If there was one thing Wanderer hated, it was the dense jungle underbrush that kept shoving itself into his face with every step, and which trapped the moisture to the point where he could practically drink by breathing. The heavy machete in his mouth made the muscles of his neck and jaw ache, but he still took savage glee in swinging it through the foliage—revenge for the tangles and knots in his grey mane, the innumerable cuts and bruises dotting his auburn coat, and the never-ending river of sweat pouring off of his forehead.

His cutie mark might have been a spyglass for adventure, but he had little love for the tedious bits.

The pegasus behind him paused to take a drink from her canteen with her wing. Wiping at her mouth, she recapped the canteen and slung it back across her withers—brushing a stray lock of her teal mane out of her face.

“How much further are we—” she hissed as her bandaged wing scraped against some prickly vines. Freeing it from the foliage, she tucked her wing back against her side—partially covering her three-coin cutie mark. “—Are we going today?”

Wanderer chopped a thick bush out of the way before sheathing the blade on his side. “A little further; we still have some daylight left,” he said before tilting his head when he regarded her. “You all right?”

She nodded but frowned at her injured wing. “I hate not being able to fly.”

His lopsided grin spread across his face. “You’ll be back up in the air in no time. Just watch out for those stray branches that have a habit of jumping out and grabbing oblivious ponies.”

Her blue-green cheeks took on a redder hue, and she glowered at him. “Oh, shut up!”

The unicorn behind her spoke up even as the earth pony laughed. “We’ve maybe an hour left before dusk. We should find a place to set up camp for the night.” The rust-colored unicorn swore as his burnt-orange mane snagged in a branch.

Wanderer snorted. “That is an hour yet to use.” His grin returned, wider this time. “Come on, Tormod, Tourmaline. There’s something up ahead, I can feel it.”

The other two shook their heads, slow smirks crossing their faces, but followed after him.

They continued on, but all they found in that hour was more brush. As the sun set, even Wanderer had to admit they needed to stop. Finding a small clearing, the three were quick to shed their gear. Stretching out their backs from the long walk, they soon got their campfire going before the gloom of night settled.

As the moon began its rise, Wanderer took the time to update his logbook, keeping track of their progress. Glancing up from his writing, he saw his friends unrolling their bedrolls for the night; as bone tired as they appeared, he knew it wouldn’t take much for them to fall asleep.

Tourmaline, the pegasus, glanced over to Wanderer as she applied a fresh bandage around her wing. “I didn’t think ‘nothing but brush’ would be worth writing down in the logbook,” she remarked.

Wanderer looked up again from his writing—the pencil still in his mouth—and gave her a flat stare.

“—Though I’m sure whoever finds us in this forgotten jungle can happily read about the flora we’ve seen if they haven’t already figured it out for themselves,” she said, giving him a mischievous smile.

He rolled his eyes and jotted down his final thoughts, something none too flattering about his companions.

“We managed six miles today, despite the misstep.” Wanderer remarked, glancing to the unicorn. “How is that cut doing, Tormod?”

Tormod lifted the bandage from his leg, revealing the recent, yet healing, wound. “Sore, but thankfully not infected.” He removed a healing balm and fresh bandages from his bag and redressed the cut.

“That rock python caught us by surprise; we are lucky that cut was the worst of it,” Wanderer said, referring to a magical creature that was, literally, a python made of sharp-edged stone. “We’ll let you take the last watch, give you time to rest.”

They hummed and settled in to relax. Taking in a few deep breaths, Wanderer could smell the thick aroma of the jungle. Enjoying the peace, Wanderer let out a slow, content breath. If there was something better than being with his best friends on an adventure or traveling around Equestria, he didn’t know it or want to know it. Glancing at the others, he saw they were doing much the same as he.

Basking in the feeling, his ears flicked when Tormod broke the silence. “Two weeks into this jungle and we haven’t found much,” he said as he shifted through his pack. “I wonder if that information about the supposed ruins, and all of the hidden wealth, was nothing more than just a clever lie to get ponies to explore this place.”

“You always worry, Tormod,” Tourmaline said as she rested on her belly. “There’ve been other ponies who’ve come here and brought back treasure, so there has to be something worth finding.” With a toss of her head, she flicked her mane out of her face. “I don’t care how dangerous they say this place is, if anyone is going to find those ruins, and the treasure, it’s gonna be us.”

Wanderer smiled. “Got that right. When we find it, we’ll be the ones who are remembered for finding them. Scholars from all over Equestria will be paying for our story.” He smiled a wispier smile. “We might even have enough to send back home for a change.” His grin grew wider as thoughts of their possible discovery ran through his head. “Maybe even enough to go home for a while.”

“Getting homesick?” Tormod asked, raising a brow at his friend.

“No.” Wanderer shook his head before his friend finished his question. “I’m enjoying this far too much to go home yet.” He looked off into the distance. “Still, would like to see how Mom is doing.”

“And Dad.” Tourmaline nodded before looking at Tormod. “Still got that map?”

Her brother snorted. “As if I ever don’t. With Mr. constantly-gets-lost over there, I never go anywhere without one.”

“Hey! I don’t get…” Wanderer trailed off as his friends gave him steady looks. “All right, that’s fair.”

Tourmaline chuckled as Tormod held the map up for them both to see with his magic. Using the light of their fire, Wanderer squinted at the details on the parchment.

“So how far south of New Hayshire are we now?” he asked, pointing to the city that sat on Equestria’s southern border.

“With our progress, I’d say we’ve walked just shy of a hundred miles. Averaging about eight miles a day and with us not really following a straight line, I’d put us about…” The unicorn gave a pensive frown before pointing. “Here. Maybe forty miles south. Fifty if I were to be generous.”

Wanderer frowned. “Don’t think we’ve gone far enough yet.”

Tourmaline looked over the map a moment before shrugging. “We’ve got all the supplies we need and we’re still all right.” She glanced at her wing. “Mostly. Still, we don’t need to think about going back yet.” Looking back at her brother, she asked, “Can I hold onto the map for a bit?”

“All right.” He floated the map over to her, and she studied it a moment before tucking it away in her bag.

Wanderer looked at the jungle canopy before a yawn overtook him. “We should probably sleep,” he said after lowering his hoof from his mouth. “We’ve got more walking to do tomorrow.”

Tourmaline furrowed her brow. “If Tormod is getting to sleep first, who gets midwatch?”

“Flip a coin for it?” Wanderer asked her with a grin.

She flattened her ears at him. “Not with your bit, I’m not.”

His tail swished. “Hey! I got rid of that trick bit a long time ago.”

“I’m not taking a chance with you again.”

Tormod rolled his eyes. “How about closest to a number?” he offered.

“If it means he plays fair for once, yes,” Tourmaline said, giving her mane another toss.

“One time!”

Tormod shook his head, a helpless chuckle escaping him. “All right, got it,” he said after a moment’s thought. “Between one and twenty.”

“Fourteen,” Tourmaline said before Wanderer had a chance to speak.

“Eight,” Wanderer countered.

“Fifteen,” Tormod stated with a not-so-sorry look to Wanderer.

The earth pony sighed in defeat, his shoulders slumping. He glared at Tourmaline as she celebrated her victory before turning his glare at her brother. "You let your sister win, didn't you?"

A faint smirk tugged at the unicorn's face, but he shook his head. "No, she won fair and square."

Wanderer turned as he felt a nudge on his side. "My brother doesn't have to cheat, unlike you," she said, smiling wide at him.

A wicked grin crossed his face. “Well, first watch is yours.”

Wanderer admitted that seeing her widened eyes and dropped jaw as realization set in as one of the funniest things he’d seen that night. The resulting bap upside the head for laughing was uncalled for though.

It was well into the night when Tourmaline woke him for his watch.

“Anything?” he asked as he tried to shake the grogginess away.

“Nothing. It’s quiet out,” she reported, rubbing at her eyes.

He shook his head one last time. “All right, get some sleep, Tourmaline, you look exhausted. We’ll find something tomorrow.”

“Right.” She didn’t sound convinced, and curled up on her bedroll, quickly falling asleep.

Wanderer stood apart from his sleeping companions; the dying campfire’s light hard on his night vision. As he kept alert for danger, he couldn’t help but agree with Tourmaline that it was unusually quiet. His ears swiveled around but even the wild animals seemed subdued. It was the middle of the night, but unlike the previous nights of their adventure, the jungle was still. It almost seemed to him that the jungle was afraid to make a sound. Why that was, he didn’t know, but he intended to find out come daybreak.

A few hours into his watch, he caught himself nodding off and slapped himself to keep sleep at bay. He grumbled about the lack of sleep and looked towards the resting siblings. A faint smile crossed his face as he looked at Tourmaline. Glancing down at the opal-beaded necklace she wore, his grin widened. Ever since he bought it for her long ago, he hadn’t ever seen her without it.

The shine of the moonlight, as it made its way through the branches above, reflected off the opals and had him looking towards the jungle canopy. The moon had come out from the clouds and had set the small clearing into a soft glow. He didn’t know if it was a trick of the moonlight, but a glint off to his left caught his eyes. Squinting, he tried to see better, his ears flicking for sounds of danger. When nothing made itself known, he stood and gathered his machete and went to look. He made sure not to go far and leave his companions without a guard. However, true to his namesake, he couldn’t help but wander.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to go far to find the source of the glint. As he made his way through the jungle, his eyes widened in wonder at the sight he found. The jungle gave way to an old, sprawling ruin. The courtyard of which was illuminated by the moon above, setting the entire area to an almost ethereal, if not chilling, glow.

He all but shook as he looked over the old ruin. Finally, they had found something! This discovery could put their names in history books, and they would be remembered as the great adventurers he and his friends were destined to be!

He made his way back to the camp at a brisk pace; his excitement would not allow for less. He paused often to mark a tree with a simple mark from his machete to show the path back to the ruin. When he made his way back to the camp, he could see his hurried commotion had already woken his friends who were chasing the last signs of sleep from their eyes.

“Wanderer? What in Celestia’s name are you doing?” Tourmaline asked, the sourness making its way into her tone.

“I found something in the woods; a ruin! It’s not far from here! Come on you two, get your things, and let's go,” he said, prancing like a colt.

Tormod sat down on his haunches, letting out a tired groan. “Are you sure it’s a ruin and not a figment of your imagination?"

“Tormod, would I be this excited if I wasn’t sure? It’s the real thing. Get off your rump and move.”

The unicorn yawned. “Can it not wait for morning? It’s not going to go anywhere.”

Wanderer gave him a dubious look. “You expect me to wait and try to sleep knowing what we’ve been searching for is nothing but a stone’s toss away?”

“Get up, Tormod,” Tourmaline said, already gathering her gear to go. “If he said he found something, I believe him."

With a defeated sigh, Tormod began to collect his gear.

Minutes later, the three stood before the entrance of the ruin; their weariness was forgotten with the elation of the discovery. The ruin was a large, square building that resembled a place of worship, though not to any figure the three knew. The jungle had taken part of the temple grounds back, though strangely the temple itself seemed untouched. It was as if the plant life was hesitant to grow near it. The animal life was also eerily absent from the area, and it was so quiet they could have heard their own heartbeats.

With a bold smile, Wanderer gathered his lantern and trotted for the entrance.

“Wanderer, wait,” Tourmaline said, her eyes wide as her gaze darted around. “I don’t think we should go in yet.”

Turning to her, his confident grin easy to see despite holding the lantern in his mouth, he said, “It’s all right, Tourmaline. The three of us together, there isn’t anything that can stop us. We can’t let fear get the best of us.”

She shivered as she looked around. “But this place feels wrong somehow. It’s… still.”

“It is only scary because we haven’t conquered it yet. Once we go inside and learn its secrets, there won’t be a thing to worry about anymore.”

She didn’t appear entirely convinced, but Wanderer rested a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

“Come on, we’ve got this,” he said, a soft smile on his face.

She looked into his hazel eyes and a soft smile tugged at her lips. “Yeah, let's do this.”

Tormod waited a moment more before following after them, his brow furrowed.

Inside the temple they found a large central room with a pedestal in the middle; ringed by rows of low stone benches. Though the jungle refused to touch it, time and the elements held no such compunction. A portion of the roof had collapsed and many of the benches were cracked and broken. The walls and pillars were adorned with images of ponies; all genuflecting before a stallion standing above them all. The worn stone etching made details hard to come by, but they could see the stallion carried a scepter of some sort.

As they looked around, Wanderer noticed one of the etchings in the stone glittered in the lantern light.

“Tormod, can you give me some light?” he asked as he sat down his lantern and dug through his pack for a chisel and hammer. Using one hoof to brace the chisel and holding the hammer in his teeth, he pried away a small gemstone from an indention in the stallion’s chest. Setting his tools down, he scooped up the gemstone and scrutinized it closer in the light offered from his friend’s horn. The violet gemstone was about an inch long and just as wide, and brilliantly cut.

“Amethyst,” Tourmaline said before the others could.

“This alone makes our venture worth our time,” Tormod said with a wide grin, using his magic to place the stone in his bag.

Wanderer smiled. It would be more than the riches that made this trip worthwhile, he thought. He noticed Tourmaline removing the wrapping from her wing and stretching the appendage.

“Are you sure you’re ready to fly?” he asked, a concerned timbre making its way into his tone.

She smiled at him, stretching to her full wingspan. “Don’t worry, I’m not about to miss a chance to see this place from above.” With that, she sprang into the air to get a bird’s-eye view of the temple. He watched her fly around; despite a wince here and there, she seemed to handle it as well as she always did.

Through the broken roof, Wanderer could see the beginning of daylight to filter through the roof, a welcome change to the oppressive gloom the place held like a thick cloak.

Wanderer’s eyes then settled on the altar in the center of the room. Set in the middle of the altar’s surface was a gold crown. As he got closer, he could see it was made of two intertwining snakes with the heads of the snakes facing outward, each holding an amethyst gemstone in their mouths.

Remembering the many lessons of the Daring Do books he had read in his life, he suspected a trap and called for his friends to be ready. He approached cautiously—the clopping of his hooves seeming to ring in stillness—looking for any sign of traps surrounding the crown. Finding none, he braced himself and swiped the crown from it’s resting place. Hopping away, he dove for the floor—expecting to be crushed, shot at, or otherwise killed in any number of unpleasant ways.

To his relief, nothing happened. He let out an explosive sigh and got back to his hooves—looking at his prize. The crown strangely reminded him of the stallion depicted on the murals.

“That was… easy,” Tormod remarked.

“Too easy,” Wanderer agreed.

The two ground-based ponies spread their legs as the ground shook, dislodging dirt and rock from the ceiling above.

“You just had to say it,” Tourmaline remarked from the air.

Thankfully the ruin did not collapse in on itself, but a small section of wall depressed in and slid out of the way, revealing a hidden passage. When nothing came out to devour them, they relaxed and approached the opening.

“What do you think is in there?” Tourmaline asked as she landed next to Wanderer.

“Only one way to find out,” he said with a wide grin. Placing the crown into his saddlebag, he retrieved his lantern and made his way down the passage, followed closely by his friends.

The passage was narrow, allowing only one to pass at a time. If the atmosphere of the temple’s main room could be called gloomy, the passage would be best described as dead. Nothing moved; no vermin, light, or even the air broke the stillness. A feeling of oppression fell upon them as they moved deeper into the passage. Tormod and Tourmaline hunkered down as they walked, following Wanderer as he put on a bold face for them. He kept his head held high, though even his step faltered some.

The passage finally ended and widened out into a small room, and their eyes widened at their newest find. A scepter made of gold and standing five hooves tall, levitated in the center of the room. The scepter’s head was adorned with the face of a manticore, frozen in a silent roar. A large hoof sized amethyst gemstone was set in its mouth. Surrounding the scepter was a magical bubble that extended a short distance from it. Looking upon the scepter, the three ponies felt shivers run up their spines.

“What do you think?” Wanderer asked his two companions.

When Tourmaline offered nothing, Tormod spoke up. “We should try to get it out of here. If we can get it out in the light, we can study it in better detail.”

A weak smile tugged at Wanderer’s lips as he waved Tormod ahead. “All yours.”

Rolling his eyes, Tormod stepped closer. As he approached the scepter, his gaze swept over the magical bubble. A pensive frown crossed his face as he squinted at it. Lighting his horn, his magic briefly surrounded the bubble. When nothing happened, he gave his friends a helpless shrug and lifted a hoof to touch it. Upon doing so, an unseen force threw him across the room, and he crashed against the wall with a grunt.

“Tormod!” the two yelled and rushed over to help him up.

“A force bubble,” he said as he accepted Wanderer’s hoof up. “I don’t think I’ll be able to dispel it.”

“Do you know another way?” Wanderer asked, looking back at the scepter. It may have been a trick of the light, but he could have sworn it had turned to face him.

Tormod shook his head, but Tourmaline spoke. “Perhaps we should leave it. Come back for it after we've rested.”

Wanderer looked at the scepter that still hovered in the air.

“Let me try something. If it doesn’t work, we’ll leave and come back better prepared.”

Tourmaline's tail swished, her ears flattening. “Do you want to make an indent in the wall too?"

He grinned at her. “I bounce better than your brother.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. “I’m not prying you out of the wall this time.”

He laughed and turned to approach the bubble. He slowly lifted a hoof to touch it; fully expecting to be tossed aside. To his surprise, the bubble flared then vanished at his touch.

Both of his companions could only look with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

“Wha—how?” Tormod sputtered.

“Nothing to it!” he shouted back, rearing in triumph.

The scepter gently float down to him, waiting for him to take it.

Smiling his confident smile at his friends, he took hold of the scepter.

They noticed too late the crown in his saddlebag was glowing.

The moment he took hold of the scepter, a dark haze seeped forth from the amethyst. The dark fog began to swirl and enveloped his body.

“Wanderer! Let it go!” Tourmaline cried out, her voice reaching a higher octave.

“I… I can’t!” he yelled back, his eyes wide. He was elevated above the ground as the miasma swirled faster and began to glow.

His eyes were soon nothing but glowing orbs of light, and he screamed to his friends, absolute panic making its way into his voice.

“Run! Get away!” he yelled before the fog covered him.

“Wanderer!” His friends both cried out, his warning unheeded.

After a short time there was a bright flash that left both ponies covering their eyes. When the glare faded, they could see it was not Wanderer that stood there, but a vastly different pony. He was a stallion, two hands taller than Wanderer. His coat was a velvet color, his mane a lighter purple with a single gold streak down the middle. Wanderer’s spyglass cutie mark was replaced by a gauntlet held upright in a crushing pose. His eyes, once hazel, were now an amber color and full of malevolence. Resting atop his head was the crown Wanderer had taken from the altar. A gold-plated chestplate adorned his muscled chest with a large amethyst set in its center.

The stallion looked around the room and paused to regard the scepter in his left hoof.

“Wa… Wanderer?” Tourmaline asked in a quiet voice. Tormod stood in stunned silence, his mouth uttering unspoken words.

The stallion lifted his gaze from his scepter to the two stunned ponies. The two backed away at the awfulness of his eyes.

“You should have listened to your friend,” he said.

He shot out his right forehoof, and a beam of energy raced towards Tourmaline.

“Look out!” Tormod screamed before jumping in front of her. When the beam struck, his body instantly turned to stone, and he fell to the ground.

With a shriek, Tourmaline tore back down the narrow passage. Her tears flowing freely down her face as she fled for her life. The stallion didn’t pursue nor attack the fleeing mare, rather, he looked at his scepter before looking at his body and his forelegs. As he took stock of himself, a soft growl escaped past his lips. His eyes narrowed before a roar carrying the anger of ages erupted from him. His enraged shout was the only thing that followed Tourmaline as she took wing and fled to the skies.

In Canterlot, Celestia sat comfortably before her throne. A cup of warm tea floated nearby, as did the parchment she was reading. She tilted her head as she considered her tasks for the day: an envoy from the Crystal Empire was expected this day carrying news from Princess Cadence, as well as new trade agreements from their merchants, and she also anticipated a report from her favored student.

No, not student anymore, she corrected herself. Twilight Sparkle’s coronation was only a week past, and Celestia smiled at the memory. It had been a happy day for her and so many others. Twilight becoming a princess was a surprise to many, most of all Twilight. Having known the mare’s potential the day they first met, the same day the younger one earned her cutie mark and her place as Celestia’s student, she knew she had chosen well. Seeing her subjects realizing their potential was one of the many joys Princess Celestia savored.

With a thought, the cup of tea hovered towards her to sip. That was when the sound of the angered shout reached her ears, carried on ghostly winds she and few others could hear.

Caught entirely off guard, she spat the hot tea over the parchment and gasped. The guards posted at the foot of her throne turned at her gasp.

“Princess, are you all right?” the earth pony guard asked.

She did not immediately respond as the shout rang in her ears.

“No, not him. Please, not him.” she pleaded inside her mind.

“My Lady?” the guard repeated not for the first or second time.

She gave him a reassuring look, one that she didn't honestly feel as the shouting faded away. “It’s all right, sir. A spell that will fade.”

He gave his fellow guard a dubious look, and she could tell he wanted to ask more, but he respected her wishes and bowed.

“Yes, my Lady,” one of them said before they turned back to their posts.

Princess Celestia thought to herself a moment more; she couldn’t be certain of anything, but that shout was hauntingly familiar. A voice she had hoped she would’ve never have heard again. However, without evidence, there was nothing that could be done until the danger made itself known.

She looked up as she heard the frantic clopping of hooves in the hallway. Her sister ran into the room, her expression no less worried than her own.

“Sister!” Luna cried. No doubt she too heard the screams.

Celestia held up a hoof as Luna ran. “Be calm, my sister. We must learn more before we act.”

At her words, the two guards shared a worried look.

Author's Notes:

I welcome any feedback or criticism.

Edit 8/8/16: The first and final remaster of my story. For now, any chapter you see a (R) in front of the title, that chapter has been remastered. Once all chapters have been remastered, the R's will be removed. Thank you all again for reading my first story! Still proud of the old thing, even if it direly needed a face lift.