"Everypony ready?" Daring asked an hour later at the edge of the Everfree Forest, looking around at the assembled group, who were all laden with their saddlebags. "All right. Lead on, Twilight."

Twilight led the group into the Everfree Forest, following the same path she had once followed long before, when she had first started out as a Princess. Flash was right next to her, eyes and ears alert for any possible threats, with Daring behind. Phillip brought up the rear of the group, occasionally glancing behind them. As they descended into the woods, the foliage around them became thicker and thicker, accompanied by strange noises from the hidden animals.

And strange noises from one of the ponies. "Any reason you're giggling so much, Rainbow?" Daring said dryly.

"I'm on an adventure with Daring Do, again!" Rainbow said with an excited squee.

"And she'd really appreciate it if you'd stop giggling and pay attention," Daring said shortly. Rainbow cleared her throat, returning herself to seriousness. Daring growled to herself. "I should've just done this alone."

"If you'd done this alone, you might never have gotten this far," Flash said back shortly.

"You didn't do that much, rookie," Daring shot back.

Flash whirled around. "This says differently!" he said, gesturing to the scar on his cheek.

Daring was about to reply that one scar that he'd gotten in a fight with one pony wasn't that impressive when Fluttershy stepped between them. "All right, that's enough fighting, you two! You all have done very well so far. Right now, we all need to work together. And that means we don't argue over silly little things like this. Now, both of you apologize."

Daring started to argue, but a cold look from Fluttershy stopped her. With a sigh, she turned to Flash and muttered, "Sorry."

"Me too," Flash said. With a smile, Fluttershy returned to her position in the midst of the group. Daring glanced back at her. These ponies are weird, she thought to herself. Neither Flash nor Daring spoke again for the rest of the trip.

Soon after, the group reached the edge of a canyon. Twilight led them down a flight of stone steps and into a cave filled with light. "There it is," she said gesturing forward.

Flash felt his jaw drop in astonishment at the sight. The Tree of Harmony glowed with a vibrant white light that illuminated the entire cave. Ethereal sparkles and small rainbows surrounded the tree, flickering in the edge of his vision. The rainbow of colored jewels and the large star in the center winked at the group, as if smiling upon their progress.

"Crikey," Phillip whispered from the back. Even the rarely impressed Daring Do was stunned into silence at the radiant beauty of the sight.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" Rarity said.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Flash said, although his eyes were on Twilight, who was adorned by the light from the tree.

"It's pretty nice," Daring said, unrolling a copy of the map she had made. Pulling out a compass, she oriented the map and pointed southeast. "This way." She led the group forward, down the canyon path.

"So what happens when we find the entrance?" Applejack asked, her voice echoing off the canyon walls.

"We open the door, of course!" Pinkie said, cheerfully bouncing along.

"What do you think's inside?" Rarity asked Twilight.

"The legends said that da Whinny hid a secret to great power in the cave," Twilight said. "Ponies have speculated it could be a spell, a magical artifact he found...or maybe nothing."

"Whatever it is, it's this way," Daring said, pointing up a cliff face. The pegasi helped the non-winged ponies up and Daring set on their way again, guiding them through patches of wood, over hills and across streams. Throughout, they were unmolested by any of the Everfree's creatures, although they could faintly hear them in the distance.

That made Phillip very suspicious. This forest is filled with animals, he thought, glancing around the foliage cover and seeing nothing. A number of which are less than friendly. What's keeping them away?

"We're here," Daring said, stopping. The group looked in front of them and saw a small, circular clearing of trees.

"There's nothing there!" Rainbow said, frustrated by having traveled so long for apparently nothing.

"Exactly, and that's what's suspicious," Daring said.

"Huh?" Rainbow said. "I don't see anything suspicious."

"You see, but you don't observe," Phillip said from the back of the group. "Twilight and Flash?"

Twilight and Flash both looked around the clearing. "The trees are in a perfect circle," Twilight said. "That's definitely not natural."

"Maybe there's a super-secret hidden entrance in here!" Pinkie said excitedly, bouncing into the clearing. "Let's have a look—" All of a sudden, she dropped out of sight as fast as a blink. "I found it!" her voice called out from wherever she was.

Stepping forward, Daring approached the place where they had last seen Pinkie. Carefully, she put her hoof forward onto the ground before her. To her surprise, her hoof went right through the ground. "Come on!" she called to the others, stepping forward and descending through the mirage. The others followed, walking right through the illusionary patch of grass and down a set of stone stairs into an underground tunnel.

"An illusion spell!" Twilight said, looking up at the entrance in surprise. "It's amazing that it still works after hundreds of years! da Whinny was truly a master of magic!"

"Twilight, look," Rainbow said, pointing forward. The group had stopped before a large stone door. Inlaid into the door were ten gems. Nine, which were colored red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, pink, brown and turquoise, were arranged in a circle around the central gem, which was white. Carved into the top of the door were words.

"Show That You Are Worthy," Rarity read out loud.

"I guess this must be part of the trials," Flash said.

"But what do we have to do?" Rainbow asked. "Is there some kind of dangerous trap or test or..."

While everypony had been talking, Daring had strode forward and gently touched the door. At her touch, the gems in the door began to glow, slowly becoming brighter and brighter, forming a kaleidoscopic wheel of colors that the ponies had trouble looking at, although they found that they could not look away, mesmerized by the intense beauty of the sight. The lights began to spin, faster and faster, and the ponies watching felt as though they were floating, then falling into the light.

"What's happening?" Fluttershy shouted, but her words were slurred in her own ears. The lights became brighter and brighter until it was impossible to look at. All the adventurers knew was that they were falling, faster and faster, into the darkness...

Author's Notes:

How's that for a cliffhanger?