Daring Do and the Curse of the White Hyena.

Chapter one: An Unlikely Team.

Disclaimer- I do not own MLP:FiM or Daring Do, I do however own Joker Cardheart and her hyenas.

---

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! This is going to be so AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash whooped excitedly, zooming around in circles as she and the other mane six stood at the Saddle Arabia train station.

"Calm down RD! Yer makin' me dizzy somethin' awful, and ponies are startin' ta stare." Applejack grumbled.

Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly and landed with a light 'thump', "I just can't help it! I still can't believe that Daring Do asked us for help! We're going on another awesome adventure with the awesomest adventurer EVER!"

Suddenly, a feminine voice let out a sigh, "I'm afraid it's not going to be as awesome as you're hoping Rainbow Dash."

Turning the group found Daring Do approaching them, wearing her usual outfit and carrying a side bag on her back.

"Daring, it's good to see you again. What's the problem?" Twilight greeted.

"It's good to see you all too, thanks for coming so soon, but we can't talk here." Daring turned and gestured for the others to follow, "Come on, I'm staying with a friend close by, we'll talk there."

The group followed the tan mare in silence. She lead them through the busy streets, finally stopping at an old antique shop.

Entering the store Daring flipped the front sign before turning to the mane six, "Thanks again for coming out here guys, I don't think I could've done this alone."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "No problem, now what is it exactly that you need help with?"

Daring pulled out a picture from her side bag, it was a statue of a white hyena, "This statue is made from bone stones, the locals call it the 'Laughing Ghost'. The statue itself is relatively harmless and worth billions. But if the legends are correct, it acts as a key of some sort that leads to a source of unbelievable dark magic. I don't have to tell you what could happen if this falls into the wrong hooves."

"O-Oh my, that sounds dangerous." Fluttershy muttered, earning a comforting nuzzle from Rainbow Dash.

"Do not worry my yellow friend, Daring knows what she is doing." A heavily accented male voice assured.

The group turned to see a grey coated stallion emerging from the back of the shop. He was an older stallion, with a white mane and tail.

Daring smiled, "Ah, Jackel my old friend. These are the ponies I was telling you about."

Jackel bowed, "It is an honor to meet you. Any friend of Daring's is a friend of mine, but, where is your white pegasus friend?"

"We don't have any white pegasus friends." Pinkie told the older stallion.

"Are you sure? One came in here just a moment ago looking for you, said she was a friend of yours. I assumed she was your friend because she was dressed so strangely, ponies around here do not usually wear green and black ties." Jackel insisted.

Daring sighed in frustration, gaining the attention of the other ponies, "Of course, why wouldn't she be here? It's no surprise that she'd be after the Laughing Ghost too."

Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Who would be here? Is she a friend of yours?"

"'Friend' isn't exactly the word I would choose, in fact she barely borders on aquantis." Daring huffed, pulling out another photo.

The picture was of a green eyed white pegasus mare, much like the one Jackel had described. Her coat was mostly white, with brown patches on her hooves and snout, and black tips on her ears. Her tail and mane were brown, and she had a green band around her tail. A black heart surrounded her left eye, and her cutie mark was a card with suit symbols on it. Around her neck was a half green, half black collar with a half green, half black tie. Laying next to her were two albino hyenas with green and black collars.

"Wait, I know who this pony is! It's Joker Cardheart!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, a glint of excitement in her magenta eyes.

The others exchanged confuse glances, "Who?!"

Daring frowned at the picture, a light blush covering her cheeks, "Joker Cardheart, an old apprentice of Ahuizotl's. She works as a treasure hunter for hire, but my guess is she's freelancing right now. She's not so much dangerous as she is cunning and silver tongued, and she flirts like a school filly! She has two hyenas named Bonnie and Clyde, but they're just overgrown lap dogs."

"How did you know her Rainbow?" Twilight questioned.

"They talked about her for a bit in that Daring Do documentary a couple of weeks ago. Also she was a minor character in the fourteenth book, but she was my second favorite character." Rainbow Dash explained.

Putting the pictures back in her side bag Daring turned to Jackel, "Did she say if she was coming back?"

Jackel shook his head, "No, but she did say she was staying at the Station hotel. She told me to send you to the hotel bare when you got back."

"Great, well, I might as well go see what she's up to. You guys should unpack and get some rest, it's going to be an early morning. Jackel will show you to your rooms." Daring suggested.

"Hold on just a minute now, y'er not goin' ta meet her by yerself are ya?" Applejack demanded.

Daring smirked, heading for the door, "Don't worry, the day I can't handle Joker on my own is the day I retire from adventuring!"

With that Daring exited the antique shop, heading for the Station hotel.

---

The bar was fairly crowded, filled with guests unwinding from a long day. Darin picked her way through the crowd, searching for the white pegasus mare, but was unsuccessful.

"May I help you miss?" A red coated unicorn mare called to Daring from behind the bar.

"Yes actually, I'm supposed to meet somepony here. She's a mostly white pegasus, goes by the name Joker, have you seen her?" Daring questioned.

The unicorn's eyes lit up, "Oh! You must be Miss Do! Miss Cardheart has been expecting you, please, follow me."

The red coated mare exited the bar and lead Daring up a flight of stairs, towards the private rooms. They continued down a small hallway, stopping once they reached a white door at the end of it.

The unicorn knocked, and was greeted by a smooth, "Enter."

Opening the door the unicorn allowed Daring to step through before closing it behind her and leaving.

"Ah, my dear Daring! So glad you could make it, I was beginning to wonder if you would meet me at all. Please, come in, have a seat, when was the last time we actually got to sit down and have a proper conversation?" Joker greeted her with a sly grin, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Not since the ruins of Kaleem. But I know you didn't come all this way just to have a 'proper conversation' Joker. What are you up to?" Daring dismissed.

Joker simply chuckled, unfazed, and handed Daring a glass of sparkling cider, "Always business with you my dear Daring, why must I always be up to something? How do you know I not simply here on vacation?"

Daring accepted the offered drink, "Because I know you better than that, you wouldn't travel halfway across the world just to offer me a tropic vacation. What is it that you want?"

"Yes, well, as wonderful as the thought of you it a swimsuit is, sadly you are correct." Joker teased, bringing a blush to Daring's face, "You and I are after the same thing, my dear Daring. Now, normally that would put us at odds, but as you know this particular artifact has very unique … abilities, which is why I've come to suggest a temporary truce between us."

"A team up? What makes you think that I would agree to teaming up with you?" Daring scoffed.

Joker pulled out an old and yellowed piece of paper, unfolding it to reveal part of a map, "Because I have a map leading to the first clue."

Daring's eyes widened, "Wha-? How did you get that?! The last known map was supposed to have been destroyed centuries ago!"

"You are not the only pony with connections my dear Daring." Joker explained, tucking the map away, "So, do we have a deal?"

"… Fine, but we do things my way, got it? I'll be keeping my eyes on you."

Joker grinned widely, "Likewise my dear Daring, I look forward to it. Well then, I shall bid you a good night, oh, and another thing." Joker stood, taking Daring's chin into her hoof, "I'd be more than happy to accept that tropic vacation if you should change your mind. The thought of having you all to myself is just too precious to pass up. A Demain, my dear Daring!"

With that she turned and left, leaving the now heavily blushing pegasus to stare after her.

---

Chapter one is done! So, what do you think? Please read and review, but no flames please. Feel free to ask me a question if you need something cleared up.

Daring Do and the Curse of the White Hyena.

Chapter two: The Adventure Begins.

Disclaimer- I do not own MLP:FiM or any of it's characters, I do however own Joker Cardheart and her hyenas.

---

"Ah'm not so sure about this, are you really sure we can trust this Cardheart pony? You said so yerself she wasn't exactly yer friend, how do we know this ain't just some kind of trap?" Applejack asked as she and the rest of the group prepared to set off on their adventure.

Daring sighed, hoisting her pack onto her back, "Joker's not one for setting up traps. She prefers to outsmart her competition, rather than take them out with traps and brute force. Staying one step ahead of her opponents while still giving them a fair shot is what she does best, she's always looking for a challenge."

Twilight frowned, "Why is she after the Laughing Ghost anyway? Is she trying to find the dark magic?"

"She couldn't care less about the magic even if it was the key to eternal life, she's just interested in the statue. Unlike Ahuizotl, Joker seeks to find objects of power purely for the challenge of it, not for the power itself. She doesn't see the point in trying to take over or even destroy the world." Daring scoffed.

"Believe it or not, not every adventure has to deal with the fate of the world, my dear Daring." Joker chuckled as she entered the antique shop.

Daring Do rolled her eyes, but gave a small smile, "But it makes for a more exciting book if it does."

Joker nodded, "True enough I suppose. Now, would you be so kind as to introduce me to your lovely group of companions?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle." Twilight began, "And these are my friends Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack."

"A pleasure meeting all of your acquaintances, my name is Joker Cardheart, but for the sake of easy conversation, please feel free to just call me Joker." Joker introduced with a small bow.

Daring glanced around, "Where's thing one and thing two? It's not often you don't bring the terrible twosome on an adventure."

Joker smirked, "Oh they're around I can assure you, but you know how shy they can be when it comes to strangers my dear Daring. Now, shall we get started? After all, this treasure isn't going to find itself."

Reaching into her saddle bag, Joker pulled out the map and spread it on the floor. Most of the map was faded and illegible, but a small part of the bottom left corner was still intact. It showed a picture of the Laughing Ghost, and a few words where written under the picture in another language.

"Oh my, this map of yours certainly has seen better days hasn't it? How old is this statue exactly?" Rarity questioned, brushing away some dust.

"Thousands of years. Many ponies believe the Laughing Ghost was made only a few years after the royal sisters defeated Discord and imprisoned him in stone." Joker explained.

Daring nodded, "It's a controversial topic, but some ponies believe it was created to trap a great deal of Discord's chaotic magic. Other think it was made as a tribute to him by some of his followers, believing he would return one day to reclaim his empire."

Fluttershy's eyes widened, "Oh, it would be very good then if some bad pony got to it."

"Then we'll just have to get to it first!" Rainbow Dash declared.

"There's just one problem with that plan of yers Sugarcube, we don't even know where to start looking. Does anypony know what this here map even says?" Applejack demanded.

Daring placed her hoof on the map, "My Sanskrit's a little rusty, but I think it says, 'The journey begins where an empire ends. Behind the falling water, the gates guard the path.'"

The room fell silent for a few moments before Pinkie Pie spoke up, "Yeah, I got nothing. What the hay does that even mean?"

"Ok, let's just take a moment and think about this." Twilight offered, "Behind the falling water, do you think it's referring to a waterfall?"

"Maybe, there are a few in the area, but I have no idea what the empire they're referring to is! Do you have any ideas Joker?" Daring sighed, turning to the white pony.

"Well, I may have a thought. A couple of years ago an expedition team discovered an ancient city hidden in a waterfall a couple of miles from here. The discovery was abandoned though, due to the number of severe storms and landslides in the area." Joker explained.

Rarity perked, "Well that sounds promising!"

Fluttershy whimpered, "It also sounds really dangerous."

"It's the only clue we've got though, I say we check it out." Twilight suggested.

"Twilight's right, it's worth investigating." Daring agreed, "Joker, you know where this place is, you lead the way."

Joker nodded, "Of course, I'll go call a cab."

---

Chapter two is done I apologize for it's shortness, please read and review. Let me know if you see any spelling or grammar errors.