The sun soon rose to its highest peak in the afternoon sky over the forest in the region northwest of Galloping Gorge. A small rundown house sat in the middle of nowhere. Inside the house was a pegasus mare, who sat upon a chair as she looked at her typewriter. An elegant hat sat upon her head, concealing her grayscale hair. Her red glasses framed her rose colored eyes as they darted back and forth across the paper firmly held in the machine under her gaze. Her light gold coat was almost completely hidden away under a violet shaw that covered her back all the way to the floor, obscuring her tail and cutie mark.

She had returned to her typewriter after seeing a few trespassers off her property and was busy trying to figure out what she should write next. ‘It’s been awhile since I’ve been on an adventure. Nothing much to write about if nothing happens.’ Her last book received great reviews, as a new character had appeared in her story. Sometime ago, she had a run in with six mares, particularly a pegasus mare named Rainbow Dash, who had gone out of their way to help her on a dire mission. Even though she had been turned down time after time, the rainbow maned mare would not relent. The mare sitting before the typewriter chuckled at the memory, it seemed like she had seen those unlikely heroines only yesterday.

However, she had received news some time ago about a terrible accident. There was a mass funeral she did not attend, but from what she heard, many ponies had died after a monster had appeared in Equestria. Where it came from was unknown from what her sources told her. More information came later, with which she found out that the Element Bearers were involved, along with the Royal Sisters and even the Princess of the Crystal Empire. She had learned that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’s husband was killed in action as well.

Even the friends she had gained weren’t spared from bodily harm. There were rumors that they were injured by the creature’s before it was finally killed by the princesses. ‘Rainbow Dash… my friends…’ She never was one for social activity. After fighting with her nemesis time and time again, she learned to never trust anypony else and was always weary around strangers, but her experience with Rainbow Dash and the friends got her thinking; maybe she could trust some ponies.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked towards the offending sound. Getting up from her seat, she walked over to the door and peeked out her window. She saw three ponies, two of them looked like members of the Royal Guard as they stood at attention behind one that looked like Prince Blueblood. Cautiously opening the door, she pulled it so that only her muzzle and eyes were visible to the ponies outside. “What do you want? I’m a little busy here.”

“You must be A.K. Yearling. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Yeah… likewise. Now how about you leave?” She went to close the door, but it was stopped when the regal stallion moved a hoof to intercept it.

“Now now, we have to talk. Princess Celestia...” He spoke, dragging out the in his aunt’s name before continuing, “has personally asked me to acquire your assistance.”

“Assistance, what for? I don’t believe she’s in great need of a writer.”

“Ahh, but that’s where you're wrong. We need your help, Yearling.” He chuckled before saying, “or should I say… Daring Do.” Blueblood smirked.

The pegasus stood still, mouth agape before she spoke. “How do you know my name?”

“Oh, we have our sources. Very reliable sources. In fact, we have known about you for quite some time.”

The now revealed adventurer looked away for a moment, muttering under her breath before she fully opened the door for them. Blueblood sauntered in leaving the guards to station themselves outside the door as Daring closed it behind him. She moved back to her chair and sat down again, watching Blueblood sit down in one of the other chairs and crossing one of his legs over the other. “Alright, so what do you want?” Daring inquired half-heartedly.

“Now… Ms. Do.” Blueblood paused before saying, “Ahem, I would like to speak to Daring. Not her writer.”

Grumbling under her breath, she pulled off the purple cloak, revealing a pale jungle green and yellow colored jacket underneath. Daring took off her glasses and placed them on the desk behind her, while pulling off her hat and replacing it with her trademark pith helmet. “So… anything else, Your Highness?” She inquired, glaring at the annoying prince.

“That’s better.” Blueblood cleared his throat before he finally delivered his aunt's request. “Princess Celestia has requested your help. Have you ever heard of a pony named Dr. Caballeron?”

Daring leaned closer to the Prince, her interest piqued after hearing the name of an old foe of hers. "What about Dr. Caballeron?"

"Well, he has come into possession of an item that could prove to be of great importance to my Aunts. However, if in the wrong hooves, its power would be corrupted and used for more sinister purposes." The prince explained, shrugging slightly.

Daring rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Considering she had nothing to write about at the moment, it would be best if she went on some sort of adventure. "So... what's in it for me?" Daring inquired, leaning back onto her desk.

"A hefty reward paid for in bits. About six, no, eight thousand."

‘Wow... must be pretty important for the Princesses.’ "So, I snatch the item from Caballeron, make my way to Canterlot, deliver the cargo, and get paid... correct?"

“Precisely. We’ll have your reward waiting for you when you arrive with the package.”

Daring looked away for a brief moment before asking, “What is the item of interest? It sounds awfully important if the Princesses are willing to pay eight thousand bits for it.”

Blueblood chuckled, “I am sorry, but that information is classified. Even I have no clue as to what they deem to be so important. They didn’t exactly let me in on the secret.”

The pegasus mare sighed, tapping her right hoof on the desk before saying. “Alright, you convinced me. I’ll go and get this item that the Princesses want and return it to you.”

“That is most wonderful news. Now, you’ll want to see another pony, his name is Fancy Pants, and he’ll assist you with equipment, the team and-”

“Woah, woah, woah… ‘team’?” Daring chuckled slightly, before continuing, “Sorry, but I work alone.”

“I’m afraid that it isn’t an option. You are to work with a team to retrieve the item. It’s either that or no deal.”

Daring sighed, grumbling under her breath again and looking away from the Prince’s smug expression. She turned back to face him and relented. “Okay, so where is this ‘Fancy Pants’, if I may ask?”

“He will meet you a few hours from now in Canterlot. There, you’ll join a team he has assembled for you. They shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

Daring bit her lip, thinking carefully about the objective and conditions. She weighed her options and then raised a hoof towards him. He gladly moved a hoof towards hers and they shook. “Blueblood, I believe you can count me in on this trip.”

He chuckled, and replied, “That is most wonderful to hear, Daring Do. I believe my aunts will be very happy to hear this.”

Hundreds of miles above the planet, a ship was orbiting in sync with the rotation of the planet. Onboard, a large bipedal creature loomed over a hologram, watching and working as the ship’s sensors scanned the planet for any sign that the Serpent was there. The search was initiated a couple of days ago and so far nothing had shown up on the radar that could potentially lead to where it was.

From what the creature had seen, a ship had crash landed on the planet a few weeks ago. It was the same human ship they had tracked from the planet the humans called “Erebus.” An indication of some precious cargo it could have been carrying had been found. Traces of Serpent DNA were detected by the ship’s scanners. The scans of the human vessel also picked up the remains of the crew, not all of them were killed by the crash: another important hint to a possible Serpent to be hunted.

One of the scanners’ signals went off, ringing that it had found something. The bipedal creature moved its hand towards the hologram and enhanced the image, the picture zooming in on to where it was last located. An image popped forward, showing an infant Serpent coiled up in a containment field of some sort. The bipedal creature observing the hologram didn’t recognize that particular type of energy, but from what it could tell, it was preventing the Serpent from growing. More importantly, the creature could see the crest on the infant Serpent’s head, marking it as a Queen.

Three more bipedal creatures walked up from behind the first and examined the image. They looked between themselves and then roared enthusiastically, thrilled by their find. If they were able to retrieve the Serpent Queen, they would be able to harvest her eggs for countless glorious hunts to come.

The first being waved its hand over the hologram and it expanded. Carrying the Serpent’s tiny prison was a four legged creature. There were others like it nearby and they seemed to be transporting it somewhere. The four bipedal creatures made an irritated clicking noise. Those foolish creatures had no idea what they had in their possession. It was only a matter of time before the Serpent inevitably escaped and reproduced, dooming their planet and ruining the chance for a proper hunt. They had to act fast or all would be for naught.

As the other three continued to stare at the image, the being that had been operating the hologram turned around and left the bridge of the ship. It entered another room and went to a wall that opened up to reveal an arsenal. It grabbed a variety of weapons: a spear that contracted, a disc with a sharpened edge, a miniature cannon that it mounted upon its shoulder, and a gauntlet. After arming itself, it went to another wall and picked up a metallic mask with a clawed hand, placing it upon its face

Moments later, there was miniature explosion as a smaller pod broke away from the ship and headed towards the planet below.

Author's Notes:

Hey there everypony! Hope you're enjoying this story as much I do writing it. Again, thanks go to DiabloGuapo and TehSporkBandit for their ever so needed help.

Until next time, I hope you have a good morning, afternoon, evening, night or whatever and I'll see you next chapter. And remember... sweet dreams...