used by nomadic travelers to protect against rocks falling on them, which was a valid concern when ascending or descending mountain ranges.

The expressions were different on each statue, and Daring studied their faces closely. One had its eyes closed and mouth wide open in an expression of joyous laughter. Another had its eyes closed and teeth clenched, obviously angry. The eyes of the third...

The eyes of the third were wide open, and were lightly colored stone spheres. They could come loose, and matched the hue of the taller statue.

They were the taller statue’s eyes.

Working quickly, Daring cupped her hooves and tipped the small bust forwards so that the eyes came rolling out into her grasp. Stretching her wings, Daring floated up to the face of the fountain’s statue and thrust a sphere into each of the empty pupils. They didn’t stay lodged there, but merely sank into the statue and dropped out of sight.

Rats, thought Daring, it didn’t work.

But a moment later, she was awed as the statue began rumbling. The waters of the pool below it sank down into the ground, and the statue followed suit. It eased itself down slowly, creating a large circular hole where it had been before it disappeared into the darkness below.

The hole was wide enough for a pony to descend into it. Daring had found the opening to the underground structures. She happily smiled at her small success, and began to ease herself into the opening.

****

This is bad, Burly thought to himself as he watched a group of ponies sneak in through the garden, one at a time. There had to have been at least fifteen of them in all, three to lead and direct them and a whole bunch of others to follow orders. They were mostly dressed the same: black clothing with dark-lensed glasses and black fedoras with stingy brims. They had the air of spies, or possibly burglars. Whoever they were, their sneaking suggested an ulterior motive to Burly.

He knew of the Coalition for Archeological Procurement, that group that bastardized the name of all self-respecting archeologists. Like Daring, Burly was the kind of pony who wasn’t afraid to get their hooves dirty. He had spent years crawling around dangerous places in search for fortunes and fables, and in that time he had encountered this group before. He hated their guts.

“Hey, who’s that?” came a voice, a voice belonging to the naive little filly by the name of scootaround. Burly winced. They had heard her, and several heads had turned in the direction of the filly, now clearly seeing her and Audacity behind the well.

There were several voices chattering away, no doubt they were trying to figure out what to do. Even as the CAP agents tried to make up their minds, Burly was making his mind up. With a shout, one of the agents produced a pistol from inside his jacket. Scootaround gave a gasp as the weapon was leveled suddenly on her, and she had no opportunity to scream before a loud gunshot rang out through the air.

Audacity opened his eyes, expecting to see the filly lying in a pool of blood, struck down in brutal murder. He was both relieved and surprised to find her not in front of him but rather hiding behind his own back legs, shivering. Burly rushed back to see them, holding a gun of his own around his right hoof that was still smoking from the shot he had just fired.

“Alright guys, they know we’re here. Go around the building, find Daring, do something. Just get the hell out of this place, and fast.”

Chapter 9: Underground

Daring stepped into another world entirely. Beneath the ground was an area that was cavernous, cluttered, and tinted green with years of algae and moss growth due to the moisture. Indeed, she could hear the rapid rush of water as part of a river ran under the ground and down to another, larger river.

The hole dropped down to a stone platform that was directly above a set of grimy stairs that led down to what appeared to be a dead end. Daring descended these stairs, standing on the edge of a small chasm. On the other side she could discern another edge much like the one she stood on, with a pair of pillars that stood on each side. In the center of the chasm was a river running far below, and a bridge that was currently in the lowered position, perpendicular to the edge Daring now stood on.

That’s odd, she thought, constructing a drawbridge that has to be raised to be walked across is a lot harder than one that just has to be lowered.

There had to be a mechanism of some kind. Daring glanced to either side of her, and sure enough there were massive gears, created from some forge centuries ago. No doubt they would raise the bridge and allow her to cross, but they weren’t active. Something had to trigger them.

Looking for a lever of some kind proved fruitless. There were no switches, no pulleys of any sort and no convenient stone buttons that she could see.

“Wait a second, what am I even doing?” Daring asked herself, suddenly hit by a realization. She could just fly across the chasm. Rolling her eyes at her momentary stupidity, Daring flexed her wings and darted across the empty space between ledges in no time at all.

That’s what happens when you get hurt every other adventure, she thought to herself. It was true, too. She had had to rely on something other than her wings on many occasions before due to injury or simply being bogged down by too much to carry. Had she been toting a weighty case or a larger artifact, having a bridge would be a must.

Reaching the opposite side, Daring found the path to curve inwards and upwards with another set of moss covered stairs. She was counting on some kind of trap, and so her ears were perked and her senses on full alert for the slightest indication of something being amiss. The archeologist pony, still dressed in her gala dress, continued further into the underground chambers in search of the next clue.

****

With quiet breaths, Burly listened as guests inside at the gala screamed. Ponies ran out the doors and left the premises, still more were likely hunkered down inside. For his part, he had caused the revelation that violence was to occur with his well-placed gunshot, but he had no idea where the other CAP ponies were.

That was part of the thing that scared him. Burly prided himself in his gunslinging ability, always keeping his old trusty pistol at his side. It had a large trigger guard, as custom for weapons that were to be used by non-unicorn ponies. Unicorns could use any gun, Gryphon-made or otherwise, but earth ponies and pegasi had to use the large-triggered versions to be able to operate them with just hooves. It was a skill Burly had become quite adept at.

Burly’s brash approach to things was one of the reasons he was referred to as a “free-lance treasure hunter” rather than an actual archeologist. A friend had once asked him about his approach, and he had explained his thought very concisely.

“There’s two ways of looking at it,” he had said, “either you do something or you read about somepony else doing something. I’d rather be out doing the dirty work than spending a lot of time studying just to get the initials in front of my name.”

Come to think of it, in most of the cases he could name, the pony was either a scholar and spent their time in the library, museum, or classroom, or they were a field specialist who went and risked their neck. Daring Do was the only one he could think of that bridged the gap between worlds, and he wasn’t sure how she could do it. He had tried reading a thesis somepony had written on the ethics of archeological study, and had thought of it as complete rubbish, a waste of time.

A sudden pop rang through the night, and Burly was surprised when the stone corner he had been leaning behind burst with a sudden impact from a bullet. He whirled around, and saw the pony’s head poking out from behind the bush that had fired the shot. He leveled his revolver quickly and fired a shot, the gun resonating with a deep booming sound and sending the bullet whizzing forward, deep into the chest of the target.

The agent fell over, gargling, and then ceased to move.

“That’s two,” he whispered to himself. He moved from his position, knowing that his shots had given it away and that he wasn’t safe there. Trotting quickly ahead, he ducked behind a set of rather ornate bushes that had been trimmed a bit too low for his profile. He buckled his legs, and crept along near the grass. In the now quiet night, he could hear rustling and the clicking sounds of a gun’s machinery being operated. A bolt slid shut, and Burly’s eyes widened.

With a sudden dash, Burly leaped out from behind the bushes, making haste over to a nearby statue just as the machine gun opened fire, sending a flurry of rounds into the bushes he had just been behind and tearing the carefully trimmed edges to pieces. The line of fire quickly moved to catch up with him, rounds pinging off the ground near his back hooves. Behind the pedestal of the statue, Burly was safe momentarily. Gunfire from the automatic rifle continued to spray around him, taking chunks out of the statue and riddling the base with holes like the legs of a changeling.

The gunfire ceased for a brief moment as the operator had to fix a jam. Taking his opportunity, Burly swung his torso up so he could see above the pedestal, and fired three shots at the source of the rapid gunfire. He heard a shout, and a hoarse shriek of terror. He had gotten him.

Almost as soon as he was sure of his success, the gunfire began again. Evidently there was a second gunner, or another pony had picked up the dropped weapon. The base of the pedestal was being chipped away fast, and would not last much longer. He had to do something.

****

“Okay Scootie, what do we do now? You’ve been adventuring with Daring before,” Audacity asked. They were standing at the very spot at the base of the grimy underground staircase where daring had been several minutes before. The two ponies had come to a halt, unsure of how to get across. Audacity was an earth pony, and Scootaround’s wings weren’t powerful enough to carry them both across, probably not herself either.

“My nickname isn’t ‘Scootie’. It’s either Scootaround, Scoot, or just ‘kid’,” the filly said with a grimace, “Daring usually flies across these, or if she’s injured she finds something to use her whip on.”

“We don’t have a whip. Maybe we can jump across?”

“Don’t be dumb, that’s crazy,” Scootaround replied with a shake of her head, “No, there’s gotta be some way to get the bridge up.”

She began pacing back and forth around the bottom few steps, looking around. Like Daring had seen when she was there, there were not any levers. There were no buttons either. Or were there?

Scootaround noticed two large columns on the opposite side. On her side they weren’t columns, but more like raised platforms with flat tops. They couldn’t see what was on the tops, so perhaps they should look. She galloped over and gave a hard push off the ground, catching the edge of the raised platform to the left with her front hooves and struggling up.

“What did you find?”

“There’s something here. I bet if there’s enough weight on it, it will sink in.”

Sure enough, the little orange filly was standing on a wide circular depression carved into the stone, and could barely see that there was another on the opposite side. She didn’t know if an adult pony like Audacity would weigh enough to press it down, but she wasn’t heavy enough.

“No good,” muttered Audacity, “It’d pop right back up if we tried to cross. Is there anything around we could rest on it to hold it down? Statue bits, rocks?”

Scootaround struck the ground with her hoof. That was a good idea! It sounded just like the kind of thing Daring would do. She glanced about the area around the platform she was now atop, trying to see what she could use. There were several broken pieces of a column that lay scattered on the rocky ledge to her side, perhaps those would work.

“You get that one, I’ll see about this one,” Audacity called over to the filly, getting himself up onto the opposite platform with a low grunt. Scootaround bit her lip, moving over to the broken chunks and pressing against them with her back hips, trying to push them towards the stone depression. The first one moved rather quickly, and wasn’t that hard to push. Of course, it did not push the depression down much at all, since it was lighter than Scootaround herself.

The next chunk the filly encountered was slightly larger, and much heavier. She pressed against it in the same way she had handled the other, but to no avail. Trying again, Scootaround pressed with her upper hooves. It didn’t budge. She tried her back hooves, giving a solid kick. The rock shifted onto its side, but did not move over very much. There was a small area where the rock leaned up against the earthen wall behind her. She pressed hard against that with her front hooves while kicking hard backwards at the rock. This time it shifted and began to tumble. The filly flopped back down as the rock began moving on its own, tumbling down to the base of the platform and striking the indent.

For a moment it seemed as if the rock would roll past the indent and off the platform entirely, but the depression dropped down suddenly under the weight of the boulder and it struck carved stone instead. Around her, she could see chains being dragged upwards and could hear the creaking of old wooden boards. Scootaround glanced over to where Audacity was, and saw that he had succeeded in getting the broken torso of a statue onto his platform, and with both indentations pressed down the gears had turned enough to raise the bridge.

“Good call Scoot,” Audacity said, landing on the stairs with a clap of his hooves. Scootaround followed, and they both took a moment to consider the old, decrepit-looking bridge. Scootaround didn’t like the looks of it, but Audacity charged on ahead. The filly opened her mouth to say something, but after seeing the boards hold for Audacity she felt she’d be alright. Pegasus fillies were lighter than adult earth ponies, and if Audacity could cross, she could too.

After about six steps onto the bridge, one of her hind hooves went straight through a board, followed by both of her back legs. She felt herself pitch backwards and downwards, and her legs flailed helplessly over the dark chasm.

“Help!” she shouted, grasping the edges of the hole with her front legs. She felt herself slipping, and she shrieked loudly. With a gasp, Audacity saw what was going on and bolted back to help her out. He grabbed onto her slipping front hooves and dragged her up. She felt herself slipping back up through the hole, but splinters dug into her coat and she was suddenly stopped. Her hindquarters wouldn’t budge any further. She was stuck halfway out.

“Ouch, stop pulling, I’m stuck!”

“Oh, this is a problem,” Audacity groaned, “I don’t know what to do now- how can I help you if I can’t pull you out?” Scootaround didn’t have a chance to reply, for a moment later a very angry sounding voice yelled at them both.

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?” shouted a mustard yellow pony in a dirt-smudged gown. Daring looked at them both coldly from the other side of the bridge, eyes widened and brows furrowed in a look of fury. Scootaround gulped. She had never seen Daring that angry before, and she knew that it was partly her fault.

“I can explain, we-” started Audacity, but Daring flew into the air and hovered right above him, eye to eye.

“I don’t even want to hear it. I’m disappointed in you Audacity,” Daring snapped, “You too Scootaround. I gave you specific instruction not to come here!”

“Well, technically you said you couldn’t stop me and-”

“You agreed not to come when you offered to watch her!” Daring retorted, motioning at the filly. She swooped down under the bridge and struck upwards with her hoof, sending Scootaround free, albeit forcefully.

“Both of you, back to the side you came from. NOW. We’re leaving,” She commanded, pointing to the other side. Audacity didn’t budge.

“Can’t, Dr. Do,” Audacity began, but Daring cut him off.

“Dammit Audacity, don’t do this to me,” Daring interjected, “I need to make sure you are both somewhere safe, not down here in this death-trap.”

“It’s not safe up there, not anymore,” Audacity stated. Daring paused, raising an eyebrow.

“Come again?”

“It’s not safe to go back,” Audacity repeated, “That CAP group we talked about before? They’re here, and they’re gonna be coming after us.”

****

The tool shed was very cramped and dark, but it was the best Burly could do for the moment. Guests from the gala were either hunkered down inside or had already left, terrified. He expected that at one point or another some kind of police crew or squad of soldiers would come to put the unrest down. That wasn’t his chief concern at the moment however. Machine gunners and other CAP agents had poured in en masse, and he was cornered in this shed. While he didn’t like hiding, it was his only choice at the moment until the armed rogues stopped looking for him.

The door creaked open, and Burly’s eyes widened. Somepony was coming into the shed, somepony wearing the same kind of clothing as the other raiders. They stepped around in the dark, fumbling to find a light of some kind. It was a vain effort, as the shed had no light source at all. The door swung shut behind the pony, and Burly was aware that he was trapped. No options left.

He did the only thing he could think of. He launched himself at the pony or rather where he believed him to be, striking hard with his hooves in thin air. He brushed against the CAP agent with his side, and the pony struck out at him forcefully. Burly swiveled and struck with the back of his front hoof, bringing the other to bear down on the bruised face of the agent. He cried out and collapsed under the powerful stallion’s blow.

Carefully, Burly opened the door up just a crack, peering out to see where there were ponies still around. He instantly closed the door after hearing the bushes rustle.

Not yet, he thought, Damn do I hate being trapped like this, it’s pathetic.

****

Daring Do, Audacity and Scootaround walked in a very awkward silence. One could tell that Daring was still upset at being disobeyed, but the necessity for them to stick together now had her concerned, perhaps a little fearful. They had gone farther than she had gone past the ledge before she had gone back to see the two. Now in untrodden territory, nopony had any idea what to expect.

The closeness of the tunnel they trotted through forced them to go single file. Daring led the way, followed by Scootaround and then by Audacity. After several minutes of walking through the twists and turns of the tunnel system, they arrived in another chamber, one that was damp yet spacious. It contained the same blueish green look of the previous place, and was perhaps more cavernous feeling. Lines of squarish boxes lined the walls in neat rows, and there appeared to be another level of some kind above the ground that they were now on containing statues on pedestals. There were, however, no stairs of any kind to get up there.

The coursing river rushed through in a chasm that was much shallower than the previous one. The white caps of the water as it flowed and frothed were clearly visible rather than being something far below.

“Well, this is very neat and all,” Audacity said, “but where do we go from here? I don’t see any other paths...”

“On the upper level, see that?” Daring pointed out, “Getting you two up there’s gonna be tricky.”

“What about crossing the river?” Scootaround suggested. Daring frowned and shook her head.

“No, do you see a bridge of any kind?” she said. Scootaround shrugged.

“There are some rocks sticking out of the waterfall.” Indeed there was a waterfall near the far wall of the cavernous area, and water rushed in from above. Small protrusions in the rock formed little ledges. Daring didn’t seemed impressed with the idea, however.

“Absolutely not,” she said, “That’s going to sweep you away like nothing. No, what I’ll do is go up there and toss you two a line. It’s more than four meters up, so you’ll have to stand on something to catch the end.”

“How long is the rope you’re planning on using?” Audacity asked dully. He could see that Daring had no travel bag of any sort with her, much less four meters of rope. Daring raised her eyebrows, and reached into the fabric of her dress with one hoof. To Audacity’s complete surprise, she produced a rather lengthy whip out of nowhere. He stood flabbergasted before Daring explained.

“This bullwhip is my backup plan in case I can’t use my wings. I had it strapped under my waist the whole time, but the dress obscured it. It’s around three and a half meters, so again, you’ll have to stand on something. It’ll be sturdy enough to hold you both one at a time.”

“How do you know?”

“Experience.”

With that, Daring took off, flying up the length of the wall, past the rows of odd looking boxes pressed into spaces in the wall and landed on the upper ledge. She turned to face the two ponies below her, uncoiling the whip.

Audacity glanced to Scootaround. She motioned for him to go first with a jerk of her head. He stood up on his back hooves and pulled at one of the boxes, trying to see if he could step up onto the edge of it. He managed to get a hoofhold, and no sooner had he transferred his weight onto it then it toppled over, out onto the cold stone floor. Audacity was sprawled on the ground, and Scootaround screamed as the contents of the box were spewed out over the floor. Bits of bones and broken rib cages scattered out from what now could be identified as a coffin. The skull bounced off the stone, rolling to a halt right beneath the filly’s hooves. She recoiled instantly, gulping.

“Watch it, will you?” Daring shouted down from her perch, “Those coffins are a bit tipsy. I wouldn’t try putting my weight onto them.”

“Why are there skeletons in these boxes? Why are there coffins down here?” Audacity groaned, kicking part of the broken box shut so he didn’t half to look at what was left of the remains still inside.

“It’s a mausoleum down here as well, apparently. Not too uncommon for those to be underground like this.” Daring called down, “Now try standing on top of the box!”

She leaned back momentarily, waiting for Audacity to get high up enough so that she could toss the end of her whip down to him. For a moment she felt uneasy, and not just because she was down here with both Scootaround and Audacity, and that there was the threat of CAP agents. No, something was amiss. She could hear the muffled sounds of cogs turning, of weights being dropped from within the walls. Something had been activated.

There was a slight twitch in the ceiling above her, as dirt fell down onto her head. Daring gasped as the ceiling above her head came loose, and dropped down suddenly. She sidestepped it just enough to avoid getting crushed by the falling block. It landed with a sudden crash that reverberated around the chamber. Her vision was obscured by the large form. She looked up.

She was cut off from the other two.

The sudden collapse of the ceiling (or was it a specifically designed trap? That was always possible) separated her from Audacity and Scootaround, and she was not pleased at all. Not only that, but it would be blocking their ability to get up to the corridor that ran above the chasm and to the other side.

Daring gave a shout, trying to see if the others could hear her. There was no response. She tried pushing against the stone, hoping it would budge. Surprisingly it did, but instead of opening a path for her it had simply shifted position. The rumbling was back, along with a stange whirring. That was not a good whirring sound.

Daring leaped back as something large and metal dropped down between her and the block. It was a long rod, lined with cutting edges and sharp blades. It rotated slowly, moving in the direction that she would be traveling in. Daring took a step away from it, down the corridor. It moved closer to her, gaining momentum.

Oh no, Daring thought, suddenly realizing the trap she had sprung on herself. There was a noticeable decline from her position to the end of the tunnel, however long that was. This thing was going to pick up speed, and fast.

Daring turned around, galloping away from the spinning blades as they picked up in their velocity. She panted and her heart began pounding in her chest. He dress fluttered behind her, the ends of it getting caught and torn in the fury of the spinning blades that pursued her. Faster and faster they spun, forcing Daring to push herself to run faster to keep ahead of it.

Now at her full pace, Daring was sweating profusely as her hooves beat in rapid succession. The sharp blades were as close as ever as the momentum increased. It was no good - she was inches away from being sliced. Her dress caught once more, but she pressed on, tearing the fabric into ragged bits. Daring stretched her wings and flew through the remainder of the chamber, her hooves alone too slow to match the ever-increasing pace of the blades. With a sudden screech the blades came to a halt, and at that same moment the tunnel ended. Or rather, it went back to being a corridor and turned to the right, opening up a bit into another chamber.

Daring paused at this corner, taking a moment to catch her breath. She was regretting not having brought a canteen with her. There was no view of the chamber she had been in at all. She was cut off from Audacity and Scootaround, and they were trapped on that side of the chasm.

Not concerned with the lost tomb of the old arabian empire, nor with the location of the clues, Daring continued on her way, hoping that she could find a way to loop back and help Scootaround and Audacity. They were her top concern, and she knew there wasn’t a moment to lose.

Unbeknownst to her, there was no way to loop back. Despite her intent, she only proceeded in getting farther and farther from the party she wanted to assist, and closer to the next chamber in this maze of underground structures. Despite what Daring wanted to do, Scootaround and Audacity were on their own.

Chapter 10: Escape from Stalliongrad

Audacity paced back and forth across the floor of the mausoleum chamber, pondering his next move. They had quickly ascertained that Daring was trapped, and that she would likely try to come back for them, but Audacity had his doubts. Why would there be a loop coming back around if the trap was specifically designed to keep ponies from coming down that way? It didn’t make much sense. But by the same logic, they shouldn’t be able to catch up with her by crossing the chasm, unless....

He had an idea. Bracing himself, he suddenly took off running. He leaped off the edge of the ledge on his side and landed smoothly on the surface of a rather slippery rock jutting out of the water. His hoof slipped on the slimy surface, but he had already jumped off again, planting himself down on the opposite side on solid stone.

“Why are you going that way?” Scootaround called over, “Daring said-”

“Who cares what Daring said?” Audacity shot back, “Daring’s stuck over there. I don’t think there’s a direct path to where she is, but this way we’ll be getting closer. I’m sure there’s something we could break like a wall or something to get us on the same track...”

“I don’t know....”

“C’mon, jump over here. Just be careful on that rock.”

****

The doors to the shed flew open suddenly as ponies carrying automatic rifles charged in. Burly gasped, but there was nothing he could do to defend himself. They raised their weapons, and Burly covered his face, expecting bullets to pierce his hide at any moment. They didn’t come however, and when he opened his eyes he was face to face with another stallion, one with a grayish beard and holding a candle in the dark shed.

“Why, if it isn’t Mr. Withers,” Broken Bank declared, “You’ve given us a whole lot of trouble over the years.”

“And you’ve taken a big old shit all over the field of Archeology,” shot back Burly with a gritted smile. Broken Bank growled, and stiffened his lip.

“I have the ability to kill you, you know that?” he returned, “Just one word and these friends of mine will open fire. You’ll be more full of holes than swiss cheese... no, I’ll go further, the legs of a changeling!”

“You could try,” Burly said, “but I doubt you yourself would get out of the city. They’d find my body alright. If you tried to dispose of it rather than leaving it here, then you’ve got the Hoofiet police to deal with. I bet they’re on their way right now.”

“You overestimate the Hoofiets,” smirked Broken Bank, tipping his candle into a lantern that was in the shed and casting a better light onto all of them with the larger flame, “They are very easily bribed, and I know for a fact they’re not on their way to give us any trouble.”

“Now, Mr. Withers, I’m going to tell you exactly what we’re going to do,” continued the stallion, “I have a cart ready, one with a wooden cube rather than an open top. You’re going to go into there, blindfolded, and escorted by my wonderful assistants.”

“Where are we going, CAP’s rollercoaster dreamland?” grumbled Burly, making a snide jab despite his lowly position as a captured hostage.

“Just for that I’ll have you gagged,” shot back Broken Bank, “No, I have another facility in mind. Come along, we must be going.”

Burly felt a gun barrel press into his back rather forcefully. He stood up resignedly, hooves raised in the air. He wouldn’t try to strike them and escape, there were too many guns aimed at him from every direction. He would have to think of something else.

The agents led him out of the shed, and across the courtyard in the cool night’s sky. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that a few ponies were lowering themselves into a hole near the fountain. That was the last thing he saw before he was struck. He felt something dark being tied around his mouth and eyes, and a group of strong hooves kicking him forcefully. He was stuffed into a cramped space, and descended into total darkness.

****

Daring was filthy. She had taken off the torn remains of her dress, and the only accessory with her was the strap around her waist, from which her coiled up whip was attached to on her right side. She also wore the pendant around her neck. Her face was covered in smudges of dirt and scrapes that had started to bleed slightly afflicted her chest.

Yet she kept going. The odd sensation the pendant gave her whenever she noticed it’s presence was back, compelling her onwards. It wanted her to ultimately find the lost tomb as much as she did. It wanted to be returned. She just had to keep going.

The chamber she had come upon was simply filled with bottles, urns and pots. It seemed like a storage room of sorts, though perhaps it was something more. At any rate it wasn’t her destination. She continued past it and into a squarish area that narrowed into a rather wide stone corridor.

Daring continued along for a moment until her hoof struck something. She swore under her breath as the corridor began rumbling. She had foolishly not been watching her step, and in the process set off some other horrific trap. She looked behind her, expecting something like spinning blades or a boulder. There was none. The ceiling was not in any danger of falling. The corridor appeared slightly narrower ahead, but that was the only abnormal thing...

Wait a second. Those walls weren’t that close before.

With a sinking feeling Daring realized what was going on as the walls began rumbling. The sides were contracting ever so slowly, closing in on her. Without missing a beat, Daring took off again at full pace. She thundered down the corridor, seeing a light at the end of the tunnel that indicated a wider chamber. The walls were constricting even more, and with a sudden burst a series of sharp spikes shot out inches behind her back hoof, coming up from the floor. Yet another protruded from the ceiling suddenly, and Daring ducked and rolled to avoid it. She quickened her pace even more. The walls were rubbing up against her now, she barely had any space left. Yet she was so close, just another few yards and she’d be there!

She dove forwards, sliding onto a lichen-encrusted stone floor as the corridor’s walls slammed shut behind her. She felt a jab of pain as she tried to stand, realizing that the tip of her tail had gotten squeezed shut in the stone walls. She pulled on it by trying to step forward, but her tail only stretched painfully. It wasn’t budging.

Left with no other option, Daring took a step backwards to give herself a little bit of slack, and reached her head around behind her. She bit into the very end of her tail, ripping at the hairs still caught in the hopes of cutting them loose from the rest of her tail. She winced as she did so, but it was worth it moments later when she could spit the hairs out and move freely. She had lost very little hair from her tail, but the roots were now slightly sore from being tugged at.

Daring took a moment to take in her surroundings. She was a very large chamber. It almost resembled a temple of some sort, an underground temple. There were pillars constructed to hold the ceiling aloft far above her head. Full-on balconies were fastened around the upper wall and lined the sides of this temple, though in places the stones had fallen of collapsed, leaving noticeable gaps.

At regular intervals there were steer head sculptures protruding from the very highest spots on the side walls, their faces contorted and snorting. Their masterly carved horns swung out in a large arc to the point of looking exaggerated, yet also artistic in a way. Daring looked closely at the steer heads, comparing them to other, similar statues she had seen. It was typical for such statues to be placed inside temples during time of drought or poor harvest. Steers worked on farms alongside some of the stronger stallions, helping to establish crops and work the land. Thus they had become a symbol of the harvest across many ancient nations that were part of this area geographically. Well, not the area encompassing Stalliongrad, but the Arabian zone.

That was undoubtedly where the ponies who built this were from. She could tell from the style of the construction and the odd glyphs carved into the pillars. They were of the same language as the ones she and Scootaround had collected previously. She has spent the week’s time that had elapsed since they had gone to Edgewise’s mansion reading and studying the language. By now she was familiar enough to begin translating, but something made her reluctant to.

She had a feeling she was in the right place. Perhaps the pendant she had around her neck could once again be used to reveal clues, but that was not her chief concern at the moment. She needed to find a way to get back to Audacity and Scootaround first.

****

Soaked and shivering, Scootaround took a moment to wring her cap out, twisting it with her hooves. Water dripped out of it and out onto the already damp stone floor. She shook her mane in an attempt to get some of the wetness out, but it did little to help. Shiver still, she placed her cap back on her head. She had fallen into the water a moment ago when she had been attempting to cross, and Audacity was forced to dive in to fish her out when she had been taken by the current. They were on the top of the ledge by now, but both were completely wet and the cold was much more pronounced.

Audacity looked angry about something, but more at his own recklessness. He took his fedora off and began working the felt with his hooves frustratedly.

“What’s wrong with your hat?”

“Felt got wet. That’s really bad for these hats, they alter their shape,” Audacity answered, shaking his head. He placed his still-dripping hat back atop his head, satisfied with his reshaping for the moment. Expensive and fine as it was, it was his fault for bringing it with him to such a dreadful place. Still, being damp as he was didn’t dampen his spirits. For a stallion who had spent much of his time in the city or in the library, this was the farthest from the norm he had ever been before, and he liked it. He felt fully alive, and in spite of the danger, the dirt and the bruises he felt eager to continue.

For her part, Scootaround was trying to keep the older pony in check. Despite her diminutive size and the fact that she was much younger, the filly felt as if she had more experience at this kind of thing just because she had gone adventuring with Daring in the past. She knew what to expect. As Audacity trotted into a new chamber, she followed and tried her best to evaluate things.

There was no chasm at all. That much was a relief. They were on a balcony of some sort, above a larger chamber. There were large chandeliers suspended from the ceiling by iron chains. Scootaround stepped out onto one of the stone balconies lining the walls, looking down to the floor below. She grimaced as she saw what appeared to be large spikes jutting out of the floor. They lined all of the tiles and completely covered the ground below.

“What do you see?” asked Audacity, looking over the filly’s shoulder. His complexion paled and he gulped as he saw the spikes. Worse yet, in the dim greenish lighting he could still make out the form of broken bones and impaled skulls from years ago.

Across the chamber on the opposite side’s balcony was an opening that led to something different. Undoubtedly it was going to be yet another chamber with a trap of some kind, or perhaps the location of the clue itself. Or both, it could be both. Audacity took a step out onto the balcony, but he was stopped by a filly’s hoof. Scootaround eyed the wall to their left, right next to where Audacity was preparing to step.

“Look,” she said, and Audacity squinted to be able to see in the low lighting. The wall was tiled with stone, and lichen grew out of various cracks and covered the walls completely in places. He could make out small circular holes in the walls that were scattered about at regular intervals all along the balcony’s edge, right up to the point at which it stopped.

“What are those holes?” he asked, not sure what to expect. Scootaround rolled her eyes, tossing a stone out onto the balcony. There were alternating gray and black tiles making up the balcony itself, and as the stone came to rest on one of the darker tiles it sank in by about an inch. With a sudden whoosh, sharp darts whizzed out of the holes and out into the open space, clattering to the floor below. The filly looked back up into the face of the older pony, who gulped. A trickle of sweat ran down his already damp face.

“Poison, do you reckon?” he asked. She shrugged.

“I don’t think it matters. Look, you can’t go willy-nilly off onto things. If I hadn’t stopped you from stepping onto that, you'dve been hit.”

“Listen to you,” Audacity muttered, “Hey, it’s not that bad. I can just step on the gray tiles and not get hit, right?”

As if to demonstrate, Audacity stepped out onto the balcony, pressing his hoof firmly onto the first gray tile. He looked back with a smirk, and continued to move forward. Scootaround rolled her eyes. Between herself and Audacity, the older pony was acting more like a foal than she was. He was too reckless about these things, and lacked the experience. She was beginning to realize why Daring had wanted them to remain back in Equestria: Audacity was a danger to himself in this kind of place simply because of his experience, or lack thereof.

Scootaround followed behind Audacity from a distance, carefully watching where she placed her hooves so as not to accidentally strike a dark tile. Audacity moved forward much quicker, and suddenly he yelped as a dart shot out of the wall. He ducked as fast as he could and the projectile lodged itself into the crown of his hat, sticking out of the side of the felt almost comically. Scootaround couldn’t help but crack up at the close call.

“That’s not funny,” Audacity snapped, “I damn near had a heart attack.” He took his hat off and pulled the dart loose, frowning at the small hole it had punctured in the felt. As he returned the felt to his head he began leaning down, tensing up his back hooves. Scootaround looked at him curiously, wondering what he was up to. She realized with a start as he leaped off the balcony and into the space between the walls, directly over the floor of spikes. He grabbed ahold of the iron chain holding the chandelier aloft, and the great object swung slightly under this new momentum being transferred to it.

“C’mon, Scootaround, this way’s faster!” called Audacity, leaping off the chandelier and onto the opposite side.

****

Daring was startled to see both Audacity and Scootaround tumble down from the upper level down into the chamber she was in. The startled pony took a jump back as they landed on the stone floor with a big THUMP.

“Ouch, you didn’t have to bowl me over like that,” muttered Audacity, “The least you could have done is jump off onto the stone part...”

“You were in the- hey look, Dr. Do!”

Daring stood by and watched them speechlessly. She opened her mouth to try to say something, but was set upon by a filly as she leaped at her in a tight embrace. Scootaround gripped her in a tight hug, and any reprimanding speech she had been about to give was forgotten in a wave of gladness that they had made it this far relatively unscathed.

“You’re all soaking wet,” Daring said finally as Scootaround released her, and she looked up to the hole in the top of the wall they had tumbled through.

“Woah, is this it?” Scootaround asked, just then taking in the magnitude of the temple chamber, with its towering pillars and the stone steer’s heads on the wall and the altar. Despite the weeds and the grass growing up through cracks in the floor, the area was relatively clear of debris.

“Yeah, this is it alright. See the markings?” Daring pointed out, running her hoof along some engravings on the column to her right. It was one of four columns that had glyphs etched into their surface, but she hadn’t set to work translating them yet, having been concerned with finding the other two.

“Hold on, I’ve got the book here,” Audacity said. He dug into his wet bag, and produced something that was wrapped in plastic to prevent it from getting dirty or wet. As it turned out that had been a remarkably useful foresight, and had prevented the book from getting a drop on it at all. Daring was noticeably concerned with the treatment of the book, even though it was wrapped, but she held her tongue.

“I was actually trying to translate from my head. I studied the language a bit,” she said, “but then again, If you have a reference it makes things easier.” Audacity offered the book to her, and Daring took it from his hooves gladly. She stepped around the pillar slowly, eyes moving back and forth between the glyphs and the text in her book. She occasionally had to switch pages, but in a minute she had a working translation of the pillar’s text.

“Do not believe the lies you’ve been told,” she read, “the stories have been twisted. Stories? What stories?”

“This pillar’s marked with a numeral for ‘two’,” called Audacity, pointing to a pillar. Daring moved over to that one, and began translating it actively.

“Ok, so this one says.... hold on,” began Daring, “The sultan was a leader good... no, good leader, my bad. Erm... hold on, I need a second.” She reread a page slowly, taking in the meaning of the different symbols. She did this repeatedly to make sure she was getting the correct definition.

While he was waiting, Audacity began pacing about the temple chamber. He noticed that things were slightly brighter now, and that the dim lighting wasn’t as oppressive. Was it getting close to dawn? Come to think of it, if there was even a dim lighting down here at night time, that meant that there was ways for the surface moonlight to be reflected down. That implied a rather complex series of reflective surfaces, or at the very least a hole that ran from the surface down.

The latter seemed much less likely, as there had been no such holes. Whatever broke the surface was likely a smaller opening and the light was being amplified by mirrors or something. He had studied that kind of thing, it was common in underground places. There had to be vents in the ceiling anyways for air. He thought he could see a few of them looking up, small pricks of slightly lighter areas among the dark stone of the ceiling. Dawn was approaching quicker than he thought.

“Alright, so what I’m getting here is that the ‘false legend’ was propagated by a sorceress,” Daring called over. Audacity and Scootaround looked closely at where she was, standing by the fourth pillar. She had translated each one of them in turn, and had put together a basic meaning.

“It warns that the sorceress was self centered, egotistical, and overall a not-nice mare,” she said, “and that she cursed the King and his family out of jealousy. He was well-liked by his subjects for being benevolent and generous, so she sought to destroy him. Apparently she was scorned.”

“So wait,” Scootaround and Audacity said in chorus. Scootaround shut her mouth, and let Audacity continue.

“You mean to tell me that the whole story of the King’s greed is false?” he gasped, “The spirit who was disguised was the bad one, not the king?”

“That’s what it says,” Daring answered, “but I’m concerned about this ‘curse’ it warns about. Basically, the story as we know it was twisted to make the king look bad to future generations. It was all invented by this sorceress... wait a second, that’s supposed to be male, my bad. Yeah, the sorcerer was jealous or something, so he decided to curse the royals and create chaos in the society, which led to it’s downfall and disappearance.” She paused for a moment.

“You know,” she said, speaking slowly as an idea processed through her mind, “I sometimes wonder about these stories of ancient societies being lost to chaotic rule. It seems to happen once in the history of every great society, they get afflicted with chaos and either overcome it somehow or fall. I wonder if....”

“Didn’t Equestria go through the same thing over a thousand years ago?” Scootaround piped up. Daring nodded.

“Yeah, that’s what I was about to say. Each culture has had it’s own ‘Discord’ moment, so I’m wondering if he just hopped around the world, stirring up trouble across history until the old Alicorn sisters stopped him. Makes you wonder, huh?”

“Intriguing,” said Audacity, “but it doesn’t say anything about the location of the next clue.”

“I think I know why,” Daring commented, “Look at the altar.”

They turned to look at the altar, which seemed slightly brighter than the rest of the chamber. The rising sun’s light was reflected down onto that very spot, and it seemed to be getting illuminated in an eerie glow compared to everything else. The brightening chamber also had a map of the globe carved into the wall, still inaccurate in the western hemisphere but otherwise spot on as a representation of the world. It was massive, spanning the entire wall behind the altar.

Silently, Daring approached the stone cube that was the altar itself. It was shaped perfectly, with tightly cut edges and a smooth surface. The very top of it had a circular indentation and a crystal in the center of it. Daring looked at this curiously, before recognizing the shape. The pendant! The item that plagued her sleeping hours and continued to trouble her spirit! She took it off from around her neck, taking the gold chain off and placing it down into the slot on the altar.

There was a faint hum filling the temple chamber now. It was eerie and rumbling, and it caused the three ponies to look about. Daring backed away from the altar slowly, realizing that it was the source of the noise. The beams of light from the rising sun grew more intense and seemed to focus on the top of the altar, more specifically the spot that the pendant was now fastened to. The brilliant gold item cast an amber sheen on everything, shortly before the light focused in on the emerald in the center.

Daring’s eyes widened as the emerald center began glowing brilliantly, casting another beam of light at a slanted upwards angle towards the map. It landed on the map in a very specific point, in the far north. On that very spot was something else, embedded in the stone. The shaft of brilliant green light grew in intensity, filling the chamber with it and forcing the ponies to squint. The edges of Daring’s mouth turned up in a great smile as the display reached it’s climax, focusing on that very spot with almost blinding intensity. It began fading back down to a single shaft of light that was focused in on the northern spot.

“I know exactly where that’s pointing!” Daring exclaimed, “There’s a city that belonged to the pegasi of old that crashed onto a very high mountain, and got stuck there. I’m willing to bet that that’s the next location! It makes perfect sense, there was a lot of pegasi from all over the globe that collaborated to build that city, thousands of years in the past! It’s pretty massive, too. We haven't even been able to explore all of it yet...”

“So it’s in the frozen north of this continent?” Audacity asked. Daring nodded excitedly, a huge grin on her face. She was in a great mood, she knew where to go next, and there was nothing that could dampen her spirits...

Nothing except the voice she heard next.

“Thank you so much, Daring Do!” came the voice of a mare, a mare Daring recognized and swore under her breath upon hearing. Elise’s voice echoed around the temple chamber from seemingly nowhere. Daring noticed that there were small ventilation holes, just as Audacity had noticed earlier during her translation. Her heart began beating rapidly. Had CAP been listening in on the whole thing? She had expected them to be coming after them down in the chambers, not listening from above them.

“Yes, thank you ever so much for doing the dirty work for us!” Elise called down with a giggle. Daring glowered as she yelled up to the ceiling.

“We’ve been busy containing that brute of a pony, Burly Withers,” she continued.

“Yeah, leave it to you guys to make me do it! Not wanting to get your hooves dirty?”

“No, we simply didn’t want to get trapped down in such a terrible place like yourselves!” cackled Elise’s voice. Daring’s heart sank as she heard the word ‘trapped’. That wasn’t good.

“What, you didn’t know the entrance had been re-sealed? We checked, there’s no way to open it. Even if there was, CAP’s made sure that that fountain isn’t budging anytime soon,” Elise continued, “You know it’s funny Daring. All your life you’ve been digging up old sites and looking for artifacts. Very shortly you will become the very thing you seek- an artifact in an old, forgotten place. Lost to the world! Who knows, maybe somepony years from now will be exploring this area again, and they’ll dig you up!”

“Ha ha ha haaaa....” Daring feigned, “dammit.....”

“Well, I’d love to stay and chat with you, I’m sure life as an artifact must be really interesting, but I’ve got an airship to tend to. Have a nice rest, Daring Do!”

“YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!” shouted Scootaround angrily, before Daring clapped a hoof to her mouth.

“Oh, but we already have!”

With that, the spots of light began vanishing as CAP purposely began plugging the vent holes. Not that they would have done any good anyways, they were too small for an entire pony to fit through. Daring’s mind began racing as she thought of possible ways to get out, but she sat there calmly in the center of the temple chamber. Audacity and Scootaround, on the other hoof, were freaking out.

“This is bad, oh so bad,” jittered Audacity, pacing about in a frantic panic, “We’re trapped, they’ll never find us, Burly’s been captured, nopony else knows where we are, we’ll be dead within the next couple of days from starvation, and then what? And then nothing, no future, no Hooflet performance, nothing!”

“Audacity!” commanded Daring, “Calm down!”

“Sorry, but how can I be calm at a time like this?!”

“Did you say Burly? Burly Withers?” asked Daring, trying to change the subject.

“Yeah, we hired him to take us here. He has a plane waiting at the airfield, but it’s no good to us down here.”

“Huh, I know Burly. Friendly competitors, him and I, though I think there was one expedition where we were working alongside each other. What do you think of him, as an adventurer?”

“H-h-he’s not an archaeologist,” stuttered Audacity, “He’s just a gunslinger. Totally reckless, just like me for coming here. I should never have disobeyed your warning! I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine, get a hold of yourself.”

“It’s hopeless. We’re as good as dead already.”

“For Celestia’s sake, pull yourself together Audacity!”

“Why?”

“We’re not gonna die here,” Daring said calmly, “and as soon as you can control yourself, I’ll explain what we’re gonna do.”

****

The ponies leaped across the chasm of rushing water quickly, using the slippery stones as steps for those who didn’t have wings. They entered the the mausoleum chamber again, which was just a tad lighter in the morning than it had been during the night. Daring quickly set to work, looking at the various coffins and flying about in an almost agitated manner.

“What are you looking for?” Audacity asked, but she shushed him quickly.

“Wait and see, one moment,” Daring called down. She examined the different types of coffins. The ones closer to the ground on the first few rows were boxy and rectangular. This type of coffin seemed to be the most often used form, and was useless to her. She needed a casket of some kind, something with a deep, rounded bottom.

There! Apart from the others was a casket that had its own distinct location to the side. It was a tad larger, deeper, and almost cylindrical. The edges were more ornate, and it no doubt belonged to an elder of some sort instead of a regular pony.

She approached it quickly, overturning it and sliding the skeletal remains out onto the lid. Audacity and Scootaround recoiled, both gasping at the act she had committed.

“Daring, you just....”

“I know, it’s totally against the rules of archaeology. I’d feel worse about re purposing a burial casket like this if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”

She flipped the now-empty base back up the correct way, and positioned herself at the end of it. She stood on her back legs and pushed hard with her front, moving the empty casket from the back of the chamber right up to the edge of the rushing water. Audacity blinked.

“You’re kidding,” he said, “You’re kidding right?”

“Got any better ideas?” Daring asked. Both ponies remained silent.

“Good, now get in.”

Without arguing, both Audacity and Scootaround climbed into the empty casket, grimacing. They seemed uncomfortable getting into something meant to contain dead bodies, but given the circumstances they didn’t complain. Daring heaved, and pushed the casket off the edge and dropped it into the water with a great splash. Daring swooped into the air, coming down to land inside the open casket, which floated on the surface of the rapid moving water with a similar buoyancy to a canoe. It was a tight fit, but it worked.

“Hold on!” Daring called back over the rush of the water. The casket moved quickly out from under the chamber, through a system of caves and tunnels that the river flowed freely through. The ceiling was very low above them, and so the ponies kept their heads as low down as possible. Water splashed up into their faces as they hit a rock jutting out and came back down. It hadn’t damaged the casket.

“This is archaeology?” cried Audacity over the sound of rushing water, whooping with excitement.

“This isn’t archaeology, this is living!” Daring called back, “Whoohoo!”

They exited the underground section of the river, and the rapid-moving water settled as it flowed into the Pollga river. From the center, they could see the city of Stalliongrad in the morning sun on both banks. The casket bobbed up and down slowly in the river’s current. Daring threw her head back and laughed, stretching her legs out and resting her head on the side.

Behind them, the palace shrank away on the left bank as they continued to flow right. Audacity dipped his hooves into the water, splashing some onto his face to wash the smears of grimy dirt off. He then began scooping water past the edge of the casket.

“What are you doing?” asked Scootaround, peering at him curiously.

“Paddling, I suppose. When you push the water past, it makes the boat, I mean the casket, move. See?” He made a sweep with his hoof and the casket turned in the water, towards the shore.

“I’d recommend against putting ashore. It’ll be easier to reach the docks by river,” Daring suggested, “Faster too.”

“Thanks Daring,” Audacity said, “but I’d like to get out of this thing. As fun as going down those rapids were, paddling in a coffin isn’t my idea of a swell time.”

****

Tired and filthy, the three ponies walked up to gates of the airfield. Audacity’s clean chin was now speckled with stubble, and their clothes had a worn-out look to them. They were wrinkled and stained, having been soaking wet and then dried out in the sun. Daring was the only exception, having taken her gown off inside the ruins. Scootaround had wrung her hat out once again, and was otherwise clean. They had taken the chance to wash the dirt and grime off in the water.

“Who are you?” asked a mare wearing a blackish cap on her head.

“Withers, Mr. Burly Withers,” lied Audacity, “I’m here to get my plane up and running. These two are with me.”

“Number?”

“Two two four, six seven,” recited Audacity, recalling the information that Burly had been given.

“Alright, enjoy your flight, Mr. Withers.”

The three trotted out onto the airfield, and sitting on the tarmac was the plane belonging to Burly. They reached it quickly, piling into the squat aircraft. Daring sat in the pilot’s seat, Audacity in the copilot’s seat, and Scootaround in the back. Looking back to make sure the filly was safe, Daring was delighted to see a pith helmet and a pickle-green shirt. She beamed at Audacity for having the foresight to pack it with him.

“Yeah, we thought of everything,” he said with a smug look on his face. He blinked for a moment.

“Everything except Burly getting captured. What do you think they’ve done with him?”

“Well,” started Daring, “I think CAP wouldn’t be stupid enough to murder him. Not yet, anyways. Not in some urban area. No, they've probably got him captive on whatever they’re using to get north.”

“The airship?”

“Who said anything about an airship?”

“That pony did, the one who was taunting you,”

“Elise? Wait, how did CAP manage to get a hold of an airship?”

“My point is,” Audacity stated, “He was the one who knew how to operate this plane. Do you know how?”

“Er... no, not really,” Daring replied sheepishly, “but how hard can it be, right?”

Chapter 11: The Frozen North

Cold air blew around Daring, Scootaround and Audacity as they mounted the hill. The air was frigid and sharp. The wind blowing down the hill blew bits of snow that speckled their rosy cheeks and made them colder. The cold was almost unbearable, and quite unforgiving. Having no extra layers of clothing to provide warmth, Daring knew that it was imperative that they find a source of heat or find insulation, or both.

They had been meaning to touch down at the nearest air strip, only to find out that the northernmost village closest to their destination had nothing of the sort. Instead, Daring had “landed” the plane in a flat area at the base of a rather tall hill. She hoped it wasn’t too badly damaged from the rough landing, but she felt she had done alright for somepony who had never flown an aircraft before. Aerial maneuvering came naturally as a pegasus, but controlling a machine meant to fly had been something much more difficult.

“It’s just at the top of this hill!” Daring assured Scootaround, turning back to encourage the filly with a smile. She saw Audacity a few steps behind, clutching his hat for dear life while his teeth chattered.

“I-i-it’s s-s-so cold!” he stuttered, “h-h-how much further?”

“Up here, we’re almost there!” encouraged Daring. She could already see the rising columns of smoke from the village. It was very lucky for them that it was at the base of the mountain they wanted to climb. Daring’s plan was to set up for the night in an inn or something, and then brave the big mountain the next day with some gear and proper clothing. No doubt they could buy some from the locals, there had to be some kind of overcoat shop in this climate.

“I think I can see it,” Scootaround called out, blinking her eyes in the wind. She had just barely noticed the rising smoke as well.

“When we get there, let me do the talking. We’ll get a room of some kind, in an inn or something,” Daring said, “I’ll handle getting us some supplies, you two stay in the room.”

“I’ll c-c-come and h-h-help you buy s-s-stuff,” chattered Audacity through his teeth, “I h-h-have money.”

“Thanks,” Daring replied, “but I’d like to actually make the errands myself. I can’t say there’s going to be trouble, but then again, I can’t say there won’t be any trouble. We need to be careful if CAP’s also in the area.”

****

Bright orange light from the fire glowed brightly as the day waned away. The skies grew dark outside, but the spirits of the ponies inside grew brighter and brighter. Scootaround was stretched out on the carpet, snoring in the comfortable warmth of the cabin. Audacity placed a log into the center of the flames quickly, and returned to fiddling with his hat. After some drying and re-shaping, he had gotten the styling back into the shape he liked it in: tight front crease, narrow dent down the center of the top, and with deepend side dents. He was a bit fussy about how his hat was styled, it had to be just in the right shape.

The cabin was comfortably small, yet homely. Audacity was glad Daring had been able to negotiate these accommodations for them just outside of the main village square. No doubt she was on her way back now with whatever warm clothing she could purchase. Audacity had given her some of his bits so she didn’t have to settle for the bare minimum. He had felt freezing going from the plane’s clumsy landing site to the village, a hike that wasn’t much more than a mile. He didn’t much care to repeat the experience the following day.

At that moment, Daring swung open the door, and a blast of cold wind blew inside. The pony struggled to lug a pile of clothing in, and toppled it down onto the floor along with a full travel bag. She kicked the door closed behind her and turned to fasten the latch. The sudden commotion had awoken Scootaround from her temporary slumber, and she began poking at the pile Daring had set down on the wooden floorboards.

“Ok, so I’ve got some different garments here,” Daring said, “most of which are wool. Wool’s probably your best bet in cold weather like this anyways, despite being a little itchy.”

“Why’s that? What’s wrong with cotton?” Audacity asked, raising an eyebrow. Daring shook her head sadly.

“C’mon Audacity, I thought you were in the Foal Scouts. You should know this stuff!”

“I didn’t go camping in the winter, because my troop went out southwest on hiking trips instead. What am I missing?”

“Well, cotton’s actually a pretty bad insulator in this kind of weather,” explained Daring, “It’s soft alright, but if it gets wet it’ll stay wet and make you cold. Wool won’t do that. Insulation is the key.”

“Oh,” Audacity remarked, “Ok then.”

“What’s in the bag?” Scootaround asked excitedly, poking at Daring’s travel bag with a hoof.

“Dinner,” Daring stated, “It’s some ingredients to make some sandwiches and warm soup. You can help me if you want, I need somepony to keep an eye on the soup and stir it.”

“Yeah!” Scootaround said, pumping her hoof. She rarely got the chance to help cook.

“What about tomorrow’s provisions?” asked Audacity, flipping open the bag and frowning. There were only supplies to make sandwiches and soup for that night only.

“We’ll cross that hurdle in the morning,” replied Daring, “I’m not so worried about it right now. How were things here while I was out?”

“Fine,” Audacity stated, “Scoots took a nap and I worked on getting my hat back in the right shape. Water is not a hat’s friend.” Daring shook her head, smiling to herself.

“That’s not a good hat to be wearing out in this kind of stuff. It’s a city hat, no really meant for being abused by the elements.”

“What would you suggest?” Audacity asked with a raise of his eyebrows. Daring shrugged, while beginning to slice vegetables on the cutting board that was already inside the cabin near the sink.

“I’ve had this same pith helmet for years, and it hasn’t quit on me yet. It’s been abused in just about every way imaginable: it’s been singed, scorched, buried, shot with arrows, pierced with spear heads, nearly crushed, used as a projectile, ripped, caked with mud, crushed, and it still comes back fighting after a little bit of repair work. I’ve probably replaced just about everything on it piece by piece.”

“Woah,” Audacity reacted, “how does it not just fall apart or deteriorate?”

“Pith helmets are made out of tough stuff. The pith inside them is kind of like a cork of some kind, only a bit tougher and more durable. It’s solid and firm, but not like metal.”

She finished slicing the vegetables, and placed them between slices of bread along with some cheese and lettuce. They were crudely made and definitely not living up to Daring’s reputation of being good at cooking camp food, but it was good enough for the three growling stomachs. Scootaround poured ladle-fulls of tomato soup into separate wooden bowls, and carried them over to the countertop.

“There’s a whole bunch of extra,” she stated, motioning of the pot of soup that was sitting near the fire to stay warm.

“You can probably get seconds for each of us out of what’s left,” Daring said between mouthfuls of her sandwich. The other two ponies grabbed theirs, and bowls of soup. All three were happily chowing down in no time.

After dinner was completed and cleaned up, the three sat around the fire while discussing the day’s events a little bit. The hope was to get a plan together for the next day, but Daring began the conversation by reflecting on what had already occurred.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you two the way I did earlier,” she said, “but I wanted to impress on you that it’s not alright for you to disobey me like that. I had a very good reason for telling you to remain behind, and when you chose to come anyways you nearly got killed.”

“I’m sorry Dr. Do,” Scootaround chimed in.

“It’s alright, kid, I’m past that now.” She added a weak smile for good measure. Her mind was beginning to wander to other things, such as the recurring nightmares she was having about the tomb and the foreboding presence of the pendant. She tried to distract herself through the banter.

“ By the way, what’s the full scoop on how you two got here? Something about hiring Burly?”

“Erm, I sought Burly Withers because he was one of the archaeologists mentioned to me-” Audacity began, before Daring cut him off.

“Stop right there,” she said with a smirk, “did you just call Burly an archaeologist? You know he’s not actually one, right?”

“Alright, ‘freelance treasure seeker’. Anyways, he said he knew you, and that he’d be interested in helping to find the tomb once I explained the story.”

“I do know Burly,” commented Daring, “I saved his back once. We were pinned down by some of Ahuizotl’s predator friends in an alley, and one of them was right about to... well, let’s just say Burly would have met a very grisly end if I hadn’t fought that tiger.”

“You fought a tiger?” exclaimed Audacity in disbelief. Scootaround also wore a shocked expression, though hers was at the notion that one would question whether or not Daring had fought a tiger. Daring Do had done some pretty crazy-sounding things.

“Ayup, got scratched up pretty badly before he was down for the count. Poor beast.”

Audacity laughed. The stories were really beginning to intrigue him, and he made a mental note to ask about more of Daring’s exploits and adventures. Before he asked, however, it was time to shift focus and talk about the following day.

“Alright, so I’ll get up early in the morning to go get supplies for breakfast,” Daring said, “Then as soon as we’re done we need to get going. I have some hat liners, scarves, snow boots for each of your hooves, and overcoats. You’ll want those. It’s not too far to the base of the mountain, but it’s a long climb to even get to the base of the ruins. I’m sure the section we’re after is a bit higher still, in one of the caves. We’ll go in, find the information, and get out. We’ll stay that night here again, then worry about finding burly and getting back to Equestria.”

“What about CAP? What if they’re up on the mountain tomorrow?”

“They’ve probably been up there today looking. They’ll be past the actual area with any luck, and we’ll sneak in and out behind them. They don’t have the pendant, either.”

“Pendant?”

“This thing,” Daring explained, taking the item in question out from around her neck beneath her shirt and showing it to Audacity. The firelight gave the emerald in the center a bit of a glow. Even as she stared at it, the same voice started up in the back of her mind and she felt a cold chill run down her spine.

Return it.

“It’s kind of a key, I guess,” Daring said with a shake of her mane, “works as a part of each area’s puzzle to reveal the next location.”

“And what about Burly? Suppose they bring him up to the mountain?”

“They won’t. He’s locked in a room somewhere here in town, I bet.” She paused for a moment, and added an aside.

“I don’t want either one of you going into the village. I saw two CAP agents already, luckily they didn’t recognize me in my disguise. They’re here in the village alright.”

She sighed. The stress from the previous day and the sleepless night before in Stalliongrad was getting to her. She hadn’t slept at all since setting out to go to the Hoofiet Union, and the fatigue was really getting to her now. Worse yet, she felt almost afraid to lie down to sleep. Ever since she had learned about the pendant’s origin she had been plagued by nightmares and horrific images in her sleep. All she saw in her sleep was death and decay, and the pendant floated before her during all of this. It did and didn’t seem to be the source of all this at the same time. It was trying to draw her onwards, to spur her to bring it back so that it could help somehow.

She saw Audacity nodding off as he sat off to the side in one of the chairs. Scootaround was curled up on the floor in front of the fire, sleeping soundly already. Daring got down onto the warm planks next to her, and closed her eyes reluctantly.

****

At about midday the following day the group had reached the edge of the ruins. They were three fourths of the way up the mountainside, and had been travelling since the wee hours of the morning. In contrast to their first hike, they were more worn from the travel, but were warmer and better equipped to continue. Each pony had their own scarf, boots and overcoat to warm up with. Since it was around midday, they decided to break for lunch.

The ruins began showing themselves as building pieces and broken materials embedded in the mountainside. Old boards and stone corners poked out from the spiraling cliff faces, and the long-buried tops of roofs could be seen poking out from under blankets of snow. What they could see of actual buildings were mostly scattered and in poor repair. They had a very medieval look about them, which was more recent than when the Arabic empire’s pegasus remnants had assimilated into the culture. It had thrived for some time, even into the existence of Equestria.

As she ate wrapped oat bars and drank from a thermos of hot cocoa she had brought to share with the others, Daring thought about where the cave could possibly be. There had been no exact location nor riddling clues given to aid her search, so it had to be totally based on her own conclusions. By her logic, the cave would be disguised inside or beneath another structure. The previous two locations had been like that, and she was sensing a pattern.

If it was beneath a structure, then the structure would have been built by the immigrants to the society, or at the very least descendants of them. After all, if they wanted to hide a secret map room or a bunch of puzzles to unlock a clue leading to the location of their old society (and their leader’s lost tomb) they would not have entrusted the tasks to regular old pegasi. It was a reasonable assumption, and one she believed she could go off of.

“Hey Dr. Do, what’s that?” asked Scootaround, interrupting her train of thoughts. Daring raised her head to glance at where she was pointing, but found her only nudging at the thermos.

“Oh, it has some cocoa. Want some?”

“Yeah!” Scootaround exclaimed, “Yes please!”

Daring poured a cup of the hot liquid into Scootaround’s cup, which was a mug scavenged from an old Equestrian Army mess kit from the Great War era. She had a bunch of surplus supplies from that still kicking around in her gear, most of which retained the black “REAF” initials. (Which stood for Royal Equestrian Armed Forces) Her father had served, and he had given most of his old stuff to her.

The filly gulped down the cocoa in just two gulps, smiling happily with a ring of chocolate around her mouth. Daring shook her head.

“Wipe that off, you look ridiculous,”

“Daring,” Audacity began, crumpling up the paper wrapping from his lunch and tossing it aside on the ground, “I was thinking about where this place might be...”

“So was I, but we’ll talk about it after you pick up your trash.”

“Ah, who cares, it’s just a bit of-”

“I care. This is a set of ruins, not a dumping ground,” Daring insisted, “show a little respect.”

“Fine,” Audacity said with a roll of his eyes. He bent over to scoop the piece of paper wrapping up off the ground and stowed it away in the pocket of his overcoat.

“Ok, so what I think we should do is start looking at the building styles,” Daring said, “the one we’re looking for will stand out. It must’ve been constructed by the arabian empire’s emigrants that came here.”

“Wait, I thought we were looking for caves or something.”

“I’m guessing beneath the structure, or built into the side of the mountain.”

****

Broken Bank stepped beneath the low profile of a doorway, into the building. Or what was left of it anyways. Various items lined the now empty shelves of what appeared to be a storage building, including shovels and wheelbarrows. Nothing of great value.

“Not much in here,” he called, stepping back out. CAP had gotten a head start and was already picking apart the ruins atop the mountainside. Raiding them for valuables was more of a side-mission, but in the process of going through each building they hoped to discover a passage of some kind.

“What about you, did you find anything?”

A group of several CAP agents poked their heads out of the adjacent structure, nodding. They were dressed in red wool jackets to protect against the cold. Broken Bank went inside quickly, wanting to see what it was they had found that could possibly be of value.

Inside the building, which at one time had been a law enforcement building of some kind, was several sets of armor. They weren’t on display, nor were they in any kind of bad condition. Broken Bank looked at them carefully with a large grin on his face.

“This is good,” he said, “Elise is on the ship right now. Radio up to her and have her bring it around. Keep looking once it’s loaded on.”

Overall, the haul had been good so far. Spears, armor, ornate chairs and even chandeliers had been found intact, and the was likely a lot more stuff to raid from these ruins. It was music to his ears. If they were lucky, they would be able to offset their losses from their trip to Stalliongrad and the fiasco with the truck. Broken Bank wasn’t too worried. Daring Do and her cohorts were shut up down in some old mausoleum, trapped. Burly Withers was inside the airship, as his prisoner. Nopony stood in his way now.

“Captain Bank...” crackled the radio strapped to the bearded pony’s chest. He glanced down at it. He was glad to have invested in purchasing these radio sets, though a new and expensive technology it made communication much easier.

“Bank here,” he answered, pressing the button down on the radio set to transmit.

“We have a potential lead on the marker. We’re North of your position, care to investigate?”

“Alright, I’ll be right up in a minute,” Broken Bank answered. He set the radio back into it’s pouch, and spoke to the other agents he was with.

“I’m heading up to check on a possible lead. If anypony tries to mess with our operation, stop them. Use lethal force if possible. Got that?”

“Yes, sir!”

****

Daring was also poking her head inside the remains of buildings from the lost pegasi city. However her actions were purely motivated by a desire to find the marker, rather than to loot the place. So far she had not come across any kind of passage, and not many of the buildings fit the style she was looking for anyways.

Something felt different about these ruins than the others. Perhaps it was the cold climate, but things felt much more... desolate. It wasn’t creepy like the abandoned town was, it was just more... sad.

Audacity and Scootaround were in a building opposite hers, having to maneuver in an odd way due to a rock that had jutted into the side. She decided to go and check in on how they were doing. Stepping back out into the windy cold, Daring walked across the bare snow towards the structure. Though muffled by the wind, Daring heard the sudden sound or a loud crack. The snow by her hoof exploded in a puff as a hot bullet streaked into the ground. Somepony was shooting!

Alarmed, she dashed the remaining distance to the doorway, crouching inside. Still ringing in the air were still more gunshots, firing in rapid succession. Bullets pinged and bounced dangerously off the threshold.

“Who’s shooting?” gulped Scootaround, pressing herself against the wall. Audacity looked angered.

“It must be those CAP ponies. Why, If I had a weapon...”

“Don’t be silly, Audacity, they’d hit you before you’d have the chance,” Daring whispered. She heard another sound crunching through the snow, bearing the unmistakable signature of hooves stepping in the snow. Daring held a hoof to her own mouth and glanced back at the other two, motioning for them to remain absolutely silent.

Quickly, Daring reached one of her front hooves back to her hip. As she did this, the CAP agent came into view in the distance. He (or she, one couldn’t tell with the thick clothing) was glancing quickly from the exterior of one structure to the other. He sometimes rested his gaze on large snow-covered boulders. While he couldn’t see Daring yet, she knew he would look in her building first, having seen her dart across.

A small chipped stone laid on the icy surface of the ground inside the remains of a long lost structure. Daring narrowed her eyes. Kicking the stone in a large arc, she made it strike a haphazardly placed boulder. The snow covering the rock shuddered, and the motion made the CAP agent point his gun to the boulder suddenly. Lunging into motion, Daring uncoiled her whip and made a quick, reaching grab with the end. It wrapped around the muzzle of the gun suddenly with a crack. Daring yanked her end and the weapon flew out of the pony’s hooves as he gasped. The gun clattered to the ground below Daring, and she slid it backwards behind her. She heard a click as Audacity picked it up suddenly, and he moved forwards next to her, leveling the gun at the CAP agent.

“Wait, don’t shoot!”

“Hooves in the air, where I can see them!” shouted Audacity, walking out while holding the gun in place. The CAP agent obliged quickly.

“Please,” he whimpered, “Don’t shoot! I was just following orders!”

“Calm down,” Daring said, “Cooperate and you’ll be fine.”

“Okay...”

Daring circled the stallion slowly, while Audacity kept his weapon raised. She wasn’t much in favor of this kind of barbaric treatment, but there were questions she needed answered, and the safety of her friends were potentially in jeopardy.

“Where’s Burly Withers?” Daring asked in a calm voice.

“I don’t know!”

“Lies, you know where he is,” Audacity asserted, poking the gun’s point in the back of the pony. He seemed to be playing ‘bad cop’, and Daring decided to use this to her advantage.

“Listen, I don’t know where he’s being held! Honest!”

“All I have to do is squeeze this trigger...” growled Audacity, jabbing the gun once more. Daring raised a hoof behind her back to motion to him.

“Alright, so you don’t know,” she said coolly, “but where do you think he might be?”

“I don’t know whether he’s in the airship or if he’s in the village, or if they brought him at all!”

“Airship?!” sputtered Audacity, “Where is the Airship?!”

“Somewhere in the sky. I’m not in charge of it.”

“Oh, sure, you just happen not to know anything,” Audacity mocked. He glanced at Daring’s signal out of the corner of his eye.

“Listen, I’m just an agent hired to move stuff and defend the site. I’m sorry for shooting at you, I was just following orders. I don’t know all of these secrets, only the ponies in charge like Elise or Broken Bank make those decisions!”

“Elise...” Daring murmured, gritting her teeth.

Whatever more interrogation that might have happened was cut short as Scootaround cried out. She had leaned against something on the bare stone wall, and a hidden switch opened up a spiraling stone staircase in the floor. She fell down step by step, bouncing her head and tail and crashing down somewhere far below.

“What the...” Daring stammered. It seemed so random, so out of the blue, yet it had just happened. By a complete and total accident, Scootaround had made a discovery.

“You all right, kid?”

“Dr. Do, come down here, quick!”

Chapter 12: Crystalline Caverns

The wooden floorboards slowly came into focus as the stallion’s head stopped spinning and he came to his senses. His brain ached as he tried to remember what had taken place, and he felt the soreness of forced sedation.

Bits of the previous morning’s events and the events of the night before that filled Burly’s head all of a sudden. Daring Do, Those kids getting him to take them to Stalliongrad, CAP, the gunfight, and then...

He had been taken prisoner. Where had he gone after that? It was hazy to say the least. There had to have been some kind of chemical injection, probably against his will considering the bruises he found himself covered in and the odd sensations he was feeling. He righted himself, bringing his face away from the odd floorboards and looking around the area he found himself in. Things didn’t seem quite right, as if the ground beneath him was somehow not as omnipresent, and things were gently rocking. It took a moment for him to realize that it wasn’t a side-effect he was experiencing, but that the world around him was rocking ever so slightly.

“....Some kind of..... cave.... icy..... keep an eye on our pris......” crackled something, and Burly’s attention was drawn to the source of the noise. He twisted himself around, bound and gagged as he was and unable to move his hooves or form a sentence. He saw some kind of control switchboard, almost like the cockpit of a plane, but much grander in size. Two ponies sat in the room with him, one dressed in a white uniform and flipping controls, and a grayish mare that was stretched out in a luxurious chair, a radio set propped up against the table. It was the source of the crackling voice. Burly’s eyes wandered to the mare herself, and was surprised to make eye contact with her.

“Oh, so you’re awake,” she said, giving a false smile. Burly was already feeling negatively towards this strange pony, and her fake personality wasn’t helping to form any good opinions. In fact, he shot her a glare. He knew full well what this was all about. He was a prisoner, and she was one of the higher-ups in the Coalition group.

“Such a nasty look,” she smiled, “I almost wish I could listen to what kind of crude insults you’d hurl my way. I’m much too busy though. Perhaps you’ll find this interesting. Listen.”

Again, the radio crackled, and Burly strained his ears to pick out some of the words being said. The radio itself was barely older than a decade, and hoofheld radios were even newer. He had never even seen one before, let alone heard it.

“....around, get me something to..... for the tinder....” crackled the radio. Burly listened to the voice, and realized that it was Daring Do speaking. That raised some concerns already. Why was she speaking to CAP agents over in... well, wherever they were. He actually suspected that he was in some kind of large plane, or perhaps a modified airship.

“.... no char cloth left.... should have...” said a new voice, one that sounded just like Scootaround. It occurred to Burly that she wasn’t talking to CAP directly, but seemed to be holding a conversation with Daring herself. How was that possible, for CAP to be able to just go and listen in like that?

“You see, after capturing you, our ponies trapped Ms. Do and her cohorts down inside that dreadful place,” spoke the blonde maned pony next to the radio, “but she must have gotten out. No matter, because she has made herself useful to us. Listen, they’re already making progress. I hope she can interpret the clues aloud as well, that will save us the trouble of having to go after her eventually to snatch the evidence.”

Burly scowled beneath the canvas wrapping covering his mouth. He was a stallion of action, and he was used to doing things. In a tough situation, he would find a way to take action. At the moment, he was tied up, and was being watched. Escape seemed unlikely for now, and admitting defeat was something he hated to do. He would have to wait it out, at least until this mare wasn’t watching his every move. He would break loose then, there had to be a way.

****

“Well, I don’t know,” Daring muttered. She was bent over a pile of ashes at the center of an icy cave. She could see contours running beneath a thick sheet of ice, and she had a hunch that the pile of ashes was really part of a puzzle to grant them deeper access. If she could only ignite them, perhaps a chain reaction or some thawing of the ice would show the way.

The issue was with her inability to start a fire of any sort.

She could make a spark just fine with her flint stone and high-carbon steel striker piece. She discovered just a moment ago that her char cloth (her usual fire starting tinder) was completely out. She had neglected to make more, apparently. There was no powder of any kind, unless she were to slice open one of the bullets in the gun held by Audacity. She didn’t want to do that because the gun was the only thing keeping the CAP agent they had in tow from becoming violent. She knew they could probably take him, but it seemed unnecessary.

“Can’t you just tear off some cloth from a shirt or something?” Scootaround asked.

“No,” explained Daring, “that won’t catch from just a spark. You need something easily ignitable, like char cloth, powder, or even paper.”

“We have some books...”

“No way, those things are priceless,” Audacity interjected quickly, “I think I might have a solution. Scootaround, dig into my pocket and see if that trash is still there.”

While Audacity kept his weapon leveled, Scootaround reached a hoof into his jacket pocket, pulling out a crumpled up piece of paper that was still dry and crinkly. It would light up with a spark just fine.

“That will do nicely,” Daring said with a grin, taking the paper from Scootaround. She dug the spent ashes out of the fire pit, which had a grate beneath it. The idea was that embers would fall through still hot, igniting something below to start the reaction to open... whatever was beyond.

Producing several strips of thin bark and strips of wood from her bag’s pocket, Daring laid them over the crinkly paper. She had stowed some away during the night from the firewood supply. Bending low over the unlit fire, Daring struck at the flint with her steel piece, sending a shower of bright sparks up. She struck once, twice, three times, and then on the fourth one spark landed squarely in the center of the dry paper. The pony leaned in closely, blowing a bit of air onto the spark, strengthening it until it caught. The paper browned, and a small flame developed. It soon spread to the rest of the paper. From there, the flaming paper ignited the strips of wood bark, which began burning. The bark ignited the twigs, and before one knew it the entire pile Daring had arranged in the hole was burning cheerily.

“Here it goes,” Daring said with some excitement. As pieces of the wood burned bright and the already-burned twigs began to form small embers, several fell through the grate below. The reaction didn’t happen immediately, and so each pony was on edge waiting for something to occur.

Then, all of a sudden, something beneath their hooves began to rumble. It started low and far beneath but quickly grew in intensity. Cracks began to form in the ice, from which acrid smoke poured. Chunks fell away as the cracks formed a criss-crossing web and spread up the side of the wall. The falling pieces of ice revealed a crystalline corridor, carefully chiseled and flat on the bottom. Bits of broken and cracked ice slid into the widening trough in the center, as more smoke poured up. Daring waved a hoof in front of her face as her eyes watered. She could hear Scootaround coughing and hacking.

The smoke cleared gradually, making it easier to see the open corridor made of chiseled crystals beyond. The daylight from above sparkled and bounced off the edges, giving it a very clean and white appearance. Scootaround stepped forward, about to take a step towards the corridor when Daring stopped her.

“Hold on a second, I’ll go first to make sure the way is safe.”

“You think it’s booty trapped?” the filly asked.

“Booby trapped you mean,” Daring corrected her, “I think it is. Everything else has been so far.” She tightened her pith helmet down with her hoof before proceeding herself.

“Keep an eye on our guest, Audacity.”

“What do you think I’m doing?”

Daring stepped on the smooth surface of the corridor, only to discover that it branched into two paths not far inside. One led upwards slightly with an incline, to the right. The other path descended. She decided to go right, up the ascending passageway. The walls were slightly more cramped, and she could see that it would soon become impassable to a pony her size. She paused where she was for a moment, examining the walls and the floor. The ground beneath her was shaped oddly, being cut into square tiles of white stone rather than chiseled crystal. It was a minor detail, but one she found concerning. What was even odder was the discoloration. The one she stood on was white, but the hue of the one in front of her was slightly darker. After that, all the others were white.

That had her concerned. Out of curiosity, she stepped onto the tile. The tile sunk down suddenly, and she reared back. Almost immediately a section of the wall that had been ice rather than crystal gave way, and sharp spikes jutted out. Daring ducked underneath the row of spikes and squirmed her way backwards. She raised her head up once more, and gasped. A half-decayed corpse of a pony was impaled by the spikes, and had been revealed when the ice gave way. It was a gruesome sight of rotted flesh and exposed bone, and she had to turn away from the sight. That pony had fallen for the trap, likely centuries earlier.

“Dr. Do, what’s up there?” called Scootaround from below, starting up the corridor.

“Don’t come up here!” Daring shouted down suddenly, and the filly stopped. She backed up slowly, back into the area where they had lit the fire. Daring walked down to the junction again, deciding to take the path to the left instead. The one to the right had to be a decoy.

What surprised her was that part of the wall had been made of ice. It was difficult to discern the chiseled crystal from the chiseled ice with the naked eye. The seams where the ice had been purposely been placed to allow for traps to be placed were barely noticeable. She would have to stay on the alert.

“Follow me, but slowly and carefully,” Daring instructed the other three ponies, “Don’t touch anything.”

****

Burly’s eyes darted to different points on the diagram. He had taken to glancing at the cross-section of the airship when he knew that he could get away with it. He was paying attention to Elise’s actions out of his peripheral vision, not wanting her to notice that he was studying it. Occasionally she would turn, perhaps to look at him. He would relax his eyes and shut them, sometimes rolling his head back and feigning fatigue. Perhaps feigning wasn’t the best term, he didn’t need to pretend to be tired. The canvas covering his mouth had been stretched loose by now and his mouth was exposed, but he didn’t say a word.

The airship had much more space inside the living compartments than he had thought. There was even room for cargo, as well as four small aircraft. The diagram spread out before him on the wall showed all the different access points: ladders, ducts, ramps on the exterior. In his head he mapped possible escape routes from the cockpit. He was willing to bet that the craft were equipped with weapons of some kind, and were already fueled up and ready. If he could get down to the hangar and into one of them, he could be on his way in no time.

Elise shifted in her seat, and Burly resumed his fatigued look, leaning his head forward as if asleep. This time, the mare spoke to him.

“Quite exciting, isn’t it?”

“What?” he growled, saying the first words he had said in a while.

“Haven’t you been listening? The radio!”

Burly tuned his ears in to the radio, listening to the noises blasting over the tinny speaker. He heard grunts, crashes, and a female voice yelling “Go Go GO GO GOGOGOGOGO!” It was Daring and company alright, and they sounded like they were in trouble. There was some kind of scratchy sound that sounded like static. No, that wasn’t static. That was the sound of stone scraping against stone.

“....walls closing in..... MOVE IT!”

“......ot much.... there’s the door....”

What was going on down there?

****

Daring shoved Scootaround under the closing stone doors, less than a meter from the ground. She ducked and rolled under herself, striking the bottom with her head. The pith helmet popped off from her head, and she reached back underneath to pull it back through with seconds to spare.

The four ponies sat in a heap on the other side, absolutely exhausted from the mad dash they had just made. Upon entering the corridor, the crystalline walls had begun to slide in. In addition, the exit had a door that slid shut from above, albeit slowly. Audacity and his captive agent had gone through first, then Scootaround, and finally Daring. Daring had almost not made it at all. Now that they were through, each pony thought of the same thing: what next?

Each of the other locations that had come before were loaded with death traps. The first was mostly destroyed, so perhaps the chamber that had closed them in was the only one left standing. The second had collapsing tunnels as well, and spinning blades! So far this had had more traps than the previous two combined, and Daring was worried that more lie ahead.

She looked up to take in the area they were now in. The walls were cut a little more uniformly out of the rocks, crystals, and ice sheets. They were not as chaotic and jagged as previous. The hall was spacious, and had a dead end. There was no door, no area on the ceiling, no depressions to press down, nothing. What the chamber did contain was a set of troughs, filled with some kind of ignitable black powder. There was a center trough and four branching troughs at equal distances from each other. At the end of the branches were circular grates. The chamber also contained several stone statues of ponies. Each statue was the same shape: a hooded mare with a wild look in her eyes, reared back and with an opened mouth. It was actually a little creepy looking.

“Dr. Do, do you see any way out?” asked Scootaround. She was dusting herself off, and so was Audacity and the CAP agent. Audacity had the gun pointed back at the agent again, though kind of half-heartedly. He knew there was nowhere for the pony to run now.

“Well,” Daring began, “This one looks tricky. I don’t see any kind of door or switch. The floor’s made up of stone tiles, why don’t we look and see if one of them has the answer?”

It was unlikely that a regular old tile would trigger whatever hidden mechanism revealed a passage, and Daring knew it. She hoped that in the process of getting everypony to look carefully, one of them would notice something. As the other ponies set to work, she took a moment to examine the statues. There were four, and two were facing to the right, while two faced to the left.

She turned her attention to the trough. Dipping a hoof into it, she discovered the powder.

That’s it, she thought, that’s significant.

“Daring, I don’t think these tiles do anything,” Audacity called over from the other side of the chamber. Daring nodded.

“Yeah, I think you’re right. Look- flammable powder.”

It was then that she noticed the branching segments, with grates. Four grates in all.

Wait a minute. Four grates, four statues. Daring gasped to herself. That was it!

“What is it?” Scootaround asked, hearing her gasp.

“Get over behind that statue,” Daring said, motioning to one that was about a meter away from the grate that Scootaround stood atop. The filly complied, circling around the great stone form.

“Push it to where you were just standing.”

Daring circled around behind the statue as well, giving the filly some needed help in pushing the heavy statue. It slid across the stone tiles on the floor with some resistance, making a terribly loud grating noise. With a sharp THUNK it stopped, and Daring could push it no more. It somehow became rooted at the bottom once it was over the grate. Interesting.

“The statues go over the grates?” exclaimed Audacity, clapping his hooves together. Daring nodded.

“Everypony, get to a statue. Those two over there go to each of the grates on your side,” Daring ordered. The CAP agent was noticeably unenthusiastic.

“What are you on about? How is moving some stupid statues gonna get us anywhere?” he complained. Audacity glared at the agent, and made a threatening gesture towards his holster.

“Alright, alright, I get it,” he shouted, throwing his hooves into the air in resignation. Audacity smirked.

Daring and Scootaround moved the second statue into place on the left side, while Audacity and the CAP agent struggled. Audacity was able to get his to slide with some effort, and slid it into position shortly thereafter. The agent was still struggling, perhaps on purpose. The remaining three ponies joined him in pushing, and the last of the statues slid over the grate.

The chamber sat in silence for a few moments. Some strained their ears, listening for the tell-tale rumbling of ancient machinery being set off. They heard absolutely nothing.

“Jeez, what good was that?” stammered the agent.

“Quiet, you. Don’t get too talkative,” Audacity jabbed.

Daring bent over the trough, once again producing her flint and steel kit from her bag. Carefully and purposefully she struck the two together. Sparks flew and were quickly extinguished. She tried again, and this time one of the sparks landed in the black powder. The effect was explosive. The powder erupted in flame immediately, causing Scootaround to leap back with a startled shriek. The flames spread through the length of the trough and down each of the four branches, right underneath the statues. There was a pause, then a rumbling sound as each of the statues shook.

“What’s happeni-”

The mouths of each statue became flamethrowers, casting a cascade of fire towards the crystalline walls. The crystals glowed brightly in the orange light, and the sections that were really made of sculpted ice began to lose their form, melting slowly and becoming wet puddles of water on the ground. The flames continued to spit from the mouths of the statues, growing slightly shorter gradually before eventually petering out. What was left in the chamber was a thick cloud of black smoke, great puddles of water, and four coughing ponies.

As the smoke cleared, the contents behind each of the former sheets of ice became apparent. Three had inscriptions in them, one had a passageway. As much as she wanted to go down the passageway immediately, and she was sure the others did as well, Daring felt obliged to examine the inscriptions.

“Audacity, gimme the book for a sec.”

****

“What’s the story behind your hat?” Elise asked, picking the worn-out hat.

“Excuse me?”

“Your hat, what’s the story behind it? Where did it come from?”

“Why would you care?” growled Burly, “All you care about is money.”

“I think you’ll find that most of us are motivated by those gold bits, but not entirely by gold bits alone. Come on, I’m curious to know.”

“That hat,” began Burly with some minor annoyance in his voice, “that hat was given to me around 1912. Around then, only a few years before I went off to war against the Gryphons with all the other young bucks my age. I guess the experience hard-boiled me. I went through a-a stage shortly afterwards...”

“You were a criminal.”

“I had little regard for rules. Anyways, the hat was my trademark. I wore it everywhere, even on afterwards once I decided to come clean and work an honest living recovering artifacts. That hat has been with me around the world.”

Elise nodded. There was static on the radio, and so she continued making small talk. Burly was a bit confused about why she wanted to know about him. Perhaps she needed to know something about his connection with Daring, something she could exploit, to use against her. He suspected that much.

“So you’re a free-lance archaeologist?”

“Not even. Treasure hunter.”

“Grave robber?”

“No, not exactly. If you’re talking digging up coffins to steal the valuables, no. That’s bad.”

“You hesitated though...”

“Well, I have gone into places, sacred sites to long lost cultures, and reclaimed things. Always for institutions or museums. Knowledge is something that’s meant to be shared, not hidden away. That’s my philosophy.”

“A grave robber, essentially.”

“Ugh, no!” stammered Burly.

“You and Daring are alike. You have little regard for long lost cultures and what is sacred to them. You just want to get that paycheck from the acquisition department.”

“You’re wrong!” Burly snapped, fuming.

“Oh?”

“We’re different, but what we have in common is the quest for knowledge. We learn about how the world used to be, and by bringing items back for display, other ponies can too! Besides, I wouldn’t be talking about ‘just wanting a paycheck’ if I were you!”

The last comment seemed to hurt Elise, as she bit her lower lip, not knowing what to say. They sat in silence, not looking at each other for some time. The silence was broken only by hisses of static from the radio, until it crackled and came in more clear.

“....looks like they match.... earlier.....”

“.....wha....but the tex.....”

“....sorcerer’s fault...... king wasn’t actually greedy.....”

That caught Burly’s attention. Daring had found something, some kind of clue! The king wasn’t greedy after all? That meant the tale was false, or warped in order to put a spin on things. What really happened?

“....sorcerer of chaos..... I dunno.....”

“....aybe Discord or.....”

Discord! But of course! It was a well-held theory that Discord had run amok in the world long before Equestria was formed, as each culture had undergone a ‘chaos’ stage at one point, and at different times. Had the disappearance of the old Arabian ponies from millennia ago been caused by Discord?

“...one with thi....go...the next chamber....”

****

The passageway was long and low-ceilinged. Daring wanted to lead the way, but paused before she entered. Intuition and prior experience told her that there was something wrong with the passage. She could clearly see holes in the wall at regular, tight intervals. Every now and then there was a set of mirrors, reflecting a solid beam of light from a hole burrowed through the ceiling. It was getting rather sunny out compared to before, and the light beams stood out against the dim atmosphere. The shaft of light bounced from mirror to mirror in a zig-zag, covering the top half of the corridor in blue brightness. That made her skeptic.

“C’mon, what are you waiting for, move!” said the agent, pushing Daring forcefully from behind. The pony fell into the chamber face first. Her eyes were momentarily blinded as her head cut through the lit area, and she heard a sharp WHOOSH above her head just as she face-planted into the cold, lichen-ridden stone floor. There was a high pitched shriek from Scootaround, and a surprised curse from Audacity. Daring’s eyes were closed tight, and her teeth were clenched. After a moment she opened them, and saw nothing but the stone floor in her face. She knew there was something above her, and so she tried scooching herself backwards. Something tugged at her helmet, not wanting to let go.

“The spikes missed your head by inches, stuck all the way through the helmet though,” called Audacity. Daring then felt a jarring motion as her helmet was wrenched free from her head. The long spikes retracted back into the wall, and the helmet clattered to the floor, punctured all the way through on both sides.

“That’s why you wait for Daring,” Audacity said coldly as the adventuress gather herself together, retreating back into the safety of where the others were.

“Ok,” she started breathing heavily, “did they come out both sides?”

“They overlapped!” Scootaround chimed in. Daring frowned. How were they supposed to get past if stepping on the tiles triggered a reaction? The spikes had jumped out just after she had struck the limestone floor. Unless...

“Let me try something,” Daring mumbled. She bent down low, poking her nose just barely inside the corridor. She lifted a hoof, and placed it down onto the tile she had hit. Applying pressure, she tried to press it down. Nothing happened at all. No whoosh, no spikes.

“That’s odd, the spikes didn’t come out,” Daring wondered, standing up. Her eyes were struck by the bright light from the mirrors, and she covered it quickly. There was a sharp WHOOSH, and she leaped backwards with a startled sound.

“It’s the light,” Scootaround suggested, “The spikes came out when you stuck your head in the light!”

Daring shook herself, blinking as her vision gradually returned to normal. Whatever the mirrors did to act as a sensor when interrupted, it was also harmful to the corneas. There was a big distorted blob of color in the center of her sight that was slowly fading, from when she had looked into the light.

“If you interrupt the beam, it sets off the trap!” Daring pondered a solution. The simplest was obvious: duck under the beam. That was a little hard to do, given how low the ceiling was. Perhaps if they went totally prone and scooted along on their bellies they would have a better chance?

“One question,” Daring asked, “did ALL the spikes jump out, or just the ones closest to me?”

“All of them,” confirmed Audacity. “I think I know what you’re thinking. If one of us hit the light by accident, we’d all be toast.”

“Better to go one by one, yeah,” Daring agreed.

“I’ll go first, I’m smallest.” Scootaround volunteered. Daring shook her head adamantly.

“No, I’m going first. I’d rather stick my neck on the line than any of yours. Here’s the plan: take hats and stuff off, especially you Audacity. That crown is incredibly high. Then, crawl through on your stomach. Keep as low a profile as possible. If just a tiny bit of you interrupts the beams of light and sets off whatever they used to sense it, Whoosh. That’s it. Over like that.”

She took her pith helmet off, bent down and rolled it along the stone floor of the corridor on its side. It came to a halt just shy of the opening to the chamber beyond. Excellent.

As Daring Do got onto her belly, she felt a bit of trepidation. Her heart beat steadily in her chest, but each thump felt like a bass drum being struck. The stakes were high, and the littlest screw-up would mean the end of her life. She was used to that kind of situation, in all her years of dungeon-crawling in pursuit of knowledge, she had risked her life more times than she could remember. Yet each challenge that assumed the possibility of death intimidated her afresh. This was no exception.

Slowly but surely, she began scooting herself forwards. Hoof over hoof she dragged her body along behind, pressed tightly against the cold limestone. Lichen and dirt drenched to form mud after the ice melted stuck to her adventurer’s shirt, and she could hear bit of the fabric tearing. It was of no consequence, and she continued. The spike holes stood by, ready to shoot out at any moment. Despite the cold a drop of sweat rolled off her forehead, landing somewhere on the damp floor.

After what seemed like an eternity of carefully crawling along with only her front hooves, Daring made it to the next chamber. She stood up in the relative safety, scooping her helmet up and placing it crookedly atop her head.

“Alright, next pony! Be very careful!”

****

The next area was grand and spacious compared to the tight, cramped area they had been in before. A sheet of solid ice blocked a squarish passageway into the chamber beyond. There was a definite pattern here, melting ice to reveal places.

As Audacity came through last, Daring set to work looking for a way to melt the ice. The chamber had iron spears lining the wall, but they were more like decoration. Old banners lay tattered, some still hanging in place though the color had faded to nothing. Torch containers lined the wall periodically, though there were no torches inside them. A great pedestal stood in the center, and Daring thought it was a support column at first. The top did not seem to reach the icy ceiling. That was odd, who would put a 20 meter tall pedestal in the middle of this chamber?

On the floor was a circular depression, with veins branching off as if the floor had been cracked. The cracks seemed to branch out in odd directions, but congregated once again by the ice sheet. Perhaps the powder seen in previous chambers was meant to be lit, and it would spread over there to melt the ice?

There was a problem with that idea: there was no powder. There may have been, but the basin was blackened and empty. Used up long ago. Daring furrowed her eyebrows, scanning for something else that was possibly ignitable. The tattered remains of the banners? She took the the air briefly, hovering by one of them. She reached out with a hoof to try to tug one of them down, but recoiled upon touching it. It was slimy, cold, and damp. It wouldn’t light if she tried.

Audacity leaned up against the pillar, resting himself for a moment. He didn’t have the gun trained on the agent, who was cooperating for the most part. He didn’t have anywhere to run anyways. The pillar grumbled and tilted slightly as he leaned on it, causing him to step back in alarm. It was very unstable!

“Wait a second,” Daring noted, “The pillar’s not rooted!”

“Yeah, and that’s really dangerous. Imagine that thing falling on top of you!” Audacity called up to the flying pegasus.

“You’re on to something, Audacity.”

“I am?”

“Yeah, there’s nothing to burn. But the pillar....”

She swooped over to the top, landing neatly on the grimy surface. The chamber’s floors looked much farther below her than she thought. The height was very apparent.

“Out of the way!” called Daring. She pressed her weight forward, guiding the humungous pedestal towards the ice sheet. The three other ponies scrambled out of the way, into the corner on the opposite side.

Daring tried rocking it again. With her assistance it tilted a small bit, but didn’t continue to swing. It simply rested at an awkward angle. She took flight again, circling around to the back. This time she gave the pedestal a swift kick, and down it went. The great for pitched, and toppled over into the wall. It not only shattered the ice sheet with a great crash, it also broke through the stone wall, leaving an incredible gash and a sizeable pile of rubble. Dust and dirt hung in the air, and Scootaround coughed.

“How was that?”

“It got the job done,” Audacity muttered. They climbed up and over the pile of rubble, placing their hooves carefully so as not to cause a shift or collapse. The group slid down the other side, arriving in what appeared to be the final chamber.

There was a hole in the wall on the upper level, where skylight poked through, giving a bright blueish illumination to the entire scene. The balconies were intact, and so was one set of spiraling crystalline steps leading to the upper level. Down on the lower level was a large diamond, perhaps one of the largest diamonds Daring had ever laid eyes on. It was dazzling, beautiful, and somewhat distracting. As the other ogled over the stone, Daring looked at what else was in the chamber.

Two sloped ramps were in the front corners, reaching rather high up the wall before plateauing. At the tops were two chariots. The slopes led down to the center of the chamber, a circular area carved into the stone. At the very front wall was the carved form of an alicorn, hooves outstretched. In the chest of the graceful pony was an empty slot, several meters wide in diameter. Perhaps the diamond was meant to go there?

“It’s so... well polished,” Audacity noted, still examining the diamond.

“It’s pretty!” Scootaround cheered, “I can see my reflection in it!”

“Worth quite a bit, I’m sure of it,” mumbled the CAP agent, “Oh how I wish I could take it with us.”

“It’s not going anywhere, It has a purpose,” Daring said, “look!”

She pointed at the empty slot in the alicorn statue.

“Just the right size for this hefty thing. Anypony want to help me move it?”

All four ponies joined in, pressing hard against the back of the great diamond. It slowly grumbled over the damp floor, grinding to a halt over the circular depression in the center. With a groaning creak the depression sunk down. Daring looked up in alarm as the chariots sprung into action, blades fully extended at the front. They hurtled down the ramp, right towards them.

“Hit the deck!” she yelled, tackling Scootaround as the other two dove out of the way. The chariots crashed together in the very space they had occupied moments before. The blades fixed on them snapped loose, embedding themselves in the cracks between stone tiles. Daring released the filly once things settled, though she was still on edge.

“Alright, let’s try that again,” she said, “Keep your eyes peeled for anything more like that, everypony.”

The diamond was very near to the alicorn statue now, and the next step would be to slide it up and into the slot in the chest. Daring considered how to tackle the problem. None of them was a unicorn, so levitating the object was out. It seemed to slide in from the side that currently faced upwards. They would have to lift from the bottom, then flip.

“On the count of three,” Audacity counted off, making eye contact with the other three ponies gathered around.

“One, Two, THREE!”

With a grunt, Daring lifted as hard as she could. Everypony had a contorted look to their face as they struggled to lift the huge diamond. Audacity’s face flushed red and his eyes seemed to be bulging out. Daring gritted her teeth and tried to get beneath it and push up. With shaky starts and stops the diamond progressively was tipped up and onto the correct side, aligned with the hole, and slid into place. There was a collective sigh of relief and relaxed shoulders once the diamond held. The ponies watched as the statue of the alicorn shook and rumbled. The arms lifted, revealing a semicircular hidden chamber behind the statue, connected at each side. One could enter under one arm and exit out from another. What was more, there was an unlit torch. Daring gladly set to work to light this, casting a reddish glow on the stone with the flame’s light.

“Look, here’s more text, and a map,” she noted. The map was just of the Arabian Peninsula, with a spot located clearly on the edge of the sea. There was text engraved below it as well. A great deal of text.

“Hold on, let me get the book,” Audacity said as he dug around for the large volume. He flipped it open, holding the book up to the light of the torch so that Daring could read. He too focused on the words. Even little Scootaround was tightly grouped with the others. In fact, just about everypony was trying to crowd into the side-room except the CAP agent, who simply stood off to the side, fumbling with some squarish object hanging off his belt loop.

“The legend to regard... to see I guess.... the legend to watch? No, to know. I think,” Daring murmured she began translating.

“Read on a bit.”

“...lies in the shadow of the oasis. Heed the warnings left by .... by something. This symbol is odd...”

“I think it’s ancestor,” suggested Audacity, “Look on page 304.”

“So you’re right,” Daring said after glancing at the page, “Heed the warnings left by ancestors, that the curse may not recur. Avarice brings about..... brings about a terrible fate for the rapacious souls that visit the lost city.”

“Wait a second, so it’s saying that if you’re greedy, then the curse will affect you?” Audacity wondered skeptically, “I know plenty of greedy ponies, and they’re not cursed.”

“No, I think it means that there’s some kind of curse on the remains of the society. The warnings, well, we haven’t encountered warnings yet. It’s telling us to be on the lookout for warnings, to keep ourselves safe... at least that’s how I interpret it.”

“Wait, what does ‘av- av-a-rice’ mean?” asked Scootaround, having to sound the word out slowly.

“Desire to have material possessions,” Audacity answered, “pretty much concentrated greed.”

“But I thought the king wasn’t greedy after all? Isn’t that what it said in the mausoleum in Stalliongrad?” the filly wondered.

“Yeah,” Daring said, “I wonder that too. It doesn’t have to mean he was greedy though, despite what the story says. It’s saying that something bad happens if you visit with those intentions. I think.”

“Wait a second...” Audacity started, looking suddenly very upset. Daring was about to ask what was the matter, but then she heard it. It was a terrible high pitched squeal, like somepony in agony. The sound was cut short by a sharp mechanical hiss, and a choking sound. Then there was silence.

“I’ll check it out,” Daring said grimly. She exited the side chamber, heading for the low passageway they had entered through, from which the terrible noises had come. The CAP agent was nowhere to be seen at all. She hurried along quickly, reaching the opening and peering down the chamber to see a grisly sight. Daring recoiled from the sight of such gruesome carnage instantly, and perhaps it is best not to describe exactly what she saw.

“Dr. Do? What happened to him?” called Scootaround.

“Oh sweet celestia...” Daring muttered, backing up into the larger chamber and wrenching her eyes away from the terrible scene.

“What happened?” Audacity asked this time, approaching Daring.

“Don’t go over there,” she stated simply, “it’s not pretty.”

“What happened to him?”

“He tried to make a run for it or something. Figured he could regroup with the other CAP cronies. Didn’t make it far.”

They trotted back over to the alicorn statue, where Scootaround was sitting, fiddling around with some kind of grey box.

“What is that?” Audacity asked, “it looks like a radio.”

Daring was about to speak when the radio itself interrupted her. Scootaround cried out and dropped the speaking box hastily.

“A two-way radio, as a matter of fact,” said the voice, unmistakably that of Elise Stiflehock. Daring Do gritted her teeth angrily upon hearing her voice. She picked the radio up with one of her free hooves, and spoke into it while holding the transmission switch down with her over hoof.

“Have you been listening in the whole time?!”

“Why yes, and I commend you on your translation. I heard everything. I even wrote it down, want to hear it?”

“You don’t have the location, though!” Daring retorted confidently, “No location, no finding the final clue.”

“Oh no, I have the location, edge of the Thoroughbred Sea. That narrows things down a little bit. You see, our agent picked up on that detail and relayed it before making his escape. I’m surprised you let him get away. With any luck he’ll be out before you.”

“You’ll be disappointed then, he’s met a grisly end I’m afraid. Didn’t watch out for the spikes.”

“Aww, that’s a shame.”

Audacity took the radio, speaking into it heatedly and forcefully. His temper had reached a boiling point listening to this mare’s snide commentary.

“Listen, what do you want with us?!”

“Mister Audacity, I assure you that we want little to do with you at all,” Elise stated with a shrill giggle. Audacity fumed.

“However, your... group, or what-have-you, you ponies have willfully destroyed our property, and even murdered several of our employees. That’s more than enough reason for us to detain you. The way we see it, you folks are downright dangerous.”

“Detain us? Yeah right,” Daring laughed. She motioned for Audacity and Scootaround to make for the stairs.

“We’ll see who gets the last laugh,” Elise said coldly. The radio went silent. Daring’s heart sunk. She had something prepared for them. Was she hoping to get through to them inside this chamber, only to kidnap them?

“Let’s get out of here, fast,” she suggested. She felt that something was very wrong as the three remaining ponies sprinted up the stone steps on the side of the chamber, and rounded the corner of the balcony to exit through the relatively small opening near the ceiling.

Daring caught a faceful of snow on her way out, and shook the cold stuff out of her face with a shiver.

“Let’s get down the hill fast. I’m sure we can hunker down in the village before they figure out where...”

CLICK

A gun snapped sharply as an agent loaded a round into her chamber. Several other identical clicks echoed around them. Daring’s eyes widened as she took a look at the six armed agents surrounding them, dressed in wool jackets and black hats and toting automatic rifles. She moved quickly to shelter Scootaround behind her, and Audacity reached for the gun he had taken earlier. The CAP agents moved in quickly, causing him to promptly drop the weapon and raise his hooves in the air.

“Dr. Daring Do, archaeologist and adventuress extraordinaire,” came a voice, belonging to Broken Bank. The older stallion paced behind his line of armed agents, smirking from beneath his tightly wrapped scarf.

“You can’t do this!” Audacity shot at him. This caused Broken Bank simply to tilt his head back and laugh.

“I think you’ll find that I can.”

“But I’m an Equestrian!”

“Shut up,” one of the agents growled, poking the muzzle of his gun right between Audacity’s eyeballs. The pony gulped, eyes crossing as he stared down the barrel of the gun.

“Daring Do, there is proof that some of my agents were murdered by a member of your little group here. I know what you’re going to say, ‘he shot first’, but the only evidence available is bullets found inside a corpse back in Stalliongrad and a matching set found on Mr. Withers. I think you’ll find that it’s more than sufficient reason for me to detain you, all of you, until we return to Equestria.”

“The charges are monstrous and outright lies!” Daring retorted.

“Tell it to somepony who cares,” chuckled Broken Bank, “Besides, I have a treasure to find, and this way we’ll be able to keep you out of the way. I’m only a few steps from greatness. The world will know that Broken Bank put the clues together, and discovered the remains of Lost Arabia! There’s no way I’m going to allow you to spoil my moment of glory, Daring Do.”

The Airship descended low enough for a set of steps to descend. The gigantic blimp filled Daring’s field of vision and a grayish mare stepped out to greet them with a deceitful grin on her face. Even Daring let out a low growl this time upon seeing Elise.

“Withers is in his cell, and there’s plenty of space for these three. Shall I take them there, Captain?”

Chapter 13: Zeppelin Escape

The iron doors of the cell slid shut with a metallic click. The guardspony walked back and forth slowly in front of the cell, jingling her keys. All was quiet for a minute. The four ponies huddled into the two cells had been told not to talk or make noise at all... or else.

Daring sat in the same cell as Scootaround, while Burly was shut up in the same cells as Audacity, right next to the one containing Daring. She couldn’t see through the wall dividing the two cells in the brig, but hearing the others would be no problem at all. They just had to wait for the guard to pay a little less close attention.

For almost an hour they sat in cold silence, hearing the rumble of the ship around them and little else. The guard contented herself to sitting down in a chair on the other side of the brig. For a while she watched the prisoners, then after perhaps ten minutes of watching them sit idly she decided to read the newspaper.

Burly thought of the layout of the airship based off the diagram he had seen. The brig was near the very bottom, adjacent to the hangar bay where the four support craft were stored. The entry to the bay was actually a level higher though, and that meant ascending and ducking through a series of corridors even if they could get the iron bars off. He wasn’t sure if there was scaffolding on the outside or access ladders close enough to the brig’s emergency exit.

The ponies took a bit of a nap as the journey continued. As time dragged on even the guard drew tired of watching them in silence. She took out a record player and popped on some slow classical music. She had a book entitled Of Mice and Mares that she was reading by now, and was totally engrossed in the story. Now was their chance to communicate under the cover of the music and the guard’s relative ignorance.

“Psst.... Daring?”

“Yes Audacity?”

“What’s your plan?”

“Uhh.... I’ll get back to you when I have one.”

Daring was well known for making her plans up on the spot, but at the moment she was at a loss. There was a set of keys on a desk beside the guard, but they were far out of reach, and even if they had something to reach with it would disturb the guard.

Scootaround’s floppy cap came off as the filly searched for her tool that she kept underneath the brim. She reached underneath and produced a wiry instrument she had kept from her days on the street, before Daring had taken her under her wing. It was a lockpick.

A smile came across Daring’s face as the filly stood up, leaving the cap on the floor and attempting to reach out the door with the lock pick. It almost seemed too easy that she just happened to keep the tool with her.

“What are you doing?!” exclaimed a voice. A pair of hooves clasped themselves around Scootaround’s hoof, which she had stuck out through the bars to try to pick the lock with. The lockpick was wrenched from her hooves by the guard and hastily slapped down on the desk next to the actual keys. Scootaround shuffled back deeper into the cell once she was released, plopping her cap back down over her grayish brown mane.

“Nice try,” whispered Burly from the cell next to theirs, “but that was a little too obvious. You’ve got to be sneakier.”

They paused for a moment, remaining quiet for several minutes as the record was flipped by the guard and the other side began playing.

“Any ideas, anypony?”

“We could wait until they have to feed us, and then jump them,” suggested Audacity. Both Burly and Daring seemed to disagree.

“That seems a bit too reckless,” Daring whispered.

“They’re armed,” chimed in Burly.

“Oh, ok...”

More time passed. The records changed several times, and the guard occupied her time reading various books and magazines in an attempt to keep busy. As things dragged on, her countenance drew tired. Her eyes blinked slowly. She yawned as she flipped the pages. It was not long before she had drifted off entirely, head hanging down over the pages of her book.

With the mare asleep, the prisoners were much more open to whispering to each other. A problem presented itself in that there was no conceivable way to get out of the cell now that Scootaround had had her tools taken away. A meter stick was propped up against a table beyond the metal bars of Audacity’s cell next to a saw. A wooden bench was propped upside down on top of the table as the glue dried. Apparently the brig had been used as a temporary wood shop as there had been no prisoners before them.

Audacity stretched his hoof out, straining to make it reach the bottom of the meter stick. If he could get it to fall over and allow him to move it, he might have a chance at knocking the saw off from the table and towards their cell. He could almost reach it.

Audacity’s stretched hoof bumped into the bottom of the meter stick, and he tried pushing it off balance to get it to fall in his direction. Much to his disdain the object toppled over and clattered noisily to the floor even farther way. There was a collective sharp intake of breath as the sound caused the guard to stir, but a moment later she was as deeply asleep as before.

“Alright, I have an idea,” Burly whispered.

“Do tell,” Daring whispered back.

“You see that paneling above your head?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s covering up an unfinished feature they wanted to install. They never completed the ducts to the brig, that’s why it’s so stuffy in here.”

There was a moment of silence as everypony processed what had just been said.

“How do you know this, exactly?” Audacity asked quietly.

“I took a look at the diagrams in the cockpit while Elise had me tied up there. It showed the ducts all right, but with a big old black line drawn in last minute once they covered them up. Some kind of note about not having the right fan.”

“I’ll do it,” Scootaround volunteered. Daring blinked at her.

“Do what?”

“Crawl up the vent, isn’t that what you guys are talking about?”

“Kid,” Burly whispered from the other side of the wall, “We didn’t say anything about crawling up there. It’s pretty skinny for starters....”

“I’m pretty small...”

“...and it also leads to the outside of the ship, right below the balloon.”

“I bet I could find a way to get back inside. Aren’t there ladders on the side?”

“Well, I suppose, but...”

“Scootaround, are you sure you want to do this?”

“It looks like the only way out of here.”

****

The paneling tore off rather easily, revealing the metallic finish of the duct. Even on Daring’s shoulders as the adventuress stood on her hind legs, Scootaround didn’t quite reach. She could barely reach the lip of the opening.

“New plan,” Daring said, flapping her wings to gain a little bit of height. The boost closed the gap quickly, and Scootaround jumped up into the dark air vent with a resonant clang.

“Try not to make a whole lot of noise,” Daring whispered, “Good luck Scoots!”

The filly reached a horizontal level and soon became stuck on the inside of the vent. Her flank was just slightly wider than the width of the very thin duct. In frustration she squirmed and wiggled, struggling to move forward. Though it took quite a bit of effort and several exasperated groans, she began to make progress.

From the horizontal section, Scootaround came to a vertical slant that went downwards to the right. Scrunching her legs in as close as possible to her sides, the small pony tried to slide down with some success. The metallic walls slid by with ease as she coasted to a stop in one final horizontal section, now much lower than when she had started.

“Whoah!” Scootaround yelped as she stopped herself from sliding any farther, as she realized that the ducts ended suddenly before her. She felt the chilling breeze of the high-altitude air rush past her, nipping at her cheeks. She tightened her worn-out hat down over her head to keep it from blowing off as she climbed out of the duct and fell the two meters distance between herself and the platform below.

“Ooft!”

The filly brushed herself off and looked around. She tried not to glance down at the ground below her, or lack thereof. All she could see was clouds, in fact the cloud coverage was so thick that it made seeing what was ahead of her on the scaffolding a difficult task. It was almost like being in a rolling, thick fog.

She walked ahead slowly and carefully. There was only a metal grate below her, and no hoof rails or anything lining the sides. She completed the next portion rather quickly as she came to a ladder along the side of the dirigible that would bring her up another level, where there was an open port window. Hoof over hoof, she lifted herself up the freezing steel ladder. The wind swept around her with a howl, sending her mane flapping and threatening to sweep her hat away. Scootaround reached the higher surface, and now that she had use of her front hooves she re-tightened her cap.

The filly squeezed her way through the tiny opening of the window, small in size and circular in shape. As she popped out into the interior of the Airship she took a moment to regain her bearings. Since she had climbed a level on the ladder, she would have to descend a level to reach the brig. No, she had descended from the brig to reach the outside in the first place, so the brig was on her level. Or was it actually a level below her since she had first needed to travel up through the ceiling of the brig to get into the ducts?

Lost and confused, the filly quietly snuck down the riveted corridor with a furtive expression. She would need to keep on the lookout for crew or other CAP agents as she tried to locate the brig. There was a double door to her right, and since it was the only one that didn’t require her to lift a noisy latch to enter, she took it. Quietly and quickly she pushed to doors open and slid in unobtrusively.

“I cannae believe this. I thought I told you to use-a something with the pasta for lunch so we wouldn’t-a have all this excess!” cried a voice from the room Scootaround entered. A big pony with a whitish coat and a very dark black mane rounded the corner, holding a saucepan filled with a bubbling liquid.

“What’s-a this!?” he said with a very thick accent. Scootaround winced, certain that he had seen her. She waited for him to grab her angrily, but he did not. Peeking from under her hoof, she saw that he was examining some kind of list printed out on paper and pasted to the wall. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Scootaround found the nearest set of shelves and moved behind several bulky bags of flour to remain hidden. She was in the airship’s kitchen. No doubt the chef was preparing some kind of meal to serve to the crew later.

“Why would the captain serve a pasta dish now and not get rid of the frozen goods? It won’t-a keep in the warmer temperatures so well.”

“Just serve the frozen stuff,” said a second voice, belonging to a mare somewhere else with a very scratchy throat. She sounded like she needed to clear it badly.

“Well I guess. The captain might-a get upset for messing up her menu plans,”

“She won’t care too much. She doesn’t even pay attention to what the crew eats, since she has her own customized menu. Her and Broken Bank, her boss.”

“I’ve-a never talked to Mr. Bank, actually. I know he’s the big one in charge of everything around here, though.”

Scootaround slowly began making her way towards a rolling cart that had a long cloth covering the top and drooping down over the sides, long enough to cover the lower shelf. When she saw that the coast was clear as the chef began slicing onions, she darted out and hid inside the bottom of the cart.

“Ack, these onions-a make me cry. Stromboli, get-a me some of that frozen custard out of the freezer!”

“Right away Chef!”

A few minutes passed as the sound of chopping, dicing and scooping mixed with the kitchen ambience. Scootaround was kind of impatient to get moving, as she had to get to the others ASAP and dawdling in the kitchen was a waste of precious time. She was almost ready to come out from beneath the cart and make a break for it when it suddenly went into motion.

“I’ve got the salad bar stuff going out to the dining room, be right back,” a strange voice called. Scootaround felt the cart jostle beneath her, bumping up and down as it went from the smooth tiled floor of the kitchen to the rougher wooden floor of the airship’s dining hall. The sub-cook who had rolled the cart out remained only for a moment to unload materials, and then left to re-enter the kitchen, leaving Scootaround alone.

The filly exited from beneath the cart, looking around at the dining hall. It was less of a dining hall and more of a cramped mess. There wasn’t too much room for a big expensive room on a ship that was meant to house about forty or fifty tomb raiders and thieves combined. It wasn’t any commercial ship or luxury yacht.

Through the other door she flew quickly, coming to a set of branching paths in an empty corridor. She could tell why there were so few ponies out and about: the corridors were absolutely freezing. She started shivering on the spot, her breath becoming visible. Perhaps it was the altitude or the climate. The filly quickly moved towards a set of stairs leading downwards, and sure enough there was the brig, clearly labeled in stenciled letters.

Scootaround opened the door quietly, not wanting to make a sound to disturb the guard that was currently asleep. She tip-hoofed into the room, shutting the door behind her. With a grunt, the mare sitting in her chair let out a terribly loud snore. The effect would have been more comical had the stakes not been so high for the filly. She quickly went to the small table to the mare’s side, scooping up her own unlocking tool and slipping it up underneath her cap’s brim. She took the actual keys and got to work. Daring gave her a gratified grin as the lock clicked and the door swung free. Moments later the two stallions were also free.

“Good work, kid,” Daring said, rumpling the top of Scootaround’s head. She looked over to Burly Withers for a moment, non verbally asking for direction. If he had studied the maps of this dirigible, then he would know the best route to take from here.

“Out the door,” he mouthed, sidestepping Daring and opening up the door to the brig. He didn’t use very much care and swung it open casually, resulting in a terribly loud squeak. Everypony winced as they heard it, and their hearts leaped as the guard’s eyes shot wide open.

“Go, go, go!” Daring hurriedly chanted. The two stallions and Scootaround left through the open door quickly as the guard leaped to her hooves.

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE-” she began to shriek, but Daring was quick to clap a hoof to her mouth, silencing her. The guard struggled, pushing Daring from her and sending her toppling down onto the table. It collapsed under her weight and sent objects and papers flying.

“I’m calling backup!” the mare stammered, flipping a red switch next to her. With a jolt, alarms began sounding and lights in the hallway began flashing red. Daring rushed at her, attacking at the legs and bringing the guard to the floor. With a quick motion she picked her struggling form up off the ground and hurled her into the cell, slamming the bars shut with a great clang.

Rushing out the door, Daring caught sight of Audacity, Scootaround and Burly rounding a corner. They had to hurry now that the entire ship knew they had escaped. She galloped quickly down the cold corridor, catching up behind the others. The blaring alarms hurt her ears and she could hear the chaotic commotion above their heads on the upper corridor as ponies began rushing around to try and find them.

“Just through here!” Burly called, having to yell over the sound of the alarm’s wail to be heard. He punched the door open with a hoof, and the four of them spilled out into the wide area of the cargo bay, which also served as the hangar. The area was split into two levels, an upper level that they were now on and a lower level. The lower level was more wide and open and connected to the upper balcony-like area by a set of ladders. A wide door showed where the bay opened to the outside, and there were also four smaller doors on the sides of the lover level. There were few to no ponies down there yet, though there was one operating a crane lift on their own level, which had a piano attached to the end of a great hook over the cargo bay. With a quick jab to the chin Burly sent him down to the floor.

“Where are the planes?” Daring asked, looking around. She saw no aircraft of any kind, just a bunch of crates, empty dollies and a piano suspended in midair from the utility crane.

“Side areas. Notice the four doors? We need somepony to operate the release from up here while the other three drag them out.”

“You guys are all bigger and stronger, you should pull,” suggested the filly. Daring nodded.

“How does it work, though? What does she have to do?” Audacity wondered. Burly went over to the panel that the unconscious pony had been standing at a moment earlier.

“This operates that crane I think. See the stick? Up and down moves it forward and back, left and right moves it left and right. The lever raises and lowers it. Huh, nothing about the bay doors,” he noted.

“Over here, “ Daring called from not too far away. She was looking at a panel on the side of the wall, with five buttons. One for each of the plane bay doors, and one for the main door of the hangar. They were appropriately labeled.

“Excellent,” Burly said, “I’ll give you a shout from down there when I need the doors opened up. You good, kid?”

“Yup.”

The other three ponies descended the ladders with very quick movements, spreading out along the lower level and congregating down by plane bay #1.

“Open her up!” called Burly. Scootaround looked up to the panel above her, which was a little too high for her to reach. There was a button labeled “1”, so she jumped up and pressed the button above her. There was a buzz and a click, and the door slid upwards down in the main cargo area. It revealed a two-seater biplane, one seat for the pilot and a back seat for a machine gun operator. They must have been leftovers from the Great War a few decades ago. Working together, the three adult ponies pulled the craft out and into the center of the cargo bay.

“There’s four of us, and two seats. Better get a second one,” Daring called out. Scootaround reached up and pressed the button labeled “2”.

At that moment, several angry yells could be heard down in the main cargo bay. A set of lower doors opened up, and a group of three armed agents approached, guns drawn and pointed at the three escapees.

“Stop right there, hooves where I can see them!” one of them called out. Scootaround pressed herself against the door of the upper level, noticing a latch that would lock it from the inside. She slid it closed, not wanting more to come from her level. She also kept quiet as she moved to the shadows, not wanting to be seen.

“What, so you thought it would be that easy to get away?” the leader of the armed group sneered, “You thought you could just get up and walk out? Steal our planes and fly off? I think not!”

“It’s not right for you guys to be holding us in the first place!” Daring called back angrily, but a cock of the gun and a more intense aim at her head made her clam up quickly.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion! Now, be a good pony and come with us. We’ll be keeping a very close eye on you this ti-”

With a terrible chord a great piano swung sideways into the group of armed ponies, knocking them over and sending them tumbling over each other like bowling pins. Their weapons left them, clattering to the floor and going off with a loud BANG. As several tried to regain themselves and pick up their weapons the piano swung back around, this time slamming them up against the side wall with a loud crunch and another jarring chord from the musical equipment. They did not get up.

“Thanks kid!” called Daring. Scootround gave them a whoop from behind the crane controls, and they got back to work preparing the second plane. It took another few minutes to get both crafts situated to face outwards and evenly, but once they were ready Scootaround pressed the largest of the door operation buttons, exposing the cargo bay to the rush of cold wind, snowflakes, and crisp air of the outside.

“Get down here!” Daring called, “We’re going!”

Though Daring was perfectly capable of flying on her own without the use of a plane, Scootaround was not, and both Burly and Audacity were flightless. With two planes, they could keep together and fly south, landing somewhere hospitable until they could figure out how to get to the deserts. Scootaround climbed into the back seat of Daring’s plane. Audacity got the gunner’s seat of Burly’s plane, and after a start of the engines both planes left the cargo bay simultaneously, just as another group of angry CAP agents and crew members came in.

The air was frigid and cold, but spirits were high as the great zeppelin disappeared behind them, shrinking smaller and smaller and gradually becoming obscured by a coverage of clouds.

“Whoo hoo, great job everypony!” Daring called over the radios that linked the two planes. Her voice was crackly and intermittent with static, but the message went through.

“Where to now?” Burly’s voice inquired.

“There’s a sizable city further south from where I think we are. I think we’re just north of Shetland at this point. We can put down there, probably an hour’s flight from here.”

****

For perhaps an entire half hour they flew uneventfully past clouds and over the frigid sea. Land was in sight ahead, just over the horizon. They would be there sooner than expected.

“So what are we gonna do once we get to Shetland?” Scootaround asked.

“Well,” Daring began, “I don’t know about you, but I need a shower. I feel all gross and icky. A nap would be good, too. Though I think we should make our stay brief and be out in the morning on our way south.”

“What’s the rush?” Audacity’s voice came through the radio. Daring looked at it curiously. She had forgotten that it had been turned on.

“Don’t you remember? The Coalition’s got a bearing on the last marker as well. They’ll already have a head start as it is. We can’t afford to spend more than a single night,” Daring answered. She heard some kind of low rumbling behind her.

“You hungry?” she said, looking back to Scootaround.

“Yeah, a bit. I hope we can get something to eat once we land.”

“I just heard your tummy growl.”

“My tummy wasn’t growling.”

As soon as she finished her sentence, the rumbling came back. Daring listened again. It was a low rumbling mixed with some kind of faint buzz, almost like a distant swarm of bees. She saw two black points far behind them, in the clouds.

Growing larger.

“Scootaround, quick! My bag’s back there with you, see if you can’t find my binoculars and tell me what those planes behind us look like.”

The filly fumbled around inside Daring’s canvas bag, an old bag that had at one time housed a gas mask for a soldier but now had been repurposed as a stuffsack for odds and ends. One of the many objects inside was a pair of binoculars. The filly placed them to her own eyes, twisting the dial to focus in on the approaching craft.

“Tannish color. Biplanes, two of them. Just like the ones we’re in. Wait a second...”

“What?”

“They are the same ones we’re in. They have the letters CAP on the side, just like ours.”

“Ah.... shit...”

“Bad language,” the filly reminded Daring.

“This is bad,” Daring said with a frown.

“What is it?” came Burly’s voice through the radio.

“Two more CAP planes on our tails. They’re closing in quickly.”

“Alright. We’re close to Shetland, maybe we can land before they-” began Audacity, but he was interrupted by a loud sound of bullets whizzing past and clipping the edge of the wing. There was no significant damage, but it scared the living daylights out of everypony.

“WOAH WOAH WOAH, THEY’RE SHOOTING!” Audacity exclaimed.

“Audacity, Scootaround, return fire!” called Burly over the radio.

The biplane containing Burly and Audacity swooped to the left while Daring’s craft went right. The two planes went in opposite directions in hopes that they would split the attention of the two bilanes following them.

“Seven o’ clock!” called Daring loudly over the roar of their engines and the rapid rattle of gunfire whizzing through the air.

“It’s not Seven o’ clock, it’s barely 5:30!” Scootaround called back.

“No! The plane’s directions are like a clock! Twelve, three, six, nine... seven o’ clock, FIRE!!!”

The filly turned the oversized gun mounted in her seat around, focusing in on the biplane that was following them. They were much closer now, and she could actually see the pilot bearing down on them. She squeezed the trigger down with a hoof, and the gun began firing off rounds in rapid succession. The motion was deafening and also rattled the entire seat she was in, leaving the filly somewhat shaken. The plane swooped overhead and out of her firing line.

“You’re gonna have to aim better than that. Clip their wings or the tail! Three o’ clock!”

Scootaround swung her weight sideways and the turret swiveled in its socket, turning to face the other direction. The enemy plane was mid-turn, returning for another run at them. She fixated her sights on their right wing and squeezed the trigger down.

RATATATATATATATAT

She followed the motion of the plane, and there was a burst of smoke from the wing she had been aiming at. She stopped for a moment to watch, but the plane swung sideways. A burst of gunfire came at them from the other plane, raking across their underbelly and sending sparks flying. A trail of smoke was now pouring from their own plane as well, which became a little jerky.

“Daring, you guys are hit!” called Burly’s voice, yelling over the mic. The sounds of Audacity yelling and firing off rounds was audible in the background.

“We got clipped underneath. How bad is it?”

“You’ll be ok for now. Look out, they’re coming back for another run!”

“Scootaround, eleven o’clock! Fire!”

The filly swung herself around once more, firing in an arc and managing to catch the side of the CAP plane, puncturing it with holes and causing another burst of flame, followed by a trail of smoke. The other plane were losing altitude fast, but before they began their inevitable downwards spiral a few shots raked across Daring’s plane, striking the rudder and vertical stabilizer. It was ripped completely apart, and their plane jolted.

“They got us in the tail!”

“Hold on, we’re gonna have to land real soon!”

“Huh?”

“We’re gonna crash!”

The plane began diving down fast and uncontrollably. Daring attempted to stabilize the craft as best she could, but it hurtled downwards towards the rocky cliffs of the coastline. She couldn’t get the controls to work in time, there was no way they could pull up in time.

Leaping out of the cockpit, Daring twisted herself back and grabbed Scootaround with her hooves. The filly latched onto the bag she carried with her as Daring spread her wings and took to the skies. Below them the now-empty plane collided with the rocks, exploding in a fiery fireball and sending shrapnel soaring. Daring sped up to avoid being struck. She swiftly circled back to take them to the dry land above the cliffs, swooping down and setting Scootaround down in a dry field of grass overlooking the vista of the seas. They had landed in northern Shetland.

Daring collapsed on the grass herself, looking up to the skies as the plane that had been firing at them fell hobbled its way back towards its home base, crippled and barely able to remain aloft. A single plane circled around where she had last seen Audacity and Burly. She motioned to Scootaround for the binoculars, which the filly pulled out from Daring’s bag.

Looking through the device and focusing, Daring was able to see a yellowish pony in the back and a blueish pony in the front, both wearing wide-brimmed tall crown hats of varying levels of distress. Audacity and Burly Withers had made it out alive.

“They made it!” Daring said with a relief. Scootaround pumped her hoof and got up from the grass.

“Where are we?”

“Probably a farmer’s field. I see the remains of crops not too far away. I think Burly’s gonna put down on the road, we’d better go up there to meet them. From there, we can walk.”

“And then?”

“And then, a shower, some sleep, and we’ll be on our way tomorrow.”

Chapter 14: Marketplace Madness

Daring Do unpacked a crisp shirt out of her suitcase. With some help from Audacity’s cash and connections through Dusty Shelves they had been able to score a nice little hotel in a city by the coast. According to what evidence they had obtained, it should be rather close to the marker. Indeed some of the locals had stories of some ruins that they had been told not to venture near as children outside the city limits and to the north. It was Daring’s intention to go there that very afternoon.

“Hey, has anypony seen my razor blade?” a voice called from the restroom. Daring rummaged through the suitcase. There wasn’t a razor blade, but there was some shaving cream. Not that that was any good.

“Sorry Audacity... no can do,” she called back. Burly happened to be awake at that moment, and tipped his hat up from his position in the corner or the room sprawled out in a chair.

“Audacity, just let it stay there. Live a little, keep the scruffy chin.”

Daring was trying to focus. She wanted to make a run to the marketplace and pick up some supplies she was lacking. Despite them having gotten her bag loaded with the bare minimum off the zeppelin safely, her stuff she had brought to Stalliongrad had been left behind and had not gone with them to the north. All she had was her whip, helmet, shirts and bag. She needed to get a replacement canteen, as well as a new journal to write notes in. She was having a hard time keeping track of little details all in her head.

Even as she ran through a shopping list for the marketplace, Daring thought back to the conversation she had had with Dusty Shelves over the telephone in Shetland. He had some interesting developments for her that was slowly starting to warp how she wanted to approach the task of finding the lost king’s tomb as well as dealing with CAP.

“Daring I’m so glad you’re still alive and well,” he had said, “Have I got the juicy tidbits for you!” Of course, she had been intrigued and had wanted him to continue.

“It turns out that there is no such pony as ‘Elise Stiflehock’. Not surprising, given her odd name. It always struck me as unusual for a name like ‘Elise’ to come first. Those are usually middle names... but I digress. No, that was an alias. We can’t seem to find out where she’s really been living since that incident in ‘34, nor do we know if she’s had any other names.”

They had gone on and on about the Coalition and how corrupt it was, Dusty being shocked by some of the experiences Daring had relayed to him. He was ready to report the organization to the federal authorities then and there. The conversation had gradually digressed from CAP and it’s dealings with street gangs and shady crime rings around the world to the nature of the quest itself.

“I’ve been talking to some of my scholarly buddies, and they’re ecstatic over the idea that we could be on the verge of discovering a pre-Arabian empire, lost from history for millennia. The prospect has them all jumping to go and document the sites you’ve visited in the Black Forest and over in Stalliongrad. Of course, the big prize is the remains of the actual empire and the King’s tomb. What’s your progress?”

Daring had explained that she was on the verge of discovering the location of the tomb itself.

“That’s excellent! Great great! Though I think we should make it perfectly clear that your job is to document and explore the tomb and the ruins, not to take stuff away. I know it’s your specialty to recover individual artifacts, but this is important. It must not be meddled with and artifacts must not be removed until we can organize a full expedition”

Daring slung the strap over her waist that held her whip to her side, then slid her shirt up and over it. It was a great way to conceal the whip’s presence and allow her to roam about with it by her side. She clipped the coiled weapon to it’s holster quietly, and got to work fixing the liner inside her pith helmet.

“Daring, can you pick up razor blade when you go to market?” Audacity asked, stepping out of the room’s bathroom while scratching the scraggly growth on his chin.

“No. I’ve got my own list to get. If you want to come with me you can though,”

“Where are you going, Dr. Do?” Scootaround asked, yawning. She had been sleeping on the balcony porch, which had a wonderful view of the surrounding city and it’s white clay buildings spread out into the distance.

“Market, I’ll be back in a while. Stay here. Burly’s in charge.”

****

Audacity trotted a short distance behind the mare, trailing her through the crowded, bustling streets of the marketplace. It was outdoors in the center of the city, with vendors standing around with tents, carts, and other temporary shops selling everything from fruit to clothing to souvenirs. Some of the more well-established shops were bordered on actual buildings constructed out of stone and clay, and had shopfronts tended by the children of the shop keeps themselves. A variety of ponies could be seen milling about, and even a few camels who craned their longer necks to see up over the crowd.

“Daring, what’s the name of this city anyhow?” Audacity asked. Daring was half-listening, running through her own mental checklist of what she needed to buy for food and supplies. She didn’t respond to him until he asked again.

“Earth to Daring, where are we exactly?”

“Er... I don’t actually know. The sign says Al-Souq over there...”

“That means ‘the market’. That’s just saying whereabouts in town we are,”

“I don’t know,” Daring admitted, “I think I’d remember if this place wasn’t so confusing at the moment.” She was right. One could hardly hear themselves think over the din of the crowd going about their activities. In the distance a pony sitting down in the sandy roads played a song on a woodwind instrument of some kind. The tune sounded oddly familiar to Audacity, and he moved closer, away from Daring to check it out.

“Excuse me, sir, could you play that song again?” he asked. From across the street Daring shot him a disapproving look, but he stood by and listened as the old pony picked up his instrument and played again. Audacity listened and cracked a grin as the familiar melody came out of the end. He nodded his head from side to side, following the flow of the tune. The musician’s pace was a little bit off, and his tempo picked up even more than the normal flow of the song required. Despite this, it was unmistakably the most famous part of the song 1812 Overture by Tchaikhoofsky.

“Huh, how about that. How do you know that song?” Audacity inquired after the musician had finished.

“Very famous. Many ask,” was his simple reply. He probably didn’t know very much of the language, so he spoke in broken sentences to communicate to Audacity.

“Great, great, well thank you, it sounded very good,” Audacity said, dropping a couple of bits into an upturned fez sitting next to the musician. He grinned a toothy smile at Audacity as he left to go back to where Daring was waiting.

“Great, isn’t he?” Audacity asked Daring. The pony rolled her eyes.

“I don’t have a problem with charity or anything...” Daring murmured, “but we’re not here to go and check out every performer we pass. It’s a waste of time and money, we’ve got important work to do today and we need to get a move on.”

“Alright, alright, sheesh.”

The pair maneuvered through a heavy-traffic area of town, having to squeeze through a packed crowd that was lined up to various stands selling produce and bread.

“I need to grab some food for the others,” Daring leaned over to say to Audacity, “go and see if that shop over behind us has some kind of razor blade but do it fast.”

****

As Daring and Audacity did their shopping, a threat brewed not too far from their spot. In the shadows a few ponies pointed to Daring , whispering among themselves.

“Is that the one?”

“Yeah, it is.”

A grayish mare stepped in front of the group of cloaked stallions, looking at each of them in turn.

“It’s time,” she stated, “remember what we discussed.”

****

“I wasn’t able to find any razors at all,” Audacity complained. Daring was up next in line at the melon stand, and he stood idly by her. He had the brim of his fedora pulled down over his eyes to protect against the glaring sun of midday. Daring had positioned the brim of her pith helmet similarly.

“I don’t know about where you can find some,” Daring said to Audacity. She picked up a melon and was satisfied with the size of it. The vendor motioned for payment, and she placed several bits onto the wooden counter top of the fruit stand. It wasn’t quite enough, as the vendor made a shaking motion with her hooves. Daring turned towards Audacity to ask for some spare change, and her face paled.

“What is-”

“DUCK!” she yelled, and Audacity threw himself to the ground just as a sword sliced through the air. Daring bolted into action, hurling the melon into the face of the cloaked stallion wielding the sword. The vendor began to yell in protest, but not before the stallion armed with a sword righted himself, wiping the fruit guts off from his brownish cloak.

“Get out of here, Audacity! It’s a street gang!” Daring yelled, shoving the aggressor up against a stone wall before he could draw his weapon again. He promptly dropped the sword as it was swooped up by Audacity. He ran off around the corner with it as several more ponies sprang out of the crowd, drawing swords and pursuing him.

Audacity turned around sharply as he saw more cloaked ponies rushing from the opposite end. He was trapped in the middle of a crowded marketplace, with armed ponies on either side of him. The closest one attacked, swiping at his midsection. Audacity brought his stolen blade to counter, and the steel struck steel with a loud clanking sound. With another swipe the attacker tried to get at him again, and this time Audacity countered slightly too late, losing balance and being forced to the ground. As the attacker tried to stab at him he kicked sand up into his face, causing him to reel back

Audacity regained himself and turned to run just as a pony from the other group of cloaked attackers struck at him. He ducked under the sweeping blade and returned with a counterstrike. The two blades locked together for a moment

He shoved his weight against the attacker, throwing him off balance and allowing him to jump out of the way of the next attack, bolting down a side street. Now both approaching groups of attackers converged into one, chasing him down a sand-swept side street

****

Daring was thrown violently to the ground as the cloaked stallion struck her with his front hooves. He snarled and jumped at her, but she lifted her back legs and kicked hard. The stallion was thrown back this time, collapsing on the ground and wheezing.

Daring ran out and around the corner, into a wider open section of the market where rugs were being sold. A thick mob of ponies were gathered, but as Daring approached they split away from her suddenly. At another point in the same area about ten yards away the ponies split up, forming a circle and a wide open center in which Daring stood opposite from a black-cloaked stallion. It was almost like a fight arena. As the stallion drew a sword Daring gulped. It WAS a fight arena, and there was the challenger!

The stallion had a scar running across his left eye and had a rather pale complexion, though most of his face was hidden behind a hood. He swung his sword threateningly, taking a few steps towards Daring. She grimaced, realizing she did not have a sword of her own to defend herself with. Audacity had taken the other one.

A piercing battle cry echoed through the air as the cloaked warrior charged. Daring thought fast and drew her whip, bringing it up in a lightning-fast motion and cracking it midair. The whip cracked right in front of the charging fighter, making him stop the charge short and back off for a moment in a defensive posture. They circled each other for a moment as the surrounding crowd cheered on with a chant. It must have been like a ring match, only much more deadly.

Daring went on the offensive, lashing out with the drawn whip and cracking it towards the pale stallion. He swatted at the dangerous whip’s end with the end of his sword. His teeth were gritted, and Daring could have sworn she heard a low growl.

He lunged again. Daring swung the whip horizontally, catching the drawn blade by the handle clutched in the pony’s hooves. She tugged at it to try to wrench the weapon from the attacker’s hooves, but he resisted. The whip’s end released suddenly, sooner than expected and Daring fell back onto the sandy ground with a plume of dust around her.

Sensing the opportunity to strike, the stallion cried out and rushed at the defenseless Daring, plunging his sword downwards in an attempt to stab through the mare’s throat. Daring rolled sideways and the blade barely missed her, slicing off part of her mane and embedding itself in the cracked, sandy soil.

Daring tugged and pulled, freeing herself but also ripping tufts of black mane hair. The assassin pulled at his sword, but Daring was quick with a sideways smack to the jaw with her front hoof, lunging in with a punch and then bringing it back the other way in a backwards smack. The assassin was taken aback and momentarily stunned, so she repeated the motion, only harder. After having struck the pony’s jaw four consecutive times she finished by digging the back of her leg’s joint into his forehead. Witch a gargled gasp he fell back, bleeding from the mouth and nose and collapsing on the ground, clutching his bloodied face.

Daring seized the chance, pulling at the sword dug into the soil. It came free and she almost tumbled back. Steadying herself, the pony hung on to the sword as she tore off down the sandy streets. She needed to find out where Audacity was, and if he was alright.

****

“Hya!” grunted Audacity, striking sword against sword against his opposition. He had taken the time to actually learn how to fence to make the duel in Hooflet seem more realistic, and it was paying off. He was able to effectively block, parry, beat, and counter attack. This was no Gaitspeare play though. This was real. Unlike the play, if he got hit it would kill for real.

The swordspony lunged at him and he moved to block, but the lunge had merely been a feint, tricking him into leaving his left side exposed. The sword swept around and Audacity leaped backwards to avoid being stabbed, sweeping his blade to force his opponent to counter.

The pony Audacity was fighting became more aggressive, striking faster and harder. Try as he might, Audacity couldn’t keep up with the mounted onslaught of sword strikes. They locked swords with a loud clank, and suddenly he found himself thrown backwards, spread on his back in the sand.

Audacity was quick to try to get back onto his hooves, but was met with a sword pointed right at his jugular. His eyes widened as he stared up into the eyes of his soon-to-be killer. He had a fixed glare staring right into Audacity’s eyes. He smiled, and opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He just stood there, mouth open. A trickle of red blood began to ooze out of the attacker’s mouth as his eyes rolled back into his skull. Another sword had pierced him and was poking out through the front of his chest.

The corspe slumped to the side, blood mixing into the sand. Above where he had stood was a golden yellow mare with a very sweaty face.

“How many were chasing you?” Daring asked, helping Audacity back up onto his hooves.

“I dunno. A lot. I have no clue where the others went...”

“They might be anywhere,”

Almost on cue, four different ponies came from each direction of the sandswept market road, surrounding Daring and audacity both, swords drawn. The two ponies were now helplessly stuck, surrounded and outnumbered.

“Drop your weapons,” called one of the assassins, “we won’t kill.”

“Yeah, right,” Audacity snapped, “Your buddy just tried to do me in!”

“The boss wants to speak to you,” the assassin said, “come with me.”

Daring and Audacity exchanged glances quickly. It would be best to do as they said.

****

They were led through the streets and to a rather obscure restaurant with outdoor seating. It was almost like a cafe, nice and open. It was relatively empty, and there were several tables that did not have anypony sitting at them at all. The one that they were forced to sit down at was occupied however. The smug gray mare on the other side grinned at Daring and Audacity both in turn.

“Dr. Daring Do, so we meet again.”

“Elise... why I oughta...”

“Not a very wise Idea, I assure you,” Elise said, motioning to the two armed ponies that had remained nearby at other tables.

“Something to drink?” asked a waiter, dressed in a typical vest but sporting a rather thick beard and a fez.

“A bottle of fine grape wine, three glasses,” Elise answered curtly. The waiter stood there for a moment, as if waiting for Daring and Audacity to ask for something when they didn’t, he turned and left back into the main restaurant building.

“Now where was I?” Elise began, “Oh yeah, the pendant.”

“What about the pendant?” Daring asked in a low voice.

“Well, it’s simple really. I want it.”

“Why should I give it to you?”

“Simply because you don’t have a choice. Really Daring, I wish you would embrace the idea of my team going to excavate this site. We’d be much better at it. Broken Bank has a whole team, several hundred ponies with digging tools, vehicles, and bulldozers standing by. All we need is a location to start.”

“You’d bulldoze a whole hillside looking for a china cup,” Daring retorted. Audacity stood by watching the two have at it, not saying a word.

“Come now Daring, it’s not like you don’t want to see the lost empire found and preserved as much as I.”

“Found and preserved, yes,” Daring said, “pillaged and stripmined, no. That’s exactly the kind of treatment you’d give it, don’t lie to me Elise.”

“You know Daring, there was a time I was like you,” Elise said after a brief pause, “We’re not that different. I’m simply a more intense version of yourself. I’m willing to go further to get results.”

“Going further- is that what cutting throats and selling out means nowadays?”

“We are not that much different, I think you’ll find. Granted, you tend to go headstrong into traps and thwart them. I deconstruct them. You sell the items you retrieve to a museum. I sell them to museums and other private buyers. At the core we’re essentially the same; two mares trying to make it in the world, doing whatever it takes.”

“Now you’re getting nasty.”

“You think you’ve fooled me, Daring. Why don’t you get off the high saddle and admit that, at it’s core this version of archaeology you engage in isn’t ethical to begin with. It’s flat-out stealing.”

“Stealing from who? Civilizations that have been extinct for centuries?”

“Your wine,” the waiter said, promptly delivering the wine and three glasses on the table. Elise smirked and began to pour three glasses of the reddish liquid as the waiter departed.

“Dr. Do, wine?”

“No thanks, I don’t drink.”

Elise moved a glass over to Audacity, who eyed it suspiciously and refused to drink it.

“It’s not poisoned,” Elise said to him. Audacity pushed the glass back to her.

“Fine, suit yourself. Boys...”

The two armed ponies stood up, collecting the unused glasses of wine and downing them in one sloppy gulp. They returned to their seats and Elise went back to eyeing Daring with that same hateful grin, sipping at the wine glass every now and then.

“Do you have any idea how big this is? A whole civilization we didn’t even believe existed! This will change history! Imagine being the pony responsible for bringing something as major as that to light! Now tell me you don’t want that, Daring.”

“That’s fine,” Daring said, “But we both know you and your buddies just want to loot the place.”

“All in good time, all in good time,” Elise nodded with a smile, “Now about that pendant of yours... It seems to me that you don’t have a choice.”

“How so?”

“Well, our guys have swords. Either you give us the pendant and we let you live, or they kill you both, and then take the pendant.”

“Sounds like a choice to me,”

“For Celestia’s sake, don’t be thick Daring,” Audacity chimed in. Daring turned her head to look at him with a face that was cold as ice.

“Daring... even given your feelings I’d hate to see you die for something so trivial. I mean, where else would I find an enemy so close to my own level?” Elise said with a slanted frown, pouring more wine for herself.

“You could start with the slime at the bottom of that bottle,” Daring murmured. Elise’s expression sharpened and she tilted her head back.

“Insulting me and making me cross isn’t going to help your case you know,” she snapped, “If anything, it’s rushing my decision! I’ll give you one last chance... Daring, give me the pendant, and I’ll spare your lives.”

“I’m not helping you on your looting spree, so don’t even try.”

“Daring,” Audacity started, sounding worried.

“Very well.... If that’s the way you want it....” Elise said with a stammer. She motioned for the two assasins to stand up. They looked at each other and then to her confusedly, almost as if they weren’t sure how to go about killing them.

Daring saw her chance. With a sudden motion she flipped the table over, pinning Elise down underneath against the sandy soil. The assassins drew their swords on her and Audacity swiftly as Elise began shrieking. Daring grabbed the stool she had been sitting on with both of her front hooves and swung it, slamming the hindquarters-rest into his skull before he could try to dodge it. The assassin fell onto the ground in a slump.

At the same time, the other cried out and rushed at Audacity, who fell backwards trying to get out of the way. He ducked underneath the swing of the sword before Daring landed a swift kick with her back hooves into the assassin's gut. He doubled over, and she followed the kick up with a jab to the back of the head. He too fell down in a heap, unconscious and out like a light.

“Let’s get out of here!” Audacity yelled over Elsie’s shrieks. She was trying to free herself from under the table and failing miserably. Daring nodded, and tore off down the sandy streets, Audacity following close behind.

****

“So you were trying to get her to give the order to kill us? Why?” Audacity asked with a bemused look as they rested behind a corner some distance away.

“They weren’t planning on actually having to do it,” Daring sputtered amid heavy panting. They had run all over the market first before coming to this spot, and she needed some water to cool off.

“Did you see how confused they were?” she breathed after taking a swig of her metal canteen, “They didn’t even have a plan in place, she didn’t tell them what to do in case she did give the order.”

She lent the canteen to Audacity so that he could drink as well. It refreshed their parched throats. Looking out around the corner, Daring could see what looked like a pony dressed in the same robes as the ones that had attacked them earlier, but he or she was some distance away, and not heading in their direction.

“Those ponies in the robes?” Audacity asked, peering over with her.

“Some kind of indigenous gang, maybe even a fraternity. They were all stallions as far as I could tell.”

“Why are they after us?”

“My guess is that the Coalition pulled some strings, made some bribes. Maybe they even put prices on our heads. Did you see the way they called Elise boss?”

“I noticed that too. They’re being paid off for sure....”

Daring blinked. Her pith helmet must’ve been showing or something, or perhaps somepony who had seen them run by had tipped this new wave of assassins off. They gesticulated in their direction and began to gallop rapidly.

They were coming.

“We have to leave, quick!” exclaimed Daring, wheeling about and galloping off down a side alley, Audacity following suit. The pair of them kept close on each other’s back as the streets winded and congested with regular traffic. Ponies pulling cartloads of fruits and vegetables, old stallions and mares sitting on their stoops watching the bustle idly. It slowed them down and drew a lot of attention. After all, it wasn’t everyday that one saw a mare with a battered and sand-blasted pith helmet dart down the street with a younger stallion following in pursuit, much less one that was being pursued by several sword-wielding assassins in broad daylight.

Daring heard a loud crash, and some angry shouting. Looking back, she saw a shopkeep berating an assassin who had knocked over a set of pottery, breaking the merchandise and costing the vendor much money. It was one less that could follow her.

Out from the crowd burst another assassin, much closer than the previous and almost within slashing distance. Daring pressed her hooves down and dug into the sand, sliding to a halt and wheeling to face the assassin. His eyes widened as her face contorted angrily, but at the same time he raised the sword, bringing it to bear as the distance was closed.

With a sudden, swift motion Daring brought the whip up with a thunderous crack, slicing into the fetlocks around the stallion’s hoof. Yelping in pain, he dropped the sword to the ground and collapsed, nursing the bleeding cut the whip’s end had inflicted.

Scooping the sword up and tossing it sideways to Audacity’s waiting hooves, Daring prepared herself for the sight of a brute. Hulking and muscular, this stallion meant business. He stood before them as the ponies lining the street ducked out of the way, once again forming something like an arena in the middle of a dusty marketplace.

The heavyset swordspony possessed a weapon that was heavier, longer, and considerably more dangerous looking than the previous assassins had. Letting out a low growl, he raised his sword level to Audacity’s while squaring off.

“Careful Audacity! He means business!” Daring called out. As she did so, something wrenched at the whip, tearing it off from around her hoof. She went to grab it again but only succeeding in faceplanting into the sand forcefully. The pony she had disarmed was now equipped with her own bullwhip, and stood above her with the weapon slid over his own hoof.

Giving his sword a swing, Audacity tried to fake the brute by feigning right. He then swung left, expecting him to leave that side open. To his surprise the brute’s reflexes were very sharp, and he countered the sweep with a forceful blow to counter. It threw Audacity off balance, and he had to quickly put his guard up on his own exposed shoulder to counter the assassin’s blow. The weapons clanged together, and Audacity found himself awkwardly retreating from this fighter as he was forced to defend against every swing. Unable to get a strike in edgewise, Audacity was forced to be on the defensive constantly.

“Yeowch!” cried Daring as her own whip lashed out at her, striking her shoulder and tearing a hole through the fabric of her shirt and leaving a cut. Dashing at her attacker, she kicked a bunch of sand into his face. He simply jumped to the side, raising the whip and cracking it back down again. It was noisy and dangerous, but he was not skillful at all in the art of whip-cracking. Half of his swings almost ended in him nicking his chin by accident, and his perplexed faces and startled jumps showed it.

Taking advantage of his inexperience, Daring spread her wings and bolted skywards, knowing that he would not be able to strike her from the ground as she looped over his head. The pony raised the whip, but a tad too late as Daring had completed the circle. His face jerked with a blow from her back hooves.

“I’ll take that!” she jeered, slamming her front hooves down and pinning the would-be assassin to the ground. She leaned her head down, headbutting with the top of her helmet. What resulted was a crunching sound and a surely broken nose as the assassin rolled on the ground, clutching at his face as blood spurted out of his nostrils.

Daring slid the whip into her holster again and whirled around to get a bearing on Audacity vs the big brute. Her face paled suddenly as the unmistakable sound of a young stallion screaming out in agony was heard. He dropped to the ground, sobbing and clutching at his own front leg as something red spewed out. His sword lie helplessly on the ground. Above him, the brute was raising his own weapon high, preparing for a downwards thrust into his back, a move that would surely end his life.

“No!” Daring shouted, laying a sucker punch into the brute’s jaw and causing him to drop his own weapon to the ground. The reeling was only temporary as he retaliated in force, uppercutting the mare and knocking her back onto the ground backwards. She felt a tooth chip and her jaw was awfully sore from the blow. Daring peered up, seeing the stallion over her. He grabbed at the cuff of her shirt, picking her up and laying a thick punch into the side of her face. Her back legs were actually lifted off the ground, and she flapped hard to try to free herself from the brutish thug. She was partially successful and gained a bit of loose space, loose space that was promptly employed in striking at his exposed belly.

The effect was immediate. The brute doubled over, and Daring landed another sideways strike to the face as he did so. He fell over backwards, taking the struggling broken-nose assassin (who was attempting to get back up) with him. Daring stood above the two, panting and feeling her heart beat rapidly. When they did not get up, she noted them down for the count.

Turning her attention to Audacity, Daring was immediately concerned. She could see a significant amount of blood spilling out from his leg, and his face was beet red with anguish.

“What happened, where are you hurt?” Daring asked. She could see other ponies that were onlooking start to disperse, some mumbling and murmuring. Many remained staring at what was going on. Audacity was little help to himself, he simply continued to sob.

Daring snapped her head up, looking at the crowd. She searched the unfamiliar faces, looking for somepony with wings. She found a pegasus mare that stood out. She pointed her hoof at the mare and spoke strongly.

“You! Fly and get a doctor! Fast!”

The mare seemed not to understand, cocking her head to one side.

“Doctor!” Daring insisted, making a sign with her hooves clapped to her ears, then placing one on her own heart to indicate a stethoscope. She wasn’t sure exactly what tools the doctors around here used, but the pegasus mare nodded and took to the skies quickly.

“Audacity, can you hear me!?” Daring insisted, rolling him over and spreading his hooves apart. She caught a glimpse of a nasty slash that the brute must have inflicted. It didn’t look fatal, but it would be if he bled out much more. She had to stop the bleeding, and fast.

Daring had no medical tape left in her bag, so she tore her own shirt off. The fabric was dirty and sandy, so she gave it a shake to try to get most of the sediments off. It would have to do for now.

“Audacity, I need to apply pressure. This might hurt, but it will stop the bleeding,” Daring warned the stallion. He nodded, and she pressed the balled up fabric of her shirt down onto his wound. He gasped and winced, biting his lower lip. Daring pressed down strongly to apply pressure on the shirt, holding it firmly to the wound.

“Lift your hoof into the air, if you can get it above your heart it won’t bleed as much. The heart has to work harder to pump blood up,” Daring suggested. Audacity brought himself up to a sitting position, with his back legs on the sandy soil and his affected hoof in the air. Daring helped him raise it, continuing to hold the shirt firmly to his hurt leg.

“Daring!” Audacity stammered with clarity rather suddenly, “Daring, don’t worry about me after the medics come... I’ll have to recover in the... but don’t sit around waiting for me! Go ahead and do whatever you can...” Daring let out a heavy sigh. The afternoon had not gone as planned, and now they were short an ally as he would have to recover elsewhere. She felt the sudden weight and soreness of the various blows she had been dealt, particularly to her jaw.

Chapter 15: The Final Marker

Daring grunted as the slope of the rocky hill increased even further, and her hooves almost slipped. She carried heavy weight on her back, as did the other two ponies behind her. They mounted the hill rather quickly for being bogged down with gear and reached the dry, cracked soil of the plateau soon enough.

It was late afternoon, and as the setting sun beat down the sand acquired an orange glow. The three ponies set to work hurriedly, setting up the canvas tent and a dining fly.

Daring had chosen this location to be their base camp for a number of reasons. First, it was only a short distance from the site containing the ruins of the final marker. Beyond those to the north was a desert oasis. The ruins themselves were not within sight because a large rocky outcrop. That was the second reason: evading detection. Since the Coalition had set up a rather extensive digging operation including a large base camp of their own, internal-combustion machines to dig and much more there was a need to remain hidden and out of sight.

Daring was rather confident that CAP would not see them, and as an added measure of secrecy they had agreed not to make a fire. Though the desert would get awfully cold at night, they had brought warm layers to dress in. Daring had replaced the torn shirt she had used on Audacity with a fresh one, currently underneath a separate jacket.

“What’s the plan?” Burly asked as he sat down in the doorway of his own canvas tent.

“I don’t know yet... now would be a good time to get the details ironed out,” answered Daring. She spread a crumpled piece of paper out and produced a pencil from her jacket pocket, holding it in her teeth.

“What is that for, taking notes?”

“No, We need to map out their camp. Come with me Scootaround, we’ll check it out from that ledge over there.”

“Better hurry,” warned Burly, “The sun’s setting fast.”

****

From her vantage point, Daring and the filly could see the entirety of the site laid out before their eyes. It was located slightly to the south of the oasis, which appeared as a cluster of trees, shrubs and flowing water in the distance. The site itself consisted of a number of hills that were currently being excavated.

Several different digging groups seemed to be focusing on individual sections of the ruins. Scootaround noted that the whole process seemed rather complicated; there were ponies who dug with shovels, ponies with wheelbarrows transporting raw dirt, large vehicles with oversized metal shovels also helped in the digging.

“It looks like there’s an entrance to something up there,” Daring noted, pointing in the direction of a hill that had been mostly dug away. The digging efforts had revealed a threshold of some kind, and a set of great stone doors remained firmly shut. Daring couldn’t make out more detail than that what with all the commotion around the site and the distance she was at.

To the west of the digging area were several sets of military-style tents, arranged in a semicircle. A water tower had been constructed and near to that was a loading area for ponies pulling cartloads of supplies to unload. Daring scribbled down all the detail she could in a crude drawing of the encampment. She was already thinking of ideas of how to approach this, and it was starting to seem easier than she had previously thought.

“What do you think?” Scootaround asked, Daring looked thoughtful for a moment and tapped her chin.

“The approach is gonna be tricky.... I wonder how well guarded it’s gonna be.”

“You can fight your way past guards though, right?”

“Kid... It’s not a matter of fighting one or two guards. If there’s a scuffle the WHOLE camp is gonna come down on us. We’ll be dead in the water.”

“No,” continued Daring, “This has to be totally secretive. Nopony from the CAP group or the local diggers they’ve contracted must know we’re there or the whole thing’s gonna be shot.”

****

The desert cooled down rapidly at night. As she and the others descended the hill, she was glad for her jacket. Several hours had passed. They had listened to the CAP encampment wrap up for the evening at 7:00, and by 9:00 Everypony was partying and in high spirits. Right now it was 10:30, and those who were still awake were contented with staying to their cabins and playing cards. There was not much noise echoing around.

Burly kept his eyes peeled for signs of ambush. He lacked trust in the cover of darkness and knew that silence could be misleading. His only comfort was the revolver at his side on a holster, which he had packed extra munitions for and was already loaded. Hopefully he wouldn’t need to use it; it was a last of last resorts. He knew full well that a gunshot would give them away, but then again if it came to firing guns in the first place, their presence would probably already have been given away.

For Daring’s part, she was covering her own anxieties as well as feeling a little for the filly beside her. In all truth she didn’t like the thought of her tagging along for something this high-stakes, though she didn’t doubt in her usefulness or ability. Her fear was that something bad would happen to Scootaround exclusively, and that she would ultimately be at fault for allowing her to be with her. She was, after all, her guardian.

Daring’s mind also was wrapping around academic approaches to the big picture. Even as she took quiet strides down the rocky slope her mind began wandering, fitting the original (apparently falsified) legend with what they had discovered since. The Empire of Ancient Arabia existed millennia ago, before the proto-civilizations that formed the three pony empires in the west had even formed. There was little to no concrete proof that had existed before this quest had begun, and now they were on the cusp of unearthing something big: the capital city! Was it possible that wherever the marker would lead them next would be the resting place of the last king? Was the resting place inside the capital, as the text had suggested? How did Discord fit into all of this?

That was perhaps the most troubling of all. Discord’s curses were very real to Daring. She had almost become a mindless slave to the chaotic realm herself, after being forcefully inducted into a discipleship by a mad unicorn. Though the actual being known as Discord had been defeated by the princesses of old, traces of his power still lingered. The inscriptions had specifically warned of a terrible curse that affected the greedy and those who desired power. Power and wealth led to corruption, and corruption led to chaos. It was easy to see how it could have fit into a crazy scheme of the lord of chaos many years ago.

As many long-standing questions seemed to have been answered gave rise to new ones. What had Discord been after when he cursed the king? Was it out of jealousy? Maybe the empire was too advanced for it’s time, and he saw it as a threat to the wild, untamed world. It was all pointless speculation until they had some kind of concrete evidence, and Daring was looking forward to the big reveal. No matter what it entailed, it would go down in the history books as one of the major discoveries of the 20th century, and forever re-write their views of the ancient world if a civilization was found that pre-dated the current earliest.

Stretched before them was a scene of half-finished work shrouded in the darkness of night. The site was still only partially excavated, and what was originally an above-ground structure found itself still half-buried under the sands of time. They had arrived at the dig site, and were the only ponies in sight.

“I can’t see anything,” Scootaround whispered, only to have Burly look at her sharply and hold a hoof to his mouth.

No chatter, he mouthed.

Daring approached the opening to the partially revealed structure, studying the architecture. It may have been a pointless move, but even in doing so she was starting to figure out how to open the fastened doors. It was very simple really; they needed a key. A partially circular key to be exact, with edges to match the contours of an engraved key hole.

“This is it,” whispered Daring, motioning for Scootaround and Burly to gather near. She unhooked something from around her neck: the pendant was the key as usual. She was sensing a pattern here. Silently Daring slid the pendant into place, pressing it inwards sharply. The effect was immediate: the stones slid aside to allow entry into the structure. The scent of stale air and decay greeted them immediately as the trapped oxygen burst out from the seal with a great rush. To the ponies it was like a sudden blast of wind that soon subsided, leaving them feeling a little lightheaded.

“Wait to light the torch until we’re inside,” Daring whispered. She led the way for the others down into the dark entrance, where she could see absolutely nothing at all. Even the moon faded from view as they turned a corner, plunging all three of them into complete darkness.

“Dr. Do...” Scootaround whispered as they advanced deeper, although slowly and carefully. Daring was wary of traps and was taking every precaution, therefore was slow in her approach. Slow and steady.

“Dr. Do.... something just crawled over my hoof...” Scootaround whispered, sounding scared.

“It’s probably just a bug. I wouldn’t worry.”

“Daring, I’ve been feeling them drop from the ceiling onto me too,” murmured Burly, “I think we’d better see what’s going on.”

“I don’t know if we’re deep enough in yet... but alright,” Daring said. She set the torch she had taken with them down and took out her quick start fire implements (namely flint, steel, and a bit of liquid fuel kept in a bottle). She didn’t want to screw around with char cloth and sparks in the dark like this, so her approach was a little messy. Cracking open a repurposed soda pop bottle, she poured a small amount of liquid over the top of the torch, wetting it enough so that it would ignite with little effort. That it did, almost a little too strongly for no sooner had Daring struck the flint and steel together than she had to stumble backwards to keep from getting singed.

“Mother of...” Burly gasped, looking out into the chamber they were currently in. Now that Daring was holding a lit torch aloft, the insides were visible under the light of the flickering flame. The floors around them were alive with scurrying 8-legged arachnids, some large and hairy, others crunchy and crab-like. The spiders shrunk away from the fire’s bright light out of surprise, forming a circle of sorts around Daring and the others.

“I got some on my back still, “ Burly whispered, shaking himself off and sending a few of the spiders flinging off. One landed right in front of Scootaround’s front hooves and she recoiled. The many beady eyes of the hairy bug seemed to stare up at her as it worked it’s mouthparts, exposing a set of deadly fangs.

“Watch out, you don’t know if it’s poisonous or not,” Daring warned, right before Burly interrupted.

“It is. I know this species. One bite won’t kill you necessarily.... “

“But what?!”

“Well, the venom causes pretty bad necrosis around the bite....”

“Necrosis?”

“Picture the skin beneath your coat kind of rotti-”

“Alright, that’s enough,” interrupted Daring. She didn’t want to give the filly nightmares over spider bites and such things. For her part, Daring wasn’t much afraid of the spiders. For whatever reason she could tolerate just about any kind of creepy crawlies except for slithering snakes. Spiders could easily be overlooked.

“Here,” Daring said, pointing the torch down at the spiders gathering around Scootaround. They ignited and twitched erratically, but within seconds all movement stopped as the cluster of spiders was turned to ash. It had little effect on the mass of spiders covering the floor around them, but it helped the filly to be a little more at ease.

Daring looked to the chamber around her. Apparently the presence of venomous spiders was the only deathtrap in this particular marker. In fact, there was no other passageways leading elsewhere. There were no tables, statues, idols, or anything. All that the chamber contained was a set of engravings and pictographs on the walls, and a gold-plated staff stuck right into the center. It stood about a meter or more high and was currently covered in a tangled mess of spider’s web and spiders themselves.

“Alright, I have Audacity’s book with me. I don’t have him to help me translate this time, so bear with me,” Daring said. She tossed an unlit torch over to Burly, who caught it with a hoof. He proceeded to lite it off the flame from her own torch, holding the burning stick aloft above his head, casting even more light into the cobwebby chamber crawling with arachnids.

Daring had the book out on the floor in front of her. She would reference it with a single hoof to flip pages, but otherwise did not touch it. She had to use her other front hoof to hold onto her own burning torch, which was employed in both providing light and shooing away spiders.

The pictographs on the walls showed various scenes. One seemed to depict the capital city itself, and a towering structure that was both wide and tall. It was the king’s palace, and it was surrounded on all sides by city structures and streets. Overall the pictures depicted a relatively happy population. There was no disease or disharmony so far.

The reverse was true in another picture. This one was painted with darker colors and was partially chipped away over time. The temple itself was intact, but seemed swallowed up in a black cloud. The buildings around it that were once prosperous were now in shambles. Ponies starved in the streets, odd formations erupted from the earth. A familiar figure’s face appeared in the midst of the clouds, one Daring had read about, taught about, seen stained glass windows about. Songs, plays, and literature bore his cursed name: Discord. The visage was undeniably his. The slanted face, uneven eyes, horns, and snaggle tooth. Discord was depicted with a blackish beard and thick black eyebrows, slightly different from his usual appearance. But then, it was likely that Discord had been around long before Equestria knew of his rule over a thousand years ago.

“This spot has little importance symbolically,” Daring translated from the inscription, “You have done well to find it. Very near to here is the resting place of the king, in his own temple turned tomb.”

“So the tomb of the king is the temple?” Burly repeated, “alright...”

“Chaos runs amok, and lingering traces remain. Creatures of old resurrected from the dried bones. Curses on those who display avarice. The city is buried, there is little hope.”

“Sounds depressing.”

“But wait, here’s this,” Daring continued, “The mage fought valiantly against Chaos. Seek out his magic in his staff and use it well. The fight... the fight against your own.... I don’t know, it’s broken off from there. There was quite a bit more to it, but the rest is unreadable.”

“So that staff is some kind of wizard’s stick? It can do magic?”

“Apparently. I’m a bit skeptical,” Daring admitted, “But maybe we should bring it with us to the tomb itself. I have a feeling it’s nearby, if this is really a part of the city itself....”

She felt a little crazed herself. The pendant seemed to be pulling at her even as it hung loosely from around her neck. It had plagued her dreams for weeks, filling them with sights so awful and indescribable. It seemed to whisper to her, though she knew nopony else could hear the faint voice begging for her to return it.

“Dr. Do....” Scootaround peeped, backing into her leg. Daring broke her train of obsession over returning the pendant and looked down, only to recoil. The spiders were approaching aggressively in mass quantities. It was a swarm of them, and they seemed intent on reaching the ponies.

She dipped her hoof down, waving the flame at the advancing spiders and burning through their ranks. The burnt arachnids shriveled and smoked as the ones closeby scuttled away some distance. Burly began doing the same from the other side, making swipes at the ground with his burning torch.

“Toss me the staff, you’re closeby,” Daring called. Burly killed a few more of the crawling spiders and was able to reach out with his other front leg and grab the staff with his free hoof. He threw, but it clattered to the floor about a meter short of Daring.

“My bad,” he said. Daring scooped the staff up, examining it closely. There was an interesting way the top was shaped that made her believe it was of some relevance. Perhaps, like the pendant, it was a key of some kind used to unlock multiple things. Maybe the pendant had served it’s purpose in getting them here, and now that they were close to finding the king’s tomb itself they needed this.

“Let’s get going,” she said, “I have a feeling where we can start looking for the tomb itself tomorrow, but now we need to get back to our camp before CAP notices that we’re here.”

****

A blood-curdling scream could be heard as the team left the area in silence. It made Daring pause, glancing over to the CAP camp in concern. There was a great fire, encompassing more than just the main fire pit but also one of the canvas tents. The sillouettes of a gas-powered truck and several empty carts could be seen against the bright blaze, along with the forms of ponies running left and right.

“Daring!” Burly shouted, but it was too late. Out of almost nowhere a humongous weight pinned her to the ground, and the adventuress found herself face-to-face with a scaly, snarling raptor. It hissed at her as it stood above her, foot on her chest and killing claw ready to dive down into her heart.

KERBLAM!

The raptor’s piercing eyes rolled back into its skull as the beast flopped over, powerless. A hole had been blown into the back of its head by Burly. Daring shot him a gratified look before dusting herself off. That had been sudden, and scary. Why were there raptors here, when they had only previously been seen in the south of Equestria? More importantly, why were they even here in the first place? Hadn’t they died out with the rest of the dinosaurs millions of years ago?

“There are more of them, I’d suggest getting out of here,” Burly warned, looking off to the distance. Daring peered with him, and saw the reflections of the moonlight on no less than six tiger-striped bodies.

“Run! Go!”

The three took off in the general direction of the CAP camp, there being no other place to run to or hide. Daring ushered Scootaround along behind her as Burly bounded up on the rear, pausing to throw a backwards glance at the raptors and fire off a shot. One of the times he got lucky in the dark of the night, as there was an injured screech from a wounded saurian.

“The truck!” Daring called out, opening the door to the side of the vehicle and leaping into the driver’s seat. Burly opened the passenger door and threw Scootaround inside. From the burning tents nearby came a low growl, and he glanced over to see a raptor dashing for him, claws outstretched.

The vile creature tackled him before he even got the chance to reach for his weapon. Burly fell to the ground with the raptor atop his chest. It snarled down and slashed at his face, but it’s legs were not in position to latch onto him with the killing claw. With a grunt Burly struck up at the scaly snout and knocked the raptor back. The startled creature reared its head, and Burly curled his back legs up enough to get beneath its stomach, kicking outwards and sending the raptor sprawling .

Cut and bruised, Burly swung himself up and into the truck, closing the door behind him and latching it shut. Frustrated and unable to reach its prey, the raptor rammed into the door.

“Go!” Scootaround yelled, as Daring tried to start the engine. It turned and sputtered, but didn’t start all the way. She tried again, this time getting the engine revved entirely as the truck settled into a steady hum. She searched around for a switch on the left side and found one that turned the headlights on.

“Hey! Get out of our truck!” shouted an agent, coming around to the front and pointing a gun at the windshield angrily.

“Ignore him, just go!”

“But-”

“Daring look out!”

A raptor leaped out from the darkness and into the brightness of the headlights. The agent screamed and fired wildly at it, but the monster was already upon him. The two disappeared below the hood of the truck and out of sight. The three ponies could hear struggling and thumps as they hit up against the front grill and bumper. An orange tail flopped upwards and the cry of the raptor tore through the air, accompanied by a blood curdling scream that was cut short.

Moments later the head of the beast rose above the edge of the bumper and into Daring’s line of vision. It’s jaws were stained red and clenched over something floppy and tube-like. In that moment she had seen plenty, and flipped the gear into drive. She pressed down onto the accelerator and the truck jumped into action. The engine roared and the tires went thump as they ran over both the dinosaur and the corpse of the agent and sped off over the sand dunes.

“Daring, for Celestia’s sake what are you doing?!” Burly yelled. The truck swerved and skidded side to side and the two passengers felt themselves being thrown about against the sides.

“Use the seatbelts!”

“What’s a seatbelt?”

“Look to your side, Scootaround!”

“There’s nothing there!”

“Daring, this truck doesn’t have any seatbelts! Drive a little slower!”

“And get eaten by raptors? I don’t think so!”

She drove faster over the dunes of sand to the north until trees began appearing around them. To Daring’s surprise there were also rocky outcrops among the trees, in clearly defined angular shapes. There was some kind of ruins here, too. They must be in the oasis!

“Why are you slowing? I thought...”

“A minute ago you were telling me to slow down, be quiet for a minute,” snapped Daring. She turned the key and listened carefully after the engine ceased to hum.

“Dr. Do, what are....”

“Shhh, listen.”

They strained their ears, but little straining was necessary to pick up the faint shrieking and the distant roars. The fires engulfing much of the CAP outpost lit the sky ablaze and illuminated many of the sand dunes beyond the edge of the oasis. There were no raptors chasing them, they had stayed behind at the camp.

“What were those things?” Burly asked in bewilderment as Daring gave the ok to exit the vehicle.

“Raptors. Some kind of subspecies. I’m not an expert of zoology, but I know that they’re supposed to be extinct.”

“That was what I thought. Why are they here?”

“I don’t know. What’s interesting is that we saw a group of them in Equestria, in the southernmost limits of the country where nopony lives anymore,” explained Daring, “They also looked exactly the same, which is kinda odd considering how far apart they are globally.”

“But how?! Damn, these have been dead for who knows how long, and suddenly they reappear?”

“You don’t know how long they’ve been here, we’re just discovering them now in places we’ve never ventured before. The jungles, the deserts, and the tundras are mighty, wild and untamed. Who knows what else is out there?”

“Bastard tore a hole in my hat,”

“Burly, he tore a gash across your nose.”

“Guys.... look!”

Daring turned her head to look where Scootaround had been pointing, and to her complete surprise she found herself staring up at the colossal building blocks and carved stone that made up the top of the King’s temple. Her jaw dropped, raptors completely forgotten. They were here!

She felt an odd sensation around her neck. She knew that nothing was actually happening, but once again the pendant began to tug at her soul, trying to drag her towards the structure. She felt scared and a little excited at the same time. It was time to return the pendant, then they could worry about exploring the ruins properly, with a complete archaeological team.

But first she had to get down there. She just had to put the pendant to rest, to end the weeks of restlessness and nightmares.

“This is it,” she spoke, “Inside is the tomb itself. I don’t know what waits for us inside, but it’s our job to get down there and set things right.”

“Set... what right?”

“What are you talking about Dr. Do?”

“I... wait, I haven’t told you about the pendant?”

“You freaked out one night, but other than that, no.”

Daring took a deep breath.

“This pendant here... it’s from the burial room. Don’t ask me how I know, I just know. It’s like it speaks to me... pulling me here.”

“Daring, are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah... I guess. It’s hard to rationalize, because it’s not really rational at all. I bet it’s part of the curse that the inscriptions talk about.”

“We should get inside there, though,” Burly agreed, “Look around you. See those mounds? The cracked shells in the moonlight?”

“Raptor nests. Where are the juveniles?”

“Hatched a while ago, probably off learning how to hunt with the adults. We should get behind those stone walls, it’s the only place where they can’t get us right now.”

“What about exploring the tomb?” Scootaround asked.

“That too.”

They mounted the side of the structure one at a time, climbing up and over the large stones that made up the side of the structure. Despite being mostly buried beneath the dirt and sand a good 10 meters jutted out of the ground. Daring was up and onto the top of the building first with the help of flight. She circled above once, glancing at the possibilities for entry. There was a sizeable slab of rock over the top of the tomb’s peak.

“Burly, I think I’ve got it,” she said as she set herself down. Burly was just coming up to the top along with Scootaround, and his face was noticeably sweaty.

“Gimme a hoof here, this might be a bit heavy.”

“That’s it?” He remarked, unimpressed, “A slab of rock? That’s what’s been keeping ponies out for all these years?”

“Burly, nopony knew about this. Maybe stories, but they didn’t know it was here.”

“And the raptors!” blurted Scootaround.

“Yeah, those too. Even if they came anywhere near here, it’d be during the day when the raptors are at their nests. They’d be eaten on the spot.”

“Good point.”

The two adults bent over, each wiggling a hoof under the edge of the heavy stone slab and working it up. Burly groaned, and Daring gritted her teeth together. It was much heavier than it actually appeared.

SWOOOOOOSH

A rush of air greeted them as before, though much stronger and with a greater stench. It gave them the extra boost they needed to slide the slab all the way off, exposing a squarish hole and the blackness of the tomb underneath.

Daring coughed and waved the air in front of her nose. She glanced down into the chamber below, but couldn’t make much out at all. Since she was able to fly, she would go down first to gauge how far down the floor really was.

“Listen, I’m gonna go down there. If the drop’s not too bad I’ll call up, if it’s more you’ll have to use my whip, or maybe some rope. Do you have rope?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll have you toss it down then. I can find something to tie it off to.”

She lifted a leg and swung herself down through the hole. It was a tight fit, but she was inside securely. Daring spread her wings and floated down slowly. There was a small amount of light from the moon flowing down through the opening, but not enough to illuminate everything. She could see the ground below her, which was rather ornate tiling fit for a king. She landed swiftly, testing the solidness with a bit of a kick. It held.

“Alright, I’m gonna light a torch!” she called up. As she took the materials to light the torch back up again she heard something low and ominous. It was like a hiss of some kind, a low hiss. She didn’t like the sound of that. From within the chamber she saw beady glowing eyes move around.

Something alive was down here with her.

The torch sprung to life with a sputtering flame that grew in intensity and startled the creature, but not as much as Daring was startled when she saw it’s form. The size and length took her by surprise, and as she recognized the distinctive facial structure and scaly skin her face paled.

She was in the middle of a circular arena chamber with a gigantic snake.

“Daring, what is it?” Burly called down.

“Help....me,” she sputtered quietly. Her legs began quivering and shaking. She backed away slowly, even as the monstrous snake approached. It stayed out of the direct light however, contenting itself to loom on the edge of the darkness. Daring’s worst nightmare had been realized. Memories from her childhood of snakes came welling back up, nearly driving her to tears of sheer terror.

Despite being a brave adventuress, Daring had one irrational fear that she knew she would never overcome. She was ophidiophobic to an extreme. She felt herself shutting down and for a moment, Daring Do sobbed.

“Pull yourself together Daring! There’s nothing down there!”

“You come down here and say that!” she shouted angrily, now backed up against the wall. The great beast slithered closer, rearing back. It’s cold, slitted eyes stared into hers, yet it still stayed out of the torch’s light.

“Daring, there’s nothing down there!”

She couldn’t believe Burly. How did he even know? How could he say that despite the very real snake threatening her. Daring could hear the rapid thumping of her heart and the shallow, quick breaths. The snake’s forked tongue slid out and it hissed at her. It hissed at her.

“Sweet Celestia, No!” she screamed, dashing to the side and running around the chamber until she found a pillar support. She crouched behind it, shielding her face with her free hoof and trembling.

“What is it?!”

“THERE’S A GIANT FREAKING SNAKE DOWN HERE!!!” she wailed.

“I don’t see anything!”

“OF COURSE YOU DON’T SEE ANYTHING! YOU’RE SAFE AND SOUND UP THERE!”

The creature slid around again, and she could hear the hissing and the scales scraping up against the tiled floors. She dared not look at it. Maybe it would just go away....

“Daring, you’re jumping at shadows! There isn’t anything down there!”

Daring peeked her eyes open. She was still holding a torch, and the snake was still near to her, though still not daring to enter into the direct light. Despite her overwhelming fear, something clicked into place. She stopped sobbing and tried something.

She held the torch out, closer to the snake. It recoiled from the light. That wasn’t normal.

She got an idea. On the walls were more torches, held into place with holsters. Daring tip-hoofed into action and lit one of them. The lit area of the chamber expanded slightly, and the snake slithered away from her a bit farther.

A realization hit her. It was using the shadows to hide in. Maybe if she got rid of all the shadows...

She took to the air, flying around the chamber and lighting every torch she could find with her own lit one. One on the north side, one on the south side, two on the east, another one on the west. As more and more of the chamber became lit, the snake retreated. It’s sized diminished, and with the last of the torches lit it disappeared entirely with the shadows.

“What’s going on down there!”

“It was a trick! I don’t know what it was, some kind of shadowy magic. It’s gone now, though!” Daring yelled back breathlessly.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“I’m feeling alright. Much better now that the snake’s gone. Those creep me out. Here, I’ll toss the rope up. There’s nowhere to tie it near the ceiling, you’ll have to tuck it under the slab. It should hold.”

“Uhm, Daring-”

“Yes?”

“There’s... ouch!”

There was a scuffling sound, and several grunts. Somepony was fighting.

“Hello, Daring Do?” called a feminine voice. Daring’s smile faded into a scowl. Elise!

“Daring, we have your friends at gunpoint, you have no choice!” shouted a stronger voice, presumably belonging to Broken Bank. She could hear Scootaround and Burly’s muffled cries, there had to be two more ponies with them at least, probably armed agents. This was bad.

“What do you want from me?”

“It’s simple, really. We’re not going to let you claim the prize.”

“I don’t want a prize, this is about returning the pendant and researching a civilization that-”

“Daring, Daring, Daring,” Elise interrupted, “You’re going to be a big help. A very big help. You’re going to guide us through this.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then you can kiss your hindquarters and those of your two friends here goodbye. “

Chapter 16: Death Traps

Daring did not need to carry a torch. Burly carried one, as did Scootaround. He had been disarmed and robbed of his weapon, which was now being pointed at his back along with the weapons of the other agents. In all there were seven ponies going deeper into the tomb: Daring Do, Scootaround, Burly Withers, Broken Bank, Elise and two other agents. Daring had not asked how they managed to escape the raptor attack, but she had a hunch. Broken Bank’s white dinner jacket and hat had specks of red blood on them, and Elise showed a few blackened streaks of soot on her jacket. There had been some fighting, and the raptors had been killed or driven off.

Finding them wouldn’t have been too difficult what with tire tracks in the sand. Daring hadn’t counted on them being in any state to pursue them after the carnage the camp had undergone; apparently she had been wrong about that.

“We’ve got something coming up,” Daring stated. They had come to a chasm of some sorts, over which there was a bridge made up of great stone squares with shapes carved into them. There were different symbols on various squares. Daring knew exactly what this meant: it was a classic puzzle trap.

“What’s this?” Broken Bank demanded, itching at his graying beard.

“It’s a puzzle trap,” Daring explained, “There’s supposed to be a riddle of some kind, or a problem Only the correct sequence of squares will allow you to pass. If you choose a wrong square...”

She stepped out and placed a hoof on a random square before stepping back onto solid ground. The square she had stepped on began to crumble and fall down below, crashing in the darkness and leaving a blank spot where it had been on the bridge.

“Ouch,” one of the agents remarked.

Daring scanned around and noticed that there was a sentence engraved into the wall, written in the ancient language.

“Burly, do you have that book?”

“Yeah,” he growled. Burly was not happy about being held captive at the point of his own gun. Not one bit.

“Let’s see it.... ok.....”

Daring translated mentally, while using the book’s list of characters as a reference. The others watched on with varying expressions of confusion or astonishment or (in the case of Burly) distracted anger.

“I bring about the brunt of the curse. Beware my presence and make me not company,” translated Daring.

“Is there more?” Elise asked, turning to glance at Daring. The adventuress didn’t even make eye contact with her.

“Ok everypony, any ideas? If we can come up with an answer, I can translate that and see if that holds.”

“A curse? I haven’t heard anything about a curse,” Broken Bank muttered.

“Yeah, you’ve been too busy stealing our progress to get this far,” snapped Burly, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Shut up,” the older stallion in charge of CAP shot back, “I mean it. I don’t want to hear another word out of you or it’s lights out. I mean it.”

“The engravings so far have warned of a curse. Apparently Discord roamed through here many centuries before he came to Equestria, and was jealous of the ruler and turned his life to shambles. He also perpetuated the stories of old about the king being full of greed, which are false according to everything we’ve seen from this culture,”

“Is the answer greed?” piped up Scootaround from the back. She had been keeping a rather low profile.

“What?”

“Greed. Isn’t that what makes the curse happen? I thought I heard you say that.”

“Avarice....”

“What’re you all on about?” Broken Bank demanded, shifting himself to peer at Daring and the filly.

“The word ‘avarice’ is the answer, I believe.”

“Try it out, you.”

Daring gulped, and tried her best to translate the word “avarice” by breaking parts of the word down into separate symbols. She was pleased to see the symbols represented on the stone bridge, but was cautious.

She stepped out onto the first symbol. The stone held. The second. That held as well. She had translated correctly, and the way was clear for the rest to pass to the other side.

“That was pretty easy,” she admitted, “almost too easy.”

****

Beyond the chasm was a narrow corridor that winded downwards beyond view. One of the torch-holders was promptly lit by one of their burning torches, which set off a chain reaction as a fuse burned behind the torch, igniting the next down the corridor, and the next after that and so on.

“That was neat,” Broken Bank commented. He prodded Daring onwards.

Daring felt concerned. The corridor was giving one of those bad vibes that yelled “death trap” to her. As she stepped into the corridor she was followed rather closely behind by her two companions, then the CAP leaders Broken Bank and Elise, and at the back were the two unnamed agents.

As the last of the agents entered the corridor, a stone door sprang shut behind her with sudden force, causing several ponies to jump in alarm. Daring pressed onwards in spite of this, even going so far as to pick up the pace.

WHAM!

The last agent screamed in alarm as a section of the ceiling dropped down only centimeters from her hindquarters. Daring peered back quizzically. The one directly above them now was shaking, and a bit of dust fell loose from the ceiling.

“Run.... RUN! GO!”

The group took off, and no sooner had they gotten out from beneath the section had it collapsed as well. Then the next section fell faster than the first two. Daring sped up, hearing a thunderous clapping of hooves behind her as six additional ponies tried to outrun the falling ceiling slabs.

One of the agents struck a fissure in the tiled floor and tripped, falling down flat on her chest. She cried out and tried to get back up, but her struggling was in vain. The ceiling block dropped down forcefully, just as flat as the others but with a gargling screech and a muffled crunch beneath it’s weight.

The last few sections of corridor was a tangled mass of spiderweb and vines. Daring leaped through them, gettign herself covered in old webbing and plant material but creating a hole through which the others could also dash. She landed with a crash onto the tiled floor beyond, and felt the wind get taken out of her as five other ponies landed on top of her in a pile.

They separated, the three remaining CAP ponies being quick to cock their weapons and draw them to prevent Burly from striking. He looked as if he had been ready to.

Daring brushed herself off and leaned over to check that Scootaround was currently ok. The filly nodded with widened eyes and a trickle of sweat ran down her face from the vigorous running.

Behind them, the ceiling prices rose back up and clicked into place in the ceiling. In the distant parts of the corridor was a flattened corpse, bent at an odd angle and with splatter lining the walls of the immediate area. Not a pleasant sight to see at all, and Daring encouraged Scootaround to turn away.

“From now on,” Broken Bank stammered amid deep breathing, “You are to tell me as soon as you think something might be a trap. Understood?”

“Understood, but I had no way of knowing when it-”

“No buts. You’re in no position to be making buts, Ms. Do.”

“Dr. Do,” corrected the filly.

“Shut your face.”

****

They appeared to be in the main part of the temple by now. The surroundings were somewhat normal by comparison to the previous, which had been mostly cramped and narrow corridors. This chamber had a grander appearance. Old tapestries lined the walls, though the contents had rotted away or were no longer visible. There was a fountain on the far side that had long since dried up, yet the statuettes remained unscathed from the passage of time. Pedestals were scattered about, mostly at supports. Some contained urns or had at one time held a vase full of potted plants. By now all that was left was piles of hardened dirt inside dusty pottery.

The walls had several murals, which seemed to be somewhat more recent than the rest of the architecture, though still many centuries old. It was Daring’s opinion that the old temple had been converted into a tomb once the end of the culture was imminent. There was evidence that the survivors scattered across the globe and blended in, but here at the epicenter there had been an attempt to collect and catalogue the history of what had happened to the empire. The temple was not only a final tomb, but also a hasty museum of sorts.

“We don’t have time to admire everything,” Broken Bank said with a scowl, “If you aren’t going to help us find the way through we have no use of you.”

“Lighten up, will you?” Daring shot back coldly, “Suppose there’s a clue to what lies ahead? Would spending an extra minute to check this out and possibly save our necks be worth the inconvenience?”

“You may proceed.”

Daring shrugged down the collar of her shirt with a glare, and began examining the murals. The first showed a creature that appeared to be a mashup of several- a draconequus. This creature (presumably Discord) had one arm aloft, and another down over a grove of trees. Daring bent in closer. He appeared to be placing little creatures down into the grove of trees, creatures that then began attacking ponies that happened to be passing by.

So that was where the raptors had come from. Just another leftover creation of chaos.

Another mural showed the temple as a cut-away view. She could see the very top of the temple and the circular room she had entered through. That was right above their heads apparently, for the chamber directly below it bore a resemblance to the one they now sat in. The chasm and the collapsing ceiling that descended to this level must have been dug out into the ground on the side.

The level they were on seemed not to have anything of particular interest to either side down the corridors. Below was a squarish chamber with little to no features other than a cluster of statues around another hole. What was below that wasn’t certain, for the mural appeared unfinished or deteriorated beyond that point.

“I think we’re supposed to go down from here another two levels to something,” Daring said, “But I’m not sure what’s after that. You can look if you want.”

Burly looked uncomfortable. Daring glanced over and made eye contact with him briefly, and he looked at her disapprovingly. She was being too helpful to CAP.

I don’t have a choice, she mouthed.

Subvert, was Burly’s only word, as he glanced to make sure that the CAP agents weren’t paying attention. Broken Bank and Elise were examining the mural themselves.

Subvert.... Daring felt she understood the meaning of what Burly was implying.

Broken Bank turned from the mural and held the torch up, lighting Daring’s face with an orange glow.

“Where next, Dr. Daring?”

“Well...we need to go underneath where we currently are,” she stated truthfully, “I’d suggest we start looking. Perhaps there’s a trapdoor, or a hidden passage.”

“You, Jenkins, take the brute and look over in the east corner, around those set of pedestals,” Elise ordered the remaining agent, “I’ll look with the filly over on the opposite side.”

“I’ll look with Dr. Do,” Broken Bank said with a nod.

As the group split up, Daring considered the practicality of where a trapdoor could logically be hidden. There had been an elaborate carpet lining the hallway at one point, but like most things it had begun to decay. It was blackened and infested with bugs. Parts had already started coming apart, and it had become almost fastened to the stone of the main floor. She dug her hooves at it, pulling sections up and looking for the telltale seam in the stone that indicated a passageway that could be opened.

Broken Bank was little help, being content to stand back and watch Daring do the work as he held the torch. She found it a little irritating to say the least. As more of the decayed carpet came up, it became obvious that there was no trapdoor beneath it.

“It’s not here...” Daring stammered. She craned her neck, and her gaze fell upon the fountain that had long since dried up.

Why not?

She inspected the statue a little closer, checking it out from all angles. It was missing the head, but had the entire body of a pegasus. There wasn’t a slot for the pendant, as she had supposed.

“Dr. Do, why do you have a stick attached to your bag strap?”

Daring glanced behind her to see Broken Bank looking at the staff curiously.

“It was something we found in one of the markers. I figure it’s gotta be important, since it was in the center and on display.”

“Daring,” Burly called from over on his side, “we found something.”

She and Broken Bank trotted over to peer at what Burly had found. He pointed with a hoof towards a pedestal containing several odd pieces, including a golden device that matched the sheen of the pendant but had some odd shapes on it, and a broken off unicorn head.

Daring revealed the pendant curiously, taking first the golden piece up and comparing the odd shapes. On the top were several odd indentations, and on the bottom was a cylindrical protrusion that was hollowed out, similar to the female end of a connection.

She held the pendant in one hoof and this odd item in the other, bringing them close together for comparison. To her surprise the new item sprung out of her grasp and attached itself to the bottom of the pendant firmly, the grooves matching up with the edges of the pendant’s bottom. Daring tugged at it to attempt to remove the item, but it held firm.

“That’s interesting,” Burly commented. He made a motion with his eyes, darting from Daring’s shirt collar to the pendant.

Put it away.

Daring slipped the pendant back into her shirt. Somehow the subliminal tug it was having on her had increased due to the extra part, becoming more forceful and all the more closer to being overpowering. She felt something slipping in her mind, an intrusion. It didn’t seem sinister, but actually had a relieving, somewhat benevolent presence. The whispering voices she seemed to be hearing from the pendant whenever she thought about it were subdued now, but were replaced with something... else. She couldn’t hear anything differently as she had before, but she felt it. It weighed heavily on her gut, seemingly guiding her instincts.

The head of the unicorn goes on the statue.

It was Daring’s own voice, the voice of her consciousness. It spoke neither through her lips or out loud, but in her mind. It was as if her own thoughts were guiding her through these next steps.

She picked up the statue’s head, and walked it over to the headless statue with a blank look on her place. Just like the attachment to the pendant, this thing slipped from her hooves and sprang into place on the head of the statue, now revealed to be an alicorn.

A rumbling filled the hall, and the floor beneath everypony began to tremble. The floor of the fountain cracked, and where it cracked appeared shafts of orange, flickering light. The pieces began to drop below, along with the statue itself, leaving behind a glowing circular opening on the floor. Daring was the first to peer over the edge into the chamber below.

The glow was from more torches, now alight and burning far below. How they had become lit was a mystery, but Daring knew that supernatural forces were now at work. She had to be wary of everything, for anything inconspicuous could become a trap under the forces of sinister black magic.

“The floor’s moving, I’m not so sure about this.”

“Oh come on now, I thought you were Daring Do, spirit of adventure!” Broken Bank goaded. He prodded Daring with a heavy push, and she felt herself pitching over the edge of the hole. She cried out, but it was too late. She tumbled in midair, coming to a stop on the sandy ground below with a loud THUNK. She felt a soreness in her chest and struggled to breath for a few moments, but was otherwise alright.

Then she heard it. All around her were small bodies creeping across stone, across sand and across each other. They hissed and swiped with venomous fangs. Daring’s pulse quickened and she began to feel herself sweating profusely.

She was surrounded by at least fifty live adders of various sizes and lengths. The snakes crept towards her curiously, but to her it seemed like an unrelenting attack approach, though slow and menacing.

“Back! Get back I say!”

“What’s going on down there Daring? Snakes again?” Burly called down.

“YES THERE ARE SNAKES DOWN HERE! COME DOWN AND SEE FOR YOURSELF!”

“Dr. Daring, are you sure there’s a passage to the treasury from down there?”

Daring kept her mouth shut, for she was too busy backing away from the approaching adders to listen to Broken Bank’s inquiry.

“Yes, look over there. That passageways wide open. There are steps,” Elise suggested. She tossed down a length of rope and began sliding down. One at a time, each of the other ponies followed suit until all were down in the snake pit together.

“Daring, come along. The door’s wide open.”

“Get the snakes out of the way first!”

“Daring, don’t be ridiculous, you’re a pegasus. Just fly over them.”

“Mr. Bank,” Scootaround said quietly, “When pegasi get really scared, I mean really scared, their wings lock up. Look at Dr. Do over there, she’s petrified.”

“Alright,” Burly sighed, taking his own torch and walking over to where Daring was cornered. He waved it at the snakes, who hissed back in protest but fled from the searing hot fire. He did this on multiple sides and opened a pathway for Daring to be able to escape.

“Thanks,” Daring nodded in gratitude, stepping out from the corner and regaining the head position ahead of everypony else.

“Wow, she’s a whole different pony when there are snakes around, huh?” commented Broken Bank.

“Don’t talk to me,” Burly shot back, pulling his tattered hat brim down and continuing.

****

“This is a stairway, a spiral staircase. Don’t get too close to the edge,” Daring called out. They had arrived at a cylindrical chamber that was comprised of spiraling white steps that seemed to descend forever. The air had a pungent smell, like that of liquid fuel. Daring peered over the side, and saw that there was some kind of liquid at the bottom far below them.

“Petroleum,” she stated, “It’s pooled down there at the bottom. I’m not sure if that’s on purpose or not. The area’s rich in it geographically, so it could be a spring of-”

“Keep moving.”

The group of six ponies continued down the steps purposefully, but it was soon apparent that things were amiss. Daring could see that a few steps here and there were slightly off in color. It probably didn’t make much of a difference when they had been constructed, but over time the different materials to make the trick steps had turned slightly green while the original had a brownish tinge.

Don’t step on those steps, Daring caught herself thinking. She made a note to heed the warning, but needed to find a way to communicate it to just Burly and Scootaround. They were still around another bend, but creeping up steadily. It was time to make her move.

“Scootaround,” she exclaimed, wheeling around, “You should watch where you step. You don’t want to trip and fall now, do you?”

“I think I’ll be alright, Dr. Do.”

“Alright? You sure? You look a little green to me, do you feel a little sick?”

“Dr. Daring, stop stalling,” Broken Bank commanded, and jabbed the barrel of a gun into her back, “keep going.”

Daring glanced to Burly, who gave her a quick wink. They had gotten the message.

She continued walking down the steps, stepping over the green steps but doing so in a way that didn’t draw attention to the fact. Unfortunately for her the steps were shallow anyways, so just about everypony was skipping every other step anyways. None of the CAP agents ended up stepping on the first of the trick steps, nor the second.

The trick steps were becoming more frequent. First they appeared every other step, and then in clusters of two occasionally. Daring focused on not stepping on them in as inconspicuous a manner as possible. It was then that she came to a set of four consecutive green steps, and she stopped.

“Daring, why did you stop?!” asked Elise incredulously. Broken Bank took a step back and bit into a cigar, but as soon as he took his step he placed his weight on a trick step that had been behind him.

At that instant, everypony felt the ground disappear from beneath them as a whole set of ten steps on either side of the triggered one were violently thrust out from the walls and disconnected. They all screamed out in surprise as they began falling towards the liquid below.

In mid air Daring swooped down and caught Scootaround on her back, using her wings to turn the falling into a glide of sorts. Burly was already far below and as she swooped down to slow him down he broke the surface with a great splash, simultaneously with the other three. Three white splashes were sent up from the liquid, though one quickly turned into a plume of dark red.

There was a dock of sorts at the bottom, off to the side and near the entrance to what lay beyond. Elise had landed there already, and was helping to drag Broken Bank out of the petroleum. Burly had to drag himself out, and the last nameless CAP agent was nowhere to be seen.

“Don’t strike up another cigar, or you might blow yourself up,” Elise warned her boss, wiping him off. Broken Bank’s grayish face was maroon with anger as he glared at Daring.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU WARN US THAT WAS GOING TO SUDDENLY HAPPEN?!”

“I had no way of knowing! It took all of us by surprise!” Daring lied.

Broken Bank dumped the petroleum out from inside his hat and scowled.

“What happened to Jenkins?” he demanded. Daring peered over into the pool of Petroleum and saw the corpse of the CAP agent stuck on something sharp jutting out of the water. He had been impaled through the chest, and the other end had stuck out through his back.

“Eesh, not a pretty sight.”

“Well?!”

“I don’t know, Mr. Bank!” Daring shouted back. She simmered down a bit, taking a deep breath.

“That was probably a really deep spike pit at one point, and wasn’t full of liquid. The petroleum deposits are a bit deeper underground usually, but this one must have sprung up sometime in the past few decades. You’re lucky you and Burly missed the spikes.”

“I couldn’t care less if Withers missed the spikes or not, but one of my agents is dead now, thanks to you!”

“Excuse me, I wasn’t the one who stepped into a trap!”

“You set us up, didn’t you?”

“I never said-”

“Alright, will you all shut up?!” Burly shouted, projecting to be heard over the squabbling.

“Burn in Tartaurus,” Broken Bank shot back angrily. He produced a gun and jabbed it into Daring’s side.

“Get moving. I want my treasure already.”

****

Passing through the doorway, the remaining five were surprised to see that the tomb room was visible from their current position. They were in a blank chamber shaped like a cube, except for one missing wall through which they could see tables loaded with dusty golden trinkets and urns. Broken Bank looked like he could start foaming at the mouth, and quickened his pace, shoving Daring out of the way.

As soon as he got close to where the last wall would be it suddenly appeared, falling from above suddenly and locking into place, causing Broken Bank to walk straight into it.

“Son of a damn.... WHYYYYYYYYY?!”

“Great,” Elise said, “Just freaking great.”

They seemed to be trapped in a cube-like stone chamber with a tiled ceiling, with only one direction to leave, which was the way they had come.

“Is this really it? We came all this way to be shut out?”

“That’s too bad,” Burly stated with a grin, “I guess we’ll have to leave now.”

“No!” Broken Bank snarled, “You’re not going anywhere! None of you are, until we get into that treasure room!”

“You’ll have to wait a long time then, because the door’s not budging,” Daring stated simply. Broken Bank and Elise both scowled.

Daring had been more observant, and she had this odd sense of intuition guiding her that she had felt earlier. She knew how to get in, it was rather simple. She didn’t want to reveal how immediately, in case she could use this as a way to bargain for a better chance of getting out alive, before Broken Bank got the inevitable idea that the three of them were no longer useful.

“I think I have an idea,” she stated.

“Tell us,” he demanded.

“Put the gun down, on the ground where I can see it.”

“No,” he said. He jabbed the pistol into her face, pressing the tip up against the bottom of her jaw.

“You’ll tell us how or I’m going to squeeze the trigger right here.”

“Alright alright, here.”

Daring’s plan hadn’t worked out as she had hoped. She had counted on Broken Bank being too distraught to see the logical way to still get what he wanted and remain in power. She had counted on him being desperate enough to negotiate if it meant finding a way. She had been wrong, and now she still had to deliver.

“Scootaround, come with me.”

“Where are you two going?”

“We’re gonna get us all in, relax.”

****

Daring and Scootaround returned to the platform by the petroleum spring, and it didn’t take long for the filly to notice the feature that only Daring had seen previously. There was a small tunnel above the entryway, only large enough for the filly to fit through.

“I’m not sure of the layout on the inside,” Daring told her, “but I do know that there’s a release mechanism of some sort, like a switch or a lever or maybe even a pulley. Think you can figure out how to get the door open?”

“Sure thing, Dr. Do,”

“Listen.... don’t touch any of the treasure. Got it?”

“Uhuh.”

“Go get ‘em tiger.”

****

Scootaround struggled and squirmed to get out from the hole she found herself wedged in. Getting in and through the tight passageway through to the tomb was one thing, but at the very end the opening was somewhat smaller, forcing her to squeeze to get out. She could hear the adults arguing through the stone. Typical.

She popped free and collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily but mostly unhurt. The filly peered about, looking for something to release the adults when she noticed the treasure. Sure it was covered in several layers of dust, but she saw heaping mounds of stacked gold coinage, precious gemstones and jewelry fit for a queen, gold-plated chairs, ancient urns and river arks, crowns and tiaras. There was a bronze gong and statues galore, and all sorts of little trinkets scattered about that she knew nothing about. It was magnificent to take in. As someone who had spent a significant amount of time as a street-wandering pickpocket, she felt inclined to take some of it. She wanted to fill up her cap and take some of the coins with her.

“Daring told me not to touch anything,” she repeated to herself, taking on a serious expression and returning to the task at hand. Whatever reason Daring had for instructing her specifically had to be important, as much as she wanted to take some of the gold.

She found a round stone depression near the wall that had sprung down. It was as simple as pressing down on it, which she did. The wall rolled and settled into an “up” position, allowing the rest of the ponies to enter.

Broken Bank and Elise’s jaws dropped simultaneously. One could almost see their mouths water in excitement. Broken Bank nearly forgot about guarding Burly and Daring, and rushed to examine his prize. Elise did the same, tackling another section and taking everything in piece by piece.

Daring and Burly were in awe as well, but for different reasons. Daring made a point to seek out the sarcophagus of the king, which was cast in his shape in solid gold with eyes embossed on the surface. The archaeologist bent over and peered into the eyes of the sarcophagus purposefully and respectfully.

“Inside this coffin lies the remains of the last ruler of this empire,” she said to the filly as she listened, “He died trying to protect his people, unlike what the legend that’s been handed down says.”

“What’s this?” Burly inquired, hearing what Daring said, “explain.”

“The legend is of a greedy sultan who was cursed and his empire overrun because of his greed. Based on what traces of the civilization have been left by travellers who left as things collapsed, I’d say the opposite was true.”

“Discord the lord of chaos was here, centuries before Equestria even existed. He was viler than when our civilization knew him. Nastier. In Equestrian history Discord created chaos for chao’s sake. But centuries earlier his purpose was much darker. He created chaos for evil’s sake, wanting to destroy completely rather than set askew.”

“How do you know this?” Burly asked.

“I’ve been reading the inscriptions along the way, and if you look at the murals and etching we’ve seen, they tell a story. The raptors? They were brought back to wreak havoc on livestock. Them existing is a creation of the chaotic entity himself, not some freak accident of nature. His goal was to overthrow and ruin the empire because it had achieved a state he could not bear to see- harmony. That’s why he ended up doing the same to Equestria, only he was more content to play around and corrupt things while allowing it to exist.”

“Would you shut it over there?!” Broken Bank called over, “You sound like a teacher!”

“I am a teacher. I teach Equine history.”

****

“This will bail us out big time. Dead employees, ruined aircraft, crashed trucks and the fiasco at the camp tonight- none of it will matter,” Broken Bank ranted excitedly, “This will be more than enough to cover all that, plus extra profit to go around. We’ll be back in business like never before!”

“Here’s what I envision,” Elise started, “Ready for this? This section over here, with the king? Leave that for when we excavate, that’s what will go to the universities and institutions. The gold and the gemstones, those can be sold by our vendors.”

“All of it?”

“All of it. It won’t matter because the Equestrian government will receive reports and photographs of the area without that even being figured in. It’ll be like we found it without any gold. Nopony will be any the wiser.”

“Except us,” Daring shot from across the room.

“No, not you,” Broken Bank murmured.

In the same breath he drew his gun, clicked the firing pin back, leveled it at Daring Do and pulled the trigger with the edge of his hoof. The bullet sped towards the mare. The motion that came next seemed to slow down before her eyes, though in reality it was only a fraction of a second. She heard the loud sound of the gunshot, and reared back as she attempted to dodge out of the way, but in the same instant Burly’s strong hooves threw her to the ground below him, and the bullet sank deep into his chest. Burly’s eyes widened as a bullet penetrated suddenly and violently. Warmth began spreading through his shirt and his leather vest, and blood began spattering out onto the stone floor.

Chapter 17: The Curse of the Lost Tomb

Burly collapsed on the stone floor on the spot he had been standing, blood gushing from the bullet hole at an incredible rate. Daring tore her own adventuring shirt off and pressed it down over the wound to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. He was going to die.

“Daring...” he whispered, gasping for breath.

“Burly, why’d you have to go and do that?”

“The shot was... for you.... you don’t deserve to go like this. You have an adopted filly to care for. You have... ungh... a career. I have nothing. I’m a washed... ahh... treasure hunter.... It’s for the best that I go instead.”

“Burly, don’t die on me, alright? I can stop the bleeding....”

“Won’t do any good.... arteries... Daring listen,” he choked, “Thwart them. Do it for me. Don’t.... ack... don’t let them.... one last wish.... I want to be remembered .....for this. Tell them my story Daring. Please.”

“Oh Burly, No!”

“....good luck.”

His eyes stared off ahead of him blankly. Daring could feel the slowing beat of Burly’s heart beneath her bloodstained shirt. It beat slower, and slower, until it ceased entirely.

Burly was dead.

“Ohh look, you’re tearing up. Stay there and don’t move,” Broken Bank sneered.

He went back to reveling in the treasure as if nothing had happened. He began picking up pieces of gold and stuffing his pockets. Elise took his hat off and replaced it with a golden crown. Broken Bank grinned at that. He placed a necklace around her neck.

“Dr. Do....”

“Scootaround, get down and get out of the way.”

“They’re touching the treasure.”

“I know. Get out of the way, quick.”

Daring felt the groove in the floor, in front of the king’s coffin. She carefully unstrapped the staff from her bag strap, and took the pendant off from around her bare neck. The attachment’s groove fit onto the top of the staff, and the pendant locked into place as the staff’s top, glittered beautifully. Before Daring could make any use of this powerful rod, Broken Bank took notice.

“Hey, give me that, that looks like a scepter of some kind!”

The older stallion galloped over and snatched the new staff out from Daring’s hooves, grinning in his state of being covered in gold chains, and crowns. He felt kingly, and powerful. To display his power, he went and thrust the staff into the slot in front of the sarcophagus. He didn’t much like the height of it once it had slid into place, so he tried removing it.

It wouldn’t come out.

“What is this, did you glue it?” Broken Bank demanded, scratching his chin. Daring’s eyes were wide and she began walking back away from him slowly. The emerald at the center of the headpiece began glowing brilliantly, and a low humming filled the chamber.

“Ouch, these gold chains feel kind of warm,” the stallion murmured. He decided it was best if he took them off. He reached for the chain he wore around his neck, and tried to pull it off.

It wouldn’t come off.

“What’s happening?” he stammered. The heat of the gold he wore around his neck, around his skull, and in his pockets increased. He felt his coat beginning to singe and smoke from the ever-heating gold he wore. Behind him, Elsie screamed as the single necklace she wore around her neck began burning her.

“WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME?!” Broken Bank screamed mightily. Daring backed away even farther, and he glared at her. She had set him up! Whatever he had done with that staff had triggered this!

Broken Bank’s anger turned swiftly to agony as he let out one last choked yell. The crown around his head and the gold jewelry around his neck had gotten searing hot, to the point that he could feel the skin beneath his coat becoming charred and burned.

His hair burst into flames, staring at his neck and spreading up his face. His mouth twisted open in a terrified shriek, but he could make no sound for the skin and muscle of his throat was cooked. The hair burned away and the flesh beneath began bubbling and blackening, falling away in ragged chunks. The bony structures of the stallion’s skull covered in blackened chunks of muscle were all that remained of his face as boiling blood ran down onto the ground.

Both Broken Bank and Elise collapsed into heaps. Daring could not see the state of the mare at all. The fire surrounding the corpse of Broken Bank began to spread across the chamber.

Daring’s head was suddenly cleared. As soon as the staff had been thrust into the place in front of the sarcophagus a heavy weight on her soul had been lifted. Her mind reeled and she realized what was to happen

They had to get out of here, and fast.

“Scootaround!” she shouted over the roaring flames, “On my back!”

The filly did not need to be told a second time. She mounted Daring’s back behind the pony’s wings and they took to the air, just as flame erupted below them. What had previously been a tomb chamber filled with treasure was now a sea of unrelenting fire as the scattered gold burst into flame and spread to the floors.

Daring swerved as a plume of flame spouted near her, and ducked through the cubic entrance chamber and into the cylindrical room that held the spiraling staircase.

A thought sunk through her head as she realized that the fire would soon be here.

“Hold on, we need to go faster!” she shouted, and began a steep vertical incline through the center of the chamber, through the spiraling stairs around her. The fire reached the petroleum, and it accelerated the process with a gigantic, resounding explosion. Daring felt the warmth below her as a wall of fire sped up on her tail, expanded to engulf everything in the chamber. She rounded the corner aerially, swerving up through the snake pit and above.

Rapidly expanding flames licked at the sands of the pit before completely engulfing it. Daring sped onwards and upwards, out of the snake pit as the venomous adders were cooked alive. Out through the collapsing chamber and the crushed corpse of the agent, not even activating the now-reset trap as she had not even touched a floor tile. The temple around them rumbled as the explosion of the petroleum expanded even more. All of the bridge pieces had fallen away, but Daring flew past. Past the circular chamber that had housed the illusion of the giant snake, and out of the temple entirely.

Daring and Scootaround crashed into the bushes outside the temple, several meters from the very base. The pony looked up to see a raptor standing over her, snarling. It snapped at her and leaped into the air, but at that same moment the legs began turning to dust. The limbless form of the raptor flopped to the ground, twitching and snarling before it was entirely destroyed, and turned to smoke.

A pillar of fire erupted from the top of the temple stretched out before them, reaching up towards the heavens. Daring squinted and peered closely at the burning inferno, seeing the skeletal corpse of Broken Bank being swept up. She could see no sight of Elise’s corpse, nor that of any of the CAP agents.

The pillar of flame then did something totally unexpected. It had a definite end, and collected in a hovering blaze of fire that sat like a great cloud over the temple. The inferno lit everything alight as bright as day, and Daring could feel the heat emanating off of it. With a sudden crack the fireball dissipated, spreading out and disappearing from sight totally and completely. There was no trace that it was even there.

Daring and Scootaround sat together in the middle of the oasis, stunned. Daring wordlessly took to the air again, hovering over the top of the temple. To her astonishment, the flames that had erupted out of there had not scorched the place. Indeed, it was similar to the same condition they had found it it, as if they had never disturbed it.

She landed in front of Scootaround, and bent over to comfort the filly. Anypony would have been traumatized by the horrible sights they had just seen, and she was clearly terrified.

“It’s alright,” she said, “It’s all over now. We’re safe.”

“W...what was that?”

“That,” Daring explained, “was the power being released. A ancient dark magic to counteract the effects of Discord’s chaos. Or maybe it was Discord’s chaos. I don’t know. Whatever it was, it completed the curse. The curse of the lost tomb.”

“Dr. Do?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we go home now?”

“As a matter of fact,” Daring said with a grin, “We have work to do.”

She tightened her pith helmet down over her head and took the filly by the hoof. Together, the two began walking to the east, just as the rising sun began to creep up over the horizon and set the sky ablaze once more with it’s daylight.

EPILOGUE

Audacity tapped his hoof nervously as he sat outside the office of Dusty Shelves, curator at the Canterlot Museum of Equine History. He had just finished a rather intense and scrutinizing job interview.

He had been after the position of field assistant, hoping to get out of the library and out making a difference. His recent adventure had solidified his view, and despite his injury he felt that this was his calling. Now all that stood between him and this career was the outcome of the interview.

The doors opened, and Mr. Shelves came out first, shaking his hoof.

“We’ll call you within a week,” he said with a smile.

Audacity’s nervousness peaked upon hearing that. He’d let him know within a week? He had to wait several more days to find out if he had made the cut?

A few more ponies exited the room before Dr. Daring Do did, clad in a bowtie and a set of reading glasses. She shook Audacity’s hoof warmly.

“I probably shouldn’t tell you this now,” she whispered, “but congratulations. Welcome to the team.”

Audacity felt his heart soar. He had made it after all!

“Don’t look so happy kid, or they’ll know I spoiled it!” whispered Daring with a wink.

“Tell you what, come with me and Scootaround. We’re headed to a baseball game. I’ve got lots to talk to you about.”

“Like what? I want to hear more about what happened. Did Broken Bank really die? What’s the news about that Coalition, are they disbanded? Who’s the leader? What about Elise, is she dead too? When are they gonna go and document the ruins? Oh, this changes everything we know about history doesn’t it? I find it exciting, are you excited because I’m exci-”

“Audacity, calm down, I can’t hear myself think!”

“Alright, alright,” he said sheepishly. He walked with Daring down the halls of the museum and towards the exit, before he thought of a question he had been meaning to ask her.

“Daring, where are you headed now? What’s your next field assignment?’

“There’s some talk about Starswirl the bearded and his relics. Just talk right now, we might find a lead.”

“What does that entail?”

“Another day, another dungeon,” Daring said with a grin, “That’s the life of an adventurer. Good luck out there kid, you’ll go far.”

Chapter 7: Audacity

With a screech the train rolled to a stop at Fillydelphia’s train station. Daring Do stepped out, followed closely by Scootaround. Daring was wearing a black fedora atop her head and a dark colored bowtie, as custom for when she was out and about doing business. She had been teaching earlier in the day, but now she had to make a call to an old friend.

The sun was high in the sky of the early afternoon, and for a moment Daring wished she had gotten some kind of sunglasses. She shrugged. It didn’t really matter a whole lot, as she was going straight to see Edgewise momentarily. The two ponies trotted up the cobblestone streets of the city near the train depot, and then turned a block up onto a different section of town that was paved with asphalt instead. They kept to the sidewalks, occasionally making remarks about items for sale in the windows of shops that they found intriguing.

She felt a tad restless, and that was due to the fact that for every night since claiming the pendant she had tried to sleep, her dreams were plagued by terrible visions. It was like being dragged against her will, forcing her to continue in her quest to find the tomb. It had escalated beyond mere academic curiosity (though she wanted to play it off as such to her peers). In her mid Daring found the subject of the pendant and the tomb distressing, and felt compelled to find a way to return it to its rightful place as soon as possible. She was trying hard to think of something else, and was moderately successful because of her more immediate concerns.

She had to consider what she was going to say to Edgewise. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure how to approach him about this situation. He had always been a friend and a mentor to her, even after she was no longer his student. However, the two had not seen each other for a couple of years, and Daring felt that it would be rude to jump in from the get-go and demand his help. After all, he was a very old and venerable pony by now. She would need to visit first for some time, catch up with each other and exchange stories. She was looking forward to that, as she was sure he would be ready with an off-color tale that would make her sides hurt from laughing. That was the part she liked most about Edgewise, his charm. Despite being an old stallion whose position in society was that of a teacher and therefore held to a set of standards, it was not hard for anypony to approach him and become good friends.

They arrived at the mansion after about 20 minutes of walking. The house looked the same as ever to Daring. It was well-maintained. The stepping stones leading up to the front door had had the grass clipped around them, and the lawn had been mowed in a distinct criss-cross pattern recently, perhaps even earlier that same day.

“Is he gonna be home?” asked Scootaround as they approached the large double doors. Daring shrugged. She pulled on the large brass knocker and knocked on the doors three times before standing back and waiting for a response.

After a minute or so, the door was opened by a mare dressed in a maid’s outfit and wearing the matching headdress. She spoke softly.

“May I help you, sir?”

“M’am, actually. I’m Daring Do,” Daring responded, “I’m looking for Edgewise, is he available?”

“Oh, sorry for the confusion, I’m not very good at seeing things at a distance- I just saw the hat,” said the mare, adjusting the glasses atop her snout and squinting.

“What did you say your name was?”

“I’m Daring Do. Edgewise had me as a student back in the early 1920’s. Is he home?”

“Oh...” trailed the maid, frowning, “I’m sorry honey, but Master Edgewise is deceased. Only a couple of weeks ago, too.”

“Oh,” was all Daring could say. She felt something pounding in her chest, a kind of throb of grievance for Edgewise. She was now regretting not having come to visit him earlier, to have been able to see him at least once more before he passed away.

“Do you wish to speak to Master Audacity instead? He is the stallion of the house now,” offered the maid. Daring bit her lower lip and nodded, not wanting to say anything for fear of breaking down. The news of Edgewise’s death had hit her like a train, it was so sudden, so unexpected. She hadn’t counted on him being gone like this.

The three ponies entered the entrance hall of the mansion, and Scootaround gasped. She was taken aback by the size of it all. As a kid who had grown up in Carpathia on the streets, she wasn’t used to houses this size at all. Even after Daring had found her trying to pick her pocket (and subsequently became her guardian) she had only been to places in Canterlot such as the school, the museum, and Daring’s house. The museum was similar in size, but it wasn’t a placed that belonged to just one pony. This was huge. The chandeliers hung from the ceiling, there were portraits of ponies standing in front of the Equestrian banner, and even a set of armor mounted and on display.

A noise echoed from a room nearby and caught Daring’s attention. She heard a clanging of sorts, like metal striking metal. It was swift, sharp, and had been repeated several times.

“What’s that?” Scootaround asked, hearing the sound as well.

“Fencing, sounds like. C’mon, let’s check it out. Maybe Edgewise’s kid Audacity is there.”

****

“Come, for the third, Laertes: you but dally; I pray you, pass with your best violence;

I am afeard you make a wanton of me!” shouted a voice, unaware of Daring opening the doorway to the room.

It was a little less spacious and more cramped, mainly due to the crowded nature of the room’s clutter. There was an antique piano in one corner, a pile of old jackets and props in another. A stage sat on the far end, on which two ponies were positioned opposite each other, dressed in fencing outfits and holding rapiers aloft.

“Say you so? Come on!” projected a second voice, belonging to the other pony. His rapier had a greenish tinge to the tip of it.

“....and then Osric says his line....”

“Have at you!”

The pony with the green-tipped rapier charged and slashed at the other before he was ready to defend himself. He staggered back, wounded.

Letting out a rageful yell, the pony with the normal rapier went on the offensive, and they exchanged blows once more. He appeared to be putting more power into his slices, and then with a push he knocked the other down, as both swords slid out onto the floor. They made a dash for their respective weapons, but the weapons ended up in the opposite hooves. Now the green-tipped rapier was in the other’s hooves, and he attacked his opponent before he could get his guard up, wounding him and sending him reeling.

“Are they alright?” Scootaround gasped, her voice carrying. The two onstage must have heard it, for they stopped and placed their rapiers aside.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

“Hey, Audacity? It’s me, Daring! You two are doing a pretty good job at Act 5 scene 2. Tell me, where is everypony?”

“Oh, we’re just choreographing the duel,” said the stallion. He was rather young, and had a vibrant yellowish coat with a darker orange mane.

“ We’re putting Hooflet on in a month, better to get this stuff down now... wait a second, DARING?! DARING DO?!”

“The same.”

His face lit up with an excited expression as he closed the few stairs between them and warmly shook Daring's hoof. The other pony collected the props and began placing them in their proper places.

"Hey Daring! Remember me? How have things been for you? Things have been good for me, I'm getting good grades, I have a fianceé , and I'm almost ready to complete my studies and go out into the field! How have you been again, didn't catch that. Do you know anypony who I could talk to at the museum in canterlot about getting a position? I've been majoring in Equine histor-"

"Woah woah woah, slow down," Daring said, and the stallion stopped shaking her hoof.

"Sorry, was I talking too fast? I do that when I get excited."

"Nice to see you again, Audacity... to get to the point, is there any chance I could make use of your father's library while I'm here?"

"Yeah, come with me," Audacity said. He made a motion to the other stallion.

“Go get yourself something to drink down the street,” he said, “I’m gonna go and do some stuff.”

“Alright. How long do you think you’ll be?”

“I dunno. Maybe an hour or more. Knowing Daring, it’s important.”

****

The library was up the stairs and to the right, and what a magnificent library it was! Bookshelves upon bookshelves, a large stained glass window and an expansive studying area. This was an epicenter of knowledge that Scootaround had not seen before, and rivaled the library of the museum back in Canterlot!

Daring and Audacity sat down across the table from each other to catch up a bit, and so Scootaround wandered about to look at the books.

"So I'm sorry to hear about your father. It must be a terrible loss," expressed Daring. Audacity sat across the table and nodded grimly.

"We're still in a bit of shock here. My mom still cries at night in grief. I feel kind of lonely without him to talk to. The fillies and colts I act with have been pretty major support. They’re my friends. You should have been at the funeral Daring, he would've appreciated that."

"I wish I had known," Daring said remorsefully, "I would've made a point of attending. He was a great pony, your father. His amassed wealth and knowledge was always put to use to better ponykind."

"I know," Audacity responded, "In his will he left his house and his property to me, and he also requested that his works here in this library be used for the education of ponies everywhere. He wanted the knowledge to be free for anypony."

There was a moment of silence as the two ponies contemplated Edgewise, before Audacity broke the silence.

"Well Daring, I must say that I'm surprised to see you. What brings you here? What's been going on in your life? I haven't seen you since you showed up to my high school graduation a few years back."

"Well, I was starting as a professor then, and I've continued in that field. I teach Equine History at the University of Canterlot," she began, "I've also been promoted to the head of the Equine History department at the museum. You said something about seeking employment there, possibly?"

"Yeah," Audacity said, nodding, "I've been very interested in our history, not just Equestria but equines in general. I majored in that stuff in college, you know."

"Oh really?" responded Daring, "Well, who knows, you could be speaking to your future boss. I handle the applications for new employment in that department, don't you know?"

"Oh, well, heh," mumbled Audacity, blushing.

"You'll be fine," Daring continued.They sat in silence for a moment, before Audacity broached the question.

"So what brings you here, Daring?"

"Well," began Daring, "As you may or may not be aware, I also do field work for the institute, and so I have been travelling around some ruins that have to do with an old arabian legend..."

"The legend of the greedy sultan?"

"Yes, you've heard of it?"

"Yeah, it's not that obscure," said Audacity, "Dad told it to me as a bedtime story when I was a foal. You think there's some truth behind it, then?"

"Yeah, I went to some ruins down south in the black forest, near to where it meets the badlands,"

"Uh huh,"

"I found a crude map in one of the chambers, and some very old text. I think I recognize the language, but it's not one that I know myself. I was thinking there might be something here that I could refer to."

"So you were hoping that my dad could help you?"

"Pretty much," Daring said, "Is it alright if I use the library? I have the rubbings with me."

"Oh, sure," said Audacity, pressing the brim of his fedora up so he could see better, "I'll actually stay to help you. I'm hoping to work more in the field than as an academic. I’ve read all about ponies that go adventuring like you do or like Bravado or Burly Withers... so I'd love to see what this is all about."

"Oh trust me," replied Daring, smiling at Audacity, "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into with that line of work."

****

Scootaround peered at book titles from a stack of books that had not been put away. They were sitting on a small table next to a rather large chair, as if they had been placed down haphazardly. She also noticed that there were two hats sitting on each arm of the large seat, one of which was dark gray and the other a sable brown. They both had the same color ribbon on them, and the hats were shaped similarly. One of the book titles was titled Fedora Care, Styling, and Custom Bashes. No doubt belonging to Audacity. That particular type of hat seemed to be one that he was rather enthused about. She had seen the stallion look into a mirror on their way up, grinning to himself as he saw the reflection of the hat sitting atop his head.

She peered back towards the two adults, stuck in a book as they were. Daring had the rubbings out, and was referring to a book that Audacity had propped open as the stallion scribbled down notes onto a separate paper with the pencil he held in his mouth. The filly took a few steps closer, and began circling the table while listening to the two adults working.

"So these aren't so much the same alphanumeric symbols as they are placeholders for entire words?" Daring asked. Audacity nodded.

"That makes sense, most languages from this time period were like that,"

She squinted, looking sideways at one of the symbols. They looked similar to one of the symbols on the rubbing, but the side of the symbol in the translation book had a different curve on the outer right edge.

"No good," mumbled Audacity through the pencil, before spitting it out so he could speak clearly.

"That means north. The symbol on the rubbing means something different," he said, reaching over to pull the edge of the book towards him. Daring raised her eyebrows and her hooves. Clearly this young stallion knew his way around the reference material enough to correct her.

"The symbol you're looking for is this one," he pointed after turning the page a few times, "It's a glyphic. You can kind of see that it looks like a ground level, and then there's this depression beneath it where the curve turns..."

"Audacity," Daring snapped at him in a moment of frustration, "What's the translation?"

"Underground." he replied, looking unsettled at being interrupted. Daring shook her head, and motioned for him to write it down.

"Sorry," he said simply, picking up the pencil again. Daring squinted at the pages, and then back to the rubbing.

"No, I'm sorry," she said, "I just got a little.... a little frustrated. It's been a long week for me."

"Oh yeah?" Audacity tried to say through the pencil, "How so?"

"Well, we had to get this, and then CAP was there, and there were raptors that tried to-"

"Woah woah woah," Audacity interrupted, spitting the pencil out once more, "Did you say CAP?"

"Yeah," Daring replied, "You know them?"

"I signed a petition to try to get them banned in Equestrian commerce. You should sign it too," began Audacity, speaking quickly, "CAP is this international group that goes and does Archaeological stuff. They examine sites and stuff on behalf on institutions, and then document them with photographs. At least, that's what they'd want you to think."

"What do they really do?" blurted Scootaround, who had been listening to the conversation the entire time. Audacity peered over at her, eyes widening as he thought of CAP.

"It's the Coalition for Archaeological Procurement. That's literally what they do. Get artifacts that the institutions aren't going to display, and pretty much ransack the whole place. Taking artifacts, selling them on the market,"

"That's illegal," Daring stated, frowning.

"It is," assured Audacity, straightening his fedora, "but they don't document it. The artifacts are removed before they take pictures. The sales are done in secret, or behind closed doors. They don't actually do it 'officially', if you catch my drift."

"Sounds sleazy," Scootaround commented. Audacity nodded, and Daring sighed.

"I hate that type," she said, "I really do. Honestly, why would anypony do that? It's robbing the advancement of knowledge completely."

They turned back to look at the books in front of them Daring was nearing the end of the text, and referred to Audacity's notes. She skimmed down the text, making adjustments herself and additions to the end based on what she had just read. What resulted was a mostly-complete translation of the old inscription that she had copied with the rubbing.

"What've we got, Professor?" asked Audacity. Daring raised her eyebrows, looking impressed with the work.

"Get a load of this," she said as she began to read, "Sojourners who find themselves with no home to return take root. Under the ground one keeps their heritage, while above one pays tribute. The legend to find the tomb begins with the search within one's self. The cleansing waters open the gate..."

Her voice trailed off. There was a symbol she hadn't translated properly, and she was realizing it just now. Flipping the eraser end down, she took the incorrect word off the paper, and then replaced it.

"...Open the gates to see the truth," she finished. Audacity looked impressed.

"Wow, you translated that better than I could've!"

"Now comes the hard part," Daring assured him, "Let's figure out what it means."

****

"Sojourners who find themselves with no home to return take root...." repeated Daring. She had taken her hat off and was pacing about the library, thinking out loud. Audacity watched her, eyebrows raised as she made the most obscure of connections.

"Well, there were ponies from the south that traveled north, I can only assume. That would've been long before the Hoofiet Union days though,long before anything imperial either. Their own settlement...."

"What does this have to do with the Hoofiet Union?" asked Audacity. Daring wheeled around and tapped the crude map rubbing, and he understood. He had been wondering why there was a circle on that spot.

"Sojourners who find themselves with no home to return take root. Take root? No home to return to? Perhaps it means that they moved to escape the devastation?"

"Possibly," Audacity interjected, and I think there's historical records to prove that there was a sizeable exodus from that area around that time period. Thousands of years in the past, of course, but still."

"...Under the ground they build, while above they pray to the gods. The legend to find the tomb begins with the search within one's self," mumbled Daring, "It sounds like some kind of religious colony almost. They work to build their town, and also pray regularly..."

"But it said they build underground..."

"Audacity, I'm trying to think here," Daring stated, rubbing her temples. She blinked.

"Actually, keep doing that. You just gave me an idea."

"What?"

"Well, perhaps the colony wasn't religious in its nature, but the area where they were digging under was a church, or a temple of some sort?"

"Like the temple on that island?" piped up Scootaround. She was referring to the temple that was built by miners who joined Bloodhorn's cult of chaos down on an island in South Equestria the continent. Daring didn't seem to think so, as she shook her head.

"No kid, that was something different. This is talking about a temple that's placed above somewhere that they dug out underneath..."

"The legend to find the tomb begins with the search within one's self," said Audacity, tapping his hoof, "Search for oneself... like in a church or a temple..."

"Okay, so it's beneath a temple or a church," Daring noted, "but what one? We're given a clue as to a specific location, but what landmarks are there that are old enough that fit the description?"

The three ponies thought about that for a moment. It was Audacity who finally came up with a solution, wordlessly getting up and climbing up a staircase to the library's second level. He remained up there for several minutes before returning with a large volume entitled Historic Sites of the Eastern Hoofiets. He flipped it open and scanned through the pages. Each page had a ink drawing of the site itself, often old cathedrals or battlefields from bygone years. The page would have the name of the site, and give its date, along with a paragraph or so explaining its significance.

"Alrighty, so we've got the Cathedral of St..."

"Too recent," Daring interrupted, "Way too recent. Those are all within the last couple hundred years. Plus, I doubt ancient arabian ponies would have worshiped in a cathedral."

"OK, well how about the Temple of the Risi- oh wait, that's not an actual temple, that's a restaurant in which one of the former emperors was assassinated."

He flipped through more pages, getting frustrated as he went.

"There's the Imperial Palace," he offered, "They built that on top of another site that was older,"

"What site?" Daring asked, looking over Audacity's shoulder. She skimmed the text.

... built in the imperial era, the Palace was home to both the Emperor and Empress up until the revolution in 1917 that brought about the Hoofiet Union. The building is now used as a public facility, including museum and archives. The grand hall and the ballroom are also used for gala events annually in late September.

"Where does it say it was built over an existing site?"

"Down towards the bottom of the next paragraph,"

...and then in the 19th century the Emperor decided to level the old temple, save for the ornate fountain gardens. He kept those and made use of them in the courtyard of his new palace. The same fountains that were part of the old temple can still be found at the palace to this day.

"Wait a second..." Daring said, pausing, "Fountains? They kept the fountains?"

"The cleansing waters open the gate..." suggested Audacity. Daring thought about that for a moment, and then beamed.

"That's it! Whatever the old ponies built is still intact because it was under the temple, and the way to access it is still there! Audacity, you're a genius!"

"Well shuck, Dr. Do," the young stallion said, "It's nothing more than a simple observation,"

"It's Daring Do, not Doctor," she corrected him, "I don't like ponies calling me by my professional title if I actually know them. Except for Scootaround, because she likes saying it."

"So does this mean you're going?" asked Audacity, looking very excited. He began speaking very quickly as Daring stood up to gather her things and put the books away, following her around.

"It said something about an annual gala. That would be coming up pretty soon! Are you going to go? Are you going to try to get under the palace? Are you taking anypony with you? Can I come? I've always wanted to go on an expedit-"

"Quiet!" demanded Daring, and Audacity realized that he had made a foal out of himself again, and so he shrank back.

"Sorry," he stated simply.

"It's alright..." Daring said, "But I think I'd prefer to go alone this time."

"Awww, come on Dr. Do!" Scootaround interjected, looking upset.

"Sorry, but I already know what's going to happen. If it's not dangerous and filled with death traps, then I'm still going to have to worry about the Hoofiets. That, or CAP."

"I'll come with you!" chorused Audacity and Scootaround, intrigued by the mention of danger.

"No!" Daring said, a little stronger, "Scootaround, I'm the boss, and I'm telling you, it's going to be too dangerous. I'll get a foalsitter for you.”

“Audacity,” she added, “I can't really force you to stay here. You're a grown stallion, you can make those decisions for yourself. I'm not going to take you along with me, though. You'd be on your own."

Audacity's ears flopped down, and he looked dejected. Daring tried to think of something to say.

"Look, I'll be gone for maybe three days tops. I'm going to go in there, find whatever clue there is to the tomb's location, and get out. If there's dangerous traps or antagonistic ponies, having a filly with me or a stallion who, no offense, hasn't been in the field that much is only going to slow things down. I don't want to have to spend the entire time watching your backs as well as my own. I just want to return this stupid pendant so it can stop bothering- er, you get the point."

"We understand," Audacity said. He adjusted his fedora.

"Anyways, thank you for your help this afternoon," Daring offered, "Can I count on you in case there's more riddles to unravel?"

"You can count on me, Daring."