The sky was pitch black above the tiny village; the usual blazing sun replaced by the moon and stars which barely provided enough light to see.

It was enough for Quicksilver though. He loved the night; his black wings situated in front of the moon as he flew at high speeds silently towards an unsuspecting guard had often given the Ponies he robbed nightmares for weeks.

But no flying right now. Now was the time for extra-sneakiness, no showboating.

He couched low as he snuck into the small Zebra village. It was so small and insignificant with its mud huts and tribal ornaments, he felt almost insulted that he had to steal something from here but the contractors had paid especially well and had promised more if he retrieve this item for them. He giggled quite uncoltly at the remembrance of all of the bits this would earn him. He could give up crime for good, leave Equestria all together and move somewhere else where he would only steal part time.

But first this very important item.

He quickly crept low to the ground, avoiding the Zebra guards all throughout the village, his pure black coat providing even more cover in the night.

Remembering his contractor's instructions, Quicksilver quickly located the location; it was a massive temple in the center of the village, it dwarfed all of the hovels and huts around it with its size.

He fluttered up to one of the stone windows and risked a glance inside; Even though there was nopony in the room the entire temple was brightly illuminated by large candles that surrounded the room. In the center of the room, on a stone pedestal was a small wooden chest.

Quicksilver groaned, there wouldn't be anywhere for him to hide once he was in the hut but there was a lot of bits on the line so what could he do?

Lifting himself up as quietly as possible he dove through the window and into the hut, coming to a stop in front of the pedastel.

He picked himself off of the dirt floor and inspected the pedestal and chest; they were completely normal from what he could see, no traps or detection methods. Not even a guard inside to stand watch over it.

"Too easy." He proudly whispered, reaching for the chest. As he got closer he could read a inscription scratched into the wood.

It might have been involuntary but Quicksilver shuddered as he read the words, a cold chill running down his spine. Whatever was in the chest must be really important.

He hesitated as he reached for it. Did he really want to do this? Was any amount of bits worth defiling a temple and taking something that had its own warning label?

He didn't know how long he had been standing there but suddenly a voice broke through his thoughts.

"Wewe ni nani?!"

Quicksilver spun around, a Zebra guard stood in the doorway, the Zebra's shocked face matching his own.

"Unafanya nini? Kupata mbali na hapo!" He shouted at the thief, drawing closer to the Pegasus.

Quicksilver, in a blind panic grabbed the chest and charged past the guard out of the room.

Forfeiting all stealth for blind speed, He barrlled out of the temple, his wings flapping erratically for more speed.

"Kuacha!" He heard the guard running after him shout. "Je, si basi, na kupata mbali!"

Quicksilver could hear all of the other guards coming now, that guard must have alerted them. He had to get out of here now.

He flapped his wings even harder, having to fly with another weight was not easy but slowly as he ran his feet lifted off the ground.

"So long suckers!" He tried to say but since he was holding the chest with his mouth it came out as. "Show 'onh huckeh!"

He was almost home free when something latched onto his leg and started pulling him down. It was the guard from earlier; he had jumped into the air and grabbed the Pegasus.

"Let go!" Quicksilver demanded, trying to shake him off.

"Please!" The guard suddenly spoke in heavily accented English, surprising the thief. "You mustn't take that chest, you will doom us all!" He pleaded.

Quicksilver briefly considered doing what he said but shook it off.

"Sorry but whatever's in this chest is worth more than everything in your village."

He raised his other leg over the guard and grinned.

"No hard feelings."

He brought his hoof down on the Zebra, particularly on his face, knocking him off and sending him falling a few feet to the ground. All of the other guards quickly surrounded the fallen Zebra and one by one the turned their attentions to him.

He Didn't want to have to look at them so he took the chest in his arms and flew off.

***

The meeting place was atop a distant hill; its once green grasses yellowed from lack of water and a single sparse tree stood at the top.

Quicksilver sat under the tree, the chest at his hooves. He watched the stars as they twinkle in and out of view as well as the moon as it crept slowly through the sky, its soft glow creating a glare off of his silver arrow cutiemark.

He watched as the moon rose to the midpoint in the sky and looked down at the chest anxiously.

"They should be here by now." He muttered under his breath.

"But we are, Quicksilver." A voice answered him.

Quicksilver shot up in fright. A figure in a dark brown cloak had appeared right in front of him without him even noticing.

"It-it took you long enough." He stammered.

The figure nodded; the cloak it wore seemed to consume the figure until nothing could be seen.

"Do you have the chest?" It spoke in a whispery, hollow voice that he couldn't decide was male or female..

"Don't do that!" Quicksilver gasped, holding his heaving chest.

"Do you have it." It repeated monotonously.

Quicksilver calmed himself down quickly. "It wasn't easy." He admitted. "But I managed to get my hooves on it."

He picked the small chest up and held it out to show it to the figure. The figure leaned forward and a light golden aura surrounded the chest, lifting it out of Quicksilver's grip and over to the figure.

"A unicorn." He remarked, watching the figure inspect the chest that floated around it. The unicorn's horn glowed brightly from underneath the cloak and the lock on the chest softly clicked open.

Quicksilver stepped towards the unicorn, trying to get a look at what was inside the chest. Slowly the unicorn reached into the chest and pulled out a small rolled up paper.

The figure unrolled the paper and after noticing his curiousness showed it to Quicksilver.

"A map?!" He cried, looking over the ancient paper; it was pretty simple with bare instructions for something.

"A map." The figure replied calmly tucking the map away in the cloaks folds, Quicksilver couldn't say for sure but he thought that he could have seen the figure smiling under the heavy hood.

Quicksilver was outraged. "You sent me; a master thief, into a crummy village to get a dumb map for you?!" He screamed.

The figure lifted its hood slightly revealing a wide smile.

"Yes, you snuck into that 'crummy' village to get a 'dumb' map." The figure grinned.

Quicksilver was about to give this unicorn a piece of his mind when it held up a hoof for silence.

"But." The figure continued. "This map will lead me and my group to the most powerful treasure that this world can muster up." The unicorn let lose a bout of cackling.

Quicksilver chuckled awkwardly along with the unicorn. "So this treasure; is it valuable?"

"Oh yes, more valuable than anything on this horrible rock."

He grinned happily, draping an arm over the figure. "This, I can stand behind, what do you need me for?"

The figure took one look at the thief next to it, hanging on it's shoulder. "Yes, about that..."

A white hot pain suddenly shot through Quicksilver's side, bringing him to his knees. He looked down at his side and found a deep gash sliced into his side bleeding painfully.

The figure stepped in front of him, a small dagger levitated around the cloaked pony; its silver blade shining in the moonlight and dripping Pegasus blood.

"Your services are no longer required mister Quicksilver."

Quicksilver struggled backwards, away from the unicorn but his legs just wouldn't listen to him.

"Ok, alright my job is done here." He stammered. "I'll just take the other half of my bits and get out of your mane."

Another stab into his side silenced any more talking and replaced it with screams of pain.

"Ah..." He groaned clutching his side.

"You see; I cannot do that either. That many bits can be so hard to acquire and besides, we've already stolen the other half back from you."

Quicksilver was frightened for his life by this point. "Ok, ok, ok no bits, you don't have to pay me at all just let me go." He pleaded.

His pleading unfortunately fell on deaf ears. "I can't let you leave, mister Quicksilver. You know too much."

The figure raised its knife one last time above the Pegasus and grinned wickedly.

"No hard feelings."

"No!" The Pegasus screamed for the last time.

"NO!"

***

"Alright, the treasure should be through here."

"That's what you said about the two other trap rooms."

The ancient stone doors of the temple were pushed aside and two figures walked in.

One, a female Pegasus with fur the color of sand and a mane in varying scales of gray. She was clad in an adventurer's jacket and matching safari hat. He cutiemark a compass rose.

The Pony alongside her was an ordinary Earth Pony; also female with light yellow fur and a purple mane. He cutiemark was a blooming red flower.

The two stepped into a circular room, the walls, cracked and crumbling with age were lined with grotesque monster statues, the floor was bare save for a simple long rug that had been mostly eaten by moths long ago and everything was covered in an inch of cobwebs and dust.

The Pegasus took a step forward and drew in a breath.

"Ah..." She exhaled dreamily. "Nothing like a temple full of treasure, right Poppy?"

The Earth Pony also drew in a breath but coughed and hacked in response.

"I think I prefer fresh air, if that's alright with you Daring." Poppy coughed.

Daring Do; explorer extraodinaire as she called herself, stepped briskly towards the middle of the room. A miniature golden idol sat on a stone podium.

"Ok..." Daring said to her friend. "I'm pretty sure that this is the actual treasure!"

Poppy looked up at the imposing statues; all of them facing the middle of the room. "I hope it is." She meekly replied. "I'm getting really tired of pit traps."

"Don't be so negative." Daring grinned optimistically back at her. "This kind of stuff is what adventurers live for!"

She pointed back and forth at her and Poppy. "And as adventures we are supposed to uphold that fact."

Poppy sighed; there was no getting through to her sometimes.

Daring turned back to the podium, sweating with anticipation, the idol gleaming in the few sun rays that peeked through the rock. She reached towards the idol almost painfully slowly and lightly took it in her teeth, pulling it carefully off the podium.

Daring took the idol in her hooves and inspected it over.

"I think this one is actual gold!" She held it up for her friend to see, unaware of the podium sinking into the ground behind her.

The room began to shake; dust falling from the ceiling, rocks crumbling and large cracks forming in the floor but just as quickly as it started the rumbling stopped.

The two stared at each other in panic.

"The trap must be stuck!" Daring whispered harshly. "If we move quietly we should be able to get out of here without setting it off!"

Daring and Poppy slowly turned around and crept for the entrance. They were about to make it when Poppy accidentally ran into a cobweb.

"Ahh....ahh..."

"Poppy!" Daring pleaded. "Do. Not. Sneeze."

She was just about to sneeze when the sensation died down.

Poppy sighed in relief. "Don't worry Daring, I'm oka-"

She suddenly felt something crawling on her face and looked down. A large black spider was crawling up her cheek.

"Oh no..." Daring groaned, she knew what was next.

"Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" The Earth Pony shriek, flailing her arms attempting to shake the spider off her face.

Unfortunately Poppy's shrieking started up the trap again; bringing the mechanisms up to life and causing the ceiling to start caving in.

"Time to go!" Daring shouted over the rumbling, tucking the idol under her hat she grabbed Poppy and sprinted out of the collapsing room.

Once in the hallway, the two looked back at the collapsing room behind them.

"Was that it?" Poppy panted, recovering from her shrieking episode.

"Guess so." Daring laughed. "I guess they used all of their good traps earlier."

Suddenly another rumbling shook the room and to the surprise of the duo the ceiling opened above them and a boulder was lowered down.

"Why is it always boulders?" Daring groaned again.

The duo took off again, the boulder close behind them. As they ran through the hallways the whole temple had begun to fall down around them.

"There!" Poppy shouted. "The exit!"

The entrance to the temple was 30 meters away and was closing.

"Slide!"

They dove for the door with everything they had. They manage to just slip through the door, the boulder crashing into it and everything crumbling to rubble. When the dust cleared, the two slowly stirred.

"Ugh..." Daring and Poppy groaned as one, their muscles screaming in protest from being used anymore. Slowly they opened their eyes.

The two were on the ground, Poppy on top of Daring. Slowly comprehending what was going on they met each other in the eyes.

"Um..." Poppy stammered, her face quickly becoming dark yellow. "I..."

"Well, that could have been a lot worse." Daring laughed but stopped when she noticed Poppy's face.

"Poppy?"

She squeaked, her face so close to Daring's.

"Y-yes?"

"Are you okay?" She asked, putting her hoof to Poppy's forehead. "You're burning up."

"Um...well..."

Suddenly she gasped. "Oh no! You must have inhaled some kind of toxin from the ruins!"

Poppy's heart dropped down into her stomach. "Yeah...that's what it is." She rose to her hooves.

"Don't worry girl." Daring jumped to her hooves, walking over to her hat, lying on the ground and containing the idol. She picked it up and put it safely on her head, giving it an affectionate pat.

"Once we get back to the HQ We'll get you all better."

Poppy watched as she walked into the lush jungle brush and sighed.

"Yeah, all better."

Adventurer Headquarters; the control center of the adventurer's guild and academy, scores of Ponies from all over Equestria have traveled here to learn about the world and what it may hold for them.

The building was massive; a sphere shape building that was built into a mountainside, much like the city of Canterlot. Its golden plated exterior gleamed in the suns rays, a beautiful sight for all who saw it. Parts of the sphere were open allowing runways for things like planes, balloons and Pegasus's easy entrance.

Daring and her companion stepped into the foyer; it was very well decorated with marble columns running up the walls and even a fountain that was installed a few days earlier. Daring looked up at the high ceilings and stunning architecture, she felt a sense of awe no matter how many times she saw this place.

Everywhere the duo looked there were Ponies of every size, gender and color running around to class or some other activity, carrying supplies and tools for exploring any type of terrain.

This didn't interest Daring though, she already had all that she needed.

"Miss Do?"

A voice called out behind them; stoic and calm but still showing signs of irritation. The two mares looked over their shoulders to see Dr. Fossus. A bespectacled Earth Pony of considerable knowledge, his ordinarily dark brown fur and grey mane were bleached from long days in the past spent in the sun at archelogical digs, he had traveled all over Equestria before becoming a teacher here.

Daring chuckled sheepishly. "Hello Professor, lovely day we're having."

Fossus's stone face said enough.

Her fake grin grew wider. "I know you're wondering why we weren't in class, right?"

Fossus continued to glare daggers at the impudent Pegasus but slowly his expression softened.

He sighed. "Miss Daring, you cannot just skip your classes and go off on these trips."

He turned his attention to Poppy. "And you, why do you insist on going into certain danger with her?"

Poppy shrugged matter-of-factly. "Somepony has to be around to keep telling her she's the greatest."

"Besides." Daring added, wrapping an arm around the Earth Pony. "I need a partner. You and dad always did stuff together."

Fossus froze for a moment, his spectacles sliding down the bridge of his snout. He quickly shook this off and pushed his glasses up again.

"I know he's told you about our old exploits." He cleared his throat. "But you really mustn't go off unprepared and unprotected. It's much more dangerous than what he has told you, you're inexperienced"

Daring scoffed. "I'm just as experienced as he is." She reached under her hat and pulled out the golden idol. "Here, proof of my renowned expert skills."

She tossed the idol over to Fossus, who caught it expertly in his mouth. He sat down on the floor and inspected the idol closely, occasionally stopping to push his glasses back up.

Daring thumped her chest proudly. "How's that for inexperienced? It's the treasure we found in the ruin today."

"It's fake."

"What." Said Daring bluntly.

Fossus held up the idol to see. "It's fake, I.E. It's not made of gold." He ran the idol against the stone floor, eliciting a few screeching noises. He held it up and showed that the idol had long scratches down its side, revealing the wood just underneath. "It's just gold plating."

"Again?!" Daring shouted, throwing her hat down in anger.

Poppy looked down at the idol. "How can you even tell that this is fake?"

"I was so sure this time!" Daring continued complaining.

Fossus shrugged. "You learn certain things like this along the way."

Daring could swear that if only for a second she saw a tiny grin grace her usually stoic teacher's face.

"But I suppose it counts for something." Said Fossus as he tucked the item away into the saddlebag that hung by his side. "It'll be an excellent paper weight."

Daring facehoofed. "Well that was a bust." The Pegasus said hastily picking her trusty hat off the ground, dusting it off and placing it gently atop her head one more. "I guess I have to learn a bit more."

"Well, yes." Fossus said, rather surprised that the usually defiant student was actually listening to what he said. "I'm glad that you see it-"

"So I'm just gonna have to get dad to help me!"

Without another thought, Daring raced off towards one of the many stone staircases that lined the massive building, leaving two very confused Earth Ponies in her wake.

"Daring!" Poppy shouted, shaking off her initial confusion and chasing after her friend. "Wait for me!"

The Earth Pony teacher watched as the adventurous Pegasus speed off with her yellow companion chasing after her.

"She's just like her father."

***

"Daring... slow down..." Poppy gasped for air as she leaned against one of the many pillars in the hallway for support. . Racing after her flying friend through the long hallways and corridors of the academy had left her ragged.

"Fine..." Daring grumbled. She landed and walked over to one of the many maps that hung in the halls. Because of the size of the building, many of the students and even some of the teachers got lost quite frequently.

Poppy noticed the confused look on Daring's face as she looked over the map.

"You don't know where you are anymore, do you?"

"Hmm?" Daring grunted, not paying attention.

"Daring." She insisted, crossing her arms and grinning at the Pegasus. "You're lost again, aren't you?"

Daring didn't say anything but instead turned towards her companion and flashed a charming smile.

"Well if I am lost, I'm glad that your here with me."

Poppy squeaked and turned away, her face adopting a soft red glow.

"Is she doing this on purpose?" Poppy's thoughts screamed, completely confused by the adventurer's actions.

"Besides." She continued, completely unaware of her friends glowing blush. "I have an amazing sense of direction. It's my cutiemark." She pointed to the side of her flank; a small picture of a blank compass rose, pointing in all directions. "See?"

Poppy quickly shook off the blush and looked back at her friend.

"I thought it meant that you were directionless, what with the compass having no marked directions and all." Poppy chuckled at this despite the glare Daring was giving her.

"What do you mean, it was stolen?!"

The two were interrupted when a voice suddenly shouted near them. They both turned and looked towards a large door that neither of them had noticed.

The two stared at the doors; a heated conversation going on behind them.

"Told you we weren't lost." Daring grinned at Poppy before tiptoeing towards the door to avoid detection. She reached the door and lightly pressed her ear to the wood.

"A single thief snuck in and made off with it." A gruff voice spoke in response to the other voice. Daring pressed her ear closer to the door; she knew one of the voices but the other...

"I thought the Princesses were going to move it to a more secure place!" The other voice shouted back, the sound of something expensive breaking on the other side of the door breaking the silence..

"W-we were just about to move in and take it away." The gruff voice stuttered in the face of the other voices anger. "In fact we were going there that very night to get it but the thief had come and gone right before we go there and had left barely a trace."

The other voice was silent for a moment before talking again.

"Do the Princesses know?"

"They wouldn't have sent me if they didn't."

"The Princesses..." Daring whispered in awe. Something big must be happening and she just walked into it.

"Awesome." She joyfully whispered.

"Daring!" Poppy whispered nervously. "I really don't think this is a good idea!."

"Oh come on Poppy." Daring whispered back excitedly. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Back in the ruins we were in earlier. Somewhere in the last death trap."

"Alright I'll help, if it's the fate of Equestria and the world and all that." The voice concluded.

"The fate of Equestria!" Daring jumped up in excitement. She reached towards the door handle but was stopped by Poppy.

"Don't do this Daring. Isn't one near death experience enough for one day?" She insisted, trying to pull the Pegasus away.

"Don't try and stop me Poppy." Daring grinned ecstatically, her mind already set on this new adventure.

"Daring please, don't-AAAAHH!"

While Poppy was trying to talk her out of it, Daring Do had pulled against the Earth pony with all her might and accidently flung the Earth over her head and into the doors, knocking them wide open and sending the Pony crashing to the floor at the hooves of two other Ponies. One of said Ponies was one of the Princesses royal guards; clad in the signature golden armour.

And the other was a Pony Daring knew very well.

"Daring?" The Pony raised an eyebrow in confusion, looking down at the Pony groaning on the floor.

Daring smiled guiltily. "Hi dad."

Somewhere, far from the light of the day and the other Ponies, a group of voices conferred in secret. They surrounded a small table on which the map Quicksilver had stolen rested.

"So this is it huh?" One of the voices asked as it inspected the ancient map, a single ray of light providing vision.

"Yes." The mysterious cloaked figure nodded, or at least they thought it nodded. All the other voices could make out was two glowing eyes and two rows of sharp teeth that gleamed in the sparse light. "This map will lead us to the item of Equestria's destruction." It grinned, somehow showing even more teeth.

"And to revenge against the Princesses!" Another one of the voices laughed wickedly. Soon The entire group joined in the laughter, their voices bouncing off the walls of the small room, creating horrible echos.

"Soon, the whole world will tremble at my mercy!"

"But...but why?"

The group stopped laughing and all eyes turned to the Pony that spoke; another unicorn, a young male with wheat colored fur and a black mane that had a white streak through it. A cutiemark shaped like a blazing star on his side. A dead silence filled the room.

"Excuse me?" The figure asked in confusion, eying the Pony in the darkness.

"I...I don't think...we should...do...this." The unicorn that had refused continued, as it spoke the Pony stuttered and started to shake, as if fighting against a force that was trying to prevent it from saying what it was.

"Should...we really take revenge...against the Princesses? T-they didn't...do anything to us."

The other Ponies silently looked at one another and then to the cloaked figure who sighed.

"I really must commend you, Comet." The cloaked unicorn shook its head admirably. "Your mental prowess and magic skill are remarkable." The unicorn stepped towards the unicorn called Comet, the unicorn's horn beginning to glow underneath the heavy shrouds it wore, eerie golden glow the horn emitted sending shivers up Comet's spine.

"But you really must stop fighting my control spells."

Comet clutched his head in pain, feeling as though it will split in two.

The figure let lose a bout of mad laughter that seemed to shake the room. "If you persist like this, I may have to take drastic actions to keep you behaving."

Comet attempted to shake off the pain in his head and escape from the figure but only got a few steps before falling to the ground, looking down he found magic shackles formed around his legs preventing him from moving.

He looked up, the figure was standing over him, its horn illuminating the room with a golden glow allowing Comet to see the figures face.

All of the color drained from his own.

The figure grinned wickedly at this. He slowly brought his horn down to the other unicorn's head.

"Go ahead and scream, make it your last action with a free will."

He screamed, the other Ponies watching silently from the sidelines.

***

The group was now above the savannahs of the Marengeti; homeland of the Zebra's and related species. Poppy rode in a royal chariot pulled by two guards that was sent for the group, she clung to the railing in a death grip.

"Are you sure we can't just fly a little lower?" She squeaked, gripping the railing tighter as she looked down.

Daring Do dived and somersaulted wildly through the clouds around them. She had missed doing this sort of thing back when she had injured her wing. "What's the point in flying if you fly low to the ground?"

The Earth Pony glanced at the Pegasus. "Well sorry but some of us don't have wings to keep us up if we fall."

"Don't worry, Poppy. We're almost there."

Daring's father, Bravado Do, fluttered next to the chariot and comforted the Earth Pony. He was an older Pegasus though just as capable as his daughter. He wore the same type of vest his daughter did expect that it was very worn from time and dangerous missions. His fur matched the color of Daring's but his hair was a bright blue, although it was filled with gray strands either from age or stress.

Poppy had always thought that he was just like Daring but a bit more cautious.

"Dad!" Daring flew to the other side of the chariot and grabbed on. "I can't believe that you let us come along on this mission!"

"Well it wasn't like I could have said no." He replied dryly, the hint of a smile on his face. "You had the guard in a choke hold until he allowed it."

Daring could feel the guard in question glaring at her while pulling the chariot but she shrugged it off.

"I actually don't know what's going on." Poppy peered over the side of the chariot to get a good look at the ground, which she instantly regretted as there was a lot of space between them and the ground. She gripped the railing tightly again. "I was kind of knocked out when Daring threw me through the doors." She too shot a glare at the Pegasus who grew uneasy under the stare.

Bravado chuckled at the two squabbling friends. "Right now we are over the Marengeti heading towards a small village to the south." He pointed in said direction and the two could just make out a large collection of dots in the distance. "Something was stolen from one of the villages around here."

"So?" Poppy asked, trying not to sound offensive. "Why is this so important?"

"The fate of the entire world hangs in the balance!" Daring squealed with joy. "At least that's what I heard, isn't that right Dad?"

He nodded sagely. "The item that was stolen was the key to finding an artifact that is so powerful that even the Princesses are wary of it."

"Why didn't you simply destroy it if it was going to cause all of this trouble?" Poppy asked.

"We were going too. The thief came and went right before the guards arrived."

"This is going to be so awesome!" Daring shouted, shaking the chariot in happiness.

Daring's father adopted a grim look. "That's one way of looking at it."

***

The chariot finally landed, coming to a stop in front of a small village with a temple, platoon of guards that saluted as Daring's father stepped off. He turned back to the duo.

"Stay here; this will only take a moment."

He stepped over to the platoon, the commander stepped forward and saluted again.

"Mr. Do." He welcomed the explorer in the gruff voice that all of them seemed to have. "Thank you for arriving so soon." He looked over his shoulder at the Duo, watching them from the chariot. "Sir, this is a secret operation and we cannot take any risks."

"I'm well aware." He nodded. "Don't worry, they'll keep this secret." He pointed at the duo. "They're the best I have."

The guards looked at him, as if gauging his trust but eventually conceded.

"Come along, Mr. Do." The Commander waved him to follow. "You will not like what you see though."

"I already don't."

Mr. Do and the guards stepped into the village, leaving Daring and Poppy along. They sat and waited, the hot sun beating down on them.

Daring wiped her brow and stretched. "Well this is boring." She stood up and spread her wings to their full length. "I'm going to scout the area."

"Alright." Poppy panted. "Try not to get in trouble again."

Daring was already in the air. "No promises."

Poppy's voice grew to a low whisper. "...I love you."

"What?" Daring turned back to her friend. "I can't hear you."

Poppy quickly turned away, her long hair hiding her growing blush. "Uh...nothing, have a good time!"

Daring hovered in the air for a moment; concerned that something might be wrong with her friend. But she eventually shrugged this off as well and flew away,

Poppy was left entirely alone. As she watched her friend fly off she sighed and surveyed the immediate area; there was little vegetation save for a few small patches of brown grass and a few bare trees. She slowly walked over to the nearest tree, positioned herself in front of it, drew back and slammed her head into it repeatedly.

"I'm so stupid." She muttered, her voice muffled from the trees bark. "It's never going to happen."

"Don't be so sure, we think you two are rather cute together."

At the sound of a voice, Poppy shot around and came face to face with...

***

"Is this all there is?"

Bravado Do and the royal guards stood in the middle of the now-empty temple room where the chest containing the treasure map was; the room had been completely trashed, nopony had even entered the room since the thief had struck.

"We're afraid it is sir." One of the guards confirmed. "The thief crept in while under the cover of darkness and made off with the chest."

"Have you searched the area?" He was growing tired of bad news.

"We've only started and haven't found anything yet."

"Then you should search harder, Commander."

Coming up the stone steps behind the group and ducking as she walked eloquently into the room was Princess Celestia herself.

As she approached, the platoon and Mr. Daring bowed in respect.

"Celestia." Bravado greeted the Princess warmly.

"Do." She too replied calmly but without a hint of emotion.

There was a long awkward silence where the two looked in eachothers eyes, trying to tell what was going on behind them. The silence was thankfully broken when Celestia cleared her throat.

"Commander, you and your men are to leave the room at once."

He looked up at his Princess in confusion. "Ar-are you sure, Princess?"

Her expression was one of quiet anger. "Yes."

The guards quickly vacated the room, leaving the two Ponies alone.

"Alright." Mr. Do finally spoke. "I just want you to know that I had nothing to do with this."

"It wouldn't be the first time." Celestia remarked, looking over the room for clues. "After all; you were the one that discovered the map in the first place."

"You're not going to let that go, are you?"

Another long silence filled the room before Celestia started speaking again.

"Do you remember what I told you and your team back when you discovered it?"

He ran a hoof warily through his blue/grey hair. "How could I forget? It gave me nightmares of, well, nightmares."

Celestia let out a sigh. "And now I fear the worst. If that map is followed..."

"That won't happen." Bravado cut her off. "Nopony is that insane or that stupid."

***

"Princess Luna?!"

Standing before the Earth Pony, in all of her glory, was Luna; reagent of the night and co-ruler of Equestria alongside her sister. Her ever-waving mane full of stars glittered in the bright sun as well as her tail. The Princess wore a small grin upon her face, though Poppy noticed that she had bags under her eyes, as if the Princess of dreams had difficulty sleeping.

Poppy immediately dropped to her knees in respect. "I'm so sorry." She apologized. "I didn't know that you were there."

"That's quite alright. We actually just arrived along with our dear sister to investigate this matter personally."

"Princess Celestia is here too?" Poppy immediately begun looking around for the Alicorn.

Luna nodded. "She is inside the temple, conversing with Mr. Do." She took a moment to look the Pony over. "You're the Pony that follows his daughter." She smiled. "He speaks highly of both of you."

"He does?" Her ears perked up in surprise.

Luna nodded happily and a mischivious smile grew slowly on her lips. "Although he's never mentioned your affections for the Pegasus."

Poppy quickly put on a fake smile and waved her arms in disagreement. "What? 'affection'? What are you talking about? That's crazy! That's..."

Luna couldn't help but giggle at the Earth Pony who was panicking and flailing her arms in front of her.

Poppy stopped trying to deny her and let her head drop. "Is it that obvious?"

She didn't nod or answer the question and continued. "Does she know?"

The Earth Pony did not say anything but shook her head instead.

"thou must have much courage to go along with her on those adventures."

Poppy sighed. "She's the reason I enrolled at the academy. But it's all insane! I mean, look at me!" She pointed a hoof at her flower cutiemark. "I should be working in a garden or something, not running away from boulders and avoiding pit traps."

Luna put a hoof on Poppy's shoulder. "If you are doing all of this for her, thou is definitely braver than thou thinks."

She sighed again. "Yeah, maybe."

The two were interrupted when out of the village gates walked Mr. Do and Princess Celestia herself.

"Princess Celestia!" Poppy said excitedly.

"Sister, have you found anything?" Luna asked.

"Unfortunately nothing, Luna."

"Poppy!" Mr. Do ran to the Earth Pony. "Where's Daring?"

"Uh...she..."

"Hey, everypony!"

Daring Do suddenly came diving out of the air towards the group, coming to a stop just over them.

"Daring?" Her father called to her. "What's going-?"

"No time!" She shouted back, her face unusually distressed. "You all need to see this!"

***

Daring had taken them over a couple of miles from the village, outside of the area the guards had been searching. Daring was leading them up a steep hill.

"I was flying over this area and I came across this hill and I thought I saw something..." She babbled on and on, she looked jittered, as if something had seriously shocked her.

As They finally reached the summit and Daring was acting even worse.

"I found it right there, on the ground." She pointed.

"Daring, we're miles away from the village." Her father started. "I don't think there would be anything out..."

Everypony froze; their eyes on the ground where Daring pointed.

"Oh no..." Celestia whispered.

The ground was stained a rusty red, dried blood, it all came from one large spot on the earth where the soil was still damp from the blood. But the blood wasn't what everypony was focused on. What everypony was focused on was near the blood.

The body of a Pony.

A skeleton.