Pillars of golden afternoon sunlight fell from the canopy to paint glowing patterns on tree trunks and tall bushes. The light danced and exploded with the chaotic motion of the canopy itself, the only indication of moving air above them. Down at ground level Rose yearned for a soft breeze, but the jungle was stubborn.

She inhaled a breath thick with humidity and stench. The air was muffled and still around her; the canopy danced in a riot of motion and noise, but the soft undergrowth and dense trees broke up sound beyond a few meters, leaving her with only a faint buzzing. Around them the ground rolled like an ocean, with the waves as tall as a foal, making for a surprising amount of incline despite not actually gaining any altitude: earth pushed up around trees and hummocks, and hollowed out into dried streambeds and sinkholes. The surprising surge of energy she’d found at the start had faded into a general soreness in her muscles.

They were traversing a rough patch of the trail, in places little more than crushed leaves and bent branches. Rose found herself nearly missing sharp turns or forks in the path, but Daring didn’t seem concerned. The trees were too close together for Daring to fly easily, so she was walking just ahead of Rose instead.

Daring led them over a dried riverbed and up a short hill, shouldering her way between the thick brush. Rose hurried up behind her, nearly stumbling. It took a moment for her to realize that they weren’t on the path anymore.

“Daring! You gettin’ us lost?”

Daring turned to look behind her as she walked. “Don’t you worry, Rose. A natural adventurer like me has a sixth sense for finding her way—”

SMACK!

Daring wheeled backwards, landing on her rump. “Ow! Mother—”

Rose sniggered. “You were sayin’?”

Rubbing her cheek, Daring glared at her, then at the thing she’d smeared the side of her face into. “Oh. Neat!” she said, jumping to her hooves.

The something she’d smeared her face against turned out to be a tall white rock, stained brown and green towards the bottom and hidden behind some bushes that Daring had tried to push through.

“What is it?” Rose asked.

“I think it’s an idol.”

“A what-now?”

“Like a statue. Pony-made. You can tell because of the way it is. Check it out!” Daring Do brushed the rest of the greenery out of the way, saying, “If you look at it just so, you can see a face carved into the side of it.”

Rose couldn’t really see a face carved into the side of it, but then she wasn’t the expert on this particular tribe of ponies, or their carvings. “Oh, cool. Ah suppose . . . ” Rose Gambit dragged her hoof down the surface, thought about it for a moment, then continued. “It looks like it was made by the ancient ponies of these parts.”

“This is excellent. I mean, I expected we’d run into these—”

Rose snorted.

“—It just means we’re heading towards the temple.”

“Ya think they’re from the same culture?”

“Oh, yeah. Check this out.” Daring Do reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a notebook, which unsurprisingly had a picture of herself on the cover. “Here we go. The ponies that lived here centuries ago were called Mesoequestrians. They worshipped the sun, and feared the night. They carved these idols to ward off demons and spirits, and to guard over them while they slept.” She looked up at the jungle around them, and said, “I guess the jungle gets dangerous after dark.”

“Of course it does, Daring Do. What’s the matter—scared of a couple bats?”

“No, I’m not scared of the bats. I’m also not scared of the snakes, or the cragodiles.”

“Cra—cragodiles?”

“Oh, yeah. Totally.” Daring Do leaned close, wrapped a forehoof around Rose’s shoulder, and whispered, “They float down the river, still like a log, and when something tasty gets too far down the riverbank . . . SNAP! They gobble you right up.”

She flipped to a picture of herself getting chased by cragodiles. “Also they’re made of rocks. See?”

They looked dangerous. “But we’re okay so long as we stay away from the riverbanks, right?” she asked, eyeing the dried stream bed.

“Yep!” Daring Do put away the book and smiled. “Well, we might need some water. It gets pretty humid in this jungle, and by the end of the day we’ll have both sweat a lot.”

“Ah—Ah know that!” Rose Gambit huffed. “Ah may not spend as much time in the jungle as you do, but that’s because Ah’m civilized—unlike you, jungle-dweller.”

“Hey! The only unexplored parts these days are jungle because they’re the most wild. Unlike you, I don’t spend my days near a hotel.”

Rose Gambit laughed. “They wouldn’t let you in a hotel, beast.”

Daring Rolled her eyes, then looked back to the idol. “If they put this here to guard against the monsters of the night, there might be something nearby.” She leaned close and peered into its face, as if she was trying to read its mind.

Rose studied the carved stone. She could see the outline of a pony, if she looked hard enough. Rough, and worn, of course, but the pony looked . . . fierce. “Do ya s’pose it points out what it’s guardin’? Like, maybe it looks away from something in order to ‘watch the night’?”

Daring knelt low and brushed the greenery away from its base. “Maybe. Yeah. If these are its hooves, then it’s looking that way. . . ” She pointed ahead of the idol, to their right. “So maybe we should look that way,” she explained, pointing to the left. “Uh, I mean, we should definitely look that way.”

Rose nodded. “As good a clue as we’ve got, huh?”

Daring stepped past the idol and pushed into the brush. After looking one last time for their original path, Rose followed her in.

---

Daring could see sunlight ahead. The jungle was thinning. She enjoyed trekking through these really natural jungles, but after a while branches and dim light and leaves smacking her in the face got old. She bent low under a prickle bush and sidestepped to avoid a deep mud pit. Beneath her hooves, gravel tried to toss her sideways, and it was far too tight to use her wings for balance. She ached for open space.

The sunlight was filtering through the jungle ahead now. Daring pushed aside a fern and stepped into the clearing. The sun was bright enough that she had to cover her face with a foreleg and wait for her eyes to adjust. When she saw the tall stone tower standing in the middle of the clearing, a huge smile broke out over her face.

The tower looked seriously old. The top had collapsed, leaving piles of stone bricks embedded in the ground at its base. Moss and vines had begun climbing the outside of the stonework. Many years’ worth of weathering had stained and smoothed the walls.

Daring whooped in excitement.

“It’s a watchtower,” she said, jumping into the air and flying up to the structure. “I’d say it’s been here for several centuries, at least. There’s holes in the walls for the second story floor joists, but the floor itself is long gone.”

She flitted around the tower’s top, looking closely for any signs of carvings or markings, but it was fairly well eroded; most of the top was missing, leaving a jagged peak on one side, with smooth edges all over.

“Isn’t this cool, Rose?” she asked. “Rose?”

Rose was slowly approaching the tower, mouth open and eyes flicking over it. “Stars above, Rainbow Dash . . . Did you know this was here?”

---

“Huh?” Dash asked.

“Ah’ve never seen this before.” Applejack waved her hoof around. “Why didn’t you tell me this place was in here?”

Dash floated down beside Applejack and stared at the tower. “I’ve never been here before,” she said, shrugging.

Applejack turned and leaned in close, peering into her eyes. “So we randomly stumbled onto an ancient, long-forgotten tower in the middle of nowhere, without a map, guide, or path?”

Dash nodded. “Well, we did follow the idol.”

“It was a rock! In the middle of a bush.”

“What does it matter, Rose? It’s here. We found it. Wanna explore it?” Dash asked. “Or should we keep trudging through the jungle?”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed, as she tried to weigh Dash’s words; then she turned and marched into the tower. Her voice floated out from inside.

“Daring, you know more about these things. Was this built by the same ponies as that stone idol? Them Mesoequestrians?”

Dash smirked.

---

Daring nodded slowly, thinking hard. “I think so. It’s made of the same stone and it’s about as worn.” She knocked a hoof against the stone wall and listened to it hum softly, then stepped through the entrance. The stonework inside seemed to glow slightly in the shafts of sunlight from outside. The first floor of the tower was very open: archways and pillars surrounded the tiled floor, without much wall between. Worn carvings hinted at incredibly detailed and expansive murals covering the floor, the pillars, and the ceiling. Daring peered at the nearest pillar, and carefully drew her hoof across the surface, tracing the designs.

“It’s pretty cool,” Rose admitted, eyes open in wonder.

The floor sunk down several steps before flattening out. In front of Rose, at the center of the room, was a black, marble pedestal, about as tall as her withers.

“It’s the wrong stone, Daring, and it doesn’t look all that old. In fact, Ah’d say it looks downright new.” Rose pointed around the base of the pedestal. “No dirt or dust, no chips. The rest of the tower is pretty worn, but not this.”

Daring eyed the pedestal. Its top was sliced flat, with four small cups cut out, each about the size of a hoof. “Those look like they’re supposed to hold something . . . Maybe there were some sort of relics held here? Sculptures?”

Rose looked around. “Ah don’t think I’d keep anything valuable out in the open like this.”

In the center of the pedestal, surrounded by those four cup holes, was a small stand, elegantly carved out of some shiny metal, looking like it was supposed to support something round and precious.

“Plus,” Rose continued, “no way some thieves would come here, and take everything except that center bit.” She shifted her saddlebags around and turned to the door. “Shall we keep goin’?”

“Huh? Leave?” Daring pointed at the pedestal. “But we haven’t figured this out.”

“Figured what out? What goes on the stand?” She blinked. “Does it matter? Even if something valuable did sit there, it’s long gone. Or do you think it would’ve stayed put over hundreds of years while the rest of this place fell apart?” she asked, pointing at the missing ceiling.

Daring rolled her eyes. “It’s a puzzle. It’s gotta be.” At Rose’s unimpressed look, she said, “You don’t just build something like this, deep in the jungle, without having something secret hidden inside it. Maybe there’s some sort of key, or treasure, or something. C’mon!”

Rose chuckled. “Maybe it’s just a watchtower. Like, they lit a fire or something when it got dark, or they kept supplies here. It’s cool, but it’s still just a bunch of rocks.”

“So? Use your imagination.” Daring gave her a pointed look. “You promised.”

Rose stood for a moment, working her jaw, obviously considering their situation. “Alright. Ah’ll help ya solve the riddle of the pedestal.”

“Excellent.” Daring grinned. “Let’s see if we can find something that fits these insets.”

Rose shrugged her saddlebags to the ground just inside one of the archways and started exploring the stonework at her hooves. “What am Ah lookin’ for?”

“Anything that’s out of place. Maybe something that’s broken, or missing.” Daring knelt low and tapped the stones at the base of the pedestal. “Sometimes the carvings spell out certain clues. Sometimes the environment reacts with the puzzle in some way, but you’d need to be super lucky for that—”

“Environment? Like, sunlight?” Rose pointed.

Daring turned to look. Rose was pointing at a single shaft of sunlight that was centered right on a slightly inset tile in the wall. It wasn’t very bright—the sunlight outside was much brighter—but it was very conspicuously aimed.

“You are lucky,” Daring said.

Rose grinned.

Daring jumped and hovered over. Rose worked at the stone, slowly wiggling it back and forth until it popped free. “There’s a little space behind here.”

They crowded around the hole as Rose reached inside. “Ah feel something loose . . . Hold on.” She twisted and reached, sinking nearly to her fetlock, then removed a small, green crystal.

“Huh.” She inspected the crystal, turning it around in her hoof, then held it up into the shaft of sunlight. The crystal glimmered and sparkled slightly green, and it looked like it was glowing in the inside. It felt very solid, and looked like a chunk of a larger crystal.

Daring put her foreleg around Rose’s shoulder and nodded seriously. “And you thought this was just a watchtower.”

“Ah . . . Ah didn’t actually expect to find anything.” She looked at Daring. “Alright. You say this is some sorta puzzle?”

“Told you,” Daring smirked. “Now’s the fun part, though. Now we get to solve it.”

On the far wall there was a bright green patch of sunlight that danced as Rose tried to hold the crystal still. Daring waved her hoof in front of the crystal, blocking and exposing the crystal to the light. The bright green patch blinked out and back in turn. “So it’s reflective.”

Rose watched the green light, then shook her head. “It can’t be reflectin’ the sunlight. The angles are all wrong.” Rose turned it in place. The green patch slid over the walls, down the floor, and back up the other side. “Maybe it if were flat, but it ain’t. And there should be other reflections, too. Look.” She aimed the green patch directly opposite the sunlight, illuminating part of its own shadow. “No way sunlight is bouncin’ through it.”

Daring eyed the crystal. “You’re right, it’s not nicely shaped.” She looked back at the pedestal. “I bet it fits in one of them.”

The crystal fit smoothly into the third slot, though once out of the sunlight its insides stopped glowing. “Got it. Now we need some light.”

“Oh!” Rose pulled her canteen from her saddlebags and held it up to Daring. Its sides were scratched to expose a silvery metal face. “Bounce some light in from outside. Let’s see what happens.”

Daring wandered outside, keeping the pedestal in view through one of the arches, and held the canteen up into the air. A bright patch of sunlight reflected off the canteen and bounced over the inside of the watchtower as she tried to line it up with the crystal.

“A little left—no, your left,” Rose said. “Higher . . . there! Hold it still!”

“This isn’t easy, you know!” Daring said, struggling to stay as still as she could. Even the tiniest motions bounced the reflection around wildly.

“Yeah, yeah. Shut up. The crystal’s glowin’. Look!”

Daring nodded. The crystal was smoldering a faint green. “Where’s the reflection?” Daring asked, unable to do much else besides hold the canteen very still.

Rose pointed up towards the top of the tower. High above, a faint green patch of light was dancing around a set of stones at the base of a window. Daring tried to memorise its location then slid the canteen’s strap around her neck and floated up.

The green spotlight was quickly fading, but one stone was illuminated perfectly in its center. Knocking on the brickwork revealed a hollow behind it; with some careful application from the hammer in her saddlebags, she was able to remove a bright blue crystal. In the direct sunlight it took no time at all for the crystal’s translucent insides to glow.

Daring passed the crystal to Rose and returned to her post. Rose slotted it into place opposite the green crystal.

Rose called up, “It fits, but it’s weird. It’s got a bunch of notches carved out, and a chunk stickin’ out on one side . . . wouldn’t it normally be all straight, or nicely round? Like the gems you find on fancy dresses and stuff?”

“Dunno,” Daring said, holding up the canteen and shining a shaft of sunlight on it. A faint blue glow illuminated the room. “How’s that?”

“Hold it there—Got it. It’s pointing back here . . . ” Rose disappeared from view. Daring waited patiently, then heard the sharp, resounding smack of hoof on stone.

“Careful! This place is really old.”

“Well, yeah. Ah’m pretty sure that’s the only way this is working.”

After a few moments Rose emerged with a yellow crystal in her jaw. Like the others it was rough and jagged on one side, and smooth on the other. Rose stepped up to the pedestal and slotted it into place between the green and blue crystals, leaving one slot empty.

Daring aimed the canteen at the yellow crystal. “Do you see a yellow spot?”

“Uh, no. It’s normally pretty bright. Let me hold that, and go check near the top.”

Daring passed the canteen to Rose and flew to the top of the tower. She could see straight down to the pedestal and the three crystals. Rose was shining light directly on the yellow crystal, but Daring couldn’t see any yellow glow outside the crystal. She floated down the center of the watch tower, carefully looking behind the pillars and even exposed faces where the crystal’s light couldn’t possibly reach. Nothing.

“That blows,” Daring said, landing beside the pedestal. “Try the other two. Maybe they’re pointing somewhere else,” she suggested, although she knew it wasn’t likely.

No luck. “Horseapples,” Rose said. “You s’pose it’s broken?”

“No way. That’s not how it works. If the puzzle is still around while I’m exploring ruins or tombs, it’s supposed to work.”

“That doesn’t make a lick of sense, Daring. It’s hundreds of years old. Things break.”

Daring grabbed the yellow crystal and spun it in her hooves, grumbling quietly. “Hey, point the light at it again.”

Rose shrugged and grabbed the canteen. “Move to the side a little.”

Daring turned and held it high over her head, peering up at the crystal, unsure what she hoped would happen. Rose waited a moment then lit the crystal—

And shot yellow light in Daring’s face. Daring winced and thrust the crystal from her face, eyes shut tight. “Ow! Oh, crap, that’s bright.”

“Sorry!”

“No, that’s fine—” Daring paused, blinking away the afterimages, and looked at the crystal. “Do that again!” she said, this time holding the crystal in front of her, as far from her face as she could manage. A yellow glow appeared on the grass below Daring’s outstretched hoof. “Yeah. Yeah!” Daring whooped, jumping into the air. “See! We got it working.”

“We didn’t do nothin’,” Rose said.

“So?” Daring hurried back inside the watchtower. “Try it now!”

Aside from the crystal glowing slightly, nothing happened.

“Aw, C’MON!”

“Relax, Daring,” Rose said, smiling. “At least we got somewhere, right?”

Daring nodded. “Keep holding that light.” She grabbed the yellow crystal and held it up again, careful to maintain its orientation. Below the crystal, right in its slot, a yellow glow appeared, wavering slightly as Daring’s hoof shifted.

“It’s pointing at the pedestal . . . The next crystal is inside the pedestal.” Daring grinned madly.

“How do we get it out? That stand isn’t worn and brittle like the rest of it.”

Daring’s grin slowly faded.

---

On the floor by Daring’s hooves was a small pile of black chips sprinkled with dust. Several minutes of precision hammering had broken a hole to the point that Daring could kneel close and reach her hoof into the small space inside the pedestal. She felt around, half expecting to feel something wiggle or brush against her, but it was dry and empty inside, except for—

“Yes! Finally!” Daring pulled out a smaller, red crystal. She placed it in the final slot, breathing a sigh of relief when it fit perfectly. She looked over her shoulder at Rose. “Watch for the light.”

“Sure.”

Daring grabbed the canteen and rose through the watchtower towards the top. She hovered to a stop in the warm sunlight, and held the canteen above the open top, taking only a few seconds to find its reflection and point it at the red crystal.

Below, Rose turned and looked around before pausing, staring at one spot on the wall.

“What is it?”

Rose ducked her head, then let out a loud laugh. “Ha! It’s pointing right where we found the green crystal.”

It took a moment for her words to register; then Daring started laughing, too. “So we went in a circle? Wonderful.”

Daring landed beside Rose and leaned over the crystals. They definitely fit their spots in the pedestal—if Daring hadn’t seen otherwise she’d’ve sworn they were tightly fixed in place. Her gaze shifted to the empty stand in the middle. “So what fits there?”

Rose looked at her, eyebrow cocked. “Really?”

Daring shrugged. “What?”

“Here,” Rose said, grabbing the red crystal and the yellow crystal. When she twisted them a certain way the pair popped together, forming half of a sphere. “Should’a thought of that earlier. They go in the order we found them.”

With Daring’s help Rose finished assembling the sphere, then set it in the center stand.

“It fits,” Rose muttered.

“Shine some light on it,” Dash said quietly, watching it intently.

Rose nodded, hurried outside and held her canteen in the sunlight. Its spotlight bounced around as she tried to get a good grip on the thing, then she balanced and held it firm. The spotlight slid over the sphere.

“Great! Hold it there!”

At first Daring could only hear a slight buzzing sound. After a moment, the sphere itself began to glow: first the red section, which was directly in the spotlight, then green, then blue and yellow. Light was being shone into each crystal in turn, and Daring realized that they’d been rotated to point their light in a circle. More and more sunlight landed on the crystal, and soon the crystals each began glowing white.

Then the crystal blinked out, turning dull and dark in a second. “What the—What happened? Did something happen?!” She looked around, searching for anything out of place. “No. No!”

“Sorry!” Rose called out. “Canteen slipped.”

Daring nearly fell on her face. “I hate you,” she grumbled.

“Now, now. Don’t be rude,” Rose chided before grabbing the canteen and aiming it at the crystal. It flickered through its rainbow of colors before glowing bright white. The humming grew louder and higher in pitch until it was almost painful.

“Almost there!” Daring called.

The sphere began ringing, and the watchtower groaned in response. Beams of pure white light shot out from the sphere, splashing over the inside of the watchtower in several places, illuminating other stones until they glowed too. Realizing she was blocking some of the beams, Daring backed out of the tower and stood beside Rose, watching through the open archways.

“You know,” Dash yelled, “I’m not sure if this is safe!”

“Me neither!”

Daring turned to see Rose had already lowered the canteen. The light show was running on its own.

“What’s it s’posed to do—”

There was a flash of light, and then the light blinked out. The crystal faded to dull once more, even as Rose focused more sunlight on it. They walked inside.

“The tower’s still rumbling,” Rose noted. Daring looked up and could see dust shaking loose. The floor shifted, tipping her off-balance. She yelped and jumped into the air, and watched as a patch of the stone brickwork slid down and under the surrounding floor.

The rumbling ceased. The mechanisms had left a hole in the floor, just large enough for a pony to slide herself through. From above, it looked like it opened into a small hiding spot, about as large as a grown stallion. They peered inside.

“Whoa.”

Inside was completely black except for the small amount of light making its way in between their heads. The rumbling and shifting floor had shaken loose a layer of dust that was still settling.

Reflecting light off the canteen into the space didn’t illuminate much.

“I wish we had some light. You wanna see what’s in there?” Daring asked, unable to look away. It didn’t seem dangerous. “You are the tomb raider, after all.”

“Eenope,” Rose shook her head. “You go right ahead.”

Daring crouched beside it and held her ear to the opening, listening for anything moving, then reached inside, feeling about until her hoof knocked something small and square.

“There’s something inside,” she said, reaching in with her other hoof. With Rose’s help she hefted a medium-sized chest onto the floor. She reached for the clasp. “This is where something jumps out at us, right?” Daring asked with a forced smile.

Inside was a lantern, a sparkstone, and a jar of some amber liquid that Daring assumed was lantern oil.

Rose frowned. “Ah didn’t actually expect to find anything.”

---

Dash arched an eyebrow.

Applejack quickly corrected herself. “Ah mean, uh, Ah didn’t expect to find anything so quickly.”

---

Daring nodded. “Well, you are a walking good-luck charm. Hopefully that lucks holds up.” Daring grabbed the lantern and inspected it. “It looks pretty banged up, but it might work. Could come in handy.”

“Uh, ya think we’re gonna be out here at night?”

“Or we might find some ruins. They don’t normally have interior lighting,” Daring joked. “Why? Got a curfew?”

“More that Ah was promised we weren’t gonna be out too late,” Rose said, looking pointedly at Daring.

“Right. Well, hopefully we don’t need it, but just in case . . . ” She loaded their spoils into Rose’s saddlebags.

“Hey! How come Ah gotta carry them?”

Daring reached for the crystal. “’Cause I’m gonna carry this,” she said with a grin, and slid it in her pack.

Two two stepped out into the sunlight.

“Hey, Daring?” Rose started, brow furrowed. “Why would they protect a lantern like it was treasure?”

Daring tilted her head.

“I don’t know.”

---

Twilight resisted the urge to cheer or jump for joy. Her first puzzle, and they’d solved it! It wasn’t too easy, but they hadn’t given up, either. Sure, they’d discovered the crystals by accident rather than by deciphering any of the carvings on the inside, and sure, they’d smashed her pedestal, but all in all she was still pleased, because another condition had been met.

A to-do list appeared in her mind, partially completed.

1. Immersion (check) 2. Investment (check) 3. Conflict—

Rose and Daring were packing their haul into their saddlebags and getting ready to leave. Twilight knew she couldn’t keep putting devious puzzles and dazzling scenery in their way and hope to give them a good time. They needed conflict, and she needed a villain.

Her list grew to accommodate her decision.

3. Conflict -> 3.1. Villain

Twilight sat on her haunches and rubbed her chin. Several of the Daring Do stories floated to mind, and she thought about villains.

“A good villain . . . well, a good bad villain.” In her opinion, the Daring Do novels had several villains that fit the bill: wicked, dangerous, and unpredictable. Fewer, though, were really memorable. The sorceress from Daring Do and the Dark Castle, maybe, but she was little more than a wall of magic with a temper, single-mindedly focused on her prize, while the Duke from Daring Do and the Gilded Throne was a spoiled brat with power and an ego.

“You deserve better than that, Daring,” Twilight muttered, standing and shifting to get a better view of the adventurers as they pulled their prizes from under the watch tower.

But just because she could recognize a flat character didn’t mean she knew how to create a full-bodied character. She knew when she didn’t like a Daring Do villain. What counted as a good bad villain?

She cast about and settled on the villain from a sequence of Daring Do novels, a Unicorn from the desert. Twilight didn’t know his name, but only because the author hadn’t yet given him one. He was ruthless, greedy, and resourceful, sometimes accompanied by minions and his “pets”. He would do nicely.

She turned and found a nice, flat spot out of sight, and her horn sparked. Simple magic floated through her ley lines, combining in the very tip of her horn and spilling out onto the ground. A shapeless mound of matter drew up from the dirt, forming a rough body that quickly took the shape of a stallion Unicorn that was in no way reminiscent of one of her most hated professors.

The pony-to-be grew colors, an outfit, and a face, all drawn from memory with some details enhanced. Her horn felt warm on her forehead: she didn’t normally go this quickly. She grunted, pouring simple commands into its body that would give it balance, moving muscles, and the appearance of weight. Satisfied, she let her spells run their course, then tapped the pony on the side of its head.

It fell over, as realistically as a sleeping pony would.

“Ah!” she hissed. “Get up!”

No response—not that she’d expected one, of course.

She looked behind her. The adventurers had left the tower and were approaching the other end of the clearing, moving out of sight—and in the wrong way. Her marionette still needed reactions, quirks, and dialogue—and quickly. And what about his pets?

She looked back and forth between the heroes and the lifeless Unicorn, tapped her hoof impatiently, and gulped.

Pets were easy. Projections of light and sound, forces and reaction—no problem. Twilight could conjure automatons in her sleep. Her villain needed a personality, and she had no time to codify one. But she could use her own, at least until she had time to do it properly. As the pets assembled themselves, she lay on the grass, got comfortable, and took and held a deep breath.

---

“Whoa, hold up,” said Rose, when they were close enough to the jungle to see through the shadow. “Didja see that?”

Daring followed her gaze. Besides the gentle motion of the trees and brush, she couldn’t see anything else.

“Ah think we’ve got company,” Rose muttered. She was staring intently, trying to peer into the dense jungle. “Ah saw somepony watchin’ us.”

Daring squinted. “Somepony?” Daring asked. “Who would be all the way out here? Probably an animal.”

“Ah definitely saw a face. Just for a moment, and it was hidden behind the brush, but it had eyes and a face, Ah’m sure of it.” Rose stepped forward and yelled, “Who’s out there? We know yer there!”

They waited, but they got no reply besides the normal sounds of the jungle. Daring smiled. “See? Just some animal or something—”

Then the jungle roared back. It was loud, and rough, an animal wail that Daring recognized before it had even finished. The wail was high-pitched and forceful, mixed with a rumble that only large animals made. The wail faded into a growl, echoing until it mixed with the natural jungle noises. All around, the motion of the jungle ceased.

“Ah guess it ain’t a pony after all, Daring,” Rose said, chuckling nervously. “Daring?”

Daring blinked. Rose’s voice sounded like it was coming from the far side of the world. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest. She gulped. Of course she recognized that cry.

“Cats.”

Rose walked up beside her. “Cats?” she asked.

Daring nodded. “I have a . . . history with them.”

“Yer afraid of cats?” Rose asked, a hint of a smirk in her voice.

“No,” Daring sneered. “I just have a healthy respect for them.” She looked at the edge of the clearing, but the rustling had stopped and the jungle had fallen into a deep, unnatural silence. Her mane bristled. She’d almost prefer to see the beast; at least then she’d know where it was.

They needed to get out of there. Daring quickly wondered whether she could lift Rose to safety.

“Ah’m sure we can handle a wild cat,” Rose said.

“Oh, you shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss her fears, Miss Gambit,” a deep, charming voice said.

Daring whirled around. Behind them was a stallion Unicorn, tall and built with a dapper moustache atop a smug grin and a fedora just behind his horn. He stepped clear of the grass and brushed some leaves from his shoulders.

“After all, Miss Do is a world-renowned adventurer. Anything she fears. . . ”

A large white paw slapped down into the dirt beside him, sharp claws gleaming. The rest of the limb followed, and then the leaves pushed aside to reveal a mean, angry feline face, framed with knife-like fangs and sinister glowing eyes.

“ . . . is a thing you should fear too.”

---

Applejack backed away from the large feline, keeping it in sight, even as thoughts nagged at her head. She was pretty sure there weren’t any feline predators in the Everfree Forest—maybe cougars? Those lived in forests, for sure. But this was no cougar. And this was no forest, neither. She was fully snapped out of their make-believe, and yet the jungle remained: vines and lianas, tall leafy trees, and humidity that was trying to suck the moisture from her coat. She was pretty sure the Everfree Forest was more about pine trees.

And . . . “Did y’all just call her ‘Miss Do’?”

“Of course!” the Unicorn said. “Who wouldn’t recognize the great Daring Do? Master archaeologist, adventurer, philanthropist. She’s quite famous.”

Applejack stared.

The Unicorn turned to Dash and asked, “But do you recognize me? We’ve met several times before, of course.”

Dash said, slowly, “Uh, I don’t think so. I’ve never seen you before in my life. You’ve got your ponies mixed up.”

“Think harder, Miss Do. You delivered to me the Cross of Coroneighdo, and it’s only because of your sacrifice that I have the Chachaponyan Idol.”

“How—how do you know about those?” Dash sputtered. “Those aren’t real!”

“You might have kept the public from hearing about your . . . generosity, but their presence in my vault is proof of their existence.”

Applejack leaned close to Dash and whispered, “Hang on. What’s he talkin’ about, Dash?”

“It’s from the books! Daring Do’s colleagues were foalnapped and she had to trade the Cross for their release. And later, when she was injured after an expedition, her train was boarded by bandits that threatened to derail it if Daring didn’t give up the Idol.” She turned back to the Unicorn. “So . . . you’re—”

“Ah! A glimmer of recognition?” He smiled, then turned to Applejack. “But you and I have never met, I’m sure, although I know all about you as well.” He removed his hat and bowed. “Cairo, my dear.”

Applejack fought the urge to curtsy, and said nothing.

Cairo smiled. “Charmed, I’m sure.”

His cat growled, and he reached up to scratch it between the ears. Applejack eyed it warily.

“And as for why I’m here? I shall require some of your assistance once again, Miss Do.”

“Bite me.”

“We can arrange that,” he laughed. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to lift a feather. I know how precious they are to you. I only need a small bit of information before I can complete my quest—incidentally, the same quest you are on as well. Isn’t that fortunate?”

“You’ve got the wrong ponies!” Dash insisted. “We’re not on a quest—we’re just exploring.”

Cairo leveled a stare at her. “You’re searching for the Lost Tome of Shadows, a warlock’s spellbook of unimaginable power, buried deep under the jungle. Why else would you have braved rough seas and a dangerous jungle to come here?”

Applejack’s jaw dropped. “How did . . . ”

He ignored her, and continued, “And so far from civilization and any chance at rescue if something goes wrong. Very risky.”

His horn illuminated. All over Applejack’s body she felt the telltale tingles of nearby magic. She tensed.

“Normally, of course, I’d wait for you to find it before arranging a little meeting like this, but in this case I can’t trust you to keep it safe once you find it, and navigating the dangers surrounding this treasure requires an acute knowledge of its inhabitants and their culture—knowledge you have penned into writing.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Cairo sighed. “I’m getting tired of this game, Miss Do,” he said, and his horn sparkled. A blur of purple magic bloomed around Dash’s saddlebags.

“What the—Hey!” she cried, clamping her wings down over her saddlebags and holding them shut.

Applejack yelled, “Let go of her!” and threw herself at the Unicorn.

Cairo casually glanced in her direction. Applejack’s outstretched hoof made it to within centimeters of his face before she was yanked to a stop. His magic had wrapped around her, too. He sighed, and with a flick of his horn sent her soaring through the air, to land some meters away in the grass. Before she could get back to her hooves she felt his magic pin her to the ground.

Applejack tried to ignore her discomfort and looked over at Dash. Her wings were straining to hold her saddlebags in place but Cairo’s magic was steadily spreading them open. Dash gritted her teeth, her nostrils flaring with each breath.

“Stop it! You’re hurting her!” Applejack yelled.

“Of course not, Miss Gambit, though she might hurt herself if she doesn’t relax. Come, now, Miss Do. This won’t take a second.”

Dash collapsed in Cairo’s grasp, groaning and coughing. Her saddlebags gracefully undid themselves and floated over towards Cairo.

“I’ll take this,” he said, and pulled the crystal from the bag. He hovered it between them for a moment, peering deep inside it like he expected to see something, before sliding it carefully into his bags. He turned back to Daring’s bag and peered inside, frowned, then dumped their contents in front of him. A book spilled out and tumbled over the rest of the junk, landing at Cairo’s hooves.

“Ah, excellent.” Cairo tossed her saddlebags to the side, hovered the book in front of his face, and pulled a smaller, leather-bound book from his own gear. Pages flicked back and forth as he inspected them both. “Fantastic. This is exactly what I need.”

He smiled at Dash. “Thank you. I don’t think anypony could survive the Temple without hints like these. It’s supposed to be quite dangerous.” The two books slid easily into his bag. “Thankfully I was able to stop you two before you got into trouble.”

Rainbow Dash hollered a wordless cry. Cairo immediately shoved her lower, pressing her face into the dirt, muffling her cries. After a moment she stopped struggling and Cairo released her head. Dash coughed and panted, glaring at him.

“Alright, Cairo. I’ll play your game,” Dash snarled. “The moment you let me go, I’m gonna find you, I’m gonna get my notebook back, and I’m gonna stop you. I clearly should’ve stopped you a long time ago.”

Applejack had never seen Dash so angry before.

Cairo laughed. “If you say so!” He slid both his notebook and Dash’s book into his bags.

“Now, as much as I love seeing you like this . . . ” He smiled, watching Dash struggle. “I have a very, very valuable relic to rescue, and time is always short.” He grimaced. “That, and I don’t like watching my pets feed.”

He faced to Applejack. “Well met, Miss Gambit.”

He turned to leave, but paused and looked over his shoulder. “Do you know why Miss Do is right to fear these beautiful creatures?” he asked, waving at the cat. It growled loudly, baring its fangs.

“No,” Applejack answered, sneering. “Tell me.”

“It’s because they can sneak up on you so easily.” He tipped his hat at them, then disappeared with a crack.

The leaves and brush them rustled, and more purple eyes appeared. The jungle cats attacked.

Author's Notes:

Author’s notes are available here. Next time: Lost or Dealing with Magic Users.

With assistance from Daetrin. Cover art by Foxinshadow. Alternate cover art by Diremuffin.

-wr