The Crystal Secret

by Daring_Do

Rating: everyone
Tags: Daring Do, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 9872

When Daring Do has set out to find a mysterious artifact from a temple, things quickly turn sour for her. But everything about the statue is far from what it seems to be. What could possibly draw the attention, of the forces called upon her?

Daring Do, the famous explorer only heard about in story and legend. Little is known that she does really exist. And she is always on the hunt for treasures and a bit of fame. But her latest expedition, is one that is turning all of her tables around.

With the finding of a statue within a temple hidden in a jungle, everything turns sour for her as she has released forces upon herself. Forces that will go to any length to retrieve that what she has. But as always, it is only the tip of the iceberg. For much is hidden below the surface.

Daring must set everything on everything to bring this to a good end, if there even is going to be that.

Published 2013-02-18 20:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-20 20:44:29 UTC

The failure of the expedition.

Author's Note

Daring Do in this chapter is "old" Daring. Adventurer with broken wing that cant fly. Keep it in mind.

The failure of the expedition.

The failure of the expedition.

Darkness had overtaken the tomb in all of its glory, yet a group of ponies dared to walk through its tunnels. To be more exact, the narrow ones. There were around fifteen to twenty others and at the head of the group she led them. The infamous mustard coated mare in a hat and a whip that hung from her hip, she held a torch in one of her hooves to at least have some form of light among the darkness.

After the passage of time they arrived at the only great door that wasn’t locked, but hadn’t been opened since the dawn of time. So it did look at least. On the door itself was something written in a language that was unknown to most others. Yet the mysterious mare at front seemed to be able to read them. "Our gods do not like your lights." Silence fell in her as her mind did all of the work. “It’s a dare, that’s a bloody dare. Heh, good thing dare is my first name.” she spoke up and without second thought, she pushed the door open slightly.

A breeze left the room, as well as a howling screech like a ghost. It caused a couple yelps among the other ponies but those quickly remained their positions again. Behind the door there was a room to be found. In the very middle of the room there was a statuette to be found. But there were some things off, especially when there was taken notice of the fact that a ray of light fell down on it. The shaft of light was so bright that the edges of the room can not be distinguished. It seemed that they were going on in infinity, or even worse, beyond.

“Here. This is what we seek.” the mare said with a grin on her face. And from behind her came the rhythmic hum. The hum that only a unicorn horn give as the charging of magic starts.

“Do not make us wait for miss Do, bring it here!” the pony right behind her explained.

The mustard coated, hat wearing mare broke out in a sweat upon the words. They had lost ten ponies when they tried to get passed the many traps and it seemed that they were cooking something really frightening. The walls were hidden in the dark, the perfect spot to hide traps. Maybe there are arrows? Water that can flood the room? that were just a couple of the thoughts that ran through the mare, but a revelation was about to be made.

Wait...what was said in the inscription over the door? she thought to herself. The mare suddenly and hesitantly went to the beam of light in the center of the room. She took a step, one simply step into the room and almost froze into her spot. A couple tears made their way down her cheeks as she stood eye in eye with her worst fears. Scorpions. Even the infamous mare had her own personal fears. And she had good reasons, given how this particular one had the height of the room.

A pony who stayed near the door erupted out in laughter at her. For the thing that she looked at was nothing more but a statue. Daring Do frowned a bit as she turned herself around to the particular pony. She didn’t care if her tears were still running or not, she just gave him a glare that could kill. She then turned herself around and the worries rose as well. As the time to touch the light had fallen upon her.

It looked like it was a cheap film that would played the tense music, so looked the situation as she reached out one of her hooves. Slowly, carefully and doubtful it came closer and closer to the column. But then it was there, her hoof had reached under the light and Daring opened her eyes carefully. Nothing had happened, yet. Gods did not turned her into dust or anything alike and she released a sigh of utter relief.
“Faster Do! There are still traps left behind! Take it and carry it here!” the pony that followed Daring spoke up. That pony could and would be considered the chief of the group and it was more then excited.
“The ponies who lived here had an ancient magic. Lighters on your heads can not emit a quarter of what these unicorns could. They controlled the weather and the number of crops without pegasus and earth pony help!” Daring went completely into light, it surrounded her as if she had become part of the column itself. It was so bright that she could not see anything except vage figurines within the distance. And then she picked up the statue.

A sound of thunder suddenly rolled below the soils of the earth. Unnatural it was without a doubt, but was it even thunder? Or was it the roar of a beast none wished to encounter. All of the ponies near and by the door became worried from it and looked at one another and Daring.
“Bring it here! Faster!” the Chief yelled up as the sound of thunder rang again. And again. And again.

It seemed like a huge drum that was beaten underground. Even guessed rhythm. The drums slowly beat faster and faster. At one point they were powerful enough to make the entire temple vibrate but in seconds, the vibrating turned into shaking. Daring still stood in a beam of light and looked at the plateau on which the statuette stood.

An enormous crack had split it in half like it was nothing. It was invisible to the naked eye, but the walls started to crumble as well. Daring had lost all sight of the room due to the column which in and of itself didn’t appear to be moving at all. The sound of thunder rang again. But what was different the second time, was that it came from the very top, further than the ceiling. As if the overcast sky began to tighten itself up. Preparing itself for a storm of unknown magnitude.

Suddenly it began to rain. Large drops flowed out of the holes that were created in the ceiling. Only a few seconds later there fell a waterfall. The terrified ponies at the door shot all of their magic in order to keep the room as dry as they possibly could. They shouted the commands to one another in the true fear they had.

Despite the fact that the sky was as black as they could be, column of light was still bright enough to see nothing. Daring rushed herself out of the light and almost right away released a loud scream. Within her eyes they had fallen. The huge scorpions, they came from behind the statue that rose against the wall. Not just a couple dozen, instead it where hundreds, maybe even hundreds. Large ones, literally half the size of a pony continued to come and clacking their pincer together in a terrifying manner.

Without mercy they charged straight for the ponies at the door. Their pincers and venomous tails made short notice of the remaining crew. Those poor souls never stood a chance. But one of them turned itself around and looked right into the eyes of Daring. Who on her turn backed up from them and returned into the column of light.

All of the creatures rushed over to her yet they never attacked the explorer. All of the scorpions stopped at the edge where the shadows met the light. With a whole waterfall above her it was still better to be wet then stung by the poisonous tail of the scorpions. Daring turned herself around and looked back. Back to where the statue of the huge scorpion rested. And slowly all of the puzzle pieces fell together for her. Exactly! God of this place was a scorpion! Strange creatures for worship, but it's true! This species of scorpions are afraid of light, she thought to herself as a bright smile formed itself on her face.

But one problem replaced by another. Scorpions began to sink. No, Daring was not worried about the ancient deity. But she was about the little fact that the water levels rose and thus filled the room! It also seems that the door was shut again. Then again, it wouldn’t have been a safe passage to begin with. Daring worried about herself as she stood knee-deep in water in the confined space of light. The situation seemed hopeless. And the rain outside only gained more and more strength. She placed the statuette in the bag and tried to swim out of the light beam.

That caused problem number three to rise up. Turned out that scorpions were excellent swimmers. They danced around Daring yet were still afraid to touch the light. the adventurer cursed them and recoiled. She touched the cracked stone once again and parts moved. A funnel of water formed itself in between them. It seemed that under the rock was an emptiness. Daring did her best to hit the parts of the stone, a vague and hopeful attempt to activate the mysterious mechanism.

Repeating rhythm of the drums, it struck the rock from the inside. Stone crumbled and the water rushed down below it, occasionally taking a scorpion with itself. The drum beats went silent but that didn’t stop the vibration. Water had activated the next mechanism and it caused the floor to shake. It turned out that Daring found herself on a kind of elevator. Water filled up the void at the bottom of the stone slab and through that, thrust it upward. Daring sighed with relief, the risk of flooding was left behind. The newly found elevator lifted her in up into a small tower that was hidden in the foliage.

The jungle was all around her, the storm above her and the temple beneath. In short, the situation was far from ideal. Daring looked around herself and tried to get everything with her eyes that was visible.

It then appeared that somepony had managed to escape the slaughter fest of the scorpion. The mysterious pony hastily gathered the belongings from the wagons and just ran away. Into the thick forest with a storm, said pony must have been desperate beyond belief.

Not so fast, I'm going with you! a mare that was hidden among the trees thought to herself She jumped out of the trees and walked into one of the ground wagons. Only seconds later the engines were started and slowly the truck made its departure.

Daring ran after them as fast as she possibly could. All of her strength was put inside her legs. The other pony that ran away, was picked up by the truck. And in that moment Daring saw her own opportunity. She had caught up with them and threw her bag inside the back and jumped in herself shortly afterward.

Inside there were two ponies who dumbfoundedly looked at her. She smiled at them and hit one in the muzzle and the other was thrown out of the way she came in. But once again she had run from the frying pan and into the fire. Another truck appeared behind them without a warning.

All of the heads that poked out were charging the horns and Daring knew what was going to happen. Of course she could just fly away, but some wounds never fully healed as they should have been. And then the bombardment of magical spells was fired. Beams were shot in every possible direction and Daring just made herself small in order to survive.

Fortunately for her was the fact that the shooters were blind or just did not know how to shoot, not that darkness of the clouds helped them out either. But through a miracle the truck got hit. Despite the rain there still was a fire that broke out and raged like the inferno’s of Tartarus. Magical fire was known for its ability to wage even through water itself. "Hey, what the hell!" was spoken from the drivers seat in a stallions voice which was utterly confused.

Daring could not stay there as the fire covered one side of the truck. The mare came out of the back and she carefully crawled passed the side without fire and up to the driver.

The pony who Daring had hit in a muzzle woke up from the smell of the fires and found himself in the midst of it. The stallion screamed and in one last attempt to save his life, he jumped out of the backend. Only to land under the wheels of the pursuers truck. The accident occurred and he was no more.

Luckily for them, the other truck pulled right on the brakes and stopped the chase, for then. Daring got to the driver and was threatening to throw him out of the truck but he pleaded for his dear life. “No! Please! We will take you anywhere you want!” he spoke as his co passenger nodded in agreement.
“To Ponyville!” Daring demanded.
“But we do not last that long! We're burning!” The fires raged on more and more yet they never seemed to be spreading further over to the cab section of the truck. It would only be a matter of time before the whole thing went sky high though.
“Then, as far as you can!” she snarled.
“Roger that, miss!” the driver said and kicked the truck back into gear. The wagon traveled all the way with the last bits of strength that it had. Yet they managed to reach the end of the forest. Only for to be in a different forest...Apple Forest.

Through black light

Author's Note

Daring Do in this chapter is "old" Daring. Adventurer with broken wing that cant fly. Keep it in mind.

Through black light

Through black light

It was a sunny morning in Apple Woods, the birds sang their songs, the morning sun fell pleasantly over over the trees and everything was over the main quiet. Trees swayed and creaked softly in the wind that dragged along the woods. Daring Do however, didn’t had time to wander around and stay for some time. She went to Ponyville, or at least into that direction, with a bag on her hip. The signature whip hung at her other hip and she fixed the hat on her head. All of it just added up to the image of a great adventurer. Something she was in more than once tense of the word.

The more the mare walked through the woods, the more she was genuinely impressed by the number of apples in the forest. There was only one thought in her mind, and that was the one of the hard workers that must have spend ages to make the woods grow into that what they were today. Hard working without a doubt. But also a simple life. And that was something, Daring could never do to herself. She was a free spirit, wanting to wander around and get into trouble. Yet knew how to behave when needed.

Her ears perked themselves up as they caught voiced within the distance. To her it sounded that two ponies were heavily arguing with one another. Her curiosity struck her and she just wanted to know more about it. Thus she continued walking through the woods. Walking until she saw the huge barn with her own eyes.

There was a herd of ponies that surrounded it, all of them looking the same. Each of the ponies wore a black set of armor and there was dark chariot that stood at the entrance. Strange ponies roamed around as if they were searching for something, or somepony. But the voices Daring heard came from the barn. The wind must have stood in the right direction, otherwise Daring would have never heard them.

“What do ya want here? Ya know what fillies, ya should go home! There hasn’t been anything interesting for several years in our garden!” a old mares voice spoke. A voice that around Ponyville was known by many and all. “Ya won’t find anything other than apples!”

“We are here under orders! We will disembowel your garden until we find this mare! Take it easy and do not interfere!” an armored mare replied. A mare with a strange looking cutiemark. As much as Daring could tell from behind the bark she stood, it was the skull of a pony.

The old lady however, continued to argue against her in protest. Daring had lost the words as she almost made her get away as soon as she saw the mark of the other mare. She rushed back into the woods and tried to keep herself hidden among them. Whether they were looking for her or not, she couldn’t risk it. She pondered about her next move when she tripped on something and fell with her muzzle to the ground. Not even a second later there was a shadow that jumped on top of her.

“Well, well, well... Who is running into mah garden?” a female voice spoke up as Daring turned her head around. It was revealed that an orange coated, cowgirl hat wearing pony had tackled her to the ground. And the green rimmed eyes looked at her in confusion. But then made the connection. “It's because of yar ain’t it? That these guys terrorize us?”

“No, wait! I do not...” Daring pleaded

But her words were cut off without mercy. “Ah’m sorry, my friend. But they will cut down trees, if they will cannot find ya! And Ah shall not let that happen. Ain’t going to waste years of labour cause of some stupid mare.” Daring gained a rope around her forehooves which then was attached to her waist and wings. Much to her surprise, the knob itself was strong.

And then came the near endless drag back to the barn. The cowgirl didn’t show any sign of mercy as she was too determined to ‘save’ her family. But as Daring was dragged along, the bag managed to slip off of her body and fall to the ground. With her backlegs she tried to get a hold of it, but it was in vain. “H-Hey!”

“Easy, friend! Ah do not want my family to suffer anymore...”

“But my...”

“Just be quiet!”

When they eventually did reach the barn, the old mare turned herself around in confusion as she heard the other set of hoofsteps. Her coat was green and her mane and tail were white with a spark of gray. Much like Daring’s graybow. “Applejack! Who is this? A, a friend of yars?”

Applejack just threw her victim before the black mare with the skull mark and spoke her desired words. “That's it? Now leave us alone?”

“Oh! We express our gratitude to you! You will receive the award in the near future!” the strange mare spoke with a sinister smile on her face. But the cowgirl didn’t care, as long as they were gone she was happy.

“Just get out of here!” the orange coated mare spoke in a raised voice. But Daring could see there was something like pity in her eyes. But much time there wasn’t as more ponies in the armor ran to her.

“Hey, trespasser! What is yar name?” Applejack asked as she fixed her hat.

“My name, is Daring Do!” the tied up pony replied as she was picked up and brought to the carriage. Soon enough the door closed with Daring inside and the family was just as she wished, left alone. The Applejack's jaw was omitted.

“Hmm...strange pony began to appear. In my youth, this was not!” the old mare spoke and shocked the other.

“It can’t be! Daring Do?” Applejack gasped as she remembered that something fell from the mare. Like a storm she was off and not much later she returned to her grandmother with a bag around her hip. But the calmed down look in her eyes was gone. She had kicked herself into the highest gear and was more than eager to just leave. “Ah need to see Twilight! Ah may be late home, don’t wait for me!” And she was just, off.

The journey inside the carriage was not the most pleasant one. For the guards tried to find out where the statue was hidden. What Daring could answer them? She didn’t not knew it herself. With the passage of time they brought her into a building and from room to room, from one pony to the other pony. And all of them asked the same questions. Then she was brought to the big office in the Gothic style. At the table sat a black mare with that sinister smile. "Black Skull." Daring said as she came up with a nickname for her. “Once again, the statuette stayed in the temple! I dropped it when I found the scorpions!” But Black Skull was not even paying attention to her. “Whether or not you are going to interrogate me like the others?”

“What for? You said all that you could say. I mean, all that you could think of! The driver of the wagon passed you! The statue was with you when you got to the Apple Acres! And I'll have to tear out each tree with the root, if you don’t tell me where you hid it!” the other mare spoke in a hissing tone as her eyes got fixed upon Daring.

But then there was a pony in the dark armor that entered the room. “Orders, miss!” he cleared his throat and began to read the scroll. “I have heard reports that you have caught a suspect without evidence. I order you to release him immediately!.” He closed the scroll and laid his eyes on Black Skull. “There is another secret order for you and your friends. This mare came to take her!” he finished and straightened his back again. He was waiting for orders. The black pony became even blacker and it caused a lot of confusion for Daring. Not just the appearance, but the words as well. “M-My...friends?” she asked but never got any response.

“Lucky...well, get out! But I’ll see you soon!”

Without a question Daring stood up and gave a glare of suspicion to the mare behind the desk which was followed up to the guard. He nodded and opened the door for her. The adventurer slowly left the room yet was still unable to believe that they let her go so easy. The two ponies stayed in the room and Black Skull smirked like the devil she was. They had planned something for certain.

Daring walked up the stairs, trying to remember what a friends she had in Ponyville. But she more worried about a question she had heard the entire time in the building, where the statue? And what is it? Most likely she have to go back to apple farm for her answers.

Finally her attention was drawn to the voices of protest in the lobby and hurried to see her savior. “You are wrong! Do you know who she is? You're even half not as good as she is! Release her! Immediately!” A pony with a rainbow mane had taken hold of the guard who blocked the way for her. It wouldn’t have been long before she had beaten him to a pulp as she saw her subject of interest. The mare who came down from the stairs and the pegasus let go immediately of the guard. The looks in the eyes of the cyan coated mare looked as if she was about to faint on the spot. “Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh!” She just rushed to Daring and tackled her down to the ground. The magenta red eyes went all over her before she spoke again. “Wow! It really is you! Just like in the books! Cool! Awesome! Unbelievable!!! I like you so much! Every one of your books! Every story! This is great! Thou hast made all these tricks? And how you kicked ass to these guys! What happened with your companion after Death Canyon?”

“I…I am…” Daring could not even breathe because the mare hugged her too tightly.

“Come on, Rainbow Dash! Yar acting like Pinkie Pie!” Applejack said with a soft smile. “Hey, Daring Do! Ah'm glad they didn’t do anything bad to you! Incidentally, this is Twilight, our friend.”

Another pony came from the other side. A unicorn with a mulberry coat and different toned purple mane. “Hello! I'm Twilight Sparkle, a student of Princess Celestia. I am very glad to meet you in person! Your books are incredibly interesting!” she spoke up with a gentle blush.

Daring was still lying on the ground and looked at the trio of ponies as Rainbow had finally released her. Then she spoke her words with a smile on her face. “Okay, Rainbow, I like you too. But, why does this remind me of a prison to begin with?” Rainbow wanted to hug her again but managed to contain herself. Instead she gave off a broad smile of utter glee. “Thank you, friends. But why? Why did you set me free?”

“Ya just do not look like a criminal, sugar!”

“O-Oh, thank you, I guess, Applejack. But….oh no! Applejack! Where the bag? They're going to cut a whole your forest until they find it!” Daring exclaimed as she got back on her hooves.

“W-What?” Applejack spoke in confusion before an angry face grew on hers. “C’mon, Rainbow! You’ll help me with this! You’ll see your Daring Do later! C’mon! Daring… you stay with Twilight for the time being. She’ll tell you something interesting.” Applejack just grabbed the rainbow tail and dragged the pegasus unto the street if she wanted it or not.

Twilight gave off a gentle smile and spoke one simple world under a light giggle. “Hey!”

Daring quickly made friends with the nice unicorn mare. It turned out that she reads a lot and knows a lot about magic, it was something that came over the years though. Twilight told her that they hid the statue in an old mill that was located on the outskirts of Everfree Forest. Though it was dangerous to leave this treasure without supervision, so they decided pick it up the very moment. Of course the words weren’t spoken inside the prison but on the street between the mass of ponies.

“You know, no one goes there for a long time. This mill is so old that was about to fall apart! The fillies and colts came up a story, that a ghost lives here, so...they don’t even come close! It was working in a time long ago though. But now the water level so low and it just stands there on top of the hill which is dubbed ‘Mills hill’.”

The mill looked awful. It was black, rusty and the water wheel had fallen off a long ago. It stood on a cliff, and below was the rapid flow of the river. When Daring stepped on the first step, it broke in two pieces. Twilight just shrugged at it, almost as if she was shaking it off. It was a dangerous place but certainly one of the best for hiding. They carefully went inside the broken building and upstairs to the second level of the place. But by one of the steps they took, as they almost had reached the top, broke and Daring fell down to ground level.

The adventurer shook her head a couple times as she released a couple swears to herself. But then her eyes looked out of the window. “Oh no! Seems that we have company!” For outside on the field stood a herd of black armored ponies. Black Skull was among them and she gave orders inaudible for Daring. Twilight knew what she had to do and galloped up the stairs, praying it didn’t break under her weight.

The armored ponies sped up but ran carefully. The door was broken down by them and they poured in. Hooves clattered on the stairs but then a loud crash and obscenities diversified a palette of sounds played out. What happened was, they destroyed the whole staircase that led over to the second level.

Twilight ran to the chest and pulled out a bag. In all of the commotion of the broken stairs, Daring managed to go up it again and found the unicorn in the room. She forced her to flee with her but they had no way of escaping with the exception of the windows. “See ya, pal!” Daring smirked as she waved all of the armored ponies off that stood on the ground level.

“Umm…Daring?” Twilight called up and the mustard coated mare turned her head toward the broken stairs. There were ponies whose very horns shone, ready to fire a magical beam.

“Twily! Hold on!” Daring took hold of her friend and struggled to a wall of the mill. The wall was broken in half like it was nothing due to age and a huge chunk fell into the water down below. But due to the impact, Twilight and Daring fell out of the hole as well. Twilight used her magic and soften the blow and Daring landed on all four hooves. They landed on the suspended broken wall that acted like a raft for the both of them.

“Behind you!” Twilight shouted as from coast the outbreaks of magic came their way. Twilight reflected them all with a simple spell. She was defending Daring with everything she got. But the further they sailed, the darker it got. The makeshift raft entered a forest. A forest they knew all too well. “Everfree forest…” Twilight said with fear in her voice. But there was no time to have fear. From the coast there was a pony that jumped right on their makeshift boat. But the attempt of boarding was quickly nullified by a kick from Twilight and the pony fell into the water.

Meanwhile, the speed of raft increased significantly. “Good work, Daring! We are sailing much faster!” Twilight said with a smile.

“B-But it’s not me…” Daring replied as she noted the fog. A fog that could be seen dead ahead. Two guards, who had landed on the raft without them even knowing looked there too, then looked at each other and jumped into the water as if they were scared for it.

“Twilight, get me out. Get me out! Get me!” Daring exclaimed as it became apparent that she was stuck in the stone. Twilight rushed to the Daring and took her by the neck. “You'll tear off my head like that! No! No!.

But then it hit them, the freefall. The fog wasn’t any natural fog, it was from a waterfall. And on the bottom they waited, the sharp stones just ready to cut their flesh open. The feeling was soon to be replaced fear. The raft turned over on itself and Twilight fell off of it. She was flung away from the raft which did made an enormous crash against the rocks. And then, she lost her consciousness.

Twilight moaned a bit as she could feel the sand between her hooves. She managed to open one eye and the other slowly followed up. Daring Do herself, stood in front of her with a frown. She made strange slowly movements forward and then backward.

“Daring? What do you ...?” But the adventurer looked at her and laughed.

“I’m still stuck, Twily! Ha-ha-ha!!!” she replied. It was true that the raft had shattered, but not every single piece had broken itself. The part around Daring’s hooves, was one of them. So she rocked in the sands back and forth. It was pretty funny and Twilight laughed a little bit as her brain kicked back in.

“You never told me about the statue!” Twilight spoke as she rubbed her head a bit.

“Oh, yes! Sorry! I've studied it, but I could not understand what it was. I compared the writing on the statue with ancient dialects. I can not translate, but the dialect refers to the ancient era! Pegasus and unicorn had a war in that time! I read in a book on the temple of those time, and you know? The closest temple is not so far from the continent!” Daring spoke as she tried to break free. “So sail?”

“There is no point in returning to Ponyville. If I show up there, they’ll caught me! Sorry Spike... Yes! We are gonna sail!” the unicorn looked down then sighed a bit.

“Great! I’m glad to see you as my companion! As far as I can remember...ruins must be there, then Dodge City! There we can take a cart and get to the Horseshoe Bay!” Daring spoke as she still struggled.

“Wow! You got a great memory! Let’s do it! Twilight replied with a smile

“Last question though,”

“Yes?”

“Can you get me out of this board?” Daring asked with grinning smile on her face as she held the tied hooves before Twilight.

But high above them on the ridge of the waterfall stood a black mare who just stared at them. “Guard!” she spoke up.

“Yes?” the armored guard asked as he joined the mare on the ridge.

“Send a letter to Luna! Say that the trap worked and we have a right way!”

“As you wish...miss Blacklight.”

Burning sea

Author's Note

Daring Do in this chapter is "old" Daring. Adventurer with broken wing that cant fly. Keep it in mind.

Burning sea

Burning sea

It were such places that were always full of ponies yet the tables were dirty as could be, the smell of booze hung in the air for ages and the constant fights made them unique. And at was the particular pub that was noisy as all could be. The music was playing and glasses crashed on the floor as well as the heads of brawlers.

Daring Do had been coming to such places for a long time and had picked up some experience over the course of time. But her and Twilight had drawn a lot of attention to themselves because it was rare to find any actual mare in a pub. Yet where Daring had been there for multiple times, it was the first time for Twilight. “Oh…Daring… This place...umm...what are we doing here?”

“It’s Baltimare’s port and finest pub, my friend! Relax, Twily! We are here for one of my friends. Let’s take that table.” the famous explorer replied as she pointed to a specific one. “So, when I’ll find him, we’ll can keep moving. But tell me again..What information did you find about the temple?” The both of them walked up to the table and sat down behind it.

“Well… The temple is located in desert, after the Great Sea. The book doesn’t has that much information about it, but I read something about a temple guard. Even I don't know what it means. But it did spoke about a great treasure. The pegasus Crystal.” Twilight spoke up in a whisper as she looked Daring ever so serious in the eyes.

“Huh? I’m a pegasus and I have never heard about it! Well…be quiet so no one will get suspicious. I'll try to find it as fast as I can!” And before Twilight could even react, Daring ran to the back door and gave a passing nod to the bartender. The mulberry unicorn couldn't believe it that she was left alone. Without much thought she pulled out a book and frowned from the loud sounds that originated all over the bar, while she tried to read.

Meanwhile, at another table there sat two dark cloaked ponies. They gave each other a look went off. Off through into the secret door that was to be found behind a great picture. Despite the rather obvious placing, most of the visitors were either too blind or drunk to notice their disappearance.

Behind the doorway there was a room which was colored in shades of pink. The tapestries that hung on the walls and on the floor appeared to be made from a rather soft material. The two dark cloaked ponies noticed bags of stolen gold that just stood in the corner. Standing against the far wall there was a chair. Or more precisely, a throne. And upon that throne sat a pony.

A pony who had a large cuts on the eye. Several mares sat around stallion body typed pony and all of them in obscene poses. They caressed his hooves and chest.

With his eyes he just looked at the newcomers and one of the strangers pulled a bag of coins from underneath the cloak. But also a letter. A letter that on closer examination could be seen with the print of a black skull on it. One of the mares came up to him and she took the items. She even went so far to give a peck upon the lips, but the cloaked pony didn’t return the kiss while the other was rather confused.

The pony who sat on the throne received the letter and read through it. As the paper removed itself from his face, he gave the both of them a nod.

Twilight looked up from the book and around herself, it was absolutely impossible to read through it for it. Throughout all this noise, my thoughts are bunched up! And from the alcoholic vapors tickle in the throat! the mare thought to herself and stood up from her table. She got up and went to the bar in the hope that there was something that could wet her throat. The bartender noticed her and immediately responded in his low voice. “Want a drink, sweet mare?”

“Ummhh… And what do you have?”

“We have the best drink in town! Name it all!”

“Well...then maybe...warm milk?”

Somewhere there was a cup that broke and almost everypony stopped screaming and fighting and looked at the mare near the bar. Twilight’s could feel her heart sinking down to her very hind hooves. “What did I said wrong?” she managed to get out as she spun in her head.

“Hey! What a pretty cute mare? What’s your name, dear?” a dirty pirate spoke up and approached her very closely. Out of his mouth came the smell of beer and other moldy stuff. But someone had to respond.

“T-T-Twilight...Sparkle.” she said before a deafening laughter rang out in the bar.

“Hey, SeaWoof! This is a great mare! Modest. With a royal name! We must bow to her!” another pirate spoke as he winked to his friend, the one who spoke first.

“Ahhh… I think we will find common ground with her. True, dear?” said a third one and he slapped her on her flank. Twilight shrieked and her eyes filled themselves up with tears almost right away.

“Hey. What is it?” the first speaker asked and he took her book.

“Please..no..its...” Twilight pleaded, but it was too late.

“Like reading, huh?” And then a deafening laughter took over again for a short period of time. “Maybe we should go up in a more private place and I'll show you what we read, right guys!?” The laughter returned and some even shouted of approval. “Right guys!? What do we read?”

“The ship's journal!” was spoken by a stern voice that made everyone in the room fell silent. In the doorway stood a stallion with a beard and an eyepatch. Instead of the front left leg there was a wooden stick as substitute. He looked sternly at the pirate who took her book and he immediately put it on the bar. After the old pirate came Daring Do herself and she ran to Twilight.

“Go away, landlubber!” Daring hissed at the stallion who had slapped the unicorn.

“Disperse to your desks! Drink, have fun! Do not you have enough of port mares?” the old pirate ordered and all dispersed. Music started again, the talks continued and rivers of beer being poured. The stallion himself came to the table of the mares and leaned against it. Twilight was scared and embarrassed with every right to be but kept her composure. “No reason to stay here! Come, I'll show you my ship!”

Three ponies under the clip-clop sound sticks that replaced the pirate leg slowly walked along the port. Fresh salt air gave strength and was filled of dreams about distant seas and treasures. Through small talk it turned out that the pirate was named captain Barkossa or just Barko for short. And he had a big ship with around sixty to sixty five ponies on board. “Climb aboard” he spoke up. The stallion nudged Twilight with a smirk to get her full attention. “It’s my ship! My treasure! Thank Daring for it! Do you remember the time we were pressed to the rocks? And you...well...you remember...so... We won the battle, and seized their ship. They lost because they were struck your fancy and we raised for a surprise attack! By the way, you did not hurt yourself? There has been a hi-

Before the captain could continue he was interrupted by the adventurer herself. “No, it was not worth the bother! I’m a pegasus!” The mustard coated mare shook her wings but moaned and grabbed the right wing. “At least half.” she added with a sour look on her face.

“Wow, look! Guys, I knew that you'd show up! Everything is ready to sail.” the captain spoke as the smirk turned into a smile. But then his attention fell back on Daring herself with a serious look on his face. “But to start, Daring, look into my eyes, again a dangerous chase?” He kept himself rather quiet during the words, almost as if nopony else may have heard them.

“Umm…heh.” was all Daring let out before she tucked back her wing.

The captain knew more than enough and he shouted the commands from the docks. “Oi! You scurfy cockroaches, pull out used spare cannons on the deck! Try to hold on the bow and between the third pair! And cast off! We have a great traveler on board! The last time she was with us, she gave us a boat! Let's see what we’ll get this time!”

The crew shouted in a loud ‘hurrah’ and their job onboard began. Everywhere the mares looked when they came onboard, sailors just ran. However there were a couple of ponies who accompanied Twilight and Daring to their cabins.

The ship as a whole was incredibly beautiful to say the least. A seventeenth century triple masted vessel that looked like it could make some serious speed despite being heavily armed. The mares were guided over to the stern of the vessel which held the equally impressive officers and captain’s bedroom. Almost everywhere hung pictures and furniture that was made of mahogany. Daring’s cabin was filled with charting cards and in the corner stood a soft bed. In one swift observation she made out that it was the rather luxurious navigation room. Something she was rather happy with.

In Twilight's cabin there was a simple desk and a lamp that stood on it. It was a room she could live with but when the sailor told her about the library that was next doors, Twilight almost couldn’t hold her joy.

The more time progressed, the more orders were shouted by the captain before the ship finally set sail for the rough seas ahead. With the wind caught in the sails, they left the port safely and without any incident.

A couple days had passed and Twilight was on the deck with the sailors. She told them about magic, the princesses and even Canterlot. Each of them remained quiet and listened with great attention. This royal world was just so unfamiliar to them that they almost couldn’t believe it.

They could sit well all day, but rain began to drip and Twilight finished a story. Something that evoked general sorrow. In the meantime, Daring Do had joined the captain by the helm of the vessel. “I have a bad feeling about this, captain.”

“Well, the rain was never liked by anyone.” the stallion chuckled up.

“What? No, I did not mean it. It seemed to me that I was a serious pursuit but so far I don’t see anyone.” Daring commented to his words as she looked to him with a shady look in her eyes.

“Do not draw us trouble. Be thankful that no one!” the captain spoke up with a chuckle. Twilight on the other end took the telescope over and began to look through it. Everything she saw was just calm water from the bow to the hull. Which exctually left her curious about one more thing.

She went over to the stern to see into the distance that laid behind them, there where the clouds of the sky they just had sailed below. Though something in the clouds didn’t seem to be right for one bit. “Any of you know just what that is in the distance?”

The captain himself released a soft ‘hm’ before he took the telescope of the mare. Daring almost automatically took the helm to keep the ship straight and the praying could begin for all of them. “Where?” the stallion asked as he was looking for the points Twilight saw. With the help of the mulberry mare, he then finally managed to get a visual upon the sight.

In the far distance and hidden among the clouds were two points. One was up in the sky, and the other on the water. They were moving parallel to each other and seemed to be approaching the vessel of the mares quickly. “Heaven’s almighty… Incoming airship!” he yelled over the deck. All of them, except Twilight, knew it was only a matter of time before they would be caught up with them all.

After a few minutes it was the airship that would be reaching them first and both Daring and Twilight looked at the mighty blimp with huge propellers stuck on either side. Though the two of them noticed the rope that was going from the stern, over to the bow of the vessel in the waters. It seemed like that the airship took the sailing vessel in tow, it it left the questions of how and why clearly open. Daring looked over over to the stern of the airship and noticed the black flag with the skull and crossbones upon it. “Oh no.” she whispered to herself before she pointed to it. The captain of their ship followed the hoof going up and almost got the scare of his life.

“Prepare the cannons on both sides you landlubbers! Jolly Rogers’ on the ship!” the captain yelled to his crew which came into action almost immediately. What followed was a huge, but also organized commotion upon each of the decks of the vessel to prepare themselves for the war to wage.

Yet on board of the airship, the massive rope got unhooked fell down from a great height into the water. It was after the splash that it was hauled into by the other ship, which then could move independently. Twilight followed the actions closely and noticed that it was smaller than their ship, but it meant it was also a lot faster.

From the looks of it, the vessel still laid a long distance away but from the bow, Twilight could see two hatches opening. Almost instantly she turned herself around and pushed both Daring and the captain to the deck. Any unfortunate sailor who would be looking at the second vessel behind them, noticed how the bow suddenly was covered in the white smoke of gunpowder.

The pounding thum of the cannons then shocked through the three ponies and they prayed on the fact they would miss. And just for once, their prayers were heard as they head both cannonballs hit the water instead of their ship.

While the sailors were sitting behind the cannons that stood on both sides of the haul, the tension could be cut. They were ready below decks, but on the top deck, everything was still a chaos. At least it seemed that way. But everything was on schedule and worked out many times. “Miss Sparkle, thanks for that.” the captain spoke up before he rose back on his legs and looked over the entire top deck with a smirk. “Come on! Move you half-dead cockroaches! Show them what we have! Release the stern cannons!”

And that was the thing that surprised both Twilight and Daring the most, the two of them quickly hung overboard and looked at the stern of their ship, only to see four hatches opening all along the same floor and out of those hatches, came four of the heaviest cannons both had ever seen in their lives.

“Fire!”

A sound of thunder roared over the ocean as all four guns were being released. The sheer recoil given and the smoke created was enough to give it a boost and shroud it within it. When the smoke did finally cleared up, it turned out that they just missed all of their shots and only in the enemy sail gaping hole inside of it.

Yet as they were reloading, the enemy vessel shot back and both Twilight and Daring lowered themselves once again. Protecting themselves from the incoming fire, the shot knocked at the stern rail, damaging the beautiful artwork it had. “I have had enough of these guys, let’s process them completely!” the captain shouted before he turned the rudder a couple dozen times.

The ship began to turn sideways and seemed to be heading towards the enemy ship. Who on its own turn continued to blaze the two cannons on the bow before it was too late. The time that the ships circled around one another was there and the deadly dance could begin.

They came close enough to see the ponies on the enemy ship clearly and they are back for another shot, as the enemy turned first. A smaller ship meant that a full broadside salvo of their vessel, could miss everything. They needed the time to find the right moment, a moment that didn’t seem to be coming at all to their despair. Not to mention the fact they were still out of range to shoot. Twilight picked up the telescope again and looked towards the many gunports, only to do a shocking discovery. “They’re rolling in small balls in the cannons with chains!”

“Good find Twilight, now down and prepare yourself cause we got incoming!” The captain shouted his last words over the top deck and every last sailor fell down to it. Only a few agonizing seconds later, the entire broadside cannon salvo of the smaller vessel could be heard and over their heads it sounded like a flock of supersonic mosquitoes flew over.

Seconds went by as the other ship was reloading their guns while the vessel of Twilight and Daring just wanted to get closer. With their heavier guns they could inflict a lot more damage, but they needed to be up close and literally personal with the enemy. “They’re in range!” was suddenly shouted from below decks and caused the captain to smirk to himself”

“Excellent!” he whispered before the tone turned into a yell. “Drown them!” And with those words spoken, the command of ‘fire’ swept itself throughout the ship. One by one did the massive cannons release their dangerous cargo. Pound after pound and whistle after whistle could be heard and felt before the smoke covered their view.

“Come on, come on, come on.” the captain mumbled as Twilight and Daring were hunkered down on the opposing side of the stern, wanting to stay out of it, or at least remain unharmed. Yet when the smoke did finally clear itself, it became apparent that the enemy had been damaged. One problem might have been solved, but it still left another.

“Captain! The airship, it doesn’t take part in the battle! Daring yelled as she had kept her eyes upon the vessel at all times. She crawled out of her hiding place and jumped up on the stern itself. She coiled her hoof around one of the lanterns and simply looked over the thing. The very airship had caught up with the two of them but just continued sailing as if they weren’t even there. The mustard coated pegasus dropped herself off of the stern and back to the deck as she watched just where they were going to. “They want to first get to the temple! You must stop them!”

“Do not panic!” the captain shouted at her before he gained a grin and turned the rudder again. “With the rain rose a strong wind! We can easily catch up with them!” The vessel had kept itself turning around the smaller enemy ship and actually laid perfectly in line to sail straight again, which was the thing they did.

Even Twilight dared to come out of her hiding and looked through the telescope once more, only to do yet another shocking discovery. “They’re doing it again!”

“Oh you have to be kidding me!” the captain hissed before he assumed a more zigzagging course. All of the crew pressed themselves against the deck. All of them heard the shots coming and soon enough they flew above them. One managed to hit the mast where it swayed around and fell, destroying one of the sails on the second mast.

“Damn it! We have another one, but we will never catch up!” the stallion spoke before he let the stern cannons fire again.

“There is another way.” Daring Do said as she looked over to the captain. He then just paused his entire body and started to think in the few precious seconds that he had.

“Do you suggest...are you sure?” It was the last exit that they would be having. Like at that time in the rocks. The ears have become accustomed to the fighting. Ships firing without orders, the salvo’s were flying like rain that was falling from the sky. The captain looked at the broken wing Daring. “You can’t even fly... Guys, let's give her our invention! I have something for you. We'll use our Plan X again. And they will struck an unexpected blow.”

Sailors then dragged a box to the top deck and began to get something else. They brought one to Daring who on her turn opened it with a gleeful smile clearly visible upon her face. For the content inside the box was a set of mechanical wings, which were aimed only to glide through the air. It was a technology invented by the earth ponies thousands of years ago and worn on their backs. The things acted like the wings of a pegasus but it was painful to actually get into the harness and even to wear it.

But when everything had been in place, it worked like a charm. “Ok, I’m ready. Have to say goodbye to Twilight though.” Daring spoke up after she managed to get herself into the harness and folded the wings up against her body. Something that sent a stone cold shiver through her body.

Yet Twilight was excited about something. She had gained a small scratch on her neck and tied it with a small piece of cloth. In her eyes she looked like a real pirate by then. The eager little mare had taken the command of her own and stood on the railing by the helm. Her mouth spoke the orders simultaneously reporting impending volley. Each of the sailors unquestioningly obeyed her though for one reason or the other.

Perhaps that was because she helped preparing the magical cannons that would be giving them the definitive blow. “No time for that, the airship goes with the wind. We're done here Daring!”

One of the guns was pointed upwards and towards the airship while the sailors poured the gunpowder in it. Then they pushed the cap is tightly closed the cannons hole. And much to Twilight’s surprise, Daring actually jumped in and nodded towards the captain. Who on his own turn lit the fuse.

With Daring sweating inside of the thing, she was starting to think it was a bad idea. But it was just about the only thing they could think of to do. But there was no more turning for her. She would be launched from the thing like it was nothing.

And under a massive thumb of the gun, the powder exploded and thrust Daring into the air, sending her flying out of the barrel. “...That’s something else.” Twilight spoke up as she never had expected to be seeing something like it in her life.

But Daring on the other end, she was momentarily deaf because of the bang. Plug sharply pushed her back hooves and she departed from the hole like an arrow. Her heading, was nothing else but the airship itself. The battle between the two ships ceased as the main target was just, gone.

The captain then turned the ship the other way around to actually finish the fight with the other vessel, only to receive a full on broadside cannon salvo. The unexpected move wasn’t something entirely unexpected, but left their vessel pretty wrecked. The old sailor was having more then enough of the tricks played upon him and would continue to pound the little ship with everything he got, fight until the last stallion or get the thing to sink.

It was a plan that Daring Do wouldn’t be a part of, as she rushed through the skies in order to reach the dreaded airship. At the very peak of her flight, the wings spread themselves and with the help of the winds she managed to glide over to vessel in silence. Closer and closer it became until she soared in between the balloon and the roof of the cabin of the captain.

After a landing outside of the textbook, she stood upon the roof and took off the wings with a moan and a groan. Just the sheer pain she got from removing the things, made her think she was bleeding somewhere, but not a single drop was found. What was found though, were the marks the construction gave her and her hearing.

The mustard coated pegasus looked down to the waters and saw how the two vessels had engaged themselves into a powerful battle between one another. Her only hope was both the captain and Twilight would have been alright. She could only pray for the two of them, before she started to look for a door or a hatch through which she could squeeze herself and thus, gain access to the place.