Author's Notes:

While Morning and Quill make their way back to the city with the Scared Stones finally in hand (hoof), Daring Do and Clover The Clever embark on an epic quest to find the legendary lost Temple Of Oceana: The first and only of it's kind outside of the great civilization of Atlantis, and the final key to stopping Simon and saving the world from Tezcatlipoca's unquenchable rage. How will they find this sacred temple, that has been lost to time for untold millennia? Let's find out!

Chapter 23: "Daring Do And The Lost Temple Of Oceana."

"So....how are we going to do this?"

"No clue."

At Clover's remark, Daring let out a sigh, as she leaned back in her chair, eyes focused on the ceiling of the posh hotel room, her brain reeling in every way it could to find some answer to their conundrum.

"If only Morning were here", she thought. "She'd know how to find this place."

She took off her helmet and smoothed the top of it with her hoof. It seemed to speak to her in her mind. What are you talking about!? You're Daring Do! The Daring Do! The helmet scolded. If anypony can find this temple, it's you!

"But how? This temple has been lost for centuries, and up until now I thought the only existing temple was in Atlantis. There aren't any books, maps, or any relevant information anywhere about the thing! How can I find it, if I have nowhere to start?" she asked the helmet in her head.

Think about it. Dad had to have left clues on that note of some kind, right? Look at it closer. There has to be something there!

"That's right! The note Dad left!" Daring exclaimed, leaping from the seat and going over to her satchel bag, and began searching frantically through it, scattering maps and papers all over the table.

"Um...what's right?" Clover asked, confused.

"Hang on....almost...found it!" Daring held up the message her father had left for her, and brought it over to Clover for them to both look over. Daring pointed to one part of the message in particular: But there is a way to stop him, and this whole cult for good. When The Heart Of Oceana is combined with three sacred stones carved from the obsidian walls of the Temple Of Oceana

Obsidian walls. Clover eyed the word and in a flash she got it. "Obsidian. So we know at least..."

"That Oceana's Temple on this island is made from obsidian!" Daring finished for her. "All we have to do is look over the island's list of temples and find the one that's made from obsidian!"

Clover nodded. "But still, what if there's more then one temple made from obsidian on the island? How do we know which is the right one?"

"Easy." Daring said with a smile. "Oceana is the ruler of Atlantis, and the goddess of the ocean. Ergo,' she brought out a map, and pointed to the coast,"We focus on the temple closest to the ocean!"

The two mares ordered a tourist map from the hotel lobby. On it, all the temples and ruins on the island were marked with a large cartoony drawing of a temple, with a little summary of each temple next to each drawing. Focusing on the coast they found 15 temples and sets of ruins but the one closest to the ocean, rested on a cliff-side overlooking the sea.

Daring read the summary aloud: "A beautifully crafted shrine carved from pure obsidian, overlooking the ocean. Supposedly built to honor a goddess of the sea." Daring grinned from ear to ear. "I can't think of a better place that could be a temple to Oceana."

Clover agreed. "True. Though it could still just be a lie to bring in the tourists."

Daring nodded, as she packed her satchel. "Also true. Still worth a look though, plus I have been dying to get out there and explore some of these temples! All this gloom and doom about Simon and the cult has really been ruining my adventurous vibe, y'know?"

"Naturally." Clover joked. "Well, I wish you luck on your exciting escapade-"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, you're coming with me."

"What?? W-why do you need me to come along on this?"

Daring folded up the tourist map and put it in her satchel. "Well since you've been holding onto the Heart Of Oceana for the last few thousand years or so, and was actually around when the temple was still active, I think you can see why I think you'd make a great partner on this search. Wouldn't you agree?" Daring asked slyly, already knowing Clover's answer.

"Ah, I see." She then grabbed her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. "Welp...let's be off then!"

With that, Daring and Clover let Dr. Seastone know where they were going, before boarding a taxi carriage for the jungle, of which there was a single stop in front of where it began. As soon as they were dropped off, they would need to make the rest of their journey on foot.

Which is just how Daring liked it.

Swaps Outside Quaramonte, 2 Miles east of the Voiceless Jungle

A lock of Daring's mane stuck to her forehead as they trudged through the stagnant swamps, heading deep into the Voiceless Jungle. According to the map, the temple was at the far side of the jungle, on a cliff overseeing the ocean. It would take a while, but as long as they kept heading towards the ocean, they would see the temple....eventually.

As they made their way through the thick jungles and tangling vines, Daring thought about her friend Meir, and where she ended up. Part of her knew she'd be okay, but the other still worried about her. Daring hoped it was just her oh-so concerned and caring friend instincts.....or maybe it was because she really, really wanted to fight all those sailor guys alongside her.

They arrived at a path that went off towards the center of the island. If they followed it, they would reach the pass that lead towards the shore on the other side, and the cliff side was just north of that. They still had a ways to go.

After a while, they arrived at the center of a dry marsh with dried up looking trees dotting the area. According to the map, they were in what was left of a large swamp that dried up many years ago. They could walk through it, as the mud had dried up, but they had to be careful of-

"Whoa!" Daring cried out as she felt her hooves sink into the sand beneath her. She heard another yelp as Clover had followed suit.

"W-what is this?" Clover exclaimed. "I-I can't move!"

"Don't struggle." Daring said calmly. "It's quicksand. You'll sink faster if you struggle."

"Quicksand!?"

"Hey! I said don't struggle!" Daring ordered.

Sand rolled up their legs, slowly pulling them in to their waist.

Clover began to panic now. She tried in vain to use her magic to pull them out, but it was no good. The suction was too strong. "What do we do!?" She yelled.

"Relax! Just relax, okay?" Daring instructed. "I'm no stranger to quicksand. Just do exactly as I say, and we'll be fine. Alright?"

Clover took a breath and exhaled calmly. "Okay. What do we do?"

"First: calm down. Forget what you’ve seen in movies - you’re not going to be sucked into a bottomless pit. Even in the deepest quicksand, you won’t sink far past your midsection. Your body is just too buoyant. So take deep breaths. The more air you have in your lungs, the better you’ll float."

Clover did as she was told, taking several deep breaths. She did feel like the sand was loosening a bit, but she was still being pulled down.

"Next,' Daring called, removing and tossing her helmet, " Toss your gear!"

"What?!"

"All that extra weight will make you sink faster. Ditch your backpack and anything else with a lot of weight. They will make escaping more difficult."

Clover removed her saddlebag, back pack and everything else and laid it to the side along with Daring's helmet. "Now what?" Clover asked.

"Don't move. And resist the urge to wiggle your legs. Quicksand is what’s known as a non-Newtonian fluid, so it liquefies whenever there’s movement. As you sink, your weight pushes water from the sand. With the water gone, the sand thickens, creating a vacuum that tugs you down."

"So how do we escape it!?"

"Move!"

"What!?" Clover exclaimed in confusion. "B-But you just said, don't move!"

Daring sighed. "You’re sinking because the sand around your legs has lost water. But if that water can return, the sand’s grip should loosen. That’s our route to escape—and the only way to do that is to move....so move!"

Clover and Daring began to walk slowly forward, as the sand swelled around their legs. "Slowly, start to sit down, but keep moving. You're body will act as a counterweight." Daring explained.

They moved through the deadly muck, slowly but surely. With Daring's instruction, eventually they made it back onto dry land, pulling themselves up onto the dry ground, and free from the sandy tomb.

As Daring casually retrieved her hat and brushed herself off, Clover laid on her back, panic in her eyes, as she tried to catch her breath. "I...I almost died." She rasped.

"No, you didn't. It wasn't actually even that deep. It would've stopped before it reached our necks."

"Oh. Great."

Daring laughed and pulled Clover to her feet. "Never done anything like this before?" she asked.

"Well, no. I've spent the better half of my life studying, battling ancient forces of magic and darkness, putting up with Starswirl's nonsense and the rest being frozen in a giant crystal ice cube.....so no, this is all new to me."

"Heh. You learn to love it."

"I'd rather just learn to tolerate it."

After laughing it off, the two friends marched bravely forward. Eventually they came to a clearing with a large needle of rock in the middle of it. To the north, was yet another path that lead deeper into the forest, eventually reaching the heart of the jungle.

Heart Of The Voiceless Jungle, Early noon

The afternoon sun hung in the sky, before it suddenly went dark, as Daring and Clover entered a large, maze-like path of tall forest, and winding pathways. The sun had vanished from behind the tall treetops, leaving the area relatively dark, as a sudden feeling of foreboding crept up Daring's back.

She looked around, every path lead of somewhere different. Or.....no, did they lead back? Forward?

Daring could no longer tell which path lead where, as the sense of foreboding became stronger. The jungle was trying to confuse them, get them lost.

She looked behind her to see that Clover was still following her, although she too, felt a sense of dread from the environment around them. "Um...Daring? Are we lost?"

Daring took a minute to check. "No, we're not lost." she said "But the jungle wants us to be."

A chill went down Clover's back. "What do we do?"

Daring turned around and smiled at her. "Plan B."

Clover blinked. "Uh...what's plan B?"

Daring took off her backpack and rifled through it till she found what she was looking for. She withdrew the large three pronged sapphire from her pack and held if aloft, it's soft blue glow illuminating the area.

"Wha-!" Clover gasped. "You brought the Heart of Oceana?"

"Of course! We ARE returning it after all. Of course, we still need the sacred stones, but Morning has that covered."

"So...what do we need the Heart for?" Clover asked.

"If adventuring has taught me anything, and believe me when I say it has taught me a lot of things, then we can use this-"

Suddenly, a beam of light shot out from the sapphire, cutting through the jungle, down a path curved towards a group of twisted looking trees. Daring smiled "To find our way to the temple."

Clover was amazed. "H-How did you know that would happen?" She asked.

"The way I figure it, the Heart wants to be returned. If it knows that's what we're doing, it'll lead us there."

With that, Daring and Clover followed the path made by the Heart's light, through the winding forest, till they finally reached a clearing of sand, and the smell and sound of the ocean was clear to Daring's senses. They were here.

Quaramonte Cliffs, Eastern Shores, Late afternoon

The ocean was the first thing to greet them, as Daring Do and Clover emerged from the jungle, a little worse for wear, but still perfectly fine. The beam lead to the entrance of a single large structure on the cliff side, overlooking the ocean.

A tall black temple, shined brightly in the afternoon sunlight, encroached by an array of thick vines and trees. A few exotic birds of brilliant color had made nests on top of the arches. They flew away, as Daring and Clover approached the temple and went inside.

It was smaller on the inside then she had expected, and there was no back wall to the place, the ocean was clearly the center point of view for the temple. Daring had expected the light to fade or turn off when they had found the temple, but strangely the Heart continued to point forward, right to the cliff side.

Clover eyed it suspiciously. "Um...whats it doing? We found the temple, shouldn't it be telling us where to put it now?"

Daring looked around the temple. Oddly, she found no markings or symbols of Oceana. Just black walls with nothing on them, but vines and groups of small red spiders. Nowhere to put the Heart, or the stones for that matter.

What did this mean? They had found the temple, but.....wait.

Daring's eyes lit up as she got an idea. She began to walk forward, past the hole in the wall, through the grass and right to the edge of the cliff, the Heart in hoof, as the beam kept pointing forward.

"Daring!" Clover yelled, running after her "What are you doing? We found the temple."

As Daring looked down over the cliff, she now saw what the Heart was trying to tell her. Clover leaned over her shoulder but she saw nothing but blue ocean.

"Um....I don't see anything."

"Yep. That's because,' She put the Heart back in her backpack. "The Temple isn't on the cliff at all."

Daring looked out at the ever expanding sea, the breeze rustling her mane. "It's in the ocean." she said softly.