The jungle was... not nice, to politely describe it at its most basic. Other ponies might have described it as fucking horrible, and they would be exactly as right. A constant, oppressive heat seemed to suck all the energy from you, and that was besides the snakes, bugs, and other things that wanted to either eat you whole, or very slowly, depending on the size of their mouth. Everypony hated it. Of course, not all of them were ponies.

Mayfly was loving it in the jungle. Besides enjoying the heat, she was happy to see an unprecedented amount of green, at least to her, and thanks to her carapace, she had nothing to worry about from the myriad of biting insects, removing a large amount of the jungle's annoyances. But not all of them unfortunately, as one of them was Trixie, and her occasional bouts of singing.

"In de jungle, de mighty jungle, de lion sleeps toniiight! In de jungle, de mighty jungle-"

"For the last time Trixie," Twilight yelled at her unabashed blue friend, "There are no lions in the fucking jungle! Tigers, yes, and panthers, but no fucking lions, so knock it off!"

"I can't help it if whoever made that song didn't know the nuances of lions' lifestyles, just as I can't help it if this jungle brings something out in me that makes me want to-"

"Attract every pony eating predator to us?" Twilight said back before Trixie could start singing again.

"This one thinks Trixie's singing is not totally unpleasant," Mayfly said. "Is it not?" she asked, looking at the others for confirmation.

"Only if you enjoy the sound of cats getting strangled," Moondancer replied in a low grumble.

"Should I assume from your inflection that the sound of cats getting strangled is not actually pleasant?" Moondancer nodded once, making Mayfly sigh. "So many things to learn about ponies."

"You'll get there," Sunset said soothingly.

"At least one of us will get somewhere," Trixie groaned. "How have we seriously not found what we're looking for yet? How hard can it be to find one campsite in the fucking jungle?"

"You mean the jungle that has likely changed quite significantly in the last eight hundred years?" Twilight said sweetly. "Probably nigh impossible."

"Then why are we even trying? It's bad enough that Starswirl said it was to the north east of a temple here in the Tenochtitlan basin, then failed to mention which of the hundred fucking temples here that he was talking about."

"There are eight," Sunset corrected.

"Whatever! My point is that if it's still going to be impossible to find, why even bother trying?"

"This is the last place we're trying Trixie," said Twilight. "If we don't find it here, we'll give up and move on to Saddle Arabia."

"Fiiiiine... where is this last place?"

"The, now, destroyed Fortress of Talacon."

"What?!" Moondancer shrieked. "Are you even serious? That's from a Daring Do book!"

"Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny, I know. It is a real place though."

"Oh? Are you now going to tell me Daring Do is real too?"

Twilight laughed nervously, "Let's not go over the top here. It's perfectly normal for writers to use real world locations in their stories."

"Give me a break," Moondancer mumbled. "That was the weakest story of the lot anyway. That rainbow maned idiot 'helping' her just... ugh, no. That Wonderbolt must have paid a stupid amount to get that massive self-insert into one of A.K. Yearling's books."

Twilight wanted to argue with Moondancer, but felt there was no point, not unless she revealed Daring Do's existence. Even then the chances of Moondancer believing her was slim, so it just wasn't worth the effort, even if it meant protecting Rainbow's image.

"How do you even know where the Fortress of Talacon is?" Moondancer asked, as Twilight secretly fumed.

"I've been there."

"Uh-huh, and were you the one to destroy it?"

"Nope, but I was there when it happened."

"Sure you were."

Twilight shrugged, not wanting to discuss, or argue about it any further until they actually found the Fortress in all its broken glory. If she remembered correctly it wasn't too much further. It was a massive if though, having been a while since coming here, and having done a lot since then. Even then they still had to find the centuries old campsite Starswirl used in the hopes of finding a few broken shards of mirror, since hoping to find a whole mirror here was stupid enough to not even be worth considering.

"There we go, one destroyed Fortress of Talacon," Twilight said with a highly misplaced sense of pride as they made it to the small clearing the Fortress had around it. "Entirely real, and entirely destroyed, ending the threat of eight centuries of sweltering heat in the Tenochtitlan basin."

"Because it's not like it's hot enough here already," said Trixie.

"Exactly!" Twilight said happily, before thinking about what Trixie had just said. "You were being facetious weren't you?"

"Me? Noooo. I honestly think that building a giant thing like this with the express purpose of generating eight centuries of sweltering heat, in a mother-fucking jungle of all places, is totally a productive use of anyponies time. Good work ancient ponies, you really outdid yourselves."

Sunset grinned nervously at Twilight, "She does have a point."

"And? I'm not the one that built it, so why are you acting like I'm going to get upset over what you're saying?"

"I... don't know."

"Another thing," Trixie continued, "is why they built it to collapse if you removed the rings of whatever from the shrine thingy? What was the point of that? They wanted a failsafe for their device they built to raise the jungle temperature by a few degrees? Seriously, how do you guys even read Daring Do books if they have this amount of stupid in them. I'm sorry I ever asked what this was about!"

"Actually," said Sunset, "now I think about it, building something like this that's capable of changing the temperature of a large area like the Tenochtitlan basin, is quite impressive. It almost sounds like it was part of some ancient terraforming project, or something."

Twilight pointed a hoof at Sunset, "See Trixie, that is why Sunset would have herself a gold star if I had some to give out. Maybe I'll buy her a cookie when we get back to civilisation. Clearly there was a lot more to this than just some ancient scheme to raise the already too high temperature, even higher. How Auhizotl intended to misuse it was irrelevant to its intended purpose."

"Or so you hope," Trixie said smugly, "because you hate the idea of the ancient ponies building something so utterly pointless. And what do you mean 'how Auhizotl intended to misuse it?' He's fictional!"

Twilight grinned uneasily, "Oops? Guess I'm getting my books and reality mixed up now."

Mayfly squinted at Twilight, "This one suspects that the stupid pony is trying to hide something. Maybe this Daring Do pony being real?" She pouted at Twilight as Moondancer, Sunset, and Trixie laughed at her, while Twilight provided a rather disingenuous laugh herself. "I'm being serious."

"And that just makes it funnier," Trixie chuckled.

"There's no way Daring Do is real," Sunset said, agreeing with Trixie. "To be honest I'm surprised this place is real since it featured in a fictional story."

"Lending credence to this one's theory that the stupid pony is hiding something. Even now she stays quiet because she dislikes having to lie to defend herself."

Twilight giggled nervously, "Yeah... no. Let's just find the place to the northeast where the camp should be, then get out of here."

"Even now she's acting awkward and deflecting the issue. How are you not questioning her assertions?"

Moondancer rolled her eyes, "Look, Mayfly, there is literally no way that Daring Do, or Auhizotl, or any of that is real. The fact that A.K. Yearling used this collapsed temple in her book is her using real world locations in a fictional setting. Believe me, Daring Do isn't real."

Mayfly looked coolly from one pony to the next, and shrugged. "The right to say 'I told you so' has been reserved. I look forwards to making use of it."

"You'll be waiting a long time then," said Trixie. "Anyway, how about we get on and find that campsite, if we can, then get out of here before we all catch deadly tropical diseases." Trixie turned to Twilight, "Want to take a flap-flap up to see where we're going?"

"Flap-flap? Really?" Twilight shook her head ruefully, "Northeast is this way."

"Why does it feel like you're avoiding flying?" Trixie asked Twilight as she led them around the edge of the fortress. "Your feathers grew back days ago."

"Because I haven't needed to? Because my wings feel almost permanently wet?" Twilight said back. "Don't try and make something where there isn't anything Trixie. Now come on, hopefully it isn't too far away."

Feeling Trixie's eyes on the back of her head, Twilight led the way around the edge of the clearing before branching off back into the jungle once they reached the most north-easterly part of it. Twilight doubted they'd find anything, but whether it was out of some sense of obligation that was pushing her to look anyway, or something else again, she was determined to find the campsite.

Unless it was too hard to find, in which case she'd happily give up.

Her efforts were both rewarded and thwarted as they came upon a flat, open stretch of ground amongst the trees, with fresh running water and everything a campsite would need to survive in the jungle, suggesting it was quite likely the best place to serve as Starswirl's campsite. It was also occupied.

"Great," Twilight muttered as they spied on the collection of grass huts that made up the small village in the clearing. Ponies walked amongst the huts, their bodies daubed with colourful paints, and adorned with decorative grasses and feathers, just like their pointy looking spears. "These guys."

"You've met them before?" Sunset asked, overhearing Twilight's mutterings.

"Once. This may not surprise you, but they tried to kill me and my friends."

"And?" said Trixie.

"And at the time I wasn't used to such things, and I didn't even try to kill them back once."

"Oh the naïveté of youth," Trixie snickered. "So you think this is the right spot?"

"It's more or less in the right place, and has everything a campsite needs, which is probably why these ponies settled here."

"Unless they were here first, and Starswirl lived among them?" Trixie said hopefully.

"Unlikely," said Twilight. "Besides the fact that Starswirl wouldn't interfere with a tribe of indigenous ponies in such a way, I have plenty of reason to believe that these ponies aren't friendly enough to allow such a thing."

"Okay, so, now what?"

"I have no idea."

"Couldn't Mayfly disguise herself as one of them and go check it out?" suggested Sunset. "Sounds like the perfect job for her." All of them looked hopefully at Mayfly, who raised a chitinous eyebrow at them.

"Not possible."

"Why not?" Trixie asked.

"Close knit tribe of ponies very hard to infiltrate as they know each others mannerisms well enough to catch even a perfect facsimile, so imitating one is not an option. They are also likely to be hostile to ponies they don't know, which is a problem you are also faced with, so no different for me. Third problem is that I don't know what I'm looking for."

"It's a mirror," said Trixie. "Probably broken."

"Yes, but- Oh nevermind," Mayfly hissed to herself.

"Maybe it's a good time to try that fly-over thing," Trixie suggested to Twilight. "Just an idea."

"I'd rather them not know we're here," Twilight whispered back. "Maybe we could sneak in at night to have a look around. I don't know, let's get somewhere safe to- Ow!" Something stung Twilight's rear, and she whipped her head around to see what had bit her, instead finding a thin needle sticking out of it, coated with something green. "Mother fucker. Run!"

A further spray of needles flew towards them before they could even turn around to start fleeing, and several more needles landed on Twilight, while others landed on Sunset and Moondancer. Trixie, whether through luck or bad aim avoided getting hit, while Mayfly, through neither of those, was fine as the needles bounced right off her carapace.

"Tickles," she giggled, following after the others as they fled their invisible attackers, using their magic to pluck the needles from their hides.

Moondancer was the first to fall, her legs collapsing under her as they ran. Twilight turned back to help her, her own legs feeling like lead to the point that she could barely walk herself. Sunset also fell as her legs stopped working, and she whimpered in fear as she tried to crawl. Twilight tried to pick her up as well, but her focus on her magic faded from whatever toxins had coated the needles, and she dropped both of them.

"No, no, no!" Twilight moaned as even talking became hard, her jaw not wanting to move. Sunset looked at her, her eyes the only part of her able to move, and Twilight could see the screaming panic behind that Sunset's body was unable to display save for some rapid breathing.

"Twilight!" Trixie stopped to grab her fallen companions herself, but found she didn't quite have the strength to pick all of them up at once, and Mayfly was nowhere to be seen, so there was no help coming.

"Run!" Twilight hissed at Trixie through her near lifeless jaw.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Run so you can come back and save us later!"

"Oh! Uh..." Trixie nodded, "Okay, good shout. I'll uh-" Trixie jumped back as more needles flew from the treetops, hitting a flimsy shield Twilight managed to put up instead. "Fuck! I'll come back for you!"

"I'm counting on it," Twilight sighed as Trixie ran as fast as she could. She twitched her eyes to the side as a shadow fell over her, cast by a large mare covered head to tail in greenish mud and bits of vegetation. Likely she was the one leading the ponies that attacked them. "Hi."

"Hah! Sinazo! Iningi lawo noma kunjalo."

"Yes I want fries with that," Twilight said back, not really understanding a word the tribal pony was saying as it sounded like babbling to her ears. "Are my friends okay?" she asked, knowing full well the pony probably couldn't understand her either.

"Ukhuluma ngani? Bah, ubani onendaba."

"Unophondo, namaphiko," said another tribal pony, lifting one of Twilight's limp wings with a hoof. "Uyini yena? Futhi kungani ebonakala ejwayele?"

The first tribal pony shrugged at the seconds question, "Angazi. Mhlawumbe Auhizotl uzokwazi."

"Wait, did you just say Auhizotl?" Twilight grinned nervously at the tribesponies, "There's no need to go bothering him. He won't have any interest in us. In fact, if you let us go, we can all forget this ever happened. Sound good?"

"Lona usakhuluma kanjani?" the second pony said to the first as more ponies turned up. "Kumele kube yinto enzima."

The first pony lightly smacked the second one with a hoof, "Yeka ukuba yisiwula! Babophe ukuze sikwazi ukuwabuyisela emzaneni."

"Hey!" Twilight shouted as the ponies started tying her and her friends up. "Get off of them!" Twilight tried to struggle, but it was like her body didn't even exist any more, she felt so little of it. She growled as something was painted onto her horn, then Moondancer's and Sunset's. She didn't need to guess what it was for, and struggled even harder as a stick was slotted between the ropes on her hooves, and she was hoisted into the air by two ponies.

"I hope you're planning something good Trixie."

"Think Trixie, Think!" Trixie cursed as she paced back and forth, "Stop thinking about trying to think, and actually think! Gah!" Trixie sat hard, despair overtaking her, "I don't know what to do!"

"You could try sneaking in."

"Yeek!" Trixie leapt to her hooves and turned on the spot to find Mayfly draped along a low, broken off branch, her pale blue, almost luminous eyes regarding Trixie. "You! Where the hell did you go?"

"I was with you the whole time."

"You were?"

"I was."

"Then if you're that stealthy, why didn't you just sneak into the village?!"

"Because I don't know what I'm looking for."

"It's a mirror! Or a broken one, with gems, and... stuff! It's not hard!"

"And if it was like the one in Badlands, it wouldn't even be that, so again, I wouldn't know what I'm looking for. This one doesn't fancy searching through their entire village looking for a scrap of mirror."

"Oh no? Well how does that one feel about rescuing our friends?"

"Indifferent mostly, because they are your friends, not mine."

Trixie stomped a hoof, "Don't give me that crap! You've been feeding off Sunset's affections for the last week, and I'm guessing some of those are probably for you."

"Only because the rest of you aren't exactly nourishing. She's the only one of you worth trying to feed from!"

"And? Were some of her affections for you?"

Mayfly opened her mouth to argue, then looked away. "Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to like her in return."

"Why not? She's aggravatingly likeable!"

"Changelings don't have friends."

Trixie cocked her head and squinted at Mayfly, "Is that so? Or is that simply what Chrysalis told you? The same pon- changeling that told you all you're not allowed to be individuals? I thought you'd decided to not follow her teachings anymore!"

Mayfly shrugged, "You don't befriend your food. Simple rule."

"Bullshit! Stop thinking like you're some kind of parasite, and start acting like you're a free thinking individual! Care for people! Have friends! Help them when they need it, and just enjoy being around them when they don't! And fucking hell, where is all this coming from? Twilight doesn't even talk like this!" Trixie shook her head rapidly, "Bleh, whatever. My point is that there is nothing stopping you from having friends, and being a friend."

Mayfly sniffed at the air, "You really do care for her, don't you."

"Platonically!"

Mayfly blinked at Trixie, "I didn't say it wasn't."

"And long may that continue." Trixie sighed harshly, "Are you with me or not?"

"Perhaps I might learn best about Thorax by doing as he did, so yes, I will attempt to make friends."

"Great! So you'll help me rescue them?"

"I shall."

"Also great!"

"What's the plan?"

Trixie threw her hooves in the air, "I have no idea!"

"You must have some idea of what to do?"

"No! Yes! One!" Trixie chewed anxiously on her bottom lip, "And it's one I'd really rather not have to do. Seriously, if we get captured again next week I'm going to start charging hazard pay.

Rickety wooden cages. Check. Nearby stone altar. Check. Skeletal remains of something that had probably died painfully on said altar. Check. So far everything was present and accounted for on the list of things Twilight needed to make this an authentic 'captured in the jungle' type Daring Do experience, save for one thing; a large monkey creature with a hand on his tail, known as Auhizotl. As soon as he turned up, things probably couldn't get worse.

Actually there was a large list of things Twilight could think of that would make this situation worse, and she hated the amount of effort she was putting into thinking of them. They really needed to stop getting captured.

Still, if there was one silver lining to this, the pins and needles she could feel in her trussed up hooves at least meant the paralysis toxin, or whatever it was on those needles, was wearing off. Sunset and Moondancer were also starting to make moaning noises, so them being okay was also pretty neat too. Now if Trixie could pull a rescue off, things would be just peachy.

"T-Twilight?"

"Hey Sunset, you okay?"

"Not really."

"Fair enough. Are you there Moondancer?"

"I've lost my glasses again. I really am starting to think I should put them on one of those necklace things, especially since I seem to have no magic again."

"Yeah, they painted something on our horns," Twilight said to Moondancer. "Smells a little metallic. Hopefully we can just wash it off."

"And when do you think we can do that?"

"As soon as Trixie and Mayfly rescues us."

Moondancer groaned loudly, "We're doomed."

"How are you being so calm about this?" Sunset asked.

"Because I... I just can't. Just kill me now because I'm so flipping tired of this. If we do make it out of this though, I can't wait to see how we get kidnapped next week."

"Not happening," Twilight said confidently. "After this, we're never getting kidnapped again."

"Because we'll be dead?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Because- Oh nevermind. Lets just lie here and hope Trixie gets us out of here before Auhizotl turns up."

"Again with the Auhizotl stuff!" Moondancer shouted, "He's not real!"

Twilight shrugged back as best as her bonds allowed, "You'll see." A loud crack echoed from the forest not too far away, and Twilight suspected that it was only Auhizotl that would have made it. "You'll see," she repeated. Twilight rested her head on the floor of her cage, noticing a stallion walking up to them wearing an elaborate headdress that marked him as either the chief, or the village shaman, mystic, or something along those lines. The most intriguing part though, was the bits of mirror and gemstones decorating his outfit. "Huh."

"Auhizotl, he come for you, soon." The pony said in poor Equestrian. "He tell us why you like great sun pony. Only she have wings and horn."

Twilight's expression went deadpan as she wondered just how many cultures Celestia had pervaded over the centuries. More than likely it wasn't intentional on Celestia's part, but it still irked her. There was other things that mattered more though.

"The shiny bits you're wearing, what are they?" Twilight resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the pony stared at her blankly, then pointed at one of the mirror fragments. "Yeah, those. Where did you find them?"

"Found here long ago. Once part of door to another world, but broken."

"So why do you wear them?"

"Much power, even after broken apart. Give bearer great strength and wisdom."

Twilight wasn't going to waste her breath on how wrong that was, since he wouldn't have understood it anyway. "Okay, thanks for telling me." The stallion stared blankly at her again, then shook his head and moved on to the alter, a low chanting coming from him as he prepared whatever he was doing. "Girls, I think I found the mirror."

"Oh good," Moondancer said sarcastically. "I was worried we were going to die here without ever finding out what happened to it. I'm so relieved."

"I have to admit that I'm with Moondancer on this," said Sunset. "The mirror seems a little low on our list of priorities."

"It'll be fine," Twilight insisted. "They're only really interested in me, so hopefully I can bargain for them to let you go."

"Fine by me," Moondancer mumbled.

"Moondancer!" Sunset gasped.

"What? She can't die! There is literally nothing she can't get over!"

"I'm pretty sure there is plenty she can't get over," Sunset said slowly. "I also think you have an unhealthy fixation on self sacrifice Twilight. But, since I'm in no position to refuse it, hopefully they'll buy it."

Another crash echoed through the jungle, much closer this time, and the shaman increased the volume of his chanting. "He comes! He comes! The great Auhizotl comes!"

"This should be good," Moondancer laughed. Her tone quickly changed as Auhizotl, in all his hulking, blue, simian glory, crashed out of the jungle at the far end of the village, then charged up through the middle of it to the alter. "I- I- I don't-"

"Why have you summoned me?!" Auhizotl screamed at the shaman, his words echoing around the jungle for several seconds afterwards.

The shaman dropped to the ground in submission, "I am sorry great one, but we found a special pony, and we thought you should know about her."

"A special pony..." Auhizotl loomed in close to the shaman and snorted, blowing his headdress off. "You brought me here... for a pony!"

"She has both wings and a horn, oh great one! Please, spare me your wrath!"

"Wings and a horn, hmm?" Auhizotl pulled back from the shaman, then spotted Twilight in the cage.

"Hi."

"So you are the alicorn these peasants dared summon me for." Auhizotl leaned in and sniffed Twilight, blowing her mane back and forth with each breath. "Wait, I remember you. You were with that cursed Daring Do as she destroyed the Fortress of Talacon!"

"Wait!" Moondancer gasped, "Daring Do's real as well?"

"Ignore her," Twilight sighed as Auhizotl moved to investigate Moondancer. "She's had a rough day."

"Hmm, they have no worth to me anyway. You though, with you I could gain the strength of a god!"

"And how do you intend that?"

Auhizotl leaned back in close to Twilight, "By devouring your heart, the heart of an alicorn, I will gain all the power I would ever need. Power enough even, to rival that of the Fallen Dark Empress Ketztwctl!"

"I see. Well, since the other two have no worth to you, I don't suppose I could convince you to release them?"

"You dare ask such a thing of me?" Auhizotl snarled.

"You did say that they were useless to you, so there is literally no harm in you releasing them. If you do, I'll come quietly."

"But I already have you at my mercy, so no, there will be no bargaining. These ponies did well to capture you for me, so as a reward they may keep the other two to do with as they wish."

Twilight closed her eyes, silently apologising to Sunset and Moondancer as Auhizotl called for the villagers to begin preparing a ritual. There would be no forgiving herself this time.

"You seem curiously unconcerned about your fate," Auhizotl said to Twilight as some of the villagers daubed her body with foul smelling paints. Not that she cared. She was too busy thinking about the fate of Sunset and Moondancer. "Do you not realise you are going to die?"

"Hmm? Oh. Oh no, death, my one weakness. Woe is me, etcetera, etcetera."

"Do you truly not care?"

"I'd care if I thought for one moment that what you were going to would actually kill me, instead of being a temporary inconvenience. Please Auhizotl, I'm begging you. Do what you want to me, but let my friends go."

Auhizotl reached over and grabbed Twilight's chin between a finger and thumb, forcing her to look up at him. "I have already spoken on this, and my word is final. I'm sure those two will make the villagers' celebration of my victory all the better."

Twilight jerked her chin out of his grip, and nodded to herself as she made a decision, "I'm going to kill you."

"Excuse me?"

"I said I'm going to kill you."

"But you will be dead!"

"Yeah, we'll see about that."

"Do you not realise what is happening here?"

"I understand perfectly well what is happening here. It's you, actually, that doesn't understand what it is you're doing, and soon enough, you'll fully understand the mistake you made when I drive my blade through your heart."

"You're deluded."

"Of course," Twilight continued, "it saddens me to have to kill off one of the major villains of the Daring Do series, but at this point I really don't care. However, if you were to release my friends, I might decide to spare you."

The villagers painting Twilight's body backed away as Auhizotl brought himself up to his full height and loomed over Twilight. "You dare threaten me? I could destroy you right now if I so wished! In fact, I'm tempted to kill your friends in front of you as a punishment for your impudence."

"For every hair you harm on their heads, your death becomes slower and more agonising than you could possibly imagine. Let. Them. Go."

Auhizotl picked Twilight up in his tail-hand, and lifted her until they were face to face. "I'm sure they'll make fine broodmares for the tribe, alicorn." He slammed Twilight down onto the altar, dazing and winding her. "Begin the ritual!"

Twilight soon found herself surrounded in a haze of incense and other, less pleasing fumes. Drums sounded semi-rhythmically around them, and the shaman chanted feverishly as the ritual commenced. The significance of it all was lost on Twilight, as she already knew it wouldn't work, but it was hard to argue when you have a wickedly sharp obsidian blade held tightly to your throat.

The ritual got louder and louder, building up into an obvious crescendo that likely heralded the blade being stuck into her ribcage. Painful, but as had been said plenty of times before, not particularly problematic in the long run. Twilight's concerns were still focused on Sunset and Moondancer far more than herself.

The drumming and chanting stopped, leaving only the sound of the many torches and fires burning around them. At least until Auhizotl started saying strange words in yet another language Twilight didn't understand. They were still just words though, and Twilight couldn't feel any build up of magic or anything as they continued to spill from Auhizotl's elongated maw. If there was, Twilight might have been a little more concerned.

The blade lifted from Twilight's neck, and was raised far above her, ready to be plunged down into her chest. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, anticipating the pain, and the new addition to her nightmares.

"Stop!"

Twilight's eyes snapped back open, and she, along with everyone else in the village, looked towards the source of the word. "Oh fuck me."

Trixie trotted slowly up through the village, her armour shining in the firelight, and her head held high with the confidence of a pony that knew what they were doing was incredibly stupid, but was going to do it anyway.

"I demand you release my friends!"

The village was silent for several seconds, then echoed with the sound of laughter as Auhizotl guffawed gleefully at Trixie. He slowed down and finally stopped, wiping a tear from his eye before turning serious again. "Grab her."

The shaman barked an order in his own language, and a dozen ponies jumped on Trixie, wrestling her to the ground and dragging her before Auhizotl.

"Was this your plan?" Twilight asked as Trixie struggled.

"Not exactly. The fact that this Auhi-whatever-feller is not only real, but standing right here, kinda fucked it up from the beginning."

"Okay, what were you really planning?" Trixie flicked her eyes towards the cage where an almost invisible Mayfly was chewing through the ropes tying Moondancer's legs together. Twilight almost squealed with joy, but held it in to not draw attention to what the changeling was doing. "So you had nothing then."

"Actually, I was going to challenge their leader to one on one combat for your life." Trixie grinned apologetically, "I may have underestimated his size."

"It was a noble effort Trixie, but the major flaw in your plan is that these ponies don't speak equestrian, so you probably couldn't have-"

"Silence!" Auhizotl shouted over them. "Not only have you ruined the ceremony, but you have wasted my time. Your punishment will be death."

"Wait! I challenge you to combat! Winner gets to keep the prisoners!"

Auhizotl coolly regarded Trixie, then grabbed her, lifting her up and slamming her down onto the ground. "I win."

"Best two out of three?" Trixie wheezed.

"You're an idiot Trixie," Twilight muttered.

"Idiot like a fox! Now!"

Twilight quickly looked around, along with most of the villagers, and Auhizotl, expecting something to happen, but it never did. Then she heard Trixie laughing.

"Oh wow, the looks on all your faces! I got you all good! Hah! Seriously though," Trixie's horn lit up and cut through the ropes holding Twilight down, "now!"

Twilight scrambled to her hooves and leapt off the altar before she could be stopped. A simple feat made much harder by how completely unprepared she was for it. She tried to grab Trixie and teleport away, but failed at both of those as she was reminded of the stuff on her horn. "Fuck-fuck-fuck!"

"Grab her!"

Twilight danced around the ponies that threw themselves at her, desperately trying to not get dragged down by them, wasting Trixie's rescue. Especially since Trixie's life was very much on the line now.

"Fly you idiot! Get out of here!"

"Oh yeah." Twilight spread her wings a flew out of reach of the ponies below, but didn't stop moving in case any of them decided to get clever with those paralysing needles again. Without her magic though, she was powerless to fight back, and helpless to save Trixie from her predicament. "Trixie!"

"Get out of here Twilight!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"I meant, to draw the ponies away! Will you please stop being dense?"

"Oh that's hardly fair! I don't know what your stupid fucking plan is!" Twilight looped around the village, they flew into the jungle, slowly weaving through the trees.

"After her!" Auhizotl shouted, "Bring me back that alicorn!" The shaman shouted orders again, and the village quickly grew empty as the villagers chased after Twilight. Auhizotl turned back to Trixie, picking her up to bring her to his face. "I will get her back, and when I do, I will take great pleasure in destroying you in front of her. You will have died for nothing!"

"Don't count me out just yet." Point blank, Trixie blasted Auhizotl in the face with her magic as hard as she could, and found herself flying sideways as he roared in pain and tossed her away. She landed roughly on the ground, which was one of the few things her armour couldn't help with, but she still managed to get back on her hooves before Auhizotl could recover.

"I will kill you!" he roared, lumbering after Trixie, his face blackened and bleeding, but otherwise not particularly damaged.

"Yeah, yeah," Trixie grunted, running out of the way between some of the huts in the village. Auhizotl piled straight through them, not even caring that he was destroying his followers homes. Unfortunately this meant that he caught up very quickly.

Trixie tried to blast Auhizotl with her magic again, but running and trying to shoot something behind you was proving difficult, and very few of her attacks actually hit him, while those that did hardly even scratched him without the same power she put into her first attack. She grabbed a stone and lobbed it at him, but he easily batted it aside.

"What does it take to slow you down?!" Trixie ran back between the huts, Auhizotl hot on her heels as he smashed through the village, the shaman desperately pleading with Auhizotl to stop destroying their homes.

Trixie doubled back on herself, hoping to trick Auhizotl into thinking that she'd kept running straight. It didn't work though, and a hand smacked down on her, roughly hoisting her into the air where she was subjected to the full extent of his breath as he roared right in her face. "You will pay for what you've done!"

"How about we call this one a draw, then let the next round be the decider? Yes? No? Ahh!" Trixie squealed and struggled as Auhizotl started squeezing her, clearing planning on crushing her to death. It was working too, and she found herself out of options as her breath failed to come. Whispering an apology to Twilight, Trixie squeezed her eyes shut. When she reopened them, purple smoke poured from them.

A band of dark magic wrapped around the arm Auhizotl was using to hold Trixie, and he screamed as it constricted and easily sliced through flesh and bone, severing his hand in mere seconds. Trixie gasped for breath as she fell to the ground again, still wrapped in his twitching fist. She lifted it off her and tossed it aside, her head spinning from lack of oxygen, and the heady rush of dark magic.

She advanced on Auhizotl, who crawled back from her, his eyes filled with fear at the tiny pony who had managed to cut his hand off without so much as trying. "No! Please!"

"You'll get as much mercy as you were going to show us." Trixie raised her head sharply, her horn bubbling with the sickening mix of blacks, purples, and greens of dark magic. Shards of crystal jutted out of the ground, impaling upwards through Auhizotl's feet, pinning him in place as he howled with agony. She started to pull his good arm towards her, intending to pin that down as well, when another cry, this one of fury, reached her ears.

The shaman charged towards her, the obsidian dagger that was going to be used to kill Twilight clamped between his teeth. Trixie snorted and batted him aside with her magic, enjoying the power that let her dismiss him so easily. It was almost like it had never left her.

Trixie pulled Auhizotl's hand back out and pinned it down with a sickening crack of bones as he screamed feebly, trying to pull himself free. "Not much fun being on the receiving end, is it? I wonder how many ponies felt what you're feeling now as you carved them open upon that altar? I bet you weren't even merciful enough to make it quick."

"Please..."

"And how many pleas for mercy have you heard in your time? Exactly as many as you've ignored I imagine." Trixie formed a spear of dark crystal, and pointed it down at Auhizotl's head, "I think it's only fitting that the last you hear are your own." Trixie forced the spear down through his skull and into the ground, and stood watching until his twitches finally stopped.

"Trixie! I think I've lost them! Come on, let's get out of... here... Fucking hell." Twilight landed next to Trixie, the blue mare looking away as guilt shot through her. "Damn Trixie, you weren't messing around were you?"

"I'm sorry Twilight," Trixie mumbled. "I- I- He was- I had to-"

Twilight pulled Trixie into a hug and shushed her, "I'm not angry Trixie. I know you only did what you had to." Twilight held the hug as Trixie cried softly. "It's gonna be okay. Although I think we better get out of here."

"Before the villagers get back?"

"Well, that, and before we get burnt to death," Twilight said, gesturing back at the large amount of fire that was consuming the village after Auhizotl's rampage.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry I killed him."

"I'm not."

Trixie looked at Twilight with surprise, "But he's a character from those books you like so much! Those previously thought to be fictional books. Why aren't you mad?"

"Because I had every intention of killing him myself after all this." Twilight smiled softly at Trixie until she managed to pull at least half a smile back. "Come on, we better get moving." Twilight started to take off, then remembered something. "Actually, where's that shaman? He has something we need."

"Uh, I threw him over there somewhere." Trixie led Twilight in the vague direction she thought she had thrown the shaman, and eventually found him dead, his head impaled by the dagger he had been carrying. "Oh, whoops, I never meant for that to happen."

"It's fine. Well, maybe less so for him." Twilight started the process of removing the mirror shards with her magic, then looked up and sighed at her horn as nothing happened. "I really hope this stuff washes off. Trixie, could you do me a favour and strip all the mirror pieces and gems off his outfit."

"Ooookay..." Carefully, and with much consideration for the colour of her magic, Trixie quickly tore off all the bits Twilight pointed out. She picked up the pace as the sound of ponies in the jungle grew louder as the tribal ponies started to return to their burning village. As soon as she'd pulled the last bit off, Twilight grabbed her around the chest and took off. Just in time too as the tribal ponies poured in from the dark jungle.

"Y'know," Twilight snickered, "that six months of normality I moaned about is looking pretty good about now. Anyway, I don't suppose you found a safe place to hide out after saving us?"

"Yeah, it's by a waterfall, that way somewhere," Trixie said, pointing in the direction of the nearby river, while trying to not look down. "Hopefully Mayfly has got the others there already."

"Hopefully." Twilight smiled to herself, relieved that things had, sort of, worked out okay. There was one detail that still bothered her though. "Trixie, was that really your plan? Getting the others out sneakily while you fought the tribe's cheiftain for me?"

"Uh, yes? Maybe? I don't know. It all went wrong when that giant monkey showed up anyway."

"And the dark magic? Was that part of the plan?"

"...Yes, but only as a last resort. I really didn't want to do it Twilight, and I feel horrible now. I don't even know why I did what I did to whatshisface, when I could have just killed him." Trixie closed her eyes and sighed, "I hate how amazing it felt too. Nothing like when I first started using it back in Mareitania."

Twilight hugged Trixie a little closer, "While I'm not saying we should ignore it, how about we don't worry about it right now? Right now I think we should be happy that we're all alive and okay thanks to you and Mayfly."

"But Twilight! I fucked up and used dark magic again! I couldn't even go two months without going back to using it!"

"But you didn't want to use it."

"And? It felt amazing Twilight! Right now the only thing stopping me from using it again is how guilty I feel!" Trixie hung limply in Twilight's grip, barely keeping hold of the mirror fragments, "I feel like I failed you."

"Trixie, you saved us all, and only did what you had to to stop Auhizotl from killing you. I hate to say it Trixie, but the only pony feeling like you failed, is you. No I'm not saying that dark magic is something that you should go back to using, but considering the situation, using it is as a one off is perfectly acceptable."

"But what if I can't help but go back to using it more and more? What if I end up totally relying on it again? Do you really want me to go back to being like that?"

"Do you?" Twilight asked back.

"Not really."

"And that is why you won't. Trixie, your regular magic is a lot more powerful than it used to be, and I dare say you rival some of the more powerful magic users in Equestria now. Put simply, if you rely on your normal magic, and only keep the dark magic as a last resort in times of dire need, that's all it will ever be. Even I do that, although reluctantly."

Trixie shook her head sadly, "It's not that simple."

"I know, but this can be something we can work on. As I said, we can talk about this later, when you've had some time to think about it. Right now I just want to make sure the others are safe."

"Thank goodness," Sunset gushed as Twilight and Trixie swooped into the cave. "I was so worried."

Twilight placed Trixie on the ground, then grabbed Sunset in a hug, "Believe me, I was a lot more worried about what was going to happen to you and Moondancer if we weren't rescued. Are you okay Moondancer?" she asked the sullen pony sat further into the cave with her summonable glasses perched on her nose. Moondancer glared at her, then looked away again. "I'll take that as a reluctant yes, maybe?" Twilight sighed.

Mayfly walked up them, and spat into a cloth which she held up to Twilight. "Here, to clean your horn with. Apparently changeling saliva removes the paint stuff very easily."

Twilight squirmed internally at the thought of what was on the cloth, then gingerly took it and rubbed it on her horn. As Mayfly had said, it removed the paint easily enough, although it took a minute to get it off completely. "Thanks," she said to Mayfly. "And thanks again," she added, grabbing Mayfly in a tight hug.

Mayfly went cross-eyed, then sighed dreamily before coming back to her senses. "That was unexpected, in many ways. What is extra thank you and hug for?"

"For saving Sunset and Moondancer."

"Oh, well, it was Trixie that talked me into it, although I must say I can see her point on the benefits of friendship."

"Are you doing my job Trixie?" Twilight laughed, only to be met with silence. She released Mayfly to look for Trixie, and found her sitting outside the cave entrance, her head low. "Oh Trixie."

"What's wrong with her?" Sunset asked, following Twilight's gaze.

"She used dark magic to kill Auhizotl, and now she feels bad about it, even though it saved her life."

"What?! Moondancer shrieked. "She killed Auhizotl?"

"Well, yeah, he was going to kill her. He was also going to kill me and eat my heart, and give you and Sunset to the villagers as a reward for capturing us. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what horrible things that might have involved."

"But he's Auhizotl! He's like one of the biggest villains in Daring Do! It won't be the same without him!"

"So you're no longer bothered that he's real?"

"I- Graaaagh!" Moondancer leant forwards and grabbed her head in her hooves, then started rocking back and forth, muttering to herself.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at Moondancer, "Of all the things I thought might break her, that was not one I expected. Although I can understand her position on this. Anyway, I'm guessing that Trixie using dark magic isn't something we want?"

"It isn't something she wants either. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow, but for now I really think we should get some rest, and sleep off any lingering effects of that poison.

"It's not real! It's not real! It's not real!"

"And maybe you should have a small talk with Moondancer."

Sleep eluded Trixie, which bothered her immensely. Back during the civil war in Mareitania, she barely slept as a consequence of her heavy use of dark magic. It had been something that had mostly resolved itself during her time in hospital, but that seems to have counted for nought. One taste of dark magic after all these months, and here she was, staring at the ceiling while everyone around her slept reasonably peacefully, just like old times.

"This is bullshit," she whispered to herself, throwing open her sleeping bag and wobbling to her hooves. She headed towards the exit, taking great care not to wake anypony, and despite almost tripping over Mayfly who was near invisible in the dark, she made it out without incident.

The air was still warm outside, and the sky was filled with clouds and the low rumble of distant thunder. All Trixie wanted was to stare mysteriously at the moon as she brooded on her issues, but apparently she wasn't even allowed to have that tonight. What she really wanted though, was for Twilight to stop hiding from the issue of her using dark magic. Sure she'd promised to talk about it tomorrow, but Trixie was worried about it now.

Trixie snorted mirthlessly, "Worried's an understatement. Am I just doomed to forever use dark magic?" Trixie was immensely thankful that nothing answered.

Her attempt to stare wistfully at the moon thwarted, Trixie sat and stared over the edge of the where their little cave was hidden, watching the waterfall as it tumbled endlessly into the dark below. She felt like she could understand how that was, to forever fall into darkness without a choice. It was a horrible feeling.

Trixie's ears pricked as she thought she heard something, but when she turned to look there was nothing there. Snorting in irritation she turned back to watching the waterfall, the feeling that she wasn't alone not leaving her, even though there was nothing there.

"Stop it Trixie, there's nothing there," she said out loud to herself, but it didn't help. The feeling of being watched only grew, and no amount of reassuring herself stopped the feeling from getting stronger and stronger until it almost weighed her down, and the harder she ignored it, the worse it seemed to get.

"Ours..."

Trixie shrieked and span, lashing out with a hoof that passed through thin air because there was nothing there to hit. She was as alone as she was when she first came out here.

Trixie collapsed to her stomach and sobbed into her hooves, suddenly feeling very afraid for herself.

Author's Notes:

Hasbro: "Let's release a new map of Equestria with new locations from the movie. Then a few weeks later we'll have an awesome episode with an awesome Egyptian theme and not put the main town featured in it on that map."

"What a great idea!" said no one else.

No chapter next week, or maybe the week after because I'm having to rewrite the next chapter, and then I'll be behind because I'm also going places this week so if I don't finish it at work I'll have to wait until after. Yes I've finally written a chapter that I think was shit enough to warrant that. I've hit a new low. However, the new idea I had instead is much better so hopefully it'll be well worth it.