There was a khaki colored young pony standing in a grassy field with the sun as her shoulders and a wide grin on her face. She appeared to be clothed in a scruffy manner; her shirt was covered in grime and her mane caked in dirt. What was worse was the helmet she was adorning; she had the nerve to wear it slanted. Out of all possible ways one could wear a helmet, this mare chose to wear it slanted. Oh may the Princesses spare this mare but even the Princesses would have to admit she did look good. After all, in her opinion, she thought wearing the hat in a slanted manner made a fashion statement, even if it was a controversial one.

"How dare me" she softly said to herself, chuckling as she did so.

She started trotting with a steady pace through the field with no particular designation in mind, because that's what adventerous explorers do. Right? Right?? Her focus started drifting away towards the sky and then....

BAMM!!!

"Ow, watch where yer goin'!" a female voice yelled at her.

It was like lighting hit our young and adventerous and dashing and magnific...

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you!" the same voice said once again.

The young and bashful mare looked over to the stern voice calling out to her, slightly upset she dared to interupt...

"Hey! I know you can hear me! Hello! Heeelllllloooo!!" called out the voice once again.

Well as much as our young and courageous hero would like to continue to self-narrate, it looks like fate had anoth-

"Oh come on, are you gonna say somethin' or what? How dare you not speak. Your momma should've taught you better!" the young and...rather...exquist mare in front of her started to tell her, her voice gradually gaining volumne.

Our adventerous hero found herself at a lost of words for she was distracted by the dashingly beautiful mare in front of her and was completely in disbelief that the voice floating around belonged to her. As a result, our hero only managed to utter this weirdly mumbled sentence.

"I...uh..heh..uh..umm..."

The mare in front of her raised an eyebrow, clearly upset at her lack of words.

"Well I can't say that you didn't say nuthin'. Well let's start with this. What's yer name?"

Our young hero, with her cheeks ablaze with a lovely shade of red, managed to state what her name was.

"Daring Do!' she said rather too fast, earning a chuckle from the young mare in front of her.

"Well nice to meet ya' Daring Doo. I'm Anabelle Apple Smith or Annie for shorts. You can call me what you'd like to."

Anabelle Apple Smith smiled at the blushing Daring Doo and gave her a curt nod while slightly bowing in courtesy at the same time.

"I'm uh..sorry about bumping into you..it's just I was, you know, exploring." Daring Doo said, emphasizing exploring with her eyes.

"It's okay hun, no harm done. Just next time be mindful where you trot. So Daring Doo, if you don't mind me askin', what brings you to Ponyville?"

Daring Doo smiled, for she was super excited and couldn't wait to tell a fellow explorer what it was she sought.

"The Eye of Maxon! Legend has it that it is located in a grand field, near apples of magical properties. It's so awesome trust me! I gotta find it! No, we gotta find it! Yeah!" Daring Doo said, bounding in glee when she did.

Annie raised an eyebrow not in suspicion but in curiosity however to Daring Doo she could not tell due to the ambiguity of Annie's face.

"So you think it's here in my ma's and pa's land?"

"Exactly! It's gotta be here, I know it!"

Daring Doo then took off her backpack and proceeded to open it up, spilling out its contents without care until a certain crusty old piece of paper fell out. Daring Doo bended over to pick up the old piece of paper and opened it up, revealing a map of all of Equestria. Immediately Annie could see a huge red mark over a empty patch of paper, right in the vicinity of where Ponyville is now.

"Right there Annie! Right there! So that means.." Daring Doo said, starting to trail off.

Annie followed the robust adventurer, amazed at how certain Daring Doo was. She also looked behind the two of them, a little worried at how careless Daring Doo was of her possessions that were now several meters behind them.

"Hey umm Mrs, you left some stuff back there."

"That's fine. It's irrelevant. We're about to find something more awesome then just 'some stuff'. Just watch!"

Daring Doo smiled grandly at Annie, her beautiful teeth almost blinding Annie as she pointed at the ground where the Eye of Maxon was.

"You are somethin', I'll give you that Daring Doo. I suppose ponies don't call you that for fun."

"Yeah. It's because I'm a explorer. Hey you're not that much different than me Annie. You're a pioneer. So ispo facto, we're the same haha!"

"What's ispo facto?"

But before Annie's question could be answered, the ground started shaking and the earth beneath their hoofs cracked open, revealing a secret cave. Almost immediately Annie retaliated, angered at what Daring Doo did to her family's land. But Daring Doo raised a hoof, pausing Annie's remarks and went into the newly formed cave. Annie reluctantly followed and the two of them explored the somewhat small cave, noticing at how cool it was despite the hot summer day above them.

"So the Eye of Maxon is somewhere in this cave and it is said that upon discovering it you will be confronted by a legendary bear who will protect it. Huh. That's weird right Annie?"

Click!

The duo stopped in their tracks as they heard what sounded like a metallic click. To what the click belonged to the duo did not know.

"That's far enough. You stop there, no more." grunted a male voice, although this voice did not sounded like it belonged to Ponyville or even Equestria at all. The voice was accented but with what accent was not known to the duo.

"Daring Doo, is that the Bear that your..uh..fancy map tells you about?"

Daring Doo looked to where Annie was pointing and was surprised to see something standing at the other side of the cave. Behind the thing, there was the fabled Eye of Maxon, in all of its shining glory.

"Ohhh...awesome!" Daring Doo said to herself softly.

However Annie broke the silence amongst the three of them.

"It's strange Daring Doo, he don't look like a bear to me. Looks like one of them humans those old crazy stories used to talk about."

"But howdidya-how-what!? How did you get the Eye of Maxon?" Daring Doo asked the human.

The human, his stance still strong and his eyes fierce, spitted out his answer.

"From a dead German. Looks like he doesn't need it anymore."

The human then pointed to a, what was presumed by the duo, a dead human right next to him.

"Oh boy, I didn't see this coming. Well Mister, it's been nice talking to you but I came here for adventure and that my friend is totally in spirit. We're not gonna try to steal it from you or anything. I mean, she just came along for the ride." Daring Doo said, pointing at Annie when she finished.

The human just continued staring at them, the weirdly pointy metallic object in his hands still pointed towards them. However after what seemed like forever he finally spoke back to them.

"Where am I?" he grunted in question.

Daring Doo looked over to Annie and Annie stepped forward a little, causing the human to react right away.

"I said far enough! This is it; any further and you die. Got that?" the human angrily said to the duo.

However despite how intimating the human was, Annie was not scared. After all, her and her family had been through more terrifying experiences then this one and with confidence, she knew this human meant no harm.

"Ponyville Mister. You're in Equestria, the land of the Ponies" she said proudly, smiling when she finished and slightly sticking her chest out as well.

"Ponyville eh? Equestria, land of Ponies?" the human said back, seemingly unaffected by the new information he received.

"I suppose you're not from here, right? Where are you from Mister? We're friendly ponies, we want to help everypony we can and we mean no harm."

The human, now his face becoming more friendly, pointed to a red star on what appeared to be his hat.

"Soviet Union. It is like your Ponyville, except much larger. It is part of bigger planet, and that planet is called Earth. I am surprised you speak same language as I comrade." the man said, heartily laughing as he did so and lowering the object in his hands.

Annie smiled at the human, surprised at how different he could be from his unexpected friendliness now and quite relieved as well. Daring Doo then trotted right next to Annie and asked a question.

"So what's your name Mister?" Daring Doo asked, smiling at the man.

"Dmitri Durchenko, a name given to me by my father Mikhail Durchenko. What is your name comrades?"

"Daring Doo! I'm a explorer and this is my friend Anabelle Apple or Annie for short who is a pioneer. So yeah we're like both explorers."

"Explorers eh? That is most good comrades, it takes much courage to be explorer. Okay well time to tell you what I am. I am soldier of Red Army. This here," he said pointing at the dead German, "is a soldier from German Army. Where I come from, there is great war." he finished, looking at the ground solemnly and back at the ponies in front of him.

Dmitri then put up his rifle and found a rock in the cave to sit on. He then opened his backpack, taking out a ration and opened it with his knife. Daring Doo and Annie approached him slowly, keeping their distance but were both intrigued by this soldier.

"I've done plenty comrades, perhaps too much to say. I could sit here and tell story but I will not. Instead, I will eat ration because I am most hungry and tired. Then after that, you show me town. Maybe we all end up happy. Perhaps I even find drink! Sound like plan?"

Daring Doo and Annie nodded at Dmitri and Dmitri smiled at them.

"You act like you never met human before. Then again, I have never met talking ponies before. I guess we are not so much different, are we?" Dmitri said, chuckling with his deep laugh.

"Oh umm Dee-me-tree, is it?" Annie asked Dmitri, who smiled at her good attempt at pronouncing his name.

"Da Comrade. Very good pronunciation. I like accent."

Annie smiled at Dmitri, flattered that he said that because most ponies, especially Canterlot ponies did not see her accent in the same way.

"Well I like your's too Dmitri. Anyways I know you're gonna love Ponyville. Besides, I make some mean zap applesauce!" Annie said to Dmitri, who raised an eyebrow in response to hearing applesauce.

"Oh boy, I sense something in this cave! Hehe" Daring Doo said, causing Annie to blush a little.

However little did Daring Doo know that what she sensed was not necessarily the blushing of Annie but the impending fire coming from down deeper in the cave.

"Comrades, is it me or is it hot?" Dmitri asked, looking behind him.

"Oh golly, what in Celestia is that? I know that ain't no pony with a lamp." Annie said, watching the light far down the cave starting to gradually get bigger.

"That's fire. Yep that's fire. Awesome!"

Both Dmitri and Annie looked at Daring Doo and all she managed to say back was,

"What? Was it something I said?"

Dmitri chuckled at Daring Doo and Annie smirked.

"Come comrades, let's move. We will make it out, trust me."

Dmitri then grabbed his things and the Eye of Maxon as well. Annie and Daring Doo galloped towards the exit, with Dmitri behind them sprinting. Daring Doo was the first up out of the cave, and looked back at Annie, whom was starting to go up the exit.

"Annie you got this! Dmitri and I are here!"

"Oh, I ain't so good with climbin'! I don't know if I can make it!"

"You will comrade, trust yourself! You'll make it!" Dmitri called out behind her.

"See? You will, trust us." Daring Doo said with a smile.

Annie smiled back and grabbed Daring Doo's extended hoof. But before Annie could make it to the ground, she slipped on the mud and almost fell, if it weren't for Dmitri's lucky catch.

"Gotcha. Come on, up we go!"

Surprisingly Dmitri was able to get up the cave on his own, even with Annie in his arms and all of the equipment he was carrying. He quickly and proficiently climbed up out of the cave's steep exit, jumping out and landing on his boots. He then put Annie down, whom in thanks slightly bowed to him.

"How were you able to do that? That was AMAZING!" Daring Doo exclaimed.

"Oh well back home in Soviet, I learned to do that quickly. I had to, if I wanted to go home to Father, who lived in mountains."

"Well thank you, that was mighty kind of you Dmitri. Well I suppose you'll be needing a place to stay and get yourself gathered, right?."

"Well yes, that would be great comrade. But only for short time. This right here," Dmitri said, pointing at the Eye of Maxon,"will get me home. My true home, Mother Russia."

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot the Eye of Maxon has the ability to send the user through time and space." Daring Doo said plainly, as if there were no large significance to the words she just uttered and smiled dumbly when she did so.

Annie looked over to Daring Doo with a surprised look on her face and back to Dmitri.

"Your friend is not wrong, except for name. Where did you get such funny name? Haha no comrade, it is not called Eye of Maxon. It is called the-"

Daring Doo at that moment realized the real reason why she had even came to Ponyville in the first place. It was to warn the new town of the dragon underneath its grounds and she thought that she could be the pony to defeat it. She knew that the dragon loved to gathered treasure and the Eye of Maxon was a valuable piece of treasure thought to be lost long ago which also drew in dragons like sharks to blood. That's why she said fire earlier! Oh Daring, how dare you!

"There's a dragon guys! A dragon!"

Dmitri and Annie gave Daring Doo a baffled look but the ground underneath them shaking again confirmed what Daring Doo had said.

"A dragon?" Dmitri asked, not receiving an answer.

The ground erupted underneath them, ripping apart as a large metallic body slithered out from underneath the ground. Giant scaly wings unfolded, taking up half of the sky and effectively blocked the sun, casting a cold shadow on the three of them. Dmitri drew his weapon and aimed it towards the unfolding dragon who only seemed to get bigger and bigger. Eventually the massive beast finished growing in size, towering well above Dmitri and his companions.

"Oh golly...oh golly.." Annie stuttered, backing up with the other two.

The now unearthed dragon lowered its long and vine-like neck to the trio's eye level, its' eyes consisting of a warm amber color.

I believe one of you has what I want. The Eye of Maxon. Where is it? a voice said in all of their minds.

The dragon's eyes darted back and forth over the three, pausing for a little moment on each of them.

Oh look. It's Daring Doo. Who are your companions this time? It does not matter. They will fail and I will acquire what I desire. But you know the game. Answer my riddles and perhaps you may succeed. Fail and you shall end up with a fiery demise.

Daring Doo stepped closer to the dragon, lifting her head highly and speaking strongly.

"Oh Axtral, the 'cunning' one. Doesn't matter 'cause I'll beat you like last time!" she said defiantly.

How dare you Daring Doo to mock my title. Your insolence-

"So what? Are we playing stupid game or what?" Dmitri interrupted.

A witty pet human. It has been a while since a human last challenged me. How pathetic they are and how weak. No magic, no strength, no flight. Only one blow and they are broken. This should be fun. Okay, we will play pathetic human. But you must take turns. It has to be fair, does it not? Who is first?

Daring Doo grinned and stepped forward once again. The dragon seemingly laughed with its eyes at Daring Doo before starting the 'game'.

What grows and follows the sun but never moves?

"A tree Axtral. ANY pony knows that!"

Clever, very clever Daring Doo but you will be mine one day. One day...who is next?

Dmitri stepped forward, his weapon still drawn and his fierce gaze fixed on the dragon's huge eyes.

What flies around the world but never touches the ground?

Dmitri stood there in thought, looked to his side and the sky before returning his gaze on the dragon.

"The moon." he grunted.

The dragon then snorted with dislike, smoke floating out of its nostrils from its apparent annoyance.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Pathetic human. Looks like you are next, Earth Pony.

Annie stepped forward, her fear apparent but her courage not lacking.

You're scared, aren't you? Never seen a dragon? Oh don't worry, I won't kill you....yet.

The dragon slowly crawled closer to Annie and Annie could feel its hot breaths on her face and mane, causing her to squirm from the uncomfortable situation.

"That's close enough!" Both Daring Doo and Dmitri yelled at the dragon.

Alright, let's continue the game. What is round like a apple, deep like a cup but all the king's horses and men could not pull it up?

Annie thought long and hard about the answer, searching through her memories for the answer. Alas, she found it from when she was a little filly, her memories floating back several years ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey Pa, how was life way back then? Like way back then?"

"What did ya' have in mind there, Annie?"

Papa Acorn smiled at his daughter Anabelle, whom looked back at him with a smile and a pleading look. It looked like he was forced to answer from Annie's innocent yet charming look.

"Oh alright then you! A long, long time ago there was a ancient land with horses and men. Yes men! And in that land, they had wells, much like us. Except for some reason they liked to talk in riddles in everyday talk. So instead of them folks talkin' like us, they would talk in riddles."

"Riddles? So they even had a riddle for a well?"

"They sure did Little Annie. Wanna hear it?"

Annie eagerly nodded her head to her Pa, whom chuckled in response.

"Well I ain't one of those folk from long ago but I imagine this is how it would go. What is round like an apple, deep like a cup but all the king's horses n' men could not pull it up?"

Annie gave a look of confusion to her Pa, whom noticed this and asked what she was confused about.

"Well I dunno Pa. I don't get how that's for a well."

Papa Acorn smiled again at his daughter and put his arm around her, which gave a clue to Annie that her Pa was about to amaze her.

"Well darlin', for starters, a well is round like an apple. You ought to know that Ms. Anabelle Apple Smith! It's also deep like a cup 'cause it's in the ground and since it's in the ground, it's almost impossible to pull it out."

And just as she knew, her Pa amazed her again and she was caught in a feeling of amazement, delightfully watching the countryside as they continued slowly trotting by.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A well." Annie said confidently, her stance still strong.

Very good for a country pony. Looks like only one of you three can answer this last one, if you can at all that is. What is hot as the desert, bright as a star and is man's first discovery.

The three of them stood there unwavering until Dmitri spoke aloud.

"Fire. It is fire." he said strongly.

Very good for a pathetic human. Too bad I don't play fair.

The dragon then rose it's head back up and grinned at the trio, noticing their fear. However despite his companions slowly backing away from him, Dmitri stood his ground, still aiming at the dragon.

Why when in the face of death do you remain here Dmitri? That is your name, is it not?

"Da. Because if I don't, no one else will."

Oh how noble of you Dmitri..If only your whore of a mother were here to see how her 'courageous' her awful mutt was being...

"Let's see how courageous you are when I spill your guts, kill you and crush your head you stupid dragon suka!!" Dmitri yelled, running towards the dragon.

The dragon replied with a mighty strike however missed due to underestimating Dmitri's nimbleness.

"RAAAAWWAARRAAAA!!!" Dmitri bellowed, shaking the ground and the grass and his companions nearby

The dragon shuffled in order to find the Soviet soldier and once it did, it breathed fire hotter than the suns of hell yet Dmitri revealed himself to be unscathed, causing Axtral to panic as the Soviet came closer and closer to his one weak spot. In a last ditch effort to win the battle, Axtral beated his mighty wings but even that was not enough to stop Dmitri.

"You. Are. Not. Going. ANYWHERE!"

Dmitri fired upon Axtral's soft underside, large pools of blood and matter started to explode on the ground under him. Axtral bellowed in pain and continued to try to flee but Dmitri's relentlessness firing caused Axtral to fall back down. Axtral landed with a huge thud, causing a minor earthquake, which still did not stop Dmitri. Dmitri sprinted all the way up to Axtral's head, drew his bayonet and his pistol.

"Pathetic human? More like pathetic dragon. I never liked dragon anyways."

Dmitri then fired at the dragon's eyes, causing the dragon to roar in pain. He shoved the bayonet into the side of the dragon's head, ending its misery and forcing the bayonet in until the screams of the dragon ceased to continue.

"Dragon suka. May you rest in piece, you piece of shit."

Daring Doo stood gaped, astonished that Dmitri, a newcomer, managed to kill Axtral the cunning one, a dragon who had plagued Equestria for hundreds of years with unsolvable riddles, as if it were no chore to him.

"Annie?" Daring Doo asked Annie, who was looking at Dmitri.

"What?"

"Didn't you say he was a bear?"

"Yes I did. Why?"

"Well I mean he did something pretty freakin' awesome! How did that bear even survive-"

Daring Doo and Annie both looked at each other in an epiphany, the both of them thinking of the same thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And it was in that moment that the Legend of the Bear that Survived was born into Ponyville, survived by Daring Doo and her companion Anabelle Apple Smith who created the legend based on the man that stood before them that day. Well I guess you could say it was based on real events, such as the next series of events I'm about to tell y'all.